Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Too much eating, drinking drops Minnesota in health ratings
  Minnesota is fatter, drunker, and less healthy according to a nationwide survey of health outcomes released on Monday by the United Health Foundation.4:44 p.m.
• Howard Jacobson spins a world from 'Kalooki Nights'
  Kalooki is central to British novelist Howard Jacobson's new book. It's a card game in which no one really knows the rules. Jacobson says it's a great way to describe the British Jewish community where he grew up, and he uses it in his new comic novel "Kalooki Nights."4:50 p.m.
• Democrat Bonoff to run for Congress in 3rd District
  The state senator becomes the second Democrat to announce a campaign for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, a moderate Republican. Iraq war veteran Ashwin Madia is also in the race.5:18 p.m.
• Equity-stripping scams could rise as foreclosures increase
  With more and more homeowners desperate to hold on to their homes, experts are concerned that many are vulnerable to rescue scams.5:21 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Senators Fight for Farm Bill Changes
  On Monday, the Senate began debating a five-year farm bill that would cost $288 billion dollars overall. Advocates who have been pressing for change have placed their hopes on an alternative, cheaper measure.
• VA Probes Doctor's Role In Patient Deaths
  Veterans Administration officials investigate whether the negligence or incompetence of a doctor is to blame for as many as 10 patient deaths at the VA medical center in Marion, Ill. Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez was hired in 2006 despite a troubled track record.
• Oprah Pledges to Fix School amid Abuse Reports
  Television magnate Oprah Winfrey says abuse charges at her all-girl academy in South Africa have been one of the most devastating experiences in her life. A former dormitory matron faces 13 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against underage students.
• Pakistan Exemplifies Flawed Bush Philosophies
  The White House is calling for Pakistan to return to democratic rule, after Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended the country's constitution over the weekend. The president's most cherished precept — that spreading democracy spreads stability — is going down in flames.
• Georgia Plant Is First for Making Ethanol from Waste
  Scientists say the real hope for curbing greenhouse gas emissions and pursuing energy independence lies in cellulosic ethanol, which is brewed from things we normally throw away. Range Fuels is scheduled to break ground on the world's first plant for making cellulosic ethanol.
• U.S. Faces Quandary Over Musharraf's Crackdown
  Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's crackdown on political dissent poses a difficult choice for the United States. Should it maintain support for a vital ally in the war on terrorism, or abandon Musharraf because his actions run counter to the essence of American policy?
• Rumors Propagate as Pakistan Curbs News Flow
  Pakistan is awash in rumors, after the government took nongovernment TV stations off the air when it imposed emergency rule this weekend. One rumor acquired real momentum: that President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had been arrested by the Army's deputy chief of staff.
• Strike Worries Businesses Tied to Hollywood
  When script writers last walked out 20 years ago, the financial fallout from the five-month strike was measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and Southern California was hit hardest. This time, businesses that depend on Hollywood worry that the economic toll will be even greater.
• Costs High for All Sides in Hollywood Writers Strike
  It is Day One of the first strike by TV and film writers in almost 20 years. Screenwriters in red T-shirts picketed in front of studios in New York and Los Angeles. It's hard to tell how long the strike will go on or what long-term damage it could do to the industry.
• Rare Disease Inspires Man's 63-Marathon Streak
  Tim Borland ran 63 marathons in as many days to call attention to ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), a rare degenerative children's disease. His quest began in California on Labor Day, took him to 26 states, and ended at the New York City Marathon on Sunday.
• Thompson's Watergate Role Not as Advertised
  GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson entered the public spotlight in 1973 as a lawyer for the Senate Watergate committee. He played a role in uncovering the Nixon White House tapes. But his actions may not have been a matter of telling truth to power.
• Bush Calls on Leaders of Turkey, Pakistan
  President Bush met Monday with the Turkish prime minister — in hopes of defusing a conflict at the Iraqi border between Turkey and Kurdish militants. The president also spoke about the crisis in Pakistan, where President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule Saturday.
• Does Musharraf's Comparison to Lincoln Hold Up?
  Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has compared his actions in the past couple of days — imposing emergency rule — to what U.S. President Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War. Daniel Farber, a constitutional law specialist who authored a book about President Lincoln and the U.S. Constitution, says Musharraf is distorting American history.
• Town Pardons Johnny Cash at 'Flower Pickin' Fest'
  On May 11, 1965, after playing a show at Mississippi State University, Johnny Cash was arrested and charged with public drunkenness. This past weekend, the city of Starkville, Miss., symbolically pardoned him. The ceremony took place as part of the three-day Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival. It's named after Cash's defense: He reportedly told the arresting officers that he was just picking flowers — at 3 a.m. Cash went on to write a song about the experience: "Starkville City Jail."
• Amazon Fire Wars Exacerbate Global Warming
  In Brazil, people use fire as a weapon in range wars to push other ranchers off their land. Scientists say these fires, along with the seasonal fires to clear land, is not just destroying parts of the Amazon's southern forests, but altering the climate as well.

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