The Bennington Flag above is a revolutionary era flag that reportedly flew at the Battle of Bennington in 1777. Via Wikipedia.
Month: July 2026
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Happy Fourth!
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The Boston Globe: Celebrating Independence Day with some humor
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”
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Headlines of interest: … Moulton hangs tough … … ‘Uneven Expansion’ … Healey’s both-ways policy … Perfumed luxury towers … AC Wars … Kennedy Dynasty: Finis … Peabody & Arnold, RIP … Portnoy’s poolside advice
Some off-the-beaten-path stories you may have missed this past week:
— It confirms an earlier survey showing the race tightening: “Moulton closes in on Markey in new Mass. Senate poll” (MassLive)
— Strip out AI and the rest of the economy isn’t so hot: “Uneven Expansion and Emerging Headwinds: Massachusetts’ Economy Continues to Navigate Divergent Trends” (Mass Benchmarks)
— She’s trying to have it both ways on the issue: “Healey vows to protect Mass. from nonexistent data center threat” (Contrarian Boston)
— Raising the bottle bill to 10 cents per container isn’t going to do much good – and neither is this boycott: “Environmental groups launch boycott of Worcester-based Polar Beverages” (GBH)
— Bottom. line: America has too much air conditioning, Europe doesn’t have enough: “The Overlooked Reason Europe Doesn’t Have AC” (The Atlantic)
— I assume Old Spice Classic isn’t among the scents: “Luxury Buildings Add Signature Fragrances as Differentiators” (Banker & Tradesman)
— What it says is simple: what an embarrassing end: “What Jack Schlossberg’s Loss Says About the Kennedy Dynasty” (WSJ)
— They’re effectively taking out huge loans to fund big AI bets: “The Trillion-Dollar Borrowing Binge Lifting the Stock Market to Risky Heights” (WSJ)
— A sad end to an historic Boston firm: “Peabody & Arnold joins Harris Beach Murtha, ending 127-year law firm brand” (BBJ)
— The Barstool Sports founder shills away from the confines of his $47M estate on Nantucket: “Dave Portnoy Has One Rule for Success: Hire Great People and ‘Let Them Run Wild’”
— A true simplistic view of history – good-bad, north-south, red-blue, Plymouth v Jamestown, etc.: “The ‘Two Ships’ Theory of American History” (The Atlantic)
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The Jaylen Brown trade: Maybe it was time
As bad as the Jaylen Brown-Paul George trade looks on the surface, there’s something telling me that it was the right move under the circumstances, that the two-stars Brown-Tatum match wasn’t working and that something needed to change. I wish that change included trading Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo. But that deal wasn’t meant to be. … I get Dan Shaughnessy, Gary Washburn, Zack Kram and Sam Quinn’s harsh criticisms of the trade. Jaylen Brown for 36-year-old Paul George and a slew of draft picks? That’s all they could get? But Hardwood Houdini’s Ben Handler is on to something when he writes:
It’s sad to see it go down like this, but it’s also exciting in a sense. It’s a new day in Boston. The Jays era is over. Now it’s just the Jayson Tatum era. And maybe that’s the way it should have been all along
Now if we can only get rid of Stubborn Joe. He’s the real problem. I get depressed at the thought of another of his 3-point bombs-away seasons. But Brad is sticking with him… A Hub Blog reader on the Brown trade:
– Damn (and I was all in on the Giannis swap)
– Brown didn’t request a trade?
– The 76ers kicked our ass in the playoffs without Brown and with Paul George… though we didn’t have Mitchell Robinson.
– Adding two late 30s guys and a big man with injury history says WIN NOW for new ownership.
– Cue the full-page Boston Globe farewell ad. Or save the $ and put it on Instagram?
— Paging Bill Simmons… and Jackie McMullan…
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The most corrupt thing I’ve ever seen in politics: Trump’s $1.4B windfall from cryptocurrency scheme
His supporters will try to change the subject, perhaps yet again to Hunter Biden’s pathetic get-rich-quick schemes. But they know this is bad. Really bad. … And nearly half the money came from an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates. …
Update – 7.2.26 – The WSJ is comparing the Trump family’s brazen money grab to Tammany Hall boss George Washington Plunkitt’s “honest graft” approach to government.
Update II — 7.3.26 — Because they know this is bad. From the NYT: “MAGA Base Stays Quiet After Trump Reports Billions in Personal Gains” … Btw: When you include his family’s non-crypto schemes (mining deals, timely VC investments etc), the total haul comes out to $2.2 billion.
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‘Can You Really Be a Working-Class Party if There Are Very Few Workers in Your Party?’
I loved the original headline (see above) on Thomas Edsall’s latest piece at the NYT, but they’ve since changed it. Too bad. The original one perfectly summed up the DSA Party, whose membership is overwhelmingly made up of college-grad professionals completely out of touch with working-class people they say they represent, as Edsall notes and shows. … Sociology and gender-studies majors of the world, unite!
Fyi – I’m thinking of starting a regular feature on Hub Blog: ‘Red Menace Rising Update,’ focusing on everything socialist, socialist, socialist, from overreactions to socialists to hypocrisy of socialists. It’s so exciting!
