University cuts and a (possible) corporate scam just in time for the holidays
UMass Boston admin lays off more staff, unions push back
The neoliberal war on public higher education continues unabated ...
The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source
Written by JASON PRAMAS Filed Under: COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS, Townie
UMass Boston admin lays off more staff, unions push back
The neoliberal war on public higher education continues unabated ... read more
Written by GARY ZABEL Filed Under: NEWS+OPINIONS, Op-Ed
In 1979, I attended a meeting in Boston between the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM). Its purpose was to explore a possible merger between the two organizations. ... read more
Written by JASON PRAMAS Filed Under: Apparent Horizon, COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS
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 that once-secret deal cut by Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh in January 2016 goes south? Potentially ... read more
Written by CHRIS FARAONE Filed Under: COLUMNS, Dear Reader
For the record, I have some previous experience speaking in places where I expect to be ambushed. This wasn’t one of them, though. So I got a little bit tripped up when, just a few minutes into my talk, one of the audience members in Falmouth cut in with an aggressively raised hand and an unsolicited gripe.
Written by JASON PRAMAS Filed Under: COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS, Townie
Online retailer tries to duck sales taxes
For a long time, the internet was like the Wild West for online sales. Companies sold products to consumers all over the US, and the feds and many states were slow to tax those transactions. You know, because “innovation ... read more
Written by JASON PRAMAS Filed Under: Apparent Horizon, COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS
Vertex Pharmaceuticals made a big PR splash last week with an announcement of a significant donation to Boston and other cities where it does business. The Boston-based company, best known for its cystic fibrosis meds, has pledged to “spend $500 million on charitable ... read more
Written by JASON PRAMAS Filed Under: COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS, Townie
The rich and powerful interests that control Massachusetts politics and the state economy have their fingers in every conceivable pie. So numerous are their projects that it’s difficult for most news outlets to keep track of them, let alone cover them ... read more
Written by JASON PRAMAS Filed Under: Apparent Horizon, COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS
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” ... read more
Written by JASON PRAMAS Filed Under: Apparent Horizon, COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS
Sketch of the Merrimack Valley Works plant at North Andover while under construction in 1955
A couple of weeks ago, I criticized the possibility of an Amazon ... read more
Written by G. VALENTINO BALL Filed Under: FEATURES, Interviews, MUSIC, Non-fiction
“It’s two different worlds,” Millyz says about the gap between the colleges and blocks that he grew up on. “They never really mixed when I was growing up. You would see college students in Central Square, but in the actual neighborhoods you didn’t see that. It’s just different. When I was growing up, these were all zombies walking. These were million-dollar drug blocks.”