As I read this WSJ piece (“The Hard-line Activists Ramping Up for the War With AI”) my mind kept drifting back to long-ago controversies during the early years of the biotech industryin Boston. Sure enough, I found this Harvard Crimson piece on initial activistfears of Recombinant DNA research, as summed up by a 1976 headline in the Boston Phoenix: “BIOHAZARDS AT HARVARD.” … Well, as we now know, those and related fears were more than a little overwrought, considering all the medical advances produced by biotech firms over the past half century and all the jobs and companies biotech has produced since the controversies of the ‘70s.
Then again, the subtitle of that Phoenix headline reads, as the Crimson article notes: “Scientists are on the brink of undertaking revolutionary genetic research which creates new life forms …” Hmmm. I suppose “mirror technology” and genetically altered human babies kind of fall into that new-life-forms-concern category, right?
Just pointing all this out as I follow the old Hub Blog thought process, from dismissing overwrought crazies to conceding they may have a cautionary point or two. …
Update — I forgot to mention that I stumbled upon this Atlantic article during my quick research for this post: “When People Feared Computers.” … No mention of Hal, in case you’re wondering.
John Judis and Paul Krugman have dueling posts that try to answer the seemingly simple question: What is modern ‘democratic socialism’ in America? The two left-of-center pundits basically agree it’s not the ‘socialism’ of old, i.e. a movement favoring government control of the means of production. Instead, today’s democratic socialism is more akin to the European social democracy movement that advocates living with heavily regulated capitalism while providing generous social and safety-net programs to citizens, as Judis and Krugman argue. … So where do the two disagree? On how young people view today’s ‘democratic socialism’ and why they’ve embraced it. On this point alone, I tend to agree more with Judis, who argues it’s mostly about young voters’ limited post-Cold War perspective of history, politics and an economy that isn’t working so well for them. I’ll let Judis explain.
But here’s my problem with both of their analyses, setting aside my strong objections to many of the far left’s pie-in-the-sky economic policies: Where’s the detailed discussion of radical identity politics, Critical Race Theory and woke-ism that course through modern democratic socialism and the progressive left in general? Modern democratic socialism isn’t exclusively about economics and ‘affordability’ issues. It’s also about hot-button social issues – and far out social views that often directly contradict the left’s stated economic goals and turn off the vast majority of working-class voters and other Americans. It’s also about radical views on foreign policy and Israel in particular. Are young people embracing these clearly stated radical views when they embrace democratic socialism? John Judis, who now considers himself a democratic socialist, does address some of these thorny matters in a NYT interview and admits they’re a huge problem for the left. … Btw: If Judis is a democratic socialist, then he’s a moderate democratic socialist, one who used to regularly write for the common-sense Liberal Patriot that opposed Dems’ drift to the far left.
As a PE-backed group prepares to open an ‘elite student athletes’ boarding school in Stow (BBJ), Norway’s taken the complete opposite approach to nurturing youth athletes, according to this piece at the WSJ. … Don’t get me going about the growing corporatization of youth sports in America. Not content with running for-profit youth sports leagues, venues and merchandise, the new youth sports profiteers are now actually trying to make a buck off of kids and their deluded rich parents by launching 24/7 boarding schools? Too true. … I have a feeling Sen. Chris Murphy won’t be sending his son to Stow this fall.
First, establishment Dems. Now progressive Dems. Once again Dems have been caught clinging to a failing candidate until it’s too late to find a good replacement, as a friend noted to me last night. … But Dems reeling from the Platner debacle can take some solace in knowing that, sooner or later, even Republicans will have to answer the same question: ‘Why did they cover for … ?’ And we all know who they’ll be talking about.
Btw — Gov. Maura Healey definitely has some explaining to do. … At least Elizabeth Warren and other Dems can say their endorsements came early in the process, i.e. before all the damning disclosures. Not so the governor.
Btw II — ‘Why did they cover’ question via the WSJ, which applied it to Platner in this case..
Update – A coming “Why did they cover for (fill in the blank)” controversy in Massachusetts? From the Globe: “At 81, she doesn’t think she can ‘vote for an 80-year-old’ for US Senate. She’s not alone.” …
Update II –– 7.10.26 – From George Will at WaPo: “Democrats’ extremism and stupidity is catching up with the GOP’s.”
Despite what it thinks, Cumberland Farms has never reached the cultural icon status achieved by other local firms in New England, like Dunkies or LL Bean, etc. But last decade the Westborough-based convenience-store chain did produce one of the all-time worst TV commercials in history, starring David Hasselhoff, and it long-ago ran an ad campaign with jingles written by Brad Delp (scroll down) of later Boston band fame, and it recently partnered up on some promotional campaign with rapper Sammy Adams, who I never heard of until a few hours ago. So I guess all of this elevates tired old Cumberland Farms, aka Cumbys, to a level worthy of reporting here that its U.K. owner, EG Group, which is half owned by a U.K private equity firm (of course), has filed to take Cumberland Farms public, in case you missed the news that broke just prior to the Fourth holiday. And, yes, Cumberland Farms owners are clearly rushing to cash in on the hot AI-driven Wall Street market, as Reuters reports. … The BBJ and Convenience Store News have more.
Btw — I guess CF and Dunkies don’t have enough ‘classic aesthetic’ to make this august list.
Politicizing the nation’s 250th Anniversary one day. Politicizing the World Cup the next. What else can he spoil this week? The annual Girl Scout Cookie sale ended in April. So it will have to be something else.
Just over 30 years ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of James Reston’s “Deadline: A Memoir” as a birthday gift. I proceeded to set aside the famed NYT journalist’s 500-page account of his life and career, figuring I’d read it sooner or later. At the time, I had no idea “later” meant taking more than three decades to finally flip it open and start reading. Which is surprising because I’ve long loved the memoirs of other World War II-era and beyond journalists, such as Teddy White’s classic “In Search of History” and William Shirer’s “Berlin Diary.” Their tales of covering long-ago historic events and figures inspired me as a young journalist – and still inspire me. Maybe I was just burnt out on journalist memories when I got “Deadline.” No matter. I finally did read the memoir of the now deceased Reston, finishing it just recently, and what an enjoyable trip through history.
The book is indeed a memoir of the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist’s career that spanned the mid-1930s to the late 1980s. As a young correspondent based in London, Reston covered the rise of Nazism in Germany and later the Battle of Britain. As a more seasoned journalist based in Washington during and after the war, Reston covered the tragic start of the Cold War, the rise and fall of McCarthyism, and presidents from FDR to George H. W. Bush.
But what I really liked about the book is Reston’s mini-essay profiles of famous historic and journalistic figures that he covered and interacted with over the decades – Walter Lippman, Arthur Krock, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Dean Acheson, John Foster Dulles, Adlai Stevenson, the Kennedys, Henry Kissinger. His chapters on Dwight Eisenhower, LBJ, Nixon and Jimmy Carter are particularly insightful.
Reston, who served as a a reporter, Washington bureau chief, executive editor and columnist at the Times over the years, also provides chapters on “Yalta and The Times,” “The Oppenheimer Case,” “The Reporters of Vietnam” and even his family’s purchase of the Vineyard Gazette on Martha’s Vineyard. Reston obviously had his share of faults that aren’t outlined in the book (such as criticism by some that he was too close to the manipulative Henry Kissinger), but those faults were few and far between as far as I can tell.
Can you recommend a book published 35 years ago? Sure. Why not? As I said, Reston’s book is ultimately an enjoyable trip through history – and a delayed trip through history for yours truly. … As for my old friend who gave me the book, he sadly passed away a while back. But I can still see his kind B-day inscription to me, handwritten on the inside, and all I can say is: Jim, wherever you are, thank you. I finally finished the book.
Usually, these types of joke April Fool’s/whatever commemorative newspapers fall flat on their faces for one reason: they’re not very funny. But you can tell the Globe editors had fun with their 250thCommemorative “July 4, 1776” edition this morning, reporting the “Freshest News Occurrences of this Glorious Day, Humbly Deliver’ed. Or, How the Globe might have looked if it and the Internet existed in 1776 (they did not).” … The best part: the Globe gently poking fun of itself via imaginary soft-news features from 1776 that look suspiciously like shameless click-bait stories you might read in the paper today (or any media site today, for that matter), such as highlighting the local “Patriot Starting Lineup” at the Continental Congress, providing a handy list of where to find “strong drink” on this most Glorious Day, reporting that the “Smallpox inoculation ban’” has been lifted in Boston, hosting a debate over “What’s Faneuil for? Soaring speeches or the sale of trinkets?” Etc. etc. …
One thing missing: a Sports Section, perhaps covering quoits, cards and lacrosse leagues? Maybe next year.
Update — Breaking contemporary news from The Onion: “Joey Chestnut Recalls Being Cut From His High School’s Varsity Hot Dog Eating Team”
Hub Blog 