May 7, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Corporate Cultures -- All Things Considered host Robert Siegel talks with Adam Posen, an economist at the Institute for International Economics. They discuss the differences between the predominant corporate cultures in American and German companies. (6:00)

Automotive History -- We'll hear a short history of the Daimler and Chrysler Corporations. (2:00)

Italy Mudslide -- David Willey reports that with nearly 50 people dead in floods and mudslides in Southern Italy, many locals are blaming the authorities for allowing overdevelopment. Residents say unchecked -- and often illegal -- construction has created an ecologically fragile area that was just waiting for disaster to strike. (2:00)

Chiapas -- NPR's Phillip Davis reports from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on the nearly forty communities that have declared themselves autonomous from the central government. These communities are supporters of the leftist Zapatista rebels, one of whose goals is greater autonomy for the Indian communities of Chiapas. (6:00)

Minn. Tobacco Case -- Laura McCallum of Minnesota Public Radio reports lawyers for the tobacco companies began their closing statements in Minnesota's tobacco trial today, but the chances of settling the case are looking less and less likely. (3:00)

New Macintosh -- All Things Considered host Noah Adams talks with Tim Bajarin, the president of Creative Strategies. They talk about the new $1300 Apple computer, which was announced yesterday. Apple claims that the new machine can run programs faster than more expensive, high-end PCs. (4:15)

Internet Hyperbole -- Vice President Al Gore recently described the Internet as more significant than the printing press. It's as important, he said, as the invention of writing. Those are some pretty big claims, and Gore isn’t the only one making such lofty pronouncements. From the Vice President’s office to hackers’ basements around the world, people seem to go overboard when the Internet is the subject of conversation. Listen as NPR's Dan Charles talks to industry insiders and social critics about why the Internet inspires millennial-type hyperbole. (5:00)

Marines in Chicago -- Jackie Northam of member station WBEZ in Chicago reports that the Marines are studying urban warfare in the Windy City. The Pentagon is not expecting an attack on Chicago or any other American city. But with U.S. forces increasingly facing deployment to urban centers abroad, the Marines want to prepare by studying Chicago's skyscrapers, sewers, bridges and subway tunnels. (5:00)

ATC Mailbag -- Noah and Robert read from listeners' comments. To contact the show, write to All Things Considered Letters, 635 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20001. To contact us via the Internet, the address is atc@npr.org. (3:00)

Ross to the Middle East -- NPR's Ted Clark reports that Israel has unleashed the full force of its lobbying power to oppose what it claims is U.S. government pressure to withdraw from more occupied West Bank territory than Israel wants. (3:30)

Rubin on the Middle East -- Robert talks with James Rubin, the spokesman for Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. They discuss the change in strategy being embraced by the U.S. for the negotiations in peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. (5:00)

Indonesia Unrest -- NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Jakarta on the uneasy peace following three days of rioting in the city of Medan, 860 miles northwest of the Indonesian capital. Protestors angered by higher prices for gasoline and transportation burned and looted stores. In other parts of the country, thousands of students continued their anti-government demonstration. (3:30)

Mental Health Care -- NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on a new insurance industry study that shows a dramatic decline in mental health benefits over the past ten years. This is the same time period in which managed care companies and HMOs have grown rapidly. (4:00)

Horace Kelly Update -- Jason Beaubien of member station KQED reports on the ongoing trial of Horace Kelly. The convicted murderer was scheduled to be executed April 14, but is now before a jury trying to determine if he is too mentally ill to be put to death. (3:45)

South African Rugby -- NPR's Charlayne Hunter-Gault reports from Johannesburg on a clash between the new and the old South Africa in the world of sport. Today the embattled white leader of the nation's rugby union refused to resign, in spite of intense pressure that he do so because of alleged racism and mismanagement within the organization. The National Sports Council has threatened to call for a boycott of the rugby union. South Africa only emerged from international isolation in sports in recent years after the world dropped its boycott following the end of apartheid. (2:30)

Frederick Hart -- Noah talks with sculptor Frederick Hart. Hart has been called America's greatest living sculptor by many critics. He created the sculpture of the three soldiers that looks upon Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He also sculpted "Ex Nihilo", the swirl of figures emerging out of chaos that appears over the main portals at Washington's National Cathedral. Earlier this year Hart had a stroke that caused him to partially lose the use of his left hand. That’s profoundly affected his work. (9:30)

IRS Reform -- The Senate votes today on a bill intended to address abuses by the Internal Revenue Service. The measure gives taxpayers some additional rights, although critics say those provisions help only a relative few who end up in tax court. The package also establishes an outside oversight board to review IRS practices. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports. (3:30)

Bobby Fuller Four -- David Greenberger has a review of a new CD box set, called "Never to be Forgotten" by the Bobby Fuller Four. They were a Los Angeles band that became popular in the mid-60s, during the period of the Byrds and the Standells. Their most popular song was "I Fought the Law," which ended up in the national top ten. (4:30)