Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Friday night's broadcast. CNN's Campbell Brown praises Mark Felt, the Watergate case's "Deep Throat." (CNN) -- Cutting through the bull. It's hard to think of anyone who gave those words more meaning than Mark Felt. The man we all came to know as "Deep Throat" died Thursday at his California home after a life in the shadows. His willingness to risk everything -- career, family, and even his safety -- helped bring down President Richard Nixon in disgrace. Felt was the No. 2 man at the FBI. And yes, it's fair to say he had an ax to grind after being snubbed for the top job.  Watch Campbell Brown's commentary » But that didn't make his information less accurate or crucial. And even after taking that huge risk, he gave up all kinds of chances to cash in on his secret identity. Imagine the book deal "Deep Throat" would have gotten or the movie rights to a blockbuster like "All the President's Men"? What millions did he lose by not spending years on the lecture circuit? No, Felt's willingness to keep Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward pointed in the right direction as Woodward and Carl Bernstein flushed out the greatest political scandal in American history had its roots in the integrity that no one else would show back then. We remind you of this because the timing of Felt's death is not lost on us. Just this month, we've watched a governor accused of redefining crooked politics in Illinois. We're in the final days of a White House that pushed the limits of the Constitution and never appeared eager to share information with the American people. And just this week, the president-elect, who talks of change, tried to stop a journalist from finishing a question at a news conference. Now, as ever, we need people like Woodward and Bernstein to keep asking questions. But more importantly, we need people brave enough to give the answers. People like Mark Felt. A man whose name you never heard until he finally surfaced near the end of his life. By then, he was a quiet, meek-looking person who changed our country forever -- by cutting through the bull. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Question: Who was Watergate's "Deep Throat" who died?

Question: Who had just died?

Question: What did Felt have that no one else would show back then?

Question: Who delt with the president?

Question: who had  integrity that no one else?

Question: what happened to Mark Felt?

Answer: Mark Felt,

Answer: "Deep Throat"

Answer: integrity

Answer: Mark Felt,

Answer: Woodward and Carl Bernstein

Answer: died Thursday at his California home after a life in the shadows.

Summary:
Rendell says choice for Homeland Security good because she has "no life"
Brown: Janet Napolitano has many qualifications beyond having no family .
Nobody would have said the same about a male candidate, Brown says .
Women deserve same treatment as men on work-life issues, she says .


Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Monday night's broadcast. CNN's Campbell Brown says nonemergency legislation needs time to be read by the public and Congress. (CNN) -- Whether by omission or commission, both the White House and Congress get a dose of blame for not living up to the new era of transparency promised by President Obama. The president's old campaign Web site still has this commitment there for all to see: "As president, Obama will not sign any nonemergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House Web site for five days." Well, the president broke that promise barely a week after taking office when he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Bill dealing with equal pay for men and women. A good bill, and certainly one that could have survived a five-day comment period. So, maybe the White House folks just forgot? But then there is Congress and the Stimulus Bill. How fast could you get through it? According to the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, lawmakers had just 13 hours to read 1,100 pages of material that would cost the American taxpayer $787 billion. That's less than a minute and a half per page, with no time for bathroom breaks. No wonder so many of our lawmakers didn't seem to notice that last-minute exemption clearing the way for bailed-out companies like AIG to pay out big bonuses. So, the House tried to clean up the mess last week by rushing through another bill -- a tax on AIG bonuses. That bill was just 11 hours old before it went on the floor to be argued and then quickly approved. And the list goes on well before the president took office. The bank bailout got all of 29 hours, the rescue of Fannie and Freddie was only available for 19 hours. This is how bills could literally become, to borrow a phrase, too big to fail -- and too fast to stop. The Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to allow the American people three days, 72 hours, to read a nonemergency bill online before debate begins. We strongly agree. And yes lawmakers, you can have three days to read it over, too, before taking a stand. As for President Obama's promise of a five-day public review once a bill leaves Capitol Hill headed for his desk, it would be nice if he kept his word on this going forward. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Question: What did Obama post on the web for 5 days?

Question: What bill should congress take more time on?

Question: How long did Obama say he'd post the legislation for?

Question: Who should take more time to study bills?

Question: What bill did he broke that promise with?

Question: Legislation for what?

Question: How long will the legislation be posted for?

Question: What bill did he break the promise with?

Answer: any nonemergency bill

Answer: nonemergency legislation

Answer: five days."

Answer: American public

Answer: Lilly Ledbetter

Answer: equal pay

Answer: five days."

Answer: Lilly Ledbetter


Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Monday night's broadcast. Campbell Brown says President Bush can't seem to see the failure of his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. (CNN) -- Much of President Bush's news conference today was a defense of the many controversial decisions of his presidency, it was also reflective, with the president showing a willingness to admit and talk about the serious mistakes made by this administration. But on one topic in particular, he seemed almost entirely disconnected from what really happened: Hurricane Katrina. As someone who spent many days in New Orleans, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina, I was taken aback listening to the president talk about the government's response. President Bush: "People said, 'Well, the federal response was slow.' Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed. I remember going to see those helicopter drivers, Coast Guard drivers, to thank them for their courageous efforts to rescue people off roofs. Thirty-thousand people were pulled off roofs right after the storm moved through. It's a pretty quick response. Could things have been done better? Absolutely. Absolutely. But when I hear people say, the federal response was slow, then what are they going to say to those chopper drivers, or the 30,000 that got pulled off the roofs?" It is impossible to challenge what so many of us witnessed firsthand -- what the entire country witnessed through television day and night: New Orleans was a city for a time abandoned by the government; where people old and young were left at the New Orleans convention center for days with no water or food. People will disagree over aspects of the Bush legacy, but on the government's handling of Katrina? We were there. Watch Campbell Brown's reaction to President Bush's news conference » The whole country saw what happened. People stuck on roofs were one part of a massive catastrophe. But there was so much else the government didn't do. To this day that city is fighting for its life. Mr. President, you cannot pat yourself on the back for that one. We will debate the war in Iraq, national security, the economy and the rest of your legacy. Those debates will continue for years to come. But on how you handled Katrina, there is no debate. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Question: What did Brown say about Katrina?

Question: What did Brown say was the catastrophe that America watched?

Question: Who defended many decisions at Monday news conference?

Question: Who defended many decisions?

Question: What did Brown say about Bush?

Question: What catastrophe did America watch on TV?

Question: Who disconnected from what happened with Hurricane Katrina?

Question: What did Bush defend?

Question: What will people disagree over?

Answer: President Bush can't seem to see the failure of his administration's response to Hurricane

Answer: Hurricane Katrina.

Answer: President Bush's

Answer: President Bush's

Answer: can't seem to see the failure of his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Answer: New Orleans was a city for a time abandoned by the government;

Answer: President Bush

Answer: controversial decisions of his presidency,

Answer: aspects of the Bush legacy,


Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Thursday night's broadcast.

CNN's Campbell Brown says John Thain, according to CNBC, spent $28,000 on curtains.

(CNN) -- John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, resigned Thursday from the company that bought Merrill out, Bank of America. As far as we can tell, his departure couldn't come soon enough.

Not long ago, Thain was credited with keeping Merrill alive long enough to be rescued.

Now we learn the man who asked for, then quickly withdrew, his request for a $10 million bonus still managed to live large while Merrill teetered on the brink and workers paid the price.

According to CNBC, Thain spent more than $1.2 million in company funds to spruce up his office, hiring a world-class designer to decorate in full decadence.

The list includes an $87,000 "area rug," $28,000 for curtains, a $68,000 credenza and the perfect finishing touch: a $1,400 wastebasket.

This is what passes for corporate responsibility?

CEO John Thain: picking out fancy new curtains while the walls are tumbling down.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Question: how much money was spent by Thain for his office?

Question: How much money did Thain use to remodel his office?

Question: who resigned from Bank of America?

Question: what bank did he work at?

Question: who said departure of tHAIN couldn't come soon?

Answer: $1.2 million

Answer: spent more than $1.2 million in company funds

Answer: John Thain,

Answer: of America.

Answer: Campbell Brown


Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Tuesday night's broadcast.

CNN's Campbell Brown says "having no life" isn't a requirement for a man to get a job.

(CNN) -- How many times have politicians been warned about the dangers of an open microphone? And yet, on Tuesday, the lectern mic at the National Governors Conference picked up this little nugget from Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.

He's having a conversation near the lectern about President-elect Barack Obama's choice for to lead the Homeland Security Department, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. Here is what Rendell said about Napolitano:

Rendell: Janet's perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it

Wow. Now, I'm sure Gov. Napolitano has many qualifications for the job beyond having no family, and therefore the ability to devote 20 hours a day to the job.  Watch Campbell Brown's commentary Â»

But it is fascinating to me that that is the quality being highlighted here as so perfect. C'mon. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is married with two grown children. His predecessor, Tom Ridge, had a family. Anybody remember a debate about whether they would have trouble balancing the demands of work and family?

Now, I am a fan of Gov. Rendell. He has been on this show many times. I like him for his candor. In our attempts to cut through the bull, he delivers far less bull than most politicians. But it is his frankness here that raises so many questions.

1. If a man had been Obama's choice for the job, would having a family or not having a family ever even have been an issue? Would it have ever prompted a comment? Probably not. We all know the assumption tends to be that with a man, there is almost always a wife in the wings managing those family concerns.

2. As a woman, hearing this, it is hard not to wonder if we are counted out for certain jobs, certain opportunities, because we do have a family or because we are in our child-bearing years. Are we? It is a fair question.

3. If you are a childless, single woman with suspicions that you get stuck working holidays, weekends and the more burdensome shifts more often than your colleagues with families, are those suspicions well-founded? Probably so. Is there an assumption that if you're family-free then you have no life? By some, yes.

Again Gov. Rendell, I don't mean to rake you over the coals. I know what you meant to say. But your comments do perpetuate stereotypes that put us in boxes, both mothers and single women.

In government and beyond, men have been given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to striking the right work-life balance. Women are owed the same consideration.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Question: What did Rendell say regarding why she's a good choice?

Question: What types of issues should men and women be treated equally on, according to the reading?

Question: Women deserve what?

Question: Who has many qualifications according to Brown?

Question: Who is Rendell?

Question: Rendell is a good choice because she has what?

Question: What did Rendell say about Homeland Security?

Question: What did Brown say about Napolitano?

Answer: Janet's perfect for that job.

Answer: work-life balance.

Answer: the same consideration.

Answer: Gov. Napolitano

Answer: Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov.

Answer: no family.

Answer: for that job, you have to have no life.

Answer: Janet's perfect for that job.


Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Wednesday night's broadcast.

CNN's Campbell Brown says Flynt and Francis have brought some absurdity to the financial news.

(CNN) -- I have to mention tonight the headline that caught my eye on the CNN Ticker earlier today: "Porn Industry Seeks Federal Bailout."

Yeah, you heard me.

The porn industry wants a bailout.

Leave it to Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and "Girls Gone Wild" CEO Joe Francis to take the absurdity of what is going on now with our federal bailout program to a whole new level.

According to their press release, the adult entertainment industry needs $5 billion of your tax money because it, too, has been hit by the economic downturn.

They concede the $13 billion industry is in no fear of collapse, but say in this environment, why take chances?

I don't really think this requires commentary or condemnation, just thought you would enjoy it.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Question: what are the owners seeking?

Question: What do Larry Flynt and Joe Francis say about the porn industry?

Question: What type of bailout is sought by "Girls Gone Wild"?

Answer: Federal Bailout."

Answer: needs $5 billion of your tax money because it, too, has been hit by the economic downturn.

Answer: Seeks Federal Bailout."


Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Wednesday night's broadcast. CNN's Campbell Brown says The Huffington Post has audio of an executive talking about the "awards." (CNN) -- And timing is everything when it comes to cashing in during the bailout. The soon-to-be-combined Morgan Stanley and Citigroup's Smith Barney will be doling out bonuses to its financial advisers, even as both firms take $60 billion of your bailout dollars. And it gets better. The bonuses, which could total $3 billion, will be based on the companies' 2008 numbers, which, while bad, will almost certainly be better than this year. How do we all know this? Someone gave The Huffington Post Web site audio from a conference call where, by the way, a Morgan Stanley executive told them not to use the "b" word. Conference audio: "There will be a retention award. Please do not call it a bonus. It is not a bonus. It is an award. And it recognizes the importance of keeping our team in place as we go through this integration." Sounds like a bonus to us. The dictionary describes a bonus as a sum of money granted to an employee on top of their regular pay, usually in appreciation for work done, length of service, or accumulated favors. Semantics aside, the companies have good reason to want to hide the truth. But in the middle of a bailout, we have good reason to call this bonus -- bogus. Jim Wiggins, spokesman for Morgan Stanley, would not confirm the authenticity of the tape, but he did defend their practice of so-called retention programs. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Question: Banks is reportedly giving what to its employees?

Question: how much in bonuses

Question: What did Banks say?

Question: Brown says what?

Question: what did the firms accept

Question: what awards are being given to employees

Answer: bonuses

Answer: $3 billion,

Answer: award. Please do not call it a bonus. It is not a bonus. It is an award.

Answer: The Huffington Post has audio of an executive talking about the "awards."

Answer: $60 billion of your bailout dollars.

Answer: retention


Editor's note: Carlos del Rio, MD, is the Hubert Professor and chair in the global health department at the Rollins School of Public Health and professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Emory University's School of Medicine. Del Rio is a native of Mexico and was executive director of the National AIDS Council of Mexico from 1992 through 1996.

Dr. Carlos del Rio says U.S. and Mexican authorities deserve credit for their responses to the swine flu outbreak.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The swine flu outbreak that started less than a month ago has caused more than 150 deaths in Mexico and more than 60 confirmed cases across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, with suspected cases in France, Spain, Israel and New Zealand.

It is clear that a new virus has emerged that is different enough that the population's previous exposure to influenza viruses and vaccines do not provide immunity.

So far, public health authorities are meeting this challenge with strength and preparedness. The Mexican and American federal governments deserve credit for their thorough responses.

The major control strategy that has been implemented in Mexico is social-distancing, a range of nonquarantine measures that attempt to reduce contact between persons, such as closing schools, canceling cultural and sports events, and closing museums and parks. In addition, countries are strengthening surveillance, releasing antiviral stockpiles and issuing travel advisories.

In the United States, federal officials are working closely with and providing guidance to state and local public health authorities, who have to make decisions about whether to close schools or prevent other large-scale gatherings.

The cross-border nature of this outbreak is a strong argument for why the United States should cooperate with and support competent institutions of government in other countries, even during a period of economic uncertainty.

The first case of swine flu in the United States during the current outbreak was identified in San Diego County by part of a surveillance program connected with the Naval Health Research Center there, which only began monitoring influenza in 2005.

In this program, physicians collect nasal swabs from patients at community clinics on both sides of the border. Only when Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists sent a suspect sample to the mass spectrometer did they discover the new variety of swine flu, according to an article describing the techniques in Science magazine.

Two critical questions remain. Why have mortality rates been higher in Mexico? And how should preparations for the regular flu season later this year be modified?

Reports from Mexico that the virus has primarily struck otherwise healthy young adults are alarming because seasonal influenza typically affects the very young and very old. Still, preliminary genetic analysis shows that the virus strains isolated from patients in California are identical to those seen in severely ill Mexican patients.

It is possible that some of the patients in Mexico, many of whom are dying of pneumonia, are succumbing to secondary infections. Medical historians believe that a large proportion of those who died of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 were not killed by the flu virus, but by secondary bacterial pneumonia, which was difficult to treat before the introduction of antibiotics.

Thus, enhancing vaccination against pneumonia may prove to be a critical strategy in decreasing influenza mortality during future outbreaks. Additional investigation of those who have died is however, urgently needed to determine the best response strategy.

An issue that keeps coming up is the idea of closing the U.S.-Mexico border. Already at various border crossing points, customs authorities are having people who appear sick taken to a secondary inspection area for further evaluation. More systematic monitoring at border crossing and airports such as mouth swabs has been proposed.

Is that a good strategy? I would argue that it is not. The U.S.-Mexico border is one of the busiest in the world with millions of people and goods crossing each day. Many items that we routinely use in the United States are produced in Mexico and closing the border would have a crippling effect to the United States.

For example, in the event of a serious flu outbreak in this country there would be a need for mechanical ventilator deployments to hospitals. The national stockpile has sufficient ventilators,

Question: What is a possible factor present with those who have died?

Question: Which country has had more deadly instances of the illness?

Question: What type of outbreak is this?

Question: What does Dr. Carlos del Rio say is crucial to the battle against swine flu?

Answer: secondary bacterial pneumonia,

Answer: Mexico

Answer: swine flu

Answer: pneumonia

Summary:
Dr. Carlos del Rio: U.S. and Mexico have responded well to swine flu outbreak .
He says cross-border cooperation is crucial to successful battle against flu .
Key question is why Mexico's illnesses have been more deadly, he says .
Del Rio: One factor may be presence of pneumonia in those who died .


Editor's note: Carly Fiorina is chief executive of Carly Fiorina Enterprises and former chief executive of HP. She was an adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign last year.

Carly Fiorina says outrage at Wall St. pay is justified but salaries shouldn't be set by government.

(CNN) -- Americans are outraged over excessive CEO pay and perks. That outrage is justified, particularly when American taxpayers are footing the bill.

Our capitalist system works best when there is transparency and accountability. There has been too little of both on Wall Street.

Inevitably, the president and Congress are now attempting to respond to taxpayer anger and restore some "common sense," as President Obama recently declared, to CEO compensation. The proposed solution caps top executive pay at $500,000 for institutions that have received bailout money.

I don't think this is the answer, although it is an understandable reaction. It's arbitrary: Why not $400,000 or $600,000? It's incomplete. It only applies to institutions that will receive more government assistance going forward. And it doesn't strengthen our economy when government decides how much each job is worth. In America we leave that job to markets.

So what's the answer? To strengthen transparency, all aspects of CEO pay and perks should be fully disclosed on a regular basis. This should include airplanes, cars, golf-club memberships, bonuses, stock options, retirement plans and salaries -- in short everything that a common-sense person would consider part of a CEO reward package. See Fiorina discuss exec pay, including her own »

To strengthen accountability, all aspects of CEO compensation should be voted on by shareholders on an annual basis.

Ultimately, it is the owners of a company who must determine whether a CEO's rewards are justified by a CEO's performance. And because the American taxpayer is now a partial owner in many companies, the government can get a vote as well -- in some cases a very sizeable vote.

In addition, "clawback provisions," which require a CEO to return compensation to shareholders if promised results aren't delivered, should be standard fare.

Finally, when a company comes to Washington for American taxpayer money, it is an admission that mistakes have been made and major bets have failed. These CEOs should be prepared to tender their resignations and those of their boards. To earn a bailout, a CEO and board should be held accountable.

We should not weaken our economy while trying to fix it. These are difficult times. President Obama has described our current situation as a "crisis" and an impending "catastrophe." In such times, action is required. The key is to take actions that help in the short-term, while also being sensible for the medium and long-term.

Too often our politicians react to crisis and public anger by over-reaching, and they create new, unforeseen problems that only become clear with the passage of time.

In this country, the opportunity to be rewarded for taking prudent risk is fundamental to our economic vitality and strength. Let's not lose that fundamental principle in our outrage over Wall Street greed and excess.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Carly Fiorina.

Question: What is the reason people are outraged?

Question: What is executive compensation?

Question: What does she say about pay and perks?

Question: What did Carly Fiorina say?

Question: What does Fiorina say should be disclosed?

Question: What should be voted on?

Answer: over excessive CEO pay and perks.

Answer: pay at $500,000

Answer: is justified but salaries shouldn't be set by government.

Answer: outrage at Wall St. pay is justified but salaries shouldn't be set by government.

Answer: all aspects of CEO pay and perks

Answer: all aspects of CEO compensation

Summary:
Carly Fiorina: It's understandable that people are outraged at Wall St. pay .
Fiorina says government shouldn't set limits on executive compensation .
She says all aspects of pay and perks should be disclosed .
Fiorina: Shareholders, including government, should vote on pay packages .


Editor's note: Clarence B. Jones, author of "What Would Martin Say?" is Scholar in Residence at the Stanford University Martin Luther King Jr. Research & Education Institute. He was a lawyer and speechwriter for Dr. King.

Clarence Jones says America is indebted to Martin Luther King Jr. for breaking its addiction to segregation.

Next week, the day after our national holiday commemorating the 80th birthday of Dr. King, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, the first African-American elected as president.

Obama's election would not have been possible without the transformative effect of Dr. King's struggle, leadership and legacy in dismantling segregation and institutional racism in the United States.

America owes a great debt to Dr. King. Prior to him, our nation was like a dysfunctional drug addict or alcoholic, hooked and addicted to segregation and institutional racism.

His "tough love" of nonviolent direct action civil disobedience forced America to confront its conscience and the immorality of racial injustice.

Dr. King enabled our country to embark on an extraordinary journey of recovery to reclaim its soul. He enabled us to reactivate those precepts enshrined in our Declaration of Independence: "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights."

In twelve years and four months, from 1956 to April 4, 1968 -- except for President Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation -- Martin Luther King Jr. may have done more to achieve racial, social and political justice and equality in America than any other person in our country's history.

Dr. King had confidence in the democratic future of America. He believed that we, as a people, would be able to "transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."

I met Martin Luther King, Jr. for the first time 49 years ago when he visited my home in California to enlist my assistance in the defense of a criminal tax indictment against him by the state of Alabama.

Only six months earlier, I had graduated from Boston University Law School. I worked for him as a law clerk, political organizer, personal lawyer and, at his request, I drafted speeches for Dr. King until his death on April 4, 1968.

He was an ordained Christian minister before he was a civil rights leader. His religious faith and abiding belief in God were the fuel that ignited the engine of his moral leadership. President-elect Obama's religion and belief in God appear central to his political leadership.

During the 40 years following Dr, King's assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, the most recurring question asked of me has been: "Who today, what  black leader, if anyone, is most like Dr. King?" I would consistently answer that Dr. King was sui generis, one of a kind And, then ask rhetorically: "Who today is most like Michelangelo, Mozart, Galileo, Copernicus, Aristotle, Beethoven or Shakespeare?"

Since Obama's election, I have been asked:

• Is Barack Obama another Martin Luther King Jr?

• What would Dr. King say about the election of Obama?

• Does the election of Obama, as the first African-American president of the United States, mean that Dr. King's dream has been fulfilled?

• Does Obama's election indicate that racism for all practical purposes no longer exists in America?

• Will Obama's election have any impact on the number of African-American men incarcerated or the high percentage of out-of-wedlock births within the African-American community?

There are no easy answers to these questions, but it is clear that those of us in the civil rights movement of the 1960s never anticipated the event we will witness Tuesday.

After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and the assumption of the presidency by former Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, some of us who worked closely with Dr. King, concluded no fundamental change in race relations in America could be accomplished successfully and sustained unless it was done under the political leadership of a white man from the south, people like Presidents

Question: What did King do for the US?

Question: What was never anticipated?

Question: What did Martin Luther King do?

Question: what made obama's victory possible

Question: what did jones say

Question: Who is Clarence Jones?

Question: Who helped make Obama's victory possible?

Answer: breaking its addiction to segregation.

Answer: sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, the first African-American elected as president.

Answer: breaking its addiction to segregation.

Answer: the transformative effect of Dr. King's struggle, leadership and legacy in dismantling segregation and institutional racism in the United States.

Answer: America is indebted to Martin Luther King Jr. for breaking its addiction to segregation.

Answer: author of "What Would Martin Say?"

Answer: Dr. King's

Summary:
Clarence Jones: Martin Luther King cured U.S. of addiction to racial segregation .
He says King's work helped make Barack Obama's victory possible .
Jones: Leaders assumed only white Southern presidents could make progress .
He says they never anticipated election of an African-American president .


Editor's note: Clark Howard, the Atlanta, Georgia-based host of a nationally syndicated radio show, hosts a television show designed to help viewers save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off during these tough economic times. The show airs at noon and 4 p.m. ET Saturdays and Sundays on HLN.

Clark Howard says, "The only smart move is to pay your debt down or pay it off entirely."

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- I've been getting many calls from listeners who are outraged or perplexed by the actions of their credit card issuer.

The issuing banks are raising interest rates by 20 percent or more -- even if the individual has good credit, has never been late on a payment or hasn't even had any change in their credit standing.

This is happening across all income levels. It's even affecting successful business owners and moderate to wealthy individuals. Fortune magazine recently spotlighted one small business owner who had a card that went from nearly 8 percent to 26 percent, even though nothing changed with his finances or payment history.

Bank of America, Citibank and Capital One are among the big issuers arbitrarily jacking up rates in the face of what they often cite as a "continually changing business environment." In fact, the Federal Reserve reports 37 percent of banks have increased their interest rates.

The reality is that the banks are fearful of the high rate of credit card default, and they know they've got you if you're among the 70 percent of Americans who carry a month-to-month balance.

The good news here is that there are new rules coming that will stop the banks from retroactively raising the rate on existing balances you already carry. The banks will still, however, be able to raise the rates if you stop paying as well as on all future purchases.

But what stinks is that these rules won't go into effect until July 2010. That gives the banks plenty of time to lobby members of Congress and get this pending legislation overturned.

For right now, the problem with banks jacking up the rates is that they're making it tougher for someone who might have been able to pay at 5 percent but could never pay at 30 percent, for example.

So they're setting you up for failure, and they're shooting themselves in the foot at the same time.

The only smart move is to pay your debt down or pay it off entirely. And don't assume you're a sitting duck if your credit standing is decent. You can always shop around for a card that has a lower rate. Try looking at Web sites such as CardWeb.com or CardTrak.com to find the best rates.

I also have a special warning for you if you're buried in debt and thinking about using one of those debt-negotiation firms that advertise all over the Internet and late-night TV.

Do not believe these people about their ability to negotiate with your credit card company and reduce your outstanding balance by 50 percent or more. These con artists get you to pay them money as a retainer and then tell you to stop making all payments while they negotiate on your behalf.

But they're rip-off artists through and through. Many banks won't even take a phone call from these people anymore because they're on to their game. That leaves you scammed out of your retainer fee while your bills continue to pile up.

There is a better way to address your debt. Try calling your credit card company and telling them you're in over your head. You may get blown off, or they may work with you. If you do get the cold shoulder, go to NFCC.org -- the National Foundation for Credit Counseling -- and find a local affiliate who can help you come up with a debt-conquering plan for free or very low cost.

You didn't get into credit card debt overnight, and you won't get out of it overnight; the recovery is going to be a slow step-by-step process.

Question: when will rules stop banks from retroactively raising rate on existing balances?

Question: Who are getting hit?

Question: what did Howard say?

Question: What says Clark Howard?

Question: what is Howard advice?

Question: What will the rules do?

Question: What does Howard advise?

Answer: July 2010.

Answer: successful business owners and moderate to wealthy individuals.

Answer: "The only smart move is to pay your debt down or pay it off entirely."

Answer: "The only smart move is to pay your debt down or pay it off entirely."

Answer: "The only smart move is to pay your debt down or pay it off entirely."

Answer: stop the banks from retroactively raising the rate on existing balances you already carry.

Answer: "The only smart move is to pay your debt down or pay it off entirely."

Summary:
Clark Howard: Banks raising interest rates on credit cards by 20 percent or more .
Even people with good credit ratings who pay on time are getting hit, Howard says .
In 2010, rules will stop banks from retroactively raising rate on existing balances .
Howard advises consumers to pay down or pay off credit card debt .


Editor's note: Clark Howard, the Atlanta, Georgia-based host of a nationally syndicated radio show, is host of a television show designed to help viewers save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off during these tough economic times. The show airs at noon and 4 p.m. ET Saturdays and Sundays on HLN.

Clark Howard says use the Internet to hook up with powerful networking groups.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Many years ago, I had the opportunity to start an Atlanta-based civic program called Career Action. The program's goal was to provide free resources to help the jobless and underemployed find steady work.

That was 1979. Today, it's 2009 and the need for job assistance is greater than ever as unemployment continues to rise.

The conventional wisdom about education and employment -- that as your level of education rises, the less likely you are to be impacted by layoffs -- has been completely flipped on its head. This recession knows no boundaries in terms of education, skill level, training or years on the job.

So, what do you do if you're laid off or have your hours cut at work? First, don't panic! You're going to need to apply for unemployment insurance.

I'm hearing a lot of people badmouthing unemployment compensation. There's nothing shameful about it. Employers pay premiums over time during the good years to provide for those who get laid off in lean times. It's not beneath you to accept this insurance money.

Next, you need to triage your finances so you know which debts to prioritize and which to neglect if your money runs out. Paying your car note is central to finding employment for most people. It's practically higher than paying your mortgage or rent. In fact, you may need to live with friends or relatives until you can get back on your feet.

What shouldn't you prioritize paying? Your credit cards. People say, "But that will hurt my credit..." Look, if you're in a situation where there's no money coming in and you have to decide between paying the mortgage and putting food on the table, chances are your credit is already damaged.

Once you get organized financially, it's time to job hunt. Looking for work is a full-time job and you need an action plan. Start by reviewing your list of contacts, but understand that people don't like to be called and asked if there's a job. But they do love to give advice that may lead to a job opportunity. Visit in person with your contacts if possible.

I'm also a big believer in networking groups and unemployment support groups. Networking for jobs has become something of a lost art in our country because people think the Internet replaces everything else. It doesn't.

However, there are ways to use the Internet to hook up with powerful networking groups. There's even a new organization called LaidOffCamp that is like a free day camp for the underemployed. According to the movement's Web site, it's "an ad-hoc gathering of unemployed and nontraditionally employed people (including freelancers, entrepreneurs and startups) who want to share ideas and learn from each other." You never know whom you might meet.

When you are job hunting on the Internet, be sure to check out screen-scraper sites like SimplyHired and Indeed.com. They're both "one-stop shops" that collect content from all the traditional job sites such as Monster and Yahoo! HotJobs, plus the career pages of individual company sites.

In addition, The Boston Globe recently recommended several specialty sites when you're looking for work in a specific field. BioSpace.com is geared toward the science and biotechnology fields; Idealist.org focuses on the nonprofit charity world; and for those who are 50 years or older, there's a site called WorkForce50.com.

In the course of your job search, you may find that you need money immediately and can't sit around waiting for a job offer to materialize. In that case, certain skill sets -- Web design, programming, marketing and videography,

Question:
What does Clark suggest joining?
what does Clark Suggest
what do you need to prioritize
What did Clark say?
What type of work should be tried?
What do you need to know?

Answer: powerful networking groups.

Answer: use the Internet to hook up with powerful networking groups.

Answer: which debts

Answer: use the Internet to hook up with powerful networking groups.

Answer: Web design, programming, marketing

Answer: apply for unemployment insurance.

Summary:
Clark says you're going to need to apply for unemployment insurance .
You need to know which debts to prioritize, which to neglect if your money runs out .
Clark suggests you join networking and unemployment support groups .
With certain skills, try consulting work or freelancing on a project .


Editor's note: Clark Howard, the Atlanta, Georgia-based host of a nationally syndicated radio show, is host of a television show designed to help viewers save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off during these tough economic times. The show airs at noon and 4 p.m. ET Saturdays and Sundays on HLN. Clark Howard says it's smart to cut back and save, but sometimes being cheap doesn't pay. ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Over the last several years, we as Americans became "negative net savers" -- a fancy term used by pointy-headed economists to say that we spent more money than we made. In fact, our savings rate was at negative 2.7 percent as recently as four years ago. Now, however, the trend seems to be reversing. We actually saved five percent out of every dollar of disposable income in January, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Wow, a whole nickel out of every dollar. Thomas Jefferson would be proud! Sure, it's not the "dime on a dollar" rule of thumb for savings that I rave about, but it's a start.  Watch Clark talk with an amazing saver » The truly noteworthy thing here is how we're saving this much-heralded five percent. Where exactly are we cutting back to satisfy our newfound hunger for pinching nickels? The BEA's numbers show that vehicles and fuel expenses account for nearly two-thirds of the savings. That category alone has seen a $115.2 billion decline compared with January 2008 numbers. Americans are riding their vehicles until the wheels fall off. The second largest category where we've cut back on is eating out, which is down $55.7 billion from last January. After that, we're also trimming the budget on clothing, jewelry, alcohol and more. In most recessions, the sales of alcohol do very well as people try to drown their worries in a bottle. I'm not so sure that behavior itself has changed, but this time around, people are trading down in their drink of choice. For example, fancy wine drinkers may be switching to Trader Joe's lines of Charles Shaw wines (a.k.a. Two Buck Chuck, for their $1.99-$3.49 per bottle price). Beer drinkers, meanwhile, are skipping expensive and exotic microbrews in favor of cheaper choices. Of course, there are other ways to save a nickel without having to trade down or go without. Many people are simply becoming "do-it-yourselfers." This trend has also been called insourcing -- when you do something yourself instead of paying someone else to do it. Some marketers have seized on insourcing to great effect. For example, Target recently ran an ad campaign that aimed to reinvent the store's image for these new, leaner times. Consider this: The ailing retailer has always positioned itself as an affordable splurge over the years. But suddenly, any kind of splurge is seen as irrelevant in today's economy and Target's sales are suffering. So their recent ad campaign was all about the "new." A circular I saw showed the "new" room service (store brand orange juice and cereal served at home); the "new" personal trainer (using home exercise equipment instead of paying for a gym membership); and the "new" restaurant (eating at home) -- all things that can be pricey, but are now being repositioned on the cheap in an effort to boost sales. Insourcing is making direct inroads into the home too -- quite literally. The Wall Street Journal's Weekend Journal recently reported on "closet boutiques" where women are now opening up their homes and closets to strangers in order to sell unwanted designer clothes. Closet boutiques are typically advertised on Craigslist. There were 715,000 postings in February -- more than double the amount last year at that time. For buyers, a closet boutique offers the opportunity to pick up designer threads at a tiny fraction of their new cost. But a word of caution for sellers: You'll almost certainly have some questionable characters

Question: How much are Americans saving out of every dollar?

Question: Where does two thrids of the savings go?

Question: What accounts for two-thirds of the savings?

Question: What does Clark say?

Question: How much are American's saving?

Question: how much money Americans are saving by dollar?

Question: what about the expenses on fuel?

Answer: five percent

Answer: vehicles and fuel expenses account for nearly two-thirds of the

Answer: vehicles and fuel expenses

Answer: it's smart to cut back and save, but sometimes being cheap doesn't pay.

Answer: five percent out of every dollar of disposable income

Answer: five percent out of every

Answer: account for nearly two-thirds of the savings.


Editor's note: Dan Buettner is the best-selling author of "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest."   Watch Buettner's reports from Greece all week on "AC360°" Greek-American Yiannis Karimalis, 73,  lives in Ikaria nearly 40 years after a diagnosis of stomach cancer. Ikaria, GREECE (CNN) -- In 1970, when doctors diagnosed Greek-American Yiannis Karimalis with stomach cancer and only gave him a few months to live, he decided to move back to Ikaria, his birth island. There, he reasoned, he could be buried more inexpensively among his fellow Greeks.   But when he moved back to the island he didn't die. He has lived nearly 40 years more. And when he returned to America on a recent visit, he discovered that his doctors were all dead. The people on this 99-square-mile Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea smugly tell this story as yet another example of what they've always known and scientists are now discovering: People in Ikaria live longer than in just about any other place in the world. A recent study of 90-year-old siblings, conducted by the National Hellenic Research Foundation, discovered 10 times more 90-year-old brothers and sisters here than the European average. Why is this important? Most scientists agree that the average human should live to age 90. (You have to have won the genetic lottery to live to 100.) But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says life expectancy in America is 78. Somewhere along the line, we're losing about a dozen years -- most of them to costly and potentially preventable chronic diseases such as heart attacks, diabetes and cancer. These diseases are dragging down our health care system and account for much of the reason why the National Institute on Aging says the average American suffers about three disabled end-of-life years during which they incur 90 percent of our lifelong health care costs.   Ikarians are avoiding these diseases and reaching age 90 at a rate of about four times the rate that Americans do. They are getting the good years we're missing, dying quickly and less expensively. For the next two weeks, I'm leading "The Blue Zones" expedition, an AARP and National Geographic sponsored team of the world's best demographers, physicians, medical researchers and media specialists, to explore Ikarian longevity. We already have a few clues. Since at least the sixth century B.C., Icaria was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as a health destination -- largely for its hot springs believed to relieve pain, joint problems and skin ailments. Our team has reviewed reports of high levels of radon in these baths and will be exploring a theory that chronic exposure to low-level radiation may help protect DNA against the ravages of aging. For much of the ensuing two millenniums, people here lived in relative isolation. The people here evolved a unique diet that we believe is a more heart-protective version of the Mediterranean diet. We're doing pharmacological analyses of dozens of herbal teas and unique honey produced by bees that draw pollen of thyme, fir and erica. We think we'll find anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and probiotic properties in these locally produced products. We also know that people here have a vastly different character than the rest of the Mediterranean. They have volcanic tempers that quickly subside. Despite living on harsh, steep terrain, they're known for relentless optimism and three-day parties. They don't get stressed by deadlines. They go to bed well after midnight, sleep late and take naps. Anecdotally, we know that most people over 90 are sexually active. Do these people possess the true secret to longevity? We're not sure yet, but we'll certainly distill a few clues about living longer, better. Ikarian wisdom may not help you live to 100. But at least they may help you outlive your doctor. Follow and vote to direct Dan's expedition at aarp.org/bluezones The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Buettner.

Question: What are experts exploring in regards to Ikaria?

Question: how long did he live

Question: What type of cancer does he have?

Question: When did Yiannis Karimalis move back to Greece?

Question: What killed the doctors?

Question: what was his illness

Answer: a theory that chronic exposure to low-level radiation may help protect DNA against the ravages of aging.

Answer: 40 years

Answer: stomach

Answer: In 1970,

Answer: cancer and only

Answer: stomach cancer

Summary:
Yiannis Karimalis moved back to Greece in 1970 after learning he had months to live .
Karimalis returned recently to the U.S. to find all his doctors had died .
Karimalis' home -- Greek island Ikaria -- boasts among longest life expectancies .
Team of experts are exploring Ikarian longevity .


Editor's note: Danyel Smith is the chief content officer of Vibe Media Group and the editor-in-chief of Vibe. Danyel Smith says Michael Jackson sacrificed himself in the name of his art. (CNN) -- It falls to me to prepare a statement on behalf of Vibe magazine when someone is promoted, when there is trouble, or when something major happens in the world of pop. It occasionally falls to me to write an obituary or a tribute when an entertainer dies. It's a part of my job. One has to do it quickly, and I've never been prepared. Yet I've been prepping for this one my whole life. Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50. The sorrow at his passing is palpable, and wet, and illogical -- in my 20 years of being a critic and an editor, I've never met him. But this is a death in the family. I've known Jackson's work since I was 5 years old and was given The Jackson 5's "ABC" as a gift. He was on the surface the most uncomplicated of all boys -- beautiful, emotional, untouchable, ours. Michael has bruised my heart many times -- his antics and the accusations, his seeming desire not to be, at least physically, who he'd been. Which is who I am. But as his funeral is prepared, I, like the Jackson brothers sang with optimistic melancholy in 1976, think about the good times. There is no moonwalk down memory lane about Michael. The legends mix in with the rumors mix in with the ice-cold facts of 1960s black working-class Gary, Indiana. That mixes in with girls fainting at the sight of him when he was barely a teenager; which mixes with the many sold-out tours, and with Michael collaborating with Quincy Jones on 1979's "Off the Wall" and 1982's "Thriller." There is the alleged abuse inflicted on Jackson and his brothers by his father, Joe, along with the strong love and late rivalry with his superstar sister, Janet. There is the magic and melodrama of Motown. The accusation of child abuse (no charge; he agreed to a settlement in a lawsuit against him in 1994), and the 2005 trial in which Jackson was acquitted of child molestation and other heinous charges. There is the drastic change of his skin color, the radical narrowing of his nose, the short marriage to Elvis Presley's daughter, the friendship with Emmanuel Lewis, the 13 Grammys, the 13 No. 1 singles, the two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the haunting, otherworldly performance at Motown's 25th Anniversary special. The way he integrated MTV in 1983 with "Billie Jean," the "We Are the World" extravaganzas, the face masks, the oxygen tanks, the Neverland Ranch -- all that mixes in with everything from "Stop the Love You Save" to "Dancing Machine," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "P.Y.T.," "Man in The Mirror," adding up to the more than 750 million albums sold worldwide... I mean. And this is not the half, the tenth, the thousandth of what he was. It comes down to the fact that Michael Jackson gave. Whether he chose to or did it because it was all he knew, he sacrificed himself in the name of his art. Jackson gave almost his entire life on this planet to singing, to dancing, to recording, to performing. He practiced, he watched James Brown and Jackie Wilson and Diana Ross and he watched his brothers. He bent, when he had to, to the will of those who could have done better by him. He was knowing enough about who he was to pretty much demand we all call him The King of Pop, but it was the public shyness, the nerdiness of Michael Jackson that endeared. The whispery voice juxtaposed with the explosive grace he demonstrated on stage and on record. The tenderness, especially of his childhood work, and

Question: Who did Danyel Smith say made millions believe?

Question: What did Smith believe?

Question: According to Smith, who was the best entertainer who ever lived?

Question: How much of his life did Danyel Smith believe Michael Jackson gave to entertaining others?

Answer: Michael Jackson

Answer: Michael Jackson sacrificed himself in the name of his art.

Answer: Michael Jackson

Answer: entire

Summary:
Danyel Smith: Michael Jackson made millions believe .
She says he gave almost all of his life to entertaining others .
Smith: He sacrificed and left nothing but blood on the dance floor .
Smith believes Jackson was the best entertainer who ever lived .


Editor's note: Daria Roithmayr is a law professor at the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, where she teaches on race and law. She worked for Sen. Edward Kennedy as special counsel on the Clarence Thomas and David Souter confirmation hearings. Guy-Uriel Charles is a law professor at Duke Law School where he is the founding director of the Center on Law, Race, and Politics. Daria Roithmayr says Sotomayor would add broader life experiences to the background of Supreme Court justices. No one was surprised when the subject of race dominated the public conversation during Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings. What was surprising was how unwilling both sides of the aisle were to talk about race openly. Republicans tried to argue that race should be completely separated from judicial decision-making. For their part, Democrats tried to minimize the importance of her race to her decision-making by focusing on her record, to show that her race had played no role in her decisions. Judge Sotomayor herself suggested that life experiences are an important part of the process of judging, but then sought to minimize the difference that those experiences might have made to a particular result. Most people understand that life experiences and racial identity do affect the decision-making process. But is this something to be lamented or celebrated? We think the latter. In this, the not quite post-racial era of Obama, scholars are developing new understandings of the connection between race, life experience and decisions. Researchers such as Scott Page and James Surowiecki are telling us that varied life experiences and ethnicity can improve the result when a group makes decisions together. At the University of Michigan, Page uses mathematical models to show not only that people's backgrounds make a difference in how they think, but far more importantly, that these differences are essential for good collective decision-making. As Page acknowledges, the relationship between life experience and decision-making is an empirical question -- a question of fact to be determined based on research. In some domains -- making decisions about the scope of anti-discrimination law or deciding on a health care policy -- we likely will see that broader life experience makes for better decisions. Surowiecki, who wrote "The Wisdom of Crowds," points out that a group will more often than not come to a better decision than the average individual, so long as the group includes a  range of people with different life experiences and ways of looking at and solving problems. As Surowiecki notes, if the group has enough variation in the information that they bring to the table, their thought processes and their approach to solving problems, the group is more likely to come up with the right answer before an individual, even in some instances when the individual is an expert. The Constitution itself recognizes the importance of life experiences to legal decision-making. Defendants in the criminal process are entitled to a jury of their peers precisely because jurors bring to the process a collection of life experiences that will shape their understanding of the facts and the law. All-white juries are problematic in large part because we believe that the life experiences of jurors are an integral part of their collective judgment of innocence or guilt. We also are coming to understand that race is just one of several structural factors that affect a person's life experiences and life chances, together with economic security, gender, class and geography. These days, the best thinking on race focuses less on racial symbolism and more on understanding how race affects a person's life experiences and life chances -- her access to education, health care, economic and physical security, her experience with the criminal justice system, whether she grew up wealthy or in a public housing project. Thus, we understand that the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. for disorderly conduct after he opened his jammed front door might be a signal of existing racism in law enforcement. But the better way to understand his arrest might be to acknowledge that whether one thinks this is the symbol of continued racism in law enforcement or an officer trying to do his job, in general,

Question: who is sotomayor

Question: What subject dominated the Senate hearing?

Question: What benefit will Sotomayor provide the court?

Question: what says roithmayr

Question: What does research show about diverse groups of people and decisions?

Question: Who was the Senate hearing about?

Answer: Judge

Answer: of race

Answer: Sotomayor would add broader life experiences to the

Answer: Sotomayor would add broader life experiences to the background of Supreme Court justices.

Answer: backgrounds make a difference in how they think, but far more importantly, that these differences are essential for good collective decision-making.

Answer: subject of race

Summary:
Roithmayr, Charles: Race dominated the Senate hearing on Sotomayor .
They say research shows groups of diverse people make better decisions .
Having Sotomayor on court will widen life experiences of the justices, they say .
Roithmayr, Charles: We should strive for diversity of class, gender, geography .


Editor's note: David B. Givens is Director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane, Washington. He is the author of "Love Signals: A Practical Field Guide to the Body Language of Courtship" (St. Martin's, New York, 2005), "Crime Signals: How to Spot a Criminal Before You Become a Victim" (St. Martin's, 2008), and the forthcoming "The Body of Work: Sightreading the Language of Business, Bosses, and Boardrooms." His online Nonverbal Dictionary is used around the world as a reference tool. Barack and Michelle Obama celebrate winning the Democratic nomination with a fist bump in 2008. SPOKANE, Washington (CNN) -- The H1N1 swine flu virus is putting our most familiar gesture of greeting -- handshakes -- at risk. As an anthropologist who watches people for a living, I can tell you that human beings touch their own faces with their own fingertips hundreds, if not thousands of times a day. Repeated face touching -- especially finger contact with eyelids, lips, and nostrils -- is as predictable as blinking. You'll observe hand-to-face gestures in every culture and society, as well as in our closest primate relatives, the monkeys and apes. There's nothing wrong with face touching. Nothing, that is, unless you're afraid of germs. And today, many of us around the world are terrified by these tiny organisms, especially ones that cause swine flu. Merely by shaking the hand of someone infected by the swine-flu virus, we risk infection each time we inadvertently reach up and touch our faces. Physicians urge that we wash right after shaking hands. But since the anthropologist in me knows that, as a primate, you'll touch your face before washing, germs will inevitably visit unsuspecting lids, lip, and noses. The human handshake itself, meanwhile, is a widespread gesture used for meeting, greeting, and sealing a deal. It's a ritualized gripping of another's hand, with one or more up-and-down (or, in Texas, sideways) motions followed by a quick release. Since the fingertips and palm of the hand are exquisitely sensitive, the shake itself can be deeply personal. We instantly feel the warmth or coolness, dryness or moistness, and firmness or weakness of another's grip. Sensory input from a hand's thermal and pressure receptors to the brain's sensory cortex and then to deeper, emotional brain areas can be intense. If you travel to France, be prepared to shake hands dozens of times a day. Office workers in Paris, for example, may shake in the morning to greet, and in the afternoon to say goodbye, to colleagues. Outside vendors and technicians will handshake with everyone present when they enter or leave an office. The risk of hand-carried flu virus is thus greater here than it is in the United States, where handshaking is far less frequent. Contrast this to the Japanese practice of giving fewer handshakes, still, in favor of polite bows of the head. In all three nations, casual face touching is frequent, but germs in Tokyo are less apt to spread through handshakes. In Islamic nations, it is strictly taboo for men to shake hands in public with women. So, Muslim couples are less likely to exchange swine-flu germs through manual contact than are business men and women in, say, Seattle, Washington. Since in much of the world a handshake is both a visual and a tactile index of your concern for other people, it's hard to hold one back. In North America, Latin America, and Europe, when someone holds out a hand, it's difficult not to just take a step forward and shake. You don't want, after all, to seem rude. In Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, handshaking may be more nuanced than in the West, or even absent. An Asian namasté, with your palms and fingers pressed together in front of your chest, given with a slight bow -- or a Muslim salaam, in which your right

Question: What creates risk of spreading the flu virus?

Question: What did David Givens say about the H1N1 flu?

Question: Who have popularized the fist bump?

Question: What creates risk of spreading H1N1?

Question: What is the risk of handshakes during flu season?

Question: What risks spreading the flu virus?

Question: Who has popularized the fist bump?

Question: What do handshakes do

Question: Who have popularized the fist bump

Question: what strain of flu is being discussed

Question: What do  handshakes create  a risk of?

Question: What's a less risky way of greeting people?

Answer: handshakes

Answer: at risk.

Answer: Barack and Michelle Obama

Answer: handshakes

Answer: H1N1 swine

Answer: handshakes

Answer: Barack and Michelle Obama

Answer: gesture used for meeting, greeting, and sealing a deal.

Answer: Barack and Michelle Obama

Answer: H1N1 swine

Answer: H1N1 swine flu virus

Answer: polite bows of the head.

Summary:
David Givens: H1N1 flu is prompting focus on how we greet each other .
He says handshakes create risk of spreading the flu virus .
Fist bumps are a less risky way of greeting people .
Givens: Obamas and Dalai Lama have popularized the fist bump .


Editor's note: David Craig is a film, television and Web producer, an adjunct professor at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California, and a gay rights activist.

David Craig says there's growing support for recognition of gay unions and gay marriage.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- My battle for marriage equality began in 1990, after my partner, Brian Binder, and I had a commitment ceremony. The ceremony was held at the end of a conference for Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays and was attended by more than 300 friends and members of both our families.

We were featured in a couple of books on gay marriage because the concept was so new at the time. We also registered as domestic partners and entered into every possible form of legal recognition available at the time.

A few years later, Brian was visiting his parents in Nevada to inform them that he was giving up his battle with AIDS. Something went horribly wrong, and he was rushed to the hospital. I flew there immediately.

As his caretaker, I knew his medical condition and had been involved in every medical decision. We had shared the joy of making a commitment to one another and the pain and suffering of a horrible disease.

But when I arrived, I was told I could not see him because I was not "family" and because my legal documents were valid only in California. Even as I heard him calling out my name, they refused to let me see him because we were not married. Brian died in 1992.

In 1995, I helped organize the first Freedom to Marry March in Los Angeles. Ten years later, the idea for A Day Without Gays was conceived. iReport.com: Are you taking part in "A Day Without Gays?"

I was discussing same-sex marriage with Delia Fine, my colleague at the A&E Network. I proposed a gay version of Lysistrata, an ancient Greek satire about Athenian women who withheld sex from their husbands until they agreed to stop going to war.

She replied, "what if gays went on strike instead?" and the idea was born.

We convinced A&E to produce a movie based on the idea, which became a romantic comedy called "Wedding Wars" that aired on the network in 2006. Critics compared the film to "A Day Without a Mexican," which led to the one-day protest by the Latino community called A Day Without Immigrants.

In the wake of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage, I posted the event on Facebook. My fellow organizer, Steve Holzer, inspired by the Latino protests, suggested we call it A Day Without Gays.

We soon discovered that other organizers had conceived of the same idea simultaneously, and we all agreed to schedule the protest for December 10, which is International Human Rights Day. A week later, Join The Impact, the group that organized City Hall rallies nationwide November 14, joined forces with us.

Our goal is to raise awareness that marriage is a "basic human right" as declared by the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia, the case that ended race-based restrictions on marriage.

We believe that to deny gays and lesbians that right, and the 1,400 state and federal legal and economic benefits of marriage, is discrimination and in violation of the 14th Amendment.

We are asking people who support us to "call in gay" to their workplace by taking the day off or to shut down their businesses. Our goal is to raise awareness that we are gay and lesbian Americans who work, own businesses, pay our taxes and support the economy to the tune of $712 billion a year, according to an analysis by Witeck-Combs Communications, a public relations agency that specializes in the gay and lesbian consumer market. This is a declaration that we take our rights seriously and demand full equality.

Our Facebook site has had a million visitors, and more than 225,000 people indicate that they will or might participate. There are also more than 17,000 postings from participants who have taken

Question: What protest is scheduled for December 10th?

Question: Where is the protest going to be?

Question: How long has Craig been battling for gays?

Question: What is gaining support?

Question: What kind of marriage rights is David Craig fighting for?

Question: What kind of protest is Craig organizing for December 10?

Answer: A Day Without Gays

Answer: nationwide

Answer: began in 1990,

Answer: recognition of gay unions and gay marriage.

Answer: gay

Answer: A Day Without Gays

Summary:
David Craig: I've been battling for marriage equality for gays since 1990 .
He says civil unions don't provide same level of rights and benefits as marriage .
Craig is part of a group organizing "day without gays" protest for December 10 .
Craig: Poll shows growing support for gay unions and for gay marriage .


Editor's note: Dina Habib Powell, global head of corporate engagement at Goldman Sachs, served as U.S. assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs from 2005 to 2007.

Dina Habib Powell says there are encouraging signs the world is ready to invest in empowering women.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- As we mark International Women's Month in March, it is encouraging to see that the movement to recognize the vital role that women play in families, nations and economies has been building for more than a decade and that developments in the past few years have shown that real progress has begun to take hold.

On the heels of International Women's Day, President Obama said Monday, "we will not sow the seeds for a brighter future or reap the benefits of the change we need without the full and active participation of women around the world."

He also recently announced the creation of a new position, ambassador-at-large for global women's Issues, at the State Department.

To fill this critical role, the president nominated Melanne Verveer, a widely respected women's advocate and former top aide to then first lady Hillary Clinton.

Verveer was a founder of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an organization committed to empowering women and recently co-chaired by Secretary Clinton and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

There has also been very recent progress on Capitol Hill. Last month, the U.S. Senate created a Foreign Relations subcommittee that will focus on the global status of women, led by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California.

The efforts have been a bipartisan priority for our leaders. In 2008, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice successfully led the effort in the U.N. Security Council to officially recognize rape as a weapon of war. And in 2001, Laura Bush used the first presidential radio address ever given by a first lady to focus international attention on the plight of women in Afghanistan and used her influence to protect and empower women around the world.

Critical strides are also being made globally. In Rwanda, a country devastated by genocide, women have become a key part of the nation's rebirth. Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, more than half of the parliament is made up of women. In Liberia, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf made history when she became the first female president on the African continent.

In the Middle East, Kuwait has emerged as a leader in women's suffrage and political participation. And in the United Arab Emirates, women such as Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, minister of foreign trade, have been trailblazers for progress throughout the region.

This social change is being promoted at the United Nations, where Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently noted that the protection, education and empowerment of women and girls are among the most important ingredients to achieving all other Millennium Development Goals.

Such consensus should not be surprising as study after study has found that investing in the education of women improves lives.

Every extra year of girls' education can reduce infant mortality by 5 to 10 percent. In Africa, children of mothers who receive five years of primary education are 40 percent more likely to live beyond age 5. And multicountry data show educated mothers are about 50 percent more likely to immunize their children than uneducated mothers are.

But one of the most important developments of recent years has been the increasing amount of research that shows investments in women can offer not only social benefits, but also real economic growth. A growing body of evidence highlights the economic advantage of educating and empowering women.

The private sector has seized on this data. There is now broad consensus that investing in women is not only just good social policy, it is "smart economics," as Bob Zoellick, president of the World Bank, says.

Toward that end, the World Bank has convened a Private Sector Leaders Forum with companies committed to these issues, such as Standard Chartered, Cisco, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Carlson and Nike.

My own firm, Goldman Sachs, published two critical pieces of research, "Womenomics" and "Women Hold Up Half

Question:
What is so encouraging here?
What does the study show?

Answer: signs the world is ready to invest in empowering women.

Answer: investing in the education of women improves lives.

Summary:
Dina Powell: As we mark Women's Month, there are encouraging signs .
Both parties in the U.S. are taking steps to invest in the role of women, she says .
She says studies show that more education decreases infant mortality .
Investing in women's education leads to increases in economic growth, she says .


Editor's note: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: Progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but "our work is just beginning." (CNN) -- When we commemorated the first World AIDS Day on December 1, 1988, we had little to celebrate. The number of reported AIDS cases in the United States was nearing 80,000 and rising rapidly. Untold thousands more in this country were living with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Globally, AIDS cases already had been reported from more than 135 countries. An AIDS tsunami clearly was looming, but we had few defenses at our disposal. For those of us caring for people with AIDS, it was a dark time. We had just one anti-HIV medicine in our pharmacies, AZT, a drug that the virus rapidly defeated by mutating and developing resistance. Lacking other medicines to slow the relentless replication of HIV and its destruction of a person's immune system, we did our best to help our patients by managing to the extent possible their AIDS-related infections and complications. But the life span of most of the patients was measured in months. Two decades later, much has changed. An unprecedented research effort has led to more than two dozen anti-HIV drugs, more than for all other viral diseases combined. Taken in proper combinations, these medications have dramatically improved the prognosis for people living with HIV by increasing their life span by at least a decade and providing the possibility of a normal life span with continued therapy. Scientifically proven prevention approaches -- education and outreach to at-risk populations, voluntary HIV testing and counseling, condom distribution, prevention of HIV transmission from mother to baby, harm reduction approaches for drug abusers, mass-media campaigns and the screening of donated blood -- have been deployed with great success in the United States and many other countries. Innovative programs such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the efforts of nongovernment organizations, have reached millions of people in low- and mid-income countries worldwide with HIV-related services, at a scale unimaginable a few years ago. And gradually -- but too slowly -- we have begun addressing AIDS-related stigma in this country and abroad. Much has been accomplished in the fight against HIV/AIDS from scientific, medical and public health standpoints. However, now is no time to rest on our accomplishments or our laurels. The statistics of the HIV/AIDS pandemic tell us that much more needs to be done. Around the world, a staggering 2.7 million people were infected in 2007 alone. Globally, 33 million people are living with HIV infection, most of them in the developing world. In the United States, more than 1 million people are living with HIV. And 56,000 more people are infected each year in the U.S., driving HIV prevalence rates in some of our communities to levels that rival those seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Gay and bisexual men, and African-Americans in general, are disproportionately affected. The true ground zero of the HIV epidemic in the United States is in those communities. What is the way forward? First, even in the face of a world economic crisis, the global community must scale up the delivery of proven HIV therapies and prevention services. In low- and middle-income countries, less than one-third of people in need of anti-HIV therapy are receiving it, and only one in five people at risk of HIV infection have access to prevention services. All around the world, access to HIV services -- and medical care in general -- remains a challenge in many poor communities. The global community must sustain our commitment to investing resources for medicines, clinics, as well as training and salaries for doctors, nurses and community health care workers to provide care for HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the settings where they occur. Here in the United States, more than one-fifth of

Question: What did Dr. Anthony S. Fauci think?

Question: What is a challenge in poor areas?

Question: What did the medications improve prognosis for?

Question: What are the prevention approaches hat are available?

Question: does medications improve health?

Answer: Progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but "our work is just beginning."

Answer: access to HIV services

Answer: increasing their life span by at least a decade and providing the possibility of a normal life span with continued therapy.

Answer: of HIV transmission from mother to baby, harm reduction

Answer: have dramatically improved the prognosis for people living with HIV

Summary:
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: Access to HIV services, medical care a challenge in poor areas .
Fauci: Preventive HIV vaccine is best hope for halting spread of HIV/AIDS .
Medications improved prognosis for people living with HIV by increasing life spans .
Prevention approaches, education, testing, counseling, condoms deployed .


Editor's note: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, world-renowned HIV/AIDS researcher who has been on the forefront of battling the disease since it was discovered, previews his speech to this week's International AIDS Conference.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is cautiously optimistic that eventually some AIDS/HIV patients will be cured.

WASHINGTON (CNN) --   This week, more than 25,000 people from the global HIV/AIDS community are in Mexico City, Mexico, attending the XVII International AIDS Conference. I am pleased to be among them.

This is the first International AIDS Conference to be held in Latin America, a region hard-hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, but also a place where exceptional scientific and public health advances have been made.

The theme of the conference is Universal Action Now, which stresses the need for scientists, policymakers, activists and other concerned citizens everywhere -- in rich countries and poor ones -- to work even harder to defeat a scourge that already has claimed more than 25 million lives.

We have made considerable progress against HIV/AIDS, not only on the scientific front, but also with regard to the political will, funding and essential public health efforts on the ground that are delivering medicine, care and prevention services. However, much remains to be done, as 2.7 million people worldwide were infected with HIV in 2007.  Watch more on the International AIDS Conference »

In the United States, the rate of new infections continues at an unacceptably high level, especially in the African-American community. In my home city of Washington D.C., a staggering 5 percent of the population is infected with HIV, a rate that rivals those in sub-Saharan Africa. Eighty percent of my infected neighbors in Washington, D.C., are African-American.

Throughout the United States, we are seeing a resurgence in HIV cases among men who have sex with men of all races, with African-Americans again hardest hit. Despite what you might hear, the AIDS pandemic is still raging.

Many hundreds of presentations at the conference are dealing with important research on the basic biology of HIV and its disease-causing mechanisms; the complex immune responses to the virus; and advances in tools to diagnose, treat and prevent HIV.

My talk on Wednesday, is called "Looking to the Future: New Directions in HIV/AIDS Research" and will look at all these issues, and the many challenges (and opportunities) in AIDS science. But I hope to leave the audience with at least a tentative answer to an important question I get all the time: Will we ever have a cure or a vaccine for HIV?

Despite our considerable success in managing HIV infection and improving the length and quality of life for people living with HIV, there is no well-documented case of anyone being truly cured of HIV disease. This is because HIV is unlike virtually any other virus in its ability to hide from the immune system in protected cellular sanctuaries that we call "latent reservoirs."

We know that these reservoirs are established within days of infection, and even our most potent combinations of anti-HIV drugs are unable to purge the virus from these hiding places, even in people who have been on therapy for a decade or more. If you take a patient off his or her anti-HIV therapy, the virus hiding in these reservoirs springs back, and soon billions of viruses are renewing their assault on immune system cells and other organs. Photos chronicle AIDS treatment worldwide

Our best hope for eradicating HIV from the reservoirs may be to diagnose and treat people aggressively very early in infection, before the reservoirs have become too large. Our laboratory and other groups are testing this approach with intensive regimens of new drugs that prevent the virus from entering cells or from inserting its genes into a cell's DNA.

Even if the virus is not completely eradicated, such early, intense treatment, perhaps with the help of immune-boosting drugs, might keep the reservoir small -- and the immune system strong -- thereby allowing a person to come off therapy. This would be a "functional" cure. Other approaches

Question: How many are expected at the International AIDS Conference?

Question: Where will the International AIDS Conference be held?

Question: How many people are expected at the International AIDS Conerence?

Answer: more than 25,000

Answer: Mexico City, Mexico,

Answer: 25,000

Summary:
More than 25,000 people expected at the International AIDS Conference .
Progress made in science, political will, funding, public health, expert says .
For every person put on therapy, 2 to 3 people are newly infected, he says .
Cure critical to attempts to contain the pandemic, he says .


Editor's note: Dr. John Boyce, chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven, Connecticut, was lead author of the Centers for Disease Control's national hand hygiene guidelines for health-care workers and heads the Hand Hygiene Resource Center. Dr. John Boyce says hands contaminated with virus are often  a pathway for people to develop flu. (CNN) -- The rapid spread of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus (also known as swine flu) from Mexico to at least 19 other countries in less than 10 days is a cause of major concern. It emphasizes the need for the public to become familiar with how influenza is spread and which preventive measures they can use to reduce their chances of becoming infected. Although little information is available at this time, it appears that this influenza virus spreads from one person to another in the same way as other influenza viruses -- by "droplet spread." Respiratory droplets are generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes and expels droplets of fluid. Those droplets travel short distances (usually less than three feet) through the air and can be deposited on the mouth or in the nose of people or on surfaces. Those who develop influenza often shed large amounts of virus in their respiratory secretions for several days after they become ill. Experience with other viruses suggests that individuals with influenza can contaminate their hands when coughing, sneezing or blowing their noses. The virus can survive on the hands for at least one hour. If a person whose hands are heavily contaminated touches a surface such as a doorknob, table or computer keyboard, they can deposit the virus onto that surface, where it can survive for minutes to several hours. One study conducted with a regular seasonal strain of influenza virus found that the virus could survive on facial tissues for several minutes and for two to eight hours on stainless steel or plastic surfaces. If another person touches a contaminated surface with his hands when the virus is still alive and then touches his own mouth or nose, he may become infected. Infection might also occur when a person with influenza shakes hands with another person who subsequently touches their own mouth or nose with their fingers. Several studies have found that many people touch their noses or mouths several times an hour during the course of daily activities. So there are plenty of opportunities for people to inadvertently introduce a flu virus into their bodies if their hands become contaminated. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that individuals perform hand hygiene -- also known as hand washing or decontamination -- frequently during influenza outbreaks. In addition to reducing the risk of developing influenza, hand hygiene can help protect people from becoming ill with several other respiratory viruses by eliminating these organisms from the hands. A recent study found that hand washing with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer were both highly effective in reducing a seasonal strain of influenza virus on the hands. This should also be true for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. Either plain soap or antimicrobial soap will reduce the amount of virus on the hands. To ensure decontamination, be sure to wash your hands vigorously and keep both soap and water on your hands for at least 15 seconds. When sinks are not readily available, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are a convenient and effective way of eliminate the virus from hands. Use an amount of sanitizer at least the size of quarter or enough to keep your hands wet for at least 15 to 20 seconds while you're rubbing them together. The CDC also recommends that people should avoid touching their mouths, noses and eyes, since surfaces they touch may be contaminated when flu virus is present. People who develop influenza or other respiratory viral infections should also clean their hands after blowing their nose or after covering a cough with their hands. Since droplet spread is the most common way influenza is transmitted from person to person, the CDC also recommends avoiding close contact with individuals who are sick. If you do become ill with influenza, the CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others.

Question: How long can the virus survive on various surfaces

Question: what does boyce say

Question: What causes the  flu to spread?

Question: Can the virus surivve for hours?

Question: What part of the body is said to often spread the flu virus

Question: How long should people wash hands for?

Question: When you cant use a sink what is the next best method that works

Answer: several hours.

Answer: a pathway for people to develop flu.

Answer: coughs or sneezes and expels droplets of fluid.

Answer: at least one

Answer: hands

Answer: at least 15 seconds.

Answer: alcohol-based hand sanitizers

Summary:
John Boyce: Hands contaminated with virus often spread the flu .
He says viruses can survive for hours on various surfaces .
Boyce: People need to wash hands with soap and water for at least 15 seconds .
He says alcohol-based sanitizers can work in the absence of a sink .


Editor's note: Dr. Thomas H. Murray is chief executive of The Hastings Center, a nonprofit research institute on bioethics in Garrison, New York. Murray was formerly director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Case Western Reserve University and president of the Society for Health and Human Values.

Thomas Murray says doctors have responsibility for welfare of children conceived through IVF procedure.

GARRISON, New York (CNN) -- The birth of octuplets to a California woman last week raised a boatload of issues that can distract us from the central ethical question posed by the case: How do we take children's well-being into account in reproductive medicine?

Yes, it's puzzling why an unemployed single woman who already had six children wanted a passel more. And it is not crazy to wonder who will pay for these children's needs over the years, beginning with what is sure to be a gobsmacking bill for neonatal intensive care.

For now, we can put aside the lifeboat problem: A human uterus is not built for eight passengers; the odds for each child to be born alive and healthy go down as the number in the lifeboat goes up.

Her physicians offered to reduce the number of fetuses she was carrying; citing her moral convictions, she declined. As of the last reports, all eight survived. Still, knowing what we do about the many risks that come with being born too soon and too small, their medical course is likely to be complex and unsteady.

What this case really does is split wide open a fault line running through infertility treatment in American medicine. People who show up at fertility clinics are adults. In the typical case, they've been trying to get pregnant for a year or more without success.

When all goes well, a cycle of IVF (in-vitro fertilization) results in a pregnancy and the birth of one, perhaps two, healthy babies. As a son, a father, and now a grandfather, I can attest that there is no more important or enduring relationship in our lives than the one between parents and children.

Whether that relationship is forged through infertility medicine, adoption or the old-fashioned way matters not at all: What counts is that adults who want to love and raise a child are matched with a child who needs just that love and care.

The point of infertility treatment, after all, is to create a child. But that child-to-be is not the clinic's patient -- the would-be parents are. I believe that the interests of those children deserve at least as much consideration as the wishes of the prospective parents.

The vast majority of infertility patients are no doubt fierce advocates for the well-being of the child they so earnestly seek to bring into their lives. What happens, though, when the client's request shows little consideration or regard for the welfare of the would-be children? What happens if a woman in her early 30s with six children wants eight embryos implanted all at once?

A responsible physician could turn down such a request, citing professional guidelines that counsel implanting one, at most two, embryos in women younger than 35. How Nadya Suleman ended up with eight is a mystery. That's what Nadya Suleman is claiming.

Perhaps there is a physician somewhere willing to defy the wisdom of his or her peers; perhaps Suleman used fertility drugs rather than IVF as she claimed. Whatever the case, this guideline is based on safety. Carrying more than a couple of fetuses is dangerous to the pregnant woman and to the health and survival of the fetuses in her womb.

Citing safety is a prudent way to turn down requests an infertility physician thinks are ill-considered. But sometimes that gambit isn't available.

A psychiatrist friend who conducted intake interviews for a well-respected clinic described a rough-looking couple who carried for their up-front payment thousands of dollars in cash stuffed in a bag -- drug money, she was certain.

She was able to discourage the couple from following through on their plan. Here's the rub: Her concern was the ultimate

Question: Where were the octuplets born?

Question: In what cases do doctors have responsibility for children's welfare?

Question: The case of the birth of what in California raises questions?

Question: Where were the octuplets  born?

Question: What did Thomas Murray say about the case of the birth of octuplets?

Question: Who is thomas Murray?

Answer: California

Answer: conceived through IVF procedure.

Answer: octuplets

Answer: California

Answer: How Nadya Suleman ended up with eight is a mystery.

Answer: chief executive of The Hastings Center,

Summary:
Thomas Murray: The case of the birth of octuplets in California raises questions .
He says doctors typically cater to the wishes of their patients, the parents .
In IVF cases, the doctors also have responsibility for children's welfare, he says .
He says doctors shouldn't use a loophole to evade their responsibility .