Rhode Island Culture

In a Land of Waning Religion?

By Justin Katz | January 4, 2010 |

Ted Nesi has culled the local data from a national survey concerning American religion: Rhode Island residents are among the least religious in the country, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington. Just 44 percent of Rhode Island and Connecticut residents surveyed by Pew…

Abstract Consolidation Polls Well in RI, but….

By Marc Comtois | December 17, 2009 |

According to the new Brown U. poll: Gov. Carcieri has proposed a high-powered commission to study the feasibility of consolidating or regionalizing public services, like education, public safety, and other municipal services. The argument is that there is too much duplication of services among the state’s 39 municipalities. Do you agree or disagree the following…

Are We Right or Should We Be Left?

By Justin Katz | October 31, 2009 |

Concise and clear as it is, Matt Jerzyk’s Providence Monthly piece (PDF) brings into relief an inconsistency in the narrative of the local left: Conservatives are quick to blame the majority Democratic General Assembly for most of Rhode Island’s ills, but that’s not fair or accurate. First, many of the so-called Democrats in the General…

A Fantasy of Practicality

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2009 |

Comments Joe Bernstein to a post on prostitution: If everyone can just stop the morality arguments for two minutes, and think of the practical results,something should be apparent. I like less wasteful government spending. I think most people on this blog would agree. Incarcerating women who engage in off-street prostitution is very expensive.It takes prison…

Rhode Island as Prostitution Satellite

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2009 |

You may have noticed that “a compromise bill” has emerged on the prostitution issue that may actually have a shot at passage, this week. In response, A largely anonymous Web site (with the exception of Marc Doughty), Citizens Against Criminalization, has gone live (notably named in parallel fashion to Donna Hughes’s Citizens Against Trafficking). Look,…

Rhode Island and Self Definition

By Justin Katz | September 30, 2009 |

Ed Achorn makes an interesting juxtaposition of the ACORN-hidden-camera affair and Rhode Island’s inability, thus far, to pass legislation making prostitution illegal. Whatever one thinks of his arguments on the matter, disputants should consider that leaving prostitution legal won’t just be another quirky Rhode Island thing. It’ll set us apart among our fellow states; the…

Donnis on Prostitution

By Justin Katz | September 25, 2009 |

Ian Donnis has a radio story on WRNI addressing the prostitution issue in Rhode Island. It remains curious to me that those who advocate for the legality of prostitution on the grounds that it doesn’t help the women to be thrown in jail aren’t more vociferous about turning penalties onto the pimps and johns. They…

Oh Happy Commerce, or, “I felt like I was forcing myself on a 40+ year old fat sex slave”

By Justin Katz | September 17, 2009 |

“Where the hell else is a middle aged man gonna hook up with a young sexy hot sex slave in real life? Like the old saying goes, we want a ***** [whore] in the bedroom but a lady in the kitchen. Just don’t expect you gf [girlfriend] to be as whory as the real whores.…

Why We Stay

By Marc Comtois | September 8, 2009 |

While Justin and Monique kept things flowing over the long weekend, I took some time with my family and my folks (down from New Hampshire) to take in some Ocean State sights. Well, mostly. First, I had some soccer duties to attend to on Saturday morning–hey, it was uniform day! We went to Waterfire on…

A Fireside Chat with Dan

By Justin Katz | August 6, 2009 |

Alright, there wasn’t really a fire, but since we’re talking radio, I like to imagine that there was one. Dan Yorke and I had that sort of conversation, yesterday, on 630AM/99.7FM WPRO. Those who missed it or who would like to revisit something (for kind or scurrilous reasons) can stream the whole segment (about an…