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New York (CNN) -- Merging magazine cutouts, painted objects and even motorbike parts, Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu creates layered images of fantastical figures, transforming the female form into something both powerful and primal. Famous for her collages, Mutu has had her work shown all over the world, including her most recent exhibition at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain. Mutu's renderings challenge widespread depictions of the typical female form, creating a new kind of woman. Her creations have sometimes been described as grotesque, but she says it doesn't bother her at all. Speaking to CNN's Isha Sesay, Mutu said: "It means that people are looking. It means their senses are on when they are in front of the work, which is important. Because for me, it's important to think about and understand what's in the work." An edited version of the interview follows. CNN: I want to start by talking about your work and its content. Wangechi Mutu: There are a lot of bodies in the work, there are a lot of animal bodies and organisms and women and men's bodies and they all come together. They mesh up into shapes that are often female-like, and in the end I do obsess over the female form because that is the place where I want to express some of these issues I have with the way women's bodies are written upon and women's bodies are talked about and women's bodies are depicted. So that becomes my experiment. My lab is this female body that becomes this vessel where I place all of this stuff in. CNN: When we look at the female form in your work what are we seeing? WM: Often there's an emphasis in my work and it's sort of the celebrating of the body. I'm very much a person that believes that there's something that was introduced into Kenya and Africa as we know it that has made us despise our bodies. So that's the first thing -- I try to introduce something celebratory and interesting about the body, that the body is important. CNN: Despise is a strong word -- what do you mean with that? WM: Being taught to despise your body is being taught to perhaps admire someone else's body more than yours -- being taught that your body is good for certain things and not for others. It's good for labor, but it's not ideal if someone were to sit in a political post or something. It belongs in a certain frame and not in others and I think that was something taught to us, given to us or forced upon us. CNN: What's with the motorcycle parts? Because there seem to be motorcycle parts embedded in your work. What does that mean to you? WM: A lot of motorbikes have been built to look like women, and to feel as if you were on a woman. So I think that's also what I've been trying to sort of do is take apart this machine and implant it into these bodies and sort of give the women a kind of strength that the machine supposedly represents for the man. It's like they're taking it back and they become these cyborgs, these fierce female cyborgs. Who knows what they're going to do with that strength! But for me it's my little way of giving back the women that power that's taken away, especially in the representations of women in these kinds of magazines because they really are the focal point and in a way that sexualizes the machines so men will buy more of them. CNN: Your work has been described by some as both beautiful and grotesque, repulsive. Does it bother you? WM: No it doesn't bother me. It means that people are looking. It means their senses are on when they are in front of the work, which is important. For me, it's important to think about and understand what's in the work but I think visuals need to enter, they need to dissolve themselves into your psyche and if people start to get grossed out by something that's not overtly gross -- I mean it's a static image, it's not sort of throwing itself at you -- there must be some sort of wonderful process going on in their brain, which is good. CNN: The collages, let's talk about the form. I'm fascinated by them because someone who does collages strikes me as someone who has to be slightly OCD. Are you obsessive? WM: Very, yeah! I am very obsessive with this actual practice and technique because it calms me down. It's a meditative, calming obsession, believe it or not. It's like the monotony of when you knit, there's something about that rhythm that allows your mind to wander or at least allows for free association to happen. For me collages manage to, it satisfies all of my madness, like I'm able to make these obsessive things but then I'm also able to make these very strong statements. I don't know what they mean to other people, but in my mind they have a very strong particular resonance; there's sort of a power. I'm sort of fusing languages, which is actually a good way of talking about what Kenya is, in fact what Africa is, this fusion of people and this attempt to try and create commonality amongst people who don't come from the same place. So I feel that's very alive in the work, this sort of intense desire to bring it all together.

Wangechi Mutu is a Kenyan artist, famous for her powerful collages . Her creations have been exhibited in major museums across the world . Mutu was named Deutsche Bank's Artist of the Year in 2010 .

Washington (CNN) -- Portions of a taxpayer-funded $2.1 billion Pentagon contract to truck supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan are being indirectly paid to Afghan insurgents and corrupt public officials as protection money, a congressional investigation revealed. The U.S military outsources much of the security for truck convoys carrying food, water, equipment, fuel and ammunition to remote and dangerous areas in Afghanistan, and those contractors hire local Afghans who pay bribes for safe passage, according to investigators. "United States tax dollars are feeding a protection racket in Afghanistan that would make Tony Soprano proud," Rep. John Tierney, D-Massachusetts, said Tuesday, referring to an organized crime boss in the popular TV show "The Sopranos." Tierney make the remark at a hearing on the issue the National Security Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "This contract appears to have fueled warlordism, extortion, corruption, and maybe even funded the enemy," said Tierney, who is chairman of the subcommittee. The hearing comes shortly after the release of a 79-page congressional report that details findings ranging "from sobering to shocking," Tierney said in the report's introduction. CNN reported on Monday that the military is also investigating the issue. The results of the six-month investigation indicate that outsourcing the Afghanistan supply chain to contractors has resulted in "significant unintended consequences, fueling warlordism, extortion, and corruption, and it may be a significant source of funding for insurgents," the report's executive summary said. "In other words, the logistics contract has an outsized strategic impact on U.S. objectives in Afghanistan," the report said. Investigators found that Department of Defense "has been largely blind to the potential strategic consequences of its supply-chain contingency contracting," and that the U.S. military has little understanding of how the security is provided. When contractors reported to the Defense Department that they were being extorted by warlords for protection payments for safe passage and that these payments were "funding the insurgency, they were largely met with indifference and inaction," the report said. The Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) spokesman, Christopher Grey, said the CID does have an investigation on "host-nation trucking" underway but he would not discuss details. The "Afghan Host Nation Trucking" contract in question stipulates that the prime contractors are responsible for the safe passage of the cargo that they carry. Most contractors subcontract, hiring local Afghans for armed protection of the convoys transporting supplies. The manager of the largest private security provider, Watan Risk Management, said he complained to U.S. military officials that his company had to pay bribes ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 monthly to Afghan governors, police chiefs, and local military officials whose territory the convoys traversed. Defense Department officials confirmed they were aware of the bribes, according to the report. The private security companies that protect the convoys regularly encounter armed conflict with alleged insurgents and other criminal elements, the report says, and hundreds of security providers are killed annually. One key convoy security commander in Afghanistan told investigators he spent $1.5 million on ammunition per month to protect his convoy trucks. Investigators found no direct evidence of payoffs to the Taliban, but many military officials overseeing the contract believed that the Taliban did receive protection payments, based on information provided to them by contractor representatives, the report said. Since mid-2009, contractors have completed over 40,000 missions, subcommittee statistics show. Congressional members at Tuesday's hearing pressed witnesses for answers as to how the practice is allowed to continue. Gary Motsek, assistant deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Program Support, and who is involved with Defense Department acquisition and logistics, acknowledged the members' frustrations that changes in the current conditions aren't happening quickly enough. But he said improvements won't happen overnight. "I assure you we're taking it all seriously," Motsek said. "But if I was a cop on the other side, I would say, 'Damn it, I'm doing what I can with what I got." Moshe Schwartz, a specialist in defense acquisition, said that for those who believe the U.S. military shouldn't be using outside contractors, "the solutions include increasing the size of the military, rethinking current force structure, or choosing not to engage in certain contingency operations." Addressing those who believe that the problem is due to insufficient planning and poor management on the part of the military, Schwartz said, "the solution may be to develop an effective strategy for using PSCs (private security companies), improving operational planning, and enhancing oversight." Schwartz acknowledged that the Defense Department has taken steps to improve its management and coordination of private contractors, and but warned more needs to be done.

A $2.1 billion Pentagon contract goes for trucking supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan . Congressional investigation reveals contractors are paying insurgents protection money . Congressman: tax dollars "feeding a protection racket ... that would make Tony Soprano proud" Military also investigating the issue .

(CNN) -- What has Jay Leno done lately for NBC in late night? Well, even the network's official Wednesday announcement of his ouster (in spring 2014) acknowledges that "The Tonight Show" under Leno's reign continues to rank No. 1 in both total viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. That's against ABC's recently relocated "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" as well as CBS' longstanding "Late Show with David Letterman," according to Nielsen Media Research. Nonetheless, NBC will be pushing him out for a second time, with "Late Night" host Jimmy Fallon taking over "in conjunction" with the network's coverage of next year's Winter Olympic Games from Sochi, Russia (scheduled to run from February 7-23). NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke says in a statement that "we are purposefully making this change when Jay is No. 1, just as Jay replaced Johnny Carson (in 1992) when he was No. 1. Jimmy Fallon is a unique talent and this is his time." Carson retired under his own power, though, surprising NBC in the process. Leno is unwillingly walking the plank, as he's made clear in recent monologues with barbed jokes at NBC's expense. But if this indeed is Fallon's time, it may be in large part because we live in very different times. The Internet-driven "social media" didn't exist during Carson's storied 30-year reign. He simply had to deliver a conventional TV audience. He did so year after year against a variety of competitors in a much less crowded late-night field. Fallon averages 1.7 million viewers compared to 3.5 million viewers for Leno, according to the NBC release. He also draws fewer 18-to-49-year-olds, although a later time slot certainly is a factor in both cases. But Fallon, as well as Kimmel and TBS' late night standard-bearer, Conan O'Brien, all excel in a social media arena that remains of little if any interest to either Leno or Letterman. Networks increasingly see this as a key ingredient in times when conventional TV ratings continue to sag amid myriad channel choices. Let's look at their respective number of Twitter followers. As of this writing, Fallon's personal page has 8.33 million and O'Brien is right behind with 8.09 million. Kimmel weighs in with 2.42 million followers, meaning he still has some work to do on this front. But Leno, via the official Tonight Show site, has just 525,000 followers. And Letterman's Late Show page has 234,000 followers. The host doesn't have a personal Twitter page, although some are tweeting in his name and using his picture, according to a Late Show representative. Fallon and Kimmel also boast a number of "viral videos" with star supporting players ranging from first lady Michelle Obama to actor Ben Affleck. Fallon's recent "Evolution of Mom Dancing" performance with Obama became an immediate YouTube sensation that to date has more than 15 million views. In announcing Fallon's promotion, NBC noted that his show "has continued to garner attention for its viral videos," with the host also winning an Emmy in the "Interactive Media Category" after being named 2009's "Webby Person of the Year." This week's TBS press release on extending "Conan" through November 2015 touches only briefly on O'Brien's conventional Nielsen ratings performance among young adults. But the network says a mouthful about his social media prowess. It bears repeating because it's so illustrative of the value networks place on out-of-the-box moxie. O'Brien's show "leads the late-night crowd when it comes to online activity and engagement," says TBS, "with the show and its host drawing more than 8.3 million followers on Twitter, 2 million fans on Facebook, 2 million unique users each month on TeamCoco.com and 15 million video views each month on TeamCoco.com and YouTube." Not only that, but the Team Coco app won the 2012 Emmy for "Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Enhancement." The great unknown, at least from a financial standpoint, is whether all these accolades and millions of off-network fans will lead to appreciable sums of money in the bank. We'll likely never know with Leno and Letterman, though. Their skill sets basically begin and end with putting on a show each night. In the now vast multimedia universe, that may be akin to sending a message via telegraph instead of e-mail. After all, these really aren't just the late-night wars anymore. They're the anytime, anywhere wars, with Fallon, Kimmel and O'Brien arming themselves to the hilt. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ed Bark.

Ed Bark: Jay Leno still No. 1 in late night for NBC, but network replacing him with Jimmy Fallon . He says NBC says it's Fallon's time, and that may have much to do with social media . He says Fallon, O'Brien can deliver Twitter, other followers that Leno, Letterman can't . Bark: Network making it clear that's important. But can it turn social media sway into money?

(CNN) -- Right-wing U.S. Republicans are up in arms over Cuba again. Their ostensible cause for concern is last week's visit to the island by Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who were photographed in Havana, apparently celebrating their wedding anniversary. Read more: Lawmakers ask why Beyoncé and Jay-Z went to Cuba . These blinkered conservatives need to get over themselves. The 60-year stand-off between the U.S. and Cuba is absurd. It is counterproductive and harmful to both countries. It is time to end this Cold War anachronism, kiss and make up. Anger over Beyoncé's supposed breach of the U.S. embargo rules restricting American citizens' travel to Cuba is symbolic of a deeper fear among right-wingers. Two key factors have changed since the days -- not so long ago -- when Washington seemed to be regularly threatening the Castro government with Iraq-style overthrow. One is that George W. Bush has been replaced by a Democrat. As Barack Obama enters his second and final term, immune to electoral imperatives, conservatives worry he may use his freedom of action to effect an historic rapprochement with Cuba. American liberals certainly believe he should do so. The second change is in Cuba itself, where the government, now led by Fidel Castro's brother, Raoul, has embarked on a cautious program of reform. The government -- dubbed the world's longest-running dictatorship by the American right -- has even set a date for its own dissolution. Doing what "dictators" rarely do, Raoul Castro announced in February that in 2018, he would hand over power and that any successor would be subject to term limits. The Castro brothers have reportedly chosen a career communist, first vice president Miguel Diaz-Canel, to succeed them. But in reality, once their grip on power is relaxed, anything may happen. The two Florida Republicans who have been making a fuss about the Beyonce visit are Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart. They are veterans, and beneficiaries, of the anti-Castro campaign that has long been waged from Little Havana, in Miami, the home to the state's large Cuban exile population. The Cuban vote, as it is known, has traditionally gone to Republicans. But Obama's approach is the antithesis of the politics of hate and division. He broke that mold last year, making big gains among the Cuban American electorate. This result suggested the polarized ethnically-based politics of the past may be breaking down, said Julia Sweig of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations in a recent article in The National Interest. "Having won nearly half of the Cuban American vote in Florida in 2012, a gain of 15 percentage points over 2008, Obama can move quickly on Cuba. If he were to do so, he would find a cautious but willing partner in Raúl Castro, who needs rapprochement with Washington to advance his own reform agenda," Sweig said. Little wonder Republicans like Ros-Lehtinen are worried. If things go on like this, they could lose a large piece of their political raison d'etre. There are other reasons for believing the time is right for Obama to end the Cuba stalemate. The recent death of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's influential president, has robbed Havana of a strong supporter, both political and financial. Chavez was not interested in a rapprochement with the U.S., either by Cuba or Venezuela. His revolutionary beliefs did not allow for an accommodation with the American "imperialists." His successors may not take so militant a line, especially given that Venezuela continues to trade heavily with the U.S., a privilege not allowed Cuba. The so-called "pink tide" that has brought several left-wing leaders to power in Latin America in the past decade is not exactly on the ebb, but the hostility countries such as Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia felt towards the Bush administration has abated. In fact, according to Sweig's article, U.S. business with Latin America as a whole is booming, up 20% in 2011. The U.S. imports more crude oil from Venezuela and Mexico than from the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia. The U.S. does three times more business with Latin America than with China. The stand-off over Cuba is an obstacle to advancing U.S. interests and business in Latin American countries, and vice versa. The continuation of the embargo has left the U.S. almost totally isolated at the United Nations, and at sharp odds with its major allies, including Britain and the EU. But more importantly, the continued ostracism of Cuba's people -- for they, not the Havana government, are the biggest losers -- is unfair, unkind and unnecessary. If the U.S. wants full democracy in Cuba, then it should open up fully to ordinary Cubans. Tear down the artificial walls that separate the people of the two countries and, as Mao Zedong once said, let a hundred flowers bloom. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Simon Tisdall .

Beyoncé and Jay-Z were seen in Cuba last week, apparently celebrating their anniversary . A United States embargo restricts American citizens' right to visit Cuba . Simon Tisdall argues the 60-year stand-off between Cuba and the U.S. harms both countries . The ostracism of Cuba's people is unfair, unkind and unnecessary, he says .

(CNN) -- Croatia sent out a message of intent to the other Euro 2008 finalists as they stunned highly-fancied Germany 2-1 in Klagenfurt to secure a place in the quarterfinals. Ivicia Olic celebrates Croatia's second goal in their superb 2-1 victory over Germany. Darijo Srna and Ivica Olic struck the goals as Croatia, who had only ever beaten Germany once before, produced arguably the first major upset of the tournament. Lukas Podolski pulled a goal back late on for Germany with his third strike in two games to set up a nail-biting finale, but there was to be no way back for Joachim Loew's team, who finished with 10 men following the 90th-minute dismissal of substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger . Both sides came into the game having won their opening matches, although Germany had looked far more impressive in seeing off Poland than Croatia had in defeating Austria. However, it was Slaven Bilic's side who turned on the style at the Worthersee Stadion as they took control of Group B with two wins out of two. A frantic start to the match promised much but for all their huffing and puffing, neither side were able to create anything resembling a chance in the opening 20 minutes as defences held firm. The ball did find its way into the back of the net in the 22nd minute when Germany striker Mario Gomez slotted home past Stipe Pletikosa but the offside flag had already gone up against the Stuttgart man. The deadlock was broken for real just two minutes after that incident though, when Croatia went ahead through Srna. Danijel Pranjic sent over a superb cross from the left and Srna nipped in front of marker Marcell Jansen to slide the ball in at the far post, giving veteran Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann no chance. Croatia had a gilt-edged chance to make it 2-0 in the 30th minute, but Niko Kranjcar wasted it. Ivan Rakitic chipped a pass into the area which was flicked back towards the penalty spot by Olic, but the in-rushing Kranjcar was unable to cap a well-worked move as he blazed over. Germany knew they needed to step up through the gears and they finally made Pletikosa earn his keep with two efforts in rapid succession. The first saw Pletikosa push away a thunderous Michael Ballack free-kick, before the Spartak Moscow custodian awkwardly deflected away a Christoph Metzelder effort with his knee. Metzelder then headed a Torsten Frings corner just over from close range as the Germans stepped up their efforts for an equalizer before the break. However, Loew's side very nearly found themselves two goals behind in the 43rd minute, and they needed a fine reaction stop from Lehmann to deny Kranjcar, who chested down Olic's pass and smashed in a first-time volley. Having seen his side let off the hook, Loew opted for a more adventurous approach in the second half as he sacrificed full-back Jansen for jet-heeled winger David Odonkor during the interval. Aside from a Ballack shot over the crossbar though, Croatia looked fairly comfortable at the start of the period and also had a decent effort of their own with Luka Modric firing in a shot that Lehmann gathered, although not before seeing it squirm through his hands first. However, Lehmann's next task was to pick the ball out of the back of his net as Croatia stunned the Germans with a second goal in the 62nd minute. A Rakitic cross from the right took a deflection off Podolski before arrowing goalwards and although Lehmann, who had begun to come out for the initial cross, managed to dive backwards and get a hand on it, the ball struck his near post before rebounding back out to Olic, who had the easy task of slotting home. Germany looked for an immediate response but aside from a Schweinsteiger shot that fizzed across the face of goal, they were still finding it difficult to create chances against a well-organised Croatia backline. Loew's side earned themselves a lifeline with 12 minutes to go though when Podolski lashed home a shot on the half-volley after the ball had fallen kindly to him in the box. Germany could not build on that goal, though, and their final hopes of getting anything out of the match all but disappeared when Schweinsteiger was given a straight red card for shoving Jerko Leko in the final minute of an absorbing encounter. "I want to especially congratulate my players, not only for the fight they showed but for playing an excellent match," said a delighted Bilic. "There is no other way to beat the Germans than to play well. They're still a great team, though, and still one of the favorites for the title." Ballack said the Germans had to recognize they must improve. "Our movement was not fluid enough throughout the match and as a consequence we eked out few chances. "We played below our level in all departments. Now we absolutely have to win our last match against Austria," said the Chelsea midfielder.

Croatia stun favorites Germany 2-1 in their Group B encounter in Klagenfurt . Darijo Srna and Ivica Olic both on target as Croatia make it two wins from two . Lukas Podolski pulls goal back for Germany with his third strike in two games .

(CNN) -- Bones and Mammoth. They're quite a team -- and they love a beach party. One is the wily veteran, a schemer who uses his years of experience to dictate play. The other is the powerhouse, the destroyer of opposition attacks. Between them they have forged one of the strongest partnerships on the international beach volleyball circuit, continuing a fine tradition in their native country. "When you talk about beach volleyball you're thinking about Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana beach, so this is the home of beach volleyball," Emanuel "Bones" Rego tells CNN's Human to Hero series. "In the start it was a Brazilian sport and a USA sport, but right now beach volleyball is all around the world, many countries in Europe, and especially in Africa -- they have a lot of countries playing beach volleyball. "Now I can say it's a world special party on the beach. Everybody can play, it's fun." Brazil has won a gold or silver medal in every Olympics -- either in the men's or women's events -- since the sport's full debut at Atlanta '96. Rego triumphed with Ricardo Santos in 2004, and in combination with Alison "Mammoth" Cerutti he picked up silver at London 2012. Despite now being at the relatively advanced age of 40, he is hoping to take part in a sixth straight Games when Brazil is host in 2016 -- he already has the most Olympic appearances by any male beach player and a full collection of medals. "I know for me it's a little bit harder because in 2016 I'll be 43 years old -- no other player plays at this age," Rego says. "But you know it's a good feeling when you go to your own country to play at the Olympic Games. I want to be there, for sure." Rego has been playing since he was 17, a mere waif from the city of Curitiba. "I was so teeny -- no muscles just the bones -- but I'm still like that. This is the fun part. I'm still the real Bones." At 27, Cerutti is the younger partner in the team. "His nickname is Mammoth because he's big, he's a little bit slow -- but he's very strong," explains Rego. Cerutti also has a big tattoo of a mammoth on his side -- the nickname comes from the character Manny in the "Ice Age" films. "This is a great partnership," Rego says. "Beach volleyball is totally a team sport-- sometimes you are in bad position and your partner is the only one who can help you, so I trust a lot in Alison because he has saved me a lot of times. "Alison is the best blocker at this moment and he makes me very fired up during the game. He puts his emotions into the game - that makes me happy on court, so this is my perfect partner." They won the world title in Rome in 2011 -- Rego's third -- and reached the final at London 2012. "I am not the player that hits the ball very fast but I am trying to control the velocity of the game, using my experience to do the best shots," he says. Cerutti adds: "Emanuel's best quality is his concentration on court. He's very focused, and always helps in crucial moments. It's important." They were unable to defend their world title in Poland in July -- losing in the semifinals to Rego's former partner Santos and Alvaro Morais Filho -- but they had plenty of support from the home fans. Rego even has his own fan club in Poznan, having been a yearly visitor to the East European country since 2004. "They came yelling ... very, very loud -- anyone can hear them: Emanuel! Emanuel! But this is the motivation you have when you come here in Poland," says Rego, who has split with Cerutti until the end of this season so they can respectively train Evandro and Vitor Felipe -- who have already formed a promising partnership. "I enjoy the Polish people and they enjoy me, so they enjoy beach volleyball -- so we create a good relationship. They cheer for us and I give all that I have to them just to keep this friendship." It is this passion which has inspired Rego to become one of the most successful players in the history of beach volleyball, and which spurs him on to further glory. "I've been lucky all these years because this sport is very passionate and I have a lot of passion," he says. "I saw this growing of beach volleyball as a sport, as a style of life. That's why I keep the inspiration to keep playing. "I'm still in the top of the beach volleyball because I learn how to develop my game every year . Every year I start to learn something new; this is the real development because you need to see where your mistakes to improve. "Beach volleyball you play every weekend so you have a chance to improve all the time. This is the right path for the young players -- keep continuing the development, keep evolving."

Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti are one of Brazil's top beach volleyball teams . Nicknamed "Bones and Mammoth," they won silver at London 2012 Olympics . The 40-year-old Rego has played at all five of the sport's Olympic appearances . He wants to add to his full collection of medals on home soil at Rio in 2016 .

(CNN) -- Ariel Castro agreed Friday in an Ohio courtroom to a plea deal in one of the most sensational kidnapping cases in recent memory. The deal, reached with prosecutors, would let him avoid the possibility of a death sentence and spare his victims from having to testify at a trial. The plea deal recommends that he be sentenced to life in prison without parole -- that he never get a parole hearing. It would also mean that a trial Castro was facing on August 5 would not happen and he would not face the possibility of being sentenced to death. Judge Michael J. Russo went over the deal with Castro, and told him that he would be labeled as a sexual predator. Castro replied that he understood. At one point, he interjected that he was "also a victim as a child" to which Russo responded that he could make whatever statement he wanted during the sentencing hearing. Russo also said that victims would be notified of the hearing and also would then have a chance to say what they liked. Russo went through charges Castro faces relating to the allegations he held three women captive for a decade and asked him how he pleaded. Over and over, Castro replied: "Guilty." At another moment in the hearing, which lasted well over an hour, the judge asked Castro how good his English is. Castro replied that he is good at spelling and reading but his comprehension is bad because "my addiction to pornography and my sexual problem has really taken a toll on my mind." Timeline: Three Cleveland girls go missing . An attorney for three women had told CNN that they were hoping for a plea deal because they did not want to take the stand at Castro's trial. A law firm representing Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, issued a statement after Castro agreed to a plea. "Amanda, Gina, and Michelle are relieved by today's plea," according to Jones Day. "They are satisfied by this resolution to the case, and are looking forward to having these legal proceedings draw to a final close in the near future." The women want to remain private and don't want to speak to media or others, the statement said, but they're grateful for the support they've received from family and friends and the Cleveland Courage Fund, which has helped raise money for them. With help, women freed . Castro's defense attorneys had previously said they wanted a deal that would take capital punishment out of the equation. Castro was charged with 977 counts, including aggravated murder on suspicion of ending the pregnancy of one of his captives. Under the deal, he agreed to plead guilty to 937 counts. Russo told Castro that the deal would mean he would go to prison for life, plus at least 1,000 years. Earlier this month, the former bus driver had pleaded not guilty to the 977 charges. He was being held on $8 million bail. At the close of Friday's hearing, Russo remanded Castro back into custody, and set a sentencing date for August 1. Castro abducted Knight, Berry and DeJesus separately in a two-year period starting in 2002, according to authorities. Snapshots: Who are the three women? The women and Berry's 6-year-old daughter -- DNA tests have confirmed that Castro is the child's father -- were freed in May after one of the women shouted for help while Castro was away from his 1,400-square-foot home. The cries for help were heard by neighbor Charles Ramsey, who was sitting down to eat. Read more: Charles Ramsey: I'm no hero . "I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of a house," he told CNN affiliate WEWS. "I go on the porch and she says, 'help me get out. I've been in here a long time.'" Finally free, Berry pleaded for a phone. Read more: Another person says he played key role . "Help me, I am Amanda Berry," she told police in a frantic 911 call from a neighbor's house. "I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here, I'm free now." Under the plea deal, the house where the women were confined will be demolished, Russo said. Berry was last seen after finishing her shift at a Burger King in Cleveland in 2003. It was the eve of her 17th birthday. DeJesus disappeared nearly a year later, in April 2004. She was 14. Knight vanished in 2002, at age 21, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Read more: Freed women reunite with families . In early July, Berry, DeJesus and Knight released a YouTube video offering their thanks to all those who have helped them since they were freed. "I want to thank everyone who has helped me and my family through this entire ordeal. Everyone who has been there to support us has been a blessing," Berry said in the video. "I'm getting stronger each day." Read more: Thank you video from kidnap victims . CNN's Ronni Berke contributed to this report.

NEW: Under a deal, Castro would be imprisoned for life and never have a parole hearing . NEW: The women who say Castro held them captive say they're 'relieved' by the deal . Ariel Castro has agreed to take the plea deal -- life plus 1,000 years . Castro is accused of holding the women for about a decade .

(CNN) -- It would be easy to dismiss Friday's election of Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran as little more than a sham -- a rigged election that changes nothing. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei still calls the shots in Tehran. The election won't stop Iran's nuclear program or end Iran's years of enmity with Israel or the United States. Nor will it reverse Iran's support for Syria's brutal regime. It would be easy to shrug off the election, like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has effectively done. But it would be wrong. While the election did not change Iran's real power structure and was not an exercise in democracy -- the theocratic backroom bosses blocked more than 700 aspiring candidates from the ballots -- it has already changed the calculus of the Middle East in a number of important, if subtle, ways. It was not a political sea-change as much as a shift in tone and optics. But such a shift may have very significant consequences. Perhaps most importantly, the election has enabled Iran to shrug off President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad, who combined the hateful ignorance of being a Holocaust denier with the governing incompetence that has left his country in an economic shambles, will not be missed. Indeed, this week began with reports that the outgoing president is now facing criminal charges in his own country where his popularity, thanks largely to rampant inflation and high unemployment, is at rock bottom. Instead of Mahmoud the Mockable, Iran has in an instant bought itself greater credibility and a moment to demonstrate whether real change there is possible. While the election denied the people the real choice they deserved, voters sent an unmistakable message with the strong first-ballot victory they gave Dr. Rouhani, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator known for his pragmatic streak. They rejected six other more hard-line candidates, including those who were seen to be favored by Khamenei. The election has reminded the world that the Iranian people are not easily reduced to a simplistic identity as members of "the axis of evil." The country has a diverse populous with a rich history of intense national debate, despite decades of autocratic rule. When the West propped up a corrupt and abusive Shah, an Islamic revolution was the result. More recently, as the Islamic leadership has caused great hardship in Iran, we have seen the stirrings of opposition that arose most dramatically in the Green Revolution that followed Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009. The government is oppressively heavy-handed, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, and actively trying to spread its influence throughout the Middle East, but, the election reminded us the people of Iran contain many views, some of which, despite the best efforts of the regime, remain very close to the surface. In his first press conference, Rouhani espoused views that suggested that he would seek to moderate Iran's international stance. While strongly defending the country's right to its nuclear program, he underscored a desire to "enhance mutual trust" with the rest of the world. He spoke of enhancing the "transparency" of the nuclear program and specifically of seeking better relations with neighbors in the Persian Gulf region. And, not surprisingly, he focused on doing what he could to fix the spluttering Iranian economy -- the issue that more than any other will determine how he fares when he assumes his role in August. Rouhani's press conference offered other shreds of hope. He offered the possibility of improved relations with both the U.S. and the UK, saying of the former "the issue of relations between Iran and America is a complicated and difficult issue. It is an old wound that needs to be healed." It would be naïve to assume that this election or a more moderate tilt by a new president who will not actually be running the country signals a sea-change. But simply by virtue of his stance, he has effectively hit the pause button on the U.S.-Iran stand-off on nukes. A confrontation or attack in the near-term seems much less likely. At the same time, the international community will inevitably test his willingness to seek better relations. The U.S. should participate in that effort, identifying achievable near-term goals that might show progress toward stopping the Iranian nuclear program, or assistance in finding a solution in Syria, while underscoring to Rouhani that his actions will be the only meaningful metric by which he will be judged. Perhaps this election signifies only a superficial or temporary change. But given the stakes, it must also be seen as a cautiously encouraging one. One of the world's most dangerous situations is not, at this moment, hurtling irreversibly toward conflict. There is, for all but the most cynical, a glimmer of hope for a slight opening. That not only resets the clock, it actually creates the opportunity for something like progress. More importantly, it reminds us that however repressive or dangerous Iran's autocratic clerics may be, the people of the country should not reflexively be seen as the enemies of the West or of peace. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Rothkopf.

David Rothkopf: Some say election of Iran's Rouhani won't change anything -- they're wrong . He says Khameni may really call shots, but vote for moderate changes Mideast tone, optics . He says it showed Iranians favored Rouhani, a former nuke negotiator, reject Ahmadinejad . Rothkopf: U.S. should seek reachable goals with Rouhani aimed at stopping Iran nuke program .

Shanghai (CNN) -- One recent afternoon, two 17-year-old migrant workers from the nearby province of Anhui came to an electronics market in this Chinese metropolis with one goal in mind: To purchase a smartphone. They browsed a couple of different models, before settling on a Samsung Galaxy Ace for 1,200 yuan (about $180). They traded in their old cell phones, good for nothing much more than making calls, sending text messages and maybe playing a few games. Read related: Seven ways mobile phones have changed lives in Africa . One of the migrants said he looked forward to watching movies on his new device. The other said he did not really know how to use such a gadget. Wang Shenyong, manager of the cell phone stall, said nearly all of his customers who have migrated to Shanghai from elsewhere for work are opting to purchase smartphones rather than low-budget fake phones that have long been a staple technology of China's marginalized populations. Read related: Your smartphone will (eventually) be hacked . "The migrant workers are different than before," Wang said. "They are more advanced now. They want a better life. They use these [smartphones] because they can know news very fast and share information with others." China is on the verge of a smartphone revolution. Falling prices of handsets made by foreign brands paired with domestic manufacturers churning out cheaper and cheaper devices, combined with faster and more affordable data plans, means China will overtake the United States as the largest market for smartphones this year, according to market intelligence firm IDC. Read related: China 'passes U.S. in smartphone sales' Analysts expect the growth of the mobile Internet on the mainland to be game changing. Countless entrepreneurs are working to create applications and other software for the coming mobile web explosion that will be fueled by widespread smartphone adoption. Even simple handsets have enabled China's migrant workers to find jobs, communicate with family back home, organize into groups and access information. For migrant populations, such technology has served to "liberate workers culturally" and "restructure the social identity" of migrants, according to Pui-lam Law, editor of "New Connectivities in China: Virtual, Actual and Local Interactions." It is hard to say how many migrants now have smartphones. Anecdotal evidence suggests their uptake, especially among younger migrants in urban areas, is quickly becoming widespread and that the technology is enabling them to connect with broader segments of Chinese society in ways they never have before. "China has long had a very active, even militant, working class," said Jack Linchuan Qiu, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's communication and journalism school, who researches information and communication technologies and their impact on labor movements in China. "They have always been socially engaged but usually they stay under the radar, but now there is a new window for us to see what is going on." That new window is specifically Sina Weibo, China's largest microblog, most commonly referred to as a mainstream social media channel for the middle class. Now migrant workers are starting to take part, and in some instances people are paying attention. This summer, for example, a migrant NGO successfully stopped the closure of a school for migrant children in Beijing after posting their grievances on Sina Weibo. Public intellectuals, television hosts, even state-run media, became involved in supporting their cause. "This is all possible because they have smartphones," Qiu said. "But the most essential ingredient is the workers want to have their voices heard, and they are facing existential issues. Technology is of no use if no one has the political will." Qiu said similar efforts to stop recent government crackdowns on workers' rights groups in the southern province of Guangzhou have not been as successful. "The Beijing case -- that was a rare case," he said. "It was almost like a little miracle." Read related: Mobile phones used to get past China's Internet censors . Nevertheless, more migrants, particularly those in factories, are creating what Qiu calls "worker generated content" about their working conditions and sharing it with wider audiences. Some migrants are garnering thousands of fans on microblogs where they share personal experiences and feelings that have rarely been voiced outside their immediate social circles - if at all. "Am going to bed now," posted one migrant who writes under the name "Blue Piano" on Sina Weibo. "Good night to this hypocritical, pretentious, two-faced world. Step on another's head in order to get to the top. Keep on fighting tomorrow." Read related: Ex-Apple boss tackles poverty in India with mobile technology . "Stay home. Marry. Farming. Raise pigs," wrote another migrant called "Red Peasant" online. "Leave home. Roaming. Working. Make money. Where is the road?" "There are more and more stories like this, of migrants trying to vent their grievances through smartphones," said Tai Zixue, author of "The Internet in China: Cyberspace and Civil Society." "It is not a dramatic change yet in that sense. They are still marginalized. It is only under particular circumstances they get the spotlight, but what we are seeing is a big sign of what could happen further down the road."

Smartphone use on the rise in China amid falling handset prices and cheaper call plans . China set to overtake the United States as the largest market for smartphones . Analyst: Such technology helping to "restructure the social identity" of migrants . Workers also connecting with broader segments of Chinese society via micro-blogs .

(CNN) -- As Crimea held a bogus referendum on independence under the watchful eye of Russian occupation force on March 16, I confess that my mind and heart were elsewhere. I have never experienced war or the threat of annihilation. But now, thanks to the Internet, like thousands of other Ukrainian-Americans I am living at the edge of an existential abyss. The violence—the war—that threatens Ukraine does not threaten me. I am in New York and Ukraine is thousands of miles away. But war will threaten my friends, colleagues and family in Ukraine. We Ukrainian-Americans must now live with the very real possibility that their lives could be extinguished if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to do so. Indeed, Ukraine could even disappear as a state, if he chooses to make it disappear. The Internet has inserted the reality and possibility of mass death into our lives. We watch events unfold in real time. And we watch these events unfold all day, every day. There is no respite. There is no pause. Ukrainians in Ukraine must live with the tangible threat of physical annihilation. We must live with the virtual threat. Their fears are palpable. The consequences for them of war and violence are real: destruction and death. The consequences for us are virtual: We are witnesses to tragedy and mass killings. We watch, our eyes glued to our computer screens, and we imagine the horror. Our empathy is not abstract: Our friends, colleagues and relatives are real people. Neither is our feeling of impotence abstract: It gnaws at our insides and reminds us that we, too, are dying, albeit spiritually. For three months, starting in late November, when the mass pro-democracy demonstrations began in downtown Kiev, and ending on February 21, when Ukraine's version of Papa Doc Duvalier, Viktor Yanukovych, fled and people power triumphed, we had been witnessing daily regime violence punctuated by a few killings in January and mass killings just before the regime collapsed. Every morning, turning on my computer, I wondered whether this was the day the criminal Yanukovych regime would crack down, as it continually threatened to do. If all that happened that night was a disappearance or two, a few savage beatings and fire-bombings of cars, we Ukrainian-Americans breathed a sigh of relief. You see, we had actually gotten used to daily terror. We, like the demonstrators in Ukraine, could live with that. After all, they had been living with the violence and predations of the Yanukovych regime since 2010. What we feared above all was mass violence. And then it happened. On Tuesday, February 18, about 16 demonstrators and 10 police officers were killed. We were shocked and mourned their deaths, while hoping and expecting the violence to ebb. On Wednesday, February 19, nothing happened and our hopes appeared to be justified. On Thursday, February 20, the regime ordered snipers to shoot randomly at demonstrators. Scores died. And, thanks to the Internet, we saw them being mowed down. The violence had come home. The criminal regime had insinuated itself into our lives. After Yanukovych fled and a democratic government assumed power, we rejoiced. Finally, we thought, Ukraine would be able to become "normal" -- free, democratic, liberal and Western. We were euphoric. The death of the country had been averted. Except that, exactly one week later, on Friday, February 28, that euphoria was replaced with the deepest of fears. Vladimir Putin's Russia invaded and occupied Crimea. That was bad enough. Far worse was yet to come. On Saturday, March 1, Putin claimed to have the right to "defend" "Russian citizens" anywhere in Ukraine, thereby giving himself carte blanche to invade any part of Ukraine he chooses. Which province would be next? On Tuesday, March 4, our existential angst got worse. At a revealing press conference, Putin claimed he had the right to go to war with Ukraine in defense of "Ukrainian citizens." Putin also said if he made the decision to go to war, "women and children" would act as a shield for Russian troops. Many Ukrainians in Ukraine now believe that a Russian invasion of mainland Ukraine is inevitable. If it happens, war will break out and thousands will die. It's hard to believe that Putin will stop with Crimea. Putin's former economic adviser Andrei Illarionov, who resigned in protest after a bloody hostage crisis, believes Russian armies will march on Kiev. Putin's ideological mentor, Aleksandr Dugin, insists that Russia's goals go beyond Ukraine into Europe -- a reunification of the Slavic peoples. Meanwhile, Russian troops and tanks are massing on Ukraine's borders. Terrified realists that we have become, we suspect the worst: that they will soon be attacking a country that dared say no to Putin. As the clouds of a massive land war appear to approach Ukraine, we watch our screens with horror and hope against hope that Russian bombs will not begin to fall on our friends, colleagues, and family in Ukraine. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Alexander Motyl .

Alexander Motyl: Crimea vote a joke: Many believe war with Russia inevitable . He says when Yanukovych was overthrown, Ukrainian-Americans were euphoric . Motyl: Then Putin made threats; Russia stole Crimea and massed troops at border . Motyl: Ukrainian-Americans fear for friends and relatives in Ukraine .

(CNN) -- Remember the good ol' days, circa mid-naughts, when most people's phones just alerted them of incoming calls and the occasional text message? After a two-second peek, you knew that you were not in desperate demand, and you were free to slip your cell back into your pocket or purse (or cell phone holster, if you were a huge geek). You'd then go back to standing in line, taking in a raucous concert or attending your grandma Bunny's funeral. Now we're more stupidly available, and a phone check involves, at minimum, viewing your e-mails, scanning Twitter mentions, perusing blog comments and stalking that dude's Facebook wall. Even if there's nothing remarkable in any digi-venue, we keep tapping away -- reading the latest headlines, checking the weather (often, bafflingly, while outside or near a window) or ordering the most darling collectible Hummel set from eBay. You know, the usual. Last year, a study even hinted that fresh bits of info may hook into the brain's reward system, shedding light on how whipping out your phone is analogous to that whiskey-and-taco bender you went on last weekend. (It just hurts so gooooood.) The problem, of course, is that constantly perusing your phone is freaking rude -- a clear signal that your reception is more important than anything going on in the here and now. Get this: 10 percent of people 24 and younger think it's OK to text during sex, according to consumer electronics shopping and review site Retrevo. That brings a whole meaning to the term multitasking. But unless you're among that ADD-addled 10 percent, there's hope for you yet. May we suggest holsterin' the old communication cannon during the following situations: . At a restaurant . Putting your phone screen-up on the table is like ordering dessert -- one person does it and everyone else follows suit. Never mind that phones do not belong amidst tableware. As soon as a text pops up or a call comes through, everyone else at the table is trapped in conversational limbo while you have your own digital tete-a-tete. If you must remain imminently reachable, simply make a big show out of it: "I'm so sorry to have to keep my phone out. Jess is supposed to get here soon, and I don't want to miss her." The others will get the point. Either that, or they'll stick you with the bill. Don't worry, you'll likely be too distracted by Foursquare to notice. On the sidewalk . It's one thing to walk and talk with your phone glued to your ear. Research finds that you're more likely to get run over while yakking, but hey, that's a risk you take. However, tucking your chin to your chest and staggering along whilst reviewing your Match.com updates or checking the Facebook RSVP list for your "America's Got Talent" viewing party is both stupid (cars!) and obnoxious. It's all about spatial awareness: Those who walk-n-surf tend to weave to and fro, making them impossible to pass on crowded or skinny sidewalks. Park yourself out of the current and against a wall, finish your phone time and pocket your cell before re-entering the deadened, zombified stream of pedestrian humanity. Special request to those of you who live in subway-arteried cities: I know you're super eager to breach fresh air and burst into the service zone, but for heaven's sake, wait until you've crested the stairs to turn your attention to your mobile. Your slow climb is pissing off scads of already addled public transportation users. One day they will push you to your death, and all those shuffling aforementioned zombies will likely trample you under their distracted soles. When cool stuff is happening . Manners aside, here's the big danger with packing every spare moment with a cybercheck: Eventually, idle but perfectly interesting moments (sitting on a park bench, people-watching at a café) become excuses to busy yourself with your touch screen. Remember that iconic New Yorker cover from last Halloween? Clever, sure. Terrifying, absolutely. Soapbox, prepare to be climbed: Challenge yourself to go a week without using your data plan. Pretend you're on vacation overseas and can't afford the rate. Turn off Push and Fetch and all the other emphatic verbs that bring inane Facebook updates and new e-mails to your attention like a cat proudly dropping an especially fresh rodent at your feet. Stick to phone calls and texting and check everything else exclusively from a computer. You'll see passersby, not pixels, when you're riding in a car; squirrels, not a screen, when you're waiting outside to meet a friend. And you'll make the liberating (albeit depressing) discovery that when you fire up your e-mail again, the world has continued to swivel without your immediate viewage of e-coupons from Suave and that cat video from Uncle Bob. Those are best dealt with when you're at your desk and supposedly working anyway.

Phones do not belong on the table at restaurants, CNN.com's netiquette columnists say . You're more likely to get run over while yakking on the phone, research finds . Idle but interesting moments have become excuse to busy yourself with your phone . Challenge from columnists: Stick to phone calls and texting .

(CNN) -- Over the past couple of weeks, I have been asking random people who identify as Republicans if they trust Mitt Romney, and each of them gave me an answer like this -- "I trust him more than I trust Obama." It's just a long winded way of saying "no." They said they did want to see his taxes. They said they have reservations about a major tax plan lacking specifics. Some said they saw the video of him describing himself as a pro-abortion rights moderate; others knew that in the hardcover version of his book "No Apology," he expressed pride in Romneycare and believed that "we can accomplish the same thing for everyone in the country." They know he flip flops. Misspeaks. Lies. And yet, their dislike of President Barack Obama is so strong that they're willing to overlook that whole character thing and swallow the bitter pill that is Romney. How can they do that, you say? Well for starters, Obama isn't exactly a rock of Gibraltar himself. Politifact's "Obameter" has been keeping track of the more than 500 promises the president made during the 2008 campaign and found thus far he's kept 37% of them. He's broken 16%, compromised on 14% and is still working on another 22%. So even though Romney smells, Obama's not exactly lilacs. He promised to address gun control. He hasn't. He promised to close Gitmo. It's still open. Obama was for gay marriage, then he was against it, and now he's for it again. If you believe his evolution wasn't about politics, then you probably believe Jimmy Carter was robbed in 1980. This is why some Republicans are willing to vote for a guy they may not trust: He's viewed as the lesser of two evils. But pointing out the evils in the other party does nothing to address the evils in their own. Here's the thing: The question of trusting Mitt Romney has nothing to do with Barack Obama. It's about Romney. Voters might not like to think about that too much, but they need to look beyond campaign sleight of hand to give it some serious thought because the future of the middle class depends on it. This week, both Romney and VP hopeful Paul Ryan have been touting a multitrillion dollar tax-cutting plan with no details, essentially asking voters to take it on faith that it'll all work out. Many conservative pundits, including George Will, say Romney's math -- where it exists -- is a bit fuzzy and all Romney can say is "trust me." So again, I ask Republicans: Do you? Not in comparison to Obama, but in comparison to your understanding of the word trust. Knowing what you know -- and don't know. Because if he wins, saying "I trust him more than I trust Obama" is not going to help matters in January. It's not going to protect the middle class' ability to write off the interest on their mortgages or deduct charitable giving. Romney said the plan won't touch those deductions, but he won't tell us which deductions it will touch. Trust him with our taxes, he says. And yet, he won't trust us to even look at his. At the Republican National Convention, Mitt's wife, Ann, painted a picture of their early years together as if the two of them were barely getting by. And then an old Boston Globe interview surfaced in which she said "we were happy, studying hard. Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time." Realizing that struggling college students work and don't usually live off investments, she backed away from her earlier characterization, telling "Meet the Press" later that, "Mitt and I do recognize that we have not had a financial struggle in our lives." Uhm ... you do know that she didn't just realize this, right? You do know that her speech was designed to manipulate voters in an attempt to paint her husband as a regular Joe, a guy just like them, someone they could trust. So ... do you? Do you trust Mitt Romney? Obama has only kept 37% of his promises. But Politifact's GOP Pledge-O-Meter, which they describe as having followed "dozens of promises made in 2010 by Republican leaders" and in their Pledge to America, found that the GOP has only kept 19% of its promises. If you can't trust a guy who has only kept 37% of his promises, how do you trust leaders that have only kept 19% of theirs? Better yet, how do you trust a guy, who as governor of Massachusetts, signed an assault weapon ban in 2004, reiterated his support for a ban in 2007 and then shows up at an NRA convention in 2012 talking like some sort of John Wayne wannabe? I don't think you can. Which I guess is why many Republicans have a hard time saying they do. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.

LZ: Asked if they trust Romney, a group of Republicans replied, "More than Obama" LZ says Romney flip flops and lies; he wants us to trust him on tax plan he won't explain . He says Obama has also broken promises, played politics, but GOP track record worse . Granderson: The Romneys paint early years as humble to faux-relate to voters .

(CNN) -- Back when I was a kid, they were called "whistle-blowers": employees of corrupt companies or government agencies, who went to the press with shocking stories of criminality or abuse. Daniel Ellsberg risked his life to leak the Pentagon Papers, which destroyed public support for the Vietnam War. Plutonium pellet maker Karen Silkwood was exposing malfeasance at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant when she was killed in an auto wreck. Jeffrey Wigand exposed Brown & Williamson's practice of intentionally manipulating the effect of nicotine in cigarettes, forcing Big Tobacco finally to admit the addictiveness of their product. Since the 1960s, dozens of brave, disillusioned Americans such as them have turned against employers who were breaking the law or otherwise harming humanity in some real way. They did so at the expense of their careers and sometimes even their lives. Somehow, the recent spate of similarly public defections of employees from the corporations they work for just doesn't feel like quite the same thing. Sure, it's pretty easy for most of us to agree with Greg Smith, the Goldman Sachs derivatives dealer who quit publicly via a New York Times OpEd because "the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it." Still, he's not complaining that Goldman Sachs is destroying the environment -- as in the air or the water -- through pollution. He's complaining about the corporate environment, the conversation in the corridors and the way the firm is choosing to make money. Instead of helping its clients make money, Smith says, the firm is now -- legally but unscrupulously -- putting its own needs first and fleecing its clients for whatever it can get. He is upset about the collapse of the corporate culture, its ability to create value for clients and the sustainability of the enterprise. Likewise, computer engineer James Whittaker, who left Microsoft in 2009 to work at Google, returned to Microsoft last month and fired off an angry public blog post about how Google is losing itself in a "whirlwind of desperation." He says that when he first went to Google, it was "a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate." Now, he complains, thanks to its obsession with promoting its Facebook-like Google+ service, "The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus." These gentlemen are garnering the same sorts of astonished headlines and outcry from their former employers and colleagues as did earlier generations of whistle-blowers. And while it may seem like they are turning against their companies, the real difference here is that they see themselves as speaking for their companies. These are not conflicts over corporate malfeasance, but over business plans! Smith believes it is not just more ethical, but better business for Goldman to think about serving its clients. He thinks it is a better long-term strategy for Goldman to help its clients make smart investments, rather than convincing them to make bad investments -- and then bet against those very same clients. Whittaker believes Google, the corporation, is turning its back on its greatest assets by focusing on advertising revenues instead of technological innovation. "The trappings of entrepreneurship were dismantled," he explained, "trappings" being a good thing in this context. In short, this is not the way he thinks the corporation can succeed. Unlike whistle-blowers of the 20th century, this new breed of turncoats reveals just how far from questioning the corporate reality we have come. They become dissidents not by challenging corporate power, but by challenging their own corporation's methodology -- as if they would have been better CEOs themselves. In both cases, they accept the underlying corporate structures and the greater economic operating system in which they function as given circumstances. What they cannot see from their vantage point is that these companies are behaving in a manner totally consonant with their corporate agendas. The minute Google went public, its only priority was to serve its shareholders. Google is an advertising company. That's how it makes its revenue. Any technological innovations that don't serve this purpose -- and do so quickly -- will be questioned by shareholders and board members looking for big short-term gains. Likewise, Goldman is in the moneymaking business. They always have been. They are operating on a fiscal landscape where innovation is no longer valued, and where it's easier to make money the old-fashioned way (exploiting people dumber than you are). Occupy Wall Street kids figured this out months ago, and a few million mortgage-holders and retirees figured it out a few years ago: When you have to keep growing at the rate of interest to stay alive, you are going to start making stupid short-term decisions. In short, the kinds of sustainable, value-creating businesses these corporate escapees are calling for just can't happen within a corporate model based on borrowing, leverage and expansion. It's too little and too late for a few corporate whistle-blowers to tell us how the companies they work for are technically incompetent, distracted by revenues or losing the values that once made them great. It's time to blow the whistle on the whole thing. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Douglas Rushkoff.

Douglas Rushkoff says whistle-blowers used to point out company misbehavior . But he says recent company trashings by ex-employees were aimed at business plans . He says Goldman Sachs, Google -- both criticized recently -- are doing what they exist to do . Rushkoff: What the two ex-workers want can't happen in the companies' business model .

(CNN) -- More than 3,500 people have been infected by the Ebola virus in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the first documented cases in December, according to new figures released Wednesday by the World Health Organization. More than 1,900 people have died. There is also a smaller, unrelated outbreak in Congo and at least one confirmed case in Senegal, according to WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan. She characterized the outbreak as a "global threat" and encouraged the international community to do more to combat it. Chan complimented the United States for its "very strong support" through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said the official numbers are lower than the actual number of cases, because families afraid of the stigma associated with Ebola do not report sick loved ones. Others are caring for patients in isolation. Frieden characterized the outbreak as "spiraling out of control" Tuesday in a conversation on CNN's "New Day." "What we're seeing is a ... hugely fast increase in cases that's harder and harder to manage," he said. "The more we can get in there and tamp that down, the fewer cases we'll have in the weeks and months to come." Dr. David Nabarro, the senior United Nations system coordinator for Ebola, said that in observing the disease on the ground, he noticed that a number of the infections have spread between family members who are caring for the sick. They must care for those infected with Ebola because there are not enough hospital beds, nor are there enough ambulances to transport people safely. If the patients do get to a health care facility, there is not a good system of infection control, nor is there enough protective equipment to go around. Nabarro said there is a desperate need for personnel to help on the ground as well as for nurses, doctors and ambulance drivers in West Africa. The area also needs money to fight the outbreak -- at least $600 million, by some estimates. The fact that airlines have stopped flying to the countries affected has kept people isolated and has inadvertently made the outbreak worse, making it harder for staff and supplies to make it there. New cases in Nigeria . Nigeria's minister of health said there are three new confirmed cases of Ebola in Port Harcourt, the country's oil hub. The ministry believes other cases will be confirmed there shortly. Ebola initially arrived in Nigeria through an infected air traveler. The passenger landed in Lagos on July 20 and died five days later. One person who was put into quarantine after he came into contact with the passenger fled the city and sought treatment in Port Harcourt. A doctor who treated him developed symptoms and died a little more than a week later. Not knowing he was sick, the doctor treated other patients. He also came into contact with members of the community after family and friends visited to celebrate the birth of a baby and after members of his church visited him at the hospital. Nigerian health leaders are monitoring the health of more than 200 people who may have had contact with the doctor. About 60 more are considered to have had high-risk or very high-risk exposure. The other confirmed Nigerian cases now include the doctor's spouse, who is also a doctor, and a patient at the hospital where the doctor was treated. Staff members are being tested for Ebola. With the help of the CDC and the WHO, an isolation facility has been set up to handle additional Ebola cases. Civic unrest and security issues, coupled with the public's fear of Ebola, are among the concerns. The military has been called in to escort people to the clinic. More need for help . Dr. Joanne Liu, the international president of Doctors Without Borders, spoke at a special United Nations briefing on Wednesday, criticizing the international community's "lethally inadequate" response to the global threat. The group, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, has been on the ground fighting the outbreak since March. Liu made what her organization described as an "unprecedented call" for U.N. members with the technology to intervene in a biological threat to do so immediately. "Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it," she said. "Leaders are failing to come to grips with this transnational threat. The WHO announcement on August 8 that the epidemic constituted a 'public health emergency of international concern' has not led to decisive action, and states have essentially joined a global coalition of inaction," she said. "The clock is ticking, and Ebola is winning," Liu warned. "The time for meetings and planning is over. It is now time to act. Every day of inaction means more deaths and the slow collapse of societies." British patient gets better . Medical personnel have been particularly vulnerable in this Ebola outbreak. William Pooley, a British volunteer nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, was the first Briton known to be infected. Doctors flew him back to be treated in an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in North London. He stayed there for 10 days of treatment that included the experimental drug ZMapp, which was also used to treat two American medical personnel last month who have since been released from the hospital. Pooley's doctors released him from care on Tuesday.

More than 3,500 people are infected, and more than 1,900 have died, WHO says . International response to "global crisis" inadequate, Medecins Sans Frontieres says . A nurse from the UK who had been infected leaves the hospital .

(CNN) -- Do you use a passcode to protect access to your smartphone? And if so, do you do that consistently? Every day, many smartphones get lost -- and found, not always by their owners. What happens with those missing devices? Security software provider Symantec recently conducted a test to answer that question. It deliberately "lost" 50 Android phones in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, New York and Ottawa. These phones were loaded with identical apps, files and data -- and none of them was secured by a passcode or swipe unlock pattern. Symantec found that in the vast majority of cases -- more than 95% -- the people who found these missing cell phones tried to access personal or sensitive information, or services such as online banking or e-mail. Being honest doesn't mean people won't snoop either. Even though about half of the finders made some attempt to return the lost phone (a contact e-mail and phone number for the "owner" was listed in the contacts app on each decoy phone), the vast majority of these people also tried to access data on the phone. "We did get some nice e-mails from people who said they found the phone, sometimes expressing remorse for using it for a while," said Kevin Haley, Symantec's director of security response. "And some of them actually tried to arrange to return the phones. We weren't trying to research people's motives and guilt -- that would be a project for a sociologist. But we did learn a lot about the kind of stuff people try to do with phones they find." On 72% of the lost phones, finders looked through stored photos. Attempts were made on 60% of the phones to access social media. More than 40% of finders tried to access corporate e-mail and online banking. Symantec also placed text files containing a list of passwords for services on the phone (57% of finders accessed those) and a fake list of employee salaries (accessed by 53% of finders). Dubbed "Project Honeystick" (the name is an homage to the "honeypot" lure of attractive data or access often employed by cybersecurity practitioners), Haley emphasized this project was not trying to trap people who breached the privacy of others. Symantec configured the fake apps to appear to have a stored user name and password, so all the finder would have to do was hit "login." Two-thirds of phone finders tried to do this. When they got an error indicating that there was a technical problem accessing the service online, "many people then would look at the 'passwords' file planted on the phone and then would try again," Haley said. Obviously, Symantec has a stake in this problem. The company wants to sell mobile security software (which it offers for businesses and also for consumers under the Norton brand). And software from this and other vendors (such as Lookout Mobile Security and McAfee) can help users track the location of a lost phone and remotely lock it or wipe the data. Haley noted that Symantec software was not installed on the decoy phones, and it was not used to track snooping and access activities by finders of the lost phones. But even if you decide not to buy and install mobile security software, there are some basic steps you can take in advance to protect your phone. First, set a passcode or swipe pattern to lock your smartphone and keep it on there. It's tempting to disable the passcode if you're at your home or office, where you might be alone or only around people you trust -- but it's too easy to forget to re-enable the passcode when you're heading out the door. Also, you could avoid storing passwords in your mobile apps. But that makes it tempting to use the same password for several services -- a significant security risk not just for your phone but online in general. You might try a password management service such as 1Password or KeePass -- just be aware that these services can get hacked. If you don't take these precautions and end up losing your phone, it's a good idea to find a computer quickly and log on to your e-mail, online banking and other services that you access from your phone and change your passwords. Whoever has your phone could change your passwords and hijack your accounts. If you can't find your phone, you might want to notify your carrier that it's been lost, to shut down the service until you can get another phone. People who find or acquire your phone may use it to make a lot of international phone calls, running up your bill. This happened to a friend of mine -- when she reported her lost smartphone, AT&T found that over two days it had been used to place dozens of lengthy calls to Yemen. (Fortunately it waived the bill; she didn't have to pay for those calls.) Losing your phone isn't the only risk to the data it contains. Some police departments are warning citizens that smartphone thefts are a growing trend. Often muggers or snatch-and-run phone thieves just try to sell stolen phones for cash -- but the people who buy them may try to access your data or services. The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of Amy Gahran.

In an experiment, a security firm deliberately "lost" 50 Android phones in certain cities . More than 40% of finders of the phones tried to access corporate e-mail, online banking . Avoid storing passwords in your mobile apps to protect your accounts from being hijacked . Notify your carrier if you've lost your cell phone so it can shut off the service .

(CNN) -- We're all thirsty and we don't even know it. But an Estonian start-up called Jomi Interactive aims to solve this problem. Although they're only in a developmental stage right now (Read: Give us your money!), the company managed to turn more than a few heads online this week when prototypes of their new products were featured on TechCrunch and several other websites. The product is a Jomi band (or sleeve). You attach it around your water bottle and it monitors your fluid intake, reminding you, with sounds and LED indicators, that, perhaps, its time to drink more water. Or, if you've filled your Nalgene with vodka, then perhaps it's time to stroll through the hallway naked, stealing office supplies. "Dude, that's my highlighter." Naturally, the band will also sync up to your mobile device via Bluetooth so you can check your hydration stats. Presumably while you urinate for the next 30 minutes. What you might actually do with this water-consumption info is sort of a mystery, but I suppose sharing it with friends is no less ridiculous than pontificating over your fantasy football results. In fact, I'd rather hear all about your fluid intake far more than how many fake points Tom Brady scored in your Week 3 win over the A-Town Booger Heads. Hopefully, unlike those super-fantasy nerds, Jomi fanatics will eventually give it a rest. Because the start-up claims their crusade is "to make sure we never forget it." "It" being to drink water. That, or the Alamo. So, it'll be interesting to see if this product eventually takes off. Especially since at least one similar product already exists in the market -- the HydraCoach. (Now with the special Rutgers Edition! When it's time to drink, HydraCoach will call you a homophobic slur and launch basketballs at your head! Operators are standing by!) Sadly, however, despite all these innovative devices, and despite the fact that water is so important to our health, I don't think I'll ever actually give up on Diet Coke. I'm in the cult. And I'm in it real bad. But not THAT bad. You see, the day you start selling black market copper wire to pay for Diet Coke is the day you realize you have a serious problem. And when you then find yourself missing your kid's T-ball game to slug down 20-ouncers under a bridge with actual addicts, that's when it's time to officially re-evaluate your life. "Hey, man, beat it! This place is for serious drugs!" Fortunately, for me, it never came to that. But there was certainly a semi-dangerous period in life where my body's entire liquid intake consisted only of Diet Coke. And I say that without a hint of hyperbole. On a normal day I would drink three or four cans at work and then come home to literally chug out of a 2-liter bottle from the fridge. I'm very classy. Chicks dig me. But they don't dig me nearly as much as my dog, Mikey, who would anxiously stare up into my eyes as I power-blasted "daddy's medicine." Mikey stared partly because I think he was amazed at what a disgusting, chemically infused human pig I had become. But he also stared because he was (and is) always a grateful recipient of the empty plastic bottle. Which, for a dog, is basically like getting a new Nintendo 64 every single day. You know, back when that was actually a relevant analogy. Of course, despite the 100% scientific fact that Diet Coke is made from the tears of angels and unicorns, and carbonated by the gentle vibrations of Art Garfunkel's voice, I believe -- though, some research doesn't necessarily agree -- that a major negative side effect of this addiction is chronic dehydration. It's fluid. But it's not water. Either way, it probably wasn't a smart way to live, and I was always parched. So I've worked out some rules to help ease me back into healthy hydration. Mind you, they're terrible rules, and I routinely bend them to achieve a far more important goal. Namely, to drink more Diet Coke. I'm enjoying one right now. Loopholes. They're everywhere! The basic idea is that I can only have Diet Coke on the weekends and days off from work. However, business travel counts as a weekend. And, if Diet Coke is provided free as part of a work lunch or company event, that also negates the not-at-the-office rule. Additionally, Friday at 12:00:01 a.m. is when weekends officially start. And if I'm going on vacation, the last actual day of work that week counts as a Friday. Other exceptions include national holidays, important televised soccer matches (including pre- and post-game analysis), and whenever somebody says the secret magic word. Today it's "Synergy." So, if you're a betting man, the smart money is on another Diet Coke! I also have a good feeling about the A-Town Booger Heads.

Jomi Interactive hopes their prototype band will encourage people to drink more water . The band would use Bluetooth to snyc up to your mobile device to record stats . Bellini on not drinking enough water: I'm in the cult of Diet Coke .

(CNN) -- The heads of both major political parties battled Sunday over the handling of Rep. Anthony Weiner's scandal, with the Republican Party boss accusing Democrats of inaction and the Democratic Party leader accusing Republicans of a "double standard." In a heated debate on NBC's "Meet the Press," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said that "for the first 10 days" of the scandal, "the only job (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi was interested in saving was Anthony Weiner's." Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired back that Priebus' argument failed "the straight-face test." The debate came the same day that TMZ published photos of Weiner, in various states of undress, which he apparently took of himself in a locker room. TMZ reported that they were taken in the House members' gym and sent to at least one woman. Weiner's office declined to comment on the photos, and CNN could not confirm the details reported by TMZ. See photos at TMZ.com . After apologizing last week, Weiner said he had exchanged "messages and photos of explicit nature with about six women in the last three years," communicating with them online and, occasionally, on the phone. Wasserman Schultz issued a statement Saturday calling for Weiner's resignation. Pelosi also called for him to step down Saturday. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said Sunday that Weiner should consider resigning. "I think that certainly he has to consider that option," Hoyer said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "I don't see how he can proceed and effectively represent his constituency." In the interview on "Meet the Press," Wasserman Schultz was asked why she called for Weiner's resignation at this point in the so-called "sexting" scandal. She said Democrats had been giving Weiner "some breathing room to be able to be circumspect, do the right thing, make a decision, reach the conclusion that he needed to step back, and step down on his own." When he had not done so by Saturday, "it was important to weigh in," she said. Priebus said "it's a question of leadership." Weiner "turned this town and this country into a three-ring circus," Priebus said. "We've got leadership and a Democratic Party that are defending a guy that deserves no defense." Wasserman Schultz said Priebus' argument "doesn't pass the straight-face test from a chair of a party none of whose leaders called for Senator Vitter, who actually broke the law, to resign, who is still serving (in) office." Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, admitted in 2007 to "a very serious sin" after he was linked to a prostitution scandal. Wasserman Schultz also cited former Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, who had an extramarital affair with a staffer's wife and later resigned. "You never called for his resignation, so it's a double standard and it's unacceptable," she said. When asked about those situations, Priebus responded he was "not defending these guys," and turned the discussion to the economy and President Barack Obama's policies. Wasserman Schultz said she spoke briefly with Weiner. She described him as "incredibly apologetic" and "devastated" about the conduct he has been engaged in. Weiner's spokeswoman said Saturday that the congressman is seeking treatment "to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person." He will take a "short leave of absence," Risa Heller said in a statement. Wasserman Schultz said a leave of absence is not enough. A party cannot force a lawmaker to leave, however. "A member of Congress makes his own decision, and that's certainly going to be up to Anthony Weiner, but we have made it clear that he needs to resign," she said. Speaking to the media on Saturday, Weiner said he has "made some serious mistakes and I'm trying to redeem myself," adding that his "remarkable" wife -- Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- is doing well. A Democratic source familiar with conversations among Weiner and Democratic leadership said the congressman does not want to make a decision on his future in Congress until Abedin returns from a trip with Clinton in Africa. She is scheduled to return Thursday. Meanwhile, authorities in Delaware have closed an investigation into contact between Weiner and a teenager in the state. C.R. McLeod, spokesman for the New Castle County government, told CNN on Sunday that the police concluded their investigation Friday "and at this point they won't have anything else to pursue unless further evidence comes to their attention." In a statement Friday, New Castle County Police said detectives had "conducted an interview with the teen and she has made no disclosure of criminal activity nor inappropriate contact by the congressman." Weiner told reporters the contact involved "nothing explicit, nothing indecent. Absolutely nothing inappropriate." An attorney representing the teen's family said in a statement Sunday that the 17-year-old had Twitter contact with Weiner, and that the tweets "were not salacious or in any manner inappropriate." No photographs were ever sent to her, the statement said.

NEW: Anthony Weiner's office declines to comment on the photos published by TMZ . TMZ publishes pictures Weiner apparently took of himself in the House gym . Republican Party chief accuses Pelosi of having wanted to save Weiner's job . Wasserman Schultz accuses Republican leader of a "double standard"

(CNN) -- Is it the end of an era for a side recognized as one of the best in football history? Just four players made the squads for all three of Barcelona's Champions League successes of 2006, 2009 and 2011 -- and now the first is set to leave in the shape of club captain Carles Puyol. On Tuesday, the all-action defender -- who turns 36 next month -- announced that he will sever ties at the end of the current season. This leaves midfielders Xavi, Andres Iniesta and goalkeeper Victor Valdes -- the only one of the quartet to play every minute of all three finals -- as the last bastions of those era-defining teams. "After two very serious operations, I'm finding it very hard to get back to the level I need to be at to stay here," he told a news conference at Barca's training ground. "Much more than I thought and much more than the surgeons told me. That's why I have made this decision." Puyol's contract had been set to expire in 2016 but it will now terminate two years early because of the persistent knee trouble the veteran has experienced in recent years. Having spent seven months out of the game before returning last October, the defender has managed just five league games this season. Puyol, who captained Barca to victory in the 2006 and 2009 Champions League finals, has made 593 appearances for Barcelona, more than any outfield player save for Xavi's 709. Xavi, who skippered the side in the 2011 after Puyol was forced to start the game on the bench because of injury, celebrated his 34th birthday in January, although time would be appear to be on the sides of Valdes, 32, and Iniesta, 29. Iniesta, Xavi, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho may have lit up Barcelona's play with their sumptuous skills but it's questionable whether they embodied the Barca side during their years of dominance quite like Puyol. Defying his poodle-style haircut, the defender's displays were typified by his 'thou-shalt-not-pass' spirit as he made up for his relatively short stature for a center back (standing 5ft 10 inches) with unbridled commitment. Having made his debut against Valladolid in October 1999 under coach Louis van Gaal, Puyol spent the first five seasons of his Barca career without winning any silverware. So what does it say about the versatile defender, who moved to the center after starting out on the right, that this all changed in the very season he was appointed club captain? On May 14 2005, Barcelona drew 1-1 at Levante to win La Liga for the first time since 1999 -- sparking an avalanche of trophies. Five more league titles would follow in addition to two Spanish Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, two FIFA Club World Cups and the Champions League titles. Success also followed at international level where Puyol became part of an historic Spain side that ended a 44-year wait for a major trophy when clinching the 2008 European Championship, before then lifting the World Cup for the first time in 2010 -- with Puyol's header having knocked out a dangerous Germany in the semifinals. As he addressed the media on Tuesday, with another club legend -- Gerard Pique -- a notable attendee, Puyol explained that he will attempt to finish his Barcelona career with the attitude that has been his hallmark. "There are three months of the season left and anyone that knows me will know that I won't give up and I'll keep fighting to the end to try to improve and help the team to achieve its objectives this season," he was quoted as saying by Barcelona's own website. "I don't know what I'll do after June 30, but what I am sure of is that when the season ends I'm going to need to get some rest. I haven't stopped for four years because of injuries. After that, we'll see what happens." Puyol joined Barcelona's youth team in 1995 and has never played for any other club. His onfield successes aside, the Spaniard will also be remembered for his gracious gesture during the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley. Despite appearing as a late substitute in the 3-1 win over Manchester United, the club captain passed up the opportunity to lift the trophy and instead handed the honor to Eric Abidal, who had had surgery to remove a liver tumor just two months earlier. That may well be among the many questions thrown his way at the end of the season, when Puyol says he will be delighted to reflect on his two decades at one of football's most distinguished clubs. "I'd like to give a press conference at the end of the season and say farewell to all the people that have accompanied me though these 19 years," he said. "Whoever wants to, whoever can -- presidents, directors, coaches, teammates, people from the club, reporters, friends, relatives -- that day I'll answer whatever questions they want. "Thank you very much and see you soon!"

Club captain Puyol to leave Barcelona at end of the season . 35-year-old joined Barca's youth team in 1995 . Defender does not indicate whether he will play elsewhere . Blames chronic knee injuries for his early departure from club .

Salt Lake City, Utah (CNN) -- Elizabeth Smart has long been silent about the details of an ordeal that began in June 2002 when a stranger crept into her bedroom, held a knife to her throat, marched her up a hillside trail and made her his sex slave. She has spoken to local groups about how to move on after a traumatic experience, celebrated the passage of a national Amber Alert law for missing and abducted children, and offered advice to another alleged kidnapping victim, Jaycee Dugard. In October 2009, Smart drew a general outline of her experience at a hearing to determine whether her accused captor, Brian David Mitchell, 57, was mentally competent to stand trial. Much of her testimony focused on Mitchell's ability to manipulate people and talk his way out of a jam. At that hearing, Smart described being forced to sleep face down in her own vomit after Mitchell gave her too much alcohol, daily rapes and being drugged, shown pornography and threatened with death -- a mere outline of the events that transformed her from a 14-year-old who prayed with her family and read to her little sister into a submissive captive bent on survival. A prosecutor provided a sneak preview of Smart's story in his opening statement Thursday, saying Smart "was threatened, sexually abused, degraded and humiliated." He acknowledged the story he was telling was "disturbing." It is even more troubling to hear, he said, in Smart's own words. Smart had been scheduled to appear as the prosecution's third witness, following her mother, Lois, and sister, Mary Katherine. She had returned to Utah from France where she was on a mission, a rite of passage typically undertaken by young men raised in the Mormon faith, although it is gaining in popularity among young women. Had things gone as planned, she likely would have been on the witness stand Friday. But a defense challenge over the location of the trial won the attention of a federal appeals court, which halted the trial on Thursday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Felice Viti had finished his opening statement Thursday, and defense attorney Parker Douglas was just warming up, when the proceedings were halted -- before Douglas could complete his 11th sentence, according to the official trial transcript. The three-judge panel vacated its temporary stay Friday. The trial is scheduled to resume Monday. But Viti's preview lent a glimpse of what is to come. Smart was abducted before dawn on June 5, 2002, the prosecutor said, and led to a campsite that "was her prison for the next four months." She was stripped, dressed in a robe and brought into a tent for an impromptu "wedding." And then, the prosecutor said, she was raped. Smart was in tears when she fell asleep. A cable was attached to her ankle, and she was kept tethered to another cable strung between two trees. She had a bucket for a toilet, Viti told the jury. The cable was removed after six weeks, but she certainly was not "free," the prosecutor added. Rape was a daily occurrence, and she was forced to walk around the camp naked. It went against everything she¹d been taught by her family, everything she believed, he said. During this time, the prosecutor added, Smart devised her survival strategy. She would not resist Mitchell, and she would not antagonize him. She'd go along with him, vowing to "outlive" him. And she'd wait for her opportunity to escape. There was a heartbreaking near-miss at the Salt Lake City public library. A homicide detective asked Mitchell to raise the veil Smart wore when they were out in public. Mitchell objected on religious grounds, saying showing her face in public would be inappropriate. The detective didn't challenge him further. Still, Mitchell was rattled enough to suggest a move out of state, Viti said. Along with Mitchell's wife, Wanda Barzee, they traveled to California, winding up at a homeless encampment near Riverside. There, the abuse continued, Viti said. "She was sexually abused, degraded, humiliated, forced to view pornography and subjected to daily harangues, never allowed to speak, never left alone," Viti said. He added that Mitchell made other attempts to "strip Elizabeth of her identity," to break down her sense of herself. He named her "Shirdashi," then let her choose the name "Esther" for herself. As they traveled, her name changed again, to "Augustine Mitchell." Finally, as they headed back to Utah in March 2003, Smart suggested they hitchhike. She also urged that they leave the robes and veils behind because it would be easier to find a ride in "regular clothes." Shortly after arriving back in Utah, they were spotted walking on the street in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Viti appeared to anticipate questions from jurors similar to those that have been raised over the past seven years: Why didn't she fight? Why didn't she run? Was she a willing captive? Or was it a case of Stockholm Syndrome, in which kidnapping victims come to identify with their captors? "Nothing she did was voluntary," the prosecutor told the jury. "Everything she did was to survive. ... It worked. She survived."

NEW: The appeals court lifts the stay, denying the defense request for a mistrial . It's unclear when the trial will resume . Smart has not extensively discussed the details of her captivity . The prosecutor says she was raped daily and degraded .

Austin, Texas (CNN) -- Anyone expecting outspoken rocker Bruce Springsteen to spend his keynote address here at the South by Southwest music conference talking about his new No. 1 album or the politically divided state of the country may have gotten a surprise. Instead, Springsteen delivered a rousing, witty and personal history of his varied music influences -- from Elvis Presley to Bob Dylan to James Brown to Hank Williams -- punctuating his points by playing snippets of songs on a guitar. He also offered a little veteran advice for the thousands of young, unknown musicians who have descended upon Austin in the hopes of making it big. "Stay hard. Stay hungry. Stay alive," he said in his familiar rasp. "And when you walk onstage tonight to bring the noise, treat it like it's all you have." Springsteen is at SXSW to help launch "Wrecking Ball," his 17th studio album, which voices his frustrations over what he sees as a lack of accountability by government and financial leaders for the country's economic woes. Several members of his E Street Band were in the audience, and he and the band were scheduled to perform at a 2,000-seat theater Thursday night in Austin before kicking off a North American arena tour Sunday in Atlanta. Thursday afternoon's event placed the current Rolling Stone cover boy in an unusual setting: Behind a podium in a packed convention hall -- and in the middle of the day, no less. Looking a little bleary-eyed, Springsteen took the stage 30 minutes late, carrying his notes on sheafs of paper, and immediately complained about the time. "How important can this speech be if we're giving it at noon?" he asked. "Every decent musician in town is asleep. Or they will be when I'm done with this thing." Springsteen began his talk by marveling at the thousands of bands, in almost every musical genre, who are playing Austin this week and how that would have been inconceivable to him as a young music fan. He then pointed out how fractured the music landscape has become and how hard it is for consumers with divergent tastes to gain critical consensus around an artist -- including himself. In what may have been an allusion to today's manufactured pop stars, he argued that what matters most in music is "purity of human expression," not looks or labels or digital format. "We live in a post-authentic world. Today authenticity is a house of mirrors," he said in his hourlong talk. "It's about what you're bringing [onstage] when the lights go down." Springsteen then began recounting his personal journey through music, beginning when he first saw Presley on "The Ed Sullivan Show" at age 6. He managed to get his hands on a rented guitar, but his hands were too small to play it, so he just struck rock poses in front of the mirror. "I still do that," he said with a chuckle. As a teenager, he recalled gazing in wonder at the Beatles' first record in a five-and-dime store. But the '60s band that made the biggest impression on him was Eric Burdon and The Animals, whose gritty rebelliousness spoke to him deeply. To make his point, Springsteen strummed a few verses from "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," with its chorus, "We gotta get out of this place/,'cause girl, there's a better life/for me and you ..." "That's every song I've ever written," he said. "That's all of them. I'm not kidding." To show how The Animals' songs shaped his own, he strummed a few chords from "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," before segueing into "Badlands" and its similar structure. "Listen up youngsters!" he said to laughs from the crowd. "This is how successful theft is accomplished." When it came to songwriting, Springsteen acknowledged he owes a huge debt to Dylan, whose lyrics gave voice to the turbulent '60s and who he called "the father of my musical country, now and forever." When Springsteen became famous in the mid-1970s, he and fellow singer-songwriters such as John Prine were given the dreaded "new Dylan" label. "The old Dylan was only 30," he said. "I don't know why they f***ing needed a new Dylan." Springsteen went on to cite his love of '60s and '70s soul singers such as James Brown and Curtis Mayfield, who played "music of gritty determination, of the blues, of the earth." He also drew inspiration from the lonesome-blues songs of country icon Hank Williams, which he said reduced him to tears. "Country music was provincial. And so was I," he said. "I was not a bohemian, or a hipster. I was an average guy with maybe an above-average gift." In his twenties Springsteen said he read a biography of folk singer Woody Guthrie, whose American protest songs "spoke to me very deeply." As if to prove it, he picked up his guitar again and led the South By Southwest audience in a few choruses of "This Land is Your Land" before leaving the stage.

Bruce Springsteen delivers a personal history of his music influences at music conference . Speaking to more than 1,000 people, he cites his love of Elvis, Dylan, Hank Williams and others . Springsteen is at the South By Southwest conference to help launch his new album .

New York (CNN) -- More than 80 Michael Jackson collectibles -- including the late pop star's famous rhinestone-studded glove from a 1983 performance -- were auctioned off Saturday, reaping a total $2 million. Profits from the auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York's Times Square crushed pre-sale expectations of only $120,000 in sales. The highly prized memorabilia, which included items spanning the many stages of Jackson's career, came from more than 30 fans, associates and family members, who contacted Julien's Auctions to sell their gifts and mementos of the singer. Jackson's flashy glove was the big-ticket item of the night, fetching $420,000 from a buyer in Hong Kong, China. Jackson wore the glove at a 1983 performance during "Motown 25," an NBC special where he debuted his revolutionary moonwalk. Fellow Motown star Walter "Clyde" Orange of the Commodores, who also performed in the special 26 years ago, said he asked for Jackson's autograph at the time, but Jackson gave him the glove instead. "The legacy that [Jackson] left behind is bigger than life for me," Orange said. "I hope that through that glove people can see what he was trying to say in his music and what he said in his music." Orange said he plans to give a portion of the proceeds to charity. Hoffman Ma, who bought the glove on behalf of Ponte 16 Resort in Macau, paid a 25 percent buyer's premium, which was tacked onto all final sales over $50,000. Winners of items less than $50,000 paid a 20 percent premium. Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien's Auctions, said people were hungry for such tokens of Jackson's life, as evidenced by the 3,500 who registered as bidders for the auction. "Michael was very generous," Julien said. "If you were friends with Michael Jackson or an important part of his life, occasionally he would give something away, and that's a very big reason that these things got out in the public." A signature black synthetic blend jacket from Jackson's 16-month Bad World Tour, his first concert tour as a solo artist, sold for $270,000. Featuring black straps with silver buckles and zippers, the jacket came to symbolize Jackson's "Bad" era. Tori Renza, whose father bought her the Bad jacket when she was just 4 years old, said she grew up singing and dancing to Jackson's songs around her house. "It just became part of our family," said Renza, who planned to use the money from the auction to pay back student loans. Jackson's famed fedora, which he sported at the 1995 MTV Music Awards, sold for $73,800. It was one of three hats Jackson wore during a 10-minute medley before hurling it into the crowd. The hat was auctioned at a charity event that year, and the letter of verification is signed "Lisa Marie Presley Jackson," the daughter of Elvis Presley who was married to Jackson for nearly two years. "To my knowledge, there were not a lot of letters that she signed with her full name," Julien said. Handwritten lyrics of the 1983 smash hit "Beat It," which Jackson scribbled on a piece of white paper, went for $60,000. One of the more bizarre items up for bidding, an upper mold used to fit Jackson with animal fangs for the 1983 video for "Thriller," sold for more than $10,000. The auction also allowed the world to see photographs of Jackson engaged in simple activities, like driving. His 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL, which he ultimately gave to an aunt as a birthday gift, was auctioned for $104,500. "What's even more significant is that we have photos of Michael driving the car," Julien said. "When have you seen Michael driving a car? He was always chauffeured or driven." There were also a number of autographed photos, as well as signed books, collectibles and artwork. Even Jackson's doodles and sketches of the likes of Frankenstein, Mickey Mouse and Charlie Chaplin were up for sale. Lee Tompkins, a renowned pencil artist who said he came to know Jackson in the early 1980s and owns approximately 75 of Jackson's artworks, auctioned two of Jackson's pieces: one of a vagabond and the other of Charlie Chaplin. They sold for $20,000 and $33,280 respectively. "He's more than just a singer and dancer. He was an artist first," Thompkins said. Before Saturday's auction, the items were exhibited in Santiago, Chile; Dublin, Ireland; and Tokyo, Japan, where crowds lined up for hours get a glimpse of them, Julien said. "Michael Jackson is looking down and has to be happy," he said after the auction, adding, "We lost an icon."

Among items auctioned Saturday: jacket, song lyrics, sketches, dental mold . Famous rhinestone-studded glove fetched $420,000 . Hat's letter of verification signed by Jackson's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley .

(CNN) -- More than 200,000 children were spanked or paddled in U.S. schools during the past school year, human rights groups reported Wednesday. Schools in 21 states can use corporal punishment. "Every public school needs effective methods of discipline, but beating kids teaches violence, and it doesn't stop bad behavior," wrote Alice Farmer, the author of a joint report from Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union. "Corporal punishment discourages learning, fails to deter future misbehavior and at times even provokes it." Corporal punishment in schools remains legal in 21 U.S. states and is used frequently in 13: Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, according to data received from the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education and cited in the report. The highest percentage of students receiving corporal punishment was in Mississippi, with 7.5 percent of students. The highest number was in Texas, with 48,197 students. "When you talk to local school officials, they point to the fact that it's quick and it's effective -- and that's true," Farmer said. "It doesn't take much time to administer corporal punishment, and you don't have to hire someone to run a detention or an after-school program." But she said, "We need forms of discipline that makes children understand why what they did was wrong." In addition, corporal punishment can be linked to poverty and lack of resources. For instance, the report said, "Teachers may have overcrowded classrooms and lack resources such as counselors to assist with particularly disruptive students or classroom dynamics." Overall, 223,190 students received corporal punishment in 2006-07, according to the Department of Education statistics. That number is down from 342,038 students in 2000-01 as more and more districts abolished corporal punishment. Watch how one Texas family feels about corporal punishment » . The punishment is disproportionately applied to black students, according to the organizations. During the 2006-07 school year, for instance, black students made up 17.1 percent of the nationwide student population but 35.6 percent of those paddled at schools. Black girls were paddled at twice the rate of their white counterparts in the 13 states using corporal punishment most frequently. And although boys are punished more often than girls, the report found that African-American students in general are 1.4 times more likely to receive corporal punishment. In addition, special education students with mental or physical disabilities were more likely to receive corporal punishment, according to the ACLU and Human Rights Watch. Evangelical leader James Dobson's influential Focus on the Family group is among those stopping short of calling for a full ban on paddling in schools. "Corporal punishment is not effective at the junior and senior high school levels, and I do not recommend its application," Dobson said on the organization's Web site. "It can be useful for elementary students, especially with amateur clowns (as opposed to hard-core troublemakers). For this reason, I am opposed to abolishing spanking in elementary schools because we have systematically eliminated the tools with which teachers have traditionally backed up their word. We're now down to a precious few. Let's not go any further in that direction." Andrea Cancellare said her then-13-year-old son was paddled -- or "swatted" -- three years ago for flicking rubber bands in class, despite the fact she had written a letter directing school officials in Alpine, Texas, not to use corporal punishment against him. School officials told her they could not find the letter when she complained. When she approached the principal and superintendent, Cancellare said, they told her that "most parents like this because it takes care of the punishment. It gets the kids back in class. It doesn't disrupt instruction. It's like the quick and dirty way of dealing with discipline problems." Alpine Independent School District Superintendent Jose Cervantes said that both the principal and superintendent have taken other jobs, but for the past several years, the district has had a clear policy allowing parents to sign a waiver form and opt out of corporal punishment. "It works on some, and it doesn't work on others," Cervantes said. "If you're one of the individuals that it does work on, yes, it will become a deterrent." Cancellare disagrees. "I don't think it's the school's place to make decisions like that," she said. "I'm not necessarily in favor of that kind of punishment in the house either, but I feel like if somebody makes that decision, it should be the parent." Most states typically leave it up to individual districts whether to use corporal punishment, and some of the nation's largest school districts -- among them Houston and Dallas, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; and Mobile County, Alabama -- have banned the practice, according to the report. See where corporal punishment is legal » . CNN's Tracy Sabo and Vivienne Foley contributed to this report.

Human Rights Watch, ACLU say spanking "discourages learning" Corporal punishment is used frequently in schools in 13 states; it's legal in 21 . Rights groups say such punishments are often disproportionately applied . Evangelical leader's group says spanking "can be useful" in elementary schools .

(CNN) -- The accusations are ominous. Russia has fired weapons into Ukraine and boosted the number of troops near the border, officials have told CNN. And the Kremlin is staging a new round of military exercises this week. Western leaders stepped up sanctions, but Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of backing down. What's his endgame? "He's got lots of options here, and he's playing it," retired Gen. Wesley Clark told CNN this week. "He's like someone fumbling with a lock, trying to find the right key to open the door." Here's a look at several goals Putin could have in mind: . Bolstering support at home . Putin certainly isn't winning many points worldwide in the court of public opinion. Western leaders slam Russia for backing separatists in Ukraine and fueling violence there -- accusations the Kremlin denies but can't seem to shake. But even as criticism grows abroad, things are playing out very differently inside Russia. Putin's popularity is soaring, said CNN's global affairs correspondent Elise Labott. "His ratings haven't been so high since he went to war with another former pro-Western neighbor: Georgia in 2008," Labott said. Taking over territory . This is the scenario that Putin's fiercest critics worry is in the offing. They point to Russia's annexation of Crimea in March -- touted by Russia as a legitimate reflection of the will of the people and slammed by the West as a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty. NATO warned this week that Russia could use "the pretext of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission as an excuse to send troops into eastern Ukraine." "We're not going to guess what's on Russia's mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground -- and that is of great concern," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told Reuters in an emailed statement. Clark, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, said even though it seems like Putin hasn't made up his mind yet about what steps he'll take, it's clear he has his eye on eastern Ukraine. "He's building up his capacity to intervene. ... He wants that to be Russia," Clark said. Protecting Russia . Others argue Putin could have another goal in mind if he sends troops into Ukraine: protecting his own country. It's true that Putin is weighing intervention, said Stephen Cohen, a professor emeritus of Russian studies at Princeton University and New York University. But that doesn't mean it's a crisis of his making, said Cohen. "He's being told by people who are advising him that this is no longer a struggle for Ukraine, but a struggle for Russia. These cities that are being attacked by the Ukrainian army are close to Russia," Cohen said. "He's being told, if you let these cities go, if you lose those cities, you will fight tomorrow in Russia." Alexander Nekrassov, a former Kremlin adviser, offered a similar take in an opinion column for CNN.com in March. "As Ukraine was slipping into anarchy and chaos, with all sorts of radicals causing mayhem, President Putin's endgame became obvious," he wrote. "He needed to do anything in his power to prevent Ukraine from becoming another Iraq, with a possibility of a civil war breaking out and violence spreading to Russia at some point." Keeping Ukraine unstable . But could there also be an incentive for keeping things chaotic in the nation next door? Plenty, Labott said. "For years, Putin has made keeping Ukraine from joining the European Union and NATO a major strategic goal," she said. But the February ouster of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was closely allied with Russia, made that much tougher. "One way to stop Ukraine from joining the West," Labott said, "is to make it too unstable by keeping this insurgency running." Growing Russia's regional influence . Russia has spent billions of dollars in recent years building up its arsenal of warships, military planes and helicopters to go along with what remains the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, CNN's Jim Sciutto said. Now come the reports of troops amassing near the Ukrainian border and renewed military exercises. What's the point of flexing all this military muscle? You don't have to look too far back in history to see an example of a similar situation that -- from Russia's point of view -- really paid off, Sciutto said. In 2008, Russia sent troops into neighboring Georgia. "There's a view in Russia that that's when the world started taking Russia seriously again, because for years Russia had seen itself as being far behind, hopelessly behind the West in military terms. And that's a problem that Russia's leadership wanted to correct," said Sciutto, CNN's chief national security correspondent. Sciutto said the focus is what Russia calls "the near abroad" -- former Soviet republics like Ukraine and Georgia. "Russia wants to expand, reassert its influence (there) once again," Sciutto said. "And it feels it needs, in order to do that, to expand its military." Putin issues retaliatory ban on food imports . CNN's Alisyn Camerota contributed to this report.

Analysts say Vladimir Putin is weighing his options with Ukraine . The Russian President could have a number of goals in mind . Putin's fiercest critics worry he's pushing to take over territory . The crisis sparks criticism abroad, but boosts Putin's popularity at home .

(CNN) -- A nurse accused of killing a Texas mother in a parking lot and stealing her 3-day-old son had suffered a miscarriage and believed she needed to show her fiance that she had a child, authorities said Wednesday. A judge refused to allow bond for Verna McClain, 30, a mother of three children. McClain told her fiance "she was pregnant and had given birth to a child, by him," said Montgomery County Sheriff's Capt. Bruce Zenor. "She represented this (the abducted baby) as her child." Witnesses said Kala Golden, 28, who was shot outside a Houston-area pediatrician's office Tuesday, screamed and attempted to chase after the car with her son inside, CNN affiliate KTRK reported. The car struck Golden as it left the scene, the station said. She died later at a hospital. Authorities said she had several gunshot wounds to the torso. McClain is accused of killing Golden and taking 3-day-old Keegan Schuchardt. She was arrested just before midnight Tuesday, according to an arrest report. She is charged with capital murder, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon told reporters. Zenor indicated the attack on Golden was random. A handgun has been recovered, officials said. Police believe the kidnapping was the motive for the shooting, the report said. The baby was found safe about six hours later at the residence of the suspect's sister, authorities said. They said they believe McClain acted alone. "It was a very emotional event for everybody who was there," Ligon said of the recovery of the infant. Keegan was initially taken into the custody of Texas Child Protective Services, CNN affiliate KHOU reported. Golden's husband, Keith Schuchardt, told KHOU he had not yet signed Keegan's birth certificate, which complicated the process of getting his son back. The baby was returned to him Wednesday after the paperwork was resolved, according to Warren Diepraam, Montgomery County district attorney trial division chief. Schuchardt told the station he was at work when he got a call regarding the shooting. His wife was dead when he reached the hospital, he said. "It's just a random thing, I think," he said. "We don't have any enemies. I don't know why anyone would do it. Maybe she lost her baby and wanted a baby ... or to sell him. I want to get my baby back." According to the arrest report, Golden, carrying Keegan, was leaving the Northwoods Pediatric Center in the Houston suburb of Spring when the incident took place Tuesday afternoon. "The defendant confronted Mrs. Golden and shot her multiple times in the parking lot," then took the baby and left, the report said. McClain's vehicle was found at an apartment complex, according to the report. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said detectives began a "systematic canvas and search" of areas near the shooting scene and spied the car at the apartment complex. The detectives questioned residents and examined the vehicle, alerting investigators of their findings. A SWAT team entered an apartment in the complex to search for the baby, the statement said. McClain returned to the apartment as the investigation was continuing and asked to speak to police, the report said. "She admitted to shooting Mrs. Golden and taking her baby," the arrest report said. During an interview with authorities, McClain provided information that only someone at the scene would know, the report said. Evidence was found at both residences and in the car "that support the arrest of the suspect," the sheriff's office said. McClain's sister, Corina Jackson, told police her sister had said she would be adopting a child soon. "After killing Golden and kidnapping Keegan, defendant stated to Corina that she now had the child and would be needing to do the adoption, indicating that the abduction of the child was her motive for killing Golden," the report said. McClain's oldest child is about 16 and the youngest is 6, Diepraam told CNN. Authorities said Tuesday that Golden and the woman parked next to her at the doctor's office apparently spoke to one another or argued before the shooting. "They were talking," witness Tia Collins told KTRK. "I did see the lady get out, and they were struggling." She said she heard gunshots and saw Golden fall. The shooting shocked Houston-area residents. Spring is about 20 miles north of the city. Jennifer Hartis, a friend of the victim, was one of the many left wondering why. "She never did anything wrong. She's just a mom doing her best to take care of her kids, and I miss her," Hartis told CNN affiliate KPRC. "Keegan is only 3 days old. He needs to know his mom, and she can't do that now. " "I'm thinking this is crazy," Frank Johnson of Houston told KHOU. "I'm thinking this doesn't really happen every day in the city. I mean, you hear about a lot of shootings and other types of crimes, but somebody kidnaps a baby, 3 days old, and the mother to be shot? I mean, that's serious stuff. That's really scary." CNN's Carma Hassan and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.

The suspect had a miscarriage and wanted a baby to show fiance, authorities say . Kala Golden apparently was shot for her 3-day-old baby, an arrest report says . The shooting occurs outside a pediatrician's office in Texas . The mother is shot repeatedly and dies at the hospital .

(CNN) -- Should you tell your kids? This is the question all of us are grappling with this morning. The horrific Newtown school shooting is inescapable on the news today, and will be for a while -- a constant thrum of horror in our hearts and our souls. But we're grown ups. We'll grieve and process and move on. Still that one nagging concern remains for many of us: Do we tell our kids what happened or not? If the news is a steady presence in your home, chances are they'll glom on to the fact that something is up. If we don't tell them and get the facts straight, they'll probably hear some version of the truth at school. But to tell them this? How? "Adults like to have all the information and try to make sense of the horribleness. But for kids, it's too much," says Dr Gwenn O'Keeffe, pediatrician, author, health journalist, and CEO of Pediatrics Now. "We have to balance our need to keep up with our need to protect our kids." When will these school shootings stop? Bearing that in mind, O'Keeffe, a member of Parenting's Editorial Advisory Board, has a handful of tips on whether -- and how --- to talk to your children about what happened yesterday. The ages of your kids will drive whether, and what, you tell them about Newtown. "The first rule of thumb, though, is never lie to your kids," says O'Keeffe. "If they come home and ask you about it, no matter what age they are, tell them the truth. If they're 4 or 6 or 8 and they ask 'was there a school shooting and did people die?' Your answer has to be yes." Then you reassure them. Tell them that their school is safe, that your community is different, that there are protections in place and it will never happen to them. "Even if you're not sure that's true, you have to make sure that they believe it. They have to go to school every day." How to help survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting . Ask your kids what they've heard. Even if they don't ask you about Newton, they do go to school with older kids. Children catch wind fairly quickly when something serious is up. Some kids will luck out and not hear anything at all. But the news flows like water -- it gets through cracks you don't even know are there. And facts get twisted on the playground. "The only way you're going to know if your kids have heard something is if you ask them," says O'Keeffe. When they're as young as 4, don't bring it up. But a 7-year-old will possibly have heard something. Approach her during a quiet moment or at snack time, says O'Keeffe. Gingerly broach the topic. Say something like "there's been a lot of talk in our country that about something that happened at a school in Connecticut that was very upsetting. Has anybody talked about that at school?" If they haven't heard, let them know they can ask you anything they want. A Hurricane Sandy survivor, thankful for how much she still has . Remain calm. If you do tell them what happened, make sure you're coming from your calmest, most reassuring place. "Don't overload them. Don't go on a whole speech about gun control or school safety," says O'Keeffe. And give them space. They're children and they may not know how to respond right away. They may look at you and go out of the room and do something else. Maybe they'll come back and ask questions later, maybe they won't. "Allow them to have whatever response they have unless it's interfering with their ability to go through the day, it's all expected," says O'Keeffe. If the news is interfering with your kids or anyone in your family, "seek help right away," O'Keeffe advises. This will usually manifest in a lot of anxiety and a lot of grief, anxiousness about the safety of their family. In more serious cases, physical symptoms could include headaches, stomach aches, inability to function as usual or a reluctance to go to school. "This isn't something you'd want to wait out." How to deal with nightmares . Monitor the media intake for everyone in the family. Even if you only watch CNN when the kids are in bed, there's the chance they may not be able to get to sleep and can hear the newscaster, the interviews. Coverage of events like this can range from incredibly tactful to incredibly sensational. Be aware of who is watching what around the home, says O'Keeffe. That goes for grown-ups too. "You don't need to watch the news 24/7," she adds. "That creates overanxiety in all of us. Resist that temptation. Go about your life. That's the best thing you can do to honor these people." Like CNN Living on Facebook . Get 2 FREE YEARS of Parenting magazine - Subscribe Now!! Copyright 2011 The Parenting Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

The ages of your kids will determine whether you tell them about tragedies like Newtown . Pick age-appropriate responses and do not lie to them about events, says an expert . Children need reassurance from parents that their schools and communities are safe . Being a calm presence for children in the face of chaos can help them process events .

(CNN) -- Imagine a world where anyone could be like Tony Stark in the "Iron Man" movies -- manipulating 3-D images in thin air. That future could be a lot closer than you think. A Silicon Valley startup called Meta is creating augmented-reality glasses that will let you interact with virtual objects in the real world. "It elicits this very magical effect where you could literally place holograms on the real world, reach out and touch them with your hands," said Meron Gribetz, Meta founder and CEO. Gribetz, 28, is the brains behind the technology. Originally from Israel, he moved to the United States seven years ago to study computer science and neuroscience at Columbia University. As a student, he began contemplating what the next computer could be. "All I knew was that I wanted an infinite computer screen, and I wanted to be able to touch holograms and stick them on parts of the real world," he said. Gribetz launched the company in December 2012 and moved to California with help from Y Combinator, which helps fund and nurture promising tech startups. He now lives and works with 25 employees in a Los Altos mansion overlooking Silicon Valley and has four other properties where employees sleep at night. "We all live together, work together, eat together," he said. "At certain key points of the year we have mattresses lined all around the living room." It's not a typical work environment, but what Gribetz is creating is far from ordinary. He believes Meta glasses could change computing as we know it. "The fundamental game changer that we're bringing to the table is this application that allows you to take your phone, tablet and soon personal computer and project them in 3-D in your environment when they're not actually there," he said. If this happens, it could usher in the next generation of computing using your hands and a pair of glasses. He believes the potential applications are endless. "We've had surgeons apply for this because they want to be able to perform surgery while seeing a 3-D CAT scan," Gribetz said. "We've had architects apply for this because they want to be able to build houses with their hands collaboratively." Eventually, Gribetz says, the glasses could also be used for 3-D Skype sessions. "You could actually put on these glasses and see a 3-D render of your mother from all the way across the country in New York sitting on the chair in your room here in California," he said. The first version of the glasses, a developer edition, is selling for around $700. The glasses are set to be delivered in December, Gribetz said. Meta is also creating 3-D apps that range from virtual Lego to surgery applications. But soon developers from around the world will have a chance to weigh in. "We're going to start off by perfecting five or six applications that showcase the differences from other form factors," Gribetz said. "But soon thereafter we're going to open this up to developers worldwide, and they're going to come up with things that we couldn't even imagine." In a demonstration video provided by Meta, a woman uses the glasses to sculpt a virtual vase with her fingers before printing it in 3-D, while others play chess on a virtual board. So how does the technology work? "The glasses are ... a two-part system. The first is a 3-D output display that's built with a stereoscopic pair of see-through augmented-reality glasses. The 3-D output display allows you to see the holograms in 3-D," Gribetz said. "The 3-D scanner scans your environment and tells the computer where to place the 3-D graphics relative to the user and the world." Unlike Google's rival Glass eyewear, which has a smaller screen and is primarily controlled by your voice, Meta glasses could have the potential for an infinite screen controlled by your hands. "Google is going to take one category of wearable computing, the notification machine," Gribetz said. "Meta is a graphical solution that's going to allow people to build 'Iron Man'-like interfaces and interact with digital information in a much more natural way graphically." Until then, there are some limitations. The first version can only be used indoors. The company also is working on increasing the field of view, improving latency issues and making the glasses smaller and less bulky. Within two years, Gribetz says, the glasses will be as sleek as a pair of Ray-Bans. But stylish specs with built-in computer technology do raise the inevitable questions about privacy. "I'm highly concerned with those issues. ... I have a fundamental belief that when you and I are talking and you're recording information about me, I should know about it," Gribetz said. "There will be an LED light indicating that you're being recorded if that's the situation." If Gribetz has his way, hardware like the desktop computer, keyboard and mouse could soon be a thing of the past. "We're looking to change the way people interact with computers by making them much more natural," he said. "Every application from the 2-D world can enter the 3-D world now. It really represents a huge shift from 2-D computing."

A startup is creating glasses that let you interact with virtual objects in the real world . Glasses let you place 3-D holograms in real world, then reach out and touch them . CEO of startup Meta: The potential applications are endless . "We're looking to change the way people interact with computers," he says .

(CNN) -- For anyone yearning to forget about the recession by escaping to a tropical paradise or relaxing on a cruise, finding great travel deals right now isn't hard. Deciding whether to take advantage of them is another matter. Katie Parker and her husband, Damon Fodge, are going to India soon, but she had second thoughts about the trip. For many Americans, spending money on a getaway may not be a priority, a possibility -- or even the right thing to do -- amid thousands of layoffs, plunging home prices and shrinking portfolios. The general misery is even causing some who can afford a big trip to stay put. Take "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, who told the blog TVNewser this month that he and his family would skip a vacation in 2009 because it wouldn't seem appropriate during a time of hardship for so many people. "We were going to try to get away, but it didn't feel right this year," Williams told the blog. Other Americans are jetting off, but they're having lots of second thoughts and are watching their wallets closely. Katie Parker, a Web designer who lives in Washington, is going to India next month to meet her husband on the last leg of his international business trip. Parker, 33, said she's excited about the vacation but apprehensive about spending $1,600 for her plane ticket in addition to lodging costs and other expenses during the two-week stay. "Although I think my job is probably safe, you never really know," Parker said. "Part of me thinks maybe we should have waited on this trip." She added, "But I also feel like it's a once in a lifetime thing. I don't know when I'm going to get another chance to go to India so we're just going to do it." Parker and her husband, Damon Fodge, are usually frugal while traveling, staying in hostels and other inexpensive lodgings, she said, but they will be especially careful about spending money during this journey. Parker recalled feeling devastated after a layoff several years ago and said the possibility that it might happen again would be on her mind. Fear factor . The fear over what could happen is causing many people to put their lives on hold and hunker down because they don't feel in control, said Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist who practices in suburban Chicago, Illinois. "There's a huge psychological component to any recession and this one, I think, in particular ... because it's gone on for so long," Molitor said. "Anxiety is contagious." She also has heard from patients and friends who are affluent but who feel embarrassed about spending a lot of money on travel right now. Some have "survivor's guilt" and are downplaying their vacations instead of feeling excited about them, Molitor said. Brian Morton, a manager at a movie studio in Los Angeles, California, said talking about his travel plans with friends who are already unemployed -- and for whom travel is out of the question -- can be uncomfortable. "You don't want to seem like you're bragging," he said. Morton, 37, is planning to spend at least $3,500 on a weeklong trip to Aruba this summer, even though there have been layoffs in his industry and he's not entirely sure his job is safe. "I don't think I'm going to stop vacationing just because of the recession," he said. "[But] I scrutinize my budget a little bit more. ... I want to get the most bang for my buck when it comes to hotels and that kind of thing." Where the deals are . Americans such as Morton who are willing to travel right now may find globe-trotting much more affordable than before. Watch tips for finding the best airfares » . "It's the best time in years to book a vacation; the deals are outstanding," said Genevieve Shaw Brown, senior editor at Travelocity. Hotels are offering some of the best values, especially in cities such as Las Vegas, Nevada; New York; and San Diego, California, she added. Bargains also can be found in Hawaii and Canada. Watch how to find off-season deals » . For sea lovers, cruises are among of the best values this year, Shaw Brown said, though she urged people to consider the additional money they might have to spend on shore excursions, alcohol and other extras. Depending on where you go, the current travel discounts and incentives can mean that a vacation that might have cost $4,000 a year ago now costs $2,500, said Rey Alton, leisure marketing director at Travel Leaders/Almeda Travel in Houston, Texas. "Some people say, 'I'm going to have to hold off until next year or maybe the year afterward,' but [those who want to travel now] are really the ones who are finding deals," he said. Mexico and the Caribbean are the biggest destinations on sale right now, he added. Molitor urged people to be mindful of their budgets but to try to avoid thinking they're stuck and have no options. "If they get away to a vacation that they could afford, that could be very good for them," Molitor said. "Some people are so down that they're missing opportunities."

Travel deals abound, but some people are reluctant to spend money during crisis . "Anxiety is contagious," even for those with steady incomes, psychologist says . Some affluent Americans may feel embarrassed about spending a lot on travel . "It's the best time in years to book a vacation," a Travelocity editor says .

(CNN) -- Africa is poor, corrupt and rural. Right? Think again. A team of young documentary makers is hoping to burst the myth of Africa as a dangerous backwater by shining a light on some inspiring projects taking place on the continent. When filmmaker Nosarieme Garrick hit the streets of New York to ask passersby: "What do you know about Africa?" the overwhelming response was "not a lot." "It's very big, very hot. Most of Africa's impoverished. I'm pretty ignorant to Africa," admitted one man. "I know about some human rights violations, some wars and genocides," was the bleak answer from another woman. It was a dismal reflection of many Western stereotypes surrounding Africa -- one that Nosarieme is determined to change. Watch: Fighting Hollywood stereotypes . My Africa is: hopeful . The 27-year-old hopes to launch an eight-part documentary series 'My Africa Is' -- showcasing the continent through the eyes of its insiders. "The four things that come to mind when people think of Africa are population, problems, poverty, and promise unfulfilled -- headline media reports on the continent. But that's not the whole story," Nosarieme, originally from Nigeria and now living in Washington, said. The ambitious project would cover 13 cities across sub-Saharan Africa. Organizers are trying to crowdsource funds through the Kickstarter website and hope to start filming in October if they reach their target. "Between the 1980s and now the image of famine and wars has been ingrained in people's minds. That's a narrative that's going to be hard to shift," Nosarieme said. "That's not to discount the fact that this stuff does happen. But what I wasn't seeing was the solutions." See also: South African ballet dancer confounds stereotypes . Nigeria the troubled oil giant . First up in the documentary series is Abuja in Nigeria -- a country that until the election of President Goodluck Jonathan last year had largely lurched from one military coup to the next. This is Africa's most populous country and its leading oil producer. Yet few in the country have benefited from the oil boom with more than half the population still living in poverty. See also: Congo's designer dandies . The President was recently forced to sack bosses from state-owned oil company NNPC amid corruption allegations . Then there's the ongoing violence between Muslim and Christian groups in the north, with even Pope Benedict XVI weighing in to call for an end to the brutality. Put simply, when it comes to Nigeria, the headlines aren't great. Getting on the Photowagon . But according to Nosereime, that's only half the story. "Nigeria is going through a turbulent time," she admitted. "But there's a rising youth who are trying to educate each other." Indeed the trailer for the first My Africa Is show, the focus is on Photowagon -- a Nigerian photography collective "on a mission to show the giant of Africa through the lens." Launched in 2009, their powerful images paint a very different image of Africa. It's a well-rounded collection that captures the frivolity of everyday life, such as market scenes and football matches. But doesn't shy away from some of the more familiar and gruesome notions of Nigeria such as terrorist attacks and military clampdowns. The 'other' Nigeria . Photowagon co-founder Aisha Augie-Kuta says her mission is to "conquer sports photography as a northern Nigerian female" -- a bold statement for a "very conservative" country. But the gung-ho 33-year-old appears undeterred as she takes 'My Africa Is' to a Nigeria vs Argentina football match in the capital Abuja. Traditional dancers and hip-hop singers entertain the crowds during half-time, while ecstatic fans hug each other with each goal. It's an image of Nigeria that couldn't be further from the grim headlines. Aisha admitted that if you believed the Western media, you wouldn't step foot inside Africa. "They see us as a continent without hope," the mother-of-three said. "For Africans, we see hope on the street everyday. But on the news you don't see that. It's always about the negative stuff. "Instead, what we see is a lot of poor children dying from malaria or polio. If you listened to the news everyday you'd have no hope from the bombings or corruption. Don't get me wrong, it is happening. But it's not a constant. It's not the Nigeria we in Lagos or Abuja are living in." See also: South Africa's underground youth culture . The 33-year-old said the country had come a long way since she was growing up under a military regime in the northern state of Kebbi. Aisha remained optimistic about democratic change in the west African country, particularly for women, but was also realistic about its pace. "There's a lot of opportunity and hope as to where we can be," she said. "But at the same time there's a lot of uncertainty about how much change the government can bring in."

Ambitious documentary hopes to dispel bleak stereotypes of Africa . Filmmaker Nosarieme Garrick was shocked to find most people 'ignorant' about Africa . 'My Africa Is' project needs £71,500 funding, with £3,500 already raised . First episode looks at Nigeria's inspiring Photowagon collective .

(CNN) -- Berkeley, the famously liberal college town in California, has taken aim at Marine recruiters, saying they are "not welcome in our city." Berkeley passed a measure last week encouraging protesters to gather outside the Marine office. Republican lawmakers in Washington fired back this week, threatening to take back more than $2 million of federal funding to the city as well as money designated for the University of California-Berkeley, the campus that became a haven of protests during the Vietnam War. The battle erupted after the Berkeley City Council approved a measure last week urging the Marine recruiters to leave their downtown office. "If recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders," the item says. It goes on to say the council applauds residents and organizations that "volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley." See photos of protesters camped outside Marine office » . Outside the Shattuck Avenue recruiting station earlier this week, a handful of protesters with the anti-war group Code Pink camped out, strumming a guitar as they sang anti-war songs and held signs against the Iraq war. "Time to end the war, time to end the war, time to end the war right now," they sang to the beat of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Watch protesters sing "I Ain't Afraid" » . One giant sign said, "No Military Predators in Our Town." Another message on a pink placard read, "Join the Marines. Travel to Exotic Lands. Meet Exciting and Unusual People -- And Kill Them." Zanne Joi peered out from under her straw hat. "This Marine recruiting station is trying to recruit our youth to go to Iraq to kill and be killed. And we are against that," said Joi, a member of Code Pink Women for Peace. "This is part of a multi-pronged effort to end this war." Protester Sharon Adams added: "This recruiting station recruits people to go fight and then once they fight and they serve their country, our country doesn't take care of them. That's a shame." But not everyone here supports the protesters. Watch young men confront protesters » . Forrest Smith, who described himself as a veteran of U.S. Special Forces, said his son recently returned from a tour in Iraq and his daughter served in Afghanistan. "My position on this is the Marines are the best thing we have," said Smith, decked out in Army fatigues. He blasted the City Council for its action. "It's clearly an abuse of power." A group of young students who strolled down the sidewalk shared that sentiment. They derided one of the protesters who argued the United States was involved in an illegal war in Iraq. "Where's the logic in that whatsoever?" one of the young men said. "That's our national security, and you're here protesting the Marines." Another said, "It makes me sick. It makes me sick." Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, told CNN there is "no plan for that office to move." She said recruiters are there to "provide information to qualified men and women who are looking for opportunities that they may benefit from by serving in the military." "The Marine Corps is here to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, which does guarantee the freedom of speech," Franklin said. "In terms of the situation in Berkeley, the City Council and the protesters are exercising their right to do so." In Washington, a group of Republican lawmakers have introduced the Semper Fi Act of 2008 -- named after the Marine motto -- to rescind more than $2 million of funds for Berkeley and transfer it to the Marine Corps. "Like most Americans, I really get disturbed when taxpayer money goes to institutions which proceed to take votes, make policy or make statements that really denigrate the military," said Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, a co-sponsor of the bill. He told CNN he believes the bill will pass. "I think it's going to have significant support." The bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, said in a written statement, "Berkeley needs to learn that their actions have consequences." Berkeley's declaration, which was introduced by the city's Peace and Justice Commission, accuses the United States of having a history of "launching illegal, immoral and unprovoked wars of aggression and the Bush administration launched the most recent of those wars in Iraq and is threatening the possibility of war in Iran." It adds, "Military recruiters are salespeople known to lie to and seduce minors and young adults into contracting themselves into military service with false promises regarding jobs, job training, education and other benefits." Out on Shattuck Avenue, it appears the protesters have no plans to leave anytime soon. "We are the civilian population; we control the military," Adams said. "We the people have to take back our control of the military." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jim Castel and Peter Ornstein contributed to this story from Berkeley, and CNN's Dick Uliano contributed from Washington.

Berkeley, California, tells Marine recruiters they're "not welcome in our city" GOP lawmakers introduce bill to take $2 million in federal funds from city . Protester says recruiters attract youth "to go to Iraq to kill and be killed" Veteran blasts City Council, says Marines are "the best thing we have"

London (CNN) -- A new window on your life may soon be opened from space -- in high quality video and in almost real-time. The resolution might not be clear enough to pick out individual faces but if the simulation footage proves accurate then a video camera soon to be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) will be able to show high definition movies capable of detailing your car moving on the highway. UrtheCast, the company behind the idea, aims to stream the video for free over the web and make the data open source so you can integrate it into your own applications. "To track and see people moving from space is 100% unique," said UrtheCast president Scott Larson. He explained that their images will have more pixels than most computer screens so the streaming footage will appear somewhat "downgraded." But he said those who choose to pay for a subscription will have access to higher quality raw imagery from which they can glean detailed information. UrtheCast says the video will be available between 30 minutes and two hours after shooting and the high quality footage will have a resolution down to a meter. Google currently provides similar quality still images for some parts of the world which are made up from satellite pictures and aerial photography. It declined to comment on the resolution but points out that it upgraded its service in June. The American space agency NASA provides real-time video from the space station, except when it's out of communication. NASA spokesman Joshua Byerly says the footage is typically of the ISS laboratories in the day, and outside the station in standard definition when the crew goes to sleep. Larson said the UrtheCast imagery will be useful for monitoring crop growth and disease, water resources and the rate and scale of deforestation. The company website also shows how the data could be used to help in the wake of disasters by, for example, showing emergency response teams the safest, fastest access routes. "Developers will think of far more creative applications than we'd ever be able to, which is essentially the Internet model ... let the developers and users drive its effectiveness," said Larson. Scientists from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in England built two cameras for UrtheCast (one medium resolution and one high resolution) at a cost of several million dollars. They are due to be launched on a Russian spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in November, and the team hopes to see them in action in 2014. Ian Tosh, the ISS camera project manager at RAL, told CNN: "The key thing about this video camera is that it's on a platform outside the space station which can point on two axes so when the space station comes over the horizon you can point the camera to a target on the ground and track it for two to three minutes -- that's never been done before. "You may think the military are doing this all the time -- that they can read number plates and newsprint -- but that's not the reality. You can't see faces; you wouldn't be able to recognize someone lying naked in the back garden, so we're not going down the route of blanking out faces because you can't see them. "What you will definitely see is cars going down the motorway. You'll still be able to see lines on runways and crowds of people." Space expert Stuart Eves, who worked on the Earth observation satellite "TopSat," said he admired the ambition of the project but highlighted some limitations. He pointed out that ISS has "an orbit repeat cycle of three days, and doesn't get back to the same lighting conditions for more than 60 days. "The video element is really for entertainment value -- it's nice to watch," he said. But he added that delays in getting the imagery back means that you can't use it for practical real-time applications like vehicles moving along a motorway, and underlined that the space station is only over a specific target for less than 10 minutes as it moves overhead. The issue of privacy may worry some -- knowing that they can be filmed from space -- but Larson argues that many of us are already closely monitored by CCTV and can be tracked by the signals from our cell phones. "It's less invasive than that," he said, adding that there will be some restrictions on the imagery that can be released to the public. According to Ian Tosh, the Russians won't allow data of their territories to be released. Producing a camera that can survive the rigors of space is technically challenging. The lenses have to be made with fine precision, able to survive the degradation caused by radiation in space, the vibration at launch and keep their shape despite the extreme ranges of temperature in orbit. "Polishing [lenses] hasn't changed much since Galileo -- it's still a grinding process," said Tosh. "The optical surface has to be good to 60 billionths of a meter deviation from the ideal surface. We've got to have a thermal system that can keep the temperature uniform in the telescope and within certain bounds so that we can stay in focus." If the mission can overcome the technical hurdles and survive the hazards of launch, UrtheCast says its cameras will capture an area of the globe so large that it contains the majority of the world's population.

Footage from cameras due to be fitted to the space station will be streamed on the Internet . UrtheCast says the video data could be used to help in the wake of disasters . The company president Scott Larson argues that video from the space station will be less of an invasion of privacy than current CCTV networks . Urthecast also says its cameras will capture an area of the globe so large that it contains the majority of the world's population .

(CNN) -- Eric Holder, who resigned Thursday, kicked off his stormy tenure as attorney general with a challenge to the American public that set the tone for his six turbulent years as the nation's top law-enforcement officer. "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," said Holder in his first public speech after being sworn in. When the remark drew an uproar from conservatives, Holder shrugged and doubled down. "I wouldn't walk away from that speech," Holder told ABC News. "I think we are still a nation that is too afraid to confront racial issues," rarely engaging "one another across the color line [to] talk about racial issues." And true to form, Holder -- a tall man who carries himself with the relaxed, quiet confidence of a corporate attorney -- seldom backed down from a confrontation, on racial justice or other issues. He pressed Credit Suisse, and the Swiss bank eventually paid over $2.6 billion to settle claims it was illegally helping wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes. Holder took the lead in pushing banks and other financial companies involved in the mortgage crisis to pay $25 billion to federal and state governments, a record civil settlement. And Holder famously sparred with members of Congress such as Darrell Issa and Louie Gohmert as the television cameras rolled. In one heated exchange at a Judiciary Committee hearing in 2013, Issa and Holder talked over each other, with the attorney general concluding, "That is inappropriate and is too consistent with the way in which you conduct yourself as a member of Congress. It's unacceptable, and it's shameful." In another back-and-forth, Holder trash-talked Gohmert with lines that could have been taken from a comedy routine. "You don't want to go there, buddy. You don't want to go there, OK?" While the history books will note Holder was the first African-American attorney general, a more relevant biographical fact might be his status as possibly the first attorney general who, as a college student protester, occupied a campus building: In 1969, as a freshman at Columbia University, Holder was part of a group of black students that took over a former naval ROTC office for five days, demanding that it be renamed the Malcolm X Lounge. (In a sign of the times, the university complied.) Echoes of Holder's activist history could be heard years later, in the middle of a high-stakes battle with leaders of several Southern states over voter-ID laws and other rules changes that Holder deemed at attack on black voting rights. "People should understand that there's steel here, and I am resolved to oppose any attempts to try to roll back the clock," Holder told CNN's Jeffrey Toobin in an article for The New Yorker. Not all of Holder's crusades have worked out well. The Supreme Court, despite Holder's efforts, voted to strike down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and conservative senators blocked Debo Adegbile, Holder's preferred choice to run the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department. The attorney general has launched or joined legal battles against restrictions on voting rights in Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas and North Carolina, but it's unclear whether those efforts will end up back at the same Supreme Court that weakened the original law. In 2012, House Republicans voted to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress for stonewalling on information requests in the bungled Fast and Furious gun-smuggling operation in which 2,000 weapons went missing. It was the first time in U.S. history that a sitting Cabinet member was given such a severe sanction. (The case will continue after Holder's resignation, although his successor will inherit the fallout, not Holder personally.) But history will surely judge Holder a success at broadly expanding access to justice for groups seeking acceptance and fairness. He announced the federal government would no longer defend laws banning same-sex marriage and told state attorneys general they could do the same. And Holder made good on his initial commitment to change the conversation on race. He traveled to Ferguson, Missouri, and assigned dozens of Justice Department personnel to investigate law enforcement practices after the police killing of Michael Brown triggered street riots. He has also called for voting rights to be restored to formerly incarcerated Americans, and pressed for a reduction in the prosecution of low-level marijuana users. For one clue about how history will regard Holder, go back to 2009. In the effort to battle terrorism, Holder called for five accused terrorist suspected of participating in the 9/11 attacks to be tried in federal courts in New York -- only to see the proposal scuttled after a political uproar. "We need not cower in the face of this enemy," Holder told skeptical members of the Senate. They didn't buy the argument, but it was classic Holder: Once again, the battler leaping into the arena and daring others to summon the nerve to fight alongside him.

Errol Louis: Eric Holder, who has resigned, had bold stormy tenure from start as AG . Louis: Holder took heat for saying nation cowardly on racial issues. Stood by remarks . He confronted banks, won tax case settlements, sparred with Issa, fought voter ID laws . Louis: He was first AG House held in contempt. He was a fighter, dared others to join him .

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- President Barack Obama warned North Korea Sunday that if it moves forward with a planned test-firing of a long-range missile, it will further deepen its isolation, damage relations with its neighbors and face additional sanctions that have already strangled the country. "North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or provocations," Obama said during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, on the eve of an international nuclear security summit. "North Korea knows its obligation." Obama's strong words follow last week's announcement by North Korea that it is planning to carry out a rocket-powered satellite launch in April. The issue is overshadowing message of international cooperation for the summit, which is bringing together top officials from 54 countries including China and Russia. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said during the news conference that he considers the launch a direct violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that bans the testing of the technology being used in the rocket-powered satellite. South Korea has said it considers the satellite launch an attempt to develop a nuclear-armed missile, while the United States has warned the move would jeopardize a food-aid agreement reached with Pyongyang in early March. "Bad behavior will not be rewarded," Obama said. North Korea says it has a right to a peaceful space program and has invited international space experts and journalists to witness the launch. A spokesman from the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea denounced the South for working to turn the summit "into a platform for (an) international smear campaign" against the North, according to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Pyongyang announced this month it would carry out a "satellite launch" in mid-April to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the country's founder. Using ballistic missile technology, however, is in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874 and against a deal struck with the United States earlier this month that it would not carry out nuclear or missile tests in return for food aid. In North Korea, a brutal choice . Pyongyang has said it will see any critical statement of its nuclear program as "a declaration of war." Prior to the news conference, Obama made his first visit to the demilitarized zone that splits the Korean peninsula. Obama peered through binoculars into North Korea where flags flew at half-staff to mark the 100-day anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il. "It's like you are in a time warp. It's like you are looking across 50 years into a country that has missed 40 or 50 years of progress," Obama said during the news conference. The president said the real consequence for North Korea, should it go through with the launch, is that the country's leaders will miss an opportunity "to take a different path than the one they have been taking." "I hope that at some point the North Koreans make the decision that it is in their interests to figure out how to feed their people and improve their economy rather than have big parades where they show off weapons," Obama said. From propaganda to pop artist . The purpose of Obama's visit to the demilitarized zone was to meet with some of the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. "When you think about the transformation that has taken place in South Korea during my lifetime, it is directly attributable to this long line of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen who were willing to create the space and the opportunity for freedom and prosperity," Obama told troops at a base near the DMZ. It was Obama's first trip to the demilitarized zone, though he has made two previous trips to South Korea as president. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the area in 2010. Across the border on Sunday, North Koreans were mourning the death of Kim. Kim's son, who took over from his father following his death in December, and senior party officials visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang to observe a moment of silence, said North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The palace serves as the burial site for Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, and his son, Kim, who succeeded him as the country's ruler. Obama said he had not been able to assess the new leader of North Korea, saying "It's not clear exactly who is calling the shots and what their long-term objectives are." Seoul's nuclear summit will be the second after Obama hosted the first meeting in Washington in 2010. He initiated the biennial summit after presenting his vision of a nuclear-free world in Prague in April 2009. The official agenda will deal with nuclear terrorism and how to secure the world's nuclear material. Obama's visit comes virtually two years to the day after the sinking of the South Korean warship, the Cheonan, which left 46 sailors dead. South Korea says a North Korean torpedo attack was to blame for the ship's sinking. The North has denied the accusation. CNN's Paula Hancocks, Shruti Pant, Jethro Mullen and Bob Kovach contributed to this report.

NEW: "North Korea will achieve nothing by threats," President Obama says . NEW: Obama says North Korea's "bad behavior" will not be rewarded . NEW: Obama makes his first trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone . The president is in South Korea for an international nuclear summit .

New York (CNN) -- If President Obama had been forthright last week at the health care summit, he would have opened the meeting by stating: "If you have health coverage, under our reform bills you are going to pay more and get less. If you are one of the 45 million elderly or disabled people on Medicare, you are going to get less. There is no such thing as free medical care. Somebody has to pay! And in the end it is you." Those are the facts! And as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated to the Republicans : "...you're entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts." However, the facts, as the president has found out, are not exactly a compelling message to persuade a reluctant Congress and public to overhaul nearly one-fifth of the nation's economy. Adding 31 million people (45 million now don't have coverage) to the health care system will cost the taxpayers trillions over time. Many of that uninsured group can't afford health insurance, and if this legislation passes, the government will create an entitlement program to subsidize them. In the end, like the entitlement programs that have gone before them, they will far exceed any cost estimates on the table today. Just to remind you, Mr. President and members of Congress, the taxpayers have a right to know the full fiscal consequences of this legislation. The United States is spending this year nearly $2.5 trillion on health care. That is 17.3 percent of the U.S. economy and it's rising at a rapid rate. We spent $134 billion more in the past year than in the year before. To put $2.5 trillion into perspective, that is more money than the federal government received in taxes and revenues this year. The problem is nobody knows (and especially the Congress) what a trillion dollars really means. A trillion is a million million. Still means nothing to most of us. If you spent a million dollars a day since the birth of Jesus Christ, it wouldn't even equal a trillion. If you stacked up a trillion dollars in dollar bills, it would reach 68,000 miles into the sky, about a third of the way from the Earth to the moon. Those numbers are too big for any of us. Somebody has to pay for the most expensive health care in the world. Many experts would argue it is also the very best health coverage in the world. Health care today is paid for by three entities. The government (federal, state and local) pays more than 50 percent of the costs. That is us, the taxpayers. The insurance companies pay about one-third of the costs. That again is us. We pay the premiums and the insurance company pools the risk, and distributes our monies back for the medical services. They obviously add an overhead cost as does any business, but it's still our money being paid out. The third payer is again us. Out-of-pocket reimbursements or additional fees come directly out of our pocket and paycheck. Health care has changed as dramatically as anything in our society in the last half century. First, we are living longer. In 2007, American men could expect to live 3.5 years longer and women 1.6 years longer than in 1990. We are long past the days when you walked into a doctor's office and the doctor -- armed only with a stethoscope, blood pressure monitor and a thermometer -- listened to our symptoms and made a diagnosis. Maybe in a rare case an X-ray was called for. We paid our bill and went to the drugstore and got our prescription. There were no MRI's, no heart diagnostic tests, no CT scans or any of the wonder drugs that have extended our lives and in many cases made the quality better. It's not that people aren't seeing doctors. In the last several years, more than 1.2 billion annual visits to a physician's office have taken place, averaging more than three a year per person. Certainly, some efforts must be made to provide some insurance reform -- but that also means malpractice insurance reform. Some massive efforts need to be made to curb Medicare and insurance fraud. And efforts must be made to create more competition among insurance companies across state lines. The president's attempt to add some of the better suggestions from the Republicans addressing these issues is not going to add any support from that side of the aisle. They are minor changes that are positive but don't tackle the fundamental cost issues or address the new entitlements and mandates that Republicans object to most. Reducing costs in most cases means reducing services. Who doesn't want an MRI for their child injured in a car wreck? Who doesn't want tests done on a spouse or parent who has chest or abdominal pain? But if Reid and Pelosi shove this legislation through Congress against public opinion, they and their party will pay a price. Yet the price Democrats will pay at the polls in November won't be nearly as big a price as our kids and grandkids will pay when the bill comes through years hence. If you're going to have reform, make the system better. Take your time and do it right. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ed Rollins.

Ed Rollins says President Obama should have explained that health bill will cost taxpayers dearly . He says health care consumes 17 percent of the nation's economy . He says costs are rising at a rapid rate, and consumers are footing the bill . Obama's attempt to add some GOP ideas doesn't go nearly far enough, Rollins says .

(CNN) -- As a tech reporter, it's my job to catch trends as they're developing — to be ahead of the curve. I like to think I do a pretty good job, but I will forever have one hilarious black mark on my resume. My first tweet. "I am already kind of over Twitter," I wrote on April 5, 2007. Twitter was a new service back then, and I had signed up early enough to get a pretty cool username. Frankly, I didn't think much of it since it seemed like a mild update to the IM status messages I'd already been using to communicate with my friends for years. Boy, was I ever wrong. Twitter has grown from being an insider back channel for tech nerds into being the insider back channel for the entire world. It is everywhere at once and everything to everyone: a public broadcast platform, a private messaging service, a way to share photos, a late-night therapy session, a journalist's best friend. We expect people to be their most honest on Twitter — and that honesty can spark firestorms of controversy. Opinion: Twitterers -- take responsibility for your reckless claims . Television executives say that Twitter has brought live TV back to life after years of wilting in the face of the DVR — we're "social watching" now, which means we all want to tweet about shows as they're happening. Celebrities use Twitter to talk to their fans without media and publicists in the way — and their platforms can be so valuable that they can earn thousands of dollars per tweet. Every journalist I know says Twitter has redefined the way news is gathered and shared — stories break on Twitter now, not on TV or in the newspaper. I have a friend whose cell phone is set up to get a text whenever Britney Spears tweets. I worry about her, but not as much as she worries about Britney. Since Twitter is where the people are, that's where the politicians and world leaders have gone. The pope just signed up for a personal account, and his first tweet is coming on December 12. Senators and representatives of both parties have long made use of Twitter to talk to their constituents on an unfiltered platform — sometimes with disastrous results, as Anthony Weiner found out when he accidentally posted a private message publicly. President Obama took to Twitter during the campaign season and again on Monday to rally support for his fiscal policies. Obama's use of social media during the campaign highlighted his significant tech advantage over Mitt Romney. But the president seemed to mostly use Twitter to acknowledge that he knows Twitter exists; he said very little of substance in his eight tweets during Monday's "town hall." We'll know Twitter has truly come of age as a political medium when our presidents use it to disseminate substance, not just show off that they're in the know. Interesting dramas regularly unfold on Twitter. Last year the terrorist group Al-Shabaab gained notoriety for setting up a Twitter account. More recently, the Twitter accounts of Israel Defense Forces and Hamas began a war of words as the two sides began fighting each other on the ground. Human tragedy turned into theater on the Internet. The episode drew scrutiny from Congress, with seven Republican members of the House calling on the FBI to shut down Hamas' Twitter account. "Allowing foreign terrorist organizations like Hamas to operate on Twitter is enabling the enemy," said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas. He continued, "The FBI and Twitter must recognize sooner rather than later that social media is a tool for the terrorists." Actually, Congress can't tell Twitter what to do under the First Amendment, but the company will face increasing scrutiny as its user base grows — and for the level of control it can exert over free speech in a private platform. Twitter faces numerous other challenges as well in the years ahead. The company might be a central part of Internet conversation, but it still has to figure out how to make money. Those struggles have led Twitter to exercise more and more control over its service as it tries to slowly transition from being just a platform to being a media company — control that's angered a developer and user community that literally made Twitter what it is today. The @-reply, the hashtag, even the now-ubiquitous pull-to-refresh gesture: All these came from members of the Twitter community, and Twitter risks missing out on similar innovations as it imposes its own vision of the Twitter experience. Tech: Will Twitter war become the new norm? And make no mistake, the backlash against Twitter is real. Spurned developers and early Twitter adopters angry at Twitter's new policies have turned to the alternative service App.net, which promises to hold true to Twitter's own early ideals. The catch? In order to make money, App.net charges a subscription fee, a guarantee that it will never be as vibrant and free-wheeling as Twitter. That sense of anarchy and openness and chaos is what makes Twitter important — what makes it the town square and a freshman dorm room and an international conference call all at once. The challenge for all of us is figuring out how to best turn such a tool into more than just noise — and the challenge for Twitter is figuring out how to make money without chilling the vibrant expression that makes it so vital. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nilay Patel.

Nilay Patel: Twitter used to be for tech nerds, now it's for the entire world . Patel: TV executives, celebrities, politicians, journalists all see Twitter as invaluable . He says Twitter faces challenges ahead, like free speech and how to make money . Patel: Sense of anarchy and openness and chaos is what makes Twitter vital .

(CNN) -- It's a 12-year-old oft-mocked clunker of an automobile. Brenton Netz has made a side business out of fixing up Geo Metros and selling them locally and on eBay. But Marci Solomon is hoping she'll be the one laughing -- all the way to the bank -- when her Geo Metro saves her from skyrocketing gas prices. Solomon, like many others, was taking a huge hit when it came to gas prices. With her 100-mile commute to and from work each day, she saw no end in sight. Then she rediscovered the Geo Metro. "I used to be a car snob, and I used to be too vain to drive anything that doesn't shine," said Solomon, an electrician. "But now it's about, do I want to eat, or do I want to make it to work? I want to do both." The Metro has been making a huge comeback, especially on eBay, where Solomon bought the car, because of its extremely high gas mileage. The 1996 Metro's average of 40 miles per gallon nears that of the hybrid 2008 Toyota Prius -- priced at $21,000 for the cheapest model -- and bests most current cars by a long shot, according to government ratings. Older models of the Geo Metro, specifically cars from 1991 and the XFi edition, have the same average as the hybrid. See how the Geo Metro stacks up with the Toyota Prius » . Solomon toyed with the idea of purchasing a Prius but decided that for a price of $7,300, the Metro was the more economical option. For the most part, Solomon plans on using the car for commuting from her home in Rochester, Washington, to her job. The vehicle she has now, a Honda Element, was getting 28 mpg, and she was filling up twice a week, costing her nearly $100. Stations were charging $3.97 a gallon in her area Tuesday, she said. iReport: Tell us how high gas prices are affecting you . The Metro is an investment in the future, Solomon said, even if she did pay more than five times the Blue Book value of the car. "It was all about saving money," she said. "I don't think gas is ever going to go down, and these are going to be the types of solutions we have to turn to. I wanted to beat the rush." The rush may have begun. The 1996 2-door 3-cylinder Metro Solomon now owns opened on eBay May 7 with a bid of $200. A week later, Solomon won the car auction with a bid of $7,300. In 1995, a new Metro hatchback sold for about $9,000, according to Auto Mall USA. In May alone, 43 Metros of various years and models were sold on eBay, ranging in price from $221.50 to Solomon's bid of $7,300. The cars have been hot items, drawing upwards of 49 bids on certain vehicles, with many of the auctions coming down to last-second bidding wars. On Tuesday morning, 34 Metros were still up for grabs. Since her eBay purchase, Solomon has acquired another Metro, which she is considering flipping on eBay for profit. She has her eye on a third at a local car lot. "To be honest, I'm thinking of scarfing up any Geo Metro I can find," she said. Solomon isn't alone in trying to profit off of a gas-saving craze. Brenton Netz has been selling fixed-up Metros and Ford Festivas for two years now. After buying a Metro on Craigslist in Montana and driving it back to his home in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Netz realized how rarely he was making trips to the pump. "I thought the gas gauge was broken," Netz said. "I couldn't believe the gas mileage I was getting." He realized that he had stumbled upon a possible side business and began buying one-way tickets to states in the West to purchase as many of the cars as he could. Netz said he has sold about a dozen cars and has eight more sitting in his backyard. His cars go up for sale only one at a time because he knows that putting up a couple at a time would drive down the value and cut into his profit. Netz says consumers don't seem to mind paying more than the retail value, and if they do, they generally stop feeling that way after they pick up the cars. He's gotten phone calls and e-mails from customers saying how thrilled they are with the mileage. It seems, Netz said, people are beginning to realize that their car choices need to be focused more on practicality than status and appearance. "Gas prices are definitely driving increased popularity in the Metro, which at times wasn't cool," he said. "Now the coolness factor is stemming from the fact that you're getting 50 miles per gallon and never having to fill up."

Marci Solomon bought 1996 Geo Metro for $7,300 . Solomon's old car got 28 miles per gallon; Metro averages 40 . Brandon Netz has side business finding, fixing and selling Metros, Festivas . Solomon: "It's about, do I want to eat, or do I want to make it to work?"

(CNN) -- Ever hopped in a taxi and sat in traffic for hours whilst pedestrians and cyclists sailed past your window? If so, you may wondered whether you're part of the problem and not the solution. As public transport networks continue to improve in many African cities, taxis remain a common mode of getting around. But for Neil du Preez, there must be a better way. The South African entrepreneur has developed Mellowcabs -- electric three-wheeled vehicles designed for eco-friendly and efficient transportation in urban areas. CNN's African Start-Up caught up with du Preez to talk travel, business and starting up in South Africa. An edited version of the interview follows. CNN: What got you thinking about changing the taxi concept? Neil du Preez: The departure point was when I learned 80% of all urban trips are less than four kilometers. Globally, taxi rides are fairly short and it's really inefficient to use a traditional taxi for these journeys. Efficiencies that can come with a small vehicle are enormous and passenger savings would be enormous. CNN: What stage of development is Mellowcabs at? NdP: We built eight prototype cars and did a lot of testing -- we tested brakes, lights, everything. After the test, we basically wanted to re-design the entire vehicle and took the prototypes off the road. We are now at the stage of building chassis and want to be on South African roads in the first quarter of 2015. CNN: You say these vehicles are designed for urban areas. Where are you targeting in South Africa and beyond? NdP: We already have demand from advertisers for 60 vehicles in the Western Cape [The South African province where Cape Town is located]. After that, we will focus on Gauteng province -- South Africa's province where Johannesburg and Pretoria are located. Beyond that a big mobile phone company in Nigeria is interested too and we are considering an initial focus on Lagos. But this could go beyond Africa too. We have had talks about a project in Washington DC and other cities in USA. CNN: How safe will traveling in these vehicles be? NdP: We have developed ultra-rigid roll cage, safety belts and proximity sensors for the vehicles and some will be fitted with doors. I also recognize there are some security issues in South Africa. In very slow moving traffic, there is a risk of bag-snatching. Passengers will be able to use lockable baggage areas underneath the seat to keep property safe. And we are also looking at some vehicles to be fitted with a CCTV camera. CNN: How much will it cost for a normal journey? NdP: The goal is to make each ride 15-20 rand (less than $2) per ride, irrespective of distance traveled. We want a Mellowcab ride to be way, way cheaper than traditional taxis. Normal taxis in South Africa are 8Rand per kilometer in a flagged ride, plus 15 rand for "flag fall." I recently took a 15 kilometer taxi ride north of Cape Town, and it cost 370 rand ($33). We want Mellowcab to be much cheaper for the passenger and for the operator too. Passengers will be able to pay cash or through an app. CNN: Will all Mellowcabs be driven by employees, or can people hire them for self-drive? NdP: All drivers will be permanently employed staff -- there's more than enough people looking for quality work around here. I want to build up a team of really strong drivers. We're putting successful drivers through a formal tour-guide training course, which will benefit not only us, but ideally develop them into small business owners later on. We're also equipping them with communication and client interaction courses. What we're also thinking of doing is transferring ownership of the vehicles to the drivers after a period of successful operation ... enabling them to become semi-owner drivers. CNN: Where is the funding coming from? NdP: At the moment, the South African government is not involved. They have promised to get involved in the future, but I'm not sure I want that. At the moment, the funding comes from a South African venture capital fund, and I own the majority of the shares. There is one other investor -- it's [been] almost three years of playing around with different transport ideas. CNN: Why have you decided to start in South Africa -- is it a good country for entrepreneurs? NdP: As far as Africa goes, South Africa is ideal -- we have good infrastructure and good internet connectivity. But we should all start thinking outside of Africa. There's quite a lot of demand outside of South Africa for South African products. Traditionally, there was a very old school mindset -- South Africa was a very isolated market. Now things are happening, a lot of good opportunities and focus on startups. CNN: Is the government doing enough to encourage innovation? NdP: The South African government could get much more involved in developing entrepreneurs. I'd love them to get more involved particularly with funding. There is funding available for entrepreneurs, but it's practically impossible. It's really difficult to access the funding from South African government. Read this: Bike tour gives taste of township life . More from African Start-Up . Monique Todd contributed to this story .

Mellowcab is a three-wheeled vehicle that the owner says is more efficient than traditional taxis . South African entrepreneur Neil du Preez started working on the idea three years ago . Du Preez want the cabs to be on the road in early 2015 . After South Africa du Preez wants to expand to Nigeria and the U.S.

(CNN) -- How does Sen. Marco Rubio curry favor with Hispanic voters and at the same time burnish his tea party credentials? Easy. By saying one thing and doing another. On May 10, Rubio, a Florida Republican, attempted to reframe his Dream Act proposal to give special visas to children of undocumented workers if they attend college or serve in the military. He said, "But I would just say this is really not an immigration issue; it's a humanitarian issue." On that same day, he quietly submitted a bill that would severely threaten humanitarian assistance to nearly 4 million children living in poverty. These are U.S. citizens. But to Rubio they are guilty by association. Through no fault of their own their parents are undocumented workers. Currently, a credit is available to undocumented workers who report their income to the IRS through the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number program, created in 1996, making them eligible for a Child Tax Credit. For many children, this payment ($1,000 per child) is the difference between abject poverty and the ability to survive. The program is, in fact, the ultimate conservative brainchild. It's not a handout; rather it's a way to give working people the ability to subsist, and to keep their children off entitlement programs. It is the kind of program that Ronald Reagan championed in the 1980s as a dignified alternative to welfare for the working poor. Rubio's proposal -- the Responsible Child Tax Credit Eligibility Verification Act of 2012 -- would stiffen the filing requirements for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number applicants. This is being done, according to a Rubio spokesperson, in an attempt to "crack down on fraud at the expense of taxpayers." The Center for American Progress characterizes Rubio's contentions as overstated, and says the proposed bill will greatly harm innocent children who rely on the tax cuts for food on the table, school books and shelter. There is nothing "humanitarian" about terminating assistance to nearly 4 million American children who depend on such support. And there is nothing humanitarian about his "DREAM Act without the dream," a palliative offer of legality without a clear path to citizenship. Such a proposal is nothing more than crumbs thrown to Latinos, who Rubio apparently hopes aren't paying attention. Lurking near the top of the list of running mates for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Rubio is seen by many in the GOP as the key to the Latino vote. Yet the heart of his GOP support comes from the anti-immigration extreme right, while an overwhelming majority of Hispanics support immigration reform. It can't be easy for this son of a maid and a bus driver -- both Cuban immigrants -- to reconcile those contradictions. Would a Latino running mate help Romney? The hypocrisy of Rubio's recent moves paints a vivid picture of the unbridled ambition of an individual who plays on the politics of resentment and fear at the expense of children. Imagine a patient in critical condition bleeding of multiple stab wounds. Rubio talks about putting a Band-Aid on the patient's little finger, while silently stabbing him in the back. In March I wrote that "Rubio Needs a 'Nixon in China' Moment," insisting that the senator should use his conservative credentials to courageously break the logjam in immigration reform. I was at first encouraged to see him step into this debate, but unlike the rabidly anti-Communist Nixon, who traveled to China to promote détente, Rubio instead travels to key battleground states -- Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, tea party turf -- to peddle his autobiography. It's unfortunate that two of Rubio's closest mentors, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida GOP Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen, who both support comprehensive immigration reform, can't shake their protégé by the shoulders and set him straight. Navarrette: What Latinos want from candidates? Respect . Perhaps they could suggest that he turn from promoting his own book to studying Robert Caro's recently published "The Passage of Power," the fourth installment of the biography of Lyndon Johnson. Caro depicts a scene the night before LBJ's first major address as president, to a joint session of Congress, in which his closest advisers urged him not to make civil rights a central tenet of his presidency. They argued it would antagonize the conservative Southerners who controlled Congress, and threaten his presidency. Caro writes that one adviser "told him to his face that a president shouldn't spend his time and power on lost causes, no matter how worthy those causes might be." The former conservative senator from Texas retorted, "Well, what the hell's the presidency for?" LBJ's leadership and political genius in passing civil rights legislation brought a measure of justice for millions of people to whom justice had long been denied. As Rubio abandons Hispanic families, he should ask himself: "What the hell is a Senate seat for?" He sure doesn't seem to know. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Charles Garcia.

Charles Garcia: Marco Rubio has been hypocritical on the immigration issue . He says Rubio, a potential VP choice, moved to tighten tax credit for immigrant children . The Florida senator backs weakened DREAM Act while opposing needed tax credit . Garcia: Rubio should follow example of LBJ, who realized value of holding public office .

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Imagine every time you closed your curtains, you were capturing enough solar energy to power your laptop. The technology is available, but no one's packaged it up in a handy DIY kit at your local hardware store. Solar textiles use the same technology as traditional solar panels to convert sunlight into energy. Sheila Kennedy hopes to be the first. She's not an interior designer but an architect and professor in practice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is convinced that solar textiles will revolutionize the way we collect and consume power. "I've been thinking about what happens when power and light become flexible, literally flexible," she said. She calls it "soft power," as in the "soft energy path," a term coined Amory Lovins in the 1970s as a way to describe a world where renewable energy would gradually replace the centralized grid. Later, Joseph Nye used the term "soft power" to describe the ability of persuasion, values and culture to influence change. Kennedy's work with soft power builds on both of these ideas. For her , soft power is the ability of flexible materials to convert sunlight into energy. "The soft power approach says there are some incredibly sensual, compelling, beautiful spaces and products that we can be producing using these emerging energy-harvesting materials," Kennedy said. Her Boston-based firm, Kennedy & Violich Architecture, has been working with thin-film photovoltaic material, a fabric that looks and moves like cloth but does the job of a solar panel. "These are materials which can be prepared in the chemistry lab or can be found in nature. They produce electricity when exposed to light. They are very efficient and flexible," she said. "We are pairing the thin-film photovoltaic material with another semi-conductor material, the light-emitting diode; they're two sides of the same coin. One takes a little bit of the energy of sunlight and transforms it into electricity; some takes that electricity and turns it into light." Rechargeable batteries pocketed into the hem of the curtains gather energy that can be downloaded into a larger home battery. "From a technical view, the thin-film has the potential to be produced in very high volumes, with a very low embodied energy and a low carbon footprint. These new photovoltaic materials can be produced in the same way one might print and produce a newspaper, roll to roll. That can make it very affordable," Kennedy said. Its limitations are its performance. It's less efficient that glass-based solar technology, but Kennedy predicts that's going to change. "Right now there's research being done on developing sensitivities in thin-film that will allow the energy to continue to be harvested, even at night. That's going to revolutionize the applications for solar textiles," she said. The current technology can be found hanging in the Vitra Design Museum in Essen, Germany, in a prototype pre-fabricated home called the Soft House. Farther south and west, the designers are taking their ideas from the Soft House and applying them to a research project for a Soft City. Kennedy and her team have calculated that by covering just 10 percent of a roof area in Porto, Portugal, solar curtains could provide as much as 70 percent of the average electricity used by a typical household each day. "It goes to show that you don't need a very large area. We've calculated that 15 square meters would be enough." Kennedy envisions a future in which a single homeowner or a group of neighbors would decide to wean themselves off the centralized grid and power their homes using the energy they've "harvested" themselves from the sun. "You could look at it as a type of urban farming," Kennedy suggested, adding that one of the reasons people aren't doing it now is not the lack of technology but old habits and inherited centralized building systems in architecture. "Instead of tucking way electricity and lights in walls and accessing that with a plug, we have the possibility of thinking of a whole new experience for energy, energy-harvesting and for light." She talks about material that you could reel in from the roof and wrap around to make a new type of instant room, a Zip Room. Plastic wall plugs would cease to exist; instead you'd harness your appliance into the surface or edge of the textile. Her ideas may seem radical to homeowners who don't give much thought to where their power comes from or how much it costs, which is why Kennedy is so keen to see the solar curtains in consumer-friendly packs on hardware store shelves. "Energy-harvesting solar textiles are a very good beginning point. I think that the notion of tying in a new technology with something very familiar really has its advantages if one's about large-scale uptake and widespread adoption of a new energy regime." Regime may sound like a hard word to be used in the context of soft power, but as Kennedy says, it's up to architects and designers to convince homeowners that there are more efficient alternatives to traditional homes. Her firm is going one step further with the offer to work with developers and manufacturers who are interested in building digitally fabricated Soft House demonstration projects. "My team is actively interested in speaking to people who are serious about realizing a pilot program that adapts the Soft House model to actual needs on urban or rural sites. I do think the moment is now."

Solar-harvesting curtains could convert sunlight into power source for homes . Rechargeable batteries slot into hem, power downloaded to larger battery . Cheap to produce but not as efficient as traditional hard solar panels . "Soft House" curtain concept being expanded into plans for a "Soft City"

(CNN) -- A just-released report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council is making news by clearly illustrating that Americans have "shorter lives and poorer health." This is somewhat shocking, given how much we spend on health care each year — more than any of the 16 other rich countries surveyed in the study. What's even more upsetting is that this report focused quite heavily on people who are young. In the United States, even that group fared poorly. Why is this? Some of the reasons involve choices make at a personal level. We eat too much, abuse drugs too often, wear seat belts too rarely and commit violence against each other to often. Systemic issues are also to blame. We have higher levels of poverty than comparable countries, and our safety net programs are less capable of catching people when they fall. And too many also have too much trouble accessing the health care system, resulting in inefficient, ineffective and often absent care. It's far too easy to let these dreadful statistics become obscured in a politically charged argument. Let's avoid that. This report is so stark that it's going to take a concerted effort on the part of the government, the media, the health care system and everyday citizens to turn things around. Our personal choices are bad. Our safety nets are bad. Our health care system is bad. It's all bad. How bad? When compared with peer countries, the United States was the absolute worst with respect to still births, infant mortality and low birth weight. Some have tried to blame this on "coding" differences. In other words, they will claim that other countries will refuse to define a premature birth as we do, resulting in artificially high numbers in the United States. But when this report recalculated the rates to exclude such births equally in all countries, we still ranked last. Things don't get better after birth. The chance that a child in the United States will die before age 5 is higher than in any of the other 16 peer countries. Injuries are the most common cause of death, but the United States also has the highest rate of deaths caused by negligence or abuse. And violence is decidedly an American problem. Homicide is the third most common cause of death in children age 1-4. From age 5-19, the trend continues. Kids this age in the United States have the worst health ranking of the 17 studied countries. More than one-third of U.S. children age 5-17 are obese or overweight, the highest of any peer country. The adolescent pregnancy rate in the United States is about 3.5 times the average of others. Additionally, the rates of sexually transmitted infections, including syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia are the worst compared to peer countries. Nor are these children exempt from death. Injury deaths are more common in 15- to 19-year-olds in the United States than in any other studied country. Homicide claims the second highest number of lives in 15- to -24-year-olds, and 4 in 5 of those deaths involve guns. Males between the ages of 15 and 19 are five times as likely to die from violence in the United States than in other countries. Even as young adults, ages 25-34, mortality remains consistently upsetting and preventable. Unintentional injuries remain the No. 1 cause of death. The risk of dying by violence remains seven times higher for males in the United States ages 20-24 than in other countries. We have to work together to make these numbers better. Some of them can be improved with public health measures. We need to help Americans be less obese, to have fewer accidents and to commit less violence. There are lots of local studies and initiatives that propose ways to fix these things, but our public health system is woefully underfunded, and translating any promising findings to meaningful societal change poses a huge challenge. We also need to improve our safety nets to help children at the lowest end of the socioeconomic ladder do better, even before they are born. Pregnant women, babies and children suffer from hunger and malnutrition far too often in the richest country in the world. Yet we still debate the merits of the federally funded WIC (Womens, Infants and Children) program, school lunches and food assistance to needy families. Finally, we need to find a way to improve access to the health care system. The Medicaid program covers one in every three births and one in every three children in the United States, and it's still not enough. As some states balk at expanding Medicaid to cover many of the poorest uninsured, some are still talking about reducing funding to the already stretched program. There's no question that we have the capability, the knowledge and the resources to care for people. It's just a matter of doing it better. There will be some who deny these results. Others will try to use them for political gain. That would be a mistake. We have to accept these findings and begin to work holistically to improve them. Being last just isn't the American way. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Aaron Carroll.

Aaron Carroll: New study shows U.S. health and lifespan worst of 17 rich countries . He says it's because of personal choices, systemic woes. Poverty high, health care uneven . He says this particularly affects youth, plagued by sickness, violence, high mortality . Carroll: Don't make it political. The richest country in the world must improve public health .

(CNN) -- With the departure of the last U.S. combat brigade from Iraq, the Obama administration has taken a large stride toward its goal of complete American military withdrawal from Iraq by the end of next year. And there are many other signs of progress. The rate of Iraqi civilian deaths in political violence has fallen by 90 percent from its awful peak in 2006, before "the surge" in American forces and strategy began to roll back the insurgent challenge. American military deaths in Iraq have fallen to 46 so far this year, by far the lowest level since the American invasion in March 2003, and again a 90 percent decline from the pace of casualties in 2007. In March of this year, Iraq held the most democratic election any Arab country has held in a generation (with the possible exception of Lebanon). Unfortunately, however, the new milestone in U.S. military disengagement from Iraq comes at a moment when the country is starting to slip backward on both the political and security fronts. Since the March 7 parliamentary election results were announced, the country's major political alliances have remained hopelessly deadlocked on the formation of a new coalition government. Despite months of negotiations and repeated imploring from high-level U.S. government officials, Iraq's major leaders and parties remain unable to agree on who should be prime minister or how power should be shared. As Iraq staggers on essentially without a government, electricity and other services remain sporadic, economic reconstruction is delayed and terrorist violence is once again filling the breach. In the deadliest single incident in months, at least 48 people died and more than 140 were injured on Tuesday when a suicide bomber struck outside an army recruiting center in downtown Baghdad. As the American troops withdraw, Iraq is also losing top government officials, judges and police officers to a rising pace of targeted assassinations. All of this has the familiar signature of al Qaeda in Iraq, although it is difficult to attribute responsibility among the shadowy web of insurgent groups. Complicating the political impasse are deep continuing divisions along sectarian lines. Iraq's Sunni Arab minority -- which ruled under Saddam Hussein but was marginalized in the wake of his downfall -- bet heavily on the electoral process this time, in marked contrast to the first parliamentary election in 2005. But the Sunni Arabs were the main group affected when more than 400 parliamentary candidates were disqualified earlier this year for alleged Baathist ties. Now they feel doubly aggrieved in that the political alliance they overwhelmingly supported in March -- former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's al-Iraqiya list -- is being blocked from leading the new government, even though it finished a narrow first in the voting. The obstacle to a political solution in Baghdad is not only the pair of Shiite-dominated political lists (including that of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who finished second in the vote), but, it is widely believed, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which cannot abide an Iraqi prime minister over whom it does not exercise substantial leverage. Indeed, the only two interests that benefit from Iraq's drift are al Qaeda in Iraq and the hardliners in Iran. President Obama deserves more than a little sympathy as he confronts this thorny situation. Although he opposed the war in Iraq, he essentially accepted the Bush administration's measured timetable for American military drawdown. Particularly at a time when the budget deficit is soaring and the war in Afghanistan demands more military and financial resources, Obama and most other Americans would like to be out of Iraq completely by yesterday. But accelerating or even completing the timetable for American military withdrawal in Iraq may only compound the gathering crisis there, for two reasons. First, as the recent spike in violence is meant to suggest, it is not yet clear that Iraq's security forces are even close to being able to handle the country's security on their own. Privately, most Iraqi political actors (Sunni, Shia and Kurd) would like to see some sort of continued American military presence well beyond 2011. Many worry not only about Iraq's internal security but also about growing Iranian dominance once the United States is completely gone. And second, U.S. political influence declines markedly as the American military presence phases out. The worst thing the United States could do at the moment is to take Iraq for granted. The Obama administration has had the right instinct in trying to press for and facilitate a political breakthrough in Baghdad, but more needs to be done and soon, while the United States still retains significant leverage. The situation may now require the designation of a high-level American official or envoy to devote sustained attention to the stalemate in Iraq, while working closely with high-level representatives from the United Nations and the European Union. Such combined diplomatic leverage and mediation broke a dangerous political stalemate in Iraq in 2005 and might help again. One thing should be clear. No matter what one may think of the original decision to invade Iraq (which I still believe was a mistake), Iraq has come too far and the United States has paid too dearly to now stand by and watch it sink back needlessly into chaos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Larry Diamond.

Larry Diamond says there are signs of progress in Iraq . However, he says, the country is slipping backward on political, security fronts . Iraq's major leaders, parties unable to agree on how to share power . As U.S. troops leave, Iraq is also losing top government officials, judges to assassinations .

Santiago, Chile (CNN) -- Sure, Luke Mescher felt a trembling fear when the walls around him started to shake Saturday, but standing around confused and scared wasn't an option. "I was more focused on we need to get out of here and we need to get out of here as fast as we can," said Mescher, a University of Iowa student studying Spanish in Chile. Mescher, 27, was at the home of his host family when the 8.8-magnitude quake struck early Saturday. He was talking with friends on his computer when the power went out. Immediately after, he felt a subtle vibration that progressed into a violent shaking, he said. His host mom cried as the walls around them shook and her daughter attempted to comfort her, he said. "They were "paralyzed with fear," he said. "I was like, we don't have time for this," Mescher said. "We need to get the hell out of here." He grabbed his head lamp, the two women, and ran barefoot and bare-chested into the dark street. The three met dozens others in the staircase scurrying out the 20-story apartment building, he said. The exit was "surprisingly orderly," Mescher said. But others faced more of an ordeal. CNN iReporter Matias de Cristobal said the earthquake destroyed many homes in her Santiago neighborhood. Cristobal tried to climb upstairs to check on her three children -- age 6, 9, and 11 -- after she began feeling tremors on Saturday, but she was slowed by shifting ground and falling objects. Mirko Vukasovic, a 25-year-old illustrator in Santiago, had been dancing at a club early Saturday when the disco ball began swinging wildly. A chaotic evacuation was under way when the lights went out, but everyone managed to escape, Vukasovic said. "Broken windows and falling building parts was what welcomed us in the streets," he said. iReport: Read Mescher's firsthand account . Vukasovic submitted iReport video showing the damage to his fourth-floor apartment. "What used to be a beautiful bathroom is now torn, a beautiful crack," he said as his camera panned to a pile of tile and plaster that had been shaken loose from the walls. Some in Chile reacted to the quake with disbelief. "It was 3 or 4 in the morning and I had come home late," said Aneya Fernando, an American who teaches English in Santiago. "Suddenly my bed was moving so violently that it woke me up." "I'm on the 10th floor of a building and it was swaying and shaking," Fernando, 23, said. "Suddenly it was just gone and I was confused. I thought it was in my head." When Fernando's electricity returned 30 minutes later, she learned of the earthquake on TV. Scott Ireland, a business traveler from Rochester, New York, who was staying at the Sheraton San Cristobal when the earthquake struck, submitted iReport photos of cracks in the exterior walls of his hotel. Ireland, 48, had experienced two earlier earthquakes -- one in Turkey in 1966 and another in Southern California in 1971. "Not only was this the most severe," he said, "the duration was longer than anything I'd ever experienced. Luckily the damage here was minimal." Meschler, the Iowa student, encountered faces of confusion and concern when he and his host family left their apartment building and entered the street. Some tried using their phones to call out with no luck, others ran to neighboring apartment complexes, looking to help. iReport: Watch video of damage at an apartment . Many throughout the city don't have their basic utilities, the Salvation Army reported. Mescher doesn't have gas, but his power and water are back on. The elderly seemed most frazzled by the rattling, he said. One elderly man had suffered a wound to his head. When the aftershocks began and kept rolling in jolts to his Santiago neighborhood, Mescher said some neighbors prepared for a night outside of their home. "I did see a good portion of people go back upstairs an hour into it and put together what they could," he said, speaking of a sleep away bag. "There were a lot of people that got their car and took off." Mescher had also tested his luck, considering he was unsure of the building's stability after such a great temblor. "After we were safely outside I made a quick run and grabbed a shirt and some shoes," he said. About 5 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) -- about 90 minutes after the quake -- he returned to the apartment to finally get some rest, just to be rattled by another aftershock. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 6.9-magnitude aftershock hit Chile about that time. Dozens of aftershocks later, Mescher was looking at cracks that had shaped around the door frames and crept up walls. Chunks of plaster littered the floors, he said. "I've got to think there have to be some long-term structural issues," he said. "For the time being, I don't think it's going to fall on top of me."

NEW: CNN iReporter says many homes destroyed in her Santiago neighborhood . NEW: Witness to previous quakes said this one was strongest, most long-lasting . Luke Mescher, a U.S. college student, was with host family in Chile when quake hit .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said it was "heartbreaking" that the deaths of women killed by a convicted rapist who was released from prison after Huckabee supported his parole had become politicized. Mike Huckabee denies pressuring the Arkansas Parole Board to release Wayne DuMond. On Wednesday, the mother of the woman the convict later murdered pledged to campaign against the former Arkansas governor. "There are families who are truly, understandably and reasonably, grief stricken," Huckabee told CNN. "And for people to now politicize these deaths and to try to make a political case out of it rather than to simply understand that a system failed and that we ought to extend our grief and heartfelt sorrow to these families, I just regret politics is reduced to that." The case of the rapist, Wayne DuMond, began in 1985, when he was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl. He was later convicted and sentenced to a life term. Before trial, DuMond was attacked in his home and castrated, and the local sheriff kept the severed testicles in a jar. No charges were brought in the attack. In 1996, Huckabee, during his first term as Arkansas governor, expressed support for the parole of DuMond in a letter to him. The Arkansas parole board, which has the final say on such matter, later approved DuMond's parole. Watch Huckabee deny he pressured the board to approve DuMond's parole » . Less than a year after his release from prison in 1999, DuMond was accused of raping and murdering Carol Shields, a woman in Kansas City, Missouri. DuMond was convicted of the crime in 2003. He died in prison in 2005. Huckabee on Sunday confirmed to CNN he had sent the letter to DuMond. The murdered woman's mother, Lois Davidson, said she will "absolutely campaign against" Huckabee, and said she decided to come forward when he started doing well in the polls. "It's because he is a serious contender," Davidson said. "I didn't think he had a chance, but now he's right up there in Iowa." Huckabee said he had considered granting DuMond clemency in 1996, but he dropped the idea in response to public outcry and because he wanted to ensure DuMond was supervised when he was released from prison. "Had I granted his commutation, then there would have been no supervision at all," Huckabee said, "I wasn't comfortable with that." When he spoke about the case, Huckabee suggested his role in the decision to parole DuMond was limited. Huckabee said it was the decision by former Arkansas Govs. Bill Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker that made DuMond eligible for parole, and Huckabee declined to reduce DuMond's sentence further. "I've never made a decision about the DuMond case other than the decision to write the letter" to DuMond, Huckabee said. "That was my decision, but I didn't parole him, because governors don't parole people in Arkansas." However, Charles Chastain, a parole board member at the time, told ABC News he felt pressure from Huckabee when the board considered DuMond's parole in 1996, and the Arkansas Times reported in 2002 that two other board members said they were influenced by Huckabee to parole DuMond. Huckabee denied he asked the board to approve DuMond's parole. "No, I did not," Huckabee said Sunday. "Let me categorically say I did not." Huckabee noted that the three board members who said they were pressured were appointed to the board by Democrats Clinton and Tucker. Huckabee said Wednesday his discussion with the parole board in 1996 was a general discussion about clemency, not about the DuMond case. But a former Huckabee aide, Butch Reeves, tells CNN that the DuMond case was discussed during the meeting with the parole board, but that it was the board members who asked Huckabee about the case. Reeves said Huckabee did not pressure the board to approve DuMond's parole. Documents posted on the Web site The Huffington Post indicate Huckabee received letters from several victims of DuMond before his release. The letters detailed his past actions and pleaded that he remain incarcerated. "I feel that if he is released it is only a matter of time before he commits another crime and fear that he will not leave a witness to testify against him the next time," one victim wrote. She described how DuMond had raped her at knifepoint. A former top Huckabee aide confirmed to CNN that the then-governor received that letter and a follow-up phone call from the victim. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Dana Bash and Alexander Mooney contributed to this report.

Convicted rapist paroled in 1999 while Huckabee was governor of Arkansas . Convict later raped, killed a woman in Missouri after released from prison . Murdered woman's mother says she will campaign against the presidential nominee . Huckabee expressed support for parole, but denies pressuring parole board .

Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Thursday continued her dramatic recovery from a gunshot wound to the brain by going outside for physical therapy, one of her principal doctors in Tucson, Arizona, told CNN. "Today actually, we were glad to say that we were able to take her outside and she was able to do her physical therapy," Dr. Peter Rhee told John King. "We gave her some fresh air and also gave her some sunshine," said Rhee, speaking from outside University Medical Center. "She was able to see the Arizona mountains." Behind Rhee, flowers left by well-wishers filled a portion of the hospital lawn. A day before she was to be flown to a Texas hospital, the husband of Giffords, shot in the head less than two weeks ago at a public event, described his wife's progress as "remarkable." Mark Kelly said Thursday he is hopeful the Arizona congresswoman will make a full recovery. "I've told her that," Kelly told reporters at University Medical Center. "She recognizes it ... she is a fighter like nobody else that I know." Giffords is able to stand with assistance, but is not yet able to take steps or walk, said Rhee, adding therapists are helping Giffords with ways to express her thoughts and, eventually, speak. "[We are] holding her up so she can train herself to hold her head up," Rhee said. "She is learning to balance and learning all the little things we can take for granted." Giffords, 40, was shot in an assassination attempt and mass shooting that killed six and wounded 13 at a Safeway grocery store in Tucson on January 8. The congresswoman is the only person still hospitalized after the attack, the hospital has said. Giffords will be taken by ambulance Friday morning from University Medical Center in Tucson to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Giffords will be flown to Houston, where she will receive further treatment at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, her office said in a statement. On Wednesday, the public learned that Giffords was able to rise from her hospital bed and stand with assistance. Kelly said that while what physical therapists classify as "standing" or "steps" and the clinical definition of it are "a little bit different," he said his wife "can bear her own weight, which is a big step, I think. Just speaking for the doctors here, I think she's made a remarkable recovery at this point." He said he believes she has tried to speak, although she is prevented from doing so by a breathing tube in her neck, and believes she is aware of her surroundings, saying he can look in her eyes and tell. She will smile at him and pat him on the face -- something she did before the shooting, he said. "Every time I interact with her, there's something quite inspiring," he said. "We've seen her moving her lips," acknowledged Dr. Michael Lemole, chief of neurosurgery at the hospital. But, he said, it's hard to say whether Giffords is actually trying to speak. He said Giffords has been able to scroll through an iPad and interact with her husband, so she does appear to be aware of her surroundings. But, Lemole cautioned, she has a long road ahead of her that will take months, at least. Kelly has discussed the shooting incident with Giffords, Rhee said. "She can probably put some of that information together on her own." Kelly said he believes his wife would be proud of how the Tucson community has reacted to the shootings. "She's going to need to continue to be strong," he said. "She will really appreciate the support of this community." He said Giffords' family looked at several different rehabilitation facilities and liked Memorial Hermann for several reasons. The medical team there specializes in penetrating head injuries like the one Giffords has suffered, and its closeness to Tucson is also helpful. Giffords has undergone other "minor procedures" this week, Lemole said, calling it "housekeeping. It's really getting her to a position where she can graduate from this hospital." Investigators have charged Jared Lee Loughner in the attack. A federal grand jury indicted Loughner on Wednesday on three charges of attempted murder. The indictment charges Loughner, 22, with attempting to kill Giffords and two of her aides, Ron Barber and Pamela Simon. Legal experts said that more federal charges against Loughner are likely. "This is really a placeholder indictment," CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Wednesday. "The grand jury investigation will continue; there's a long way to go in this case and these charges will be there but I'm certain there will be more as well." Loughner is next set to appear in court on Monday in Phoenix. "I don't think we're ever going to fully understand the whys and the how and, you know, the reason for what happened on the 8th of January," Kelly told reporters. "It's a loss of innocent life. The injury of a dozen people, the death of a 9-year-old girl, a federal judge and the serious traumatic injury to my wife Gabrielle -- we'll never fully understand that." CNN's Paul Vercammen, Susan Candiotti and Roni Selig contributed to this report .

Wounded congresswoman does physical therapy on hospital grounds . Mark Kelly predicts his wife will make a full recovery . "Every time I interact with her, there's something quite inspiring" Giffords will be moved to a Texas rehabilitation facility on Friday .

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden headlined a small Catholic event Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa, stoking speculation about his presidential aspirations. Biden used most of his speech to tout Nuns on the Bus, a group of liberal Catholic nuns who convey their message of social justice on road trips. But his praise for the group came in the form of stressing likely Democratic issues in the midterm elections: the importance of health care and growth of the middle class. "This nation is stronger when every voice is heard and everyone has a seat at the table," Biden said on the steps of the Iowa Capitol. "Right now, only some of the voices are being heard, and as a result over the last couple of decades, things have gotten out of whack, folks." Biden says use of 'offensive' term Shylock was a poor choice . To those in the audience, the presidential politics of the vice president's visit were obvious. Biden has admitted he is thinking about running for president, and a recent CNN/ORC International poll found that 15% of Iowa Democrats would like him to be the Democratic nominee in 2016. The vice president's trip comes on the heels of Hillary Clinton's much-talked about trip Sunday to the Harkin Steak Fry, the annual outdoor fund- raiser run by Sen. Tom Harkin. The visit was Clinton's most obvious step toward a presidential run since leaving the State Department in 2013. In the same CNN/ORC poll, 53% of Iowa Democrats favored the former secretary of state. "Joe tells it like it is, and we are blessed to have him," said Craig Stark from Clive, Iowa, who said he hopes Biden runs in 2016. As for how he feels about Clinton, Stark said, "Well, we don't have dynasties like Bush dynasties. ... To me we need new blood." The crowd also featured some of Biden's most ardent supporters from his short-lived 2008 presidential campaign. "Joe Biden knows how to tell the truth, whether it is the politically correct thing to say or not," said John Olsen, who proudly said he supported Biden in the 2008 caucuses. "You will become a fan of Joe Biden if you ever get a chance to meet him. He is the most personal, down-to-earth, lovable guy." Clinton's weekend visit was the first time she had been in Iowa since 2008, but Biden is no stranger to the Hawkeye State. The vice president last visited a year ago when he spoke at the Harkin Steak Fry, the most important annual event for Iowa Democrats that is widely seen as a must-stop for Democrats considering a run at the White House. "It's amazing when you come to speak at the steak fry, a whole lot of people seem to take notice. I don't know why the hell that is," Biden joked then. "You've attracted the entire national press corps here." Biden has also made a point to acknowledge Iowa on a regular basis. Biden called John Lundell, the new mayor of Coralville, Iowa, to congratulate him on his victory in November. And in May, Biden stopped by a party of Iowans in Washington for a lobbying trip. Wednesday's speech was not Biden's only stop in Iowa. During his visit, the vice president did a rope-line photo session with supporters of local Democratic campaigns, including congressional ones, according to campaign sources in Iowa. The photo session was seen as a perk for supporting local Democrats. Biden's speech was the kickoff of the latest initiative from Nuns on the Bus in which the group will encourage voters in 36 cities along a 5,252-mile route to turn out and vote in the 2014 midterms. The vice president focused a great deal on what Democrats are talking about ahead of the election: the poor and middle class. "Things are out of whack," Biden said about the tax system in the United States. "It comes down to a simple question of fairness. Americans have always done best when we acted as one America. Because when we do, the nation succeeds" He added: "It is time for a fair tax structure ... one that values hard work as much as inherited wealth. ... It is time to close these tax loopholes, folks." Nuns on the Bus was also active around the 2012 midterms. The group organized a multistate tour to bring attention to Rep. Paul Ryan's proposed budget cuts for Medicare and other social welfare programs. Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the group behind the bus tour, told CNN that Biden's attendance was meant to encourage civic engagement but said the event was "not partisan." "Right now, we are just doing what Pope Francis challenges us to do," Campbell said. "He says the heart of the problems of our society and our world is inequality and what we have to do is respond to the needs of the poor and those who are left out." Campbell didn't comment about Biden's presidential chances, but she said she had an idea about why he agreed to attend the Nuns on the Bus event. "Every time I have seen him, he tells me that Catholic sisters help keep him Catholic," she said with a laugh. "I think part of the reason he is coming is his own nourishment and his support of us."

Vice President Joe Biden travels to Iowa, a key state in presidential campaigns . He speaks at an event for Nuns on the Bus, a social justice campaign . Biden trails Hillary Clinton in recent polls for the Democratic nomination in 2016 .

(CNN) -- Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza may have called a radio show nearly a year before his rampage, drawing parallels between a Connecticut chimpanzee that mauled a woman in 2009 and a "teenage mall shooter or something like that," according to a report published Thursday in the New York Daily News. The newspaper identified the caller as Lanza, based on Internet postings and confirmation by two of the late shooter's friends. CNN cannot confirm that the recorded voice is Lanza's, but if it is his, it could provide previously unknown insight into the mind of the 20-year-old, who killed 26 people at the Newtown, Connecticut, school before killing himself as police closed in. "This is (him) saying, 'Hey listen, there is going to be another shooting, there is going to be another outbreak of violence,'" clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere told CNN, assuming the voice is that of Lanza. Continuing with what he believed the caller meant, Gardere added, "But it's not as random as you think it is. There's a reason that these things happen." The 2011 call to the show "AnarchyRadio," which broadcasts on a University of Oregon campus station and streams on the Internet, focuses on the story of Travis, a chimpanzee shot to death by police after he mauled his owner's friend at the Stamford, Connecticut, home where he lived. The friend suffered devastating, albeit not life-ending injuries in the February 2009 attack. The chimp -- who had been featured in TV commercials for Coca-Cola and Old Navy -- was shot multiple times by Stamford police as he tried to enter a cruiser before returning to the house and dying inside, police said. Chimp attack 911 call: 'He's ripping her apart' In the nearly seven-minute segment, the caller -- who identifies himself as "Greg" and speaks in a low, clipped monotone -- laments perceptions of the chimpanzee after the attack, which he said didn't happen "simply because he was a senselessly violent, impulsive chimp." "Immediately before his attack, he had desperately been wanting his owner to drive him somewhere, and the best reason I can think of for why he would want that, looking at his entire life, is some little thing he experienced was the last straw, and he was overwhelmed by the life he had and he wanted to get out of it by changing his environment," the caller said. "And the best way he knew how to deal with that was by getting his owner to drive him somewhere else." After the owner's friend arrived, the chimp "knew that she was trying to coax him back into his life of domestication," the caller added. "He couldn't handle that, so he attacked her and anyone else who approached him," he said. "And dismissing his attack as simply being the senseless violence and impulsiveness of a chimp, instead of a human, is wishful thinking at best." That primate's story can inform how humans act, and sometimes snap, the caller speculated. "His attacks can be parallel to the attacks, the random acts of violence, that you see on your show every week, committed by humans which the mainstream also has no explanation for," he said. "An actual human, I don't think it would be such a stretch. He very well could be a teenage mall shooter or something like that. ..." Police release final report on Newtown school shooting . The show's host, John Zerzan, said Thursday the idea that he might have been talking to someone who would massacre young children was "really chilling." At the time, though, he thought the caller seemed rational in making a valid point about how anyone -- whether they are animal or human -- can feel pushed over the edge in modern society. "This guy ... was beyond the pale and yet, I think, he made an accurate point (about) these flipouts," Zerzan -- who bills himself as "an anti-civilization theorist" -- told CNN's Don Lemon. "Anyone who reads the paper now and then would have noticed that is happening. And maybe we should try to find out why, what it's telling us about the society." While saying such conversation on a program called AnarchyRadio might not stand to most, Gardere said psychologists like himself might spot "red flags" like the caller's "very robotic" and controlled voice and his referring to "society" and "humans acting out, not to mention the mention of mall shootings. Criminologist Casey Jordan, a professor of justice and law administration at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, said she sees parallels between this call and Lanza's later rampage. "I think the subtext of what he is saying is that violence is innate and instinctual to humans and really should not be punished because it is their natural basis," Jordan said. "That's the message he's trying to get across, and the parallel to himself is obvious. "He feels possessed by this need, this compulsion to commit violence." A year later: Nation reflects on legacy of its second-deadliest mass shooting .

NEW: Expert: The caller is saying "there's a reason" sudden violence happens . NEW: Radio show host says the idea he may have talked to a mass killer is "chilling" Adam Lanza may have called a radio show in 2011, N.Y. Daily News reports . The caller talked about a chimp's attack on a human, "random acts" of human violence .

(CNN)There are tiring commutes. And then there's James Robertson's commute. The 56-year-old Detroit man walks 21 miles every weekday as part of his journey to and from the factory where he works. "I never thought anything I did would garner this much attention," Robertson said. Robertson takes the bus some of the way, but for the past decade, ever since his car broke down, he has trudged the better part of a marathon each workday. Rain, snow or shine. After reading about Robertson's commute in a Detroit Free Press article from over the weekend, college student Evan Leedy was moved. Like Robertson, the 19-year-old lives and works in two counties, so he spends a great deal of time commuting himself. But Leedy has a car. Leedy decided to set up an online fundraiser to buy Robertson a new car. "My first car cost $3,000," Leedy said, "So I set the goal at $5,000. Within an hour, we'd raised $2,000." Leedy's fundraiser on GoFundMe has blown past its original goal, reaching more than $257,000 by Tuesday evening. Robertson, in a video message posted on the Free Press website, gave thanks. "Everybody calls me the inspiration, but to those who have been great enough to donate and everything ... it was really so welcome that I don't know what to tell you," he said. "You guys are the heroes." Comments on the page from people donating money suggested that the story of Robertson's dedication to getting to work had tapped into a deep well of public feeling. "Thank you for inspiring me and hopefully tons of other people to persevere in the face of adversity," said a contributor by the name of Kevin LeMelle. "You are a true American hero." "We could use more men like James Robertson in this world," wrote a donor named Betty Blanchard. Blake Pollack identifies with the strangers' words of support. He first spotted Robertson during his own work commute a year and a half ago. "Climbing over snow banks, when it was pouring down rain in the summer," Pollack said, "Whatever the weather, he was there." Pollack approached Robertson, who told the financial executive his story. Pollack promised to give him a ride the next time he saw him. "Two to three months later, I saw him on a corner," Pollack remembered, "And I asked if he needed a ride to work." Pollack estimates he's given Robertson between 40 and 50 rides since then, and the two men from vastly different worlds have formed an unlikely friendship. The pleasure, Pollack said, has been all his. "I'm the lucky one," Pollack said. "Driving him around isn't a chore, it's a reward." Pollack said Robertson is inspirational and funny, adding that his work ethic puts anyone to shame. "I set our attendance standard by this man," Todd Wilson, plant manager at the engineering factory, told the newspaper. "I say, if this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain, well I'll tell you, I have people in Pontiac 10 minutes away and they say they can't get here -- bull!" Robertson apparently has a perfect attendance record. He earns $10.55 an hour, not enough to save up to buy, insure and operate a car in the city, according to the newspaper. With the online donations now topping $200,000, Robertson, Pollack and Leedy met together for the first time Monday night. The overwhelming support has extended beyond money -- and several car dealerships have offered to give him a vehicle outright. "Now that [the effort] is so big, there's so much more to think about," Leedy said. There are, unfortunately, people who want to take advantage of Robertson's newfound celebrity and his generosity, Pollack said. He put together a team that includes an attorney from a large law firm in Michigan, a CPA and a certified financial planner that he says will ensure the donation money is handled appropriately and in a way that best serves Robertson. "This money that is being given to him -- he earned every penny of it," Leedy said, just by his work ethic and his attitude. He's been making the arduous 21-mile journey from Detroit to Rochester Hills since his 1988 Honda Accord gave up on him. The donations mean that Robertson's mode of transportation will likely soon be changing, and without the long commute, he'll probably be getting a lot more sleep. But he loves where he works, so he has no plans to change much else. "I can't imagine not working," Robertson said. "It's what I've always done." Robertson, in his message, said he never expected as much support as he has received. He encouraged people to look out for one another. "If this story will touch at least one person and inspire them to do something out of the goodness of their heart, I will be the happiest person alive," he said. CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report.

Detroit man thanks supporters . James Robertson has done much of his long journey to work on foot since his car broke down . A newspaper article about his daunting commute spurs online fundraisers to buy new car . "We could use more men like James Robertson in this world," one donor writes .

(CNN) -- Zach Sobiech, 18, passed away Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends. In the past few weeks, donations to Zach's cause -- the Children's Cancer Research Fund -- skyrocketed, as did downloads of his song, "Clouds," which at the time of his death had more than 2.9 million page views on YouTube. Listen to "Clouds" "We'd like to thank those people who listened with their hearts and helped Zach bring his message and his music to the world," the Sobiech family said in a statement. When he was 14, Zach was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that mostly strikes children. His prognosis wasn't great. Last May, with no more treatment options, he was given a year to live. Zach began writing music after his cancer was diagnosed. His mom, Laura, was cleaning the family room downstairs last year when she found a folded-up piece of paper. She unfolded it to make sure it wasn't a homework assignment. "I read through it and then I realized what I was reading," she said. It was his first song, "Clouds." Zach wrote it for himself and his family. He wrote many more in the following years. Watch celebrities sing along to "Clouds" "I fell down, down, down into this dark and lonely hole," he sings at the beginning of the song, his voice beautiful, mellow -- kind of reminiscent of Jack Johnson's. When Zach's song was posted to YouTube last year it quickly went viral. Recently dozens of celebrities posted a response -- joining forces to lip sync to Zach's voice singing "Clouds." "And we'll go up, up, up, but I'll climb a little higher," sang Jason Mraz, Anna Faris and Rainn Wilson. "Go up in the clouds because the view's a little nicer up here, my dear," sang Bryan Cranston and Rachel Bilson, Ashley Tisdale and Colbie Caillat. "It won't be long now," sang the Lumineers. "If only," sang Sarah Silverman, "I had a little bit more time." It was a hello to Zach, and a farewell. It was a collective expression of love and gratitude. The motley crew of celebrities on the video was assembled by Wilson, an actor, and director/actor Justin Baldoni, who directed a short documentary about Zach for his compelling online reality series, "My Last Days," which runs on Wilson's SoulPancake YouTube channel. Get to know Zach . "Going out to see Zach in Minnesota was one of the greatest experiences of my life," said Baldoni. "To make the choice to be happy despite whatever sad or tragic circumstances you may be living through ... he is this old soul who inspires everyone he meets. You leave and you think: 'I want to be a better person.'" Watch Baldoni's film and you can see why. There's Zach, a fresh-faced Minnesotan teenager, in one of the opening frames, saying: "I want everyone to know: You don't have to find out you're dying to start living." He tells us at the beginning of the film: "You know most people live kind of in the middle, in between 'all your dreams come true' and 'you're dying,' and it's a very comfortable place to live. I'm living on the two extreme ends, so you have really, really good days and you have really, really bad days." He lived on those extreme ends for the better part of the past four years. And how gloriously. In his final days, Zach slept a lot. Once in awhile he was able to muster up enough energy to bring out his guitar and play. "It's those times when we remember how it used to be," said his mom. She told me about a trip the family took last year, "a sort of pilgrimage to Europe," with 10 intense days of sightseeing. "We packed a lot into those 10 days," she recalled, "and maybe these past 3½ years have been like that pilgrimage. I haven't had the chance to let it sink in. I don't let myself go to that place of grief. There will be plenty of time to think about what we have lost later." And maybe, she said, that is the lesson here: that no matter where you are in life, look at what you have and be grateful. It's the kind of thing you hear all the time, but putting it into action takes some work. "That's what Zach's always been really good at: recognizing what is good and being grateful for it," Laura said. "He taught all of us how it's done." Taylor Engel, one of the YouTube commenters on Zach's video, writes: "Well, you got a 6', 220 pound man sobbing his face off here. Prayers and thoughts with you, Zach...I hope someday I can be half the man you've become." So many of us felt the same way as we watched his video for "Clouds" -- grateful for having had him walk among us, albeit for a short time, as he sang: "And maybe someday I'll see you again. We'll float up in the clouds and we'll never see the end ..."

Zach Sobiech was diagnosed at 14 with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer . Last May, Zach was given a year to live after doctors ran out of treatment options . Zach's song "Clouds" went viral on YouTube; now celebs have posted a response .

(CNN) -- Why did Eric Hobsbawm, one of the greatest historians of modern times, remain a Marxist after the end of the Soviet Union, and defend communism into the 21st century? To be a man of Hobsbawm's generation was to have experienced the collapse of capitalism in the Great Depression, to be a Jew of Hobsbawm's generation was to have seen the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. In those years of the 1930s, the years when Hobsbawm was a brilliant youth, was to face what seemed to be a binary choice, to be with the Nazis or against them. And no one seemed to be more against the Nazis than the communists. Hobsbawm joined the Communist Party as a very young man, and was loyal, in his way, to the end. Communism also offered, as perhaps no non-religious ideas do today, a sense of community. To belong to the Communist Party was to have a sense of conspiracy, a loyalty to friends who had suffered and would suffer more, and a collective sense that the struggle was not in vain, for a more glorious world could and would come. Like religion for Americans, who repeat that "things happen for a reason," communism offered a logic of pain and progress. Every arrest, every sentence to a concentration camp, every execution was not just a moment of horror, but further proof of capitalism's decadence and weakness. The story was that communism could consolidate a generation because it transcended any generation. The motor of history was changes in means of production. As the basic structure of the economy changed, the traditional feudal order in the countryside gave way to capitalism in the cities. Once industry was built and working classes become massive, the people would claim the fruits of their own labor, and the factories and the cities would be shared by all. Private property took the place of original sin: with the revolution, that stain would be removed, and we would return to our original nature, and we would be good and peaceful as well as prosperous. The story had a logic, but it also required an element of faith. The faith and the logic had to work together, and in a mind such as Hobsbawm's, one of the great minds of the 20th century, logic could keep faith in the shadows. But it was always present, and perhaps in the end it was dominant. Communists could be great historians (fascists could not), because communism provides history with a plot. But because communism in the 20th century was not just an idea but a political reality, its story slowly transformed from one of prophecy to one of retrospective editing. The Soviet Union, to borrow Brezhnev's term, "really existed," and its policies of mass killing were widely known: the deliberate starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1933, the mass shootings of peasants and ethnic minorities in 1937 and 1938, the alliance with Nazi Germany in 1939, the executions of Polish prisoners of war in 1940, the postwar domination of eastern Europe, the crushing of reform movements in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and all the rest. In Hobsbawm's extraordinary history of the modern world, the last part is the weakest, in part because he must face this problem of a Soviet Union that itself poses a problem for a communist scheme of history. It did not bring what communism promised, and then it came to an end. But the idea that history is a grand story with a wonderful conclusion did not. Over the course of the Cold War, we in the West, and especially in America, came to think of history as having a plot, just one which happened to be the reverse of the communist one. Private property must stay, not be abolished. The state must shrink, not grow. The rich are not villains, but heroes. Capitalism does not bring its own collapse, but expanding stability. If we followed these simple prescriptions, then a utopia would await us as well. The end of the Soviet Union was understood by many of us not as an end to ideology, but as proof that our ideology was the better one. Just why Eric Hobsbawm thought as he did, wrote as he did, and lived as he did is a matter that is beyond the judgement of any one of his colleagues, and there are people far better equipped than I to judge. But I would like to advance one simple thought. Eric was certainly loyal to the memory of old comrades, and he was certainly sentimental about his own youthful past. In his old age, I suppose without any kind of certainty, he found himself in a historical moment, our own, which still seemed like an age of ideology, with his own ideology in the weaker position. And he was a fighter. As he edited the past according to his own ideology, warping history in a way that can only be troubling, he was defending a Soviet state that no longer existed, and ideas which seemed dead. But wrong as it was, it did embody certain virtues. There is something to be said, after all, for defending the weak, even today, especially today. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Timothy Snyder.

Historian Eric Hobsbawm stayed loyal to Marxism until his death at 95 . Timothy Snyder says Hobsbawm's beliefs formed as a Jew living in 1930s . Snyder: Hobsbawm defended Soviet state that no longer exists, and other dead ideas . Wrong as was, Snyder writes, it did embody certain virtues that are valid today .

(CNN) -- I have a confession to make. In the 2005 Chicago Marathon, I did not finish in 3 hours, 11 minutes. That's the time I've reported to those who've asked about my PR (Personal Record) and it is, quite frankly, wrong. I actually ran a 3:12. The mistake is mine. These days, with those little plastic chips attached to sneakers (they record a runner's time from the moment he crosses the starting line to the finish line -- not merely from the moment the gun goes off), there's a difference between one's stated time and his official time. I was always under the impression that 3:11 was my official time. Then -- oops -- last night I checked. It was, I confess once again, 3:12. Shame, thy name is Pearlman. This is a long-winded way of saying that Paul Ryan and I have something in common. He, like I, exaggerated his marathon PR as well, recently boasting to conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt of a "two hour and 50-something" clocking over 26.2 miles. When I first heard of the blunder from the Republican vice-presidential candidate, I empathized. Hey, maybe "two hour and 50-something" was actually 3:02. Or even 3:05. I mean, memories get foggy, chips malfunction, the cranial lobes shut down after such a strenuous endeavor. News: Ryan walks back exaggerated marathon time . Then, ahem, the good folks at Runner's World did a little digging and, eh, ahem, uh -- well, Ryan's time was, ahem, eh, uh -- 4:01:25. Double glub. In the congressman's defense, the race occurred 22 years back, in the Duluth-based Grandma's Marathon. That's a long time ago. And yet -- no. No, no, no, no, no. There is no possible explanation for a four-hour marathoner claming he's a three-hour marathoner. None. Zero. Nilch. Having been a runner for the last 32 years, and having competed for a season of track and cross country at the University of Delaware (I was arguably one of the nation's worst 100 Division I runners), and having completed 11 marathons, I can tell you -- with 100% certainty -- that when Paul Ryan says (more or less), "Oops, simple mistake," he is full of it. For those of you who don't run, a 4:01 marathoner insisting he broke three hours is the equivalent of a .220 hitter speaking of a .310 average. It's a retired small-town mayor looking back at his time as a U.S. senator; a dive-bar rock band bragging of once opening for KISS at Madison Square Garden. In this world of ours, there are exaggerations ("She looked just like Halle Berry!"), there are boasts ("Hell, gimme a week in the pool and I'll destroy Michael Phelps!") and there are flat-out, straight-up, no-holds-barred lies. This is a flat-out, straight-up, no-holds-barred lie. Of course, in and of itself, perhaps Ryan's fib isn't such a big deal. The world is filled with once-upon-a-time jocks recalling glory that, truth be told, wasn't all that glorious. (Isn't this what high school reunions are made for?) But when it comes to Wisconsin's favorite son, a lie -- in this case about a marathon time --isn't such an isolated occurrence. In case you missed the Republican convention, Ryan's speech was an unambiguous ode to mistruth. Among other dandies, he ripped the president for ignoring the Simpson-Bowles commission recommendations -- even though Ryan voted against its final report; claimed the American people were "cut out" of stimulus spending when, actually, more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went for tax relief for workers. On and on and on and on. Here's the strangest thing of all: A 4:01:25 marathon is no joke. OK, Paul Ryan was never going to be the next Alberto Salazar or Rod Dixon. But there's something to be said for the mediocre jock who trains his butt off, loads up on energy gel and fights his way through 26.2 miles. Just as easily as lying, the man could have talked about fighting through the wall at 18 miles; about seeing his family cheer him on from the side of the road; about crossing the finish line and feeling downright (hey!) Reaganesque in the moment. Truth be told, there's no shame in being average. There's only shame in refusing to accept it. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jeff Pearlman.

Jeff Pearlman says one's official marathon record is not something a runner takes lightly . So Paul Ryan claiming to have run 26.2 miles in under three hours seemed amazing, he says . His time was really 4:01. Ryan says he forgot; Pearlman says this is bogus and a Ryan pattern . Pearlman: Ryan getting known for distorting truth, even about his respectable marathon time .

CNN's Susan Lisovicz sat down with her uncle Lenny Lisovicz, a decorated D-Day veteran, to talk about his experiences at war. CNN's Susan Lisovicz spoke to her Uncle Lenny about his D-Day and war experiences. HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Decorated D-Day veteran Lenny Lisovicz says the whispers are true. For 65 years my family had heard whispers that he and 220 men stormed Omaha Beach and that he and his captain later went AWOL in Paris, France. They heard he returned to combat and fought all the way to Germany and his courage was rewarded with the prestigious Silver Star. Then -- after that sacrifice and loss -- he was committed to a hospital. On the 65th anniversary of D-Day, Uncle Lenny finally talked at length about everything he had seen and done. And he said it was all true. Nowadays, Uncle Lenny lives a tranquil life. At 91, he is proud of his garden, where he grows corn, tomatoes and grapefruit. He takes in stray cats, attends Mass and sends money regularly to Catholic missionaries. But his thoughts are never far away from a sliver of sand thousands of miles away. He turned down my offer to visit Normandy. "I don't want to see it. I try to rub that out of my mind. It won't go away," he said. But now, he finally agreed to share his memories. Watch Uncle Lenny describe storming the beach » . It began with The Longest Day: June 6, 1944. My uncle was a 26-year-old lieutenant with the Army 1st Infantry Division, the famed "Big Red One." They had been training in England for something big for months. Then, over the loudspeakers in the barracks came the famous declaration from Gen. Dwight Eisenhower: "You are about to embark on the Great Crusade." The Germans were taken by surprise in one of the greatest amphibious invasions of all time, which would mark a turning point of the war in Europe. "I just imagined what that enemy observer felt when he looked through that concrete bunker and looked out at that ocean and all he could see was boats, warships," Lisovicz said. But the Nazis had a superior position. "They had you pinpointed. It was just like shootin' ducks on a pond. Your comrades would get artillery busted. A hand flying here, a leg there, guts laying out on the ground, asking for help and you couldn't help them. You had to move. You just had to push them aside," he recalled. But the Allies couldn't push their way onto the cliffs until a massive air assault began. "At times there were so many planes in the sky you couldn't see the sky... ," Lisovicz said. "You could see them forming from all directions coming into one pattern. And that's how we got off the beach, darlin'." Their orders were to meet up with the paratroopers, who landed behind enemy lines. My uncle said they found them by smell, because they were all dead. "They backed them in a corner and machine gunned them down and didn't have enough decency to cover them," he said. That was when an unwritten order came down: "No prisoners. And we didn't take any." It was shortly after this that he decided he had enough. He and the captain went AWOL in Paris. To add insult to injury, they stole the major's jeep. Their freedom lasted only about a week. "The MP told us he was going to shoot us for going AWOL. But who cares? You didn't care anymore," Lisovicz said. "You were just fed up with war, fed up with killing, just absolutely fed up." But they weren't shot -- not by Americans, anyway. My uncle and the captain went back into combat. The captain was killed by a camouflaged tank. My uncle was now the commanding officer. And the fighting was ferocious as he battled his way into Germany. He set trip wires for flares in one pivotal battle. At about 3 a.m., the flares went off. The Germans had overrun the outer defenses of the platoon. It was chaos. The Silver Star says that he "skillfully deployed men and weapons into strategic positions and with accurately directed fire, held the foe at bay until supporting troops arrived and repulsed the attack." But there was more. "When I looked up I seen a man walking up with two of my comrades. It was a German. So I went after him. And got him and brought my men back," he said. The Silver Star described it as "extraordinary gallantry and aggressive leadership." Only 22 of the 220 men that stormed the beach with him came home alive. That was the last time my uncle saw combat. He had been hit. He learned about his Silver Star in the hospital. He wanted to return, but he was shell-shocked. "It took them a year and a half of my life for them to straighten me out and get back to civilian life," he said.

Sixty-five years after D-Day, CNN correspondent's uncle talks about experience . Lenny Lisovicz describes day he and his unit stormed Omaha Beach . He says the Nazis "had you pinpointed. It was just like shootin' ducks on a pond" Lisovicz was one of 22, out of 220 men in his group, to return home alive .

(CNN) -- After 75 long years, the United States' national soccer team can finally celebrate a victory across its southern borders. The U.S. had drawn one and lost 23 of 24 previous matches in Mexico, but Michael Orozco Fiscal's late goal in Wednesday's friendly international was enough for a landmark success over the newly-crowned Olympic champions. Orozco Fiscal, who plays for Mexican club San Luis, netted from close range in the 80th minute to inflict just the ninth defeat for Mexico in 120 games at the Azteca Stadium. Mexico beat the U.S. 4-2 in last year's Gold Cup final in Pasadena, after which former Germany international Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley as coach. "I think it's huge," head coach Jurgen Klinsmann told U.S. Soccer's official website. "It's huge for all American fans and it's huge for the team. It's historic. "We were well aware that we've never won here at Azteca and this is an amazing experience for all the players. We told them before the game, 'This moment is for you, go and grab it.' " Which clubs will win Europe's big leagues? The Americans' triumph owed much to the performance of goalkeeper Tim Howard, who produced a string of saves, including an impressive late denial of striker Javier Hernandez. "It's a wonderful moment because winning a game against a very good Mexican team that we have a lot of respect for at the Azteca Stadium, that means a lot to us," added Klinsmann. "That was very difficult for us and Tim Howard made some unbelievable saves, and I've said it many times over the last few years that he belongs to the top three goalkeepers in the world and he showed that tonight." Defeat for Mexico comes off the back of an impressive run at the Olympic tournament, where the under-23 team upset the odds to defeat Brazil 2-1 in the London 2012 final on Saturday. None of the players involved played in Wednesday's Mexico City game. Manchester United agree fee for Arsenal striker Van Persie . "I think it's important for us to understand that we can compete with big teams at their stadiums," said Klinsmann, whose team recorded a historic first win in Italy earlier this year and next face two World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica in September. "It's like when you play Wembley in England or Stade de France or in Berlin. Those are special occasions. I want the players to appreciate that. I want the players to take it all in because you never know when you'll have another occasion like that. "That's what we told the players: You have nothing to lose here. Give it all you have. Can we play better? Yes. Can we play technically cleaner? Yes." Elsewhere, Argentina registered a 3-1 win away to Euro 2012 semifinalists Germany with Lionel Messi scoring after missing a penalty in the Frankfurt contest. The Barcelona forward failed to convert a first-half spot kick after Germany goalkeeper Ron Robert Zieler had been sent off for hauling down Jose Ernesto Sosa. An own-goal from Sami Khedira gave Argentina the lead early in the second half, before Messi and winger Angel Di Maria put Alejandro Sabella's team 3-0 up. Germany could only offer Benedikt Howedes' late goal in response. Louis van Gaal began his second spell in charge of the Netherlands national team with a 4-2 defeat in Belgium, as Robin van Persie was omitted from the match-day squad. The striker, who is poised to join Manchester United after a fee was agreed with Arsenal that day, has lost his place to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar after struggling to impress at Euro 2012. Christian Benteke gave Belgium a 1-0 lead in Brussels, before a first international goal for Luciano Narsingh and a Huntelaar strike put the Netherlands 2-1 ahead. But Van Gaal's team collapsed in the final 15 minutes, with Dries Martens, striker Romelu Lukaku and defender Jan Vertonghen sealing a shock success for Belgium. In a rematch of the Euro 2012 quarterfinal, England turned the tables on Italy to register a 2-1 win in Switzerland. Fielding a much-changed team weeks after being beaten 4-0 by Spain in the tournament final, Italy took the lead through Daniele de Rossi's first-half header. Defender Phil Jagielka equalized for Roy Hodgson's team before substitute striker Jermain Defoe fired in a fine late winner. Former World Cup winner Didier Deschamps began his reign as France coach with a 0-0 draw against 2010 semifinalists Uruguay, while Vicente del Bosque's Spain earned a 2-1 win in Puerto Rico. New Arsenal signing Santi Cazorla and former Gunner Cesc Fabregas gave the world and European champions a 2-0 lead before Marc Cintron scored a consolation goal for the Caribbean side.

The U.S. earn historic first win in Mexico thanks to Michael Orozco Fiscal's late goal . Argentina beat Germany 3-1 in Frankfurt as Lionel Messi scores and misses a penalty . Louis van Gaal's first game of his second spell as Dutch coach ends in defeat . England beat Italy 2-1 in Switzerland while Spain win 2-1 against Puerto Rico .

(CNN) -- English Premier League club Newcastle United and striker Papiss Cisse are at odds over the club's sponsorship deal with a finance company, according to the player's agent. Cisse, who terrorized opposition defenses when he moved to soccer's Premier League last year, hasn't been included in Newcastle's squad for a pre-season tour of Portugal, the team from Northeast England revealed on its website . A Muslim, Cisse doesn't want to don Newcastle's jersey -- according to his agent -- because the sponsor is Wonga, which, as stated on its website, lends money with an annual interest rate of more than 5,800 percent. "He feels that it is immoral....," the Senegal international's agent Madou Diene told CNN, outlining his interpretation of the striker's position. Diene declined CNN's request to interview Cisse. Earlier this month UK consumer watchdog Which? revealed a million families a month needed short-term high interest loans to get by. Of those, 400,000 used the cash to pay for essentials such as food and fuel, while a further 240,000 needed money to pay off existing debts. Newcastle, which did not return calls from CNN seeking comment, has yet to explain why Cisse did not travel with the squad to Portugal. Under Sharia law, making money from interest, for example, isn't allowed. But the BBC reported that two of Cisse's Muslim teammates, midfielders Cheick Tiote and Moussa Sissoko, told the club they had no issue with wearing the shirt and both of them were included in the squad for the trip to Portugal as the club prepare for the new English Premier League season which starts on August 17. The partnership between the club and Wonga is said to be worth $38m over four years. Wonga, which declined comment on the Cisse case, launched its first website in 2007 and according to its website, "rapidly became one of the world's most innovative credit providers." For first-time users, loans of up to about $600 can be requested and Wonga usually provides an answer, it says, in seconds. However, the interest such companies charge consumers has raised concerns among a number of British politicians. "Urgent action is needed to grip the regulation of the payday loan industry, as the number of cases of misery and hardship are growing rapidly because of pressures on living standards and personal finance," Chris Leslie MP, Labour's Shadow Treasury Minister, told the British opposition party's website in June. Cisse wore Newcastle's jersey last season when it was sponsored by another finance company -- lender Virgin Money. "I guess it might be a question of people's views changing over time," Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general with the Muslim Council of Britain, told CNN. "Maybe they've not had a chance to think things through beforehand. Maybe now they realize," added Mogra in response to the question as to why Cisse wore a Virgin jersey but not the Wonga one. Cisse wouldn't be the first Muslim player to refuse to wear a jersey on religious grounds. Striker Frederic Kanoute took a stand at Spain's Sevilla in 2006 when he opted against wearing a shirt sponsored by gambling firm 888.com. Eventually, Kanoute did wear the shirt but was excluded from taking part in any promotional activities linked to the sponsorship. "I think every player will have their own (stance) on this," said Mogra. "There will be players who will not be prepared to do something they believe is against their religious teaching and there might be some who might not be so concerned. "It's very difficult to say how everyone is going to react." The Council hasn't been approached by the club or Cisse, Mogra added. "If they were to make a request or approach, we would either signpost them or be able to give them advice," he said. The chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association Gordon Taylor -- who is seeking a resolution to the dispute -- did not respond to CNN's request for an interview. When asked if other clubs had expressed an interest in Cisse, Diene couldn't "answer that question." Earlier he insisted that Cisse "loves the fans, the club and the city." Cisse played a significant role in helping Newcastle to overachieve and finish fifth in the Premier League in 2011/2012, scoring 13 goals in 14 appearances after joining from Freiburg for $13.7 million during the January transfer window. But he cooled last term, netting eight league goals as he played second fiddle to Demba Ba. Ba was then sold to Chelsea and Newcastle barely avoided relegation. The Cisse saga has added to an already lively off-season at Newcastle, one of England's best supported clubs with an average league attendance last season of more than 50,000. In June, the Magpies rehired the outspoken Joe Kinnear, which did not go down well with the club's fans. Formerly a manager, he was brought back as director of soccer.

Muslim striker Papiss Cisse refuses to wear Newcastle's club shirt on religious grounds . The shirt sponsor, Wonga, lends money at an annual interest rate of 5,800 percent . Under Sharia law, making money from interest charges isn't allowed . Cisse wore Newcastle's jersey last season when it was sponsored by Virgin Money .

Le Bourget, France (CNN) -- Is it a plane? Is it a drone? Next time you look up and see vapor trails spreading across the sky, bear in mind that the aircraft you're looking at might just be both. As the aviation industry tightens its belt, its attempts to save money and stay relevant have led to a new rise of "transformers" -- including crop-dusters and business jets given a new lease of life as surveillance aircraft. With the financial crisis continuing to bite -- not least in the U.S. defense sector -- more and more aircraft manufacturers are trying to secure their future by turning older aviation staples into innovative new ones, creating a new breed of "transformers." In a former life, Piaggio Aero's HammerHead was a business jet (the Avanti II), used to ferry well-to-do travelers to and from high-powered meetings or red carpet events. Today the twin-engine turboprop is being turned into a drone, with surveillance equipment and remote flying systems replacing the nine passengers and pilot. Unveiling the new-look aircraft at last week's Paris Airshow, Piaggio Aero's CEO Alberto Galassi said the HammerHead -- which the company expects to be approved for use by 2014 -- offered "an insight into what an advanced UAS [Unmanned Aerial System] of the future will look like." Iomax's ArchAngel, also on display at Le Bourget is, the company says, a border patrol aircraft designed to provide "airborne surveillance for intelligence and security." But in its slightly more down-to-earth pre-modification past, the aircraft was originally conceived as the Thrush, an agricultural crop-duster. Also joining the hybrid ranks at the Paris Airshow was Centaur, the plane that thinks it is a drone. Or is that be the other way around? The aircraft, designed for surveillance missions, can be flown remotely as a UAV by a ground-based operator, or in the traditional way with a pilot at the controls. Its creators, U.S.-based Aurora Flight Services, say it takes Centaur's two-man crew just four hours to switch the plane from one mode of flying to the other. Bill Sweetman, international defense editor of Aviation Week, said the trend for turning existing aircraft into others, rather than creating them from scratch, was down to two main reasons: the financial crisis, and the end of the Cold War. Both mean that completely new aircraft are not being designed as often as they have done in the past. "Instead companies are modernizing, adapting aircraft they've already got to allow them to do something different, because the industry's needs now are very different to what they were during the Cold War, and they will be something different again in the next 10 years or so," he told CNN. "It is proving very hard to get the FAA to approve a simpler, cheaper aircraft designed from the start to be unmanned," said Graham Warwick, Aviation Week's technology editor. "Instead it is easier to take an aircraft that the FAA has already certificated for manned flight, and take the pilot out of it," he said. "If a company takes an existing aircraft -- which they know flies, works, is safe and reliable -- and converts that into an unmanned vehicle, that allows them to develop it much more quickly," said Sweetman. And then there's Project Zero, an entirely different sort of "transformer." This super-futuristic looking electric-powered aircraft is formed of a graceful aerodynamic swoosh of carbon fibre enclosing a cockpit (like the drones above, it has so far only been flown unmanned) and two massive rotor blades. It is these rotor blades which are the secret to the aircraft's groundbreaking nature. Facing the ground, they allow Project Zero to take off vertically, like a helicopter. But once in the air, the rotors can be tilted, enabling it to fly forwards like a traditional plane. Project Zero, which has been in the works -- but firmly under wraps -- for several years, was unveiled at this week's Paris Air Show. James Wang, Agusta Westland's vice president of research and technology, who oversaw work on the aircraft, said it was designed "to be as radical as possible," reflecting the motto of the advanced project group behind it: "'Live to Dream' - if it can be dreamed, it can be built." Just how high and how fast the aircraft is capable of flying is still a closely-guarded secret, but Wang insists "it works, we have flown this thing." There's just one catch though -- despite being proven to work in flight tests, Project Zero is not likely to go into production any time soon. Instead it is intended as a "technology incubator," a way of trialing and showcasing all the latest innovations at once. Still, the company hopes that even if we're not going to be flying a Project Zero within the next 10 years, some of the technology it has helped develop will become the norm on more everyday aircraft. "Project Zero might or might not make the basis for a future UAV or form of transport, but it's the parts in there that are important, that have potential," says Sweetman. And that could help to transform the whole industry, not just one aircraft.

Aviation manufacturers are turning older aircraft into drones . An agricultural crop-duster can be transformed into an airborne surveillance machine . It takes just four hours to switch the Centaur aircraft from a plane into a UAV . A new breed of "transformers" could change the whole industry .

Atlanta (CNN) -- A controversial -- and potentially pivotal -- call in a one-game playoff Friday night between the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals prompted a vehement argument by the Braves' manager and fans to toss debris onto the field. The incident occurred in the eighth inning of the newly introduced wild card baseball postseason game, in which the two teams battled for the right to advance to a National League division series. At the time, St. Louis led Atlanta by a 6-3 score. With one out and runners on first and second base, Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons skied a pop-up to shallow left field. Amid apparent confusion between two Cardinals' players, the ball dropped -- which could have led to the Braves loading the bases. But instead, an umpire ruled Simmons out, citing the infield fly rule. The rule is traditionally invoked on pop flies in the infield, in order to prevent fielders from letting a ball drop -- in order to get two outs instead of one, had they caught the ball. SI: What is the infield fly rule? Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez stormed out of the dugout to protest the call, while angry fans pelted the field with cups, bottles and other debris. After an 18-minute delay, play finally resumed -- with the umpires ruling the call still valid, and the Braves then playing the game under protest. Braves' pinch-hitter Brian McCann then walked before the Cardinals' Jason Motte struck out Michael Bourn to end the inning. After two quick outs in the ninth inning, Atlanta's Chipper Jones -- the team's legendary third baseman who has announced this is his last season -- got on base with an infield hit. Freddie Freeman then rocketed a ground rule double, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Dan Uggla. Yet the second baseman ended the game -- and the Braves' season and, with it, Jones' career -- by grounding out to second base. Matthew Bolus, a 19-year-old lifelong Braves fan who had driven all the way from Birmingham, Alabama, for the game, was among those fans who felt cheated by the call. "I feel like I didn't see the game that I was supposed to see," he said. Atlanta fans responded to the final out with more boos, as well as a smattering of more debris flying onto the field. The disgust was interrupted only by a chant of "Chipper," recognizing the end of the fan favorite Jones' career. Chipper Jones' last hurrah . Joe Torre, a former player and manager who is now Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for Major League Baseball, told reporters later that he talked with umpire crew chief Jeff Kellogg during the long delay. After the game concluded, Torre talked to Gonzalez and Braves General Manager Frank Wren about their protest. During the regular season, teams have 24 hours to file a written protest, after which baseball executives can make a judgment. But Torre said that timetable "just didn't make sense" with the game's victors advancing to the next round of the playoffs starting Sunday, so he decided the matter immediately. "I spoke to them and asked them what (grounds) they were making the protest on," Torre said. "And I ruled, basically, to disallow the protest based on the fact that it's an umpire's judgment call." When asked after the game if he doubted whether he made the right call after the boos and debris started raining down, umpire Sam Holbrook said succinctly, "Absolutely not." With the 6-3 victory, St. Louis advances to play the National League East champion Washington Nationals in the next round of the playoffs. The San Francisco Giants face off against the Cincinnati Reds in the league's other postseason series. Baseball season's final day brings drama . Following the game, Gonzalez criticized what he deemed "a bad call," saying the ball was too far out in the outfield to warrant the infield fly rule. Still, he said he was "a little disappointed" with fans who threw objects on the field and pointed out how the Braves' three errors and inability to drive in more runs also contributed to the loss. "Anybody can have one bad game, anybody can have one bad call go against you," the Atlanta manager said. "It hurts losing ballgames like we did tonight." Torre acknowledged some may understandably disagree with the eighth-inning call. Yet he pointed out that mistakes -- including errors by fielders and strikeouts by hitters -- have been part of baseball for as long as the sport has been around. "I think controversy is part of what we do, because the game is not perfect," Torre said. "That's always been the game." The American League one-game playoff match between the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers did not have the controversy or trash throwing. Baltimore won the game 5-1, continuing the miracle season the team is having. The Orioles will move on to play the New York Yankees on Sunday. One-handed kid meets Chipper Jones . CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.

NEW: A baseball executive disallows the Braves' protest of the game, so the result stands . An umpire makes a controversial call against the Braves in the eighth inning . Atlanta's manager protests and fan throw debris onto the field . The Cardinals end up beating the Braves 6-3 to advance in baseball's playoffs .

(CNN) -- At least 1.7 million people -- nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population -- were killed by execution, disease, starvation and overwork under the Khmer Rouge's brutal rule from 1975 to 1979. Three of the ultra-Maoist regime's former leaders have been found guilty for crimes against community by a U.N.-backed tribunal. On Thursday, guilty verdicts were handed down to Nuon Chea, otherwise known as Brother Number Two, and Khieu Samphan, the one-time President of Democratic Kampuchea, as Cambodia was known. Kaing Guek Eav, alias Comrade Duch, the head of an infamous torture prison, was convicted of crimes against humanity in 2010. He was ultimately sentenced to life in prison in 2012, more than 30 years after the fall of the regime. Here's a timeline of the Khmer Rouge regime and the long path to bring its leaders to justice: . 1970: Marshal Lon Nol stages a coup, forcing Prince Norodom Sihanouk out of power. Sihanouk is aligned with the Khmer Rouge, an ultra-Maoist group building up a following in the countryside. April 17, 1975: The Khmer Rouge seize Phnom Penh, completing their taking over of the country. The city's inhabitants are forced to leave the capital, heading out to rural areas. Some two million people are forced out of Cambodia's urban centers. Late 1977: Fighting breaks out between Vietnam and Cambodia. May 25, 1978: Khmer Rouge purges East Zone. January 7, 1979: The Vietnamese take Phnom Penh, beginning 11 years of Vietnamese occupation. The Khmer Rouge move west. Some Cambodians celebrate January 7 as a liberation day from the Khmer Rouge, while others mark it as the start of Vietnamese occupation. 1979: A genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh finds Pol Pot and Ieng Sary guilty of genocide. Neither appeared in court or served any sentence . 1982: Triparty coalition government forms, consisting of Prince Sihanouk, who was exile in China, the Khmer Rouge and non-communist leader Son Sann to create the Triparty Coalition Government. Vietnam helps establish a new government led by Heng Samrin. 1990: Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia. October 23, 1991: Paris peace talks. A peace accord among all Cambodian parties is signed. They approve holding a national election under the supervision of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge boycott the polls and won't demobilize their forces. May 23-28, 1993: The U.N.-supervised elections are held. A royalist party lead by one of the king's sons, Ranariddh, wins a plurality and forms a coalition government with the Cambodian People's Party. Ranariddh and Hun Sen of the CPP are appointed co-prime minister. Khmer Rouge soldiers continue to wage guerrilla war. 1996: King Norodom Sihanouk pardons top cadre Ieng Sary's genocide sentence from the 1979 genocide tribunal. 1997: The Khmer Rouge tries Pol Pot for crimes allegedly committed within the regime after 1979. Cambodia asks the U.N. to help create a court to prosecute the surviving top leaders of the Khmer Rouge. 1998: Pol Pot dies. Civil war ends in Cambodia. 1999: Considered the end of the Khmer Rouge. 2001: Cambodia's National Assembly passes a law to create a court to try serious crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. 2003: Agreement is reached with the U.N. on how the international community would help and participate in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The pact was amended in 2004. June 2007: The court becomes fully operational. November 20, 2007: The pre-trial chamber opens its first public hearing on an appeal by Duch, the Khmer Rouge head of the S-21 prison, where some 14,000 people died. July 26, 2010: Duch is found guilty for war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder and torture, and sentenced to 35 years in prison. February 3, 2012: Duch's sentence extended to life in prison. August 7, 2014: Nuon Chea, otherwise known as Brother Number Two, and Khieu Samphan, the one-time President of Democratic Kampuchea, are found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Sources: Cambodia Tribunal Monitor (David Scheffer, Khamboly Dy), Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, United Nations .

Khmer Rouge ruled from 1975 to 1979 . Leader was Pol Pot who died in 1998 . Charges brought against five top leaders . "Duch" sentenced to life, two verdicts pending .

(CNN) -- Broadcaster Lee Thomas' patchwork skin has being losing pigment for 17 years. He's gotten used to the constant stares when his work makeup is off; he doesn't even mind being asked about his varying skin tones. Thomas laughs when he recalls one of his 6-year-old daughter's friends telling him he looked like a cow. After Thomas explained he had vitiligo, the boy asked if they could play Frisbee. "It's not really the ignorance," Thomas said about the lack of awareness surrounding vitiligo. "It's the malicious ignorance. Adults are weird." He remembers playing a "visual tennis match" with a man in his office. The man would stare at Thomas, then as soon as Thomas looked at him, the man looked away. They volleyed back and forth until Thomas told him, "It's OK if you want to look." He went through what he calls an "angry spotted-guy" period when he would give menacing looks to those who stared at him. "Eventually I said, 'That's not me' and would do the opposite," he said. "I'd give them the million-dollar smile that got me into my work in the first place and turn it into a conversation rather than a spectacle." What's vitiligo? June 25 marks World Vitiligo Day, which is aimed at raising awareness about the incurable disease. Vitiligo affects roughly 100 million people worldwide, according to the Vitiligo Research Foundation. It's not contagious or fatal, but scientists don't know exactly what causes it. "The body acts as if it's allergic to its pigment cells," said Dr. Mark Lebwohl, a professor and dermatologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The pigment cells, also known as melanocytes, die or stop producing melanin, leaving patches of colorless skin all over a person's body. Vitiligo doesn't discriminate, affecting people of all skin colors, but it is most noticeable in people with darker skin. Michael Jackson probably had the most well-known case of vitiligo; rumor has it Jackson wore a single glove to hide some of the splotches on his hand. Thomas said he also, for a time, wore a single glove while reporting stories to cover his symptoms. Though there is no cure for vitiligo, there are many treatment options that vary in effectiveness and cost. Topical creams and ointments can repigment the skin, but Lebwohl said this process can take years. Laser treatments, which target affected skin areas with light therapy, can produce results in just a few treatments. These treatments work best in dark-skinned people and on the face. There are also some surgical treatments, "but sometimes the healing is not uniform so it can look like there's scarring," Lebwohl said. Vitiligo patients often struggle for years to find something that works for them. Lebwohl says one of his colleagues at Mount Sinai has done great work in mapping the causes of vitiligo in the immune system. Lebwohl believes better treatments will be available in the next decade or so that target the roots of the disease. Getting past the stigma . Thomas wore makeup on his face anytime he was out of the house for nearly four years until he was no longer able to hide his vitiligo, he said. Being a TV personality, he worried that he would lose his job if his bosses and co-workers found out about his condition. Eventually he had to reveal it, and to his relief, it wasn't an issue. "My bosses here at the time were always very supportive," he said. "The conflict was within." He now goes without makeup when he's not working, but he still wears makeup on camera because his vitiligo is so visible he feels it distracts from the stories he reports. Vitiligo isn't physically painful, but Lebwohl emphasized it's not strictly a cosmetic condition either. "It's debilitating. Imagine every time you meet someone you have a disorder clearly on your face," he said. "It's really a psychological disorder." Yan Valle, who works with the Vitiligo Foundation, said he's watched his pigment disappear since he was 6. It started on his legs, then spread to his hands, face and neck. "It's not as bad as on dark-skinned people, but still, kids see everything," Valle said. Like Thomas, he senses that his vitiligo makes people uncomfortable -- on subways or elevators, strangers purposely avoid looking at the spots. Valle says he grew up with few resources to help him understand the condition or how to treat it. He helped found the Vitiligo Research Foundation in 2010 and now works full-time to provide resources to medical professionals and those with the condition. Thomas has written a book, "Turning White," and often speaks about his experience with vitiligo. He met one woman and her brother at a support group he started in Detroit, which he says was the first vitiligo support group in the United States. The woman's brother told Thomas she hadn't left the house in months because of her insecurities with the disease. "She said 'I don't know how you do it,' " Thomas said. "There are lots suffering in silence, and I hope to be their voice." CNN anchor battles her skin and wins .

Vitiligo affects roughly 100 million people worldwide . Scientists don't know what causes the incurable disease . With vitiligo, pigment cells deteriorate, leaving patches of colorless skin .

Gaza City (CNN) -- It's the hardest question in Gaza. In the twilight hours of Saturday, when the people of Gaza were breaking the daily Ramadan fast, fireballs illuminated the night sky. The Israeli military was intensifying its assault on Gaza militants in the Shaja'ia neighborhood near Gaza City. The battle had only just begun. As dawn broke Sunday, some barefoot, many looking dazed and haggard flooded from their smoldering neighborhood. Thousands walked along sidewalks, packed into cars, and piled onto donkey carts with only what they could carry: Some clothing, a bit of food. Most just had clothes on their backs. When CNN put this question to one Shaja'ia resident, with his family in tow, he broke into tears. "Where are you going? I just don't know," he replied. Nearby explosions prodded the family forward into the unknown. A barrage of rockets . Gaza militants respond with a barrage of rockets. Another fleeing family waited for a car to ferry them to safety, but one member was missing. "My mother refused to leave," said Sameh Grega. "She told me to leave her to die, but I will try to go back." A temporary cease-fire later gave a CNN crew a glimpse of the inferno being fled. For many of those able to make it out, their destination will be the United Nations schools that have been turned into centers for those displaced. By Sunday afternoon, at least 81,000 people had arrived at 61 U.N. schools, and the number was likely to rise. It's the largest number of internally displaced Gazans since Israel pulled out of the coastal strip in 2005. A human surge found its way to the UN-run Rimal Girls School. The classrooms overflowed with civilians moving quickly without direction around the compound. The schoolyard is also a place for the latest news from home. One man found out his brother had been killed. No information yet about other members of his family. When word came that the shelter was full, rumors of a nearby school with space sent a stampede of families off again into the unknown. More than 60 killed . For hundreds of Shaja'ia's residents, safety never came. The lucky ones received a ride to a hospital. The Ministry of Health put the neighborhood wounded at more than 400. More than 60 were killed. "There are more women and children this time around and the doctors are shocked and depressed," said Samantah Maurin with international aid group Doctors Without Borders. Maurin pointed to the lack of medical supplies which she describes as "chronic and becoming more acute." Officials at the hospital braced for an influx of injuries they know will come from Shaja'ia. "Many people are underground," said Dr. Nassar El Tatar, general manager of Shifa Hospital. "We could not reach those people to extract them and there are surely dead people and wounded people and others will die if we can't get to them." To retrieve those stuck in Shaja'ia, the International Committee of the Red Cross called for a ceasefire. For a moment the guns fall silent over Shaja'ia. Pleas for help . Entering the densely populated neighborhood of roughly 100,000 residents, a CNN crew found a woman pleading for help. "My son is in the house," said Amira Hillis. "He's wounded. I called the Red Cross, I called for an ambulance but no one came. Can you help?" On one street, a twisted pile of metal lay on the side of the road. Only the burned frame of a steering wheel revealed that it was any type of vehicle at all. In front of it was another ambulance -- its windows blasted out and its back door ajar. Bandages spilled into the rubble-strewn street. Debris was everywhere. Every window was shattered. Glass, pavement, and leaves mixed with gasoline. Snapped power and telephone lines hung from crooked poles. The smell of death mingled with the fumes of fuel. Paramedics rushed one motionless body away on a stretcher. A steady stream of ambulances rushed in and out of the shattered neighborhood, sirens wailing. A sense of urgency . A sense of urgency gripped the remaining fleeing residents who refused to stop long enough to talk. They were on edge, alert for the presence of any nearby Israeli soldiers. A local journalist whispered, "Don't stay long. It's not safe here." He saw two men armed with AK-47 assault rifles slink away with purpose. The four-hour truce was shaky at best and at one point, it was said to have collapsed. It ultimately was extended until 5:30 p.m. Bassam, a young father holding his 1-year-old daughter, Hala, said he was going to take his family to a nearby U.N. school. But a man interrupted. "It's full, It's full," he shouted. Bassam, like many others, then had to ask himself Gaza's toughest question, where would he go? Netanyahu: Israel seeks 'sustainable quiet' with Gaza . Life in Gaza: Search for safety, or wait for destiny .

For residents fleeing violence in one neighborhood, there are almost no options . A CNN crew got a glimpse of the inferno being fled in Gaza . Local schools acting as emergency shelters are overwhelmed . "Don't stay long. It's not safe here," a local journalist tells CNN crew .

(CNN) -- Security has been stepped up around a prominent Australian Muslim leader after Twitter threats from a Sydney-based militant seen in recent photos clutching severed heads in Syria. In a tweet that's since been deleted, a man believed to be Mohamed Elomar offered $1,000 for information on the whereabouts of Dr. Jamal Rifi and his five children. "Anyone in Sydney who can give me the details of Habashi dog Dr Jamal Rifi, anything, house details, wat area am willing to pay $1000," the tweet said. Rifi is a general practitioner and outspoken community leader who this week condemned shocking images posted on social media by convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf of his seven-year-old child holding a mutilated head. In 2009, Sharrouf was jailed for his role in a planned terror attack in Australia led by Mohamed Ali Elomar, the uncle of the man believed to have offered the bounty. The senior Mohamed is currently serving a minimum 21-year sentence for the plot, which involved the manufacture of explosives for a "potentially catastrophic" attack. Gruesome images . Australian Federal Police issued arrest warrants for the younger Elomar and Sharrouf in late July after they posted gruesome images to Twitter of themselves posing with the severed heads of Syrian fighters. It's believed the photos were taken in the Syrian city of Raqqa. The latest tweets attributed to Elomar came from the now suspended Twitter handle @abu hafs ozzie. "Any details were he works or knows if his got kids which school they attend. Like I said I am willing to pay $1000 just for details," another tweet said. "It was shocking to be honest," Rifi told CNN. "I've taken it extremely seriously because they labeled me as a habashi dog -- even though I've never been a habashi and I'm not a habashi. What it means in their twisted mentally (is that) attacking me, killing me is permissible for followers of their ideology." Security stepped up . Police are also taking the threat seriously. Rifi said the New South Wales Police Commissioner phoned him before sending officers to his house for a security audit. Patrols have been stepped up in the area and his son's school principal has suggested he stay at home. However, Rifi said he refused to be silenced. "I'm not going into hiding. I know I'm fortunate enough to life in a country where law and order prevail and people can't take matters into their own hands, and affords me the freedom to speak. And I want to use that privilege to defend what we have in Australia and to keep it." In a direct message to Elomar, Rifi tweeted: "to know my address just ask your dad, we were in the same soccer team then and we still Best mates and he knows I am and never been a HABASHI." Old family friends . Rifi is a longtime friend of Elomar's father, Mamdouh Elomar. They met as children in Lebanon before moving to Australia. Elomar fled the civil war in the 1970s and built a successful engineering business in Sydney. Rifi followed in the early 1980s and has become a respected member of the community for his efforts in breaking down religious barriers. The Elomars are a "great" family, Rifi said, adding that Mohamed was the "black sheep" who turned his back on what was a stable and supportive upbringing to follow a "twisted ideology." Mohamed's father would support him "100%," Rifi said, though he added he hadn't spoken to him since the threats were made. On Thursday, he and Australia's Grand Mufti, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, gave a series of interviews in Arabic and English to try to counter the recruitment campaign being waged by ISIS militants on social media. "We're telling young people: 'Forget the rhetoric, look at the action.' And the action they are doing is totally unIslamic," Rifi said. "While they're pretending to defend Islam, in reality what they're doing is hurting their family, their community and they're giving a distorted image of their religion." Threat of 'homegrown terrorists' Extra revulsion was reserved this week for Sharrouf, who posted a picture of his young son holding a man's severed head. "It is really one of the most disturbing, stomach-turning, grotesque photographs ever displayed," said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The image was used by U.S. and Australian officials to emphasize the importance of the fight against ISIS militants, who are engaged in a brutal campaign in Iraq and Syria with the aim of establishing an Islamic caliphate. Around 150 Australians are thought to be supporting their activities, while around 60 are believed to be engaged in active fighting. "There are a significant number of Australian citizens who are taking part in activities in Iraq and parts of Syria: extremist activities, terrorist activities," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. "Our fear is that they will return home to Australia as hardened homegrown terrorists and seek to continue their work here in Australia."

Australian tweets bounty for information on outspoken Muslim leader . Mohamed Elomar is believed to be in Syria, fighting with ISIS . Elomar posted photos of himself holding severed heads of fighters . Sharrouf shocked world with photo of young son holding mutilated head .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A controversial assertion by convicted Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan to win his freedom was challenged this week by the California attorney general who said "overwhelming evidence" exists against Sirhan's claims. Sirhan's attorneys have said that a second gunman actually assassinated Kennedy in 1968 and that Sirhan was hypno-programmed to fire a gun as a diversion. "In sum, (Sirhan) cannot possibly show that no reasonable juror would have convicted him if a jury had considered his 'new' evidence and allegations, in light of the overwhelming evidence supporting the convictions and the available evidence thoroughly debunking (Sirhan's) second-shooter and automaton theories," Attorney General Kamala Harris said in federal court papers filed this week. Sirhan, the sole person convicted of killing Kennedy, is seeking a new trial or freedom from his life sentence based on "formidable evidence" asserting his innocence and "horrendous violations" of his rights, defense attorneys said in federal court papers filed last year. Harris, who is asking a federal court in Los Angeles to dismiss Sirhan's request, conceded in court papers filed Wednesday that his lawyers may be able to show two guns were involved in Kennedy's assassination. Kennedy was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was killed. But even if Sirhan's lawyers can show 13 shots were fired in the Kennedy shooting, Sirhan shouldn't be released from prison, Harris said. "The mere possibility that more than one firearm was discharged during the assassination does not dismantle the prosecution's case" against Sirhan, the attorney general said in the latest court documents. Harris said Sirhan is relying on acoustic expert Philip Van Praag's analysis of a tape recording of the Kennedy shooting that concludes 13 shots were fired during the murder and "demonstrates the existence of a second shooter because (Sirhan) only fired eight shots." The attorney general argues that even if there were a second gunman involved in the Kennedy shooting, Sirhan hasn't proven his innocence. Sirhan "at most has shown that, according to Van Praag, two guns could be heard firing 13 shots in an audiotape of the shooting," Harris said. Authorities have said eight bullets were fired in the kitchen pantry of the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, with three bullets hitting Kennedy's body, a fourth passing harmlessly through his suit coat and the rest striking five other victims, who survived. Kennedy, younger brother of the assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was shot shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, only moments after the presidential candidate had claimed victory in California's Democratic primary election. He died the next day. Defense lawyers William F. Pepper and Laurie D. Dusek say Van Praag's analysis of the tape recording shows two guns fired 13 shots -- five more gunshots than Sirhan could have fired from his eight-shot revolver. Sirhan had no opportunity to reload his gun in the pantry. Harris calls Van Praag's analysis "pure speculation." The recording of the Kennedy shooting was made by freelance reporter Stanislaw Pruszynski. ABC News television videotape of the hotel ballroom, where the senator had just claimed victory in the California primary, shows Pruszynski holding his recording equipment in his left hand while descending a small set of ballroom steps, approximately 40 feet away from the kitchen pantry shooting, and moving towards the pantry during the period when the shots were being fired there, off-camera. Harris said that even if it could be proven "that a second gunman successfully shot Senator Kennedy, (Sirhan) would still be guilty of the charged crimes." She said that under California's vicarious liability law, "an aider and abettor 'is guilty not only of the offense he intended to facilitate or encourage, but also of any reasonably foreseeable offense committed by the person he aids and abets'." The defense argues Sirhan did not knowingly fire at Kennedy but thought he was shooting at circular targets on a firing range. They contend Sirhan was a victim of hypno-programming by conspirators who programmed him to fire shots as a diversion for the senator's real killer. For his hypo-programming defense, Sirhan is relying on Daniel Brown, an associate clinical professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School who has interviewed Sirhan for 60 hours over a three-year period, according to defense attorneys. But the attorney general rejected the hypno-programming claim. "The theory that a person could be hypnotized into planning and committing a murder against his will is a controversial (if not fantastic) one and has not been adopted by most of Brown's peers, including the American Psychological Association," Harris wrote. "Thus, even if (Sirhan) could show that some psychologists believe in mind control or hypno-programming, his showing of actual innocence is nevertheless based on a debatable theory that is not universally accepted in the psychology community," Harris said. Sirhan, who turns 68 next month, was denied parole at a hearing last year where he once again claimed to have no memory of the Kennedy shooting, an assertion Sirhan has maintained since 1968.

Convicted assassin Sirhan Sirhan asserts a second gunman killed Robert F. Kennedy . Sirhan was hypno-programmed to fire a gun as a diversion, his attorney says . California's attorney general says a jury would have convicted him anyway . The evidence against Sirhan is "overwhelming," prosecutor says .

(CNN) -- Imagine a gadget that knows your mind better than you do. Picture a device that can rank the activities in your life that bring you joy, or interject your typed words with your feelings. One woman has helped create just that. Ariel Garten believes that the brain -- with its 100 billion neurons that receive, register, and respond to thoughts and impulses -- has the power to accomplish almost anything, if only its power could be properly harnessed. Her company InteraXon, which she co-founded with Trevor Coleman, has produced Muse, a lightweight headband that uses electroencephalography (EEG) sensors to monitor your brain activity, transmitting that information to a smartphone, laptop or tablet. The high-tech headband has been used to pour beer, levitate chairs, or control the lights -- all without the wearer lifting a finger. And in a world where technology is often blamed for raising stress levels, 35-year-old Garten believes her $300 headband could even help calm us down. The Canadian -- who has worked as a fashion designer, art gallery director, and psychotherapist -- spoke to CNN about her influences and vision for the future of technology. CNN: How does Muse help reduce stress? Ariel Garten: Muse tracks your brain activity. Your brain sends electro-signals just like your heart does, and this headband is like a heart rate monitor. As it tracks your brain activity, it sends that information to your computer, smartphone or tablet, where you can do exercises that track your brain activity in real time, and give you real time feedback to teach you how to calm and settle your mind. CNN: Technology is often blamed for making people stressed -- is there a certain irony in also using it to also calm us down? AG: Technology can definitely be responsible for making people stressed because it pulls at our attention, it distracts us, it increases the number of demands and in some ways decreases our own agency. We're very interested in inverting that on its head and creating solutions that help you calm yourself; that can help you stay grounded, choose what to focus your attention on, and manage your own mind and your response to the world. Technology itself is not the evil, it's the way that it's implemented. Technology can have some great solutions for us. Look at all the amazing medical interventions that we have. CNN: You've suggested Muse could provide medical benefits for children with ADD -- how? AG: To be clear, Muse is not a medical device, it's a computer product. Exercises using Muse have suggested that they can help people with ADHD, by helping you increase your state of focused attention. We've had amazing emails -- just recently we had an email from somebody who is 29 years old with ADHD and after just two days of using Muse had noticed a benefit. Three weeks out they sent me an email saying 'this is not a game changer, this is a life changer.' CNN: Have you had interest in the product from any unexpected places? AG: We've been contacted by a lot of sports stars and sports celebrities -- people wanting to use it to improve their sports game. We were surprised because we're so used to thinking of it as a cognitive tool. There's been quite a number of research labs using Muse, and they've been looking at applications in depression, epilepsy, and communications. And then we've also had a lot of interest from companies interested in integrating our technology into their wellness and development programs. Companies like Google wanting to offer this to their employees to help improve their productivity and their wellness. CNN: Do you have any reservations about the development of mind-mapping devices? AG: In InteraXon we believe very strongly that you own all your own data. We have a very strict privacy policy. It's like a heart rate monitor, it's very binary so we can't read your thoughts, we can't read your mind. But we're very much into leading the way on the very responsible use of this technology. CNN: What inspired you to get involved in this area? AG: My background is in neuroscience, design and psychotherapy, and I'm very interested in helping people understand their own minds and use their minds more productively in their own life. Our brains get in our way in so many ways. The things that we think, the feelings that we have, all of these things can be beautiful supports to our life and encourage the lives that we live. But they can also cause all kinds of anxiety, worries, all of these things that hold us back. Particularly women are a huge inspiration to me because we're so good at holding ourselves back with the thoughts that are in our heads. We're constantly worried about things like 'does this person think this way about me?' or 'have I done well enough?' or 'have I achieved as much as I'm supposed to?' We have these dialogues within ourselves that can be really debilitating, and you know the answer is 'of course you're good enough,' and 'of course you've done well enough,' and 'of course you can achieve that.' And if you can learn to understand and gain control over your own internal dialogue, you can really learn to sort of undo the shackles that hold you back in your daily life, and your career, and your relationships. Inspire: Nanny's double life as photographer . Learn: Frida Kahlo: Queen of the selfie .

Ariel Garten's high-tech headband monitors brain activity . Called 'Muse,' the device transmits information to your computer . Can pour beer, control music volume, turn on lights just by thinking . By tracking brain waves, could help users reduce stress .

(CNN) -- Cluster boxes. If you haven't heard of them yet, you will soon. They are about to change something basic about American life: the sight of the mail carrier strolling up to the front door to drop off that day's letters, magazines, bills and advertising fliers. Door-to-door mail delivery appears to be a luxury that the U.S. Postal Service no longer can afford. It's no secret that the Postal Service is in terrible financial trouble; last year the agency lost $16 billion. No business can afford to go on that way without making dramatic changes. As CNNMoney's Jennifer Liberto reported from Washington last week, the Postal Service has begun telling communities with new housing developments that mail carriers will not provide doorstep, or even curbside, delivery. Instead, cluster boxes -- groupings of mailboxes at a centralized point in the community -- will be constructed. Homeowners will be expected to leave their houses and go to the nearest cluster box to pick up their daily mail. And in Congress, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, is proposing that door-to-door delivery be done away with not just in new developments, but at existing homes, too. He believes the Postal Service could save $4 billion a year this way. It's hard to counter the argument that if something drastic isn't done, the Postal Service simply won't be able to operate much longer. With Americans relying more and more on e-mail and text messages, and with bills being routinely paid online, the Postal Service isn't bringing in enough revenue to justify the enormous costs of universal mail delivery. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has been pushing for the elimination of Saturday mail delivery, but congressional resistance made him put the plan on hold. Even though Donahoe says that Saturday delivery is no longer fiscally feasible, members of Congress are reluctant to anger their constituents -- both individuals and businesses -- by letting the plan go through. If the cluster boxes begin proliferating, though, and people are told that the mail carrier won't be appearing at their doors, you can expect widespread unhappiness and high-decibel frustration. It's not that people don't understand that the Postal Service is on the ropes. But to declare such a fundamental American tradition -- the arrival of the postal carrier at the front door -- past tense will not go unnoticed or uncontested. It's hardly wild speculation to predict that people will not relish having to go out into the weather every time they want to retrieve their mail. Some won't trust the security of the group mailboxes, no matter how many assurances they receive. They'll be especially vexed on rainy or snowy days when they make the trip to the cluster boxes, only to find that the carrier hasn't arrived yet. For those accustomed to door-to-door mail service, the act of picking up and sorting through the mail in front of other people may feel less private. Opinion: No more Saturday visits from Bob . Yet the really noteworthy thing is not what may be ending -- the noteworthy thing is what we have taken on faith for so long. If someone in government, today, were proposing to start the Postal Service from scratch, offering the amenities Americans are accustomed to, he'd be laughed out of the room. "You're saying that this service of yours would be expected to send uniformed workers to every house and business in America?" "Yes." "How would the homeowners and business owners summon these couriers?" "They wouldn't have to summon them -- the postal workers would be required to just automatically show up." "How often?" "Every day but Sunday." "And then you say that they'd carry the letter anywhere in the country? Door to door?" "Yes." "So how much would it cost to take a letter from, say, St. Louis, Missouri, to Kansas City, Missouri?" "Forty-six cents." "But how can you possibly do such a thing so cheaply?" "Some people will complain that it's too expensive." "All right -- but if it's 46 cents to take a letter from one town in Missouri to another town in Missouri, how much would it cost to carry a letter from, say, New York to San Francisco?" "Forty-six cents." "What?" "It would cost the same, no matter how great the distance." "That makes no sense at all. What about the cost of fuel? How can you charge the same amount for a letter to go five miles as you charge for it to go 3,000 miles?" "Because that's what people will insist on." It does sound impossible, doesn't it? It sounds like a plan so farfetched that it would never get off the ground. Yet it has been an unquestioned part of the way we've always lived. We no longer live that way. We expect our information to reach us instantly, on screens and phones and tablets, wherever we may be. But we expect to receive our mail the old way, too. It's an unenviable position for the people who run the Postal Service to be in. See you at the cluster box. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.

Bob Greene: Postal service may kill door-to-door service, switch to 'cluster boxes' He says it's an unpopular idea, but postal service must find ways to save money . He says if a personalized service like mail delivery were proposed today, it wouldn't fly . Greene: Cluster boxes almost inevitable; postal service is in an unenviable position .

(CNN) -- If you have ever tried to grab a bargain that appears online, you'll know you have to be quick. The business of high frequency trading -- using algorithms and superfast computers to conduct trades in a fraction of a second -- is a supercharged version of this, with the potential to execute millions of buy and sell orders electronically each day through the myriad exchanges currently in existence. Advocates argue that high frequency trading reduces market volatility and lowers transaction costs for small investors, but others claim it is unfair on slower traders, and can lead to instability -- trading algorithms and high frequency trading were behind the "Flash Crash" of May 6 2010, when the Dow Jones briefly plummeted almost 1,000 points. Irrespective of how the popularity of high frequency trading changes in the future, this need for speed will continue to drive a technological arms race where the weapons of choice include new types of computer circuits hard-wired with dedicated trading algorithms; new tunnels blasted through mountains to ensure more direct optic fiber connections; new cables being laid in straighter paths across the Atlantic seabed; and even new networks of microwave towers to profit from the speed of electromagnetic signals through air. And as the search for an evolutionary edge continues, "genetic" trading programs will be created that develop specific mutant offspring in response to real-time changes in market conditions. Even long-term pension funds play the high frequency game, hence it involves us all -- whether we like it or not. There is one factor that limits speed: According to Einstein, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. However this leaves ample opportunity for future increases in trading speed. Light can travel approximately one foot in a nanosecond (a billionth of a second) in free space, meaning that current processers, routers and switching devices have plenty of room for improvement. And just as faster predators in the animal kingdom catch more prey and will be less vulnerable to other predators, faster trading companies will emerge at the expense of slower ones. In parallel, a new form of ultrafast options market may emerge with second-scale contract times in order to hedge high frequency risk. However, there are two problems that make the future of high frequency trading of unique global concern, irrespective of how popular it becomes. The first is a scientific one: Financial markets represent the largest-ever sociotechnical system in existence, with a mix of state-of-the-art communications and computational power operating at speeds approaching the natural speed limit of light. Yet nobody, including Einstein, has ever produced a theory that predicts what might go wrong in an ultrafast global network of interconnected machines that carry out millions of operations in the blink of an eye -- or what can be done to prevent or manage it. This leads to the second problem. How can regulators and governments possibly decide how to manage this emerging ultrafast financial jungle if nobody yet fully understands it? My fellow researchers and I recently uncovered glimpses of what is already going wrong in the form of escalating patterns of "sub-second tsunamis." These tsunamis are huge spikes and dips in the price of an individual stock. Although the Flash Crash was fast, lasting only a few minutes, these sub-second tsunamis are over in the blink of an eye -- and there are thousands of them. A 10% daily change in a major stock would guarantee breaking news coverage, but these tsunamis typically send the price plummeting to almost zero. However they go unnoticed since the price quickly recovers as other algorithms jump in for the kill. Their existence reveals a remarkable difference between the human trading world above the typical human response time of one second, and the all-machine ecology of trading algorithms below one second. Just like cracks propagating in a structure prior to mechanical failure, these sub-second tsunamis escalated in the lead up to the 2008 financial meltdown. Most importantly, the stock showing highest proliferation are the banks that are now associated with the crisis. Yet nobody knew at the time. Indeed our research predicts a growing zoo of such tsunamis in the future, with each species having its own characteristic twist and turns. Governments need the financial equivalent of an air traffic control system in order to know how to manage this brave new world, and hence what rules (if any) to impose. This in turn will require a joint research program between trading houses, regulators and academics. However, instead of using conventional economics, the methodological approach should be built around complex adaptive systems and dynamical networks. Generative market models must be tested in real-time against high resolution data, to see if they can reproduce the observed price exchange dynamics down to the sub-second scale. Our own research predicts that these sub-second market movements will be neither completely unpredictable nor predictable, but will instead have pockets of predictability that come and go in particular ways. Estimates of the market share of different trading algorithms will enable real-time system management, while ensuring that the secrecy of individual trading entities remains intact. Without such a financial Manhattan Project, regulatory bodies will effectively be flying blind and may end up doing more harm than good. Read this: How to start your own currency . Read this: Would you bank with Starbucks? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Neil Johnson.

High frequency trading uses algorithms to conduct trades in fractions of a second . It can cause individual stock prices to spike and dip close to zero, says Neil Johnson . These "sub-second tsunamis" go unnoticed and are over in the blink of an eye . Governments need a financial "air traffic control system" to manage this, says Johnson .

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's new hard-line foreign minister immediately distanced himself Wednesday from the 2007 relaunch of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians adopted by his predecessor, Tzipi Livni. Avigdor Lieberman's remarks come amid concerns about the new Israeli government's view of the peace process. Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the far-right Yisrael Beytenu movement, said the Annapolis agreement was never adopted by Israel's government and is not binding. He said Israel is bound to follow the "road map" process, started earlier this decade. The road map, put together by the Mideast Quartet -- composed of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- calls on Israel to stop settlement building and Palestinians to stop terrorism. The Annapolis Peace Conference, held in November 2007 in Annapolis, Maryland, brought together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss a joint statement signed by the two Mideast leaders and U.S. President George W. Bush calling for a two-state solution. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said Wednesday that the United States stands by what was achieved at the Annapolis talks and supports "the two-state solution, and we will continue to work for that." Of the differences between U.S. policy and statements by the new Israel government, Duguid said, "We haven't heard their proposals yet. We haven't sat down with them." But Israelis generally have become frustrated with the peace processes and have moved to the right in recent years, because of the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israeli cities that sparked the country's Gaza offensive. Yisrael Beytenu, which had a successful showing in recent elections and has become a major power in Israeli party politics, is a beneficiary of that right-wing trend. Lieberman made the remarks in front of Livni during the handover ceremony at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. He took office after the formation of a new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian officials have been critical of Lieberman's positions on Israeli-Palestinian matters and are pessimistic about the new government's will in forging the necessary compromises to reach a peace. Netanyahu "does not believe in peace," Abbas said Wednesday, according to a report from WAFA, the Palestinian Authority's news agency. He urged the world to put pressure on the new Israeli prime minister to make peace. Lieberman's remarks underscore concerns about the Israeli government's way forward regarding peace talks. They come a day after Netanyahu made conciliatory comments about relations with the Palestinians but stopped short of endorsing a two-state solution, the end result foreseen in both the road map and the Annapolis processes. Abbas was also quoted as saying, "Netanyahu never believed in a two-state solution or accepted signed agreements and does not want to stop settlement activity. This is obvious." Israeli President Shimon Peres, presiding over the prime minister's changeover ceremony, made reference to the importance of the two-state vision. "In parallel with the strengthening of Israel's security, the government under your leadership must invest great effort in advancing the peace process on every front," Peres told Lieberman. "The outgoing government espoused the vision of two states, for two peoples, which was initiated by the American government and accepted by the majority of countries in the world. It is up to your government to decide the shape of the reality to come." Lieberman called Egypt a key player in the region and said it has a major role in quelling the instability there. He criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year because the Egyptian leader has never visited Israel. At that time, Lieberman said, "if he wants to talk to us, he should come here. If he doesn't want to come here, he can go to hell." His remarks drew widespread criticism in Egypt and the Arab world. Lieberman said Wednesday that he expected to be invited to visit Egypt and expected that country's representatives to visit the Jewish state. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab League countries to have full diplomatic relations with Israel. The prime minister's office said Wednesday that U.S. President Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin phoned Netanyahu to congratulate him. Both leaders agreed to meet soon with the new Israeli prime minister. The office said Obama repeated America's unqualified commitment to Israel's security, and it characterized the half-an-hour conversation between Obama and Netanyahu as "friendly and constructive." Duguid said, "Israel is a close friend and ally, and we remain unalterably committed to Israel's security." "We will work closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu's government to advance the cause of peace and stability in the Middle East and move the parties in the direction of a two-state solution. We have full confidence in and will continue to support the government of Israel and we will work together for durable and lasting peace in the region." Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have handed off day-to-day work on the Middle East to special envoy George Mitchell, the former Maine senator who is a veteran of peace negotiations in Northern Ireland.

Israel is bound to follow "road map" process instead, he says . Annapolis Peace Conference deal isn't binding, Lieberman says . State Department says U.S. stands by Annapolis talks . Palestinian officials skeptical of new government's views on peace process .

(CNN) -- I am white. I know that's a terribly big surprise, considering that I write a blog called Stuff White People Like, but I mean it, I'm white. Like really white. I'm not attempting to assert some sort of superiority through my whiteness; quite the opposite actually. Thanks to my liberal upbringing, I am imbued with the appropriate amount of guilt and shame about my ancestors and their actions in the New World. Even in my home, I can't offer a blanket to a nonwhite friend without the fear that they will look at me and say "no smallpox on this right?" A joke, but I still want to apologize. I'm a white male. I belong to a group that pretty much always been able to own land and to vote. I'm more or less from the kind that grabbed power somewhere after the fall of Rome and never let go. In other words, I'm the kind of white guy that has never experienced any real oppression. Although I guess my ancestors technically left England because of some religious persecution and in spite of a rough boat ride and a rough first Thanksgiving, it's safe to say it worked out pretty well. Unless you got one of those aforementioned blankets. But in addition to being white and having ancestors on the Mayflower, I'm also Canadian. Yes, I know that might actually make me more white than before, but it also technically makes me an immigrant to this country. Still, I am loath to call myself an immigrant because I don't want to demean the very real, very difficult challenges faced by immigrants to this country who have had to overcome differences in language, culture and distance from their families. I would say my biggest hardship has been trying to find Ketchup Chips. But in the eyes of the U.S. government, I am an immigrant, the same as someone from China, Mexico or India. I would not be in this country had I not met my wife in graduate school, and I am thankful every day for her and the opportunity to live in the United States. So when the census came around, I was absolutely thrilled. I've lived in the United States for eight years (four of them as a graduate student), and in that time, I have never been able to vote or access any public services. The census meant I was going to be counted, I was going to be a part of American history. A good part, not that blanket part. When the form arrived, I scanned the options and quickly checked "white." I would have checked "Canadian" but that option wasn't anywhere to be found. There it was, I was a white American, or technically a white American Permanent Resident. But then I started thinking about what it really means to be a white American. As long as America has been around, I would have been considered white. I would have checked the same box in the 1790 census, had my relatives decided to stay on their land instead of moving to Canada to stay loyal to the King of England. But not everyone who checked that box on the census has always been considered white. Irish, Italian, Jewish, German and Eastern European have all been considered not white. or at the very least "not American." All of these groups came to America amid widespread discrimination, and yet through the process of assimilation and Americanization, the status of white was slowly conferred upon them (read "The History of White People" or "How the Irish Became White" for actual, intelligent research on how this happened). And with this new-found white status also came the status of "ethnically American." Of course, a lot of people will say that there is no such thing as an ethnic American and that everyone who becomes a citizen is an American. And this is true to the letter of the law, but if we consider the popular perception of immigration and the American dream, to say that white skin has nothing to do with it would be complete folly. In the popular myth, immigrants arrive as huddled masses yearning to be free and most of the women wear scarves around their head. They move to the Lower East Side or some other suitably "ethnic" community, they change a last name, they learn English and within one generation they are welcomed into the country as ethnic Americans and granted that wonderful privilege of checking the white box on the census. The reality is that America has a long history of welcoming immigrants who will never be able to check that white box on the census, and unfortunately that means America also has a long history of discrimination against those people regardless of their status in the country. Just one example would be the treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II contrasted against the treatment of German-Americans. But all of that was in the past right? Well, ask yourself this: Who is more likely to get pulled over and forced to show his papers in Arizona today? A first generation Canadian immigrant, or a 10th generation Mexican-American? What I hope this census will force the country to deal with is the fact that white immigrants like me will never again make up the majority of people that come to this country. America is not getting whiter, it will never get whiter. Well, unless we start handing those blankets out again. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Christian Lander.

Christian Lander checked the "white" box on the 2010 census form, but says it's complicated . He's an immigrant (Canada), but has access to historical advantages of "white" box . Popular myth of U.S. immigration doesn't include discrimination against non-whites, he says . Lander: Census should remind us that America is moving away from a "white" box majority .

(CNN)Like many 23-year-olds, Alain Nteff has big dreams. What sets him apart from most, however, is what he's actually trying to achieve: wiping out maternal mortality. The Cameroonian entrepreneur is the co-founder of Gifted Mom, a mobile health platform that uses low-cost technology to help mothers and pregnant women access medical advice in out-of-the-way, rural communities. His invention landed him an invitation to the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, where he was one of this year's Global Shapers, a group of 20 to 30-year-olds who are tipped for future leadership roles. He was also the youngest participant. The seed for the Gifted Mom idea was planted in 2012 when Nteff, then a 20-year-old engineering student, visited a hospital in rural Cameroon where his friend Conrad Tankou was doing his medical practice. There he witnessed several mothers and newborns die from conditions that could have been predicted and managed with proper antenatal care. Nteff was deeply affected by what he saw, and together with Tankou started thinking of ways in which they could use their skills to tackle the issue of maternal and infant mortality. "I'm passionate about using technology to solve problems in my community, and I just saw it as an opportunity to apply my engineering to solve one of the world's biggest and oldest problems," says Nteff. Low-cost, far reach . His answer was to create an SMS service that expectant and new mothers could register for to receive advice about their health, including why it's important to have regular check-ups: "We realized that there was a need to create a low cost channel to educate women on when they should go for antenatal care and when they should take their babies for vaccination," says the entrepreneur. Initially only eight women signed up, but through word-of-mouth the reputation of Gifted Mom grew, and today the service has 2,100 subscribers across the whole country. Registering is easy -- a woman just has to text MOM to 8006 to receive a call back and get help signing up. Or, she can text a particular health question to the same number and get a reply from a doctor. Gifted Mom works with the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action, a USAID-backed movement that uses mobile technology to improve maternal health in the developing world, and a team of medical doctors led by Tankou to find answers to the queries. "The SMS we sent to the first pregnant woman was special -- she said that when she read it she felt so much joy, and she was telling me 'I feel now that somebody's got my back,'" says Nteff. There is a one-off subscription fee of less than one dollar, but all subsequent messages which include alerts for when vaccinations for newborns are due, are free. In order to include the roughly 17% of Cameroonian women who are illiterate, the Gifted Mom team are also developing voice technology in four widely spoken traditional languages. Last September, Nteff was named the grand prize winner of the $25,000 Anzisha Prize, a pan-African award celebrating entrepreneurs aged 15-22 who've come up with innovative ways to solve problems in their communities, or have launched successful businesses in their areas. "The message I am trying to send out with my team is that the problem of maternal and infant death is not a woman issue -- it's a humanitarian issue," he says. "Everybody should take [it] seriously -- we all have mothers, we all have sisters, and it's not just a problem for women or girls. Game of odds . Improving maternal health has been one of U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals, and while the maternal mortality ratio has dropped by 45 % between 1990 and 2013, a woman's odds for survival dramatically depend on where she delivers her baby. In the developed world, the risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth is one in 3700, but in Sub-Saharan Africa that number jumps to one in 38 -- nearly a hundred times more. Cameroon has particularly bad odds for expectant mothers, with over 590 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births which is one of the highest ratios in both Africa and the world. Around 64% of new mothers in the country don't receive any medical check-ups after delivering a baby according to the World Health Organization. Alain Nteff thinks that this could be because women living in remote communities with no hospitals and health centers often don't know what steps they need to take to ensure that they and their newborns are healthy. "Our mission is really to create a world of mothers who are gifted. A world that is free of maternal and infant death -- a world of gifted moms," he says. More from African Start-Up . Read this: How to start a booming biz with $10 . Read this: Catch a ride on a bamboo bike .

Gifted Mom is a mobile health platform which uses low-cost technology to help mothers and pregnant women access medical advice . It was started by the 23-year-old Cameroonian entrepreneur Alain Nteff . Gifted Mom sends pregnant women and mothers alert for vaccinations, checkups and answers their medical queries . A woman is nearly 100 times more at risk of dying during childbirth or pregnancy in Africa than in the developed world .

(CNN) -- As he rolls across the wheat fields of his Nebraska farm, Steve Tucker often has his hands not on the wheel of his tractor, but on a smartphone. Steve Tucker, a Twittering farmer, pauses in front of his tractor in Nebraska. He sometimes posts a dozen messages per day on Twitter, commenting on everything from the weather to the state of his crops to his son's first tractor ride and even last night's cheeseburger. "Got rained out trying to finish up planting corn. Only 90 acres left. Maybe it will dry up today and I can finish Lord willin'," he wrote in one recent post. "Just sold some more wheat, now, I wait for God to provide the harvest so I can fill the contracts," the 39-year-old said in another. "Eat more bread!" Tucker is proof that smartphones are starting to put down roots in rural America. He lives in a 150-person town near Brandon, Nebraska -- a place even he calls "the middle of nowhere." The nearest neighbor to his 4,000-acre farm is about 2 miles away. Yet, farmers like Tucker are using Internet-enabled phones to gain a foothold on online social networks -- both for business and personal reasons. (Follow him on Twitter) "I can be in the most remote place and just with the power of having a BlackBerry ... I can communicate with anybody at anytime about anything," he said. "It is just amazing." The growth of smartphones on farms is important because many people don't think about where their food comes from, much less associate a specific farmer with that process, said Andy Kleinschmidt, a farmer and agricultural extension educator at Ohio State University. "When you can put a name or personality with someone who's actually raising corn and soybeans or actually milking cows, that's the most important thing that's come about in my opinion," he said. A host of blogs and Twitter feeds have popped up around the subjects of technology and life on the farm. On Tuesdays from 8 to 10 p.m. ET, farmers meet on Twitter for a live chat about all things agricultural. You can watch that conversation by searching for agchat on the site. Kleinschmidt said he uses a smartphone to check live weather reports, which can make or break a year's crop. Other farmers send him pictures of ailing plants, hoping to identify crop diseases early. Some farmers use their phones as notepads, tracking their applications of pesticides, he said. Developers of phone applications apparently have taken notice of the farm-tech trend, too. An iPhone application called PureSense helps techie farmers in drought-stricken places monitor how much water is in their soil at various locations and in real time. Historically, farms have lagged behind the rest of country in Internet and computer usage. But a 2007 census by the U.S. Department of Agriculture says Web use on farms is increasing. High-speed Internet access doubled on U.S. farms between 2005 and 2007, for instance, jumping from 13 percent to 27 percent. That's still less than the general population, however. Fifty-five percent of farms had Internet access in 2007 compared with 62 percent of homes in the United States overall, according to government statistics. The census does not measure smartphone penetration. Internet-enabled phones are making their way into rural America slowly because it's difficult to send Internet data over cellular networks in some sparsely populated areas where wireless service is spotty, some advocates have claimed. Still, some farmers are adopting the technology despite the odds. The biggest draw of smartphones and online social networks is that they provide human connections to people for whom farm life can be lonely, said Chuck Zimmerman, publisher of an agriculture news blog called agwired.com. "Most farmers are going to be in their [tractor] cab," he said. "You're going all day long, night and day -- it can get a little bit boring, you know? So, a lot of them have satellite radio, smartphones, iPhones, BlackBerries. I can't tell you how many farmers are following me who are tweeting form the cab." It's a misconception that farmers are behind the curve technologically, Zimmerman said. "In large part, farmers tend to be very early adopters of technology. We have the stereotypical image of a hayseed farmer that still persists -- out on a tractor with a straw hat on," he said. "The reality is that most of them are very highly trained from a technological standpoint." Tucker said his job on the farm in Nebraska includes more than harvesting wheat, corn, sunflowers and millet. He wants to bring urban Internet users along for the ride. And in doing so, he's become a sort of text-happy evangelist for rural America. "People out in the cities aren't familiar with agriculture like it used to be 100 years ago. They may not have an appreciation or an understanding of what goes on out in the rural side of things," he said. "I just try to be an information source for whoever may be listening." So that's what he does from his tractor -- one tweet at a time.

Smartphones and online social networks are gaining popularity on farms . Farmers use Internet phones to check weather and monitor pesticides . Nebraska farmer says his Twitter posts help bridge the urban-rural divide . Another says phones and social media connect eaters with sources of food .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential search team on Tuesday shared with a Democratic senator the names of about 20 people under consideration to be the presumptive Democratic nominee's running mate. Sen. Barack Obama has a broad spectrum of candidates as potential running mates. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, said that some of those considered are "top officials now," others are "former lawmakers" and others are "former top military leaders." He said many of the names already have been "bandied about" in the media, but others were "outside the box." He declined to give examples. Conrad said the team wanted his impressions about the people considered, the "respect" others hold for them and their "standing with their colleagues." The list may not have included everyone under consideration. Two of the three members of the search team, Jim Johnson and Eric Holder, came to Conrad's Capitol Hill office Tuesday morning for a "wide-ranging" and "free-form" meeting that lasted about 40 minutes, Conrad said. The third member of the team, Caroline Kennedy, was not there. Johnson and Holder arrived on Capitol Hill on Monday for several days of meetings with top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Watch panelists weigh in on possible VP picks » . They spent about 30 minutes with Reid on Monday before heading over to speak with House leaders, a senior Democratic aide said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he had a "good, long discussion" with Johnson and Holder and added, "They mentioned a lot of names." Obama brushed aside the notion Tuesday that Johnson, who heads the vice presidential search committee, contradicts the campaign's message because he has received favorable loans from Countrywide Financial, one of the companies at the center of the nation's mortgage crisis. "I am not vetting my VP search committees for their mortgages," Obama said in St. Louis, Missouri. "This is a game that can be played -- everybody, you know, who is anybody who is tangentially related to our campaign, I think, is going to have a whole host of relationships." The comments come two days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Johnson was the recipient of more than $7 million worth of home loans from Countrywide, made available through a program for friends of the company's chief executive officer. Ticker: Obama beats back criticism over head of VP search . Obama said last week that he would not respond to pressure from others about his choice of a running mate. "We have a committee that's made up of wonderful people. They are going to go through the procedure and vet and get recommendations. I will meet with a range of a people, and I will ultimately make a decision. iReport.com: Who should Obama, McCain pick? "I am a big believer in making decisions well, not making them fast and not responding to pressure," he said. Although Obama's campaign has not released the names of any front-runners for the VP spot, there's been a lot of speculation about who he will pick. Sen. Hillary Clinton, whose tenacious refusal to surrender the nomination contest turned the Democratic race into one of the most nail-biting in modern U.S. political history, has indicated that she would be willing to sign up on a joint ticket. Other possible front-runners include former presidential hopefuls Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and John Edwards. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who has often been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick, said Tuesday that if asked, he would "absolutely not" join the party's presidential ticket this fall. Strickland, who backed Clinton during the primary season, told National Public Radio's Michele Norris that he was taking himself out of the running. "Absolutely not. If drafted, I will not run; nominated, I will not accept; and if elected, I will not serve," he said in an interview scheduled to air Tuesday night. "So, I don't know how more crystal clear I can be." Obama lost the Ohio primary to Clinton. The swing state governor, who has endorsed Obama, dismissed the idea that all potential running mates deny interest in the job. "No, I don't think they all say that. I've heard people say, 'you know, if I was asked, it would certainly be something I would have to consider.' That does not mean that I am any less committed to helping Barack Obama become the next president." Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who has served on both armed services and intelligence committees in the Senate, has been mentioned as a possible contender. And ever since New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ruled out his own independent bid for the presidency, he's been seen as a potential running mate for both Obama and John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander who failed in his bid for the 2004 presidential nomination, could be in the running, along with a slew of current politicians including Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia. CNN's Kathleen Koch, Alexander Mooney, Rebecca Sinderbrand and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland takes himself out of the running for VP . Sen. Kent Conrad met with Obama's vice presidential vetting team Tuesday . Obama's VP search team includes Caroline Kennedy, Eric Holder, Jim Johnson . Conrad says top officials, former lawmakers, former top military leaders on list .

(CNN) -- Fresh accusations that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war have led many to renew calls for the world to take stronger actions to stop the growing humanitarian crisis. But recent polls have shown Americans are very reluctant to support military interventions in Syria. In a Huffington Post/YouGov poll, as few as 5% of respondents were willing to commit troops to the cause. The Obama administration has been similarly hesitant to get involved in Syria. Q&A: Is Syrian war escalating to wider conflict? While the administration has made some efforts to respond to humanitarian crises elsewhere in the world -- the U.S. joined NATO in its successful mission to assist Libyan rebels, military advisers have been sent to Uganda to combat the Lord's Resistance Army and to Jordan to help Syrian rebels -- full-scale military intervention in Syria does not appear to be on the table. Read more: Opposition source -- Syrian rebels get U.S.-organized training in Jordan . President Obama's varying view on humanitarian intervention is in keeping with over 20 years of inconsistent American policy on the issue. Over the last 20 years, the U.S. government has chosen to intervene in Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Haiti, and Libya while resisting calls to take action in Rwanda and Sudan. Read more: 5 reasons Syria's war suddenly looks more dangerous . To better predict whether the U.S. will intervene in Syria, or any other similar crisis, we must understand why Washington selectively engages in humanitarian intervention missions. Our recent research on when and why the U.S. engages in humanitarian intervention emphasizes two factors that might force the U.S. government's hand on humanitarian intervention: public opinion and Congressional partisanship. We analyzed public opinion polls and congressional votes during four episodes of humanitarian intervention -- Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo -- and found, as recent debates seems to suggest, humanitarian intervention is mired in the mundane world of politics. Contrary to conventional wisdom, politics do not end at "water's edge." There is some good news to report: both the general public and individual legislators understand and are responsive to the moral imperative of stopping humanitarian crises. The public is generally supportive of humanitarian missions. Even in the recent polls on Syria, respondents believe something should be done, even if they are unsupportive of military action by the U.S.. Opinion: Give peace talks in Syria a chance . Further, Congress is not wholly unresponsive to public preferences regarding intervention in humanitarian emergencies. Legislative support is more likely in cases where public opinion generally favors intervention. Those who push for more humanitarian missions can increase support for such missions by raising public outcry for action. But the bad news is that humanitarian crises, like in Syria, which should rise above politics as usual, are often mired in that very spot. Opinion: Why the Syrian quagmire threatens Turkey . Although public opinion appears to have an influence on legislative behavior, traditional factors such as partisanship have the strongest influence on how legislators cast their votes. Humanitarian intervention is most likely when the U.S. president enjoys a majority in Congress. In the case of the 1990s, humanitarian interventions failed to get off the ground when President Clinton lost majorities in Congress. If American politics is becoming increasingly partisan, future administrations should have an even harder time galvanizing the domestic support they need to address any humanitarian crises. Opinion: Obama's no-win options in Syria . This does not mean, however, that humanitarian intervention will only occur when a president enjoys a majority in Congress. As the recently launched humanitarian missions suggest, politicians are learning the lessons of the 1990s and circumventing Congress. This helps explain why President Obama's decision to contribute the U.S. military to NATO operations in Libya proceeded without Congressional authorization; the president was surely aware that such a vote would go down to defeat in a Republican-controlled House and deeply partisan Senate. Congress was similarly bypassed in October 2011 when the administration deployed military advisers to Uganda. Congress was similarly bypassed in 2011 and 2013 when the administration deployed military advisers to Uganda and Jordan, respectively. For those who advocate for a strong humanitarian intervention in Syria, our research does not paint a completely gloomy picture. Instead, it simply suggests that domestic political will is a necessary precondition for intervention missions and should not be overlooked. It is important to recognize that partisan bickering and political jockeying shape responses to humanitarian crises just as in trade policy, arms control, and immigration politics. While the atrocities are singular in their importance, the politics of dealing with them are not. For those eager to craft a uniform and effective international response to humanitarian crises as in Syria, they must first turn their attention to domestic politics. The political elites who must decide when, whether, where and how to fulfill the responsibility to protect, face their own domestic political battles. Ignoring these contexts threatens to over-simplify both the problems and the promises of humanitarian intervention. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Timothy Hildebrandt, Courtney Hillebrecht and Jon Pevehouse.

Experts: Washington selectively engages in humanitarian intervention missions . Domestic political will is a necessary precondition for intervention missions, they say . Polls show Americans are very reluctant to support military interventions in Syria .

(CNN) -- Australian cricketer Phil Hughes remains in a critical condition in hospital after being hit by a ball during a match in Sydney. The 25-year-old South Australia batsman, who has played for his country, collapsed after he was struck by a "bouncer" from New South Wales bowler Sean Abbott. The game was immediately halted as Hughes received treatment. He was eventually taken from the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to the city's St Vincent's Hospital. "Phil remains in a critical condition in intensive care. He's in the hands of some of the best specialists available for this type of injury so we'll just wait and see," said hospital spokesman David Faktor. The batsman underwent surgery on Tuesday, immediately after the accident, and his family and members of his cricket team remained with him at the hospital, Faktor added. Hughes was "intubated" by medical staff who flew by helicopter to the ground. The procedure involves inserting a tube into the body to enable that person to breathe. However, the hospital would not confirm media reports that the player was in an induced coma. Hughes was playing for South Australia against Sydney-based New South Wales, a team he represented between 2007 and 2012. "As you are aware Phil Hughes was hit and injured by a bouncer at the SCG this afternoon," read a statement from Cricket New South Wales. "He received immediate treatment at the ground led by CNSW and CA Chief Medical Officer Dr John Orchard. He was then taken to hospital by ambulance and is receiving the best available care. "For privacy and accuracy reasons we are not in a position to discuss the medical details and we would be grateful if you would respect the privacy of the Hughes family and all the players at this time. "Players and staff from both South Australia and New South Wales are obviously very concerned for Phil's health and, like Phil, are receiving appropriate support. "Phil grew up in NSW and is a former Blue and is held in the highest regard by his current and former teammates. "The thoughts and prayers of all at Cricket NSW and indeed everyone in Australian Cricket are with Phil the very best for a speedy and full recovery." 'Freak accident' Hughes has played for his country in 26 Test matches, most famously against England in 2013. He shared a record 10th-wicket partnership of 163 runs with teammate Ashton Agar. After joining Middlesex in England in 2009, Hughes struck up a strong friendship with fellow batsman Nick Compton. Compton, who has represented England in nine Test matches, was shocked to hear of his friend's "freak accident." "I feel sick, I feel devastated. I'm sitting here with a former colleague of mine and we just feel a bit numb," said Compton in a phone conversation with CNN. "I've sent messages (to the family) but it's not a time when you want to get in the way. They've got more important things to worry about. "Everyone is supporting him, there are a lot of well wishers out there. It's very difficult to know what the extent of the damage is." Compton and Hughes lived together in London during their time as Middlesex teammates. "We played together and got to know each other quite well," explained Compton. "We ended up living together in West Hampstead. He's one of my best buddies, one of my best mates in the cricket. He's a great guy, a fantastic batsman." The "bouncer," a delivery which is pitched short so it bounces up at the batsman's upper body, is common tactic for bowlers to use in cricket. Despite Hughes' accident, Compton does not think cricket has a problem with head protection. "It's awkward, it's part of the game. For the bowler, it's not his fault. It's one of those freak accidents," said the 31-year old. "On another day, you do exactly the same thing and it glances off your helmet, you get a bit of a bruise, you feel a bit 'ugh' and that's about it. Every batsman has been hit at some point, some worse than others. It's worrying. "It's the unpredictability of sport, that's what makes it what it is. It's a tough one to get right. If you want an absolutely risk-free occupation, don't play sport. "The helmets these days are very well made. It's hit him in an absolute freak place." Wickets harder, faster . The hot, dry conditions of an Australian summer, explains Compton, create hard pitches, which suit fast bowlers. "Watching the footage, him falling flat on his face, it's not a nice image and it's horrible to see. It's probably more likely to happen in somewhere like Australia, where the wickets are harder and faster. "It's a quick delivery that Phil's misjudged. Everyone wears a helmet these days and it's one of the risks of playing the sport. "We all play the game and millions have got through their careers without being hit, this was just a horrific accident." The Australian Cricketers' Association is talking to Cricket Australia about arranging counseling for anyone affected by the incident.

Australian cricketer Phil Hughes was struck by a ball during a match in Sydney . Hospital says he is in a critical condition after undergoing surgery . Hughes was playing for South Australia against New South Wales at the time .

(CNN) -- With the advent of "cyberwar," a poorly defined term that seems to be used as a catch-all phrase for all manners of computer-related attacks, it's natural to ask about cyber arms control. Richard Clarke, former cybersecurity adviser to President Obama, has advocated along with others for cyber arms control or new legal rules for war in cyberspace. If governments have the ability to build the tools of cyberwarfare, then presumably, they can regulate and control them. But realistically, it's unlikely that cyber arms control will happen anytime soon. When we think of arms control, we consider the efforts of the Cold War, which dramatically cut the number of nuclear weapons and other strategic armaments, from the period of detente to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. Arms control works fairly well for managing the arsenals of weapons that are large and complex. However, cyberweapons are of a different league. All you need is training in computer software engineering and some talent. On the Internet, there is readily available literature on coding and hacking, and of course, a plethora of open source tools. Just as easy as it is to be an effective cyberdefender, you can learn to be an effective offensive cyber-operator. Cyber attacks can be crafted and used by individuals or groups. Importantly, they can make impact even without significant involvement from a nation. For example, the Anonymous hacker group is able to disrupt major corporations and even countries with its campaigns for transparency. Furthermore, when Anonymous is unable to disrupt a target, it typically resorts to overtaking websites with massive denial of service attacks. Despite the role of nonstate players, it is the brinkmanship between countries in cyberspace that make the big headlines. Mandiant, a cybersecurity company, reported a series of cyber attacks on U.S. companies that was traced to China's People's Liberation Army unit 61398 based in Shanghai. One of the lessons in the analysis is how remarkably effective the Chinese attackers were despite a stunning lack of sophistication and sloppiness in their tradecraft. In contrast, our biggest and most innovative corporations have developed and deployed sophisticated defense systems that still seem to be regularly breached, despite the efforts of their comically inept adversaries. If the Chinese PLA ever gets its act together, we're in real trouble. How might this get worse? We already know that cyber-espionage can harm companies. The risks of cybersabotage can be worse. For example, industrial control systems are largely computer controlled and they can be reached in some cases from the Internet. Future terrorist organizations could cause spectacular physical and economic damage to our refineries, power plants, water systems, pipelines and other important systems without leaving a marked trail or suffering significant personal risk. In the wake of the Stuxnet attacks on Iran's uranium-refinement centrifuges or the Shamoon attack on Saudi Aramco's computers, cybersabotage can no longer be considered theoretical. It is happening now. It's not difficult to imagine a future in which cyber attacks become more frequent or serious. In such a world, there will be a need for diplomacy and norm-setting among the international community. But if we ever wanted to consider treaties on cyber disarmament, or regulations on the use of hacking tools by those wishing to do more than simply spy or steal, we would become immediately stymied by how to enforce the rules. Barring a radical change in the technological playing field, there will never be an effective cyber equivalent of the International Atomic Energy Agency despite all the aspirations of organizations like the International Telecommunications Union to serve such a function. The very idea that an international organization could enforce rules on the misuse of computers is ludicrous. The problem of cyber arms control is akin to the greatest arms control failure of the Cold War, which still persists: the mass distribution of the most produced firearm in human history, the Kalashnikov AK-47. According to the World Bank, as many as 100 million of these brutally simple weapons are scattered across the globe (roughly one for every 70 people on the planet, and that excludes the millions of Western military rifles out there, too). From every major trouble spot, we see footage of Kalashnikov-wielding soldiers, terrorists and rebels. Global attempts to sweep up such weapons, as well as their bigger and more volatile relatives -- rocket-propelled grenades -- have been mostly ineffective. The U.N. has worked for more than a decade on an Arms Trade Treaty designed to limit the illicit trade of such weapons, but a final draft of the treaty is stalled. For better or for worse, the Internet has become one more field upon which the game of nations is played. Just as the Internet can be used for sharing information and enabling commerce, it can also be used to steal secrets and to cause damage. In the short term, we might see private industry adopt defensive practices. In the long term, while we may never be able to eliminate electronic espionage, we may be able to reduce its reach through vigilance and diplomacy. As for cyber arms control, forget about it. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Christopher Bronk and Dan Wallach.

Christopher Bronk, Dan Wallach: Cyber arms control is unlikely to happen soon . Bronk, Wallach: Cyberattacks can be crafted and launched by individuals, groups . They say nations don't even have to be involved for an attack to have impact . Bronk, Wallach: It's hard to get rid of cyberattacks, but they can be curbed with diplomacy .

(CNN) -- Under the baking hot skies of the Persian Gulf the region's travel hubs are showing they're not just places to change planes -- they're destinations in their own right. The Gulf's "Big Three" carriers -- Dubai-based Emirates, Abu Dhabi's Etihad, and Doha-based Qatar Airways -- have grown dramatically over the last decade, opening new routes and competing with the biggest names in aviation. Conveniently placed between east and west, the Gulf's geographic location has been a major factor in these industry-reshaping developments. Anywhere in the world is one stop from the Gulf. Add to this the investment in state-of-the-art airports and vast new plane fleets, as well as the acquisition of stakes in some of Europe's biggest airlines which have ruptured traditional airline alliances, and it is clear why more and more commercial traffic is making a pit-stop in the region. Watch video: 'Gulf Three' shake up global aviation . But the "Big Three" are keen to stress that Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai are more than just strategically located landing strips in the desert. Each is a thriving commercial and cultural destination with plenty to offer travelers passing through the region. Dubai . Literally built out of the sand, Dubai set out on its meteoric rise into the global community in the early 1970s. In just three decades it grew from a humble fishing and trading dock into a world-renowned tax-free business haven. With artificial islands, gaudy luxury hotels and colossal skyscrapers, modern Dubai is nothing if not spectacular. And according to Emirates president Tim Clarke, Dubai is more than just a transfer hub. "Dubai is such a great place to live and work, have your family, have education, health, etc. The lifestyle is very good," Clarke told CNN's Richard Quest. "Remember, we have nearly 80,000 hotel rooms here, which is a lot more than most large cities in the world today," he added. Watch video: Emirates shakes up aviation industry . Top attraction: Any traveler will struggle to miss the world's largest building, the Burj Khalifa, which is more than 2,700 feet tall and offers the perfect vantage point to view the city's ever expanding skyline. Where to stay: Dubai may have a huge number of hotels but few are more impressive than the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, which offers jacuzzis in every suite, an army of trained butlers and guest access to a fleet of chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce cars. Abu Dhabi . Like Dubai, downtown Abu Dhabi has its fair share of large mirror-and-glass buildings that stretch high into the sky. Unlike its upstart neighbor, however, the emirate is eager to emphasize its cultural and traditional heritage alongside its shiny modern facade. A number of important Islamic and historical sites are dotted across Abu Dhabi, whilst plans are in place to open branches of major museums such as the Louvre and Guggenheim by 2017. See also: The desert gem stepping out of Dubai's shadow . Top attraction: The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is one of the biggest in the world. Spread over 22,000 square meters it can accommodate a staggering 41,000 worshipers. Abu Dhabi's close proximity to the desert means even short-stay travelers can take a trip out onto its sun-drenched dunes. Where to stay: Built in 2005, the Emirates Palace Hotel is located on a private beach. Despite its youth, the 114 domes that grace the opulent hotel evoke traditional Arabian architecture. Doha . Unlike Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the Qatari capital of Doha has less experience when it comes to welcoming foreign tourists and travelers. This situation will change dramatically in the coming years as the tiny nation prepares to host the football extravaganza of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A detailed plan is already in place to develop tourism in Qatar, although the CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, is keen for the country to maintain its cultural integrity. "We don't want to be a mass-tourism destination, we want to be very selective," he told Quest. "We have a lot of culture in this country, the people's mindset is different. We want to respect that mindset ... and grow our tourism in a way that does not dispute the cultural fabric of my country." Watch video: A new chapter for Qatar Airways? Top attraction: The Museum of Islamic Art only opened its doors in 2009 but it claims its collection of Islamic pieces is already one of the most extensive in the world. The Souq Waqif, which has been situated on the same site for more than a century, is the perfect place to pick up a traditional souvenir. Where to stay: At 300 meters high, the Torch Hotel is the tallest building in Doha and offers spectacular 360-degree views across the city as well as a spectacular architecture. See also: 5 destinations to explore in Qatar .

Shift in the aviation industry bringing new travelers to the Persian Gulf . Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways are at the forefront of these developments . Gulf nations hope to benefit from increased air traffic into the region .

(CNN) -- In the world of golf, the next generation of stars just keeps on getting younger. Ever since Judy Rankin blazed a trail by entering the 1959 U.S. Women's Open at the age of 14, the sport has been a playground for many a young pretender. Lucy Li was the latest child prodigy to rewrite the record books in May when she became the youngest player to ever qualify for the U.S. Women's Open, aged just 11, although she failed to make the cut at last month's event. The men's game is in similar rude health. Guan Tianlang became the youngest player to make the cut in a major championship following his appearance as a 14-year-old at the 2013 Masters, while Jordan Spieth nearly became the youngest player to win that tournament in April at the age of 20. "We are encountering them more often. They are exceptionally mature guys for their age," former teen prodigy Matteo Manassero told CNN of the young players coming through the ranks. "They are extremely powerful guys that can perform extremely well. They have the confidence and the freedom of being young to perform against their idols." Manassero, now a seasoned tour pro at the age of just 21, speaks from experience. The Italian was the most successful teenager in European Tour history and remains the youngest player to win one of its events. At the age of 17 years and 188 days -- before he had even learned how to drive a car -- he triumphed at the 2010 Castello Masters, and has since backed that up with three more European Tour wins, including the flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2013. Before Tianlang, Manassero was the youngest player to make the cut at the Masters, aged 16 in 2010 -- his 36th-place finish at Augusta ranked as the best performance by a European amateur for 73 years. "I can certainly speak for Tianglang and he was extremely mature," Manassero said. "You can just see the way he was at Augusta. Aged 14 and he knew what he wanted to do, he knew where he wanted to hit it, he knew how far ... at 14 that's certainly exceptional." Lexi Thompson, Ye Wocheng, Andy Zhang, Ryo Ishikawa and Lydia Ko are just a few of golf's child prodigies. Each of the quintet made their own piece of history while still on the amateur circuit -- something Manassero views as essential in the process of fast-tracking youngsters to global golfing fame. "I think amateur golf is one important key aspect of this and I am sure that young guys 15 years ago, they were totally able even at 17 to play with the pros, but they just probably didn't really know that they could," he says. After becoming the youngest winner of the British Amateur Championship in 2009, Manassero went on to place 13th at that year's British Open Championship, earning himself the Silver Medal for the leading non-pro in the process. "Amateur golf, from my point of view, made me believe that I could compete at any level because it was really, really competitive," he says. "You know, we were winning tournaments and seeing golf courses in which they also played European tournaments. "The standard is really, really high, it is very competitive. I was playing all over Europe, I was playing in America too when I was 15, 16 as an amateur, so it was really almost like being a professional. The only difference was school." Manassero turned professional in May 2010 -- two weeks after his 17th birthday -- to become the second youngest member in European Tour history after Seve Ballesteros. He had to wait just five months before his first win on the tour, and he credits the likes of Rory McIlroy, who also made a successful transition upon turning professional, with helping him to that maiden triumph in Spain. "You get a lot of confidence from playing with great players, with tough opponents. Once I turned pro and I started doing well, I saw Rory a little before me, a few years before me," he says. "It inspires you and gives you confidence and makes you think that you can do it too. Professional golf is really tough, but once you're in it you can do it even if you are young." In golfing terms, Manassero is still a baby with a long career lying ahead of him. And despite his recent frustrations, including a 118th-place finish in his PGA Championship title defense -- won by McIlroy in May -- his enthusiasm for the sport remains the same as when he was teeing up at Augusta for the first time with the eyes of the world upon him. "It's not been a fantastic period lately but I am still enjoying it, the days that I go out and shoot a big score, I am having a lot of fun," Manassero says. "In general, when I am at a tournament that is the place I want to be. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Until I'm going to feel different, it's going to be fine, it's going to be great."

Matteo Manassero is encouraged by the number of young golfers coming through . Manassero is the youngest player ever to win an event on the European Tour . The Italian is targeting his first win since the European PGA Championship triumph in 2013 .

(CNN)Oh, that pesky history of ours. Always holding us back. Why not just take a big ole' eraser to it? Smudge out the ugly parts. That's essentially what some Oklahoma lawmakers aimed to do this week. You may have read about it: An education committee in my home state -- a place with plenty of historical blemishes and oodles of modern-day screw-ups -- actually approved a bill that would rewrite advanced placement U.S. History classes, potentially eliminating them. The cause? They paint America in too negative a light. To get a full sense of how ludicrous this proposal is, you need to hear straight from its sponsor, Dan Fisher, a Republican state representative from a suburb of Oklahoma City. "In essence, we have a new emphasis on what is bad about America," Fisher said in a committee hearing, according to a CNN report. "(The new framework) trades an emphasis on America's founding principles of constitutional government in favor of robust analyses of gender and racial oppression and class ethnicity and the lives of marginalized people, where the emphasis on instruction is of America as a nation of oppressors and exploiters." Fisher's bill, as it was proposed, bars state money from going to AP U.S. history courses, according to CNN. It also requires the replacement class to cover a number of "founding documents of the United States that contributed to the foundation or maintenance of the representative form of limited government, the free-market economic system and American exceptionalism." Oh, and speeches by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Sense a political slant there? Nah. The proposal is a major sideshow in a state with some serious educational failings. Education Week ranked Oklahoma's educational system 48th out of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., "with an overall score of 67.6 out of 100 points and a grade of D-plus." A D-plus! Hoo-rah! Better cut back on those think-y classes. The state's teachers make, on average, about $44,000 per year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, which uses stats from the 2012-2013 school year. The national average is more than $56,000. Fisher could use his time to focus on either of these issues -- poor educational performance or low teacher pay -- instead of distracting all of us with this heap of revisionist, partisan nonsense. The AP history bill itself is being rewritten, The Tulsa World reported on Wednesday. And Fisher apparently has backed off wanting to kill AP U.S. history altogether. But, I'm sorry. That's almost beside the point. What bothers me is that Fisher had the gall to propose something so ludicrous in the first place. Doing so makes my home state -- a place I'm immensely proud of -- look ridiculous. It wastes my time and yours. And, more to the point, it flies arrogantly in the face of history. American history -- despite what Fisher or those Republicans at the National Prayer Breakfast might say -- is anything but crisp, clean and "exceptional." This is one of the greatest countries on Earth, to be sure. We have freedoms of speech and religion that are unmatched worldwide. But we are not perfect. We have to acknowledge that. Embrace it. It's the only way we can move forward. The only way we prevent history from repeating itself. Oklahoma -- Fisher and his fringe cohorts aside -- has proven to be good at this. Oklahoma City was the site of one of the worst terror attacks in this country's history, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. An American, Timothy McVeigh, was executed for that crime. Now, the city has a beautiful memorial in tribute to the victims of that tragedy. It has a museum decrying hate. It cherishes the "survivor tree," a beautiful American Elm, which withstood that 1995 blast and now serves as a symbol of the city's and the state's resilience in the face of hardship. You can't erase those memories, and Oklahomans wouldn't want to. You learn from them. The same goes for the "robust analyses of gender and racial oppression and class ethnicity and the lives of marginalized people" that the Oklahoma rep seems so bothered by. This is a country that remains ensnared by all those things. We can't close our eyes and plug our ears. We're still tangled in the awful legacy of slavery and the racism that's followed. The Trail of Tears marched American Indians into present day Oklahoma, and it's not such a distant cultural memory, especially there. Nationwide, women still aren't paid as much as men for the same work. And there are still 13 states where gay and lesbian people aren't allowed to be married -- and 29, including Oklahoma, according to the Human Rights Campaign, where they can be fired because of their sexual orientation. These injustices are historic -- and they're now. You'd think we'd get that. But apparently it bears repeating. So, I guess, does this: We have to learn from these mistakes in order to move forward. Sweeping them aside in favor of preaching "exceptionalism" in the classroom isn't just ignorant -- it's dangerous. Instead of rewriting history we should learn from it. And write a better future.

Oklahoma lawmaker proposes rewrite of U.S. history class . John Sutter: Such efforts are not only ignorant, they're dangerous .

(CNN) -- Same time, same date, same length. No, you haven't stepped into a time machine -- President Barack Obama's address to the nation on his strategy for dealing with the threat posed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, delivered on September 10, 2014, had some striking similarities to his address on airstrikes against Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria delivered exactly a year earlier. The bottom line was different. On September 10, 2013, Obama announced the United States would not be launching airstrikes in Syria; on Wednesday, he announced the U.S. military would. Here's what changed and what didn't over the past year: . WHAT'S CHANGED? No set timeline . In his 2013 address, Obama was very clear that any military action in Syria would have been limited in its scope. "This would be a targeted strike to achieve a clear objective: deterring the use of chemical weapons and degrading Assad's capabilities," he said. Strong reaction to Obama statement: 'ISIL is not Islamic' In his speech on Wednesday, the President told Americans that this campaign to take out ISIS would take time and left unanswered the question of how long the fight against the terrorist group might last. "Now, it will take time to eradicate a cancer like ISIL," he said. "This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years." 9/11 . Although it took place on the eve of the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Obama's speech last year didn't include any mention of 9/11. His speech on Wednesday did, though it was just one line: "Tomorrow marks 13 years since our country was attacked." A recent CNN poll showed that 53% of Americans are concerned with acts of terrorism in the United States around the 9/11 anniversary, an increase from 39% in 2011. A frightening, far-reaching new world of terror threats since 9/11 . The popularity factor . Obama acknowledged in 2013 that military intervention in Syria was not going to be embraced by the American public. "Now, I know that after the terrible toll of Iraq and Afghanistan, the idea of any military action, no matter how limited, is not going to be popular." CNN polling taken in September 2013 showed that was true: Only 29% of Americans thought it was in the national interest of the United States to get involved in Syria. This time, the politics are a bit easier. Americans overwhelming support additional airstrikes against ISIS -- 76% according to CNN polls. WHAT HASN'T CHANGED? This is not going to be a repeat of the Iraq war and there won't be "boots on the ground." This continues to be a key point for the President, who never supported the war in Iraq. He stressed it in 2013, saying: "I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria. I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan." He stressed it again on Wednesday. "As I have said before, these American forces will not have a combat mission -- we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq." Obama doesn't need the approval of Congress, but he'd like it. For a president that frequently blames Congress for not getting things done, Obama has demonstrated an enthusiasm for including them when it comes to the question of military action in Syria. "Even though I possess the authority to order military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct or imminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress," Obama said in 2013. "I believe our democracy is stronger when the President acts with the support of Congress. And I believe that America acts more effectively abroad when we stand together." Transcript: President Obama's speech on combating ISIS and terrorism . He made a strikingly similar remark on Wednesday. "I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL. But I believe we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together. So I welcome congressional support for this effort in order to show the world that Americans are united in confronting this danger." One key difference though between then and now is the actual likelihood of congressional approval for military action. In 2013, it was clear by the time Obama gave his East Room address that an authorization vote was going to fail in Congress. On the fight against ISIS, it appears likely that the President will get support from Congress on at least some elements. Ted Cruz: How U.S. can stop ISIS . America can't fight every evil . Early in his remarks on Wednesday, Obama noted "we cannot erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm." It was something he pointed out last year. "America is not the world's policemen," he said at the end of his 2013 remarks. "Terrible things happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to right every wrong."

President Barack Obama's made a speech on Syria exactly a year ago . Both speeches involved the topic of military action in Syria . There were differences and similarities between the two speeches .

London (CNN) -- Britain's Prince William called for global action Wednesday to stop the illegal wildlife trade that's devastating populations of some of the world's most magnificent wild animals -- including elephants, rhinos and tigers. The prince spoke at a meeting of United for Wildlife, a body bringing together his royal foundation and the world's leading wildlife charities, in London. The conference is part of a week of events aimed at galvanizing efforts to halt the slaughter of endangered animals for their bones, hides or tusks -- much in demand in parts of Asia. On Thursday, William and his father, Prince Charles, will be among the high-profile global guests due to attend the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, hosted by the UK government. Prince Charles, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the Presidents of Botswana and Gabon are all expected to speak at the event. William pledged Wednesday that United for Wildlife, of which he's president, would use its global leverage to make a difference at a time when the trade takes the lives of 100 elephants a day. "The forces that are currently destroying some of the world's endangered species are sophisticated and powerful," the Duke of Cambridge said. "But this week, we are seeing the creation of an equally powerful alliance, coming together to help fight them. "The commitments set out today will begin to address the challenges of protection, enforcement and demand reduction. We will use our combined resources to ensure they succeed." The organization plans to use "smart" technology such as GPS trackers and drones to protect animals at risk. It also intends to work with governments and local bodies to send out the message that no one should trade or buy rhino horn, ivory, tiger or pangolin parts and products. United for Wildlife will also bolster efforts to bring those involved in the illegal wildlife trade to justice and to support local communities whose livelihoods are affected by the trade, it said. Estimate: Rhino killed every 11 hours . The call to action comes in the face of horrifying statistics. More than 10% of the total African elephant population has been slaughtered for ivory in two years, according to the Zoological Society of London, which calls it "a death toll the species simply cannot sustain." Since the turn of this century, more than 1,000 tigers have been poached -- a huge number considering there are thought to be no more than 3,500 left in the wild. The rate of rhino poaching in Africa reportedly increased by 43% between 2011 and 2012 and is still going up. Since 2013, a rhino is estimated to have been killed every 11 hours by poachers, the Zoological Society of London says. U.S. President Barack Obama signed off Tuesday on a "National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking," which sets out ways to stem the illegal trade. Its stated priorities are to strengthen enforcement, reduce demand for illegally trafficked wildlife and work more closely with international partners. "Wildlife trafficking is both a critical conservation concern and a threat to global security with significant effects on the national interests of the United States and the interests of our partners around the world," the document says. It acknowledges the United States is "among the world's major markets for wildlife and wildlife products, both legal and illegal" but also points to demand for ivory and rhino horn in Asia, "from a rapidly expanding wealthy class that views these commodities as luxury goods that enhance social status." 'If we fail, it will be too late' William and Charles released an unusual joint video message Sunday that urged people worldwide to take a stand. But William, who has been a patron since 2005 of the wildlife conservation charity Tusk Trust, faced criticism Saturday in UK newspaper The Sun for reportedly going on a boar hunting trip to Spain with his brother, Prince Harry. Wild boar are legally hunted in the country, but the timing of the trip raised questions, it said. "Prince William has gone shooting -- a day before launching a campaign to stop wildlife being killed," the popular tabloid said. In the joint video, recorded in November, Charles said it was time to treat the effort to stop the illegal wildlife trade "like a battle, because it is precisely that." He pointed to the sophisticated weaponry used by poachers and the threat that such criminal activity poses to economic and social stability in the countries affected. William said that he and his father were optimistic the "tide can be reversed." "We have to be the generation that stopped the illegal wildlife trade, and secured the future of these magnificent animals, and their habitats, for if we fail, it will be too late," the younger prince adds. William, whose wife Catherine gave birth to their son George last summer, said that since becoming a father, he has become "even more devoted to protecting the resources of the Earth for not only my own son but also the other children of his generation to enjoy." The video, which was recorded in November, ends with the pair saying the phrase "Let's unite for wildlife!" in Arabic, Vietnamese, Swahili, Spanish and Mandarin. The aim is to be understood by as many people as possible living in the countries most affected by the illegal wildlife trade. CNN's Max Foster contributed to this report.

Prince William says a global alliance is being created to combat the illegal wildlife trade . United for Wildlife brings together his foundation and the world's leading wildlife charities . Increasing numbers of elephants, rhinos and tigers are being poached for the trade . A global conference is being held Thursday in London to address the issue .

New York (CNN) -- Can buskers from around the world inspire an international peace movement? That's the idea behind "Playing for Change," a multimedia movement designed to break down global barriers and connect people of every race through the power of music. More than 150 -- mostly street -- musicians from 25 countries have joined their voices to spread their message of peace and create a truly global phenomenon with millions of followers across the world. It all started in 2004, when Grammy award-winning producer Mark Johnson set off on a musical journey to capture street musicians around the world and combine their voices together. Bringing his mobile studio and cameras with him, Johnson's mission led him and his small crew to an escapade across the globe -- they tracked the street musicians, put headphones on them and started recording each of their parts, before blending it all together to create unique versions of classic songs, such as "Stand By Me." The powerful and versatile performances were mixed and posted online, quickly becoming a worldwide sensation. The band's version of the Ben E. King classic -- which interwove the performances of 18 street musicians, including a South African choir -- has become an internet hit with more than 40 million views on YouTube alone. Read more: Ladysmith Black Mambazo: How we inspired Mandela . The band's bestselling CD/DVD set "Playing for Change: Songs Around The World" was also a big hit, debuting at number 10 on Billboard's Pop Chart in April 2009. The recordings gave rise to the Playing for Change Foundation, an initiative aiming to inspire, educate and empower youth in Africa and other developing regions by building music schools in communities from Ghana and South Africa to Mali and Tibet. "We are building schools to give those kids who are deprived...to give them a chance to express themselves tomorrow -- at least they can learn music, they can be confident, they can learn how to dance, they can be somebody," says honey-voiced Mermans Kenkosenki from the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the main singers of Playing for Change. Kenkosenki, along with his compatriot Jason Tamba and Titi Tsira from South Africa, are some of the African voices representing the continent in the movement. They share the stage with musicians from the Netherlands to the United States as part of an international touring band that brings artists of all backgrounds together, raising money and awareness for the foundation. "There are people who play music for the fame, for money, and there are people who play for the love of it," says Kenkosenki, who is also the frontman and founder of the band Afro Fiesta. See also: Kanya King: MOBO founder's top 5 pop picks . The foundation's first school was opened in the spring of 2009 in Gugulethu, a township a few miles outside of Cape Town, South Africa. "You got so many lost young kids that their parents don't work, they are unemployed and the kids get to hang around in the streets, they don't get to go to the school because there is no money to send them," says Tsiri who is from Gugulethu. "This school being built in that township is giving that child a chance, a chance to get a free education, get a skill of music and become a professional musician and be the breadwinner of their family," she adds. So far, the foundation has been running eight programs, working with over 600 children and creating more than 150 jobs. "It is a great feeling to give a child a skill," says Tsiri. "It is the best movement ever -- it is really making a huge change and I am very happy being a part of it." The Playing for Change roster also includes world-renowned artists such as Manu Chao, Tinariwen, Vusi Mahlasela and Bono. Songs they've covered include classics such as "I'd Rather Go Blind," "Gimme Shelter," "(Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay and many more." "When you look at us you see in each of us a different character," says Tamba, a skilful guitar player. "Everyone is doing their thing, it's not following somebody but is bringing what he has deep in there [heart] and together that brings the fire." Read also: Meet Asa, African pop legend in the making . Last year, Playing for Change also joined forces with the United Nations to present "United," an original song penned to raise awareness about the opportunities and challenges arising from life in a planet populated by seven billion people. In the acoustic guitar-driven anthem, Kenkosenki sings lines like "I want to see the world united" before crooning in Lingala, a Bantu language spoken in parts of the DRC. He is then joined by a host of singers across the world, who deliver their parts in Arabic, Hebrew and other languages. "The whole world played the music," says Kenkosenki. "We need to be together to listen to each other -- that's how it should be, bringing people from different cultures to work together, that to me is powerful." Teo Kermeliotis contributed to this report.

Playing For Change is a multimedia music movement with millions of followers . Over 150 musicians from 25 countries have joined forces to spread a message of peace . They're also involved in the work of building schools for music education in Africa and beyond . The band's version of Stand By Me has over 40 million views on YouTube alone .

(CNN) -- The glamour shots capture them in fashion-model poses -- sprawled on a couch or lounging by the pool, smiling and sensuous. Filomena Domingos da Costa, from left, Anita Pedro and Maria Restino Manuel are competing for the unusual title. But these women aren't typical pageant contestants: Each lost a limb after stepping on a landmine in their native Angola. On Wednesday, they compete for the unusual title of Miss Landmine Angola 2008. Organizers say they want the pageant to restore the women's pride and raise awareness about the prevalence of landmines left over from Angola's three decade-long civil war. Undetonated mines still maim 300 to 400 people a year in the county, according to the United Nations. "I'm completely enthusiastic about participating," said one of the contestants, 25-year-old Paulina Vadi. "I think that it will give society a wake-up call to be more attentive to disabled people in general." Vadi was a fourth-grader when she went to a field to gather fruit. A sudden military attack sent her running for cover. She stepped on a Russian-made mine and lost her right leg. That was 11 years ago. Now Vadi lives with her mother and three school-aged children. She works as a street vendor, selling beer and soda. She said she entered the pageant because she wants to be able to return to school. The contestants represent Angola's various provinces and range in age from 19 to 33. Their profiles list not only their ages and favorite colors but also when they were injured and what kind of mine claimed their limbs. Most were maimed while tending fields, and they are now unemployed. Vadi's photograph has her reclined atop a safe, a tiara on her head and a stack of cash in her left hand. Her sash reads, "Huila," the province she is representing. All the contestants will receive governmental help to go back to school or to start a small business. The winner gets a new prosthetic limb. Angolan organizers expect to crown two winners Wednesday: one picked by a panel of a dozen officials from the Angolan government and foreign embassies, the other through an online poll. So far, organizers said, close to 9,000 viewers from about 30 countries have voted for their favorite participant on the Web site, www.miss-landmine.org. Pageants for contestants who face physical challenges are nothing new. The United States has Ms. Wheelchair America. And contestants from around the globe compete each year in Miss Deaf World. The Angolan pageant -- with its motto of "Everyone has a right to be beautiful" -- focuses on a problem that is particularly severe in that country. Thousands of Angolans have been maimed by mines buried during a bloody 27-year civil war. The war began shortly after the country's independence from Portugal in 1975 and ended six years ago, killing 1.5 million people. Warring sides buried millions of landmines to depopulate areas, slow the movement of opposing forces and defend towns, bridges and power lines. Despite an extensive de-mining program since the end of the war, Angola remains one of the most mined countries in Africa. The mines are so prevalent that their legacy was immediately obvious when Norwegian artist Morten Traavik first visited the southern African nation in 2003, a year after the war ended. "The whole country was littered with landmines left over from the conflict," Traavik said. "You virtually couldn't move anywhere because most of the country wasn't even surveyed for landmines, let alone cleared." While there, Traavik judged a neighborhood beauty contest in the capital of Luanda -- and got the idea for the landmine pageant. Finding money for it proved difficult. Traavik said several nongovernmental organizations turned him down, with one labeling his idea a "freak show." "That says more about your own attitudes toward the disabled people -- and how you think Africans are supposed to be and look like -- than it does our project," he said. Soon after, Traavik won the blessing of the Angolan government. And he eventually was able to change the minds of people who were initially reluctant, said Becky Thomson, mine action program manager for the nongovernmental group Norwegian People's Aid. "I think one of the reasons quite a few of us changed our initial reservations and are seeing it in a different light is very much linked to the fact that when you see the photographs, you see that the women are profiled with dignity," Thomson said. "That is really important." Indeed, dignity is what spurred several of the women to participate. Contestant Ana Diogo is a 32-year-old widowed mother of three who lost her leg to an Italian-made mine in 1984. Diogo is unemployed, selling tomatoes on the streets when she can find any. She said she hopes the pageant will give her a chance at a better life. Her dream job? "Anything," she said. E-mail to a friend .

Pageant goal is to restore pride to women who lost limbs to Angola's landmines . Organizers also want to raise awareness about danger of buried landmines . Winner gets a new prosthetic limb; all contestants will get government help . Thousands of Angolans have been maimed by landmines during 27-year civil war .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department's chief of diplomatic security has resigned amid scrutiny of the use of private military contractors to guard the department's staff in Iraq, a spokesman said Wednesday. Richard Griffin testifies before a House committee looking into private security contractors earlier this month. Richard Griffin, a 36-year career official, gave no explanation for his decision in his resignation letter to President Bush. "I am grateful that I had the opportunity to serve as the assistant secretary for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, whose brave men and women serve on the front lines of the Global War on Terror," he wrote in his resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNN. "Without their courage and commitment, the State Department could not possibly carry out its foreign policy mission." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accepted Griffin's resignation, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Griffin's decision to step down follows weeks of investigations into the September 16 killings of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based firm hired by the State Department to protect American diplomats in Baghdad. Meanwhile, a survivor of the September 16 incident told CNN on Wednesday that he and a number of other victims were summoned to a meeting with U.S. Embassy officials and were offered money. Mohammed Abdul Razzaq, whose 9-year-old son died, said the embassy offered him $12,500 -- which he said he refused because "they didn't acknowledge their crime." "Don't they need to acknowledge my son's blood first so I can forgive them? Now I can't. How can I take compensation and they never acknowledge the crime?" he said. The father is demanding a formal apology from Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, prosecution of those responsible for his son's death and political asylum in the United States so he can pursue the case in American courts. Another survivor, taxi driver Sami Hawas, told CNN he received $7,500 from the embassy, a payment he described as "aid." Hawas was shot a number of times in the back and leg. He said he is unable to work now and complained about the high cost of medication. He took the money, he said, because he needs help paying for medical treatment and supporting his family. "Even if they compensate me with millions, it will not make up for the lost blood and the pain I live every day," he told CNN. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Natango said the payments were "part of a standard procedure" and would continue. She described them as "short-term and speedy aid and support" but said they were not an admission of guilt. She said those receiving the money do not waive any right to future compensation. The State Department and the FBI are conducting their own investigation into the killings, and a joint U.S.-Iraqi commission is reviewing the results of both probes. Prince has said that Blackwater guards came under fire while protecting a State Department convoy and acted properly in self-defense. Watch Blackwater chief talk about his company » . But Iraqi authorities have called the killings "premeditated murder" and demanded Blackwater leave Iraq. A State Department report of its own operations, released Tuesday, found lax oversight of security contractors, who are under the supervision of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. It recommended tightening the rules of engagement for contractors to bring them in line with those used by the U.S. military, and Rice appointed a top U.S. diplomat to oversee all security operations in Iraq. Blackwater is the most prominent of the military contractors working in Iraq, where an estimated 25,000 private contractors guard diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. Company officials urged subscribers to its e-mailed newsletter Wednesday to help fight its public-relations battle. "In this tumultuous political climate, Blackwater Worldwide has taken center stage, our services and ethics aggressively challenged with misinformation and fabrications. Letters, e-mails and calls to your elected congressional representatives can and will create a positive impact by influencing the manner in which they gather and present information," the company wrote. The message, titled "A Request for Your Support," urged readers to contact members of Congress "and tell them to stand by the truth." It recommended that constituents emphasize that the company hires U.S. military veterans and the fact that no one under Blackwater's protection has been killed in Iraq. It also asked that supporters stress what the company termed the "cost efficiency" of its services, for which the State Department has paid more than $800 million since 2004. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the company had received "hundreds of positive responses" to its appeal by Wednesday afternoon. The contractors are immune from prosecution under Iraqi law, under an order issued by the American-led occupation government in 2004. Iraq's government has agreed to ask the country's parliament to consider changing that directive, an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told CNN on Wednesday. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Elise Labott, Ingrid Formanek, Jim Clancy and Saad Abedine contributed to this report.

Assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security announces decision to resign . Richard Griffin gave no specific reason for resignation or offered timetable . Blackwater issues appeal to supporters to stand up for company . NEW: Blackwater shooting survivor says U.S. Embassy offered victims money .

(CNN) -- It's not your imagination: Our politics are more polarized than at any point in recent history. That's the conclusion of a new survey from the indispensable Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. And if you needed more evidence of the passionate and sometimes poisonous polarization afflicting our nation, you didn't have to look further than the crowds in Wisconsin on Tuesday night after the recall attempt. Here's the real wake-up call: Americans are more divided about partisan politics right now than they are about race, class, gender and age. That's right: Forget the original sin of slavery and the longstanding fights over civil rights -- those old divisions now seem small compared with perceptions of whether a person is a Republican or Democrat. Welcome to the new bigotry, where a person's partisan identification is a source of prejudice, seen as a reflection of fundamentally different values, representative of an alien America. Like any form of prejudice, this is learned behavior, exacerbated by the daily drumbeat of partisan media. Conservatives are led to believe that liberals are essentially less patriotic and secretly socialist, while some liberals believe that conservatives are bigoted Bible thumpers. The mutual distrust leads members of different parties to feel unfairly judged by the other side, further fueling polarization -- and so fellow Americans divide into warring camps, us against them. Partisan difference didn't always seem like an unbridgeable divide. But over the past 25 years, the split on basic values between Republicans and Democrats has skyrocketed. For example, on the issue of the environment, at the end of the Reagan era, 86% of Republicans and 93% of Democrats believed that "there needs to be stricter laws and regulations to protect the environment." That broad consensus has fallen apart -- now, 47% of Republicans support that statement, while Democrats' sentiment remains the same. Likewise, take a look at attitudes regarding the social safety net -- a quarter century ago 62% of Republicans and 79% of Democrats believed that government should "take care of people that could not take care of themselves." Today, 40% of Republicans believe in that aspect of the social contract, while 75% of Democrats still do. What happened to compassionate conservatism? These policy divides reflect increased ideological and demographic differences between the two parties. Over two-thirds of Republicans self-identify as conservative and 87% are non-Hispanic white, with an average age of 50. Democrats are evenly split between liberals and centrists, more racially diverse than ever before and less likely to be religious or have "old-fashioned values about family and marriage." There is however a hopeful sign beneath the hyper-partisanship -- a healthy rebellion against this division and consequent dysfunction in Washington. According to the Pew survey, a record number of Americans are declaring their independence and proactively rejecting both the Republican and Democratic parties. In fact, there are more independents than Democrats or Republicans. It is a direct reaction against the unprecedented polarization of the two parties. And this ain't no mushy middle. As in surveys past, we can see that independent voters tend to be closer on economic issues to Republicans and closer to Democrats on social issues. Most importantly, while the two parties are deeply polarized, independent voters' attitudes on issues most closely parallel the American people as a whole. At heart, most Americans are nonideological problem-solvers, and that's a quality we see less and less of in our politicians. Why does this growing polarization matter? First, because it is resulting in an inability of the two parties to reason together on pressing issues such as improving the economy or dealing with the deficit and the debt. But more broadly, it risks undermining a core bit of American wisdom expressed in our national motto -- e pluribus unum: out of many, one. Democracy requires competing political parties, but they are not supposed to take the place of tribal affiliations. That they are is evidence of group-think that pushes the idea that people who think differently about politics or policy are not merely mistaken but a clear and present danger to the Constitution. That's the way political opponents become enemies -- even (and especially) if we don't know them personally. Changing the culture of hyper-partisanship will take time. It requires pushing back at the constant drumbeat of partisan media that polarizes in the pursuit of profit. It requires showing that there is a strong alternative, a better way to conduct civic debates. But this effort is essential to restoring common sense and collegiality to our politics. We can take comfort from the wise words of the original founding father, George Washington, who devoted a considerable portion of his farewell address to warning against the dangers and distortions of hyper-partisanship: "One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts," he wrote. "You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

John Avlon: Pew study confirms politics divides Americans more than race, class, age, gender . He says it's bigotry, a learned behavior profoundly alienating Americans from each other . He says GOP support of social safety net, environment way down, Democrats about same . Avlon: Split undermines core belief of e pluribus unum .

San Diego (CNN) -- Welcome to the chaotic Department of Homeland Security. Two unions -- representing nearly 20,000 DHS employees -- recently joined forces to publicly oppose the Senate immigration reform bill from the so-called "Gang of Eight." News: Senate Judiciary Committee approves immigration legislation . The coalition represents 12,000 employees who are responsible for issuing documents that allow some immigrants to legally stay in the United States and 7,700 agents charged with deporting illegal immigrants out of the country. Together, the unions claim that the bill would weaken public safety. What makes this situation awkward is that President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have given tacit support to the Senate immigration reform bill. Obama has said that a pathway to citizenship must be included in any reform proposal. And as recently as last month, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that White House staffers had months ago huddled with the eight senators to help draft the legislation. As an additional wrinkle, many of these DHS employees who oppose the bill would be charged with helping to implement it, either by reviewing the applications of undocumented immigrants who would be seeking legal status or deporting those who didn't qualify for it. How that will ultimately work out is anyone's guess. Some of this sounds familiar. Before the unions took on the Senate bill, they launched a rebellion closer to home. In June 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton fired off an internal memorandum -- the "Morton memo," as it became known -- to all directors, agents and general counsel in the agency's field offices. In the memo, Morton advised the field personnel that they "may" exercise discretion and show leniency toward some illegal immigrants by weighing certain factors. They included the length of time the person had lived in the United States, whether the person arrived as a child, whether the person was pursuing an education, etc. The Morton memo was heralded by immigration reform advocates as a major breakthrough. And yet, how did some in the field respond to the memo? According to more than a dozen immigration attorneys I interviewed back then and many others I saw quoted elsewhere, they ignored it. You had rampant insubordination. And neither Morton nor his higher-ups, i.e. Napolitano and Obama, did anything to bring people back in line. I suspect that the reason for this hands-off approach was that the ICE agents, by racking up deportations, were helping the administration meet its goal of deporting people -- which it has done at a rate of more than 1,000 per day. The high numbers were necessary so that the administration could portray itself to Congress and the American people as tough on immigration enforcement. In October 2011, just four months after the Morton memo was issued, Napolitano delivered a speech at American University in which she boasted that the Department of Homeland Security was on track to set a new record for deportations in the 2011 fiscal year. It did. And in fiscal 2012, it broke that record again. At this rate, by the end of 2013, the administration will have deported 2 million people. Those figures make the claims of Chris Crane, the head of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council (the 7,700-member deportation agents' union), all the more ridiculous. Crane told the New York Times: "This department under this administration is doing anything and everything they can not to arrest any alien in the interior of the United States." Crane should tell that to 10-year-old Stephanie Pucheta who, next month, will be spending Father's Day without her father, Julio Cesar Pucheta, who was deported in January. In a video testimonial on behalf of the immigrant advocacy group Cuentame, the U.S.-born Stephanie explains how -- when a judge ordered her father removed from the country -- she couldn't stop crying. She goes on to say: "My life has changed without my father. Since he's been gone, I miss him every day. Every morning when I wake up, I wonder why they didn't let him stay here. Why do they have to be so cruel to the families that are here?" That's a really good question. This administration has been excessively cruel to illegal immigrants and their families. And, worse, it hasn't been willing to confess to the crime. Instead, it has led us to believe that its record number of deportations are partly the result of low-level agents and their supervisors going rogue and refusing to use discretion to the point where some of those being deported shouldn't be. Is that really what's happening? Napolitano has said all along she wants to remove illegal immigrants, more and more every year. That's what the low-level ICE agents were doing. So maybe they weren't being disobedient. Maybe, in trying to be both tough and compassionate, the entire administration is being duplicitous. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette.

Ruben Navarrette: Two DHS unions now publicly oppose proposed immigration reform . He says this "rogue-ish" behavior awkward for President Obama, who supports reform bill . Obama turned blind eye to zealous deportation, even when it flouted Morton Memo, he says . Navarrette: Deportation-happy ICE officials no more "rogue" than the president's policies .

Washington (CNN) -- Congressional approval ratings hovered at historic lows. Republican and Democrats hurled insults at each other and among themselves. The political circus in Washington even made its way to "Saturday Night Live: -- in a sketch featuring Miley Cyrus, at that. It seemed that nothing would break through the partisan stronghold that left Capitol Hill at a standstill in the weeks leading up to and during the partial government shutdown. But at the same time some lawmakers were loudly pledging to dig in and hold their ground, a bipartisan group of 14 senators was working behind the scenes, churning out a plan to get the country back on track and avoid a possible default. Seven Republicans, six Democrats and one independent came together after Sen. Susan Collins of Maine stormed to the Senate floor on October 5 -- a Saturday -- and urged the chamber to actually work together, to "stop fighting and start legislating." The three-term senator, who's up for re-election next year, got a call from two other Republicans that same day, Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. From there, they got to work. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia became the first Democrat to sign up. He was followed by lawmakers from all corners of the country: Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana; Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota; Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire; and Angus King, I-Maine. Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Mark Kirk of Illinois, and Jeff Flake of Arizona also hopped on board. A week later, with more members in their ranks, the group presented its plan to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected it. Time to throw out my guy in Congress? But the Senate was not back to square one. Some of the plan's elements were roped into the final agreement reached by Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday, the eve of the deadline to avoid default. Like the new agreement, the Collins' framework reopened the government, moved the deadline, included income verification provisions to prevent fraud in Obamacare and called for a budget conference between the two chambers of commerce. Most importantly, the plan seemed to light a fire under Senate leaders, and signs of progress and talking finally began taking shape in the days following the rollout of Collins' plan. "Today is a big loss for blame-game politics," Pryor said Wednesday from the Senate floor, with his cohorts also on the floor. So who are these lawmakers? And why were they able to work together? Four of them joined the Senate this year. Six of them are women. Three face re-election in a year. One of them is retiring. All of them are considered moderates in their respective parties, with many coming from states with a mixed political climate. Republican Collins' home state of Maine, for example, has voted for a Democrat in the last six president elections. Manchin, Donnelly, Heitkamp, Shaheen and Pryor are from states with large swaths of conservative voters. Conservatives defiant in face of GOP troubles . For these senators, the political risk of lining up with "the other side" isn't so high. But with the country growing more polarized, lawmakers who find themselves in those situations are becoming a rare breed. As they stood together Wednesday, the group promised it was only the beginning. Their next battle? The era of brinkmanship. "This group of 14 people (is) committed to staying together to address other issues of importance," McCain said Wednesday. "This isn't the last crisis that we're going to go through. But I think we have the framework for the kind of bipartisanship that the American people need and want." While it certainly opens them up for criticism from some who don't like seeing their representatives mingle with the opposition, King said that's the price to be paid to get things done. "That's what leadership is. It's the willingness to bear criticism, to stick (one's) neck out," he said. In a subtle blow to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Klobuchar said the definition of "courage" is working across the aisle. "It's not gonna just be standing here by yourself making a speech with no one out there." 9 things we missed during the shutdown . Cruz famously carried out a 21-hour talkathon on the Senate floor in the final days before the shutdown. Acknowledging that sports analogies are cliches, Murkowski nonetheless argued that moving the ball down the field is all about teamwork. "Just one person -- you don't get anywhere," she said. "We cannot work together as individuals and expect to accomplish the work that is needed ... we've got to be working together." Both the House and the Senate will have a chance to work side-by-side when select members go to conference to hammer out a long-term plan in the coming months. The question is whether they can invoke the same spirit demonstrated by the recent gang of 14 -- because if they fail, the circus starts all over again. Senate makes a shutdown deal: Now what?

A bipartisan group of 14 senators worked behind the scenes . The group is seven Republicans, six Democrats and one independent . McCain: "This group of 14 (is) committed to staying together" to work on other issues .

(CNN) -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, a key architect of the U.S. war in Vietnam under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at age 93, according to his family. Robert McNamara took a lead role in managing the U.S. military commitment in Vietnam. McNamara was a member of Kennedy's inner circle during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union stood on the brink of nuclear war. But he became a public lightning rod for his management of the war in Vietnam, overseeing the U.S. military commitment there as it grew from fewer than 1,000 advisers to more than half a million troops. Though the increasingly unpopular conflict was sometimes dubbed "McNamara's War," he later said both administrations were "terribly wrong" to have pursued military action beyond 1963. "External military force cannot reconstruct a failed state, and Vietnam, during much of that period, was a failed state politically," he told CNN in a 1996 interview for the "Cold War" documentary series. "We didn't recognize it as such." A native of San Francisco, McNamara studied economics at the University of California and earned a master's degree in business from Harvard. He was a staff officer in the Army Air Corps during World War II, when he studied the results of American bombing raids on Germany and Japan in search of ways to improve their accuracy and efficiency. After the war, he joined the Ford Motor Company and became its president in November 1960 -- the first person to lead the company from outside its founding family. A month later, the newly elected Kennedy asked him to become secretary of defense, making him one of the "whiz kids" who joined the young president's administration. In October 1962, after the discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, McNamara was one of Kennedy's top advisers in the standoff that followed. The United States imposed a naval "quarantine" on Cuba, a Soviet ally, and prepared for possible airstrikes or an invasion. The Soviets withdrew the missiles in exchange for a U.S. guarantee not to invade Cuba, a step that allowed Soviet premier Nikita Kruschev to present the pullback as a success to his own people. In the 2003 documentary "The Fog of War," McNamara told filmmaker Errol Morris that the experience taught American policymakers to "put ourselves inside their skin and look at us through their eyes." But he added, "In the end, we lucked out. It was luck that prevented nuclear war." McNamara is credited with using the management techniques he mastered as a corporate executive to streamline the Pentagon, computerizing and smoothing out much of the U.S. military's vast purchasing and personnel system. And in Vietnam, he attempted to use those techniques to measure the progress of the war. Metrics such as use of "body counts" and scientific solutions such as using the herbicide Agent Orange to defoliate jungles in which communist guerrillas hid became trademarks of the conflict. McNamara made several trips to South Vietnam to study the situation firsthand. He, Johnson and other U.S. officials portrayed the war as a necessary battle in the Cold War, a proxy struggle to prevent communism from taking control of all of Southeast Asia. But while they saw the conflict as another front in the standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, which backed communist North Vietnam, McNamara acknowledged later that they underestimated Vietnamese nationalism and opposition to the U.S.-backed government in Saigon. "The conflict within South Vietnam itself had all of the characteristics of a civil war, and we didn't look upon it as largely a civil war, and we weren't measuring our progress as one would have in what was largely a civil war," he told CNN. Casualties mounted, as did domestic opposition to the war. In 1965, a Quaker anti-war protester, Norman Morrison, set himself on fire outside McNamara's office window. In 1967, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched on the Pentagon, which was ringed with troops. By November 1967, McNamara told Johnson that there was "no reasonable way" to end the war quickly, and that the United States needed to reduce its forces in Vietnam and turn the fighting over to the American-backed government in Saigon. By the end of that month, Johnson announced he was replacing McNamara at the Pentagon and moving him to the World Bank. But by March 1968, Johnson had reached virtually the same conclusion as McNamara. He issued a call for peace talks and announced he would not seek re-election. After leaving the Pentagon in early 1968, McNamara spent 12 years leading the World Bank. He said little publicly about Vietnam until the publication of a 1995 memoir, "In Retrospect." "You don't know what I know about how inflammatory my words can appear," he told Morris. "A lot of people misunderstand the war, misunderstand me. A lot of people think I'm a son of a bitch."

Robert McNamara was key architect of war in Vietnam under two presidents . McNamara became lightning rod for his management of that war . He was member of President Kennedy's inner circle during Cuban Missile Crisis .

(CNN) -- Pope Francis ignited a firestorm on the Internet with a few words about gay and lesbian people that seemed to suggest a new church position on homosexuality. I say "seemed to" because it would only appear new to someone who was unfamiliar with the old position. Speaking to a gang of reporters bringing up the rear of his plane on the way home from his quotific visit to Rio de Janeiro, the pope was asked about his recent reference to a "gay lobby" among the curial staff in Rome. That phrase is already the source of some confusion. The pope responded that although a "gay lobby," as in an inter-curial pressure group -- for or against more acceptance of gay Catholics, who can say? -- might be an issue, he did not have a problem with men and women who are homosexual. "If they accept the Lord and have good will, who am I to judge them? They shouldn't be marginalized. The tendency (to homosexuality) is not the problem ... they're our brothers." What we learned about Pope Francis in Brazil . Speaking about homosexuality so frankly was remarkable in and of itself, but nothing the pope said deviated from current Catholic catechism. Although it regards homosexual acts as "intrinsically disordered," church teaching demands that gay and lesbian people be accepted with "respect, compassion, and sensitivity." "Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided," reads the catechism. "These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition." The catechism is a little more nuanced, and less unsightly, than the standard "hate the sin, love the sinner" platitude, but it doesn't say much more and it's far less than most lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics would like to hear from their church. Pope Francis was merely reiterating this teaching in his wonderfully straightforward, cut-through-the-gobbledygook manner. That's not to say that his remarks don't suggest a different emphasis in the church's tone and pastoral approach to gay and lesbian Catholics that will surely be welcome. Francis places the emphasis first on solidarity ("they're our brothers") and refers to the redemption and mercy all of us require and are capable of achieving. And as a practical ecclesiastical matter, his comments also argue that the "duty" to discourage the vocations of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" may be en route to the "don't ask, don't tell" historical rag and bone shop. Other groups of disaffected Catholics can also take heart from the pope's unfiltered comments on the plane. He suggested that his cardinal action squad of curial reformers will also be looking at the way the church has treated Catholics who, for whatever reason, could not annul their marriages. Divorced and remarried Catholics have long been cut off from the sacramental and communal life of the church. Francis clearly wants to find a way to bring them home. Opinion: What the pope left out about women . Women can also be hopeful that Francis hears their lamentations regarding how they have been cut off from leadership roles in the church. Although he suggested that he had little inclination to return to the issue of women's ordination, he said the church still has far to go in developing a real theology that explains the importance of women in the church. What that means practically speaking remains to be seen. Let's hope that what does not become lost as his comments on homosexuality are parsed, turned over and otherwise manhandled by the media in the coming days, is the pope's keen attention during his World Youth Day visit to issues of economic injustice and the importance of political and social dialogue. Asked why he did not spend so much time on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage while in Rio, he said the church's teaching on such matters are already clear. This pope may be interested in moving at least rhetorically away from cultural stalemates and on to other issues that have also long been a preoccupation of the church: fighting poverty and human deprivation, creating political and economic opportunity, the just and sustainable stewardship of creation. In Rio he spoke frequently on social justice and alleviating poverty, asking all to give of their talents to respond to the world's aching needs in a country where those needs and inequities are obvious. In Rio, Francis expressed his hope for a "culture of encounter," as he described it. That's an encounter across gay and straight lines, political and class lines, self-drawn lines between secularists and the faithful, borders between the haves and have-nots. As important as his off-the-cuff comments on the plane were -- and might turn out to be in the future -- his message of solidarity and his call to action on social injustice and economic inequality had a just claim to its share of the bandwidth on Twitter this week. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kevin Clarke.

Kevin Clarke: Pope Francis' remarks about gays aren't a new position on homosexuality . Clarke: His talking frankly was startling, but calling for compassion for gays is not new . Clarke: The church may change its tone and approach to gay and lesbian Catholics, however . But pope's call in Rio for action on social injustice and poverty was equally important, he says .

(CNN) -- Maybe marriage to Kate Winslet isn't all that bad. Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski star as a couple on the road in the comedy "Away We Go." After cruelly dissecting marital malaise in "American Beauty" and again, just six months ago, in "Revolutionary Road," Winslet's husband Sam Mendes takes a slightly more optimistic view of family life in the edgy comedy "Away We Go." Not that he's offering a whole-hearted endorsement of the institution. Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) aren't legally bound -- she staunchly resists his repeated proposals -- but nevertheless they're a couple about to go nuclear: She's six months pregnant. He sells insurance to insurance companies. She's an illustrator with a lucrative line in anatomical drawings. Nevertheless, they're struggling to make ends meet. "Are we losers?" wonders Verona (only she uses a more colorful expression). "We have cardboard windows... I think we must be." Insomuch as they have a plan at all, it hinges on the support they're expecting from Burt's doting parents. So it's a nasty wake-up call when Jerry and Gloria (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) announce they're taking off for a new life in Belgium -- yes, even before the baby's out. There is a silver lining: Realizing they no longer have any reason to stay, Burt and Verona decide to widen their horizons. They could move to Arizona where Verona's sister lives. Burt has a job prospect in Madison, Wisconsin. Or they have college friends in Montreal. Their destiny awaits them, all they have to do is go out and find it. And away they go. Although the couple racks up a good few miles in their search for home, the movie doesn't betray much interest in location. Arizona is hot and arid. In Montreal they pour gravy on French fries. Don't expect cultural insights. It's never explained how these stragglers can afford such speculative wandering, and when they do find their dream home it's mystifying that it hasn't occurred to them before. Still, the movie's loose-limbed, spontaneous quality is a good part of its appeal, and a refreshing change of pace from other movies by Mendes, whose artfully designed compositions often seem self-conscious and painfully detached. In keeping with Indie-wood's vogue for shuffling snide satire and sentimentality (see "Juno" and "Little Miss Sunshine"), "Away We Go" presents its trepidatious travelers with half a dozen starkly contrasted parental figures, including Allison Janney's monstrously vulgar alcoholic, Maggie Gyllenhaal's radical earth-mother (who has shortened her name to "LN"), and Paul Schneider as Burt's rawly dumped brother, who wonders aloud if it would be wrong to tell his daughter her mom has been murdered. There's a level of bile here that some audiences may find alienating -- I can't see it being a big hit in Phoenix -- but Dave Eggers' and Vendela Vida's writing is a cut above the average, and it's performed with gusto. They may not be the most dynamic duo to hit the road, but the relationship between Burt and Verona feels touchingly true. Burt is a boy still trying on manhood for size (with a beard for extra emphasis), and though we've seen Krasinski do this before, he seems to have fine-tuned the performance to the point where he could very happily play it for the next two decades. Unlike his character, he's an actor who has found himself. Maya Rudolph is the joy of this picture. Give or take her role in Altman's "Prairie Home Companion," the "Saturday Night Live" star hasn't made much impact in movies before now. With her frazzled, freckled face, she's not the glamour girl who would normally be shoe-horned into the romantic lead, but she seizes her chance and runs with it. Mendes brings out a more thoughtful and nuanced presence than the brittle comedienne, and Rudolph makes you consider how rarely we see a real woman at the center of things. Even her occasional tentativeness works for the part. Verona is so fresh and alert, she can't help but doubt herself as they trail from one family disaster to the next and wonder what kind of parents they are going to make. It's an uneven picture about the bumps in the road, and not immune to the odd dramatic shortcut or jocular cheap shot. But it does catch an anxiety that will be acutely familiar to anyone contemplating imminent parenthood, and -- in a beautifully judged cameo by Melanie Lynskey -- the deep anguish of someone who has had that prospect snatched away. More often than not, and where it really counts, "Away We Go" hits home. "Away We Go" is rated R and runs 98 minutes. For Entertainment Weekly's review, click here.

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph star as a couple expecting a baby . Their onscreen relationship feels touchingly true . Director Sam Mendes brings out a great performance from Rudolph . Movie's loose-limbed, spontaneous quality is a good part of its appeal .

(CNN) -- Like most couples, my wife and I were discussing marriage before we officially got engaged. But we discovered that we could not keep our private information private. Once we started discussing engagement rings in (supposedly) private Facebook messages to each other, my Web browser became inundated with engagement ring advertisements. From then on, anyone in the same room with me knew our plans. The aphorism is true: If you're not paying for the product or service, you are the product or service being sold. Like most people who use computers, the information in your private message or Web search is being sold to an advertiser. The ads continue to follow you around, popping up at the most inopportune moments when a friend, relative or co-worker happens to be near your screen. We get Facebook for free, and we do our Web searches for free, but the price we pay is our personal data, which are used by advertisers to entice us to buy things that they think we want. It doesn't have to be this way. I would gladly pay a reasonable fee to Facebook and Google if they would allow me to keep my private information private. I'm hardly alone in my disenchantment with the tech world's use of people's personal information. Embarrassing and out-of-context Web advertisements are affecting nearly everyone who uses the Internet these days. My friend Jim Trammell, a college professor in High Point, North Carolina, who is happily married to a woman, once wrote a paper about how homosexual Christians are covered in evangelical magazines, which required online research. "I felt like I was getting ads about gay-friendly vacations and dating services for months," he told me. "Fortunately, Mrs. Trammell knew about my project." Alyssa Richter, a magazine editor in Lexington, Kentucky, was recently looking for baby shower gifts for a pregnant friend. Right on cue, her Web browser became flooded with neverending ads for parenting magazines and onesies. "My husband saw them on my computer and was like, 'Is there something you're not telling me?' " she said. Although these examples are innocuous and even humorous, other targeted advertisements based on (ostensibly) private information can seem intrusive or disturbing. A friend of mine who asked that I not use her name told me about an experience she had when she discovered that she was pregnant. Not surprisingly, she immediately began conducting Web searches related to her pregnancy. Excited and happy, she and her husband started making plans for the baby. If that were the end of the story, the targeted ads would have been fine. But she miscarried. And the targeted ads kept coming. "It was hard for me even though it was such a short-lived pregnancy," she said. "It was like rubbing salt in the wound." The programs that scan your Web activities do not discriminate. Being non-human, they cannot show sensitivity or propriety. Any clue you've given is fair game. Distressed about a dying relative? Don't be surprised to see ads from funeral homes. Planning to buy your spouse a surprise gift? It won't be a surprise when an ad for that specific gift pops up suspiciously on your browser the next day, when the two of you are sharing the computer. I should add that it's not just Google and Facebook that engage in these practices. Many websites choose to run ads that are specifically targeted toward users. I'm always fascinated by the way people rush to defend the reigning tech companies. One example: No one is forcing you to use these websites. True, but that's sort of the same thing as telling a person in a small city with no public transportation that they're not legally required to get a car. If you want to participate in normal daily life, what other option do you have? Another example is the "terms of service" defense. If you use Facebook or Google, you have agreed to their terms of service. That may be true from a strictly legal standpoint, but from a practical standpoint, this defense falls apart. As Alexis Madrigal pointed out in an article in The Atlantic, reading all the privacy policies you encounter in a typical year would take many days. Finally, there's the "opt out" defense, which goes something like this: "Hey, the tech companies aren't trying to get you to do anything you don't want to do. You can adjust your privacy settings." Right. Really? Tech companies have their own interests to look over. That's why, despite a class-action settlement meant to ensure Facebook users' agreement to their "likes" being used in ads, the practice continues under the radar. The public has been whipped into a frenzy lately by revelations of NSA overreach. It's interesting to me that people aren't equally concerned about privacy violations by tech companies. "Don't be evil," Google used to say. OK. That's admirable. But that's also a pretty low standard. How about adding an additional goal: Do more good. "Facebook is free, and always will be." Great. Continue to offer the free version for people who don't care about their privacy. I'll take the "Premium" version, pay for it with actual money and keep my personal information to myself. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David R. Wheeler.

David Wheeler: When I go online, data from my private messages are sold to advertiser . Wheeler: We get Facebook for free, but the price we pay is our privacy . He says embarrassing and out-of-context Web ads are affecting nearly everyone . Wheeler: I would rather pay Facebook a fee in order to keep my personal data private .

(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania man who walked into a gym aerobics class and opened fire, killing three women and wounding nine before turning the gun on himself, "had a lot of hatred in him," police said Wednesday. Pregnant aerobics instructor Mary Primis was teaching class when the gunman opened fire, critically injuring her. George Sodini, 48, brought four handguns into the LA Fitness gym outside Pittsburgh and used three of them, firing at least 36 times around 8 p.m. Tuesday, Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said. Sodini, a member of the gym, was found dead in the aerobics room, lying on top of one of his guns about seven feet from one of the victims. Authorities believe Sodini targeted the aerobics class, because a schedule was found in his home with that class circled, Moffatt said. But police do not believe he targeted anyone personally. An online diary, as well as notes at the scene and at his home, have led them to believe he was targeting women in general. Read an edited version of the diary (PDF) In the note found at the scene in Sodini's gym bag, he complains he had never spent a weekend with a woman, never vacationed with a woman and never lived with a woman, and that he had had limited sexual experiences, Moffatt said. He makes similar complaints in his online blog, which also documents his growing rage at women for rejecting him and at the world he felt had abandoned him. Witnesses told police the gunman was dressed in black when he entered the class, shut off the lights, walked about 10 feet and opened fire. Mary Primis, 26, an aerobics instructor who is 10 weeks pregnant, was shot twice. "I remember thinking I wanted to hold my breath because I was afraid, if he saw that I was breathing, he would shoot again," she told CNN affiliate WPXI from her hospital bed. Asked if she thought she was going to die, she said, "I wasn't sure." Her husband, Alex Primis, said she was shot once in the left shoulder and again through the back of her shoulder blade. This was to be her last week teaching before taking time off for her pregnancy, Primis said. Sodini apparently had "practice runs" before the shooting Tuesday, Moffatt said. Someone at the gym had showed him how to shut off the lights, he said, not knowing his plans. "He just had a lot of hatred in him, and he was hell bent on committing this act," Moffatt said. Watch Moffatt describe contents of diary » . Sodini worked as a systems analyst in the finance department of K&L Gates, a law firm with an office in Pittsburgh, since 1999, Mike Rick, a spokesman for the firm, said. Neighbors described him as reclusive and said he had stopped talking to them in the past few years. On Tuesday, Sodini visited the gym three times -- the first about 11 a.m., a second time at 7:40 p.m. and a third time at 7:56 p.m., Moffatt said. Members of the gym are required to swipe a card to check in, but do not have to check out, he said. The first 911 call was dispatched at 8:16 p.m. Three of the four guns found with Sodini were traced back to him, and authorities are in the process of tracing the fourth, Moffatt said. They were two 9 mm semi-automatics, a .45-caliber revolver and a .38 in his pocket. Sodini also had 30-round ammunition clips that were illegal before the assault weapons ban was lifted in 2004, police said. Police know Sodini made a telephone call at 7:45 p.m., and believe he may have left the gym to make it. Authorities are attempting to locate the person he contacted, Moffatt said. Sodini did not mention killing himself in the note found at the scene, which was mostly typed with handwritten notations, but did mention it in a handwritten note found at his home, Moffatt said. Police seized Sodini's car for processing, but no guns were found in it, he said. They also seized his computer and were examining it. The shooting victims were taken to the three major hospitals in the area. Moffatt said he believed none of those who remained hospitalized Wednesday had life-threatening injuries. County officials said counselors were being made available to area residents in the wake of the shooting. Police spoke to a pastor mentioned on Sodini's online diary. The man said Sodini attended his church but stopped in 2006, and that there was a minor incident involving a woman who felt "he was paying too much attention to her," Moffatt said. The pastor spoke to Sodini, and it stopped, he said. Moffatt said police have no knowledge of any mental health issues involving Sodini, but are still puzzled at the violence. "I can't ever make sense of murders," he said. CNN's Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

NEW: Police find gym schedule with class circled in gunman's home . NEW: Notes, diary indicate gym shooter was targeting women in general . Gym member George Sodini, 48, talks about his hatred of women in note . Shooting at LA Fitness leaves three women and shooter dead, police say .

(CNN) -- As a strong proponent of parental responsibility, it both amuses and angers me to see some parents lining up behind an initiative to sue McDonald's over the inclusion of toys in their Happy Meals. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is leading the charge in this case, pushing the state of California to ban the toys, suggesting that the toys in Happy Meals are inducing children to eat burgers and fries, thus contributing to the obesity epidemic in America. As I asserted a few weeks ago in my column supporting First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, I fully back efforts to end obesity among our children. But at what point do some folks use common sense? For example, in a story in the Chicago Tribune, parent Monet Parham said her 6-year-old daughter was so enamored with toys offered in partnership with the movie, "Shrek Forever After," she pestered her mom to collect every toy. That would mean going to McDonald's every week, since the promotion was a giveaway each week. And that's not something Parham wanted. So instead of being a parent and telling her child, "no," Parham decided to become a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Instead being the grownup and not giving in to the demands of a 6-year-old, Parham thought it made more sense to sue McDonald's to make her job as a parent easier. I've long maintained that the problem today isn't children or the world changing. It's punk parents changing. Yes, I know that's a strong phrase, but when a parent can't control a 6-year-old, then we have some issues. Do I have any biological children? Nope. But my wife and I at different times have raised six of my nieces. And when they lived in our home, we would take them to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. And when we went, instead of fries, we would order them apples. Instead of a soda, we would get apple juice or milk. Yes, it was that simple. All we did was ask for the healthier options on the menu, and the girls were happy with their Happy Meals. Why is this so hard? There is a fundamental role government can play when it comes to nutrition. Going after the cigarette makers who enticed children with cartoon characters to smoke? Good. Limiting trans fats in cooking? No problem here if it makes us healthier. But this is ridiculous. What we desperately need today are real parents. Parents who understand that it is not their job to be friends with their children but be parents. Parents who get that having a disappointed child who doesn't get his or her way all the time isn't a bad thing. Parents who will give their child the right look when the child begins to act a fool and throw a tantrum. I am not one of these adults who subscribe to the notion that no one can tell them what to do and they can do it all. For instance, I support sex education in schools and don't believe that we should leave that up to the parents. It's called education for a reason! Count me as a major supporter of schools changing their menus to have healthier eating options. And I'm also down with school uniforms. The heck with the peer pressure of the haves and have nots based on designer clothes. None of these prevent parents from doing what they want to do with their children. It's all about focusing on the broader needs of the child. What has to be understood is that a lawsuit isn't the answer to everything. And if we want our children to be healthier, banning a toy will do nothing to make that happen. Push McDonald's to make healthy options more visible on the menu. I love the idea of having calorie counts on foods. It has changed my mind on many occasions as to what to buy in a fast food restaurant. Push fast food joints to have a health menu option by adding a salad, fruit and/or water instead of fries and a fountain drink. All of these make sense. Trying to ban a toy because a parent can't tell their child no is ludicrous. My nieces and nephews know full well that when it comes to who is in control, Uncle Ro Ro doesn't play around. I'm not their friend or buddy; I'm their uncle. What I say goes. I don't negotiate. I don't consult. I don't give in. I make it clear: my money, my rules. As my dad told me, "When you're grown enough to pay all of your bills, you can make the call." If a niece or nephew wants to go to McDonald's every week for a month just to get a toy, and the deal is we only go once a month, here is the option: "We go once a month or not at all. Your call." Trust me, even the biggest child pest has enough sense to figure out that once a month is the better option. Parents, buck up and be the adult in the family, and stop blaming everything on an outside agency or corporation. Maybe McDonald's should think of suing sorry parents for not doing their job. Now that's a lawsuit I'm willing to support. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.

Lawsuit asks California to ban Happy Meals, saying they encourage poor eating habits . Roland Martin says parents want government to step in and prevent kids from bad choices . He says it's the role of parents to exercise control on what children eat . Martin: Parents, take responsibility and stop blaming outside corporations .

Flint, Michigan (CNN) -- A few weeks ago, Nicole Mansfield called her daughter in Flint, Michigan. She tried to calm Triana Jones down, but she had bad news. "She said, 'I might not be home in a week, somebody stole my ID,' " Jones recalled of the conversation almost a month ago. "So she wasn't able to come home." This wasn't a minor headache, part of the travail of international travel. Jones thought her mother could be in Syria, fighting alongside rebels in the country's bloody civil war. Nicole Mansfield had converted to Islam several years ago, her daughter told CNN Friday. Jones wept as she and Gregory Mansfield -- her mother's father -- talked to CNN about the horror they felt seeing images on the Internet this week of a dead woman they are convinced is Nicole Mansfield. Syrian state-run television aired a story saying that government forces had killed three Westerners. The video package shows a bullet-riddled car, weapons placed on the car hood, a computer, a hand-drawn map of a government military facility and a flag belonging to the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front. The camera pans close to bodies arranged in a row, lying on the ground. Mansfield's relatives told CNN they have no doubt she's one of them. Though it's unclear how the family knew to look on the Web to see the images, they say the FBI paid the Mansfield family a visit Thursday to ask them about reports that Mansfield was killed in Syria. "The first time I saw those pictures I had to look again because I didn't even recognize her. I didn't believe it was my mom the first time I saw them," Jones told CNN, choking back tears. "And then I had to look again and I looked at her body and her feet and her hands and her nose and her mouth. And I knew it was her." Jones added that she's upset the pictures have gotten out, saying "I shouldn't have to see my mother's body like that all over the media and the Internet." She's also hurt by what people are saying about her mother -- like that she was a terrorist or a CIA agent. "She was just an American woman who was misguided," Jones said. "... And it really makes me sick to my stomach that people post such horrible things." After showing the bodies, the Syrian television story shows shots of IDs; one of them appears to be Mansfield's. Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad killed three Westerners, an announcer says. The story also shows a picture of a British man. The UK Foreign Office confirmed Friday that a British national was killed in Syria and officials are trying to reach relatives. The United States is aware of the claim that an American woman was killed and is working through the Czech Republic mission in Syria to obtain more information, a State Department official told CNN on condition of anonymity. Citing concerns that the privacy of a family could be jeopardized, the official declined further comment. CNN asked Jones why her mother might have wanted to go to Syria. "I know that she was talking to people online and that they told her about the project in Syria," she answered. "And that she was interested in going over there to help. But she didn't think it would be fighting. She told me there wouldn't be (guns) or anything. She would never be involved in that." "And they lied to her. They misled her and they took her and brought her over there, probably paid for her ticket and everything, and they kept her there." CNN asked Jones if she could be more specific about what she meant by "project." "That it was to help free the Syrians from the Syrian government and all the problems that they're having over there," she answered. Nicole's father, Gregory Mansfield, contacted the FBI when his daughter left the United States three years ago, but he was not clear on where she went. CNN asked Gregory Mansfield why he thought his daughter going abroad was disturbing enough to warrant notifying the FBI. He refused to explain. He said his worries concerned "Israel" and repeatedly insisted to CNN that the FBI should have revoked his daughter's passport. Nicole's grandmother, Carole, said she last saw her granddaughter in Michigan in January. Another relative recently got a call from Nicole Mansfield in which she said she was gone, but she'd be back to the United States for a visit soon. Carole Mansfield and Monica Steelman, Nicole's aunt, described Nicole as caring and outgoing, saying she'd sometime travel without telling her family where she was heading. She had worked as a home care worker and had been married twice, including to a man who practiced Islam. "Nicole was the type of person if she thought that something was wrong somewhere, that she could help repair it," said her aunt. Her niece tried to be a "problem solver," she said. "Trouble spots," Carole Mansfield said, "... fascinated her." Raised Christian, she converted to Islam three to five years ago and used to worship at a mosque in Flint. Carole Mansfield said she spoke to her granddaughter after her conversion. "At that time I told her that I thought she was looking a rattlesnake in the eyes," the grandmother said. "But that's my belief. Not that I felt it made her a bad person."

Daughter: Nicole Mansfield converted to Islam years ago, wanted to go to Syria . Weeks ago daughter got call from mother saying someone in Syria had stolen her ID . Family says Mansfield is the dead woman in images from Syria; U.S. hasn't confirmed .

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama outlined his final version of a health care bill Wednesday and urged Congress to bring the plan to a conclusive vote within the next few weeks. The president said his nearly $1 trillion proposal is a compromise plan that combines the best ideas of both Democrats and Republicans. He asked Congress to "finish its work" and end what has become a yearlong vitriolic legislative showdown over his top domestic priority. "Everything there is to say about health care has been said, and just about everybody has said it," he said. "Now is the time to make a decision about how to finally reform health care so that it works, not just for the insurance companies, but for America's families and America's businesses." He also came out in support of a controversial legislative maneuver known as reconciliation, which would allow changes to the health care bill to be passed by the Senate with only 51 votes -- a bare legislative majority. The bill "deserves the same kind of up-or-down vote" that was used to pass President George W. Bush's signature tax cuts and welfare reform in the 1990s, Obama said at the White House. "At stake right now is not just our ability to solve this problem, but our ability to solve any problem," he said. "The American people want to know if it's still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. They are waiting for us to act." He said he doesn't "know how this plays politically," but knows that "it's right." Top Republicans have repeatedly said Obama's proposal amounts to a government takeover of the private health care system that will do little to control spiraling medical inflation. In recent weeks, they have reiterated their calls for the president to scrap his plan and start over. GOP leaders also fiercely oppose the use of reconciliation, saying it was never meant to be used for such a major policy change. "I am disappointed that Democrats are moving ahead with the nuclear option," said Michigan Rep. Dave Camp, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. "Big social policy changes should have bipartisan support and the support of the American people. This bill has neither. But as bad as the process for moving this bill is, the policy and its impact is far worse." Multiple Democratic sources have told CNN that the emerging consensus plan is for the House of Representatives to pass the Senate bill and send it to Obama. A package of changes that mirror the president's plan would then be passed through both chambers under reconciliation rules. Democrats increasingly brought up the prospect of using reconciliation after losing their 60-vote, filibuster-proof Senate majority in January, when GOP Sen. Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat previously held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Democrat. Observers note, however, that it remains unclear exactly which health care provisions can be approved under reconciliation, which is reserved for legislation pertaining to the budget. If enacted, the president's sweeping compromise plan would constitute the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid more than four decades ago. The White House says it would extend coverage to 31 million Americans. Among other things, Obama's plan would expand Medicare prescription drug coverage, increase federal subsidies to help people buy insurance and give the federal government new authority to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies. It increases the threshold -- relative to the Senate bill passed in December -- under which a tax on high-end health insurance plans would kick in. The president's proposal also includes significant reductions in Medicare spending, in part through changes in payments made under the Medicare Advantage program. It does not, however, include a government-run public health insurance option -- an idea strongly backed by liberal Democrats but fiercely opposed by Republicans and key Democratic moderates. It also eliminates a deeply unpopular provision in the Senate bill worked in by Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, that exempts that state from paying increased Medicaid expenses. Administration officials say Obama's measure would cut the deficit by $100 billion over the next 10 years. They estimate the total cost of the bill to be $950 billion in the next decade. Obama extended a final bipartisan olive branch to GOP leaders Tuesday, saying in a letter that he is willing to consider several of their ideas in a compromise plan. Among other things, the president said he is willing to commit $50 million to fund state initiatives designed to reduce medical malpractice costs. He backed undercover investigations of health care providers receiving Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs. The president also backed Medicaid reimbursement increases to doctors in certain states, and supported language ensuring certain high-deductible health plans can be offered in the health exchange. The president said his decision to consider the GOP ideas was a result of last week's health care summit. GOP leaders, however, have said they are unsatisfied with Obama's concessions. "The only thing that will be bipartisan about this proposal will be the opposition to it," promised Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. "The American people are not for this." McConnell predicted that "every election in America this fall will be a referendum on this issue."

NEW: "Now is the time to make a decision" about health care reform, president says . NEW: Obama backs reconciliation, controversial tactic that requires only 51 votes . But GOP says reconciliation never meant to be used for such a major policy change . Top GOP leaders have reiterated calls for president to scrap his plan, start over .

(CNN) -- It's been a busy few days in the world of cybercrime. Late last week, we learned that cooperation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and overseas police agencies led to the dissection of the amorphous network behind Blackshades -- the tool that allows hackers to remotely access an unwitting user's computer to steal sensitive files, log passwords, and capture webcam images. Law enforcement authorities from the U.S. to Germany to the Netherlands appeared on the doorsteps of suspected hackers with links to the malicious software, eventually arresting 90 people and gathering hoards of evidence along the way. Then, on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released an indictment for five Chinese nationals on charges of corporate cybertheft. In a statement, FBI Director James B. Comey accused the Chinese government of committing "cyber espionage to obtain economic advantage for its state-owned industries." The 31-count cybertheft indictment is the first of its kind to level penalties on a state actor -- in this case five members of the People's Liberation Army -- for allegedly pilfering intellectual property from six U.S. companies. Predictably, China's Foreign Ministry was quick to rebuke the charges as "fabricated" and a violation "of basic norms of international relations." As if it had been pre-written, the scripted statement then touted China's record as a "staunch defender of cybersecurity." Practically speaking, the arrest of 90 semi-amateur hackers is hardly a decisive blow to global cybercrime and the Justice Department's indictment is little more than a legal show of force. After all, the Blackshades network pales in comparison to other high-dealing cybercrime rings and China has already dismissed the allegations as "fictitious and absurd," so don't expect extradition proceedings anytime soon. But the Blackshades arrests and the DOJ allegations against China, although modest, are hardly trivial. The indictment marks the most flagrant expression of the United States' growing intolerance for corporate cybertheft to date. It also communicates to China and the rest of the world the degree to which such behavior directly threatens America's interests, perhaps even in a manner commensurate with more conventional threats like terrorism and WMD proliferation. More than signaling intolerance for cybercrime, both cases have revealed domestic and foreign law enforcement's steady maturation in this space. The international Blackshades raid, which spanned 19 countries, required robust information sharing channels and cross-border operational coordination. On the surface, such partnerships seem routine given that the U.S. regularly partners with foreign law enforcement on drug, terrorism, and financial crimes. But unlike other criminal disciplines, there are no universally-recognized charters governing international norms for cybercrime, and most countries' justice systems are at drastically different stages of development in this nascent legal field. The Feds and their international counterparts deserve a solid pat on the back for this one, but the progress will quickly retreat if the events of the past week don't trigger a more enduring dialogue on international norms for cybercrime. Now more than ever, the line in the sand is clear. On one side is traditional espionage, a practice governed by hundreds of years of international norms that has recently spilled over from sea, air and land into cyberspace. It is a basic function of intelligence. On the other side, is corporate cybertheft, a new phenomenon in which the anonymity of cyberspace affords the thief an enormous advantage over the victim -- especially when the thief is a government and the victim is a business. Quite simply, corporate cybertheft crosses the line because, in today's ultra-competitive geopolitical landscape, it threatens the delicate balance of power between states. Yes, states spy in cyberspace to protect themselves from threats. But the goal of corporate cybertheft is to fundamentally revise the balance of power -- and self-respecting nations simply can't tolerate such behavior. In unprecedented fashion, the faces of five officers from the previously disclosed 61398 Unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army now appear on a "Wanted by the FBI" poster, a striking suggestion that perhaps prosecuting cybercrime shouldn't differ all that much from prosecuting other crimes. Not too long ago, the overt portrayal of individuals otherwise known only by their virtual aliases would have been met by fierce opposition from those fearing diplomatic retribution. Despite China's rhetoric and the summoning of the American Ambassador to China Max Baucus Monday night, the U.S. need not fear retribution. But now that we've crossed the Rubicon with this indictment, it's apparent that dealing with cybercrime is more than just a "name and shame" game. If, instead, the five Chinese officers marched into Westinghouse's headquarters, pulled out a gun and stole next year's product development plans, nobody would debate whether or not they crossed the line. Cyberspace doesn't afford criminals any more latitude than the physical world, but it does increase the burden of proof on the accusing party -- so hopefully Attorney General Eric Holder did his homework. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.

Dave Weinstein says the recent cyber-arrests and Chinese indictments signal a new era . Federal law enforcement agencies and governments have redefined what crosses the line . The Blackshades raid spanned 19 countries and required robust global information sharing .

(CNN) -- Last Sunday, a group of us sat on the beach, watching the children play, when the talk turned, as it often does, to Pope Francis. "The Pope said the loveliest thing yesterday. My father in Porto Alegre called me to tell me about it," my Brazilian friend Bete told us. My Swiss friend Diego chimed in with another charming anecdote, and everyone remarked how warm and affectionate Francis is. I was pleased to hear all the comments, but not surprised, since it's been like that all year. Everyone is talking about him, all the time. In this first year of his papacy, Francis has stirred up hearts and minds, not only among his flock, but also among a wider culture that is generally inhospitable, if not downright antagonistic, to the teachings of the Church of Rome. He has sparked admiration and consternation, and most of all, he has inspired wide-flung interest and debate. It seems the voice of the vicar of Rome, even in this secularist age, has tremendous carrying power. People who long ago dismissed the church as a hidebound, irrelevant institution seem to be irresistibly drawn to the captivating Francis. I was stunned, recently, to have a very liberal acquaintance of mine, who happens to be Jewish, tell me we finally have a progressive pope. A priest reflects on Francis' first year . He used the word "we." To my acquaintance, "progressive" is high praise, as it describes a belief in the growing wisdom of mankind and the inevitable improvement of our culture, resulting in welcome human flourishing. It was clear to him that both he and Francis share the same desire, to see all people living more joyful, fulfilling lives. My friend's comment illustrated the peculiar power of Francis: that of presenting the central message of the church -- that God loves every man and woman passionately and desires their good -- in ways that those quite outside the influence of the church can recognize and warm to. Pope Francis has been at pains to explain what he is about, which he characterizes as a new chapter of evangelization for the church. His task is to find ways, and help the rest of the church find ways, to transmit the joy which so obviously fills him and sustains him. He calls it the joy of the gospel, which perhaps might be explained as the joy of knowing that we are truly loved, although all of us are completely undeserving of that kind of sacrificial devotion. He is the first one to declare himself a sinner, and undeserving, with an utterly disarming humility. He writes, in Evangelii Gaudium, "I dream of ... a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church's customs ... can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today's world rather than for her self-preservation." This is quite a statement. It seems he understands that too many Catholics today find themselves with a bunker mentality, hoping to "get by" without calling too much attention to themselves. They feel beleaguered by those who no longer have the philosophical and religious education that would enable them to understand social doctrine, especially sexual, as anything other than stuffy nonsense that has outlived its usefulness. The church has found itself, understandably, in a defensive posture. It has been greatly exacerbated recently by a new tendency in modern culture to decry an adherence to age-old, universal attitudes toward marriage and sexuality as intolerance and bigotry. But that defensive posture, Francis seems to say, is not courageous and outward-looking, and not worthy of those who have been charged with the sacred mission of spreading the good news. Of course, there are many who hope that he will repudiate some of those social teachings, and thereby change the character of the church itself. Again and again he is asked why he doesn't emphasize those difficult matters, like abortion and marriage. He didn't mention them in Brazil, during World Youth Day. He explained then: "The Church has already expressed herself perfectly on this. ... It wasn't necessary to talk about that, but about the positive things that open the way to youngsters." When pressed for his personal position, he answered with direct and perfect simplicity: "That of the Church. I am a Child of the Church!" Francis wants Catholics, bravely, out of their bunkers. He is telling them that there is tremendous power in the knowledge that believers carry within them. The joy of the gospel, as Francis sees it, is capable of setting us free from sorrow, loneliness and inner emptiness. Aren't those exactly the torments that plague modern people, satiated with material goods like never before but atomized and radically alone? It would be criminal for Catholics to hide it away because they are fearful of criticism or just lazy and unmotivated. The Pope tells us to put joy into action, in service to the poor, love of the sick, going out to meet our brothers and sisters at the crossroads and bringing them home. He personally and infectiously shows us exactly how it's done. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie.

Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie says everyone is talking about Pope Francis, all the time . He has stirred hearts and minds of Catholics and non-Catholics, she says . People are saying that "we" finally have a progressive pope . She says Pope Francis wants Catholics, bravely, out of their bunkers .

(CNN) -- Three people have been detained for questioning in Belize in the weekend killing of Gregory Faull, a neighbor of Internet pioneer John McAfee, who was being sought for questioning, police said. The detentions are routine in such investigations, said Raphael Martinez, a spokesman for the National Police in the Central American country. Faull, 52, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the back of the head on Sunday in his home near San Pedro Belize, on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye, Martinez said. Faull was killed after four of 11 dogs belonging to McAfee were fatally poisoned, said Wired Magazine Contributing Editor Joshua Davis, who said he had spent more than 100 hours with McAfee in recent months. Faull had frequently complained about the dogs barking, Davis said. "The dogs were poisoned on Friday night, they died very quickly," Davis said. "Sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, Mr. Faull was killed." Martinez said a person working for McAfee called police Saturday about a poisoned dog; when police arrived at McAfee's residence, they found the dogs had been buried. Martinez said there had been "some sort of misunderstanding" before Saturday between McAfee and Faull about the dogs. McAfee, 67, told Davis on Tuesday that he did not kill his neighbor, the reporter said. "He says that he's had very little contact with Greg over the past three years," Davis said. "They've spoken maybe 50 words total. Nonetheless, there was antagonism there. McAfee admits that." McAfee told Davis that, when police visited his home on Sunday, he hid from them. "McAfee saw them coming and he dug a hole in the sand and buried himself in the sand, he says, and he put a cardboard box over his head so he could breathe," Davis said. "He said it was extremely uncomfortable, but he believes that the police will kill him if he turns himself in." "My goodness," Martinez said when asked about McAfee's reported fear. "He needs to come in so that we can clear the air. We are law-abiding people here. We follow the laws to the letter. We believe at this point that he has absolutely no fear of being killed by anybody." McAfee is not a suspect, Martinez said. He is a person police want to talk with "to clarify the situation, to allay the fears of everybody that perhaps he is indeed involved in the murder of his neighbor," whose house is about 300 yards away, Martinez said. Investigators were pursuing multiple leads, he added. On Wednesday, police said they had filed weapons charges against McAfee's bodyguard, William Mulligan, 29, and Mulligan's wife, Stefanie Mulligan, 22. The two are accused of keeping a firearm and ammunition without a license. They were arrested on McAfee's property, police said. In a telephone interview with Davis that was posted on Wired's website, McAfee said Tuesday morning that he was hiding from authorities. "Obviously, given enough time, they will track me down," he said. "It's just a matter of time. In the meantime I'd like to get out as much information as I can about the wrongs in this country." He said a number of the country's political figures were corrupt. McAfee has a history of problems with the government, Davis said. In April, a gang-suppression squad raided one of his properties and charged him with running a methamphetamine lab and illegal arms possession, Davis said. The charges were dropped. "Ever since then, McAfee thinks he's been harassed by the police," Davis said. "And I directly confronted him on this and I said, 'Maybe you're paranoid.' He talks about police hiding in bushes and stalking." Davis said he "wondered if there was something bad that was going to happen." "I do agree that he is a very eccentric multi-millionaire and I also felt fear with him," he said. McAfee founded the Internet security company that bears his name, but left it in 1994, said company spokeswoman Kimberly Eichorn. McAfee graduated in 1967 with a degree in mathematics from Roanoke College, according to the Virginia school. He went on to found several tech companies and to launch groundbreaking products, including the voice-recognition system Interpath Inc. in 1981, McAfee in 1988, and the instant messaging pioneer Tribal Voice in 1996. Faull, a construction contractor from central Florida, moved this year to Belize "to transition to more adventures based in Belize," his family said in a statement. Several years ago, he had bought a house on Ambergris Cay in Belize that had been damaged in a hurricane, the family said. "Greg worked part-time for the past three years to rebuild the home," it said. "He recently completed work and had the property ready to offer as a vacation rental when he was murdered." CNN's Karen Smith and Alan Duke contributed to this report.

The detentions are routine in such investigations, police say . McAfee acknowledges differences with the neighbor, Wired's Joshua Davis says . McAfee is a "very eccentric multi-millionaire" who founded an Internet security firm . McAfee left the firm he founded in 1994 .

(CNN) -- Word that President Obama might pile comprehensive immigration reform onto his already-full plate reignited calls from some for an urgent overhaul and brought cries from others that the timing couldn't be worse. New citizens take the oath of citizenship during ceremonies in Montebello, California, on Thursday. "It's more important than ever to address immigration reform right now," said Ian Haney Lopez, a professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley. The financial and cultural dynamics of the economy make reform so urgent, he said. "I worry that in the context of an economic downturn, the cultural response of that economic downturn will be to search for someone to blame, and that someone usually turns out to be a foreigner or someone perceived as foreigner," he said. As a financial dynamic, he said, the economy also calls for immigration reform: "It's a mistake to understand immigrants as a drain on the economy. Immigrants in fact are the engine of development in this country and always have been," he said. Watch: Is the push for immigration reform real? » . But Carol Swain, a professor of law and political science at Vanderbilt University and author of "Debating Immigration," has little hope that Obama will be the president to reform the system. "I think the timing could not be worse. I don't understand the timing behind even raising the issue right now with the economy being as poor as it is," said Swain, who has identified with Democrats and independents but recently switched to the Republican Party. "There's just so many Americans of all groups that are unemployed or their future is so uncertain," she said. "It's not a good time to be talking about allowing people who are holding jobs and not entitled to to remain in the country, and continue holding those jobs." There are roughly 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Obama has supported a combination of enforcing laws and opening up the system. He wants to see a pass for citizenship that would mean having an illegal immigrant pay a fine, learn English and then get in line for citizenship. Critics refer to that "path to citizenship" as amnesty. Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said the United States has a de facto amnesty situation now, because laws against hiring illegal immigrants aren't enforced. "If you did enforce it, it would open up many new job openings for American workers who are currently unemployed and need those jobs," he said. Legalizing workers and granting amnesty, he said, "is a massive bailout for illegal immigration. It's a pillaging expedition on the American taxpayer." Watch arguments for and against immigration push » . But Haney Lopez argues that the populist outrage about immigration is "based on a myth." "And the myth is that these are people who are sneaking across the border but otherwise have no contact with the country and whom the country otherwise rejects. That they're wholly unwelcome. And that's just not reality," he said. The United States and Mexico -- as well as other parts of Latin America and Asia -- have had a pattern of circular migration for more than a century, he said. "We are a country of immigrants, and immigrants have always been essential to who we are culturally and socially. So it's simply a mistake to see these people as somehow interlopers," he said. He sees amnesty as a solution, since undocumented workers are coming to the United States because of the demand. If immigrants were given amnesty and the opportunity to work for minimum wage, Americans wouldn't see themselves as in competition with the undocumented workers, he said. "The way to reduce the attractiveness of immigrant labor is to legalize immigrant labor," he said. The White House downplayed reports Thursday that the Obama administration would push for reform as early as next month, clarifying that while the issue is a priority, the economy comes first. One senior administration official cautioned that immigration will not be on the same track as other key initiatives, like health care and energy, and nobody's promising legislation or a vote this year. Watch more on Obama's plan to tackle immigration reform » . As a candidate, Obama promised immigration issues would be a priority in his first year. He won 67 percent of the Latino vote. Fierce critics of his plan say that's exactly what this is about. "There's no way the American people are going to understand a move, a big move for an immigration amnesty now as anything other than a naked party power grab of putting party interest above public interest," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Swain, the Vanderbilt professor, said immigration reform is something that must be done, "but it needs to be done in the right way." Involving special interest groups in designing the policy, she said, "would be disastrous." She said the only way to truly reform immigration is by having an independent body develop a package for Congress to vote on. Haney Lopez said that denying a route to legalization is "antithetical to American values," and by doing so, "we are creating a permanent caste system." "That's very dangerous for a country like the United States founded on principles of equality and participatory democracy," he said. CNN's Candy Crowley contributed to this report.

"It's more important than ever to address immigration reform," one professor says . Another argues reform is needed, but the timing is bad, given the economy . As a candidate, Obama promised immigration would be a priority in first year . One expert says populist outrage about immigration is "based on a myth"

(CNN) -- The two boys abducted by their parents and taken to Cuba were "well cared for" on their trip, their grandmother told reporters. The children, Chase and Cole, don't know they were abducted, Patricia Hauser said. All they know is they were on an "adventure," she said Thursday. The boys -- 2 and 4 -- appeared in front of reporters after Hauser spoke, smiling and showing off toys. "We have not asked the boys anything about the journey. We are just letting them tell us as things come out if they feel like talking," said Hauser, who along with her husband was given legal custody of the children April 2. Police say their father, Josh Hakken, broke into the home where the boys were living with their grandparents a day later, tying up their grandmother before whisking the two children away. Authorities say they traveled to Cuba on a sailboat. Authorities reunited the boys with Hauser and her husband on Wednesday after Cuban authorities turned the parents and the children over to U.S. officials. Boys reunite with grandparents . Hauser thanked U.S. State Department and Cuban officials for their work to find the children and bring them back to Florida. "They called us from Cuba and let us talk to the boys before their plane even left," she said. "Many tears were shed in that room from us." She said the family would not have any more news conferences or interviews, and asked that the media and public respect their privacy. "We are trying very hard to shield the boys from media coverage, and we want them to get back to their normal everyday schedules and just be normal carefree boys again," she said. According to search warrant documents released Thursday by Florida authorities, Hauser told investigators that Hakken and his wife, Sharyn, had "previously discussed suicide." The documents, citing the boys' grandmother, also allege the boys' father tied her to a filing cabinet with plastic cable ties before abducting the children "with force." Thursday night, an attorney for the Hakkens agreed to the prosecution's request that the Hakkens remain jailed without bond until trial. The next hearing is May 30. The judge also appointed a public defender to represent the couple after they said they wouldn't be able to pay for a lawyer on their own. Later, the state attorney's office filed formal charges against the Hakkens, including two counts of felony kidnapping. Given Florida sentencing guidelines, a conviction on the kidnapping charges could mean the Hakkens will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. Among the 11 counts, the couple was also charged with burglary, false imprisonment and child abuse. Police: Parents talked of 'journey to the Armageddon' The circumstances leading up to the ordeal began in June when the family was staying at a hotel in Slidell, Louisiana. Responding to a call, police officers found the parents "acting in a bizarre manner," Slidell police said in a statement. Inside the room where the boys were, authorities found narcotics and weapons. "They were talking about 'completing their ultimate journey' and were traveling across the country to 'take a journey to the Armageddon,'" police said about the parents. Louisiana authorities took the children from their parents after that incident. About two weeks later, the father showed up at a foster family home with a gun and demanded the return of the boys, Slidell police said. He fled after the foster parents called 911. Over subsequent months, the parents "did not participate in the system," said Sheriff David Gee of Hillsborough County. He did not offer details. "As a result of that, the authorities in Louisiana gave custody to the grandparents," he said. That transfer became official on April 2, when a Louisiana judge terminated the suspects' parental rights. Early the next morning, Patricia Hauser told police, Josh Hakken entered her Florida home, tied her up and sped away with the children and the family dog in a silver 2009 Toyota Camry. They met up with Sharyn Hakken, sheriff's investigators said, and eventually ended up on a 25-foot sailboat named Salty. The boat's seller later tipped off authorities after word got out about the alleged abduction. It was at the Hemingway Marina just west of Havana, on Tuesday, that CNN found the family -- hunkered inside the boat, under the watch of Cuban security forces. That morning, U.S. officials in Havana told CNN that they were afraid the children could be in danger from their parents. Armed Cuban security agents watched over the family most of the day until the parents and children were led away peacefully that afternoon. Boys 'fine, happy and sleepy' on return to U.S. Cuba and the United States are divided by far more than the Straits of Florida. But this week, U.S. officials repeatedly expressed their appreciation for the Cuban government's "extensive cooperation." The Cuban Foreign Ministry said the boat pulled into the marina in bad weather Sunday. The two governments shared information, which led to the return of the family and their dog to the United States. CNN's Patrick Oppmann, Kim Segal and John Zarrella contributed to this report.

NEW: The next hearing for the couple is set for May 30 . Josh and Sharyn Hakken are accused of abducting the boys and taking them to Cuba . The boys thought they were on an adventure, their grandmother says . Prosecutors file 11 charges against the parents, including kidnapping and child abuse .

(CNN) -- Vice Presidential debates are usually treated as bores or curios. The best you can hope for is a misstep that makes the headlines the next day -- think Dan Quayle comparing himself to Jack Kennedy or Bob Dole lambasting all those "Democrat wars." But the debaters are auditioning to be understudy, so they usually play it safe. Record numbers tuned in to watch Biden vs. Palin in 2008 simply to see if Sarah Palin would go 90 minutes without humiliating herself or her running mate. Apart from some aggressive winking, she performed adequately and disaster was avoided. So two personalities who ought to have made for great TV were actually a little dull. Thursday night's debate will be different, because it matters in a way that previous matchups have not. Mitt Romney's performance in last week's debate seems to have shaken up the polls. That's not just because he did well, but also because the voters appear to be more undecided about the election than we thought they were (just look at the massive attitude shift that Pew reports among female voters). In such an environment, gaffes and good rhetoric count for a great deal. Recall that the debates proved just as important to deciding the Republican primaries, and one of the reasons why Romney won the primaries is that he was so good at the debates. With the country now evenly divided between the two nominees, the race could end up being settled by a few hours of televised sparring. Hence, Biden vs. Ryan is worth tuning in to. Martin: Biden must deliver for Team Obama . It also helps that these two men embody the differences between the two parties. Both are Catholics, but from contrasting traditions. Biden comes from the Vatican II generation for whom Catholic piety is centered on social justice and economic fairness. For him, government welfare programs are an extension of Christian charity -- and he's happy to embrace the cultural changes that have altered attitudes about contraception, women and gay rights. 7 questions you would ask at the VP debate . By contrast, Ryan is part of the John Paul II generation of conservative Catholics who have often despaired of the American church's flirtation with liberalism. Ryan has a moral theology that sees government as sapping self-reliance, and abortion as the murder of the unborn. Between the two of them, we have the bifurcation of the Roman Catholic Church personalized: social conscience vs. natural law. That said, it's interesting to note that Ryan has been prepping for this debate with Ted Olson -- the man who provided legal assistance to pro-same-sex marriage campaigners. It's surprising that no movement conservatives have made a fuss about the company that Ryan keeps. In this contest between Catholics, who stands the better chance of winning? Paul Ryan, and for three reasons. First, Ryan is younger. In last week's debate, despite being the older man, Romney came across as more youthful and energetic than the president. He looked not only ready to lead, but also more willing. Likewise, Ryan is a handsome, athletic young man who hunts deer with a bow and arrow. Already the star of an internet "Hey Girl" meme, he will reinforce the impression that the GOP ticket is the more virile. CNN Exclusive: How Paul Ryan sharpens debate skills . Second, Biden is a more erratic performer than Ryan and so more likely to make a blunder. A good drinking game to play during the debate would be to take a shot every time Biden says "literally," another if he mispronounces someone's name, and another if he forgets Paul Ryan's. His tendency toward hyperbole and emotionally charged gaffes is notorious. The flip side of that problem is that if he keeps his natural energy too much in check, then he won't seem like the same old Biden that Democrats know and love. In 2008, he was outperformed by Sarah Palin partly because he seemed to be playing the statesman. As a rule, Biden does better in front of loud, sympathetic audiences (see his barnstorming convention speech). Third, the issue momentum is with Romney/Ryan. It's true that Friday's jobs report lowered the unemployment rate and brought some good news to the administration. But it doesn't seem to be reflected in the polls yet. That might be because many Americans don't feel like things are getting better -- because so many are quitting the labor market or getting part-time work. Add to that some of the negative reports about the administration's handling of the Middle East and you get the sense that this week belongs to the Republicans. Opinion: Five ways Obama can bounce back . Whoever wins, what is reassuring for fans of politics is the importance that debate has played in this election. With millions of dollars spent on negative ads and the Internet awash with silly stories about dogs on cars and old speeches, it's nice to know that uninterrupted, rational debate spread over just 90 minutes can still make such an impact in contemporary American democracy. Biden vs. Ryan is far from Lincoln vs. Douglas, but the spirit lives on. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Timothy Stanley.

With the race close, Thursday's VP debate matters in a new way, says Timothy Stanley . Biden and Ryan embody the differences between the two parties, Stanley says . Being younger and less erratic than Biden gives Ryan an edge, he says . Stanley: As a rule, Biden does better in front of loud, sympathetic audiences .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- In the wake of a teacher misconduct scandal, Los Angeles school officials have referred the discipline cases of 604 teachers from the past four years to state authorities to decide whether the teachers' licenses should also be revoked, a school spokesman said Thursday. Of the 604 cases in which teachers were fired or facing discipline, 60 teachers were accused of sexual misconduct with pupils on or off campus or with minors who weren't students, school officials told CNN. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing will investigate 366 of the 604 teacher cases, spokeswoman Anne Padilla said on Thursday. Most of the cases focused on allegations of teacher misconduct that involved student safety. The referral of the cases to state licensing investigators is the latest turn in the nation's second largest school system. It has been reeling from a scandal at Miramonte Elementary School, where two teachers have been charged with lewd acts on pupils, including one teacher accused of putting children in adult-like bondage situations and placing semen-filled spoons at their mouths. The lurid allegations prompted an internal review of the system's handling of past teacher misconduct cases, and the district determined that 604 cases needed to be referred to state licensing authorities for review, though "a substantial number" of other misconduct cases had already been reported to the state, school officials told CNN. "Protecting California's schoolchildren is always a priority for the commission. The workload has been a challenge, but a necessary one," commission executive director Mary Vixie Sandy said in a statement. The 604 cases include teachers who were disciplined or were about to face discipline since July 2008, according to Ira Berman, Los Angeles Unified School District director of employee relations, and Vivian Ekchian, the district's chief human resources officer. The cases also include teachers who were fired by the school board or who left the district after termination proceedings were initiated or while an allegation of misconduct was pending, Berman and Ekchian said. The system doesn't know whether any of the teachers who were fired or who left the district are still in the classroom in other school districts, according to Berman and Ekchian. The 604 figure also includes teachers who were suspended for 11 days or more for a variety of reasons not involving sexual misconduct with students, the two officials said. "The safety of our students is our No. 1 priority," Ekchian said in explaining why the system referred the 604 cases to the state. The United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers' union, had no comment Thursday on the school board's action, spokeswoman Marla Eby said. The system's internal investigation arose after parental outrage at Miramonte, where a teacher resigned from the system last year but was not referred to the state for possible license revocation, school district spokesman Tom Waldman said. That person is former teacher Mark Berndt, 61, who pleaded not guilty in February to allegations he bound young students, then photographed them with semen-filled spoons held at their mouths and three-inch cockroaches crawling across their faces, among other graphic depictions. "We had not informed Sacramento to revoke Mr. Berndt's credentials," Waldman said. Berndt's teaching credentials have been suspended, Padilla said. Berndt is being held on $23 million bond and faces 23 counts of lewd acts on a child. The 23 victims were between 7 and 10 years old, and all but two of them were girls, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. Authorities have said they have discovered roughly 600 images allegedly taken by Berndt in his classroom. Los Angeles School Superintendent John Deasy has said Berndt was removed from his teaching job in January 2011 after school officials learned of the police investigation. A teacher for 30 years, Berndt initially challenged the school district's decision to dismiss him. But he eventually dropped his appeal and resigned last spring. His arrest in January led to a broader fallout over the adequacy of safeguards for the school's students and the prospect of more victims. Days after Berndt was taken into custody, another Miramonte Elementary teacher -- Martin Springer, 49 -- was arrested and charged with three felony counts of lewd acts with a girl younger than 14. He has pleaded not guilty. The school board subsequently shut Miramonte for two days, during which the board reconstituted the entire staff in the 1,400-student school. Miramonte is in unincorporated Los Angeles County within the Florence-Firestone area, about six miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the California state auditor is going to carry out an emergency $300,000 audit of the Los Angeles Unified School District's actions in managing and documenting child abuse claims, said State Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who sponsored the performance audit proposal. The incident at Miramonte and similar allegations of child sex abuse at other Los Angeles public schools prompted the audit, Lara said. CNN's Jaqueline Hurtado contributed to this report.

Los Angeles school officials submit 604 teacher discipline cases for state licensing review . State teaching licensing authorities say they will investigate 366 of the teachers . The action is fallout from a teacher misconduct scandal in the school system . "The safety of our students is our No. 1 priority," L.A. school official says .

Washington (CNN) -- The efforts by leaders of Turkey and Brazil to broker a nuclear deal with Iran reflects growing dissatisfaction with the traditional world order in which the United States is the only superpower, which they view as outdated and unjust. And their intervention on the Iran issue reflects a growing perception among many countries that the United States is unable to resolve international conflicts alone. The visit this week to Tehran by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was a rare show of personal, high-stakes diplomacy by a pair of world leaders. Turkey and Brazil hailed the agreement they reached for Iran to ship some of its nuclear fuel out of the country as a major step toward resolving Iran's years-old standoff with the West. But it was promptly pooh-poohed by the United States, which, a day after the deal was announced, introduced a sanctions resolution to the United Nations Security Council in what was perceived widely in Ankara and Brasilia as an American snub of two close allies. The Obama administration never really supported Turkey and Brazil's diplomatic efforts. While U.S. officials were prepared to be pleasantly surprised if Lula and Erdogan were able to produce a deal that addressed all their concerns about Iran's nuclear program, they didn't think that it would happen and were concerned the deal would complicate efforts to pass the U.N. resolution. For Lula and Erdogan, however, the introduction of the resolution handicaps their efforts to get Iran to cooperate. Brazil and Turkey, both emerging democracies, have been eagerly flexing their muscles on the international stage for some time. Some of their reasons for pursuing a more active global diplomatic role are similar, others are quite different. Ankara's interest in trying to mediate the standoff with Iran is primarily regional, driven by the desire to avoid a conflict on its border. Iran is also a large trading partner with whom Turkey has lucrative oil and gas deals. Iran isn't the first issue Turkey has tried to mediate between countries in its neighborhood. In 2008 Turkey led indirect talks between Israel and Syria, although there was no breakthrough. For years Turkey has sought to position itself as a bridge between East and West. Even as it plays an important role in NATO and seeks to join the European Union, Turkey has clung to its Muslim identity. This week Ankara announced its bid to host the summit meeting of leaders of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 2014. Turkey argues it is uniquely poised to coax the Iranian regime into cooperating with the international community. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu recently told a group of reporters in Washington that no country understands the Iranian mindset and culture like Turkey. In addition to sharing a border, he noted the two countries share a long history and that many Iranians speak Turkish, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Lula, who leaves office at the end of the year, also saw himself as the one leader who could broker a deal between Iran and the West. But his interest is largely for that of his stature and his country's. As one of the world's big emerging economies, Brazil and the other BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- account for about half of the global growth and represent 40 percent of the world's population. Lula has artfully parlayed his country's newfound economic influence into a role for Brazil as a growing world power . Hugely popular at home and abroad, Lula was hailed by newspapers around the world as a talented diplomat when the Iran deal was announced. But privately U.S. officials complain that Lula is trying to play statesman at the expense of their own diplomatic efforts. "For him it's a brass ring," one senior U.S. official said. "Iran just happens to be convenient." It may be a little of both. Lula has spent much of his seven-year term advocating for a greater international role for Brazil, including a permanent seat at the United Nations, which he argues is dominated by a handful of nations. He has positioned himself as a leader of Latin America's growing leftist movement and has been able to skillfully balance Brazil's growing partnership with Washington with warm relations with U.S. foes like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad. Perhaps most importantly, Lula has become a champion of developing nations, many of which have a different world view than the United States. This "different" world view includes the notion that sanctions are not an effective means of diplomacy and only leaders to escalation, a belief which Turkey shares. The U.S. lost much of its credibility over the war in Iraq, Guantanamo and, more recently, the world economic crisis. While Brazil and Turkey both have good relationships with the United States, they have sought to fill what they see as the leadership vacuum left by America. While Obama has made it a priority to restore U.S. prestige around the world, he faces no shortage of thorny international issues: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, extremism in Pakistan, the Middle East conflict and North Korea's antics to name a few. Emerging powers like Brazil and Turkey are ready, willing and eager to help solve them if the United States will let them.

Intervention from Turkey, Brazil reflects dissatisfaction with U.S. leadership, Labott says . Brazil, Turkey tout nuclear agreement reached with Iran . The next day, U.S. introduced sanctions resolution to U.N. Security Council . For Lula and Erdogan, resolution handicaps their efforts to work with Iran, Labott says .

(CNN) -- Tribal fighters took control of a top Yemeni city on Tuesday, a setback for an embattled government whose wounded president is hospitalized in Saudi Arabia. More than 400 tribal gunmen took over Taiz in southwest Yemen, witnesses there said. Government forces have been regrouping in an effort to re-enter the city. Yemen's government has faced international criticism for excessive use of force against anti-regime protesters and the deaths of anti-government demonstrators in Taiz. Are you in Yemen? Share your photos and videos from the scene, but please stay safe. Meanwhile, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was in Saudi Arabia Tuesday, recovering from burns over 40% of his body and a collapsed lung, a U.S. government official briefed on the matter said. Whether he will return to Yemen remained uncertain. Saleh was wounded Friday in an attack at his presidential compound. An Arab diplomatic source with knowledge of Saleh's condition said one shrapnel wound was 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) deep. Fighting between government and tribal forces has been raging in the capital of Sanaa, where thousands of anti-government protesters have been pressuring Saleh to give up power since January. And there has been unrest elsewhere. At least 15 people were killed in Abyan Monday night and Tuesday morning in clashes between Islamic militants and security forces, according to a security source in Abyan. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has a presence in the southern province of Abyan, a U.S. official said. It's also home to an Islamic militant movement that has targeted government troops in recent days. The Abyan dead include nine soldiers, four militants and two civilians in Zinjibar and other suburbs in the province, according to the source, who asked to not be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media. There was also violence along the Saudi-Yemeni border, where there have long been concerns of infiltration by militants. A man trying to cross into Yemen from Saudi Arabia early Tuesday fatally shot two security officers and wounded another, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said Tuesday. The man, described as an "infiltrator" who tried to cross the metal-and-sand barriers at the border, fired at the security officers when they approached him, the agency said. Security personnel tracked the man and he was killed in an exchange of fire, it added. The turmoil in Yemen peaked Friday, when a mosque in Saleh's presidential compound was attacked. Yemen's state-run news agency SABA, citing a source in Saleh's office, reported last week that three guards and an imam were killed. Western diplomats said the attack came from a bomb. Yemeni investigations are "focusing on what happened inside the mosque," not a rocket or mortar attack, diplomats said Monday. One diplomat said the attack was not a suicide bombing and that the Yemeni investigation was ongoing. The description of the attack as a bombing differs from what a Yemeni official told CNN last week. The official, who asked not to be identified, said that Saleh was in the mosque when two "projectiles" were fired during Friday prayers. Supporters of Sadeq Al-Ahmar, leader of the Hashed tribe and an opponent of the Yemeni government, were suspected in the attack. In response, Yemeni security forces shelled Al-Ahmar's home Friday, killing 10 people and wounding 35 others, according to Fawzi Al-Jaradi, an official with the Hashed tribal confederation. After Saleh was taken to Saudi Arabia for treatment, the tribal leader and Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi -- Yemen's interim leader -- agreed on a cease-fire, said Abdulqawi Al-Qaisi, spokesman for the Hashed leader. Yemen's largest opposition bloc has vowed to prevent Saleh from returning. "The Yemeni people will do all in their power to not allow Saleh to re-enter the country," Joint Meeting Parties spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said Sunday. A U.S. government official said Monday he could not imagine the Saudis letting Saleh return. He said it was critical that the Saudis press Saleh to accept a Gulf Cooperation Council deal offering him immunity in exchange for stepping down. Saudi state-run Ekhbariya television reported Monday that Saleh had undergone two operations in Saudi Arabia and would return to Yemen after he recovers. A U.S. official told CNN Monday that the unrest makes U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Yemen "more difficult." "We rely on the Yemeni government as partners," the official said. "The more the government is distracted by the political unrest, the more difficult it is for us." The Yemeni government has had a "big impact on acquiring information on AQAP," the official said, referring to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. "If that information flow slows or stops, it inhibits our ability to gather information." CNN's Nic Robertson, Elise Labott, Pam Benson, Tim Lister and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.

After rebel gunmen take over Taiz, witnesses say, government forces try to regroup . Saleh is in Saudi Arabia for treatment after being wounded . A U.S. official says the unrest in Yemen makes counterterrorism efforts "more difficult"

(CNN) -- Modern communications are an essential foundation for the social and economic opportunities that everyone deserves. The World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), currently taking place in Dubai, is a golden opportunity to provide affordable connectivity for all, including the billions of people worldwide who cannot yet go online. It is our chance to chart a globally-agreed roadmap to connect the unconnected, while ensuring there is investment to create the infrastructure needed for the exponential growth in voice, video and data traffic. The conference is a landmark because, for the first time in a quarter-century, it is reviewing the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) that govern international connectivity. Not surprisingly, there are many differing ideas about how this might be done, as well as hot debate on some proposals that have been put forward. There are 193 member countries of ITU, and all are free to express their views. However, no proposal to WCIT will be accepted unless it has very broad support. But there are more voices at WCIT than just those of government. The CEO of ICANN, Fadi Chehade, addressed the opening ceremony and emphasized the growing cooperation between his organization and ITU. And included among national delegations are dozens of representatives from industry and civil society. Read more: 'Father of the internet:' Why we must fight for its freedom . As the neutral convener of the conference and in an effort to engage opinion worldwide, ITU has encouraged all its membership (including over 700 private-sector entities), as well as civil society organizations and the press and public at large, to contribute their views. Much of the conference itself is webcast. WCIT is not a "closed-door" event. In fact, compared with other intergovernmental meetings of such importance, WCIT is as open as it possibly can be. ITU has always sought a multi-stakeholder approach. In 2003 and 2005 we led the way with the World Summit on the Information Society, which -- for the first time -- brought all sides together to debate how transformational information and communication technologies (ICTs) should shape the future. We expect the same kind of constructive cooperation to occur at WCIT. It is crucial that the Internet is not only kept open for business, but is also opened for everyone. We can then continue to innovate and gain the vast benefits that result from access to knowledge. Read more: Why aren't robots doing my dishes yet? In all countries there are circumstances when authorities intercept or block communications that are viewed as criminal or dangerous. This is permitted under articles in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the ITU Constitution. However, these are exceptions to the basic principle enshrined in those documents: The right to freedom of expression and communication. The ITRs must conform to the ITU Constitution, and nothing in the revised treaty can diminish that fundamental right to free speech. Read more: Lockitron: The app that unlocked crowd-funding success . But you need a means of communication to exercise that right. At present, two-thirds of people globally have no Internet access, and far fewer benefit from broadband. This is often forgotten by the other third, but the stark truth is that Internet is still a privilege of the minority. I spoke out recently when Internet access was shut down in Syria amid understandable outcry. What mostly went unreported is that 80% of Syrians never had access to the Internet in the first place. This underscores our need to prioritize giving people access to ICTs. The solution requires partnership between the public and private sectors, within frameworks that encourage innovation alongside investment in areas where it is needed most. Considering measures to achieve this is one of the most important items on WCIT's agenda. More details of all major topics are available via the ITU website. ITU's development of technical standards, alongside the work of others, has played a key role in enabling connectivity and interoperability in today's powerful technologies of mobile including optical fiber, television, video compression, mobile, broadband and Internet. I believe that broadband in particular can be the engine that drives progress, but without ITU standards on, for example, transport mechanisms to carry information around the world, broadband services simply would not work. The telecommunications system that enables our networked society is global, and solutions to issues such as cybersecurity must be global too. We must meet the challenge posed by the massive growth in data traffic that is not yet matched by infrastructure development. And many believe there should be a level playing field at national and international levels, to avoid abuse of power by dominant players. WCIT is where such questions can start to be openly discussed and answered. It is a world conference and a unique meeting place where issues can be debated that will have an immense impact on our lives. What is at stake is whether we advance together towards a truly connected world, or instead contemplate a deepening digital divide with all its consequences. We cannot afford to miss the opportunities presented by WCIT. Through dialogue, compromise and cooperation, the conference can help lead us towards a knowledge society in which people everywhere, whatever their circumstances, can access, use, share and create data in an affordable and secure manner. That is what WCIT is about.

The World Conference on International Telecommunications is currently taking place in Dubai . Touré: "It is our chance to chart a globally-agreed roadmap to connect the unconnected" Two-thirds of people globally have no Internet access: "Internet is still a privilege of the minority" Critics have suggested some regimes taking part may propose a ban on anonymity on the web .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- The California man believed to be the maker of an anti-Islam film that ignited a firestorm in the Muslim world was cooperative when authorities escorted him to a voluntary interview, officials said Saturday. "It was all choreographed," said Steve Whitmore of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "He was ready and willing and very cooperative." The overnight meeting with a probation officer came a day after federal officials said they were reviewing the probation of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who was convicted of bank fraud in 2010 and placed on supervised probation for five years. Clinton demands Arab Spring nations protect embassies . Federal officials consider Nakoula to be the filmmaker behind the anti-Islam "Innocence of Muslims." Whitmore told CNN that Nakoula left the local sheriff's station after the federal officials were done interviewing him. "He is gone and he is free," he said of Nakoula, who was bundled up in a coat, hat and white scarf as he was escorted from his house. Nakoula decided to cover himself, Whitmore told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS. Whitmore earlier dismissed reports that Nakoula had been arrested, saying he was never in handcuffs or in custody. Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said Friday that Nakoula's federal probation was under review. Redmond didn't provide details of why or when the probation review was initiated, or how long the process would take. While on probation, Nakoula can't access computers or any device that can access the Internet without approval from his probation officer. Nakoula served one year in federal prison at Lompoc, California, but officials couldn't immediately determine whether Nakoula paid any of the court-ordered restitution of $794,700, according to probation department officials and court records. Since notice of the film spread through YouTube, Nakoula has been out of public view and ensconced with his family in their home in Cerritos, California, where journalists have been gathered seeking information about his elusive background. Cerritos is about a 20-mile drive southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The movie, backed by hardcore anti-Islam groups in the United States, is a low-budget project that was ignored in the United States when trailers were posted on YouTube in July. But after Egyptian television aired certain segments, violent protests erupted in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Violent mobs attacked the U.S. Consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, leaving the ambassador and three other American men dead. Navy SEALs among dead . The amateurish film portrays the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, buffoon, ruthless killer and child molester. Islam categorically forbids any depictions of Mohammed, and blasphemy is an incendiary taboo in the Muslim world. The FBI contacted the filmmaker this week because of the potential for threats but he is not under investigation, a federal law enforcement official told CNN Thursday. One of the few public reports about Nakoula emerged this week when he called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Wednesday night to report a disturbance, said Whitmore. Nakoula wanted local police to protect him. When news of his movie first broke, the filmmaker identified himself as Sam Bacile and told the Wall Street Journal that he was a 52-year-old Israeli-American real estate developer from California. He said Jewish donors had financed his film. But Israel's Foreign Ministry said there was no record of a Sam Bacile with Israeli citizenship. A production staff member who worked on the film in its initial stages told CNN that an entirely different name was filed on the paperwork for the Screen Actors Guild: Abenob Nakoula Bassely. A public records search showed an Abanob B. Nakoula residing at the same address as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. He believed the filmmaker was a Coptic Christian and when the two spoke on the phone during production, the filmmaker said he was in Alexandria, Egypt, raising money for the film. Staff and crew of film that ridiculed Muslims say they were 'grossly misled' In Egypt, tension has emerged in recent decades between Muslims and the minority Copts. Another staffer who worked on the film said he knew the producer as Sam Bassil. That's how he signed a personal check to pay staff. When CNN inquired about Sam Bassil, the U.S. Attorney's Office sent a copy of a 2009 indictment. Those court documents showed the bank fraud conviction for Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, the filmmaker characterized his movie as "a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam." "Islam is a cancer," he said. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie." Have you witnessed attacks at U.S. embassies? Share your images, videos and stories. CNN's Amanda Watts, Michael Martinez and Miguel Marquez contributed to this report.

Filmmaker was "very cooperative," authorities say . Nakoula Basseley Nakoula leaves sheriff's office after interview with probation officer . Nakoula served a year in federal prison for bank fraud . A review of his federal probation is ongoing .