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Around the Nation
1:53 am
Wed April 11, 2012

Unknown No More: Identifying A Civil War Soldier

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Credit Library of Congress
A Civil War soldier poses for a photograph, in this image contributed to the Library of Congress by Tom Liljenquist and his family.
Credit Ramona Martinez, NPR
To determine the height of the unidentified Civil War soldier, an employee of The Horse Soldier store in Gettysburg, Pa., recreated the pose in the photo. He stood on a book to bring his height to an even 5 feet 8 inches.
Credit National Archives
The cover of the compiled military service record of Thomas A. Ardies, of the 14th Brooklyn regiment. The unit retained its name despite attempts to change it to the 84th New York.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 9:53 am

A Washington, D.C.-area collector and his family have donated more than 1,000 Civil War photographs to the Library of Congress. But you won't find the men in these photos in history books — they're enlisted soldiers, and most of them are unidentified.

In one striking photo, the man depicted has crazy sideburns, a steady expression, and very clear eyes — maybe gray, or perhaps blue. He holds a rifled musket at his side. He is a Union soldier in the Civil War. And the only things we know about him are what we can learn from a single photo.

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National Security
1:52 am
Wed April 11, 2012

Alleged Cole Bomber's Testimony Could Be Secret

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Credit Hasan Jamali / AP
A small boat guards the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, on Oct. 20, 2000. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the man accused of masterminding the attack, is expected to testify Wednesday in a courtroom at Guantanamo Bay.
Credit Reuters/Landov
Al-Nashiri, pictured in 2002, is being held at the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay.
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In a courtroom at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday, the man accused of masterminding the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is expected to testify about the more than four years he spent in secret CIA prisons. Al-Nashiri is one of three terrorism suspects the U.S. government has admitted to waterboarding, so his testimony could be explosive. And that's why, critics argue, the government is trying to ensure that al-Nashiri's testimony be heard in secret.

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The Two-Way
9:57 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

D'Oh! Springfield In 'Simpsons' Was In Creator's Home State All Along

Credit AP
Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real-life home of The Simpsons.
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By Krishnadev Calamur

Originally published on Tue April 10, 2012 6:58 pm

Ay Caramba! Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real Springfield: It's in Oregon.

In an interview with Smithsonian magazine, posted online Tuesday, Groening credits the name to the hit TV show Father Knows Best.

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Sweetness And Light
9:00 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

The NCAA: Is Membership Worth It?

Credit Darron Cummings / AP
NCAA President Mark Emmert delivers his State of the Association speech on Jan. 12 during the organization's annual convention in Indianapolis.
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Originally published on Tue April 10, 2012 11:01 pm

Just as the public has lately been surprised to discover that football is really a very perilous game for your head, those Americans who do not pay that much attention to sports have been brought up short recently to learn better what an incredibly hypocritical and autocratic cartel is the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

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News
6:43 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

Tulsa Shootings Reopen Old Wounds

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Credit Tulsa Historical Society / AP
Black detainees are led to the Convention Hall following a race riot in Tulsa, Okla, June 1, 1921. The National Guard rounded up blacks by the thousands and took them to the fairgrounds, the Convention Hall and a baseball stadium where they were given food and water. By day's end, many thriving black businesses in a 35-block area had been torched.
Credit John Clanton / AP
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan (center) speaks as City Councilor Jack Henderson (right) and FBI agent James Finchother listen during a news conference on Sunday in Tulsa, Okla.
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At a press conference in Tulsa, Okla., following the targeted shootings of five African-Americans last week, the optics were as important as the substance of the news.

The mayor and police chief pleaded for the public's help in capturing the suspects, while behind those two white men stood a pair of Tulsa's most influential black leaders — the lone African-American member of the City Council and the president of the local NAACP.

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Around the Nation
6:26 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

Zimmerman's Attorneys Withdraw As Counsel

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Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

In Sanford, Florida, there's been a new development in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Late today, attorneys for the admitted shooter, George Zimmerman, said they are no longer representing him. Attorney Craig Sonner says they haven't spoken to Zimmerman since Sunday.

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Shots - Health Blog
5:58 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

Panel Proposes A New Tax To Pay For Public Health

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It may sound counterintuitive, but a panel of experts from the Institute of Medicine has concluded that the best way to slow the nation's breakneck spending on medical care is to impose a tax on every health care transaction.

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The Two-Way
4:47 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

Iran Seeks To Set Record Straight On Intranet 'Hoax,' Cites April 1

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Iranian officials spoke out Tuesday to insist that reports that the country is killing access to the Internet are grossly exaggerated. Several news outlets had picked up on a report from Reporters Without Borders — a report that contains the information that "Iran has announced the launch of a national Internet."

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The Two-Way
3:52 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

Zimmerman's Lawyers Withdraw From Trayvon Martin Case

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Lawyers for George Zimmerman in the case of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin say they are no longer representing the man who killed the unarmed Florida teenager.

Defense attorneys Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig announced their decision in an appearance outside the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla.

The two lawyers said that they had fallen out of contact with Zimmerman.

Uhrig also said that he "heard today" that Zimmerman had been in direct contact with the special prosecutor in the Martin case, according to Reuters.

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Religion
3:38 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

A Church Divided: Ruling Ends Va.'s Episcopal Battle

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Credit Barbara Bradley Hagerty for NPR
The St. Stephen's Church in Heathsville, Va., has been at the center of an ugly custody battle between the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and the newly affiliated St. Stephen's Anglican Church.
Credit Barbara Bradley Hagerty for NPR
Tale Of Two Churches: The St. Stephen's Church in Heathsville, Va., has been at the center of an ugly custody battle between the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and the newly affiliated St. Stephen's Anglican Church.
Credit Barbara Bradley Hagerty for NPR
The Rev. Lucia Lloyd leads a service in the rental that housed the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church after the congregation split in 2006.
Credit Sam Sanders for NPR
Wayne Marsh (right) and Loren Nystrom (left) help put the Church of the Apostles' cross into storage. The church will be shuttered and, eventually, sold by the Episcopal Diocese.
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On a bright Sunday morning in the tiny town of Heathsville, Va., Jeffrey Cerar surveys the church he's preached in for the past 15 years — its 130-year-old wooden pews, its stained glass windows, its paschal candles, its cross.

"Virtually everything you see here is going to stay; the high altar, the credence table, the hymnals and books of common prayer will all stay," he says. "The Bibles will go with us."

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