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Not every year-end Top 10 list has to be a strict list of the 10 best albums, nor does it have to be a scientific ranking of music by merit. Two years ago, The Current's Mark Wheat began assembling a year-end best list in the form of a 10-song soundtrack, in the hopes that it would reflect the way he experienced the year. He says that 2009 marks the first time it's really worked.

The nation's top military officer says more U.S. troops will likely be needed to win the war in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen's comments before the Senate Armed Services committee came as Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan underscored his opposition to additional forces, and Sen. John McCain, the committee's ranking Republican, shot back that any delay in sending troop reinforcements would have catastrophic consequences.

The nation's top military officer told senators Tuesday he supports overturning the law barring gays from serving openly in the ranks. Adm. Mike Mullen's comments were the first time a senior active-duty officer has called for ending what's known as don't ask don't tell, which has forced thousands of gay servicemen from the ranks since it was enacted in 1993.

The top military commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. It's his first public appearance before Congress since the killings of 16 Afghan civilians, apparently by a U.S. soldier. That incident and others, have caused new tensions between the U.S. and Afghanistan's government, and prompted some to reappraise America's strategy for the war. Nevertheless, Allen insisted that the strategy remains on course.

Guillermo Vincente Vidal is the Deputy Mayor of Denver and has an unusual life story, chronicled in his recent book, Boxing for Cuba. Vidal talks about his top leadership role in the city and talks about his journey to success, including how, at age 10, he was one of more than 14,000 children airlifted out of communist CUBA by the U.S.-sponsored "Operation Peter Pan."

illuminating the best of Indian Country in storytelling by promoting understanding between Native and non-Native cultures

illuminating the best of Indian Country in storytelling by promoting understanding between Native and non-Native cultures

Daniel talks to Frank Keith, spokesperson for the IRS, and Greg Holloway of the General Accounting Office, about a GAO study that concludes that the IRS' internal bookkeeping system is so bad that it is virtually impossible to audit them. Keith says that the IRS deals with more recipts that the top 30 Fortune 500 companies put together with computer systems designed in the 60s, and that, given their present system, it is impossible to provide auditors with the information they need.

Country singer Charley Pride will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this coming Wednesday, when he becomes the first African American artist so honored. He's won three Grammy Awards, had more than 50 singles on the charts and more than half in the Top 10, including the Number One hit "Kiss An Angel Good Morning". Host Jacki Lyden talks to him about his career.

Linda speaks with David Broder and Haynes Johnson, two top political correspondents with the Washington Post and co-authors of the new book The System which examines how the machinery of government dealt with the problem of health care during the most recent effort by President Clinton to reform the health care apparatus. The 'system' failed to provide a solution to the problem, and authors Broder and Johnson say that failure demonstrates many of the vagaries and deficiencies of modern American politics.

Robert talks with David Frei (FRY), who has provided color commentary for the USA Network's coverage of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show since 1990. He is also one of the world's top breeders of Afghan Hounds. They discuss the technical aspects of judging dog shows, and why this year's winner of the coveted "Best In Show" award...a Standard Schnauzer named Champion Parsifal di Casa Netzer...won the prize.

GOP leaders unveiled their list of legislative priorities today, two months after the start of the congressional session. Speaker Newt Gingrich and other top leaders were trying to answer claims that, compared to the start of the last session in 1995, this Congress has done little. The list of Republican priorities begins with balancing the federal budget, and also includes tax relief and a ban on certain late-term abortions. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Novelist Tim LaHaye is the co-author of the popular Left Behind series. The books are apocalyptic Christian thrillers. The tenth and latest book is The Remnant, which debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. LaHaye is also the former co-chairman of Jack Kemp's presidential campaign, was on the original board of directors of the Moral Majority and was an organizer of the Council for National Policy which has been called "the most powerful conservative organization in America you've never heard of."

Carolyn Jack reports from Toronto on the growing demands for the resignation of Canada's top military officer. General Jean Boyle has come under fire in the course of an official inquiry into the killings of Somali civilians by Canadian peacekeepers. The inquiry has uncovered allegations of a coverup of the military's handling of the 1993 torture and murder of a Somali teenager. The calls for Boyle's removal escalated when he defended himself by questioning his staff's integrity and moral fiber.

President Bush today tried to keep the focus on the tax cut plan he will submit to Congress tomorrow. But the shooting just off the White House grounds got most of the media attention. Earlier in the day, top aides to the president had scrambled to deny stories that said they were shutting down White House offices devoted to AIDS research and to promoting better race relations. NPR's White House correspondent Don Gonyea reports.

The Justice Department says Jose Padilla, accused of plotting to detonate a bomb containing radioactive material, had conspired with top al Qaeda leaders in his plan. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, has been designated an enemy combatant and held without charge or access to counsel for two years. Officials say he planned to detonate explosives, possibly to destroy apartment buildings in U.S. cities. NPR's Larry Abramson reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Charles Duelfer, who served as deputy executive chairman of the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) from 1993 to 2000, about the additional $600 million the Bush administration is seeking for the continuing search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The money is part of the $87 billion request that Bush has already put before Congress, and comes on top of the $300 million already spent in the weapons search.

Gas prices have steadily risen a few pennies per week. Now, the average price is $3.60 per gallon nationwide. In some parts of the country, gas prices have already topped $4 dollars per gallon. Oil prices are up 25 percent since the start of the year. A week from now, voters in Indiana and North Carolina head to the polls for their primaries, and gas prices and the economy are on people's minds.

- Daniel talks with Bob Fulton, author of "The Summer Olympics: A Treasury of Legends and Lore" (Diamond Communications/South Bend, Indiana) about the first United States Olympic team. The 13 competitors arrived in Athens, Greece in 1896 for the revival of the long-dormant Games. Their prospects for success were dismal - but they went on to win more gold medals than any other nation in Track and Field. (6:00) ("Our First Olympics" by Bob Fulton, American Heritage magazine, July/August 1996)

Jacki talks to Lynda MacCartney, the curator of the C.I.A. exhibit centre in the C.I.A. HQ in Langley Virginia about the new exhibit on the film director John Ford. Ford, who received a total of 6 oscars, worked for the Office for Strategic Services, the precursor to the present-day C.I.A. during World War two. During his work with the OSS Ford pioneered aerial camera techniques that saved many lives and pushed the medium of film in new directions..