Former Sen. Alan Simpson spoke to NPR's Steve Inskeep this morning and the conversation was wide-ranging and spirited, but one thing was crystal clear: Simpson, who served as a Republican senator from Wyoming, was not happy about the Congressional "horror show" that lead to Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee continued to underscore Republican congressional candidate Andy Barr’s support for the Ryan budget plan in a new radio ad that began airing Monday.  Barr is challenging Congressman Ben Chandler, D-Ky., in a rematch from 2010, where he came within less than 700 votes of unseating the incumbent last fall.

For many veterans, coming home is itself a challenge. A documentary drama, based on oral history interviews with veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan making that transition, is previewing tonight at the University of Kentucky before heading to Broadway.

You'd never know it now, but just a few years ago, Kathryn Cotton Greer was "the help" for several prominent families in Lexington and, later, Dallas. Some of her former employers treated her with disdain, some treated her purely as a servant and others saw her worthy of praise because of her kindness and willingness to treat their home and children as if they were her own.

Congressional debt negotiations are difficult. Stopping to help a stray dog along the highway is an easy choice for U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield. The veteran lawmaker rescued a dog along U.S. 41 between Hanson and Madisonville on Sunday afternoon. And it wasn’t the first time that the congressman has rescued a stray dog on the highway.

Toyota Motor Corp. has been knocked from its spot as the world’s largest automaker. General Motors Co. said it sold 4.5 million vehicles worldwide in the first six months of 2011. Volkswagen AG of Germany claims the second spot with 4.13 million vehicles sold. Toyota fell to No. 3 with 3.7 million vehicles sold, a drop of 11 percent from a year earlier.

Soy pills for the hot flashes and bone loss menopausal women may endure seemed like a great idea – a cheap way of getting the benefit of estrogen without the risks.

But alas, a new study concludes they don't work.

Woman who took a daily soy pill had no less bone loss after two years than others who took a sugar pill. (Women in both groups didn't know which pill they got.)

In the past year, more than two dozen states have considered legislation that would prevent the use of Shariah, the Islamic code that guides Muslim beliefs and actions, in courtrooms. Several prominent Republicans, including Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann have all recently warned about the threat of Shariah law. In Tennessee, lawmakers recently debated whether to classify suspected Islamic terrorist groups as "Shariah organizations."

Government regulation is stifling the economy and the greatness of the nation, Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul told an audience Monday in Georgetown. Repeating many of the themes that got him elected last November, the Bowling Green eye doctor said the marketplace, not regulators, should decide the success of businesses. “If people want to buy a car that gets 15 miles to the gallon because they think it’s safer, they ought to be allowed to,” he said. “We need to get the government out of most of these decisions.”

Nearly 25,000 signatures of people who want to repeal the tax that funds the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission were submitted to the Kenton County Clerk's office Monday. Twelve bankers' boxes containing 24,698 signatures were handed over to deputy clerks, as about 20 people looked on.