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When women go on a diet, we tend to avoid our favorite restaurants because they are filled with temptations — bread, booze and desserts. But are we doomed to sit in our kitchens eating salad alone while everyone else is headed out on the town if we want to keep the weight off?

Take heart, ladies. A new study of women in their 50s and early 60s finds they could eat out and still succeed at long-term weight loss.

The mission of Circles Wyoming, part of a national anti-poverty movement, is "to build intentional, diverse and long-term relationships as people move from barely surviving to thriving."

Trained "intentional friends" are matched with someone who is looking to escape poverty, explains Director Tim Thorson. They do everything "from having coffee once a month to talk about financial goals to going to the gym together ... things that any friends would do."

Babies are lovely but altogether helpless creatures.

Wouldn't it be better if tiny humans were born able to walk, like horses, or generally were readier for the rigors of the world, like, say, chimps?

Among primates, human have the least developed brains at birth, at least when compared to adult human brains. If humans were born as far along on cognitive and neurological scales as rough and ready chimps are, though, human pregnancy would have to last at least twice as long. Eighteen months in the womb, anyone?

Debbie Elliott has spent the day driving along the Mississippi coast as people prepare for Isaac. The storm has dumped heavy rain across the area. She speaks with Audie Cornish from Gulfport, Mississippi.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish.

Republicans convening today in Tampa aren't the only ones juggling politics and storm watch. President Obama is also keeping a close eye on Hurricane Isaac, even as he campaigns today in Iowa and Colorado. Mr. Obama got an update on the storm from his emergency managers this morning. And he's urging Gulf Coast residents to heed the instructions of their local officials.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish. In New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu delivered this news this afternoon.

MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU: Isaac has now formed into a hurricane so we are officially in the fight and the city of New Orleans is on the front lines.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

We're going to stay on the Gulf Coast for a moment. Earlier today we caught up Acy Cooper. He's a shrimp boat captain. And when we reached him, he had sought safe harbor on the intercoastal waterway near Belle Chasse. As you just heard, many of the locals have braved these storms before and Cooper is no exception. He lives in the town of Venice, but today we found the captain docked on his boat far inland from his home.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

As we mentioned, New Jersey Governor Christ Christie gives tonight's keynote speech. For a while, the popular first-term governor was rumored to be in the running for the vice presidential spot, and his appearance tonight could raise his national profile even more.

But as NPR's Joel Rose reports, tough economic times in New Jersey may put a damper on Christie's remarks.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

This afternoon in Tampa, Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus raised a gavel.

(SOUNDBITE OF REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION)

REINCE PRIEBUS: This convention will come to order.

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UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Georgia. 72. Romney.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

All the states answer the call of the roll tonight at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, and the District of Columbia and some territories that don't even vote for the president.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Guam. Nine votes.

CORNISH: But when the campaigns plan their candidates' itineraries and when the superPACs make their media buys, not all states are equal. My colleauge Robert Siegel is in Tampa, where he has visited with the delegation from one key battleground state.

In August 2004, Tracy Rittel was in a fatal car accident near Fargo. While Tracy battled for her life, her family had trouble finding a place to stay near the hospital.

From that experience, the Rittels created Tracy's Sanctuary House in Bismarck for families who find themselves in a similar situation. Since 2005, some 1,500 families have used the home.

A dozen volunteers "put their hearts and souls into making sure the house is kept up," says Tracy's daughter Kelsey Zottnick.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Isaac rose to hurricane strength this afternoon and should make landfall on the Gulf Coast sometime this evening. It's nowhere near as powerful as Katrina, but the storm will test systems erected since Katrina, both physical barriers like flood gates and seawalls, and administrative and political changes.