Author: James A. Bacon
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Smart Geese!
Laura and I were taking a walk along the Rocketts Landing segment of the Capital Trail this morning when we came across this sight — a gaggle of geese crossing the trail at the pedestrian crossing. So well behaved! Now, if only we could teach them where to poop! — JAB
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COVID Update: Masks, Libertarians and Bureaucrats
by James A. Bacon More good news from the latest COVID-19 data dump: The number of new hospitalizations reported by the Virginia Department of Health fell to 25 yesterday, and the number of deaths reported declined to five. We’re back to the levels of early April — more evidence that Governor Ralph Northam can relax…
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The Divine Puzzle of Life as Seen by a Native Son of Virginia
by B.K. Fulton Our Nation has not yet fully addressed its original sin . . . the savage institution of slavery. The residue of inequality still permeates our shores and infects the globe as a pandemic of the mind. Despite our scientific similarities (we are more alike than different), when it comes to power —…
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Want to Advance Racial Justice, VCU? Look at Your Bloated Cost Structure and Runaway Tuition
by James A. Bacon Three days ago I described how Virginia Commonwealth University is in the process of installing a new “social justice” regime that will mandate “non-discrimination” training to exacerbate snowflake sensibilities, encourage students and employees to report “micro-aggressions,” and adjudicate grievances in a way that will be “affirming for those who have been…
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Learning to Live with the Virus
by James A. Bacon There’s been a lot of recent discussion in the media about a “second wave” of the COVID-19 virus this fall when days grow shorter and temperatures drop. Maybe it will happen, but I doubt it will be as virulent or as deadly as the first wave. I’m optimistic we’re making significant…
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No, Northam Does Not Support Police Defunding
by James A. Bacon The idea of defunding the police in Virginia comes close to being clinically insane. Only someone suffering from mental psychosis would seriously propound it. Whatever police abuses may occur in Virginia — and they are relatively few — they are trivial to compared what would occur in a state of lawlessness…
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Portsmouth Statue Smashers Nearly Kill a Man
by Kerry Dougherty Every time I pick up a newspaper I find myself thinking, If only they had real editors. I had that thought yesterday when the local newspaper published this online: “A man was hurt when one of the statues fell from the Portsmouth Confederate monument.” No, no, no. A statue didn’t FALL from…
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Statue One, Radicals Zero
A protester was seriously injured last night during the destruction of a statue of a Confederate soldier in Portsmouth. After decapitating the statue, the vandals threw a rope around its neck and pulled it down. Unfortunately, it landed on a fellow protester. “There was a gentleman who was directly in front of the statue and…
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EVMS Doc Saves Lives with New COVID-19 Treatment Protocol
by James A. Bacon Paul Marik, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), is part of a group, the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium, which says that application of a new therapeutic protocol can dramatically reduce mortality rates of the coronavirus. In a paper outlining the EVMS’…
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Lawyers, Start Your Engines
by Kerry Dougherty It’s about time. Ever since 15-days-to-slow-the-spread in March, some of us have wondered when the lawsuits would start flying. At what point would the legal community try to stop the governor of Virginia from abusing the vast emergency powers that he grabbed three months ago and shows no signs of relinquishing? How…
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Loophole Allows Nursing Homes to Cover Up COVID-19 History
by Carol J. Bova The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) published an interim final rule with comment period (IFC) on May 8 that provided more flexibility for health care providers “to respond effectively to the serious health threats posed by the spread of COVID-19.” The rule amended Medicare policies on an interim basis to…
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How the New Pool Rules Are Working Out
by James A. Bacon The latest iteration of Wise King Ralph’s emergency COVID-19 decrees, provides for the possibility of reopening pools and fitness facilities in Virginia. However, the new diktat comes with many conditions attached. Either pools and fitness facilities comply with all the rules, or they stay must closed. The homeowners association of the…
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VCU Has Gone Full Social Justice Warrior
by James A. Bacon Virginia Commonwealth University is making no effort to sugar coat the message. It has taken sides in America’s culture wars. And it will crush anyone on its campus who doesn’t go along. In remarks to the VCU board of visitors Friday, Aashir Nasim, vice president of institutional equity, effectiveness and success,…
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The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear (of COVID-19) Itself
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) publish a wide variety of data about COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the numbers, yet the data is woefully incomplete. Perhaps the greatest deficiency is that we have no ability…
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Medical Doctors and Spin Doctors
by Kerry Dougherty Someone find me a lawyer. I think I have whiplash. Not sure you can sue the World Health Organization, though, for acting more like political spin doctors than medical ones. Perhaps you heard. On Monday, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist and head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit and…