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Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
U.S. to 'rain mice' on tree snakes
Labels: LifestyleiPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Obama signs order activating 'dumb' spending cuts
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Obama signs order that is required by law
- "We will get through this," President Obama says of the forced spending cuts
- Obama, congressional leaders fail to bridge gaps on cuts, letting them take effect
- Speaker Boehner says the House will take up a government funding measure
Washington (CNN) -- Politics trumped progress on Friday as President Barack Obama and Republican leaders traded blame for $85 billion in forced spending cuts after they failed to come up with a compromise to avert the harshest impacts.
The president signed an order required by law that set in motion the automatic, government-wide cuts.
Obama and congressional leaders from both parties met for about 45 minutes at the White House, but no agreement emerged to avert the cuts that both sides oppose.
After weeks of campaign-style events intended to inspire public outrage over the cuts, Obama sought to temper his description of their impact while making clear he thinks Republican intransigence prevented a deal to avoid the economic harm they'll cause.
"We will get through this," he told reporters. "This is not going to be an apocalypse as some people have said. It's just dumb and it's going to hurt."
Full text of Obama order
Still, a White House budget office report sent to Congress and released with Obama's order said the cuts would be "deeply destructive to national security, domestic investments, and core government functions."
The action was described in the report as "a blunt and indiscriminate instrument" that was "never intended to be implemented and does not represent a responsible way" for the country to realize deficit reduction.
OMB report to Congress
In a sign of the potential impact, the Department of Justice sent furlough notices to employees that warned they may be forced to take days off without pay in coming months.
Similar furloughs, as well as reduced services, were expected at other agencies if the cuts don't get replaced or eliminated. Military leaders have warned of impaired readiness of U.S. forces.
Shame and blame: Why Washington needs couples therapy
However, the full impact of the cuts weren't expected until April at the earliest.
The cuts amount to roughly 9% for a broad range of non-defense programs and 13% for the Pentagon over the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30.
They were included in a 2011 deal to raise the federal borrowing limit as an unacceptable outcome if Congress failed to agree on a comprehensive deficit reduction plan.
Obama's press conference on spending cuts
However, election-year politics stymied progress on such a deal, leading to the situation Friday in which both sides acknowledged being unable to prevent something neither wanted.
"There are smarter ways to cut spending," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, after the meeting with Obama.
Boehner repeated his past assertion that the GOP-led House has offered proposals to replace the forced spending cuts while the Democratic-led Senate has not, as well as his party's opposition to any increased tax revenue to offset the forced spending cuts.
Others who also took part in the White House gathering were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
In the White House briefing room, Obama told reporters that Republicans in Congress "allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful (tax) loophole to help reduce the deficit."
"As recently as yesterday, they decided to protect special interest tax breaks for the well off and the well connected and they think that that's apparently more important than protecting our military or middle class families from the pain of these cuts," Obama said.
He was referring to a procedural vote on Thursday in which Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal that called for eliminating some tax loopholes as part of a package with spending cuts.
Boehner and Republicans say the president and Democrats have yet to propose a serious plan to reduce spending, including costly entitlement programs, on a scale necessary to bring chronic federal deficits and debt under control.
Both Obama and Boehner foreshadowed the next major spending showdown - a March 27 deadline for Congress to authorize funding to keep the government running for the rest of the fiscal year.
4 myths about the spending cuts
Boehner told reporters that the House will take up a measure next week to authorize federal funding beyond that deadline.
"The president and leaders agreed legislation should be enacted this month to prevent a government shutdown while we continue to work on a solution to replace the" forced spending cuts, said a statement by Boehner's office.
Although the funding measure is unconnected to the spending cuts, Obama indicated he was open to a broader agreement that would resolve both issues.
"I do know that there are Republicans in Congress who privately, at least, say that they would rather close tax loopholes then let these cuts go through," said Obama in response to questions from reporters.
"... In the coming days and the coming weeks, I'm going to keeping on reaching out to them -- both individually and as groups of senators or members of the House -- and say to them, 'Let's fix this, not just for a month or two, but for years to come,' because the greatest nation on Earth does not conduct its business in month-to-month increments or by careening from crisis to crisis," Obama said.
Spending cuts: When they'll really bite
CNN's Dana Bash, Deirdre Walsh, Ted Barrett and Terry Frieden contributed to this report.
Racy mag cover features Kim, Kanye
Labels: Lifestyleon your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.
iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Bobcats face off on suburban lawn
Labels: Lifestyleon your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.
iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Doomed balloon riders nearly landed, then shot upward
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Conflicting reports emerge over company's safety record
- A British passenger and the pilot are hospitalized
- The balloon carried tourists from the UK, Hong Kong, Japan, France and Hungary
- A gas explosion caused the balloon to fall about 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet)
Were you there? Have you taken such a trip before in Egypt? Send us your experiences.
(CNN) -- The view from above southern Egypt is stunning, a contrast of beige desert valley giving way to green farmland, including fields of sugar cane. Tourists soak in the sight by hiring hot air balloons that have large baskets to carry passengers hundreds of feet above the countryside.
Tuesday morning, as one of the balloons prepared to land, an explosion pierced the air, followed by a spreading billow of smoke.
"My first thought was that it was sugar cane that was burning," said Christopher Michel, a photographer who was a passenger in another balloon at the time.
Smoke from the burning sugar cane painted the ancient city of Luxor below with an eerie haziness.
But the concern shown by the balloon pilot and the blaring sirens from emergency vehicles told Michel that something was wrong. He could not imagine the extent: One of the balloons had exploded, and its 21 passengers and operators plummeted about 1,000 feet (300 meters) to the ground.
By Tuesday afternoon, the number of dead had climbed to 19, making it the world's deadliest hot air balloon accident in at least 20 years.
"This juxtaposition of this great beauty and this wonderful country and this horrible tragedy is just really shocking," Michel told CNN. "We all feel terrible."
It was an early, dark morning, Michel said, and uneventful for 45 minutes until they started to descend. He was overlooking mud-brick buildings and fields, with the Valley of the Kings in the distance, when the explosion shattered the quiet of the morning.
It was a gas explosion, state-run EgyNews reported.
Fatal hot air balloon crash
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Passengers in the balloon included 19 foreign tourists: nine from Hong Kong, four from Japan, three from Britain, two from France and one from Hungary, officials said.
An Egyptian pilot and another Egyptian also were on board, Luxor province spokesman Badawi al-Masri said.
Two people -- a Briton and the pilot -- are hospitalized.
Balloon rides offering panoramic aerial views of the Nile River and the ancient temples of Karnak and Hatshepsut are a popular tourist attraction in Luxor, about a nine-hour drive southeast of Cairo.
"You can see Valley of the Kings in the background bordered by farmland," Pauline Liang of Vancouver, Canada, told CNN's iReport last year. "Below were banana farms, and behind us was the city of Luxor. There was a great contrast between desert landscape, lush farmland and urban development."
Tuesday's crash prompted Gov. Izzat Saad of Luxor province to ban all hot air balloon flights until further notice.
Conflicting reports emerged about the company that operated the doomed balloon, Sky Cruise.
The head of the country's civil aviation authority said the company was licensed and working legally, EgyNews reported.
The agency has begun an investigation of the incident, Mohammed Ibrahim Sharif said.
According to Sharif, a fire broke out in the balloon while the workers were trying to land it, just feet from the ground. The balloon then shot upwards again, he said.
The balloon's basket was divided into four parts, he said, each holding five passengers.
Meanwhile, Luxor's chamber of tourism said the company had previous violations, EgyNews reported.
Several balloon companies had terminated contracts with the local meteorological service after the Egyptian revolution, Tharwat Agami, chairman of the chamber of tourism, said.
Sky Cruise and other companies were known to violate safety and security instructions by flying out of East Luxor, instead of the recommended West Luxor, he said.
Comparing it to a previous hot air balloon experience in another country, Michel noted that there was no safety briefing before the Luxor balloons lifted off the ground, but added that he felt safe during the trip.
From what he could tell, the doomed balloon was not overloaded, he said on his Twitter account.
Luxor is among Egypt's top tourist draws. Visitors go to see ancient temples and tombs, and travel sites often recommend the hot air balloon trips.
The last hot air balloon accident in Luxor occurred in 2009, when 16 foreign tourists were injured after a balloon struck a cell phone transmission tower.
Until Tuesday's incident, the deadliest accident in recent memory took place in 1989, when 13 people were killed as two hot air balloons collided in Australia.
Egyptian government spokesman Alaa Hadidi announced that the Cabinet will form a committee from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to investigate Tuesday's accident, EgyNews said.
CNN's Housam Ahmed and Hamdi Alkhshali, along with journalist Adam Makary in Cairo, contributed to this report.
Weatherman blacks out on live TV
Labels: Lifestyleon your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.
iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Jimmie Johnson comes out on top
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Jimmie Johnson led 17 laps, says he was confident in his car
- Danica Patrick becomes first woman to lead green-flag lap at the race
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a runner-up for the third time in four years
- Some fans injured in Saturday incident were scheduled to attend race, official says
(CNN) -- Racing at the Daytona International Speedway can be like playing the lottery against 42 other drivers who all have a ticket, all seem to have an equal shot at winning.
While luck can certainly help, so does experience, something Jimmie Johnson put to use as the laps wound down in NASCAR's season-opening and most prestigious race of the season.
Johnson won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, edging out Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second for the third time in four years.
Johnson, who won the race for the second time, led 17 laps on the track where speeds are limited by a restrictor plate. The result is close racing, with cars separated by hundredths of a second.
It's a race that often involves a big wreck near the end, so Sunday drivers were content to line up one by- ne and go around and a round and around for the first 180 laps. Then Johnson took over.
"I had a lot of confidence leading the train," Johnson said of being the first car in line as drivers raced around the 2 1/2-mile track. "I knew I had a fast car."
Bleacher Report: Johnson finds way to win
His crew chief, Chad Knaus said that despite the uncertainty of racing this season with the latest generation of NASCAR cars -- which are lighter and sleeker -- they knew for weeks what they wanted to do.
"Jimmie did a great job of following that plan," said Knaus, who sat out the team's 2006 Daytona 500 win because of a suspension.
Bleacher Report's snap reaction
Danica Patrick through the years
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Danica Patrick, the first woman to win the pole position at the Daytona 500, led three times, including five laps under green -- also becoming the first woman to lead a lap at the race not under a yellow flag caution. She finished eighth, the highest finish ever for a female driver at the race.
"At the end of the day, it was a solid day," she said. "We stayed basically in the top 10 all day, so it was nice."
Crew chief Tony Gibson beamed after the race.
"She did great under pressure," he said.
Bleacher Report: Danica Patrick proves her chops
Earnhardt did his best to earn his second win in the "Great American Race," but his last-lap charge came up short. With just over a mile to go, Earhardt, followed by veteran driver Mark Martin, went low on the track. With Martin's car pushing Earnhardt's the two pushed into contention, but Johnson maneuvered in front of his teammate Earnhardt.
The 54-year-old Martin crossed the finish line third.
"We just kinda ran out of steam out of (turn) four," Earnhardt said. "We made a good move, but there just was not enough race track."
Some of the fans who were injured by flying debris Saturday during a crash late in the Nationwide Series Drive4COPD 300 were to attend the Daytona 500, speedway president Joie Chitwood said Sunday morning.
At least 28 fans were injured when more than a dozen cars piled up in the final curve of Saturday's race. Some of the debris went over a 22-foot-high fence that was built in 2010, and some of it went through holes as the fence was mangled when a car slammed into it and bounced back onto the track.
Saturday's wreck occurred when several closely packed cars were jostling for position at top speeds of about 175 mph. They got tangled up, setting off a dangerous chain reaction that ensnared several vehicles.
Driver Kyle Larson's vehicle ended up flying into a fence that separates the track from spectators. The car broke into pieces, including tires and a fiery engine.
Larson walked away from the crash, even after the front part of his No. 32 car was gone. He and the other nine drivers involved told reporters that they were checked at a medical tent on the Daytona infield and released.
Water tank body still mystery
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Cause of death deferred, pending further examination
- Tests show hotel water is free of harmful bacteria, health department says
- Canadian university says woman not registered in classes this year
- Water "had a very funny, sweety, disgusting taste," one guest says
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Two days after the grisly discovery, the case of the Los Angeles hotel water tank corpse is a mystery with many unanswered questions.
The decomposing body of Elisa Lam floated inside a water tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel while guests brushed their teeth, bathed and drank with water from it for as long as 19 days.
A maintenance worker, checking on complaints about the hotel's water, found the 21-year-old Canadian tourist inside one of four water cisterns Tuesday morning, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.
How and where did Elisa Lam die?
Los Angeles robbery-homicide detectives are treating this as a suspicious death for obvious reasons, Lopez said. Falling into a covered water tank behind a locked door on top of a roof would be an unusual accident.
An autopsy was completed, but the cause of death is deferred pending further examination, assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said Thursday. That may take six to eight weeks.
It will be several weeks before investigators have the toxicology lab report which would show whether Lam had any drugs in her system.
Any marks, injuries or wounds may suggest Lam died elsewhere and was dumped into the tank by her killer.
Water in Lam's lungs could be a sign that she drowned, but it might not tell why she was inside the small tank.
One clue comes from security camera video of Lam inside a hotel elevator the last day she was seen.
She is seen walking into the elevator, pushing the buttons for four floors and then peering out of the opened elevator door as if she is hiding or looking for someone. Clad in a red hoodie, Lam at one point walks out of the elevator before returning to it, pushing the buttons again. She then stands outside the open elevator doorway, motioning with her hands, before apparently walking away.
Lam checked into the Cecil Hotel five days earlier, January 26, on her way to Santa Cruz, California, according to police in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Why did it it take so long to find Lam?
Lam's parents reported the University of British Columbia student missing in early February. Her daily calls home stopped on January 31, police told reporters on February 6 at a Los Angeles news conference.
Because it was an international case -- and her parents and sister flew to California to find answers -- the case may have gotten more attention than most of the several thousand missing person reports made in Los Angeles each year.
A search of the hotel then found no sign of Lam, including a trip to the roof with a police search dog, Lopez said.
Strange things began happening with the hotel's water supply later in the month, according to Sabina and Michael Baugh, a British couple who spent eight days there until checking out Wednesday. The water pressure dropped to a trickle at times.
"The shower was awful," Sabina Baugh said. "When you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first for two seconds and then it was going back to normal."
The tap water "tasted horrible," Baugh said. "It had a very funny, sweety, disgusting taste. It's a very strange taste. I can barely describe it."
But for a week, they never complained. "We never thought anything of it," she said. "We thought it was just the way it was here."
Knowing now what they didn't know then about the water is sickening, Michael Baugh said. "It makes you feel literally physically sick, but more than that you feel it psychologically. You think about it and it's not good."
Eventually, the hotel maintenance department investigated the water problem, sending a worker to look into the tank, police said. He saw Lam's lifeless body at the bottom.
A hard-working family
Randy Schmidt, a spokesman for the University of British Columbia, said Lam was registered in a class in August, but was not registered in any classes this year, according to records.
"Unfortunately, we do not have much more to say, other than to extend our deepest sympathies to the family," said Schmidt.
According to Los Angeles police, Lam tended to use public transportation.
Teika Steins, manager of a hostel in Toronto, Canada, said Lam stayed a week there in early December. Steins called the young woman friendly and outgoing.
Flowers and signs were left Thursday outside the temporarily-closed Lam family restaurant in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Tanya Grohmann, who works nearby, said she was saddened by the loss and the fact the family did not know what happened to the young woman.
"They are a hard-working family. They immigrated here," she told CNN affiliate CTV. "They've been in the neighborhood for nine years working. ... They're honest people."
Why did hotel stay open after discovery?
New guests continued to check into the Cecil in the hours after firefighters removed Lam's body from the water tank. But each guest was asked to sign a waiver releasing the hotel from liability if they become ill. "You do so at your own risk and peril," the hotel's release said. Guests who already paid for their rooms would not get refunds if they move out, it said.
CNN's repeated calls to the hotel for comment were unreturned Wednesday and Thursday.
The Los Angeles Public Health Department immediately tested the water supply, but told the manager they could stay open as long as they provided bottle water and warned guests not to drink the tap water.
The results of the testing showed no harmful bacteria in the tank or the pipes, according to Angelo Bellomo, director of environmental health for the department. Chlorine in the city's water may be the reason it is safe, he said.
All of the tanks and pipes in the building still must be drained, flushed and sanitized, Bellomo said. The water will be retested after that process, which should take several days, he said.
Several guests interviewed by CNN on Wednesday indicated the hotel management did not tell them about the body in the water supply they had been drinking and bathing in.
Qui Nguyen learned about it from a CNN reporter Wednesday morning. He decided not to sign the waiver and instead find a new hotel.
Many of its guests are tourists from other countries drawn by the hotel's billing as a "European-style" hotel that is the perfect accommodation for "spend-thrifty travelers."
But if they take Kim Cooper's tour bus ride through the neighborhood, they would hear about the Cecil being the former temporary home to at least two convicted murderers, including "Night Stalker" serial killer Richard Ramirez. Ramirez paid $14 a day to stay on the 14th floor during his 1980s killing spree, Cooper said.
The Cecil Hotel is "in the heart of the action, allowing our guest to embrace the city and the surrounding areas that make Los Angeles famous," according to the description you'll hear when you call there and are placed on hold.
In fact, the hotel is just a few blocks away from the infamous Skid Row district in downtown Los Angeles, but 16 miles from the beaches of Santa Monica, eight miles from Hollywood's Walk of Fame and 12 miles from glamorous streets of Beverly Hills that are prominently featured on the Cecil's website.
If you want a reservation at the Cecil you will have to wait until next month. The website said the hotel is "sold out" until March 1. After then, you can book a room for $65.
Hotel with corpse in water tank has notorious past
CNN's Kyung Lah, Chandler Friedman and Chuck Conder contributed to this report.
Sorority girl drops 107 pounds
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Brittni Garcia didn't think her weight was a problem until she couldn't fit into her "fat shorts"
- At 235 pounds, Garcia always felt like she stood out from her sorority sisters in college
- Garcia shed 107 pounds, and now promotes weight training and a healthy diet
- Do you have a weight loss success story? Share it with CNN iReport
(CNN) -- Brittni Garcia's family didn't go out for walks; they went out for dinner. And when they were at home, they enjoyed watching movies, playing board games and eating big Mexican-style home-cooked meals.
This lazy lifestyle led Garcia to weigh more than 200 pounds by the eighth grade.
"My mom always said, 'You are a big girl. You are just big-boned,'" said the 25-year-old information specialist. "So I just accepted it."
Through high school and college, her weight continued to rise. But even at 235 pounds, Garcia didn't think her weight was a problem -- until she couldn't fit into her "fat shorts" anymore.
That was December 2009.
It was a typical night for Garcia. She was studying for finals in her sorority house at Eastern Illinois University and wanted to change into some comfortable clothing. She found her red pajama XXL shorts that she normally wore to bed.
As she struggled to pull them up, she realized they were too tight and uncomfortable -- her "big, comfy shorts" no longer fit.
"Tons of emotions ran through my head," she said. "I was afraid that was the way my life was going to be."
That's when Garcia's mentality changed. Being overweight was no longer normal for her.
Heart disease runs in her family, and she realized it was time to address her weight now before it turned into a bigger health problem.
"I wanted to lose weight to challenge myself and show myself I can change, and not change for the world," Garcia wrote in her iReport. "This time, it was for me."
Getting in shape wasn't going to be easy. Going to the gym had been one of her biggest fears for a long time. She was self-conscious about how she looked and sounded when she ran.
"It was hard for me to breathe," Garcia said. "It was embarrassing."
Team loses 400 pounds for Winter Games
Embarrassment about her weight extended to other areas of her life. Although she was president of her sorority, Garcia always felt like she stood out.
"All the sorority girls had cookie-cutter form, and I looked different," she said. "It was really hard for me to connect."
Garcia's involvement in Greek life perpetuated her unhealthy habits; she often went to bars and restaurants to mingle with her college friends. It was difficult to break the cycle, but she found supportive friends who also hit the gym.
"What I tell people is that you find new friends at the gym," she said. "If you don't have the support, it's really hard to do it on your own."
Garcia found one of her biggest supporters through her sorority. She met Nicholas Monreal at a Greek function, and they began dating when she was at her heaviest. But the days of social functions, bar visits and restaurant outings are long gone for the couple.
"He was there when I realized I wanted to change," she said. "To this day, our dates are to the gym. We see excitement in going on walks and runs."
The couple has been together for four years; he proposed in December. Monreal has noticed a significant difference in Garcia over the past few years -- not just physically.
"She's more energetic ... and she's more willing to try new things," he said "She's just working very hard, and she's a better person for it."
On the right track
Since the beginning of 2010, Garcia has lost 107 pounds.
There were setbacks, the biggest of which came this past August when she was in a car accident. She completed three months of physical therapy and wasn't able to go to the gym and do her daily routines for a month and a half.
She was angry at first -- mad at the person who hit her car and stalled her progress at the gym.
But she got over her initial anger, and Garcia went on a walk. This time, she wasn't alone. Her fiance, her parents, her sisters and her aunt encouraged her to stay active. As a result, Garcia went on walks with them and did yoga at a gym.
Girl loses 65 pounds in fight against childhood obesity
After getting back on track with her daily workouts, Garcia realized she also had to better manage her eating habits.
"For the longest, I would go to the gym and go home to eat whatever I wanted," she said. "That's not how it works. I had to learn to eat differently and to learn to like new foods."
She started doing research on proper nutrition. She read books and online articles, shopped at health foods stores and learned to prepare meals that helped her maintain a healthy diet.
Now for two hours every Sunday, Garcia grills chicken, cooks vegetables and packs fresh fruit in preparation for the upcoming week.
"(I) make eating as simple as possible," she said. "If there are a lot of ingredients, I don't want it."
The next step
Down to 128 pounds, Garcia has been left with a lot of loose skin -- particularly around her stomach. She is doing CrossFit exercises and weight training to tighten up the area.
She's also checking off some other goals.
One of the most rewarding moments in Garcia's weight loss journey was completing her first 5K run in 27 minutes.
When she first started training, running three miles took her 48 minutes. Today, she can complete it in less than 25.
"I hadn't been able to walk a lap, let alone run it," she said. "And now when I finish a workout, I really get emotional and I can't believe that I could do it."
She isn't stopping there. Garcia wants to complete a half marathon as well as the Warrior Dash in June. As a result, she might take a pool break in between.
"I really want to fit in my bikini comfortably this summer," she said.
Today, Garcia doesn't shop at plus size clothing stores anymore. She was able to drop from a size 22 to a size 6.
And what happened to her XXL "fat shorts?" She ditched them for a pair of small exercise shorts.
To those just starting their weight-loss journey, she offers this advice:
"Once you start, don't give up. The hardest thing to do is to continue. If you have a bad day, don't make it a bad week."
Father, son lose 260 pounds after weight loss surgery
Do you have a weight loss story to share? Upload it to iReport.
Drew Peterson gets 38 years for ex-wife's murder
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Drew Peterson's lawyer says his client feels the system he served failed him
- NEW: Kathleen Savio's kin say he "battered her to the very end," is "going to hell"
- The Chicago-area police sergeant was convicted of murdering his third wife
- He is sentenced to 38 years in prison and will get credit for nearly 4 years served
(CNN) -- After years policing Illinois streets for criminals, Drew Peterson is now among them -- and will be for more than three decades, a judge ruled Thursday.
Will County Judge Edward Burmila sentenced Peterson to 38 years in prison in the murder of his third ex-wife, Kathleen Savio, said state's attorney spokesman Charles B. Pelkie.
The former Chicago-area police sergeant will get credit for the nearly four years that he has been in custody, according to Pelkie, a spokesman for Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow. He could have received as many as 60 years in prison; Illinois does not have a death penalty.
"The reason that I never looked Drew Peterson in the eye is because I never acknowledged his existence," said Glasgow, describing the convict as a "cold-blooded killer."
"But I looked him in the eye today," the prosecutor said. "He knows that we did our job."
Peterson was convicted of murder in September but had fought for a new trial, an effort that Burmila denied Thursday, just before the sentencing.
Peterson's lawyers promised Thursday that they would press on with their appeal and expressed confidence they would prevail. They stood by their client, who defiantly claimed in court that he didn't kill Savio.
"Wouldn't you be angry if you were wrongly convicted?" said one of his attorneys, Steve Greenberg.
"In this case, (the prosecution) changed everything ... How would you feel if you were railroaded?"
Savio was found dead in her dry, clean bathtub on March 1, 2004. Prosecutors said Peterson killed her; the defense contended that she fell, hit her head and drowned.
The case did not grab headlines until after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in October 2007. It was during the search for Stacy Peterson -- who still has not been found -- that investigators said they'd look again into Savio's death, which was initially ruled an accidental drowning.
Authorities altered their judgment and ruled Savio's death a homicide in February 2008, setting the stage for the first-degree murder trial last year of Peterson, a former police officer in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
A Will County jury ultimately convicted him of murder after nearly 14 hours of deliberation.
That was four months ago. On Thursday, all the parties were back in court to see whether Peterson would get a new trial or, if not, what his sentence would be.
Perhaps the most emotional part of this court proceeding was Peterson's long and emotional remarks, which were interrupted at times by shouts from Savio family members, several of whom were asked to leave the courtroom.
He unloaded "pent-up anger" that had built up over time -- against Savio and her family, the legal process, the media, even a TV movie about the case, according to his attorneys and the prosecutor. Above all, Peterson loudly insisted that he did not kill Savio.
Why was he upset? One of his lawyers, David Peilet, said part of it has to do with Peterson feeling the system that he served -- as a military veteran and longtime police officer -- had failed him.
"(He is angry) especially when you are somebody who has defended the Constitution and served and protected the public, now being faced with the same system coming up and biting (you) in the butt," Peilet said.
Glasgow, the state's attorney, had a different take. He called Peterson's remarks "pathetic," especially in how he "attacked" Savio and her mental state.
"Just depraved," the prosecutor said. "... We all got an opportunity to see a psychopath reveal himself in open court."
It was a sentiment echoed by the victim's sister, Susan Doman. She said she couldn't stand to hear "the devil" demean her sister, almost nine years after her death.
"He battered her to the very end."
Pam Bosco, a spokeswoman for Stacy Peterson's family, lauded the prosecution for making "this world a safer, better place" by fighting to convict Peterson and expressed hope he'd next be held accountable for what happened to his fourth wife.
"It's not over for us, but of course, a win for the Savio family is a win for the Stacy Peterson family," Bosco said. "We have a long journey ahead. We still want to see justice for Stacy. We won't give up."
Several Savio family members specifically mentioned Stacy when they addressed reporters late Thursday afternoon in Joliet.
Henry Savio Jr., a brother of Kathleen Savio, said Stacy Peterson's relatives "deserve the same thing that we're getting right now: justice."
As to Peterson's fate, Henry Savio said he wanted him to "stay in jail forever, to die there."
"(Then) he is going to go to hell," the victim's brother said. "And my sister is going to be watching him."
CNN's Elwyn Lopez, Carma Hassan and Michael Christian, from the InSession division of CNN's sister network TruTV, contributed to this report.
Woman's corpse found in LA hotel's water tank
Labels: LifestyleBy Alan Duke, CNN
updated 8:51 PM EST, Wed February 20, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Elisa Lam disappeared from the hotel on January 31
- Canadian's body was found in a Cecil Hotel water tank Tuesday
- Police investigating death
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Tourists staying at a Los Angeles hotel bathed, brushed teeth and drank with water from a tank in which a young woman's body was likely decomposing for more than two weeks, police said.
Elisa Lam's corpse was found in the Cecil Hotel's rooftop water tank by a maintenance worker who was trying to figure out why the water pressure was low Tuesday.
Lam's parents reported her missing in early February. The last sighting of her was in the hotel on January 31, Los Angeles Police said.
Detectives are now investigating the 21-year-old Canadian's suspicious death, police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.
It was not clear whether the water presented any health risks. Results on tests on the water done Wednesday by the Los Angeles Public Health Department were expected later in the day.
The hotel management has not responded to CNN requests for comment.
Video appears to show four cisterns on the hotel roof.
People who stayed at the Cecil since Lam's disappearance expressed shock about developments.
"The water did have a funny taste," Sabrina Baugh told CNN on Wednesday. She and her husband used the water for eight days.
"We never thought anything of it," the British woman said. "We thought it was just the way it was here."
What she described was not normal.
"The shower was awful," she said. "When you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first for two seconds and then it was going back to normal."
The hotel remained open after the discovery, but guests checking in Tuesday were told not to drink it, according to Qui Nguyen, who decided to find a new hotel Wednesday.
Nguyen said he learned about the body from a CNN reporter, not the hotel staff.
Authorities search for missing police chief
Fishing vessel, crew missing off Nova Scotia
How women can travel safely
CNN's Kyung Lah and Irving Last contributed to this report.
Killing, carjacking spree ends with suicide
Labels: LifestyleA man, believed to be the shooter, lies dead in the street near an Orange County Sheriff's vehicle in Villa Park, California.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ali Syed killed three, wounded three during spree that involved carjackings in Orange County, police say
- Authorities: Syed first killed woman at his parents' home, then shot at motorists
- Suspect killed himself after police spotted him north of Tustin, police say
(CNN) -- In the middle of a shooting spree that killed three people and unleashed terror on Southern California motorists Tuesday morning, Ali Syed told one of his carjacking victims to walk away, police say.
"Mr. Syed ... said, 'I don't want to hurt you, I killed somebody. Today's my last day. Give me your keys,' " Tustin Police Chief Scott Jordan told reporters.
According to preliminary accounts from police, Syed, 20, didn't intentionally spare another target.
Police say they believe Syed, a part-time college student, fatally shot a woman at his family's Ladera Ranch home before killing two other people -- including a senior citizen executed outside his vehicle -- and wounding three others as he fired a shotgun at Orange County motorists on the Costa Mesa Freeway and committed three carjackings.
The spree ended when Syed died after he turned his gun on himself as police approached on a road north of Tustin, authorities say.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department says it was called to the Ladera Ranch home, where Syed lived with his parents, on a report of shots fired about 4:45 a.m. PT.
A woman in her 20s was found dead there. Police said she wasn't related to Syed, but they didn't release her name, and they said they didn't know why she was at the home.
Syed left the home in his parents' SUV, police said. About 25 minutes after that police call and 20 miles to the northwest, Syed drove into a Denny's and Big Lots parking lot in Tustin, exited the vehicle and shot a driver in the back of the head, Jordan said.
The wounded motorist -- a man who was waiting for his son to carpool with him to work -- managed to drive away before stopping near an overpass, Jordan said. The victim was being treated Tuesday, police said.
That's when Syed, whose SUV had a flat tire, approached the man he would spare. Syed ran toward the man at a nearby gas station, took his keys and drove the pickup truck away without firing at him, Jordan said.
Syed then drove south on the Costa Mesa Freeway, exited onto a transition road, got out of the vehicle and fired a shotgun at southbound vehicles on the freeway, hitting three vehicles, police said.
One of the freeway drivers was wounded in the hand and face, but investigators don't know whether the wounds were from shotgun rounds or debris, according to Jordan.
Police said Syed then drove to nearby Santa Ana, crashing the pickup into a curb on a freeway off-ramp. There, he pointed the shotgun at Melvin L. Edwards, 69, of Laguna Hills, who was in a BMW at a stop sign.
"Syed ... got (Edwards) out of the car at gunpoint, walked him across the road and executed him -- shot him three times," Jordan said.
Syed drove Edwards' BMW to the parking lot of a Tustin-area Micro Center computer store, where police said he found his next two shooting victims.
Syed shot and killed Jeremy Lewis, 26, of Fullerton, who was in a vehicle in the lot, police said. Lewis had worked at a construction site across the street.
People from the construction site then approached, and Syed shot and wounded one of them in the arm, Jordan said. Syed entered that person's vehicle and drove north on the Costa Mesa Freeway before exiting again.
By that time, authorities had received many phone calls about the shootings, and California Highway Patrol officers found Syed driving at an intersection about 5 miles north of Tustin, Jordan said.
Syed exited the vehicle as it slowly rolled near the intersection, according to police.
"There really wasn't a confrontation at that very end," Jordan said. "As soon as he got out of his vehicle, before it actually came to a complete stop, he shot and killed himself," Jordan said.
Syed was unemployed and taking one class at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, an Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman said.
Police said they're trying to determine what led to the shootings, and that they didn't yet know of a motive.
CNN's John Fricke contributed to this report.
Coast Guard identifies cause of cruise ship fire
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Coast Guard: The fuel line ran from an engine to a fuel tank
- There is no indication the leak was intentional, a Coast Guard official says
- The crew is praised for doing a "very good job" containing the fire
Washington (CNN) -- The fire that crippled the Carnival cruise ship Triumph started with a leak in a fuel-oil return line running from one of the ship's engines, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday.
Leaking oil hit a hot surface, starting the fire, said Teresa Hatfield, the lead investigator for the Coast Guard. Hatfield said there was no indication the leak in a flexible hose section was intentional.
"Fire suppression was immediately activated by the crew, first by waterfog and then by (carbon dioxide). They did a very good job," Hatfield said.
"We are looking at the cause of the fire and why the ship was disabled for so long, and we are also looking at the crew response to the fire as well."
Moments from aboard the ship
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Hatfield said the investigation will last for several months. The Coast Guard said it has conducted 21 interviews with passengers and crew members since Thursday, when investigators boarded the ship while it was still at sea.
Hatfield said the oil return line is one of the items that is routinely inspected, but she did not say when it was last inspected or describe its condition at that time.
Vance Gulliksen, a spokesman with Carnival Cruise Lines, told CNN Monday that the ship's last scheduled Coast Guard inspection was on November 15. Gulliksen also said the cruise line agreed with the Coast Guard's determination of the origin of the fire.
Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Diaz said the line ran from the ship's "number-6 engine" to a fuel tank.
The Triumph was on the third day of a planned four-day cruise from Galveston, Texas, to Mexico when the fire broke out and brought the trip to a halt. It was carrying more than 4,200 people, including 3,100 passengers. The Triumph was eventually towed into port in Mobile, Alabama, Thursday night, and the last passengers disembarked Friday.
Stranded on the crippled ship, passengers and crew lived with worsening conditions, as toilets stopped working, and waste spilled onto floors and into hallways. Passengers had to use plastic bags to collect their waste.
Passenger Cassie Terry described the ship as "a floating toilet, a floating Petri dish, a floating hell" in a lawsuit filed Friday against Carnival for unspecified damages related to the cruise.
Passengers reported long lines for food, shortages of fresh water and widespread boredom. Many passengers slept in hallways or outside to escape the odors and heat below decks.
Patrick Cuty, a senior marine investigator for the Coast Guard, told CNN Sunday that investigators had located the area where flames erupted in the engine room.
"We know that the fire originated in front of a generator," Cuty said. "You can see the ignition marks on the wall."
There are three generators in the engine room where the fire broke out. Three other generators are in a second engine room that wasn't involved in the fire, Cuty said.
The same ship encountered a problem in January with its propulsion system, according to a notice posted on the website of Carnival senior cruise director John Heald.
On Saturday, Carnival crew members were bused to and from the ship to help with the clean-up. One housekeeper told CNN it wasn't pleasant work but said it had to be done, and the crew was willing to do it.
Passengers have praised the crew for its response during the ordeal.
Because the Carnival Triumph is a Bahamian-flagged vessel, the Bahamas Maritime Authority is the primary investigative agency and will work with the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigators pulled the voyage data recorder, a device that records alarms, voice communications on the bridge, engine speed, navigation information and rudder angle, Cuty said.
It appears that the fire suppression worked as designed, Cuty said Friday. The engineer who was on watch around dawn February 10 saw the fire ignite over a video feed and immediately notified the bridge, Cuty said.
On crippled cruise ship, icky jobs fell to 'amazing' crew
Lawsuit filed over 'floating hell' cruise
CNN's Jim Barnett contributed to this report.
Pope delivers one of his final messages
Labels: LifestyleBy Hada Messia and Josh Levs, CNN
updated 7:21 PM EST, Sun February 17, 2013
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to lead the Angelus prayer at the Vatican on Sunday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- It's the pope's second-to-last Angelus prayer as pontiff
- Pope Benedict XVI thanks his flock for prayers and support
- He discusses "decisive moments of our lives"
- Cardinals may meet before March 15
(CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI led tens of thousands in a prayer for strength Sunday and thanked followers for their support during his second-to-last Angelus prayer as pontiff.
"Today we contemplate Christ in the desert, fasting, praying, and being tempted," the pope said to an unusually large crowd at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
"As we begin our Lenten journey, we join him and we ask him to give us strength to fight our weaknesses. Let me also thank you for the prayers and support you have shown me in these days. May God bless all of you!"
Benedict, 85, shocked millions across the world last week when he announced his intention to stand down at the end of the month, citing the frailty of old age.
The decision makes him the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.
Referring Sunday to a Bible passage, the pope said, "During the decisive moments of our lives, and in fact at every moment, we are in front of a crossroads: Do we want to follow the I or God? The individual interest or the true good, that which really is the good?"
The crowd appeared to have about 100,000 people
He also tweeted a message to followers worldwide, calling on them to "rediscover faith" as a foundation.
Cardinals may meet before March 15 to choose the next pope if they are all in Rome, a Vatican spokesman said Saturday. The conclave will bring together the 117 cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.
Part of complete coverage on
What do you think about the Pope's decision to resign? If you are a Catholic, how will it affect you? Send us your thoughts and recollections.
Read all of the latest updates, including standards for the next pope and possible successors on CNN's Belief Blog.
They are the largest group in the Roman Catholic Church, and the next pope might even come from their midst. Yet few have heard how Latino Catholics regard the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI.
updated 11:07 AM EST, Tue February 12, 2013
Before he was Pope Benedict XVI, before he earned the nickname "Cardinal No" as the enforcer of church doctrine, he was Joseph Ratzinger.
The news stunned both the Church's 1.2 billion followers and the rest of the world. Here's a collection of your views from social media.
updated 11:02 AM EST, Tue February 12, 2013
Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign caught a lot of Vatican watchers, apparently even some in his inner circle, off-guard. They should not have been so surprised.
updated 9:36 AM EST, Mon February 11, 2013
Pope Benedict's German background has always been a talking point. CNN's Fred Pletigen takes a look at Pope's German roots.
updated 7:27 PM EST, Mon February 11, 2013
Pope Benedict XVI on Monday said he plans on resigning the papal office on February 28. Click here for the full text of Benedict's declaration.
updated 12:30 PM EST, Mon February 11, 2013
Assuming Pope Benedict XVI steps down as planned at the end of February, his tenure on Twitter will have been fleeting.
updated 6:26 AM EST, Tue February 12, 2013
After his resignation, Benedict, 85, will probably retire to a monastery and devote himself to a life of prayer. Look back at his time as Pope.
updated 2:12 PM EST, Mon February 11, 2013
The surprising news from Rome, Monday, leaves the church and the world in unfamiliar, but not entirely uncharted, territory.
updated 9:13 AM EST, Mon February 11, 2013
Pope Benedict directed the church's response to decades of abuse by its priests. CNN's Nic Robertson reports.
updated 11:06 AM EST, Tue February 12, 2013
We explore what the surprise announcement means for the Catholic Church.
updated 8:58 AM EST, Mon February 11, 2013
CNN's Jim Bittermann looks at the legacy and controversies that have marked Pope Benedict XVI's reign.
updated 10:56 AM EST, Fri November 23, 2012
A book released by Pope Benedict XVI last year looks at the early life of Jesus -- and debunks several myths about how the Nativity unfolded.
Internet rules: More cats. LESS CAPS
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Yes, there ARE some rules to the Internet, though, for now they're mainly an inside joke
- Some rules based on pop culture, some have become Web memes
- Other rules ominously quote Anonymous
- Is there a need for rules on the vast and wild Web? Depends on where you stand
Editor's note: In the gallery above, we've selected a handful of our favorite Internet rules, or truths. (You might recognize a few.) What are some of yours? Tell us in the comments. We'll feature some of the best on CNN.
(CNN) -- Hello!
Welcome to the Internet. It's a big place, so let me show you around.
You're approaching Oversharing Pass, where residents routinely post too much information. The Facebook Gorge and Twitter Triangle are particularly nefarious time-sucks. Restraint is advised.
Up ahead is Hyperbole Junction, which is the Worst. Spot. Ever. We recommend that you maintain an even keel and stay to the center; the extreme left and right can be dangerous.
And over there is the infamous Lair of Sociopaths, the home of trolls and loners who mercilessly mock everyone who enters their territory. Watch your step: They may trip you up and you'll fall into the Chasm of Lulz.
Our world isn't all dangerous, of course. You may visit Squee City, where images of cute cats and laughing babies fill the landscape. You'll also meet countless kind strangers, hilarious raconteurs and hard-working fact-checkers. They make it all worthwhile.
Hmm. Maybe it would be easier if you had a guide -- you know, some rules to help you find your way.
What, you didn't know there are rules of the Internet?
Of course there are rules. How do you think we maintain order around here?
A parody of rules
That's a joke.
But there really are some rules of the Internet -- even if they, too, began as kind of a joke.
According to the site KnowYourMeme.com, the Rules began around 2006 as a guide for the Internet collective Anonymous and emerged on the old Encyclopedia Dramatica, a bawdy meme catalog. Soon a version emerged on 4chan, an online bulletin board where most users post anonymously, says Jamie Cohen, director of web/digital media at Hofstra University's School of Communication.
"Chris Poole (4chan's founder) kind of designed it, kind of like a Netiquette rules," he says, describing the unspoken code of conduct that lubricates Internet discourse. (Poole has attributed the rules to Gaia Online, a role-playing community.)
But the rules of the Internet deliberately mocked many of those conventions. The self-reflexive parody fit perfectly with its community's attitude, points out Anthony Rotolo, a professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.
"These jokes are meant to comment on something happening in the world," he says. "Later they get accepted as truisms or become a meme."
The absurdity has been reflected even in the supposed number of rules. Though the best-known first version claimed there were 50 rules, only 18 were listed. Number 1 was initially "Do not talk about Rules 2-33"; no Rules 2-33 were on the list.
The sarcastic attitude was reinforced by the kicker found on Encyclopedia Dramatica. It was a parody of Wikipedia's stub language: "This article is crap. You can help by completely re-writing it."
'Fight Club' and Monty Python
Very quickly, the lists started multiplying and expanding, liberally borrowing from comedy, Web culture and math-science tropes. On one list, a few were designated by complex numbers and mathematical symbols. Some were observations; others were directives.
Some have traced the Internet rules to Chris Poole, the founder of 4chan.
Two rules were taken from "Fight Club": "You do not talk about 4chan (or "/b/," 4chan's random, free-wheeling bulletin board) and "You DO NOT talk about 4chan." One version of Rule 6 stated "There is no Rule 6," which is from a Monty Python sketch. Rule 42, "Always bring a towel," was drawn from Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. (If you have to ask, read the books.) "Profit," Rule 49, came from "South Park."
Other rules went the reverse direction and became part of mainstream culture. Rule 34 -- "If it exists, there is porn of it" -- is likely the most famous. But there's also "Pics or it didn't happen" (Rule 30), "For every given male character, there is a female version of that character; conversely for every given female character, there is a male version of that character" (Rule 63) and, of course, the corollary to Rule 34 -- "If no porn of it exists at the moment, it will be made" (Rule 35).
Most retained a sense of humor, riffing off established rules and occasionally ending with a giggly "No exceptions."
But a handful were, and remain, as serious as a judge -- notably the three directly about Anonymous (commonly Rules 3-5):
- We are Anonymous.
- We are legion.
- We do not forgive, we do not forget.
The overall Internet rules may have started as a joke, but such ominous language from Anonymous speaks to some of the paradoxes of the Web:
Rules? Why do we need some stinkin' rules?
After all, rules can be helpful -- or divisive. They can create community -- or subvert it.
Even Anonymous, the activist group itself, cuts both ways, says Rotolo. When it hacked the extremist Westboro Baptist Church, many people cheered. But when it goes after less unpopular targets, some cry vigilantism.
Cohen says that the rules themselves try to have it both ways. They're funny until someone gets hurt.
They "play more of a game type of role. They can be bent or broken or cheated or moved around, as you would in any game that has no physical reaction," he says. "That doesn't take into account ever the result of real people being affected by this -- such as teenagers, children, anybody who's seeing things that they shouldn't."
He adds, "There's a lot of rules in there that work for (the creators) more than anyone else. Until they become victims of their own thing, they don't know how powerful the rules are."
Evolving from the Wild West
Of course, the Internet isn't that old, and we're still in its Wild West era in many ways. As the technology evolves from a handful of hackers on Usenet bulletin boards to billions of users on officially sponsored sites, the customs -- the rules -- of the Web will evolve with it.
But we're not talking about the kinds of changes that your family makes to the rules of Monopoly (no, Free Parking is NOT for the pool of money acquired via Chance and Community Chest). We're talking something more expansive: All the established customs of our carbon-based life forms, making way for the instantaneous and virtual modes of silicon-based electronics.
Who knows what new rules may be written?
"When you're in the midst of social change, it's impossible to determine where it's going," says Peter S. Vogel, a former programmer who's now a Dallas-based attorney. "And I think we are in the greatest social change in the history of humans, because there are no boundaries of geography or time."
We haven't even sorted out what happens when the differences in local culture meet global technology. Bruce Umbaugh, a philosophy professor at Webster University in St. Louis who teaches a course on philosophy and technology, argues that not all parts of the world are as tolerant or open-minded as Western democracies.
There's a lot of rules in there that work for (the creators) more than anyone else.
Jamie Cohen, Hofstra University
"There are a lot of other places in the world that are actively using the technology of the Internet to control the free communication among citizens, and to identify critics of the government and hurt them," he says. "We need to be mindful in what we advocate from our perspective that the tools that are implemented on the Net are tools for the global Net."
In other words, citizens of other countries already face actual, enforceable rules -- unlike the folkways established by Web users in the West. Witness the frictions of the Arab Spring, or the restrictions of societies such as North Korea.
It's the kind of perspective that provides a different context for the issues raised by a libertarian, anything-goes Internet. It's hard enough to stop "Star Wars" comment boards from devolving into flamebaiting, meme-generating files of NSFW Yodas.
So for now, we're still making our way through the Series of Tubes, and nobody knows where the boundaries lie. We joke, we grimace and we marvel at the creativity of the hive mind. The Internet is a big place, and countless cultures have set up residence. Eventually, what is now humor may lose its zing; what are now customs may become laws.
Will the rules ever become The Rules? Maybe some future generation will figure out the true guideposts of Internet life, and the singularity will be upon us.
Nah. It'll never happen.
What did we miss? Share your rules for the internet below in the comments. We'll feature some of the best on CNN.
Sen. Rubio drowning in 'water-gate'
Labels: Lifestyleon your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.
iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Mom of boy held in bunker is worried
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Phil McGraw speaks with mother of former Alabama child hostage
- She tells him she worried about trying to put him back on a school bus
- Ethan told her the Army killed the 'bad man'
- The 6-year-old tells his mom that 'My bus driver is dead'
(CNN) -- Jennifer Kirkland says she caught her 6-year-old son Ethan just staring at a school bus the other day.
He was mesmerized, his eyes locked on the yellow vehicle. He didn't say a thing, and she didn't know what to say to him.
The last time he was on a bus, he was sitting just behind the driver -- as he always did -- waiting for his stop so he could go home.
But the "bad man" got on, and killed the driver, his buddy Mr. Poland.
Appearing on the "Dr. Phil" show, Kirkland told Phil McGraw she was worried how her little boy was going to react the next time she tried to put him on the bus to school.
After being kidnapped, the recovery ahead
Photos: Alabama bunker standoff
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Ethan has been having a hard time sleeping, she told the psychologist turned syndicated daytime talk show host.
He thrashes his arms, tosses and turns and sometimes he calls out.
It has only been almost 10 days since the FBI sent a rescue team into the bunker in Midland City, Alabama, where Ethan was held hostage for nearly a week by Jimmy Lee Dykes.
His mother hasn't asked Ethan what happened when he was there.
"I have not talked to Ethan about it," she said in an interview aired Wednesday. "I don't know how to. As a mother I want him to know that I'm there if he needs to talk. I don't know how to respond because I have never been through this."
Inside the bunker: From storm shelter to boy's prison
Ethan has seen two people shot to death. Dykes shot bus driver Charles Poland several times before he carried Ethan, who had fainted, off the bus and into an underground bunker Dykes had built on his property.
Then the FBI killed Dykes when negotiations broke down and authorities felt they had to rescue the boy before Dykes, who had a handgun, did something rash.
"The Army came in and shot the bad man," Kirkland said Ethan told her.
Kirkland said she had hoped Dykes wouldn't be harmed.
"From the very beginning, I had already forgiven Mr. Dykes even though he had my child," she said. "I could not be angry through this. My job was to be the mother."
She thinks Dykes had a soft spot for Ethan because he has disabilities. Dykes took care of her boy as best he could, she said.
He even fried chicken for the boy.
Still, as the crisis continued, she worried that Dykes might be spooked by something her child did -- or that he had enough supplies to stay down there for months. She worried her boy would think she had abandoned him.
She asked authorities to let her speak to Dykes.
"That's my baby. He's my world. He's my everything," she said. "Everything I do I do for him. And I was afraid I wasn't going to get him back."
When she did get him back, he was in the hospital, putting stickers on everyone in sight.
"Hey, bug, I sure have missed you," she recounted.
"I missed you, too," he answered.
FBI: Bombs found in Alabama kidnapper's bunker
Now she worries that even though he seems like the same playful little boy, there is an emotional storm ahead.
McGraw told her to talk to Ethan about his feelings, not what happened to him in the bunker.
"Let that decay in his young mind," he said.
McGraw asked Ethan a few questions, but as 6-year-olds are apt to do, he answered most with a "Yes" or a "No."
But when the doctor asked him how he got to school, Ethan said, "On my bus, but my ..."
Then he walked over to his mother and as if telling a secret, whispered in her ear, "But my bus driver is dead."
Kirkland told McGraw that it was Poland who helped Ethan conquer his fear of descending the steep school bus steps. Poland would cheer Ethan on and one day when the child hesitated and the mother went to help, the driver said, "Let him do it."
Since then, Ethan has had no problem.
But now his cheerleader won't be there, and Kirkland is anguished about her boy.
"Mr. Poland put him behind him so he could keep a good eye on him," she said.
Ethan hasn't been back to school yet. He's been busy opening birthday presents and playing with his favorite toys. On Wednesday, he made a new friend in Gov. Robert Bentley.
There's a picture from the event where little Ethan is sitting underneath the governor's desk. The child is beaming.
"Ethan is a loving, forgiving child," Kirkland said. "He is easy to go up to a perfect stranger and say, 'Can I have a hug?'"
That was the boy who went into that bunker. She is concerned it's not the child who came out.
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