Category: Uncategorized
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Richmond, VA: Startup South
Tobacco Row Well, blow me away. Alex Madrigal, senior editor at the Atlantic, is touting Richmond as a regional center of innovation. “Richmond is blossoming into a tech hub thanks to a great research university, a big creative agency, and cheap, beautiful real estate,” reads the sub-head of the first in a series of articles.…
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More Proof that People Believe Whatever the Hell They Want to Believe
Ninety-four percent of the 600 Virginia residents polled by a Roanoke College professor believe in God, 87% believe in heaven, and… 47.9% believe pets are admitted into the Pearly Gates. (Read the poll results here.) Wow, I am really out of step! I don’t want to start a theological hissing contest, but I have to…
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Dangerous Wild Primates on the Prowl
Headline from the Pilot Online: “Group urges McDonnell to crack down on dangerous animals” No, no one is urging the governor to rein in the General Assembly. In the wake of the big-game scare in Ohio earlier this week, the Humane Society of the United States wants Gov. Bob McDonnell to toughen the sale and…
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The Wonk Salon, October 21, 2011
School Choice in Texas: Making Progress but Could Be Better Texas Public Policy Foundation Texas has made strides toward greater school choice in recent years but the state needs to make significant policy changes before it becomes a leader in education reform. TANF and Child Welfare Programs Need Better Coordination Government Accountability Office In 2010,…
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McDonnell’s Energy Pep Rally
By Peter Galuszka One conceit of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell is that he magically wants to transform Virginia into “The Energy Capital of the East Coast.” The idea smacks of Alice in Wonderland. An example is “The Governor’s Conference on Energy,” that began in Richmond on Monday. I dropped by today and noted that the…
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Everybody’s a Winna in the Federal Highway Sweepstakes!
There’s good news and bad news in a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the Highway Trust Fund. Thanks to a $30 billion injection from the federal Fund since FY 2008, every state in the union has collected more from the federal Highway Trust Fund than its citizens contributed in motor fuels taxes. Yippee!…
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China’s Very Fast Trains
By Peter Galuszka (second in a series) SHANGHAI — As the soggy countryside zipped past, my eyes were fixed on the speedometer of the maglev train hurtling towards Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The instrument hanging over a passenger door shot up from 150 kilometer per hour, to 247 kph and finally to 300 kph or…
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The Old Boy’s Still Around
By Peter Galuszka (first of a series) BEIJING, China — Red and gold emblems flap around Tiananmen Square in celebration of 62 years of the People’s Republic of China. This holiday, the sprawling square area is thronged with Chinese families of all ages on this warm and sunny fall afternoon. I am here on a…
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The Wonk Salon, September 30-October 1
Paring the Texas Prison Population Texas Public Policy Institute Believe it or not, Texans don’t execute all their prison inmates! Since 2005 the state has worked to reduce the size of its inmate population by providing more intermediate sanctions for parole offenders and funding more prison alternatives. Time to Revise Back-Loaded Teacher Pensions Center for…
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You Say You Want a Revolution, Well You Know…
According to the Gallup organization, dissatisfaction with the way the nation is being government has reached a new high, along with mistrust of Congress and contempt for public officials generally. Fifty-seven percent have no confidence in the federal government to solve domestic problems. Forty-nine percent believe the federal government has become so large and powerful…
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Keeping State Roads Clean and Clear
Phew! Between the flow of stories from three days worth of Commonwealth Transportation Board meetings and the eruption of the Cville Bypass cost-estimate controversy, its been crazy here at the Rebellion. I’ve got a couple more stories to file from the CTB conclave and a couple of press releases to attend to but, frankly, I…
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IG of the Day: Occupational Pay Polarization
Source: Goos, Manning & Salomons, cited in “Losing Middle America: The Polarization of Jobs in the United States.“ Continuing our discussion of the sources of income disparity in the United States… The chart above shows that the hollowing out of middle class jobs, and concomitant gains in low-skilled, low-paid jobs on the one hand and high-skilled,…
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Endless Bummer: SAT Scores Still Declining
by James A. Bacon More bad news on the reading, writing and ‘rithmatic front. SAT scores for the high-school graduating class of 2011 fell in all three subject areas to the lowest levels ever recorded, according to data released by the College Board Wednesday. Only 43% of students posted scores high enough to suggest they…
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The Wonk Salon, September 14, 2011
Dental School for SW Virginia? Maybe Not Such a Great Idea Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service No question: Southwest Virginia would benefit from having a dental school. But there are three big challenges: finding the money to build the school, recruiting faculty, and enrolling college grads with the necessary skills and ability to pay…