Around the Nation
3:00 am
Mon December 12, 2011

Florida's Infamous Voting Machines Sold By Collector

On the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court Bush v. Gore decision, Steve Inskeep reports that collectors have bought up those punch-card voting machines that caused the hanging chad confusion of the 2000 election. Jim Dobyns bought 4,500 machines in Palm Beach County and has sold nearly all of them.

NPR Story
3:00 am
Mon December 12, 2011

Romney, Gingrich Lack Extensive Iowa Ground Organization

Originally published on Mon December 12, 2011 7:59 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And as the president does that, the race for the Republican presidential nomination continues. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are the leaders in the race for that nomination. They faced each other in a debate in Des Moines, Iowa Saturday night.

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NPR Story
3:00 am
Mon December 12, 2011

Beyblades: Hot New Toy Borrows Ancient Concept

This Christmas, the Beyblade is sure to be a popular stocking stuffer. What's a Beyblade — it is a sophisticated top. Hasbro has taken the simple concept and added all kinds of cool features.

NPR Story
3:00 am
Mon December 12, 2011

Sandusky Scandal Casts Pale On Central Pa. High School

Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky will be in court this week, for a pre-trial hearing in his child sex abuse case. NPR's Tom Goldman has a preview of the hearing.

It's All Politics
2:02 am
Mon December 12, 2011

U.S. Troops Leaving Iraq This Year; President Obama Could Benefit Next Year

The last American troops are coming home from Iraq this month, and President Obama is marking the occasion with a series of events to commemorate the conclusion of the war.

On Wednesday at Fort Bragg, N.C., he and the first lady will thank troops for their service.

This event is a decade in the making, with far-reaching implications including domestic political consequences.

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Still No Job: Over A Year Without Enough Work
11:01 pm
Sun December 11, 2011

The Impacts Of Long-Term Unemployment

The country has been trying to recover from the Great Recession for three years. But the U.S. job market remains weak, leaving roughly five million workers unemployed for a year or more.

The Kaiser Family Foundation teamed with NPR to conduct a survey, seeking to describe the experiences of those long-term unemployed workers. Here are some highlights of the survey findings.

The long-term unemployed tended to be low-wage workers.

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Still No Job: Over A Year Without Enough Work
11:01 pm
Sun December 11, 2011

The State Of The Long-Term Unemployed

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
People wait to see a career adviser at a training center operated by the New York Department of Labor in New York City. NPR and the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a survey on the emotional, physical and financial effects of being without work for a year or more. Nearly 70 percent of respondents would like the government to offer more job training opportunities.

Originally published on Mon December 12, 2011 11:02 am

Millions of Americans wake up each morning without a job, even though they desperately want to work. It's one of the depressing legacies of the financial crisis and Great Recession.

NPR and the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a poll of people who had been unemployed or with an insufficient level of work for more than a year. The results document the financial, emotional and physical effects of long-term unemployment and underemployment.

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Asia
11:01 pm
Sun December 11, 2011

Absent President Ignites Rumors In Pakistan

Credit Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP/Getty Images
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari speaks in Sri Lanka on Nov. 29. The president has been treated at a hospital in Dubai since Dec. 6. Aides say he is recovering.

Pakistan is a country where rumors are always flowing. So when President Asif Ali Zardari was rushed to a hospital in the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 6, it set off all sorts of speculation.

His aides are doing their best to quell talk that he might step down. They say Zardari has been undergoing treatment and tests for a pre-existing heart ailment, and is recovering well in Dubai.

But that hasn't stopped politicians from considering what Pakistan's political landscape might look like without him.

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Shots - Health Blog
11:01 pm
Sun December 11, 2011

French Lessons: Why Letting Kids Drink At Home Isn't Tres Bien

Many European parents, and some American ones, too, have long figured if they let their kids drink alcohol at home, they'd be less likely to go hog wild with their friends. But recent studies of teen drinking behavior don't bear that out.

That's unwelcome news in places like France, where these scientific developments are running head long into a culture that loves its wine.

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Business
11:01 pm
Sun December 11, 2011

Unpaid Bills Land Some Debtors Behind Bars

Credit Joshua Lott / Getty Images
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan thinks more can be done to keep debtors out of jail. She says the state is investigating creditors that it thinks are abusing laws by incarcerating debtors.

Although debtors' prisons are illegal across the country, it's becoming increasingly common for people to serve jail time as a result of their debt.

Collection agencies are resorting to some unusually harsh tactics to force people to pay their unpaid debt, some of whom aren't aware that lawsuits have been filed against them by creditors.

Take, for example, what happened to Robin Sanders in Illinois.

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