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11:49 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Winter Songs: Tap Dancing To 'Sixteen Tons' On The Hood

Credit Roman Krochuk / iStockphoto.com
In rural Minnesota, listener Veronica Horton made her own fun by dancing to "Tennessee" Ernie Ford's classic song on an old car.
Shots - Health Blog
11:46 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Stem Cells Show Promise As Blindness Treatment In Early Study

Two women losing their sight to progressive forms of blindness may have regained some vision while participating in an experiment testing a treatment made from human embryonic stem cells, researchers reported today.

The report marks the first time that scientists have produced direct evidence that human embryonic stem cells may have helped a patient. The cells had only previously been tested in the laboratory or in animals.

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The Two-Way
11:39 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Supreme Court Rules Police Need Warrant For GPS Tracking

Credit Yasir Afifi / AP
The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about whether GPS monitoring devices like this one may be affixed to suspects' cars without a warrant from a judge.

Originally published on Mon January 23, 2012 2:26 pm

The Supreme Court has just ruled that police need a warrant if they want to place a tracking device on a suspect's vehicle. The court's decision was unanimous.

NPR's Nina Totenberg says that this debate has been a contentious issue in the digital age. Here's how she explained it to newscaster Paul Brown:

At issue here is the case of Antoine Jones, a Washington, D.C. night club owner. Police put a GPS tracking device on his car for 30 days. That helped authorities find a stash of money and drugs.

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The Salt
11:09 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Geoengineered Food? Climate Fix Could Boost Crop Yields, But With Risks

Credit iStockphoto
Altering the upper atmosphere could block enough sunlight to offset the warming effects of climate change and protect food crops. But what are the risks?

For a few years now, a handful of scientists have been proposing grandiose technological fixes for the world's climate to combat the effects of global warming — schemes called geoengineering.

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Shots - Health Blog
11:08 am
Mon January 23, 2012

A Permanent Home That Allows Drinking Helps Homeless Drink Less

Originally published on Mon January 23, 2012 11:09 am

Most housing set up to help the homeless comes with a strict no-booze policy.

But a study on a controversial complex in Seattle that allows chronic alcoholics to keep drinking suggests the lenient approach can work too.

Homeless people with alcohol problems decreased their consumption over two years at the facility, called 1811 Eastlake. The average amount of alcohol consumed on a typical drinking day by the 95 study participants had decreased by about 25 percent at the end of the two-year study.

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The Two-Way
11:02 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Syria Rejects Arab League's Plan

Saying it was a "blatant interference in its internal affairs," Syria rejected an Arab League plan that the organization hoped would bring an end to the violence.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the official state news agency, the government condemed the plan and accused the Arab League of arming terrorist groups, which they say are responsible for killing civilians and attacking state facilities.

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It's All Politics
10:02 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Rollicking Republican Battle On For 'Swing Part Of The Swing State' Of Florida

Mitt Romney is reeling. Newt Gingrich is surging. Rick Santorum is hanging on. And Ron Paul continues to zig while others zag.

So goes the rollicking but inconclusive – so far – Republican presidential contest, as it moves from small-ball to big time in Florida for a Jan. 31 primary in which some 4 million state Republicans are eligible to vote.

Perspective? More Florida Republicans have already cast early ballots than all New Hampshire votes tallied for the top three finishers in that state's Jan. 10 GOP primary, about 197,000.

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The Two-Way
9:26 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Pakistan Officially Rejects U.S. Report On NATO Strike

Using strong words, Pakistan's military officially rejected a U.S. report, which concluded a NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops was undertaken in self defense. Pakistan's military said parts of the report were "factually not correct."

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The Two-Way
8:41 am
Mon January 23, 2012

2 Dead As Storms Roll Through South, Midwest

Two people were killed in the Birmingham, Ala. area after severe storms rolled through the South and Midwest. The storms, reports the AP, triggered tornado warnings in five states.

Currently, the National Weather Service said it expects tornadoes, hail, thunderstorms and winds up to 75 mph to move through Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. These kinds of storms, reports the NWS, are uncommon in the middle winter.

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The Two-Way
7:58 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Romney Will Release Tax Records On Tuesday

Aiming to reset the narrative after Saturday's bruising loss in South Carolina, Mitt Romney said he would release his 2010 tax returns on Tuesday. The former Massachusetts governor made the commitment last night in an interview with Fox News.

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The Two-Way
7:24 am
Mon January 23, 2012

EU Approves Embargo On Iranian Oil

The European Union officially agreed to impose an embargo on Iranian oil, today. The AP reports that the union's 27 foreign ministers agreed on an immediate ban on new contracts for oil and existing contracts will be allowed to run through July 1.

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Three Books...
7:00 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Putting On Heirs: 3 Rich And Snooty Reads

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Thu February 16, 2012 5:10 pm

Surely I am not the only one who has harbored secret dreams of being an heiress — not the nouveau riche kind with a reality television crew trailing behind me, but the sort with a full staff, gobs of silver and afternoons spent on the hunt. Though I've come around to my untitled American life, I still adore reading books about drafty old houses and the privileged people who inhabit them.

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Around the Nation
6:55 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Patriots Favored To Win Super Bowl By 3 Points

The New York Giants made the Super Bowl with a three-point win over San Francisco. The New England Patriots made the Super Bowl with a three-point win over Baltimore. Now Las Vegas oddsmakers are taking bets on the big game. The Patriots are favored to win by three.

Around the Nation
6:50 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Chicago Judge Illustrates His Rulings With Photos

Court opinions are usually not that exciting but a judge in Chicago is trying to liven up his rulings with illustrations. In one, he used an iconic photo of Bob Marley. The case was about a prisoner's right to keep his dreadlocks on religious grounds.

Business
4:00 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Business News

The two men who helped turn the BlackBerry into a device many people can't live without have stepped aside. Research in Motion is the company behind the BlackBerry and Sunday its co-CEOs resigned. They were under a lot of pressure as investors wonder whether the Canadian firm can turn itself around and compete better with flashier phones like the iPhone.

Business
4:00 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Ponzi Trial To Open For R. Allen Stanford

Originally published on Mon January 23, 2012 9:25 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Here's a name back in the news: R. Allen Stanford. In the midst of the financial crisis he was charged with running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme against thousands of investors in the United States and Latin America. Now his trial is set to begin today in Houston.

From member station KUHF, Andrew Schneider has more.

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Business
4:00 am
Mon January 23, 2012

The Last Word In Business

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in Business.

Election 2012
4:00 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Romney Criticizes Gingrich: He Resigned In 'Disgrace'

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is campaigning in Florida following a big loss over the weekend to Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary. Romney told a crowd that Gingrich resigned in disgrace after four years as speaker of the House.

Sports
4:00 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Giants, Patriots To Meet Again In Super Bowl

Originally published on Mon January 23, 2012 9:25 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Announcers also remembered Joe Paterno during yesterday's pro football games. Those two conference championships on Sunday determined the lineup for the Super Bowl. The New York Giants will play the New England Patriots in a rematch of a Super Bowl from four years ago. Neither team made it to the big game easily. Both have great quarterbacks, but on Sunday, both had to rely on defense. Here's NPR's Mike Pesca.

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Books News & Features
4:00 am
Mon January 23, 2012

India's Literary Festival Opens Amid Controversy

Tens of thousands of people are attending the Jaipur Literature Festival in India — including many international literary stars and Oprah Winfrey. Author Salman Rushdie was invited but decided not to attend after a warning that hit men would be after him. Rushdie wrote The Satanic Verses which has been banned in India for more than 20 years.

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