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E. Digby Baltzell died Saturday night at age eighty. In the 1960s, E. Digby Baltzell - a sociologist - was writing about the decline of the Protestant Establishment, the class from which he himself had sprung, and he coined the term "white anglo saxon protestant" or W.A.S.P. to descibe its members.

In the 1990s, the militia movement attracted thousands of followers, spurred on by federal law enforcement blunders at Ruby Ridge and Waco. But after Timothy McVeigh -- who identified with the militia movement -- bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City, the movement began to decline. Robert Siegel travels to Montana to take the pulse of the militia movement after Sept. 11.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index experienced its largest single-day drop in almost two years. The decline comes on the heels of decreasing consumer spending and slowing job growth. Host Liane Hansen speaks to David Wyss, chief economist for Standard and Poor's, about the cooling off of the U.S. economy.

President Bush, battling declining polls numbers and criticism from Democrats, goes on NBC's Meet The Press for an hour-long interview. He defends his decision to go to war in Iraq and says CIA director George Tenet's job is safe despite complaints about pre-war intelligence. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

Baghdad looters continue to comb through official buildings and empty a museum of priceless antiquities. U.S. forces decline to adopt much of a security role, but may begin to patrol with Iraqis who are demanding order be restored. In some neighborhoods, people take the law into their own hands. Hear NPR's John Ydstie and NPR's Anne Garrels.

In 1999, Tom DeBaggio was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. He was 57. Soon after the diagnosis, he began talking with NPR about his illness. He wanted to document his decline, to break through what he called the "shame and silence" of the disease. Now he can't talk, walk or feed himself.

A new survey shows a significant decline in the incomes of primary care doctors between 1995 and 2003. During that same period, the U.S. was trying to get more medical students to go into primary care. The drop was largely the result of reduced payments by insurance companies. One Washington, D.C., family doctor is trying to reverse the trend.

U.S. foreign policy and military commitments in the Middle East have long been tied to U.S. dependence on oil from the region. But imports from the Persian Gulf have actually declined sharply in recent years, which may lead to a realignment of policy priorities and an easing up of U.S. presence there.

U.S. foreign policy and military commitments in the Middle East have long been tied to U.S. dependence on oil from the region. But imports from the Persian Gulf have actually declined sharply in recent years, which may lead to a realignment of policy priorities and an easing up of U.S. presence there.

Jody Becker of Chicago Public Radio reports on a thorny environmental case being heard next month by the U.S. Supreme Court. It involves the right of some Chicago suburbs to build a landfill on land that's being used by migratory birds. Some environmental activists warn that the court could use the case to gut the landmark Clean Water Act.

Everyone who has ever pondered whether chicken wings serve a purpose beyond deep fat fryers and bleu cheese sauce will be bowled over by the apparent benefits of wing flapping in flightless birds. NPR's John Nielsen reports on a study in this week's Science magazine showing how true flight may have evolved from these beginnings.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average has not declined at the same rapid clip as the battered Nasdaq during the recent stock downturn. But today the Dow fell very sharply and slipped below the 10,000 mark for the first time in five months, fresh evidence that pessimism about stocks is increasingly broad and deep.

Manmohan Singh, a 71-year-old economist, is slated to become India's new prime minister after Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi stunned supporters by declining the job. A former finance minister and member of India's Sikh minority, Singh oversaw the liberalizing reforms of India's economy in the early 1990s. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

Republicans digest a Friday apology from Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) over remarks that seemed to endorse America's segregated past. Lott has declined to step down from his post as Senate Republican leader. Republicans must decide if he can remain effective. Hear from NPR's Jacki Lyden and NPR's Juan Williams.

Bandleader, clarinetist and arranger Artie Shaw has died at home in Los Angeles. His health had declined since Thanksgiving. He was 94. Shaw's recording of "Begin the Beguine" became so popular in 1938 that it brought him to an even footing with the other so-called "King of Swing" -- Benny Goodman. NPR's Robert Siegel has a remembrance.

Vice President Dick Cheney already was facing declining popularity when he accidentally shot his hunting buddy. Senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that Cheney would have fared better had he gone public immediately after the shooting rather than spending four days figuring out how to handle it.

There they are, up on the power line, side by side by side by side by side. Starlings, each one like the other — rubber-stamped birds, a mob (or murmuration) of indecipherably similar critters, always the same, sitting or flying. But wait! What if there's such a thing as an Exceptional Starling? I think I've found one (or maybe ... four!), hiding in a video.

NPR's Richard Knox looks at human diseases that are thought to originate in animals. SARS is one such disease. So is a bird flu now affecting Europe. Crucial to finding the original cause is finding the first few human cases of the disease. In southern China, investigators say the trail to the first SARS cases is growing cold because of initial government resistance to outside help.

Nearly 4,000 listeners submitted short stories during this round of the Three-Minute Fiction contest. Novelist Ann Patchett will pick the winner and read it on air. Until then, we're bringing you excerpts of stories that have caught our eye. This week, NPR's Susan Stamberg reads a passage from "Bird Man" by Jeanne Martin of Seattle.

Reporter Virginia Biggar joins union organizers as they try to recruit new members among the Latino community in Los Angeles. Labor union membership has been on the decline for years, but some unions now see the immigrant population as a source of new membership. Low-wage labor and qeustionable conditions in California's garment industry has also galvanized labor organizers.