Justin Katz
When it so happens that the powers that be seem intent on acting in opposition to crystal clear reality, citizens are compelled to act. In Rhode Island, there’s hope — or, in any case, we’ve hope — that plain information will serve to stop the tides, because it is in the universal self-interest to do…
It would have been helpful of Karen Lee Ziner to provide some detail as to the factuality of this assertion: [Steven] Brown, of the ACLU, [who isn’t a lawyer, by the way] called Richardson’s actions “clearly and patently illegal” and said “there are legal remedies available” for people who believe their civil liberties have been…
How like life that this week should find me simultaneously (1) working as much overtime as possible, (2) attempting to devote as much time as possible to the season’s religious obligations, and (3) determined to address some weighty topics here on Anchor Rising (still forthcoming, given my schedule). Against that background, I’m absolutely astonished that…
A typo in Tom Killin Dalglish’s Sakonnet Times piece on the Tiverton police department sexual harassment suits is just too ripe for speculation of the subconscious not to note it: Defendants named in the lawsuits besides the Town of Tiverton are James Amarantes (the former town treasurer), Louis Durfee (president of the Town Council), Mr.…
I may be incorrect about this, but the historic tax credits appear to be of a different nature than the movie industry tax credits. The latter are ultimately advance giveaways of tax money yet to be collected. The credits are handed to a production company, which can sell them to third-parties that aren’t at all…
The Providence Journal’s Steve Peoples provides another scrapbook entry for the file illustrating how average folk around her develop such a skewed understanding of the state’s operation: Governor Carcieri has asked the state’s highest court to strike down a law passed last year that he says threatens to paralyze Rhode Island government by blocking his…
Not surprisingly the Prostitution State is also the Corruption State. AG Patrick Lynch has proposed legislation to make the latter illegal: Amid the drumbeat of alleged public corruption scandals in Rhode Island, state legislators are considering a bill that would for the first time make it a felony to violate the public trust. Currently —…
Tom Sgouros decries the lack of worthy investments for people with money. The problem, he’s arguing, isn’t that the wealthy don’t have the money to invest; it’s that they have nowhere to invest it; they’re holding it or directing it to safer investments. Me, I’ll take his argument at face value, because I think he…
Concerned about your business prospects in the domestic market? Well, Providence Journal business-section columnist John Kostrzewa has a suggestion: With the local and national economies weakening, and perhaps already in recession, small and large businesses are worried about where the growth will come from in 2008. How about looking overseas, especially to China? He offers…
If you haven’t already read it, the final installment of Kenneth Payne’s review of how Rhode Island reached its current state of political mire. One key thing to remember, as wrangling over budgets and state government action continues: The General Assembly’s powers are plenary and unlimited, except as those powers are restricted by the U.S.…