Written

Woman reading in a hammock

There are good and bad reasons to take your time looking for a job.

By Justin Katz | June 30, 2021 |

This news that Charlie McCarthy reports for Newsmax is not surprising: There are about 10 million unemployed workers in the U.S., and more than nine million jobs available, yet only 10% of job seekers say they’re looking actively and urgently, Axios reported Wednesday. About 15% say they’re looking actively but not urgently. About 45% said they’re…

School girl in medical mask

The state Department of Education still wants to mask young children in the autumn.

By Justin Katz | June 30, 2021 |

A press release just out from the Rhode Island Department of Education announcing COVID-related standards for the return to school, takes some steps toward acknowledging science in the fall by eliminating requirements that schools provide an virtual-learning option.  Moreover, while recommendations to be cautions whenever possible remain in place (e.g., encouragement toward out-door dining when…

Glenn Loury and John McWhorter

Brown University Professor Glenn Loury is a Rhode Island treasure who ought to be much more prominent in these parts.

By Justin Katz | June 29, 2021 |

Here he is plainly stating a purpose for higher education that used to enjoy broad (near-universal) agreement, as quoted by Katie Pavlich on Townhall: “To teach people they are [their skin color], is criminal in my opinion, okay? We are to challenge them. They come in telling me that they are this or they are…

Statue of justice

Standing does matter in our legal system, but our courts are undermining it.

By Justin Katz | June 29, 2021 |

Writing from the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation, GianCarlo Canaparo offers a short explainer of why standing matters in legal proceedings and how the judiciary is currently making a mess of it. Both of those points are valuable to read, because the reason to limit cases based on standing…

A card reading "truth" in the dirt.

Yes, manipulating you through language is their plan, in part through style guides.

By Justin Katz | June 29, 2021 |

One of the best compliments I’ve ever received came from an openly socialist English professor concerning a short essay I’d written about Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”  I think he read the essay to the class and then said that if I kept writing that well I’d be certain to be locked up one…

Tucker Carlson reports NSA spying

Feds’ spying on Tucker Carlson should make us glad RI has no spy apparatus.

By Justin Katz | June 29, 2021 |

It should also make us value federalism more.  Moving power away from local hands and toward a central government that necessarily has spies and a military is a terrible idea.  The petty tyrants of your local government may be annoying and difficult to challenge, but they’re still easier to deal with than a tyrannical D.C.…

A college class

Mike Rowe is right that making people pay for others’ college degrees is unfair.

By Justin Katz | June 28, 2021 |

He made the comment to The Daily Wire’s Amanda Prestigiacomo when she asked him about Bill Maher’s recent rant against free college.  Here’s Rowe: The “Dirty Jobs” host said that he believes that “making taxpayers pay the tuition of those who wish to attend a university” is “profound unfairness,” adding that such a point has been…

An underwater photo

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Growing Signs of Distrust

By Justin Katz | June 28, 2021 |

From a U.S. Senator to the news media to a local school committee, Rhode Islanders’ trust is slipping, but John DePetro and Justin Katz aren’t sure it’s enough to bring change.

Tiverton Board of Canvassers 6/25/21

Speaking of tyranny, defenders of civil rights in Rhode Island should make a point of documenting and communicating examples.

By Justin Katz | June 28, 2021 |

South Kingstown has been receiving national attention recently based on multiple ways in which its school committee and superintendent have been crossing lines of propriety, but related trends bear watching across Rhode Island.  Then-Governor Gina Raimondo’s COVID-19 emergency declaration, which now-Governor Daniel McKee has refused to remove, didn’t only restrict the public’s freedom, but also increased…

Obey Kim Jong-Un graffitti

The signs of tyranny are rising like the tide.

By Justin Katz | June 28, 2021 |

It’s long, but the conversation between Jordan Peterson and North Korean defector Yeonmi Park on the former’s podcast is well worth a listen. Most of the episode is a description of Park’s experiences as she transitioned from the national concentration camp of North Korea to sex slavery in China to despised minority in South Korea…