Bacon's Rebellion

  • The Blunderbuss: Your Daily Blast of Reality

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    I’m pleased to announce the launch today of The Blunderbuss, a new Bacon’s Rebellion newsletter edited by Bob Rayner and Robin Beres, my old compatriots from the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial page.

    Each day around noon, The Blunderbuss will deliver not only the past 24 hours’ headlines from Bacon’s Rebellion, but it will highlight other articles, essays and blog posts from around Virginia that aren’t getting the attention from the Mainstream media they deserve. Plus links to the best public-policy reading on the Web, from Virginia or otherwise, but always sticking to the big Bacon’s Rebellion themes. Plus links to the most interesting articles and press releases from the Bacon’s Rebellion RSS news feed. Plus — and this is the best part — Bob and Robin’s inimitable spin on all of the above.

    You can subscribe to The Blunderbuss by clicking here.

    We plan to publish the newsletter three times weekly while we get accustomed to our newsletter software and refine the format, but our intention is to shoot it out daily. (more…)

  • UVa Memorial Illuminates a Neglected Part of Virginia’s Past

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The memorial to the slaves who labored at the University of Virginia is a quiet, dignified and moving tribute to the Virginians whose contributions to the university went unappreciated and unrecognized for too long. Yesterday my wife and I visited the memorial, which was dedicated almost a year ago, for the first time. It is a wonderful example of the “additive” approach to remembering our past — adding new layers of understanding — as opposed to the purgative approach of blotting out the remembrance of those who made significant contributions to society but whose association with slavery, the Confederacy or segregation offend modern-day sensibilities.

    The outer ring of the memorial takes the abstracted style of genealogical trees with the names of slaves (or occupations if the names are not known) filled in. The inner ring contains factoids and vignettes from the fragmentary historical record to breathe life into those names. Here are some excerpts (with editorial interpolations from yours truly): (more…)

  • Virginia’s Parole Board Is a Detestable Disgrace

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Well, bless The Richmond-Times Dispatch.

    They’re doing real journalism up there in the capital and it’s infuriating to Democratic power brokers.

    They’ve got to keep their stories straight now. Not easy.

    Yes, over the weekend the TD published two stunning pieces about the curious behavior of  Virginia’s all-Democrat Parole Board, a group apparently dedicated to tossing Virginia’s most violent criminals back into the community without notifying victims or their survivors.

    What began with an investigation into the Parole Board’s insane release of a cop killer has spread to at least eight other cases where murderers were freed in the past year. It appears the board ignored rules in its breathless hurry to get these vicious convicts back on the street.

    Take the case of Hugh Joseph Brown, for instance. It’s hard to imagine a more depraved crime than his. I can’t find the adjectives for what this killer did in 1992, so I’ll let the TD tell you: (more…)

  • How Many Nursing Home Exposés Does It Take to Wake People Up?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James C. Sherlock

    The New York Times today published a nearly 5000-word article “Maggots, Rape and Yet Five Stars: How U.S. Ratings of Nursing Homes Mislead the Public.” It is extremely well done. I recommend it to everyone.

    The did not mention corruption at the state inspection level except to mention that nursing homes all over the country seemed to know when the “surprise” inspections were coming. Criminal convictions have exposed payments as high as $500,000 to individuals with knowledge of the schedule for a heads up to nursing home operators.

    Carol Bova, Jim Bacon and I have been writing about the political corruption that hamstrings the Virginia Department of Health’s inspectors for more than a year.

    To remind of some of the key issues, in response to a FOIA request, I received the following response from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) on November 30, 2020: (more…)

  • Surprise! State Underestimated Carbon Tax Cost

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    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    Virginia has collected its first wave of carbon taxes from the state’s electricity generators, costs which will eventually show up on future bills. The $43.6 million take just about doubles the revenue estimates used when participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was being approved by the Virginia General Assembly last year. Surprise!   (more…)

  • Then They Came for the Gravestones

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    James A. Bacon

    Photo credits: Mike Dickinson

    Vandals this weekend overturned numerous memorials and markers in Hollywood Cemetery, a historical cemetery overlooking the James River that is closely identified with the Old South. The historical graveyard, opened in 1847, is the final resting place of presidents James Monroe and John Tyler, six Virginia governors, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and it has a monument to 18,000 Confederate enlisted men buried nearby.

    Visitors discovered the damage Saturday morning. Destruction of the markers occurred in the “President’s Circle,” where Monroe and Tyler are buried. (more…)

  • Absolute MUST SEE on the Blue Ridge Parkway

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    James A. Bacon

    Virginia’s very own Shangri-la — Bacon Hollow. Readers may mock me and say, “Nay, so such paradise exists.” But it does, and it is deemed worthy of an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And here’s the proof…. (more…)

  • Our Throw-Away Society

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    By Dick Hall-Sizemore

    I use a certain brand of medium-priced walking shoe. The model that I use has a wide toe box and is the most comfortable for my foot. The top of the shoe is all leather and the sole is rubber.

    Several years ago, when the heels had worn down considerably (this is where the term “down at the heels” comes from, presumably), I took the shoes into my local shoe repair shop and had the soles replaced. The cost was $20-30 cheaper than what it would have cost to buy new shoes.

    Recently, I took several pair that were down at the heels in to have the heels replaced. This time, the shop manager kindly explained that I might want to check the price of buying new shoes because the cost of getting new soles would likely be close to, or more than, buying new shoes. I knew the cost of replacing the shoes, which seemed to be less than it was several years ago. I thanked him for his honesty and left. (more…)

  • COVID and the Workforce

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    James A. Bacon


    by James A. Bacon

    Virginians with college degrees were far less likely to be laid off during the COVID-19 epidemic, and their occupations are in highest demand during the economic upturn, concludes an analysis written by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and distributed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).

    “In order to ensure an inclusive, resilient, COVID economic recovery and continued growth across Virginia,” writes Pam Harder, managing director-strategic talent initiatives for VEDP, ” now more than ever we need to invest heavily in helping those without four-year-degrees find affordable and accessible pathways to good jobs.”

    Harder makes the case that Virginia needs to “invest in education across the entire spectrum — industry certifications, state licensures, apprenticeships and certificates, as well as traditional degree programs.” (more…)

  • On the Road Again!

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Valley Road Vineyards in the Rockfish Valley

    by James A, Bacon

    Congress just passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, but I’ll tell you who needs some stimulus after a year of COVID-19 shutdown — it’s the Bacon family. Laura and I recently got vaccination shots (one each), so we figure we’re at reduced risk of catching the virus and as long as we practiced proper mask wearing and social distancing, we’d be OK. So, we hit the road this afternoon with the goal of pumping a little stimulus of our own into Virginia’s wine industry. (more…)

  • On the Naming of Buildings

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Freeman Hall, University of Richmond
    Photo Credit: Sandra Sellars, Richmond Free Press

    By Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The University of Richmond has taken a nuanced, or ambivalent, position, depending on your perspective, in the kerfuffle over building names honoring slaveholders, Civil War generals, or supporters of segregation.

    Before discussing its position, it may help to provide a brief profile of the school for readers who may not be familiar with it. UR is a small (3,147 undergraduates), private university situated on a beautiful, secluded campus in Richmond’s tony West End. In 1969, it was transformed from a financially-troubled,  local college into a well-endowed institution with a national presence when E. Claiborne Robins, chairman of the A.H. Robins pharmaceutical company, gave it $50 million. At the time, that was the largest amount a living benefactor had ever given an American university.

    A large segment of its student body is from the Northeast; only 18 percent of the students are from Virginia. It is pricey: the annual cost of tuition, room, and board is $72,500. (Disclosure: My daughter is a graduate of the school. She had a generous scholarship; I could not have afforded it even back then when tuition was much more reasonable.) (more…)

  • In the Face of Local Resistance, Can Virginia Meet Its Solar Goals?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia needs to build dozens of square miles of solar panels if there is any hope of reaching the goal of a zero-carbon electric grid by 2045 in Dominion Energy territory and 2050 across the state. The General Assembly can compel the state’s electric utilities to purchase the solar power but it can’t compel anyone to develop the solar farms, especially if local governments are opposed.

    Numerous solar projects have been approved — including, most recently, $400 million in a 280-megawatt in Pulaski County, so there’s no question that solar will be a big part of Virginia’s energy future. But are enough projects getting approved?

    The odds are looking slim for a $200 million, 149-megawatt proposal by North Carolina-based Strata Solar in Culpeper County. County staff had expressed concerns about the proposed 1,700-acre Maroon Solar power plant, and yesterday the planning commission unanimously recommended denial of the plan, reports the Culpeper Star-Exponent. (more…)

  • Let’s Get ALL Kids Back in Class

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    It’s one of the cardinal sins of journalism: Burying the lede.

    That’s newspaper talk for dropping the most important point in a news story deep in the copy.

    Prime example: The local newspaper’s front-page story on Thursday: “As In-School Learning Returns, A Racial Divide.”

    In this case you had to read past the jump (the break from the front page to page 8) all the way to the 10th paragraph to find the real news.

    There it was: A member of the Virginia Beach School Board, Jessica Owens, is cautious of the return to in-person classes because she thinks it mostly benefits white kids.

    No, I am not joking. (more…)

  • An Important Challenge to Employees of the Commonwealth

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    I ask the employees of the Commonwealth of Virginia to be agents for its positive change. I will address you directly.

    The issue is state readiness, or rather lack of it, for the COVID epidemic. You are in the best position to know that your agency was surprised and overwhelmed when COVID struck.

    It did not need to be that way.

    I have written here extensively of the failure of state departments to prepare for a pandemic flu emergency as they were directed to do by the state emergency operations plan published in 2012. Those directed preparations included planning, training and exercises that involved you, the professional staff of state agencies.

    Many of you know that none of that happened in your organizations.

    I filed complaints with the Office of the State Inspector General who is employed specifically to investigate such issues. But I think the complaints of an outsider will go nowhere.

    The fault for lack of preparation lies with so broad a swath of the executive department of the state that only a high volume of inside complaints will drive the investigation and thus the changes that are necessary.

    I am going to ask you as employees to engage to fix the system from within. (more…)

  • What We Measure Shapes How We Think

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    I just came across this headline from The Virginian-Pilot:

    In Virginia Beach, white students are nearly twice as likely to return for in-person classes than Black students.

    In Virginia Beach, 72% of white students and just 38% of Black students have chosen to return for in-person classes as schools have reopened.

    I couldn’t read the full story because it resides behind a pay wall. But I would be surprised if the article doesn’t try to explain the racial discrepancy. There very well may be race-based reasons why blacks are returning at only half the rate of whites, but we should not assume that to be the case. Sociological or socio-economic reasons might better explain the differential. (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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