Tag: James A. Bacon
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Whatever Happened to Defund-the-Police?
by James A. Bacon The Defund-the-Police movement in Virginia has passed its peak. Indeed, it may have disappeared, leaving barely a trace. People still may have concerns about the criminal justice system, but that doesn’t mean they want to throw out the good with the bad. Consider three stories in the news clips today. SROs…
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COVID Hospitalizations Rapidly Receding
COVID data junkies might want to check out the latest iteration of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association COVID hospitalization dashboard. It now provides a regional breakdown. After winter’s Omicron surge, the numbers are heading down fast, and could well dip lower than the level Virginia enjoyed last summer. The seven-day moving average of COVID…
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The Incomparable Disaster of Virginia Students’ Learning Loss
by James A. Bacon We all know by now that the 2020-21 school year, in which most schools resorted to remote or hybrid learning in response to the COVID pandemic, was a disaster for Virginia students. The big question was whether the current, 2021-22 school year would see a recovery in learning, as measured by…
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Even Loathsome People Have the Right to Free Speech
by James A. Bacon I’m very pro-Israel, which like every country on the planet is flawed but is more committed than most to democracy and human rights. Likewise, I have little sympathy for Palestinians, whom I regard as, for the most part, the authors of their own miseries. Therefore, I am inclined to take a…
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EVMS Settles Free-Speech Lawsuit for 38K
The Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) has reached a settlement with medical student Edward Si over a lawsuit filed after the school prohibited him from forming a Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP) club. The medical school will pay Si and SNaHP $38,000. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) represented Si. In…
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The Mental Anguish Veto
by James A. Bacon As the debate over de-platforming former Vice President Mike Pence plays out in the pages of the University of Virginia student newspaper, a recent column illuminates, albeit unwitting, the complex interplay between mental illness, sexual orientation, fragility, and intolerance toward views people find uncomfortable. Mental illness is rampant in American society…
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Should UVa De-Platform Mike Pence?
by James A. Bacon One might think that former Vice President Mike Pence would have earned a little cred for standing up to Donald Trump in overseeing the counting of electoral votes that resulted in the 2020 election of Joe Biden. So furious about this supposed betrayal is Trump that he has declared he would…
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Deplatformed for “Hate” Speech: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
Reka Gyorgy, a Virginia Tech senior who missed the cut to compete in the NCAA swimming finals because she was displaced by transgender Lia Thomas, has had her Twitter account suspended. “I’m a 5th year senior, I have been top 16 and top 8 before and I know how much of a privilege it is…
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One of the World’s Stupidest Inventions Now Illegal in Virginia
Who says Virginia’s polarized legislature can’t get anything done? Governor Glenn Youngkin has signed a bill banning the vehicle modification known as “Carolina Squat.” The law was inspired by the death of Virginian BJ Upton in a car accident involving such a vehicle. The modification raises the front of the vehicle significantly higher than the…
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Another Promising Young Life Snuffed Out
by James A. Bacon Our society has become inured to stories of drug dealers and other criminals shooting and killing one another on our cities’ streets. But we still maintain a capacity for outrage at the death of pure innocents — children and others who were unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at…
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What Virginia Can Do to Temper Inflation
by James A. Bacon Governor Glenn Youngkin has proposed using $437 million in unanticipated transportation revenues, much of it generated by the wholesale tax on gasoline, to give Virginians a three-month break on the 26-cent retail gasoline tax. During his campaign, Youngkin ran on a platform of addressing Virginia’s high cost of living and reversing…
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Search for Community College Chancellor Left Youngkin Out of the Loop
by James A. Bacon Community colleges across the country are suffering declines in enrollment. The drop-off in Virginia is particularly acute. Enrollment has fallen 27% over the past 10 years, even as there are 300,000 unfilled jobs in the state. Virginia’s job recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic has been dismal — 43rd out of 50…
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Dig, WaPo, Dig! You’re Halfway to China!
by James A. Bacon It’s fascinating to watch The Washington Post try to dig itself out of the pit it created for itself with its coverage of a Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) letter that was critical of the Youngkin administration. The WaPo news team appears to have forgotten the First Law of Holes:…
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When COVID Hysteria Meets Safetyism
by James A. Bacon The percentage of Northern Virginia’s adult population grappling with anxiety and depression more than tripled during the COVID-19 epidemic — from 8% to 28% — according to data published by the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. The percentage peaked at 39% in February 2020, affecting 755,000 individuals, but abated to 545,000…
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How English-Learner Stats Debunk Woke Education Theory
by James A. Bacon It is dogma among practitioners of Critical Race Theory (or whatever other label you wish to apply to the doctrines of the Woke) that Hispanics are akin to Blacks in being “under-represented minorities,” or URMs for short. As URMs, Hispanics are said to be victimized by systemic racism, White privilege, and…