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Monkey See
4:33 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

Best YA Fiction Poll: You Asked, We Answer!

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Tue July 24, 2012 4:44 pm

Our Best YA Fiction poll has only been live for a few hours, and already the cries of outrage are echoing through the intertubes! Where are A Wrinkle in Time, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Ender's Game? What about Watership Down? My Side of the Mountain? Where the Red Fern Grows? Most of Judy Blume's oeuvre? The Little House books?

We hear you, I promise.

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The Two-Way
4:24 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

Wrong Number: Apple Disappoints Market Amid Sluggish iPhone Sales

Credit Paul Sakuma / AP
Apple reported lower-than-expected third-quarter revenues, numbers partly blamed on slower iPhone sales.

Originally published on Wed July 25, 2012 5:41 am

A spike in iPad demand wasn't enough to offset slower iPhone sales in the third quarter as Apple Inc. reported lower-than-expected revenues, sending its after-hours stock price on a 5 percent dive.

The company announced third-quarter revenue of $35 billion, or $9.32 per share; earlier, Bloomberg had projected $37.22 billion, or 10.37 per share.

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The Two-Way
4:19 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

Today's Distraction: A Moment Of Cute With Cheetah Cubs

Sometimes we all need a break from the serious news. There's no better way to accomplish that today than to tell you that two cheetah cubs are making their public debut at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

As the National Zoo reports, their journey is an improbable one. They were born April 23 by c-section and were abandoned by their mother. But they were hand-raised by zoo staff and today, they were out for world to see them.

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Shots - Health Blog
4:17 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

After Supreme Court Ruling, Health Law Will Cover Fewer And Cost Less

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
When the U.S. Supreme Court made a Medicaid expansion optional under the Affordable Care Act, the decision lowered the estimated cost of the law.

The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Tax Committee this afternoon issued their long-awaited analysis of the cost of the Affordable Care Act post-Supreme Court changes.

Their verdict? Making the expansion of Medicaid optional for states will result in fewer people (about 3 million fewer) getting coverage. But that will also reduce the overall price tag of the law over the next decade by about $84 billion.

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Movie Reviews
4:03 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

In A Make-Your-Own-Girl Fable, A Real Woman Emerges

Originally published on Tue July 24, 2012 4:57 pm

There's a fine line between satire and the nasty snigger that marks so much of pop comedy these days — which is another way of saying that the corrosively funny takedown of child beauty pageants in the 2006 movie Little Miss Sunshine moved me to forgive (by a hair) its creepiest creation — Alan Arkin's heroin-addicted grandpa. Still, I wonder whether my 14-year-old, who has roared her way through that movie at least a dozen times, can tell the difference between sharp commentary and the juvie desire to shock.

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Movie Reviews
4:03 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

Two Singular People, Taking Life Hand In Hand

The obvious way to approach South Korean director Seung-jun Yi's modest but potent documentary Planet of Snail is to think of it as a story about a disabled man making his way through the world with the help of his companion. But more simply and more accurately, it's really a movie about marriage — about the way two people can smooth over each other's cracks to achieve an imperfect yet sturdy wholeness.

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The Torch
3:53 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

Olympic Sports We Don't See Any More, And Why

Credit Chicago History Museum/Library of Congress
Who needs two hands? At the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, the events included All Around Dumbell, which comprised 10 one- and two-handed lifts.

Originally published on Tue July 24, 2012 4:14 pm

The Olympic Games are one of the most tradition-bound sporting events in the world. But that doesn't mean its sporting events are written in stone.

Since 1894, dozens of events have had their flash in the pan, and been dumped. Some have lasted only one Olympic cycle. The website Top End Sports has a nice collection of discontinued Olympic events.

Here are some of my favorite one-and-dones:

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Shots - Health Blog
3:46 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

Tie My Shoes, Please: How Persuasion Works

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Can You Help Me Tie My Shoe? Researchers found that when study participants were asked an unusual request, they were more likely later on to perform a favor.

Originally published on Tue July 24, 2012 4:23 pm

Marketers, managers and panhandlers all have something in common: They regularly want to make you do things they want. Marketers want you to buy stuff, managers want you to finish projects on time, and panhandlers want you to spare a buck, or three.

Over the years, psychologists have studied the techniques of manipulation and found several that seem to work. (Read on only if you agree to use these techniques for good and not for evil!)

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NPR Cities: Urban Life In The 21st Century
3:39 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

We Got The Beat: The 'Heart' Of Your City

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 3:46 pm

When you think about where you live, what sights and sounds come to mind? The coffee shop on the corner? The park down the street? We asked you to show us what makes your city thump and pulse, and here is some of what you shared. But we want to fill our heart with city love, so send us more! (Note: Captions have been edited for length, style and clarity.)

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AIDS: A Turning Point
3:25 pm
Tue July 24, 2012

D.C.'s Black Churches Take Steps In AIDS Fight

Originally published on Wed July 25, 2012 9:11 am

As thousands gather in Washington, D.C., for the International AIDS Conference, the city is battling disturbing levels of HIV/AIDS, particularly in the black community.

According to the D.C. Department of Health, 4.3 percent of the black population in the city is living with the disease, and some advocates argue that black churches should be doing more to fight it.

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