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Commentator Merrill Matthews says don't blame the drug companies for not giving away their products. He argues that drug companies are not the most profitable companies and that they function like any other company marking up their products to cover the costs of produciton and distribution. If drug companies just give away their products, they won't have the funds to do the kind of research that leads to innovations and cures.

Host Bob Edwards talks with plant expert Ketzel Levine about a camellia plant in his garden which is flowering in many colors. Levine says this quirk of the camellia is why the plant has so many varieties. Visit NPR's Talking Plants Web site for more on the camellia.

Hes been writing about the criminal-justice system for about a decade. For his new book, Going Up the River: Travels in Prison Nation he looks at the consequences of our countrys prison boom. The prison-industrial complex is our nations biggest growth industry. Hallinan currently writes for The Wall Street Journal.

Rock critic KEN TUCKER reviews –Poisonville— the new CD by singer Ronny Elliott.

NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports that aerospace company Boeing will move its main offices from Seattle, where they've been for 85 years, to either Chicago, Denver, or Dallas-Fort Worth.

Host Bob Edwards talks to NPR's Tom Gjelten in Washington, D.C. and Michelle Kelemen in Moscow about the expulsion of some 50 Russian diplomats from the United States, in response to the Robert Hanssen spy case. Several of the diplomats are suspected of having ties to the former FBI agent, who is accused of spying for Moscow over a 15-year period.

NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports on the U.S. visit of China's Vice Premier, Qian Qichen , the highest ranking Chinese diplomat to visit the new administration. Speaking publicly at the State Department last night, Qian expressed hope that China-U.S. relations would improve. Tuesday night in New York, he was highly critical of American plans to sell Aegis destroyers to Taiwan.

NPR's David Molpus reports on yesterday's Supreme Court decision allowing employers to force their employees to forego a court trial, and head straight for binding arbitration in cases of job disputes. The idea is to reduce the caseload of an already clogged legal system, but employee advocates say arbitration usually gives the employer an unfair advantage.

In the final story in Morning Edition's series on literacy, NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports from Knoxville, Tennessee, on the inability of many college students to write college-level essays. Many four-year colleges are raising admissions standards or scaling back on remedial classes, so a good deal of remedial education now takes place at community colleges. Sanchez examines why American high schools graduate so many students who are ill-prepared for the rigors of college work.

Host Bob Edwards talks with NPR's Guy Raz about ongoing violence on Macedonia's border where ethnic Albanian rebels are fighting with Macedonia's army.