The notion was that Democrats could win Virginia by nominating candidates acceptable to rural voters. The votes, however, were always in the cities.

Just what did Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota have in mind when he insisted that the health care reform bill in Congress contain provisions for medical co-ops? Chuck Haga of the Grand Forks Herald writes that it is the Wilson Health Planning Cooperative now forming in an 11-county region of western North Dakota (scene above). 

The co-op started in 2002 as residents looked at ways to reduce poverty in the area. “We were a little startled to see how direct the connections were — how poor health leads to poverty, and how poverty leads to poor health," one organizer told Haga. The co-op is named for a family doctor who serviced the area for more than half a century. Dr. Herbert Wilson is on the board of the co-op and he describes a careful process of organization that included 10 open meetings in the region. Haga wrote the organizers learned that people "want the cooperative to be local and self-governing, available to all, affordable and offering high quality care. They want it to cover a broad range of health services, from preventive care to family medicine to hospice care. And they want a diverse makeup to their cooperative, pulling private insurers, the Veterans Administration, the Indian Health Service and other interests together, which they believe would provide efficiencies, cost savings and easier accessibility."

The co-op has designed a "Wilson health card" bearing a picture of the doctor and is now trying to see how it can fit in with federal legislation.

Anybody can arrange a "rural theme" wedding. But can you make grey icing roses and grow your own bouquet? 

Dairy farmers in Hungary placed the severed heads of 12 cows in front of the nation's Agriculture Ministry Thursday as part of what is a worldwide protest against low prices for milk producers. The farmers also dumped milk on the street and were promptly charged with defacing a public space. Farmers in the European Union, as in the rest of the world, are selling milk for considerably less than what it costs to produce. 

These kinds of protests and fights are happening all over the world, including Tasmania.  Here's a story from this week about a Pennsylvania family facing low milk prices.  Dairy herd buyouts have been held to try to reduce the herd in the U.S. in order to reduce milk supply. “The past year has been the most difficult since I began farming in 1973,” said Paul Toft, a Rice Lake, Wis., dairy farmer and president of the Associated Milk Producers Inc. “Some say these times rival those of the Great Depression.” 

What's bad for the producer on the farm, however, is good for the processor. Dean Foods Co. announced this week that its third quarter net income jumped 32% as the cost of milk declined. The company, the nation's largest dairy processor, increased its profit estimate for the full year. Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is looking into claims by U.S. farmers that a lack of competition in the milk market is keeping prices low.