Monday's Most Active Threads

The most active thread yesterday was titled, "Tucker out at Fox News????" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. This thread is obviously about Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson leaving the network. While Fox's announcement said that the network and Carlson had "agreed to part ways", it is pretty clear that this was a decision taken by Fox management and came as a complete surprise to Carlson. Both Carlson fans and detractors were similarly surprised and the early responses in the thread were a mixture of surprise and joy. The general sentiment was that this was a much deserved outcome to Carlson's years of lying and provocation. A number of posters wondered what Carlson would do next with many speculating that he would simply join another network. Some speculated that he might run for president or vice president. There was quite a bit of discussion about why Carlson was suddenly removed from his position. He had concluded his Friday night broadcast by saying, "We'll be back on Monday" but his unceremonious removal on Monday morning prevented that. Many posters, including myself, guessed that Carlson's departure had something to do with the Dominion lawsuit that just cost Fox $787.5 million in a settlement fee. The Washington Post reported that it was due to private comments Carlson made about colleagues and Fox executives that were revealed as part of the Dominion lawsuit. Yet a third explanation that was widely circulated claimed Carlson's firing was related to a lawsuit by Abby Grossberg, a former booker for his show, that alleged sexual discrimination and a hostile workplace. Carlson fans were in short supply in this thread. A few showed up to defend his intelligence or to predict great things for him in the future, but, in general, they were surprisingly quite. One thing I noticed from reading this thread is the stature given Carlson, not just as a Fox News personality, but as an informal leader of the Republican Party. In many ways, former President Donald Trump has sucked the oxygen out of the party with the leading elected Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, often viewed as a "Republican in name only" or RINO who doesn't command the loyalty of many grass root party members. Only Carlson, with his Fox megaphone, has been able to break through the Trump distortion field. It is unlikely that whoever replaces Carlson at Fox will have near the politcal impact.

The second most active thread yesterday was posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Titled, "College Admissions Staff - Massive turnover", this thread is one more dealing with college admissions. It seems like I am constantly writing about threads addressing some aspect of the admissions process, most of them claiming the system is broken and offering various explanations. Posters have cited test optional policies and grade inflation as factors that have made it more difficult for outstanding students to distinguish themselves. Others have cited increased desire for diversity as harming the chances for white and Asian students. There have been threads lamenting that attendance at top high schools has not been a benefit for gaining admissions. But, this thread may take the cake for complaints about college admissions. The original poster points to a recent study that finds that there is high turnover and low pay for college admissions staff. The result, according to the original poster is that "you really wonder whether the best and the brightest are reading our kids's applications." So, if your high stats White kid from a "Big 3" school makes it past all the other obstacles, the original poster is concerned that the equivalent of a Starbucks assistant manager is going to review his application. The implication, which is not really an "implication" because it is spelled out, is that the "low wage young people" processing applications won't look favorably on those viewed as privileged. Sucks to be privileged, I guess. Several posters say that this is nothing new and that it has always been this way. Others claim that the positions are filled by graduates from the university that can't find better jobs. This thread highlights a contradiction I see appearing in many contexts. There is a desire for highly-qualified individuals to perform tasks that are seen as beneath highly-qualified individuals. Posters say that they wouldn't want their own children to pursue these jobs and the job would not add much benefit to a resume. However, there is some interesting discussion in this thread about how much of the conventional wisdom revolving around admissions is, in fact, myth in most cases.

Third is a thread titled, "Family of 5, appx $300K HHI - would you do anything different?" and posted in the "Money and Finances" forum. The original poster complains that she feels like her family is hemorrhaging cash and lists the major expenses they face. She asks what others might do differently. Because the original poster is vague about most expenditures — not even knowing the amounts of some major expenses such as a car payment — posters are disadvantaged when it comes to offering detailed advice. This causes the original poster to search for more information, but that is hindered because she apparently doesn't know the logins for all of her online accounts. Nevertheless, posters are able to offer some advice though much if it is less about finances and more about getting things in order. For instance, getting a password manager so that she can easily find her logins. In the process of gathering credentials, the original poster even found savings account about which she has been unaware. She also took advice to reduce the kids activities. One topic of much discussion is the couple's mortgage. The original poster's husband has been paying somewhat more than 50% extra each month in order to pay it off earlier. Many posters argue that this doesn't make financial sense given the low interest rate of the mortgage. That money could be invested for a higher return than the mortgage savings. But, posters recognize that there is often a psychological impact of a mortgage and many people simply don't want it hanging over their head. The couple also maintains separate bank accounts and the original poster doesn't even have access to one of her husband's accounts. Therefore, she is advised to open join accounts and combine their money. It seems that much of the problem in this situation is that the original poster is just not that familiar with how much they earn and how much they spend or how they spend it. Just the process of familiarizing herself with that has highlighted savings opportunities. While much about the original poster's situation could easily have provoked frustration and resulting rudeness from other posters, she demonstrates a determined persistance that gains admiration. As a result, those responding do their best to help, with very little of the meanness that might have been expected.

Finally, another thread from the "College and University Discussion" forum. This one is titled "two kids in college - what is prestige worth?". The original poster is making plans for her two kids to attend college. The older child has apparently been accepted at Princeton and Grinnell with Grinnell being considerably cheaper. The original poster says that they could afford Princeton, but it wouldn't leave any money for graduate school or a downpayment on a home. The original poster believes that the cost differences make Grinnell the obvious choice. but the feedback she gets is that Grinnell is not well known and doesn't have the cachet of Princeton. Therefore, the original poster is curious about what the prestige of Princeton might be worth financially. Most of those responding favor choosing Princeton. Many suggest waiting on assumptions about the younger child until the kid actually starts applying and getting accepted to schools. The child might end up choosing a much cheaper university. There are not all that many respones that directly answer the original poster's question about the value of prestige. Those that do address it provide a range of answers. Some posters think it has value with one saying that it lasts a lifetime. In contrast, others say that almost immediately after graduation, nobody cares where someone went to school. Quite a few posters devote themselves to criticizing the original poster and the older child for waiting so long to make a decision about this. As a result, there are quite a few unhelpful posts.