Pottery Barn Rule?

WTF?

Groupthink

From Michele:

I would have loved to explain this all to the young girl with the Global Studies notebook. I worry that she'll be just another future voter who will be blind sided into thinking that America is a fascist regime and Bush is the Hitler force behind it. I was once that young girl. I was once ambushed with propaganda, false statistics, conspiracy theories and outright lies that suckered me into a groupthink mentality. It took several years and an attack on our nation to allow me to see the true faces of the people I had been associating with. I look around today and I see the claws of the left snatching up young, impressionable people, showering them with a steady rain of fear and hatred, teaching them to harness their negativity and breath it out in the form of fire. Dragons. Dragons with the face of Al Gore. Think about that one for a while.

I mentioned in my earier post:

It's about instilling the tenets of the liberal collective into the hearts and minds of the individual. It's about absorption.

Conscription Fiction

Bill has an excellent interview with CBS News employees about the recent story they ran on the reinstatement of conscription. President Bush, his administration and the department of Selective Services are on record stating there are no plans to reisntate the draft. Kerry is also on record stating he would not reinstate the draft but has stated - falsely I might add - that the draft would be reinstated under President Bush. So why is this still an issue?

Because CBS News and the MSM make it one. It is yet another example of liberal bias in the media and an example of the MSM attempting to dictate policy. It's a tactic aimed at scaring voters into choosing Kerry.

Case in point:

My wife was having a conversation with my step son last night. She asked him if he was keeping up with the election and if he had already made his choice for president.

"I'm voting for Bush," he told her. "But all of my friends are voting for Kerry."

She asked him why his friends would be voting for Kerry and he responded that they were all afraid of the draft.

This is exactly what the Democratic party wants. They plant the seed of doubt and let the MSM water it until it grows. And they picked the right targets too. How many kids between 18 and 25 do you know follow politics with zeal? Not many.

Rock the Vote, Rap the Vote, MTV, CBS, etal, target the young and confuse them with innuendo, lies and unsubstantiated rumors. And the kids? They swallow it hook, line and sinker. I mean, MTV would not lie to them, would it?

Journalism is not about truth anymore. It's about instilling the tenets of the liberal collective into the hearts and minds of the individual. It's about absorption.

It is, in a nutshell, propaganda.

I Can't Wait to Honk.

Ever been out in your yard or in a parking lot or walking down a sidewalk and hear a bunch of people honking their cars horns? What do you immediately think it is usually?

A traffic jam? A wedding? Rebel rousing after a football game? Some kind of local parade you forgot about?

You want to know what the very first thing this Cuban-American living in Miami thinks when he hears a bunch of cars honking in unison is?

Fidel Castro is dead.

Hurricane Humor II

Faithful reader Yamy just sent me the following Hurricane humor via email:

You might be a Floridian.....

-You have more than 20 C and D batteries in your kitchen drawer.
-The freezer in your garage is full of homemade ice.
-You flinch when you are introduced to a person named Charley, Frances, Ivan or Jeanne.
-You find yourself dropping words like "millibar" and "convection" into everyday conversation.
-Your pantry contains more than 10 cans of Spaghetti Os.
-Making coffee on your propane grill does not seem like an odd thing to do.
-You are thinking of repainting your house to match the plywood covering your windows.
-When describing your house to a prospective buyer, you say it has three bedrooms, two baths and one safe place.
-You are on a first-name basis with the cashier at Home Depot.
-You are delighted to pay $2.20 for a gallon of unleaded.
-The road leading to your house has been declared a No-Wake Zone.
-You decide that your patio furniture looks better on the bottom of the pool.
-You have the number for FEMA on your speed dialer.
-You own more than three large coolers.
-You can wish that other people get hit by a hurricane and not feel the least bit guilty about it.
-Three months ago you couldn't hang a shower curtain; today you can assemble a portable generator by candlelight.
-You catch a 5-pound catfish. In your driveway.
-You can recite from memory whole portions of your homeowner's insurance policy.
-At cocktail parties, women are attracted to the guy with the biggest chain saw.
-You have had tuna fish more than 5 days in a row.
-There is a roll of tar paper in your garage.
-You can rattle off the names of three or more meteorologists who work at the Weather Channel.
-Someone comes to your door to tell you they found your roof.
-Ice is a valid topic of conversation.
-Relocating to North Dakota does not seem like such a crazy idea

Serously though, Florida has been hammered four times this year. Millions are still without power and many people have lost it all. Thousands remain in shelters. Relief efforts are underway, but charities like the American Red Cross are stretched thin and are in dire need of donations. You can donate to the red cross here or donate to a charity of your choosing via the Network For Good Organization. I urge you all to drop a buck or two for those in need.

Jeb to Jimmuh: Shaddap, Putz!

Florida Governor Jeb Bush called Jimmy Carter's remarks on the Florida electoral system "nonsense." The money quote:

"That's bogus. All this conspiracy theory ... is just ridiculous."

His Holiness (Amanda)

Last Wednesday I attended a private speech by His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, exclusively for University of Miami faculty, staff and students. I was lucky enough to win a ticket in a lottery, but truly fortunate enough to witness this monumental event in the University's history, as well as an overwhelming and extraordinary event in my life.

Here are some of His Holiness's thoughts:

Anger and jealousy separate, but Love, compassion, responsibility and a sense of community bring us together.

The whole world is a part of your body. Therefore, destruction of your enemy is essentially the destruction of yourself.

War is an outdated concept. It leads to suffering of innocent people, and damage to the environment.
Using fear as a weapon is counterproductive.
Openness, love, and respect are the true way to change the enemy. There are no negative side effects.

Human affection and knowledge are the key to true happiness. Our mother teaches us the importance of love and compassion through human affection. Knowledge alone is not enough for a happy life.

His Holiness was asked that based on the use of religion as a cause for today's problems, especially terrorism, and the conflicts that arise from differences in religious beliefs, if it was best to do away with religion altogether. The following was his answer:

Religion is used as an excuse for some other factors (political agenda, personal gain, etc.)
The concept of one truth, one religion is beneficial to an individual, but more problematic as a group. The concept of several truths, several religions is more relevant and beneficial to the world community.
Physical pain can be subdued by mental facility, but the reverse is not possible.

His Holiness ended his speech by sharing a Tibetan saying:
"If the thread breaks nine times, you should connect it nine times: This is to say that we must persevere in our search for that which is good, no matter what may obstacles we may face.

I cannot do justice to the message that this wise man of the Buddhist tradition and of our time shared with the University community, but I hope that in some small way I was able to relay his message of peace, love and unity to my fellow bloggers.

Amanda

Todo con moderacion.

Whatever side of the political spectrum, doing something wrong is still doing something wrong. Steve is pissed. And with good reason.

DC Pajama Party

Go to Bill's right now. There's mints on the pillows and everything.

I love Sgt Hook

(Despite the fact that he's Jets fan.) Not only is he in Afghanistan serving our country, but he was instrumental in organizing Operation Shoe Fly, helping the Afghan people by collecting donations of shoes, clothing and other items and distributing them among the people of the region.

Here are some posts and photos of Operation Shoe Fly at work.

Dont let the mere fact that Hook is a Jets fan deter you, help him help the Afghan people.

Still 1984 in Cuba

Frequent commenter to this site MadTom, whom I have had some serious discussion with on several topics, just sent me the following email:

"Anonymous said... Fidel Castro is watching you, you traitor Gusano."

Val look what I got on my blog, hey this is like a badge of honor, and the
blog has only been up for a few days.

Well, if Castro is watching MadTom's blog, which has only been up for a few days, what are the chances that he's watching mine?

MadTom has a novel idea for his blog:

The thing that I want to do different with this blog, is that I want to post stories from the point of view of all the different characters that make up this war. I want to post stories from G.I.Joe, and from his enemy and from the point of view of their families. The idea is for anyone, be they friend or foe that has something to say, a story to tell, about this, or any war, can send it to me and I will post it here, anonymously.

Tom, asere, I commend you for your effort.

Just One Swing

Each and every time I see a recent photo of Fidel Castro I think one thing and one thing only: it would only take one swing. One good right cross and it's over.

Every tear my grandmother shed, every sigh my grandfather let out, every pain my family has suffered would serve as the momentum. The plight of every Cuban would justify it.

With one punch I could change Cuba. Just one punch to kill the devil himself. One. Uno solo. Forty years of frustration would serve as its strength. Forty years of starvation, forty years of no food or freedom or dignity or intellectual sustenance compacted into one swing.

Tears would roll down my face as I cocked my arm back. Unbridled hate and disgust would flow through me as I took aim. Every breath ever taken by every Cuban in the diaspora would be the force behind the swing.

The moment my fist hits it mark the world would hear a scream of forty years of desperation. Yes, with one swing I could kill Fidel Castro.

One swing, and the Cuban soul is free.

Book Banning

A group of organizations representing publishers has filed suit charging the US Treasury department for banning books from authors in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and others.

Six publications from Cuba - the most from any embargoed nation - are on the groups' list of in-limbo works. Their topics range from birds to music to short stories.

The suit comes amid a Bush administration crackdown on relations with Cuba. Earlier this year, travel to the island was curbed and the amount of family remittances slashed. Now publishers say they, too, are falling victim to the get-tough policy.

According to OFAC, presses must obtain licenses to publish works from embargoed nations, which also include Iran and Sudan, or risk fines of up to $1 million or prison sentences of up to 10 years.

<...>

Cuba watchers say the issue stems from the Bush administration's hardened stance toward the island.

"They want to limit the amount of money going into Cuba from publishing anything," said John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council. "Anytime a document from Cuba is published in the U.S., it validates the revolution."

Others argue that because the Cuban government does not allow documents from the United States to be published in Cuba, the United States should reciprocate.

"Why should we publish theirs?" asked Jaime Suchlicki, director of the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies.

I don't know how I feel about this.

Search Orders

A poem by Cuban dissident-poet Raul Rivero:

Search Order
by Raúl Rivero

What are these gentlemen looking for
in my house?

What is this officer doing
reading the sheet of paper
on which I've written
the words "ambition," "lightness," and "brittle"?

What hint of conspiracy
speaks to him from the photo without a dedication
of my father in a guayabera (black tie)
in the fields of the National Capitol?

How does he interpret my certificates of divorce?

Where will his techniques of harassment lead him
when he reads the ten-line poems
and discovers the war wounds
of my great-grandfather?

Eight policemen
are examining the texts and drawings of my daughters,
and are infiltrating themselves into my emotional networks
and want to know where little Andrea sleeps
and what does her asthma have to do
with my carpets.

They want the code of a message from Zucu
in the upper part
of a cryptic text (here a light triumphal smile
of the comrade):
"Castles with music box. I won't let the boy
hang out with the boogeyman. Jennie."

A specialist in aporia came,
a literary critic with the rank of interim corporal
who examined at the point of a gun
the hills of poetry books.

Eight policemen
in my house
with a search order,
a clean operation,
a full victory
for the vanguard of the proletariat
who confiscated my Consul typewriter,
one hundred forty-two blank pages
and a sad and personal heap of papers
—the most perishable of the perishable
from this summer.

Translated into English by Paul Berman for this article on Che Guevara in Slate.

Thanks to Sheila for this excellent link.

Donde tu robas?

Where do you rob. That's the way most Cubans on the island ask where you work. Theft is apparently rampant among government employees on the island. It is not, however, really theft. It's resolver.

Here's an excerpt from an article titled "Cubans 'resolve' to make ends meet" the Dallas Morning News:

"Almost everyone steals something, anything, to survive," a former cafeteria worker said. "But we don't call it stealing or robbing. Those words are too strong."

Cubans use a kinder term, resolver, meaning to resolve. So if a man makes off with a chicken, he can proudly tell his wife, "I resolved a chicken."

Or, "This chicken stuck to me as I was leaving work."

<...>

Say you receive a 40-pound shipment of chicken. An inspector could arrive at any moment, so you act fast. You take three or four pounds of poultry from the box and add exactly the same weight in rocks, stuffing them inside the remaining birds.

You've suddenly got enough for dinner – and it didn't cost a cent.

Resolver.

One Night Stand

She came. She blew me. She left. I think her name was Jeanne.

Message for Hurricane Jeanne

Blow me.

Oliver Stone - Fucking Dumbass

Fucking Dumbass Director praises Fidel, blasts Bush in Spain

I would comment further on the article, but it would all read: Oliver Stone is a fucking dumbass.

I Dream of Jeanne

Well, it's Friday and if you live in Florida, that means the weekend is coming and bringing us yet another hurricane. Steve's got the latest Hurricane Jeanne tracking map up, researched and developed with his own exclusive hurricane tracking software. It looks like old Jeanne wants to hang with us at ManCamp.

Not to worry folks, we Floridians are ready:

Friday Funny

I'm a bit busy today so blogging will be light. But, here's a pretty good Cuban joke sent to me by reader Yamy: (translated)

A Cuban who was a very good man died and went to heaven. After having been there for hundreds of years, boredom set in and he asks God if he would be allowed to visit hell for one day to see what it is that he had missed.

"If that is your wish, then it will be so." God responded.

The Cuban man went to hell that night. He walked down beautiful marble stairs illuminated by brilliant gold fixtures. He came upon huge, neon lit doors that opened in a magnificent fashion. Beyond was a sort of Eden, beautiful gardens with rivers of 24 year old scotch, mountains of the most luxurious and decandent food were every where and all around were the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He went in and had the best time he had ever had in his life.

The next morning when he awoke in heaven he pleaded with God to send him back to hell forever.

God relented and granted his wish yet again.

The Cuban man packed his belongings and in a few days time was on his way back to hell. He went down the same magnificently lit marble staircase, came upon the same beautiful doors. But this time when the doors opened up there was nothing but fire and brimstone. Raging seas aflame and sheer cavernous darkness.

Shocked, the Cuban man asked the Devil: "What is this? I was here last week and everything was so beautiful. It was like Eden."

The Devil responded. "You, as a Cuban, should already know. Tourism is one thing. Living here is quite another."

Kiddo McFiddo

Tales of the pussy.

It's time to give you all an update - because I know you've been on pins and needles - on the pussy in my yard. The last you heard he was holed up nice and cozy in the safety of my tool shed during Hurricane Frances. Quite a bit of progress has been made since.

As you may have read, for weeks I tried everything to catch him and get him out and away from the tree. Nothing worked. No traps, no chasing him around with the neighbor, no borrowed humane traps, nada. He just would not hear of it. So I decided that if I could not catch him, that I would at least make sure that he was fed and had plenty of water.

I started feeding him every day after work. I would go outside and do a little falsetto "here kitty kitty, here kitty kitty" in hopes of luring him out into the open so he could see where his food was. At first, he would not come out. I meowed, I mush-mushed. Nada. So I basically just started leaving the little can of food out in the same spot every evening. He would then do a little cat covert ops and secretly eat the food, then disappear.

But about two or three weeks ago, when I opened the sliding glass door out to the pool with the cat food in hand, there he was, just sitting at the edge of the slab, waiting. I stepped closer to him, did the meowing and mushing and here kitty kitty thing and he just sat there staring at me. As if he was thinking Dude, just put the damn food down and leave. Dumbass.

This went on day after day after day. I would leave and then sneak back while he was eating and he would just bolt when he saw me.

Then last week, things changed. Instead of waiting for me to feed him from a safe distance, when I opened the door, he got up and walked towards me. He actually got about two feet away and hissed at me. Dude, WTF? You're late, gimme my damn food already you putz. After a couple of days, if I didnt put the can of food down, he would follow me around all over the yard, always maintaining a safe distance.

The other day I decided I was tired of succumbing to his every whim and that this time, he would have to come to me to get his food. I pulled up a patio chair, sat, opened his can of food and placed it directly between my feet. Babalu was going ballistic inside the house as he watched all of this through the sliding glass door. It took a few minutes, but the damn cat came and started eating. At first he grabbed a mouthful of food and ran away. He would come back and do the same thing, over and over again.

Well, now when I get home every day he is sitting right next to the sliding glass door waiting for me. When I come out he rubs himself around my ankles.

On Monday he actually let me rub his head between his ears. Yes! I had finally managed to pet my pussy!

Last night, as I made dinner, he was out there wrestling with Babalu. If you've never seen an 80 lb dog being scared by a 2 lb cat, I can assure you, it is unbelieveably funny. By the end of the night, the cat was lying next to the dog who was faithfully licking his head.

Fire and brimstone! Dogs and cats living together....

One word of advice though, never, under any circumstances try to get a kitten to come to you by using little sissy names like "Pookiecat" or "BoobooKitten" or something. I got tired of calling for him with kitty-kitty and unwittingly somehow morphed it to "Kiddo McFiddo." Now it's all he answers to.

Kiddo McFiddo.

It's New York, you twit.

Michele was interviewed by the BBC last night and has posted the exchange in mp3 format. I dont recall the intervier's name, but he does sound kind of pissy and Michele - bless her - basically tells the guy he shouldn't piss against the wind.

Plywood, plywood...

Whereforth art thou plywood?

Cuba - Socialist Paradise

SANTA CLARA, September 20 (Belkis Rodríguez Bravo, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Two police officers fined a 76-year-old man 150 pesos for selling fruit in front of his home in Santa Clara.

Rey Ramiro Montes de Oca, who said he sells the fruit to make a little income for himself and his wife, had, at the time police came, a few guavas, two avocados and two pumpkins.

Police confiscated the lot.

A Big Gracias

As I write this, I am about 45 visits short of 50,000 on the old SiteMeter. Wow. I never thought I'd ever force that many people to read my meager attempts at coherence.

Gracias to all of you that come by here on occasion and a Muchas muchas gracias to those of you that come by every day and watch me butcher the English language. It's like a train wreck isnt it? You don't wanna look but you just have to.

Serioulsly though, I don't know what I would do without the blogosphere. You all rock.

BREAKING SPORTS NEWS

I just heard on the local news that one Michael 'Air' Jordan is working out extensively for the possibility of coming out of retirement to play with one Shaqueel O'neil and one Pat Riley for the Miami Heat.

Ohoh.

It's Bleak and Rainy Here in Miami

And it's the first day of Autumn to boot. From the looks of the skies outside, this rain is not going to stop anytime soon.

So....

It's time for Val's homemade beef stew. Ain't nothing like comfort food when it's nasty outside.

Honey, if you read this, dont worry about dinner tonight. I got it. (Men, take heed. This here's worth a lot of hubby points.)

Boobs

Breasts
Jugs
Melons
Tatas
Racks
Yames
Winnebagos
Fun Bags
Floaties
Headlights
Love pillows
Impressive dairy facilities

Whatever you may call them, there will be plenty of them at the 2004 Blogger Boobie-Thon to benefit the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. So get ready to drop on by and bring your fistfulls of singles.

Thanks to Michele's RACK for the tip.

UPDATE:Seems I forgot "Puppies" and "Hooters" and, if I may, the ever necessary qualifiers:

Huge
Major
Massive
Perky
Not so perky
Beaudacious
Climbable
Fake
Majestic
Colossal
Magnitudinous
Niiiiice

A CBS Cubanism

Today's Cubanism is offered as advice to Dan Rather and CBS News:

Cubanism: Vistete despacio que estas de prisa.

Literal Translation: Dress yourself slowly because you're in a hurry.

Meaning: The more you rush when in a hurry, the more you delay.

TV Anchor Sanctioned

We all know Dan Rather loves Fidel Castro. Birds of a feather those two. But, imagine if Dan were an anchor for a TV station in Cuba, do you think Danny boy would take kindly to something like this:

HAVANA, September 17 (Aleaga Pesant, UPECI / www.cubanet.org) - TV anchorwoman Deysi Gómez was reportedly sanctioned recently because she mentioned exiled pianist Bebo Valdés on the air in her program Lente Mundial.

Grammy-award winner Valdés left Cuba early in the sixties and has never been back.

Gómez, a veteran TV personality, was Moscow correspondent for Cuban television in the 80s. Her nine-minute segment uses images from foreign TV, and Valdes' was one of those.

It Is Not An Apology

I keep reading the words "Rather's apology" everywhere and anywhere in the media and the blogosphere in general. Seems like everyone has ante'd up their two cents worth on this. Well, I'm in and here's my addition to the pot.

It is not an apology. Saying you are sorry for being caught is not saying you are sorry for the wrong you have done. Dan Rather and CBS News, etal, have done just that, apologized for being caught doing something wrong.

The way I was brought up an "apology" such as this would have been called an excuse and I would have had my butt spanked.

Someone needs to take the belt to Dan and his cadre. With the buckle end.

Empty Hands

I taught Kenpo Karate for almost 12 years when I was young. I had students of all ages, ranging from 6 year olds to men and women in their 40s and 50s. Kenpo is a style of karate that is completely about self-defense and without getting too deep into the Kenpo philosophy, the two primary tenets of the style are:

1. Always try to avoid using your Kenpo skills by whatever means possible. Turn the other cheek; ignore whatever disparaging remarks are made towards you and yours; seek a peaceful resolution.

2. Should you have to resort to defending yourself, use your skills to the utmost of your abilities and ensure that your opponent will never be able to harm you and yours again. In other words, and put quite bluntly, kill or be killed.

Almost all of the self-defense techniques in Kenpo are either lethal or extremely debilitating to your opponents. There is no middle ground in true self-defense.

That said, I think it's about time we, as in our country and with our armed forces, start using this philosophy agaisnt our enemies. The beheading of yet another American at the hands of terrorists is yet another sign that they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal: our destruction. The eradication of our culture and values and way of life.

There is no such thing as a half-way measure in Kenpo. When you are forced to defend yourself, you make sure that your enemy is taken out. Such should be the way we fight this war on terror. No kid gloves and no referees.

I may get a lot of criticism for this but, you can't win a war by giving your opponents chances. You can't win a war without completely destroying your opponent. I understand there are military protocols and rules of engagement. But in a fight, allowing your foe to choose the arena or the method of engagement reduces greatly your ability to overcome him.

If terrorists engage our troops from a mosque, then the mosque must be taken out. If they behead one of ours, then we must make reciprocate. Make them pay. Make them understand that such actions have dire repercussions.

If you punch me in the face, I will make sure you never have that opportunity again, by whatever means necessary.

UPDATE: First, the title of this post "Empty Hands" is the meaning of the word "Karate."

Also, I am not necessarily calling for exact reciprocity for beheadings, but some measure of retaliation is not only called for, but extremely well deserved. If we allow these atrocities to continue without any sort of public and severe punishment for those actions, then the beheadings will continue and the culprits will not be in the least deterred.

Humble Pie

Served as a side to a heaping portion of crow?

Chief CBS anchor Dan Rather "apologizes" for "a mistake in judgment."

That's all fine and dandy, Dan, but then to state this:

"It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism."

Takes real hypocritical balls as the statement is an outright lie.

Dan Rather and CBS News are lying liars.

UPDATE: As Paul states in the comment here: "I know sh*t when I smell it."

Pack Storn Shutters

Dave's taking a vacation to an undisclosed destination somewhere, I believe, South of me. Being that, as always, I'm on Cuban time, I missed his Birthday the other day and he is, as he said, obsessing over the details of the trip, I have the following pointers for him as he travels down to Hurricane Alley:

Pack your hurricane supplies, including, but not limited to:
- A flashlight - this will be needed when the hotel power goes out.
- Batteries - a big family pack from Costco. Not only will you need them for the flashlight, but , can you imagine what other tourists will actually pay for a pack of batteries? There's no harm in making a few bucks while on vacation.
- A portable gas grill. Nothing says preparedness like a gas grill. Dont forget the gas!
- Insect repellant. If you think those little tiny skeeters up north are pests, wait til you have thousands of hungry, post-hurricane tropical skeeters buzzing around you like Japanese Zeros at Pearl Harbor. You can run, but you can't hide.
- A portable water purifier. Because after a hurricane, flood waters are full of larvae.
- Speedos, in various colors. It's gonna be hot, and humid, and the least amount of clothes you are wearing in the tropics the better.
- A couple cans of Spam and Vienna sausages. Hurricanes tend to do a number on room service. Saltines make a nice compliment.
- A couple cartons of Marlboro Lights. Even if you dont smoke, after a hurricane you will want to start. Plus, they can be used as barter, in packs or individually.
- A large pack of Bic lighters. So you can light the cigs, the grill and signal the rescue vehicles.
- A pack of ziplocks, for the important papers such as passport, airline ticket and money. Wet dollars are just sloppy traveling.

Dave, I hope this list helps. Make sure you pack all the items Ive listed here, and feel free to toss in a few of your own. Drop me a line when you get searched at MIA.

Compulsory Cuban Healthcare Post of the Week

Presented without commentary:

SANTA CLARA, September 16 (Diolexis Rodríguez Hurtado, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Patients at the AIDS sanatorium in Santa Clara complain that due to a shortage of physicians they are not getting appropriate care.

The shortage, they say, has been more acute in the past few weeks after a number of doctors were sent off to Venezuela to participate in the agreement between the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.

In addition, patients say other doctors have requested transfers away from the sanatorium due to the poor sanitary and working conditions there.

Patients quote doctors as saying there are few safeguards against acquiring the disease.

Vaclav Havel

The former Czech president at the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba stated: "Cuba is a giant prison. We have to put up alarm bells around the walls. With every signature, every conference we make another step towards freedom in Cuba."

If anyone knows what it's like to live in a country that is a prison, it's the Czechs. Mr. Havel spent five years in a Russian gulag.

"I remember vividly what the support of the democratic world meant for me when I was persecuted and imprisoned in [communist] Czechoslovakia," he told The Prague Post. "I feel obliged to repay this debt to those who are in a similar situation now."

Read the whole thing.

What have I done to deserve this?

I havent beaten any puppies. I havent pushed little old ladies around. I have drowned any cats or shot any birds. I haven't thrown rocks at my neighbors windows. I haven't flipped anyone the bird while driving or hit any pedestrians. I havent beat my wife or sent the dog to shit in the neighbor's yard. I haven't taken food away from babies mouths. I have been good. I swear.

So tell me, why is it that my Dolphins suck? Why is it that they can't seem to get a damn first down much less a damn touchdown? Why the hell is Dave Wannstedt still my team's coach?

Why, damn it. Why? What have I done to deserve this football purgatory?

Blog Question

Don't you just hate it when your blogroll goes down? Isn't it like having a big ring of car keys in your hand and no cars? And then you have to take the bus wherever you want to go?

Apologies

Couple days ago Michele posted a link to a picture of an ad for Spain's El Pais newspaper. The ad showed two photos, one a picture of NYC with the World Trade Center Towers and another one without. Below them it read "Un dia da para mucho. Imaginese lo que puede suceder en tres meces." Basically translated: A lot can happen in one day. Imagine what can happen in thrity.

Now, I was completely incensed. Michele stated she had no words, but I certainly had some. Some very derrogatory and somewhat disrespectful words at that.

Michele has been catching a lot of flak over her post from Spanish bloggers, most of whom have complained about the insults to the entire Spanish population.

I am here to say that it was not Michele who insulted the Spanish people. It was me. I used very heavy language in my comment on her post, for which, I apologize sincerely to the Spanish people.

El Pais has since apologized for its lack of dignity and disrepect with its ad, stating:

Any explanation about the chain of errors which led to the launch of this campaign is insufficient, which some of our readers rightly qualified as repugnant. We share the disgust they have expressed in numerous messages and letters to the management and we are sorry it happened.

I'm glad the Spanish people contacted the newspaper and complained and voiced their disgust with the ad. Gracias.

I also want to let my Spanish friends know one thing, my father was born in Spain. My family is from Santander so do not take my criticism as coming just from another one of those "imperialist" yanquis.

Climate of Fear and Hate in America

Kerry/Edwards supporters destroy this little girls Bush/Cheney sign while waiting for Edwards to make and appearance in West Virginia.

I'm with Steve on this: I wish I had been there, because I would have kicked their teeth in and faced the judge with a satisfied smile.

Message for Dan Rather

Set up, were you?

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Kiss My Touristy Ass, Fidel

The US House of Representatives dropped the debate on Cuba travel restrictions. Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake withdrew the measure from a house bill saying that, basically, the election year politics are just too down and dirty. (Skeletons in your closet there, Jeff?)

I for one am glad. See, those restrictions are supposed to do this.

Contact your local CBS affilliate

I have contacted WFOR here in South Florida the past two days with respect to the Rather dubious reportage from CBS News and 60 Minutes. As individuals we can contact CBS News until hell freezes over and hardly make any headway, but the CBS affiliates have more pull. Or so I thought.

Both of my emails to them have been answered expeditiously with a "Thanks for sharing you opinions" and a "You should contact CBS News directly." I dont know if it is passing the buck or the local station just wanting to stay out of the fray, which, to me, is impossible to do as CBS News airs through them.

Michele captures this issue quite accurately:

And it's become even more than that over the past few days. What is it with the current trend of people not taking responsibility for their actions? Is this the new way to deal with people when confronted with the possibility that you did something wrong? Evade, be ambiguous, blame someone else, engage in moral equivalency, pout, stamp your feet and act outraged and defiant that someone is actually calling you out on your bullshit. From two year old toy thiefs to middle aged middle managers, from drunk-driving movie stars to drunk-with-power news anchors, that seems to be the modus operand when the headlights are turned on.

There was a point in all this when I would have still been able to maintain some respect for Rather. Maybe a few days back, if he had addressed the issue immediatley, called for an investigation and confessed that maybe, just maybe, he had inadvertantly used false documents in his story, he could have saved some face. Even if he was bullshitting us and we knew it, it would have done far less damage than his ridiculous posturing is doing now.

The problem is, CBS is digging a deeper and deeper hole and if they aren't careful (oops, too late), they are going to take the media in general into that hole with them. It's time for the other networks and affilliates to start shoveling the dirt on Rather and CBS, instead of being buried with them.

Contact your local CBS affilliate and let them know how you feel.

You can also sign a petition calling for a retraction from CBS News here.

And here's a list of CBS shareholder information.

UPDATE: Kevin has an excellent post on how this whole situation started.

Hurricanes Are Afraid of Communism

No, seriously. If you read this article, titled "UN presents Cuba as an example in prevention against hurricanes" from Granma, you realize that it is the political will and determination of Cubans that help them survive hurricanes.

In the Cuban case... it is an example of how the vulnerability of populations can be reduced with low-cost measures, and a significant dose of political determination.

Finally, Salvano Briceno, (director of the UN Institute for the Reduction of Disasters) observed that Cuba’s success in this field illustrates that the poor nations do have options for mitigating or preventing the consequences of natural disasters, but at times the missing links are "concrete action programs and the political will to implement them."

Posted by Val Prieto at 07:56 AM | Permanent Link to this Post | Habla (1)

Separation of Church and State

The last thing Castro's regime wants is another church on the island.

HOLGUÍN, September 13 (Juan Carlos Garcell, APLO / www.cubanet.org) - The Cuban government has ordered construction work on a church in Moa, Holguín province, to be stopped and threatened to take it over, on the grounds that "it stands out among the poverty of its surroundings", as varying numbers of the faithful have occupied the building around the clock to forestall any such action.

The standoff, now approaching two months in duration in this mining community, follows government orders to stop construction of the five-story building nearing completion.

The church, the First Bethany Baptist Congregation, claims more than 900 members and says the government initially approved construction and that the same was carried out with government-approved workers. Church leaders say they have borne the full one-million-plus peso (in addition to thousands of dollars for locally unobtainable materials) cost of construction of the glass and mosaic encased structure.

Church members are taking turns holding fasts, vigils and prayer meetings in the unfinished building while discussions with government authorities, which have included Caridad Diego, responsible for religious affairs with the Council of State, have yielded little or no results.

CBS - It's not just propaganda...

It's a vendetta. Dan Rather's behavior is absolutely appalling.

Git Yer Banjo Out, Jed!

...sung to the tune of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from the Beverly Hillbillies:

Come and listen to my story ‘bout a man named Dan,
The documents were fake and he didn’t give a damn;
He put ‘em on the air, an’ he thought he’d done the job,
But up from the web come a howlin’ mob.

Blogs, that is. Web logs. Checkin’ facts.

Well, the first thing you know ol’ Dan’s a-runnin’ fast;
Made a false report an’ it bit him in the ass;
He said “dog-gonnit, I done thought I’d get away!”
But it turned out to be his a-reckonin’ day.

Busted, that is. Red-faced. Mud in the eye.

Well, now it's time to say goodbye to Dan and all his men;
And they would like to shoot you folks for turnin' them in;
You're all invited back next week to watch the Evening News,
And see which correspondent's picked to fill Dan's empty shoes.

Y'all come back, now, hear?

(I just recieved this from reader Mercedes who is busy looking for the originator of the lyrics. Iffin ya know who wrote this hear tune, drop me a line so can give'm some props.)

Update: Props go to a commenter by the name of danurve over at Lucianne.

CBS News Eating Crow?

Apparently, CBS news will make a statement regarding the forged documents and their fraudulent reportage at noon today.

I have stayed out of the fray on this issue although I have been following the events somewhat in dismay. In DC Journal, PowerlineBlog, Little Green Footballs, Allahpundit, Instapundit and a slew of other bloggers have done a superb job of finding what appears to be more and more elusive at CBS News: the truth.

I contacted my local CBS affiliate this morning and sent the following:

Understanding of the years of service your station has put forth for our community and your contractual obligations to the CBS Network, as journalists and representatives of truth it is your responsibility to ensure that that which you transmit to this community via newscasts be free of fraud, misrepresentations and ulterior motives. It has become evident that CBS News and its anchor Dan Rather have fraudulently misled the public and used their resources to illegally play upon the outcome of this year's presidential election. It should be up to you, the local affiliates of CBS, to demand that the news put forth through your airwaves be legitimate and transparent. Airing such obviously slanted, moreover, blatantly false information reflects upon the integrity of your station, reporters, journalists and management. Continuing to carry the CBS Newscasts without either a disclaimer or complaint against the items in question to the network affiliate does a great disservice to your audience and more importantly to your community. WFOR should contact CBS and CBS News immediately and demand that the recent slanderous and fraudulently based reportage be either discontinued or have evidentiary proof provided as to the authenticity of not only the memo documents but of their origins. The job of a news reporter is to report the news, not to create it according to said reporters particular ideology or belief.

Thank you.

UPDATE: Dean's asking what the over/under is.

Take Ivan Seriously

For my friends and fellow bloggers up North and in Ivan's path, take it seriously. It's a whopper of a storm.

When you check out this image from NOAA, you see that Miami is totally in the outskirts of the storm. Well, right now it is pouring rain. I mean a serious deluge. At least 2 inches of rain in a matter of minutes.

If you've been ordered to evacuate, do so. If you are going to weather the storm, then be prepared.

Ivan is a monster.

Archimedes Was Wrong

He should have said:

Give me a blog, and I will move the world.

SeeBS

CBS is still standing by the forged documents. Furthermore, their report on same tonight was an even more direct attack on President Bush.

Dan Rather and CBS are the sacrificial lambs of the failing John F Kerry campaign.

The Cayman Islands Need HELP

As you already know, Hurricane Ivan all but destroyed the Cayman Islands.

Cayman Islands: “The island looks like a war zone,” said Diana Uzzell, a business manager on Grand Cayman, where the storm flung huge pleasure yachts up on land and toppled trees three stories high.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed.

Tourism director Pilar Bush said up to half of the 15,000 homes on Grand Cayman had suffered significant damage that made them inhabitable. Bush, speaking in a telephone call from New York City, said the government was looking at hotels and school dormitories to house the thousands of displaced people. Soup kitchens were set up Monday.

Grand Cayman looked as if the entire, low-lying island was under water at some point, the overflight showed.

Some houses were reduced to piles of splintered wood. A hangar at the George Town airport had its roof blown off. Officials said the airport was open only for restricted flights.

From the plane, the only signs of activity on the ground were animals congregating on higher ground. All trees were denuded, their leafs shorn off by the storm, and some century-old trees three stories high were torn up by their roots.

The people of the Cayman Islands need our help. In an effort to provide relief for the island, Tortuga Imports' Miami Warehouse is accepting donations for the following items:

Canned Foods (including soup)
Can Openers
Water
Bread
Baby Formula
Diapers
Tissue
Napkins
Plastic Utencils/Plates/Cups/Buckets
Medical Supplies
Generators
Satellite Phones
Non-perishable Milk
Stove Top Ranges & Sterno
Drinks
Candles
Lighters/Matches
BBQ Grills & Coal
Cleaning Supplies (Garbage bags, broom, etc.)
Tarps & Tents
Pens & Paper
Insect Repellant

All items can be sent to the following address:

Cayman Islands Hurricane Relief Efforts
C/O Tortuga Imports, Inc.
14202 S.W. 142 Avenue
Miami, FL 33186

They are also collecting monetary donations, via checks or money orders, sent to the address above and payable to:

Caribbean Community Foundation/ C.I. Disaster Relief Fund

I am sure there are also a few on-line shops that would deliver directly to the Tortuga Imports Warehouse in Miami.

Every little bit helps, even only one can of food or one flashlight or one pack of batteries or one bottle of formula. Send what you can folks, they really need it over there.

Amapola

I remember the odor the most. Lysol Disinfectant with a little Jean-Nate mixing in with the smell of decay. The apartment I knew from childhood memory would be the same even though I had only been there once and as an adult. That's just the way my Tia Mary was. Although she had moved to this particular apartment years after that last time I had visited her in Clearwater, the furniture was laid out in the exact same way as always. The sofa against the wall on the right, the coffee table centered with the recliner and the TV. Picture frames in the hundreds placed all around, in the same familiar places as the first time I had set foot in that home twenty some odd years before.

I had just flown in from Miami. Taken a cab from Tampa airport to her apartment only to find the doors locked and cordoned off with police tape. The neighbors had no spare keys and the landlord was out of town. The cop that had responded had not finished his reports and was off duty that day. I had to break into her home. It was rather easy, as if it was meant to be.

"We are sorry about your loss," the neighbor told me. "She was a nice lady. It came as a shock to all of us in the building." He paused for a sec, maybe noticing my hesitation to enter or perhaps trying to find the right words for what he was about to say. "She didn't keep her place to tidy, though," he looked down and away. "There's a dumpster out back if you need it."

I was insulted. Just stood there staring at this guy almost in disbelief. This was my Tia Mary, the cleanest and tidiest woman I had ever seen. She would vacuum my head after a haircut. She would not let me sit on the sofa with my street clothes. She would not let me walk in the house with shoes. She would vacuum the apartment three or four times a day. Clean the bathrooms twice a day. She bought Lysol by the case. I used to think she had a cleaning psychosis, how dare this guy say something like that to me about my aunt?

In a way, he was right though. Even though you could not find a speck of dust anywhere in that apartment, and the furniture and knick knacks and picture frames were exactly where they were supposed to be, it was a mess.

The apartment was a sea of plastic bags. The carpet could barely be seen. Green, black, white and beige testimonies to how she had spent the past several months of her life were scattered about. They were waist deep with a little path cut into them to the kitchen and bathroom and bedroom.

My knees went soft. I couldn't breathe. Tears started to fill my bewildered eyes. I dropped to the floor right there, at the entrance to my Tia Mary's apartment and sobbed. I could not believe what was before me. The condition of her apartment was a notion so foreign to me - so foreign to her - that I simply was not able to accept the fact that I was in her home.

Tia Mary's place was my summer camp. Every year they would drive down on a Friday, stay the weekend at my parent's house, do their visits and see the rest of the family and them come Monday I would toss my bag that had been packed for weeks into the trunk of my uncles car and head for Clearwater. Being in Clearwater meant trips to Disney and Cypress Gardens. Entire afternoons at the movie theater watching every single movie I could watch in one day. Sea World, trips to her cousins farm. Horseback riding. Shopping the five and tens.

Yet there I was, a year or so after I had last been there, having driven my uncle's car up for her after his death. A trip in his Cadillac with Tia Mary next to me, despondent, depressed. Quiet. I had tried for the four hour trip to get her to move down to Miami. To be with the family. So she wouldnt have to live such a solitary life. So she would not get ill without someone around. So she would not die alone.

Yet there I was.

The plastic bags were a mystery. Hundreds of mysteries scattered about a small one bedroom apartment. Each one contained questions and answers. One bag would have another bag in it with a hairbrush and a half eaten Snickers bar inside. Another bag would have a used paper towel and a set of keys. Another would have mail from two months back with a postcard, hairpins and an Amoco receipt. There were hundreds of bags with bags inside and more bags inside the bag inside and each bag would have stuff in it. Little stuff. Little daily routine stuff and life's treasured mementos all together. There was no rhyme or reason to what was in each bag.

The life she'd been living was there before me inside Hefty bags.

I've wondered since if she suffered. Not just while she was passing away but each and every time she walked in the door to her apartment. Knowing her it must have been overwhelming to live the way she was living. We will never know exactly what demons or angels were in her mind or what compelled her to save her days in plastic bags.

Maybe she wanted us to live them with her, maybe she saved them like that just for me. Maybe that's the only way she felt she had of having her family near her all the time. By saving her days one moment at a time in one day at a time each in a plastic bag.

Today is Tia Mary's birthday. I am not exactly sure how old she would have been today, but I wish I could call her like I used to and sing Happy Birthday over the phone. I wish it was the beginning of summer again and I were still a little kid with his bag packed looking down the street for my Tia Mary to come and pick me up for summer camp.

I wish I could still smell her Jean-Nate.

Florida: Every Vote Counts?

Nader is back on the ballot in the State of Florida and the let-every-vote-count-unless-it's-not-for-a-democrat Democrats are crying FOUL!!!!

"I'm in disbelief," said Scott Maddox, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. "This is blatant partisan maneuvering on the part of Jeb Bush to give his brother a leg up on election day."

"They are trying to get ballots printed with Nader's name on them," said Maddox. "I am astounded that Jeb Bush is willing to defy the judiciary to help his brother."

I guess suing to get Nader off the ballot was not blatantly partisan.

Seriously though, you just gotta love the do as I say and not as I do attitude of the Democrats.

Hurricane Lanes - League Night

I get home from work yesterday and the minute I open the door it still looks like a cave inside my house. No sunlight coming in from anywhere whatsoever. I go and take off the shirt and tie and slacks, put on a pair of work shorts and tshirt and sneakers. I find the drill, change to a charged battery, grab the bit and head outside to take down the damn plywood that's been making my house feel like some kind of basement speakeasy.

I start with the front windows, both of which are one entire sheet (4x8) of plywood each. I decided to be smart about it by driving my truck up close to where I was working so I could stack the plywood on its bed and then unstack it somewhere out of the way when I'm done. I take off all the Tapcons - thank heaven for Tapcons - except one, toss them in my pocket and them proceed to take out the last one while pressing agaisnt the plywood with my shoulder so it - the plywood - doesnt fall. The minute the screw comes out of the masonry the plywood slips a little and as I find a place to lay down the drill the damn sheet slips down and slams onto my toes.

OUCH!

That's pretty much the way it went around the rest of the house with the plywood removal. Except of course the damn bees residing in the bush in front of the dining room window. Ever have a bunch, and I mean a bunch as in at least 20, pissed off bees chasing you around? It isnt fun, I can tell you that. It is however, quite funny. Imagine me running and hoping and swinging and flaying my arms around like a freaken lunatic in my front yard. Yeah, Kodak moment.

I finish the removal, drive the truck to the side of the yard and stack to plywood against the fence for when I need to use them again. You know, in case of flies.

I park the truck out front, put away the screws and drill and go