Tag: James A. Bacon
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Uncancelling Lee
Douglas Murray, author of “War on the West,” has launched a new videocast series entitled, Uncancelled History. In Episode 1, he interviews Jonathan Horn, author of “The Man Who Would Not Be Washington” to uncancel Robert E. Lee. Whether you revere Lee or revile him, it’s a great interview. Murray and Horn place Lee…
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Shapira Hits All-Time Low in VMI Coverage
by James A. Bacon New rule at The Washington Post: it’s OK to insinuate that conservatives are racist for disagreeing with an authority figure who happens to be Black. No evidence of bias required. The democracy-dies-in-darkness newspaper set a new low yesterday in an article published Monday describing how conservative alumni of the Virginia Military…
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What’s Next for Bacon’s Rebellion
As noted in the press release I just posted, I have been appointed executive director of the Jefferson Council, the alumni organization fighting to preserve the Jeffersonian tradition, free speech and intellectual diversity at the University of Virginia. Although I’ll continue to publish Bacon’s Rebellion, I won’t be able to devote as much time to…
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Bacon Appointed Executive Director of The Jefferson Council
CHARLOTTESVILLE—The Jefferson Council, an alumni association devoted to upholding the Jeffersonian legacy at the University of Virginia, has appointed James A. Bacon Jr. as executive director. “The hiring of a full-time director manager is a milestone in the evolution of the Jefferson Council from an all-volunteer group to a professionally staffed organization,” said President Bert…
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Youngkin Affordable-Housing Plan: Reform Regs to Increase Supply
by James A. Bacon Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled his plan Friday to promote the supply of affordable housing across Virginia. Other than a couple of television stations, the legacy media ignored the story on how the Governor proposes to address one of the most pressing public policy issues in Virginia. Too bad. The plan represents…
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Board of Education: Stick to Your Guns!
by James A. Bacon The Youngkin administration’s proposed revisions to the history and social-science Standards of Learning have run into a buzz saw of opposition from critics who claim the standards aren’t, for lack of a better word, “woke” enough. As The Washington Post summarizes the changes: “The new proposed version generally places less less…
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AG’s Office to Review UVa Handling of Shooting Threat
Attorney General Jason Miyares has agreed to conduct an external review of the events that led up to the shooting deaths of three University of Virginia students Sunday. He will enlist special counsel to assist his office in the completion of its work, said spokesperson Victoria LaCivita. The review will produce a report to be…
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Lost Boy
by James A. Bacon There is a disturbing sidebar to the University of Virginia mass shooting story. Only a few hours before the murders took place at around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, a rapper and minor social media celebrity, Bryan Silva, posted a disturbing message on his Facebook account: I want u v a…
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A Time To Mourn
Many questions arise from the mass shooting at the University of Virginia two days ago. Why’d he do it? Were there warning signs? Could the murders have been prevented? There will be a time and a place to answer those questions. But not now. Now is the time to mourn the loss of three fine…
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Teaching History as the Struggle for a “More Perfect Union”
The Youngkin administration has published a document, “The Guiding Principles for Virginia’s 2022 History and Social Science Standards Revisions,” which lays out the thinking behind revisions to the history and social-science Standards of Learning standards. The document does not dictate what teachers will teach. To the contrary, it states explicitly that the goal is to…
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So Much for Burying the Dark Side of Virginia History
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has posted a new set of proposed goals for the teaching of civics, geography, and economics — the first major changes to the History and Social Science Standards of Learning since the existing standards were adopted in 2015. Critics have accused the Youngkin administration of…
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Student Misbehavior Is Schools’ Biggest Challenge, JLARC Says
by James A. Bacon In what will come as no surprise to Bacon’s Rebellion readers (other than the reality-denying ankle biters frequenting our comments section), Virginia public school staff cite poor student behavior as their most serious challenge, found a study of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). More than 56% of respondents…
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Another Key Virginia Republican Rejects Trump
by James A. Bacon No question about it: the Democrats won the expectations game. Republicans convinced themselves that they would sweep to victory in a Red Wave Tuesday, but they fell drastically short. It appears that the Rs will gain control of the House of Representatives and they still have a shot at squeaking out…
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Parental-Rights Candidates Fared Well Tuesday
by James A. Bacon It has been the conventional wisdom for some time now that Governor Glenn Youngkin’s winning gambit in his race against Terry McAuliffe was tapping into the parental rights movement. Parents furious about the injection of wokism into public schools were emerging as a new political dynamic, and Youngkin was the first…
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School System in Meltdown Approves $1,000 Employee Bonuses
by James A. Bacon Two months ago, citing a 71% rate of chronic absenteeism in Fredericksburg public schools, Bacon’s Rebellion columnist Jim Sherlock called for the resignation of the city’s superintendent, Marci Catlett. Looks as though she’ll be getting a bonus instead. The Fredericksburg School Board approved Monday drawing from federal COVID-relief funds to pay $1,000…