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Rising concerns over water, energy and noise have state and local lawmakers rushing to catch up as they offer proposals to regulate date centers.

For 100 years, sufferers of leprosy were banished to Molokai, an untamed Hawaiian island. A new book chronicles how paranoia forced thousands of people to live in exile.

In Los Angeles, Koreatown merchants are closing their businesses and factories so thousands of workers can take part in the national immigrant boycott and march. Korean merchants employ between 30,000 and 50,000 mostly Latino workers.

Commentator Frank Deford offers his take on the uproar over champion skier Bode Miller's fondness for liquor. Miller told the media that it's tough to ski while drunk, drawing the ire of critics and bringing into question his worthiness for the Olympic team.

The Transportation Security Administration announces changes to the way airline passengers are searched, including more random searches. Also, it updates the list of prohibited items aboard planes, allowing more sharp objects, such as small scissors and screwdrivers. The changes are effective Dec. 22.

The latest from French filmmaker Barbet Schroeder (Single White Female, Reversal of Fortune) is titled L'Avocat de la Terreur — released in the U.S. as Terror's Advocate. It's a documentary about lawyer Jacques Verges, known for defending war criminals, militants and yes, terrorists.

An ongoing study by sociologist Robert Cushing examines the list of U.S. military deaths in Iraq and reveals an apparent statistical anomaly: soldiers and Marines from rural areas are dying at higher rates than troops from cities and suburbs. NPR's Howard Berkes looks at the research and at a Nevada family's loss.

Alice Sebold has produced difficult books before: The Lovely Bones centers on a 14-year-old looking down from heaven after her own rape and murder. Her latest, The Almost Moon, features a middle-aged woman who murders her ailing elderly mother.

This year's IRS Form 1040 has 214 pages of instructions. When tax filing started a century ago, the 1040 had just one page of instructions.

On today's show: Snuggies, printer toner, and a banking road trip. Three stories about what happens when you actually read the fine print.