America's Worst Lunches

America's Worst Lunches—And What You Should Eat Instead

Hits and misses in the drive-through lane.

By Dave Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, Men's Health

If you're like two-thirds of working Americans, you pick up lunch from a fast-food joint or restaurant at least once a week. Sure, it's not as healthy as packing your own celery sticks, but eating out every once in a while can't hurt, right?

Not so fast: There might be trouble in the drive-through lane.

Not only could the window worker pile an entire day's worth of calories through your car window, but you might also be sapping your energy and productivity: Carb overloads lead to energy spikes and crashes, and studies have shown that the bigger your waistline, the lower your cognitive functioning and the more sick days you take. Kind of ironic, considering "convenience" is the most common reason people give for buying lunch during the workday. In this economy, it's hardly convenient to snore through the 2 o'clock meeting, or miss a few crucial days when the boss is looking for you.

A healthy lunch can help you maximize your afternoon performance, but if you're in a hurry to grab and go, you might not take the time to sort through the menu hits and misses. Let the Eat This, Not That! folks be your efficiency experts: DON'T order the following items. Opt instead for less outrageous alternatives (also below), and reap the benefits at bonus time.

QUIZNO'S

Large Prime Rib Cheesesteak Sub

• 1,490 calories
• 92 g fat (22.5 g saturated, 2 g trans)
• 2,620 mg sodium

Fat equivalent: Like eating 4 Dunkin Donuts cheese danishes!

It's hard enough to make the argument for one cheese Danish, but four? And we're just talking fat, here—with more than 800 calories of the stuff in just one sandwich. You're also be filling up with more than a day's worth of sodium and saturated fat. While this is one of the worst items you could choose, the rest of the Quizno's menu has hazards, as well. But if your co-workers insist on eating there, order this:

Small Turkey Ranch and Swiss Sub

• 410 calories
• 17 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
• 1,230 mg sodium

CHILI’S

• Crispy Sweet Chile Glazed Chicken Crispers
• 1,930 calories
• 112 g fat (17 g saturated)
• 4,190 mg sodium

Calorie equivalent: Like eating an entire medium Pizza Hut 12" pepperoni pizza!

If you have the time for a sit-down meal, you have the time to think this through. Chicken Crispers are fun, but account for almost a whole day’s worth of calories and almost two days' worth of sodium. Your smarter choice is to eat this instead:

Classic Chicken Fajitas

• 370 calories
• 11 g fat (1.5 saturated)
• 2,000 mg sodium

And another hint for a healthy sit-down lunch: forgo the appetizers. Chili’s Texas Cheese Fries with Jalapeno Ranch Dressing made the top of our list when we rounded up the worst appetizers money can buy. Check out the other appetizer land-mines here. You'll be shocked.

ARBY'S

Roast Turkey Ranch and Bacon Sandwich

• 817 calories
• 37 g fat (11 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
• 2,146 mg sodium

Calorie equivalent: Like eating 23 Thin Mints (one whole sleeve)!

Just because you could prepare it at home doesn’t mean it’s good for you when you order it away from home—the Roast Turkey Ranch and Bacon Sandwich packs nearly half of your daily allowance of calories and almost an entire day’s dose of sodium. Doesn’t leave much room for anything else, does it?

Eat this instead:

Sourdough Roast Beef Melt

• 351 calories
• 14 g fat (4 g saturated)
• 1,048 mg of sodium

DAIRY QUEEN

Chicken Strip Basket with Country Gravy (6 piece)

• 1,640 calories
• 74 g fat (12 g saturated, 1 g trans)
• 3,690 mg sodium

Sodium equivalent: Like eating 11 large orders of McDonald's French fries!

Talk about a value meal: One Chicken Strip Basket gives you almost two days' payload of sodium! If thinking about it doesn't elevate your blood pressure, eating it might. Don't become a statistic.

Eat this instead:

Crispy Chicken Sandwich

• 560 calories
• 28 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
• 980 mg sodium

PANERA

• Italian Combo on Ciabatta sandwich
• 1,050 calories
• 47 g fat (18 g saturated, 1 g trans)
• 3,050 mg of sodium

Fat equivalent: Like eating 6 slices of Papa John’s cheese pizza!

You were on the right track in choosing Panera, but don’t be sidelined by the allure of the Italian Combo. Ciabatta bread may sound sophisticated, but you won’t look so refined when you’re lugging that spare Pirelli around your midsection.

Eat this instead:

Smoked Turkey Breast on Sourdough sandwich

• 470 calories
• 17 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
• 1,680 mg sodium

CHIPOTLE

• 13” Tortilla with steak, black beans, rice, cheese, sour cream and lettuce
• 955 calories
• 38 g fat (18 g saturated)
• 1,600 mg sodium

Calorie equivalent: Like eating 37 Hershey’s Kisses!

The good news about this tortilla is that it contains 56 grams of protein, but that’s hardly worth the outrageous calorie and carbohydrate load—with 94 grams of carbs, you’ve already covered a third of your recommended daily intake, plus you’re taking in nearly a day’s worth of sodium and saturated fat. Downsize to drop pounds.

Eat this instead:

Three hard tacos with steak, pinto beans, sour cream and lettuce

• 615 calories
• 24 g fat (11 g saturated)
• 710 mg sodium

(Another hint: When it comes to Chipotle chips, just say "no." They add an outrageous 570 calories and 73 extra grams of carbs.)

HARDEE'S

2/3-lb Monster Thickburger

• 1,420 calories
• 108 g fat (43 g saturated)
• 2,770 mg sodium

Saturated fat equivalent: Like eating 43 strips of Oscar Mayer bacon!

It’s called Monster for a reason. It’s a monster load of saturated fat (more than two days’ worth). The good news is that it has a friendlier, healthier cousin in the 1/3-lb Low-Carb Thickburger, with 1,000 fewer calories and a third the amount of fat. Even better, the Low-Carb Thickburger is true to its name—it only has 5 grams of quick-burning carbohydrates, compared to 46 grams in the Monster.

Eat this instead:

1/3-lb Low-Carb Thickburger

• 420 calories
• 32 g fat (12 g saturated)
• 1,010 mg sodium

BURGER KING

Triple Whopper Sandwich with cheese and mayo

• 1,250 calories
• 84 g fat (32 g saturated, 2.5 g trans)
• 1,600 mg sodium

Fat equivalent: Like eating 10 slices of Papa John's cheese pizza!

You should know by now not to order a triple anything. In this case you're getting egregious calorie, fat, and sodium overloads. It’s not bad, though, compared to the shockers on our list of the trans-fattiest foods in America. Choose a regular cheeseburger instead and slash 920 calories, 68 g of fat, and save yourself from the judgmental stares of your co-workers, who are three times as likely to be grossed out!

Eat this instead:

Cheeseburger

• 330 calories
• 16 g fat (7 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
• 780 mg sodium

And once you’ve navigated lunch’s landmines, don't blow your day with a bad dinner. Check out these 15 fast and easy ways to get more from your microwave dinner.

Provided by Men's Health

A Barbie World

No wonder Barbie looks so great at 50—the ultimate blonde bombshell has 25 hair and makeup pros on call.

By Lindsy Van Gelder

Like Linda Blair, Marie Osmond, Mackenzie Phillips, and Irene Cara, Barbie turns 50 this year.

We don't know how the rest of them are coping with the Big Five-O, but at the halfcentury mark, Barbie is still one of the most powerful beauty icons in the world. That's no small feat considering that Barbie has had more than 50,000 makeovers since she was born in 1959. The original Barbie set the mold for all the looks to come, with her exaggerated black eyeliner and sexy red lips. (Her famous blonde hair, it turns out, was dictated by all the kids and mothers who didn't buy the brunette model.) She's since had a Jackie Kennedy bouffant (Bubble Cut Barbie, 1962), taken her glamour cues from Farrah Fawcett (Superstar Barbie, 1977), and gone goth (the new Hard Rock Barbie). Even when she's straddling a Harley or tricked out as an astronaut, "Barbie always has what the high heel has -- a kind of hyperfemininity," says Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

Finding and executing Barbie-worthy beauty trends is an actual job -- many, many jobs, in fact. Mattel employs some 25 "hair-and-face designers" (including two licensed cosmetologists), plus teams of marketing mavens and other idea people who visit the Paris runways, trek to the streets of Tokyo and Hong Kong to check out what teenagers are wearing, and stay au courant with everything from "magazines like Allure to fashion-industry trade shows like Première Vision," says Evelyn Viohl, senior vice president of product design. Celebrities are examined ("We're especially inspired by ones who constantly change their look, like Gwen Stefani"), and hairstyles are auditioned for the designers' friends and kids. "We talk about her as if she were a real person," says Viohl. "We find ourselves getting into deep conversations about stuff like what colors she would never wear in a million years." Fifteen artists wield teeny, tiny sable brushes for up to three hours to put makeup on each new Barbie prototype -- foundation (regular Barbies wear one of seven tones, with "L.A. Tan" being the most popular), blush, lip gloss or lipstick, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, and shadow. As with most life-size women, Barbie's preferred eye-shadow color is brown, with more than 300 shades of chocolate, taupe, espresso, and café au lait in her makeup arsenal.

For all her trendiness, Barbie is still a toy for little girls -- which is why you'll never see a Heroin Chic Barbie or a Pole Dancin' Barbie, however much those influences may have permeated fashion in the real world. That's also why Barbie sometimes adopts styles that better reflect the sensibilities of the fourth grade than those of Fifth Avenue -- especially where hair is concerned. Little girls definitely like it long: The bestseller of all time, Totally Hair Barbie in 1992, had 10 1/2 inches of hair down her 11 1/2-inch frame. And though there are now redheads and dark-haired dolls of all ethnicities, blondes still rule in sales. (There have even been blonde African-American Barbies, à la Beyoncé.) The original single-process shade has been updated with seven gradations of blonde tones that are now woven together to create an array of highlights and lowlights. Each hairstyle takes hours to construct and involves a top-secret gel and 10 to 20 minutes inside a low-temperature dryer. And this year, Barbie's even getting her own special detangler (which, alas, doesn't work on humans). "Her hair gets knotted when kids play with her," Viohl says. "After 50 years of making dolls, we finally cracked that nut."

So how has Barbie prepared for her big birthday year? Well, she's inked a deal to launch a makeup and skin-care line for fans young and old, teamed up with 50 big-name designers for a fashion show -- and, judging by the height of her new eyebrows, we're guessing she's also gotten Botox.

Hello, 911? McDonald’s is Out of McNuggets!



McDonald's 911 CallA Florida woman called 911 three times to report that a Fort Pierce McDonald’s had run out of McNuggets. Investigators have now released the audio recordings of all three calls.
McDonald’s 911 Call: No McNuggets!

The woman, a 27-year-old named Latreasa Goodman, told police the McDonald’s didn’t have any chicken nuggets and wouldn’t give her her money back.

“The manager just took my money and won’t give me my money back, trying to make me get something off the menu that I don’t want,” she said on the phone. “”I ordered chicken nuggets. They don’t have chicken nuggets, and so I told her, ‘Just give me my money back,’ and she tells me I have to pick something else off the menu.”

When police suggested to Goodman that her issue might not be an emergency, she responded:

“This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one. This is an emergency.”

The McDonald’s, by the way, issued an apology and said it would make sure Goodman got her money back. She may need it, too: Police arrested Goodman on charges of misusing of the 911 system — and odds are, that kind of criume results in a fine slightly higher than $1.99.
McDonald’s 911 Call Audio

911 Nugget update

Woman Says She's 'Embarrassed' By McNugget Meltdown

Fort Pierce Woman Calls 911 3 Times After McDonald's Runs Out Of Nuggets

WPBF-TV

updated 3:51 p.m. CT, Thurs., March. 5, 2009

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - She's been called "McNut" by TMZ.com and "loco 4 pollo" by PerezHilton.com.

Now, after becoming an Internet sensation for calling 911 three times to report an emergency after McDonald's had run out of McNuggets, a Fort Pierce woman said Wednesday she is embarrassed by all the media attention.

"I'm embarrassed to show my face in public," Latreasa Goodman told WPBF News 25's Alexis Rivera one day after her McNugget meltdown was first reported.

Goodman, 27, was issued a written notice to appear in court for misusing the 911 emergency communications system.

According to the police report, Goodman called 911 three times Saturday to report that a McDonald's employee wasn't giving her a refund for the chicken nuggets she wanted.

"The manager just took my money and won't give me my money back, trying to make me get something off the menu that I don't want," Goodman said in one of the 911 calls. "I ordered chicken nuggets. They don't have chicken nuggets, and so I told her, 'Just give me my money back,' and she tells me I have to pick something else off the menu. She is not going to give me my money back, and she don't have the right to take my money."

Goodman told WPBF News 25 that she didn't "have a right to jump across the counter and snatch" the money, so she chose to handle it another way.

"Inside Edition" was there when WPBF News 25 spoke to Goodman on Wednesday. She said all the media exposure has resulted in several profanity-laced, hateful messages on her personal cell phone.

"I think it's wrong, because like I said, it's not about no chicken nugget meal," Goodman said. "If everybody listen(s) to the news, they'll understand my statement that McDonald's took my money. They didn't have any chicken nuggets, and so I asked for my (money) back."

The 10-piece chicken McNuggets meal is valued at $3.49.

"When you feel that you've been mistreated or misused or robbed out of your money, you have the right to call 911," Goodman said. "That's the purpose of 911, so I thought."

But Tiffany Bennett, an emergency coordinator for St. Lucie County, said the incident does not constitute an emergency.

"It's not an emergency unless there was some kind of disturbance or somebody threatening someone, and I don't believe that was the case in this matter," Bennett said.

Carlos Solorzano, operations manager for all McDonald's restaurants in Florida, issued a statement Tuesday apologizing for the incident.

"Satisfying each and every customer that visits our restaurants is very important to us," Solorzano said. "Regarding this isolated incident, we apologize for the inconvenience caused. In the event that we are unable to fill an order, a customer should be offered the choice of a full refund or alternative menu items. We regret that in this instance, that wasn't the case.

"We want to correct our mistake. We will be sending the customer her refund, along with an invitation to return for her original order, on us. We never want to disappoint a McNuggets fan or any McDonald's customer. Customer satisfaction is our top priority."

Goodman said she'll continue to go to McDonald's, but she also said she'd order with a little more caution next time.

"I'm not going and just giving up my money like that, no, but I'm going to ask them would they please check and see if they have what I want on the menu, and if they tell me yes, then I will order," she said.

Hogwarts Castle

Indian Potter fans cheer Hogwarts Castle ruling

Posted Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:06am AEST
Updated Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:29am AEST

The life-size replica of Hogwarts Castle. (AFP: Deshakalyan Chowdhury)

Indian fans of the Harry Potter book series have welcomed a court verdict that gave the go-ahead to organisers of a religious event to build a life-size replica of the fictional Hogwarts Castle.

The Delhi High Court threw out a claim by author JK Rowling that the giant structure constructed in the city of Kolkata infringed copyright.

Organisers now have permission to keep the papier mache and bamboo castle in place until Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu religious event in eastern India, on October 26.

"The court has done the right thing. We have read about Hogwarts in books and seen it in films and now we will finally get a chance to see it," said 19-year-old Sayona Mandal, who founded a Harry Potter fan club in Kolkata.

Organisers say they hope to get a record turnout from the publicity Rowling's suit had generated.

"We think there will be a big turnout as the media has already publicised our work," said organising secretary Santunu Biswas.

Scores of school children visited the park over the weekend where the elaborate structure is located.

The marquee replicates the castle contours and includes an imitation marble staircase and flagged stone floor in the entrance hall, lit with flaming torches.

Rowling's fictitious world depicts the castle as an ancient school of witchcraft where her hero Harry Potter learns wizardry.

Obama Stem Cell Shift Will Speed Hunt for Cures, Scientists Say

By Rob Waters

March 7 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s expected reversal of an 8-year-old restriction on U.S. funding for embryonic stem cell research has excited scientists and health advocates who say the action will accelerate the search for cures to major illness.

Obama plans to lift the funding ban, imposed by former President George W. Bush, in a March 9 signing ceremony, said two government officials, who spoke yesterday on condition of anonymity. Bush objected to the use of the tissue because the process caused the destruction of human embryos.

The change will free federally backed scientists to work with hundreds of newer cell colonies that have been off-limits under Bush’s order, including some that carry genetic mutations causing diseases such as juvenile diabetes and Huntington’s. If scientists can study these cells using U.S. government funding, it will speed research into those conditions, said Larry Soler, executive vice president of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The expected shift will “update the current policy, which has been frozen in place since 2001 and allow broad use of new technologies discovered over the last eight years,” Soler said yesterday in a telephone interview. “For 30 million Americans with some form of diabetes, stem cell research offers a possibility to develop new treatments.”

Repairing Damaged Organs

Stem cells derived from days-old human embryos have the potential to form any of the body’s 200 or so cell types and to repair or replace damaged tissue or organs. Those that contain mutations may reveal how illness develops and identify targets for prevention or treatment.

Opponents of the research consider embryos to be human life and research that destroys them to be immoral. They say stem cells from adult tissue and umbilical cord blood are available without harming embryos and already in clinical use, while treatments from embryonic cells are years off.

Bush allowed government support only for cell colonies made from embryos before August 9, 2001. Just 21 such colonies are available today to researchers, while hundreds of newer lines can be used only by researchers funded from private sources.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said research advances allowing adult skin cells to be turned into so-called pluripotent stem cells with powers similar to those from embryos makes federal support for embryonic cells unnecessary.

‘Precious Human Life’

“Republicans enthusiastically support adult, cord blood, and pluripotent stem cell research that have shown so much promise in recent years,” he said in an e-mailed statement. “The question is whether taxpayer dollars should be used to subsidize the destruction of precious human life. Millions of Americans strongly oppose that, and rightfully so.”

Obama’s policy will encourage investment into stem cell companies, said Michael West, the founder and former chief executive of Geron Corp., the first company to use human embryonic stem cells after they were discovered in 1996.

“As the entrepreneur who was out there trying to move the industry forward, the Bush policy massively impacted the willingness of investors to put up money,” West said in a telephone interview yesterday. “Many of us hope this will spawn the new era of regenerative medicine we’ve been waiting for all these years. What a sigh of relief.”

West’s current company, Biotime Inc., based in Berkeley, California, is selling 88 cell lines carrying genetic diseases, including muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis. The cells were created by a Chicago fertility center from embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization treatments.

Campaign Pledge

As a presidential candidate, Obama had pledged to overturn the Bush policy and many observers had expected him to act sooner.

“Indeed, that Obama has waited seven weeks into his presidency to sign this executive order is the only surprising aspect, said Rogan Kersh, associate dean of New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service, in an e-mail yesterday. “Amid so much policy turmoil, reversing the Bush ban won’t be as big a story as it normally might, but will arouse opposition from religious groups and other social conservatives opposed to this research on embryos.”

Reports that Obama would reverse the ban began circulating after the close of regular trading yesterday, with the first headlines coming from the Washington Post and ABC News.

The news sent shares of the stem cell companies higher. Geron, based in Menlo Park, California, gained $1.51, or 39 percent, to $5.38 and StemCells Inc. of Palo Alto, California, rose 91 cents, or 66 percent, to $1.38 in extended trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The timing of Obama’s announcement couldn’t be better, said Arnold Kriegstein, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. It comes just days after the National Institutes of Health began requesting proposals for research projects using some of the $10 billion it was awarded from the from the economic stimulus package passed by Congress, Kriegstein said.

Here is a transcription of President Obama's inauguration speech:

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort -- even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment -- a moment that will define a generation -- it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence -- the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed -- why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.