Free Republic

Sad news for salad fans who enjoy the peppery bite of arugula over other lettuces: there's a national shortage. The shortfall is due to the "unexpectedly cold and wet winter weather facing growers throughout the Southwest," according to the New Food Economy. Those harsh conditions "paved the way for the spread of a fungal disease called downy mildew," which has made it difficult to produce healthy crops, the article further explained. The shortage has already been felt by shoppers, purveyors and and diners across the country. In New York, the fast casual Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava posted signs Monday saying...

ROME – Italy’s hospitals are to lose 30,000 beds as the scenario outlined in last summer’s spending review begins to take shape. Regions have until 31 December to indicate where the reductions will be made. In the upcoming three-year period from 2013 to 2015, the current average ratio of 4.2 beds per thousand residents will have to drop to 3.7. The total should include 0.7% set aside for rehabilitation and long-stay patients who no longer need acute care. Some regions, including Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Tuscany and Lombardy, have already begun to wield the axe while others have yet to start....

Florida school district is considering a plan to install surveillance cameras on cafeteria trash cans to monitor what kids are throwing away – after they discovered that students were tossing out their federally-mandated fruit and vegetables. The Lake County School Board said more than $75,000 worth of vegetables have been thrown in the garbage. The veggies and fresh fruit are party of the Obama administration’s policy to force schools to provide healthy produce in lunch rooms. “It’s fairly specific recipe of what they would like us to serve,” Lake County School Board member Tod Howard told Fox News. “Unfortunately, much...

The Obama campaign has found its Joe the Plumber. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night is expected to emphasize economic inequality, appropriately timed coming off the Occupy Wall Street fall leading up to Tuesday’s release of frequent Republican front-runner Mitt Romney’s tax returns which reveal that the multi-millionaire pays an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent. To hammer home the political game that the Obama campaign has been playing, billionaire Warren Buffett‘s longtime secretary will be joining first lady Michelle Obama in her seating section during tonight’s speech. The guest choice is significant because Buffett’s secretary,...

President Obama's team is holding a "Dinner With Barack" contest to win a sit-down with the commander in chief. And if you win, you get to bring a friend or relative of your choosing to dinner. To enter, click here and make a donation to be automatically entered to win. A donation as small as $10 will get you a bid to have a meal with Obama. The president will cover airfare and the meal -- "all you have to bring is your story and your ideas." The "Dinner With Barack" contest was announced today on Obama's Twitter account

(CNSNews.com) - Visiting an organic farm in Hawaii on Saturday, First Lady Michelle Obama said that “arugula and steak” was her “favorite” meal and expressed her view that American children need to “get their palates adjusted” so they will begin eating properly. Mrs. Obama also said that children in “underserved communities” become obese because they “aren’t growing up with vegetables because there are no grocery stores.” The first lady was participating in a roundtable discussion at the Ma’o Organic Farms in Waianae, Hawaii. During the discussion, according to the White House transcript of the event, she said that she had...

"Noting the interdependence among peace, security and development, President Rousseff and President Obama reaffirmed their desire to build a just and inclusive world order, which promotes democracy, human rights and social justice." "They reaffirmed the imperative to modernize the international financial institutions in a way that reflects the changes in the world economy and moves towards global financial stability, sustainable development and poverty reduction." "They welcomed the strengthening of the collaboration on environment and climate change, including under the Common Agenda on Environment and the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Regarding Climate Change, and agreed to include in the Common...

More than two-thirds of New York City's public school students will begin getting more nutritious free or low-cost school lunches under First Lady Michelle Obama's pet project to get kids to eat well and exercise. President Obama signed into law Sunday the $4.5 billion Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which expands the free lunch program and requires that schools provide more nutritious lunches. "We've seen the connection between what kids eat and how well they perform in school," he said. Some 680,000 out of 1.1 million New York children participate in the school lunch program - a big chunk of the...

American sovereignty is probably in no greater danger than now as Congress moves to cede decisions on agricultural production and policy to the World Trade Organization and labyrinth of unelected government officials within the United States, including the Department of Homeland Security. Section 404 of the Food Safety Modernization Act: Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization or any other treaty or international agreement to which the United States is a party.

Almost A Quarter of Republicans Think Obama 'May Be The Antichrist' As 14 States Sue Over Healthcare Reforms DAVID GARDNER 24th March 2010 Americans who suggest Barack Obama should rot in hell are apparently deadly serious. Nearly a quarter of Republicans believe the Democrat president 'may be the Antichrist', according to a survey. An even greater number compared him to Hitler. Mr Obama was jubilant this week after securing his £626billion healthcare reform plan. But his triumph seems only to have inflamed his critics among the evangelical Christians from America's heartland who kept George Bush in power for eight years...

I bring you the State Dinner menu. First item: Potato and Eggplant Salad White House Arugula with onion seed vinaigrette 2008 sauvignon blanc, Modus Oprendi, Napa Valley, California Perhaps the price at Whole Foods is no longer an issue because they're growing it in the garden? “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” the senator said. “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”

Let's say you're preparing dinner and you realize with dismay that you don't have any certified organic Tuscan kale. What to do? Here's how Michelle Obama handled this very predicament Thursday afternoon: The Secret Service and the D.C. police brought in three dozen vehicles and shut down H Street, Vermont Avenue, two lanes of I Street and an entrance to the McPherson Square Metro station. They swept the area, in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs, with bomb-sniffing dogs and installed magnetometers in the middle of the street, put up barricades to keep pedestrians out, and took positions with...

MSNBC, Obama's favorite network, reported on Obama's trip with Joe Biden to get a burger. Just two wild and crazy guys out for some red meat. Andrea Mitchell (does she have nothing else to do?) reported that Obama ordered a burger and mustard. But the video (at the link) and story didn't mention that it was Dijon mustard. Bet he had to seek John Kerry's counsel on that.

Conservative thinker is branded a closet liberal based on the food he eats.The arugula meme was born, so far as I can tell, when a young and relatively unknown presidential candidate by the name of Barack Obama, attempting to sympathize with a group of Iowans about the challenges of rising food prices, opened his mouth and promptly inserted his foot: “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” the senator said. “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.” The state of Iowa, for all of its vast food production, does not...

The 10 most decadent dictators A revolving gold statue, pink champagne and a "Pleasure Brigade" of nubile retainers all feature in Times Money's list of history's most decadent dictators. While their people suffered, these men - and sometimes their wives and children - agonised over how best to spend their ill-gotten gains... 1. Kim Jong-il, "Dear Leader" of North Korea since 1994. The son of the communist state's "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il has super-expensive tastes, with 17 palaces, and collections of hundreds of cars and around 20,000 video tapes. On one state visit to Russia, he reportedly had...

So Barack is going to give his acceptance speech from a minature version of an ancient Greek temple. And what were those temples normally used for? Worshiping the Gods, naturally. Such an exceptional ego requires portrayel by the exceptional talent of Tennyson Hayes, who comes through again with an appropriate offering. An Ego for the Ages in a Classical Setting Posted on August 27, 2008 by Mike O So Barack is going to give his acceptance speech from a minature version of an ancient Greek temple.  And what were those temples normally used for?  Worshiping the Gods, naturally.(UPDATE: ‘Who mourns for Adonis’?  Absolutely...

Maybe...if you buy the sort of earrings the wife of a US Senator who makes a big salary because her husband got her boss a big, fat earmark would wear. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle, complained the government’s $600 economic stimulus check was only enough to buy “a pair of earrings” while stumping for her husband. “You’re getting $600 - what can you do with that?” Mrs. Obama said in Pontiac, Michigan last week. “Not to be ungrateful or anything, but maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn’t pay down every bill every month. The short-term...

Ever notice things the left likes are immune from CGWP (Causes Global Warming Panic)? So, Plasma TVs cause global warming. Well, Arugula causes global warming. Sure. Why not? It is a cultivated plant and as we know any agricultural activity — like any activity of man — causes global warming. It requires fertilizer, pesticides and water, which is made up of H2O and we all know that O is a main ingredient of CO2, with a capital C, which rhymes with G, which stands for Global Warming.

Vero Possumus, latin for yes we can (or at least an approxmimation of it). While I think that every failed campaign has a "jump the shark" moment. I'm thinking Michael Dukakis in the tank and John Kerry in the bunny suit. Therefore I'm thinking that Obama's campaign has just jumped the possom. What I was hoping is that all you Freepers out there with a command of Latin could have some fun with this and give us alternatives for his use on his new presidential seal. Of course faux Latin would also be much fun

On the way to his rendezvous with destiny, Barack Obama consistently lost white voters, especially of the middle and working classes, to Hillary Clinton--voters variously known as Appalachians or Reagan Democrats, rural voters and white ethnics in the industrial states. Because of this, he lost most of the big swing states that a Democrat needs--Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia (which would have made Gore president in 2000 had he won there), that last by a staggering 41 points. Heading into the general election, in which the weight of the black vote will shrink as compared to its importance in the...