The proposed CVC MinuteClinics and MGB affiliation was always about market share and making money – and a preliminary report from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) last week confirms that. How much money? Well, the deal, if it goes through, would drive up health-care spending by about $40 million, basically by transitioning low-cost MinuteClinic patients to high-cost primary care docs, the report says. It’s something I wrote about last year (“How does funneling patients to the most expensive care network in the state help reduce health costs?”) … The bottom line: The MGB-CVS partnership is bad deal for consumers, a good deal for CVS and MGB. … 

I’ve gone from dismissing the Vrabel-Russini story to not getting enough of it. The latest from Page Six: new photos of the love birds apparently kissing six years ago in a bar. … It’s now an official hounds-chasing-the-fox story till it fizzles out. … Beyond the humungous number of clicks the story is generating, the NY Post must love humiliating The Athletic/NYT, the Boston media, the Patriots …

From a YouTube viewer: “Page Six working like the ’92 Dream Team.” … 

Update – 4.24.26 – The hunt is temporarily off due to last night’s NFL draft. The Pats traded up last night to pick another OT? They’ll never admit it, but it’s an acknowledgement that Will Campbell, last year’s first pick, has been a major disappointment.

A friend sent me a link to University of Texas historian Steven Mintz’s response to the NYT’s new series titled ‘How to Be Cultured.’ There was a part of me who thought he was joking about the Times series, but, sure enough, there it was. No, the series is not a self-parody of NYT pomposity. It’s the real deal NYT pomposity, complete with CliffNotes-like suggestions on the minimum you need to know so you too can be cultured (and come across as cultured), from operas to films to cheeses etc. The Times series even provides a test to see if you’re cultured. (You’ll be surprised to learn: I flunked.) 

… While clicking through the series, I kept thinking of The Talented Mr. Ripley. … I also kept wondering over and over again if this was some sort of NYT joke. But apparently it’s not.

Update — 4.23.26 — As a friend pointed out to me last evening, Jay Gatsby was another social-climber who studied hard to appear cultured. … Now that’s a truly cultured observation!

Update II – 4.23.26 – Speaking of weird news media products, check out WBUR’s ‘The Midnight Rebellion,’ described by the station as an “interactive climate fiction podcast.”  Scott Van Voorhis describes it as just plain “bizarre.” And it is. … I know it’s only a podcast, but WBUR does describe itself as a “trusted and beloved news source” and a “public media leader committed to exceptional journalism.” I guess fiction now counts as journalism at the station.

Re last night’s disappointing Celts loss due mostly to horrendous shooting (by some), from Dan Shaughnessey: 

This is the state of the NBA in the spring of 2026. It’s a make-or-miss league. The old standards of stingy defense, fast-break offenses, 50-50 balls, pick-and-rolls, and protecting the rim no longer apply.

I was recently poking around Prime’s menu of available movies when I stumbled upon ‘Mr. Jones,’ about British journalist Gareth Jones’s groundbreaking reporting on the man-made Ukrainian famine under Stalin during the early ’30s – and his journalistic showdown at the time with NYT Moscow bureau chief Walter Duranty, a loathsome Stalin apologist. … Though the 2019 film has its flaws, I liked it a lot, as did the NYT’s reviewer and many other critics. I now rank ‘Mr. Jones’ up there with my all-time favorite movies about journalism, after All the President’s Men, Spotlight, His Girl Friday and The Post, among others. … And, yes, I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of ‘Mr. Jones’ till this past weekend. Glad I found it.

Re the planned closure of the 50-year-old Clarke’s at Faneuil Hall, I got a kick out of this comment at Universal Hub:

You are not a true Bostonian if you do not have at least one or even a dozen stories of debauchery that started or ended at Clarke’s in the 80’s or 90’s. I wish I could recall them all.

I wouldn’t call them stories of debauchery, but I do recall often meeting friends for after-work drinks at Clarke’s. … I see the Salty Dog is still around at Faneuil Hall. I used to briefly wash dishes there.

Fyi: Before the Clarke’s announcement, the Globe’s Jon Chesto and Shirley Leung, in their excellent debut Power Play newsletter, reported why reviving Faneuil Hall Marketplace isn’t going to be easy.

Update — 4.21.26 — From an old friend and HB reader: “Thanks for memories on Clarke’s. I do remember a couple of 1980s debauchery-free hangouts with you and company.  Those were the days.” … Re the above Globe piece on Faneuil Hall, he writes: 

I think Faneuil Hall presents challenges around identity. It has a dated tourist appeal associated with how the rest of the country sees us (chowdah, lobstah, Harvard/MIT sweatshirts, all set to the tune of the Dropkick Murphys). Do we lean into that image and sharpen it up, as seems to work for cafes/pubs/shops in many parts of old Europe even if you don’t see people strolling about in robes and lederhosen? Or do we ‘reimagine and re-envision’ what Boston means, which Mayor Wu deftly does on her Logan Airport welcome-to-Boston (greetings) – and if you do that, is it truly inclusive and celebratory and not scoldy and woke?

All these years later and people are still fascinated with the long ago behind-the-scenes power struggles at Boston’s secretive Fidelity Investments – Abby Johnson’s showdown with her CEO father Ned, boardroom coup attempts, sale rumors, running battles between Abby and then top Fidelity executive Bob Reynolds. It’s all here, courtesy of a WSJ adaptation from Justin Baer’s upcoming book on Fidelity. … The Fidelity infighting two decades ago certainly wasn’t as brutal as the fictional Roy family feuds on HBO’s ‘Succession.’ But it’s still an intriguing tale about the rise, fall and rise of Abby Johnson, that’s for sure. … Is it too early to start speculating about Abby’s own succession plans? She is 64, after all

— The Globe’s Larry Edelman connects the economic dots: “Another week, more proof Massachusetts is losing its edge” (Globe)

— But here’s an economic morale booster: “Spain set to launch a $200 million life sciences fund in Massachusetts” (Globe)

— At the very least they need to lower the required numbers: “Boston City Councilors Pitch Nixing Parking Requirements” (B&T)

— Well, this is one way to achieve a merger: “Boston law firm shuts down as final attorneys join Connecticut rival” (BBJ) 

— A product of a very thin party bench: “GOP candidate for lieutenant governor recently owed thousands in unpaid taxes, records show” (WBUR)

— Because it’s a real accent, not a Hollywood accent: “Why Is Everyone Wicked Obsessed With This Boston Globe Reporter?” (NYT)

— There’s a lot of taxpayer money invested in this local company: “The best available option:’ Battery firm valued at over $1B files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy” (BBJ)

— The phrase ‘too good to be true’ does come to mind: “The Great Ozempic Experiment” (NYT)

The WSJ has two good stories today on Pentagon weapons procurement — the first on how military brass have approached major manufacturers about boosting weapons productivity and the second on billionaire Steve Feinberg’s push to both increase and reform defense spending. As the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran have shown, the U.S. procurement system isn’t exactly geared for quick and affordable replenishment of depleted weapon stocks, thus the push for reforms. …
Reading the Journal pieces, I was reminded of two YouTube videos I recently watched on German engineers’ reaction when they tested captured American Sherman tanks and Jeeps during WWII.* The Germans couldn’t believe how simple, pragmatic and reliable they were – and America’s ability to produce them en masse. Hopefully, the Pentagon is thinking along these same simple, pragmatic and reliable lines today as it attempts to transform its procurement system.

* I’m a fan of Mark Felton’s YouTube channel and other military-history sites, where I found the two above Sherman and Jeep videos after recently reading yet-another procurement-related story. They’re not the type of videos I watch every day, but definitely now and then.

Sen. Ed Markey may be ‘immensely popular’ among the Dem base in Massachusetts, the Globe reports, citing the latest Suffolk/Globe poll showing the incumbent senator comfortably ahead of primary challenger Seth Moulton. But always remember that Democrats make up only about 26 percent of enrolled voters in Massachusetts – and a progressive faction representing roughly half that amount (13 percent of the overall electorate, using back-of-the-envelope calculations) will hand the octogenarian Markey another six-year term because the Republican party in this state is a joke and winning the Dem primary is what it’s all about in most elections in Massachusetts. … What a system, huh? … 

More on our glorious primary-election system here. 

Update – 4.16.26 – Here are the full results from the Suffolk/Globe poll. … Gov. Healey’s job-approval numbers look pretty strong.

Update II – 4.19.26 – The Herald’s Joe Battenfeld has also noticed the strong Healey numbers.