NPR News

As a part of the series, "Why Not," Tell Me More is looking at policies that were once untouchable but now may be on the table. Today, NPR Correspondent Tamara Keith and Emory Law Professor Dorothy Brown dig into the pros-and-cons of raising taxes on capital gains and dividends.

After an elementary school shooting in Connecticut, Americans continue to struggle to understand why it happened and how to prevent future tragedies. Host Michel Martin discusses the shooting with author Paul Barrett, journalist Craig Whitney and psychiatrist Carl Bell. They talk about the politics and psychology of America's gun culture.

The face of the American poor is changing. Journalist Anne Hull recently wrote about one teenager's struggle to break the cycle of poverty in a small rust belt town. Host Michel Martin discusses the story with Hull, youth pastor Shawn Galla, and the Brookings Institution's Ron Haskins.

If a good voice is genetic, it's likely Barbra Streisand got hers from her mother. Streisand's mother was too shy to ever perform professionally, but she had a lyric soprano and would sing at bar mitzvahs in their Brooklyn neighborhood when Streisand was a girl.

It's hard to eat just one potato chip. The salt, the fat, the crunch — no wonder we mindlessly munch away, especially if we're parked in front of the TV.

So is there something better for children to snack on in the afternoon, especially if we're looking to limit their calories? It turns out that the combination of cheese and raw veggies like broccoli, carrots and sliced peppers may be the best option from both a nutrient standpoint and a satiety one.

As new pieces of information come in about Friday's mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 children and six adults dead, we'll post them here.

The day began, just after 10 a.m. ET, with Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance telling reporters that most of the emerging evidence is "too difficult to discuss ... I'm not going to lie to you."

Update at 6:49 p.m. ET. Dogs Try To Comfort Students.

Saying that her choice understands the business sector and is the "right U.S. senator for our state and our country," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley named Republican Rep. Tim Scott to replace the retiring Sen. Jim DeMint (also a Republican) at a noontime news conference today.

After asking those gathered at the state capitol to pause for a moment of silence to honor the victims of Friday's shootings in Newtown, Conn., Scott said he's honored and excited "for many, many reasons."

Good morning.

Our early headlines, as you would expect, were about Friday's mass murder at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.:

-- Funerals Begin In Newtown, Investigation Continues.

The tragedy in Newtown, Conn., touches people in many different ways. On Morning Edition and at WNYC.org, the station's Brigid Bergin tells the story of Kyle Mangieri, a 7th grade social studies teacher at a school in nearby Fairfield, Conn.

There are Christmas displays, and then there's the one in Wall Township, N.J. It has synchronized lights, lasers, fog machines, strobe lights, 20-foot flames and the music of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. There's no charge — they only accept donations for a local charity.

Six-year-olds Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner — two of the 20 first-graders killed Friday when a gunman stormed Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. — are to be remembered at funeral services this afternoon.

Jack loved sports and was said to be a big fan of New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, who wrote the boy's name on the cleats — along with the words "My Hero" — he wore Sunday.

Hayden Carlo was recently pulled over near Dallas for having an expired registration sticker. He said he had a choice: either feed his kids or get a new registration. The officer issued a citation, and when Carlo unfolded it, he found $100.

It's probably not true that truth is stranger than fiction, but in the hands of a great biographer, it can be just as compelling. Novelists can create unique and unforgettable characters — there's never been anyone quite like Jane Eyre or Ignatius J. Reilly — but there's no shortage of fascinating literary protagonists who just happened to exist in real life.

According to the adherents of the 2012 apocalypse theory, rooted in a controversial reading of ancient Mayan numerology, Earth is going to break into pieces and/or be consumed by a solar flare and/or disappear into a black hole on Dec. 21, right before Christmas.

An official says at least 10 young girls were killed in eastern Afghanistan Saturday when a bomb went off as they were gathering firewood. It was not immediately clear if the explosion was caused by a newly planted bomb or a previously unexploded landmine, left over from decades of conflict.

In Egypt, unofficial results show the country's controversial draft constitution was narrowly approved in the first stage of a referendum held this past Saturday. The draft constitution has deeply divided Egyptians. The second round of voting will take place this Saturday.

Republicans and Democrats are pushing to make overhauling immigration a priority in 2013. Senator-elect Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, is expected to play a big part in any overhaul of immigration laws.

When Apple launched it's iPhone 5 in China Friday, it sold more than 2 million phones in three days. It's great news for the company as there have been some concerns about Apple's long-term outlook and its stock has taken a hit in recent days.

A cleaning crew found the coins after the death of a reclusive man in Carson City, Nevada, earlier this year. When the man was found to have no relatives in the area, researchers followed the trail to a teacher in California. She just needs certification from a judge to claim the chunk of change.

David Greene talks to toy analyst Sean McGowan about Lego's new line for girls, gender-neutral Easy Bake Ovens and other gender issues facing the toy industry. McGowan is a senior analyst at Needham & Company.

If Friday's school shooting in Connecticut follows the pattern set by other mass tragedies, huge numbers of Americans are worrying about the safety of their kids at school. How is our perception of risk is shaped by tragedy, and what happens when our perceptions do not line up with the facts?

There's still no budget deal to prevent the automatic spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to go into effect at the end of this year. There are some tax deductions, credits and other breaks lawmakers are weighing in this budget debate.

A federal court in Texas on Monday will take up the case of a high-school student who refuses to wear her location-tracking school ID.

The 15-year-old sophomore says the ID badge, which has an embedded radio frequency identification tag, is a violation of her rights. The student, Andrea Hernandez, believes the ID is "the mark of the beast" from the Book of Revelation.

An old complaint about the safety of childhood vaccines is finding new life at the United Nations.

The U.N. Environment Program is considering a ban on thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that is widely used in developing countries. The program expects to make a decision sometime after a final meeting on the issue in January.

Behind a tall metal gate in a nondescript nook of Kabul sits the Bamboo Wood Industries factory. It's not a place you're likely to stumble across by accident. Inside, a handful of men are cutting, painting and assembling desks and cabinets. The pieces being made are chocolate brown and quite modern looking.

Sitting in a spartan, unheated office above the factory floor is Fatima Jafari, the owner of the company. The 30-something woman started the business a little over a year ago.

This weekend, millions of Americans trekked across Middle Earth with Bilbo Baggins. The result? The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was No. 1 at the North American box office. It joins the list of other films that ranked No. 1 one their opening weekends, such as Underworld Awakening, Paranormal Activity 4 and Batman.

But here's the thing: The weekend battle at the box office doesn't necessarily decide the war in Hollywood, says Edward J. Epstein, author of The Hollywood Economist. Epstein says to be skeptical of what you read in Hollywood rags.

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz. Yesterday on the program, we spoke with pastor and poet Eugene Peterson. He's retired now, but he was the pastor at Christ Our King Presbyterian Church - near Baltimore - for 30 years. Back in the 1990s, he began to translate the Bible into modern-day English. It became the best-selling book called "The Message." It's a book millions of Christians and non-Christians alike, have come to rely on.