I’m a big fan of the planned expansion of the MBTA’s Fairmount Line. Its a little used commuter rail line that runs from South Station to Readville. In between are some of the densest areas of the city that don’t have ready access to subway service. The MBTA has (slowly) been adapting the Fairmount Line by adding stations, in an effort to provide more service to these communities. Some supporters of the expanded Fairmount Line have been pushing for DMUs, which are self-powered vehicles that could operate on commuter rail lines but might be able to provide more subway-like service. When the MBTA looked into this option, they found that DMUs had significant benefits — quicker acceleration, lower operating costs […]

Ok, a bunch of folks — Globe, Newsweek, USA Today, Cato, Heartland Institute — have picked up a Merritt Hawkins survey of physician waittimes. And more specifically, that wait times in Massachusetts have increased over the past five years — which at least some observers ascribe to the impact of healthcare reform here. That’s all well and good, until it shows up on one of my favorite sites — Adam Gaffin’s Universal Hub. Then I need to step in. There are a couple of problems with the report — 1) Sample size — To get data from Boston, they called between 9 and 18 doctors in each specialty in both 2004 and 2009. (And not the same doctor’s each time.) […]

I will not be a candidate for US Senate. First, I’d like to thank the many (ok, several) citizens who urged me to enter the race. I know that many of you saw the fine website — www.draftpoftak09.com – produced by my dear friends at Liberty Dewey O’Neil Rasky Regan Denterlein Communications. Thanks again for your entirely unsolicited grass roots support. (And my apologies to the elderly residents of Kansas City who thought they were signing up for an effort to draft former Royals infielder Freddie Patek. Helpful hint: I’m taller.) Second, I’d like to thank my adoring and supportive family who helped me through the many hours of anguished deliberation (with the notable exception of my unfunny brother-in-law, who […]

My eyes popped at the all-you-can-eat sushi bar, with plates of the ever-popular California roll and rolls made with salmon and shrimp tempura….Across the way was a Vietnamese noodle station, with a chef taking custom-made orders….Around the corner, chefs stir-fried tofu, shrimp, beef, or chicken in less than 40 seconds…A dim sum buffet featured dumplings, steamed pork buns, and sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves….Five varieties of pizza sizzled in a brick oven…. and on and on. A fancy new restaurant? Nope, a UMass dining hall. That’s UMass, recipient of a $27 million dollar 9C cut in FY09. That UMass.

You know that feeling you get when you are watching a particular genre of murder mystery and everyone in the audience sees the criminal lurking but the clueless protagonist has no idea? That’s the feeling you get when you read the SEC’s Inspector General’s report on their decade-long, multi-office, multi-inquiry bungling of the Madoff investigation. All throughout the document, you read about how close they came to revealing his fraud but always fell short. The problems seem to fall into three main categories — 1) inexperienced staffers who did not understand investment operations and strategy (a bad thing if you are an enforcement officer at the SEC), 2) a remarkable lack of follow-through on basic inconsistencies or easily verifiable assertions […]

…use colonoscopy metaphors (third para, first sentence) about someone with Crohn’s Disease. Really, it isn’t.