Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

......... the hit on the Moskva is highly symbolic. A note if it is in fact capsized is that would be due to asymmetric compartment flooding below the water line. Modern US war ships have very high tech provisions to be able to sustain battle damage and continue to fight and defend themselves. Russia has a long history of building shit that looks good but isn't survivable in combat. Moreover, there are few provisions in these builds for safety and protection of crew. The orcs don't give a shit about that.

[Da Geezer]

Right.

First, I want to apologize, again, for using the words of people.

Second, i want to issue a disclaimer -- I can't read minds, so I really have no idea what Schumer (and other Ds) actually mean by their words.

But, if you go by, you know, what they say and what those words mean, then, EFZ, Tom. It's actually an issue that pisses my partisan D wife off beause, well, she played by the rules. It's also preposterously regressive and a wealth transfer from blue collar workers to elites. Which, I sort of get -- the Ds are now pretty much white collar elite. I mean, they fought (and fight) SALT tooth and nail, which is just a smaller version of this.

Heh. Totally true.

Tell your wife that the solution to this is to pass a bill in which colleges co-sign any student debt that is spent at their schools. Not hard, and not unfair. If they want to have students pay $ 60,000 for something of far lesser value, then let them assure the payment of the debt out of future funding. Remember too that under my system, Universities will be less likely to advise incoming students to major in Black Studies or Sociology, or, for that matter, French Art. Universities are allowed to cancel degrees for just cause, and non-payment certainly is a just cause. In the credentialed society we live in, that is a real threat to the deadbeats. So would be the publication of the names of the deadbeats in the college's alumni publication.

(note: Biden's approval by "college-educated white women" has gone up during his presidency).

[Da Geezer]

Yeah, but where's the money gonna come from. As Tom said, the Universities ain't gonna just repay it. The Federal Govt has already paid them. In full. To, again, quote/paraphrase Clay Davis, "They'll take any fool's money if they just givin' it away."

No, this is a total loss being borne by the taxpayers -- blue collar workers paying for white collar workers.

I posted above before I read this.

The money comes from the students who willingly took on the loan in the first place. If a law saying that universities are co-signers for the unpaid debt has ex post-facto-type problems, then simply withhold the monies that the Federal Government sends to the schools. If that doesn't work because most money comes from the states, then doc the states. If colleges do not cooperate, don't make student loans that pay for that college. If colleges get $ 1.6 trillion less money over the next 15 years, what harm would that do?

[Da Geezer]

Backing Rangers? You Protestant motherfucker. Well done!

Re Tuition, I'm firmly in the camp Tuition should be tailored to the degree. To do that I'd make it so that your tution olbigations are paid off as a percentage of your income over a fixed period of time. Randomly -- say 5% over 20 years.

First, this at least tries to value the degree. An engineering degree is worth more than a sociology degree yet Universities charge the same for either. I would much rather see Universities use almost a "menu" approach. The repayment based on earned salary is a way to try to value the degree. Doctors will repay way more than sociology majors.

Second, I don't think it would incentivize people to not work or to work cheap if you strike the right balance. First, you need to make the percent small enough that it doesn't discourage work and second you need to make the time period long enough that it'd be really hard not to work for that period.

Anyway, the way Universities price degrees right now is preposterously inefficient. It bears no real relation to the value of the degree only to the amount of money they can squeeze out of kids either through their 529 or Federal aid.

As a side note, we had to do FAFSA shit this year. The tuition that they say we're capable of paying is hilariously high. I mean, I guess if we sold our house and moved into a studio next to the Casino we might be able to afford that amount, but otherwise...lol

I disagree with this approach because it perpetuates one of the biggest problems in our society, ie: the talented subsidizing the untalented. It is the essence of DEI.

Second, the value of any degree should be considered at the margin, that is, what has the degree added to the net earning power of the graduate. If one can make $ 30,000 ($ 15/hr) at Starbucks, then the value-added of a college degree should be measured against that baseline, not in total. If you can get employment at $ 40,000/yr, then the value of the degree is $ 10,000 and not $ 40,000.

Third, it costs the college just as much to educate a sociology major as a math major. Why should the math major pay extra for making a rational decision?

The price of college is indeed absurd, and that is another part of the student debt problem. But that can be addressed by a list of cost-saving changes like eliminating tenure.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Third, it costs the college just as much to educate a sociology major as a math major. Why should the math major pay extra for making a rational decision?

The price of college is indeed absurd, and that is another part of the student debt problem. But that can be addressed by a list of cost-saving changes like eliminating tenure.

Bloated administrations are the bigger cause of rising tuition. I'd be very surprised if the ratio of profs to administrators hasn't significantly shrunk over the past 50 years.

And a lot of the liberals arts majors that folks here love to laugh at are probably among the cheapest programs at a university. Liberal Arts Professors generally get paid less than their Engineering and Science counterparts. A lot more money has to be allocated for science and engineering facilities as well. An english course just needs a room with some chairs.

[Tom W]

And a lot of the liberals arts majors that folks here love to laugh at are probably among the cheapest programs at a university. Liberal Arts Professors generally get paid less than their Engineering and Science counterparts. A lot more money has to be allocated for science and engineering facilities as well. An english course just needs a room with some chairs.

Gee, maybe that's because there's actually competition in the real world, for scientists and engineers?

[Mike]

IMO, the root cause (at least the biggest factor) of the outrageous cost of college is the endless stream of money flowing from the U.S. Department of Ed to the schools. That's how you end up with bloated staffs of people drawing fat salaries while contributing absolutely nothing to the educational attainment of the students or their college experience. BA students are simply used as pack mules to funnel money from the federal coffers to colleges and universities.

[Mike]

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[Dr. Strangelove]

IMO, the root cause (at least the biggest factor) of the outrageous cost of college is the endless stream of money flowing from the U.S. Department of Ed to the schools. That's how you end up with bloated staffs of people drawing fat salaries while contributing absolutely nothing to the educational attainment of the students or their college experience. BA students are simply used as pack mules to funnel money from the federal coffers to colleges and universities.

Heh, the real money is in worthless grad programs that sucker in mid-career professionals. International students from wealthy families that'll pay any price for a degree from a recognized American university are easy marks for these programs too.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Pour one out for the Moskva. Russia officially acknowledges it sank while being towed in a storm.

[CGVT]

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[THE_WIZARD_]

heh

[Jeff Buchanan]

Something that is being consistently reported by CTR is the Ukrainian ability to strike Russian forces "rear areas." In military parlance, this is where the Russian army is trying to coalesce and reconstitute forces previously withdrawn from the failed main axis of attack originating from Belarus and Western Russia towards Kiev.

In the early stages of Ukraine's defense, not only did they successfully attack poorly supported, vulnerably deployed armor assets but also interdict rear supply areas substantially reducing Russia's ability to resupply planned advances - you saw this. No fuel, no rations, no ammunition stalled large numbers of BTGs. Reportedly, because of the Ukrainian Army's experiences confronting the Russian Army in 2014, they found how vulnerable poorly protected and supported rear areas, when attacked, curtailed Russian offensive operations. They are applying those lessons learned in this war.

Today, the Russian Ministry of defense whined about Ukraine's repeated attacks of Russian supply points both inside Russia and along the front. It threatened renewed attacks of C3 and suppl y depot targets inside Kiev. Fuck them. Bring it.

You can envision a planned strategy to draw Russian aviation assets and cruise missile artillery into the airspace over Kiev to engage with surreptitiously placed S300 and Patriot missile systems ringing Kiev. These are both highly effective ground based air defense systems capable of targeting multiple inbound aircraft and missiles simultaneously. Also, lets imagine NATO E-3A AWACs airborne in Polish and Slovakian airspace coordinating air defense in the airspace over Kiev. It's a stretch in terms of distance between Warsaw and Kiev (about 700 miles) with the operational range of AWACS radars being about 300 miles - would NATO deploy those aircraft alleging a defensive posture into Ukrainian airspace? Don't count that out at this point in the war.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Nothing Burger. Really.

[iam416]

In the Quinnipiac poll, The Chairman was 24-54 with HISPANICS. Apparently they aren’t as enamored with donning aviators and eating ice cream as Brother Strangelove.