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Tales from the transplant list,  Chick-fil-A and the questions that won't go away, giving up on democracy,  the 2-percent in the snow emergency, and what were you doing at 18.

The health care debate in the U.S. can be an academic process until you start talking about 

people. Joel Beeson, of West Virginia,  is on a liver transplant list due to complications from a genetic bleeding disorder.

, Beeson  had arranged for a "living donor liver transplantation" from his brother in which a piece of the "good"  liver has the ability to regrow.  The part that's given to the recipient also regenerates.

By his account, Beeson was good to go. Then the rules changed.  The Cleveland Clinic changed its age limit from 60 to 55 for donors. Beeson's brother is 58.

Last evening, I exchanged e-mails with Beeson's wife, Dana Coester, who told me her story:

You can follow Mr. Beeson's fight against his illness and the system on 

2)CHICK-FIL-A AND THE QUESTIONS THAT WON'T GO AWAY

Do a business' real or imagined positions on social issues influence your purchasing decisions? A week ago, there was plenty of applause when the Metropolitan Airports Commission announced Chick-fil-A will open a store at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.

In Boston, Northeastern University's Student Senate voted voted 31-5 this week 

to denounce a move by the chain to open a store in the student center

. It says the company provides financial support to groups opposed to gay rights.

EqualityMatters.org, a site promoting gay rights, says The WinShape Foundation, a charitable group founded by Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy contributed in excess of $1.7 million to anti-gay causes in 2009.

cited the company's involvement in monitoring the religious and home life of its franchisees:

Might that be a problem for customers in Minnesota, where a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is on November's ballot?  Even the hint of involvement in conservative social issues has earned companies here a customer backlash, 

When Tim Penny gave up his Minnesota congressional seat years ago, he appeared on the McNeil-Lehrer Report on PBS to say it was impossible to get anything done in Washington with the polarized atmosphere. An incredulous host responded that if the few in power are giving up, what hope is there of the situation changing?

None, as it turned out, based on Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe's decision this week to head  back to the rocky coast. She writes in today's 

 on her decision to  give up. It may be one of the most important political "speeches" in recent history:

Whoa!  Like Penney before her, Snowe's voice is the sound of someone giving up on democracy.

"There's a rank-and-file rebellion brewing here," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tells the 

.  "Most people who come to the Senate work hard to get here and have done things in their lives of accomplishment. And I think a lot of us are getting tired of sitting around looking at each other."

Is it hopeless? Yesterday's reaction to the death of Andrew Breitbart suggests it is. It's a rare time when people dance on graves but Breitbart's methods and politics prompted many people online to cast off their decency.  Writing in his Rolling Stone column (

), Matt Taibbi proved that there's nothing wrong with the U.S. Senate, that isn't also wrong with the rest of the nation:

I'll be talking about this -- I hope -- on today's Friday Roundtable on the Daily Circuit. Other panelists include Dessa and Britt Robson.

Discussion point: When is it time to fight for change and when is it time to give up and go home?

Surprised that so little snow resulted in a Saint Paul snow emergency, I was set straight this week by a wise colleague who explained that snow emergencies aren't a solution to a 

 problem on the city's narrow streets. They're also a good chance for neighbors to meet each other... at the impound lot.

 today has the usual  blowback from a snow emergency in the city: The insistence that the system stinks:

The city says its efforts to better inform people of the rules haven't changed the 98% compliance rate.

 So this is the way it's going to be, is it? I beg for people to read NewsCut and consider the deep-thinking issues of the day. Result? Meh. Then I toss in a reference to Star Wars and people flock to the blog. That's the way it's going to be?  OK.

A new poll says two-thirds of Americans complain that rising gas prices have caused them financial hardship. But as Bob Collins points out on the NewsCut blog, other price increases may be taking a bigger bite out of our wallets. Today's Question: 

What item in your family's budget is causing you the most distress?

 - First hour:  This week  the panelists discuss hip-hop and ethics, political polarization, and the return of the culture wars. Guests: Dessa, hip-hop performer and poet;  Bob Collins, who writes the Newscut blog for MPR News; Brit Robson writes about sports, music and politics for Sports Illustrated, the Star Tribune, and Politics in Minnesota.

Second hour: The high cost of college is becoming one of the pressing  issues of our time. Personal finance educator and consultant Ruth Hayden joins the Daily Circuit to discuss how families can figure out what they can afford, and how to get the best education without accumulating loads of debt.

Third hour: Lynne Rosetto Kasper, host of The Splendid Table

 (12-1 pm):  Amy Chua, Yale law professor and author of "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." She spoke recently  at the Univ. of Minnesota China Center.

 - First hour:   Why some drugmakers are shifting from blockbuster drugs to tailored treatments. Also: A conversation with "climategate" scientist Michael Mann.  And  "Galileo" lives, in a new off- Broadway production.

Second hour:  A conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson about why exploring the planets is more important than ever. It's the subject of his new book, "Space Chronicles."

-   New York City hosts some 55 million visitors a year. Tourism is big business  and naturally, so are hotels. Maybe that's why New York hotel workers managed a 29-percent raise over seven years in their newest contract. NPR will report on New York's hospitality industry.

Bob Collins

Author

Tales from the transplant list,  Chick-fil-A and the questions that won't go away, giving up on democracy,  the 2-percent in the snow emergency, and what were you doing at 18.


A man fights his disease and the system that might kill him (5×8 – 3/2/12)

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