Written

"I Voted" sticker in a pile of leaves

The Johnston school vote raises Rhode Island’s most important question.

By Justin Katz | April 6, 2022 |

The inaccuracy of Steve Ahlquist’s tweet is worth noting, but it should be a springboard, not a stopping point: 86% of Johnston voters voted to approve a $215 million proposal to finance the largest modernization of education facilities in Johnston’s history. The results table he appends does indeed show that 1,100 people voted to approve…

A water drop and ripples

We could use more elected officials like Frank Maher.

By Justin Katz | April 4, 2022 |

When Bill Felkner introduced me to Republican state Senator Frank Maher on the back steps of the State House, I was still new enough to politics-in-the-flesh to think he was a representative sample of elected officials.  “He’s one of the good guys,” Bill told me, and he was right. On another occasion, not long after,…

RI State House over caution tape

As goes the state, so goes the State House.

By Justin Katz | April 4, 2022 |

One bit of trivia that marks a step on road to full assimilation into the Ocean State when one learns it is that the State House dome is the fourth largest self-supporting marble dome on the planet.  The list goes St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Minnesota State Capitol, the Taj Mahal, then Rhode Island’s…

A water drop and ripples

The people running our country are difficult to understand.

By Justin Katz | April 1, 2022 |

Has it ever happened in history that a country’s government has so aggressively opposed a domestic industry so vital to the economy and national security? It’s like an autoimmune disorder. Nancy Pelosi: We cannot “use [high gas prices] as an excuse” to produce more American energy pic.twitter.com/txlUvEYVmS — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 31, 2022

Barrington High School

Yay! Barrington has introduced a new acronym to the scam of destroying education.

By Justin Katz | March 31, 2022 |

We hear that “parents [in Barrington] are really upset,” but they’re not nearly upset enough. 

Child being grabbed by monsters

Beware parents; Leftists warn about what they intend to do… like taking your children.

By Justin Katz | March 30, 2022 |

Sometimes it isn’t clear whether progressive activists are warning about what they genuinely believe their nemeses will do or explaining what they will do once they have the power.  Such is the case, here: “When we react to [legislation in Florida],” Equality Florida Nadine Smith apparently tells Disney employees in a virtual meeting, according to a…

A water drop and ripples

So much changes…

By Justin Katz | March 30, 2022 |

I’m glad to have learned about the Abernathy Boys’ cross-country adventures a century ago, but I do wonder.  Sure, the 10- and 6-year-olds’ adventures do echo across the decades as something lost.  And yet… their story was unique even then, and life has become less dangerous for children, which is a good thing. On the…

Despair that we are institutionally incapable of addressing our problems.

By Justin Katz | March 30, 2022 |

The response to COVID showed that we aren’t a serious society.  One hallmark of that condition for all to see (if they look) is that we are institutionally incapable of identifying the actual causes of our difficulties and, therefore, of addressing them.  Consequently, because the solution of the clueless must always be to throw more…

A building on fire

A core error is behind the Left’s promotion of chaos.

By Justin Katz | March 29, 2022 |

Overstating the significance of individuals’ Twitter commentary is an easy pitfall, but Phil Eil is a journalist and writer and so spends more time observing and thinking about the world around him than the average.  The following tweets are likely to be more representative of the progressive mindset than would be the case if it…

Hospital beds

When activists call for more government, remind them of Eleanor Slater.

By Justin Katz | March 28, 2022 |

Here’s an important detail from a recent budget analysis by the Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council (RIPEC), as summarized by WPRI’s Eli Sherman: In a breakdown of the hospital’s financial picture, RIPEC estimated McKee is seeking to spend $143.7 million in state and federal revenue next fiscal year on the state-run medical and psychiatric facility,…