Free Republic

So much for girl power. Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell tweeted out a positive message regarding former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who the singer once dubbed the "first Spice Girl," to honor the late leader's legacy earlier today. Liberal social media users quickly engulfed Halliwell with hateful tweets, using the kind of language normally reserved for the worst of the worst....

In the mid-seventies, Susan A. Patton was among the "200 pioneer women" to join Princeton University's previously all-male student body. As president of her alumni class, she recently attended an Anne-Marie Slaughter–endorsed "Women and Leadership" event that "allowed current undergraduate women to speak informally with older and presumably wiser alumnae." But the "girls" in attendance "glazed over" discussing careerism, she found. So today she wrote an open letter to The Daily Princetonian telling "the daughters I never had" what she wished she'd said: Forget about having it all, or not having it all, leaning in or leaning out ... Here’s...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has long campaigned for the fashion industry through organizations like Fashion’s Night Out and the CFDA. And now it seems as if all that fashion do-gooding has panned out—it’s won him the cover of the eco-friendly May edition of L’Uomo Vogue, Italian Vogue’s magazine for men. For the event, the New York City mayor and C40 Climate Leadership Group president was photographed by Italian photographer Francesco Carrozzini in a conservative though spiffy dark suit and striped tie. Of the casting choice, Italian Vogue editor in chief Franca Sozzani told the Financial Times: “I did think it might...

First came the bangs. Then a comedy sketch on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Next, her unexpected presentation of the Oscar for Best Picture. Now, in April, she graces the cover of Vogue magazine, for the second time. Do we need any more confirmation of Michelle Obama’s apotheosis? Some of the intense interest in the first lady may be owing to the fact that she is now inviting it. The second term of her husband’s presidency gives her increased freedom to be herself, notes Jennifer Lawless, director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University in Washington, D.C....

Is this what Michelle Obama looks like untethered to the pressure of a campaign? Is she free to follow her whims without worries about political backlash? The first lady became the buzz of the weekend when she beamed into the Academy Awards from the White House to present the award for best picture with Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson. Attendees and viewers were flabbergasted at the satellite image of the elegantly dressed Obama, flanked by young service members in full regalia, opening the envelope to name Ben Affleck’s “Argo” the winner. “It just seem[ed] so natural because the whole thing is...

Everyone's buzzing about Frank Ocean, Taylor Swift, and Mumford & Sons, but did you know that Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton are also nominated for Grammys this year. They're nominated in the often-overlooked Spoken Word category, which honors poetry, audio books, and other forms of audio storytelling. Michelle Obama, along with producers Scott Crewell and Dan Zitt, are nominated for the audio recording of her first audio book, American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America. "With one nomination," points out the Huffington Post's Julie Miller, "the First Lady has already out-Grammy-ied Justin Bieber...

Amid the media swirl surrounding possible gun control measures after the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre just last month, many pro-gun advocates are speaking out. Musicians are no different. Zoltan Bathory, guitarist of Five Finger Death Punch, used his Facebook page to discuss his annoyance at the media and the concern that his guns will be confiscated by the government, despite the fact there is no evidence to back up that fear. Bathory writes: "Let's talk about 'assault' rifles for a second. Anti-gun advocates in the media placing all the emphasis on the word 'ASSAULT' for a reason. It sounds menacing...

It's official. Reality-television executives have lost their minds. The reality-TV shows featuring mostly black casts debuting in 2013 are setting back images of black folks in television at least 60 years. While critics are obsessed with the controversial film Django Unchained, there is a movement taking place in reality television that has elevated black buffoonery to the highest level possible while diminishing black culture to the lowest level in recent memory. The images of blacks on TLC's reality shows Best Funeral Ever and The Sisterhood and Oxygen's All My Babies' Mamas are appalling. They are also reminiscent more of images...

Threepeat: President visits same restaurants on this year's vacation as last year's... After a day of golf, President Obama on Friday night had a long, late dinner in Waikiki, spending more than 3 1/2 hours at Nobu restaurant. Joined by First Lady Obama and an unidentified group of friends, the President arrived at the "perennially hip" Waikiki Parc Hotel at 8:35 PM, home to Nobu, which bills itself as "yet another canvas for Chef Nobu Matsuhisa to display his legendary dishes." The closed-off streets around the hotel filled with excited crowds as word of the President's presence spread through Waikiki....

Open source house design community WikiHouse demonstrated their construction system at Milan Design Week, providing a visual update on the project. Their goal is to make it possible for anyone to download and print a timber structure using a CNC milling machine, and then fit the pieces together to build an affordable house ready for cladding, wiring, insulation and plumbing...

Avon Products on Tuesday announced plans to lay off 1,500 workers globally. That's about 3.7 percent of its work force. The layoffs, which Avon described as part of a previously announced initiative to cut $400 million in annual costs by the end of 2015, are expected to initially cost the company money. In conjunction with moves to exit the South Korea and Vietnam markets, Avon says it will be taking $50 million to $60 million in pre-tax charges in Q4 2012, followed by an additional $30 million in charges as the changes progress. However, Avon believes it will see immediate...

The Barack-and-Bill double act on display this fall marks a new and intriguing phase in a psychological entanglement so rich that if Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were alive, they would surely be squabbling over it instead of Sabina Spielrein’s hysteria. No one close to Obama or Clinton even bothers with the pretense that there is any real affection between them. But most concur with the assessment of a Democratic operative with tentacles deep in both worlds: that “the relationship today is totally transactional—and highly functional.”

The empty chair president

PEMBROKE, Mass.—Hugh Crossen found himself well into retirement and a little adrift. The former salesman missed meeting new people. As a hobby, he maintains a collection of 7,000 restaurant menus, but he says his wife, Joyce, "isn't as tickled with it as I am." "It takes up a lot of space in the cellar!" says his spouse. Fortunately, Mr. Crossen, who is 77 years old, found a new audience in the "Dull Men's Club," a regular gathering in this town south of Boston. There is no agenda other than to salute the quiet eccentricities of everyday life. The club started...

The city’s first known Trayvon Martin mural is going up on a wall of an East New York laundromat - adding to a brewing campaign to make sure history doesn’t snub the slain teen’s image. Teenage boys will start painting the 100-foot picture July 16 on New Lots Laundromat’s wall underneath the elevated tracks of the IRT No. 3 train. The East New York mural will join a growing list of similar street art popping up in black neighborhoods across the country. “We want him to become a martyr, and it’s sad that we even have to say that,” said...

There are little Prii, big Prii, plug-in Prii, racing Prii, and now – just revealed at this weekend’s Tokyo Auto Salon – there are full-fledged, fully-equipped, and very Real Toyota Prius camper vans. Starting with a new, 3rd-gen Prius, the conversion company adds a streamlined, fiber-reinforced plastic shell that expands the Prius’ interior into something that’s, well, livable! The “living area” has room for a small coffee table with booth-type seating and underseat storage which can be converted to a queen-size bed (as shown, below), with an additional “permanent” bed in the forward section (above the cockpit). At the rear...

A new supplier combined with the Packers popularity might make favored jerseys like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews scarce over the next three months and then more expensive. In April, Nike and several other new vendors will take over from Reebok. Retailers say Reebok ordered conservatively going into the season. Their plans also were also affected by the NFL lockout, which still was in effect when buying decisions were made. Brian Swallow, with online retailer Fanatics, says sales of their Packers items are up 170 percent. He says retailers have to predict sometimes a year in advance. Mike Walters, manager...

Tom Murro shares his celebrity inspired gift giving ideas for the holiday's on FOX CT. You too can own artwork owned by Snooki and the watches worn by notables like Buzz Aldrin, Gov Chris Christie, David Paterson, Angelina Jolie, 1st Lady Michelle Obama and even President Obama.

The commute to and from school can be a harrowing experience in many parts of China. As rush hour begins, children are piled into makeshift buses with complete disregard for safety regulations. The controversy began in Macedonia’s capital Skopje on Friday, November 25 after China’s ambassador gifted the country a fleet of 23 sleek, double-decker school buses. Built by the Chinese manufacturer Yutong, the buses hold 35 and are fitted with automatic doors, fire extinguishers and seatbelts. They will be used primarily for transporting students in Macedonia’s rural areas. The gesture might have been favourably viewed were it not for...

Marriage isn't a joking matter. Before a man proposes in China, he must carefully choose his words In China, much of the older generation still recalls arranged marriage; there isn't a long tradition of creative marriage proposals like there is in the West. Traditions vary from region to region and family to family, but often the process involves a formal meeting between the boy (and, if possible, his family) and the girl's family. Depending on how traditional the families are, and the local expectations, dowry payments may be arranged and an official wedding date will be agreed upon, generally no...