NPR 2011-12-01

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Penn State University is named along with former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky in the first civil lawsuit¹ to emerge in the sex abuse case. As NPR's Jeff Brady tells us, a 29-year-old man alleges² his abuse started when he was 10 years old.

 

The accuser's name is being kept secret. He’s called John Doe in the complaint. His lawyer, Jeff Anderson, says the man was sexually abused more than 100 times. A lawsuit names former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky the charity he started for at-risk kids and Pennsylvania State University. Anderson says his client claimed Sandusky abused him from age 10 to 14.

 

“And this is a burden that he carried from 1996 when it stopped to just days ago.”

 

Anderson says the lawsuit named Sandusky's charity in the university because people at those institutions should have done more to stop the abuse. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Philadelphia.

 

The prospects³ for a congressional extension of the payroll⁴ tax holiday are looking more positive. But as NPR's Tamara Keith reports, Senate Republicans and Democrats⁵ are at odds⁶ over how to pay for it.

 

This year, the payroll tax holiday means about 900 dollars in extra take-home pay for the typical family. Economists⁷ warned that if it's allowed to expire, there could be serious consequences. President Obama and Democrats in the Senate are pushing to extend and expand the tax holiday and pay for it with the tax on earnings⁸ over a million dollars a year. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans will back an extension, though they have different ideas about how to pay for it.

 

“Overwhelming majority Republicans think it should be extended, so we’ll have to figure out how to package that.”

 

McConnell and his Republican colleagues haven’t yet laid out specifics of how they would fund the 120-billion-dollar extension. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.

 

The Dow gained more than 400 points at the open today after the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank’s move to avert⁹ a credit crunch¹⁰. Behind all of it, a coordinated¹¹ effort by the banks to ease access to dollars by reducing borrowing rates. Hugh Johnson with Hugh Johnson Advisers¹².

 

“Essentially what this involves is the injection or addition from liquidity¹³, called it money, if you meant, into the financial system in general. But Europe had been particular, and so what this does is it sort of greases the wheels of economic activity.”

 

At economic consulting firm IHS, Nariman Behravesh cautioned, “The reality, of course, this is a short-term fix. It doesn't fix the longer-term problems in Europe.”

 

Payroll processer APD is reporting US employers added 206,000 private sector¹⁴ jobs in November.

 

An encouraging sign on Wall Street where the Dow was up; the NASDAQ up 81. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey of US economic conditions finds the economy growing moderately, but hiring and housing activity are both still weak.

 

In Los Angeles, police cleared the Occupy Los Angeles encampment overnight. 

 

“Proceed out toward Main Street and our personnel will stick you out of the protest area. If you refused to leave, you are gonna, you will be subject to arrest.”

 

There was no violence, but there are about 200 arrests. There was a similar scene in Philadelphia. There was no violence in either city.

 

A group of independent scientists has taken a look at the idea of killing¹⁵ illicit¹⁶ drug crops by infecting them with plant diseases. As NPR's Dan Charles reports, the scientists say it could be risky¹⁷ and it might not work very well.

 

Marijuana, poppy and coca plants have some natural enemies. Each one can be infected by a different fungus¹⁸. Several members of Congress have pushed the government to consider spreading these fungi¹⁹ on coca-growing areas in Latin America or poppy fields in Afghanistan. The government asked the National Research Council to study the idea. The council's report though is unenthusiastic. The scientists say it's unlikely that disease would kill large numbers of plants quickly, and the fungi are likely to hang around in the environment, move to new areas, and they could infect other related plants. This could change ecosystems²⁰ in unexpected ways. Dan Charles, NPR News.

 

All Iranian diplomats²¹ have been ordered out of Great Britain after attacks on the British embassy in Tehran. The UK has withdrawn²² all of its diplomatic personnel from Iran.

 

I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

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