Jackie Calmes of the New York Times tells the story today of my all-time favorite presidential photo. The first time I saw it was while walking through the West Wing to a meeting three years ago. A little black boy touching the head of President Obama. The image was so powerful I stopped in my tracks and inquired about the story behind the photo. As Calmes reports, Jacob Philadelphia had a question for the president of the United States. Read full article > >

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Jonathan Capehart: Photo speaks volumes about Obama and race

Using the story of a struggling family, a Crossroads GPS commercial seeks to appeal to swing voters who had supported President Obama, and may still like him, but are disappointed.

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New Republican Ad Takes a Soft Shot at Obama

Actor Colin Firth says he felt “a little overwhelmed” by the enormity of the story to be told in his latest film The Railway Man.

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Firth overwhelmed by film’s story

One victim of teenage domestic abuse tells her story

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Domestic abuse at 16 years old

In many American Muslim families, however, the only lecture given is “Don’t do it!”. Although “it” is never defined, everyone generally understands “it” as a catch-all-provision for any first-to-fourth base activity with the opposite gender before marriage. One would assume the freedom of college would automatically cure all these societal repressions and allow parents to be more open. However, the story of comedian and journalist Aman Ali is sadly familiar to many American Muslims:

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Sex and Islam do Mix, But not in America

Still plans to tell his story.

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Fox Mole Fired from Fox

Of the countless stories we tell ourselves, the American myth of the solitary enforcer of justice may be the most tenacious, beloved and — as the story of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin has so grievously demonstrated — distorting. Read full article > >

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America loves a vigilante. Until we meet one.

Marley tells the story of the reggae legend Bob Marley’s life, through interviews with his friends, colleagues and relatives.

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VIDEO: Marley: ‘The man behind the legend’

ONLY ONCE IN the long history of “Doonesbury” has Garry Trudeau ’s syndicate ever intensely objected to one of his story arcs. It was 1985, a documentary purporting to show the reactions of a fetus had been released, and Trudeau satirized the film “The Silent Scream” with his own “prequel” strips featuring “little Timmy,” a 12-minute-old embryo. Read full article > >

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THE ‘DOONESBURY’ INTERVIEW: Garry Trudeau says to ignore abortion-law debate would have been ‘comedy malpractice’

The mother of Marie Colvin, a veteran correspondent for The Sunday Times of London, said her daughter had always been determined to cover the story.

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Marie Colvin’s Mother Recalls Her Determination to Get the Story

Even by the standards of destitution in Afghan refugee camps, the story of Sayid Mohammad is a hard-luck one.

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In Grip of Cold, Afghan Family Buries 8th Child

This story has been updated. President Obama’s recent recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will create years of legal uncertainty for actions taken by those agencies and chaos for companies affected by the decisions, Republican critics will testify Wednesday. Read full article > >

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Obama’s recess appointments will create uncertainty, GOP critics say

This story has been updated. Now that federal officials are done with the data they wanted to review after shutting down file-sharing site Megaupload, the fate of that data is in limbo. Users who had legitimate files on the site — work documents, photos, home videos and more — may see that information deleted as soon as this week. Read full article > >

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Megaupload data could be deleted starting Thursday

(This story has been updated.) ORLANDO, Fla. — President Obama announced plans Thursday to boost tourism by speeding up the visa process for foreign tourists to the United States, focusing on countries with rapidly growing economies and large populations such as China, India and Brazil. Read full article > >

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Obama announces plan to boost international tourism to U.S.

Stewart O’Nan seems incapable of writing a false line. Whether describing the unimaginable ( losing one’s child ) or the mundane ( losing one’s appetite ), his modest sentences crystallize the lives of ordinary people. His previous novel , “ Emily, Alone ,” described the daily outings of an 80-year-old widow in Pittsburgh. Emily’s pulse beat stronger than her story, but with all the novel’s insight and charm, that lack of action didn’t matter. O’Nan is a author you learn to trust, no matter what he’s writing about. Read full article > >

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Take a chance on ‘The Odds’