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With an endorsement from first lady Michelle Obama for its effort, Walt Disney Co. confirmed this morning that it is going to apply new standards to food ads aimed at children and their families during programming for kids. The entertainment giant says it will try "to inspire kids to lead healthier lifestyles."

In an age when the size of the observable universe is known to a few decimal places, today's Transit of Venus offers a good opportunity to reflect on just how far we've come.

(For viewing information, click here.)

Less than 250 years ago, the brightest minds of the Enlightenment were stumped over how far the Earth is from the sun. The transits of the 1760s helped answer that question, providing a virtual yardstick for the universe.

All U.S. presidential elections "are unique in some fashion," says John G. Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University.

Sure, but what about 2012? What exactly will make the 2012 election between President Obama and Mitt Romney truly unique?

Drummer Mike Reed put together his quartet People, Places and Things to play music by their 1950s forebears. But it makes sense that, after a few years together, they'd also play later pieces, tracking the evolution of Chicago jazz on a new album titled Clean on the Corner. One dividend of their repertory work is that it inspires Reed to write his own tunes in the same spirit, like "The Lady Has a Bomb."

It's more bad news for Facebook today. A poll by Reuters/Ipsos found that most of its users are not swayed by its advertisements.

Four out of five users surveyed said they had never bought a product based on advertising they saw on the network. What's more, the online poll revealed that "34 percent of Facebook users surveyed were spending less time on the website than six months ago, whereas only 20 percent were spending more."

Reuters reports:

A new expose by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans calls Louisiana the "world's prison capital."

The state imprisons more people per capita than any other state or country in the world, with one out of every 86 adults behind bars. Its rate of incarceration is three times higher than Iran's and 10 times higher than Germany's.

How did Louisiana double its prison population in the past 20 years? And what differentiates it from other states?

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz grew up in Gary, Ind. — a city that has weathered many economic storms over the past half-century.

Stiglitz went on to study at Amherst College and MIT, where he received a Ph.D. in economics. He later served on and chaired President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and became the chief economist at the World Bank. But even as a child, Stiglitz says, he noticed ways in which the markets weren't working.

Starting today, we're trying something different. We've enlisted Marissa Alioto, an intern on NPR's social media desk, to comb through your comments and highlight those that are smart and insightful and can teach us all something. We know there is a wealth of knowledge there. We expect some of them to be opinion, but we hope others just point out something that moves a story forward. With that here is Marissa:

Photos of Air Force moms breast-feeding in uniform recently went viral and sparked debate. The photos were meant to support military moms in breast-feeding. But some critics say the photos are disrespectful to the uniform. Host Michel Martin discusses the issue with active and retired military moms, including one who was featured in the photos.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, during his long and varied career, Oscar winner Morgan Freeman has played everyone from soldiers to servants, from cowboys to criminals - not to mention the almighty. In a moment, he'll tell us what music he plays for inspiration. That's our feature we call In Your Ear, and it's just ahead.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, a picture of military moms breastfeeding their children has gone viral and it's raising questions about what's appropriate for women in uniform. We'll speak with one of the women in the picture about why she did it and the reaction to it. That's in just a few minutes. But first, voters are casting ballots in several states today and many political observers will look to the results for clues about the battle for the White House.

Wisconsin votes on recalling its governor Tuesday, and much has already been made of that vote's potential implications beyond the state.

But for now, this historic moment belongs to the 3 million-plus Wisconsinites registered to vote. Most of them are expected to turn out, and those who do will be thinking about the implications for Wisconsin more than the prospects for fallout elsewhere.

Cancer prevention guidelines recommend that men and women get screened for colorectal cancer every 10 years between the ages of 50 and 75.

(NPR's Larry Abramson is among the correspondents traveling with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Asia this week. Monday, he told us about a poignant exchange of artifacts. Today, he gives us a glimpse of what it's like to be in the secretary's motorcade.)

Calling them "persona non grata," Syria today told 17 diplomats — including the U.S. ambassador — that they are no longer welcome in the country.

Jury selection starts today in the trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who faces allegations that he sexually abused at least 10 boys over 15 years, sometimes on the school's campus. Sandusky has pleaded innocent.

"A torrential downpour and strong winds prevented emergency crews from returning Tuesday morning to a devastated neighborhood where a commercial airliner crashed, killing all 153 people aboard the plane and an undetermined number of people on the ground," The Associated Press reports from Lagos.

The wire service adds that:

Polls open at 7 a.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) in Wisconsin, where the bitter battle over whether to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker is finally coming to a conclusion.