Justin Katz

Radical Change by Definition

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2004 |

PROEM: Since this is my first post on same-sex marriage on this blog, it is probably relevant to note that I’ve already written extensively on the topic. Barbara Gordon of Pawtucket is “distressed” at various efforts to write into the law explicitly what, until recently, everybody thought to be there by definition: I believe it…

Leading by the Force of Example

By Justin Katz | November 15, 2004 |

On the radio, Dan Yorke is talking about the possibility of Condoleezza Rice’s ascension to the post of Secretary of State. Yorke speaks often and forcefully in support of women’s rights and respectful treatment of them, so I’m sure it pains him to say it, but he’s concerned that Condoleezza’s gender will represent a problem…

The Influx of Sanity

By Justin Katz | November 15, 2004 | Comments Off on The Influx of Sanity

I see that Marc beat me to mentioning that Tom Coyne piece. When I first spotted Coyne’s headline, on Saturday, before I realized who the author was, I smirked; in Rhode Island, even the mantra that the “politics have got to change” has been corroded by endemic apathy. The most proximate cause of my delay…

Too Late for Early Housing

By Justin Katz | November 13, 2004 |

While we’re in the midst of our first weekend content lull, it seems as good a time as any to republish a vlog post of mine from January 2003 (mostly so it’ll be in the archives here). In the surrounding weeks, I made a few short blog-like videos, but the time it took to make…

Acclimating to RI’s Education Dispute

By Justin Katz | November 12, 2004 |

Commenting to a post by Marc, Rich from East Greenwich offers several specific questions that he might ask if mediating teacher contract disputes there. Among the considerations that he proposes is a comparison of teachers compensation with the median for the town. Although not addressing East Greenwich, Marc and I worked through some of these…

The Anchor in the Corner

By Justin Katz | November 12, 2004 |

A beleaguered — but hearty and hopeful — welcome to readers of NRO’s Corner. By way of assuring Mr. Ponnuru that there do exist conservatives in Rhode Island, I note that this blog is the product of three of them and that there are at least four other rightish bloggers in the state. Away from…

Burning a Hole in Your Pocket

By Justin Katz | November 12, 2004 |

Pre–election day, Marc and I had a short cross-blog exchange that touched on the state ballot’s spending referenda. Marc did his homework and argued on behalf of some of the spending measures, including the URI biotech center. For my part, noting that I considered mine little more than a protest vote, I declared: “not a…

Double Checking the Chastener

By Justin Katz | November 11, 2004 |

While I’m proud to see him touting New England’s Roman Catholics as a pivotal demographic, University of Connecticut and Catholic University professor William D’Antonio was a bit bold in his comments last week in the Boston Globe: For all the Bible Belt talk about family values, it is the people from Kerry’s home state, along…

A Charitable Interpretation

By Justin Katz | November 10, 2004 |

Michelle Malkin color-coded a by-state generosity index to reflect the election outcomes. Wading through the eighteen blue states — not one of which broke the top twenty-five — I found a silver lining for Rhode Island: at least we beat Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Putting aside methodological questions, what could account for RI’s poor showing?…

Bush v. California

By Justin Katz | November 10, 2004 |

Froma Harrop walks a strange line between liberal and conservative principles in a recent column about economic differences between the Red States and the Blue States, and the tax-cut implications thereof. It’s a thick topic, even when it isn’t encumbered by an underlying theme of pinning something undesirable to President Bush’s back. Consequently, I’m not…