Free Republic

The President and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke today by telephone in their first substantive conversation since the President's congratulatory call on May 22, 2010. The President looks forward to seeing Cameron in Canada later this month and in Washington on July 20. The President affirmed his deep commitment to the special and historic relationship between our two countries. The President thanked the Prime Minister for his commitment to lead on the broad range of issues on our shared agenda. The two leaders discussed Afghanistan, including the Prime Minister's recent visit, and they reaffirmed their firm commitment to NATO's...

When Michelle Obama welcomed some of the nation's top chefs to the White House on Friday, she used the opportunity to showcase not one, but two festive tops. She rocked an '80s-inspired t-shirt (designer info to follow) to address Tom Colicchio, Cat Cora, Rachael Ray and other culinary celebrities. When it was time to work up a sweat in the garden, the first lady changed into an old favorite: a sleeveless Lanvin top. Which do you like best?

When Michelle Obama welcomed some of the nation's top chefs to the White House on Friday, she used the opportunity to showcase not one, but two festive tops. She rocked an '80s-inspired t-shirt (designer info to follow) to address Tom Colicchio, Cat Cora, Rachael Ray and other culinary celebrities. When it was time to work up a sweat in the garden, the first lady changed into an old favorite: a sleeveless Lanvin top. Which do you like best?

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has been left red faced after mistakenly sending a birthday message to the Queen a week early. An official statement from the US foreign policy chief paid tribute to the "Queen’s life and legacy,” despite the fact that the Monarch does not celebrate her official birthday until next weekend. The diplomatic faux pas, sent on behalf of President Barack Obama and the American people on Friday, also celebrated the "special relationship" between the British and US governments.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder didn't invite Florida AG Bill McCollum to his oil-spill meeting with AGs and federal prosecutors from the Gulf Coast. McCollum was not particularly pleased, judging from the statement his office issued. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to exclude the State of Florida from today's meeting of Attorneys General on the impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is concerning. ... I am disappointed the President and his Attorney General didn't appear to see the Deepwater Horizon incident as a severe threat to Florida's economy and environment, even though according to the...

President Obama called Saturday for Americans to honor their countrymen who have died in war, saying that Memorial Day should be marked by "doing our part for the loved ones our fallen heroes have left behind and looking after our military families." In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said, "We are called to honor their ultimate sacrifice with more than words. We are called to honor them with deeds."

The American Academy of Pediatrics has reversed a decision made earlier this month to allow for a modified form of female genital mutilation they called a "ritual nick." This is how they described it: "However, the ritual nick suggested by some pediatricians is not physically harmful and is much less extensive than routine newborn male genital cutting. There is reason to believe that offering such a compromise may build trust between hospitals and immigrant communities, save some girls from undergoing disfiguring and life-threatening procedures in their native countries, and play a role in the eventual eradication of FGC. It might...

Chicago pool report #1 By Anne E. Kornblut White House Correspondent The Washington Post Shortly after takeoff, a surprise gaggle on Air Force One: with Bo, the presidential dog. His owner was just a few steps behind. President Obama watched and smiled as Bo ran down the aisle past a throng of cooing reporters. Obama cracked the old joke about needing a dog in Washington - since there's no such thing as a real friend. Someone told him that Bo had been spotted at the airport interacting with his bomb-sniffing relatives. "I didn't want him getting into it with the...

In January, when a magnitude-7.0 earthquake killed an estimated 230,000 Haitians and left more than a million others homeless, Hollywood shed a collective, well-choreographed tear, then banded together like a Christopher Guest cast to help put the country back together. The tabloids kept track of the most generous celebrities, noting that Brangelina and Sandra Bullock each donated $1 million, while others, like Sean Penn, decamped to Haiti to work directly on refugee efforts. In perhaps the most visible celebrity relief effort, George Clooney hosted a star-studded telethon that featured performances by Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and, obviously, Bono. Yet as hundreds...

Visiting Afghanistan is something David Beckham has always wanted to but until today was unable to fit the visit around his demanding football schedule. With more time on his hands since an injury that has put him out of play, Beckham, 35-years-old, took a flight to Helmand where about 8,000 British troops are based. "I have nothing but admiration for these young men and women, and it makes me very proud to be British," he said in a statement released by BFBS. "I've wanted to visit Afghanistan for a long time, and I hope that in some small way it...

Hillary Clinton has travelled to Shanghai to see for herself the results of her efforts to build up the American pavilion at the World Expo 2010. The US secretary of state personally helped raise money for the pavilion last year, pleading with US companies to donate the $61m (£42m) needed to build the structure and the exhibit. The construction of the pavilion was near death when the Obama administration came in, but Mrs Clinton came to the rescue. She said at the time it would send the wrong message to China if the US was not at the World Expo....

TALIBAN rebels are earning a bounty of up to 200,000 Pakistani rupees (£1,660) for each Nato soldier they kill, according to insurgent commanders. The money is said to come from protection rackets, taxes imposed on opium farmers, donors in the Gulf states who channel money through Dubai and from the senior Taliban leadership in Pakistan. So far this year 213 Nato soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, including 41 British troops, bringing the potential rewards for the Taliban to £350,000. Taliban commanders said the bounty had more than doubled since the beginning of last year.

At a time when the unemployment rate stands at 9.9 percent, when jobs are still being lost, when worries about the global economy are causing breathtaking volatility on Wall Street, when millions of Americans who still have jobs are worrying more than ever about the safety of their retirement savings — at a time when all that is going on, the Obama White House has turned itself into a showcase of glitzy extravagance.

Immigration officials will not swoop in to deport a woman whose daughter asked first lady Michelle Obama about "taking people away" if they don't have proper paperwork, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said Thursday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations are based on "solid law enforcement work and not classroom Q and As," said DHS spokesman Matt Chandler. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a part of DHS.

Yemen's government has announced it will not extradite Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born jihadist cleric who is credited with inspiring the recent wave of anti-American terrorist plots by al Qaeda recruits. Over the weekend, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al Qirbi said Mr. al-Awlaki would be tried in the Arabian Peninsula state once he is captured. "The man the U.S. wants to be extradited will stand trial in Yemen under the national law," Mr. al Qirbi was quoted as saying in the Yemen state news agency, al Saba.

The lawyer for a French Muslim woman fined for driving while wearing a full-face veil has accused police of abusing her human rights, as the government pushes to ban the garment. Police stopped the 31-one-year-old in the western city of Nantes and fined her 22 euros ($31.80) on the grounds that her niqab - an Islamic veil with a slit for the eyes - restricted her view so she could not drive safely. "This fine is not justified on road safety grounds and constitutes a breach of human and women's rights," said the woman's lawyer, Jean-Michel Pollono. He insists his...

Thanks to a tipster we may have identified the "long haired bleeping gnome" featured in Lefty Infiltrator exposes his true colors at Denver Tea Party 4-15-2010. It now appears that he was NOT a lefty infiltrator and for that I apologize. If you watched the video I'm sure you can all understand how I could have made that honest mistake. Just to clarify - after reading his bio and doing a quickie Google dive on our long haired bleeping gnome - I can make no claim as to the nature of his political persuasion. I can claim finding more red...

The Tea Party Express, which started its journey in Senator Harry Reid’s hometown – Searchlight, Nevada – finished its tour of 43 cities today. Thousands from across the country gathered at 10 a.m. to hear speakers and musicians, and to show their displeasure with big corrupted government. This was the first of two mega-rallies in the capital, with the second at 4 p.m. Many signs ridiculed the biased and discredited MSM and political leaders who have been attacking and slandering the tea-party movement for over a year now.

**NSFW** *Vile language warning*: The lefty longhair drops f-bombs and g-d's everyone in sight. He had no press pass, his two person crew were carrying their microphone equip in a plastic shopping bag but HE claimed to be from the Wall St. Journal and was attempting to interview attendees about racism. Who knows who he really was. When he started going off, I whipped out my new Ipod nano and started rolling. I salute the brave tea partier who confronted this twit and unmasked him for the fraud he was.

Original title "Revealed: Hospital has staff from 70 countries as nurses who don't even understand 'nil by mouth' forced to take English lessons" Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1263803/Revealed-Hospital-staff-70-countries-nurses-dont-understand-nil-mouth-forced-English-lessons.html#ixzz0kI9M7QBK too long for FR. The huge number of overseas nurses, cleaners and porters has forced health chiefs to send them on ten-week English courses because many do not understand basic medical phrases. Among the terms some workers from countries such as Burma, the Philippines and Poland can't follow are 'nil by mouth', 'doing the rounds' and 'bleeping a doctor'. They highlight the language problems throughout the Health Service, which critics say are putting patients'...