instruction:
In this task, you are given news articles and you need to generate a highlight, i.e., a short summary, with a maximum length of 10 lines.
question:
Past, present and future came together on a thunderstorm-filled Sunday, as President Barack Obama received an honorary doctorate and gave the commencement speech at historically black, all-male Morehouse College, where the Rev. Martin Luther King and many other prominent African-Americans spent their formative years. After opening with several one-liners, and more smiles than we've seen from him in the damage-control-filled recent weeks, Obama delivered a serious message to the class of 2013. During a speech rife with both personal and historical references, the president invoked a past full of challenges, often resulting from racism, but noted that African-Americans need to break free from that past to succeed in a globally competitive economy. "I understand that there's a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: 'Excuses are tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness,'" Obama said. "We've got no time for excuses -- not because the bitter legacies of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they have not. Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; we know those are still out there. It's just that in today's hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil -- many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did -- all of them entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything that you have not earned," he said. Opinion: What Obama must say to African-American grads . "Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you've gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured -- and they overcame them. And if they overcame them, you can overcome them, too," he said. Morehouse valedictorian Betsegaw Tadele praised Obama for setting a strong example. "There is no impossible. There is no unbelievable. There is no unachievable, if you have the audacity to hope," Tadele said, paraphrasing the name of the president's 2006 book, "The Audacity of Hope." Following Tadele -- whom Obama jokingly called "a skinny guy with a funny name" -- Obama reflected on how being an African-American has affected his personal journey. "Whatever success I have achieved, whatever positions of leadership I've held, have depended less on Ivy League degrees or SAT scores or GPAs, and have instead been due to that sense of connection and empathy, the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most; people who didn't have the opportunities that I had -- because there, but for the grace of God, go I. I might have been in their shoes.  I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me," the president said. Big-name college commencement speakers of 2013 . The president's repeated mention of connection to the black community comes after blunt criticism from Morehouse alumnus Kevin Johnson, a pastor from Philadelphia, who criticized Obama in an April 14 editorial in the Philadelphia Tribune, calling him "a president for everyone, except black people." Johnson gave a baccalaureate sermon on Saturday as part of Morehouse's graduation weekend. The president's speech on Sunday was well-received, though the crowd had to brave some thunder and lightning and endure pouring rain. One awkward silence came when Obama slightly deviated from his prepared remarks. He was expected to say, "Be the best husband to your wife, or boyfriend to your partner." However, instead, he said "Be the best husband to your wife, or your boyfriend, or your partner," eliciting some clearly confused responses from the crowd. Later, he noted that Morehouse men can set examples for other groups that have been subjected to discrimination: Hispanics, gays and lesbians, Muslims, and women. "It is not just the African-American community that needs you. The country needs you. The world needs you.  As Morehouse men, many of you know what it's like to be an outsider; know what it's like to be marginalized; know what it's like to feel the sting of discrimination.  And that's an experience that a lot of Americans share," he said. Obama said his job, as president, is to advocate for policies that generate more opportunity for everyone, and he implored the Morehouse grads -- and all Americans -- to "advocate for an America where everyone has a fair shot in life." "There are some things, as black men, we can only do for ourselves.  There are some things, as Morehouse men, that you are obliged to do for those still left behind.  As graduates -- as Morehouse men -- you now wield something even more powerful than the diploma you are about to collect.  And that's the power of your example," he said. Students scarred by war earn college degrees . Obama finished his speech with another message not just to the newly minted Morehouse grads, but to all Americans -- a message based on Martin Luther King's refusal to be afraid. "That's what being an American is all about. Success may not come quickly or easily. But if you strive to do what's right; if you work harder and dream bigger; if you set an example in your own lives and do your part to help meet the challenges of our times, then I am confident that, together, we will continue the never-ending task of perfecting our union," he said. And despite lots of big-picture talk about success and giving back, Obama made it clear that without appropriate focus on those closest to you, big-picture accomplishments mean little. "Everything else is unfulfilled if we fail at family -- if we fail at that responsibility. I know that when I am on my deathbed someday, I will not be thinking about any particular legislation I passed. I will not be thinking about a policy I promoted. I will not be thinking about the speech I gave. I will not be speaking about the Nobel Prize I received.  I will be thinking about that walk I took with my daughters. I'll be thinking about a lazy afternoon with my wife.  I'll be thinking about sitting around the dinner table, and seeing them happy and healthy and knowing they were loved. And I'll be thinking about whether I did right by all of them."
answer:
President Obama gives the commencement speech at historically black college .
The president says African-Americans have "no time for excuses" if they want success .
An alum who has criticized Obama for doing too little for blacks spoke Saturday .
Thunderstorms marred Sunday ceremony .


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Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Perhaps no one better understands what the family of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is going through like the widow and children of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer. "I mean, my heart is totally with the congresswoman," says daughter Sara Taseer. What do an American lawmaker from Arizona and a Pakistani governor have in common? Both outspoken elected officials were gunned down in broad daylight, within days of each other. Taseer died; Giffords clings to life. Separated by half a world, they are united by similar crimes. Taseer was assassinated by his own security guard last week in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital. He was coming out of a popular market when the guard, Mumtaz Qadri, opened fire and shot him 27 times. Governor's accused killer makes unscheduled court appearance . Taseer had been an outspoken critic of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which make it a crime to insult Islam or the Prophet Mohammad. He argued that in a country that's 98% Muslim, these laws are used to discriminate against minorites. That's dangerous talk in a nation increasingly swayed by a more conservative brand of Islam, and several clerics targeted Taseer as a blasphemer himself. Qadri confessed in court Monday that he killed Taseer because of his support to change the blasphemy laws. And that, Taseer's family says, is where his shooting diverges from Giffords'. Sara Taseer says, "The difference is in Pakistan, this is not a message just to my father or my family. This is a message to all liberal and progressive people to keep quiet, and scare and intimidate them." She says Giffords' shooting was an isolated incident, which has no chance of gaining popular support in the United States. "The impact is different. And the fear among the people. I'm sure in Arizona the general public is not feeling threatened, or not fearing that they can voice their views or openly condemn it. We are in a totally different situation. People who support us can lose their own lives." Shooting rampage suspect to make first court appearance . Another difference: even Giffords' political opponents publicly and forcefully condemned the man who shot her. The Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner went on TV to say, "An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve." But in Pakistan, even Taseer's supporters have been mostly silent: perhaps calling his loss a tragedy, but stopping short of criticizing the man who killed him. "It's because they fear for their lives," says Taseer's son Shehryar. "There's also been a warning issued [by clerics] against anyone who has any further vigils, and anyone who takes up the case of the governor and his family, their offices will be burned and their person killed." Shehryar says that was the real tragedy of his father's shooting: it's forcing liberals to stay quiet and hide. "I think they'll be hunted. Without a doubt in my mind I believe that." Taseer's shooter has been hailed as a hero by many conservative Muslims in Pakistan. He has been cheered, and showered with rose petals on his way into court. "That's ...it makes me sick. It makes me sick to my stomach," says Taseer's youngest daughter Shehrbano. "Some people genuinely believe this was 'the right thing' to have been done. That's the most scary and upsetting aspect of it. It's disgusting." Shehrbano graduated from college in Massachusetts, and now works as a journalist in Pakistan. She reserves some of her strongest criticism for Pakistan's legal system. "There were over 200 lawyers who went and put garlands and rose petals around my father's assassin's neck. And these men are the so-called vanguards of justice." Shehrbano has little to no faith that the Anti-Terrorism Court where Mumtaz Qadri is being tried will produce a fair result. "They have a sorry record of convictions. The investigation teams, they don't hand in enough evidence. The lawyers are scared. The judges are bribed. People are terrified of taking a stand." Now his family is looking back at the life of Salmaan Taseer, a businessman and governor of one of the most-populated provinces in the world. His widow Amna says, "When I started my marriage, he was arrested and put in a Lahore fort for four months. It was a very difficult period, but we made it through that. And it's kind of ended in such a dramatic way also. But on top of it all I say one thing: that he was a great father and even better husband." The family says privately, they've received thousands of messages, letters and visits to console them. Shehrbano says a Christian woman approached her after the assassination. "She told me 'Your father was all we had.'" They're also looking ahead, to what legacy Taseer leaves for the future. His daughter Shehrbano says, "I hope his passing doesn't mean that the room for debate is over. I believe there's room in the public sphere for moderates, for liberals. I really hope that this doesn't mean that debate in Pakistan is over." His son Shehryar says he refuses to back down from the causes his father stood for. "It's not a Taseer trait. Taseers are fighters. He believed in Pakistan too much to ever back down. In fact his last tweet was 'Even if I'm the last one standing, I'd still support it.'" And daughter Sara says, "He had a liberal and progressive and secular vision. And he ...this country needed him. This country needed people like him. The region needed people like him. The world, I think, needs people like him."
answer:
Taseer and Giffords were both gunned down .
Taseer died while Giffords clings to life .
Daughter says father's killing was message to liberals to keep quiet .


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(CNN) -- The ever-expanding outbreak of life-threatening fungal meningitis in back pain patients linked to steroid injections prepared by a compounding pharmacy, which so far has sickened at least 214 people and killed 15 in 15 states, is a public health catastrophe. What is particularly tragic for those who have been sickened or killed by the tainted drug and for their loved ones is that this situation was completely avoidable. Since federal laws were enacted in 1938 and 1962 giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to ensure that all brand name and generic drugs were both safe and effective, compounding pharmacies have traditionally filled a very narrow health care niche in which they prepared, in response to physicians' prescriptions, individually tailored preparations of drugs for patients having unique medical needs that could not be met by a commercially available standard drug manufactured by a pharmaceutical company. While the FDA has long considered the compounding of drugs to be subject to FDA regulations, the agency has recognized the important health care role for such compounded medications. Therefore, it has used "enforcement discretion" to allow compounding pharmacies to produce these drugs without complying with FDA regulations, generally deferring regulatory oversight to state pharmacy boards. News: What is a compounding pharmacy? However over the past two decades, many so-called compounding pharmacies began large-scale production of drugs and moved from the traditionally narrow role filled by such pharmacies into a realm that clearly involved drug manufacturing and distribution of standardized drugs. In many cases, the drugs have been sold in multiple states, thus involving interstate commerce. The steroid medication linked to the current fungal meningitis outbreak was produced and widely distributed by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, one of many compounding pharmacies across the country that has crossed the line between traditional compounding and large-scale drug production. The injectable steroid medication produced at the center was never approved by the FDA and was not manufactured in accordance with the FDA's rigorous manufacturing standards designed to ensure that drugs are sterile and uncontaminated with such germs as bacteria or fungi before being sold and distributed. As a result, as many as 14,000 patients in 23 states were exposed to potentially contaminated steroids and need to be monitored for signs of fungal meningitis or other infections. Many people rightly are asking how the disastrous outbreak could happen in the United States and who is to blame. While numerous probes and investigations are just getting under way and litigation targeting the producer of the tainted drug and health care providers who used it will certainly take years to resolve, blame for this disaster will undoubtedly rest with many parties. Among them are the compounding pharmacy that produced the contaminated steroid drugs, health care facilities and providers who chose to use a dangerous drug lacking approval by the FDA and evidence that the products were sterile, trade associations and professional groups representing compounding pharmacies that have vigorously resisted federal regulatory oversight of their members, state and federal regulators, and Congress. A key player at the federal level deserving a significant amount of blame is the FDA. Loud alarm bells were sounded on December 4, 2006, when the FDA issued warning letters to the New England Compounding Center and four other compounding pharmacies, directing them to stop producing standardized versions of medications that, according to the agency, were being "marketed for general distribution rather than responding to the unique medical needs of individual patients." the center was cited for violations of FDA regulations in marketing four different drugs, including repackaged doses of the cancer drug Avastin into syringes for treatment of macular degeneration. News: Injectable drugs from Mass. facility suspect . Clearly, the FDA considered the center and the other compounding pharmacies to be engaged in drug manufacturing. The pharmacies, like any other drug manufacturer, were therefore subject to the safety and effectiveness standards required for approval of new drugs, as well as the rigorous manufacturing standards designed to ensure that drugs are sterile and uncontaminated with such germs as bacteria or fungi before being sold and distributed. However, following its warning letter, the FDA subsequently dropped the ball and failed to take the actions necessary to ensure the center adhered to these drug standards, which are essential for protecting the health of patients. For whatever reason, whether inattentiveness or lack of compliance and legal resources, by not aggressively enforcing the regulations related to large-scale drug manufacturing and interstate commerce, the FDA allowed the company to shift its wide-scale manufacturing and interstate distribution operation to injectable steroids. On Thursday, the FDA attempted to deflect criticism for its failures by asserting that it lacked authority to take action earlier. This flies in the face of the agency's long-stated position that it had legal authority over such activities and its prior enforcement activities against the New England center and multiple other compounding pharmacies. While no one wants to be viewed as being responsible for a preventable public health catastrophe, American citizens should express their outrage and demand that all parties responsible for this tragedy -- including the FDA -- be held accountable. Otherwise history will repeat itself. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Carome.
answer:

Michael Carome: The current deadly meningitis outbreak was completely avoidable .
The outbreak has sickened at least 214 people and killed 15 across 15 states .
The FDA allows compounding pharmacies to produce drugs without regulation, he says .
Americans should demand that all responsible parties be held accountable, Carome says .