Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(EW.com) -- Tom Cruise rang in the New Year smiling, as "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" led the box office with an estimated $31.3 million over the three-day (Friday to Sunday) weekend. That represents a 6 percent jump from Christmas weekend.

However, nearly every wide release saw their grosses rise compared to last weekend. The weekend after Christmas has historically been a strong box-office period, as many families are still on break but are no longer occupied with holiday preparations.

"Ghost Protocol," the fourth entry in the action franchise, has now cumulatively tallied $134.1 million, surpassing the final gross of "Mission: Impossible III" ($134 million). The PG-13 movie, which was helmed by Pixar animation director Brad Bird, will now attempt to catch up with the first "Mission: Impossible," which collected $181 million in 1996. That figure should be within reach for "Ghost Protocol."

In second place was "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," which rose 9 percent for $22.1 million. The sequel has taken in $132.1 million in 17 days. The original "Sherlock Holmes," by comparison, had earned $165.2 million by this point. Although "A Game of Shadows" trails its predecessor, it is slowly closing the gap. This is because the first "Sherlock Holmes" opened on Christmas weekend, thereby inflating its initial figures. "Shadows," on the other hand, debuted on the (typically slow) weekend before Christmas, and is just now benefiting from a post-Christmas bump.

In other words, the first "Sherlock Holmes" started out of the gate much quicker, but "Shadows" is picking up steam. The sequel probably won't have enough momentum to reach its predecessor's final tally of $209 million, but the gap between the two films should be a lot smaller than many people initially thought.

The same holds true for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," which jumped an incredible 45 percent for $18.3 million. The rodent threequel has so far earned $94.6 million in 17 days. In the same time frame, the 2007 original had grossed $141.4 million and its 2009 sequel had amassed $165.4 million. Despite "Chipwrecked's" slow start, it has been holding up well and should finish its domestic run with a respectable number.

In its first full weekend, Steven Spielberg's equine epic "War Horse" finished fourth with $16.9 million. Whereas most films dropped from Friday to Saturday this weekend (on account of Saturday being New Year's Eve), "War Horse" actually jumped 20 percent on Saturday. One possible explanation could be that the movie is drawing a decidedly older audience that wasn't about to let New Year's Eve get in the way of its moviegoing plans. According to CinemaScore, 79 percent of "War Horse's" audience was at least 25 years old. The Oscar hopeful has so far collected $43 million and is on its way to becoming a genuine holiday hit.

Finally, in fifth, was David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," which rose 28 percent for $16.3 million. The $90 million adaptation of Stieg Larsson's bestselling novel has so far grossed a decent but somewhat disappointing $57.1 million in 12 days.

In limited release, "The Iron Lady," starring Meryl Streep as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, debuted to an outstanding $221,800 at four theaters -- that's a per-location average of $55,450. The acclaimed Iranian drama "A Separation," which is practically assured an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, opened to a solid $66,600 in three theaters. And the Sundance drama "Pariah" started its run with a merely okay $49,700 at four locations.

1. Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol -- $31.3 mil

2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows -- $22.1 mil

3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked -- $18.3 mil

4. War Horse -- $16.9 mil

5. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo -- $16.3 mil

See the full article at EW.com.

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Response: "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" has now cumulatively tallied $134.1 million. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," rose 9 percent for $22.1 million. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," jumped an incredible 45 percent for $18.3 million.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Blair, West Virginia (CNN) -- We're at the peak of Blair Mountain in the middle of southern West Virginia. It's about 85 degrees, the coolest it has been all week, and there's a slight breeze that carries voices before we can see the singers.

"This land is your land. This land is my land."

More than 600 dusty, sweaty people are singing as they hike through the hardwoods up the mountain. Their protest signs -- "Save Blair Mountain" and "Abolish Mountaintop Removal" -- poke through the leaves.

The song is a Woody Guthrie tune, the one that became a folk anthem of sorts in the 1960s, and it seems very appropriate for this moment.

"As I went walking that ribbon of highway, I saw above me that endless skyway," the marchers continue.

See a preview of "Battle for Blair Mountain: Working in America"

About 150 people in this group have been walking the twisting mountain highways through West Virginia's coal fields for six days. The 50-mile march is re-creating the 1921 March on Blair that led to a bloody battle between thousands of coal miners and coal company supporters. The fight eventually brought unions, along with respectable wages, to the coal mines of West Virginia.

But this time, the march isn't about unions. It's about saving a mountain. It has been organized to oppose "MTR," or mountaintop removal, a highly effective type of mining that involves blasting away slopes to get at the profitable coal seams underneath.

Coal companies own most of the land rights on Blair Mountain now, and they have fought national historic landmark status for the site, which would protect it from being destroyed.

"If you stand for preserving our cultural heritage instead of destroying it, you stand for Blair Mountain," Chuck Keeney said to his followers before he led marchers out of Marmet, West Virginia, last week.

Keeney is a history professor at the local community college, and the great grandson of Frank Keeney, one of the organizers of the original March on Blair.

Chuck believes in replacing mountaintop removal with more traditional underground mining, which he says will employ more people.

"If you stand for more jobs instead of fewer jobs, you stand for Blair Mountain," he says.

But this is coal country, where families and fortunes depend on coal jobs, and most people who live here believe the opposite of what Keeney says.

"Why don't they get a job, instead of taking ours," one young coal miner watching from his porch asks.

Ten miles from their destination, group organizers, and even miners opposed to the march, tell us that the protesters have now entered "the belly of the beast."

"Don't Support Coal?...Sit in the Dark!!" reads one of many homemade signs hung on fences and porches along the route.

Coal is used to generate about half of the electricity consumed in the United States, and West Virginia is the second largest producer of that coal. Wyoming is first.

"I don't want to ruin the entire West Virginia economy, which is based on the coal industry. That is not my goal," a young activist said during the march. "I just don't want to see coal mining that destroys rivers, drives away the biodiversity of such a beautiful place and also drives away other jobs that could be in place of coal mining."

She is surprised when told that her environmental stance against coal is interpreted by local miners as attempt to take away their jobs.

Bob Shultz is a union miner watching the march from his front porch. He lost his job when the coal company near his home was denied a mountaintop removal mining permit by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Mountaintop removal is what built this house, sends that little girl to school, provides insurance for my wife, bought two cars and that motorcycle I showed you in the garage. I'm not real impressed," he says as the marchers pass.

Joe Stanley is one of a handful of miners who have joined the protest. The retired miner believes more miners would be involved in this march if they weren't afraid.

"This is a tough situation here. This is the only game in town," he tells us. "That is why these people are yelling at us today, because they are brainwashed to think 'Oh, I can't have a job unless it's a mountaintop removal job.'"

"Welcome to Coal Country" says a sign greeting the marchers as they cross the Logan County line. Three generations of protesters gather at the entrance to a public lake where the marchers plan to camp that night.

What toddlers, parents and grandparents scream and shout at the protesters can only be described as hateful.

They seem almost oblivious to our cameraman. One mother utters in earshot, "I wonder if they hate us as much as we hate them?"

A toddler at her feet screams, "Go home, go home," as the long line of marchers file by silently.

We find Diann Kish, the wife of a retired miner, at the counter-protest. She has defended coal for more than a decade and feels strongly that coal has provided for her family and her community.

We have met with Kish before and visited a mountaintop removal site with her. She told us she doesn't cry when she sees a mountain being dismantled because she sees "a job in the making."

"It's been wonderful to talk to the opposition with no violence," Kish said along the marchers' route. "Peace -- it's all we want. From what I'm told, they're not allowed to say anything back. We just told them to go home or leave our state alone. That's what we want and that's from the heart."

The marchers arrive at their destination and host a large rally before climbing Blair Mountain. One of the speakers is Robert Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist and son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy.

Standing nearby, listening to Kennedy, is Billy Smutko. He remembers when Robert Kennedy's father came through Logan in 1960 campaigning for John F. Kennedy during the presidential election. Smutko is the son of a miner. His grandfather died in a Logan County mine. He lives on the same land where he grew up, just behind where Diann Kish lives now.

But his view of mountaintop removal is completely different from hers. He is touched when he hears Kennedy's speech, and tells us that it shows people beyond Logan County care about an issue so important to him.

"Having all these folks come in here gives me hope we can put an end to this type of mining and save our homelands," he said.

The new "March on Blair Mountain" ends in song and celebration at the top of the mountain. Organizers erect a homemade monument to commemorate the original battle for Blair and congratulate the crowd for their long journey.

In a final act of protest, about 100 marchers break off from the larger group as part of a planned act of civil disobedience. They climb over a gate that blocks a dirt road running along the ridge line. They attempt to walk out to the edge of a mountaintop removal site that has already encroached on the historic battlefield. State police officers pursue the protesters but only arrest one person for trespassing and littering on coal company property.

March organizer Chuck Keeney sums up the march as a success for raising awareness, but wants to do more to make sure there is no mountaintop mining of Blair.

"If you can't save this mountain," he said, "you can't save any mountain."

Response: Protesters marched to oppose mountain removal mining on West Virginia's Blair Mountain. Supporters say mountaintop removal creates jobs and energy. "The Battle for Blair Mountain" airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT Aug. 14.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- The bad economy and downturn in the housing market aren't the only painful things for Realtor Anne Stephens. Her knees, hips and ankles hurt from arthritis.

Anne Stephens, 61, was in her late 30s when she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

"I can't sit too long. I can't stand too long, and I can't walk too long," said Stephens, 61, from Conyers, Georgia.

Stephens is among the 27 million Americans who suffer from the most common form of arthritis called osteoarthritis.

"I think people tend to think of this as more of a nuisance," said Dr. John Klippel, president and CEO of the Arthritis Foundation. "They think of it as only aches and pains and not the serious problem that it actually is -- the leading cause of disability in this country."

Klippel said part of the misconception has to do with all the myths surrounding the disease.

Common myth 1: Arthritis is a disease of the elderly

While older people do develop arthritis, children and teenagers can get certain forms of the condition, Klippel said.

The Arthritis Foundation reports two-thirds of people with doctor-diagnosed arthritis are under age 65.  Watch more on arthritis fact and fiction »

Stephens was in her late 30s when she developed osteoarthritis after injuring her knees running and playing volleyball.

She felt a sharp pain and recalled, "It was downhill after that."

Researchers don't know the exact cause of arthritis, but they do know what puts people at risk.

Klippel said that while the disease is associated with aging, other risk factors include heredity, joint injury, obesity and lack of fitness.

Common myth 2: Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis

Despite what your grandmother told you, experts say cracking your knuckles is not a risk factor for arthritis.

"It's annoying -- it's certainly not good for the joints, but on the other hand, it doesn't cause arthritis," Klippel said.

Common myth 3: Predicting the weather

"Boy, there's a good myth," Klippel said with a chuckle. "I can't tell you how many patients I would take care of who would say they were better than the weatherman at predicting changes in humidity."

He said researchers have studied the claims, but concluded there is no scientific evidence to suggest arthritis flare-ups occur during bad weather.

Klippel also doesn't buy the argument that arthritis patients are better off if they live in a warmer climate.

"If you live in a warmer climate, you're simply more active for more months of the year and that's probably why people feel better," Klippel said. "It probably has very little to do with the weather itself."

Common myth 4: Exercise aggravates arthritis

Staying active actually is one of the most important ways to prevent and ease the pain of arthritis, Klippel said. It also helps with weight control.

"For people with arthritis, it hurts to exercise," he said. "But over time, the post-exercise pain actually diminishes if you push through it."

He recommended choosing joint-friendly exercises such as walking, biking or swimming.

In addition to putting ice on an aching joint, Klippel suggested taking nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory medication before or after exercising to help relieve the pain.

"People need to stay active and move their joints to keep the muscles strong and to keep the joints flexible," Klippel said.

Common myth 5: Nothing helps

Klippel worries about arthritis patients who don't seek medical help because they don't think anything can be done about the pain.

He said a proper diagnosis can lead to a host of possible treatments, including the latest prescription medicines for pain and rehabilitating aching joints through physical therapy.

Klippel urges people not to wait until the pain is unbearable before seeing a doctor.

"If aches and pains persist for more than four weeks, that's a time to pay attention," he said.

Anne Stephens followed that advice and she said it has made all the difference. She manages the inflammation and pain by taking prescription medication (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug). She also exercises at least three days a week; the workouts help her strengthen her muscles. And she sees her doctor several times a year.

"I've learned to adapt," she said. "I know what's going to hurt me and what doesn't."

Response: Osteoarthritis, the most common form of the disease, affects 27 million Americans. Arthritis is not a disease of the old: Two-thirds of those diagnosed are under 65. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs can help with pain, as can exercise.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:WASHINGTON (CNN)  -- The United States Mint launched a new coin Tuesday featuring jazz legend Duke Ellington, making him the first African-American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin.

The District of Columbia coin honoring Duke Ellington was introduced Tuesday in Washington.

Ellington, the composer of classics including "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" appears on the "tails" side of the new D.C. quarter. George Washington is on the "heads" side, as is usual with U.S. quarters.

The coin was issued to celebrate Ellington's birthplace, the District of Columbia.

U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy introduced the new coin at a news conference Tuesday at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Members of Ellington's family were present at the ceremony, and the jazz band of Duke Ellington High School performed.

Ellington won the honor by a vote of D.C. residents, beating out abolitionist Frederick Douglass and astronomer Benjamin Banneker.

Also on the coin is the phrase "Justice for all." The Mint rejected the first inscription choice of D.C. voters, which was "taxation without representation," in protest of the district's lack of voting representation in Congress.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington received 13 Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, among numerous other honors. His orchestra's theme song, "Take the A Train," is one of the best-known compositions in jazz.

Ellington was born in the district in 1899 and composed more than 3,000 songs, including "Satin Doll," "Perdido" and "Don't Get Around Much Any More." "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" helped usher in the swing era of jazz.

Ellington performed with other famous artists, including John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, and he traveled around the world with his orchestras.

He died in 1974 at the age of 75.

The first African-American to appear on a circulating coin was York, a slave who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their "Corps of Discovery" adventures across America at the dawn of the 19th century. The 2003 Missouri quarter features the three men together in a canoe on the obverse.

The U.S. Mint distinguishes between circulating coins, which are intended for daily use, and commemorative ones, which mark special occasions.

African-Americans including Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier, have appeared on commemorative coins. Educator Booker T. Washington, botanist George Washington Carver and the first Revolutionary War casualty, Crispus Attucks, all of whom were black, have also appeared on commemorative coins, according to the U.S. Mint.

Response: Duke Ellington featured on reverse of new quarter honoring District of Columbia. Coin introduced at Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. African-Americans have appeared on commemorative coins or as minor figures. Ellington was born in D.C. and composed several jazz standards.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- His name means "bright light" in Japanese, and at the tender age of 18 he's already shining on the global rugby stage.

Less than one year out of high school, Akira Ioane made an impressive debut at the HSBC Wellington Sevens last month as his native New Zealand romped to tournament victory.

The Auckland teenager's pace, power and try-scoring exploits have even drawn comparisons to All Blacks rugby legend Jonah Lomu, the rampaging winger who first appeared at the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens before going on to star at the World Cup in South Africa one year later.

But the softly spoken teenager -- who at 6 foot 4 inches and 227 pounds (103 kg) is not quite as hulking as the giant Lomu -- is eager to offer a Maori sidestep to what he sees as early career hyperbole after appearing at just two events on the international sevens circuit so far.

"Jonah has done great things for New Zealand and the All Blacks sevens and I don't really like being compared to him," Ione told CNN's Rugby Sevens Worldwide show.

"(Lomu) sort of took the world by storm. I'm just a normal 18-year-old boy making his way, nowhere near what he was when he was this age."

Despite the glowing reviews his early performances have garnered, Ioane feels he is still adjusting to life as a professional athlete.

He was turning out as a back-row forward for New Zealand's school select XV as recently as last year before proving his worth for the Auckland side at the New Zealand National Sevens and World Club Sevens.

New Zealand sevens coach Gordon Tietjens recently described Ioane as someone with "all the attributes and skill set of a fine rugby player," albeit on a sharp learning curve.

Accordingly, the transition from the 15-a-side game he excelled at in high school to the slicker, faster international sevens code has not been easy going -- not least nutritionally, with fast food now off the menu for Ioane thanks to Tietjens' strict regime.

"It's been hard coming from a 15s background, where you don't have to be as fit as you are in sevens. 'Tietj' has made me work hard," Ioane said.

"Back in high school I used to have pies every day, McDonald's whenever we were out, but now with the sevens it's a lot different. 'Tietj' is always watching what we eat, getting the right food into us so we can perform on training days and on game day."

This new focus on diet and conditioning seems to be paying early dividends.

Ioane's strong debut showing in Wellington was followed up with another solid performance at the Tokyo Sevens this past weekend (where New Zealand finished fourth behind England, South Africa and tournament winners Fiji) and he has been selected for this weekend's prestigious Hong Kong Sevens.

Turning out in the Japanese capital, however, was a special moment for Ioane, who spent much of his early childhood in the city.

His father Eddie was a professional rugby player there for six years in the late 1990s and Ioane revealed that's where his first name comes from.

"With dad playing in Japan, I sort of guess it felt right for him to give me and my brother Japanese names. My name means 'bright light,' I think, and my brother's name is Ricoh (after the club his father played for in Tokyo). So, two Japanese names and I guess it's special," he said.

Ioane's father also played internationally for Western Samoa at the 1991 Rugby World Cup, reaching the semifinal stage after a famous victory over Wales. His mother, meanwhile, represented New Zealand's international women's team.

This rich rugby heritage ensures that the young Akira has plenty of confidantes to turn to for advice if required -- but it hasn't stopped his parents from insisting he also prepares for a career outside the game as a fallback.

"They're proud but they also want me to have an education outside of rugby, balancing sport and study and just making sure that I don't fall behind in classes and things like that," said Ioane.

"You're only one injury away from career over and then what do you have to fall back on? So yeah, they're just making sure I have that and getting my priorities right as well as doing well in sevens."

With the Hong Kong event approaching this weekend, Ioane's focus is solely on rugby for the time being.

He hopes to build on what he has achieved so far and cement his place in Tietjens' plans for the remainder of the sevens season.

"I've enjoyed it, even though it's hard and I've struggled sometimes, it's what you have to do to be a professional rugby player," he said.

"If you've been picked for the team it shows that you obviously have potential."

See also: Land of the rising scrum

See also: Sevens vs. the NFL

Interactive: Sports ultimate world tour

Response: Akira Ioane made his debut for New Zealand rugby sevens last month. The 18-year-old has already been compared to Jonah Lomu. Ioane says he is still acclimatizing to life as a professional athlete.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- European champions Spain were drawn with 2004 semifinalists the Czech Republic as they begin the defense of their title this year in qualifiers for the 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

Vicente del Bosque's team were placed in one of three five-nation groups on Sunday, being the last out of the hat, with the other six pools featuring six teams.

The nine group winners qualify automatically along with the best runner-up and the two hosts, with the other eight second-placed sides facing playoffs in November 2011.

Spain and the Czechs, the 1996 runners-up, are in Group I along with Scotland, Lithuania and minnows Liechtenstein, with the first qualifiers to be held in September this year.

In the other five-nation pools, England are the top seed in Group G and will have to get past 2008 co-hosts Switzerland, the unpredictable but talented Bulgaria, Wales and Montenegro.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, quarterfinalists in 2008 and losing finalists at home in 2004, were drawn in Group H with 1992 champions Denmark, Norway, Cyprus and Iceland.

World champions Italy also face a testing time in six-nation Group C after being drawn with Serbia and Slovenia, who have both qualified for this year's World Cup finals and will be seeking to continue that progress.

Three-time champions Germany were drawn in Group A with Turkey, who they beat in the 2008 semifinals before losing to Spain. Neighbors and that year's co-hosts Austria are also in the same group along with Belgium, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Netherlands, ranked third in the world behind Spain and Brazil, should be confident of qualifying from Group E ahead of Sweden, with Finland, Hungary also battling for a runner-up spot ahead of minnows Moldova and San Marino.

Two-time champions France are again drawn with Romania, who failed to qualify from their 2010 World Cup pool but made it through to Euro 2008. Bosnia-Herzegovina, beaten by Portugal in the World Cup playoffs last year, were also drawn in Group D.

Russia failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa, but are joined in Group A by a team who did as pool winners, Slovakia, and the Republic Of Ireland -- who lost a controversial playoff to France made infamous by Thierry Henry's handball.

Draw for Euro 2012 qualifiers:

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan. Group B: Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra.   Group C: Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands. Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg. Group E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino. Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta. Group G: England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro. Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland. Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein.

Response: European champions Spain drawn in five-nation group for qualifiers for 2012 event. Vicente Del Bosque's team face Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein. The 2008 runners-up Germany drawn with Turkey, who they beat in that year's semifinals. World champions Italy drawn with fellow World Cup qualifiers Slovenia and Slovakia.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Whose side are you on?

A: I don't like hockey.

("I can't see the puck." "Too many fights." "I don't get the rules." "I can't name a player except that Wayne what's-his-name. Gatsby.")

Or:

B: I like hockey.

("A lot better in person than on TV." "Baseball's SO slow." "Basketball's all guys 8 feet tall." "I wouldn't watch soccer if you paid me.")

Me, I am B.

Hockey and I are old friends. I grew up in Chicago, right now the hottest town on ice. I also lived in Detroit, the self-named "Hockeytown, USA." I now reside in Los Angeles, current home of the game's Stanley Cup.

(That's the trophy that goes to the championship team, for those of you who wouldn't know a Stanley Cup from a sippy cup.)

The Chicago Blackhawks have been in the news. Why? Well, that's a good question. Because they win a lot? Uh, kind of. Because they don't lose? Er, technically, no. I will try to explain it if you've got a couple of minutes to kill.

(Which is also a hockey thing ... killing a couple of minutes while a guy's in a penalty box.)

Chicago's record is 21-0. That's how it looks in the National Hockey League's standings, at least. W 21, L 0.

Are the Blackhawks unbeaten? Um, no.

Bleacher Report: Top 25 all-time Chicago Blackhawks

It's a little complicated. A hockey game no longer can end in a tie. It uses an overtime period to break a tie. If that doesn't work, a "shootout" is held, similar to soccer's. One-on-one vs. a goaltender until someone wins.

As a reward for extending a game to overtime, a team is given a bonus point by the NHL. So, even if you lose a game in extra time -- as the Blackhawks have -- you didn't "lose."

Already knew that? Hey, you obviously know your hockey!

(Quick trivia question: A team in Ohio is called the Columbus Blue Jackets. True or false?)

If you are into pucks, you might be aware that the Blackhawks put together a pretty cool 30-game streak over a span of two seasons without being defeated in three 20-minute periods.

Chicago is aware. Chicago's on fire. The team is the talk of the town. Cubs, schmubs.

On national TV's sports news, the two smokin'-hot teams have been basketball's Miami Heat (beating almost everybody they play) and hockey's Blackhawks (kinda sorta technically not losing to anybody they play).

I suppose you have heard of Miami's basketball star. His name is LeBron James. He grew up in Ohio, where he never once wanted to grow up to be a Blue Jacket. But he did tweet that the Blackhawks are AWESOME.

I do not know if you know who Chicago's hockey stars are.

One of them is Jonathan Toews, which is pronounced "Taves," not toes, not tweeze. He went to the University of North Dakota, as most great athletes do. (OK, maybe not "most.")

Another one is Marian Hossa, which is pronounced "Ho Sa," not hoss sa, not hah sa. He is from Stara Lubovna, Slovakia, where everybody probably watches him on CNN with no clue who LeBron James is.

A definite one is Patrick Kane, as in Citizen. He was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, where a boy is so lucky because he can play ice hockey outdoors 10 to 11 months a year.

Bleacher Report: Why the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks will go down as one of the best teams ever

Together with some sharp teammates, not the least of whom is Patrick Sharp, these guys have got Chicago rocking and rolling. From the time tenor Jim Cornelison operatically belts out our national anthem (or Canada's) to the times they pump up the volume to "Chelsea Dagger" by the Fratellis to celebrate a Blackhawk goal, a home game at the United Center is usually loud, usually SRO and usually bigger than Bieber and Beyonce rolled into one.

If I exaggerate, sue me.

I checked with Jay Blunk to find out just how big things there are. Jay is the team's executive vice president

"We've been very fortunate to experience unprecedented television ratings," he told me Wednesday. "Merchandise sales have accelerated. The NHL announced that Jonathan Toews' jersey sales were the number one-selling jersey in the country for the month of February. We also just passed the 200 consecutive-game sellout mark. Tickets have become some of the hottest regular season tickets in history."

If he exaggerates -- and I doubt it -- don't sue me. I'm enjoying this too much.

You see, it wasn't so long ago my boyhood favorites the Blackhawks were skating on (insert "thin ice" cliche here). They looked as dead in the water as a cruise ship. A great organization had become disorganized. A popular team to watch had disappeared off the radar. A team born in 1926 had turned into the Walking Dead (on skates).

Chicagoans lost interest. They had Ditka's Da Bears, followed by Jordan's Da Bulls, followed by a 2003 Cubs team that could have won the World Series and a 2005 White Sox team that did.

I moved back there in 2003. The bad Blackhawk team of 2003-04 played in 74 games and won 20. ESPN the Magazine ranked it 119th of 120 franchises in all of sports, in terms of ownership, fan relations, players, coaching, intangibles such as "bang for your buck," ahead of only the Houston Texans, a new pro football team with zero dark history.

Home games weren't even shown on TV. On the nightly news, sportscasters gave time to highlights from games of the Chicago Wolves, a minor-league team, almost as much as they did the Blackhawks. Hey, if I liked minor-league hockey, I'd live in Rockford.

I seldom saw anybody in a Blackhawk jersey go out in public anymore, except maybe Mike Myers from "Wayne's World."

The 2004-05 season didn't happen. A union war broke out, and the NHL's whole season was wiped out. Chicago basically yawned. The Blackhawks hadn't won a Stanley Cup since 1961. That was their first since 1938.

Bleacher Report: How will history view this team?

I was a hockey guy. I wasn't just familiar with old-time hockey names such as Bobby Hull. I knew Kenny Wharram and Ab McDonald and "Moose" Vasko and Bill Hay. I thought of them as other Chicago sports fans might think of a Dick Butkus or an Ernie Banks.

So you can see, almost as exciting as winning 2010's Stanley Cup was, why the 2013 superstart of the Blackhawks is a sight to behold.

Los Angeles finally cracked the ice ceiling in 2012 with the Kings' first championship, which was a pleasure to watch. I have a daughter who recently asked whether I could get her hockey tickets. She didn't want One Direction or Lady Gaga. She wanted Kings versus Red Wings. I was so proud.

Hockey isn't for everybody.

It's just for us cool people.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mike Downey.

Response: The Chicago Blackhawks are on a winning streak. Mike Downey: Home games are "bigger than Bieber and Beyonce rolled into one". Downey remembers when local Chicago TV stations didn't even carry Blackhawks games. Before 2010, the Blackhawks hadn't won a Stanley Cup since 1961.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Gaze across the Riyadh skyline and one building immediately demands your attention.

Towering high above the city, with its distinctive inverted arch, is the 992 ft Kingdom Center -- owned by the richest man in Saudi Arabia, if not the Middle East.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud's wealth has been estimated at anywhere between just over $20 billion by Forbes and more than $30 billion by Bloomberg.

Whichever way you look at it, it's a lot of money -- could it be set to grow?

Inside His Majesty's striking skyscraper is the headquarters of Kingdom Holding, one of the largest investment companies on the country's stock exchange.

With plans to open up the market -- known locally as the Tadawul -- to foreign investors next year, this is the start of a brave new era for the phenomenally wealthy prince and Saudi businesses.

Media mogul

Alwaleed already has high-profile stakes in media groups News Corp, Time Warner (CNN's parent company), and Walt Disney.

Added to that, his $300 million stake in Twitter has quadrupled in value in just two years.

Fellow billionaire, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, may have been unsuccessful in his recent attempt to take over Time Warner. But Alwaleed believes it might not be the end of the story just yet.

"Combining both companies (News Corp and Time Warner) would have been a dream proposal because the amount of content the combined company would have had would have been tremendous," he said.

"Knowing Mr Murdoch I think the idea is still in his mind. But I think the time is not right now because the management of Time Warner against it, and the shareholders of Fox were also not for it."

Oil rich?

Saudi Arabia might be one of the world's largest oil exporters, but Alwaleed says now is the time for the kingdom to look beyond crude.

"It's a huge worry when the price of oil goes down," he said.

"I have always called on the Saudi government to reduce its dependence on oil, because as it stands today, 90% of our annual budget is dependent on oil. And 50% of our GDP is oil based."

Isis threat

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia held exercises with 135,000 troops. But at a time where Isis exerts its power across parts of the Middle East, the prince does not believe boots on the ground is the way forward for his country.

"I think Saudi Arabia will not be involved directly in fighting Isis in Iraq or Syria, because this does not really affect our country explicitly," he said.

"Each killing by Isis that takes place is unfortunate, but hopefully every time it happens the world will be more united in eradicating this disease that's infecting the whole Middle East."

Billion dollar question

While other billionaires might downplay their fortune, the prince filed a lawsuit against Forbes after he claims it underestimated his wealth.

"They've been undervaluing my wealth for 10 years and I didn't give attention to it," he said.

"But when they came and attacked Saudi Arabia, and Kingdom Holding, and myself, that's when I didn't accept that and that's when we filed a lawsuit in the UK courts."

One thing's for sure, this is a businessman willing to put his money where his mouth is.

Insight: Inside the world's newest super mall

Watch: Property hotspots in the Middle East

Response: Meet Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, richest man in Middle East. From next year, Saudi stock exchange will open to foreign investors. HRH says country must not rely so heavily on oil exports. Calls Isis a "diseases infecting the Middle East".


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Even bundled up in a purple jacket and light blue turtleneck sweater, warming herself in a thick canvas emergency tent heated by a stove, the young Ukrainian woman feels the bitter chill.

"It is very cold," she said. "The frost is very strong. It's very slippery out there."

But she is one of the lucky ones, taking refuge from the brutal winter pummeling eastern Europe in a temporary shelter put up by the Ukrainian government.

"Here it's warm and there's food and drink," she said.

"It's very important, especially for people like us in this unfortunate situation," said another man taking refuge in the shelter.

At least 250 people have died across the region during the cold snap, with 135 of them in Ukraine.

Authorities there have set up an emergency hospital to deal with people suffering from cold-related conditions, and distributed 3,000 emergency relief tents across the country, they said. The tents are heated, and people with nowhere else to go can get hot food and drinks.

Kiev has more than 14,000 homeless people, authorities said. They are among the most vulnerable to winter.

About 2,000 people have been hospitalized because of the cold since January 27, officials said.

Electricity consumption in the country is at historic highs, Ukrainian energy minister Yuri Boyko said.

In Bosnia, two men on snowmobiles finally reached the isolated village of Zijemlja, according to state news agency FENA. It had been cut off for five days. Residents in some parts of the country were warned of the potential for avalanches.

There was some good news, according to FENA. Inhabitants of the Sarajevo Zoo were in winter quarters and had sufficient food.

More than 50 people, most of them homeless, have died in Poland in the past several weeks, according to Polish TVN.  At least 64 people have died because of the cold in Russia, the government said.

Snow has also fallen as far west as Spain and snarled traffic in Brussels, Belgium.  Snowfall in Europe's southeast, close to the Mediterranean Sea, is cutting off roads and isolating areas from access to supplies.

Southeastern Europe will see more heavy snow in contrast to the northeast, which is predicted to shiver under temperatures much lower than its winter averages, meteorologists said.

Cold air arriving from Siberia has been hitting maritime moisture from the Mediterranean Sea, turning it into frozen precipitation. This will continue, and Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia are expected to receive new layers of snow.

The bitter cold temperatures in the northeast have been deadlier than the snow farther south, with many people dying from hypothermia.

Is the cold snap affecting you?

In Romania, where at least 39 people have died because of the cold snap, all "national roads," or two-lane highways, in seven counties in the country's south and east were completely blocked, state news agency Agerpres reported Monday. Traffic was in chaos in the capital Bucharest and possible blizzards have been forecast for half the country in the coming days.

In Italy, a Milan court delayed the trial of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on charges of bribery Monday because of cold temperatures in the courtroom, according to the Italian ANSA news agency. It was moved to warmer chambers, which had often been the scene of another case involving Berlusconi, when he had been accused of paying for sex with a minor -- a Moroccan girl known as "Ruby."

The severe cold is forecast to continue all week, meteorologists said.

Response: Snowmobiles finally able to reach Bosnian village. At least 250 people have died across Europe due to the cold weather. More snow is forecast to blanket the southeast, where many roads are already closed. Temperatures thoughout Europe are significantly lower than average for winter.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- My grandfather Jacques Cousteau and my father Philippe dedicated their lives to revealing the ocean's wonders and helping us understand our connection to this vast expanse of water. Their work inspired generations and filled people with awe.

Times have changed and so have circumstances and perceptions about the ocean. In recent years, the focus has been on the very serious challenges the ocean faces and the impact these challenges are already having on our daily lives.

The effects of climate change, pollution and overfishing should be making headlines because the ocean and all of us -- and I literally mean all humankind -- who depend on its resources are facing the very real prospect of the catastrophic collapse of ocean ecosystems if we continue on our current course.

Watch: Going Green: Oceans on Friday March 29 at 15:30 GMT

Despite the challenges our ocean faces, I believe it's time to recapture the sense of wonder and inspiration my grandfather and father felt when they gazed on its surface. In fact, the ocean can and should be a source of hope and solutions for a brighter future.

Before you accuse of me of eschewing cold hard reality for a world view through rose-colored glasses, hear me out. What I'm proposing is that we step back and look at the potential a healthy ocean has to provide us with a prosperous and sustainable future.

Just take a moment to think about what the ocean does for us on a daily basis: it produces half of the world's oxygen; it provides more than one billion people with their primary source of protein; its natural eco-systems like coral reefs, mangroves and wetlands provide protection against coastal erosion and natural disasters such as tsunamis; it regulates our climate; and a healthy ocean fuels sustainable businesses and a strong economy in industries such as seafood, tourism, pharmaceuticals and shipping.

Read/Watch: 'The most imaginative person I've ever met'

That's really only the beginning. Check out Ocean Conservancy's "Why the Ocean Matters" feature if you want to be truly amazed. My point is the answers to many of our greatest environmental and social challenges literally surrounds us.

For the ocean to continue to do what's it's done for millions of years and serve the needs of a rapidly expanding human population, it needs to be healthy. Biodiversity, coral reefs, wetlands and trash-free seas aren't just terms on a page they are environmental imperatives that dictate the future of the planet.

We have the know-how and resources to conserve and restore the aquatic and marine systems that keep the ocean and us healthy. As my grandfather once said, "The technology that we use to abuse the planet is the same technology that can help us to heal it."

Big technology like renewable energy, carbon sequestration and advances in aquaculture certainly have a major role in restoring the ocean and the planet to a healthy balance, but in many cases it's a matter of giving nature the space and time to do what it needs to do with a helping hand from all of us.

Regulations that help replenish and protect fish stocks, restoration and conservation projects to protect and nurture natural barriers like reefs and wetlands, and reforestation efforts are all things that can have a huge impact on ocean health with no rocket science necessary.

Take fisheries for example, with two billion people joining us on this planet over the next 40 years, there will be a huge need for more sources of protein. If these needed protein sources were to come primarily from livestock there is the very real potential for catastrophic pollution of water and land, not to mention the exponential increase in carbon emissions.

But, by some estimates, simply managing fisheries better could feed up to one billion of those people and remember, seafood is 7-10 times more efficient as a source of protein than land-based meat sources ... if managed properly.

If you are thinking this all sounds like the future of the ocean is in the hands of policymakers and big industry, please think again. Every hour of every day each of us have the opportunity to make choices with impact, from what we eat and the things we buy to the examples we set for our children and friends.

The good news is technology and future-focused groups are providing us with some great tools and resources to get inspired and make smart decisions. For example: the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch pocket guide and Ocean Conservancy's Rippl app or EarthEcho's Water Planet Challenge.

We can make sure the ocean continues to provide inspiration, wonder and solutions for generations, however, it all comes down to personal and collective will. Ask yourself this question: When you look upon the ocean 10 years from now, do you want to see a sad reminder of what could have been; or do you want to be filled with awe and inspired by a sense of endless possibilities?

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of Philippe Cousteau

Response: It's time to recapture our sense of wonder about the oceans, says Philippe Cousteau. Environmental advocate asks people to think hard about all the services it provides humankind. Having a healthy ocean is an "environmental imperative" that will "dictate future of planet". Measures to protect fish stocks and eco-systems can have huge impact on ocean health.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:New York (CNN) -- Beachgoers are being warned to stay out of the water this weekend at four popular beaches around New York City after raw sewage from a Manhattan plant spilled into the Hudson River, authorities said.

Health advisories also have been issued for portions of the Hudson River, the East River, the Harlem River and the Kill Van Kull, cautioning people against participating in water-related activities such as canoeing, kayaking and swimming, according to the New York City Department of Health.

The sewage spill began Wednesday after a fire began in the engine room of the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to a press release Friday from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The sewage spill was stopped Friday night, and two of the engines damaged by the fire have been brought back online, the department said.

The health advisories were issued for South Beach, Midland Beach and Cedar Grove Beach on Staten Island, and Sea Gate in Brooklyn, according to the release.

The beaches are not closed, but the New York City Department of Health recommends that people not swim or enter the water at those locations. They also recommend that young and elderly people, as well as anyone suffering from a medical condition, not go near the water at those beaches.

The advisories were expected to be in place until Monday. That would encompass one of this summer's hottest weekends, with the National Weather Service forecasting high temperatures Saturday of 99 degrees Fahreinheit and in the high 80s Sunday.

Additionally, authorities were testing the waters in the harbor and at other aquatic locales that could potentially be affected by the sewage leak, the press release said.

The plant is responsible for treating 120 million gallons of wastewater a day on Manhattan's west side.

CNN's Jordana Ossad and Laura Batchelor contributed to this report.

Response: A sewage spill at a Manhattan wastewater plant has been brought under control. The spill occurred after a fire at the plant. Beachgoers are urged to avoid three beaches on Staten Island and one in Brooklyn. Authorities are warning against swimming and kayaking in the Hudson and East rivers.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- The Hole in the Wall experiments, known as HiW, were first implemented in 1999, when a computer with an internet connection was embedded into a wall for children to discover and use unsupervised.

The wall adjoined a slum in India. Only a month later, it was evident that the children had taught themselves to use the computer and also picked up some skills in English and mathematics. This kind of design was then set up in more and more remote areas across the nation with almost identical results. These were computers embedded in walls or kiosks in easily accessible and highly visible public spaces, facilitating peer interaction, discovery and learning in groups of children.

We concluded that groups of children from disadvantaged and remote settings can learn to use computers and access internet resources, on their own, if given appropriate free, public and unsupervised access.

Watch an interview with Sugata Mitra

These earliest experiences also showed that children could develop some skills in English and mathematics. What came through unequivocally in this and further work on self-organizing systems in education was that groups of children -- irrespective of who or where they are, or what language they speak -- given free and public access to computers and the internet can:

1. Become computer-literate on their own -- that is, they can learn to use computers and the internet for most of the tasks done by lay users.

2. Teach themselves enough English to use e-mail, chat and search engines.

3. Learn in a few months to search the internet for answers to questions.

4. Improve their English pronunciation on their own.

5. Improve their mathematics and science scores in school.

6. Be prepared to pass examinations several years ahead of grade level.

7. Change their social interaction skills and value systems.

8. Form independent opinions and detect indoctrination.

We then went on to show that the quality of traditional schooling declines the farther schools are from the urban center of New Delhi. A similar decline is visible in the UK as one goes to more economically disadvantaged areas. This has been attributed to the lack of teachers willing to work in these areas.

TED.com: Bill Gates on mosquitoes, malaria and education

Two landmark events took this work further. The first was a comment by the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke to me: "Teachers that can be replaced by a machine should be".

The second was an experiment in a Tsunami-hit Indian village, where I was trying to prove that Tamil-speaking 12-year-olds cannot teach themselves biotechnology in English.

At the end of the experiment, a little girl told me, "Apart from the fact that improper replication of the DNA molecule causes genetic disease, we have understood nothing else."

Finally, we found that the presence of a friendly, but not knowledgeable, mediator can enable children to reach levels of learning similar to formal schools with trained teachers.

TED.com: Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

We went on to set up a "cloud" of "eMediators," mostly retired schoolteachers with broadband access from their homes. Schools can access this "cloud" over Skype and children can interact with the mediators over free videoconferencing.

Interestingly, in the hands of good teachers, these methods can be powerful motivators for children, resulting in better performance. What started out as a solution for remote areas turned out to have universal applicability.

Both HiW and the work done later are based on the concept of Minimally Invasive Education, a pedagogic method that motivates groups of children to learn in an environment with little or no intervention from teachers or other adults, and that formed the basis of the design of the 'HiW' computers.

It is now possible to formulate a new approach to learning, using these findings.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sugata Mitra.

Response: Sugata Mitra: Experiments show students can teach themselves with computers. He says students showed remarkable progress by working in teams. Adult mediators can help further this kind of learning even without formal teacher training, he says.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN)  -- Two goals in three minutes from Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan put the United States into the final of the Women's World Cup with a 3-1 victory over France Wednesday.

The teams were tied at 1-1 until Wambach powered home a 79th minute header before young substitute Morgan sealed the victory with a cool finish.

The United States will play Japan, who beat Sweden 3-1 in the second semifinal in Frankfurt to continue their superb run in the competition.

Lauren Cheney had put the U.S. ahead in the Borussia-Park stadium in Moenchengladbach as early as the ninth minute.

But France, who had beaten England on penalties in a dramatic quarterfinal, responded by dominating possession.

Their deserved equalizer came in the 55th minute when Sonia Bompastor's dangerous ball into the penalty area eluded U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo without getting a further touch.

At this point, France looked the more likely winners, but United States coach Pia Sundhage quickly introduced Morgan and Megan Rapinoe from the bench to change the course of the game.

SI.com: 3 keys to the match

Prolific striker Wambach put them ahead with a thumping header from a Cheney corner which left French goalkeeper Berangere Sapowicz with no chance.

The excellent Rapinoe then played in Morgan with a neat pass and she chipped Sapowicz to wrap up the victory.

But Sundhage ackowledged they had been thoroughly tested by a French side who played with considerable flair.

"I think France played very well. We lost our legs in the second half but then we picked it up," she told Eurosport.

The reigning Olympic champions are bidding for a record third World Cup title after winning in 1991 and 1999 before hosts Germany claimed the crown in 2003 and 2007.

Japan caused the upset of the tournament by stunning the Germans 1-0 in the quarterfinals and they showed their qualities again with a later impressive win over Sweden to make a World Cup final for the first time in their history.

Sweden made a fast start as striker Josefine Oqvist thumped the opener past Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori on 10 minutes.

But Japan striker Nahomi Kawasumi equalized with a fine individual goal nine minutes later and put them ahead after the break.

Captain Homare Sawa wrapped up the Japan win with her fourth goal in five games as her side beat top European opposition for the second straight game.

They will return to Frankfurt for Sunday's final against the United States.

Response: United States into final of Women's World Cup in Germany. U.S. beat France 3-1 in semifinal in Moenchengladbach. Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan score goals to break out of 1-1 tie. NEW: U.S. will play Japan who beat  Sweden 3-1 in second semifinal in Frankfurt.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is considered a rising GOP star and the Republican Party's leader on fiscal and budgetary issues.

The chairman of the House Budget Committee was first elected to Congress at age 28, and later helped launch the party's "Young Guns" program to recruit candidates in districts where Republicans lost.

Now 42, Ryan is the architect of the House GOP's budget proposal, which Democrats compared to an attack on the poor, but Republicans say is intended to save Medicare and rein in spending.

The chairman of the House Budget Committee was announced as the running mate for presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

"It's [Romney's] decision months from now, not mine. So why spend my time thinking about it? If this bridge ever comes that I should cross it, then I'll think about it then. It's not the time to think about it," he told The Wall Street Journal in April.

Romney announces Ryan as running mate

A native of Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan earned a degree in political science and economics from Miami University in Ohio in 1992. He was raised as a Catholic, and worked at a family construction company before getting into politics. He's known to be an avid hunter and a fitness fanatic.

In the House, Ryan is also a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee.

He has frequently pushed the Republicans' "class warfare" line against President Barack Obama and is a major critic of his signature health reform law.

"If you give us more elected representatives to fix this problem, we will fix this problem in 2013," Ryan said in an interview with CNBC.

Because he hails from Wisconsin, an important battleground, Ryan's youthfulness could appeal to a group with whom the president enjoys advantages.

Ryan is considered a lightning rod, and his presence on the GOP ticket will fundamentally change the 2012 race.

Where does Romney stand on the Ryan plan?

"It would be a bold choice," CNN senior analyst David Gergen said earlier of a Romney-Ryan ticket. "It would be a risky choice."

But there are upsides.

Ryan will likely energize a GOP base often suspicious of Romney, and add youthful vigor to the race with his energetic debates and campaign methods.

Close friends such as former House colleague Mark Green are adamant Ryan would help across the Midwest.

Ryan's college years

"I think he does get Wisconsin," Green said. "But I think more importantly he gets that sort of blue-collar conservatism that I think is at the heart of the Republican Party."

For months, Romney has tried to frame the race as a referendum on the first Obama term, specifically the president's economic record.

Adding Ryan to the ticket would mean no escaping an onslaught of Democratic criticism that the Republican ticket would "end Medicare as we know it" as Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is fond of saying.

Paul Ryan, by the numbers

One ad, by nonprofit political organization Agenda Project, critical of the Ryan budget showed a man pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair off a cliff, and ended with the tagline: "Is America beautiful without Medicare? Ask Paul Ryan and his friends in Congress."

Ryan calls the attacks demagoguery and says Obama has failed to put forward serious proposals to reform costly entitlement programs.

This is the "bold" debate conservatives pushing Ryan want, but other Republicans worry it could steer the campaign focus away from the president and onto GOP proposals.

Other potential downsides include Ryan is a House member popular in what was once considered a competitive swing district, but he has never run statewide. He also has no foreign policy experience.

Interactive timeline

In light of the Sarah Palin 2008 pick, some will question whether the House member is ready to be commander-in-chief.

"He is without question one of the stars of the Republican future over the next 10 to 20 years," Gergen said. "Whether he is ready at this moment, only the campaign trail could tell. And he's going to get, I'll tell you, he is going to take a real beating."

Ryan is also a policy wonk, a self-described nerd who cut his teeth working for conservatives Bill Bennett and Jack Kemp. Friends say it would be a mistake to underestimate his ambition, or his competitive streak.

How do you feel about Romney picking Ryan as his running mate? Let us know on CNN iReport.

CNN's Phil Gast and John King contributed to this report.

Response: Ryan, 42, is considered the party's leader on fiscal and budgetary issues. In the past, Ryan has deferred talk of being Mitt Romney's running mate. He is Romney's pick for VP.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- North Korea threatened to conduct a nuclear test and more ballistic missile tests if the U.N. Security Council doesn't withdraw its condemnation of Pyongyang's rocket launch earlier this month, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.

A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency showing the recent rocket launch.

The U.N. Security Council "should promptly make an apology for having infringed the sovereignty of [North Korea] and withdraw all its unreasonable and discriminative 'resolutions' and decisions adopted against [North Korea]," a spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The measures will include nuclear tests and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles," the unidentified spokesman said.

The statement also said Pyongyang will start building a light-water nuclear power plant and begin production of nuclear fuel.

The Security Council condemned the April 5 rocket launch as a violation of a 2006 resolution that bans North Korea's ballistic missile activity.

North Korea, angered by the Security Council's unanimous vote, has threatened to walk away from the six-party talks aimed at disarming the country of nuclear weapons. It has said it will restore its disabled nuclear reactor.

The six-party talks -- involving China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- have been aimed at persuading North Korea to scrap its nuclear program.

North Korea has begun reprocessing fuel rods, its Foreign Ministry said Saturday, according to state-run media.

"The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant began as declared in the Foreign Ministry statement dated April 14," a ministry spokesman said.

"This will contribute to bolstering the nuclear deterrence for self-defense in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from the hostile forces."

Response: N. Korea angered by U.N. condemnation of recent rocket launch. North Korea begins reprocessing nuclear fuel rods, state media reports. Process will bolster country's nuclear deterrence, foreign ministry says. Has also threatened to walk away from the six-party nuclear talks.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Washington (CNN) -- Whatever you think of his politics, House Speaker John Boehner has a great sense of humor. So perhaps he won't mind the question framed this way: What happened, in the course of just one week, to make Speaker Boehner the Miss Emily Litella of immigration reform?

(If I have lost you already, take a moment and search the Web to understand the reference -- you won't regret it.)

"Never mind," was the trademark closing line of a character the late Gilda Radner made famous as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live." And "never mind," is what Speaker Boehner might just as well have said Thursday when he all but declared the immigration reform legislative debate dead for 2014.

"Listen, there's widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws," Boehner told reporters, suggesting White House executive actions to change provisions of the health care law had many conservatives worried the administration wouldn't feel bound by any immigration legislation passed by Congress.

Citing that trust deficit, the Speaker added: "It's going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes."

There is without a doubt deep mistrust of the Obama White House in the Republican congressional ranks.

But is that mistrust any greater than just a week ago? Of course not, and it was just a week ago that the same Speaker Boehner said this of the same immigration debate:

"This problem has been around for at least the last 15 years, it's been turned into a political football. I think it's unfair, so I think it's time to deal with it."

To be fair, the Speaker a week ago was candid about the disagreements and skepticism within the Republican ranks -- and among Republican base voters critical to 2014 midterm success.

"That's why," he said a week ago, "doing immigration reform in a common sense, step by step manner helps our members understand the bite size pieces and helps our constituents build more confidence that what we're doing makes sense."

But to that point, again just a week ago, the word from House GOP leadership aides was that Boehner wanted to try to see if the House could act this year.

And President Obama tried to create some space for compromise, angering some liberals by telling CNN's Jake Tapper he would not prejudge the final product -- opening the door to accepting a measure that provided legal status, but not a fast track, to citizenship for the estimated 11Â½ million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Now, it appears testing that spirit of compromise will have to wait until 2015 or beyond.

What changed in a week?

Nothing, say key Boehner lieutenants. They insist people, primarily immigration activists and the media, read too much into what the Speaker said a week ago.

"Nothing 'happened' per se," a top Boehner aide said in an e-mail exchange. "We just got started and getting started requires taking a sober view at the challenges that we face. All he did today was outline the challenges we need to overcome."

Those challenges -- the trust deficit as outlined by the Speaker -- are most unlikely to be overcome in a heated election year.

Veteran GOP strategist Alex Castellanos, who for years has been urging the GOP to act on immigration, said the politics behind Boehner's shift were easy to understand.

"Nothing the House would do would ever become law," Castellanos said -- meaning that even if the House passed something, it was unlikely that differences with the Senate could be worked out this year.

So a House debate now, Castellanos said, "would divide Republicans and become a political weapon Democrats could use against Republicans in 2014."

There is no doubt a vocal slice of the House GOP conference was against acting on immigration this year -- arguing their biggest priority is turning out conservative base voters, many of whom view even legal status as amnesty.

And on the Senate side, GOP leader Mitch McConnell had already served notice he had little appetite for revisiting the issue in that chamber before the election.

Not only does McConnell face a tea party primary challenge but, as we illustrated last Sunday on "Inside Politics," most GOP strategists see action on immigration this year -- whatever the long-term good it might do Republicans -- as potentially harmful to GOP prospects this year.

The raw politics behind that view: In the 11 states where Senate seats now held by Democrats that are top GOP 2014 targets, conservative turnout is critical and the Latino population tiny to small. (West Virginia is lowest with just a 1% Latino population; North Carolina is the highest at 9%.)

"McConnell saying it wasn't going to get done -- burst the balloon," said GOP strategist Ana Navarro, another voice who consistently stresses the urgency of acting on the immigration issue, yet sees the short-term political rationale of waiting.

So does Castellanos, again despite his longer-term worries about the GOP and the Latino vote.

"Right now, the spotlight is center stage on the Democrats, the President and Obamacare," said Castellanos. "And the GOP wants to do nothing to distract from that, certainly not start a food fight on immigration."

Response: A week ago, House Speaker Boehner said he wanted to try to act on immigration. On Thursday, Boehner said it wouldn't happen this year. Trust gap between Republicans and White House won't close in election year. Immigration debate between House Republicans would give Democrats a weapon.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The Atlanta Falcons have "relinquished their contractual rights" to Michael Vick, one of the highest-paid players in professional sports before his conviction on dogfighting charges, the Falcons manager said Friday.

Michael Vick will be confined to this Hampton, Virginia, house for the rest of his sentence.

In a statement posted on the football team's Web site, General Manager Thomas Dimitroff said, "Michael remains suspended by the NFL [National Football League]. However, in the event NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would be at another club.

"Our entire organization sincerely hopes that Michael will continue to focus his efforts on making positive changes in his life, and we wish him well in that regard," Dimitroff said.

The quarterback was drafted by the Falcons in 2001, and played six seasons with the team.

Vick, who will turn 29 on June 26, pleaded guilty in August 2007 to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia. He was freed from the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, on May 20, and returned to his home in Hampton, Virginia, the following day.

He will serve the last two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement, his publicist, Judy Smith, said after his release.

Vick could have returned to professional football as soon as September if reinstated by the NFL, said the sports agent who negotiated Vick's 10-year, $140 million contract with the Falcons.

Now, however, he has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A federal bankruptcy judge recently denied a plan presented by Vick and urged him to offer another plan to handle his debts.

The original plan called for Vick to come up with $750,000 to $1 million in cash to be paid to creditors, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro said, but he said he saw no evidence Vick could come up with that much.

Santoro suggested Vick's next plan not call for him to keep two houses and three cars, as did the rejected proposal.

Vick, who acknowledged failing to handle his money well, told the judge he was earning 12 cents an hour as an overnight janitor in prison.

He has offered to work with the Humane Society of the United States on anti-dogfighting campaigns, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle has told CNN. He was to work on programs aimed at preventing youths from getting involved in dogfighting, and on programs to assist young people who have already been involved in the blood sport.

In testimony before the bankruptcy judge, Vick acknowledged committing a "heinous" act and said he should have acted more maturely.

Response: Manager: Team has relinquished contractual rights to suspended pro football player. If Vick is reinstated, best NFL opportunity would be "at another club," manager says. Vick pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation. He will serve last two months of 23-month term in home confinement, publicist says.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- As the stock market opened Friday with a ring of the bell by Mark Zuckerberg, all eyes were on Facebook -- the social media Megalodon he nursed from a dorm-room project to one of Wall Street's hottest prospects ever.

Facebook, or "FB" as it's now known to investors, may have made amateur analysts on the Web go wild. But on the Nasdaq, it was a less exciting ride -- ending the day at a price pretty much exactly where it began.

Friends may be priceless. But 'friending' both started and ended the day at just over $38 a share.

Facebook's was the biggest opening ever for a tech company and the third-largest IPO in U.S. history, behind only Visa and General Motors.

On the Web, reactions ran the gamut from deliriously hopeful to harshly negative for the social-media giant's Wall Street potential.

"A $104 billion market capitalization puts Facebook at more than 100 times its trailing earnings," wrote John Constine and Kim-Mai Cutler for technology blog TechCrunch. "That's a big multiple to live up to, and it will likely need to add bold new revenue streams to justify the mammoth valuation."

And it wasn't just the pros weighing in. In fact, it seemed like everyone on the Internet had an opinion.

Business Insider posted a poll (obviously not scientific) asking readers where they thought the $38 stock would be by the end of the day Friday.

Early Friday, a pessimistic 15% said under $35. But the biggest cluster of respondents had guessed somewhere between $40 and 55. (15% said $40 to 45, another 13% said $45 to 50 and, yes, yet another 12% said $50-55).

A hopeful 10% predicted the stock would skyrocket at otherworldly levels, winding up over $90 a share.

Facebook's new billionaires

Results were similar on another site that sprung up, Facebook IPO Day Closing Price. Its graph showed the biggest number of predictions clustering around what ultimately would be an overly optimistic $50 mark.

On rival network Twitter, many observers seemed to be rooting against Facebook and its early investors, finding a measure of glee in the fact that the price didn't skyrocket as some had predicted.

"Facebook stock has already started to tank," wrote user Jen Misty (yes, with a healthy dose of hyperbole). "In my best Nelson voice from Simpsons -- "HA! HA!"

There was this swipe at youthful startup culture from tweeter Ross Heart: "Harder? Keeping $FB over 38 or trying to get hired at Facebook being over 38?"

And then there was this sports metaphor, which referenced a certain polarizing NBA star.

"Rooting against Facebook stock price > [is greater than] rooting against LeBron," wrote a user named Jay Kang.

More sober-minded watchers, however, noted that on Wall Street, when an opening stock sticks close to where it started, it means it was probably priced correctly to begin with.

"Few hours into trading and Facebook's stocks maintain a $40 value," wrote Giuseppe D'Antonio. "No drop, no frenzy behaviour, no wild fluctuations. Serious matter!"

While opinions in the business and tech communities have differed on whether the massive social network is a good investment, analysts have largely been bullish on the stock. There's been heavy demand, leading Facebook on Wednesday to announce it will sell about 25% more shares than it had originally planned, bringing its total to 421 million shares.

At CNN content partner Mashable, a blog that got its start focusing exclusively on social media and saw its popularity rise as Facebook's did, the staff geared up by creating an IPO-inspired playlist on music site Spotify (which, perhaps not coincidentally, is accessible only through a Facebook account).

Making the list? "Mo Money, Mo Problems," by The Notorious B.I.G., "Rich" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs," "Money (That's What I Want) by Barrett Strong and "If I Had $1,000,000" by Barenaked Ladies, among others.

CNNMoney and CNN's Brandon Griggs contributed to this report.

Response: NEW: Facebook stock closed nearly where it opened Friday. NEW: On rival Twitter, some smirked at lack of a price jump. Online, almost every financial or tech expert has an opinion. Facebook on Thursday afternoon set its initial share price at $38.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Sandiaga Uno is without doubt one of Indonesia's richest men.

With an estimated personal wealth of $400 million dollars and assets valued in the billions, the 41-year-old's climb to the top is an inspiration to many budding entrepreneurs.

Yet this father of two, from humble beginnings is not interested in promoting his own story but rather that of his country and its enormous potential.

Dressed in a green batik shirt, a patriotic gesture to the rich cultural heritage of Indonesia, the businessman knows how lucky he is. From his high-rise office building in downtown Jakarta, Uno speaks of the sacrifices his parents made to send him to university in the United States. It was there he discovered an interest in business that led him to a job in Canada.

But his dream of working overseas came to an abrupt end when the company he was working for collapsed, putting Uno out of a job. He was forced to return home, but the timing couldn't have been worse with Asia in economic meltdown from the 1997 financial crisis.

Struggling to provide for his family, Uno decided against the odds to set up his own business and with four staff in a tiny office, Saratoga Capital was born.

Twelve years later it is one of Indonesia's largest investment firms employing more than 20,000 people.

Uno believes failure is just as important as success and while he admits there were plenty of hard knocks he was confident his gamble would pay off in the long term.

"I knew when Asia came out of the crisis energy would be in high demand. So we started getting serious looking at those opportunities," he said.

And now it is energy that is his primary focus; investing in coal, oil, gas, toll roads, plantations and shipping ports.

Indonesia is going through an enormous economic boom thanks partly to its valuable natural resources. Indonesia's stock market is outperforming its neighbors and the region. Growth is expected to reach 6 percent this year and an emerging middle class is fueling domestic demand.

Despite all this success, Uno believes the country's wealth is not being evenly distributed. Around 40 million of the country's 242 million people still live below the poverty line and Uno describes this as a recipe for disaster.

"Basically if we are not careful the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer and the gap will be the next embryo of the next unrest. So we as businessmen need to make sure the wealth is spread more equally," he said.

Uno is extremely passionate about the future of Indonesia and while he will talk up the country as the next place to invest along side China and India, he's acutely aware and critical of its pitfalls.

He says corruption is the number one problem holding his country back, a view shared by many in the international community. He says to have sustainable growth Indonesia must be attractive to foreign investors.

"I think the government is on the right track in stamping out corruption; it's moving in the right direction. But the speed and pace is not satisfactory, I think people want to see more," he said.

Another major problem is infrastructure and for Uno this has become his "personal crusade". He says anyone who visits the nation's capital Jakarta is greeted by a dilapidated international airport followed by gridlocked roads. His companies have $20 billion to invest in infrastructure projects.

"The money is there, we just need the government to sort out the land acquisition problem among other things which will require changes in the law and then we can start building the infrastructure Indonesia so desperately needs," he said.

Earlier this year, Uno was invited by U.S. President Barak Obama to attend an Entrepreneur's Summit in Washington DC. He describes how impressed he was with the U.S. President who spoke to him in Bahasa and believes the leader of the free world knows just how important Indonesia has become.

Uno says his wealth brings power -- he regularly has the ear of his president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- but insists it's not about money or the people you brush shoulders with. His motivation to succeed is much greater than that.

"I see all these paradoxical situations. Indonesia has the 18th largest economy but we're ranked 122 in the world for ease of doing business. It doesn't gel and it really ticks me off. We should do better," he said.

"We are so rich in resources but we can't even produce. For example we produce coca but don't have chocolate factories. We produce crude palm oil but we don't have perfume or soap industries. So we're just exporting our raw materials without being able to process it. I think in the next four to five years Indonesia must be able to generate that expertise."

Response: Sandiaga Uno is one of Indonesia's wealthiest businessmen. His company Saratoga Capital employs over 20,000 people. Uno believes Indonesia has huge potential for growth. Poverty gap and corruption threaten the country's development, Uno says.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- When Barack Obama is sworn in as president January 20, there will be music -- by, among others, Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and the U.S. Marine Band. There will be prayers and speeches -- including Obama's inaugural address. And for the fourth time in the nation's 56 inauguration ceremonies, there will be poetry -- by someone far less well-known.

Elizabeth Alexander says poetry can help solve problems by looking at them from a fresh angle.

After the president's speech, Elizabeth Alexander will read a poem she is writing for the occasion. Alexander is a 46-year-old Yale University professor and a friend and former faculty colleague of Obama's.

She joins three other poets who have read at inaugural ceremonies -- Robert Frost in 1961 for John F. Kennedy's inauguration and Maya Angelou and Miller Williams, who read at Bill Clinton's 1993 and 1997 inaugurations.

Alexander has written five books of poetry, including "American Sublime," a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. Her father is Clifford Alexander, secretary of the Army in the Carter administration, and her mother teaches history at George Washington University. Her brother is an adviser to Obama's transition team.

Alexander's view of poetry is captured in a few lines from "American Sublime" (Graywolf Press):

Poetry is what you find / in the dirt in the corner,

overhear on the bus, God / in the details, the only way

to get from here to there. / Poetry (and now my voice is rising)

is not all love, love, love, / and I'm sorry the dog died.

Poetry (here I hear myself loudest) / is the human voice,

and are we not of interest to each other?

Alexander spoke Friday to CNN.com.

CNN: What do you think is the role of a poet in a ceremony like this?

Alexander: I think that the fact that President-elect Obama has decided to have a poem in this ceremony is a wonderful affirmation to the power of language, the way in which poetry gives us distilled and mindful and careful language that can both give us a moment of pause, a moment of contemplation and that can also ... look at the world from a slightly different angle.

CNN: You met Barack Obama when you were both teaching at the University of Chicago?

Alexander: In the community in Hyde Park, he and Mrs. Obama were just people I'd heard about for a long time and heard wonderful things about, and we were of a generation. ...

He was in the law school, and I was in the Department of English so our day-to-day work didn't really cross so much. ... [We were in] the community of people who were at that time in our early 30s, thinking about the different ways that we could contribute to improving things with whatever skills we had -- political skills, intellectual skills, skills in the discipline of law, in literature, artistic skills. That was the common ground, thinking about how we could contribute to bettering our community.

CNN: And you did it by writing?

Alexander: By writing and teaching. I've been a professor for many years now, and I now teach in the African-American studies department and the English Department at Yale. ... My teaching is incredibly important to me ... helping people see that the study of African-American history and culture is fundamental to understanding this country that we live in. It's been wonderful to be able to share those riches of the culture over the years.

CNN: We have this historical moment, the 80th birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, the inauguration of the first African-American president. How does that resonate with you?

Alexander: It's amazing, isn't it? I just shake my head and say, "Isn't that something?" The civil rights struggle in this country and in the world is not over because we have an African-American president. At the same time, this must be recognized as a tremendous moment in our nation's history. I can't tell you how many older people have said to me, "I never thought I'd live to see this day."

The fact that this country has -- with a multiracial coalition -- elected an extraordinary president who is African-American really does feel like just an exquisite moment for us to savor even as we recognize there's still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us.

CNN: What's ahead of us?

Alexander: Oh my goodness, so much. There are wars or conflicts in many different places, there are potentially incipient conflicts in different places, there's the tremendous challenge of the economy. ...

The larger metaphysical challenge is to think about how to work together in new ways that are, if not post-partisan -- because I don't think there's anything wrong with partisanship per se -- borne of new coalitions. Within our communities large and small, making new coalitions and finding common ground is absolutely what we're going to have to do in order to make things better.

CNN: Can poetry help in that regard?

Alexander: I do believe that it can. The way in which poetry models precise and mindful language is useful, because after all if we can't be precise with language, how can we share ideas? Also the felicity of art ... the way in which it makes you draw a breath and look at the world in a different way is very useful to the process of thinking through new solutions. You can look straight in front of you and never get any yield to a problem, but if you can look around the back of it or step to the side of it, those are the ways that we experience some movement with calcified problems.

CNN: So you're going to write a poem about health care?

Alexander: That would be fun. Of course, this [poem for the inauguration] is an occasional poem, it has to serve the moment, it has to serve the day, right? So those are the challenges of writing something that makes sense at this moment on this particular day. But of course, what I hope to do, rather than the laundry list poem, is to find language that will hopefully have a little resonance after the day is done.

CNN: Will you show it to anybody before you read it?

Alexander: I show it to my husband [artist Ficre Ghebreyesus] , and he is my first, last and best critic.

CNN: You wrote an essay about Gwendolyn Brooks [the Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American poet] in which you said that "the pressure on creative work can be intense for artists who belong to groups still struggling for their fair shake in society."

And then later on you said you've seen your work "overpraised by narrow-minded white critics" and "criticized small-mindedly by more than one black woman elder poet -- the same poets I imagined would be pleased by it." Your work is read very differently depending on who's reading it?

Alexander: I think what I was trying to say is that at the end of the day, demographics doesn't really tell you about how your work is going to be received. ... On the one hand, I have devoted much of my work to African-American culture. That's my group, that's who I am, [I'm] proud and unambiguous about that -- but at the same time, one of the really great discoveries of a life in poetry has been that poetry is quirky.

It reaches people unexpectedly. You really, really can't predict who is going to connect with various aspects of your work. That's been a real gift to me; it's made me try not to assume too much about who thinks what and who is able to gain something from work.

CNN: You have two children?

Alexander: Two sons, 9 and 10.

CNN: How do they feel about the poem?

Alexander: They are so excited, and that's of course a lovely thing. And in the excitement, we still live in our every day, so mommy is still mommy, and all the mommy things are expected of me, and that's the way I like it.

CNN: What are your tastes in music?

Alexander: Jazz is the music that I know deepest and love the most, and I mean jazz across the board because that's an incredibly diverse art, and also I must say, R&B, funk and soul speak very powerfully to me.

CNN: Favorite artists?

Alexander: Thelonious Monk is quite a favorite artist. Marvin Gaye, John Coltrane, and also the breadth and accomplishment over a career of Duke Ellington.

CNN: And Aretha Franklin?

Alexander: Can you imagine? I get to hear her at close range. Boy, that's going to be my gift for the year.

Response: Elizabeth Alexander will be fourth poet to read at an inauguration. Alexander: Poetry can provide a fresh way of looking at problems. She says poetry is quirky and no one can predict how people will react to it.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Ronney Jenkins cannot be sure whether chronic traumatic encephalopathy is clawing through his brain tissue right now, but he suspects that it is.

After all, he fits an emerging portrait of people diagnosed with the disease: a former professional football player who took lots of hits to the head -- a couple knocked him out -- and a life off the field that has begun to unravel.

"My mood has changed," said Jenkins, 36, a soft-spoken former running back who played for several teams, including the San Diego Chargers. "Sometimes I think I'm going crazy."

Jenkins began to suspect CTE several years ago when an uncharacteristic dark mood and, occasionally, deep anger began to bubble up at unexpected times.

"I'd be talking to a cousin of mine, disagree with him, and I'd just want to do something to him," Jenkins said. "I don't know why I had those thoughts, but I wanted to hurt him."

Jenkins cannot shake the feeling that these and other symptoms he has add up to CTE, but he will never be sure. The only way to diagnose CTE is after death -- by analyzing brain tissue and finding microscopic clumps of an abnormal protein called tau.

"The problem is, people are diagnosing CTE clinically all over the place," said Robert Stern, professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Boston University School of Medicine. "There is no framework to make that diagnosis while someone is alive."

Stern and his colleagues want to change that. He is co-author of a new study that is beginning to describe what the disease looks like during life.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, suggests that when CTE symptoms emerge at a young age, players more often exhibit behavioral and mood problems, whereas symptoms that begin later in life tend to show up as memory and thinking problems.

Family members and loved ones of 36 athletes -- 29 football players, three professional hockey players, one professional wrestler and three boxers diagnosed with CTE after they died -- were quizzed about, among other things, the nature of the players' CTE symptoms and when they appeared.

A tale of two former NFL players -- and their brains

According to those family reports, 11 players in the group first struggled with memory and decision-making, at an average age of 69.

Twenty-two players first exhibited mood and behavior problems like depression and hopelessness or violent, explosive behavior. Those players tended to be younger when they died, an average age of 51.

Three players did not display any symptoms before being diagnosed with CTE.

It is too early in the research to know why some symptoms crop up early and others later -- and why the symptoms seem to diverge, or not show up at all, depending on the player. One theory among scientists is that where and how the damage manifests in the brain matters.

For example, tau, which tends to be peppered in particular areas of the brains of people diagnosed with CTE, could damage brain tissue at different stages of the disease, depending on the person.

"There is no specific order of changes in CTE; it's on a case-by-case basis," said Stern, who is also the co-founder of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. "It could be that some people have more initial changes to (brain) areas that are more responsible for mood and aggression and impulse control."

Symptoms could also be explained by other changes in the brain, associated with repetitive brain trauma, that have nothing to do with tau or CTE.

Junior Seau had brain disease that comes from hits to head

"This disease remains somewhat mysterious in terms of exactly what its causes are and how it's expressed," said Dr. Julian Bailes, co-director of the NorthShore Neurological Institute and a CTE researcher, who was not involved in the current study.

But Bailes says this study, though small and not generalizable for all cases of CTE, adds to current knowledge about the disease.

For example, the data did reveal other interesting patterns, particularly related to genetics.

The study participants with CTE were more likely than people without the disease to express the APOE gene, which is associated with slower recovery and worse cognition after traumatic brain injury; it's also associated with later development of Alzheimer's disease.

Stern and his colleagues know that their study sample is skewed: People who tend to donate a loved one's brain to be studied for CTE also tend to suspect a problem. And there is no formula for how many hits (or what type of hits) tip the balance toward symptomatic disease. There has also been no examination of what role things like steroids or body weight may play.

Even with those caveats, Stern is confident that "eventually, clinicians will have the ability to diagnose the disease during life."

In the meantime, former players like Jenkins are left in a fight against time and the progression of whatever brain disease their concussions may have wrought.

"I'm paying attention to things more," he said, "and I'm more worried about my health."

In the meantime, researchers of many disciplines are scrambling to define a disease that's definition is elusive at best.

"For perspective, Alzheimer's disease was first described in the first decades of the 1900s, and we still don't have the ability to diagnose it definitively during life," Stern said. "It still can't be cured, prevented or even slowed down."

Both Jenkins and Stern hope that for CTE, it will not be that long.

NFL Players Association, Harvard planning $100 million study

Response: CTE has been seen in brains of athletes who have taken a lot of hits to the head. CTE can be diagnosed only after death, but a new study begins to describe symptoms. Athletes with the disease exhibit behavioral and mood problems, as well as memory issues.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs threatened to hit Palm with patent litigation if the company did not stop poaching valuable employees, according to a newly unsealed court filing (hat tip to Reuters). The document surfaced as part of a lawsuit between former employees of companies like Apple, Google, and Intel over the companies' no-poaching agreements; US District Judge Lucy Koh denied parts of a request to keep some documents sealed, revealing Jobs' comments to Palm CEO Edward Colligan.

According to the document, which was filed late Tuesday, both Apple and Palm hired one another's employees during Colligan's tenure between 2003 and 2009. Colligan claims Jobs called him in August of 2007 — roughly two months after the public launch of the iPhone — to propose "an agreement" wherein Palm and Apple would not hire employees away from each other. Colligan's statement notes that the agreement contained a pretty strong "or else" clause: "Mr. Jobs also suggested that if Palm did not agree to such an arrangement, Palm could face lawsuits alleging infringement of Apple's many patents."

Steve Jobs' yacht impounded over pay dispute

Colligan sent an e-mail response to Jobs expressing his concern over the discussion. "Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other's employees, regardless of the individual's desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal," Colligan wrote to Jobs on August 24, 2007.

Colligan went on to point out that Palm recruits employees based on talent, not because Palm wants to hurt other companies. "Threatening Palm with a patent lawsuit in response to a decision by one employee to leave Apple is just out of line. A lawsuit would not serve either of our interests and will not stop employees from migrating between our companies. [...] We will both just end up paying a lot of lawyers a lot of money."

Jobs replied a few hours later with a much shorter message. "This is not satisfactory to Apple," Jobs wrote. "I'm sure you realize the asymmetry in the financial resources of our respective companies when you say: 'We will both just end up paying a lot of lawyers a lot of money.'"

Photo: Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in 'jOBS'

Jobs ended his letter by suggesting Colligan "take a look at our patent portfolio before you make a final decision here."

As noted by MacRumors, Walter Isaacson's 2011 biography of Steve Jobs made reference to Jobs' anger at Palm over the hiring of Apple employees, but did not discuss Jobs' threat of patent litigation.

Other companies involved in the lawsuit — including Apple, Adobe, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar — had indeed begun to agree not to cold call each other's employees at that time. The US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against the companies and forced them to dissolve the agreements in 2010, but the current lawsuit is a civil complaint filed by five former employees.

Current Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered by Judge Koh to give a deposition about Apple's role in the alleged collusion, although Apple argues that only Jobs was involved in the discussion and that Cook had no knowledge of the agreements.

10 things Steve Jobs taught us

COPYRIGHT 2011 ARSTECHNICA.COM

Response: Steve Jobs threatened to sue Palm over "poaching" employees, documents say. Former Apple CEO proposed agreement not to hire each others employees. Palm CEO called such a deal "wrong" and "likely illegal". Biograpjy had mentioned Jobs' anger at Palm, but not lawsuit threats.