Bacon's Rebellion

  • Poor Test Results No Problem If You Ignore Them

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Nancy Almasi

    There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns had a real and persistent impact on our children’s education. Learning loss continues to be the subject of daily news reports, with SAT and ACT test scores at an all-time low. Overall, math and reading scores on standardized tests are at their lowest level in decades and the college admissions process was thrown into a tailspin when lockdown regulations made taking the traditional SAT and ACT tests difficult. (more…)

  • Republican Problems in Virginia

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Shaun Kenney

    There was an angrier version of this analysis I had prepared. One that placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of those who would have reaped the rewards had Tuesday gone differently.

    I’m not going to do that.

    … because there’s a bigger problem in front of us.

    Virginia Democrats have a lot more strength than Virginia Republicans care to consider, and it will take all of us — all of us — and not just some of us to put up a resistance in 2024 and 2025.

    I don’t know what it will require to fix it. Yet I think many Republicans are tired of being used for temporary gain only to watch the Democrats run circles around us as they invest in the necessary ecosystem — activists, news outlets, think tanks, polling firms — to capture hearts and minds. Republicans are a consultancy-driven party; Democrats are built around coalitions. With differing definitions of success and reward, victory comes much more cheaply for Republicans than for Democrats.

    When it comes, that is.

    The Democrats can point back to 20 years of progress. Can we name a single Republican victory in Virginia on a policy issue of note over the last 20 years? That we were proud to run on and champion in front of voters? (more…)

  • Excess Profits Squeezed Out From Dominion Rates

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    The long struggle to prevent Dominion Energy Virginia from earning excess profits in its base rates year after year appears to be over and consumers finally won.  That is the main takeaway as the first general review of its base rates since the 2023 regulatory re-write is moving toward a quick settlement.

    The complicated changes in the regulatory structure included wins and losses for consumers, but the impact on this first rate case review is proving to be net positive for the 2.6 million customer accounts.  Most of the various parties who have been dissecting the company’s accounts and forward projections are now willing to end the case with a settlement. (more…)

  • Just Wondering

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) Photo credit: NBC News

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Four Republican Congressmen from Virginia, Wittman (1st District), Good (5th District),  Cline (6th District), and  Griffith (9th Distict), recently voted against the continuing resolution, introduced by the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives, to fund the government.  In effect, they would have shut down the government.

    I wonder how they will vote. when they come back from the Thanksgiving recess, on the resolution to expel Rep. George Santos (R-NY) following the release of a unanimous, scathing report by the bipartisan Ethics Committee recommending that he be expelled.

  • Yes, Virginia, There is a TikTok, and It’s Chinese

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Credit Tamara Beckwith, NY Post

    by James C. Sherlock

    From the NY Post:

    “TikTok shredded as influencers promote Osama bin Laden’s ‘terrorist propaganda’ tirade dubbed ‘Letter to America’ after 9/11 attacks”

    Virginia bans porno sites.

    How did we miss our kids’ favorite (Chinese) app TikTok?

  • Virginia Must Investigate and Control the Relationships of Its State Institutions of Higher Learning With the Government of China

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    The title of this article seems at first glance axiomatic.

    After all, the power “to conduct … all intercourse with other and foreign states” is granted in the state constitution to the Governor.

    Yet that power has been assumed by some Virginia state institutions of higher education (IHEs) with the apparent approval of their state-appointed Counsels.

    They need better lawyers.

    Courtesy U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission

    The story of Communist Chinese influence in America’s IHEs is the story of left-wing faculty. The same ones that march in Hamas rallies.

    They divide the world into oppressed and oppressors, with no room for individuals. They offer a narrative, not discussions.

    Somehow, in their admiration for Chinese Marxism, they have missed the fact that the Chinese government is one of the most oppressive regimes on earth.  Straight out of Animal Farm.

    It does not bother them that Xi Jinping and his government wish America harm. Or that America is on the brink of war with that country over Taiwan.

    The campus radical leftists, and many of the schools they dominate, have their own threat assessments and foreign policies that do not align with those of the United States. (more…)

  • It’s Not Trump; Our Coalitions Matter

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Shaun Kenney

    Stop me if you’ve seen this one before.

    Virginia Republicans either get absolutely shellacked in an election, or the margins are super close and we either lose — in which case, the Western Experiment is over and America should pack it in — or we miraculously win and have set the new conservative standard for the next 20 years with Virginia in the vanguard.

    We do this to ourselves every year, folks.

    Hope everyone loves their non-partisan (sic) redistricting courtesy of the State of California. Fact of the matter is that Virginia Democrats outspent Republicans by $7.5 million and nearly lost the whole thing.

    Now with one seat margins, they will have to work with three statewide Republicans without any clear mandate other than a strong desire from the electorate to quit being crazy and start applying common sense. (more…)

  • Here and There Around the Commonwealth

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Virginia History

    For those interested in Virginia history, here are two great sources.  One is new; one is not new, but I just discovered it.

    Cardinal News has started a three-year project  “to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence in advance of the nation’s observation of its 250th anniversary, or Semi-quincentennial.”  In addition to a story about the chosen topic, Dwight Yancey, editor of Cardinal News, has promised “occasional columns about the politics of the era, written the same way I’d write them today.”  The project is called Cardinal 250. The first monthly article, about the “Proclamation Line of 1763,” and Yancey’s political analysis, which is a lot of fun, can be found here.

    The other item is the website Virginia Places.  This is the brainchild of Manassas resident Charles Grymes, who first created it in 1998 for a geography class he was teaching at George Mason University. He has lovingly nurtured it ever since.  It now consists of 1,000 pages on topics ranging from agriculture to Virginia journeys.  Grymes describes the website as “an exploration into what makes Virginia special. It is an interdisciplinary journey through the history, economics, geology, biology, sociology, and other -ologies that can help explain how Virginia has evolved in the past, and what the state may look like in the future.”  It is a work in progress which he describes as “far from complete.”  He is constantly adding to it and updating content added earlier.  I have run across items from this website in my search for sources for articles for this blog and I did not realize what it was.  Now I know; it is a delightful treasure trove of information about the Commonwealth.

    Perpetual Election Machine

    Ah, to live in Virginia where there is always an election campaign in progress.  It is not enough that, right after we have finished a heated campaign for General Assembly seats, we have U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger announcing that she is not going to run for reelection to Congress, but will be running for governor in 2025, thereby ensuring that, before the present governor is through half his term, we will be talking about who is going to replace him.  Now we have Del. John McGuire (R-Goochland), recently elected to the Virginia Senate, announcing he will challenge Republican Fifth District Congressman Bob Good in a primary next year.

    As reported by Cardinal News, McGuire, in an email to his supporters (at least it was not on X), declared that Good “has failed us time and time again.”  He declared that Good had “abandoned” Donald Trump by endorsing Ron DeSantis in next year’s Presidential primaries.  He went on to assert that Good voted for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker, then “threw a temper tantrum, reversed himself, and allowed the party to fall into chaos, costing us the 2023 elections.”   As a result of those elections, “Marxist Democrats now control the Virginia General Assembly, which is going to hurt the people of Virginia badly.”  That last comment should endear him to his fellow legislators and encourage smooth inter-party relations.

    RWH

  • Dominion Wind May Be Sued, Hikes Customer Bills

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    The first eight monopile bases for Dominion Energy’s CVOW project arrive on the Portsmouth waterfront. But a planned German-owned wind turbine blade factory nearby ist kaput.

    by Steve Haner

    Two national activist groups on energy and environmental issues, both with connections to Virginia, have taken the first legal steps to challenge the recent federal approvals for Virginia’s planned offshore wind complex.  Most of what follows is directly from their announcement dated November 14.

    The Heartland Institute and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) are filing with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) a 60 Day Notice of Intent to Sue letter for a violation of the Endangered Species Act. The violation is contained in a defective “biological opinion,” which authorizes the construction of Dominion Energy Virginia’s Virginia Offshore Wind Project (VOW). (more…)

  • Legacy Media Play Catch-Up in Hashmi Case

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Just as I predicted: The corporate media could no longer ignore the election controversy brewing in Virginia’s bright blue 15th Senate District and were finally forced to cover the uncomfortable topic of election “irregularities”.

    The Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak – the best reporter in Virginia – broke the story last weekend. The Richmond Times-Dispatch followed up on Tuesday.

    That Senate race was won in a landslide last week by Ghazala Hashmi, a Democrat. Trouble is, it appears she actually lives in the 12th District – a GOP stronghold – and rented an apartment in the Democrat-friendly 15th to have an address there.

    If that’s what happened, Hashmi wouldn’t be the first candidate to rent a little pied-a-terre to use occasionally and claim as a dwelling place to meet residency requirements. This sort of chicanery has happened before.

    Of course it deprives citizens of having a representative who actually lives in their district, but no one cares about the peons. It’s all about winning.

    But on her official forms – which Hashmi signed – she did not declare the home she’s owned in Midlothian since 1999. The form said a primary residence didn’t have to be declared.

    So which is it, Senator? Is the Midlothian house your residence or do you actually live in the apartment you rented? (more…)

  • William and Mary and the Chinese Communist Party – Dangerous Allies – Part 3

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Chinese fighter and U.S. jet over South China Sea.  Courtesy CNN and YouTube.

    William and Mary’s superb AidData program makes major contributions to America’s understanding of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The school is justly proud of it.

    AidData published in December of 2021 a study Corridors of Power – How Beijing uses economic, social and network ties to exert influence along the Silk Road.

    Chapter 3 is “Social ties: How does Beijing leverage education, culture, and
    exchange to amplify its foreign influence strategy?”

    I recommend it to the President and the Board of the College.

    I promised in this Part to look at:

    • the William and Mary/Chinese Foreign Ministry Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA);
    • Chinese student recruiting and admissions;
    • the courses they take, and their internships and the applicability of their skills to the People’s Revolutionary Army and Navy;
    • what happens when those “students and scholars” return home; and
    • the money.

    We’ll do that, and we’ll look at the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to see if it possibly applies. (more…)

  • Three Ideas for Protecting Civil Dialogue at UVa

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    On Oct. 11, 2023, journalist Abigail Shrier engaged in a Q&A session at the University of Virginia discussing the transgender movement in the United States. Offended by her views, transgender militants and their allies sabotaged attendance of the event, abrogated an agreement with university authorities restricting where to hold their protest, crowded the entrance to the venue at Minor Hall, berated attendees entering the event, and harassed attendees leaving the event.

    Responding to a letter from Jefferson Council President Tom Neale, the administration characterized some of the behavior as “disappointing,” but noted that there were “no arrests or injuries, and no property damage.” The administration found no grounds for follow-up action.

    The Jefferson Council vigorously takes issue with the administration’s spin. We believe that protesters should be held to a higher standard than not causing injury or property damage. We have published a report detailing the events surrounding the Shrier event and offer three tangible recommendations for upholding the right of members of the UVa community to hear speakers free from disruption and intimidation. (more…)

  • Spanberger’s Low-Energy Launch

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Shaun Kenney

    Long rumored and much anticipated, Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) announced her intention to run for Virginia governor in 2025 just weeks after Republicans led by Governor Glenn Youngkin fell short of re-capturing leadership of the General Assembly.

    Spanberger’s announcement — being panned as “low energy” by most observers — came just days after Virginia Republicans fell a few thousand votes short of capturing the Virginia State Senate and gaining parity in the House of Delegates — with just one vote dividing both chambers:

    “The greatest honor of my life has been to represent Virginians in the U.S. House. Today, I am proud to announce that I will be working hard to gain the support and trust of all Virginians to continue this service as the next Governor of Virginia,” said Spanberger. “Virginia is where I grew up, where I am raising my own family, and where I intend to build a stronger future for the next generation of Virginians. As a former CIA case officer, former federal law enforcement officer, and current Member of Congress, I have always believed in the value of public service. I look forward to serving the Seventh District through the end of this term and then pursuing the important work of bringing Virginia together to keep our Commonwealth strong.

    Meanwhile, all eyes turn towards Richmond as Mayor Levar Stoney — former chief of staff to Governor Terry McAuliffe — is anticipated to launch his own run for the Governor’s Mansion in 2025. (more…)

  • William and Mary and the Chinese Communist Party – Dangerous Allies – Part 2

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Courtesy U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission

    by James C. Sherlock

    The College of William and Mary first contracted with the Chinese Ministry of Education’s Confucius Institute (CI) Program in 2012. Despite all of the public warnings about the dangers listed in Part 1, it extended that contract in 2016 and did not cease until 2020, when threatened with sanctions by the federal government.

    W&M’s hosting of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) continues today.

    This is Part 2 of a series that will explore those dangerous alliances and recommend changes in that college’s approach to what the United States considers the biggest foreign threat our nation faces, China.

    The creation of the new William and Mary Confucius Institute (WMCI) was unfortunately timed.

    In 2012 Xi Jinping took full control of both the Chinese Communist Party and the Peoples Revolutionary Army. The CI’s became part of Xi’s United Front Work Department.

    The Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community in 2012 never saw it coming. The intelligence community, seemingly always fighting the last war, was late to an understanding of the true China threat, at least publicly.

    So it would be unfair to criticize William and Mary for not having done so.

    But by 2016, when William and Mary signed the renewed contract with Hanban, there were plenty of warnings. See Part 1 for a list. The University of Chicago closed its CI in 2014.

    WMCI. WMCI was not an informal arrangement, but a contractual one. The WMCI was under dual governance that gave the Chinese authority over the appointment and firing of the American director of that organization.

    The director was Dr. Hanson, whose rosy view of Hanban and the Chinese government we watched on a YouTube video in Part 1. (more…)

  • William and Mary and the Chinese Communist Party – Dangerous Allies – Part One

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    By James C. Sherlock

    The faculties of America’s elite universities, among which William and Mary (W&M) would eagerly self-identify, are the beating heart of the anti-American radical left in this country.

    It would defy nearly impossible odds to fail to expect that some, perhaps many, of the William and Mary faculty join them.

    But we taxpayers expect the Presidents and Boards of Visitors of our state-supported schools to tamp down their worst excesses.

    That has not happened at W&M.

    That school has ignored multiple warnings from multiple authoritative sources over the years about the dangers of partnering with the Chinese Ministry of Education’s Confucius Institutes (CIs) and the Foreign Ministry’s Chinese Students and Scholars Associations (CSSAs).

    W&M continues to support the CSSA and has transitioned the CI to a relationship with the same Chinese university.

    The New York Times published investigative reports in 2012, 2017, and since then have laid out the threat in great detail.

    The BBC published “Confucius institute: The hard side of China’s soft power” in 2014.

    The American Association of University Professors in 2014 warned in On Partnerships with Foreign Governments: The Case of Confucius Institutes:

    relationships with Confucius Institutes “sacrificed the integrity of the university and its academic staff”.  “Confucius Institutes function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom. Their academic activities are under the supervision of Hanban, a Chinese state agency which is chaired by a member of the Politburo and the vice-premier of the People’s Republic of China.

    The U.S. – China Security Review Commission, an agency of the U.S. government, published China’s Overseas United Front Work in August of 2018.  Listed there under Other Organizations Involved in United Front Work are: (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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

About

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.

Fund the Rebellion

Shake up the status quo! Your contributions will be used to pay for faster download speeds and grow readership. Make a one-time donation by credit card or contribute a small sum monthly.

Can’t wait until tomorrow

For your Bacon’s Rebellion fix?

Enter your email address to receive immediate notifications of new posts by email.

SUBSCRIBE

Search Bacon’s Rebellion

Categories

Archives

The Jefferson Council

Protecting Thomas Jefferson’s Legacy at the University of Virginia

Forgot Your Password?

Shoot me an email and I’ll generate a new password for you.

Latest