Justin Katz

Teacher and students

School districts still have illegal provisions in their contracts.

By Justin Katz | March 9, 2022 |

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity has localized a study from the Mackinac Center finding that some school districts in Rhode Island continue to have provisions in their teacher contracts that don’t reflect the right of teachers to work without joining the union and requiring express consent to enroll them: According to the Mackinac…

A water drop and ripples

Paying your debts is social justice.

By Justin Katz | March 8, 2022 |

Maybe I’m just entering that late-middle-age phase, but it seems to me that younger adults — or all of us, with reference to times that were before our time — too infrequently understand the experience of the past.  Consider this find from Tim Worstall for Accuracy in Media: A new piece from Teen Vogue says that…

A water drop and ripples

Why not just leave anachronistic “plantations” in place where it’s historical and difficult to remove?

By Justin Katz | March 8, 2022 |

Patrick Anderson follows up on the state’s ongoing efforts to change its official name everywhere, following a constitutional edit during the last election: You don’t have to look too hard to find the words Providence Plantations on state buildings, a year and a half after Rhode Island voters deleted them from the state name. The…

A man fuels his car

Don’t let them spin away the pain they’re infliction on Americans.

By Justin Katz | March 8, 2022 |

Gas prices have hit record highs in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, according to AAA.  We’ve achieved and exceeded the pain some of us remember all too well from the Obama years: In one week, Rhode Island gas prices rose 58 cents and Massachusetts saw a growth of 54 cents. AAA Northeast says Rhode Island’s average…

A communist monument

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Corruption and Politics Stew

By Justin Katz | March 7, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz lift the curtain on messaging and posturing in RI politics.

A water drop and ripples

Funny how we’ve forgotten why the state took over Providence schools.

By Justin Katz | March 7, 2022 |

It’s depressing to say, but it looks like the anti-reform strategy of the teachers unions and other special interests succeeded.  From the beginning, it was clear that the plan was to delay and obfuscate attempts at correcting the unforgivably terrible performance of Providence schools until the attention of the public moved on. For some reason,…

A water drop and ripples

You’re not the only one thinking the COVID trajectory all looks kind of… deliberate.

By Justin Katz | March 7, 2022 |

Ed Driscoll rounds up a little bit of the commentary, including: TWITTER THREAD ON 2020 AND ITS AFTERMATH: “The Democrats saw an opportunity with the emergence of Covid to crush a roaring economy under a president they didn’t like. So they, & their base, did everything in their power to impose crushing restrictions on small…

CDC COVID count maps

Could COVID have ended with a more-political feel?

By Justin Katz | March 7, 2022 |

And just like that, the whole thing’s wished away.  Strategies that some of us have been down-throttled, blocked, or even deplatformed for suggesting over the past two years are suddenly the common wisdom of the “experts,” and images of Anthony Fauci are floating around social media with the text, “Have you seen me?” Since the…

A water drop and ripples

Hey, have you heard about that election fraud in Wisconsin?

By Justin Katz | March 4, 2022 |

Strange how little I’ve been seeing about stories like this in my rounds of news collection. You’d think it’d be of broad interest. Rampant fraud and abuse occurred statewide at Wisconsin’s nursing homes and other residential care facilities,” according to the Office of Special Counsel’s second interim report filed on March 1 with the Wisconsin…

Piggybank with mask

Imagine no special-interest feeding frenzies.

By Justin Katz | March 4, 2022 |

Look, I know this is normal and human, and I wouldn’t actually fault the people involved, but for a little Friday-afternoon fantasizing, let’s imagine this not being the case: When Rhode Island received its $1.13 billion slice of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make tangible investments across the…