RATS ON THE WEST SIDE, BEDBUGS UPTOWN:

Bed bugs invaded North American cities several decades ago and have wreaked havoc ever since. They hide under mattresses, biting the unsuspecting and requiring expensive extermination.

The concern, the researchers say, is that bed bugs will become as ubiquitous and common as the cockroach.

“We’re definitely headed in that direction,” said Coby Schal, a professor of entomology at North Carolina State University. “Bed bugs are what cockroaches were several decades ago and it is a concern.”

I’m really surprised we’re not seeing more black-market DDT. I guess we haven’t yet reached the point where, following the observation of reader Joan Pickett, pranksters could salt the Congressional and White House cloakrooms with bedbugs. But as a thought experiment, it’s interesting to think about how quickly the laws would probably change if our Ruling Class were sufficiently afflicted. . . .