Written

A water drop and ripples

Ken Block has raised enough money to keep his billboard campaign going.

By Justin Katz | June 26, 2024 |

It still seems like a waste of resources, to me.  Here’s his tweet from May, when he announced his continuing fundraising:   There’s no pressure, here. Once people have that initial burst of “right on” feeling, such billboards become part of the background.  When I looked into billboards years ago, they were about $10,000 per…

A water drop and ripples

Comparing two commencement addresses is definitely instructive.

By Justin Katz | June 25, 2024 |

Arthur Brooks offering the graduates of Providence College positive life advice: You can get rich by telling people that they’ll be happy if they drive a certain car. You can get elected President of the United States by convincing people that their lives will make sense if they just get angry and hateful enough about…

An old sign showing the burning of the Gaspee with the slogan, Resist Tyranny, and the dates 1772 and 2024

The United States of America is on the cusp of tyranny.

By Justin Katz | June 25, 2024 |

The New York “justice” system may or may not jail Donald Trump, but the impression Democrat partisans are giving is that the entire charade of a trial was meant primarily to produce the label, “convicted felon.”  This marketing ploy, as Roger Kimball notes, may not be working: “It’s my sense that the effort to weaponize…

A water drop and ripples

There’s one way to have better representation in Congress.

By Justin Katz | June 24, 2024 |

This is a belated acknowledgment that Ben Shapiro is exactly right about the Jerry-Springer-esque catfight in Congress last month: If we don’t like what we’re seeing in Washington, D.C., the only durable solution is to ensure it isn’t representative.  But just like the brawls on that famous gawker show, untangling ourselves from this mess is…

Of Bake Sales and Nursing Homes Not Saved

By Monique Chartier | June 23, 2024 |

On Thursday, Governor Dan McKee appeared on The News with Gene Valicenti for an “Ask the Governor” segment on WPRO.  (No podcast to link to.)  During the segment, while rattling off accomplishments of the just-passed state budget, Governor McKee said … nursing homes, which we basically have saved … An interesting statement.  In fact, six…

A water drop and ripples

Patricia Morgan should debate Ray McKay.

By Justin Katz | June 5, 2024 |

I’m a little delayed in reacting to this, but it isn’t encouraging news: State Rep. Patricia Morgan, who is one of two Republicans running in Rhode Island’s U.S. Senate race this year, has declined to debate her opponent in the primary, 12 News has learned. … “We need our party united for when Ray drops…

A water drop and ripples

We should consolidate the ugliness of renewable energy.

By Justin Katz | June 4, 2024 |

Two things occurred to me when I saw this aerial video of a wind turbine blade graveyard in Texas:   First, this sort of thing already exists for 20-year-old turbines in an industry that is supposedly just getting started as a major industry.  What sort of acreage will we be talking as we approach the…

A glowing child emerges in the midst of a crowd of crazed monsters

Citizens need stronger self-defense rights against activist assault (for civilizational defense).

By Justin Katz | May 30, 2024 |

We’re getting strong reminders, lately, that a free society with mutual respect for rights is vulnerable to those who have no such respect and don’t much like freedom.  Among the most-stark examples I’ve seen is this incident, in which pro-Hamas Columbia activists encircle and bodily remove a student who objected to their destroying a campus…

A water drop and ripples

A lighter-note comment on the uses of AI.

By Justin Katz | May 30, 2024 |

We’re in heavy times, these days, what with our system of government collapsing around us, so sometimes we need a change of soundtrack or cinematic distraction.  Finding new entertainment, however, has become more-difficult, too.  Very little music feels fresh, and movies are terrible. On those rare occasions that I’ve thought to watch a new movie,…

An activist speaks through puppets

Think before (and after) you “mic check.”

By Justin Katz | May 29, 2024 |

The recent spate of campus demonstrations supporting the anti-Semitic terrorist group Hamas returned attention to something I’m not aware of having seen since the Occupy Wall Street days:  the activist “mic check.” Among Leftist organizers, this practice is offered as a humanistic means of amplifying a speaker’s voice without equipment.  The person who has the…