We’re living in truly bizarre times. RFK Jr. now says he may prohibit government-funded scientists from publishing in prestigious medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet and JAMA, calling them corrupt and controlled by pharmaceutical companies, reports the Washington Post and Stat News. He indicated he wants the government to start its own “in-house” science publications. … The NEJM is owned and published by the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Did they really think no one would object? A group of residents have filed a suit to block installation of two 10-foot tall statues — one of St.  Michael, the Catholic patron saint of police, and the other of St. Florian, Catholic patron saint of firefighters – outside Quincy’s new public safety building, claiming they violate the state’s constitutional ban on promoting one religion over another, according to Boston 25 News and Universal Hub. … Forget the legitimate legal concerns or the fact the statues cost $850,000. One of the residents says the statue of St. Michael stepping on the head of a demon sort of looks like how George Floyd was killed. And you know what? It does! … The demon (see below) also looks like a Notre Dame gargoyle, a Middle Ages touch I’m not sure artistically works on a modern public safety building. I could be wrong.

Photos via Boston 25 News, which got ’em from the Quincy mayor’s office.

The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait has a good explainer piece on the so-called ‘abundance’ agenda pushed by some Dems who believe government has an important role to play but it needs to function better in order to get things done and provide true ‘abundance.’ … And they’re going after zoning laws that deter construction of new housing, the thicket of laws and rules that prevent major infrastructure projects from being built in a timely and affordable manner, etc. etc. … Think: Taking 11 years to build a new fleet of T subway cars in Massachusetts. Think: the Cambridge City Council recently approving landmark zoning changes to spur home construction. The former is an example of inefficient government. The latter is an example of reforming inefficient government. … So what’s the hitch? Who could possibly object to such common-sense ideas? As it turns out, many progressives, though not all, believe the ‘abundance agenda’ is nothing more than a neo-liberal attempt to weaken local citizen and activist power. Chait has lots more on the ‘abundance’ debate.

Fyi: The NYT’s Ezra Klein has co-written an abundance-themed book called, not surprisingly, ‘Abundance.’ 

So a Super PAC backed by New Balance chairman Jim Davis and other wealthy businessmen has dumped $1.4 million into anti-Michelle Wu advertisements around the city, according to the Herald and Globe. But unless I’m really missing something here, I don’t see it doing much good on behalf of Josh Kraft’s bid to oust Wu as mayor. Wu may be an ideological prig, but she does have a pragmatic side when it comes to winning elections. … Keep in mind Davis, a long-time GOP donor, plunked down big bucks to prevent Wu from becoming mayor in 2021. Didn’t do any good.

Here’s more media coverage tied to the 250^th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, via the Globe, which dispatched a photographer to yesterday’s reenactment of the little-known Battle of Chelsea Creek in East Boston. … Some readers in the comments section express disappointment that the Globe didn’t provide more details about the battle. But judging by the lack of a reporter’s byline, I assume it was always meant to be just a photo-gallery package. Which is fine with me. I’m just glad they covered the event. … For history buffs, here’s a detailed description of the battle, which was more extensive than I thought. It’s also known as the Battle of Noddle’s Island, among other names, and much of the fighting did occur on Noddles. See colonial-era map above. … Also for history buffs: See GBH’s piece last week on the little-known “courthouse rebellions” of 1774.

Policy wonk alert: The Globe’s Katie Johnston has a good story on how the U.S. House’s ‘beautiful bill’ would impact Massachusetts – and it’s a big impact via mostly funding cuts to Medicaid and the SNAP (food stamps) program. The potential price tag to the state: more than $1.5 billion a year. That’s if the state tries to pick up the federal funding slack. … My own back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest the hit might be far greater. … Either way, assuming the Senate doesn’t radically change the main thrust of the bill (and I don’t think it will), the state is going to have some major policy decisions to make over the next year or so. Potentially hundreds of thousands of people in the state could lose various benefits, while others, such as hospitals, cry for financial help due to the loss of federal Medicaid funds.

Btw — Moderate Republicans earlier this month may have successfully opposed direct funding cuts to Medicaid, something that could have blown an immediate hole in the state budget. But they later went along with disguised indirect funding cuts, via work requirements that they know full well are designed to throw people off of Medicaid, thus achieving $800 billion in savings over the next 10 years, as the Washington Post makes clear (scroll down to chart).

Update – 5.28.25 – From WBUR: “Healey says 250,000 people in Massachusetts could lose insurance under GOP’s proposed cuts.” … The Globe has a follow-up story estimating the total hit to the state could be around $1.75 billion.

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, the WSJ’s Peggy Noonan lists ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ as her all-time favorite war movie – and I can’t say I disagree. It’s one of the best movies ever made, let alone one of the all-time best war movies. And it’s not even set during war time. It’s about the after-effects of war. … Speaking of war movies set after wars, The Third Man and Judgment at Nuremberg are definitely on my list of favorite war movies. … My all-time favorite war movie? It’s probably Lawrence of Arabia, though my sentiments are constantly changing, depending on how many times I’ve seen a movie on TCM and grown tired of it. Zulu used to be my favorite war movie, but I’ve seen it too often. Ditto Saving Private Ryan and Casablanca (though I still enjoy all three films, of course). … Two excellent films with similar anti-war themes: Paths of Glory and Breaker Morant. I’m surprised the latter isn’t on Rotten Tomatoes’ 100 Best War Movies of All Time. Including Captain America: The First Avenger on the list and not Breaker Morant? What a travesty. … 

NBC10 Boston’s Ryan Kath has an excellent piece on how landlords are sometimes the victim of abusive tenants, not the other way around. But before you roll your eyes, check out the story. It really is outrageous how “professional tenants,” i.e. scammers, use eviction and bankruptcy laws to scam their way out of paying rent – and collect state housing assistance at the same time. They largely prey on mom-and-pop landlords who can barely make ends meet with two mortgages to pay, as Kath notes. …

I wasn’t going to write about Harvard this week. What more could I add to the latest outrageous Trump administration assault on the university? Then I saw this NYT opinion piece by Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard, and I couldn’t resist. The reason: Pinker, as he notes in his piece, is a long-time critic of Harvard’s past ugly bouts with campus political correctness/woke-ism, etc., etc. After establishing his bonafides as a centrist critic of the university, Pinker rightly unloads on the ‘unhinged’ Trump administration’s attacks on Harvard. … I could also explain in detail how the administration’s treatment of Harvard is a classic example of the Trump 10/90 Rule. But I won’t. I’ll merely point it out.

Update –– This is encouraging, via the Globe: “Judge halts Trump ban on foreign students at Harvard.”

The BBJ has the details on the tech giant’s purchase of Sublime Systems’ low-carbon cement product that it expects to make at a future factory in Holyoke. … How much is 622,000 metric tons of cement? Enough to build 25 to 35 full-scale NFL stadiums, the BBJ reports.

Update — Banker & Tradesman’s James Sanna has more on the ‘megaton’ factory that Sublime Systems, an MIT spinoff, is building in Holyoke.