Business
7:45 am
Mon December 5, 2011

White Rock Beverages Still Thirsty After 140 Years

White Rock Beverages may not be a household name today, but it used to be. And so was the girl on its bottle.

The Greek goddess Psyche has appeared on millions of bottles and cans of White Rock sparkling water, tonic water and ginger ale. And on every one, she is topless, gazing at her own reflection in a crystal-clear pool of water.

White Rock President Larry Bodkin says there was nothing lewd or suggestive about that Psyche logo when it debuted around the turn of the 20th century.

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The Two-Way
7:25 am
Mon December 5, 2011

All Eyes On 'Merkozy' As Leaders Try To Save Euro

Credit Lionel Bonaventure / AFP/Getty Images
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris today (Dec. 5, 2011).

While The New York Times says German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are working on a deal to save the euro that has "several moving parts," The Financial Times cautions that "officials on both sides have cautioned against expectations of an announcement of a detailed plan by the two."

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Strange News
6:48 am
Mon December 5, 2011

Hacker Turns Purple-And-Gold LSU's Website Crimson

More than a month before college football's title game between LSU and Alabama, they've already had the first play, featuring a head-fake by Alabama. Louisiana State sells merchandise online, in the school colors, purple and gold. But Sunday night someone hacked the site so that for a few hours, it displayed jerseys and other accessories in crimson and white — the colors of the Alabama's Crimson Tide.

The Two-Way
6:45 am
Mon December 5, 2011

Report: Cain To Endorse Gingrich

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (right) and Herman Cain during a Republican presidential debate Nov. 22, 2011, in Washington, D.C.

Update at 12:35 p.m. ET. Not Today:

Newt Gingrich's campaign just told Reuters that there are no plans for former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain to endorse his fellow Georgian's quest for the Republican nomination today — which, of course, does not rule out it happening at another time.

Our original post and an earlier update:

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Strange News
6:44 am
Mon December 5, 2011

Showy Cars Out For A Spin Get Crunched

Some fans of luxury sports cars in Japan took their pricey babies out Sunday — a fantastic fleet of eight Ferraris, two Mercedes and one Lamborghini. The road was wet, the cars were fast — one Ferrari pulled out to pass, skidded into a barrier and spun out. The result was a costly pileup.

The Two-Way
6:30 am
Mon December 5, 2011

Putin 'Still Sure To Win' Next Year Despite Setback For His Party

Credit Alexander Nemenov / AFP/Getty Images
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as he voted in Moscow on Sunday (Dec. 4, 2011).

Though Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party lost dozens of seats in Russia's parliament in elections held Sunday, and may have had to resort to fraud to keep from losing even more, he's "still sure to win" election as president next March, Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said on Morning Edition today.

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Three Books...
6:00 am
Mon December 5, 2011

3 Problem-Solving Reads For The Scientific Sleuth

Credit iStockphoto.com

As a boy in a tiny village in Mexico, I loved climbing up to the roof of my family's small home so I could study the stars and dream of becoming an astronaut. Then I discovered Kaliman, a comic-book hero who could unravel any mystery with his powers of telepathy, philosophy and scientific ability. He was fond of saying, "He who masters the mind, masters everything."

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Europe
5:01 am
Mon December 5, 2011

Merkel, Sarkozy Meet Ahead Of Brussels Summit

It's a crucial week for Europe as leaders embark on what many are calling a last-ditch effort to save the euro currency. The heads of the eurozone's two largest economies, Germany and France, meet Monday in Paris, where they're expected to agree on a master plan for all 27 EU leaders to sign off on at an emergency summit in Brussels at the end of the week.

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Credit Gary Knight/VII / Gary Knight/VII

Shankar Vedantam is a science correspondent for NPR. The focus of his reporting is on human behavior and the social sciences, and how research in those fields can get listeners to think about the news in unusual and interesting ways.

Before joining NPR in 2011, Vedantam spent 10 years as a reporter at The Washington Post. From 2007 to 2009, he was also a columnist, and wrote the Department of Human Behavior column for the Post. Vedantam writes an occasional column for Slate called "Hidden Brain."

Throughout his career, Vedantam has been recognized with many journalism honors including awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors, the South Asian Journalists Association, the Asian American Journalists Association, the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, and the American Public Health Association.

In 2009-2010, Vedantam served as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He participated in the 2005 Templeton-Cambridge Fellowship on Science and Religion, the 2003-2004 World Health Organization Journalism Fellowship, and the 2002-2003 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship.

Vedantam is the author of the non-fiction book, The Hidden Brain: How our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives. The book, published in 2010, described how unconscious biases influence people.

Outside of journalism, Vedantam has written fiction and plays. His short story-collection, The Ghosts of Kashmir, was published in 2005. The previous year, the Brick Playhouse in Philadelphia produced his full-length, comedy play, Tom, Dick and Harriet.

Vedantam has served as a lecturer at many academic institutions including Harvard University and Columbia University. In 2010, he completed a two year-term as a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. Since 2006, he has served on the advisory board of the Templeton-Cambridge Fellowships in Science & Religion.

Shots - Health Blog
4:16 am
Mon December 5, 2011

What's Behind A Temper Tantrum? Scientists Deconstruct The Screams

Credit iStockphoto.com

Children's temper tantrums are widely seen as many things: the cause of profound helplessness among parents; a source of dread for airline passengers stuck next to a young family; a nightmare for teachers. But until recently, they had not been considered a legitimate subject for science.

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