Free Republic

Fairfax County, VA – FCPD just wrapped up a four-day full court press on online predators by our Major Crimes Bureau Child Exploitation Unit (CEXU), has resulted in the arrest of five travelers seeking criminal encounters with minors. Fairfax County Police Department’s CEXU sought to uncover offenders who use internet platforms to initiate sexually related conversations with individuals they believed to be juveniles online. The offenders came to Fairfax County with the intention of committing a sex act with the minor, only to discover Child Exploitation Unit (CEXU) detectives and Street Crimes detectives waiting for them. The five men ranged...

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) abandoned plans Tuesday to remove an iconic World War II-era photo from its facilities due to an alleged lack of “inclusivity.” The move came following backlash that emerged immediately after the decision was leaked earlier that day. In a memo issued last Thursday, VA undersecretary RimaAnn Nelson requested agency officials remove the “V-J Day in Times Square” photo from all Veterans Health Administration facilities, in compliance with the VA’s goal of “maintaining a safe, respectful, and trauma-informed environment.” Taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1945, the iconic photograph depicts a Navy sailor kissing a female...

(Deroy Murdock, Headline USA) Democrats constantly crow about their faith in “the right to choose.” But this applies to little beyond abortion. Any woman who chooses to buy a gun or send her child to a charter school should expect “pro-choice” Democrats to stand in her way. Democrats crave control and uniformity, even when it comes to medical care for America’s veterans. Democrats want vets in the Department of Veterans Affairs, not getting cured in the private sector. Obama–Biden’s VA waitlist scandal found veterans dying before they could see their doctors. Donald J. Trump promised to fix this lethal mess....

It has been revealed that the Biden administration has been diverting resources from the Veterans Affairs (VA) organization to help illegal immigrants around the country. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke about the matter with Fox Digital in an interview reported on Tuesday morning. The Alabama senator recently introduced a bill titled the "No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act" in order to prevent it from happening again. uberville told the outlet, "They've opened up care from the doctors in these [VA] community care systems. The lines now in the VA's are getting longer. Our funds that are supposed to go...

A Veterans Affairs supervisor at an undisclosed facility has reportedly removed a 'not today, Satan, not today' sign from her desk after a colleague filed a complaint with a nonprofit civil rights organization. An unnamed Air Force veteran who 'subscribes to many non-theist teachings (including Satanist)' claimed that the anti-Satan sign was prominently placed on the supervisor's desk. The honorably discharged vet described the display as a 'grotesque Christian supremacist sign,' in an email to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation - the organization that took up the cause. The MRFF and attorney Michael Weinstein, who specializes in religious freedom cases,...

Investigators said they found money orders in a Louis Vuitton shoebox, condoms and lubricants in bulk, an ill-gotten Corvette and "appointment books" at the Massachusetts apartments of two people believed to have run a high-end brothel in the Boston and D.C. areas The sophisticated brothel network allegedly operating in the Boston and Washington, D.C., areas until it was busted this month likely generated upwards of $1 million in just a few years for the woman accused of running it and a co-defendant, according to a new federal court filing. Federal prosecutors shared that and other details about the alleged prostitution...

Republican candidate Bob Anderson claimed victory Wednesday morning in the race for Loudoun County Commonwealth’s attorney while leading incumbent Buba Biberaj by 0.76%, according to vote tallies. Anderson claimed victory in a post on X while leading by 1,021 votes, according to the Virginia Department of Elections, Fox 5 DC. Biberaj ran on an agenda of reducing incarceration in 2019, and received significant financial support from a super PAC funded by George Soros. Biberaj gained notoriety after she personally prosecuted Scott Smith, who was arrested during a raucous June 22, 2021 school board meeting in Loudoun County, for disorderly conduct....

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers found a .22 caliber revolver in a man’s carry-on bag at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The revolver appears to be a North American Arms Black Widow .22 Magnum with Boot Clip grips. These are some of the smallest repeating pistols made. They carry five shots of .22 magnum cartridges, as can be seen in the TSA photograph of the pistol, which was discovered on September 21, 2023. From tsa.gov: A King George, Va., man was cited by police after he was stopped by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers with a loaded handgun at one...

Twelve years ago this week, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the discriminatory military policy that barred lesbian, gay and bisexual people from serving openly in the U.S. Armed Forces, ended. Between 1994 and 2011, while Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was in effect, the military kicked me and an estimated 14,000 of my peers out — not for our merits, but simply because of who we were as people. While ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell enabled military service for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, transgender people were still de facto banned under a McCarthy-era executive order that tasked federal agencies with investigating...

Hello Brother Vets. I get the "The My HealtheVet is temporarily unavailable" quite often, when I try to log in . Should I setup one of those other accounts, or is the site just over loaded? What's your guys experiences with it? Some times it kicks me out when I switch from VA claims and Medical Records... and vis versa. Thanks for any input.

I learned to swim at the U.S. Embassy swimming pool in Niamey, Niger, in 1976. Little did I know, that would lead to a career as a U.S. Navy diver. It wasn’t pool parties, picnics or watching movies at the Recreation Center, the only entertainment in a country that didn’t have television, that prompted my 25-year career as a special operations officer. It was the Marines from the Security Guard Detachment that stood watch at the embassy all day, every day. -excerpt- President Biden has abandoned his sixth U.S. embassy in less than three years. -excerpt- When there is a...

Shopping for a house here in Southeast Alaska. I am a disabled veteran and have never used my VA home loan benefit. So I started the process with the VA, applying for a certificate of eligibility.I got my Certificate of Eligibility and was immediately contacted by Veterans United trying to take charge of the home buying process. They are not connected to or affiliated with the VA. They are a private lender and they are being very aggressive. Does anyone here have any experience with this outfit?

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin went 6-0 on Tuesday night as all of his endorsed state legislative candidates in contested primaries notched easy victories. Youngkin, in March, endorsed 19 Republicans in the commonwealth's legislative races, including six in contested primaries, according to the Associated Press. Among them were state Senate candidates Emily Brewer, Tara Durant, and Bill Woolf; as well as state House of Delegates candidates John Stirrup, Lee Peters and Buddy Fowler. Each one on Tuesday, scored decisive victories relatively early in the night. As of press time, the Associated Press had projected each candidate to win their race....

Prepare to vote!

From Fall 1967 to Spring 1968, for no obvious reason, a 12th-grade football hero extended warmth and tolerance to a flyspeck of an 8th grader in the halls of Petersburg High School. I was the flyspeck. The football hero was Tommy Warren, who would graduate in June, enter the U.S. Marines, attain the rank of private first class, and die in Quang Nam province, South Vietnam, five months after I last saw him. My recollection (perhaps imperfect) is that of a somber voice (probably Principal Ed Betts) announcing his death over the loudspeaker, followed by anguished faces in the hallway....

On May 10th, 2023, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Judge Robert S. Payne published an opinion in the federal statutes and regulations which ban 18-20-Year-old citizens from purchasing handguns from federally licensed dealers is facially unconstitutional.The decision was rendered in the case Fraser v ATF. The case is a lawsuit brought by four young citizens between the ages of 18 and 20. The case was initially filed on June 22, 2022, just as the famous Supreme Court opinion in Bruen was published. Motions to dismiss the case and for summary judgment...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is warning that a Republican proposal to cap government spending could slash medical services for veterans and slow benefits payments. The statement outlining potential consequences of funding cuts was released by the department Friday as the messaging battle heats up ahead of an expected vote in the House this week on a GOP plan to raise the amount of money the nation can borrow to pay its bills in exchange for steep spending cuts.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has updated its mission statement with a new statement that does not include gendered language. According to a VA press release, the prior mission statement read, "To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise 'to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan' by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans." The new statement drops the gender-specific terminology and no longer includes the Lincoln quote, though it still references the sixteenth president. The text of the new statement reads, "To fulfill President Lincoln's promise to...

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has officially changed its mission statement, dropping a quote from former President Lincoln because it used male pronouns and was viewed by some as excluding women. On Thursday, the VA announced that its new motto is, "To fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors." The new statement replaces the original 1959 mission statement which featured a quote from Lincoln's second inaugural address, delivered in 1865, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow,...

On Thursday, VA announced an updated version of its 1959 mission statement: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.” The new mission statement is inclusive of all those who have served in our nation’s military—including women Veterans—as well as Veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. VA currently serves more than 600,000 women Veterans, the fastest growing cohort of Veterans. VA also serves more than 50,000 Veteran caregivers, more than 600,000 Veteran survivors, and millions of Veterans who did not serve in combat.