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Shots - Health Blog
12:53 pm
Thu May 24, 2012

Doctors Look Likely To Resist Change On PSA Tests

Credit iStockphoto.com
Did they talk first?

Forgive me, if you're suffering from PSA policy fatigue.

But there are a few more things I thought you might want to know about the new guideline from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that says men of all ages should forgo routine blood tests to detect prostate cancer.

Research from Johns Hopkins suggests the chances that doctors will listen aren't great.

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History
12:30 pm
Thu May 24, 2012

Etan Patz News Resurrects Parents' Nightmares

New York Police have reported a possible break in the case of Etan Patz, the 6-year-old boy who vanished 33 years ago on his way to school. No one was ever charged in his case, and the episode was a deep personal tragedy for the Patz family.

The Two-Way
12:27 pm
Thu May 24, 2012

In Annual Human Rights Report, U.S. Says China's Record Is Deteriorating

In its yearly report on Human Rights, the U.S. State Department noted that 2011 was tumultuous. Some countries — for example, Tunisia, which kicked off the Arab Spring — made strides while others fell back on their human rights records.

Here are a few highlights from the report:

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Health Care
12:26 pm
Thu May 24, 2012

Changing Hospitals To Treat Patients Better

A recent poll found only half of people who have spent time in a hospital in the past year were very satisfied with their care. The rest complained about mistakes, poor communication and unresponsive nurses. But to better serve patients, some hospitals are changing the way they do business.

NPR Story
12:22 pm
Thu May 24, 2012

Gjelten: How Things Have Changed At The CIA

The CIA has faced intense criticism for reporting, incorrectly, that Saddam Hussein's Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten got direct access to CIA analysts to discuss the lessons learned from Iraq, and how they're applying them to a new intelligence target: Iran.

The Two-Way
11:59 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Kid Told Westboro Protesters 'God Hates No One' Because, 'That Is True'

Credit Patty Akrouche / Facebook.com/FeverDreams
Josef Miles, making his own statement.
  • From 'Tell Me More': Josef Miles and his mom

"I just don't like seeing those signs and I kind of wanted to put a stop to that."

That's 9-year-old Josef Miles' simple explanation for why he held up a notepad that said "GOD HATES NO ONE" as supporters of the tiny Westboro Baptist Church staged another small demonstration featuring their signs that say God hates homosexuals.

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It's All Politics
11:56 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Researchers Find Link Between Isolated State Capitals, Corruption

Credit Seth Perlman / AP
Despite the misspelling and grammar error, the tee-shirt message is clear on a protester at the Illinois capitol on May 16, 2012. It cites two former governors now in federal prison for corruption.

Do state capitals relatively distant from the major population centers have more corruption than those in more densely populated areas?

Researchers report that they have found an intriguing correlation between political corruption in state capitals and population density.

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The Two-Way
11:29 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Talks With Iran To Reconvene Next Month

"Iran and world powers have agreed to meet in Moscow next month for another round of negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program," The Associated Press reports.

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Asia
11:20 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Hard-Line Muslims Confront Indonesia's Christians

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 7:37 pm

In the city of Bekasi, Indonesia, outside Jakarta, a handful of Christians head to Sunday worship. But before they can reach their destination, they are stopped and surrounded by a large crowd of local Muslims who jeer at them and demand that they leave.

This is the Filadelfia congregation, a Lutheran group. They are ethnic Bataks from the neighboring island of Sumatra who have migrated to Bekasi, and they have been blocked from holding services on several occasions. Recently, a journalist who demonstrated in support of the congregation was beaten by an angry mob.

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The Two-Way
10:33 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Massive Arrests Follow Student Protests Across Canada

Credit Andre Tremblay / AFP/Getty Images
Montreal police and protesters face off on Wednesday during a demonstration against student tuition hikes.

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 11:30 am

Protests in Montreal and Quebec resulted in the arrest of almost 700 people overnight.

The Toronto Star reports that the demonstrators protested tuition fee increases and they've been ongoing for about three months. But, yesterday, police rounded up hundreds of protesters — 518 in Montreal alone.

The Star reports:

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Music Interviews
10:02 am
Thu May 24, 2012

How Wes Anderson Soundtracks His Movies

Credit Courtesy of Focus Features
Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman star in Wes Anderson's latest film, Moonrise Kingdom.

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 2:28 pm

If you see the new Wes Anderson movie Moonrise Kingdom, you'll hear background music from composers Benjamin Britten and Alexandre Desplat, as well as several songs from Hank Williams.

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Digital Life
10:01 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Keeping Your Kids Safe Online: It's 'Common Sense'

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Wed May 30, 2012 12:44 pm

If you're a parent, you may have wondered what your kids are texting to each other or posting on their Facebook pages. Or maybe you've thought about it and decided you don't want to know.

That's not the best approach, says child advocate James Steyer. Steyer runs Common Sense Media, an organization that helps parents decide which kinds of technology are age-appropriate for their kids.

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Education
9:53 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Does Tough Love Work With Third Graders?

Some Indiana third graders are already planning for summer school. They're preparing to retake a new statewide test, which they'll need to pass to go on to 4th grade. Host Michel Martin speaks with StateImpact Indiana reporter Kyle Stokes and NPR's Tovia Smith about the effects of these tests on kids and implications for states across the country.

Sports
9:53 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Transgender Athletes Pushes For Olympic Spot

Credit Al Tielemans / Sports Illustrated
Keelin Godsey competes as a woman but lives as a man, says reporter Pablo Torre.

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 9:41 pm

Shots - Health Blog
9:48 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Call For Emergency Action On Polio Eradication

Credit Behrouz Mehri / AFP/Getty Images
A Pakistani man wheels Jamshid, an 8-year-old girl with polio, around the outskirts of the capital Islamabad last July.

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 12:04 pm

The drive to wipe polio from the face of the earth is in jeopardy.

Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the only three countries left where poliovirus remains endemic. But work to put the paralyzing virus on the ropes there is in danger of failing. Cases in all three countries jumped last year.

Weak public health systems, armed conflicts and corruption have hurt vaccination efforts. Now leading public health officials have proposed an emergency plan of action to get things back on track..

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It's All Politics
9:35 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Romney's 'Day One' Filling Up Quickly

Credit Mary Altaffer / AP
Mitt Romney addresses the Latino Coalition's 2012 Small Business Summit on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 10:21 am

The Two-Way
9:34 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Bad News In New Orleans: 'Times-Picayune' Slashing Staff, Going To 3 Days

The highly respected journalists at New Orleans' Times-Picayune last night found out the hard way — from another news outlet — that they're about to face deep staff cuts and that the newspaper will soon only print three days a week.

The New York Times' Media Decoder broke the story Wednesday just before midnight ET.

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It's All Politics
9:30 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Reagan Blood Update: It's No Longer For Sale

Credit Anonymous / AP
The Reagans at the George Washington University Medical Center today, April 3, 1981.

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 9:36 am

If you had hoped to bid on the medical-lab vial that purportedly contains the dried remains of a blood sample from President Ronald Reagan taken on the day he was nearly assassinated in March 1981, you're out of luck.

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The Two-Way
8:08 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Ted, What Have You Been Doing With Yourself? Unabomber, You Say?

Credit Elaine Thompson / AP
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski being led into a Montana court in 1996.

No, the Unabomber won't be attending his 50th class reunion at Harvard this week.

But Ted Kaczynski has updated his former classmates about what he's been up to all these years.

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The Two-Way
7:35 am
Thu May 24, 2012

SpaceX Ship Passes Close By International Space Station

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 8:42 am

Astronauts on board the international space station got a chance earlier today to see the private unmanned Dragon spaceship that was launched on Tuesday by SpaceX, of Hawthorne, Calif.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who is living on the station, was talking to Houston's Mission Control when he suddenly reported that he had spotted Dragon. "I'm looking at Dragon right now," he said.

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The Two-Way
7:17 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Egypt's Historic Voting Continues

Credit Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images
An Egyptian man shows his ink-stained finger after voting in Cairo earlier today.

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 12:27 pm

  • Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, on 'Morning Edition'
  • Merrit Kennedy on 'Morning Edition'

A quick update:

Day two of the voting in Egypt's first-ever free presidential election is underway. From Cairo, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports that while turnout early in the day was slightly lower than on Wednesday, officials expect the lines will build as the day continues.

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The Two-Way
6:44 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Jobless Claims Dip; Orders For Durable Goods Are Soft

The number of first-time claims for jobless benefits dipped slightly last week, to 370,000 from 372,000 the week before, the Employment and Training Administration reports.

The 4-week moving average for claims — which economists say gives a better picture of the trend — was also 370,000, down by 5,500.

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The Two-Way
6:16 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Cyber Countershot: U.S. Hacks Web Ads Of Al-Qaida's Yemen Affiliate

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 3:06 pm

Update at 4:53 p.m. ET. U.S. Is Not 'Hacking':

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston tells us State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland made it clear that the United States is not "hacking" the websites that appeal to al-Qaida. Instead, they are "countering propaganda with a counter-narrative that we believe is closer to the truth of the situation."

In her All Things Considered report, Dina provides an example:

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The Two-Way
5:28 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Man Has Implicated Himself In Etan Patz Disappearance, NY Police Say

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Etan Patz, and the "lost child" poster issued after his 1979 disappearance.

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 7:13 pm

Update at 7:13 p.m. ET: Police Announce Arrest Of Suspect:

At a press conference in New York, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said police had arrested Pedro Hernandez in the killing of Etan Patz, the 6-year-old boy who disappeared as he was walking to school in 1979.

Officials say Hernandez, a former convenience store worker, confessed to police that he suffocated the boy, placing his body in a cardboard box. Etan's body has never been found.

Kelly said Hernandez also took police to the site where he contends the killing occurred.

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Around the Nation
5:13 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Safeway Meat Clerk Reinstated After Fight

Ryan Young saw a pregnant woman being kicked by her boyfriend. He leaped out from behind the meat counter and intervened. Safeway suspended him, citing a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence. But after the union took up his cause and people boycotted the store, Safeway reinstated Young, calling his action "commendable."

Around the Nation
5:06 am
Thu May 24, 2012

'Tebowing' Move Not Appreciated At Graduation

Chuck Shriner was about to receive his diploma from Fort Myers Catholic School in Florida when he dropped to one knee, and struck the praying pose made famous by quarterback Tim Tebow. Shriner won a $5 bet but lost the chance to get his diploma onstage.

Business
4:17 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Business News

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 5:30 am

The world's leading PC manufacturer has announced it will lay off 27,000 workers over the next two years — a third of those job cuts will be in the U.S. The CEO of Hewlett-Packard says the layoffs are part of a restructuring that will include greater spending on research and development.

Africa
3:14 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Egyptians Vote In 2nd Day Of Presidential Election

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 4:17 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

The first free presidential election in Egypt is in its second day. Thirteen candidates are vying to replace Hosni Mubarak in what many there say is a wide-open race. The last election in 2005 saw Mubarak winning 87 percent of the vote against another candidate, a candidate he later threw in jail. Voter turnout yesterday was so strong, election officials kept polling stations open across Egypt for an additional hour.

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Education
2:48 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Romney Declares National Education Emergency

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 5:48 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Mitt Romney laid out his education agenda on Wednesday. In a speech in Washington, he compared the American public education system to that of a third world country. But Romney's plan to deal with what he called a national education emergency does not appear to be a major departure from the policies that have been in place since 2001, under both Presidents Bush and Obama. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.

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Business
2:48 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Reports For Housing Industry Appear Promising

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 4:17 am

The latest reports show that both new and existing home sales are up. What's spurring the improvement, and can it last? Not all economists, however, are optimistic.

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