All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

She dreamed a dream, and now it appears to be coming true.

Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle...whose trials and tribulations were international tabloid fodder last season...is back for a second act.

She's releasing a brand new album of covers...including the Les Miz tune that put her on the map...and a somber rendition of Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones.

While she may not seem to be the type of performer whose albums would sell like hotcakes...they are, according to Amazon. The website says they've had more pre-order sales for her new CD than any other in its 14 year history.

Despite a rocky end on a reality show, Susan Boyle will likely have the recording career she wanted for so long.

She once said her overnight success was like a demolition ball that hit her hard and unexpectedly.

Hopefully the year was spent not just preparing outside for the photo-ops...but also for the inside, and all the pressure that brings.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

A new Pentagon report concludes that more than a third of Americans between 17 and 24 are unfit for military duty because of physical or medical problems - and the main reason is obesity. The percentage of young adults considered obese is now four times what it was just a generation ago.

Add to that men and women ineligible because of a limited education, criminal records, or illegal drug use - and the report concludes almost three-quarters of potential recruits are unable to enlist. Military leaders call that a threat to national security.

The obstacle facing the Pentagon is a symptom of a much larger disease.

This war may not be in Afghanistan or Iraq but the battle of the bulge in this country is just as dangerous and costly. Fitness to serve is one thing, but in or out of uniform, Americans need to focus on fitness to live long and health lives.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

To screen or not to screen...that is the question. This week a government task force caused a major stir in the medical world by advising against routine mammograms for women under fifty who are not high risk.

The reasons make sense. Roughly ninety percent of abnormal screenings are ultimately benign. These false alarms lead to invasive tests and major anxiety, not to mention billions of dollars of unnecessary care.

Still, those mammograms could save the life of one woman in 1,900 hundred. If she happens to be your daughter, your mother, your wife...or you...that's the only statistic that will matter.

The American Cancer Society and two prominent doctor's groups are playing it safe...continuing to recommend the screenings for every woman over 40.

Technology must be used wisely...but when it comes to your health, making an informed decision in consultation with your doctor is the wisest thing you can do.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

It's a key factor used to determine the quality of health care in industrialized nations: the infant mortality rate. Sadly, the United States has not faired well in that category. In fact, it ranks 30th in the world - behind most of Europe, Japan and Israel.

Premature delivery is a leading cause of death for newborns and the rate of babies arriving too soon has climbed a staggering 36 percent since 1984. Technology and medicine have improved by leaps and bounds since then - so why is the preemie rate rising?

Dr. Alan Fleischman of the March of Dimes says factors like obesity and smoking can lead to early labor, but there's a bigger problem. Twenty percent of women in child bearing years have no health insurance - and there is no guaranteed access to prenatal care if they do get pregnant.

Education and access are the tools needed for the U.S. to strive for first place - and allow more of our tiniest citizens to enjoy a first birthday.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

Our criminal justice system is based on the concept that criminal defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty...that they have the right to a fair trial.

That sounds good on paper, but what if the accused is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try the admitted 9/11 mastermind - and four alleged co-conspirators in a civilian courtroom in New York City is controversial at the very least.

Some Republicans, including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, say the Obama administration is giving terrorists too many rights and a platform for their radical ideology.

But 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser supports the decision, saying New Yorkers and families like hers - want to see these men publicly brought to justice - to finally have closure.

And so just blocks from the scene of the crime, justice will be served - a right nearly three-thousand Americans lost on 9/11.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

Logophiles, listen up. Here's a big, complicated word for a very simple superstition.

Triskaidekaphobia - the fear of the number 13. It's the reason why so many buildings don't have a thirteenth floor.

No one knows the origins of the phobia for sure. It could date as far back as the Last Supper, when Judas was the thirteenth guest at the table.

If you are a triskaidekaphobe, you're in good company. The AP reports that Henry Ford, Napoleon and FDR all suffered from it. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to endure 2009 - which has had three Friday the thirteenths - the most possible in any given year.

But despite the slasher films by the same name, there is little evidence that today is any more dangerous than any other day. In fact, a Dutch research firm found that accidents decrease on Friday the thirteenth.

That's probably because all the triskaidekaphobes are home - hiding out until Saturday the 14th rolls around.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

On November 9, 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt set off on the very first presidential trip abroad to Panama - where he inspected the construction of the famous canal that connects the East to the West.

Today, President Obama departed for Asia on his eighth trip abroad this year. His first stop is Tokyo, where he's hoping to repair strained ties with a longtime ally.

The new Japanese leaders will greet him with konichiwas and bows and a few raised eyebrows. A feud over a military base in Okinawa is a symptom of a much larger problem - that Japan and the United States may be drifting apart on some significant policy matters.

A new political party controls Japan for the first time in 50 years, and along with that change will come some growing pains - but Japan's friendship is critical to U.S. strategy in Asia.

Rather than a canal, perhaps President Obama can repair a bridge that has joined the two nations since the end of World War Two.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

Katie is on assignment, I'm Dave Price.

There is an old Chinese proverb, "When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them."

It’s a very apt way to describe what Veterans Day is all about. There are around 24-million veterans in the United States including nearly two million men and women who have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan.

We enjoy freedom and liberty every day in the United States. We should remember the men and women who planted those seeds, not just today but everyday.

It is unacceptable that on any given night more than 100-thousand veterans sleep on the streets and a third of all homeless men in America are veterans.

It's unfair that more than a million veterans lacked health insurance last year too poor to pay for their own but not poor enough to qualify for certain V-A benefits.

The patriotism of our nation's servicemen and women doesn't end when they return home nor should our gratitude.

Thank you all for your service.

I'm Dave Price, CBS News.

When Sesame Street first premiered, 40 years ago today, its make-believe neighborhood was pretty rough around the edges.

The buildings were dingy. Trash cans lined the street. And Cookie Monster not only gobbled fistfuls of cookies but occasionally smoked a pipe.

Now the set's been spruced up. Cookie Monster calls cookies a "sometime" food. And the mood is decidedly more Elmo than Oscar the Grouch.

The show has changed so much that DVDs of the early episodes now carry a warning that they might not be suitable for today's kids.

Yet despite its new image, the show's themes of tolerance and learning persist. In the Middle East, a version broadcast in Hebrew and Arabic brought peaceful giggles in the 1990s. In South Africa, an HIV-positive Muppet helped de-stigmatize the disease.

Sesame Street has always been ahead of its time. It's a window into the world of children, a place where everything's A-okay, and has been for 40 years.

So Happy Anniversary Sesame Street!

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

The two sides of the wall were like twins who had been separated...and raised in very different environments. To the west, colorful graffiti art, tourists walking up and touching it. To the east, stark white concrete...and armed guards.

But the faces on either side were the same.

On November 9th, 1989, East Germany's communist leaders...under pressure to ease travel restrictions...sent a spokesman to brief reporters on a new policy...allowing travel between East and West in the future. He mistakenly announced the new rules would take effect immediately. Hundreds of thousands descended on the border crossings. And the overwhelmed guards simply lifted the gates.

It would take months for the wall to be demolished...and years for the former soviet republics to build new governments.

But for those reunited with lost brothers, parents and cousins on the other side...it only took a moment to realize no one could build a wall around their hearts.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.