The Two-Way
4:21 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

Parents of Slain Children Share Memories At Newtown Funerals

Credit AP
This photo provided by the family shows Jessica Rekos. Rekos, 6, who was killed Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn.,

Two more funerals were held in Newtown, Conn., Tuesday, for first-graders James Mattioli and Jessica Rekos. The two children were killed in the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week.

The Connecticut Post reports that James, 6, was born four weeks early — and that "his family would quip that it was because he was hungry."

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The Two-Way
4:00 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

Michigan's Snyder Vetoes Bill Allowing Concealed Guns In Schools

Originally published on Wed December 19, 2012 4:50 am

Gov. Rick Snyder has vetoed a bill that would have allowed concealed pistols to be carried in schools and other places where they had been banned. The Michigan legislature had approved the legislation when its lame-duck session ended Thursday — one day before the Newtown elementary school shootings.

As NPR's Rick Pluta reported for today's Morning Edition, Snyder has said that Friday's tragedy played a role in his consideration of the bill:

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All Tech Considered
4:00 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

The Day Instagram Almost Lost Its Innocence

Credit Karly Domb Sadof / AP
Instagram was the target of a storm of outrage on Twitter and other sites after the company announced a change in its user agreement that hinted that it might use shared photos in ads.

Originally published on Thu December 20, 2012 1:16 pm

The wildly popular photo-sharing site Instagram nearly caused a user revolt when it revamped its terms of service and privacy policy to suggest it could allow uploaded photos to be used in ads without users' permission.

The change — which was posted in dense legalese on its website Monday — sparked users to vow to stop posting their color-filtered, tilt-shifted photos to Instagram.

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Movie Reviews
3:58 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

Shedding Grim Light On A 'Dark' Story

Originally published on Wed December 19, 2012 3:43 pm

With the screen pitch-black at the start of Zero Dark Thirty, we hear the confusion and alarm of Sept. 11, 2001: News reports that a plane has hit the World Trade Center, then the voices of a 911 operator reassuring a frightened trade center worker that she'll be OK, though she won't.

When the screen finally brightens, it's for a grim "black site" interrogation half a world away — a nephew of Osama bin Laden (Reda Kateb) strung up from the ceiling, bruised and bloodied, finally cut down only so that he can be waterboarded and stuffed into a tiny crate.

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It's All Politics
3:50 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

Obama Finding Gun Control Voice, Which Had Gone Quiet In White House

Credit Getty Images
President Obama attends a vigil for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims on Sunday in Newtown, Conn.

Originally published on Tue December 18, 2012 4:23 pm

If President Obama takes the lead in a movement for more effective gun control now that he's been stirred to action by the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, it would mark a significant break from his pattern so far as chief executive.

For while Obama has dutifully served as the nation's consoler in chief in localities where the all-too-frequent mass shootings have occurred, that has seemed the extent of the official response observable to White House outsiders.

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Shots - Health News
3:43 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

Research Chimps Get Permanent Retirement Home

Credit Chimp Haven
Chimpanzees check out a termite mound at the Chimp Haven sanctuary in Louisiana.

Originally published on Thu December 20, 2012 11:27 am

More than 100 chimps retired from medical research are about to get a new home.

Most of the primates who have been living at the New Iberia Research Center will soon make their permanent residence at the Chimp Haven sanctuary, the National Institutes of Health said Wednesday.

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Movie Reviews
3:27 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

A Touching, Tragic Look At 'Amour' In Autumn

Originally published on Wed December 19, 2012 9:22 am

We know from the outset that there's a death coming in Michael Haneke's Amour, a magisterial study of mortality that carried off the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival — and currently tops best-picture lists all over the world. But when we first meet Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) and Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant), retired Paris music teachers in their 80s, they're in the pink and enjoying a piano recital given by one of Anne's former pupils.

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The Two-Way
3:20 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

NRA Issues Statement Amid Calls For New Gun Control Laws

The National Rifle Association of America has broken its silence to comment on Friday's gun violence that ravaged a tight-knit Connecticut community, releasing a statement in which the gun-owners' rights group said it "is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again."

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Shootings In Newtown, Conn.
3:19 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

Investors, Retailers Shy Away From Guns; Will It Last?

Credit Alex Brandon / AP
Rifles are displayed for sale at a gun shop in Aurora, Colo., in July. Gun makers are feeling isolated by changing public attitudes.

It's a nervous time for companies that make and sell guns.

On Tuesday, Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm, announced it was selling its stake in Freedom Group, maker of the American Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, which was used in the Newtown killings last Friday, along with other brands such as Remington.

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Shootings In Newtown, Conn.
2:56 pm
Tue December 18, 2012

Amid Calls For Gun Control, Some Push For Weapons At School

Credit Tony Gutierrez / AP
David Thweatt, the school superintendent in Harrold, Texas, is seen in 2008. Troubled by school shootings around the country, Thweatt decided to arm school staff.

Originally published on Thu December 20, 2012 1:16 pm

A growing number of lawmakers are indicating they are open to considering new gun control measures in the wake of Friday's school shooting in Newtown, Conn. But while much of the national debate has focused on limiting access to guns, others are suggesting that schools should arm themselves to defend against attacks.

David Thweatt, school superintendent for the small Texas town of Harrold, northwest of Fort Worth, decided in 2006 that it was time to arm his staff. There's only one school in Harrold, a K-12 with 103 students.

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