Tag: University of Virginia
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Pope Francis Slams “Trickle Down”
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in Abortion, Feminism, Women’s Rights, Business and Economy, Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Government Finance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka In a sharp rebuke to traditional conservative economic thought, the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics says he wants the church to rethink its strategies towards addressing income inequality and poverty and shun “the idolatry of money” and “trickle down” philosophies that give the rich far too much influence. Pope Francis outlined…
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NOVA’s a Mess? Blame the CIA
By Peter Galuszka Northern Virginia, the economic engine that drives the rest of the state, has always been strongly linked to the federal government. By extension, that means tied to the Pentagon, and, as a recent book shows, the Central Intelligence Agency and today, all its antecedents. Author Andrew Friedman, a history professor at Haverford…
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Big Koch Brothers Are Watching You!
By Peter Galuszka Steve Serrao of Midlothian found something strange in his mailbox this summer. It was an official-looking letter in “report card” form from the conservative Americans for Prosperity Foundation claiming that he had not registered as a voter and that the group intended to inform his neighbors. According to reporting by Jim McConnell…
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Cuccinelli Pouts After Loss
By Peter Galuszka The latest from the parallel universes of Virginia politics: failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Cuccinelli is pouting like a child while planning his next step. According to an hour-long interview he gave to The Washington Post, Cuccinelli is lying low and eating dinners at home several nights a week which he finds…
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GiftGate: And the Legal Bills Keeping Mounting
By Peter Galuszka The election is over. The transition teams are forming. And the GiftGate legal bills keep mounting. Taxpayers are now facing $575,000 in total charges, according to The Washington Post. These include $331,000 in fees charged in July, August and September by two law firms representing state employees in the Gov. Robert F.…
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Why Some Health Care Plans Aren’t Worth Keeping
By Peter Galuszka You can almost hear the telexes chattering in the predawn hours sending out coded instructions to eager conservative bloggers. It’s a “red state” alert! Plan “R” for “Roger!” Just like Major General Jack D. Ripper. It’s the go code for attacking Obamacare! So, you have them excitedly dusting off their purple prose.…
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Bye-Bye Jonnie! Bye Star Scientific!
By Peter Galuszka Star Scientific is setting itself for a future without its high profile CEO, Jonnie R. Williams, a prominent figure in the Robert F. McDonnell GiftGate scandal. On Halloween, the Henrico-based dietary supplement maker announced that it will undergo a shuffle at the top. Williams will leave in December, clearing the way for Dr.…
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Your Way, My Way and the “Virginia” Way
By Peter Galuszka As usual, I am constantly amazed at “the Virginia Way” which means a kind of parallel universe of political reality that keeps the stay back in the 18th century, at least when it comes to political thinking. This morning, the editorial section of the ever-other- worldly Richmond Times-Dispatch has a front-page piece…
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Thank God It’s Over: Seven Election Takeaways
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, LGBQT, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Science & Technology, Social Services and EntitlementsBy Peter Galuszka The awful Virginia gubernatorial contest is over. Utter disaster has been averted with the defeat of strident rightwinger Kenneth Cuccinelli. Here are seven takeaways from Election Day: 1. Winner Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, now gets to deal with a contentious General Assembly where the GOP maintains firm control on the House of…
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A Pre-Election Reader
By Peter Galuszka Like many, I will be truly glad after Tuesday’s election. I don’t recall a more tedious, uninspiring campaign. At this point it seems obvious that Kenneth Cuccinelli is going down. E.W. Jackson hasn’t a chance and if any Republican makes it it will be Mark Obenshain for attorney general. Cuccinelli has always…
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The Birth and Death of “Miner’s Revenge”
By Peter Galuszka A couple of weeks ago, Scott, the photographer with whom I worked on my book on Massey Energy and the worst mine disaster in 40 years, emailed me to ask if I knew about a new Halloween amusement at Kings Dominion, the amusement park just off Interstate 95 in Doswell. Called “Miner’s…
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Why Virginia is a Bad Joke of a Democracy
By Peter Galuszka Ever wonder why Virginia is stuck with two unattractive gubernatorial candidates this election? It’s because the Old Dominion’s political structure is set up to limit voters interest, keep parties from developing deep benches of strong candidates and keep ‘em barefoot and pregnant hayseeds when it comes to having a professional legislature capable…
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How Our Achievements MOOC Us
By Peter Galuszka According to many, higher education in the United States is a corrupt, self-serving, unsustainable mess. We need to fire college administrators wholesale, go whole hog to the fad of Massive Open Online Courses, admit our major failings in another fad (STEM), get rid of art and Aeschylus and privatize the University of…
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Navy Lays on Small Fleet for Hanks Flick
By Peter Galuszka For dramatic five days in April 2009, four Somali pirates held the crew of the Norfolk-based container ship Maersk Alabama before escaping with Captain Rich Phillips in the ship’s international orange-colored lifeboat. It seemed a selfless and heroic act in the treacherous waters around the impoverished Horn of Africa. Among other supplies,…
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The Tobacco Commission, GiftGate and Sleaze
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Electoral process, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Health Care, Infrastructure, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and EntitlementsBy Peter Galuszka The latest turn in the McDonnell GiftGate scandal goes back to a familiar entity, the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission which has acted as a large slush fund for favored projects in Virginia’s tobacco land for more than a decade. No surprise there. The tobacco fund is swimming with money…