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Why are Rhode Island parents so lackadaisical about the poor value they’re getting from the state’s government schools? As Dan McGowan reports, SAT scores are down from where they were before the pandemic, and they were already low compared with those of neighboring states: Math (minimum score of 530 out of 800): 25.3 percent English…
One despairs of our ever coming together if we live in two separate realities. Many details of the attack don’t make sense, starting with the fact that the Pelosi’s home is apparently so vulnerable and the fact that calling somebody a “friend” to 911 is apparently a code that we’re all supposed to know, let…
As with myriad issues, many of them related to COVID-19, we’re seeing an instant demand that we accept the approved narrative so zealously that confounding details cannot be considered, with disagreement, or even doubt, being framed in entirely partisan terms. This doesn’t necessarily mean the 180-degree opposite narrative is correct, but it does mean we…
I’m also seeing RI Democrats attempting to raise money with emails saying things like: Ashley Kalus is no imaginary monster … We have to stop her from gaining any power in Rhode Island and trying to drag us back into a terrifying past with less freedom. Remember that the people who write these messages probably…
One person was seeking Justice Kavanaugh with a gun. It is perfectly reasonable to ask, “what about,” now, as progressives and Democrats behave as if an attack on the Speaker of the House’s husband is not only the most outrageous event in recent memory, but also a direct consequence of “MAGA Republican” rhetoric.
A recently released book by Gale Pooley and Marian Tupy, Superabundance, explores the amazing fact that the prosperity and the availability of scarce resources is proving only to increase as the population grows. Their most fundamental argument is that people have value. Every child added to the world increases the wealth of all of us. The authors…
Clearing out the links I’ve put aside, I came across a tweet that Bill Bartholomew sent out with a clip of himself on A Lively Experiment in early September, and he makes a point that’s still worth considering, related to stories around that time that schools were accommodating students who’d declared themselves to identify as cats:…
If you’re thigh deep in the muck of Rhode Island politics, as I am, you may find something about the local society inexplicable. The game is so locked up, in Rhode Island, that it isn’t clear whether anything can shake the stranglehold of insiders and special interests. Consider two recent stories. On the National Education…
They spent all of Republican President George W. Bush’s two terms talking about how he was “selected, not elected.” They spent all of Republican President Donald Trump’s term claiming he’d won because of Russian interference. Now they’re claiming that if their party doesn’t win majorities during the election in a few weeks, it will be…
From time to time, I get in a little spat with some well-meaning progressive on social media that reminds me of something I figured out decades ago but periodically forget: In the belief system of many (most?) progressives, no machinery is required between intent and achievement. Wanting to help people means making it a law…