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Business
3:03 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

A Week Of Near-Calamities Erodes Confidence

Credit Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Vanessa Loren shops in Miami. An index of consumer sentiment dropped more than expected in June.

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 3:24 pm

When Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of most major U.S. banks on Thursday, you'd have thought Friday would be a tough day for bank stocks.

But bank stocks ticked up — largely because investors were relieved. They had feared the downgrades would be worse. The Dow Jones industrial average was recovering from Thursday's 250-point drop, the second-worst of the year.

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Art & Design
2:54 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

A Trailblazing Black Architect Who Helped Shape L.A.

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 7:37 pm

Paul Revere Williams began designing homes and commercial buildings in the early 1920s. By the time he died in 1980, he had created some 2,500 buildings, most of them in and around Los Angeles, but also around the globe. And he did it as a pioneer: Paul Williams was African-American. He was the first black architect to become a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1923, and in 1957 he was inducted as the AIA's first black fellow.

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The Record
2:35 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

Richard Adler, Broadway Composer And Lyricist, Dies

Credit Bob Gomel / Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Celebrated composer and lyricist Richard Adler has died at the age of 90.

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 5:11 pm

Music Interviews
2:02 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

Take A Trip To Downtown L.A. With La Santa Cecilia

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Singer Marisol Hernandez (center) takes listeners from her grandfather's burro cart to La Santa Cecilia's Latin Grammy Award, on Olvera Street in Los Angeles.

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 5:50 pm

Named for the patron saint of musicians, La Santa Cecilia has deep roots in the immigrant community of Los Angeles. Yet the band's six members draw inspiration not only from their rich heritage, but also from their everyday lives growing up embedded in American culture.

During a short, recent trip to historic Olvera Street in downtown L.A. — "It's a little street with little shops resembling any town in Mexico or Latin America" — singer Marisol Hernandez describes the hopes and dreams the city represents.

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Afghanistan
1:50 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

Taliban Pick A Soft Target Popular With Families

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 2:49 pm

Just last month, I was at the same lakeside resort where Taliban gunmen carried out a suicidal attack on Friday, killing more than 20 people before they were gunned down.

My friends and I had gone to Lake Qargha to drink tea after a long hike on a hot day.

The man-made lake, about six miles outside Kabul, is the only large body of water near the capital, and it is extremely popular among Kabul residents seeking to escape the city's pollution, particularly in the summer when temperatures can top 100 degrees.

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The Two-Way
1:36 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

Jury Finds Philadelphia Monsignor Guilty Of Endangerment In Child Abuse Coverup

Credit Matt Rourke / AP
Monsignor William Lynn exits the Criminal Justice Center on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 1:54 pm

A jury found Msgr. William J. Lynn, of Philadelphia, guilty on one count of endangerment stemming from allegations that he helped coverup the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. Lynn was acquitted of another count of endangerment and one count of conspiracy, the AP reports.

Elizabeth Fiedler of member station WHYY reports that the jury was hung on rape and endangerment charges against Lynn's co-defendant Rev. James J. Brennan.

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Mental Health
1:11 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

What Your Brain Looks Like When You Lose Self-Control

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 4:49 pm

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

Ever wonder why you worked so hard to avoid the lasagna at dinner only to give in to your craving for not one but two helpings of cake for dessert? Well, new research may hold some answers to this vexing question. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology confirms what we've been - what we've known for some time, and that is each of us has an internal reservoir of self-control. We have a reservoir of self-control that it depletes. Every time we resist a temptation, we use a little bit of it up.

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The Two-Way
12:51 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

Greece's Incoming Finance Minister Admitted To Hospital

Credit Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP/Getty Images
Newly appointed Greek Finance Minister Vassilis Rapanos attending the new Government's first cabinet meeting at the Greek Parliament in Athens on Friday.

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 1:44 pm

Hours before he was scheduled to be sworn in as Greek's newest finance minister, Vassilis Rapanos fell ill and was rushed to the hospital "complaining of nausea, intense abdominal pains and dizziness," Reuters reports.

Of course this all comes just after Greece elected a new parliament and just after Greece formed a new three-party coalition that has the task of wading through national and Eurozone politics to negotiate a bailout.

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Space
12:50 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

More To The Universe Than Meets The Eye

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 4:49 pm

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

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Space
12:40 pm
Fri June 22, 2012

Voyager 1 Bids Farewell to the Solar System

Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 4:49 pm

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

Thirty-five years ago, NASA launched a pair of spacecraft called Voyager 1 and 2 in hopes of learning more about the outer planets of solar system, those big gas giants. The Voyagers beamed back dazzling close-ups of the big red spot on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn, but scientists wanted to see even more of what's out there, see how far the Voyagers could go before running out of fuel.

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