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9:01 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

The Extraordinary, Ordinary Life Of Alexander Payne

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Credit Tiziana Fabi / AFP/Getty Images
Alexander Payne's The Descendants has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editor and Best Actor. Payne co-wrote and directed the film, which stars George Clooney as an indifferent dad struggling to raise two daughters.
Credit Merie Wallace / Fox Searchlight
Matt King (George Clooney) is a Honolulu lawyer left alone with his two girls after his wife falls into a coma.
Credit Cindy Carpien / NPR
Life is a "collection of extraordinarily ordinary moments," Payne says. "We just need to pay attention to them all." Above, Payne stops at a farmers market near his home in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Credit Cindy Carpien / NPR
Payne heads off for a luncheon at the American Film Institute during what he says is an atypically busy week leading up to the Oscars.
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Alexander Payne watches a movie every day — or tries to, anyway. Lately, the writer and director of The Descendants has been busy going to nomination and awards dinners, in advance of Sunday's Oscar night — when the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay prizes could be his.

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Religion
7:41 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

How To Properly Dispose Of Sacred Texts

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On Feb. 21 outside Bagram Airfield, Afghan demonstrators show copies of Qurans allegedly set on fire by U.S. soldiers at a NATO airbase outside Kabul.
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The Quran is considered to be the speech of God to humankind — word for word — explains Imam Johari Abdul-Malik.

"The traditional way of disposing of used or damaged copies of the text of the Quran is by burning it," he says.

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StoryCorps
7:00 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

Man Gives U.S. Vets Two Things: Haircuts, And Hope

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Credit Paula Berger
The barber shop run by Anthony Bravo Esparza — whom everyone knows as "Dreamer" — is a fixture at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System's West Los Angeles Campus.
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Veterans Paul Crowley (left) and Anthony Bravo Esparza, known to customers as "Dreamer," offer solace to military personnel returning from overseas duty.
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By editor

Originally published on Thu February 23, 2012 9:01 pm

To help U.S. troops ease back into civilian life, veteran Anthony Bravo Esparza offers them a haircut, and a safe and friendly place to hang out. Esparza — known to his friends as "Dreamer" — sees it as a way to help former soldiers find their way.

Dreamer's barbershop is easy to find; it's set up inside a trailer in the parking lot of the West Los Angeles Medical Center campus of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

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The Two-Way
3:41 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

Baseball's Reigning MVP Wins Appeal On Positive Drug Test

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Ryan Braun #8 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts after hitting a double in Game Five of the National League Division Series, last year in Milwaukee.
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By Eyder Peralta

Last year's National League MVP has just won an appeal on a positive drug test, which means he will not be suspended for the first 50 games of the 2012 season.

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Election 2012
3:14 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

Ohio GOP Voters Could Hold Key On Super Tuesday

Credit Evan Vucci / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prospective voters listen to Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, accompanied by his wife Callista, Feb. 7, 2012, at the Price Hill Chili Restaurant in Cincinnati.
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Tuesday is the next big day for Republicans in choosing their presidential nominee, with primaries in Michigan and Arizona.

Then there's an even bigger day a week later: March 6 is this year's Super Tuesday, when 10 states hold primaries and caucuses. Possibly the most consequential one will be in the swing state of Ohio. It has 66 delegates at stake, and it will also be a key battleground in November.

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