It has been nearly seven years since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Today, as the country awaits results from the March 7 national election, we check in with Iraqis about the state of their country. 

• WASHINGTON:  It’s true — both parties in the Senate actually worked together to pass an $18 billion jobs bill. Has the ice thawed between the two aisles on Capitol Hill? Or will it be business as usual when Congress gets together for a final vote on health care reform? Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich gives us his predictions.

• RESPONSES: Listeners tell us why it's so hard to talk about money, and give us their stories on the census.

Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) has long been the mainstay of health coverage for most middle class American families. But a new report from the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has found that this class of Americans is losing its health coverage faster than any other income group. Unlike low-income earners, middle class Americans don't have the safety net of a government program like Medicaid. Secondly, the cost of an independent policy is just too high; and in some states, people are denied coverage because of pre-existing ailments.

20-year-old Omar Ramos-Lopez was arrested and charged with “computer intrusion charges” after immobilizing more than 100 vehicles across Austin, Texas. He wreaked a small amount of havoc on computerized cars across the city simply by hacking into them via his home computer.

Sex.com seems to be one of the most valuable domain names. It's been sold several times, once for $12 million. It was supposed to go to auction again today, but the site's creditors filed chapter 11 bankruptcy last night, leaving the future of the domain uncertain.

Today, we pay tribute to something that's in almost every piece of portable technology today: the humble battery. Henry Schlesinger is the author of a new book called "The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological Revolution." He explains how the battery went from animating a frog’s leg, back in the beginning, to powering your cell phone today.

Two big drug-related stories have made headlines this week. The first was the killing last Saturday of two American government employees in Ciudad Juarez. The violence is believed to be related to an ongoing turf-war between rival drug cartels in Mexico. The other event could provide a good story line for Ocean's 14. One of the biggest pharmaceutical heists in history took place in Connecticut last weekend when thieves stole $75 million worth of drugs from an Eli Lilly warehouse. But they weren't recreational painkillers, but rather mostly antidepressants.

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT:  European countries are levying new fees on everything from soft drinks to dog licenses. New York Times finance reporter, Louise Story explains.

• SPORTS TAKEOUT: The first round of the Men's NCAA Division I Basketball tournament starts today. It's 32 games over two days. But which games are worth watching? Takeaway Sports contributor, Ibrahim-Abdul Matin, shares his strategies for picking games. Check out Ibrahim's own bracket and John and Celeste's differing views on the subject.

Hundreds of sexual abuse cases against Catholic priests have been surfacing in Ireland over the past weeks and the Pope said he will address the crisis in a repentance letter tomorrow.

But his efforts could be undermined by a scandal of his own. Last week, a senior church official said when the Pope was Archdiocese of Munich, he made “serious mistakes” in handling one specific priest accused of molesting boys back in the early 1980s.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Moscow today on a two day visit to attend a meeting on the Middle East between the U.S., the EU, the UN, and Russia. Washington has demanded that Israel takes steps to demonstrate its commitment to the bilateral relationship and to the peace process. The visit is also an opportunity for bilateral discussions with Russia on a treaty to reduce nuclear stockpiles.

What does it mean to be categorized as "white" in this day and age? The census arrives in the mail this week and if you've gotten yours, you've seen these boxes to check off, indicating race: White, Black, Hispanic-White, Samoan, Filipino. But these categories are not static, and have changed over time as our cultural views of race have changed.