National News

'Over A Year Or So' Before Iran Could Develop Nuclear Weapon, Obama Says

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 03:20

While he hopes diplomatic efforts dissuade Iran, the president also tells an Israeli TV network "I continue to keep all options on the table." Iran has denied it is trying to develop such weapons.

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Will Obama's second term have a greener tint?

Marketplace - American Public Media - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:57

UPDATED (8:30am EST): You're forgiven if you think all the President does is deal with the budget, since squabbling between the White House and Congress has been much in the news lately. But the presidency is more than that. One other big issue facing the administration is energy.

On Friday afternoon, President Obama will address that at an event at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. He'll call for $2 billion over 10 years to go to research on improving energy technology such as electric car batteries, biofuels and natural gas-fueled vehicles. The money will come from revenue from federal oil and gas leases on offshore drilling. It's a bid to use the money oil exploration generates to wean cars off oil.

This latest policy push is an opportunity to look at where things stand with America's energy situation. Observers point to a number of positive developments on both the supply and demand sides.

"We're producing more energy and consuming less, which means imports are going down," says Michael Webber, associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. "That improves our national security situation and our economic situation. And for the most part, the fuels are getting cleaner, so it's good for the environment."

The administration's push for green energy breakthroughs is something supporters say could help the environment and create American jobs.

"The United States is falling behind other countries like China in terms of the scale to which it's deploying renewable energy in the last few years," says Joanna Lewis, a professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

The Obama administration wants this new research to make America a leader in this technology. Amy Myers Jaffe, a University of California, Davis professor and energy policy expert, is all for that, as long as funds are spent wisely.

"Money is better spent in the area of R&D and fundamental science and not so profitable in supporting existing businesses," she maintains.

As you'll remember, one high-profile mishap in the first term was backing for Solyndra, a solar company that went bankrupt.

Better, stronger, faster: How close are we to becoming cyborgs?

Marketplace - American Public Media - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:24

Science fiction loves the merger of the human body and machine. In mid-March 2013, what's the status of the merger?

Will Oremus, a writer for Slate who has been working on a series about using tech to build better people, joins Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio to explain how far we've come and where we are headed.

Netflix offers $100,000 prize in cloud competition

Marketplace - American Public Media - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:19

Netflix is waving around $100,000 dollars in prize money for people with the best ideas to tune up and improve Netflix's data cloud.

Netflix cloud systems director of architecture Adrian Cockcroft joins Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio to talk through the challenges of managing the company's remote data.

Incidentally, Marketplace Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson points out that if you are part of the majority of Americans who think cloud computing involves an actual cloud or is somehow related to the weather, the contest may not be for you.

 

Google cancels Reader, sets eyes on overtaking the web

Marketplace - American Public Media - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:18

In part of what it calls "spring cleaning," Google is sending its content aggregator Google Reader out to the landfill.

The company blamed declining usage, though noted that Reader "has a loyal following" -- and that loyal following isn't taking this lying down. More than 100,000 people have signed online petitions to keep the Reader. But euthanizing the Reader is a reminder that although many of us get dependent on online tools, big Internet companies can change the rules at any time.

"Look, Google works for Google," says Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of the The Googlization of Everything. "Google doesn't work for us, it doesn't work the for the government, it doesn't answer to our needs as citizens."

Vaidhyanathan sees the Reader's death sentence as a sign Google isn't that interested in what we call the World Wide Web. He argues Google, like Facebook, wants to be the web.

"Google is deciding to double-down on its vision for being the operating system of our lives, not just the operating system of the web," Vaidhyanathan says. "The web may be something we think of as a sort of quaint medium in 10 years."

In the meantime, other companies are jumping in to fill the impending gap. The startup Feedly is quickly finishing up an alternative.

Google cancels Reader, sets eyes on eclipsing the web

Marketplace - American Public Media - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:18

In part of what it calls "spring cleaning," Google is sending its content aggregator Google Reader out to the landfill.

The company blamed declining usage, though noted that Reader "has a loyal following" -- and that loyal following isn't taking this lying down. More than 100,000 people have signed online petitions to keep the Reader. But euthanizing the Reader is a reminder that although many of us get dependent on online tools, big Internet companies can change the rules at any time.

"Look, Google works for Google," says Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of the The Googlization of Everything. "Google doesn't work for us, it doesn't work the for the government, it doesn't answer to our needs as citizens."

Vaidhyanathan sees the Reader's death sentence as a sign Google isn't that interested in what we call the World Wide Web. He argues Google, like Facebook, wants to be the web.

"Google is deciding to double-down on its vision for being the operating system of our lives, not just the operating system of the web," Vaidhyanathan says. "The web may be something we think of as a sort of quaint medium in 10 years."

Other companies are jumping in to fill the impending gap. The startup Feedly is quickly finishing up an alternative.

A Surprisingly Uncontroversial Program That Gives Money To Poor People

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:00

The Earned Income Tax Credit has been embraced by every president from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama.

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Is All The Talk About Cyberwarfare Just Hype?

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:00

U.S. officials and security experts regularly highlight the cyberthreat, but they also note that the prospects of a major cyberattack are remote. Cyberespionage and "nuisance" cyberattacks may be a problem now, but all-out cyberwar is not.

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Could Tapping Undersea Methane Lead To A New Gas Boom?

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:00

A giant reservoir of natural gas lies under the ocean floor, and no one had successfully extracted it until this week. Japanese engineers pulled it up through a well from under the Pacific. But there are still lots of unanswered questions about the viability of this new gas supply.

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A Daily Habit Of Green Tea Or Coffee Cuts Stroke Risk

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:00

Drinking four cups of green tea or one cup of coffee per day were each associated with about a 20 percent lower risk of stroke. That's according to a study of more than 82,000 men and women in Japan.

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50 Years After Key Case, Problems Defending The Poor Persist

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:00

Next week marks the anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court decision that says defendants facing substantial jail time deserve legal representation in state courts, even if they can't afford it. Now, many lawyers say the system for providing defense attorneys for the poor is in crisis.

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A 'Good Enough' Dad And His Special Son

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:00

Tim Harris had wanted to open a restaurant for as long as he could remember. In 2004, with help from his father, Tim, who has Down syndrome, opened Tim's Place in Albuquerque, N.M. He calls it the world's friendliest restaurant, and doles out hugs to customers six days a week.

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Game Of Change: Pivotal Matchup Helped End Segregated Hoops

NPR News - Fri, 2013-03-15 01:00

Mississippi State University defied its state's unwritten rule of never playing against a team with African-Americans. Its 1963 NCAA tournament match against Loyola University, which had four black players in its starting lineup, became a symbol in the effort to overturn Jim Crow policies.

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From 'god-like' to team huddle: Training doctors for a new health care future

Marketplace - American Public Media - Fri, 2013-03-15 00:57

Later today, 33,000 aspiring doctors will find out where they’ll be doing their residencies for the next three to seven years. In medical circles, they call it "Match Day."

In the last few years, doctors and hospitals have begun adapting the on-the-job training residents receive, so they can better succeed in today’s tumultuous health care world. But the past is never far from view.

At the University of Pennsylvania medical school, historic paintings of doctors and professors line the marble hallway in one of the oldest buildings on campus.

Dr. Bill Hanson, who helps oversee resident training at Penn, describes one of the most famous paintings, “The Agnew Clinic,” by Thomas Eakins in 1889.

“That’s Doctor Agnew there, pontificating in front of an auditorium full of amazed medical students,” he says.

Hanson says the painting embodies the god-like position doctors held for more than a century.

“The central figure in medical care is that isolated one professorial figure in white. And everyone else around him is in shadow, or secondary to that fount of wisdom. Very, very different from what we are talking about today,” says Hanson.

The picture of today’s doctor? The team huddle.

Dr. Brian Smith, who’s wrapping up his training at Penn, makes rounds with an assorted crew of nurses, students, and residents. Smith says teamwork is critical in the new health care era, for improving patient health, avoiding errors and holding down costs.

“We’ll say, you know, does anybody have any other ideas, are there any concerns that we are not addressing. And a lot of times that evolves into a dialogue,” he says.

Dr. Bob Wachter at the University of California, San Francisco says doctors can no longer just take care of sick people.

“I like to say that the doctor of the future has two sick patients. One is the patient they are taking care of. One is the system they are working in,” says Wachter.

So while residents at UCSF still pour over case studies -- like they have for generations -- they’re also getting a lesson in economics.

“They get that if they are doing CAT scans when they shouldn’t be, not only are we bankrupting companies and the government, we are bankrupting people,” he says.

Wachter says now, it’s an obligation to teach residents the business side of the profession. Because while the days of the god-like doctor have ended, physicians are still the central figures in medicine.

And Wachter says it’s up to this the new crop of doctors to treat what ails the health care system.

Letters: Can I deduct a lost diamond bracelet on my taxes?

Marketplace - American Public Media - Thu, 2013-03-14 21:45

Louis Barajas, a certified financial planner and author of several books including "My Street Money," joins guest host David Lazarus this week to answer your personal finance questions.

Bonny from Tallahassee, Fla., lost a diamond bracelet this year. It was not insured and she wants to know if she can deduct any of that loss on her federal income taxes. The bracelet was bought in 1988 for about $4,500.

"A lot of people don't realize that even though they have a certain piece of jewelry and they lose it or it gets stolen, they can still kind of go through their homeowners insurance policy and get anything for it," says Barajas, cautioning that at some point Bonny might have had to itemize the bracelet and let the insurer know about it. "If you don't have that, you're going to have to fill out form 4684, which is for casualty loss."

But Barajas says that even though she can deduct the loss, she probably won't be able to.

"You have to subtract $100 right off the top of what you've got. So now all of a sudden your loss is $4,400. Then you've got to take 10 percent of your adjusted gross income for the year. So for 2012 if you and your husband earned $50,000, 10 percent of $50,000 -- I'm not making this number up -- is $5,000. This bracelet wouldn't be deductible because all she would have is a $4,400 loss. It'd have to be over $5,000. So it's got to be 10 percent over your adjusted gross income. So you can claim it, but most people don't get the deduction."

To hear more tax-related advice on claiming property as a loss and to hear how certain IRS documents got their names and numbers, click play on the audio player above.

New York City Hits A New Population Mark, Topping 8.3 Million

NPR News - Thu, 2013-03-14 15:14

New York City's population is at an all-time high, with an estimated 8,336,697 people living in the city, according to the most recent U.S. Census Data. "For the first time since before 1950, more people are coming to New York City than leaving," said Mayor Bloomberg.

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ICE Now Admits It Released More Than 2,000 Illegal Immigrants Due To Budget

NPR News - Thu, 2013-03-14 14:49

The Obama administration disputed an earlier report with those numbers. Republican lawmakers have called the releases "outrageous."

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Marco Rubio, Rand Paul Bring Charisma, Red Meat To Receptive CPAC

NPR News - Thu, 2013-03-14 14:20

Coming off the 2012 election, many at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference are trying to figure out who can best return the party to White House power while upholding conservative principles. And Thursday, the young senators from Florida and Kentucky each made their case.

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Reuters Journalist Charged With 'Conspiring' With Anonymous

NPR News - Thu, 2013-03-14 13:50

Matthew Keys is well known on Twitter for breaking news. Prosecutors allege he leaked the credentials to a Tribune Company server to members of the hacker collective Anonymous.

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2 Dead Indian Fishermen, 2 Accused Italian Marines, A Diplomatic Row

NPR News - Thu, 2013-03-14 13:50

India wants the marines returned to stand trial. Italy is refusing to send them back. The Indian Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Italian ambassador not to leave the country. Both countries claim they are on solid legal footing.

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ON THE AIR

Concert on the Lawn July 27 & 28, 2013

CALL FOR VENDORS
KBBI’s Concert on the Lawn at Karen Hornaday Park brings together an eclectic group of talented musicians from Homer and beyond for a fun and spirited community weekend. Click here for details and to submit an application form. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS JUNE 29th, 2013. We are not accepting food vendors as we are full in that category.

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