In the up or going to some valley Thanks for listening. Eat sleep. Her. Her treat. The powerline and please. Please very easy. To please. Please eat. Good morning Christine blazin Ford says she won't appear before Congress on Monday but could talk later in the week. Against a Supreme Court nominee It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News. In a letter to Republican Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says he'll testify Monday Regardless I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm Rachel Martin the Republicans want to push Cavanagh's nomination through before the midterm election but can they match the voter enthusiasm on the other side the latest breakdown on that talks and negotiations to bring an end to the Syrian civil war and also how to defy ageing by flying on a trap heat it is Friday September 21st a man who knows how to write about fear Stephen King turns 71 years old today. The newscast is next. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington encore of a Coleman lawyers for the woman who accuses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault are negotiating with the Senate Judiciary Committee over whether she'll testify next Monday N.P.R.'s Winsor Johnston says Professor Kristine blazin Ford is receiving some support. The. Protesters rallied on Capitol Hill yesterday in support of Ford who's requesting a full investigation by the f.b.i. Before a public hearing takes place New York Senator Kerry and Jill a brand says Senate Republicans are giving Ford a false option the option is show up Monday or don't show up at all I consider that to people I consider that to be disregarding I consider that to be something set up for failure they would like a he said she said scenario Ford says she would be willing to testify next week as long as the terms are fair and her safety is insured Windsor Johnston n.p.r. News Washington the National Weather Service continues to warn of life threatening flooding in the Carolinas some rivers are still reaching flood stage days after Hurricane Florence passed residents are returning home to completely wrecked houses Deborah Jewel has now seen her home in Newbern North Carolina The bad thing about it was is a couple blocks away is a sewer line. And that overflowed and that was all the way there are further concerns about hog lagoons in North Carolina nearly 2 dozen have overflowed with hog manure contaminating all the surrounding water tech company Google is warning some members of Congress and their aides about hackers who have been targeting them N.P.R.'s Alina cell yoke has more in a letter to leadership Senator Ron Wyden says his office has discovered that a number of senators and Senate staff members were warned by the meter technology company that their personal. Well accounts were targeted by foreign government hackers now Google has confirmed to n.p.r. That this had to do with Google and e-mail accounts and what these warnings typically say is that Google detected government backed attackers trying to steal the user's passwords though it might be a false alarm spokesman for widening Google does not clarify when these hacking attempts to place whiten wrote in the letter that he's concerned that the Senate sergeant at arms is not equipped to protect Senate staff from cyber attacks Alina so you can p.r. News Washington talks are not going well between the European Union and the United Kingdom on the U.K.'s exit from the European Union u.k. Prime minister to resume a held an informal summit on Thursday in Austria with some e.u. Leaders they say her bucks of plan is unacceptable May says it's the only plan that she will offer and her country is prepared to walk away from the e.u. If it's rejected this is n.p.r. . Officials in Tanzania say the death toll has climbed above 100 people from a ferry that overturned and sank in Lake Victoria observers say they don't know how many people were aboard but the vessel was overcrowded at least 37 people have been saved but rescue efforts were called off overnight they resume this morning state run media in Vietnam say the country's president has died from a serious illness Michael Sullivan says this was despite efforts by domestic and international doctors to save him 61 year old became president in 2016 and was the public face of Vietnam to the international community has been rumored to be sick for months but continue to appear in public one of his last appearance is less than 2 weeks ago during a state visit by Indonesia's president Joko Widodo where Kwang looked visibly weak and stumbled during the welcoming ceremony before he became president Kwang served as minister of public security a powerful position in a ministry with sweeping powers to protect the one party state from threats either domestic or from abroad the former general died in a military hospital and annoyed state run media did not disclose the nature of his illness for n.p.r. News I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai Thailand operators of a Japanese digital currency exchange say hackers have stolen about $60000000.00 worth of crypto currency These are digital assets that can be traded and they're supposed to be hard to manipulate but the exchanges the trade crypto currencies are still at risk of hacking the tech bureau Corp says it's exchange was hacked for 2 hours last week I'm Corba Coleman n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include staples with Prince and marketing solutions for business including color copies and presentations booklets and manuals signage and banners more at Staples stores or Staples dot com staples. Please. Please. On a Friday It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm Rachel Martin No one is really sure what's going to happen next week when it comes to Brett Kavanaugh scum from ation to the Supreme Court Christine Lahti for the woman accusing Kavanagh of sexual assault when they were teenagers says Monday is too soon for her to testify before a Senate committee although now her lawyer says she may be willing to appear a few days later under conditions that are quote fair and ensure her safety Kavanaugh will be there on Monday though in a letter he told the Senate Judiciary Committee he looks forward to the chance to testify and to defend himself against this allegation President Trump again threw his support behind his Supreme Court nominee at a rally in Las Vegas last night and the crowd responded in kind. I chanting Cavanagh's name there and here's what the president said in an interview with Fox News before the rally Why didn't somebody call the f.b.i. 36 years ago I mean you could also say when did this all happen what's going on to take a man like this and research that with that being said let her have her say and let's see how it all works out but I don't think you can delay it any longer they've delayed it a week already Scott Jennings is with us now from Louisville Kentucky he is a Republican strategist who worked in the Bush White House thanks so much for being with us Scott good morning thank you you argue there doesn't need to be an f.b.i. Investigation into Professor Ford's allegation why Well I've spoken to a senior f.b.i. Agent who I do some work with and another job I have and he told me there's no digital footprints here there's no text messages we're previa they the only thing they can do is interview people when what do we know we know that according to Dr Ford there were 3 people in the room 2 of them it said it didn't happen she did and I think the f.b.i. Is highly unlikely to come back with any kind of a result other than what we already know that my belief is that the committee needs to move on with their own investigation after all we trust the United States that. To vet these appointees and that's what they ought to do although there is precedent as you know George w. Bush asked the f.b.i. To investigate the allegations and you know Hill made against the nominee Clarence Thomas I mean what is the rush year why not slow it down interview family members friends try to get to the facts well that the issue is the way the Democrats are trying to delay the asked for an f.b.i. Investigation was to delay the why not delay but why not delay because we want great Kavanagh or a Republican appointee on the Supreme Court and the Democrats very simply to talk Raw Politics want to push this confirmation process past the midterms they're hoping that Democrats take control of the Senate and they would then shut down the confirmation process that's expected to. Be heard I think people should understand there's a raw political calculation by the Democrats which is when the Republicans is here pointing out that the Republicans don't want to delay for the very same reason Absolutely and I'm up front about that the Republicans want to chance to confirm their person in the Democrats want to push this off and hold this thing open for 2 years and that's why they keep asking for delays you know there was a hearing Thursday that was delayed to Monday now they're asking for Thursday next week it'll be something else I think Republicans that would belittle to move this along May I ask you though you know Democrats are supportive of this but the request for the f.b.i. Investigation came from Christine blazin for a do you have evidence she is doing all this to benefit the Democratic Party. I think it gets. In the report and I don't think that f.b.i. Would find anything that couldn't be found by committee investigators remember they reached out to witnesses and Dr Ford and Mr Cavanaugh and Cavanaugh we only. We should just note for our listeners we are having a lot of problems Scott with your with your line I am going to move on I'm I want to talk to you about the the raw politics of this which is what you spend a lot of time thinking about I mean we are in a moment where women voters in particular are up for grabs in these midterm elections and there are those in the Republican Party including Michael Steele former head of the r. And c. Who suggest the g.o.p. Has a woman problem and also is running in a moment where the man who sits atop the party the president himself has sexual misconduct allegations against him I mean what are the political risks of this moment for the g.o.p. While there's no doubt there's a huge gender gap in the polling I'm not sure it exists for all Republican candidates but it certainly is this for the president that they absolutely true I think the Republicans have been responsive to Dr Ford they have pushed the hearing back already once they said they want to hear from her they're listening to her attorneys about her demands I think they're back to back it pretty responsibly we did 24 hours of meeting her and they offered her a chance to tell her story on terms that she would choose so I think they've done what they need to do to be responsive and to try to get the relevant testimony but I don't think it would be prudent be to be their own political base I think would tell you to let this delay past the election which means if Christine Lahti Ford for whatever reason decides not to testify you would suggest they move forward with a vote as soon as possible if she chooses not to testify the Republicans have to prove this confirmation forward it's absolutely what in their balance to do that and I suspect they will if they cannot come to an agreement with her on some kind of test Scott Jennings he's a Republican political strategist based in Kentucky thanks some. Time this morning Scott we appreciate it thanks the Department of Veterans Affairs wants to coordinate its electronic health records with health records at the Pentagon this makes sense since a service member moves from one organization to the other but apparently it's hard to do a $1000000000.00 effort to do it failed and now a $10000000000.00 effort is underway N.P.R.'s Quil Lawrence reports it is not clear the result will be any different the v.a. Used to be considered a pioneer with its electronic health record in the 1990 s. But that's off where has never been able to interface with the Pentagon's health care software so troops had to sometimes print out and mail or hand carry their military medical record over the v.a. Congress made it law in 2011 that those 2 systems should be able to communicate Republican Phil Roe summed it up at a recent hearing we spent a $1000000000.00 of the taxpayers' money and I think that's what's astonishing to me that we could we could get rid of a $1000000000.00 in accomplish anything this year the trumpet ministration decided the v.a. Should simply buy the same software that the Pentagon uses made by a company called Cerner the new contract is for $10000000000.00 over 10 years to get all the V.A.'s $9000000.00 patients into that system plus be compatible with the Pentagon's very different health care system plus be compatible with the private sector clinics that the v.a. Uses heavily v.a. Is acting Chief Health Information Officer John Wyndham said hiring the same company is just the start we've acquired the same commercial electronic health record and now we're understanding the gaps and so those gaps have to be reconciled so far that's not going smoothly the V.A.'s chief information officer quit in April 2 other key officials quit this summer after only months on the job one main concern is that the Pentagon and the v.a. Are both in charge and when when everyone is responsible no one's responsible and so I think that's what has led us to where. We are today that's Carol Harris of the Government Accountability Office at the same hearing she said what happened last time was disagreements and turf wars between the 2 largest departments in the u.s. Government had no clear referee and time and money simply wasted away and she says that hasn't changed which she fears is setting up this new effort for failure n.p.r. News California election officials are launching a new effort to fight disinformation during political campaigns but it comes with thorny legal and political questions Capital Public Radio's Ben after reports from Sacramento as part of our series this week on election security as Russian agents sought to influence the 26000 election they didn't just hack in the e-mail accounts or try to get into voting systems they also planted what's known as this information intended to drive down voter turnout so telling people to go to the wrong polling place telling people that the date of the election is difference telling people that they can text in their vote Brett Schaefer with the Alliance for securing democracy tracks Russian influence operations on social media and he offers an example of an official looking Clinton campaign graphic that encouraged voters to vote from home by sending a text and even had a paid for by Hillary for president 2016 disclaimer at the bottom in other words no need to actually go to a polling place to cast your vote for president just send a tweet or a text this obviously wasn't true and it violated voter suppression laws and that's the kind of this information California wants to fight the secretary of state Alex Padilla people deserve to have confidence in our elections systems and countering wrong information has become an important part of that so Party is opening a new office of election cybersecurity and he's hiring now with hopes of getting started before the November election this allows us to be able to identify campaigns along those lines more quickly correct information and as appropriate work with social media platforms and others to bring some of that information to broach a 1st. As far as he knows California is the 1st state to target this information and he says it's a vital proactive step forward but he warns it's dangerous to give government officials the power to decide what kinds of dissent from ation should be taken down that very quickly is going to be a slippery slope and it's going to become political and problematic on many levels and when the California legislature gave final approval for the new office last month Republicans like Assemblyman Matthew Harper voted no if indeed this was about making sure told voice situations in which someone was giving wrong information about when Joe vote how to vote etc then it should have been specifically and narrowly tailored to that the law states the office will monitor and counteract false or misleading information that could suppress voter participation or create confusion and disruption it silent on the issues of false campaign claims and conspiracy theories but Secretary of State Party it insists though be off limits and Brett Schaefer thinks the language in the law is pretty clear from the way that is written I consider that a positive of course pretty a successor could choose to interpret it differently and as for the social media companies Twitter and Facebook are working with pretty his office to create a process for reporting and removing to information but they're also quite clear that they too are targeting dissin from ation about the voting process not campaign claims for n.p.r. News I'm Ben Adler in Sacramento. You're listening to n.p.r. News. K. Beauty is ringing in the fall with a new programming schedule starting Monday October 1st all things considered moves to 4 pm weekdays democracy now will be heard at sex we're also adding some exciting new n.p.r. Programs to our weekend lineup effective October 6th listen for Hidden Brain Sunday afternoons at one the investigative journalism show reveal at 2 and the Thomas Jefferson our at 4 see the updated schedule and learn more about the new programs at k b u t dot org. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Sony Pictures Classics presenting the wife a new film starring Glenn Close as a woman whose 30 plus year marriage is challenge when her husband receives the Nobel Prize also starring Jonathan Price and Christian Slater now playing from Wells Fargo established 850 to reestablish 2018 with a recommitment to customers working off the principles the company was founded on Wells Fargo dot com slash re new Wells Fargo Bank and a and from at last Ian a collaboration software company powering teams around the world committed to providing the tools and practices to help teams plan track build and work better together more had at last e n. Dot com. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Steve Inskeep some Syrians want to talk about what comes after their disastrous war Syria's government is close to attacking it live province one of the last areas held by rebel groups but what comes after that Solomon shift has been thinking about that for years if you're going to make that very difficult transition from war to peace you need more than just military tools think of as a kind of outside consultant for the war or he hopes for peace he brings together opposition leaders armed rebels foreign governments various stakeholders in Syria to try to talk through their issues in an informal setting and now he's watching a possible formal set of talks the United Nations has been moving toward sponsoring what would be called a Constitutional Committee backed by foreign governments but made up of Syrians who would talk through the post-war government well many thing else we need Western governments we need regional governments tools to get much more involved in this effort of a more inclusive process in the constitutional committee so your question is not immediate humanitarian tactical like the province of It'll have what happens as government forces close in in this province where several 1000000 people are taking shelter you are involved in these behind the scenes talks that are trying to look beyond the conflict beyond the war and asking what kind of Syria's going to be there is that right even if President Assad and his government got all the territory he's still presiding over a very weak and divided country where he only still controls 2 thet the United States is staying in one 3rd with his condition our opponents in the Northeast there is no money so we need a political process what would a sod's leverage be to giving some power to opposition groups that his troops have crushed on the battlefield I think we should be very clear eyed that the Assad government. It's not going to want to lose control of the political track and it's done at best to block what Having said that you know the Russians. Do need some movement and they need to be joined by the United States that needs to be behind the scenes some very hard talking based on some concrete ideas of how do you effect a real transition in Syria and I believe maybe we're at a moment that can really start to take root Do you worry at all that your well intentioned work would end up effectively helping Assad because he's going to stay in power you're effectively accepting he's going to stay in power and now the question is how do you bring in the opposition to accept that. Work is focused on bringing as many Syrians to the table who have a role to play the fate of us which I think is what you're really getting at something that will be determined over a period of time I think it is interesting that even the United States and other partners are not sort of focusing on that they're focusing 1st and foremost on building leverage for a political track and then pushing a serious one where the kinds of mechanisms such as a constitutional committee are empowered and they results actually matter what's the point of working on a constitution of the president is still going to be Bashar al Assad who is obviously going to disregard any law that that he needs to disregard his view it's a very fair and a very good question and of course that's what should concentrate the minds of Syrians as well as the international backers of such a process that it is truly empowered one and if that was the case I would suspect that you would start to see amendments and mechanisms which may not guarantee any president for life meaning that you believe if the right people from a broad swath of Syrian society are given the power to draft a constitution they're going to draft a constitution that severely limits the power of the president let me put it this way to you Steve I was in Beirut not that long ago. I meet a lot of people who come from inside the country I met one who is not told an opposition figure and I asked a person you know so how many of you really want change now and the person looked to me and said about 15000000 of us so this man is saying the vast majority of the country is ready for something different if you're really going to make that transition from wall to peace and in that respect and Syrians must be empowered in the international community led by the United States on the political track working with the Russians in particular is our best hope of actually arriving at something like some of the group thanks very much my pleasure. And on this Friday we bring you the story of a woman clearly unafraid to try something new I'm very good heart I am 85 wonderful years old and I go to try preschool here in Escondido 4 times a week yes she said trappy is school very good heart of Escondido California remembers going to the circus with her dad and marveling at the women on the track piece so I mentioned that on my 78th birthday party and a friend of mine Q You need a coupon to go to the track these high school in Escondido to have a free lesson and I've loved it that minute and. Just delighted to be where i am now READY so if you've ever seen people do this it does looks scary and harrowing but he says it's not that hard though once you get the hang of it the main thing about the whole track b. Is that you have to the timing has to be perfect so. If you listen to the call you'll have no trouble of course don't talk a lot all travel just fine so good I did clearly listen to the calls from up there on her track peas you can see her do this in this amazing video online she's wearing a red white and blue leotard sailing through the air held only by a safety harness she's doing the splits that's pretty crazy she made it into the 200-1000 Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest performing female trapeze artist the book went on sale this month said I'm very. To be flying on this journey of my life I certainly never expected just to me it's like doing the impossible she hopes her record will encourage people not to think that they can try something new we get a lot more on our journey she says is it fun to do the impossible. News. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Dave Mattingly attorneys for Christine blazin Ford say Ford is willing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week under certain conditions the committee wants to hear from Ford and u.s. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Monday Ford's attorneys say they prefer next Thursday Ford accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when the 2 were in high school something Kavanagh all categorically denies Alexis Goldstein graduated from the holding arm school in 1909 that's the private girls' school also attended by Ford Goldstein says she and others presented an alumni letter to 2 Democratic senators supporting Fort Lee as a lot and I stand with her and we believe her that we are calling for a thorough and independent investigation Cavanaugh says he wants a hearing as soon as possible to clear his name tonight in Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz squares off against Democratic challenger Benno a work in the 1st of 3 debates Ashley Lopez with member station says polls suggest a tighter race than many analysts were expecting the challenge for beto Reich is to turn a lot of these nonvoters because Latinos are historically nonvoters in Texas is to turn them into actual voters and that takes a lot of money it takes a lot of time we'll see you know it all comes down to what the next few weeks look like Lopez was speaking to N.P.R.'s Morning Edition the midterm elections are November 6th this is n.p.r. News. Beginning today consumers can freeze their credit report at no charge they can also lift that freeze at no cost as N.P.R.'s Collins wire reports the federal law is designed to protect people from hackers out to steal their personal information it was just over a year ago that Equifax and mounts the stunning news a data breach had exposed the sensitive information of nearly half the u.s. Population months later the federal government amended a law to make it easier to protect against attacks like this and now those changes are taking effect consumers can block lenders from looking at their information without the fear of being charged fees by the $3.00 major credit reporting bureaus and other words they can exercise greater control over who looks at their credit reports many consumer advocates recommend taking advantage of the new rules they say it's a valuable way to stop identity thieves from opening new lines of credit in your name college wire and p.r. News New York North Carolina's governor says it's still too soon to know the extent of damage across his state from Hurricane Florence with hundreds of road still underwater right Cooper says it'll be in the billions of dollars though and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is asking Congress to put federal aid on a fast track Florence is blamed for at least $41.00 deaths in the Carolinas and Virginia mostly in North Carolina authorities say more than half of those killed were in vehicles during the flooding I'm Dave Mattingly n.p.r. News in Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from the Main Office of Tourism offering travelers an opportunity to explore and discover their very own main thing to be inspired be original and be yourself at visit Maine dot com. From c.f.p. Certified financial planner professionals committed to providing holistic financial planning from taxes and investments to retirement and estate planning in the client's best interest let's make a plan dot org And from Americans for the Arts. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm Rachel Martin the u.k. Keeps trying and the e.u. Keeps saying no British prime minister to resign may presented a plan this week to her peers in the European Union aiming to keep the u.k. In Europe single market they weren't so receptive though the president of the European Commission John Klobuchar told reporters that May's suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work if a new deal is not my working assumption but I want to tap. Then we are prevent because the commission has proof of all the elements of the consequences of a new deal which could be entirely new to so don't throw up you don't want to be happy don't worry quoting Bobby McFerrin their time sorting out though European officials have set a deadline of midnight Tobar N.P.R.'s Frank Langfitt joins us now from London Hey Frank thank morning racial lot of people Tran same thing getting the same answer hoping for a different result here yeah it basically it's been like covering a loop where it's just it's the say it's a game ping pong it's goes back and forth with no real result and what Prime Minister may is asking for here is frictionless access for goods into this market of over 500000000 consumers but still being outside of the e.u. And of course what they're asking for the u.k. Is asking for is a big benefit of membership without actually being a member and after a while understandably Europe is kind of exasperated and also feels that the Bracks tears here in the United Kingdom may have sold a bill of goods which people Amanda McRoy He's the president France of course he said that quote those who has said that you can easily do without Europe that it will all go very well and there will be lots of money are liars so very strong words out of Salzburg yesterday so what does the u.k. Do I mean do they have any leverage to extract and can see I don't Rachel they don't have a lot is a proud country is the world's 6th largest economy but the e.u. Is many times larger and if you're in Germany you're a car maker you want to see new trade barriers you want to be able to sell into the u.k. But so far Europe is mostly unified in terms of its response to the u.k. And essentially what the u.k. Has is primarily what I would call negative in negative leverage they've basically been saying if you don't give us what we want we're going to crash out of the e.u. With no deal they're like Heine do that well no they're not like fine because it will hurt the European economies but it's going to hurt the u.k. a Lot worse so that's not a. Really good of a good negotiating position. As Party conference is just over a week away I mean it's impossible to ignore kind of the political repercussions of all this she has been able to hold on to power thus far extraordinarily Yes sustain . You know I don't see her going any time immediately even though this was treated in the papers this morning as a humiliation for her and there continues to be talk of dumping her as a leader the idea of changing horses in midstream in something so massively complex as Breck's it seems crazy she's also proved very durable much more so than anybody really thought and if you have a leadership battle here that would actually create more chaos and in the sort of Breck's it negotiations and it also could end up triggering in a general election here if the Conservative Party they could lose that election they could lose the government government their control the government and then the Labor Party leader his name is Jeremy Corbyn he could become prime minister he's a socialist and that has to be the conservatives worst nightmare So again the sort of negative leverage that Prime Minister may has you know if you don't do this things could get a lot worse N.P.R.'s Frank Langfitt in London thanks so much Frank happy to do Rachael when President Trump campaigns for Republicans in this fall's election he is campaigning against history midterm elections usually though not always go against the party in the White House surveys also show Democrats are much more enthusiastic this year than Republicans and that explains the president's message to Republicans last night in Las Vegas in a fact he said act enthused promise me gotta get out through the mid don't be complacent I gotta get out of me. Tonight the president stops in Springfield Missouri which is where N.P.R.'s Don Gonyea is the southwest part of Missouri where Trump will speak tonight is a stronghold for the president it is also a pretty good spot for vendors selling drum merchandise. As well as flags This is n.p.r. News. The West word is k b u t's longest running locally produced public affairs program each week we chat with locals making a positive impact on our community about issues that matter here and we do it with a focus on our unique environment and mountain culture tune in to the west word Saturdays and noon on k b u t community radio for the Gunnison Valley. K b u t's community calendar is new and improved we've teamed up with area organizations to create going to some valley calendar dot com a new one stop location for events and public service announcements in the region find out about area live music community meetings classes and lectures fundraisers and more see complete listings that got us in Valley calendar dot com There's also a link there for you to submit your event got us in Valley calendar dot com is a service of k b u t. Community radio for the Gunnison Valley where found it 90.3 in Crested Butte 88.7 in Gunnison and 94.9 at Jack's cabin thanks for joining us today. Good morning I'm Rachel Martin we told you about these 2 guys did not make Donald's ads needed more Asian American representation so they made a fake McDonald's poster starring themselves and hung it up inside a real McDonald's and for weeks nobody noticed eventually the posters and the 2 friends got a whole lot of attention and McDonald's noticed them and their message the company says it plans to feature more Asian Americans in its marketing and it cut each of the guys a $25000.00 check It's Morning Edition support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from indeed used by over $3000000.00 businesses for hiring where employers can post jobs and use screener questions to build their shortlist of preferred candidates learn more and indeed dot com slash hire from Magnolia Pictures with loved Gilda a documentary about comedian Gilda Radner the tells her life story through private journals and photographs from her rise to stardom to her struggle with cancer now playing. From the any case the foundation. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm Rachel Martin now a story about rice in Japan with an unexpected turn a few years ago the size of Japan's overall rice market was about 12000000000 u.s. Dollars The number may sound really big but it's a little bit deceptive to tell us why here Stacey Vanek Smith and Sally Herships from the Planet Money team the Japanese are eating less rice a recent survey done by the Ministry of Agriculture 7 percent of Japanese people said they hadn't eaten a single grain of rice in the last month. Is writing a book about the changing nature of Japanese agriculture She says the Japanese are eating about half as much rice as they did in the 1960 s. This decline has been happening for a while but at the same time the price of rice has been going up and this seems like a reversal of the key economic law of supply and demand so how is this happening 1st Japan's population is declining so there are fewer people eating rice next Japan's population is aging and older people eat fewer calories and after World War 2 Japan's economy got much stronger so as people had more money they ate more protein and less Rice finally tastes began to change bread and pasta became more popular and this is where the plunge ladies come in and once made it got together and used their union to protest having to deal with sticky rice I'm place when there was a bright and pasta option and so when school menus were being discussed and lunch made you and I have a voice and many of them decided that they preferred cleaning of bread and pasta over rice and there you go now you might think that when demand falls we would see a drastic decline in supply but you know even to this day I can say 95 percent of farmers grow some amount of rice there are a couple of major reasons for this reason number one rice is relatively easy to farm so there are actually a lie. Lot of part time rice farmers in Japan reason number 2 after World War 2 it Japan wasn't able to grow enough rice so Japan decided to pay its farmers subsidies to grow rice so there would always be enough then in 1998 also slapped a tariff on imports of foreign rice of more than 700 percent but if demand is falling why wouldn't these subsidies and tariffs be killed off but rural voters like farmers represent a big voting block and politicians want to keep them happy but demand for Rice has fallen off a cliff so if you were the Japanese government what do you do the Japanese are eating more meat like beef and the country's cattle farmers have become heavily dependent on corn and soybean imports so the government came up with an idea so why not on the government sought subsidize farmers to grow rice that can be eaten by Carol cows this is one of the reasons for the seeming supply and demand mismatch in 2015 the amount of rice grown for cattle feed doubled over the year before and here's the thing about rice for cows Yes So grow it a farmer does not have to put in as much time in fact 20 percent less time to grow rice for cows then people rice a farmer that grows cattle feed Rice gets twice as much for the same amount of rice the same encourage own rice as a farmer who grows rice 1st human consumption which explains why there is less rice being produced for humans so much less rice the prices of human Rice have gone up by 30 percent somehow I feel like the cows are behind this Stacey Vanek Smith Sally Herships n.p.r. News support for Planet Money comes from the Alliance for lifetime income a nonprofit composed of financial services organizations working to educate Americans about options for securing protected lifetime income in retirement more at Alliance for lifetime income dot org This is n.p.r. News. Person. Kiddies Morning Edition. Here in the valley there are plenty of reasons to get out of bed. On N.P.R.'s Morning Edition news and analysis from some of the best reporters in It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Steve Inskeep when the playwright Lorraine Hansberry died in 1965 she was only 34 but already made her mark on American literature her play a raisin in the sun which tells the story of a black family the tries to move from its south side Chicago neighborhood into a white neighborhood that play is an American classic Today Karen Grigsby Bates from our Code Switch team has been reading a new biography of rain Hansberry the rain hands Barry was 29 years old when a raisin in the sun opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway in 1959 it earned an armload of awards including the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best play of the year Hansberry had bested Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill for the prize overnight she was famous and became even more so a few years later when the movie version of her play was released Sidney Poitier played Walter Lee younger a man all too aware of the cost of racial prejudice looking in America it's not a member think and I'm 35 years old I'm married 11 here is I got a boy who's got to sleep in the living room because I got not an age not a given but stories like on how rich white people live and raise in remains one of the most produced works by a black American playwright looking for Lorraine the radiant and radical life of Lorraine Hansberry show she was more than this beloved play though says biographer in money Perry she was a feminist before the feminist movement she was identified as a lesbian and thought about gay rights organizing before the gay rights movement and she was an anti-colonialist before all of the Independence's had been won and Africa and the Caribbean in other words she was intersectional before that became a thing and says Perry she ravelled and her identity even though as she railed against injustice in the early sixty's black impatience with sex. Geisha in was growing black Americans were trying to gain their rights peacefully and the national pace felt slow in 1964 after protesters proposed blocking streets to tie up traffic some New Yorkers were outraged at a town hall meeting and Sperry said this it isn't as if we got up today and said you know what can we do to irritate America. You know it's really hard that. Have. A communication of ham formation of this situation she was willing to risk her fame and her recognition for her political convictions she became more and more outspoken the better she was known and says the money Perry has Perry was not afraid of head on confrontations in 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy gathered a group of black intellectuals and celebrity activists in a New York living room Hansberry was there so were James Baldwin Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne Kennedy asked a group to spread the word that the Kennedy administration had done a lot for civil rights the rain Hansberry told him it wasn't nearly enough hands there is said to our case we want a moral commitment from you to do the right thing on civil rights Bobby Kennedy was steamed. Has very thought the meeting was a failure but a few weeks later in a televised address Americans heard the president say this young confronted by narrowly with a moral. It is pure anything here you know thank you Judy somebody had been listening in money Perry says Hands Barry's petite stature and royal carriage slowed some people into dismissing or but she convincingly conveyed the black anger and depression that came from the constant challenges of segregation although she'd grown up part of Chicago's Negro elite early on Hansberry had lived on a ghetto street like the ones her characters in Razan were trying to escape is why as Baldwin said she was able to give voice to black America with the raisin in the sun it was a truthful the picture although she wrote about loving women in her private papers Hansberry was married to theatre producer Robert Nemeroff for several years says Perry they separated before she became famous but he remained her best friend her closest confidant Nemeroff supported her work financially and it was to him that she gave her drafts for honest criticism Perry says Hansberry wasn't out in the sense we're familiar with today she was a member of one of the 1st lesbian organizations and the country the daughters of politeness it would have been very difficult and even dangerous for her to be out in multiple ways in early 1960 s. New York homosexuality was illegal gathering spots often were raided and the people in them arrested and very didn't want to upset her proper family so she had an unconventional but very real relationship they loved each other she also love James Baldwin they enjoyed mutual adoration again in money Perry when they met he was already famous she was one of the few people who he could turn to in every way she was. Close to singer activist Nina Simone to both women financially supported Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement a few years after Hansberry's death Simone co-wrote a song to honor her friend and it became an anthem for young black America the title came from a posthumously published book of Hansberry's work. Barry's work was widely but not universally beloved some took exception to her criticism of white allies that needed to be prominently featured in the movement and interpreted that as being anti white a mani Perry disagrees she wasn't anti white but she was a very strong proponent of black South determination Lorraine Vivian Hans Barry died of pancreatic cancer on January 12th 1965 in money Perry says people focused too much on the wrong aspect of her career you know there's been this constant theme for the past several decades Oh she died so young what would she have produced had she lived longer but the reality is she had produced so much which is why Perry thought it was time to bring the overlooked contributions artistic social and political of this young gifted and proudly black artists to the forefront now Karen Grigsby Bates n.p.r. News. Morning Edition from n.p.r. News our theme music was written by b.j. Lederman. I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm Rachel Martin.