Newmark's Door

The Onion--as it is often--is pitch-perfect.

So true.

The problem with the “free college” idea is, however, not merely financial. It also reinforces the myth that college is appropriate or even possible for all students. That myth already has destructive consequences for both the quality of higher education and for some of the students caught up in what has become a multi-billion dollar hoax.

As unrealistic as it is, the idea that everyone should attend college has been embraced by Americans. By 1992, 95 percent of high school seniors said they planned to go on to college — even though half of them lacked even basic 9th grade math and verbal skills. These aspirations, however, had dramatic real-world consequences: In 1979 fewer than half of high school graduates enrolled in college. By 2012, that number had soared to more than two-thirds, and even with the dumbed-down curricula and inflated grades, many of them would have a rude encounter with reality.

Three useful things to know:

. . . 1.5 million children were homeschooled in the United States in 2007. This is up significantly from 1.1 million children in 2003 and 850,000 children in 1999. . . . 

. . . sociologists Philip Q. Yang and Nihan Kayaardi argue that the homeschool population does not significantly differ from the general U.S. population. Put another way, it is not really possible to assume anything about the religious beliefs, political affiliations or financial status of homeschooling families anymore. . . . 

So, what are the reasons behind this expansion of the homeschool movement? My research shows that this has been fueled, at least in part, by changes in the public school system. For example, changes in technology have brought about the rise of online charter schools, which utilize remote online instruction to serve their students.

Glenn Reynolds:

But this is more proof that in a Hillary administration, all criticism will be dismissed as sexism, just as under Obama it is all dismissed as racism.

"It sounds crazy: a band of animal lovers and firemen in the mountains of Arizona, led by a Buddhist girl scout, making a pink milkshake for rats that may eventually improve the lives of millions of people."

Columnist for the U.K. Telegraph argues for a proposition that I've long suspected is usually true.

"Let’s Make a Bad Deal--Review of 'The Iran Wars,' by Jay Solomon". 

Prediction: when the terrible results of this monumentally deceptive, mashugana policy arrive, the usual suspects will blame W. and/or Reagan.

"A Sour Surprise for Public Pensions: Two Sets of Books" and "The pension gap: It was a deal that wasn’t supposed to cost taxpayers an extra dime. Now the state’s annual tab is in the billions, and the cost keeps climbing."

Note the sources: The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Also see "Calpers CIO Says Funding Gap to Widen for Foreseeable Future".

"Murderous Chicago: The city that doesn't work."

What have 85 years of uninterrupted Democratic rule and unremitting progressive dogma gotten Chicago? Murderous gang wars with no armistice in sight.

I'd forgotten about Ms. Hillary's encounter with Bosnian sniper fire. There are just so many deliberate, outright lies to keep track of.

See also "Hillary Clinton, who tells dreadful lies".