Tag: COVID-19
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COVID-19 Killed the American Work Ethic
by Kerry Dougherty Sometimes nothing will lift a kid’s mood like a McDonald’s Happy Meal. On Tuesday I was running a raft of errands with a 5-year-old strapped into the back seat. As it crept past lunchtime and she was clearly starving, I saw the blessed Golden Arches. While we idled in a long ribbon…
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The COVID Restrictions Have Been Lifted!
by Dick Hall-Sizemore We now have been a week without state-imposed COVID restrictions. No social distancing. No restrictions on venues opening. I can go to my grandson’s graduation tonight. Kerry can go to the beach without a mask on. We all can go to Flying Squirrels’ games. As of May 28, the Governor lifted all…
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No Vaccination Mandates for Community Colleges
by James A. Bacon In stark contrast to the University of Virginia, James Madison University, and the College of William & Mary, the Virginia Community College System board has decided not to require students to be vaccinated in order to attend classes in the fall. “I believe it is in the best interests of our…
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Paul Marik: COVID Quack or Pandemic Hero?
by James A. Bacon Across the state of Virginia, the fatality rate for COVID-19 patients entering hospitals has been 37.7%. Put another way, nearly two of every five patients died, according to Virginia Department of Health data. But in Norfolk, only 25.8% died. What accounts for that disparity? One possibility is that the dominant hospital…
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School Closings Negatively Affect Female Employment
by D.J. Rippert Mom at home. An article from The Center Square summarizes a number of studies relating COVID-19, school policies during the pandemic, and the number of women in the workforce. A study by the journal “Gender & Society” characterized the matter as a “tidal wave of women” leaving the workforce in 2020. Center…
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Would Someone Please Explain the “Science”?
by James A. Bacon Let me get this straight. The University of Virginia has just announced that all students returning to the university starting July 1 must be fully vaccinated, or they will be barred from entering the grounds. But employees, while urged to get vaccinated, are under no such mandate. Exemptions will be allowed…
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As COVID Recedes, Focus on the Other Epidemic
by James A. Bacon From the Fauquier Times: According to Virginia Department of Health data, the number of Virginians who died from drug overdoses in 2020 increased 41% the previous to to 2,297. Local officials attributed the surge to the COVID-19 lockdown. “The pandemic has had a devastating impact,” said Jan Brown, executive director of…
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Masks on Kids: State-Sponsored Child Abuse
by Kerry Dougherty If you came here expecting to find fountains of gratitude to Virginia’s governor for restoring liberties he should not have removed in the first place, you’ll be disappointed. Ralph Northam was prepared to keep the commonwealth’s face mask mandate in place for months, until he was blindsided by the CDC on Thursday…
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Will Northam Cling to Mask Mandates?
by Kerry Dougherty Well, the ball’s now in Ralph Northam’s court. The CDC announced yesterday that it’s recommending vaccinated people lose the masks. Indoors and out. Imagine that! And, no, the science didn’t magically change yesterday. Many of us knew all along that a piece of cloth couldn’t stop a virus. What changed is that…
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Has COVID-19 Killed the Urban Renaissance?
by James A. Bacon If you’re looking for a good Sunday read, consider an article by Tim Sablik, “Has the Pandemic Changed Cities Forever?“, in the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank’s Econ Focus. Sablik does a fine job of sketching out the big issues identified by the nation’s leading urbanologists as they ponder the impact of…
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Shots for American Kids While Indians Are Dying for the Vaccine?
by Kerry Dougherty It was yet another gird-your-loins day in Virginia on Thursday. Gov. Ralph Northam held a briefing on COVID-19, which could only mean one thing: more disappointing news from the Rajah of Richmond. Northam said he may lift his now-14 month-old emergency order- – an abuse of power by any standard — in…
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Why Can’t We Have a Governor Like DeSantis?
by Kerry Dougherty Help me out here. I’m trying to decide which of the seven deadly sins I’m committing every time I see Gov. Ron DeSantis on TV or in print and wish he were governor of Virginia. It is covetousness? Or envy? Well, dictionary.com defines the first as “eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth or…
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About Those Face Masks for Kids…
Letter from Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, to Governor Ralph Northam, dated May 5, 2021: With the onset of warm weather and summer quickly approaching, we request clarification of your mask protocol for children participating in required school activities. I heard from multiple constituents regarding yesterday’s high temperature and the dangerous effect it had on…
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“Virginia Students Will Never Get This Year Back”
by James A. Bacon I have no inkling whether Former House Speaker Kirk Cox will win the Republican gubernatorial nomination, but I do think he just latched on to a good issue and framed it just the right way. The headline of a press release issued today says, “Virginia Students Will Never Get This Year…
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Union Bosses Bullied the CDC to Keep Schools Closed
by Kerry Dougherty Anyone remember when Donald Trump was pummeled for putting pressure on the CDC over COVID? Wonder what those critics are saying now that we learn union bosses from the American Federation of Teachers essentially wrote public policy for the agency that kept children locked out of schools last winter. It’s an astonishing,…