Author: James A. Bacon
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Bacon Meme of the Week
Greetings from Sedona, Arizona. Not only is Sedona one of the most spectacular spots on the planet, inhabitants display a healthy reverence for wild pigs, or javelina, as seen in its statuary. –JAB
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Fewer Children Seeking ER Treatment for Cannabis Ingestion
by James A. Bacon The number of pediatric patients visiting hospital emergency rooms in cannabis-related incidents fell 21.5% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period the year before, a decline that some attribute to bipartisan legislation regulating the production, sale, and potency of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in marijuana-related products. A Virginia Hospital…
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UVA Grad Students Urge Withholding of Year-End Grades
by James A. Bacon The United Campus Workers of Virginia (UCWVA) at the University of Virginia has launched a campaign urging faculty and graduate students to withhold grades until the Ryan administration capitulates to its demands of amnesty for people arrested during the May 4 crackdown on the pro-Palestinian “liberation zone.” “UVA exec admin stood…
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The Crying Game
by James A. Bacon After President Jim Ryan ordered a breakup of their liberation zone for Gaza a week ago in what one might call a “mostly peaceful” police action, encampment veterans are posturing as victims of “brutal” fascist state “violence” and “trauma.” “I got brutalized by the police at a UNESCO World Heritage site,”…
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So Much for Empathetic Listening
by James A. Bacon Militant students and faculty at the University of Virginia — and elsewhere — often talk about having “hard conversations” about the tragic realities in Gaza. To see what those “conversations” sound like, click on the video above. It was hard alright — hard for President Jim Ryan. The students had…
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FUCK UVA Redux: The Revolution Consumes Its Own
by James A. Bacon Militant students and faculty held an online gripe session today skewering President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom, and their rhetoric — including calls for Ryan’s resignation — is more heated than ever. While I support the actions Ryan and Baucom took to shut down the UVA Encampment for Gaza, where…
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Has the Rural Brain Drain Ended?
by James A. Bacon Remote work isn’t the only trend encouraging Americans to relocate from major metropolitan areas to small towns and rural communities, suggests Hamilton Lombard in a new StatChat post. The rise of social media has allowed smaller communities to emulate the entertainment and culinary offerings of big cities, while the rise of…
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UVA Soft on Nazis but Brutal to Students?
by James A. Bacon A continuing meme in the ongoing rhetorical battle between leftists and anarchists on the one hand and the Ryan administration on the other is that University of Virginia authorities brutally cracked down on peaceful protesters May 4 while allowing White supremacists to march through UVA unmolested in 2017. For example, the…
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Team Ryan Defends Shutdown of Tent Encampment
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia called in the Virginia State Police to disperse “UVA Encampment for Gaza” protesters because they feared the demonstration was spiraling out of control, said President Jim Ryan, University Police Chief Tim Longo, and other University leaders in a virtual town hall early this afternoon. Some protesters had…
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Intellectuals Yet Idiots on the Loose
by James A. Bacon Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the “Black Swan” and “Antifragile” author and curmudgeonly critic of just about everyone, coined the term Intellectuals Yet Idiots (IYIs) to describe the modern-day class of journalists, academics, and other cultural elitists who think they know everything better than anyone else. The term well describes professors with the…
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With the Tents Down, the Blowback Begins
by James A. Bacon Following the decision to take down the tents in the UVA Solidarity Encampment for Gaza “liberated zone” at the University of Virginia on Saturday, UVA President Jim Ryan is facing strong blowback from leftist elements in the UVA and Charlottesville communities. Pro-Palestinian protesters had rebuked the administration’s orders to take down…
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Militants to Ryan Administration: “Bullshit”
by James A. Bacon Pro-Palestinian militants erected tents last night at their “liberation zone for Gaza” near the University of Virginia chapel in defiance of orders to take them down. The administration’s immediate response: engage in dialogue. “We are writing to acknowledge the document you shared with us early this morning outlining the interests of…