Sunday, February 14, 2010
Howard Stern slams 'Idol's' Ellen
And Ellen DeGeneres thought Simon Cowell was mean!
Howard Stern let loose on the new “Idol” judge in an expletive-laced bit during his radio show.
After commenting on DeGeneres’ deal as a spokesperson with Covergirl cosmetics (“Ellen DeGeneres looks like somebody punched her in the face,” he said. “She gets on that Covergirl and you’d think she’s Heidi Klum”), the shock jock dived into rumors he’s up to take Cowell’s spot.
“[DeGeneres is] going to ruin ‘American Idol,’ ” Stern said. “Everyone goes, if Howard Stern takes over ‘American Idol,’ Ellen DeGeneres might leave. Well yeah, that's the whole (expletive) idea. I’m not going to sit there with her – that dummy.”
Stern declined to comment on any discussions that he may or may not have had about the gig, but admitted that he watches the show. He claimed that he heard from at least one celebrity who is all for the idea of him serving as a judge on the show.
“This is a woman, a very well-respected woman,” he said. “She said to me, I never watched ‘American Idol’ but I tell you, if you are on it, I will watch it."
'Clueless' duo Alicia Silverstone and Amy Heckerling team up again
Special Marquee blog from TheFrisky.com
After oodles of Dracula adaptations, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Twilight,” “True Blood,” “Daywalkers,” and “The Vampire’s Assistant,” I thought I’d let out a blood-curdling scream if I heard about another vampire movie. But amazingly there’s a new entry in the bloodsuckers category that I’m pretty excited about. The flick is called “Vamps,” and it starts filming in April. What’s so buzzworthy about it? It will be directed by Amy Heckerling, the woman behind “Clueless,” which, 15 years later, never fails to crack me up when I catch it on cable. As if (get it?) that weren’t enough, guess who’s starring? None other than Alicia Silverstone, whose comeback we’ve been anxiously awaiting for years. This will be the first time the dynamic duo has teamed up since their 1995 breakout.
Alicia’s best friend in the movie will be played by Krysten Ritter, aka Lucy from “Gilmore Girls,” who’s making the leap from quirky sidekick to full-fledged co-star.
“Vamps” tells the story of two female vampires living it up in New York City, “until love enters the picture and each has to make a choice that will jeopardize their immortality.” I’m kind of digging this twist on the classic vampire plotline—as many fanged-up movies and TV shows as I’ve seen, it’s always the male vampire who’s in love with the human female. Is this girl power gone to the vampires? Also, this movie sounds like it will be a comedy, a relief after the heavy melodrama of “New Mood.”
More from TheFrisky.com:
Anne Hathaway left the Catholic Church for her gay brother
Why are celebs in such a rush to show off their post-baby bodies?
After oodles of Dracula adaptations, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Twilight,” “True Blood,” “Daywalkers,” and “The Vampire’s Assistant,” I thought I’d let out a blood-curdling scream if I heard about another vampire movie. But amazingly there’s a new entry in the bloodsuckers category that I’m pretty excited about. The flick is called “Vamps,” and it starts filming in April. What’s so buzzworthy about it? It will be directed by Amy Heckerling, the woman behind “Clueless,” which, 15 years later, never fails to crack me up when I catch it on cable. As if (get it?) that weren’t enough, guess who’s starring? None other than Alicia Silverstone, whose comeback we’ve been anxiously awaiting for years. This will be the first time the dynamic duo has teamed up since their 1995 breakout.
Alicia’s best friend in the movie will be played by Krysten Ritter, aka Lucy from “Gilmore Girls,” who’s making the leap from quirky sidekick to full-fledged co-star.
“Vamps” tells the story of two female vampires living it up in New York City, “until love enters the picture and each has to make a choice that will jeopardize their immortality.” I’m kind of digging this twist on the classic vampire plotline—as many fanged-up movies and TV shows as I’ve seen, it’s always the male vampire who’s in love with the human female. Is this girl power gone to the vampires? Also, this movie sounds like it will be a comedy, a relief after the heavy melodrama of “New Mood.”
More from TheFrisky.com:
Anne Hathaway left the Catholic Church for her gay brother
Why are celebs in such a rush to show off their post-baby bodies?
Tina Fey: People hated me after Palin impression on SNL
Ok, admittedly, the picture of her in front of the New York City skyline in Mickey Mouse ears may not exactly be what most consider "normal," but Tina Fey swears she is.
The actress and comedienne is featured in Vogue's March issue, and she wants everyone to know that in a world run rampant by celebrity craziness, she's a champion for the average.
"I feel like I represent normalcy in some way," she said in the interview. "What are your choices today in entertainment? People either represent youth, power, or sexuality. And then there’s me, carrying normalcy.”
Well, okay, “me and Rachel Ray," Fey admitted.
But however normal she tries to be, that doesn't mean that everyone's a fan - especially after all of those Sarah Palin impressions that she did all through 2009
"People started projecting politics onto me,” she said. “There are people who hate me now because of that.”
Could part of that hate be because she and Palin are both women? Fey thinks it's a possibility.
"The weird thing is that when Darrell Hammond or Will Ferrell or Dana Carvey did an impersonation of a president, no one assumed it was personal," she said, "but because Sarah Palin and I are both women and people think women are meaner to each other, everyone assumed it was personal.”
The nature of female relationships also contributes to fashion, Fey said. "I think women dress for other women to let them know what their deal is. Because if women were only dressing for men, there would be nothing but Victoria’s Secret. There would be no Dior.”
Nor would there likely be any fashion magazines. Which, by the way, aren't as responsible for unhealthy body image as people think, Fey said.
"People will say, ‘Oh, fashion magazines are so bad, they’re giving girls a negative message’ — but we’re also the fattest country in the world, so it’s not like we’re all looking at fashion magazines and not eating," she said in the interview. "Maybe it just starts a shame cycle: I’m never going to look like that model, so… Chicken McNuggets it is! And conversely, I don’t look at models who are crazy skinny and think I want to look like that, because a lot of them are gigantic, with giant hands and giant feet.”
The actress and comedienne is featured in Vogue's March issue, and she wants everyone to know that in a world run rampant by celebrity craziness, she's a champion for the average.
"I feel like I represent normalcy in some way," she said in the interview. "What are your choices today in entertainment? People either represent youth, power, or sexuality. And then there’s me, carrying normalcy.”
Well, okay, “me and Rachel Ray," Fey admitted.
But however normal she tries to be, that doesn't mean that everyone's a fan - especially after all of those Sarah Palin impressions that she did all through 2009
"People started projecting politics onto me,” she said. “There are people who hate me now because of that.”
Could part of that hate be because she and Palin are both women? Fey thinks it's a possibility.
"The weird thing is that when Darrell Hammond or Will Ferrell or Dana Carvey did an impersonation of a president, no one assumed it was personal," she said, "but because Sarah Palin and I are both women and people think women are meaner to each other, everyone assumed it was personal.”
The nature of female relationships also contributes to fashion, Fey said. "I think women dress for other women to let them know what their deal is. Because if women were only dressing for men, there would be nothing but Victoria’s Secret. There would be no Dior.”
Nor would there likely be any fashion magazines. Which, by the way, aren't as responsible for unhealthy body image as people think, Fey said.
"People will say, ‘Oh, fashion magazines are so bad, they’re giving girls a negative message’ — but we’re also the fattest country in the world, so it’s not like we’re all looking at fashion magazines and not eating," she said in the interview. "Maybe it just starts a shame cycle: I’m never going to look like that model, so… Chicken McNuggets it is! And conversely, I don’t look at models who are crazy skinny and think I want to look like that, because a lot of them are gigantic, with giant hands and giant feet.”
MTV redesigns logo for a new generation
If you've been watching MTV lately and have been confused as to why something felt "off," here's a hint: the network has given its nearly 29-year-old logo a face lift.
The new logo is almost but not quite the same as the old one - a little squatter in terms of height, the "TV" part of the logo sits lower on the "M", but most importantly, the "music television" tag line is gone.
Some have taken this as a sign that MTV's design team has actually started watching the channel's programming, which offers more in the way of roommate drama than it does music television.
But, said a spokesperson, "it's less about the tag line and more about [redesigning] for a new generation. Music is still at the center of everything we do."
The new logo is almost but not quite the same as the old one - a little squatter in terms of height, the "TV" part of the logo sits lower on the "M", but most importantly, the "music television" tag line is gone.
Some have taken this as a sign that MTV's design team has actually started watching the channel's programming, which offers more in the way of roommate drama than it does music television.
But, said a spokesperson, "it's less about the tag line and more about [redesigning] for a new generation. Music is still at the center of everything we do."
John Mayer keeps tweeting, chokes up on stage
Last night was probably one of the lowest for musician John Mayer, and Twitter was there for him as he got some of his feelings off his chest.
After he tweeted a series of apologetic statements for his now infamous Playboy interview, Mayer started responding to a few of the comments that had his name high up on the trending topic list well into the night.
Twitter user CRHines17 - bio: awesome - tweeted to Mayer an offering of support Wednesday.
"We're all human," he wrote, "everyone makes mistakes," to which Mayer responded, "True. But some mistakes are hard to pinpoint because they happen slowly and over long periods of time..."
Actress Holly Robinson Peete - whom Mayer referred to in the interview as one of the black women he would date in spite of his "white supremacist" genitals as he's always found her to be gorgeous - saw more flattery than malice in Mayer's controversial remarks.
She tweeted Wednesday evening, "Well y'all ...not just [because] he shot this old momma some love but I think [the] Mayer is 'racist' reaction is kinda over the top, no?" Because of the amount of attention her response yielded, Peete even wrote a blog post about the escalating attention Mayer's words have attracted.
Mayer's use of the "N" word is "the biggest no-no of them all and coupled with the White Supremacist 'privates' comments it dawns hard on me that by gushing in public about a compliment by one of my fave artists in this article filled with offenses I look like I am giving him some sort of 'free pass' just cause he said I was cute," Peete wrote.
She added, "I seriously do not believe John Mayer is a racist. It’s such a strong word and there are real life hard core racists in this country who really deserve to wear that hat– especially these days...Though his judgment is askew, his filters are dysfunctional and at times he sounded almost certifiable, he isn’t a racist."
Mayer hasn't responded to Peete's support, but he did have something to say last night to Twitter user Adilla.
Adilla tweeted Wednesday evening that he was "just waiting for @johncmayer to follow up his apology with an announcement that he's going to rehab. I mean, it kinda worked for Tiger, no?"
Unfortunately for Mayer, as he himself noted on his reply to the user, "They don't make rehab centers for being an a-hole."
While performing in Nashville, Tennessee, Mayer kept the apologies coming, pausing in the middle of a song to extend his remorse to his band mates, according to Us Weekly.
"In the quest to be clever," he began, "I completely forgot about the people that I love and that love me."
After choking up during his apology, he ended by saying, "It's just not worth being clever ... I quit the media game. I'm out. I'm done. I just want to play my guitar."
And with that came Mayer's final, tweeted statement of regret.
"I just wanted to play the guitar for people," he wrote. "Everything else just sort of popped up and I improvised, and kept doubling down on it..."
His Twitter account has been a wall of silence ever since.
After he tweeted a series of apologetic statements for his now infamous Playboy interview, Mayer started responding to a few of the comments that had his name high up on the trending topic list well into the night.
Twitter user CRHines17 - bio: awesome - tweeted to Mayer an offering of support Wednesday.
"We're all human," he wrote, "everyone makes mistakes," to which Mayer responded, "True. But some mistakes are hard to pinpoint because they happen slowly and over long periods of time..."
Actress Holly Robinson Peete - whom Mayer referred to in the interview as one of the black women he would date in spite of his "white supremacist" genitals as he's always found her to be gorgeous - saw more flattery than malice in Mayer's controversial remarks.
She tweeted Wednesday evening, "Well y'all ...not just [because] he shot this old momma some love but I think [the] Mayer is 'racist' reaction is kinda over the top, no?" Because of the amount of attention her response yielded, Peete even wrote a blog post about the escalating attention Mayer's words have attracted.
Mayer's use of the "N" word is "the biggest no-no of them all and coupled with the White Supremacist 'privates' comments it dawns hard on me that by gushing in public about a compliment by one of my fave artists in this article filled with offenses I look like I am giving him some sort of 'free pass' just cause he said I was cute," Peete wrote.
She added, "I seriously do not believe John Mayer is a racist. It’s such a strong word and there are real life hard core racists in this country who really deserve to wear that hat– especially these days...Though his judgment is askew, his filters are dysfunctional and at times he sounded almost certifiable, he isn’t a racist."
Mayer hasn't responded to Peete's support, but he did have something to say last night to Twitter user Adilla.
Adilla tweeted Wednesday evening that he was "just waiting for @johncmayer to follow up his apology with an announcement that he's going to rehab. I mean, it kinda worked for Tiger, no?"
Unfortunately for Mayer, as he himself noted on his reply to the user, "They don't make rehab centers for being an a-hole."
While performing in Nashville, Tennessee, Mayer kept the apologies coming, pausing in the middle of a song to extend his remorse to his band mates, according to Us Weekly.
"In the quest to be clever," he began, "I completely forgot about the people that I love and that love me."
After choking up during his apology, he ended by saying, "It's just not worth being clever ... I quit the media game. I'm out. I'm done. I just want to play my guitar."
And with that came Mayer's final, tweeted statement of regret.
"I just wanted to play the guitar for people," he wrote. "Everything else just sort of popped up and I improvised, and kept doubling down on it..."
His Twitter account has been a wall of silence ever since.
Haiti telethon money distribution begins
Some of the millions of dollars raised from viewers during the “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” has been distributed.
“Hope for Haiti Now” (HFHN) announced on Thursday that they have begun distribution of the first installment of funds raised during the star-studded telethon held on January 22.
HFHN said it has allotted $35 million to begin funding both immediate disaster relief, and reconstruction and recovery efforts in Haiti. Of that initial total, Oxfam America will receive $8 million, Partners In Health will receive $8 million, the American Red Cross will receive $6 million, UNICEF will receive $6 million, the United Nations World Food Programme will receive $6 million, and Yele Haiti Foundation will receive $1 million.
A press release from HFHN said each of the organizations submitted proposals to receive the funding which will be used for projects including distribution of meals, emergency shelter and clean water systems
“Hope for Haiti Now” (HFHN) announced on Thursday that they have begun distribution of the first installment of funds raised during the star-studded telethon held on January 22.
HFHN said it has allotted $35 million to begin funding both immediate disaster relief, and reconstruction and recovery efforts in Haiti. Of that initial total, Oxfam America will receive $8 million, Partners In Health will receive $8 million, the American Red Cross will receive $6 million, UNICEF will receive $6 million, the United Nations World Food Programme will receive $6 million, and Yele Haiti Foundation will receive $1 million.
A press release from HFHN said each of the organizations submitted proposals to receive the funding which will be used for projects including distribution of meals, emergency shelter and clean water systems
Toyota recalls 8,000 Tacoma trucks
Toyota announced a voluntary safety recall of about 8,000 four-wheel-drive Tacoma trucks in North America, citing potential production defects in the front drive shaft of certain 2010 models.
The automaker said Friday that the front shaft in a small production run of pickups may include a component that developed cracks during the manufacturing process.
As the vehicles are used, the cracks could lead to "the separation of the drive shaft at the joint portion."
Toyota said the safety inspection and replacement will be performed at no cost.
On Tuesday, Toyota President Akio Toyoda issued an apology with the announcement of a global recall of more than 400,000 hybrid models for 2010, including the widely popular Prius, because of braking problems.
"Quality is our lifeline for Toyota," and the company will work to recover its customers' trust, Toyoda said. The company has recalled about 8 million vehicles worldwide.
Experts say Toyota has lost control of its message and needs to try to get it back during Washington hearings. Toyoda will testify before U.S. congressional committees if required, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported.
The House of Representatives has scheduled committee hearings this month, and Senate hearings are scheduled to begin on March 2. So far, only Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, has been invited to testify, according to Kyodo.
The automaker said Friday that the front shaft in a small production run of pickups may include a component that developed cracks during the manufacturing process.
As the vehicles are used, the cracks could lead to "the separation of the drive shaft at the joint portion."
Toyota said the safety inspection and replacement will be performed at no cost.
On Tuesday, Toyota President Akio Toyoda issued an apology with the announcement of a global recall of more than 400,000 hybrid models for 2010, including the widely popular Prius, because of braking problems.
"Quality is our lifeline for Toyota," and the company will work to recover its customers' trust, Toyoda said. The company has recalled about 8 million vehicles worldwide.
Experts say Toyota has lost control of its message and needs to try to get it back during Washington hearings. Toyoda will testify before U.S. congressional committees if required, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported.
The House of Representatives has scheduled committee hearings this month, and Senate hearings are scheduled to begin on March 2. So far, only Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, has been invited to testify, according to Kyodo.
Failure of Health Care Overhaul Will Add More Woes
WASHINGTON — What could be worse than health care overhaul? No health care overhaul.
It's anybody's guess whether President Barack Obama's health remake will survive in Congress.
But there's no doubting the consequences if lawmakers fail to address the problems of costs, coverage and quality: surging insurance premiums, more working families without coverage, bigger out-of-pocket bills, a Medicare prescription gap that grows wider and deeper, and government programs that pay when people get sick but do little to keep them healthy.
"They complained, 'If you pass this bill, prices will go up,'" said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who helped shape the Senate Democrats' bill. "Well, you don't pass it, and prices will still go up."
For economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a top adviser to 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, "no one has the luxury of saying we're not going to worry about this." While he's no fan of the Democrats' approach, he said Republicans "are going to have to deliver something at some point. The question is whether they do it with this president leading or wait for a Republican president."
Health care spending hit $2.5 trillion last year, growing faster as a share of the economy than at any time in a half century, yet with results that compare poorly with other advanced countries spending less. Government programs — mainly Medicare and Medicaid — will soon cover more than half the nation's health care tab, a staggering burden for federal and state budgets.
For those with private insurance, the recently announced double-digit premium increases for people purchasing their own coverage with Anthem in California could be a harbinger. Medical costs are rising in a weak economy, causing healthy people to drop coverage and raising costs for those left behind, with no limit in sight.
"We will see real changes in the way health care is delivered, regardless," Holtz-Eakin said. "The question is whether they are coordinated and done proactively or whether they are done on the ground by providers, insurance companies and employers, reacting to their costs and their risk pools."
A look at how some major groups would fare if the health care overhaul collapses and present trends continue unchecked:
OLDER PEOPLE
Both Democratic bills would begin experiments aimed at providing quality care at lower cost for Medicare recipients, particularly those with chronic conditions such as heart failure and diabetes. Copayments for preventive care would be eliminated. The House bill gradually would close the "doughnut hole" prescription coverage gap, now growing wider and deeper because of inflation. Those improvements would be lost.
On the plus side, private insurance plans in the Medicare Advantage program, serving about one-fourth of seniors, would be spared cuts proposed by Democrats. Still, insurers and other service providers won't get a free pass. With Congress looking to cut the federal deficit, Medicare will be on the chopping block again.
"The irony is that major interest groups — hospitals and drug makers — had agreed to take reductions this time," said John Rother, top political strategist for AARP, which supports the Democratic bills.
WORKERS
The divide between those who have health insurance and those who don't will get deeper. Many more will find themselves with inadequate coverage that leaves them with hefty bills if they get seriously ill.
"More employers will drop coverage. More consumers will get increased copayments and deductibles," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a moderate who has not given up hope of a deal with Republicans. "I believe that would be so corrosive for the country that we would not let it be the outcome."
By 2019, the number of uninsured would rise to 54 million, most of them low-income workers paying federal and state taxes to support health care programs for older people and the poor. The Democratic bills would expand Medicaid to pick up more people near the poverty line, while providing subsidies for many middle-class households to buy private coverage.
PEOPLE WITH HEALTH PROBLEMS
Insurers would be able to continue denying coverage to people with medical problems, or charge them higher premiums. People who get sick could face cancellation of their coverage in certain circumstances.
People in their 50s and 60s, when many medical conditions emerge, would face premiums up to six times or seven times higher than what those in their 20s pay.
Conversely, 20-year-olds would continue to enjoy access to low-cost health insurance. The Democratic bills would have forced them to subsidize premiums for older generations. Still, young people would not escape unscathed. The Democratic bills would have allowed children to stay on their parent's coverage until their mid-twenties, a particularly valuable benefit for those with health problems.
EMPLOYERS
Big employers were hoping that the Medicare experiments would provide a template for their own efforts to try to control costs and maintain quality. Small employers were leery of the Democratic bills, although some would have received subsidies to help them provide coverage.
If nothing gets done, large employers will be the front line in efforts to rein in health care spending. They will keep passing on costs to employees through higher premiums and copayments. But they're also expected to take a more aggressive approach to get workers to shape up by quitting smoking, losing weight and making other lifestyle changes. Employers won't just be insurance sponsors any longer; they could start acting more like the health police.
Small companies are likely to keep dropping coverage, as are employers with lots of low-wage workers.
"The fact that we had a mandate from voters to do something, and that a major effort to respond led to such a deep partisan divide and gridlock is not positive," said AARP's Rother. "The gridlock that's developed on health care is a very serious and negative omen for our ability to tackle Social Security and deficits."
It's anybody's guess whether President Barack Obama's health remake will survive in Congress.
But there's no doubting the consequences if lawmakers fail to address the problems of costs, coverage and quality: surging insurance premiums, more working families without coverage, bigger out-of-pocket bills, a Medicare prescription gap that grows wider and deeper, and government programs that pay when people get sick but do little to keep them healthy.
"They complained, 'If you pass this bill, prices will go up,'" said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who helped shape the Senate Democrats' bill. "Well, you don't pass it, and prices will still go up."
For economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a top adviser to 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, "no one has the luxury of saying we're not going to worry about this." While he's no fan of the Democrats' approach, he said Republicans "are going to have to deliver something at some point. The question is whether they do it with this president leading or wait for a Republican president."
Health care spending hit $2.5 trillion last year, growing faster as a share of the economy than at any time in a half century, yet with results that compare poorly with other advanced countries spending less. Government programs — mainly Medicare and Medicaid — will soon cover more than half the nation's health care tab, a staggering burden for federal and state budgets.
For those with private insurance, the recently announced double-digit premium increases for people purchasing their own coverage with Anthem in California could be a harbinger. Medical costs are rising in a weak economy, causing healthy people to drop coverage and raising costs for those left behind, with no limit in sight.
"We will see real changes in the way health care is delivered, regardless," Holtz-Eakin said. "The question is whether they are coordinated and done proactively or whether they are done on the ground by providers, insurance companies and employers, reacting to their costs and their risk pools."
A look at how some major groups would fare if the health care overhaul collapses and present trends continue unchecked:
OLDER PEOPLE
Both Democratic bills would begin experiments aimed at providing quality care at lower cost for Medicare recipients, particularly those with chronic conditions such as heart failure and diabetes. Copayments for preventive care would be eliminated. The House bill gradually would close the "doughnut hole" prescription coverage gap, now growing wider and deeper because of inflation. Those improvements would be lost.
On the plus side, private insurance plans in the Medicare Advantage program, serving about one-fourth of seniors, would be spared cuts proposed by Democrats. Still, insurers and other service providers won't get a free pass. With Congress looking to cut the federal deficit, Medicare will be on the chopping block again.
"The irony is that major interest groups — hospitals and drug makers — had agreed to take reductions this time," said John Rother, top political strategist for AARP, which supports the Democratic bills.
WORKERS
The divide between those who have health insurance and those who don't will get deeper. Many more will find themselves with inadequate coverage that leaves them with hefty bills if they get seriously ill.
"More employers will drop coverage. More consumers will get increased copayments and deductibles," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a moderate who has not given up hope of a deal with Republicans. "I believe that would be so corrosive for the country that we would not let it be the outcome."
By 2019, the number of uninsured would rise to 54 million, most of them low-income workers paying federal and state taxes to support health care programs for older people and the poor. The Democratic bills would expand Medicaid to pick up more people near the poverty line, while providing subsidies for many middle-class households to buy private coverage.
PEOPLE WITH HEALTH PROBLEMS
Insurers would be able to continue denying coverage to people with medical problems, or charge them higher premiums. People who get sick could face cancellation of their coverage in certain circumstances.
People in their 50s and 60s, when many medical conditions emerge, would face premiums up to six times or seven times higher than what those in their 20s pay.
Conversely, 20-year-olds would continue to enjoy access to low-cost health insurance. The Democratic bills would have forced them to subsidize premiums for older generations. Still, young people would not escape unscathed. The Democratic bills would have allowed children to stay on their parent's coverage until their mid-twenties, a particularly valuable benefit for those with health problems.
EMPLOYERS
Big employers were hoping that the Medicare experiments would provide a template for their own efforts to try to control costs and maintain quality. Small employers were leery of the Democratic bills, although some would have received subsidies to help them provide coverage.
If nothing gets done, large employers will be the front line in efforts to rein in health care spending. They will keep passing on costs to employees through higher premiums and copayments. But they're also expected to take a more aggressive approach to get workers to shape up by quitting smoking, losing weight and making other lifestyle changes. Employers won't just be insurance sponsors any longer; they could start acting more like the health police.
Small companies are likely to keep dropping coverage, as are employers with lots of low-wage workers.
"The fact that we had a mandate from voters to do something, and that a major effort to respond led to such a deep partisan divide and gridlock is not positive," said AARP's Rother. "The gridlock that's developed on health care is a very serious and negative omen for our ability to tackle Social Security and deficits."
Professor Charged in Ala. Shooting Killed Brother in 1986
he 1986 shooting was ruled accidental and no charges were filed against Amy Bishop. The case could get a closer look as authorities try to explain why they believe the Harvard-educated neurobiologist opened fire Friday, killing three.
Bishop, a rare woman suspected of a workplace shooting, had just months left teaching at the University of Alabama in Huntsville because she was denied tenure.
Some, including the husband of one victim and one of her students, have said she was upset after being denied the job-for-life security afforded tenured academics. Authorities have refused to discuss a motive, and school spokesman Ray Garner said the faculty meeting wasn't called to discuss tenure.
It appeared the violent episode in Bishop's past wasn't known to her colleagues in Huntsville.
Bishop shot her brother, Seth, an 18-year-old accomplished violinist, in the chest in 1986, said Paul Frazier, the police chief in Braintree, Mass., where the shooting occurred.
Both William Setzer, chairman of chemistry department at UAH, and university police Chief Chuck Gailes said they had not heard about the Massachusetts incident until being asked by reporters Saturday.
The Norfolk County District Attorney's office released a 1987 report with details of their investigation, based on interviews with Amy Bishop and her parents conducted by a state trooper after the shooting. The report concluded Seth Bishop was killed by an "accidental discharge of a firearm."
Amy Bishop told investigators she was trying to learn how to use a shotgun that her father had purchased for protection in the home after a break-in. She said she did not know how to use the weapon and brought it downstairs to the kitchen for help unloading it.
She said she was raising it when "someone said something to her and she turned and the gun went off" while her brother was walking across the kitchen, according to the report.
She then ran out of the house with the weapon. When she talked to investigators 11 days after the shooting, she told them she could only remember hearing her mother scream and she didn't know the gunshot struck her brother until later.
The report by Trooper Brian Howe said Bishop's "highly emotional state" immediately after the shooting made it impossible to question her. The report said she was 19 at the time. Police say she is 42 now, though the university's Web site lists her as 44.
The handling of the case prompted back-and-forth claims from the current Braintree police chief, Frazier, and the former chief, John Polio.
Frazier said Polio instructed officers to release Amy Bishop to her mother, who had once served on a police personnel board. That move upset officers who remembered the 1986 shooting, Frazier said.
"The police officers here were very upset about that," said Frazier, who was a patrolman at the time and spoke to officers who remembered the incident that day, including one who filed a report on it.
Frazier also said the police records of the shooting have disappeared and he planned to meet with the local district attorney over the possibility of launching a criminal investigation into how the Bishop case was handled.
Polio, now 87, said Saturday at his Braintree home that he was astonished at any implication of a cover-up. He said he didn't instruct officers to release Bishop and wasn't close to her mother, who he said served on the police board years before the shooting.
"(There's) no cover-up, no missing records," Polio said. "If they're missing, they're missing since I retired."
Polio said that at the time there were questions about whether Amy Bishop intended to kill her brother because of conflicting reports about whether the two had argued or had just been horsing around when the gun was fired.
Polio said the officer who took Bishop into custody told Polio he was upset she was released but "it was an isolated cop, telling me something. It wasn't a big movement."
Attempts by AP to track down addresses and phone numbers for Bishop's family in the Braintree area weren't immediately successful Saturday. The current police chief said he believed her family had moved away.
In Huntsville, students, faculty and the community struggled to explain the violence.
The three killed were Gopi K. Podila, the chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences, and two other faculty members, Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson. Three people were wounded. Two of them — Joseph Leahy and staffer Stephanie Monticciolo — were in critical condition early Sunday. The third, Luis Cruz-Vera, had been released from the hospital.
Bishop was arrested shortly after the shooting and was charged with capital murder. It wasn't immediately known if she has an attorney. No one was home at the couple's house. Her husband, James Anderson, was detained and questioned by police but has not been charged. She is the mother of four children.
A 9 mm handgun was found in the bathroom of the building where the shootings occurred, and Huntsville police spokesman Sgt. Mark Roberts said Bishop did not have a permit for it.
Descriptions of Bishop from students and colleagues were mixed. Some saw a strange woman who had difficulty relating to her students, while others described a witty, intelligent teacher.
Students and colleagues described Bishop as smart, but someone who often had difficulty explaining complicated concepts.
Bishop was well-known in the research community, appearing on the cover of the winter 2009 issue of "The Huntsville R&D Report," a local magazine focusing on engineering, space and genetics.
Setzer, the chemistry chairman, said Bishop was appealing the tenure decision made last year.
"Politics and personalities" always play a role in the tenure process, he said. "In a close department it's more so. If you have any lone wolves or bizarre personalities, it's a problem and I'm thinking that certainly came into play here."
Bishop, a rare woman suspected of a workplace shooting, had just months left teaching at the University of Alabama in Huntsville because she was denied tenure.
Some, including the husband of one victim and one of her students, have said she was upset after being denied the job-for-life security afforded tenured academics. Authorities have refused to discuss a motive, and school spokesman Ray Garner said the faculty meeting wasn't called to discuss tenure.
It appeared the violent episode in Bishop's past wasn't known to her colleagues in Huntsville.
Bishop shot her brother, Seth, an 18-year-old accomplished violinist, in the chest in 1986, said Paul Frazier, the police chief in Braintree, Mass., where the shooting occurred.
Both William Setzer, chairman of chemistry department at UAH, and university police Chief Chuck Gailes said they had not heard about the Massachusetts incident until being asked by reporters Saturday.
The Norfolk County District Attorney's office released a 1987 report with details of their investigation, based on interviews with Amy Bishop and her parents conducted by a state trooper after the shooting. The report concluded Seth Bishop was killed by an "accidental discharge of a firearm."
Amy Bishop told investigators she was trying to learn how to use a shotgun that her father had purchased for protection in the home after a break-in. She said she did not know how to use the weapon and brought it downstairs to the kitchen for help unloading it.
She said she was raising it when "someone said something to her and she turned and the gun went off" while her brother was walking across the kitchen, according to the report.
She then ran out of the house with the weapon. When she talked to investigators 11 days after the shooting, she told them she could only remember hearing her mother scream and she didn't know the gunshot struck her brother until later.
The report by Trooper Brian Howe said Bishop's "highly emotional state" immediately after the shooting made it impossible to question her. The report said she was 19 at the time. Police say she is 42 now, though the university's Web site lists her as 44.
The handling of the case prompted back-and-forth claims from the current Braintree police chief, Frazier, and the former chief, John Polio.
Frazier said Polio instructed officers to release Amy Bishop to her mother, who had once served on a police personnel board. That move upset officers who remembered the 1986 shooting, Frazier said.
"The police officers here were very upset about that," said Frazier, who was a patrolman at the time and spoke to officers who remembered the incident that day, including one who filed a report on it.
Frazier also said the police records of the shooting have disappeared and he planned to meet with the local district attorney over the possibility of launching a criminal investigation into how the Bishop case was handled.
Polio, now 87, said Saturday at his Braintree home that he was astonished at any implication of a cover-up. He said he didn't instruct officers to release Bishop and wasn't close to her mother, who he said served on the police board years before the shooting.
"(There's) no cover-up, no missing records," Polio said. "If they're missing, they're missing since I retired."
Polio said that at the time there were questions about whether Amy Bishop intended to kill her brother because of conflicting reports about whether the two had argued or had just been horsing around when the gun was fired.
Polio said the officer who took Bishop into custody told Polio he was upset she was released but "it was an isolated cop, telling me something. It wasn't a big movement."
Attempts by AP to track down addresses and phone numbers for Bishop's family in the Braintree area weren't immediately successful Saturday. The current police chief said he believed her family had moved away.
In Huntsville, students, faculty and the community struggled to explain the violence.
The three killed were Gopi K. Podila, the chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences, and two other faculty members, Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson. Three people were wounded. Two of them — Joseph Leahy and staffer Stephanie Monticciolo — were in critical condition early Sunday. The third, Luis Cruz-Vera, had been released from the hospital.
Bishop was arrested shortly after the shooting and was charged with capital murder. It wasn't immediately known if she has an attorney. No one was home at the couple's house. Her husband, James Anderson, was detained and questioned by police but has not been charged. She is the mother of four children.
A 9 mm handgun was found in the bathroom of the building where the shootings occurred, and Huntsville police spokesman Sgt. Mark Roberts said Bishop did not have a permit for it.
Descriptions of Bishop from students and colleagues were mixed. Some saw a strange woman who had difficulty relating to her students, while others described a witty, intelligent teacher.
Students and colleagues described Bishop as smart, but someone who often had difficulty explaining complicated concepts.
Bishop was well-known in the research community, appearing on the cover of the winter 2009 issue of "The Huntsville R&D Report," a local magazine focusing on engineering, space and genetics.
Setzer, the chemistry chairman, said Bishop was appealing the tenure decision made last year.
"Politics and personalities" always play a role in the tenure process, he said. "In a close department it's more so. If you have any lone wolves or bizarre personalities, it's a problem and I'm thinking that certainly came into play here."
U.S., Afghan Forces Face Bombs, Booby Traps in Push to Take Taliban Stronghold
Homemade bombs and mines slowed the advance of thousands of U.S., British and Afghan soldiers in NATO's most ambitious effort yet to break the militants' grip over their southern heartland.
Using metal detectors and sniffer dogs, U.S. forces found caches of explosives rigged to blow as they went from compound to compound. They also discovered several sniper positions, freshly abandoned and booby-trapped with grenades.
NATO said it hoped to secure Marjah, the largest town under Taliban control and a key opium smuggling hub, within days, set up a local government, and rush in development aid in a first test of the new U.S. strategy for turning the tide of the eight-year war. The offensive is the largest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
At least two shuras, or meetings, have been held with local Afghan residents — one in the northern district of Nad Ali and the other in Marjah itself, NATO said in a statement. Discussions have been "good," and more shuras are planned in coming days as part of a larger strategy to enlist community support for the NATO mission.
Afghan officials said Sunday at least 27 insurgents had been killed in the operation. Helmand government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said troops found a large cache of bomb-making materials in one compound in Marjah.
Most of the Taliban appeared to have scattered in the face of overwhelming force, possibly waiting to regroup and stage attacks later to foil the alliance's plan to stabilize the area and expand Afghan government control in the volatile south.
Two NATO soldiers were killed on the first day of the operation — one American and one Briton, according to military officials in their countries.
More than 30 transport helicopters ferried troops into the heart of Marjah before dawn Saturday, while British, Afghan and U.S. troops fanned out across the Nad Ali district to the north of the mud-brick town, long a stronghold of the Taliban.
Maj. Gen. Gordon Messenger told reporters in London that British forces "have successfully secured the area militarily" with only sporadic resistance from Taliban forces. A Taliban spokesman insisted their fighters still controlled the town.
President Barack Obama was keeping a close watch on combat operations, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
The president will get an update from his national security adviser, Gen. Jim Jones, later Saturday. Vietor said Defense Secretary Robert Gates will also have the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, brief Obama on Sunday morning.
In Marjah, Marines and Afghan troops faced little armed resistance. But their advance through the town was impeded by countless land mines, homemade bombs and booby-traps littering the area. Marine ordnance teams blew up several dozen bombs, setting off huge explosions that reverberated through the dusty streets.
On Sunday, most of the Marines said they would have preferred a straight-up gunbattle to the "death at every corner" crawl they faced, though they continued to advance slowly through the town.
"Basically, if you hear the boom, it's good. It means you're still alive after the thing goes off," said Lance Corp. Justin Hennes, 22, of Lakeland, Florida.
Local Marjah residents crept out from hiding after dawn Sunday, some reaching out to Afghan troops partnered with Marine platoons.
"Could you please take the mines out?" Mohammad Kazeem, a local pharmacist, asked the Marines through an interpreter. The entrance up to his shop had been completely booby-trapped, without anyway for him to re-enter his home, he said.
The bridge over the canal into Marjah from the north was rigged with so many explosives that Marines erected temporary bridges to cross into the town.
"It's just got to be a very slow and deliberate process," said Capt. Joshua Winfrey of Stillwater, Oklahoma, a Marine company commander.
Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, said U.S. troops fought gunbattles in at least four areas of the town and faced "some intense fighting."
To the east, the battalion's Kilo Company was inserted into the town by helicopter without meeting resistance but was then "significantly engaged" as the Marines fanned out from the landing zone, Christmas said.
Marine commanders had said they expected between 400 and 1,000 insurgents — including more than 100 foreign fighters — to be holed up in Marjah, a town of 80,000 people that is the linchpin of the militants' logistical and opium-smuggling network in the south.
The offensive, code-named "Moshtarak," or "Together," was described as the biggest joint operation of the Afghan war, with 15,000 troops involved, including some 7,500 in Marjah itself. The government says Afghan soldiers make up at least half of the offensive's force.
Once Marjah is secured, NATO hopes to quickly deliver aid and provide public services in a bid to win support among the estimated 125,000 people who live in the town and surrounding villages. The Afghans' ability to restore those services is crucial to the success of the operation and in preventing the Taliban from returning.
Using metal detectors and sniffer dogs, U.S. forces found caches of explosives rigged to blow as they went from compound to compound. They also discovered several sniper positions, freshly abandoned and booby-trapped with grenades.
NATO said it hoped to secure Marjah, the largest town under Taliban control and a key opium smuggling hub, within days, set up a local government, and rush in development aid in a first test of the new U.S. strategy for turning the tide of the eight-year war. The offensive is the largest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
At least two shuras, or meetings, have been held with local Afghan residents — one in the northern district of Nad Ali and the other in Marjah itself, NATO said in a statement. Discussions have been "good," and more shuras are planned in coming days as part of a larger strategy to enlist community support for the NATO mission.
Afghan officials said Sunday at least 27 insurgents had been killed in the operation. Helmand government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said troops found a large cache of bomb-making materials in one compound in Marjah.
Most of the Taliban appeared to have scattered in the face of overwhelming force, possibly waiting to regroup and stage attacks later to foil the alliance's plan to stabilize the area and expand Afghan government control in the volatile south.
Two NATO soldiers were killed on the first day of the operation — one American and one Briton, according to military officials in their countries.
More than 30 transport helicopters ferried troops into the heart of Marjah before dawn Saturday, while British, Afghan and U.S. troops fanned out across the Nad Ali district to the north of the mud-brick town, long a stronghold of the Taliban.
Maj. Gen. Gordon Messenger told reporters in London that British forces "have successfully secured the area militarily" with only sporadic resistance from Taliban forces. A Taliban spokesman insisted their fighters still controlled the town.
President Barack Obama was keeping a close watch on combat operations, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
The president will get an update from his national security adviser, Gen. Jim Jones, later Saturday. Vietor said Defense Secretary Robert Gates will also have the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, brief Obama on Sunday morning.
In Marjah, Marines and Afghan troops faced little armed resistance. But their advance through the town was impeded by countless land mines, homemade bombs and booby-traps littering the area. Marine ordnance teams blew up several dozen bombs, setting off huge explosions that reverberated through the dusty streets.
On Sunday, most of the Marines said they would have preferred a straight-up gunbattle to the "death at every corner" crawl they faced, though they continued to advance slowly through the town.
"Basically, if you hear the boom, it's good. It means you're still alive after the thing goes off," said Lance Corp. Justin Hennes, 22, of Lakeland, Florida.
Local Marjah residents crept out from hiding after dawn Sunday, some reaching out to Afghan troops partnered with Marine platoons.
"Could you please take the mines out?" Mohammad Kazeem, a local pharmacist, asked the Marines through an interpreter. The entrance up to his shop had been completely booby-trapped, without anyway for him to re-enter his home, he said.
The bridge over the canal into Marjah from the north was rigged with so many explosives that Marines erected temporary bridges to cross into the town.
"It's just got to be a very slow and deliberate process," said Capt. Joshua Winfrey of Stillwater, Oklahoma, a Marine company commander.
Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, said U.S. troops fought gunbattles in at least four areas of the town and faced "some intense fighting."
To the east, the battalion's Kilo Company was inserted into the town by helicopter without meeting resistance but was then "significantly engaged" as the Marines fanned out from the landing zone, Christmas said.
Marine commanders had said they expected between 400 and 1,000 insurgents — including more than 100 foreign fighters — to be holed up in Marjah, a town of 80,000 people that is the linchpin of the militants' logistical and opium-smuggling network in the south.
The offensive, code-named "Moshtarak," or "Together," was described as the biggest joint operation of the Afghan war, with 15,000 troops involved, including some 7,500 in Marjah itself. The government says Afghan soldiers make up at least half of the offensive's force.
Once Marjah is secured, NATO hopes to quickly deliver aid and provide public services in a bid to win support among the estimated 125,000 people who live in the town and surrounding villages. The Afghans' ability to restore those services is crucial to the success of the operation and in preventing the Taliban from returning.
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