4 great articles!!

1. doctors opting out of medicare - initially i assumed this would just be a populist-type piece on how, in response to the recession, doctors are prioritizing patients who will net them larger profits vs. patients who are on medicare (who offers lower reimbursement rates). and to some extent, it is. but what is much more interesting is how health care providers are using various methods to try and treat as many people as possible. Some doctors are tailoring prices to what their patients can afford. Others are providing "boutique" care, in which, in return for a yearly retainer, a doctor will both accept Medicare and provide services not covered by medicare. Another option is "concierge" medicine, in which, for a larger retainer, the doctor will coordinate a patient's health care in a more detailed fashion. And finally, there are urgent care clinics, which have a lot of potential upside (acting as triage for less complex cases) but with accompanying downsides (quality of care).

2. the recession's impact on libraries - just one of those phenomenal pieces that makes you think about all the subtle effects of the recession:

"Librarians here and elsewhere say they are seeing new challenges. They find people asleep more often at cubicles. Patrons who cannot read or write ask for help filling out job applications. Some people sit at computers trying to use the Internet, even though they have no idea what the Internet is."

3. The Atlantic meets Netanyahu - I believe this was an exclusive interview that The Atlantic had with the new Israeli PM. I won't pretend to understand 0.1% of the complexity surrounding the Middle East situation, but what this interview does is make the perspective of the incoming Israeli administration clearer. The question now is, how do Obama and the Middle East trifecta of kickassness (Mitchell, Holbrooke, and Clinton) find common ground with both Iran and a Netanyahu-led Israel?

4. Vanity Fair on Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.
- Like most great pieces, this piece on the man at the helm of the (sadly sinking) New York Times does a great job of being informative, yet even-handed. It's clear by the end that the newest Sulzberger operates out of a reverence for journalism (a good thing) and the Times in its current format (probably bad, given the fact that the paper is hemorrhaging money). What is unclear is the likelihood that he, or anyone, can steer the Times out of this mess. Which sucks, because I fall squarely on the side of the Times in its battle with the Wall Street Journal. But that's just because one of my rules in life is to figure out what Karl Rove is doing, and make a beeline for the other side.