Quick Read

Colors in a bubble

Masks and truckers present a study in how the bubble of the Capitol forms.

By Justin Katz | February 10, 2022 |

I suspect they’re wildly overrepresented in the items that Twitter pushes onto my screen, but Rhode Island progressives are really something to behold in their reaction to Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s belated and overly hesitant removal of statewide mask mandates. As I suggested earlier, for many of the recognizable personalities, their rhetoric is probably wholly…

Microphone in front of a curtain

Beware what follows Bob.

By Justin Katz | February 9, 2022 |

Bob Walsh, who has been the executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island as long as many of us have been paying attention, or even been present in the state, has announced his impending retirement. Some on the conservative side are understandably happy to hear the news, but I’d caution a bit…

Romeo and Juliet

Once you go deplorable, you’ll know that we’re adorable.

By Justin Katz | February 8, 2022 |

To begin with, let me apologize for the subject line.  Once it occurred to me, I couldn’t let it go. If you’re of a certain age, you may recognize the sexual undertones of the phrase, which I began thinking about after stumbling across a Twitter exchange between apparent progressive Liz Gledhill and known conservative Nicole…

The moon over a weathervane

Dr. Skoly coverage may be another indication that the narrative is changing.

By Justin Katz | February 8, 2022 |

Among the encouraging signs that are beginning to peak out of the COVID chill like early buds in spring is that coverage of Dr. Stephen Skoly’s lawsuit hasn’t been limited to the website of the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, of which he’s chairman, and national conservative sites like The Daily Signal.  The Providence Journal…

A dark net

Social media and COVID are in symbiosis.

By Justin Katz | February 7, 2022 |

Something clicked as I listened to the podcast version of the Megyn Kelly episode embedded from YouTube below. Her primary guest was Tristan Harris, a Silicon Valley player who’s been warning about the manipulative dangers of social media.  He’s taken the Stanford classes on “persuasive technology” along with the tech entrepreneurs and knows how it…

Emily Barger on NowThis

“Youth media” is more concerned with Democrats than with minorities on the Supreme Court.

By Justin Katz | February 4, 2022 |

Accuracy in Media gave me some space to express frustration with the dishonesty of a video from NowThis that attempts to cover for Joe Biden’s pledge to pick the next Supreme Court justice from a narrow demographic: NowThis is lying to its young audience when it claims that “conservatives are freaking out at the idea of a…

Justine Caldwell, House Education, 2/2/22

Representative Caldwell and Senator Mack are lying to their colleagues and to Rhode Island about sex ed.

By Justin Katz | February 4, 2022 |

About one hour and fifty-five minutes into Wednesday’s hearing of the Rhode Island House Education Committee, Democrat Representative Justine Caldwell (East and West Greenwich) jumped in with her cat from the comfort of her home to ask Democrat Senator Tiara Mack (Providence) a question about “pleasure-based sex education” legislation, of which Mack is obviously a…

Child on computer in parents' bed

Be careful about assuming causation.

By Justin Katz | February 3, 2022 |

That advice has been coming to mind a lot recently. For instance, defending his support for the child-grooming bill, Democrat Representative Brandon Potter (Cranston), asserts that about one-quarter of youth suicides are sexual minorities.  He doesn’t provide a source for his claim, but let’s stipulate that the statistic might be true.  It still doesn’t tell…

A drowning person's hand

We’re on a dangerous path with Whoopi Goldberg’s suspension.

By Justin Katz | February 3, 2022 |

She slipped up and exposed the direction of the narrative before all of the necessary special interests were pinned down.  Wokism, intersectionality, anti-racism, proclamations about “white supremacy”… in all of these variations on the theme, whiteness is bad, whiteness is everywhere, and racism only goes one way.  People of European descent are white; Jews are…

John Kerry on NowThis

Is Kerry on NowThis a sign of progressive decay?

By Justin Katz | February 2, 2022 |

The world’s got trouble!  With a capital T, and that rhymes with C, and that stands for “coal.” My obvious reference to a once-famous song from The Music Man is tuned to have just about as much appeal to a young audience as a characteristically droning video clip from John Kerry about the need for — you…