The health care bill may have passed the Senate, but there's still heavy debate among progressives as to whether the bill is actual reform. Some of the arguments have gotten heated, personal, but they've also helped to take the framing of the issue away from the Republicans, who have steadfastly remained the Party of No. But the important question remains: without a public option, Medicare buy-in, or other cost-controlling measures, and with Stupak and Nelson holding women's rights for ransom, is there anything good left in this bill?

The Philadelphia Museum of Art security guards have been caught in a labor struggle for years, dating back to the subcontracting out of what were formerly union jobs. They finally held--and won--a union election earlier this fall, but AlliedBarton, the contractor the guards work for, has so far refused to negotiate a contract.

Kathryn Bigelow received a Golden Globe nomination for The Hurt Locker and is being touted as the woman who could break the Best Director Oscar's all-male streak. Other films this year told unconventional stories of women outside the usual mold of Hollywood superstars. But was this actually a good year for women in cinema?

MC Tamarrod is a rapper living in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon. The camp was destroyed in the war in 2007, and MC Tamarrod is among 30.000 displaced Palestinians. In this video from a-films, he tells his story and performs one of his rhymes.

In Copenhagen, while world leaders argued dollar amounts and percentage points, more than 5000 ordinary people, activists and NGO workers, decided to fast for climate justice as an example of their willingness to make sacrifices for the greater good. This video from TckTckTck shows their vigil outside the conference.

Alan Grayson, the outspoken representative from Florida, has made a name for himself with his floor speeches in favor of health care reform. He's also against escalation in Afghanistan, and in this video from Brave New Films, he calls on Congress to oppose sending any more troops to an unwinnable war.

The holiday season is usually when the biggest movies of the year come out, but there are several that have been out for a while generating lots of buzz. Kathryn Bigelow received a Golden Globe nomination for The Hurt Locker and is being touted as the woman who could break the Best Director Oscar's all-male streak. Other films this year told unconventional stories of women outside the usual mold of Hollywood superstars. But was this actually a good year for women in cinema?

The Senate held a historic vote on health care reform last night at 1 AM. Splitting exactly along party lines--that is, if you call Joe Lieberman a Democrat--the health care bill made it through a cloture vote and is one step away from final passage and the conference committee.

Joe Lieberman hijacked news coverage for a while this week, but it was Howard Dean's defense of real health care reform that inspired White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to a snarling personal response. Ben Bernanke was anointed Time's Person of the Year despite a hold on his renomination and a bill passing the house to audit the Federal Reserve. Is the Establishment closing ranks around its own?

Mark Danner, reporter, professor, and author, has reported on revolutions, wars, and most recently the torture of detainees under the Bush administration for years.