Category: Politics
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The Systemic Racism of Monument Avenue
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in Blogs and Blog Administration, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Demographics, Electoral process, Federal issues, Housing, Labor and Workforce, Money in politics, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Richmond’s grand Monument Avenue, a double lane, tree lined thoroughfare, has been the epicenter of the Black Lives Matter campaign that has focused on the statues of several Confederate figures one the road, including Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Jefferson Davis. All are up for removal, but the…
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Harsh But Fair? You Decide.
RPV Chairman Jack Wilson issued a statement today blasting Governor Ralph Northam for allowing COVID-19 to fester in Virginia nursing homes. In a missive headed, “Northam Creates Nursing Home Death Camps,” he said: There is a massive problem taking place in Virginia nursing homes and Governor Northam is sweeping it under the rug. When will…
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From Moon Walking to Slow Walking
by Kerry Dougherty I’m tired of writing about Gov. Ralph Northam. I wish he’d stop doing dumb things so we could all go back to ignoring him. But here we go again. This time it’s another Northam bait-and-switch. What is it with this governor? He claims to worship at the altar of science and numbers…
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The ACP Wins One But The War Drags On
By Peter Galuszka The $8.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline has won a significant legal victory but the war is far from over. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, has ruled in favor of project operated by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy saying that its 42-inch pipeline can cross under the Appalachian Trail in…
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Libertarians Need Not Apply
By Peter Galuszka The Virginia Republican Party had a big shock Saturday. Far-right candidate Bob Good snatched the party’s nomination in the fifth congressional district from incumbent Denver Riggleman, who was backed by President Donald Trump and Jerry Falwell Jr., the head of Liberty University. The remarkable twist could presage an arch-conservative backlash against Trump’s…
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The Ups and Downs of Felix Dzerzhinsky
By Peter Galuszka For three decades, a 15-ton statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky loomed over a square in downtown Moscow. He rose high near the Lubyanka building, a turn of the century, yellow-colored one-time insurance office that served as the national headquarters for the KGB. “Iron Felix,” born of Polish nobility, is best known as V.I.…
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“Systemic Racism?” Damned Right!
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in Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Corruption and Scandals, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Demographics, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Media, Politics, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Social Services and Entitlements, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka There has been much debate on this blog regarding whether there is “systemic racism” in Virginia and the rest of the country. It’s a crucial question in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed African American who was killed on video by a white Minneapolis police officer…
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Our Gutsy Governor
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in Bacon and Pigs, Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Defense, National Security, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, Elections, General Assembly, Governance, Government Transparency, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Media, Politics, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t OversightBy Peter Galuszka On June 24, 2015, Nikki Haley, a Republican who was South Carolina’s first non-white governor, called for the removal of a Confederate flag that had been flying over the state’s capitol grounds for years. “This flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state,”…
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Northam and Falwell — Feuding with Scriptures
By Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginians have been treated this spring with a feud between the Governor and Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University. First, Falwell defied the Governor’s coronavirus-related stay-at-home order and told students they should return to the campus after spring break. Northam responded by suggesting that Falwell “look to the actions of the…
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Beware Fake Tweets
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in Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Defense, National Security, Elections, Electoral process, Federal issues, Government Transparency, Infrastructure, Media, Money in politics, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, TelecommunicationsBy Peter Galuszka Around midnight Monday, reporters in downtown Washington D.C., stood by ready to cover the next round of protests about the slaying of African Americans by police. They started getting tweets marked #dcblackout suggesting that internet service was being interrupted because of a secret program presumably run by the government that would cut…
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The Real Danger with ANTIFA
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in Bacon and Pigs, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Corruption and Scandals, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Electoral process, Federal issues, Government Transparency, Gun rights, Immigration, Labor and Workforce, LGBQT, Libertarians, Media, Money in politics, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t OversightBy Peter Galuszka Get ready. The names of all kinds of leftist organizations are going to be kicked around as the masterminds behind violent, cop-beating looters, especially the so-called ANTIFA movement in Virginia and across the country.. But what is reality? I don’t have clear answers but I have some ideas to share since I…
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WTJU Podcast: COVID-19 and the Economy
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in Agriculture & forestry, Bacon and Pigs, Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Charity, Philanthropy, Nonprofits, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Corruption and Scandals, Culture wars, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Efficiency in Government, Elections, Electoral process, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, Federal issues, General Assembly, Governance, Government Finance, Government Transparency, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Telecommunications, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Here’s is the twice-monthly podcast produced by WTJU, the official radio station of the University of Virginia. With me on this podcast are Nathan Moore, the station general manager, and Sarah Vogelsong, who covers, labor, energy and environmental issues across the state for the Virginia Mercury, a fairly new and highly regarded…
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Screwing Workers On Safety and Liability
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in Bacon and Pigs, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Corruption and Scandals, Economic development, Environment, Federal issues, General Assembly, Government Finance, Health Care, Money in politics, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka At 4:30 a.m. on April 27, about 100 workers of the Greater Richmond Transit Company — half of the total – failed to show up for work. Worried about the health of its membership, Local 1220 of the International Amalgamated Transit Union demanded additional safety measures such as full personal protection equipment,…
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Why Northam Is Such An Important Governor
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in Abortion, Feminism, Women’s Rights, Agriculture & forestry, Business and Economy, Charity, Philanthropy, Nonprofits, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Defense, National Security, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, General Assembly, Governance, Government Finance, Government Transparency, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, TelecommunicationsBy Peter Galuszka This is a bit like throwing chum at a school of sharks, but here is my latest in Style Weekly. I wrote an assessment of Gov. Ralph Northam that is overall, quite positive. My take goes against much of the sentiment of other contributors on this blog. They are entitled to their…
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And Now For Something Completely Different
By Peter Galuszka Dear Baconauts, As you know, people like me have been described by a B.R. commenter as those who submit “scorch and burn, mock and smear writings encased in scornful, supercilious, opinionated, and shallow rhetoric.” I freely admit this and am damned proud of it. But instead of dishing out the usual sarcastic…