The good news for Mike Minogue: he’s getting treated now as the presumptive GOP nominee for governor. The bad news: he’s getting treated now as the presumptive GOP nominee for governor, as columns by the Globe’s Joan Vennochi and the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld show. … Re Joan’s column, I hadn’t seen the Globe’s March story about Abiomed’s past regulatory woes under Minogue. Setting aside those and more recent concerns, I question whether Minogue’s past ties with a medical-device company is as big of a plus as he thinks. People are not exactly happy with our ridiculously expensive health-care system of late.

Ok, one more DSA rant and then I’ll ease up on the subject. … I don’t agree with everything Bill Maher says about democratic socialism. But he’s closer to the truth than many MSM descriptions of modern democratic socialism, such as this soft-pedaling NYT piece or this fawning Globe article that describes Zohran Mamdani as merely a “die-in-the-wool” progressive with no mention that he considers himself a democratic socialist whose party wants to replace capitalism and dismantle our current form of democracy. … Here’s the DSA’s party platform, btw. See for yourself.

Update –- 8.3.26 – Via a reader, here’s some interesting poll numbers from IPSOS about how Dems feel about democratic socialism. Basically, the entire progressive wing of the party has gone full DS, by the looks of it. 

Update II — From the Boston Globe’s great Larry Edelman: “What are Democratic socialists smoking?” (The headline above is from his email newsletter; the headline is different at the Globe website.)

Sad news for those who remember the late ‘70s/early ‘80s Boston rock scene: Jeff Conolly of the Lyres has died, as the Globe reports. … A friend sent along a couple of classics from Conolly et gang, here and here, and even one going back to Jeff’s DMZ days. He adds:

I knew (Jeff) was not well and there was an epic fundraiser in the spring. Boston Groupie News coverage here. He went through a lot of bandmates… as the Kinks song goes, he was “not like everybody else” …

DMZ got to make an album on Sire Records which should have been a friendly environment but with the extraordinary exception of the Cars, Rat-era Boston bands struggled with major labels. Nervous Eaters, Atlantics, Robin Lane. Here’s a great remembrance of MonoMan/Connolly from Thrills guitarist Johnny Angel.

Update — 8.3.26 – Boston Groupie News has more on Jeff’s death.

John Barros may have “divested” himself from the controversial $2 billion courthouse development deal in Springfield, as the Herald and SHNS (WBUR) report. But U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s ex-convict husband, Conan Harris, is apparently still in line for the big taxpayer-funded payout tied to the state contract. … Can someone please explain what exactly the husband of a sitting U.S. congresswoman did to earn a slice of the taxpayers’ money for this project? The optics stink, especially when you consider Harris’s familiarity with courthouses is limited to his past legal woes that brought him before the bench once too many times. 

The Herald’s Joe Battenfeld is bashing Gov. Healey’s handling of the courthouse controversy (and other matters):

The state awards a massive courthouse contract to two incredibly politically connected bidders and she says the process was totally above board? How could she not anticipate questions about this contract? And what does Barros know that we don’t know that caused him to jump ship from a lucrative pay day?… 

Update — 8.3.26 — From the Globe: “‘We got a C-minus’: With Springfield courthouse bid mired in controversy, some worry about trust in process.”

Some slightly off-the-beaten-path stories you may have missed over the past week:

— I wasn’t aware any of them were still around: “One of state’s few remaining Howard Johnson Inns up for auction” (BBJ)

— Do you think the November elections had something to do with this?: “MBTA extends commuter rail discounts into the fall, lowers some bus and subway costs” (GBH)

— Industrial space is back, baby: “This Chinatown Tower Is Returning to Its Industrial Roots” (B&T)
— He’s an expert on housing, all right: “Michael Minogue campaigned on understanding the housing crisis. He also owns a $31m home in an ultra-exclusive Montana club.” (Globe)

— Jon Keller isn’t feeling the anti-insurgency vibe in this year’s state elections: “The winds of change – not” (MassterList)

— Pass the popcorn. It’s either going to be a spectacular success or spectacular flop: “Fusion power darling Commonwealth Fusion Systems raises another $1B” (Tech Crunch)

— Remember when many newbie lawyers not so long ago couldn’t even find an unpaid internship?: “Law firm first-year pay jumps to $235K in Boston; recruiting starts earlier” (BBJ)

— An excellent look at the consequences of a top-down idea that looked great on paper until it was tried: “‘Like an earthquake’: Mass General Brigham fumbled hospital merger, former executive says” (Globe)

— Leaders in Burlington, Vt., and elsewhere should read this article before embarking on ‘harm reduction’ programs, but they won’t: “The Cities that Said Yes to Drugs” (The Atlantic)

— Just an interesting summer read: “We’ve all but wiped out wild oysters. Bringing them back could help solve some big problems” (WBUR)

— The crazy economics of rent control: “A Surprising Portion of Rent-Stabilized Apartments Go to NYC’s Wealthiest Renters’ (WSJ)

Or should it be ‘Straight of Hormuz Held Hostage’? Anyway, it should be sort of obvious by now that the Iranians have pulled out their old 1979 hostage-crisis playbook and are just stringing out the current showdown with the U.S. for maximum political purposes. … And just like 47 years ago, our current president seems trapped by today’s crisis. … 

Fyi: The above video is ABC’s very first “America Held Hostage” special report in ’79, featuring Frank Reynolds, not Ted Koppel, as some people might think. Koppel famously took over ABC’s hostage-crisis coverage at a later point.

It’s a small quibble. But it’s a routine small quibble worth pointing out now and then, i.e., political stories in the Globe written completely from the lopsided perspective of excitable progressives, with little or no outside political perspective. Example from today’s Globe: “‘I’m jealous.’ For Wu fans, a mounting case of Mamdani envy.” Another recent example: “Young progressive candidates are energizing Democrats nationwide. It’s giving some Massachusetts liberals serious FOMO.” And another: “Campbell has sued Trump more than 50 times. Democrats say they hear ‘a future governor or senator.’”

Ok, ok. I know. The Globe’s capable of running stories about the non-progressive political species inhabiting our dear deep-blue state, such as this smart piece from Chris Van Buskirk: “Massachusetts’ southeastern corner is turning into a Republican ‘hotbed.’” But the paper too often comes across as regularly fawning over and pandering to progressives, heaping focus on a political group that makes up only a faction of a party that represents just 25 percent of enrolled voters in Massachusetts. … Maybe one day the Globe will publish a story with the headline: “For most voters, a mounting case of non-Wu and Mamdani envy.” But don’t hold your breath.

Here we go again. The Globe is boldly urging lawmakers to show some spine by imposing congestion pricing for cars entering the city’s downtown – and then mentioning that a non-courageous “quick and easy” approach would be to let DOT bureaucrats raise Mass Pike tolls even higher than they are now while making no mention of possible tolls on I-93, Route 1 and 2, etc. (“You just flip the switch,” says one enthusiast of raising Pike tolls). … Way to show spine, Globe editorial board! … Any Worcester area, central Mass. or Metrowest lawmaker (and that includes you Karen Spilka) who goes along with this cockamamie plan to further stick it to Pike drivers alone – commuters who are already paying for the Big Dig and maintenance of other non-Pike drivers’ roadways – ought to be voted out of office, pronto … Btw: a suggested new battle cry: No I-93 tolls, no Congestion Pricing!

Some slightly off-the-beaten-path stories you may have missed over the past week:

— He’s obviously not a big fan of his successor: “Ex-Boston Mayor Marty Walsh backs Brownsberger, a senator Mayor Wu is trying to defeat” (Boston Herald)

— Most people get watches when they retire. BU honchos get mortgages to buy multimillion-dollar condos: “Boston University backed six-figure loans for former president, two administrators” (BBJ)

— Jon Keller goes after ‘bike supremacists’ who are using a tragic death to try to reimpose radical bike-lane policies: “Mayor Wu’s biker backlash” (MassterList)

— It’s part of the new station owner’s attempt to rebuild the brand: “NECN hires former WCVB reporter Matt Reed as anchor, eyes relaunch in September” (Globe)

— AI firms are throwing money around: “Where Did All the Computer-Science Professors Go?” (The Atlantic)

— Is the Middle Kingdom going the way of 1990s Japan, i.e. an overly hyped and feared economic rival? “China’s Moment of Weakness” (Foreign Affairs)

— The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine admirably stands firm: “Orange-stained pardon can’t keep cop-punching Jan. 6 doc from losing her right to practice medicine” (Universal Hub)

— Spot-on advice that too many don’t want to hear: “If the Democrats Actually Want to Win, This Is What They Have to Do” (NYT)

— Meanwhile, an old-school conservative lets the VP have it: “The endlessly pliable JD Vance has no aversion to conversions” (Washington Post)

— Unfortunately, both military and Ivy League types look on him as a sort of freak for choosing to serve: “I’m an Army general. My education shouldn’t be unexpected.” (Washington Post)