Convening a city to improve its news media
LIVING ON SCRAPS
Boston is aiming to achieve “zero waste,” which some say can create more living-wage jobs. Is part of this lofty goal rooted in the region’s dirtiest hypocrisy?
‘WALK THE TALK’
Mayor Walsh needs to act faster to mitigate regional global warming threats
CITY ON A HILL
Global warming will flood Boston. Why not move the state capital to Worcester? Many small American cities have boosterish metro research organizations that look like a cross between a public policy outfit and a chamber of commerce, and the Bay State’s second biggest urban area is no exception. The Continue Reading
THERE WILL BE NO OUTSIDE WORLD TO HELP US
Boston’s global warming plans must prepare region for worst case scenarios March 28, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS In a couple of recent columns—and several others over the years—I’ve looked at some of the specific threats that scientists expect Boston will be facing from global warming-induced climate Continue Reading
TOWNIE: A WORM’S EYE VIEW OF THE MASS POWER STRUCTURE+
Students at rally at Boston City Hall by NewtonCourt (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons From the guy that brings you Apparent Horizon October 18, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS The rich and powerful interests that control Massachusetts politics and the state economy have their fingers in Continue Reading
AMAZON OCTAGON
Mass pols stand ready to fight each other for the right to bribe a multinational October 10, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS At least 17 Massachusetts cities and towns are now preparing to do battle with each other—and hundreds more municipalities nationwide—for the dubious “honor” of “winning” the right to Continue Reading
AN AMAZON NORTH ANDOVER DEAL?
Sketch of the Merrimack Valley Works plant at North Andover while under construction in 1955 Merrimack Valley pols courting the tech behemoth have forgotten recent history Sept 26, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS A couple of weeks ago, I criticized the possibility of an Amazon Boston deal—on the grounds that most Continue Reading
STOP THE AMAZON BOSTON DEAL
Locals have until Oct 19 to say ‘No Public Bribes to Corporate Scofflaws’ Sept. 12, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Fresh off of throwing tens of millions of dollars at General Electric, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker are now planning to enter the international horse race to convince Continue Reading
A PROTEST BY ANY OTHER NAME…
The best way to defeat the ultra right is to stop playing their game August 15, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Street protest is a vital part of any genuinely democratic political system. But how and when people choose to demonstrate (or counterdemonstrate) determines the tactic’s relative success or failure. Continue Reading