Free Republic

A federal law has forced thousands of disabled veterans to return the separation incentives they received, throwing many into sudden hardship.. Vernon Reffitt got $30,000 to leave the Army in 1992. It was a one-time, lump-sum special separation benefit offered to service members when the U.S. had to reduce its active-duty force. Now, more than 30 years later, the federal government wants that money back. In May, the Department of Veterans Affairs began withholding the monthly disability compensation payments that Reffitt had been receiving for three decades until he repays the $30,000. It would take the 62-year-old nearly 15 years...

President Joe Biden is facing an uprising from some his own party’s wealthy donors, including an heiress to the Disney family fortune, who say they will no longer fund the Democratic Party until Biden drops out of the presidential race following his disastrous debate performance. Abigail Disney, the granddaughter to Roy O. Disney, who cofounded The Walt Disney Company, said Thursday that she plans to withhold donations to the party she has funded for years until Biden drops out. Disney pointed to Vice President Kamala Harris as a solid alternative to Biden, arguing she’d be able to defeat Trump. “We...

The Dump Biden movement has regained momentum inside the Democratic Party. We cannot yet say for sure that it will succeed. Team Biden is still digging in to keep their man in contention. But the ground is slipping from under the President's feet. It could soon be an unstoppable landslide. By this time next week, the Democrats could be looking for a new presidential candidate. Or still ripping themselves apart over whether they should be. I spoke to two senior Democrats today, one an experienced election strategist, the other on Joe Biden's staff when he was vice president. Both were...

WASHINGTON — After he gave his State of the Union speech in March, President Joe Biden seemed to have quieted persistent fears that, at 81, he was no longer up to the job. He spoke forcefully and jousted with Republican lawmakers who had jeered his message. But a Democratic lawmaker who shook hands with Biden in the House chamber that night was troubled by his appearance. Biden, the congressman said in a recent interview, looked “frail and weak.” Far from a one-off, the debate revealed the same worrying traits — memory lapses, incoherence, a vacant look — these officials say...

Kyiv's troops have been referring to the relentless attacks as "meat assaults" as wave after wave of soldiers crash into their defence lines. The Ukrainian military said the strikes can come throughout the day, sometimes nearly a dozen times in 24 hours, in the hope of tiring them out. Lt Col Anton Bayev of the Khartia Brigade of Ukraine's National Guard admitted responding to repeated assaults can be very difficult for his men to handle, even psychologically. Speaking to the BBC, Lt Col Bayev said: "The Russians use these units in most cases purely to see where our firing equipment...

After three and a half years of being lukewarm on Kamala Harris, Democrats are suddenly hot hot hot for the Vice President. The party is in full panic mode as Biden’s facade of cogency publicly crumbles faster than Bennifer 2.0. Dems are now desperately trying to make Kamala happen. It’s as if the gods were listening to that shrewd political prognosticator Drew Barrymore, who back in the spring had Harris on her show. There, the actress-turned-host did her signature close-talking to the VP and said, “We need you to be ‘Momala’ of the country.” This week, everyone jumped on the...

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden's fitness to serve a second term in office has been a top story since his halting performance in last week's debate against Donald Trump, where the president at times appeared unable to complete or articulate some thoughts in the pressure of the moment. To some press critics who are now reading these stories, there's another question: What took you so long? “It is simply astounding for the entire country, including its most seasoned reporters, to be as shocked as everyone was by the ugly and painful reality of Biden's debate performance,” Jill Abramson,...

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will be the MP for Clacton-on-Sea, the exit poll suggests. It is Mr Farage’s eighth attempt to become an MP having failed on each previous attempt. The exit poll predicts Reform UK have a likelihood of 99 per cent-plus to gain the seat in Essex. It comes as the exit poll suggests the Labour Party will sweep to power with a 410 seat election victory and a majority of 170, with Tory big beats including Jeremy Hunt, Grant Shapps and Penny Mordaunt set to lose their seats.

One of the closest and most focused warnings before the Hamas-perpetrated massacre in the Gaza envelope was revealed this evening (Thursday) on Channel 12.... ..... In an email sent by the sergeant shortly before the massacre, she wrote that "The sword is coming. The time to warn the people is now." In the email sent to several officers, including the intelligence officer of the Gaza Division, she wrote: "The training shows us that the 'Jericho Wall' plan is realistic and rehearsed, meaning that Hamas already has forces practicing these scenarios and knows how to execute them when ordered." "It is...

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s inner circle has gotten smaller following his disastrous debate last week — with his wife’s top aide Anthony Bernal emerging as one of the 81-year-old’s key advisers alongside longtime confidante Mike Donilon, four sources close to or inside the White House tell The Post. Bernal, 51, is a divisive figure for allegedly bullying and sexually harassing colleagues — and his influence was likened by three sources to that held by the mystic Grigori Rasputin over the family and court of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia. First lady Jill Biden considers Bernal her “work husband”...

The New York Times on Thursday dropped its report on President Joe Biden’s meeting with Democratic governors from the day before and revealed some details certain not to calm critics of the president’s mental fitness to run for reelection. [cut] After Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, a physician, asked Mr. Biden questions about the status of his health, Mr. Biden replied that his health was fine. “It’s just my brain,” he added, according to three people familiar with what took place — a remark that some in the room took as a joke but at least one governor did not...

Polls have closed in the UK General Election, and the nationwide exit poll says the Labour Party has won around 410 seats nationwide, replacing the Conservatives after 14 wasted years. Sir Keir Starmer, a top lawyer who once served as the United Kingdom’s Director of Public Prosecutions and supposedly former hardline leftist radical, who claims to have changed his mind and reformed the Labour party he now leads into a mature and capable governing force, is going to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

BIDEN to the troops: "I've been all over the world with you. I've been in and out of battles, anyway..."

US Capitol Building, which was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Ancient Greece and the ideals we celebrate on Fourth of July greatly influenced the push for American independence. Credit: Public domain Greek Americans have one more reason to be proud on the Fourth of July each year because they don’t only celebrate America’s Independence Day, but also the great influence of Hellenism on the birth of the American nation. The ideas and practices that are celebrated on Fourth of July and that led to the development of the American democratic republic after 1776 owe a debt to the...

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (KABC) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom offered a forceful defense of embattled President Joe Biden on Thursday, telling Democrats in Michigan that the 81-year-old president has the record and energy to win a second term despite widespread doubts about his ability to campaign or govern effectively. "He has been one of the most transformative Presidents in our collective lifetime," he said Thursday at a Biden fundraiser in west Michigan. Newsom was one of about two dozen Democratic governors who met with Biden last night at the White House where the President worked to reassure them he is still...

Three Israeli citizens have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a terrorist from the Hamas Nukhba Force following the massive attack carried out by the terrorist organization on October 7. According to the suspicion, in the days after October 7, the suspects were in the Negev - they took the terrorist captive, restrained him, and killed him. The suspects are civilians who were not serving in the security forces at the time. After they were arrested for questioning, the Tel Aviv District Court ordered their release. The investigation began in January. One of the suspects has also been charged with...

In a video posted on X, Mike Howell, Executive Director of the Heritage Oversight Project, has urged Americans to “declare independence from foreigners deciding our elections.” The video, which was produced in collaboration with Muckraker.com, presents evidence suggesting that illegal aliens are being registered to vote in the United States. “The evidence you are about to see relates to illegal aliens being registered to vote. This is a problem national in scale. The United States of America is for Americans, and our elections only should be decided by them,” Howell added.

"Is anybody there?" "Does anybody care?" Does anybody see what I see? They want me to quit They say, "John, give up the fight!" Still, to England, I say: "Good night, forever good night!" For I have crossed the Rubicon Let the bridge be burned behind me! Come what may, come what may Commitment! The croakers all say We'll rue the day There'll be hell to pay In fiery purgatory Through all the gloom Through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light And glory Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see?...

Welcome to the Independence Day edition of The Mark Steyn Show. In compensation for the assaults elsewhere on patriotic spirit, here is an encore presentation of Mark's 2022 show celebrating the best of the Glorious Fourth. There is a special installment of The Hundred Years Ago Show with a snapshot of the national holiday a century ago, including a president returning home ...and the faraway house where America was named. That's followed by some favorite Fourths through the years, as seen through Steyn's Poem of the Week, Song of the Week and Last Call - from Adams and Jefferson to...

New research may help explain recurrent Crohn's disease in children and open the door to new ways to treat or even cure the devastating condition. Crohn's is a debilitating—and possibly life-threatening—inflammation of the digestive tract. It's most common in adults but afflicts children. New research suggests answers to why children with relapsing Crohn's endure repeated bouts even after appearing to recover. Rebecca Pierce found that children with relapsing Crohn's had a persistent disruption of their microbiomes—the collection of microorganisms that lives in our guts—even after inflammation was successfully controlled by treatment. "Currently, the main goal of most Crohn's disease treatments...