Free Republic

Voters in country after country have grown weary of the same experiment: ballooning welfare states, open-border policies, identity-driven governance, and supranational rules that delivered stagnation, insecurity, and a quiet erosion of national sovereignty.French politician and lawyer Marine Le Pen has launched a new candidacy for the French presidency, hoping to ride a global political pendulum as it swings from socialism and leftism back toward the right. "I do think you're seeing all that take place. But populism, focusing on what's best, what's common sense, what's good for the people of your country, what's good for your country, is, I think,...

Mr. Bumble the skunk loves his bacon sandwiches, but his new owners have put him on a vegetarian diet to help shed the extra weight they’ve added to his frame. At 14 pounds, Mr. Bumble is twice his ideal weight. His previous owners, who indulged his love for pork, gave him to the RSPCA and he now lives at Tropiquaria animal park near Watchet, Scotland where he’s fed fruit and vegetables. His new healthy diet, along with a daily exercise regimen, should help him shed the extra 7 pounds that have made his naturally sleek body so rotund. Skunks’ natural...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is offering Obama a warm welcome on the day of their meeting, in an interview with the conservative daily Le Figaro. "Obama? He's my pal," the president told Le Figaro. "Unlike my diplomatic advisers, I never believed in Hillary Clinton's chances. I always said that Obama would be nominated."Sarkozy added that an Obama victory "would validate" his strategy of reconcilation with the United States. His embrace of the United States has made him American conservatives' favorite Continental politician, but he doesn't seem to be reciprocating. Meanwhile, the French press appears to be welcoming Obama Friday with...