THE MORNING RANT: Trump’s Education Department Cuts Off Low-Paying Degrees from Federal Student Loan Program

THE MORNING RANT: Trump’s Education Department Cuts Off Low-Paying Degrees from Federal Student Loan Program – Exploitative Universities Hardest Hit

Universities have been enriching themselves by financially exploiting naive teenagers with unconscionable levels of student debt. It is evil how the predators in financial aid offices have been saddling teenagers with six-figure debt loads for degrees that won’t even produce jobs that can repay those loans.

President Trump is finally pushing back on this abuse. His Department of Education is going to use IRS data to gauge income for the first four years after graduation. For degrees that don’t produce a baseline compensation equal to high school graduates’ income, those degrees will no longer be eligible for federal student loans. These targeted degrees will likely include social work, teaching, and various artistic degrees.

Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. https://t.co/6tV30STfyc
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) September 28, 2026

The left’s loyalty to the education cartel has them up in arms, as if this action is punishing social workers and teachers rather than protecting them. The New Republic echoes this view, ”While the Trump administration is framing the policy as ‘accountability’ for higher education, and some are welcoming the move, others see it as an attack on those whose work is important regardless of salary.”

This is actually just the opposite. Rather than being “an attack on those whose work is important regardless of salary,” Trump’s actions will stop the exploitation of those students by universities loading them up with debt.

It is also exploitative that many of these low-paying jobs require Masters degrees. While there is a real-world need for social workers, it is beyond preposterous that a social worker must have six years of higher education to get the masters degree necessary for a clinical position. An engineering, architecture, or accounting degree doesn’t require that much class time. It may feel flattering to a social worker that the job is deemed so important that it requires a masters-level education, but the reality is that the social worker is being bankrupted by a corrupt system.

Be it social work, teaching, accounting, or finance, there is no need for the legacy university model. I have hired plenty of people with accounting and finance degrees over the years. They went through the very expensive four-year (or longer) college credentialing process, even though they only took a handful of classes specific to their degree. A much better system would be specialized schools providing the core education in just 12 or 18 months. (Much of this could obviously be done online.) As for the fine arts, it is well past time to divorce them from universities and bring back conservatories.

The commercial pilot training pipeline is already pretty much divorced from universities, and it works well. It is not necessary to have a college degree to become a commercial airline pilot, and it is possible to get all the training, certification, and flight hours that are necessary within two years. Yes, there is a cost, perhaps $100k or so, but this compares favorably to the cost of college, especially when considering the compensation once employed. Entry-level pay for a commuter pilot is now about $90k, rising to about $200K as a First Officer at a major airline, and much higher than that when Captain level is achieved.

Trump’s ban on providing student loans for degrees that lead to low-wage careers is a start. The next step is to eliminate all federally-backed student loans. If universities believe that their students should be taking on debt to get a degree, those schools can go ahead and guaranty privately-funded student loans.

But what about “the college experience?” It should be considered another artifact of the post-war 20th Century. No matter how nostalgic Boomers and Gen-Xers may be about their college years, the modern version of “the college experience” (e.g. overpriced political indoctrination by day, and intoxicant-fueled bacchanal by night) is not worth the suffocating debt burden that will impede homeownership, family formation, and wealth accumulation.

It’s also preposterous that a Social Worker must have a Masters Degree for most positions. It takes more years of higher ed to become a social worker than to get a degree in architecture. That is unnecessary & exploitative.
— Buck Throckmorton (@BuckThrockmort) September 28, 2026

*****

Throckmorton’s First Law of Live Music: “If There’s an Upright Bass in the Band, It’s Probably Going to be Good”

If you were online over the weekend, there’s a good chance that Buddy Mac (the Ten-Gallon Troubadour) found his way into your feed.

If you haven’t heard him yet, take a listen to this short clip and you’ll understand why Buddy and his voice have gone viral, stirring a blood memory of America’s heritage for so many Americans.

Anyways, here’s wonderwall… #cowpoke #yodel #country #western #tengallonhat https://t.co/dG5C2KIvWd
— Buddy Mac (@TenGallonTroub) October 3, 2026

I was in college in the ‘80s when I saw a campy cowboy band named Riders in the Sky perform at the university’s student union, bringing old western music to a new audience. The Riders have since become beloved members of the Grand Old Opry, but they are no longer young buckaroos. I wondered if anyone would come along with a style that could keep that music alive. I think we’ve found our man.

Here is another great clip of Buddy Mac performing with his band, The Ten-Gallon Troubadors.

My Ten-Gallon Troubadours and I are hitting the recording studio later this month to begin recording an EP of honky Tonk heartbreak songs. Here’s just a small snippet of our original song “Heaven Knows”. https://t.co/Fjgy6fRoOR
— Buddy Mac (@TenGallonTroub) October 4, 2026

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Yep

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at October 05, 2026 11:01 AM (9SiAB)

2 Just ban the loans. Colleges will adjust...or they won't.

Posted by: t-bird at October 05, 2026 11:02 AM (qTrmL)

3 Yo Buck!

Posted by: grass monkey at October 05, 2026 11:02 AM (eP4XR)

4 Trump’s Education Department Cuts Off Low-Paying Degrees from Federal Student Loan Program

Well that's rayciss

Posted by: blaster at October 05, 2026 11:03 AM (xhfG9)

5 Government picking winners and losers again.
Congress should get out of the education game 100%.

Posted by: torabora at October 05, 2026 11:03 AM (7Wope)

6
The college debt scam has hurt so many kids. Glad the Bad Orange Man is fixing it.

Posted by: BifBewalski - at October 05, 2026 11:05 AM (iIHmn)

7 THE MORNING RANT: Trump’s Education Department Cuts Off Low-Paying Degrees from Federal Student Loan Program – Exploitative Universities Hardest Hit

***********

This shall not stand!!

Posted by: Fellowship of seventh-year senior sidewalk chalk artist majors at October 05, 2026 11:05 AM (I0N4X)

8 At bottom, almost all our problems are caused by Congress.

Posted by: torabora at October 05, 2026 11:05 AM (7Wope)

9 But...but...but...you HAVE to subsidize us! It's in the Constitution!

Posted by: Crappy students at crappy schools at October 05, 2026 11:06 AM (Riz8t)

10 Hawaii judge will fix that.

Should simply require colleges to co-sign the loan before the tuition is disbursed to the institution.

Posted by: actually inside the beltway at October 05, 2026 11:06 AM (MmTZZ)

11
Well that's rayciss
Posted by: blaster

But ma tag team under arm sniffing studies degree!

Posted by: BifBewalski - at October 05, 2026 11:06 AM (iIHmn)

12 Buddy Mac makes me want to call them thar doggies:

"Hooo, doggie doggie doggies! Hoo doggies, hoo doggies!"

Posted by: Boswell at October 05, 2026 11:06 AM (NTVPI)

13 The Mob was less predatory than colleges and gummint when it comes to loan-sharking.

Posted by: Big Tony's EZ Termz at October 05, 2026 11:06 AM (EdP2u)

14 Hawaii judge will fix that.

Should simply require colleges to co-sign the loan before the tuition is disbursed to the institution.

What would they pay it back with? Hot, steamy nights with a coed?

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:07 AM (Riz8t)

15 Earning potential? We don' need no steenking earning potential!"

Posted by: Fellowship of seventh-year senior sidewalk chalk artist majors at October 05, 2026 11:07 AM (I0N4X)

16 At bottom, almost all our problems are caused by Congress.
Posted by: torabora

"I have come to the conclusion that one idle man is a disgrace, two are a law firm, and three or more become a Congress."
-- John Adams in 1776

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 11:07 AM (77rzZ)

17 Buddy Mac makes me want to call them thar doggies:

"Hooo, doggie doggie doggies! Hoo doggies, hoo doggies!"

Wrong! The phrase is "wheeeee, doggies".

Posted by: Jed Clampett at October 05, 2026 11:08 AM (Riz8t)

18 As for the fine arts, it is well past time to divorce them from universities and bring back conservatories.

sounds like something a right-winger would say.

Posted by: septum ring liberation front at October 05, 2026 11:08 AM (oY6Yp)

19 Here is another great clip of Buddy Mac performing with his band, The Ten-Gallon Troubadors.

Yeah, I like that sound. I wonder if he ever regrets choosing that hat for his identity.

Posted by: t-bird at October 05, 2026 11:08 AM (qTrmL)

20 14 What would they pay it back with? Hot, steamy nights with a coed?

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:07 AM (Riz8t)

=======

Average endowment of US universities is about $560 million.

If the universities believe in their product, the risk will be minimal.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:08 AM (42WUB)

21 This. I voted for this.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 05, 2026 11:09 AM (FAGAJ)

22 Trump shouldn't waste time on this. It's baked in the cake by Congress.
And the Courts....who ruled Pedro's illegal alien rugrats get free taxpayer paid education even though the STATE, not Federal government pays for it. That SCOTUS decision was unconstitutional on its face!
This shit just makes my blood boil.

Posted by: torabora at October 05, 2026 11:09 AM (7Wope)

23 You, too, can make 120 G's a year teaching Lesbian Eskimo Poetry at Community College!

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 05, 2026 11:09 AM (i9VX2)

24 It’s also preposterous that a Social Worker must have a Masters Degree for most positions. It takes more years of higher ed to become a social worker than to get a degree in architecture. That is unnecessary & exploitative.

It's a Guild, implemented to choke off supply and keep salaries way above what can be justified by their skill sets. See also, Teacher Unions.

Posted by: Jed Clampett at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (Riz8t)

25 The college experience.
Harrumph!
Used to be there was a high school experience. Remember the song line "Be true to your school!"
Now far too many high schools are just the communist teachers union turning out new members of the Komsomol.

Posted by: Diogenes at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (2WIwB)

26 > The left’s loyalty to the education cartel has them up in arms, as if this action is punishing social workers and teachers rather than protecting them.
----------
Respectfully, IMO it's the other way around. The education cartel is loyal to the left. After all; the left took it over... mostly in its entirety.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (RORbl)

27 Ban student loans for law schools too.

Make John Morgan pay for them.

For The People!

Posted by: Hot Beds Of Democrat Funny Money at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (Al3kG)

28 22 Trump shouldn't waste time on this. It's baked in the cake by Congress.
And the Courts....who ruled Pedro's illegal alien rugrats get free taxpayer paid education even though the STATE, not Federal government pays for it. That SCOTUS decision was unconstitutional on its face!
This shit just makes my blood boil.

Posted by: torabora at October 05, 2026 11:09 AM (7Wope)

=======

"Don't do a death by a thousand cuts. Wait for the perfect environment to kill with one death blow."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (42WUB)

29 Cowboy Poets hardest hit.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (1ikK2)

30 The commercial pilot training pipeline is already pretty much divorced from universities, and it works well. It is not necessary to have a college degree to become a commercial airline pilot, and it is possible to get all the training, certification, and flight hours that are necessary within two years.

I thought most commercial pilots were ex military?

Posted by: rickb223 at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (y3C0K)

31 The college loan scam is a filthy racket that should be burned and salted and then shit on.

But the students -- and their parents -- deserve a fat heaping of blame too. They are the ones willingly taking out tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of loans to finance a degree in Jobless Studies.

Plus, many of them also borrow more than the tuition, so they can use that money for apartments, entertainment, and K to snort off frat guys' dicks.

I have little sympathy for them.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at October 05, 2026 11:11 AM (iFTx/)

32 For those of you keeping score at home, I'm still not tired of all the winning.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 05, 2026 11:11 AM (2Ez/1)

33 At bottom, almost all our problems are caused by Congress.
Posted by: torabora at October 05, 2026 11:05 AM

Yeah, but we had to sign NDAs about that.

Posted by: Congressional interns with sore asses at October 05, 2026 11:11 AM (FAGAJ)

34 That's the first 55-gallon hat I've ever seen!

Posted by: Fellowship of seventh-year senior sidewalk chalk artist majors at October 05, 2026 11:11 AM (I0N4X)

35 Can you imagine America if the Manson Family had all gone to kollege instead of Spann Ranch?

Posted by: torabora at October 05, 2026 11:12 AM (7Wope)

36 Damn it! The hash is back to FAGAJ.

F*ck Mondays.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 05, 2026 11:12 AM (FAGAJ)

37 "The education department should do nothing to advance our interests. It should remain still, playing possum, until Congress decides to undo major legislation which is surely to happen any day now."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:12 AM (42WUB)

38 Universities have been enriching themselves by financially exploiting naive teenagers with unconscionable levels of student debt."

Yeah. Sure.

/taxpayers on the hook

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:12 AM (+imBs)

39 /Off stinky chalk artist sock

Posted by: muldoon at October 05, 2026 11:13 AM (I0N4X)

40 That's the first 55-gallon hat I've ever seen!
Posted by: Fellowship of seventh-year senior sidewalk chalk artist majors at October 05, 2026 11:11 AM (I0N4X)
*****
Here, hold my beer.

Posted by: Iranian Mullahs, gay and otherwise at October 05, 2026 11:14 AM (7Wope)

41 The college experience.
Harrumph!
Used to be there was a high school experience. Remember the song line "Be true to your school!"
Now far too many high schools are just the communist teachers union turning out new members of the Komsomol.
Posted by: Diogenes

My wife unearthed three of my high-school yearbooks over the weekend. I had a great time going through them and rediscovering people I had completely forgotten about.

I had a pretty good time in high school, so it brought back a lot of happy memories.

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 11:15 AM (77rzZ)

42 A sizable fraction of the Left is employed by colleges and universities, which are in the process of imploding.

They are terrified.

The number of 18-year-olds is dropping, males are increasingly disinclined to go to college, foreign students are harder to come by, and people are increasingly avoiding useless majors.

Note that they are furiously defending majors at schools whose graduates make less on average than a high school graduate.

You'd think that not subsidizing majors that decrease your earnings prospects over not going to college at all would be an incredibly low bar, but no matter - they all have to be defended.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at October 05, 2026 11:15 AM (aD4fx)

43 Me and the husband are still paying off our student loans.

Posted by: The Lightworker at October 05, 2026 11:16 AM (7Wope)

44 xtwit doesnt work for me at all. It's like a far off place that I'll never see.

*cues up "Over The Rainbow"*

Posted by: fd at October 05, 2026 11:16 AM (MWfyi)

45 As for the fine arts, it is well past time to divorce them from universities and bring back conservatories

YESSSSSS

thanks for the links to Buddy! LOVE this guy

plus he's exactly my "type" lol

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:16 AM (j+aD2)

46 How dare you suggest the Teacher's Unions aren't politically neutral! Here's Randi Weingarten demonstrating that it's all about the children, not politics:

https://tinyurl.com/4896dpyx

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:16 AM (Riz8t)

47 I didn't live long enough to pay off my student loans.

Posted by: George Washington at October 05, 2026 11:17 AM (7Wope)

48 It's a good plan. I might have gone a different way. Say, crucifying those who enroll in these programs outside the windows of the school administrators. But still, this is also a good plan.

Posted by: guy who really likes a good crucifixion at October 05, 2026 11:17 AM (0JMN/)

49 thanks for the links to Buddy! LOVE this guy

plus he's exactly my "type" lol
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:16 AM (j+aD2)

We need some Junior Brown in this thread.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 05, 2026 11:17 AM (i9VX2)

50 But what about “the college experience?”

Is that the only place one can snort ketamine off a guy's crank?

/ just asking

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:18 AM (+imBs)

51 You, too, can make 120 G's a year teaching Lesbian Eskimo Poetry at Community College!

********

It's a self-licking ~~ice cream cone~~ Eskimo Pie™!

Posted by: The guy who used to call everything a self-licking ice cream cone at October 05, 2026 11:19 AM (I0N4X)

52 students are happy to do the extra two years of a masters in social work bc it will delay repayment of the undergrad loans

heh

I'm so happy with all these changes

the sad part for us here is that Drexel's much-deserved downfall is taking our Natural History Museum with it. it sucks. but if it means Drexel is circling the drain, good.

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:19 AM (j+aD2)

53 Giving an 18 year old with no assets $250K or more in loans so he can get a job paying $60k in 6 years is insane.

He'd do better dropping it in an SP500 fund. And amusingly no way a bank would let you do that

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:19 AM (sKqQm)

54 But what about “the college experience?”

Experience all the college you want, dude, just don't demand that I pay for it.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:20 AM (Riz8t)

55 You, too, can make 120 G's a year teaching Lesbian Eskimo Poetry at Community College!
----

Did you know the Eskimos have 8 different words for...er...nevermind.

Posted by: Crusader at October 05, 2026 11:20 AM (TN0g+)

56 Is that the only place one can snort ketamine off a guy's crank?

Not at all! Well, at least if you are black

Posted by: Ed Buck at October 05, 2026 11:20 AM (sKqQm)

57 They are terrified.

The number of 18-year-olds is dropping, "

You know, demonizing the family might not have been the best move....

/dept of higher ed

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:20 AM (+imBs)

58 60K ain't what it used to be.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 11:20 AM (1ikK2)

59
Experience all the college you want, dude, just don't demand that I pay for it.

This is actually hitting a core leftwing view of the world - I don't have a right to do something if that doesn't include someone else paying for it

Look at their arguments for rights to healthcare, abortion, etc...

Posted by: Ed Buck at October 05, 2026 11:21 AM (sKqQm)

60 plus he's exactly my "type" lol

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:16 AM (j+aD2

Wait I thought I was your type. I can't sing for shit, but I can play chopsticks!!

Posted by: ... at October 05, 2026 11:21 AM (FnbEu)

61 Huh. Reading Jim Henson's Wikipedia page. He graduated from the University of Mayland with a degree in home economics.

Didn't know you could ever get a college degree in home ec. I guess that would make sense for a coed seeking an MRS degree. At least it's a useful field.

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 11:21 AM (77rzZ)

62 Why do I find that ill fitting suit on the ten gallon hat guy so disturbing? The whole thing is too cartoonish by half. Second clip is less weird, but get to a tailor.

Posted by: Bilwis - Wizard of Clwyd at October 05, 2026 11:21 AM (r7+Q7)

63 Wait I thought I was your type. I can't sing for shit, but I can play chopsticks!!

haha! no I have this predilection for not-tall stocky dark slavic looking guys for some reason

I assume a lot of them arrived on the Italian coast on funny boats?

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:22 AM (j+aD2)

64 It's a self-licking ice cream cone Eskimo Pie™!

Egyptology is still a pyramid scheme...

(Yeah, I've used that before)

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:22 AM (+imBs)

65 In my state 59K is entry level for a corrections officer.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 11:22 AM (1ikK2)

66 You, too, can make 120 G's a year teaching Lesbian Eskimo Poetry at Community College!

It's actually 20K as an adjunct - a lot of useless Ph.D. programs need to be shut down too.

Somebody did a study of all the Political Science Ph.D.s graduating one recent year. (I'm doing this off of memory, so I may be off by a percent or two.)

38% of the minorities got tenure-track positions.
36% of the white women got tenure-track positions.
18% of the white men got tenure-track positions.

Burn it down.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at October 05, 2026 11:24 AM (aD4fx)

67 Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:22 AM (j+aD2)

For me it's redheads who can sing, I would not have made a good sailor.

Posted by: ... at October 05, 2026 11:24 AM (FnbEu)

68 I was on a tenure track as an undergrad.

It took me ten ures to graduate.

Posted by: stu-mick-o-sucks at October 05, 2026 11:24 AM (MDua2)

69 My daughter went to Franciscan Univ. in Steubenville for nursing. Had a great nursing program there. But, they also offered degrees in evangelization, music ministry, youth ministry, etc. While I'm all in on propagating the faith, how is it anyone can expect to pay the student loans for a job that pays < $20k/year?

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at October 05, 2026 11:24 AM (N39Ws)

70 Egyptology is still a pyramid scheme...

(Yeah, I've used that before)
Posted by: man

Why did the archaeologists steal King Tut's underwear?

Because it was loot of the tomb.

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 11:24 AM (77rzZ)

71 At the local university where I don't teach anymore except for when i need beer money, but now don't teach at all 'cause I'm retired...they publish a quarterly magazine for students, alumni and faculty. The latest one has a calendar of all speaking events for the year. It is as you might imagine: Diversity this...Antifa that...BLM and you...
Not one single speaker is scheduled that might discuss European History, America in the 21st Century, or something like What does Success Look Like in 2030?
In fact, it essentially tells you that white students need not attend.
Despicable.

Posted by: Diogenes at October 05, 2026 11:25 AM (2WIwB)

72 The federal government should have never been in the student loan business in the first place. We can thank obama for that, he cut the federal guarantee student loan program that let private banks make loans to students at low interest rates so he could have the government loan the money directly to students.

We need to get the government out of the student loan business and then the college/university market would sort itself out quickly.

An added benefit from that would be the elimination of all of the dei garbage and the marxist indoctrination that students are subject to.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at October 05, 2026 11:25 AM (I43vL)

73 Somebody did a study of all the Political Science Ph.D.s graduating one recent year. (I'm doing this off of memory, so I may be off by a percent or two.)

38% of the minorities got tenure-track positions.
36% of the white women got tenure-track positions.
18% of the white men got tenure-track positions.

Having college degrees where the primary role people with that degree are trying to get is to teach that degree seem to be something of an issue

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:26 AM (sKqQm)

74 72
We need to get the government out of the student loan business and then the college/university market would sort itself out quickly.

An added benefit from that would be the elimination of all of the dei garbage and the marxist indoctrination that students are subject to.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at October 05, 2026 11:25 AM (I43vL)

=

It was an act of Congress that got the feds in. It'll take an act of Congress to get it out.

Think Thom Tillis will vote for that?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:26 AM (42WUB)

75 What's the difference between a pickpocket and a peeping Tom?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 11:26 AM (1ikK2)

76 None of which will matter if Congress fails again to enact legislation. The GOPe is poop, but the commies are worse. Here we are stuck in the muddle again.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at October 05, 2026 11:26 AM (nEUC6)

77 My daughter went to Franciscan Univ. in Steubenville for nursing. Had a great nursing program there. But, they also offered degrees in evangelization, music ministry, youth ministry, etc. While I'm all in on propagating the faith, how is it anyone can expect to pay the student loans for a job that pays

The real question is "does this area of study really require a degree program, and if so, why can't it be completed at night, after a day's work?".

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:26 AM (Riz8t)

78 Why did the archaeologists steal King Tut's underwear?

Because it was loot of the tomb."

Cursed, that is...

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:27 AM (+imBs)

79 Steve Martin's King Tut.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 11:28 AM (1ikK2)

80 Having college degrees where the primary role people with that degree are trying to get is to teach that degree seem to be something of an issue

It's an Ouroboros.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:28 AM (Riz8t)

81 /I hate changing socks!

Posted by: muldoon at October 05, 2026 11:28 AM (I0N4X)

82 Having college degrees where the primary role people with that degree are trying to get is to teach that degree seem to be something of an issue"

Thus pyramid scheme....

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:28 AM (+imBs)

83 76 None of which will matter if Congress fails again to enact legislation. The GOPe is poop, but the commies are worse. Here we are stuck in the muddle again.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at October 05, 2026 11:26 AM (nEUC6)

========

Thom Tillis is literally a Democrat, recruited by Democrats to run as a Republican in a House race in NC which launched his federal career.

Murkowski is just a Democrat.

Mitch will oppose just about everything Trump supports.

Ernst will try to sabotage it behind the scenes.

Cassidy will vote against anything.

Cornyn will vote against anything.

Five of the above 6 are gone next Congress. The sixth hopefully leaves at the end of 2028.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:28 AM (42WUB)

84 77
The real question is "does this area of study really require a degree program, and if so, why can't it be completed at night, after a day's work?".
Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:26 AM (Riz8t)

Also, it is a very expensive path to a Mrs Degree.

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at October 05, 2026 11:28 AM (N39Ws)

85 18% of the white men got tenure-track positions.

One also wonders how many of the white men were wearing dresses and had makeup on.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at October 05, 2026 11:29 AM (aD4fx)

86 The current state of academia is, by design, churning out entire generations of young adults with zero potential. They get a useless degree in some sort of "studies" and immediately think they're entitled to a C-Suite corner office. The reality sinks in after a few interviews, maybe even some in person, where they're demonstrated to be incapable of even the most basic work and have zero work ethic.

They then get pissed off, join up with like minded people who protest, get free meals and a place to sleep as long as they riot on command and throw rocks at ICE.

They've been conditioned over most of their lives to believe they're "owed" something from the rest of us, from the government, etc. They're a resentful bunch.

Is it any wonder Socialism appeals to them?

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 05, 2026 11:29 AM (RORbl)

87 63 haha! no I have this predilection for not-tall stocky dark slavic looking guys for some reason

I assume a lot of them arrived on the Italian coast on funny boats?

funny weird or funny ha-ha?

Posted by: anachronda at October 05, 2026 11:29 AM (oY6Yp)

88 Five of the above 6 are gone next Congress. The sixth hopefully leaves at the end of 2028.

Nothing will happen.

Posted by: Archimedes, saving everyone the time at October 05, 2026 11:30 AM (Riz8t)

89 Kid has a good voice. Hope they do well even if the audience for that kind of thing is pretty small these days.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 05, 2026 11:30 AM (vTZFs)

90 Steve Martin's King Tut."

I still have a perfect condition Tutankhamen poster. It's worth... a buck fiddy...

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:30 AM (+imBs)

91 88 Five of the above 6 are gone next Congress. The sixth hopefully leaves at the end of 2028.

Nothing will happen.

Posted by: Archimedes, saving everyone the time at October 05, 2026 11:30 AM (Riz8t)

========

"The GOP hasn't changed since 2003, and no amount of evidence will convince me otherwise."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:30 AM (42WUB)

92 Buddy Mac’s hat is a 100-galloner…. The thing is monstrous; planet-sized

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 05, 2026 11:31 AM (UThdG)

93 81 /I hate changing socks!

have you considered sandals?

Posted by: birkenstock at October 05, 2026 11:31 AM (oY6Yp)

94 Average endowment of US universities is about $560 million.

If the universities believe in their product, the risk will be minimal.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison
======
The risk to a lot of universities is being cut off from the hordes of foreigners if OPT, H1B, etc. are cut. A lot of attendance at mediocre or worse universities is being buttressed by non-students paying full ride so that they can get into the US. They don't care about the education as much as the visa.

Same reason why even red state GOP governors, etc. pleaded with Trump to keep issuing visas to Chinese as students here.

Long run, I suspect the universities are going down a lot in status just as Henry VIII took down the monasteries and massive church presence in English economy.

They have evolved into a bureaucracy where less than fifty percent of all revenue goes into faculty and a majority of revenue is now being spent on staff and administrators.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:32 AM (E4rtv)

95 Why did the archaeologists steal King Tut's underwear?

Because it was loot of the tomb."

Cursed, that is...
Posted by: man

Hey now!!!

Posted by: Mother Mary at October 05, 2026 11:32 AM (MDua2)

96 One also wonders how many of the white men were wearing dresses and had makeup on.

When racism was a real serious thing black people sometimes pretended to be white if they could get away with it to not get penalized for being black.

Some of the women-face tranny stuff is that for white men but I'd say it is a distinct minority of trannies.

Amusingly if you are a white woman you can just claim to be bisexual even if you've only ever been romantically involved with men to get the gay creds

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:33 AM (sKqQm)

97 Denied

Posted by: Foreign Born Judge at October 05, 2026 11:33 AM (aFfLC)

98 They have evolved into a bureaucracy where less than fifty percent of all revenue goes into faculty and a majority of revenue is now being spent on staff and administrators.

Yale now has as many administrators as undergrads.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at October 05, 2026 11:33 AM (aD4fx)

99 have you considered sandals?"

Hey Dude?

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:33 AM (+imBs)

100 57 They are terrified.

The number of 18-year-olds is dropping, "

You know, demonizing the family might not have been the best move....

that's ok. we can make up for it with immigration.

Posted by: lefties at October 05, 2026 11:33 AM (oY6Yp)

101 Long run, I suspect the universities are going down a lot in status just as Henry VIII took down the monasteries and massive church presence in English economy.

My concern is that a general hostility to intellectualism will ensue. No, not the fake intellectualism of the left, but the real, hard subjects that require decades to master.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:34 AM (Riz8t)

102 Buddy Mac’s hat is a 100-galloner…. The thing is monstrous; planet-sized
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 05, 2026 11:31 AM

*perks up*

Posted by: William "Heed" MacKenzie at October 05, 2026 11:34 AM (FAGAJ)

103 @69 how is it anyone can expect to pay the student loans for a job that pays

A lot of people get degrees that don't lead to high-paying jobs, and yet repay the cost of them completely. By the same token, many take up earnest-sounding degrees and end up defaulting. If you want to be cold-blooded -- and I know you do -- the way to judge program survival is by what percentage of students take loans and default on them. I don't think "Ministry Studies" grads are high on the Slacker List, but hey, prove me wrong.

You really don't want to do that. You can't get even fast enough.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 05, 2026 11:34 AM (zdLoL)

104 Cut off federal subsidy of all student loans, allow non-governmental loans, make loans dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at October 05, 2026 11:34 AM (ylRVX)

105 >>>Is that the only place one can snort ketamine off a guy's crank?

I am disappointed that none of you have invoked the Otter defense here.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at October 05, 2026 11:34 AM (dK+Kv)

106 Election In Spain, Nov 29. May another Socialist asshole get kicked to the curb.

Posted by: Cow Demon at October 05, 2026 11:35 AM (6jna9)

107 Cut off federal subsidy of all student loans, allow non-governmental loans, make loans dischargeable in bankruptcy.

The key word here is "allow". Allow, not require. Private lenders will have no problem telling underwater lesbian basket weaving majors to pound sand.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:35 AM (Riz8t)

108 Yeah, the GOP isn't really ready to change. Remember the MAGA babes who strutted into office? The likes of MTG and her ilk. Turned out most of them were nuts. And the likes of Massey, who's a dick. While many of those clowns are being shown the door, the GOP as a whole is still populated by Olde Guard Democrats with the right lapel pin to con the rubes.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (RORbl)

109 I am disappointed that none of you have invoked the Otter defense here.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at October 05, 2026 11:34 AM (dK+Kv)

"I did it because I otter?"

Posted by: ... at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (FnbEu)

110 the hordes of foreigners if OPT, H1B, etc. are cut"

Have to. There just isn't a next generation. There is a surprising number of nearly empty schools in Houston...

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (+imBs)

111 Fully privatize student loans.

Posted by: Cow Demon at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (6jna9)

112 I thought most commercial pilots were ex military?
Posted by: rickb223 at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (y3C0K)

Not anymore. Hasn't been for quite some time.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (g8Ew8)

113 When racism was a real serious thing black people sometimes pretended to be white if they could get away with it to not get penalized for being black.

Some of the women-face tranny stuff is that for white men but I'd say it is a distinct minority of trannies.

Amusingly if you are a white woman you can just claim to be bisexual even if you've only ever been romantically involved with men to get the gay creds
Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:33 AM (sKqQm)

It was so politically incorrect but it came out in the 80s. A movie with James Earl Jones that was genuinely funny about a white kid who pretends to be black to get a special blacks-only scholarship into Harvard. It was called Soul Man… I recommend; I think it’s held up well over 40 years. Don’t think they could make it today

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (UThdG)

114 My concern is that a general hostility to intellectualism will ensue. No, not the fake intellectualism of the left, but the real, hard subjects that require decades to master.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:34 AM (Riz8t)

The pendulum swing is baked into the cake. It is a worthy sacrifice.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (dK+Kv)

115 I found the Cornell orgy case. Wait until the media finds out that at least three of the guys are almost certainly not white.

This is all an op anyway. It will suddenly disappear the day after the midterms, just like all the other "he raped me" allegations that disappear as soon as they did their job.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (iFTx/)

116 My concern is that a general hostility to intellectualism will ensue. No, not the fake intellectualism of the left, but the real, hard subjects that require decades to master.
-----

It's already there. I guarantee you the Dean of the Engineering Department doesn't have the sway within the University structure that the Dean of the Gender Studies Department has.

Posted by: Crusader at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (TN0g+)

117 There’s some misconception about what foreign students pay vs Americans.

Private universities don’t care either way. Everyone pays the same. State schools only care what state a student is from. There is in state tuition and there is out of state tuition. But there’s no international tuition. Whether you’re from the neighboring state or from China the cost is the same.

So this notion that foreigners pay more and that’s why universities want them is not really accurate.

Posted by: Foreign Born Judge at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (aFfLC)

118 You see anti-intellectualism, opposition to real erudition, all the time online. You even see it here.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (ylRVX)

119 They have evolved into a bureaucracy where less than fifty percent of all revenue goes into faculty and a majority of revenue is now being spent on staff and administrators.

Yale now has as many administrators as undergrads.
Posted by: The ARC of History!

Sounds like a work program for unemployables.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (y3C0K)

120 In my ye old days, one could afford to work part time and attend a state university. Tuition and books cost about $800 for a full load, another thousand would get you a bed and nine meals a week. Working in a restaurant would get you one of your meals each day for free.

The universities charge ridiculous amounts now because they can.

Posted by: toby928(c) at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (4NO2D)

121 34 That's the first 55-gallon hat I've ever seen!
Posted by: Fellowship of seventh-year senior sidewalk chalk artist majors

We approve wholeheartedly!

Posted by: Latvian Orthodox Prelates Everywhere at October 05, 2026 11:38 AM (EdP2u)

122
108 Yeah, the GOP isn't really ready to change. Remember the MAGA babes who strutted into office? The likes of MTG and her ilk. Turned out most of them were nuts. And the likes of Massey, who's a dick. While many of those clowns are being shown the door, the GOP as a whole is still populated by Olde Guard Democrats with the right lapel pin to con the rubes.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (RORbl)

=======

The GOP has changed so much since the W days that John Thune and Mike Johnson were able to triple ICE's budget and secure appropriations for about 4 years in the OBBB in order to create a deportation machine.

The GOP is changing. it's materially changing, and the six listed senators are the last major holdouts of change. The new holdouts are pansies who will say some things on CNN to appease a donor or two but always fall in line in terms of voting like Curtis from UT.

https://x.com/derzum_/status/
2058609208287789558

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:38 AM (42WUB)

123 this Trump guy doesn't sleep!

Posted by: DanMan at October 05, 2026 11:38 AM (8uzBS)

124 You see anti-intellectualism, opposition to real erudition, all the time online. You even see it here.

Wut?

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:38 AM (Riz8t)

125 concern is that a general hostility to intellectualism will ensue"

My $.02 is that "hostility" is a meme drummed up to demonize any lack of full throated support for higher Ed

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:38 AM (+imBs)

126 97 Denied
Posted by: Foreign Born Judge at October 05, 2026 11:33 AM (aFfLC)

Overruled.

Posted by: Hawaiian Tropic Judge at October 05, 2026 11:39 AM (r7+Q7)

127 You see anti-intellectualism, opposition to real erudition, all the time online. You even see it here.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (ylRVX)

We have a foot fetishist here too. Trying to understand your point.

Posted by: ... at October 05, 2026 11:39 AM (FnbEu)

128 108 Yeah, the GOP isn't really ready to change. Remember the MAGA babes who strutted into office? The likes of MTG and her ilk. Turned out most of them were nuts. And the likes of Massey, who's a dick. While many of those clowns are being shown the door, the GOP as a whole is still populated by Olde Guard Democrats with the right lapel pin to con the rubes.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 05, 2026 11:36 AM (RORbl)

This isn’t about me. Because I deliver property tax relief to Texans and am the only person standing between them and the hordes of evil Muslims. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need new marching orders from TASB. I represent them, not HD Eighty…something, I forget.

Posted by: TX State Rep Ken King at October 05, 2026 11:39 AM (6jna9)

129 Yale now has as many administrators as undergrads.
Posted by: The ARC of History!

There is a reason that universities favor socialism because they, themselves, are what they think of applied broadly to the entire US.

Education is our version of the Soviet's agriculture industry. Endless unsuccessful ministers, no actual performance, and the fact that peasants with personal one acre plots can produce as much as the entire collective system.

Literacy was higher in the US when we did not have public schools like today despite the dearth of reading material. The personal desire for self improvement and ability to read the Bible and news drove it.

We flipped that relationship to where students cannot find a personal desire for being educated and they even resent the vast bureaucratic apparatus we have erected to pour knowledge into their skulls. Has to be fixed but I think it will take a systems collapse to do it.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:40 AM (E4rtv)

130
The universities charge ridiculous amounts now because they can.

When you remove people paying directly for a service the price signals weaken.

Your average 18 year old isn't considering the price when they choose a college because so much of it is loans, they are looking at facilities, advertising, and amenities.

So colleges in turn are incentivized to spend more money on those things instead of keeping costs down.

As with most leftwing economics they just pretend people do not respond to incentives even though you can see it right in front of you

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:40 AM (sKqQm)

131 You see anti-intellectualism, opposition to real erudition, all the time online. You even see it here.
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (ylRVX)

But enough about Paul.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 05, 2026 11:40 AM (i9VX2)

132
The universities charge ridiculous amounts now because they can.
Posted by: toby928(c) at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (4NO2D)

Because of the illusion of free money.

See also the medical world.

Posted by: Cow Demon at October 05, 2026 11:40 AM (6jna9)

133 80 Having college degrees where the primary role people with that degree are trying to get is to teach that degree seem to be something of an issue

It's an Ouroboros.
Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:28 AM (Riz8t)

Ouroboros

The stuff you learn just hanging around here.....

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at October 05, 2026 11:41 AM (QGaXH)

134 It took me ten ures to graduate.
Posted by: stu-mick-o-sucks

***********

HR Rep: Where did you get your education?

Applicant: I had 5 years at Yale.

HR Rep: Tell me your name again.

Applicant: Yah sure, I'm Yohnny Yohansen!

Posted by: muldoon, they're my dad's jokes, don't blame me! at October 05, 2026 11:41 AM (I0N4X)

135 If these majors are so important, why couldn't tuition be funded from the endowments. You know, those piles of cash just sitting there earning tax free money?

Posted by: From about That Time at October 05, 2026 11:41 AM (sl73Y)

136 Private universities don’t care either way. Everyone pays the same"

Welcome to the Melon School of Business!

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (+imBs)

137 As with most leftwing economics they just pretend people do not respond to incentives even though you can see it right in front of you

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:40 AM (sKqQm)

I think you have something there. The whole of leftardism is one big game of pretend. They start with the pretense that they know what the fuck they are even talking about, and build from there.

Posted by: ... at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (FnbEu)

138 Sounds like a work program for unemployables.

And 99.99% of them vote for Democrats.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (aD4fx)

139 If these majors are so important, why couldn't tuition be funded from the endowments. You know, those piles of cash just sitting there earning tax free money?
Posted by: From about That Time at October 05, 2026 11:41 AM

Someone needs to pay for the football stadiums.

Posted by: toby928(c) at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (4NO2D)

140 If these majors are so important, why couldn't tuition be funded from the endowments. You know, those piles of cash just sitting there earning tax free money?

Usually endowments were ear marked for specific things.

But...nothing that couldn't be changed by law.

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (sKqQm)

141 Nothing will happen.

🚨BREAKING: Pedro Sánchez dissolves Spanish parliament and announces early elections on November 29th

The socialist tyrant has fallen.

https://tinyurl.com/54ptn6sb

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (Riz8t)

142 I happened to see a political ad while watching NFL football yesterday. Angela Paxton, ex-wife of Ken Paxton, asking Texas republicans to “vote a straight republican ticket”…. She couldn’t bring herself to utter her ex-husband’s name (whom she probably loathes). I don’t know about this… it does seem to indicate some level of panic amongst republicans in Texas. Could the freak actually win?? May it never be….

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (UThdG)

143 These are all distractions from the Epstein and UAP Files.

Which are, themselves, distractions from Big Penguin.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at October 05, 2026 11:43 AM (0sNs1)

144 141 Nothing will happen.

🚨BREAKING: Pedro Sánchez dissolves Spanish parliament and announces early elections on November 29th

The socialist tyrant has fallen.

https://tinyurl.com/54ptn6sb

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:42 AM (Riz8t)

======

Globalize the reconquista.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:43 AM (42WUB)

145 Welcome to the Melon School of Business!
Posted by: man

Sydney Sweeney's alma mater?

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 11:43 AM (77rzZ)

146 they are looking at facilities, advertising, and amenities."

And babes. Or Chads.

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:44 AM (+imBs)

147 Sydney Sweeney's endowments are real and spectacular!

Posted by: Babe Rating Service at October 05, 2026 11:44 AM (EdP2u)

148 You see anti-intellectualism, opposition to real erudition, all the time online. You even see it here.
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM (ylRVX)

But enough about Paul.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 05, 2026 11:40 AM

I'm right here, you know.

Posted by: Paul at October 05, 2026 11:45 AM (0sNs1)

149 Also maybe time to mention that the NFL should be paying for their own minor leagues, not the big state universities.

Posted by: From about That Time at October 05, 2026 11:45 AM (sl73Y)

150 How 'bout that Tide?

Posted by: toby928(c) Native Texan and Alabama Alumnus, Twice as Smug as You at October 05, 2026 11:46 AM (4NO2D)

151 Music is still a degree?

If you're not a classical musician, there's no point in this, and there never was.

Even for them, I'm not sure it matters anymore. My friend's mom was a violinist for a major symphony, and she was a hillbilly hophead who spent her college years bumming around New Orleans and then lived out in the Rocky Mountains with her 9 dogs and gang of feral children, and befriended a little bastard like me.

She was the furthest thing from a Juilliard graduate you can possibly imagine, but she was just fine at playing Beethoven.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 05, 2026 11:46 AM (BI5O2)

152 >>>But what about “the college experience?” It should be considered another artifact of the post-war 20th Century. No matter how nostalgic Boomers and Gen-Xers may be about their college years

Guilty! Also guilty on my parents' behalf.

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 11:46 AM (odBC9)

153 Which are, themselves, distractions from Big Penguin.
Posted by: Duncanthrax

The All-Seeing Eye has you under surveillance.

Posted by: Penguin Defense League, Enforcement Division at October 05, 2026 11:46 AM (EdP2u)

154 "I hate capitalism!"
"Why's that?"
"Because other people make more money than me!"
"Why's that the fault of capitalism?"
"My work is important and should be valued!"
"Society doesn't seem to agree.
Why is it that no socialist or communist country has ever elevated mind-work and word-smiths to the top of their systems?
Yet you're sure this time, in this country, they will?"

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 05, 2026 11:46 AM (3cUTc)

155 118 You see anti-intellectualism, opposition to real erudition, all the time online. You even see it here.
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit

Attacks on the process are not the same as disdaining knowledge itself.

Our current process stinks and is a historical remnant of progressive ideas of indoctrination education and the bastard fruit of our research universities that chases grants rather than teach students.

Our incentives are all wrong for faculty in that research is being elevated (because it brings in marginal revenue that can be spent as admin wants) over the mundane teaching of undergraduates or even graduate students.

And a lot of that research is in fact worthless and by debasing the basic job universities do in teaching students, the ideal of a research university does more harm than good.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:46 AM (E4rtv)

156 The universities charge ridiculous amounts now because they can.

Posted by: toby928(c) at October 05, 2026 11:37 AM

They charge those ridiculous amounts because they have been subsidized by the federal government for over 15 years now.

No different than healthcare costs, the more the government kicks in the higher the prices go.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at October 05, 2026 11:47 AM (I43vL)

157 but she was just fine at playing Beethoven.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 05, 2026 11:46 AM

I'll be Bach.

Posted by: Arnold Schwartznegger at October 05, 2026 11:48 AM (0sNs1)

158 Higher education was once considered a luxury good, now it's a staple.

Posted by: toby928(c) Native Texan and Alabama Alumnus, Twice as Smug as You at October 05, 2026 11:48 AM (4NO2D)

159 Having college degrees where the primary role people with that degree are trying to get is to teach that degree seem to be something of an issue"

Where else are you going to go for teacher-student sex?

Posted by: t-bird at October 05, 2026 11:48 AM (qTrmL)

160 Nothing will happen.

🚨BREAKING: Pedro Sánchez dissolves Spanish parliament and announces early elections on November 29th

The socialist tyrant has fallen.

Also Bolsonaro Jr. won in Brazil and is expected (even by commies, who are panicing) to win the runoff. Elon is taking a victory lap because every single Central and South American election held since USAID was dissolved has gone right-wing.

Posted by: Ian S. at October 05, 2026 11:49 AM (2ocoG)

161 In my ye old days, one could afford to work part time and attend a state university.

yep, that was my experience in the 80s. Five years out of highschool and working in construction when Mexico moved in after the Plyler decision. Got an engineering degree at UH while working part time jobs. $400 for tuition and about that much for books and such.

I paid for my kid's college and the last couple of years for the last one saw the increases coming hard circa 2003..

Posted by: DanMan at October 05, 2026 11:50 AM (8uzBS)

162 Music is still a degree?

If you're not a classical musician, there's no point in this, and there never was.

My daughter majored in operatic performance, for which she has ever been paid squat. She also got a business degree, and makes mongo bucks. This is the way.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:50 AM (Riz8t)

163 Posted by: Fellowship of seventh-year senior sidewalk chalk artist majors at October 05, 2026 11:05 AM (I0N4X)

heh, your sock

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (odBC9)

164 They are terrified.

The number of 18-year-olds is dropping

Posted by: The ARC of History! at October 05, 2026 11:15 AM

Quite the opposite since 2020. Steady increase every year.

2020: 4.38 million
2021: 4.31 million
2022: 4.38 million
2023: 4.39 million
2024: 4.45 million
2025: 4.52 million

So the count has been rising since 2021 and was near a recent high in 2025.

However, with the low birth rates over the past decade+, future numbers will likely decrease. At least among the native population. With all the Muslims and Indians and other third-worlders mass migrating here and reproducing, their numbers will continue to increase.

https://bit.ly/4xXS2KJ

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (P5BPp)

165 160 Nothing will happen.

🚨BREAKING: Pedro Sánchez dissolves Spanish parliament and announces early elections on November 29th

The socialist tyrant has fallen.

Also Bolsonaro Jr. won in Brazil and is expected (even by commies, who are panicing) to win the runoff. Elon is taking a victory lap because every single Central and South American election held since USAID was dissolved has gone right-wing.

Posted by: Ian S. at October 05, 2026 11:49 AM (2ocoG)

=========

I'm kind of hoping that Lula cheats so hard and so obviously that the people burn down the presidential mansion in response.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (42WUB)

166 🚨BREAKING: Pedro Sánchez dissolves Spanish parliament

One wonders what chemicals he used.

Posted by: t-bird at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (qTrmL)

167 I was a famous One-Armed Violinist!

Posted by: Newbomb Turk at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (EdP2u)

168 But what about “the college experience?”
-

https://tinyurl.com/3f93cwcx

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (aI58f)

169 They give hats like that free to every customer at the Greater Lubbock Macrocephaly Surgicenter.

Posted by: muldoon, they're my dad's jokes, don't blame me! at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (I0N4X)

170 "Don't do a death by a thousand cuts. Wait for the perfect environment to kill with one death blow."
--
"Trump didn't solve every problem that has been built over the last ten decades in 18 months, so I'm going to vote for the Democrat!"

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (3cUTc)

171 142 I happened to see a political ad while watching NFL football yesterday. Angela Paxton, ex-wife of Ken Paxton, asking Texas republicans to “vote a straight republican ticket”…. She couldn’t bring herself to utter her ex-husband’s name (whom she probably loathes). I don’t know about this… it does seem to indicate some level of panic amongst republicans in Texas. Could the freak actually win?? May it never be….
Posted by: LinusVanPelt
========
No it doesn't. She spoke out in order to shame the Cornyn Cornholed followers of GOPe because of their nasty character assassinations of the butthurt GOPers. Because if she can forgive and endorse Paxton, then the rest of them can shut the hell up about character.

Plus, she is a Texas State Senator and protecting her own future while Cornyn and the remnant Bushie/Rove camp has none.

Watch spending and soon early voting turnout for tea leaves, not our idiotic circus politics reporting. And particularly not polling and idiotic prediction markets based on bad polling and desire to bias results.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (E4rtv)

172 170 "Don't do a death by a thousand cuts. Wait for the perfect environment to kill with one death blow."
--
"Trump didn't solve every problem that has been built over the last ten decades in 18 months, so I'm going to vote for the Democrat!"

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (3cUTc)

=======

"Trump didn't use the magic 'fix everything Congress did button,' therefore I think he's enthralled to Israel."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:52 AM (42WUB)

173 Basket weaving futures hardest hit, followed by institutes offering degree programs in imaginary arts.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen at October 05, 2026 11:53 AM (Q/FnY)

174 171 Watch spending and soon early voting turnout for tea leaves, not our idiotic circus politics reporting. And particularly not polling and idiotic prediction markets based on bad polling and desire to bias results.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (E4rtv)

=======

Both parties spent $200 million in 2024 for the Texas senate race.

Cruz won by 9.

Spending a shit ton of money in Texas is just what the parties do now.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:53 AM (42WUB)

175 I thought most commercial pilots were ex military?
Posted by: rickb223 at October 05, 2026 11:10 AM (y3C0K)

From the Iranian air force, obviously.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at October 05, 2026 11:53 AM (hmYU4)

176 They give hats like that free to every customer at the Greater Lubbock Macrocephaly Surgicenter.
Posted by: muldoon, they're my dad's jokes, don't blame me! at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (I0N4X)

Such a waste. The material in that hat could make two complete bikinis for Sydney Sweeney. Oh, well.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 05, 2026 11:54 AM (i9VX2)

177
No matter how nostalgic Boomers and Gen-Xers may be about their college years

__________

I can't say I'm too nostalgic about my college years. My major was Chemistry, so I had to work hard. Much less time for partying like psych, accounting and business majors had.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 05, 2026 11:54 AM (eRlcH)

178 No it doesn't. She spoke out in order to shame the Cornyn Cornholed followers of GOPe because of their nasty character assassinations of the butthurt GOPers. Because if she can forgive and endorse Paxton, then the rest of them can shut the hell up about character.

Plus, she is a Texas State Senator and protecting her own future while Cornyn and the remnant Bushie/Rove camp has none.

it was a great ad and I mean can the Rs not advertise lest we think "oh they are advertising much mean they're losing"?!!

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:54 AM (j+aD2)

179 "I hate capitalism!"
"Why's that?"
"Because other people make more money than me!"
"Why's that the fault of capitalism?"
"My work is important and should be valued!"

I got into it with a Swifty at one point - "Isn't she another grossly overpaid capitalist pig who is taking advantage of those poorer then her? I mean how much should a run of the mill singer get paid in what you would call a fair system?"

THAT'S DIFFERENT! She produces something important!

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:54 AM (sKqQm)

180 much = must

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 11:54 AM (j+aD2)

181 179 I got into it with a Swifty at one point - "Isn't she another grossly overpaid capitalist pig who is taking advantage of those poorer then her? I mean how much should a run of the mill singer get paid in what you would call a fair system?"

THAT'S DIFFERENT! She produces something important!

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:54 AM (sKqQm)

======

"Yeah, singles to the outfield."
-Darryl Strawberry, circa 1995 in his final year of his $20.5 million contract

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 11:55 AM (42WUB)

182 much = must
Posted by: Black Orchid

Wut?
-- Al Sharpton

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 11:55 AM (77rzZ)

183 The new "Gears of War" game, which is supposed to be about space marines killing monsters with chainsaws, is about gay and trans space marines doing things I probably don't want to know about.

That yielded this earworm on X:
Techopse
@techopse
"CUT MY DICK INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT."

Posted by: Ian S. at October 05, 2026 11:55 AM (2ocoG)

184 Thx Buck
Six years of college and social work destroys the inner cities. Bravo

Posted by: Smell the Glove at October 05, 2026 11:55 AM (ofacb)

185 It does amuse me, with Clinton it didn't matter if he was a rapist.

But Paxton having an affair? We just can't elect that sort of person amiright?

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:55 AM (sKqQm)

186 Spending a shit ton of money in Texas is just what the parties do now.

And in Katy Stout's case, it all goes to cookies.

Posted by: Ian S. at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (2ocoG)

187 Note that they are furiously defending majors at schools whose graduates make less on average than a high school graduate.
--
There is an insane chart showing the number of phd's making less than $70k a year.

Tens of thousands spent in schooling all to make less than $34 an hour?

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (3cUTc)

188 I have 1 kid in college now. All in the msrp is $55k a year. With scholarships it got cut down to $25k. And that includes food which we’d pay for anyway while kid was at home.

Which isn’t horrible. Summer job brings in $5kish towards the cost, so we’re on the hook for $20k.

Kid will graduate debt free with a degree that will have mucho employment opportunities, with very good pay.

Posted by: Not all doom and gloom at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (aFfLC)

189
Actually, any major could lead to a profitable career, but you have to acquire the talents and habits that lead to it and you can't do that if you spend 4+ years partying and screwing.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (eRlcH)

190 149 Also maybe time to mention that the NFL should be paying for their own minor leagues, not the big state universities.
Posted by: From about That Time

Pretty much. Last time I checked, about twelve or so universities actually bring in more revenue than they spend on sports and their facilities. And it shifts donor money and attention from educational facilities/staff to sports.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (E4rtv)

191 I can't say I'm too nostalgic about my college years. My major was Chemistry, so I had to work hard. Much less time for partying like psych, accounting and business majors had.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

Things were different during the Harding Administration.

Posted by: 23 Skidoo!! at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (EdP2u)

192 Speaking of journalisming, the headline in the Chicago Tribune was about a 7-year old girl who was stabbed by a subhuman woman. The headline says "unprovoked" and literally put it in quotes, as in "Woman charged in 'unprovoked' stabbing death...."

To any of you Northwestern J School grads, when you put a word in quotation marks aren't you implying that you're skeptical of the original wording?

I mean, how would a 7 year old girl be stabbed in, lets say, a provoked attack?

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at October 05, 2026 11:58 AM (qwx/I)

193 Actually, any major could lead to a profitable career, but you have to acquire the talents and habits that lead to it and you can't do that if you spend 4+ years partying and screwing.

Or CAN you?

Posted by: AOC at October 05, 2026 11:58 AM (Riz8t)

194 168 But what about “the college experience?”
-

https://tinyurl.com/3f93cwcx
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at October 05, 2026 11:51 AM (aI58f)

Frightening!!!

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 11:58 AM (odBC9)

195 Quite the opposite since 2020. Steady increase every year.
"

This is the peak year. The 2008 drop combined with fewer immigrants means... less.

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 11:59 AM (+imBs)

196 I remember noting the difference in college between science/math majors and basically everyone else.

Some of the art peeps put in a lot of time as well but...it was honestly doing something they enjoyed.

But he soc, poly sci, eng, etc majors seemed to spend most of their time partying

Posted by: 18-1 at October 05, 2026 11:59 AM (sKqQm)

197 I was an English major for one semester, and developed a severe drinking problem. Turns out I'm no Dylan Thomas.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at October 05, 2026 11:59 AM (qwx/I)

198
Pretty much. Last time I checked, about twelve or so universities actually bring in more revenue than they spend on sports and their facilities. And it shifts donor money and attention from educational facilities/staff to sports.
Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (E4rtv)

__________

If schools didn't have sports, how much interest would alumni have in contributing?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 05, 2026 11:59 AM (eRlcH)

199 My son graduated with a number of honors. He likely could have gotten a job at any one of the private, or government "institutions" that function in the global security areas.

Whether it's lack of motivation or something else, he never went down that route.

That was over a decade ago. It still frustrates me.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 05, 2026 11:59 AM (RORbl)

200 187 Note that they are furiously defending majors at schools whose graduates make less on average than a high school graduate.
--
There is an insane chart showing the number of phd's making less than $70k a year.

Tens of thousands spent in schooling all to make less than $34 an hour?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice
=======
Pretty much. PhD programs overproduce PhDs far above the demand rate (like a lot of graduate degrees actually), particularly now at the elite universities so that these students will teach undergrads or do the coolie research. A lot of them now are foreign students that are trying to get that visa to stay here.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:59 AM (E4rtv)

201
But he soc, poly sci, eng, etc majors seemed to spend most of their time partying

Your experience of engineering majors is different than mine.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 12:00 PM (Riz8t)

202 And in Katy Stout's case, it all goes to cookies.
Posted by: Ian S. at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (2ocoG)

Behold the spherical Guatemalan!

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 05, 2026 12:00 PM (i9VX2)

203 Ah, you mean ENGLISH.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 12:00 PM (Riz8t)

204 Trump didn't solve every problem that has been built over the last ten decades in 18 months, so I'm going to vote for the Democrat!"
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice

No shit. It's aggravating as hell.

"He didn't immediately fix so I'm not voting at all."

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at October 05, 2026 12:00 PM (u9Xr5)

205 Having college degrees where the primary role people with that degree are trying to get is to teach that degree seem to be something of an issue
Posted by: 18-1

Well, there's a hiring freeze at the philosophy factory.....

Posted by: mikeski at October 05, 2026 12:01 PM (VHUov)

206 204 Trump didn't solve every problem that has been built over the last ten decades in 18 months, so I'm going to vote for the Democrat!"
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice

No shit. It's aggravating as hell.

"He didn't immediately fix so I'm not voting at all."

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at October 05, 2026 12:00 PM (u9Xr5)

========

"He made it a central tenet of his campaign that he'd force Disney to undo the sequel Star Wars trilogy. He broke that promise. I'm sitting this one out."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 12:01 PM (42WUB)

207 Question, I don't watch much football anymore, but do they still call certain players "blue collar, lunchpail guys"?

I mean, with football players now getting 7 or 8 years of education, shouldn't they be "doctors"?

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at October 05, 2026 12:01 PM (qwx/I)

208 Back in the 70s one could attend a state university on VA money with a few bucks left over for beer. Youngstown State, Go Penguins!

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 05, 2026 12:01 PM (gm9Sb)

209 Spending a shit ton of money in Texas is just what the parties do now."

Everyone gets pink shoes!

/Wendy Davis

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 12:02 PM (+imBs)

210 Posted by: Paul at October 05, 2026 11:45 AM (0sNs1)

For a second there, I thought Paul had developed a sense of humor.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 05, 2026 12:02 PM (FAGAJ)

211 But he soc, poly sci, eng, etc majors seemed to spend most of their time partying

Your experience of engineering majors is different than mine.
Posted by: Archimedes

As an ex-engineering-major, I assume that was meant to stand for "English."

Posted by: mikeski at October 05, 2026 12:02 PM (VHUov)

212 I mean, how would a 7 year old girl be stabbed in, lets say, a provoked attack?
----

I promise to keep an open mind about the possibility.

Posted by: Prospective Juror AWFL at October 05, 2026 12:02 PM (TN0g+)

213 Well, there's a hiring freeze at the philosophy factory.....

They're retooling for the new fall lines.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 12:03 PM (Riz8t)

214 Trump didn't solve every problem that has been built over the last ten decades in 18 months, so I'm going to vote for the Democrat!"

You forgot the "Posted from: Pakistan". Elon's greatest contribution to social media.

Posted by: Ian S. at October 05, 2026 12:03 PM (2ocoG)

215 197 I was an English major for one semester, and developed a severe drinking problem. Turns out I'm no Dylan Thomas.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie

We mostly managed.

Posted by: Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck at October 05, 2026 12:03 PM (EdP2u)

216 Texas is symbolic in American politics.

It's a symbol of Republican strength, and it's a symbol of Democrat resurgence and eventual domination because of demographics.

That doesn't end until CA progressive billionaires realize it's not happening, or it happens.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 12:03 PM (42WUB)

217 Well, there's a hiring freeze at the philosophy factory.....
Posted by: mikeski at October 05, 2026 12:01 PM

"Did you bullshit this week?"

"Did you bullshit last week?"

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 05, 2026 12:03 PM (FAGAJ)

218 You forgot the "Posted from: Pakistan". Elon's greatest contribution to social media.

they took it away!!!!

it was the BEST thing!

argh

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 12:04 PM (j+aD2)

219 Spain has two right wing parties, PP and Vox. They each garner 20%. They will fuck it up, and the Socialists will win with 35% like what Labour did in the UK.

Posted by: Ted Torgerson at October 05, 2026 12:04 PM (wGerL)

220 PAXTON IS A HORRIKLE CANDIDATE

WHERE ARE THE ADS?

THE ADS PROVE THAT TALAFREAKO IS WINJNING!

Posted by: CON JORNYN at October 05, 2026 12:05 PM (AFztM)

221 We mostly managed.
Posted by: Ernest Hemingway "

La Floridita hardest hit

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 12:05 PM (+imBs)

222 Parliament. We don't need no stinking Parliament.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:05 PM (1ikK2)

223 If schools didn't have sports, how much interest would alumni have in contributing?
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh
=========
Ivy schools seem to do alright in donations as do many other private schools despite not being a risk to win the NCAA football or basketball championship. One can have tail gating or any other activity at a Division III school that does not offer athletic scholarships and spend much on coaches and facilities.

I think it might upset some of the big donors, many who never even attended that particular school, but that money was never going to academics anyway--those types donate to be seen and preened upon.

I think the critical missing variable is creating a community and our individualistic (and yes, more diverse) society is not great at doing that anymore (see Bowling Alone by Putnam).

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 12:05 PM (E4rtv)

224 207 I mean, with football players now getting 7 or 8 years of education, shouldn't they be "doctors"?

hmmm. *scribbles note* doctor of intersectional football studies

Posted by: university regents at October 05, 2026 12:05 PM (oY6Yp)

225 We mostly managed.
Posted by: Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck

I'm right here, you know.
-- Raymond Chandler

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 12:05 PM (77rzZ)

226
I was a famous One-Armed Violinist!
Posted by: Newbomb Turk

Imagine if you had six arms!

https://t.ly/nSKu5

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at October 05, 2026 12:06 PM (Cqx++)

227 BTW, pixie's Magick still works at MD Anderson...

Main op waiting area is freezing, tho.

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 12:06 PM (+imBs)

228 205 Well, there's a hiring freeze at the philosophy factory.....

hmm... *scribbles note* freeze-dried philosophy

Posted by: university regents at October 05, 2026 12:07 PM (oY6Yp)

229 Those college football players have higher salaries than most doctors.

Posted by: CON JORNYN at October 05, 2026 12:07 PM (AFztM)

230 I am too hot and too cold on the same day.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:07 PM (1ikK2)

231 Ivy schools seem to do alright in donations as do many other private schools despite not being a risk to win the NCAA football or basketball championship. One can have tail gating or any other activity at a Division III school that does not offer athletic scholarships and spend much on coaches and facilities.

yep I agree.

the state schools that think they MUST have great teams to get donations I am not sure about that either anymore

football overall is losing popularity. young parents do NOT want their kids playing.

and I think the time will return when you go to your own state's school, not shop around to pay more for OOS!!! the good old days

going to your state's uni makes sense. going to Bama 8 hrs away from your home in NJ doesn't

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 05, 2026 12:07 PM (j+aD2)

232 228 205 Well, there's a hiring freeze at the philosophy factory.....

hmm... *scribbles note* freeze-dried philosophy

Posted by: university regents at October 05, 2026 12:07 PM (oY6Yp)

=======

This is an unwritten Monty Python sketch.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 12:07 PM (42WUB)

233 Parliament. We don't need no stinking Parliament."

Funkadelic?

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 12:08 PM (+imBs)

234 That hat seems rather large.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:08 PM (1ikK2)

235 > We mostly managed.
Posted by: Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck

I'm right here, you know.
-- Raymond Chandler

Concur.

Posted by: charles bukowski at October 05, 2026 12:08 PM (rJ48h)

236 Imagine if you had six arms!
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at October 05, 2026 12:06 PM

* sobs *

This is what the Democratic Socialists are talking about. The rich get richer, stealing from the rest of us!

Posted by: Michelle Fields at October 05, 2026 12:09 PM (0sNs1)

237 What of the Humanities?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:09 PM (1ikK2)

238 going to Bama 8 hrs away from your home in NJ doesn't"

Driving? That's impressive...

Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 12:10 PM (+imBs)

239 Oh, the humanities!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at October 05, 2026 12:10 PM (Cqx++)

240 Pretty much. Last time I checked, about twelve or so universities actually bring in more revenue than they spend on sports and their facilities. And it shifts donor money and attention from educational facilities/staff to sports.
Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 11:57 AM (E4rtv)

__________

If schools didn't have sports, how much interest would alumni have in contributing?
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 05, 2026 11:59 AM (eRlcH)
__________

These donations are yuge tax write-offs and buy lotsa influence at the colleges. Probably kickbacks and business sent their way too.

And sex. Donations buys you access to endless young ladies.

So while the athletic programs are important, even without them there would still be big donors lined up.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at October 05, 2026 12:10 PM (iFTx/)

241 Both parties spent $200 million in 2024 for the Texas senate race.

Cruz won by 9.

Spending a shit ton of money in Texas is just what the parties do now.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison

You watch spending by political insiders like RNC, Trump affiliated PACS, the RSC, etc. not the endless independent ads which generally suck now and are ignored by the population I think. Diminishing marginal utility on ads.

Talafreako is being bolstered by out of state independent dark money from as you said, blue oligarchs, rather than party funds. Same pattern with Ossoff in GA. Only about ten percent of Ossoff's funding comes from Georgians and 90 percent from outside.

Posted by: whig at October 05, 2026 12:10 PM (E4rtv)

242
What of the Humanities?
Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:09 PM (1ikK2)

__________

For 40 years they've been performing the academic equivalent of drinking themselves to death.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 05, 2026 12:11 PM (eRlcH)

243 What of the Humanities?
Posted by: Boss Moss

A lot of them get hit by speedboats in Florida.

Posted by: Bulg at October 05, 2026 12:11 PM (77rzZ)

244 we're getting pounded with come ons for donations to races not even in our states...I had a response from a DC phone number requesting money for somebody and I tested this response

"Tell me why we still put ethanol in gas and I'll donate"

response: "you have been removed from our data base"

Posted by: DanMan at October 05, 2026 12:11 PM (8uzBS)

245 Yes, and Cruz sucks. Heretic.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:12 PM (1ikK2)

246 Here we go again.

BREAKING:

The Russians have started mandatory temperature checks of all passengers from Irkutsk landing in Moscow to scan for people potentially spreading pneumonic plague.

Close the borders with Russia now!

https://tinyurl.com/3dtc74w9

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 12:12 PM (Riz8t)

247 1.Government picking winners and losers again.
2.Congress should get out of the education.
************************

Point 2 is valid.
Point 1 is pure bullshit. None of those degrees lead to anyone winning anything.

Posted by: Will Robinson at October 05, 2026 12:12 PM (dCMJG)

248 Yes, and Cruz sucks. Heretic.
Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:12 PM

My day will come.

Posted by: Chuy at October 05, 2026 12:13 PM (0sNs1)

249 going to Bama 8 hrs away from your home in NJ doesn't"

Driving? That's impressive...
Posted by: man at October 05, 2026 12:10 PM (+imBs)

And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. — 2 Kings 9:20

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 05, 2026 12:13 PM (UThdG)

250 Johnny Mneumonic?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:13 PM (1ikK2)

251 What would they pay it back with? Hot, steamy nights with a coed?

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 11:07 AM (Riz8t)

I wouldn't touch a 2026 co-ed with a ten foot pole unless I had a notarized document of consent, complete with acceptable activities, and 4K video of the entire event showing that I never went beyond the previously accepted list.

Even then, I'd be leery.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at October 05, 2026 12:14 PM (ExV1e)

252
Yes, and Cruz sucks. Heretic.
Posted by: Boss Moss

____________

"He seems very little better than the usual lot. He is like the rest: trash from trashy stock. He is unknown. He is ambitious. He may be inoffensive. I suspect he may also be incapable. But since it is impossible in this city to elect a decent sort of person to public office, we must select the best of the trash to support."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 05, 2026 12:14 PM (eRlcH)

253 "He didn't immediately fix so I'm not voting at all."
---
Everyone knows the way to fix a marriage is to withhold sex.

Or:
You can either fuck them or they'll fuck you over.

IDK, analogies are hard.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 05, 2026 12:14 PM (3cUTc)

254 253 "He didn't immediately fix so I'm not voting at all."
---
Everyone knows the way to fix a marriage is to withhold sex.

Or:
You can either fuck them or they'll fuck you over.

IDK, analogies are hard.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 05, 2026 12:14 PM (3cUTc)

======

Analogies are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at October 05, 2026 12:15 PM (42WUB)

255 New one: Tucker

Posted by: Archimedes at October 05, 2026 12:15 PM (Riz8t)

256 The Russians have started mandatory temperature checks of all passengers from Irkutsk landing in Moscow to scan for people potentially spreading pneumonic plague.

I thought that said "pneumatic" for a minute.

Posted by: Ian S. at October 05, 2026 12:15 PM (2ocoG)

257 If your analogy lasts more than 4 hours call a doctor.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 05, 2026 12:16 PM (1ikK2)

258 120 In my ye old days, one could afford to work part time and attend a state university. Tuition and books cost about $800 for a full load, another thousand would get you a bed and nine meals a week. Working in a restaurant would get you one of your meals each day for free.

Yep...ASU tuition in 92-93 was around $850 (not including books). Bombed my first year, 2.5 at a community collect before another 3 back at ASU - stayed at home, so hardly had the "college experience" - but I paid my way through, no debt when I graduated. Also then...93-94, I worked at a student loan company - I still remember the consolidation loans - someone drifts through, tries a couple majors, then a masters, marries someone who did the same - consolidate their loans together - there were loans like that at $100K principal, $300k interest. Those were 93-94 dollars - easily a mortgage. Had no desire for a loan after seeing that.

Posted by: MD Mike at October 05, 2026 12:17 PM (cJWvF)

259 Well, there's a hiring freeze at the philosophy factory.....
Posted by: mikeski

Not counting the nationwide shortage of ellipsis dots................
I was a philosophy major, and retired at age 50 on my investments. My classmates all went on to professional level employment, some as PhD department heads and some in law.
No one dropped out or went face-down in a dive bar.
It was generally regarded as a difficult area of study by others.
There is a very deliberate ignorance about this field.
Do you do this because your whole reference is meme cartoons?

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 05, 2026 12:21 PM (zdLoL)

260 I worked in grad education and, let me tell you, it's indeed a ripoff as you suggest. It is however a big profit center for the state school, which confers these degrees so that the student can get the promotion or raise tied to it.

Very little of the curriculum is actual practical training, so they lard it up with theory, that being critical theory, to teach them all how to fight the system--our system, the one that is paying them.

Posted by: Random PJ at October 05, 2026 12:26 PM (+jscL)

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