Free Republic

Posh dinners at a cost of €490 euros per head as rest of Paris struggles under lockdown. Even as Parisians continue to struggle under lockdown, members of the French elite, potentially including government ministers, have been caught attending rulebreaking secret restaurants in the French capital. French TV channel M6 aired secretly recorded footage of clandestine dinners taking place at an “underground restaurant located in a beautiful part” of Paris. The clip shows guests at the restaurant without masks openly kissing each other and violating social distancing rules. There also appears to be no restrictions on the number of guests allowed....

The furniture is movie-set white inside Marika Sakellariou's home. She is wearing all white, too, down to the French manicure on her hands. Her hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail, evoking the look of the ballerina she once was. A Realtor now, she could be the poster girl for Marin County life, with her Wolf range in the kitchen, late-model Mercedes in the driveway and million-dollar view of San Francisco Bay from her back deck. But she has an unusual neighbor. About 500 feet down the street from her pale blue cottage is the front gate of San...

Zeitgeist Surfing In 1977 Arnold Schwarzenegger thought of himself as a swinger. In 2003 he thinks of himself as governor. By Michael Kinsley Posted Thursday, September 4, 2003, at 9:00 AM PT Just a zeitgeist kind of guy If sexual intercourse, as the poets tell us, began in 1963 ("Between the end of the 'Chatterley' ban/ And the Beatles' first LP."—Philip Larkin), it was another decade and a half before the American political system began to take notice. In those days, the late 1970s, one of the leading politicians was a soon-to-be uncle by marriage of Arnold Schwarzenegger, named Ted...

<p>The movement toward O'Brien has occurred since Mitt Romney entered the race, presenting a stiff challenge to Democrats. Romney's elbowing out of Acting Governor Jane Swift has produced new energy for O'Brien among female Democratic activists who resented Romney's actions, party leaders say. At the same time, Romney's candidacy has forced the party to make a realistic assessment of the general election chances of its gubernatorial hopefuls.</p>