July 21, 2009
Frank McCourt Died Sunday
According to media reports, he was 78. Angela’s Ashes is one of those all-too-rare books that is both well-written and well-sold. Here, in an interview broadcast in 1996, he talks with Fresh Air’s Terri Gross about his very long career as a writing teacher in the New York City public school system and about writing the famous, funny memoir for which he will be known.
July 20, 2009
The Moon Landing at 40 Years
The Apollo 11 crew celebrates an anniversary. The landing was July 20, 1969, at 3:17 p.m. (I just wonder if the president was somehow able to turn the conversation to health care. Talk about a “Buzz”-kill.) (ha! 🙂
From left: Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
July 19, 2009
Health Care Status Explained
If you’re interested in the state of health care reform, this July 16 interview on Fresh Air amounts to a well-explained summary of where we’re at on Capitol Hill. The reporter, Jonathan Cohn, of the center-left The New Republic, gives a pretty fair hearing to all sides.
July 17, 2009
Changing Health Insurance Plans and Doctors
If there exists a mystical world where employees don’t routinely switch health care plans, mostly for cost reasons, please tell me the planet and how to get there. An informal survey of friends who work in small- to medium-sized businesses reveals that their employers switch health care plans nearly annually, with very little regard for which employee might lose a particular doctor. They have no choice: it’s the cost of trying to find a plan that they can afford.
So, media, perhaps instead of obsessing over whether health care reform will lead to workers having to switch plans or doctors, I’d say this: your time would be better spent reporting about the merits or demerits of a particular proposal.
As employers shop around for the best deal, trying desperately not to drop coverage altogether, many workers have gotten used to having to switch plans and doctors. Most of the time, they’re thankful to have any coverage at all.
Science Friday: Less is Moss
Cutting grass out of your life. If you can’t view the video below, watch it here.
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