Culture

Sunset pictures of two biplanes

Mysteries of the Sky

By John Loughlin | December 3, 2022 |

Richard Gillespie, executive director of TIGHAR.org, speaks with John about Amelia Earhart and other aircraft mysteries.

Framing for a circular window

Gratuitous detail and the human touch are the keys to great architecture.

By Justin Katz | November 25, 2022 |

Ed Driscoll points to a great post by Scott Alexander that investigates the aesthetic gap between the classic and the modern.  Alexander starts with architecture and a “conspiracy theory”: Imagine a postapocalyptic world. Beside the ruined buildings of our own civilization – St. Peter’s Basilica, the Taj Mahal, those really great Art Deco skyscrapers –…

A cat man plays accordion

Bartholomew’s cat-trans stance is typical of backwards progressives.

By Justin Katz | October 27, 2022 |

Clearing out the links I’ve put aside, I came across a tweet that Bill Bartholomew sent out with a clip of himself on A Lively Experiment in early September, and he makes a point that’s still worth considering, related to stories around that time that schools were accommodating students who’d declared themselves to identify as cats:…

A confused girl

We’re watching our children be messed up in real time.

By Justin Katz | October 14, 2022 |

The Rhode Island Department of Health’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey is beginning to capture the ways in which we’re sowing confusion and discord among our children.

Lizzo is the perfect illustration of the dishonest game being played.

By Justin Katz | September 29, 2022 |

We can have honest discussions about propriety and the conflicting emotional reactions people have to public images, but the strange controversy over pop-star Lizzo’s playing an historic flute of James Madison’s is a great illustration of the dishonesty of mainstream progressive rhetoric. It is as clear as a crystal instrument that the mainstream isn’t interested…

Racial conflict fist as a green light

Elorza’s reparations head fake is telling.

By Justin Katz | August 24, 2022 |

Although families and individuals who can show a direct link to harm by a specific government entity should, of course, have recourse, the idea that a city, state, or country should broadly atone for the sins of the people who used to live there is wrong-headed even in concept — more so in a churning,…

A water drop and ripples

Monkeypox may prove the cost of woke restrictions on acceptable observations.

By Justin Katz | August 4, 2022 |

As local media sources have started to track instances of monkeypox in our area, I’ve wondered how many Rhode Islanders know that it is mostly (although not entirely) a venereal disease spreading mostly among gay men.  Except, as Rod Dreher points out, that’s not a fact to which we’re permitted to react: Scott Gottlieb, former…

Rock quarry scene from Breaking Away

A note about being a genuine cutter…

By Justin Katz | July 30, 2022 |

The secret is that we can always be geniune.

Rattlesnake warning sign

Senator Tiara Mack’s destructive immaturity ignores our cultural warning signs.

By Justin Katz | July 12, 2022 |

After a week of national coverage, with Tucker Carlson jokingly lauding her honesty and encouraging the Democrat Party to embrace her more fully, most Rhode Islanders who pay any attention to the news have probably heard about Tiara Mack’s twerking performance.  Even the local media had to take some notice, at least to the extent…

A water drop and ripples

A random thought on Billy Joel…

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2022 |

I listened to so much Billy Joel as a tween and teen that one could almost say he was something of a father figure for me (hey, don’t judge).  One of his songs just came up on my shuffle, inspiring me to check in BillyJoel.com, which I haven’t visited in years.  With a few exceptions,…