State and National News

The 35-ton boulder commands attention. The whale-shaped rock was brought to Berlin from Venezuela in 1998 by German artist Wolfgang von Schwarzenfeld who inscribed it with the word love written in seven languages. It's a work of art that sits in Tiergarten park.

But during the past few weeks, the boulder has become the subject of an international dispute.

In a column for the New York Times Magazine, Jacob Goldstein writes that there are more than 1,000 licensed professions in the U.S. In theory, licensing rules protect consumers from shoddy service. In practice, they can also screen highly qualified workers out of the job market.

Heard about the letter to the editor of a newspaper in Ohio demanding that the state find another tree to serve at its symbol because buckeyes are bisexual? It's starting to get some attention on the Web.

Well, it's a real letter to The Courier in Findlay.

But it's also our third hoax in as many blogging weekdays — or in this case, more accurately, a piece of social satire.

The New York City roots band Ollabelle makes its third appearance on Mountain Stage with songs from its first new studio album in five years, Neon Blue Bird. Formed in 2001 in a small bar on the Lower East Side, the group quickly became one of the most popular acts on the Americana music and festival circuit.

The Obama administration estimates its new immigration enforcement policy will allow some 800,000 young illegal immigrants to avoid deportation and work legally in the U.S. Some critics say it oversteps executive authority, others say that it doesn't go far enough.

Even before votes were counted in Egypt's first competitive presidential election, military leaders effectively seized control of the country. The ruling military council granted itself broad powers over the government, including budget control, immunity from oversight and the power to declare war.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Two decades after his videotaped beating by four Los Angeles police officers, Rodney King died yesterday at the age of 47. His beating sparked outrage over police brutality. And after a jury acquitted the four police officers, that outrage erupted into riots that left some 55 dead; more than 1,000 injured; and more than $800 million in damage in the City of Los Angeles. King then posed the unanswerable question, can we all get along? which started new and sometimes painful conversations across the country.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan.