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It's All Politics
2:11 am
Sun November 4, 2012

Stuck In The Middle (Class) With You

Credit Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images
The debate between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney is seen on a TV in a Korean restaurant Oct. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif.

In a country of dreamers and achievers, we seem surprisingly content in the middle.

The term "middle class" is at once useful for political purposes and practically useless as an economic descriptor. Without a consensus on an economic definition, nearly half of the country self-identifies as being in the middle class.

That gives politicians an opportunity to make far-reaching appeals to voters, speaking to Americans with incomes of $30,000 and $100,000 in the same breath.

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The Two-Way
2:10 am
Sun November 4, 2012

Can China's Legal System Change?

Credit Frank Langfitt / NPR
Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese lawyer, made international headlines when he escaped house arrest in April. Now at New York University, he believes changes to China's legal system are inevitable.

China's Communist Party will introduce a new slate of leaders this month to run the world's most populous country for at least the next five years. Their to-do list will include dealing with the nation's opaque and politicized court system.

"China's judicial system urgently needs to be reformed, improved and developed," a government planning paper acknowledged last month.

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It's All Politics
2:10 am
Sun November 4, 2012

Time's Running Out For Missouri's Todd Akin

Credit Charlie Riedel / AP
Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin addresses supporters during a campaign event Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

Originally published on Mon November 5, 2012 7:44 am

It may be too little, too late for Rep. Todd Akin.

The Republican candidate for Senate from Missouri is seeing an influx of money in the closing days of his campaign. Still, it would come as a surprise to seasoned observers in the state if Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill went down to defeat.

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World
2:06 am
Sun November 4, 2012

U.S. Handoff In Afghanistan Includes Radio Training

Credit Spc. Tia Sokimson / DVIDS
Unidentified Afghan civilians broadcast a radio program from the radio studio at Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar province, south of Kabul. The U.S. military is training Afghans to disseminate anti-insurgent messages via local radio.

Originally published on Sun November 4, 2012 1:54 pm

From the outside, this white metal container looks like all the other mobile structures at Forward Operating Base Shank, the main NATO base in Afghanistan's Logar province. But rather than housing soldiers, offices or latrines, the building contains a fully functioning — if spartan — radio studio.

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Superstorm Sandy: Before, During And Beyond
2:06 am
Sun November 4, 2012

Levee Rebuilding Questioned After Sandy Breach

Credit Mike Groll / AP
A man crosses a flooded street in the wake of Superstorm Sandy on Thursday in Little Ferry, N.J. Surprise coastal surge floods caused by the storm battered Little Ferry, Moonachie and some other towns along the Hackensack River in Bergen County, all areas unaccustomed to flooding.

Originally published on Mon November 5, 2012 12:19 pm

Every time a storm brings flooding to a large metropolitan area, there are calls to improve the levee systems that are designed to prevent flooding.

But there's a major problem with doing that. "We don't know where all of our levees are," says Samantha Medlock with the Association of State Floodplain Managers.

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Superstorm Sandy: Before, During And Beyond
9:15 pm
Sat November 3, 2012

Insurance Companies Rethink Business After Sandy

Credit Mike Groll / AP
This aerial photo shows destruction in the wake of Superstorm Sandy on Wednesday in Seaside Heights, N.J.

Originally published on Sun November 4, 2012 1:56 pm

Superstorm Sandy capped what's been a pretty impressive couple of years for U.S. natural disasters. There have been wildfires, tornadoes, floods and derechos. And insurance companies are on the hook to pay billions in related claims.

"We're seeing more of everything, and what we're doing is trying to factor that in going forward as we work with others to have a better sense of what the future holds," says State Farm spokesman David Beigie.

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Shots - Health News
3:14 pm
Sat November 3, 2012

Despite Anti-Fungal Treatment, More Woes For Some Meningitis Patients

Originally published on Mon November 5, 2012 5:21 am

The news for patients who had injections of fungus-tainted steroids just keeps getting worse.

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It's All Politics
2:31 pm
Sat November 3, 2012

In Iowa, The Physics Of Politics

Credit Charlie Neibergall / AP
More than half a million Iowans had already voted as of Thursday — a new record.

Both campaigns want to claim momentum heading into the final days of the campaign. This is especially true in battleground states like Iowa, where enthusiasm and voter turnout can make all the difference.

It's a common political metaphor — momentum — but is it a good one?

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It's All Politics
2:12 pm
Sat November 3, 2012

Nonvoters: The Other Abstinence Movement

To many Americans, the right to vote in a presidential election is a sacred and precious opportunity. To others, the right to not vote is just as meaningful. And they exercise it.

In just-released data, the Pew Research Center reports that about 43 percent of Americans of voting age in 2008 didn't participate in the presidential election.

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Superstorm Sandy: Before, During And Beyond
2:12 pm
Sat November 3, 2012

Crews Work To Restore Power, And Explain The Delay

Originally published on Sat November 3, 2012 3:45 pm

More than 8 million people lost power after Superstorm Sandy. Five days later, 2.5 million are still waiting as power companies across the region continue to say that restoring power is more complicated than it seems.

The storm packed a one-two punch. First, it flooded several switching stations including one hidden under the New Jersey Turnpike in Newark, says Art Torticelli, who was out with his crew from Public Service Electric and Gas at a switching station in Essex, N.J.

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