Law & Order

Mark Zaccaria argues that the current turmoil in the United States comes down to a loss of the institutions that used to teach people respect.

A Century of Slime-Throwing

One hundred years after the Klan scare in Rhode Island, it’s about time for an effective defense to guilt-by-(accusations-of)-association attacks to be found.

A Solution for the Progressive Crisis of Meaning

In our times of turmoil, if we place what’s going on in the proper context, the solution becomes obvious (albeit not easy).

Work-from-Home Globalization

As technology brings the benefits of globalization down to the individual level, will it mean greater opportunity for work-life balance, or the democratization of war?

Disenfranchising the People to Get Rid of the “Plantations”

Accepting elected officials’ overt disrespect for the rule of law does not advance the values of equality and mutual respect, but undermines them and will move us toward a dangerous future.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: A Lesson in Orwellian Providence

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for June 22, included talk about:

  • The speaker’s plea of historical ignorance
  • Raimondo’s dictatorial pandering
  • Elorza’s push to remove his city from the state’s name
  • Snitches on the ferry

I’ll be on again Monday, June 29, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Officially Approved Revolutionaries in Training

Notions of independent thought and familial authority are quickly becoming illusions, contingent upon the official authorization of powerful progressives.

Derrick Garforth Is a Marker of Our Time

The Pawtucket middle school teacher arrested for attempted vandalism provides the latest warning about the direction of education and, in turn, our society.

Progressive Policies and Fatal Police Shootings

Comparing statistics of fatal shootings by police illustrates the problem with comparing the United States with other countries, or even states with each other.

About “Defunding the Police” in Rhode Island…

Without commenting on the substance of any particular policy proposal, it can be noted that, in the state of Rhode Island, the number of sworn officers on a police force is frequently determined by the police union contract. This seems to be the case in Providence, according to a Projo article by Mark Reynolds

The tentative agreement with the Providence lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police also includes some new language on staffing levels. The language basically requires the city to maintain a staffing level of at least 435 positions. If staffing falls below that level, the city would compensate officers with additional sick days.

So whatever “defund the police” means in a Rhode Island context, will it mean that the local police union has to directly approve any major policy and budgeting shifts covered by their contract, or will the powers-that-be in Rhode Island come around to challenging the idea that major public policy changes can be vetoed by an organization not democratically selected by the people?

And if it is the latter, will there be an explanation of why police unions are different from other public-sector unions?

It has been argued in this space that allowing union contracts to be a major constraint on state and municipal government decision-making creates a democratic accountability problem, but many Rhode Island leaders were content to ignore this, when they could pretend the issues were mostly fiscal and could be reduced to choices between cuts to existing programs and tax-increases.  Well, the issues around policing that government must address right now are much bigger than fiscal ones, and the problems of dealing with them with less-than-democratic governing structures can no longer be ignored.

Burn Baby Burn

Charles Callanan: Anarchism Is Not the Answer for America

It is clear to anyone paying attention that Anarchists are opportunists. The tragic and unjust death of Mr. Floyd was the catalyst to attack our very institutions, disrupt our lives and cause racial conflict.

A Problem with Revolution in the Internet Era

One problem with technology and automation is that it makes intimate knowledge of the object being automated easier to miss.

The President in a Culture War Whirlwind

When President Trump behaves exactly in his famous character as a crass New York City businessman and says something he shouldn’t, we have to weigh that against the full mass of a movement in which opposition is illegitimate.

How the State Should Address Its Budget Challenges

A short new report from the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity suggests that Rhode Island can take its current setback as an opportunity to plan for a better future.

Travis Rowley: Cure for Social Unrest Is to Make Facts Matter

Progressives’ dedication to narrative over facts ensures that we’ll keep seeing incidents transformed into social turmoil.

Right and Wrong, Narrative and News

When you’re claiming to be speaking from a position of science and advocating policies that restrict our rights and that have massive implications for the real lives of millions of people, details are important.

Fear Is How You Frame It

As we claw back our liberty little by little in the months ahead, we must adjust for the degree to which our opinions (and those of our neighbors) can be swayed by the Zeitgeist.

Achorn and the Constitution

As Ed Achorn reminds us, the Constitution is only as strong as the people’s willingness to enforce it, and too many Rhode Islanders apparently believe our founding document can be waived if they’re scared or can claim that lives will be saved.

Questions of Belief and Authority

Governor Raimondo’s detailed regulations for “faith-based organizations” to reopen should be offensive to a free people (even if not personally religious) because of what she apparently believes about religion and about us.

Coming Out of the COVID Shadows

The (possibly related) stories about disproportionate COVID-19 cases among Hispanics and COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes fall in a range of topics about which we’re not allowed to have straightforward discussions, and that’s a dangerous problem.

RI’s Most Powerful Outside Special Interest Begins to Flex in Tiverton

When a special interest has this much money and power and a taxpayer-funded infrastructure to maintain the muscle for a nonstop political campaign, how can the people of any town really have their own voices represented?

A Lesson on Class Division in Rhode Island

The assumptions of an ideological insider class in Rhode Island discount and brush aside diverse ideas that would help the state run better and recover from economic hits.

Some Last-Minute Tone for You Subjects Stakeholders

Perhaps a commerce communications director could craft a better message for anxious business owners, but that wouldn’t be the tone his boss is promoting.

Management Follies

Politics to Define the Spherical Cow

Perhaps the biggest failure of government in the COVID-19 crisis has been the suspension of regular politics, which helps leaders respond to public sentiment and invests the public in the decisions.

Daily Update, 5/6/20

Warning Sign in a Once-Representative Democracy

Rhode Islanders should take the indicted ex-mayor of Fall River as a warning sign as our governor assumes authority to review the business models and safety plans for every organization in the state.

The COVID-19 Lesson That We Need More Civics Education

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