Free Republic

The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal sent out an invitation yesterday to a $299-a-day festival for its well-heeled subscribers to attend that strikes me as…. Well, think of it this way: If the New York Times were putting on a similar festival today, would the speakers be any different? Here is the lineup:(source)Hat tip: Richard Baehr

Could Michelle Obama be a Darkhorse Candidate for the Democrats?: Hillary Clinton paved a track as the former first U.S. First Lady to run for president in her own right. Could Michelle Obama be the next? Michelle Obama? Would She Run? With weak support for President Joe Biden among Democrats and questions mounting about his age, Obama could be a dark horse candidate for the Democrats. She remains very popular among Democrats. “Democrats see Barack Obama’s presidency as a type of modern ‘Camelot,’ the term often used to refer to John F. Kennedy’s presidency, when a young, smart and appealing...

(Newser) – Michelle Obama and George W. Bush have long had a special relationship, and at John McCain's funeral, a video of the former president handing the former first lady a cough drop as they sat next to one another in the crowd went viral. Obama, appearing on TODAY Thursday, explained. "It was a simple gesture," she said. As Bush got out a cough drop for his wife, Laura, "I looked over and I said, 'Hand me a cough drop,'" and he did. "President Bush and I, we are forever seatmates because of protocol. That's how we sit at all...

The Hollywood Reporter took offense Mrs. Trump wore her wedding ring in the picture. “Melania Trump’s official White House portrait puts her 15-carat wedding ring front and center,” its headline blared, adding: “Compared to Michelle Obama’s first official portrait first portrait, which shows the former first lady in the now-famous sleeveless Michael Kors dress in the Blue Room of the White House in 2009, Melania’s portrait has an almost surreal glow about it, not unlike a mall glamour shot

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – There’s one group of young eaters who like Michelle Obama’s school lunch program: pigs. New Mexico’s Galloping Grace Youth Ranch is accepting fruits and vegetables thrown away by students at several elementary schools in the Rio Rancho area and collects some five tons per week. Speaking of the pigs, goats and chickens gobbling up the students’ castaways, Wade says, “If you think about it, it’s a fresh salad bar every day. Fruits and vegetables and they love it.” To underscore the point, he’s talking about the farm animals, not the school children. The goats prefer romaine...

First Lady Michelle Obama was spotted leaving the DC location of SoulCycle this past Sunday, and has now been named a member of the cult… um… club, which offers fitness and indoor cycling classes. Soul Cycle describes its classes as a “dance party on a bike” (we all know how much the First Lady likes to dance) and combines high-intensity music and inspirational quotes that are said to benefit the mind and body. Examples of motivational phrases, which have been recited at the New York location, via Vanity Fair: “Be the same person on the outside as on the inside-those...

WASHINGTON — When White House chief pastry chef Bill Yosses left the executive mansion last summer, the president publicly mourned the loss of “the crust master’s” mysteriously addictive pies. And when the first family’s personal chef and pal, Sam Kass, left in December, Michelle Obama heaped praise on Kass’ “extraordinary legacy of progress” in an official White House statement. But the recent exit of head florist Laura Dowling, who’d been in the job since 2009, has been a much quieter affair. So hush-hush, in fact, that most outside of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. knew nothing about it. There’s still no official...

First - and worst – came BO’s humiliating loss to Bibi. No amount of money, sabotage, or fraud could pull the Israeli election out in Big Guy’s favor.Bibi, saying the Serenity Prayer: “God, help me to accept the things I cannot change.”Barry, saying the Serenity Prayer: “Allah, help me change the things I cannot accept.”Then came Sista’ Silverheels’ humiliating stumble and near tumble into the arms of little Emperor Akihito:I told her she should just take her traditional matcha green tea straight, butt I think she put a little “cream” in it anyway.As if that weren’t bad enough, next we...

LANSING -- The Michigan Senate passed a bill allowing up to three fundraising bake sales in public schools per week, providing a way around federal health standards that banned them. brownies. State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton Township, introduced Senate Bill 109, which passed 36-1, with one senator excused from voting. Colbeck said Boy Scouts in his district asked him why the state banned bake sales in schools. After looking into it further, he realized Michigan had not approved exemptions from the federal Smart Snacks in School standards that disqualify most bake sale items. "(This bill is a) common sense change...

First lady Michelle Obama’s face was reportedly blurred by Saudi state television Tuesday as she and the president met with new Saudi King Salman in Riyadh.

A federal judge said this week that the Obama administration is likely violating the law by telling immigration agents and officers not to arrest illegal immigrants they deem low priority, in a case that could upend President Obama’s enforcement policy. For the last several years the administration has said it will no longer arrest most illegal immigrants, arguing it wants to focus only on those with serious criminal records or gang ties. The Homeland Security department said it was using “prosecutorial discretion.” Immigration agents and officers sued, saying federal law requires them to make the arrests, but the Obama administration...

The corporate closure will eliminate not only jobs, but 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, 5,500 delivery routes and 570 bakery outlet stores in the United States. While some workers bucked threats from union bosses and returned to work, it was not enough. "The problem is we don't have enough crossing those lines to maintain normal production,” said Rayburn. So, this ends a company that has been in business since 1930 providing delicious treats to generations of customers. While it is a sad day for most Americans, one person who will be celebrating is First Lady Michelle Obama, who is the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Both sides called it a generation-defining race for the White House: a choice between Democrat Barack Obama's brand of government activism and Republican Mitt Romney's commitment to reducing Washington's role in Americans' daily lives. Obama's victory, however, did not settle that question. Instead, the hard-fought battle for the White House exposed an electorate deeply divided by race, age and party. Tuesday's elections - in which Republicans kept control of the U.S. House and Obama's Democrats held on to the Senate - suggested that bitter partisanship would likely remain very much alive in Washington in the new year....

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest change in employment over the last month affected black workers. In September, the unemployment rate for blacks was 13.4 percent. In October, that number jumped to 14.3 percent, an almost a full percentage point change, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment for whites remained steady at 7 percent. Likewise, the unemployment rate remain unchanged for teenagers (23.7 percent) and adult men (7.3 percent). For Asians the rate ticked up, from 4.8 percent tp 4.9 percent. Likewise for Hispanics, from 9.9 percent to 10 percent. The unemployment rate for adult...

The franchisor-franchisee relationship can be a heated one, especially when corporate asks the operators to spend more money for one of their initiatives. At McDonald's (MCD), remodeling investments, marketing campaigns and discounting are touchy subjects right now. Mark Kalinowski, lead restaurant analyst at Janney Capital Markets, spoke with a bunch of McDonald's franchisees to gauge how they felt about what's going on, reports Scott Hume and Burger Business.

Students boycotting school lunchesPublished: Oct. 6, 2012 at 4:46 PM NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Many U.S. high school students are protesting new, healthier school lunches, and a professor says it may take a while for students to accept healthier food. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required public schools to follow new nutritional guidelines this academic year, providing fruits and vegetables and limiting fat, sodium, and calories, The New York Times reported Friday. "Before, there was no taste and no flavor," said Malik Barrows, a senior at Automotive High School in Brooklyn. "Now there's no taste, no...

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Students at Parsippany Hills High School held a strategy session on Thursday to discuss a potential lunch strike, on Friday, over what they have called inadequately sized meals. “This year you’re eating lunch and you’re like ‘Did I even eat?’ You’re not even full,” senior Brandon Faris told CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis. New federal guidelines stemming from first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign have resulted in limits on protein and bread, and an increase in vegetables and fruits. The changes have also come at an increased cost. All of it has also sparked a student...

It would be laughable -- if our school kids weren't hungry! By now, most everyone who pays attention, is aware of how our government, Big Nanny, has screwed-up school lunches so badly that our kids either won't eat the stuff or, they DO eat it and -- remain hungry. This is just more evidence of what happens when the government takes an active hand in "helping" Americans. Once again, I repeat my plea to the UIS government: "For God's sake -- stop helping us!" ABC News reports the following: "School lunch trays are a bit lighter this year after Congress-approved...

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) — One student complains because his cafeteria no longer serves chicken nuggets. Another gripes that her school lunch just isn't filling. A third student says he's happy to eat an extra apple with his lunch, even as he's noshing on his own sub. Leaner, greener school lunches served under new federal standards are getting mixed grades from students piling more carrots, more apples and fewer fatty foods on their trays.

Following Gov. Mitt Romney recently to an American Legion convention in Indianapolis, correspondent Ari Shapiro worked the audience with his recorder as he waited for Romney to speak. It was, he would say in his report, "not an Obama-friendly crowd." He aired comments from Bobbie Lucie, a veteran's wife, as illustration. "I just—I don't like him," Lucie said of the president. "Can't stand to look at him. I don't like his wife. She's far from the first lady. It's about time we get a first lady in there that acts like a first lady and looks like a first lady."...