Affirmative action for dim white kids.
 

• Researchers with access to closely guarded college admissions data have found that, on the whole, about 15 percent of freshmen enrolled at America's highly selective colleges are white teens who failed to meet their institutions' minimum admissions standards.
  
  Five years ago, two researchers working for the Educational Testing Service, Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose, took the academic profiles of students admitted into 146 colleges in the top two tiers of Barron's college guide and matched them up against the institutions' advertised requirements in terms of high school grade point average, SAT or ACT scores, letters of recommendation, and records of involvement in extracurricular activities. White students who failed to make the grade on all counts were nearly twice as prevalent on such campuses as black and Hispanic students who received an admissions break based on their ethnicity or race.
  
  Who are these mediocre white students getting into institutions such as Harvard, Wellesley, Notre Dame, Duke, and the University of Virginia? A sizable number are recruited athletes who, research has shown, will perform worse on average than other students with similar academic profiles, mainly as a result of the demands their coaches will place on them.
  
  A larger share, however, are students who gained admission through their ties to people the institution wanted to keep happy, with alumni, donors, faculty members, administrators, and politicians topping the list.

Peter Schmidt/Boston Globe

That's how he rattled the sword with Iran; it's highlighting the relative priority he's giving Burma versus Iran.

It at least shows a state of readiness, though I think, like Iran, it would quickly be read as a bluff. After all, we generally don't intervene in other countries' affairs for humanitarian reasons.

But don't count on the Chinese for squat other than window dressing. I suspect they find it quite comfortable to have a regime that is more blatantly and openly repressive than they are right on their doorstep. Keeps people focused elsewhere. There's more reason to work with India or Thailand.

Affirmative action for dim white kids.
 

I'd suggest law firm hiring works the same way.

Affirmative action for dim white kids.
 

W went to Yale and Harvard B School. Is this really news?

Back in the olden days
 

Who did security and stuff for diplomats? Has it always been people who aren't military or employees of the government?

Back in the olden days
 

I would have assumed that most security for diplomats would be provided by the host nation. Embassies are guarded by their countries' militaries, but it would be odd to have many armed security types otherwise guarding diplomasts. By what authority could they use force?

Our use of Blackwater is remarkable because of (a) the complete failure of the Iraqi government to provide security, and (b) our ability as the occupying power to interpose our own contractor.

Spanky makes the drudgereport
 

Look. I am in the druge report:



SPANKY: Alabama Judge Accused Of Paddling Jail Inmates Resigns...

Back in the olden days
 

Has anyone read any commentary on the Ken burns "the War?" I know there was some pre-buzz talk about how it is politically slanted, but i didn't hear how. (Burns said he started it well before Iraq war).

Having seen most of it, it strikes me that if anything, it is biased as Pro-Iraq war. It routinely lists dead in a day at staggering numbers, it routinely lists the number of civilians killed (100,000s) and in at least one instance recounted our troops violating conventions with prisioners.

Maybe I'm missing something, but the message, if there is one, is war is fucked up and shit like this happens. unless he means that WWII was wrong, and I don't think that is his point.

It's funny because I would have expected something anti-Iraq if it were biased at all.

Back in the olden days
 

The only controversy I heard about it was that it didn't really cover some of the actions of Hispanics and Native Americans that were in the war, and he had to recut it to be more inclusive. I'm sure my grandfather would be happy to hear that were he still alive.

I haven't heard anyone suggesting that he's opining one way or another about the current war.

Affirmative action for dim white kids.
 

I'm pretty sure Wellesley isn't doling out athletic scholarships.

Affirmative action for dim white kids.
 

Pillow fighting?

Affirmative action for dim white kids.
 

That's just an intramural sport. No scholarships provided.

The Wall Street Journal is Better than Ever
 

Republicans no longer the party of fiscal conservatives. WSJ

Affirmative action for dim white kids.
 

FWIW, when Great great grandfather Pennypacker offered the endowment, he included the provision that all of his direct decendants get admitted, even those of us who have 2.6 GPA. Fair? fuck no! If he had simply invested what would have been my share of that money I wouldn't have to work today.

So, in my opinion, You can all suck it.

The Wall Street Journal is Better than Ever
 

So is this the parting shot of the old editorial board before the Merger closes? One last attempt to report what is really happening in politics before the spin begins?