Why the calls for Boris to resign?

[MasterBait]

Cummings, the unelected 'de facto' leader of the country, is not really a civil servant but a Spad - 'Special Advisor'. Special advisers are paid by central government and are styled as so-called "temporary civil servants" appointed under Article 3 of the Civil Service Order in Council 1995.

So he is a contractor? Clearly outside of IR35 as he gives direction in stead of receiving it

[Gibbon]

Indeed. Logic is more important than numeracy. But need both. How do you get that "analysing" English or Latin literature?

Analysing Latin literature is far more difficult than integrating a Runge Kutter algorithm into a ballistic calculation. I know because I've done both. And Attic or Ionic Greek is another level completely. Greek and Latin poems are incredibly complex, its not just word substitution. They have a beat and rhythm and every word placement has meaning even down to the sounds of the words.

Read this out loud and listen to the sounds:

Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis

(what ever it is, I fear Greeks, even bearing gifts)

[Old Greg]

Analysing Latin literature is far more difficult than integrating a Runge Kutter algorithm into a ballistic calculation. I know because I've done both. And Attic or Ionic Greek is another level completely. Greek and Latin poems are incredibly complex, its not just word substitution. They have a beat and rhythm and every word placement has meaning even down to the sounds of the words.

Read this out loud and listen to the sounds:

Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis

(what ever it is, I fear Greeks, even bearing gifts)

'ferentes' IIRC

[Gibbon]

'ferentes' IIRC

Most printed versions of the text have the variant ferentis instead of ferentes - Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes - Wikipedia

Both can be accusative plural.

I use this site for most of my Latin analysis

P. Vergilius Maro,
Aeneid,
Book 2, line 40

[Old Greg]

Most printed versions of the text have the variant ferentis instead of ferentes - Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes - Wikipedia

Both can be accusative plural.

I use this site for most of my Latin analysis

P. Vergilius Maro,
Aeneid,
Book 2, line 40

Hmmm. OK then. Maybe -is is a poetic form or some such.

[sasguru]

Analysing Latin literature is far more difficult than integrating a Runge Kutter algorithm into a ballistic calculation. I know because I've done both

sp. Range-Kutta. Should have paid more attention to the maths, perhaps
And lots of things are difficult for most people, learning any sort of language for example.
Yet I know many multi-lingual people who are thick as mince.

[d000hg]

I haven't studied classics to know how it compares to a scientific or history degree (which are both rigorous) but my understanding is there are no easy degrees in Oxford or Cambridge. And you do not get in if you're a dummkopf.

I am most surprised by his seeming naivety that he could just barge his way through all this. After all these years in parliament, many in the highest levels, how has he so miscalculated?

[darmstadt]

I haven't studied classics to know how it compares to a scientific or history degree (which are both rigorous) but my understanding is there are no easy degrees in Oxford or Cambridge. And you do not get in if you're a dummkopf.

I am most surprised by his seeming naivety that he could just barge his way through all this. After all these years in parliament, many in the highest levels, how has he so miscalculated?

I think you'll find it's arrogance and a sense of self-entitlement

[sasguru]

I haven't studied classics to know how it compares to a scientific or history degree (which are both rigorous) but my understanding is there are no easy degrees in Oxford or Cambridge. And you do not get in if you're a dummkopf.

I am most surprised by his seeming naivety that he could just barge his way through all this. After all these years in parliament, many in the highest levels, how has he so miscalculated?

How naive of you. Oxbridge has been the traditional finishing school for the dumb but rich elite (as well as the brainy). There are special degrees just for them, like Geography. And for those who don't get unconditional offers, which can be a dead cert if you're from a certain background*, there are expensive crammers that specialise in polishing their A-levels through rote repetition of past papers.

*Apparently this was stopped but still existed when the current culprits were a lad.

[d000hg]

Well he didn't do a special degree, he did Classics, for which he got a scholarship. He did 'only' get a 2:1 but from Oxford that's hardly shabby.