Sun. 12/04  8p: Ijah interviews social activist, civil rights icon, comedian, and author Dick Gregory.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank says he decided not to seek re-election to a 17th term in 2012 because congressional redistricting would have given him a slew of new constituents and a difficult, expensive campaign.

"I think I would have won," Frank, 71, said during a Monday press conference in Massachusetts announcing his retirement. "But it would have been a tough campaign."

Added Frank, who has led financial reform efforts on Capitol Hill: "I don't like raising money."

In the mid-'90s, the big banks set up the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, to track mortgages as they're traded by investors in mortgage-backed securities. It's a system set up to let banks skip the process of paying recurring filing fees at county courthouses each time a mortgage was bought or sold. Now, many cash-strapped local governments, big and small, are filing lawsuits against MERS. Politicians contend their communities are owed millions of dollars.

Egyptian voters in Cairo, Alexandria and several other major cities are voting Monday in the first stage of the country's parliamentary election. Turn out is heavy and so far there has been no major violence. Melissa Block talks to NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro.

The Democratic National Committee released an Obama campaign ad Monday suggesting that Mitt Romney's worst enemy is Mitt Romney. The TV ad, airing in targeted markets in five swing states — including Ohio and Pennsylvania — highlights Romney's evolving positions on such central issues as health care, abortion and bank bailouts. It suggests Democrats assume Romney will be the nominee and indicates their plan of attack for the year.

Millions of voters go to the polls in the Democratic Republic of Congo Monday in only the second election in its history. The mood in the country is tense. The current president Joseph Kabila is deeply unpopular, but many in Congo believe he will go to any lengths to hold onto power. Melissa Block talks to NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton.

A federal judge nixed a $285 million settlement agreement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission involving a major financial case. U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff said the proposed agreement is "neither far, no reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest." Under the deal, Citi would have settled charges that it misled investors in mortgage debt prior to the collapse of the housing market. Rakoff has been a persistent critic of the SEC's oversight of Wall Street. Guy Raz talks to NPR's Jim Zarroli for more.

Urban Meyer, who led the Florida Gators to two national football championships, will indeed be taking the head coaching job at Ohio State, according to reports from The Columbus Dispatch, ESPN and several other news outlets. There's a news conference at the school scheduled for 5:15 p.m. ET.

Thu. 12/1 8a: What do you see when you see someone with a disability?  Are you disabled and do people see you or treat you differently as a result?  This week on the KUNM Call In Show a discussion the visibility of disability.  Questions or comments? Email callinshow@kunm.org.