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Pickpocketing in Oliver Twist

“Tax the rich” often merely means “tax the elderly.”

By Justin Katz | June 15, 2021 |

With inside-government special interests who profit from higher taxes engaging in expensive campaigns to (you guessed it) increase taxes, the Pioneer Institute in Massachusetts makes an important observation: National data from the U.S. Treasury Department show that the majority of taxpayers earning more than $1 million in a year did so only once over a…

Flier for the Zinn Education Project day of action

As usual, the Left scandalizes on the Right what the Left is actually doing.

By Justin Katz | June 15, 2021 |

For a week or so, the big political scandal in Rhode Island involved government officials, journalists, and a talk radio host questioning whether South Kingstown mother Nicole Solas was in league with some national organization on the issue of Critical Race Theory (CRT).  The evidence suggests that she was not, but look how differently left-wing…

South Kingstown bond mailer

A Start to Fixing South Kingstown Schools’ Misbehavior

By Justin Katz | June 15, 2021 |

Revelations about the source of student information for a political mailer in South Kingstown give hints of the statewide machine taxpayers have to resist.

Students graduating from college.

Even things like “legacy admissions” to college can have unexplored benefits.

By Justin Katz | June 14, 2021 |

News that Colorado has become “the first state to ban ‘legacy admissions’ for higher education,” as the headline on an Epoch Times article by Isabel Van Brugen puts it, might justifiably inspire ambivalence: Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill (pdf) that puts an end to public higher education officials giving preference to candidates with familial relationships…

Teenager gets vaccinated

Vaccinating kids and young adults is a decision in need of copious input.

By Justin Katz | June 14, 2021 |

One lesson of parenting — even of living life as an adult for a while — is that decisions are often complex bets based on incomplete information.  Such is the case with decisions about vaccinating children for COVID-19. On the “no” side is the plain fact that COVID-19 has proven relatively mild, even when detectable,…

WPRI coverage of encampment

When did America become the Land of Other People’s Money?

By Justin Katz | June 14, 2021 |

Many things are concerning about the homeless encampment in Providence that has been in the news lately and about the way the issue is being framed, but one thread that really sticks out is this, from Brian Amaral’s Boston Globe story: Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris, who represents the area, said Elorza should call a state of…

Jennifer Bergevine's email to students

Barrington High School shows how “project-based civics” makes students left-wing activists.

By Justin Katz | June 14, 2021 |

Parents Defending Education has released the Barrington school department’s response to its Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request concerning some teachers’ encouraging students to testify on a bill that seeks to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Rhode Island schools: It appears from the documents that the administration was completely unaware both that students…

Screaming hand graffiti

Anecdotes are becoming data when it comes to anti-Catholic (and similar) hate crimes.

By Justin Katz | June 12, 2021 |

Christopher Bedford records some signs of the trend for The Federalist: The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts said when they first started tracking anti-Catholic attacks in the Bay State five years ago, there was about one a year. Since then, they have steadily increased. In the past year, there have been 15 attacks — just…

Marc Lamont Hill and Christopher Rufo

The straight-up racism of Marc Lamont Hill exposes a rhetorical trap.

By Justin Katz | June 12, 2021 |

On his Black News Tonight show, Marc Lamont Hill pressed Critical Race Theory (CRT) critic Chrstopher Rufo on an explicitly racist question, which Amanda Presigiacomo captured for The Daily Wire: “What do you like about being white?” Lamont Hill asked Rufo, after stating that “whiteness” is a “marker of power.” Rufo rejected the premise, noting that…

Family on the beach at sunset

Encouraging stable nuclear families would be a good place to start curbing violence.

By Justin Katz | June 12, 2021 |

Politicians always have time to figure out new ways to restrict explicit rights, like the right to bear arms guaranteed in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  They spend considerably less time (if any at all) addressing the changes in our society that actually might reduce violence. Consider the following, from an Epoch Times commentary…