Dan Savage explains who really redefined marriage.

Just in time for holiday shopping, the Society of Southwestern Authors will hold its fifth annual holiday book fair from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15, at Four Points Sheraton Conference Center, 1900 E. Speedway Blvd.

The event features 40 local authors. David Fitzsimmons, editorial cartoonist for the Arizona Daily Star, will do cariacatures and sign autographs beginning at 2 p.m.

There will be plenty of books to purchase, and authors will be available to chat with the public. Admission is free. For more information on the Society of Southwestern Authors, visit www.ssa-az.org.

Patterson turns up the heat on Paton for Congress speculation:

So Giffords has had the benefit of running in two elections in which Democrats have done very well. Now in 2010, the mood has shifted and the turnout will drop.

Trasoff's gone, and if Republicans can field the right candidate in 2010, there will be no Trasoff Giffords.

The Skinny's take here.

Robert and Walter Wick, the brothers whose company own the Tucson Weekly, make a compelling case for the passage of health-care reform.

BY ROBERT WICK AND WALTER WICK

Aside from war and death, Americans face few issues as immediate as access to health care, particularly during times of economic hardship and its accompanying stress. More than 47 million Americans younger than 65 lack health insurance.

All other major industrialized nations provide universal health care.

How many people do you know who are unemployed, self-employed, partially employed or retired who choose not to go to the doctor when sick, because they cannot afford to go?

The bills now before the House and Senate, if passed and reconciled by both houses of Congress, will be signed into law by President Obama. They are not terribly different and reflect many compromises, so reconciliation is likely.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, they will both slightly reduce the national deficit over the next 10 years and, with luck, pay for themselves.

Both bills would offer health care to more than 95 percent of Americans not already on Medicare. The proposals are actually less comprehensive as those made by President Nixon in the 1970s when bipartisanship was more of a reality. Democrats are often blamed for killing Nixon’s plan; Republicans will mostly be blamed if this reform fails.

Health-care reform is on the brink of reality, and for the first time in our nation’s history, this country has a chance to offer a health-care safety net to the vast majority of Americans.

What won’t either of these bills do?

They will not take away the federal Medicare program. The Medicare Commission proposed in the more-conservative Senate bill could, indeed, help stabilize it.

They will not force patients to go to some government-selected physician, although a public-health option may or may not be efficient, and may or may not prove to be less-expensive than private insurance. Neither program should impact the time patients wait to see a physician.

They will not force starving health insurance companies into bankruptcy.

For those who fear socialism, neither bill provides universal health care.

What will the law do? The public plan would negotiate payment rates for those who want to try it. In one bill, states can opt out of having a public plan; conservative states may do so if that is the law.

Both bills will make it possible—through government subsidies—for lower- and lower-middle-income families to pay for private or public insurance. Assisted living and nursing homes will be more accessible than they are today for the disabled and elderly. And employers will have to provide health insurance.

There would be and should be insurance portability, which means those who have insurance cannot be without insurance when they lose their job or move from one job to another.

Those who like their health insurance may keep it. The example for health reform is Massachusetts, where three years ago, similar legislation passed while being criticized as being clumsy and complicated. Today 79 percent of Massachusetts residents want to keep the state’s public plan, and only 11 percent want it repealed. And 98 percent of the state’s residents have health insurance.

How would national reform be paid for? The Senate bill envisions charging a fee for extremely comprehensive coverage, thus making it something available only to those willing to subsidize giving everyone the opportunity to have decent, basic health insurance. The House wants to tax individuals earning $500,000 or more and couples earning $1 million or more.

We are at a vital crossroads. We should call our senators and representatives and ask them to vote for the bills moving to the floors of both chambers, and for whatever comes out of each chamber.

If a reconciled bill becomes law, it will not be perfect. Unfortunately, given the political volatility of the United States, this opportunity to protect the health of our country may not come again.

Robert Wick is secretary-treasurer, and Walter Wick is vice president of Wick Communications Co., owner of the Tucson Weekly.

It was another rough day for the folks who toil at the morning daily.

Sources tell the Weekly that another half-dozen or so Arizona Daily Star employees were laid off or otherwise given their walking papers today. We're hearing that those employees include much of the library staff, online dude Eric Hess and metro team leader Ignacio Ibarra (who took a late buyout).

If anyone else out there has additions or clarifications, let us know!

It works like this: Send your wine inquiries to [email protected], or post them on Facebook by visiting the Loews Hotels Facebook page and clicking on the "Wine Line" tab.

All that’s left then is to kick back with a bottle of good merlot (or a box of blush, for that matter) while waiting for one of the hotel’s wine experts or sommeliers to respond, which they promise to do within 24 hours.

The free service is available through New Year’s Day.

• NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
• Pitted Layers Northeast of Hellas Region

Red Star is complaining that we didn't share a postcard from Mars last week. (Actually, we think we did.)

Nonetheless, we'll take any excuse to share these gorgeous snapshots, so this one is for him. More from the UA's awesome HiRISE here.

We're sure you're dying to know about how many voters turned out on the east side and whether Steve Kozachik actually won Ward 6 in last week's election, but the City Council was not able to approve the official canvass at Monday's meeting.

The county canvass is now in the city's hands, but the IT team still needs to strip out county voters and break it down into the city's six wards. Assistant City Clerk Suzanne Mesich says that will be done later this week. (Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and city staff will be on holiday.)

It appears we weren't the only ones laughing at Arizona Congressman John Shadegg's absurd use of Baby Maddie as a prop in the health-care debate.

Steven Eye's Solar Culture Gallery is now in on the endangered list.

Dave Devine reports that developer Steve Fenton outbid the Warehouse Arts Management Organization at an auction this morning, buying the Solar Culture warehouse for $101,000.

See last week's Skinny for other information. More to come as news develops.