Published August 26, 2010

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin criticized Sen. Scott Brown on Fox. Brown is like, whatev. (Click for video.)

While Scott Brown stumps for moderates here in Mass., Sarah Palin accuses him of being a populist sissy instead of a “hardcore constitutional conservative.”

Speaking on Fox Business Network, Palin criticized Brown for siding with Democrats on financial reforms and the jobs bill.

“That’s Massachusetts, and perhaps they’re not going to look for such a hardcore constitutional conservative there, and they’re going to put up with Scott Brown and some of the antics there,” Palin said.

“But up here in Alaska and so many places across the U.S., where we have a pioneering, independent spirit, and we have an expectation that our representatives in D.C. will respect the will of the people and the intelligence of the people, well, up here, we wouldn’t stand up for that.”

In a statement, Brown’s spokeswoman kind of responds:

Senator Brown’s votes are based on what’s in the best interests of Massachusetts and he has made his priorities job creation, controlling spending and reducing the deficit. All Republicans can agree on that.

Todd Domke, WBUR’s Republican political analyst, calls it a clash of the celebrity titans.

“They were projecting onto him this idea of being a great down the line conservative. But that wasn’t his record as a state senator,” Domke said.

Domke says Palin’s vocabulary is, erm, “elastic.” He thinks she might be jealous that Brown plans to back former Gov. Mitt Romney for president in 2012.

As New York Magazine points out (“Sarah Palin Wishes Scott Brown Were a Better Representative of Alaska, or Something”), Brown has voted with Republicans a measly 82 percent of the time.

Published August 26, 2010

Bill O'Reilly

BU grad and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has always been “a pompous, self-important do-gooder,” according to the Boston Phoenix, but he was a bit more humble back in his college days.

The Phoenix has uncovered O’Reilly’s first column for the paper, published April 30, 1974. O’Reilly demonizes the pornographer Gerard Damiano, who created “Deep Throat” and “The Devil in Miss Jones.”

If there was ever any question concerning the star of the evening, whether it was the film or the producer, it was answered right then as half the audience ignored Damiano’s query and filed noisily out the doors.

Those who remained were treated to the usual banalities and well rehearsed answers concerning censorship, the Supreme Court and so on, that a man in Damiano’s position must constantly spew forth.

O’Reilly penned several pieces for the Phoenix, as well as the defunct Cambridge alt-weekly, The Real Paper. From the Phoenix blog post:

His pieces were noticeably lacking in the right-wing fire and brimstone and the general vitriol he is now known for. In fact, his contributions were largely about movies (including this interview with the soon-to-be-honorary-Oscar-ified Eli Wallach).

Still, not whose byline I’d expect to find in the Phoenix.

Published August 26, 2010

CommonHealth, WBUR’s health care blog, has been resuscitated, redesigned and relaunched. Check it out now at commonhealth.wbur.org.

Veteran health reporters Carey Goldberg (NYT, LA Times, Globe) and Rachel Zimmerman (WSJ, NYT, Seattle PI) are your hosts. Here is the blog description:

Massachusetts is the leading laboratory for health care reform in the nation.   It is also the hub of medical innovation But as the nation looks on, what is the reality on the ground here? We’d like the new CommonHealth to be your go-to source for news, conversation and analysis about these historic efforts as they unfold.  Plus the latest research and what it means for your personal health.

Consider the latest posts:

• A pancreatic cancer survivor’s story
• A Zagat-like guide for Massachusetts hospitals
• Depression in toddlers
• More reasons to avoid surgery
• The real cost of health insurance

And that’s just from today.

Published August 25, 2010

An onlooker held a sign as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's funeral entourage proceeded through Mission Hill. (Korri Leigh Crowley for WBUR)

One year after Kennedy’s death, the people’s champion is remembered around Massachusetts. (Boston Globe, Attleboro Sun-Chronicle, WBZ’s Jon Keller)

Mass. schools are getting a $204 million boost, on top of the $250 million “Race to the Top” money. (WBUR)

The EPA is suing Revere over raw sewage allegedly flowing into Boston Harbor. (Universal Hub)

Joel Tenenbaum, the BU grad student sued for illegally downloading music, is appealing the already-reduced damages he owes to the RIAA. (Boston Globe)

Patients now have a Zagat-like guide for Mass. hospitals. (CommonHealth)

O’Neal might Shaq up in Sudbury. (The Inside Track via Bostonist)

A new butcher shop, The Meat House, has opened in Coolidge Corner. (Patch Brookline)

POTUS is kind of pwning on the golf course in Martha’s Vineyard. (POTUS Pool on Tumblr)

WBUR host Meghna Chakrabarti is having a baby today. (Radio Boston)

Published August 25, 2010

A young fan looked at the field at rainy Fenway Park on Tuesday. The baseball game was postponed. (Elise Amendola/AP)

Boston is underwater — literally, in some places. This is epic, Noah’s Ark rain. But don’t worry, sunny skies are ahead.

A flood advisory and high-surf advisory are in effect for Wednesday. @UniversalHub has been doing a good job on Twitter covering rain delays and power outages. Boston and state police had to remove a woman trapped in her flooded car on Route 1A North in East Boston. Meanwhile, the Red Sox-Mariners day-night doubleheader is on time (details at the Herald’s Sox blog) after yesterday’s cancellation.

Forecasters say the rain will taper to showers and drizzle this afternoon with temperatures remaining in the 60s. A cold front on its way will bring dry, warm weather for Thursday. Weekend temps will get close to 90.

And now a question for you bicycle commuters: Got any advice for biking to work in this? I wore ski pants over my pants and my WBUR rain jacket, but it didn’t make any difference. Share your wisdom in the comments. (Maybe the best advice is to not bike. I was the only person I counted on two wheels today.)

Rain-related update, from my POTUS Pool Miniblog:

POTUS came back out the front door and went to the takeout window at Nancy’s, joined soon by FLOTUS. She turned to the crowd after ordering, with a big smile, and said “How y’all doing? Drying out? Finally!” The crowd responded warmly.

Published August 25, 2010

We’re obsessed with pests this summer. The tick, the mosquito carrying EEE, the Asian longhorned beetle and now, the bedbug.

Mother and child bedbugs (Virginia Tech Department of Entomology via AP)

The pest control company Terminix has released its annual list of “top” U.S. cities for bedbug infestations, and Boston comes in at No. 11. Not sure if that stat qualifies for the 19 reasons Massachusetts is awesome. (New York, Philadelphia and Detroit are the top 3, respectively).

From the company:

Bedbugs were almost eradicated from the United States following World War II, but increasing international travel and other factors have allowed these pests to regain a foothold in the United States.

Maybe we should blame the bat.

I was this close to moving into a building in Cambridge with a bedbug infestation. The broker never told me that.

Published August 25, 2010

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. (AP)

We knew he was ill. The obituaries were written. But one year ago, the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy still shocked us. It was the biggest story in years. The tributes poured in.

In July 2009, we asked: How Will Health Care Reform Fare Without Kennedy, Its Great Champion?

And in January 2010: Dems Question Why Brown Is Gaining On Coakley

Do you think he would believe it today?

We have created a timeline of political milestones since Kennedy’s death. It’s comprehensive.

Here are some of the standout stories from our coverage of his death:

• A Prince Of Camelot Who Got The People’s Work Done
• Kennedy Lived Tragedies, Political And Personal
• Kennedy Remembered As The Senate’s Hardest-Working Man
• The Lion Who Never Forgot The Little Guy
• Kennedy Left An Impression In A Thousand Little Ways
• Live Blogging Sen. Kennedy’s Memorial Services
• In Mission Hill, Kennedy’s Final Act As People’s Champion
• Video: Remembering ‘My Senator’

How did you hear the news? Do you miss him? What do you think of the world a year after Kennedy’s death?

Published August 24, 2010

(satosphere/Flickr)

I was bullied relentlessly as a kid. “Waldo,” they called me, for my striking resemblance to that lanky, bespectacled character who’s always lost.

Of course I complained to my teachers and cried to my parents. But I didn’t get any respect till I stood up for myself. I never laid a hand on another kid — not that I can remember — but I did get verbal. The experience helped me find my confidence.

Under the state’s new anti-bullying law, signed in May, Massachusetts has issued guidelines for educators to deal with bullying. The guidelines calls for

helping students understand the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying, including the underlying power imbalance.

The guidelines also advise:

The principal … will remind the alleged aggressor, target, and witnesses that retaliation is strictly prohibited and will result in disciplinary action.

A teacher who witnesses abuse must notify the principal. Then the principal must notify law enforcement and parents. In other words, the guidelines seem to shift the responsibility from children to the adults. After the startling suicides of an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old girl — thought to have suffered from relentless bullying — parents and politicians had to take action.

But will adult intervention keep kids from picking on kids? Should bullied kids be able to fight back, to help correct the “underlying power imbalance?” The state doesn’t seem to think so.

I would have been terrified of retaliation if someone called the police on my tormentors. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have lasted so long.

More:

• Read the state anti-bullying guidelines (Scribd)
• Previously: Phoebe Prince Was Troubled