Issues And Ideas: News & Political Commentary With Chris DeBello March 29 2026

Join us for expert honest analysis and commentary about today's politics, news, economy, healthcare and current events.
 
(00:00) New laws in New Jersey that are designed to limit ICE actions, access and activities are discussed.

(04:43) William Angus, Co-Founder of the No ICE North Jersey Alliance explains how a proposed ICE immigrant detention center in Roxbury New Jersey would impact the region, affect people's lives by the strain and risks to the infrastructure as well as natural resources and gives an update on the resistance to the project.

(22:18) Joanne Frederick, CEO of Government Market Strategies, talks about the importance of local rural hospitals, the ways they're endangered, how a federal government program will strengthen and save these hospitals along with the ways that the hospitals will be using the federal funds they receive.

(33:16) Dr. Nizam Missaghi, Chairman Of The Board of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center and Chairman of the Simpatico Foundation, shares his experiences of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, what the Iranian people are experiencing and what they hope for.

(46:28) Chris DeBello presents how the Bible reveals the wants and expectations of Jesus.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, welcome to Issues and Ideas. I'm Christabello. This past Wednesday, New Jersey joined states including California, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, Maine, New Mexico, and let's call them melting ice. Passing laws that limit ice activities in their respective states. As I said this past Wednesday, New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill signed a trio of immigration laws that r really restrict when New Jersey can cooperate with U.S. immigration customs enforcement agents. People calling this one of the most aggressive state pushbacks against ICE. Looking here, one law is S3114, it bars both local and federal law enforcement officers, including ICE, from wearing masks during interactions with the public in the state. Another bill, S-3522, prohibits State agencies from sharing a person's immigration status without a warrant. And then we have S-3521 that bars local police from assisting Federal immigration authorities without a judicial warrant for making the State's existing immigrant trust directive policy permanent. And as you would expect, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did have a reaction to all this, saying sanctuary politicians attempted to ban our Federal law enforcement from wearing masks is despicable and a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers. Then why are they going into the airports without masks? Are there no dangers there? Anyway, continuing with their statement to be crystal clear, we will not abide by this unconstitutional ban. Also said the agency's aggressive posture was the result of local police not working with them. So it was the local law enforcement fault that all this stuff is happening. So this trio of new laws adds to what's already taken place over the past year. New Jersey's efforts to restrict ICE activities in the state, and that includes the executive order that Carroll signed that blocked the agency from state property, and we'll get into this in a moment. A lawsuit aimed at stopping a detention center in Roxbury from being built with that executive order blocking the ICE agents from state property. Yeah, the Trump administration sued the state over that one, as there's no doubt that the administration will sue over this new trio of laws. Of course he will. But when you consider the batting average of the Trump D.O.J. puppets in court cases, even just with grand jury indictments, kind of have no doubt that Governor Sherrill believes the odds are certainly with her in New Jersey. Now, while a lot of people agree with all these laws, there is opposition. Again, as what you would suspect. On the Republican side, the Sembleman Gary Meyer, who represents Ocean County, critical law that will cut down on intelligence sharing between the state and ICE officers and other federal agencies. He said this bill blocks state, county, and local law enforcement from coordinating with federal agencies. Proof Trenton Democrats have learned nothing from recent history. The 911 Commission made clear that siloed information and lack of cooperation puts lives at risk. Again, I refer to some of the violent and threatening actions of ICE agents. So whose lives are actually being put at risk here. Anyway, we also have State Senator Michael Tester. He represents Cumberland County saying here the governor's decision to sign these bills and the laws is deeply disappointing and frankly dangerous for New Jersey families. It erects barriers where cooperation should exist, creating serious risks for public safety that puts communities in harm's way. New Jersey deserves better than performative legislation that prioritizes politics over public safety. You know what the curse is with the opposition? I mean it's fine to oppose something no problem with that. Welcome to America. You're you're encouraged to speak your views and share your thoughts and ideas. But to make blanket statements, generalized statements like that, don't you think that that leads to an increase of bigotry and racism, making people think that all people who are non-white and not born in America are going to commit violent, deadly acts against New Jersey families. As I just mentioned in the show Open, New Jersey has taken legal action regarding the planned immigrant detention center, which will be located in Roxbury, New Jersey. If you're listening elsewhere, it's the northwest part of the state. Others say that there are laws, there are policies that are required to be followed by everybody, which hasn't happened. When it comes to this proposed project, the first guest today has been certainly a leader in the vocal and other efforts to push back against this planned immigrant detention center. He is the co-founder of the No Ice North Jersey Alliance, William Angus. Thanks for coming back, Bill.

SPEAKER_05 5:25

Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

And with the website, we have it on the home page, no hyphen, roxbury.com. Let's talk about the website. Let's start with the laws too, Bill, because this is addressing major points. As I said in the introduction, the belief is even the Constitution supports that federal federal trumps states. But if there are federal and state laws that aren't being followed, well, the federal has a problem. That's what this lawsuit is really trying to point out, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 5:59

Uh that's exactly correct. Um so uh we have been uh pr uh pressing uh Governor Cheryl to take this sort of action in our discussions with her um to follow along. Um this follows similar action in Pennsylvania and Maryland. And I believe in Maryland they actually have a stop work order, uh if I recall correctly. Um Because as you said, uh a lot of times local uh ordinances and laws can be overstepped by the feds, but when it comes to federal laws, that's not so easy for them to bypass.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

And one of those being the National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to assess environmental impacts before taking on a major construction project. The Department of Homeland Security says, well, we did that. Small problem is there's no report saying what they did.

SPEAKER_05 6:58

Yeah, uh the that that is a recurrent problem with DHS. They say, oh, we did this, we've spoken with this uh with the local officials, we've uh submitted uh reports, and when you ask the local officials or the agencies involved, they say uh no, they haven't. Um so uh the Muskone Kong Sewer Authority, which governs the sewer and water for Roxbury and six other towns, uh recently uh had stated that they had received no information, no requests, no investigations from DHS after they had publicly said that they had done so. So it's not even trust but verify, it's just verify. There's no trust there.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

I'm gonna put the document up on our downloads page over at a website too, so for you listening, you can check this out in detail. And if you're in other states and communities, learn from it and take the lead here too. The Administrative Procedure Act by failing to consider the important aspects of the situation, the inappropriateness of the site, which we'll get to that in a moment. The Intergovernmental Cooperation Act violation requires DHS to have consulted state and local officials, and their uh broken laws regarding the Immigration Nationality Act by violating ICE's own public standards for what a facility is to be, which case in point, Bill, this proposed location, at least in current state of affairs, has a grand total of four toilets for fifteen hundred people. That doesn't sound like that's going to work out too good.

SPEAKER_05 8:32

No, and and that's that's uh honestly the tip of the iceberg, but you know, for the purposes of their lawsuit, uh it's more than sufficient to raise legal questions. Um the the warehouse was only designed uh to handle, you know, 40 employees, give or take. And so it has appropriate levels of you know bathroom facilities and sewer capacity and also water connections for that. Um you know, there could be many hundreds of uh DHS ice agents uh there uh because this is a this is effectively a prison. Um so it's not just the detainees, which uh they say is gonna be 1,500. Uh you could easily have, you know, four or five hundred um ICE uh ice agents in charge of the facility. So you're talking in excess of 2,000 people. That's 50 times the the usage that was expected. And you know, these are not insignificant concerns because um, you know, without getting too into the weeds, uh, you know, the the Muscon Eccon Sewer Authority manages the the amount of water that each town can have. And Roxbury is currently using 93% of its allocated water supply. Um this is going to push them dangerously close to 100%. And the town has numerous um uh affordable housing uh obligations that it's trying they're trying to meet uh with the state. And what what are those people gonna do for water and sewer? Um so it puts it puts Roxbury in a very bad position of you know maybe not being able to be compliant with the affordable housing uh responsibilities. Um it may have to, you know, purchase water rights from other towns if they're even willing to do so. You can't just manufacture water, you know, if it's not there, it's not there. So this affects everybody, um uh not just in Roxbury, but it, you know, in the other six towns. And honestly, it's part of the highlands, so it affects anybody who gets drinking water from that area, which by the way is about 75% of the New Jersey populace gets some of its water from the Highlands.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

We also have to have to think, too, what what strain is this facility going to put on the electric grid for the for not just the area but the for the region?

SPEAKER_05 11:12

I I mean you you name an an aspect uh and and it's going to impact it. Uh there's estimates of you know significant uh truck traffic on the highway getting in and out. That's gonna create noise pollution for the nearby neighbors, um, it's going to create traffic problems, uh impact to the roads, uh, and of course the sewer is a huge one because the uh uh uh the engineer's report recently said that uh just like with the water, it he said it would be like trying to stick a fire hose into a paper straw. Um the the amount of discharge that this would generate simply cannot be handled. And you know, if they don't build all new infrastructure, which will be time-consuming and very costly, costly to the town of Roxbury, by the way. The sewer authority said the the cost is borne by Roxbury. Um if you don't put in additional infrastructure, then the infrastructure that's there is probably going to fail. And that means sewer discharge into the Muskoneckong River. Um, and again, that creates all sorts of environmental concerns. Uh, again, for anybody, you know, if you're one of the sev part of the 75% of the people who get drinking water from the highlands, your drinking water could be affected if they had, you know, some sort of a discharge. Um, so it this is really a state problem. It is not just a Roxbury or Morris County problem.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

William Angus, co-founder of North of No Ice North Jersey Alliance, no hyphenroxbury hyphenjails.com. We have the link over our webpage, and you're listening to issues and ideas. And to that, the fact that this could potentially eliminate$1.8 million in tax revenue because a federal facility pays no property taxes.

SPEAKER_05 13:07

It's a good it could be a huge hit. Uh we figured it out there's 9,000 uh residents, uh residential properties in Roxbury currently. And so that works out to uh you know two$250 per property. And that doesn't even take into account the added expenses that you know Roxbury might be on the hook for if they have to build new sewer, uh new sewer lines, uh, you know, police and fire EMS responding to emergencies there, uh road repairs. Uh so the actual cost to every single property owner in Roxbury could be you know very significant. Um and again, you know, this is Jersey, and the one thing we love to complain about is our property taxes.

SPEAKER_04 13:53

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:53

Uh this is gonna have a it is gonna have a very big effect on the tax uh uh burden of the uh residents of Roxbury.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Now there are various players who uh up until this point have been well questionable in their value in this effort. Let's start with the mayor of Roxbury. He has c signed on to this lawsuit, so that's a positive step because it was he had been, at least by my observation or understanding, lackadaisical about it. Let's say he'd been saying the right things but doing little. So how valuable was his signing on to this, to this legal action?

SPEAKER_05 14:31

I would say on behalf of Ninja and all the other protesters, uh, we uh accept the thanks that the mayor has extended to us for what we've done. Because, in my opinion, I know what we've done in dealing with Senator Kim, Booker, uh the the Attorney General, the Governor's Office. We know what we've done. And I don't know what the mayor's done other than sign onto this lawsuit, which honestly isn't a huge effort. Um, I think we've done more than the mayor and the town council have, uh mainly because they haven't shown their work. You know, they have not demonstrated what they've done. They give when you ask them, they give these vague, general answers. We've been in contact with the governor. We've done we've been in con like what does that even mean? Right? So I think he should be thanking us for what we've done personally.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

We have town attorney who is in a dual position. He also is also uh state senator and state senate Republican leader Anthony Buco Jr., who, by the way, with all the executive orders uh limiting ICE activity that Governor Sherrill assigned, Buko is pretty much against all of them. Is he I I hate calling for this because it's up to the voters for for it to decide. Does he have to decide which position he serves in, whether it's town attorney or uh state senator? And make a choice and give up one?

SPEAKER_05 16:09

To be fair, I think uh Mr. Bucko has demonstrated why being an attorney is not his primary job. Um he has uh been very um uh resistant to any of the ideas that were presented to him and the town council in terms of ordinances, in terms of legal strategy. Um these were things that are demonstrated in other states to have had uh a positive impact on slowing or stopping the processes. Um thankfully, uh just in the last week or so, uh the town has uh announced that they have hired another law firm uh to handle this issue. Um so he is still the town attorney, but he will not be the lead on the ICE detention center issue. So we're very hopeful that this this new law firm um uh and and everything that we've we've read about them suggests that uh they will um pursue it uh in a manner that we consider appropriate. They will give it the appropriate level of um aggressive defense.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Then we have finally Representative Tom Cain Jr., who his big contribution has been, well, if it's gonna cost the area, I'll I'll get you federal funds to pay this off, which good luck with doing that to the tune of a hundred and one point eight million dollars. Again, he's is he just more concerned about his political position, especially in this upcoming uh election, versus the the issue and the impact as as you you laid it out here.

SPEAKER_05 17:55

Yeah, so uh I I kind of like to refer to that bill as uh, you know, we're okay with uh human misery as long as we don't have to pay for it. That's that's what his bill is really all about. It does nothing to address the needs of Roxbury or the surrounding communities. It does nothing to address the uh inhuman conditions that surround ICE detention centers as a whole. Uh he's fine with all that. He's fine with you know Roxbury, you know, maybe having you know sewer and water issues, uh polluting the drinking water if there's a discharge. He just doesn't want to see the town pay for it. And as you said, good luck getting money from the from Donald Trump's administration uh reimbursement. That that is that is just not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Especially for a blue state.

SPEAKER_05 18:50

Uh exactly. Um, you know, I I read something recently that uh, you know, and I'm not sure of the numbers exactly, but something like 75% of red state requests for aid from FEMA have been approved, and like 25% of requests from blue states have been approved. And I can't imagine what the difference would be between those those those those very widely different numbers. Um yeah, he's New Jersey's you know, he didn't even want us to get the uh the the gateway tunnel into um into New York City, and he tried to stop the funding and we had to take him to court over that. So, you know, there's no way Roxbury's getting its two million back.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

We have to wrap up here, but real fast, you mentioned Andy Kim. During the confirmation hearings of Mark Wayne Mullen, Andy Kim brought up this whole project and he got Mullen to at least promise that he's gonna come by and check things out. Is there any because also there's been reports that with the change of leadership at at uh Homeland Security that projects are contemplating to be paused, does that lift your spirits in some way, shape, or form?

SPEAKER_05 20:04

It does and it doesn't. Uh at the end of the day, we don't intend to be Charlie Brown with Lucy's football uh once again. Uh honestly, if that happens, we will be pleasantly surprised and we will take the W if that were to be the case and they they backed out of Roxbury because of you know his reassessment. Uh I have again, there is no trust and verify, there's just verify. So file that under. I'll believe it when I see it. It is encouraging, though. I I will say that, but you know, that is not any reason for us to take our foot off the gas on all of our efforts. We will continue to public protest, we will continue to make sure it stays in the news media, in the public eye. We will still continue to uh you know be putting pressure on the town, on our elected officials, uh to uh make sure that this doesn't happen. It is BAU for us until we see otherwise.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

And for you listening, as you saw or even maybe even took part in yesterday, the No Kings rallies, that voice that initially last year people said was going to just dry up, blow away, and go away, is doing exactly the opposite. It's getting louder, getting stronger in numbers, and getting stronger as a force. And this is one of the focal points of, at least here in New Jersey, the pushback that the No Kings voice is working on, and as well as the No Ice North Jersey Alliance, which you can find out more about their work and become a part of it at NoHyphen Roxbury's.com. William Angus, thank you for standing strong, standing firm, and bringing in as many people as possible to realize that first and foremost, an individual individual's voice matters when there's a lot of them together. And for those who uh are in places where there this isn't happening. Happening, who says it can't be happening in the next day, the next week, or the next month. Thank you for your work, sir.

SPEAKER_05 22:06

Absolutely, and thank you for having me and giving me the opportunity to talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

If you're listening via your favorite podcast platform, make sure you subscribe and follow so you don't miss anything we try to get away with here. Have you called how an increasing number of elements of the world around us, which were assumed to be automatic, always going to be there, aren't any longer? Or if they do remain, they're drastically changed, and healthcare is certainly no exception with this idea. The healthcare industry, all that's associated with it, has created challenging times for major hospitals, which over time in different ways has been addressed. Those same challenges are even greater for the smaller rural hospitals to the point where many communities are at risk of losing their local immediate path to health care, but they haven't already. During the discussions last year over health care costs, Medicare, Medicaid, you might have caught what was, in fact, a bipartisan demand that rural hospitals received the financial lifeline that they needed. Joining us now to explain what that lifeline has become and the ways it will benefit rural hospitals is the CEO of Government Market Strategies, Joanne Frederick. How are you today, Joanne?

SPEAKER_03 23:14

I'm doing very well, Chris. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

And learn more about Government Market Strategies, Market Strategiesonline.com. We do have that link at our homepage. It's called the Rural Health Transformation Program. Talk about what the details are, and this has already been a apply and be accepted part. That part of it is over. So now we're into the execution program, which is even more important, obviously. But what what are the goals of what are the goals of the rural health transformation program?

SPEAKER_03 23:44

Absolutely. So to sort of level set everyone, it's a major new federal initiative and it is about$50 billion over five years. And as you said, Chris, it's really designed to strengthen health care in rural communities across the country. It will be administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, and every state, including New Jersey, has the opportunity to design its own strategy to improve access, workforce, and long-term sustainability. And this is one of the largest federal investments in rural health in decades.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Some important stats. One third in financial straights and at risk of closing their rural hospitals. We've seen them reduce inpatient services, becoming outpatient emergency care centers, and because of cost, the trying to keep up with technology for especially rural hospitals has been has been very challenging. How how is the what what are the states obligated to do? How much is left to the hospitals to say here's what's best for us to do?

SPEAKER_03 25:03

Absolutely. So let's talk about New Jersey specifically. And and um when people think about New Jersey, they don't always think rural, but there are over a half a million residents considered in rural communities in New Jersey, and that's about six percent of the state. And those communities face real challenges, fewer providers, workforce shortages, higher impact from substance use disorder, and less access to preventive care. And because of that, New Jersey stepped up in a big way and is looking for a billion dollars over five years, with about 147 million starting in year one, which is this year. So even in a highly rural urban state, rural disparities are significant, and this kind of investment shows just how serious New Jersey is about addressing them. And to your specific question, Chris, uh what is near what is New Jersey doing? Really looking at a balanced, practical approach, not just adding services, but rethinking how care is delivered and focusing on five key areas workforce, recruitment and retention, stabilizing hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and behavioral health providers, expanding care beyond facilities to include telehealth or mobile care and remote monitoring, investing in prevention and community health, and improving data use and chronic disease management across the state.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Mentioning New Jersey and staying in New Jersey, and that's what we're based on if you're listening on the podcast instead of the radio. Something of a concern had happened and developed over the years. There was a small rural hospital in the town of Sussex, New Jersey. Then the the trend of networking uh hospitals together uh eventually found its way into New Jersey. Sussex Hospital was part of a a networked situation, but then because it was financially underperforming, it became first an outpatient service, and then eventually now it's a c it's a totally empty building, empty to this day. How much is this program going to prevent what happened to that hospital in Sussex, New Jersey from happening in places like Montana or the Dakotas where rural hospitals are much more prevalent and certainly most much much more vital to offering full care as opposed to outpatient care?

SPEAKER_03 27:21

That is a very complex question, Chris. I'll do my best. So this funding really uh the state decides what to do with the funding. So it is up to each individual state to say, are we is our priority to stop these rural hospitals from closing, or is our priority to wrap around additional services in those areas that might take the place for uh of those hospitals? The the consolidation of hospital facilities and the investment in hospitals across the country will continue, and this rural health transformation program in and of itself can't really prevent uh for-profit entities from uh purchasing hospitals and then deciding that they're not performing and close them. So this uh this grant and this you know$50 billion across the country, a billion for uh roughly each state about a billion over five years will be deployed in different ways. And I would encourage all of your listeners to engage with their local elected officials to talk about what should happen and how we really stabilize our rural health care facilities across the nation. The federal government has hand it will hand the money out, the states have the power to decide how to do it, but nowhere in this grant program is an ability to uh stop market forces and public uh publicly traded companies from continuing to purchase and consolidate health care across the nation.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

So with Joanne Frederick, who is CEO of uh Government Market Strategies, Market StrategiesOnline.com, talking about rural hospitals and a financial lifeline that they've received in here listening to issues and ideas. And it's important, isn't it, isn't it, Joanne? For people who remember and I say this about my industry to radio, it's called radio business for a reason. Without the business side, there is no performance that's going to happen. Same with hospitals, it has to be understood that part of the practice, part of the machine is business. It has to make money to keep the lights on, keep the doors open, hire the staff. And business is an element, financials are an element. Some people might arch their back at that, but this isn't I mean charity care is charity care is well and great, but a hospital of any size can't exist on offering up charity care.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

Absolutely. You know, there's nothing inherently evil about making money and profiting. I it's really the balance and and how do we make sure we're we're taking care of people and also taking care of our businesses in every state across the nation?

SPEAKER_00 29:55

If this program succeeds, I mean this is uh a 10-year period. How much of a program like this winds up being ingrained into the health care process and the financial support that the federal government gives? You know, can this be the a new version of a a Medicare system that reimburses, you know, Medicare reimburses hospitals and doctors? Is this going to be does this have the potential of being a new foundational program to help support and keep alive uh a medical a health care system as fully and as strongly as possible?

SPEAKER_03 30:32

So this is really a once-in-a-generation investment to improve rural health care. Will it turn into a new uh national program or even state-based program? Probably not. But what it can do and will do and should do and is designed to do is really prove out pilots and demonstrate how different approaches in different areas can actually be impactful and effective for the people on the ground. And that's the that's really the import here. All 50 states are doing something slightly differently. All of them uh were approved by the federal government to receive this funding, and we have to remember that it is quite the cliche now, but healthcare is local. So what might work in Montana is not necessarily what will work in New Jersey, etc. And it really is inherent upon the the healthcare leaders in the state, in each individual state, to say what what are our priorities, what do we need to protect, and then how can we use this money and invest this money in ways that not only help us today, but to your point, will set us up for success well into the future. And this program absolutely has the capability and possibility to do that, and we are very much looking forward to working with all the states uh to implement those projects.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Yeah, and like I said back in the introduction, the rural hospital was becoming an endangered species because of changes in other aspects and areas of of health care and health care providing. So with this program that is here, is active, and is looking to be as effective as possible, the rural health transformation program. And don't be afraid by that word transformation. A lot of people I was looking at some some analysis and they were focusing on this word. Does that mean elimination? Well, it depends on what the uh individual hospital is doing, whether they're doing it well, whether this program can take what's uh lacking and build it, or does it have to be altered or yeah, there will be elimination. If it's not being profitable, it's not being effective, not serving the local community, then why would one want to have a continue when it uh could be money, as they say, better spent and more effectively? Find out more. We're gonna put the document from the federal government about the rural health transformation on the downloads page. You can look up your specific state to see how the plan is going to be implemented and find out more about government market strategies, of which Joanne is the CEO of Market StrategiesOnline.com. Joanne Frederick, thank you so much for helping us better understand. Change is always uh a time of anxiety, but uh more often than not it could be a good thing, and this sounds like it is one of those times it's going to be a good thing. Thanks for being here today. Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. Question for you. How important is heritage to you? Do you consider it to be a part of your ancestry or your identity? Another question for you. What if your heritage was within reach, but it was being smothered by evil and violent acts? Could you deal with that? That's something my next guest has lived with and more importantly strongly responded to. While born here in the US, his family relocated to Iran, where the Islamic Revolution made attacking freedoms of all kinds of priority. He joins us to offer his insight into what the Iranian people are experiencing and trying to survive in for them what's a multi-front battle. His upcoming book where he tells his personal story, his passport to freedom from Tehran to Triumph. He's also chairman of the board of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, as well as founder and chair of the Sympatigo Foundation. Dr. Nizam Musagi, how are you today, Doctor?

SPEAKER_02 34:13

I'm very well, Chris. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

I appreciate you taking the time and certainly making your life an open book with your experiences. Two websites, we do have them at the homepage, too, IranHrdc.org and the Sympatigo.org. Find out more about those organizations that Dr. Musagi is related to. Let us start with your story because as I said, you were born in the US, family relocated into Iran. At what point, at what stage was the revolution underway? And that also brings about the question for the person listening, I'm sure, as it does for me, in a place where that Islamic revolution was happening, why would other than for heritage and family, would one want to go back there?

SPEAKER_02 34:58

I was born in the US during the time when my mother was doing her pediatric residency in New York, and her residency finished in 1976. At the time I was an infant, and my parents opted to move back to Iran because they wanted to help develop their nation and uh be productive members of society. 1976 is about three years before the um 1979 revolution. And so at the time they did not know that the revolution was about to happen. Iran was an island of uh safety and security, it was a place where uh Iranians uh had and they still continue to have a significant affinity too. So they went back not knowing what would happen, and of course their lives were amended uh by the 1970s Islamic revolution, of course, the war that followed with Iraq for eight years afterwards. Um if you ask my parents, my mom is parents, or you ask my father, he would still say that he has no regrets for going back because he felt a calling to be there and be able to uh contribute to Iran as his homeland, uh, but unfortunately the circumstances really significantly restricted their ability to do that.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

Talk about what it was like coming of age in an environment like that, because if you're an infant three years before, around four or five years old is when everything started to happen or fall apart as one whatever way one wants to term it. So talk about the those early years of your awareness and was what was going on around you just for lack of better phrase, just seemed to be normalcy.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

Absolutely. Um one of the things that uh really uh uh is prominent in my mind is that uh there is a duality of existence. There is what you could say in the outside world that would be safe and uh would not get you into trouble, and there is the level of free speech that you could have at home. And the two of them were very discordant. You could at home be critical of the Islamic regime, you could understand that you know, even in private parties where parents are uh having conversations, they would be very critical of the leadership and the decisions that they would make, such as the rating of the US Embassy or the policies that led to the uh start of the Iraq war, for example, but they would always tell you that our private conversations are never to be repeated outside. Uh there were attempts by even school principals and teachers to try to understand who would be against the revolution through extracting or exacting information from children. So I remember a time when uh a teacher walked into the uh classroom with what appeared to be a shot glass, a very small uh glass in his hand, and said, Hey, whose parents drink water out of cups like this? And a few kids left their feet, they're like mine do. And so, just so that they would know whose homes would have alcohol in them, for example. Um but we generally had to be very careful with the expression that the walls have ears, that if you say anything to expose your family, they could be in trouble, your home could be raided, and their parents could be taken in for interrogation and sometimes detained for a long time without any sort of explanation. And the kinds of security charges that that would level against ordinary citizens, such as waging war against God or spreading corruption on earth, could carry the death penalty. So you have to be very careful within this very significant and heavy security environment.

SPEAKER_00 38:52

Dr. Nizam Masaki, his upcoming book, Passport to Freedom from Tehran to Triumph. He's chairman of the board of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, founder and chair of the Sympatigo Foundation, Iran HRDC.org, the Sympatigo.org, the respective websites. We have them on the homepage as well, and you're listening to issues and ideas. What you just said, Doctor, brings me to a, I think, an important point people listening here in America certainly need to know and understand. It's it's well accepted and understood that when it comes to human rights, Iran historically has been horrendous. And but human human rights violations in Iran don't begin and end with wrongful imprisonment. It goes uh uh gets a great deal more violent than that, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 39:38

Absolutely does. They would uh they res significantly restrict freedom of speech, and those who dare to speak will face the most severe of consequences, and they could have the uh seizure of their assets, they could have uh years or decades that they would have to spend in prison, and the problem is not just with the people whose rights are violated, but every one of these people has families, and you can imagine the generational trauma and impact it would have on the children and on spouses and the economic disaster that they would have to uh face when their loved ones are taken away or even in some circumstances executed for uh basically not falling in line.

SPEAKER_00 40:25

Help us understand the Iranian people right now, because human nature being what it is, you're you're constrained, you're you're feel abandoned maybe even by the world around you and you're left to yourself. We saw the uprising advance rather significantly now over a decade ago when Barack Obama was president here in the US, and we failed to give it any kind of meaningful support other than a few days afterwards. Well, nice try, hope you have better luck next time. But today, in the here and now, when the new leadership makes a public appearance of any kind, as whenever whenever they have the feud times in light of everything happening, the people come out and cheer. Is that because much like uh an abused spouse falls in love with her captor to try to have at least one more day of peace?

SPEAKER_02 41:14

Yeah. Um so, like any other society, Iran is not a monolithic society. The people certainly have different opinions and beliefs. Uh, the general understanding, and uh of course we have to understand that it's very difficult to do any scientific polling in a country that is so closed and does not allow any foreign um journalists to be present. But the Iranian people generally are very indeterminate, they are they have one of the highest literacy rates in the region, especially um in the Middle East with women who uh you know, in some places and neighboring countries, for example, Afghanistan, where uh education is significantly restricted, in Iran uh now for a couple of decades, Iranian women um have been the majority uh graduates of universities. And so Iran is is very significantly wired with the internet, except now for the past months where the internet has been completely shut off. Uh they know how the rest of the world lives. They are very significantly secular, uh which is very unusual for that region of the world. And um but there is also a small faction of sycophants and sympathies of the Islamic Republic. There have been some Twitter-based polls that put that number somewhere around eleven to twelve percent. So the propaganda that comes out of the regime when they shut down the internet for everybody else is they create a rally with people holding pictures of the ayatollah to try to give to the world an impression that the Iranians are also happy with the leadership and with the Islamic Republic. But from all of what we can see, uh the majority of Iranians do not stand with this Islamic Republic. The majority of the Iranians are freedom seeking people who wish to have normal lives, basic human rights, and uh the ability to thrive, not just survive.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

Last question, we ha we have to wrap up here, but given how the r the leadership of the country seems to be getting more and more radical for all intents and purposes, it's the RGC who is running things now and uh they make the previous uh leadership look look like cooperative uh cohabitants of a of a nation. What's the realistic expectation of what's to come once the expected military actions end in another two to four weeks from most expectations? You know, w what's what's next for her run and the and her people?

SPEAKER_02 43:50

Um here, of course, nobody has a crystal ball about what's going to happen. The one thing that I can say is that I am in touch significantly with people who happen to get online for brief periods and send messages through uh the telegram messaging app. Uh the there are majority of people that talk to me say that they're more afraid of the wounded wolf left behind, that's the Islamic Republic, than the missiles of Israel and the US. And uh that tells a lot about the repressive nature of this regime that if they happen to stay in power, the only people to whom they can show their power is the people and they can brutalize them and they can cut the rest the Iran from the rest of the world through uh internet shutouts and all of these things. And so so the realistic expectation I am not certain of whether some version of the Islamic Republic that's more moderate is going to say whether there's going to be a collapse and regime change, for example, which I think is the desire of the majority of Iranians, or um whether Iran will sink into something that becomes closer to North Korea and completely cut out from the rest of the world really remains to be seen. But here the people of Iran are hopeful that because their plight has now aligned with US and Israeli policies because Iran has also been this destabilizing the region, that hopefully a significant attenuation of power in Iran will create an opportunity for them to take to the streets and take back their own government and be more involved in then you know the self-determination can return to the people.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

That would indeed be a blessing with uh organized resistance that can accomplish as opposed to just push back and fight. Looking forward to Dr. Musaki's book later on this year, Passport to Freedom from Tehran to Triumph visit the site of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. It's very informative and will give you a better understanding of exactly what the people of Iran have to contend with and try to survive. It's Iran HRDC.org. He's also founder and chair of the Sympatigo Foundation, the Sympatigo.org, that website Dr. Naz Nizam Musagi, thanks so much for telling your story, helping us better understand that there's a human side to what we're going through and seeing, not just political and military, and you help us appreciate the human side of this whole whole thing a lot more. Thanks for being here today.

SPEAKER_02 46:24

Chris, thank you so much for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 46:27

So I'm tying Homeland Security into voter identification with picture and proof of citizenship in order to vote. And those two items are the most important thing having to do with Homeland Security. So it's fun it should be part of the Homeland Security. And I'm requesting that the Republican senators do that immediately. You don't have to take a fence vote. Don't worry about Easter going home. In fact make this one for Jesus okay make this one for Jesus that's what I tell him that'd be a damn good thing.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

That was Donald Trump in this past week once again demanding that Congress pass the Save America Act. This time he told Congressional Republicans to, as you heard, make this one for Jesus how does Trump connect Jesus to the Save America Act? Well yeah maybe he read that in two Corinthians. Remember that Jim by him we've talked about the Save America Act several times here on issues and ideas. Think about this would Jesus encourage something that limits, restricts, even forbids a vital freedom like voting would Jesus cheer on something which especially targets women, the elderly and people of color as you would expect, Trump's Make This One for Jesus directive received agreement and support by his followers on social media and elsewhere, most likely because they believe that the Save America Act is something that Jesus wants what that reveals is a drastic and dangerous lack of understanding about the wants and the desires of Jesus. That absence of that awareness about Jesus is not really just limited to Trump supporters. A lot of people ask the question what does Jesus want? They treat it as a mystery and that's unnecessary because Jesus makes his wants as clear as it could possibly be example Jesus wants us to follow him. He says this to Peter and his brother Andrew in Matthew chapter four verse nineteen then he, Jesus said to them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Jesus expands on this in John chapter twelve verse twenty six if anyone serves me, let him follow me and where I am there my servant will be also if anyone serves me, him my father will honor Jesus wants to serve. This is what he says to us in Mark chapter ten verse forty five for even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus wants us to watch watch for what? Watch for the signs of his return. Let's turn to Luke chapter twelve verses thirty seven and thirty eight Blessed are those servants whom the master when he comes will find watching for surely I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants. Those words of Jesus to us are vital in understanding and knowing him it's the prayer by Jesus that we read in the seventeenth chapter of John that by far is most revealing. Jesus starts by praying to Father God to be glorified by him, as Jesus in his time on earth glorified the Father, then he prays for his disciples, saying this in John chapter seventeen verse thirteen But now I come to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Jesus adds this in verse fifteen I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. Jesus wants us to be sanctified that means to be pure and holy Jesus asks Father God for this in verse nineteen and for their sakes I sanctify them, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. But Jesus saves the best for last. He wants us to be one with him continuing with what Jesus prays starting in verse twenty, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one as you Father are in me and I in you, that they also be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. How often have you heard someone in declaring the faith say I've accepted Jesus Well that's that's mighty big you there. No no it's Jesus who accepts us and wants us to be with him. Says this in verse 24 Father I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me for you loved me before the foundation of the world. Jesus offers you his eternal love and asks for that same eternal love from you and put you in the same place that we find Simon Peter in John chapter twenty one, starting with verse fifteen So when they had eaten breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes Lord, you know that I love you he said to him feed my lambs. So to him again a second time, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him Yes Lord you know that I love you. He said to him Tend my sheep He said to him a third time of Jonah do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time Do you love me? And he said to him Lord you know all things you know that I love you. And Jesus said to him feed my sheep So what kind of love are we talking about? A love that's total a love that's complete a love that is eternal. Devoted love which has Jesus first then everyone everything else second. Are you repelled by that truth because you think it means dumping people and getting rid of stuff from your life well that's not what Jesus is asking of you. As long as they're godly and good, especially blessings from Father God, the people and possessions of your life will stay a part of your life. Your love of Jesus will actually add to your life because as one of his faithful who loves him, you become part of the body of the church who praise and worship him. All of this will bring to you the reward that Jesus asks Father God for in John chapter seventeen verse twenty six and I have declared to them your name and will declare it that the love with which you love me may be in them and I in them. Don't forget to check out our website issues and ideas radio dot com that's where you'll find the information about the guests who are here on the show with us today. Downloads page we've been adding a lot of stuff to that in recent days. And of course if you're listening via your favorite podcast platform make sure you subscribe and follow. Always thankful and grateful for your time and your attention very special and important to us. Look forward to being with you right here this time next week for our next edition of Issues and ideas