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An outbreak of avian flu in dairy cow herds has resurfaced long-simmering tensions between the federal government and raw milk advocates, who downplay concerns that health officials have raised.

New books published this week include a nostalgic graphic history of video games, a queer, complicated and hopeful novel set in Nigeria, and a biography of a forensic ornithologist.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says despite stunning Republican victories in last Tuesday's election, President Bush has declined to engage in any chest-thumping and has been very modest in outlining the Republican legislative agenda for the 108th Congress.

The SARS death toll in Toronto reaches 21, but Canadian officials say the outbreak of the deadly respiratory disease is under control. They cite a decline in the number of people in quarantine, a decrease in new cases. But hospitals fear the spread of SARS among employees. Hear NPR's Richard Knox.

President Bush is aggressively touring the country to promote his call for private Social Security accounts. Yet polls show support for the president on this issue has declined in recent weeks. Even backing from some Republicans is in doubt on an issue the president acknowledges is politically risky.

The government says the nation's gross domestic product grew just 0.7 percent during the last quarter of 2002, a steep decline from the 4.2-percent growth during the preceding three months. NPR's Bob Edwards talks to NPR's Jim Zarroli.

New car purchases are at the lowest levels in 10 years. Nearly all major carmakers reported steep sales declines for June. Derek Mattsson, head of Vehix.com, says consumers are still favoring cars like the Honda Civic at the expense of U.S. vehicles.

Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck has the weight of the world upon him — no friends, an alcoholic father and a brother who has just been injured in Vietnam. But the protagonist of this NPR Backseat Book Club book finds solace in an unlikely place — the pages of Audubon's Birds of America.

NPR's David Baron reports that wild turkeys, once endangered, are now making a comeback in the nation's forests. Unregulated hunting and the widespread clearing of land for farming had made the turkeys rare...but now, after careful monitoring and preservation efforts, the birds are staging a remarkable recovery.

In West Virginia, wild turkey hunting season is underway. About ten-thousand of the birds are bagged annually in the state. Hunters try to imitate the turkeys' call to attract them. Dan Heyman of West Virginia Public Radio has a report on the art, science and sport of turkey calling.

We've all been in stores and seen birds fluttering around and wondered, how did they get in there? Do they live there 24-7? Commentator Julie Zickefoose remembers a sparrow she met in her local grocery store that became quite popular with the employees there.

There's no new dance like "The Bird," but it's still time for The Time. Morris Day and The Time are out this week with a new CD, It's About Time. Morris speaks with NPR's Tavis Smiley about the record, his band and his time with music legend Prince.

Ken Perenyi made millions painting and selling more than 1,000 forgeries over 30 years. He's imitated the likes of Charles Bird King and James Buttersworth — and confesses it all in his new book, Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger.

The Supreme Court declines to review the case of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen arrested in Chicago and held without charges for more than three years. The government initially declared Padilla an enemy combatant. The justices warned that if Padilla's status changed again, they would return to the case.

In a bid to rally support for the Iraq war, President Bush addresses the nation during a visit to Fort Bragg, N.C. Speaking in a hall filled with soldiers, the president said he won't send more troops to Iraq, but he also declined to set a timetable for withdrawal.

The FBI released documents Wednesday, including e-mails written by Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist who killed himself after learning he was the prime suspect in the anthrax attacks investigation. The e-mails reflect what many call evidence of Ivins' declining grip on reality.

Commentator Lee Cullum argues against a bill a Congressional committee has already approved concerning an endangered species of bird in Texas. An original plan was to set aside a vast area for the Golden-Cheeked Warbler; the new Republican-backed bill says the warbler should be preserved in zoos, not in the wild.

An article in Audubon Magazine recalls the 19th century effort that ended the feather trade. Until a public outcry stopped the practice, thousands of birds across North America were slaughtered to provide decorations for women's hats. Hear Jennifer Price, author of the article, and NPR's Jennifer Ludden.

Katherine Bright, manager of Amazon World Zoo Park on the Isle of Wight, discusses the case of Toga, the zoo's baby South African Jackass Penguin. Toga was taken from the zoo Sunday morning and is still unaccounted for. The zoo has offered a 1,000-pound reward for the bird.

Dealing with rude, angry people is not fun. But when fictional, these unpleasant personalities can actually be quite charming. Author Ben Dolnick recommends three books and three central characters that'll have you flipping the page faster than you'd flip them the bird.