Archives

Lynch, Medicaid and the NGA

By Julie Donnelly on Tuesday, March 1, 2005.

On the last day of the National Governor's Association conference, the states' chief executives tackled a tough issue -- Medicaid. The program originally put in place to help poor women and children has ballooned to serve the needs of a growing population of elderly and disabled people. Governors were taken by surprise earlier this week when they heard what they took as a threat from the white House – come up with a plan to reform Medicaid in a matter of weeks, or face a cut of 60 billion dollars.

But after meeting with Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, the governors see more room for negotiation. NHPR correspondent Julie Donnelly reports from Washington.

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Blogs of War

By Laura Knoy on Tuesday, March 1, 2005.

Unheard of just a few years ago, these web journals set up by anyone with a story to tell?or an axe to grind?.have brought down major media and picked on politicians, but now find the spotlight?s glare turned back on them. We're looking at the growing influence of the blogosphere and whether blogs are being used for democracy or demagoguery. Laura's guests are Dan Gillmor, Author of ?We the Media: Grassroots Journalism By the People, For the People? and founder of Grassroots Media, a project to encourage and enable more citizen-based media. Gillmor is a former columnist for several newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury News and Detroit Free Press and ran a weblog for SiliconValley.com. Laura is also joined by Dave Winer, Editor of The Scripting News Weblog, one of the earliest blogs on the internet and currently the longest running.

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Zydeco Shoes

By John Walters on Tuesday, March 1, 2005.

Alexandria Hayes' book Zydeco Shoes: A Sensory Tour Of Cajun Culture is 1 part, cookbook, 1 part cajun art, 1 part zydeco music, and 2 parts storytelling.

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