A pioneer, a preacher, an activist and an athlete were among 16 people who President Obama honored Wednesday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. “This is a chance for me and for the United States of America to say thank you to some of the finest citizens of this country and of all countries,” Obama told the audience assembled for the ceremony at the White House. “At a moment when cynicism and doubt too often prevail, when our obligations to one another are too often forgotten, when the road ahead can seem too long or hard to tread, these extraordinary men and women, these agents of change, remind us that excellence is not beyond our abilities, that hope lies around the corner and that justice can still be won in the forgotten corners of this world,” the president said.
Tag Archives: america
Should You Drink with Your Kids?
I was 14 the first time I got falling-down drunk.
Specter faces hostile audience at health care forum
A hostile crowd shouted questions and made angry statements Tuesday at a town hall meeting on health care in Pennsylvania led by Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Is Dead at 88
— President John F. Kennedy’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who carried on the family’s public service tradition by founding the Special Olympics and championing the rights of the mentally disabled, died Tuesday morning, her family said in a statement. She was 88.
A Brief History of Prison Riots
Using shards of shattered glass and metal scraps as weapons, inmates at an overcrowded California prison went on an 11-hour rampage on Aug. 8, leaving some 250 people injured and a prison dormitory burned to the ground.
A Visit to India’s First Wal-Mart (a.k.a. Best Price)
Amritsar lives in many centuries at once. This holiest city of the Sikhs is home to their most revered shrine, the mystical and awe-inspiring Golden Temple, where nihangs — members of an armed Sikh order — live on in traditions dating back centuries, sporting distinctive electric blue tunics and a panoply of weapons, even speaking a unique martial dialect of the Punjabi language. Other parts of this prosperous merchant city wears Levi’s, hanging out at cafes or following the latest diet fad or carrying the latest iPod
How to Leave Iraq
There are two big schools of thought about what the U.S. should do next in Iraq, and both schools are almost certainly wrong.
The Case for Leaving Iraq Now
Although every day in Iraq repeats the endless spiral of bombs in crowded bazaars and mosques — each fueling demands for retribution — things are slowly getting better. Last month, the number of violent deaths in Iraq fell to 275, down from 437 in June.
First daughters balance privilege and pressure
Luci Baines Johnson was just 16 years old when she approached her father, President Johnson, with what she considered a reasonable request.
Amuse-Bouche: Eating in the Windy City
Leave the coasts behind: America’s hottest new dining destination lies smack in the heartland. Here are three of our favorite places in Chicago’s chic and creative restaurant scene. L2O Amid an interior of beige and white, coolly accented by ebony tables and white onyx cutlery, French chef Laurent Gras gives seafood a new sense of immediacy with a menu as precisely executed as it is unconventional.