Free Republic

In October, Mr Musk pledged to cut "at least $2 trillion" from the federal government budget. He subsequently halved this target and on 10 April talked about making savings of $150bn from "cutting fraud and waste" by the end of the next financial year in 2026. ...Doge's largest listed individual saving is $2.9bn. It comes from cancelling a contract - which started in 2023 under President Biden - for a facility in Texas to house up to 3,000 unaccompanied migrant children. Doge appears to have taken the "total contract value" until 2028 - the end date listed - and subtracted...

Russia had already declared its intent in spring, and is now going ahead with plans to annex the territories it has occupied in the south and east of Ukraine on a fast-track basis. Simultaneous votes in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have been scheduled from September 23 to September 27. In a speech on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Moscow would recognize the results. Just as it did with the Crimean annexation in 2014, Russia is making a point of appearing not to be involved. It was local Ukrainian politicians supported by the Russian military who...

I haven't been in every business in town. Ever. Certainly not in the past week. But during the past week, at every business I've patronized, I've made it a point to ask at least one employee about their holiday schedule. Only one will be closed today (Thanksgiving Day). A couple will be closed Christmas Day. One big store will be open Christmas Day, but closed Christmas Eve. The businesses that will be open called for volunteers to work those days. All of them offered some sort of compensation: a multiple of the regular hourly rate (usually 2x), a dollar amount...

WASHINGTON - The world has moved on since the case of Terri Schiavo, whose husband sought to remove the feeding tube that kept her alive, briefly grabbed public attention last fall. But Terri's life remains at risk. Michael Schiavo, her parents, the state of Florida, and advocacy groups continue to fight over her future. Alas, she keeps losing where it matters most, in court. Terri collapsed in 1990, leaving her profoundly cognitively disabled. Her husband won a $1.3 million malpractice judgment that included money for her medical care, but subsequently refused to fund rehabilitative treatment for her. Along the way...