Column Archives

CRISIS AVERTED

MBTA bus mechanics beat back privatization… at a cost February 14, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Unionized bus mechanics represented by the International Association of Machinists Local 264 won an important victory last week when they agreed to a four-year contract with the MBTA—effectively ending a two-year

JASON PRAMAS February 14, 2018

“WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!”

Moral panic hamstrings promising North Andover cannabis farm deal February 6, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Last fall, I wrote about the history of Osgood Landing—a large industrial facility in North Andover—as part of a column (“An Andover North Andover Deal?”) slamming a hasty bid to

JASON PRAMAS February 6, 2018

SEA LEVEL RISE IS JUST ONE OF BOSTON’S WORRIES

As Earth approaches several catastrophic global warming “tipping points” January 24, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Before writing more columns examining Boston city government’s emerging plans to cope with the effects of global warming, I think a quick review of what area residents are likely to face in

JASON PRAMAS January 24, 2018

THE SEAPORT FLOOD IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Unless Boston builds proper defenses against global warming-driven sea level rise January 17, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS So, Boston’s Seaport District flooded early this month during a bad snowstorm in the midst of several days of arctic temperatures. And nobody could be less surprised than me.

JASON PRAMAS January 17, 2018

ON MAKERSPACES AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Making can be cool, but conscious making is cooler December 19, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS For many of us living in and around Boston in recent years, it has become common to see lots of communications from makerspaces around holiday time. Which is totally understandable. Such

JASON PRAMAS December 19, 2017

TOWNIE: CORPORATE TAX FABLES AND COMMUNITARIAN KIDDIE TABLES

December 12, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Big local corps quiet about huge profits to come from Repub tax scheme… except GE An interesting WBUR article, “Largest Mass. Companies Are Mostly Silent On GOP Tax Plans,” asked the top 12 corporations in the Commonwealth to comment on the

JASON PRAMAS December 12, 2017

EVERSOURCE SCREWS MASS CONSUMERS

With a little help from its friends, the “regulators” at the Department of Public Utilities December 5, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS It is perhaps understandable that one of the most important Massachusetts news stories of the year was buried in the avalanche of reports coming out

JASON PRAMAS December 5, 2017

TOWNIE: A WORM’S EYE VIEW OF THE MASS POWER STRUCTURE+

Students at rally at Boston City Hall by NewtonCourt (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons From the guy that brings you Apparent Horizon October 18, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS The rich and powerful interests that control Massachusetts politics and the state economy have their fingers in

JASON PRAMAS October 18, 2017

Why “Apparent Horizon”: This column explained

September 19, 2015 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS APPARENT HORIZON: Your Gateway to a Better Universe is the full title of my new column and it was inspired by a somewhat rarefied area of scientific inquiry. Current hypotheses in theoretical physics — notably one recently propounded by Stephen Hawking — discuss the region surrounding a black hole as

JASON PRAMAS September 19, 2015