Ripple

A water drop and ripples

Paying your debts is social justice.

By Justin Katz | March 8, 2022 |

Maybe I’m just entering that late-middle-age phase, but it seems to me that younger adults — or all of us, with reference to times that were before our time — too infrequently understand the experience of the past.  Consider this find from Tim Worstall for Accuracy in Media: A new piece from Teen Vogue says that…

A water drop and ripples

Why not just leave anachronistic “plantations” in place where it’s historical and difficult to remove?

By Justin Katz | March 8, 2022 |

Patrick Anderson follows up on the state’s ongoing efforts to change its official name everywhere, following a constitutional edit during the last election: You don’t have to look too hard to find the words Providence Plantations on state buildings, a year and a half after Rhode Island voters deleted them from the state name. The…

A water drop and ripples

Funny how we’ve forgotten why the state took over Providence schools.

By Justin Katz | March 7, 2022 |

It’s depressing to say, but it looks like the anti-reform strategy of the teachers unions and other special interests succeeded.  From the beginning, it was clear that the plan was to delay and obfuscate attempts at correcting the unforgivably terrible performance of Providence schools until the attention of the public moved on. For some reason,…

A water drop and ripples

You’re not the only one thinking the COVID trajectory all looks kind of… deliberate.

By Justin Katz | March 7, 2022 |

Ed Driscoll rounds up a little bit of the commentary, including: TWITTER THREAD ON 2020 AND ITS AFTERMATH: “The Democrats saw an opportunity with the emergence of Covid to crush a roaring economy under a president they didn’t like. So they, & their base, did everything in their power to impose crushing restrictions on small…

A water drop and ripples

Hey, have you heard about that election fraud in Wisconsin?

By Justin Katz | March 4, 2022 |

Strange how little I’ve been seeing about stories like this in my rounds of news collection. You’d think it’d be of broad interest. Rampant fraud and abuse occurred statewide at Wisconsin’s nursing homes and other residential care facilities,” according to the Office of Special Counsel’s second interim report filed on March 1 with the Wisconsin…

A water drop and ripples

Should Ukrainian refugees expect a modern American welcome?

By Justin Katz | March 1, 2022 |

Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s letter to Joe Biden expressing our state’s willingness to house refugees from war in Ukraine raises many questions.  For instance, why is this particular offering worthy of a prominent, grandiloquent pronouncement while accepting midnight flights of illegal immigrants (mostly young men) is not? Separately, one wonders what it means to welcome…

A water drop and ripples

The United States is hobbling itself and its economy when it comes to energy.

By Justin Katz | February 28, 2022 |

As an emboldened Vladimir Putin causes mayhem on the global stage, it’s important to remember how much our own government is harming the prospects of the United States, as if deliberately humbling our country to bring us down: Upcoming federal oil and gas lease sales will be delayed as the Interior Department figures out how…

A water drop and ripples

Add a leaky Dunk to the signs of RI’s deterioration.

By Justin Katz | February 28, 2022 |

For the cost of taxes and the cost of living around here, why do Rhode Islanders tolerate this sort of thing? For the third time in the last four years on national television, the Dunkin’ Donuts Center has served as a national embarrassment, as games have had to be canceled or delayed because the management…

A water drop and ripples

Something as reasonable and helpful as temporarily eliminating the gas tax has no chance in RI.

By Justin Katz | February 23, 2022 |

Well, we have to thank Rhode Island Republicans for trying: The Rhode Island Senate Republican Caucus is proposing the state eliminate gas tax for the remainder of the year. “We want to direct the influx in tax revenue back to residents and provide relief from the crushing pain at the pump,” Senate Minority Whip Jessica…

A water drop and ripples

Relying on tech for your health is a risky proposition.

By Justin Katz | February 23, 2022 |

Not long ago, technology was beginning to allow the blind to see.  Beware the need for maintenance and software support: These three patients, and more than 350 other blind people around the world with Second Sight’s implants in their eyes, find themselves in a world in which the technology that transformed their lives is just…