Free Republic

Bed Bath & Beyond exec Gustavo Arnal didn’t say a word to his wife before apparently leaping to his death from their swank, 18th-floor apartment in Lower Manhattan, The Post has learned. Arnal, 52, also didn’t leave a note explaining the plunge, which occurred while his wife was in the home with him around 12:20 a.m. Friday, law-enforcement sources said Sunday.

Asking someone to wear a mask is so 2020. The new tough conversation is finding out about someone's COVID-19 vaccination status. Experts say the way you ask matters, including your tone, sincerity and choice of words. But for starters, it shouldn't be a random question, says Elaine Swann, an etiquette expert and founder of the Swann School of Protocol. After all, it is personal information that usually isn't any of your business — unless you plan on letting the person into your personal space. And even then, a more private person still may not want to disclose their status. So...

Builder prefers prison to house arrest with wife PALERMO, Sicily (Reuters) - A Sicilian builder transferred from prison to house arrest tried to get himself locked up again to escape arguments with his wife at home, Italian media reported Thursday. Santo Gambino, 30, did time for dumping hazardous waste before being moved to house arrest in Villabate, outside the Sicilian capital, Palermo, Italian news agencies reported. Gambino went to the police station and asked to be put away again to avoid arguing with his wife, who accused him of failing to pay for the upkeep of their two children.

On Friday, the transition team of President-elect Obama confirmed that his 71-year-old mother-in-law would be moving, at least temporarily, into the grand residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Obama has said he would be delighted to have his wife's mother, Marian Robinson, join the first family in Washington . . . And she has often teased her daughter, Michelle Obama, and the president-elect about their household rules for her granddaughters. Bedtime at 8:30 p.m.? "That's ridiculous," Robinson told The Boston Globe last year, suggesting that was too early. Television for only an hour? "That's just not enough time," she said.

A study has found that women who use the 'silent treatment' with their spouses during arguments could be on their way to early deaths. "This is the first time we've seen anything this dramatic that predicts death or heart disease that's not physiological," Dr. Elaine Eaker, who authored the study, told CTV's Canada AM. The study found that women who silenced themselves during marital disagreements were four times more likely to die earlier than women who expressed their feelings during arguments with their spouses. However, Eaker found that the health of men who indulged in the same "self-silencing" practice were...

NOW 'Outraged' Over Roberts Pick Following is a statement by National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy on the nomination of John Roberts to chief justice: "The National Organization for Women has been outspoken in our opposition to the nomination of an anti-women's rights, anti-civil rights judge, John G. Roberts, to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Now that Roberts' attitudes toward women have been revealed, it is an outrage and an insult to the women of this country that George W. Bush has nominated such a jurist to be Chief Justice of the United States. Story Continues Below "First,...

NEW YORK - President Bush should act to prevent oil price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday. "I would hope the administration uses the legislative tools at its disposal to make it very clear they're going to prevent any kind of price gouging and profiteering because of this disaster," said Clinton, D-N.Y. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday the administration would release oil from federal petroleum reserves to help refiners affected by the hurricane, which has devastated the Gulf Coast. The move is designed to give refineries a temporary supply...

Most of Mrs. Bush's humor at the correspondents' dinner was just right: Edgy but not over the edge. But I think the stripper and horse jokes were totally beneath her. Just put it to the other-shoe test: If it were Teresa Heinz Kerry standing up on the dais telling the same jokes, the conservative commentariat would be buzzing for the rest of the year about what a tasteless skank she is.

Liberty and Naive were the best of friends All through their clueless days Both members of the Vegetarian Club Both active with the SPCA After graduation Liberty went out lookin' for a brand new world Naive looked all around for a cause And all she found was Saddam Well it wasn't two weeks After her first rally That Naive started getting abused She put on rose glasses and a veil of denial And slogans to cover the bruise Well she finally got the nerve to ask some questions She let logic take it from there But A.N.S.W.E.R. walked right through...