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Sweetness And Light
9:00 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

The NBA Is Bullish On Christmas, By Necessity

Credit Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images
The Chicago Bulls mascot, dressed as Santa Claus, dunks during a game last December. The NBA is starting its season on Christmas Day, with a quintuple-header.

This time last year, Phil Jackson, then the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, complained that the NBA scheduled games on Christmas Day. It seemed, he said, that "Christian holidays don't mean anything" any longer.

A few players echoed Jackson's sentiments, but the complaint died aborning. This Christmas, Sunday, the league has scheduled ... (to the tune of "The 12 Days Of Christmas"):

  • 5 gold games,
  • 4 point guards,
  • 3 referees,
  • 2 free throws,
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Studio Sessions
5:54 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Tori Amos Redefines The Classics In 'Night of Hunters'

Genuine, passionate, powerful — that's as much of an introduction as Tori Amos needs. But for the past two decades, she's introduced her fans to plenty. She helped turn the piano into a rock instrument, showed that she can create big hits in different genres and challenged every critic who ever tried to put her in a box. And her 12th studio album, Night of Hunters, is no different.

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It Was A Good Year For...
5:34 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

In Sales, Android Has Upper Hand On The iPhone

Credit Laurent Fievet / AFP/Getty Images
Models hold the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android phone during its official launch in Hong Kong in October. The new smartphone runs Google's Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system.

Apple's iPhones may seem more cool, but the Google-backed Android phones are much more popular in the United States. In 2011, Android's U.S. market share was 53 percent, compared to 29 percent for the iPhone, according to the research group NPD.

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Shots - Health Blog
5:33 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Many Police Officers Are Sleep Deprived, Risky For Them And Us

Credit Sean Locke / iStockphoto
Sleepy police were likelier to fall asleep while driving, a new survey of nearly 5,000 officers in the U.S. and Canada finds. About 40 percent of officers surveyed reported sleep disorders, with various health implications.

Harvard researchers say they've uncovered a big problem among the nation's 700,000 police officers: a serious lack of sleep.

In what's believed to be the first study of its kind, the researchers queried nearly 5,000 municipal and state police officers in the U.S. and Canada about their sleep habits and symptoms of possible sleep disorders. Then they assessed their on-duty performance for two years.

Forty percent had sleep disorders, and the vast majority of these were undiagnosed before.

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The Two-Way
5:11 pm
Tue December 20, 2011

Report: U.S. Takes Top Spot As Most Charitable Nation

Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Antionette Levi solicits donations for the Salvation Army in Chicago.

Despite the gloomy economic situation, the United States has become the world's most generous nation, according to this year's Charities Aid Foundation's World Giving Index.

Ireland is ranked second followed by Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. Charities Aid Foundation used Gallup's Worldview Poll to look at three behaviors: "giving money, volunteering time and helping a stranger."

The U.S. came out on top after being ranked fifth last year.

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