Free Republic

On Monday, the Obama White House reportedly held a moment of silence for the victims of last week’s Boston terror attack. For whatever reason, however, the press was barred and the White House released this photo of the president looking at his shoes paying his respects: Over at White House Dossier, Keith Koffler notes that this is another in a series of carefully crafted images released from the White House designed to craft Obama’s image in the wake of the terrorist attack: Presidents rarely engage in this type of private symbolism, which has regal sense to it – the leader...

An emotional Christian Bale visibly fought back tears at the MTV Movie Awards last night after a video was shown of the first two Dark Knight movies with scenes that featured the late Heath Ledger. Bale and Ledger became good friends during the making of Dark Knight, the first of three Christopher Nolan directed Batman movies starring Bale in the title role and ledger as The Joker. The Golden Globe winner broke down while he, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman introduced the montage, which included scenes of Ledger in the 2008 film, the second in the Dark Knight trilogy.

President Obama and the first family will join D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray to worship at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Northwest during a service that will reflect on the spiritual fervor of Martin Luther King Jr. Last year the president delivered a major address the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Districts Vermont Avenue Baptist Church where King spoke when he was alive.

Felicia Green showed up with the heath care equivalent of a grocery list. "Had my flu shot. Got tested for HIV. Now I'm going to check out some of those clinic resources," the 25-year-old from Dallas said Saturday. Green hadn't stepped into a hospital, although a warehouse full of health care services awaited her. She'd come for KwanzaaFest, an annual event that celebrates black culture and community. Two decades after Dallas hosted one of the country's first Kwanzaa celebrations, the small-scale activity has ballooned into a boisterous two-day festival dominated largely by the social services it provides. Officials expect more...

Michelle and Barack Obama attend a seaside memorial for his grandmother, "Toot." HONOLULU - President-elect Barack Obama gathered with family and friends on Tuesday for a private memorial service for the beloved grandmother who helped raise him. Madelyn Payne Dunham, known to her friends as "Toot", died Nov. 2, two days before Obama won election to become the nation's first African-American president. She was 86. Obama did not speak to reporters at the small home that had been converted into the First Unitarian Church in the neighborhood of Nuuanu. Aides said Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her husband, Konrad Ng,...