Apple AirPods Pro 3 Wireless Earbuds. #CommissionEarned

AN IMPORTANT REMINDER: ‘Public schools don’t belong to the teachers.’

If you’re hired to teach in a public school, you’re supposed to teach your subject and be neutral about your politics, writes Robert Pondiscio. Maybe your ed school professors told you teachers are “change agents,” “child advocates,” or “architects of democracy,” and urged you to challenge “systems of oppression” and teach for “justice.” But that’s not your job.

Public education is “an essential government service,” not a personal platform, Pondiscio writes. “It exists not to change society but to sustain it — to transmit the shared knowledge, language, habits, and civic norms upon which self-government depends.”

For a long time now, “teacher preparation programs have evaluated candidates not only on their knowledge and skills but on their dispositions,” such as “commitment to diversity,” “cultural competence,” and a “social justice orientation,” he writes. Teachers are encouraged “to treat the classroom as a platform for identity and belief rather than as a civic institution that molds citizens.”

That’s eroded public trust, he argues. Neutrality and humility are “required to sustain or restore faith in public education.”

We have any number of institutions that seemed happy to sacrifice public trust on the altar of leftism.

WINSOME EARLE SEARS LAUGHS: Harvard course on black women in politics omits prominent conservatives.

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Standing in the Gap for Truth: YAF Fights Davidson’s Censorship of Robert Spencer.

INSURRECTION: Antifa-linked professor arrested for bringing loaded gun to anti-ICE protest.

A BILLION HERE AND A BILLION THERE…:

🚨BREAKING: The U.S. posted a massive $198 BILLION surplus in September — the largest September surplus on record, according to Scott Bessent.

“September’s monthly surplus of $198 billion was the largest surplus of any September on record and 147% higher than last year.”

— Jack (@jackunheard) October 17, 2025

PEACEMAKER: Trump says he’ll meet with Putin in Hungary. He first meets Friday with Zelenskyy at the White House.

Trump’s announcement came shortly after finishing a call with Putin on Thursday. A date has not been set, but Trump said the meeting would take place in Budapest, Hungary, and suggested that it could happen in about two weeks.

“I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Trump wrote on social media. The two leaders previously met in Alaska in August, which did not produce a diplomatic breakthrough, a source of frustration for the U.S. leader who had expected that his longstanding relationship with Putin could pave the way to resolving a conflict that began nearly four years ago.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said the Russian president initiated the call, which he described as “very frank and trusting.” He said Putin emphasized to Trump that selling long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, something the U.S. president has publicly discussed, would “inflict significant damage to the relations between our countries.”

They’d do even more damage to Russia’s refinery output, which is already down nearly 10% in just the last few weeks.

This would be a great time for peace, Vladimir.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Republican Women Are Not Pulling Any Punches When Bashing Dems. “That’s right — the people who routinely call us racists, Nazis, and any other epithet that pops into their heads think that we’re not being nice enough to them. It’s true, but we’re just playing by their rules now.”

FAIL, BRITANNIA:

Thank you all who put the safety of Aston Villa fans, Birmingham residents snd the British public above the zionist and political pressure to let Israeli hooligans and terrorists run riot in our country. https://t.co/9TmdL1ZmbQ

— Iqbal Mohamed MP (@iqbalmohamedMP) October 16, 2025

Villa Park is now Judenfrei.

GOOD: Trump Rule Sidelines 6,000 Truckers Over English Tests.

Under a May 2025 policy issued by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, roadside inspections must now begin in English, and drivers suspected of lacking language proficiency may face a two-step evaluation. Failure results not just in a citation but immediate out-of-service designation.

The policy has sparked backlash from industry groups, civil rights organizations and trucking companies, which argue that there is scant evidence that English proficiency reduces crash risk. Critics also say the rule disproportionately burdens immigrant and Latino drivers.

In an escalation of the policy dispute, the U.S. Transportation Department announced it will withhold more than $40 million in federal highway and safety grants from California, accusing the state of failing to enforce the new English standard. Additional funds, up to $160 million, are being threatened for continued noncompliance.

There’s good money in trucking, and plenty of English-speaking citizens still stuck on the sidelines.

WOW: The Daily Wire Has The Youngest Audience Of Any English-Language Site In America: Poll.

ICYMI, IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: From Anathema to Applause — What Changed for Trump?

SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER! Minneapolis Public Schools Prohibit White and Asian Students From Taking Classes on ‘BLACK Culture’ and ‘BLACK Queens.’

#JOURNALISM:

Sam is trying to frame it as a bad thing, but those outlets were actually the ones who exposed the Russiagate hoax, the Covid origin cover up, and the Ukraine impeachment scam. If that’s supposed to be a problem, I’ll take more of it. Finally some actual journalists in the mix. https://t.co/1c1h7vl22e

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) October 17, 2025

Sadly, they’re more trustworthy than your cronies. https://t.co/f6ji0N6F0o

— @instapundit (@instapundit) October 17, 2025

LIMITED TIME DEAL: NICEPEOPLE Basic Weight Bench for Home Gym. #CommissionEarned

HAVING GIVEN UP THEIR LAST LIVING HOSTAGES ON MONDAY, HAMAS IS OUT OF LEVERAGE: Trump warns Hamas ‘we will have no choice but to go in and kill them’ if bloodshed persists in Gaza.

The grim warning from Trump came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect last week in the two-year war.

Trump later clarified he won’t send U.S. troops into Gaza after launching the threat against Hamas.

“It’s not going to be us,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters. “We won’t have to. There are people very close, very nearby that will go in and they’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices.”

Trump said Tuesday that Hamas had taken out “a couple of gangs that were very bad” and had killed a number of gang members. “That didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,” he said.

The Republican president did not say how he would follow through on his threat posted on his Truth Social platform, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity.

“IDF off the leash” probably covers it.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Trump Targets Blumenthal, Calling for Investigation of Vietnam Service Claims.

UGH:

We personally know Tim Walz as some of us work with him directly. What we can say, Tim Walz THRIVES on creating a hateful, divisive and hostile environment. His eyes light up with crazed enthusiasm when he attacks/criticizes his perceived opponents. Staff are fearful of him and… https://t.co/t5Je6OsmXK

— Minnesota Department of Human Service Employees (@Minnesota_DHS) October 16, 2025

A HORATIO ALGER STORY, IF HORATIO ALGER WROTE ABOUT CROOKS AND GRIFTERS:

REWIND: The Remarkable Rags-to-Riches Story of Stacey Abramshttps://t.co/Z6KYu5G4J1

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) October 17, 2025

THEIR BIGGEST FEAR ISN’T THAT HE’LL FAIL, BUT THAT HE’LL SUCCEED: Don Surber: All we are saying, is give Trump a chance: Trump is mixing The Art of War with The Art of the Deal.

OF INTEREST TO NEW WRITERS:  Review: Gateway to Fiction by C. Chancy.

DON’T GET COCKY: New Poll Reveals Republican Favored to Flip Blue State Red in State Race for Governor.

HAHA:

I've found it, guys. The ultimate David French headline. There will never be a more David Frenchian headline than this. We have reached peak David Frenchism. pic.twitter.com/pAtIN6Z1fi

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) October 16, 2025

BECAUSE THEY ARE, AS EVER, MASSIVE RACISTS THEY DIDN’T EXPECT A FEMALE BLACK CONSERVATIVE TO DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP:   VA Dems Called on Sears to Condemn GOP Group Chat. They Weren’t Expecting This Response.

IF DEMS GAVE A SPIT ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY THEY’D NOT HAVE LEFT THE BORDER UNDEFENDED:  RSC Chair Cooks Dems, Explains How Schumer Shutdown Is a National Security Concern.