The End of Our Republic is Closer than We Think

Posted on March 24, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

The End of Our Republic Is Closer Than We Think

The left continues to act as though it has never been, or will be, challenged – ever.

Minnesota serves as a prime example.

They’ve purportedly stolen millions, while trying to distract everyone by attacking ICE officers. Those officers back down, and the result is Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., threatening to sue U.S. President Donald Trump and the federal government.

The left acts as though they are an omnipotent totalitarian power that can’t be overthrown.

They don’t act like they believe they’re God; rather they carry on as though they’re actually stronger than God.

And to paraphrase an axiom of political science: power corrupts, a self-sense of omnipotence does absolutely.

Hubris? Narcissism?

Certainly.

Yet, it’s all seemingly worse than that.

They believe they can predict the weather one thousand or one million years from now.

Apart from believing their own publicity, they believe they know everything serving their sinister, toxic narrative. This comprises such over the top self-confidence in their beliefs, that they must censor or intimidate anyone who dares to dissent.

The left consistently believes they have a right to control every detail and every second of your life because of that belief.

As a mental health clinician, in all my years, I’ve never witnessed narcissism at such heightened levels.

Hitler and Stalin ultimately and thankfully faced robust opposition. They had to fear America and the relatively free Western world striking back. Today’s cultural and government left wing?

They are wholly cognizant that there is virtually no one to fight back. there’s nobody to fight back . . . except for U.S. President Trump and his supporters.

But you already hear the threats of retribution coming against all ICE officers, against President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and even grassroots MAGA supporters.

“We’re coming for you; your time will come,” they thunder, and experience shows they mean what they say.

Evil is consistently remarkably idiotic.

So, it follows, by definition, if you’re evil, you act irrationally: no intelligence required.

The only thing propping up today’s evil is the unwillingness or inability of anyone decent to stand up to it.

Thus, the megalomaniacs of the left keep getting away with it — that is, until they no longer can.

Left adherents prosecute, burn buildings, riot, defame, dox, impeach, imprison, fine, sue and execute.

Conservatives shy from such things.

Perhaps this is why we’re losing – as targets and victims of lawfare – and losing the culture war.

It’s ironic.

Conservatives (at least in the era of Ronald Reagan) were not the ones who advocated appeasement of the Soviet Union.

Yet, we treat today’s mortal enemies on the left as if they are capable of being reasoned with. We did so (during the Biden regime, or at least we tried) as they overtly imprisoned our candidates for no reason, declared any form of dissension an “insurrection” punishable by prison, censored our speech, stripped us of our Second Amendment rights and slowly, progressively completed the nationalization of private industry, via initiatives such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – among other left-wing agenda-driven, ideologic dark plans.

Oh, and threatened to perform sex change surgery on our children without our consent, and to imprison us as domestic terrorists if we objected.

It’s a timeless principle we must relearn. . .

Appeasement didn’t work for Neville Chamberlain against Hitler in the 1930s, it certainly won’t prove even remotely effective now.

Even litigation in a court system seemingly left-leaning, of course, has not halted them, and may never do so.

Concurrently, while we can pass voter ID laws – will they be enforced uniformly? – that is, inclusive of blue states and cities.

Republicans will still feel intimidated, even in red states; pressured to buckle under they will intimidate Republicans even in some red states to buckle under, in some cases with overt ferocity.

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that it’s time for something different. And I’m not persuaded by the argument, “We can’t become like them.”

We’re in a partisan, domestic war.

If we don’t fight back at some point, then our lives and values will perish right before our eyes. If you allow your home to become infested with vermin, vermin prevail.

We must snap ourselves out of our individual and collective states of denial, and realize our liberties are increasingly compromised.

Back in 2023, James Woods wrote on (Twitter)/X:

“The true enemy of America is the Republican Party surprisingly. The Democrats will always complain, grift, cheat, and gleefully ignore the law. Who will stop then? In a real two-party system it would be Republicans, but they are weak, milquetoast losers who do nothing but talk.”

Is Mr. Woods correct?

Let’s hope not. He’s not talking about President Trump, but how many Republicans – many of whom secretly profit from the left’s agenda – are truly ready to stop allowing Democrats to turn America into a one-party state?

The verdict of history awaits. . . .

Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology. He’s the author of “Grow Up America” and “Bad Therapy, Good Therapy,” (see: http://www.DrHurd.com). He also authors two self-help columns week and resides in Charleston, South Carolina. Read more Dr. Michael J.Hurd, Ph.D. Insider articles — Click Here Now.

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Trump, Senate GOP See Breakthrough on DHS Shutdown Deal

Posted on March 24, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

A meeting late Monday between President Donald Trump and key Senate Republicans has created optimism a deal may have been found to end the Democrats’ partial government shutdown.

After more than five weeks of disruption, Republican lawmakers emerged from the White House signaling renewed momentum toward reopening the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to reports from Punchbowl News and The Hill.

The shutdown — now stretching past a month — has been driven largely by Democrat opposition to fully funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who attended the meeting, said negotiators were working urgently to “land this plane,” reflecting a growing sense among Republicans that a breakthrough is within reach.

GOP senators described the talks as productive, with one source telling The Hill that lawmakers and Trump “landed in a pretty good spot.”

At the center of the emerging framework is a pragmatic Republican strategy: Fund most of DHS immediately — including critical services such as Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Coast Guard — while addressing ICE funding separately through the budget reconciliation process.

This would allow Republicans to bypass a Democrat filibuster and secure border enforcement resources later.

The proposal represents a notable shift after Trump initially resisted separating ICE funding from the broader DHS package.

During the weekend, he had insisted that any deal include passage of the SAVE America Act, a top Republican priority requiring voter ID and citizenship verification.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had warned that such a demand was “not realistic” given Democrat opposition.

Monday night, however, Trump appeared open to a two-track approach — a move Republicans see as key to breaking the stalemate while still advancing conservative priorities.

Republicans argue Democrats have prolonged the shutdown by refusing to fund essential homeland security operations unless ICE enforcement is curtailed.

The impasse has already led to widespread travel disruptions, with reports of hourslong TSA lines at major airports nationwide.

“Millions of Americans right now are facing two-, three-, four-hour waits at airports … because the Democrats refuse to pay TSA,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said.

Democrats, for their part, have signaled tentative openness to the framework, emphasizing that their primary concern lies with ICE practices rather than broader DHS functions.

Still, they are expected to push for concessions, including increased oversight and reforms within immigration enforcement.

The proposed deal is far from finalized, and significant details remain unresolved.

Conservatives have also expressed concern that separating ICE funding could weaken the GOP’s negotiating leverage.

However, Republican leaders are emphasizing results — reopening DHS, restoring services, and advancing border security through reconciliation.

The talks come as senators face pressure to resolve the crisis before a scheduled recess and as rank-and-file Republicans insist they will not leave Washington until DHS is fully funded.

If successful, the agreement would mark a political victory for Trump and GOP leadership, demonstrating a willingness to adapt tactically while keeping long-term priorities — including election integrity and border enforcement — firmly in focus.

Charlie McCarthy ✉

Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.

The Supreme Court Seems Ready to Make ELECTION DAY Great Again. Thank God.

Posted on March 24, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

We know why the left has systematically changed Election Day deadlines throughout the country. If they could, they’d start the next election period the day after the previous election. They want as much chaos and confusion over the election results and want Americans inured to the idea that, for some reason, there sure seem to be a lot of election-changing ballots turned in after Election Day. There was a time in this country, like present-day Florida for example, when you could have election results on Election Day. But with the chaos surrounding what passes for an election these days, it’s hard to sort out legitimate votes from stuffed ones.

During the 2020 election, Pennsylvania Democrats staged a last-minute lawsuit, winning a three-day extension of Election Day. States such as Mississippi have five days to get their mail-in ballots counted.

That’s why the U.S. government, voter integrity organizations, and others are fighting to retain a semblance of an orderly Election Day and asked the Supreme Court to disallow any votes coming in afterward.

Among the plaintiffs bringing this election integrity lawsuit is Judicial Watch, which wants the Supreme Court to affirm a Fifth Circuit Appeals Court ruling declaring Mississippi’s five-day-after-Election Day deadline unlawful.

Judicial Watch’s and the GOP’s lawyer, Paul Clement, was asked by Justice Sonia Sotomayor if his position on Election Day’s meaning meant the 2000 election — Bush v. Gore — was bogus. Clement was not only ready for that turd of an argument; he polished it and handed it back to the notoriously radical justice.

There’s a reason reporters capitalize the words Election Day in their stories, why Election Day is on every American calendar, and why it is emblematic of a single day by which you must deliver your ballot to the vote counters. The problem is, a dozen U.S. states have all sorts of cockamamie rules for when voters must get their ballots into the elections office, and it turns out that Election Day is not that day. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to be leaning in favor of making Election Day great again — or at least making it a day again.

Oral arguments were heard on Monday that both embrace and reject the notion that there’s a day on the books in America called Election Day. The nine justices heard from both sides, and while there was the usual partisan Democrat cheerleading from Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and to a lesser extent Justice Elena Kagan, throwing shade on that old-fashioned idea about Election Day, based on the reactions of the more conservative members of the court, Americans may not have to endure seemingly never-ending election days again, based on those conservative court members’ questions for lawyers.

Justice Sam Alito asked lawyers what Election Day means.

He also noted that getting “radically different” vote tallies in the days after Election Day undermines the confidence people have in the integrity of elections. The elections in Nevada and Arizona in 2020 come to mind.

Justices took issue with FedEx and the USPS being declared “common carriers” to be part of the chain of custody of a person’s ballot. The lawsuits that were consolidated for Monday’s hearing also took up the issue of ballot harvesting.”Could states that allow ballot harvesting offer those crews a two-day grace period, as long as they quit collecting on Election Day?”

The American Enterprise Institute took aim at vote “curing” after a ballot has been “officially cast” (when a carrier receives it). The conservative organization asks: does Election Day even count?

Further evidence that this practice cuts against the idea that the ballot was cast by Election Day is the fact that political parties and groups engage in a full-out campaign to contact voters to get them to come in to cure their ballots. And they use all of the sophisticated data targeting techniques to contact and cajole the “right voters,” to cure their ballots. With all of the post-election campaigning, it is hard to believe that all ballots were truly cast by Election Day.

Victoria Taft

Sheridan Gorman’s Murder—and Chicago’s Silence

Posted on March 24, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

COMMENTARY- Julie Kelly is an independent journalist. Her work can be found on Substack at Declassified with Julie Kelly.

The cold-blooded execution of Loyola University freshman Sheridan Gorman last week has sparked heartbreak and outrage across the country – including condemnation by President Donald Trump outside Air Force One on Monday morning – as yet another American family is shattered by an illegal immigrant allowed into the country during the Biden administration.

At approximately 1:15 a.m. on March 19, Gorman, who is from New York state, and a group of friends were walking on a pier about a mile from Loyola’s Chicago campus when a masked man confronted the group, who were reportedly at the beach to see the Northern Lights. As Gorman turned to flee, the gunman fired a single shot into her back; she died at the scene.

Over the weekend, Chicago police arrested Jose Medina-Medina, a citizen of Venezuela. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Medina-Medina was apprehended at the border in 2023 and later released. A month later, Medina was arrested for shoplifting at a downtown department store; he never showed up for his court date.

Medina, 25, also did not appear in a Chicago courtroom on Monday afternoon as originally expected to face six felony charges including first-degree murder; he is reportedly quarantined in an area hospital with a suspected case of tuberculosis or other communicable disease. Following his arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Medina-Medina and asked city officials to keep him behind bars.

Once upon a time, a shocking crime of this nature would have had the Chicago media on overdrive with hungry reporters demanding answers from elected officials and editorial boards lamenting the loss of a vibrant young life in such a cruel, inhumane manner. That, however, is not the case this time.

The Chicago Sun-Times is justifiably taking flak for the “wrong place, wrong time” headline the paper used for its initial report on Gorman’s murder. While the paper was quoting a witness who had told reporters, “We were just [in the] wrong place, wrong time,” editors nonetheless chose that victim-blaming comment over several other more accurate descriptions of the heinous murder for the headline that accompanied a smiling photo of Gorman alongside Loyola’s mascot. The paper’s website on Monday criticized the president’s comments about Gorman and claimed that “the Trump administration has used the deaths of other young women to make a case that undocumented immigration puts Americans in danger,” which the paper went on to dispute.

The Chicago Tribune hasn’t performed much better. At first describing Medina as a “Rogers Park man” – conjuring up memories of the media’s description of illegal immigrant Kilmar Ábrego García as a “Maryland man” or “Maryland dad” – the Trib omitted Gorman’s murder on the front page of its widely-read Sunday edition; Monday’s issue of the Tribune relegated the tragedy to a one-sentence mention at the bottom of the front page. In fact, Gorman’s murder has not made front-page news at the Tribune since it happened.

A single Tribune editorial posted on March 20, before Medina’s arrest, lamented that Gorman’s murder might hamper the city’s college recruitment efforts. “When an incident this awful happens at any of our universities, the concerning ripple effect is that parents of future collegians will bypass Chicago in favor of places they feel confident their kids will be safe,” the editorial board wrote.

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Since then – radio silence at the paper’s once-vaunted editorial page.

The city’s other news outlets offered similarly short shrift to the tragedy. WGN has only four articles about Gorman’s murder on its webpage; a Monday morning update described Medina as being “of Chicago” and offered a single sentence as to his immigration status.

And there is not a single article covering Gorman’s murder on the website of WTTW, the Chicago affiliate of the Public Broadcasting System.

Gorman’s family, in a heartbreaking post, described Sheridan,18, as the “heart of their family.” They also took aim at any suggestion their daughter and sister had it coming.

“What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to the idea of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

But that appears to represent the prevailing opinion of major Chicago media outlets. Otherwise, what could possibly excuse the shameful blackout of Gorman’s murder aside from protecting the city officials responsible for the circumstances leading up to it?

Further, if Gorman was in the wrong place at the wrong time – what about the young mom who was just mugged in one of the city’s nicest neighborhoods in broad daylight at 9 a.m. as she dropped her toddler off at day care? Or another young woman violently robbed at gunpoint on her way to a yoga class at 5 a.m. in Lincoln Park earlier this month? Or the man recently robbed at gunpoint in the middle of a Friday afternoon in the city’s poshest shopping district?

The insidious effect of local media’s near blackout of the story is not just defining deviancy down but ignoring it altogether. It’s a “shut up and take it” message by the media to the residents of Chicago – and even to the family of a young girl attending her dream school shot dead by a criminal illegal who should never have been in the city in the first place.Julie Kelly is an independent journalist. Her work can be found on Substack at Declassified with Julie Kelly.

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Related Topics: Crime, Media Bias, Murder, Illegal Immigrants, Illegal Immigration, Chicago

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Iran Attacks Israel with fresh Wave of Missiles Tuesday

Posted on March 24, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

Iran attacked Israel with a fresh wave of missiles Tuesday — hours after an ominous warning of “special plans” that would “remove any hope” of continuing negotiations to end the war.

The fresh wave of attacks included a missile with at least 220 pounds of explosives that slammed into residential buildings and cars in Tel Aviv, officials said.

The attacks came just after a source in the Islamic Republic made a telling response to President Trump, touting “very good and productive conversations” about ending the three-week war.

Smoke billows over Tel Aviv following an Iranian missile strike.

“Special plans are arranged tonight for Tel Aviv and some regional allies of the US and Israel,” an informed source told Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, according to CNN.

“Those plans completely remove any hope of negotiation from the minds of the aggressors,” the source told Fars, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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Six people were injured in strikes on Tel Aviv that also significantly damaged three buildings, the Times of Israel reported.

Iran also fired missiles at northern and southern Israel, but the Jewish State reported no fatalities.Smoke was seen billowing into the Tel Aviv sky following a missile attack.AP

Footage shared by KAN News showed an Iranian missile being intercepted in the Haifa area, but a home was damaged.

One man in northern Israel was injured after stepping on a missile fragment, according to health officials.

Iranian missiles were also detected heading toward Jerusalem, prompting politicians in the Knesset, the country’s parliament, to shelter.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have continued targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.

Airstrikes were reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday after the IDF issued evacuation orders.

US forces have also continued to “aggressively” target Iranian targets with “precision munitions,” Central Command revealed.

But potential strikes on Tehran’s power and infrastructure have been postponed until at least the weekend as it stands.

Trump made the decision after claiming talks between Washington and Tehran had been “productive.” 296

What do you think? Post a comment.

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Tehran disputed Trump’s claims, describing them as “part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans.”

Tehran’s fresh onslaught comes just hours after President Trump announced US military forces would not strike any part of Iran’s power and energy infrastructure for five days.

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Trump Insists Iran War Is ‘Regime Change’ in Morning Call with CNBC’s Joe Kernen

Posted on March 23, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

I’ve been admittedly skeptical that the current effort to pass the SAVE America Act will succeed. I want it to pass. Desperately. And from where I sit, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t pass. But we all know why something so popular and commonsense can’t get to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. Democrats in Congress don’t want election integrity and are fighting against it like their power is on the line.

Despite my skepticism, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), the lead sponsor of the bill, is confident the SAVE America Act is going to pass — and after just six days of debate, Democrats may already be looking for a way out.

As you know, the bill does two things. It requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a voter ID when casting a ballot. Polls repeatedly show that Americans overwhelmingly support these ideas, regardless of political party or race.

And Sen. Lee knows it, too.

“Americans overwhelmingly believe that voters in the United States, you need to be US citizens,” Lee said. “So our bill does two things in order to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”

The fight right now isn’t really about the merits. Let’s be honest about that. It’s about the Senate’s cloture threshold, the 60-vote supermajority needed to end debate and move to a final vote. Republicans don’t have those numbers on their own, which means they need Democrats to break ranks. Lee’s strategy is to make them do exactly that, and he’s drawing on a historical playbook to get it done.

“We’re using a playbook that in a slightly different form was used in 1964 to overcome a cloture gap of thirty-two votes,” Lee said, referring to the landmark Civil Rights Act debate.

Trump Insists Iran War Is ‘Regime Change’ in Morning Call with CNBC’s Joe Kernen

Posted on March 23, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

President Donald Trump on Monday told CNBC’s Joe Kernen that Iran is in the process of regime change following his latest talks with the country.

Moments before their phone call, Trump revealed in a Truth Social post that he had “productive conversations” with Iranian leadership. As a result of those conversations, the president said, there would be a temporary halt to military strikes on Iranian targets. Operation Epic Fury, the operation that began the war in Iran three weeks ago, killed more than four dozen members of the Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran, however, said “there has been no direct or indirect contact” with Trump and denied his claims that there were talks.

Following the death of the supreme leader, it was announced that Mojtaba Khamenei — Ali’s son —had been chosen to succeed him. The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that Mojtaba was seriously wounded in a strike and that his current status is unknown.

Although Mojtaba’s reign was widely considered a continuation of his father’s, Trump insisted the country was undergoing regime change as a result of the war. Reporting on his call with the president, Kernen said:

“I just spoke to the President. President Trump said the discussions have been very good over the last 48 hours, very intense discussions. I said, ‘Well, with whom?’ I thought, you know, there aren’t a lot of leaders left alive. He said they have representatives. Obviously, that’s been one of the things that Iran has tried to say, that we’ve got a structure more than any one person.

“The President went on to say, or insist, that this is regime change because it’s totally different people that were involved in the last regime. I would imagine some of the people are the same. This is the president’s take on that, insisting that it’s regime change. He went on to say great meetings, great conversations, and hopes that within the next five days something very substantive can be arrived at for the end of hostilities.”

Ahmad Austin, Jr., Mediaite

Dollar poised for rally (up!!!) as escalating Middle East conflict spurs haven demand

Posted on March 23, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

The dollar was poised for a rebound on Monday as retaliatory threats escalated in the Middle East crisis, damping risk sentiment and boosting demand for haven assets.

The greenback on Friday closed out its first weekly decline since the start of the war in Iran, as the effect of surging oil prices on inflation prompted central banks to turn hawkish. The Australian dollar slid in early trade as equity markets looked to open lower.

Hopes for an off-ramp to hostilities in ‌the Gulf region dimmed ⁠over ⁠the weekend, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to strike Iran’s electricity grid and Tehran vowing to hit back at the energy and water systems of its neighbours.

“The market’s going with the idea that those countries and economies that enjoy a positive supply shock from energy are likely to perform better than those that are suffering from a negative supply shock,” Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank, said on a podcast.

“So you’re seeing the euro and the yen struggling to perform. And again, if this conflict proves long-lasting, you would think ⁠that those are ‌the currencies that are likely to suffer a bit more.”

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.03% to 99.53. The euro slid 0.06% to $1.1563.

The yen rose ⁠0.06% to 159.11 per dollar, and sterling weakened 0.06% to $1.3331.

Trump issued his latest threat to Iran on Saturday evening, less than a day after signaling the U.S. might be considering winding down the conflict. Iran pledged retaliatory strikes on infrastructure in nearby countries and that the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane for oil would remain closed.

The prospect of tit-for-tat strikes on civilian infrastructure in the region threatens the livelihoods of millions of people who rely on desalination plants for water. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel from the early hours of Sunday, warning of incoming missiles from Iran.

Before the U.S.-Israeli war ‌on Iran began in late February, investors had priced in two cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. But they now largely believe one cut is a distant prospect, and other major central banks are turning more hawkish.

The Fed ⁠left rates on hold as expected last week, but Chair Jerome Powell said it was too soon to know the scope and duration of the economic impact from the war.

Economic Times

Socialists to the rescue?

Posted on March 22, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

These people love revolutions, don’t they? What they don’t love are the victims of those revolutions.

Silvio Canto, Jr. | March 22, 2026

The left will always live in the 1960s. The latest episode of the story is another group of socialists travelling to Cuba to show their support for the Cuban revolution. These people love revolutions, don’t they? What they don’t love are the victims of those revolutions.

This is the story:

The Democratic Socialists of America announced that 20 DSA members will join an international group of humanitarians, the so-called Nuestra América Convoy, which says it is delivering critical aid to Cuba amid an economic and energy crisis caused by America’s blockade of fuel, flights, and other essential supplies… It has issued an open letter signed by celebrities like Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo, and Susan Sarandon, calling for the administration to “treat Cuba with equality and respect” and “let Cuba live.” … With 89 percent of Cubans reportedly living in poverty, the Communist regime has a chokehold on food and energy distribution.

Of course, they blame the US embargo. Yes, the darn embargo! What else?

The problem is that Europe, China, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada are not boycotting Cuba. That’s a big chunk of the world’s economy that did not join the embargo. Why aren’t those countries doing business with Cuba? What’s stopping them? Not the US embargo. Why aren’t these countries building power plants in Cuba to solve the energy problem?

The answer may be that Cuba does not repay its debts, and the Castro regime has grown used to living off subsidies. Another problem may be that the Castro regime killed the middle class that would buy Chinese cars, Brazilian radios, Italian shoes, etc. There is no consumer market in Cuba as there was before what they call the revolution.

So, the socialists will go to Cuba, cheer the corrupt regime, probably meet with a few Cubans suffering under the US embargo, and fly back to their comfortable homes in the US. The Cubans they leave behind won’t be so lucky. They won’t have lights tonight, or who knows what food is available in the markets.

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To say the least, these people are as foolish today as they were in the past when they went sugar cane cutting or cheered one of Fidel’s speeches. Again, the socialists get to leave Cuba, but the Cubans don’t.

How Iran’s ruthless enforcers use rape to crush dissent: Brutal sex attacks on victims as young as 12 used to strike fear into protesters, rights groups reveal amid fury over sickening nurse gang rape

Posted on March 22, 2026 by theartfuldilettante

Warning: Graphic content

By ADAM POGRUND, REPORTER

Published: 21:31 EDT, 21 March 2026 | Updated: 21:31 EDT, 21 March 2026

Amnesty has documented … The organisation says such torture is routinely used to extract ‘confessions’ before any legal proceedings have taken place, with the Iranian state broadcaster airing footage of detainees making televised admissions that rights groups say are coerced.

Rights groups reveal amid fury over sickening nurse gang rape

Iran’s barbaric regime has long used sexual violence as a sickening tool to crush dissent.

Known for their brutality, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) slaughtered thousands of protesters who dared to take to the streets in anti-government protests in January.

But despite their fearsome reputation, the sadistic sexual punishments meted out by the ayatollah’s violent henchmen in recent months have still shocked observers.

Last month a report from Amnesty International found that thousands of Iranians are at risk of sexual violence, with children as young as 14 being sexually assaulted by IRGC gangs in January.

In the same month, two Iranian nurses were gang-raped and relentlessly tortured by the Islamic Republic’s security agents because they treated wounded protesters during anti-regime demonstrations.

The nurses, from Tehran’s Rajaei Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Centre, have had their uteruses removed, so violent were the assaults.

One victim, 33, is so traumatised she begged surgeons to let her die and she is currently tied to the hospital bed to stop her from harming herself as she remains under the supervision of IRGC security forces.

It follows a long pattern of sexual intimidation used by IRGC enforcers to strike fear into protesters.

young as 12 have been raped in attempts to ‘inflict lasting physical and psychological damage on protesters’, according to an Amnesty.

UN human rights investigators found Iran uses ‘sexual violence’ alongside torture, arbitrary killings, arrests and forced confessions.

In one shocking case, IRGC agents stormed the house of Amirhossein Ghaderzadeh, a 19-year-old protester who took to the streets in January.

They stripped him and his two sisters, one who was aged just 14, to inspect them for metal pellets to ‘prove’ their participation in demonstrations before subjecting them to sexual violence and sentencing Amirhossein to death.

Authorities have since refused to disclose his fate or whereabouts.

IRGC forces used sexual violence to crush anti-government protests in 2022, sparked by the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police for not wearing a hijab in Tehran.

At least 45 survivors, including 26 men, 12 women and seven children told Amnesty they were subjected to rape, gang rape and other forms of sexual violence during those protests.

The organisation reported that ‘Iran’s intelligence and security forces have been committing horrific acts of torture, including beatings, flogging, electric shocks, rape and other sexual violence against child protestors as young as 12 to quell their involvement in nationwide protests.’

One victim, Farzad, said he was gang-raped in a van belonging to the Special Forces of the police.

He said: ‘Plainclothes agents made us face the walls of the vehicle and gave electric shocks to our legs. They tortured me through beatings… resulting in my nose and teeth being broken.

‘They pulled down my trousers and raped me. I was really being ripped apart. I was throwing up a lot and bleeding from my rectum.”

Maryam, who was gang-raped in a Revolutionary Guard detention centre, recounted that her rapists told her: ‘You are all addicted to penis, so we showed you a good time. Isn’t ‎this what you seek from liberation?’

Other victims were so traumatised they said they were considering suicide.

Speaking in 2023, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, said Iran’s ‘violence against children exposes deliberate strategy to crush the vibrant spirit of the country’s youth and stop them from demanding freedom and human rights’.

She claimed that Amnesty had obtained testimonies from the victims and their families detailing the extent of the horrific torture endured against scores of children.

A report published by the organisation read: ‘A former detainee told Amnesty that, in one province, Basij agents forced several boys to stand with their legs apart in a line alongside adult detainees and administered electric shocks to their genital area with stun guns.’

The organisation also reported that state agents had used rape and other sexual violence as a weapon against child detainees to break their spirit, humiliate and punish them, and to extract confessions.

A mother told of how state agents raped her son with a hosepipe when he was detained.

Other torture methods included floggings, shocks and holding children’s heads under water, it was reported.

One boy said: ‘They gave us electric shocks, hit me in my face with the back of a gun, gave electric shocks to my back and beat me on my feet, back and hands with batons.

‘They threatened that if we told anyone, they would [detain us again], do even worse and deliver our corpses to our families.’

Families and residents gather at the Kahrizak Coroner's Office confronting rows of body bags as they search for relatives killed during the regime's violent crackdown on protests in January

In the latest grim example of retribution inflicted on their citizens, IRGC officers massacred thousands of protesters before killing and sexually abusing medics who helped the injured.

The sexual assaults were so severe a doctor had to remove one nurse’s intestine and her uterus may have to be taken out. She also has to live with a colostomy bag.

Iran International reported the nurse was forced to sign a document saying she married one of the IRGC agents and her family had to pay him a large fee to secure her release.

She also had to sign a statement which blamed her rape and abuse on ‘rioters’, sources told the outlet.

The nurse had provided medical treatment to injured demonstrators who took part in nationwide protests against the cruel regime in January.

The hospital, based in the Vali-Asr area of the capital, received waves of injured protesters, including those shot by IRGC forces, on the evening of January 8.

IRGC agents warned hospital staff against helping the wounded. But this was ignored by 14 of 27 nurses.

Two male nurses were among those arrested after expressing sympathy with the wounded.

As nurses helped the injured, IRGC forces entered the hospital and fired at patients, according to Iran International.

Two nurses who tried to treat the wounded were killed, while others were beaten and arrested.

Staff were then warned not to touch the bodies of the dead, leaving corpses to rot.

The bodies of the two dead nurses were later found in Kahrizak, where rows of body bags were piled as the government massacred thousands for protesting.

Two girls, aged 15 and 17, were also reportedly raped by soldiers while being held in detention during the January protests.

The Islamic Republic’s ruthless jailers have long used extreme violence to spread fear among those who dare stand up to the regime.

Amnesty has documented cases in which detainees were suspended by their hands and feet from a pole in a painful position referred to by interrogators as ‘chicken kebab’, forcing the body into extreme stress for prolonged periods.

Other reported methods include waterboarding, mock executions by hanging or firing squad, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload using light or noise, and the forcible removal of fingernails or toenails.

The organisation says such torture is routinely used to extract ‘confessions’ before any legal proceedings have taken place, with the Iranian state broadcaster airing footage of detainees making televised admissions that rights groups say are coerced.

By ADAM POGRUND, REPORTER

Published: 21:31 EDT, 21 March 2026 | Updated: 21:31 EDT, 21 March 2026

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