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Cooling towers at Brayton Point

Keep track as progressive laws tangle Rhode Islanders and our economy up.

By Justin Katz | November 23, 2021 |

Gregory Booth, who works with the advocacy section of Rhode Island’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) makes a reasonable point when he suggests that it might not be in our state’s best interest to have National Grid sell its Ocean State electrical distribution business to another company that lacks its cross-state infrastructure, but that isn’t why…

A water drop and ripples

Vaccines and illnesses are all about the stories we’re told.

By Justin Katz | November 23, 2021 |

During the flu season of 2018, newspapers published a number of heartbreaking articles profiling people who’d died from it.  That was a pretty bad flu season, but still, almost everybody recovered from the flu.  As those articles rolled out, though, it changed how the illness felt.  The stories provided a context of unease. We’ve seen that…

Broken plates

It’s well past time for the domestic abuse narrative to change.

By Justin Katz | November 23, 2021 |

Reacting to Joe Biden’s comments on the Waukesha Christmas parade massacre, Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller linked the incident to domestic violence: Here’s an idea. Take domestic violence more seriously at every level of government. Biden should know as he authored the original Violence Against Women Act. Although the mainstream narrative doesn’t make…

A water drop and ripples

At what point of domination do headlines stop pretending women are just catching up?

By Justin Katz | November 23, 2021 |

So, ho hum, 32 American students were chosen to study at the University of Oxford via Rhodes Scholarships, and surprise, surprise, the AP report amplifies the progressive stories within the story.  But at what point do the headlines stop promoting the disproportionate distribution of prestigious awards to females? The class of U.S. Rhodes scholars for…

A boy receiving a vaccine

East Greenwich children get several bribes for vaccination.

By Justin Katz | November 23, 2021 |

A week ago, Anchor Rising reported on toys being given to children in school-based COVID vaccination clinics. A spokesperson for the state said that it was only one clinic, and it was done to distract children while getting the shot.  Elizabeth McNamara reports for East Greenwich News that children in that town are going home with even…

A water drop and ripples

Bezos’s $100 million to Obama is OK, but a local candidate’s reporting error is an offense?

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2021 |

That billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is giving Barack Obama $100 million for his foundation points to the reality that we really have to rethink our concept of money in politics: “I’m told the $100 million was midwifed by Jay Carney, Bezos’ political sherpa and the former Obama press secretary. Carney ran point for Bezos,…

A man fuels his car

RI dodged a notch of the progressive ratchet with the collapse of TCI.

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2021 |

I’ve been engaging in a back-and-forth discussion with a childhood acquaintance concerning the costs of public schools, trying to convey that the system is set up like a ratchet. When operating costs go up — for electricity, say — school districts insist that they cannot absorb the hit and pass it along to taxpayers.  It’s…

A water drop and ripples

Sometimes it’s unlucky to have been there to make a difference.

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2021 |

This morning, I wondered out  loud what the public narrative would have looked like had somebody taken action to stop the driver from plowing into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin yesterday. Writing about Kyle Rittenhouse, David Burkhead may provide a hint of the answer: “He shouldn’t have been there” is a stupid argument. As a…

A water drop and ripples

Bob Walsh’s view on $3,000 bonuses for government worker vaccination is a perfect example.

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2021 |

Bob Walsh, the head of the National Education Association of Rhode Island teachers union, perfectly illustrates the problem with so much insider thinking in the Ocean State with this comment: Perspective: If you supported the extra $600 per week that unemployed workers received during the pandemic but are critical of a $3000 stipend (less than…

A black man driving into a parade

One way or another, the Wisconsin Christmas parade massacre is indicative of our perilous position.

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2021 |

Unfortunately, it’s a familiar sequence. A video hits social media showing a few seconds of some shocking incident.  At first it is universally passed along with expressions of horror, but very quickly, browsing users can begin to see most posts groping for political relevance. Facts begin to emerge, and if they serve a progressive narrative…