But it was a sobering reminder that the old definitions of theaters of war -- bound geographically, determined by generals, kept at a safe distance from the people back at home -- no longer necessarily apply.

CNN: The fog of war envelops Fort Hood

But there was perhaps no clearer illustration of the disconnect between how emergency officials view the situation at a distance, and how it is viewed by those actually living it on the ground, than Brown's comments to CNN's Wolf Blitzer Thursday evening about the evacuation of hospitals in the city.

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But a clutch of leading players are within striking distance as World No.1 McIlroy and Woods could not be separated at the end of the second round.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

As consumers move aggressively toward dependence on cell phones, in some cases disconnecting landline service entirely, the irony is that telephony today often has long distance bundled right into a nationwide package for pennies a minute or no additional charge at all.

FORBES: MCI's Bill McGowan Proved That Telephony Competition is Good for Consumers

If there were no correlation between prosperity and distance from the equator, we would expect the green line to be centered at zero with random oscillations due to noise in the data.

FORBES: The correlation is there.

I've got photos of the tiny thing standing a good distance away from me at the park, arms folded defiantly, eyes glaring as if to say "No way am I doing what you want, lady!"

CNN: How to win over stubborn children

AXA, the second-biggest insurer in Europe, has been offloading its investments in Greek debt -- at a 78% write-down -- and no longer buys Italian and Spanish debt, as it seeks to distance itself from the deepening crisis.

CNN: AXA boss: A Greek exit will not fix Europe