MIT’s Black student enrollment drops significantly after Supreme Court affirmative action ruling
The university’s white and Asian American student populations have increased, while all others have declined — some even down to zero, according to MIT.
Enrollment for Black and Latino students dropped at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the first class formed after the Supreme Court found race-conscious admissions in colleges unconstitutional.
The university’s admissions department on Wednesday released its first-year class profile, showing a sharp drop in its Black student population. About 5% of MIT’s incoming class of 2028 is Black, a significant drop from its 13% average in recent years. Latino students make up 11% of the class of 2028, compared to a 15% average in recent years. Overall, 1,102 students make up the incoming class.
Stu Schmill, MIT’s dean of admissions, attributed the drop to the high court’s 2023 decision to end consideration of race in the admissions process.
“We expected that this would result in fewer students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups enrolling at MIT,” Schmill said of the ruling. “That’s what has happened.”
The white and Asian American student populations have increased, while all other groups have declined — some even down to zero, the profile shows. (snip-More) (grrrr)
Texas blocks transgender people from changing sex on driver’s licenses
The ACLU of Texas criticized the policy change, calling it an “alarming attack” on the privacy, safety and dignity of transgender Texas residents.
2 million Gazans are now confined to 15 square miles
Israel’s widening hunt for Hamas is squeezing Palestinians into ever-smaller areas in the Gaza Strip
J.D.Vance has told me, somehow, that I don’t care about the future of this country, that I have no vested interest in the future. So, I find myself asking questions…
Do you think Climate Change is an important issue for the future of this country?
Do you think the protection of our water ways is an important issue for the future of this country?
Do you think the well rounded education of all of our children, you know – not just the wealthy ones, is an important issue for the future of this country?
Do you think that the planned family, the desired and celebrated family, is an important issue for the future of this country?
Do you think that a healthy populace given access to quality healthcare without the risk of personal bankruptcy is an important issue for the future of this country?
What does this guy think indicates a value for the continuity of our country? An uber-wealthy oligarchy? A destroyed natural resources? Dying financially ruined for need of routine health care?
Paxton is a well known corrupt partisan hack. He is a complete culture warrior trying to turn the clock back to 1950 if not back to 1900. He wants rights only for white straight cis men. Women are to be controlled and used by men. There will be no LGBTQ+ people allowed in pubic or in society. They will hide and be afraid. As for non-whites. They won’t have rights nor ability to rise in society, business, or anything amounting to making gain for themselves. He wants them to be segregated and below every white person. Texas is not in play, it will go red and vote republican, so why raid the offices of the blue democratic leaning districts. To give credence to the upcoming cries of the election was rigged and election fraud when tRump and the republicans lose the election. They are doing everything they can to set the stage for what they fear most, loss of power, loss of the ability to rule over everyone else. Hugs. Scottie
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) office executed search warrants in one of the state’s largest urban counties — and biggest Democratic strongholds — where it alleges vote tampering.
On Tuesday the attorney general’s office searched offices in Bexar County, the state’s fourth most populous county and the home of San Antonio. The office said the searches followed a two-year investigation, and that “secure elections are the cornerstone of our republic.”
The searches came amid a broader push by Paxton to prosecute election fraud — a campaign that in 2023 spent $2.3 million to prosecute just four cases, according to the Houston Chronicle.
BREAKING NEWS: Attorney General Ken Paxton's office executes search warrants in several counties, including Bexar County, in ongoing election integrity probe. https://t.co/rAAW4J7nNxpic.twitter.com/FpSIlPmIKr
Paxton is a dick. He's searching "multiple San Antonio-area election offices" for evidence of fraud in SA, a big blue dot in a big red state. What does that tell ya?
It’s a newsletter I read because I enjoy tea. Also, she’s a part of Romancing the Vote, an organization that does work near and dear to my heart. I also own one of her books, with several more on my wishlist. Anyway, she’s got a little editorial in the letter this week, worthy of a read. There is no link to the letter, but the link to sign up for the letter is here.
“The Purpose of the Postmenopausal Female…
“I’ve been immersed in politics for, um, several weeks. Part of it is hope that finally, endlessly, we will be able to put some of the awfulness of the last years behind us and move forward into a world where we care about an equitable future.
“But also, confession time: JD Vance speaks directly to a very specific grudge that I’m holding.
“You want to know my grudge? I am endlessly grudging against what I call in my head the ‘legal abuser network’—that set of people who think that power is more important than, you know, treating folks with dignity. They’ve aligned themselves with abusers over and over and gaslit everyone who remains. JD Vance is On My List. In other circumstances, ‘stop being such assholes and treat people well!’ would be a moral statement and not a grudge. But they tried to induct me into the ‘no, look, you’ll get power, it’s cool, just pretend the abuse didn’t happen’ club, and so it’s absolutely a grudge and I want them all to fail.
“But I digress.
“I have been taking a very grim pleasure in watching people flip over rocks and seeing—yet again—that there is JD Vance, writhing away from the light like a many-legged centipede, leaving a trail behind him filled with things like his rancor for childless cat ladies and his belief that the Italians and the Irish were violent immigrants who maybe should have been banned from entering the country in the 1840s, and his statement that the only purpose that a postmenopausal female (it’s always females! Jerks like JD Vance can never use the word ‘women!’) serves is to do childcare.
“Last night, I was thinking about how Vice President Harris has reinvigorated a campaign that many (but not me) thought dead. I was watching Michelle Obama deliver a speech as probably one of the best orators in the nation, possibly beating out her husband who is a generational talent at giving speeches. And I thought about how many women in their generation—a scant decade older than me—faced barriers to entry from so many sides, and how much of who they have become was shaped by opposition.
“And it made me doubly proud to be the party of Not JD Vance, because as we can all plainly see, the purpose of a postmenopausal female is to kick ass.”
August 22, 1958 President Dwight Eisenhower announced a voluntary moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. A report outlining a system for monitoring and verifying compliance of a complete ban on such testing had been released just the day before. The Conference of Experts, as it was known, had been meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to work out the details on detection of violations of such a treaty. The U.S. delegation was led by Nobel physics laureate Ernest Lawrence from the University of California (the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is named after him). Eisenhower predicated his moratorium on U.S.S.R. and U.K. agreement to the same limitations. All three countries agreed to the one-year halt in testing and to begin negotiations on a complete test ban at the end of October; all three performed last-minute (atmospheric) tests before the opening of talks.
August 22, 1964 Fannie Lou Hamer, leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), testified in front of the Credentials Committee at the Democratic National Convention. She was challenging the all-white delegation that the segregated regular Mississippi Democrats had sent to the presidential nominating convention. Singing at a boardwalk demonstration: Hamer (with microphone), Stokely Carmichael (in hat), Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ella Baker . Mississippi’s Democratic Party excluded African Americans from participation. The MFDP, on the other hand, sought to create a racially inclusive new party, signing up 60,000 members. The hearing was televised live and many heard Hamer’s impassioned plea for inclusion of all Democrats from her state.The hearing was televised live and many heard Hamer’s impassioned plea for inclusion of all Democrats from her state. In her testimony she spoke about black Mississippians not only being denied the right to register to vote, but being harassed, beaten, shot at and arrested for trying. Concerned about the political reaction to her statement, President Lyndon Johnson suddenly called an impromptu press conference, thereby interrupting television broadcast of the hearing. Hear her testimony Link to photo gallery
August 22, 1971 The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) arrested twenty in Camden, New Jersey, and five in Buffalo, New York, for conspiracy to steal and destroy draft records. Eventually known as the Camden 28, most were Roman Catholic activists, including four priests, and a Lutheran minister. “We are not here because of a crime committed in Camden but because of a war committed in Indochina….” Cookie Ridolfi The Camden 28
August 22, 1972 Rhodesia’s team was banned from competing in the Olympic Games with just four days to go before the opening ceremony in Munich, Germany. The National Olympic Committees of Africa had threatened to pull out of the games unless Rhodesia was barred from competing. Though the Rhodesian team included both whites and blacks, the government was an illegal one, controlled by whites though they represented just 5% of the country’s population. It had broken away from the British Commonwealth over demands from Commonwealth member nations that power be yielded to the majority. Read more
August 22, 1986 The Kerr-McGee Corporation agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million ($2.68 in 2008), settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit. She had been active in the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union, specifically looking into radiation exposure of workers, and spills and leaks of plutonium. The story of Karen Silkwood
NYC’s rent surge drives 86-year-old to move in with a “boommate”
Surging costs for housing and other expenses are prompting baby boomers to take on roommates.
The Democrats are offering joy and hope while Trump offers doom and gloom Read on Substack
(I’m sharing in full because he doesn’t write this stuff on WordPress anymore, though he publishes the toons. This one is particularly funny and timely, so it goes here.)
Tuesday was better than Monday for me here in Chicago. I didn’t get food poisoned or crack my head open on Tuesday. Yay.
In fact, I felt really good. Despite feeling like I’d rather have a salad, I went out and got some Chicago deep dish (more on that later today), I took a nap, and then I headed to the convention earlier than I did Monday.
I took the L on the Orange line, transferred to the Green line, and got off at Ashland, walked down the street, and landed smack-dab in the group of RFK Jr supporters.
I wanted to see what they were up to because they were being pretty noisy but there wasn’t many of them. When I walked up, they all started laughing and started shouting something about the bear. What bear? I had momentarily forgotten about RFK Jr’s confessions of dumping a bear carcass in Central Park. I had also forgotten I was wearing a Taylor guitar shirt with a bear on it. And for some reason, one of the RFK Jr people, a crazy lady, had decided I was someone important enough to be lobbied.
RFK Jr fuckers defacing posters of Kamala Harris on Ashland
She started talking about Kennedy being censored and even without me arguing with her, proceeded to follow me down the street for the next three blocks. I kept asking her, “Don’t you need to go back to your friends?” Nope, she just kept following me talking shit about vaccines and herbicides.
And each time I asked if it was her group that defaced some Kamala Harris posters, she’d ignore the question and launch into more conspiracy shit.
Libertarians are just as bad. Start a conversation with a Libertarian and see what happens. I dare ya!
I eventually ditched the Kennedy lady by running away, hopping over some bushes, running through a backyard and a Taco Bell drive-thru, and then hiding behind a garbage can where I stayed until after she ran by screaming, “Mr, I haven’t told you about chemtrails yet.” No, what I actually did was say to her, “Well, I’m just going to try to keep walking away from you until you take the hint” and two blocks later, she finally gave up.
Then I found the Billy Goat Tavern.
The Billy Goat Tavern
I had heard of this place. I entered and the convention was on all the TVs. The volume was on too. I’m used to going into bars that have Fox News on (even all the ones in Milwuakee were playing Fox News). This one had CNN. Oh, thank god.
I sat down to some people working for the DNC but I didn’t bother them until, for some reason, one of them said all Geminis are Republicans and that’s when I bothered them, saying, “Excuse me, sir, but I’m a Gemini and I assure you I am NOT a Republican.” They were a bunch of obnoxious blazer wearers.
And then a large Black man with a red “Make Chicago Great Again” cap sat next to me and I thought, “Nah…he’s wearing it ironically.” I quickly learned he was NOT wearing it ironically. Republicans don’t do irony…duh! There’s just one Black Trumper in Chicago and who does he take a seat next to at a bar? Me, that’s who.
And this guy bitched. He complained about everything. First, he was angry about the phone charging station at the bar that wouldn’t work for him. It worked but I didn’t tell him how to work it. Fuck that guy. Then, he complained about Doug Emhoff’s speech, especially when he mentioned brisket. The Trumper said, “That don’t appeal to Black people, talking about brisket. We need ribs.” And then he said, “Black people don’t relate…you know…,” and then he looked at me and said, “N-word,” except he didn’t say, “N-word.” He said the word.
I didn’t engage because I didn’t want a conversation with him. Trumpers are often like Libertarians and RFK Jr fuckers. They want to talk to you, they don’t want to stop talking to you, and they try to convert you. They’re worse than Hairy Krishners.
Put a dime into a Republican and the record won’t stop.
I finally broke my silence when he said, “I’m driving a bunch of Black senior citizens in a van on election day to vote for Trump,” and that’s when I said, “No, you’re not.” He started to speak again and I interrupted, “Just stop.” Amazingly, he walked away…but he returned later to yell at the charging station some more.
And then (What? Is there a magnet on me?), a couple of Democrats from New Mexico made a bee-line from the front door to me to ask if Democrats are supporting genocide. They told me they were not voting for Democrats this time because of their support for Israel. I told them, “Yeah, make Trump president and then see what happens to Palestine.” They never sat down. It’s like they only came into the bar to scream at me. Or maybe they just thought they didn’t want to stay at the Billy Goat if people like me were there. I tried to distract them with, “Have you met the Black MAGAt screaming at a charging station?”…but nooooo…they insisted on yelling at me before leaving. They were nice.
I feel it’s important to point out that the MAGAt was Black because that is weirder than a run-of-the-mill MAGAt. It’s like Blacks for the Klan. It doesn’t make any fucking sense.
I went back to watching the speeches and would occasionally converse with the people who said all Geminis are MAGAts, but I didn’t talk to them much. They were annoying and kinda stupid. Who needs that?
I sat in the bar from Emhoff to Obama. It was a great spot to meet and see people from the convention. I plan to return tonight and maybe get a burger this time. I hear good things.
On the train, I saw a couple with DNC shirts and I asked if they were enjoying the convention and the young lady said, “yeah, we’re going to move to another car.” What? She made me feel like the crazy Kennedy lady of the Black bar MAGAt. What did I do?
When I got off to transfer, I ran into them again and she said, “Hey, have a great night” and I responded with, “Yeah, whatever.”
I sure told her.
Creative note: My buddy and fellow cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz is also in Chicago for the convention, except he gets to go inside (fucker). We were talking this morning and he asked if I added a dateline to my cartoons from Milwaukee which reminded me that I had to do that for my Chicago cartoons. Thanks, Lalo. Proofreader Laura also brought it up a bit later.
Drawn in 30 seconds: go watch this on the page, they’re interesting. Also, if you subscribe, you get these in email.
Scottie's Playtime 