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Skecth of 19th Century Switzerland clothing

Masks give a lesson in cultural sympathy.

By Justin Katz | February 15, 2022 |

Some readers may take this as inflammatory while others may take it as conciliatory, but as Rhode Island enters into this odd, uncomfortable moment of different expectations around masks, an opportunity for cultural sympathy emerges. For context:  I stopped in a mostly empty store to buy a household item after dropping off one of my…

American flag behind a barred window

Activists can do harm with sledgehammer ideology, especially when schools hire them as if they’re objective analysts.

By Justin Katz | February 14, 2022 |

Watchers of the mainstream narrative may be a little surprised that there hasn’t been much coverage of an incident on February 1 at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence during which a school resource officer (SRO) was caught on video being aggressive with a student.  These incidents are difficult to judge from video clips, and…

Allan Fung’s set himself up for his Congressional run in an interesting way.

By Justin Katz | February 11, 2022 |

The headline of this post is genuinely meant.  I’m entirely withholding judgement and am mainly curious what now-candidate Fung is planning. You may have heard that Allan Fung has entered the race for Rhode Island’s second district seat in Congress with this tweet: It’s a great logo that will look cool on t-shirts and other…

A water drop and ripples

Speaking of corruption, keep half an eye on the Capitol Police spying scandal.

By Justin Katz | February 11, 2022 |

Matt Margolis has some fresh details: Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) revealed on Tuesday that in November, Capitol Police entered his office without his knowledge or consent, photographed confidential legislative documents, and later returned dressed as construction workers and questioned a member of his staff.

A water drop and ripples

Ready to rethink your centralized government philosophy, Steve?

By Justin Katz | February 11, 2022 |

I have to chuckle when I see a progressive like Steve Ahlquist pen an article with a headline like, “A corrupt process from the core, Rhode Island redistricting wraps up.” I mean, a corrupt redistricting process is about as surprising as a hangover after a long night of drinking without water breaks, and progressives are…

A man in a plague mask on a swing

Don’t let COVID-lockdown propaganda hide behind death numbers.

By Justin Katz | February 11, 2022 |

COVID-19 can be a nasty disease, even when it’s not a killer, which it most definitely can be.  The coronavirus is not, however, the only killer, and disease is not the only nasty thing that can happen to your life. As we look out across the landscape of continuing fear, ramped up to an irrational…

An old house next to a graveyard

How can anybody upset with discriminatory housing oppose total school choice?

By Justin Katz | February 10, 2022 |

Judy Schwalbach makes that connection explicit in a report on school choice policies and history in Washington, D.C.: During the 20th century, federally sanctioned housing “redlining” influenced the composition of neighborhoods in large cities across the country, including Washington, D.C. The term “redlining” came from the color-coded maps developed by the Home Owners Loan Corporation…

A water drop and ripples

The courts aren’t the right place for deciding JCLS controversies.

By Justin Katz | February 10, 2022 |

Don’t get me wrong.  RI House Minority Leader Blake Filippi is right to be pursuing his lawsuit against the Joint Committee of Legislative Services, which is undoubtedly a central hub of our legislature’s corruption.  But the judiciary isn’t where these disputes should have to be resolved.  Think about it: Filippi, the top Republican in the…

Colors in a bubble

Masks and truckers present a study in how the bubble of the Capitol forms.

By Justin Katz | February 10, 2022 |

I suspect they’re wildly overrepresented in the items that Twitter pushes onto my screen, but Rhode Island progressives are really something to behold in their reaction to Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s belated and overly hesitant removal of statewide mask mandates. As I suggested earlier, for many of the recognizable personalities, their rhetoric is probably wholly…

A water drop and ripples

That CDC masking poster is mostly propaganda.

By Justin Katz | February 10, 2022 |

Recently, Rhode Island Twitter has become a display of people who seem deranged with fear about the end of mask mandates.  It’s a curious puzzle. Some of the known progressives are probably responding to the movement’s understanding that keeping people depressed and isolated is in their ideological and political interests, and that surely filters out…