There's no cocktail more distinctly American than the martini. It's strong, sophisticated and sexy. It's everything we hope to project while ordering one.
Baltimore-born satirist H.L. Mencken is said to have called the martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet." But is the martini perfectly American? Maybe not entirely.
So in honor of National Martini Day on Wednesday, we decided to dig into the drink's muddled past.
While the American Medical Association may not have the clout it once did, it's still the largest single group of doctors making waves about health and the practice of medicine.
So it's not nothing when the AMA's House of Delegates approves a measure to label obesity a disease. The group's deliberative democratic body passed a measure in Chicago Tuesday that broadly, if vaguely, says obesity is a medical condition:
On today's Your Call, we're discussing what will change under Obama's universal healthcare plan – and how California is preparing for a plan that would require everyone to have health insurance by 2014. What are the new coverage options? Who will be most affected? And what resources are available for those who can't afford healthcare? Join us live at 10am or email your questions to feedback@yourcallradio.org. It's Your Call, with Holly Kernan, and you.
In India Man of Steel is just another superhero story. All action. 3D glasses and popcorn. But whether you watch in English or dubbed in Hindi Superman remains very American - a symphony of red, white and blue – streaking through the sky defending life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But watching it in a theater filled with excited Indian families, it felt like there was a hidden message inside the movie – It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super-immigrant!
Another interview with a key IRS employee, another oblique connection to Washington, D.C., and yet still no explosive revelations in the scandal surrounding the agency's targeting of Tea Party groups.
That, it seems, was precisely the point of Rep. Elijah Cummings' decision to release 205 pages of redacted interview transcripts Tuesday (here and here).
Speaking at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin — near the spot where John F. Kennedy made his famous speech almost 50 years ago — President Obama on Wednesday called on the global community to fight for democracy and freedom everywhere.
For a second night in a row, tens of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets to protest everything from the cost of living to government corruption.
"It's by far the best game I've ever been a part of."
And it certainly was a stunner: The Heat's Ray Allen hit a three-pointer with just 5.2 seconds on the clock to tie the game, denying the Spurs their fifth NBA title. The game went into overtime and remained airtight, but eventually the Heat prevailed 103 to 100.
