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It's All Politics
1:24 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

If Romney Misspoke About 'Poor' Why Did He Later Repeat Statement?

Originally published on Fri February 3, 2012 3:10 pm

(Revised at 2:19 pm ET)

In an interview Thursday, Mitt Romney said he "misspoke" when he infamously said earlier in the week that he was not concerned about the very poor because they had a safety net, and the very rich but, instead, was focused on the middle class.

Speaking of the CNN interview that has caused Romney a world of trouble, the Republican presidential frontrunner told Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun during an interview program called Face to Face:

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NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

IBEX Spacecraft Intercepts 'Alien' Particles

As it circles Earth, NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer hunts for particles streaming in from beyond the solar system. It has intercepted hydrogen, helium, neon and oxygen atoms. IBEX principal investigator Dave McComas discusses how the abundance of those atoms hints at the Milky Way's composition.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

What Grosses You Out?

In That's Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion, psychologist Rachel Herz discusses the origins of disgust — what she calls the 'instinct that's learned' — and why humans turn up their noses at smelly feet but devour expensive cheeses cultured with some of the very same stinky bacteria.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Study Tracks Alzheimer's Progression In Mice

Amyloid plaques and tangles of protein in the brain are two of the key signs of the form of dementia known as Alzheimer's disease. In new work reported in the journal PLOS One, researchers tracked the spread of tangles of tau protein from neuron to neuron in the brains of mice. Study co-author Karen Duff of the Columbia University Medical Center discusses the findings.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Blue Marble: The Making Of

NASA's iconic images of Earth from space date back to the late 1960s--with snapshots taken by Apollo astronauts. The modern "blue marble" images are captured by machines and they're not photos. They're datasets collected by instruments aboard satellites and then translated into imagery on the ground.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Drone Technology Reaches New Heights

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are replacing boots on the ground in some wars. Commercially, UAVs are being used for things like crop-dusting and flood mapping. Experts discuss advances in drone technology and how to address legal and privacy concerns that stem from their use.

Brain Candy
1:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Listening In On The Brain To Decode Speech

Reporting in PLoS Biology, researchers write that they were able to correlate words a person was hearing to specific electrical activity in the brain. Study co-author neuroscientist Robert Knight discusses future applications of this research and concerns that it amounts to mental wiretapping.

Health Care
12:56 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Komen Issues Apology In Planned Parenthood Flap

Originally published on Fri February 3, 2012 12:57 pm

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's Business News starts with a reversal from the Komen Foundation. The Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation has just announced that it will not pull its funding for Planned Parenthood after all. The breast cancer charity endured a massive backlash when it announced, earlier this week, it would no longer give Planned Parenthood money for breast cancer screening. NPR's Julie Rovner joins us to explain the turnaround. And Julie, what exactly did the Komen Foundation say this morning?

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The Two-Way
12:53 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

BBC Accuses Iran Of 'Bullying' Its Persian Service Employees

Saying officials have undertaken yet another campaign of "bullying and harassment" of its Persian service staff, the BBC called on the Iranian government to "repudiate the action of its officials."

In a blog post, the BBC's Director General Mark Thompson also called on the international community to "put maximum pressure on Iran to desist in this campaign of intimidation, persistent censorship and a disturbing abuse of power."

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Business
12:45 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

January's Jobless Rate Shows Spurt Of Growth

The Labor Department said the economy added 243,000 jobs in January, well beyond many economists' expectations. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.

The Two-Way
12:20 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Rights Group Says Syrian Security Forces Detained, Tortured Children

Credit Alessio Romenzi / AFP/Getty Images
A young boy carries the Syrian-rebel adopted flag during an anti-regime demonstration in the Syrian village of al-Qsair, not far from Homs.

Human Rights Watch has a harrowing report out today about what it says is the targeting of children by Syria's government forces.

"Children have not been spared the horror of Syria's crackdown," Lois Whitman, children's rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Syrian security forces have killed, arrested and tortured children in their homes, their schools or on the streets. In many cases, security forces have targeted children just as they have targeted adults."

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Education
12:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Las Vegas Principal Hopes To Beat The Odds

Nevada has the lowest high school graduation rate in the country. But now a multi-million dollar federal grant is helping one district turn its schools around. Host Michel Martin speaks with a principal who spent last Saturday knocking on the doors of students who dropped out, encouraging them to come back to school.

The Swing State Project
11:37 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Battered By The Bust, Nevada Voters Search For Slivers Of Hope

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Las Vegas resident Jillian Batchelor, 29, voted for Obama in 2008 but says now, "I'm voting Republican all the way this time."

The brutal recession has wracked Nevada, where soaring unemployment and foreclosure numbers tell the story of the state's misery. But its importance as a swing state in the 2012 presidential contest has only been enhanced in the four years since it went for Democrat Barack Obama.

The Two-Way
11:35 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Komen Foundation Now Says It Will Continue Grants To Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen Foundation just announced it will be providing grants to Planned Parenthood for that organization to use in basic screening and educating women about breast cancer.

"We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."

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Shots - Health Blog
11:35 am
Fri February 3, 2012

In Reversal, Komen Reinstates Funding For Planned Parenthood

After days of controversy, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has said it will reinstate funding for Planned Parenthood.

Earlier this week, the foundation moved to discontinue funding of breast cancer screening by Planned Parenthood. The Associated Press reported the change came because of a new Komen policy forbidding grants to organizations under official investigation.

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Music Interviews
11:17 am
Fri February 3, 2012

A Studio On The Road To 'Fame' For Soul Musicians

Credit Ace Records

Rick Hall and Billy Sherrill were a couple of Alabama boys in their teens when they started writing songs. At first, the only place they had to record was in a room in the back of the Trailways bus station in Florence, Ala. But one of the songs they recorded there, "Sweet and Innocent," became a small local hit, and a guy named Tom Stafford read about it in the local paper. He built a recording studio above City Drugs in Florence and went into business with the two young men. It didn't last long: Sherrill was hugely ambitious and was soon off to Nashville.

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The Two-Way
11:03 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Reports: Two American Women Freed In Egypt

NBC News, al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya are reporting that police in Egypt say two American women and an Egyptian tour guide have been released by gunmen who kidnapped them earlier today near the Red Sea

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Shots - Health Blog
10:51 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Advocates Say Flu Vaccine Should Be Mandatory For Health Workers

Despite more than 20 years of recommendations that health workers get flu shots, the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than a third don't comply.

The voluntary approach to reducing the risk that workers will transmit flu to patients has fallen short.

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Around the Nation
10:43 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Fairway To Heaven: Trump Eyes A Golf Course Burial

You might think Donald Trump can buy anything he wants. But at least one purchase has eluded him: Trump wants to be buried on the golf course he owns in Bedminster, N.J.

Even though Trump owns the 500-acre spread, it's taking an eternity for him to get a cemetery built there.

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The Two-Way
10:35 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Will Blue Laws Make For A Melancholy Super Bowl Sunday?

Credit Darron Cummings / AP
Indiana laws bar all carryout alcohol sales on Sundays, leaving Super Bowl revelers in the lurch in their quest for any 11th-hour 12-pack the day of the big game. At Kahn's Fine Wines and Spirits in Indianapolis earlier this week, Bill Cheek was putting labels on cases of beer.

Fans lucky enough to toast a Giants or a Patriots Super Bowl win in Indianapolis this weekend will need to stock up early on their champagne supplies. Indiana is one of just two states that ban the sale of beer, wine and liquor at stores statewide on Sundays.

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