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It's been a rough month for organized labor, as Congress repealed workplace rules on repetitive stress and the Bush administration intervened to forestall threatened strikes against airlines. In the months ahead, congressional leaders are promising more hard looks at laws and regulations favored by the unions. Labor weighed in heavily during the election campaign on behalf of Democratic candidates, but union leaders still seem stunned at how far and how fast their standing in Washington has fallen. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

Noah Adams talks to Michael Kirst, a professor of education at Stanford University. He was co-chair of the technical committee that selected questions for the new California state high school exit test. He says that the test measures the minimum proficiency a student must demonstrate in English and math in order to graduate. Other states require a test for high school graduation. The tests in Virginia and Massachusetts, for example, are much harder than the California test.

Tania Garcia, a high school student in Oakland, Calif., says that standardized tests are a waste of her time. She spends lots of time studying to make sure that she really understands her subjects, and the tests only measure how many facts she knows.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that the recent FBI spy scandal has caused the agency to consider testing its employees more often with polygraphs. The benefit is that a spy has less chance to pass information to the enemy. The cost is that a false-positive rate of about 15 percent can ruin the lives of innocent people.

Allison Aubrey reports that Coca-Cola made a very public announcement today that it is changing the way its flagship product is marketed in the nation's schools. The Atlanta-based company says it will urge its bottlers to end the practice of negotiating "exclusive" contracts with school districts. The company also promised to give school kids more choice by stocking vending machines with healthier options. Many parent groups have criticized the exclusive contract arrangement.

NPR's Richard Knox reports from Boston on two new medical studies of AIDS treatment in the United States. In today's New England Journal of Medicine the studies conclude that AIDS drugs in the U.S. are cost effective, but many who need the drugs, are not getting them. Knox's report is a follow-up to the NPR series on AIDS drugs in developing nations that ran last week.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports that Russian scientists are meticulously planning Mir's return to Earth, to prevent any harm. They're using computer models to anticipate where the 140-ton space station will splash down in the South Pacific, and warning away planes and boats from the area.

NPR's Michael Sullivan reports on the bribery scandal embroiling the government of India. Several top politicians in the ruling political party have resigned.

Host Melissa Block talks with Rob Turner, instructor of Baroque flute and recorder at the University of Virginia. He describes and plays a crystal flute owned by President James Madison. The flute was made in 1813 by French clock-maker turned flute-maker Claude Laurent. His design determined the way the keys are configured on most modern-day woodwinds. For more info on the flute maker, click here.

Host Melissa Block visits the staff of The Onion -- the news-satire tabloid self-identified as 'America's Finest News Source.' The Onion recently moved its editorial offices to New York City, and Melissa caught up with them during one of their planning meetings.