October 5, 2026

ICYMI: USA TODAY BRINGS COMMON SENSE: The ‘Cornell 7’ haven’t been charged. The mob doesn’t care: What’s most troubling in the Cornell University rape allegations is that onlookers have already made up their minds about who is to blame. “The pictures of these young men who have not been charged, not been adjudicated, are being plastered all over the internet. I think people are reporting this story inaccurately. I think they are reporting it unfairly. And while this is something that we have to take very seriously, there is no way, according to her statement in 2024, that any prosecutor would have brought this court case.”

The important part is activating the Dems’ psychotic-women base between now and election day.

Posted at 8:09 am by Glenn Reynolds

JONATHAN TURLEY: The blue-state model for education has failed, and the public has caught on. “New polling shows that K-12 education has now reached a record low in the number of people who are even “somewhat satisfied” with the state of education in the U.S. What is most troubling is that the near-total contempt for our school system does not make a bit of difference. Families and students have become largely irrelevant to an education cartel, a self-sustaining, self-perpetuating political alliance of unions and politicians.”

Posted at 8:00 am by Glenn Reynolds

WHO KNEW HE WAS “FAR RIGHT” DECADES AGO?

Posted at 7:47 am by Glenn Reynolds

DID HE NOT EVEN EVER WATCH HOGAN’S HEROES RERUNS?

Posted at 7:47 am by Stephen Green

IT’S REALLY LONG:  I’ve been reading through the Report of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans.  It’s well over 1000 pages long (and printed in a way that makes it more like 2000 pages of an ordinary book).  I probably won’t be able to read every single line of it, but I will try to read as much as I can.  Somebody has to, and it’s up my alley, so I should be the one.

The report is already three years old.  I skimmed it when it came out, but at that point I didn’t have enough time to do more.  I was hoping that it wouldn’t be acted on and that I would never have to go back to it.  Alas, that has not been the case, so now that my own book is finished and a few other projects are under control, I’m trying to make the time to read and to some degree respond to the report.

I’ll be very surprised if the proposals for direct cash payments to the descendants of slaves get anywhere, but there are other aspects of the report that have already been enacted.  (And I’m often surprised at what the California Legislature does, so don’t assume I’m right that direct cash payments were dead on arrival.)

So far, the most notable success of the Task Force occurred in 2025 when Gavin Newsom approved a law creating a Bureau of Descendants of American Slavery.  Once a bureaucracy is established, it is nearly impossible to stop it from advancing its purposes in some way.  At the same time, Newsom also  signed a bill that allocated $6 Million to Cal State University to research methods for determining who is a descendant of an American slave and who isn’t. So things are moving ahead.

But he also vetoed several bills—including one that would have authorized the University of California to discriminate in favor of the descendants of slaves—in part because he understood that Prop 209 is a potential obstacle to such a scheme. Alas, that may explain why this year’s big push from reparations supporters was to authorize  another referendum to gut Proposition 209.  The new referendum will go on the ballot in 2028.

Meanwhile, another reparations success happened a couple days ago.  Newsom signed a bill that requires corporations to disclose past profits from slavery.  It’s obvious where that is intended to go.

Our Golden State legislators just can’t seem to stop themselves.  This stuff will never end.

I hope to report back a little on the reparations report when I get a further in.  But I already find myself occasionally taking a break to look for homes for sale in other, less crazy, states, so it may take a while.

Posted at 7:42 am by Gail Heriot

I BELIEVE THE SOCIETAL/RELATIONAL DAMAGE IS ACTUALLY THE POINT:

The purpose of a system is what it does.

Related:

Posted at 7:39 am by Glenn Reynolds

FRAUD ALL THE WAY DOWN: ‘Phantom’ ObamaCare accounts spark new crackdown as Oz targets broker fraud.

Oz told Fox News Digital that the administration is encouraging health insurance companies to get involved in the anti-fraud push.

“From now on, we’re asking insurance companies to work with brokers who record the conversations,” Oz said.

“Why wouldn’t you?” he said. “What are you nervous about? What are you worried about? Why don’t you want me to hear what you discussed?”

The move would help create transparency among the recipients who are applying to receive aid through Obamacare, ideally showing that the customer authorizing the transaction is verifiable and actually qualifies for the program.

Oz is throwing sand into the gears of Obama’s well-oiled fraud machine.

Good.

Posted at 7:32 am by Stephen Green

IT’S ALL POLITICS NOW:

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

NOT ENOUGH, PERHAPS:

Posted at 7:16 am by Stephen Green

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The End of College as We Know It: AI is wreaking havoc in universities, but higher ed’s woes long predate ChatGPT.

What’s the matter with universities? Syracuse missed its 2026 enrollment target and may run a $30 million deficit. Minnesota is cutting its budget by $225 million over two years. Tulsa is slashing tuition by more than half. Colleges enroll 4.2% fewer undergraduates than last year. Cornell, Yale, Vanderbilt and Washington University in St. Louis put out plans—not radical enough, if you ask me—to reimagine the university. Wossamotta U?

Colleges are known for left-leaning professors, speech suppression, bizarre courses—Occidental College taught “The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie”—and easy grading more than critical thinking, judgment and problem solving. It’s easy to blame artificial intelligence, but problems run deeper. . . .

According to Gallup, in 2013, 70% of Americans said college was very important. Today it’s only 31%. If universities don’t change, more than a few will implode, while others will wither away over decades. AI and alternative forms of learning are already rising. Something radical is needed to stop the decay of our once great universities. Who will step up?

Who indeed? The link above is supposed to be a free link, but in case it doesn’t work for you, you can read the whole article here, too. And you should.

Posted at 7:03 am by Glenn Reynolds

ON SUNDAYS I RUN A PROMO POST FOR (MOSTLY) INDIE AUTHORS:  Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

Turns out the email has been doing very weird things, including at least one totally inappropriate automated response. I didn’t notice because we were doing a dance of houses (between houses, more like.) If you’ve sent something to the promo and been ignored, please send again.

Posted at 7:00 am by Sarah Hoyt

COMPARE AND CONTRAST:

Posted at 7:00 am by Glenn Reynolds

AS IF COMMIE MAMDANI KNOWS SQUAT ABOUT DIGNITY:   Socialist Mayor Mamdani: Government’s Job Is to Deliver ‘Whatever You Need’ for a Dignified Life.

Posted at 5:29 am by Sarah Hoyt