President Obama nominated Gen. Michael Dempsey to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff, completing an overhaul of his top military appointments. “In Iraq he lead our soldiers against a brutal insurgency, having trained Iraqi forces he knows the nations must ultimately take responsibility for their own security,” says President Obama.

On Memorial Day, President Barack Obama announced his nomination for two top military positions. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey will replace Navy Adm. Michael Mullen as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey would be joined in the Pentagon by Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., who would serve as his vice chairman. Also announced, Gen. Ray Odierno was picked to replace Dempsey as Army chief. These choices, especially Dempsey’s nod for the Joint Chiefs assignment, took many military watchers by surprise.

The NBA Finals will kick off tonight with Game 1 between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. As fans get ready for the first game, we hear from them about why their team has what it takes to win it all. Representing the Miami Heat is Michael Garrett, who started following his team when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined. T.C. Fleming, on the other hand has been a fan for a long time. He moved to Dallas when he was two years old and has been a Mavs fan ever since.

Today is "World No Tobacco Day" and we are asking you how you quit smoking. Listeners have been weighing in:

Victoria Heuer writes on Facebook: My quit day was Dec. 14, last. I was sick of being controlled by the addiction, sick of the money and guilt it took to continue smoking, knowing that every pack was money for food (and other things) for my son.

Stephen Barrett writes: I quit smoking by giving up one cigarette at a time, most importantly the first one of the day. The longer you postpone that first cigarette, the closer you get to quitting. Eventually, you go a full day without smoking, and then another, and so on. All it takes is discipline and a very real desire to kick the habit.

Serving in overseas wars, the men and women of today’s armed forces could easily miss the familiar tastes and luxuries of home. Fortunately for them, the US military has made it a point to make Pizza Huts, Taco Bells, Cinnabons and even beauty parlors common fixtures of their major bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, in order to provide those familiar amenities, the military must staff tens of thousands of international civilian employees. With few oversights, and little accountability, those workers — dubbed “Third Country Nationals” in military parlance — are often subject to terrible living and working conditions. 

One hundred years ago today, the Titanic launched. It was designed to carry 3511 passengers and was supposed to be "unsinkable" with lifeboats for less than a third. It was first dropped into the waters in Belfast on May 31, 1911. She got the traditional shakedown and then there was that quick stop in Southhampton on the way to New York and then an unscheduled stop at the bottom of the sea just after midnight on 15 April, 1912, after hitting an iceberg. Less than a third of the people on board survived. The BBC's Mark Simpson reports from Belfast on the anniversary of the launch.

Each May 31st, the World Health Organization declares another “World No Tobacco Day” meant to encourage a full day of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption. But this year, some public health officials are wondering if it’s time to change our approach to healthy living. While no one doubts the addictive properties of tobacco, and the negative consequences for all of our health — is it time to stop demonizing an addiction that affects 20 percent of Americans, and think of ways for smokers to give up cigarettes but still have access to nicotine?

Sources inside Yemen say forces loyal to the president fired shells and missiles into the crowds in the capital. More than 300 people have been killed in fighting since the protests began four months ago.

The UN Human Rights office has said that it received reports that at least 50 people have been killed in Taiz since Sunday. Forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh also bombed the city of Zinjibar with airstrikes after Islamic militants had overtaken the city.Nasser Arrabyee is in Sanaa, Yemen reporting for The New York Times. He says that "many of the protesters are peaceful, but the majority of the protesters belong to the Islamist party." Nicholas Kristof, columnist for The New York Times says that the fighting looks like a civil war to him, but that intervention is not an option. "The problem with intervention is that one reason why al-Qaida and Islamists have already grown pretty strong is because of real resentment at what they see as American influence there."

As the House gets ready to vote on raising the debt ceiling, a delegation of Congressional Republicans will meet with President Obama on Wednesday with a list of their demands. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich has all the details. "Republicans are calling it a vote on the president's proposal on the debt limit, trying to tie it to the president's ankles," says Todd Zwillich. Meanwhile, there will also be a vote on the US role in Libya with Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) calling for a vote on a resolution to remove US personnel from Libya immediately.

Up until recently, Ohio State University head coach, Jim Tressel had a brilliant career. He was the Head Football Coach for Ohio State, a Big Ten school that recruits some of the most talented athletes in the nation. He had one national title and seven Big Ten championships. However, Tressel resigned amid accusations that he’s covered up years worth of NCAA violations among his players. Running Back Bri'onte Dunn, from Canton, Ohio, has made a verbal commitment to join the OSU Buckeyes in January 2012. What will these developments mean for his future? Takeaway sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin weighs in.

Utah has the first law on the books encouraging residents to use gold or silver coins made by the Mint as cash. The legislation is called the Legal Tender Act of 2011. The law was inspired by Tea Party supporters who believe the dollar should be backed by gold or silver and worry that a currency collapse looms in our country's future.

The British government has been training the troops used to suppress some of the pro-democracy protesters in the Arab world includingthe Saudi Arabian National Guard sent into Bahrain. This seems to contradict expressions by the British government of "deep concern" after Bahrain's ruling royal family used Saudi troops to put down Shi'ite demonstrators. However, the bigger picture is much more complex, explains Robert Lacey, author of "Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia."

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that California's overcrowded prison system violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Court ordered California to transfer or release thirty thousand inmates over the next two years. But California isn’t the only state with a high rate of incarceration. The U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Peter Moskos thinks that Americans are in denial about the brutality of our prison system. And he has a provocative idea about how to change it. He's the author of the new book "In Defense of Flogging" and an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The Pentagon has said a cyber attack coming from another country can be interpreted as an act of war and that the U.S. might respond with military action, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal. Unclassified portions of the new strategy are expected to be published next month. Siobhan Gorman, Intelligence Correspondent at the Wall Street Journal reported the story. She explains the challenges in this new policy and how you apply a policy of deterrence in cyber space.

In the city of Monterrey in Northern Mexico, teacher Martha Rivera led her kindergarteners in song as a shootout took place in the streets outside the classroom. She videotaped the entire episode because she is on the school safety committee and felt the need to record it. Like other teachers, she had been trained for this type of event.

The S&P/ Case Shiller index shows that housing prices in 20 areas fell in March, reaching a new low. "the reality is that housing activity, broadly speaking, is pretty depressed," says Kelly Evans, "Ahead of the Tape" reporter for The Wall Street Journal. The worry for the economy is a deflationary mindset in the housing market, which keeps people from buying and keeps the economy from growing.