August 10, 2026

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: Jason Arday taught me. Here’s what I learned.

At first, my classmates were charmed by Arday’s cheerful attitude and inspirational stories. To start with, too, they were interested in his claims that white people were guilty of every kind of prejudice. Yet as the module progressed, and he failed to turn up for yet another class, things began to change. It gradually dawned on us that we were learning nothing of substance, and that much of his talk was nonsense.

When it came to our assessment, Arday recommended we answer one of the two essay questions — there were four options — that mentioned ethnicity. This, after all, was the only thing he’d talked to us about. I remember one young, black, female student coming to me in the library as we began to draft our essays and saying: “I don’t know what to do, I’ve read my notes and there is nothing there I can use!” She wasn’t the only one, and I offered advice as best I could, writing my own essay using the online resources Arday’s predecessor had left.

In the end, Arday gave me 70% for my essay. That sounds good — except that my average for the year was 75%, meaning my overall result was dragged down. Particularly as Arday had given my work no feedback, I asked for a meeting. At Roehampton, marking is blind, so he wouldn’t have known who’d written which essay. In our meeting, I explained that 70% was a low mark for me and asked him to provide feedback. Suddenly, his friendly, confident demeanor changed. I now saw a side of him I’d never seen before: angry, but also scared. Arday implied that I was racist, and said that the only reason I wasn’t happy with 70% was due to my “white privilege”. He was clearly upset at being questioned, and I ended the meeting as quickly as possible.

Arday left Roehampton shortly afterwards, and I never saw him again. Given that he could neither teach nor support his students, it’s little wonder that he appeared psychologically incapable of coping with criticism. The University of Roehampton was seemingly aware of his failings yet did nothing, avoiding controversy by allowing him to move on to another set of students.

Still though, students of Arday will have learned a lot about where not to place apostrophes in their thesis titles:

And how to copy and paste your way to superstardom:

Arday himself claimed to have worried, “What if I have completely overestimated my capabilities? What if my story ends up being a cautionary tale like Icarus about flying too close to the sun?”

But it must have been quite a rush at the apogee of his ascent: “Whether or not he even knows it, Jason Arday played the rotten, elitist, box-ticking, minority and sick note obsessed education regime brilliantly. He outwitted the cleverest people in Britain – well, people who like to think they’re clever. He outsmarted those who would have us believe they’re the enlightened and have the right to rule. People who opine that vaccination should be mandatory. That was an actual Cambridge Union debate a few years ago, never let us forget. Bright young things lined up to argue for an end to bodily autonomy. These people are numbskulls. So never mind Arday’s grammar, consider the grand sweep of his achievement. He has shown us that the emperor has no clothes. One way or another, he has had Cambridge over, and I care not a jot for Cambridge as a victim, nor do I care for the buyer’s regret of the liberal elite who suddenly claim to be shocked that a person who can’t always spell or get grammar right could rise to the top of academia by playing on certain narratives.”

Posted at 1:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

GOODER AND HARDER, LA: Post walks LA’s once-iconic Van Nuys Blvd. for a week – here’s disturbing scene we found.

The historic LA street that was once the iconic epicenter of Valley youth culture is now nothing more than a boulevard of broken dreams — featuring drug-riddled homeless encampments and boarded-up stores.

Van Nuys Boulevard — where teens used to famously cruise through the middle of San Fernando Valley, showing off their hot rods and gathering at hamburger stands — has become home to hordes of out-of-control druggies and threatening vagrants who leave behind so much garbage that local workers have to use leaf blowers to disperse it.

One of the few businesses still operating in the now-decrepit area was even forced to move its customer entrance — because the bums’ camps blocked the original one.

“It’s so sad, so sad.  We are in California, the best state in the United States, right?” said George Barak, who is originally from Syria and was working his second day as a cashier at the 99-cent store when he talked to the California Post.

Aziz Saxenian, a Los Angeles native and dental assistant who works at another local company struggling against the troubling tide in the onetime beloved quirky heart of the Valley, said, “They settle in front of our businesses.

“Customers say, ‘Oh, can’t you get rid of them?’ ”

The Post walked a stretch of the dilapidated boulevard between Sherman Way and Victory Boulevard on a recent morning and found a wasteland of crack pipes, needles and empty bottles of whiskey in front of makeshift tents.

As they’re driving through the sun-bleached streets of L.A. at Christmastime, Annie Hall says to Alvy Singer, “God, it’s so clean out here,” to which Alvy jokes, “It’s that they don’t throw their garbage away.  They make it into television shows.” But then, Annie Hall was made a half a century ago. A very different L.A. isn’t exactly a beacon for tourists these days:

Fortunately, the DSA are on the scene to really beef up LA’s law enforcement:

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

IRAN’S ‘PROOF OF LIFE’ VIDEO FOR SUPREME LEADER BLOWS UP IN ITS FACE:

We haven’t seen any real evidence that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is even alive since the first attack of Operation Epic Fury on Iran on February 28.

Now the regime has released a video of the guy we like to call the “Cardboard Ayatollah.”

Iran released a rare video Sunday of its supreme leader appearing in prime condition amid his long absence from the public eye and swirling reports of deteriorating health.

The country’s semi-official Mehr News Agency flaunted video of Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, sitting in a circle and speaking with a group of men, with no context of when or where the scene took place.

So first, there’s no evidence this was after the attack.

Second, there’s no evidence of the horrible injuries he supposedly received, which suggests it was recorded before Operation Epic Fury, although you can not see the right side of his face. Supposedly, he had leg and facial injuries in that attack.

RedState’s Nick Arama writes, “The regime was trying to buffalo people. The only reason they would do this is if they couldn’t produce any real proof of life video, i.e., he is probably dead.”

Where have you gone, Miles Monroe? The mullahs turn their lonely eyes to you:

Posted at 12:21 pm by Ed Driscoll

THERE’S JUST NO PLEASING SOME PEOPLE: Trans American who fled to Europe claiming asylum from Trump makes humiliating return after being placed in an Islamic refugee center… but she’s already complaining about life in the US.

‘The situation I have in the US as a trans person, not good, right? But here, I will be hurt or killed,’ Arc told local outlet Pow News.

‘It is too dangerous to walk to the grocery store because of the people that live in the camp, and I’m one of them, I live here. You see these guys in yellow vests, they actually wear them because there are so many stabbings.’

Ter Apel has been deemed dangerous by the Red Cross, who said aid volunteers feel ‘unsafe’ at the site, adding that violence ‘cannot be controlled.’

Last month, Arc returned to the US, but the software engineer’s transition back to the States hasn’t been the easiest.

From the healthcare system to the expensive grocery prices, she’s finding life difficult along the Pacific Coast after a year away.

‘First time shopping in the US, and In-N-Out too. America is really, really loud and overwhelming. And everything is so expensive,’ she wrote on Threads shortly after returning.

‘The Dutch complain about groceries being expensive, but good grief, San Francisco is a whole different experience.’

So the problem isn’t really with Trump’s America but with the Left’s San Francisco.

Posted at 11:40 am by Stephen Green

DISPATCHES FROM THE DISTAFF DEMOLITION DERBIES:

Earlier:

 

Posted at 10:48 am by Ed Driscoll

OH, PLEASE: Study: School police officers utilize ‘niceness as whiteness’ to validate arrests of students. “The paper ‘Niceness as Whiteness in School Police Officers’ Perceptions of Student Arrest’ by Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Research Fellow Abigail Beneke (‘studies how schools provide care under racial capitalism’) and Professors Benjamin Fisher (U. Wisconsin-Madison), F. Chris Curran (U. Florida), and Samantha Viano (George Mason) was highlighted last week by Dr. James Nuzzo.”

Posted at 10:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

AOC DECLARES MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ON GREEN NEW DEAL:

UPDATE:

Posted at 10:14 am by Ed Driscoll

FASTER, PLEASE: As Iran war strains high-end munition stocks, Trump administration works to jump start production.

During the war with Iran, President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with media reports highlighting the U.S. military’s dwindling supplies of the most expensive and capable munitions used for long-range strikes and missile defense.

“The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday after recent media reports that the U.S. had used “virtually all” of its long-range precision missiles during Operation Epic Fury targeting Iran.

The president, warning that “leakers” of this information would be severely punished, pointed to his administration’s efforts to boost manufacturing of these critical munitions.

“Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history,” Trump wrote.

The Pentagon says reports of munition shortages are “false” and that the U.S. military has enough material to accomplish President Trump’s goals.

Let’s hope the Pentagon is correct, and that maybe Trump could be a little clearer about his goals.

Posted at 9:36 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Sophie Cunningham Triggered an Avalanche of Bluff-Calling for the WNBA. Hey, it’s all about who and what people “identify” as, isn’t that what they’ve been telling us all these years? It would be bigoted to deny White and Freedom a shot at living out their WNBA dreams if we’re playing by the left’s rules.”

Posted at 9:05 am by Stephen Green

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE: Great question and one that requires careful thought. The latest “What Would You Say” from the Colson Center takes on the challenge and offers three points to ponder.

Posted at 8:39 am by Mark Tapscott

THE ENEMY WITHIN: UK probes major Muslim charity after director charged with funneling aid to Hamas. “The probe into the Al-Khair Foundation came after its director, Mohammad Yousef Hasna, was arrested in the UK last week on US charges alleging he conspired to funnel money and supplies to Hamas through his senior role in what prosecutors said was a sham global humanitarian organization.”

Posted at 8:34 am by Stephen Green

THAT’S WHAT XI SAID: The Odyssey and the Clash of Civilizations.

The most interesting figure affecting the interview, though, does not show up on the screen and may not be aware that the conversation even occurred. That is Xi Jinping.

The interview opens strangely: [Yiyang] Zhuge’s first question is to ask Nolan if he’s “a bard for a civilization at dusk.” After Nolan points out that in Homer’s time, Greece was on the ascent but had not yet regained the glories of an earlier age, Zhuge interjects that Athens lost the Peloponnesian War because of the democracy’s hubris.

This may seem like an odd way to begin the conversation that focuses on other topics, but Zhuge had little choice but to start along those lines. She is parroting two of Xi’s favorite arguments. The first is that “the East is rising and the West is declining.” The other is that the United States is on the verge of falling into the “Thucydides trap” of provoking a war with Xi rather than making way for China’s inexorable rise. Xi brought up the Thucydides trap in his most recent meeting with Donald Trump.

A Chinese lover of the Western classics, as Zhuge clearly is, has to frame her thoughts around Xi’s ideas because the CCP abhors the discussion of interesting ideas or works of art on their own merits. Xi, parroting Mao and Stalin, says that “art and literary workers are the engineers of the human soul.” Much as another engineer might use a backhoe to reshape a pile of dirt, so an artist or writer will use their paintings and prose to reshape souls. For now, Zhuge can still openly admire these parts of the Western tradition that she finds so beautiful, but first she must dance to the party’s tune.

Nolan, who sat for the interview during the publicity campaign for his movie in China, may have had no idea that this was occurring. He may be uninterested in ideological struggle. His responses nonetheless showed why Western ideas fill the CCP with fear.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll

WHAT DO YOUNG PEOPLE REALLY WANT? The Suburbs.

Suburbs serve a critical role in the American system. They are our way of reconciling our competing aspirations. The U.S. was imagined as an extended, commercial republic. That is kind of like asking for a “jumbo shrimp land mammal.” How to combine ancient republican virtue with modern industry, across a vast continent? And yet, to a surprising extent, our double oxymoron has worked.

A lifestyle once reserved for royalty can now be attained by used-car dealers and advertising executives. A typical American may never become president or a CEO, but can vote, run for city council or school board, own a single-family home in a safe neighborhood, buy a pickup truck, and even start a business out of the garage. And in stark contrast to our European counterparts, we can even enjoy working air-conditioning while we’re at it. We are kings and queens of the cul-de-sac.

This is a beautiful, even noble thing. And besides, what’s the alternative? A rural lifestyle may appear attractive on a screen. Yet these days, it seems like you need to be a large corporation or an Instagram influencer just to make the economics work. Cities are a good place to get ahead, but settling down and raising a family in one presumes a kind of competent urban governance that is shamefully rare in the U.S.

In the end, the American dream simply is suburbia. And if we want Americans to keep believing in the American dream, policymakers at all levels must stop inhibiting young people’s suburban aspirations.

As Tom Wofe wrote in his epochal 1976 article on “The ‘Me’ Decade:”

I can remember what brave plans visionary architects at Yale and Harvard still had for the common man in the early 1950s. (They actually used the term “common man.”) They had brought the utopian socialist dream forward into the twentieth century. They had things figured out for the workingman down to truly minute details such as lamp switches. The new liberated workingman would live as the Cultivated Ascetic. He would be modeled on the B.A.-degree Greenwich Village bohemian of the late 1940s—dark wool Hudson Bay shirts, tweed jackets, flannel trousers, briarwood pipes, good books, sandals and simplicity—except that he would live in a Worker Housing project. All Yale and Harvard architects worshiped Bauhaus principles and had the Bauhaus vision of Worker Housing. The Bauhaus movement absolutely hypnotized American architects, once its leaders, such as Walter Gropius and Ludwig Miës van der Rohe, came to the United States from Germany in the 1930s. Worker Housing in America would have pure beige rooms, stripped, freed, purged of all moldings, cornices, and overhangs—which Gropius regarded as symbolic “crowns” and therefore loathsome. Worker Housing would be liberated from all wallpaper, “drapes,” Wilton rugs with flowers on them, lamps with fringed shades and bases that looked like vases or Greek columns. It would be cleansed of all doilies, knickknacks, mantelpieces, headboards, and radiator covers. Radiator coils would be left bare as honest, abstract sculptural objects.

But somehow the workers, incurable slobs that they were, avoided Worker Housing, better known as “the projects,” as if it had a smell. They were heading out instead to the suburbs—the suburbs!—to places like Islip, Long Island, and the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles—and buying houses with clapboard siding and a high-pitched roof and shingles and gaslight-style front-porch lamps and mailboxes set up on top of lengths of stiffened chain that seemed to defy gravity and all sorts of other unbelievably cute or antiquey touches, and they loaded these houses up with “drapes” such as baffled all description and wall-to-wall carpet you could lose a shoe in, and they put barbecue pits and fish ponds with concrete cherubs urinating into them on the lawn out back, and they parked 25-foot-long cars out front and Evinrude cruisers up on tow trailers in the carport just beyond the breezeway.

And the left are still furious about what Wolfe later dubbed the “Escape to Islip,” as Russ Greene notes in his Free Press article:

And the theft of the suburban dream has even more to do with local policy than state and federal regulations. NIMBYism, or local opposition to new development, has reduced and sometimes zeroed out the amount of developable land in many areas, driving home prices skyward.

It gets worse. Environmentalists and urbanists are often explicitly opposed to pillars of suburbia, such as sprawl and cars. And the surging Democratic Socialists of America are prone to seeing American suburbs as the root of all evil. The left-wing vanguard’s ideas may not be broadly popular, but thanks to our political system, it can exert outsize influence on policy outcomes.

Yes, that worked out well in 2020:

Posted at 7:44 am by Ed Driscoll