criticism Archives

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

GENERAL ELECTRIC FAIL

Conglomerate’s woes throw Boston HQ deal contradictions into bold relief November 15, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS What a surprise. General Electric is tanking, and the scheme to bring the multinational’s headquarters to Boston is looking worse by the day. And whom shall the public blame if

JASON PRAMAS November 15, 2017

AMAZON OCTAGON

Mass pols stand ready to fight each other for the right to bribe a multinational October 10, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS At least 17 Massachusetts cities and towns are now preparing to do battle with each other—and hundreds more municipalities nationwide—for the dubious “honor” of “winning” the right to

JASON PRAMAS October 10, 2017

AN AMAZON NORTH ANDOVER DEAL?

Sketch of the Merrimack Valley Works plant at North Andover while under construction in 1955 Merrimack Valley pols courting the tech behemoth have forgotten recent history Sept 26, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS A couple of weeks ago, I criticized the possibility of an Amazon Boston deal—on the grounds that most

JASON PRAMAS September 26, 2017

STOP THE AMAZON BOSTON DEAL

Locals have until Oct 19 to say ‘No Public Bribes to Corporate Scofflaws’ Sept. 12, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Fresh off of throwing tens of millions of dollars at General Electric, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker are now planning to enter the international horse race to convince

JASON PRAMAS September 12, 2017

A PROTEST BY ANY OTHER NAME…

The best way to defeat the ultra right is to stop playing their game August 15, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Street protest is a vital part of any genuinely democratic political system. But how and when people choose to demonstrate (or counterdemonstrate) determines the tactic’s relative success or failure.

JASON PRAMAS August 15, 2017

MANCHESTER DIVIDED: SEIU ‘FIGHTS FOR $15’ IN NH WHILE ITS CANDIDATE FIGHTS FOR $12

Photo by Derek Kouyoumjian February 8, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS The “protest pit” outside the Republican Presidential Debate at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire on Saturday evening was a fenced-in area in a field about a quarter mile down the road from the main entrance to the

JASON PRAMAS February 8, 2016

GO BIG OR GO HOME: TOWARDS A MASS CLIMATE JUSTICE MOVEMENT

Image by Kent Buckley December 16, 2015 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS On Saturday, one important global process ended and another began. The process that ended manifested in the form of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The process that began—or more correctly, accelerated—manifested in cities all over the world.

JASON PRAMAS December 16, 2015

GROUNDED MONKEYS: MILLIONAIRES UNLIKELY TO FLEE COMMONWEALTH IF RAISE UP MASS WINS TAX ON 1 PERCENT

Image by Kent Buckley December 8, 2015 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Boston Business Journal’s Craig Douglas made an interesting criticism of Raise Up Massachusetts last week (“Excited about the proposed millionaires tax? Cut off your nose while you’re at it,” Dec. 4). For those who missed it, RUM is a

JASON PRAMAS December 8, 2015