Missed the other parts? Find them here: Check out Part 1 Part 2 is here. Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Dear Diary, It’s me, Jessica. The weather has turned to where the highs and lows are much more consistent to warmer weather.  HAM guy said we should be past the last frost date. I helped Mom for three days, planting in every container, every possible space where the chickens could not get to the herbs and veggie seeds.  We mixed in compost and a little chicken manure and then watered.  I was digging up the front lawn when Mom commented on my arms and shoulders.  It never occurred to me until then, but my upper arms, shoulders, and even some of my back were what we would have called ‘built’ before the power went out.  All the manual labor at the Miller’s and around our home, carrying firewood and hauling water, all the walking, and Mom and Dad making sure I had enough to eat, I was kinda ‘built.’   I think I lost a bra size. I laughed and said, “Sure Mom, that is what a man looks for in a woman.” “I am sure Billy doesn’t mind,” Mom said with a sly look.   I blushed furiously and returned to digging up the front yard for root veggies and corn.  Mom and I helped Joanne with her garden, too.  I moved wheelbarrows of compost and some of our chicken manure back and forth into her garden.  We all should have a good harvest this year.  The next day was the weekly neighborhood ‘militia’ training.   Jack and others with military training put the rest of us through basic drills.  Jack said he did not expect us to march a military campaign on Moscow or be a part of some ‘high speed, low drag’ SpecOps team, but we should know at least the basics of advance, tactical retreat, covering fire, cover, and concealment, and flanking maneuvers.  We needed to learn how to work as a team.  Everyone took turns acting as the team leader in a maneuver, even me. Jack and Rae pulled me aside after ‘militia’ training was over and trained me further in hand-to-hand combat, using my rifle as a physical ‘blunt’ object weapon and the ‘snap’ shot, which did include some live fire.   Diary, I was tired after militia training.  As I practiced various hand-to-hand techniques and what Jack described as “the mighty butt stroke” with my rifle in hand, I was getting a bit annoyed.   And it showed. Then Rae said, “Young lady, this training may save your life one day.  That attitude will not.” Sheepishly, I nodded and attacked the vaguely human-shaped and -sized tree trunk and side limbs with ‘mighty butt strokes’ with real effort behind it.  My arms, shoulders, and back were on fire, but I kept at it. Diary, I’m not going to lie. I like it whenever I can do live fire with my rifle. Jack says it has to do with my ‘natural’ ability. He said that some people just ‘have’ it. I did twenty single ‘snap’ shots on a ten-inch paper plate at fifty yards within three seconds per shot. Jack said I was nearly as good as him.   I could not help but grin from ear to ear. I had just finished my ‘snap’ shot training when the HAM guy walked up to us.   Diary, that was unusual.  The HAM guy never seemed to leave his chair in front of all his radios.  I was beginning to think his ears would morph into his radio headset.   But what he heard clearly concerned him.   He said at the noon radio meet-up, the city HAM guy heard some people were claiming to be the new heads of government.  This ranged from mayors of some cities to county sheriffs and even as far as the president of some new-fangled country called ‘The West Coast Coalition.’   Rae noted, “How do they expect to preside law and order over us from a thousand miles away?” Personally, I liked Jack’s response, “They cannot.  Who cares what they proclaim.” HAM guy chuckled at Jack’s comment.  He paused and said, “Jack, should we form our own government?  I mean, we kind of do with the militia.” Jack generally has a rather stoic face, but his eyes always seemed to be thinking, considering, analyzing, contemplating and sometimes laughing.  But this time, his stoic face broke in dismay, and his eyes went wide, “No way am I going to be elected mayor, sheriff, or, heaven forbid, president!” Diary, Jack did not find it amusing, but we all laughed.  After a moment, Rae then said the HAM guy had a point.  Jack looked like he was going to protest again when Rae held up a hand and said, “Honey, no one is going to elect you president, calm down.  What we need is some kind of organized community leadership.  Give the community direction.  Not just all of us stumbling along day after day.” Jack’s thinking eyes returned.  He then described what he saw during his deployments in Afghanistan.  Warlords who ruled with ‘might was right.’  They took what they wanted from the weaker and left little to nothing.   Then there was the tribal ‘elder.’  The tribe could be a large extended family or a few to several families all living in the same compound or immediate area.  The elder had the sole responsibility for the welfare of the tribe, making all the major and even some minor decisions.  Sometimes, they would fight with rival tribes.  Sometimes, they would form alliances with other tribes for economic stability or security from rival tribes.   Jack noted, “Their politics made our politics look like children’s games. In their politics, one misstep could mean death, not just for the elder but for the whole tribe. Some of them were illiterate or could only do basic math, but they were far from stupid. The stupid did not live long.”   Then there was a ‘council’ of elders who looked out for the welfare of a community in a given area.  They shared power and made decisions after discussion and then a vote.  Jack seemed to like that kind of leadership best, but also said they had their own degree of politics, too.   HAM guy gave a short laugh and said, “Since the written word, no system of governance has ever been perfected from corruption like greed, envy, and power.” Jack gave a single nod in agreement. Rae suggested the community have a meeting.  They needed to include the local farmers like the Miller’s too.  Jack said the next time he went to the market, he would inform Sean of their thoughts and suggest the market community do something similar.’ Diary, I got the feeling I just witnessed something important. Entry two Dear Diary, It’s me, Jessica. Mom was not a fan of it, but I was cleaning my rifle on the dinning room table when Dad came home from working at the Miller’s.   Dad said Justin, Janet, and the kids were settling in well. With the additional bodies, Mr. Miller thought he could do even more planting and other projects. As he said, “Many hands make for light work.” Diary, I could not agree more. Mr. Miller paid Dad for his labor with a loaf of bread, some ‘farmer’ cheese, and a pound of what they called ‘lunch meat.’   They took a large chuck roast, put it in a salt brine with smashed garlic and sliced onions in a big plastic zip bag and put it in a trough of water flowing from the windmill.  The water was always cool, and the salt in the brine would keep bacteria from forming and infuse the meat with the garlic and onion flavor.  After a week, they took the roast out of the bag, dumped the brine, cleaned and saved the bag for reuse, and let the meat ‘rest’ for a day in a large metal bowl that could sit in the water trough without the water overflowing into the bowl to let the salt settle into the meat.  The next day, Justin got a hot wood fire going on their outdoor grill.  He put a cast iron pan on the grill to heat up, then added lard.  Once smoking, he seared the roast on all sides till a good crust formed.  Justin pulled the roast and the cast iron pan off the grill and let it cool.  Once cool, he smeared garlic, onion, basil, oregano, and thyme paste all over the roast.  He let the fire die down to a slow but even heat.  He then put the roast in the pan back in, off to the side of the direct fire to cook slowly for three hours till it was cooked rare.   Mom toasted the bread with a little butter we still had.  Then she divided the lunch meat into three sandwiches, with some of the farmer’s cheese, plus a bit of diced dried jalapenos we had from last year’s garden, and roasted the sandwiches until the cheese melted.  Mom made a side of roasted potatoes and parsnips to go along with the sandwiches.   Diary, it was heavenly!  But I did have some ‘funky’ garlic and jalapeno-induced dreams that night . . . About 1stMarineJarHead 1stMarineJarHead is not only a former Marine, but also a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter. He currently resides in the great white (i.e. snowy) Northeast with his wife and dogs. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, occasionally hogs, cows and sometimes ducks. He grows various veggies and has a weird fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys reading, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, target shooting, and is currently expanding his woodworking skills. The post Dear Diary, It’s Me, Jessica: Part 9 appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Missed the other parts? Find them here: Check out Part 1 Part 2 is here. Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Dear Diary, It’s me, Jessica. The weather has turned to where the highs and lows are much more consistent to warmer weather.  HAM guy said we should be past the last frost date. I helped Mom for three days, planting in every container, every possible space where the chickens could not get to the herbs and veggie seeds.  We mixed in compost and a little chicken manure and then watered.  I was digging up the front lawn when Mom commented on my arms and shoulders.  It never occurred to me until then, but my upper arms, shoulders, and even some of my back were what we would have called ‘built’ before the power went out.  All the manual labor at the Miller’s and around our home, carrying firewood and hauling water, all the walking, and Mom and Dad making sure I had enough to eat, I was kinda ‘built.’   I think I lost a bra size. I laughed and said, “Sure Mom, that is what a man looks for in a woman.” “I am sure Billy doesn’t mind,” Mom said with a sly look.   I blushed furiously and returned to digging up the front yard for root veggies and corn.  Mom and I helped Joanne with her garden, too.  I moved wheelbarrows of compost and some of our chicken manure back and forth into her garden.  We all should have a good harvest this year.  The next day was the weekly neighborhood ‘militia’ training.   Jack and others with military training put the rest of us through basic drills.  Jack said he did not expect us to march a military campaign on Moscow or be a part of some ‘high speed, low drag’ SpecOps team, but we should know at least the basics of advance, tactical retreat, covering fire, cover, and concealment, and flanking maneuvers.  We needed to learn how to work as a team.  Everyone took turns acting as the team leader in a maneuver, even me. Jack and Rae pulled me aside after ‘militia’ training was over and trained me further in hand-to-hand combat, using my rifle as a physical ‘blunt’ object weapon and the ‘snap’ shot, which did include some live fire.   Diary, I was tired after militia training.  As I practiced various hand-to-hand techniques and what Jack described as “the mighty butt stroke” with my rifle in hand, I was getting a bit annoyed.   And it showed. Then Rae said, “Young lady, this training may save your life one day.  That attitude will not.” Sheepishly, I nodded and attacked the vaguely human-shaped and -sized tree trunk and side limbs with ‘mighty butt strokes’ with real effort behind it.  My arms, shoulders, and back were on fire, but I kept at it. Diary, I’m not going to lie. I like it whenever I can do live fire with my rifle. Jack says it has to do with my ‘natural’ ability. He said that some people just ‘have’ it. I did twenty single ‘snap’ shots on a ten-inch paper plate at fifty yards within three seconds per shot. Jack said I was nearly as good as him.   I could not help but grin from ear to ear. I had just finished my ‘snap’ shot training when the HAM guy walked up to us.   Diary, that was unusual.  The HAM guy never seemed to leave his chair in front of all his radios.  I was beginning to think his ears would morph into his radio headset.   But what he heard clearly concerned him.   He said at the noon radio meet-up, the city HAM guy heard some people were claiming to be the new heads of government.  This ranged from mayors of some cities to county sheriffs and even as far as the president of some new-fangled country called ‘The West Coast Coalition.’   Rae noted, “How do they expect to preside law and order over us from a thousand miles away?” Personally, I liked Jack’s response, “They cannot.  Who cares what they proclaim.” HAM guy chuckled at Jack’s comment.  He paused and said, “Jack, should we form our own government?  I mean, we kind of do with the militia.” Jack generally has a rather stoic face, but his eyes always seemed to be thinking, considering, analyzing, contemplating and sometimes laughing.  But this time, his stoic face broke in dismay, and his eyes went wide, “No way am I going to be elected mayor, sheriff, or, heaven forbid, president!” Diary, Jack did not find it amusing, but we all laughed.  After a moment, Rae then said the HAM guy had a point.  Jack looked like he was going to protest again when Rae held up a hand and said, “Honey, no one is going to elect you president, calm down.  What we need is some kind of organized community leadership.  Give the community direction.  Not just all of us stumbling along day after day.” Jack’s thinking eyes returned.  He then described what he saw during his deployments in Afghanistan.  Warlords who ruled with ‘might was right.’  They took what they wanted from the weaker and left little to nothing.   Then there was the tribal ‘elder.’  The tribe could be a large extended family or a few to several families all living in the same compound or immediate area.  The elder had the sole responsibility for the welfare of the tribe, making all the major and even some minor decisions.  Sometimes, they would fight with rival tribes.  Sometimes, they would form alliances with other tribes for economic stability or security from rival tribes.   Jack noted, “Their politics made our politics look like children’s games. In their politics, one misstep could mean death, not just for the elder but for the whole tribe. Some of them were illiterate or could only do basic math, but they were far from stupid. The stupid did not live long.”   Then there was a ‘council’ of elders who looked out for the welfare of a community in a given area.  They shared power and made decisions after discussion and then a vote.  Jack seemed to like that kind of leadership best, but also said they had their own degree of politics, too.   HAM guy gave a short laugh and said, “Since the written word, no system of governance has ever been perfected from corruption like greed, envy, and power.” Jack gave a single nod in agreement. Rae suggested the community have a meeting.  They needed to include the local farmers like the Miller’s too.  Jack said the next time he went to the market, he would inform Sean of their thoughts and suggest the market community do something similar.’ Diary, I got the feeling I just witnessed something important. Entry two Dear Diary, It’s me, Jessica. Mom was not a fan of it, but I was cleaning my rifle on the dinning room table when Dad came home from working at the Miller’s.   Dad said Justin, Janet, and the kids were settling in well. With the additional bodies, Mr. Miller thought he could do even more planting and other projects. As he said, “Many hands make for light work.” Diary, I could not agree more. Mr. Miller paid Dad for his labor with a loaf of bread, some ‘farmer’ cheese, and a pound of what they called ‘lunch meat.’   They took a large chuck roast, put it in a salt brine with smashed garlic and sliced onions in a big plastic zip bag and put it in a trough of water flowing from the windmill.  The water was always cool, and the salt in the brine would keep bacteria from forming and infuse the meat with the garlic and onion flavor.  After a week, they took the roast out of the bag, dumped the brine, cleaned and saved the bag for reuse, and let the meat ‘rest’ for a day in a large metal bowl that could sit in the water trough without the water overflowing into the bowl to let the salt settle into the meat.  The next day, Justin got a hot wood fire going on their outdoor grill.  He put a cast iron pan on the grill to heat up, then added lard.  Once smoking, he seared the roast on all sides till a good crust formed.  Justin pulled the roast and the cast iron pan off the grill and let it cool.  Once cool, he smeared garlic, onion, basil, oregano, and thyme paste all over the roast.  He let the fire die down to a slow but even heat.  He then put the roast in the pan back in, off to the side of the direct fire to cook slowly for three hours till it was cooked rare.   Mom toasted the bread with a little butter we still had.  Then she divided the lunch meat into three sandwiches, with some of the farmer’s cheese, plus a bit of diced dried jalapenos we had from last year’s garden, and roasted the sandwiches until the cheese melted.  Mom made a side of roasted potatoes and parsnips to go along with the sandwiches.   Diary, it was heavenly!  But I did have some ‘funky’ garlic and jalapeno-induced dreams that night . . . About 1stMarineJarHead 1stMarineJarHead is not only a former Marine, but also a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter. He currently resides in the great white (i.e. snowy) Northeast with his wife and dogs. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, occasionally hogs, cows and sometimes ducks. He grows various veggies and has a weird fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys reading, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, target shooting, and is currently expanding his woodworking skills. The post Dear Diary, It’s Me, Jessica: Part 9 appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children will be eligible later this year for federal health care coverage under the Biden administration.   The White House announced a new rule Friday that allows Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to apply for health care under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. The Biden administration estimates the plan will give “100,000 young people” living in America the opportunity to apply through HealthCare.gov and state-based marketplaces and receive health care for as little as $10 a month, according to the White House fact sheet on the rule.   “‘Dreamers’ are our loved ones, our nurses, teachers, and small-business owners. And they deserve the promise of health care just like all of us,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday.   The DACA program was established under President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012 and protects illegal aliens brought to America as minors from deportation. The program also provides DACA recipients—dubbed “Dreamers”—with work permits, and according to Biden, more than 800,000 people have qualified for DACA since its inception.   RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement and visiting fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, said “Democrats always intended to provide unlawful amnesty recipients with taxpayer-subsidized Obamacare benefits.” “President Biden has repeatedly signaled his intent to use his pen for executive actions to increase illegal immigration,” Hauman continued. “Instead of acting to address the border crisis he created, he’s adding to magnets by giving illegal aliens health care. The American people will once again see where his priorities lie.” Biden called the new health care rule a “historic step to ensure that DACA recipients have the same access to health care through the Affordable Care Act as their neighbors.”  “President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris believe that health care should be a right, not a privilege,” according to a White House statement on the rule.   “Biden and Harris ‘believe that health care should be a right’—that will have to be paid for by American taxpayers who didn’t vote for it,” Simon Hankinson, senior research fellow for the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.  (The Heritage Foundation founded The Daily Signal in 2014.) Hankinson called the program a “massive check written on borrowed money.”  The DACA program has been controversial since it was established because, as Hankinson notes, even “President Biden admits ‘only Congress can provide permanent status and a pathway to citizenship.’” Despite the recognition that it’s the job of Congress to legislate on immigration laws, Hankinson said, “time after time, [Biden] egregiously abuses executive authority to bring inadmissible aliens into the United States, allow them to remain here illegally, and access benefits meant for American citizens and legal residents.”  Under the new rule, DACA recipients will be able to apply for health care beginning in November.   Editor’s Note: This piece was updated after publication to include comments from RJ Hauman. The post Biden to Make DACA ‘Dreamers’ Eligible for Subsidized Federal Health Care Coverage appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children will be eligible later this year for federal health care coverage under the Biden administration.   The White House announced a new rule Friday that allows Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to apply for health care under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. The Biden administration estimates the plan will give “100,000 young people” living in America the opportunity to apply through HealthCare.gov and state-based marketplaces and receive health care for as little as $10 a month, according to the White House fact sheet on the rule.   “‘Dreamers’ are our loved ones, our nurses, teachers, and small-business owners. And they deserve the promise of health care just like all of us,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday.   The DACA program was established under President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012 and protects illegal aliens brought to America as minors from deportation. The program also provides DACA recipients—dubbed “Dreamers”—with work permits, and according to Biden, more than 800,000 people have qualified for DACA since its inception.   RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement and visiting fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, said “Democrats always intended to provide unlawful amnesty recipients with taxpayer-subsidized Obamacare benefits.” “President Biden has repeatedly signaled his intent to use his pen for executive actions to increase illegal immigration,” Hauman continued. “Instead of acting to address the border crisis he created, he’s adding to magnets by giving illegal aliens health care. The American people will once again see where his priorities lie.” Biden called the new health care rule a “historic step to ensure that DACA recipients have the same access to health care through the Affordable Care Act as their neighbors.”  “President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris believe that health care should be a right, not a privilege,” according to a White House statement on the rule.   “Biden and Harris ‘believe that health care should be a right’—that will have to be paid for by American taxpayers who didn’t vote for it,” Simon Hankinson, senior research fellow for the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.  (The Heritage Foundation founded The Daily Signal in 2014.) Hankinson called the program a “massive check written on borrowed money.”  The DACA program has been controversial since it was established because, as Hankinson notes, even “President Biden admits ‘only Congress can provide permanent status and a pathway to citizenship.’” Despite the recognition that it’s the job of Congress to legislate on immigration laws, Hankinson said, “time after time, [Biden] egregiously abuses executive authority to bring inadmissible aliens into the United States, allow them to remain here illegally, and access benefits meant for American citizens and legal residents.”  Under the new rule, DACA recipients will be able to apply for health care beginning in November.   Editor’s Note: This piece was updated after publication to include comments from RJ Hauman. The post Biden to Make DACA ‘Dreamers’ Eligible for Subsidized Federal Health Care Coverage appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Elite higher education in America—long unquestioned as globally preeminent—is facing a perfect storm. Fewer applicants, higher costs, impoverished students, collapsing standards, and increasingly politicized and mediocre faculty reflect a collapse of the university system. The country is waking up to the reality that a bachelor’s degree no longer equates with graduates being broadly educated and analytical. Just as often, they are stereotyped as pampered, largely ignorant, and gratuitously opinionated. No wonder polls show a drastic loss of public respect for higher education and, specifically, a growing lack of confidence in the professoriate. Each year, there are far fewer students entering college. Despite a U.S. population 40 million larger than 20 years ago, fertility rates have fallen in two decades by some 500,000 births per year. Meanwhile, from 1980 to 2020, room, board, and tuition increased by 170%. Skyrocketing costs cannot be explained by inflation alone, given that campuses have lightened faculty teaching loads while expanding administrative staff. At Stanford, there is nearly one staffer or administrative position for every student on campus. At the same time, to vie for a shrinking number of students, colleges began offering costly in loco parentis counseling, Club Med-style dorms and accommodations, and extracurricular activities. As applicants grew scarcer and expenses went up, universities began offering “full service” student-aid packages, heavily reliant on government-subsidized student loans. The collective indebtedness of more than 40 million student borrowers is nearing $2 trillion. Worse still, an entire new array of therapeutic majors and minors appeared in the social sciences. Most of these gender/race/environmental courses did not emphasize analytical, mathematical, or oral and written skills. Such coursework did not impress employers. Faculty hiring had become increasingly non-meritocratic based on diversity-equity-inclusion criteria. New faculty hires have sought to institutionalize self-serving DEI and recalibrate higher education to prepare a new generation for self-perpetuating radical ideologies. At the more elite campuses, racial quotas vastly curtailed the number of Asian and white students. But that racialist social engineering project required dropping the SAT requirement and comparative ranking of high school grade-point averages. As less well-prepared students entered college, faculty either inflated grades (80% are A/A- now at Yale), watered down their course requirements, or added new softball classes. To do otherwise while attempting to retain old standards earned targeted faculty charges of racism and worse. Another way to square the circle of rising costs and fewer and poorer students was to attract foreign students. They pay the full costs of college, especially those on generous stipends from the Middle East and China. Nearly a million foreign nationals, the majority from illiberal regimes, are now here on full scholarships. While here, many see their newfound freedoms as invitations to attack America. Once here, they too often romanticize the very autocratic governments and illiberal values of their homelands that they seemingly sought to escape by coming to America. Most foreign students assume they are exempt from the consequences of violating campus rules or laws in general. After all, they pay the full cost of their education and thus partially subsidize those who do not. Almost half of all those enrolled in college never graduate. Those who do, on average, require six years to do so. All these realities explain why teenagers increasingly opt for trade schools, vocational education, and community colleges. They prefer to enter the workforce largely debt-free and in demand as skilled, sought-after tradespeople. Most feel that if the old general education curriculum has been destroyed at weaponized universities, then there is no great loss in skipping the traditional bachelor’s degree. A far better selection of demanding and well-taught classes can be found online at a lower cost. The result is a disaster for both higher education and a wake-up call for the country at large. Entire generations are now suffering from prolonged adolescence as they drag out college to consume their early and mid-20s. The unfortunate result for the country is a radical delay in marriage, childbearing, and homeownership—all the time-honored catalysts for adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it. Politicized faculty, infantilized students, and mediocre classes have combined to erode the prestige of college degrees, even at once elite colleges. A degree from Columbia no longer guarantees either maturity or preeminent knowledge, but is just as likely a warning to employers of a noisy, poorly educated graduate more eager to complain to Human Resources than to enhance a company’s productivity. Yet it may not be all that unfortunate that much of higher education is going the way of malls, movie theaters, and CDs. The country needs far more skilled physical labor and less prolonged adolescence and debt. STEM courses, professional schools, and traditional campuses are better insulated from mediocrity and should survive. Otherwise, millions more starting adulthood at 18 debt-free and fewer encumbered, ignorant, and entitled at 25 is not a bad thing for the country. The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. The post Can the Current Universities Be Saved? Should They Be? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Elite higher education in America—long unquestioned as globally preeminent—is facing a perfect storm. Fewer applicants, higher costs, impoverished students, collapsing standards, and increasingly politicized and mediocre faculty reflect a collapse of the university system. The country is waking up to the reality that a bachelor’s degree no longer equates with graduates being broadly educated and analytical. Just as often, they are stereotyped as pampered, largely ignorant, and gratuitously opinionated. No wonder polls show a drastic loss of public respect for higher education and, specifically, a growing lack of confidence in the professoriate. Each year, there are far fewer students entering college. Despite a U.S. population 40 million larger than 20 years ago, fertility rates have fallen in two decades by some 500,000 births per year. Meanwhile, from 1980 to 2020, room, board, and tuition increased by 170%. Skyrocketing costs cannot be explained by inflation alone, given that campuses have lightened faculty teaching loads while expanding administrative staff. At Stanford, there is nearly one staffer or administrative position for every student on campus. At the same time, to vie for a shrinking number of students, colleges began offering costly in loco parentis counseling, Club Med-style dorms and accommodations, and extracurricular activities. As applicants grew scarcer and expenses went up, universities began offering “full service” student-aid packages, heavily reliant on government-subsidized student loans. The collective indebtedness of more than 40 million student borrowers is nearing $2 trillion. Worse still, an entire new array of therapeutic majors and minors appeared in the social sciences. Most of these gender/race/environmental courses did not emphasize analytical, mathematical, or oral and written skills. Such coursework did not impress employers. Faculty hiring had become increasingly non-meritocratic based on diversity-equity-inclusion criteria. New faculty hires have sought to institutionalize self-serving DEI and recalibrate higher education to prepare a new generation for self-perpetuating radical ideologies. At the more elite campuses, racial quotas vastly curtailed the number of Asian and white students. But that racialist social engineering project required dropping the SAT requirement and comparative ranking of high school grade-point averages. As less well-prepared students entered college, faculty either inflated grades (80% are A/A- now at Yale), watered down their course requirements, or added new softball classes. To do otherwise while attempting to retain old standards earned targeted faculty charges of racism and worse. Another way to square the circle of rising costs and fewer and poorer students was to attract foreign students. They pay the full costs of college, especially those on generous stipends from the Middle East and China. Nearly a million foreign nationals, the majority from illiberal regimes, are now here on full scholarships. While here, many see their newfound freedoms as invitations to attack America. Once here, they too often romanticize the very autocratic governments and illiberal values of their homelands that they seemingly sought to escape by coming to America. Most foreign students assume they are exempt from the consequences of violating campus rules or laws in general. After all, they pay the full cost of their education and thus partially subsidize those who do not. Almost half of all those enrolled in college never graduate. Those who do, on average, require six years to do so. All these realities explain why teenagers increasingly opt for trade schools, vocational education, and community colleges. They prefer to enter the workforce largely debt-free and in demand as skilled, sought-after tradespeople. Most feel that if the old general education curriculum has been destroyed at weaponized universities, then there is no great loss in skipping the traditional bachelor’s degree. A far better selection of demanding and well-taught classes can be found online at a lower cost. The result is a disaster for both higher education and a wake-up call for the country at large. Entire generations are now suffering from prolonged adolescence as they drag out college to consume their early and mid-20s. The unfortunate result for the country is a radical delay in marriage, childbearing, and homeownership—all the time-honored catalysts for adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it. Politicized faculty, infantilized students, and mediocre classes have combined to erode the prestige of college degrees, even at once elite colleges. A degree from Columbia no longer guarantees either maturity or preeminent knowledge, but is just as likely a warning to employers of a noisy, poorly educated graduate more eager to complain to Human Resources than to enhance a company’s productivity. Yet it may not be all that unfortunate that much of higher education is going the way of malls, movie theaters, and CDs. The country needs far more skilled physical labor and less prolonged adolescence and debt. STEM courses, professional schools, and traditional campuses are better insulated from mediocrity and should survive. Otherwise, millions more starting adulthood at 18 debt-free and fewer encumbered, ignorant, and entitled at 25 is not a bad thing for the country. The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. The post Can the Current Universities Be Saved? Should They Be? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

NEW YORK—Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case suffered more setbacks Thursday as the prosecution’s sixth witness wrapped up his testimony with significant hits to his credibility. During a heated cross-examination, defense attorney Emil Bove managed to cast Keith Davidson, former attorney for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, as a shady lawyer who gets as close to the line as he can without crossing it, brokering deals that border on extortion. Davidson, who played an important role in the $130,00 payment to Daniels at the heart of the prosecution’s case, failed to deflect much of Bove’s line of questioning, appearing dodgy when he said he “could not recall” the answers, only to be forced to reckon with his own words when instructed to listen to recorded audio of the conversations. The day featured the name-dropping of multiple celebrities—including Charlie Sheen and Tila Tequila—as Bove endeavored to prove nondisclosure agreements were a routine part of Davidson’s work and underscore the witness’ questionable ethics. Bove pressed Davison on whether he represented clients to “extract” settlements from celebrities; Davidson took issue with the word. “We’re both lawyers,” Bove told Davidson. “I’m not here to play lawyer games with you.” Davidson wrangled over words with the prosecution, too. When questioned by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass on how the statements he crafted for Daniels’ denying the affair following reports of the payment in 2018 could be “technically true,” Davidson said a strict reading would be true. “I don’t think that anyone had ever alleged that any interactions between she and Mr. [Donald] Trump was romantic,” Davidson said, keying in on the last word to distinguish it from a “sexual encounter.” On a similar question about how denying a “sexual relationship” was true, Davidson noted it was never alleged that they had a “relationship.” Davidson said he would not use the term “hush money” to describe the payment to Daniels and would rather call it “consideration” in a civil settlement. Several media outlets have published stories with headlines that continue to refer to the trial as a “hush money” case. Prosecutor Josha Steinglass pressed Davidson on the claim that the denials were “technically true.” Davidson says you have to go through it word for word.“I don’t think that anyone had ever alleged that any interactions between she and Mr. Trump was romantic,” Davidson said.— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 2, 2024 Another key point came when Bove asked Davidson if he recalled saying Daniels had “settler’s remorse” or ever used the word “leverage” in a conversation with Michael Cohen. Davidson was asked to listen to portions of the conversation—which Cohen had recorded without his knowledge at the time — after he said he could not recall the details. A grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 on 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to a payment made to keep Daniels quiet about her claims of a sexual encounter. Prosecutors are seeking to demonstrate Trump falsified the records in service of a broader “conspiracy” to interfere with the 2016 election. Bove’s questioning of Davidson suggested an alternate explanation to the Daniels payment: Trump was another victim of the attorney’s extortion efforts. In the course of his testimony, Davidson also managed to cast even greater doubt on the already doubtful trustworthiness of the prosecution’s star witness, Cohen, who he said could be a “very aggressive guy.” Stories recounted by Davidson made Cohen appear unstable, such as one expletive-laced phone call Davidson says he received from Cohen after the 2016 election airing frustration about not landing a place in the Trump administration. “‘I’ve saved that guy’s a– so many times, you don’t even know,” Davidson recalled Cohen saying. Cohen had been gunning for a position as high as attorney general, Davidson later said, noting he thought Cohen was “going to kill himself” after that call. At the end of his cross-examination, Bove pointed to the signatures page of the agreement with Daniels, highlighting the fact that Davidson never saw a version signed by “David Dennison,” Trump’s pseudonym. The 10th day of the trial, which began with another hearing on four new alleged violations of Trump’s gag order, concluded with the introduction of a new witness, Douglas Daus, an analyst in the High Technology Analysis Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Daus, who analyzed two of Cohen’s cellphones, took the stand to explain the technicalities of extracting data from Cohen’s phone. On cross-examination, Bove aimed his questions at the integrity of the evidence. Daus is expected to resume his testimony on Friday. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post Alvin Bragg’s Case Against Trump Suffers More Setbacks as Another Witness Deflates His Narrative—and the Media’s appeared first on The Daily Signal.

NEW YORK—Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case suffered more setbacks Thursday as the prosecution’s sixth witness wrapped up his testimony with significant hits to his credibility. During a heated cross-examination, defense attorney Emil Bove managed to cast Keith Davidson, former attorney for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, as a shady lawyer who gets as close to the line as he can without crossing it, brokering deals that border on extortion. Davidson, who played an important role in the $130,00 payment to Daniels at the heart of the prosecution’s case, failed to deflect much of Bove’s line of questioning, appearing dodgy when he said he “could not recall” the answers, only to be forced to reckon with his own words when instructed to listen to recorded audio of the conversations. The day featured the name-dropping of multiple celebrities—including Charlie Sheen and Tila Tequila—as Bove endeavored to prove nondisclosure agreements were a routine part of Davidson’s work and underscore the witness’ questionable ethics. Bove pressed Davison on whether he represented clients to “extract” settlements from celebrities; Davidson took issue with the word. “We’re both lawyers,” Bove told Davidson. “I’m not here to play lawyer games with you.” Davidson wrangled over words with the prosecution, too. When questioned by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass on how the statements he crafted for Daniels’ denying the affair following reports of the payment in 2018 could be “technically true,” Davidson said a strict reading would be true. “I don’t think that anyone had ever alleged that any interactions between she and Mr. [Donald] Trump was romantic,” Davidson said, keying in on the last word to distinguish it from a “sexual encounter.” On a similar question about how denying a “sexual relationship” was true, Davidson noted it was never alleged that they had a “relationship.” Davidson said he would not use the term “hush money” to describe the payment to Daniels and would rather call it “consideration” in a civil settlement. Several media outlets have published stories with headlines that continue to refer to the trial as a “hush money” case. Prosecutor Josha Steinglass pressed Davidson on the claim that the denials were “technically true.” Davidson says you have to go through it word for word.“I don’t think that anyone had ever alleged that any interactions between she and Mr. Trump was romantic,” Davidson said.— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 2, 2024 Another key point came when Bove asked Davidson if he recalled saying Daniels had “settler’s remorse” or ever used the word “leverage” in a conversation with Michael Cohen. Davidson was asked to listen to portions of the conversation—which Cohen had recorded without his knowledge at the time — after he said he could not recall the details. A grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 on 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to a payment made to keep Daniels quiet about her claims of a sexual encounter. Prosecutors are seeking to demonstrate Trump falsified the records in service of a broader “conspiracy” to interfere with the 2016 election. Bove’s questioning of Davidson suggested an alternate explanation to the Daniels payment: Trump was another victim of the attorney’s extortion efforts. In the course of his testimony, Davidson also managed to cast even greater doubt on the already doubtful trustworthiness of the prosecution’s star witness, Cohen, who he said could be a “very aggressive guy.” Stories recounted by Davidson made Cohen appear unstable, such as one expletive-laced phone call Davidson says he received from Cohen after the 2016 election airing frustration about not landing a place in the Trump administration. “‘I’ve saved that guy’s a– so many times, you don’t even know,” Davidson recalled Cohen saying. Cohen had been gunning for a position as high as attorney general, Davidson later said, noting he thought Cohen was “going to kill himself” after that call. At the end of his cross-examination, Bove pointed to the signatures page of the agreement with Daniels, highlighting the fact that Davidson never saw a version signed by “David Dennison,” Trump’s pseudonym. The 10th day of the trial, which began with another hearing on four new alleged violations of Trump’s gag order, concluded with the introduction of a new witness, Douglas Daus, an analyst in the High Technology Analysis Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Daus, who analyzed two of Cohen’s cellphones, took the stand to explain the technicalities of extracting data from Cohen’s phone. On cross-examination, Bove aimed his questions at the integrity of the evidence. Daus is expected to resume his testimony on Friday. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post Alvin Bragg’s Case Against Trump Suffers More Setbacks as Another Witness Deflates His Narrative—and the Media’s appeared first on The Daily Signal.

America’s college campuses are in a state of complete meltdown—at least in blue states, where administrators cater to the whims of these America-hating dolts. But why are these students—the most privileged people in literally world history—LARPing as terrorists and stanning for murderous groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the like? The answer is simple and timeless: aimless, privileged, value-free young people seek revolution. They always have. In Northwestern professor Gary Saul Morson’s book “Wonder Confronts Certainty,” about the history of Russian literature, he describes what he says is a Russian literary type: the revolutionary. The revolutionary is typically from a well-off background but in love with destruction for its own sake. “The will to destroy is also a creative will,” anarchist Mikhail Bakunin famously said. In 1918, Russian poet Alexander Blok wrote an essay titled “The Intelligentsia and the Revolution.” In it, he argued that violence is an antidote to “the boredom, the triviality” of regular life—it will “make everything over … change our false, boring, hideous life … this is called revolution.” But revolutionaries cannot succeed without mainstream support. During the lead-up to the Russian Revolution, the so-called Constitutional Democratic Party openly cheered and encouraged terrorists, even fundraising for them. The party leader said, after a massive terrorist attack of 1906, “Condemn terror? Never! That would mean the moral death of the party.” Naturally, when the Bolsheviks took over, they killed or arrested all the leading members of the Constitutional Democratic Party. When it comes to our radicals, nothing has changed. Bored middle- to upper-class kids have been privileged by a system that has handed them everything but given no mission by their parents other than to “find themselves.” Then they meet fellow revolutionaries—and revolutionary professors—who inform them that the system that has given them their privilege is corrupt and evil. They feel guilty, and the only way to alleviate that guilt is to join the revolution. To cosplay oppression. Right now, it’s all somewhat silly. But there are two paths for these radicals—both dangerous. The first path has been the most common in recent generations: The radicals go on to integrate into more mainstream institutions, which they corrupt from the inside. These radicals have absolutely destroyed major American institutions, from universities to businesses. But there’s an even darker path. That’s the path where the LARPing doesn’t stop at taking over campus buildings and assaulting Jewish students. That’s the path where a few acts of violence blossom into something far, far worse. That’s what happened during the 1960s and 1970s; in 1971 and 1972, there were almost five bombings a day in the United States. Groups ranging from the Black Panthers to the Symbionese Liberation Army, from the FALN to the Weather Underground engaged in violent terrorism. Both paths are plausible. Humored by the Democratic Party, propped up by the media, these college revolutionaries will eventually get tired of co-opting institutions and seek to tear them down entirely. All it takes is someone to break the glass first. What could break the glass? It could be as simple as Donald Trump winning the 2024 election. Remember, while the student protesters were rioting in 1968, it took Richard Nixon’s election to push those protesters underground—and into overt acts of routine terrorism. Given that the entire Left has now deemed Trump a fascist threat, would it be all that shocking if the same students now barricading administration buildings on behalf of an actual terrorist group, Hamas, decide to ratchet their “intifada” up to the next level? COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post Will the Students Globalize the Intifada? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

America’s college campuses are in a state of complete meltdown—at least in blue states, where administrators cater to the whims of these America-hating dolts. But why are these students—the most privileged people in literally world history—LARPing as terrorists and stanning for murderous groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the like? The answer is simple and timeless: aimless, privileged, value-free young people seek revolution. They always have. In Northwestern professor Gary Saul Morson’s book “Wonder Confronts Certainty,” about the history of Russian literature, he describes what he says is a Russian literary type: the revolutionary. The revolutionary is typically from a well-off background but in love with destruction for its own sake. “The will to destroy is also a creative will,” anarchist Mikhail Bakunin famously said. In 1918, Russian poet Alexander Blok wrote an essay titled “The Intelligentsia and the Revolution.” In it, he argued that violence is an antidote to “the boredom, the triviality” of regular life—it will “make everything over … change our false, boring, hideous life … this is called revolution.” But revolutionaries cannot succeed without mainstream support. During the lead-up to the Russian Revolution, the so-called Constitutional Democratic Party openly cheered and encouraged terrorists, even fundraising for them. The party leader said, after a massive terrorist attack of 1906, “Condemn terror? Never! That would mean the moral death of the party.” Naturally, when the Bolsheviks took over, they killed or arrested all the leading members of the Constitutional Democratic Party. When it comes to our radicals, nothing has changed. Bored middle- to upper-class kids have been privileged by a system that has handed them everything but given no mission by their parents other than to “find themselves.” Then they meet fellow revolutionaries—and revolutionary professors—who inform them that the system that has given them their privilege is corrupt and evil. They feel guilty, and the only way to alleviate that guilt is to join the revolution. To cosplay oppression. Right now, it’s all somewhat silly. But there are two paths for these radicals—both dangerous. The first path has been the most common in recent generations: The radicals go on to integrate into more mainstream institutions, which they corrupt from the inside. These radicals have absolutely destroyed major American institutions, from universities to businesses. But there’s an even darker path. That’s the path where the LARPing doesn’t stop at taking over campus buildings and assaulting Jewish students. That’s the path where a few acts of violence blossom into something far, far worse. That’s what happened during the 1960s and 1970s; in 1971 and 1972, there were almost five bombings a day in the United States. Groups ranging from the Black Panthers to the Symbionese Liberation Army, from the FALN to the Weather Underground engaged in violent terrorism. Both paths are plausible. Humored by the Democratic Party, propped up by the media, these college revolutionaries will eventually get tired of co-opting institutions and seek to tear them down entirely. All it takes is someone to break the glass first. What could break the glass? It could be as simple as Donald Trump winning the 2024 election. Remember, while the student protesters were rioting in 1968, it took Richard Nixon’s election to push those protesters underground—and into overt acts of routine terrorism. Given that the entire Left has now deemed Trump a fascist threat, would it be all that shocking if the same students now barricading administration buildings on behalf of an actual terrorist group, Hamas, decide to ratchet their “intifada” up to the next level? COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post Will the Students Globalize the Intifada? appeared first on The Daily Signal.