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4:15am

Mon May 7, 2012
National Security

Sept. 11 Defendants Make Torture Focus Of Hearing

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 11:20 am

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other defendants accused of the 9/11 attacks refused to cooperate when they went before a military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday.

The alleged mastermind of the Sept.11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four other defendants appeared in a military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, over the weekend to answer a roster of charges filed against them. The hearing was supposed to be a straightforward arraignment, but nothing went according to plan.

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2:52am

Mon May 7, 2012
Mitt Romney

Romney's 1994 Senate Loss Left Lasting Marks

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 8:29 pm

2:49am

Mon May 7, 2012
Fine Art

The Serious Comic Art Of Daniel Clowes

Originally published on Tue May 8, 2012 11:09 am

Comics used to be seen as cheap throwaway entertainment for children and teenagers. But over the last few decades, comics have grown up; they're even released in longer formats, on nice paper with hard covers, as graphic novels.

Daniel Clowes is one of the artists cited for turning the form into serious art — in fact, the art has gotten so serious that his work is now in a museum. Clowes is one of the best-known comic artists working today, with two of his books made into Hollywood films: the Academy Award-nominated Ghost World and Art School Confidential.

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2:49am

Mon May 7, 2012
Author Interviews

'Drift': Rachel Maddow On Why We Go To War

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 12:34 pm

In past wars, the U.S. practically dismantled its military after the troops came home. But today, says MSNBC News anchor and writer Rachel Maddow, we find ourselves in a state of almost permanent war.

In her new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, Maddow invokes Thomas Jefferson, pointing out that one of Jefferson's main concerns was the danger of having a large military.

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2:48am

Mon May 7, 2012
Around the Nation

Tornado Recovery Offers Joplin Students New Lessons

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 6:34 am

Graduation is supposed to in part be about celebrating the future, but last year in Joplin, Mo., shortly after the high school graduation ceremony, an EF-5 tornado — the highest-strength rating — destroyed one-third of the city and killed 161 people, including one teen who had received his diploma that day.

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2:47am

Mon May 7, 2012
Around the Nation

Never-Married Parents Get Help From Special Court

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 8:50 am

Across the U.S., 40 percent of children are now born to unmarried parents. This demographic shift, primarily among younger, low-income parents, can pose a challenge to a child support system designed chiefly to extract money from paychecks.

A court in Minneapolis is now trying a new approach, one that's about more than just the money as it attempts to keep both parents involved in the lives of their kids.

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2:46am

Mon May 7, 2012
Your Money

Before The IPO: A Private Market For Tech Shares

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 6:34 am

Very soon, Facebook will go public. That means anyone will be able to buy shares of the social networking giant on the Nasdaq exchange. But sophisticated investors have already been buying pieces of Facebook and many other hot tech stocks, on private exchanges.

And now it seems that trading in private company shares is poised to grow, thanks to recent changes in the law.

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2:38am

Mon May 7, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

'Wired To Run': Runner's High May Have Been Evolutionary Advantage

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 10:28 am

Credit Ryan Pierse / Getty Images
Researchers say our brains are probably wired from an evolutionary sense to encourage running and high aerobic activities. Above, a man runs past the Sydney Harbour Bridge on April 22.

Endurance athletes sometimes say they're "addicted" to exercise. In fact, scientists have shown that rhythmic, continuous exercise — aerobic exercise — can in fact produce narcoticlike chemicals in the body.

Now researchers suggest that those chemicals may have helped turn humans, as well as other animals, into long-distance runners.

The man behind the research is University of Arizona anthropologist David Raichlen, a runner himself. He does about 25 miles a week.

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2:37am

Mon May 7, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Is It Possible To Walk And Work At The Same Time?

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 10:01 am

Credit iStockphoto.com
Studies say just 30 minutes of walking a day can reduce several lifestyle diseases many Americans are living with.

When it comes to walking, the easy part is understanding the benefits: Regular, brisk walks can strengthen our bones, help control blood sugar, help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and the list goes on. The hard part is finding the time to fit it in.

Engineering physical activity back into Americans' daily lives is the goal of an educational campaign launched by Kaiser Permanente,an Oakland, Calif.-based health plan.

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6:02pm

Sun May 6, 2012
Politics

Libertarians Find Their Audience In 2012 Race

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 10:45 am

Credit Joe Burbank / AP
Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson was nominated as the Libertarian party's candidate for president at their national convention in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Somewhere on the path to the White House this year, a powerful set of ideas began to creep into the mainstream debate over which direction the country will take.

These are ideas that not too long ago were written off as marginal, or even worse, a little kooky. They come from Libertarians: free and open markets and extremely limited government. Those ideals are now becoming more mainstream and are influencing the Republican Party.

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6:02pm

Sun May 6, 2012
Author Interviews

'Teachers Make' A Difference, What About You?

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 10:45 am

5:48pm

Sun May 6, 2012
Arts & Life

When Dick Cavett Shared Carnegie Hall With Groucho

Originally published on Sun May 6, 2012 6:39 pm

Forty years ago Sunday, history was made at Carnegie Hall.

On May 6, 1972, comedian Groucho Marx made his debut at the famed New York venue to a packed house. Tickets sold out as soon as it was announced.

Marx was 81 at the time and had been out of the spotlight for many years. His one-man show only toured a handful of venues, and his Carnegie Hall show was later released as an album called An Evening with Groucho.

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5:22pm

Sun May 6, 2012
NPR Story

Hollande Ousts Sarkozy in French Vote

Originally published on Sun May 6, 2012 6:39 pm

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

In France, the voters have spoken: a new president elected today and his name is Francois Hollande.

PRESIDENT-ELECT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE: (Foreign language spoken)

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

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5:22pm

Sun May 6, 2012
NPR Story

College Hazing On The Rise, But So Is Scrutiny

Originally published on Sun May 6, 2012 6:39 pm

Hazing is in the news again this week, and researchers say there might be more of it than there used to be. But New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports it is also getting more attention, and that could be a very good thing.

5:22pm

Sun May 6, 2012
NPR Story

Three-Minute Fiction: This Week's Featured Stories

Originally published on Sun May 6, 2012 6:39 pm

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF CLOCK TICKING)

GUY RAZ, HOST:

She closed the book, placed it on the table and finally decided to walk through the door. That's the starting sentence for Round 8 of Three-Minute Fiction. That is our contest where we ask you to write an original short story that can be read in about three minutes. We are no longer accepting submissions for this round.

Our readers from across the country are almost done going through all of the more than 6,000 submissions this round. So let's hear a few samples of their favorites so far.

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4:26pm

Sun May 6, 2012
Europe

Austerity Loses As Greece's Fringe Parties Win Big

Credit Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP/Getty Images
Members of the Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party celebrate in Thessaloniki on Sunday. Golden Dawn is now set to enter parliament for the first time since the end of the military junta in 1974.

According to exit polls, angry Greek voters have overwhelmingly punished the two major parties that endorsed draconian international loan agreements.

There is no front-runner in sight, but the fringe parties on the left and the right that strongly oppose the bailout terms have benefited the most.

The socialist PASOK and the conservative New Democracy parties that have alternated for four decades — and uneasily co-governed for the last six months — are imploding.

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1:51pm

Sun May 6, 2012
It's All Politics

Big Money, Free-Marketers, And The Fight Of Sen. Lugar's Career

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 12:27 pm

The end of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar's 35-year career representing Indiana in the U.S. Senate could be imminent.

A new Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll shows the octogenarian trailing State Treasurer Richard Mourdock by 10 percentage points ahead of Tuesday's GOP Senate primary. The survey also finds that the venerable Lugar is increasingly viewed by home-state voters in a negative light.

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1:16pm

Sun May 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Pictures Of The Supermoon, As The Whole World Saw It

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:49 am

Well before night fell stateside, the "supermoon" was already a star. Cameras from Tokyo to Athens gazed into its light, just a little bit brighter than usual.

It was enough to inspire some beautiful photos, so we thought we'd share what we've found.

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10:26am

Sun May 6, 2012
Author Interviews

The 'Marvelous' Rise Of King Henry's Adviser

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 3:57 pm

When Hilary Mantel's new book opens, the spark has gone out of Henry VIII's second marriage. His roving eye leaves Anne Boleyn and begins to settle on Jane Seymour, another woman at court. The monarch doesn't go to a marriage counselor or divorce lawyer, not when Thomas Cromwell is his chief adviser.

Bring Up the Bodies is the sequel to Wolf Hall, which won the Man Booker Prize and worldwide acclaim. It is also the latest in a planned trilogy about Cromwell.

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7:27am

Sun May 6, 2012
Presidential Race

Presidential Race Takes Libertarian Tilt In Nev.

Originally published on Sun May 6, 2012 11:38 am

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And in case you missed it, the Libertarian Party held its national nominating convention in Las Vegas yesterday and chose a former Republican named Gary Johnson as its presidential nominee. Meanwhile, in Sparks, Nevada, supporters of Republican presidential contender Ron Paul dominated the state's GOP convention with Paul himself addressing the gathering. NPR's David Welna has more.

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