Rooting Interest

Hey folks great story about two Cuban exiles who own a horse running Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

One of the owners is a former political prisoner. The horse's name is Gayego.

Few, if any, have traveled a more improbable and circuitous route to the Kentucky Derby than Carlos Juelle and Jose Prieto. The Cuban émigrés journey to the owners’ suite at Churchill Downs traces back nearly four decades to hard-labor camps and a maximum security prison run by Fidel Castro’s communist regime.

Juelle, a 68-year-old semi-retired business executive from Rolling Hills, Calif., and Prieto, a 78-year-old medical practitioner from Glendale, Calif., are the owners of Gayego, the winner of the prestigious Arkansas Derby. The overachieving colt, purchased at the 2006 Keeneland yearling sale for the relatively paltry price of $32,000, is the only horse the two friends own.

H/T: Ed G.

Cuban Opposition Article Update

The Patrick Symmes article in Haper's is available here. Thanks to Penultimos Dias for making the link available.

H/T Henry

Jeremiah Wright's Cuban Friends!

Was it remotely conceivable that someone with the Rev. Jeremiah's Wright's worldview and connections had somehow avoided a pilgrimage to the world capitol of Yankee-hatred, to worship and commiserate with its high priests? Not a chance. Not a chance. Not a 'freakin chance! Wright was part of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's 300 person entourage to Havana in 1984. "Viva Fidel!" bellowed Jackson while concluding his speech at the University of Havana. "Viva Che Guevara! . . . Long live our cry of freedom!"

Read the rest

And here's Jackson and Wright's gracious sponsor:

Barack Obama- a Video Portrait

This video makes, in my opinion, too much of a big thing about the Islamic name issue in the beginning, when the real issue is his Christian religious affiliations. And to be fair, he doesn't have to put his hand over his chest during the anthem, it's for the pledge, but nonetheless, it's an eye-opening video, especially for those who might consider voting for Obama. My favorite part is Obama criticizing Don Imus for HIS racist comments. You'll also get the full Jeremiah Wright treatment, including him arguing (read: interrupting) with Sean Hannity about Black Liberation Theology. If you don't understand what that is and how to connect the dots to che guevara, watch the video and see for yourself. The whole thing is pretty scary and I cringed every time I heard Wright say "G.D. America."

Thanks to Ana Margarita Martínez

2007 Report on Terrorism

The Department of State's annual Country Report on Terrorism has been released. Cuba retains its designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

An overview:

CUBA

The Government of Cuba remained opposed to U.S. counterterrorism policy, and actively and publicly condemned many associated U.S. policies and actions. To U.S. knowledge, the Cuban government did not attempt to track, block, or seize terrorist assets, although the authority to do so is contained in Cuba’s Law 93 Against Acts of Terrorism, as well as Instruction 19 of the Superintendent of the Cuban Central Bank. No new counterterrorism laws were enacted, nor were any executive orders or regulations issued in this regard. The Government of Cuba provided safe haven to members of ETA, the FARC, and the ELN. It maintained close relationships with other state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Syria.

The Cuban government continued to permit more than 70 U.S. fugitives to live legally in Cuba and refused almost all U.S. requests for their return. These U.S. fugitives include convicted murderers (two of them killed police officers) as well as numerous hijackers, most of whom entered Cuba in the 1970s. The government returned one American citizen fugitive when that person sailed his boat into Cuban waters and it was determined that he was wanted on fraud charges in the state of Utah. The Cuban government stated in 2006 that it would no longer provide safe haven to new U.S. fugitives entering Cuba.

The Cuban government did not extradite suspected terrorists during the year.

Big, Fat, Hypocrite Obama

In my last post many people mentioned how white Jeremiah White looks. I agree, and clearly he has some Caucasian blood in his family tree. He grew up in Philly, by the way, and his school (Central High) was 90% white, so I'd venture to say he has had plenty of experience and exposure to the white population. Whether that is what caused him to hate whites, and thus, part of his own heritage, I do not know.

I'm not shocked that Obama has maintained and defended his relationship with Wright this long. I'm shocked that he finally separated himself from Wright since there is much evidence to show that Obama feels the same way as his mentor. Would we expect anything different from a man whose mentor is a racist? This is a friendship that could cause irreparable damage to Obama's campaign yet Wright is such a hate monger that he refused to retract anything he said. In spite of the potential to jeopardize and derail the campaign, he not only reiterated previous comments, he made more, forcing Obama to distance himself from him. I'm sure that was tough, since Obama has put in writing many of the same ideas that Wright has said out loud.

These are quotes from Obama's book "Dreams of My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance." Note that they are in the written form, but not in the audio book. After reading this, his allegiance to Jeremiah Wright should come as no surprise; Obama echoes the same sentiments, albeit not on a pulpit, about his own struggle with his "mother's race." I find it hard to believe that he has overcome all his feelings of hatred toward 50% of his heritage and even harder to believe that he will do much to bring blacks and whites together. And my doubts were erased when it took him so long to denounce, so to speak, what Wright has been preaching. We're all worried that Obama is far to the left, that he has socialist tendencies... I think the biggest issue is that he is a big, fat, hypocrite.

Enjoy the quotes, I hope you get the same warm, fuzzy feeling that I did. (Please note that Obama's book was published when he was but a babe in the woods at 34 years old and not yet in politics. He has since said: “Certain passages have proven to be inconvenient politically.” Indeed.

“There were enough of us on campus to constitute a tribe, and when it came to hanging out many of us chose to function like a tribe, staying close together, traveling in packs,” he wrote. “It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.”

He added: “To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists.” (Referring to life at Occidental College in Los Angeles.)

"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of twelve or thirteen, when i began to suspect that by doing do i was ingratiating myself to whites."

“The minority assimilates into the dominant culture, not the other way around. Only white culture should be neutral and objective. Only white culture could be non-racial, willing to adopt the occasional exotic into its ranks. Only white culture had individuals."

"Reverend Wright shrugged. 'Some of my fellow clergy don't appreciate what we're about. They feel like we're too radical."

"In fact, whites are so heartless and devious that we can no longer expect anything from them."

"I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

"That hate hadn't gone away, blaming white people - some cruel, some ignorant - sometimes a single face, sometimes a faceless image of a system claiming power over our lives."

"Never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, the son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself."

"And yet, even as I imagined myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."

"That's just how white folks will do you. It wasn't merely the cruelty involved; I was learning that black people could be mean and then some. It was a particular brand of arrogance, an obtuseness in otherwise sane people that brought forth our bitter laughter. It was as if whites didn't know they were being cruel in the first place. Or at least thought you were deserving of their scorn. White folks."

"Ray assured me that we would never talk about whites as whites in front of whites without knowing exactly what we were doing."

"Our rage at the white world needed no object, he seemed to be telling me, no independent confirmation; it could be switched on or off at our pleasure."

"Black politicians less gifted than Harold discovered what white politicians had known for a very long time: that race-baiting could make up for a whole host of limitations."

"A steady attack on the white race, the constant recitation of black people's brutal experience in the country...Yes the nationalist would say, the whites are responsible for your sorry state, not any inherent flaws in you."

Posted by Claudia4Libertad at 02:16 PM | Permanent Link to this Post | Habla (16)

Yon Goicochea awarded the Milton Friedman prize

As Daniel quoted here, "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities."

NEW YORK -- Embattled Venezuelan student leader Yon Goicoechea is the fourth recipient of the Cato Institute’s Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. Last November, Mr. Goicoechea was chosen by the Human Rights Foundation as one of nine illustrative cases of human rights violations occurring in Venezuela. He became Number Two of the Caracas Nine.

“This is a magnificent gift from the Cato Institute to the cause of human dignity and freedom in Latin America,” said Thor Halvorssen, HRF’s president. “Yon Goicoechea is a symbol of hope and courage and this honor is the freedom equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize,” he added.

Since early 2007, Mr. Goicoechea and his classmates chose to publicly oppose the violations of human rights by the Venezuelan government. Prompted by the shutdown of public broadcasting station Radio Caracas Television (see www.FreeRCTV.com), they organized a student protest that lasted for months and underlined the importance of safeguarding individual rights and preventing the expansion of unchecked government power. Mr. Goicoechea has stated that he will use the $500,000 cash prize to start a foundation to encourage student activism for democracy.

Previous recipients of the Cato Institute’s prize include HRF International Council member Mart Laar, a student who led Estonia’s Singing Revolution and later became emancipated Estonia’s Prime Minister; Peruvian activist Hernando de Soto; and British economist Peter Bauer. More information about the award for Yon Goicoechea and information surrounding the festivities can be found here, and for a copy of HRF’s full report about the violations of human rights in the case of Yon Goicoechea click here.

Posted by Ziva at 02:15 PM | Permanent Link to this Post | Habla (1)

Death penalty

Much ado about the recent commutations of many death sentences in Cuba. Most people don't realize that Cuba's 1940 constitution banned the death penalty. Of course there were extrajudicial killings under the dictatorship the preceded the current dictatorship but the current dictator's brother codified the death penalty into law.

I'm rare breed when it comes to this issue, a conservative that's against the death penalty. My reasons are twofold. First of all as a practical matter there is no way to correct an incorrect verdict if the defendant is dead. As terrible as it is to lose years of your life for being wrongly convicted, it's better than the alternative.

Secondly as a Christian I prefer to believe in life not death. I understand that you can't equate unborn children to hardened criminals but Jesus didn't come down here to save the saints. I know there's a lot of disagreement out there but that's the way I feel.

Slammed at work open thread

Hey what's going on in the outside world while I'm preparing a presentation?

Puffing up Joedilocks

Yesterday Bloomberg.com published a puff piece about Joe Garcia and the fictional generational shift among Cuban-American voters. Beyond the recycled garbage we've seen countless times in the Herald and other publications, this excerpt caught my attention:

Garcia says he doesn't advocate completely abandoning the embargo because too many people still support it. Instead he emphasizes domestic concerns and wants to lift restrictions Bush imposed in 2004 on travel to Cuba and sending money there.

God forbid that Joe have his own convictions on the issue, it's far easier, I suppose, to put one's finger in the air and see which way the wind is blowing. It's so transparent that Joe's position on the travel restrictions is based solely on opinion polls. But as I've expressed here many times, it's one thing to answer a query from an anonymous questioner on the phone and another to pull the proverbial lever at the election polls. Voters weigh the entire package when they are selecting a candidate. And Joe is trying to deliver a message that is so nuanced (for the embargo but against the Bush 2004 restrictions) that it's unlikely to net him any votes. In fact I'm willing to bet he'll lose votes because of it.

H/T: John

It's About Time

Obama Distances Himself From Ex-Pastor

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama told reporters at a news conference Tuesday."

What finally got him outraged enough to see what we all saw already? Oh, nothing, really, nothing crazy or anything. Just that the United States created the HiV virus to wipe out minorities, a comment he made before and says he stands by, and suggested that in spite of Obama's speech on race, that he agrees with him (Wright). He said "I'm not running for the White House, I've been running for Jesus for a long time."

"Obviously, whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed," Obama said. "I don't think he showed much concern for me, more importantly I don't think he showed much concern for what we're trying to do in this campaign."

Read the whole WHAT TOOK HIM SO LONG mess HERE.

Blackout in Venzuela

Via therealcuba.com we get word that Venezuela is the midst of a power outage covering large parts of the country.

More, but not really, at CNN.

La Primera Agua de Mayo

I was rooting around, trying to remember that ditty about “30 days have…” because I needed to know when the month was changing, when I remembered my old Cuban granny.

One day many years ago, I was doing something or other in the backyard of our home in Staten Island, when Abuela came running out with a glass of clear liquid, thrusting it at me. “Ruthy, Ruthy, tienes que tomarte esto!” she insisted. "You have to drink this." I eyed the liquid of indeterminate origin with suspicion. “Que es, Abuela?’ or “What is it?” I asked. "Es la primer agua de mayo," she informed me, the first rainfall in May. Now we lived across the aptly named Kill van Kull from all the petro refineries in Jersey, and it was not unusual to wake up and find the lawn furniture corroded in the night, which made me a bit hesitant. “Toma la primera agua de mayo para belleza,” or “Drink the first rainfall in May for beauty,” she reiterated. I looked at the glass; I looked at her beaming face, sharing herself, her past with me; and PBC’s or no PBC’s, I gulped it down. Heck, a little beauty wouldn’t hurt either.

So watch out for that first rainfall. I’m a little unclear as to whether it works for guys, but unless you live in Staten Island, it can’t hurt.

Longer version cross-posted at Ninety Miles

The Supremes Uphold Voter ID Regulations

Can't wait to see what the liberals pundits will be saying now. Granted that their understanding of the law is piss poor, but Obama, the Acorns, and the others will cry that voters will be disenfranchised because they are required to present ID at the ballots showing that they are who they say they are ... i.e., thus preventing voter fraud.

The Supreme Court's decision yesterday essentially says that ID requirements are per se constitutional and legal. And who wrote the majority opinion? None other than Justice Stevens, the liberal icon.

But of Course Justice Stevens being from Chicago has seen voter fraud from the 1st row under the Daley era.

Interesting as well is Justice Breyer's dissent. Who notes that while he had misgivings about the Indiana law, no such misgivings existed under Florida's law, which he cited as the perfect example of how a voter id system should be implemented. So don't even bother folks on challenging Florida's law; you have at least seven votes upholding that one.

I've worked the polls for the last three election and but for the existence of poll watchers and law abiding election officials (at least at the polls I've been too), it is very easy for voter fraud to be committed, especially with electronic voting which is now a thing of the past. But I have seen first hand how organizations like ACORN work at gathering purported new voters. Obama and the ACORN folks fought heavily to overturn the Indiana law for they feel voter fraud is just collateral damage. Well I don't and now the Supreme Court says the same.

Thank you Justice Stevens.

An interesting piece by John Fund on the case here.

Or you can read the Court's opinion here.

Speculative speculation

After an eleven year absence and a 2002 date postponed without explanation, the great and wise munificent prince raul has announced that the Cuban Communist Party Congress will be held sometime in 2009. On the surface, this means nothing to the Cuban people; it is just a get together for the elite that has oppressed the nation of Cuba for 49 years. But as I read the article announcing this latest edict from the boy-prince, something popped out at me that made me curious:

In separate elections, the congress also chooses the first and second secretaries of the Communist Party, posts that since 1965 have consistently gone to Fidel and Raul Castro.

Thus, the next Congress will decide -- unless he resigns first -- what role if any Fidel Castro will hold in the party going forward. He quit the State Council in February when he declined to be reelected for health reasons.

You cannot have a dominant, murderous, and repressive regime without clear leadership. It is obvious that the prince has felt a sudden need to hold this party congress after nary a word about it for almost six years. Does the crown prince believe his brother, the self-crowned king, will still be around to be "re-elected." Or, could it be that the un-dead dictator has finally gone to that great slave plantation in hell?

Just speculation on my part, but it is nice to imagine a certain dictator, with a penchant for beards and murdering innocent people burning in hell right now.

Cachao: Uno Mas

There are times when mere words are insufficient to describe the emotions of the human heart. When it comes to writing about Cachao, and his music, for me, that is such a time.

I am honored to be among those who will attend this week's Hollywood screening of "Cachao: Uno Mas." A heartfelt thanks to my friend who made this possible. If you know how I feel about Cachao and his music, you know that this will be a bittersweet, memorable evening.

A review:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Of the many films making their North American and world premieres at this year's 51st annual San Francisco International Film Festival, one music documentary has particularly close ties to The City. 'Cachao: Uno Mas' was originally envisioned as a concert film of a 2005 performance by legendary Cuban bass player Israel "Cachao" Lopez with actor and longtime champion Andy Garcia and the group, The Cineson All-Stars, at Bimbo's 365 Club in North Beach. The producers realized that the documentary presented an opportunity to create a full portrait of one of the architects of modern Cuban music and expanded the film to include interviews with the bassist as well as family, friends and musical compatriots.

Cachao is one of the originators of the "nuevo ritmo" that transformed the Cuban danzon, a traditional dance form dating back to second half of the 19th century. By introducing African rhythms to the music -- a progression that eventually led to the creation of the mambo -- Cachao and his brother Orestes Lopez made their mark as two of the most influential artists in Cuban music. Cachao was also a driving force behind the rise of the descarga, the loose-limbed style of Cuban jam session that emerged in the '50s and became the model for salsa and numerous forms of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz.

'Cachao: Uno Mas' is only the latest documentary about the legendary bassist that Garcia has been involved in. While in San Francisco prepping for his role in 'The Godfather III' in 1989, Garcia saw Cachao perform an SF Jazz Festival concert at Davies Symphony Hall organized by noted Bay Area percussionist and music educator John Santos. Garcia was a longtime fan of the bassist and had seen him perform as a teen while growing up in Miami, but witnessing Cachao perform his famous danzones live inspired the actor to approach the musician with the idea of staging a similar concert in Miami and filming it.

The 1993 documentary 'Cachao (Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos)' became Garcia's directorial debut and screened at that year's San Francisco International Film Festival. More importantly, the film and the Grammy-winning albums like 'Master Sessions Vol. I'-- produced by Garcia for Cachao--reintroduced the bass player to a global audience. While the 1996 album 'The Buena Vista Social Club' and subsequent film by Wim Wenders also helped bring about a resurgence of interest in classic Cuban music, there's little question that Garcia's patronage of Cachao laid the foundation for what would become a veritable cottage industry of tours and albums for the venerable artists.
Garcia and Cachao would continue their work together throughout the years that followed as Cachao received the accolades and credit he had deserved for so long for his contributions as a musical pioneer. The new film produced in conjunction with San Francisco State University's DOC Film Institute gives insight into the maestro's long, successful career and rich personal life while illuminating the special relationship he shared with student and patron Garcia. But the real treat of the movie remains Cachao's fiery onstage performance; the bassist stands out as a marvel of energy and authority for a man who was 86-years-old when the concert took place.

The heartfelt cinematic tribute of 'Cachao: Uno Mas' became all the more poignant with the passing of the Cuban giant on March 22 in Coral Gables, Fla. from complications resulting from kidney failure. While the master may have moved on, his great legacy of brilliant recordings and cinematic documentation such as this new film will give future generations a chance to experience the irresistable energy and seductive rhythms of the music forms Cachao brought into the world.

Moonbat train wreck

Holy hell, it´s a naked moonbat train wreck. It´s almost enough to make you feel sorry for the democrats.

Warning - Warning, crazy naked moonbats.

Via ex-Liberal in Hollywood. Click here.

With friends like these...

who needs enemies?

Joe Garcia is using this video of Jim Defede defending his fund raiser with Charles Rangel. I guess Joedilocks won't be satisfied until he loses EVERY Cuban-American vote in the 25th district. I remember the interview that Defede did with Ricardo Alarcon. Softballs is an understatement. Defede put the questions on a tee for tricky Ricky and of course offered no meaningful follow-ups.

Warning!

Do not run afoul of the proponents of the incredibly flexible theory of man-made global warming. It could be hazardous to your career and reputation, even if you are a scientist and professor emeritus.

No wonder there's a "consensus" on global warming. All infidels and skeptics are excommunicated.

Dirty money

This illustrates why we shouldn't be doing business with Cuba. While Cubans are standing in lines with a ration card and "resolving" their next meal, while political prisoners rot in Cuban jails, while peaceful dissidents are harassed and beaten, American businessmen are in Havana wining and dining castro's thugs. It's a dirty business.

From the Business Review:

NY delegation puts out nice spread during Cuba tripThe Business Review (Albany)
During a recent trip to Cuba, a delegation of 19 New York farmers and agricultural leaders put on a "Pride of New York" dinner.

New York Agriculture Commissioner Paul Hooker led the delegation of New York farmers to Cuba in the state's first trade mission to the country from April 21-23.

The delegation included: Kevin King of Empire State Forest Products in Rensselaer; John Cushing of New York Apple Sales in Castleton; and Lloyd Zimmerman of Black Horse Farm Inc. of Coxsackie.

The goal of the trip was to encourage the export of New York fruits and vegetables to Cuba.

"As part of the trade mission, it is customary to host [a] dinner for the Cubans one night," Hooker said. "So, instead of hosting a Cuban-made dinner at a local Havana restaurant, we organized a Pride of New York dinner that allowed the Cubans to not only meet our growers and producers, but to taste for themselves the finest product in New York state."

Voorheesville chef A.J. Jayapal, who is the executive chef at the Albany Country Club, served his guests wine from Fairport, Monroe County; a Schoharie Valley vegetable medley, and New York marinated beef. Gift bags included pancake mix from New Hope Mills in Auburn, Cayuga County; onions from NY Bold LLC in Fulton, Oswego County; and baseball bats from Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. in Dolgeville, Herkimer County.

New York is one of 26 states that have organized traded missions to Cuba. Since 2000, U.S. companies have been allowed to sell agricultural, food and medical products to the island. Cuba has purchased $2.7 billion worth of agriculture and food products from U.S. companies in the past seven years.

Question for proponents of the incredibly flexible theory

of man-made climate change.

We know that CO2 or plain old carbon dioxide is the big bogeyman for the global warming religionists by virtue of the fact that it's a greenhouse gas.

We also know that scientists and engineers are working hard on alternative energy sources and that among them are hydrogen power. There are already prototypes that run on hydrogen and generate a clean exhaust of WATER VAPOR.

My question is this: how long will we continue to allow engineers to work on technology that produces a greenhouse gas that is much more potent than CO2? I mean water vapor is the most significant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. And what will a fleet of hydrogen powered cars do in places like Miami where there's incredible amounts of water vapor in the air already?

Just something to ponder.

Obama The Divider

I love James Tarranto's commentary each day. He has a great post on the WSJ website today on how Obama is doing more dividing than he is uniting. Case in chief:

Democratic front-runner Barack Obama was supposed to unite the country, overcoming racial and even partisan division. How's that working out?

As far as bridging the partisan divide, one may give him credit, but only in a backhanded way. His not-quite-insurmountable lead for the Democratic nomination has had the consequence of creating a tactical alliance between Hillary Clinton and Republicans, so that Mrs. Clinton has, at least for the moment, joined the vast right-wing conspiracy, as we noted last month. Mrs. Clinton even got the endorsement of Richard Scaife's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the eve of the Pennsylvania primary.

But a corollary to this is that his own party is divided--among other ways, along racial lines. The New York Times has some evidence:

The third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives and one of the country's most influential African-American leaders sharply criticized former President Bill Clinton [Thursday] afternoon for what he called Mr. Clinton's "bizarre" conduct during the Democratic primary campaign.

Representative James E. Clyburn, an undeclared superdelegate from South Carolina who is the Democratic whip in the House, said that "black people are incensed over all of this," referring to statements that Mr. Clinton had made in the course of the heated race between his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Senator Barack Obama. . . .
In an interview with The New York Times late Thursday, Mr. Clyburn said Mr. Clinton's conduct in this campaign had caused what might be an irreparable breach between Mr. Clinton and an African-American constituency that once revered him. "When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar," Mr. Clyburn said. "I think black folks feel strongly that that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation."

We were initially inclined to see this Clyburn's way; there months ago, we opined that it was invidious for Mr. Clinton to liken Obama to Jesse Jackson after the South Carolina primary. But this was before we learned of Obama's relationship with "spiritual mentor" Jeremiah Wright, a practitioner of "black liberation theology" who has called America the "U.S. of KKK A." Hugh Hewitt has unearthed another sermon, in which Wright declares that America is doing "the same thing al Qaeda is doing under a different colored flag."

Although Obama has denounced some of Wright's remarks, he has not specified which ones, and he has said, "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community." In fact, Politico's Ben Smith reported last week that Obama's campaign distributed a handbill in Philadelphia before the primary that touted the candidate's relationship with Wright.

***

Politico's Smith has another charming example of unifying rhetoric coming from the Obama campaign:
[Obama campaign manager] David Plouffe tells [National Journal's] Linda Douglass that real racists are probably voting Republican in any case:

"The vast, vast majority of voters who would not vote for Barack Obama in November based on race are probably firmly in John McCain's camp already," he says.

We agree with Wright on one thing: Obama is a politician, and "he does what politicians do." By the standards of politics--that is, besting opponents at the ballot box--Obama has done quite well, a lot better than most people expected when Mrs. Clinton was inevitable. But by the standards his supporters have set for him--transcending the differences that divide the country--one would be hard-pressed to say he's been even modestly successful.

Read the whole article here

It just kills me how Obama is now the Savior of the Dems and the Libs. The only argument they have against McCain is that he's old and is Bush 3. How weak.

Fontova vs. Peters: Knockout!

Hey folks, author and Babalu contributor Humberto Fontova has been interviewed by Frontpage and it's a GREAT read. In the interview Fontova takes on Sherritt, Phil Peters, Larry Craig, Charles Rangel et al.

A brief excerpt:

Fontova: Well, Mr. Peters is unquestionably the mainstream media's top source for sound bites on Cuba 's so called reforms and transition. He's quoted everywhere from the Washington Post to the Miami Herald, and from the AP to Reuters. These sound bites always -- and I mean always -- manage to include a few jabs (however subtle) at U.S policy towards Cuba .

Peters’ zeal against the so-called U.S. embargo of Cuba (the U.S. is actually Cuba's biggest food supplier and fourth biggest trade partner ) strikes many as excessive for someone with a purely intellectual stake in the matter. Moreover, Peters snipes at all aspects of U.S. policy, even the traditional one of accepting Cuban refugees. It's like he follows the entire list of Castro's directives to his own captive media.

FP: Why do you think he has be become one of the mainstream media’s favorite sources for Cuba sound-bites?

Fontova: Primarily because he echoes their anti-U.S. policy viewpoint. But he does it from the point of view of a "former Reagan-Bush State Dept. official" and "Vice Pres of a free-market" think tank, you see. So he's billed as being free from any leftist taint which gives his observations and opinions a more mainstream cachet than if they issued from, say, Noam Chomsky or Saul Landau.

FP: What do you think explains the fact that he is a frequent guest of the Cuban regime -- which rolls out the red carpet for him?

Fontova: Cuba 's Stalinist rulers are not overly keen on hosting anyone who will alert the outside world to their high-living and repression, and they have various methods of making it worthwhile for their guests to cooperate in the cover-up.

A year ago, reporters Gary Marx of The Chicago Tribune, Stephen Gibbs of the BBC, and César González-Calero, of the Mexican newspaper El Universal, were all booted from Cuba . The regime cited their "lack of objectivity" for the booting. And it's not like they were reporting on Raul or Fidel in the manner Dan Rather and Sam Donaldson, for instance, reported on Ronald Reagan or George Bush--much less Richard Nixon. These reporters seemed to take their job titles seriously and deviated somewhat from the normally subservient and lame style of reporters and press agencies who are granted Havana bureaus.

We don't call him the surgeon for nothing.

Read the whole damned thing here.

A little Monday morning ajiaco

New poetry book about Cuban struggle for independence.

Canadian newspaper laments the fact that more Canadian firms haven't gotten into bed with castro, inc.

Qatar is not shy about doing business with castro, inc. however.

Today Frontpage Magazine again defies the MSM version of Cuban events:

Frontpage Magazine: As you mentioned earlier, Phil Peters is an advisor to the Congressional "Cuba Working Group." Can you tell us more about this Congressional caucus?

Fontova: In brief, they devote all of their energies to trying to end the so-called Cuban Embargo. This has been the regime's priority for decades but with much more urgency after the Soviet Union 's collapse. The Cuba Working Group obviously doesn't have to register as a foreign lobbying group which is what makes them so attractive as partners to Cuba 's Stalinist rulers.

Charles Rangel is among the most active in this group, which is interesting considering his traditional activism FOR embargoes. “Every dollar we spend with (this regime) makes us accomplices in their crimes!” he thundered in 1986. “No true friend of democracy can also be a friend of (this regime!) In any business dealings with (this regime) we become tainted by association!”

Rangel was referring, of course, to South Africa 's segregationist regime. Somehow none of these moral admonitions apply when dealing with a Stalinist regime that imprisoned political prisoners at roughly ten times the rate as Botha's, used Sarin gas against Angolan villagers, and came closest to nuking the U.S.

Kinda long, but read the rest here.

The Carpetbaggers Blues

It seems that after all the time, energy, and money spent by the Canadian government and businesses to squeeze as much profit as possible from deals with the castro plantation and its 11-million strong slave labor force, they are now at risk of being left for newer and more exciting carpetbaggers.

MONTREAL -- If Communist Cuba is open for business - as its seems like never before to be under new president Raul Castro - then Canadian companies should be the first through the door, right?

After all, Pierre Trudeau became the first leader of a NATO country to visit the communist island in 1976. Jean Chrétien paid a follow-up visit to Fidel Castro a decade ago, just after passing legislation to protect Toronto-based Cuba booster Sherritt International Corp. from any nasty spillover in this country from the anti-Cuba U.S. Helms-Burton Act.

With that history of Cuban-Canadian complicity, Raul Castro's stepped-up efforts to court foreign investment to develop the island's oil, power and tourism sectors should mean dividends for Los Canadienses.

Not quite. Not only are Canadian businesses not first in line as Cuba opens up, not many outside Sherritt appear to be in line at all.

What a travesty of justice inflicted on these poor Canadienses. They were the first carpetbaggers who had the heart to help the monarchical dictatorship when it was down to its last breath after the collapse of the USSR, and now, they are being pushed aside for newer, more exciting carpetbaggers.

Whatever happened to carpetbagger ethics?

You can read the read the whole story HERE.

WaPo Editorial: No Space for Dissent

Surprising editorial from the Washington Post today. It falls short of supporting the U.S. embargo on Cuba but comes pretty close:

European apologists for the Castro dictatorship, led by the Spanish government, are clamoring for the European Union to restore normal diplomatic ties with Havana; Democrats such as Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) have renewed their calls for a lifting of the U.S. trade embargo, even as they campaign against free trade with democratic Colombia.

Unsurprisingly, such Cuba buffs haven't had much to say about another signal Mr. Castro sent last week after the Women in White approached his office in Havana's Revolution Square...

The women were not able to talk to Mr. Castro. Instead he dispatched police and scores of party thugs to the park to rough them up and hustle them into a bus...

Cuban officials recently hinted that the current ban on foreign travel by average citizens might be changed; let it be removed. Then Mr. Castro can discover just how many of Cuba's 11 million people are willing to go on enduring a regime whose idea of reform is permitting the sale of microwave ovens.

We've been posting some oddities in the MSM's coverage of Cuba recently. You know, things like the truth finally coming out. But this is arguably the most important newspaper in the country taking castro, inc. to task for its abuses.

The Half Empty Glass

It's a question of perspective. There are some that say we are too ready to bash the media. And it is true they make a convenient target. However when you see how they continually skew the news, it is difficult to sit silently by and say nothing, particularly when that is how most of the American public gets its information.

Both Reuters and AP covered the Sunday announcement by the Cuban regime concerning salaries, etc. The difference in perspective is notable. The gist of the Reuters' story is that the regime, pleading diminished resources, will not come through with the widely anticipated raises in State salaries. There will be an increase in pensions and the like, as well as in the salaries of judges and prosecutors. The rest of the populace will have to wait.

What's interesting is that it is the AP story that was picked up by the media, one which highlighted the regime's magnaminity in increasing pensions, "aid to needy families," and court employees- with more raises to come. John Q. Public reads the headline and the first few paragraphs and says to himself, "See what a nice dictatorship. That Raul guy is really changing things," even as Oscar Biscet languishes in his jail cell. Of course, if John Q. missed the coverage of that White House award ceremony, he has absolutely no idea who Biscet might be, because political prisoners do not fit into the Cuban narrative as the media reports it.

The Reuters' story here. Two versions of the AP here and here.

Selective outrage

There is a great Op-Ed today in, of all places, the San Francisco Chronicle. The author, Joel Brinkley, rightfully laments how the UN's Human Rights Council, the even more despicable replacement for the UN Human Rights Commission, has sent its rapporteurs (I love that word--it sounds so official and so UNish, yet it means nothing more than a person who reports) throughout the world to investigate people and groups who are abusing their free speech rights by violating "moral standards." In other words, if you speak bad about one of the Human Rights Council members, such as the Cuban dictatorship, you are abusing your right to free speech. However, you can say all you want about Israel and the US because, well, that is just fine with them.

This selective outrage is nothing new to Cubans who have been waiting for nearly half a decade for the world to recognize the pure evil that is the monarchical regime in Cuba.

You can read the Op-Ed HERE.

What Do Homeless Gingerbread Men, Invasion of Giant Oysters and Cannibalism All Have in Common?

Bob, tell us the answer!

THEY ARE ALL CAUSED BY GLOBAL WARMING!

Yesterday I was listening to Glenn Beck on the radio and I was crying laughing. Glenn found a list of things that are blamed on global warming. The list is huge. He took a few of the more ridiculous-sounding ones and had his producer research them to see why they were blamed. So, yesterday he explained why the following crises are said to be caused by global warming:

--Decline in circumcisions (in Africa, circumcision rituals are performed every 7 years when enough food has been accumulated for the celebration and global warming causes a food shortage, ergo, the food shortage causes a drop in circumcision rates.)

--Early Marriages (In some countries where there are food shortages causes by global warming, parents are marrying off their young daughters so they don't have another mouth to feed.)

I think my very favorite one is gingerbread houses collapsing. Yes. In Sweden, global warming is causing damp weather and the royal icing isn't holding the gingerbread houses together.

If you didn't catch his radio show, the transcript is here and it is a hoot.

There are about a hundred other problems that are caused by global warming which you can find in this list here. Some other favorites are:
-childhood insomnia (kids can't sleep because they are too worried about global warming).

-short-nosed dogs endangered
-struggling brothels
rape waves
Maple syrup shortage,
-human race oblivion
-giant oysters invade,
-crime increase
-cannibalism (this is Ted Turner's gem)
I'm not denying that some of the issues on the list could be legitmate, but as Glenn Beck asked, do you think media alarmism could be the cause of some of these issues? Nah.

After reading the huge list I wondered why I didn't see Cuba's woes listed on it. Surely there are plenty of issues in Cuba that the castros know are caused by global warming. It just makes sense to attribute the Black Spring Crackdown, treatment of political prisoners, lack of due process, work camps, the need for two currencies, unaffordable cell phones and dvd players and censorship on global warming. I know for a fact that raúl doesn't want to free the political prisoners because in doing so, they could protest again, causing more hot air to be pushed into the atmosphere and thus creating more global warming. He's just thinking green, that's all. Also, fidel's health issues? Global warming. Blocking internet access? Did I hear global warming? I am sure that they can come up with plenty of rationales for each one of these. Come on raúl, get on the ball, start laying some blame.

Cuban version of classic board game

Here.

Must be that global warming

Yes, that's snow forecast for Monday April 28th in Milwaukee...

Minnesota has Pawlenty to be proud of

Perhaps some of you remember Mike Huckabee's flip flop on the embargo back in December. When he was governor of Arkansas he signed a letter to President bush on behalf Arkansas farmers asking for an end to trade embargo on Cuba. But presidential candidate Huckabee was for the embargo, claiming that he had changed his opinion based on the fact that as governor he had to look out for the best interests of his constituents. The media didn't really take him to task on this but I did here at Babalu.

Well Minnesota's governor, Tim Pawlenty, was faced with a similar situation. The Minnesota legislature passed a resolution urging "Congress and President Bush to end trade, financial and travel restrictions with Cuba." But Pawlenty vetoed the resolution saying:

Forwarding this resolution to the federal government would have Minnesota promoting a position that is contradictory to the long-standing policy of the United States...

The Cuban government is totalitarian...

Significant progress needs to be made before the United States should consider establishing full diplomatic and commercial relations with Cuba.

CNN on Cuba

Video on Cuba from CNN Bureau Chief Morgan Neill. There's still an element of bias in these reports, for example there's a touch of moral relativism when Neill discusses the "name calling" that occurs between the U.S. government and castro, inc. But all in all there's some solid reporting there the likes we have not really seen from CNN and other bureaus before.

H/T: PenultimosDias.com

Open Letter from Paquito D’Rivera to Michelle Bachelet

April 25-2008
Mrs. Michelle Bachelet
President of Chile

Paquito D’Rivera
Músico y escritor cubano exiliado.

More Cuban soccer in the USA

On October 11, the Cuban soccer team will play the U.S. at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. in a 2010 World Cup Qualifier (assuming the US beats Barbados and Cuba beats Antigua and Barbuda). If I can sneak out of work, I will definitely fly down to D.C. and watch the game. I'll probably bring some sort of sign, though I haven't yet decided what I should write on it. It's difficult to piece together my affection for the players but disdain for the regime in a few, catchy words. What would you write?

Prior to that, the U.S. team will play in Havana on September 6.

Food & Trade

As we hear stories of folks hoarding rice and what not coupled with the Progressive Saviour, His Holiness St. Obama, cries against free trade and for increased protectionism, we can only expect more food shortages as corn and grain is grown for fuel (instead of sugar which is the logical bio fuel) and as markets further contract due to tariffs. Great op ed in today's WSJ on this phenomena. The piece reads in part:

Consider two key trade policies that are aggravating the current food crisis. Biofuel mandates in Europe and subsidies in the U.S., along with tariff barriers against alternative sources of biofuels, are encouraging farmers to divert food from hungry mouths toward fuel production. Corn-based ethanol production in the U.S. has increased fourfold since 2000 and now takes up close to 20% of total corn production. This not only takes corn – an important human staple and animal feed component in its own right – off the table or out of the trough, but it also leads farmers to switch to corn, thus diminishing supply of other staples like wheat and soy, and driving up those prices as well.

Meanwhile in the developing world, tightened restrictions on exports of foodstuffs are obstructing a long-term solution, even as import barriers come tumbling down. Each country is trying to keep domestic supplies high on the justifiable grounds of food security. But by holding prices artificially low, export bans keep the market from sending accurate demand signals to domestic farmers. This penalizes farmers, who can't get the full, world price for their produce. That impairs efficiency, and undermines the incentives for investments that can increase long-term supply. Topping it all off, such measures subsidize high-income households, not just the poor.

Moreover, as more countries implement export controls, global supply contracts even further, pushing prices up by at least 10% and possibly much more. A vicious spiral lurks here, as panic- and policy-induced speculative hoarding drives world prices even higher.

So while the lefties blame bush and mccain (who they refer to as bush III for lack of any intelligent arguments) what will aggravate the situation is the dems anti trade policies. Read it here.

The Evil Empire strikes again

As this AP story reports, the “Evil Empire,” the United States of America, has sunk to new lows. It is not evil enough to the Evil Empire to impose an embargo on Cuba’s regime for such a silly and insignificant thing like the theft of $200+ billion dollars of private property. It is not evil enough to the Evil Empire to refuse recognition of an illegitimate monarchical and totalitarian dictatorship. It is not evil enough to the Evil Empire to give refuge to the escaped slaves that are the property of the Cuban regime.

Forever searching for new ways to be evil, the Evil Empire has managed to do what many would have deemed impossible; they have committed one of the most, if not the most insidious evil act of all time:

Cuba's statement Thursday in state news media also alleges that U.S. officials have increased aid to Cuban dissidents, such as giving them radios, literature, T-shirts and access to computers.

Radios, literature, T-shirts, and access to computers? What impudence! Do these American imperialists have no decency? Do they have no idea what damage an evil imperialist T-shirt can do?

Pure evil, I tell you… pure evil.

Bob Menendez targeted by Cuban intelligence

This surprises nobody familiar with Cuba's modus operandi but it's interesting nonetheless.

A former undercover FBI agent says in a new book that Cuban officials asked him to spy on Cuban-Americans including Sen. Bob Menendez and a Cliffside Park businessman.

Cuban diplomats in Washington, D.C., were obsessed with generating scandalous information about Menendez and two other Cuban-Americans in Congress, said Robert Eringer, the author of “Ruse: Undercover with FBI Counterintelligence.” They blamed Menendez, then in Congress, and his two colleagues for tough U.S. policies against Cuba, he said in an interview on Friday.

Remember that when you step into the voting booth this November. Also remember who the mouthpieces for the regime are backing in those elections.

Also consider how many times you've heard the argument that the embargo is cold war relic and then read this:

“For Cuba, the Cold War has not ended — it always continued with the United States,” said Eringer, who added he was promised exclusive business opportunities in Cuba as a bribe.

The cold war rages on with regards to Cuba whether you want to believe it or not. I don't know how many spies the government needs to uncover to prove it.

Unbroken Ties: Dialogues in Cuban Art

Don't know if you all have heard, but Jorge Santis over at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art has pieced together a 70-piece collection of Cuban art entitled "Unbroken Ties: Dialogues in Cuban Art." Some of the artists are exiles, others are nationals. Some are dead, others are still alive. Some of the artists despise the [c]astro regime, others support it (and are supported by it financially), and others choose to steer clear of politics in their work.

Santis claims in an article in the Sun-Sentinel that he is nervous about the reaction to this "all-inclusive" collection. There are several contentious pieces, especially one which can be interpreted as a Christlike presentation of photographs of [c]he's dead body. Another painting is exactly the opposite -- it displays [f]idel with a mouth spewing guns, prisoners and doctrine. These diverse works of Cuban art are pieced together in three segments: "Paradise Lost," "Risking Life and Limb" and "Unbroken Ties: A New Reality."

Here are the details of the show:

Where: Museum of Art, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

When: Through Oct. 28; open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. daily

Admission: Adults $6, seniors and military $5, students, educators and ages 12-18 $3. Ages younger than 12 free. Free Thursday evenings 4-7 p.m.

I'm definitely going to check it out when I return to Miami in June. While I fully expect to be disgusted with some of the pieces, I feel that they depict an important aspect of our history that should not and cannot be ignored. As long as they are shown in a fair and balanced exhibition, then I am willing to pay a few bucks to see the collection.

If any of you stop by, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to post in the comments or e-mail me at laprimerageneracion@gmail.com

Well, Would Ya Look at That?

The Yale Daily News has an op-ed by a 2007 graduate which basically says what we have all been saying about the reforms. The significance here is that it is on the Yale Daily News website. Wow! Please visit. While you're there, don't miss the comments, so you can see the state of education about Cuba. Some of these students could use a little re-education.

Not so fast my friend!

Now that raul the munificent is showering Cubans with the right to buy technology the rest of the world takes for granted the number and intensity of pleas to end the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba have increased. But there's a little problem. Despite what embargo opponents claim, the intent of the embargo was not to dethrone the castro monarchy but rather a reaction to the confiscation of American assets in Cuba. We're talking about a huge sum of money here, the largest such expropriation in U.S. history.

Well Fortune magazine explores the issue of American claims in Cuba.

...claims made by nearly 6,000 companies are currently valued at $20 billion, and U.S. laws require all claims to be settled before trade can be normalized.

U.S. companies are not looking for a check, however, according to Patrick Borchers, an international-law professor at Creighton University, who studied the issue for USAID: "[They want] assets back or replacement assets or development rights."

So in addition the human rights considerations there are obstacles to reestablishing trade with Cuba that can only be removed by the regime.

Office Max, which is one of the American companies with largest claims would certainly like to see a settlement. To that end they have lobbied the federal government to end the embargo by negotiating with Cuba. The problem has been that fidel has never wanted such a negotiation. It would imply giving some sort of ground to the U.S. and that has been completely unacceptable to the elder castro.

More about Office Max (formerly Boise Cascade) here.

H/T: Ernesto

Obama's Campaign Blogger is a Fan of Karl Marx and Noam Chomsky

Well, well, well, it didn't take long for Obama's true colors to be revealed. We first got a hint of Obama's idealogy when Maria Isabel Norman hung a che guevara flag in an Obama precint headquarters in Houston some months ago and Obama remained silent except to call the flag, "Inappropriate."

But Little Green Footballs is reporting that Sam Graham-Felsen, Obama's official blogger, is a Marxist. Sam Graham-Felsen is an unabashed follower of Noam Chomsky and had this to say in the Harvard Crimson:

"For me, hearing Chomsky speak for the first time was a life-changing experience. His ability to take preconceptions and destroy them—to completely remodel one’s understanding of reality with cold, hard facts—blew me away. When I left what was then the ARCO Forum last fall, I felt as though I had been through the Matrix and back. Chomsky really has this effect because he bombards you with evidence and logic, not empty rhetoric. It is nearly impossible to hear him or read him—once you’ve actually checked his facts yourself (he even cites page numbers in public addresses)—and deny what he’s saying."

Sam Graham-Felsen also hung a Communist party flag in his room after his trip to Russia.

Sam also wrote for the "Socialist Viewpoint," which includes in its "Who We Are" section:

The Socialist Workers Organization was formed to advance the revolutionary Marxist political program in the United States. Our members are long time active participants in the socialist and labor movements. We agree with Karl Marx that society is divided into social classes whose interests are irreconcilable.

Does this mean Obama is a Marxist? Not necessarily, but it does mean he either has no idea who is on his staff or he just doesn't care. Clearly he can't micromanage everyone who helps him, but you'd think a kid who hangs a communist flag and a woman who hangs a guevara flag and have been publicized would be drawn to his attention.

There is more Marxist madness HERE.

Words to Ponder on a Friday

"As much as I converse with sages and heroes, they have very little of my love and admiration. I long for rural and domestic scene, for the warbling of birds and the prattling of my children."
-- John Adams, Second President of the United States

Have a great weekend folks.

Something REALLY is changing

Of all of the so-called changes in Cuba none is as surprising as the one raul castro is not responsible for, namely how the media is suddenly seeing the light. We are actually seeing the major media tell some truths about how everyday Cubans live. Here's another Associated Press article about Yoani Sanchez and Cuban bloggers.

He says he knows of nobody who would spend money to go on the Web and defend the system. "Everyone who argues in favor of the government is paid to do so, or does so because they have been asked to," he said

-Reynaldo Escobar, Yoani Sanchez' Husband referring to Cubans that flood the Internet with positive opinions about Cuba.