Ripple

A water drop and ripples

It’s still amazing to me that some folks malign GOP representatives for this.

By Justin Katz | December 17, 2021 |

Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Louie Gohmert visited the men being held in prison for involvement in January 6 and released a report of their findings. That this isn’t a subject of interest much more broadly is mind blowing.  In fact, much of the commentary I see treats it as somehow inappropriate of Greene…

A water drop and ripples

Is Rhode Island too small for its own citizens’ good?

By Justin Katz | December 16, 2021 |

One part of my diagnosis of Rhode Island’s problems is that it’s just not big enough for opposing factions to build up and keep each other honest in state-level government.  Pushback against the New York governor’s mask mandate at the county level brough that to mind: At least 13 counties in New York state are…

A water drop and ripples

Get it while it’s mild!

By Justin Katz | December 16, 2021 |

I’m more or less with Stephen Green on this question: I really want to catch the omicron variant, and the sooner the better. … The best part? That Israeli study showing that a combination of natural immunity plus vaccination is the best protection against some nastier variant. I already got the shots. Now science is…

A water drop and ripples

Incorrect truck tolls are another source of inconvenience.

By Justin Katz | December 16, 2021 |

When people in government are pushing for new programs, especially programs to extract money from the economy, it’s crucial to remember all the little unforeseen events — inconveniences, errors, and so on.  The fact that nothing ever works as perfectly in real life as it does on paper is why voters and taxpayers ought always…

A water drop and ripples

You really need to witness the absurdity of men in women’s sports.

By Justin Katz | December 15, 2021 |

Understandably the text and numbers provided in news stories about the record-setting run of a male swimmer identifying as a female in Ivy League competitions are kind of abstract to most people.  Matt Walsh provides video of Princeton’s trans superstar lapping the competition: Just to show you how absurd this is. Here’s the trans swimmer…

A water drop and ripples

The bias against traditional values is deep and pervasive.

By Justin Katz | December 15, 2021 |

Those who think that a Christian flag should be unique in being disallowed from public flagpoles may not be bigots: Over the past 12 years there have been 284 flags—from LGBTQ rainbow flags, a Turkish flag with the Islamic star, to Communist China flags—raised on a public flagpole owned by the city of Boston. But…

A water drop and ripples

I’m scared for our future.

By Justin Katz | December 15, 2021 |

Welcome to modern America (or Rhode Island, at least).  An unspecified “threatening message” in a girls’ bathroom at Barrington High School has cautious administrators increasing the presence of police until the schools dismiss for Christmas break. In turn, panicked teens are getting themselves on television by petitioning for distance learning because they are (some say)…

A water drop and ripples

Omicron should inspire humility among experts.

By Justin Katz | December 14, 2021 |

Hopefully, an unanticipated silver lining to our society’s COVID-response overkill will be a return among the masses to healthy skepticism about experts.  We all operate by some unarticulated calculation — let’s call it an assessment of action function — then one variable should, yes, be the best available calculation of probability, but that variable has…

A water drop and ripples

Another contrarian observation about climate change.

By Justin Katz | December 14, 2021 |

Well, salmon should be hoping for global warming, anyway: Melting glaciers may produce thousands of miles of new Pacific salmon habitat, a study published Tuesday by Nature Communications found. As glaciers in the mountains of western North America melt, or retreat, they could produce around 4,000 miles of new Pacific salmon habitat by the year…

A water drop and ripples

Why would there be accountability for droning children in Afghanistan?

By Justin Katz | December 14, 2021 |

Remember when the American military accidentally blew up an aid worker and seven children in his family? Yeah, well, nobody will face consequences for that: “What we saw here was a breakdown in process and execution in procedural events, not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership,”…