Ripple

A water drop and ripples

Eliminating risk is risky business.

By Justin Katz | December 27, 2021 |

I see Glenn Reynolds shares my concerns about charging forward with cures for every nuisance illness. On the one hand, a universal flu vaccine would be great. On the other, say it works for several decades and then a strain of flu evades it. Wouldn’t it be an ugly “virgin field” epidemic at that point?…

A water drop and ripples

McKee is doing exactly what King George did.

By Justin Katz | December 27, 2021 |

This complaint in the Declaration of Independence came to mind while reading Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s executive order on the calculation of unemployment insurance fees for businesses: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. Here’s the relevant text from McKee’s order: References to…

A water drop and ripples

Sometimes headline misfires make for imaginative fictional takes.

By Justin Katz | December 24, 2021 |

If I were a teacher or professor of creative writing, I’d save headlines like the following from a WPRI story by Melanie DaSilva for class assignments.  English is wonderful for ambiguities, which makes it an excellent language in which to embed two, three, or even four layers of subtext, but a sometimes-challenging language with which…

A water drop and ripples

Ruggerio is getting feisty!

By Justin Katz | December 24, 2021 |

This is a notably aggressive tweet, responding to provocations from progressive gubernatorial candidate Matt Brown, from the historically reserved Senate President, Dominick Ruggerio: Mr. Brown claims to know working people. I’ve fought for working people my whole life, and I just got done fighting for wage bonuses equating to $15/hr for childcare workers. Matt, you…

A water drop and ripples

Apocalyptic COVID stories feel like manipulative distractions from the real problem.

By Justin Katz | December 24, 2021 |

If the story Brian Amaral wanted to frame with his apocalyptic Boston Globe article about COVID in Kent Hospital in Warwick is that hospital employees are struggling because the state has mismanaged their industry and because it’s disappointing to watch unvaccinated patients die with COVID, he overshot by a long way.  The message from his…

A water drop and ripples

Is Ruggerio dialing back the progressive wave?

By Justin Katz | December 23, 2021 |

Reading political tea leaves from interviews is an iffy game, but this feels like a bit of a tone change from Democrat Senate President Dominick Ruggerio: On the Rhode Island Report podcast, state Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio said he opposes raising the income tax rate for the richest Rhode Islanders, saying he fears they…

A water drop and ripples

Our monomaniacal focus on COVID may have a silver lining.

By Justin Katz | December 23, 2021 |

This is an interesting report from Joseph Curl, for the Daily Wire: Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research think they have created a new vaccine that is effective against all COVID and SARS variants, according to a new report. “Within weeks, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to announce…

A water drop and ripples

Yes, CRT is in the schools.

By Justin Katz | December 23, 2021 |

In case anybody is still making the claim that there isn’t any critical race theory (CRT) in American public schools, John Murawski has an extensive article on RealClearInvestigations presenting evidence that there is: These denials, which have been amplified by many news organizations, are at odds with overwhelming evidence – documented by class lessons, school curricula,…

A water drop and ripples

The United States has so much energy potential.

By Justin Katz | December 22, 2021 |

The current occupant of the White House may have dialed our nation’s capacity to generate sources of energy, but at least our system for handling its shipment and export is moving forward: The United States is on course to have the world’s biggest exporting capacity of liquified natural gas (LNG) by 2022, surpassing Qatar and…

A water drop and ripples

Maybe a reminder is necessary on “Latinx.”

By Justin Katz | December 22, 2021 |

Enforced use of the term, “Latinx,” is exactly the cultural imperialism that progressives claim to oppose.  As usual, they only actually oppose the forced spread of ideas that don’t jibe with their own beliefs.  Just look at how Marisa Penaloza writes about a Pew Research Center survey finding “only 3% [of Latinos] say they use…