Americans are worried. Fourteen million people are unemployed. Wages are flat. And there's concern about a double dip recession. But for many Americans, it feels like the last recession never ended.

And many economists don't expect a real turnaround anytime soon. They call it "The New Normal" or "The Great Stagnation."

The country has always come back from hard times. Is this time different?

Eight times a year the Federal Reserve releases "beige book" reports about how the economy is doing. Named for the traditional color of their covers and based on reports from the central bank's 12 districts, they're largely anecdotal and full of generalizations about what businesses leaders and others are saying about current conditions.

Many of the protesters occupying Wall Street and other places say they are are upset about the rising price of going to college. Tuition and other costs have been going up faster than inflation and family incomes can't keep up. Despite public outrage about the problem, there's little sign these costs will drop anytime soon.

For as long as there's been an IQ test, there's been controversy over what it measures. Do IQ scores capture a person's intellectual capacity, which supposedly remains stable over time? Or is the Intelligent Quotient exam really an achievement test — similar to the S.A.T. — that's subject to fluctuations in scores?

The findings of a new study add evidence to the latter theory: IQ seems to be a gauge of acquired knowledge that progresses in fits and starts.

The Jensen Farms cantaloupe blamed for the deadliest listeria outbreak in years may have become contaminated in the farm's own packing facilities.

That's the conclusion of the FDA's investigation into the source of the outbreak so far, although the saga is far from over.

And once again, the likely culprit is poop.

"The United States will hold a fresh round of talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program next week and appoint a new full-time envoy as its seeks to deepen its engagement with the reclusive regime," U.S. officials and a Washington-based foreign diplomat tell The Associated Press.

For the past week, the rain across Central America has been relentless. The AFP reports that some places have received 47 inches over the course of a week.

The floods have killed nearly 100 people and displaced 700,000. The AFP has more:

The unusually heavy rainfall came as the region was pounded from one weather system from the Pacific and another from the Caribbean.

High winds, heavy rain and waves of up to 25 feet are forecast for later today along Chicago's shore with Lake Michigan.