Thursday, December 31, 2009

Remembering a Mass. native and GW grad killed in Afghanistan

Bolton mother recalls son killed in Afghanistan terror attack


December 31, 2009 02:37 PM

The mother of a Bolton native killed in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of seven CIA agents today mourned the loss of her youngest child, but also spoke proudly of his devotion to his family and his country.
Harold_Brown_123109.jpg
Harold Brown Jr., 37, was in the US base in Khost, Afghanistan Wednesday when a terrorist evaded security and detonated a suicide attack, killing eight Americans. Today, the CIA and President Obama acknowledged that seven of those killed were CIA agents. No one would say who employed the eighth American.

Brown's mother, Barbara Brown, said in a telephone interview today that her son told her he worked for the State Department. She said he had been deployed to Afghanistan since April, and that he was formerly an Army officer who specialized in intelligence work for the military.

"He was a wonderful, caring person that wanted to help make things good for the world,'' said Barbara Brown, whose husband, Harold Brown Sr., is the director of public works for Bolton. "I want the world to know my son was a good man.''

Her son was a graduate of Nashoba Regional Valley High School in 1990 and from George Washington University four years later. While at GW, Brown met his wife, Janet, whom he married at St. John the Evangelist Church in Clinton in 1994. Brown was the father of three children, ranging in ages 12 to two. He and his wife lived in Fairfax, Va.

After graduating from college, Brown became an officer in the US Army and spent most of his four year enlistment at the Army's top post for intelligence work in Arizona. After completing his enlistment, Brown joined the Army Reserve and was reactivated in 2003. Before that, he worked for shareholder.com in Maynard and then left to work for SAIC, a private defense contractor.

His mother said he was then encouraged by an acquaintance to join the State Department and was working for that agency when he was killed. A State Department spokesman today would neither confirm nor deny Brown worked for the diplomatic service.

Barbara Brown is a former reserve police officer in Bolton, is active in the town's Council on Aging and still works as a volunteer for ambulance service in the community. In addition to leading the DPW, she said, her husband is a Bolton native who was once a selectman and worked as a reserve police officer.

She said her son seemed to have absorbed the concept of helping your neighbor from his family while growing up – but chose to display it on a much larger stage, the world stage.

"I'm very proud of him and I love him dearly,'' she said."He did what he wanted to do to make a better world. How could anyone not want that? Do I wish he lived to be an old man? Of course. What mother doesn't want that for her son?''

She added, "There's a time to be born and a time to die. We don't pick when. God has the answer to that.''


http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/12/bolton_mother_r.html


Street life to dance life

Krumping credited with diverting teens from a troubled path



At 16, Daniel Grant carried a gun. When he wasn’t skipping class, he was starting fights at school. His friends were gang members from his South End neighborhood. But then a powerful force diverted him from what appeared to be a clear path to self-destruction.

The force, he says, was a dance - a frenetic form of self expression called krumping that is sweeping urban neighborhoods in Boston and beyond.


With a strict moral code against violence and philosophical demands to abandon any feelings of embarrassment, Grant says, krumping saved his life. And as the dance’s popularity rises, some community activists and police who patrol the city’s toughest neighborhoods believe it has contributed to a drop in street violence.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Introducing the 2010 PMC jersey


Thoughts?


It's a little hippy-dippy for me with that sun, but I dig the wave and the bagpipes.


Registration for the 2010 PMC opens on January 19 -- alumni can register early on January 12, or even as early as the 5th if you're a Heavy Hitter!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Lingerie for your toes?


Check it -- little lacy thingies that slip on your feet, to peep out of open-toed shoes or pumps!

http://voethosiery.com

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

What the EFF is wrong with people

‘Bait dog’ was left to die, animal rescue workers say


bait_dog_121509.jpg

A severely wounded and hypothermic dog, believed to be a "bait dog" used to test other dogs' fighting instincts, was found abandoned and motionless near a busy Hyde Park road Monday night, according to the Animal Rescue League of Boston.


The dog, a female pit bull around 3 years old, was found by an animal control officer, curled in a ball and shivering with open wounds all over it, next to Smithfield Road near Turtle Park Parkway around 10:30 p.m. Monday.


A passerby who called 911 to report the dog, which rescuers named Turtle, returned to the scene to help an animal control officer search for the animal, which was found in a wooded area next to the road, said Lieutenant Alan Borgal, director of the Center for Animal Protection.

Borgal said that when he arrived on scene, he immediately knew the dog was used as a bait dog because of the type of wounds and the severity of her scars. The dog also had makeshift sutures where its owner had tried to sew old wounds, and its ears had been cropped for fighting, Borgal said.


"I've been working in this business for 35 years, and I'm just shocked that this dog was dumped to die," he said.


Members of the Animal Rescue League brought the dog to Tufts Veterinary Hospital in Walpole, where her wounds were cleaned and she was given antibiotics and fluids, Animal Rescue League spokeswoman Jennifer Wooliscroft said. The dog had a high fever and was covered in fleas, she said.


"I don't think she would have survived even a few more hours if she hadn't been found," Wooliscroft said.

Debby Vogel, of the Animal Rescue League of Boston, said the dog showed no signs of aggression when they found her and was whimpering on the car ride to the hospital.

"She was scared, sore, and cold. You could see in her eyes that she was in pain," she said.

When the dog is done with treatment at the veterinary hospital sometime this week, she will be released to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, where she will work with behavioral veterinarians and must be quarantined for around six months because of her bite wounds, Vogel said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/12/bait_dog_was_le.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed3


Monday, December 14, 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Reviews Close

Abandoning some of the best known names in trade publishing, the Nielsen Company said Thursday that it would shut down Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Reviews, and sell a stable of other publications, including Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, to a newly formed media company.

Nielsen’s plans to sell had been reported for months, but the news that E&P and Kirkus would close at the end of the year was a surprise. The company declined to discuss their financial performance, but executives said they had fought declining advertising and circulation, much like the newspaper and book industries they cover.


For generations, Editor & Publisher, though not well known to the public, has been a leading source of newspaper industry news and job listings. It grew out of several publications, the oldest dating to 1884.


“In a world full of people pronouncing and posturing and declaring about the media, E&P just kept doing good old-fashioned reporting about what was actually happening,” said Geneva Overholser, director of the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

The latest edition of "Animals are Not Toys"

I find it amazing that in San Francisco, Chihuahuas are about to eclipse Pitbulls as the most-often-abandoned dog breed at area shelters.

Seriously? They can't find homes for Chihuahuas and Pitbulls? Between Somerville, Medford and Malden alone, I think we could find homes for 100% of those animals. There's two Chihuahuas in my six-condo building alone, and probably a dozen pitbulls get walked past my front door in a given week!

Says the LA Times:

"All the shelters in California are seeing an upswing in Chihuahua impounds," Deb Campbell, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco animal care and control department, said in an interview. "It's been a slow and steady climb. . . . We call it the Paris Hilton syndrome."

A third of the dogs held at San Francisco's city shelter are all or part Chihuahua. New ones have come in every day for the last year. If the trend continues, officials said, the shelter would become 50% Chihuahua within months.

There are so many Chihuahuas in Los Angeles city shelters that the animal services agency airlifted 25 last week to Nashua, N.H., where the local Humane Society found all of them homes within a day.

The dogs had been bathed, sterilized, tested for heartworms and fitted with miniature coats before their flight took off, said Kathy Davis, interim general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services. The operation was funded by actress Katherine Heigl and the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. It was so successful that the city is preparing to fly out 40 more as soon as donations are procured and the Chihuahuas are readied.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Nicholas D. Kristof: Cancer from the Kitchen?

The battle over health care focuses on access to insurance, or tempests like the one that erupted over new mammogram guidelines.

But what about broader public health challenges? What if breast cancer in the United States has less to do with insurance or mammograms and more to do with contaminants in our water or air -- or in certain plastic containers in our kitchens?

What if the surge in asthma and childhood leukemia reflect, in part, the poisons we impose upon ourselves?

This last week I attended a fascinating symposium at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, exploring whether certain common chemicals are linked to breast cancer and other ailments.

Dr. Philip Landrigan, the chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai, said that the risk that a 50-year-old white woman will develop breast cancer has soared to 12 percent today, from 1 percent in 1975. (Some of that is probably a result of better detection.) Younger people also seem to be developing breast cancer: This year a 10-year-old in California, Hannah, is fighting breast cancer and recording her struggle on a blog.

Likewise, asthma rates have tripled over the last 25 years, Dr. Landrigan said. Childhood leukemia is increasing by 1 percent per year. Obesity has surged. One factor may be lifestyle changes — like less physical exercise and more stress and fast food — but some chemicals may also play a role.

Take breast cancer. One puzzle has been that most women living in Asia have low rates of breast cancer, but ethnic Asian women born and raised in the United States don’t enjoy that benefit. At the symposium, Dr. Alisan Goldfarb, a surgeon specializing in breast cancer, pointed to a chart showing breast cancer rates by ethnicity.

“If an Asian woman moves to New York, her daughters will be in this column,” she said, pointing to “whites.” “It is something to do with the environment.”

What’s happening? One theory starts with the well-known fact that women with more lifetime menstrual cycles are at greater risk for breast cancer, because they’re exposed to more estrogen. For example, a woman who began menstruating before 12 has a 30 percent greater risk of breast cancer than one who began at 15 or later.

It’s also well established that Western women are beginning puberty earlier, and going through menopause later. Dr. Maida Galvez, a pediatrician who runs Mount Sinai’s pediatric environmental health specialty unit, told the symposium that American girls in the year 1800 had their first period, on average, at about age 17. By 1900 that had dropped to 14. Now it is 12.

A number of studies, mostly in animals, have linked early puberty to exposure to pesticides, P.C.B.’s and other chemicals. One class of chemicals that creates concern — although the evidence is not definitive — is endocrine disruptors, which are often similar to estrogen and may fool the body into setting off hormonal changes. This used to be a fringe theory, but it is now being treated with great seriousness by the Endocrine Society, the professional association of hormone specialists in the United States.

These endocrine disruptors are found in everything from certain plastics to various cosmetics. “There’s a ton of stuff around that has estrogenic material in it,” Dr. Goldfarb said. “There’s makeup that you rub into your skin for a youthful appearance that is really estrogen.”

More than 80,000 new chemicals have been developed since World War II, according to the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai. Even of the major chemicals, fewer than 20 percent have been tested for toxicity to children, the center says.

Representative Louise Slaughter, the only microbiologist in the House of Representatives, introduced legislation this month that would establish a comprehensive program to monitor endocrine disruptors. That’s an excellent idea, because as long as we’re examining our medical system, there’s a remarkable precedent for a public health effort against a toxic substance. The removal of lead from gasoline resulted in an 80 percent decline in lead levels in our blood since 1976 — along with a six-point gain in children’s I.Q.’s, Dr. Landrigan said.

I asked these doctors what they do in their own homes to reduce risks. They said that they avoid microwaving food in plastic or putting plastics in the dishwasher, because heat may cause chemicals to leach out. And the symposium handed out a reminder card listing “safer plastics” as those marked (usually at the bottom of a container) 1, 2, 4 or 5.

It suggests that the “plastics to avoid” are those numbered 3, 6 and 7 (unless they are also marked “BPA-free”). Yes, the evidence is uncertain, but my weekend project is to go through containers in our house and toss out 3’s, 6’s and 7’s.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

New Vej Naturals location confirmed

It's the site of the old Joey's Thai Cafe in Davis Square. Know where Subway is? Ace Wheelworks? Yeah, it's on that side of the square, right in between those two spots on Elm Street.


View Larger Map

Learn more about Lisa and Bob Bouley, the owners of Vej Naturals, including detailed nutritional information on the Vegan diet, here.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Iconic Rhode Island Christmas Ornaments

Selected as one of the Boston Globe's "Top 25 New England Holiday Gifts," Duke Marcoccio's www.mylittletown.com brings Rhode Island's own brand of Americana to life. I might need a few of these ornaments, in particular the Del's lemonade which is making my mouth water right now.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Opening tonight: "Lord Hobo"

This replaces the overpriced B-Side Lounge. From the looks of it, this place could be even MORE pretentious!

Lord Hobo
92 Hampshire Street
Cambridge


Click here to see the menu.

Friend them on Facebook.

Friday, November 13, 2009

VejNaturals moves from Malden to Davis Square


And you thought Friday the 13th was UNLUCKY? Not when you get this kind of news.

According to VejNaturals.com, Oak Grove's only vegan Restaurant will be shuttering its (teeny, tiny) doors in Malden and reopening in
DAVIS SQUARE IN SOMERVILLE COME DECEMBER!

* Pause as all of Vegetarian Somerville rejoices *


I'm not afraid to be their first customer.


Read more about their menu offerings here, where you can find my own review (from a past journalistic life) as well as two other critics' thoughts.


Find out even more at their Facebook page!

The kiss of death


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning today to endorse US Representative Michael E. Capuano, a key coup in a race against Martha Coakley, who is seeking to become the first female US senator from Massachusetts.

Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, will formally endorse Capuano at the Omni Parker House in downtown Boston.

“Mike’s proven record of accomplishment in the House is clear evidence that he will be an outstanding advocate for the people of Massachusetts in the tradition of the late Senator Kennedy,” Pelosi said in a statement.

The endorsement in some ways is to be expected -- Capuano is an influential member of Pelosi’s leadership team, and is the only congressional member in the race. But it also provides a key boost in a campaign where Coakley has energized women and has criticized a health care plan that Pelosi helped engineer.

"Mike Capuano not only cast a courageous vote for this historic legislation, but was a constructive force in improving this bill and moving it to the Senate," Pelosi said. "Mike Capuano has a proven record of standing up for progressive values and what he believes is right. I am proud to endorse Mike Capuano for US Senate."

Capuano and Coakley squabbled earlier this week over whether health care reform should include a provision that limits coverage of abortions. Capuano said he had to vote for a legislation that included the abortion restriction in order to keep health care alive. Coakley and Capuano have both said they would vote against a final package if that amendment is not removed.

Coakley has been endorsed by most of the politically active women in Massachusetts, including Senate President Therese Murray.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Video of the Day

I'm sorry but this is super cute.

Side note, this guy just played....wait for it....the NATICK HIGH SCHOOL auditorium.

Last Brigham's in Boston closes

The worst part? It's down the street from my office and I've never been. Then again, I've seen them drop off one by one over the years, and it's sad no matter which location closes. Natick, Somerville, Boston...




Read more in today's Globe.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Video Profile: Dressed for Success

Follow one local college student as she embarks on a career fair with help from "Dress For Success," which offers unemployed women free makeovers and job interview attire as they re-enter the work force. Clients are referred from a variety of sources, and many are getting their first job after going through rehab, serving a prison sentence or escaping an abusive partner. I've donated several outgrown suits to Dress for Success and can't recommend them highly enough.



Visit www.dressforsucess.org to learn more.

Monday, November 9, 2009

This looks super delicious

Lentil Bolognese

Watch as Kinzie constructs the meatless version of an Italian classic. The longer the flavors are allowed to mingle together over heat, the more delicious the sauce becomes. This recipe comes from Kinzie of To Cheese or Not to Cheese?

Friday, November 6, 2009

Boston Globe: Afghanistan's forgotten class

By Ellen Goodman

After 9/11, when we went after Al Qaeda and the Taliban who had hosted these terrorists, many saw collateral virtue in the liberation of Afghan women. Indeed, President Bush played this moral card in his 2002 State of the Union speech when he declared to thunderous applause: “Today women are free, and are part of Afghanistan’s new government.’’

Mission accomplished. Many women shed their burqas, opened schools, entered Parliament. Equal rights were written into the constitution. But slowly, as America turned to the disastrous misadventure in Iraq, Afghan women’s freedoms were casually traded in like chits for power.

Now again, we’re focusing on this beleaguered country and its sham leader. The discussion is cast in military terms - more troops, less troops. Yet I keep thinking about the women who are once again pushed to the outskirts of the conversation, as if they were an add-on rather than a central factor. If we abandon the country, or even the countryside, don’t we abandon those girls who have gone to school even when risking acid thrown in their eyes? If we prop up the deeply corrupt government of President Hamid Karzai, are we just supporting warlord fundamentalists instead of Taliban fundamentalists?

The options are so chilling that even Afghan women’s groups are divided. RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, wants us out. WAW, the Women for Afghan Women, “deeply regrets having a position in favor of maintaining, even increasing troops’’ rather than “abandoning 15 million women and children to madmen.’’

American women seem equally torn. Feminist Majority Foundation, which championed Afghan women long before it was popular, has stopped short of asking for more troops. Ellie Smeal’s anger at American funding of warlords is matched by the fear that if we back out, it will create “terrible human suffering,’’ the return of the prison state.

We shouldn’t be surprised we have come to this pass. It happened on our watch. We barely noticed when Karzai signed a law that would have, among other things, allowed Shi’ite men to withhold food from wives who refused sex. It didn’t take a rigged election to show a shallow respect for democracy. If by democracy, that is, you include half the population that is female.

Today, one-third of Afghan students are girls. Women now get health care once denied them. Is that enough?

Afghan women are not the “add-on,’’ the incidentals in this process. Women are civil society. We’ve learned all over the world that the only way to develop a stable society and economy is with the education and inclusion of women. There is no democracy without women.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Get ready to vomit: Beef truck crashes into Weston tolls

Just watch the video -- vegetarians beware: your stomach may turn at the sight of all this raw meat, but do yourself a favor and don't contemplate the likely odor from it sitting out there since 3 a.m.



Monday, October 19, 2009

The whole MBTA in a day

Apple Walnut Corn Muffins

Apple Walnut Corn Muffins

Shared via AddThis

Months to Live: Fellow inmates ease pain of dying in jail

Allen Jacobs lived hard for his 50 years, and when his liver finally shut down he faced the kind of death he did not want. On a recent afternoon Mr. Jacobs lay in a hospital bed staring blankly at the ceiling, his eyes sunk in his skull, his skin lusterless. A volunteer hospice worker, Wensley Roberts, ran a wet sponge over Mr. Jacobs’s dry lips, encouraging him to drink.

“Come on, Mr. Jacobs,” he said.

Mr. Roberts is one of a dozen inmates at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility who volunteer to sit with fellow prisoners in the last six months of their lives. More than 3,000 prisoners a year die of natural causes in correctional facilities.

Mr. Roberts recalled a day when Mr. Jacobs, then more coherent, had started crying. Mr. Roberts held his patient and tried to console him. Then their experience took a turn unique to their setting, the medical ward of a maximum security prison. Mr. Roberts said he told Mr. Jacobs to “man up.”

Mr. Jacobs, serving two to four years for passing forged checks, cursed at him, telling him, “‘I don’t want to die in jail. Do you want to die in jail?’ ”

“I said no,” said Mr. Roberts, who is serving eight years for robbery. “He said, ‘Then stop telling me to man up,’ and he started crying. And then he said that I’m his family.”

American prisons are home to a growing geriatric population, with one-third of all inmates expected to be over 50 by next year. As courts have handed down longer sentences and tightened parole, about 75 prisons have started hospice programs, half of them using inmate volunteers, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

Joan Smith, deputy superintendent of health services at the Coxsackie prison, said the hospice program here initially met with resistance from prison guards. “They were very resentful about people in prison for horrendous crimes getting better medical care than their families,” including round-the-clock companionship in their final days, Ms. Smith said.

The guards have come to accept the program, she said. But still there are challenges unique to the prison setting. Some dying patients, for example, divert their pain medication to their volunteer aides or other patients, who use it or sell it, said Kathleen Allan, the director of nursing. She added that patients can be made victims easily, “and this is a predatory system.”

But she said the inmate volunteers bond with the patients in a way that staff members cannot, taking on “the touchy-feely thing” that may be inappropriate between inmates and prison workers.


Read the entire article here:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

In India, New Seat of Power for Women


Prospective Brides Demand Sought-After Commodity: A Toilet


NILOKHERI, India -- An ideal groom in this dusty farming village is a vegetarian, does not drink, has good prospects for a stable job and promises his bride-to-be an amenity in high demand: a toilet.

In rural India, many young women are refusing to marry unless the suitor furnishes their future home with a bathroom, freeing them from the inconvenience and embarrassment of using community toilets or squatting in fields.

About 665 million people in India -- about half the population -- lack access to latrines. But since a "No Toilet, No Bride" campaign started about two years ago, 1.4 million toilets have been built here in the northern state of Haryana, some with government funds, according to the state's health department.

Women's rights activists call the program a revolution as it spreads across India's vast and largely impoverished rural areas.

"I won't let my daughter near a boy who doesn't have a latrine," said Usha Pagdi, who made sure that daughter Vimlas Sasva, 18, finished high school and took courses in electronics at a technical school.

"No loo? No 'I do,' " Vimlas said, laughing as she repeated a radio jingle.

Indian girls are traditionally seen as a financial liability because of the wedding dowries -- often a life's savings -- their fathers often shell out to the groom's family. But that is slowly changing as women marry later and grow more financially self-reliant.

A societal preference for boys here has become an unlikely source of power for Indian women. The abortion of female fetuses in favor of sons -- an illegal but widespread practice -- means there are more eligible bachelors than potential brides, allowing women and their parents to be more selective when arranging a match.

With economic freedom, women are increasingly expecting more, and toilets are at the top of their list, they say.

The lack of sanitation is not only an inconvenience but also contributes to the spread of diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid and malaria.

"Women suffer the most since there are prying eyes everywhere," said Ashok Gera, a doctor who works in a one-room clinic here. "It's humiliating, harrowing and extremely unhealthy. I see so many young women who have prolonged urinary tract infections and kidney and liver problems because they don't have a safe place to go."

GWU lauded for "green move-out"

Finally, someone made good use of all the waste that's produced on student move-out day. This should definitely catch on in Boston!

The George Washington University Hatchet reports:
The Washington Business Journal recognized GW's Green Move-Out program with
a Green Business Award for Innovation on Thursday.
The award highlights the
University's efforts to green-up their act with the move out program, which the
WBJ called a creative solution for the tons of waste students leave behind
during move out every year.
Instead of throwing away what students leave
behind during move out, which would add to area landfills, Green Move-Out
donated the items students left behind to local food banks and homeless
shelters.
Green Move-Out 2009 collected 2,169 bags of clothing, which was equivalent
to 50,537 pounds, according to the Green Move-Out Web site. Additionally, 2,719
pounds of food donations were collected.
"The amount of donations equates to
the weight of over 17 hippos, 9,450 MacBooks or 69,000 tall Starbucks lattes,"
said Matt Trainum, a director of GW Housing Programs, in an e-mail.
These
items are then given to various charities, including The National Children's
Center, Bread for the City, So Others Might Eat, the Capital Area Food Bank and
local animal shelters.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Secretariat's story is heading to the big screen!

Check it in the Globe

And, for anyone else out there's who's dying like I am for a dearth of races to watch, a little nostalgia. I'm not embarassed to say I almost shed a tear watching this at work:


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Thoughts on new Foo Fighters single?

The album drops Nov. 3.



A new gelateria in town? I'll be the judge

There's a critical test they must pass, and so far only one venue -- Gelateria in the North End -- has measured up: Do they allow you to order two flavors in one dish (mezzo fragola e mezzo limone is my favorite), as all gelato shops in Italy do? Most importantly -- do they do this without charging you for an extra scoop (which you're not really getting?)


I'll let you know how it goes at Piattini ("little plates"), which offers Boston a new gelateria -- and more -- on Newbury Street. Check it out and let me know what you think! Is this the real deal?


Amandabout.town does NOT compromise when it comes to genuine gelato!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Monday, October 5, 2009

Quel Horreur: Gourmet Magazine to fold permanently!

Boston Globe/ AP reports:

Gourmet, the nation's oldest food magazine, is being closed by Conde Nast Publications as the high-end magazine publisher tries to weather a devastating advertising slump.


NEW YORK --Gourmet, the nation's oldest food magazine, is being closed by Conde Nast Publications as the high-end magazine publisher tries to weather a devastating advertising slump.

Conde Nast is also closing Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie, a parenting magazine. Earlier in the year it killed publication of Portfolio, a business magazine, and Domino, a lifestyle title.
Conde Nast had no immediate comment. But in a memo Monday, Conde Nast employees were told the magazine shutdowns were required "to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities."

Consultants from McKinsey & Co. have been helping the publisher identify ways to cut costs in a brutal media slump. For instance, Gourmet's ad pages were down 50 percent in the second quarter from the year before, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Conde Nast Publications, run by billionaire S.I. Newhouse Jr., also publishes such magazines as Vogue, The New Yorker and Wired and is a unit of privately held Advance Publications Inc. It is retaining a separate food publication, Bon Appetit.

The Conde Nast memo said that as Modern Bride and Elegant Bride close, a third magazine, Brides, will be upgraded to monthly instead of coming out every two months.

Gourmet, which debuted in the 1940s, is revered by many culinary aficionados and edited by Ruth Reichl. Now, Conde Nast said, Gourmet's brand will live on in books and TV programming.

Somerville Hospital official: Ambulances coming back




Dr. Assaad Sayah under a poster honoring Somerville Hospital.








(This story confuses me. My husband and I were really blessed to have our only medical emergency before the hospital closed the in-patient wing in July. What would we do now? And, if we had a 'pediatric or neurological emergency' as the article states, would we be risking our lives if we got sent here by ambulance?)


Boston.com reports:

The head of emergency medicine at Somerville Hospital says that patients are arriving via ambulance regularly, after a slight dip this summer, when the hospital stopped offering in-patient treatment for budgetary reasons.

Arrivals fell by 5 to 10 percent after the in-patient wing closed in July, according to Dr. Assaad Sayah, who blamed the lull on a "miscommunication" between the hospital and paramedic companies.

"They had questions about the [quality of] care," Sayah said. "But we've proven that the care is appropriate."

Cataldo Ambulance Service, Inc., the hospital's main provider, declined comment on Tuesday.
But Sayah said ambulances are running at full throttle, because under the new system, individuals requiring in-patient admittance are quickly transferred to Cambridge Hospital, which like Somerville belongs to the Cambridge Health Alliance. And, Sayah said, transfers jump to the front of the line for beds when they arrive.

"We did that because we wanted people to feel as comfortable [checking into Somerville] as in other places," he said.

Patients go to Whidden Hospital in Everett - another Alliance partner - if Cambridge is full, and the same transfer policy applies.

Assaad said 9 percent of Somerville's roughly 23,000 patients require admittance each year.

Somerville patients are transferred out of the Alliance network if they require neurological or pediatric intensive care, and in that case, they don't have priority on a bed.

But about 90 to 95 percent of in-patient cases remain in the network, according to Dr. Christopher Grieves, who works in the emergency department in Somerville.

A list of upcoming library book sales

One of my all-time favorites, the Malden Public Library Sale:

Mark your calendars! The Friends of the Malden Public Library annual book and bake sale is Saturday, October 17, 2009, 10:00am-4:00pm. The book sale preview for Friends members will be Friday, October 16, 2009, 6:00-9:00pm. Purchase a membership at the door for $10. Hardcovers $1.00, paperbacks $.50; children’s books $.25 or 5/$1.00.

And the Somerville Public Library Book Sale:

Preview Sale for memberships at the $50 level and above: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 5:00-8:00pm; Public Sale Friday, October 23, 2009, 2:00-4:00 pm, Saturday, October 24, 2009 10:00-4:00 pm, Sunday, October 25, 2009 1:30-3:30 pm.

It's not often I say I told you so, but....

I knew this was going to happen even before the economy tanked!

The Boston Globe reports that 55 condos at Natick mall sold at auction this weekend

Going. Going. Gone.

It was standing room only inside a balmy, excitement-filled Crowne Plaza Boston ballroom yesterday as 55 of Nouvelle at Natick’s remaining 178 luxury condos sold at auction.
Buyers walked away with units at 36 percent to 64 percent off the original asking prices for the condos, which are adjacent to the Natick Collection mall. One penthouse suite sold for $626,000, more than $1 million less than its original price.

Among the winners were people who weren’t in the housing market before the auction was announced in early September, like Michael Yee, a 33-year-old marketing professional.

“I was waiting until spring 2010,’’ said Yee, who got his 922-square-foot, one-bedroom condo for $281,000, far below its $514,900 original price. He plans to move out of his studio apartment in Brighton by the end of November. “Now I have to break it to my landlord.’’

Prior to yesterday’s event, which organizers estimate drew about 400 people, only 37 of the 215 units had been sold or were under agreement, despite all the hype surrounding one of New England’s few condo complexes connected to a mall.

Now, in addition to immediate Natick Collection access, yesterday’s winners will get a host of upscale amenities that accompany their new digs: an on-site gym that offers yoga and Pilates; valet dry cleaning; a 1.2-acre rooftop garden with putting greens; and 24-hour doormen.

The auction is the latest twist in a saga that started two years ago when the condos hit the market. In recent months, the developer, General Growth Properties, has declared bankruptcy and had been slapped with liens by contractors who are owed money for work at Nouvelle.

In a bid to push selling, General Growth hired the Boston office of Accelerated Marketing Partners to auction a portion of Nouvelle’s unsold units.

Overall, General Growth took a huge hit on what they were originally asking: Yesterday’s auctioned units sold for $249,900 to $626,000, down from asking prices of $479,900 to $1.7 million - but the payoff in millions was immediate.

New owners who got a great deal still have to contend with monthly condo fees, because the fees are assessed on the number of square feet: 61 cents for every foot or $1,082 for a 1,774-square-foot unit. And taxes are assessed on the property’s full value, not the selling price.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tiverton yarn shop may leave town because of dispute over sign

This place is one of my favorites -- and what a cute location they have now!

But, as I said to my mother (aka my accomplice when it comes to yarn shopping), if they move to Westport, Mass. as planned, we'll not only save on the Rhode Island sales tax, we can make a knit shop excursion after a day at Horseneck Beach!

What started out as a zoning tiff over a sign on the lawn at a knitting store known throughout New England has led shop owner Louise Silverman to put the property up for sale and look for a new location in Massachusetts.

The controversy over the sign at Sakonnet Purls has highlighted a zoning ordinance which has caused an uproar in the scenic, historic village of Tiverton Four Corners, which has become a major stop for day-trippers from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Because half of the shops in Four Corners are in a residential zone, critics say, the zoning ordinance discourages private investment which has promoted healthy commercial activity while preserving the rustic ambience of the 300-year-old village.

Town Planner Christopher Spencer has said the clash between zoning and reality at Four Corners has prompted him to study possible changes to the ordinance to present to the Town Council.

In early September, the Zoning Board voted 3 to 2 that the property could have only one freestanding sign. It ordered removal of a hand-carved sign erected by Silverman’s tenant, Adam Van Dale, owner of Back Alley Wood Works, a furniture restoration business that occupies a shed at the rear of the lot.

Instead, Silverman took down the roadside sign that announced her own shop, nailing the panel to the front of the main building, a Greek revival cottage filled with yarn. Meanwhile, she said she planned to appeal.
But the release last week of the board’s written decision, allegedly opaque in its language, apparently prompted Silverman to call it quits in Tiverton.
She said the decision ignored evidence, such as photos of signs from previous tenants which have gone unchallenged in the last 24 years. Silverman has posted all the photos of the signs on her Web site, http://www.letsknit.com/.

“One person makes a complaint about a sign she cannot see from her house ... and it cost me 20 grand. It’s all political,” Silverman said. She alluded to Rosemary Eva, former chairwoman of the Planning Board, who is a neighbor. “This has really stressed me out. I just want to get out of town and go to a friendly place,” Silverman said.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Peace o' Pie Vegan Pizzeria Opens

Vegan Pizza comes to Allston

The spot’s new owners set out to bring something new to Boston’s vegan scene — serving seriously delicious slices, calzones, salads, and homemade desserts without animal byproducts.

Gourmet ingredients are of the locally sourced, organic variety, and options include anything from gluten-free crusts to soy cheeses.

There’s room for only twenty, but delivery is coming soon.

Peace o’ Pie, 487 Cambridge Street, Allston (617-787-9884).

Monday, September 28, 2009

A Plan to Add Supermarkets to Poor Areas, With Healthy Results


In a city known more for hot dogs and egg creams than the apple of its nickname, officials want to establish an even bigger beachhead for healthy food — new supermarkets in areas where fresh produce is scarce and where poverty, obesity and diabetes run high.

Under a proposal the City Planning Commission unanimously approved on Wednesday, the city would offer zoning and tax incentives to spur the development of full-service grocery stores that devote a certain amount of space to fresh produce, meats, dairy and other perishables.

The plan — which has broad support among food policy experts, supermarket executives and City Council members, whose approval is needed — would permit developers to construct larger buildings than existing zoning would ordinarily allow, and give tax abatements and exemptions for approved stores in large swaths of northern Manhattan, central Brooklyn and the South Bronx, as well as downtown Jamaica in Queens.

“This is about being able to walk to get your groceries in those areas that are really, really underserved and basically have no place to buy fresh produce,” said Amanda M. Burden, the city planning commissioner. Residents in such areas, she said, have been spending “their grocery dollars at Duane Reade and CVS on chips and soda.”

The move comes as governments across the nation struggle to solve what public health advocates call an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Schools have banned sugary drinks; lawmakers have helped urban farms spread like crabgrass on undeveloped lots; and cities like Los Angeles and Berkeley, Calif., have limited the concentration of fast-food restaurants in low-income areas.

But the New York proposal, adapted from a Pennsylvania program that provides grants and loans for supermarket construction, is unusual because it employs a mix of zoning and financial incentives to attract, rather than repel, a narrowly defined type of commercial enterprise.

Boston Globe: Fees deter many from citizenship



Nearly 300,000 legal immigrants in Massachusetts are eligible to become US citizens, but only a small percentage each year are reaching that goal, raising concerns that huge swaths of people are being priced out of the American dream.

Fees to apply for citizenship have soared in the past two decades from $60 a person to $675, making them among the highest in the Western world, researchers say.

At the same time, assistance for navigating the often confusing system is dwindling because of state budget cuts.

Citizenship is considered the ultimate pathway to integration in society, requiring that immigrants learn English and US history and defend the Constitution. It grants them the right to vote, apply for federal jobs, and bring their families to the United States.

In Massachusetts, nearly 29,000 immigrants became US citizens last year, about 10 percent of those eligible. This federal budget year, which ends Wednesday, only 16,099 immigrants have applied for citizenship so far in the state.

To apply for citizenship, immigrants must be permanent legal residents of the United States for five years, or three years if they are married to a citizen. They must fill out a form, pay fees, get fingerprinted, and undergo an interview, where they must pass an English test in history and civics.

The cost is not the only reason immigrants do not apply for citizenship, advocates and immigrants say. Some cannot speak English well enough to pass the test - more than 15,000 people are on waiting lists statewide for English classes. Still others do not wish to become citizens because they feel loyal to their homelands and plan to return.

Whatever the reason, researchers and advocates say, everyone pays the price that comes with having residents who are not full-fledged citizens. It is visible in low voter turnout among immigrants and the lack of engagement with police, schools, and community groups.

Perhaps less visible but more detrimental, researchers say, is the sense among noncitizens that they do not have a stake in this country.

Friday, September 25, 2009

New college will offer history-only curriculum

Interesting story in the Boston Globe:

Local students pursuing history and law degrees will have a new option for earning a bachelor’s degree when the nation’s first college dedicated exclusively to studying history opens its doors next summer in Salem, N.H.

But don’t expect to apply as a high school senior.

The American College of History and Legal Studies will only offer junior and senior years in an effort to cater to community college graduates, transfers from four-year schools, and adults who left school before earning a bachelor’s degree, said Lawrence Velvel, the college’s founding dean.

“In a sense, the whole school is the history major you would get in a traditional college,’’ said Velvel, who is also dean of Massachusetts School of Law in Andover. “This is sadly a very ahistorical country, and we think that perhaps some mistakes could be avoided if Americans knew some history.’’

Administrators are prepared to start with a small student body predominantly from within 60 miles of Salem, although Velvel does not know how much interest the college will generate since its focus and grade offerings are unique.

Abbey Lounge, remade


It was sad to see it go. And as much as I'm excited about new restaurants, especially those whose menus are inspired by the chefs at Green Street, it looks as if the Abbey's replacement -- the new "Trina's Starlite Lounge" -- will be as trite and overdone as anything else coming into Inman Square these days. Once the hipsters get ahold of something it's never the same.

That said, the cocktail list looks promising. And that's what got me coming back to Green Street over and over.
A sampling of the super cliched menu:
  • Pressed green apple, arugula and brie sandwich with horseradish dipping sauce

  • Applewood smoked turkey BLT

  • Mac n' cheese with Ritz crackers

  • Fried chicken and buttermilk waffles

One more thing I'll give the place, at the risk of totally trashing it: If this is supposed to be a burger and cocktail joint a la Silvertone in Downtown Crossing, I'm in. Silvertone is one of my favorites.

At first glance, however, this looks to be priced about twice as high, in a neighborhood with no parking, and in a venue whose previous clientele most likely won't transfer their allegiances to a trendy "it" bar.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

"A golf course, but not enough green"


This is appalling:

The Georgetown Club, an elegant private country club nestled amid horse farms 35 miles north of Boston, seemed like a picture-perfect place for a fall wedding.

Margaret Leavitt could understand why her youngest daughter chose it for her wedding this Saturday. “The views were breathtaking,’’ said Leavitt, who lives in Haverhill. “It was open, with a lot of windows. You could see right out onto the course. It just had a nice ambiance.’’

But Leavitts’ daughter won’t be dancing at The Georgetown Club. The club abruptly closed on Monday because of financial troubles, leaving a handful of fall brides frantically searching for new reception halls and a host of golfers losing out on the autumn season.

“We were given no notice,’’ said Leavitt, her voice rising. “We don’t see how ourselves, or any of the brides, will get their money back.’’

The out-of-luck brides are the latest casualties of the financial troubles at the club, saddled in recent years with declining membership amid a bad economy. More than 100 members have left the club in recent months, and 15 weddings were cancelled in the last year, said Dr. Peter Wojtkun, a managing partner.

“We were doing well until the economy crashed last year,’’ Wotjkun said. “People couldn’t even get married it was so bad.’’


“It will be sold at a foreclosure auction,’’ Wotjkun, an Andover dentist, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “We had hoped to reorganize, and open again next season.’’


A last-minute dispute scuttled plans for a loan from Sovereign to keep the club going.


As a result, brides lost $5,000 deposits.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Fresh Indian option in Medford


For all the charms of Indian cuisine, the restaurants serving it seldom break new ground with their menus or ambience.

But Kabab Corner, a relatively recent arrival on the Medford dining scene, is a refreshing departure from the tried and true.
Sure, there are samosas and lassis, malai kofta and tandoori chicken. But there are also wonderful dosas from south India and contemporary Bombay-inspired appetizers.

Hidden away at the far end of a strip mall abutting busy Wellington Circle, the restaurant is bright and airy, with big windows and high ceilings. The neutral décor is reminiscent of Panera Bread.
The music (Bollywood dance party, anyone?) is also a marked departure from the sleepy sitar soundtrack that’s often heard at other Indian restaurants. It might not be to everyone’s liking, but it’s certainly distinctive.
At $6.50 on weekdays and $8 on weekends, the lunch buffet, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., is a great way to sample widely from the expansive menu.

Kabab Corner
4110 Mystic Valley Parkway, Medford
781-395-3310
kababcorner.net
Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Major credit cards
accepted.
Handicapped accessible


Monday, September 21, 2009

In N.H. town, disquiet over yoga class

RAYMOND, N.H. - Molly Schlangen had hoped to celebrate International Peace Day by leading a free yoga class and meditation service today on the town common, linking this rural hamlet to the global peace community.

“The Board of Selectmen has the duty to ensure the town is properly protected,’’ said Selectman Chairman Frank Bourque, who cast the deciding vote in the 3-2 decision. “We had no idea if this event would attract 10 or 2,000 people. Our common is very small.’’

Schlangen - who last year was allowed to hold her class on the common - plans instead to lead a two-hour peace service at her yoga studio in nearby Epping.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

TCAN on Chronicle tonight

Metrowest Daily News:

The Center for Arts in Natick will be featured on a special edition of WCVB-TV Channel 5’s "Chronicle," scheduled to air Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. The program takes a tour of interesting sites along Rte. 135, and along the way the "Chronicle" TV crew discovered TCAN’s concert roster, visited some kids arts classes and spent time at the center’s weekly open mic session.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Boston Globe: Did a lake trigger a deadly disease?

Researchers hope to explain why Lou Gehrig’s disease seems to occur more often in people who live near lakes and ponds where cyanobacteria bloom

Researchers investigating a deadly disease cluster near a New Hampshire lake are tracking clues that stretch from a delicacy eaten on Guam to a 3.5 billion-year-old type of bacteria and the green scum that coats many New England waters.The scum - blooms of cyanobacteria often misnamed blue-green algae - produces a toxin that doctors at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., suspect might have triggered cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis along the north shore of nearby Mascoma Lake.

Developer resorts to auction for Natick Collection condos

Bankrupt mall operator General Growth Properties is planning to auction off more than 40 high-end condominiums attached to the upscale Natick Collection with minimum bids starting at $160,000, about 70 percent below previous asking prices.

The 215-unit project, known as Nouvelle at Natick, opened last year and was supposed to usher in a new era of suburban living - marrying shopping and luxury - without the hassles and high prices of the city. But with only 37 of the residences sold or under contract, GGP has hired Accelerated Marketing Partners to handle the auction of 42 units on Oct. 4 as a way to jump-start sales and get some desperately needed cash.

“The homes are rather spectacular, but clearly there was a disconnect between what the consumer wanted to pay and what the developer wanted to get,’’ said Jon Gollinger, East Coast chief executive and cofounder of AMP, who added that the auction will determine the value for the remaining 100-plus residences.

Nouvelle is one of about 10 major developments in Massachusetts that have hit the auction block as the housing market unraveled over the past few years.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Invisible Immigrants, Old and Left With ‘Nobody to Talk To’


They gather five days a week at a mall called the Hub, sitting on concrete planters and sipping thermoses of chai. These elderly immigrants from India are members of an all-male group called The 100 Years Living Club. They talk about crime in nearby Oakland, the cheapest flights to Delhi and how to deal with recalcitrant daughters-in-law.

“If I don’t come here, I have sealed lips, nobody to talk to,” said Devendra Singh, a 79-year-old widower.

In this country of twittering youth, Mr. Singh and his friends form a gathering force: the elderly, who now make up America’s fastest-growing immigrant group. Since 1990, the number of foreign-born people over 65 has grown from 2.7 million to 4.3 million — or about 11 percent of the country’s recently arrived immigrants. Their ranks are expected to swell to 16 million by 2050.

In California, one in nearly three seniors is now foreign born, according to a 2007 census survey.
Many are aging parents of naturalized American citizens, reuniting with their families. Yet experts say that America’s ethnic elderly are among the most isolated people in America.

Seventy percent of recent older immigrants speak little or no English. Most do not drive. Some studies suggest depression and psychological problems are widespread, the result of language barriers, a lack of social connections and values that sometimes conflict with the dominant American culture, including those of their assimilated children.
But their problems can go unnoticed because they often do not seek help. “There is a feeling that problems are very personal, and within the family,” said Gwen Yeo, the co-director of the Geriatric Education Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Blue Chip, White Cotton: What Underwear Says About the Economy

For one answer to the nation's most pressing economic question -- when will the recession end? -- just take a peek inside the American man's underwear drawer.

There may be some new pairs there, judging by recent reports from retailers
and analysts, and that could mean better days ahead for everyone.

Here's the theory, briefly: Sales of men's underwear typically are
stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial
strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing
underwear sales to dip.

"It's a prolonged purchase," said Marshal Cohen, senior analyst with the
consumer research firm NPD Group. "It's like trying to drive your car an extra
10,000 miles."

The annual RMV low license plate number lottery takes to the airwaves this year. Registrar Rachel Kaprielian will spin the drum to determine who will win one of 169 low number license plates in a live broadcast at 8 p.m., Tuesday, September 8 on WBZ radio’s “Niteside” program with host Dan Rea.


Winners' names will be announced during the drawing on WBZ AM 1030. A list of lottery winners will be posted on the RMV website the next day.
*

Kennedy's final voyage


Are you the one person out there who didn't spend Saturday watching the services? Oh, and Friday night, too?

It truly was an astonishing who's who, all gathered in ...... Mission Hill (eeeek).


President Barack Obama
First Lady Michelle Obama
Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden
Former President George W. Bush and wife Laura Bush
Former President Bill Clinton
Former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn Carter
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Former Vice President Al Gore
Former Vice President Walter Mondale
Former Vice President Dan Quayle
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
CIA Director Leon Panetta
Attorney General Eric Holder
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Energy Secretary Steven Chu
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D
Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass.
Former acting Gov. Jane Swift, R-Mass.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.
Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, D-Mass.
Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.
Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and wife Elizabeth Edwards
Former Rep. Martin Meehan, now chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen
Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Shaun Woodward, secretary of state for Northern Ireland
Martin McGuinness, deputy first minister of Northern Ireland
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley
Joan Kennedy, ex-wife of Sen. Kennedy
Actor Jack Nicholson
Singer Tony Bennett
Basketball player Bill Russell
Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill
Tenor Placido Domingo
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma
J. Keith Motley, chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Boston
Former Massachusetts Senate President Robert Travaglini
Massachusetts Transportation Secretary James Aloisi
Steve Grossman, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
University of Massachusetts President Jack Wilson
Charles Stith, director of the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University
Israel's consul-general in Boston Nadav Tamir
Boston Red Sox owner John Henry
Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino
Boston Red Sox chairman and co-owner Tom Werner
Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich
Executive Director of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Peter Meade
Civil rights advocate Hubie Jones
John Walsh, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party
Rev. Eugene Rivers
Boston City Council President Michael Ross
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo
Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray
Former Massachusetts Senate President William Bulger

Low-carb diet linked to plaque buildup

Low-carbohydrate diets have helped some people lose weight quickly, but the diets’ long-term effects on cardiovascular health have been uncertain.

Cardiologist Dr. Anthony Rosenzweig of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and his colleagues tested three diets in mice genetically engineered for studying human heart disease. The mice were fed standard high-carb mouse chow, a typical Western diet with moderate amounts of carbs and protein, and a low carb-high protein diet.

After 12 weeks, mice on the low carb-high protein diet gained weight, but less than the other mice. There were no differences in cholesterol levels among the mice, but the mice on the low carb-high protein diet accumulated more plaque in their coronary arteries, called atherosclerosis, than mice on the other two diets. They also had lower levels of cells needed to repair and regrow new blood vessels, which the authors say may be linked to their arteries’ plaque buildup.

BOTTOM LINE: Mice fed a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet accumulated more plaque in their coronary arteries and had fewer cells needed for healthy blood vessels than mice fed other diets.

CAUTIONS: Similar changes might not occur in humans.

WHAT’S NEXT: Better ways to detect cells that repair blood vessels will help assess how they might be affected by diet.

WHERE TO FIND IT: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aug. 24