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Business
3:00 am
Fri February 10, 2012

Business News

Originally published on Fri February 10, 2012 7:02 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with social networking profits.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: You can get attention on the Internet. You can even draw a massive crowd in seconds. The question always is how to make money. Investors have been scrutinizing Facebook's plans to go public and trying to figure out the company's prospects.

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Business
3:00 am
Fri February 10, 2012

The Last Word In Business

The company will instead focus on home photo printers, high-speed commercial ink jet presses and software. Other companies may license the Kodak brand for cameras, and some disposables will still be out there.

Middle East
3:00 am
Fri February 10, 2012

Diplomatic Community Struggles To End Syrian Violence

Originally published on Fri February 10, 2012 7:02 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Activists and human rights groups in Syria contend the government has now killed hundreds of civilians this week alone. It's hard to verify that number, but it is clear that mortars, rockets and tanks continue firing into the city of Homs. That gunfire has served as a week-long punctuation mark on the United Nation's failure to approve a resolution against Syria. NPR's Kelly McEvers is following the situation from Beirut. She joins us once again.

Hi, Kelly.

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Monkey See
11:01 pm
Thu February 9, 2012

How One George Lucas Fan Takes Fan Filmmaking Into His Own Hands

Credit Jamie Benning
One of the posters promoting Jamie Benning's latest fan documentary, Raiding The Lost Ark.

Originally published on Fri February 10, 2012 8:09 am

Blame Jar Jar Binks.

If George Lucas had never created that annoying, slapstick-prone CGI character in The Phantom Menace, history would be different. No amount of "meesa so sorry" can make up for this abomination. And to add insult to injury, Lucas is sending a 3D Jar Jar Binks into theaters on February 10th.

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The Salt
11:01 pm
Thu February 9, 2012

How Two Bitter Adversaries Hatched A Plan To Change The Egg Business

Gene Gregory and Wayne Pacelle are the odd couple of American agriculture.

"We were adversaries. Some might say bitter adversaries,"
says Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States.

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Shots - Health Blog
11:01 pm
Thu February 9, 2012

Rules Requiring Contraceptive Coverage Have Been In Force For Years

Credit Lawrence Jackson / AP
In 2002, state lawmakers in Massachusetts approved legislation requiring most employers to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees. One of the groups pushing for the law was the Coalition for Choice, led by Melissa Kogut (center).

There's been no let-up in the debate about the Obama administration's rule requiring most employers to provide prescription birth control to their workers without additional cost.

Here's the rub: The only truly novel part of the plan is the "no cost" bit.

The rule would mean, for the first time, that women won't have to pay a deductible or copayment to get prescription contraceptives.

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Performing Arts
11:01 pm
Thu February 9, 2012

Colonial History, Through The Eyes Of The Colonized

Actor and writer Danai Gurira sometimes refers to herself as a "Zimerican": She was born in Iowa, but spent most of her childhood in Harare, Zimbabwe — where her new play, The Convert, is set.

"I grew up there from age 5 to 19," Gurira says. "I'm back there every year, but I feel like there are things that I had to dig out through this process of creating this play."

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Around the Nation
11:01 pm
Thu February 9, 2012

Nuclear Safety, Costs Loom Over OK'd Reactors

Credit Mary Ann Chastain / AP
Steam rises from the cooling towers of nuclear reactors at Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, Ga. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Southern Co.'s application to begin full construction of the nation's first new nuclear units since 1978 at Plant Vogtle.

Originally published on Fri February 10, 2012 10:56 am

The nuclear industry is celebrating the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to give the go-ahead for a utility company to build two new nuclear reactors in Georgia, the first license to be granted for a new reactor in the U.S. since 1978. But last year's accident at reactors in Fukushima, Japan, still clouds the future of nuclear power, as does the cost of new power plants.

Southern Co. will build the reactors at its Vogtle site in Georgia, where two older reactors already operate.

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Politics
11:01 pm
Thu February 9, 2012

Catholics Split Over Obama Contraceptive Order

Originally published on Fri February 10, 2012 8:02 am

The conflict between the Catholic Bishops and the White House over contraceptive coverage has American Catholics choosing sides.

Catholics narrowly support the White House position in polls. There are potential political consequences: In presidential elections, Catholics are swing voters. They supported Al Gore in 2000, President George W. Bush in '04 and President Obama in '08.

The GOP presidential hopefuls are certainly using this issue. Framing it as a question of religious freedom is a guaranteed way to fire up the conservative base.

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StoryCorps
11:01 pm
Thu February 9, 2012

Scheming Parents Set Their Kids Up — And It Works

Credit StoryCorps
Steven and Alexandra Ketcham were brought together by their parents, who decided they would be perfect for one another. They visited StoryCorps on their wedding day.

When Steven Ketcham met Alexandra Budny's mother, she told him, "I'm going to be your future mother-in-law." There was just one catch: Steven had never met Alexandra. But their parents had already decided that their children were a good match.

Eventually, Steven and Alexandra agreed with that idea. But it took some time — and those early days of their relationship came up when the couple visited StoryCorps to discuss how their parents got them together.

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