Written

Yellow schoolbus.

RIPEC illustrates why government meddling in education is to be avoided.

By Justin Katz | July 18, 2023 |

A crucial bit of advice in our quick-communication, social-media age is to force yourself to leave space between reading something that bothers you and responding to it.  Usually, this tactic will help you avoid responding heatedly to things that simply don’t matter that much.  Sometimes, you’ll avoid unforced interpersonal errors.  But sometimes, giving things further…

People gathered around a bonfire

The independent contractor form is just another stick on the bonfire.

By Justin Katz | July 13, 2023 |

A form declaring status as an “independent contractor” isn’t quite as dramatic as some are saying, but it’s still an indication of Rhode Island’s terrible priorities and special-interest favoratism.

Money pouring out of the Capitol Building dome.

Primer on the Insanity of the 14th-Amendment Solution

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 21, 2023 |

Let’s go through all of the basics.  Most basic of all:  A debt remains real, even when you don’t have the money to pay it. And what makes a debt real? Basically, a debt is real when the parties who agreed to it and other parties around them agree that something bad will happen, if…

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence march in Washington, D.C. in 1993

The Dodgers’ disinvitation of a queer anti-Catholic hate group clarifies the cultural stakes.

By Justin Katz | May 19, 2023 |

Presentation of an anti-Catholic hate group as a charity, sartorial evangelism after a school shooting, and taxpayer-funded abortions are warnings of a tightening totalitarian grip on the United States.

Crazy Eggs

We can pay attention now or find out how many bodies it takes to break a narrative.

By Justin Katz | May 17, 2023 |

An entirely plausible interpretation of events sounds crazy, suggesting we all have an interest in pushing back and enforcing accountability for those who’ve brought us to this point.

Goya Attended by Doctor

Watch the inversion from their responsibility to care for you to your responsibility to die for them.

By Justin Katz | May 16, 2023 |

In recent conversation with Tim Ferriss, Canadian writer-explorer Wade Davis took a slight detour to speak of the community benefits of Canada’s socialized healthcare system: It has everything to do with social solidarity. It has everything to do with every Canadian knowing that they belong, and knowing that if their kid gets sick, they will…

A young woman shushes

The RI media is deliberately ignoring the most-important story in education.

By Justin Katz | May 10, 2023 |

Announcing the move of his cable news show to Twitter, Tucker Carlson suggests that most of what mainstream journalists report is factually true, but their stories are chosen and constructed so as to paint a completely false image of reality.  Take Rhode Island education as an example. As long as I’ve been following the story, government-run…

Arms hold an anchor above the water

“Pay equity” mandates are another weight dragging down the Ocean State.

By Justin Katz | May 9, 2023 |

Clearing out some old links reminded me that Rhode Island’s “pay equity” statute goes into effect this year, as Jack Kelly wrote in Forbes in late 2021.  While generally supportive of the legislation, Kelly did acknowledge the potential for “unintended consequences”: According to Joshua Nadreau, a partner in the Boston office of the labor and employment…

Lighthouse on Goat Island at sunset with Newport Bridge in the background.

Newport’s character and cost is a matter of choice.

By Justin Katz | April 28, 2023 |

Artsy people’s complaining about gauche wealth-culture is nothing new, but something about this complaint by progressive podcaster and musician Bill Bartholomew struck me as oblivious of the obvious: Working late on Friday to frame out a roof on Ocean Drive 15 years ago, while watching BMWs roll by, I had similar thoughts.  But I also…

A water drop and ripples

Maybe Stephen King started it with his approach to villain-picking.

By Justin Katz | April 27, 2023 |

As an undergrad, back when the Internet was still brand new, I decompressed by reading through Stephen King books borrowed from the Carnegie Mellon library and noticed something.  One of his recurring techniques was to imagine the familiar as the monster.  Cujo was a dog.  Christine was a cool car.  Firestarter was a little girl.  The title…