Bacon's Rebellion

  • When I Was “Canceled” at UVa

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    James A. Bacon

    by Matthew Cameron

    Cancel culture has been a hot topic in 2020. Most recently, it’s become a discussion point among those concerned about the state of academic freedom and intellectual diversity at my own alma mater, the University of Virginia.

    The strongest critique of cancel culture at UVA emerged in October when alumnus Joel Gardner published an open letter to University President Jim Ryan imploring him to “strongly condemn the ‘cancel culture’ practice” and “focus on the real diversity that is important on college campuses–diversity of thought–rather than diversity of race, ethnicity and gender which has proven to be divisive.”

    Reading Gardner’s letter and follow-up column for the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, I was reminded of my own brush with cancel culture as a student newspaper editor at UVA almost a decade ago. Recalling that tumultuous time inspires within me the same concern that Gardner and others have expressed about the threat of intellectual intimidation within our campus communities.

    Yet my experience also illustrates a problem with Gardner’s conclusion that “the main culprit behind these problems has been the purposeful politicization of our college communities” and his recommendation that UVA should “emphasize the traditions and values that have bound Wahoos together for decades — most especially honor and trust.” (more…)

  • A Glimpse into UVa’s Fund-Raising Juggernaut

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    James A. Bacon

    Bright shiny object: the proposed $48 million Data Science building.

    by James A. Bacon

    Alumni unhappy about recent developments at the University of Virginia claim to have withdrawn $150 million or more in pledged financial support for the institution. Money talks in academia as elsewhere. President Jim Ryan and Rector James Murray have engaged disgruntled grads in spoken and written communications and have given them the courtesy of thoughtful (albeit inadequate) responses.

    But there is little indication that anything will change. In last week’s Board of Visitors meeting, not one of the issues raised by the insurgent alumni was discussed — not the “F— UVA” sign on the Lawn, not the purging of names from buildings and grounds of once-prominent figures now deemed racist, not the increasing intolerance of non-leftist viewpoints that is strangling intellectual diversity and leaving a majority of students reluctant to speak their opinions openly.

    Indeed, a UVa Board of Visitors meeting reveals the vast administrative momentum that propels the university in its current direction, and reveals that the $150 million being withheld is barely a rounding error to a fund-raising powerhouse that rakes in billions of dollars. Consider some of the proceedings of this one board meeting. (more…)

  • Snow Days for Remote Learners?

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Just when you thought this pandemic couldn’t get any zanier, there’s this: At least one school district in Virginia decided to give kids a snow day this week. Even though schools were already closed and not a single bus had to navigate icy roads.

    Let’s back up. Remote learning has been such an unmitigated disaster that it’s hard to come up with a single positive aspect to it.

    Wait. Here’s one: Virtual learning is unaffected by inclement weather, thereby relieving school officials of those early morning calls about school closures due to flooding. Or snow.

    But if you thought that remote learning could go on no matter the weather, you were wrong. Turns out, Loudoun County Public Schools shut down virtual learning for two days this week due to heavy snowfall. (more…)

  • The Virginia City Boondoggle

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    Peter Galuszka

    The Virginia City hybrid energy center. Credit: David Hoffman, Flickr

    By Peter Galuszka

    Back in 2007, Dominion Energy was touting its new hybrid generating plant near St. Paul in Southwest Virginia as the wave of the future because it would burn coal and wood using advanced fluidized bed technologies.

    But for eight months this year, the 624-megawatt Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center operated at only 20% and has never reached more than 65% capacity since going online in 2012.

    Now, the utility must face the fact that it may close the plant, according to a new report by the non-profit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. Dominion has said it intends to keep the plant open.

    If it closes, it would affect 153 full-time jobs and 400 additional ones. Localities would lose from $6 million to $8.5 million in taxes.

    The Institute undertook its research at the request of Appalachian Voices, an environmental group. It is based on testimony provided to the State Corporation Commission by Atty. Gen. Mark Herring that ratepayers would have to shell out $472 million more than the plant is worth over the next 10 years. (more…)

  • A Budget Cut for Higher Ed

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    By Dick Hall-Sizemore

    I am used to tilting at windmills, making proposals that have little chance politically of being adopted. This is another one of those forays.

    Here is a proposal for addressing higher education fiscal issues:

    1. Require all state-supported colleges and universities to reduce their tuition and fees, equivalent to a 10 percent reduction in revenue from those sources.
    2. Increase state general fund appropriations to higher education institutions by five percent.

    These actions would have three advantages:

    1. Reduction in financial burden on students and parents.
    2. Nudging the level of state support back toward the level in effect before the 2008 recession.
    3. Requiring higher ed institutions to trim their overall expenses.

    This proposal would result in a net five-percent reduction in high ed appropriations and they would squawk loudly. However, I have seen how agencies can absorb five percent budget cuts without significantly affecting their overall operations. (more…)

  • Orwellian Aspirations, a False Alumni Association Narrative, and Adult Supervision at UVa

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Sometimes things come together that confirm one’s worst fears but improve hope for the future simultaneously. Such a turning point happened with me not long after UVa’s alumni magazine, Virginia (Winter Edition 2020), arrived at my house earlier this month.  

    The first story in the magazine was a piece written by Richard Gard (Col ’81), alumni association vice president for communications and editor of Virginia. It was titled “BOV Blesses Racial Equity Plan — More Diversity, Less Confederacy.” Catchy.

    It purported to update alumni on “Audacious Future: Commitment Required,” the report of the University’s racial equity task force, and the Board of Visitors’ specifically partial and entirely unfunded endorsement of that report.

    The members of that task force were:

    • Kevin McDonald, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships 
    • Ian H. Solomon, Dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
    • Barbara Brown Wilson, Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and co-founder and Faculty Director of UVA’s Equity Center

    All three were smiling in the pictures that accompanied the article. Hard to say why. (more…)

  • Religious-Freedom Challenges to Northam’s Executive Orders

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    James A. Bacon

    Slate Mills Baptist Church, one of the three churches suing Governor Northam. Credit: John Bowman, Flickr

    by Emilio Jaksetic

    Three churches in Virginia are suing Governor Northam over restrictions in his latest pandemic-related executive order, claiming their rights to religious freedom are being infringed. (See The Virginia Star article here.) The cases raise questions about Northam’s authority to limit, restrict or otherwise regulate religious activities in response to the pandemic.

    In Executive Order 72 (December 10, 2020), Northam claims authority under

    1. Virginia Constitution, Article V;
    2. Virginia Code, Sections 32.1-13; 32.1-20; 35.1-10; 44.146.17; and
    3. any other applicable law.

    A governor has authority by virtue of Article V of the Virginia Constitution, which details his primary responsibility to execute enacted laws. An executive order is not an originating source of authority, merely an instrument to execute or carry out authority that has been granted by the Virginia Constitution or enacted statutes. A governor cannot create new power and authority by merely issuing an executive order. Furthermore, a governor’s claims of authority in an executive order are not self-authenticating and can be legally challenged. (more…)

  • $50 Million to Extend Amtrak Service to Christiansburg?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    In his proposed budget unveiled yesterday, Governor Ralph Northam provides $50 million to extend Amtrak passenger rail service from Roanoke to the New River Valley. The money would go to “right-of-way and easement acquisitions and anything that would help reduce bottlenecks to make way for a passenger train in the New River Valley,” reports the Roanoke Times.

    “This is an important down payment on extending passenger rail connections in Southwest Virginia,” Northam said. But it’s not a done deal yet, says the Times. There is no firm timeline for when the state and Norfolk Southern Corp. will strike an agreement.

    Fifty million dollars is a non-insubstantial sum. As Northam acknowledges, it is only a “down payment.” It does not cover, for instance, the cost of building an Amtrak station in Christiansburg. Some documentation exists online about projected ridership, revenue, and costs available, but I could not find a study that weighed the costs and benefits of the proposed route compared to alternative investments of the money.

    Let’s review the numbers, such as we have them. (more…)

  • Amanda Chase: Chasing the Crazy Vote

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Amanda Chase

    by Kerry Dougherty

    At a time when many of us are railing against Gov. Ralph Northam’s arbitrary and capricious executive orders, a Republican who wants to replace him is calling on President Trump to declare martial law.

    Just what we need, another governor with tyrannical impulses. Not that State Sen. Amanda Chase has any chance of winning next year.

    Chase published this on her Facebook page.

    (Joe Biden) Not my President and never will be.  The American people aren’t fools.

    We know you cheated to win and we’ll never accept these results.  Fair elections we can accept but cheating to win; never.  It’s not over yet.  So thankful President Trump has a backbone and refuses to concede.  President Trump should declare martial law as recommended by General Flynn.

    Martial law?

    By tossing out such a vacuous proposal Chase shows herself to be an unserious candidate unworthy of consideration to shape public policy. (more…)

  • Hard Power Matters – America’s Universities Must Protect It

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    This is a continuation of the discussion raised by my column on the folly of educating Chinese and Iranian visa holders in Virginia universities and colleges. Some in that discussion thought soft power would overcome what America loses in hard power.

    Soft power is both crucially important and utterly insufficient to guarantee the future freedom and prosperity of the West and its allies around the world.

    We need credible military capabilities — hard power — as well.

    Hampton Roads is the largest concentration of military power in the United States, perhaps the world. The Pentagon is in Arlington. Northern Virginia is awash in government and contractor defense personnel. But this issue directly affects all of America. And Europe. And South America and Africa, which are seeing overt Chinese attempts to influence events on both continents. And our allies in the Pacific.

    China is without question the biggest long term military threat to the United States and its allies. It combines technology, economic power, an enormous and talented population and ruthless leaders. (more…)

  • Northam Would Save Most of Virginia’s New Cash

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Source: Virginia DPB. Well, $1.9B is 8% of one year’s general fund revenue, but a fairly small cushion in a $141B two-year total budget. The blue lines represent the official Revenue Stabilization “Rainy Day” Fund and the orange lines are a cash reserve that represents legislative spending discipline.  (Who picked UVA colors?)

    By Steve Haner

    Other states are in trouble these days, but Virginia suddenly has about $1.5 billion in free cash flow to use over the next 18 months, Governor Ralph Northam announced Wednesday. About half of it ($750 million) will be placed into reserves or used to improve the financial health of the Virginia Retirement System.

    The COVID-19 recession has certainly had an impact, reducing state spending, and adding unanticipated expenses. But the economic restrictions imposed here have not equaled those in other states, and the federal government has continued its spending on services and contracts in Virginia.

    A series of pre-pandemic tax increases have also cushioned the blow, along with $3.3 billion sent to the state for COVID-related expenses.  (more…)

  • Why Are We Educating Citizens of Hostile Nations in Advanced Math, Science and Engineering?

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock Updated Dec 16 at 1:55 PM

    The title poses a reasonable question.

    China and Iran are two of America’s greatest national security threats.

    Yet we continue to educate their citizens in the most security-sensitive programs of instruction at the highest levels of American higher education.

    Chinese and Iranian students are nearly exclusively enrolled in fields that are needed for the use and development of military and espionage technology, including both national security and business espionage, to be employed against the United States and our allies.

    We didn’t educate Soviet scientists during the last cold war. What is different this time?

    On Dec. 9, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged universities in the United States to scrutinize China’s assistance and students, warning that Beijing was set on stealing innovation.

    I checked available National Science Foundation (NSF) data to try to gauge the impact of America’s advanced graduate education of Chinese and Iranian nationals.

    I use here the awarding of doctoral degrees, especially in math, science and engineering, as the measure of the threat. (more…)

  • WTJU Podcast on State’s Economy

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    Peter Galuszka

    By Peter Galuszka

    This may be familiar turf for some readers, but here is a podcast I worked on with WTJU, the radio station of the University of Virginia. It gives a larger overview of the changes that data centers are making in the state’s economy and what that might mean in the future.

    This elaborates on a Style Weekly story I posted here a few weeks ago.

    Early this year, WTJU started preparing a series of podcasts under the “Bold Dominion” banner that explores how politics, economics and culture are changing in the Old Dominion. I think they have had 25 episodes up until now and I have participated in some of them. I also do a weekly Q&A on state politics.

    Here’s the most recent podcast:

    https://bolddominion.org/episodes/what-does-a-burgeoning-tech-industry-mean-for-virginia

  • Martial Law Is NOT the Answer!

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    In a Tuesday Facebook post Sen. Amanda F. Chase, R-Chesterfield, a candidate for governor, called upon President Trump declare martial law and seize voting machines to find the voting fraud that resulted in Joe Biden’s election. “There needs to be a national audit,” she said.

    President-elect Biden, elaborated Chase, is “not my President and never will be. The American people aren’t fools. We know you cheated to win and we’ll never accept the results. Fair elections we can accept but cheating to win, never. It’s not over yet. So thankful President Trump has a backbone and refuses to concede. President Trump should declare martial law as recommended by General Flynn.”

    This is scary stuff. Chase’s comment has been appropriately rebuked by many fellow Republicans, including her opponent in the gubernatorial contest Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights. Chase’s comment comes treacherously close calling for a suspension of suspending democracy, overthrowing the rule of law, and declaring a dictatorship. It’s dangerous as hell and, as far as I’m concerned, disqualifies her as a serious candidate for public office.

    But there is a larger point to make. Chase’s comment demonstrates the extent to which a large swath of the Trump-voting electorate has become thoroughly distrustful of political institutions, the media, and the opinions of America’s cultural elites. The same day that Chase’s comment was reported by the Washington Post, these stories were reported in local newspapers in Virginia: (more…)

  • Prince William Republicans Walk Out of “Bias” Training Session

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Prince William Supervisor Pete Candland

    by James A. Bacon

    First comes bias training, then comes anti-bias enforcement. Can the thought police be far behind?

    In Prince William County last week, three Republican members of the Board of Supervisors walked out of a presentation, “Raising Awareness of Unconscious Bias to Foster Inclusivity and Equity,” at a joint meeting of the supervisors and county school board.

    Supervisor Pete Candland said he found “insulting” a presentation that insinuated that board members held racial biases. Furthermore, he said the issue was a distraction from the pressing issue of how best to educate children during the COVID-19 epidemic. “During this critical time of the global pandemic, kids having issues at home, concerns about funding our schools moving forward, they decided to take this time to talk about Implicit Bias Critical Race Theory.”

    “I felt that it was important to walk out and not just sit there, because I refuse to legitimize this notion that we are all somehow racist,” concurred Supervisor Yesli Vega, as reported by Bristow Beat. (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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