Tag: James Sherlock
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Clear Violations of Title IX in Employment at UVa
by James C. Sherlock Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. It covers employees as well as students. There is clear work to do at UVa for its Title IX staff. We’ll sample the problems.…
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Leapfrog Group Safety Scores for Virginia Hospitals
by James C. Sherlock The latest Leapfrog Group safety grades are out for 72 of Virginia’s hospitals. The Leapfrog Hospital surveys are the next-best source to the ratings based on broader data offered by Medicare Compare. Leapfrog Group data accuracy measures are explained here. The grades represent cumulative scores of hospital safety, quality, and efficiency…
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Major Actions to Reduce Corporate Overhead Offer Lessons and Opportunities to Virginia Government
by James C. Sherlock The chart above shows that management and administrative overhead growth has been a trend not limited to government. The difference is that corporations are making quick and decisive strides in reversing the trend. It is axiomatic that government should minimize overhead to maximize efficiency in delivery of services. And to lower…
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Virginia Lacks Regulations for the Safe, Scientific and Effective Diagnosis and Treatment of Transgender Youth
by James C. Sherlock To get this out of the way, I personally support qualified diagnosis and psychological treatment for gender dysphoria in children and adolescents. I oppose puberty suppression, cross-gender hormonal treatments and transgender surgical procedures in minors. That said, transgender individuals, like everyone, deserve skilled, safe and standards-based medical care. Virginia laws and…
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Glen Allen Va’s “Do No Harm” Doing a Great Deal of Good
by James C. Sherlock Do you assume that Virginia’s medical schools are strict meritocracies, taking only the most well prepared and accomplished applicants? And that their efforts are then focused entirely on creating the most skilled physicians possible? If so, you are mistaken. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), written by the American Medical Association…
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Increase Teacher Pay in Virginia to Meet Legislated Minimum Standard of National Average Compensation
by James C. Sherlock We have major teacher shortages in Virginia, and we need to address them to ensure not only quantity but quality. To do that we need to fund our legislated state goals of competitive teacher compensation. Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.1. Teacher compensation; biennial review required. It is a goal of the…
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Teachers’ Unions and Virginia Schools
by James C. Sherlock Virginia is a government union state. Because of the federal workforce in Northern Virginia, Virginia in 2021 had the third highest percentage of any state of government union members as a share of total union members at 64%. That is a higher percentage than Washington D.C. Of all employees in Virginia,…
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Primary Care for Underserved Virginians
by James C. Sherlock It is an old story for Virginia: shortages of primary care providers in inner cities and rural areas. Perhaps the best article I have ever seen on the unique value of primary care and payment reforms to reflect its value was published in 2021 in the Harvard Business Review. I recommend…
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Virginia’s Abortion Laws
by James C. Sherlock Politicians on the right and left proclaim they want to change Virginia’s abortion laws. It is thus a useful exercise to see how those laws actually read. I am not an attorney, but I will take a shot at summarizing at certain points. The reference is Code of Virginia Title 18.2…
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Virginia Democrats – “Progressive for Who?”
by James C. Sherlock “Progressive for who?” That question was asked by Al Sharpton directly to a gathering of his supporters at a conference hosted by his National Action Network while flanked by Lori Lightfoot, Eric Adams and two other big city Democratic mayors. “Anybody that tells you they’re progressive but don’t care about dealing…
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Conservatives Actively Promoting Better Economic Future for Petersburg
by James C. Sherlock Bill Atkinson of The Progress-Index on May 3rd did his usual great job reporting news of Petersburg. The article is titled “PFP point man calls Petersburg ‘gold mine,’ encourages business to come or expand there.” The Richmond meeting featured the governor’s point man on the Partnership for Petersburg (PFP), Garrison Coward,…
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Good Questions About Nuclear Power Answered
by James C. Sherlock A reader asked two excellent questions: The issues with nuclear power have been: 1. The waste generated remains radioactive and dangerous for a very long time. 2. In the case of failure, a huge risk is exposed as was the case in Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukishima. Do these new,…
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Westinghouse Joins the Small Nuclear Reactor Market
by James C. Sherlock Westinghouse, whose flagship AP1000 nuclear reactor is the American entry into the international market for large nuclear power plants, today announced a new reactor, called the AP300, which it claims will be available in 2027. It will generate about a third of the power of the AP1000 reactor. It is targeted…
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Generation IV and V Technology Offer to Make Opposition to Nuclear Power a Historical Artifact
by James C. Sherlock We write here often about electric power in Virginia, but usually related to public utilities. We focus on Dominion and Appalachian Power. There is another big market: industrial power plants independent of utilities and the grid (and thus not requiring State Corporation Commission approval). Those are not reflected in the plans…
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More Nuclear Power in Virginia?
by James C. Sherlock Where is Virginia going with nuclear power, the non-carbon energy source that works 24/7/365 to maintain grid stability for all those sources that do not? Where we are. Virginia has four nuclear reactors producing electric power — two at Surry station in Surrey County (produces 14% of Virginia’s electricity) and two…