【美國新聞】CNN.com Daily Top 10 最熱新聞前十 (7/23/2008)

1. Hurricane Dolly downgraded to Category 1


BROWNSVILLE, Texas (CNN) -- Hurricane Dolly was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday afternoon, about an hour after it made landfall on South Padre Island, Texas, the the National Hurricane Center said.

Police patrol the streets on South Padre Island, Texas, on Wednesday as Hurricane Dolly approaches.

Dolly's sustained winds decreased to about 95 miles an hour (150 km/h).

The eye reached the island around 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said, packing steady winds of 100 mph and gusts reaching 120 mph.

The storm, the second of the Atlantic hurricane season, had moved out to 35 miles east of Brownsville, Texas, by 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET), the center said. Earlier, it had been just 30 miles from the city.

It was expected to resume its push to the northwest soon, forecasters said.   

National Weather Service radar spotted at least one tornado in the Brownsville area on Wednesday morning. A tornado watch was in effect for a swath of southern Texas and some Texas coastal waters until 7 p.m.

The hurricane center said Dolly is expected to produce from 8 to 12 inches of rain, with up to 20 inches in some isolated spots, and widespread flooding is likely.

It forecast coastal storm surges of 6 to 8 feet above normal tides.

People in the path of the storm had stacked sandbags around their homes, nailed plywood over windows and prepared generators to keep power going in the event of a blackout.

Maribel Vallejo, of Brownsville, waited in line for two hours Tuesday for bags of sand.

"It's something we have to do to avoid any flooding going into our homes," she told CNN. iReport.com: Are you in Dolly's path?

Dolly's strong winds forced the closure of South Padre Island's causeway to the mainland Tuesday night. Residents who chose to remain there took shelter in their homes to ride out the storm. Officials said the causeway is closed any time winds reach 39 mph.

The island has a population of about 2,400 residents.

Steven Murphy, who owns a charter fishing company with his brother on the island, lived through a previous, more powerful hurricane where he saw boats bigger than his tossed onto land.

"I had nightmares about that last night," he told CNN by telephone as he sheltered with his girlfriend inside his 65-foot double-decker fishing boat named Murphy's Law.

He said the wind outside sounded like a tornado, and added that he'd seen several items blow past the windows of his vessel.

"It's starting to tear it up real good," Murphy said.   

Although some people's homes were in the storm's path, others -- like vacationer like Pedro Martinez Sanchez -- had unknowingly traveled into the danger zone.

Martinez Sanchez said he was stuck in Brownsville Wednesday after he and his wife drove some 12 hours from Veracruz, Mexico, to do some shopping.

He had no idea that the hurricane was coming when he scheduled the trip, Martinez Sanchez said. He had planned to leave Wednesday but now would be stuck in a motel until the danger had passed.

More than 13,000 customers were without power in Cameron County, where Brownsville is located, utility company AEP Texas told The Associated Press.

Along with civilians, Dolly's arrival had members of the military in the area scrambling. The Navy had moved 89 aircraft from its Corpus Christi base to other locations in Texas and New Mexico.   

Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration for 14 counties before Dolly arrived. The declaration "allows the state to initiate necessary preparedness efforts," according to a statement from Perry's office.

More than two dozen state agencies and organizations such as the Red Cross are on standby to help with evacuations and other needs.

The National Guard has set up staging areas in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, officials said. As many as 1,200 National Guardsmen have been called to help, and 700 are already deployed to targeted areas.

An incident management team has been pre-positioned in south Texas, including six UH-60 helicopters, to provide support to first responders.

"We have been preparing for this kind of event for well over a year," Col. William D. Meehan, a spokesman for Texas Military Forces, told CNN.

Several hundred people had taken refuge in shelters in Cameron County, where Brownsville is located, and in Hidalgo County, just to the west, county officials told AP.

Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos told AP that officials were concerned that levees along the Rio Grande might not be able to hold a deluge of water from Dolly.

Hidalgo County spokeswoman Cari Lambrecht told AP that people living in low-lying areas were encouraged to come to shelters. "It's so much easier for them to go now instead of us having to pull them out later," she said.

A hurricane warning remained in effect for the Texas coast from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and for the Mexican coast from Rio San Fernando to the U.S. border.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from north of Corpus Christi to Port O'Connor. A tropical storm warning and hurricane watch were in effect from La Pesca to south of Rio San Fernando, Mexico.

[ 本帖最後由 追求永生 於 2008-7-25 14:31 編輯 ]

By Ashley Fantz
CNN

     
(CNN) -- For nearly two years, the South Florida middle school art teacher forced the boy to have sex in a classroom supply closet.

Aaron Mohanlal, here in his sex offender registration photo, was allowed to stay out of prison on bond.

Sometimes, Aaron Mohanlal would call in sick to work, take the boy to his home for sex and drop the seventh-grader back off at school at the end of the day.

To keep the abuse secret, Mohanlal bought the 13-year-old a cell phone and created nicknames for their genitalia. When police arrested him, the teacher was caught on hidden video trying to destroy letters threatening the boy if he ever told.

Last summer, a Broward County jury convicted Mohanlal of 13 counts, including child abuse, molestation and lewd battery, and a judge sentenced him to 43 years.

But a year later, Mohanlal has yet to spend a day in prison.

"I can't understand why he isn't behind bars," said the victim, now 18. The network is not disclosing his name because it doesn't identify sexual assault victims.

"I want to move on with my life. I'm trying to graduate high school and forget about this," he said. "I try not to think about it, but it's hard, because all I can think about is, what if he's out there around other kids?"

Weeks after the trial, Broward Circuit Judge Marc Gold, who presided over the trial and sentenced Mohanlal, granted the teacher a rare bond that allows him to remain free while his case is tried on appeal, a process that could take years.

During the two months CNN has investigated this story, Mohanlal has been working a construction job in Broward County and spending time at a house in Sunrise, Florida, 15 miles from where the boy and his family live, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

He resigned from his teaching job in 2005 after his arrest.

"The idea of that monster being that close to my family again is outrageous," said the boy's father, who is often so overwhelmed with rage and sadness that he drives to a park, leans against a tree and sobs.

"What did we go through a trial for?" he said.

A man who identified himself as Mohanlal hung up on a CNN reporter who called his home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, his address on record with the state's sex offender registry.

Mohanlal's appellate attorney, Tom Odom, refused to comment on the case beyond saying, "Everyone has a right to a first appeal."

Gold gave Mohanlal the right to live, work, travel and attend church in South Florida, according to numerous interviews and documents CNN has obtained. The judge ordered Mohanlal to wear a GPS device, register as a sex offender and surrender his passport.

He stipulated that Mohanlal cannot contact the boy and his family but did not order him to stay away from children, according to a transcript of the July 2007 bond hearing. Read the entire bond hearing

Mohanlal was allowed to post the $610,000 bond using his relatives' properties as collateral, the transcript shows.

Post-conviction bonds are rarely given in criminal trials, but judges occasionally grant them if there was a procedural error during trial that would make a conviction reversal at the appellate level likely, legal experts say.

But there were no procedural mistakes during Mohanlal's trial, both prosecutor Anita White and defense attorney Steve Rossi said.

Under Florida statute, defendants without prior felonies are eligible for post-conviction bond unless they have committed first-degree murder or sexual battery. Mohanlal wasn't convicted of first-degree sexual battery. He was convicted of second- and third-degree felonies, and he had no prior felony record.

Gold refused to talk on record about why he granted the bond. He would only give this statement: "The simple truth is that I had to rule based on what was presented to me during that hearing. And I took everything into consideration and felt a bond was appropriate."

"For a judge to delay jail is highly unusual, but it's especially unusual when you have someone convicted of a serious crime like sexual molestation of a child," said CNN legal analyst and criminal attorney B.J. Bernstein. "One of the concerns is that you have someone who commits a sex offense who, by their employment, seeks to be around children. They have abused that trust between a student and teacher."

A dozen legal experts, including criminal attorneys based in Florida, said they agree with Bernstein. None could recall a single case of a violent offender receiving the same kind of treatment.

Information on how many offenders are out on post-conviction bonds in Florida is difficult to find. There is no entity in the state, including the Florida Department of Corrections, that keeps track.

Last year, the boy's family won $300,000 from the school district after a civil claim that the district failed to protect the student.

Other students in Mohanlal's class testified that their teacher handed them fliers, with the boy's picture and phone number, that falsely accused the teen of having sex with animals. Caught on surveillance camera at a grocery store copying the fliers, prosecutors say Mohanlal had become a disturbed lover scorned when the boy entered high school and began rejecting his advances.

And there was evidence that Mohanlal was grooming other children. One middle-schooler told police that Mohanlal rubbed his arms and back during class; another testified at trial that his teacher gave him his cell phone number, money and hair conditioner.

"This was one of the most disturbing cases I've ever worked on, and there's no doubt in my mind that Aaron Mohanlal is a dangerous person," said Miramar Police Sgt. Jeff Armiento.

The investigator learned that Mohanlal was released on bond when he randomly searched for him on the state's correctional Web site.

"I was astonished, flabbergasted," Armiento said. "I called the state attorney's office to see if it was some kind of mistake. I don't see what would stop him from doing this to other kids."

Mohanlal's GPS device is monitored 24 hours a day by the Broward County Sheriff's Office, meaning his location appears on a computer screen. Otherwise, there is no police agency watching him.

Kristina Gulick, who oversees the electronic monitoring system, said Mohanlal gives the agency weekly itineraries to help police follow his whereabouts.

But 70 days of itineraries from March to June that CNN obtained from the Broward Sheriff's Office are not detailed; for example, some say Mohanlal intends to leave his home at 6:30 a.m. and return at 9:30 p.m. but do not say where he will be or what his plans are.

"We are confident that he is doing what he's supposed to be doing," Gulick said. "We have had no reason to think otherwise."

Because Mohanlal was required to register as a sex offender, he must provide the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with his home address. That home is in Port St. Lucie, about two hours from Broward County. See Mohanlal's sex offender registration

The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department is required to make four visits to the home each year and verify that Mohanlal is living there based on what he tells deputies, according to department spokesman Mark Weinberg.

"This guy has all the reason in the world to take off," said Florida state criminologist Tom Blomberg, who conducted a 2006 study of sex offenders who are monitored by wearable GPS devices. "He's looking at prison for the rest of his life, and child molesters are almost always victimized in prison. He has to know that.

"This is not effective monitoring. In fact, it's a little bit beyond imagination what's going on here," Blomberg said. "The [GPS] technology works; that's not the problem. Police can only do so much. The question is whether this guy should be out of prison.

"This seems like a system failure on down."

(CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard has closed 29 miles of the Mississippi River from New Orleans southward after a tanker and a barge collided, spilling more than 400,000 gallons of fuel oil into the river.

Tugboats hold up pieces of a barge after it collided with a tanker Wednesday in the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

The river, a major shipping route between the Midwest and Gulf of Mexico, could be closed for days during the cleanup, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.

More than 30 ships already are queued up along the river, waiting to pass through the closed zone, Coast Guard Petty Officer Jaclyn Young said.

The Coast Guard has deployed 45,000 feet of inflatable booms to contain the spill and is lining up another 29,000 feet, but it could be days before the river is reopened, she said.

The accident left a sheen over 90 percent of the area, she said.

However, the spill is much smaller than the ones that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the Coast Guard estimated that more than 7 million gallons of oil were dumped into the Mississippi and nearby waterways.

The collision between the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Tintomara and the barge pushed by the tug Mel Oliver occurred about 1:30 a.m. CT (2:30 a.m. ET) Wednesday, resulting in more than 419,000 gallons of oil spilling into the river, Young said.

The accident occurred just off downtown New Orleans, near the massive bridges connecting downtown to the west bank of the Mississippi, she said.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced that it was sending investigators to probe the cause of the accident.

[ 本帖最後由 追求永生 於 2008-7-24 04:44 編輯 ]

3. DNA provides clues to family's African heritage
DNA provides clues to family's African heritage

By Dana Rosenblatt
CNN

     
(CNN) -- With a flick of the wrist, James Johnson uses an elongated cotton swab along the inside of his 102-year old mother's cheek.

Mineola Johnson, 102, is the matriarch of the Rand family's African-American descendants.



He's taken the first step in his search for answers to an existential question that plagues a majority of black Americans: Where did my ancestors come from?

For the Johnsons -- cousins of the Rand family, who are featured in "CNN Presents: Black in America" -- the answer arrives in the form of a certificate from African Ancestry Inc., a Maryland-based company that specializes in ancestral DNA testing for black Americans.

For this story, producers for the groundbreaking CNN documentary series facilitated the DNA sampling of matriarch Mineola Johnson to find out more about the Rand family's African roots.

Rand family members say William Harrison "Hal" Rand (1822 -- 1909), a white farmer and slave owner whose great-grandfather emigrated to America from Kent, England, married Sarah Ann "Sallie" Mullens (1820- 1893), and fathered the children of, Ann Albrooks Rand, a black woman (1836 -1907).

Not much is known about Ann Albrooks Rand, but family members speculate that she was a domestic servant, based on U.S. Census data from 1870.

Census records indicate that Ann and her children lived near their white half-brothers and -sisters fathered by William H. Rand.

It's a story shared by many African-Americans whose ancestors made the middle passage and were sold into slavery. Slave women often bore children by their white masters, some by force and others as a consequence of a romantic relationship.
The "middle passage" refers to the middle leg of a three-part ship voyage during slave-trading times, around 1600 to 1800, when Africans destined for slavery arrived in the Americas as human cargo. They were traded for goods that would then be shipped to Europe, the last leg of the journey.

To find out more about Ann Rand and her African roots, a DNA sample was taken from her closest living relative, great-granddaughter Mineola Johnson.

The results were prepared by Rick Kittles, Ph.D., CEO and founder of African Ancestry Inc., and presented on video during a recent family gathering in Marshall, Texas.

More than a dozen members of the Johnson family and their Rand cousins met at a local church where the pastor is also kin.

The families sat in silence, their eyes fixed on the television screen. Many were anxious and unsure what to expect from the analysis.

Then, from the television monitor, Kittles read the results.

"The person who took the test, Ms. Mineola Johnson, we isolated the DNA from her swab and were able to determine an identical match among the Mende people from Sierra Leone," Kittles said.

Jaws dropped, and others nodded in acknowledgment. There was a sense of relief; they had a name of a people and a place that was part of their past.

"I feel more enlightened," said Rubystein McGhee, a retired teacher and the family genealogist, who is also a cousin of the Johnsons'. "I knew about Africa but didn't know where we came from."

For the Johnsons and the Rands, it's a profound moment: discovering an ancestral past that has been an enigma.

"It was shocking ... [an] amazing experience that is hard to express," said James Johnson, Mineola's 75-year-old son. "We know where we are, to know the depth of what we know today is truly a historical moment in my life and my whole family's life."

Johnson's results were fairly typical, according to Kittles, who estimates that one-third of his clients can trace their roots to the same region. Kittles believes that it's because what is now Sierra Leone was a common route for the slave trade.

Johnson's DNA sequence was a 99.7 percent match to the Mende people, and Kittles says his database is so large that most clients have a direct match.

"Once we get the sequence -- what we called the DNA profiles from the African-American that is being tested -- we compare that profile to profiles in the database," Kittles explained. "We run through all of those thousands of lineages and look for matches, and most of the time, we find an identical match."

Kittles claims to have a database of more than 25,000 lineages from more than 384 African ethnic groups.

African Ancestry sells two types of DNA kits: one that traces the paternal roots and another that traces the maternal side. Both sell for $349 and are available on the company's Web site. For about $600, clients can test both matrilineal and patrilineal roots.

Kittles estimates that his company has sold 13,000 DNA kits.

However, some experts warn families to read the results from these types of DNA tests with a grain of salt.

"Just like with any science, there are always some limitations. You can't answer all questions, because you can't take one simple test to say everything about a person's DNA," Kittles admitted.

"It's important to understand that these markers we're looking at only tell us about one or two lineages out of the hundreds of lineages we have of people who have contributed to our DNA," he said.

Though it's extensive, Kittles says, African Ancestry's database is not complete and reflects only about 45 percent of the continent of Africa.

Perry Payne, Ph.D., an assistant research professor at George Washington University, says that results from DNA testing such as this can reveal only a fraction of one's African ancestry. But for African-Americans like himself, that fraction "is better than nothing."

Mineola Johnson's DNA type is "a fairly common type found in sub-Saharan Africa," according to Bert Ely, a molecular geneticist and professor at the University of South Carolina. Ely is also a principal investigator for the African-American Roots Project, a nonprofit group that studies the genealogy of black Americans.

After analyzing Johnson's DNA results, Ely speculated that at least 20 groups scattered throughout Africa, including Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Sierra Leone, share mitochondrial DNA.

Mitochondrial DNA passes unchanged from mother to child, making it useful to trace maternal lineage. Although both sons and daughters inherit mtDNA from their mothers, only daughters can pass mitochondrial DNA to their children.

"What our research has shown ... for about half of the mitochondrial DNA that is researched today, they have exact matches, 100 percent, to other mitochondrial DNA found in several, even more than 20 groups because of there's been a mixing of people within Africa," Ely said.

For example, Ely points to historical evidence that shows massive migrations among people living in Africa. The Mende people were no exception. They didn't always live in Sierra Leone and at some point merged with other ethnic groups.

"This is the prime example of how you can have a match that hits lots of different ethnic groups in lots of different places," Ely said.

Even though DNA testing for African-Americans seems promising, experts say the results could be misleading.

"Sampling today's Mende as opposed to the Mende people that existed during the time of the slave trade is completely different," Ely said. "They are talking about a probability. The most likely thing isn't necessarily the one that happened."

Genealogy is one of the most-searched subjects on the Internet. About 78 percent of Americans are interested in learning more about their roots, according to a February 2007 study by Ancestry.com.

That interest is not lost on African-Americans, descendants of slaves who were robbed of their African past. But why is the interest in the history of black Americans so much more acute?

"Because we have this brick wall we hit when we trace our family history," Kittles said. "This is a tool that allows us to cross the Atlantic and place ourselves somewhere on the shores of Africa."


For Rubystein McGhee, who has kept track of the family's American roots, knowing something about their African heritage is better than nothing.

"It's so wonderful to know something about Ann Albrooks Rand," McGhee said. "This puts some more meaning to our heritage."

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Gossip Girl" will get people talking. At least, that seems likely as the CW network brings to a boil its new campaign for the sexy prep-school soap.

The ads for "Gossip Girl" include photos of the show's cast with headlines such as "Every Parent's Nightmare."

The show's second season begins September 1, following an August promotion to put viewers, um, in the mood. And here's a twist: The racy ads co-opt language from the very criticism of the show for being too, well, racy.

Alert surfers got a preview last week, when images of coupled-up "Gossip Girl" characters found their way onto several Web sites.

Item: Here's Serena van der Woodsen (series blonde Blake Lively) with eyes shut dreamily, mouth open, while a friend, his face buried in her tresses, nuzzles her neck.

Strongly suggesting the pair are just getting started, the headline, which quotes The Boston Herald, declares: "Every Parent's Nightmare."

Other such lovey-dovey moments (on a couch, in the sack or apparently skinny-dipping) are accompanied by headlines like "A Nasty Piece of Work" and "Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate."

That latter phrase was borrowed from the Parents Television Council, which has blasted the series' salacious content since its premiere.

"I think it reeks of desperation, if they have to position themselves as so edgy and so controversial that they've been called out by us," said Melissa Henson, PTC director of communications.

But CW marketing boss Rick Haskins said the advertising just aims to get noticed.

"What we're trying to do is communicate with the audience in a way that they like and can appreciate," he said. "This sort of campaign resonates with someone who likes 'Gossip Girl' " -- specifically, women ages 18 to 34.

The objective was finding "well-written headlines that are provocative and would catch our viewers' attention," said Haskins, "and, in a tongue-in-cheek way, capture what the show is about."

The series is based on the popular "Gossip Girl" young-adult novels, and is presented to the audience through the eyes of its mysterious title character, whose tattling posts are savored by the show's PDA-packing teens as they share the luxe life on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

The series debuted last fall. Then, in January, its run was interrupted by the Hollywood writers strike. No new episodes were aired until April 21, for which the first welcome-back campaign was launched.

That promotion included racy images of the show's characters with the headline: "OMFG." THAT got people talking.

While the CW's Haskins insisted at the time that the initials could stand for any number of things, like "Oh My Freaking Goodness" (and as the Gawker Web site sarcastically scoffed, "On Meth, Feeling Good," among others), many of its intended viewers may have seized on a much ruder interpretation -- wording that would be taboo on broadcast TV and most advertising.

"Rather than reinforcing positive values that parents are trying to instill in their children, this program very often is undermining these positive values," said PTC's Henson in April during a CNN-aired discussion spurred by that steamy campaign.

"Gossip Girl" can only hope that its September return will be greeted with comparable notice.

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's only 9:33 a.m., but already Danielle Steel is having a lousy morning.

Danielle Steel's 75th book, "Rogue," is the tale of a sober-minded psychologist and her playboy ex-husband.

She's in a Rockefeller Plaza dressing room, having her hair tugged and her makeup tweaked. She's endured questioning from Matt Lauer on the "Today" show and soon faces a second round with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.

Crowding around are fashionably dressed publicists, agents with noisy cell phones, burly camera operators and various preening hangers-on. The plaza outside vibrates with throngs of screaming fans, aching to rub shoulders with the famous -- anyone famous.

Steel hates it.

From her pained expression, it's clear she'd rather be anywhere but here, her zone of privacy now no bigger than Al Roker himself.

"This is so not me," she says. "I hate having the spotlight on me. I hate being the focus of attention. I like being the invisible observer. So this is very painful."

Steel, who turns 61 in August, doesn't need fame: Her name is virtually synonymous with the romance novel. She doesn't need cash: Some 570 million of her books are in print. What she wants is a Garbo moment: to be left alone, to write more.

So why would she agree to an interview sandwiched between TV appearances? "Occasionally, I have to stick my nose out the door," she says, warily. "Otherwise, people are going to think I'm 100 years old and dead."

Any visit to a bookstore would disprove that -- an ever-lengthening list of such Steel titles as "The Wedding," "Sisters" and "Second Chance" that crowd multiple shelves. She knocks out about three books a year.

What brings her to New York and the media glare is her 75th book, "Rogue," the tale of a sober-minded psychologist and her playboy ex-husband "whose kisses were as intoxicating as everything else about him." When one of the two considers remarriage, their lives take a turn.

The novel, which Publishers Weekly called "a familiar formula with fresh results," debuted at No. 4 on The New York Times list of best-sellers, No. 8 on USA Today's list and No. 6 on The Wall Street Journal's.

Atop such lists is a familiar Steel perch. Between 1996 and 2003, Publishers Weekly reports that 16 of her novels were best-sellers, and the Guinness World Records once cited her for having at least one book on the Times list for 390 consecutive weeks.

All that strangely doesn't calm her. She may have been writing novels since she was 19, but there's an insecurity that remains untouched, no matter the plaudits.

"I still never finish a book without being terrified I can't write another one. I never start one without being terrified I can't finish it," she says. "It's sort of a torturous process."

While it's hard to generalize, Steel's books are usually populated by smart, attractive heroines juggling work, love and family. About one in five are historical, set in, say, pre-World War II Europe or the Russian Revolution. Some tackle larger issues, such as homelessness in "Safe Harbour," domestic violence in "Journey," infertility in "Mixed Blessings" and even cloning in "The Klone and I."

"I think the one recurring theme that I didn't used to be aware of is that I try to give people hope," she says. "I think that's so important. Love is wonderful, but hope is more important. Without hope you can't live."

Critics haven't always appreciated the effort, often recoiling from her shallower characters, brand-name dropping and the sugary aftertaste her books leave behind.

No matter -- the woman is critic-proof, a Teflon one-woman publishing phenomenon. Steel is a leader of a genre that generated $1.37 billion in book sales in 2006, outselling every market category except religion/inspirational, according to the Romance Writers of America.

How does Steel handle critics? "It's very simple. I haven't read them in years," she says. "My feelings get very hurt when people say mean things about me. The trouble I find is that they don't just criticize the book -- they then get nasty personally. And so I stopped reading them."

Her mini-empire also includes 15 children's books, multiple adaptations for TV or DVDs, a volume of poetry and even a perfume from Elizabeth Arden. She was decorated by the French government in 2002 for her lifetime contribution to world culture.

The latest book came out of her head the way most of the others did, with a mixture of happenstance, a keen eye for potential drama and a dose of mystery.

"They just happen. I can't tell you how they come. I hear about an issue that I like or something comes to mind -- they always kind of drop out of the sky," she says. "I mean, I was in a closet some years ago putting stuff away and I heard a noise and I suddenly thought, 'A book about a ghost!' So I wrote a book about a ghost and I had to construct this whole elaborate thing to get there."

That book, naturally, became "The Ghost." Another time, inspiration came during a dinner party: Steel was seated next to a friend who confessed that his wife had left him with three young children. It led to the book, "Daddy."

She pounds out all her novels in a tiny office in her San Francisco home, where she lives half the year. (The other half is spent in Paris, where she refuses to work.)

All the books are written on a 1946 Olympia manual typewriter and first drafts are usually done in a punishing 20-hour shift while "dressed in my nighty with my hair sticking up straight."

"There are people who show up nicely dressed, they work from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I can't do that," she says. "Sometimes I don't leave my house for two or three weeks."

In person, Steel is far more approachable than the woman whose regal photograph appears on her book jackets. Her chestnut hair flows freely and her jewelry sparkles in an understated way. She's a mix of elegant and down-to-earth, a fun rich aunt who might whisk you away for expensive adventures.

Nita Taublib, senior vice president and deputy publisher at Bantam Dell, confesses she didn't know what to expect before she started working with Steel nine years ago.

"From the second I met her, I just felt the warmth from her," says Taublib. "She really is charming and normal and probably the opposite of everything people would expect her to be. She's just a real human being."

The one thing Steel isn't warm about is questions -- ironically -- about her love life. She has been married and divorced five times, but visibly stiffens at queries about them.

Born in New York, she lived through her own parents' divorce and was working in public relations when she was urged by the then-editor of Ladies' Home Journal to write a book, which became "Going Home."

"I tried it. I thought it was a fun idea. And it sold very quickly. And then I wrote five more that nobody ever bought. They're in my basement in a box," she says with a laugh.

Steel, who has seven children and is the stepmother to two more, lifted her cocoon of privacy in 1999 to write "His Bright Light," the chronicle of her son Nick Traina's battle with manic depression and suicide in 1997 at age 19.

The loss of her son and collapse of her fourth marriage soon led to a cause she champions: ending homelessness. She says that when the bottom fell out of her world, she went to church.

"I was praying, 'Who can I help that's more miserable than I am?' And I got this thing in my head, 'Help the homeless.' I was like, 'You didn't understand. Let's try that again. A different message, please?' And it kept coming. So I thought, 'OK, OK.' "

So she traveled the streets of San Francisco and was haunted by what she saw. Steel set up an outreach team called Yo! Angel! and goes out about once every month, incognito, handing out sleeping bags, food and toiletries.

"I can't stop," she says.

Even so, she won't leave her typewriter for too long.

"I'm driven from inside. A story will come to mind and it has to come out, like a frog with a bubble," she says. "I want to work forever. And try to get better forever."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A partisan squabble in the Senate Wednesday threatened to sink a bill meant to crack down on oil speculators.

Democrats say speculation in oil futures is a significant reason way oil prices have risen this year.

The disagreement between Republicans and Democrats could result in Congress leaving Washington for its monthlong recess in August without passing any measures to lower gas prices as voters face over $4 a gallon at the pump.

The legislation, which was backed by the Democratic leadership, passed a key test vote Tuesday by a vote of 94-0, more than the 60 votes need for debate on the bill to proceed.

But a disagreement over the number of amendments senators can offer during the debate may prevent a final vote on the legislation from ever occurring. A vote to resolve the issue was scheduled for 5:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Republicans want to offer up to 28 amendments to the bill on a wide-range of energy topics, including measures meant to increase domestic oil production.

But the Democratic leadership wants to limit Republican to two amendments, saying that it is the most the Senate can handle before it begins its summer recess in less than two weeks.

Democrats say the Republican senators could offer whatever they want to offer in those two amendments, including measures to lift bans on offshore drilling and oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve -- measures Democrats adamantly oppose.

Discussions between the Democratic and Republican leadership broke down Tuesday afternoon. While talks are still possible, one senior Democratic leadership aide Tuesday night said "I don't see it," when asked if a deal is possible.   

On Wednesday, Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, one of the main sponsors of the bill, pleaded for Republicans to help "wring excessive speculation" from the oil markets, which he says is responsible for 71 percent of the price of a barrel of oil this year. Some analysts say speculation has added between $40 to $60 dollars to a barrel of oil.

But other experts have also questioned the extent that speculators -- rather than basic market principles of supply and demand -- have driven up the price of oil.  See what factors are driving up the price of oil

(Oprah.com) -- A businesswoman, a mother of four, an international fashion icon, a woman committed to making the world a better place for women and children -- Queen Rania of Jordan is truly changing the world.

Queen Rania says cultural dialogue, education and increased opportunities are ways to combat terrorism.

Rania Al-Yassin was born in Kuwait. Shortly after Saddam Hussein invaded that country in 1990, her family fled and settled in Jordan. After graduating from business school, Rania began working her way up the corporate ladder.

When she was just 22, she went to a dinner party where she met Jordan's Prince Abdullah -- considered one of the world's most eligible bachelors. He didn't remain one for long after that night. Six months later, Rania and Abdullah had a royal wedding and started a family. And, though they planned for a life as royals, Abdullah assumed he'd remain a military officer for life.

In 1999, while on his deathbed, King Hussein of Jordan stunned his country by announcing that his son Abdullah -- not his brother -- would succeed him as king. That made 29-year-old Rania the world's youngest living queen.

Rania says that being queen is not the trait she defines herself by. "I am not at all conscious of it," she says. "I make a conscious effort not to be conscious of it. Because I'm Rania, you know? People call me 'Queen,' but, you know, that's not me ... I'm Rania."

There are many perks to being queen, of course, but Rania stresses that there are also responsibilities.

"One of the major misconceptions about this position is that people think that I might be far removed, that I might not be in touch with reality," she says. "The honest truth is that my life is very much about dealing with issues on the ground, dealing with ... the problems that our country faces. That's something I do on a daily basis."  Watch how Queen Rania uses technology to reach young people

By Eric Peters
      
(AOL Autos) -- People who get speeding tickets are often guilty of more than simply driving faster than the posted limit.

Want to avoid a meeting with this guy? Do not change lanes frequently, tailgate or otherwise drive aggressively.

Their chief offense? It's getting noticed in the first place. That's the first domino to fall in the ugly chain of events that leads to a piece of "payin' paper."

Here are some common sense ways to run under a cop's radar -- literally:

Drive within 5-10 mph of surrounding traffic

Cops are usually looking for drivers who are going noticeably faster than the other cars on the road. If you're within a pack of cars all going 5 to 10 mph over the limit, you've automatically improved your odds of not being the one that gets pulled over for a speeding ticket, even though you're all technically speeding.

The cop has to pick one car; if you go with the flow of traffic, it probably won't be you. And it definitely won't be you if you don't speed in the first place.

Try to stay in the middle of the pack

If you're the lead car, logic says you'll be the first car to run past any cop's radar trap up ahead and get a speeding ticket. And if you're the last car, you'll be the one the police officer rolls up behind. That means the safest place is in the middle -- just like a gazelle fleeing a hungry lion by seeking safety in the middle of the herd.


Find a 'rabbit'

If you can't find a pack of cars going the speed you'd like to maintain, the next best thing is to find yourself a rabbit -- a solitary driver traveling the speed you'd like to drive that you can follow discretely, about 50-100 yards back. If there's a cop using radar, hopefully the rabbit will trip the trap and get a speeding ticket, not you.

And if he brakes suddenly, you have just received your early warning in time to take defensive action. AOL Autos: Fast cars over 600 HP

Don't change lanes frequently, tailgate, drive aggressively

In addition to being rude and dangerous, you're just asking for a trucker or someone with a cell phone to call the cops and give them a description of your vehicle and license plate number.

Always use your signals and be courteous to fellow drivers. It's safer, and it will help you fade into the background. AOL Autos: Fast, fuel-efficient cars

Avoid the fast lane

Use the far left lane to pass when necessary, but try to stay in the middle lanes when possible.

Reason? If a cop is lurking in a cutout along the median strip (or coming at you from the opposite direction on a divided highway) the speeder in the far left lane is the one most likely to become the target. Drivers who get nailed with speeding tickets are often the type who rack it up to 10 or 15 over the limit and remain in the far left lane.

Watch for cutouts and modulate your speed accordingly

On many highways, there are cutouts in the median strip every couple of miles. Usually, you can see these in plenty of time to slow down a little bit in case there's a cop lurking behind the bushes ready to give you a speeding ticket. AOL Autos: 10 hot, small cars

Don't speed when you are the only car on the road

If you ignore this warning it's the equivalent of plastering a "ticket me!" bumper sticker on your vehicle. Even if you're only doing five mph over the posted limit, if there's a cop using radar, he's got nothing to look at but you.

Lonesome speeding is even more dangerous in small towns, where radar traps and aggressive enforcement by cops can be common. And never speed late at night. Drunk-driving patrols are heavy and cops are more inclined to pull you over for any offense in order to check you for signs of alcohol. Don't give them a reason. AOL Autos: Cars with the most thrill per gallon

If it's OK legally, get a radar detector

Yes, they're expensive (good ones, anyhow). But a one-time hit of, say, $300 for a decent radar detector is cheaper than even a single big speeding ticket and the higher insurance costs that will come with it. Radar detectors are legal in most states and well worth the investment to avoid a speeding ticket.

And finally, if possible, drive a nondescript vehicle

It may not be fair, but it's human nature to notice things that stand out from the crowd. Bright-colored cars, those with loud exhaust or other pimped-out enhancements are the cars more likely to draw a cop's initial attention than ordinary-looking, family-type cars.

Since the cop has to single out one car, which car do you suppose is the likely candidate for a speeding ticket? The bright yellow Mustang GT with 20-inch chrome rims? Or the silver Taurus? AOL Autos: Eight newly designed cars

If you do get pulled over while driving a fancy, high-profile car, your odds of getting a speeding ticket versus a warning have probably gone up. If you're driving a fast-looking hot rod, the cop is going to assume you use it and deserve a ticket more than the guy in a family-looking ride whose plea that he "didn't realize he was speeding, officer" comes off as more believable.

Be aware that appearances count

That is, your appearance. If your appearance says, "Responsible member of the community," you're apt to get a more friendly response than if you look and act like trouble.

The worst possible thing you can do is combine all the no-no's listed above by driving a flashy car too fast, late at night when you're the only car on the road while looking like you just robbed a bank.

If you do that, expect a speeding ticket. And expect no mercy.

SDEROT, Israel (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a "game-changing" situation, not just in the Middle East but throughout the world.

Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday eyes a rocket's remains in Sderot, Israel, which has faced attacks.

1 of 3  Obama said a nuclearized Iran could lead to other countries, including ones with ties to terrorists, feeling the need to obtain nuclear weapons.

That, he said, could lead to terrorists getting their hands on loose nuclear materials.

"That is our single most important threat, both to Israel but also to the United States of America," he said in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said that if he's elected, he wants to act quickly to mobilize the international community to "offer a series of big sticks and big carrots to the Iranian regime to stand down on nuclear weapons."

"But what I have also said, though, is that I will take no options off the table in dealing with this potential Iranian threat," he said.

When asked by a reporter, Obama clarified his remarks made during a debate last summer that he would be willing to meet with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea "without precondition."

The Obama campaign has since added nuance to that position, particularly regarding meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Obama said Wednesday that he would be willing to meet with any leader if he thought it would promote the national security interests of the United States, but he said there is a difference between "meeting without preconditions and meeting without preparations."  

"That continues to be my position: that if I think that I can get a deal that is going to advance our cause, then I would consider that opportunity," he said.

"My whole goal in terms of having tough, serious direct diplomacy is not because I'm naive about the nature of any of these regimes. I'm not," Obama said. "It is because if we show ourselves willing to talk and to offer carrots and sticks in order to deal with these pressing problems, and if Iran then rejects any overtures of that sort, it puts us in a stronger position to mobilize the international community to ratchet up the pressure on Iran."

After Obama's remarks, Sen. John McCain's campaign accused the Democrat of shifting his position and said his comments show "his refusal to admit a mistake about what he said."

Obama's news conference -- the second since he left last week for his trip through the Middle East and Europe -- took place in the Sderot, which has come under rocket attack from Palestinian militants in Gaza.

It was one of many stops the senator from Illinois made Wednesday as part of an international tour aimed to boost his foreign policy credentials. Obama has said he is making the trip as a senator and not a presidential candidate.  

Ahead of his remarks, Obama toured a home that had been ravaged by a rocket attack.

Obama called the terror in Sderot "intolerable" and praised the residents for their courage and resilience.

"I'm here to say that -- as an American and as a friend of Israel -- that we stand with the people of Sderot and with all the people of Israel," Obama said.

"Israelis should not have to live endangered in their homes and schools. I'm hopeful that the recent understanding to end the attacks will provide some relief, but America must always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself against those who threaten its people," he said.

"We must support Palestinian leaders who share this vision," Obama said, calling attention to President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayad, both of whom he met with earlier Wednesday.

Obama repeated his belief that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel, remarks that have caused concern among some Palestinian leaders.

"I have said that before, and I will say it again," Obama said, but without repeating his June comment that the city should remain undivided.

"I also have said that it is important that we don't simply slice the city in half, but I've also said that that's a final status issue. That's an issue that has to be dealt with by the parties involved: the Palestinians and the Israelis. It's not the United States' job to dictate the form in which that will take, but rather to support the efforts that are being made right now to resolve these very difficult issues."

Obama's campaign last month spent several days clarifying his position after he said in a speech that Jerusalem should not be divided.

Earlier this month, Obama told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he had used "poor phrasing."

"The point we were simply making was, is that we don't want barbed wire running through Jerusalem ... that it is possible for us to create a Jerusalem that is cohesive and coherent," he said.

Obama said it was in the interest of Israel's security to arrive at a lasting peace with the Palestinians.

"It's the job of the United States, I think, to make sure that that peace is centered and promotes Israel's long-term security," he said.

Obama was joined in Sderot by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, also toured Sderot when he visited the region in March.


Obama's news conference followed a day of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, including Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Barak, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad.

Obama was to return to Jerusalem on Wednesday evening to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Am You must understand that God deems homosexuality a sin....and if that person does not repent, the Bible says they will send themselves to Hell. I do not want that for anyone. Therefore, making homosexual marriage legal is opening the doors of the Hell as told by the Bible. First off, you do see that this is imposing your religious views on the legal system, don't you? That's the biggest problem here. But it's not the only problem.You talk as if people are going to be discouraged from homosexuality by marriage being illegal. That's as silly as claiming that people are going to refrain from sex outside of marriage if it were made illegal. But note that sex outside of marriage is not illegal; churches that believe it is wrong exert whatever influence they want through teachings, not the legal system. Note that not even gay sex is illegal. The only thing that's brought up is allowing homosexual couples to enter into a civil contract that grants them rights appropriate to members of household.You and I need to live in the same society. We need to have laws that allow us both to live as we see fit, so long as we don't infringe on the rights of others to do so. If I or anybody else wishes to do things that you think will cause us to go to hell, it's really none of your business, legally. You can discourage, you can teach otherwise, but it's not your business. Just as it is your business if you wish to engage in activities that I consider horrendous, like going to church.What if there were a movement to prevent Christians from marrying, claiming that Christians are going to hell, and letting them marry is just enabling the situation? Wouldn't you object? You'd still have your church ceremonies, but would not obtain rights according to the law. Do you think that's OK, for other people to dictate your rights, just because you chose to marry another Christian, and indeed have no interest in doing otherwise? Don't you think you should be able to enter into a legal contract with another Christian? Don't you think your Christianity shouldn't be relevant to a legal contract? Don't you think other people shouldn't force their religious views onto you through the force of law?


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