Expanding the Milei Miracle: Pro-Growth Tax Reform

July 14, 2025 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

Part I of this series celebrated economic progress in Argentina, but noted that many more reforms are needed.

Part II explained the need to liberalize labor markets. This new video, Part III in the series, points out that Argentina needs better tax policy.

The video cites a couple of very depressing statistics.

First, a recent OECD report notes that the aggregate tax burden in Argentina is the fourth highest in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023.

And second highest (behind only the basket case of Brazil) when looking just at Latin America.

In either case, that’s bad news for Argentina.

Especially when you consider that people are not getting good value.

Which brings us to the second grim statistic.

 

As I noted earlier this year, Argentina is the world’s third-worst country in the 1841 Foundation’s Tax Hell Index. Which means a country that has a heavy fiscal burden combined with very poor scores for governance (bad rule of law, for instance).

The good news is that President Milei has been very successful in reducing the burden of government spending. This should give him some leeway to lower tax rates and (as shown in the video) eliminate a wide range of nuisance taxes.

Hopefully that will soon happen, especially if Milei’s libertarian-oriented party gains seats in the mid-term elections later this year (I’m cautiously optimistic).

I’ll close with an analogy to show what’s happened in Argentina. Imagine going to a doctor and finding out you have all sorts of health problems because you weigh 400 lbs.

You decide you need to get serious (the diet-and-exercise equivalent of electing Milei) and you weigh 300 lbs. at your next appointment.

The doctor is very impressed and happy with your progress, but he reminds you that you still need to lose at least another 100 lbs.

The bottom line is that Milei has an incredible goal of turning his country into a free-market Mecca. And he deserves immense praise for what’s already been accomplished, but so much more still needs to be done.

Remember, it took the Peronists about 80 years to drive Argentina into a ditch. Even in a best-case scenario, it will take a few years to undo all their mistakes.

P.S. Never forget that 100-plus leftist economists warned that Milei would produce disaster if he became president. Have a group of people ever been so wildly wrong?

America's Educators

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors. If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.

THESE TEACHERS HATE JEWS 

The National Education Association (NEA), an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, is the nation’s largest teacher’s union with nearly 2 million members. For more than 40 years, the NEA has gladly accepted Holocaust education materials from the Anti-Defamation League to teach children about that horrific event and how antisemitism led up to it. Not anymore. CAIR (Counsel on American Islamic Relations) applauded the NEA’s decision.

THIS TEACHER CAN’T SPELL: 

Randi Weingarten Putting aside the fact that (communist?) Randi Weingarten is President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second largest teachers’ union, Weingarten can’t spell basic words. Moreover, when her spelling mistakes are called out and she corrects them, she still messes up. 

The AFT, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, represents nearly 1.8 million members, many of whom are teaching your children with a progressive anti-American slant.  Hoping this 4rth of July the sun starts peaking thru again (Weingarten misspelled 4th, through and peeking and no punctuation.) She quickly received scorn and laughter for her ignorance. Weingarten took down the post and replaced it.  Called out again for her ignorance, Weingarten tries a THIRD time to show she isn’t as stupid as she sounds when giving radical communist speeches. (Weingarten continues to misspell 4th.)

Cartoon Roundup. Zohran Mamdani and The Fate of NYC

By Rich Kozlovich 

I've posted two articles on Mamdani, Part I and Part II, with Part III in the works.  While the facts about him being a Marxist and a radical Islamist are well established, Part III will recap and dig a bit deeper into who he is.   He's a carpetbagger who  needs to move back to Uganda....Oh...wait... they kicked him and all other Asians out......they must not have gotten the message he's African American, or so he claimed on a college application   He really hates Billionaires, all except George Soros who has funded him to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. 

Remarkable.  

 

 

  

  ,

   

  

Palestinians Think Israel is Winning

By Daniel Greenfield @ Sultan Knish Blog

Ask some Israelis about the war in Gaza and they can sound pessimistic. The war is a slog. It can’t keep on going. International critics complain that the war has no clear goalposts (beyond destroying Hamas) and is inherently unwinnable. What does victory even look like?

There’s one metric that they seem to have overlooked.

In 2023, 70% of ‘Palestinians’ thought that Hamas was going to win. Today, only 43% do.

After the Oct 7 attacks, 72% of them thought that the Hamas attack was a good idea. Today only half still do. The number of those who admit it was a bad idea rose from 22% to 40%.

In Gaza, 58% now acknowledge that Oct 7 was a mistake.

And these numbers have been steadily and consistently dropping as the war goes on.

Among the enemy population, victory is no longer an option and most hope for a ceasefire. 43% are willing to leave the Gaza Strip. 50%, a majority, are willing to ask Israel for help to leave.

Less than half of those in Gaza are happy with how Hamas has fought the war. In Gaza, 29% believe that Israel is winning the war. Only 23% believe that Hamas is.

While the enemy population in Judea and Samaria (known in the media as the West Bank) has more confidence in Hamas than those in Gaza do, 75% of them fear that the war will spread, 65% believe that their cities will be destroyed if war comes and 40% believe Israel will win.

Even as too many Israelis quarrel among themselves, the enemy’s morale is crumbling. And in a war against terrorists who operate among the civilian population, morale is paramount.

Insurgencies don’t win because they have superior tactics, technology or infrastructure, but because they have superior staying power. Islamic Jihadis outlasted the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hamas bet everything on being able to outlast Israel. But what if it can’t?

The only remaining Hamas strategies are to force a permanent ceasefire using perhaps 20 living hostages (and more kidnapped dead bodies) as leverage or to hide behind a ‘Palestinian’ state under the control of its rivals in Ramallah. And both strategies depend on Qatar being able to wrangle the United States and Europe into pressuring Israel and bailing out Hamas.

Without America and European intervention and Israeli defeatism, Hamas has no hope.

Israel lost 9 soldiers in Gaza in June. It lost 41 soldiers in all of 2025. Compare that to 28 fatalities in June 2024. Hamas is still able to move its 20 or so hostages around tunnels and in civilian houses, but it’s not posing much of a threat to Israeli soldiers in Gaza anymore.

On Oct 7, 2023, Hamas was part of a coalition with Hezbollah, Syria, Yemen and Iraqi Jihadis following a master plan out of Tehran. Out of that coalition, Syria is gone, Hezbollah is broken, the Iraqis are staying out of it, Iran is burning and only Yemen’s Houthis are still fighting. If Israel succeeds in using the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to direct aid away from Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group loses much of its money and control over the population in Gaza.

Even its American university fanbase is moving on to fresh causes, like protesting for illegal aliens, because a good deal of their enthusiasm for Hamas came from its Oct 7 massacres, the paragliders, the rapes at a music festival and the mass invasion, which are starting to recede into history. And Hamas hasn’t killed Jews in any hip ways lately.

No one, from the Middle East to the Harvard campus, likes a loser. And Hamas is a loser.

Some Israelis and Americans may see the war as an endless slog, but the ‘Palestinians’ are coming to recognize it as a dead end. They’re not about to give up on terrorism or even on Hamas, but they are recognizing that they lost and dealing with all that comes with it. Including the willingness by surprising numbers among the enemy in Gaza to leave Israel.

The ultimate purpose of war is to break the enemy’s morale. Muslim countries perpetuate myths of victory even in the face of total defeat. Saddam celebrated the Gulf War as a victory. Egypt annually commemorates its ‘October victory’ in the Yom Kippur War. Hamas has tried to sell Oct 7 as a victory but even its people increasingly no longer believe that they’re winning anything.

Paradoxically neither do a lot of Israelis.

Israeli media polls are suspect, but they show that a sizable percentage of the population appears willing to give up and sign a deal with Hamas, ending the war in exchange for 20 hostages. After Germany appeared to be pulling its support, a number of Israeli opinionmakers urged an end to the fighting. Such paroxysms of defeatism have become a regular feature.

A lot of Israelis are understandably tired of the fighting and willing to give up even as they approach victory. They are being subjected to a torrent of negativity from their domestic radical leftists, from their media and from the international community all of which reject the war. And the longer the war goes on, the more futile (like most wars) it seems to those fighting it, but wars are won on endurance and staying power, not just on lightning strikes and brilliant tactics. Israel has never lacked for brilliant tactics, what it lacks (like us) is staying power in a conflict.

There’s an old Jewish joke. Two elderly Jewish men are sitting on a park bench in 1930s Germany. One of them flips open a copy of a British paper while the other starts reading Der Sturmer. “Why are you reading that Nazi rag?” the first man demands. “Your paper says that we’re being rounded up and killed. Mine says that we run the world,” the second man replies.

Israelis could learn something from tuning out their own suicidal media and looking at what the enemy thinks. While Israeli media runs the gamut from defeatism (Yediot) to outright treason (Haaretz), their enemies are starting to figure out that they lost and that Israel is winning.

‘Palestinians’ think Israel is winning, but too many Israelis have come to believe they’re losing.

Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center's Front Page Magazine. Click here to subscribe to my articles. And click here to support my work with a donation.  Thank you for reading.

 

 

Is China Unraveling at the Top?

Nothing is ever as it appears in China

By Rich Kozlovich

Over the last few weeks I've been following a trend regarding China and their President For Life, Xi Jinping, and there are indications his lifetime rule may not last much longer.  Corruption among China's leadership is rampant, and has always been going back long before the communists took over.  Nothing's changed.  Except now a lot of purges is taking place, including among the highest ranks of their military.  

I don't see him lasting much longer. I'd hoped he'd last long enough to fully destroy China's economy as his hero Mao was on the verge of doing before Nixon and Kissinger bailed him out. But I don't think that's going to happen now.  

I'm sure all the corruption charges against these military people is valid. For a long time there was a tacit understanding between them and the Xi cabal.... don't bother us, and we won't bother you.... and Xi needed them, ergo the corruption metastasized. But for them to be exposed and purged, and Xi couldn't or wouldn't stop it, one has to ask why?  These purges are at the very least suspicious, which leads to two questions. 

1. Are they happening because Xi can't trust the very people whose careers he supported and funded?  
2. Or is someone else making these decisions and are purging his supporters in the military.  

Neither scenario can be very promising for Xi.  In my opinion that's the real story, and needs closely watched to see who the players are behind this. I'm of the opinion every military in the world has a von Stauffenberg cabal, and I also believe every government in the world has a von Stauffenberg cabal, including China.    

1. CCP Leaders Propose Regulations to Rein In Xi’s Superagencies 
2. China Purges Navy, Nuclear Officials From Top Legislative Positions 
3. Beijing Purges Chinese Leader Xi’s Ally From Top Military Ruling Body

It would also appear any who throw him out wouldn't be so hot to continue all China's international mischief making.  

This chest pounding Wolf Diplomacy Xi has been practicing is not good economics, and given the moves by China's neighbors it's not even sufficiently threatening to make allies of these neighbors.

With exception of Australia which seems to be playing economic huggy bear with China, and their left wing government has made it clear they will do nothing to defend Taiwan if China attacks.  I think it's time for the US to reexamine the AUKUS security pact trilateral agreement between the US, the UK, and Australia.  

What this "Wolf Diplomacy" has done is what Russia did to Europe. Scaring them to the point they've now gained new NATO members, and created mutual defense postures aimed directly at Russia. 

 Xi is spending vast amounts of money developing unprecedented military technologies and capabilities, all the while seriously trimming expenditures and promoting frugality overall.  A serious case of cognitive dissonance. 

The world's nations have a debt load of almost 310 trillion dollars, and much of that can't be repaid, nor can it be collected. And that includes China.  Much of that money is gone and China won't be able to do a thing about it. Their Road and Belt schemes are failing, their loan traps to smaller nations is weakening their economy, their BRICS scheme is demonstrating a serious failure in planning, organization, and implementation, since as far as I can tell they have no logical plan for implementation, what currency will replace the dollar, and there's bickering in their group as it becomes more obvious any scheme they adopt must benefit China, even if it impacts the rest negatively, and that's not setting well with them. 

It seems to me, Xi is done, and whomever takes over will take a different track economically, militarily, and domestically than Xi.   But, that will take a consolidation of power and that's never smooth.   The way I see it, if/when Xi goes, a degree of chaos will ensue.  

Bob Unruh over at World Net Daily, says Xi Jinping is losing control of the CCP,  and "the world needs to prepare for the regime [in China] to lash out without warning”, which I consider hyperbole.  If there's a change it will be to find a level of reconciliation with the rest of world, since China's economy depends on it.  

1. China Knocks Trump Trade Deal With Vietnam
2. Questions Mount Over Death of Medical Student Who Alleged Organ Trade in Chinese Hospital 
3. Exposure of Forced Organ Harvesting Could Trigger CCP’s Fall: Chinese Prison Survivor 
4. China Says the Dalai Lama Must Follow Chinese Law if He Wants to Reincarnate 
   
5. Chinese National Once Deported from Taiwan for Pro-CCP Views Now Harassed in China for Protesting CCP Officials
6. How Iran War Exposed Limits of Chinese Influence in Region 
7. China’s Renaming Spree: Will the World Just Surrender to Silent,
8. Chinese Nationals Arrested for U.S. Navy Espionage Plot as Trump Admin Cracks Down on CCP Infiltration
9. China used embassies to undermine sales of fighter jet

Expanding the Milei Miracle: Labor Market Deregulation

July 11, 2025 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

Part I of this video series gave a brief summary of how Javier Milei’s free market policies have rejuvenated Argentina’s economy.  But more reform is needed and this second video makes the case for labor market deregulation.

Politicians impose so-called employment protection laws because of “public choice.” To be more specific, they understand that the beneficiaries of such laws (certain incumbent workers, often unionized) will give them votes and campaign contributions in exchange for laws that allow them to exploit employers.

But I explained three years ago, when writing about Spanish policy, that such laws reduce overall job creation and depress wages for others.

• Making it more expensive to hire workers means fewer workers will be hired.
• Making it more expensive to fire workers means fewer workers will be hired.
• Making it more expensive to employ workers means fewer workers will be hired.

To understand why Argentina needs labor market liberalization, here are the nation’s scores from Economic Freedom of the World (on a 0-10 ranking) as of 2022.

Other than regulations on the number of hours worked, Argentina gets failing grades.

The same is true when looking at the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom.

As you can see, Milei inherited a “Mostly Unfree” system of labor regulation.

Not as bad as the “Unfree” monetary policy he inherited, to be sure, but 55.2 (on a 0-100 scale) is a failing grade.

To conclude, Milei has an amazing list of accomplishments, but there’s a limit to how much he can liberalize using the powers of the presidency.

To promote job creation and higher wages, the legislature will need to repeal the nation’s horribly misnamed employment protection laws.

And since the Peronists still control the legislature, that presumably will depend on what happens later this year when Argentina has mid-term elections (based on my Fourth Theorem of Government, I’m cautiously optimistic).

P.S. Copying Denmark’s approach would be a good outcome for Argentina.

No Kings Day Protests

By Terry Payne 

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors. If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.

Democrats and their leftists’ supporters set up protests called “No Kings” events in every state and approximately 2000 cities and towns in America on June 14, 2025 and again on July 4. These episodes weren’t organic, they were well funded. The first was planned for months purposefully to coincide with Flag Day and the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army. The second was to conflict with our nation celebrating Independence Day.

Based on numerous signs that “Trump’s a Threat to Democracy,” and many Mexican flags, a naïve bystander would assume the protests’ focus were on existential crises caused by President Donald Trump, who’s in charge at home and abroad, OR many “No Kings” participants want to live in Mexico. After all, 8th graders who took American civics classes in the 1960’s know the 1787 Constitutional Convention established the United States as a federal constitutional republic -- not a democracy. Buy a lake in the Sahara Desert if you think the protests are about “threats to democracy.”

That’s the cover story and deception.

So, what’s the real purpose of the “No Kings” protests? Thomas Jefferson’s quote summarizes the tyranny of the masses: “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%.”

These protests ignore the U.S. Constitution’s specific Article II provisions that the President and Vice President are elected to serve a four-year term indirectly through the Electoral College, not majority rule by the uninformed masses screeching like Greek mythology Harpies -- “threats to democracy!”

Investigations are underway to determine who are the organizations and individuals funding logistics behind some protests and the Los Angles’ (LA) riots. Who’s behind it? Follow the money sources!

1. The Chinese Progressive Association—a self-proclaimed pro-Mao organization using Hispanics and immigration as a ruse.
2. Code Pink—a pro-China, pro-Hamas, anti-Israel organization.  
3. PSL—The Party for Socialism and Liberation.
4. ActBlue—The fundraising arm for the DNC. 
5. CHIRLA—The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles that is funded by the U.S. taxpayers - created to help illegal aliens in America. 
6. Shanghai resident and businessman Neville Singham, married to Jodie Evans, the cofounder of Code Pink. Singham has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 
7. Singham is described as a “comrade” of and financial backer of the People’s Forum, a Marxist revolutionary group, based in New York City that’s been integral to backing the Columbia University encampments. 
8. Singham served on the Central Committee for the League of Revolutionary Black Workers and is linked to funding BLM Marxist movements in America. 
9. Labor Unions—Service Employees International Union (SEIU). 
10. In the LA riots, GPS and cell phone data linked representatives from the Soros Open Society Foundation, Media Matters, Disruption Project, Rise and Resist, Indivisible Project, Troublemakers, Democratic Socialists of America, the Vera Institute of Justice, Brennan Center for Justice, and many other leftist NGOs to the riots. 
11. Walmart heiress Christy Walton, who is one of the biggest backers of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super-PAC. She promoted a planned “No Kings” nationwide protest against President Trump by placing full-page color advertisements in the New York Times.

Ronald Reagan warned that the socialist and Marxist long-term plan was a stealth agenda to transform America from a constitutional republic into a top-down, central and controlling socialist form of government. We’re witnessing this fact unfold clearly in California with a governor and LA Mayor who have no loyalty to our founders’ gift.

The “No Kings” protests and LA riots are about destabilizing our constitutional republic and transitioning us into a socialist utopia first, then a Marxist society where there are two echelons: the controlling elite and the masses of worker bees. President Trump, because he is a strong leader and not intimidated by anyone on the geopolitical stage, is boldly dismantling their power base and propaganda. They’re running scared for good reason! Protests genesis are a demand for true democracy that has failed wherever implemented, including ancient Athens, Rome, Venice, Russian Bolsheviks, French revolutionaries, and the Chinese Revolutions of 1911 and 1949.

Under socialist and Marxist elitist, the U.S. middle class will be demoted to serfdom.

SCOTUS and Their Pompous Petulant Pontificator

By Rich Kozlovich

My go to news site first thing in the morning is American Thinker, which I think is the absolutely best new site out there, they've even published one of my articles in the past.  There are a lot of articles appearing at AT by a large number of volunteer contributors, but they only have a few paid staff members, who on every Saturday different members of the AT writing staff put out a "Members Weekly Newsletter".  There are times these pieces are so good I wished they'd publish them on line.

One such article is by Mike McDaniel entitled, It was always clear that Justice Jackson would be a disaster, but she's worse than anyone could have anticipated.

Biden committed himself to a DEI nominee, and a black woman fit the bill, who could easily have been called a "mediocre" left wing ideologue right from the beginning.  A left wing ideologue totally unconcerned with reality, or the law starting, out with her exchange with Republican Senators who asked her to define what a woman was.  She couldn't.  Why?  She's not a biologist was her answer.  But they all failed to drive a stake into the heart of her nomination when they all failed to ask her if she was a woman.  As Mike notes the answer to that question might have ended her nomination.  

It  was apparent her understanding of Constitutional law is abysmal after Senator Ted Cruz asked her to take a position on that which is foundational to the Constitution, Natural Rights.  

After doing what all these Biden nominees have done consistently, answering questions not asked, over and over again, finally Cruz asked if she held a position on Natural Rights, yes or no.

She answered saying she held no position on Natural Rights.  Well that's foundation to the very existence of Constitution, and for any law student to have no opinion is impossible, but for a federal jurist, and one being nominated to be a Supreme Court Justice, that's not just impossible, it's a deliberate lie.  A lie in an attempt to avoid exposing the fact she's not a jurist, she's a radical left wing ideologue and an activist.

• The judicial tyranny of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson 'Why bother with the Supreme Court? Let's just take a poll'

Recently Justice Amy Coney Barrett smacked her hard and heavy dealing with birthright citizenship, something rarely done on the court, if ever.   Then she had to be schooled by ... of all people... Sotomayor on the President's legitimate Constitutional Article II powers as the chief executive with the authority to hire, and fire.  She claimed allowing him to do that would open the door to an Imperial Presidency, saying:

Eventually, executive power will become completely uncontainable, and our beloved constitutional Republic will be no more.....

Well, that's the job for the Legislative branch to address, not the judiciary.  

But the interesting thing is not one of the jurists took exception to Justice Amy Coney Barrett smack down, and Mike explains why.  She's an enormous pain in the butt.   Instead of asking questions for clarification she babbles on "mindlessly" and according to Mike:

Canny court watchers have noted the annoyance of the wiser justices at Brown Jackson's loud-mouthed antics.

I have to imagine when the Justices meet privately as a group to discuss issues her penchant for mindless rambling is almost unbearable.  Over the years I've served on boards of my industry's trade associations, and had that kind of babbling go on to the point I would get up and walk out of the room until they were done, and then they would start all over again, it become unbearable.   But they didn't serve on those boards for life, a SCOTUS justice does, how unbearable that must be.

As a side bar.  Who has consistently been the justice who asks the fewest questions and comments the least?  Justice Clearance Thomas, who I consider the finest justice to sit on the court in my lifetime.

She thinks the federal judiciary should be able to impose universal injunctions against the Executive at the district level, requiring both the Executive and the Legislative branches to acquiesce their Constitutional authority to unelected minor judges.   She claims she fears an Imperial Presidency that will destroy "democracy" but has no concerns about an Imperial Judiciary that really is destroying democracy by destroying the rule of law.   An Imperial Judiciary where her feelings are far more important than the laws written by Congress and anything written in that dusty old document called the United States Constitution.  

Mike ends his article with this paragraph:  

Brown Jackson's petulance in these two most recent cases suggests Kagan and Sotomayor realize Brown Jackson is not up to the minimum level of competence required of the Court and are no longer going to try to keep her blazing incompetence and leftism under the radar. She's too overtly leftist even for them.

Sotomayor apparently thinks Jackson is blazingly incompetent?  How shocking is that?  Jackson is arrogant, pompous, petulant, and grossly incompetent, and ya just can't fix stupid.  But when you put a person with those combined qualities in a position of power,  they're unbearable.  Ketanji Brown Jackson is another excellent example of why there needs to be a 28th Amendment to fix the Founders gravest error.  Lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary. 

I've written much about the federal judiciary, along with age and term limits, some of which are listed below. 

My 28th Amendment Commentaries: 

1. What if We Could Rewrite the Constitution To Fix the Republic
2. It's Time For a Twenty Eighth Amendment! 
3. The Founding Fathers Greatest Error? Lifetime Appointments to the Federal Judiciary!
4. The Need For a 28th Amendment Becomes More and More Apparent!
5. More Evidence of the Need for A 28th Amendment, II
6. The Federal Judiciary Needs Purged With Age and Term Limits
7. More Evidence of the Need For a 28th Amendment
8. Covid and the SCOTUS Swamp, Part One
9. The Supreme Court has taken up residence in the swamp

And SCOTUS isn't the only problem.  The nation's judiciary is out of control. Here's the link to

No Illegals, No Amnesty, No Compromise

By Robin Itzler 

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons will have been added by me. If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.

While America First Patriots have a difference of opinion on some issues, overall we are firmly in the MAGA camp. However, the ONE issue that would permanently destroy the MAGA coalition, is if there is even a whisper from President Trump about any kind of amnesty, exemptions, waivers, work programs, etc. for ILLEGAL ALIENS.

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It would be one thing if President Trump campaigned on first deporting criminals and then considering other illegal aliens—those who entered illegally but have not broken any laws since their arrival. But that’s not what Trump said. He campaigned on deporting ALL illegal aliens, starting with the worst, go first. On his July 7 radio show, Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk warned:

“...if you want to break our coalition, go and push amnesty. That right there would be a complete collapse of everything that we have worked for. Everything. So we don't know any details, but it looks as if President Trump might be in preliminary discussions. And I could tell you that there are many different discussions that I've had with people, and they are pushing it hard to create some kind of amnesty proposal aimed specifically at farm laborers in United States, but it's more than that. It could be hotels. It could be leisure properties.”

Right now, President Trump and members of the cabinet are saying no to amnesty, but while they might no longer use the word “amnesty,” they cannot substitute another word. Let President Trump know that you want ALL illegal aliens and especially those who arrived under the Biden/Harris regime to be deported. Otherwise, it snubs citizens who came to America through the legal process.

1. Here’s How The “Mostly Peaceful” Types Treat ICE Supporters 
2. Kristi Noem Turns Tables After NBC Host Echoes Dems’ Freakout Over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ 
3. LA Mayor Signs Executive Order Supporting Immigrants Amid Federal Raids 

The path of Islam, is it happening by you?   Did you know that:

· Afghanistan was once a Buddhist nation? 
· Pakistan was once a Hindu nation? 
· Lebanon was once a Christian nation? 

Today, those three countries are Islamic. It is now happening in Europe. Will the United States be next? The pattern for 1,400 years has been the same:

 ¨ Establish a mosque. 
¨ Create an enclave. 
¨ Grow the population. 
¨ Claim victimhood. 
¨ Resist host authorities and customs. 
¨ Exploit lawfare. 
¨ Institute Shariah. 
¨ Secede. 
¨Take control. 

Watch Brooklyn, New York – less than 1 minute.

Watch Dearborn, Michigan – less than 1 minute. Does this look like assimilated immigrants or a foreign army preparing for battle?

"Europeans have learned the hard way that  mass migration of Muslims without assimilation leads to submission of their own cultures." - Jim Hanson, Chief Editor for Middle East Forum

Email White House: Click here Phone: 202-456-7041 Write: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500

Snark and Satire: Points to Ponder

By Rich Kozlovich 

Voters around the country said they voted to raise taxes on property owners, not renters, and are outraged their rent went up.  

Americans are left with a nasty choice between the Republicans, who are seriously flawed, and the other side which is completely insane. What could possibly go wrong?   

There’s a lot of talk about OAC’s intelligence.  One cartoon said she would only use lower case letters in her efforts to fight capitalism, and since her TV says “built in antenna” she thinks nothing is being made in America.  

Justine Crockett is outraged Donald Trump didn't know Liberians spoke English.  Didn't he know Liberians are the smartest people in the world surrounding by all those "libery" books? 

Bernie would be more than happy to give you the shirt off someone else’s back.   

If you believe all the things the Democrats are saying it’s like a flock of sheep believing a lion saying he'd become a vegetarian if he's elected to lead the flock.  

What is the traditional response by Democrats to anything conservatives promote?  We're all gonna die.  Tax cuts? We're all gonna die.  Reducing the size of government.  We're all gonna die. Global warming, We're all gonna die. Global cooling.  We're all gonna die. Ending alternative energy.  We're all gonna die. Deporting illegal aliens.  We're all gonna die.  Arresting criminals.  We're all gonna die. See, consistency!

Gavin Newsom is clear that Trump is clueless regarding two things.  Growing marijuana is vital to his state’s economy, and it can’t be sustained without child labor.  He’s also adamant he will not stand silently by as Trump fixes California.  That would destroy “our” democracy.  What do Democrats believe is essential to saving “our” democracy?  Put Trump in prison, rid the nation of MAGA supporters, dump the electoral college, stack the Supreme Court, ban Voter ID, and censor free speech.  Now, who can find anything undemocratic about that?

Everyone seems to be mad at the Democrats these days.  The Iranians are upset as it appears the Democrats told them Trump is a big chicken, and he would back down. 

I think the Muslims in America who are demanding Sharia law should be accommodated.  Send them back to the countries from which they migrated.

If release of the Epstein client list would put a lot of members of Congress in prison, would that be acceptable?  Yes!

What's the goal of the Pravda media?  Convince everyone that the views of 10% of the nation are the views of 80% of the nation.  And you wonder why the Pravda media is dying?

Protestors who want to make Mexico Great Again, while rioting and waving the Mexican flag, here in America, and telling the world how bad America is, are really upset when they’re being deported claiming it’s unfair and their lives are being ruined.

Thinking vs Critical Thinking

It's important to know the difference. 

By John Droz, Jul 13, 2025 @Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues

I had a nice chat the other day with a friend, and the subject came up: what is the difference between normal thinking and Critical Thinking? 

I thought we must have covered this before here, but I couldn’t find it. My apologies…Briefly, Critical Thinking = normal thinking + more thoroughness + wisdom. Critical Thinking is deeper and wider than normal thinking.  The word “critical” is key. It means thinking that is cautious, reflective, questioning, skeptical, …

A Good Analysis —

From this fine discussion: 

 

Thinking is a fundamental human activity, occurring when the mind processes information and forms ideas or concepts. It can be spontaneous, random, or directed, allowing us to understand, interpret, and make decisions about the world around us. Critical thinking, however, is a refined form of thinking. It demands a deeper level of analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information to form a judgment.

Thinking can be passive. For instance, daydreaming or recalling a memory requires thinking but not necessarily any analytical process. Critical thinking, in contrast, is always active. It involves assessing the credibility of sources, identifying biases, and weighing evidence before drawing conclusions.

While thinking can often be based on personal beliefs, feelings, or incomplete information, Critical Thinking necessitates a rigorous approach to ensure objectivity and accuracy. It's a skill that needs to be cultivated and practiced, requiring one to be skeptical, open-minded, and methodical.

Thinking is inherent and is something we do every day without much effort. Critical thinking, on the other hand, often requires more energy and attention. It challenges one's own beliefs and assumptions, aiming for clarity, coherence, and logical consistency.

An Example —

From this college course: answer this question with the first answer that comes to mind, no matter what it is… A student went to the campus bookstore and bought two pencils for a total of 10 cents. How much did each pencil cost?

If you answered 5 cents (a total of 10 cents divided by two pencils equals 5 cents), your thinking fits the definition of normal thinking. In other words, it was based on simple recall of memorized information. You recalled those math formulas you memorized in school in order to answer the question.

On the other hand, if you had any other answer, you weren’t just thinking normally — you were likely thinking critically, because you were doing more than relying on recall of basic information.

For those in the latter case, unconsciously their thinking/ reasoning warning light went off. Perhaps they said to themselves, “I can’t tell. Maybe: a) one pencil is bigger than the other, or b) one is a red pencil, or c) one is a bigger pencil. In these cases, one pencil may cost 6 cents and the other 4 cents.”

Or perhaps you thought, “Wait a minute, I need more information.” Maybe you questioned the whole idea of two pencils being so cheap, or you thought that this had to be some type of trick question because it was so simple.

Hopefully, this simple example makes this distinction clearer…

Takeaway —

Put yet another way, regular thinking is like taking a drink of water — which most of us do reflexively a dozen or more times a day.

Critical Thinking is more like going to a winery and trying out several sample offerings. Both times we are swallowing liquids, but at the latter we are much more attentive — and critical!

Some sample good references:

Critical Thinking College Course: University of Alabama

Difference Between Thinking and Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking vs. Thinking

Critical Thinking and Non-Critical Thinking: Key Differences

Thinking vs. Critical Thinking: What’s the Difference?

Thinking vs Critical Thinking: Difference and Comparison

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Critical Thinking

Three Types of Thinking and Why They’re All Important

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Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2025 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

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California Protects Illegal Who Bought Girl for Beer

By Daniel Greenfield @ Sultan Knish Blog

Things are not happy in Monterey County. The California county, which Kamala won by 63%, is considered a ‘sanctuary’ for illegal aliens by the Department of Homeland Security.

But that sanctuary status was recently violated and local officials are outraged. So is the Solidarity Network: a pro-illegal alien group that ‘monitors’ immigration enforcement arrests.

Monterey County Board of Supervisors Chair Chris Lopez responded by announcing that a maternal health walk was cancelled. “Monterey County deeply values the contributions of our immigrant workers and families that strengthen our local communities and economy,” Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo posted. The Monterey Solidarity Network promised to fight.

“A family man was taken from the street as he was taking his son to school,” the pro-illegal organization that had vowed to fight against President Trump’s immigration enforcement fumed. “How is ripping a man from his family, outside of his home, terrorizing his children, considered ‘compassionate’?”

Considering the arrested man’s past relationship with a child: it might be very compassionate.

Back in the first year of the Obama administration, Monterey County was being enriched with exciting customs and two Mexican immigrants in the local city of Greenfield decided to transact a beautiful custom when the father of a 14-year-old girl traded her for 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade and assorted other foods along with $16,000.

Sadly the happy prospective nuptials between man and child were not to last because Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, the girl’s father, didn’t get his soda and beer, and called the cops on Maragrito de Jesus Galindo, his prospective son-in-law and failed provider of drinks.

Martinez had traded his daughter for beverages that he didn’t receive, and now he wanted a refund and perhaps his daughter back to trade for something better, maybe sandwiches or a lifetime of meals at Red Lobster.

The police arrived and arrested everyone involved on the grounds that Monterey County is pretty open-minded, but it wasn’t quite that open-minded. At least back then.

Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier said that selling girls as young as 12 has “become a local problem.”

“When I’m in Mexico, I have to respect Mexican laws. When you’re in the United States, you have to respect United States laws. That’s the bottom line,” he told CNN.

Three years later Grebmeier was ousted and the exact borders of Mexico and California have become debatable. The majority of the Greenfield City Council is Mexican and a good deal of local officials are as likely to follow Mexican laws as American ones.

While the media forgets, ICE has a long memory. They came, they saw and they arrested Maragrito de Jesus Galindo to the outraged protests of the pro-illegal alien activists at Solidarity Now who told reporters that they’re trying to find the soda groom a lawyer.

Even though he might well prefer a 14-year-old to a lawyer.

“Historically, immigrants have been scapegoated for many societal ills, and the current administration is trying that same old tactic. We urge the community to remember that immigrants have built this country, and that they are the backbone of the local agricultural and hospitality industries,” Monterey’s Solidarity Network complained.

And apparently the local beverage child trafficking industry.

ICE wasn’t scapegoating immigrants for societal ills since trading children for beer is not an American custom, as the media spent the worst part of a month in 2009 explaining to us.

This particular “societal ill” is not American and is being shielded by California officials.

ICE decided that the local family man might be better off in his home country where, as the media claimed at the time, selling children for beer is a “normal and honorable” custom.

Meanwhile California could do without its custom of sanctuary areas and pro-illegal activists.

Monterey’s Solidarity Network urges anyone to report ICE raids. This could be characterized as interference with federal law enforcement. And while some pro-illegal groups operate outside the law, the local Solidarity Network raises money through the Watsonville Law Center: a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit. That’s something that the IRS could put a stop to any time.

For now, ICE must chase men who practice their “traditional custom” of buying underage girls in exchange for beverages despite the interference of sanctuary counties and a sanctuary state.

From Gov. Gavin Newsom on down, the state’s rulers turn away from witnessing child abuse and instead use every possible leverage to prevent immigration authorities from doing their job.

“A family man was taken from the street,” the Solidarity Network mourned. But perhaps the citizens of Greenfield, Monterey County and California are better off for it.

The larger question is whether the custom of selling girls as young as 12 years old in Monterey County, which its old police chief described as a “local problem” has gone away or is being covered up. And unless federal law enforcement looks into it, we may never really know.

Sanctuary cities don’t just shield illegal aliens, they shield some of the worst crimes imaginable.

There should be no sanctuary and no safe spaces for men who trade girls for beer.

Once upon a time we understood that. Perhaps one day, Americans will be unable to believe that a political party and a state government did everything possible to protect such men.

Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center's Front Page Magazine. Click here to subscribe to my articles. And click here to support my work with a donation.  Thank you for reading.

 

 

Will The OBBB Put An End To Heavily Subsidized Wind And Solar Generation Projects?

July 12, 2025/ Francis Menton @ Manhattan Contrarian

What does the future hold as to large additions to heavily subsidized wind and solar electricity generation capacity in the U.S.? For those paying attention, the legislative back-and-forth of the One Big Beautiful Bill, as it made its way through Congress, has been something of a roller coaster ride. At this point, I am betting that the utility-scale wind and solar industries are near the end of their line. This post reports on the latest development, which is an Executive Order signed by President Trump on July 7. But count on the wind and solar subsidy farmers to keep fighting to the last dollar of their government handouts.

Note that it is my view, from extensive study of the subject, that wind and solar generators of electricity are essentially useless, not to mention dangerous and costly, for a modern grid that needs reliable generation 24/7/365. Nobody will invest private capital in them without huge government subsidies. To date those subsidies have been provided mostly in the form of tax credits under the Internal Revenue Code. Those tax credits have existed since 1978 (and since 1992 for an additional tax credit for wind generation), always with expiration dates that, however, have time and again been extended as the deadlines neared.

I have had two previous posts about provisions in the OBBB on this subject: this one from May 24 (immediately after the House had passed its version of the Bill), and this one from July 6 (after the President had just signed the final Bill into law). As I reported in the May 24 post, the version of the OBBB passed by the House had such strict limitations on further qualification for the wind and solar tax credits that it was likely that few if any additional projects would be able to qualify. Projects would have had only 60 days after enactment to begin construction, and would have had to enter service by 2027 — that is, before President Trump would leave office. That would mean that any attempt to revive the subsidies before they expired would have to overcome Trump’s veto. In other words, if the language in that version of the Bill had survived, the wind and solar industries were basically finished.

But as I then reported in the July 6 post, the final language of the OBBB as enacted appeared to give the big wind and big solar industries the chance to fight another day. The time to commence construction and qualify for the tax credits had been extended to a year (thus, to July 4, 2026), and the time to enter service had been extended to four years after that (thus, in 2030, which would be well beyond President Trump’s term). Big wind and solar would thus get a substantial window to commence new projects, plus an opportunity to lobby Congress for further extension of the credits in 2029 and 2030, after Trump had left office. The post quoted energy writer Alex Epstein as pointing out that the IRS rules on what constitutes beginning of construction were so lenient and flexible as to pose no real constraint on how many economically useless projects could qualify for a decade of taxpayer subsidies.

In an update to the July 6 post, I cited David Blackmon at the Daily Caller as attributing the tax credit deadline extensions in the final OBBB to a deal negotiated by Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. This piece from Politico says that other Republican Senators, including Grassley and Ernst of Iowa and Curtis of Utah, were also involved in the deal.

Well, it turns out that people in the White House were on to the scam and have taken steps to try to ensure that the extended deadlines in the final OBBB do not turn into an open ended taxpayer blank check for the wind and solar industries.

Note that the potential for new deadlines in the OBBB to turn into such a massive blank check turns on how easy it is for large numbers of projects to qualify as having “begun construction” within the year ending July 4, 2026. The test for what constitutes “beginning of construction” appears in some IRS regulations adopted under the Internal Revenue Code sections providing for the tax credits; and during the Covid pandemic era, the IRS issued a notice of a “safe harbor” to qualify. Here is the IRS Notice from 2021 containing the relevant language. As Epstein notes, the test for “beginning construction” under the so-called safe harbor is “insanely-easy-to-meet. . . . All you need to do is commit 5% of expected project cost to buying re-sellable assets like solar panels.”

This is the specific loophole addressed by President Trump’s July 7 Executive Order. Here is the text of Section 3(a) of that Order:

Within 45 days following enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall take all action as the Secretary of the Treasury deems necessary and appropriate to strictly enforce the termination of the clean electricity production and investment tax credits under sections 45Y and 48E of the Internal Revenue Code for wind and solar facilities.  This includes issuing new and revised guidance as the Secretary of the Treasury deems appropriate and consistent with applicable law to ensure that policies concerning the “beginning of construction” are not circumvented, including by preventing the artificial acceleration or manipulation of eligibility and by restricting the use of broad safe harbors unless a substantial portion of a subject facility has been built.

So the test for “beginning construction” will likely turn out to be not so easy to meet at all. The Secretary of the Treasury is directed to issue “new and revised guidance” within 45 days from July 4, which would be August 18. We won’t know exactly how strict and onerous the new guidance is until it is issued, but we do know that Trump has directed that the purpose of the new guidance will be to assure that the new deadline as to “beginning of construction” is not “circumvented.”

According to Utility Dive here on July 9, the language of the Executive Order is the result of a deal reached between Trump and the House Freedom Caucus to secure their votes for passage of the OBBB. It seems that both sides can play this game.

I would think it is well within the power of Treasury Secretary Bessent to come up with guidance on the meaning of “beginning of construction” that will strongly discourage almost all efforts to try to qualify for the extended tax credits.

P&D and The Week That Was

 Truth is the Sublime Convergence of History and Reality

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De Omnibus Dubitandum, (Everything is to be questioned!)

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This Link will take you to My Commentaries.

 

By Rich Kozlovich 

 

 

I can honestly say the last weeks has been filled controversy, one major issue after another, and I'm finding it exhausting.  The BBB has passed and now the rescissions are being brought forth, which if passed will address some of the spending in the BBB, and Trump is playing hard ball.  There will be no endorsement for any Republican who refuses to back the rescissions bill.  Will there be more of this kind of thing? We'll see.

The federal judiciary has proved it's filled with political hacks, really removing all doubt it's corrupt, with stunningly unqualified left wing activists who have demonstrated the only bench they qualified to sit on is a park bench, and Ketanji Jackson epitomizes that.   She's made it clear her feelings are paramount, not the law, and certainly not all that legalese she thinks is a waste of time.  Mostly because it seems clear she hardly understands it.  It’s never about the law; it’s always about the preferred leftist outcome. So much for her Harvard education. 

Ketanji Jackson’s wacko dissent to a Supreme Court order allowing agency heads to plan to trim their departments was so bad even Sotomayor stood against her as her objections had nothing to do with the issues before them.   This was the judge who was touted by the media and the left as one of American great legal minds.  As Andrea Widburg notes: "Jackson isn’t a justice; she’s an unrepentant activist", and she's not alone.

Another radical Biden appointee Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, has decided she's going to tell the federal government where they can conduct raids, and who they can arrest, where they can arrest them, and based on race preferences, and the Democrats have introduced a bill that will prevent ICE officers from wearing masks and must wear and "display legible identification."  Why?  This is nothing more than an attempt to put they and their families lives in jeopardy in an attempt to prevent them from doing their jobs.  

• A Biden judge unilaterally created impossible legal and onerous procedural standards for ICE - The entire order is ludicrous and far exceeds anything a judge has the authority to do.........an Obama appointee, has determined that there is an unspoken carve-out: An unelected judge may control border practice and policy..............

 Remember Judge Hannah Dugan?  I published two articles on this, here, and here if you're interested in more details.  She's the one who huffed and puffed and helped an illegal alien escape from ICE agents.  Then she was arrested and her defense was she had absolute immunity as a judge performing her duties, which was a tacit acknowledgement she was guilty as charged, and the courts agree, saying: “Judges are not immune from criminal prosecution for acts wholly outside their official roles as judges."  She's facing major jail time over this, up to six years and $350,000 in fines if convicted.  

The Democrat party has now come out openly stating what all sane and rational people already knew..... they're blatantly antisemitic.  Why?  Because the Democrat party is the 'big tent’ party and is embracing Islamic terrorists by supporting their Marxist, antisemitic candidate for Mayor of New York City. 

The Jeffrey Epstein case is radioactive.  I've posted five pieces on this issue over this case, Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V listed below, and with Part VI in queue.  Part VI will be the most damaging.  Pam Bondi is in deep trouble.  Both Kash Patel and Bongino apparently had a big blowup with Bondi over her claim there is no client list, which she once claimed she had it sitting on her desk.  However, there are those who claim it really exists, including Alan Dershowitz who says he's seen it.  Now, it's clear Bondi is a liar.  The question is did she lie before, or is she lying now, what has yet to be determined is what role Trump has played in this, if any.  Is it possible this could destroy his presidency?  Yes, it is. 

As for Pam Bondi, here was my article dealing with her character. The Bondi Conundrum: George Zimmerman!  When I wrote that piece I had "corresponded with someone who is a prominent author who knows Bondi and who said, "Bondi's role on the Zimmerman case was not unlike Pontius Pilate's in the Jesus case. Not her best moment", and I think that's being entirely too kind to Bondi."   In my opinion Bondi is toast, and it wouldn't surprise me if she resigns next week.  Who else gets toasted remains to be seen.   

This week I have four commentaries of my own and twelve by others, and the six permanent links.  

"JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon calls Democrats "idiots" “I have a lot of friends who are Democrats and they are idiots. I always say they have big hearts and little brains. They do not understand how the real-world works."

Best wishes to all those of honest heart who stand against the tides of delusion, lies, and corruption.  Heterodoxy isn't for the faint of heart.   

Rich  

My Commentaries

1. The Truth Isn't Unkind. It's Just the Truth
2. P&D Geopolitical Edition, July 9, 2025
3. The Epstein Case: Far Ranging and Nuclear, Part V
4. Christian Persecution: A Worldwide Horror Story That's Growing in Frequency and Intensity

Commentaries

1. "A Thing of Beauty Is a Joy Forever" — John Keats By Susan Daniels
2. My Firsthand Knowledge about Anchor Babies By Susan Daniels
3. Media Balance Newsletter for July 7, 2025 By John Droz, Jr.
4. The Nearing Crisis of Demographics By George Friedman
5. Concertgoers Cheer Muslim Terrorists Killing Them By Daniel Greenfield
6. California’s Useless Republicans By Robin Itzler
7. The Fate Of The U.S. If The Left Got Control Of The Supreme Court By Francis Menton
8. Its Defenders Need To Understand That "Capitalism" Is Not An "Ism" By Francis Menton
9. Debt Lessons from Greece  By Dan Mitchell
10. Great Moments in State Government By Dan Mitchell
11. The Milei Miracle By Dan Mitchell
12. OBBBA’s Small Step to Federalism By Dan Mitchell

Permanent Links

1. 45 Communist Goals to Destroy America as Listed in the 1963 Congressional Record
2. My Seven Rules of Geopolitics
3. The John Boyd Legion of Honor
5. Former White House Advisor: “Trump to Release $150 Trillion Endowment”

 No matter what anyone says, you can’t marginalize the truth!  You can suppress it, you can ignore it, you can avoid it, you can attempt to undermine it, you can attempt to subvert it, you can attempt to organize against it, you can even laugh at it, but if we have the courage and the fortitude to stand and confront the lies, irrespective of the personal costs, the truth will stand the test of time, because truth and time are on the same side.

Constant as the North Star