Category: Uncategorized
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Off the Interstate
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Here are some notable signs from my travel through parts of Southside Virginia last week. No, I was not in California. This is advertising a Martinsville movie theater at the top of a hill, known locally as “Hollywood Mountain.” I passed up getting lunch here. (Outside Martinsville) Yard sign in Mecklenburg County.
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Domestic Migration: Virginia’s Lost Decade
by James A. Bacon Virginia lost a net of 120,000 residents through domestic migration (excluding foreign immigration and emigration) over the decade between tax years 2011-12 and 2021-22, according to the Unleash Prosperity “Vote with your feet” database. That was the 9th worst performance among the 50 states. That out-migration translated into a loss of…
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Bacon Meme of the Week
(Haha! Not so crazy. For those who missed it, check out my post from earlier this year, “Attack of the Killer Swine.”) Wait, there’s more news about pigs and bacon! The Wall Street Journal profiled Virginia’s very own Smithfield Foods, which has genetically engineered a super pig that produces more bacon!
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Make America Safe for Anti-ICE Doxxers!
by James A. Bacon Federal immigration agents would be forbidden from wearing masks when making arrests under a bill that Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine plan to introduce to Congress, reports Axios Richmond. The proposal represents in part a response to incidents in Chesterfield County and Charlottesville courthouses where plainclothes Immigration and Customs…
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Shell Game
by James C. Sherlock We note that the owners of Medical Facilities of America (MFA) have renamed their entire 51-facility chain “Lifeworks Rehab”. They can change it weekly if they wish. There are no rules on that front. We are left to presume it is happenstance that now none of the bad MFA headlines…
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Let’s Run the Medicaid Numbers Before Hitting the Panic Button
by James A. Bacon Aubrey Layne was a great public servant in Richmond before he moved back to Norfolk to take a job as chief administrative officer of Sentara Health. He did a superior job as Secretary of Transportation under Gov. Terry McAuliffe and then as Secretary of Finance under Gov. Ralph Northam. He earned…
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A Word of Caution
by Dick Hall-Sizemore It irritates me a great deal to have an AI “answer” appear whenever I try to search the internet for information. AI is so notorious for misinformation that I wonder that the Googles of the world put it out there. I customarily ignore the AI “information” that appears. However, it was impossible…
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Youngkin Being Careful On His Way Out
by Dick Hall-Sizemore With one foot out of the Virginia Governor’s Executive Mansion and both eyes on the White House, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is being careful not to cross Donald Trump. In recent comments he has praised Trump actions and downplayed or publicly ignored any negative effects on the Commonwealth of recent Trump initiatives. Tax and…
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Constitutional Law 101
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The lawyers in the federal Dept. of Education and the Youngkin administration either don’t understand a court decision or are choosing to ignore it. The department has notified the school districts of Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William that their policies allowing transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that…
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Tech Van Winkle Awakes
Northern Virginia’s business community rises from its slumber to address challenges of the AI revolution. by James A. Bacon Like the legendary Rip Van Winkle who fell asleep for 20 years and woke up to a whole new world, Northern Virginia’s business community has emerged from its lengthy snooze to realize that it needs to…
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Court Greenlights Talk Therapy for Kids Confused About Sex and Gender
A Henrico judge partially reversed the state’s ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for minors in a win for free speech and religious liberty. by Samantha Flom Virginia became the first southern state to outlaw so-called “conversion therapy” focused on helping children embrace their God-given gender and sexual orientation in 2020. At a time when kids’ mental…
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Can a Black Woman Get Elected as Governor in Virginia?
Probably not. And Winsome Sears, who has failed to capitalize on her position as lieutenant governor, is no exception. Paul Goldman Virginia’s political reporters and pundits need to be honest. Here in 2025, being a Black woman is a very serious political disadvantage for GOP gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears. No useful public interest is served…
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Hallelujah! No More Tax Dollars For NPR And PBS!
WHRO, the Norfolk-based public radio station, will lose $2 million in federal funding following a U.S. Senate vote to slash $9 billion in federal spending on public broadcasting and foreign aid. That amounts to 9% of the station’s $21 million budget, reports VPM News. WHRO serves the same media market as WTAR, which broadcasts The…