Alex Bronzini-Vender, a sophomore at Harvard, writes at the NYT that he and other applicants basically know how to game the college-admissions process by telling school officials what they want to hear, such as answering an essay question in a way that shows desired civility. But civility needs to be nurtured in classrooms, not screened for during an admissions process that can be manipulated, Bronzini-Vender writes. … I was saying roughly the same thing back in May. … Fyi: I particularly liked Bronzini-Vender’s call to “reinvest in disciplines like philosophy, history and political theory that teach people how to reason through disagreement.”

What great white sharks are to the Herald, Nantucket is to the Globe. It’s their summer niche. … Fyi: It’s only halfway through July and the Globe already has 6 stories this month about Nantucket, the most recent being Monday’s cutesy wootsy twofer: “’I was clearing out her crappy trees’: Nantucket man cut neighbor’s trees to enhance his property’s ocean view” and “On Nantucket vintage Broncos are the latest status symbols.” (The latter is not to be confused with July 3’s “ ‘Only happens in Nantucket.’ Mercedes G-Wagon mix-up delivers classic tale.”) … But, hey, the rich-are-different-from-us coverage works. Nantucket-themed pieces are consistently among the top read articles at the Globe.

Update – 7.17.25 – We’re now on the seventh Nantucket story of the month, thanks to Kevin Cullen: “What is it with the uber-rich and other people’s trees?”

Banker & Tradesman’s Steve Adams gets straight to the point on this story: “Piping hot tap water emerging from his cold-water faucets was a red flag that something unusual was occurring in the neighborhood where Robert Qua bought a condominium in 2019.” … We’re talking groundwater temperatures in the Leather District hitting 140 to 150 degrees, far above the normal 50 to 60 degrees, and sometimes people even see boiling water ‘bubbling out of manhole covers.’ … Oh, they have their suspicions about who and what’s causing the problem.  And it doesn’t involve some pointy-eared guy with a pitchfork.

Even though the Trump-Harvard battle seems far from resolved, maybe it’s time to start thinking of the coming Trump-MIT battle. Or at least it’s a battle tech titan and Trump advisor Marc Andreesen wants to wage, as the Washington Post reports. … What strikes me about Andreessen is his anger toward MIT and Stanford — and how far he (and others) will go to punish the universities for their perceived offenses.  … Reading Andreesen’s words, I’m reminded of the old Yeats line: “An intellectual hatred is the worst.”

I jumped off the Sox bandwagon after it lost a wheel or two sometime in April or May. Now I’ve scrambled back on after eight straight wins and last night’s spectacular walk-off homer by Ceddanne Rafaela. … Rafael Devers? Rafael who? … Could the Devers trade of 2025 be the turn-around equivalent of the Nomar trade of 2004? … OK, now I’m definitely getting carried away. … FYI: Rafael without an ‘a’ is now the subject of trade talk involving the Yankees. But he’s having disk-injury problems in SF. We’ll see.

The WSJ reports on the ongoing controversy at Boston Consulting Group, where two senior partners this week stepped down from leadership roles over their ties to a Gaza aid-distribution initiative. The project started as a pro bono venture but somehow morphed into a paid gig that reportedly included “developing a postwar financial model to determine the cost of relocating Palestinians out of Gaza.”… Getting involved in Gaza? Teaming up with a security firm with ex-CIA agents? Riling up a U.K. parliamentary committee? Not very smart. … Many BCG staff, clients and others are furious at the Boston-based firm.

Update — 7.12.25 — The Financial Times explains the UK angle. Meanwhile, the NY Post and Aljazeera are jumping on the story, among others.

The BBJ reports on the opening of a new 259-unit apartment complex in Stoneham – a project that took 11 years and one month to come to fruition. The permitting challenges included the usual: 40B appeals, stormwater and wetlands concerns, etc., etc. … I’m not sure if it’s a NIMBY-delay record. But it has to rank up there. … California’s rollback of its environmental laws does pop to mind. 

Suffering from Market Basket overload? Too much bland soap-opera reporting that doesn’t add much to what you already know, i.e. that the Demoulas family running the beloved supermarket chain is profoundly dysfunctional? I’m with you. My eyes glaze over most Market Basket stories these days. But … but I do recommend reading Larry Edelman’s recent Globe piece on the Market Basket controversy. It’s a good primer on the family feud that’s slowly tearing apart Market Basket – and it provides new information about how and when the most recent battlelines were drawn between the “ticked-off sisters” and the “imperious CEO.” …

… My own conclusions: 1.) Arthur T. Demoulas is admirably a true believer in his “all stakeholders” approach to governing the company 2.) he’s his own worst enemy when it comes to corporate-suite diplomacy 3.) the Demoulas sisters brought in the PE/M&A/CRE reinforcements for a reason – and it wasn’t to enhance the company’s “all stakeholders” programs.

— Is there anyone in charge here? Hello? “More Massachusetts criminal defendants released amid bar advocate strike” (Herald)

— It’s still a seller’s housing market but this is encouraging: “Inventory Increases Putting Pressure on Sellers” (B&T)

— My worst nightmare when weeding my garden or mowing my lawn: “Attleboro residents warned after venomous snake reported to have bitten 3 dogs, 1 fatally” (WCVB)

— There’s plenty more disappointments where this came from: “Federal funding for I-90 Allston project in jeopardy”  (CommonWealth Beacon)

— The politicization began well before RFK Jr.: “How Public Health Discredited Itself” (Atlantic)

— Come to think of it, maybe Dems should embrace Elon: “Musk’s America Party could split Republicans, Trump allies fear” (Telegraph)

— And they just sent me a subscription renewal form: “America’s Test Kitchen lays off seven employees and will cease publication of Cook’s Country magazine” (Globe)

 — They got a deal compared to Apple: “Longtime Newbury Street retailer Ralph Lauren buys its building for $38M” (BBJ)

— Michelle Wu knows the feeling: “NYC Real-Estate Execs Throw Money Behind Adams to Counter Rise of Mamdani” (WSJ)

— Suddenly, I find myself rooting for Mamdani: “Trump threatens federal takeover of NYC if ‘communist’ Zohran Mamdani wins mayoral race” (NYPost)

— Creeping slowly but surely toward that ‘worst-case’ scenario: “Wu says White Stadium costs for city will ‘likely’ exceed $91 million estimate” (Globe)

— It’s part publicity stunt, part pressure tactic by people with very small minds: “Trump administration takes aim at Harvard’s accreditation status” (WBUR)

— They do have their redeeming qualities: “Healey administration looks to redevelop Brutalist building downtown” (BBJ)

The WSJ has an absolutely fascinating story about why Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot created by Eon Musk’s xAI, has lately gone ‘rogue,’ recently telling millions of people on X how to break into the home of an actual 39-year-old attorney and assault him. Of course, there’s the wild incident on Tuesday in which Grok went on an antisemitic tear, praising Adolf Hitler and suggesting genocide might be an appropriate response to hate aimed at white people, as the NYT reported. … How and why did this happen? Well, it turns out that even the experts who build AI chatbots aren’t quite sure how they generate specific answers to questions, the WSJ reports. But it does have something to do with “guardrails” inserted into chatbot models, such as telling Grok to give answers with a little “wit” or telling Grok to give politically incorrect answers as long as they’re accurate. … In other words, there’s a vague power of suggestion at work here – or “guardrail” instruction – that tracks back to the human builders and that give chatbots the leeway to interpret instructions. And the results are unpredictable. …

Reading the Journal story, I thought of the famous scene in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in which Hal goes rogue on Dave. See video above. …

Update — 7-12-25 — The Grok update didn’t work. From The Atlantic: “After praising Hitler earlier this week, the chatbot is now listing the ‘good races.’”

Update II – 7-12-25 — Zeynep Tufekci at the NYT confirms that the updated Grok is still spewing antisemitic trash – and explains why Grok and other chatbots are so prone to these types of outrages. And it can only get worse, she warns.