Justin Katz

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…

Can’t Teach an Old Media New Tricks, Either

By Justin Katz | November 3, 2007 |

Glenn is right that this isn’t exactly surprising news, but it’s worth remembering from time to time throughout the egregiously extended campaign season: Just like so many reports before it, a joint survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy — hardly a…

A Cornucopia of Veto Overrides

By Justin Katz | October 31, 2007 |

My emailbox is aflood with announcements of the General Assembly’s overrides of Governor Carcieri’s latest vetos. Not a single press release contains the phrase “failed to override.” Some highlights of the GA’s actions-by-override: Created another voice for established players to govern healthcare in Rhode Island — a Health Care Planning and Accountability Advisory Council —…

A Fallacy of Fallacies

By Justin Katz | October 30, 2007 |

Putting aside his petty complaints that Dan Yorke and Lori Drew interrupted him on the radio (but noting that I heard him interrupting Ms. Drew moments before chastising her for doing the same), this aspect of John McNally’s thoughts on his appearance on Dan Yorke’s show relates to a question that I’ve had since first…

Lessons Beyond Reading… and Administration

By Justin Katz | October 30, 2007 |

The truth — unfortunate or fortunate — is that I read much more explicit, more sexually descriptive texts for school work than Will Clarke’s “How to Kill a Boy That No One Liked” (PDF sample courtesy of Dan Yorke), including, for example, books by Stephen King in which not a few young fellas likely knew…

Making It Your Job to Stay Healthy

By Justin Katz | October 29, 2007 |

The economics of changing insurance rates based on demonstration of a healthy lifestyle are simply to understand. Still, do we really wish to make it the responsibility of employers to enforce those lifestyles? [State Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F.] Koller explained that HEALTHpact was created, at the direction of Governor Carcieri and the General Assembly,…