Clothing manufacture in China

 

Short Tiktok about Shein and manufacture of clothing:  https://www.tiktok.com/@ximtopian/video/7640190145869778206?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Minnesota Style Fraud

Posted July 11, 2026 (but from 2023.  Seems similar to case below so included)

Mary Wickersham (also known as Mary Sullivan) was the former executive director of the Miss Florida Scholarship Program. In 2023, she was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $243,000 in restitution after stealing donation money from the organization. 

Wickersham, who directed the program from 2002 to 2018, secretly created a fake corporation called "Miss Florida LLC" in 2011 to divert sponsorship funds and donations into a personal bank account. She then spent the money on shopping sprees, online dating websites, utility bills, and maid services. The financial discrepancies were discovered by new leadership after she left, leading to an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Department of Justice.

July 11, 2026

Former Miss America contestant and Miss North Dakota Jill Mertens (formerly Jill Nelson) pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding a taxpayer-funded childcare program out of $426,000. She admitted to applying for COVID-19 relief and state childcare grants by claiming to employ 23 teachers who didn't exist and inflating the hours of 11 actual employees. [1, 2]

Details of the Case

• The Scheme: Mertens owned three Minnesota daycares: Creative Stars Academy in Kasson, Creative Stars Academy in Rochester, and Tree of Life Academy in Ramsey. Prosecutors revealed she used the taxpayer funds from the state's Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program for other purposes. [1, 2, 3]
• The Pageant: Mertens competed in the 2001 Miss America Pageant after being crowned Miss North Dakota. [1]
• The Aftermath: All three of her daycare locations have since been closed, and she previously filed for bankruptcy. Her sentencing guidelines call for approximately two years in federal prison, with a final date to be set pending a probation review.

July 11, 2026

Meet Fahima Mahamud: - Operated the largest government funded Learing Center in Minnesota, received over $4.6 million - Also received $850,000 for the Feeding Our Future scam and bought real estate with the money - Tried to escape to the UK before being caught by the FBI - Just PLEAD GUILTY to daycare fraud and covid fraud.

But we were all told that Nick just happened to visit on a day when there were not many children.  

July 11, 2026

Palace Daycare collected $9.4 million last year by allegedly handling 8,000 different patients. But when Nick Shirley and Dr. Oz show up on camera to ask the staff for their actual daily numbers, the math immediately falls apart, and the manager fakes a phone call to hide it.

The staff claims they see about 100 patients a day across two shifts. But the receptionist admits 8,000 patients a year is impossible.

But the most revealing evidence is the staff itself--every single person in the front office was hired exactly one month ago. The entire previous workforce left at once.

The current employees do not know who manages the business. They have never met the owners. They cannot name their actual employer.

This is known as a structural reset. In organized fraud, clearing out legacy staff creates a human shield of ignorance. If new workers lack operational history, they can sit under questioning and truthfully say they know nothing.

This is not a business with high employee turnover. Rather, it's a financial crime scene.

44% of American Muslims are favorable toward Hamas.

 47% of American Jews are favorable toward the Israel government.

44% of American Muslims are favorable toward Hamas.

https://nypost.com/2026/07/10/us-news/almost-half-of-muslim-americans-have-favorable-view-of-hamas-new-survey-shows/

Email -- Correcting False Accusations

 

Quotes

From Ronald Reagan

From Bono

Bono on what he has learned as an activist. " I though that if we just redistributed resources, then we could solve every problem.  I now know that's not true.  The "off-ramp" out of extreme poverty, is, ugh, commerce.  It's entrepreneurial capitalism." .

From Hayek

From Hippocrates—

“Everyone wants healing until the medicine shows up in the form of discipline.”- Hippocrates 

From Mark Twain --

“A man can never be comfortable in life without his own approval”

"Of all the hard things to bear, to be cut by your neighbors and left in contemptuous solitude is maybe the hardest"

From Richard P. Feynman;

Quote of the day by Richard P. Feynman: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”

From ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Above all don't lie to yourself.  

Houston agrees : 

"You can fool people. You can fool anybody any time of the day, but you can’t fool yourself. At night, when you go home, you’ve got to be straight up with you."

From Milton Friedman:

“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”

Milton Friedman, “Tyranny of the Status Quo,” (1984) p. 115

From Walter Williams

"If one person has a right to something he did not earn, of necessity it requires that another person not have a right to something that he did earn.”

— Walter E. Williams

“The prospects are dim for a society that makes mascots out of the unproductive and condemns the productive.” — Walter E. Williams

From Milton Friedman:  

"Because it's always so attractive to be able to do good at somebody else's expense." 

Milton Friedman, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences grades the achievements of the Clinton administration and evaluates the programs the President proposed in his 1999 State of the Union address.  Wednesday, February 10, 1999 

Posted 8/7/2025

From Thomas Sowell:

  “Different people have very different reactions to President Barack Obama. Those who listen to his rhetoric are often inspired, while those who follow what he actually does are often appalled.”

 

Lady Cyntha Asquith

From "Lady Cynthia Asquith: Diaries 1915-1918.  At the end of the war she said:  "and one will at last fully recognise that the dead are not only dead for the duration of the war.” She lost two brothers and other friends.

From Leonardo da Vinci:

"He who does not punish evil, commands it to be done"

While the quote is widely attributed to Da Vinci, and appears in various collections of his writings, including "The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci", some sources point out that it may not be a direct quote from his surviving notebooks, but rather a paraphrase or interpretation of his broader philosophy on justice and responsibility. Regardless, it is a sentiment that aligns with his known views on morality and the importance of action in the face of evil. 

From Adam Smith: 

Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.  Adam Smith

"It is amazing how many of the intelligentsia call it ‘greed’ to want to keep what you have earned, but not greed to take away what somebody else has earned, and let politicians use it to buy votes."  — Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export.... Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea -- in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders. ”  ― Thomas Sowell

“The fact that the market is not doing what we wish it would do is no reason to automatically assume that the government would do better.”  ― Thomas Sowell

If you have always beleved that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standars that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today.

The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us.  When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy them, and only in the short run.

Indicted and Convicted Current/Former Legislators 2025/26

July 9, 2026

Illinois Democrat State Rep. Carol Ammons has just been indicted for an NGO FRAUD SCHEME with her husband, who is a County Clerk. She tried obtaining kickbacks from illegal payments via her campaign account and from the very NONPROFITS she helped get state taxpayer funds. Helping groups get grants that could help relatives. Her DAUGHTER was also recently indicted for COVID unemployment fraud.

Nov 6, 2025  NC Representative Sexual Relationship with Minor

Former North Carolina Representative Cecil Brockman was released from jail Wednesday morning after posting bond.  Brockman was arrested earlier this month by the SBI for allegedly having an sexual relationship with a boy who is at least 15 years old or younger. He is charged with two counts of statutory sex offense and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.  Monday, a judge significantly reduced Brockman's bail from over $1 million to $250,000.

His legal team says he thought the alleged victim was an adult and was unaware of his real age until his arrest. The judge made it clear that he isn't buying that claim, according to ABC11 News' partner the News and Observer. The newspaper is also reporting several new shocking details revealed in the Brockman case.

The judge dismissed Brockman's claims, citing new details from the case. Police investigated after Brockman called 911 to locate the 15-year-old, who was later found and taken to a hospital. The teen revealed their relationship to investigators. Brockman repeatedly tried to access the teen at the hospital, even attempting to admit himself or send his mother in his place.

Documents showed police seized the teen's phone, finding 14 videos of sexual acts, two featuring Brockman.

The pair met in May 2025 via a dating app, lived together in Georgia, and moved to High Point in August. Brockman was arrested after surveillance footage showed him leaving his apartment with a packed suitcase and trash bag.

Brockman was a Democrat serving his sixth term and resigned last month following his arrest.

March 17, 2025 

State Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) was arrested and charged in a federal sting operation involving the solicitation of a minor. 

Arrest and Charges

• Date: March 17, 2025.
• Location: Bloomington, Minnesota.
• Details: Eichorn, 40, was arrested after attempting to meet with someone he believed to be a 17-year-old girl, who was actually an undercover Bloomington Police detective.
• Charges: He was charged with federal crimes, including attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution, which carries a potential 15-year prison sentence.
• Evidence: Police reported finding cash, a condom, and two cellphones in his possession upon arrest. 

Resignation and Aftermath

• Resignation: Following his arrest and mounting pressure from both Republican and DFL colleagues, Eichorn resigned from the Minnesota Senate on March 20, 2025.
• Court Proceedings: Prosecutors accused him of attempting to destroy evidence, specifically by having a laptop removed from his apartment and factory-resetting a phone, leading to a federal hold without bail initially.
• Release: As of late March 2025, he was ordered to be released from jail to a halfway house while awaiting trial, with strict conditions including a GPS monitor and no internet access. 

Effect of Locating a Migrant Shelter in An Area on Support for Pro Illegal Migrant Politicians

 

Turns Out Romney Was Right -- Russia Is a Threat (But Nada from Obama)

 

The 2012 Context

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Romney repeatedly identified Russia (under Vladimir Putin) as the U.S.'s top geopolitical foe. In a March 2012 CNN interview, he said: “Russia, this is, without question, our number one geopolitical foe. They fight every cause for the world’s worst actors.”

President Obama and Democrats pushed back hard, portraying Romney as outdated and stuck in the Cold War. The most famous example came in the third presidential debate (October 2012), where Obama said:

“When you were asked, ‘What’s the biggest geopolitical threat facing America,’ you said ‘Russia.’ Not al Qaeda; you said Russia. And, the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”

Other Democrats (including then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, VP Joe Biden, and Sen. John Kerry) echoed similar criticisms, calling Romney’s view “dated,” a “Cold War mentality,” or “breathtakingly off target.”

(Note: The specific phrasing “fighting your dad’s wars” doesn’t appear in major accounts of the 2012 exchanges. George Romney, Mitt’s father, was a former Michigan governor and Nixon Cabinet member known for his shifting Vietnam War stance in the late 1960s, but the Russia mockery centered on Cold War nostalgia rather than directly invoking that.)

Russia’s Actions and Vindication

Russia’s behavior validated Romney’s concerns:

• 2014: Annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine.
• 2022: Full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Ongoing: Support for adversaries (e.g., in Syria, Iran-related issues), election interference, cyber operations, and opposition to U.S. interests at the UN.

After the 2022 invasion, many commentators and some Democrats acknowledged Romney had been right. For example, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) stated that Putin’s actions “further confirms that Mitt Romney was right.” CNN and others ran pieces like “It’s time to admit it: Mitt Romney was right about Russia.”

Apologies

• Madeleine Albright (former Clinton Secretary of State and Obama supporter) publicly apologized to Romney in 2019 during a House Intelligence Committee hearing. She said she and others had “underestimated what was going on in Russia” and personally owed him an apology for criticizing his 2012 stance.
• Obama himself has not issued a direct apology. Some critiques note that while Romney’s broad warning aged well, the 2012 context involved different immediate threats (e.g., al-Qaeda), and debates continue about the precise degree of “rightness.”

Romney has responded to the shift with statements like reaffirming his “clear eyes” on Russia/Putin and critiquing past U.S. policies (e.g., the Obama-era “reset”). He has been hawkish on Russia, China, and support for Ukraine consistently.

In short, history has largely sided with Romney’s assessment, and while not everyone who mocked him has apologized, Albright’s public one stands out as a notable example.

The Bright of All Classes Can Succeed in Britain