Morning Edition

Britain's Observer newspaper ran a 2012 investment challenge pitting stockbrokers and wealth managers against Orlando. The calculating kitty chose stocks by batting a toy mouse onto a grid of options. The cat's portfolio came out ahead.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning, I'm Steve Inskeep with a word from Clarence Thomas - we're just not exactly sure what it is. The Supreme Court justice had gone seven years without saying a word in oral arguments. Then yesterday, Justice Thomas spoke.

Several justices were talking at once, leaving his exact remark unclear. But a detailed contextual analysis by The New York Times suggests he told a joke, saying a law degree from Yale or Harvard might be proof of incompetence. He's a Yale grad.

Wal-Mart is expected to announce that it will hire every veteran who wants a job as part of a new program beginning on Memorial Day. The only requirements: that he or she left the military in the previous year and wasn't dishonorably discharged.

France has intervened in the conflict in the West African nation of Mali, but why does that conflict affect the United States? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has offered the most basic take on America's interest in Maili: al-Qida is there.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.