Bacon's Rebellion

  • Meteorologists Hype the Weather. It’s What They Do Best.

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    There was a time when I was fluent in Celsius. Today I have to turn to Google to translate.

    But back in the summer of either 1982 or 1983 I remember a headline in The Irish Press that was something like this:

    “Dublin Sizzles In 22-Degree Heat.”

    I was living in Ireland’s capital city at the time and when the mercury climbed to 22 — that’s 72 Fahrenheit — I was finally able to venture outside without a jacket for the first time in two years.

    I thought the front page was so funny that I mailed it home to my parents who were cooking in temps near 100.

    My Irish friends and neighbors were truly perishing in the heat. Everywhere you looked, the natives were red-faced and panting. Dublin buses, which were already a fetid mess what with smoking allowed on the second deck, became unbearable with sweat added into the mix.

    At the time I lived in an old house south of the city center with three apartments. One afternoon during Dublin’s “historic heat wave” I spied one of my neighbors sitting in our front garden — in full view of the busy street — in just her panties and bra. She was fanning herself and listening to music. Continue reading.

  • An Answer for Jon Baliles: It’s the Constitution

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Shame on Jon Baliles for not knowing why cities and counties are treated differently in the Code of Virginia regarding the issuance of general obligation debt. The answer is simple;  the state constitution requires the different treatment.

    Article VII, section 10, of the state constitution deals with the issuing of debt by local governments. After setting out the process for issuing local bonds or debt, the constitution stipulates that the issuance of general obligation debt by counties is contingent upon the “submission to the qualified voters of the county… for approval or rejection by a majority vote of the qualified voters voting in an election on the question of contracting such debt. Such approval shall be a prerequisite to contracting such debt.” Thus, the statutory distinction is rooted in the constitution; that distinction cannot be changed by the General Assembly passing legislation.  Furthermore, the statutory provision that, through a referendum, a county can choose to be treated as a city for the purposes of issuing bonds, is also a reflection of the language in the constitution.

    Baliles implies that there is no limitation on the issuance of debt by municipalities. That is not accurate. Cities and towns may not incur total general obligation bond indebtedness that exceeds ten percent of the assessed value of the real estate in the city or town subject to taxation. There is no such cap on counties. In summary, cities and towns are subject to an assessment cap on the amount of general obligation debt they can issue whereas counties are subject to the approval of voters on whether they can issue general obligation debt. (more…)

  • Bonding With (or Against) the People

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Jon Baliles

    There has been a lot of activity across the region recently about bond ratings and localities issuing bonds. It is a timely comparison of priorities of local leaders, a glimpse of a possible future and what happens if you have people in charge who worry more about getting the big, shiny project than the people that end up paying for it.

    In May, Chesterfield County approved $90 million in general obligation bonds to fund voter-approved capital projects across the county that include new schools, police and fire stations, and transportation projects. They are part of a plan for $540 million of bonds that was put forth in a November 2022 bond referendum and approved by 76% of the voters.

    Before that 2022 referendum, the county published a plan to spend $375 million for expanding existing and building new schools and $165 million on country facilities — $81 million for public safety projects like police and fire stations (etc.), $38 million for libraries, and $45 million for park improvements.

    And just weeks later on June 6th, after issuing plans for those new bonds for county projects, all three of the nation’s leading bond rating agencies reaffirmed Chesterfield County’s AAA credit rating, which they have maintained since 1997 (about 1% of all U.S. localities have a AAA rating). (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    James A. Bacon

    The Bull Elephant

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

  • EOCR: the Enforcement Arm of DEI

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    How many Diversity, Equity & Inclusion employees work at the University of Virginia, and how much do they cost? Those are important questions, but they miss the big picture. Employees classified as “DEI” are only part of a large bureaucratic apparatus designed to transform the University in line with a social-justice vision that views the world through the prism of intersectional oppression. A critical piece of the DEI machinery is the office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR).

    From a fiscal perspective, whether UVA spends $7.5 million yearly on the university’s office of DEI, as Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis averred at the recent Board of Visitors meeting, or $20 million university-wide, as argued by fiscal watchdog Open the Books, the sum represents a tiny fraction of the enterprise’s $5.8 billion budget. But the budget numbers don’t come close to describing the far-reaching impact of DEI on the campus culture.

    For instance, UVA maintains an office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR), which under federal law promotes “diversity and inclusion, provides equal opportunity and access, and eliminates unlawful discrimination.” By investigating complaints of discrimination and harassment, EOCR functions as the enforcement arm of the DEI bureaucracy.

    UVA has sent mixed messages about whether the office should be included in the count of DEI employees. EOCR is federally mandated, and it has existed for years, so it really shouldn’t count, UVA has said in its critique of the Open the Books methodology. But then, as Davis noted at the Board meeting, the EOCR office is part of the University’s DEI division and reports to the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships.

    When asked to compare UVA’s DEI spending in the 2024-25 budget compared to the current year, Davis said the “only material enhancements” to DEI occurred in the EOCR office in response to a surge in its case load. (more…)

  • Careful There, Dems, These Are Your Voters

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    I’m not in the habit of offering political advice to Democrats, but they might want to consider toning down the “convicted felon” rhetoric.

    Ever since Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges in New York, the left has become a Greek chorus, chanting “convicted felon” every time they mention his name.

    As if that’s a bad thing in Democrat world.

    After all, this is a party that not only courts lawbreakers with its soft-on-crime policies, but it depends on the felon vote.

    There’s a reason Democrats consistently fight for automatic restoration of voting rights for convicted felons, often before they’ve finished serving their sentences. Shoot, in Vermont and Maine incarcerated felons are allowed to vote.

    Anyone else remember the stunt former Gov. Terry McAuliffe pulled to help his old pal Hillary in the months before the 2016 election? He violated the Virginia Constitution by offering blanket restoration of voting rights to more than 206,000 Virginia felons just months before Election Day. Continue reading.

  • The Buck Stops Where, Exactly?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Richmond City Hall

    by Jon Baliles

    The city’s voter registrar is in the news again this week, and not because there is a primary election next week or huge elections both nationally and locally in November. This week, Graham Moomaw reported in the Virginia Mercury that the city’s Human Resource Department conducted a review of the Registrar’s Office polices and recommended an “immediate departmental restructuring” after its internal investigation following stories about alleged credit card misuse and nepotism in the office. Those findings were sent to state and local officials this week, and the Mercury obtained them through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

    Last month, Samuel Parker at the Times-Dispatch reported that Keith Balmer, the city’s voter registrar, had racked up almost $70,000 in charges on the city credit card for things like furniture, art, frequent lunches for the entire staff, and more. Some charges, like travel expenses for staff to a convention in Roanoke, seemed to be normal; but others, like nearly $10,000 spent at the fancy furniture store LaDiff seem a bit excessive for a city expense/office funded by taxpayers. In March, they had also reported there had been allegations of nepotism against the Registrar. (more…)

  • Maybe We Should Discuss the Political Determinants of Health

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    As it takes up the issue of “social determinants of health,” the Joint Commission on Health Care is probing the social and economic origins of unequal health outcomes for different population groups in Virginia, according to Radio IQ.

    By defining the issue as social determinants of health, as opposed to social correlates of health, the political left has already won the battle. The inevitable result will be pressure to increase state spending on programs asserted (but never proven) to ameliorate social inequities.

    “There is a 20-year difference between the localities with the highest and lowest life expectancy rates in the state with Manassas Park at 89.3 years and Petersburg at 64.9 years,” said commission staffer Jen Piver-Renna yesterday when briefing the Commission.

    “These are lifelong challenges people are facing: housing, health access, food access, crime, education,” Commission Chair Rodney Willet, D-Henrico, told Radio IQ.

    Delegate Cia Price, D-Newport News drew the inevitable political conclusion: “If improving community conditions includes a healthy and safe place to live, we need to be thinking about that not just in this joint commission, but in general laws meetings too. There was redlining, underfunding, all of these things that have happened to communities which have caused these health issues.” (more…)

  • Ignore the Hype. Last Year Hardly “Hottest” Here.

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    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    This plows old ground for many Bacon’s Rebellion readers (here and here), but it was a new topic for the Thomas Jefferson Institute distribution list.  Some of you may be interested, and some of the NOAA screenshots are new ones. 

    One standard response when the Thomas Jefferson Institute challenges the wisdom of electricity carbon taxes or electric vehicle mandates is, are we not worried about the looming climate crisis?  The simple answer is no. Data that undercut the entire alarmist narrative are easy to find. 

    The premise for the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act, which the 2025 Virginia General Assembly may revisit, is the expressed concern over catastrophic climate change.  It is a constant refrain with many of our political leaders from the current president down to county supervisors.  But what if the entire premise is false or badly overblown? 

    A major and constant media drumbeat this year has been that 2023 was the hottest year on record and that 2024 will be hotter.  In Virginia, 2023 was unremarkable.  Even the summer months, the focus of the fear mongering about rising heat-related fatalities, showed no alarming trend.  For the data just go to a website managed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).    (more…)

  • Is This What is Meant by Cult of Personality?

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The primary race for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District seat is a microcosm of what the modern Republican party has become. Both candidates, Bob Good, the incumbent, and John McGuire, a member of the Virginia Senate, are ultra-conservative. There is probably not any substantive difference between them on policy issues. Yet, they and their opponents are at each other’s throats. The issue:  who is more supportive of Donald Trump.

    The Virginia Political Newsletter has compiled a summary of the confrontations, including one in a church; the allegations, the cease-and-desist letter and the court suits. It is juicy reading.

  • Is Something Wrong at UVA Health?

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    UVA Medical Center

    by James A. Bacon

    An anonymous group of Charlottesville residents has organized to bring attention to issues troubling the $3.3 billion UVA Health division of the University of Virginia.

    Calling itself Parrhesia — Greek for speaking candidly and freely — the group of “concerned citizens of Charlottesville and patients of UVA Health” portrays the healthcare division as an oppressive workplace where doctors and nurses are disciplined for violating UVA Health “values,” are afraid to speak openly, and are subject to punishment if they do.

    The Parrhesia website makes no outright allegations of wrongdoing. Rather than speaking “openly and freely,” however, it has adopted the rhetorical device of making a statement or publishing an email and then asking, “is it true?” The issues raised are potentially serious. They include:

    • The unexplained departure of Doug Lischke, CFO of UVA Health;
    • Weaponization of ASPIRE, the health system’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion program, through the filing of anonymous complaints against doctors and nurses;
    • A culture of fear and retaliation;
    • Pressuring doctors to make false/misleading statements in patient medical records.

    (more…)

  • Lawsuit Details How VMI Has Captured Its Alumni Association

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Twenty-nine Virginia Military Institute (VMI) alumni have filed suit in federal court against the VMI Alumni Association, alleging that the organization is entwined so tightly with the VMI administration that it operates for the benefit of VMI and not its alumni members.

    The lawsuit recapitulates numerous controversies between dissident alumni and the association, including a thwarted takeover bid of the alumni association, a dispute over members’ access to alumni email lists, and the association’s suspension of seven members for ten years and one for life.

    Traditionalist alumni object to the direction the military institute has taken since former Governor Ralph Northam appointed Cedric Wins in place of J.H. Binford “Binny” Peay III as Superintendent in 2020, and they are unhappy with the way the alumni association has marched in lockstep with Wins.

    The rebels accuse Wins and the Northam-appointed Board of Visitors of undermining the Rat Line, the Honor Code, the memory of Stonewall Jackson, and other long-standing VMI traditions in a misbegotten quest for racial equity. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives inaugurated by Wins and his allies on the Board of Visitors have become a particular flashpoint. The lawsuit focuses, however, on issues relating to alleged abuses of power by VMI officials and the alumni organization in their feud with traditionalists. (more…)

  • Mountain Valley Pipeline To Start Moving Gas

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    by

    Steve Haner

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the full operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Gas from West Virginia will now flow. Environmentalist heads are exploding, but this is the best news for Western Virginia’s economy in a long while, and an encouraging sign of hope for energy sanity.

    A decade ago both this 303-mile, 42-inch line and the long-abandoned Atlantic Coast Pipeline project were announced, and more than one prognosticator doubted both would be built. But it is important to remember both started with bipartisan support, in an era before Democrats sold their souls to foreign wind and solar manufacturers.

    The regulatory and legal battle has been impressive, with the result being mainly delay and higher cost. But they didn’t stop the project in the end. The added costs will end up as part of any future customer bills, but the underlying cost of gas itself remains low and very competitive against any and all energy alternatives.

    As the attached map shows, there are taps for the local gas distribution networks in the Roanoke Valley and in nearby Franklin County, which should be magnets for future industry. The pipeline owners claim the gas is fully subscribed — two billion cubic feet a day of heat, light, and economic value.  (more…)

  • Before the Bill of Rights, There was the Virginia Declaration of Rights

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Virginia Declaration of Rights

    by Thomas M. Moncure, Jr.

    Reliable estimates place the number of Virginia residents born outside the United States at 12% to 15%. In 2012, for the first time since about 1650, a majority of residents were born outside of Virginia. And this native count includes first-borns who live in homes where Farsi or Hindi or Spanish is spoken. Ethnic Virginians -– those of us more than three generations deep — are now a distinct and shrinking minority in the Commonwealth.

    This onrush of aliens has obvious political consequences: Virginia turning from red to blue. A more subtle, if more substantial consequence, is dramatic cultural change. Coming from foreign places like Guatemala or Foggy Bottom, these new residents tend to focus on the national or international. They have some awareness of the federal precedents -– the coming 4th of July holiday is a reminder –- but know little or nothing of the contribution of Virginia and the Virginians.

    We ethnic Virginians have been remarkably poor stewards of our own history. June 12 marks the 248th anniversary of the adoption of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the single most important document in the development of American constitutional liberty. In a more perfect Virginia this would be the most celebrated date on the calendar. (more…)

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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