Okay, okay, we heard you. You, our listeners, smartly pointed out that with all the energy efficient appliances in the world (and thousands of pounds of algae) future energy consumption will continue increasing because population is increasing. The Power Trip was shaking it's head — how could we forget to talk about this? Today, we'd like you to meet David Biello, an associate editor at Scientific American online who joins The Takeaway to talk to about population, energy, and why when one goes up, it's still possible for the other to come down. (Come on, you're as surprised as we are.)

Two former Guantanamo Bay inmates have joined the ranks of al-Qaida in Yemen, according to a video released by the terrorist group on Friday. President Obama has signed an executive order calling for the detention center to be closed within a year. Will this development make that more difficult? For more on this troubling situation we turn to terrorism analyst Gregory Johnsen from the Jamestown Foundation in Princeton, N.J. and Robert Worth, the New York Times correspondent based in Beirut.

For more information, read Robert Worth's article, 2 Ex-Detainees in Qaeda Video, in the New York Times.

When he listed the diverse faiths of our nation in his inaugural address, President Obama chose to include nonbelievers, a group rarely acknowledged in official discourse. Randall Balmer, professor of American religious history at Barnard College and author of "God in The White House" joins John and Adaora to discuss the implications of the President's inclusion of atheists and agnostics as part of our spiritual community.

Voters in Nashville, Tennessee head to the polls today to decide whether English should be the only language for all government business in town. This means marriage licenses, parking tickets, and court summons could only be written and responded to in English. Reporter Blake Farmer of WPLN has been covering the “English First" movement since the legislation was first proposed more than a year ago. He joins us from Nashville.

It's not just about dropping crystal balls and confetti. On the Clinton Hill campus of Pratt Institute, a few hundred revelers gathered last night for a once-a-year cacophony: factory whistles, steam whistles, ship's whistles, and few the school's chief engineer made himself. Conrad Milster has been letting these sounds loose ...

Even for those who don't celebrate Christmas, yesterday was a chance to observe some other time-honored traditions - like enjoying a meal at a boisterous Chinatown restaurant.

Kim Newman, of Brooklyn, says she's been doing just that for several decades.

NEWMAN: There was nothing ever open on Christmas Day, so my family ...

REPORTER: Not everyone was rushing to open their presents first thing this morning.

Volunteers at the Soho nonprofit Gods Love We Deliver started cooking at 4 am. Now another crew is helping to distribute more than 2,000 meals to people with serious illnesses in the New York City area.

Iris Marden is ...

Tonight’s Town Hall-style debate between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain takes The Takeaway to Nashville, Tennessee. Reporter Colby Sledge has been following the preparations for a month. He gives us a sneak preview of what’s in store.

Anthrax timeline:

Late September, 2001
First signs
Envelopes containing threatening letters and a grainy brown substance arrive in the offices of ABC, CBS, NBC, and the New York Post.

October 5^th, 2001
A fatality
Robert Stevens, a photo editor for the Florida-based ...

Black and Jewish officials are standing together to fight the recent spike in Crown Heights violence.

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind says the six-month-old Black-Jewish alliance of politicians is alarmed by bias crimes, up 20 percent from this time last year.

Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz says elected officials can only do so ...

Babies Sleep Safest Alone - that's the message of a new public education campaign.

The city's Administration for Childrens Services says 11 babies have died of suffocation this year. Commissioner John Mattingly says all of those deaths could have been prevented.

MATTINGLY: Sharing a bed with a baby unnecessarily endangers the ...

A Katrina-sized hurricane could put the city out of commission.

That's what scientists and infrastructure experts told the City Council's Infrastructure Task Force yesterday.

The city's Office of Long Term Planning says it's working on a strategic plan and reaching out to vulnerable communities. Deputy Director Ariella Maron says it's a first-ever ...

Third graders in New York City's public school system are supposed to have gym class every day. But only 4 percent of them get to run around as part of the school day. This according to a report by the city's public advocate.

Betsy Gotbaum's office surveyed 100 city schools at ...

The city's Water Board is proposing an $8-a-month increase in costs, the biggest spike in 16 years, to go into effect next month. But some city council members say it's not right to move that quickly.

REPORTER: Brooklyn Councilman Simcha Felder says he supports putting liens on properties with delinquent water ...

A City Hall celebration for National Library Week was anything but quiet.

Staff members from libraries around the city, set-up tables in City Hall Park and invited passersby to sign up for library cards... and a band of Brooklyn librarians called "Lost in the Stacks" entertained the crowd.

Fifteen-year-old Tashana Brown of ...

When the Pope arrives in New York on Friday, he'll make an historic visit to an Upper East Side synagogue. Children there, in the Park East Day School, are practicing songs in Hebrew to welcome the pontiff.

REPORTER: 10-year-old Jonathan Czyzyk says his favorite is the Shuh-Ma, a central prayer in ...

New York's chief judge has sued the state because she and her colleagues haven't had a pay raise in 10 years.

Judith Kaye's attorney, Bernard Nussbaum, says New York's refusal to grant annual cost-of-living increases to judges has widespread effects on morale.

NUSSBAUM: It's no good for judges, it's no good ...

City Comptroller Bill Thompson is calling for immediate action to clean up a city-owned athletic center in Brooklyn that houses day care and pre-kindergarten programs.

He says his auditors found decrepit and dangerous conditions during a routine financial audit of the Paerdegat Athletic Club in Canarsie — including missing fire extinguishers, ...

The city's Department of Environmental Protection says trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in New York's water supply do not pose significant health risks.

At a City Council hearing, Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush said, among other drugs, New York tap water contains very minute amounts of caffeine and ibuprofen.

RUSH: A person would have ...