Free Republic

Multiple sources now confirm The ENQUIRER's report that a federal grand jury is investigating possible misuse of presidential campaign funds by John Edwards to pay off his mistress. U.S. Attorney George Holding revealed yesterday he "was not going to confirm or deny any investigation" regarding Edwards that was first reported by the ENQUIRER earlier this week. A Federal grand jury did convene on Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina, according to multiple local reports. Grand jury proceedings are kept secret. Attorneys are liable for criminal prosecution if they discuss such investigations in public or to the press. Prominent Raleigh defense attorney...

Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, told Bob Schieffer on CBSNews.com’s “Washington Unplugged” that she thinks highly of First Lady Michelle Obama’s decisions to move her mother to the White House, create a vegetable garden and develop an “approachable” personal style. “This is fantastic, an unqualified yes, there is nothing to complain about,” Huffington said. “Even if you don’t terribly like that particular outfit,” she said of Mrs. Obama’s fashion sense, “you know it is what she loves and what she looks good in.” As for the first lady’s protocol-breeching personal contact with the Queen in London, Huffington had...

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle arrived in Britain last night to bring some glamour to the G20 summit of world leaders. The Presidential plane, Air Force One, touched down at Stansted just before 8pm for Mr Obama's first official visit to Europe. A crowd of well-wishers, many waving U.S. flags, had gathered in the cold to welcome the couple Hand in hand, they waved from the steps of the Boeing 747, the First Lady wearing a bright yellow dress and the President in a dark suit and spotted tie. They were greeted by Chancellor Alistair Darling - and...

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Democratic National Committee fired back Wednesday at Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for saying it is OK for Republicans to want President Obama to fail if they think the president is jeopardizing the country. "We understand that Governor Jindal has had some problems with public speaking lately, but turning to Rush Limbaugh to be your new speechwriter doesn't help," DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement sent to the media. "What we know has failed is the reflexive partisan politics of the past that Rush Limbaugh and his Republican party continue to be mired in.

Following overwhelming House passage last week, the Senate tonight voted 74 to 14 on a procedural move that essentially guarantees a major expansion of a national service corps, a cornerstone of volunteerism that dates back to the era of President Kennedy. It’s akin to a call to arms by President Obama, who has harkened back to those early days to demand giving back by those who voted for him. In fact, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the senior Democrat from Massachusetts whose battle with brain cancer has oft kept him absent from the Senate these days, appeared on the floor to...

Just like any mother, over the years I have worried about my children's schoolwork, the food they eat, their happiness. But the issues I used to worry about while bringing up Elizabeth, James, Georgia May and Gabriel seem small fry when I consider that their very future is now at stake. Climate change is the biggest threat the world has ever known and it is happening right in front of our eyes. All the experts say governments need to act now if we're to have any chance of saving our children from It is really just common sense. After all,...

What a wonderful parable of our time has been the expedition to the North Pole led by the explorer Pen Hadow. With two companions, he is measuring the thickness of the ice to show how fast it is “declining”. His expedition is one of a series of events designed to “raise awareness of the dangers of climate change” before December’s conference in Copenhagen, where the warmists hope to get a new treaty imposing much more drastic cuts on CO2 emissions. Hadow’s Catlin Arctic Project has top-level backing from the likes of the BBC, the WWF (it could “make a lasting...

You sure didn't see any of it during the two adulatory town hall sessions President Obama just held in Southern California. But there are apparently a whole bunch of powerful, behind-the-scenes Hollywood types -- you know, the famous faces and the large wallets that helped make the rookie senator a rookie president -- that are truly out of joint today, in addition to being held high in the air. It seemed at least half of liberal Hollywood ensconced to Washington for the historic inauguration back on Jan. 20. And they had a high old time. Even in the cold. But,...

Reporting from Moscow -- The octogenarian Republican is an improbable go-between to push the diplomatic line of a young Democratic president. But here he was in Moscow on Friday: Henry Kissinger, the architect of Cold War detente with the Soviet Union, meeting informally with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to try to smooth over a new generation of animosities between the two countries. Kissinger led a team of prominent former U.S. officials in meetings in Moscow this week, acting on their own but echoing the message of cooperation from an Obama administration that has pledged to "reset" relations that have become...

<p>OTTAWA (AFP) — A Canadian lawmaker on Thursday said the government was "irresponsible" for not mandating newer standards for safety helmets on ski slopes after several injuries and deaths, including actress Natasha Richardson.</p> <p>"The recent serious brain injuries on Canada's ski slopes are tragic reminders that these brain injuries are preventable," opposition MP Hedy Fry said in a statement.</p>

The European Parliament has banned the terms 'Miss' and 'Mrs' in case they offend female MEPs. The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita. Guidance issued in a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only. Officials have also ordered that 'sportsmen' be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' be referred to as 'political leaders' and even that 'synthetic' or 'artificial' be used instead of 'man-made'. The guidance lists banned terms for describing professions, including fireman, air hostess, headmaster, policeman,...

Barack Obama faces a "revolution" if he imposes emission cuts on the US similar to those set in Europe, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has conceded. But Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nation's body tasked with leading the fight against climate change, also questioned the value of a new global climate deal without such a US pledge. He said political constraints such as creating new jobs made it impossible for the new president to announce the measures that scientists believe are necessary. 'IPCC seriously underplays climate change'His comments made at the climate summit in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to skip a pay raise for members of Congress next year, conscious of the deepening recession and 12 million of their constituents out of work. But lawmakers will keep their annual automatic pay raises after that. A huge spending bill that the Senate passed Tuesday contained a provision denying lawmakers their yearly pay raise next January. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate rejected an amendment by Louisiana Republican David Vitter that would have forced members of Congress who want to boost their own salaries to stand up and be counted. Congress' most recent pay raise...

Prague, March 5 (CTK) - Former U.S. vice-president Albert Gore allegedly feared a direct confrontation with Czech President Vaclav Klaus at a conference on global warming, and this is why Gore's presentation was rescheduled for another day, Lidove noviny (LN) writes Thursday, referring to Klaus's spokesman. Klaus will take part in the two-day international conference in Santa Barbara, the United States, on Friday, March 6 when he was to get involved in polemics with Gore, one of the main supporters of the global warming theory, which Klaus is sharply challenging. However, Gore, a Nobel Peace prize winner, will speak at...

I’ve been asked to moderate a private seminar at UC Irvine next month that has a very provocative title: The Climate Change Dilemma — and Why People Hate Al Gore.” The seminar is being sponsored by Prosperitas, a small new group of “wealthy peers” which is partnering with with UCI’s Merage School of Business to explore hot topics. Hot, indeed. Virtually every time I write about the weather — and every time I write about climate change or global warming — I get lots of comments from readers, many which express a disgust or hatred of Gore, who shared the...

Got "Milk"? If not, here's a chance to get one of the suits (including shirt and tie) worn by Sean Penn in his Oscar-nominated role as Harvey Milk. The suit was designed for a scene in the film "Milk" to replicate that worn by the real Milk on election night Nov. 7, 1978, when a referendum to bar gays from teaching in California public schools was defeated. Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to a major public office (the San Francisco Board of Supervisors). The film is nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards, including...

Filmmaker Spike Lee led the call for celebrities to join a boycott of the New York Post Friday during a raucous protest of a racially charged cartoon. Joined by his 11-year-old son, Lee told a crowd of about 300 people that he has bought the tabloid in the past - but no more. And he suggested athletes and entertainers shun the paper's writers because of Wednesday's cartoon, which compared President Obama with a crazed chimp by some interpretations. "This is not the end," Lee told the demonstrators, who marched in front of the Post's offices near Rockefeller Center shouting, "Shut...

The streets of New York may look more like the canals of Venice in the coming decades as temperatures - and water levels - rise to dangerous new heights, according to a report released today by a panel of scientists assembled by Mayor Bloomberg. Similar to a scary sci-fi movie, the scientists said water levels around the city could rise by two feet or more in the coming decades and average temperatures likely go up at least 4 degrees, according to a report by the New York City Panel on Climate Change. "Planning for climate change today is less expensive...

White House political advisor David Axelrod says the Obama administration’s plan to take over the U.S. Census Bureau by placing it directly under the control of top White House officials will, nonetheless, remain in the hands of experts to run the program Axelrod, appearing on "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace," said despite the move by the West Wing to manage the bureau, the census would continue to “be in the charge of the professionals who conduct it." Republicans, who oppose the move on the grounds that it will politicize the upcoming 2010 census, say supervision of it by the...

Can't get enough of Barack Obama? How about an Obama license plate? Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White today unveiled an "Illinois Salutes Barack Obama" temporary license plate, which can be used for 60 days beginning Tuesday. The plates feature a smiling President Obama, seemingly gazing towards your temporary numbers. A waving American flag fills the background. The plates are only good through April 17. They cost $50 -- with proceeds benefiting Illinois libraries. The temporary "special event" plates are available at www.ila.org/obama.