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Business
10:13 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Lehman Bros. Says It Has Emerged From Bankruptcy

Nearly four years ago, the bank collapsed in the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history — a record $639 billion. That set off a chain reaction and sent the economy spiraling. Lehman Bros. says now, it will continue to liquidate its holdings, and will start paying back creditors next month.

Sports
10:00 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Cash For Hits Has Some Calling Foul on NFL

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. We are going to spend some time today talking about two issues in the news that are on a lot of people's minds, and they both touch on violence. Later in our parenting segment, we are going to talk about what we really know about why young people turn to deadly violence. We're thinking about this, of course, after that school shooting in Ohio that left three students dead.

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The Two-Way
9:49 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Michigan Man Sues Movie Theater Because Of High Price Of Concessions

Credit Kevork Djansezian / AP
Patrons at AMC Burbank 16 theater in Burbank, Calif.

Originally published on Tue March 6, 2012 9:59 am

Few would argue that the prices at movie theater concessions are a bit high: $11 for a Coke and popcorn, $6 for a box of gummy worms. Few would argue that it seems excessive.

As the Hollywood Reporter puts it, it may seem "like highway robbery, but is it actually unlawful?"

Joshua Thompson, a Michigan man in his 20s, is putting that question to the test by filing a class action lawsuit against his local AMC theater alleging the theater is price gouging.

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The Two-Way
9:03 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Alleged Leader Of Hacker Group Lulzsec Pleads Guilty

Credit Twitter
The Lulzsec icon on Twitter.

A man alleged by the government to be the leader of the hacker collective Lulzsec has pleaded guilty to undertaking cyber attacks against companies such as Paypal, eBay and MasterCard.

Reuters reports:

"Hector Xavier Monsegur, known as 'Sabu,' was charged with 12 criminal counts of conspiracy to engage in computer hacking and other crimes in court papers in Manhattan federal court.

"The charges were filed via a criminal information, which means the suspect has likely been cooperating with the government."

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Shots - Health Blog
8:45 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Before Leaving The Hospital, Consult Your Checklist

Credit iStockphoto.com
Checklists aren't just for doctors.

When checking into a hospital, patients naturally worry whether their visit will go well. But leaving the hospital safely can sometimes present an even trickier challenge.

Patients are going home sooner and sicker than ever before. And without clear and comprehensive instructions about what to do after a hospital stay, they may wind up back in the hospital, or worse.

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Business
7:52 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Did The Fed Help Banks While Ignoring The Risks?

Since the financial crisis of 2008, the Federal Reserve has shrugged off warnings and let the largest U.S. financial firms pay tens of billions of dollars in dividends to shareholders, instead of putting aside money as capital in case a new financial crisis hits.

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The Two-Way
7:49 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Report: Minority Students Receive Harsher Punishments

Credit Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speaks during a forum on education at American University in Washington, Friday, March 2.

Originally published on Tue March 6, 2012 7:53 am

A new report from the Education Department finds that minority students receive much harsher punishment than their white counterparts. The report finds that more than 70 percent of cases referred to police in school-related issues involved black or Hispanic students.

The AP reports:

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The Two-Way
6:34 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Iran Says It's Ready To Allow U.N. Nuclear Inspectors To Military Site

Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency is reporting that the country is ready to allow United Nations nuclear inspectors into a military complex, where the West suspects Iran is undertaking secret nuclear work.

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The Two-Way
5:27 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Super Tuesday: GOP Candidates In Tight Race For 437 Delegates

Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters at a town hall meeting at Taylor Winfield in Youngstown, Ohio on Monday.

In some states, polls are already open this morning. It's Super Tuesday and 10 states are scheduled to hold nominating contests. At stake are 437 delegates.

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Around the Nation
5:17 am
Tue March 6, 2012

George Washington McNugget Sells On eBay

Rebekah Speight spotted the familiar profile on a McNugget left on her child's plate. After stashing it in the freezer for three years, she auctioned it off on eBay. Her church's summer camp will benefit from the winning $8,000 bid.

Around the Nation
5:03 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Navy To Expand Breathalyzer Tests

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says he wants personnel to adapt to the 21 century. He announced the Navy will give sailors breathalyzer tests and drug tests before they report to duty on a ship. The Marines will adapt a similar program next month.

It's All Politics
5:02 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Super Tuesday: Four Things To Watch For

Super Tuesday 2012 is finally here, with Republican presidential preference contests — a mix of primaries and caucuses — occurring in 10 states from sea to shining sea.

While the 2012 race for the GOP nomination likely won't be over by Wednesday morning, it could seem far closer to being so, especially if Mitt Romney sweeps contests everywhere but, say, Georgia, where the former congressman from the Peach State, Newt Gingrich, is expected to have a good night.

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NPR Story
2:00 am
Tue March 6, 2012

The Last Word In Business

People have been avoiding checked-baggage fees by carrying on bags — that includes bags too big for the overhead bins. Now United and Delta Airlines are enlarging the bins. There is some fear, however, this will prompt people to bring bags that are even larger.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Russian Opposition Protests Putin's Return To Presidency

Russia's opposition is turning to the streets to protest Sunday's presidential election which returned Vladimir Putin to power. The protesters may have agreed on a set of very catchy slogans, but they're not a cohesive political movement.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Pigweed: A Genetic Diverse Monster

NPR's Dan Charles has been looking into the problem of weeds that America's most widely used weed-killer won't kill anymore. It's a sneak preview of a story that will air later this week.

Animals
2:00 am
Tue March 6, 2012

First Responders Trained In Animal Rescues

First responders never know what they'll find when they get called to an accident site. Sometimes crews have to rescue dairy cows from collapsed barns, evacuate horses during wildfires or move pigs off the highway after an accident. These first responders often don't have the proper training to handle large animals.

Election 2012
2:00 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Super Tuesday: 10 States Holding Nominating Contests

Republican presidential candidates have a chance to win hundreds of convention delegates after voters cast their ballots in Super Tuesday contests. The delegate count wouldn't be enough for any candidate to clinch the nomination, but it would help. Mitt Romney is hoping to return to front-runner status but Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are trying to prevent that.

Morning Edition has four reports on Monday's campaigning leading up to Super Tuesday's 10 primaries and caucuses.

NPR's Don Gonyea was traveling with former Senator Rick Santorum in Ohio.

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Business
2:00 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Airline Fares Tick Higher, More Hikes Expected

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

OK. And we all noticed rising costs at the gas pump. But those costs will also mean rising prices for airline tickets.

As NPR's Annie Baxter reports, that's already happening.

ANNIE BAXTER, BYLINE: If you've been looking for a great deal on airline tickets recently, you've probably been disappointed.

BOB MANN: Carriers have raised prices successfully twice, so far this year and that's out of four attempts. And I would expect another attempt literally within in a week.

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Presidential Race
12:57 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Obama Campaign Ramps Up Efforts Early In Virginia

Credit Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images
President Barack Obama speaks to students at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, on February 13, 2012. Obama's campaign is ramping up efforts in Virginia in what is sure to be a battleground state in the general election.

While Republican candidates continue to slug it out for their party's White House nomination, President Obama is getting a head start on the general election.

Obama's grassroots campaign is already hard at work with volunteers hosting house parties and staffing phone banks to find and mobilize the president's supporters. The campaign has opened five offices in Virginia, and that's not counting the basement of Sue Langley's house in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Vienna, where more than a dozen volunteers assembled this past weekend.

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The Salt
12:56 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Most Of Us Just Can't Taste The Nuances In High-Priced Wines

Credit iStockphoto.com
Research suggests that most of us don't or can't taste the subtleties of fine wines.

Have you ever splurged on a highly rated bottle of Burgundy or pinot noir, only to wonder whether a $10 or $15 bottle of red would have been just as good? The answer may depend on your biology.

A new study by researchers at Penn State finds that when it comes to appreciating the subtleties of wine, experts can taste things many of us can't. "What we found is that the fundamental taste ability of an expert is different," says John Hayes of Penn State.

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Media
12:56 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Rush To Judgment: Advertisers Flee Limbaugh's Show

An increasing number of corporations have announced that they will no longer advertise on the show of the undisputed king of political radio talk, Rush Limbaugh, in the wake of caustic and sexually charged comments he made about a Georgetown Law student.

An apology over the weekend failed to quell the controversy, as both corporations and conservative commentators denounced Limbaugh's latest provocative remarks. It is far from his first such episode. Part of Limbaugh's appeal involves getting listeners to tune in to hear just what shibboleth-bursting thing he'll say next.

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Business
12:55 am
Tue March 6, 2012

Let A Stranger Drive Your Car? More Owners Say 'Yes'

Credit Charla Bear for NPR
Stanford graduate student Katie Hagey rents her 2002 BMW to strangers through the peer-to-peer car sharing service Wheelz.

It would be difficult for some people to let a stranger drive off with one of their most valuable possessions. But not for Stanford graduate student Katie Hagey.

Hagey is one of a growing number of individual car owners who have started renting their wheels to people they don't know through car-sharing startup companies resembling the better-known Zipcar.

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Mitt Romney
10:01 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Romney's Wins Have Come With Negative Messages

Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters at a town hall meeting at Taylor Winfield in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday.

It's Super Tuesday for the Republican presidential contenders, and 10 states are holding primaries and caucuses.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney hopes he can firm up his front-runner status — a status that, an NPR analysis shows, has so far involved his campaign and a pro-Romney superPAC burying the opposition with negative messages.

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Around the Nation
10:01 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

As Elkhart's Electric Dreams Fizzle, RVs Come Back

Elkhart, Ind., is known as the RV capital of the world. The city suffered badly when the recession hit and demand for recreational vehicles all but screeched to a halt. That's when local and state leaders started looking for ways to bolster the area's manufacturing industry.

The unemployment rate in the city along the Michigan border eventually soared to 20 percent — the highest in the nation at the time.

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Middle East
10:01 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

From The Outside, Doctor Mobilizes Aid For Syrians

At a cafe in Turkey, near the border with Syria, Dr. Monzer Yazji steps out of his car in the parking lot and encounters a man with a bandaged left hand.

Yazji, a Syrian who now works in the U.S., examines Abu Hamad, a fellow Syrian who has fled the fighting in his homeland.

The doctor, a tall man with glasses and a trim graying beard, is becoming well-known among Syrian activists. Yazji has been periodically leaving his thriving practice in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas to coordinate emergency medical aid for Syria.

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Middle East
10:01 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Obama, Netanyahu Differ On Timeline Of Iran Strike

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy conference on Monday in Washington, D.C. He said he would never let his "people live in the shadow of annihilation."

In several hours of talks, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to have different timelines and red lines on the issue of Iran's nuclear program: Obama said he prefers diplomacy and pressure; the Israeli leader made clear his country reserves the right to attack pre-emptively, saying Israel must remain master of its fate.

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Law
5:34 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Holder Spells Out Why Drones Target U.S. Citizens

Originally published on Mon March 5, 2012 10:01 pm

It's one of the most serious actions the U.S. government could ever take: targeting one of its own citizens with lethal force.

Since last year, U.S. drones have killed three Americans overseas. But Attorney General Eric Holder says the ongoing fight against al-Qaida means those kinds of deadly strikes are now a way of life. And judging from the reaction to his national security speech at Northwestern University Law School on Monday, so is the hot debate over the legality of the U.S. drone program.

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The Two-Way
4:59 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Accusations Of Sexual Abuse By Red Sox Clubhouse Manager Widens

Credit Greg Fight / AP
Donald Fitzpatrick during a court hearing in Bartow, Fla., in 2002.

By the Associated Press' count, 21 men have have now come forward to allege that a former clubhouse manager for the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles sexually assaulted them when they were children. The abuse allegedly happened between 1967 and 1991.

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It's All Politics
4:47 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

On Super Tuesday Eve, All Eyes On The Buckeye State Prize

Credit Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Rick Santorum campaigns Monday in Westerville, Ohio.

In a final day of campaigning before Super Tuesday, Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum focused on the economy in Ohio, the most sought after prize in the 10 states voting or caucusing.

A week ago, Santorum had a substantial lead in Ohio polls; now he's in a statistical dead heat with Romney.

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The Two-Way
4:04 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

High Court To Reconsider Major Human Rights Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear reargument next term in a major human rights case, raising the specter that the justices might reverse a 2004 ruling that allowed some lawsuits in U.S. courts for human rights atrocities committed abroad.

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