Category: Uncategorized
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A Monumental Outrage
Charlottesville’s hasty—and possibly illegal—destruction of its Robert E. Lee equestrian statue establishes a toxic precedent. by Catesby Leigh The century-old equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been broken up, and, more likely than not, melted down into bronze ingots by now. But nobody involved in this officially sanctioned act of iconoclasm…
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A Compelling Case for Campaign Finance Reform – Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys
by James C. Sherlock Remind me why, exactly, Virginia permits massive out-of-state campaign contributions to dominate local races. I can’t hear you. Because we do, an out-of-state organization is by far the biggest donor to Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys races in elections of local prosecutors. Justice and Public Safety PAC, based in Washington D.C., utterly dominates support to the…
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Northern Virginia School Masking Debate in One Photograph
By James C. Sherlock In a story “Polarized debate over masking In Northern Virginia schools” written for WAMU 88.5, American University Radio, Margaret Barthel provided an excellent and well-balanced recounting of that debate. I recommend it to you. The picture below that accompanied it was literally worth a thousand words.
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A Campaign Finance Reform Lesson – the 2021 Elections for the Virginia House of Delegates
by James C. Sherlock Money in politics matters for a lot of reasons. Most of them are unsupportive of a republican form of government. The majority of the Virginia political class is addicted to unlimited campaign donations, a powerful incumbent protection mechanism. They do not blush when they contend that transparency is all that is…
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COVID Vs. the Flu
by James A. Bacon I have seen considerable discussion on the internet recently about the relationship between COVID-19 and influenza. One thing that seems to be widely accepted is that influenza receded — indeed it practically disappeared — as COVID-19 surged. Where the disagreement occurs is over why influenza faded and now seems to be…
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W&M Leadership Transformation (Purge?) Nearly Complete
by James A. Bacon Katherine Rowe took the helm of The College of William & Mary July 1, 2018. In three-and-a-half years as president, she has replaced most of the deans and senior administrators carried over from the tenure of her revered predecessor W. Taylor Revely III. The overhaul is summarized in the graphic below,…
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Note to State School Superintendent Jillian Balow…
You might want to update the Virginia Department of Education website. You’ve been Superintendent for Public Instruction for almost a week now, but here’s what the VDOE website shows on its “About” page as of Jan. 21, 10:33 a.m. You’ve got a tough job ahead, and I suspect that you’re busier than a one-armed paper…
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Hearing Footsteps in Loudoun County Public Schools Administration
by James C. Sherlock Word has made it to the Loudoun County Public Schools Board that the new Attorney General is coming to investigate. Something about the handling by the administration of rapes in two different schools by the same male student. And not properly reporting the first one. Seems that not only responsible leadership…
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The Road to Hell in Virginia Telemedicine
by James C. Sherlock The road to hell really is paved with good intentions. The current Virginia State Telehealth Plan was published just less than a year ago. The purpose of the Plan is to promote an integrated approach to the introduction and use of telehealth services in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2020, the…
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An Unmistakeable Odor of Corruption
by James C. Sherlock The data offered by the Virginia Public Access Project in Money in Politics have long left a perception that privileged access to Virginia elected officials is for sale. Perception matches reality. It is for sale. No one denies that: a republican form of government is based on a rough equality of…
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Fact Checker Accusing Youngkin of Leaving Out Important Context … Leaves Out Important Context
by James A. Bacon In his first speech to the General Assembly, Governor Glenn Youngkin stressed the need to upgrade academic standards in Virginia’s public schools. “Education standards for math and reading are now the lowest in the nation,” he said. Warren Fiske with VPM News “fact checked” the statement. Citing the National Center for…
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A Taste of Tyranny
Testimony of Arthur Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance, at a hearing held by the Fairfax delegation to the General Assembly January 8. Thank you for this hearing. I have five topics. First, it was 19 degrees this morning, and we just had a 20-hour, 50-mile shutdown on I-95 due to snow and…
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General Assembly Education Bills of Interest in 2022
by James C. Sherlock I have reviewed the bills on the subject of education filed in this session of the General Assembly. Interesting and important legislation there, no question. As you might expect, most of the high profile legislation was filed in the newly Republican House. I am listing only highlights here. I have not…