Written

A water drop and ripples

Psst! Progressives in Providence don’t trust Wall Street or the mechanics of investment to help with their pension problem.

By Justin Katz | June 7, 2022 |

They just know that imposing a bond is a more-sure way of saddling taxpayers with the payoff to their labor union allies.  (Actually, most don’t know much on either front.  They just go along because they’ve bought into the baseline propaganda that progressives are always on the side of goodness.)

A wind farm at sea

Hey, don’t worry! It’s only an energy sector “transition.”

By Justin Katz | June 7, 2022 |

You can tell our country’s radicals — from Joe Biden on down — are going for the kill this time because they aren’t moderating on energy, even as gas prices shoot up and inflation decimates the wellbeing of Americans.  Instead, they talk about how it’s simply a “transition.”  Note the phrasing of progressive Democrat State…

Van Gough's Prisoners Exercising

The gun-controllers’ dehumanizing talking point proves the importance of the Second Amendment.

By Justin Katz | June 4, 2022 |

The day of the school shooting in Ulvade, Joe Biden took to his national platform to blame people who disagree him about the Second Amendment and the practical steps to stop mass shootings: “When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” That talking point has filtered down throughout the…

Bill Bartholomew GenZ boot tweet

Bartholomew’s role in RI media feels like an early hint of the Cultural Revolution.

By Justin Katz | June 2, 2022 |

For the elimination of doubt, I don’t mean to evoke Americans’ historic appreciation of the concept of revolution.  I mean to warn of the actual possibility of something like this: Some 1.5 million people were killed during the Cultural Revolution, and millions of others suffered imprisonment, seizure of property, torture or general humiliation. The dark…

A joint in a dirty hand.

As with guns, the culture is important to consider when it comes to marijuana.

By Justin Katz | June 1, 2022 |

The issues of gun regulation and marijuana legalization have an interesting overlap, even as they head in opposite directions. To increase regulation of the former, advocates insist that we focus on the implements used for harm (the guns) and eschew — sometimes with great vehemence and insult to those who disagree — the notion that…

Image of Police Line tape.

Ulvade exposed a contradiction in our policy compromises around gun regulation.

By Justin Katz | June 1, 2022 |

Policy arguments driven by emotion will often have incoherent gaps in their logic, and the Ulvade shooting exposes a big one. Emotional people tend to focus on the most-dramatic element in a scene, which in this case is the shooter, and the solution appears to them to be removal of the gun.  The problem is…

Tidewater Landing design

Is anybody surprised the cost of the soccer stadium is going up?

By Justin Katz | May 31, 2022 |

When government officials allow a business to shift its risks onto taxpayers, the people can never be certain about how the costs will be “unexpectedly” driven up, but news like this is a near certainty: The cost of building a professional soccer stadium in Pawtucket has risen to $124 million, the city said Friday, $40 million…

A water drop and ripples

The right thing to do isn’t entirely clear in the recent NYC subway harassment video.

By Justin Katz | May 29, 2022 |

I’m as keen to lament the deterioration of our broader community as anybody else, but reactions to a recent cell phone video taken in the New York City subway seem to me to overstate the inaction of the bystanders. In summary, a guy who is obviously disturbed walks through the subway car shouting.  He sits…

A water drop and ripples

The logic of “gun control” is not difficult to follow.

By Justin Katz | May 29, 2022 |

Reviewing the details of school shootings, the other day for an online conversation, I was struck by how clearly banning a particular style of gun or access-related regulations will not solve the problem.  They may or may not be justified on their merits, but to treat such policies as if they are obvious fixes is…

A water drop and ripples

Believe it or not, I’m eager to find common ground in progressive arguments.

By Justin Katz | May 28, 2022 |

The problem is that they’re not founded in reason, but emotion.  I’m not interested in developing solutions to our problems through the method of emoting alongside others.  Emotion supplies motivation; it is not the process for finding answers.  Yet, without fail, when progressives (or “moderates,” for that matter) articulate their emotions in the guise of…