Tag: Guest contributors
-
On the Unlawful Nature of ‘Equity’ in Virginia
by David Gordon The Democrats wanted a fight over Critical Race Theory (CRT). The Virginia Project and our friends gave them the fight they were begging for — and spanked them so hard they’ll never forget it. When the facts were made known, the public was overwhelmingly against it, across every demographic. Fighting CRT was…
-
Wojick On Whales IV: Deaths Spiked with Surveys
By David Wojick The recent deaths of seven whales off New Jersey, mostly humpbacks, drew national media attention. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Directorate is responsible for whales. An outrageous statement by their spokesperson got me to do some research on humpback whale deaths. The results are appalling. The evidence seems clear that…
-
Youngkin’s Housing Start
by Adam A. Millsap U.S. housing prices have risen 10 percent since last September and 41 percent since before the pandemic. Though prices have dipped slightly over the last three months, inflated costs remain a major problem. Policymakers around the country are trying to bring prices down, and a new proposal from Virginia governor Glenn…
-
JLARC Agrees: Index Virginia Taxes to Inflation
by Barbara Hollingsworth Inflation is eroding the value of each dollar earned by Virginians, making it harder for them to afford decent housing, put food on the table and educate their children. But what many Virginians don’t know is that they have also been paying more in state income taxes while their real income has…
-
A Jewish Perspective on Arlington’s Confederate Memorial
The Advisory Committee on Arlington National Cemetery has recommended the removal of the 32-foot-tall memorial to Confederate veterans buried there on the grounds that it is “riddled with racist iconography” and perpetuates the Lost Cause narrative. The following letter was sent today to the Committee. — JAB On March 19, 1841, at the consecration of…
-
Virginia Drops from A+ to C in Worker Freedom — Largest Decrease in the Country
by F. Vincent Vernuccio Virginia’s ranking fell more than any other state in the Commonwealth Foundation’s 50 State Labor Report “The Battle for Worker Freedom in the States: Grading State Labor Laws.” Virginia plunged from an “A+” ranking in 2019 to a dismal “C” this year. This was due to what the report called “[t]he…
-
Youngkin Champions Licensing Reforms, Loosens Regulatory Barriers
by Eric Burk The Virginia Board of Social Work has changed licensing regulations, making it easier for social workers licensed in other states to get licensed in Virginia. “There is a critical shortage in Virginia of mental health professionals, and this is a significant step by the Board of Social Work to help address this…
-
The Robert E. Lee of Appomattox
by Kenneth G. Everett Adversity is the first path to truth. Lord Byron, DON JUAN, Canto XII, Stanza 50 Few things in life reveal more clearly the true character of a man than his response to the circumstances of defeat and failure. The deepest impulses of the soul emerge when cherished hopes collapse and undertakings…
-
Addressing the Spiral Effect in Learning Loss
by Dr. Kathleen Smith During the COVID-19 pandemic educators did what they had to do in a short amount of time (five months in the case of Virginia) with little resources (extra funding came long after September of 2020) to keep kids learning through the 2020-2021 school year. A wholesale shift to remote and hybrid…
-
Dominion is Keeping Whale Data Secret, Too
by David Wojick Secrecy abounds around the monster offshore wind (OSW) project proposed by Dominion Energy. In this case the hidden data is about the threat to the severely endangered North Atlantic Right Whales. I earlier reported on the big hidden whale study done by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is doing…
-
Next Virginia Tax Reform: Index for Inflation
by Barbara Hollingsworth Most Virginians are painfully aware that it’s becoming much more difficult to make ends meet. Prices for food, housing, gasoline and other necessities have soared. Inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June, the largest yearly increase since January 1982. And a recent study from the University of Iowa found…
-
School Board Races: The Next Best Hope for Our Children
by Craig DiSesa and Nancy Smith “I’m just gonna have to step in. You need to stop saying, as a Board member, we are giving pornography to minors. … It does not happen!” That was the reaction of Virginia Beach City Public Schools Superintendent Aaron Spence to School Board member Vicky Manning’s assertion that there…
-
Division Ends Today at the Virginia Military Institute
by The Cadet Editorial Staff To the families of matriculants: This is a difficult day for you. As you leave your daughters and sons to face the struggles and challenges that they are about to meet, take heart in the fact that you, too, are about to become a part of the VMI family. Today…
-
Solar Development Continues to Erode VA Farmland
by Barbara Hollingsworth First published by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Virginia lost about 2,000 acres of productive farmland per week in 2021, according to data released in February by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There are many reasons why farmers sell off their land, including development pressures, lack of interest by younger members…
-
Wojick on Whales II: Missing BOEM Report?
by David Wojick In my previous article I raised this question: what is the potential adverse impact of Virginia’s massive offshore wind project on the severely endangered North Atlantic Right Whales? Answering this basic question should be a central feature of the upcoming Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) required for the wind project by the National…