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Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore addressed a group of senior citizens in St. Petersburg, Florida today. Billed as a major policy address, today's speech was designed to draw a sharp contrast between Gore's prescription drug plan and that of his Republican rival George W. Bush. The Bush campaign quickly accused his opponent of making up facts about the Texas Governor's Medicare plan, as the presidential race enters its final two weeks. NPR's Anthony Brooks is with the Gore campaign today.

The latest ad being run by the Republican National Committee accuses the current administration, including Democratic nominee Al Gore, of failing the nation by allowing school test scores to fall dangerously behind. The ad says American school children's math and science scores are now the lowest in the world. NPR's Steve Inskeep takes a look at the information behind the ad.

Noah talks to Witold Rybczynski, the author of One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw. His book traces the screwdriver to medieval times, and highlights the contributions of inventors who have improved upon the tool, and the tools for making screws.

Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh laid out their case against Wen Ho Lee before two Senate committees today. Reno said Lee is a felon, not a victim of government persecution. Freeh described Lee's alleged duplicating and deleting of restricted nuclear weapons information, and the FBI director said Lee's actions showed criminal intent. NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on the hearing, and talks with a spokesman for a scientists' group about whether the testimony shows Lee was, or intended to be, a spy.

Commentator Carol Wasserman's late husband once thought he discovered some ancient stones. Archeologists got excited. Then the truth came out.

The Kaiser Family Foundation releases a major survey on the views of parents, teachers, and students about sex education. As NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports, there are some surprising findings -- notably that parents say they want schools to give their children more, not less, detailed information about such topics as AIDS, birth control, and sexual orientation.

When bees infested her house, Commentator Elissa Ely called apon an exterminator with a philosophical bent.

In a report from Podgorica, NPR's Sylvia Poggioli says Serbian State TV tonight broadcast word that opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica finished first in Sunday's presidential election. But, the Yugoslav State Election Commission said Kostunica did not win an outright majority and will have to face President Slobodan Milosevic in a run-off. The opposition insists Kostunica won well over 50-percent of the vote and denounced the government's call for a run-off.

From South Dakota, Charles Michael Ray reports on the seizure of 4-thousand industrial grade hemp plants from land on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Federal agents took the plants last month even though hemp was legalized by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council as a cash crop. The council claims it's their sovereign right to grow hemp on tribal lands. Federal officials disagree.

Last week, writer Dawn Langley Simmons died. She was the author of over 20 books, including novels, biographies, and children's books. But perhaps her most remarkable creation was her identity. Simmons was born in England as Gordon Langley Hall. She was born with a sexual abnormality, and though raised as a boy, considered herself female. She later had a sex change operation, and changed her name to Dawn. Writer Jack Hitt talks to Robert about Dawn Langley's tempestous life.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem that two months after the Camp David summit broke down without an agreement, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have met again to talk about peace. The meeting comes as the public debate is both camps has centered on formulas about how authority in East Beirut could be divided, something that was a taboo subject only weeks ago.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr reasons that the American electorate's lack of interest in foreign affairs emboldens rogue leaders like Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein.

Second generation flight attendant Rene Foss has had enough of crabby travelers, so she's written a musical comedy starring clueless passengers, and the beleaguered men and women who serve them. Around the World in a Bad Mood is based on Foss' 15 years as a flight attendant - a job she still holds. In fact, her airline supports this "extra-aviational" activity. The musical is on stage in New York on weekends. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

Reviewer Alan Cheuse comments on The Accidental Indies, a book by Robert Finley, about the epochal voyage by Christopher Columbus in 1492. (2:00) The Accidental Indies is published by McGill-Queen's University Press.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that although Russian forces continue to lose men in Chechnya nearly every day, the war rarely grabs headlines any more. Soldiers who have fought there complain the war is bogging down, but few Russians are demanding publicly that their government revise its strategy, seek a political settlement, or pull out of Chechnya.

The US women's softball team won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics Tuesday in the hardest possible fashion. As NPR's Tom Goldman reports, the team was considered unbeatable after a two-year winning streak of 112 games. But it lost three straight games in the early round of competition, nearly putting it out of medal contention. The US then fought back and swept the three teams -- China, Australia and Japan -- it lost to earlier in the tournament.

A note on the life of Lee Erwin, a silent film organist who composed music for Charlie Chaplin, and classic films like "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Erwin died last week at the age of 92.

NPR's John Burnett reports that as the bottom falls out of the Texas ranch economy, ranchers are turning to economic diversification -- such as ranch tourism -- to preserve their holdings. Tourism includes hosting mountain bike events or charging for admission to the bat cave. Some put a twist on the Tom Sawyer story by charging visitors to help with the ranch work.

David Greenberger reviews a new CD by Dave Alvin, titled Public Domain: Songs from the Wild Land. The tracks are all traditional folk songs, like "Shenandoah,' and "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down."

With the growing acceptance in academia of different kinds of slang as legitimate forms of expression, it should come as no surprise that Amherst College is offering the first university-level course in Spanglish, a combination of Spanish and English. Ilan Stavans, the Amherst professor who's teaching the course, is also preparing a Spanglish dictionary. Pippin Ross reports.