Bacon's Rebellion

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Bacon’s Rebellion 2018 — Year of the Pothead

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Other blogs publish a list of their most heavily trafficked posts of the previous year, so I guess Bacon’s Rebellion will succumb to peer pressure and do the same. If there’s any conclusion to be drawn from the 2018 list of the Bacon’s Rebellion Top Twelve stories, it’s that our readers — or perhaps random web surfers who stumble across the blog — have pot on the brain.

Will Virginia Legalize Recreational Marijuana Use? — by far the top story of the year, by a factor of four. Ranked extremely high in Google search engine results for “Virginia” and “marijuana.”

UVa’s $30 Million Raid on Tech’s Biocomplexity Initiative

Prosperity Bomb — about Amazon HQ2.

Put-up-or-Shut-up Time for the Sun Spot Theory — about global warming.

VANews, the New Power Brokers in the Virginia Media Landscape

Dominion Energy: No More Mister Nice Guy

Virginia to Consider New Marijuana Decriminalization Bill in 2019 General Assembly

Shrinking Community Colleges Looking to Pivot

Could Amazon Fixation Cost Virginia $1 Billion Micron Expansion?

Virginia’s 2018 Marijuana Decriminalization Bill: What Happened and What’s Next?

A Model Transfer Program that Should Be Copied — also about the community colleges.

The Case for Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Use in Virginia

Special thanks to Bacon’s Rebellion contributors Steve Haner and Don Rippert, many of whose blog posts were the best read of the year. The blog wouldn’t be the same without you guys.

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18 responses to “Bacon’s Rebellion 2018 — Year of the Pothead”

  1. NorrhsideDude Avatar
    NorrhsideDude

    The libertarian in me finds it odd that a lot of the news stresses decriminalizing pot, but at the same time we need to criminalize candy flavored vaping liquids. I know kids are using them at an exponential rate, but it’s already an age-controlled substance. Will we have the same outrage when pot infused actual candy (edibles) become widely available with the legalization of pot? I just find it all weirdly hypocritical.

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      I have no problem with regulations designed to discourage the underage use of tobacco, alcohol, pot or any other age limited substance. No beer company should be allowed to advertise in a high school football program despite the fact that the stands are full of parents of legal drinking age. I would also support regulation that discourages the creation of marijuana edibles that seem targeted at children.

  2. djrippert Avatar
    djrippert

    What can the beleaguered RPV learn from our 2018 pageview numbers? They are like dinosaurs smoking unfiltered Camels and flipping the bird at the approaching comet.

  3. Izzo Avatar
    Izzo

    “What can the beleaguered RPV learn from our 2018 pageview numbers? They are like dinosaurs smoking unfiltered Camels and flipping the bird at the approaching comet.”

    A good line on which to close out the year. Happy progressive new year!

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      More of a libertarian new year for me but Happy New Year to you too.

  4. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Well, here’s one I did not see in BR:

    ” Head DEQ official accepted Dominion gifts, including paid trip to Master’s tourney”

    https://wtvr.com/2016/03/15/head-deq-official-accepted-dominion-gifts-including-paid-trip-to-masters-tourney/

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      I wish I would have seen this article. Amazing. I especially “liked” this …

      “Last week, the James River Association agreed not to appeal the Bremo permit after receiving assurances from Dominion that the utility will take extra steps to ensure that wastewater will contain little if any heavy metals or other hazardous chemicals. In 2015, the association received a $50,000 environmental grant from Dominion.”

      So, Dominion is greasing the palms of environmental groups as well?

      1. djrippert Avatar
        djrippert

        The article was posted in March, 2016 so not really a 2018 story.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          Well yes.. Dom was trying to buy off the Enviro groups also as well as DEQ … and I’m not sure I ever saw it “reported” here in BR.. but would stand to be corrected…

          And it’s actually STILL a 2018/2019 story because the courts have declared the issued permits from DEQ and others back in 2016/2017 as not valid.

          so.. a real irony here is that it’s the Enviro groups who challenged the permits – despite the Dom money received?

          Oh wait would that mean that not all enviros are the same or heckfire that money coming from Rich enviro supporters was given to offset all the money flowing from others to influence DEQ and enviro groups?

          All these cries in BR for more “transparency” and “accountability” but only for some things… not others….

          Let me finish, once again, for pointing out how important Dominion is for all of us… but fair is fair… they’re not angels, either and they need to be held account instead of just the “enviros”.

  5. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    All that means is the potheads spaced out and each read the stories 20 times, trying to remember :).

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      What stories? Remember what? What are you talking about? 🙂

  6. Acbar Avatar
    Acbar

    “. . . dinosaurs smoking unfiltered Camels and flipping the bird at the approaching comet . . .” A terrific image with which to end the year! How appropriate to compare the coming year of division and tumult and dying fiscal conservatism and fake news and narcissism and Special Prosecutor reports and House Congressional subpoenas and further Democrat inroads in the GA to “the approaching comet”! Poor, poor dinosaurs! At the end of 2019, may we still be corresponding here and able to reflect calmly on whatever went “splat” into the Swamp during the year. Happy New Year, everyone.

  7. Reed Fawell 3rd Avatar
    Reed Fawell 3rd

    “In the present world order of the Anthropocene, we’re the big surprise. The sixth mass extinction is upon us and accelerating, and our technological prowess remains unchecked by the fullness of time.

    The good news is that the earth will do just fine without us. We’ve always been part and parcel of something much older and more beautiful than ourselves.” Robert Thorson, Prof, U. of Connecticut, WSJ, 12/30,/2018

    Lets hope the professor is taking the longer view of events upon us.

    1. Acbar Avatar
      Acbar

      And let’s hope the marshes and the waterways we enjoy today last as long as we do, and that we have instilled in our children and our friends’ children a sense of the obligation we inherited to keep them that way.

      1. Reed Fawell 3rd Avatar
        Reed Fawell 3rd

        Amen to that, Acbar. We inherited so much. And so much of what we inherited now is at risk. I am afraid we are letting our children and their children down.

  8. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Well, then you have this which I’m not sure is representative of the rest of Virginia or not:

    “Illegal drugs among top causes in Fredericksburg area’s 2018 homicides”

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      Drug dealers fighting for turf I imagine. If liquor were illegal I am sure that illegal liquor would be a significant cause of homicides.

  9. Reed Fawell 3rd Avatar
    Reed Fawell 3rd

    ““Illegal drugs among top causes in Fredericksburg area’s 2018 homicides.”

    I suspect that you could change that to read:

    “Illegal drugs among top causes in Fredericksburg area’s 2018 homicides and suicides, following a growing trend throughout the Middle Atlantic States.”

    And the statement likely would be generally correct, as these sorts of problems seem to be growing within all segments of our society, rich and poor and middle class alike, abet more prevalent in some locations than others.

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