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

Published August 24, 2010

Media vehicles from the Obama vacation entourage (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

President Obama is spending a rainy week on Martha’s Vineyard with his family (though he doesn’t travel light). And reporters are watching his every move — that is, every move they’re allowed to watch.

Every day, a designated pool reporter files updates with the press office, which then forwards the dispatches to all of us. Some are trivial, others amusing. The updates inspired me to create a POTUS Pool Miniblog on Tumblr

You can also follow this post (or the RSS feed) for the latest details on the vineyard vacation, unfiltered and unedited.

Continue reading →

Published August 24, 2010

James Sherley has finally gotten his way.

James Sherley (MIT)

Remember Sherley? He’s the former MIT associate professor who went on a hunger strike in 2007 because he was denied tenure — and claimed the decision was based on the fact that he’s black.

Well, Sherley is also an outspoken critic of embryonic stem cell research and opposes abortion, according to reports (he uses adult stem cells in his own research). And, as it turns out, he’s one of the remaining plaintiffs in the lawsuit that at least temporarily blocked President Obama’s executive order that allowed expanded embryonic stem cell research.

Wednesday’s ruling, which says that the president’s order violates a ban on using federal funds to destroy embryos, could render all embryonic stem cell research illegal, according to The New York Times.

Sherley, a biological engineer, now works at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute. I tried him by phone and e-mail but didn’t get a response.

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Rachel Zimmerman is a blogger for CommonHealth, which relaunches Thursday with a whole new look and expanded focus.

Published August 23, 2010

WBUR’s Martha Bebinger, fresh off a one-year fellowship at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation, is back in the newsroom. Martha has years of experience covering health care and hospitals in Massachusetts. –AP

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Can you run an insurance company and the chamber of commerce without a conflict of interest?

Paul Guzzi finds himself in a dual role as president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the board at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts — the state’s largest health insurer.

Some hospitals and physicians are saying they aren’t sure, in some meetings with Guzzi, whether he represents the interests of employers (hospitals) or that of the insurer (Blue Cross).

Paul Guzzi

Blue Cross is pressing hospitals to accept a new way to charge patients — changing the “procedure now, bill later” paradigm. The insurer says providers will spend less if doctors have to manage a budget for their patients.

Physicians and hospitals would receive bonus payments if they increase preventive care such as cancer screenings or asthma check-ups.  But providers could also lose money if they have to spend more than expected on patients.

Guzzi says he’s very sensitive to the possibility that what is best for hospitals and what is best for Blue Cross may be in conflict.

“There have been no conflicts to date, and if there were, I would recuse myself in either role,” he said.

Guzzi was elected chairman of the board for Blue Cross in March.

He says he is clear in dealing with hospitals, some of which are the state’s largest employers, that “my primary responsibility is to be CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. I have a non-executive role at Blue Cross and Blue Shield.”

Discussion about Paul Guzzi’s dual roles illustrates a larger dilemma for Massachusetts as it works to control rising health care costs: Can the state reign in health care spending without disrupting the jobs or research that makes Boston a health care mecca? What do you think?