Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy, 10/12

[SVPete]

Pakistan v. Afghanistan

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/10/pakistan-v-afghanistan.php

From the U.K. Guardian,

Heavy clashes erupt along Pakistan-Afghanistan border:

Escalation comes after Pakistani airstrike in Kabul, with Taliban launching reprisals against military posts.

This seems like it should be a big deal, but I haven’t seen much news coverage of it. The who, what, when, and where all seem clear enough. But I’m still shaky on the why. The Guardian reports,

While Islamabad has not explicitly claimed responsibility for the attacks, it has called on Kabul to cease harbouring the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is accused of killing hundreds of Pakistani soldiers since 2021 and is believed to have received combat training in Afghanistan, sharing ideological ties with the Afghan Taliban.

Ya know, I'm kind of doubt that Trump will try to intervene in this diplomatically.

[SVPete]

Popular professor fired at HBCU files lawsuit alleging anti-white discrimination

https://www.campusreform.org/article/popular-professor-fired-hbcu-files-lawsuit-alleging-anti-white-discrimination/28745

A white professor at a historically black university has filed a lawsuit, saying she was targeted and fired because of her race.

Donna Satterlee, a tenured assistant professor of human ecology and child development who had worked at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for more than 20 years, filed a lawsuit against the school in July after being terminated last year.

The complaint includes a variety of allegations, including harassment, disparate treatment, and race-based discrimination.

Satterlee says that the university president, Heidi Anderson, “has expressed a preference for African-Americans in hiring of faculty and staff and the upper-administration of the university exhibits a marked bias against Caucasian and Asian citizens.”

She also notes that “Black faculty and administrators are paid vastly higher than others of similar or better qualifications.” According to the complaint, department chair Grace Namwamba confirmed this to Dr. Satterlee. When Satterlee raised concerns, Namwamba allegedly responded “in a highly intimidating manner causing extreme anxiety,” prompting Satterlee to seek a protective order with the human resources office.

A historically black university discriminating against non-blacks? I'm shocked! Shocked! This case could get very interesting, but I suspect it will get approximately zero coverage in MSM.

[SVPete]

A WaPo Reporter Did Not Just Email This to Members of Congress...

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/10/11/a-wapo-reporter-did-not-just-email-this-to-members-of-congress-n2664813

I wish this were satire, but it’s not. We’re in the middle of a government shutdown battle, and The Washington Post decided to blast this email, apparently, to every member of Congress. You’d think it would be about the shutdown, right? Something about the issue of health care subsidies expiring, or health care for illegal aliens—but, alas, no. It was about which member of Congress was vaccinated against COVID. I’m not kidding

Embedded X post to a Congresswoman

This is so 2021. I'm very obviously not an anti-Covid-vaxxer, But I have never, in almost 5 years, asked a coworker, a person at church, or a rando stranger if they have been vaccinated for Covid, nor even thought of asking anyone.

BTW, I disgree with this comment in the article: "Only lunatics still get vaccinated ...". There are some (not anywhere near a majority) people for whom getting occasional boosters makes sense.

[SVPete]

Rhode Island district discriminated against white teachers, Justice Dept alleges

https://www.thecollegefix.com/rhode-island-district-discriminated-against-white-teachers-justice-dept-alleges/

The U.S. Department of Justice recently filed a lawsuit against the Rhode Island Department of Education and Providence Public School District over a student loan forgiveness program that limits eligibility based on race.

The lawsuit, which was filed in September, alleges “only white teachers are excluded” from the program “based on their race in violation of federal law.”

William Jacobson, a law professor at Cornell University, welcomed the news in an interview with The College Fix, calling the program “plainly racist.”

The Equal Protection Project, a legal nonprofit that Jacobson founded to support “the fair treatment of all persons without regard to race or ethnicity,” filed a civil rights complaint about the program back in 2022, he said in a recent email.

The complaint was filed in 2022, and nothing was done until 2025. I wonder why ... well, no, I don't wonder.