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Deceptive Cadence
3:54 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

Measures Of Affection: Five Musical Love Letters

Credit Johansen Krause / Peter Lieberson
Composer Peter Lieberson wrote his Neruda Songs for his wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

Originally published on Fri February 15, 2013 12:21 pm

It's All Politics
3:41 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

Obama's Road Trip To Conclude With Florida Break

Credit Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images
President Obama plays a learning game while visiting children at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center on Thursday in Decatur, Ga. Obama's campaign-style trip this week was to end with a nonworking stop in Florida.

President Obama will cap off a busy week of politicking with some R&R in Florida.

Obama plans to travel to the West Palm Beach area for what his spokesman called "some well-deserved downtime."

"He's going to spend Presidents Day weekend relaxing with some friends," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "There's no work on the schedule."

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Shots - Health News
3:34 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

Traces Of Anxiety Drugs May Cause Fish To Act Funny

Credit Courtesy of Bent Christensen
Perch exposed to the anxiety drug oxazepam were more daring and ate more quickly than fish that lived in drug-free water.

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 5:40 pm

Many of the drugs we take aren't actually digested — they pass through our bodies, and down through the sewer pipes. Traces of those drugs end up in the bodies of fish and other wildlife. Nobody's sure what effect they have.

Now, a paper being published in Science magazine finds that drugs for anxiety drugs — even at these very low levels — can affect the behavior of fish.

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The Two-Way
3:08 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

Prosecutors: Former San Diego Mayor Gambled Away $1 Billion

Credit Marty Lederhandler / AP
Maureen O'Connor, center, and Mayor Ed Koch in 1987 in New York.

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 10:06 pm

In a federal court today, prosecutors said former San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor misappropriated $2 million of her late husband's charitable foundation because of a gambling addiction.

During a period between 2000 and 2008, reports the San Diego Union Tribune, prosecutors say O'Connor gambled away more than $1 billion.

The paper reports:

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The Two-Way
2:48 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

Canada To Zombies: Drop Dead, Eh

Credit Sergei Bachlakov / Xinhua /Landov
Canadian zombies dress for success. (An Occupy Vancouver "Zombie Walk" in October 2011.)

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 10:06 pm

Apparently, the undead aren't even welcome in the ever polite Great North.

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The Two-Way
2:20 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

With GDP Slip, German Economy 'Finally Lost Its Invincibility'

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 2:42 pm

Today we got more troubling news for the world economy: Germany's GDP slipped 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012, sending the Eurozone deeper into recession.

The Guardian spoke to Carsten Brzeski and analyst for ING, who said:

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Movie Reviews
2:13 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

'Beautiful Creatures': Young Love, Supernatural And Southern-Fried

Calling Beautiful Creatures a Southern-fried Twilight wouldn't be an unfair claim, at least based on its marketing campaign — which highlights that, yes, this movie centers on a teen romance between a couple of star-crossed kids, one of whom, yes, is all kinds of supernatural. And, yes, their love puts the fate of the world in danger, because, well, why not?

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National Security
1:43 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

'Zero Dark Thirty' Renews Torture Debate

Originally published on Tue February 19, 2013 3:46 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. One of the most critically acclaimed and most popular films of the year, "Zero Dark Thirty," is up for five Oscars, including Best Picture. The film follows the hunt for Osama bin Laden and sparked controversy for its depiction of CIA interrogation techniques, including water boarding.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "ZERO DARK THIRTY")

JASON CLARKE: (As Dan) Come on, give it to me. Hasam(ph) was a friend of Gramzi Yusef(ph). You guys met in Iran back in the '90s.

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The Salt
1:39 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

When Resistance Is Futile: Bring In The Robots To Pull Superweeds

Credit Courtesy Steve Young
An illustration imagines what a weed-seeking robot could look like, armed with different tools to attack different problem plants.

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 2:08 pm

A future without weeds would be a kind of farmer utopia, but currently, herbicide-resistant "superweeds" are part of today's reality. Some researchers, though, are looking for a solution that seems ripped from science fiction: weed-seeking robots.

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The Two-Way
1:36 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

Reminder: An Asteroid Buzzes By On Friday (But NASA Says Don't Worry)

Credit NASA/JPL-CalTech / EPA /LANDOV
An illustration of what asteroid 2012 DA 14 may look like as it approaches Earth.
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce, for the NPR Newscast

NASA calls it a "small near-Earth asteroid."

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