Category Archives: Blogs and blog administration

I’m Baaaack!

Posted on September 13, 2021 by | 15 comments

Many thanks to Dick Hall-Sizemore, Jim Sherlock and DJ Rippert for filling Bacon’s Rebellion with lively, informative content during my vacation absence. — JAB

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Bacon Bits: Follow Ups

Posted on August 24, 2021 by | 19 comments

Facebook face plant. On more than one occasion, I have complained on Bacon’s Rebellion that Facebook had blocked advertisements promoting the blog on the social media platform. I conflated the restrictions with the de-platforming experienced by other conservative outlets. I can now report that after a brain-numbing exercise, that Bacon’s Rebellion is now qualified to advertise. The hang-up was a restriction on anyone promoting “Social Issues, Elections or Politics.” To over-simplify, I had to prove that I was not a Russian bot. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. The Facebook administrative interface for advertisers is labyrinthine in its complexity. I had to repeatedly call upon the Facebook help desk for assistance (which is not easy to find) as I waded step by step through the morass of links, unclear language and instructions that did not match up with what I was seeing on my screen. But those obstacles apply to everyone, not just conservatives. A special call out to “Mimi” for carrying me across the finish line. Here’s hoping Bacon’s Rebellion can grow big and influential enough to warrant a genuine de-platforming!

Proof of vaccination. Two weeks ago I blogged about my less-than-satisfactory experience using the Virginia Department of Health’s online portal to obtain a certified proof of vaccination. I was required to submit an online request. Would VDH respond or would my request disappear into the ether? I promised to report back. A VDH employee did call me. I emailed scanned copies of my vaccination card, the data was duly entered into the VDH database, and I now possess a PDF certification. The system isn’t scam-proof, and if something can be scammed, you can be sure that someone will try to scam it. A clever person undoubtedly could forge a a digital certification. Therefore, it makes eminent sense that VDH is developing a QR-code system that connects directly from smart phone to VDH database without intervening digital documents. All in all, it was a positive encounter with the state bureaucracy.

— JAB

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Note on Deleted Post

Posted on August 23, 2021 by | 12 comments

Last night I took down a post that published the text of a letter from a parent unhappy with the drift toward wokeness of a prestigious Atlanta, Ga., prep school. I did so at the request of the author’s ex-husband who was distraught at the potential impact on their children should the existence of the letter become common knowledge in the student body. Our nation’s culture wars are ugly enough as they are. I have no desire to inflict collateral damage on innocents. — JAB

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Posted in Blogs and blog administration, Culture wars

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Bacon Opens Mouth, Mayhem Ensues

Posted on May 21, 2021 by | 2 comments

I been blogging less and jabbering more this week. I don’t know if the world is better or worse off for it, but for those of you who subscribe to the theory that “there’s no such thing as too much bacon,” I offer the following for your listening/viewing pleasure.

Two Mikes podcast. Conversation with Michael Scheuer and Co. Mike about how Virginia has fallen into a pit of pure craziness, with a focus on the University of Virginia, the Virginia Military Institute, the Northam administration’s public education policy, and social-justice indoctrination for Alexandria Little Leaguers.

Tidewater Libertarian Party zoomcast. I join in a zoomcast presentation on Critical Race Theory. The Heritage Institute’s Hans Spakovsky provides an overview of CRT’s origins and how it is playing out nationally, while I discuss how it is being implemented in Virginia under the guise of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

–JAB

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What We’re Reading…

Posted on May 21, 2021 by | Leave a comment


If you’re not subscribing to the Bacon’s Rebellion newsletter, The Blunderbuss, this is a taste of what you’re missing. The “What We’re Reading” feature links to must-read articles from outside Virginia that have caught the eye of our editors, Bob Rayner and Robin Beres. These are from today’s edition:

Thank God for Big Pharma
James B. Meigs/Commentary Magazine

New York Times Promotes a COVID Cult of Caution
Jacob Sullivan/Reason.com

A Crisis of Undiagnosed Cancers Is Emerging in Pandemic’s Second Year
Duaa Eldeib/Propublica

How AP Got Caught Lying (Again) About Israel and the Hamas Terrorists
Issues & Insights

Catch up on recent Bacon’s Rebellion stories and features you might have missed here.

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Ad Promoting Free-Speech Post Squelched

Posted on April 12, 2021 by | 21 comments

Screen grab from Facebook ad administration page

Thanks to the financial support of our generous readers, Bacon’s Rebellion has begun promoting popular posts on Facebook with the goal of driving traffic to the website. Faceless Facebook minions review each ad before it can be published. Not surprisingly, any text with “COVID” appears to be automatically rejected, even when we’re not opining on the efficacy of official state and federal guidelines. More surprising was the recent rejection of an ad promoting a recent post, When “Words Are Violence,” Only One Side Gets to Speak, about free speech and expression at the University of Virginia.

At the risk of provoking Facebook, our most promising marketing vehicle, I am posting an image of the rejection notice, which appeared with no explanation. I feel fortunate that Facebook has not nixed any of posts on the Bacon’s Rebellion Facebook page — only the ads. I’m hoping that doesn’t change. We’ll see. The situation is fluid. Continue reading →

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Podcast: How the General Assembly Has Changed

Posted on March 18, 2021 by | Leave a comment

By Peter Galuszka

I haven’t contributed much to BR lately since I am slammed with non-Virginia work. I did manage to help out on a Podcast about how the General Assembly has changed the state over the last two years as Democrats have gained power.

This Podcast is produced by WTJU, the University of Virginia radio station. I do a weekly talk show on state politics and economics and, on occasion, work on Podcasts.

Joining me is Sally Hudson, a delegate from the Charlottesville area. She is Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics. Sally studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford and is one of the youngest members of the General Assembly.

I hope you enjoy it.

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Posted in Agriculture & forestry, Blogs and blog administration, Budgets, Business and Economy, Consumer protection, Courts and law, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Entrepreneurialism, Environment, Finance (government), General Assembly, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Individual liberties, Infrastructure, Labor & workforce, Land use & development, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and race relations

Advertising? Why, Yes, We Do Accept Advertising

Posted on March 17, 2021 by | 3 comments

In the hope of becoming a financially self-supporting publication one day, Bacon’s Rebellion has started placing ads on the blog. I don’t particularly like ads — particularly the click-baity ones — but I like begging readers for donations even less. Don’t get me wrong. I gratefully accept contributions from readers. If you feel moved to support the leading voice of conservative/libertarian commentary in Virginia, click on the yellow “Donate” button in the right-hand column. I just don’t want to pester readers like National Public Radio badgers its listeners. 

As believers in free-market capitalism, we’d much prefer to live our values and build a viable business enterprise as opposed to becoming an institution that relies upon foundation grants and tax-free contributions. If you want to help us grow, consider advertising on the Bacon’s Rebellion blog or in The Blunderbuss newsletter.

We offer two types of ads: (1) graphic ads, such as the ones appearing in the right-hand column, and (2) sponsored content, such as commentary, white papers, or press releases, which appears in the main body of the blog or newsletter. Contact me at jabacon[at]baconsrebellion.com to discuss either option.

— JAB 

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Help Us Build Virginia’s Best News Feed

Posted on March 16, 2021 by | Leave a comment


There’s a feature on Bacon’s Rebellion that few readers have noticed because I have never drawn attention to it. I have started compiling an RSS news feed of Virginia blogs, news sources, and advocacy groups. You can see the link on the menu above.

Plenty of news never makes it into the established news media for the simple reason that editorial holes are getting tighter, stories are getting shorter, and newsrooms don’t have the staff to cover everything that is newsworthy. If your organization — political campaign, advocacy group, trade association, state or local government agency, whatever — is looking for visibility, click here and fill out the form so we can add your press releases and news stories to our news feed. Here’s the trick: You must have an RSS feed — that’s the only way we can pick up your material.

As an incentive to share your RSS feed, The Blunderbuss, our new newsletter, will publish the most interesting headlines each day. Bypass the media gatekeepers and go straight to Bacon’s Rebellion’s readers.

— JAB

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The Blunderbuss: Your Daily Blast of Reality

Posted on March 15, 2021 by | 11 comments

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. Continue reading →

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Introducing The Jefferson Council Website

Posted on March 10, 2021 by | 13 comments

by James A. Bacon

A fabulous new website (edited by yours truly), The Jefferson Council, tracks governance and culture-war issues at the University of Virginia. Much of the content is recycled from Bacon’s Rebellion, but we’re hoping that The Jefferson Council will grow into a vibrant stand-alone forum for the exchange of views about UVa’s future that generates loads of its own content. Here follow the three most recent posts…

Show Us the Plan!

Parents Petition to the University of Virginia Administration

Dear UVA Administrators and Board of Visitors

We write to you today as a large, rapidly expanding coalition of UVA stakeholders including parents, students, and alumni who are increasingly concerned about the current living/learning conditions at the University of Virginia. Continue reading “Show Us the Plan!”

Continue reading →

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Note to Readers: Changes Coming to Comments

Posted on February 26, 2021 by | 18 comments

As part of our slow-motion overhaul of Bacon’s Rebellion, we are shifting to a new platform, Disqus, for posting comments. It will be a bit of a pain for regular participants — you’ll have to re-register — but the change-over will give us more editorial control.

Bacon’s Rebellion has some of the sharpest, most informative dialogue of any blog or website in Virginia. We love the way readers engage in debate and expand upon our posts by providing links, photos, graphs, and maps. Now we hope to raise the bar even higher. Our immediate goal is to improve the reader experience by quickly dousing the flame wars that occasionally break out. Also, Disqus has cool features that we expect to experiment with. As always, we will be attentive to feedback from our readers.

I will be announcing other exciting changes soon.

— JAB 

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WaPo Nabs Polk Award, Is Pulitzer Next?

Posted on February 25, 2021 by | 88 comments

Ian Shapira

By Peter Galuszka

How ironical.

Our esteemed Jim Bacon has been on a tear in recent months writing about media coverage of the problem of systemic racism at the Virginia Military Institute.

Of special interest to Jim is the reporting of Ian Shapira, a Washington Post reporter who has been digging into the VMI. After his stories were published, the superintendent of VMI retired and an inquiry was launched.

Jim doesn’t like what the Post and Shapira have done. Some of Jim’s headlines go right to the jugular including “VMI Update: The WaPo Makes Another Sleazy Insinuation” and  “WaPo Ratchets Up Assault on VMI.”

At one point, Jim made this observation: “Polish up that Pulitzer. It looks like The Washington Post is vying again for the big prize in journalism”

Well, guess what happened? Shapira and the Post have won a George Polk award for their VMI coverage. The citation reads thusly: Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogs and blog administration, Courts and law, Culture wars, Defense, Education (higher ed), Ethics, Race and race relations

What Texas’s Crisis Means for Virginia

Posted on February 21, 2021 by | 208 comments

by Peter Galuszka

The Texas freeze and ensuing energy disaster has clear lessons for Virginia as it sorts out its energy future.

Yet much of the media coverage in Virginia and certainly on Bacon’s Rebellion conveniently leaves out pertinent observations.

The statewide freeze in Texas completely fouled up the entire energy infrastructure as natural gas pipelines and oil wells stopped working, coal at generating plants iced over and wind turbines stopped working.

Making matters much worse, Texas opted not to have power links with other states. Its “free market” system of purchasing power meant utilities skimped on maintenance and adding weather-relative preventive measures such as making sure key generation components were weatherproof.

The result? Scores dead and millions without electricity. Here are more points worth considering in Virginia:

Climate Change is For Real

It is a shame that so much comment in Bacon’s Rebellion is propaganda from people who are or were paid, either directly or indirectly, by the fossil fuel industry. Thus, the blog diminishes the importance of dealing with climate change in a progressive way.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogs and blog administration, Budgets, Business and Economy, Consumer protection, Culture wars, Disasters and disaster preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Insurance, Labor & workforce, Land use & development, Money in politics, Political Influence, Politics, Property rights, Public corruption, Public safety & health, Regulation, Science & Technology

Can “Medium” Save Local Journalism?

Posted on January 11, 2021 by | 65 comments

Image by kalhh from Pixabay

By DJ Rippert

The medium is the message. Medium is an online publishing website founded by Evan Williams — who also co-founded Blogger and Twitter. The genre of Medium is sometimes called social journalism. As described in Wikipedia, social journalism “relies on community involvement, audience engagement, social newsgathering and verification, data and analytics, and relationship-building.” That’s all true. However, the biggest point is that authors get paid to write for Medium. Medium generates revenue by selling subscriptions at $5 per month. People who buy those subscriptions are called “members.” Members are eligible to enroll in Medium’s partner program. People in that program are eligible to earn money based on the level of engagement the author’s stories get from other members. While Medium keeps its payment algorithms secret most members believe that the amount paid is calculated based on the number of members who read the story and how long they spend reading it. In some ways Medium could be considered Uber for writers. It facilitates easy paid participation in the gig economy of writing. Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogs and blog administration, Business and Economy, Media

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