Tag: Guest contributors
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Are Daily Headlines Driving the Fear?
by Larry Hincker Last year, Virginia suffered 1,800 flu deaths. So far, the COVID-19 virus has taken about 425. The 2017-18 flu season was the worst in four decades. More than 80,000 Americans died that year. What if newspapers posted a chart of flu deaths on their front page every day, like they now do…
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Getting to Goldilocks
by Chris Spencer The news was good overall on Friday when Governor Northam announced the creation of a COVID-19 task force and presented a preliminary blueprint for reopening Virginia.[1] Like all works in progress, both could use tweaking, but they are good starts. Let’s imagine how the task force could achieve victory. I. A Beginning…
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Looking for the Goldilocks Lockdown
by Chris Spencer Virginia has an opportunity to show the rest of the nation how to reopen and prepare for the next waves of COVID-19. We needed widespread mandatory restrictions in March to (a) flatten the curve to give the health system a chance to manage it and (b) impress upon people the seriousness of…
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Jumbled Numbers
by Carol Bova The Virginia Mercury published an article by Kate Masters April 6th about Virginia’s $27 million order for personal protective equipment (PPE). As of April 20th, the Governor’s Office had not responded to the Mercury’s Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the contract or the specifics of the deal. The…
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Uh, Oh…
by Dean Wortmier Because the panacea bonfire of the “New Abbott Labs Test” is being stoked, I have been forced to revive some brain cells that have been comfortably soaking up rum for the past 8 years. How much help is testing for CoV2 going to be in deciding to ‘Open Up’ Virginia? Let’s use…
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COVID-19 a New Excuse for Racial Preferences
by Hans Bader Government officials are handing out tax dollars based on race and gender in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One example is in Arlington, where I live. The Arlington County government announced that it will hand out grants to small businesses based on “considerations” such as whether the business is “women and/or minority-owned.”…
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To Accelerate Economic Recovery, Delay These Laws
by Chris Braunlich Last week the Virginia Municipal League (VML), representing the Commonwealth’s city, town and county governments, urged Governor Ralph Northam to delay legislation imposing new costs and unfunded mandates on them. They argued that the economic recession and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic have made both prohibitive. The VML is right. During…
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Virginia Jails and Prisons Brace for Pandemic
by a contributing writer Fears of COVID-19 outbreaks among prisoners and correctional employees have begun to be realized. Department of Corrections efforts to mitigate infections have been notably effective, yet confirmed cases now include 13 inmates and five staff, as well as one inmate in the Fairfax County jail. Dozens more are being monitored. Given…
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The Energy Free Market that Isn’t
by Jane Twitmyer The South, including Virginia, has been slow to build clean, transformed utility systems. Last year, major corporations including Costco, Cox, Kroger, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart petitioned Virginia regulators to allow them to meet their renewable energy goals by purchasing their electricity from third parties. Dominion Energy’s response was to commission a…
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Another Call for Face Masks
Should people don face masks when they go out in public? The question has caromed around the Internet with many conflicting opinions. A previous contributor to Bacon’s Rebellion has argued that Virginians should wear them. Contributor Hans Bader agrees. — JAB by Hans Bader You should wear a mask when you leave the house. In…
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Yes, You Should Wear Masks — to Protect Others, If Not Yourself
— by a contributing writer This week Governor Ralph Northam restated what we have all been hearing for weeks: “Hospitals and medical facilities in Virginia and around the country are in desperate need of additional masks, gowns, gloves, and other personal protective equipment.” HCA Virginia reiterated the need Monday when announcing that it had…
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Wartime Governor
by Chris Braunlich If Donald Trump is a “wartime president”, Ralph Northam is now a “wartime governor.” Unless one has been isolated on a Pacific isle (or wears tinfoil hats to block evil radio waves), Virginians understand that the pandemic we are in is deadly serious, growing exponentially, and requires radical steps to reduce its…
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How to Optimize the Lives/Jobs Tradeoff in the COVID-19 Epidemic
by James. B. Murray, Jr. The debate now raging over the tradeoffs between saving lives and economic disruption is clouded by oversimplification. The solutions we ultimately adopt will not be some groundless elimination of protective measures on Easter Sunday, any more than they will call for quarantining everyone, everywhere until some arbitrary date in July…
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Keep Cash Flowing
by Chris Braunlich The government actions taken to flatten the coronavirus pandemic will most effect the smallest of businesses, as well as part-time and lower income workers such as restaurant wait staff, and ‘gig’ economy workers without benefits For small businesses, an SBA loan (even at discounted interest) is no substitute for customers and cash…
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Freeman Dyson, Scientific Consensus and Virginia Politics
by Irfan K. Ali One of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century, Freeman Dyson, recently passed away. This most unassuming man hobnobbed with the likes of Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, John von Neumann, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and other giants of science and technology. He was a true giant in the world of science.…