Written

A Zoom meeting

Open meetings law is the cutting edge of state government’s failure.

By Justin Katz | January 7, 2022 |

What a joke this all is: The open government coalition ACCESS/RI and a number of municipal officials had urged McKee to provide the authorization for remote meetings as COVID-19 cases soar across Rhode Island. The East Providence City Council was among the entities forced to cancel a scheduled meeting this week after members tested positive…

A water drop and ripples

Snowball fighting should be legislators’ first priority!

By Justin Katz | January 7, 2022 |

Did you know only eight Rhode Island communities have laws against the menace of snowball fighting?!?! Charlestown Glocester Jamestown Newport North Kingstown Warwick West Warwick Woonsocket Over the recent years of the pandemic, the Rhode Island General Assembly has proven its concern for the big issues, like banning the release of balloons into the air…

A mural on a highway bridge

RI tax policy should consider the distinction between being here and doing things here.

By Justin Katz | January 7, 2022 |

The Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council (RIPEC) notes that Rhode Island’s downward slide on the Tax Foundation Business Tax Climate Index continues, with the Ocean State exiting the 30-something range on the bad side for the first time since 2017, at 40.  The only saving graces are that Connecticut has been stuck at 47 forever…

A water drop and ripples

Do media organizations not know what they’re giving up, or do they think it’s worth it?

By Justin Katz | January 7, 2022 |

Writing for Heritage, Tim Murtaugh laments the continued credibility drain from the mainstream media: It’s obvious that the media’s hatred for Donald Trump colored nearly everything they wrote or said during his presidency. But one hoped that after he left the White House, the media might recover a little objectivity. Sadly, a review of 2021…

A water drop and ripples

It always comes down to confiscation, doesn’t it?

By Justin Katz | January 7, 2022 |

Via Instapundit comes a telling story out of Washington University in St. Louis: Student leaders at Washington University in St. Louis want school officials to evict the “disproportionately wealthy and white” men in campus fraternities and give their buildings to “historically marginalized” groups. Writing in Student Life for himself and almost 50 leaders of WashU student organizations,…

A hand reaches for chains

Freedom is lost with ratchets and excuses.

By Justin Katz | January 7, 2022 |

A friend recently told me about a Massachusetts school that is explicitly leveraging peer pressure to influence families’ medical decisions related to COVID.  The initiative seems to encourage a form of bullying that is unhealthy for both the students applying and the students receiving the pressure, and it reminded me of past initiatives that gave…

An empty classroom

Look to recent history to see how over-the-top our school response to COVID is.

By Justin Katz | January 6, 2022 |

Rhode Island teachers have been posting their attendance records on social media, today.  Providence high school social studies and journalism teacher Dale Fraza listed his period 3 attendance as: Present: 4 Absent: 4 Quarantined: 9 This madness made me think that some academic with enhanced access to public school information should do a study of…

A water drop and ripples

The activists have a solid career path, now.

By Justin Katz | January 6, 2022 |

Years ago, a regular commenter on Anchor Rising who was obviously (let’s say) a dissenting voice around here commented more than once that college conservatives had a ready career path if they wanted to get into politics or media.  The comment always struck me as delusional, but… whatever. Nowadays, retired college professor Mark Bauerlein observes that…

A dark classroom

The Woke Academy charter school is hiring in Providence.

By Justin Katz | January 6, 2022 |

John DePetro has spotted a curious requirement for a job at Hope Academy charter school in Providence, which he redubs “Woke Academy”: They currently have a job posting (listed below) for a teachers assistant that is woke and steeped in Critical Race Theory. It starts with the ability to be aware of ” microaggressions and…

A water drop and ripples

Don’t forget the other layer of hospitalization and death “with” versus “from” COVID.

By Justin Katz | January 6, 2022 |

When I conveyed the state Department of Health’s findings on the question of whether people were in the hospital because of COVID or merely while happening to test positive for it, one word in particular seemed worthy of a mental note for subsequent consideration (emphasis added): According to Wendelken, “someone who goes to the hospital…