Free Republic

Dead workers in Germany have a right to any annual leave which they’ve failed to claim at the time of their death, Europe’s top court ruled on Thursday. In a case brought by a widow from North Rhine-Westphalia, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled she was entitled to money from her dead husband’s employer for the holiday he had failed to claim. The dead man, named only as Mr. Bollacke, worked for the retailer K+K from August 1998 to November 2010, when he died. …

PHILADELPHIA — DINNER with your children in 19th-century America often required some self-control. Berry stains in your daughter’s hair? Good for her. Raccoon bites running up your boy’s arms? Bet he had an interesting day. As this year’s summer vacation begins, many parents contemplate how to rein in their kids. But there was a time when Americans pushed in the opposite direction, preserved in Mark Twain’s cat-swinging scamps. Parents back then encouraged kids to get some wildness out of their system, to express the republic’s revolutionary values. American children of the 19th century had a reputation. Returning British visitors reported...

(CNSNews.com) – The cost for the lodging, entertainment, and security by the Secret Service for the June 2013 Africa trip by President Barack Obama and his family cost $2,189,727, according to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the government watchdog group Judicial Watch. In addition, the flights costs to, around, and from Africa for that trip cost $8,104,224, and the total cost of the trip has been estimated by numerous media reports as somewhere between $60 million and $100 million. “The Obamas clearly either do not understand the value of a dollar – or understand it all...

Obama administration travel and vacation documents were released yesterday by Judicial Watch, and they reveal an unprecedented level of executive branch leisure spending. According to public information: “As of 2001, the president earns a $400,000 annual salary, along with a $50,000 annual expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel account, and $19,000 for entertainment. The most recent raise in salary was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 and went into effect in 2001.” Obtained via a Freedom of Information request, here are some of the Obama presidency’s spending items: Since 2009, a total of $40,000,000 has been spent....

The travel costs for vacations taken by the first family and the Bidens have reached over $40 million with the Air Force´s revelation that two golf outings by President Obama this year cost $2.9 million, according to the taxpayer watchdog group Judicial Watch. The group said that the Air Force provided documents and records that put the price of the first family´s trip to Key Largo, Fla., in March at $885,683 just for flying Air Force One. The travel costs to golf in Palm Springs, Calif., in February, where the president also met with King Abdullah II of Jordan, was

For those of you who’ve been missing the fashion updates of the recently shuttered Mrs. O site, good news! I think she’s taken her keen eye for fashion over to Huffpo. At least this sounds like her: Velvet and patchwork and shine -- oh, my. Michelle Obama, along with daughters Sasha and Malia and mother Marian Robinson, arrived in China Thursday, but you'd never know by looking at them that they just took a 14 hour flight. The ladies of the first family not only look fresh-faced, but extremely fashionable as well in their travel outfits. FLOTUS stunned in a...

No one should begrudge the President a little rest and frivolity. There is a time and a place for it. The issue for a President is picking the time and place for such things. George W. Bush refused to golf once the wars started, deciding that the appearance of the President golfing sent the wrong message. Bush was forever attacked for spending a month at his ranch every summer, despite the fact that he had the same access to the government and the world that he had in the White House. Bill Clinton took less vacation time than Bush, spending...

First Lady Michelle Obama will be accompanied by her children and her mother on her trip to China, which begins today. But she won't be accompanied by the press. "Michelle Obama’s trip to China starting on Wednesday will be nonpolitical, the White House says, a 'people-to-people exchange' emphasizing the importance that both nations place on education. As if to underscore the point, no reporters are traveling with the first lady, and she does not plan to give interviews while there," reports the New York Times. The White House is defending the first lady bringing her family along for the ride...

Like the swallows to Capistrano, the White House advance peeps have hit Martha’s Vineyard scoping out yet another Obama presidential vacation. Ukraine? Crimea? Putin? The president’s going to Mad Martha’s! Word from The Rock is that Barry, first lady Michelle and kids Sasha and Malia will land on the island sometime around Aug. 9 for a week or so. As you are so well aware, the first family has vacationed on the Vineyard every summer of Obama’s presidency, with the exception, of course, of 2012, when he was up for re-election and canoodling with the beautiful people in a $30...

NORTH KEY LARGO -- President Barack Obama spent his first weekend in Key Largo without ever leaving the secluded Ocean Reef Club. The president traveled from Washington, D.C., to Florida last Friday morning, accompanied by U.S. Congressman Joe Garcia, D-Miami, with whom he discussed the situation in Venezuela, immigration reform, implementation of the Affordable Care Act and skyrocketing flood insurance rates, Garcia's office said. After arriving in Miami, the president, with First Lady Michelle Obama, visited Coral Reef Senior High School, where he spoke to hundreds of teenagers about education and financial aid. From there, the Obamas were taken by...

President Obama Sunday returned from yet another golf vacation, this one a two-day excursion to Key Largo with First Lady Michelle Obama. The Obamas stayed at the ritzy Ocean Reef Club, requiring a major security operation to ensure their safety and happiness. “The White House rented several houses in Ocean Reef and security in the community was tight,” according to KeysInfoNet, which said F-16s had to be scrambled a couple of times to escort private planes out of the area. It’s the third vacation of the year for the Obamas, following their annual sojourn in Hawaii in January and separate...

And that’s pretty much all I have to say about it. The departure from the land of enchantment and endless sunsets: What not to wear. And how not to wear it: The homecoming: proof that covered is always the better choice. Keep in mind what Josh Earnest (filling in for Jay-Jay who was on vacation too) told us last Friday: White House spokesman Josh Earnest defended President Obama's weekend vacation in Key Largo,  despite the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, arguing Obama would be able to monitor events from Florida. “What the president will be doing this weekend in Florida is...

After vacationing at the $2,500 a night Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo this weekend, no wonder Barack and Michelle Obama look pleased with themselves as they returned to Washington on Sunday afternoon. Appearing relaxed after his third vacation of the year, the president has been heavily criticized for his taxpayer-funded trip as the crisis in Ukraine rumbles on. Squeezing in another round of golf on Sunday, the president's holiday coincided with his Vice President Joe Biden jetting off to the Virgin Islands for the weekend as the White House prepares to welcome Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk for critical...

Sorry you couldn’t all have been here for the “Women of Soul” concert on Thursday. Butt good news: you little people can vicariously enjoy the Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House on April 7 on PBS (9 p.m. ET/PT, times may vary).The festivities began in the afternoon with Lady M, some of the Women of Soul, and students from across the country for a workshop called "I'm Every Woman: The History of Women in Soul." And wouldn’t you know it? The one and only time Lady M’s Nickelodeon soul-full get-up might have fit right in…she chose to...

Did you know that today is National Day of Un-plugging?Probably not, if you’re reading this.Yes, it’s official: regardless of what Vlad does, we intend to unplug in the Florida Keys as a family this weekend. After a joint appearance of the Wons at a Coral Gables high school to deliver the pre-vacation obligatory speech on the importance of getting an overpriced college education.Besides, that whole Moscow/Kiev situation could stand a little unplugged cooling-off period if you ask me. So even if BO decides he has to return to the Big White so he can pretend to attend National Security meetings,...

The standoff between President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin isn’t preventing the U.S. leader from pressing forward with the ambitious domestic agenda he laid out in January's State of the Union address. The foreign policy crisis has occupied the bulk of Obama’s workdays this week, though he’s also carved out time to introduce his budget proposal, press lawmakers to raise the minimum wage, and encourage Latinos to sign up for Obamacare – all topics Republicans fiercely oppose. On Friday the President visits a school in Miami to encourage more teenagers to apply for college financial aid. It’s...

Add “vacation-destroyer” to the list of unflattering barbs being hurled at Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ongoing crisis between Ukraine and Russia has placed President Obama’s family vacation plans in jeopardy, according to a new report. Obama and the First Lady were scheduled to head to Miami on Friday for an event focusing on education, Politico reported, and the couple’s daughters were planning to join them afterward for a weekend trip in the area. But, due to the continuing international crisis sparked by Russia’s troops moving into Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, the first family may have to cancel their trip. “The...

ladimir Putin has put President Barack Obama’s vacation plans on hold. Obama’s headed to Coral Reef High School in the southern part of the city for an event about education and the economy Friday, which first lady Michelle Obama had been expected to attend as well. What hadn’t been known was that Obama’s daughters were planning to come with them, and that the four were going to extend the trip for a brief family getaway. Now the White House tells POLITICO that he’s reconsidering. “The president had planned to stay in South Florida with his family for the remainder of...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama plans a weeklong solo visit to China this month that includes meetings with China's first lady and high school and university students. It will be her first visit to the Asian economic powerhouse. In an announcement Monday on the White House blog, the first lady says a China visit is important because it is the most populous country in the world, with more than 1.3 billion people, and plays an important role on the world stage.