Ripple

A water drop and ripples

Biggest news of the day…

By Justin Katz | January 25, 2022 |

… Neil Young is still alive!

A water drop and ripples

Moses Brown wokeness shows what high-end private schools are really for.

By Justin Katz | January 25, 2022 |

In fairness, I don’t think Nicole Solas has it quite right when she calls Moses Brown School “the most expensive private school in Rhode Island.  Even without boarding, it looks like St. George’s, St. Andrew’s, Portsmouth Abbey, and the Lincoln School all have Moses Brown beat.  But who’s going to quibble over a few thousand…

A water drop and ripples

Alexander-Scott’s big buyout shows how your money is always the solution.

By Justin Katz | January 25, 2022 |

As John DePetro says, paying outgoing Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott $46,000 per month for three months as a “consultant” by way of ushering her out the door “is absolutely outrageous.” On a first pass, it makes one wonder what was really going on behind the scenes.  How did she have the negotiation leverage…

A water drop and ripples

Are people really living like this?

By Justin Katz | January 25, 2022 |

Here’s state senator and progressive candidate for lieutenant governor Cynthia Mendes: It’s Monday in #RI. Our hospitals are packed. Our teachers are afraid to go to work today because of raging COVID cases in our schools. Our students are terrified of putting their families in danger by going to school. Teaching & learning shouldn’t be…

A water drop and ripples

Something subcutaneous is going on in the education establishment.

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

Anybody else getting the feeling that there’s some deliberate initiative going on under the skin of public education that we only see here and there when it bursts out into a blemish?  Here’s one such pimple, from Timothy Duffy, who is the head of the state association for school committees: Most teachers are white. Most…

A water drop and ripples

Why is the head of a labor union such a thorough partisan?

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

Here’s a line worth teasing out from Ted Nesi’s latest roundup column: NEARI union leader Bob Walsh said he is considering a run, adding, “I am also weighing what is best for the Democratic Party to keep this seat in Democratic hands.” Yes, the answer is obvious, but it’s worth pausing to ask:  Why is…

A water drop and ripples

Why is RI consistently one of the worst states for driving?

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2022 |

It doesn’t make much sense to me.  We’ve got a small state that isn’t terrible for traffic, despite being densely populated.  You’d think local authorities could keep the roads in order. But there it is:  According to WalletHub, the Ocean State is the second-worst state for drivers in the country, after Hawaii. Cost of Ownership &…

A water drop and ripples

Rhode Island is compounding badness on badness.

By Justin Katz | January 22, 2022 |

Not mentioned in the stories about Governor Dan McKee’s delay of the new nursing home staffing mandates is that they are arguably the most-extreme minimum standards in the world.  Imposing new mandates in the middle of a nurse-staffing crisis is simply insane.  Holding off these mandates would be considered an obvious thing to do in…

A water drop and ripples

College loan forgiveness is a policy to give money to the advantaged.

By Justin Katz | January 21, 2022 |

Brad Polumbo writes: Few causes are as central to the progressive movement as student debt “cancellation” (which really means taxpayers absorb the burden of $1.7-plus trillion in student debt). But yet another study just confirmed that there’s actually nothing “progressive” about student debt cancellation at all. A new analysis from the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution finds…

A water drop and ripples

URI went ahead and revoked its honorary degrees to Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani.

By Justin Katz | January 21, 2022 |

One interesting sidebar to watch (maybe) is whether any of the local journalists reporting on the development will bother to find and quote any URI graduates who disagree with the move.  I added the parenthetical “maybe” to cover the unlikely event that they actually do.  It’s echo chambers all the way down.