Author: James A. Bacon
-
EOCR: the Enforcement Arm of DEI
by James A. Bacon How many Diversity, Equity & Inclusion employees work at the University of Virginia, and how much do they cost? Those are important questions, but they miss the big picture. Employees classified as “DEI” are only part of a large bureaucratic apparatus designed to transform the University in line with a social-justice…
-
Careful There, Dems, These Are Your Voters
by Kerry Dougherty I’m not in the habit of offering political advice to Democrats, but they might want to consider toning down the “convicted felon” rhetoric. Ever since Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges in New York, the left has become a Greek chorus, chanting “convicted felon” every time they mention his name.…
-
The Buck Stops Where, Exactly?
by Jon Baliles The city’s voter registrar is in the news again this week, and not because there is a primary election next week or huge elections both nationally and locally in November. This week, Graham Moomaw reported in the Virginia Mercury that the city’s Human Resource Department conducted a review of the Registrar’s Office…
-
Maybe We Should Discuss the Political Determinants of Health
by James A. Bacon As it takes up the issue of “social determinants of health,” the Joint Commission on Health Care is probing the social and economic origins of unequal health outcomes for different population groups in Virginia, according to Radio IQ. By defining the issue as social determinants of health, as opposed to social…
-
Is Something Wrong at UVA Health?
by James A. Bacon An anonymous group of Charlottesville residents has organized to bring attention to issues troubling the $3.3 billion UVA Health division of the University of Virginia. Calling itself Parrhesia — Greek for speaking candidly and freely — the group of “concerned citizens of Charlottesville and patients of UVA Health” portrays the healthcare…
-
Lawsuit Details How VMI Has Captured Its Alumni Association
by James A. Bacon Twenty-nine Virginia Military Institute (VMI) alumni have filed suit in federal court against the VMI Alumni Association, alleging that the organization is entwined so tightly with the VMI administration that it operates for the benefit of VMI and not its alumni members. The lawsuit recapitulates numerous controversies between dissident alumni and…
-
Before the Bill of Rights, There was the Virginia Declaration of Rights
by Thomas M. Moncure, Jr. Reliable estimates place the number of Virginia residents born outside the United States at 12% to 15%. In 2012, for the first time since about 1650, a majority of residents were born outside of Virginia. And this native count includes first-borns who live in homes where Farsi or Hindi or…
-
Bad Blood in the Virginia Beach GOP
by James A. Bacon I was fully prepared to believe the worst when I dipped into a Virginian-Pilot article about an indictment filed against Laura Hughes, chairwoman of the Virginia Beach Republican party. According to the Pilot, she was charged with the felony of “intercepting wire communications.” Another case of politicians behaving badly! It has…
-
Virginia’s Interstate Hell Hole
At a meeting this week of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), reports Radio IQ, Director Justin Brown brought up what the radio station deemed a “troubling” point regarding the horrendous, worst-in-the-country traffic congestion on Interstate 95 between Northern Virginia and Richmond: the express lanes designed to alleviate traffic are run by a…
-
Bond Rating and Back Slapping
by Jon Baliles Mayor Levar Stoney reportedly pulled a back muscle two weeks ago from slapping himself on the back after he announced the city received a AAA bond rating from the Fitch Rating Agency. It is the first time the city has ever received the designation, although the other two main rating agencies, S&P…
-
Another Rubber-Stamped UVA Budget, But Some Useful Discussion This Time
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia Board of Visitors unanimously approved a $5.9 billion budget for UVA in 2024-25. The $2.4 billion budget for the academic campus in Charlottesville represents a 6.8% spending increase over the current year. The budget also includes $3.3 billion for the UVA medical center and $76 million…
-
Virginia Untethered From California’s Nutty EV Regs
by Kerry Dougherty Well, God bless Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares . On Wednesday the dynamic duo announced that they’d found a way to undo some of the damage done by the commonwealth’s Democrats when these far-left lawmakers hooked Virginia’s wagon to California’s. You can read the attorney general’s advisory opinion…
-
Auditing AI
by James A. Bacon This is an issue that every university, corporation or government entity, not just the University of Virginia, should be thinking about: How will Artificial Intelligence affect their accounting, finances, and operations? AI overlords aren’t likely to enslave the human race any time soon. But the technology is progressing at a logarithmic…