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12:29pm

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Poll: Opinion On Trayvon Martin Case Divided Along Racial Lines

Credit Angel Valentin / Getty Images
Shirley Jackson (right), a teacher in Miami Dade school system, joins hundreds of other people in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood during a rally on Wednesday in Miami, Florida.

Opinion about the Trayvon Martin shooting is sharply divided by race, a new USA Today/Gallup poll finds.

The divide is clear, when pollsters asked if George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who shot and killed the black, unarmed teenager, was guilty of a crime.

A little more than half of the African Americans polled said he was "definitely guilty," while only 15 percent of non-blacks shared the same opinion.

The poll also found:

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12:00pm

Fri April 6, 2012
Governing

Deal Might Be The Key To Save Detroit

The city's leaders agreed to a compromise with state officials this week, that may save Detroit from bankruptcy. But Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley tells host Michel Martin that a lot more work needs to be done to save the struggling city. They're also joined by NPR Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax.

12:00pm

Fri April 6, 2012
Economy

March Jobs Report Offers Mixed Messages

Originally published on Fri April 6, 2012 11:44 am

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

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11:48am

Fri April 6, 2012
'It's All Politics': NPR's Weekly News Roundup

It's All Politics, April 5, 2012

Credit Steven Senne / ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Listen to the Roundup

Mitt Romney's sweep in Tuesday's primaries essentially signals the beginning of the general election campaign. And President Obama joins the fray, attacking Romney by name in a speech to news editors; the former Massachusetts governor returns the favor a day later. Paul Ryan draws attention from the president as well as those speculating on the GOP ticket. NPR's Ron Elving and Ken Rudin have the latest in this week's political roundup.

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11:37am

Fri April 6, 2012
Sports

Behind The Plate, A Baseball Catcher Tells All

This interview was originally broadcast on August 18, 2011.

Brad Ausmus has spent most of his career in a squatting position. As a major league catcher, he crouched behind home plate for roughly seven months a year while playing with the San Diego Padres, the Detroit Tigers, the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

How did he practice for games? Even more squats.

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11:35am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Check It Out: St. Louis Keeps Adding To Its Chess Prowess

We're seeing headlines today about an entire college championship team moving from one school to another. And though the story's about two months old, it's still so unusual and has enough interesting angles to warrant passing along.

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11:35am

Fri April 6, 2012
Music Reviews

Finding And Curating The Roots Of Soul Music

Some years back, I was driving across the South with a German friend, leaving early Sunday morning from Athens, Ga., and heading to Louisiana. I turned on the radio and found a black church service in progress, and a woman with a remarkable voice singing. "Who's that?" my friend asked. I told him I had no idea. "But with a voice like that, she must be famous," he said. Some miles down the road, when the station had faded out, he still didn't believe me.

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11:34am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Salt

Lust, Lies And Empire: The Fishy Tale Behind Eating Fish on Friday

Originally published on Fri October 19, 2012 3:07 pm

Credit Adam Cole / NPR
Did the pope really make a secret pact to sell more fish? No, but the real story of eating fish on Fridays is much more fantastical.

It sounds like the plot of a Dan Brown thriller: A powerful medieval pope makes a secret pact to prop up the fishing industry that ultimately alters global economics. The result: Millions of Catholics around the world end up eating fish on Fridays as part of a religious observance.

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11:14am

Fri April 6, 2012
Movie Reviews

A Sublime, Impressionistic 'Deep Blue Sea'

Terence Davies' films aim for and often achieve a state of music, the camerawork in harmony with the soundtrack, the images connected by emotion rather than narrative.

Adapting Terence Rattigan's 1952 play The Deep Blue Sea, he throws out the drama's tidy structure and much of the dialogue, and shows the events through the eyes of the adulterous Lady Hester Collyer, played by Rachel Weisz.

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11:10am

Fri April 6, 2012
Education

Fractions Curriculum Strikes Right Note In California

Math teachers know that fractions can be hard for the average third-grader. Teachers at a public school in San Bruno, Calif., just south of San Francisco, are trying something new. They're teaching difficult math concepts through music, and they're getting remarkable results.

At Allen Elementary School, a roomful of third-graders sits facing music instructor Endre Balogh, their backs straight, eyes ahead, beating a mouse pad with drumsticks. As Balogh taps a rhythm, the students follow.

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11:00am

Fri April 6, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

No Need For The Knife? Antibiotics May Suffice In Some Appendicitis Cases

Acute appendicitis generally means a speedy trip to the hospital for surgery. But British researchers say antibiotics might be a safe and effective alternative in uncomplicated cases.

"The general consensus was that the appendix has to be taken out the moment you feel it was inflamed," Dr. Dileep Lobo, professor of gastrointestinal surgery at the University of Nottingham and Queen's Medical Centre, tells Shots.

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10:24am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Life In Prison For Man Who Planted Pipe Bomb In Colorado Mall

Credit AP
An undated photo, released by the Denver FBI, of Earl Albert Moore.

Earl Albert Moore, who in April 2011 on the 12th anniversary of the Columbine school shootings placed a pipe bomb in a nearby Colorado shopping mall, has been sentenced to life in prison.

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9:35am

Fri April 6, 2012

9:12am

Fri April 6, 2012
Economy

Jobless Rate Slips; Fewer New Jobs Than Expected

The Labor Department reported Friday that the nation's unemployment rate inched down to 8.2 percent in March, while only 120,000 jobs were added and Americans stopped looking for work. February's jobless rate was 8.3 percent.

8:34am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Just 120,000 Jobs Added, But Jobless Rate Dips To 8.2 Percent

Originally published on Fri April 6, 2012 10:37 am

Credit NPR
The changes in payroll employment over the past two years.

The nation's unemployment rate edged down to 8.2 percent in March from 8.3 percent in February, but only 120,000 jobs were added to private and public payrolls the Bureau of Labor Statistics said this morning in a report that was less positive about the labor market's health than economists had expected.

Prior to the news, forecasters had predicted BLS would say about 200,000 jobs were added to payrolls last month.

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8:10am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Coast Guard Sinks Japanese 'Ghost Ship' Set Adrift By Tsunami

Credit U.S. Coast Guard
The Ryou-Un Maru after being fired upon and before it sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Alaska.

7:35am

Fri April 6, 2012
Planet Money

The Most (And Least) Lucrative Committees In Congress

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / The Sunlight Foundation

This story is part of Planet Money's series on money in politics. This post was originally published on March 30. It was updated on April 6.

Most of the nitty-gritty action in Congress happens in committees.

Not surprisingly, campaign contributions flow to members of the committees that big donors are really interested in — like, say, the ways and means committee, which oversees the tax code.

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7:31am

Fri April 6, 2012
Barack Obama

Obama Is The Best And The Worst President. Discuss

Credit AP and Getty Images / NPR
President Obama inspires strong feelings, some positive, some negative. This composite image shows Obama at two separate events.

Close your books, America. It's time for a pop quiz.

Do you believe Barack Obama is:

a) The best of presidents? A blogger who goes by the name Troubadour on Daily Kos, Brian Altmeyer, pretty much makes the claim in a recent post: "Barack Obama is either the best President we've ever had, or more humbly, equal to the best Presidents we've ever had (and thereby one of their number)."

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7:30am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Board Recommends Marine Be Discharged For Comments About Obama

Credit Facebook.com
Sgt. Gary Stein.

A U.S. Marine sergeant who posted "contemptuous" comments and images about President Obama on the Web should be dismissed and given an other-than-honorable discharge, a Marine Corps administrative board recommended late Thursday evening.

The case against Sgt. Gary Stein, 26, has raised questions about how far the military can go to restrict the First Amendment rights of its personnel.

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6:55am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Jobless Rate Likely Held Steady At 8.3 Percent In March, Economists Say

The morning's major news, if all goes as planned, will be the 8:30 a.m. ET release of the March jobs and unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to Reuters, economists expect we'll hear that the unemployment rate stayed at 8.3 percent and that private and public employers added about 200,000 jobs to their payrolls. The jobless rate's recent peak was 10 percent, in October 2009.

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