Bacon's Rebellion

  • Slight Decline in Law Enforcement Staffing in 2024

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    James A. Bacon

    Line graph showing the number of law enforcement employees in Virginia from 2018 to 2024, with separate lines for officers, civilians, and total employees.

    The number of law enforcement employees declined slightly (1.2 percent) in 2024 compared to the year before, according to Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia data. The number of both civilians and officers was almost identical to that in 2022 when homicides were roughly 25 percent higher. If the number of law-enforcement personnel is a critical variable for explaining the violent crime rate, it’s not evident from these numbers.

    Arguably, law-enforcement morale and policing tactics are more important than raw numbers. Unfortunately, the Crime in Virginia contain no data reflecting upon morale. Turnover and early retirement in police officer ranks might be useful indicators of morale, but those numbers are not captured in the crime reports. — JAB

  • 3,257 Police Officers Assaulted in 2024

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    James A. Bacon

    Line graph showing the number of assaults, injuries, and fatalities of Virginia police officers from 2018 to 2024. The graph includes data points for officers assaulted (blue), officers injured (orange), and officers killed (black) with an upward trend in assaults and injuries over the years.

    Even as homicides and violent crimes declined in 2024, according to the Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia 2024 report, the number of assaults on Virginia police officers continued at roughly the same rate as in the previous two years. The 727 injuries to officers did represent a 10-percent decline from 2023, however. One police officer was killed in the line of duty; 679 injuries were classified as “minor.”

    It’s not clear if the data reflect a real increase in the number of assaults on police officers or a statistical artifact. States the report: “A new method of data aggregation reflects a higher number than reported in previous years.” The report does not say what the number would have been under the old methodology.

    — JAB

  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    James A. Bacon

    A humorous cartoon featuring two men in 18th-century attire sitting at a table, engaged in a conversation about chess enthusiasts in a hotel lobby, with speech bubbles expressing their thoughts on boasting.

    See more memes at The Bull Elephant

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

    A large serving bowl filled with crispy bacon strips, with the text 'LIFE IS UNCERTAIN. EAT BACON TODAY.' displayed prominently.

  • Do University Boards Need Their Own Staffs?

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    James A. Bacon

  • Backlash? What Backlash?

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    James A. Bacon

    Yours truly was quoted by The Washington Post as asking how Scott Beardsley, new president of the University of Virginia, differs from former president Jim Ryan when it comes to his commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. The Post also quoted my comrade in arms Stu Smith, a popular conservative social media poster, as calling Beardsley a DEI ideologue. And it quotes Joel Gardner, president of the Jefferson Council, as withholding judgment on Beardsley, suggesting that he promoted DEI at the Darden School when he was dean because it’s what he had to do to survive.

    I think the reporter Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff represented everyone’s position fairly (although I made it extremely clear to him that I was not speaking with any authority on Beardsley’s appointment). My problem is not with Rozenzweig-Ziff but the headline. If you’re quoting two conservatives on social media questioning the logic of Beardsley’s record on DEI, and quoting one conservative withholding judgment, and that’s all you’ve got, it’s insane to have a headline suggesting that a conservative “backlash” is “brewing.”

    If there’s a story, it’s that Beardsley’s selection as UVA president has prompted so little questioning by conservatives. The “backlash” is nonexistent. But that wouldn’t have made a very exciting headline. — JAB

  • Congratulations, You Survived Christmas

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    James A. Bacon

    Group of historical reenactors dressed in 17th-century attire, sitting and resting under a tree near a rustic wooden settlement.
    Grok imagines Jamestown settlers day after Christmas feast.

  • Merry Christmas from Bacon’s Rebellion

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    James A. Bacon

    A festive gathering around a large wooden table, featuring men in historical attire enjoying a meal, with a roasted turkey, fruits, and pastries, and a small Christmas tree in the background.
    Grok imagines a Christmas celebration in Jamestown.

  • When Is “Affordability” Not Affordable?

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    James A. Bacon

    Affordability is a goal that everyone can get behind. I eagerly await an informed and dispassionate discussion by legislators of Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger’s 17-point agenda to achieve that goal.

    Just a couple of reminders: Redistributing wealth from Group A to Group B might make life more affordable for Group B, but not Group A. More regulations might make one thing more affordable, but they often have unintended consequences that make something else less affordable.

    I invite readers to comment on Spanberger’s proposals with those reminders in mind.

  • Worth Reading….

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    James A. Bacon

    Charlottesville, VA, Eliminating Use of Camera Systems Because Feds Might Track Illegal Aliens

    From David Strom with Hot Air: “The Charlottesville police department will drop its use of the Flock license plate reading camera system due to concerns that the federal government might find illegal aliens it is looking for if it gets ahold of the data.”

    Money quote:

    Now, a city council has decided that solving murders and reuniting children with their families is all well and good, but when compared to saving an illegal alien gang member from being deported, it’s nothing.

  • The Fever Is Breaking

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    James A. Bacon

    Line graph depicting murder and non-negligent homicide victims in Virginia from 2018 to 2024, showing data for Black, White, and Asian victims.
    Source: Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia Reports. Hispanics not broken out as a separate category.

    The number of homicides in Virginia declined in 2024 for the second year in a row after peaking in 2022 — down 24.5 percent during the two-year period — according to Virginia State Police data, including the just-published Crime in Virginia 2024 report.

    The 109 murders and non-negligent homicides with White victims fell in 2024 to a significantly lower level than in the pre-COVID/George Floyd years. The overall homicide surge that followed the social upheaval beginning in 2020 was marked by a detectable but temporary increase in White homicides, although it was less marked than that for Blacks. (The number for Asians has been negligible all along.) The number of excess homicides (above 2019 numbers) for Whites in Virginia has been about 70.

    The 305 homicides recorded for Black victims in 2024 also represented a big decline from the peak, although the number still remained significantly above the pre-COVID/George Floyd years. The number of excess (above 2019) deaths for Blacks in Virginia from 2020 to 2024 has been about 660.

    The irony is that the cultural, rhetorical and criminal-justice changes that occurred during the “Black Lives Matter” era coincided with an estimated 660 excess Black deaths in Virginia. Perhaps it is time for the authors of those changes to be held morally and politically to account. — JAB

  • The Losers in Wind Project Fight are the Ratepayers

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    Steve Haner

    By Derrick Max 

    Derrick Max 

    President Trump’s decision to suspend Dominion Energy’s massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project is sure to stir up another gale of political fights across the Commonwealth.   While some will hail it as a triumph for fiscal and national security; others will see it as an assault on clean energy.  Both sides are worthy of debate before such projects are ever approved but are now trumped by one single fact – ending this project at this point of construction will strand at least $8 billion on Virginia ratepayers without getting a single kilowatt of power in return.   

    CVOW is no ordinary renewable project. It was created by legislative command. The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) declared Dominion’s 2.6-gigawatt wind farm “in the public interest,” effectively tying the hands of the State Corporation Commission and guaranteeing Dominion full cost recovery and profit. The risk doesn’t sit with shareholders — it sits with Virginia’s ratepayers. 

    The Thomas Jefferson Institute opposed that structure from the start. We warned that forcing captive customers to underwrite an unproven, high-cost project located in a hurricane prone region would expose Virginians to escalating bills with little accountability. Yet when a group recently asked the federal government to shut CVOW down, we declined to join. Why? Because government shouldn’t pick winners and losers — not when it mandates projects, and not when it stops them.  Especially when a project is in its final stretch and no economic analysis of such a decision has been completed (or shared). 

    If the project were canceled in its final buildout phase, Dominion would still seek recovery for billions in sunk costs, leaving consumers paying for turbines that never turn. That would be even worse for ratepayers than finishing the project. 

    The Trump administration’s pause is tied to classified national security concerns involving foreign-made components — undersea cables, turbine electronics, and data systems linked to Chinese suppliers. Those concerns are legitimate. The U.S. has already barred Huawei from telecom networks for similar reasons, and it would be naive to ignore potential risks in critical energy infrastructure. 

    (more…)

  • Fairfax County’s Sanctuary Policy Is Costing Lives

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    James A. Bacon

    by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
    Republished with permission from IWFeatures

    On Dec. 17, Marvin Fernando Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly shot and killed a man in Reston, Virginia. Only the day before, Fairfax County officials ignored an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer request and released him from jail.

    According to case documents from the Fairfax County General District Court, police had arrested Morales-Ortez on Sept. 14 for a misdemeanor firearms charge and a felony malicious assault charge. Morales-Ortez, an illegal alien from El Salvador, is allegedly an MS-13 gang member and has a remarkably long criminal rap sheet.

    Fairfax County Police reportedly obtained an emergency custody order for Morales-Ortez after his release from jail on Dec. 16 due to mental health and danger concerns. They were unable to locate him at that time. He is accused of murdering the man in Reston mere hours later.

    And this isn’t even the first time Morales-Ortez will face a murder charge in court. Police arrested him in connection with the 2019 murder of Jose Lorenzo Guillen Mejia, also in Reston. While a transcript of his preliminary hearing in 2021 reveals that Morales-Ortez confessed to being present during the murder, and that he struck Meija three times with a machete, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Steve Descano, dropped the charges against him.

    (more…)

  • PJM Capacity Prices Tick Even Higher Into 2028

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    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    Last week’s PJM capacity price per megawatt-day, to start summer of 2027.

    The regional electric grid operator that serves Virginia held another of its periodic auctions to secure sufficient supply for the future last week and the price went up again, slightly higher than in last summer’s auction. Even worse news, PJM Interconnection fell short of securing its target amount needed to guarantee reliability.

    PJM has been holding auctions for future supply on an accelerated basis, and the one last week secured energy contracts for late 2027 through early 2028.  With the new contract period 18 months away, there is time for some adjustments by accelerating new supply or recalculating the forecasts.  The shortfall still set off alarm bells at a meeting of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

    The price paid was $333 per megawatt-day, up slightly from the $329 per megawatt-day price in the July 2025 auction (for the 2026-27 rate period). Those prices are for the entire PJM region, so will apply to Dominion Energy, Appalachian Power Company, and the various regional electric cooperatives in Virginia. The cooperatives are the most sensitive to capacity pricing due to their reliance on purchased power. 

    Dominion’s need for purchased power is likely to spike substantially if President Trump’s Administration succeeds in cancelling the Dominion offshore wind project. A pause in construction of the 2.6-gigawatt facility was announced yesterday. The other four projects paused are outside the PJM territory, but if they do fully die it will change all the electricity math on the East Coast. 

    (more…)

  • Block the Flocks?

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    James A. Bacon

    According to the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism, there are well over 1,000 Flock license-plate readers in Virginia. Here follows a Copilot AI-generated article about the cameras.

    Flock cameras in Virginia are automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) used for surveillance and law enforcement, recently regulated by new legislation aimed at balancing public safety and privacy concerns.

    Purpose and functionality

    Flock cameras are designed to capture images of vehicles, including license plates, make, model, and other identifying features. They are widely used across Virginia, with municipalities like Bridgewater employing these cameras to monitor traffic and assist in criminal investigations. For instance, Bridgewater’s five Flock cameras capture images of nearly 60,000 vehicles monthly, and the data collected has been accessed millions of times by law enforcement agencies.

    Map of Virginia showing locations and density of Flock license plate readers, with color-coded data points indicating different numbers of cameras.
    Flock camera locations in southeastern quadrant of the state. Source: Deflock. Click here to view interactive map.

    Recent legislative changes

    In 2025, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed a law regulating the use of Flock cameras. Key provisions of the law include:

    (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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