REPORT: Grand Jury Subpoenas James Comey Advisor Daniel Richman. 1/2

August 31, 2026 | Sundance |

This is a new report but builds on prior activity. Former FBI Director James Comey leaked his memos about President Trump and the FBI’s fraudulent “Crossfire Hurricane” operation to his friend Daniel Richman,with the intent of Richman leaking those memos to the media. However, when the issue was discovered James Comey claimed Daniel Richman was his lawyer in an obvious attempt to shield Richman from forced testimony about the events.

SEE Richman article from 2018 – SEE Richman article from 2017 – See Richman article from 2019

NOVEMBER 2025 –Former U.S Attorney Lindsey Halligan then took up the case and began reinvestigating in 2025. That’s why Halligan was targeted by Lawfare operatives’ intent on her removal. However, prior to her removalMrs Halligan smartly filed a court response outlining all of the background evidenceagainst James Comey so that prosecution could take place with/without her in place.

FOX News is now reporting that a grand jury is approving a subpoena for Daniel Richman so they can hear directly about his involvement in the activity. The events surrounding the leaking of the ‘Comey memos’ is central to the matter of the FBI targeting President Trump after he took office in 2017.The memos were being leaked in order to get support for a Special Counsel operation led by Andrew Weissmann.

[SOURCE]

Anticipating she might be removed, Halligan outlined the full extent of Comey’s action in a court filing. {SEE HERE}

In addition to refuting the effort by Comey’s lawyers to challenge her appointment [Response Here],Halligan provided evidence of James Comey’s extensive use of Daniel Richman to act as a cut out for leaks and communications with the media[Attachments HERE].

Beginning on January 2, 2015, James Comey hired Daniel Richman to be his conduit to the media for all things around the Clinton investigation. Exhibit #3highlights Richman emails to Office of Legal Counsel, Patrick Findlay, to begin the process of officially working for Comey as a special government employee. [Attachment #3 HERE].

There are multiple exhibits highlighting emails between James Comey (aka Reinhold Niebuhr7) and Daniel Richman[HERE-4 and HERE-5 and HERE-6 and HERE-7] proving the former FBI director did intentionally direct Daniel Richman to contact media persons on his behalf and leak investigative background information, or instruct them on information, James Comey provided. The evidence on this issue is overwhelming.

Daniel Richman, working directly on the instructions of James Comey, worked closely withNew York Times journalist Mike Schmidt, husband of MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace, to publish material[ex. Exhibit #8]. Richman then coordinated the FBI director’s message with dozens of national journalists, writing the scripts for them to publish on behalf of James Comey [ex Exhibit #9].Again, the evidence on this collaborative endeavor is overwhelming.

Interestingly, [Govt Exhibit #12] is the criminal complaint stemming from the FBI investigation which began on July 21, 2025. The investigative summarynotes the purposeful use of Room #9582 at FBI headquarters, intended to destroy classified evidence concealed in five burn bags.

[SOURCE Exhibit #12, page 2]

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/31/report-grand-jury-subpoenas-james-comey-advisor-daniel-richman/#more-286496

>>24993047

2/2

Back in 2018, Congressman Jim Jordan made mention of the issue where JamesComey had a special employee on assignment ‘off-the-books’. People started asking questions, and Fox News’ Catherine Herridge detailedhow Daniel Richman held special access privileges to the FBI, as an outcome of former FBI Director James Comeyauthorizing his friend as a “Special Government Employee” or SGE.

• 2018 – The professor, Daniel Richman, confirmed the special status in response to an inquiry from Fox News, while referring other questions, including on the scope of his work, to the FBI.

• “I did indeed have SGE status with the Bureau (for no pay),” Richman wrote in an email.

• Richman emerged last year as the former FBI director’s contact for leaking memos documenting his private discussions with President Trump – memos that are now the subject of an inspector general review over the presence of classified material. Sources familiar with Richman’s status at the FBI told Fox News that he was assigned to “special projects” by Comey, and had a security clearance as well as badge access to the building. Richman’s status was the subject of a Memorandum of Understanding. (read more)

Daniel Richman has always been part of the Lawfare operation run by his close friend Benjamin Wittes, another of Comey’s tribe. Remember the little cannon Benjamin Wittes would use during Andrew Weissmann’s Trump-Russia investigation?

(Wittes left, Richman right)

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/31/report-grand-jury-subpoenas-james-comey-advisor-daniel-richman/#more-286496

Dept of Transportation and DHS Hold Press Conference to Announce Emergency Action on Commercial Driver’s License Revocation

August 31, 2026 | Sundance |

Dept of Transportation Secretary Scott Duffy and Dept of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin hold a press conference to announce emergency DoT and DHS action to initiate an emergency shutdown of regulated training centers for commercial driver’s licenses.

Actions announced include DoT (1) Emergency removal of 110 commercial driver’s license (CDL) schools associated with more than 5,000 drivers who failed English language proficiency tests. (2) Launching a nationwide audit of third-party CDL skills testers and states’ oversight of the testers. (3) Results from 40-state investigation of additional training schools. From DHS (1) Synchronized single-day sweep targeting more than 200 training schools across 23 states. (2) Joint coordination with USDOT. (3) HSI and ICE updates on ongoing investigations targeting CDL-related businesses and schools.

Secretary Duffy and Secretary Mullin outlined the issues and actions in a press conference this morning. WATCH:

BREAKING: Sean Duffy, Markwayne Mullin Brief Press On New Trucking Fraud Crackdown

48:15

https://youtu.be/tBkFkRer46M

[Press Release Here]

What Secretary Mullin outlined in his remarks is stunning. During one taskforce setup, in the first day they stopped 14 big rig drivers with a CDL that said “No Name Given” for the truck driver’s identification. They didn’t even have names on their commercial driver’s licenses.

At 41:10 of the video, a reporter downplays the issue claiming only 1% of the accidents on the road are caused by drivers who do not speak English. Secretary Mullin responds with a very intense pushback against the reporter.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/31/dept-of-transportation-and-dhs-hold-press-conference-to-announce-emergency-action-on-commercial-drivers-license-revocation/

Canadian Govt Gaslighting is Off the Charts

August 31, 2026 | Sundance |

CTH continues to get considerable questioning about how the U.S-Canada fracture will take place, what it means for the Canadian dollar (CAD) and when the issues can be expected to apex. It appears that part of the reasoned disconnect people are struggling with is directly related to the messaging from the Canadian government in combination with the financial media.

In short, despite the increased trade friction, a decoupling of the U.S. economy from the Canadian economy just seems unfathomable to most observers. The main question we receive is ‘when will things happen‘? Meaning when will financial markets react? The most obvious answer to that question is, when the USA announces the termination of the USMCA (CUSMA) trilateral.

If you hold the opinion that all of these trade friction points will be resolved within the margins of the USMCA, then it is correct to predict that no significant material impact will be felt north of the border.If, however, you hold the opinion that the USMCA will be terminatedbecause the core of the issues between the two countries are irreconcilable,then the material impact will come as soon as that announcement is made.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the only Canadian government official to attend President Trump’s inauguration, appears on Fox Business. Like all other Canadian officials, she cannot contemplate the elimination of CUSMA/NAFTA.

Such an outcome is simply beyond her comprehension. WATCH:

In previous interviews and broadcasts Mrs Smith claimed if Canada was to introduce an export tax the USA would respond accordingly. This is not accurate.The U.S. has no mechanism to place a tax on exports.

Additionally, inside Canada the structure is provincial. That means each province taxes each other province for goods and services. In the USA we have state sales taxes, but those taxes are applied across all goods sold to/inside an individual state. Ex. Florida does not tax Texas. Florida has one sales tax for all goods regardless of their origin.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/31/canadian-govt-gaslighting-is-off-the-charts/#more-286502

In other words, Canada has fucked themselves, they just know it yet!

Supreme Court allows Trump to move forward with White House ballroom construction

Challengers argued that the president needed Congress’ approval to build the ballroom.

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday handed a win to President Donald Trump by allowing him to move forward indefinitely with the construction of his new White House ballroom.

The court, divided 5-4, granted an emergency request filed by the Trump administration, blocking lower court rulings that would have put the aboveground portion of the project on hold. This followed an interim decision along similar lines issued by Chief Justice John Roberts on Aug. 21.

The legal challenge was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argued that the president did not have unilateral authority to proceed with construction.

In the unsigned ruling, the court said that the trust likely does not have legal standing to bring the underlying lawsuit. The court did not reach any conclusion on whether Trump has authority to carry out construction without congressional approval.

“Today, we do not pass upon the legality of the government’s East Wing project. We conclude only that, based on the submissions before us, the government is likely to prevail in showing that the Trust lacks … standing to challenge the project in federal court,” the court said.

Roberts ultimately joined the court’s three liberal justices in dissent.

“Construction of the ballroom has proceeded apace for the better part of a year. That construction is likely unlawful,” Roberts wrote.

The trust’s claim for standing hinges on a declaration made by member Alison Hoagland, a preservationist who lives in Washington and serves on the organization’s board of trustees.

Hoagland regularly walks by the White House, adding that she would “suffer both professional and personal injuries, including to my aesthetic, cultural and historical interests, if a ballroom of the proposed form and scale were constructed.”

The Supreme Court majority concluded the court had never found legal standing in such a situation before.

“To the contrary, we have repeatedly held that mere offense, disagreement, or distaste does not qualify as a concrete and particularized injury,” the court said.

Roberts said he would have found that Hoagland did have standing, noting that as a historic preservationist, she can be “aesthetically injured in a concrete, particularized way by the transformation of a historic building that she frequently enjoys.”…

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-allows-trump-move-forward-white-house-ballroom-construct-rcna594097

>>24993205. Yes it’s not something she thinks is beautiful. How that stupid case ever got to the SC is stupid in itself

Truth Details

Citizen Free Press

@CitizenFreePress

Scott Bessent on Canada. Ouch!

"Very unfortunate that PM Carney has turned this into a political shouting match. I mean, we're not at war with Canada…

What are they going to do — take their two submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us?"

citizenfreepress.com/

KEK Bessent is subtlety very funny!

https://truthsocial.com/@CitizenFreePress/posts/117190808898437490

Nice picture

Mariano Navone vs. Novak Djokovic Highlights | 2026 US Open Round 1

US Open Tennis Championships

3:35

https://youtu.be/C1rEik4aV2M

Nobody Roasts WNBA Players Like Sophie Cunningham!

She is very funny!

7:31

https://youtu.be/ukeCLov3ZG8

SO NOT RIGHT NOW

DATA CENTER BACKLASH HAS OFFICIALLY RATTLED SAM ALTMAN

"PEOPLE ARE PRETTY NEGATIVE ON AI."

Victor Tangermann Avatar

BY VICTOR TANGERMANN

1/2(evil freaks)

The AI industry has lost an astonishing amount of goodwill with the public.

Once seen as exciting new tech that could make our lives easier and better, the construction of countless new data centers to support power-hungry AI models has soured the mood considerably. Protesters are waging a war against $130 billion in data center investments, arguing they’re only benefiting a select few wealthy individuals, while threatening water supplies, driving up the cost of living, and churning out incomprehensible amounts of pollution.

Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has caught on to the backlash, as it slowly dawns him and his fellow executivesthat the vast majority of Americanswant nothing to do with them.

“Clearly, people hate data centers — right now, at least,” Altman told Time in a new interview. “People are pretty negative on AI.”

Caught between a rock and a hard place, rattled CEOs are now caught trying to appeal to lawmakers for favorable regulations as their constituents coalesce into a bipartisan movement against data centers. Some, like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are holding onto their guns, painting a rosy picture of a future in which we no longer have to work and live a life of leisure thanks to AI. Others, like Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, are desperately looking for a way to sell the public on data centers — a gargantuan task, considering the sheer scale of the fallout.

For Altman, the topic is particularly personal. Earlier this year, a man threw a molotov cocktail at his house just days before it was struck by gunfire. In the case of the former, the man was accused of trying to firebomb the executive’s home repeatedly warned that AI will exterminate humankind and was associated with a political movement called PauseAI, which is calling for more oversight over AI safety.

“It has been a painful personal experience,” Altman told Time.

Beyond losing the public trust, OpenAI has also had to contend with steep competition from the likes of Anthropic. Its leadership has been a revolving door, with key execs leaving in droves. Most recently, a central figure overseeing the company’s data center buildouts left the company, as the Wall Street Journalreports, the latest sign the company is in for some tough days ahead as it tries to win both the public and wary investors on its side as it prepares for its IPO.

HTTPS://FUTURISM.COM/ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE/DATA-CENTER-BACKLASH-RATTLED-SAM-ALTMAN

>>24993293

2/2

As the backlash grows, OpenAI remains committed to heavily investing in compute. The company signed several major infrastructure contracts across the country in a bid to secure computing power, a finite and highly valuable resource amidst the ongoing AI boom.That could make Altman’s struggles to regain the public trust an even more difficult feat.

Altman seems painfully aware of the reputation he has garnered. OpenAI was once at the forefront of the industry thanks to the runaway success of ChatGPT. But the situation has shifted dramatically since then.

Earlier this month, OpenAI decided to pump the brakes, slowing the development of its latest models, citing safety concerns. A group of its AI models were caught infiltrated the systems of Hugging Face, alarming experts.

“Getting AI safety right is more important than any company’s momentum,” Altman told Time.

But whether the approach will be enough for Altman to rid himself of his tarnished reputation is anything but certain, particularly as new data centers continue to break ground.

“Look, I think there is this caricature of me,” Altman told Time, “which is I don’t care about AI safety, and I’m just trying to make revenue go up, and, you know, just a YOLO CEO.”

Yet that “caricature” may be a lot closer to reality than the billionaire would care to admit, given what it took for OpenAI to get where it is today.

HTTPS://FUTURISM.COM/ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE/DATA-CENTER-BACKLASH-RATTLED-SAM-ALTMAN

President Trump Makes an Announcement on Healthcare Affordability, Aug. 31, 2026

47:45

https://www.youtu.be/uyeCoZ5Yego

‘Slow death’: No end in sight as exhausted Cubans endure country’s near collapse

Nora Gámez Torres.1/4

Mon, August 31, 2026 at 5:30 AM EDT

11 min read

As Cuba's hot summer nears its end with no sign of regime change on the communist-run island, Cubans continue to suffer miserable living conditions as the country's humanitarian crisis gets disturbingly worse.

Several years into a deep recession, the near-collapse of the country's entire infrastructure has upended Cubans' daily lives, directly affecting their physical and mental health.

"The situation is critical," said a Cuban doctor speaking anonymously to the Miami Herald, fearing retaliation if identified. The physician runs a social media account critical of the communist government. "We spend entire nights without electricity, making it impossible to sleep—an exhausting ordeal for both doctors and patients alike.I have a young child, and my partner and I try to survive on a state salary; consequently, we devote almost everything to ensuring our child gets decent food."

Most of the time the couple has to borrow money from friends or sell some of their belongings to make ends meet. Doctors in Cuba make about 8,500 pesos a month — the equivalent of $12.50 — not enough to be able to afford even a carton of eggs, at 6,000 pesos or a bottle of cooking oil, 5,000 pesos.

Conditions on the island, the doctor said, "have led to a rise in stress, hunger, anemia and the worsening of chronic conditions." As temperatures climb into the high 80s and above, he said, there is no water or electricity. "You tell me if that isn't hell."

None of this is new in Cuba. The island's crisis is structural, largely the result of decisions made by Cuban leaders themselves, most notably their reluctance to abandon a centrally planned economic model that has failed everywhere else in the world. In recent years, the government has spent the country's resources building hotels, to the detriment of everything else. But a new round of U.S. sanctions and a de facto oil blockade imposed by the Trump administration this year have come to intensify what experts already considered the worst humanitarian crisis on the island in recent history.

After becoming a daily fixture in the 1990s, blackouts have worsened since 2024, when Cuba's ancient power grid began to collapse and Soviet-era electrical stations began failing more frequently.

Then the Trump administration effectively cut oil supplies to the Cuban government from Venezuela and Mexico as part of a pressure campaign to push for economic and political changes. But Cuban leaders have shown no intention of leaving power, and electricity cuts now last for days at a time.

Images on social media show Cubans, including children, sleeping on cots on sidewalks, streets and rooftops to escape the heat during evening blackouts. In Havana, scheduled blackouts can last 20 hours, followed by a few hours of electricity before the lights go out again. Outside the capital, the blackouts may last 48 hours or more before the power returns for another couple of hours.

"Now they cut off the power at 6 in the morning, and you don't know when it's coming back," said Iván García, an independent journalist in Havana who writes for the Miami-based Diario las Américas. "It might come back at 10 the next morning, or sometime in the middle of the night."

When the power returns, he said, Cubans rush to cook, wash, fill water tanks, charge devices and do other chores that need electricity. The power outages also make it more difficult to store food, García added, forcing people to buy food for the day.

The crisis hits harder for those without family abroad who can send them money, food or medicines to make their lives more tolerable. Even so, food and goods have become increasingly expensive, he said, driven by the fuel shortages, government restrictions and limited supply.

Rampaging inflation

Official government statistics reported a 20.7% annual inflation increase in July compared to July 2025. However, an Inflation Dashboard run by Johns Hopkins University professor Steve Hanke estimates Cuba's inflation really surged by 72% year over year in July.

HTTPS://WWW.YAHOO.COM/NEWS/WORLD/ARTICLES/SLOW-DEATH-NO-END-SIGHT-093000258.HTML

>>24993353

2/4

"You go one week and buy chicken—all imported from the United States, by the way—and it costs you 6,700 pesos. Now it's at 7,500 or 8,000 pesos," García said. "In other words, prices go up by 1,000 pesos from one day to the next."

Gasoline prices peaked at $10 per liter, and even though they have come down a bit, fuel remains out of reach for most Cubans. With public transport almost paralyzed, a round trip between the Havana neighborhoods of La Víbora and El Vedado in one of the few taxis still moving in Havana can cost 2000 pesos — $3 — or more.The minimum monthly salary for a state worker in Cuba is 3,210 pesos, currently less than $5 in the informal dollar exchange market.

Relatives abroad are sending solar panels and portable power stations to their relatives on the island. EcoFlow power stations have become a hot commodity, according to social media groups, but they sell for $1,000 or more, making them unaffordable for most people on the island.

Even with money, it is hard to find food, García said, as the private sector is also taking a hit. Restaurants and private grocery stores are struggling to stay open because of higher supply costs and lower consumption. In recent days, a renewed government effort to cap prices and fine businesses that fail to comply with onerous regulations has forced several businesses to close, according to the Cuban independent news outlet 14ymedio.

The energy crisis has also made it difficult to cook and has driven up the price of charcoal. A can of charcoal costs 1,000 pesos.

"Each day is more miserable than the last," the doctor told the Herald. "We've been through it all: from using a child's cologne to heat food to cooking with Styrofoam or charcoal, when we can get it. I can't get a haircut because they charge too much."

Collapsed healthcare

The doctor also painted a daunting portrait of the current state of public health services in Cuba.

"Patients requiring daily medication for chronic illnesses—such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease—lack continuous access to treatment. This has caused a surge in emergency room visits for heart attacks and strokes," the doctor said. "Emergency rooms have essentially become places where we simply explain a patient's condition and tell them what they might try to find on the black market."

Local clinics lack the most basic medications, like fever-reducing drugs and analgesics. "There is no hydrocortisone for asthmatics and no medication for gastritis," the physician told the Herald. In a recent interview, the country's leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, acknowledged that the government is producing or acquiring abroad only 30% of the basic medications offered in state pharmacies.

"The situation in maternity homes is critical," the doctor added. "Expectant mothers do not receive the vitamins necessary for healthy fetal development. Pregnant women are admitted for anemia, vaginal infections, or low weight. Yet they receive neither proper treatment nor adequate nutrition—often being fed nothing but water used to boil peas and plantains. Day centers for the elderly are rife with scabies and anemia; the seniors are emaciated, malnourished, and unclean. Children in hospitals are suffering too."

Images coming from social media show the crisis touches almost every aspect of life in Cuba.

Hospitals, cemeteries and zoos are all in a similar state of disrepair. The government still has not come up with a solution to the mountainous piles of rotting garbage that accumulate on the streets for months.

A Cuban journalist exiled in Mexico, Jose Luis Tan Estrada, has shared images online of an extremely undernourished older man lying naked on a gurney in a state-run senior home in Camagüey, a province in central Cuba, and a patient in a similar condition in one of the province's hospitals.Video footage he shared also shows a man eating food leftovers from street garbage.

HTTPS://WWW.YAHOO.COM/NEWS/WORLD/ARTICLES/SLOW-DEATH-NO-END-SIGHT-093000258.HTML

>>24993355

3/4

Another social media video recorded in May in El Vedado, a central neighborhood in Havana, shows what the person shooting the video said was the covered dead body of a man lying on the sidewalk. The man had died waiting for the ambulance to arrive, according to witnesses, in an incident covered by Cuba news outlet Cibercuba.

No water service

The lack of fuel has also worsened the water crisis. Aguas de La Habana, the state utilities company in the capital, issues daily updates to clients on service interruptions caused by electricity cuts or burst pipes.

Water has become so scarce that fights break out between neighbors when a water truck arrives, and protests over the lack of water have become common. On Wednesday, a group of women in Havana blocked a street with buckets and tires in protest after several hours without water, according to a video shared by Silverio Portal, a former political prisoner and activist who lives in the capital.

Videos of Cubans exploding in anger and ranting against the government have become frequent despite the severe penalties Cuban law imposes to those who criticize the authorities. A study published this month on the journal Social Science & Medicine found that "prolonged power outages in Cuba are linked to severe depression, anxiety, and stress."….

ncreasingly, Cubans question why they have to endure living as if they were in the Middle Ages.

"This is a complete abuse; I have been without water for over five months—as have 300 other people in my community," a woman denounced in a video shared by Alas Tensas, a non-government group focused on women's rights. "What Cubans are going through is beyond words. Here we are in 2026, and my children are bathing in a river because there is no water. In 2026, we have to wait for rain to fill up a few containers with water for washing dishes.

"You can't even live like a human being," she added.

Growing discontent and resignation

The situation is so bad that economists are speaking of a "spiral of economic destruction" and are calling for a declaration of state of emergency. A group of Cuban economists who released a reform plan to transition Cuba to a market economy said a 176-measure government reform package lacks urgency and a solution to the country's many problems.

Meanwhile, Cuban leaders blame the United States for it all.

In a feisty recent interview, Díaz-Canel said the root of the country's problems was not the island's socialist economic model but U.S. sanctions. He offered one solution: "We have to resist."

Combative Díaz-Canel says Cuba won't make concessions to Trump, talks are 'very stalled'

García said frustration with the government is growing.

"The discontent has been increasing because every time the government enacts a measure, the dollar rises—the effect is the opposite," García noted. "It's all absurd, and people see the improvisation, the poor administration, and the mismanagement of basic services. It's not an issue of ideology, nor is it a matter of left versus right. The problem is that nothing works."

Still, he said street protests are happening less frequently because of government repression.

"There were a great many protests in Havana between December and this year, but they have died down because people feel frustrated and exhausted," García said. "At the time, you protest, and a water truck shows up, and the power comes back on for three hours—but then, generally, state security arrives, and they tend to exact reprisals.

HTTPS://WWW.YAHOO.COM/NEWS/WORLD/ARTICLES/SLOW-DEATH-NO-END-SIGHT-093000258.HTML

>>24993356

4/4

"I don't think anyone ever gets used to destitution, but there is a sort of resignation among the people," he added. "It's like knowing you're about to face a firing squad and saying, 'Well, there's nothing left for me to do.'"

With talks between Cuba and U.S. stalled, prospects for regime change fade

While dissidents and activists he has talked to reject the idea of a U.S. military strike or losing Cuba's sovereignty, García said that the capture of leader Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, President Donald Trump's frequent comments about communism ending on the island, and the negotiations that followed between the U.S. and members of the Castro family raised expectations among many Cubans that they would see the downfall of the communist regime this year.

So Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent comments about envisioning changes on the island happening in the next two and a half years "hit like a bucket of cold water," García said. "Now the harsh reality has set in: we have to solve our problems here ourselves."

As the crisis drags on, many Cubans are also trying to leave the country. Some are starting small private businesses solely to afford the tickets to leave.

The Cuban doctor who spoke to the Herald says it's difficult to save enough to emigrate while living on a state salary, and still holds hope that the United States will help Cuba to be free. "But if the dictatorship does not fall this year, I need to figure out a life change.

"You'd have to live here to truly understand the situation," the person added. "But this is a slow death."

HTTPS://WWW.YAHOO.COM/NEWS/WORLD/ARTICLES/SLOW-DEATH-NO-END-SIGHT-093000258.HTML