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9:29am

Tue March 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Home Prices Dipped Again In Most Cities, Report Shows

Home prices fell in most major metropolitan areas again in January, according to the widely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report.

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8:50am

Tue March 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Suicide Vests Found Inside Afghan Defense Ministry, Soldiers Arrested

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 8:51 am

There are fresh fears about the infiltration of Afghan security forces by anti-government and anti-American insurgents after the discovery of 10 or 11 (depending on the media report) suicide vests inside the headquarters of that country's defense ministry and the arrest of more than a dozen soldiers.

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8:48am

Tue March 27, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Insurers Try Rebates To Lead Consumers To Cheaper Care

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 10:16 am

Credit iStockphoto.com
Would you shop around for a CT scan if you could pocket some of the savings?

The way Colin Cooper sees it, people are willing to drive miles out of their way to save a few bucks on gas. Why wouldn't they do the same for health care?

So the CEO of Eastford, Conn.-based Whitcraft, an aerospace component manufacturer, figures his 500 employees will probably be willing to go to a hospital, radiology practice or lab recommended by their health plan if they can take home an extra $50 or $100 for doing so.

In the process, he hopes his company will trim its health care costs.

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8:27am

Tue March 27, 2012
It's All Politics

Tuesday Political Grab Bag: Supreme Court Gets To Nub Of Healthcare Issue

Supreme Court oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act entered their second day Tuesday, with the justices moving from the technicalities of the first day to exploring the legal issues at the heart of whether the law is constitutional or not.

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8:25am

Tue March 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Trayvon Martin's Life Looking Much Like Many Teens'

Credit Brian Blanco / EPA /Landov
This photo of Trayvon Martin was held by a supporter during a recent rally in the Goldsboro neighborhood of Sanford, Fla.

While this morning's Miami Herald concludes that emerging details about Trayvon Martin's life paint "a complicated portrait" of a boy with "a spotty school record," anyone who has guided their child through the teenage years may be more likely to see a fairly typical kid who had some brushes with authority and lots of dreams about the future.

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7:36am

Tue March 27, 2012
Art & Design

Semi-Nude Painting Smuggled Into Canadian Museum

It took a while, but guards at Canada's Glenbow Museum finally noticed a new acquisition in the gallery: An oil painting of a semi-nude woman. An anonymous note said the donor's late father did the painting and had always wanted his work in a museum.

7:25am

Tue March 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Today At The Supreme Court: 'The Heart Of Health Care Arguments'

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 5:49 pm

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
The U.S. Supreme Court building.
  • Nina Totenberg on 'Morning Edition'

On Day Two of three days focused on the health care overhaul law, the Supreme Court this morning will get to the heart of the arguments over the legislation's constitutionality, NPR's Nina Totenberg reported on Morning Edition and at the Shots blog.

As she says:

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7:25am

Tue March 27, 2012
Around the Nation

Misbehaving Parents Ruin Easter Egg Hunt

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 7:27 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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7:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Syria Has Accepted Peace Plan, Annan's Spokesman Says

"A spokesman for U.N. envoy Kofi Annan says Syria has accepted his plan to end the bloodshed in the country," The Associated Press reports.

Ahmad Fawzi said the news came in a letter from President Bashar Assad's government to Annan, the former U.N. secretary general who has been trying to broker an end to the Assad regime's crackdown on dissent — which the U.N. estimates has led to the deaths of more than 8,000 people in the past year.

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4:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
Business

Business News

Apple CEO Tim Cook has flown in to China to meet with government leaders. He's trying to work out issues ranging from trademark concerns to treatment of local factory workers who make Apple products.

4:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
NPR Story

21st Century Vietnam Leaves War In The Past

Hanoi, Hue, Danang and Saigon, were city names that were stamped on the American psyche a half-century ago, when the U.S. waged war in Vietnam. The once war-torn, Southeast Asian nation has made great strides to leave its troubled past behind.

4:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
Business

Jobs Act Could Expand Funding For Start-Ups

Lawmakers in the House are expected to vote on a jobs act Tuesday. Part of the legislation would allow the public to make investments in start-up companies and small businesses. These companies could raise money online or through social networks. The bill would lift SEC regulations that restrict soliciting investors.

4:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
Religion

Pope To Meet With Cuban President Raul Castro

Pope Benedict is in Cuba, Latin America's least Catholic country. He arrived Monday in Santiago, where Cuba's revolution began in 1953. He urged Cubans to seek unity and overcome their divisions, but his message wasn't especially political.

4:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
Around the Nation

Alternative Banking Groups Aid Occupy Movement

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 11:44 am

Credit Damian Dovarganes / AP
Occupy L.A. activists rally outside the Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles in February. The Occupy protests around the country have inspired two working groups that are attempting to reform the banking system and create an alternative bank.

Groups within the Occupy Wall Street movement are trying to overhaul the banking system and even dream of creating a new kind of bank.

Occupy isn't in the headlines so much these days, but work continues behind the scenes. The Alternative Banking Group of Occupy Wall Street meets weekly in different places. Members are older than some might think — in their 30s, 40s and 50s — and many work or formerly worked in the financial industry.

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4:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
Business

Harrisburg Residents May Foot Police Bill

The Pennsylvania capital Harrisburg is more than $300 million in debt. The budget is controlled by a state-appointed custodian. City and law enforcement services are under strain and residents worry violent crime may be growing.

4:00am

Tue March 27, 2012
Business

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 7:20 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And our last word in business today is: billion euro real estate. That's how much artist Frank Buckley's Dublin apartment cost. In theory, he actually got the materials for free from Ireland's central bank.

The walls, furniture and detailing in his apartment are all made from bricks of shredded euro notes. Buckley estimates each brick contains 40 or 50,000 euro's worth.

FRANK BUCKLEY: I collected two trailer-fulls of shredded notes - 1.4 billion euro.

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12:01am

Tue March 27, 2012
National Security

For U.S. Analysts, Rethinking The Terror Threat

Credit Joji Thomas / AP
U.S. officials are looking more closely for signs of state-sponsored terrorism these days. In this attack, Israel blamed Iran for bombing a car belonging to the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 13. The wife of an Israeli diplomat was injured. Iran denied it was involved.

There has been a subtle shift taking place in the intelligence community in recent months.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials say analysts and experts who have been tracking al-Qaida for more than a decade have been quietly reassigned. Some are being moved completely out of al-Qaida units. Others are being asked to spend less time watching al-Qaida and more time tracking more traditional foes — like state-sponsored terrorists.

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12:01am

Tue March 27, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Justices Tackle The Big Question: Can Congress Force You To Buy Insurance?

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 4:25 pm

Credit Adam Cole / NPR
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will consider whether Congress can require people to buy health insurance.

The U.S. Supreme Court gets to the heart of the health care arguments Tuesday. Almost exactly two years after Congress passed the Obama health care overhaul, the justices are hearing legal arguments testing the constitutionality of the so-called health care mandate — so-called because those words actually do not appear in the law.

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12:01am

Tue March 27, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Uninsured Will Still Need The Money To Meet The Mandate

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 7:32 pm

Credit Seth Wenig / AP
A bulletin board in New York's Jamaica Hospital offers advice for uninsured patients.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court hears its second day of testimony about the Affordable Care Act. At issue is a central tenet of that law: whether it's legal to require individuals to purchase health care.

But apart from the legal debate, there are questions about the economics of the mandate. Some — like Peggy Bodner of Portland, Ore. — worry it may be difficult to find the money to pay for health insurance, even with government subsidies.

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12:01am

Tue March 27, 2012
Movies

'October Baby' Tells A Story Hollywood Wouldn't

October Baby tells the story of 19-year-old Hannah, a first-year college student, who leaves home on a search for her birth mother. In many ways, it's a Hollywood-style road trip movie dealing with questions of identity, but at the movie's core is also a vigorous message about abortion.

In one scene, Hannah tracks down a nurse who worked at the health clinic where her birth mother had sought an abortion — one that failed when Hannah was born prematurely.

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