Politics
2:38 am
Thu May 23, 2013

IRS Official's Silence Riles House Committee Members

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The IRS has admitted to targeting conservative groups seeking tax exempt status. And yesterday at a House hearing the IRS director of exempt organizations said, quote: "I have not done anything wrong." She then declined to testify. Lois Lerner's brief appearance at the committee was just the beginning of a stormy, five-hour session filled with angry outbursts and allegations of political motives.

NPR's Peter Overby reports.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: Lois Lerner did read a statement that she had done her job properly.

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It's All Politics
1:06 am
Thu May 23, 2013

Obama Group's Climate Push Puts President Under Scrutiny

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
President Obama speaks at Ellicott Dredges in Baltimore on May 17. The trip followed a visit by the company's president to Capitol Hill to testify in support of the Keystone XL pipeline. The White House says Obama's speech had nothing to do with Keystone, but environmental groups have been frustrated with his stance on the issue.

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

Law
1:05 am
Thu May 23, 2013

Sick Inmates Dying Behind Bars Despite Release Program

Credit iStockphoto.com
Nearly 30 years ago, Congress gave terminally ill inmates and prisoners with extraordinary family circumstances an early way out, known as compassionate release.

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

Prison is a tough place, but Congress made an exception nearly 30 years ago, giving terminally ill inmates and prisoners with extraordinary family circumstances an early way out. It's called compassionate release.

But a recent investigation found that many federal inmates actually die while their requests drift through the system.

One of them was Clarence Allen Rice.

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The Race Card Project: Six-Word Essays
1:05 am
Thu May 23, 2013

Living In Two Worlds, But With Just One Language

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 2:23 pm

NPR continues its conversations about The Race Card Project, where NPR Host/Special Correspondent Michele Norris asks people to send in six-word stories about race and culture. The submissions are personal, provocative and often quite candid.

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Shots - Health News
5:47 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

Scientific Tooth Fairies Investigate Neanderthal Breast-Feeding

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

When it comes to weaning, humans are weird.

Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old.

But modern humans wean much earlier. In preindustrial societies, babies stop nursing after about two years. Which raises the question: How did we get that way? When did we make the evolutionary shift from apelike parenting to the short breast-feeding period of humans?

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It's All Politics
4:29 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

Think Obama's In Trouble? That Depends On Your Party

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
President Obama answered questions on scandals involving the IRS and Justice Department, at a news conference last week at the White House.

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 5:30 pm

Public opinion about the scandals plaguing the Obama administration is decidedly mixed.

Republicans believe that the trio of controversies — concerning Benghazi, the IRS, and the Justice Department snooping on media phone records — are evidence enough that President Obama is either running a government motivated by partisan politics, or is badly out of touch.

Democrats, however, are proving to be much more forgiving.

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The Two-Way
4:27 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

Holder Acknowledges U.S. Citizens Killed In Drone Strikes

Credit Associated Press
A Nov. 2010 file image of Anwar al-Awlaki taken from video and released by SITE Intelligence Group.

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 5:12 pm

For the first time, the U.S. government has acknowledged killing four American citizens in lethal drone strikes far outside traditional battlefields, confirming information that had been widely known but has only recently been unclassified under orders of the president.

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The Salt
4:24 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

In Raw Milk Case, Activists See Food Freedom On Trial

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 3:59 pm

What is the case against Wisconsin farmer Vernon Hershberger really about? It depends on whom you ask.

To hear the prosecution, it's about licensing, not raw milk: Hershberger, a dairy farmer hailing from the town of Loganville, is on trial this week for operating without three licenses. He's also accused of continuing to sell raw milk to members of his private club after he was ordered not to.

If convicted, the father of 10 faces more than a year in jail and more than $10,000 in fines.

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The Two-Way
4:23 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

Teachers In Moore Gather For 'Sharing And Healing'

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 9:06 am

What was billed as an informational meeting for teachers turned into a session of sharing and healing.

"A lot of people in this district will need grief counseling, including myself," said Susan Pierce, the superintendent of public schools in Moore, Okla.

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Parallels
3:53 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

A Decade In The Making, West Bank Barrier Is Nearly Complete

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 10:16 am

Israeli army Capt. Barak Raz climbs a metal staircase to the top of a high concrete wall that is part of Israel's West Bank barrier. From his perch, he overlooks both the Palestinian village of Bil'in and Modin Illit, the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, with some 50,000 residents.

The barrier here used to be a fence. After many confrontations with Israeli soldiers, Palestinian villagers won a court case, and the fence was moved off some of their land. But since the barrier was moved closer to an Israeli settlement, it was rebuilt as a wall.

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