It's All Politics
3:49 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Tempest in Tampa: Isaac Tests Mitt Romney's Mettle

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 6:12 am

Political conventions are famed for focusing the nation's attention on one name, but at this year's Republican National Convention here in Tampa, that name is not the nominee's.

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Around the Nation
2:18 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Gulf Coast States Brace For Isaac's Fury

Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it churns through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. While its exact track is still uncertain, parts of Florida are being hit by the storms outer bands. Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are preparing as well.

Election 2012
2:18 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Watching Isaac, GOP Delays Opening Convention

Republicans have decided to delay the official start of their presidential nominating convention until Tuesday. Tropical Storm Isaac is causing weather-related issues around Tampa, Florida. As the convention is about to begin, polls show GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is tied with President Obama.

Remembrances
1:56 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Remembering Astronaut Neil Armstrong

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 7:56 am

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died over the weekend at the age of 82. Steve Inskeep talks to Neil Degrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, about Armstrong's impact on space exploration.

Analysis
1:56 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Politics In The News

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 3:47 am

The Republican National Convention will come to order at 2 p.m. in Tampa, Fla., and then quickly go into recess. Because of Tropical Storm Isaac, the main events have been delayed until Tuesday. This is the second convention in a row where the GOP had to delay the opening because of bad weather.

Margot Williams is a NPR News Investigations database correspondent. Along with her reporting, Williams works behind the scenes compiling, mining and analyzing data for investigative reports, ferreting for information, and connecting the dots.

Since joining NPR in October 2010, Williams has helped examine the massive trove of secret documents about the Guantanamo Bay detainees. Williams and NPR collaborated with The New York Times to provide an assessment of the reports which were leaked to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. In addition, Williams worked with NPR Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson to investigate the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Communications Management Unit for convicted terrorists. The NPR Investigation identified 86 of the more than 100 men for the first time; most are Muslims and have lived in the special units often called "Guantanamo North."

For five years prior to NPR, Williams worked as the database research editor and on the computer assisted reporting team at The New York Times. She spent 14 years at The Washington Post in several different positions including: research editor, library director, metro news resource director, and wrote for The Post's "Networkings" column. From 1998-90, Williams was the library director for the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Over the course of her career Williams has received a number of accolades and honors. In 2004, she was awarded first place for Explanatory Journalism on Major League Baseball from the Associated Press Sports Editors. Williams worked on the team that earned the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for National Affairs for The Washington Post's coverage of 9/11 aftermath and terrorism. She contributed to The Post's 1999 Pulitzer Prize Public Service Award for work on the investigative project "Deadly Force". In 1999, she was awarded Best of Show from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association. Williams was awarded first place in Business/Economics from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association in 1989.

A frequent speaker and educator at journalism conferences, seminars and graduate programs, Williams has participated in Global Investigative Journalism, Investigative Reporters & Editor and the Poynter Institute, among many others. Williams first book, Cuba from Columbus to Castro, was released in 1981 by Simon & Schuster. Most recently, in 1999, she co-wrote with Nora Paul, Great Scouts! CyberGuides for Subject Searching on the Web, published by Cyberage books.

Williams earned a Master of Science degree in library and information science from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian studies from The City College of New York.

Law
1:01 am
Mon August 27, 2012

John Walker Lindh Sues For Prison Prayer Group

Credit File Photo / AP
John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 after fighting with the Taliban.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 10:34 am

John Walker Lindh was a middle-class kid in Northern California who converted to Islam and went to travel the world. U.S. authorities eventually captured him in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, when he was allegedly fighting alongside the Taliban.

His story was the focus of a Law and Order episode, and a song called "John Walker's Blues" by Steve Earle.

For the past five years, Lindh has been living in a secret prison facility in Indiana with convicted terrorists, neo-Nazis and other inmates who get special monitoring.

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Law
12:46 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Beard-Cutting Case Tests Limits of Hate Crime Law

Credit Amy Sancetta / AP
Sam Mullet, in the front yard of his home in Bergholz, Ohio, last year, is one of 16 people charged in beard- and hair- cutting attacks on fellow Amish. Mullet denies being involved in the attacks.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 9:13 am

Sixteen members of an Ohio Amish sect are set to go on trial in federal court Monday in Cleveland. The defendants are accused of violating U.S. hate crime laws by cutting the hair and beards of detractors, a humiliating reprimand for the devout.

Chin hair, according to Jacob Troyer, an Amish craftsman in Holmes County, Ohio, is a rite of passage for young Amish men.

"When they join church to get baptized, they grow a beard up to the bottom of the ear. They usually have an inch or so of space there. When they marry, they grow that together," Troyer says.

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It's All Politics
12:46 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Romney's Plan To Broaden Tax Base Finds Critics

Credit Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colo., on July 10. Romney says he wants to sharply cut income tax rates, but that those cuts would be revenue-neutral.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 10:22 am

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he favors keeping all of the Bush-era tax cuts and then adding some more. To pay for these cuts, he would reduce or eliminate some of the tax deductions that many Americans have come to rely on. But his proposals are already facing a lot of resistance.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:44 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Sleepless Nights May Put The Aging Brain At Risk Of Dementia

Credit mrsmuckers / iStockphoto.com
If you're having trouble sleeping, researchers say you should resist the urge to keep checking the time.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 7:55 am

As we age, our sleep patterns change. We've all heard the complaints: "I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep!"

Some sleep experts estimate that as many as 40 percent of older adults suffer sleeping problems such as sleep apnea and insomnia. Now, researchers have found a link between disrupted sleep and cognitive decline.

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