Twenty-six states will receive relief from the new federal health insurance law – at least temporarily – thanks to a federal judge’s ruling that the law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional. But North Carolina isn’t one of those states. John Locke Foundation President John Hood explains why N.C. is left out, the relief other states will receive, and the state legislative effort to exempt N.C. from the unprecedented mandate that every person buy government-approved insurance or face a penalty. Next we turn to other issues being considered by the new Republican-led General Assembly. In the education arena, school choice issues could attract more attention in North Carolina this year because of the power change in Raleigh. Marquette University education professor Howard Fuller, a former Milwaukee public school superintendent and a leading national school choice advocate, recently visited the state. He shares his ideas about improving education options for families. Then we turn to energy supply. North Carolina could be sitting on a substantial fuel source: shale gas. State lawmakers recently discussed the topic. You’ll hear assistant state geologist Kenneth Taylor’s description of the possible shale gas supply, questions from Rep. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg, about the gas’s quality, and environmental concerns from Robin Smith of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. That’s followed by a discussion of philanthropy. With the best of intentions, many philanthropists have made huge mistakes over the years. Martin Morse Wooster, senior fellow at the Capital Research Center, has catalogued some of the worst of those mistakes. He explains how many philanthropic endeavors end up wasting money. And finally, John Locke Foundation Director of Education Studies Terry Stoops discusses K-12 reform issues that fall outside the debate over public charter schools. Stoops offers his view of tax credits for those who send their kids to private schools or who home-school, credits for educating disabled kids, teacher accountability, and merit pay for teachers rather than pre-determined, across-the-board raises determined by the legislature.