Varsity Blues

The college admissions process is even more corrupt than we realized:

College Admissions Scandal: Actresses, Business Leaders and Other Wealthy Parents Charged

A teenage girl who did not play soccer magically became a star soccer recruit at Yale. Cost to her parents: $1.2 million.

A high school boy eager to enroll at the University of Southern California was falsely deemed to have a learning disability so he could take his standardized test with a complicit proctor who would make sure he got the right score. Cost to his parents: at least $50,000.

A student with no experience rowing won a spot on the U.S.C. crew team after a photograph of another person in a boat was submitted as evidence of her prowess. Her parents wired $200,000 into a special account.

In a major college admissions scandal that laid bare the elaborate lengths some wealthy parents will go to get their children into competitive American universities, federal prosecutors charged 50 people on Tuesday in a brazen scheme to buy spots in the freshman classes at Yale, Stanford and other big-name schools.

Brazen indeed - this goes well beyond the tutoring, application coaching and resume-building "study abroad" programs available to those with financial resources.

I'm intrigued to see that coaches of non-revenue sports are monetizing their ability to wave in recruits. No big-time basketball or football coach would need to do that, since they already have the TV and radio deals, sneaker deals, big contract and so on.

Ross zDouthat had a good twitter thread noting that parents are buying social status, not a lifetime of higher earnings.

The Ivy League earnings myth is discussed here. The conclusion: Ivy-qualified kids do as well as their Ivy-accepted peers.

In the pair's newest study, the findings are even more amazing. Applicants, who shared similar high SAT scores with Ivy League applicants could have been rejected from the elite schools that they applied to and yet they still enjoyed similar average salaries as the graduates from elite schools. In the study, the better predictor of earnings was the average SAT scores of the most selective school a teenager applied to and not the typical scores of the institution the student attended.

The researchers originally looked at students who started college in 1976, and in the new study they revisited what happened to these graduates. With the passing time, the salary advantage for the now middle-aged graduates, who attended elite schools, as well as those who gained admission, but passed on the chance, remained. The new study also looked at students who entered college in 1989.

My quibble - this looks at grads from the early 90's. MAYBE the hiring market has changed. Did McKinsey and Goldman Sachs cut back on the schools from which they hired in the last twenty years? Possibly.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

I wonder if political party affiliation will be researched.

[henry]

TK, unpossible.

[henry]

TM, the "revenue" sports use admissions scams to get quality players in. The money flow is in the opposite direction, but having college "student" athletes who cannot read has been common for quite a while. They even "attend" fake classes (see UNC).

[GUS]

Most undergrad classes are FAKE.
My son was asked which of 57 genders he'd like to be considered.

He said. "I've got a dick, you tell me".

[Narciso]

They were very generic degeneric in the descriptions the free beacon noticed some of those details tk

[Narciso]

They will point out the Wynn company execs thiugh:

https://spectator.org/the-sheepskin-scandal/

[Dave (in MA)]

My initial thought when I heard this story was to wonder why they're cracking down all of a sudden on something that I'd always assumed was going on all along.

[Porchlight]

Mine too, Dave (in MA), but when I learned more about it, I changed my mind.

I have no problem at all with law enforcement cracking down on this. It may have a cascading effect as more transparency is demanded. The two minor actresses being involved brings a lot more attention to the story.

[Narciso]

Well that's quite a recommendation:

https://freebeacon.com/politics/inslee-d-admits-greenhouse-gas-emissions-have-increased-during-his-governorship/

[henry]

manafort update:

𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗅𝗅 @TheChiIIum
10m

Judge rules in favor of giving Manafort credit in the sentencing guidelines for acceptance of responsibility. Mueller prosecutor Weissmann tried to make the case for Manafort not receiving that credit.

[D]

Henry:
Fabulous.
Anything that thug Weissman wants needs to be thwarted.
His reputation has been spiked over the years.
He wanted some scalps from this but now everyone just knows what a sleazeball he really is.

[GUS]

This COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCAM really bothers me.
I think we should stay with the same system that got Obama into Occidental, Columbia and Harvard.

[Captain Hate]

They even "attend" fake classes (see UNC).

To which the NCAA Cartel turned a blind eye.

[D]

I heard in one instance the SAT score jumped 400 points.
No way that could ever happen on a retake.
These people are just dumb.

[D]

Gus:
We will never know how he got in.
I am convinced he was an affirmative action diversity student from Hawaii or Kenya.
He isn’t smart enough to get in on the merits.
Release all his testing and I can prove it.

[Narciso]

Oh skip that:

https://freebeacon.com/politics/democratic-donors-charged-in-college-admissions-scam/

[clarice]

The thing about the college admissions case is that people can easily understand it--not like the Mueller hall of mirrors..and the hypocrisy and stupidity of these people is manifest.

[henry]

It's clear "studies" majors don't have to know much of anything.

Tim Carney @TPCarney
13h

It seems that if
(A) They had to hire someone to take their kids' SATs
AND
(B) They thought the kids would do fine in college despite not meeting admissions standards.
That suggests
(A) SATs may actually test intelligence
AND
(B) Passing college classes doesn't require ability

[rse]

I think I have shared this before, but every famous school my kids drug me to, by 2015 or so, was openly stating in their presentations to interested students that they wanted to become majority minority institutions, even though that does not reflect the college-going population. I had said if my spouse viewed his role as anything other than moving them in the dorm of where ever they were going, he would have wanted to hit something from listening to the presentations.

It is a markedly changed system. Now, instead of shooting for PBK by graduation, people hype being selected their junior year.

Have some fun, kids.

[Narciso]

I guess if you're woke enough:

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/03/12/angelo-carusone-rules-dont-apply/

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I know CH thinks the FBI and DOJ would be better occupied elsewhere, but seems to me this is a minor but useful example of the rule of law being enforced against the entitled creeps for whom it very seldom is.

Besides, if they weren't doing this they'd probably be helping out with the coup.

[Dave (in MA)]

henry, I'd like to know how many of them were enrolled in "studies", as opposed to something useful.

[henry]

Dave, do they have another choice these days?

[Narciso]

They've only been doing this investigation since may?
https://www.recode.net/platform/amp/2019/3/12/18262003/bill-mcglashan-college-admissions-scandal-tpg-stanford-usc-yale

[Buckeye]

I think the social status angle is significant.

My niece, who is a high school senior, went to a summer program at Harvard last year. She was planning to apply, and thought it was a good way to find out more about the school, etc.

She came home disillusioned. Said her "classmates" were not serious, even though all were there for the same reason.

She chose not to apply, to the relief of her dad who although could easily afford it doesn't think becoming a physician (like him) requires a $100K/year undergrad experience.

Yes, he is a Kentucky born "regular guy":)

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

So, if blacks are owed reparations for their past treatment shouldn't women be paid for their being denied the vote all those years and other unspeakable crimes?
And since black men received the vote prior to women and black men have certainly committed an inordinate number of crimes against women, doesn't it follow that black dudes owe white chicks reparations?

[Dave (in MA)]

And I can't help but wonder if this was all an effort by the Beautiful People, as Howie Carr calls them, to work around the diversity quota systems that all of the BPs support.

[MissMarple2]

Dave,

That would be a good investigation. I also would like to see how many FEDERAL GRANTS these diploma factories get.

[henry]

Phil Kerpen
@kerpen

Quick search of presidential donors among people indicted today for allegedly bribing their kids into college:

Hillary Clinton: 6
Mitt Romney: 6
Barack Obama: 5
Marco Rubio: 1
Donald Trump: 0

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--They've only been doing this investigation since may?--

Probably decided to end it early as the trail started pointing to their bosses in DC.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
31m31 minutes ago

Comey testified (under oath) that it was a “unanimous” decision on Crooked Hillary. Lisa Page transcripts show he LIED. @jasoninthehouse

[Buckeye]

And I can't help but wonder if this was all an effort by the Beautiful People, as Howie Carr calls them, to work around the diversity quota systems that all of the BPs support.

Of course, because all of us flyover country redneck trash are responsible for the minorities getting effed over, not them.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Retweeted
Diamond and Silk®
‏Verified account @DiamondandSilk
11h11 hours ago

Diamond and Silk® Retweeted

AG Letitia James of New York is abusing her power by targeting the POTUS. Using the Attorney General office as a weapon to deliberately target the President because of Political Bias should be against the Law and a violation of the Hatch Act! https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1105679188428767232 …

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Retweeted
Geraldo Rivera
‏Verified account @GeraldoRivera
2h2 hours ago

As #RobertMueller approaches the end, interesting how little anti-Trumpers are invoking infamous #SteeleDossier the tabloid essay that slandered @RealDonaldTrump, launched a 1000 investigators, & formed the shaky legal basis for #FISAgate? #CollusionIllusion #CollusionDelusion

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump Retweeted
Geraldo Rivera
‏Verified account @GeraldoRivera
2h2 hours ago

@SpeakerPelosi statements vs #Impeachment are refreshing & conciliatory. Her conclusion that attempting to remove @realDonaldTrump early would be 'divisive' is self-evident. Once #RobertMueller exonerates @POTUS of allegations he's a Russian spy, let's move on.

[clarice]

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/the_bigger_scandal_in_college_admissions_is_what_is_legal.html

Bring back IQ tests--it's a better indication of brain power than what school you went to.

[MissMarple2]

By the way, the reason I posted those tweets is because they were retweeted by the President, and I figured they were points he wanted to emphasize.

[Captain Hate]

I know CH thinks the FBI and DOJ would be better occupied elsewhere, but seems to me this is a minor but useful example of the rule of law being enforced against the entitled creeps for whom it very seldom is.

Or maybe they've been revealed as such bumblers under Queasy (h/t Frau) in botching terrorism investigations by not even securing crime scenes, for example, much less preventing them that they need some easy victories. It still doesn't begin to restore that status they used to have, at least in my mind.

[James D.]

She came home disillusioned. Said her "classmates" were not serious, even though all were there for the same reason.

If I were in a position to hire anyone, I'd count an Ivy degree as a negative, maybe even an automatic disqualifier, rather than a positive.

[Rocco]

Weissmann was in charge of the Obama DOJ's Fraud Section which supervised Rosenstein when he slow walked the Mikerin prosecution to hide the U1 scandal.

I know I've posted this article several times but IMO, it's spot on and precisely what the witch hunt is, a cover-up.

I'm off to bring my FIL to the dr's.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/10/uranium-one-deal-obama-administration-doj-hillary-clinton-racketeering/

[MissMarple2]

If we aren't going to bulldoze the FBI building, I at least want those 302's abolished and recorded interviews required.

I am still fuming over those written recollections being considered acceptable evidence.

[clarice]

You'd be wrong, james d. It's as silly as hiring someone because they have an Ivy degree. I know some extremely bright grads from there who are multitalented.(I also know a lot of not very smart ones and quite a few first class jerks.)

[MissMarple2]

The newly released transcripts of my interview with Lisa Page indicate that Peter Strzok had no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia prior to the launch of the FBI and special counsel investigations into the matter. pic.twitter.com/Mt8SChdocI

— John Ratcliffe (@RepRatcliffe) March 13, 2019

Link goes to screen cap of a portion of the testimony transcript.

========================================
Sean Davis replies to Ratcliffe:

Sean Davis
‏Verified account @seanmdav
2m2 minutes ago

Page also claimed they didn't do a defensive briefing for then-candidate Trump because they didn't have any evidence anyone associated with his campaign was a foreign agent, which is a very different story than the one they told the FISA court.

[MissMarple2]

This gal is monitoring Manafort's sentencing hearing, with my sort of commentary:

https://twitter.com/TheChiIIum/status/1105845587243687936

[Rocco]

OK, one more, I really have to run and may not be back to respond until later tonight.

Sara thinks Rosenstein lied...1:11 mark

https://www.instagram.com/tv/BuzNPCXgrkg/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=wopzqpq073ge

[MissMarple2]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6800411/Sasha-Malia-Obamas-tennis-instructor-former-Yale-womens-soccer-coach-indicted.html

Getting closer......

[Captain Hate]

My younger daughter is a Columbia grad. She insists it was time well spent even though she knows I'd prefer for her to say otherwise.

[Jane]

Acceptance to college or law school has never been solely based on merit. When I applied to law school, they were looking for 3 things: Women, blacks and older people. I was 32. All the blacks got all the scholarships but I got in. I'm sure a lot of men smarter than me did not.

And you could clearly tell the difference. I was lucky because I had work experience that was helpful, but not nearly as academic as the younger men.

And just a few years before you could have been the smartest chick on the planet (waving to Clarice) but getting into law school was a tough task.

So this BS has always gone on in some form. Now it's just the money!

[Tom R]

From the other thread:

The crime, AB, is the FBI is wasting time investigating crap like this instead of something really important.

The Ivy League schools are the breeding ground for future Deep State Swamp denizens so anything that weakens the Swamp is a good thing.

There is no evidence that the timing of this has any connection with what is going on with Spygate or the Mueller report but there is one point that addresses them all. No one had a clue that the DOJ was investigating this college admissions fraud. No leaks whatsoever just indictments out of the blue. I am fairly certain the same no-leak discipline is the reason we have no clue what Horowitz and Huber have been doing. I consider that a good thing.

[Manuel Transmission]

A little more on the 737MAX:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pilot-of-crashed-ethiopian-airlines-jet-reported-flight-control-problems-11552473593?emailToken=594cdb5409e621c7ab799c76c6f837a6bkCtm3C16fb7F9nBem7vFdqdr0mykmheSQLdEKSfdQOb9vIHrSjIa5uhGnEhwCoDOt8R9U/9blAlsfoG3eF7LMisK148uSmeUhDLFxlBYL/7J84wBbC+2PJT7S0gR+RZRt77TjpippsjB9TYiTXxVg%3D%3D&reflink=article_email_share

The comments are better than the article.

One line of discussion that I thought was interesting was how Boeing deliberately makes incremental changes in designs like the 737 for the obvious re-certification expense, but even more for the customers to not have to retrain their pilots like they would jumping to a different airframe. So the MCAS system is there to hide the fact that it really is a different airplane.

[MissMarple2]

Tom R.,

That's a very good point.

[MissMarple2]

BOY vs GIANTS: They Messed With the Wrong Kid!
Covington Student, Nicholas Sandmann, Is Taking On the Goliath Corporations that Smeared His Good Name and Endangered His Life and Future.
Please Watch. Like. Retweet.
Together We Will... #ReformOurMediahttps://t.co/TkCrMyq8vE

— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) March 13, 2019

Video at the link.

[henry]

manafort update:

Zoe Tillman @ZoeTillman
51s

Jackson says it would be "hard to overstate" the number of lies and the extent of the fraud, "and there is no good expalantion that would warrant the leniency requested"

[rse]

MT-that was the very question I asked hubby this morning. If you are already certified as a 737 pilot does this require different training?

After all, they admit it is different engines and an altered center of gravity. Apparently the purpose of the MCAS is to mask the fact it is a different airplane in how it flies.

I also wondered if the simulators could be programmed to let pilots practice the altered dynamics somewhat akin to what they did to make flying upside down no longer alien and something the pilot fought instead of working through.

Given the backorders on this plane before the sunday accident, there must have been a great deal of demand for the distance capability coupled to the fuel savings in terms of operating costs.

I know I have flown the 777 a few times as it comes in internationally to atlanta with one domestic landings before going intl again. Darn thing is so pricey it never seems to stay on the ground longer than two hours.

[Captain Hate]

When did U$C and Stanfraud join the Ivy League?

Once again Tom defends police state tactics in pursuit of a many steps removed greater good.

[Marlene]

From Tampa local news...Mark Riddell,the director of college entrance exams at the IMG Academy in Bradenton,FL has been charged with two criminal counts of mail fraud and money laundering and will appear in court in Massachusetts today. he is accused of taking exams for students. Rick Singer would arrange for Riddell to get a copy of the test from a bribed administrator and take it on behalf of the student. In one instance,he was going to "secretly correct" the answers for a student,but when the student became ill,he took the test. Parent 1 (in the complaint) provided a copy of the student's handwriting to Riddell. It would look suspicious for him to take the test with the other students (he's 36) so he would take the test in a hotel near the two test centers. He's been suspended from IMG and his website has been taken down,but a cached version says he is an alumni of Harvard. I guess 40 years IMG was a big deal tennis academy.

[henry]

nice windup by the judge... waiting for the pitch:

Zoe Tillman @ZoeTillman
1m

Re: witness tampering, Jackson says: "He pled guilty to conspiring to corruptly persuade another person — two people — with the intent to influence their testimony in an official proceeding. And which official proceding? This one. The case against Mr. Manafort himself."

[rse]

MM--

more confirmation that CAGW hype is really about getting behavior change. https://give.rare.org/event/be-hive-2019/e202755

I wrote in the last few days about climate as a so-called "global public good". That was from a 1999 book and 1997 conference sponsored by UNDP, which is a co-sponsor of that "Climate Change needs Behavior Change" event.

[henry]

Uh Oh...

CNBC @CNBC
2m

Justice Department reportedly probing if $100K from Malaysian fugitive was funneled to Trump PAC

[Captain Hate]

The usual suspects at CNN, Tater Stelter and some JEF administration fuckface, really weren't happy with that Greenpeace cofounder shining a light on the scam climate models. Possible Arkancide in progress.

[Dave (in MA)]

The Onion:
Report: Just Go Ahead And Tell Yourself Bribery Is The Only Reason You Didn’t Get Into Columbia

[henry]

Zoe Tillman @ZoeTillman
2m

Remorse was "completely absent" from Manafort's sentencing submissions, the judge said, and she disapprovingly noted the effort to argue that it was only because the special counsel got involved that Manafort faced criminal charges

[MissMarple2]

henry,

Reported by who?

[henry]

Zoe Tillman @ZoeTillman
1m

The judge slams Manafort and his lawyers for making the "unsubstantiated" claim that Manafort was only charged by Mueller's office because they couldn't charge him with anything related to the campaign. "The noncollusion mantra is simply a non sequitor"

[henry]

Miss M:

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported Wednesday that investigators are trying to see if some of the $1.5 million in total transfers Low made in mid-2017 to Hawaii investment firm LNS Capital was used by its owner Larry Davis to make a $100,000 donation to the Trump Victory political action committee in December of that year.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/13/justice-investigating-if-1mdb-fugitive-jho-low-cash-went-to-trump-pac.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain

[Buckeye]

So the MCAS system is there to hide the fact that it really is a different airplane.

And of course all software is thoroughly tested before deployed.

[henry]

Miss M; further down in the article shows it is nonsense:

The newspaper said that $60,000 of Davis's donation went to the RNC, $5,400 went to the Trump campaign and the balance when to state GOP parties and campaigns.

[henry]

ManTran, Buckeye, I had the opportunity to interview the engineering staff at Boeing just prior to the 777 launch. They thought the reduction in training by keeping cockpit controls the same was a big feature back then, well received by the airlines. Not surprised they still do that.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

What police state tactics was Tom defending in this case?
This isn't asset forfeiture. Giving a donation to a college to get your kid in is shady but not something I'm going to get too upset about. But neither is it what these people are charged with.
These people were apparently paying bald faced bribes, engaging in criminal fraud and breaking tax laws by sometimes using a fake non profit to do it.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

RE the Boeing issue and automated cars.

The car I bought last year has some auto functions to 'assist' you to avoid accidents.

Lane Assist - corrects and keeps you within the yellow lines.

Driver Assist - alerts if the car thinks you are falling asleep

Accident avoidance - brakes the car and will steer you away from impediments (other cars and objects) if it senses you are going to hit them.

A note on each...

Lane assist is a PITA. It will correct your steering if you are drifting out of the 'optimal' arc of a curve or drift too close to the lane lines. I have to turn it off in some areas of the ATL that have lots of potholes; because, it would prefer you keep the optimal track than avoid potholes and damage your wheels/alignment. The corrections are not always gentle, either. If your parabolic arc on a curve gets in the danger zone it will literally jerk you back to the optimal arc it wants. I end up fighting the damn thing to dodge and weave through potholes/roadkill/stuff in the road. It doesn't activate til the car hits 40 mph, but each 5 mph increase in speed seems to exaggerate the 'jerk' effect of the cars attempted corrections. You can override the correction, but it does it so suddenly there is really very little time to override before the correction is made. I use it for interstate travel, but I am ambivalent about it then.

Driver assist - is a big help on the interstate, but marginal on local roads as most interstate travel is fairly straight and boring, so drifting occurs and I like that the car snaps me back to watching the road instead of admiring the horses in the pasture or other scenery. It never really activates on local travel, as you have to pretty much stay tuned to what turns/start/stops you are doing anyways.

Accident avoidance - doesn't seem to take into consideration of what cars in other lanes are going to do, so it is a crapshoot that it might steer you out of a rear end crash into a side swipe crash as it doesn't anticipate the other vehicle's driver's next move.

Would I like a plane that does the lane assist thing? NO way in hell.

Driver assist is pretty much unnecessary in a plane as you are on autopilot and it doesn't get distracted.

Accident avoidance is pretty much unnecessary in a plane as long as the proximity warnings for much greater distances seem to cover it.

I can't begin to imagine the unknown unknowns that the lane assist can't react to. All I know is that reacting to it can cause a severe driver overcorrection if you are surprised by it.

Just my 2 cents on the hidden issues with the ongoing automation of cars and the comparison to planes.

[Buckeye]

They thought the reduction in training by keeping cockpit controls the same was a big feature back then

henry, this is likely a subject MT can relate to.

The gear and flaps controls on his bird conforms to the same location on the vast majority of single engine light aircraft.

Ask him what happens when the plane is flown by someone who owned an early Beech Bonanza that has the locations swapped.

Ouch.

[henry]

Zoe Tillman @ZoeTillman
2m

BREAKING: Paul Manafort has been sentenced to:
- Count 1: 60 months, with 30 months concurrent with EDVA sentence
- Count 2: 13 months, to run consecutive to count 1 and the EDVA sentence

[Narciso]

I told you what vogon egg sacks are Friedman and sacker, 9ne was a former financial times reporter worked for grapevine, the other CNN drone for azerbaijan.

[Narciso]

So 2 1/2 years plus change, on top of the 4 years in prison.

[henry]

narciso, yeah 7 years total or something like that. (per WSJ math)

[henry]

HighlySelectiveHat @Popehat
3m

So that's 43 months additional time on top of the EDVA sentence, for a total of 90 months, or 7.5 years. He gets credit for time served, will get good-time credit of up to 15%, and may get additional credit under the new and untested First Step Act.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Okay, we now have the comical denouement of the attempted hit on Tucker Carlson;
Tucker Carlson under fire again for sexual, degrading comments toward 2007 Miss Teen USA contestant.
What were his sexual, degrading crimes this time?
He said a 17 year old beauty contestant was "appealing" and "would probably be a pretty good wife." Egad.

[Dave (in MA)]

Apparently at least some of the admissions scandal raids were conducted as early morning, armed police actions. Probably nothing like the show of force used with that vicious international criminal Rogelio Stoneriguez, though.

[Narciso]

I relayed what a nazgul and DNC zampolit is carusone, you need to nuke him from orbit just to make sure.

[Jane]

7.5 years. Given the latest revelations he should be pardoned. If they didn't have fake charges against Trump, Manafort would not be in trouble.

I sure hope the doors are closing in.

[Old Lurker]

If I had any confidence that Trump is running the DoJ, then I could come up with reasons he would want the lid blown off colleges and the loan programs and the Federal dollars. It would be a good first move.

Sadly, since I think the Deep State still runs that department, I look for reasons why the DoJ is doing this now, and obviously "proving" that colleges are just continuing their White favoritism to the disadvantage of people of color will make it that much easier to take over those institutions even more and of course, all their stashed loot.

So this is an opening shot from one side or the other, and experience leads me to assume the Left is up to something bad.

[caro]

I liked Buford’s comment about Playboy’s top ten fun colleges. But I chose Wisconsin because it was the only school that was also on Time Magazine (ugh) top ten academic in 1962.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

The elite always cheat these days. The game is rigged. It's not so much the "donations". The whole thing was developed as a massive fraud. From the test riggers to the photoshopped photos to the outright bribery of coaches and admissions staff.

On top of that, the universities have covered themselves in feces with the AYSO grading systems. Real achievement means little.

40 years ago I heard this about the Japanese university system. Once you were in at University of Tokyo or others, there were no grades and you didn't even have to show up for class.

This is how we have such screaming incompetents and mediocrities running the system.

They all fawn over each other and from what I read, one of the "tells" for this scam was some stupid, self-entitled spawn of a sycophant gave the game away to her 1.2 million Twitter twats.

Her whole bag was recording her visits to the gym and the mall and parties so that her followers could live vicariously in La La Land. That it was Newport Beach is no freaking surprise whatsoever.

My old neighborhood was basically @ 60% USC grads and 30% UCLA grads, all of them your keeping up with the Joneses mediocrities making large bank. It was one of the most soul-less environments imaginable dedicated to things and status.

[Threadkiller]

If they didn't have fake charges against Trump, Manafort would not be in trouble.

Trump fired Manafort when his Ukrainian stories didn't add up.

[Manuel Transmission]

IQ tests: back in the mid-80s when I started to hire my own coders, I happened across a book written by an old IBM hand who offered the perfect test. Get the applicant, while sitting in front of you, to code up a software module that sorted triangles into three types: equalateral, right and scalene. That should take a few minutes, if they have any competence. Then ask them how many ways it would break. After a few more minutes the best would come up with about seven. After giving this test for decades, the author accumulated 20-some ways it would break, but watching the applicant gave you a direct way to see the wheels turning, or not, as the case may be.

So, how long is the list of ways that MCAS module will break?

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Anyone else having issues with FB this am? I can't share anything nor can I post anything and it doesn't appear I'm in FB jail.

[James D.]

I have to say, I fear that OL is probably right.

Yes, maybe this college admissions investigation is just something that has been in the works as part of the normal functioning of the DOJ. Or that it's happening for an actual good reason.

But we have seen nothing in the past several years to indicate that anyone at the DOJ has anything like good intentions or any sort of interest in honoring the oaths they took or, you know, obeying the Constitution. So I have to assume there is a nefarious reason behind this investigation.

[Captain Hate]

What police state tactics was Tom defending in this case?

Bringing the full power of the federal government against some stupid dopes trying to give their deadbeat kids a chance to make something of themselves.

[GUS]

I was flying my NEW 737 the other day, and about 15 seconds after takeoff, MICROSOFT took ovr and told me about 36 UPDATES that were necessary to keep me from

[Extraneus]

Despite Budget Surplus, California Democrats Propose Array of New Taxes

California legislative Democrats have proposed taxes and fees on soda, tire changes, dialysis clinics, lead-acid batteries, and drinking water, as well as a firearms excise tax and an oil and gas severance tax.

[Ralph L]

The test cheating is worse than the straight bribery, which most people assume has been going on since universities were invented.

[Old Lurker]

Gus "I was flying my NEW 737 the other day, and about 15 seconds after takeoff, MICROSOFT took ovr and told me..."

As I have described before, that was my experience looking at fancy new cars ten years ago. In the end I looked for the nicest car I could get that 1) had no screen, and 2) had the maximum number of knobs, switches and and buttons as opposed to "automated" alternatives.

[henry]

CNN now blaming the government shutdown for the delay in Boeing software fixes getting shipped. Seems to be cribbing off a WSJ story on Boeing making extensive software changes. (per Chitown Lurker).

[Buckeye]

He said a 17 year old beauty contestant was "appealing" and "would probably be a pretty good wife." Egad.

That's it?!?!?!

No, "I bet she could suck start a Harley"

No, "Look at the tits on that broad"

No, "I'd pay cash money"

I am seriously disappointed:)

[Narciso]

And the falsifying of documents, I still dont get how this investigation came about?

[Jane]

I don't know if I posted this the other day, but every days it makes more and more sense:

https://forbiddenknowledgetv.net/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-is-a-puppet-the-brains-behind-aoc/?fbclid=IwAR3Est6a_P8W-gvF9oehfwOpszmy5SsIzyBiOxeXxPsW0zCmSth3bcoyKG4

Odd that the media has not picked it up.

[Old Lurker]

Ralph, test cheating at least is "all on the kid". What is new here is the blatant selling of athletic "slots" to the highest (non-athlete) bidders by highly paid coaches and officials at the colleges themselves. And I do not think for a single split second that only the coach was involved. I suspect the involvement of officials in the testing arena might be a higher level of corruption too.

But as I said yesterday...once you erase equal rules for all...

[MissMarple2]

matt,

You reminded me of my impression watching the OJ trial.

All of the neighbors, service people, clerks, etc. who testified seemed to me to be rather dim bulbs with almost no personalities, although they were very nice-looking.

I thought that it would drive me insane to live among such people.

[Ralph L]

This math major had to look up scalene triangle.

[MissMarple2]

Ha! I know what a scalene triangle is.

I was much better at geometry than algebra.