Business
4:25 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Limits Put On Nonprofit Hospital Debt Collection

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:34 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Let's turn now to proposed rules to protect patients from abusive debt collection practices, specifically at nonprofit hospitals. The rules come from the Treasury Department. They were required by the 2010 federal health law.

Jenny Gold of our partner Kaiser Health News has more.

JENNY GOLD, BYLINE: When Deb Waldin arrived at the emergency room of Fairview Health Services, a nonprofit hospital system in Minnesota, on a scale of one to 10, she says her pain was a 12.

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Business
4:23 am
Wed June 27, 2012

FBI Op Targets Cyber Criminals Stealing Credit Cards

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:34 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Two dozen people on four continents have been charged with trafficking in stolen credit cards and bank account numbers. Eleven of the defendants were arrested in the U.S. They were caught after allegedly using a website set up by the FBI as part of a sting operation.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE: FBI officials said the arrests yesterday amounted to the largest coordinated international law enforcement action in history. It involved 13 countries in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

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Africa
4:13 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Egypt's Military Has More Power Than Civilian President

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 6:40 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer, in for Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

In Egypt, a small victory for civil rights: A court there suspended a decree that allowed the military to arrest civilians. Other moves to amass power by the ruling military council, including dissolving Egypt's elected parliament, are still in effect.

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NPR Story
4:13 am
Wed June 27, 2012

How Justices Work Through Big Decisions Like Health Care

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:34 am

In advance of the Supreme Court's ruling on the Obama health care law, Renee Montagne talks to Jamal Greene — associate professor at Columbia Law School and former clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens — about how the Supreme Court thinks through momentous cases.

NPR Story
4:13 am
Wed June 27, 2012

College Presidents Approve Switch To Football Playoff System

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 6:08 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

College football fans are belting out a one word chant this morning: Finally. As in finally, there's a post-season playoff at the sport's highest level. Yesterday, a committee of college presidents approved a four-team, three game plan. When it starts in 2014, it'll end major college football's isolation as the only big time team sport that does not decide its championship with a playoff. NPR's Tom Goldman has more.

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NPR Story
4:13 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Splitting Media Outlets Could Help News. Corp. Investors

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:49 pm

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

A publicity storm from the hacking scandal has shaken media conglomerate News Corp. Now, the company is taking steps to split in two - the smaller newspaper and book publishing arm and the vastly more profitable broadcasting and entertainment side. NPR's David Folkenflik has more.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Newspapers have been News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch's first and most enduring love. And of late, they have been his heartache, too.

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The Salt
2:03 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Visualizing A Nation Of Meat Eaters

Credit iStockphoto.com
Only Luxembourgers eat more meat per person than Americans.

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 8:59 am

As Allison Aubrey and Dan Charles reported today on Morning Edition, meat has more of an impact on the environment than any other food we eat. That's because livestock require so much more food, water, land, and energy than plants to raise and transport. (Listen to the audio above for their conversation with Morning Edition's Linda Wertheimer.)

Take a look here at what goes into just one quarter-pound of hamburger meat.

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Law
2:01 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Exhale, Chicago, A Little Pot May Be Fine(d)

Credit iStockphoto.com
In Chicago, nearly nine out of 10 low-level marijuana busts result in a dismissal.

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 2:00 pm

In Chicago, a new policy on marijuana possession would mean adults who are caught with a small amount of the illegal drug would receive a fine instead of being arrested.

It's mostly about money and how best to use police resources.

Under current Illinois law, anyone found with less than about 1 ounce of marijuana can be charged with a misdemeanor. If found guilty, they face up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

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Crisis In The Housing Market
2:00 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Morale Takes A Hit At Beleaguered Fannie, Freddie

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:47 pm

The collapse of the housing market has led to plenty of finger-pointing in Washington. Two easy targets are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

These government-backed mortgage giants had to be rescued by taxpayers and now owe the government $188 billion. Still, Fannie and Freddie, which currently make the vast majority of home loans possible, are crucial to supporting the housing market right now.

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Remembrances
10:00 pm
Tue June 26, 2012

Ephron: From 'Silkwood' To 'Sally,' A Singular Voice

Credit Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images
Author and screenwriter Nora Ephron died Tuesday in New York. She was 71.

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 4:59 pm

Nora Ephron brought us two of the most indelible scenes in contemporary cinema — and they're startlingly different.

There's the infamous "Silkwood shower," from the 1983 movie, with Meryl Streep as a terrified worker at a nuclear power plant, being frantically scrubbed after exposure to radiation.

Then there's the scene in which Meg Ryan drives home a point to Billy Crystal at Katz's Deli, in 1989's When Harry Met Sally. You know — the one that ends with "I'll have what she's having."

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