Good morning.

Labor Day's here and that means a few things:

— It's time to reflect on all the work you've done over the past year and to thank those who've worked hard on your behalf.

— It's the unofficial end of summer and not too soon to start thinking about falling leaves, Halloween costumes and the end-of-year holidays.

— It's the unofficial start of the 2010 Midterm Elections Campaign Season!

And it's that last point we want to take a minute to consider.

The big story this year is whether Democrats will keep control of both the House and Senate, lose control of one or lose control of both. Right now, Democrats (with the help of two independents) hold a 59-41 edge in the Senate. Over in the House, they have a 255-178 advantage (there are two vacancies in that chamber).

As our NPR colleague Ron Elving wrote last Monday, Democrats thought they had a pretty good "firewall" erected on the Senate side and would keep their majority there — but are getting more nervous as time goes on.

Meanwhile, the House has long been the chamber that pundits and prognosticators said Republicans have the better chance of re-taking. And The New York Times wrote this weekend that "as Democrats brace for a November wave that threatens their control of the House, party leaders are preparing a brutal triage of their own members in hopes of saving enough seats to keep a slim grip on the majority."

Let's do some forecasting of our own. What do you think is going to happen? This question will stay "open" until midday Wednesday. The choices, by the way, should rotate so that they won't appear in the same order for all respondents — just a way of trying to keep things fair:

By the way, as the campaign continues there will be plenty of coverage from NPR's Political Junkie (Ken Rudin), Ron's Watching Washington column and other NPR contributors. We're collecting all the campaign coverage here. I'll mostly be detached to help with the elections editing — but will be popping back into The Two-Way from time-to-time.

Good morning, and Happy Labor Day.

The eighth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is off the Mexican coast and tropical storm warnings are posted for Texas. Hermine is projected to make landfall in northwest Mexico and barrel north through central Texas. But can you pronounce it? Here's the handy-dandy link and the cheat: (her-MEEN).

PAKISTAN BOMBING KILLS OFFICERS, CHILDREN

At least 19 people have died after a suicide bomber crashed into a Pakistani police station in northwestern Pakistan. The bombing in the town of Lakki Marwat, about 120 miles south of Peshawar, killed police officers and school children. Similar violence had waned during August as people escaped flooding that surged toward the Arabian Sea. But today's attack follows a Friday bombing that killed 73 people in Quetta.

NEW ZEALAND GETS MORE AFTERSHOCKS

There've been more than 100 tremors since Saturday's shocking 7.1 quake off Christchurch, on New Zealand's South Island. No one was killed, but damage was extensive and authorities believe 100,000 buildings are damaged in Christchurch, the country's second largest city. Many standing buildings may have to be pulled down. Prime Minister John Key warns the disaster will harm his country's economic recovery.  Christchurch is under emergency rule and the army is patrolling the city. Surprise: a record 21 babies were born in Christchurch's main hospital in the 24 hours after the quake.

WHO FOUNDED LABOR DAY?

The Labor Department points to new research by the New Jersey Historical Society suggesting Matthew Maguire, not Peter Maguire, may be the inspiration. The Bureau of Labor Statistics told us last Friday the August unemployment rate was 9.6%.  HT: Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post, who expounds on the numbers.

It's a staple of presidential rhetoric for the nation's chief executive to portray American history in an idealized, shining-city-on-the-hill way. All presidents have probably done it in one form or another.

So this isn't meant to single out President Barack Obama for following his predecessors' lead.

But check out this example of presidential idealism from the president's weekly address this weekend.

This Labor Day, we are reminded that we didn’t become the most prosperous country in the world by rewarding greed and recklessness. We did it by rewarding hard work and responsibility...

Really? Guess we'll need to forget all that stuff we learned in school about the Robber Barons.

 

The president has made variations of this statement when he has argued for financial reform and bashed Wall Street.

But repetition doesn't make it sound any less ahistorical.

Truth is, great American fortunes like John Pierpont Morgan's and Andrew Carnegie's have been made through what looked a lot like greed and recklessness to many.

And what is anticompetitive behavior of the sort Microsoft was found guilty of ten years ago if not a form of greed? While Microsoft was ultimately confronted by the federal government, it prospered hugely before then.

Financial markets are built on greed, on the legitimate desire investors have to maximize their profits. Indeed, it's hard to imagine the financial markets functioning without greed.

When the Gordon Gekko character in the movie "Wall Street" famously said "Greed is good," he was stating the obvious, at least when it comes to financial markets.

And as far as recklessness goes, one person's recklessness is another person's risk. There are probably any number of investments which at the time looked reckless but turned out to look shrewd in hindsight.

Google, for instance, initially didn't make sense to a lot of people as a business with much of a future. It was a search engine. How was it ever going to make money? more than a few people asked early on. It looked like a reckless investment to some.

The truth is American capitalism rewarded both greed and recklessness as well as hard work and responsibility.

Indeed, if it weren't for that greed, Labor Day might not exist. It was in response to the owners of railroads, mines and factories, who workers felt prospered greatly at their expense, that organized labor was born.

The sources of American prosperity are more complicated than Obama is letting on.

Obama's obviously knows this, especially since he's one of the most subtle politicians to ever reach the White House.

But he also knows a president rarely gets into trouble by serving up to Americans an idealized view of themselves. Which is why presidents keep doing it.

One of the best roles of a metro newspaper is report on those small, human-interest stories that make you marvel at the amazing turns life can sometimes take.

One such article was in Friday's New York Post. A hospital nurse in The Bronx meets on her ward a patient who turns out to be the father she, as a child, never knew.

An excerpt:

Assistant head nurse Wanda Rodriguez was discussing the admission of a new patient with a doctor at Calvary Hospital on Aug. 25 when she heard the patient’s name was Victor Peraza.

“The minute I heard that I froze. I said to myself ‘Oh, my God!’” — because that was the name of the father who broke up with her mother shortly after she was born 41 years ago.

 

“I needed to go to his room. I had to see him. My mom said I resembled my dad very much. I go into the room. He looks right at me and I realize: He looks like me and I look like him,” she recalled.

A remarkable story, indeed. Probably not the first time it's happened in the history of the world but an extraordinary story that lingers in the mind, nonetheless.

For me, the story had a personal resonance. Calvary is the hospice, with its wonderfully compassionate and sensitive staff, where my mother died in 2007. I never thanked that staff enough for all they did.

I also never met Nurse Rodriguez but I'm happy for her. I can't say enough about the people there.

For what they do daily for families like mine at the time, they deserve all the good that comes their way.

On Tell Me More Thursday, I joined NPR Correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton for a conversation about our Congo River series which aired this week on Morning Edition.

During the conversation with Tony Cox, it dawned on me that Ofeibea and I haven’t sat down and really talked together about our experience since our seven day odyssey down the Congo River. We were too busy arranging, organizing and interviewing, then I caught malaria, after which went our separate ways and all the talk since has been about putting this series together.

In fact, I’m still processing all that I saw, heard, learned, smelled and tasted during our visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo – my first.

The response to the series has been more than we could have ever imagined.

Even with Ofeibea’s nuanced and extraordinary reporting and a herculean job by our multimedia team, I can’t get over the amount of material that’s been left on the proverbial cutting room floor.

 

Some of the characters we’d both like to mention, and thank, that we met on the barge or along the way:

Maman Gisele Nzili and her daughter Medan Balembisa.  They were our next-door “neighbors” on the barge, only separated by five impressively named goats and one lamb, including Jean-Philibert and Mambweni.

Maman Gisele adopted us and became our impromptu cordon-bleu on board chef! We’d buy the fresh Congo River fish and she effortlessly gutted, cleaned and cooked – grilled, fried and in delectable stews. It was by chance that we wound up on the boat next to each other, but it seems we both made each other’s journey a bit easier.

Merci infiniment, Maman Gisele!

Cadet Ngimbi – the boat owner.  What a cool guy!  He wore and juggled many hats on board:  armateur (the proprietor or owner) who had to sort out fuel and technical problems; agony aunty and peace broker — patiently resolving domestic quarrels, financial issues between passengers and those who lined up every day to tell him “I don’t have any food left.”  Yes, go figure!

And Cadet kindly agreed to share his small cabin with us, so that we could keep our equipment dry — well that’s until the rain came into the cabin at 2am!  But that’s another Congo River story.

Miffy the eagle:  This bird probably had the roughest journey of anyone.  As part of a wedding gift for Cadet (the boat owner’s) soon-to-be-in-laws, Miffy was forced to use her sharp talons to avoid falling in between the goats and lamb for the entire trip.   The eagle — who was fed morsels of fresh fish and much more but seemed to lose her appetite — looked exhausted by the end of the trip.

She tried (in vain) to peck herself free from the rope that held her captive during the journey, perched on a tarp above the menagerie on the deck.

- Superstitions on the barge: One widespread belief was that if any of the passengers had sex, the animals on board would die.  With the barge being so open with virtually no privacy, it’s hard to imagine that anyone might feel amorously-inclined, much less find the opportunity turn our barge into a Love Boat.

- The Blind Man of Bolobo:  Walking through the riverside town, after a security and immigration stop on the barge, we were chatting with townspeople and met a charming gentleman who welcomed us into his clean-swept yard.  He told us that he had been a master carver – of ivory and equatorial hardwoods.   His work had taken him all over Africa and beyond, where he carved sculptures and other treasures until he retired and lost his sight.

- The military boarding the boat:  A day before our arrival, about six Congolese soldiers sped up to our barge in a speed boat, made us stop, and boarded.  It seems they were just trying to hitch a ride down to the capital, Kinshasa (for free).  But stopping the boat infuriated some passengers who had clearly had enough of the odyssey and just wanted to reach dry land.

- The Whistler:  What would possess a man to take a dugout canoe, and in the still of the night — in complete darkness — paddle slowly up and down the length of the barge, softly whistling and singing to the sleeping passengers?  It was a performance that most people slept through.   Had we not been up before dawn, and were I not sleeping outside on the deck that night (under a mosquito net), we — and you — might have missed the show.

- The Palm Oil Incident:  Our now infamous head-butting goat-friends, Jean-Philibert and Mambweni, and their horns pierced a hole in one of the giant bags of palm oil, part of the cargo on board. An entire section of the barge would have been left slippery by the gushing, cloying, red palm oil.

Luckily, one passenger was passing by at a fortuitous moment and literally stuck his finger in the dyke.  He stood in the blazing hot sun for nearly an hour in an attempt to keep the oil from running all over the barge while the bags were replaced and switched.  What a performance! It wound up a slippery, sweaty and chaotic scene.

- The Chair Incident:  Before our mysterious whistler friend arrived, a passenger… clearly groggy from his slumber, got up to relieve himself in the middle of the night and accidentally knocked a woman’s plastic chair into the river, while walking along the side of the vessel. The splash woke up an entire section of the barge, and we all initially thought someone had fallen into the river.

More folks were awakened when the woman, who owned the chair, realized what had happened and went ballistic.  She woke up the entire barge, shouting that her seat was floating upstream, and the barge downstream, and she wanted full compensation for the chair.

- Mobutu’s Mansions: As we floated down the river, other passengers would point out places or buildings of interest.  One of them was apparently an abandoned residence of former President Mobutu Sese Seko.  The man who ruled Congo, which he renamed Zaire, for more than thirty years, had river-view villas built for him dotted all over the country and, being a riverman himself, was often to be found on the water on his ferryboat, the Kamanyola.

- The Trial: Stumbling upon a military tribunal in Mbandaka of dozens of people accused of an attack on the town on Easter Day. About a dozen were sentenced to death. This was an outdoor trial, headed by a military magistrate. While we were recording and taking pictures, Capt Gaby Lokombi, the magistrate, actually stopped the trial and brought Ofeibea before everyone to explain who we were and what we were doing.  She did so, in French, apologizing charmingly and brilliantly as only Ofeibea could.  We were allowed to stay.

- Vintage Maps: Our senior foreign editor, Loren Jenkins, asked us to find maps.  And maps we found.  In Mbandaka we were taken to an old research library at the Aequatoria Institute where we were shown stacks of dusty maps dating back to the early 1900s.   Stunning, accurate and fascinating manuals of how to navigate the Congo River, among others.

- Papa Tresor Nsombola-Bolele, Protocole Kembo Imbamba and Bienvenu Yay in Mbandaka who transported us around the bicycle-dominated town, introducing us to everyone, showing us where to eat and where to shop, and making sure we made it onto the barge only when it was, finally, ready to head downstream.

- The amazing braided and string-twisted hair styles of the women on board the barge and all over Congo and how many women passengers had their hair re-styled just in time for the arrival at Maluku Port, the gateway to Kinshasa — home at last!

- Armando Galaraga: On June 2^nd Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaraga had his perfect game stolen from him — thanks to an umpire’s bad call.  As a die-hard Tigers fan, I took pleasure in explaining (or attempting to explain) what a tragic, yet historic moment had occurred in Detroit Tigers’ history to Ofeibea, people on the street in Kinshasa… anyone who would listen.  I may have managed to convert a few people into Tigers fans, but for the most part, no one knew (or cared) what I was talking about.

After a week on le Fleuve Congo and three years working, on and off, near Nahar Digla (the Tigris) in Iraq, the world has become much smaller.

As an American, I’ve come to realize that however bad I may think my problems are, there are folks in other, poorest, conflict-ridden most war-torn parts of the world, who would LOVE to trade places with me.

I envy them their openness, kindness and hospitality.

An enlightening and tiring experience, our adventure down the Congo River, and one I feel all the richer for.

Democrats don't have much to be encouraged about these days, what with all the smart money saying that it's all but certain that the House is in its last few months under Speaker Nancy Pelosi's management.

So they have to take their encouragement where they find it and one of the few positive glimmers for them comes from the Mountain West, Colorado to be exact.

 

That's where the Republican gubernatorial nominee, businessman Dan Maes, who had the backing of the Tea Party movement now has apparently lost it after a series of mistakes.

The most recent was that he backed away from a statement that as a policeman 25 years ago he worked undercover for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Not only have Tea Party members thrown Maes overboard but other Republicans running for office, including GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate Ken Buck, have dropped their support and asked Maes to leave the race. Which, by the way, Maes said Friday he wouldn't do.

A Denver Post excerpt:

“After speaking with, and hearing from, numerous Coloradans – from former Senators to family farmers – I’ve determined that I cannot turn my back on the 200,000 voters who nominated me to run for this office,” said Maes. “During this time of deliberation, I listened equally to those who wanted me in this race and those who did not, and after internalizing that advice, I’m proud to say I’m in it to win it.

That was no doubt music to the ears of supporters of Denver's popular Mayor John Hickenlooper, the Democratic nominee for governor. They can also draw hope from the continued presence in the race of former congressman Tom Tancredo, the nominee of the American Constitution Party who, with Maes, promises to split the anti-Democratic vote.

As it lost strength as it chugged northward in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Earl no doubt disappointed a few young and ambitious TV reporters who had hoped to make their bones by doing a live shot in 135 mph winds.

The rest of us were fairly pleased with the outcome. The East Coast had prepared for the worst from the storm but got little more than a glancing blow.

Well, actually, it's still a little too early to say that the entire Eastern Seaboard is out of the line of fire. Or wind and water to be more accurate.

 

Parts of coastal New England were still preparing just in case the weakening storm hit them harder than it did North Carolina or the Mid-Atlantic.

But the Hurricane Center seemed summed matters up in its latest advisory:

...HURRICANE EARL REMAINS LARGE BUT IS LOSING ITS PUNCH...

All the preparations may still come in handy however since hurricane season is far from over.

It's an age-old truth: great rivers make for great stories.

The latest evidence for that are the riveting, multimedia snapshots from NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton's journey down the Congo River with Africans for whom the waterway serves an an interstate highway, linking them to families and commerce.

In the final installment of her series, heard on Morning Edition, Ofeibea tells of growing tensions aboard the barge that carried its passengers, both human and four-legged, to their destination of Kinshasha, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a trip that took too long for some passengers.

Ofeibea described final segment in sort of a journal entry for us:

QUARREL: Tension and temper tantrums mark the last couple of days on board, testament to the growing frustration at the delay in reaching the barge's destination and terra firma.

Everyone seems to be quarreling with everyone else — including a very loud spat on the bridge, between the captain and a passenger.  It seems that blows ere exchanged.

RUN-IN WITH MILITARY: Soldiers boarded the barge with two days to go to Kinshasa and kept their own counsel — until they caught sight of a microphone, digital camera and journalists doing their job — recording events on the vessel.

 

They try to prevent NPR from recording the altercation on the bridge and even resort to threats.

SWANSONG:  Time to bid farewell to the Congo River, after 500 miles downstream on an odyssey of adventure and discovery. Congo's Route 66 — the grand boulevard pumping life into the giant nation — is a national treasure.

The river is "both the mother and father who nurture us, " says Congolese sculptor Maitre Liyolo, himself a river man.  "So respect and appreciate what gives us food, life, charm, tranquility and inspiration — all for free".

You can experience Ofeibea's wonderful, Congo River story-telling for yourselves on the series' web site.

Growing up less than mile from the Cattaraugus County Fair Grounds in western New York, I know a thing or two about the joys of county fairs. So the report from NPR's Don Gonyea on today's All Things Considered about the politicking going on at the Stark County Fair in northeastern Ohio got my attention.

Especially this section, where Don talks about how "the county fair is the place to be" for many Americans this time of year. As you'll hear, he captures the sound of a carny trying to lure folks in to see "a real live girl" who may or may not have a head.

Listen along for a true bit of Americana.

Don did pay his $2 to go inside, by the way.

We don't want to give away any secrets. But he says it was not the best $2 he's ever spent.

In news that will be particularly welcomed by Pittsburgh Steelers fans whereever they are, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will miss the first four games of the NFL season, two games less than many fans had feared.

The news came after the quarterback's Friday meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell who apparently was persuaded by Roethlisberger, and Steelers owner Art Rooney who accompanied the bad boy QB, that the Big Ben was a changed man.

 

Goodell had initially suspended the quarterback for six weeks following a woman's claim that the quarterback had sexually assaulted her in a Georgia nightclub's restroom. The prosecutor never filed charges but warned Roethlisberger, who's had other behavioral problems, to grow up.

While Roethlisberger will be returning two weeks earlier than expected, meaning he should play against Cleveland in the sixth week of the season (the fifth week of the season is a bye week for the Steelers) it still means there are big issues for the Steelers in terms of the quarterback position.

Byron Leftwich, who was supposed to start in Roethlisberger's place has an injured knee. The likely starter as the season begins appears to be third stringer Dennis Dixon whose running ability reminds many fans of the old Michael Vick when he was the Atlanta Falcons QB.

His play calling and passing abilities have caused some football fans to wonder if Dixon will be be able to keep the Steelers in the hunt until Leftwich or Roethlisberger returns, whoever is first.

There's more information now on the scientist who shut down part of Miami International Airport because security officials worried that a metal canister in his luggage could be a bomb.

An earlier Associated Press report indicated that authorities weren't releasing the 70-year old scientist's name because he was innocent of wrongdoing. Well, that was then.

A law enforcement official has now identified the scientist as a Thomas Butler who was once charged with illegally transporting bubonic plague.

MIAMI (AP) - A senior law enforcement official says the scientist detained at Miami International Airport because of a suspicious item in his luggage had once been charged with illegally transporting bubonic plague.

The official told The Associated Press on Friday that no dangerous material was found on 70-year-old Thomas Butler after he was detained Thursday night. He was released Friday.

 

Butler was acquitted of illegally transporting the deadly germ, which he was accused of doing while teaching at Texas Tech in 2003. But he was convicted of fraud and served a two-year sentence.

The official said Butler cooperated fully after he arrived on a flight from the Middle East. The official requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Update at 7:20 pm ET — New Zealand geologists have changed their estimate of the size of earthquake that hit near the city of Christchurch, saying it was magnitude 7.1. That brings it closer to the magnitude 7.0 quake estimated by the U.S. Geological Service several hours earlier.

Update at 4:43 pm ET — While there appears to be much destruction and disruption in Christchurch, there so far has been a surprisingly low number of reported casualties in New Zealand following the magnitude 7.4 earthquake.

From the news web site stuff.co.nz.

BREAKING NEWS: A massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake has hit Christchurch and the wider South Island, causing widespread damage, two serious injuries and power cuts to most of the city.

The quake was centred 30km west of Christchurch and 33km underground. It hit at 4.35am and there have been many reports of damage, including buildings being flattened and a road being ripped up.

It was felt widely across the South Island, most strongly in Christchurch and Timaru, and there have also been reports of the quake being felt as far as Wellington. Several aftershocks have been felt.

There have been unconfirmed reports of looting in central Christchurch following the quake.

Update at 2:45 pm ET — There've been numerous reports of aftershocks following the magnitude 7.4 earthquake in New Zealand Saturday morning, local time. The web site stuff.co.nz has a photo of a building with its roof collapsed which appears to be in a business district.

Update at 2:30 pm ET — Commenter Karthik BR on this post reports a sister in New Zealand who is staying o the coast says that houses there are "fully flooded." That's an interesting report, especially since there's been no tsunami warning with this massive earthquake.

 

Update at 2:22 pm ET — The U.S. Geological Survey has reduced its measurement of the earthquake to magnitude 7.0. But New Zealand's earthquake experts are calling it was a magnitude 7.4. We have decided to go with the New Zealand measurement, the guidance from our science team being that the New Zealand seismic detectors are probably more accurate on this one due to proximity.

Update at 2:14 pm ET — Radio New Zealand's presenter or anchor on its national service just said that Christchurch's airport is closed as officials inspect it for damage, which sounds like standard procedure. He urged listeners to stay in doors because of the power outage and debris in the streets.

But in an interesting journalistic move Radio New Zealand appears to be sticking to its regular programming. A children's show called "Magic Muffin" is streaming as I write this. Not sure meaning we should take from this.

Update at 1:58 pm ET — An NPR colleague who is monitoring Radio New Zealand sends this:

National emergency officials reporting significant road damage, many buildings damaged, most of Christchurch is without power and sewer and water pipes have disrupted in many places.

You can listen to the Radio New Zealand live stream for yourself.

Update at 1:52 pm ET — A report on the web site of the Nelson Mail indicates that there is damage from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in New Zealand 20 miles northwest of Christchurch.

BREAKING NEWS: A massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake has hit New Zealand's South Island, causing widespread damage and cutting power.

The quake was centred 30km west of Christchurch and 33km underground. It hit at 4.35am and there have been many reports of damage, including buildings being flattened.

It was felt widely across the South Island, including Christchurch and Timaru, and there have also been reports of the quake being felt as far as Wellington. Several aftershocks have been felt.

The rail network in the South Island has been shut down while it is inspected for damage.

Colleen Simpson, from Christchurch, said everyone was out in the street in their pyjamas looking scared and worried. There was no power, buildings were down and the mobile network was failing.

"Oh my God. There is a row of shops completely demolished right in front of me," she said.

— original post below —

New Zealand was rocked by a very strong earthquake that's being reported as a magnitude 7.2 by the U.S. Geological Survey.

 

The earthquake was 20 miles west of Christchurch and was very shallow, only 10 miles into the earth's crust. As a general rule, the shallower the quake, the more potential for damage.

The earthquake occurred at 4:35 am local time so many people were asleep when it happened. At this point I'm not seeing reports of major damage or casualties.

An excerpt from the New Zealand Herald web site:

A Timaru resident told NZPA he was awakened by the shaking. His house was groaning and a bedside lamp crashed off its table.

Radio New Zealand said listeners were reporting particularly strong effects in Christchurch, with one saying his house "turned upside down" with crockery breaking.

A caller to a radio station, Newstalk ZB in Christchurch reported that the earthquake caused major upsets in people's homes, bells in bell towers to rine and huge flash of lights that were presumably electrical transformers exploding.

We'll continue to update as we get more.

Authorities released that 70-year old scientist whose metal scientific experiment canister, wrongly suspected of being a bomb, shut down Miami International Airport late Thursday and into the wee hours Friday.

Fortunately for the scientist, authorities didn't provide his name since he was deemed an innocent victim of airport security.

But unfortunately for the same scientist, enough information was released so that someone could probably come up with his identity with enough Googling.

 

An excerpt from an Associated Press report:

Neither the professor's name nor his itinerary has been released. The man is an American citizen and was "very cooperative," FBI agent Michael Leverock said at a news conference in Miami.

That official said the man has a prior arrest record related to biological material and is a professor at Ross University in Dominica on a teaching assignment in Saudi Arabia. The professor told law enforcement that the metal canister was used for medical testing, and the FBI found that it was used to transport dead bacteria samples, the official said.

"The universe can and will create itself from nothing," famed physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a book, The Grand Design, due out next week.

Excerpted in The Times of London (pay wall protected), Hawking's book makes the case that:

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to ... set the Universe going." (Excerpt via the Associated Press.)

What do you think? Could he be right? We'll keep this question open until midday Monday:

Coming off this morning's OK-but-not-great report on last month's unemployment rate, President Obama just said — again — that he wants action on Capitol Hill.

"I'm calling on Congress to make passing a small business jobs bill its first order of business" when it returns to the Capital later this month, Obama said.

"The key point I'm making right now is that the economy is moving in a positive direction," but jobs aren't being created "as fast as we need," Obama added.

Economic indicators, he said, signal "we're moving in the right direction. ... We just need to speed it up."