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Parallels
2:20 am
Fri June 14, 2013

Friction Among Afghans A Threat To Post-U.S. Mission

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 10:21 am

The Afghan farmer in Panjwai District, outside the southern city of Kandahar, is finally fed up with the Taliban.

His name is Abdullah Razik. He's slight, with a trim beard and a dark green shirt that falls below his knees.

The Taliban plant roadside bombs in his fields, he says, and shoot near his house. The area is one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan — the birthplace of the Taliban.

Not long ago, something worse happened, Razik says.

"My friend ... lost his hand," he says. "The Taliban were putting IEDs in my village" four months ago.

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Planet Money
2:19 am
Fri June 14, 2013

Why More People Are Renting Tires

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 10:34 am

"Oh, I checked every place in town, and they were outrageous," says Shannon Kelly. "It would be anywhere from $4[00] to $500, and I just don't have that right now."

Kelly had just walked into Rent N Roll, a rent-to-own tire store in Ocala, Fla. She was looking to rent a set of tires for her truck. Tire rental stores like this one have been around for a while, but until recently, most of their customers rented fancy rims. These days, it's becoming more common for the stores to rent simple tires to people who don't have the cash to buy tires outright.

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Middle East
2:18 am
Fri June 14, 2013

Can Captain Sunshine Save the Israeli Electric Car Dream?

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 7:19 am

Captain Sunshine wears a yellow yarmulke, yellow T-shirt and a bright-yellow cape held around his shoulders with a silky red ribbon. At a recent rally of about 200 electric-car owners in Israel, he called out questions to the crowd.

"We're saying to the government and to the army," he shouted through a squawky mic, "20 percent of your fleets should be electric cars. Do you agree?"

The crowd cheered yes.

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StoryCorps
1:44 am
Fri June 14, 2013

A Second Chance For A Father And Foster Son

Credit StoryCorps
Adrian Hawkins (left) with his foster father, Horace Atwater Jr., at a visit to StoryCorps in Atlanta. Horace took in Adrian when he was 14 years old.

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 9:50 am

In 2004, Horace Atwater Jr. took in Adrian Hawkins as a foster child. Adrian was a teenager at the time, "this little, skinny kid, about 14," Horace recalls. "You didn't really have any clothes. You had mismatched socks."

Adrian had lived a difficult life as a child. He lived in several group and foster homes before moving in with Horace. "I remember times being hungry, seeing drugs and all kinds of stuff," Adrian tells Horace at StoryCorps in Atlanta. "I mean, some things had to happen for me to be in foster care."

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Around the Nation
6:09 am
Thu June 13, 2013

U.S. Navy To Make Its Communications Less 'Rude'

The Navy has been issuing orders and messages in capital letters since the 1850s when teletype machines didn't have lower case. But to young sailors, raised on texting, "all CAPS" signifies shouting.

Around the Nation
6:03 am
Thu June 13, 2013

Rare 'Superman' Comic Sells For Big Bucks

The comic, featuring Superman's first appearance, sold for $175,000 this week. Considered the "Holy Grail" of comics by many collectors, it is one of about 100 copies. Published in 1938, the comic was found by David Gonzalez in the insulation of a house he was restoring in Minnesota.

Parallels
5:02 am
Thu June 13, 2013

Iran's Election May Not Really Be About Picking A President

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 8:55 am

When Iranians vote Friday for president, it will be an election unlike any other.

Clerics who hold supreme power in the Islamic Republic have allowed elections for decades.

But while the people vote, clerics and their allies make the rules. Those already in power choose who can run for office and limit what they do if elected.

Restrictions are tighter than ever after massive protests that followed a disputed election in 2009. In fact, the country has come to redefine the whole purpose of an election.

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Animals
3:34 am
Thu June 13, 2013

Fancy Feet: Wild Cheetahs Excel At Acceleration

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 5:02 am

Nature documentaries always go on and on about how fast a cheetah can run. Cats in captivity have been clocked at 65 miles an hour, the highest speed recorded for any land animal.

And yet, scientists know very little about how the animal runs in the wild, especially when on the hunt.

"You can look at it and say, 'Oh that's fast,' " says Alan Wilson, a veterinarian at the Royal Veterinary College, London. "But you can't actually describe what route it follows, or how quickly it's gone, or the details of [the] forces it has to exert to do that."

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Digital Life
3:33 am
Thu June 13, 2013

From Seinfeld, A Second Season Of 'Coffee' Talk

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 10:01 am

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is exactly what it sounds like — a show about three things Jerry Seinfeld loves.

Each individual episode of the stand-up comic's Web series features him talking to a fellow comedian while driving across town to get a cup of coffee.

While the premise is simple enough, and the celebrity interview as familiar as any late-night talk-show, the format of C3 allows for a more relaxed and personal tone than the typical sofa-chat format.

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Parallels
3:28 am
Thu June 13, 2013

Once Home To A Dreaded Drug Lord, Medellin Now A Model City

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 7:54 pm

Of all the violent cities of Latin America, one stands out as a great success story: Medellin, a metropolis nestled in the mountains of northwest Colombia.

Once the home of the cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar, it recorded more than 6,300 homicides in 1991, making it the world's murder capital. Then, one city government after another built schools and libraries, parks and infrastructure. The police also received an overhaul and became more adept at going after violent trafficking groups.

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