Justin Katz

Questions and Answers on Same-Sex Marriage

By Justin Katz | November 9, 2007 |

After some brawl-in-the-schoolyard circling, commenter Pragmatist and I have started up another round of the same-sex marriage dialog on Anchor Rising, thus far in the form of a question and answer exchange. Thinking the exercise worthwhile (and curious to see how far we’ll get with it this time), I considered a post of its own…

Tiverton School Committee Teaches Union How to Release Spreadsheets

By Justin Katz | November 8, 2007 |

A while back, the NEA’s Patrick Crowley released a highly spun spreadsheet related to union and school committee healthcare proposals in Tiverton. It left me with more questions and concerns than I initially had. Recently, I asked the school committee whether they’d publish an itemized budget, as the town council does, and although it might…

Regional Government in Two-and-a-Half Acts

By Justin Katz | November 6, 2007 |

Most of the changes that the Department of Transportation proposed to the new Sakonnet Bridge project, last night, were centered on cost savings. The bridge will be starting closer to the water; parts of it will be built on back-filled land (rather than additional structural columns); the metal will be “weathered steel,” which acquires a…

Once Again Making the Central Point, Which Supporters of Same-Sex Marriage Somehow Never Manage to Address (At Least Not Until the Debate Has Gone on Long Enough That the Average Person Has Stopped Reading)

By Justin Katz | November 6, 2007 |

How is it possible that people who ostensibly pay attention to the news and to the public dialog still make such arguments as Charles Bakst’s on behalf of same-sex marriage without addressing a response — stated in many public discussions for years, now — that is central to the opposing side’s worldview? Here’s Bakst: [Bishop…

A Bridge to Somewhere

By Justin Katz | November 5, 2007 |

Tonight’s Tiverton Town Council meeting will almost entirely — excepting the closed executive session, of course &#151 be taken up with a presentation concerning some proposed changes to the New Sakonnet Bridge from Tiverton to Portsmouth. I will say this: comparing the before and (proposed) after pictures really gives one a sense of what government…

A Note for Our Dialogue

By Justin Katz | November 4, 2007 |

Well, if we’re all going to sit around the table and resolve the healthcare crisis in Rhode Island, as Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts wishes, I’d like to make sure that this sort of testimony doesn’t slip out of sight onto the floor: Unfortunately Sicko is a dishonest film. That is not only my opinion. It…

Turnabout: Who, Whether, Why?

By Justin Katz | November 4, 2007 |

Dan Yorke has wondered who among Rhode Island’s governing elites will be the first to break off from the pack and join the governor in taking dramatic steps to stop the sky from falling. While honesty requires me to admit that Yorke’s studies of the topic are much more extensive, and his knowledge of the…

Just Do Good

By Justin Katz | November 4, 2007 |

It’s certainly easy and natural to boo-hoo the do-gooders who lament the state of their profession: But now the 29-year-old faces a predicament shared by many young strivers in Washington’s public interest field. After years of amassing so many achievements, they struggle to find full-time employment with decent pay and realize they might not get…

Technical Difficulties

By Justin Katz | November 3, 2007 |

At least from my computer, it appears that we’re having some technical difficulties, with Anchor Rising being replaced at intervals with one of those generic stolen-URL promotional sites. As it happens our domain name registration renews today, but that may very well be coincidental. Perhaps, with the storm, connections are being lost somewhere out there…

How the Miracle Will Sit

By Justin Katz | November 3, 2007 |

This is a touching story, and whether one would have made different decisions as a parent requires much reflection, but it’s easy to imagine Gabriel reacting to it quite differently than his parents might expect: When doctors found that Gabriel was weaker than his brother, with an enlarged heart,and believed he was going to die…