The Senate passed the healthcare bill this morning with a slate of provisions designed to kick in six months after the bill takes effect. But those changes won’t affect people who stay in employer health plans, and for those who buy insurance on their own, they would only see the effects of today’s provisions if they buy a new policy. Most significantly, the Senate bill’s fiercely debated mandate that most Americans obtain health insurance or pay a fine, won't take effect until 2014. Patt checks in for a break down of the bill’s proposed time line.
Have you ever wondered if Santa Claus is real? Well, a team of bi-national U.S. and Canadian military personnel say YES! They’ve been tracking the illusive Mr. Claus for over 50 years. How do they do it—with a state-of-the-art high-tech radar system, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets. Would they go to all that effort if he wasn’t real? I think not. And by the way, if you (or your kids) want to know where in the world he is right now, or see his digs at the North Pole, you can go to NoradSanta.org and track him. Right now, for example, he’s in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Happy Holidays!
Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced legislation that, if passed, would protect over a million acres of the Mojave Desert. The legislation seeks to create two national monuments on the land and expand both the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks. It would also establish several new wilderness areas, protect sacred Native American land and establish as permanent 5 existing off-road vehicles areas. A portion of the infamous Route 66 would also become a beneficiary of the federally protected status. The only hitch is at least 19 renewable energy companies have deigns on the land as well. Can she find them a new home?
`
@englishmajor you’re going to flip when you see this #twitterature. 80 classics in 140 characters or > !
No, really. Two sophomores at the University of Chicago have managed to breakdown everything from Beowulf to Harry Potter into tweet style segments from the perspective of the protagonist.
From a history-making president to hiking the Appalachian Trail to a movie-star governor, we look back at the year’s most memorable events and scathe its most gaffe-worthy politicians. Who will be getting candy canes and who will be getting coal?
Historian Ron Schick delves deep into Norman Rockwell’s American mythos, picking apart his photographic process—exploring the photographs he used as the basis for his paintings, noting exactly which details Rockwell kept and discarded from the photographs, revealing that many of his most memorable characters—the girl at the mirror, the young couple on prom night, the family on vacation—were friends and neighbors who served as his amateur models —and surmising what his works say about the social milieu and attitudes of the time. Schick brings Rockwell’s works to life in an homage to photography, art and Americana.
It was more than forty years ago that story-teller and radio host John Henry Faulk first recorded his “Christmas Story.” Since then it’s become an NPR Christmas tradition. But Faulk was more than a story teller. Among other things, he was an activist, author, playwright, and husband. Faulk was branded a communist in the late fifties, but won a libel suit that helped to bring an end to the Hollywood blacklist. He was known for his work as a proponent of civil rights and made speeches at universities on the First Amendment. But, let's hear that wonderful story he told so many years ago.
Patt Morrison is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, as well as its presentation of the effects of national and world news on Southern California.
