Bacon's Rebellion

  • Did Joe Biden Just Cost Virginia Democrats 47,000 Votes?

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    James A. Bacon

    by Chris Saxman

    Full disclosure on this one: I hate cigarettes. I have never smoked one — ever. When I waited tables and tended bar, the worst part of the job was cleaning ash trays. And that includes the time I had to break up a bar fight after which the teeth swallowing loser had a tracheotomy performed on him.

    Today’s front page of the Wall Street Journal had this article : Biden Administration to Seek Ban on Menthol Cigarettes Tobacco industry indicates court fight is possible over move, which would take years to implement. Going through the courts gets around the legislative process — again.

    In the article one finds this nugget that should get the attention of any observer of Virginia politics:

    In the U.S., 84% of Black smokers and 47% of Hispanic smokers use menthols, compared with 30% of white smokers, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health data. (more…)

  • Virginia’s Math Path Could Erode Equity

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane

    by Andy Rotherham

    Years ago Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent Bud Spillane had a plan to collapse early grades K-2 into an ability group approach. He went around the county explaining the approach to parents. They generally liked it because it offered customization and a more individualized experience.

    Then, at some point parents starting asking, “but how will I know when my kid is in the first grade?” And pretty soon the idea fell apart. What Tyack and Cuban call the “grammar of schooling” is indeed potent. People like conceptual approaches; they like knowing when their kid is in first grade more.

    I suspect the same fate will befall this idea in Virginia to change the sequence and scope of middle and high school math in the name of “equity.” It sort of already is. As soon as the idea made contact with parents and media the state superintendent submarined it and the Department of Education overhauled its website.

    The Washington Post wrote a somewhat credulous story about the whole thing largely blaming the confusion on conservative media, that’s the lede. They changed the website! (Democracy updates the html in darkness?) This Virginia Mercury story has more texture. If you have no hobbies, here and here are some video discussions of the issues you can watch. Weirdly, an idea floated to do away with the state’s advanced studies diploma hasn’t set off the same firestorm. (more…)

  • GMU Cites “Diversity” to Justify Goals for Hiring Nonwhite Staff

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    James A. Bacon

    GMU President Gregory Washington

    by Hans Bader

    The president of George Mason University wants to give minorities a big advantage in hiring until the faculty is as heavily minority as the school’s student body and the future, mostly non-white U.S. population. This is illegal, say lawyers and law professors. Indeed, GMU’s president, Gregory Washington, recognized that objection in an April 15 email to the university’s faculty, before saying it wouldn’t stop him from giving minorities a preference in hiring. Washington quoted a professor as saying:

    I am concerned about what it really means to hire faculty and staff that ‘reflect the student population.’ The university’s job as an R1 institution is to hire the best faculty and administrators, period. The type of target hiring of minorities proposed through ARIE is both prejudicial and illegal. I would like to have this addressed.

    In response, GMU’s president wrote, “If you have two candidates who are both ‘above the bar’ in terms of requirements for a position, but one adds to your diversity and the other does not, then why couldn’t that candidate be better, even if that candidate may not have better credentials than the other candidate? Study after study has proven that the most diverse organizations, which recognize the importance of maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment, are the best performing organizations.” (more…)

  • Analysis Needed to Back Up VDOE Policy Changes

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Many dramatic changes in school policy are being made and contemplated by the Virginia Department of Education. The references justifying the changes are inevitably academic “studies.”  

    I’m sorry, but academics can and do design studies to provide whatever results they are looking for. That is why so many are not replicable – much like push polling. Tailor the inquiry with only the carefully worded questions that will yield favorable results. Delete any that may not support the objectives.

    I often wonder if VDOE conducts any original research using Virginia data to support the changes they implement. If they do, I have never seen it.

    VDOE has massive decision support databases. I use them regularly. One of the newer data troves is the 2020-2021 Virginia Educator Ethnicity and Race data.

    I decided to run an experiment to prove the case for such research. (more…)

  • Still Clueless After All These Years

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    In his latest hit job on the Virginia Military Institute, the Washington Post’s Ian Shapira weaves into his account responses to questions submitted to Governor Ralph Northam in writing. Northam, who served as president of the Honor Court and graduated from the Institute in 1981, comes across as totally clueless.

    “I don’t remember seeing racism aimed at Black cadets, but I’m sure it happened,” said Northam, without offering any specifics on how he’s sure. As a cadet, he focused mainly on surviving VMI’s academic and military-training challenges, he said. “I didn’t fully understand how subtle [racism] is. … I had the privilege of not having to see it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.”

    If the racism was so subtle that Northam didn’t see it, that might be an indication that racism wasn’t as horrendous as he now believes — based largely on Shapira’s portrayal. Either he was clueless then, or he is clueless now. (more…)

  • Some College Graduates Will Get Paid to Live in Southwest or Southside Virginia

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The Tobacco Commission (Virginia Tobacco Region and Revitalization Commission) has come up with a program that does not involve pork-barrel grants.

    Two of the problems afflicting the area served by the Commission, Southside and Southwest, are a shortage of people to fill certain jobs and a shortage of young adults putting down roots in the area. Its Talent Attraction Program is designed to address both problems. Under it, young graduates working in certain field can get up to $48,000 in student loans paid off.

    The program is open to anyone graduating since 2019 with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Each participant must commit to living in the area for 24 months and working in one of the following areas:

    • Public School Teacher in Science, Math, Technology/Computer Science, or Career and Technical Education (Grades 6-12)
    • Public School Special Education Teacher (K-12)
    • Speech Language Pathologist
    • Physical Therapist
    • Occupational Therapist
    • Industrial or Electrical Engineer
    • Information Security, Network, or Computer Systems Analyst

    (more…)

  • WaPo Reduces VMI to a Black-and-White Morality Tale

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The latest blockbuster finding in The Washington Post’s jihad against the Virginia Military Institute: African-American cadets experienced racism four decades ago.

    According to interviews with 12 African Americans who attended VMI at the same time as Governor Ralph Northam around 1980, black cadets endured frequent racist insults. They were uncomfortable with the veneration of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson. Some believed blacks were disproportionately harassed in the Ratline, and some said they were discounted for leadership positions because of their race. Two insisted that the Honor Court expelled them for cheating they did not commit.

    Some of the anecdotes make for distressing reading. There is value in reminding ourselves what the African-American pioneers of integration at VMI had to endure. My problem is not with the perspectives highlighted by the Post but the perspectives that were ignored because they don’t fit its narrative of persistent and ongoing systemic racism. The country has changed in the past 40 years, but the Post won’t admit it.

    Reporter Ian Shapira draws a straight line between the racism of 40 years past and racism at the Institute today. He quotes Darren McDew, who graduated from VMI and became a four-star Air Force General. “I’ve been saddened by what I’ve read about VMI,” he said, “but I am not surprised. No organization is immune from these problems.” (more…)

  • Word Salads from Wankers

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    James A. Bacon


    by Kerry Dougherty

    It’s official. The CDC is run by wankers.

    (Yes, I am binge-watching Apple TV’s  “Ted Lasso.” Why do you ask?)

    These fools constantly move the goalposts – remember 15 days to slow the spread? Remember just wear a mask for 100 days? – and issue rules that no one with a lick of common sense would follow. Let alone anyone who took high school science.

    Take yesterday’s big announcement, for instance.

    The CDC declared that it’s safe for all of us – the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike – to go maskless when we bike, run or walk with members of our households. (more…)

  • Cox First to Appeal for Second Choice Votes

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    by

    Steve Haner

    Former Speaker Kirk Cox. (Photo credit: Roanoke Times.)

    by Steve Haner

    Former House Speaker Kirk Cox is the first of the GOP candidates for Governor to take the expected step of asking explicitly for second choice votes.

    “Delegates, the Republican convention is fast approaching,” he says in new video message.

    “The Republican nomination for Governor has been spirited. Look, I understand I might not be everyone’s first choice. If I’m not your first choice, I’d really appreciate you putting me down as your second.”   (more…)

  • Open Letter to the Sentara Community

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    James A. Bacon

    Sentara RMH Medical Center

    by Dr. Robert H. Sease

    As a lifelong resident of Harrisonburg, a retired physician and  a volunteer hospital chaplain, I feel compelled to write about the current and ongoing situation at our local hospital. My father, my two uncles, my brother and myself have a combined 180 years of medical service to this community, so I have a genuine vested interest in the welfare of our local hospital and the community it was designed to serve.

    Historically, for a small community hospital, we have been blessed to have phenomenal medical care. It’s a well recognized fact that the Shenandoah Valley has some of the lowest insurance reimbursement rates in the entire state, so it’s vitally important to attract and then retain talented hospital personnel. So, it disturbs me profoundly when I hear and see what is becoming of our community hospital.

    There’s always been a healthy tension between hospital administration and staff physicians and that’s been a good thing. In the past that has led to dialogue, compromise, and in the long run, improvement in healthcare delivery. There was a shared, mutual respect. Not so any longer! Healthcare locally and nationally was already on the road to becoming big business in 2011 when RMH became part of Sentara, but with that partnership really, really big business came to town with a corporate mentality that unilaterally decides and blatantly disregards input from the very people who make this hospital great. (more…)

  • Camping’s COVID Killjoys

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Someone call a lawyer. I have whiplash.

    Happens every time I try to make sense make of America’s top health “experts” and their contradictory opinions, which have a peculiar way of becoming policy. Especially in blue states with governors eager to please the president.

    Ahem.

    Just this past weekend, for instance, Dr. Anthony Fauci was in his usual place: The make-up chair at one of the Sunday news shows.

    Later, on air with George Stephanopoulis, Fauci conceded that the chance of contracting or spreading Covid-19 outdoors was very, very slim and hinted that the CDC would be issuing new recommendations regarding the wearing of masks outside. (President Biden is due to make read a statement on masks today.)

    “What I believe you’re going to be hearing, what the country is going to be hearing soon, is updated guidelines from the CDC,” Fauci told ABC’s Sunday program “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” “The CDC is a science-based organization. They don’t want to make any guidelines unless they look at the data and the data backs it up.”

    “But when you look around at the common sense situation, the risk is really low, especially if you’re vaccinated,” he said.

    I hesitate to point this out, but lots of us knew this a year ago, back when Gov. Ralph Northam foolishly outlawed sunbathing and then beach volleyball, lest anyone get sick and die from touching a COVID-tainted ball. (more…)

  • The Honor Code: A Reason to Be Proud of VMI

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Brady Biller

    Leadership is made, not born.

    I have almost completed my cadetship at The Virginia Military Institute. In 22 days, I will be graduating with a Civil Engineering degree. I’m currently on my last ever guard shift as the Night Officer of the Guard while typing this thought. Its 03:41 on a Saturday morning and my shift ends at 07:00. All my hometown best friends at other universities just got done partying or going out to the local bars. After 4 years of being in barracks we’ve gotten used to “missing out” on a normal college experience.

    Yet, every now and then I still have the thought on why I came to VMI, even 22 days until I graduate. I just ponder how badly I want to get out of here. I’m thinking on why the hell I’m walking around Barracks in the middle of the night with a flashlight while everyone is sleeping? I just want my life after VMI to start so I can finally have that freedom I’m craving so badly. With all these negative thoughts about this place and wishing time away, you would think I made a wrong decision signing the matriculation book on August 19, 2017.

    Shortly after feeling sorry for myself, a cadet walks into the guard room with a one-hundred-dollar bill and tells me that he found it by a stairwell. Its pitch-black outside with no one around him and he had every chance just to walk away a little bit richer. I couldn’t help but smile, I’m not sure who was listening inside my head, but this was a moment where I was able to look past all the annoying aspects of being a VMI cadet and appreciate the bigger picture of what this Institution upholds. I’m sure that cadet was raised with good intentions, but I know for a 100% fact that any other person at another school in the world would’ve ran off with that hundred-dollar bill.

    This is the reason why I became a VMI cadet. (more…)

  • Virginia School Superintendent Supports Accelerated Math Pathway

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    sherlockj

    Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James F. Lane

    Dr. James F. Lane, Supervisor of Public Instruction, has been gracious enough to address with me his thoughts on the the Virginia Department of Education Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI).

    The headline for readers of this column is that he will not support any program that eliminates acceleration in mathematics.

    I sent him my column this morning that addressed VMPI and recommended a program of statistical analysis of 40 elementary schools in Fairfax County followed, if justified by that analysis, by a pilot of VMPI in those same schools in Fairfax County

    His response:

    “I’ve asked my team to provide a longer response with more detail, but please know that I do not support any movement to eliminate acceleration in mathematics and will work over the coming days to clarify my position on this should that not be clear.  Regardless of any discussions the team may or may not been having in the community, no recommendation of this kind will come from me.”

    (more…)

  • UVa in the Age of Covidiocy

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    James A. Bacon

    by Walter Smith

    In late February of 2020 my oldest son traveled to Kansas City to meet with a group of Californians. Upon his return, he felt beat. Attributing his fatigue to work and travel, he soon felt better and came to our house a number of times. Our youngest began to feel poorly. After a couple of days, she visited a “doc in a box” where Flu A and Flu B tests were negative and she was told stay home, rest, and take aspirin and liquids. She missed school Monday and started attending again Tuesday until her world, and everyone’s, turned topsy turvy on March 11, 2020.

    In the morass of data collected by the CDC, my daughter’s case is probably classified as ILI – Influenza Like Illness. I am convinced she and my son had COVID and that my wife and I, who have never been affected by seasonal flus, “had” it asymptomatically.

    Colored by my personal experience, I don’t put much stock in official COVID statistics. I have been unimpressed by the performance of the “experts” in their management of the epidemic from the federal government on down. The nation has succumbed to what I call Covidiocy, where epidemiology meets the madness of crowds. In particular, I have been disappointed with the response of my alma mater, the University of Virginia, which, as a center of medical science, could have been a voice of reason but was not. (more…)

  • Mentally Ill in Jails, Part 3: Costs, Legislative Initiatives, and a Modest Proposal

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    By Dick Hall-Sizemore

    (Note: This is the third, and final, post in a series examining the issue of mentally ill people being held in jails. Earlier posts can be found here and here.)

    Costs. In comments to the previous installments, several readers brought up the issue of the cost of providing services for the mentally ill in jails, as well as the comparable costs of mental health services and the costs of incarceration. This is a tricky subject.

    There will be costs. Programs to divert the mentally ill from jail or to provide treatment services while in jail will cost money. There is no getting around that.  How much it will cost will depend on the scope of the diversion and treatment efforts. A second question is who bears, or should bear, those costs.

    Incarceration vs. treatment. Is it cheaper to treat the mentally ill than to hold them in jail? Probably not. Many advocates for diversion and treatment point to the daily cost per offender in jail. In FY 2019, the latest year for which data is available, the operating cost per inmate for all jails was $91.97 per day. The daily cost per individual jail varied from $270.55 (Fairfax County) to $48.69 (Piedmont Regional Jail). (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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