The Globe’s Jon Chesto reports State Street Corp., the giant Boston money manager, is in the crosshairs of GOP critics who think the company’s ESG investing has gone too far. … As far as I can tell, this isn’t about actual poor investment decisions and returns by State Street, for the cries of protest would be far, far louder if someone was losing actual money. … Instead, it’s more about politics and protecting the interests of certain industries, i.e. oil and gas companies.
Month: October 2024
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Boston’s State Street Corp. becomes target of anti-woke GOP
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History in the making: The miracle of glp-1 drugs
Via John Ellis’s outstanding News Items newsletter, the Economist declares that glp-1 drugs, such as the weight-loss wonder Ozempic, have “all the makings of one of the most successful classes of drugs in history,” capable of treating not only diabetes but also cardiovascular and kidney diseases and possibly even Alzheimer’s, addictions and, believe it or not, aging itself. … Forget it being one of the most successful drugs in history. It could be one of the most significant developments in human history, period.
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Rare housing-construction hot spot: Everett’s Commercial Triangle
Another multifamily housing development has been proposed for Everett’s Commercial Triangle district, described as a rare housing-construction ‘hot spot’ in eastern Mass. The BBJ has the details.
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Progressives: Can’t live with them, can’t live without them
Here’s a near perfect example, in the context of the current presidential election, of how progressives maintain a powerful grip on the Democratic party, via threatening to withhold support and votes if party leaders don’t hew to the progressive line. At a time when the party is desperately trying to prevent the election of an authoritarian/fascist figure to the White House, some progressives are prioritizing political purity over political pragmaticism . That’s the can’t-live-with-them side of the modern progressive left. They can be complete political imbeciles.
And, yet, the can’t-live-without-them side of the modern progressive left is that some progressives are oftentimes right on both the issues and political pragmatism, such as Bernie Sanders urging Kamala Harris to focus more on the plight of the working-class and less on the further demonization of Donald Trump..
Moving forward, the bold and mighty Hub Blog is going to try to start differentiating, when possible, on a case by case basis, between “pragmatic progressive” positions, such as Bernie’s stance above, and “purist progressive” positions, such as pro-Palestinian fanaticism or trans-rights activists who see no room for any compromise. It’s the purist progressives who are harming Democrats, insisting on fealty to radical positions that end up hobbling Dem candidates in general elections.
Fyi: The NYT has more on pouting purist progressives who just don’t get that what Harris is trying to do is win an election.
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‘The convergence of working-class decline, corporate greed, and nativist anger’
George Packer has an excellent piece at the Atlantic on what’s on the minds of voters in hardscrabble western Pennsylvania. … Read it. It’s one of the best election-year stories out there.
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Needham OKs plan that could lead (theoretically) to thousands of new housing units
With an emphasis on “theoretically.” Banker & Tradesman has the details (sub. req.). … Even if only a few hundred of the housing units are built, Needham will have done its part in helping to address the housing shortage in Massachusetts.
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Trump and Hitler: Another outrage that won’t make a difference
Of course I’m shocked and outraged. I didn’t think he could sink lower. But he did. … Yet we’ve been down this same shocked-and-outraged road before — and it hasn’t made much of a difference. It’s another anti-Trump bubble story, something that merely deepens the already deep loathing of those who long ago voiced their vehement opposition to Trump. … Kamala Harris has less than two weeks to convince the last remaining undecided voters and non-revved up voters why they should vote for her. It can’t all be about anti-Trumpism. Haven’t Dems figured this out yet?
Update — He may be a fascist, but is saying so smart politics? What are some of his non-fascist supporters thinking? Is this a “deplorables” moment? …
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Why ideologies fail
I really liked David French’s column from last week, explaining why DEI and various other solutions to complex social problems are often doomed to failure, to wit: political monocultures. … It basically comes down to like-minded people not listening to others’ ideas, thus reducing the odds of success.
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Jerod Mayo: Bob Kraft’s very own Gerry Faust
The Globe’s Ben Volin comes out and says it: Blame the Krafts, not Jerod Mayo, for the Pats’ wretched play of late. “With each bumbling loss, the Krafts’ decision to hire Mayo looks increasingly arrogant or naive.”
Actually, it was hubris. … And it reminds me of when Notre Dame hired Gerry Faust as its head football coach, straight from high school, proving ND had come to believe in its own myths.
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Oh, so now they stand up to the MTA’s anti-MCAS ballot push
As Scott Van Voorhis notes at Contrarian Boston, Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, state Attorney General Andrea Campbell and others have belatedly come out against the anti-MCAS ballot question that’s heavily backed by the Mass. Teachers Association. … It’s almost as if the leaders’ too-little-too-late action was deliberate, allowing them to say they did the right thing and yet not angering the MTA too much. The public union is a big player in the state Democratic party after all.
Hub Blog 