A new report is out about insurance and health care, and it's not good. If you think the cost of health care is high now, just wait...It's going to get even higher. Who would have thought that you could have insurance, and still not be able to afford healthcare? How is that possible? Only in America.

This week I joined much of America in my concern as two significant events unfolded. The first was the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. The second was Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf Coast.

It's time to talk politics - Canadian politics. Yes, in the middle of the American election sweeps we're going to talk what's happening on the political front north of the 49th parallel. It seems that all the election fun that our American friends have been experiencing was just too much for the Canadian government to handle so they are calling an election. Not only are we going to get swept up in the election fever, we are going to have ours FIRST. So there. Kinda. Maybe.

Reformer? Maverick? Defender of motherhood? Independent-minded woman? Former beauty queen? Serious politico? Moose hunter? As soon as John McCain announced that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be his running mate, the liberal vs. conservative online discussion was off to the races! Progressive bloggers are shocked at Palin's positions on reproductive choice, gun control and religion in schools, just to name a few.

McCain surrogate Tim Kane talks economics with BlogHer's Mary Katharine Ham from St. Paul.

Huge TV viewing numbers last night for Gov. Sarah Palin, amazingly nearly matching Barack Obama's tally and far outstripping the viewership for Vice President Joe Biden, who is after all her opponent. Sarah Palin is not running for president. And only six networks carried Palin's speech, vs. 10 for Obama, so her numbers are even more impressive.

Delegate and Secretary of State for West Virginia Betty Ireland talks with BlogHer's Mary Katharine Ham in St. Paul.   

About a month ago, I found out that my niece is pregnant, and I’m not proud of how I reacted to this news. In hindsight, maybe it is because when she was a teenager I told her, "Don't get pregnant or I'll break your legs." Granted, unlike Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter, my niece will be 23 next week and a college graduate, but despite living with the father of her child, she is unmarried.

Will McCain play it safe tonight? BlogHer's Mary Katharine Ham talks strategy as she gives us a preview of tonight's big speech from St. Paul.   

Senator John McCain's senior advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer and BlogHer's Mary Katharine Ham meet up inside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.