141 Presidential Scholars were being honored recently at the White House. After the president told them that it was important in their future careers to treat others as they would like to be treated and to make choices they would be able to live with, they handed him a letter signed by close to 50 of the students that read…
“As members of the Presidential Scholars class of 2007, we have been told that we represent the best and brightest of our nation. Therefore, we believe we have a responsibility to voice our convictions. We do not want America to represent torture. We urge you to do all in your power to stop violations of the human rights of detainees, to cease illegal renditions and to apply the Geneva Convention to all detainees, including those designated enemy combatants.”
The mother of one of the students was also a Scholar, and she has forever regretted not speaking up to President Johnson regarding the war in Vietnam, when she had her chance. (Column by Amy Goodman)
Link submitted by Christophe Bedeaux
The ‘Live Earth’ concerts wrapped up at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, part of a world-wide music marathon raising awareness about global warming for two billion listeners. Here’s a 
Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire is a “star among savants.” In the film Beautiful Minds, A Voyage into the Brain, he is introduced as “The Living Camera.” As a child, Stephen was mute and did not relate to other human beings. When he was 11 he sketched the entire city of London in detail after viewing it only once from an airplane. The film tests his ability to draw the city of Rome in panorama after seeing it for the first time in a helicopter. He is given three days to complete the drawing and succeeds brilliantly in rendering exactly the number of columns and archways. (Video 5:15)