Justin Katz

The Faces of Anchor Rising

By Justin Katz | August 9, 2007 |

We’ve been surprised to learn, over the past year or so, how many people don’t entirely get how much of a group project Anchor Rising actually is. If the ventures of one of us bring a particular reader to the page, that writer has seemed to become the “face” of the blog for him or…

Aphorisms in Abundance

By Justin Katz | August 9, 2007 |

Michelle Malkin’s promotion of a book called 50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education has led to quite an extensive collection of aphorisms in her comments section. I’d add three: People don’t have to be equally valuable to be of equal value. Sometimes people are to blame for their own…

The Sound of the Empire’s End

By Justin Katz | August 8, 2007 |

Promising and active young professionals (among others) are fleeing Great Britain: BRITAIN is facing a mass exodus of people looking to escape the crime and grime of modern living. The country’s biggest foreign visa consultancy firm has revealed that applications have soared in the last seven months by 80 per cent to almost 4,000 a…

Run to the City (or Town) of Refuge

By Justin Katz | August 8, 2007 |

Apparently, I’m not the only resident of Tiverton who knows that something wicked is this way coming: The Rhode Island budget deficit will bankrupt the state in just a few years. I wonder if most of the state’s citizens are aware of just what this means: • Governmental collapse. • Extreme cuts in essential services, such as…

Counteracting “Progressives”

By Justin Katz | August 8, 2007 |

As it happens, I agree with Jonah Goldberg’s response to conservatives who are concerned about the reemergence of the term “progressive” as a trick to maneuver opponents into the rhetorical position of “against progress”: Re: the need for conservatives to come up with their own label. No thanks. Sure, I’d like to have “liberal” back…

A Parade of Ideological Conformity

By Justin Katz | August 7, 2007 |

Well, look, clearly it was wrong of the city fire department — with its openly devout Christian fire chief — to order its men to participate in a faith-based parade during which they were subjected to aggressive and offensive suggestions as to their own religions… oh, wait a sec; that’s not how the story goes:…

Two for the Price of Three

By Justin Katz | August 7, 2007 |

I’m not sure why the Providence Journal is making such a big deal about public workers’ overtime. My understanding is that such employees’ benefits packages cost significantly more than 50% of their salaries, so it’s cheaper to have them work extra hours than to bring on somebody new to share the workload. If there’s a…

The Cost of a Job That Can’t Be Done

By Justin Katz | August 3, 2007 |

It is certainly worth reminding ourselves that parents, as a group, bear some of the blame — most of it — for children doing poorly in school. But inasmuch as parents don’t draw government salaries, receive paid days off, or claim retirement benefits for their efforts, the public rightly makes schools an area of particular…

For Fathers, Responsibility Should Come with Choice (If Only of One Option)

By Justin Katz | August 3, 2007 |

Of course, I’d argue that moral laws would forbid abortion whatever the father’s opinion, but I’m sympathetic to the incremental gain that some Ohio lawmakers are seeking: Several Ohio state representatives who normally take an anti-abortion stance are now pushing pro-choice legislation – sort of. Led by Rep. John Adams, a group of state legislators…

Even Though Void or Because Void?

By Justin Katz | August 3, 2007 |

A quick online search didn’t lead to the actual documents, but based on the Providence Journal story about the various legal briefs filed in the case of Rhode Island’s granting a same-sex divorce, it appears that just about everybody argued predictably, mainly based on broader perspectives than the narrow question facing the court. The one…