Justin Katz

A water drop and ripples

And we await the official statements about hate not being tolerated…

By Justin Katz | February 20, 2023 |

Let’s see how different the reaction is to this incident compared with vandalism targeting other religious groups.

Blue dragon of Roger Williams Park Carousel

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Insider Job-Go-Round

By Justin Katz | February 20, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz check in on the insider operations of the RI State House, bureaucracy, and media.

Posters on a city wall

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Poster Children in RI Politics

By Justin Katz | February 15, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz go over the characters and controversies of state government in Rhode Island.

Potions and skull

Junk science in service of trans ideology is an assault on truth.

By Justin Katz | February 10, 2023 |

One of the ways in which our society has gotten to its current predicament is a combined corruption of and overreliance on science.  Contrary to those who treat it as a source of existential truth, science is merely a process for answering questions.  My preferred formulation is that it’s a way of coming to agreement…

Racial conflict fist as a green light

History suggests that now is the time to start speaking up in Rhode Island.

By Justin Katz | February 8, 2023 |

A broad review of history suggests that the time to stop a dangerous social or political trend is when the changes being implemented are relatively minor and the concerns are arguably still hypothetical.  At that stage, the general value of cooperation can overcome the preferences of this or that faction.  As the factions disregard the…

Surveillance cameras on a pole

Providence’s mugging visitors is a dumb (but typical) thing to do.

By Justin Katz | February 7, 2023 |

Although the bit has probably been recycled many times, the easiest version to find is a scene from L.A. Story, with Steve Martin.  A street ATM has two lines:  On the right are people waiting to take out cash; on the left are people waiting for their turn to mug them.  As Martin walks away with his…

A broken window

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Credibility in Government

By Justin Katz | February 6, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz talk the Rhode Island politics of the day.

Crazy Eggs

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Crazy Activists in Schools and the State House

By Justin Katz | February 5, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the madness permeating our state.

A water drop and ripples

Journalists face a real risk to digging into Antifa.

By Justin Katz | January 30, 2023 |

Andy Ngo continues to do the work mainstream journalists won’t digging into the ranks of Antifa: They present themselves as rebels against the system, fighting to preserve a piece of local woodland. Yet many of the terrorist suspects arrested and charged over occupying government property and the violent attack in downtown Atlanta on Saturday are…

A message in a bottle at the beach

Rhode Island Republicans need a new policy strategy.

By Justin Katz | January 30, 2023 |

Two stories in the news recently have been nagging at me in combination over the past week.  The first is the Republican response to Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s State of the State address, as delivered by Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz.  Here’s the part that resonates particularly oddly: Where McKee called for cutting…