Written

A medical mask on the sidewalk

The governor keeps the pandemic going.

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2021 |

As Ian Donnis tweeted earlier, I was in Providence this afternoon at the Public’s Radio studio for an all-too-brief conversation with National Education Association of Rhode Island director Bob Walsh about the obstacles to improvement of Rhode Island’s education system. Arriving a bit early, I walked around the area, and it struck me that the…

Chart of extreme poverty since 1850

Private aid is great, but freedom is better.

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2021 |

Rachel Sharrett’s essay for the American Institute for Economic Research on the advantages of using private charity to help the disadvantaged is an interesting read, but the eye-catcher comes at the end.  Explaining the chart used for the featured image of this post, Sharrett writes: The bottom line is, aid has never been and will…

Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson

Note the dog that isn’t barking about Fed spying on Tucker Carlson.

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2021 |

Popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson has noted a development in his ongoing conflict with the National Security Agency (NSA) after a whistleblower informed him the agency was reading his emails and planned to leak them to the media to discredit him. Jon Brown reports on The Daily Wire: Speaking with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo…

The Statue of Liberty and U.S. Flag

Do American teachers’ unions love (or even like) their country?

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2021 |

In fairness, it’s possible that GoLocalProv didn’t quote part of a statement from Frank Flynn, the president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, which is the Ocean State’s branch of the national American Federation of Teachers, and I couldn’t find it in full on the labor union’s website or anywhere else. As…

Thomas Eakins Cowboys in the Badlands

I’ll admit it: I’m glad there’s a Donald Trump in the mix these days.

By Justin Katz | July 7, 2021 |

Yes, I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing he would focus more — keeping his targets separate for separate attacks, resisting the gratuitous own-back-patting, articulating his points more without requiring interpretation, and so on. On the other hand, I think people should generally be more humble about proposing counterfactuals.  Whether instinctively or intellectually he has…

Bankrate's map of best states to retire

RI’s surprisingly good ranking for retirement raises important considerations.

By Justin Katz | July 7, 2021 |

Bankrate has published its “The best and worst states for retirement 2021” and as indicated in the featured image of this post (if you look closely), Rhode Island does pretty… not terribly, coming in at twentieth among the fifty states. As is often the case with these more-broadly-construed rankings, the key conclusions are to be…

Black man reviewing business trends

A public-private partnership focused on businesses by race is inherently destructive.

By Justin Katz | July 7, 2021 |

Attitudes may be changing rapidly on this (or at least the mainstream narrative may be), but the partnership between the administration of Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Foundation focusing on minority-owned businesses is destructive to our state.  From an RI Foundation press release by Chris Barnett (emphasis added): “Supporting and growing our small…

Part of the mural at URI

URI has moved back a step from the ledge of mural destruction.

By Justin Katz | July 7, 2021 |

The University of Rhode Island has reconsidered its plan to destroy an iconic mural in its student union. Christian Schneider reports for The College Fix: The murals, painted by URI graduate Arthur Sherman in the 1950s, came under criticism last summer because their depiction of what life at the school was like in the post-war era…

Chart of overt and covert white supremacy

Here are some pointers to unspin critical race theory framing.

By Justin Katz | July 6, 2021 |

Given the unintended theme of the posts on Anchor Rising, today, it seems like a good day to direct readers’ attention to a post on PJ Media by Bryan Preston, with the summary title, “Leaked Docs: Critical Race Theory Seeks to Undermine Equality and the Constitutional Order.” Preston posts screen grabs from a mandatory presentation for Iowa school…

Multiracial hands on a table

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Story Tone Depends on Skin Tone

By Justin Katz | July 6, 2021 |

More and more, it appears that the way a story is covered by the media and addressed by government officials depends most on the skin color of the people involved, as John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss.