Free Republic

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Goodbye, sunshine. Hello, study sessions. Colleges around the U.S. are scaling back spring break or canceling it entirely to discourage partying that could spread the virus and raise infection rates back on campus. Texas A&M University opted for a three-day weekend instead of a whole week off. The University of Alabama and the University of Wisconsin-Madison also did away with spring break but are giving students a day off later in the semester. Even some students who have the time to get away aren’t in the mood. Michigan Tech’s weeklong break began Friday, but 21-year-old...

My wife & I went to Mass yesterday for the first time in over a month of the churches being shut down. While it was joyful to be back in church, I was initially angry at the procedures and spacing. I noted the bleached out backs and sides of the pews from the repeated wiping. It was distressing to see our priest speaking the word of God through a mask. It was like nothing I have ever seen when he squirted his hands with sanitizer before offering us the Host. Then I thought of Christians around the world, in Iraq,...

President Barack Obama’s dance skills will be on display this evening, according to his wife. (WATCH: Obama dances in Tanzania) First lady Michelle Obama said that the president “will shake his groove thing” at a Latin music concert being held at White House on Monday. Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin and Romeo Santos are among the artists lined up to perform. The first lady made the prediction this morning during a Latin music workshop for students, according to a White House transcript. (WATCH: FLOTUS does the robot dance) “Now, the percussive beats and the buoyant melodies from these songs come just...

President Obama on Sunday defended his trip to Burma, insisting that the visit Monday is “not an endorsement” of the nation’s long-repressive leadership but rather an acknowledgment that the country is making progress toward reform. “I don’t think anybody is under any illusion that Burma has arrived, that they’re where they need to be,” Obama said at a joint news conference with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to begin his three-country Asia trip. President Obama arrived in Thailand on Sunday on his first foreign trip since winning a second term. His visit is designed to expand the U.S. economic and...

A reader passed along the following email from Democratic fundraiser Sally Minard inviting supporters to a a "Campaign Inaugural Gala Dinner" for President Barack Obama at the Starlight Roof at the Waldorf-Astoria on April 27. "The battle lines have been drawn," writes Minard. "The campaign for the presidency is joined...The revolutionary agenda proposed by the Republicans would drastically transform the relationship between our government and the American people. The budgets and policies offered are truly staggering in the burden they will place on the middle class, actually anyone outside the top 2% of the population. We need to stand with this...

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama will head back to his hometown next month to headline a Democratic party event. The president will be the main attraction at a Democratic National Committee gathering in Chicago on April 14, a Democrat with knowledge of the event confirms to CNN. The Chicago Tribune, which first reported word of Obama's appearance back in Chicago, terms the event a fundraiser. News of the president's trip to Chicago comes as Obama has picked up the pace in attending political functions and as his team lays the groundwork for his 2012 re-election bid. Obama's 2008 campaign...

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama headlines a Democratic party event Wednesday night, the second time this week and fourth time this month he's been the main attraction at a party gathering. The official White House schedule says that the president delivers remarks at a Democratic National Committee event at a hotel in the nation's capital. A source with knowledge of the gathering tells CNN that Obama will speak to members of the DNC's national advisory board and national finance committee.

Take a one minute tour of today's Detroit from the safety of your home. Its not hard to believe that Michigan deserves to sing the blues because it is such a Blue State. Democrat Governors, Congressman, Senators, Mayors, Councilmen, and the UAW have been ignoring the problems since the 1960's. At least Dearbornistan has some semblance of law (quasi Sharia) and order, but like African-Americans who have carved out their own and separate culture, so are Moslems desiring to supercede American culture with their own, thus fracturing a broken state even more. Detroit Poverty 40% United States Violent Crime 430...

Hats off to Cameron Diaz, who was out till well after 4am on the morning of the Oscars at the party Harvey Weinstein threw at Soho House's sexy digs on Sunset Boulevard. She had about four hours sleep before she had to try on a rack of gowns for the Academy Awards. Incredibly, she was full of vim when she stopped to say 'Hi' to me on the Oscar red carpet. She did her little gig on stage for the awards show.

Spring break has turned violent and deadly in unrelated incidents on Galveston Island. A 16-year-old girl from Deer Park drowned amid strong winds and currents. Elsewhere, a number of fights capped a concert on East Beach. A dozen were arrested. At spring break destinations everywhere, these scenes are often repeated. Yet psychologist Laurence Abrams says teens are just trying to enjoy themselves and the alcohol, sex and trouble tend to come with that. "They're not trying to hurt themselves. They're trying to have fun. Sometimes they make mistakes, as we all do. I'm not in favor of it. Don't misunderstand...

<p>NEW YORK - After igniting a media firestorm by flashing her apparent lack of underwear to the paparazzi, Britney Spears is finally talking. “It’s been so long since I’ve been out on the town with friends,” the singer writes in a posting Thursday on her Web site. “It’s also been 2 years since I’ve even celebrated my birthday.</p>

Feb. 23, 2006 - Four months ago, Bode Miller sat across from me in the bar of a New York City hotel and shared his idea of what a perfect two weeks in Torino would look like. “For me,” he said, “the ideal Olympics would be to go in with all that pressure, all that attention and have performances that are literally tear-jerking, that make people put their heads down because they’re embarrassed at how emotional they’re getting, that make people want to try sports, talk to their kids, call their f---ing ex-wives—and come away with no medals. I think...

Here's something to get you all riled up for the weekend... Join CODEPINK for New Year’s in Cuba December 27-January 2, 2006 Cuba is one of the most beautiful and fascinating countries on Earth—and George Bush says you can’t go there. Well, we’re going anyway, and we invite you to join us! This New Year’s CODEPINK will be organizing a large group of fun-loving and freedom-loving Americans to break George Bush’s ban on travel to Cuba. Join co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, together with Academy Award winning producer Paul Haggis, as we visit with farmers at their co-ops, doctors...

Rep. Dennis Kucinich would like to cut loose with Al Sharpton at a party, but the reverend said he'd prefer Sen. John Kerry's wife. Asked by a young woman at Tuesday's Democratic debate who they'd most like to "party with," candidates gave answers that elicited whoops and hollers from the young crowd. Kerry said he changed his answer after hearing that a fellow candidate would prefer hanging out with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry. "I was going to choose Carol Moseley Braun," Kerry said to Sharpton. "But now I'm going to have to choose you so I can keep an...

Over a year and a half into the Bush II administration, W magazine has blown the lid off the deep secret about the social whir at the White House under President George W. Bush – there isn't a whir. In its October issue, the New York-based fashion and style periodical features a story called "The Big Chill," about the lack of social buzz in Washington. Of course, most anybody in Dallas, Austin or Midland could have told them this before George W. ever put his hand on the Bible. If you expected George W. Bush the party animal to show...

<p>The Southern Tier desperately needs an infusion of people in their 20s to help the region regain some demographic balance -- but they must be a special kind of young adults, willing to play by our rules.</p> <p>Rule No. 1: Sshh!</p>