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A water drop and ripples

Enjoy the next adventure, Ken Rix.

By Justin Katz | February 19, 2022 |

Ken has moved on.  I’m confident he knows he made a difference in many lives.

Man reading newspaper

Local journalism must see past the mists of its romantic self-vision.

By Justin Katz | February 19, 2022 |

The Valley Breeze is a notable standout in local journalism, with observable quality and dedication.  Indeed, the fact that its chief editor, Ethan Shorey, spends hours each week actually delivering the paper has a back-to-our-roots feel that one can’t help but admire and encourage for the paper’s peers. But zooming out to the whole industry, rather than…

Construction workers reviewing a site

“Wage theft” legislation is a good illustration of unions’ destructive activism.

By Justin Katz | February 18, 2022 |

If you’re only a casual observer of legislation and/or labor law, you might find news coverage of Rhode Island labor unions’ study on “wage theft” confusing.  The study is about misclassification of workers as independent contractors, yet the rhetoric is about “wage theft.” Are those the same thing?  It’s an important question, because the push…

A water drop and ripples

The “woman” crushing Ivy League swimming competitions continues to date women.

By Justin Katz | February 18, 2022 |

That’s a detail that I hadn’t seen reported until Dennis Prager mentioned it in a recent column: “‘We’re uncomfortable in our own locker room.’ Lia Thomas’ UPenn teammate tells how the trans swimmer doesn’t always cover up her male genitals when changing and their concerns go ignored by their coach… “‘It’s definitely awkward because Lia…

A water drop and ripples

Huh. Paying people not to work increases the number of people not working.

By Justin Katz | February 18, 2022 |

Patrick Tyrrell and Anthony Kim summarize a recent study of the effect of enhanced unemployment on the job market: If common sense and reports from thousands of employers weren’t enough, a recent National Bureau of Economic Research paper found conclusively that paying people not to work during the COVID-19 pandemic was why many of them…

Hospital beds

The hospital merger controversy is our second warning.

By Justin Katz | February 18, 2022 |

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha isn’t wrong to be concerned about a lack of competition in healthcare in our state, but our selective acceptance of market forces is going to start killing Rhode Islanders: Attorney General Peter Neronha on Thursday rejected the proposed merger of Rhode Island’s two largest hospital groups and joined a…

RIPEC state revenue and spending infographic

RIPEC’s recommendation to slow spending is based on obvious facts.

By Justin Katz | February 17, 2022 |

Perhaps the key detail to be found in the report and interactive tools that the Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council (RIPEC) just released is to be found at the top of its associated infographic.  As shown in the featured image of this post, although Rhode Island is the 18th state in the country for per…

A water drop and ripples

How is global warming notch by notch?

By Justin Katz | February 17, 2022 |

A government activist’s comment related to a Rhode Island–specific report on climate change brought something to mind: The planet “is warming, it has been warming. The last two decades have been the warmest in the history of climate records,” Kenneth Kunkel said. This assertion made me wonder what the update was on the 15-year pause…

A water drop and ripples

Keep an eye on the meta-strategies of political opponents.

By Justin Katz | February 17, 2022 |

Tacia MC Truss raises an excellent point, here: Pro tip… when ever a troll won’t leave your feed alone, know that the rest of the antifa scumbags are tweeting and they want to keep you occupied with distractions. See how this works? The point can be expanded.  If the best use of your time at…

Adraien Van De Venne's Allegory of Poverty

It’s amazing how a small shift in perspective can flip the poverty narrative completely around.

By Justin Katz | February 17, 2022 |

Policy decisions can obviously increase or decrease the amount of poverty in a society.  Socialism, for example, is absolutely devastating and has repeatedly proven to result in misery and starvation.  That said, the following pair of tweets from Atlantic writer Clint Smith gets reality precisely backwards, and in a way that is important for everybody…