Tag: James A. Bacon
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The Party Realignment Accelerates
by James A. Bacon Brandon Jarvis, author of the Virginia Political Newsletter, sums up the latest Emerson College/Nexstar Media poll of the Virginia gubernatorial election. Democrat Terry McAuliffe leads Republican Glenn Youngkin by one percentage point, with two percentage points undecided. Yes, it’s a tight race, but the demographic breakdown is what’s most interesting. McAuliffe…
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The Impermeable Thought Bubble that Is the Washington Post
by James A. Bacon Here’s the Washington Post’s take on the Critical Race Theory furor in Northern Virginia: Nothing to see here, move along now. The controversy over implementation of social-justice ideology in Virginia public schools has gotten so intense that there is simply no ignoring it, as the WaPo did for months. WaPo may…
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Mission Creep: Schools as Mental Health Providers
by James A. Bacon Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) system, the state’s largest, is aggressively taking on a new role — mental health provider — under the rubric of Social Emotional Learning (SEL). As monitors of children’s mental health, teachers and school administrators will do double duty as social counselors and psychologists. That expansive new…
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Cost, Reliability and the Zero-Carbon Grid
by James A. Bacon Kevin Hennessy, Dominion Energy’s senior director of state affairs, expresses confidence that the electric power company can meet the Northam administration’s goal of creating a zero-carbon electric grid in its service territory by 2045. It does take a leap of faith that electric batteries or some other energy storage system will…
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Fairfax Schools Are “Data Mining” Students
by James A. Bacon Disturbed by a “spike” in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members across the country, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has called on the FBI to use its “authority and resources” to discourage and prosecute “the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel,” reports The Daily Caller.…
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Black Voter Monolith Looking Less Monolithic
by James A. Bacon Last week Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin received the endorsement of the Hampton Roads Black Caucus (HRBC). It was the first time that the civil rights organization, which had endorsed Democrat Terry McAuliffe eight years ago, has backed a Republican for governor since it was founded in 2012, according to the…
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The New, Woke Approach to Saving the Bay
by James A. Bacon The Chesapeake Bay Program, a partnership of nonprofits, academic institutions, and federal, state and local governments, is now officially woke. In a new directive, the Executive Council has declared that the program will view Bay restoration through the lens of climate change and social justice. “We acknowledge the consequences of climate…
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With a $14.5 Billion Endowment, Are UVa Leaders Accountable to Anyone But Themselves?
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia endowment racked up a breathtaking 49% investment return in the year ending June 30, 2021, bringing the total value of the university’s investments to $14.5 billion, reports the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) in its 2020-21 annual report. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.…
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Parents Vs. the Political Class
by James A. Bacon Who is sovereign in the United States — the people or the cultural elite and political class? Whose values should be reflected in the public schools — those of the people or those of the cultural elite and the political class? That is the No. 1 question Virginia voters face in…
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More Fun and Fraud with Numbers
by James A. Bacon Let me preface this post by stating unequivocally that eliminating Virginia’s personal income tax is a crazy idea — so crazy that no serious person has proposed it. The tax generates $16 billion a year in revenue, or 72.4% of Virginia’s General Fund expenditures. The loss of such a sum would…
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In Fairfax, Illegal-Alien Rights Trump Citizen Rights
by James A. Bacon Apparently, protecting illegal aliens from U.S. immigration authorities is more important to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors than safeguarding the transparency of police blotters, which have been a mainstay of local media crime reporting and public information about crime in the community. The Fairfax County Police Department has stopped publishing…
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Universities as Prestige Maximizers, and the Growing Disconnect with the Public
by James A. Bacon I have long observed that nonprofit colleges and universities, by virtue of being nonprofit, behave very differently than for-profit enterprises. Having weak systems for accountability, higher-ed institutions are captured by their internal constituencies whose interests they place of those of students and their families. Instead of endeavoring to maximize profits, as…
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Bacon Bits: Intolerable Behavior
Good neighbors. Janique Martinez and her family, who are Black, moved into a Virginia Beach cul-de-sac on Jessamine Court five years ago. Some time ago, “constant” banjo music began emanating from the house next door. Then in July, sounds of a monkey screeching came through a window every 15 to 30 seconds. The loud noise…
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In Praise of School Resource Officers
by James A. Bacon Last week a large fight broke out at Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County. Police were summoned, and the school shut down for the day. According to WWBT-TV, a video circulating on social media showed school resource officers (SROs) getting hit as “more than ten” students attacked one another in the…
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2020 Virginia Population Projections Were Close to the Mark
The Weldon Cooper for Public Service at the University of Virginia, in charge of the state’s demographic count, has given itself a pat on the back for its ten-year projection of 2020 Virginia population. The self congratulations are probably deserved. Weldon Cooper’s projection was only 0.27% higher than the Census Count. The actual population increase…