2011 February | Here & Now

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more people die from the drug-resistant bacteria MRSA than AIDS each year. And the increased prevalence drug-resistant super bugs has public health officials worried that soon antibiotics won’t work at all. We take a look at how drug company marketing, and the price of antibiotics may be feeding the problem.

On Friday we heard sounds from Kar Kar Madison, Ahmad Jamal and more.

Putting off a scheduled holiday, the Republican-led House of Representatives continued debate today on dozens of measures to cut spending in the current federal budget.

When you see watch the Oscars, do you ever wonder why you’ve never heard of any of the nominees for best short films? Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr has seen them all, from “The Gruffalo” to “Poster Girl” and tells us which to watch, and why.

As protests continue in the mideast, here in the U.S., students are getting a rare chance to watch history in the making. We touch down in one school, Plymouth South High School in Plymouth, Mass.

Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Mass. is revealing his stormy childhood, which included an abusive stepfather and sexual abuse by a camp counselor. Brown talked about the incidents with the CBS news magazine, “60 Minutes,” ahead of Monday’s release of his new memoir, “Against All Odds.”

Iowa legislators are considering a bill that would force the University of Iowa to sell its $140 million Jackson Pollock “Mural” painting to set up an scholarship trust fund for art students. But museum associations argue that treating art as an ATM would violate museum ethics.

“Our Madeline” from the CD “Sing Along With Madeline”

The army has locked down the capital city of Manama, after riot police conducted an early morning raid on protesters, leaving at least five dead and hundreds injured. We get an update from the capital city of Manama.

As protests and turmoil spreads through the Middle East, Mary Jane Deeb, Chief of the African and Middle East division at the Library of Congress gives us a primer on the countries affected. Learn more with our interactive map.

In Madison, Wisconsin and Columbus, Ohio thousands of public employees are staging statehouse protests against proposals by Republican governors to require them to pay more for health insurance and pensions, and accept fewer collective bargaining rights.

When Ludwig Bemelmans published “Madeline” in 1939, readers around the world fell in love with the red-haired heroine who lives with 11 little girls in a house in Paris. We speak with Bemelmans’ grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano, who is now continuing the series.

President Obama says compromise in entitlement programs like Social Security is months away. We hear from one economist, Dean Baker, who says that Social Security actually doesn’t need fixing. Read Baker’s letter to Republican Richard Shelby about Social Security.

A budget battle over defense spending is making for strange bedfellows in Washington. President Obama, Defense Secretary Gates and members of the Tea Party are joining forces to try to cut money for a new F-35 jet engine.

We speak with two women who’ve worked in Alaska’s commercial fishing industry in jobs ranging from skipper to deckhand to cook. They’ve collected their favorite recipes and salty stories from the high seas in a new book, “Fishes and Dishes.” Find recipes for their Thai clam chowder, salmon noodle casserole and more.

On Wednesday we heard music from Peter Dixon, Ahmad Jamal and more.

The controversy continues in Pakistan over an American who is suspected of shooting and killing two men he claims were trying to rob him last month.The U.S. says Raymond Davis is an embassy worker, but Pakistani officials say he does not qualify for diplomatic immunity in this case.

In August 2008, inmate Christopher Robinson was beaten to death in a juvenile unit at Riker’s Island Prison in New York. While Rikers has a history of violence, what got the attention of the press was how Robinson’s beating was allegedly allowed to happen.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest non-military award. Today President Obama bestows the honor on 15 people, including one of baseball’s most beloved players, Stan “The Man” Musial, age 90. Watch a video of Musial’s last at bat.

A multi-state project that aims to clean up the Great Lakes by removing toxic sediment and invasive species is facing a massive cut in President Obama’s proposed spending plan.