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Shots - Health Blog
4:42 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Plastic Surgeons Say Demand Is Surging For Chin Enhancements

Credit Maciej Laska / iStockphoto.com
Plastic surgeons see a surge in demand from those of us without naturally chiseled chins.
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By editor

Originally published on Wed April 18, 2012 4:26 pm

Chin up. Literally.

A big group of plastic surgeons say that chin enhancement was the fastest growing surgical procedure they performed for cosmetic purposes in the U.S. last year — up 71 percent to 20,680 operations.

Now, it's still a small number, overall, compared with breast augmentation, the No. 1 procedure at 307,180. But those surgeries rose only 4 percent in 2011 compared with 2010.

Chin work was most popular out west, which is true for most cosmetic procedures. The Northeast came in second.

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Governing
4:40 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Expert: Proud Secret Service 'Furious' Over Incident

Credit Carolyn Kaster / AP
President Obama speaks at the San Pedro Claver church in Cartagena, Colombia, on Sunday. An expert on the Secret Service tells NPR that Obama's security was never breached in the incident that led to 11 U.S. Secret Service agents being sent home amid allegations that they hired prostitutes in Cartagena.
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By editor

The Secret Service, which has been offering protection to presidents since 1902, has long enjoyed one of the most sterling reputations of any government agency.

That reputation has been tarnished by allegations that agents hired prostitutes in Colombia in advance of President Obama's trip there.

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The Record
4:00 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Andrew Love Of The Memphis Horns Has Died

Credit Gilles Petard / Redferns
Andrew Love (left) and Wayne Jackson pose for a studio portrait in 1965.
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Saxophonist Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns has died. Love, who had Alzheimer's disease, died on April 12 at his home in Memphis. He was 70 years old.

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Around the Nation
3:38 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

For One Soldier, Rap Is A Powerful Postwar Weapon

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Credit Erik M. Lunsford / NPR
In 2010 US Army veteran Jeff Barillaro returned from Iraq with severe PTSD. Since then Barillaro, whose stage name is "Solider Hard," has been rapping about his struggles and performing for troops, veterans, and military families across the US.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro (second from right) eats with soldiers and recruits at the National Guard Armory in Evansville, Ind., where he is performing later the same day.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Army recruits, many still in high school, participate in weekend drills at the Evansville National Guard Armory in preparation for basic training.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro (center) leaves the armory after a sound check for his evening hip-hop performance. The 35-year-old comes from a military family; he says he has wanted to be a soldier since he was 12 years old. While in Iraq, he led convoys for the Army.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro chats with Pvt. Logan Musgrave of Jasper, Ind.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Army recruits form a line outside an Army National Guard trailer where they can watch films depicting combat.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro comforts Keith Briggs of Louisville, Ky., before the start of the show. Briggs, a fellow veteran who served twice in Iraq and also suffers from PTSD, says he was on the verge of suicide, when he discovered Barillaro's music. Since then, Briggs follows Soldier Hard on tour and chats with him almost daily. "Hopefully, he will play at my wedding," says Briggs.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
A poster promotes Barillaro's hip-hop performance in Evansville.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro waits as people arrive for his performance.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
While other hip-hop and country artists sing about their battles in Iraq or Afghanistan, Barillaro focuses on his battles since returning home, rapping about issues such as sleep deprivation, loss of memory and binge drinking.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Misty Grayson of Evansville, Ind. (center), claps as Barillaro performs.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Some audience members drove hours to attend the show. Barillaro's fans say his music speaks to them and the challenges they have felt, either as soldiers or as family members.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro poses for a photograph with fan Katrina Graves of Louisville, Ky. Graves discovered Barillaro's music while her boyfriend was fighting in Iraq. She says his song "Military Wife" described what she was going through.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro's arm is tattooed with a microphone.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro says his next big mission is to return to therapy; his upcoming album is called Therapy Session.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
In 2010, U.S. Army Sgt. Jeff Barillaro returned from Iraq with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and left the military. Now, using the stage name "Soldier Hard," Barillaro is rapping about his struggles and performing for troops, veterans and military families across the U.S.
Credit Erik M. Lunsford for NPR
Barillaro (center), of Vallejo, Calif., is introduced to a roomful of new recruits at the National Guard Armory in Evansville, Ind. First Sgt. Larry Lightburne (right), who organized a performance by Barillaro at the armory, heard about the rapper through his wife, who found his lyrics comforting while he was stationed in Iraq.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:53 am

When Jeff Barillaro came home from fighting the war in Iraq, he felt lost, like thousands of veterans do. He didn't have a mission anymore.

But now, through music, he's found one: Under the stage name Soldier Hard, Barillaro raps — about how war has changed troops and their families. Other vets and their family members are now turning to his music, because they say he's speaking to them.

On a recent morning, the National Guard Armory in Evansville, Ind., looks and sounds like any military base in the country.

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The Two-Way
2:35 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Pulitzer Prizes Coming Up

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(The awards were announced just after 3 p.m. ET.)

For its "distinguished ... reporting on significant issues of local concern," reporter Sara Ganim and The Patriot News of Harrisburg, Pa., have won a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for uncovering the so-called Penn State scandal.

Other prize winners, which were just announced, include:

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NPR Story
2:22 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Op-Ed: North Korea Gets Too Many Second Chances

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The United Nations Security Council issued a strong condemnation after North Korea's failed satellite launch attempt. Such condemnations were also issued in 2006 and 2009. In a piece in Foreign Affairs, Dartmouth College government professor Jennifer Lind argues that North Korea gets too many second chances.

The Salt
1:41 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Fast Food In The U.S. Has Way More Salt Than In Other Countries

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In the United States, you get the extra salt for free.
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Originally published on Mon April 23, 2012 3:46 pm

Want extra salt with that fast-food meal? Then buy it in the United States, where chicken dishes, pizzas, and even salads are loaded with far more salt than in Europe and Australia, according to new research.

The McDonald's Chicken McNuggets in the United States have more than twice as much salt as their sister nuggets in the United Kingdom. That's 1.6 grams of salt for every 100 grams of American nugget, compared with 0.6 grams in the U.K.

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The Two-Way
1:15 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

World Bank Chooses U.S.-Backed Kim To Be Its Next President

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Originally published on Mon April 16, 2012 4:11 pm

The World Bank's executive directors have chosen Dr. Jim Yong Kim to be the development agency's next president.

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The Picture Show
1:05 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

You're Not Alone: Taxpayers Have Been Miserable For Decades

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Credit Alfred Eisenstaedt / Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Credit Alfred Eisenstaedt / Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A man at an Internal Revenue information center in New York in 1944
Credit Alfred Eisenstaedt / Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
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By Claire O'Neill

Misery loves company. Multitudes are no doubt making the last-minute scramble to finish taxes today. If that's the case for you, perhaps you can take solace in the fact that this tax misery is a long-lived American tradition.

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The Two-Way
1:00 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Key Players In Federal Agency's Vegas Scandal Due At Hearing

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