Justin Katz
Some folks see a headline screaming “no link” and run with the statement, claiming vindication and calling for investigations into the president’s supposed war crimes. Other folks look more closely at the report (PDF) and notice such things as the abstract: Captured Iraqi documents have uncovered evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to…
As Anthony Picarello, General Counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, explains marriage isn’t just about the rights of the individuals; it’s about the individuals’ relationship with society: The moral implications of changing the definition of marriage are where the debate has been largely centered. But, the legal implications of that same change are…
Reading news of Providence Mayor Cicilline’s intention to borrow money from the federal government to deal with foreclosed neighborhoods brings to mind, once again, the fact that debt is excluded from municipalities’ spending increase maximums. Standing on a sidewalk lined with boarded-up houses in the city’s West End, Mayor David N. Cicilline yesterday announced plans…
A Sakonnet Times story that does not appear to be online confirms my suspicions: Tiverton’s going to raise my taxes even more than the previously suggested maximum. Apparently, “the big jump is in the debt service on school bonds” (a 45% increase), followed by an estimated 3.2% increase for the school district. Of course, Rhode…
During my commute home, Dan Yorke was interviewing some of the Hispanic leaders involved in the rally demanding action against Providence store-owner David Richardson, and he asked one of them — a man of the cloth — what Jesus would do. The minister’s response was to cite Jesus’ overturning of the money changers’ tables in…
One can hear, in the expected quarters, the admonition that Eliot Spitzer’s $80,000 whoring habit is a private matter. I wonder how many who’d make that argument also see David Richardson’s travails in Providence — where he recently requested proof of the citizenship status of an Hispanic customer to his store — as private. I…
See, this sort of thing ought to be a state government’s first priority: After reexamining the condition of Rhode Island’s bridges, the state Department of Transportation has identified the need for “approximately $600 million in bridge repair and replacement projects” over the next five years, Governor Carcieri told a press conference today. But the money…
… and other budget draining policies in Rhode Island, I’d suggest that most of the solutions for this problem are of an indirect nature: The heads of four Rhode Island hospitals testified yesterday that their medical institutions are teetering on the brink of financial disaster. And they pleaded with key lawmakers to help — or…
It was a welcome observation, during my short lunch break, that Bob Owens of Smithfield has my back: Does Mr. Crowley expect everyone to live in a liberal-socialist utopia where everyone gets paid the same no matter what his or her job is — as, say, in Cuba, with all the benefits one gets in…
Well, I know how to fix this. Let’s focus on the how-to of “safe sex,” destigmatize lascivious behavior, increase access to the abortive undo, remove pressure toward (indeed undermine the culture of) marriage, and attack anybody who voices opinions fitting the 1960s radical’s definition of repressive: About 1 in 4 teenage girls in the United…