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Secretary of State Colin Powell sought support for revised sanctions against Iraq while in the Middle East this week. New sanctions would include easing restrictions on Iraqi imports of civilian goods while tightening controls over military technology transfers -- that would mean reinstating U.N. weapons inspectors. Iraq called the revised sanctions "rubish", saying they would never allow weapons inspectors back in the country. Robert Siegel talks with Meghan L. O'Sullivan about the effects of sanctions on Iraq and what the revised sanctions mean. O'Sullivan is a fellow at the Brooking Institution, specializing in economic sanctions, and co-author of the book Honey and Vinegar: Incentives, Sanctions and Foreign Policy.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Paul Eisenstein, editor of The Car Connection.Com, about the plan unveiled yesterday by DaimlerChrysler to help pull its ailing partners--Chrysler and Mitsubishi--out of the red by 2002.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Robert Schmuhl, author of Statecraft and Stagecraft: American Political Life in the Age of Personality. They discuss tonight's speech by President Bush, his first address to Congress. (4:04) (Please note: The introduction to this interview misstates the size of President Bush's tax cut. The correct figure is $1.6 trillion.)

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports on how estate taxes work, and who pays them. A number of lawmakers, including President Bush, would like to repeal the estate tax. Others say its a progressive tax that generates revenue from only the wealthiest 2-percent of Americans.

NPR's Rob Gifford reports that the Chinese government today struck back at the United States, calling it hypocritical on human rights. China went on the offensive after the U.S. released a State Department report yesterday, saying that China's human rights record has greatly deteriorated over the past year. Chinese officials discussed the issue during a news conference as U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson was in Beijing. The Chinese government didn't like her remarks either, saying she was ignorant of China's situation. She is pressing China to abolish its "re-education through labor" policy, under which minor offenders can be locked up for several years, without any judicial process.

Robert Siegel talks to MIT professor Marvin Minksy about Dr. Claude Shannon, a mathematician who wrote about communications theory. Shannon died Saturday. Shannon's theories led to "packet" switching, which makes the Internet possible. Minsky says Shannon ranks on a level with Einstein. The two worked together years ago. Shannon did his work at AT&T Labs in the 1940s and '50s.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on what's at stake for President Bush tonight as he prepares to make his case for his tax-cut proposals to a joint session of Congress -- as well as the American people. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are already battling over the president's plan.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Congressman Christoper Cox (R-47th) from California about why he supports a bigger tax cut than President Bush's proposal.

In the second part of our Changing Face of America series on homeschooling, NPR's Robert Smith tackles the issue of socialization. There's a persistent worry among parents who are considering homeschooling that their children will suffer for lack of the social interaction that happens in schools. There's not much evidence to support that fear. Most homeschoolers interact with peers often -- as members of academic groups and extracurricular sports teams, for example. In fact, some research points to a better quality of interaction for children educated at home who are comfortable with friendships with children older and younger than themselves, as well as adults.

More people look to the Web for information about religion than for auctions or online banking. Commentator Steve Waldman thinks that this is because the Internet offers anonymity.