The stock market is up and unemployment is down while the GOP continues to fight.
Yesterday, Mitt Romney managed to fend off a serious challenge in Michigan by Rick Santorum, besting the former senator by 3 points in Michigan and 21 points in Arizona. The former Massachusetts governor outspent his opponent by two-to-one, but whatever: Romney won.
Yesterday held far bigger news then the GOP primary, though: The Dow Jones hit 13,000 points. The last time the stock market index was at that level was back in January 2008, more than four years ago. And at that time, it was on it’s way down, quickly, as the recession gathered steam — the last 15 months of George W. Bush’s presidency saw the Dow drop nearly 6,000 points. Two months into Barack Obama’s tenure, the index reached its low point, slumping to 6,547 in March 2009. Continue reading “A Chart That Should Scare Republicans” »
|
Just walk by the convention center starting next week, when 'Art on the Marquee' will display six local artists on the 80-foot-tall screen.
Last month when I toured the Renzo Piano wing at the Gardner, staffers showed our group the big changes at the museum, all the while answering random questions, big and small. While most of us asked aesthetic and architectural questions, one guy had an obviously different agenda. As he walked around, he occasionally asked discreet questions about the Gardner’s events and what kind of marketing endeavors the institution would be eager for. The guy was Larry Meehan, vice president of media and tourism at the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, and it’s his job to pump up our city for outsiders. As I secretly listened whenever he asked a question, it was a healthy reminder that arts are a key draw for this city, and the GBCVB is focused on how to sell it. And now, premiering next Thursday, Feb. 23, we have the biggest — literally — display of that merger of arts and the convention industry that we’ve ever seen.
It’s called “Art on the Marquee”, and it’s a joint effort by the industriously innovative organization Boston Cyberarts and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority — and it’s a very literal title. The art by six Massachusetts artists will be displayed on the convention center’s LED marquee, which is 80-feet-tall and seven screens across, for a total of 3,000 square feet of digital display for the artist to play with. Truly, this is the new wave of public art.
Continue reading “Want to Tour Boston’s Biggest Art Gallery?” »
|
The utility merger clears way for the nation's first off-shore wind farm. Is that a good thing?
 (Photo via ThinkStock.)
Yesterday, the state approved a $17.5 billion merger between Northeast Utility and NStar, making the new conglomerate the largest utility provider in the region and extending its reach to 3.5 million households. The green angle here is Deval Patrick’s demand that any merger include a component of renewable energy, which breathed new life into the up-to-this-point DOA Cape Wind project.
Briefly, in exchange for letting the NStar and NU become too big to fail, the state extracted a promise that the new company would purchase 27.5 percent of the anticipated capacity of the Cape Wind project, which if estimates hold, could produce 2 percent of the state’s overall electricity needs. Math it a little, and that means the merged entity could deliver just over .5 percent of the state’s power as renewable energy. Wowie zowie. Continue reading “Wind Farm May Now Take Root” »
|
How appointed boards often fail to protect the public interest.
Like most places, Massachusetts uses elections to ensure accountability in government. Don’t like how things are being run? Vote ‘em out.
So, it’s interesting that some of the most egregious breakdowns in public accountability over the past few years have occurred in that netherworld between bureaucrats and elected officials — the board of directors. Continue reading “Are Boards of Directors The Weakest Link?” »
|
Second to Google, Boston Consulting Group and More on Fortune‘s Best Places to Work. Not to shabby for BCG to be second to freaking Google. Other Massachusetts companies that made the list are No. 30 Bingham McCutchen LLP, No. 35 Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Co., and No. 83 Bright Horizons Family Solutions. [Fortune]
|
Could the resurgence of the Boston office market mean a fix for that hole in Downtown Crossing?
Nah, there’s probably not. Let’s be serious, we are talking about the Filene’s site. BUT, if I were to put on my rose-colored shades and stare at a half-full glass for a while, I might find hope for the much maligned hole in Downtown Crossing in this morning’s Globe story about the resurgence of the Boston office market.
According to the broadsheet, 11 office-buildings were sold in the city last year — a four times increase over 2010. That activity is a sign of the business community shaking off its recessionary blues. Demand for office space is up, leading to higher rents, making the office buildings more desirable to buy and sell.
Now why does this matter for the Filene’s memorial hole? A quick review: Vornado, a New York real estate trust, bought the Filene’s site for $100 million in 2006, intending to knock down the old buildings and build a sparkling new mixed-use tower, filled with retail, residential, and office space. In April 2008, they went ahead and began demolition, excavating a really nice hole in the ground for us. Then the economy cratered and the building’s financing fell through. Plans for the sparkling mixed-use tower were shelved. Since then, much to Mayor Tom Menino’s ire, Vornado has just let the site sit. Continue reading “A Glimmer of Hope on Filene’s” »
|
Why voting for Romney scares the hell out of South Carolina.
 Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant in 1865, nearly 150 years ago. Image via ThinkStock.
As the good people of South Carolina consider whether or not to essentially coronate Mitt Romney as the GOP candidate for President, one of the biggest things on some minds will be the war. I don’t mean the one that’s ending in Iraq or the one that’s still going on in Afghanistan. I mean the one that started there, at Fort Sumter: The Civil War. They’re still mad about it.
Recently, I was down in the lovely city of Charleston, and I took a guided tour. One of the most interesting moments occurred when my guide, a thin and genial man with short, graying hair and a soft drawl, first mentioned “the war.” By way of compromise I suppose, he used the term “the War for Southern Independence” rather than the term many Carolinians prefer, “the War of Northern Aggression,” or the term most of us Yankees were taught in school, “The Civil War.” Continue reading “Mitt Romney and the Lost Cause” »
|
Recent brand-saving efforts to go young crashed and burned.
So that whole “we’re going to reinvent ourselves” thing that Talbots was doing in an effort to save their brand? It doesn’t seem to be working out so well, as the company recently announced that it’s letting go of its CEO, Trudy Sullivan, after her four years at the helm of the struggling brand. This comes on the tail of their announcement in September that they’d be firing Michael Smaldone, their chief creative officer, who was in charge of the overall vision of the company. In their statement announcing Sullivan’s departure, the Talbots’ reps said that they’d be cutting 100 jobs from their Hingham headquarters and will be putting their advertising on hold as well (that means, sorry, no more Julianne Moore ads). Continue reading “Talbots: Searching for a New Identity … Again” »
|
My Robot Nation: Fulfilling the fantasies of 10-year-old boys, one robot at a time.
 My robot creation. Image courtesy of My Robot Nation. Yesterday marked the launch of the San Francisco-based website My Robot Nation. The site — launched by Sarah Stocker and Mark Danks, both vets of the gaming software industry — is the first to offer a consumer-based 3D printing service, where users can create customized robot figurines. And, as it turns out, those 3D printers and software are made by Z Corporation right here in Burlington.
So how exactly is a three dimensional robot made? Once a user designs his or her robotronic masterpiece (variables include size, eyes, head, arms, torso, legs, positioning, and add-ons like circuit boards, image stamps, and color), imaging software breaks the virtual robot down into layers, much like an MRI or CT scanner does. These two-dimensional images are then stacked to make a 3D image. Then, the printer puts down a layer of gypsum composite powder followed by a water-based glue, which solidifies into the robot’s form when it comes in contact with the powder, as well as layers of color. This process repeats until the customized robot emerges, ready to do battle with all in its path ship to the customer. Continue reading “Create (And Print) Your Own 3D Robot” »
|
Your taxes may be going up in a month or so, thanks to those 'No New Taxes' folks in the GOP.
Your taxes may be going up in a month or so, thanks to those “No New Taxes” folks in the GOP. Republican Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl and other powerful GOP leaders are insisting it would be good to let middle class taxes increase, but bad to raise taxes on super rich. Ever. So, unless you happen to be super rich, this could be a problem for you very soon.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday over the weekend, Senator Kyl said he wants to let the payroll tax cut expire at the end of next month. This would significantly increase the tax bite on the middle class. But Kyl was adamant that the taxes on the rich should not be increased. Not at all, now, or ever. GOP leaders seem to believe that tax increases on the rich would only discourage them and hurt their feelings. But the middle class? Well — they can just buckle down, suck it up, and get on with it. Continue reading “As Tax Hike Looms, a Bell Tolls” »
|
