Another impressive BC win (and almost too impressive). … From Bob Ryan: “It’s time to climb aboard the Boston College football bandwagon.”

Jerusalem Demsas at The Atlantic defends national Dems’ embrace of YIMBY goals, despite concerns of some pro-housing advocates that it might politically polarize the goal of building more homes. … Demsas makes good points. But if we know anything about today’s polarized politics, it’s that anything can be polarized. …Christian Britschgi at Reason thinks national Dems aren’t as committed to YIMBY as it might appear.

I don’t think I can take it. I.e. , renewed over-the-top media coverage of pro-Palestinian student protests around the country. The latest sign the media is eagerly preparing for campus protests to resume this fall, after a summer lull: The Globe had three (count ‘em – three) reporters covering yesterday’s “inaugural” protest of the school year at Harvard. … Sigh. … Next to come: The first “inaugural” media references to Vietnam War-era protests.

Update — Protesters demand to be taken seriously. But their actions are not treated seriously. Rita Koganzon explains at the NYT.

Somerville’s loosening of rules to allow construction of more triple-decker homes has generated interest among developers. Not a lot of interest. But it’s enough to show that tweaking zoning laws can lead to modest increases in desperately needed new housing, reports the BBJ’s Greg Ryan.

An old friend and colleague, Keith Regan, died last week after a “hard-fought battle against an aggressive form of cancer.” Keith, 57, who is survived by his wife of eight years and two children, was a long-time local journalist who I was lucky to work with while at the Boston Business Journal and MassterList.com. He was so dependable and professional, so friendly and easy-going. He had a dry wit that shined through in his writing. He was a joy to work with. A true first-rate guy, he will be dearly missed. God bless and rest in peace, Keith.

Update – More on Keith’s work at MassterList can be found here.

In a bid to win over the business community, Kamala Harris has been rolling out new tax proposals designed to make her look less progressive than she’s been portrayed by partisan critics. Is it working? Sort of.

Sure, she’s proposed increasing the capital gains tax on those making $1 million or more at a far lower rate than what President Biden has proposed, but she’s still calling for a capital-gains tax increase, as the NYT reports.

Meanwhile, she’s also called for an increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate, from 21 percent to 28 percent. Hmmm. Are we really going to go back to the days when the U.S. corporate rate was significantly higher than quasi-socialist Sweden’s corporate tax rate?

Harris has indeed announced a small-business tax plan that would allow start-ups to deduct up to $50,000 in expenses, a tenfold increase from the current deduction, as CNBC reports.  

So let’s add it up: Two tax increases + one tax deduction = not as centrist as she’s trying to make it appear. Sorry to put it that way. Yet it’s true. But I’m still rooting for her to win.

A rare 8-millimeter film taken by a Texas businessman shows President John F. Kennedy’s limousine speeding to a hospital shortly after the president was shot in Dallas in 1963. And the film, which only a few people have ever seen and which shows a secret service agent desperately trying to assistant the president and Jacqueline Kennedy, is being auctioned off in Boston at RR Auction later this month, the NYT reports.

RR Auction has more on the sale here. 

I got the following email message this morning from a friend, regarding a long piece by writer Michael Lewis in the Washington Post: “It’s the story of an engineer who works for the federal government  – a role often ridiculed in today’s political discourse – but, he’s a quiet hero who is saving the lives of countless people in the mining industry.  It’s a fascinating story and provides evidence the government can do good things.”

I’d also highly recommend Lewis’s excellent “The Fifth Risk,” about the takeover of federal agencies by ignorant Trump appointees who thought they knew all but actually knew little about critical government functions.

Not sure if this is true or not, i.e. an alleged leaked document claiming Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift plan to break up on a specific date later this month. Now, I couldn’t care less about their relationship. But I am fascinated with behind-the-scenes PR maginations in general. Assuming the document is real, the two Ts really do live in a bubble, portraying and defining themselves via publicists, lawyers, press releases, social-media blurbs, etc. It’s a strange existence. … 

The Globe drops a mini-bombshell toward the beginning of its Spotlight story on the financial dealings of Steward Healthcare chief executive Ralph de la Torre: A federal grand jury is now investigating some of his more questionable financial moves, including possible self-dealings between Steward and side firms owned by de la Torre. From the Globe: “The grand jury has homed in on the health care company’s financial dealings, including executive compensation, travel, and spending, said one person who was briefed on the matter.”

Not sure why the latest  fed probe wasn’t reported in a separate article by the Globe. No matter. It’s a good story about a new dimension of de la Torre’s greed. … Fyi: The probe is separate from a previously disclosed fed investigation into Steward’s international business, the Globe reports.