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Several media tallies report there are enough votes to pass a "clean" spending bill. But vote counts by media organizations aren't the most reliable way to gauge the prospects of legislation.

The Affordable Care Act included a sales tax on medical devices that is supposed to help pay for the expansion of health insurance coverage. But the tax is being levied on some devices, such as ultrasound scanners, that are used to diagnose and treat animals instead of humans.

Reports this week about former Defense Secretary Robert Gates' new book have implied that he thinks President Obama approved a 2009 troop surge in Afghanistan believing the strategy would fail. But Gates tells NPR that's not right. He believes Obama became skeptical about the "troop surge" later on.

Edamame beans are a popular Asian appetizer, and they're beginning to get a foothold in the U.S. market. An Arkansas company is now trying to cash in on this edamame boom.

The cheapest place to make brushes these days is China. But there are still people pressing bristles into brushes in a factory in the Bronx, and in small plants across the country.

Also: Dan Savage on stealing books; new works from Amy Tan; Jamie Oliver reads an entire book for the first time.

Wallenda put his circus family back on the map with his high-wire trip across Niagara Falls in 2012. Last week, it was a walk across a 1,500-foot gorge near the Grand Canyon. Of course he gets butterflies, he says, but there's no fear.

Proponents of California's Proposition 8 had asked that marriages be suspended while they decide whether to ask the court to reconsider its ruling about that initiative. Meanwhile, gay pride celebrations were happening in cities across the U.S.

Aaron Sorkin's HBO series The Newsroom,starring Jeff Daniels as cable news anchorman Will McAvoy, returns July 14 for its second season. TV critic David Bianculli says some critics find the show preachy, but he likes that it tackles serious and complicated subjects.

Duke's career spanned five decades and he always straddled the line between disparate genres, collaborating with artists such as Miles Davis, Barry Manilow and Frank Zappa.