Well, they don't have to be mere baristas, they can always run for Congress

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another proud BU graduate

Eighteen year olds who can’t legally buy a beer are signing six figure debt obligations to institutions that face zero accountability for outcomes. The loan is non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

The university gets paid regardless of whether the student gets a job. The incentive structure is pure extraction. Get them in. Get the money. What happens after is their problem.

43% underemployment isn’t a failure of the students. These kids did exactly what they were told. Study hard. Get good grades. Go to college. Get the degree. They followed the script perfectly and the script was a lie. Not a lie that anyone intended maliciously at first. But a lie that became profitable enough that nobody corrected it even after the data made it obvious.

The people who designed this system, the administrators pulling $500k salaries, the tenured professors teaching subjects with zero market application, the loan servicers collecting interest on degrees in fields that haven’t produced a living wage in twenty years. None of them are underemployed. They’re doing fine. The 43% is subsidizing their comfort.

Now add AI. The entry level professional jobs that justified the debt are the first ones being compressed. Not blue collar work. Not trades. The exact white collar knowledge work positions that the degree was supposed to unlock. Legal research. Financial analysis. Consulting grunt work. Content production. The 43% who are already underemployed are about to be joined by a significant chunk of the 57% who thought they made it.

The people who will come through this are the ones who figured out early that the credential was a trap. The ones who built skills instead of collecting letters after their name. The ones who found asymmetric paths. The ones who created value directly instead of waiting for an institution to certify them as valuable.

The university system had a real function once. It produced genuine education and genuine opportunity. That function has been hollowed out by decades of misaligned incentives until what remains is mostly a financing operation that happens to have classrooms attached.

And 43% of its recent customers just confirmed with their own lives that the product doesn’t work.

(I checked: that 43% nuber is apparently accurate)

AI Overview

Yes, according to a Bloomberg news report published on April 13, 2026, roughly 43% of young U.S. college graduates (ages 22–27) are considered underemployed.

It is important to distinguish between "unemployed" (having no job) and "underemployed" (having a job that does not require a college degree).

Here are the key details from the report:

  • The Statistic: Nearly 43% of recent college graduates are working in jobs that do not require a degree, such as retail, service, or administrative positions.

  • Definition: Underemployment means these graduates are "stuck in jobs that don’t require degrees".

  • Causes: Bloomberg cites a "frozen hiring market" for entry-level roles and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) automating white-collar entry-level work.

  • Context: While underemployment is high, this refers to those working in non-degreed jobs, not that 43% are completely without work.

    Bloomberg.com +3

The report notes that this is the highest rate of underemployment for this demographic since the 2020 pandemic, driven by a "low-hire, low-fire" environment where companies are not hiring new staff.

There'll always be a Europe, Insha'Allah

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Spain Just Opened Every Country in Europe to Islamist Migrants

David Strom:

The Reconquista is being reversed. 

Call it the Re-Reconquista, in which Muslims invade Spain hundreds of years after they were finally defeated by Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinance of Castile and Aragon in 1492, the same year that Columbus sailed to the North American continent. 

Muslims had invaded Spain in the 8th century, and it took 7 centuries of struggle and warfare for the Christians to defeat the Muslim invaders. 

Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, is inviting the Muslims to take Spain back, and by extension, the entire continent of Europe. Because modern Europe, you see, is all part of the Schengen Zone, in which borders are rendered irrelevant for travel and even settlement within the zone. 

The Spanish government and its partners openly state that the reason for legalising more than half a million migrants is to "defeat the far right." This is literally weaponised demography. They took the most conspiratorial interpretation of the "Great Replacement" that is not even shared by most far right parties, namely it being a coordinated elite plan to reduce the native European share of the population, and actually turned it into policy - while also bypassing parliament, I might add.

The Spanish socialist government is highly unpopular in Spain, so in a bold move, the Spanish government decided to fight the "far right" by legalizing more than half a million illegal aliens. They not only legalized the illegal aliens from Muslim countries, but put them on the fast track for citizenship, which would make them eligible to vote and to move freely within the EU. 

*Over 1,000,000, in fact

The first thing to know is that the number who will seek legal status is probably much higher than half a million, according to the National Centre for Immigration and Borders (CNIF) in conjunction with the General Immigration and Borders Commissariat of the National Police. The El Confidencial news site obtained a leaked CNIF report that claimed between one million and 1.35 million illegal migrants will benefit from the regularization process. The Olive Press reports that "the CNIF study says that between 750,000 and one million undocumented immigrants living in Spain will apply for regularization, with the vast majority gaining approval due to 'very lenient' requirements. Between 250,000 and 350,000 asylum seekers will also apply, according to the CNIF."

I haven’t checked these numbers, but they seem plausible:

The "Luigi Effect"

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Disgruntled worker invokes Luigi Mangione in $500M warehouse inferno he filmed in anti-capitalist rage: feds

Chamel Abdulkarim* pleaded not guilty to charges tied to the $500M Kimberly-Clark facility blaze in Ontario

A disgruntled Inland Empire employee accused of causing $500 million in damage invoked Luigi Mangione as he filmed himself torching a warehouse as he railed against wages, authorities said.

Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland, California, is charged with deliberately setting the April 7 inferno that destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot Kimberly-Clark distribution center in Ontario. He pleaded not guilty Monday to federal and state charges, authorities said.

According to a Department of Justice criminal complaint, Abdulkarim, who worked at the facility through a third-party logistics provider, filmed himself setting multiple pallets of paper goods on fire in the early morning hours.

In the video, he allegedly complained about wages, saying, "If you’re not going to pay us enough to [expletive] live… at least pay us enough not to do this," according to the DOJ affidavit.

Federal prosecutors say the flames quickly spread, collapsing the roof and leveling the entire facility, which stored household products like Kleenex and Cottonelle.

Investigators allege Abdulkarim later bragged about the destruction in texts and phone calls, including one message that read, "I just cost these [expletive] billions," while railing against corporate profits and shareholders.

In a separate call, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Abdulkarim compared himself to Mangione — the suspect accused in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

"Luigi popped that mutherf---er," Abdulkarim said, according to the federal complaint, adding "a lot of people are going to understand."

Fox News contributor and former FBI special agent Nicole Parker told Fox News Digital that Abdulkarim seems to have used similar tactics as Mangione, calling it the "Luigi effect."

"Luigi garnered a substantial amount of attention and empathy from many because of his ‘cause’ as a justification for his grievance," she said. "Several are now copying him to one degree or another in an effort to gain that same level of attention and hero status."

"I refer to it as the ‘Luigi effect’ where offenders have learned to focus attention on their grievance through violence due to the sensationalization from online platforms and social media.

*As American as Baklava

AI Overview

Abdulkarim is a masculine name of Arabic origin, meaning "servant of the Most Generous" or "servant of Allah". It is derived from the Arabic elements 'abd (servant/slave) and al-Karīm (the Generous/Noble), referring to one of the 99 attributes of God in Islam.

Key Details About Abdulkarim:

  • Origin: The name has deep roots in Arabic, Islamic tradition, and culture.

  • Meaning: It translates directly to "Servant of the Generous One" or "Servant of the Noble One," referencing Al-Kareem, a name for God in Islam.

  • Usage: It is a common name in Muslim-majority countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia.

  • Variants: Common variations in spelling include Abdelkarim, Abdul Karim, and Abdulkareem.

  • Significance: Parents often choose this name to reflect religious faith, devotion, and the admiration of virtues like generosity.

  • Historical Context: Historically, this name has been used for centuries throughout Islamic history to emphasize humility and service to God.

Virginia is for losers; the trouble is, they’re winning, at least for now

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The Morning Briefing: Abigail Spanberger's Virginia Is a Creepy, Commie Place

Gosh, it seems like only four short years ago that there was a lot to be excited about for Republicans and conservatives in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Republicans Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears had just taken over the reins of government as governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. The Grand Old Party surprised everyone by winning back control of Virginia's House of Delegates. There was also some rightward upheaval in some woke school boards. It was an all-around good vibe for GOP types. 

Here in the Year of Our Lord 2026, that Virginia seems like something from the very distant past. Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger is leading an unhinged leftist revival in Virginia that has been rather horrifying in its swiftness. Democrats have complete control of the government now and the wraith-like Spanberger has them all whipped into a frenzy and ready to charge off of the radical progressive cliff as quickly as they can.

For most of the first few months that Spanberger and her fellow Dems were in charge, they had been concentrating on shredding the Second Amendment rights of the citizens of Virginia. Now, they've turned their attention to doing what Democrats do best: destroying the integrity of our elections. This is from my Townhall colleague Joseph Chalfant:

In another move to capture power, Virginia Democrats have signed the state onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement to award the state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote even if the state would have otherwise granted its electoral votes to the other candidate.

[CT Democrats;2018; and Maine’s; 2024, have also voted to throw away their own states’ votes in the hope that the larger Blue States will carry the day for progressives — Ed]

This is part of a national effort by Dem-run states to circumvent the Electoral College. The effort is called the National Popular Vote Compact. It is going to need more states to sign onto it before its Constitution-destroying mission is complete. Democrats are very patient when it comes to their plans to destroy the Republic. 

Spanberger laughably ran as a moderate. Democrats who run as moderates are the modern American political equivalent of Lucy telling Charlie Brown that she won't pull the football away. The people of Virginia are quickly figuring out that they've been had. Spangberger's approval numbers are dismal, which my friend and HotAir colleague John Sexton wrote about.

Maybe the whiplash from Youngkin to Spanberger will make Virginia voters snap out of it and help them avoid the aforementioned cliff. That's highly unlikely, given the pollution of federal employees that has been plaguing the commonwealth. 

For now, Virginia remains the current Mother of All Cautionary Tales. As I wrote in March, never forget how quickly things can go "Full Spanberger." Like infamous fake moderate Joe Biden, she's doing damage at a pace that is going to be difficult to undo.

Bank owned on Pecksland

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131 Pecksland Road has been returned to the market under different ownership and is now offered at $6.7 million, a considerable discount from the $10.750 - $8.495 it sought in 2022-2024, as the feds and the lenders closed in; a good foreclosure will do that.

The former owner, Samuel Klein, should be out of prison by now, but the house he purchased for $6.350 million in 1997 is no longer available to his use as a halfway house. You, however, can move in just as soon as you wish — it’s empty.

We’ve featured this house here at FWIW before, including:

March 14, 2022: Seize the Day;

October 19, 2023: Well, since he won't be using the place in the immediate future, a price cut makes sense;

and again on

October 28, 2023: Irony: Convicted felon's Pecksland Road home was used as a set for a Michael Douglas film about a man who couldn't sell his house

The Hartford Courant published a brief history of Mr. Klein’s business career at the time of his sentencing

May 3rd, 2022: Connecticut real estate developer sent to prison for swindling investors

A Greenwich real estate developer whose business went bust in a market downturn and who was accused later of swindling $1.5 million from friends and associates, was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to three years in prison.

Samuel Klein, 66, lived in a multi-million dollar mansion in the Greenwich back country and collected sums ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars from friends and associates on promises that he could make substantial and in some cases guaranteed profit on real estate deals.

Instead of investing the money as he promised, federal prosecutors said Klein spent much of it on his family and himself. Among other things, prosecutors produced records in court showing that Klein spent $194,000 on five brief, days-long getaways to the Amangani Resort in Jackson, Wyoming, and another $60,000 on chartered air travel.

Klein previously pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud and one count of money laundering.

Federal prosecutors said Klein stole to subsidize a lifestyle he could not longer afford.

“Klein prioritized his own lavish lifestyle which included accommodations at an exclusive resort and staggering credit card expenditures,” prosecutors said in a court filing. “He spent far beyond his means, and funded some of his extravagance with victim investors’ funds, which he plowed through at an aggressive clip.”

Klein’s attorneys said that at an earlier point in his life, he “thrived in the competitive and cut-throat world of real estate development in New York City. They said he built two companies, Fairchild Properties and Fairchild Realty Group, into multi-million dollar enterprises that at one time employed 3,200 people.

Among Klein’s developments were Payton Lane Nursing Home in Southampton, N.Y., New York Treetops at Mohegan Lake in Mohegan Lake, N.Y., Chandler Care Center in Ossining, N.Y.; Oakwood Care Center in Oakdale, N.Y.; Kensington Green of Southbury in Southbury; the Southbury Hilton in Southbury; the Danbury Hilton in Danbury; the Westport Inn in Westport; and the Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, Penn.

“Like so many others in the real estate industry, Mr. Klein’s business was crippled by the 2008 financial crisis,” his lawyers said in a court filing.

Klein, who had been free on bond, was taken into custody at the conclusion of Tuesday’s court proceeding.