Written

A water drop and ripples

Are there any homeless caves in Rhode Island?

By Justin Katz | February 7, 2024 |

Yeah, officials will complain about the danger of uninspected residences, but as somebody who grew up in an era when fiction was filled with secret communities in society’s hidden corners, I have to admit these homeless caves are cool:* I wonder if there’s anything comparable around here. * I should specify that the coolness of…

A road inspector sleeps on his car

In Rhode Island, government is a natural disaster.

By Justin Katz | February 7, 2024 |

Yes, yes, words get thrown around in state-level politics, but there’s an important lesson in East Providence City Council President Bob Rodericks’s letter asking Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee to declare a state of emergency over the closure of the Washington Bridge between East Providence and Providence: … East Providence is impacted more than any…

A water drop and ripples

Progressives really want a civil war, don’t they?

By Justin Katz | February 6, 2024 |

In recent years, a strange emphasis has been emerging on America’s political Left on the notion of treason.  The accusation flies not only against hated political personages, but also retroactively in ways it didn’t used to be applied, like the Confederacy.  It isn’t difficult to see where this is going: According to this person, the…

The word, "vote," on puppet strings

In the current environment, expedited voter registration is an invitation to fraud.

By Justin Katz | February 6, 2024 |

When one of our cars became unusable last year, my family had to buy another, which we did at a dealer in Massachusetts that a friend had recommended.  We’ve bought cars in Massachusetts, before, but it appears that something has changed.  Registering the car took about a month, during which time we were short a…

A water drop and ripples

We’re in desperate need of basic economic lessons around here.

By Justin Katz | February 5, 2024 |

Economically illiterate activists are laying the groundwork to make housing harder to find, and make life worse, in Rhode Island: This is how economics works.  The rent goes up to reflect the real value of the property.  Other property owners see the value of their space and reconsider their usage. For example, instead of renovating…

A water drop and ripples

McKee’s absolution shows it’s time to disband the Ethics Commission.

By Justin Katz | February 5, 2024 |

This is how appeals to the Ethics Commission often end, these days: From personal experience, I can testify that the Ethics Commission combines the gradual accretion of ethical allowances with the possibility that the commission will completely disregard its precedence to suit its preferences of the moment.  Thus, it tends toward increasing permissiveness with a…

A water drop and ripples

We really need mature leadership in RI, and I wish Neronha were offering it.

By Justin Katz | January 29, 2024 |

Look, I generally disagree with Attorney General Peter Neronha’s politics, but I could put that aside if I thought he were coming to conclusions reasonably.  Unfortunately: I’m certainly not going to defend predatory investment firms, but read the article.  Steward Health Care was already dying.  The story is of an equity firm finding a way…

A water drop and ripples

How many people even know it’s a question why the Brown student was shot?

By Justin Katz | January 29, 2024 |

I warned, when John DePetro and I discussed it some weeks ago, that we shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that the Brown University student shot in Vermont was the victim of anti-Palestinian sentiment.  Now, fully aware how polarized we are, I wouldn’t assert that everybody should take Daniel Greenfield’s FrontPageMag article as proof to the contrary,…

A visual representative of bureaucracy blocks access to a highway

Johnston’s unreachable neighborhood illustrates the problem with insider-ocracy.

By Justin Katz | January 28, 2024 |

Johnston’s challenge gaining access to a neighborhood during emergencies exposes several problems of RI’s way of doing things.

A dense conformist neighborhood on the water

A word on housing.

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2024 |

Amidst all the other happenings in Rhode Islanders’ lives, it’s worth a moment to consider that we’ve reached the point that the General Assembly is delving into such levels of micromanagement as housing setbacks and in-law apartments in local zoning.  That’s a sign that we’re doing things wrong. In the mania of the day (or…