2025 A Rocky Start, A Mockery says Otaola
Manny Cid, then-Miami Lakes mayor, left, and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava spoke to the Miami Herald Editorial Board about the election July 17, 2024 at the Miami Herald office in Miami.
Alie Skowronski [email protected]
By the Miami Herald Editorial Board January 05, 2025 5:00 AM| 4
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava got a good grilling from her main opponent in last year’s election when they sat down for an interview with the Herald Editorial Board in July.
She fended off criticism after criticism from then-Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid about the size of her budget and a “war on the middle class” that’s making living in South Florida too expensive.
At the end of the contentious interview, Levine Cava said Cid had good ideas and invited him to offer more input on how to improve county government.
Levine Cava won reelection with nearly 58% of the vote, defeating six opponents in August.
Now — in a move that’s far too rare in these partisan times — she’s reaching across the aisle. The mayor has announced she’s hired Cid to join her staff.
Starting Monday, he’ll be senior advisor for economic opportunity, a new position in the Miami-Dade Office of Innovation and Economic Development.
Cid’s role will be promoting economic growth, helping and growing small businesses and looking for ways to cut bureaucracy to make doing business in the county cheaper and more efficient.
Cid, 41, served 12 years on the Miami Lakes Town Council and became the city’s youngest mayor. He is the owner of the Mayor’s Cafe, a diner in Miami Lakes, a former legislative aide in Tallahassee and has a master’s degree in ethical leadership from St. Thomas University.
His criticism of Levine Cava’s administration during the campaign was pointed and, at times, justified when it came to the growth of county staff during her term — he said in July the mayor “hired a huge staff around her to insulate herself.”
His joining her team with a $200,000 annual salary will, ironically, add to that payroll.
Cid noted to the Editorial Board that the Office of Innovation and Economic Development is among the smallest departments in county hall.
Regardless, as a small business owner, Cid is well positioned to find efficiencies.
Cid said he wants to look for ways to streamline the permits entrepreneurs must obtain from different county departments before opening their doors — one mistake or delay in obtaining a permit can be a huge blow to a small operation.
He also wants to help businesses with the difficult task of securing capital and look for incentives to transform renters into homeowners.
He added that a lot of the red tape he wants to eliminate can be identified by talking to rank-and-file employees whose knowledge is often overlooked.
“I’ll be a voice for the common folks that I talked about at that table,” Cid said, referring to his July interview with the Editorial Board.
The position of county mayor is nonpartisan but Levine Cava is a Democrat. Cid is a Republican.
In a time of hyper partisanship, their partnership shows that good ideas can transcend party affiliation.
This is also a politically savvy move by Levine Cava as one of the last Democrats elected countywide, given that Donald Trump carried Miami-Dade and Republicans swept county offices last year.
“[Cid] also brings connections, you know, not per se partisan connections, he brings business connections.
So he’s going to help us communicate to the business community and make them more aware of programs that we have and opportunities that we have to support them,” Levine Cava told the Editorial Board.
“We have a goal of reaching 75% of our small businesses in the next two years.”
Cid told the Editorial Board he doesn’t plan to run for mayor again in 2028 and that his focus for now is to work in government administration.
Without an elected position, Cid won’t have the authority to pass policy to help the middle-class.
But he will be a voice in the mayor’s ear — hopefully, one that will disagree with her when necessary.
We hope, too, that Levine Cava, a former social worker and nonprofit founder who has prioritized programs to help those in need, allows a business-first, conservative point of view to balance her progressive political instincts.
That ideological balance, forgotten in these times of political tribalism, is usually behind good government.
The unusual alliance between the mayor and her former political opponent is a promising step. Miami-Dade will be expecting results. Read more at:
Daniella Levine Cava... repairs the split caused by highly partisan times and reaches across the aisle, announcing that she has hired Cid to join her staff.
IN-SPANISH Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibGCCwVbkHc
Manny Cid is a puppet, dressed as a Republican, because he is not.
I see the idiots dancing around the fire and now those idiots have nowhere to go... Manny Cid was touted a Republican / Conservative by the establishment because he has the dog, the flag...
Now, Miami-Dade County Mayor Cava hires Manny Cid, who spoke all ill about Daniella Levine Cava and now we have to accept that Manny Cid is hired within a department that has been created for him... Manny Cid is a chess piece that can be moved on the county board as it pleases the establishment...
The person who is responsible for the hyper-inflated costs in Miami Dade County is Levine Cava!
IN-SPANISH Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibGCCwVbkHc
Manny Cid demonstrates he never really was against Levine Cava, this department created for Manny Cid is nothing but a payment...
How can Manny Cid, who sold himself to be the candidate of choice by the Christian Coalition, now be part of the administration of someone like Cava who has a WOKE agenda and has done everything Manny Cid said to the people of the County that he was against?
Manny Cid did not get more votes than me, says Otaola, there is a case filed but it does not move through the court system!
The Miami-Dade Elections Department on Wednesday shot down a request from the campaign of losing mayoral candidate Alex Otaola to recount the votes in the race for county mayor after he questioned incumbent Daniella Levine Cava’s landslide victory.
Otaola, a pro-Trump social media influencer who finished a distant third in Tuesday’s election, told supporters at a watch party that same night that he didn’t trust the results and would demand a recount.
Otaola’s campaign manager Andy Santana wrote in an email to Miami-Dade’s elections department later that evening that a recount was “essential” to ensure the accuracy of the outcome “given the close nature of the results” — though Levine Cava earned nearly three times the votes of her closest competitor. In a response sent Wednesday afternoon, Vanessa Innocent, an assistant deputy supervisor of elections, declined the Otaola campaign’s request, pointing to state laws that trigger a recount only when a candidate is defeated by half a percentage point or less.
Levine Cava finished more than 34 percentage points ahead of her closest competitor. “Recounts are not conducted by request,” Innocent wrote in her response.
Unofficial results show Otaola received 33,252 votes on Tuesday night, amounting to less than 12% of the vote.
That put him more than 10 percentage points behind second-place finisher Manny Cid and 46 percentage points behind Levine Cava, who earned a second four-year term in office.
Otaola is widely known as a Republican YouTube host and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, whose baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen have sown doubt in the integrity of U.S. elections among a wide swath of his supporters.
At a festival-like election results party at the candidate’s farm in Homestead on Wednesday night, Otaola questioned the veracity of the Miami-Dade election results. He said he would not accept them until there was a vote-by-vote recount.
“It’s impossible, impossible that Daniella Levine Cava, who has done an awful job over the last four years, got more votes than when no one knew her,” he said, adding that internal exit polls placed him in a runoff and that Miami-Dade County’s “electoral health” depended on it.
The crowd screamed “fraud” and “it was stolen.”
Some volunteers cried upon hearing the primary’s results.
Many supporters in attendance at the rally also echoed their candidate’s doubts.
Many in the attendance at the party were Cuban supporters who said they supported Otaola because his anti-communist messaging resonated with them.
Born in Cuba, Otaola pledged to make Miami-Dade a “communist-free zone,” one of his main campaign policies. There was also overlap between Trump and Otaola supporters, and many at the election party in Homestead viewed both politicians as wronged by a rigged system that favors mainstream politicians.
By Wednesday evening, Otaola’s campaign had not released any further official statements about the election results. However, his campaign’s Instagram page amplified messages from supporters alluding to fraud in the county elections and requesting recounts.
Responding to the Otaola campaign Tuesday night, Miami-Dade Deputy Supervisor of Elections Roberto Rodríguez said “the results are what they are,” adding that the elections office is open to the public for people to come see the tabulation process. This story was originally published August 21, 2024, 7:38 PM.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article291263885.html#storylink=cpy
Alex Otaola wanted to end the COMMUNIST penetration of Miami Dade as its next Mayor, click below to read:
Much of the money came through his “Hola Ota-Ola!” show, which?surged in viewership during the 2020 election cycle, when he backed the re-election effort of ex-President Donald Trump. Trump, an advertiser of the show, went on to lose Miami-Dade by only 7 points. He’d lost there by nearly 30 points just four years prior.
The army has vastly expanded zone it controls bisecting the Strip, from where it launches raids against Hamas; everything can be taken down quickly, but there’s no sign that will happen
NETZARIM CORRIDOR, Gaza Strip — Everything the Israel Defense Forces has established in the Netzarim Corridor is temporary, military officials have said. But the reality on the ground in this zone bisecting the Gaza Strip indicates that the IDF will remain here for the foreseeable future.
The army does not know when it will leave the corridor, which according to some officials is intended to serve as a bargaining chip in a hostage deal with Hamas. As the months have passed, and the prospect of an agreement with the terror group to release the remaining 100 hostages it holds grows and then recedes, the military has been steadily expanding its presence in the corridor.
The corridor — which is now known internally by the military as the Be’eri Corridor, after the Israeli border community that was attacked on October 7, rather than after the former Netzarim settlement in the Gaza Strip — is currently controlled by the 99th Division’s Harel Reserve Armored Brigade and the 551st Reserve Paratroopers Brigade.
The Harel Brigade is responsible for the southern portion of the corridor and the entire road, while the 551st Brigade is tasked with the northern section.
This week, The Times of Israel was given exclusive access to the corridor during an escorted visit by the military.
At the start of Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas in late October 2023, the corridor was just the tracks left behind by IDF tanks and armored personnel carriers, as the military’s 36th Division pushed into Gaza from the east and reached the coast, south of Gaza City.
Israeli armored vehicles of the 36th Division roll into central Gaza, in a handout video published December 26, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli armored vehicles of the 36th Division roll into central Gaza, in a handout video published December 26, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
Over the following months, the IDF established a four-mile road running along the corridor, as part of efforts to block Palestinians seeking to return to northern Gaza after fleeing south.
The IDF had ordered northern Gaza residents to evacuate and head to the Strip’s south as it focused the beginning of its offensive against Hamas on the top half of the Strip. Not all of the estimated one million residents heeded the orders. Some of those who remained were Hamas fighters, some faced threats by Hamas not to evacuate, others feared the seemingly no-less-dire conditions of the coastal humanitarian zone, and some reported coming under IDF fire while trying to evacuate.
The road along the corridor was eventually paved —? dubbed Route 749 after the 749th Combat Engineering Battalion that constructed it? — and the surrounding area turned into a buffer zone to secure the thoroughfare from Hamas attacks.
The military has also periodically enabled humanitarian aid organizations to use the road to deliver crucial supplies to the war-torn north of Gaza.
As time went on, the IDF expanded the buffer zone, from just a few dozen meters on each side of the road to reaching as far as the outskirts of Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood to the north, and the Wadi Gaza stream to the south, encompassing around 47 square kilometers (18 square miles) of land, or around 13% of the Strip’s total territory.
Hundreds of buildings were destroyed in the process, wiping out Palestinian villages in the area. The IDF has argued that it was necessary to demolish the buildings to adequately secure the corridor, as Hamas was using the structures to launch attacks on troops.
In what is now a massive zone, the IDF has established more than a dozen small military outposts, where soldiers carry out guard duty, and at least four forward operating bases, which serve as logistics hubs and as headquarters for the units operating in Gaza.
From these bases, the IDF launches raids against Hamas in Gaza City and central Gaza. One such operation was the rescue of four hostages from Hamas captivity last summer.
Such major operations have been increasingly rare as the war enters its 15th month, but smaller raids are carried out nearly every day, according to the army.
The raids are “based on intelligence against concentrations of terrorists and terror infrastructure,” Lt. Col. Omri, one of the Harel Brigade’s deputy commanders — whose surname was withheld by the IDF for security concerns — told The Times of Israel during an interview from the corridor.
Asked why the corridor had been expanded so widely in recent months, Omri said that under the IDF’s doctrine, “you need to build security zones.”
“You can’t just live in your little square and say it’s all good. No, you need to protect the soldiers. You need to create an area from which you will have enough time to respond if [the enemy] tries to attack,” the deputy brigade commander elaborated.
While this may explain the establishment of a buffer zone around the corridor, it was not clear why expanding it to the size of 47 square kilometers was necessary for operational purposes.
“Early warning is the reason why we are doing this. Nobody is doing this for you know what,” he said, referring to claims that troops have been capriciously demolishing homes. The army has come under close scrutiny over the past year, as some undisciplined soldiers have recorded themselves celebrating the demolition of homes in clips uploaded to their social media accounts.
“We do this to create a protected area from which our soldiers can work,” he asserted.
“We aren’t coming from a place where we want to take revenge and destroy. Absolutely not. Everything has a rationale. There are orderly orders, with logic behind them,” Omri said.
Temporary infrastructure, permanent presence?
To reach the corridor, this reporter needed to go through three separate military checkpoints — one near Be’eri, another at a military position close to the border, and a third on the border fence itself —?highlighting the difficulty for any unauthorized people to try and enter this part of Gaza.
The IDF’s main checkpoint to enter the corridor was initially called Gate 96. It was later renamed Control Point 3, and is now known as Terminal 3.
In a small convoy of open-top humvees, we drove from Terminal 3 into the Gaza Strip. The only threat the officer in charge of the convoy warned us about was potential mortar fire by Hamas operatives at the corridor.
After driving some three kilometers, the convoy reached a forward operating base positioned alongside the Salah a-Din road — the Gaza Strip’s main north-south highway.
The IDF considers this base to be part of the military’s rear, relatively distant from the enemy — or the opposite of the frontline — despite being inside the Gaza Strip.
The base featured everything one would expect at a well-entrenched position for troops to remain indefinitely, except that nothing seemed to be permanently attached to the ground.
All of the buildings at the base were caravans or a type of reinforced shipping container to protect against shrapnel impacts. Two antennas for cellular service were attached to large concrete foundations, rather than being dug into the ground. A fuel depot at the base for the IDF’s tanks and other vehicles was a large above-ground container.
The offices and living quarters in the base all had air conditioners.
A new water line from Israel to the IDF’s bases has allowed the soldiers in Netzarim to have functioning toilets and hot showers. Electricity lines, along with backup industrial generators, keep the base running at all times.
“We need to give the soldiers minimal facilities in which to live. We are the IDF, not some guerrilla organization. I don’t want to use equipment that belongs to Palestinians, and I don’t want to use Palestinians’ homes,” the deputy brigade commander said. Palestinians’ homes in other parts of the Strip, by contrast, are regularly used to house soldiers during military operations.
The base visited by The Times of Israel also serves as a checkpoint for Palestinians heading south from northern Gaza, though very few civilians have been doing so of late.
Palestinians are instructed to walk along the Salah a-Din road, and the IDF can single out suspected members of terror groups, pull them aside, and interrogate them inside the base.
Military officials have said that all of the IDF’s temporary infrastructure in Netzarim can be removed within a short while. There is a ready-to-go plan if the army is ordered to leave the area, but many in the IDF are skeptical that will happen in the foreseeable future.
‘Nothing really happens here’
At the beginning of the war, troops were not supposed to bring phones into Gaza, though many of them did. The erection of cell towers in Netzarim demonstrates that the policy has changed.
Ground troops involved in raids against Hamas are still not permitted to have phones on them during the operations for security concerns, but those hanging back at the bases in Netzarim are.
No longer needing to climb up on a hill for spotty reception, this reporter was able to send updates on Thursday to The Times of Israel’s liveblog after preparing a coffee at the base’s well-stocked lounge.
Because the vast majority of the buildings in the corridor have been flattened, and the IDF has set up advanced surveillance equipment, very rarely do Hamas operatives try to carry out raids against the army positions in Netzarim, according to soldiers.
The deputy brigade commander said there are “constant intelligence alerts” regarding potential Hamas attacks on the military’s posts in Netzarim, but few are carried out.
Since there have been no direct attacks on the corridor’s forward operating bases in months, soldiers stationed there — including those on guard duty — have long stopped wearing their helmets and protective vests.
There have been weeks at a time with no action: “Nothing really happens here,” said one soldier stationed at a post on the edge of the base.
“In the frontier posts there’s a bit more action,” he went on, referring to the army’s small positions on the edge of the corridor — at the farthest points from the road and the large bases — where at times Hamas operatives have tried to attack.
The small posts deeper in the corridor are “aimed at establishing the line of contact,” Omri said, meaning a type of demarcation or dividing line between the IDF and the rest of Gaza.
“The closer you get to the line of contact, the more you experience incidents of sniper fire or RPGs,” the deputy brigade commander said.
Palestinian civilians have also approached and crossed the “line of contact” in Netzarim. Military sources in the 99th Division said some of these incidents were cases of Hamas sending civilians to “test the army’s response.”
“They want to see how we will respond, from where do we respond, when did we identify them, how quickly,” one source said.
A report by Haaretz earlier this month compiled testimony from soldiers from another division that previously served in the corridor, who described seemingly indiscriminate and casual open-fire policies and who claimed that the IDF was tallying the deaths of civilians as slain terror group fighters.
The IDF rejected the report, and military sources in the division currently deployed in the area said that troops have been far more careful with people approaching the corridor than was described in the report.
The sources said that when possible, the IDF attempts to detain apparent Palestinian civilians who try to enter the corridor and that steps are taken before carrying out an airstrike or using other deadly fire.
With raids by Hamas on troops in the corridor becoming rare, the terror group has mostly resorted to launching mortars and short-range rockets at the IDF’s bases in Netzarim, both from south of the corridor and north of it.
Those attacks, too, have become less frequent recently, according to soldiers serving in the corridor.
Settlement desires
Some Israeli government lawmakers have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks about their desire to re-establish Jewish settlements inside the Gaza Strip, especially inside the Netzarim Corridor, for the first time in almost two decades.
Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 under the Disengagement Plan, uprooting some 9,000 people and demolishing 21 settlements, including Netzarim.
With the land now cleared of Palestinian homes, and the military setting up its infrastructure here (albeit officially temporarily), some far-right activists are waiting for the moment when they can enter and revive Jewish settlement.
“I am not interested in political discourse. I have ultra-Orthodox fighters with me, leftists and right-wingers. Political discourse and political opinions have no place — none,” Omri said when asked what he thought about the potential re-establishment of settlements in Netzarim.
“We have a mission. I trust my ultra-Orthodox brother, I trust my leftist brother and I trust my right-wing brother. They will all have my back, and I will have their back, because we are here together. People’s desires are people’s desires. Everyone has their own opinion. This is their right. But it has no meaning [on the battlefield].”
“There is a political echelon that decides, a military echelon that commands, and us to carry out what is required,” he added.
A rather under appreciated statistic in this week’s annual Israel Democracy Institute survey showed that almost half of respondents now consider friction between right and left to be by far the most “acute social tension in Israel today.”
Click to read: https://en.idi.org.il/media/26705/madd-d2024-eng05print.pdf
Israeli Democracy Index 2024
Each year, the Israeli Democracy Index takes the public pulse by conducting research based on the findings of a survey of a representative sample of the entire population of Israel. The analysis provides in-depth insights on the Israeli public's views and attitudes across a broad range of issues, including the functioning of the Israeli democratic system, commitment to core democratic values, the degree of trust in government institutions and in decision-makers, minority rights, religion and state.
This year’s Index also included a special focus on questions of national security.
The findings this year mark a harrowing period in Israel's history, as the data was collected and released in the midst of an intense, multifront, ongoing war that followed the October 7, 2023 massacre. Yet, contrary to the expectations of many in Israel and abroad, findings indicate that many fundamentals of Israeli society have not shifted since before the events of October 7. For example, a plurality of Israelis rate the country's overall situation as “bad”—and though there was a spike in May 2024, the rate here ultimately leveled out. Likewise, the rate of Israelis who believe that Israeli democratic rule is in grave danger has hovered within the same ten-point range in recent years.
Among the various possible explanations of this stability, we can point to the deep sense of crisis that predated the war, and indeed has prevailed in Israel since late 2019—from five elections held in short succession to the vehement protests against the government’s proposed judicial overhaul. The views of Jewish and Arab citizens on key issues have also remained stable for the most part, with only slight fluctuations, having no major impact on the face of Israeli society.
At the same time, the Index reveals a number of findings that very much reflect a country grappling with the ongoing war. For example, there has been a drop in citizens’ belief that they can rely on the state to come to their aid in times of trouble, alongside a rise in the belief that their fellow citizens will come to their aid in times of trouble—reflecting their sense that the state was unprepared for October 7 and that citizens and civil society stepped in to fill the void. Israelis perceive the greatest external existential threat to be a full scale, multifront war in the region, which, at the time of each round of the survey, reflects escalation with Hezbollah in the North, direct attacks by Iran, periodic attacks from militia groups in Yemen and Iraq, and continued rocket fire from Gaza.
The findings presented throughout this executive summary provide a snapshot of the public attitudes and beliefs in diverse areas, including:
* ?Israel's overall situation, the extent to which democratic rule is under threat, the greatest existential threats from within the country and beyond its borders, and the extent to which Israelis feel part of the state of Israel and its problems.
* ?Tensions between the various groups that make up Israel's social mosaic: Right and Left, rich and poor, Jewish and Arab, secular and religious, Ashkenazi and Mizrachi.
* ?Social solidarity, including the extent to which Israelis can rely on one another versus relying on the state, and whether there is a belief that Arab Israelis want to integrate into society.
* ?Trust in institutions, particularly state institutions, and Israelis’ perceptions of civil society organizations.
* The assessment of whether there is a proper balance between the dual components of Israel’s identity—Jewish and democratic.
* ?A look at what Israelis believe will best ensure Israel’s future security in the short and the long term, as well as their trust in various components of the security establishment.
By River Page
Trudeau resigns.
I am an American, but I still remember when Justin Trudeau was elected as prime minister in 2015. Young (by politicians’ standards), handsome (by regular ones), cosmopolitan, and liberal (he was a sort of French Canadian Obama), the legacy press adored him. A Washington Post headline from 2016 effused: “How Canada’s Prime Minister Became a Superhero,” and opened with the news that a Marvel comic book would soon feature Trudeau on the cover. “Even in comic-book form, his eyes are a glistening green, his teeth perfectly straight and white,” the piece gushed. “Surrounded by members of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, Trudeau wears a red-and-white maple leaf tank that accentuates his chiseled body.”
Of course, this was before 2019, when we found out that Trudeau had donned blackface on at least three different occasions. The media scolded him, but even at the height of social justice culture—even under all that racist makeup—he was still considered a golden boy.
Not anymore. Yesterday, Trudeau announced his resignation as head of Canada’s Liberal Party, and therefore, as his country’s prime minister, a position he has held for nearly a decade.
What happened? And who’s to blame? To hear Trudeau tell it, the issue is squabbling within his own party.
But our own Fearless Leader, Bari Weiss, says that’s not true. In her latest column for The Free Press, she writes that Trudeau’s problem “is bad ideas, strongly held.” That includes bad ideas on the economy, immigration, euthanasia, censorship, and much more. Bari breaks them all down, showing where Trudeau went wrong, and why his brand of progressivism has turned him from a liberal superhero into a villain for everyday Canadians.
Read Bari’s piece, “The Comprehensive Failure of Justin Trudeau.”
领英推荐
In the nine years since he became Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau has been hailed not only as the savior of the country’s Liberal Party but more broadly as the glamorous beacon of Western liberalism. Or so it was until yesterday, when, in front of his official residence in Ottawa, Canada’s prime minister announced he was stepping down.
The question is what happened—and who’s to blame.
To hear Trudeau tell it, the problem is squabbling within the ranks of his own Liberal-led minority government: “If I’m having to fight internal battles,” he said yesterday, “I cannot be the best option in that election.” And to be sure, the precipitating event for this crisis was last month’s surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s top deputy and finance minister.
But the problem with Trudeau’s government is not the name at the top of the ticket. The problem is bad ideas, strongly held.
Trudeau may think of himself as a liberal, and that might even be the name of his party, but his government actually epitomizes illiberal progressivism. Wedded to policies rooted in bien-pensant concerns while neglecting the Canadian public’s everyday challenges, Trudeau has presided over Canada’s deterioration into the sick man of North America. Long a haven for those hoping to escape dictatorships and civil wars for a stable democracy, the situation has become so bad that some Canadians, including Gad Saad, have left for the U.S.
Consider the following:
Economy: Trudeau is deeply unpopular—according to an Ipsos pollfrom last month, 73 percent of Canadians, including 43 percent of Liberal voters, believed Trudeau should step down as party leader. Perhaps no issue drives that more than the economy. In her resignation letter, Freeland called out Trudeau’s “costly political gimmicks,” a reference to his $4.5 billion plan to send $175 checks to everyone in the country making less than $105,000 a year. Canada’s government, once a model of fiscal prudence, now runs massive deficits to fund increasingly ineffective social programs.
Trudeau’s runaway taxing and spending has made Canadians poorer, in part due to his signature carbon tax, which has reduced real incomes across the country. Before the pandemic, Canada’s per capita GDP was about 80 percent of America’s. This year, it will be just 70 percent, according to IMF projections. Donald Trump jokes that Canada should become a state, but if it somehow became one, it would be among the poorest in the union.
As The Free Press’s Rupa Subramanya has reported, this has left behind an entire generation of young voters who are fleeing the Liberals and heading for Pierre Poilievre’s increasingly feisty and populist Conservatives. Polls indicate the Conservatives would win a commanding majority in parliament if an election was held today.
Immigration: Canada has long welcomed immigrants. Yet for the first time in 25 years, a majority of Canadians now say immigration levels are too high. “The 1.1 million new immigrants who came to the country in 2022 alone drove unprecedented competition for jobs,” the head of Canada’s leading youth employment agency told Subramanya. “We are seeing some of the highest youth unemployment since 2012 in a matter of a year and a half.”
Among these immigrants are some individuals who do not shareCanada’s values of tolerance and pluralism. This, in turn, has helped feed an explosion of antisemitism in the country. (More on that below.)
Crime: Violent crime has skyrocketed under Trudeau’s leadership. Homicides rose by more than 50 percent between 2014 and 2022, and on a per capita basis, there is now more violent crime there than in the U.S. This, again, is a direct result of Trudeau’s policies, which have increasingly gone easy on criminals, even explicitly giving lighter sentences to people of color who’ve been convicted of crimes. It’s an astounding turnaround for a country that long kept serious violence confined to hockey rinks and subarctic bars.
Truckers: In 2022, protesters—many of them truckers irked by vaccine requirements mandated for traveling between Canada and the U.S.—traveled to Ottawa to voice their opposition to policies that were making their country less prosperous and less free. It wasn’t that the truckers, admittedly engaged in the aggressive tactic of blockading the capital’s streets, were wholeheartedly anti-vax (as Subramanya reported at the time, “the vast majority” were vaccinated). It was that, under Trudeau, they were distressed at what was happening to the country they loved.
Trudeau dismissed the protesters as “a few thousand people shouting and waving swastikas.” He invoked emergency powers never deployed in Canadian history to rob protesters of their access to banks, freezing accounts and suspending credit cards. It was an unnecessary and deeply illiberal response to a peaceful protest by fed-up citizens, many of them immigrants themselves. (In 2024, a Canadian judge ruled that Trudeau’s actions were unconstitutional.)
“We came to Canada to be free—not slaves,” one Ukrainian immigrant who joined the protests told The Free Press at the time. “We lived under communism, and, in Canada, we’re now fighting for our freedom.”
Censorship: Under the guise of combating “disinformation” (a term, as always, vaguely defined), Trudeau’s government has cracked downon what news Canadians are allowed to consume. Canada’s Online News Act was sold as a way to make social media companies pay news organizations when linking to their content, but in reality it was a sop to legacy media—and wound up preventing our own reporter in Ottawa from sharing her work for this publication on social media.
Rise of Assisted Suicide: Under Trudeau, medically assisted suicide has become alarmingly popular. In some provinces in 2023 nearly 5 percent of Canadians died this way. The explosion of the procedure’s popularity is due in large part to how lax Canadians have become in selecting who can die this way—all a Canadian needs to show is that they suffer from an ailment “intolerable to them” and that can’t “be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable.” (Thankfully, parliament decided last year to postpone extending the treatment to those whose sole cause of suffering was a mental illness.)
Drug Use: The fentanyl epidemic in Canada has been greatly exacerbated by Liberal Party policies. In British Columbia, one of the most progressive provinces in the country, small amounts of hard drugs are legal. As Subramanya has reported in our pages, drug overdose was the leading cause of death among 10- to 18-year-olds in the province last year. Yet Trudeau has continued to push for “harm reduction” strategies—such as “safe sites” for injections—that have quite obviously failed. British Columbia now realizes how profoundly misguided this experiment has been and is embracing “involuntary care facilities” for drug addicts and the mentally ill.
Antisemitism: Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Canada has become hostile to Jews in ways that would boggle the mind of even the average anti-Israel American protester. Last month, Terry Glavin reported in The Free Press that “despair has become a feature of everyday life for Jews across Canada who are experiencing open hatred—and yet are living under a government that appears either blind to it, paralyzed by it, or indifferent to it.”
Trudeau’s commitment to combating hate speech and swastika-wavers apparently has firm limits: When presented with genuine calls for genocide at top Canadian universities, his government has done next to nothing. There has been a 670 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in the country over the past year. Canada’s Jewish community, which constitutes less than 1 percent of the population, have been the targets of 70 percent of religious motivated hate crimes.
And then there’s Trudeau’s poor judgment: Upon Fidel Castro’s death in 2016, to choose just one example, Trudeau offered lavish official condolences for the Cuban dictator with no mention of the gross human rights violations that marked his reign. Instead, Trudeau referred to Castro’s “love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante.’?”
What’s happening in Canadian politics is not happening in a vacuum. It is a symptom of a much broader phenomenon. Call it the great crack-up of the old consensus.
The old consensus held that immigration was an absolute good, with multiculturalism the end goal. Arguments contrary to progressive social attitudes was “disinformation” that must be combated by robust online censorship. People would quickly adjust to massive changes in social attitudes around sex and gender because objections would be seen as bigoted. And anyone who said anything that questioned the consensus would become a pariah.
This consensus is being rejected across the West. Donald Trump won the presidency by building a multiracial, working-class coalition that had little affection for the progressive activists who supposedly spoke for them. In Italy, Giorgia Meloni—who launched her political career on the far-right—now leads perhaps the most stable country in Western Europe. In Britain, Labour’s Keir Starmer was able to wrest control of Downing Street after 14 years of Conservative rule, largely because Conservatives had not delivered on immigration restrictions. Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party is now ascendant there, in large part because of his muscular stance against Islamism and immigration.
Austria just elected its most right-wing government since the end of World War II. And Germany, once the heart of the old consensus under Chancellor Angela Merkel, is still dealing with the fallout with her 2015 decision to accept roughly a million asylum-seekers from the Middle East. The hard-right AfD is now poised to become the second largest party in Germany’s parliament in next month’s election.
There are certain things that simply can’t be wished away. Things like Islamic fundamentalism, the societal downsides of mass immigration, rising crime, and stagnant economics. Trudeau—who, in a fit of desperation late last year, tried to reverse his immigration policies—learned these lessons too late. He is the latest casualty of the great crack-up. But he will not be the last.
Rupa Subramanya is the reporter to read on Trudeau’s Canada. You can read all of her reporting for The Free Press right here.
New York, Sebastian Zapata, 33, to be arraigned on his indictment in Brooklyn Criminal Court in Downtown Brooklyn. New York Police announced Tuesday they've identified the woman who died on Dec. 22 after being set on fire while inside a New York subway train as a 57-year-old from New Jersey. The woman, Debrina Kawam, had a Toms River, New Jersey, address, according to NYPD
Full Coverage Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTvRdonL7xA
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Congress on Jan. 6 certified President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory in the 2024 election, marking the official final step to guarantee Trump’s position as the incoming commander-in-chief.
Following in the footsteps of Al Gore and Walter Mondale, Vice President Kamala Harris oversaw the certification of her own election loss. The process confirmed that Trump received 312 electoral votes while Harris received 226.
The certification was largely uneventful, with Democrats raising no challenges to any of Trump’s electoral wins.
Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, presided over the joint session of Congress, which began at 1 p.m. ET and proceeded to certify Trump’s win.
Asked how she was feeling after the vote, Harris told The Epoch Times: “It’s a peaceful transfer of power. It’s a good day.”
Harris also said after the certification, “Today, America’s democracy withstood.”
Trump, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of the certification.
“Congress certifies our great election victory today—a big moment in history. MAGA!” Trump wrote in all caps on his Truth Social platform earlier in the day.
The timing was in accordance with the Electoral Count Act, which sets the date, time, and specific procedures behind the certification process.
Each state’s slate of electors was read off in alphabetical order and approved by the Congress, gathered as is customary for joint sessions in the House chamber.
While there were objections in 2001, 2005, 2017, and 2021, no challenges were made to the 2024 election during the certification—one of the few times in this millennium that’s been the case.
Instead, the certification proceeded quickly, without substantial interruptions as the results were read out. Cheers broke out when Harris’s home state of California had its 54 electoral votes called for her; some Georgia Republicans whooped when the Peach State—one of the most important of the 2024 cycle—had its votes declared for Trump.
The certification wrapped up at 1:36 p.m. ET, a far cry from the previous certification, which took 14 hours.
As is traditional, Trump did not attend the event. However, Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio) was in attendance. He remains a member of the U.S. Senate until his swearing-in on Jan. 20.
The camera often returned to Vance, seated beside Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), as the results were read. Following the vote, several lawmakers milled about in the chamber hoping for a photo with their incoming vice president.
The Jan. 6 certification of the election results is a constitutional duty in accordance with Article II of the Constitution, which lays out congressional certification of results as the final step in confirming the next president. This step is necessary to ensure that the winning candidate received a majority of 270 electoral votes or more, as a separate process in Congress is required in cases in which that margin isn’t reached.
In the 2021 certification process, some members of the House and Senate objected to results from battleground states where they believed election fraud was committed.
Under a 2022 law that reformed the Electoral Count Act, the threshold for instituting a challenge is one-fifth of the House, or 87 members, and one-fifth of the Senate, or 20 members, signing off on the objection. Previously, challenges required just one member from each chamber.
The objection can only be made to assert that a state or states unlawfully certified their election results, and not on the basis of electoral fraud, thereby avoiding a repeat of 2021 and other past election certifications.
When there is an objection, Senate and House members go to their respective chambers and debate the challenge.
Harris is the first presidential candidate in more than 20 years to certify her own defeat for the presidency. This last occurred in 2001, when Gore presided over his highly contested loss to President George W. Bush.
During the Jan. 6, 2021, certification process, Trump called on his supporters to go “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol to protest as the certification was overseen by then-Vice President Mike Pence, who affirmed President Joe Biden’s win despite Trump calling for Pence to act otherwise.
Partly because of limited law enforcement at the Capitol, a breakdown of order occurred and hundreds of protesters entered the Capitol; while most were peaceful and entered through main entrances, a minority were accused of violent crimes—assaulting police officers, carrying lethal weapons, and breaking Capitol windows.
The disorder resulted in the deaths of several Trump supporters, including Rosanne Boyland and Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt. No Capitol Police officers were killed in direct connection to the events of the day.
The incident prompted Congress to pause the certification, which faced challenges from Republican House and Senate members over the results in states including Arizona and Pennsylvania. Pence and congressional members were hidden for their own protection.
In the morning hours of Jan. 7, 2021, Congress certified Biden’s win.
Since that day, more than 1,500 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol breach, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Of that number, about 750 people have been sentenced on charges ranging from trespassing to seditious conspiracy.
Former Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio is serving a 22-year sentence for his role in the attack—the longest of the Jan. 6 sentences—though he was not at the Capitol as he was ordered to stay away from Washington that day based on his alleged commission of an unrelated crime.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was “proud” of the DOJ’s work in rounding up those involved in the breach. Trump, meanwhile, has said he would pardon at least some of the Jan. 6 defendants and convicts.
Biden, meanwhile, released an op-ed on the morning of Jan. 5, 2024, critical of what he described as efforts by Trump to “rewrite” history concerning Jan. 6, 2021, and criticizing Trump’s plan to pardon many of those charged in connection to the event.
This time around, there was a heavy security presence around the Capitol with large-scale fencing around the complex and officers from multiple law enforcement agencies patrolling the area amid snowy conditions.
Arjun Singh and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
With the election certified and Donald Trump’s swearing in on Jan. 20, Mar-a-Lago is once again ready to play a big role. Trump’s Palm Beach mansion is a combo deal: social center, resort — and a second White House.
During his first term from 2017-21, Trump not only used Mar-Lago for some R&R while golfing at his nearby course, he also hosted world leaders and U.S. officials at the mansion. Trump bought the mansion and a neighboring oceanfront parcel, formerly owned by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, in 1985 for $10 million.
The mansion had been the subject of three failed sales in three years. The Marriott hotel chain, two friends of country singer Tammy Wynette and a Houston land developer all had negotiated to buy the mansion.
The mansion, often considered a monument to Roaring ‘20s ostentation, stretches from the Intracoastal to the Atlantic Ocean.
When Trump bought it in 1985, it had 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, three bomb shelters, a theater, a ballroom and a nine-hole golf course. Mar-a-Lago is an eclectic mix of Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese architectural sytles. Post, heiress to the cereal maker’s fortune, entertained ambassadors and dignitaries at the mansion.
For nearly 30 years, she and her several husbands, including E.F. Hutton, were Palm Beach’s social forces.
After Post died in 1973, her family willed Mar-a-Lago to the U.S. Department of the Interior as a retreat for presidents and heads of state. Seven years later, the federal government returned Mar-a-Lago to the Post Foundation because of the $1 million yearly maintenance bill.
Let’s take a look through the Miami Herald photo archives at what has happened inside Mar-a-Lago during the Trump years:
YNW Melly's legal battle continues.
YNW Melly has been behind bars for several years now. He's facing murder charges related to the 2019 deaths of his associates, YNW Juvy and YNW SakChaser. The rapper went on trial back in June of 2023. Ultimately, the judge declared a mistrial after the jury failed to come to a unanimous decision. His retrial is upcoming, but unfortunately, the case has been subject to yet another delay.
According to a new tweet by legal reporter Meghann Cuniff, the motion hearing in the case was set to officially begin today (January 6). It was postponed, however, as his lawyer is currently being investigated for alleged witness tampering. Reportedly, other lawyers claim he needs more information before deciding whether or not he still wants her on his case. "Mr. Demons has to make an informed decision about who he wants his lawyers. He's now been sitting in our jail for 2,159 days," the judge explained.
For now, it remains unclear exactly when the motion hearing will occur. This latest development comes just a few weeks after Melly's attorney Michael A. Pizzi Jr filed a 12-page lawsuit against the Broward Sheriff's Office on his behalf. In it, he alleges that the 25-year-old is dealing with inhumane conditions in jail including solitary confinement, communication restrictions, and more. "These restrictions are?not related to any legitimate security concerns?and are instead punitive measures designed to deteriorate Melly’s mental health and impede his ability to prepare for his trial,” Pizzi Jr. alleges. “No non-black inmates are subjected to such punitive restrictions.”
“The emotional and psychological toll of his prolonged isolation is enormous,” he also alleges in the suit. “The ongoing interference with his right to counsel is a blatant violation of his constitutional rights.” More specifically, Pizzi Jr. alleged that all of this violated Melly's First, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights and demanded that he be released from jail immediately.
On January 7th, 1789, the United States held its first presidential election, marking a significant moment in the country’s journey toward becoming a republic. This election, though still in its nascent stages, set the framework for democratic practices that would shape the future of the nation. George Washington, a revered military leader and founding father, was unanimously elected as the first President of the United States, cementing his legacy in American history.
The 1789 presidential election was unique in that it was the first to be held under the new Constitution of the United States, which had replaced the Articles of Confederation. The election was guided by a completely new system that had been outlined in the Constitution, creating the process by which electors, chosen by the people of each state, would cast their votes for the President and Vice President.
While the idea of a presidential election was part of the vision of a democratic republic, the system was still in its early stages. In fact, the concept of political parties had not yet developed, and Washington was widely regarded as the only suitable candidate. The process was still somewhat informal and experimental, with no widespread campaigning or political advertisements. Washington, whose reputation from his leadership during the Revolutionary War made him a national hero, was the obvious choice to unite the nation as its first president.
On January 7th, 1789, the electors cast their votes for the first presidential election, and George Washington was elected unanimously. The election reflected the trust and admiration the American public had for Washington, who had been instrumental in leading the Continental Army to victory against Britain. Washington’s election was not just the result of a formal voting process, but also a reflection of his stature as a unifying figure in a newly formed country that was still healing from the scars of war.
As the first president, Washington’s leadership was pivotal in setting the tone for the newly formed federal government. He chose a cabinet of trusted advisors, including Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, to help him navigate the challenges facing the fledgling nation. Washington’s role was not just as the first President, but as the model for how the office would function for generations to come.
The first American presidential election set the stage for the democratic traditions that would define the United States. The peaceful transition of power, the creation of a system of electors, and the establishment of the office of the President became fundamental aspects of American political life. The event also solidified the idea that the President would be elected by the people, even if indirectly, as opposed to being appointed by monarchy or divine right.
As the election process evolved, the principles of democratic representation and fair elections became central to the identity of the United States. While the early years of American elections were not without their flaws—such as the limited enfranchisement of women and African Americans—the system laid the groundwork for expanding the right to vote. Over time, the presidential election became a key moment in American democracy, where citizens, regardless of their social status, could influence the direction of their nation.
The first American presidential election on January 7th, 1789, marked the beginning of the United States’ commitment to democracy and self-governance. George Washington’s unanimous election was both a testament to his leadership and the start of a new chapter in American history. Today, the election process continues to evolve, but the principles set in motion by Washington’s election remain foundational to the U.S. political system, reflecting the nation’s ongoing commitment to democratic ideals and governance.
A Revolutionary Discovery
Galileo’s discovery of the Galilean moons was a major milestone in the history of astronomy. Up until this point, the prevailing belief, based on the teachings of Aristotle and Ptolemy, was that Earth was the center of the universe, and all celestial bodies orbited around it. This geocentric model was deeply entrenched in both scientific thought and religious doctrine.
Galileo’s observations, however, provided compelling evidence for the heliocentric model, which proposed that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun. As he observed Jupiter through his telescope, Galileo noticed four small, bright objects moving in a regular pattern around the planet. He initially thought they were stars, but as he continued to observe them over several nights, he realized they were not fixed in place like stars. These bodies were clearly orbiting Jupiter, challenging the long-held belief that all celestial bodies must orbit the Earth. Galileo’s discovery of the Galilean moons provided important evidence for the heliocentric model, though it would take many more years before the scientific community fully embraced it.
Galileo’s discovery had profound implications for both science and philosophy. It not only confirmed that the Earth was not the center of the universe but also introduced the idea that other planets could have their own moons, much like Earth’s moon.
This was a revolutionary concept, as it suggested that the universe might be far more complex than previously imagined.
In addition to its impact on the understanding of the cosmos, Galileo’s discovery directly challenged the authority of the Catholic Church, which adhered to the geocentric model. The Church had long maintained that the Earth was the center of the universe, a belief rooted in biblical interpretation. Galileo’s findings, published in his 1610 work Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), were considered controversial and led to a clash with Church authorities. Galileo’s support for the heliocentric model eventually led to his trial by the Roman Catholic Inquisition, culminating in his famous conviction for heresy in 1633.
The Galilean moons not only provided crucial evidence for the heliocentric theory but also paved the way for future astronomical discoveries. Galileo’s use of the telescope to study celestial bodies marked the beginning of modern observational astronomy, and his approach laid the foundation for subsequent astronomers, such as Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton. Galileo’s discoveries sparked a new era of scientific inquiry and helped usher in the Scientific Revolution.
Today, the Galilean moons are still a subject of intense study. Each moon is unique, with its own set of fascinating characteristics. Io is the most geologically active body in the solar system, while Europa is considered one of the best places to search for signs of life beyond Earth due to the possible existence of a subsurface ocean. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, and Callisto has been heavily cratered, offering clues to the early history of the solar system. These moons continue to be targets for exploration by spacecraft, and they remain a symbol of how Galileo’s discoveries changed the way we view the universe.
Galileo Galilei’s discovery of the four largest moons of Jupiter on January 7th, 1610, was a pivotal moment in the history of science. By providing evidence for the heliocentric model, his findings challenged centuries of established belief and laid the groundwork for modern astronomy. Today, the Galilean moons continue to be studied, and Galileo’s legacy endures as one of the great pioneers of scientific discovery, forever altering our understanding of the universe.
On January 7th, 1953, President Harry S. Truman announced that the United States had successfully developed the hydrogen bomb, a nuclear weapon far more powerful than the atomic bomb that had been dropped on Japan just eight years earlier. This announcement marked a significant moment in the Cold War, signaling the U.S. had entered a new phase of nuclear arms development. The hydrogen bomb, also known as the thermonuclear bomb, would dramatically alter the balance of power between the superpowers and escalate the global arms race.
The development of the hydrogen bomb was a closely guarded secret, with the U.S. government and military working on it through the Manhattan Project’s successor programs. While the atomic bomb worked by splitting the nucleus of an atom in a process called fission, the hydrogen bomb used fusion—the process of combining two atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing significantly more energy. Scientists working on the bomb, such as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller, faced a number of scientific challenges in harnessing the power of fusion, but by the early 1950s, they had managed to achieve success.
Truman’s announcement came after extensive experimentation, including the first successful test of a hydrogen bomb in November 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The test, code-named “Ivy Mike,” proved that fusion could indeed be achieved in a man-made device, and the bomb’s explosive power was staggering—thousands of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The hydrogen bomb’s development fundamentally changed the dynamics of the Cold War. The Soviet Union, which had successfully detonated its own atomic bomb in 1949, now found itself in a race with the U.S. to develop even more powerful nuclear weapons. In response to Truman’s announcement, the Soviet Union accelerated its own hydrogen bomb program, leading to an arms race that would dominate global politics for decades.
The hydrogen bomb also introduced the concept of mutually assured destruction (MAD), where both superpowers possessed enough nuclear weapons to annihilate each other in the event of a conflict. This doctrine of deterrence helped to prevent direct military confrontations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union but also increased the fear of nuclear war during the Cold War era. The arms race pushed both nations to develop increasingly sophisticated nuclear weapons, while the threat of total destruction hung over international relations.
The development of the hydrogen bomb and the resulting nuclear arms race had a lasting impact on global security and diplomacy. In the decades following Truman’s announcement, the world witnessed the proliferation of nuclear weapons, as both superpowers and their allies sought to secure their national security by acquiring more powerful arsenals. The spread of nuclear technology raised concerns about the possibility of smaller nations or rogue states obtaining these weapons, which could destabilize global peace.
Efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons led to the establishment of several international treaties, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, which aimed to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons and encourage disarmament. Although nuclear weapons have not been used in combat since World War II, the threat of their use continues to shape international politics today. The legacy of the hydrogen bomb remains a powerful reminder of the destructive potential of nuclear technology and the importance of diplomatic efforts to prevent nuclear conflict.
President Truman’s announcement on January 7th, 1953, that the U.S. had developed the hydrogen bomb marked a pivotal moment in the history of nuclear warfare. The weapon’s immense power escalated the Cold War arms race and introduced a new era of military and political dynamics. The long-term impact of the hydrogen bomb’s development continues to shape global security, with nuclear weapons remaining a central issue in international relations and peacekeeping efforts. The specter of nuclear war looms large, but the lessons learned from the development of the hydrogen bomb have also driven efforts toward arms control and non-proliferation in an effort to prevent the catastrophic consequences of nuclear conflict.
We close with the historical video of Julius Caesar Betrayal: Et Tu, Brutus? Beware of the Ides of March
Dive into the dramatic tale of Julius Caesar, one of history's most renowned leaders, and explore the shocking betrayal that changed the course of Roman history forever.
In this video, we unravel the events leading up to the infamous moment, "Et Tu, Brute?" and examine the intricate web of alliances and enmities that surrounded Caesar.
Discover the motivations behind Brutus's fateful decision, the implications, and how this pivotal event has echoed through time in literature and popular culture.
Analyze the themes of loyalty, power, and treachery in this captivating historical narrative.
When people strive to address social inequalities...
Is it because they are searching to become equal?
When a Mayor of a small municipality speaks about ways to streamline the permits entrepreneurs must obtain from different county departments... is the permit department IDEAL at his former Municipality?
When a small business owner wants to help businesses secure capital... is that small business owner successful?
Is the person who looks for incentives to transform renters into homeowners working for the people or the tax collector?
Let's face it, if everyone buys a home in today's world of hyper-inflated property values, there is more revenue collected...
When a person who has been in government for close to 15 years says he wants to eliminate red tape... why hasn't he?
When a person says red tape can be eliminated by talking to the rank-and-file employees whose knowledge is often overlooked... Why has he not eliminated red tape?
Why did people leave the municipality, quitting jobs in the Code Enforcement / Building Department just because by talking with the rank-and-file employees, the person in question tampered with areas under the purview of the Manager, violating Florida Statutes that make certain jobs independent of political influence?
When a person claims he will “be a voice for the common folks”, let's ask for the list of VERIFIED names of 'common folks' who have asked that this person become their voice!
El papel lo aguanta todo! An old Spanish adage that says people can say whatever they want and the Media publishes it but who takes what is said to task?
On January 6th, 2025, the three year tree trimming cycle returned to Lake Glenn Ellen. Neighbors notify neighbors for us to be prepared to inspect the work.
Email sen to The Town of Miami Lakes Town Manager
Good morning:
The tree trimming is happening now on Menteith Terrace.
The crew says they can only cut the branches on the outside by the street, not the branches over our driveway.?
A property owner called J. P. Yanes and they are finally cutting it right.
Just want to make sure you know because we are at home and will supervise the work, but how about all neighbors who are working and not at home?
Thank you!
The tree trimmers told us that the trucks are very heavy and they are rather concerned to drive over pavers and other elements but our home has an asphalt driveway so they moved freely to access the branches closer to the house.
Great job that cut the branches that were reaching our roof.
A neighbor insisted that the trees need to be aired to allow for the wind to get through without the fear of a tree toppling during a hurricane.
The crew said their instructions are to cut the length of the branches, ensure branches are at least 6 feet away from the homes and to cut branches to prevent trucks and school buses from getting hit by low branches.
The crew works very efficiently with a truck that has a bucket so the tree trimming is done with great ease and another truck that chops down the branches and leaves, then taking the trash to the dump. They were very careful to remove all debris leaving the front of our homes very clean. Thank you... and Happy New Year 2025