'I Lived Behind the Iron Curtain:' Man Who Fled Communism Warns New Yorkers About What's Coming

Townhall   

 Ayn Rand: "There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide." 

MUST WATCH: Man who lived under communism has WARNING for New Yorkers about to elect Mamdani. "I lived behind the Iron Curtain. To want socialism is one of the dumbest things anyone can say." 🚨 pic.twitter.com/aYALWAibyT 

"The Left loves to tell us we have to listen to people's "lived experiences" to understand and respect them. That's all well and good, but they also want to make those "lived experiences" the basis for laws and often stripping people of their rights (including the right to free speech).

"But when those "lived experiences" don't support the Left's narrative, they ignore them. Like this man, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain.

"As we have repeatedly shown, socialism always fails. Venezuela has a 70 percent poverty rate today, despite being one of the world's wealthiest nations just a few decades ago. People who lived under, and fled, socialism know what it's like. It's oppressive, totalitarian, and rife with poverty and violence.

"The Left will argue that "real socialism hasn't been tried," but it has. "Real socialism" always follows the same pattern of corruption, violence, and economic collapse." . . .

Rep. Carter Unveils “MAMDANI Act” to Withhold Federal Funds from New York City

  Englebrook Independent News

"While it lacks broad bipartisan support at this time, its symbolic import is already being felt in media and political circles."

Broc Smith

"In an unprecedented move, Buddy Carter (R–Ga.) introduced legislation on Thursday targeting federal funding for New York City in response to the recent mayoral victory of Zohran Mamdani. The bill, officially titled the Moving American Money Distant from Anti-National Interests Actzmore...

"According to a two-page draft of the legislation obtained by reporters, the measure stipulates that “notwithstanding any other provision of law, during any period in which Zohran Mamdani is Mayor of New York, New York, any unobligated Federal funds available for the city are hereby rescinded and no Federal funds may be obligated or expended for any purpose to New York, New York.” . . .More

Let's Make Mamdani the Face of the Democratic Party

. . . "We will also have numerous examples from Mamdani's New York to point to in the not-so-distant future. Increased crime, empty "government-run" grocery stores, shuttered bodegas, a mass exodus of New York's finest and the average Joe, and the collapse of a great city are all in our future. We must tie that all to Mamdani and the Democratic Party as they head into the midterms. If they want socialism, we must make them own it, including its failures."

NYPD already losing officers with morale plunging as anti-cop Zohran Mamdani prepares to take reins

"Other demands include:

Divesting city pensions from Israeli bonds and securities. 

Banning Israeli products from the city-run grocery stores Mamdani wants to open.

Investigating real estate agents “hosting illegal sales of stolen lands in the West Bank.”

Stripping tax-exempt nonprofit status from entities that raise funds for the Israel Defense Forces

End the NYPD’s training with Israeli Occupation Forces.

Arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and active IDF soldiers for “war crimes” if they enter the Big Apple.

Dismantle an NYC-Israel Economic Council formed by outgoing Mayor Adams.  

“Well at least the DSA mask is off,” said state Assemblyman Kalman Yeger, a conservative Brooklyn Democrat and Orthodox Jew. “This was never about affordability, free buses or anything else. This was always about Jew hatred.

The White House East Wing Renovations: Exorcizing the Daemons of Modernism

 The American Spectator   

"There is something genuinely daemonic about, to take one prominent example, the brutalist monstrosity that is the Barack Obama Presidential Center…"

. . . Once again am I reminded of the Mitchell & Webb “Are We the Baddies?” sketch, in which two beleaguered Nazi soldiers ponder whether they might in fact be the villains of the ongoing conflict. “Have you noticed that our caps actually have little pictures of skulls on them? … Their [the Allies] symbols are all quite nice! Stars, stripes, lions, sickles… You gotta say, it’s better than a skull. I mean, I really can’t think of anything worse, as a symbol, than a skull!” One can imagine a modernist or post-modernist architect contemplating why it is that their traditionalist counterparts have the Classical orders, or Gothic rib vaults, or the sustainable, natural, recyclable building materials of vernacular architectural styles, while they have hideous failures and blunders like the Obamalisk, the Buffalo City Court Building, Boston City Hall, Pruitt-Igoe, and Grenfell Tower, among so many others.

"That modernist architects never actually experience this moment of self-awareness would indicate that modernism, like other symptoms of leftism generally, may indeed be a biological phenomenon, the result of a smaller-than-normal or underdeveloped amygdala, and the attendant inability to experience a healthy disgust response. How else can we explain the decision on the part of the Obama Foundation, in conjunction with its hired architectural firm, to commission the Obamalisk on purpose? This is not a science fiction film, or a J.G. Ballard novel, but here we are, in real life, with the skyline of a great American city defaced by yet another brutalist monstrosity when we all know better by now, or should.

"Hence, my lack of concern over the renovation of the East Wing of the White House, and the drummed-up controversy it has engendered in the “popular” press. James C. McCrery II, the architect in charge of the upgrades, has a fine track record of designing traditionalist buildings that can be constructed on time, on budget, and to the satisfaction of his patrons. McRery has, during his career, done something vanishingly few fashionably modernist architects have ever accomplished in their lives, namely to design buildings of genuine aesthetic appeal, which people might actually want to look at or be in. These include the Renaissance Revival Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, Tennessee, tastefully clad in Indiana limestone and Roman-style bricks sourced from Ohio; the Renaissance-inspired St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church in Aiken, South Carolina, which won a John Russell Pope Award for its marvelous design (the pediment mosaic is a particular inspired touch); and the Gothic monastery currently being erected for the Carmelites of Wyoming near Meeteetse, with its limestone facades, delicate tracery, and soaring spires made possible (and affordable) by the use of innovative CNC fabrication on the part of the monks themselves." . . .More...

Almost half of Israelis won’t go to New York City with Mamdani as mayor

The Jewish Voice   

It can - and is going to - happen here: Turkey Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Senior Israeli Officials

"New polling suggests the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor will cause nearly half of Israelis to avoid New York City.

"In a nationwide survey conducted Nov. 6, 46% of respondents said they would avoid visiting New York in light of the mayoral election results; 34% said they would travel as usual, and 20% were undecided. The poll sampled 501 adults and carries a ±4.4% margin of error.

"Asked about Mamdani himself, 83% of Israelis surveyed said they view him as antisemitic, while 8% disagreed and 9% were unsure. New York—home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel—has long been a favored destination for Israeli tourists, which makes the potential shift in travel habits notable.

"Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, won Wednesday’s contest after rivals Andrew M. Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa conceded.

"In his victory remarks, he pledged to confront antisemitism and presented an inclusive message to Muslim residents, saying City Hall under his leadership would stand with Jewish New Yorkers and affirm a sense of belonging for more than a million Muslims in the city.

"Party movement linked to Mamdani and AOC rejects Gaza deal, endorses ‘Palestinian resistance’

"However, Jewish critics of Mamdani see his remarks as an attempt to smooth over his image after refusing to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” embracing BDS policy and threatening to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he travels to New York.

"The poll’s timing—immediately after the vote—captures initial reactions rather than long-term behavior. Still, the results highlight a divide between Israeli public sentiment and parts of the American Jewish electorate, a split that has surfaced repeatedly in recent years over Israel-related politics in major U.S. cities.

"Mamdani is due to take office on Jan. 1 for a four-year term." . . .

Are Women to Blame for Mamdani’s Win?  Video

"In this episode of The Spectator P.M. Podcast, hosts Ellie Gardey Holmes and Lyrah Margo discuss the poll results and why young women tend to vote liberal. They also discuss feminism within the conservative movement in light of the recent controversy over Nick Fuentes, who has been vocal about his disdain for women. (RELATED: What Nick Fuentes Gets Wrong About Women) "

Mamdani’s All-Female Fantasy   

. . . "If Mamdani truly believes that the best person for every job just happens to be a woman, then fine. But if his all-female team was assembled to prove a point rather than solve a problem, then New York is in for a rude awakening. Symbolism makes for stirring headlines, but it rarely fills potholes or fixes budgets. It’s easy to pick a team that looks virtuous; it’s harder to build one that actually works."

What comes to my mind are the young female voices cheering every liberal oration made by any Democrat politician, no matter how Newsomish or Swalwellish. The Tunnel Dweller

 

Freed Israeli hostage reveals unthinkable horror during captivity: ‘Something even the Nazis didn’t do’

 Things you will never see covered on MSNBC. TD

NY Post

"He was so severely beaten by his captors that he begged them to let him starve to death, according to the Times of Israel."

Greta Thunberg and her leftist friends would refuse to read this

"A traumatized Israeli hostage held captive for more than two years in Gaza revealed that he was sexually assaulted and tortured so sadistically by Jew-hating terrorists that he begged them to let him starve to death.

"Rom Braslavski was kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, and subsequently stripped naked, starved and sexually abused until he was finally released earlier this year, he revealed in a chilling interview with Israeli media.

“I came back from a meeting with the devil,” Braslavski told Israel’s Channel 13. " . . .

. . . “It was sexual violence, and its main purpose was to humiliate me,” he said. “The goal was to crush my dignity. And that’s exactly what he did.”

"He said the abuse was frequent — and worse than Nazi torture." . . .

“[They said], ‘Listen, if you convert to Islam, I’ll bring you plenty of food, you’ll live with us,’” —  to which he replied, “I was born a Jew, I’ll die a Jew.”

"But when he refused to convert, the torture got worse, he said.": . .. MORE

Freed hostage says captors joyfully tortured, whipped him repeatedly during captivity

Freed Israeli Hostages: What They Endured in Captivity and How They Survived | AJC   . . . "Freed hostage Amit Soussana credited Liri Albag with saving her life in captivity, revealing in an interview that Albag convinced their Hamas captors she was not an IDF officer. Soussana recounted how she was bound, beaten, and threatened at gunpoint by a guard who told her, “You have 40 minutes to tell us the truth, or else I kill you.” Albag intervened, persuading the captors that Soussana was not a soldier. “I told her when she came back: ‘I don’t know if they would have killed me or not; as far as I’m concerned, you saved my life,’” Soussana said.

"In December 2024, Hamas released a propaganda video featuring Liri. Her family said at the time that the video “has torn our heart to pieces. This is not the daughter and sister we know. She is not well - her severe psychological distress is evident.”

"Her mother, Shira Albag, observed, "She's not the same girl—she's very frightened, her eyes are hollow." She added, "My Liri has always been self-confident, fearless, strong—I saw that she was extremely pale, that she has lost a ton of weight… I saw the black under her eyes, I saw that she hadn’t seen daylight in a long time." . .