Free Republic

Christie, by his own admission, is "not a subtle personality" and he likes to take charge. Those two traits figured prominently in how the rising Republican handled Sandy. From his frequent, televised updates to residents as the storm's winds whipped the state's beaches to his criticism last week of fellow Republican John Boehner's decision to delay a U.S. House vote on federal storm aid, his handling of his native state's worst natural disaster may one day be considered the defining moment in the political career of a budding presidential contender. The timing of the storm _ days before a presidential...

The government should ban high-sugar cereals such as Coco Pops and other foods that are contributing to an obesity epidemic among British children, the shadow health secretary has urged. Regulations limiting the amount of sugar, salt and fat in processed foods should be considered if the food industry does not take action itself, according to Labour’s Andy Burnham, who has begun a consultation on how to tackle obesity. Burnham highlighted the case of breakfast cereals, saying many aimed at children are more than one-third sugar by weight. …

After Wayne LaPierre spoke of the NRA's desire to help make children safer by using its own money and resources to train teachers and work with police departments to have an armed presence at every school that wants it, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former RNC chair Michael Steele joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg in crying foul. Said Christie: "In general, I don't think the solution to safety in schools is putting an armed guard because for it to really be effective in my view, from a law enforcement perspective, you have to have an armed guard at every classroom."...

The Left's love affair with N.J. Gov. Chris Christie continues ... so long as the outspoken pol is trashing his own party. Christie made headlines today by blaming the death of a Hurricane Sandy relief bill loaded with pork squarely on the GOP. “There is only one group to blame,” he ranted. “The House Majority and John Boehner. Last night, the House Majority failed the basic test of leadership and they did so with callous disregard to the people of my state. It was disappointing and disgusting to watch. Shame on you, shame on Congress.” That sentiment earned kudos from...

A century ago, Elsie Scheel was the perfect woman. So said a 1912 article in The New York Times about how Scheel, 24, was chosen by the "medical examiner of the 400 "coeds"' at Cornell University as a woman "whose very presence bespeaks perfect health." Scheel, however, was hardly model-thin. At 5 feet 7 and 171 pounds, she would, by today's medical standards, be clearly overweight. (Her body mass index was 27; 25 to 29.9 is overweight.) But a new report suggests that Scheel may have been onto something. The report on nearly 3 million people found that those whose...

A Florida woman is still recovering from the insult at finding a valet ticket that described her as fat. Sharyn Peoples used a valet when she was in Boca Raton in early December to park at a local mall while she appeared at a play but when she picked up her car she found the ticket identifying the driver with the words 'play,' 'red dress' and 'fat.' 'I was mortified,' she told WTVJ. 'In handwriting it said 'play, red dress, and fat' on it.' Peoples said she found the description insulting and shocking and she contacted LAZ Parking of Florida,...

A new poll has New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie leading the 2016 GOP presidential field.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said concerns that his weight would prevent him from serving as president were “ridiculous” in an interview set to air Wednesday. In an interview for Barbara Walters’s “10 Most Fascinating People” series, the broadcast veteran asked the New Jersey governor how he would respond to “people who say that you couldn’t be president because you're so heavy.” “That’s ridiculous, I mean, that’s ridiculous,” Christie responded. “I mean, I don’t know what the basis for that is.” …

Tens of thousands of New Jersey residents are without power. Many have lost homes and everything else that they have. Some don’t have enough to eat and others are struggling to stay warm. This is not the time for a responsible leader to go do his self-promoting shtick on Saturday Night Live. But Christie seems so tone deaf that he puts his self-promotion ahead of anything else.

FARGO – Former Fargo radio and TV personality Ed Schultz slapped down speculation this week that MSNBC may replace him in its weekday lineup, according to media reports. The New York Times reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources, that MSNBC was considering replacing “The Ed Show” in the left-leaning cable news station’s 7 p.m. weekday time slot, opting instead for a show hosted by Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein. MSNBC denied there prime-time programming changes in the works, TVNewser reported.

Fat chance for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s White House aspirations in the wake of his post-Sandy bromance with President Obama. National Republican political consultant John McLaughlin said Christie didn’t do himself any favors with his enthusiastic embrace of Obama after Hurricane Sandy devastated his state — or with his arguably self-serving Republican National Convention keynote speech.... McLaughlin added that just “a couple of days after” Christie lavished praise on Obama, the president “certainly might have deserved some criticism, and still to this day, because the federal response in the area is nonexistent in a lot of ways.” Christie has...

The Koch Brothers think-tank, Americans for Prosperity, handed down a warning to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for not rejecting provisions in the ACA to submit health insurance exchange plans ahead of the health law’s full implementation. Republicans were already furious with Christie for praising President Obama’s rapid response to the super-storm Sandy that ravaged parts of the East Coast last week, and now the Koch Brothers are pressuring him to reject a New Jersey exchange bill to rebuff the ACA’s requirement before a November 16 cutoff date for states to set up health insurance exchanges. If states fail to...

It’s true love between the Democratic president and the Republican governor of New Jersey. More than a week after President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie toured sections of the Jersey Shore ravaged by Superstorm Sandy, the White House remains “stunned” at how helpful Christie and his team have been and how easy it is to work with them... “The Christie people are so much easier to deal with than the Cuomo people,” a senior administration official said, referring to Gov. Cuomo. “New York wants to do everything alone, but we’re working with Christie really well. It’s weird.” Obama...

Christie — a potential 2016 White House contender — said he worked harder than just about every other Republican to elect Romney, and that his recent praise of Obama had nothing to with Romney’s loss. “My activity with President Obama was just another chapter in the leadership I’ve tried to show in this state, which is people care more about getting things done than they care about partisanship,” he said Wednesday. “And I’m going to continue to conduct myself that way.”

"As a party, we have to look forward to what our challenges are in the future," Christie said. "This election is over. So we have to look forward to the next challenges." As the party figures out how to attract Hispanics, women and young people, Republicans may look toward Christie as a frontrunner for the 2016 nomination. He leads a blue and diverse state, walks the walk on bipartisanship and could steer the party away from the far right.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie -- Mitt Romney's surrogate-turned-President Obama fan -- bristled today at suggestions that his embrace of the Democratic incumbent cost Republicans the White House.... When asked what went wrong for Romney last night, Christie deadpanned: “He didn’t get enough votes.” “I’m not a pundit, I’m an office holder,” Christie said.

NEW YORK, - The Zagat restaurant review service said the results of its first-ever Pizza Survey indicate U.S. diners eat pizza an average 4.3 times per month. The website said its survey found 83 percent of respondents counted pizza as among their favorite foods and indicates the average U.S. consumer eats pizza an average 4.3 times per month. Zagat said pepperoni was the favorite topping in the survey, with 38 percent of respondents naming it as their preferred pizza topper. Anchovies were the least favorite, with 34 percent saying they are not fans. New York-style thin crust pizza was the...

This is disgusting! The letter sent to her is soooooooo TYPICAL lib!!!! And God love her husband! This is progressives for ya', folks! Obesity is now the accepted bigotry! Michelle Obama approves!

A local news anchor took the air Tuesday to blast a viewer who attacked her for being overweight. Jennifer Livingston of WKBT in La Crosse, Wis., slammed the viewer on-air after he wrote in to complain that Livingston wasn't "a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular" because of her size. "I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn't improved for many years," the viewer wrote in the email titled "Community Responsibility." "I leave you this note hoping that you'll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy...

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have identified a mechanism that can give energy-storing white fat some of the beneficial characteristics of energy-burning brown fat. The findings, based on studies of mice and of human fat tissue, could lead to new strategies for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. The study was published August 2 in the online edition of the journal Cell. Humans have two types of fat tissue: white fat, which stores excess energy in the form of triglycerides, and brown fat, which is highly efficient at dissipating stored energy as heat. Newborns have a relative abundance of...