Written

A water drop and ripples

Michael Munger’s reference to Bastiat’s proposal to grow the French economy by burning Paris is a worthwhile reminder.

By Justin Katz | December 27, 2022 |

For that lesson alone, readers should give it a few minutes.  But this paragraph near the end captures something far more intimately relevant to our times than even Munger may have intended: Once you are duped into believing destruction is productive, almost everything that a rational public policy would label as a cost becomes, by…

A Mrs. Claus ornament on a Christmas tree

Why are Christmas trees scarce?

By Justin Katz | December 24, 2022 |

It’s “climate change,” of course; that’s the easy go-to answer for anything having to do with the natural environment.  Even when there’s a more proximate explanation, the global bogeyman has to be tacked on, as the Boston Globe’s Dharna Noor does in this case: The culprit behind all those dead trees: Drought, which hit New England…

A water drop and ripples

I’m not making claims of election fraud, here…

By Justin Katz | December 24, 2022 |

… but the ability to spend $1.7 trillion with relative ease and minimal scrutiny is a whole lot of incentive to manipulate elections.  In debates about such issues, it’s shocking that nobody ever mentions the incentive.

A water drop and ripples

Cicilline doesn’t trust the American people.

By Justin Katz | December 23, 2022 |

Whatever your view of Donald Trump and/or David Cicilline, take a moment to think about the underlying perspective required for a position like this: Democratic Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline is leading an effort to ban former President Donald Trump from holding public office again. If this means anything, it means that Cicilline wants to…

A wolf removes its sheep mask

Another front that reasonable people in RI can’t forget.

By Justin Katz | December 23, 2022 |

I know, I know… put something else on the list why don’t you?  Well, this is an area that cannot be forgotten: Progressives have spent decades deliberately invading institutions with an eye toward turning them politically to their favor, which mean first making them political.  I’m not among those on the other side who believes…

A water drop and ripples

Sometimes the special interests are on the insightful side.

By Justin Katz | December 23, 2022 |

Yes, Marcellus Drilling News appears to be more on the advocacy side of things, but its mockery of Rhode Island is worth keeping in mind as a brutal cold front lashes its way across the United States: Last year the State of Rhode Island, a small Communist stronghold in the United States, voted to phase out…

A water drop and ripples

Being arrested for praying is on the road U.S. progressives are dragging us down.

By Justin Katz | December 22, 2022 |

Sure, yes, this is in England, which does not have a First Amendment: A charity volunteer has been arrested and charged on four counts after she told the police she “might” be praying silently, when questioned as to why she was standing on a public street near an abortion facility. This appears to be video…

A shadowy man on the phone

Keep the RI Foundation off the pedestal.

By Justin Katz | December 22, 2022 |

At the moment, it appears to be simply talk, but this is a concerning idea for Democrat Rhode Island Senate President Dominick Ruggerio to float: Ruggerio floated an outside-the-box idea for the state takeover of Providence schools: He wants to work with the Rhode Island Foundation, the state’s largest philanthropic organization, to see if it…

Lincoln Memorial

What if Abe had landed a plumb paid internship when he was young?

By Justin Katz | December 22, 2022 |

That’s the question that comes to mind when I see an historical anecdote such as this from Jean-Marie Valheur (via Instapundit): You will often hear about his great speeches, wonderful quotes, witty little anecdotes here and there. Or insights into his complex marriage. His mental health issues and how he overcame them and carried on…

A water drop and ripples

Has anybody seen coverage of this Nicole Solas’s lawsuit?

By Justin Katz | December 22, 2022 |

As readers have surely observed, I’m doing an end-of-year cleanout of my bookmarked links.  Oddly, after a news search on Google and Bing, I’m not seeing any local coverage of this story, reported in the Washington Examiner in August, at all.  Is that correct? Nicole Solas and the Goldwater Institute filed the lawsuit against the South Kingstown…