About that salve...

Interesting piece from the Miami Herald, which has infiltrated a correspondent into the Cuba. Some excerpts (emphasis mine):

CARDENAS, Cuba -- Loraicys is 27 years old, has never worked, and refuses to take just any job. She is not alone.

As Raúl Castro embarks on an ambitious plan to kick-start the communist nation's economy, he faces daunting challenges: Many Cubans simply do not work.

Decades of measly salaries and vast government subsidies have kept many young people off the labor rolls because it's more lucrative to hustle on the street. Others live comfortably enough off remittances from Miami and elsewhere.

According to Granma, the communist party newspaper:

• 20 percent of the working age population in Havana is unemployed.

• Nearly half of them turn down jobs when they are offered.

• 17 percent of the more than 17,000 recent technical school graduates did not show up for the jobs they were offered. Another 200 of them stopped coming in after a few months.

Many Cubans told The Miami Herald said they did not work because it just was not worth it. The dual currency system that pays state salaries in nearly worthless pesos and sells most consumer goods in a dollar-based tender called the CUC, means average monthly salaries don't cover the cost of basic goods such as shoes, which can cost three times as much as a $10 monthly wage.

Eduardo, a 30-year-old stagehand who got his first job four years ago, said most of his friends worked for the first time when they were in their late 20s -- after emigrating to Florida.

''Why was I going to work? The money they would pay me was not going to meet my needs,'' he said. ``My mother in Orlando sent me $100 a month, and with that I was set.''

Incidentally $100 a month is amount permitted to be sent to Cuba each month after President Bush enacted "draconian" changes to U.S. policy on remittances to the island in 2004.

Last week Barack Obama addressed the Cuban American National Foundation saying he would remove those restrictions because, "It’s time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime."

Well here's at least some anecdotal evidence that such an outcome does nothing to create incentives for change in Cuba, in fact, it perpetuates the status quo. In Cuba the state is supposed to take care of the needs of its citizens. Remittances relieve the regime of its self-designated responsibilities.

Breaking: Obama resigns from church

Seems the heat of all those folks he agrees with was getting to 'im...

May 31, 2008, 6:27 pm Obama Quits Controversial Church

Amy Chozick reports on the presidential race.

Barack Obama has quit Trinity United Church of Christ, the campaign confirmed on Saturday.

The Democratic front runner has been a member of the Chicago church for over 20 years and has credited its largely African-American community and activist-based teachings with shaping his identity and political voice.

The church was swept into the center of controversy in April when the media began airing fiery tidbits from sermons of Obama’s long-time Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama quickly quieted the storm by delivering a well-received speech about race. He later more harshly absolved his ties with Wright after he continued to make divisive comments.

Trinity was thrust to the center of another media storm this week when Rev. Michael Pfleger, a former advisor on the Obama campaign’s Catholic advisory council and a long-time friend of the candidate, delivered a racially-fueled tirade against Hillary Clinton.

“When Hillary was crying, and people said that was put on—I really don’t believe it was put on,” the white pastor told the predominantly black audience. “I really believe that she just always thought: ‘This is mine. I’m Bill’s wife. I’m white and this is mine.’…and then out of nowhere came ‘Hey, I’m Barack Obama.’ And she said, ‘Oh, damn. Where did you come from? I’m white. I’m entitled. There’s a black man stealing my show.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, Obama said he was not at church during the sermon and that Pfleger’s “backward-looking” remarks were “deeply disappointing.”

Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson responded with harsh words for Obama for not rejecting Pfleger’s statements. “We are disappointed that Sen. Obama didn’t specifically reject Father Pfleger’s despicable comments about Sen. Clinton,” Wolfson told reporters.

Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama’s departure from his long-time church was “effective immediately.”

Obama's Other Longtime Friend and Advisor (UPDATE ABOVE)

The good father here like Rev. Wright like William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn and Tony Rezko all friends, advisers, confidants of the Junior Senator from Illinois until it is no longer politically convenient.

Yet, Mr. Obama is still a member of this church and sends his kids there. So he must not have nothing against what they preach there.

More Global Warming Hogwash!

"Bears are Inuit (Eskimo) food,” says Canadian Inuit Jayko Alooloo in an interview with Canada's CTV, “like cows for you southern people.''

Alooloo also regards the newly-designated status of polar bears as “endangered” as a complete crock.
“They're actually increasing every year.” he says. But what does he know? He only lives amongst them? Whereas, from his Washington D.C. Office, U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne relied on computer weather model to predict that in 50 years, due to Global Warming's effect on arctic ice fields, polar bears will decrease in numbers. My own weatherman's computer model's rarely get it right for the next four days. Kempthorne's nails it for the next fifty years!

The rest here from Townhall

El Sandwich Cubano

No Marta, I'm not trespassing on your turf here, amiga. I'm not crazy! This is short week-end chuckle for Spanish readers.

EL SANDWICH CUBANO :

Un estudiante americano de visita en la Habana compró, en la tienda para turistas, un sándwich cubano especial de lujo: Un pedazo de pan francés de casi un pie de largo con lascas de lechón asado, jamón serrano y york, queso suizo, mantequilla, pasta sazonada, pepinillo y rojas y grandes rodajas de tomate
...
Con su sándwich y una Cola en mano, se fue a comer cerca de las azules aguas frente al Meliá Cohíba, donde se hospedaba. Apenas había comenzado a comer su apetitoso 'lunch' cuando ve a un jóven cubano que pasaba por el lugar.
El cubano llevaba también un sandwich, el llamado 'pan con timba' hecho con un pedazo de pan, chiquito, con dulce de guayaba, comprado en un timbiriche de la calle Paseo.

El jóven cubano saboreaba lentamente su pan con timba para que le durara.
El americanito le dice :
'Sabes, nosotros en Estados Unidos estamos maravillados de la agilidad mental de ustedes los cubanos. Todos saben jugar ajedrez, se conocen las reglas del baseball y de otros deportes, tienen una gran memoria y conocimiento sobre los principales eventos históricos, casi todos hablan dos o más idiomas y saben un mundo de geografía y política internacional. Resultan increíbles en sus avances en las ciencias, inventan vacunas sintéticas. ¿Cuál es el secreto?'

El jóven cubano, mirando el sándwich le dice:

'... Bueno, le voy a confesar nuestro secreto, pero que quede entre nosotros. ¿Ve este pedazo de pan que tengo aquí? Dentro tiene dulce de guayaba, de una variedad endémica de guayaba que solo crece en Cuba. Es elaborado con azúcar prieta de Cuba. Hace muchos años los científicos soviéticos descubrieron que la caña que se cosecha en Cuba tiene unas moléculas con protons radiactivos que pasan por ósmosis al azúcar prieta, los cuales al combinarse con una sustancia activa intrínseca de loscomponentes de isotrones de la guayaba que una vez que llegan al cerebro a través de la microcirculación sanguínea producen un efecto súper energizante y estimulan las células cerebrales de la sustancia gris, en especial en las secciones de actividad mental y memoria inmediata, con los resultados fabulosos que mencionaste. Ese es nuestro secreto.'

El americano, con mucho interés, le pidió probar un pedazo del dulce. El cubano le dijo:

'Bueno. como muestra de solidaridad y amistad por haber venido a Cuba, rompiendo las férreas restricciones del bloqueo, voy a hacer algo mejor por ti:
Te cambio el pan con guayaba y dulce de caña por ese 'sándwich' que te estás comiendo el cual, dicho sea de paso, está lleno de sólidos grasos de origen animal, colesterol y triglicéridos, que endurecen las arterias y son las causa fundamentales del infarto del miocardio, causa primaria de muerte en la población de los Estados Unidos'.

Con un gesto precipitado el gringo le extendió su sándwich al criollo, quien enseguida se lo intercambió por su pan con dulce.

El cubano le entró al sándwich de tal forma que en tres bocados había llegado a la mitad del mismo. Por su parte el americano se iba comiendo lentamente el pan con timba, porque la verdad que estaba un poco duro y el dulce algo rancio.

Al cabo de unos minutos dice el americanito:
'Tengo la impresión de que saliste ganando con este intercambio'.
A lo que el cubano le contestó:

'¡¡¡ COÑOOOO - BÁRBARO, CHICO !!! ...Ves ? ... ¡Ya te están haciendo efecto en el cerebro LOS PROTONES de las molécula de la caña de azúcar y los ISOTRONES de la guayaba. ¿ No te lo dije ?...Sigue, sigue masticando.'

Crazy is as crazy does

One of the favorite degrading remarks the castro loving liberals like to use to describe the Cuban exile community and those that support a strong stance (embargo) against Cuba’s murderous regime is to call them crazy. They contend that the definition of crazy is someone that continues to do something over and over again even though it does not produce the result they expect (the fall of the castro regime). But like most, if not all liberals, they are too busy criticizing the speck in the eyes of the Cuban exiles to notice the plank of wood lodged in theirs.

For your consideration I present to you the same logic from the other side: If Cuban exiles are insane for continuing their support for the US Government’s strong position against the repressive castro regime even though it has not resulted in its removal, what, then, can we say about a bunch of castro apologists who have been trying to change US policy towards Cuba for almost half a century to no avail?

Crazy is as crazy does.

Benny's love songs to Cuba

It´s Friday night, go and take a musical tour of Cuban cities with Benny Moré, courtesy of Nelson´s updated post at Asymmetric.

Trust me, click here.

I may finally have a reason to vote for John McCain

From Liz Smith's column in the New York Post:

SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie "Bernard and Doris," is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, "It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people."

Let's hope she packs Tim's bags too.

About those so-called reforms...

Still think that raul's so-called reforms are the beginning of a transition to democracy?

Watch this video via Teresa's Cuba-Blog:

This Spanish couple enjoyed many amenities and attractions in Cuba including a trip to communist Disneyland, the museum of the Revolution:

With such spokespersons for democracy, it won't be long until Cubans are all free.

JR "Reporters"

"We've made progress, but we have a ways to go, because our reporters have been conditioned to think in a certain way," he says. "They have inertia in their thinking. This kind of journalism we're trying to do is hard for us. Throughout our whole lives, we've done it in a different way."

Blue Planet, Green Shackles

That's the name of a book by the Czech Republic's President, Vaclav Klaus. Listen to his BBC interview here. It's too bad they took down that video from this group that I posted earlier because you could hear what Klaus is talking about in the environmentalists own words. It's a stark contrast between Klaus who grew up in the period of communism and Soviet domination and the New Zealand attorney who questions democracy, who has presumably never lived in any other system than a democracy.

RIP -- Heddy, er Hedley er Harvey

I loved Harvey Korman both on the Carol Burnett Show and especially in the great Mel Brook's films of the 1970's, "Young Frankenstein", "Blazing Saddles", "High Anxiety", and "History of the World Part I".

He is a legend. None of the young comedians today have 1 oz of the talent that Harvey had. He'd make kids and grown ups laugh hysterically.

I'll miss him. But I still have my Mel Brooks movies to see him over and over again.

Obama: The Homer Simpson Candidate

Great article by John Fund in the WSJ showing the number of "doh's" from Mr. Obama and how he's gotten a pass from the liberal media that supports him. Heck, the Today Show had Mr. Disloyal on yesterday for 45 minutes; why? Well cause it helps Obama. In any event, this article will make you wonder once again why the Dems always go with the loser -- with the candidate least likely to win ..... Doh!

For months, Barack Obama has had the image of an incandescent, golden-tongued Wundercandidate. That image may be fraying now.

As smart and credentialed as he is, Sen. Obama is often an indifferent speaker without a teleprompter. He has large gaps in his knowledge base, and is just as likely to dig in and embrace a policy misstatement as abandon it. ABC reporter Jake Tapper calls him "a one-man gaffe machine."

Take the Auschwitz flub, where Mr. Obama erroneously claimed last weekend in New Mexico that his uncle helped liberate the Nazi concentration camp. Reporters noted Mr. Obama's revised claim, that it was his great uncle who helped liberate Buchenwald. They largely downplayed the error. Yet in another, earlier gaffe back in 2002, Mr. Obama claimed his grandfather knew U.S. troops who liberated Auschwitz and Treblinka – even though only Russian troops entered those concentration camps.

That hardly disqualifies Mr. Obama from being president. But you can bet that if Hillary Clinton had done the same thing it would have been the focus of much more attention, especially after her Bosnia sniper-fire fib. That's because gaffes are often blown up or downplayed based on whether or not they further a story line the media has attached to a politician.

When John McCain claimed, while on a trip to Iraq in March, that Sunni (as opposed to Shiite) militants in Iraq are being supported by Iran, coverage of the alleged blunder tracked Democratic attacks on his age and stamina. (In fact, Iran may well be supplying both Sunni and Shiite militants.) Dan Quayle, tagged with a reputation as a dumb blond male, never lived down his misspelling of "potatoe."

Mr. Obama, a former editor of the Harvard Law Review, has largely been given a pass for his gaffes. Many are trivial, such as his suggestion this month that America has 57 states, and his bizarre statement in a Memorial Day speech in New Mexico that America's "fallen heroes" were present and listening to him in the audience.

Some gaffes involve mangling his family history. Last year in Selma, Ala., for example, he said that his birth was inspired by events there which took place four years after he was born. While this gaffe can be chalked up to fatigue or cloudy memory, others are more substantive – such as his denial last April that it was his handwriting on a questionnaire in which, as a state senate candidate, he favored a ban on handguns. His campaign now contends that, even if it was his handwriting, this doesn't prove he read the full questionnaire.

Mr. Obama told a Portland, Ore., crowd this month that Iran doesn't "pose a serious threat to us," saying that "tiny countries" with small defense budgets aren't much to worry about. But Iran has almost one-fourth the population of the U.S. and is well on its way to developing nuclear weapons. The next day Mr. Obama had to reverse himself and declare he had "made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave."

Last week in Orlando, Fla., he said he would meet with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez to discuss, among other issues, Chávez's support of the Marxist FARC guerrillas in Colombia. The next day, in Miami, he insisted any country supporting the FARC should suffer "regional isolation." Obama advisers were left explaining how this circle could be squared.

In a debate last July, Mr. Obama pledged to meet, without precondition, the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Syria and Cuba. He called President Bush's refusal to meet with them "ridiculous" and a "disgrace."

Heavily criticized, Mr. Obama dug in rather than backtrack. He's claimed, in defense of his position, that John F. Kennedy's 1961 summit with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna was a crucial meeting that led to the end of the Cold War.

Not quite. Kennedy himself admitted he was unprepared for Khrushchev's bullying. "He beat the hell out of me," Kennedy confided to advisers. The Soviet leader reported to his Politburo that the American president was weak. Two months later, the Berlin Wall was erected and stood for 28 years.

Reporters may now give Mr. Obama's many gaffes more notice. But don't count on them correcting an implicit bias in writing about such faux pas.

Over the years, reporters have tagged a long list of conservative public figures, from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, as dim and uninformed. The reputation of some of these men has improved over time. But can anyone name a leading liberal figure who has developed a similar media reputation, even though the likes of Al Gore, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have committed substantial gaffes at times? No reporter I've talked to has come up with a solid example.

It's clear some gaffes are considered more newsworthy than others. But it would behoove the media to check their premises when deciding just how much attention to pay to them. The best guideline might be: Show some restraint and judgment, but report them all.

Maybe the sign is for Democrats

(H/T Jeff Baker)

Patriotism?

Sometimes, I read the news and think Im living in some kind of perverse Lala Land.

To wit, remarks from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi:

Well, the purpose of the surge was to provide a secure space, a time for the political change to occur to accomplish the reconciliation. That didn’t happen. Whatever the military success, and progress that may have been made, the surge didn’t accomplish its goal.

And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians-they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities-the Iranians.

Reason number 1,285,437 why I would never, ever, ever, vote for a Democrat.

From Ace, via Michelle.

Much more on this at Redstate.

Here we go again... ?

Earlier this month, we published an article by the U. S. ambassador to Canada, David H. Wilkins, announcing a new "Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People," to be observed on May 21. In today's edition of the National Post, Cuba's ambassador to Canada responds. In his article, which appears on this page, Ernesto Senti Darias argues that Washington has no lessons to offer Havana when it comes to humanitarian "solidarity," nor anything else. Throughout, the ambassador presents Cuba as a proud, benevolent regime while casting the United States as a cruel hegemon.

When I read this opening paragraph, which appears in an editorial from the National Post in Canada, I prepared myself for yet another puff piece glorifying the wonderful and majestic societal advances of Cuba's totalitarian regime. So Imagine my surprise when I got to the third paragraph.

The fact is, the ambassador's rebuttal is a classic example of communist agitprop. Completely ignoring the litany of human rights abuses listed by Mr. Wilkins, the Cuban ambassador instead ticks off showpiece Cuban foreign aid stunts in other nations. This is a mainstay of communist public relations: The Soviets, too, tried to distract the world from repression and poverty back home by sending delegations overseas to provide token good works. In Venezuela and Iran, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are now following the same script.

And it gets better! Read the whole editorial, "The Real Cuba," HERE.

The next ideological war - UPDATED

I was searching for videos about Cuba for some random youtubery and found this VERY SCARY video of environmentalists talking to each other at a conference in New Zealand.

People, we have to wake up. Listen to how these people don't even disguise the contempt for democracy.

UPDATE: As you can see, they took the video down. I guess they didn't want anyone scrutinizing their antidemocratic fervor after all.

It's pretty well known that Cuba is home (and has been home) to many great musicians. But it's also home to some not-so-great musicians. Luckily for tourists it's hard to tell the difference when your inebriated. Ironic that the song butchered in this clip [was popularized] by the Che-loving idiot Carlos Santana.

"Obama, Black Liberation Theology, and Karl Marx"

Great article in The American Thinker about the connections between Obama's religious affiliations and the Marxist mind-set. For your second course, I invite you to see this video I posted last week on The Universal Spectator. It bears watching and passing on to those on the fence about our new Messiah.

Oh, and, by the way, does this statement remind of you of someone ever-present on our TVs these days?

...the power which has always started the greatest religious and political avalanches in history rolling has from time to immemorial been the magic of power of the spoken word, and that alone.Particularly the broad masses of the people can be moved only by the power of speech.

Who said it? Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf.

Cubans and their cell phones

H/T: Pep

Richardson Endorses Obama, Again!

Okay, so I lied. It was Obama's position on Cuba, Richardson endorsed, gushing...

..."His readiness to have a dialogue with Cuba and Venezuela, I just think this could mean a new era for the U.S.-Latin America relationship,"

All of which might lead the irreverent to picture a scenario much like the one Anne Coulter envisions for relations with Iran:

Perhaps in the spirit of compromise, Obama could agree to let Iran push only half of Israel into the sea. That would certainly constitute "change"! Obama could give one of those upbeat speeches of his, saying: As a result of my recent talks with President Ahmadinejad, some see the state of Israel as being half empty. I prefer to see it as half full. And then Obama can return and tell Americans he could no more repudiate Ahmadinejad than he could repudiate his own white grandmother. It will make Chris Matthews' leg tingle.

There are days I actually like the woman.

The "nuance" of Barack Obama's foreign policy

I've never seen anyone bob and weave as much as Obama has since he answered yes to the following question at a debate:

Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?

I mean the question could not have been phrased more clearly. Let's break it down:

Would you be willing to meet separately
Translation: Not at a summit, not in a multilateral context

without precondition
Translation: without precondition
Further translation: without requiring anything in exchange for such a meeting

during the first year of your administration
Translation: during the first 12 months or 365 days or 8760 hours of an Obama administration

in Washington or anywhere else,
Translation: any place in the world

with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea
With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar al-Assad, Hugo Chavez, raul castro and Kim Jong Il

in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?
Translation: in order to normalize relations with their countries.

Of course the answer should have been "no". But Obama, in an attempt to out-liberal his opponents jumped at the opportunity to differentiate himself without thinking through the consequences. Obama would fly in the face of the wisdom of presidents of both parties and common sense.

Perhaps he began to believe his own press clippings about his magical powers but it was clearly a mistake. As Charles Krauthammer has noted, he should have immediately withdrawn that answer and expressed a more reasonable answer. Instead we have the aforementioned bobbing and weaving.

It's all nuance you see. As once commenter at JustOneMinute said, "Nuance = incoherent".

Et tu, Stanford?

Stanford University is home of the renown think tank known as the Hoover Institution, it apparently is also home to an apologist for the castro regime. A Stanford alum sent us this invite which received (note the text that I have highlighted by changing its color to red):

Not mentioned in the invite is how that great Cuban educational system takes into account how "integrated" into the Revolution the student and his/her parents are.

Top Cuban courses are:

Raft Building 101: How to make a seaworthy vessel from trash

Jineterismo 101: Sell your body for fun and profit

Begging 201: This very popular course teaches you the best approaches to extract money from tourists

Resolviendo 301: This is an advanced course in how make due with soy bean picadillo, reuse coffee grounds and stretch a 10 day ration for 30 days

Bombo 401: This course is indispensable for those wishing to leave the island, you'll learn how to fill out the necessary applications for the U.S. visa lottery

Soborno: 401: This class teaches you how to bribe the necessary castro, inc. officials to get your exit visa once you have your U.S. visa

Doble Moral: This a required course for all Cubans that teaches you what can and can't be said in public., especially to visiting professors.

This guy intends to come down here and lecture people on the merits Cuba's educational system? What a set of balls he must have.

Oh brother.

*CAMBIO

Had a few minutes to swing by my parent's house this morning in between meetings. I like to drop in on them unexpectedly every once in a while - I know it cheers them up, but I also do it because I dont want Mom to be spending her entire morning or afternoon or evening cooking some incredibly delicious and elaborate meal as Cuban moms are wont to do. Heck, even when I drop by unexpectedly, it's like I have to basically force Mom not to make me something to eat.

"Quieres un sanwichito? Te frio un bistek? Quieres cafe?"

As if I needed extra pounds to lug around. But I digress.

Dad sees my CAMBIO bracelet and says "Remember that Cambio poster you gave me that my barber had asked you for?"

"Yeah, Dad. Claro que si."

"Well, when I went to get my hair trimmed yesterday, the barber was all apologetic."

"What do you mean?"

"He kept apologizing for having to take the Cambio poster down from his storefront."

I knew right then and there why he took the poster down - we had a similar issues with the Cambio tshirts at Cuba Nostalgia - but I let him finish the story.

"Well, apparently, a few of his customers and many people that were just visiting the same little shopping center his shop is in kept coming in and complaining." He shakes his head and smiles when he says this. "They kept coming in and asking him how he could vote for a man like Obama and what kind of cambio could anyone expect from someone who is obviously a communist. He tried to tell folks what the poster was really all about, but it was so frequent and so many people came in pissed off so often that he couldnt get any work done."

I had to smile when he relayed this as, for months and months we've been hearing all about that demographic change in Cuban-American politics and voters and, well, Dad's barber shop is smack dab in the middle of Cuban exile central. In the heart of the City of Miami.

For Cuba Nostalgia, we were sent about 200 Cambio tshirts. I think we sold maybe 4 during the entire three days. And I think I spent the entire three days swearing to folks, of all generations, that we were not there promoting the Barrack "Cambio Usurper" Obama presidential campaign.

I think there's a couple of candidates out there trying to unseat Congressmen and women here in South Florida that are in for a big surprise come November. If, that is, they continue to believe and promote their own bullshit about changing politics and changing voter attitudes in the Cuban-American community.

I kiss Mom goodbye, give Dad a peck on the cheek and as Im stepping off their front porch turn and say "Oye Papi. Dile a tu barbero que le voy a mandar a Joe Garcia pa'lla pa' un pelaito."

"Muchaaaacho," he says, smiling ear to ear. "Lo pela al rape."

Liberal ethnocentrism at its worst - Updated

One of the annoying things about liberals who carry water for the castro regime and other Latin-American tyrants like Chavez or Morales is the paternalistic, ethnocentric attitude that their statements betray. A perfect example is comment someone posted to my recent Pajamas Media column about Obama and Cuba:

Some populations are so childlike that they can only be controlled by a strong hand. Hugo Chavez understands this. Fidel Castro understood that, when he still had his faculties of thought, but perhaps Cuba was the wrong country to set his demonstration?

Obama understands this very well. He is leading his sheep to pasture, even as we speak.

My response was:

To pasture or to slaughter?

The idea that some people need is a “strong hand” is exactly the racist attitude that prevails among American liberals who accept for others what they would not accept for themselves, namely abuses of human rights, censorship etc.

I used the word racist but it really isn't racism because many of the people in Cuba that needed the "strong hand" according to these liberals are white (whether they realize that or not) and many the liberals that express such sentiments are black. It's really ethnocentrism. Those people over there need a benevolent dictator that keeps them from harming themselves.

UPDATE: It seems that perhaps the comment I quoted above was intended to be sarcastic/ironic judging from the commenter's blog. The sentiment though is one I have oft encountered however and that's why I jumped at the chance to post such a thought so brazen in its up-front-ness (I know that's not a word).

Air America: Liberal radio worth listening to...

Or looting a charity for:

May 29, 2008 -- The mystery man behind the looting of a Bronx charity to finance the startup of liberal radio network Air America was arrested yesterday in Guam.

Evan Montvel-Cohen was picked up by border-patrol officers at Guam International Airport on an outstanding warrant from Hawaii. He had been indicted there last month for money laundering and the theft of more than $60,000 from a Honolulu landscaping firm, prosecutors said.

"We at DOI are not surprised to hear that Mr. Montvel-Cohen was arrested on theft and money-laundering charges," said Rose Gill Hearn, commissioner of the city's Department of Investigation, which probed the looting of the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in Co-op City.

It was Montvel-Cohen who, as development director for Gloria Wise, convinced other club officials in 2003 and 2004 to give $875,000 of taxpayer money to the radio network where he was a top executive and co-founder.

He also received loans from the club of more than $45,000 that were never repaid.

Montvel-Cohen, 43, was never charged here, but two other directors at Gloria Wise pleaded guilty to misappropriating $1.2 million, some of which was used for personal expenses for club officials, including cars and home renovations.

The $875,000 was repaid by Air America only after DOI launched a wide-ranging probe into the transfer of city and state funds meant to help children and the elderly in the northeast Bronx.

But DOI was never able to speak with Montvel-Cohen, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, Hearn said.

"As DOI's 2006 report into fraud at the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club showed, he was indeed someone of interest to us because of his pivotal role in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars of Gloria Wise funds to a start-up commercial radio station," she said.

DOI has no immediate plans to pursue Montvel-Cohen.

Jim Fulton, a spokesman for the Honolulu city prosecutor, said Montvel-Cohen ripped off the landscaping company by using the firm's credit cards to pay for $30,000 of hotel and travel expenses.

He's also charged with stealing another $30,000 - money he claimed he used to pay the company's state excise taxes, but pocketed instead.

Cohen, who returned to his native Guam after bolting from Hawaii, was returning from the Philippines when the outstanding warrant was discovered.

Fulton said Montvel-Cohen has returned to the broadcast business, working for Sorensen Media Group, owned by his pal Rex Sorensen, one of the original Air America founders.

Sorensen and Montvel-Cohen operate several TV and radio outlets in the Pacific Islands.

Liberals. What else can I say...

Multi-tasking from Marta's Cuban American Kitchen

Like every other Cuban mother out there, I am constantly aware of my charges. That is, I’m constantly trying to stay one step ahead of my family. I’m always anticipating their needs and their wants and their ‘antojos.”

Please understand that I’m not trying to brag here. This is just how our own Cuban mother groomed my sisters and me. I know you know what I’m talking about. It goes something like this: Mami is making a big dinner of Masitas de Puerco, pero Papi prefiere bistec, so Mami will not only make the Masitas (and they will turn out perfectly delicious, of course, but that’s not important right now) but Papi will definitely also get his bistec, too, made to his specifications. It's the way it's always been. It's how it will always be. Cuban mothers are GIVERS.

I’m really not as pro as my mom was in the food-distribution wars. I know what my family will want; I just stretch it out and work to make sure to put it into the rotation. For example: I made picadillo on Monday, and boiled the potatoes while the picadillo was cooking so that I could make Papas Rellenas for Tuesday with the leftover picadillo. Are you following? I’m constantly multi-tasking and trying to second-guess what my family will be enjoying next.

Here's how I plan my Cuban menu for the week:
Monday - Picadillo - The picadillo becomes the filling for Tuesday’s Papas Rellenas,
Tuesday - I'll serve those Papas Rellenas as a companion to Crockpot Lechon
On Wednesday the pork goes into some Fried Rice with Pork,
Thursday you'll still have leftover Pork but only enough to go into Cuban sandwiches.
It's all about planning....

All that to say this: My family will be eating well this week and and they will praise me with great praise and I’ll demurely brush it aside with “It was nothing…” When really all it took was some preparation and forethought. And bada-boom! It’s Papas Rellenas. And that’s what I call Cuban multi-tasking!

What about Friday? I know you're asking about Friday. Friday my grateful husband takes me out and lets someone else do the cooking - it's called..... A Date. =D

That is all.

Papas Rellenas

About 6 baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 tsp. Salt
Garlic Powder
Parsley for garnish
2 Tbsp. Warm milk ( maybe slightly more - warm a little milk in a small cup for this part)
PICADILLO (leftover from the stuff you made last night.)
2 eggs, beaten with 1 Tbsp. Water
1-2 cups Corn Flake Crumbs
Oil for frying

1. Boil potatoes until they are fully cooked.
2. Drain.
3. Mash the potatoes – by hand along with the salt , garlic powder and warm milk. DO NOT ADD ANY BUTTER.
4. Let cool just until you can handle them with lightly greased hands.
5. Grab a handful of the mashed potatoes and make a little bowl (about the size of half a large golf ball), making an indentation in it.

6. Do that again. Stuff the indentations with picadillo and bring the two halves together and smooth the outside. You should have a cute little picadillo-stuffed potato at this point.

7. You can make these whatever size you like, actually. Repeat until you’re out of potatoes or picadillo. =D
8. Beat the eggs with water until they are a little fluffy.

9. Dip the rellena into the beaten egg, then roll in the corn flake crumbs mixture until lightly covered.
10. Dip a second time in the egg mixture and again in the bread crumbs.
11. Cover the rellenas and refrigerate for at least 3 or 4 hours or overnight before the next part!!!
Take them out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature before frying.
12. Fill a large frying pan with enough oil to cover half a ball.
13. Fry each ball at least 2 minutes per side, turning once – or at least til they’re golden brown. (color is everything!)

You can serve them hot or cold, as appetizers or as a main dish. Amy likes hers with grilled onions served over the warm potato. You can also spice up the bread crumb mixture if you like.

God, I love Cuban food! (yes, that was a prayer. =D)

Take a look at the great reforms that raul the munificent has made in Cuba. Now Cubans don't have to steal from tourists, they have another option: they can beg now that they are allowed to interact with them on the beach. No shoes, clothes, soap or shampoo? Not a problem as long as you have castrocare and a license to grift.

"God please bring health to all the tourists in the world, because they're sooo good."

Yes, freedom through humiliation. That's the new battle cry.

H/T Ernesto

A plug

You may have noticed a small banner, newly placed, on our sidebar. One of my daily reads comes from an organization that provides a true conservative perspective on the issues of the day. ThePatriot.us calls itself the "conservative journal of record" and they may not be far from the truth. Alan Keyes, Fred Thompson, Victor Davis Hanson are all subscribers and contributers. I subscribe to it and read it on a daily basis. You can do the same here. If you care about individual liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and the promotion of free enterprise, national defense, and traditional American values, then this publication is for you.

The Patriot Post believes that individual liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and the promotion of free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values can only be secured through the exercise of individual rights and responsibilities as ordained by God and established by our nation's Founders in our Declaration of Independence and its subordinate guidance, our Republic's Constitution.

Read more about them here.

The Answer

In this stunningly rational editorial in yesterday’s Palm Beach Post, the paper provides its readers with the answer to the question that has perplexed US administrations for almost half a century: What does the US need to do to help the innocent families in Cuba?

The exile lobby has been bad for the U.S. but good for politicians who grovel before it. In 2000, George W. Bush got an estimated 80 percent of South Florida's Cuban-American vote. With reelection approaching in 2004, Mr. Bush figured that he could double down on the issue. He restricted family visits by Americans to one just every three years, not annually. He cut remittances, the shipment of money from Americans to relatives in Cuba.

Mr. Bush got his second term, but some of his supporters in 2000 abandoned him because he had gone too far, which he had. Yet Sen. McCain would stay out on that fringe, even though as a candidate in 2000 he criticized the embargo. Two days after Sen. McCain's speech, Sen. Obama supported keeping the trade embargo in place but lifting the family travel and money limits. It would be in America's best interest to also end the trade embargo, but any change would be better than no change.

There you have it, my friends: The change that is needed in US policy towards Cuba is simply CHANGE.

How could we have missed that simple answer for so long?

Cigar Mike Discovers America

Happy Thursday infidels. Today we're going to visit the largest man made lake in the nation, Lake Mead. It is located along the mighty Colorado River about 40 minutes from Las Vegas.

The lake is the result of Hoover Dam and extends over 110 miles and provides much of the water to the Southwest USA and Southern California as well as a recreation area. It is fascinating to see all these folks with boats out on the lake in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

While manmade, it is a must stop if you’re in the Las Vegas area. This shot was taken from the overlook on the way to Hoover Dam which is an interesting tour if you’re into man made wonders. I have to admit the dam is impressive. You can also access the lake via the southern point of Valley of Fire State Park which is another must see while you trek through Nevada. So there it is.

For more information about Lake Mead, click here for the NPS website.

For more information about Hoover Dam, click here.

See you out in the field infidels while I discover America.

Why many of us are conservative

It's not really that well known pre-castro Cuba had a very progressive constitution and notwithstanding the dictatorship that ruled from 1952 to 1958 the people were pretty liberal. People often ask why Cuban-American's tend to be conservative and why we tend to be Republicans. There's a lot of reasons and it would take a long time and a lot of space to give a complete answer but the short answer is that conservatives have proven to be keenly aware of the dangers of communism and they don't have ideological blinders about the reality of Cuba and understand what can happen when the state is supreme. Look at the nature of the vast majority of comments to this post at Michelle Malkin. A sampling:

On May 28th, 2008 at 9:22 am, sonofdy said:
OBAMA 2008!!!!!
9 out of 10 genocidal dictators love him!!!

On May 28th, 2008 at 9:32 am, undrseige247 said:
Apparently, Obama has stated he was endorsed by Stalin because, after all, he sees dead people.

On May 28th, 2008 at 9:36 am, Marshall Russ said:
Let’s see….. Hamas, Hezbolla, P.L.A., most of Europe, Africa dictators, Latin American dictators, Iran, China, Russia,now this. What a group hug!
Viva! Obama!

On May 28th, 2008 at 9:41 am, BrianNY said:
Castro says of Obama:
“I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity,” Castro wrote.
No, el comandante, you alone earned that distinction years ago.

On May 28th, 2008 at 10:18 am, mchristian said:
Actually, he had a lot of help. Those mass murderers Che Guevara and little brother Raul and the support of the Soviet Union went a long way toward subjugating, I mean liberating the oppressed Cuban people. And never forget the all encompassing support of the press, celebrities and the rest of the left in our own country.

On May 28th, 2008 at 10:30 am, englishqueen01 said:
That makes perfect sense. If Obama wins, we’ll all enjoy the crap-tacular quality of life the Cubans have!
But hey, they’re finally allowed cell phones (the restrictions on medical care, food, and speech still stand) so they *must* be making progress.
Any time people are willing to float across shark-infested oceans in makeshift boats to escape their government, it should send up a red flag.
It speaks volumes about Obama’s envisioned “change” for America that Castro is so fond of him.

It's not the Obama bashing I'm talking about but the fact that these readers articulate an accurate understanding about the nature of the castro regime: genocidal dictator, Stalinist, terrorist, comitted crimes against the Cuban people, mass murderer, etc. etc.

You will never see the Kossacks uttering such blasphemy about their ideological role models. It's a fact. Most liberals are too dumb to see the connection between an ever-increasing role of the state and the loss of individual freedoms.

castro's important endorsement

Well the Republican Party of Florida is having a little fun at Barack Obama's expense and Joe "Joedilocks" Garcia has his panties in a wad about it.

But behind all the laughs there is some truth to this. This is not the first time castro (or his ghost writer) has written glowing things about Obama. And it's no secret that Aruca, Lesnik and the other mouthpieces of castro, inc. in our city want the three Republican congresspersons from south Florida defeated, not because their opponents are Democrats or communists or fidelistas but because they are come mierdas. fidel knows how to get over on come mierdas. That's why he got over on Kennedy and Carter and Clinton. That's why he got over on Ford.

castro, Aruca and Lesnik's hatred of the Ileana and the Diaz-Balarts is enough of an endorsement for me.

Over/Under on minutes before I get an email from someone in Joe's campaign: 15.

Obama's Secretary of State?

Read it here.

So Who Really "Panders" to Cuban American Voters?

The mainstream media is all atwitter with Obama's recent speech in Miami. Florida holds 27 coveted electoral votes and is habitually described as "pivotal" election-wise. The most scintillating aspect of the visit for the media was the Democratic candidate's hosting by the once influential Cuban-American-National-Foundation (KC and the Sunshine Band once influenced music too).

To salivating Democrats and their media cronies this hosting means Obama is poised to pilfer a hefty chunk of traditionally Republican Cuban-American voters in this key state. If so, it may come at the expense of votes from the Democrats' equally traditionally faithful “Hispanics.”

After all his pandering to the marginal Cuban-Americans voters who hosted him last week it will be interesting to see how the Obama campaign camel will thread the Hispanic vote needle.

On the one hand, if Obama has his way, Cubans will be equal to all other “Hispanic” immigrants and residents in the U.S. by being bestowed the identical travel and remittance provisions to their homelands.

On the other hand, if Obama has his way, Cubans will be much more equal than other “Hispanics” by also retaining their traditional fast-track to citizenship historically bestowed upon blue-eyed Czech and East Germans who breached the Iron Curtain, but generally denied to filthy wetbacks and other greasers who slither in from dysfunctional nations to the south.

No “racist Republican” while “pandering” to Cuban-Americans has ever proposed anything so patently unfair and offensive as Obama's proposal.

Read the rest regarding--yes!-- remittances here.

Get your remittance checkbooks ready!

Introducing the ADIDAS Cuba Basketball sneaker!

*Track suit and matching colostomy bag sold separately.

Hat Tip: Carlos C.

Word Choices

Had a comment in a previous post that said remittances to family in Cuba "salve their wounds."

"Salve." What a nice word and so eloquently placed before "wounds" for greater heartbreaking effect.

I suppose we could continue to "salve the wounds."

Or, you know, we could do our - family in Cuba included - best to eliminate the knife that punctures the wounds. And maybe, you know, we could stop sending over that economic pumice stone that keeps the knife nice and sharp.

It's just an evil, heartless thought.

If we say it enough, it must be true!

First it was the "Battle of Ideas" . . . now it seems to be the "Battle of Calculation."

The regime’s foreign minister, Felipe Perez Roque has embarked upon a new public relations campaign to clean up Cuba’s tarnished image, pointing out that the island maintains diplomatic relations with 30 of the 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries. He went on to state:

1) Worldwide, Cuba has relations with 186 nations.
2) The island’s de-facto government serves as the leader of the Non-Aligned Movement.
3) Cuba has hosted some 30,000 students from 120 countries.
4) About 30,000 Cuban health workers are completing assignments in more than 70 countries.

Sigh. Sorry to have to say this Felipito but, when a nation finds it necessary to turn to number-crunching bullet points to defend itself on a weekly basis, something’s wrong. Like the crazy uncle that always has a new "get rich quick"scheme, Cuba’s overseers are always up to something new in the public relations arena. Problem is, no amount of PR campaigning can erase the egregious crimes committed against the people of that great land.

It’s a brand new dog and pony show, folks

Me, me, me, me, me.

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo.

I posted the following comment in yesterdays discussion thread at my F-bomb laden rant on travel restrictions and remittances:

Ive stated publicly more than a few times that I am no one to tell anyone not to send money to their families in Cuba. The castro regime has separated the Cuban family specifically for this reason and its the unfortunate burden we carry since for us, family means everything.

However, there are those that use the lift remittance restrictions argument, saying this will help foster change in Cuba. This is patently false, of course. And those who want the remittance restrictions lifted should be forthright: they want them lifted for the benefit of their own families and not for the benefit of all Cubans.

I just now emphasized that last line.

Here's a story from Boston on a Vermont lawsuit filed to lift the travel restrictions that confirms my point. I must point out one blatantly false comment made by Cuban American National Foundation president Francisco Hernandez. Cubans have been allowed to travel to Cuba since 1979, not 1999 as stated, and there have been absolutely NO CHANGES in the fostering of democracy in Cuba because of these family contacts and trips.

These are the kinds of actions and reports that stick in my craw.

The young couple want the girl's family to be able to attend a wedding. Man, Im all for that. But, if these people would spend as much energy, time and money on making changes that would allow this girl's family to travel from Cuba freely, instead of vice versa, then maybe, perhaps, just maybe, positive changes would be occurring.

I feel for these families, I really do. But they arent the only ones that have been separated. Right now, there are 220 families in Cuba with at least on member languishing in a Cuban jail cell. Most of these, despite their longing to be with loved ones and despite the pain of separation, are separated not by choices they made for themselves, but by choices they made for all.

Tell me how youre gonna get Dr. Biscet back together with his daughter Winnie and his wife Elsa, then I'm willing to support a little trip back to Cuba for a wedding party.

Muzzling Yoani?

Crossposted at La Contra Revolución

I love Jay Nordlinger, Part 1722

I just received the following via email from National Review's Jay Nordlinger:

Wanted to draw your attention to the first item in my Impromptus column today -- that column is found here.

A friend of mine bought a rare, signed baseball card featuring Fidel Castro. (Yes, a Castro baseball card.) Taking a page from Rush Limbaugh, he is auctioning it on eBay. The proceeds will go to the Center for a Free Cuba.

If you can spread the word, great. In any case, I wanted you to know about it. Kind of an unusual, nervy, imaginative, semi-thrilling thing.

Yours,

Jay Nordlinger

Here's the card, from Ebay:

I especially appreciate the text from the Ebay page:

Please note that ALL proceeds for this auction are to be paid as a contribution to the Center for a Free Cuba, whose address I list below. (This portion of the auction is in compliance with eBay policy given that I have obtained written consent on this charity's letterhead, and included a scanned copy of that letter in this listing.)

As described on its website, "The Center for a Free Cuba (CFC) is an independent, non-partisan institution dedicated to promoting human rights and a transition to democracy and the rule of law on the island. Established in November 1997, the Center gathers and disseminates information about Cuba and Cubans to the media, NGOs, and the international community. The Center also assists the people of Cuba through its information outreach and humanitarian programs on the island. The Center has received a 501(c)(3) exemption from the Internal Revenue Service. Contributions to the Center are tax deductible."

To learn more about the Center for a Free Cuba, please check out their website at:

http://www.cubacenter.org/

or write to them at:

Center for a Free Cuba
1320 19th Street, NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036

ALL folks interested in bidding on this item should be FULLY aware that this item -- which contains an authentic cut signature of Fidel Castro -- has been substantially modified since it was manufactured by The Topps Company. Allow me to explain.

Since card manufacturers began including cut-signature items in their offerings, some people in the hobby have speculated as to whether or not any card company would ever cross the line of good taste by offering an inappropriate -- offensive -- product (for example, a cut-signature card bearing Adolf Hitler's signature). Although Topps in general should be commended for doing a good job with regard to most of the cut-signature cards it has created the last several years, Topps has clearly vaulted over the line of common decency by creating a cut-signature card of Communist dictator Fidel Castro, one of the most notorious mass murderers in the history of the Western hemisphere.

The card is clearly an attempt to portray Fidel in a positive light -- note, for example, the baseball cap that Castro is pictured wearing on the front of the card. What is the message Topps is attempting to send? That being a mass murderer is somehow "OK" and "acceptable" so long as that person is also a... baseball fan???

To more accurate reflect the true Castro legacy, the card has been altered so that it now includes numerous words and phrases pertaining to Fidel on both the front and back of the card. For example, phrases on the front of the card now include:

* mass murderer
* Communist
* El Manbu concentration camp
* Free Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Oscar Biscet!

And, phrases on the back of the card now include:

* firing squads
* author of the Camilo-Cienfuegos forced labor plan
* violator of peaceful journalists' free-speech rights
* Remember Pedro Luis Boitel!

Also, all bidders must be aware that the corners of this card have been damaged by whacking each corner against a rather hard table several times (these damaged corners represent the damage to Cuba done by Fidel). In addition, all bidders must be aware that the sides of this card have several small cuts in them made with a knife (these cuts represent the torture -- and worse -- suffered by thousands of political prisoners during Fidel's regime).

Please note that this auction is in full compliance with eBay's Offensive Material Policy, as this auction does NOT glorify hatred, violence, racial or religious intolerance, or items that promote organizations with such views.

In fact, this auction serves as a reminder that -- despite what the lamestream media, nitwit "celebrities," and ivory-tower university ostriches would have us believe -- it was Fidel who made a career out of glorifying hatred, using violence, and stoking racial and religious intolerance.

There is NO shipping/handling fee for this auction.

Show YOUR support for the individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that every human being enjoys by bidding on this item today!

The Religion of Peace (Part ?)

Here are two interesting articles, one in JihadWatch dealing on a Taliban leader claiming Osama bin Laden is dead, and the other in DhimmiWatch about an honor killing in Germany:

At age 16, all Morsal Obeidi wanted was to live the way other girls in Germany do. She paid dearly: Obeidi's brother stabbed her 20 times. Her murder has sparked a renewed debate in Germany about the failure of many immigrant families to integrate into Western society.

[...]

Ahmad Obeidi, 23, is a strong, athletic young man. Morsal tried to run away, but she stumbled and fell. Ahmad stood over her and continued to stab her, five times, ten times, still silent as he swung his right arm up and down over his sister's body. He seemed intoxicated. The police counted 20 stab wounds, inflicted with such force that Ahmad would later wear a bandage on his right forearm.

Morsal screamed, waking up the residents of the apartment building. Passersby called the police. Ahmad fled to a nearby subway station, and Mohammed followed him. The two cousins boarded a train, where they sat silently across from each other, a killer and his accomplice.

Morsal died.