The Longest Game

Yoan no tiene pelo en la lengua.

Zapatero and his foreign minister have promised Castro they will change the EU's common policy on Cuba if only the tyrant takes some steps. This he is doing, on a very superficial basis, by releasing the sickest dissidents of the Group of 75. It's not necessary to give Cubans basic liberties, simply release a few dying dissidents and a whole continent will change its policy on your dictatorship.

Now is the time to step up dissident activities in Cuba. Will Castro be willing to crack down on freedom of speech on a massive level, risking the opening he sees in the EU's common policy?

You ate it, horse.

Cuban Poet/Dissident released!!

From La Nueva Cuba:

Cuba's communist government freed on Tuesday dissident writer and journalist Raúl Rivero his wife Blanca told Agence France Presse (AFP). Rivero was serving a 20-year prison sentence after his arrest in March. Rivero's freedom is the latest in a series of releases apparently aimed at cleaning up the island's human rights record. Rivero was released a day after Cuba unexpectedly freed three other dissidents who had been jailed last year in a broad crackdown. All of the detainees were among 75 dissidents incarcerated with sentences ranging from seven to 28 years. The dissidents were set free following a meeting last Thursday between Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque and Spain's ambassador to Cuba, Carlos Alonso Zaldivar. The meeting marked the first official contact between Cuba and Spain, a member of the European Union, since June 2003, when European Union officials imposed sanctions protesting the crackdown and the executions of three Black Cubans convicted of trying to hijack a boat to the US. International human rights groups called on Fidel Castro's government to free dozens of others still behind bars. In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher welcomed the releases but said the detainees never should have been imprisoned in the first place. "We continue to condemn the unjust incarceration of dozens of other prisoners of conscious in Cuba," Boucher said. "We hope that they can return to their work to build a truly just and open Cuban society", Boucher added. Also José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch said it is a welcome move, but many more prisoners remain incarcerated. Vivanco asked Cuba to release these other political prisoners who are in jail in violation of their fundamental rights." "We call on the Cuban authorities to release all of them." Those prisoners freed on parole Monday included economics writer Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who was hospitalized behind bars for months with a liver ailment. "I'm feeling happy now," Espinosa Chepe told The Associated Press at his Havana home, noting that Monday was his 64th birthday. "I had been really pessimistic. I didn't think I was going to be let out." Also freed Monday for health reasons were dissidents Marcelo López and Margarito Broche. López has a neurological disorder, and Broche suffered a heart attack behind bars in August. The latest releases bring to 11 the number of dissidents in the original group of 75 who have since been freed after being imprisoned in April 2003. They were charged with working with the U.S. government to undermine Castro's socialist system, something the dissidents and American officials denied.

Servicios Cablegráficos Combinados
La Habana
Cuba
La Nueva Cuba
Noviembre 30, 2004

Burlington Che Factory Update

Local news ran a piece this morning on the Burlington Coat Factory Che Guevara t-shirt thing I posted on the other day. Apparently, Burlington has pulled the t-shirts off the floor in some markets and issued a statement on the subject. WSVN News, which ran the story, doesnt have a link up on their website yet so that I may post the press release verbatim. But, it was something like "Oops! We didnt know. Sorry about that. We would never promote any sales with yadayadayada. Please, come visit our stores. We have big sales." You know the drill.

My original post on this received quite a response, both through comments and trackbacks. I'm sure it was not only my piece that helped Burlington come to the conclusion that selling articles of clothing with the image of a marxist murderer was wrong, but I think it helped spread the word. Thanks to those that commented on and those that linked to the post: The Waterglass; It Comes in Pints? ; Attaboy; Hog On Ice; Arguing with Signposts; and Your Daily Prescott; and Lines in the Sand; and Cube at The Blog; and The Laughing Wolf; and Transterrestial Musings; and HispanicPundit. A special thanks to Aaron of Aaron's Rantblog for this. If I missed anyone, please shoot me an email and let me know.

The entry was also linked to by a couple of discussion forums like Madville, Conservative Friends, College Mix and Snikk Snakk to name a few. It was linked to by KSFO Radio in San Francisco. National Review Online's Jay Nordlinger mentioned the issue in his Impromptus column yesterday:

My Cuban and Cuban-American friends are none too pleased with the Burlington Coat Factory. Why? Oh, nothing — they just "ran a television ad with a child wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt." (I quote from one correspondent.) And "they sell Che Guevara T-shirts in their 350 stores nationwide." My friends propose a boycott of the store, and although I have never been crazy about boycotts, I admire the spirit, very much.

It would be one thing if the world yawned at murderers and enslavers. But to celebrate them? Tough to take. Very tough.

No matter how handsome "Che" looked in his beret. Oh, Stalin, if only you weren't so pockmarked and dwarfish!

(Jay also mentions the get well fidel email I posted about also.)

A special thanks to Logan Darrow, of Freestar Media, who really picked up the ball and ran with it. It's your touchdown Logan. Gracias.

I dont know if the other purveyor of Che wear mentioned in the original post has any plans for pulling the items from their stock. They still have the item up on thier webpage and quote the following:

Featured in Time Magazine's holiday web shopping guide, "Viva la revolution!" Now even the smallest rebel can express himself in these awesome baby onesies. This classic Che Guevara icon is also available on a long-sleeve tee in kids' sizes... Long live the rebel in all of us...there's no cooler iconic image than Che! Available in Sunset Orange and Sand. All Appaman products are soft, pre-shrunk, 100% cotton and designed, dyed, and printed in New York City.

If you feel so compelled, please feel free to contact La La Ling, the che onesie seller, and let them know what you think of their product. It may not get it off the shelves, so to speak, but it certainly cant hurt.

I want to thank all of you that helped me express my outrage about this. I can assure you, there is a world of old Cubans living in exile that would grab you, give you a heartfelt kiss on the cheek and invite you into their hearts. For that single act of solidarity, you will always have a home in the Cuban-American community.

Gracias, amigos.

Viva Cuba libre y soverana!

UPDATE: Check this post over at DC Thornton to get yet another photo of a toddler in Che wear.

Kick Ass, Take Names

Part II of Dealing with Castro is up over at the Diplomad and it's even better than Part I.

I love this:

...Some might argue that the bulk of Castro's seriously hostile acts against the US are years old, that he no longer presents a danger to the US, and that we should forget about him (Note: This argument, in fact, was made to us by an Italian and an Argentine diplomat.) They might also argue that time will take care of Castro, and might ask, what's the point of working to have him removed and his regime dismantled?

We have a one-word answer to this line of questioning: Justice, or perhaps, Payback. Whichever word, it comes down to not letting the old killer die peacefully in bed with his delusions intact. He should feel the fear and degradation he inflicted on hundreds-of-thousands of people; he should live long enough to see his life's work dismantled. Just as the world community rightly pursued old and out-of-power Nazi criminals for decades after WWII, it should likewise pursue this mass murderer, punish him, and ensure that the regime he created does not survive.

I couldnt agree more. Read the whole beautiful thing.

Dont have a cow, man.

There are just some articles one shouldn't read before breakfast. For me it was this article in the Winona Daily News about Kehler Cattle trading with Cuba.

It's bad enough that this American Company sells cattle to Castro for his tourists, but when I read the following line I almost threw up:

Now, whenever the Kaehlers return to Cuba, the family meets with Castro, who has even added them to his Christmas card list.

Cuban chosen as Head of Commerce

President Bush chose Carlos Gutierrez, chief executive officer of the Kellogg Co, to be Secretary of Commerce.

Gutierrez, whose family fled Cuba in 1960 when he was 6, joined Kellogg in 1975. Known for having a strong work ethic and a seemingly endless stream of ideas, he worked all over the world for the company before being promoted to president and chief operating officer in June 1998.

Damn, we Cubans are everywhere.

Here's a pretty good bio of Mr. Gutierrez from Hispanic Magazine.

But perhaps he is best summed up in the words of his parents:

“My husband would always say to me, ‘He’ll go to the top, you’ll see,’ ” Gutiérrez’s mother Olga says.

Felicidades, Señor Gutierrez.

Message for Michele Malkin

The election is over. Our guy won. What does it matter that hispanics voted 44% or 40% or 35% for Bush?

Is it just hispanics you dislike so much or all immigrants in general?

Get over it already. It's getting old.

Time to kick down the door.

The Diplomad has an excellent essay on what needs to be done with our bearded communist next door neighbor.

Part one is today's must read.

Arbolito, Arbolito

We are heading out in search of our Christmas tree this morning. I've got the reindeer hooked up to the sleigh and ready to go. My trusty ax has been sharpened and Im all bundled up as it's snowing outside.

After our sleighride, the Mrs and I are going to cozy up by the fireplace and roast chestnuts. I still have some coal left over from last Christmas.

UPDATE: Seriously, is there anything better than the scent of a fresh Christmas tree in your home?

Three more reasons to be thankful

Here are three items from Cuba that should make everyone thankful they dont live there:

HAVANA, November 24 (www.cubanet.org) - A dissident union leader says the government this week launched a campaign against self-employed merchants in the capital, seizing their merchandize and their permission to operate.

William Toledo Terrero, secretary general of the Central Sindical Cristiana, said fines of up to 1,500 pesos were levied for allegedly increasing the prices of non-authorized products.

Police cars and a school bus were used to take the self-employed to the police station at Zanja and Dragones streets.

At the same time, the police stopped pedicab drivers who were required to show their licenses and proof that they were up to date in their taxes and had permission to operate in the area.

"This harassment takes place now and then to intimate the self-employed," said Toledo Terrero.

And:

HAVANA, November 22 (Adrián Leiva, Grupo Decoro / www.cubanet.org) - The brother of baseball star Reynaldo Ordóñez, who defected from Cuba and now plays Major League Baseball, has been banned from a local hall where he used to play dominoes.

As if his relationship to his more famous brother were not enough to bring him to the attention of Cuban authorities, who tend to look with a jaundiced eye when one of their prized baseball players defects, Daniel Ordóñez is a dissident and a supporter of the Varela project, a citizens' initiative that seeks to bring about some changes in Cuban government by working within the existing legal structure. He is also a member of the Christian Liberation Movement.

Daniel said he was notified that he had been banned from his neighborhood's "social circle," or meeting hall. The man in charge of the hall told him, Daniel said, that the order came from the Communist Party and from the Department of State Security.

Daniel said he has been of interest in the past to the police, who frequently take him in to the El Cerro police station for questioning.

And:

HAVANA, November 22 (Reinaldo Cosano Alén / www.cubanet.org) - It took one lieutenant colonel, three majors, and seven foot policemen, as well as one patrol car and one military truck, to raid self-employed street vendor's Nelson Franceva's home in Camagüey.

The haul: ten bunches of plantains, one sack of black beans, five sacks of avocados, and 20 bottles containing lard.

The raid was one more in a series that police have been carrying out the last few weeks, ostensibly seeking to stamp out "illegalities or economic irregularities.

Franceva expects authorities will also levy a fine, or maybe even worse.Street vendors like Franceva spring up to meet a demand for produce government sources can't or won't fulfill, but the government has not issued licenses for such activities in the last ten years, and calls their trade illegal.

Now, lets piss fidel off and get out there and hit those malls.

Gracias, Tio Sam

It's 5:30 am on Thanksgiving Day. I've been sitting here for about a half hour trying to write a Thanksgiving Day post expressing everything I have to be thankful for. It's not an easy task because...well... where do I start? There is just way too much to appreciate today.

I guess, most importantly, I need to express my gratitude toward this country. If my family had never exiled here from Cuba, my life, my world, would be completely different. It isnt only that I would not have all the tangibles I have today, but I would not have the thing we should all value and be thankful for the most: freedom. I wouldnt be an individual. I wouldn't be able to express my own opinions. I would not be able to speak out. I would not be able to choose for myself what my life would be. I wouldnt be free to worship God how I see fit. I wouldnt be able to learn about the world around me on my own, without the indoctrination by the state. I would, for all intents and purposes, be part of a collective living and working and breathing solely for the benefit of one man.

I am thankful for being an American. I am thankful for the freedom to be me.

Every single one of us should be thankful for being Americans. Thankful for being a part of a country that gives each and every one of us so much and asks for so very little in return. And we all need to be thankful for those few who put the heavy burden of protecting our freedoms upon their shoulders and sacrifice themselves so that we may remain free.

Thank you America, for being my family.

And thank you, God, for life's little gems.

Burlington Che Factory

Yes folks, this photo is from an actual ad - in Time Magazine - for holiday shopping. Now your toddlers can don the image of a marxist murderer!

But wait! There's more! This holiday season, for that rebel teen in your family that prefers camouflage to khakis, there's a matching Che t-shirt also from Burlington Coat Factory!

That picture is a vidcap from Burlington's latest tv ads, the video of which can be viewed here.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand this phenomenon. Do we really live in a country where the words "under God" in its pledge of allegiance are offensive and the promoting of murderer is not?

Is this the country that I live in? Is this a country that sits idly by while iconic images of a man who himself is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Cubans proliferate? A man in charge of the firing squads at La Cabaña Prison ordering excutions and torture? A man that during the Cuban Missile Crisis actually preferred a nuclear holocaust so that his "New Man" could rise from the ashes of millions of dead human beings? (source)

And where does this love of murderers end? Will we allow ourselves to accept merchandise for children with pictures of Hitler or Mao or castro or Stalin? Isnt this in effect having children promote the murder of millions? Children advertising genocide?

Boycotts and protests of Burlington Coat Company are planned for December 4th:

BOYCOTT BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY PROTEST Saturday Dec. 4, 2004 at noon at Burlington Coat Factory stores

MIAMI: 11301 NW 12TH Street, Miami, FL 33172

NEW YORK: 707 6th Avenue, NY, NY 10010

LOS ANGELES: 22835 Victory Blvd., WEST HILLS, CA 91307

SAN FRANCISCO: 899 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94103

WASHINGTON D.C.: 3524 South Jefferson Street, Baileys Crossroads, VA 22041

I dont know how much good these boycotts and protests will do. If the people making, selling and advertising these images of Che Guevara have not learned by now what kind of a man he was, what he truly stood for, then I fear they will never know. Capitalizing on iconic images of a mass murderer that preached the evils of capitalism and fought tooth and nail to destroy it.

Oh, the bloody irony.

There's only one photo of Che Guevara that merits such grandiose appeal. This one.

UPDATE: An update to this post can be found here.

OH. MY. LORD.

Long time reader Yamy just sent me the following and I nearly LOST MY LUNCH.

A Mr. Walter Lippmann - writer, photographer and activist - is complaining that the US did not send fidel castro get well wishes after the fall he had in October that broke his knee. He has set up an email account - sit down now - getwellfidel@hotmail.com and urges us to please send fidel castro our best hopes for a speedy recovery.

I urge each and every single one of you to use that email - getwellfidel@hotmail.com - to send fidel, and of course, Mr. Lippman, your thoughts on how you truly feel about fidel castro.

Dont hold anything back folks.

I am always amazed at the extreme and total stupidity and willful blindness displayed by the Walter Lippman's of this world.

Fellow bloggers, I am not much into link whoring, but I implore you to help me get the message to Mr. Lippmann and fidel castro by linking to this piece or posting the email address on your site and encouraging your readers to say exactly how we all feel about the murdering bastard.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More at Michele's, Steve's, Dean's, TechnologyRight , and Raging Dave's and Madtom's and Bryan and Strange Dog and Free Frank Warner and It Comes in Pints and Leaning Towards the Dark Side and David and Juan and the Sundries Shack and Ian S and Scott and SondraK/eClaire. If I missed someone, drop me a line.

UPDATE: Feel free to use the following sample letters when sending your emails:

Short and concise:

Querido fidel,

Muerete ya, hijo de la gran puta.

Gracias

Number two:

Dear fidel,

The world was stunned when you had that unfortunate fall back in October. People around the world held their collective breaths. Unfortunately, you were still alive. Please, die soon.

Thanks.

Or:

Dear fidel,

I really really hope the take you out of that cast soon, and put you in a casket.

Or:

Dear fidel,

The line to piss on your grave is already forming, can you please hurry it up?

Gracias.

UPDATE: While you're here, might as well check this entry out.

Spam, it's what's for breakfast.

Spammers are dumbasses. How the hell can they think that by pissing off people with excess crap they're going to get things sold? Dumbasses, I tell you, complete and total dumbasses.

Between Saturday and last night, I had almost 10k comment spams. Ten thousand! Most of them were blocked by the MT Blacklist, only about 200 or so got through, but still, that's a shitload of comment spam.

Yesterday, I get a trackback ping from this post at Margi's. Apparently, she was trying to post a comment and my host had disabled my comment server. At the same time, I get an email from a reader that she had gotten the same message posted at Margi's from my host:

If you are seeing this web page it’s because Moveable Type comments have been disabled on the server your site is hosted on. The server was hit so hard by Moveable Type spammers that either the load on the server is out of control or it crashed and had to be rebooted. All mt-comment.cgi files will be disabled until the spam attack stops.

There are options you can take to prevent this from happening again:

1. Use moderated comments. The newest version of Moveable Type allows you to pre-approve comments before they are posted.

2. “Hide” your Moveable Type installations. Spammers are scanning for /cgi-bin/mt/mt-comments.cgi. Installing Moveable Type in a different folder may make it more difficult for spammers to find it.

3. Convert your Moveable Type weblog to a different weblog such as Word Press or Expression Engine that’s not susceptible to spam bots.

I was pissed. Now, I dont get the voluminous comments that other bloggers get, but I love hearing what readers think and appreciate the debate. I value my commenters and their opinions.

Zombyboy had the same problem last week and then again yesterday. In last weeks post he was undecided as to what to do. Remove comments altogether or install a turing test or use moderated comments or have the commenters register before being able to comment or, ultimately and much to my dismay, kill the blog.

Personally, I hate having to moderate comments and having to register to comment. It adds another layer between me and you. Imaging if your visiting a friend and before he lets you in the house you have to sign an application. Or before you can say something aloud at the home you have to whisper it in his ear. It just seems a bit impersonal to me.

So I contacted my BlogFather Dean Esmay and sought his blogworldly advice. After I told him that I dodnt want to have commenters need to register, he suggested that I close comments for older entries. To do that, I needed to upgrade my MT. And, since I dont know squat about html or code or MT and such, it was up to him to do it. Which he gladly did. I didnt even have to ask him.

Closing the old comments has worked pretty darn well. Ive only had about 10 spam comments blocked by the MT today and no comment spams get through onto the page.

So, here's the crux of this post: Spammers SUCK and Dean Esmay ROCKS. I now eat spam for breakfast.

Insults and Parasites

Presented without commentary:

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, November 22 (www.cubanet.org) - René Montes de Oca, secretary-general of the Human Rights Party, has been transferred from a local prison to one in Havana after it was determined he had parasites.

Montes de Oca is serving an eight-year prison sentence for insulting a government official.

His sister, Yakelín Montes de Oca, said that the head of the Pendiente prison in Santa Clara conceded that the parasites came from contaminated water. They were discovered after an ultrasound test, she said.

Proper Babalu Grammar

From now on, in strict adherence to the rules of grammar, the words "fidel castro" will no longer be capitalized as he is anything but "proper."

That is all.

Why am I hurting today you ask?

Because.

I no feel very well

Cant keep a damn thing in my stomach. And I'm hungover.

Turn off the lights on your way out, please.

A Sunday Gem

Yesterday, while my wife and I were standing at the checkout aisle of a local supermarket, a father and young daughter came and stood behind us in line. The girl must have been about 8 or so. She was beautiful but, we noticed, there was something just not typical of an 8 year old girl about her. She was demure and very quiet. She would stare at things for a few moments and become somewhat introverted. Her father would speak slowly to her and urge her out of her spell.

She was autistic.

The dad was very patient with her. He eased her out of her introvertedness kindly and delicately. It was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. It was hard to see this relationship between this father and daughter and not get choked up.

As the last of our items were being scanned, the girl looked up at my wife, pointed at her and blurted out "Ack!"

My wife smiled at her and said "Hi."

"Ack!" She said again pointing at my wife. "Ack!"

"Come on now, honey." the father said. "Use your words now. Remember your words."

"Ack!"

"Use your words dear. Remember your words."

"Ick!"

At this point my wife turns to me and I know she's about to lose it. I could tell she was mustering the strength to not break down and cry right then and there.

"Ick!" She yelled again.

"Come on honey, dont yell. Remember your words." The father kept calm, he smiled at her, spoke to her gently.

"Ick!" she said once again as she raised both arms in front of her in my wife's direction.

My wife turned and faced her, bent down close to her and smiled. The little girl mumbled "Ick" then hugged my wife and kissed her on the cheek.

We all stood there for a moment, stunned. The girl turned and began staring at the tabloids again.

The father nodded and thanked my wife with his eyes. We picked up our bags and my wife said "Goodbye, now" to the little girl but the child did not respond. She was back inside her own world.

I dont know much about autism, but I do know that most autistic children dont like to be touched and they dont respond well to strangers. Yet here was this beautiful autistic girl who just wanted to hug and kiss my wife.

The little girl may never remember that moment where she wanted nothing more than the touch of a stranger while standing in line at a supermarket with her dad, but my wife and I will never forget it. We will never forget her.

Life gives you little gems, and all you need to do is to learn to appreciate them.

What happens in Vegas...

...Stays in Vegas.

Justice, a little bit at a time.

The verdict for Mrs. Janet Ray Weininger's lawsuit against fidel castro is in.

Guilty.

Mrs. Weininger was awarded $87 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Janet Ray may never collect the money, obviously, but for her it was never about the money:

Weininger said money was not her main motivation; she sued so the truth would be known about the abuses of Castro's government.

In his summary, Judge Dresnick stated he was "repelled" by the mistreatment of Mr. Ray's body by Cuban ofiicials. Testimony and evidence showed that the American Pilot had been executed by the orders of fidel castro and then for 18 years his body subjected to inhumane treatment. Mr. Ray's body was beaten on, spit on, urinated upon and manipulated for propaganda.

In court, the sobbing daughter of the American Pilot stated that this trial was her legacy. "I am my father's daughter," she said. "I fight for the little guy. For those that can't fight for themselves. Just like my father."

But perhaps her most resonating statement came after the verdict was announced. Asked if she was content that fidel castro had been found guilty of desecrating her father's remains, she stated:

"I tell you when I'll be content. When Cuba's free."

Thank you, Janet. For having sacrificed so much for the freedom of the Cuban people. Some day soon we'll set foot on a free Cuba, and you will have been an integral part of the struggle. And, ultimately, the victory.

UPDATE: The judges opinion can be found here (pdf). Thanks to Tony of Oriental Redneck for the heads up.

Requisite Shooting in Fallujah Post

Since it's all over the MSM and blogs and everywhere else it seems, here's my take on the Marine's shooting of the "wounded insurgent" the other day:

SEMPER FI!!!!! GOOD JOB, MARINE!!!!

The MSM can circle-jerk on this issue all it wants to. Truth of the matter is that that "wounded insurgent" was there for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill American soldiers. He and his cohorts had all the time in the world to get the hell out of Fallujah. He didnt because he is a murderer and a terrorist. He was there because Allah told him to be there. Boo-f*cking-hoo. He was probably not even an Iraqi.

So, my take on it is simple.

F*ck'em. One less killer in this world.

Now let's get the rest of them.

Here's just a few bloggers taking this on:

INDC Journal
Protein Wisdom
Armies of Liberation
Blackfive
Sgt Hook
Banagor
Baldilocks
Powerline
Hog On Ice

A Dichotomy

Here are two reports from the Ibero-American Summit taking place in Costa Rica this week. One is from Reporters without Borders and the other is from Granma International, castro's party rag and the only source of news allowed in Cuba.

Granma:

CUBA CONDEMNS THE COMPLICITY OF THE COSTA RICAN GOVERNEMNT In a statement released on November 16, the Cuban Foreign Ministry stated that “by not preventing the utilization of its territory for a maneuver financed by the United States, despite the solid arguments reiterated by Cuba, the government of Costa Rica has made itself an accomplice of this farce.”

“The Revolutionary Government of Cuba condemns the Government of Costa Rica falls upon it as the host of the Summit, which includes adopting appropriate measures to ensure that a fitting climate for such an event prevails,” the text notes.

It adds that it was evident that the farce organized by a supposed “Costa Rican Solidarity with Cuba Committee” was deliberately aimed at creating difficulties in terms of the island’s participation and, in fact, the very celebration of the Ibero-American Summit.

Reporters without Borders:

Cuba and Colombia : a nightmare for journalists.

All criticism of President Castro is considered a criminal offence in Cuba, where 26 journalists were arrested in March last year along with about 50 political dissidents. They have been accused of "anti-government" activities and given prison sentences ranging from 14 to 27 years. Typewriters and pens confiscated from their homes were presented as evidence of guilt at their trials.

Typewriters and pens.

Meanwhile, Granma continues to spew it's communist rhetoric for all those that choose to be blind to reality.

The Cuban song -- it's a symbol of our culture.

More on the Cuban dance troupe defecting in Las Vegas:

LAS VEGAS - The Florida Café is probably as close to Cuba as you're going to get on the Strip.

Sergio Perez, the gregarious Cuban-born owner, brews coffee that is thick and foamy. The paintings of cathedrals and streetscapes of Havana come directly from the island.

So it is no wonder that the group of Cuban performers who defected in Las Vegas this week have become frequent guests.

Perez and members of the city's sizable Cuban-American community have embraced the Havana Night Club show members who sought asylum here in the largest group defection since Fidel Castro took power in 1959.

SHOWS AND PARTIES

They have attended the troupe's shows, hosted dinner parties and played soccer with them. The city's Spanish-language television stations have covered the troupe extensively.

The Cuban community is well established here. Many people who worked in island casinos and the Havana nightlife industry before Castro put a stop to it in 1959 emigrated directly to Las Vegas to find jobs.

To be sure, Las Vegas' Cuban community lacks the size and political clout of South Florida's.

The largest concentrations of Cuban Americans traditionally have been in Washington, D.C., and the greater Miami area. Other sizable populations reside in Tampa, Los Angeles and Hudson County, N.J.

The Las Vegas area is home to about 13,100 Cubans -- the eighth largest number in the country, according to 2003 U.S. Census figures.

But they are not as prominent here because they make up only 3 percent of the Hispanic population, which is 75 percent Mexican.

Local Cuban Americans have reached out to the performers since the troupe first performed here this summer.

Aleyda Hernández-Basulto, a Cuban-born real estate agent who moved to Las Vegas nearly three decades ago, last week hosted a dinner party for the group. They dined on roast pork and drank ''a lot of mojitos,'' Hernández-Basulto said.

SHOW OF SUPPORT

As a show of support, Hernández-Basulto went to the local federal building Monday as the performers turned in their asylum papers.

Hernández-Basulto only half-jokingly says that if the show had been in Miami, the exile community there would have protested.

''These kids are a product of the Castro regime,'' said Hernández-Basulto, who has lived here for nearly three decades. ``And those who would support Castro take notice: People in Cuba are trying to break free.''

After the first show this summer, two Cuban-American women approached José Manuel, a carrot-topped 38-year-old who sings and dances for the Havana Night Club show. They have become friends. Since then, they have befriended him, coming to many of the shows.

''They have been marvelous. They've received me so well,'' Manuel said. ``I feel like they're my aunts.''

PLAYING SOCCER

Jorge Viote, a county health department employee who left Cuba in 1995, was playing soccer at a park when friends introduced him to another player -- Puro Hernández, the show's musical director. Afterward, they went out for pizza.

''We talked about music, Cuba,'' Viote said. ``Getting to know someone else from Cuba, it's like food for the soul.''

TROUPE'S MUSIC

Back at the Florida Café, Perez keeps a CD of the troupe's music at the bar.

Perez, who came from Havana about 13 years ago, beams because there are newly arrived Cubans in Las Vegas who are willing to share their culture.

''The show is like a history of Cuba, from the African songs to the cha-cha-cha,'' he said.

Babalu has risen from the downed server ashes

I just came back online after being down for hours. Server problems with the host.

The only thing I kept thinking was Damn. If Castro dies now I'm gonna be pissed.

The Ladies in White

I have written about the Ladies in White before. Mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of political prisoners in Cuba that risk it all not only to bring attention to their husband's plight, but to help foster change in their country.

These women embody the Cuban soul. They aren't all intellectuals. They haven't all had major achievements in their lives. They are just Cuban women, like my mother or my aunts or my grandmother or my wife or my sister. They strive and sacrifice for their families. For the futures of their families.

I've just heard a segment on the Ladies in White by Npr's All Things Considered. It is a great report on what these women do what they do and why.

And I couldn't help but listen beyond the reporter's words and hear those of the Ladies in White in the background. Were it not for a twist of fate many years ago, it could have been my mother standing in front of a prison trying to help her son. It could have been my sister risking her future for me or my father. It could very well have been a person like me rotting away in a Cuban prison, knowing that my mother or wife or aunt of sister was outside, risking their freedom for mine.

That's courage, folks. Coraje.

No Mail for You

But, but, how will I receive my dollars from the States?

HAVANA, November 15 (José Antonio Fornaris, Cuba Verdad / www.cubanet.org) - The post office in the Altahabana subdivision of Havana lost electrical power in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley last August and no one seems to know when needed repairs will be performed.

Employees have kept some level of service going, selling stamps and handling mail, and, until Thursday, handling requests for money orders and telegrams. Those they gave up on because, one explained, they "had to go to another station and ask that they let us do the work, but we have been doing it for too long and the problem here is not getting solved."

An employee said the provincial office has told them the repairs will not be performed because the cost, over two thousand dollars, is not warranted and will have to wait a more thorough remodeling of the building.

"But they do neither one nor the other," said the employee.

I guess the whole island is in the dark, metaphorically and literally.

A Cubanism, for Cesar

Today's Cubanism is one my grandmother used to tell me all the time when I interrupted conversations between adults, and it's dedicated to new reader and commenter Cesar:

Cubanism: Los niños hablan solo cuando las gallinas mean.

Literal translation: Children speak only when hens pee.

I'm sure you can all guess the meaning of this one, right?

The four most beautiful words

Said countless times yesterday in Janet Ray's court case against the bearded dictator:

"The defendant, Fidel Castro..."

(Ill have details of the trail as soon as the verdict is in today. Stay tuned.)

What Now, "Celebrities?"

Below is a picture of Mirta Villanueva Ameida, mother of released political prisoner Carlos Perez Villanueva, after being hospitalized by one Mr. Luis Batista Tamayo, a member of an organization responsible for the security and protection of the Cuban Government.

Mrs. Almeida is 68 years old. She has a fractured rib, pelvis, clavicle and hip as a result of the beating. Her son sevred 12 years as a prisoner of conscience in one of Castro's many gulags.

Where are you now, Danny Glover? Oliver Stone? Pastor's for Peace? Harry Belafonte? Barbara Walters? Dan Rather? Why dont you stand up for her? Why dont I hear you screaming at the tops of your lungs over this clearly unjust and brutal beating of an old lady? Where is the compassion like the one you have shown for Fidel Castro?

Presented without culinary commentary:

For more on yesterday's ManCamp™ Culinary Debauchery, go here.

UPDATE: Ask me about "Hey!!! Get away from my fries!!!!"

Today is the Day for Justice

Imagine you're a little kid and your father comes to your room one day and hugs you and tells you he loves you and that he'll be back soon. He kisses you on the forehead and looks at you and gives you a big smile right before he closes the bedroom door as he leaves. You dont really know where he is going but you do know that your dad is a pilot in the Alabama Guard.

You would never see your father alive again. You will not know exactly what happened to your dad until many many years later.

As an adult you devote a great protion of your time to finding out exactly what happened to your father and when you do, not only are you incredibly saddened by his fate, but unbelievably angered.

You learn your father was a pilot shot down in a war agaisnt a communist dictator. A war instigated by your country only to pull out at the last minute, leaving the lives of thousands of men at the mercy of a murderous thug.

Your father, you find out, would not let those men on the ground die without some type of support from the air. He defied orders and set out in his unarmed bomber to assist those men on the ground. You know your father must have known it would be a futile attempt. You know your father knew he would most assuredly die. Yet he went anyway.

After years of research and investigation, you find out your father was shot down over Cuba during the Bay of Pigs invasion and that he was captured and killed - executed - at the order of Fidel Castro himself.

This angers you, but nothing could foresee the anger that you would soon feel after learning what had happened to your father's remains.

You learn that not only was your father embalmed and frozen - to be propaganda for regime of the same man that ordered his death - but that his remains were desecrated.

The government of the same man that killed your father - the same one that kissed you on the forehead before he went off to martyr himself for the cause of his neighbor's liberty - would urge his communist followers to spit on and kick and beat your father's lifeless body. Your father's murderer would charge an entrance fee for the chance to desecrate his remains.

That's the story I wrote about last week. The story of Thomas Willard "Rete" Ray and his daughter Janet Ray Weininger.

Today, Mrs. Weininger is in a Miami Courtroom demanding justice for her father's execution and the desecration of his remains.

My wife, daughter of a Bay of Pigs Veteran who could very well have lost her father to the same murderer, is at Mrs. Weininger's side today, in court and also demanding justice from the murdering despot.

I know that ultimately, whether it is through today's court proceedings or not, Fidel Castro Ruz will pay for all the lives he has destroyed and all the deaths he is responsible for. He will reap what he has sown. He will pay for the annihilation of a country and its culture and the brutal treatment of its people.

I pray for that day. And when Mr. Castro is dead, I will gladly pay any sum to spit on and kick his lifeless body. Forty years of frustration and pain in the hearts and souls of my parents and my family - and every other Cuban family - gives me not only the strength to defile Fidel Castro, but the right.

The day is coming, Fidel. We are all ready for it, and you deserve it.

The Spanish Culture and the African Drum

Forty-four members of the Cuban troupe performing the "Havana Night Club" revue in Las Vegas have defected and asked for poltical asylum in the US. It is the largest defection of Cuban performers to date.

The performers sought entry visas to perform in Las Vegas without the Cuban Government's approval.

Members said they had defied Cuban orders in early summer not to seek United States entry visas. But once the visas were granted, Cuban officials allowed the troupe to leave Cuba. They did so, the cast members said, because the issue had received widespread attention in the United States and because the Castro government did not want to be seen as impeding the flow of culture. In addition, organizers of the show said, several influential people worked to get permission for the trip. The actor Kevin Costner contacted the Cuban Interests Section in Washington on the group's behalf. Siegfried & Roy helped the ensemble land the engagement at the Stardust.

...

The performers said they decided to stay in the United States after the Cuban authorities told them they could be jailed or at the very least not be allowed to continue as professional artists in Cuba if they persisted in their plan to work in Las Vegas.

All of them now fear repercussions towards their family members remaining on the island. Yet despite this, they understand it's a small price to pay for thier futures and the futures of their children and family.

(Thanks to Scott of Burton Terrace for the heads up.)

UPDATE: When you have tried to leave Cuba for the states, the Castro regime immediately takes away your job. Then, they detain you periodically and threaten to arrest you for not having thejob they took away from you in the first place:

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, November 12 (Alejandro Tur Valladares, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Ciro Erelio Díaz Hernández, a mechanical engineer who was fired two years ago when he tried to leave Cuba illegally, now finds himself being picked up by police because he's unemployed.

Díaz Hernández says that Lieut. Eldys García Mederos of the police department has on repeated occasions questioned him about his unemployed state and told him to find a job. Last month he was brought before five officials and told he could be charged under the Danger Law if he continued to be unemployed.

Díaz Hernández was fired from his job at the Camilo Cienfuegos oil refinery after being caught trying to flee the country without an exit visa. He says he's been unable to find a job because his employment record now lists him as being "untrustworthy."

La Caja China Plans

UPDATE:If you are looking to purchase a Caja China, please email me at val - at - babalublog.com for more information.

One of the top Google search inquiries that bring people to this site is "Caja China." The pig roasting box I wrote about last year in my Noche Buena post. That same post was read by a food reporter working for the Washington Post while searching for a mojito recipe. She mentions my story, but not my blog, in her article.

I have received a lot of email regarding the caja china. People wanting info on how to build one, asking for plans and pictures. One person in particular, Robert from Dallas, even sent me his phone number because he was so intrigued by the pig roasting box that he just had to have one. If you are into outdoor cooking, it's like a sickness, you just have to have yet another way to cook stuff outside. I have 4 different grills out at ManCamp™ plus the caja china, plus the turkey fryer, plus the gas grill by the pool, plus the upright smoker in the shed, plus the gas ranges. You can never have too many cooking machines out there. The more the merrier. Steve wants to get a Caja China and incorporate smoke into it. He wants to make a Smoking Caja China. Man oh man.

Well, since Robert from Dallas was so nice I decided to draw up a simple plan for him on AutoCad. A picture of it can be found here.

After numerous long distance phone conversations Robert built his Caja China and used it. He just sent me some pictures of his work of art which I will share with you.

Here's a picture of the uncooked and heavily marinated porker. It looks kinda strange like that, I know, but once it's done, it's probably the best damn pork you've ever had.

Here's a shot of the box itself. Robert made some modifications to my Caja China design and I think they are actually pretty darn good.

Here's a frontal view of the mighty cooking machine. The beauty of the Caja China is that the heat generates from the top, thus the pig roasts slowly and evenly. In the end you have a pig that is fully cooked, yet not overdone and totally juicy inside.

Here's a photo of the finished product. Now that's a well cooked pig if ever I saw one. Notice how the skin is really dark. I can almost taste its crispiness.

Robert tells me in his email that he is planning on roasting a small lamb for his 25th wedding anniversary. I've never seen one made in a Caja China, but I bet it will be delicious.

Congratulations to you and the Mrs. on your anniversary, Robert. And send me some of that lamb, will ya?

UPDATE: It's Thanksgiving 2004 today and I have noticed a lot of google searches for the caja china. Will someone please email me at val - at - babalublog.com and let me know where you all saw the thing?

Thanks.

One Dead Terrorist

Well, Yasser Arafat is dead and world leaders are mourning his death. MSM is providing teary-eyed coverage of the event almost 24/7. Dan Rather interrupted the final minutes of CSI the other day to inform us that the Palestinian leader was dead. Jimmy Carter has stated that the man was basically a Godsend to his people.

What a freaken crock of shit. Arafat was a terrorist. No, better than that, he was the father of modern day terrorism. Responsible for heaven knows how many deaths of innocents. He was a thief who stole millions from his own people. A man who lived to the ripe old age of what, 75 or so? All the while indoctrinating little kids to blow themselves up in his name. How unbelieveably disgusting.

The media gives us tributes to that man with melancholic music playing in the background. I'm surprised Rather or Brokaw or Couric or Jennings dont shed tears when reading his life's story. How pathetic.

"Arafat dead, the world mourns." Give me a freaken break. I hope he rots in hell.

Ive watched some of the coverage of his death thinking one thing: This is the same shit they are going to do when the bastard Castro dies. I will be livid.

And disgusted.

Thank You, Veterans

Every neighborhood has a house that kids are afraid of. There's always one property in particular that little kid rumors are bandied about like candy. The woman that lives in that house is a witch! The last little kid that went into Mr. So and So's yard never came out! I've seen dead animals in their yard! In my old neighborhood it was the house on the corner across the street from my house. The house with the one-legged man.

None of us kids really knew why we were afraid of the house with the one legged man. The rumors just said that he was dangerous even though the house always looked pristine. It certainly didnt look haunted or anything like that. It was always well maintained. But the one-legged man was a mystery to us.

He rarely came out of the house and when he did, the location of the house and the landscaping around it always made it look like some shadowy excursion was taking place. We would ride our bikes on the opposite side of the street when passing the place and never, ever, took cover under the shade of the three huge black olive trees he had along the side of the yard. That house and yard were off limits according to every single kid in the neighborhood.

The specualtion about the man and his missing leg was rampant among us. He lost his leg after that killing spree he went on. No, it was when he was chopping up that last little kid that went into his yard that the chainsaw slipped and took his leg right off! Not once, in the years that he lived in that house did we ever go Trick or Treating at that house. We were terrified of razor blades in apples and poison in the candy. We were kids, we didnt know any better.

I must have been about 14 or so when the one-legged man sold the haunted house and moved away. I remember the big moving truck in front of his house and all the old furniture they had been loading into it all day. Everything looked like antiques. He was there directing the moving men while walking around on his prosthetic leg and occassionaly pointing to something or other with one of his crutches. I remember feeling relieved, now we could poach the fruit from the trees and ride our bikes close to that yard and sit under the black olives eating his mangos.

There was one thing about the house that always struck me as odd. Every holiday it flew a big American flag. Fourth of July's, Memorial days, President's days. I always found it kind of odd that a haunted house should fly the flag like that. Witches and warlocks and chain saw wielding mass murderers weren't supposed to be patriotic.

That day he was moving, as I sat out in the porch with my friends, the last direction he gave to the movers was to take down his flag. And they did and when they were about to roll it up around the flagpole to toss it in the moving van the one-legged man almost went into a frenzy. He yelled at the mover and hobbled up to him and swiped the flag and pole away from him and then carefully removed it from the pole. He threw the pole in the moving truck and stood there, in front of his house, and neatly folded his flag.

The one-legged man tucked the folded flag under his arm, ambled around the house and yard for one last look then got in his station wagon and drove away.

A few minutes after he'd gone, we hopped on our bikes and went straight to that property. We climbed the fence, knocked down a few avocadoes and looked into every one of the windows. There was nothing particularly scary about the inside of the home. It just looked like any other old house to me. It was right then and there that I knew we had been fools. There had never been anything dangerous about the old one-legged man. He was just an old one-legged man. I felt bad we had ignored him. I felt bad we had never Trick or Treated at his house. For all I knew that man had tons and tons of candy waiting for us on Halloween and noone ever showed. How sad, I thought.

When I was about 20 or so, I was coming out of a supermarket and as I turned to head towards my car there heading right for me was a familiar figure with one leg and crutches. It was the old one-legged man! The one we'd been scared of all our childhood days. The one I saw move away with his flag under his arm. I stopped in front of him and he looked up at me. He had the kindest eyes I'd ever seen in my life.

"Excuse me, sir," I said. "Did you used to live in Grapeland Heights? Off of 19th?"

His blue eyes sparkled. He had recognized me. "Are you the boy that lived in that pretty house across the street?"

"Yessir. That's me."

"All grown up now, huh?"

We chit chatted for a few seconds about the old neighborhood and how us kids were scared of him because we thought he was a bogeyman and he laughed. I felt I needed to make it up to him so I offered to help him with his groceries and he thanked me, said that wasn't necessary. I insisted.

I pushed the grocery cart for him that day at the store while he told me about his life. He'd lost a son in Vietnam. His wife had passed just before I had moved into the neighborhood. He had lost his leg to a mortar attack in Korea. He was an honest to goodness decorated war hero. A Veteran of the United States Army.

We said our goodbyes in the parking lot of the supermarket. I helped him get into his car and stood there as he drove away. I could have learned so much from that man during my childhood. Had I just taken the time and had the courage to one day knock on his door and offer to mow his lawn or wash his car I would have made friends with a good man, a war hero. Now, I cant even remember his name.

I woke up early this morning, showered, threw on my clothes and right before I left my house, I unfolded my flag, clipped it to the pole, and hoisted it in his honor. For the one-legged Veteran I lived across the street from all those years and yet knew for only a few moments.

I will never forget him.

I never got to thank him for giving what he gave so that I may ride bike freely about his neighborhood. I never got to thank him for giving his son and his leg for this country that has given me everything.

My flag flies for him today, an American Veteran, and for every single one of his brothers and sisters in arms. Thank you, Veterans, for your service and your sacrifice.

The Entire Island of Cuba is in Disrepair

My grandfather was a proud member of the Masons. As a kid, I went with him to a few meetings at the lodge around the corner from his home in Miami. I know that he would be appalled by this news item:

HAVANA, November 8 (Lázaro García / www.cubanet.org) - A staircase collapsed at the Unión Hispanoamericana Masonic lodge in the Havana district of Luyanó, and left four lodges that used to meet in the building homeless.

The building, built in 1916, needs urgent repairs which the Masons say they don't have the resources for. In the immediate vicinity, 90% of the buildings are in fair or poor condition, according to official figures.

Four lodges used the two-story building for meetings. "If we were to add the treasuries of the four, it would still not be enough to repair the building," said a Masonic official. "The Great Lodge of Cuba offered to help with 300 pesos, or about 11 dollars, which would not be enough to buy two sacks of cement."

The four lodges are currently looking for alternate places to hold their meetings.

I read the stories and see the pictures coming out of Cuba and I am left without words. Such beautiful and historically significant architecture is deteriorating to the point of no return. Buildings hundreds of years old are left to crumble for lack of any maintenance whatsoever.

Cuba will never be what she once was. Not architecturally, not economically and certainly not culturally.

Justice for a Brave American Veteran

This coming Monday, the 15th of November 2004, there will be a special case put before the Circuit Court Judge at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse. It is a case whose story began over 40 years ago and has traversed the bureaucratic myriads of three countries. A story that started out as a young woman's trek to learn her father's true fate only to later become a mission to seek the acknowledment and honor befitting an American Hero. Now, that same woman is seeking justice.

On April 19th, 1961 an American pilot disregarded the dire reports from the field, boarded his B-26 bomber on an air base in Nicaragua and drew course for a little unpopulated stretch of beach known as the Bay of Pigs. The eyewitness reports from the incoming pilots, among them Cuban members of the assault Brigade 2506 who had been trained by this pilot, did not deter him. There were no fighter planes to escort the B-26 bombers whose tailguns had been removed so that extra fuel tanks could be added for the long trip.

The beach had been hit by troops one day prior and the attacking army of men lay helpless for lack of the promised air support. The dead were all around. The usually beautifully blue caribbean water was now crimsom. Still, this pilot, this American Airman knew that he had to do what he felt was right. And he did. He took on what was essentially a suicide mission and proceeded to bomb the communist troops and weapons installations.

He was shot down that same day by the T-33 jets of his communist counterparts.

Thomas Willard "Pete" Ray, CIA Pilot and Alabama National Guardsman, was then taken prisoner by the forces of Fidel Castro and summarily executed (some reports say by a close range shot to the back of the head).

It was not until 1979, after years of research and lobbying the governments of The United States and Cuba, and years of traveling to Miami's Little Havana and delving into the Cuban exile community, that Janet Ray Weininger was able to confirm her father's death. For years the CIA had insisted that her father had gone missing during a clandestine or illegal cargo operation. This was the official stance of the CIA because, officially, the CIA had not been involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion.

For Janet Ray the confirmation of her father's death was not enough, however. She needed to know exactly where and what had become of his remains. That same year, after much more lobbying of the Cuban government, the Castro regime confirmed that they did in fact have his remains. They had had them frozen and intact for over 18 years. Castro had saved this American pilot's body, embalmed and frozen, to prove to the world that the US had, in fact, been involved in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He had boasted of having the body of an American pilot that he would lay on the table of the United Nations as proof of that involvement.

Janet Ray ultimately convinced the Cuban government to release her father's body, and upon his arrival to the US was buried with full military honors. But the story does not end there...

On Monday, the 15th of November 2004, Mrs. Janet Ray Weininger will seek justice for her martyred father. That day will see the beginning of a trial against Fidel Castro for the execution of Thomas Willard "Pete" Ray and the 18 year desecration of an American Veteran.

I am behind you 100%, Mrs. Weininger. May true justice prevail.

For more on the story of Janet and Pete Ray, read "The Mission" at Wings of Valor.

UPDATE: I should note that it was through Mrs. Weininger's efforts that the other three American Pilots who lost their lives during the Bay of Pigs invasion - Wade Carrol Gray, Leo Francis Baker and Riley W Shamberger - received the military honors they deserved. All four pilots names are now also displayed at CIA Langley headquarters among all the other operatives who gave their lives for their country.

UPDATE: My thanks to Veterans today can be found here.

A message for the limousine liberals.

Dean Esmay has some choice words for the elite who can't see thier way past the fact that Americans who voted for Bush arent the idiotic, moronic monkeys they believe them to be.

This is today's Crybaby post of the day, and it's a must read.

It's Christmas in November!!!!!

Apparently there was a big mix-up with the list and Santa Claus has given all Dolphins Fans an early present to make up for the past eight Sunday's worth of sacks of coal.

Dave Wannstedt will resign today as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

I feel like dancing a jig!

I know, I know, it's not always good to have your head coach leave in midseason. Yes, the team may be in disarray for the remainder of the season. So what? The Miami Dolphins are 1-8. One game won out of nine games played. That record is unheard of here in Dolphinland. Never in the history of the franchise had the Miami Dolphins had such an abyssmal season.

Is there a chance that the Dolphins will go out with a 1-15 record now? Sure. But now at least the guy that brought us to this football purgatory is no longer here.

I dont really feel to bad for Wannstedt even though he is by all accounts a very good and decent man. Football is football, and football aint for nice guys. I do wish him the best in the future, which will probably be as head coach of the Pittsburg Panthers. Good luck, Dave. Condolences, Pitt fans.

Now all I need is for Santa Claus to get rid of Rick Spielman, the Dolphins general manager, and put in someone who actually knows what the hell he's doing.

Still, it's a step in the right direction and since we are in the football gutter, we have nowhere else to go but up.

GOOOO DOLPHINS!!!!

Viva la revolucion!

Three news items coming out of Cienfuegos, Cuba, one theme:

HAVANA, November 5 (Richard Roselló / www.cubanet.org) - Havana police have confiscated around 600 pedicabs in the last month, forcing their operators and others into the ranks of the unemployed.

Most of the confiscated pedicabs and their operators lack the required licenses to either work as self-employed operators, or to operate a pedicab. Most of them complain the government refuses to issue the licenses, in spite of the need for transportation the pedicabs meet.

The operators say they must engage in the trade just to make ends meet.

"My salary as a mosquito control inspector is not enough. At the end of the day, I rent a pedicab from my neighbor for 30 pesos and go out at night to maintain my three sons," said a man who only gave his name as Lázaro, and said he had gone abroad three times to fight in Cuba's military ventures of years past.

Then there's this:

CIENFUEGOS, November 5 (Alejandro Tur Valladares, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Police continue a campaign against self-employed operators in Cienfuegos, arresting any they find and confiscating their wares.

William Morales, of the Tulipán district, was arrested October 27 in a raid by at least 10 government agents. The equipment and supplies he had for making sausages were all confiscated. He was fined and freed.

Reinaldo Tapia lost over 20 bottles of rum, and was fined 600 pesos October 28.

"My father is bedridden and I have to resell the product I obtain illegally to provide for my family," said Tapia.

People here say the raids have netted dozens in similar circumstances, and that they are expected to continue for another week at least.

And finally this:

CIENFUEGOS, November 5 (Alejandro Tur Valladares, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - La Gigante has been shuttered for months, and so has La Juanita. Pastorita is working at much less than capacity and only for government entities.

These and other laundries in Cienfuegos have succumbed to a scarcity of fuel and a lack of spare parts to repair often old equipment. In many cases, the problems are aggravated by the use of high-sulfur Cuban crude, which accelerates wear of tubing and boilers.

The only self-service laundry in town is offering washer, but no dryer service.

It seems pretty obvious to me what's happening. Castro's economy is hurting now more than ever, especially if not directly because of the lack of remittances from the US. The regime is trying to squeeze every cent they can get, like getting that last drop from a dry lemon.

Castro Roasted at NRO

Several kind readers have emailed me the following link to the NRO where Jay Nordinger publishes a letter from a reader(scroll to bottom) that states:

Dear Jay, I just received news that Luis Dominguez, my great-uncle, died last week. My father sent the news along with some of Luis's favorite jokes about Cuba. These are jokes told by Cubans to illustrate their disgust at the Castro regime and conditions in their country. . . .

Luis died without ever seeing his country regain her freedom. I pray he is the last in my family to do so. As my father said in his letter, "Que Dios lo tenga en la gloria" — "May God k