August 18, 2026

COLEMAN HUGHES: Why the Left Needed to Believe in Jason Arday.

The Jason Arday scandal has left the academic world reeling. Found dead in his family’s apartment last Friday, Arday has been the subject of intense scrutiny over the past month. Appointed in 2023 as Cambridge University’s youngest-ever black professor, he faced extensive and credible allegations of plagiarism that exploded into public view last month. Those allegations led to public interest in the (literally) incredible details of his life. Arday claimed to have run 600 miles in six days—which would make him one of the best ultra-marathon runners on Earth. He claimed that he couldn’t speak until the age of 11 and couldn’t read until 18, but somehow managed to complete a PhD around 30. And he claimed to have raised the equivalent of several million U.S. dollars for charity.

Jason Arday was either the most interesting man in the world, or he was a liar. It turned out to be the latter.

All this has revealed many unflattering things about academia: DEI invites fraud by lowering standards, the bigotry of low expectations is alive and well, and a disturbing number of “experts”—not just Arday but all the Cambridge professors and BBC journalists who co-signed him—are compromised by ideology, cowardice, or both.

But the Arday scandal has also revealed something else: White liberals in the English-speaking world want to believe in the archetype of the up-from-nothing black intellectual who, despite huge disadvantages, goes on to achieve greatness. In fact, they want to believe in this sort of story so badly that they are willing to turn off every ounce of skepticism that they would normally bring to bear on fantastical claims.

The irony, however, is that we already have many examples of up-from-nothing black intellectuals who go on to greatness. It’s just that they usually turn out to be conservatives—or if not conservatives, then at least out-of-step with the left-wing religion of racial justice.

QED:

And conversely, Nathan Cofnas, the American expat professor who originally exposed Arday’s numerous lies is currently being demonized by a combination of those who desperately wanted to believe, and the mob they’ve ginned up for this week’s outrage of the century:

 

As Iowahawk has said:

That neatly sums up Cambridge’s transformation, which is why Arday’s tragic suicide is such a useful vehicle for the British left to deflect from the far bigger picture.

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll

I CERTAINLY HOPE NOT: Poland Says Major Russian Provocation Could Be Months Away.

Tomczyk said Poland’s government and military are no longer treating a confrontation with Russia as an unthinkable scenario.

Warsaw is actively planning for how the country would operate under the worst possible conditions, even as officials hope those preparations never have to be put into practice.

“We are preparing for war, hoping that it will never begin,” Tomczyk said.

Poland’s preparations extend well beyond its armed forces. According to the deputy minister, Warsaw is also strengthening the country’s energy sector and critical infrastructure against the possibility of future aggression.

Si vis pacem, para bellum, as they say.

Posted at 7:33 am by Stephen Green

LIKELY STORY:

“Median Strategies was created as a short term social experiment to examine how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification,” the company said in an email to The Times. “We are not seeking publicity or attribution for the individuals involved and are declining interviews.”

Well.

Posted at 7:18 am by Stephen Green

THEY’RE TRYING TO CLAIM THAT EVEN ASKING THE QUESTION IS TANTAMOUNT TO MURDER: How Endemic Is Fraud in Prestige Academia?

But the answer is “very.” And, as with the Bellesiles scandal in the early days of InstaPundit, the fellow guild members cover for the perp until doing so becomes utterly untenable.

Posted at 7:09 am by Glenn Reynolds

August 17, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

Posted at 9:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

SENDING PRAYERS AND GOOD WISHES:

This, by the way, is the Brad Todd who wrote that terrific 109 Minutes essay right after 9/11.

Posted at 9:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

YES LISA, WOMEN DO STRANGLE:

Posted at 7:23 pm by Helen Smith

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO: In-person, open-mike, no-holds-barred Town Halls in which citizens ask the senators or representatives why they voted they way they did in Congress on issues important to their state or district? Suddenly in August 2026, almost nobody in Congress is holding these VIP events.

Posted at 6:07 pm by Mark Tapscott

NIFTY: Newest Drone Killer: AI Rifle Scopes. “‘Smart rifle’ technology seems to have finally arrived in the form of an “AI” enhanced scope that still requires you to pull the trigger, but picks the optimal time to actually fire to take out drones.”

Would it work on woodpeckers? Asking for a friend.

Posted at 5:52 pm by Stephen Green

JON OSSOFF’S GROSS INSINUATION ABOUT TRUMP AND ASSISTANT GETS DEMOLISHED — INCLUDING BY TRUMP:

Robby Starbuck pointed out how Natalie Harp had survived bone cancer because of the Right to Try Act that Trump signed into law.

“He should apologize to Natalie for doing this. I don’t think any of us would want our daughters talked about like this,” Starbuck said.

Then Trump himself nuked Ossoff into next week. His response was perhaps the best. He refused to give Ossoff the response he wanted.

Instead, Trump just dismissed Ossoff as “Pee Wee Herman,” saying they had more important things to do than deal with Ossoff. So if Ossoff was trying to get his goat, that was the best response, treating him like the joke that he is.

Trump’s nicknames for his opponents have a tendency to be permanent – I hope it was worth it for those who program his teleprompter:

Tweet concludes, “it tells me everyone in the Ossoff campaign is letting the 2028 hype go to their head way too much and way too quickly. Not ready for prime time.”

Posted at 5:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

GREAT MOMENTS IN HARD-HITTING JOURNALISM:

Presumably, Becerra serves as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views, to coin a phrase.

Posted at 5:14 pm by Ed Driscoll