Justin Katz

Rudy Almighty

By Justin Katz | June 13, 2007 |

Is it me, or is there something similar in the eyes of the following two pictures (both from the ad-cycling page to which Marc links)? The picture at right is, of course, from the new neo-Noah film Evan Almighty, and given Rudy’s famous social liberalism (as well as my selective cropping), I can’t help but…

Teaching Our Children to Fear

By Justin Katz | June 7, 2007 |

I’m not just being a contrarian when I say that I have concerns about this legislation: The Rhode Island Senate has approved legislation creating the “Lindsay Ann Burke Act,” an effort to protect those most vulnerable to dating violence by calling on schools to provide dating violence education for middle school and high school students.…

Drunk on Antiseptics

By Justin Katz | June 7, 2007 |

I was at a loss to choose a category for this curious bit of information — which I originally thought to be typical email-forward spam — but it seems like something worth knowing about: Just wanted to send you a quick email and warn you about using hand sanitizers wtih your young kids. We have…

How to Defuse a Rabble Rouser

By Justin Katz | June 7, 2007 |

Go beyond addressing his concerns before he’s even asked. It also helped to quell my ire that it took over two hours for the Tiverton zoning board to get to the matter of renovations to the school next to my house last night. While I waited, I was able to peruse the project plans and…

Into the Abyss or the Same-but-Different?

By Justin Katz | June 6, 2007 |

There’s an attraction, among older folks, to validating what the kids are doing. Nobody wants to become the modern version of that fuddy-duddy whom they mocked as children, but there’s a risk of overlooking important considerations as one rushes to be cool about the modern-day Walkman, the latest music, or newfangled manifestations of the recklessness…

Advancing the SSM Conversation

By Justin Katz | June 5, 2007 |

Matt from Unlikely Words makes an excellent point in response to my most recent post on same-sex marriage, excellent because it advances a conversation that tends toward talking past one another: The statistics don’t enter into it. Even accepting the claim (which I don’t doubt) that many or even most married couples have children isn’t…

I’ve Had It… With What? or
I’ve Always Been a Troublemaker, so Why Stop Now? or
Learning the Laffey Lesson

By Justin Katz | June 4, 2007 |

After a bit of consideration, I’m not so sure I’ve the resources to up and leave Rhode Island. There’s an ire that rises when one feels trapped, but at the same time, brawling has its attractions, and a couple of community items have recently led me to believe that there’s another path to take than…

Maintaining a Light Hand Now to Avoid a Heavy Hand Later

By Justin Katz | June 1, 2007 |

Before the paragraph devolves into raving, commenter Greg asks a valid question worthy of an answer: How can we be for a small, non-intrusive government when we tell people that we won’t acknowledge their relationships because they don’t insert Tab A into Slot B like the rest of us do? And what does it matter…

See, Here’s the Thing About Evolutionary Argumentation

By Justin Katz | June 1, 2007 |

It is not my intention, herewith, to offer a supporting addendum to Sam Brownback’s New York Times piece about evolution, although I think his gist is surpassingly reasonable. Rather, in reading the discussion of that piece in the Corner — which I’m sure is, or might as well be, playing out in various venues across…

Watch What (Rudy) You Wish For

By Justin Katz | May 31, 2007 |

I’ve certainly been puzzled and somewhat distressed at some social conservatives’ arguably impulsive support for Rudy Giuliani, but the Cato Institute’s David Boaz thinks libertarians ought to be wary of that particular cult of personality, as well: … Throughout his career, Giuliani has displayed an authoritarian streak that would be all the more problematic in…