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2:24 am
Fri September 14, 2012

California Online Sales Tax Faces Enforcement Hurdle

Credit Ross D. Franklin / AP
An Amazon worker sorts packages at a fulfillment center in Goodyear, Ariz.

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 9:43 am

It's not hard to find online shoppers these days. Take the hipster cafe in San Francisco's Mission District where Shirin Oskooi opens her laptop and ticks off her latest Amazon purchases.

Next to her is Craig Sumner. He opens an Amazon invoice to see how much sales tax he was charged on his latest pair of Levis: none.

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Economy
2:24 am
Fri September 14, 2012

Discouraged In Hunt For A Job, Many Stop Looking

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 9:43 am

The U.S. population is growing. In normal times, the labor force — working or not — would be growing too. But these are not normal times, and the labor force is actually smaller than it was four years ago, meaning millions of people who should be there aren't.

The reasons people drop out of the workforce are myriad. People go back to school. Others have health issues or family priorities that keep them from looking for work. But some stop looking because they are discouraged.

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Middle East
2:24 am
Fri September 14, 2012

Inciting Outrage, Film Spurs Delicate U.S. Response

Credit Alex Brandon / AP
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the State Department in Washington Wednesday, Sept. 12 on the recent deaths of Americans in Libya.

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 9:43 am

As U.S. embassies and consulates face protests in the Muslim world over an anti-Islamic film, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is walking a fine line. She is distancing herself and the State Department from the video that has sparked anger among Muslims, but stressed the US commitment to free speech.

"To us, to me personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible," she said Thursday in Washington, D.C. "It appears to have a deeply cynical purpose: to denigrate a great religion and to provoke rage."

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StoryCorps
8:03 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

From Strip Club To Biology: A Love Story

Originally published on Thu November 15, 2012 9:56 am

The Salt
5:53 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

A Little Patience, A Lot Of Salt Are Keys To A Lost Pickle Recipe

Credit iStockphoto.com
There's more than one way to make a pickle.

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 12:45 pm

Here's a new mantra you might consider adding to your list of daily kitchen chants: "It takes patience to perpetuate pickles."

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The Two-Way
5:05 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Have Foreign Policy Questions? 'Weekend Edition' Will Try To Answer Them

Our friends at Weekend Edition are trying something different starting this weekend. They're calling on NPR reporters to answer some of your questions on different topics.

Here's how they explain it:

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The Two-Way
4:41 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Was The American Consulate Attack In Benghazi Planned?

Credit Gianluigi Guercia / AFP/Getty Images
Broken furniture outside the U.S. consulate building in Benghazi on Thursday, following an attack on the building late on September 11.

Originally published on Thu September 13, 2012 4:54 pm

One of the biggest questions still outstanding about the attack on a United States consulate in Libya is whether it was planned or whether it was the result of a protest against a U.S.-made film that criticizes the Prophet Muhammad.

The attack killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

The bottom line is that nothing is firm. But NPR's Leila Fadel reports that Libya's Deputy Interior Minister, Wanis al Sharef, said this was a sophisticated two-prong attack.

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The Two-Way
3:57 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

The First Amendment: Why The Muhammad Film Is Protected Speech

Credit Nasser Nasser / AP
Protesters carry an American flag pulled down from the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday.

The First Amendment guarantee of free speech is in the spotlight this week. If you haven't kept up, a U.S.-produced film depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a less than flattering way has inflamed the Arab world.

In a lot of ways, the story is showing how the sweeping nature of the First Amendment puts the United States at odds with most of the world.

That rift was perhaps most evident when you compare the statements of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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Law
3:20 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Stand Your Ground Law Likely To Remain

Credit J Pat Carter / AP
Sandra Boden holds a photo of her son, Jason, during a Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection hearing. Prosecutors told Boden that Florida's Stand Your Ground law prevented them from filing charges against the person who shot and killed Jason.

Originally published on Thu September 13, 2012 9:19 pm

A panel in Florida tasked with examining the state's "Stand Your Ground" law is unlikely to suggest that any major changes are needed.

Since it was convened in May, members of the task force have held meetings at locations around the state. At almost every meeting, they've heard impassioned testimony from people like David Boden, whose son, Jason, was killed in a shooting. Prosecutors in West Palm Beach told Boden that Florida's Stand Your Ground law prevented them from filing charges against the shooter.

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Shots - Health Blog
2:54 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Death Toll Climbs In Congo Ebola Outbreak

Credit Stephen Wandera / Associated Press
A medical worker from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works at the laboratory in Uganda where Ebola specimens were tested at the start of the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As health workers try to contain an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the death toll has increased to 31.

The deaths from the hemorrhagic fever outbreak doubled in the past week. World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic tells Shots that's because they have discovered more people who were originally infected.

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