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Matt Biers-Ariel wonders what God must be thinking about the Middle East peace process---deadlocked over the piece of real estate that has held the hope for peace throughout the world. He suggests that if the two sides can only use these sacred sites to incite conflict, the temple mount should be returned to its original form as a field.

Noah talks with LAPD detective Gil Escontrias about the rash of spandex robberies. Detective Escontrias says armed gangs have been stealing the yarn and bolts of the synthetic fabric from textile mills. Last year, over $2 million dollars worth was stolen in Los Angeles. He says the yarn is worth 6 times that of other fibers, so it's easy to find buyers who don't care where it came from. He notes that underpaid textile employees are targeted by thieves looking for access to the material.

The clearest area of agreement between the candidates is on the states that matter most in this election. A handful of populous states, most of them in the upper Midwest, appear to hold the balance of power between the parties in this year's race for the White House. Yesterday, both major party nominees were in Ohio. Today it was Michigan. NPR's Anthony Brooks reports.

Alan Cheuse reviews a new novel by New Hampshire writer Ernest Hebert, who takes us back in time to the mid-eighteenth century during the French and Indian Wars. The book is called The Old American. (University Press of New England)

Glenn Gamboa reviews the new CD by Joseph Arthur Come to Where I'm From (Real World/Virgin)

Music critic Milo Miles reviews a collection of early Muddy Waters material for Chess Records: Rollin' Stone: A Golden Anniversary Collection

Hip Hop Artists De La Soul. Formed in 1985, De La Soul released their latest record Art Official Intelligence this August. Once dubbed "the hippies of hip hop", De La Soul continue to pen songs without gangsta rap influence, focusing instead on the use of samples, jazz vamps, and wordplay. Consisting of Posdnuos, Trugouy the Dove, and Pasemaster Mace, the male trio began recording at the same time as Queen Latifah, Monie Love, and A Tribe Called Quest. De La Soul hails from Long Island, New York.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem where the militant Palestinian group the Hamas are calling for a "Day of Rage" to begin this morning in response to the week of violence that have left 69 people in Israel dead, most of them Palestinian.

John Ridley protests an election system where drab conformity has become a required trait in the men running for office. He wonders when did the flash and sparkle go out of our candidates?

NPR's Andy Bowers reports from Danville, Kentucky on last night's Vice-Presidential debate. Democrat Joe Lieberman and Republican Dick Cheney sat at a table and answered questions from CNN anchor Bernard Shaw about military preparedness, tax cuts, and gay marriage. The tone for the surprisingly civil debate was set early on when both candidates pledged to refrain from personal attacks