Justin Katz

It’s All in the “But”

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2007 |

This is for those who think that Rudy Giuliani’s philosophy on the judiciary will compensate for his personal view on abortion: “But with Roe—a strict constructionist judge could come to either conclusion about Roe v. Wade. He could come to the conclusion that it was incorrectly decided, overturn it, or he could decide well, it’s…

“What I Would Do If I Weren’t So Wedded to the Side of All Things Good”

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2007 |

It’s a curious — somewhat humorous — thing to read a well-meaning and fair-minded progressive attempting to work his way around to advising the other side. Here’s Ian Donnis: One school of thought, popular among at least a few of the posters at Anchor Rising, is that the state’s budget meltdown will cause dramatic and…

RI College Republicans’ Brown Streak

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2007 |

Not to pick on the Ivy model of Rhode Island’s College Republican collection, but this line from Sean Quigley, second vice chairman of the College Republican Federation of Rhode Island, treasurer of the Brown College Republicans, and Brown Daily Herald columnist, is too precious to let pass: “I don’t mean to sound elitist, but we…

Internet as International Allegory

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2007 |

The obviousness of keeping the Internet out of the hands of U.N.-approved tyrannies provides an opportunity to consider the internationalist impulse more generally: When hundreds of technology experts from around the world gather here this week to hammer out the future of the Internet, the hottest issue won’t be spam, phishing or any of the…

That’s Tellin’ ‘Em

By Justin Katz | November 15, 2007 |

Unfortunately, Melissa Wicks’s letter to the Sakonnet Times does not appear to be online, but the Tiverton resident has a point of view with which many folks outside of town government and a specific neighborhood probably sympathize: Since the current Sakonnet River Bridge is so pristine, I can see why there is a $14 million…

A Front-Page Parody of Journalism

By Justin Katz | November 15, 2007 |

Even just the lead of the Providence Journal’s front-page reprint of this McClatchy Newspapers story deserves an LOL: With little to gain and much to lose, the [Democrat] party’s presidential hopefuls avoid highlighting their positions, which are more moderate than their GOP rivals. But David Lightman’s actual text gets even better (if one is judging…

Party, Shmarty, Everybody Works Hard

By Justin Katz | November 14, 2007 |

During a brief break, some of my fellow attendees of the Tiverton Charter Review Commission meeting engaged me in discussion, with two interesting points made: A Republican suggested that running as such probably costs a candidate votes. A Planning Board member suggested that, in Tiverton (at least), party doesn’t really matter, because anybody elected to…

How Things Happen (?)

By Justin Katz | November 14, 2007 |

I wasn’t planning to attend tonight’s meeting of the Tiverton Charter Review Commission, but based on the concern about its actions expressed by the school committee last night, I thought it worth observing. Also based on that concern, I sorta expected the attendance to be greater. I’m one of nine non-commission attendees, a group including:…

Re: “What Can We Do?”

By Justin Katz | November 14, 2007 |

At last night’s Tiverton town council meeting, my man Councilor Hannibal Costa took the opportunity of a routine tax assessor request (regarding the firm that will handle the assessment) to make everybody well aware that he’s not going to sit idly by while rates get jacked up — what with all those houses sitting on…

A School Committee Meeting as It Should Be (Without Crowley)

By Justin Katz | November 13, 2007 |

Tonight’s Tiverton School Committee meeting gave a taste of how things might operate in a union-free school district: a quiet and respectful audience; parents and teachers making reports and suggestions as if giving testimony as concerned and/or informed parties; a general feel of give and take. In other words, there wasn’t the sense that a…