The Obama Administration today announced that it would send 1,200 troops to help secure America’s southern border. President Obama will also spend an additional half a billion dollars on the effort. Opinions vary as to why President Obama is taking this action. Some say Republicans from the Southwest forced his hand. Other say that Democratic…

Coal-burning electricity plants are a hot button for environmentalists who somehow have shown more interest in Dominion Virginia Power’s $1.5 billion station in Wise County than the much bigger, $5 billion plus one planned by a group of electrical cooperatives not all that far from Colonial Williamsburg. The project is planned by the Old Dominion…

The American College Of Sports Medicine has just named the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area as the nation’s fittest city – for the third year in a row. The ratings are created through the use of a fitness index which measures everything from baseball fields to how many servings of fruit and vegetables the residents eat…

I just watched an internet video one hour and thirty three minutes in length. It is worth every second. EMR has written extensively about people depleting our natural capital. This video brings those thoughts to life. It is a liberal thesis. However, it is also a jaw dropping, eye popping wonder. Let nobody say that…

With his post on terrorists and porous borders (“Open Door Policy for Terrorist”) Groveton has done it again: Tossing rocks at empty pigeon holes. This time it is not ‘liberals’ and ‘conservatives,’ it is ‘lefties’ and ‘righties.’ That is better but the result is the same. What Groveton will always get are replies like Peter’s…

Arizona’s recent passage of SB1070 reignited a long simmering debate in America about immigration and border security. One imagines that this debate will continue to be an issue through this year’s November elections. Those on the right claim that illegal immigrants take jobs away from Americans, sap government funds, increase gang violence and commit sundry…

WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR CITIZENS TO UNDERSTAND THE FACTS ABOUT LOCATION-VARIABLE COSTS? THE 10X RULE AND ITS APPLICATION TO ACHIEVE FUNCTIONAL HUMAN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IS A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING WHY LOCATION-VARIABLE COSTS ARE SO IMPORTANT. In a recent ‘Current Perspectives’ draft (“A Shelter Must Read” 17 May 2010) Groveton, the newest BaconsRebellion Blog…

Regarding Virginia’s renegade attorney general, Kenneth N. Cuccinelli and his assault on science at the University of Virginia, our own beloved Groveton says there ain’t no such thing as academic freedom. The case, of course, involves Cuccinelli’s civil investigative demands for info and emails involving former global warming scientist at UVa Michael Mann and five…

There are plenty of battlefields among U.S. corporations with banks, car companies and offshore oil drilling consulting firms in mind. But few come closer to home than than embattled coal firm Massey Energy and tobacco giant Philip Morris USA, both based in Richmond. Massey owns the Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia where…

THE LOCATION AND SIZE OF DWELLINGS IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT IF THE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE HOUSING CRISIS IS TO BE SOLVED. For TMT and CJD here is a draft EMR is circulating for comment: DRAFT OPEN LETTER 18 May 2010 Professor Steven S. Fuller, PhDDirector, Center for Regional AnalysisGeorge Mason University Dear Steve: Our paths have…

THE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE HOUSING CRISIS MARCHES ON. THE 17 MAY WaPo HAS A ‘MUST READ’ FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION. THIS AND OTHER ENTERPRISE MEDIA STORIES ON THE HOUSING MARKET ARE IMPORTANT FOR WHAT THEY SAY AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANT FOR WHAT THE DO NOT SAY OR SAY IN CONFUSING WAYS.…

This is a story of regulation run amok. It’s been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Never is that thought more germane than when applied to government regulation. In today’s episode of “Regulation Run Amok” we’ll examine the unintended consequences of some well meaning regulation on community banks. For an…

I graduated from Groveton High School in the 1970s. In 1986 Fairfax County combined Groveton High School with Ft Hunt High School and named the new school West Potomac High School. West Potomac still occupies the same buildings on Quander Rd where I once attended class. It still sits just down the street from the…

The Daily Beast has crunched some interesting data sets — convictions of elected officials, racketering & extortion, forgery & counterfeiting, fraud and embezzlement — to rank the 50 states and District of Columbia by corruption. Virginia ranks No. 2 on the list. That’s either very, very good or very, very bad. The Daily Beast is…

After decades of neglect, it appears that a lawsuit settlement and new rules from the Obama Administration could actually start the process of reviving America’s greatest inland sea. On May 11, a lawsuit spearheaded by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and various Virginia and Maryland watermen’s groups and legislators was settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection…