"Independence Day"

"Independence Day"

Classic Thoughts Re-Written for the Modern Patriot

by Contemplations on the Tree of Woe

"Any man with any measure of heroism in his blood who actually reads the texts and speeches of our Founders cannot help but to feel the call to pick up his musket and fight Britain. Moreover, the tyrannies endured by our ancestors seem almost trivial in comparison to the daily villainies perpetrated on their descendants by those who purport to rule them; shouldn’t the urgency of action be all the greater? And yet…

Perhaps I should clarify: Any man or woman who can actually read the texts and speeches cannot but help to feel the call to action. But today almost no one can actually read them. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech is 11th grade; of the Declaration of Independence, 12th grade; of the U.S. Constitution, 18th grade.

According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 57% of Americans have a reading grade below 9th level, and 13% have a reading grade below 5th level. Only 13% can understand the Declaration or Patrick Henry’s speech, and virtually none can understand the Constitution. And that includes all Americans. Among Generation Z, it’s far worse. They are the least literate generation in American history.

Spend a few minutes on YouTube watching our young people be interviewed on the most basic matters of our history and values. They do not know anything of the good, the true, and the beautiful; and even if they wanted to, they could not learn it because the texts are inaccessible to them. Far too many have been cognitively crippled.

If we are to properly motivate the masses, we must speak the language of the masses. I am called to action. I have spent weeks immersing myself in the Gen Z gathering hall known as “TikTok.” Today, on the 4th of July, I present our finest patriotic texts in a style that will speak to the young men and women of today. Check ‘em out, fam.

"The Declaration of Independence"

"Aight, so check this, when peeps decide to dip from the squad and do their own thing, it's only fair they spit some facts about why they're peacing out. It's just how it is, you know? We all believe some truths are just straight-up, like we're all equal, and our Creator gave us some dope rights, like life, freedom, and chasing what makes us happy.

And if the government isn't vibing with that, then we've got the right to switch it up and set up something new that'll keep us secure. That's just keeping it real. But when a long list of whack stuff happens, it's not about being salty; it's just time to bounce and do what's gotta be done. And that's where we're at with the British Crown. So, here's the tea.

Like, we're not about to ghost without giving the full deets. Let's get into it, shall we? We've been super patient and chill, trying to work stuff out with the British king. But he's been on a total power trip, acting like a toxic friend that just won't quit.

He's put laws on us that are totally unfair, messed with our courts, and has been all up in our business, trying to control our lives and telling us what to do.

And it's not like we haven't tried to talk it out. We've been sending the king all these messages, trying to get him to understand our side of things. But he's been ghosting us, ignoring our probs, and acting like everything's all gucci when it's totally not. It's obvious he's just trying to flex and show his power, and we're over it.

So, we're taking a stand and cutting ties. We're saying 'bye, Felicia' to the king and declaring ourselves as free and independent states. We'll make our own alliances, trade with who we want, and fight our own battles. We're going to stand up for each other and do everything that free countries do because that's what we are.

We're fully aware that this is a major step, so we're not going to do it without some serious thought. We respect the connections we've had with Britain, and we're not looking to cut ties unless it's absolutely necessary. But they've forced our hand, and we need to do what's best for us.

With a clear conscience and with respect to the opinions of humanity, we're putting it all on the line. We're entrusting our cause to the universe and its divine law. We're ready to face the consequences and stand up for what we believe.

In other words, it's on, fam. We're doing this. We're declaring independence.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Do we really need all these troops and warships for a love and reconciliation gig? Haven't we been chill enough to make peace, or do they gotta flex their muscle to win back our vibe? Don't kid yourself, fam. This is all about power and control, the final say for those in the high castle.

I gotta ask, peeps, why all this military showoff if not to make us kneel? What else could it be for? Does Britain have any beef with anyone around here to justify all this military overkill? Nah, bro, there's none. It's all about us. They're prepping these chains the Brit government's been crafting for ages.

What's our move? Do we try to out-talk them? We've been doing that for a solid decade. Got any fresh takes? Nah, nothing. We've explored this from all angles, all for nothing. Do we beg and plead? What else can we say that hasn't been said already?

Please, fam, let's be real. We've done all we could to dodge this incoming storm. We've filed petitions, we've protested, we've pleaded, we've basically thrown ourselves at the king's feet, begging him to stop the savage acts of the government and Parliament. Our pleas have been ignored, our protests only made them more aggressive, our pleas fell on deaf ears, and we've been kicked aside with nothing but contempt. After all this, dreaming of peace and reconciliation is pointless. Hope has left the chat.

If we want freedom, if we intend to keep the valuable privileges we've been fighting for, if we don't plan on ditching this epic fight we've been in, and swore never to quit till we win, we gotta fight!

I say it again, we gotta fight! Calling on our weapons and the big guy upstairs is all we've got left!

They're saying we're weak; can't handle an enemy this tough. But when will we be stronger? Next week? Next year? When we've got no defenses left and a British soldier's snooping around every house? Does doing nothing and procrastinating make us stronger? Will we gain the power to resist by just lying down and hugging false hopes, till our enemies chain us up?

Nah, we're not weak if we use what nature's given us right. Three million folks, armed for the holy cause of freedom, in a country like ours, can't be defeated by whatever our enemies throw at us.

Plus, we won't be fighting alone. There's a just God looking over nations' fates; He'll bring allies to fight with us. The victory ain't just for the strong; it's for the vigilant, the active, the brave.

Plus, we've got no choice. Even if we were cowardly enough to want it, it's too late to back down now. There's no going back unless we surrender and become slaves! Our chains are ready! You can hear 'em in Boston! War's coming and let it come! I say it again, let it come.

We can't sugarcoat this, fam. Some may shout, "Peace, Peace" but there's no peace. War's already here! The next chill from the north will carry the sound of clashing arms! Our brothers are already out there!

Why are we just standing around? What do y'all want? What's the deal? Is life that precious, or peace that cool, that we'd buy it with chains and slavery? Nah, not on my watch, Almighty God! I don't know what others will do; but for me, it's either freedom or it's game over!"

- https://treeofwoe.substack.com/

Jeremiah Babe, "The Economic Endgame Is Closing In, Your Money Is Disappearing As Inflation Rages"

Jeremiah Babe, 7/3/24

"The Economic Endgame Is Closing In,

 Your Money Is Disappearing As Inflation Rages"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Wars and Rumors Of War: The Middle East"

Full screen recommended.

Scott Ritter, 7/3/24

"This Is Why Israel Will Be Destroyed In 

An All-Out War With Hezbollah"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

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Danny Haiphong, 7/3/24

"Israel Crushed as Iran 

Exposes IDF’s Humiliating Failures"

"Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran and advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiations team discusses how Iran has completely destroyed pro-Israel narratives forwarded by the like of Piers Morgan via its successful military operation against Israel and its ongoing support for the resistance to colonial occupation across the region. This video breaks it all down from a perspective often unheard in Western media."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"30 Statistics That Prove Average Americans Are Being Financially Destroyed"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 7/3/24

"30 Statistics That Prove Average 

Americans Are Being Financially Destroyed"

"Even though most Americans have been struggling financially over the past few years, not everyone has been doing badly during the current economic turmoil. In fact, there are some households that are doing exceptionally well. Some articles point out that companies that cater to average Americans are doing quite poorly right now while companies that market luxury goods and services are reporting massive profits. However, overall consumer spending has been slowing down.

It looks like the majority of U.S. workers either can't spend a lot of money right now or are very hesitant to. At the same time, there is a substantial number of Americans who are splurging confidently on the finer things in life. In 2024, life is dramatically different depending on whether you belong to the "haves" or the "have-nots." These disparities are rooted in the widening wealth gap, where the affluent are accumulating even more wealth, leaving the average worker with dwindling financial resources."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Revisionist History and How the Good Guys Don't Always Win"

"Revisionist History and How the 

Good Guys Don't Always Win"

By International Man

"International Man: Revisionist history refers to the re-examination and reinterpretation of historical events, which can be done to correct inaccuracies, update understanding, or challenge prevailing narratives. This just sounds like applying critical thinking to history. What’s your take?

Doug Casey: The essence of critical thinking is to question every proposition and then investigating the answers for accuracy and logic. It’s important to pursue answers to their root causes and never accept things at face value.

The problem with history, certainly as it’s taught in schools, is that its many versions are presented as fact with no nuance. Looking at history is very much like examining an elephant, where one person feels a leg and thinks it’s a tree trunk, and another feels the elephant’s trunk and thinks it’s a snake.

It’s said that the CIA made up the term "revisionist history" during the 60s as an aid to debunking interpretations they didn’t like. The powers that be, the establishment, don’t like revisionism for at least two reasons.

Number one, a thorough investigation of history requires detailed and well-explained answers. That might uncover crimes involving powerful people. They might be imprisoned, bankrupted, or seriously embarrassed. Revisionist history can overthrow the ruling order, therefore rulers always oppose it.

Number two, it can overturn myth. Myth is a double-edged sword. It’s often a good thing because it can be a tie that binds a people together, even if it’s not true. However, reality and truth are usually better than myth in the long run. So, we shouldn’t be afraid of overturning myths, even if they’re useful.

In any event, much of standard history contains crimes that should be recognized. As Gibbon said, "History is indeed little more than a catalog of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."

International Man: Why is there so much controversy and negative stigma associated with challenging widely accepted contemporary or historical events? In a free society, shouldn’t that be considered healthy and necessary?

Doug Casey: Yes. But it’s never in the interests of the Establishment to uncover crimes or overturn favorable myths. Every country romances its history to present itself in the best light possible. The average guy just accepts what he’s told. As Sam Cooke’s song, "Wonderful World", says: "Don’ know much about the Middle Ages, jus’ look at the pictures, and turn the pages."

For instance, take the Revolutionary War. It wasn’t just a revolutionary war. It could be described as a war of secession, but people don’t like to describe it that way because that makes it comparable to the War Between the States, which was another war of secession.

Revisionist history shows that the Revolutionary War was also a civil war in which perhaps a third of the country’s population was on the side of the Crown. Only a third were rebels, and the other third were neutral. The Indians and many black slaves fought for the British. But that revelation compromises the nature of our national myth, and some people who hate the idea of America like to emphasize the negatives. I, for one, like our founding myths. But I also like truth and accuracy.

The same kind of problems arise to an even greater extent in the War Between the States -which itself is a Revisionist name for the Civil War. The myth is that it was fought to free the slaves. But that’s totally untrue. The slaves weren’t freed until the middle of the war, and then only in the southern states, not in the northern states. The main basis of the war was about taxation. And secondarily, about whether new territories could be admitted to the union as slave states.

The US government’s main source of income was import duties. But the South was paying the lion’s share of those import duties, which were raised significantly to protect northern manufacturers. That was the major reason for the South seceding, not slavery. Slavery was highly controversial in both the North and South, but it wasn’t the reason for the war itself. Few talk about that because it seems more noble to have the victor be the good guy fighting to free slaves, as opposed to maintaining economic advantage.

You can’t maintain a free society unless you can debate about factual matters and what’s right and what’s wrong. However, teachers just repeat what the government says. And the narrative can change radically. Even as we speak, historic myths are being replaced by recently minted propaganda. We’re on the edge of seeing the statues of Washington and Jefferson replaced by those of George Floyd.

We’re not as bad by any means as China or the USSR, where the whole society was based on a lie, and it couldn’t even be questioned. But we’re moving in that direction with current views of political correctness and wokism.

International Man: The comedian Norm Macdonald once joked: "It says here in this history book that, luckily, the good guys have won every single time. What are the odds?" What are some historical examples of when the so-called "good guys" didn’t win?

Doug Casey: We all know the old aphorism, "I’m a freedom fighter. You are a rebel. He’s a terrorist." It’s often a matter of perception. And the fact is that everyone thinks he’s a good guy. Even the worst mass murderers like Alexander, Genghis Kahn, Stalin, Hitler, and Mao - all thought what they were doing was both good and necessary.

It’s a question of deciding who the good guys really are. Look at the battles between the Hatfields and the McCoys. They both thought they were on the right side of the issue. Or the wars between the Europeans and the Native Americans. Both sides had excellent arguments for killing each other. It’s like the battle of the Alamo. Yes, the Americans were brave and fighting for something they believed in. But at the same time, the Mexican army was quite correct in trying to kick out invaders that were violating their territorial rights.

There are many examples like that. My own view is that the "good guys" are on the side of individual liberty and have a preference for non-violence.

International Man: Most people would agree with the phrase "the winners write the history books." However, when it comes to certain historical events, the same people would likely accuse you of being a dangerous extremist promoting hate crimes. What do you make of this amazing display of cognitive dissonance?

Doug Casey: Well, it’s part and parcel of the study of history. Emotions get higher the closer we are to events. Especially where those who were involved are still alive. Major players in history are rarely saints; they usually have Machiavellian or Kissingerian morals. They’re inclined to cover up crimes or bad intentions. You’re not allowed to hold some views. If you do, you’re a heretic. And heretics are often burned at the stake.

Pearl Harbor is a good example. It’s now obvious that Roosevelt provoked the Japanese and was looking to force their hand and get them to attack. He was aware the attack was coming but was willing to sacrifice Pearl in order to make Americans righteously angry.

Yes, the Japanese were the aggressors. But at that point, they were being backed into a corner as the US cut off their oil and steel. People don’t want to believe that because they want to believe that the US is always in the right - we’re always the good guys. I’m sympathetic to that view, if only because the US is unique in having been founded on overtly libertarian principles. But that doesn’t mean its government always, or even usually, acts according to its principles.

The Kennedy assassination in 1963 is another example. I have no doubt that Oswald was a patsy. Who did it? I don’t know, but I suspect it was the CIA that Kennedy wanted to disband. It amounted to a coup d’etat. But, whatever the real facts are, they’ll never come out because it would make the US look like a banana republic, reveal criminals, and destroy more of our founding myth.

We really don’t know exactly who’s responsible for 9/11. All we know is the accepted narrative. There are all kinds of unanswered but obvious questions, like what actually happened to building number 7. Looking for the truth, even in the most intellectually honest matter, will get you accused of being a conspiracy theorist.

International Man: Given everything we’ve discussed today, what are the implications as the world is headed for its most chaotic period since WW2? What can the average person do to protect himself?

Doug Casey: There are at least three major disasters unfolding before our very eyes:  Ukraine, Gaza, and potentially Taiwan. And I’m afraid that the US government is on the wrong side of all of them.

The Russians were pushed into attacking the Ukraine much the way the Japanese were pushed into attacking Pearl Harbor. It’s a border war between Kiev and Moscow that has been blown way out of proportion. The US thinks it’s clever to sacrifice Ukrainian manpower to hurt Russia.

Gaza amounts to another type of border war, albeit one that’s been going on for about 3000 years. Who really owns Palestine, the Jews or the Arabs? Why is that a concern of the US?

As for Taiwan, I suspect historians will see a lot of similarities to what happened in Vietnam and Korea. In all three, the US gets involved in a conflict on the other side of the world in completely alien cultures, millions die, and there’s a huge amount of destruction.

In all these cases, Americans are writing history at the moment. But the US, which has transformed into a degenerate empire, is now on the wrong side of history. A hundred years from now, other powers will be writing the standard version of history - not us. But that doesn’t augur well for Americans in the here and now, that’s for sure."

- https://internationalman.com/

Musical Interlude: Chuck Wild, "Liquid Mind, Dream Ten”

Full screen recommended.

Chuck Wild, "Liquid Mind, Dream Ten”

"Liquid Mind" (aka Chuck Wild) originally wrote this music to deal with the anxiety and stress of overwork and the serious illness of friends. The gentle ebb and flow of the music has an immediate "slowing down" effect, providing a serene escape from tension-filled days. Ideal for stress relief, falling asleep at night and to enhance meditative and therapeutic practices. There are few composers with as much love for slowness in their music as Wild. Chuck draws from classical and pop influences as varying as Beethoven and Brian Eno, Bartok and Rachmaninoff, Bach, Chopin and Fauré, Duruflé and Brahms."

- http://www.liquidmindmusic.com/

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Cradled in cosmic dust and glowing hydrogen, stellar nurseries in Orion the Hunter lie at the edge of a giant molecular cloud some 1,500 light-years away. Spanning nearly 25 degrees, this breath-taking vista stretches across the well-known constellation from head to toe (top to bottom). The Great Orion Nebula, the closest large star forming region, is right of center. To its left are the Horsehead Nebula, M78, and Orion's belt stars. Red giant Betelgeuse is at the hunter's shoulder, bright blue Rigel at his foot, and the glowing Lambda Orionis (Meissa) nebula at the far left, near Orion's head. 

Of course, the Orion Nebula and bright stars are easy to see with the unaided eye, but dust clouds and emission from the extensive interstellar gas in this nebula-rich complex, are too faint and much harder to record. In this mosaic of broadband telescopic images, additional image data acquired with a narrow hydrogen alpha filter was used to bring out the pervasive tendrils of energized atomic hydrogen gas and the arc of the giant Barnard's Loop.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101023.html

The Poet: David Whyte, ”Sweet Darkness”

”Sweet Darkness”

“When your eyes are tired the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes

to recognize its own.

There you can be sure you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb tonight.

The night will give you a horizon

further than you can see.

You must learn one thing:

the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness

to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.”

- David Whyte,

“House of Belonging”

"Problems?"

Problems? "Dig you way out," they said...

“The Better Angels Of Our Nature: How Charles Dickens Influenced Abraham Lincoln"

“The Better Angels Of Our Nature:

How Charles Dickens Influenced Abraham Lincoln"

by Gene Griessman, Ph.D.

“Here’s the story of an obscure but beautiful quotation from Charles Dickens that found its way into the First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln. n 1861, before his inauguration, Lincoln showed a draft of what he intended to say to William Seward, his Secretary of State. Seward recommended that Lincoln conclude with conciliatory words, and sketched out a few sentences for Lincoln to consider.

Seward’s rough draft, which has been preserved, contains the expression “better angel.” Twenty years earlier, in 1841, Charles Dickens had used “our better angels” in his novel “Barnaby Rudge.” There is no evidence that Lincoln read Dickens, but Seward did. Lincoln read Seward’s rough draft in which Seward had scratched out the words”better angel” and substituted in their place “guardian angel of the nation.” Lincoln then turned Seward’s discarded two words into the memorable expression “better angels of our nature.”

The quotation from Dickens is below. I like the entire quotation very much, not just because it contains the germ of a concept that Abraham Lincoln immortalized, but because of its wise and spiritual insight.

“The thoughts of worldly men are for ever regulated by a moral law of gravitation, which, like the physical one, holds them down to earth. The bright glory of day, and the silent wonders of a starlit night, appeal to their minds in vain. There are no signs in the sun, or in the moon, or in the stars, for their reading. They are like some wise men, who, learning to know each planet by its Latin name, have quite forgotten such small heavenly constellations as Charity, Forbearance, Universal Love, and Mercy, although they shine by night and day so brightly that the blind may see them; and who, looking upward at the spangled sky, see nothing there but the reflection of their own great wisdom and book-learning.

It is curious to imagine these people of the world, busy in thought, turning their eyes towards the countless spheres that shine above us, and making them reflect the only images their minds contain…So do the shadows of our own desires stand between us and our better angels, and thus their brightness is eclipsed.”(italics added)

One final comment. Shakespeare used the words “better angel” in “Othello,” and we know for certain that Lincoln had read “Othello.” The expression is used in a remark made by Gratiano, a nobleman from Venice, after the death of Desdemona to describe enlightened and restrained human impulses. Gratiano speaks of pushing away the ‘better angel” which would hold him back from taking bloody revenge on Othello.”

- http://www.whatyousay.com/

"In The Last Analysis..."

"When the world goes mad, one must accept madness as sanity;

 since sanity is, in the last analysis, nothing but the

 madness on which the whole world happens to agree."

   - George Bernard Shaw

Paulo Coelho, "The Law of Jante"

"The Law of Jante"

by Paulo Coelho

"'The Law of Jante?' Of course I had never heard of this, so he explained what it was. I continued on my journey and discovered it is hard to find anyone in any of the Scandinavian countries who does not know this law. Although the law exists since the beginning of civilization, it was only officially declared in 1933 by writer Aksel Sandemose in the novel “A Refugee Goes Beyond Limits.”

The sad truth is that the Law of Jante is a rule applied in every country in the world, despite the fact that Brazilians say that “this only happens here,” and the French claim that “unfortunately, that’s how it is in our country.” Now, the reader must be annoyed because he/she is already half way through the column and still does not know what the Law of Jante is all about, so I’ll try to explain it here briefly in my own words:

“You aren’t worth a thing, nobody is interested in what you think,

mediocrity and anonymity are your best bet.

If you act this way, you will never have any big problems in life.”

The Law of Jante focuses on the feeling of jealousy and envy that sometimes causes so much trouble for people. This is one of its negative aspects, but there is something far more dangerous. And this law is accountable for the world being manipulated in all possible manners by people who have no fear of what the others say and end up practicing the evil they desire. We have just witnessed a useless war in Iraq, which is still costing many lives; we see a huge abyss between the rich and the poor countries of the world, social injustice on all sides, unbridled violence, people being forced to give up their dreams because of unfair and cowardly attacks. Before starting the second world war, Hitler sent out several signals as to his intentions, and what encouraged him to go ahead was the knowledge that nobody would dare to defy him because of the Law of Jante.

Mediocrity may be comfortable, up to the day that tragedy knocks at the door and people start to wonder, “But why did nobody say anything, if everybody could see that this was going to happen?” Simple: nobody said anything because the others did not say anything either. So in order to prevent things from growing any worse, maybe this is the right moment to write the anti-Law of Jante:

“You are worth far more than you think. Your work and presence

 on this Earth are important, even though you may not think so." 

Of course, thinking in this way, you might have many problems because you are breaking the Law of Jante – but don’t feel intimidated by them, go on living without fear and in the end you will win.”

- http://paulocoelhoblog.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Boring, Oregon, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

Gerald Celente, "Independence Day? Freedom Is At The Twilight Of It's Existence"

Gerald Celente, 7/3/24

"Independence Day? 

Freedom Is At The Twilight Of It's Existence"

The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times.

- https://trendsjournal.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Judge Napolitano, "Col. Douglas Macgregor: Can Israel Survive Alone?"

Full screen recommended.

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 7/3/24

"Col. Douglas Macgregor: Can Israel Survive Alone?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "No Middle Class - Why Everyone Feels Broke!"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 7/3/24

"No Middle Class - Why Everyone Feels Broke!"

"In today’s video, we dive deep into the harsh reality of why everyone feels broke and the vanishing middle class! The latest report from Bankrate reveals some shocking figures that show how the average income needed for financial security is skyrocketing. We’re talking $186,000 a year! This is insane, especially when most families will never see that kind of money."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Our Lives Begin To End..."

 

"An Enraged, Outraged Repost"

"All Palestinian Prisoners To Be Executed And Shot In The Head"

"The Minister of National Security of Israel, Itamar Ben-Gvir, says he plans to introduce legislation in the Knesset which reads: "All Palestinian prisoners to be executed and shot in the head." – The Minister of National Security of Israel, Itamar Ben-Gvir

Watch this monster say it himself!

- https://twitter.com/Megatron_ron/status/1807385593506103757

"Israel is Evil personified. Israel is Evil embodied."

- Scott Ritter

OMG... God damn these psychopathically degenerate monsters to Hell! And YOU, Americans, paid for it all, every bullet, every bomb, every tank, everything, billions and billions of dollars! All that blood's on YOUR hands too! 37,500 innocent and unarmed men, women and 16,000 CHILDREN slaughtered, with another 8,000 buried under the rubble and unrecovered. And these ZioNazi creatures from Hell call the Palestinians "human animals?!" Eternal shame and disgrace on us all! Stipendium peccati mors est, Israel, and it's coming...

"How It Really Is"

 

"Weak Men and Women Create Hard Times"

"Weak Men and Women Create Hard Times"

By Andrew Packer

“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, 

good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”

– G. Michael Hopff

"History and politics are cyclical. That we live in good times makes some of the stories of weakness in our own time… well, they strain your faith in humanity.The documents we’ve been writing about this week were written by good men writing with our best interest in mind during hard times.

“Five men who signed the Declaration of Independence were captured by the British as traitors,” writes historian Matthew Smith, “and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army and had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.”

Meh. Historical artifacts, you could say. At least they went on to create a more perfect Union that would appeal to the better angels of our nature. If you’re into that kind of thing. In our time we elect members of Congress so they can get rich!

In 2001, Martha Stewart sold shares of Imclone before prices collapsed. In so doing, she avoided $45,673 in losses. That was chump change to Stewart, who was nearly a billionaire following the IPO of her media business. In fact, her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, was bringing in more than $60,000 per day.

However, the Imclone sale caught the eye of regulators eager to crack down on white collar crime. The SEC explicitly stated at the time they were using their budget money wisely and going after Stewart explicitly because she is high profile.

Bear in mind … this was in the aftermath of Enron’s collapse and a slew of other accounting scandals…Amid the dotcom bust, where billions of dollars were raised to fund businesses that had no plan to ever turn a profit, they went after the lady who showed us how to beautify our homes on a budget. It was also two years after regulators got the first warning that Bernie Madoff was operating a ponzi scheme, but six years before that unraveled. But, again, smaller fish to fry.

Stewart pled not guilty at trial. She showed that she had a standing order with her broker to sell shares if they dropped below $60. But her broker had insider information, and called Stewart to encourage the sale before that information became public. That was enough for a jury to convict. Stewart received five months in prison, and five months of probation, plus a hefty fine.

Fast forward to 2022. First Republic Bank collapsed shortly after the bank run that hit Silicon Valley Bank. On March 16, 2022, my member of Congress here in South Florida (who shall remain nameless), sold shares of that bank before it slid 98%. That same congresswoman then bought shares of JPMorgan Chase, the exact bank that took over First Republic’s assets for pennies on the dollar – and with some government-backed guarantees to boot. In so doing, this member of Congress not only saved up to $15,000 in potential losses. She also benefited from JPMorgan’s monster rally over the past year.

Surely she’s facing the same consequences as Martha Stewart, right? After all, she was also trading on privileged, non-public information. Surely there’s not a double standard for members of Congress, who are, after all, the same flawed human beings as you and I?

This may come as a shock. But this particular congresswoman’s corruption isn’t even meriting a primary challenge. And that’s on top of having all of the perks of being a member of Congress. The salary, the staff, the travel expenses, and a phenomenal health care plan (the best your tax dollars can buy).

Meanwhile, as a constituent, I can’t even get the courtesy of a reply to mail sent in 2021. In the private sector, someone who couldn’t handle such a simple job task would have been let go a long time ago. That’s not all. Of the 535 members of Congress, she was in the top 10 for total returns during 2022, making out like a bandit while the rest of us had to sit through a bear market. How were these returns made? Nobody knows. While members of Congress are supposedly required to disclose trades in a timely manner, Congress has yet to create a law to properly enforce the requirement.

Of course, these returns pale in comparison to the tens of millions made by Nancy Pelosi, both during and after her Speakership. Even 60 Minutes has noted as far back as 2012 just how profitable some of her trades have been. She’s managed to parlay a salary of about $250,000 per year into phenomenal wealth, just shy of $115 million. And it’s why Twitter/X channels like Unusual Whales have launched to try and systematically track all this wheeling and dealing.

This corruption has likely always been a part of Congress. But in the digital age, when financial records can be tracked and compiled in real time, we’re just now realizing how institutionalized and pedestrian it is for members to enrich themselves while performing their public “service.” Meanwhile, when asked about these suspicious trades in banking stocks, all my member of Congress had to say was that the trades were made at the discretion of an independent advisor. In other words, the Martha Stewart defense.

A Nation of Men and Women, Not Laws: In 1780, my rather distant relation, John Adams, wrote the constitution for the state of Massachusetts. It’s the oldest governing document still in use today. Over the past few decades, Adams has regained respect as one of the Founding Fathers. His work on drafting the Declaration of Independence, serving as a diplomat in Europe, and serving as the first Vice President just scratches the surface.

Like most of his era, he was a farmer first, growing flax and other crops from sturdy New England soil. Most of my ancestors followed a similar path. As have most of yours. It’s only been a few generations since industrialization changed the path of millions away from physical toil. Those were hard times. They were made easy by generations of men and women aspiring to help those around them, not enrich themselves at the public expense.

Low government expenses and regulations made technological innovations easy. We still had booms and busts, as we likely always will. But the goose of laissez-faire economics was still allowed to lay the golden eggs. So when I say hard times are upon us, I get it. It’s hard to believe, much less take seriously.

We have lived easy in America. But, much like Venezuela or even California, when you stifle the goose that lays the golden eggs, you eventually stop getting golden eggs. Our weakness is apparent today. It can’t be hidden much longer. Congressional trading abuse is just one crack that’s become apparent in recent years. Eventually, one of these cracks will bring our republic down.

A big part of our problem lies in politicians who have made a career out of politics … on both sides of the aisle. Our founding fathers had minimum ages for entering public office, but didn’t expect anyone to make a career out of it. George Washington, who could have been a king, stepped down from the presidency after two terms, going back to his farm.

John Adams passed away on July 4, 1826, at the age of 90 (50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the same day Thomas Jefferson passed away). His presidential term had ended 25 years before, in 1801, at the age of 65.

Part of today’s weakness is that we’re devolving from a nation of equally-applied laws to one where some men and women are, to paraphrase George Orwell, “more equal than others.” Holding a political office was once a noble service. But now it’s been transformed into a scheme to hold onto power for the sake of wealth, not serving the public. When members of Congress openly and notoriously engage in the same kind of illegal behavior that got Martha Stewart sent to prison, you may just be in the endstage of American society.

When I moved to Florida from my home state of California in 2009, I used to joke that I was a “refugee.” Today, seeing California leading the nation in cost of living and economic inequality, people get the joke. That joke has become all too real. The rest of the country is following in California’s footsteps. And there are fewer and fewer places to still strive for the American dream of being left the hell alone to achieve in peace.

Florida is one of those places, South Florida’s Congressional representatives notwithstanding. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos just moved here, conveniently around the same time the state of Washington was looking to charge a surtax on capital gains. (His estimated savings? $600 million.) There’s no telling how much harder times will get before we find the political will to stand up to corruption and runaway government power, if at all. Pointing out the corruption and standing up against it? As Martha Stewart would say: It’s a good thing."

- https://greyswanfraternity.com/

"It’s Damned Hard to Be Proud of America"

"It’s Damned Hard to Be Proud of America"

by Justin Smith

"Americans probably still have many good reasons to be proud of America, but as I sat thinking about what I would write to commemorate our Independence Day, they all seemed to evade me at the moment, given where we find our country today. And even tho’ we have seen some recent gains moving the country away from the Marxist-Maoist Democrat Party’s communist agenda and the plan to fundamentally transform America into something despicable, foreign and conquered, it will be for naught so long as the American people keep embracing corrupt politicians and act as tho’ the Bill of Rights are unimportant footnotes in Mad Magazine, written by President Alfred E. Newman, trudging into the years ahead unprincipled and immoral as ever.

After decades of witnessing America hasten into a dark nightmare of an existence and an ever more uncertain, ill-prepared direction for the future of the country, under a fascist Marxist-Maoist regime, our reasons to be proud of this country have become practically non-existent, on this 4th of July, due to largely inadequate counters or no counterattacks at all to prevent or halt the constant and continuous assaults and attacks by America’s domestic terrorists and the enemies-from-within, as well as enemies from abroad. And as many prepare to celebrate America’s Independence Day, Americans should reflect on their own vision for the not so “united” United States of America and whether or not they love this nation enough to ensure its continued success and survival throughout the 21st century as the greatest nation on earth.

This is the nation that gave the world the marriage between the ideas of liberty and the equality of all under the law, which greatly enabled and facilitated the highest levels of individual liberty and the greatest economic prosperity ever seen throughout the entire history of mankind. This alone would ordinarily make America a very Exceptional nation indeed, if not for the advent of the new amerikkans who hate America’s founding, Her principles and Western civilization itself.

The American Flag is heavily worn, and its stars are faded today, after roughly 200 years of America being such an exceptional nation. Yes, we know She’s stood tall for many years, the best She could for 248 years, but a large segment of the American people — those with a long line of American ancestry as well as the newer generations of immigrants — have themselves diminished and torn asunder the luster of the idea of American Exceptionalism and that Shining City on the Hill that has so often been used across history to depict America, and in far too many instances they have sabotaged the country and American virtues and principles by way of numerous Machiavellian mechanisms, as seen for example in the 1913 Federal Reserve Bank Act, 1929 Stock Market Crash, 1965 Immigration Act, the Covid Pandemic, mail-in ballots, “Election Month” instead of “Election Day” and the New Green Deal.

Our nation emerged from the fire, fury and chaos of the War for Independence with the hopes of the people and a people determined to live free through their own capabilities and devices without the heavy, tyrannical hand of any government from that day on, but from the looks of things today, those hopes were dashed repeatedly across the ages. They revolted over a two percent tax hike on tea, and yet here we sit today taxed on every damned thing under the sun, including the property we supposedly own and the very damned air we breathe.

The average American has many more valid reasons to revolt today, than they had in 1776. Consider the Declaration of Independence, and then consider the current political malaise that has grabbed the American people by the cajones and seemingly just sucked the will and the life out of them, as they sit back ever complacent and apathetic as a Marxist-Maoist juggernaut rolls over their inalienable God-given rights as seen in Natural Law made by God the Creator. One can almost hear the bleating as one walks down Main Street USA.

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and intransient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Never in American history have we seen our country and its people so sorely abused and put upon. Never have the American people suffered such a long train of abuses and usurpations, as we are suffering through today under this Marxist-Maoist communist regime that has captured our government through and through. And it’s damned hard to be proud of a country that has allowed for this, that stands by this very moment watching as if the situation will somehow miraculously resolve itself, as the Democratic Party move ahead with the fundamental transformation of America into something foreign and antithetical to Her founding, a tyrannical Socialist Super-State

It’s damned hard to be proud of a country that is doing next to nothing to stop the treason on the southern border that allows millions of illegal aliens to cross each year, mostly military aged men from all across the world, from the socialist-loving people of Nicaragua, Mexico and El Salvador to nations hostile to America like China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and many others too - smuggling tons of China’s death dealing fentanyl into the country in the process. Yes, there’s nothing for the American people to be proud to see in a country that won’t stand up in the face of an existential threat, because its people have grown weak and complacent and obedient to their deaths, even with the Democrat Party admitting they plan to legitimize these illegal aliens and hand them “the right to vote”.

Yea - I can’t be too proud of America when She has nearly totally forgotten Her Veterans in far too many respects, as we see thousands of homeless Veterans trying to get help in vain, while the Veteran Administration Office is busy filing medical claims for Illegal Aliens [I shit You not] as explained in a recent article by Representative Greg Steube (R-FL). https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-va-must-stop-working-for-illegals/

How can anyone be proud of America when the tyrant in the Oval Office has weaponized the DOJ, the FBI and the IRS against his political opponents with impunity, giving a wink and a nod to Attorney Generals in every state that it’s open season on former President Donald Trump and any conservative or independent political leaders that currently are trying to fight back in any meaningful manner against the Biden regime’s anti-American agenda? No one should be proud to see this illegal and unconstitutional lawfare being utilized as tho’ it’s business as usual.

How can anyone be proud of a country that allows Government Agents to gun down innocent patriotic Americans such as Randy Weaver’s wife Vicki and his son Sammy, LaVoy Finicum and Ashli Babbitt under suspect and largely unwarranted circumstances?

And it sure as hell is hard to be proud of America, when so many of Her leaders seem to give more allegiance to foreign interests than they give to America, especially where the Bidens, Clintons and McConnells [and many others too] are concerned in regard to their respective dealings with China and Russia, especially when one looks at the millions handed to the Biden Crime Family by several Big Players in the Chinese Communist Party.

Are you proud of this America that has spent and manipulated us all into economic oblivion and a debt-based economy hell that forces everyone in a household to have to work a fulltime job and a parttime job too, since 2000, making the traders and top business executives even wealthier while everyone else goes bust? Are you proud of an America that has every ordinary citizen pinching pennies and scraping everything they can together, just to get by, when it was just sixty years ago that one man’s salary would still pay the rent/mortgage, utilities, gas for the car and groceries for a family of four.

It’s damned hard to be proud of a country that, despite the final defeat of Roe vs Wade, still promotes and facilitates the murder of millions of unborn babies, even up to them exiting the birth canal, as millions cry “a woman’s right to free reproduction”. How about they clamp their damned legs shut if they don’t want children, or get on the pill and make their sexual liaison wear a condom? Better yet, wouldn’t it be a fine thing and the right thing if they could be brave enough to allow the baby its life and give it to loving adoptive parents?

How can we be proud of America, when so many of Her people revel in their sick, demented, immoral perversions and deviancy and brainwash America’s children so deeply that twenty-five percent of that demographic now identifies as non-binary, homosexual or transsexual? What is there to be proud of in a country that enables minor children to be severely damaged both physically and psychologically for life, behind their parents’ back, and given transsexual gender therapy treatment? I’ll tell You what. NOTHING. Not one damned thing.

There’s nothing found in a country to instill pride, when its own churches wallow in the immoral ways of society and lend comfort to the deviant pervert heretics, even to the point of allowing “drag queens” to promote their sinful way of life before the congregants.

What pride is to be found in an America that has forgotten God and Her own founding virtues and principles?

No one believes this current situation or this current government’s agenda represent anything remotely close to the principles our ancestors fought to defend and preserve in 1776 or WWI and WWII.

“president” Joe aka Traitor Joe does not love America, or he would not be attempting to “fundamentally change” Her into something completely antithetical to every idea and principle She is founded upon. He wouldn’t be destroying our border security, our energy infrastructure, our economy and our families if he had the tiniest bit of concern or true love for America.

Yes. This 4th of July, it’s hard to feel proud of an America that has fallen so far from its beginning.

Americans must stop enabling the fools and knaves in the ranks of the Democrat Party Communists and RINOs to twist and manipulate the truth, and they can no longer remain so passive as these anti-Americans break the fine things so many have devoted their lives to build by way of their insane and asinine policies, that are purposely designed to destroy America. We will kneel and build them again, forcing our hearts and nerve and sinew to fight on long after we are worn out, and so, we hold on and continue when there is nothing in us except the will to enable and ensure that a free America will soon exist once more, after this next election. Afterward, if we are not compelled toward armed rebellion beforehand, we will untangle ourselves from the Marxist-Maoist tentacles and the mess the communist ideology has created within our system and, perhaps, return America and Her courage to Her resplendent magnificence and place of honor, in order that we may preserve freedom and individual liberty far into the future for our children and grandchildren and their children’s children, and many generations yet to come.

Now more than ever, America needs Her people to return to God and the principles upon which She was founded and to remember those things that made America great so many years ago, to understand that America still has the potential to be great again, far into the future, if only Her people will take a hard stand for true freedom and liberty for all.

Thinking of what America faced then and now, I think of the rousing speech Patrick Henry delivered to the Continental Congress in the spring of 1775. Henry concluded: “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our Chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace - but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Even more heart-wrenching are the final words of the Declaration of Independence, since every signer of this sacred document believed he was signing his own death warrant: “And for the support of this Declaration, with Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

My eternal allegiance is to God, Family and America, and for anyone who desires to rebuild America anew, we must pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

Hat tip to the Burning Platform for this material.

"It Now Takes An Annual Income Of $186,000 A Year For Americans To Feel Financially Secure"

"It Now Takes An Annual Income Of $186,000

 A Year For Americans To Feel Financially Secure"

by Michael Snyder

"According to a stunning new survey that was just released, an annual income of at least $186,000 a year is required in order to feel financially secure in the United States today. Unfortunately, only 6 percent of U.S. adults make that kind of money. So we have a major problem on our hands. The cost of living has become extremely painful, and millions of Americans are stressed out of their minds because their finances are such a mess. Over the past several years we have witnessed an economic shift of epic proportions. The ultra-wealthy have gotten a lot wealthier, the ranks of the poor have exploded, and the middle class has been absolutely eviscerated. In this current economic environment, only a very small segment of the population is living comfortably. The following comes from CBS News…

"Americans have a specific annual income in mind for what it would take to feel financially secure, according to a new survey from Bankrate. The magic number? $186,000 per year. Currently, only 6% of U.S. adults make that amount or more, Bankrate said. The median family income falls between $51,500 and $86,000, according to the latest federal data. Achieving financial security means being able to pay your bills while having enough left over to make some discretionary purchases and put money away for the future, the personal finance site said."

When I was growing up, I thought that anyone that earned more than $100,000 a year was wealthy. But now it takes an income about five times that size in order to be considered “wealthy”…"Americans have an even higher yardstick for feeling rich. The survey found they believe they would need to earn $520,000 a year to qualify as wealthy - up from their $483,000 response during the same survey last year."

Much of the population is trying as hard as they can, but they will never make the kind of money that they would like to make. Meanwhile, the cost of living just keeps going higher and higher and higher. As a result, the percentage of Americans that admit that they are experiencing financial stress just continues to go up…"Many inflation-weary consumers continue to experience financial stress, with a new Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia survey finding that 35% of Americans are worried about making ends meet, up from 29% a year earlier."

That gap between what the typical American earns and what they aspire to earn means “Americans have their eyes set on this high income, and they think they need to make more money even if they know it’s unrealistic they’ll never make that amount,” Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate, told CBS MoneyWatch.

At this point, even many that are considered to be in “upper-income groups” feel forced to take on extra jobs just to make ends meet…"Americans in upper-income groups are concerned about their ability to pay bills, with more than 15 percent of this demographic taking up additional jobs over the past year, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. As of April 2024, 32.5 percent of respondents earning over $150,000 annually were worried about making ends meet over the next six months, up from 21.7 percent in April of last year, the June survey showed.

This percentage is higher than for those in the income groups of $100,000 to $149,999, $70,000 to $99,999, and $40,000 to $69,999. Only individuals who earned less than $40,000, the lowest income group, were more worried than the $150,000-plus group." I have never seen numbers like this before. People are feeling so much anxiety about their finances, and that helps to explain why economic issues are playing such a prominent role in this election cycle.

Some Americans are trying to make ends meet by cutting back anywhere that they can. For example, the following comes from an NPR article about how Americans are cutting back on charitable giving…"Robert Lang, a longtime cabinetmaker in Cincinnati, used to feel good about giving money to less-fortunate people. These days, however, he’s being forced to be less generous. “I’m no great humanitarian,” says Lang. “But I feel really good if I can give a homeless guy 20 bucks. And we can’t do that anymore.” The reason? Rising prices, which have forced Lang to dial back his giving as the 69-year-old tries to make ends meet with Social Security benefits and a part-time job with a furniture-making journal."

When times get tough, people become less generous. I wish that wasn’t true, but that is just the way that it is. So what will happen when economic conditions become extremely harsh?BCA Research chief global strategist Peter Berezin is warning that another recession is coming and that stock prices could soon fall by 30 percent…"There may be trouble looming on the horizon for the U.S. stock market, according to BCA Research. In a note to clients last week, BCA Research chief global strategist Peter Berezin warned that, contrary to popular belief, the economy will fall into a recession either this year or in early 2025. Should that happen, the S&P 500 could tumble to 3,750, which marks a 30% drop from current levels."

Will he be proven correct? I don’t know. But I do know that it feels like a recession has already arrived to many Americans. Every day, we get even more bad economic news. For instance, Fox Business just published an article about how major drug store chains are in the process of closing down locations from coast to coast…"Just this week, Walgreens announced that it would close a “significant” number of under performing stores across the U.S. due to ongoing challenges with profitability and declining margins. Earlier this month, Rite Aid announced that 27 locations in Michigan and Ohio have been added to the growing number of stores it plans to close while it restructures under Chapter 11 bankruptcy."

In large cities all over the nation, thousands upon thousands of commercial properties are now sitting empty. Of course this is just the start. As the globe is rocked by one chaotic crisis after another, things will get a whole lot worse. A “perfect storm” is now upon us, and most people have absolutely no idea how harsh conditions around us will soon become."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

Bill Bonner, "A Funny Old World"

A meeting of New York City Suffragette’s movement, 1894

"A Funny Old World"

A Brookings study says the cost of $310,000 to raise a child. 

You could spend a lot more - just send your children to private

 schools and expensive colleges. But you could also spend a lot less.

by Bill Bonner

"Dying all the time,

Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind.

Ain’t life unkind..."

 - "Ruby Tuesday", The Rolling Stones

Poitou, France - "Poor Joe Biden. He’s gotten old. Here’s the New York Times on who might take Joe’s place: "Kamala Harris Could Win This Election. Let Her." The obvious, logical path out of the mess President Biden created with his disastrous debate performance is for him to bow out with honor and endorse his young, vigorous and talented vice president to stand in his stead.

Who are some of the other leading candidates to replace old Joe? Michelle Obama. Hillary Clinton. Two of the three were catapulted to political fame because they were married to presidents. The other was chosen, probably because she was born Black, female and Asian, to be Joe Biden’s Number Two.

One of the main criticisms of monarchy was that leaders were chosen on the basis of birth, not merit. Another gripe was that ambitious women, such as Madame du Barry or Madame de Pompadour could gain influence simply by being fetching companions in the bedchamber.

And what to make of Dr. Jill? The New York Times reports that she may now be the most powerful person in Washington; she decides whether her husband stays or goes: "In those first stricken moments after a raspy, rambling and at times incoherent performance, he [Biden] turned to his wife, Jill Biden. The first lady’s message to him was clear: They’d been counted out before, she was all in, and he - they - would stay in the race. Her thinking, according to people close to her, was that it was a bad night. And bad nights end. So Dr. Biden spent the 24 hours after the debate putting her decades as a political spouse to the test, projecting confidence and normalcy while effusively praising her husband."

Our goal is to connect the dots. We call our system a ‘democracy.’ But is it really so different?And what happened to the white, male patriarchs? Have they all turned into feeble, fumbling oldsters? Marine Le Pen in France. Georgia Meloni in Italy. Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico. And in America, women are drawn to the White House like zombies to live flesh. And as women rise up, birth rates fall.

The BBC rings the alarm: "The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a "jaw-dropping" impact on societies, say researchers. 23 nations - including Spain and Japan - are expected to see their populations halve by 2100."

Countries will also age dramatically, with as many people turning 80 as there are being born. It takes a birth rate of about 2.2 children per woman to maintain a steady population. But the rate in Ireland and France is only 1.8. In the UK, it’s only 1.6. And in Canada, only 1.5. Babies in Italy and Japan are even scarcer, with 1.3 births per woman. South Korea has almost no babies at all - with less than one per woman.

Women are having fewer children. Or, to be more correct, fewer women are having children. Those who have children seem to be doing it at about the same rate as before, but more women are just not having any children at all. In Japan, in the 1970s, for example, it was rare for a woman to not have children. Today, one of three are ‘barren.’

Why? Polls tell us that about 10% of them don’t have children intentionally. But most just don’t get around to it. They are busy with their careers... or have not found a decent mate... or not prepared financially or emotionally.

Some commentators insist that falling birth rates have something to do with the economy or wages. And yes, raising a child is expensive. A Brookings study came up with a total cost of $310,000 to raise a child to adulthood. You could spend a lot more - just send your children to private schools and expensive colleges. But you could also spend a lot less. People who say they ‘can’t afford to have children’ probably really mean they don’t want to make the necessary trade-offs.

There are also the ‘hidden costs’ of raising children. In addition to the investment of money, children take time. Begrudging your children time with their parents is like begrudging seed to a fertile field; the harvest is likely to be poor.

We have a friend who wrote a book, "The Price of Motherhood." She notes that a woman often sacrifices her prime years... when she could be embellishing her resume and developing her career skills. This is the real reason, say researchers, that female salaries lag those of their male counterparts; women are more likely to take time off work to care for children.

Around the 1970s, widespread birth control helped women avoid getting pregnant. Their opportunities increased, but their imaginations failed. They didn’t want to ‘stay at home and bake cookies,’ as Hillary Clinton put it. They wanted an active role in what they thought was a more interesting or more important world - a man’s world.

Like Hillary, many hung up their aprons and began to wear pant suits. They postponed having children so they could take seats in law schools... state houses... and corporate HQs. Today, they are our mayors, our city council members, our busybodies... our world-improvers... our White House press secretaries and Treasury secretaries... our BS-ers, fraudsters, and our candidates for president. Too bad they didn’t have something better to do."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/