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Former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania performed at a Philadelhia comedy club Tuesday night. He joked he'd already been in comedy for 30 years. But he added in politics, it's sit-down comedy rather than standup.

At NPR's Baghdad bureau, Isra' al Rubei'i has long worked as a reporter and translator. She submitted this short piece of fiction about a man standing before a judge — a character, who she says represents the Iraqi experience.

Every year, thousands of Americans suffer severe injuries using the saws. But after a series of reports by NPR, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has started crafting new safety rules for table saws.

Steve Inskeep has business news.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in business.

Linda Wertheimer talks to Declan McCullagh, chief political correspondent for CNET, about Dump GoDaddy Day, a protest against the company for its initial support of proposed legislation to curb online piracy. SOPA is short for the Stop Online Piracy Act. GoDaddy is one of the largest accredited Internet domain registrar in the world.

After Gingrich failed to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, Mitt Romney compared Gingrich's campaign to a well-known I Love Lucy episode. Gingrich stopped at an Iowa chocolate factory Wednesday but things didn't get out of hand like they did in the TV episode. Instead, Gingrich challenged Romney again to a series of one-on-one debates.

Despite a sluggish economy, it's been a good year overall for the auto industry. But among the Detroit Three, there's been a clear standout.

Part of a series

New Orleans has long been known as one of America's hardest luck cities, struggling over the years with poverty, crime and corruption and tragic disaster. But the city's darkest days have sparked a surprising new entrepreneurial spirit.

Residents Billy Bosch and Matt Mouras, for example, are trying to launch a nutritional beverage company and are getting a leg up by Idea Village, a non-profit that helps nurture the city's entrepreneurs.

The year 2011 was tumultuous for stocks. The eurozone crisis and a U.S. credit downgrade kept investors nervous, but one industry held steady, even faring better than in prior years: technology.