Ripple

A water drop and ripples

Arizona illustrates what putting students above adults looks like.

By Justin Katz | January 5, 2022 |

Imagine living in a place where the sort of policy Paula Bolyard describes on PJ Media is actually a possibility, or even a part of the public conversation: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey just fired a shot across the bow of teachers’ unions and COVID-panic advocates who insist on keeping kids out of classrooms, despite the minimal…

A water drop and ripples

Dogs in schools would be one way to put children first during the pandemic.

By Justin Katz | January 5, 2022 |

Months ago, Malcolm Gladwell made a pretty convincing case on his Revisionist History podcast for dogs as allies to help us avoid the most draconian anti-pandemic measures, especially in schools. It looks like some schools in Massachusetts got the message: COVID sniffing K-9s have gone through all five schools in the Freetown-Lakeville district throughout the…

A water drop and ripples

We’re watching the radicals define mainstream opposition right out of the conversation.

By Justin Katz | January 4, 2022 |

Interestingly, this is essentially the same point I just finished being proclaimed a racist for making with regard to the racial net worth gap, and an academic journal wouldn’t let a mainstream scholar make it: I suspect the real beef the ELJ Executive Board has with the essay is that Larry explicitly stated that racism…

A water drop and ripples

Hey, why should historians be expected to be able differentiate the start and end dates of major events?

By Justin Katz | January 4, 2022 |

On various issues of public controversy recently (notably transgenderism), some conservatives have suggested that forcing the population to assent to outlandish propositions is the point.  Whether changing how society thinks about a particular matter is the central goal or incidental, progressives want to train the public to accept reality as whatever the activists say it is.…

A water drop and ripples

Progressives have an interesting perspective on Barrington’s minimum wage.

By Justin Katz | January 4, 2022 |

Steve Ahlquist has a strange explainer on Uprise RI about how Barrington got away with implementing a minimum wage policy for municipal workers: State law passed during the regime of House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello prevents municipalities from raising the minimum wage within their borders. But the state cannot prevent individual cities and towns from establishing their…

A water drop and ripples

Penelope Barrel Strength bourbon is really, really good.

By Justin Katz | January 3, 2022 |

In fact, in my admittedly short experience with whiskeys, it may be my favorite of any style.  (Subject to revision, of course!)

A water drop and ripples

Inflation would be an interesting challenge, if it were just a model experiment.

By Justin Katz | January 3, 2022 |

Ryan Rappa thinks the Fed is going to have to make debt relief part of any plan to control inflation.  Actually, I should specify that whoever wrote his commentary’s headline thinks that, because Rappa’s essay mainly just ruminates about the problem.  The closest he comes is this: This risk is multiplied by other forms of…

A water drop and ripples

Why can we not take the obvious approach to COVID?

By Justin Katz | January 3, 2022 |

Thinking about Governor McKee’s (let’s just say) uninspiring leadership on COVID in preparation for my weekly conversation with John DePetro, I wondered why we can’t just follow the obvious path of sanity. Never in my life have I heard so many people talking about believing science and engaging with concepts of risk and mitigation, but…

A water drop and ripples

A state has to have priorities!

By Justin Katz | January 3, 2022 |

As the editor of the Rhode Report puts it while linking to this story, “This is what is important to the morons of the Democrat Party”: As of January 1, restaurants across Rhode Island are no longer allowed to give out single-use plastic straws unless a customer asks for one. Violators will get warnings for…

A water drop and ripples

Who doesn’t want New England to be warmer?

By Justin Katz | January 1, 2022 |

Most people with whom one speaks on an unseasonably warm winter’s day in New England will not express despair.  There’s a reason defenders of the status quo bring up weather as an alternative reason to taxes and regulations for why people leave the region. Of course, every development can have its dark lining if that’s…