TBoneTX

Introducing the City Journal College Rankings Higher education is in crisis. Once considered a pinnacle of American achievement, our universities today face a historic deficit of public confidence, driven by the perception (and reality) that academia has prized political activism over truth-seeking. With pressure mounting from students, parents, alumni, and policymakers, now is a time of great uncertainty for the American university—yet also an opportunity for experimentation, innovation, and reform. Some elite universities seem bent on discrediting themselves; others stand out for their efforts to enact meaningful change. In a telling trend, a growing number of students now flock to Southern universities, many of which, unlike their Ivy League counterparts, have preserved or expanded their commitments to open inquiry, intellectual pluralism, and critical thinking. Yet too many Americans remain guided by the old markers of prestige. The brightest students often assume by default that the best education will come from a Harvard, Yale, or Stanford. These same institutions continue to exert disproportionate cultural and professional influence. These legacy elite schools remain well-positioned primarily because everyone sees them as the best, not because they are actually providing the best undergraduate education. In other words, we find, at present, a mismatch between reputation and reality. This is due, in part, to the fact that prospective students and parents lack access to the information they need to determine which school is best for them. As Americans rethink higher education, they need new tools to help them make better decisions. [...] https://www.city-journal.org/article/2025-college-rankings?skip=1 City Journal 2025 College Rankings What's the best college for you? Unfortunately, existing college rankings don't provide a full picture of the schools you're considering. College shapes a student's mind and character—for better or for worse. It forms the person you become. It educates—or miseducates. Yet rankings typically focus on factors that say little about how a school will influence your future. They tell you almost nothing about the content of the education, the campus environment, or the institution's core values. With higher education in crisis, you need the most relevant information in order to choose the right college. Welcome to the City Journal College Rankings, a holistic assessment of 100 prominent colleges in the United States, analyzing far more factors than the established evaluation tools consider. [...] https://collegerankings.city-journal.org/

Thrilling Friday-on-Saturday report, see man: Breakfasted/skoolbused Mini-B., responsible we man. Re-embedded ourself for a siesta, effective zzz man. GS'd/ES'd, OK despite puny take man. Lunch was at a Mexican place, cheese enchilada rice beans cheaps ingest we man. Mama T-B. called en route, somehow we knew it man. We had to come to caddy more pills, aysheep senior she man man. We raced to the casa and then to Mama T-B., dutiful we man. We told her that we must leave at half-of-half till Many p.m., repeat ourself twice man. At Many p.m., she claimed we'd said half-of-half till Many p.m., not Many p.m. man. We ended up in another shouting argument, walk out we man. We made it to the casa in time for Mini-B.'s arrival, just barely man. Another siesta was taken, decent zzz man. Din-din was Costco angusburgers, ingest traditional Friday chow Two Guys man. Movie night #1 was one Better Call Saul episode, watch Two Guys man. One bowl of Costco popcorn was consumed, ingest Two Guys man. This made a Baker's Manyzen for the week, calculate we man. Mini-B. ensconced himself to video-game with amigos, ensconce wee man man. Much later, movie night #2 eventuated, deja vu man. One Better Call Saul episode was viewed, watch Two Guys man. Many (2+1) bowls of Costco popcorn were consumed, ingest Two Guys man. This tallied to Many (2x2x2x2) bowls for the week, respectable total man. It is supposed to monsoon majorly early and late Saturday, build an Ark man. We are tentatively itinerarying one ES, itinerary tentatively we man. Presuming no storm damage, nothing else specific is planned, no plan we man man. And that was/is our thrilling Friday, report we man.

Hopeful. ~~~~~~~~ Judges starting to realize they can't stop the deportations [...] Their conclusion is consistent with what the 9th Circuit decided in June. A separate group of judges upheld dispatching soldiers to California because "our review of the President's determinations in this context is especially deferential." The latest decision blasts Judge Immergut for disregarding "uncontested evidence" about the violence in Portland, saying "the district court turned the proper analysis on its head." This wasn't a difficult determination. The commander in chief has discretion, granted by Congress, to call up the National Guard when he is "unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States." [...] https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oct/23/editorial-judges-starting-realize-cant-stop-deportations/

Words mean things, so congratulations!

Friday GS/ES report, see man: We went to all of the above sites, reliable we man. The last GS was someplace we'd been before, worthless man. We therefore left as soon as we remembered this, bye man. The first ES yielded the take, see man: -- ~full can Glade air-freshener spray = half a buck, steal man Total = half a buck

Phenomenal photos accompany this rather interesting article. Butterfly-watching is a big thing in the Rio Grande Valley. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fall heat unlikely to impact butterfly season in the Rio Grande Valley [...] Butterfly season is upon us. It is a warm season and actually at the moment it can be a hot season in the upper 80s and even 90s. These are certainly not the ideal temperatures for butterflies, but it does not seriously impact the butterfly counts. "Last year was a hot year as well," said Stephanie Lopez, executive director of the National Butterfly Center in Mission. "We had less rain than we did this year, and our numbers were record breaking in high numbers," Lopez said. "Last year at this time there were 113 species here and then we finished our November at 131. That broke our record for the butterfly center and it was hot with no rain." The National Butterfly Center is preparing for the 29th annual Texas Butterfly Festival Nov. 1-4, and Lopez expressed confidence that there would be plenty of butterflies for everyone. [...] https://myrgv.com/local-news/2025/10/23/fall-heat-unlikely-to-impact-butterfly-season-in-the-rio-grande-valley/

This is weird, and with no explanation of the value to others. What were they going to do with these critters? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feds bust man smuggling hundreds of exotic animals A Mexican citizen was arrested at the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission Wednesday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection discovered him to be in possession of hundreds of exotic animals, including snakes and turtles. Sebastian Cruz-Amaya is charged with smuggling of goods, according to a criminal complaint. On that day, as Cruz was trying to make entry into Mexico, an officer informed a special agent with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service that Cruz-Amaya had multiple exotic animals concealed within his vehicle discovered during an outbound inspection. That officer added that Cruz didn't declare exportation of said animals. During an interview, Cruz claimed he did declare the animals and said he agreed to export the animals on behalf of another person in Mexico and was expected to be paid about $500 to $600. [...] https://myrgv.com/local-news/2025/10/23/feds-bust-man-smuggling-hundreds-of-exotic-animals/

Or be pre-trained for their eventual duties as one of 72 in Paradise.

Yee-HAAAAA! Don't fly away in a strong breeze, now.

Anyone questioning the usefulness of this to Welsh society will, of course, be arrested. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welsh Schoolgirls Encouraged to Wear a Hijab to Experience What Other Communities Go Through We're not sure who this woman is, but we gather that she's asking Wales to expand a program from the Ethnic Youth Support Team that encourages Welsh schoolgirls to wear a hijab for a day so they can get an idea of what other communities are experiencing. Since there are so many more native Welsh (for now), maybe Muslim girls should not wear a hijab for a day to better understand the country they're living in. [...] https://twitchy.com/brettt/2025/10/23/welsh-schoolgirls-encouraged-to-wear-a-hijab-to-experience-what-other-communities-go-through-n2420783

This clownette, a former Houston city councilwoman (and always a loudmouthed hack), shows her true mettle here. She and about a dozen other real winners are running for Queen Sheila (Jackson Lee)'s congressional seat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They Just Can't Help It: Now a Dem Makes a Throat-Slashing Gesture Leftists all over the country have been making it clear for quite some time: they love violence, and want to see violence done to patriots. There was all the leftist cheering after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, as well as numerous more or less veiled calls from leftist politicians to go after those whom they fear and hate with weapons a good bit more lethal than compelling debate points. Now a Texas state representative, Jolanda Jones (D-Of Course), has added her name to the list of these politicians with a throat-slashing gesture that she made — so afraid is she of Trump's alleged fascist stormtroopers — not in the privacy of her lavish dwelling, but on CNN. [...] https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2025/10/23/they-just-cant-help-it-now-a-dem-makes-a-throat-slashing-gesture-n4945188

Deadly Illegal Alien Truck Driver Failed CDL Test 10 Times The illegal alien truck driver responsible for a fatal crash earlier this year in Florida failed his commercial drivers' license (CDL) test in Washington a staggering 10 times within a two-month window. Between March and May 2023, Harjinder Singh, an illegal alien from India, tested 10 times to try to obtain a CDL license to drive trucks in the state of Washington. He failed every single time, according to Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin and the Florida attorney general's office. Yet, insanely, not only did the state of Washington eventually give Singh a CDL license anyway, but the state of California also gave him one. And therefore Singh was driving a truck in Florida and made an illegal U-turn in August, causing a deadly crash that claimed three lives. [...] https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/10/23/deadly-illegal-alien-truck-driver-failed-cdl-test-10-times-n4945203

Scintillating Thursday repartee, yawn man. ----- Thrilling Thursday report, see man: Breakfasted/skoolbused Mini-B. without incident, all good man. Breakfast (!!?) was precooked fried eggs, ingest we man. A siesta was attempted, rather unsuccessful man. Lunch was 2 turkey-&-cheese sandwiches, ingest we man. Visited Mama T-B., visit we man senior she man man. She wants us to return Many (2+2) -- si man, Many (2+2) -- Amazon purchases, man. Played at length with desirous miu, Play With Me Daddy miu man. Din-din was nuked mixed vegetables (Aldi) & nuked "Chicken Penne Primavera" (Aldi), ingest Two Guys man. Movie night was 2 Better Call Saul episodes, watch Two Guys man. Many (2+1) bowls of Costco popcorn were consumed, ingest Two Guys man. This tallies to an even Manyzen for the week, minimum quota met & exceeded man. Bing Maps actually came up & worked in classic form, man. We have itineraried 1 GS and Many (2+2) ESs for Friday, itinerary rather compact route we man. Saturday is supposed to be a warshout, poor timing for much-needed rain man. Overall, not a bad day, conclude we man. And that was/is our thrilling Thursday, report we man.

And for you! Good things should happen soon.

That's great! Thanks for letting us know.