Free Republic

(NewsNation) – The Social Security Administration announced 2024’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) just over a month ago, confirming a 3.2% bump in benefits for retirees. Here’s what you need to know. How does the 2024 increase compare to 2023’s? While still one of the largest increases in decades, 2024’s COLA increase of 3.2% is far below the 8.7% bump that recipients were granted in 2023.

Although Target faced Pride Month merchandise boycotts, a lawsuit and a 10% decline in its stock following this year’s controversial collection, the retailer appears to be doubling down on its commitment to this market. Target has promoted Erik Thompson to Senior LGBTQIA+ Strategist and Pride Lead, according to a @LibsofTikTok post on X and Thompson’s LinkedIn profile. In his new role overseeing Target’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual marketing, Thompson says he plans to “flip the script and rewrite the narrative of CPG [consumer packaged goods] retail industries to better serve all segments and thoughtfully &...

According to a Reuters report, two US officials reveal that a US Navy warship shot down a drone that originated in Yemen over the Red Sea. The unnamed officials tell the news agency that the Thomas Hudner, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, shot down the drone early this morning.

VAERS is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and is a national early warning system to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines. VAERS accepts and analyses reports of adverse events (possible side effects) after a person has received a vaccination and is co-managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Recently an investigation by The BMJ into VAERS, found multiple deficiencies in the system, including the revelation that the government runs two systems — one for the public, and a private back-end system that contains all of the corrections...

As his presidential campaign sputtered, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., could sound like a candidate unstuck in time. In June, he spent days responding to a dismissive comment from Barack Obama questioning his commitment to racial justice, saying America was a “land of opportunity, not a land of oppression.” In September, he rolled out an “empower parents” plan by explaining that children “need the ABCs, not CRT.” Wherever he campaigned, he invoked his race and biography as the ultimate rebuke to race-obsessed progressives fixated on a “culture of grievance” instead of personal achievement: “My life disproves their lie.” Republican primary voters,...

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) and various groups have asked the state’s Supreme Court to prevent an initiative that would declare a supposed “right” to abortion in the state constitution from being placed on the ballot in 2024. Moody and pro-life groups have also asked the Florida Supreme Court to schedule oral arguments on the matter, noting the case “presents important questions about the validity of a ballot initiative to amend the Florida Constitution to provide a right to abortion,” according to a Tuesday Florida Phoenix report. “The attorney general respectfully submits that oral argument would enhance the Supreme...

Residential real-estate brokerages are seeking to reassure investors after last month’s $1.8 billion verdict against the National Association of Realtors, another potential blow to an industry already reeling from a severe housing-market slowdown. Industry analysts say the historic verdict could prompt changes in how real-estate agents are paid and eventually push commissions down. A federal jury on Oct. 31 found NAR and two large brokerages conspired to keep costs artificially high. Many brokerage executives have said this month that modifications to the system are likely to be small and could take years to play out. They maintained that any changes...

Polling shows President Joe Biden has a growing problem with retaining the support of black and Hispanic voters with the 2024 election just one year away.The recent polling highlights the Democrat party’s divisions on how to address the invasion on the southern border and soaring inner city crime. “Even Biden’s administration is divided,” top officials told Axios about the crime and migration crises.Throughout 2023, Joe Biden underperformed among nonwhite voters, New York Times/Siena College polling found. The latest poll published Sunday showed the president’s support among nonwhite voters sunk 33 points compared to 2020 election results [emphasis added]:Only 72 percent...

Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, sharply criticized Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for not giving sufficient advance warning of the invasion of Israel, according to Reuters. According to the report, the criticism was expressed in a face-to-face meeting between the two in the past few weeks. “You did not give us enough warning of these October 7th attack, and we are not intending to go to war with Israel for you,” Khamenei told Haniyeh. He also noted that his country would give him full support in different ways but would not take an active role in the fighting. He...

In Biden’s America, we get half the story, if we’re lucky. If it doesn’t align with the administration’s narrative, it’s either ignored or skimmed over. Take, for instance, the case of 15 diverse, equitable, and inclusive teenagers who beat a white teen to death, which was reported as “a group of people” attacking “a teenager.” This downplays the hate crime element to fit the media’s narrative about black victims and “evil” white people. And there are numerous other stories like this across the country that you probably won’t hear about. Here’s one such example: the case of Alexander Bulakhov, an...

President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is seeking to subpoena Donald Trump and former Attorney General William Barr as he prepares to raise a defense that his prosecution on felony gun charges stems from an “unrelenting pressure campaign” by the former president and his Republican allies. In a 16-page court filing Wednesday, the younger Biden asked a federal judge to sign off on subpoenas for communications among Trump administration officials about investigating and prosecuting him. His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the information he is pursuing “goes to the heart of his defense that this is, possibly, a vindictive or selective prosecution...

A freeze on new NYPD recruits is among the “horrendous” budget cuts expected to come down Thursday — as the Big Apple grapples with the soaring cost of the migrant crisis, The Post has learned. In addition to axing the new police academy class, Mayor Eric Adams is expected to slash migrant spending by 20% and scale back Sanitation Department litter basket pickups, multiple sources said. “Everything is being cut. Nothing is being held harmless,” a source briefed by the city’s budget director, Jacques Jiha, told The Post.

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that he would consider a 2024 presidential run during an interview from NBC’s “Meet the Press” that will air Sunday. Anchor Kristen Welker said, “Let’s talk about your future, because obviously you are facing a big decision. Can you take us inside your thinking right now? Are you seriously contemplating a run for the White House?” Manchin said, “Here’s is what i’m seriously contemplating. I’ve said this clearly, people say, are you going to run? I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure, and immobilize the...

Here is a link to a video made earlier today by the Spokesman of the IDF -- Israel Defense Force -- as he walked through a hospital that was taken under control by IDF forces today. It's just under 7 minutes. It shows that what Israel has been saying for years, and what Hamas has been denying, is true: Hamas used this hospital as a military facility. https://videoidf.azureedge.net/6cb5b1f7-6223-4917-bfe5-a2cb77c9e80d

Indeed, my dear friends, the risen Lord Jesus Christ stands at the threshold of the godless euphemistically titled "United Nations" and this world's unregenerate and fallen humanity's heart; and with His ETERNAL RISEN GLORIFIED NAIL PIERCED HANDS; knocks with an ETERNAL knock of ETERNAL GRACE and LOVE; on the door hearts of Adam's fallen race (Matt. 11:28-30, John 3:16-17; 6:35; 11:25-27; 14:6, Rev. 1:17-18, 3:20)! In this EXPONENTIAL TECH AGE, His knock is to be heard as LOUD as THUNDER and found in EVERY NOOK and CRANNY throughout this world; via the global Internet, YouTube, TV ministries, radio, in the...

Uto·pia Pronunciation: \yu̇-ˈtō-pē-ə\ Function: noun Etymology: Utopia, imaginary and ideal country in Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More, from Greek ou not, no + topos place Date: 1597 1: an imaginary and indefinitely remote place. 2 often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions. 3: an impractical scheme for social improvement Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27)" Almighty God's Righteous Utopia Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new...

Senator Rand Paul tells me that scientists and government officials worked together to cover up Covid's origin. ———— To get our new weekly video from Stossel TV, sign up here: https://www.johnstossel.com/#subscribe ———— Remember how government officials handled the pandemic? The so-called experts and media made lots of mistakes. Experts told us there was no way it could have leaked from a lab. Senator Rand Paul didn’t believe the experts. Now, his new book, “Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up,” reveals details about the origins of Covid and the government's deceit. “So, evil Chinese scientists in a lab funded by America?” I...

HIV came from a type of virus in chimpanzees called the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). It likely spread to humans after they came into contact with the blood carrying the infection after hunting chimpanzees for food.

The organizers of a petition against having trans/non-binary performers in the Thanksgiving Day Parade say it is 'quickly picking up momentum' and want to hammer the message home with a boycott of the sponsor, Macy's. As of Wednesday morning, more than 29,000 people had inked the petition against the 'non-binary and transgender extravaganza' in the parade of floats and balloons, which will wow New York City on November 23. Macy's has not commented directly on the campaign, which takes aim at the appearance of trans/non-binary Broadway performers Justin David Sullivan and Alex Newell, among the parade's cast of thousands. Supporters...