Search results for

Video game producer Ellen Hobbs had a problem with an amazon.com order, but could not find a customer-service phone number on the Web site. So she combed the Internet for a number and posted it on her own site. In December alone, more than 23,000 people visited her site to find the telephone number. Hobbs tells NPR's Scott Simon that sometimes customers with problems simply want to talk to a human being.

Thoughts on the lives of civil rights leaders -- well known and unsung -- who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Many carry on his work today, and all share in his legacy.

The trial of Army Spec. Charles Graner enters the sentencing phase. Graner, described as the ringleader of abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted Friday by a military jury. He may testify during Saturday's sentencing hearing. NPR's Jackie Northam reports.

On Jan. 4, Milwaukee Democrat Gwen Moore made history by becoming Wisconsin's first African-American member of Congress. A former welfare recipient, Moore spent 16 years in the Wisconsin Legislature before winning the Fourth District seat.

President Bush has proposed a plan for Social Security that allows individuals to place certain payroll taxes in private investment accounts. Senior News Analyst NPR's Daniel Schorr explains that the idea is somewhat controversial, even within the ranks of the president's own party.

The Senate Judiciary committee votes 10-8 along party lines to send Alberto Gonzales's nomination as attorney general to the full Senate. The Senate is expected to confirm the Gonzales.

Commentator Sandip Roy was a boy in India when a gas leak in Bhopal killed thousands of men, women and children. He collected pictures of the victims for his scrapbook, and found the photo of one little girl particularly harrowing. On the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, Roy, now an editor with New California Media in San Francisco, recalls the image.

President Bush formally announces the selection of former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik to succeed Tom Ridge as head of the Department of Homeland Security. Kerik would be the second person to head the two-year-old agency. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

The doping scandal that erupted this week due to the revelations of Victor Conte of the BALCO company may have a serious effect on at least two major athletes, track star Marion Jones and baseball slugger Barry Bonds. Jones denies using any illegal substances, and Bonds says he never knowingly used banned drugs, but skepticism is growing. NPR's Tom Goldman reports.

Militants attack the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Monday, killing four security officers. Three of the attackers were also killed. A U.S. embassy spokesman says all Americans at the consulate are safe. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and Khaled al-Maeena, editor in chief of Arab News in Jiddah.