A day of history - Healthcare!

Today has seen a few major events unfold, the biggest and most significant of which is the passing of health care reform legislation. Needing 216 votes to pass, the bill got 219 votes, without a single vote from a Republican.

It is clearly a partisan vote, and Republicans are threatening to repeal the bill if they get into office. It is about every person who has opened their [healthcare] bill and is shocked at how much prices shot up, said President Obama, when he addressed the nation late Sunday night.

He noted this day does not end the work we need to do for our country, but he did say "This day represents another stone firmly laid in the foundation of the American dream. We have answered the call of history."

Just about every major Western country in the world has universal healthcare. This bill does not take us to that level, but it is a step in the right direction. We can only build from here.

Also today, Christiane Amanpour has officially announced she will be leaving CNN for ABC's This Week. She is an amazing journalist and I look forward to seeing how she does on a non-cable network.

Celebrity?

Went to a discussion panel at Frontline Club in London the other day. Its quite famous as far as 'country clubs for frontline war correspondents' go. A stimulating evening you could say. The discussion was about the affects of new technology on journalism, a very heated debate in the journalism field right now.

The panel was hosted by Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Bosnia correspondent during the Bosnia war. She did a great job presenting as did all the presenters (journalists usually are cuz they tend to like the sound of their own voices). After the discussion I walked up and asked her about how to get started as a resporeter in Bosnia, something I have always been interested in since my mother thinks I will marry a Bosnian :). I had my notebook and pen ready to take down any contacts she provided. She gave me some poignant advice, which I may use.

But then she just took my notebook.

I stared at her for a moment, bewildered. Then she took my pen. I was like 'oh, ok...' And she asked: 'did you want me to sign this?'

Being the ill-mannered ass that I am, I said, rather surprised: "Umm - NO..."

Even worse, I didn't even realize my mistake until days later when my mom yelled at me. And she had a point, as she said: "even if you didn't approach her specifically to get an autograph, it would have been so much more polite to say yes and thank her graciously. She probably gets it all the time. And why WOULDN'T you want her autograph?"