Free Republic

WASHINGTON- The Fourth of July won´t have a patriotic boom in the sky over some military bases because budget cuts and furloughed workers also mean furloughed fireworks. Independence Day celebrations have been canceled at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base and at the Army´s Fort Bragg, both in North Carolina. The annual July Fourth celebration also has been scrapped at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga. The reason is money - namely the lack of it. The failure in Washington to follow up a 2011 budget pact with additional spending cuts meant $85 billion across-the-board cuts

A guarantee that all NHS patients thought to have cancer can see a specialist within two weeks could be abandoned, David Cameron has signalled. The Prime Minister indicated that the two-week goal might eventually be dropped if doctors and health officials think it is not improving cancer care. The disclosure came after a Commons attack on the Coalition’s health policy that left ministers facing charges of being confused and sending mixed messages on the guarantee. Under Labour, the NHS offered a “guarantee” that anyone referred by a GP for cancer treatment will be seen within two weeks. While Labour was...

Warship: Veteran of 2 wars rusts away PHILADELPHIA - The old warship has been part of Philadelphia's waterfront for 50 years and left lasting impressions on thousands of visitors who heard gripping stories of its role in the Spanish-American War. Now the Olympia – named for Washington state’s capital and the last surviving vessel from that 1898 conflict – could face an ignoble end as an artificial reef off Cape May, N.J., if a new benefactor cannot be found. The Independence Seaport Museum and the Navy have already checked with officials of New Jersey’s Artificial Reef Program on the possibility...

PARIS - President Jacques Chirac on Monday scrapped a controversial part of a youth labor law that triggered massive protests and strikes, bowing to intense pressure from students and unions and dealing a blow to his loyal premier in a bid to end the crisis. Unions celebrated what they called "a great victory," and also were deciding whether to keep up the protests. The top two student union UNEF and FIDL said they would press on with demonstrations Tuesday across France. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who devised the law, had faced down protesters for weeks, insisting that its most...

NATIONAL CITY – Even if it works as it should, Medicare's Part D drug program for low-income seniors and disabled patients is so flawed that it must be scrapped, patients, doctors and lawmakers said during an emotional rally yesterday. "You guys got to admit you made a mistake and repeal this damn thing," Rep. Bob Filner told Medicare regional administrator Jeff Flick, who had come from San Francisco to the Kimball Senior Center to defend the federal government's plan. "I want you to sit in my office and hear (patients') calls. What are you going to do when people start...