A big thank you

I have been remiss in not posting this earlier but I need to thank all of the folks who pitched in and sponsored the last BUCL.org campaign (check out their names below the fold). In the past, our campaigns have been stand-alone in nature.

We helped expose the nature of tourist apartheid in Cuba and how it's been enabled by Spanish companies.

We denounced the hypocrisy of Sting and his band, The Police (who never played that concert in Cuba they had announced).

And we helped support the efforts of Cuban dissident Dr. Darsi Ferrer as he marched on International Human Rights day.

This last campaign was different. Fortunately it was only a miniscule part of a gigantic grassroots effort undertaken on behalf of Gorki Aguila by many who are friends of ours and some who are not. But that's OK. What mattered was that the regime felt external pressure for the first time that I can remember.

I need to specifically thank two special people. The first is Fernando Villar Jr. I first met Fernando when he came to my house to film an interview with me for a documentary he was making about the merchandising of the image of Che Guevara. It turns out that also appearing in the documentary is Paquito D'Rivera, the Grammy-winning jazz musician and composer who is very outspoken about Cuban liberty. I was humbled to share the screen with such a great man.

So when we decided to put together a campaign to bring attention to the case of Gorki Aguila I immediately thought of Paquito and wondered if he could help us out. As luck would have I told Ziva about my idea and she forwarded me an open letter that Paquito had already written about Gorki. I was emboldened by the fact that Paquito knew what was going on with Gorki and so I contacted Fernando to see if Paquito would join us as the honorary chairman of the campaign. Fernando called Paquito and of course Paquito said yes. Fernando says Paquito was ecstatic to help however he could and he approved the press release in the blink of an eye. It should be noted that Paquito also signed Ernest Hernandez Busto's open letter to Cuban musicians asking them to speak out on behalf of Gorki.

I was always an admirer of Paquito D'Rivera but today I can honestly say he's my hero.

By the way, Fernando Villar Jr.'s documentary about Che merchandise has not been released yet though I have seen a cut of the short film. It's excellent and I will post more info about it here when it comes out.

Pushing the wall

As Yoani Sanchez prepared for the fury of Hurricane Gustav she found the opportunity to make a post at her blog in which she includes the following:

What I can not fail to mention is that never as in these last two days have I seen so many agree and be joined by international public opinion, the media and part of Cuban civil society. Yesterday we proved that we can push the wall if we do it together. We've forced it to retract, to undo an injustice, and this is a very good precedent for us and extremely dangerous for "them". The Internet proved that it can be, in the case of Cuba, as a virtual ground for joint efforts. I hope that these centimeters that we were able to push the limits are succeeded by meters and meters of freedoms recovered.

I wrote a piece about this exact premise for Pajamas Media and I expect it to be published early this week.

Hurricane Gustav

Right now, Im sure our friends and fellow Americans in Hurricane Gustav's way are too busy getting ready to or already getting out of Dodge, but I thought Id ask for all of us to keep those folks in our thoughts and prayers. Gustav appears to be a monster of a storm.

A Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is bound to cause some major damage and we'll all need to chip in somehow after the storm. Ill post links to charities and organizations and drives as soon as Ive gathered them up.

Bishops correct Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Church leaders issued a statement in response to Nancy Pelosi's fraudulent remarks made on NBC's "Meet the Press." When asked about the Church's standing on when life begins, Pelosi responded in her usual self-serving manner:

"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition . . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose."

Church officials respond, from Catholic Online:

The Diocese of Fargo released a letter Wednesday written by Bishop Aquila who said that while the remarks "created confusion in regard to Catholic teaching," those familiar with it "can easily recognize the flaws in her remarks."

Respect life

"The Christian teaching on abortion throughout history is unchanged," he continued. "Human life from the moment of conception is to always be respected, treated with dignity, and protected.

"Catholics who support so called abortion rights support a false right, promote a culture of death."

"Out of respect for the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Church," added Bishop Aquila, "any Catholic who supports abortion rights has placed himself or herself outside of visible unity with the Church and thus should refrain from receiving holy Communion."

From Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. and Bishop James D. Conley representing the Archidiocese of Denver:

Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today's religious alibis for abortion and a so-called "right to choose" are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.

Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.

The duty of the Church and other religious communities is moral witness. The duty of the state and its officials is to serve the common good, which is always rooted in moral truth. A proper understanding of the "separation of Church and state" does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course, it's always important to know what our faith actually teaches.

Read the articles here, and here.

The left in all its glory

If Babalu readers want to understand why I despise modern leftist/liberals so much, why I think they are the scum of the earth, why I think they are despicable douchebags, watch this video. It's another riff on the Hurricane Gustav theme started by Michael Moore:

This is the former National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Don Fowler and Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina. Let RedState tell you more:

On a plane from Denver to Charlotte following the Democrats' convention, I found myself seated behind former National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Don Fowler and Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina. Their conversation was interesting to say the least.

For example, they made fun of Sarah Palin for several minutes, Fowler calling her "Dan Quayle" on steroids and Spratt creatively describing her as "just terrible." They both agreed that, "Other than the simple fact that she's a female," she has nothing to offer.

[...]

[I}t's funny. That New Orleans will get a hurricane. That's funny because it is due to hit when President Bush is scheduled to speak. Isn't that cool? Fowler isn't the only one who thinks so, just ask Michael Moore.

We all know Democrats used and use Katrina as a political football as callously as possible. Here's a candid moment showing some can hardly wait for another one.

All Class.

The definitive profile of a castroite "security guard"

Loosely translated from PenultimosDias.com:

Do you see the dark man to the left of Gorki with the yellow golf shirt that has a small logo of "Che" on it? His name is Orlando. He lives on 21st Street between 26th and 28th, in the Vedado neighborhood, in one of those houses the revolutionaries gave away during the early years as spoils of war.

Gorki speaks

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País published today, Gorki Águila refuses to mince words.

"Lo más democrático del régimen es que reparte bien la miseria"

("The most democratic aspect of the regime is that it does a good job of distributing misery.")

The interview is obviously in Spanish, and you can read it HERE.

Quotable quotes

“We may be seeing the first woman president. As a Democrat, I am reeling,” said Camille Paglia, the cultural critic. “That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails.”

- Camile Paglia, as quoted in The Times

The Lyin' King

(H/T Hot Air)

UK Telegraph on Gorki's case

Read it here.

It seems that the international media has been shaken from its stupor and is finally starting to do its job.

Secretary Gutierrez Condemns Actions Taken By Cuban Regime

Commerce News
August 30

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez released the following statement on reports that Cuban security forces beat several peaceful protestors during a music concert in Havana . The security forces attacked the concert-goers for unveiling a sign calling for the release of rock musician Gorki Aguila and leading a chant of “Gorki, Gorki, Gorki,” among those attending the concert. According to press reports, one of Aguila’s fellow band members was arrested, while the other protestors were forced to flee into the crowd to avoid further injury.

Thursday’s peaceful protest was in response to the arrest of rock musician Gorki Aguila, Monday, on charges of “dangerousness,” “pre-delinquent behavior,” and behavior “contrary to the standards of the communist morality.” Aguila, who uses his music to denounce the regime’s repressive policies, was tried Friday and fined the equivalent of $28, which is approximately more than a month’s salary for an average Cuban.

“We condemn the regime’s violent attack on peaceful concert-goers and arrest of Mr. Aguila. These actions are clearly contrary to the UN covenant Cuba recently signed, which recognized the right to freedom of expression.* Mr. Aguila was unjustly detained and charged. The Castro regime has an obligation to respect the human rights of the Cuban people. These rights include free speech. The Castro regime must stop denying Cubans their rights.”

*The Cuban regime recently signed the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which specifies in Article 19 that “everyone shall have the right of freedom of expression.”

Secretary Gutierrez co-chairs the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a U.S. Cabinet-level commission formed to explore ways the United States can help hasten and ease a democratic transition in Cuba .

Contact: Office of Public Affairs

202-482-4883

Posted by Ziva at 04:38 PM | Permanent Link to this Post | Habla (4)

Is Obama Talking Secretly With Raul Castro?

This topic struck me as immensely newsworthy last week:

Is Obama Talking Secretly With Raul Castro?

That was before Gustav drew a bead on Louisiana. Right about now procuring enough plywood to board up my (Katrina-demolished and rebuilt home)and enough gas to get us to a friends in central Alabama by tomorrow is the only thing that seems remotely newsworthy....We only moved back into our Katrina-totalled house in Dec. of 2006! It's all Global Warming's fault--So it's all Bush's FAULT!!

It's not easy to be GREEN...

and still be cool and comfortable.

Touted as the "the most environmentally-sustainable" gathering in the party's history, the Democratic Party's elite found it difficult to forgo the idling limousines and SUVs.

They're not the ones that are supposed to sweat--it's us.

By their own words condemned

Please forgive me if you've just eaten: "This hurricane [Gustav] is proof that there is a god in heaven." There you have it, straight from Michael Moore's mouth. He wishes for Gustav to hit New Orleans because it'll interrupt the Republican National Convention.

(H/T Hot Air)

Palin on energy, with added bonus of a Biden slam

(H/T Hot Air)

Gorki is out of jail!

To say he is free would be an overstatement.

A.P. Photo of Gorki being led to his trial earlier today.

But Ernesto Hernandez Busto is reporting that Gorki was fined 600 pesos (about $40 U.S.) and that they changed the charge from "dangerousness" to "disobedience". Ernesto quotes Yoani Sanchez as saying that "the pressure [exerted on the regime] was worth it."

Postscript: Does this mean the going rate for the right to call fidel castro a "come pinga" has been reduced to $40 in Cuba? If so, I expect a momentous lift in remittances to the island.

The Real Cuba on TV

George Utset of therealcuba.com is appearing on Mega TV (channel 22 in Miami and also available on DirecTV) right now.

Palin on Alaskan oil, global warming, and John McCain

News Max interviewed Sarah Palin before she was pegged as a running mate by McCain.

This women knows what she's doing. My favorite line from the interview:

"You can be a reformer and also be a conservative."

Buh bye Obama.

Read it here.

Brains, BRASS AND Beauty

A triple threat. I just found out that Governor Palin came in 2nd place in the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant.

I'd say she has traded up in her competitions since then.

**original title edited so as not to offend

Hillary reacts to McCain's V.P. Choice

Someone just broke the news to Hillary...

Amnesty International on Gorki's case

Here.

GORKI Update: Ernesto reports that he's been in contcact with Yoani via phone from Havana and that Gorki's trial has been postponed until 2 pm this afternoon:

PD4: Nueva llamada a Yoani. El juicio ha sido postergado para la sesión de la tarde, que empieza a partir de las 14.00 hrs. La gran novedad es que acaban de llegar “los servicios informativos de la TV cubana” al lugar. El periodista a cargo: Bernardo Espinosa. Así que prepárense, habrá circo.

Penultimos Dias has continuous updates on the "trial" right here.

Keep all razors and sharp objects away from Hillary Clinton!

If this is confirmed, they may have to put Hillary on suicide watch.

Update: Confirmed. That hissing sound you hear is Barrack Obama's deflating media coverage.

Update: Great analysis on McCain/Palin from good friend and colleague Ed Morrisey.

John McCain Makes His Veep Selection

CNN and FOX are reporting that McCain has chosen Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

She is a conservative Republican, pro-life, a free-trade capitalist, an NRA member. Oh, and she's a woman, if you missed that.

This should re-define the Obama's CHANGE slogan. The Republicans have a little change of their own up their sleeves, huh?

You can read more about her HERE and HERE

Update (Val): What else needs to be said?

I have difficulty imagining Obama handling a fish, much less catching one.

Is it Governor Palin?

Lots of buzz about McCain's VP pick on the Internet.

The buzz says it's Palin. A woman. A conservative woman. A gun-rights woman who hunts and fishes. Hillary just placed the order for the industrial strength Tums and her personalized B. Hussein Obama voodoo doll.

If this pans out, it'll be an easier vote for me on November 4. I may even refrain from holding my nose...

Me cago en la mierda!

This is just tooo damned good not to link to. In Spanish.

Paquito D'Rivera Joins BUCL.org in Denouncing Arrest of Punk Rocker Gorki Aguila

"The rockers have historically been the most courageous and honest musicians in Cuba, standing up to the Castro regime, and Gorki Aguila is the latest in that proud line," D'Rivera says.

Grammy-Award Winning Musician Paquito D'Rivera

A Wednesday article from Miami Herald reporter Frances Robles says Aguila, front man for the band Porno Para Ricardo, faces charges of "pre-crime social dangerousness." Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty says this is a catch-all charge often used by the regime to repress dissent. According to the Miami Herald article, Aguila will face trial today, Friday August 29.

"Make no mistake about it, the band's lyrics harshly criticize the Castro dictatorship, and that is the real reason Aguila is being detained," says Henry Gómez, spokesperson for Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty. "Aguila's arrest is a blatant case of musical censorship on the part of the regime and shows that nothing has really changed in Cuba under Raul Castro since Fidel disappeared from the public eye two years ago."

D'Rivera urges his fellow musicians around the world to publicly express solidarity with Aguila and denounce this case of repression and censorship.

"We need to stand together and honor these men with the guts to do what the vast majority of musicians in my impoverished country haven't done," D'Rivera says.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Paquito D'Rivera is the winner of nine Grammy Awards. D'Rivera is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. His numerous recordings include more than 30 solo albums.

Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty is a confederation of blogs and Web sites that pool resources and ideas for use in campaigns to raise awareness of the Cuban reality.

For more information about Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty or the group's condemnation against the arrest of Gorki Aguila, contact Henry Gómez.

Contact:
Henry Gómez
Hgomez@bucl.org
http://bucl.org

# # #

The above press release will hit the PR Wire service at 3:01 AM EDT

It can't happen here?

It happened in Cuba, it is happening in Venezuela, and it is happening in Ecuador, but they tell us it can't happen here.

DENVER -- Sen. Barack Obama's campaign organized its supporters Wednesday night to confront Tribune-owned WGN-AM in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air. (Listen to the interview.)

"WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

Sounds eerily familiar, but we have nothing to worry about... it can't happen here.

Unless, of course, The One says "Yes We Can!"

You're right about that, Bill

"People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power." --Bill Clinton

Yoani Tells Us What Happened At the Protest Tonight

Yoaní Sánchez has told her story of what happened at the protest of Gorki's arrest which was held during concert across from the US interests section. It is posted in its entirety at Penultimos Días, but here is an excerpt:

El concierto empezó poco después de las 19:15 hrs, en medio de una fuerte presencia policial. De cada cinco asistentes al concierto, calcula Yoani, tres eran de algún tipo de fuerza represiva. “Evidentemente, dice, lo estaban esperando”. Cuando el concierto llevaba una hora de empezado, justo al final de una canción que estaban entonando juntos Polito Ibáñez y Pablo Milanés, un grupo de seis personas aprovechó el fade in del audio para gritar tres veces “¡¡Gorki, Gorki!! y levantar un pequeño cartel que decía solamente el nombre del rockero preso: GORKI. Al instante se creó un círculo de violencia extrema, en el que policías de civil y otros vestidos de verde golpearon a las mujeres y se ensañaron con los hombres que estaban alrededor del cartel. Hubo tonfas, golpes de kárate, patadas, sobre todo con Ciro y Hebert, y una persona de nombre Emilio Marill, de quien hasta el momento se desconoce el paradero.

My loose and quick translation:

The concert began a little after 7:15 in the middle of a strong police presence. For every 5 people in attendance there were three people of the repressive forces, Yoani estimates. Evidently, they were waiting for it. When the concert had been going on for an hour, just at the end of a song that Polito Ibañez and Pablo Milanés were singing together, a group of six people took advantage of the audio fade to scream "Gorki! Gorki! Gorki! "and raise a small poster that said only the name of the imprisoned rocker: GORKI. Instantly, a circle of extreme violence formed in that which civil police and other green-dressed officials struck women and took no mercy on the men who were around the poster. There were karate hits, kicks, mostly on Ciro and Hebert and a person named Emilio Marill, whose whereabouts are unknown at the moment.

H/T Aymee

The Speech by Obama

Change? In a Pig's Eye by Michael Pancier

I just spent the last 2 hours going through his speech which I saw and these are my observations. Rather than a rant, I've analyzed what he said and compared it to reality. The public and the media are getting smoked by this guy: pure and simple.

After having witnessed the rock concert otherwise known as the shining moment for the One, all I can say is that I was disappointed. I expected something more. I didn’t get it. I was impressed with Hillary’s speech and surely, if the Dems used their brains rather than their bleeding hearts, they would have selected her as their nominee.

The event was historic and that alone was reason enough to witness the event. It was all-visual. Smoke and mirrors. Because underneath the luster of it all, I simply heard the same old liberal rhetoric that the Dems have been spewing for the last 28 years.

The Junior Senator from Illinois said nothing to tell me how he will save the world and our souls. All I got was political doublespeak or what some of us refer to as “horse hockey.”

If I accept everything the Senator said as true, then pass the heroin because the apocalypse is here. Everything is falling apart. The economy is crashing into the ground. The world is going to end. Everybody is out on the street and all hope is dead. I’m thinking of the words atop the hates of Hell in Dante’s Inferno, “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” If I accept the Senator’s rhetoric as fact, then we’re on our way to the gates of hell because everything is miserable and we’re simply going to kill each other unless he, the Savior, can save us from ourselves. His vision like the Democrat’s vision is that of pessimism, despair and malaise. The Democrats vision is akin to being presented with the most beautiful woman on the planet, and rather than saying, “Damn, that woman is beautiful, I’d like to sleep with her,” the Dems would spend their time looking for faults in the girl as an excuse not to sleep with her. But that’s the Democratic Party’s tradition. They want things to go bad and look bad so they can obtain a political advantage. They ignored the 2nd quarter economic figures that came out today. They were good. But they don’t want you to see that. They want us to feel like things are bad and not going to get better, unless they’re given the keys to power.

But let’s go through some of the things that he said in his speech.

Obama says: “Tonight, more Americans are out of work, and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes, and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.”

The median salary in the US in 2001 was $ 45,300. Today, the median salary is $50,233.00. So what the hell is he talking about where he says that you are working harder for less? He talks about unemployment. Unemployment is up 1.4% since 2000, however, the labor force has increased from 142M to 153M and our unemployment rate today at 5.4% is less than what the rate was from 1980-1988 and 1990-1996. But they would want you to believe that this is a doomsday scenario.

Obama says: “But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.”

Well the truth is that: “According to Congressional Quarterly's Voting Studies, in 2007 McCain voted in line with the president's position 95 percent of the time – the highest percentage rate for McCain since Bush took office – and voted in line with his party 90 percent of the time. However, McCain's support of President Bush's position has been as low as 77 percent (in 2005), and his support for his party's position has been as low as 67 percent (2001).” Obama’s voting record shows that he voted with Bush 40-49% of the time and voted in line with fellow Senate Democrats 97 percent of the time in 2007 and 2005, and 96 percent of the time in 2006, according to CQ. So when he talks of change, is he talking about someone who votes 97% of the time with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid? The Democratic Line? That’s not change; it’s the same thing you would expect from a typical liberal politician. Obama is a hypocrite and disingenuous when he says that McCain “has been anything but independent,” Obama is not “independent”, he’s part and parcel with the liberal democratic establishment.

Obama says “We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president, when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000, like it has under George Bush.” This is just smoke and mirrors with statistics for as I’ve shown above, the median rather than the average income, the true middle, has gone up $5K since 2000. So this is typical hogwash.

Obama says: “We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business,” yet his tax plan which will sock to folks over $ 250K per year socks it to small business owners who are majority S-corporations. The corporate income passes through to the personal income taxes of the shareholders, even if they do not take the money out of the corporation, and will be taxed. So now the additional taxes the shareholders will pay will deplete additional funds, which can be used to purchase additional goods, capital investment, raises, and hiring new employees. The United States currently has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world, and this nitwit is using his class warfare dialectic to somehow convince that corporations are not paying their fair share. The upper 2% of Americans that Obama wants to rob using the internal revenue code pay over 90% of the taxes in the US Treasury. So when he says he wants to cut taxes on the majority of middle class Americans who is he fooling? These folks pay much less taxes and any tax break would amount to little.

In his speech, all this guy did was talk about misery. You would think there are no successes in this country, except of course, himself.

Obama says: “Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity, not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.” This too is disingenuous from someone who went back on his promise to take public funding like McCain did and has money up the wazoo from all liberal interests. There were a bunch of fat cat lobbyists in Denver with money for the Dems, but there is not much talk about them, except for the ABC reporters who were arrested trying to cover that story.

Here’s perhaps the biggest bs I heard from Obama all night:

“

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the startups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow . . . I will cut taxes — cut taxes for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.”

Yet his tax policy will hurt small business by his raising of taxes on income and payroll taxes. Also, contrary to the talking points from the dems, there are no tax breaks for corporations who ship jobs overseas. It’s a lie. There is nothing in the IRC that makes corporations take jobs overseas. They take job overseas because labor is cheaper there. And if they make labor even more expensive here by giving unions a free reign, with the new labor amendments to the NLRA that will abolish the secret election requirement and even higher mandatory minimum wages, then corporations will have no choice to go overseas or pass the price increases to the public and thereby increase inflation.

Since the Bush tax cuts will sunset automatically, tax rates will increase to 39.6% on all income over $ 288,350. Currently, the tax rates for married joint are 10% between $0-16,050, 15% 16,050-65,100, 25% 65,100 and 131,450, 28% 131,450-200,300, 33% 200,300 – 357,700 and 35% 357,700 and above. So if you’re a family with taxable income of $100,000, your taxes under the Clinton era 2000 tax rates which will be the rates under Obama would be: $ 23,300. Under current tax rates, the tax would be $ 17,688, or a tax increase of $ 6,000.00. Furthermore, Obama’s plan when you read it, you will see that other than eliminating taxes on seniors with incomes less than $ 50,000 (the current amount is $32K per year), all he is doing is adding additional tax credits which are phased out as income rises.

This is Obama’s tax plan right out of his literature:

“Obama will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay.

* Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.
* Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000: Barack Obama will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This proposal will eliminate income taxes for 7 million seniors and provide these seniors with an average savings of $1,400 each year. Under the Obama plan, 27 million American seniors will also not need to file an income tax return.”

So under his plan, if you are a senior with income of $50K or less per year, you’re going to get a break. But that’s it. His credits will phase out as you hit joint incomes of $ 100K. So when he says he will cut taxes for 95% of Americans, he is lying. The tax rates will be the same as they were in 2000 with the exception of the additional standard deduction the elderly will get.

Now if you have joint income of $ 250,000, under current tax code, your taxes would be $ 61,229. Under the Obama plan, your taxes will be $73,049 or a tax increase of $ 13K. The man is selling you smoke and mirrors and fireworks, but he’s lying when he says that he will cut taxes. Tax credits are not a tax cut. And this does not take into consideration the AMT which will cause you to pay more taxes as well. The marginal tax rates will be what they were under the Clinton Administration. And this genius somehow that this tax increases will help jumpstart the economy? Beats the hell out of me. And these tax credits of course will be phased out so not everyone will benefit as he has promised.

Of course, Obama gives you the Pelosi talking points on energy.

He says:

“And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office."

Well folks, Canada and not the Mideast is our number 1 oil supplier. Second, Obama and the Dems are against drilling in ANWR and the Gulf Basin when the oil there can provide us with energy for 60 years or more. It is a short-term solution, but not drilling will not eliminate our demand for oil and likewise, his alternative fuel mantra is simply farm subsidies for corn ethanol which is a disaster.

Obama says:

“Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.”

What this means is that he wants to amend the Family Medical Leave Act which currently provides qualified employee job security and unpaid leave up to 90 days. He wants to amend the law to mandate that employers provide paid leave. Sounds like socialism to me.

I agree with him that the bankruptcy laws should be amended, but he’s full of it when he says that CEO bonuses have greater protection than pensions. That’s not true. Bonuses do not have preference under the code. This again is the same class warfare bs you expect from rich liberals with a socialist agenda.
Now he makes reference to “equal pay”. There is an equal pay act against gender discrimination which has been in effect since 1963 and Title VII which has been in effect since 1964. What he wants to do is enact amendments to the law which changes the 2-year statute of limitation to and endless statute of limitations which will benefit trial attorneys and bankrupt business. (The Ledbetter Act).
Obama says: “We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.” But he said that if elected, he will sign the freedom of choice act which is currently in the Senate and the House which codifies under Federal Law Abortion on Demand. This federal legislation will supersede all state laws and constitutions and will even penalize doctors who on moral grounds refuse to perform abortions. And more interesting is that the law provides a civil cause of action against anyone who interferes with abortion on demand. Under this law, all parental notification requirements for abortion will be superseded by federal law so a 12 year old will be able to have an abortion without notifying her parents.

The rest of his speech is “happy talk” as he phrased it, so I’m not going to comment on it. His promises are the same crap John Kerry and other liberals have promised. The same old tired policies of the past that did not work. He wants to revive Jimmy Carter’s Windfall Profits Act. It didn’t work then and won’t work now. So when he talks of new ideas, he’s fooling everyone with his cult of personality. Now the liberals are so happy they are passing the joint tonight. What I’ve written here tonight are facts; the truth about what he really says. He’s a disingenuous politician; pure and simple. He has no accomplishments as a civil servant. But to the lefties, they don’t care. He can give a great speech.

Michael Pancier is an accountant and a Board Certified Labor & Employment Attorney.

News from Porno Para Ricardo

COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
PORNO PARA RICARDO
Agosto 28, 2008, 21: 00

Acabamos de recibir el testimonio de una persona cercana a los integrantes de Porno Para Ricardo, dándonos su testimonio sobre los eventos recientemente ocurridos en La Tribuna Antiimperialista, en el Malecòn de La Habana:

“nos dieron golpes
no se donde están ni Hebert ni Ciro
Yoani escapo
creo que se llevaron a alguien pero no se a quien
la prensa lo filmo todo
llevamos una pancarta y gritamos
la gente corría en masa y la seguridad daba golpes
por unos segundos el concierto fue un caos”

Alertamos a la comunidad internacional a seguir de cerca el caso de Gorki Águila y del estado en que podrían encontrarse Ciro Díaz, Hebert Domínguez y Renay Kayrus, integrantes de Porno Para Ricardo, así como de la bloggera Yoany Sánchez.

Porno Para Ricardo
La Habana, agosto 28, 2008, 21: 00

Petition to Free Gorki Aguila

Commenter Jgomez65 brings to our attention the fact that there is a petition to free Gorki at:

http://www.freegorki.com/

National Review on Gorki Aguila

Read about it here.

Obama campaign: Free speech unacceptable

As the coronation was underway in Denver, back home in Chicago Stanley Kurtz went on Milt Rosenberg’s radio program, "Extension 720," to discuss newly released documents chronicling Obama’s association with Ayers while working on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Obama lied about his relationship with Ayers:

Obama supporters risibly complain that shining a light on the Obama/Ayers relationship is a “smear” and smacks of “guilt by association.” A presidential candidate’s choice to associate himself with an unrepentant terrorist would be highly relevant in any event — does anyone think the Obamedia would keep mum if John McCain had a long-standing relationship with David Duke or an abortion-clinic bomber?

But we are talking about more than a mere “association.”

Bluntly, Obama has lied about his relationship with Ayers, whom he now dismisses as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood.” Ayers and Obama have made joint appearances together; they have argued together for “reforms” of the criminal justice system to make it more criminal-friendly; Obama gushed with praise for Ayers’ 1997 polemical book on the Chicago courts; and they sat together for three years on the board of the Woods Fund, a left-wing enterprise that distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to their ideological allies. Most significant, they worked closely together on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC).

The CAC was a major education reform project, proposed by Ayers, which was underwritten by a $49.2 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation, complemented by another $100 million in private and public funding. The project ran for about five years, beginning in 1995. As the liberal researcher Steve Diamond has recounted, Ayers ran its operational arm, the “Chicago School Reform Collaborative.” Obama, then a 33-year-old, third-year associate at a small law firm, having no executive experience, was brought in to chair the board of directors, which oversaw all “fiscal matters.”

By the time the CAC’s operations were wound down in 2001 it had doled out more than $100 million in grants but had failed to achieve any improvement in the Chicago schools. What little is known about the grants Obama oversaw is troubling. As Diamond relates, one of the first CAC awards in 1995 was $175,000 for the “Small Schools Workshop,” which had been founded by Ayers and was then headed by Mike Klonsky. It was only the beginning of the CAC’s generous funding of Klonsky — a committed Maoist who had been an Ayers comrade in the radical Students for a Democratic Society (the forerunner of Ayers’ Weatherman terrorist organization), and who hosted a “social justice” blog on the Obama campaign website until his writings were hastily purged in June after Diamond called attention to them.

The Obama campaign declined Rosenberg’s invitation to have a representative on the show, choosing instead to issue an “Obama Action Wire” encouraging supporters to disrupt Kurtz’s appearance which it deemed “unacceptable.” So much for free speech.

Read the National Review Online editorial here, and don't miss Michelle Malkin's coverage here.

Ouch.

Important Memo on What to Wear Tonight for Obama's Speech

Proper Attire For The Temple Of Obama ("The Barackopolis")
Click the link below for the memo.

Download file

And for something serious, read this from the National Review on Obama's thuggish attempts to stifle free speech regarding his ties to Ayers.

Yes, there is such a thing as a Cuban Pizza from Marta's Cuban American Kitchen

Labor Day is upon us and it's traditionally a day to celebrate the end of summer and also a "day off for working citizens."

I’m taking that to heart and so I’m keeping things really simple in the kitchen.

What could be simpler and tastier than a Homemade Cuban Pizza?
(umm… that was rhetorical…) =D

Happy Labor Day!

The Very Best Homemade Cuban Pizza EVER

2 pkgs. Pre-made pizza crust or you can also use the refrigerated dough (I use Boboli Original Pizza Crust)
Olive oil
6 garlic cloves – minced
1 small yellow onion – diced
1/2 green bell pepper – diced
1 small can tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
3 Tbsp. Dry white wine
1 tsp. whole cumin
1 tsp. Oregano
Salt & pepper to taste

3/4 cup grated Gouda cheese
3/4 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1) In a large skillet, sauté garlic, onion, and bell pepper in olive oil over medium heat. (yes, you’re making a sofrito for the sauce.)

2) Cook and stir until onion is translucent, but make sure not to burn the garlic.
3) Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, white wine, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.
4) Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until well-blended and heated through.
5) Spread this sofrito sauce over pizza dough.

6) Mix the gouda and mozzarella cheeses together and cover the pizzas with these.
7) Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over all. (this is what makes it toasty)

8) Sprinkle lightly with a little bit more oregano.
9) Cook in a hot oven at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and toasted.

10) WARNING: Resist the temptation to bite into it immediately, even though you will be enticed to do so by the blissfully amazing Cuban-food smell. =D

Lookie Here - Economy rebounds in 2Q

That's not good for the Dems, they want the economy to tank to help their chances ...... check it out ...

Economy rebounds at better-than-expected pace in the spring, mostly spurred by exports

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy shifted to a higher gear in the spring, growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as foreign buyers snapped up U.S. exports and tax rebates spurred shoppers at home.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government's initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists' expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate.

The rebound comes after two dismal quarters. The economy actually shrank in the final three months of 2007 and limped into the first quarter at a feeble 0.9 percent pace. The 3.3 percent growth in the spring was the best performance since the third quarter of last year, when the economy was chugging along at a brisk 4.8 percent pace.

Still, the growth pickup is not likely to be seen as a lasting sign that the fragile economy is back on solid ground.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently warned the economy will be weak through the rest of this year. A growing number of analysts fear that the country will hit another economic pothole in the fourth quarter, as the bracing impact of the tax rebates disappears. And there are concerns exports could tail off as other countries' economies slow down.

GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the U.S. and is the best barometer of the country's economic health.

The economy is the top concern for Americans. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama favors a second government stimulus package, while Republican rival John McCain supports free trade and other business measures to energize the economy.

Housing, credit and financial troubles have pounded the economy.

In turn, employers have clamped down on hiring, driving the nation's unemployment rate up to 5.7 percent in July, a four-year high. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of people signing up for jobless benefits declined last week for the third straight period, but claims remained above 400,000, an indicator of a slowing economy.

Employers have cut jobs every month this year and wage growth is trailing inflation. That combination raises concerns about the future of consumer spending, one of the pillars underpinning the economy.

The biggest factor in the second-quarter's rebound was robust sales of U.S. exports to other countries. The weaker value of the U.S. dollar has bolstered those sales. Exports grew at a 13.2 percent pace in the spring. That was much stronger than the government's initial estimate of a 9.2 percent growth rate, and more than double the 5.1 percent growth rate logged in the first quarter.

Imports, meanwhile, fell at a 7.6 percent annualized pace in the spring, as economic troubles in the U.S. crimped demand for foreign-made goods.

The improved trade picture added 3.1 percentage points to second-quarter GDP, the most since 1980.

U.S. consumers boosted their spending at a 1.7 percent pace in the second quarter. That was slightly better than the 1.5 percent growth rate initially report and marked the best showing in nearly a year. Government stimulus checks of up to $600 a person helped energize shoppers who had hunkered down amid the economy's problems.

One of the country's biggest problems -- the housing collapse -- was evident in the GDP report.

Builders cut back at an annual rate of 15.7 percent in the second quarter-- although that was a better showing than early this year and late last year.

Businesses trimmed spending on equipment and software in the spring. And, they reduced investment in inventories, but not as much as initially estimated by the government. That was another factor contributing to the improved GDP reading.

One measure of corporate profits showed companies losing ground in the second quarter. After-tax profits fell 3.8 percent in the spring, compared with a 1.1 percent increase in the first quarter.

An inflation gauge tied to the GDP report showed all prices rising at a rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter, the same as initially estimated.

Taking out energy and food, prices rose 2.1 percent. That also was unchanged from the government's previous estimate but remained outside the Federal Reserve's comfort zone.

With the economy still coping with fallout from housing and credit problems, the Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady at its next meeting on Sept. 16, and probably through the rest of this year.

Gorki Aguila 1, castro Regime 0

I'm heartened by the support and exposure Gorki Aguila has received from not only the Cuban community in exile and on the island, but by the "outside world" as well. This has quickly turned into a major blunder by the castro regime and, right now, we're waiting for tomorrow's "trial" to see if said regime will tap out of this match it simply cannot win, or if it will continue to dig itself deeper into a public relations abyss.

The revolution has always boasted about everything being about a "battle of ideas" and we Cubaphiles have always known this to be a canard. Gorki's incarceration is absolute proof of this.

The castro regime isnt trying to stifle Gorki and Porno Para Ricardo's music, but the ideas behind it. And while castro and co. may, ultimately, silence the guitars and the drums and the keyboards, the lyrics will still be resonant and the ideas will still be heard.

Porno Para Ricardo's lead singer may have been muted for the time being, but many - via their support of and solidarity with Gorki - have, in essence, stepped up to the mic and made sure his ideas not be silenced.

Is Protesting Unpatriotic?

I received an email from Bruce Weinstein, PhD, known as "The Ethics Guy" for CNN's American Morning show, He asked me to consider his latest article, "The Ethics of Protesting," which is currently in Business Week. It deals with whether there is a right and wrong way to protest, especially in light of the protests at the Democratic and Republican Conventions. Is protesting unpatriotic? Or is it possible to protest in a way that is respectful to the group against which you protest and your country? Or does protesting exclude respect?

You can read the article HERE

Come back and let us know what you think about protesting after you read it.

Cross posted at Claudia4Libertad

A.P. and others pick up Gorki's story

Thankfully the mainstream media has picked up the story of Gorki Aguila. Normally these sorts of arrests go unnoticed by them. We are rightfully harsh when they get it wrong and when they are ignorant and when they are negligent but we'll take a minute here to congratulate them on taking this story on.

Babalu Radio Hour | Tonight 9:00 PM EDT

Join us tonight as we discuss Gorki Aguila's arrest and other current events. Click the icon below.

The call-in number is (646) 652-4506, or you can send an email to me with questions or comments. The show begins at 9:00 PM EDT. Don't miss the opportunity to call in and participate. Be there.

Thank you to Hot Air

For linking to our post about Gorki Aguila.

And thank you to Pat Dollard for also linking to us.

Latest news about Gorki Aguila

The latest news coming out from the people at Cuba Underground and Porno Para Ricardo is below (faulty translation mine):

Gorki Aguila, leader of the band Porno Para Ricardo is being detained at the "La Quinta" police station.

This Wednesday his father was finally able to see him and and confirmed that the musician was calm, until the authorities there began mistreating him psychologically by talking about his 11 year-old daughter.

It is known that the police from said unit do not have Gorki's file and, according them, they are only detaining him there to carry out their orders.

Additionally there is no "instructor" (prosecutor?) in charge of the case and the representative of the unit does not possess any information with regards to Gorki Aguila.

As a result the chief of the unit asked the family members to find an attorney and see the prosecutor's office to find out about where Gorki's case file is.

The trial is scheduled for Friday August 29th.

Please distribute the above information.

Real Clear World - Cuban Espionage

I have a variety of interests that I blog about. One of them is college football. Through my activities in that arena I came to know Sam Chi who goes by the pseudonym "the BCS Guru". Sam is a former sports journalist that runs a B&B on Amelia Island, here in Florida, that I've had the pleasure of staying at. Well Sam is now running Real Clear World which is world news sister site of Real Clear Politics. He asked me if I was interested in writing something about Cuba and so I submitted this piece about Cuban espionage in the U.S.

Enjoy and please bookmark Real Clear World.

Round-up of Gorki in the news.

Ziva put together this round-up of articles and blog posts about Gorki's arrest.

BBC

CNN

El Nuevo Herald

El Mundo

The Money Times

ABC (Spain)

UPI

NY Daily News - Latino

Blogs:

Penultimos Dias

Penultimos Dias again

Zoe Valdes

Global Voices

1326

Yoani

Rafael Martel

Defringing Latin America

No Me Parece

Contact Music

American Thinker

Gag Watch

The Latin Americanist

La Isla Grande

Let's move on

I have been in communication with someone from Cuba Underground, who represents Porno Para Ricardo in the U.S. and had a meeting of the minds. For that reason I have removed the post that was here and would like to say only that we can't allow ourselves to be distracted by things that do not pertain to Gorki Aguila and his current situation.

"You're gonna have some union problems; my client could make then disappear."

Happy Hump Day Infidels, I offer you the famous scene from the Godfather where Tom tells the Hollywood bigshot that if he hired Johnny Fontaine to do the picture, he could make the director's union troubles disappear. Why do I post this? Well it's because of the big comeback of the big unions especially with the new lefty democratic party. Here's what will happen under an all lefty democratic government -- (from the WSJ)

Big Labor's Comeback August 27, 2008; Page A14

Forget for a moment the media fascination with disgruntled Hillary Clinton delegates or Michelle Obama's makeover. One of the most underreported stories at this week's Democratic National Convention is that Big Labor is making a big comeback.

Not long ago, the labor movement was in a state of steady, seemingly unstoppable decline. A global economy and the information age made unions less relevant to more workers. The fall of industrial trades cut into existing union ranks, while service workers saw less need to join. Union membership as a share of the American workforce has been falling since the early 1980s, and today stands at 12.1%. In the more dynamic private sector, only 7.5% of workers carry the union label.

The paradox is that even as union numbers have declined, union political clout has increased, especially within the Democratic Party. That's in evidence in Denver, where no less than 25% of the 4,200 delegates are active or retired union members or belong to households with union members. More significant for the rest of America, labor has won the intellectual battle for control of the Democratic Party and is reasserting its agenda in a way not seen since the 1970s.

A decade ago, leading Democrats were willing, if not eager, to disagree with union priorities. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Bob Kerrey pushed Social Security reform, and John Breaux took on Medicare. Even Al Gore, in his pre-Oracle phase, took on the task of "reinventing government," including the FAA and air-traffic controllers union. Bill Clinton promoted trade expansion, breaking with the AFL-CIO to do so. Still other Democrats pushed charter schools and more education accountability.

Those reform days are over. In Denver, there's no more talk of busting these "public trusts." The only reform idea for education is a tepid call for teacher testing. Free trade is in disrepute, with Barack Obama bowing to union wishes to rewrite Nafta, even unilaterally if Mexico and Canada don't bend. The party platform includes a passing reference to reviving the Doha Round of global trade talks, but nothing about the trade promotion authority that would be needed to pass more trade deals.

More tellingly, rewriting federal law to promote union organizing is now near the top of the Democratic agenda. The main vehicle is "card check" legislation, which would eliminate the requirement for secret ballots in union elections. Unable to organize workers when employees can vote in privacy, unions want to expose those votes to peer pressure, and inevitably to public intimidation. This would arguably be the biggest change to federal labor law since the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. The Democratic House passed card check last year, and Mr. Obama has pledged his support. With a few more Senators, it might pass.

Card check is merely the start. Next on the agenda is a campaign to repeal "right to work" laws in the 22 U.S. states that have them. Right to work laws allow employees to decide for themselves whether to join or financially support a union. Former Michigan Congressman David Bonior told a union event in Denver on Monday that limiting right to work laws is essential both to lifting union membership and promoting more Democratic political victories. He pointed out that John Kerry didn't win a single right to work state in 2004, while Al Gore won only one -- Iowa -- and only by a few thousand votes in 2000.

This point is crucial to understanding labor's new Democratic clout. States with more union households tend to be more Democratic. And groups like the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO will pour hundreds of millions of dollars, and endless man hours, into getting Democrats elected this year. Those resources have simply overwhelmed the 1990s New Democrat movement that tried to tug the party toward freer trade and public-sector reform.

The question for Americans more broadly is whether a return to widespread unionization is really the way to raise middle-class incomes. The case for card check is that, amid global competition, the balance of organizing power has shifted to business. Giving unions more power will redress this imbalance and let workers grab a higher share of corporate profits.

But this claim is highly suspect, given the record in autos, steel and the rest of unionized American manufacturing. The only sector of the U.S. auto industry that is prospering is the part not organized by the United Auto Workers. Likewise, Europe, with its high jobless rates and slow growth, argues against unionization as a way to lift middle-class incomes. To the extent a country like Germany has modestly reversed some of this, it has been the result of recent labor-law reforms and labor concessions.

As for the U.S., the states with right to work laws have performed better economically for workers of all types. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has shown that right to work states over the past 30 years have lower unemployment, higher rates of job creation, and faster growth in GDP and per-capita personal income than states with compulsory union membership. Colorado is hoping to get in on this success, with a high-profile ballot initiative this fall that would make it a right to work state.

We have long believed that if workers want to form a union, they have every right to do so. And businesses that get a union often deserve what they get. What Americans need to know this November is that the Democratic Party wants to make it that much more difficult for them not to join a union.

Gorki

By Yoani Sanchez

They took him because nothing destabilizes the intransigents more than a man in his most free state. At the Fifth Police Station, 3rd and 62nd in Playa, where the criminals take turns and a toilet is a painful illusion, Gorki rips the strings of his rebelliousness. He is a weird guy, everyone notices it, even more weird in a society where the model of the “New Man” is the coloring book version of the idiot in the classroom.

Gorki concentrates the attraction that his critics do not have; he sings, sways, and shouts in his bloody rock lyrics what others mutter with fear. He has a room lined with egg cartons somebody gave him, because if we added up all the eggs he’s entitled to from the rationed market he would not have been able to wallpaper even a closet. He is accused of a crime from the script of the film “Minority Report,” charged under the euphemism of “pre-delinquent dangerousness.” Translated into the language of reality, it means they put you behind bars so you don’t commit the mischief that others see coming.

In the case of Gorki, the charge has been led by a delegate of the constituency with delusions of James Bond, a neighbor woman they “advised” to make the accusation, and by a community that avoids interceding for the “uncomfortable.” On Thursday he will have his preliminary hearing and only some clothes and toiletries brought by his father have managed to make it to him where they have him “guarded.” There is little chance of the defense lawyer convincing the strict prosecutor that Gorki’s long hair, his rock songs, and the noise of his guitar, are not more dangerous than the inertia, conformity and double standard in which everything is wrapped.

More details about the detention are at the site Porno Para Ricardo.

This was originally written and published in Spanish by Yoani Sanchez and translated and posted in her English version blog. Since the castro regime continues to curtail her internet access and continues to block access to her blog and other internet sites in and out of Cuba, we are posting Yoani's work in its entirety in solidarity and to help promote and distribute same.

Emergency activities on behalf of Cuban dissident punk rocker Gorki Aguila

We are launching a BUCL.org publicity campaign in support of the Cuban dissident punk rocker Gorki Aguila who was arrested in Havana yesterday and is reportedly going to stand trial for "dangerousness" on Thursday. Aguila could face up to 4 years in prison if the Cuban kangaroo court deems it.

For those who aren't aware, Aguila is the front man for a punk rock group called Porno Para Ricardo whose lyrics are harshly critical of the regime. That's why he's one of our heroes here at Babalu.

The purpose of BUCL.org is to pool resources (money) to amplify our message. In order to put an official press release on the news wires it takes about $500 and we also like to do a Spanish release on the Hispanic news wires which effectively doubles the cost. We are looking for 20 sponsors at $50 each. If you are interested drop me an email.

What happens when...

You are in the entertainment business, scratch that, when you are a Latino in the entertainment business and you come out and speak in favor of a Republican candidate? Well you get raked over the coals. You see Democrats don't like their subjects to wander too far from the reservation.

Daddy Yankee, a reggaeton artist, came out yesterday in favor of John McCain and it seems that he's taking a beating for it among some in the Latino entertainment industry and from other quarters.

Ah, the hypocrisy of Hollywood. We're supposed to separate the art from the artist when it's one of those America-hating leftists.

You can lend Daddy Yankee some support by logging on to the live chat that Univision is hosting at 7:00 PM eastern.

Obama + A Democratic Congress = The Freedom of Choice Act = Abortion on Demand

The One has averred that if he is given the Presidency, he with his pals in the House (Mistress Nancy) and in the Senate (Sen. Boxer and Reid), one of the 1st pieces of legislation he will pass is the Freedom of Choice Act (A copy of the text of the Bill is appended hereto).

This Bill if made law will supersede all state laws which place restrictions on abortion. This law will make abortion on demand a fundamental right in the United States regardless of age or of the viability of the baby. This law will remove all state and federal protections to doctors who refuse to perform abortions whether on moral or religious grounds. (I'm sure that a challenge on religious grounds would prevail if said doctor was punished). And to please ATLA, the provisions provides a civil cause of action against any entity, person, or government for damages as a result of being denied your abortion on demand. This law would in essence codify legal infanticide.

Now why is this significant? Because in the slim chance the US Supreme Court were to overrule Roe on Constitutional Grounds, this new law, would become the law of the land until such time as it is repealed by Congress.

Don't believe me? Read the text of the bill and see for yourself.

110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1173
To protect, consistent with Roe v. Wade, a woman's freedom to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 19, 2007
Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. CLINTON, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. BAUCUS, and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To protect, consistent with Roe v. Wade, a woman's freedom to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Freedom of Choice Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States was founded on core principles, such as liberty, personal privacy, and equality, which ensure that individuals are free to make their most intimate decisions without governmental interference and discrimination.
(2) One of the most private and difficult decisions an individual makes is whether to begin, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy. Those reproductive health decisions are best made by women, in consultation with their loved ones and health care providers.
(3) In 1965, in Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479), and in 1973, in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113) and Doe v. Bolton (410 U.S. 179), the Supreme Court recognized that the right to privacy protected by the Constitution encompasses the right of every woman to weigh the personal, moral, and religious considerations involved in deciding whether to begin, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy.
(4) The Roe v. Wade decision carefully balances the rights of women to make important reproductive decisions with the State's interest in potential life. Under Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the right to privacy protects a woman's decision to choose to terminate her pregnancy prior to fetal viability, with the State permitted to ban abortion after fetal viability except when necessary to protect a woman's life or health.
(5) These decisions have protected the health and lives of women in the United States. Prior to the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, an estimated 1,200,000 women each year were forced to resort to illegal abortions, despite the risk of unsanitary conditions, incompetent treatment, infection, hemorrhage, disfiguration, and death. Before Roe, it is estimated that thousands of women died annually in the United States as a result of illegal abortions.
(6) In countries in which abortion remains illegal, the risk of maternal mortality is high. According to the World Health Organization, of the approximately 600,000 pregnancy-related deaths occurring annually around the world, 80,000 are associated with unsafe abortions.
(7) The Roe v. Wade decision also expanded the opportunities for women to participate equally in society. In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (505 U.S. 833), the Supreme Court observed that, `[t]he ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.'.
(8) Even though the Roe v. Wade decision has stood for more than 34 years, there are increasing threats to reproductive health and freedom emerging from all branches and levels of government. In 2006, South Dakota became the first State in more than 15 years to enact a ban on abortion in nearly all circumstances. Supporters of this ban have admitted it is an attempt to directly challenge Roe in the courts. Other States are considering similar bans.
(9) Further threatening Roe, the Supreme Court recently upheld the first-ever Federal ban on an abortion procedure, which has no exception to protect a woman's health. The majority decision in Gonzales v. Carhart (05-380, slip op. April 18, 2007) and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America fails to protect a woman's health, a core tenet of Roe v. Wade. Dissenting in that case, Justice Ginsburg called the majority's opinion `alarming', and stated that, `[f]or the first time since Roe, the Court blesses a prohibition with no exception safeguarding a woman's health'. Further, she said, the Federal ban `and the Court's defense of it cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this Court'.
(10) Legal and practical barriers to the full range of reproductive services endanger women's health and lives. Incremental restrictions on the right to choose imposed by Congress and State legislatures have made access to reproductive care extremely difficult, if not impossible, for many women across the country. Currently, 87 percent of the counties in the United States have no abortion provider.
(11) While abortion should remain safe and legal, women should also have more meaningful access to family planning services that prevent unintended pregnancies, thereby reducing the need for abortion.
(12) To guarantee the protections of Roe v. Wade, Federal legislation is necessary.
(13) Although Congress may not create constitutional rights without amending the Constitution, Congress may, where authorized by its enumerated powers and not prohibited by the Constitution, enact legislation to create and secure statutory rights in areas of legitimate national concern.
(14) Congress has the affirmative power under section 8 of article I of the Constitution and section 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution to enact legislation to facilitate interstate commerce and to prevent State interference with interstate commerce, liberty, or equal protection of the laws.
(15) Federal protection of a woman's right to choose to prevent or terminate a pregnancy falls within this affirmative power of Congress, in part, because--
(A) many women cross State lines to obtain abortions and many more would be forced to do so absent a constitutional right or Federal protection;
(B) reproductive health clinics are commercial actors that regularly purchase medicine, medical equipment, and other necessary supplies from out-of-State suppliers; and
(C) reproductive health clinics employ doctors, nurses, and other personnel who travel across State lines in order to provide reproductive health services to patients.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) GOVERNMENT- The term `government' includes a branch, department, agency, instrumentality, or official (or other individual acting under color of law) of the United States, a State, or a subdivision of a State.
(2) STATE- The term `State' means each of the States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory or possession of the United States.
(3) VIABILITY- The term `viability' means that stage of pregnancy when, in the best medical judgment of the attending physician based on the particular medical facts of the case before the physician, there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the woman.

SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE WITH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROHIBITED.

(a) Statement of Policy- It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman.
(b) Prohibition of Interference- A government may not--
(1) deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose--
(A) to bear a child;
(B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or
(C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or
(2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.
(c) Civil Action- An individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (including relief against a government) in a civil action.

SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which the provision is held to be unconstitutional, shall not be affected thereby.

SEC. 6. RETROACTIVE EFFECT.

This Act applies to every Federal, State, and local statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or implemented before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.

CNN on arrest of Cuban dissident punk rocker Gorki Aguila

CNN's Morgan Neil, who actually occasionally reports real news out of Cuba, has penned this article about the arrest of Gorki Aguila. I suppose this is the kinder and gentler castro dictatorship that we keep hearing about. You know, the reasonable folks that we should be negotiating with.

Got to hand it to Bill

I'm sure all the lefties including those butt licking lefty bloggers are cringing over this comment today from former President Clinton -- (from The Hill)

The former president, speaking in Denver, posed a hypothetical question in which he seemed to suggest that that the Democratic Party was making a mistake in choosing Obama as its presidential nominee.

He said: "Suppose you're a voter, and you've got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don't think that candidate can deliver on anything at all. Candidate Y you agree with on about half the issues, but he can deliver. Which candidate are you going to vote for?"

Then, perhaps mindful of how his off-the-cuff remarks might be taken, Clinton added after a pause: "This has nothing to do with what's going on now."

Yeah right. I must say that I do agree with Bill on this one that the One was the wrong choice, at the wrong time ....

Man, I'd love to see a brawl between the two camps....add some excitement to this political crap.

Heck, the One's Spouse's speech was so ponderous, I turned the channel to FX to watch the Butterfly Effect. More interesting that the swill they were pouring in Denver.

The leftist protest culture...

Is hilarious. What are we protesting today?

From Hot Air:

The un-nuanced approach of Raul Martinez' supporters

Ever since Raul Martinez and Joedilocks announced their candidacies they have been trying to sell a "nuanced" approach to Cuba. They are for the embargo, they claim. They just want people to be able able to visit their families in Cuba. It's all humanitarian you see. But the truth is that some of the most ardent anti-embargo advocates are among the financial backers of both of these clowns. Why are these people so opposed to Lincoln and Mario Diaz -Balart. It's not because they haven't been effective legislators. It's exactly the opposite. Lincoln and Mario have gone to Washington and represented the wishes of their constituents effectively. They have earned the support of members of both parties to try and keep a hard-line toward Cuba that does not compromise. That's right, no compromise, no negotiation with the castro brothers. But many of Raul and Joe's supporters are cut from a different cloth.

Here's a nice piece of electioneering material (Spanish only, sorry) from the Republican Party that exposes how these pro-castro individuals are moving in support of Raul Martinez behind the scenes. These people will never be satisfied with just returning the travel restrictions to the way they were before 2004. Are you kidding me?

DNC Superdelegate Raul Martinez

If any of those protesters in Denver gets out of hand, Martinez will be able to calm everything down. Just watch his methods...

How To Win Friends & Influence People

Dale Carnegie, it seems, had it all wrong. The would-be simian king of Venezuela has found a much more effective method to achieve this goal: He simply buys them.

"All the energy that they need ... in Honduras is assured for the next 100 years," Chavez told a cheering crowd of about 50,000 people in the Honduran capital.

Say hello to your new pimp, Honduras.

Someone Give Mistress Nancy An Education on Energy

A Carbon Education
August 26, 2008; Page A20

Nancy Pelosi recently diluted her opposition to offshore drilling, but we're beginning to wonder if the House Speaker even knows why she opposed increasing domestic energy supplies in the first place.

Ms. Pelosi appeared Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," where Tom Brokaw gently pointed out that the various Democratic alternative energy ambitions are "not going to happen overnight." Replied Ms. Pelosi: "You can have a transition with natural gas. That, that is cheap, abundant and clean compared to fossil fuels." Later, she again said that "I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels," and that wind, solar, biofuels and "a focus on natural gas, these are the real alternatives."

Apparently Ms. Pelosi's new script is still being reworked, but it's a telling mistake. Not only is natural gas every bit as much a "fossil fuel" as oil or coal. More to the point, these concentrated organic compounds found beneath the earth's surface must be extracted by . . . drilling. And sometimes even drilling offshore, on the Outer Continental Shelf. But more drilling is what Ms. Pelosi had refused to allow just a few days ago.

Natural gas was once the toast of the Beltway, since it burns cleaner than oil and coal, though that was before Democrats became hostile to any form of carbon energy. But lately natural gas is making a comeback, thanks in part to the high-profile advocacy of T. Boone Pickens, who has been embraced by Democrats as the latest green champion. As a follow-up, we'd like to see someone ask Ms. Pelosi if she still supports more natural gas exploration once she learns that it's made from evil carbon.

See all of today's editorials and op-eds, plus video commentary, on Opinion Journal.

UPDATE: For Gigi -- here's a pic of the Mistress Nancy undergoing her weekly plastic surgery ---

Right on the money

Sorry for my lack of sympathy, but she's as lowdown as her husband. "Oleaginous" does not even begin to describe them.

Two weeks after a devastating revelation sent her husband into political exile, Elizabeth Edwards isn't getting the steady sympathy usually afforded to a woman scorned.

Instead, she's faced criticism from dedicated Democrats who think she was too willing to keep the affair a secret to help John Edwards' political ambitions, as well as her own.

At a time when she was expected to hold a prominent role in pushing an agenda of improved health care for Americans, she stands silent. While fellow Democrats converge in Denver to nominate Barack Obama for president, Edwards remains in seclusion in North Carolina.

It seems an odd way to treat a woman with incurable cancer wronged by a cheating husband, the latest in a series of deep hardships in life that includes the death of a teenage son.

But some former followers have questioned the recklessness of keeping the affair under wraps even though her husband - a former U.S. senator, two-time presidential candidate and the 2004 vice presidential nominee – said he confessed the affair in 2006, before the campaign began in earnest the next year.

NYC teacher in trouble over Cuba trip resigns

Remember last years story about NYC public school history teacher Natan Turner taking high school students to Cuba for spring break? The New York Post has an update:

A Manhattan public high-school teacher who twice took students on embargo-busting field trips to Cuba has resigned, The Post has learned.

Nathan Turner, a popular history instructor at the top-tier Beacon School, allegedly led dozens of students and teachers on at least two such spring-break excursions.

Department of Education officials last week confirmed the resignation, along with that of fellow Beacon teacher Geoffrey Hunt, who also made jaunts to Castro country, according to sources.

Officials declined to discuss whether Turner's departure was related to two ongoing investigations sparked by the April 2007 Post exposé of the outings.

The Treasury Department is exploring the trips' legality. Educational travel to Cuba is limited to college students, sources said. Each traveler could be fined up to $65,000.

And Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon is looking into whether Beacon administrators and Education officials sanctioned as many as six trips to Cuba, starting in 2000.

Principal Ruth Lacey has denied approving last year's trip, the most recent, but prior outings were advertised on the school's Web site and documented in its yearbook, sources said.

No mention of Rev. Walker's testimony.

Maybe I'm wrong...

but it seems to me that the only discernible function of the Children's Trust is to air TV commercials in support of the Children's Trust.

A lot of commercials...

With a lot of politicians...

and a lot of local celebrities...

but very few details about what the Children's Trust actually does.

Anyone out there care to hazard a guess or disabuse me of my surely misplaced notions since I'm about to head out and vote?

A Laugh out Loud moment from The Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi. Mom. Congresswoman. Speaker. Comedian.

Pelosi cautioned against victimizing Clinton, who fought a tough battle, indicating that the message women can glean from Clinton's loss is the importance of moving forward, and refusing to wallow in defeat.

"I think that women, we have to get away from the politics of victim. This is about you go out there and you fight," she said. "I think that what Hillary Clinton did was tremendous for the country. She has kicked open many doors, which now we have to bring many more women through, millions more women through. My being speaker of the House was breaking the marble ceiling in Congress, which is hard. Sen. Clinton [had] a bigger challenge to run for president of the United States. What we have to do now is say, we have to translate that not just for individuals, but for all women."

If you guys stop plating victim politics then what the hell are you going to talk about? These Dems are funny ain't they?

Ted Kennedy's Speech Last Night

In a few words: how's Mary Jo doing?

Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila arrested

(Editor's note (Val): The "Free Gorky" graphic previously posted here has been removed per the request of the artist, quote: "I didn't authorize the use of my graphics on Babalu (Ziva's post) nor the use of my words (Ziva's post) or my audiovisuals (your post asking for "donations"). Ordinarily, a post such as this, attempting to bring to light and to further the news of the plight of any Cuban under any circumstance would be welcome. However, that is not the case here, where the vile treatment of the Cuban in question is secondary to the hatred of the opinions expressed here and the disdain for the contributors of this blog.)

Cuba Underground reports that Gorki Luis Aguila Carrasco, of the punk rock band Porno Para Ricardo has been arrested. According to his father, he is being held until Thursday when he faces a sentence of one to four years for "anti-social" behavior.

This is not the first time; Gorki was previously arrested and sentenced on trumped up drug charges and since that release has been repeatedly harassed, threatened, and was briefly detained last year. His only crime is having the balls to stand up to a repressive dictatorship.

Gorki has been an outspoken critic of the regime, in April of 2007, even CNN took notice with an interview and video. Watch it at Cuba Underground. Will CNN follow through and cover Gorki's arrest? Their feedback page is here.


Free Gorki!

Photo from Zoé Valdés here.

This Cuba tourist video tells it all - UPDATED

Among the many arguments I get from pro-castro provocateurs is that I've never been to Cuba and therefore don't know what I'm talking about. My answer is that I've never been to a Soviet gulag either but I know they existed. I don't need to spend a week in Cuba, lining the regime's pockets with my hard earned dollars to know what's really going on in Cuba. As if a few days in a private resort drinking mojitos qualifies these people to comment.

Well a friend sent me this video which was posted by someone who recently visited Cuba. Unlike many of the idiots whose vacation videos I've featured here, this visitor to Cuba actually saw the island for what it is. This is a translation of the video description on youtube:

It was my first visit to Cuba and I probably will not return to this beautiful island until there is a change of regime. What you see (in this post as in the videos I'll publish later) is the brief story of a progressive Argentine/Spaniard who he had a Michael Moore vision of Cuba until I visited the island. My view today is that there is no progressivism in Cuba, and that the only thing that can be done is to get rid of the Castro regime and open up to the world as did Hungary, the Czech Republic and many countries in Eastern Europe. The other solution, of the Chinese and Pinochet variety, would be better than the current situation, but not by much. And the current situation is really pathetic.

Another interesting thing is how the the man observes the same irony that I've pointed out many times, which is that the regime claims that prior to castro Cuba was a colony of the U.S. and a victim of U.S. imperialism yet the tourists only come back with photos of pre-revolutionary buildings and cars.

UPDATE:

The author of the above video has some other videos on youtube. In this one, he goes to a museum of the CDR's (neighborhood snitch committees) and hilarity ensues. The two women who work at the museum can't seem to answer the traveler's question about why the two statistics displaying CDR membership don't agree. The answer is that one of the figures is the total number of committees and the other is the total number of members of the committees. Yet these two products to the revolutionary education system haven't figured that out yet. Also in the video description, the man tells the story of how they tried to scam him out of some extra cash for the "right" to film inside the museum.

In this other video, our Argentine friend tries to understand how there can be elections in Cuba if candidates can't campaign. How do people learn about the candidates' positions. The woman of coure doesn't know how to answer the question because it doesn't really matter who gets elected, does it?

Sen. Joe on Cuba

So Obama picks Joe Biden. Thought you would like this insight provided by ABC News:

The U.S. Should Consider Talking to Raul Castro, Sen. Biden Says

ABC News' Mary Bruce Reports: Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said this morning that the U.S. should consider opening relations with Cuba. When asked in an exclusive "This Week" interview if the U.S. should consider talking to Raul Castro, Biden explained "yes, probably. The end of the Castro era is in sight...so we should be preparing what that transition is going to look like." Fidel Castro's brother Raul is poised to take over as the head of the Cuban government today. "We should be taking independent moves now, from establishing mail service to allowing more frequent family members, et cetera, but not lifting the embargo until there is a response to political prisoners, all the things that are wrong with this Castro administration," Biden said.

We all know how much Joe Biden likes to talk.

Damn Yankee

Joe, the Senator

My mom's boyfriend is from Delaware. On Satuday night I chatted with him on the phone and we were talking about Obama's pick of Biden for V.P. and how Biden is a loose cannon. He told me that Biden likes to attend 4 masses each Sunday (catching a little bit of each) so that he can be seen by many.

Then he told me a funny anecdote about the time he met Biden. It turns out that they didn't live too far from each other. One day Biden was walking down the street. He comes up to my mom's boyfriend and says, "Hello. I'm Joe, the Senator," and offers his hand.

My mom's boyfriend accepted the handshake and said dryly, "And I'm Gus, the Doctor."

Humberto Fontova on Cuban spying

Great piece in History News Network today:

Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Simmons of the DIA had a key role in uncovering Fidel Castro's “Queen Jewel,” as she came to be known, and sending her to prison. Two years later Castro had cause to curse Simmons again. "Virtually every member of Cuba's U.N mission is an intelligence agent," revealed Alcibiades Hidalgo, who defected to the U.S. in 2002 after serving as Raul Castro's Chief of Staff and Cuba's ambassador to the U.N. In 2003 Lieut. Col. Simmons helped root out 14 of those Cuban spies who were promptly booted from the U.S.

In 25 years as a U.S. Military Counterintelligence officer, Lieut. Col. Simmons has ended the operations of 80 enemy agents, many of which are today behind bars. "I believe that the Cuban Intelligence Service has penetrated the United States government to the same extent that the old East German STASI, once penetrated the West German government.”

Read the whole thing.

Things that make you go hmmmmm.

This article about China and the Olympics:

BEIJING - The 2008 Summer Olympics closed Sunday night in a display of tightly scripted merriment and lavish fireworks, a final burst of pomp ending 17 days of sports and celebration that Chinese authorities organized with flawless precision and an unbending security clampdown.

In its scope and its splendor, the pageant proved yet again that China's Communist Party, while clinging to its Leninist political system, has accumulated the wealth and know-how to pull off a glittering Olympics worthy of a world power...

In the view of the Chinese, the appearance of dozens of foreign leaders during the Games, including President Bush, meant the world had effectively endorsed the Communist Party's rule, despite its continued political repression...

The emphasis on China's national achievements was intense, responding to guidance from the Central Propaganda Department as well as spontaneous pride...

The government, however, was quick to congratulate itself for the results, eager to see the Olympic enthusiasm at home and abroad translated into increased support for the cautious mix of economic liberalization and one-party dictatorship that President Hu Jintao and his lieutenants call socialism with Chinese characteristics...

Some analysts suggested that the turnout by foreign leaders has encouraged Hu and other party leaders to believe they can safely ignore appeals for greater attention to human rights. In this view, the Beijing Games therefore not only failed to encourage respect for human rights in China, as promised, but even set them back...

"Not a single world leader who attended the Games or members of the International Olympic Committee seized the opportunity to challenge the Chinese government's behavior in any meaningful way," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. "Will anyone wonder, after the games are over, why the Chinese government remains intransigent about human rights?"

Rogge, the IOC president, carefully avoided criticizing the Chinese government, for instance, when it emerged that journalists' Internet access was being restricted, despite assurances to the contrary, and that police were preventing reporters from covering some protests, despite rules stipulating that there should be no obstacles...

When Vice President Xi held a celebratory banquet for Rogge and other IOC officials Friday, for instance, the one other Politburo Standing Committee member in attendance was Zhou Yongkang, China's security czar, who usually is not called on to greet foreign visitors. Two days earlier, Zhou's subordinates had threatened two women in their 70s with labor camp for applying to hold a protest under Zhou's own recently announced regulations...

Backers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, who Chinese security officials feared would turn out to protest, were not heard from. Members told reporters that thousands of the movement's followers in China had been dumped into detention centers in the weeks leading up to the Games...

Tibet activists, mainly from the United States and Europe, managed to elude the visa restrictions and mount eight small protests. But even they were quickly rounded up.

Here in China, such demonstrations were drowned by the flood of good news about Chinese victories in Olympic events. Protests were fully reported in foreign media, however, adding to the impression abroad that Chinese authorities were unwilling to allow any dissent that could distract from a joyful Olympic Games.

What is noteworthy about the above article is how much it resembles actual journalism. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and call it real journalism. I emphasized certain words in the piece to show how the media can call a spade a spade if it really wants to. My only question is why can't the WaPo assign the reporter, Edward Cody, to cover Cuba?

H/T: Lori

The Denver Dems

Great op ed today in the WSJ on the Denver Dems and how they have gone back to the days of the San Francisco Dems so aptly described by the late Jeanne Kirkpatrick.

Her words ring as loudly today as they did in 1984:

They said that saving Grenada from terror and totalitarianism was the wrong thing to do - they didn't blame Cuba or the communists for threatening American students and murdering Grenadians - they blamed the United States instead.

But then, somehow, they always blame America first.

When our Marines, sent to Lebanon on a multinational peacekeeping mission with the consent of the United States Congress, were murdered in their sleep, the "blame America first crowd" didn't blame the terrorists who murdered the Marines, they blamed the United States.

But then, they always blame America first.

When the Soviet Union walked out of arms control negotiations, and refused even to discuss the issues, the San Francisco Democrats didn't blame Soviet intransigence. They blamed the United States.

But then, they always blame America first.

When Marxist dictators shoot their way to power in Central America, the San Francisco Democrats don't blame the guerrillas and their Soviet allies, they blame United States policies of 100 years ago.

But then, they always blame America first.

The American people know better.

They know that Ronald Reagan and the United States didn't cause Marxist dictatorship in Nicaragua, or the repression in Poland, or the brutal new offensives in Afghanistan, or the destruction of the Korean airliner, or the new attacks on religious and ethnic groups in the Soviet Union, or the jamming of western broadcasts, or the denial of Jewish emigration, or the brutal imprisonment of Anatoly Shcharansky and Ida Nudel, or the obscene treatment of Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner, or the re-Stalinization of the Soviet Union.

The American people know that it's dangerous to blame ourselves for terrible problems that we did not cause.

They understand just as the distinguished French writer, Jean Francois Revel, understands the dangers of endless self- criticism and self-denigration.

He wrote: "Clearly, a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself."

Yep folks, you finally have a true liberal Democratic ticket. The most liberal (The One) and the Third Most Liberal (Biden). Not since the 1972 election has there been such a liberal ticket coming from the DNC. It will be interesting.

Monday Morning open thread

We are all suffering from PWLMSD* so let's open this up for dicussion. Any topic is okay. Let me start by asking what y'all are going to watch tonight? The Democrat National Convention or reruns on TV Land?

*Post Weekend Lousy Monday Stress Disorder

Wakey, Wakey!

What's going on out there? Anything?

Sunday Night Moonbat Delivery Service

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you two beautiful examples of moonbatius americanus, the embodiment of the modern American left, courtesy of HotAir:

Moonbats say the darnedest things. And Hot Air special correspondent Jason Mattera is undercover at the Democrat convention in Denver to capture their rants and ramblings. He communed with pro-abortion activists at the Planned Parenthood mega-facility on Saturday morning (my coverage here). Hilarity, confusion, and — gulp — angry, Christofascist-bashing poetry, ensue. Thanks to the folks at the People’s Press Collective for their help.

Jason is back in the field again today for the anti-war circus and will report back soon. Wish him luck.

Cuban student leader arrested (UPDATED)

Néstor Rodríguez has been released. See update below.

It has been a long, hot summer for Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina, president of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy. In July, he went on a hunger strike after the authorities blocked him from traveling from Baracoa in far eastern Cuba to Havana. Additionally, the dictatorship unleashed goons from its "rapid response brigades" to harass and threaten Rodríguez and other activists. Officials finally relented and said Rodríguez could travel, for whatever that was worth.

Apparently, it wasn't worth much. Reports — here (in Spanish) and here (in English) — are that Rodríguez was arrested Aug. 20 after one of the thugs who harassed him last month accused Rodríguez of "threatening" him, as if government opponents in Cuba have any such ability.

The day after Rodríguez's arrest, his brother, Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina, said the real reason Nestor was arrested is that he had carried out a protest in front of his apartment building in Baracoa.

"He yelled anti-government slogans like 'Down with Fidel and Raúl,'" Rolando said, according to a report from human rights activist Juan Carlos González Leiva.

As of late last week, there was no word on Nestor Rodríguez's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, about 20 members of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy on Aug. 22 marched in Guantanamo to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, which crushed the "Prague Spring" softening of communist rule.

In the town of Banes, police arrested three activists who had participated in a similar demonstration. One of the protesters, Ángel Luis Santiesteban Rodés, remained in custody as of last week, according to Cuban Democratic Directorate.

(Cross-posted at Uncommon Sense.)

UPDATED, Aug. 25, 2008

Néstor Rodríguez was released on Aug. 23, but not before police fined him 1,000 pesos.

For what, as is common under the communist "justice" system, was not clear. Independent journalist Tania Maceda Guerra reports that despite the fine, Rodríguez was released with no charges being filed. Of course, in Cuba that is only a technicality, as the dictatorship always reserves for itself the whens, wheres and whys of how it metes out "justice."

What is known is that Rodríguez, who has been imprisoned on three separate occasions for a total of 10 years, is not in the clear.

The One Part II: The Road to Denver

So let it be written.

The Castro Revolution's New Man

What is an Olympic athlete to do when he is disqualified from a match for violating a long-standing rule?

Well, for the less nuanced, less sophisticated, less cultured, less ambitious, less intellectual athletes who have not had the good fortune of growing up in a totalitarian society where every aspect of life is controlled and decided by the omniscient state, you simply accept the ruling and make a mental note to be more careful the next time.

However, when you are a member of Castro's New Man Club, you take matters into your own hands. Or in this particular case; your own foot.

Unhappy with a referee disqualifying him for exceeding the allotted time for receiving medical attention during a match, Communist Cuba's Angel Matos attempted to explain to the referee--with a kick to the face--that as a full, card-carrying member of the New Man Club in good standing, he is not subject to the capitalist and imperialist rules imposed upon him by the bourgeois officials at the Olympics.

You can read all about this display of New Man sportsmanship HERE.

Dwayne Wade is a Stud!

But Kobe Bryant has ice water in his veins.

IOC's Jacques Rogge is a liar

The president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge was interviewed by Bob Costas and when Costas asked about why the IOC wasn't more firm with China on denying winter Olympian Joey Cheek a visa (Cheek is a human rights activist) and for sending a pair of elderly women who applied for a protest permit to a "re-education" camp.

Rogge cynically said that the U.S. denied the Cuban baseball team visas for the "World Championship" and that these are "internal decisions". The only thing I can think of that fits Rogge's description is when the U.S. State Department initially denied visas to the Cuban team for the World Baseball Classic in 2006. The fact is that the Cubans finally got their visas and played in Anaheim for the championship (they lost to Japan). I could find no other case in which Cuban athletes were denied visas by the U.S.

Of course Costas didn't challenge Rogge and set the record straight, why would he? He works for the Nothing But Castro network. Rogge, you are a liar and a scumbag. And Costas, you are a weasel.

Cubans in America: Why I Think They Hate Us

There I am minding my own business when I stumble across a new business magazine, Strategy. Of course, there’s an article about Cuba and whether it will “rise again.” Of course, it’s about the….embargo. No mention of Cuba’s credit record, yada, yada, yada. Oh, but there is a word to describe the “Cubans in Miami” who have been wielding disproportionate political power in foreign policy making, and the word is zealots.

What’s a nice Biblical word like that doing in a business magazine, I ask you? More importantly, perhaps, why wasn’t the word penciled out by some officious editor? Why don’t the rules governing political correctness apply to the Cuban American minority in the United States? So now I have to think about this, a dangerous proposition anytime.

Well, for one thing, we are inconvenient. Cubans, particularly you rabble rousers in Miami, are standing between “Americans” and the scads of money to be made in Cuba, the cheap vacations and nubile young women to be taken, and the genuine Cohibas to be smoked. Every time there is a movement afoot to lift restrictions, you can bet there will be demonstrations, letters, political fallout.

These responses will be angry, emotional, even histrionic. In this country originally founded by Anglo Saxons- stiff upper lip and all that- our passionate natures are just so foreign, offensive to some. (For confirmation of the differences in approach to life, just listen to one Alvarez Guedes joke containing an American, a Cuban, and a member of at least one other nationality.)

“But we are victims, the children and grandchildren of victims,” you say. Problem is that we make lousy victims, thereby depriving members of the bleeding heart/entitlement establishment of the opportunity to display their largesse and feel good about themselves. Unfortunately as a group, we are successful and proud. The first generations work like dogs at whatever occupation comes to hand and successfully launch the next. We just don’t know our place. We presume to be on a par with any other American, and some of us might even think ourselves superior. Worse still, and I suspect that when it comes to the liberal elite this is our greatest sin, we are terribly bourgeois. Who among you doesn’t have an elderly female relative with a house full of Lladros? Oh, and did I mention, we tend to vote Republican?

And that’s not the least of our flaws. We just won’t forget. We won’t get over it. We are stubborn and tenacious, believing that injustice does not have an expiration date and that propaganda is not truth, that those living in Cuba have the same inalienable human right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as those who make excuses for and want to play patty cake with a brutal, totalitarian regime.

Oh, and I won’t be subscribing to Strategy anytime soon. That’s okay, though, I don’t think they’d want my Cuban American money anyway.

What a leader! What a candidate!

“Let me introduce to you, the next president — vice president — of the United States…”

Jesus. Mary and Joseph. The Demtards actually think this guy is better than Bush?

(H/T Michelle Malkin)

Help someone in our community

I have been trying to put a group together to attend a Marlins game as a benefit for Ana-Alicia Fernandez. Ana-Alicia is a young lady who was seriously injured in a boating accident many years ago when she was just a girl. Her family needs to purchase a special high-top van that can accommodate her and the life support equipment she requires.

Unfortunately we didn't get enough interest to put the group together. That said, if you want to help directly without going to the game below is the info:

There's a special account set up for this purpose. You should make the check payable to:

The Ana-Alicia Fernandez Special Needs Trust

You should send the check to:

Mercantil Commercebank
220 Alhambra Circle
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
ATTN: Elsa Garrote

Thanks.

Mark your calendars!!!

2008 Democratic National Convention August 28, 2008 - Schedule of Events:

7:00 pm ~ Opening flag burning.
7:15 pm ~ Pledge of Allegiance to the U. N.
7:20 pm ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
7:25 pm ~ Non-religious prayer and worship with Jesse Jackson.
7:45 pm ~ Ceremonial tree hugging.
7:55 pm ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
8:00 pm ~ How I Invented the Internet - Al Gore.
8:15 pm ~ Wedding Planning - Barney Frank presiding.
8:35 pm ~ How Can We Fool Them Today? - Hillary Clinton
8:45 pm ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
9:00 pm ~ Our Troops are War Criminals - John Kerry.
9.25 pm ~ Memorial service for Saddam and his sons - Cindy Sheehan and Susan Sarandon.
10:00 pm ~ "Answering Machine Etiquette" - Alec Baldwin.
11:00 pm ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
11:05 pm ~ Collection for the Osama Bin Laden kidney transplant fund - Barbra Streisand.
11:15 pm ~ Free the Freedom Fighters from Guantanamo Bay - Sean Penn.
11:30 pm ~ Oval Office Affairs - William Jefferson Clinton.
11:45 pm ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
11:50 pm ~ How George Bush Brought Down the World Trade Towers - Howard Dean.
12:15 am ~ "Truth in Broadcasting Award" - Presented to Dan Rather by Michael Moore.
12:25 am ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
12:30 am ~ How to Make Up Whoppers and Not Get Caught! - Hillary Clinton
12:45 am ~ Satellite address by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
1:00 am ~ Nomination of Barack Obama by Nancy Pelosi.
1:15 am ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
1:25 am ~ Coronation of Barack Obama.
1:45 am ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
2:00 am ~ Bill Clinton asks Ted Kennedy to drive Hillary home.

H/T: Mom

Speak Your Mind

Jose Reyes from Cubanology and I will be interviewing Babalu's Marc Masferrer from the Uncommon Sense blog on today’s blog talk radio show, "Speak Your Mind." As you know, Marc's blog provides much needed information about Cuba’s political prisoners in English, whose plight is mostly ignored in the MSM. We will be discussing the prisoners and the harsh reality they face in Cuba. Please join us.

When: 4 p.m. today, the link is here.

The call in number is (646) 915-9812

Bill Ayers, Barack Obama and Che Guevara

George recently posted a video showing longtime Barack Obama chum, Bill Ayers holding court with some Chavista socialists.

Now it should be noted that Obama has tried to whitewash Ayers past and present, claiming he is now mainstream. But in the video which was filmed just two years ago Ayers doesn't seem to regret any of his past as a leader in the terrorist Weather Underground that among other things bombed the U.S. Capitol Building.

Also note that Ayers seems comfortable under the gaze of one Ernest "Che" Guevara de la Serna. As we have documented here time and again Obama's ranks seem to include scores of Guevara-loving Marxists. I remember a Cuban-American acquaintance who supports Obama telling me that I was blowing the Maria Isabel incident out of proportion. Really? What if a Republican candidate had a few supporters who happened to hang pictures of murderers in their office?

Does the fact that Obama has Marxist supporters make him a Marxist? No, of course not. But his inability to distance himself from his "friends" is certainly troubling.

More Obama controversy

Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs has an interesting take on the lawsuit filed in Federal Court asking for a temprorary restraining order on the nomination of B. Hussein Obama. It seems Peter Berg, an attorney (and Hillary Clinton supporter) doubts the veracity of B. Hussein's Hawaii birth certificate.

A prominent Philadelphia attorney and Hillary Clinton supporter filed suit this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee. The action seeks an injunction preventing the senator from continuing his candidacy and a court order enjoining the DNC from nominating him next week, all on grounds that Sen. Obama is constitutionally ineligible to run for and hold the office of President of the United States.

Who is he fronting for? Rhetorical question. He is a long time Hillary supporter and while they may want to dump this at the foot of the Republican party - it has Hillary's paw prints all over it. [...]

http://www.obamacrimes.com/attachments/001_ObamaMotionforTRO.pdf

http://www.obamacrimes.com/attachments/001_ObamaComplaint.pdf

All the docs available on the site above (where Philip Berg Esq. represents himself as "Attorney in Pro Se") contain their file locations on his hard drive,which further reveals that they are temporary internet files, obtained through Outlook Express, i.e., SOMEBODY EMAILED THEM TO BERG. Berg then converted the docs to pdfs.

Never, ever underestimate the Clintons.

Joe Biden on Whether Obama is Ready to be Prez

Also, read The One's pick shows his lack of confidence.

And read this for old time sake.

Another great read at the Washington Post - about Joe being in love with himself -- i.e. his IQ is higher than ours. Elitism at its best.

CNN: Obama picks Biden

Well it seems that the "reincarnation of JFK" has picked the plagiarist of RFK to be his running mate.

H/T: Nelson

Setting the bar for Obama

As you all know by know, I'm fascinated with the media and its infatuation with the idea of shifting political loyalty among Cuban-Americans. Despite the fact that the little data that is available shows no such shifting, these stories make it into the local and national press all the time.

The fact is that there is no way to know exactly how many Cubans vote for a particular party or candidate. Election results are reported by precinct, congressional district, county and state. They are not reported by ethnicity, country of origin, religion, etc. The result is that there's a lot of room to write stories and make claims that can never be proven or disproven.

That's why I've decided to set the scene for this upcoming election by posting the 2004 election results from Miami-Dade County for reference:

George W. Bush: 46.61%

John Kerry: 52.89%

Presumably, if the Cuban American population is shifting toward the Democrats, then Obama should do at least as well in the county as Kerry did in 2004. Of course there are other factors involved. Miami-Dade has a significant number of Jewish voters and there's some debate about whether they will stick with the Democratic candidate and our county also has a large number of Blacks that will presumably be energized and turn out in record numbers. All that said, Barack Obama should fare significantly better than John Kerry did if it's true that Cubans are abandoning the Republican party in the numbers being alleged.

We shall see.

Get to Know a Cuban Freedom Fighter

The other day, WInnie Biscet, daughter of Cuban prisoner of conscience, Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, emailed me to ask me to post a video of her father's friend, former political prisoner, Raúl Arencibia Fajardo, who is now in the United States. She said people don't know about the peaceful fight he waged in Cuba and hoped that this video would help people to recognize what he has done. He was arrested with Dr. Biscet in 2002 and sentenced to three years in jail and was released due to his fragile health in 2005.

What you may have heard about him while he was in jail is that he is asthmatic, had undergone lung surgery and has emphesyma and was denied his medication while in prison, including an inhaler. When he suffered intense stomach pains in prison, a doctor came and diagnosed him with a kidney infection without examining him. She gave him medicine after he told her what medications he was allergic to, and he then had an allergic reaction because she ordered the nurse to inject him with the very medicine he had told her he could not have. For the first two weeks of his imprisonment he did not have a bed.

Raúl was supposed to be imprisoned in a less-populated jail because of his health but instead he was placed with some one hundred other prisoners. Some of those prisoners were highly dangerous and violent and stole all of the possessions he had with him as well as the medicine his wife brought to him. They also provoked him to try to get him to fight and threatened his life.

You might think that this man did something terribly savage to warrant being deprived of medication and a bed and being put in a part of the prison with violent criminals when he was so sick. No, he was just that dangerous to the castro regime, which knew what it was doing when they arranged this- he would either die from a fatal asthma attack with no medicine to stop it, or he'd be killed by other prisoners. But, actually, his arrest and imprisonment was for the drummed up charges of "comtempt for authority" and "disorderly conduct," and "resisting arrest." He was a dangerous man, you see, because he was a member of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, Movimiento 24 de Febrero and the Human Rights' Friends Club, and you can bet that was the real reason he was sent to jail.

Obama advocates for Chinese Model...

in the U.S.

The professional Cubanologist pundits have been advocating for Cuba to adopt the "Chinese" model economy for some time. Now Barack Obama wants the U.S. to follow China's lead on building infrastructure.

Sounds good. All we need is an omnipotent centralized power structure and a population of about 1 billion more slave laborers.

You say you want a [cultural] revolution?

H/T: Nelson for the video

New Book on Bacardi Family Flabbergasts the MSM.

The Washington Post reviews a new book on the Bacardi Family written by an NPR commentator. Among the startling revelations for the WA-PO reviewer (and apparently also for the author.)

"Contrary to the impression that Cuba's elite uniformly backed dictator Fulgencio Batista,"

Whose Impression? Certainly not that of those who know Cuban history. Much less the impression of Cuban-Americans. It only took a prestigious and scholarly NPR reporter and a prestigious and scholarly Washington Post reviewer half a century to learn something they could have picked up on any street corner in Miami or Union City over the past fifty 'freakin years--or from skimming the pages of half a library shelf of books written by Cubans.

"In an often overlooked part of Cuban history, Bosch and other Bacardi family members supported the Cuban revolutionaries, including Fidel Castro and the broader M-26-7 organization. It is unlikely that Castro's revolution would have succeeded without the wide middle-class support that it enjoyed."

"Overlooked" by whom? Only by lazy and ignorant MSM jackasses like YOU, Ms Wa-Po reviewer. There's not a single book on Cuban history (written by a Cuban exile) over the past half a century that omits this detail, regarded as an "Earthshaking Revelation" by of America's "top" newspapers. Geeeesh! Of course, by now, none of us should be surprised by this.

Here's the entire idiocy.

Something funny but true to start the weekend

From The People's Cube:

Update: On the heels of my posting these two "charts" I was sent an article on American Thinker that refers to The People's Cube. More importantly, something a lot of us have been noticing is covered in the article: the ominous parallels to Soviet posters and iconography found in Obama's campaign collateral:

Oleg [Atbashian] was steeped in Party, but never a Party member. He worked with the Party Organizer, formerly known as Political Commissar. Commissar kept watch on political correctness. Because of his background Atbashian is the perfect code breaker to decipher the nonsense that is the left, the Democrats and especially Obama. Think of the phrase "been there, done that." Oleg has seen all of it since childhood, waded in it and got out. Oleg helped create these feelings and imagery. If anyone knows what he's talking about when it comes to Obama, it's Oleg.

I spoke with Atbashian by telephone, and his work for the Party ought to send a chill up yourdamn spine. He said he immediately recognized Obama's work with ACORN, where Barack was a 'community organizer'. From the description of Obama's ACORN job Oleg snorted and said, "For all intents and purposes that's the same job as a Party Organizer."

He said there were three top people in any organization; what we would think of as a Director. The Party Organizer, what we think of as Commissar, and the Union Chairman. Union bosses were mostly concerned with social situations involving workers. Working for the Party Organizer, Oleg created posters, banners, art work and slogans the Party deemed necessary to pump up the volume. Party enthusiasm, Party loyalty, Party heroism, the struggle for all things the Party urged on its workers. The very term 'worker' our media so freely uses today was the backbone of Soviet agitprop.

Read the whole thing. Very, very interesting.

Freedom from Religion

Original 1961 caption:

Miami -- A group of nuns arrive at Miami International Airport following their deportation from Cuba by Premier Fidel Castro, who deported all foreign-born priests and nuns from the country.

Photo from If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats, via Sheila.

From the "This is the Big One, Elizabeth" Dept.

The. Surge. Worked. And it's that vile conservative rag, The New York Times saying it! "This is the big one! You hear that, Elizabeth? I'm coming to join ya, honey!"

9/11 Conspiracy theory debunked- for the umpteenth time

The National Institute of Standards and Technology report on the World Trade Center has just been released and confirms that fire does actually melt steel. Whodathunkit?

Of course, my old man, the welder, could have told you that without all the hoopla.

Baldilocks

Back in the early days of blogdom - when everyone and his grandmother didnt have a blog - one of the first people to come by and read and comment and support Babalu was Juliette Ochieng, better known as Baldilocks. Hers was one of the first blogs added to the blogroll and Baldi is someone I've always admired and respected for a myriad of reasons, but, especially, because she is the kind of person that 's always there for you, and whom youre alway proud of being associated with.

A huge congrats are in order - plus a humble apology from me for being remiss - to Baldi, who's featured at LA Weekly for her dedication and work in raising "the necessary funding for the upgrade, modernization and supplying of Senator Obama Kogelo Secondary School in Nyang'oma-Kogelo Kenya." This is the same school the esteemed Senator from Illinois promised to assist but never did.

Read LA Weekly piece right here and swing by Baldi's blog. And, being that today is Friday - San Cheque - if you can spare a few bucks and wish to donate to this great cause, you can do that right here.

America Is Listening

Great editorial today in the WSJ by Peggy Noonan on why McCain is doing as well as he is despite the odds. One of the things she mentions is quite interesting and if McCain would adopt such a pledge, he would be guaranteed a victory -- i.e., just like Teddy Roosevelt, make a one term pledge.

One wonders if any politician today would have the wherewithal to make such a pledge, but I'd sure love to see it.

In any event, enjoy your Friday. Happy hour at 5pm EDT so get your cigars ready. And if you see a liberal, make sure you blow cigar smoke in their face.

You know what's the only thing worse than a leftist liberal? I'm still trying to think of something. If you have an answer, post it.

UPDATE: I don't like Ms. Dowd's lefty politics, but her column on the One is pretty funny.

We're gonna need a bigger boat....

Introducing the "raul castro fish," otherwise known as the "Cherna Cubana" otherwise known as the "Cuban Goliath Grouper":

Hitler Snubbed Phelps at Olympics (All Hail Chavista Education!)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has always craved the type of news coverage from the Venezuelan media U.S. presidents such as JFK and Jimmy Carter got from the U.S. media – to say nothing of the type presidential candidate Barack Obama currently gets.

Alas, a few Venezuelan reporters persisted in covering Chavez in a manner more similar to that of Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Andrea Mitchell's coverage of U.S. Republican presidents such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

To counter such wiseacres, Chavez's new constitution gives him means much more effective than his feeble "enemies list" gave Richard Nixon.

The rest here.

Rush Limbaugh is an Idiot (on JFK)

As a muscular counterpoint to Obama's weasel-words in Berlin last month, the Rush Limbaugh show featured excerpts from JFK's famous Berlin speech from 1963: “And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin....Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.“

Yet JFK squashed freedom for Cubans. His Missile Crisis "solution" also pledged that he immediately pull the rug out from under Cuba's in-house freedom fighters. Raul Castro himself admitted that at the time of the Missile Crisis his troops and their Soviet advisors were up against 179 different "bands of bandits" as he labeled the thousands of Cuban anti-Communist rebels then battling savagely and virtually alone in Cuba's countryside, with small arms shipments from their compatriots in south Florida as their only lifeline.

Kennedy's deal with Khrushchev cut this lifeline. The Cuban freedom-fighters working from South Florida were suddenly rounded up for "violating U.S. Neutrality laws." The Coast Guard in Florida got 12 new boats and seven new planes to make sure Castro and his Soviet patrons remained utterly unmolested as they consolidated Stalinism 90 miles from U.S. shores. Think about it: here's the U.S. Coast Guard and Border patrol working 'round the clock arresting Hispanics in the U.S. who are desperate to return to their native country.

This ferocious guerrilla war, waged 90 miles from America's shores, might have taken place on the planet Pluto for all you'll read about it in the MSM and all you'll learn about it from those illustrious Ivy-League Academics. To get an idea of the odds faced by those betrayed rural rebels, the desperation of their battle and the damage they wrought, you might revisit Tony Montana during the last 15 minutes of "Scarface."

The rest here form the History News Network

Obama's bud

From Ed Morissey over at Hot Air:

In Obama's own words

The positions held on certain issues by presidential candidates are the deciding factor as to whether or not I vote for a candidate. Abortion, taxation, minimal government, gun rights, a proactive national defense, all of these are critical issues that define a candidate. I don't care a whit about any of the other fluff that the (idiot) media spits out.

Of all the reprehensible positions held by B. Hussein Obama, his support of abortion is to me the most telling of who the man is. In Illiinois, he voted against a law that would protect the life of babies born alive after a failed abortion. RedState has more:

In 2002, Senator Obama stood on the floor of the Illinois State Senate to oppose the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. By this time, even the abortion rights organizations like Planned Parenthood had dropped their opposition. But Obama continued to oppose the law.

He was the only person to speak out against the legislation.

In an exchange with Senator O'Malley, the legislation's sponsor, Obama's concern was about second guessing the abortionist.

Here is what he said:

As I understand it, this puts the burden on the attending physician who has determined, since they were performing this procedure, that, in fact, this is a nonviable fetus; that if that fetus, or child - however way you want to describe it - is now outside the mother's womb and the doctor continues to think that it's nonviable but there's, let's say, movement or some indication that, in fact, they're not just coming out limp and dead, that, in fact, they would then have to call a second physician to monitor and check off and make sure that this is not a live child that could be saved.

This is the true measure of this man. Of all the things he believes in, this position is enough to invalidate him for the office he is seeking. Sickening. But don't believe me; I'm just a neanderthal conservative who hates babies being killed. Read his own words here.

Ropa Viejas and Steak Sandwiches

On my way to a building walk-through in North Miami this morning I decided to swing by my parents' house for a quick, delicious cafecito. You can make a zillion cafecitos in your life or have a cafe at any one of a zillion cafeterias and timbiriches here in Little Havana, USA, but they will never, ever, even come close to the cafe caliber of a good ole, homemade cafecito at Mom's.

I get to their house, let myself in and make my way to the kitchen where I find both my Cuban parents sitting down at the kitchen counter having - to my surprise - Egg McMuffin Combo breakfasts. I immediately make fun of them, of course. Say something like "I came by to have a cafecito, but if the chef is sitting here eating McDonald's, I don't know if that's such a good idea now. Caballeros, en Cuba no pasaba esto."

Mom puts down the McMuffin, makes me sit down at her stool and starts to make my cafe. Meanwhile, Dad sits there and tries to justify the McDonald's sin he and Mom have just committed. I laugh and release them of their burdens: "Dos Ave Marias Y tres Padre Nuestros," I tell him. I can't tell you the number of times I got chewed out as a kid because I'd eaten "esa comida."

My cafe isn't ready in an instant, like it used to be, Mom has slowed down a bit in her eighties, but that's OK. It's not just that Mom always makes the quickest and best cafecitos, but it's that sitting there at the kitchen in the home that I grew up in with the aroma of freshly brewed, espumita laden Bustelo grounds me (no pun intended). It conjures up all sorts of memories. I feel insulated when at at Mom and Dad's with Mom and Dad. Everything else in the world is irrelevant, nothing can harm me and certainly all my stress always stays outside their front door.

Being the smart son that I am, after my cafecito I lay the seed of my nefarious plot: "Mom, so, um...what are you making for lunch?"

She smiles, Dad lets out one of of his "Heh's!"

"Bueno," she says. "I was planning on making ropa vieja for dinner, but if you're coming back for lunch, I suppose it could be ready by then." She doesn't need to wink, it's already incorporated in her tone.

I smile, give Mom and Dad pecks on the cheek, thank Mom for the cafecito and head out to my meeting. "A las doce y media vengo a pegar la gorra." Ill be back at 12:30.

Needless to say, I could hardly concentrate during the meeting. Three hours of walking through a building with engineers and contractors and inspectors and all I could think about was ropa vieja, arroz blanco and platanitos maduros fritos. I swear, you could literally hear my stomach growling a few times during that meeting.

The moment I get in my car, post meeting, I call Mom. "I'm on my way."

"Already?" she says, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Mom, are you OK? You sound out of breath."

She assures me that she's fine. "I was just out in the yard," she says.

I say OK and before I finish saying "I'll see you in a bit," she hangs up.

The ten minute ride to Mom and Dad's seemed like an eternity. I was so hungry it felt like my stomach was sucking my face in. I could literally taste the ropa vieja. Mom's ropa vieja.

I pull up to Mom and Dad's, park my truck and I swear, the aroma hit me the second I opened my car door. I think I may have been salivating.

I find their front door unlocked and I walk inside and the entire house is engulfed in ropa vieja sofrito goodness. "I'm home!"

I'm walking towards the kitchen and realize just how much I miss that old house. How much I miss coming home from school or work and taking in all of the aromas from my Mother's kitchen. Opening the front door to that familiar hisssssss of the pressure cooker competing with Telemundo full blast on the TV. Sitting there with Dad, watching the news, waiting in anticipation for that "ping" from the Hitachi, the Cuban Dinner Alarm.

I walk into the kitchen to find my Mom almost in tears. Uncharacteristic pots and pans and stuff are all over the counters and stove. Mom looks up at me, perspiration all over her face, and with the voice of someone that is just about to cry says "I...I don't know what happened...I couldn't keep pressure in the pressure cooker...the meat's all hard...I'm so sorry."

I had to fight back the tears. "Mom, don't worry," I say. "It smells delicious." I pick a piece of the ropa vieja from her pot with my fingers - which I have always done and for which I have always been admonished - and plop it in my mouth. "It tastes great, Mom."

"Nonsense," she says. "Your father went to get you a steak sandwich."

I sat down at their table and pushed down the steak sandwich my Dad had to hurry out to get for me that wasn't all that good. I ate the darned thing sitting alone, without having my mom sit next to me as usual, not just eating with me, but just watching me eat and chatting about this and that and everything else. I could see the rain coming down outside through the sliding glass doors and struggled to hold back tears. It wasn't the not-ready ropa vieja that rained on my lunch, it was the silence.

My mom's cooking is just the dessert, you see. Because when I have lunch or dinner at my parent's home, what fills me is those precious few moments I get to spend with them. Sitting there at their table and enjoying the pleasure of their company. The meal is just an excuse and, while my Mom's cooking is great, her love is so much much better.

Mom stopped me at the door before I left and smiled. "Toma, mi hijito," she said as she handed me dinner to go: the ropa vieja she'd finished as I'd sat and eaten lunch.

Hook, Line and Stinker

It would be laughable, if it were not so tragic. In this one from the Financial Times by Richard Lapper, inaccuracy vies with credulousness in an article about the thinking of the ruling junta. Here's the beginning for you:

Cuba, one of the world’s last surviving Communist states, is looking at watering down the generous social welfare system that has been a cornerstone of its economy for nearly 50 years, according to a senior government official.

I hate to quibble, but "generous"? I suggest that Mr. Lapper have most of his worldly possessions taken from him, that henceforth he be reduced to working for the government for say $100 dollars a month. On the bright side, he will have a ration card which will "generously" supply him with a week or two's worth of provisions for the month. The difference he will have to "resolve" himself, as his meager paycheck won't afford black market prices. Then we will see how "generous" he finds the system.

Already in the article, he has conveyed the false idea that the Cuban people have been cosseted, an impression strengthened by the unopposed quote from an economic ministry official:

“We can’t give people so much security with their income that it affects their willingness to work,”

Call me crazy, but security is not the word that comes to mind, when thinking of the machinations and expedients in which Cubans engage in order to survive. Does Mr. Lapper even note the inadequate salaries, the shortages, the two-tier economic system, the lack of incentives? No, instead, he is impressed by the "unusual frankness" of the official.

The best is yet to be, though-

However, the welfare system has remained almost intact. Under it, all Cubans are entitled to basic foods, including bread, eggs, rice, beans and milk, at much cheaper prices than those elsewhere in the world. Rents and utilities are extremely cheap and education and healthcare are free.

It's hard to believe that this last could be issued with a straight face. Nominally true, it is an exercise in cynicism. It is this type of "journalism" that perpetuated the myth of the socialist paradise. Shame.

The same ole' class envy BS

So now the Messiah is ticked off that John McCain (and his wife, presumably) own seven houses. You know what I think (and I'm not a McCain supporter by any stretch)? I could care less. The fact that he owns property is a good sign, not a bad sign. The fact that his wife makes scads of bucks with her beer distributorship is a good sign, not a bad sign. This is nothing but a sop thrown out to the frustrated, loser, patchouli-smelling, Birkenstock-wearing, class-envy Dem socialists. I hope you get some solace from this guys.

Change? What kind of change?

H/T: Mom

What's in a Lame (T-Shirt)

In its admirable effort to educate the American male about manhood Askmen.com asks the question:

What’s lamer than the guy who wears a Che Gevera t-shirt and knows nothing about the man?

I dunno…maybe the guy that knows 5 things about the man and still wears a Che Guevara T-shirt…..

So, in order to eradicate the clueless Che-T-shirt wearing lamers, Askmen.com has put together a primer of sorts so that when guys wear their Che t-shirts they can be a little more acquainted with the infamous Argentine:

5 Things You Didn't Know: Che Guevara

However, so much of what is known or believed about Che Guevara has been extracted from history and filtered for public consumption in a mythmaking process. To help remedy that, we present five things you didn’t know about one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century, Che Guevara.

1- Che Guevara ordered thousands of executions

A company that sponsors tours to Cuba touts La Cabaña Fortress prison as the place where “Che helped consolidate the victory of the revolution.” Historians estimate Che "consolidated" the lives of as many as 2,000 people.

Che Guevara was a rebel in search of a cause when he met Fidel and Raul Castro in 1955, in Mexico. As an anxious soldier fighting Castro’s cause, he distinguished himself quickly and was promoted to comandante; in the Sierra Maestra mountains he enforced a zero tolerance policy toward deserters by sending execution squads to hunt them down.

Once in power, Che Guevara was appointed head of La Cabaña, where he ran one of the century’s more modest -- if no less shameful -- kangaroo courts. He did his part to purge Cuba of Batista loyalists by playing judge, jury and executioner in a manner reminiscent of Stalin’s Great Terror of the 1930s. It was here he earned the name The Butcher of La Cabaña.

His population "consolidation" continued the following year, when he oversaw the establishment of the Guanahacabibes concentration camp. As noted by Alvaro Vargas Llosa in The New Republic, Guanahacabibes set the groundwork for the Nazi-inspired confinement of undesirables in the province of Camagüey from 1965 onward.

After learning thing one, the other four things become superfluous because there’s nothing lamer than idolizing murderous bastards.

WTF Part VIII

This is the 8th installment of posts on the oil and energy market. An article in today's WashPost once again confirmed what I've been saying for the last 2 months re: manipulation of the oil markets. Like I said before, the prices are not based solely on supply and demand like it should. It's been swayed by greed and speculation.

A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading

By David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 21, 2008; A01

Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses.

But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the massive size of Vitol's portfolio -- at one point in July, the firm held 11 percent of all the oil contracts on the regulated New York Mercantile Exchange.

The discovery revealed how an individual financial player had gained enormous sway over the oil market without the knowledge of regulators. Other CFTC data showed that a significant amount of trading activity was concentrated in the hands of just a few speculators.

The CFTC, which learned about the nature of Vitol's activities only after making an unusual request for data from the firm, now reports that financial firms speculating for their clients or for themselves account for about 81 percent of the oil contracts on NYMEX, a far bigger share than had previously been stated by the agency. That figure may rise in coming weeks as the CFTC checks the status of other big traders.

Some lawmakers have blamed these firms for the volatility of oil prices, including the tremendous run-up that peaked earlier in the summer.

"It is now evident that speculators in the energy futures markets play a much larger role than previously thought, and it is now even harder to accept the agency's laughable assertion that excessive speculation has not contributed to rising energy prices," said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.). He added that it was "difficult to comprehend how the CFTC would allow a trader" to acquire such a large oil inventory "and not scrutinize this position any sooner."

The CFTC, which refrains from naming specific traders in its reports, did not publicly identify Vitol.

The agency's report showed only the size of the holdings of an unnamed trader. Vitol's identity as that trader was confirmed by two industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

CFTC documents show Vitol was one of the most active traders of oil on NYMEX as prices reached record levels. By June 6, for instance, Vitol had acquired a huge holding in oil contracts, betting prices would rise. The contracts were equal to 57.7 million barrels of oil -- about three times the amount the United States consumes daily. That day, the price of oil spiked $11 to settle at $138.54. Oil prices eventually peaked at $147.27 a barrel on July 11 before falling back to settle at $114.98 yesterday.

The documents do not say how much Vitol put down to acquire this position, but under NYMEX rules, the down payment could have been as little as $1 billion, with the company borrowing the rest.

The biggest players on the commodity exchanges often operate as "swap dealers" who primarily invest on behalf of hedge funds, wealthy individuals and pension funds, allowing these investors to enjoy returns without having to buy an actual contract for oil or other goods. Some dealers also manage commodity trading for commercial firms.

To build up the vast holdings this practice entails, some swap dealers have maneuvered behind the scenes, exploiting their political influence and gaps in oversight to gain exemptions from regulatory limits and permission to set up new, unregulated markets. Many big traders are active not only on NYMEX but also on private and overseas markets beyond the CFTC's purview. These openings have given the firms nearly unfettered access to the trading of vital goods, including oil, cotton and corn.

Using swap dealers as middlemen, investment funds have poured into the commodity markets, raising their holdings to $260 billion this year from $13 billion in 2003. During that same period, the price of crude oil rose unabated every year.

CFTC data show that at the end of July, just four swap dealers held one-third of all NYMEX oil contracts that bet prices would increase. Dealers make trades that forecast prices will either rise or fall. Energy analysts say these data are evidence of the concentration of power in the markets.

CFTC leaders have argued that speculators are not influencing commodities' prices. If any new information arises during the agency's examination of swap dealer activity, officials said they would report it to Congress.

"To date, the CFTC has found that supply and demand fundamentals offer the best explanation for the systematic rise in oil prices," CFTC spokesman R. David Gary said, reading a statement that had been crafted by agency officials. "Regardless of their classification . . . the CFTC's market surveillance group scrutinizes daily the positions of all large traders, both commercial and non-commercial, to guard against market manipulation."

Victoria Dix, a spokeswoman for Vitol, declined to answer questions. The firm, through Dix, released a statement that stated only that it had not been contacted by the CFTC about the reclassification of its business and that its trading status remained unchanged. CFTC officials said they do not typically contact firms that are reclassified.

On its Web site, the firm says it has $100 billion a year in revenue and describes its thriving global energy-trading business.

For most of the past century, regulators put limits on financial actors to prevent them from dominating commodity exchanges, which were much smaller than the bond or stock markets. Only commercial operations, such as farms, airlines, manufacturers and the middlemen that handle their trading activities, were allowed to buy nearly unlimited quantities. The goal was to allow these businesses to minimize the effect of price swings.

The first major change to this regulatory framework occurred in 1991, when Goldman Sachs, through a subsidiary called J. Aron, argued that it should be granted the same exemption given to commercial traders because its business of buying commodities on behalf of investors was similar to the middlemen who broker commodity transactions for commercial firms.

The CFTC granted this request. More exemptions soon followed, including one to the Houston-based energy trader Enron.

"When the CFTC granted the 1991 hedging exemption to J. Aron (a division of Goldman Sachs), it signaled a major shift that has since allowed investors to accumulate enormous positions for purely speculative purposes," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) Now, he added, "legitimate businesses that hedge and take physical delivery of oil are being trampled by the speculators who are in the market purely to make profit."

A second turning point came when Congress passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. The law formally allowed investors to trade energy commodities on private electronic platforms outside the purview of regulators. Critics have called this piece of legislation the "Enron loophole," saying Enron played a role in crafting it.

In the months after the act was passed, private electronic trading platforms sprang up across the country, challenging the dominance of NYMEX.

"Investment banks had been frustrated with the established exchange because they really were never able to get control of it," said Michael Greenberger, a law professor at the University of Maryland and a former staff member at the CFTC.

The most successful of the private platforms was InterContinental Exchange, or ICE, founded by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and a few other big brokerages in 2000. ICE soon opened a trading platform in London, allowing its founders to trade vast quantities of U.S. oil overseas without being subject to regulation.

The exemptions for swap dealers and the development of overseas markets allowed big brokerages to open the door for more hedge funds, pensions and big investors to move into commodities.

In the coming years, commodity investments by funds could grow to $1 trillion, veteran hedge fund manager Michael Masters said in testimony before the Senate earlier this year. In an interview, he said this trend could raise commodity prices for everyone in the coming years and "have catastrophic economic effects on millions of already stressed U.S. consumers."

Meanwhile, commodities have been good business for big Wall Street brokerages. Its commodity trades helped keep Goldman Sachs profitable during the credit crisis, said Richard Bove, a banking analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann.

"Business is lousy right now," Bowie said of Goldman Sachs. "Commodities and currencies are clearly the strongest business they have right now."

In the coming months, swap dealers expect to have yet another venue for oil speculation. The CFTC has stated it would not stand in the way of trading in U.S. oil contracts overseas in Dubai. Goldman Sachs and Vitol are among the major investors in this new exchange.

The Corruption of Survival

By Yoani Sanchez

He’s 28 and works at a hotel pool because his stepfather bought him a job in the tourism industry. His command of English is awful but with the two thousand pesos he paid to the administrator, he didn’t have to prove he could speak it. More than half the bottles of rum and coca cola he sells at the snack bar he bought himself at the retail price. His colleagues taught him how to sell his own “merchandise” first, over that which the State sells to tourists. Thanks to this trick, on every shift he pockets what a neurosurgeon would earn in a month.

His rhythm of spending is tied to his illegal profits, so he tries to comply rather than clash on the plane of “ideological unconditionality.” He’s one of the first to arrive when called to a march or to the May-Day parade. In his wardrobe for when needed, he has a pullover with the Five Heroes, another with Che’s face, and a dark red one that says “Battle of Ideas.” If his boss tries to catch him diverting resources, he wears one of those shirts and the pressure eases.

At his young age, he already understands that it doesn’t matter how many times you cross the line of illegality as long as you keep applauding. Some slogans shouted at a political event, or that time he spoke out against a counterrevolutionary group, have helped him keep his lucrative employment. His hands, that today steal, cheat customers, and divert goods from the state, six years ago these same hands signed a constitutional amendment to make the system “irreversible.” For him, if they let him continue to line his pockets, socialism could well be eternal.

Translator’s note:
Five Heroes = Five Cuban men convicted of spying in the United States. More detail about this ongoing case can easily be found by searching on the phrase + “Cuba.”

This was originally written and published in Spanish by Yoani Sanchez and translated and posted in her English version blog. Since the castro regime continues to curtail her internet access and continues to block access to her blog and other internet sites in and out of Cuba, we are posting Yoani's work in its entirety in solidarity and to help promote and distribute same.

The BabaluBlog Radio Hour podcast is available

Go to our Blog Talk Radio home page where you can listen or download any of our Babalu Radio Hour podcasts including tonight's show featuring Professor Antonio de la Cova and the fascinating conversation in the first hour about Cubans who fought on both sides in the US Civil War. The podcast is available now.

If you have iTunes, you can subscribe to the Babalu Radio Hour podcast by clicking here.

Close-Up of Moa, Cuba... YUK!

I thought you would like to see what Moa looks like thanks to the nickel plants. Babalu reader and recipient of the Sherritt email, Aaron, sent me this link to Moa on Google Earth a few days ago, and reader PTG posted it today. The markers are already in place. They are numerous and if you click on the little squares (not in this photo, follow the link above) you will get a picture of each location taken by a tourist in Cuba. The black reservoir is particularly lovely.

If you drag the map to the left, west of Punta Gorda is the Che Guevara nickel factory at 20°38"03.79N and 74°52'55.83"W and you can click for the photo of the red smoke coming out of the factory. (The EPA has determined that nickel refinery dust and nickel subsulfide are human carcinogens.)

I also found this information from a study at the University of Delaware from 2000 entitled, Environmental Degradation and Vulnerability in Cuba, which might interest the environmentalists who like to film documentaries about the beautiful flora and fauna of Cuba:

"One of the most serious cases, albeit less publicized, is the contamination produced by the nickel industry on the northeastern end of the island. A Cuban press release six years ago (Prensa Latina, 1994) disclosed that the Pedro Soto Alba plant (formerly, Moa Bay) dumped more than 12,000 cubic meters of untreated liquid waste (3.17 billion gallons) into the sea daily. The waste contained 72 tons of aluminum, 48 tons of chromium, 15 tons of magnesium and 30 tons of sulfuric acid. By way of comparison, the treatment standards for wastewater in the United States limit the concentration of chromium to a maximum of 0.32 milligrams per liter, 12 times less than the daily dumping into Moa Bay by only one of the three nickel plants operating in the area."

Just one more way that fifo and raúl are sticking it to the Cuban people. Who needs the gulag when you can have lungs full of nickel dust? I know, I know, it's the USA's fault.

Babalu Radio Hour tonight | 9:00 PM EDT

Join us tonight when we welcome back Antonio de la Cova, Ph.D. for a conversation on all things Cuba. I plan to elicit lots of info from his personal research on the extent of Cuban espionage in the United States. as well as discussing the events in Russia and Georgia.

Dr. de la Cova is the author of The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble online.

His website is a tremendous research resource.

The call-in number is (646) 652-4506, or you can send an email to me or Henry with questions or comments. The show begins at 9:00 PM EDT. Don't miss the opportunity to call in and participate. Be there. Aloha!

Obama and Biden, perfect for each other

You know, lately there's been a lot of speculation that Barack Hussein Obama might choose Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. They really are perfect for each other. Obama is being painted as the next JFK for whatever that's worth (not much to me) and Biden once plagiarized RFK. And don't forget Obama himself has engaged in a little borrowing of rhetoric without attribution too.

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what your hard-earned tax dollars can do for us!
-Obama/Biden '08

And in case you didn't already know this, Wikipedia sucks. They sanitized the entry for Biden to remove a mention of the RFK plagiarism incident.

Food Nazis... (UPDATED x 2)

...They're Grrrrrrreeeeaaaattttt!

UPDATE (from Henry):

So the media is piling on Michael Phelps for signing a deal to promote Frosted Flakes. But let's take a look at some some nutritional information to see if this is really sacrilege.

The nutritional web site Calorie-Count.com gives Frosted Flakes a B-.

A 3/4 cup (31 gram) serving of the dry cereal has 114 calories. It also contains 28.2 grams of and zero fat.

In contrast, Special K gets a B+.

A 30 gram serving of the dry cereal has 111 calories. It contains 22.2 grams of carbs and 0.3 grams of fat.

Special K has slightly more fiber and protein than Frosted Flakes.

In other words, it's all about image. And the image that Frosted Flakes has is that it's unhealthy despite the fact that it's comparable to "healthy" cereal like Special K.

But to put a further point on it, let's look at Kashii Golean cereal. Since the serving size is 1 cup I need to do some conversion. A 3/4 cup serving would have 105 calories, 22.5 grams of carbs, and 0.75 grams of fat.

So you can put that shitty tasting cereal in your mouth to save all of 9 calories or you can buy a box of Frosted Flakes with Michael Phelps on the box and repeat after Tony and George. They're Great!

Of course the reason why many of us are overweight has nothing to do with calories in 3/4 serving. It has to do with the number of servings we eat. But that's a different story.

UPDATE (from George):

Here's one of the boxes Phelps appears on.

Baby pictures...

Here's Reuter's baby photo of the latest addition to the castro family:

California Mafia Bilks Seniors on Cuba Trip

A California based travel agency ripped off seniors to the tune of $160,000 with "Humanitarian and Religious Trips to Cuba" snake oil:

ORANGE COUNTY— California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the arrest of an Orange County travel agent who sold more than $160,000 in “bogus travel packages” to senior citizens who wanted to visit Cuba for religious and cultural purposes.

“The suspect allegedly ripped off dozens of senior citizens who wanted to travel to Cuba for religious and cultural purposes,” Attorney General Brown said. “Peddling these bogus travel packages has earned Mr. Rendon a trip to court to face criminal charges,” Brown added.

The 78 felony charges, filed in Orange County Superior Court on April 8, allege that Ralph Adam Rendon, 31, of Santa Ana, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who wanted to go on religious trips to Cuba. On Tuesday, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Rendon. Bail was set at $170,000.

Ostensibly, the trips were designed to connect Jewish and Greek Orthodox Americans with members of their faith in Cuba. In 2006, Rendon began advertising his travel agency, “USA to Cuba,” in religious magazines in an effort to target Jewish and Greek Orthodox people who wanted to travel to Cuba for religious purposes.

Rendon directed victims to pay $1,000 in upfront fees to his alleged business “USA/AAE Scholarship Foundation,” but put his private address on the return envelop. After victims paid this upfront fee, Rendon requested an additional $2,580 and then canceled the trip. Rendon told the travelers that the U.S. Treasury Department had blocked all religious trips to Cuba, which was false.

Read the rest here.

All is not lost for the victims of this crime as there are plenty of travel agencies here in intransigent Miami that will arrange those "humanitarian and religious" (winkwink) trips to Cuba for them for the right price.

H/T Carlos C.

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except The Democratic Congress

Mark Twain got it right when he uttered his famous quote about Congress which I've modified to fit the modern era. When it comes to energy, what the Dems are doing to us is criminal. They are doing whatever they can to make us pay more for energy when we have a vast supply here at home and they are forcing us to pay subsidies on corn based ethanol which raises the price of food. Pelosi the Dominatrix was too chicken to allow a vote on drilling because she and Obama are on a mission from God to save the planet. Then when the polls show that the people want drilling, they have flip flopped and may allow a vote, but with all these BS amendments which in essence is doing nothing. Read this from today's WSJ:

Democrats and Drilling August 20, 2008; Page A18

It took a few months, and more than a few polls, but Democrats have concluded that they've lost the debate against more oil-and-gas drilling. The surrender became official on Saturday, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that even she was ready to "consider opening portions" of the Outer Continental Shelf to oil exploration.

That's great news, assuming she and her fellow Democrats really mean it. It wasn't too many days ago that the anticarbon Speaker lampooned drilling as "a hoax on the American people," while Barack Obama called it "another Washington gimmick." Now the Democratic Presidential candidate has also said he might be willing to change his mind and tolerate the exploitation of domestic energy resources. The good news for converts like Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Obama is that they have immediate opportunities to quiet Republicans and other skeptics and prove their new pro-drilling bona fides.

They can start with the 2008 Democratic Party platform, the policy outline for the election campaign that delegates will endorse at next week's Denver convention. Let's just say the draft now reads as if it was written before Speaker Pelosi's conversion on the road to ExxonMobil.

For example, the platform draft now says that "We know we can't drill our way to energy independence." Then there's the bit about ending "the tyranny of oil," which will require "far more than simply expanding our economic and political resources to keep oil flowing steadily" from overseas and elsewhere. There's also no mention of drilling offshore, much less in Alaska, and nothing about exploiting our vast domestic supplies of oil shale.

Fortunately, Democrats have time to fix these political oversights. If they are serious, surely Democrats will have someone rise on the convention floor next week and offer an amendment that endorses offshore drilling and pledges not to extend the Congressional ban on drilling that expires on September 30. Come to think of it, Democrats should offer this amendment in prime time. How better to steal the drilling issue from Republicans?

Speaking of that moratorium, Congress will return from recess after the conventions and needn't wait until the end of September to act. Both Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid can allow quick votes to repeal the ban so the feds can immediately open the bidding on more oil-and-gas drilling leases. The longer Congress waits, the longer it will take to get any of those energy resources to consumers.

The fossil-fuel love-in could also extend to oil shale. Abundant on federal lands in the Mountain West, these deposits could yield more than seven times more fuel than Saudi Arabia has crude oil reserves. While extraction technology is still a work in progress, the immediate hitch is that a pilot leasing program was deliberately killed last year in legislation offered by Colorado's Democratic Senator, Ken Salazar. His partner in imposing that exploration ban was none other than House Democrat Mark Udall, who is now running for Colorado's open Senate seat.

Mr. Udall recently had his own pro-drilling epiphany, after weeks of getting pounded on the issue by his Republican opponent, Bob Schaffer. Mr. Udall's lead in the polls has vanished. "We've got to produce our own oil and gas here in our country," he now says in a new TV spot. But a campaign ad isn't enough. Surely, Mr. Udall will now want to acknowledge his mistake of a year ago and fight to lift the oil-shale ban on the House floor next month. That is, unless his new pro-drilling rhetoric is merely campaign triangulation that he doesn't really believe.

We'll know Democrats are not serious if they limit their drilling support only to the so-called Gang of 10 proposal in the Senate. The bipartisan Gang would allow drilling only offshore of four states -- Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas -- and only if it is farther than 50 miles out. It would leave the most promising areas off limits, especially in the Arctic and the Gulf of Mexico.

And in return for this de minimis drilling, the Gang wants to spend $84 billion more in subsidies for ethanol and other "alternatives," while hitting the oil industry with a $30 billion tax increase. This proposal is a trick designed to give Democrats political cover while opening up very little new land or offshore area for drilling.

No doubt any or all of these three actions would enrage the green lobby, but politics is about choosing. In this case, the Democratic choice is between sticking with an anticarbon theology that opposes all new drilling, or siding with American consumers who want more energy supplies so they don't have to pay $4 for gas and blow their family budget to keep the lights on. We'll soon find out whether Democrats have found religion on drilling, or if they're merely doing an election-year incantation

What do you expect form the Dems? They're soft. They're weasels. They're worthless and weak and they want to rule the country something fierce so while they stick it to us we will be forced to say, "Thank you Mistress Nancy, may we have another." But the left doesn't care. They're more concerned with how good the One looks without a shirt at the beach. Soon you will see One listed as one of the sexiest dudes in People Magazine. And Mrs. One will be seen as the best dressed. All Cult of Personality. No substance. Mark Twain hit the nail on the head.

See you in the field infidels.

Sherritt Says Cubans Should Take Their Grievances to the Cuban Government

A quick backstory:
In my August 8th post about the nickel mining industry in Moa, Holguín, and the pollution created by these plants, I included a letter from a Cuban whose family has endured cancer and other health ailments along with others who work with nickel or live near the plants. One Babalu reader, Aaron, decided to write to someone at the Sherritt Corporation, and call his attention to the health risks that the company was causing for Cubans in Moa.

Well, Aaron got a response to his letter. I'm going to put Aaron's letter first and under it you can read the lovely response he received from the Sherritt employee.

"Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 21:14:20 -0400

(Name Removed),
My family once lived in the city of Holguín, I carry a list of the names of my family memembers who were murdered by the wretched non government of fidel castro. You have blood on your hands as well, you turn a blind eye to the workers of this city and profit directly from their flesh and blood. It is their very life which they give to barely scrape out an existence, all the while you line your pocket at the cost of human suffering. You can do something about this, you can use your influence to demand better conditions and standards for the operations at Pedro Soto Alba. You are a human being, and no matter how hard you ignore it, a day will come when you shall be accounted for according to justice. Do something for the benefit of families who are just as valuble to our Lord as you, and your family are. Let it be said now, a day is coming when the company by which you are a member of the board of directors shall not be able to continue operating as soulless grifters at the cost of the Cuban people.end of letter."

Response:

Dear Whovever,

For such a self-righteous person, you could at least have the curtesy of putting your name at the end of your email. Otherwise, I will have to ignore your message as coming from a coward.

As to your allegations, I can only say that our employees are very grateful for the way our company treats them; as a matter of fact, I am convinced that we have done more for improving the lot of the Cuban people than all those outsiders who have tried to isolate Cuba.

If you have any grievances with the Cuban government, you should address them to that government.

Yours truly,

Female dissident to stand trial on Wednesday

On Wednesday, please remember in your prayers Iris Tamara Pérez Aguilera, the wife of former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez."

Perez, 38, is set to stand trial on a charge of "contempt of the proper authorities," arising from an Aug. 6 incident during which she tried to block Cuban police officers from beating a young Cuban named Melquíades Hernández in Placetas, in Villa Clara province. According to a statement her husband gave the Cuban Democratic Directorate, "officers flung her against a police vehicle calling her a 'fucking black,' a 'black monkey' and later telling her that what they needed was 'an order to kill all these 'fucking blacks who stick their noses into everything.'"

Fuck the police, indeed.

Say what you want about the castro dictatorship but to call it a gang of misogynistic and racist fucks, from the castro brothers on down, would be unfair to misogynistic, racist fucks elsewhere.

It is a special kind of evil that those thugs showed Iris Perez. The only proper response is our solidarity with this brave woman and her family, and our continued vigilance in exposing and denouncing the criminal castro regime.

The authorities attempted to fine Perez 500 pesos — about two months salary — but instead, she went on a hunger strike for more than 10 days. She has since called off the protest so as to gather strength for her trial.

(Cross-posted at Uncommon Sense.)

The easiest way to really lose the conservative base

I have to hand it to John McCain. He definitely fits the "maverick" label they've all given him.

Here's my take: any Republican presidential candidate who wants conservatives to vote for him -- real Ronald Reagan conservatives -- will not get those votes by chumming around with RINO Lindsay Graham and by floating a Joe Lieberman balloon with the RNC. It just ain't gonna cut it, John.

Deep in my heart I know he could care less about our votes despite his rhetoric. His VP decision may be calculated to sway some in the middle; but in the end it would be the ultimate slap in the face to all of us who hold conservative principles and values. Considering the alternative -- an inexperienced, racist, socialist sock puppet -- the "I'm not insane" vote will probably go with McCain.

I just don't know how dirty I'll feel pressing that button on November 4.

Nobel Peace Prize for Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet Petition

To: The United Nations, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Organization of American States (OAS, OEA), the European Union, the US Congress, and the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates
We, the undersigned, would like to nominate Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet for the Nobel Peace Prize. But, as you all know, this Petition can only come from members of academies, university professors, scientists from numerous countries, previous Nobel Laureates, members of parliamentary assemblies and “others”, but not from “regular citizens”; this is the reason we contact you for this matter. We hope you can help us by submitting this candidate, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, for the Nobel Peace Prize for the coming year.

Dr Biscet is the Founder and President of The Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, founded in 1997 in Havana, Cuba, as a non-governmental humanitarian and peaceful organization based upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Lawton Foundation for Human Rights promotes the study, defense, and denunciation of human rights violations inside Cuba and wherever the rights and liberties of human beings are disregarded.

At this time, Dr Biscet; who was born in Havana, Cuba, on July 20th of 1961, to a family of modest means, and who obtained his degree as a specialist in Internal Medicine in 1985; is in Prison. On December 6, 2002, in Havana, when he was preparing to meet with human rights activists from Matanzas as part of the “Club for Friends of Human Rights,” the Cuban Secret Police detained him along with many of the activists. The group staged an act of nonviolent civil disobedience by lying down in front of the home and saying: “Long live human rights” and “freedom for political prisoners.” On this occasion, the peaceful protestors were arrested and taken to the Tenth Unit of the National Revolutionary Police (Décima Unidad de la PNR) on Acosta Avenue. During this prison period, he was placed for 19 days in a calabozo (punishment cell.)

After several months in prison and having been transferred from Villa Marista to Combinado Del Este Prison, on April 2003, Dr. Biscet was charged in a summary judgment with violation of Article 91 of the Cuban Penal Code which refers to crimes against state security. This time he was sentenced to a 25 year prison term. Presently, this peaceful human rights activist and devout Christian, follower of the philosophies of H. D. Thoreau, Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, and Martin Luther King, Jr., remains in prison due to his struggle for justice in Cuba.

We believe Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet deserve the Nobel Peace Prize due to his peaceful Human Right Activisms, not only in Cuba, but wherever the rights and liberties of human beings are disregarded. We hope to count with your support.

To read and sign the petition, click here.

A Big Harumph for the Worthless 110th Democratic Congress

From the WSJ -- two years in power and they've done bupkis. Pelosi and her army of neo-socialist nanny fascists promised all this change. What do they have to show? Nothing!

As U.S. Economic Problems Loom, House, Senate Sweat the Small Stuff Members of Congress Love a Good Resolution; Watermelons and Undertakers Fit the Bill By ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON August 19, 2008; Page A1

WASHINGTON -- The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn't passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word "baseball."

Barring a burst of legislative activity after Labor Day, this group of 535 men and women will have accomplished a rare feat. In two decades of record keeping, no sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session -- 294 so far -- than this one. That's not to say they've been idle. On the flip side, no Congress in the same 20 years has been so prolific when it comes to proposing resolutions -- more than 1,900, according to a tally by the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense.

With the mostly symbolic measures, Congress has saluted such milestones as the Idaho Potato Commission's 70th anniversary and recognized soil as an "essential natural resource." As legislation on gasoline prices, tax fixes and predatory lending languish, Congress has designated May 5-9 as National Substitute Teacher Recognition Week, and set July 28 as the Day of the American Cowboy.

The resolutions, which generally don't carry the force of law, can originate in either the House or Senate. However, some types of resolutions establish the federal budget, authorize the president to go to war, or condemn actions such as the genocide in Darfur. Even among the 294 laws passed thus far, many were symbolic in nature. Many of the post offices named by this Congress honor servicemen and -women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the 435-member House, fully one-quarter of the workweek is typically devoted to debating and passing symbolic measures.

Watermelon Month

Democratic Rep. Charlie Wilson of Ohio, a fourth-generation undertaker, sponsored a National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day. Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, whose home state of Georgia has 24,000 acres planted in watermelon, pushed a resolution establishing July as National Watermelon Month.

"As Mark Twain once said, 'When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.' I encourage my colleagues to join me in acknowledging the wisdom of Mark Twain by supporting this resolution," Sen. Chambliss said on the Senate floor. The only problem: July is about 14 days late for a Watermelon Month. The crops come in in mid June.

Democrats say the 294 public laws represent a solid record of achievement. Since the party took control of Congress in 2007, they've led passage of the largest expansion in college aid in 60 years, increased the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, and extended unemployment benefits. They passed the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Congress has passed a $168 billion economic-stimulus package, a housing-rescue package providing as much as $300 billion to refinance mortgages for people in danger of losing their homes, and the most sweeping product-safety legislation in a generation.

"We also recognize that we have more to do, and we will do so, both in the remaining weeks of this year's Congress and next year when we will have expanded Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate, working with President Barack Obama," says Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.

Congress, which won't return to session until September, has yet to pass any 2009 appropriations bills, even though funding the federal budget is its official function. Before leaving town for summer break in August, lawmakers failed to establish August as Heat Stroke Awareness Month, blowing the deadline to make it official.

When Democrats won control of Congress in 2006, Republicans were eager to tar them as "do nothing," an echo of Democrat Harry Truman's successful 1948 presidential campaign during which he railed against the "Do Nothing Congress" led by Republicans.

"The Democrats in charge of this Congress have been heavy on fluff and light on substance," says Republican leader Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. "Resolutions are fine but why aren't we also passing legislation to lower gas prices? What about health-care reform and runaway entitlement spending?"

In fact, the second-fewest number of public laws passed over the 20-year review was during the 104th Congress -- when Republicans were newly in control, with a Democratic president. Resolutions, however, are usually popular on both sides of the aisle.

Perpetual Motion

Critics still complain that Congress uses resolutions to pad its legislative record.

"Resolutions are a perpetual motion machine," says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Not only do you create Heat Stroke Awareness Month, every year after that you recognize the importance of Heat Stroke Awareness Month. You never move on to substantive legislation."

Occasionally, resolutions stir debate that veers close to substance. In late June, House members gathered on the floor to debate a resolution establishing Pittsfield, Mass., once and for all, as home to the earliest known reference to the word "baseball."

Democratic Rep. John Olver of Massachusetts, the bill's author, rose to stake Pittsfield's claim, based on the recent discovery of a 1791 Pittsfield law banning "Wicket, Cricket, Baseball, Football, Cat, Fives or any other game or games with balls" near the town's new meetinghouse.

"Even back in 1791, youths were already breaking windows playing America's favorite national pastime," Rep. Olver said. "With that, the first mention of baseball was penned into history."

Rep. Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina whose resolution recognizing America's Christmas-tree industry remains mired in committee, said that "the origins of baseball [have] been the subject of debate and controversy." Yet she agreed that the "Broken Window Bylaw" gave Pittsfield the honor.

Obama punts on abortion issue

The other night Barack Obama participated in a candidate forum at something called the Saddleback Church. When asked when he considers that life begins, Obama famously quipped that such a decision is, "above my pay grade."

Regardless of what your views on abortion are, his answer was a cop-out. And it's a serious issue that has implications in the real world.

When are someone's constitutional rights conferred upon them? Is it when they emerge from the birth canal? Is it at some point prior to that when the baby is viable outside of the mother? (Normal gestation is 40 weeks. My twins were born at 34 and a half weeks without complication).

As the viability of a fetus has become earlier and earlier as a result of advances in medicine this has created a real ethical dilemma. In many states a crime against a pregnant woman that results in the death of her unborn baby carries additional charges. Our society seems to recognize that life begins at some point while the baby is still inside the mother. The question is when?

Rational arguments can me made about the differences between an 8-cell embryo and a 30-week fetus. And we should be having those arguments, not declining to answer. After all, Senator Obama, you are asking us to elect you and this is one of the most important ethical issues of the day.

Our friend Nelson Guirado gives his Asymmetric take on Obama's weak refusal to answer the question.

New Books Perpetuate Castroite Lies

Amigos,

I've already posted some of this on Babalu, but it's nice to see the highly-respected and non-partisan History News Network (no sarcasm, I mean this) helping spread the truth about Cuba.

Here's the article.

Ortega offers asylum to narco-traffickers

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is widely considered to be one of the Cuban dictatorship’s strongest allies, behind perhaps only Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales in his outspoken efforts to subvert the hopes and dreams of the Cuban people.

But the common goals shared by Fidel, Raul and Daniel go well beyond the narcissistic need to maintain their hold on power by any means necessary. Today we can officially throw the drug trade into the loop.

No doubt most Cuba-watchers are all-too-familiar with the tale of General Arnaldo Ochoa and the drug-trafficking efforts of the Castro regime that led to his execution in 1989, and so it was no surprise to open today’s edition of El Diario/La Prensa and find an EFE wire service piece on Daniel Ortega’s latest drug-related fracas.

Ortega announced yesterday, that FARC guerrillas Martha Perez Gutierrez and Doris Torres Bohorquez - granted political asylum in Nicaragua back in June – have been joined by a Colombian national dubbed “Esperanza,” who was inside a FARC camp in Ecuador during a military operation earlier this year by the Colombian Army launched against the one-time revolutionary Army-turned drug cartel. In effect, Ortega has offered his unabashed support to the FARC and the violent drug trade it runs in the Colombian jungle.

So exactly why is it that much of Latin America seems stuck in a perpetual cycle of poverty and violent lawlessness? I would argue that when we either elect, or allow leaders known to operate in criminal circles – be it drug cartels or paramilitary death squads – to continue in office, we set a precedent that allows for that same behavior to be accepted by society as a whole. Until we hold our leaders to account for their actions both before and after assuming the highest of offices, our nations – that is to say Latin America – can never hope to enjoy any amount of real success – be it economic or social. Violence will continue to metastasize and our ultimate hopes and dreams to foster socio-economic development will amount to nothing more than hollow slogans and shattered dreams.

Many of the leaders currently holding power in the region of our origin have acted in such a manner that our nations have become an embarrassment. We are expected to under-perform on the world stage and forgiven for our “lack of ability” to create the tools necessary to develop our nations into success stories on both the economic and social fronts.

I for one, am unwilling to accept this.

Hurricane Tropical Storm Fay: A Crap Shoot

"You can never prepare enough for a hurricane tropical storm," I always say. In the case of Hurricane Tropical Storm Fay, Im totally glad I prepared properly. Battened down the hatches, as they say. And, of course, spent a fair amount of hard earned cash for Hurricane Tropical Storm Supplies.

It's a good thing, too. We had some major Hurricane Tropical Storm Fay damage.

Obama's Embargo on Common Sense - Typical Bleeding Heart Leftist Lightweight Liberal

When fifo and his pals took over Cuba, they brought fairness to their system by making everyone poor and miserable. 50 some years later, in the US election of 2008, an interesting contrast between the candidates. McCain and the GOP want everybody to be rich. This infuriates the left as they loathe success. They loathe when someone makes it big on their own. The left is like a drug pusher. They want you to get hooked on their handouts so they can control you. Interesting statement from "The One" at the California church the other day. He wants to tax the crap out of everyone to "make things fair" notwithstanding the fact that this will not raise more revenue. Sound familiar?

As noted in the WSJ today:

Mr. Obama, by contrast, started out much more directly, suggesting that if you make $150,000 or less you may be poor or middle class. A family with an income above $250,000, he went on to say, is "doing well." And if you find yourself in that category, he's going to target you for a tax hike -- all in the name of creating "a sense of balance, and fairness in our tax code."

In fact, the idea of fairness is at the heart of his whole economic argument. And he goes back to it in almost every public appearance.

He talks about it as a general theme: "It is time for folks like me who make more than $250,000 to pay our fair share."

He invokes it as a solution for Social Security: "[W]e will save Social Security for future generations by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share."

He points to how it guides his energy policy: "The first part of my plan is to tax the windfall profits of oil companies and use some of that money to help you pay the rising price of gas."

And he stuck to it on capital gains, even after ABC's Charlie Gibson noted that the record shows increased taxes on capital gains -- which would affect 100 million Americans -- would likely lead to a decrease in government revenues: "Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness."

Translated into ordinary English, what that means is that it doesn't really matter whether a tax increase actually brings in more revenue. It's not about robbing from the rich to give to the poor. Robbing from the rich will do, especially if it's done in the name of fairness.

Now there are good reasons Mr. Obama is not likely to pursue the revenue side of the fairness question. As this newspaper noted in a recent editorial, the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service does not show to Mr. Obama's advantage. As we come to the end of the Bush administration, the top 1% of American taxpayers already pay 40% of all income taxes -- the highest level in 40 years. The top 10% of income earners pay 71% of the taxes.

So what is "The One" proposing? A Permanent welfare plan via the internal revenue code. Per the WSJ:

Moreover, the tax credits would mostly go to those who pay little or nothing in federal income taxes. His trick is to make the tax credits "refundable." Thus, if the tax credit is for $1,000, but the taxpayer would otherwise only pay $200 in taxes, the government would write a check to the taxpayer for $800. If the taxpayer pays nothing in federal income taxes, the government would pay him the whole $1,000.

Such credits are not tax cuts. Indeed, they should be called The New Tax Welfare. In effect, Mr. Obama is proposing to create or expand a slew of government spending programs that are disguised as tax credits. The spending on these programs is then subtracted from the total tax burden, in order to make the claim that his tax plan is a net tax cut overall.

On the tax side of the ledger, the details released by his campaign last week confirm what a President Obama has in mind for our most productive citizens. The top individual income tax rate, for example, would be increased by 13%, to 39.6%; the next-highest rate would be raised to 36%. The top rates on capital gains and dividends would rise by a third, to 20%

The Social Security payroll tax would be raised between 16% to 32% for families making over $250,000 a year. This means that the real returns these people get from their lifetime payments into the retirement program will be driven below 0%, according to my own previous research, which was published by the Cato Institute and elsewhere.

Mr. Obama also wants a permanent federal estate tax, with a top rate of 45%; his health-insurance plan includes a new payroll tax on employers; and he also contemplates several increases in the corporate income tax, including a new so-called windfall profits tax on oil companies.

Then there is the spending side of the ledger. Mr. Obama proposes a fully refundable Making Work Pay Tax Credit, which would have the government pay out $500 to each worker and $1,000 to couples -- reminiscent of George McGovern's 1972 election proposal for the government to send a $1,000 check to everyone.

His American Opportunity Tax Credit would provide a $4,000, fully refundable tax credit for college tuition expenses. His Mortgage Interest Tax Credit would provide a 10% credit -- refundable -- to offset mortgage interest payments for lower- and middle-income families. His Health Care Tax Credits, which the campaign says "will ensure that health insurance is available and affordable for all families," include "a new refundable 50 percent health tax credit on employee premiums paid by employers."

* * *

The latest Congressional Budget Office data shows the bottom 40% of income earners already pays no income taxes. Indeed, they receive a net payment from the federal income tax system -- meaning from the taxpayers -- equal to 3.8% of all federal income taxes, because of the refundable tax credits under current law. The middle 20% of income earners, the true middle class, pays 4.4% of federal income taxes.

Overall, the bottom 60% of income earners pay less than 1% of federal income taxes on net. When "tax credits" primarily go to this group in the form of checks from the government (rather than a reduction in their tax burden) it is simply an abuse of the language to call the spending a tax cut.

Consequently, to say, as the campaign does say, that the candidate's tax plan is a tax cut on net -- and that it would limit taxes to 18.2% of GDP -- is grossly misleading. The Obama tax plan would sharply increase real taxes. It also would come nowhere near to paying for the massive increases in federal spending he has proposed, including the spending that is disguised in the form of refundable tax credits.

But the left just loves this guy. Why? Pure and simple. They want to be f***ed by him literally and figuratively. It's the leftist credo. Why do you think they call them dopes?

Japan's embargo on Cuba

I know this item was posted already but one line jumped out at me:

The Central Bank of Cuba's failure to pay for Japanese imports by agreed dates is behind the decision, the Nikkei said in a report on its website.

It means that almost all exports from Japan to Cuba will come to a halt for now, it added.

Like I have been saying since my second ever post at Babalu, Cuba's attempts to have the embargo removed are based solely on trying to find the next in a long line of suckers.

The article notes that the Japanese government (therefore the Japanese people) are on the hook for castro inc.'s debt because the trade insurer is government-backed This is exactly what many embargo opponents want, U.S. subsidy of the castro regime. The others are too dumb to realize that it's exactly what would happen.

The Godfather

One of the benefits of having attended Belen Jesuit in Miami is that I made friends for a lifetime. Of the 80-some-odd of us that graduated in 1987 more than 60 of us stay in touch through a Yahoo group. Before that we had an email list serve since the late 90s' Among our class are executives, attorneys, police officers, doctors, etc. Two of my closest friends to this day were in my 7th grade homeroom. That's about 27 years folks.

Anyway one of those two very close friends is Pep. Pep is like a brother to me. In fact when we were in college, I joined a fraternity at the University of Florida and he helped establish the same fraternity at FIU, so we became fraternity brothers.

When Pep's son (the oldest of his four children) was born I was honored that he asked me to be the Godfather.

When I was down on my luck after a failed first marriage, a failed business and being diagnosed with Wilson's disease, Pep reached out to me and got me my first job in advertising.

In 1998, Pep was my best man at my wedding.

I worked for him and with him from 1996 to 2006. Then one of those things that happens in corporate America happened and our team was split up. I ended up with my present employer, where I am very happy.

Pep joined forces with some others and made a go at starting a new ad agency. Eventually, for reasons that aren't really important, that business was dissolved. I should mention that Pep is a senior executive in our industry and jobs at his level don't grow on trees. Pep recently took an offer to join one of the premier ad agencies in our specialty (Hispanic marketing), but the job is in Houston.

Earlier this year Pep became the Godfather to my son, George Henry.

George Henry and his Padrino

I should note that Pep is part of the extended Babalu family. He's a frequent reader of the blog and his father, nicknamed "El Gallego" (who is like a father to me) and I often talk about Cuban issues. Pep handled the media relations work for two of our BUCL.org campaigns (the two that were most successful).

Now Pep and his family are in Houston. We're going to miss them. I just wanted to acknowledge him and let him know how much I value his friendship. Hopefully this blog will be a connection to Miami for him like it is to so many other Cuban-Americans spread about the fruited plain.

Thanks bro.

Safran, Father Bob and yours truly the alleged fascist

Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I did an interview for Aussie public radio. After I was off the air, one of the hosts, a Catholic priest, called me a fascist. I didn't think he was being serious. He said I called him a "commo" which of course I didn't. Well I've subscribed to the podcast of the show which is called Sunday Night Safran and I have to say I've acquired a taste for it. I listened to several episodes on my way to and from Orlando this weekend. As it turns out, the issue of Father Bob calling me a fascist came up again the following week. You can listen to the exchange at about the 45 minute mark by clicking this link. Father Bob apologized for calling me a fascist with about the same degree of seriousness with which he called me it in the first place, which is to say none at all.

In any case, you are forgiven Father. Go and sin no more.

STOP THE PRESSES!

Democrat Barack Obama has had about a 3 to 1 advantage over Republican John McCain in [Washington] Post Page 1 stories since Obama became his party's presumptive nominee June 4.

Really? I never noticed.

Olympic Update

Bibles? You don't need no stinkin' bibles!

So says the Chinese government. It's a good thing that China has joined the civilized world and is now tolerant of religion. What's that? They haven't? Oh well. Nice fireworks though.

You know those "protest zones" that were set up to show the new China that is tolerant of dissent? Well guess what, they are empty because even when they don't arrest you for trying to solicit a permit to use them, they simply won't grant one to you.

H/T: J2tharome

A little history quiz

Please give your answers in the comments.

1. What Party was founded as the anti-slavery Party and fought to free blacks from slavery?

2. What was the Party of Abraham Lincoln who signed the emancipation proclamation that resulted in the Juneteenth celebrations that occur in black communities today?

3. What Party passed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution granting blacks freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote?

4. What Party passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875 granting blacks protection from the Black Codes and prohibiting racial discrimination in public accommodations, and was the Party of most blacks prior to the 1960’s, including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

5. What was the Party of the founding fathers of the NAACP who were themselves white?

6. What was the Party of President Dwight Eisenhower who sent U.S. troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools, established the Civil Rights Commission in 1958, and appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation?

7. What Party, by the greatest percentage, passed the1957 Civil Rights Act and the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960’s?

8. What was the Party of President Richard Nixon who instituted the first Affirmative Action program in 1969 with the Philadelphia Plan that established goals and timetables?

9. What is the Party of President George W. Bush who supports the U.S. Supreme Court’s University of Michigan Affirmative Action decision, and is spending over $200 billion to fight AIDS in Africa and on programs to help black Americans prosper, including school vouchers, the faith-based initiative, home ownership, and small business ownership?

(Test courtesy of National Black Republicans)

Update: Cigar Mike -- Since we're on history quizes, here's one ...

Great Orators of the Democratic Party

• "One man with courage makes a majority."--attributed to Andrew Jackson

• "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."--Franklin D. Roosevelt

• "The buck stops here."--Harry S. Truman

• "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."--John F. Kennedy

• "I will win. Don't worry about that. . . . I understand why a lot of folks are saying, this should just happen. Why are we having to run all these television commercials? Why do we have to raise all this money? Just read the papers. These are the knuckleheads who have been in charge. Throw 'em out. But American politics aren't that simple." -- Name the Orator?

BREAKING NEWS: Democrats have secret prison in Denver for other Democrats!

Are these the same Democrats who howl like rabid hyenas about Guantanamo? Are these the very same Dems who call conservatives and Republicans "Nazi," "fascist," and "storm trooper"?

City defends 'secret jail' built for DNC

posted by: Jeffrey Wolf written by: Kyle Clark 2 days ago

DENVER - Activist groups say the converted warehouse poses a threat to civil liberties. The city maintains the facility is needed in case of mass arrests during the Democratic National Convention.

"The public was never going to view this place, it was just found out," Spagnuolo said. "They got caught with this place. They told our lawyers in negotiations that this place didn't even exist."

The makeshift holding center, dubbed "Gitmo on the Platte" by activists, is located on city-owned property near Steele Street and 38th Avenue. Newly-installed security cameras guard the exterior, chain-link fences and barbed wire form cells inside.

"We feel the city should be ashamed of this secret prison they've set up," said Re-create '68 organizer Glenn Spagnuolo.

Spagnuolo and other activists gathered outside the formerly-secret facility on Friday to protest the city's plan to use it as a processing center for all those arrested outside the DNC.

"The public was never going to view this place, it was just found out," Spagnuolo said. "They got caught with this place. They told our lawyers in negotiations that this place didn't even exist."

"This was never a secret site," said Undersheriff Bill Lovingier, the city's director of corrections.

Lovingier said the city had long planned to build a new holding facility for the DNC, which triples the processing speed of the city jail. Lovingier said the Steele Street warehouse will be able to process 60 arrestees an hour.

"This center is designed as an arrest processing site," Lovinger said. "There will be no housing or long-term detentions."

Activists said that claim was doubtful.

"What's going to happen here is police are going to detain people for an inordinate amount of time," said Unconventional Denver organizer Ben Yager. "They're going to use this as an excuse to keep people out of the courts and off of the streets."

Protest groups questioned whether the makeshift facility would be suitable for inhabitation after years as a storage facility.

Lovinger said air-conditioning has been installed and the Denver Fire Department has certified it meets fire codes.

"We've provided for restroom facilities, water, medical assistance," Lovingier said. "We tried to mirror in this facility what we do every day in our city jail."

Mmm, mmm, mmm, ya ought to be shame of yoself.

Thank you, Jay

From Jay Nordlinger, on National Review Online's The Corner comes this:

For more than a few years on this site, I have spoken of a man known as Antunez -- he is a Cuban former political prisoner. He is a liberal democrat -- and a brave, principled, unyielding man. His wife, Iris, is his equal. And she herself now faces imprisonment. It started when she asked the Revolutionary Police to stop beating a man and take him to the hospital. The police called her a "black monkey," among other lovely things. The sheer racism of the Cuban regime is very little known off the shores of that island. Of course, a lot of things about Cuba are not very well known.

If you'd like to read about Iris Perez Aguilera and her current predicament, go here or here. She and Antunez are one of the most amazing couples around.

Once again, Jay Nordlinger is one of the few voices that recognize the political prisoners in Cuba and our heartfelt thanks go out to him for using his bully pulpit to spread the news about the horror that is modern Cuba.

"I'm free, I'm free."

To this day, my father will still tell you that the day he took the oath to become a US Citizen was the proudest day of his life. And, the beauty of it is that he never taken his citizenship lightly, aware of the fact that along with all his freedoms and rights as an American, comes responsibility. My old man has has voted in every single election since he swore allegiance to his adopted country.

Dad, like the majority of Cuban-Americans, pretty much is the model citizen in many ways. Here are a couple more:

There are so many special stories that make us all stop and think about what it means to be an American, and that's especially true for those who have known life without the freedoms we often take for granted.

One couple came here after escaping from a country that'’s about a hundred miles away on the map, but light years away politically.

Friday was the day Olga Alveres has been waiting on for decades.

"So happy. So happy."

The native Cuban is now a naturalized U.S. Citizen. Her husband, Roberto, took the same oath last year. A huge moment for anyone, but for a man who escaped from Cuba after spending six years as a political prisoner, being an American family means everything.

Roberto Alveres says, "In this country if you work, nothing's impossible."

Celia Bright with University of Tennessee says, "In the 50's we were full of optimism in Cuba. We thought that Fidel Castro would bring about democracy for our country."

The speaker addressing the new citizens has literally been where Roberto and Olga have been. University of Tennessee lecturer Celia Bright left Cuba with her mother when she was eight years old. Her writings as a young child led to government accusations that her family was counter-revolutionary.

Bright says, "It was soon evident, after the revolution of 1959, that the political situation had deteriorated and personal freedoms were curtailed to the point that people feared for their lives and for the futures of their children."

Via Instapundit.

Cuba still a credit risk

Two years of raul castro’s so-called “new leadership,” and Cuba still can’t pay its bills.

From Fox News:
Cuba Says Can't Pay For Japan Imports On Time : Nikkei

HONG KONG -- The Central Bank of Cuba informed Japan's Nippon Export and Investment Insurance that it couldn't pay for Japanese imports by the agreed upon dates, the Nikkei business daily reported Monday. "This isn't a problem specific to this bank. Foreign exchange reserves for settling trade accounts are in short supply in Cuba," said an offical at the Cuban central bank, according to the report.

In 2006, Cuba's estimated debt was 15.438 billion, plus the non-convertible Soviet era debt of 22 plus billion. Read the details of castro, inc's enormous global debt and you have to shake your head that any extend credit to Cuba. Simply stated, Cuba does not pay its bills. The U.S. policy of demanding up-front payment from the regime for goods purchased makes sense as long as the criminal castro family is is charge.

Read the list of Cuba's creditors at Paxety Pages, and more on Cuba's economy at the Cuban Transition Project.

Mike Erickson: Humanitarian & Sleaze

Meet Mike Erickson: Republican, US congressional candidate from Oregon, and a humanitarian with a keen interest in Cuba.

Mr. Erickson is so worried about Cubans suffering that he traveled to Cuba in 2004 himself with medical supplies in hand to deliver them to a Cuban charity for the disabled. This selfless act was carried out even though his trip just happen to coincide with the "Comandante Fidel Castro's Annual Gala Cigar Dinner and Auction." Quite an impressive feat carried out by Mr. Erickson, delivering these supplies to doctors in a hospital. Especially when he also found time to whoop it up in the festivities going on in Havana at the time.

Indeed it would be a very impressive display of time management by the candidate except for the fact that the Oregonian newspaper discovered that the hospital he claims to have delivered the supplies to does not exist. Also, the man who planned his trip indicated that the few supplies that were taken to Cuba on that particular trip were minimal and taken only to fulfill the US State Department's requirements to qualify the trip as a humanitarian one.

You can read all about Mr. Erickson's humanitarian mission HERE.

Cubanology Biweekly

The latest edition of Cubanology.com biweekly Cuba report has been posted here. What are you still doing here? Go, read.

Chutzpah!

Got to love it when "The One" is unscripted. He went on to trash Clarence Thomas's credentials which is ironic since The One's credentials don't even come close to Thomas. I also love it when the liberal lefties love to trash Thomas -- this coming from those who know bupkis about the law is laughable. I've said it again and again, the leftist element of the Democratic party - The Obama/Pelosi orgy is an anathema to the prosperity and security of the United States.

--------------------
From Today's WSJ

Obama on Clarence Thomas
August 18, 2008

Barack Obama likes to portray himself as a centrist politician who wants to unite the country, but occasionally his postpartisan mask slips. That was the case at Saturday night's Saddleback Church forum, when Mr. Obama chose to demean Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Pastor Rick Warren asked each Presidential candidate which Justices he would not have nominated. Mr. McCain said, "with all due respect" the four most liberal sitting Justices because of his different judicial philosophy.

Mr. Obama took a lower road, replying first that "that's a good one," and then adding that "I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. I don't think that he, I don't think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation. Setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretation of a lot of the Constitution." The Democrat added that he also wouldn't have appointed Antonin Scalia, and perhaps not John Roberts, though he assured the audience that at least they were smart enough for the job.

So let's see. By the time he was nominated, Clarence Thomas had worked in the Missouri Attorney General's office, served as an Assistant Secretary of Education, run the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and sat for a year on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation's second most prominent court. Since his "elevation" to the High Court in 1991, he has also shown himself to be a principled and scholarly jurist.

Meanwhile, as he bids to be America's Commander in Chief, Mr. Obama isn't yet four years out of the Illinois state Senate, has never held a hearing of note of his U.S. Senate subcommittee, and had an unremarkable record as both a "community organizer" and law school lecturer. Justice Thomas's judicial credentials compare favorably to Mr. Obama's Presidential résumé by any measure. And when it comes to rising from difficult circumstances, Justice Thomas's rural Georgian upbringing makes Mr. Obama's story look like easy street.

Even more troubling is what the Illinois Democrat's answer betrays about his political habits of mind. Asked a question he didn't expect at a rare unscripted event, the rookie candidate didn't merely say he disagreed with Justice Thomas. Instead, he instinctively reverted to the leftwing cliché that the Court's black conservative isn't up to the job while his white conservative colleagues are.

So much for civility in politics and bringing people together. And no wonder Mr. Obama's advisers have refused invitations for more such open forums, preferring to keep him in front of a teleprompter, where he won't let slip what he really believes.

For another good column on the Town Hall meeting, read this one from the WashPost.

A travel related tangent

The last couple of times I've visited Disney World I've driven by a large complex called The Gaylord Palms.

Hehehe. He said "gaylord!"

I was always curious about it but never had occasion to visit it. Well tonight I find myself staying at the Gaylord Palms because I'm participating in a panel discussion at a conference tomorrow (Monday) morning. This is work related. But let me tell you this place is spectacular. The only way I can describe it is to say that it's like a theme hotel from the Vegas strip transplanted to Kissimmee. The theme is Florida. The building is like a big octagon with a giant glass-roofed atrium. Imagine the Astrodome allowing the sunshine in.

Highly recommended for a weekend getaway. You don't need to leave the complex. This IS Disney World for grown-ups. I had a fantastic steak dinner at the The Old Hickory Steakhouse, one of several restaurants here. Here's some pictures from their web site.

The Lefty Libs Want to Sleep With Obama

Just check this out. I'm convinced that the left (men and women, heteros and homosexuals) all want to sleep with "The One." Why else publish articles like this.

Now you know why the left is so gung ho about this dude. It's sexual, pure and simple.

Oy vay!

Heck, if we're going to vote on who we'd rather sleep with, I'll cast my vote for Obama girl.

UPDATE -- CHECK OUT THIS QUOTE FROM MISTRESS PELOSI

"[Obama] is a leader that God has blessed us with at this time."

For love of the mango

The party was great, wonderful company, delicious food, and the best cake ever. Mango Mousse from Porto's Bakery.

There's almost one piece left:

Another South Florida storm. Ho-hum...

So here I am after an almost two-day orgy with my new bedroom home theater setup: a 40-inch 1080p Samsung LCD TV, and my two new sources: a Samsung Blu-Ray player and Apple TV. Apple TV is an amazing product: I can wirelessly stream all my content on iTunes -- music, movies, photos, podcasts -- via 802.11n and Ethernet, in excellent fidelity. (Don't tell the wife: a virtual 5.1 all-in-one HT speaker is next on my list...) While I'm in there enjoying movies and music, my wife is in the living room reading, my son is gaming on the laptop, my dog is sleeping and my cat is digging in his litter.

I bring this up to illustrate that those of us who live here in Hurricane Alley are pretty jaded by all the hysteria we hear. We have a new metal roof, aluminum shutters for every window and door, a generator, both cars are filled up with gas, and we have the recommended three days worth of supplies and water. We're ready for whatever comes, tomorrow or until season's end. After living through Hurricanes Cleo, Betsy, Andrew, Frances, Jeanne, Katrina, Wilma, the no-name storm, et al, us natives can pretty much handle anything. We're a tough bunch.

The weather has, as of this writing, turned a little sour, but pretty tame in comparison to the apocalyptic thunderstorms we sometimes get in the summertime. Hurricanes and tropical storms are the price we pay for living in South Florida. Once the season is done, though, we'll get beautiful weather in November, December and January, without the worry of shoveling snow. Stay safe people.

More Associated Propaganda

When the United States of America decides to send some of my hard earned money to needy people around the world, it’s called foreign aide.

When it sends money and supplies to besieged populations like those in Darfur, for example, they call it humanitarian aide.

In many cases the funds are sent to NGO’s that distribute it directly to the needy because some world leaders are in the habit of pocketing the aide.

But send some funds to political dissidents in Cuba, who are being oppressed and live under constant harassment from their own government, often unemployed since the government is the only employer and decides who gets to work on “their own account,” and they become “mercenaries” who “rely on foreign funding.”

That’s what the Castro regime says and what the Associated Press Parrots repeats, verbatim.

In this AP article, in paragraph after paragraph they lay out the regime’s twisted case against the Cuban citizens that have run afoul of the regime for having a “competing vision” of freedom than (c)astro.

Submitted as a subtle example of the pro-regime bias is this sentence:

But government officials cite those payments to justify authoritarian measures against ''dissidents,'' or Cubans clamoring for political change.

Though in the same paragraph the AP acknowledges that just about anybody can qualify as a “dissident” in Cuba, the use of the word payment supports the regimes absurd position that when a dissident receives money from abroad, it’s a “payment”, making that person a mercenary. When anyone else gets money from abroad, it’s a “remittance.”

To further make the regime’s case, the AP attacks USAID and exile organizations, using a source, a disputed study by The Cuban American National Foundation that claims that only 17% of USAID funds actually reach the island.

The AP goes as far as to compare Cuban exiles who have tried to bring freedom to Cuba through an armed struggle as Al Queda-like terrorists:

''It's a very serious incident,'' said Francis Boyle, an international law professor at University of Illinois, who suggested the United States may have violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic relations.

''Suppose al Qaeda were to try and send money to some dissident group here by means of some embassy in the United States,'' Boyle said.

You see, well educated reporters, academics and intellectuals cannot distinguish between freedom fighters and terrorists.

Only after the AP lays out its case, (the regime’s), against Cuban dissidents, the Miami Mafia and exile terrorists, do they describe the oppression in Cuba, but not without justifying it by pointing out the regime’s “largess:”

Nearly all Cubans -- dissidents included -- have free housing, health care and education through college. Rations of rice, potatoes, soap and other basics get people through part of each month.

If one didn’t know better, and that is the terget audience for these kinds of articles, it would seem justified for the regime to sanction these ungrateful mercenaries.

Unfortunately, those who should know better pretend that they don’t and thus become willful accomplices in the oppression and exploitation of the Cuban people.

CAMBIO

Some Canadians do get it when it comes to Cuba

At Babalu we've noticed that the people of Western Canada haven't been snookered by Fidel's propaganda. We've often been asked to appear on radio shows like The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge.

Well today there's a great column in The Calgary Herald. Right off the bat, the headline made me smile:

Annoying Castro makes Edmonton my new favourite city

But the column itself is even better. Some excerpts:

Castro, perhaps depressed he long ago lost most allies besides the economically illiterate (Venezuela's Hugo Chavez), the ever-creepy (North Korea's Kim Jong-il) and the children of Pierre Trudeau, whined about how no one defects from rich countries.

"Japan and the United States are big countries," wrote Castro in Granma, Cuba's official online newspaper. "They do not have to deal with an economic blockade. Both countries have great resources. No one steals or plunders their athletes." True, but then Japan, the U.S., Canada, and my new favourite city, Edmonton, also don't steal or plunder private property, small and large businesses, or imprison people for insulting their country's leaders.

That would be unlike Castro's island prison where Jorge Luis Artiles Montiel was jailed in 2004 for shouting denunciations against Castro in his own home.

Montiel was once a trainer with the Villa Clara baseball team and belonged to a dissident group, Democracy Movement.

Prosecutors wanted a two-year sentence; Montiel received four. Perhaps the baseball players, Argueilles and Iglesias, knew about their leader's thin skin and decided to hoof it before they faced such a fate one day. But Montiel's sentence is hardly the only example.

In 2002, 75 journalists were imprisoned for up to 20 years for departing from the official Cuban line -- i.e., Castro's rule was a blessing.

That, along with far worse abuses, is the reality of Fidel and Raul's Cuba.

Olympic Update

Che Guevara makes Olympic debut, thanks to Venezuela:

'It was a game between countries who are friends,' said Cuban-born Venezuela coach Tomas Fernandez. 'Although, as Ernesto Guevara said, 'Friendship ends where duty starts.' And we are representing the Venezuelan people here,' Fernandez told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, with reference to the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary hero.

He admitted that the game was hard.

'Cuba is our master, our guide,' Fernandez explained.

He was talking about volleyball, although the phrase could have suited socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez when talking about the communist island led for close to half-a-century by Fidel and Raul Castro.

Fay is on her way

22 Years in Castro's Gulag

Great article by Mary Anastasia O'Grady in today's WSJ:

In late December 1959, nearly a year after Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista had been run out the country by a movement that had a goal of restoring the 1940 Cuban constitution, Fidel Castro was tightening his grip.

At the time, Armando Valladares was a 22-year-old government bureaucrat at the Post Office Savings Bank. One day a group from the Communist Party showed up in his office and put a sign on his desk that read "If Fidel is a communist, put me on the list. He's got the right idea."

Castro had not yet made public his communist intentions. But Mr. Valladares says that "the sign was part of the campaign by the party and by Fidel to prepare the population for communism, which most knew little about. The idea was that since Fidel had already made his name synonymous with the Cuban messiah, he must be right about communism."

Mr. Valladares told his visitors that he didn't want that sign on his desk. "Five or six days later, in the wee hours of the morning, they came to my house. My mother's room was closest to the front door so she heard the knock and got up to see who was there. When she opened the door, the men pushed her out of the way and rushed into the house. I awoke with a machine gun against my temple."

The young Valladares had a lot of company. Thousands were being rounded up. Some waited months for their trials. Many others were immediately marched before firing squads.

Mr. Valladares got his day in court within the week. The judge, he says, sat with his feet up on the desk reading a comic book and making jokes. The search of his home had produced "no evidence, no weapons, no propaganda opposing the state." Nevertheless he was convicted as a potential conspirator against the Revolution and sentenced to 30 years. His cell mates applauded the decision, because the only other possible sentence was the death penalty.

Cuban state security applied every torture method in the totalitarian handbook -- and even some new inspirations -- to break the prisoners. Many cracked and many committed suicide, but Mr. Valladares, along with a minority of others, would not bow to the "Revolution." He says that three things preserved him during his 22 years in prison. First, he was totally sure of his ideals. Second was the love of Martha -- who would become his wife -- and the fact that she believed in him. Third were his religious convictions. He was finally released from prison in 1982 and forced into exile.

Castro's resignation as "president" of Cuba this February has touched off a landslide of speculation about whether his brother Raúl, the new official head of state, might soon begin a transition away from political and economic repression. But the 71-year-old Mr. Valladares, who has become an accomplished poet and artist, human-rights activist and diplomat -- he served as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva -- says forget it.

I recently had dinner with him and Martha at their home in Miami, and used the opportunity to pepper him with questions about the political landscape in Cuba today. Topping my list was whether we are already seeing the nascent stages of reform on the island.

His answer is an unequivocal no: "Until Fidel Castro dies, there will be no changes in Cuba. Fidel will not permit it. The terror imposed since 1959 continues today and Raúl will not dare make a single change as long as his older brother is alive."

And what about Fidel's health? "He can still terrorize because he has lucid moments," Mr. Valladares says. "But those moments are unpredictable, which is why he cannot be seen in public or on live television, even for a minute." In the meantime, the repression has increased in recent months, he tells me, as those who have participated in his crimes seek to preserve the status quo.

The Castro government has been a killing machine since it took over in 1959. If a truth and reconciliation commission is ever called on to establish accountability, Fidel, Raúl and many of their henchmen whose "hands are stained with blood," according to Mr. Valladares, would not fare well.

It is no coincidence that the three beliefs which helped Mr. Valladares survive prison were also key tenets that the communists were determined to destroy: liberal ideals, the family and God. For their refusal to accept indoctrination -- even in the face of constant beatings and forced labor, solitary confinement in tiny, windowless cells for weeks at a time, and near starvation -- Mr. Valladares and his group became known as the "plantados," which roughly translates as "the unwavering ones."

The regime went to such extremes that I wonder if it lost its zeal to torture after a time. Mr. Valladares corrects me. He says that the conditions only grew "more repressive. As my group [the plantados] refused to accept 'rehabilitation,' everyday they tried to come up with new ways to torture us."

In 22 years he only had 12 visits. The strength of the plantados impressed even his captors and in the late 1970s, he says, the official publication from the interior ministry wrote about them, marveling that "all repressive methods and tactics have failed to force a certain group of counterrevolutionary prisoners into accepting political rehabilitation."

Mr. Valladares and three other prisoners -- including Pedro Luis Boitel, who would later die on a hunger strike in 1972 when Castro gave an order to refuse him water -- even escaped once from the maximum security prison on Cuba's Isle of Pines. Using materials smuggled in from visitors, they dyed their clothes the color of military uniforms and filed through the prison bars. The disguises worked so well that "we waved to the guards as we walked out," Mr. Valladares says, chuckling.

But the boat that was supposed to pick them up never arrived; and eventually the prison guards hunted them down in the island swamps. What happened? Mr. Valladares says he can only speculate, but that everyone knew the reputation of the prison and believed that escape was impossible. "They must have thought the plan and the planners were simply crazy so they never even bothered to come for us."

That event would foreshadow the wider experience of the Cuban people over the next 50 years -- abandonment by the outside world. Mr. Valladares explains it this way: "We felt that the world had turned its back on the prisoners of conscience in Cuba." In truth, it had.

When Mrs. Valladares was allowed to leave Cuba in 1972 with her father -- who had also been a political prisoner -- and began an international effort to bring attention to the Cuban prisoners, the brutality of the regime was already well established. But as she found out, the facts weren't much help. "It was very difficult," she tells me, slowly and deliberately with more than a touch of sadness.

As an example, she describes her encounter with Seán MacBride, who was the former Amnesty International Chairman, at a human-rights conference in Venezuela in 1977. "He was very nice to me at first because he didn't realize who I was. But when I tried to speak about the Cuban prisoners of conscience, he began banging on the microphone and screaming, 'Don't translate that! Don't translate that!' The journalists covering the event asked me, 'Why is this man telling you to shut up?'"

The next day in the Venezuelan press there was a story titled "Human rights violated in a human-rights conference." That same year MacBride was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize given by the Soviet Union.

Mr. Valladares says that as amazing as it sounds, it took Amnesty International until 1978 to "discover" that there were political prisoners in Cuba. "Eighteen years after I was jailed! There were already thousands murdered, tortured, Boitel had already died."

Still AI has been downright progressive compared to some European governments. Mr. Valladares says that in 1988 the Spanish government of Felipe González was especially disingenuous, when its foreign minister told Mr. Valladares that Spain had no evidence of human-rights violations in Cuba. Only weeks later, he says, the Spanish embassy in Havana produced a report documenting the atrocities of the Cuban regime, but opted to bury it so as to give cover to Fidel.

When the report was leaked to the press, Mr. Valladares says he brought dozens of the Spanish newspapers to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva and distributed them. "I told the Spanish ambassador, 'Congratulations, your report is very good. It is as good as the CIA report.'"

Mr. Valladares was giving the Spaniard a dig, but not without provocation. Both he and Mrs. Valladares say that over the years European government officials (Spain and Sweden to name but two) repeatedly acknowledged privately the regime's unacceptable brutality. But the same officials also said that to come out against it publicly would be to admit that the U.S. was right about Castro. And nobody wanted to do that.

"Castro is still there because the world envies the U.S., and all that hatred for the U.S. has gone to support Fidel Castro," Mr. Valladares says. As a result, the Cuban people have been left to fend for themselves against the jackboots and East German spy techniques of Cuban state security. Thousands have died trying to flee.

Martha Valladares says that in the past 50 years she thinks international support for Cuban liberty has improved "a little." She believes the foreign press in Cuba -- despite the fact that it is not free and is manipulated -- has helped. "The Women in White" [a group of prisoners' wives, mothers and sisters who have organized to bring attention to their loved ones] could not have existed before. We tried to do that when Armando's group was on a hunger strike and they took us to jail."

Mr. Valladares says that once Fidel dies, the regime will not be able to keep his death a secret for very long, and the odds for change will go way up. "The old guard will try to maintain the status quo, but there are many young officers who do not have blood on their hands and who won't want to fight for a system that has failed and is dying." Under those circumstances, he contends, there could be a struggle inside the military.

Add to this the fact that Raúl is not respected -- and that "the youth are losing their fear and criticizing the government openly" -- and you can see the possibilities for change. "The capacity to terrorize has a limit," he says, "and the country is reaching it." If anyone knows about that limit, it's Mr. Valladares.

More Heartwarming Support from our Latin/Caribbean "brothers and sisters."

Hopefully y'all have seen ads for this forthcoming event. As always our Latin--and especially--Caribbean "brothers and sisters" are at the forefront:

Concert in U.S. with World-renowned Latin Performers in Support of Cuban Five

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 5 (acn) A concert featuring world-renowned Latin performers in support of five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters, who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States, will take place on September 13th at the Hostos Community College Auditorium, in New York City.

The concert, entitled “Five Stars and a Song” and organized by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five in an attempt to reach a broader audience inside the United States, will take place as part of a series of activities to mark the tenth anniversary of the unjust arrest and imprisonment of Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino and Fernando Gonzalez, on September 12th, 1998.

The concert will feature Danny Rivera (Puerto Rico), Victor Victor (Dominican Republic), Chuchito Valdes (Cuba) and the Puerto Rican Golden Jazz All Stars (U.S.), among others. The evening will be hosted by Bill Santiago, who recently emceed the Gala Celebration of the Latin Grammys.

This will be the first concert in the U.S. in support of the Cuban Five and their families.

The International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five has issued an international call to action for people to organize all type of activities from September 12th to October 8th to commemorate the imprisonment of the Cuban Five, who were arrested for infiltrating anti-Cuba extremist groups in South Florida who were planning and carrying out terrorist actions against Cuba.

The International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five is also organizing a press conference to announce the concert to the U.S. media and the growing international support that the Cuban Five are receiving.

Don't ask, don't question, don't think... just obey

Governators to Protect the Borders

Yes, that's Ahnuld posing in Terminator gear along with some of the governors of US-Mexican border states including, but not all pictured: New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Baja California, Sonora, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, who met at the 26th Annual Border Governors Conference.

The governors have joined forces to find solutions to the problems that plague the border states and to have an "efficient border," says Schwarznegger. The top priority is to stave off organized crime, which in turn runs the drugs through Mexico to the United States, Mexico's biggest concern according to Nuevo León governor, Natividad González. Schwarzenegger blames the federal government and says they must have help to stop the human and weapons trafficking. All those involved are hoping that their united determination to control the borders of their own states will decrease the crime that passes through them. Every year, 250 million people cross the US-Mexico border. This makes it the busiest international border in the world.

I wonder if the Terminator stood at San Diego border and greeted would-be traffickers if that would help?

The article is here (in Spanish)

Cross-posted on Claudia4Libertad.com

Gen. Patton was Right

Disgusted by the raping, robbing and pillaging, a very wise (and obviously chastened) observer in 1945 commented:: "We have destroyed what could have been a great people, and replaced them with Mongol savages."

The comment was in response to the trail of wanton destruction and sadistic horror left in the Red Army's wake as it "liberated" Eastern Europe. This liberation involved the sacking-- by the heirs of Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and Ivan the Terrible-- of half the historic capitols of Western Civilization The commenter was brilliant military tactician and strategist of the time. He was also a very astute historian. The above quote is from the diaries of Gen. George S. Patton.

Well, as they say, history repeats itself. Georgians are learning this with a vengeance.

Fire Erupts at La Carreta on Bird Road

Read it here.

(The article screws up Red Road with Bird Road) but in any event, hopefully they'll be back up pronto. This is one of my hang outs growing up in Westchester (Miami not New York).

I knew it was the Vodka!

Iowahawk reports on the Russia/Georgia thing like only he can:

Russia's invasion prompted a quick stern response from GOP presidential candidate John McCain, while Democratic candidate Barack Obama urged Russia and Georgia to "work together to iron out their differences," and "chills, y'all." After learning that Georgia was a US ally, Obama clarified the remarks, demanding that Russia withdraw its troops north to Tennessee and West Virginia.

By early Saturday morning, however, Russia's loutish behavior had gotten out of control, and according to some included wearing lampshades and carpet bombing of civilian areas. In response, the US State Department prepared a carefully worded rebuke, reading "Dude, totally not cool," and the UN Security Council issued a special envoy to the region expressing "grave concern" and warning that "come on dude, you're drunk."

Friday afternoon's must read.

Viernes Social

So, it's Friday afternoon and, if I say it's been a pretty hectic week, newswise, I think Im understating things, no?

Im stil working on the house so I wont be getting much R&R, but, what are you all doing for fun and relaxation, this almost last weekend of summer?

Interesting News for the Lefty Wankers Out There

Hey you dumb ass lefty wankers who insist that American corporations don't pay enough taxes? Well other than Japan, the US has the second highest corporate tax in the world. You wonder why some companies go over seas? So the One, and his San Fran Dominatrix Pelosi simply want to tax corporations even more, and individuals more too. Well read this for an eye opener.

Here's an excerpt:

The average European nation has tax rates on corporate income 10 percentage points lower than the U.S., but those countries on average raise 50% more as a share of GDP in corporate taxes than does the U.S., according to a 2007 study by the Treasury Department. Ireland with its 12.5% rate captures a higher share of its GDP (3.4%) in corporate taxes than the U.S. does (2.5%) with its 39.3% rate.

To correct this revenue dearth, Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are proposing to pry more tax money out of U.S. companies that have profitable affiliates outside the U.S. Mr. Obama is also shamelessly taking the Byron Dorgan line that the problem is venal U.S. CEOs rather than the nutty U.S. tax code.

One proposal would tax foreign profits when they are earned, rather than waiting until the dollars are brought back to the U.S. This may raise more revenue in the short term, but it would also accelerate the trend of U.S. companies moving entirely offshore, or being bought out by Asians and Europeans so they can escape onerous U.S. taxes.

John McCain has proposed cutting the 35% federal corporate tax rate to 25%. That's a good start, but even that would leave the U.S. with a combined state and federal rate nearly five percentage points above the global average. With corporate tax rates falling around the world, and with its damage to investment increasingly obvious, abolishing the U.S. corporate income tax should be on the table. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin have proposed replacing the corporate tax with a value-added consumption tax. We worry about a VAT turning into a runaway money machine for government, but something has to give on the corporate tax.

Every month that goes by without tax reform, America is a relatively less attractive place to do business. Over the past 18 months, nine of the 30 most developed nations and 20 countries world-wide -- from Israel to Germany to Turkey -- have cut their corporate tax rates. Nations are slashing rates to attract capital and jobs from the U.S., and the tragedy is that our politicians keep making it easy for them.

Why didn't we think of that before?

In an editorial in today's Orlando Sentinel, it seems that they have found the solution to the almost fifty-year long rift between the US and Cuba's totalitarian regime. The answer, it appears, is so simple, so logical, so obvious, that we have all been missing it all these years.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, we can provide relief to suffering Cubans and bring an end to this bitter feud with Cuba's dictatorship if only we were willing to do the following:

"The U.S. can provide economic relief by lifting the embargo that began in 1962, in exchange for concessions on human rights."

How brilliant is that?

Why has no one thought of just asking the regime for some concessions on human rights violations in exchange for better relations? Why has no one taken the time to ask the dictatorship to provide more liberties to the Cuban people in exchange for more trade? Why hasn't anyone thought of just opening up a dialogue with the regime to see if...

Oh, wait, almost the entire free world, which does trade with Cuba, has tried that and for almost fifty years has failed miserably.

Never mind.

Food for thought

Tuesday evening I was at my parent's house, spending some time with my Godfather and Aunt before they went back to New Jersey, post vacation. As always, with my Padrino, we usually end up talking about Cuba and he said something to me so incredibly simple yet so lucid that I couldnt believe I hadnt heard anyone mention it before.

"If there's one thing fifty years of fidel castro's rule has proven to me about Cuba," he said. "Is how incredibly rich Cuba is."

"Rich?" I asked.

"Si," he responded. "Rich and fertile. Despite fifty years of ridiculous agricultural practices and "absurd agrarian reforms" that, were they to have been implemented on any other country they would have brought about massive starvation, in Cuba you dont hear of people starving like that."

Cubans may not have the luxury of steak dinners or being able to swing by a local supermarket on the way home to buy a gallon of milk, and yes, everything is rationed and they do spend a good part of their lives in the quest for food, but they arent starving. And that isnt due to the magnanimity of the revolution, but to the fact that if you spit a seed out in Cuba, something will grow.

Malanga, calabaza, boniato, yuca...you name the vegetable or fruit, and it will and does grow in Cuba.

"fidel castro hasnt kept the Cuban people from massive starvation," he said. "Cuba has."

Pro-castro party in LA

I know, I should keep my cool, stay above the fray, but I can't help it, these utopian kool-aid drinking castro cheerleaders really just piss me off. Pro-Cuba celebration my ass. As Marc Rubin so eloquently stated, and Henry reminded us, I paraphrase: fidel castro has no right to negotiate for, and does not represent the Cuban people. Cuba belongs to the Cuban people, not their oppressor.

The party is here, and was held without incident, in spite of threats from "right-wing-terrorists," i.e. Cuban-Americans. Last I checked, comments were open. Please, share your feelings.

Pong!

Jajajajajajaja.

A tasteless joke, or much ado about nothing?

A mini-brouhaha has erupted over pictures that have surfaced of some members of the Spanish Olympic games athletes posing in what some have called racist poses.

First we had the members of Spain's Olympic basketball team posing for a picture while they stretch their eyes with their fingers to simulate being Chinese.

And now, a picture has been found of the Spanish Women's Olympic tennis team doing the same.

Obviously, the Spanish have their own brand of humor, just as we Cubans have our own brand of humor that is not meant to offend, but those unfamiliar with our culture might construe as offensive.

This post is not in defense of the Spanish, but I would be interested to know what the rest of you Babalu readers out there think.

In this particular case regarding Spain: We report, you decide.

Child of the Revolution

Great post from Luis M. Garcia

A cuban done good story, from NPR?

A sign of the apocalypse.

Ghost of Politics Present

The Weekly Standard's cover story last week was about David Zucker's latest project An American Carol about a shambling anti-American moviemaker who looks remarkably like Michael Moore. Billed as a retelling of A Christmans Carol, the holiday in question has been moved to the 4th of July, which the filmaker wants to abolish. He is visited by such ghosts as General Patton, George Washington, and the angel of death in the person of Trace Adkins. The film features a cameo by O'Reilly who had a promo on his show tonight.

In one scene, Michael Malone, the main character is pictured lauding his hosts in front of the "Che Guevara Hospital" with a pink drink in his hand. Another shot, seen in passing, has Malone beating people off his dinghy. Any guesses as to what that's about? The film is due to be released in early October and stars Kelsey Grammar and John Voight among others. The word is that Zucker is going out on a limb, taking on the left-leaning Hollywood establishment. I may actually go to the theater for this one.

Business as usual at 1 Herald Plaza

Marifeli Perez-Stable's regular column was published today as normal. Apparently she and her employers at the Herald want to pretend that a Lt. Col in the U.S. Army never alleged that she is a Cuban agent based on testimony of Cuban intelligence defectors. So it's back to work as usual today and the subject is of course the mundane stuff we expect to hear from "enlightened" pundits about Cuba:

Confrontation with the United States has been useful to Fidel Castro. Without it, the regime would not be able to conjure up ''imperialism'' as an excuse for its monumental failures. Thus, Castro has sometimes sought an improvement in relations only to torpedo the prospect at a convenient moment.

Yes, because the only thing that keeps the castros in power is the mythology of imperialism. That repressive machinery and the fact that they have all the guns have nothing to do with it whatsoever. And because, of course, if that excuse were removed magically the scales would fall from the eyes of the Cuban people and they would rise up and demand a pluralistic democracy.

I heartily welcome Sen. Barack Obama's promise to grant Cuban Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances if he wins in November.

Of course she welcomes it. Marifeli allegedly earned $100 for every person she brought to Cuba when she was with the Circulo de Cultura Cubana. 20-some-odd years later she's still pimping travel to Cuba.

At the end of the road lies the prospect of normal relations for the first time ever. The United States and a democratic Cuba will not dispel overnight more than half a century of mistrust.

Normal relations imply that both nations are normal. They are not. The United States rightfully mistrusts the regime because it reneges on every pledge and promise and the terms of every deal it has EVER made with western democracies. The regime rightfully mistrusts the United States because the U.S. desires a free and democratic Cuba and the regime only cares about self-perpetuation. Let's be clear, alleviating mistrust among the two governments would be relevant if Cuba's was legitimate. But as Marco Rubio pointed out the castro brothers have as much right to negotiate on behalf of the Cuban people as a home invader has rights to your home.

What Marifeli wants is borrón y cuenta nueva, a clean slate for the regime to buy it more time. And Barack Obama is just dumb/leftist enough to give it to them. Though her words are more carefully chosen, periodically throwing out some that are critical of the regime, the substance of Marifeli's rhetoric hasn't changed one bit. It's all about accommodating the castro brothers.

Good work Herald. I'd cancel my subscription but I never had one.

H/T on today's Herald column to Babalu regular commenter Asombra.

But what about the blockade?

U.S. is Cuba's fifth largest trading partner. That "blockade" must be be pretty porous. Someone cae to explain to me how the fifth lagest training partner of a country is reason for all of that country's ills?

Didn't think so.

Crimes Against Entertainment

If, well, not if ….when my head explodes and whatever grey matter my misspent youth didn’t kill, gets splattered all over my computer screen, please make sure that everyone knows I was just another victim of communism and their friends in the media.

It seems that the Main Stream Media is not happy with the 2008 Totalitarian Olympics. China, you see, has … GASP! … committed crimes against humanity and the press is not taking it lying down. No sir! They’re angry and they are exposing the Reds as the frauds that they are.

Are they talking about China reneging on its promises to IOC to improve its human rights record in order to host the games in Beijing? Or the empty “protest zones” because the Chinese that applied for protest permits have been arrested? Are they talking about Internet censorship at Beijing Hotels?

Hell no.

The big hullabaloo and indignation is about a lip-synching "chinita" switcheroo, some smoke and mirror faked fireworks and official yellow shirted “cheer squads.” (does this mean that the flying guy that lit the torch was really flying? I think that was faked too.)

The Chinese crimes against humanity that have upset the MSM so much were really, well, crimes against entertainment. The totalitarian Chicoms, get this, controlled the opening ceremonies through deceptive techniques. Communists lying…AND using propaganda to deceive! What’s next - cats and dogs living together?

The MSM is upset that a TV program, because lets face it, the Olympic opening ceremony was just that, a TV program, (hello!!! McFly?), was staged and not real. I haven’t been so disappointed since I was 3 years old and they told me that the raving lunatic with the beard screaming on the TV 24/7 wasn’t really a tiny little black and white man that lived inside our TV, but a real, breathing human monster. That was a sad day.

And how pathetically funny is it to those who have lived or understand life in a communist country to read that the MSM is upset that “cheer squads” get bused around to events to cheer on command. Funny, to my knowledge, they’ve never been outraged at the forced cheering that goes on in Havana’s Plaza Civica when "the party" throws a party and extends an “invitation” to the masses to come cheer. Maybe they thought that was real because there was never a deep voiced announcer informing them… “The following was filmed before a captive audience.”

You would think that the world’s free press would be horrified that the Olympics are being “staged” by a communist country that’s responsible for the deaths of 65 Million of its own citizens, where there is one party rule and thus no free elections, no free press, no religious freedom, censorship, humans rights abuses, etc, etc.- in a land where they preach “brotherhood”, but where it is against the law to have a brother.

But no, they’re writing about how upset they are that “the party” decided to pull a Milli Vanilli and have a pettier girl lip synch to another girl’s prettier voice rather than scream about the Billions that “the party” silences.

They complain about the special effects footsteps instead of being offended at the goose-stepping Chinese Red Army soldiers that carried the Olympic flag to be hoisted up.

It's about how the party was thrown and not about "the party." And that's why my head feels like it's going to explode.

Hey Obama Baby

This is pretty cool, cats.

WTVJ SOLD TO PRO CUBA TRAVEL NEWS ORGANIZATION.

FIDEL AND RAUL WILL BE SO HAPPY!

WTVJ, /Channel Six, subject to FCC approval will, be purchased by the owners of WPLG/Channel Ten. Besides putting two major network Miami TV stations under the control of one owner there is a Cuba factor.

WTVJ has traditionally been tough on the Castro Brothers ranging back to the late fifties when legendary news anchor Ralph Renick confronted Fidel Castro just days after his march into Havana. WTVJ was the first Miami Television station to embrace the exile community producing a Spanish language newscast featuring Manalo Reyes. Through the years the WTVJ Cuba reporting has been cutting edge. WTVJ gave many Cuban American reporters their first jobs; remember Ana Azcuy, and Elliott Rodriquez?

WPLG? Ask the Cuban American reporters that have worked there about the kind of atmosphere they encountered. Yes, Ana and Elliot worked there. Please inquire about their departures.

Through a quirk in FCC rules The Washington Post Company that owns the ABC affiliate, WPLG, is attempting to purchase the NBC affiliate, WTVJ. If the sale is consummated WPLG senior reporters and the General Manager will exert editorial control over WTVJ. How will the Cuba issue go? How strong are they on Cuba? Read what WTVJ’s potential new boss has to say about Cuba travel, right here.

It appears that the General Manager is all for unlimited travel to Cuba. For anyone who has concerns about massive amounts of exile travel dollars flowing into the Castro Brothers pockets they should get busy and write the FCC about your fears that a balanced news source will be under the thumb of an organization on the wrong side of an issue sensitive to many South Florida viewers. It is bad enough that two major news organizations will answer to only one man and worse that a Miami news legacy could be erased. Here is the Federal Communication Commission’s public comment website.

Are You Ready to Rumble?

Coming August 25, 2008

Olympic Update

BBC on why China's "protest zones" are empty. They arrest you silly.

Reporters without Borders says no Olympic truce is in place in Chinese government's war against dissent.

Babalu Radio Hour tonight | 9:00 PM EDT

Join us tonight for our usual conversation where we'll discuss anything and everything that interests us. We may have a special guest discussing the events in Russia and Georgia, but have not confirmed his appearance for air time. We may also have Steve from Hog on Ice in the last half-hour of the show providing his unique perspective on issues.

The call-in number is (646) 652-4506, or you can send an email to me or Henry with questions or comments. The show begins at 9:00 PM EDT. Don't miss the opportunity to call in and participate. Be there. Aloha!

Colin Powell to Endorse Obama

Drudge and Fox News are reporting that former secretary of state Colin Powell will anounce that he is endorsing Barack Obama. However, Fox News Correspondant contributor Mort Kondracke, says he spoke to Powell and was told that he has not made any endorsement decisions. Well, folks, disappointment is an understatment. I really hope this turns out to be false.

You can read more HERE.

H/T George

Another Cuba Book To Avoid (More Bullshit From "Scholars")

Another Book on Cuba to Avoid.

“The Bay of Pigs,” is the tile, Univ of Alabama prof Howard Jones is the author, Oxford Univ. Press is the publisher. The book, naturally, starts with the premise that the invasion itself was a criminal act. “Cuba had given the U.S. little cause to go to war under international law,” asserts the eminently scholarly book.

You would have hoped that an eminent PHD, and even more so, his fact checkers at Oxford University, (widely regarded as the world' oldest and most prestigious center of learning, certainly in the English-speaking world,) might have been aware that within three months of taking power Castro launched unprovoked invasions of four neighboring countries, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Nicaragua. At this time the U.S. was subsidizing his regime to the tune of $200 million, and U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, Phil Bonsal , was alerting Castro of plots against his regime by anti-communist Cubans.

Moreover, Castro's invasions of his neighboring nations--in sharp contrast to the Bay of Pigs invasion which involved only Cubans—involved very few nationals of the nations invaded. Most of the invader/aggressors were Castroite Cubans. Alas, these hapless jackasses had been trained in military skills by an even bigger jackass, Che Guevara. So they were stomped out by the native Latin American and Caribbean forces with all the exertion and difficulty most people use to stomp out a cigar butt.

This brings us to The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, (also known as the Rio Treaty) ratified by most nations of the Western Hemisphere in 1947. Here's article 3 of this treaty:

“The High Contracting Parties agree that an armed attack by any State against an American State shall be considered as an attack against all the American States and, consequently, each one of the said Contracting Parties undertakes to assist in meeting the attack in the exercise of the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations."This treaty also declared “Marxism-Leninism incompatible with the Inter-American System.”

Again you would have hoped that either a PHD author or an Oxford Univ. editor might have been aware of this treaty, which gave the U.S. every legal right to invade Castro's Cuba—and not only in April of 1961-- but even at the time the U.S. was subsidizing Castro and alerting him to threats against his rule.

The Oxford published book continues the “Idiot's Guide” manual in Cuban history by rationalizing Castro's Stalinist regime from the get-go. “U.S. business owned much of the prime land.”

In fact, of Cuba's 161 sugar mills and properties in 1958, only 40 were U.S. owned. And United Fruit -- the outfit generally cast as the Boss Hog/Luigi Barzini/JR Ewing/Snidely Whiplash/Hannibal Lecter in this episode-- owned only a third of these.

“Prior to Castro's Revolution,” continues the Oxford published book, “Cuba's governments' ignored their peoples welfare.. the great masses of peasants were dirt poor.”

“44 per cent of Cubans—a higher percentage than Americans-- are covered by social legislation,” starts a report on Cuba at the time. "One feature of the Cuban social structure is a large middle class. Cuban workers are more unionized (proportional to the population) than U.S. workers. The average wage for an 8 hour day in Cuba in 1957 is higher than for workers in Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany. According to the Geneva-based International Labor Organization, the average daily wage for an agricultural worker was also among the highest in the world, higher than in than in France, Belgium, Denmark, or West Germany. Cuban labor receives 66.6 per cent of gross national income. In the U.S. the figure is 70 per cent, in Switzerland 64 per cent."

Prior to Castro, Cuban industrial workers had the 8th highest wages—not in Latin America, not in the hemisphere—but in the world. Cuba had established an 8 hour work-day in 1933 – five years before FDR's New Dealers got around to it. The much-lauded (by liberals) Social-Democracies of Western Europe didn't manage this till 30 years later.

Oxford and Univ. of Alabama, please take note: these aren't the ravings of a “Cuban exile crackpot!” this crackpot is only regurgitating a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) report on Cuba from 1957.

When no New York Times reporters, CNN correspondents, and eminent American Ivy League and Think-Tank scholars are within hearing range, Commies can be extremely frank with each other.

Early in the Cuban revolution, for instance, Czech economist Radoslav Selucky visited Cuba and was rudely awakened: “We thought Cuba was underdeveloped except for a few sugar refineries,” he wrote when he got home to Prague. “This is false. Almost a quarter of Cuba's labor force was employed in industry where the salaries were equal to those in the U.S.”

I'm pleased to report that my book on Che is being published in Bulagaria, Poland and Brazil, the section of my book dealing with pre-Castro Cuba provoked my publishers in those nations to express almost identical epiphanies to your humble and faithful servant here.

Now here's Che Guevara himself n 1961 after he returned to Cuba with his Cuban underlings from a lengthly tour of Eastern Europe: “We're not going to say we only saw marvels in those countries, “ admitted Che who had undoubtedly heard much scoffing and snickering from his Cuban subalterns during the trip. “ Naturally for a 20 th Century Cuban with all the luxuries which Imperialism has accustomed him, much of what he saw (in eastern Europe) struck him as belonging to an uncivilized country.”

We turn now to a United Nations (no less!) study of Cuba circa 1958. “Cuba has a tremendous advantage in national integration over other Latin American countries because of a largely homogeneous white Spanish immigrant base. Cuba's smaller Negro population is also culturally integrated. Those feudal modes of labor that exist in the rest of Latin America, don't exist in Cuba. The Cuban campesino does not resemble the one in the rest of Latin America who is tied to the land, and is profoundly tradition-bound and opposed to innovations which would link him to a market economy. The Cuban campesino, in all respects, is a modern man. They have an educational level and a familiarity with modern methods unseen in the rest of Latin America.”

PLEASE NOTE!! A professor/U.N. technician named Juan Noyola (Mexican, no less!) wrote this—not me! So bash HIM as a “racist” or a Falangist if you like.

Best of all, this book published by Oxford Univ. in the year of our Lord 2008, still claims that “Castro took office as a result of a guerrilla war.” No comment, any more than I'd attempt argument with a Scientologist, a crystal-gazer or hardshell Evangelist regarding their most cherished superstitions.

In most historical genres any outfit with a title like: “Veterans Association of (the military event you're covering)” might have been consulted during the writing of any book involving this military event, wouldn't ya think, especially when such veterans are relatively rare?

Hah! Jones' book deals with Cuba you see, so an outfit known as The Bay of Pigs Veterans Assoc, consisting of hundreds of participants in this invasion all of them (now) perfectly free to talk about the things they experienced and witnessed first hand, was shunned completely, in perfect keeping with most “scholarly” research on all matters Cuban.

I'm gonna be rich!

I have decided to start my own dieting enterprise that will blow the doors off Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and every other weight loss company. And trust me on this, folks, Slimfast, etal, aint got nothing on my new endeavor.

Towit:

The Granma Weight Reduction Program.

If reading the above linked doesnt make you just wanna throw up, but actually ram your fist down your throat and rip your stomach out and toss it in the gutter, I dont know what will.

From the "Really? You dont say?" Department

The Communist Party USA endorces Barrack Hussein Obama for President.

"Can I have the Big Gulp Kool-Aid, please?"

You have to read this to believe it:

Is it possible that this time the October surprise was tried in August, and that the garbage issue of brave little Georgia struggling for its survival from the grasp of the Russian bear was stoked to influence the U.S. presidential election?

Before you dismiss that possibility, consider the role of one Randy Scheunemann, for four years a paid lobbyist for the Georgian government who ended his official lobbying connection only in March, months after he became Republican presidential candidate John McCain's senior foreign policy adviser.

When we call them the loony left we are being kind...

This weekend at the Hollywood Bowl: A Night in Old Havana – Mambo Style!

An electrifying evening of Cuban sights and sounds awaits you when Thomas Wilkins and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra take a musical tour of old Havana, mambo style! From a romantic promenade down the Malecón to the pulsing rhythms at the legendary Hotel Nacional, you’ll hear such classics as Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, Lecuona’s Malaguena, and then...mambo with Cachao’s all-star musicians, who carry on the legacy of the Grammy-winning bassist and composer, the legendary “father of the mambo.” The evening hits fever pitch when the musicians are joined by spectacular dancers for a tropical evening you won’t soon forget!





HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA
Thomas Wilkins, conductor

CACHAO’S MAMBO ALL-STARS
Paquito D’Rivera, special guest
Federico Brito, violin
Ramses Colón, bass
Anthony Columbie, singer
Luis Conte, percussion
Adalberto Lara, trumpet
Mark Gregory, trombone
Danilo Lozano, flute
Rafael Palau, saxophone
Daniel Palacio, singer
Alfredo Valdés Jr., piano
Oreste Vilato, timbales

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2008, at 8:30 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008 at 8:30 PM
HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

Tickets are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office (Tuesday–Sunday, noon–6 p.m.), by phone 323.850.2000 or by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

See you at the Bowl! For more information on the illustrious performers click here.

photos courtesy Los Angeles Philharmonic & Hollywood Bowl Publicity Department

Sharpen those machetes, Democrats!

Here's today's oxymoron, brought to you by the Democratic National Party:

Mandatory volunteerism.

Cut that cane for Obama!

Venceremos!

My Hero

While August 13 is a day that idiots, leftists and their progeny celebrate the birth of a bearded dictator, this day for me is a day of reflection instead.

My old man had he lived would have been 84 today. Here's a picture I took of him back when I was a young 12 or 13. This image is full of ghosts. In the reflection is me with a Yashica Rangefinder and my departed grandmother. That was my first camera I worked all summer to buy. My first foray into photography back when it was film baby.

My old man wasn't around to see his grandkids Nicolas & Michelle. I'm sure he's looking from above with a big smile. When things seem bleak and when evil forces try to hurt me, I know he's looking out for me.

I shot this with old Tri-X film and fortunately still have the negatives which I scanned. It's one of those pictures that can bring tears to your eyes as it captured a fixed moment of time a long, long time ago. Sad but true, only the good die young, while the evil linger.

People will always come and go. Some will love you and some will hate you. But through it all, there's always your old man to guide and protect you.

So today when I open up my bottle of scotch, I'll be drinking with him albeit in spirit. I hope I can be the old man to my kids that he was to me. Pop, you were and are the best. Love you always.

Me

Happy Birthday Pop!
(1924-1994)

An American Hero - A Cuban Hero

Last Saturday, America lost a real hero. And last Saturday, free Cuba also lost a real hero. And both losses came with the death of one man: Grayston Lynch.

He was one the CIA agents who came ashore with the brave freedom fighters of Brigada 2506 to liberate Cuba, only to be betrayed and left to die by a young, inexperienced and indecisive American president who had no idea what he was doing--"The One" of the time--John F. Kennedy.

May you rest in peace, Mr. Lynch. America will not forget you, and Cuba will certainly not forget you.

Read about his passing HERE.

You can visit the site that he and his wife created to tell his story HERE.

UPDATE - Cigar Mike: Finally today, 5 days later, a mention in the Herald.

Cuban Masters; Cuban Art

Just got back from a beach weekend which I managed to engineer so that I could finally make it to the “Great Masters of Cuban Art: 1800 to 1958” exhibit at the Daytona Museum of Arts & Sciences. To find the scope and scale of the artwork in an American museum was mind boggling. It was particularly fascinating to see the evolution of style from the classical on, as it reflected artistic movements while at the same time retained a uniquely Cuban flavor.

My reaction went beyond appreciation to satisfaction. Here was a part of the heritage stolen from so many of my generation and others who were relegated to growing up in a foreign culture on sufferance. Here was proof of the vibrant culture that had existed in Cuba Bc, that the Cuba of the mind that our parents had passed down to us was not mythic, even if it has passed into legend, that there was once a Cuba that had learning and beauty and art, as well as music and cigars, and other less savory realities. A Cuba even the apologists could not say the Mob “owned.” Finally, there was just a touch of defiance, the sheer joy of knowing that this is one part of the Cuban past that would not be stolen or erased. It exists. It is. Just as we do. Political wishful thinking on the part of some to the contrary, every exiled Cuban or child of Cubans born in foreign lands, all of us by our very existence and our insistence on the truth give the lie to all of the pretensions of the Philistines in power who have turned art into politics and politics into merciless farce.

I am grateful that the Ramos brothers and associates have preserved the art and have allowed it to be exhibited, if regretfully not in a free Cuba where it truly belongs.

Olympic Update

Chinese government arrests human rights protester who was applying for a permit to protest.

Chinese media censored over stabbing death in Beijing.

H/T on the second story to j2tharome.

Nice company you libs keep

I refuse to link to this shit (http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/975/1/147/) but here's the editorial from the Communist Party USA endorsing the messiah:

Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Barack Obama is not a left candidate. This fact has seemingly surprised a number of progressive people who are bemoaning Obama’s “shift to the center.” (Right-wingers are happy to join them, suggesting Obama is a “flip-flopper.”) It’s sad that some who seek progressive change are missing the forest for the trees. But they will not dampen the wide and deep enthusiasm for blocking a third Bush term represented by John McCain, or for bringing Obama by a landslide into the White House with a large Democratic congressional majority.

A broad multiclass, multiracial movement is converging around Obama’s “Hope, change and unity” campaign because they see in it the thrilling opportunity to end 30 years of ultra-right rule and move our nation forward with a broadly progressive agenda.

This diverse movement combines a variety of political currents and aims in a working coalition that is crucial to social progress at this point. At the core are America’s working families, of all hues and ethnicities, whose determination to move forward does not depend on, and will not be diverted by, the daily twists and turns of this watershed presidential campaign. They are taking the long view.

Notably, the labor movement has stepped up its independent mobilization for this election. It is leading an unprecedented campaign to educate and unify its ranks to elect the nation’s first African American president. Last week, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told the Steelworkers convention that there is “no evil that’s inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism — and it’s something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge.”

If Obama’s candidacy represented nothing more than the spark for this profound initiative to unite the working class and defeat the pernicious influence of racism, it would be a transformative candidacy that would advance progressive politics for the long term.

The struggle to defeat the ultra-right and turn our country on a positive path will not end with Obama’s election. But that step will shift the ground for successful struggles going forward.

One thing is clear. None of the people’s struggles — from peace to universal health care to an economy that puts Main Street before Wall Street — will advance if McCain wins in November.

Let’s keep our eyes on the prize.

But wait! There's more! From the Obama blog site, here's another gem. You see? We've got nothin' to worry about. It's all in our imagination...

(H/T Little Green Footballs)

Don't ever forget who wants to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine...

...And it's not conservatives:

FCC Commissioner: Return of Fairness Doctrine Could Control Web Content

McDowell warns reinstated powers could play in net neutrality debate, lead to government requiring balance on Web sites.

By Jeff Poor (Business & Media Institute)

8/12/2008 5:37:12 PM

There’s a huge concern among conservative talk radio hosts that reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine would all-but destroy the industry due to equal time constraints. But speech limits might not stop at radio. They could even be extended to include the Internet and “government dictating content policy.”

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell raised that as a possibility after talking with bloggers at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. McDowell spoke about a recent FCC vote to bar Comcast from engaging in certain Internet practices – expanding the federal agency’s oversight of Internet networks.

The commissioner, a 2006 President Bush appointee, told the Business & Media Institute the Fairness Doctrine could be intertwined with the net neutrality battle. The result might end with the government regulating content on the Web, he warned. McDowell, who was against reprimanding Comcast, said the net neutrality effort could win the support of “a few isolated conservatives” who may not fully realize the long-term effects of government regulation.

“I think the fear is that somehow large corporations will censor their content, their points of view, right,” McDowell said. “I think the bigger concern for them should be if you have government dictating content policy, which by the way would have a big First Amendment problem.”

“Then, whoever is in charge of government is going to determine what is fair, under a so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine,’ which won’t be called that – it’ll be called something else,” McDowell said. “So, will Web sites, will bloggers have to give equal time or equal space on their Web site to opposing views rather than letting the marketplace of ideas determine that?”

McDowell told BMI the Fairness Doctrine isn’t currently on the FCC’s radar. But a new administration and Congress elected in 2008 might renew Fairness Doctrine efforts, but under another name.

“The Fairness Doctrine has not been raised at the FCC, but the importance of this election is in part – has something to do with that,” McDowell said. “So you know, this election, if it goes one way, we could see a re-imposition of the Fairness Doctrine. There is a discussion of it in Congress. I think it won’t be called the Fairness Doctrine by folks who are promoting it. I think it will be called something else and I think it’ll be intertwined into the net neutrality debate.”

A recent study by the Media Research Center’s Culture & Media Institute argues that the three main points in support of the Fairness Doctrine – scarcity of the media, corporate censorship of liberal viewpoints, and public interest – are myths. [Emphasis added]

Very scary. Fax your Senators and Congressmen and tell them you will not support candidates who want to legislate speech or content in any media.

Si no se te olvida...

...me traes un caracolito del mar?

As a kid, I always knew it was ok to go back into the beach when my grandmother asked me for a small seashell from the ocean. Up until about an hour ago, I had always thought it was her own particular way of telling me it was safe for me to go back into the water after la digestion or after a rainstorm.

I now know, I now understand, that it was much much more than that.

You may already know that the eyes that bless the header of this blog are my Tia Amanda's, my Mom's youngest sister whom I never met as she died at an early age before I was born. The Eyes above were taken from the centerfold of a Cuban magazine article published about her back in 1961, after her debut in a movie titled "El joven rebelde", The Young Rebel.

About an hour ago I received a link to a blog that hosts only Cuban motion pictures: Cuba Cine. About an hour ago I found my Tia Amanda's movie "El joven rebelde" listed on the sidebar. About an hour ago I clicked on that link and began watching that movie once again.

About an hour ago, with 37:45 minutes remaining in the movie, I sat here in front of my computer, on this here thing we call the internet, and once again heard my Tia Amanda's voice that I thought Id never heard in person.

And, about an hour ago, I learned that I had actually heard my Tia Amanda's words before, each and every time my grandmother asked me for a seashell from the ocean.

If you want to put a voice to the beautiful eyes that bless this blog, click here and fast forward to -37:45. And if you want to see the scene the following picture was taken from, fast forward to -21:48:

Si no se te olvida, me traes un caracolito del mar?

What can Obama promise you to get your vote?

Alright folks, get in line and put your hands out, the candy man is here and he's going to take a rainbow, wrap it in a sigh soak it in the sun and make a groovy lemon pie.

Obama is proposing income tax-free living for seniors who make less than $50,000.

He also proposes a $4,000 tuition tax credit for college students.

Obama offers $1,000 tax credit to "working families" in order to combat high energy prices.

Look, it's not like I don't respect seniors or that I don't want kids to get a college education or that I want people to suffer with high energy prices. But all of these give-aways beg a fundamental question: what should the role of the Federal government be?

I mean is it too much to ask that the government just treat us all the same, regardless of our age, educational goals, income, etc.?

All of these proposals are based on arbitrary viewpoints that certain things are good and certain things are bad. Why should a senior making $40,000 a year be treated differently than a 35-year old making $40,000? Why should the guy who wants to go to college get a tax break while the guy that simply wants to be a musician or a bartender pays the freight? Why can't people make decisions for themselves that suit their individual needs without running up against a government that is trying to engineer society to meet someone else's subjective goals? This is why we have an enormous and archaic tax code with tons of loopholes and tax credits and tax deductions, etc. And lastly who is going to pay for all of this? At some point, every American is going to be getting some sort of hand-out except for a very small few. And some day that small few is going to say they've had enough.

And none of this takes into account the "unintended" consequences of policies like these. I remember the economist Thomas Sowell recently explaining that he opposed Obama's $4,000 tuition tax credit because he had a pretty good idea that immediately after being implemented that university tuitions would rise pretty uniformly by about $4,000. And of course, he's right. The net effect for the students receiving the credit would be zero and taxpayers end up losing in what amounts to additional federal subsidies of universities.

It's all a big joke and Obama just wants to keep perpetuating it. He just wants to know what you want so that he can add it to his list.

Unfortunately, Obama's opponent doesn't seem willing enough (or different enough) to point out that this never ending give-away scheme is untenable going into the future.

fidel castro on the Georgia/Russia conflict

Life News Russia is reporting that fidel castro blamed President Bush yesterday for the Georgia/Russia conflict:

From Israel Without Ifs of Buts:

The government of Georgia «would never send its soldiers to the capital of South Ossetia... without preliminary coordination with the President of the USA, George Bush», Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Monday, August 11th. «Russian troops were in South Ossetia according to internationally recognized peace-keeping mission and did not open fire» Fidel Castro emphasized.

Um, yeah. I mean, I suppose they could have opened the cryogenic pod (Equipped with HD satellite TV and free HBO!) for a minute or two to get a quote from the unseen in public for two years Cuban president.

Ahem.

H/T the incomparable Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit.

On "negotiating" with Cuba

A column by the Center for a Free Cuba's Frank Calzon was published in the Herald today that's worth quoting from. I know that some will disqualify what Calzon has to say because his organization, which receives substantial federal funds, was embezzled from. Only in present day America is the victim blamed for the crime. Never mind that the fraud was detected by the organization, reported to the government and the funds were recovered. In any case, Calzon's words make a lot of sense:

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., is known for his thoughtfulness and his interest in foreign affairs. He wants to go to Havana to talk with Raúl Castro (and perhaps Fidel as well) and then to Venezuela to talk with Hugo Chávez...

America's blind faith in reason and compromise doesn't always transfer well to the realm of world affairs. Happy outcomes are not inevitable, as is attested by the history of totalitarian rule in the 20th century, today's catastrophes in Sudan and Zimbabwe and China's brutal occupation of Tibet.

This will be Specter's fourth trip to Cuba to talk to a regime that refuses to talk with Cubans about their complaints, but has no qualms about talking with foreigners...

A lot of ideological fog engulfs debates over Cuba policy, but one thing is clear: America has well-established channels of communication with Havana. The U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba has more diplomats than the Spanish, Canadian or the Russian embassies. Washington has been talking to the Havana for years without results...

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Presidents Carter and Reagan, and every president since tried to initiate meaningful negotiations. All failed because the Castro brothers only want American dollars to prop up their hostile, totalitarian dictatorship. Kissinger sent James Theberge to Havana, Carter sent Robert Pastor, Reagan sent Vernon Walters. Each reported back that the regime was interested only in talking about what concessions the United States would make not what Havana would offer in exchange...

So, let us all bid the senator godspeed and pray that his good intentions aren't mistaken by the Castro brothers as signs of weakness and exploited in a way that besmirches his good name.

Northern Ohio & Celia - The Futile Search for Bitterness

Happy Tuesday infidels.

I just got back from Northern Ohio. While up there for the last five days, I had the opportunity to drive around and explore the communities out there, specifically those small communities that Obama and his liberal lackeys refer to as the “bitter communities.”

What did I see in Ohio? I saw the American flag on every light-post, on every house, in every park. I saw people, who unlike the Blame America San Fran Lefties, are actually proud of their country and their soldiers. Did not see folks calling America the Evil Empire or our soldiers killers there.

I saw friendly people in Ohio. Ones that said “good morning” or “good day” to you rather than “f*ck you.” I saw bands playing in the park on Saturday afternoon and saw people going to church on Sunday.

I also saw that times are tough there too. Some auto plants closing. But the people I saw and spoke too did not give me the impression of being “bitter” or of being fatalists.

I felt I was seeing the true face of America as I drove through Ohio.

I’ll take these folks any day over the elitist lefties. Frankly, it is the elitist lefties that are bitter; not the country they want to control.

And so I’m clear, when I say “elite” I mean it in the pejorative sense; i.e., that they feel they are better than everyone else because of their pedigree (whether born or bought). Or as my abuelo used to say, "se tiran los peos más alto que sus culos."

Now what I did find really funny was that upon my arrival at my hotel, the Castaway Hotel in Sandusky, what music were they blasting as I walked through the door? Celia Cruz. This hotel with a Caribbean theme pumped salsa music through the lobby 24/7. So even in Ohio, they’re enjoying Celia.

Now even more amazing, while driving through the tiny town of Marblehead, which is where the photo of the lighthouse was taken, I ran across a small little restaurant. It was called, “A Taste of Havana.” On the menu? Cuban sandwiches of course. So even on the shores of a small tiny town of Lake Erie in northern Ohio, I didn’t see any bitter folks, but I did see a Cuban restaurant and did get to hear Celia Cruz and salsa music. So contrary to the belief of Obama and his pals, I did not find anything bitter in Ohio, but I did find "Azucar!"

See you out in the field infidels. God Bless Ohio and God Bless America.

A Tale of Two Blacks

Democratic Presidential Nominee Barrack Hussein Obama, as Illinois Senator, voted to defeat a bill (The IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act) meant to protect live-born survivors of abortion.

Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, Cuban Political Prisoner, is currently incarcerated in Cuba for conducting and releasing a study, and consequently criticizing the castro regime's systematic murder of live-born survivors of abortion.

One guy has the media, a political party, the Hollywood set, anti-American governments and many people swooning over him as The Messiah and He who shall not be criticized, while the other guy rots away in a 4by6 foot cell and is ignored altogether.

Fausta will be dedicating her one hour Blog Talk Radio show to the above dichotomy, starting at 11 am. You can listen live here, call in number is 646 652-2639.

Will someone please answer that phone!!!!???!!!

Worse than vertigo.

Whew. For a few moments just now, I did something I thought I'd never, ever do: I wished I had a massive, real vertigo attack.

I started my morning as I usually do, sitting in front of the computer with about a gallon of cafe cubano and reading my rss and news feeds. After a few minutes though, a slight buzzing started. No, I wasnt having a real vertigo attack. But that buzzing that painfully transformed itself slowly into a dizzying effect, kept getting louder and louder and the spinning speed faster and faster. Again, the spinning wasnt caused by that perilymph fistula in the balance center of my right ear that has wreaked vertigo havoc on me for two years now. This is a different kind of vertigo altogether. This is a man-made one.

I suppose I could try to coin a term for it, something like Extremus Falsus Nuntius Vertere Extremus, and describe it, albeit not perfectly, as "head spinning and dizziness caused by reading and absorbing too much bullshit newspeak written and presented by a slew of roving self agrandized arrogant asswhipe leftist holier than thou do as I say not as I do Im gonna shove my opinions into your face ad nauseum hidden as news until your head explodes 'journalists'".

Whew. Just thinking about that puts the spinning into fifth gear, and, did I mention the constant ringing?

I'd try to list all the conspiring "news articles" that prompted today's episode of Extremus Falsus Nuntius Vertere Extremus, but I simply dont have the time and the Dramamines and Antiverts have yet to take full effect. Plus, that ringing.

That. Ringing. Just. Wont. Stop.

Let's Make a Deal!

Apparently, Castro, Inc. is experiencing a shortage of the human chattel it normally sells to the Venezuelan monkey-king in exchange for petroleum and other goods. So much so that according to this Reuters article, Castro, Inc. is now sending zoo animals to Chavez for some much needed medical equipment.

An odd and surprising exchange since we are always told how communist Cuba's health care is soooo advanced and well equipped. Except, of course, for the medical equipment and medicines they do not have because of the US trade embargo that does not really embargo food or medicine but they continue to blame because hey, it makes for a convenient scapegoat to hide the corruption and ineptitude of a murderous regime.

Reading the article, though, I came across another one of those "do these people actually read what they write?" lines.

"The animals are being evaluated for their fitness for the trip, but Escobar said Cuba has a reputation for giving its animals good care, despite economic hardships on the island."

Yeah, communist Cuba sure does have a reputation for giving its animals good care.

All for One Beer

All for One Beer

By Yoani Sanchez

It’s a long time until I will be ready to retire, however I have read very carefully the proposed Social Security Law that is going to be discussed by parliament. Like many Cubans, I decided to work without a net and support myself through freelancing because, to me, the guarantee of a future pension was remote compared with the economic pressures of the present.

Looking at the new proposal for higher pensions, I notice the token numbers that are meant to make up for the increase of five years in the age of retirement. Astonishingly, Leo, a preschool teacher who will retire after the new legislation goes into effect, will receive only thirty-five pesos more a month than someone who retires this morning. Not only is she looking at a postponement of the date of her deserved rest, she will receive the laughable equivalent of 1.40 CUCs.

To put it as crudely as it deserves, this woman will now work five years longer and in return, when she finally leaves the workforce, she will get enough extra money to drink one beer a month. Perhaps the retired educator does not like alcohol or her doctor has forbidden it, in which case she could use this “notable” raise to buy herself a tube of toothpaste or a deodorant. It would be nice and dramatic if this hypothetical woman took to the streets chanting the question, “All this for just one beer?”

Translator’s note:

1.40 CUCs is approximately 1.40 Canadian or American dollar, 0.75 British pounds, or 0.95 Euros.

This was originally written and published in Spanish by Yoani Sanchez and translated and posted in her English version blog. Since the castro regime continues to curtail her internet access and continues to block access to her blog and other internet sites in and out of Cuba, we are posting Yoani's work in its entirety in solidarity and to help promote and distribute same.

Free the Cuban Five! - UPDATED

How many times have you seen that slogan? If you're like us and follow Cuba very closely then the answer is too many times.

On last week's Babalu Radio Hour we discussed the so-called "Cuban Five" with U.S. Army counterintelligence officer Lt. Col. Chris Simmons.

Among the things that Simmons clarified is the fact that "the five" are actually part of the thirty-seven member "Wasp" spy network. That's right, Gerardo Hernández, René González, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino and Fernando González, all of which are serving hard time in federal prison were part of a spy ring that included at least 37 people. According to Simmons:

Eighteen agents and officers were arrested, known to have escaped or [diplomats that were] declared persona non grata...

There were, according to the court documents, at least thirty-seven officers and agents in that network, so I mean that is, it is huge and most people totally miss that because, again, despite the success, no one ever wants to stand up there and say we arrested a lot of them but most of them got away.

So if there were thirty-seven and eighteen were arrested, escaped or were expelled why does Cuba's castro regime claim there are only five? Simmons asserts:

Thirteen officers and agents were arrested. All but five went state's witness and testified against Cuba. And so the last thing the regime wants is for these last five, who include its hardest officers within the Wasp network, they don't want them to roll over on the regime. And so everything you hear about "free the five" is simply propaganda to let those five know that they're not forgotten and...from Havana's perspective, do not betray the regime. That is the one and only reason that whole campaign exists.

The campaign Simmons speaks of includes permanent banner ads on Cuba's official web sites like Granma and even billboards in America like this one in San Francisco:

Of course, the very existence of an official Cuban government campaign to free these five individuals is incriminating. I mean if these were just five Cuban-Americans wrongly accused of any other crime, the castro brothers and their cronies wouldn't care less. But the fact is that the regime admits that they were spying but claims (as witnessed by the text of the billboard) that they were simply reporting on terrorist activities being planned against Cuba by exiles.

And this of course is just one more of the many lies perpetuated by castro, inc. over the years. The members of the Wasp network were not only spying on pro-democracy Cuban exiles but according to Simmons they were "covering" the U.S. Southern Command in Miami, the Naval Air Station at Boca Chica in the Keys, Homestead Air Reserve Base, The U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa as well as U.S. Central Command in Tampa, and even Barksdale Airforce base in Louisiana which Simmons reminds us is where our strategic bombers are launched from.

Fortunately, until now, federal courts are not swayed by propaganda from terrorist states like Cuba and the five will remain tucked safely away in their cells until they complete their sentences when they will be deported to Cuba.

UPDATE:
Frank from Castro Death Watch (a blog we need to link to more often) sent me a link to Fry the Five. Enjoy.

My Lilliputians

When I get home from work I have a pair of Lilliputians waiting for me. I lay down, on my side, on the floor in the nursery of my almost one-year-old twins and immediately they lose interest in the toys they were playing with, preferring instead to climb all over me as if I were Swift's Gulliver. It's funny, I never pictured myself as a dad. Now I can't picture myself not being one.

The Bag "Boy"

So I stop by Publix on the way home from work because I'm trying to help my wife out by doing most of the cooking lately and there was no food in the house. It's a big load because, well, because there's no food in the house. I start putting my groceries on the conveyor belt and I think to myself, "I'm gonna have the bag boy take this stuff out to my car."

Most of the time the bag boys just pack my up my groceries into the bags (plastic, please) and then put them back in my cart leaving me to load them in the car myself and then find a place to park the cart. But today I'm in a hurry. It's getting late and if I don't get home quickly I'll miss my window to play with the twins, they'll be one year old later this month and being with them is the highlight of my day. So I'll have the bag boy come out to my car and lend a second pair of hands and take the shopping cart with him.

I pay for the groceries and take notice of the bag boy for the first time. He's no boy. This man who I judge to be in his late 70's is almost old enough to be my grandfather. I watch as he and the cashier pack my groceries and I start putting the bags in the cart. As he places the last bag in the cart, the bag boy cocks his head to the side. His gesture suggests he is reading my mind. He knows I'll get out of there faster if he comes out to the car to help. I nod in acknowledgment.

As we head out the automatic door the bag boy says to me in Spanish, "that old Chinese guy is 100 years old." I wasn't paying attention, so ask him to repeat what he said. "That old Chinese guy is 100 years old." I don't see anyone fitting that description so I take his word on it that there was a 100-year old Chinese guy somewhere nearby.

I ask the only question I can think of. "Is he Cuban?"

The bag boy answers, "Yes, I mean no. I mean he was born in China but he lived in Cuba longer than he lived in China. He considers himself Cuban."

I ask him, "has he been in the U.S. a long time?"

The bag boy says, "yeah, a long time."

I ask the bag boy, "have you been here a long time?"

The bag boy answers, "since 1968."

Suddenly the bag boy looks at me and says, "forty years and I think of Cuba every day."

We talk for a while longer as we load the groceries in the car. I give him $2 for his trouble. On the way home, the bag boy's words are echoing in my head.

"Forty years and I think of Cuba every day."

Petition to free 22 Cuban independent journalists

Jose Reyes of Cubanology.com has notified me of an online petition to free 22 Cuban independent journalists currently in prison. Click here to read and sign it.

Olympic Update

Cuba denies athlete signed China rights plea
Of course. We can't have the Cuban new man think for himself, can we?

Cuban economic reforms are merely symbolic

Really? You don't say?

Mumia Abu Jamal Says VIVA FIDEL!

Today when I read Alberto’s post about Alice Walker’s quote that Obama uses without giving credit, he mentioned a name that makes my skin crawl—that of convicted Philly cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal. Cop killers have a special place in hell reserved for them and perhaps I react to murders of police officers like I do because both my father and grandfather were Philly cops. Regardless, Wesley Cook, aka Mumia Abu Jamal, a Marxist, Black Panther Party member and former radio commentator was convicted of killing Officer Daniel Faulkner by shooting him in the back and the head. Ballistic evidence, eyewitness testimony and the resounding silence of both Abu-Jamal and his brother in his defense sealed his fate- the death penalty- that was decided in 1982.

Since then it seems every high-profile liberal on the face of the earth has taken up the Free Mumia cause. Danny Glover, Nelson Mandela, Alice Walker, Rage Against the Machine, Ed Asner, Susan Sarandon and Paul Newman are among those who support this murderer who has written three books while on death row and has a radio show from prison. It is amazing all the support he has for a new trial based on everything from a convicted felon’s testimony that he waited 20 years to give, to recent news that the Mafia was behind Officer Faulkner’s murder! Michelle Malkin shared her take on the Mumia “cult” last year.

There is much selective testimony and no shortage of distortions used to try to free Abu Jamal, including the conspiracy theory that because Abu Jamal was a very vocal activist against police brutality, that the cops wanted to kill him. Right, so they sent one officer to a traffic stop to take on two people?

So what does this have to do with Cuba? Well, it seems Mr. Abu Jamal is, as you would guess, a worshipper of a one Mr. fidel castro. He has even taken the time to discuss castro on his prison radio show, in which he hurls the typical attacks against Miami Cubans for being happy that Castro resigned, calling their celebrations of this, “morbid.” Abu Jamal, who considers himself a “student of history,” said that when castro became ill, in Miami there was a “ghoulish glee... The spectacle of people dancing in the streets of Miami, at news of Fidel's sickness was disgraceful.” You can get a better picture of the man who has a street named after him in France by reading the transcripts of his fidel love fest on prison radio here: VIVA FIDEL and FIDEL’S RESIGNATION.

But the love fest is not one sided! Read what Teresa Gutierrez of Worker’s World observed when castro came to the US in 2000. (Pause to grab a barf bag)

“And what a significant moment it was when Fidel spoke of Cuba's contribution to save the life of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Fidel brought the house down right then and there as thousands leaped to their feet to thunderously applaud and chant Fidel's and Mumia's names.

What a tremendous contribution Fidel made, not only to the class struggle but also to the struggle against racism. It was an incredible show of unity for the great leader from revolutionary Cuba to stand with the struggle to save Mumia and against racism right in the very heart of imperialism. “

They are made for each other.

Don't Miss the Carnival

Today's must read is Fausta's Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Also, her 11 am podcast today will discuss Evo Morales and his constinued destruction of Bolivia.

Pa' los colchones!

Starting February your kids can begin "extorting businesses, monopolizing illegal-crime rings, and defeating new (mafia) families in an effort to become the most powerful mob family in America" with the new Godfather II video game. They'll be able to go to the mattresses in Florida, New York and, of course, in that paradigm of organized crime that was pre-castro Cuba.

No word yet on whether the game will contain a Superman scene.

What's causing all those rainbows?

It's...It's...

GLOBAL WARMING!

"We are the ones we have been waiting for"

You have to admit it is a catchy phrase; it implies both hope and empowerment. Not only are you the solution, you are also the one that will make it happen. It is one of those nondescript and open ended slogans that can be applied to just about anything. And this ambiguity fits right in with Obama's message, or better said, non-message. Too bad he isn't the one who came up with the phrase.

This phrase, or slogan, if you will, is actually a title to a book containing a collection of essays written by the extreme-left lesbian feminist, Alice Walker. The same extreme-left lesbian feminist who believes that if Fidel could dance, he would be perfect. And the same extreme-left lesbian feminist who also believes that convicted cop killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal, is a beautiful and compassionate person. With this in mind, one cannot help but to wonder if Alice Walker's hopeful and empowering phrase applies to the likes of Fidel and Mumia. Are they the ones we have been waiting for?

Obama, however, has not bothered to credit Ms. Walker for this catchy phrase. And since no one has bothered to ask him how or where he came up with it, he would just as well leave its origins a mystery. Considering Ms. Walker's history and ideology, I would imagine Obama would like to keep it that way. Whether he can, though, remains to be seen.

Former Republican congressman Fred Eckert has written an editorial about this and it is perhaps the first time anyone has questioned the origins of this slogan in the media. You can read his excellent piece HERE.

You can also read more of Ms. Walker's view of the world in this post on Moonbattery.com.

There is no statute of limitation on freedom.

We've had an incredible amount of reaction to Marco Rubio's May 23rd speech at the Cuban-American National Foundation luncheon. Marco Rubio is of course the first Cuban-American Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. He gave this speech before the featured speaker who was Barack Obama. In it he takes the media to task as well as those who would negotiate with raul castro (Obama). On Rubio's myspace page he has this to say about the speech:

This is my speech before the CANF. I got some flack for doing it because some people (including me) do not agree with the CANF on Cuba issues. But I felt it was important that I speak at this event, especially in light of the fact that only 10 minutes later Barack Obama argued the position contrary to me on that same stage.

Thank you very much and I promise to be brief, I know you have an exciting day ahead of you, but I would hope you would give me your attention for a few moments because I’ve had this unique opportunity, thank you to Jorge and to the Foundation for the opportunity to speak to you at what I believe is an extraordinary moment in the history of our community. A lot has been written, and I see we’re joined here today by members of the national press corps, I know they are not here to see me but thanks for keeping your cameras on for a moment. Much has been talked about, an ongoing debate in the Cuban-American community, I want to be clear with each of you, I fully support the United States policies towards Cuba. I also fully support the rights of those to disagree, for example, on the travel issue. We live in a free society and that’s the difference between living in Miami and living in Havana, and I’m fully appreciative of that.

[Applause]

But what I know is this, and this is what I hope you will report upon tonight when you write about the Cuban-American community and you report on it: on the most fundamental and important issue of all, this community is as united as any ethnic community in this country. It is the indisputable and undeniable belief, by everyone who desires the freedom and liberty of the Cuban people, that the freedom and liberty and future of the Cuban people should never negotiated with the illegitimate leaders of that country Raul and Fidel Castro. They should never be, because it’s not theirs to negotiate.

[Applause]

And there’s two reasons why. First, as Americans, if you believe in the constitution as I do, the Constitution says that all people are created equal. Not all people born in the United States, all people in the world, and that their rights as human beings come from their creator, not from a government, not from a president and not from a leader. Those are inalienable rights that are given to you by God himself, and it also says that the only power government can have is the power that people give ‘em. The people of Cuba have never consented to the rule of Raul and Fidel Castro and they are no more the legitimate leaders of that country than a home invader, than a home invader, is the owner of your house.

[Applause]

And the second thing I’d like to say before I conclude is this: what message would we send as a country to the world that looks to America as a beacon of hope? And let me tell you that’s what we are, they may not like things about us, but if you live in Miami you interact with people from all over the world and they will tell you they look to this country and they see the hope that one day they too can be free, that man can govern himself. And there is nothing promising about a message of the freest, greatest nation on earth accepting the legitimacy of a regime that has never had the consent of the people that it governs. It sends a horrifying message. It sends a message that we will fight for democracy and freedom, unless you’ve been there for forty-some-odd years.

There is no statute of limitation on freedom.

My concluding thought is this: one of the things I’m proudest of, of this community is the number of young Cuban-Americans that are engaging in the political discourse of this country. It encourages me deeply, and I just ask you to remember who we are and where we came from. You are the sons and granddaughters of men and women, who when they were your age, they had dreams and hopes for their future just like you have right now. And histor..destiny brought them here. Some achieved tremendous success, like Cubans have all over the world, succeeded economically in virtually every over the last fifty years except for one: Cuba. But many met more modest success, they worked as mechanics and plumbers, carpenters, bartenders like my dad, they worked hard so that you and I could fulfill the dreams of our youth. They are the historic exiles, and they are often the subject of ridicule by national publications. They are the only ethnic group in America that it is politically correct to attack, and it’s a shame and a travesty because you haven’t walked in their shoes and you haven’t lived their experience. And until you do, you can’t fully understand what they have lived. And I hope that this generation of Cuban-Americans, regardless of your political affiliation or persuasion, will honor them in everything we do. Always remember we are the heirs to two generations of unfulfilled dreams, and no matter what title we achieve, what party we join, or what path we follow, we will always be the sons and daughters of exiles, and that is something I will always be proud of. Thank you.

[Applause]

More Idiocy from Havana Nocturne (and the Miami Herald)

In his book Havana Nocturne, author T.J. English devotes page after page to denouncing the Batista regime, which he labels as "violently repressive!"

But perish an notion of a double standard, because (in the epilogue and in fine print) he also mentions that the Castro regime "has been criticized by U.S. authorities for a checkered human rights record." His tone is that this criticism is unwarranted bullying instigated by Cuban-Americans ("a powerful voting bloc.")

Fine, let's compare: In 1959 Cuba's Bohemia magazine--a publication that treated Fidel Castro about like Teen-Beat treated Paul McCartney in 1964-- arrived at the figure of 878 for the total number of deaths ON BOTH SIDES of the anti-Batista fight. New York's annual murder rate usually doubles, sometimes triples, the Bohemia figure for Cuban deaths. Cubans enjoyed the highest prosperity in their history during this period (as mentioned earlier this consisted of higher wages and better public health services than half of Europeans.)

The Cuban Archive project arrives at 110,000 (and counting) for the number of Cuban deaths caused by the Castro regime. And Freedom House estimates a total of half a million political prisoners jailed over the years by the Castro regime, a higher rate than Stalin's. This regime also rendered Cubans poorer and Haitians.

T.J. English scoffs that most Cuban-Americans are "in denial" about pre-Castro Cuba.

Combine these idiocies with the idiocies mentioned in my earlier post on Nocture. Now consider that the Miami Herald hails the book "as thoroughly and impressively researched!"

The Miami Herald's own research, however, stopped short of disclosing that most of English's research was in Castro's Cuba while aided by Castro regime officials.

Choices, choices, choices...

With all the talk about McCain and Obama, we forget that there are other choices on the presidential ballot come November. You have Ralph Nader running as an Independent, Bob Barr representing the Libertarian Party, Cynthia McKinney as the Green Party candidate, and then you have Gloria La Riva.

Meet Gloria La Riva, US Presidential Canditate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation. A political party, I should add, that proudly displays the image of Che Guevara on the header of its website.

The platform of this party is a simple one: George W. Bush is a terrorist, and Cuba's dictatorial regime is a model America should be emulating. If elected, Ms. La Riva promises to stop the biological weapons attacks America's imperialistic policies have been launching against Cuba, which she says has killed thousands of innocent Cubans.

And with all the hullabaloo over Obama's oratory prowess, Ms. La Riva--as you can see from this video of a mercifully short speech she gave last year--is quite an orator herself.

With all these alternative choices, it's going to be tough to make a decision this November.

Bienvenido a los Estados Unidos, Sr. Montes de Oca Martija

I don't live in Miami, so I don't know how big a deal this is. But it ought to be:

René Montes de Oca Martija, one of Cuba's leading human rights activists, last week reluctantly went into exile in Miami in order to receive treatment for a variety of medical ailments, no doubt aggravated by stints in the Castro gulag and the general disregard of the dictatorship for the health care needs of those who oppose.

"In Cuba, René is missed by his followers for he has won the love and admiration of the people for his tireless struggle in the defense of human rights," wrote Cuban independent journalist Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez.

Montes de Oca Martija is secretary-general of the Samuel Martínez Lara Memorial Pro-Human Rights Party. Considering what happened last week to another one of the group's activists, Montes de Oca Martija may have gotten out of Cuba just in time.

For more on Montes de Oca Martija, read Jay Nordlinger's 2003 article.

Marifeli Perez-Stable, the alleged Cuban agent, and her defenders

Ever since Lt. Col. Chris Simmons revealed the names of four individuals that he claims are present and/or former agents of Cuba, including Miami Herald Editorial Contributor Marifeli Perez-Stable, there have been some that have criticized him and also us for repeating the allegations.

Just because she opposes the embargo doesn't mean that she doesn't want democracy in Cuba.

This is why they rip us in the rest of the country for being reactionaries - we look like fricking morons.

For all of Simmons talk, it is just that - talk. We have to take his word for it -show us something, anything to back up the claims.

We must act prudently and responsibly - it's nuts to make half-cocked accusations based on the eloquent assertions of a guy who is sooooo knowledgeable about Cuban affairs that he can't even handle an interview in Spanish. Dont get all worked up with no proof.

the burden of proof should be on the side of the accusers and the stone throwers have a less than convincing case.

This is why we Cubans are all messed up, we would rather tear each other apart for some stupid bs.

fact of the matter is that i don't trust Simmons or anyone else for that matter unless I have something more than circumstantial evidence.

I have to wonder, did you stop and think about that precept of innocent until proven guilty?

It's interesting that people only hear what they want to hear. Let's take stroll down memory lane and see if those of us that are concerned about Cuban espionage in the U.S. and that are happy that a U.S. Army counterintelligence officer is outing suspected agents are just "frickin morons." Let's examine more closely the case of Elsa Prieto Alvarez.

In 1982 two agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) testified before congress that a woman named Elsa Prieto was working as an agent of the Cuban government and sending sensitive mental health records of patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital to Cuba.

In 1982, the FDLE agents, Pinon and Daniel Benitez -- noting they were not testifying on behalf of the agency -- said that Prieto Alvarez allegedly supplied information on patients in the ''mental ward'' at Jackson to Cuba through Lourdes Dopico, who ran a travel agency.

"The person who provided information for transmission to Cuba is alleged to be Elsa Prieto ... The access of this type of information to suspected or actual Castro agents is of a great concern to all."

Well it took 24 years but Piñon and Benitez were vindicated when FIU professor Carlos Alvarez and his wife Elsa were arrested by the FBI in January of 2006. Both were convicted and he's serving five years and she's serving three.

The fact is that Lt. Col. Simmons is not just saying that Marifeli Perez-Stable (and the others) are Cuban agents. If you listen to the interviews (including the one we did on the Babalu Radio Hour) you'll see that he's referring to specific documents and statements that he been made privy to.

The defenders of Marifeli Perez-Stable sound a lot like Elsa Prieto's attorney Jane Moscowitz sounded before Prieto was convicted:

Moscowitz said if the congressional testimony were true, authorities either investigated her activity and found nothing wrong -- or didn't bother to investigate because her work was not suspicious.

More than likely they didn't have enough evidence to bring charges, or maybe her case fell through the cracks of our gigantic federal government or perhaps those who were charged with the responsibility rooting out spies thought that those who suspected Prieto were "fricking morons" who are "nuts" and that bring "half-cocked" accusations.

Incidentally, at the same congressional hearing where Piñon and Benitez testified about Elsa Prieto the two also said that the Committee of 75, Areito magazine, and the Antonio Maceo Brigade were "sponsored and headed by the Cuban DGI" intelligence agency. As Antonio de la Cova makes clear in a recent email to Herald reporter Alfonso Chardy, Marifeli Perez-Stable had a leadership role in all of these groups.

So rather than jumping to the defense of Perez-Stable perhaps some of us would be wise to examine exactly how the regime has used people like her in the past. If they did they would see that it's not only plausible that Perez-Stable is/was a Cuban agent but very likely.

Here's the thing. If the accusations are false, then Perez-Stable should sue de la Cova and Simmons for libel/slander. The thing is that she'd have to testify under oath and then the respondents in the case would have a parade of witnesses like the Cuban intelligence defectors whose testimony is the entire basis for these accusations come to the stand. Not only would she lose, she'd open herself up to perjury charges. I double-dog dare her to sue de la Cova and Simmons. She already threatened to sue me in 2006 for publishing accusations that someone else was making. None of the jerks quoted above came to my defense or stood up for my first amendment rights. In fact, in an irony of ironies, the attorney who tried to silence me is a member of the ACLU.

Olympic Update

The father in-law of the U.S. men's volleyball team is murdered at a Beijing tourist attraction.

American protesters deported from China.

Cuban-Americans Slandered in Best-Selling Book

"How the Mob Owned Cuba, and Lost it to the Revolution," is the bestselling book's title. T.J. English is the author. I mentioned this before on this forum but it simply can't be repeated often enough:

Cuba's Gross Domestic product in 1957 was about $2.7 billion. Cuba's foreign receipts in 1957 were about $750 million--of which tourism made up only $60 million. Gambling was a small fraction of this $60 million. So how could the beneficiaries of that tiny fraction of Cuba's income "OWN" the entire country and "infiltrate its lever of power from top to bottom."?

It gets better (worse). "The financial largese that flooded Cuba could have been used to address the country's social problems" continues the bestselling (and proudly Irish-American) author who (lest he dissapoint his Cuban regime sources) proceeds to list them:

"Hight infant mortality"--(in fact, Mr English, Cuba's infant mortality in 1958 was the 13 lowest--not in Latin America, not in the Hemisphere--but in the WORLD--lower than Ireland's.)

"Subhuman housing" --(in fact, Mr English, Cuba's per capita income in 1958 was higher than half of Europe's, including Ireland's.)

"Dispossession of small farmers"-- (in fact, Cuba's agricultural wages in 1958 were higher than half of Europe's, including Ireland's. And--far from huge latifundia hogging the Cuban countryside-- the average Cuban farm in 1958 was SMALLER than the average in the U.S.)

'Illiteracy"-- (In fact, mr English, in a mere 50 years since a war of independence that cost Cuba almost a fifth of her population, Cuba managed 80 per cent literacy and budgeted the most( 23 % of national expenses) for public education of any Latin American country (more than Ireland, by the way.) Better still, Cubans were not just literate but also educated, allowed to read George Orwell and Thomas Jefferson along with the arresting wisdom and sparkling prose of Che Guevara.

Don't get me wrong here, my wife's full-blooded Irish-American and thus my three kids are Cuban-Irish mutts. But T.J. English is simply an Irish-American Idiot.

You will be shocked to hear that English's sources (like Jon Lee Anderson's sources for "Che, A Revolutionary Life" ) are primarily officials of Cuba's Stalinist regime which English visited often. Indeed, English dedicates his book to one such official, Enrique Cirules, who he calls a "Cuban author." Fine, I'll call Julius Streicher "a German author."

No interviewer from Comedy Central (who if impartial could have great sport with this issue) to NPR have bothered to point out the slightest discrepancy in Mr English's book.

And lest you think T.J. English is biased or lazy, he also commiserated at length with, and thus thanks in his acknowledgment section, some sources on this side of the Florida straits: Bernardo Benes, Max Lesnick and Estela Bravo.

Amigos, is it any wonder that so many in our parents' and grandparents' generation nowadays simply tune this stuff out? Has there ever been a generation of people more buffeted by such a media-blizzard of lies, calumny, lies, bullshit, lies, propaganda, lies-lies-lies?!

The Curse of the Godfather II Redux

As if it's not enough that one of the current crop of books goes by the less than felicitous title of Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Lost It to the Revolution, Electronic Arts is bringing out a Godfather II video game which will be "set against the backdrops of New York, Florida, Cuba." Care to guess how Cuba Bc is going to come across?

We all know the harm that the movie did in totally skewing the perception of the American public. Yet another generation will confuse artistic license with reality. About the only bright spot is that the exposure will be limited to those who play. On the other hand, the game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Article here.

US groups seek Cuba's release of 22 political prisoners, including man who sewed his lips shut

Finally, someone in the MSM takes notice of Cuba’s political prisoners. Thank you Newsday.

MIAMI (AP) _ Cuban-American groups in South Florida and journalism watchdog organizations are seeking the release of 22 Cuban political prisoners, including an independent journalist who apparently sewed his lips shut to protest his treatment.

The wife of a fellow prisoner told other Cuban activists and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists that Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, 42, sewed his own lips together in mid-July while in prison in Cuba's eastern Holguin province.

Herrera sewed his lips as part of a hunger strike to protest prison conditions, said Carlos Lauria, who coordinates the Committee's Americas program. He said Herrera and other political prisoners face inadequate health-care, rotten food and occasional beatings. They are also often housed with hardened criminals, Lauria said.

The hunger strike ended around July 30, when Herrera was taken to a prison hospital.
Cuban press officials in Havana did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The communist government typically does not comment on the protests of political prisoners and regularly characterizes them as mercenaries and counterrevolutionaries.

Herrera is among 22 government opponents held since a 2003 crackdown, when 75 dissident and independent journalists were arrested.

He was convicted under Cuba's Law 88, a broad measure that makes it a crime to disseminate any information or disturb public order with the aim of furthering the U.S. embargo against the island. He is serving a 20-year sentence.

"We talked to Melba Santana, the wife of fellow prisoner Alfredo Dominguez Batista. She visited the prison, and she was unable to see Herrera, but apparently the journalist (Herrera) was able to smuggle her a note, telling his condition," Lauria said.

The Miami-based Cuban Democratic Directory, which works to raise awareness about Cuban political prisoners internationally and receives U.S. funding, made public this week a brief telephone exchange between Herrera and Cuban human rights activist Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva.

In it, Herrera, speaking very quickly, says the stitches were forcibly removed and threatens to renew his hunger strike and sew his lips together again "no matter the cost."

In a phone interview from his home in Havana, Leiva told The Associated Press in Miami Friday that he recorded the prison call Aug. 5.

Other secondhand reports indicated the stitches were removed after they became infected.

Reporters Without Borders has also expressed concern about Herrera and other prisoners, and Amnesty International has listed Herrera and Dominguez among prisoners worldwide "imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs."

For more information on Cuba's political prisoners visit Marc's Uncommon Sense.

For our readers who may be unfamiliar with Article 91 and Law 88 of Cuba's Penal Code, I've posted a summary from the International Pen Writers in Prison Committee below the fold.

Article 91/Law 88
The legal instruments most often utilised by the Cuban authorities to silence journalists and writers on the island are Article 91 of the Penal Code used in conjunction with Law 88 (see explanations of both below).
The measures are wide-ranging and ominously vague, and serve as catch-all legislation designed to cover almost any form of deviance from the official government line.

The following summary of Article 91 and Law 88 is taken from the Amnesty International website:

Article 91 of the Penal Code
Article 91 of the Penal Code, which was the sole charge for 26 of the 75 dissidents and was used in conjunction with Law 88 (see below) for another six, provides for sentences of ten to 20 years or death against anyone convicted of "acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state"(73). Under this article, "he who, in the interest of a foreign state, commits an act with the objective of damaging the independence or territorial integrity of the Cuban state, incurs the penalty of ten to twenty years imprisonment or death"(74).

Law 87 of 1999, which modifies the Penal Code, changes the provisions regarding sentencing to provide for life imprisonment.

Law 88
In February 1999 Cuba's National Assembly passed tough legislation (Law 88), called the Ley de Protección de la Independencia Nacional y la Economía de Cuba, Law for the Protection of the National Independence and Economy of Cuba. The law calls for seven to 15 years' imprisonment for passing information to the United States that could be used to bolster anti-Cuban measures such as the US economic blockade. This would rise to 20 years if the information is acquired surreptitiously. The legislation also bans the ownership, distribution or reproduction of 'subversive materials' from the US government, and proposes terms of imprisonment of up to five years for collaborating with radio and TV stations and publications deemed to be assisting US policy.

Every single one of the writers, journalists and librarians sentenced in April 2003 were found guilty on charges relating to Article 91, Law 88 or both.

To read the full Spanish text of Law 88 click here.

Michael Moore gives us advice

Michael Moore wants us (wascally wepublicans) to join him in his tent. The thought of that only makes me prefer being sent to LV426 to fight aliens instead. Read the whole thing; he has some interesting insight into the minds (such as they are) of the members of his party.

How to blow it

It's the most winnable presidential election in American history - but the Democrats are old hands at losing. Michael Moore offers some helpful hints on how they might gift it all to the Republicans.

"Let's snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
"We never met an election we'd like to win."
"Why get elected when you can be defeated!"

These have been the mantras of the Democratic Party. Beginning with their stunning inability to defeat the most detested politician in American history, Richard Nixon, and continuing through their stunning inability to defeat the most detested politician in the world, George II, the Democrats are the masters of blowing it. And they don't just simply "blow it" - they blow it especially when the electorate seems desperate to give it to them.

After eight years of Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office, the public had seen enough. The Democrats chose Michael Dukakis as their nominee. Two months before the election, he was ahead of Bush I in the polls. Then he went to an army tank factory in Michigan, put on some kind of stupid-fitting helmet and rode around in a tank with a goofy smile on his face. Weeks later, when asked what kind of punishment he would like to see given to someone who might rape his wife, he started mumbling some sort of bleeding-heart gibberish instead of just saying what anyone would say: "I'd like to tear the bastard limb from limb!" The voters were so put off by his wimpiness, they elected an actual wimp over him, George H W Bush.

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights, pro-choice, they don't like war, they want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal healthcare system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: they support the death penalty.

So you would think, with more than 200 million eligible voters, the Dems would be cleaning up, election after election. Obviously not. The Democrats appear to be professional losers. They are so pathetic in their ability to win elections, they even lose when they win! Al Gore won the 2000 election, but for some strange reason he didn't become the president of the United States.

If you are unable as a party to get the landlord to turn over the keys to a house that is yours, what the hell good are you?

Well, in 2006, the Dems had a come-to-Jesus meeting with themselves and, under the leadership of Rahm Emanuel, won so many House seats, they just waltzed in and took the place over. What a great day that was, seeing Nancy Pelosi bang the gavel down to open Congress. And what was her first act? To declare that any discussion of the impeachment of George W Bush was verboten and no one was ever to bring it up again. And that was that. It sent a clear message to Bush that he could just keep doing what he'd been doing for the first six years. The result? That's exactly what he did, with Congress authorising every war funding bill he sent to them. How did the American people respond? Congress's approval rating sank lower than Bush's. How disgusting do you have to be to sink lower in the public's eyes than a man who can't even successfully choke himself on a pretzel?

So when you hear Democrats and liberals and Obama supporters say they are worried McCain has a good chance of winning, they ain't a-kidding. Who would know better than the very people who have handed the Republicans one election after another on a silver platter? Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.

After the debacles of Iraq, Katrina, gas prices, home foreclosures, our standing in the world, the failure to capture Bin Laden, and revealing the identity of a CIA agent in an act of revenge, it would seem that Barack Obama should be on a cakewalk to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The man should be able to sleep his way through the rest of the campaign season.

Ha! Think again. How many Democrats does it take to lose the most easily winnable election in American history? Not many. Just a few "close advisers" to Barack Obama who tell him a bunch of asinine stuff and he ends up listening to them instead of his own heart. As the party hacks in the past two elections have proven, once they get the candidate's ear, the rest of us might just as well order pizza and stay inside for the next four years.

In an effort to help the party doofuses and pundits - and the candidate - spare all of us another suicide-inducing election night as the results giving the election to the Republican pour in, here is the blueprint from the Democrats' past losing campaigns. Just follow each of these steps and you, the Democratic Party establishment, can help elect John Sidney McCain III to a four-year extension of the Bush Era:

Keep saying nice things about McCain. Like how he's been "good on global warming" and campaign finance. Keep reminding a country at war that he and he alone is a war hero. Not to mention an all-round good guy. Say that enough and what happens? The same thing that happens when you repeat over and over, "Apply directly to the forehead" - people start to believe it! You've sold them on the idea that McCain isn't a bad egg, and they do not hear the rest of what you have to say: "But John McCain is four more years of George W Bush." If you keep saying he used to be a "maverick", our less-attention-span citizens hear only the "maverick" part, not the past tense verb included in that sentence.

This is not to say you should in any way demean John McCain as a human being or as an American. Disagreeing strongly with his policies or the direction he would lead the country is not the same as denigrating him as a person. This particular style of politics is the cesspool that the Right and the Republican Party apparatus swim in. We do not further our agenda by imitating them. Fight, fight back, and fight hard - but fight clean. It's ultimately what I believe the majority of Americans would like to see.

There is also nothing wrong with saying nice things about McCain's constituency, and you should. We want to hold out our hand to people who have voted for Republicans in the past. Many of them are tired, a good number are disgusted. They won't agree with a lot of what we stand for, but they've had it up to here with the Republicans and we should make sure our tent is big enough to welcome them in.

So if you want to help elect McCain, keep blessing him as if he were the white knight who accidentally hopped on the wrong horse. Forget to continually point out that he is truly up to no good. Keep pulling your punches. Don't remind people McCain wants to help the oil companies even more than Bush did. Don't bring up that he wants to outlaw all abortion. Back away from painting McCain as the guy who thinks it's a good idea to stay in Iraq until pigs fly. That way, if you keep praising him, you can send a mixed message to the less-informed who are simply not going to figure it out. When they walk into a voting booth, they will see two names on the ballot:

· Barack Obama
· War Hero

Trust me, this ain't Sweden. War Hero wins every time.

Have Obama pick a vice-presidential candidate who is a conservative white guy, or a general, or a Republican. Yes, it will seem like smart politics at first. Shore up Obama's lack of military experience with a hawk.

Be true to Obama's message that he'll be a president for everybody by having him run with a Republican.

Make a pitch to the purple states of Virginia and Indiana to vote Democratic this time by putting one of their own on the ticket.

Or swing for the fences and make the red state of Ohio happy by handing the vice-presidential slot to its governor.

But by doing any of this, you will upset the base that not only must come out on election day, it must also be active and work dozens of hours during the campaign. They have to personally bring 10 people each to the polls with them if we are to avoid the disasters of the past two elections. Many won't do this extra work if Obama picks the wrong Veep. It will suck the air out of the balloon in a big way.

Obama electrified the nation on the notion of change and hope and a fresh direction in Washington. If he picks a running mate who screams "Same old same old", it will make it harder for him to attract all the new voters he needs to bring to the polls to win. Remember there are nearly 100 million adults who choose not to vote. That is a large base from which to draw millions of new votes. Obama should not desert a strategy that has worked well for him.

There is nothing wrong with picking someone who can help him win a swing state or someone who has more experience than he does in certain areas. But when I hear pundits say, "He has to pick a Catholic", well, John Kerry was a total Catholic and the Catholic vote went to Mr W. I mean, here's one of the largest groups in the country - 66 million Catholics - and they/we have allowed only one Catholic to be president in 208 years. You would think they would have been flocking to Kerry in 2004. That is not the way people think. It is the way pundits think. Keep listening to them and you can help elect John McCain the next president of the United States.

Keep writing speeches for Obama like the one in front of the American Israeli lobbying group the day after the final primaries. Here's what he said: "The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat." And: "Let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel. Sometimes there are no alternatives to confrontation."

Sounds like a speech McCain would give. Sounds like he's ready to invade Iran. He staked out an even worse position for the Palestinians vis-a-vis Jerusalem than the one held by George W Bush. Keep that up and more and more supporters will be less and less enthused. It will be harder to keep the base motivated if they continue to hear how Obama wants to expand Bush's "faith-based" initiatives, doesn't have a health plan that covers everyone, and wants to send more troops to Afghanistan. The implied message of this is that the Republican plan is a good plan. So why would voters want to elect the candidate imitating the Republican when they can get the real thing? Talk like this gets McCain elected.

Somehow forget that this was a historic year for women and that there is more work to do. Obama should be making a speech about gender like the brilliant one he gave on race back in March. Millions of people, especially women, had high hopes for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Attention must be paid. And you don't pay attention to it by having your advisers run your wife through the makeover machine, trying to soften her up and pipe her down. Michelle Obama has been one of the most refreshing things about this election year. But within weeks of the end of the primary season, the handlers stepped in to deal with the "Michelle Problem". What problem? She speaks her mind? She wears what she wants? She thought he was crazy to run for president and tried to put her foot down? Only a crazy person would want her husband and family to be chewed up and ground through the political grist mill.

Michelle's biggest sin, according to the punditocracy, was to say that, as a black woman, this may be the first time in her adult life she's been really proud of her country. Shock! Surprise! Outrage! But not from any of the black women I know.

Barack Obama, outnumbered in his household 3-1 by the female gender, has a lot at stake in making sure that women's rights and opportunities are on a par with men's. As one who knows what it's like to be in a class of people who traditionally have not held power, he's in an excellent position to speak to another group that has been left out - women - and assure them that he will be their advocate.

Plus, this is just good politics. Women vote by a larger margin than men. And if it remains true that Obama will not carry the white male vote (as most of the polls indicate he will not), then he simply cannot win without capturing a strong majority of the female vote. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton both lost the white male vote but won the White House. They did so by winning an overwhelming percentage of the black, Hispanic and female vote. That has to be Obama's strategy. Otherwise Cindy McCain will be our new First Lady.

Show up to a gunfight with a peashooter. Convince yourself that the Republicans are just going to roll over and play dead because there is simply no life left in their party. Convince yourself this one is in the bag! Convince yourself that if you play by the rules, the Republicans will, too. And when McCain and his people roll out their nuclear arsenal on you, just go all sweet and sensitive and logical. Believe that the truth shall prevail, that good people will see what the Republicans are up to. As they smear you, your family, your religious beliefs - cower, back down, go on the defensive. Heck, if they don't like your new I'm-running-for-president logo, denounce it, apologise for it, and fire the person who designed it.

But don't stop there. Be ready to jump and change anything at a moment's notice. If they ask you to stand on your head and do the hokey-pokey, snap to it and do it with a smile on your face and don't forget to apologise for not doing the hokey-pokey earlier, you meant no disrespect and please don't take it as any indication that you do not love your country, your flag, and your Christian God.

Do all of that, and then listen for that sound - the sound of your supporters shuffling away in silence. Don't worry, though - they won't vote for McCain. They'll just stop showing up at the campaign headquarters over on Maple Street. They'll say they're too busy to go on another three-hour door-to-door literature drop. They'll still take a list of a hundred voters home to call and read the index card over the phone about "why you should vote for Obama" - but there won't be much enthusiasm in their voice, and the voter on the other end of the line will hear that. After 15 or 20 calls, they'll give up - after all, there's dishes to do and a dog to walk. And on election day they'll go do their duty and vote, but they will not be up at 6am driving around the city picking up strangers who need a ride to the polls.

Denounce me! The candidate Obama, at some point, might be asked this question: "Michael Moore is a supporter of yours and has endorsed you. But in his new book, Mike's Election Guide, he says the following (go ahead and fill in the blank - I've provided a full list of outrageously offensive lines already taken out of context in advance to make it easy for rightwing commentators and Fox News). Will you still accept his endorsement or do you denounce him?"

And he better denounce me or they will tear him to shreds. He had better back away not only from me but from anyone and everyone who veers a bit too far to the left of where his advisers have told him is the sweet spot for all those red state voters.

We can't take four more years of this madness. We need you to be a candidate who will fight back every time they attack you. Actually, don't even wait till you have to fight back. Fight first! Show some vision and courage and smoke them out. Take the offensive. Keep asking why these lobbyists are McCain's best friends. Let's finally have a Democrat who's got the balls to fire first.

Alternatives to Olympic viewing

I refuse to watch the Olympics for the reasons Val stated in an earlier post, and I recommend boycotting the 2008 games. Viewer ratings matter to the sponsors, so send them a message.

Meanwhile, you can still celebrate the spirit of sportsmanship in several ways. Help sponsor a local children's sports team; they are always in need of help. Donate to a university scholarship fund, or the Special Olympics.

Host a Free Tibet party, ask your friends to bring a sports themed movie to share. My all time favorites are "The Pride of the Yankees," and "Rocky."

What are yours?

Suffering in Moa at the Hands of the Nickel Industry- One Cuban's Story

Yesterday, El Nuevo Herald ran a story about the contamination caused by the mining of nickel in Moa, in Holguín. A commenter wrote about how his family has been affected by the contamination and a Babalú reader, Maria S. contacted him to hear more. Below is Yonnys Garlobo Hernández's story.

For the past eight years Yonnys Garlobo Hernández, 32, has been able to breathe, literally—with no worries.

He no longer lives in Moa, Holguín, in eastern Cuba. He now lives in the Dominican Republic. After graduating with a degree in civil engineering in Cuba, Garlobo started working at age 18 and spent around five years in the nickel industry in Moa.

Yes, in Moa, the same city portrayed by geographer Eudel Cepero in his presentation at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) in Miami.

Garlobo’s story is less technical, but much more brutal. It couldn’t be otherwise when you have lost your grandfather and several uncles and aunts to lung cancer. What links them? They all spent their entire lives working for the nickel plants and mining industry in Moa.

There are two nickel plants in the city: the Pedro Soto Alba, operated as a joint venture with the Canadian company Sherritt, and the Ernesto Che Guevara plant, so far being operated solely by the Cuban government. Several smaller plants and factories associated with the mines are also located in Moa and there is a new plant, in its final stage of construction (Las Camariocas) that would be a joint operation with the Venezuelan government.

Garlobo is convinced that the high number of people suffering and dying from lung cancer in the city is a direct result of the pollution created by the nickel plants. He says he still has neighbors living in his former neighborhood that have not died, but who are suffering from lung cancer.

Most of these people that are dying of lung cancer have worked in the nickel plants all their lives, he says. “As time goes by and they are diagnosed, what always comes to light is the fact that they have been working directly with the nickel.” According to him, in Moa it is now somewhat normal to see young people with severe tooth decay, black teeth, and acute gum disease.

The city’s residents, where the majority is employed at the nickel plants, are already used to the fact that they cannot hang white clothes outside to dry. They immediately get stained red, due to the cloud of red dust –emitted by the plants – that permanently covers the sky.

Refrigerators and all appliances in the houses rust very quickly and everyone knows you cannot wear any jewelry at all, unless it is solid gold; any cheap imitation gold quickly becomes rusted and black.

But the trail of the pollution goes way beyond the air. In a reservoir near the plant –set in approximately 1,000 square miles in the coastline, with its contents running directly into the Cabañas River— is where the plant dumps all the residuals of the contaminants.

What you can see in that reservoir looks like a thick, black mud and very frequently, the pipes explode around the area. It is close to Moa’s port and there are no trees at all there, says Garlobo. “We also have the Veguitas River, where you won’t need bleach or detergent to do your laundry; pure ammonia runs through that river.”

Even though 50,000 tons of nickel are produced in Moa every year (according to data made public by the Cuban government itself) in the city of 70,000 habitants there are many areas where there is no running and/or potable water.

Once, the hospital was filled with children suffering from bloody diarrhea that was close to becoming epidemic, Garlobo remembers. An infection caused by intestinal parasites can easily become a major epidemic that cannot even be counteracted by boiling the water to drink, he said.

The content of toxic minerals and heavy metals in the water in the area is so high that even the doctors advise the locals not to boil the drinking water, since this can skyrocket the concentration of such minerals.

And what are doing the Cuban and Canadian executives and the pollution?
Nothing.

Read the rest below the fold.

According to Garlobo, when the Canadians arrived to Moa, they quickly realized that diseases were affecting the employees and the population of the area, so they started sending the employees to Havana to get a complete medical check up.

The problems started when the employees became aware of all of the health problems that they had found out that their lungs were in poor condition.

Lawsuits, compensation for damages? No way! Very quickly and with almost no explanation, the medical check ups for the employees in the capital were cancelled.

“The Canadians, the Sherritt executives, and some Chileans that are also working in the nickel plant do not live near the plant, or in the city’s downtown area,” he said.

The foreign executives have their residences in the outskirts of the city, surrounded by trees, in a subdivision called Los Checos. “They are the only ones living there,” says Garlobo, “not a single Cuban lives in that subdivision in the outskirts of the city, where the pollution cannot reach them.”

Ironically, the conditions where the Canadians operate Moa’s plant are nothing like the conditions in the other plant they operate in Canada, which is also located near a river, but they do not dump contaminants in it.

Most of the workers in the nickel industry in Moa are aware of the danger they are being exposed to everyday. But, not even the promise improving their economic situation by working with foreigners is worth taking this risk.

According to Garlobo, at the beginning, the workers were granted some economic incentives, such as receiving part of their salary in convertible pesos (35.00 CUC). But, all of that has been eliminated. Now, the amount of convertible pesos you receive depends on the percentage of the production’s goal that is met.

Another example he remembers is that, also at the beginning, all employees retiring from the plants received a refrigerator and a TV set, courtesy of the Canadian management. But that incentive is also gone, he said.

In Moa, as usually happens in the rest of the island, people don’t dare to question or protest to the local government and/or authorities. “I’ve never heard of anybody going to complain to them; if you do that you can get in big trouble,” he says. “There, people suffer in silence; they are slaves of their own job and they do not want to lose it.”

Governmental organizations like the local government (Poder Popular), Federación de Mujeres Cubanas and the CDR play absolutely no role in this issue. Apparently, their goals don’t have anything to do with the residents’ well being.

The Canadians, on the other hand, appear to be operating in Cuba following a very particular type of environmental policies and guidelines. As long are the Cubans are dying of cancer and not the Canadians (who can actually sue and demand compensation) everything is just fine.

You can read this post in Spanish HERE. Para la versión en español, sigue este enlace.

Cross-posted at Claudia4Libertad.com

Breaking news: Cuban slave case ruling

Florida Judge rules in favor of Cubans in slave case:

MIAMI (AP) -- A federal judge in Miami has ruled in favor of three Cuban men who claimed in a lawsuit they were enslaved by a shipyard on the island of Curacao.
Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King ruled Friday that the Curacao Drydock Co. failed to meet several court deadlines and decided the case for the Cubans by default. That means a trial on damages will be held in November.

The three Cubans, now living in the U.S., claimed in their 2006 lawsuit that Cuba's communist government forced them to work for the Curacao shipyard as virtual slaves. The shipyard had denied the allegations and an attorney for the company didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

King previously rejected an attempt by the shipyard to move the case to Curacao.

A Democrat lying? John Edwards, come on down!

"Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate; In ABC News Interview, Edwards Says He Cheated, but Did Not Father Child"

John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extra-marital affair with a novice film-maker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.

In an interview for broadcast tonight on Nightline, Edwards told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff he did have an affair with 42-year old Rielle Hunter, but said that he did not love her.

Edwards also denied he was the father of Hunter's baby girl, Frances Quinn, although the one-time Democratic Presidential candidate said he has not taken a paternity test.

Edwards said he knew he was not the father based on timing of the baby's birth on February 27, 2008. He said his affair ended too soon for him to have been the father.

Must have been his winning smile...

This is what America is all about

From the always excellent Gates of Vienna blog (add them to your news reader, you will not be disappointed) comes an American success story that will make you feel better this Olympic Friday. While I, like Val, will not watch the Olympics this year for the very same reasons he wrote about earlier today, I still want our team to win as much metal as possible.

He was one of the lost boys.

Now the Sudanese-American young man, an escapee from the Muslim captors that took him at gunpoint from his parents, is running for his life again.

After spending ten years in a refugee camp Lomong came to live with a New York couple (along with five other boys). He attended high school there and then college in Arizona.

Joseph Lopez Lomong was chosen by his teammates to be the flag bearer in the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics…

If that weren’t enough, he will run onto the field, flag in hand, just a year after achieving American citizenship.

And if that weren’t enough, his teammates include two more naturalized citizens, Kenyan- American Bernard Lagat and Mexican-American Leo Manzano.

There are many happy endings in this story, with many ironic tragedies nested inside those tales. For the latter, consider that China supplies arms to the Sudanese who stole this boy from his parents.

The runner himself has some parting words:

In America, everyone has a chance to do all these things,” Lomong said. “You follow the rules, people will choose, and if I’m blessed to get that opportunity, I’ll get it.

On protectionist Obamanomics

This morning I was listening to XM Satellite Radio's POTUS '08 channel as I often do and they often play clips of the candidates talking about different issues. This morning it was trade. I heard Obama say something that betrayed his complete lack of understanding of how market economies work.

I searched to find the remark and found this NYT article from a couple of months ago with almost the same exact quote:

Last week, near Detroit, he asserted that “if South Korea is selling hundreds of thousands of cars to the United States and we can only sell less than 5,000 in South Korea, something is wrong.”

There's a basic concept in economics called "comparative advantage". It's based on the very simple idea that some people (and some countries) are better suited to conduct certain activities than others. South Korea, for a variety of reasons, has proven that it has a comparative advantage in manufacturing at least some types of automobiles. The Obamessiah makes the leap that our low sales in South Korea MUST be a result of trade barriers. That simple answer is meant to obscure an even simpler one. Perhaps South Koreans don't want American cars in the same numbers Americans want Korean cars.

The NYT article points in that direction:

As for automobiles, Korea’s auto imports have grown nearly tenfold in the past decade as trade barriers have eased, and Japanese and European car manufacturers have been more successful at capitalizing on those opportunities than their American competitors.

To me it's obvious that America has lost the comparative advantage that it once had in automobile manufacturing industry. Labor and other costs are simply too high in America for American-built cars to be competitive in the global marketplace.

There's a basic flaw in all the populist protectionist rhetoric about free trade is that it's all rooted in the premise that the economy should be static. Since we were once the world's leading automobile manufacturer then we must always be the world's leading automobile manufacturer. Things don't work that way. It's called competition.

In order for America to continue to have the world's leading economy, we can't be married to one industry or group of industries. We need to innovate, create new industries in areas we have a comparative advantage in. Longing for yesterday when other countries didn't have the know-how and capable work forces they have now ain't going to cut it.

By the way, these protectionist populists always raise the specter of trade deficits. But very few people know what a trade deficit is much less how they work and what the implications are. There's considerable evidence that trade deficits are not a bad thing. They aren't necessarily good either. They just are.

In general protectionist policies end up hurting the consumers of the country that implements them. Essentially Obama is saying that we should all pay more for cars in order to protect the jobs of people in that particular industry regardless of the fact that other countries can produce cars cheaper and perhaps with better quality. If you apply that logic to all American industries then there would be no foreign trade at all and we'd all be paying prices much higher than the rest of the trading world.

The world economy moves fast and so do consumer preferences. What protectionists are in essence saying is America can't compete. I think they are wrong.

The 2008 Olympics

Since Gusano basically broke the ice today on the Olympics with this post, I find it's an appropriate time to post my own thoughts with regards to the heralded event:

I will not watch a single minute of this year's games.

I have always loved the Olympics and have tried to take in as many events every four years as humanly possible. It's incredibly inspiring to watch the world's youth compete for greatness on the world stage. The best of the best up against the best of the best. You watch these young men and women and realize that what your experiencing is years and years of determination. Years and years of hard work, dedication and pure, unbridled talent.

And while these sporting events are supposed to take place in an apolitical atmosphere, we all know that that is somewhat an impossibility, as countries showcase their best to prove to the world their might and that they, in fact, are the best.

But this year's event are of a comletely different political stripe. The mere fact that these Olympics are being hosted by Communist China makes these games unwatchable for me. I just cant reconcile the fact that while athletes from allover the free world are competing, the Chinese government is censoring news, prohibiting internet access, continuing to subjugate its people and still ruling over Tibet.

I simply cannot derive any pleasure from that whatsoever. And I certainly dont want to feel complicit in those human rights abuses. I'm sure there wil be some folks out there that may think Im being overly dramatic or ridiculous even. So be it.

If I spend a good part of my life in the struggle to support and assist and in solidarity with Cuban Political Prisoners, it would be hypocritical of me to sit on my comfy couch and watch the Olympics from China, while Chinese Political Prisoners suffer the same fate as their Cuban peers.

My apologies to the athletes, for they have worked long and hard for this great achievement, but I simply cant separate the sports from the politics on this one. This just hits home for me just as if these Games were being held in today's Havana.

An amazing archaeological discovery

An archaeological team, digging near Washington, DC, has uncovered the skeletal remains of what is believed to be the first liberal:

(H/T Lou)

Life imitates art

May the father of Nissan be cursed!

From JihadWatch:

Gulf states are threatening to boycott Nissan. The reason? A new Nissan commercial airing in Israel has offended the oil-rich Arabs. The commercial depicts a group of robe-flowing sheikhs walking out of a building only to encounter the new Nissan Tiida car, touted for its fuel efficiency. The Saudis slowly walk towards the vehicle, and then begin abusing it -- first verbally then physically. One Saudi shouts "You've ruined my house!" (colloquial Arabic for "You've put me out of business!"). As he's being carried away, he hollers one last curse, literally: "May Abu Tiida be cursed!" Since "Abu" means "father of," that's another way of saying, "May Nissan be cursed," as the Japanese company is "father" to the model (pretty slick marketing move, portraying Nissan as the solution for high oil prices).

According to the Jerusalem Post, one Arab official, Hani al-Wafa, speaking on Saudi TV, said: "It's my opinion that Nissan made a huge error by igniting these [racist] instincts. "We need to apply punishments... against these things. In order for Nissan to keep its interests in the region, it must apologize."

Sergeant Clueless

If you could meet any person dead or alive, who would you meet?

Jesus? Buddha? Mohamed? Moses?

Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot?

Personally, I’d like to meet Jesus and clarify a few things.

Well, one of our Olympic athletes, US Army sergeant Dremiel Byers who’s a member of America’s Greco-Roman wrestling team says his choice would be Fidel. (!?!?)

Of course he must have a really good reason for his choice, no?

"I don't know, it just seems like he'd be interesting," Byers said when pressed.

Perhaps realizing that his choice was somewhat odd, he dug a deeper trench in an effort to justify it:

"I think I wanted to meet Castro to see if I could talk him into letting me get one of those hats from him,'' Byers said at a press conference.

Byers called Castro a "great guy.''

That’s nice.

What defines a “great guy” in Byers’ view:

"He's a strong person, strong willed, what have you,'' Byers said. "I heard a story when I was in Cuba that one of their athletes got a medal and he got to have dinner with Castro. They were sitting at the table and (Castro) said, 'Champion, huh?' Then he reached into his wallet and pulled out a dollar and hands it to the guy... I was like, 'What did you do?' And he said, 'I acted like it was the best dollar I ever got.'''

Byers should enjoy his stay at the Olympic Concentration Camp err I mean Village in Beijing, there’s lots of “great guys” or what have you, over there in China. And maybe when he comes back, the President can invite him to the white house and slip him a greenback for his efforts and we’ll see how he likes being humiliated by his commander in chief.

Crossposted at La Contra Revolución

Latex or enamel? Gloss or semigloss?

There aint no paint for walls, but there's sure 'nough paint for slogans.

In Today's Sugar Report: Cuba

Stop the presses! Cuba "hopes," Cuba "expects" to cover domestic sugar needs. Yes, folks, the country that was once described as a "sugar bowl" has been importing the sweet substance, perhaps because their production levels have been akin to those of the Great Depression.

But just to demonstrate how completely the organs of the press have been co-opted, according to AP the production levels were down because of a restructuring six years ago, and the glory years are described in the 1980's. Former sugar growing areas were devoted to farming or forests. Yeah, the capos in Havana consciously missed the opportunity to amass more wealth in order to create more forests. Really. No mention of the true heyday of Cuban sugar, pre1959. No mention of the mismanagement of half a century of communist rule. Nope. And don't give me the shibboleth about the Americans. In 1959, fully half of the sugar refineries were owned by Cubans, up from zero.

And in concert with this earth shattering development comes the announcement that Cuba is to scale back on it plans to produce ethanol. Of course by the time the news makes it to Reuters, it's a question of following comrade fidel's lead. Some cynics might be more likely to suggest that they will not produce it, just as they have not met housing quotas, because they can't; even more likely, given the recent raulian austerity speech, because they cannot afford to divert production from the sweet stuff.

They oughta be ashamed of themselves.

The mystery of Dashiell Torralba

In August of last year a woman named Dashiell Torralba appeared on what was then called "Polos Opuestos" with Miami TV host Maria Elvira Salazar. Torralba is notable because she was the girlfriend of Antonio "Tony" Castro, one of Fidel's sons (the one who is an orthopedic surgeon and has traveled as the team doctor with the Cuban baseball team). She told the story of what that experience was like.

She also sold a video to Univision's channel 23 in Miami that revealed some details about the Castro household.

A blog search for Torralba's name today reveals that the video is being actively promoted online.

And curiously the existence of another video was made public today. On Oscar Haza's show (which competes with Salazar's) some clips were shown of a porno made by Torralba for a Miami-based smut producer named Bang Bros. In the video, she uses the name Rocio Marrero. We won't link the video but the name of the film is "Language Barrier".

Why is the Univision video of the Castro family home movies suddenly being promoted after almost a year of it being online and how come Torralba's porno comes to light on the same day? Something is going on with Ms. Torralba, I just don't know what it is.

Additionally, Torralba made news last month when El Nuevo Herald reported that she was being charged with credit card fraud and identity theft.

Update (Val): I first read about this video yesterday morning at Penultimos Dias and they should get the kudos for breaking this. I didnt post about it because I found the video to be incredibly tasteless, and not proper for posting on Babalu. Im glad Henry didnt post the direct link to the video.

Herald finally acknowledges accusations of espionage...

made against one of its editorial contributors.

Graphic from Newsbusters

Read about it at Herald Watch.

Keeping Everyone Happy from Marta's Cuban American Kitchen

I confess that I was tempted to skip posting a recipe this week. (I know!)

The (really great) reason I felt like it would be okay is that my husband, Eric and I are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary at a fabulous little bed and breakfast place in Rosarito Beach in Baja California.

But being the good Cuban woman and mother that I am, the guilt of seeing all of you go hungry this week would make it absolutely impossible for me to relax and enjoy myself, so I will post a quick and easy appetizer today.

It’s seriously so quick to make that you will be happy and It’s also sooo why-didn’t-I-think-of-that easy that you’ll run right out and get the ingredients to make it this weekend.

So… you will be impressed and satisfied, and (more importantly) I can enjoy my vacation without feeling guilty. =D

TTFN! (ta-ta for now!) ;-)

Avocado Cocktail

2 large California avocados (the kind with the bumpy black skin)
Half of a 12 oz. jar cocktail sauce
1 fresh lemon

1) Cut the avocados into bite-size cubes.
2) In a shallow bowl, squeeze 1/2 of the lemon over the avocado cubes.

3) Pour cocktail sauce over the cubed avocados and gently mix together. They should be lightly coated, not drowned. =D

4) Serve in individual cups with lemon wedges.

5) Makes about six servings.

Some Republicans were born to be Democrats

Exhibit A: Arlen Specter

He originally planned to go to Cuba to meet with Raoul Castro and to Venezuela to meet with Hugo Chavez. But the Cuban government told Specter there is not enough time to arrange a trip.

"I'm surprised," Specter said. "I've been to Cuba three times in the last decade and have had very good meetings with Fidel Castro."

The meeting with Chavez, however, looks like it will still happen, Specter said. He also met with Chavez in 2005.

I wonder if he managed to ask fidel for an extra serving of slop for prisoner of conscience Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet while he was having a "very good meeting."

I'm sure the casto brothers have supplied Specter with EVERY Cuban delicacy possible, to fulfill his desires and make those meetings "very good". And I'm sure that their turning down the opportunity to be hospitable again was based on the short amount of time to arrange the prerequisite dishes.

25 reasons you may be racist

From National Review's The Corner:

25 Reasons You May be a Racist [Peter Kirsanow]

The tendency of Obama supporters to see racist impulses behind every criticism of their candidate has evolved into absurdity. Now even the first black president feels compelled to declare he's not a racist. By this measure, nearly every American is at risk of being branded a racist at some point in the campaign. To assess whether you're at risk just consult the list below (apologies to Jeff Foxworthy):

1. If you think Obama's the most liberal member of the senate you...may be a racist.

2. If you object to Obama raising your payroll, capital gains and estate taxes you...may be a racist.

3. If you'd prefer a president have at least some foreign policy experience you...may be a racist.

4. If you're in favor of drilling for oil and building nuclear power plants you...may be a racist.

5. If you think "Vero Possemus" is Latin for "Massive Ego" you... may be a racist.

6. If you wonder why Obama was hanging around William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn you...may be a racist.

7. If your pastor is nothing like Rev. Wright or Father Pfleger you... may be a racist.

8. If you don't want the majority of justices on the Supreme Court to be like Stephen Breyer you...may be a racist.

9. If you're not impressed with Obama's 100% NARAL rating you...may be a racist.

10. If you're not sure whether Obama opposed or supported FISA reauthorization you...may be a racist.

11. If you don't think America is a "downright mean" country you...may be a racist.

12. If you think Obama should've visited wounded troops at Ramstein and Landstuhl you...may be a racist.

13. If you think the surge is working and that's a good thing you...may be a racist.

14. If you oppose racial preferences in employment, school admissions and contracting you...may be a racist.

15. If you think "we are the change we've been waiting for" is a line from a Monty Python skit you...may be a racist.

16. If you prefer that a president have a smidgen of executive experience you...may be a racist.

17. If you're appalled that Obama voted against treating infants born after an abortion attempt the same medically as other infants born alive you...may be a racist.

18. If you were proud of your country even before Obama's candidacy you...may be a racist.

20. If you don't think American troops are just "air raiding villages" you...may be a racist.

21. If your grandmother isn't a "typical white person" you...may be a racist.

22. If you don't think rural, working class people are bitter and "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them" you...may be a racist.

23. If you're not sure invading Pakistan is a particularly good idea—what with their nuclear weapons and all— you...may be a racist.

24. If you don't want the president to meet without precondition with the leaders of state sponsors of terror you...may be a racist.

25. If you don't care how Hollywood or the European elite think you should vote you...may be a racist.

This campaign has, to paraphrase Moynihan, defined racism down.

(H/T Mahone Dunbar at Paxety Pages)

Pelusa sighting

I was having lunch with Val at the Biltmore on Wednesday afternoon. We were meeting with some folks that work for an NGO that does work in Cuba. All of a sudden, Nancy Pelosi walks in and zips by with a couple of body guards. Too bad old frozen face didn't stop to chat. She was in town promoting her book and no doubt helping Joedilocks fund raise.

Take her advice with giant grain of salt...

What's pending is for Washington and Havana to learn to live in peace, that is, to settle into a mutually beneficial relationship. Along the way, the United States should gain a consideration of Cuban sensibilities.

So says the woman who tonight was fingered (again) as a Cuban agent of influence by Lt. Col. Chris Simmons. This time it was on our Babalu Radio Hour, the podcast of which will be available shortly. You can subscribe to the podcast with iTunes by clicking here.

The Herald, as one of her employers, has yet to publish a single word about the accusation. Top notch journalism.

The BabaluBlog Radio Hour podcast is available

Go to our Blog Talk Radio home page where you can listen or download any of our Babalu Radio Hour podcasts including tonight's show with Lt. Col. Simmons. It's a keeper, folks! The podcast should be online by 11:30 PM tonight.

Babalu Radio Hour tonight | 9:00 PM EDT | Special Guest Christopher Simmons

Tonight, on our regular Wednesday webcast, we welcome Lt. Col. Christopher Simmons, a US Army counter-intelligence expert on Cuban affairs, as our very special guest for the entire show. Lt. Col. Simmons, formerly with the Defense Intelligence Agency, will be talking about his recent revelations, and about the history of Cuban espionage in the United States, with an emphasis on our own backyard right here in sunny South Florida. We plan to take calls in the last half-hour of the show, so call up and participate.

The call-in number is (646) 652-4506, or you can send an email to me or Henry with questions or comments. The show begins at 9:00 PM EDT. Don't miss the opportunity to call in and participate. Be there!

Babalú’s Believe It Or Not

The United Nation’s Human Rights Council has appointed a Cuban law professor named Miguel Alfonso Martinez as its chairman.

Imagine that. Miguel is a law professor in a country where there is no rule of law. Talk about a charade. Well, on second thought, maybe there is some logic to his appointment. His experience in pretending that there are legitimate legal procedures in Cuba that warrant teaching, should come in handy when he has to pretend that the UN’s Human Rights Council cares about Human Rights.

To add insult to injury and to slip further into incredibility, the Human Rights Council appointed and old Soviet “law expert,” Vladimir Kartashkin, as one of Martinez’s Vice presidents.

Two experts in totalitarian law, charing a human rights council. Unbelievable.

And that’s not even the unbelievable part of the Reuter’s article.

Here’s the last paragraph of the article:

But critics say the Council has also become a battleground between blocs of countries in which Islamic nations -- usually supported by Russia, China and Cuba -- scrap with Western countries over competing visions of human rights.

According to Reuters there are “competing visions” of human rights? What are these visions competing with, reality? Competing delusions, maybe. Are the Reuters reporters are too niave to know what constitutes a violation of human rights?

There didn’t seem to be “competing vision” syndrome when they accused American Army Reservists at Abu Ghraib who engaged in nocturnal extracurricular activities with inmates. Those denouncing the obviously errant behavior were not labeled “critics.”

To paraphrase Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Islamic Nations, China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, et al. are entitled to their “visions” of human rights, but not to their facts. And it is fact that in these countries, human rights, which can be objectively measured, and are, by various international rights organizations, are flagrantly violated.

Shame on reporters and news organizations that ignore facts and justify the absurdity of naming a Cuban as chairman of the UN’s Human Rights Council as a “competing vision.”

Univ. of Alabama Baseball Team Will Visit Cuba.

“Alabama authorities are famous for setting ferocious German shepherds on Civil rights marchers, for brutalizing them with fire hoses and for bashing their heads with billy clubs. Alabama residents are famous for fire-bombing black churches. And an Alabama Governor is famous for personally preventing blacks from entering the doors of the Univ.of Alabama. This southern state's racist cruelties inspired Neil Young to some of his biggest hits. Yet the racist regime that jailed and tortured the longest suffering Black political prisoners in modern history is hosting the Univ. of Alabama's Baseball Team to loud fanfare from Alabama officials. “

It so happens that I'm quite fond of Alabama and Alabamians (especially during deer-season.) A tiny number of sadist kooks--utterly unrepresentative of the state's friendly people, in my experience-- were responsible for all the above. But I wrote the above while envisioning the Mainstream Media treatment of the Univ. of Alabama's baseball team visiting South Africa in 1986, with President Pik Botha's blessing —something utterly unthinkable by Crimson Tide officials.

Alas, I would have been wrong even had it happened. Because the longest suffering black political prisoner in history, and the black political prisoners suffering jail and torture TODAY for quoting Martin Luther King, were jailed and tortured –not by South Africa—but by the regime that will ROLL out the red-carpet next week for a visit from the Crimson Tide's Baseball Team. This visit is being hailed by the Media along with Alabama officials.

“We are very grateful to all the people that worked so hard to make this trip possible," gushed Alabama baseball coach Jim Wells. "This will be the opportunity of a lifetime for the players, coaches and staff that will participate in this event. The trip to Havana will be a valuable educational tool for all of us.”

I bet. Cuban women and girls whose mothers and grandmothers enjoyed rights and incomes no black in Alabama could dream of in 1958, will be available to these fellows at bargain-basement rates.

La Pelusa Pelosi in Miami Today

While we're all struggling to make ends meet because of rising oil prices and the domino effect it causes, Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, having closed Congress for a five week vacation despite appeals from Republicans and other Democrat members of Congress, is on a whirlwind tour hawking her new book, ironically and arrogantly titled: "Know Your Power."

She will be in Miami today at the Temple Judea, 5500 Granada Blvd., Coral Gables, at 7:30 pm.

Some folks are planning on meeting across from the venue to demonstrate and protest the Speaker's placing of her own self-interest before those of her constituents and the Americans she's supposed to represent:

A group of concerned citizens, worried about prices at the pump and Congress's refusal to deal with the energy crisis, will demonstrate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's book signing event at 5500 Granada Ave, in Coral Gables, across the steet from where the Speaker will be holding her event.

"It is disturbing that while American citizens are paying over four dollars a gallon at the pump, that the Speaker would adjourn congress for five weeks without allowing a vote on possible solutions to the energy crisis," said Armando Ibarra, event coordinator.

For more information,
Please conctact Armando Ibarra at 786-514-2965 or armando.j.ibarra@gmail.com

If you can make it, take a few minutes of your day to let Pelosi know that she is supposed to act on behalf of the best interests of her country and countrymen, instead of what Amazon ranking her new book has.

Below the fold you can see all the dates and venues of her tour and you can bet your behind she aint traveling by hybrid car or public transportation or wind powered VW. I certainly hope she aint traveling on my dime.

Update: From the organizer Armando Ibarra:

It is disturbing that while American citizens are paying over four dollars a gallon at the pump, the Speaker would adjourn congress for five weeks without allowing a vote on the only solution to the energy crisis - a comprehensive "all of the above" package.

It is equally disturbing that Speaker Pelosi would neglect her duty to the American people in favor of selling books for her own benefit. It's obvious that the Democrats, led by Sen. Obama and Speaker Pelosi, are out of touch with the needs and priorities of our nation. The Democrats have demonstrated that they consider Florida nothing more than an ATM used to collect campaign contributions and obtain personal profit at the expense of solving America's problems.

We encourage our friends and neighbors in the community to join us to protest Speaker Pelosi's very arrogant attitude and clear failure of leadership. Help us send a strong message to the Speaker and Democrats in Congress that we want an "all of the above" solution to the energy crisis.

8/4/2008 John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Columbia Point
Columbia Point
Boston, MA 02125
617-514-1645 5:30 pm

8/5/2008 Free Library of Philadelphia (Central Library)
Montgomery Auditorium 1901 Vine St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-567-4341 7 pm

8/6/2008 Temple Judea
5500 Granada Blvd.
Miami, FL 33146
305-442-4408 7:30 pm

8/7/2008 Borders Books
612 East Liberty St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-668-7652 7 pm

8/11/2008 American Jewish University
Gindi Auditorium 15600 Mulholland Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90077
310-659-3110 7 pm

8/12/2008 Dominican University
Angelico Hall 50 Acacia Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
415-927-0960 7 pm

8/13/2008 Forum for Women Entrepreneurs
Oracle Corporation 500 Oracle Pkwy.
Redwood City, CA 94065
415-382-6022 7 pm

8/14/2008 Cowell Theater
Fort Mason Center, Pier 2
San Francisco, CA 94123
415-643-3400×11 7 pm

8/20/2008 Tattered Cover Bookstore
1628 16th Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-436-1070 5:30 pm

Update on USA-Cuba World Cup Qualifier matches

I have a few minor updates regarding the upcoming USA-Cuba World Cup Qualifier matches:

• Game time for the US match on Saturday, October 11 has been set to 4:00 PM EST at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
• No news on ticket sales yet. However, tickets for previous matches have not gone on sale until about a month before. I'll keep an eye out through August anyways, but we'll likely have to wait until September.
• Many US fans inquired about traveling to Cuba for the scheduled match in Havana and were rebuffed by the Treasury department. The official response is below (emphasis mine):

CHICAGO (July 14, 2008) - In the past few months, U.S. Soccer has received numerous inquires from U.S. fans that are interested in traveling to Cuba for the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Sept. 6.

U.S. Soccer has been informed by the United States Department of Treasury (the United States Government agency of jurisdiction with respect to regulating travel to Cuba), that travel to Cuba for tourism or for the purposes of observing specific public performances, including sporting events, is prohibited under U.S. law.

While U.S. Soccer is unable to assist fans wishing to make the trip, the match will be shown live on ESPN2 and Galavision to provide our fans the chance to follow the team's continuing efforts to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Call me Deacon Blues

I get pretty angry whenever I read about some US sports team, be it professional, amateur or collegiate, that travels to Cuba to play their respective Cuban team. You read artices and stories about such trips and all those interviewed are so "excited" to travel to Cuba and compete against the Cubans or are looking forward to seeing the conditions of the country or state that the experience will be very enlightening and rewarding, etc..

Here's one such recent article from the Tuscaloosa News on the Crimson Tide baseball team traveling to Cuba for a few games:

CECIL HURT: After years of work, Tide approved for Cuba trip

The University of Alabama baseball team will be taking the road less traveled — in every way imaginable — later this year.

After years of negotiations, the Crimson Tide will travel and play in Cuba in mid-December, having received approval from both governments.

Now, all other "travel to Cuba issues" aside, I would ordinarily think that some ball team going to play in Cuba is not really such a big deal. I know "all other travel to Cuba issues aside" and "not really such a big deal" are whoppers, but bear with me here.

What gets my ire up about these things is that - this article being a prime example - you only read and hear about how great the experience will be for the American ballplayers, how awesome it will be for them to travel to Cuba, experience the country first hand, learn about the culture first hand, meet the people in person, etc...

Well, what about the Cuban ballplayers? Wouldnt the experiences and learning be just the same for them if they traveled here to play? I would think that a bunch of Cuban team members would find walking around and spending some time on a University campus in Alabama to be an incredible experience. I would think that would give them a huge lesson as to the American culture.

But no, it's all about the Americans going down to the island prison and experiencing it. Cuban athletes be damned.

And of course, farbeit for anyone to even think about how the Cuban athletes would feel, after having played host to an American team for a few days, when they go back to their usual routine of being regular old ordinary Cubans in Cuba.

Oh those poor, poor terrorists!

Guilty as charged.

Good. It's about damned time.

Chavez goes for all the bananas

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article today on the Venezuelan monkey-king's recent grab for dictatorial power. Unable to secure his perpetual reign through a democratic vote in December, Chavez did what all dictators do: He took it.

In 1998, Chavez was elected by the Venezuelan people by a democratic vote. He became the leader of a democracy with a democratic constitution and its own version of "checks and balances." Over the years, Chavez has slowly chipped away at the democratic principles of the Venezuelan constitution. Placing judges loyal to him on the Venezuelan Supreme Court, he has ensured that his socialist decrees remain untouched. It would be ironic, if it were not so frightening, how Chavez has exploited every liberty provided to him by the constitution of Venezuela to eliminate liberty in Venezuela.

And still, there are those that say it can't happen here.

The entire text of the article is below the fold.

In Enacting Decrees,
Chávez Makes
New Power Grab
President Creates
Militia, Expands
Control of Industry
By JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA and DARCY CROWE
August 6, 2008; Page A5

CARACAS, Venezuela -- In an ambitious power grab, President Hugo Chávez has enacted a slew of presidential decrees which formalize the creation of a popular militia and further consolidate state control over key areas of the economy such as agriculture and tourism.

Mr. Chávez, one of Washington's main antagonists in Latin America, published the decrees on Friday, just at the close of a special 18-month period that allowed him to bypass Congress in making laws. But only the titles, and not the texts, of the decrees were released. On Tuesday, the government made the full texts widely available.
[Chavez]
Associated Press
Chávez speaks at a news conference at the Meiendorf Castle residence outside Moscow on July 22, 2008.

The new laws show that Mr. Chávez is back on the offensive after suffering a humiliating defeat in December in a referendum that, among other things, would have allowed him the possibility of staying in power for life. In the months after the defeat, Mr. Chávez, who was first elected president in 1998, seemed to slow down his drive for expanded powers. But a number of the new decrees were part of the referendum that was rejected by voters -- sparking accusations that Mr. Chávez is evading the will of the people.

"We are in the presence of a dictatorial government which has given a coup d'état to the constitution," said Luis Miquilena, a former interior minister and political mentor to Mr. Chávez who has since turned against him. "Here we have no constitution, no law and the president does exactly what he wants."

In the past few days, Mr. Chávez said that if anyone didn't approve of the laws, they could file a challenge with the Supreme Court. But critics of the former army officer turned president said that would be futile because six of the seven justices are sympathetic to the president.

As a sign of that loyalty, the court on Tuesday upheld an anti-corruption official's decision to ban some of Mr. Chávez's most popular opponents from running in regional elections in November because of unproven graft charges.

Comparisons to Iran

The ban, which has elicited comparisons to moves by Iran's government preventing opposition politicians from running in elections in that country, will affect as many as 200 people, including Leopoldo López, a popular opposition politician who polls say would have a good chance at becoming the mayor of Caracas, one of the most important posts in the country.

Government officials weren't available for comment on Tuesday. Mario Isea, a Chávez supporter who heads the Congress's economic development committee, said that "there was no violation of the Constitution" in the new laws, but acknowledged that some of them were analogous to the December referendum. "Of course there are going to be similarities," he said. "It's the same person who is legislating."

Among the biggest changes -- and one which was turned down in December -- was the creation of another branch of the military, a "National Bolivarian Militia," which analysts say could challenge the position and role of the traditional armed forces.

"Their object is to intimidate the armed forces and the people," Mr. Miquilena said. "Those militia are at [Mr. Chávez's] personal command."

Mr. Chávez also changed the name of the armed forces, which are supposed to be apolitical, from the National Armed Forces. They are now to be called the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, invoking the title Mr. Chávez has chosen for his self-proclaimed socialist revolution.

The move is likely to add to growing unease over Mr. Chávez by some of Venezuela's armed forces. One reason why Mr. Chávez lost the December referendum was outspoken opposition to the changes by his former defense minister Raúl Baduel, who accused the president of becoming an autocrat. In May, an active duty general, Ángel Vivas, asked Venezuelan courts to rescind an order by Mr. Chávez making the armed forces use the Cuban-style salute: "Fatherland, Socialism or Death. To Victory."

'Any Necessary Measures'

One law vastly tightens the state's control over the food industry, an area that has been a political headache for Mr. Chávez because price controls by his government have led to shortages and eroded his popularity. The new law gives Mr. Chávez power to nationalize any businesses in the food industry without the National Assembly's approval and dictate "any necessary measures" to avoid "improper price increases."

Under the new legal regime, food retailers or distributors caught violating government-imposed price controls or hoarding products will be punished with up to six years in prison.

Some analysts say the new agriculture law is aimed at Empresas Polar SA, a food and beer manufacturer and Venezuela's largest private company. The move comes days after Mr. Chávez declared he would nationalize Banco de Venezuela, the country's third-largest bank, a unit of Spain's Banco Santander. Tuesday, Mr. Chávez said a deal was "near" over how much the government would pay for the bank. Santander has said only that it is in talks with the government.

Bitter Surprise

Guillermo Bolinaga, Polar's legal director, said the new law was a bitter surprise after Mr. Chávez invited the company's president, Lorenzo Mendoza, to a much publicized event in June where he asked some of the country's business leaders to work hand in hand with the government to boost economic activity. "We didn't have even one meeting with the government to speak about this new law. It was drafted without consulting any of the important players in the food industry."

Another new law gives legal standing to socialist production units like cooperatives, also an idea rejected by voters in December. The central bank, for instance, will issue a special currency to help facilitate trade between different socialist production units, one of the laws states.

"This is the government's latest attempt to create a communal economic model that works, which is a key item in Chávez's socialist agenda," said Orlando Ochoa, a Venezuela economist. So far these projects have been a failure, with cooperatives gobbling state financing and usually operating at a loss.

Cuban Model Unpopular

Mr. Chávez waited until the last day he could pass laws by decree to adopt the measures "under the table" without garnering attention, said Luis Vicente Leon, head of Venezuelan polling firm Datanalisis. While Mr. Chávez remains fairly popular -- with a 56% approval rating -- most Venezuelans don't want him to deepen his "revolution." Polls show 86% of Venezuelans reject using Cuba as a model and 83% want the government to respect private property.

One of the few pleasant surprises for the private sector was the banking law, which was mostly unchanged and many thought would push banks to spend more on social projects and dedicate a larger portion of their loans at preferential interest rates to economic sectors the government deems strategic.

The moves seem aimed in part at upcoming regional elections in November, when opposition leaders hope to wrest control of several important states and cities across the country. Since the December referendum, Mr. Chávez's popularity has declined because of his inability to stem inflation, reverse shortages of basic foods and curb violent crime.

One decree gives the president control over a new state fund that will receive "excess resources" from the growing list of state companies boosted by a nationalization drive that has included banks, telephone companies, oil ventures and public power utilities. Mr. Chávez will decide where to spend the money, which could allow him to financially choke regional governments controlled by the opposition parties after local elections slated for November.

"Everything is related to this upcoming election, and it's hard to imagine he doesn't see this as important in his efforts to keep power," said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a think tank in Washington D.C.

Why is it that...

China does not enjoy the same level of "international solidarity" that the castro regime in Cuba does?

Tactic #671 from the Commie Obfuscation Handbook

"It's not pollution, it's only mist!" Yeah, that's the ticket! It's only mist! All responses from a manual written by a red version of Tommy Flanagan, the Pathological Liar.

Commies are all alike, aren't they?

A small slice of land and other things

After having squeezed these last few months, I have managed to extract some events that could be called “novel.” One of the most advertised has been the handing over of idle land to those who want to make it productive. Under the concept of usufruct — that is the right to freely use and profit from someone else’s property as long as it is not damaged — what is being offered today, for a period of ten years, are large, and until recently underutilized, state-owned estates. Given the law and studying the “pros and cons,” the biggest problem now is to convince the potential lucky winners that their contracts won’t be canceled prematurely.

Caught up in this new practice of making the underutilized productive, I perused my city looking for everything that is useless. I have managed to inventory a staggering number of services, factories, and work places competing for the prize for inefficiency. Were we to apply the same logic to these enterprises as to land, they could be offered to citizens to manage privately. The rest of our centralized economy demands the same treatment as those marabou weed infested hectares, today granted in usufruct to the independent farmer.

My catalog of the “infertile” abounds with restaurants full of flies but lacking in menu offerings, rambling Vedado* houses moldering in the hands of some institution no one needs, and hotels, like the Capri, the New York or the Isle of Cuba, destroyed by negligence and government apathy. To impose some common sense, these examples of inactivity could be placed in the hands of citizens, families, or groups, ready to make them productive.

Better that I don’t continue this survey of inefficiency. It could come to proposing that the seats in parliament, the political offices, the ministries and their dependents, all be surrendered for the benefit of those who could actually make them effective.

Cartoon speech balloons:
Government official: “We are going to give you this idle land in usufruct.”
Farmer: “Idle? Looks more like ‘violently murdered’ to me.”

This was originally written and published in Spanish by Yoani Sanchez and translated and posted in her English version blog. Since the castro regime continues to curtail her internet access and continues to block access to her blog and other internet sites in and out of Cuba, we are posting Yoani's work in its entirety in solidarity and to help promote and distribute same.

In search of family history: Julian Ramon Sotolongo

Comments, we get comments, and some really tear at your heart. Early this morning I received this over on my personal blog:

"I am a first generation Cuban American looking for information on my uncle, Julian Ramon Sotolongo who was shot by firing squad on 21 April 1961. To the best of my knowledge, he was involved with the intelligence operatives for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. I am attempting to collect data for a memoir for my sons, so that the next generation does not forget the crimes committed by that regime. I would greatly appreciate any help. ~Luis Manuel~

I emailed a few friends and contacts, hoping someone would be able to help, and emailed Luis asking him permission to post his request.

In part, here is his answer:

With regards to my uncle Julian, he was not a member of the brigade. He was part of the underground intelligence network within Cuba that fed information to the brigade. After the Bay of Pigs, he was among those rounded up and murdered "to be made an example of". His father (my great uncle) Ramon Sotolongo spent 10 years in jail before getting to Miami. He has since passed away.
I have been assembling my uncle's story piece by piece but have run out of sources. My mother is the only one still alive from my family that knew him, but she was very young and told nothing about his activities before the Bay of Pigs. She told me that she heard he had been working for the CIA, but I have had no help from that agency (and I'm in the US Navy!)

I am trying to find out if anyone knew of his activities or knew him during the months leading up to the Bay of Pigs. I appreciate your help. Please do post my request.

Sincerely, Luis Manuel

Please, if you have information that will help Luis, leave a message in the comments section, or email me.

Even Paris Hilton Has A Better Energy Plan Than "The One"

this is pretty funny. I think the woman is a ditz, but she is hot.

Update: Cigar Mike - A serious op ed from the National Review on how "The One" is nothing but a typical BS politician who votes like the rest of them and whose policies on trade and energy change from day to day. Read it here.

Blogging about Cuba: breaking the media's embargo on the truth

As I said earlier, today I participated in a panel discussion at ASCE. Below are my prepared remarks. Some of this might be familiar since I borrowed from other things I have posted before.

UPDATE - I should have mentioned that I played second fiddle to Yoani Sanchez. She gave the moderator of the panel (Ted Henken) a 50 minute interview in Cuba a few days ago. We watched the video of the interview first and then Henken introduced me. I told the audience that they didn't know they had come to watch an episode of "el gordo y la flaca". I'm happy to play second fiddle to Yoani any day. Hopefully Ted Henken will post the interview on the web soon. I should mention that when asked about blogs outside of Cuba she of course mentioned Penultimos Dias. She also referred to Babalu as the "abuelo de los blogs cubanos." Of course I was very proud of that.

In order to comprehend the role that blogs play in Cuba, it’s important to first understand the space blogs occupy in the rest of the world.

A number of American journalists have expressed their disdain for bloggers culminating with author and columnist Buzz Bissinger's recent expletive-filled tirade on Bob Costas' TV show. Bissinger argued that blogs are filled with lies, bloggers are mean-spirited, that there's no fact checking on blogs, and that blogs value speed over accuracy. 



What old-guard journalists, like Bissinger, don't seem to understand is that the reason citizen journalists and blogs even exist in the first place is that they fill a vacuum. Whether it's a more humorous take on the world of sports or a more serious look at what's going on in Cuba, bloggers fill the void left by incomplete, inaccurate and indifferent coverage by the regular media.

Of course there is some truth to what Bissinger says about blogs. There are unscrupulous and inaccurate bloggers. But there are also unscrupulous and inaccurate professional journalists and editors. Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass had credentials, fact checkers and editors and still they managed to have plagiarized and fictional stories published as legitimate articles in the New York Times and The New Republic respectively. The same Times, incidentally, that was instrumental, through award-winning journalist Herbert Matthews, in bringing a bit player like fidel castro onto the world stage and which has consistently been sympathetic to the Castro regime and hostile to the Cuban exile community ever since.

As the target of Bissinger's wrath, Will Leitch, of the popular and irreverent sports blog, Deadspin, rightly pointed out, in his defense, that the blogosphere is a meritocracy. There are literally millions of blogs on the web and most are read by only a handful of people, but a precious few have readerships larger than some newspapers. If a blog is widely read it's purely a reflection of the connection that blog's writers have made with their audience.

And this explains the mind-boggling amount of readers and comments that the courageous Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez has garnered with her blog Generación Y. She is reporting and commenting the truth of Cuban life in a way neither the official Cuban media can or the international media will. And she’s doing it under the most inhospitable of circumstances.

I was drawn to blogging because I realized that within this wild frontier was an opportunity to draw the average person’s attention to something the mainstream media in America had ignored for far too long, the dictatorship in Cuba.

Thomas Jefferson eloquently stated that “our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press.” He understood that citizens of this country, or any country, couldn’t act rationally or in their best interest unless they were well informed of the events going on around them.

But Jefferson wasn’t the only one that understood this link. Surely this very fact is what caused Fidel Castro to crush the independent press in Cuba when he took power and what drove him to imprison dozens of independent journalists in 2003’s black spring. It’s what drove him to place an information embargo on the Cuban people. It is why Cuba today is the country with the most incarcerated independent journalists, per capita, in the world.

So whether it’s in Cuba where the media can’t report truth or in America where the media often refuses to report truth, bloggers act as the watchdogs of the media watchdogs.

Recently Yoani Sanchez had this to say about being denied an "exit visa" to leave Cuba and accept an important journalism award in Spain:

They forget that in cyberspace my voice can travel without limits, leaving and returning without asking for permission… It doesn’t matter that they have taken my passport. As of a year ago I have another, on which, in the section for nationality, appears a short word: “blogger”.

I'm very proud to be a fellow citizen of the same blogging nation as Yoani Sanchez and others who cover and comment on the Cuban reality.

Night at the Ballpark to help a member of our community

Folks a reminder about the fund raiser we're participating in. Details below.

We've got 11 people in so far and need at least 9 more.

---

Dear readers,

As you know, here at Babalu we occasionally ask you to reach into your pockets and help us to help others. On one occasion it was a fellow blogger that needed funds to get to China to adopt their child. On another occasion it was sponsoring a runner for a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Marathon. On another occasion it was Hurricane Katrina relief. You've always answered the call.

Today we received an appeal about Ana-Alicia Fernandez. Ms. Fernandez is a 19-year old woman who was injured by a hit and run boater in 1995, when she was only six years old. Ms. Fernandez requires a ventilator to stay alive and moving her to doctors appointments and otherwise getting her out of the house is an incredible task because her family does not have the proper vehicle.

That's where you come in. On Sunday, August 31st, the Florida Marlins will be taking on the New York Mets and the club is putting together a group package from which proceeds will go toward a high-top convertible van with the necessary wheelchair ramp and the modifications required.

Tickets to the game in the section reserved for this event normally cost $23. The Marlins are making them available for $20. We'd need a minimum of 20 people to commit to buying a ticket to put together a Babalu group in support. I will be purchasing the minimum 20 tickets for our group. If you are interested in a night at the ballpark with fellow Babalusians send me an email at conductor@babalublog.com. Please make sure to reference Ana-Alica in the subject line.

You can read more about Ana-Alicia by clicking for the PDF here: Download file.

Off the Beaten Path with Cigar Mike

Happy Tuesday infidels. I'm in trial fighting for the little guy today so no time for op eds on "the One" and his flip flopping.

Rather, I bring you an image off the beaten path, found right here in Florida, Jupiter, Florida that is.

Blowing Rocks Preserve on Jupiter Island. The most unique shoreline in the state. If you want to get there at sunrise, best you hike a mile from the public park a mile south because the preserve does not open its doors until 9:30am. If you want to go there during normal hours, here's the info here.

The photographer in the image is the Austrian photographer Claudia Domenig also known as Fraggle Red on Flickr.

See you in the field.

ASCE conference in Miami

Later today I'll be participating on a panel discussion at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ACSE). The topic of the discussion is Blogs in Cuba.

Later today I will post my prepared remarks, which are a combination of things I've written here and elsewhere.

Conference program here.

While Venezuela slept...

the simian would-be king, Chavez, stole some more liberty.

Venezuela's Chavez pushes through 26 decrees

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez is aiming to set up neighborhood-based militias, move toward a socialist economy in Venezuela and increase state control over agriculture under a package of laws enacted by presidential decree.

Price controls, neighborhood militias, state control of agriculture, and long jail terms for those who do not comply.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Cuban reality understatement of the day

You can always depend on the MSM to understate the reality of Cuba's misery under the tyrannical rule of Castro, Inc. According to this Reuters article reporting on the regime's response to the three athletes that recently defected in Edmonton, Canada, one man's escape from a murderous slave master is another man's quest for a bigger pay check.

Defections have not been uncommon from sports teams in Cuba, where athletes remain amateurs. Many defectors leave for the chance to turn professional and make more money.

It never ceases to amaze me how the MSM can boil down the struggle of millions of Cubans against 50 years of oppression into simply a quest to make money.

Beware false prophets...

Back on July 16, I posted a letter written to the Richmond Times Dispatch by an American of Cuban descent named Manuel Alvarez, Jr. I thought the letter was incredibly resonant to today and apparently many folks out there did as well, as I have received said letter via email hundreds of times from hundreds of sources, all of which saying that Mr. Alvarez pretty much nailed it.

My buddy Steve just sent me the link to the following and I simply had to post the video:

Hanson on Solzhenitsyn

From NRO's The Corner:

Remembering Solzhenitsyn
Victor Davis Hanson

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ended up bothering almost everyone. Liberals once welcomed him to our shores in the 1970s as a kindred voice of free expression and resistance to authority — only to see him work at the Hoover Institution and then lecture them at Harvard in 1978 on the moral consequences of left-wing appeasement of the Soviet Union. And when he condemned protesters that had opposed the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg, and American popular culture, the estrangement from the American Left was complete. Who in the post-1960s wished to be reminded that a surrender to the appetites, material gratification, atheism, and an absence of pride in one's own nation were the classical ingredients of civilizational decadence and decline?

Yet many Reaganite supporters of democracy grew to become worried that he sounded ever more the ultra-Russian nationalist — with all the baggage that it entails, from religious fundamentalism to anti-Semitism. Conservatives sometimes got the impression that he didn't like the West or the United States all that much, as he saw the proper antidote to both totalitarianism, and Western-style free-market capitalism and individualism, in a proud Czarist Orthodox, all-powerful state-something akin to what is fossilizing in Putin's Russia today.

No matter. Solzhenitsyn's life was a roadmap of the horrific 20th century — the grainy picture of an enfeebled Solzhenitsyn with his Gulag-issue will forever haunt millions of his readers. It is hard to imagine how anyone other than Solzhenitsyn could have survived the Great Terror, World War II on the Eastern Front, the Gulag, cancer in the Soviet medical system, exile, the best efforts of Pravda, the KGB and the Kremlin to destroy him, and scorn and abuse from those liberals who once proclaimed him a genius-or have written about it all any more brilliantly in fiction, narrative history, and poetry for over sixty years.

In the end, his epitaph is that no one in the 20th-century did more than he to bring down an horrific and bloodthirsty system that sought at any price to destroy the free mind and all that it entails.

A little more on Hector Palacios' return to Cuba

UPDATE: Val beat me to the punch. Here's more! We Cubans like to repeat ourselves anyway :)

Mary Anastasia O'Grady strikes again. She penned a great article in today's Wall Street Journal (full text below the fold) about Hector Palacios' upcoming return to Cuba. Palacios spoke on the subject of Cuban politics to a crowd of 70 people in midtown New York last month. My first question is -- why wasn't I invited?!

Palacios has many interesting theories regarding the current state of affairs in Cuba. According to the article, Palacios and his wife are very optimistic about the imminent demise of the regime. They "believe the system is in the throes of death." They "maintain that freedom for Cuba is near because the failure of the system is now universally recognized and Cubans are becoming bolder about breaking the rules." I don't know about it being "universally recognized" just yet, though Yoani's rule-breaking efforts are certainly helping get the word out across the globe. Palacios goes further to speculate that "if Fidel were to die tomorrow, Raul would let the political prisoners go free." My opinion is that this is overly optimistic. I don't see Machado Ventura and the rest of the old guard giving up so easily. I don't think they believe the "nation is near insurrection and that only with change can ]they] survive." We Cubans are very, very stubborn, and those Cubans even moreso.

Though some of Palacios' statements seem a little overly optimistic, he also conveyed some truly promising information. His wife, Gisela Delgado, a founder of the independent libraries movement, estimates that some two million Cubans have either visited those libraries or borrowed their books. If this estimate is somewhat accurate, and not just typical Cuban exaggeration, then it would indicate either a greater risk tolerance amongst the population or a decrease in monitoring efforts by the CDR... or both.

O'Grady brings up other interesting facts in the article to support Palacios' claims:

"Touring in Spain last month, Cuban-Afro pop star Pablo Milanes startled his compatriots when he said 'as a revolutionary, I demand changes.'"

Pablo Milanes is a signatory to the official petition to free the "Cuban Five." I've included the text of his remarks from the Windy City Times below:

Famous Cuban singer Pablo Milanés has told Spain's El Mundo newspaper that there are no gay people in the Cuban Communist Party.

Asked if things are improving for Cuban gays, Milanés said: “I don't know what to tell you. I have many homosexual friends who still complain that they are discriminated against, that they lack opportunities. There are no queers in the Party. And those are signs that they are still alienated. To the best of our knowledge, none of the rulers have come out of the closet yet.”

The translation of Milanés' remarks was done by the Miami Herald.

Milanés also said things haven't really changed in Cuba since Fidel Castro stepped down as president.

“What I don't understand is how everything stays the same,” he said. “The government said a year ago that many things were going to change, but we stayed the same and the people are very desperate. Raúl Castro still has not had an opportunity to demonstrate what he thinks, because his brother Fidel is there and still emits his opinions. Owning a ( mobile ) telephone and being allowed to enter a ( tourist ) hotel is not reform. When it comes to freedoms, we're going backward.”

O'Grady also includes information regarding the supposed recent resignation of a government official:

More recently, the former director of Cuba's National Library, Eliades Acosta, who acted as the grand inquisitor in the effort to flatten the independent library movement, is reported to have resigned his Communist Party post in disillusionment."

I don't know who/what reported this resignation, because I haven't read about it anywhere and can't seem to find it on Google News. If true, it is certainly promising. Given that it would bode poorly on the regime, I'm not surprised at the lack of articles.

Overall, I loved reading the article. I commend Palacios and wish him the best in all his efforts. I wish I could do more to help the cause than just wish him the best. If anyone reading this was lucky enough to attend his speech, let me know next time something is happening in the NYC area! I can be reached at laprimerageneracion@gmail.com

For those who aren't aware of Palacios' history, here is a brief summary: Palacios was originally a staunch Communist who saw the light after the Cuban people were incited to turn on each other during the Mariel boatlift. Following this eye-opening event, Palacios heavily involved himself in advocating for democracy. He was very active in the Varela Project, which led a petition drive for democratic reform. As a result of this involvement, Palacios was jailed during Black Spring. He was horrifically tortured and developed heart problems. Close to death, the regime had to release him to (as O'Grady points out) avoid the negative press associated with dead political prisoners. Palacios went to Spain and had his heart repaired there. His sentence remains in effect in Cuba.

A Dissident's Return to Cuba
August 4, 2008; Page A11

On a muggy Friday evening in New York City last month, some 70 people gathered in a midtown office building to hear former Cuban political prisoner Hector Palacios talk Cuban politics.

Dressed in a neatly pressed white guayabera shirt and khaki trousers, Mr. Palacios could pass for your average Cuban exile. But he has set himself apart from the rest of his refugee community by declaring his intention to return to his homeland next month.
An exiled Cuban dissident believes the current Cuban regime is on the brink of collapse. Mary Anastasia O'Grady of the WSJ Editorial page tells Kelsey Hubbard why the ex-prisoner plans to go back and risk persecution. (Aug. 4)

To anyone familiar with his story of torture at the hands of revolutionary enforcers in 2003-2006, this sounds like certifiable insanity. But as I listened to him and later to his wife Gisela Delgado, who was with him that night, I learned that the couple's decision, while not without risk, is also not without reason.

Mr. Palacios and Ms. Delgado believe the system is in the throes of death. While their optimism may reflect the triumph of hope over experience, it is equally possible that change is finally within reach.

Mr. Palacios has no illusions about the mercilessness of the Castro regime. He himself was once an ardent communist and a practitioner of regime skulduggery. His epiphany came during the Mariel boatlift in 1980. Watching the mobs, incited by state security agents, attack people who wanted only to leave the island, the scales fell from his eyes.

Over the years, Mr. Palacios grew increasingly uncooperative with the regime. What got him into trouble most recently was his role in the Varela Project, which led a petition drive for democratic reform. It collected more than 11,000 signatures.

Fearlessness among the population frightens the regime. For his participation in Varela and his outspoken activism, Mr. Palacios was arrested, along with some 75 other political activists, journalists, writers, poets and librarians, in a three-day crackdown on dissent in March 2003. After summary trials, he was sentenced to 25 years, as were a number of the others. Cubans call that time their Black Spring.

During his incarceration, Mr. Palacios, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall, was jammed in a metal and cement cell measuring just over 5 feet high, less than 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. Shaped a bit like an igloo, it is kept in the sun with the purpose of baking the occupant.

Mr. Palacios developed heart problems. He was close to death when the regime, which tries to avoid the bad PR that dead political prisoners stir up, released him to the care of the Spanish government in December 2006.

Reporting from Spain in 2007, the Cuban exile writer Carlos Alberto Montaner described Mr. Palacios's imprisonment: "Hector lived semi-recumbent and in semi-darkness. He lost 88 pounds. He breathed through the door slit. His company were the rats and the cockroaches that emerged from the hole into which he defecated."

Spanish doctors repaired Mr. Palacios's heart. But his sentence remains in effect, and when he returns to Cuba he, like the other 19 Black Spring prisoners released for medical reasons, can be jailed again at any time. Fifty-five prisoners from March 2003 are still serving time and suffering horrific treatment.

Grim though all this is, Mr. Palacios and Ms. Delgado maintain that freedom for Cuba is near because the failure of the system is by now universally recognized, and Cubans are becoming bolder about breaking the rules. Ms. Delgado, a founder of the independent libraries movement, estimates that some two million Cubans have either visited those libraries or borrowed their books. That so many are taking such risks is impressive, and it jibes with other shifts in behavior. The nation's youth has become irreverent toward authority, and others are becoming less reluctant to complain. There is even a movement demanding that the Cuban peso be convertible to dollars.

Mr. Palacios told me that the aggressiveness of the ministry of the interior has diminished in the past two years. This supports the theory, which has been gaining currency among Cuba watchers, that there are widening cracks inside the regime and among the traditional pro-government set.

Touring in Spain last month, Cuban-Afro pop star Pablo Milanés startled his compatriots when he said "as a revolutionary, I demand changes." More recently, the former director of Cuba's National Library, Eliades Acosta, who acted as the grand inquisitor in the effort to flatten the independent library movement, is reported to have resigned his Communist Party post in disillusionment.

Mr. Palacios believes that if Fidel were to die to tomorrow, Raúl would let the political prisoners go free. That's a surprising but not necessarily charitable take on the ruthless Raúl. It suggests that he knows the nation is near insurrection and that only with change can he survive. He certainly knows that dissidents are not going away. Asked by Mr. Montaner when he arrived in Spain whether he could recover his health, Mr. Palacios said, "What's important is that they couldn't crush me."

A Cuban Dissident Returns

Former Cuban political Hector Palacios, now in Spain, to return to Cuba next month. From the Wall Street Journal:

A Dissident's Return to Cuba

On a muggy Friday evening in New York City last month, some 70 people gathered in a midtown office building to hear former Cuban political prisoner Hector Palacios talk Cuban politics.

Dressed in a neatly pressed white guayabera shirt and khaki trousers, Mr. Palacios could pass for your average Cuban exile. But he has set himself apart from the rest of his refugee community by declaring his intention to return to his homeland next month.

An exiled Cuban dissident believes the current Cuban regime is on the brink of collapse. Mary Anastasia O'Grady of the WSJ Editorial page tells Kelsey Hubbard why the ex-prisoner plans to go back and risk persecution. (Aug. 4)
To anyone familiar with his story of torture at the hands of revolutionary enforcers in 2003-2006, this sounds like certifiable insanity. But as I listened to him and later to his wife Gisela Delgado, who was with him that night, I learned that the couple's decision, while not without risk, is also not without reason.

I truly hope he's right, but, in all honesty, with a regime as historically fraudulent and brutal, I dont see them losening their grip on power on their own. Of course, given the population's disillusionment with the system and their economic and societal woes, perhaps they might be on the brink of revolt. Toss in Sherritt International's bailing on their oil deals with Cuba, plus nickel prices at a two year low, and a slew of other economic issues on the island and things, economically speaking, dont look like theyre gonna be getting any better anytime soon.

Obama's Chicago Most Nanny City and Miami & Vegas Least Nanny Cities

Got to love it fellow infidels. The lefty libs who always trash our South Florida homeland are gonna love this.

Of the most regulated nanny cities in the USA, Chicago ranks at 35 as being the most regulated in every aspect of your life and business. In other words, the worst city for personal freedoms.

Las Vegas is at number 1 and Miami at number 2 for the least regulated. this will make the liberals furious as they are dying to regulate everyone's bodily functions, eating habits, smoking habits, entertainment, dating habits, and blogging. Vegas and Miami are tops in personal freedom. So much for the lefty cuban hating bloggers and nimwits out there that call Miami a "banana republic."

I'm outta here.

The more things change...

...the more they stay the same:

Putin says Russia needs to go back to Cuba: media

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday said it was time for Russia to rebuild links with former Cold War ally Cuba, news agencies reported.

The Kremlin is angry at U.S. plans for a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, and last month a news report suggested Russia might use Cuba, a thorn in America's side for half a century, as a refueling stop for nuclear-capable bombers.

The Russian Defence Ministry denied the report and said it had no plans to open any military bases abroad, but a top U.S. general was drawn to say such a move would cross a "red line".

Moscow was the Caribbean island's key oil, arms and grain supplier for 30 years, until subsidies propping up the economy of Fidel Castro's revolutionary government fell to a trickle and then dried up entirely after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"We need to reestablish positions on Cuba and in other countries," news agency Interfax quoted Putin as saying at the weekly presidium meeting of key government ministers.

Just 144 km (90 miles) from the coast of U.S. state of Florida, Cuba still has no formal diplomatic ties with Washington D.C.

At the height of the Cold War in 1962, a two-week crisis over Soviet missiles on the island nearly led to full-blown war.

Putin's remarks came after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin reported on a recent three-day visit to Cuba, where he discussed a raft of trade and investment issues and met with Raul Castro, Fidel's brother and now the island's leader.

"We agreed on a priority direction for cooperation, this being energy, the mining industry, agriculture, transport, health care and communications," news agency RIA quoted Sechin as saying.

Marco Rubio to Make Major Announcement at 11:00

"( MIAMI ): Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio will hold a press conference today along with State Representative David Rivera to announce his decision to have the Florida House of Representatives join a federal lawsuit regarding state regulations on travel to terrorist countries.

The press conference will be held today, Monday, August 4th, at 11:00 a.m. at the headquarters of the Junta Patriotica Cubana (Cuban Patriotic Council) located at 4600 NW 7th Street .

During the 2008 session the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation regulating travel agencies operating in Florida and selling travel from Florida to terrorist nations such as Cuba . Governor Charlie Crist signed the legislation into law, which was subsequently challenged in federal court by several travel agencies.

“The travel agencies that filed suit against this law have clearly misrepresented the will and intent of the Florida legislature. As Speaker of the House, I have a duty to protect the integrity and prerogatives of the institution and I intend to do so vigorously,” stated Speaker Marco Rubio.

Representative Rivera, the sponsor of the legislation, stated, “I congratulate Speaker Rubio for his leadership in defending the integrity of the Florida House of Representatives in this lawsuit. The travel agencies involved in this case have shown their willingness to misrepresent and distort the intent of the legislation and it is important that the Florida House be able to defend itself from these desperate and dishonest tactics."

Thanks to AM.

Two Years

By Yoani Sanchez

He drank brandy and watched the vultures that flew, as they did every day, around the Plaza of the Revolution. It was a Tuesday, the first of August 2006, when he found himself looking over the balcony for the changes that would come. The night before they had read the proclamation on television in which the Maximum Leader temporarily delegated his powers. He met his friends and they spent the early morning hours talking of the future, while the streets remained strangely empty.

During the first weeks after the announcement he paid close attention to the news and bought some canned food so he wouldn’t have to go out. He dusted off his Chinese radio which, though only from one corner of the bathroom, was able to pick up shortwave broadcasts. In the meantime, he avoided changing the Euros that his mother had sent him and stocked up on candles and batteries.

After six months, he had already stopped looking out the window, reading between the lines of the newspaper, and tape recording everything that seemed to be a testament to “the final days.“ He met again with his friends but this time they talked about the 1980s, scholarships, and the Special Period.*

Two years later, on July 31st, sitting with his back to the city, he received a postcard from his ex-girlfriend in Jerusalem It had been some weeks since he’d watched the news or tuned into the illegal radio stations. Late one night he told us his mother had asked him to come to Italy to live with her. He had told her yes, since not a single whiff of transformations could be smelled from his terrace.

This was originally written and published in Spanish by Yoani Sanchez and translated and posted in her English version blog. Since the castro regime continues to curtail her internet access and continues to block access to her blog and other internet sites in and out of Cuba, we are posting Yoani's work in its entirety in solidarity and to help promote and distribute same.

Valle de Viñales National Park, Cuba

This absolutely stunning photograph from National Geographic.

H/T Jose C.

If ignorance were bliss...

what a happy world this would be.

Last week Ziva posted about a Computerworld editorial by its editorial director, Doug Tennant, which bellyached about Microsoft's inability to compete for Cuba's business due to the US embargo of the Cuban regime. Many of us left our comments on this editorial and we attempted to enlighten Mr. Tennant to the realities of Cuba and its dictatorial regime.

It seems Mr. Tennant was not very happy with many of the comments left last week, however. He has written yet another editorial on the Cuba topic, but this time he is bellyaching about the comments left on the previous one. He accuses the commenters of mischaracterizing the statements made in his original editorial.

I wonder which part of trading with a sworn enemy of the United States did we mischaracterize?

Nevertheless, Mr. Tennant offers us this pearl of wisdom when it comes to dealing with the Cuban dictatorship:

Is it a mischaracterization, in turn, to suggest that the U.S. considers Cuba an enemy? Clearly, our government opposes those in authority in Cuba, and with good reason. But is it really our enemy?

If you have to ask that question of this regime and its long and bloody history, then perhaps you are not really interested in the answer.

Ignorance makes things so much simpler and makes the world seem like a better place.

Obama's latest flip flop

Barack Obama wants all Florida and Michigan delegates to be seated at the Democratic convention...

Now.

Of course when the race was in doubt, the letter of the law needed to be followed. But now that he's got the nomination presumably in the bag, it's in his best interest to appease the state parties in these two states which have historically been battleground states.

Obama has a knack at becoming enlightened when its politically expedient. His new nickname should be Mr. Transparent.

Cuban Blogger Yoani Sanchez interviewed by Univision

Reader Augusto was kind enough to record the Yoani Sanchez interview that aired on Univision this morning and post it on youtube. Below you will find both parts. As Augusto notes, the interview was conducted over the phone and Yoani had her husband videotape her end with a camcorder. The tape was smuggled out of Cuba.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Before the cranks start commenting, yes Yoani has positive things to say about Barack Obama and expresses her support for family travel to Cuba. That's fine, she's entitled to her opinion and I'm entitled to mine. I'll only remind our readers that Cuban-Americans have been traveling to visit family members in Cuba since 1979.

Che Mania in Pakistan

Hot damn! Here's a play recently performed in (what I gather) is Karachi, Pakistan's version of Broadway, titled "This isn’t what Hollywood Taught me about Che Guevara” And the key star is named "Miss Fontova" who calls her students "Useful Idiots!"

My book was not optioned and i was not even asked for permission on this--HEAR THAT, CIGAR MIKE?!
So roll up your sleeves, amigo! Granted, if it was on Broadway we'd have an easier time and the settlement (including mental anguish for traumatizing my artistic sensibilities) would help nab me a new house. But I've had my eye on a new boat for months now. So I'll settle for that.....that failing, the proceeds for two kegs of beer and a new shotgun will do it.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn dies at 89 (UPDATED)

Writer and witness of the Stalin Gulags dead at 89. RIP. While Stalin was purging and sending dissenters to the gulags, the Soviet apologists and intelligentsia here were praising him. Folks like Paul Robeson and others of his ilk who are revered today.

This is a real hero who took it like a real man and lived to tell about it.

Read it here.

Update by Pitbull: Here's a long obituary in the International Herald Tribune. I'll have more on Solzhenitsyn, a writer that inspired me greatly when growing up, in the next few days.

Update by Cigar Mike: Love this quote from him in the obit cited by George wherein he hits the nail on the head when it comes to liberals:

His rare public appearances could turn into hectoring jeremiads. Delivering the commencement address at Harvard in 1978, he called the country of his sanctuary spiritually weak and mired in vulgar materialism. Americans, he said, speaking in Russian through a translator, were cowardly. Few were willing to die for their ideals, he said. He condemned both the United States government and American society for its "hasty" capitulation in Vietnam. And he criticized the country's music as intolerable and attacked its unfettered press, accusing it of violations of privacy.

"Sexy" Cuba

From Marie Claire's list of 101 sexy people, places, trends:

Sexiest Nation: Cuba. Fidel's out, cell phones and home ownership are in. Let's get this party started!

Such ignorance and insouciance boggles the mind. Here, my friends, is the danger of the type of coverage the regime gets from much of the media. Now every ring ding, as in possessing the intellect of a ring ding, walking the streets of New York will clamor to go. As Henry would say, "one mojito at a time."

When have the castro's ever delivered any good news?

Referring to raul’s July 26 speech, warning Cubans of tough times ahead, Armando Pérez Roura points out, when did the castro’s ever deliver any good news?

That got me wondering what if anything has the average Cuban family received in return for their half century of enslavement by the castro dictatorship.

Clearly, the castro’s and their henchmen have gained - money, power, and for some, perhaps a sense security in exchange for their humanity. However, the average Cuban family has gained nothing, and in fact has lost that which is most precious to we humans, notably expressed 232 years ago by a very different group of revolutionary rebels. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” in other words, the right to be autonomous, the right to exercise one's freewill.

In Cuba, the CDR makes sure that Cubans understand that even behind closed doors, there is no such right, no right to privacy. In schools, children are taught to spy on parents, brother against brother, in defense of the revolution. Imagine the fear that permeates every waking moment of your life when you cannot trust anyone.

The only free space in Cuba is in the silent and solitary struggle for free thought, early shackled by an indoctrinating educational system.

Would those hypocrites who voice support for the regime while living free in under democracy willingly give away that freedom in exchange for the so-called glories of castro’s revolution? I don’t think so.

Make some noise for hunger-striking Cuban prisoners

Four Cuban political prisoners — Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, Alfredo Dominguez Batista, Orlando Zapata Tamayo and Luis Mariano Deliz Utria — are currently on hunger strike at the Holguín Provincial Prison, demanding better living conditions and greater respect for their human rights. Herrera is near death, and the others are in not much better shape. The dictatorship ignores their demands, and has even moved to crush any public acts of solidarity with those who traveled to Holguín to show their support.

The citizens of Santa Clara, however, refused to remain silent. One night last week, in different parts of town, residents opened their windows and began banging pots to show their support for their imprisoned brothers.

How much noise are you willing to make?

How Do You "Steal" a Cuban Baseball Player?

A few weeks ago, I was watching Denise Richards’ reality show on E! (Yes, I was desperate) and she addressed the name she had gotten when she began dating Ritchie Sambora: “Husband stealer.” She asked the reporter, “How can a woman steal someone else’s husband?” Meaning, if a man is happily married and in love with his wife, no other woman can “steal” him from her and make him leave her.

So, when I read the other day that fidel castro, in one of his scathing Granma articles on August 1, (before a third player defected), accuses Canada of “stealing” the two young baseball players (Noel Argueilles and Jose Antonio Iglesias) who defected during the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship, I thought of Denise Richards and applied her question to the article. How can Canada steal these baseball players? They are people, not objects, and they were not kidnapped, which I concede would necessitate the term “steal.” If they didn’t want to be “stolen,” they would not have made the decision to stay in Canada. If life in Cuba were the paradise the media makes it out to be, why would they, or anyone else want to leave? And that castro would use the terms “steal” (and in Spanish “saquea,” or plunder) implies that they are the property of the regime, which they are.

Were these young men happy in Cuba? Were they enjoying life there? Were they treated well? Did they enjoy the most basic of human and civil rights? I’m guessing no. So, when they got to Canada, whether or not they were “lured” with the promise of a career in the majors and the prospect of earning big money, I think the chances they would have defected anyway were good. They were “lured” with the prospect of freedom, and castro is too obtuse to recognize that. Sure, the money sweetened the pot, but freedom is worth more than a career in the big leagues, and we, and he, should give these young athletes a little credit.

You can read the article HERE.
Henry also posted about castro referring to Edmonton as a dumping ground in the same Granma article.

Is history repeating itself?

In this editorial in the Daily Inter Lake, writer Frank Miele addresses Barrack Obama's campaign style and his mantra, "Change we can believe in." He starts by directing us to a speech delivered in Berlin not too long ago.

“We are determined to profit from all those experiences which in past centuries have proved of value to mankind, politically and economically, both to the individual and to the community.... We wish... to be the champions of a peace which shall finally heal those wounds from which all are suffering...”

No, this speech was not delivered by Obama, but instead by Adolf Hitler in 1933. The similarities in rhetoric, however, are almost as fascinating as they are terrifying.

Mr. Miele goes on and finds many more similarities in style and delivery between the presidential campaign being led by "The One," and the campaign led by the Third Reich in Germany during the 1930s. He also finds that some strikingly similar tactics were used by another student of Hitler propaganda techniques, Fidel Castro.

I do not know what Obama's true intentions are and no one can say with any certainty that he intends to follow Hitler's and Castro's path; only Obama knows what Obama's true intentions are. But the frighteningly familiar tone of his rhetoric and his propaganda should be raising red flags and sounding alarms in everyone's mind.

This editorial is a must read.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Third Cuban Baseball Player Defects

Rumors of additional defections kept swirling around the baseball tournament in Edmonton, Canada, after two members of the Cuban national team defected earlier in the week. In typical fashion, the Cuban team representatives refused to talk to the Canadian media regarding these rumors, citing their claim that the team had been "treated badly by the media."

Yesterday, however, an unnamed member of the team confirmed to the press, through a translator, that indeed a third player, Raydel Sanchez, had gone missing.

A man wearing a Team Cuba uniform said through a translator Saturday that pitcher Raydel Sanchez was missing, and a scout at Saturday's game between South Korea and Cuba said he didn't see Sanchez on the field.

That brings the total number of defections in the past week to three. However, the rumors continue that the number of Cuban players that have defected is closer to five. We will have to wait to confirm those rumors, though, since the Cuban team will not be all that forthcoming with this embarrassing development.

You can read about this latest defection HERE.

Steven Bauer aka Rocky Echevarría at Saturday's Marlin's Game

Not bad for a P&S Camera huh?

It's Sunday, time for baseball, swimming, and BBQ and beer of course. I have to go to work and prepare for my trial tomorrow where I will crush the opposition.

So I will enjoy my Sunday vicariously through my fellow infidels.

BTW: The Marlins won last night 5-3. Nolasco pitched a gem.

A bit of self promotion

Check out my latest column for Pajamas Media. It's about raul castro and his tinkering with the Cuban economy without delivering any real reforms.

If you haven't bookmarked Pajamas Media, you should. There's always great takes about current events from the best writers in the blogosphere.

Cuban Blogger Yoani Sanchez on Univision, Sunday - CORRECTED

I have received an email saying that on August 3rd at 10:00 PM AM EDT Univision will air an interview of Yoani Sanchez conducted by Jorge Ramos.

UPDATE: It's AM not PM. Sorry about the mistake.

H/T: Mario

This is Bullsh*t! - Your Storage Devices and Laptops Subject to Confiscation at the Border

This is getting out of hand. I can see DHS doing this upon reasonable suspicion that possible criminal activity has occurred, but to confiscate your laptops, phones, ipods, data cards arbitrarily is pure Bullsh*t! I can't see how anyone can support this.

So if I decide to travel to Canada or Europe with my cameras and laptop; take photos which I store on the hard drive; and I also happen to have my attorney work which is privileged, these piss ants can take my stuff, and download all of the contents at their discretion. I don't know how people aren't more up in arms about this.

From the WashPost

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"The policies . . . are truly alarming," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government's border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.

DHS officials said the newly disclosed policies -- which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens -- are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter.

Civil liberties and business travel groups have pressed the government to disclose its procedures as an increasing number of international travelers have reported that their laptops, cellphones and other digital devices had been taken -- for months, in at least one case -- and their contents examined.

The policies state that officers may "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information." This may take place "absent individualized suspicion."

The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' "

Reasonable measures must be taken to protect business information and attorney-client privileged material, the policies say, but there is no specific mention of the handling of personal data such as medical and financial records.

When a review is completed and no probable cause exists to keep the information, any copies of the data must be destroyed. Copies sent to non-federal entities must be returned to DHS. But the documents specify that there is no limitation on authorities keeping written notes or reports about the materials.

"They're saying they can rifle through all the information in a traveler's laptop without having a smidgen of evidence that the traveler is breaking the law," said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Notably, he said, the policies "don't establish any criteria for whose computer can be searched."

Customs Deputy Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern said the efforts "do not infringe on Americans' privacy." In a statement submitted to Feingold for a June hearing on the issue, he noted that the executive branch has long had "plenary authority to conduct routine searches and seizures at the border without probable cause or a warrant" to prevent drugs and other contraband from entering the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in an opinion piece published last month in USA Today that "the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices." Searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials" as well as images of child pornography, he wrote.

With about 400 million travelers entering the country each year, "as a practical matter, travelers only go to secondary [for a more thorough examination] when there is some level of suspicion," Chertoff wrote. "Yet legislation locking in a particular standard for searches would have a dangerous, chilling effect as officers' often split-second assessments are second-guessed."

In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco upheld the government's power to conduct searches of an international traveler's laptop without suspicion of wrongdoing. The Customs policy can be viewed at: http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/admissability/search_authority.ctt/search_authority.pdf.

The Democrats and their oil problem

In an election year that should be a slam dunk for the Democrats thanks to the sputtering economy and the 8-year assist they have gotten from the liberal media, I can tell you that they may be about to fumble it all away by ridiculously being on wrong side of the most important issue of the campaign: energy prices.

Here's the thing: liberals want, and have always wanted, high energy prices. Of that you can't have any doubts. They want to "force" the country into energy conservation just like they want to force you to stop smoking cigarettes through ever increasing taxation. They want to re-engineer society in a way that suits them, your opinion be damned. The radical environmentalists are all very happy about $4.00 a gallon gasoline. They'd prefer it to be $8.00, if not $16.00. The problem for the Democrat politicians is that they have to deal with the results of getting what their nutroots supporters have wanted all along: an angry electorate that simply wants to fill their tank and not break the bank doing it.

Cigar Mike posted a link to a brilliant Charles Krauthammer column about the conundrum that faces congressional Democrats.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposes lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf. She won't even allow it to come to a vote. With $4 gas having massively shifted public opinion in favor of domestic production, she wants to protect her Democratic members from having to cast an anti-drilling election-year vote. Moreover, given the public mood, she might even lose. This cannot be permitted. Why? Because, as she explained to Politico: "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet."...

The United States has the highest technology to ensure the safest drilling. Today, directional drilling -- essentially drilling down, then sideways -- allows access to oil that in 1970 would have required a surface footprint more than three times as large. Additionally, the United States has one of the most extensive and least corrupt regulatory systems on the planet.

Does Pelosi imagine that with so much of America declared off-limits, the planet is less injured as drilling shifts to Kazakhstan and Venezuela and Equatorial Guinea? That Russia will be more environmentally scrupulous than we in drilling in its Arctic?

The net environmental effect of Pelosi's no-drilling willfulness is negative. Outsourcing U.S. oil production does nothing to lessen worldwide environmental despoliation. It simply exports it to more corrupt, less efficient, more unstable parts of the world -- thereby increasing net planetary damage...

The other panacea, yesterday's rage, is biofuels: We can't drill our way out of the crisis, it seems, but we can greenly grow our way out. By now, however, it is blindingly obvious even to Democrats that biofuels are a devastating force for environmental degradation. It has led to the rape of "lungs of the world" rain forests in Indonesia and Brazil as huge tracts have been destroyed to make room for palm oil and sugar plantations.

Here in the United States, one out of every three ears of corn is stuffed into a gas tank (by way of ethanol), causing not just food shortages abroad and high prices at home but intensive increases in farming, with all of the attendant environmental problems (soil erosion, insecticide pollution, water consumption, etc.).

This to prevent drilling on an area in the Arctic one-sixth the size of Dulles Airport that leaves undisturbed a refuge one-third the size of Britain.

By the way, yesterday Nancy Pelosi recessed congress for a FIVE-WEEK vacation rather than confronting the energy situation. Republicans refused to leave the chamber. If your congressperson is a Democrat you should write him/her an email telling them how much you appreciate their consideration.

I, for one, hope that the Democrats stick to their guns on this. But I wish they would be honest about it and say how everyone has to just "suck it up" so that we can have the beautiful gasoline utopia that they envision. It will be the biggest political disaster in the history of a party characterized by them. Ah yes, the slavery party, the segregation party, and now the stone age party.

UPDATE - Cigar Mike -- As further evidence of Henry's position just see this NYT Op ed today. by the lefty Krugman.

Party On, Infidels

The Messiah calls for drilling

Is this politically motivated? Is this coincidental? Is the Messiah an opportunist? Of course not!

Let's see how the anti-drilling Kool-Aid drinkers react to this; the gyrations they're going to make to justify Obama's new position may result in the tilt of the Earth's axis.

Technical Problems with Babalu

Some of you using Internet Explorer, may have been experiencing problems accessing Babalu. The problem seems to be with Site Meter (this is the counter we use to keep track of our site's visitor count). I have switched us to another counter and am in the process of making the change to the more than 8,000 posts. Though it's done automatically it's very time consuming.

Happy Anniversary, Alfredo!

Yesterday, on August 1st, fellow Cuban-American blogger Alfredo celebrated the third anniversary of his blog El Cafe Cubano.

Join us in wishing him Happy Anniversary!

fidel castro says that Edmonton is a "dumping ground"

Canada is Cuba's largest source of tourism and one of the biggest foreign investors in Cuba. But that hasn't stopped Cuba's castro dictatorship from denouncing Canada in the past. Now fidel seems to be upset about a couple of Cuban baseball players that appear to have defected while at a tournament in Edmonton and is taking it out on that city by calling it a "dumpster"

Edmonton se ha convertido en un basurero. Los atletas cubanos fueron mal atendidos.

It's a good thing that Canada is "enlightened" and has a policy of "dialogue" and "engagement" with Cuba or who knows what he might have said.

U.S. Media Depends on Castro Agents for Cuba News

Lest we forget, Lt. Col. Christopher Simmons, a U.S. Army counterintelligence officer (formerly wih the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency), also outed other Castro agents: Gillian Gunn, who heads Georgetown Univs "Cuba Project," and is another darling of such as the Council on Foreign Relations, (their publication, Foreign Affairs) as well as the New York Times and The Washington Post for soundbites "insights" and assorted prognostications on Cuba.

So think about it: along with media darling, Marifeli, the sources for most of the "insights and prognostications" Americans hear on the regime that came closest to incinerating millions of them with nuclear missiles, along with the sources that the media consults for prescriptions for America's dealings with this regime--are mostly agents for this regime!!!

We await the mainstream media to report on this (for those who live outside Miami or who remain unfamiliar with Dr. de la Cova's work) startling scoop---as we await icicles to form on Beelzebub's beard.

(Ed.: A correction has been made to the above post to properly reflect Lt. Col. Simmons current and former status.)

"When you have two pieces of...

shit, you pick up the one that stinks the least."

I have a couple of bones to pick with this National Post article from Canada, but at least they aren't selling the idea that Cubans are suddenly Obamaniacs.

Modern Day Slavery In Cuba

I usually describe the Cuban people as being held captive and enslaved by (c)astro. More than once my description has been dismissed as exile hyperbole.

But, let’s not take this gusano’s word for it. Let’s hear it form the horse’s own mouth.

In his latest reflection, (f)idel himself reveals, in his own words, his belief that Cuban athletes and all Cubans ,for that matter, are property-his.

Buying our athletes they deprived us from five sure gold medals in Olympic boxing. It is like a call to slaughter against Cuba to steal brains, muscles and bones.

Cuban athletes, if you follow (f)idel’s “logic” are commodities that are bought, sold and stolen. They are property, chattel. The athletes themselves can't or do not have the right to make choices of where they want to live or play.

In order to be able to make their own choices, they must escape. Something which is euphemistically called "defect ing" to make it sound a little more civilized.

(f)idel even goes on to chastise the Canadians for not “taking care” of his property, the recently escaped baseball players:

Edmonton has become a dumping ground. The Cuban athletes were badly taken care of.

But not to worry, in the upcoming Olympics slated to begin in the world’s largest and smoggiest concentration camp shortly, there will be no escape because his friends and ideological brothers, the Chinese, know how to “take care” of the Cuban athletes:

The proud Cuban athletes of the Olympic baseball team, who have been wonderfully taken care of by their Korean hosts and will be even better taken care of in China, will have to compete under the unfavorable circumstances that I explained before

That’s right. There will be no “unfavorable circumstances”, read:freedom opportunities, to tempt the Cuban athletes to make a run for it in China. But just in case they try, they’ll be “taken care” of in the appropriate manner and returned to their rightful owner.

If that isn’t slavery, I don’t know what is.

Nancy Nancy, where forth art thou, Nancy?

Nancy "Buy My Book" Pelosi adjourns the 14% Congress for a five week vacation - having categorically refused to bring up energy bills for a vote - and House Republicans stay on the floor discussing energy bills.

“The C-SPAN cameras were gone and the microphones were off, but that didn’t stop a small group of Republicans from taking over the House floor after the House adjourned for five weeks to attack Democrats for leaving town without doing something to lower gas prices... "Madame Speaker, Where art thou?" Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, shouted from the well of the House.”

Hilarity ensues, Nancy shuts lights off and mics down. Jim at Gateway Pundit has all the info, right here. Malkin is on it as well.

Worse. Congress. Ever.

Still think that Democratic leadership gives a shit about the energy crisis?

Update: This is classic, from Politico:

Update 6 - Rep Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) just pretended to be a Democrat. He stood on the other side of the chaber and listed all of the GOP bills that the Dems killed.

He then said "I am a Democrat and here is my energy plan" and he held up a picture of an old VW Bug with a sail attached to it. He paraded around he house floor with the sign while the crowd cheered.

The Divine Obama - "The One"

Yoani Sanchez Radio Interview

Yoani Sanchez, interviewed back on July 23rd, by Spanish literary blog "El Boomeran(g)."

Salagadoola mechicka boola...

...flippity floppity poo...

Put 'em together and what have you got...

flippity floppity
flippity floppity
flippity floppity pooooooo.....

A reader on McCain, ImBev and Cuba

Yesterday morning I received an email from commenter about the whole Cindy McCain/Anheuser-Busch/Cuban Embargo kerfuffle. Here's an excerpt of the message:

My name is Carlos Echevarria, native Cuban-American from Miami, son and grandson of two men who valiantly engaged the Castro regime as members (only 11 cases of father and son) of the Brigada 2506. Moreover, my father continued “company” practices, in the 70’s-90’s, throughout Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

I have been a member of the GOP my entire adult life and have supported Sen. McCain, the American Patriot and War Hero, all the way back to 2000.

I would imagine that you are aware of how the suddenly concerned, left wing Cuban Americans are attempting to debase and malign John McCain, through his wife, over the ImBev purchase of Budweiser. These are the same people who never believed in the embargo, nor in Helms-Burton, nor in retaliation for acts of war & terror, nor in diplomatic pressure, nor Radio Marti, nor TV Marti, etc.

Last night, Millie Herrera (Magda Montiel Davis on steroids) had the “audacity” (to employ Barack’s favorite Jeremiah inspired word) to go on the Oscar Haza show and give a performance that would make either Beria or Goebbels blush!!!

Moreover, the Show with Fernando Hidalgo, in their Guantanamera lead in, also called in question the validity of Sen. McCain’s nexus to the sale of ImBev and whether this will affect Cuban-Americans perception of him???? I have attached my humble response which I hastily prepared last evening for America TV.

Here's his translation of the note he sent to America TeVe (Channel 41 in Miami):

To Whom It May Concern/Mr. Fernando Hidalgo,

On your program tonight during the singing of the Guantanamera, reference was made to the Belgian company, InBev, which recently purchased Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion dollars.

The link which you utilize to question the integrity of Sen. John McCain is the fact that his wife, Cindy, is the heiress of Hensley & Company, a Phoenix based Budweiser distributor. The connotation being that he is seeking to benefit himself or obtain some economic advantage with a company that has ties to the Cuban tyranny.

I regret to inform you that you are, once again, very misinformed as to the foreign policy which McCain would conduct vis-à-vis Cuba & his steadfast adherence to the US trade embargo.

Let me begin by noting that John Sidney McCain III is an American Patriot and War Hero of the highest order. During the time period that McCain was incarcerated as a POW, 1967-1973, many (some of whom are living here in exile) in Cuba were bellowing “Patria o Muerte” and giving homage to the Comandante en Jefe, Fidel Castro.

All the while McCain was being savagely tortured by his North Vietnamese captors.

If you or someone from your staff would have taken even a cursory glance at his biography, or just simply googled him, you could have apprised yourself of what transpired in VietNam. You could have read about his comrades being tortured by despicable agents of the Castro regime.

This is a man whose father, Admiral John McCain, Jr., was Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command from 1968 to 1972. As such, once the government of Ho Chi Minh figured out who he was they attempted to provide him special treatment, even offering up an early release.

Due to the fact that this would violate every norm of military protocol and in spite of the massive injuries he suffered upon being shot down, he categorically refused this offer and did not grant their wishes to be used in anti-American propaganda videos.

Again, he was brutalized beyond belief for his loyalty and honor to his country.

Moreover, I would further add that the ancestorsand descendants of John McCain have fought in every major war since the commencement of the Republic, US Revolutionary war, up until Iraq, where his son, Jimmy McCain, a Marine, was stationed in Anbar Province, the heart of the Sunni Triangle, prior to the surge.

As for the fact that InBev conducts business in Cuba, I would point out that Cindy McCain is NOT an owner of Budweiser, only a distributor and re-seller of Becks & Lowenbrau, beers which correspond to InBev. She, personally, did not have anything to do with the sale of Anheuser-Busch.

For the record in terms of InBev’s worldwide sales, Cuba only represents less than 1%, although there is definitely an issue with the use of the Cristal brand name, which is currently being litigated, but once again, this is outside the purview of responsibility of Cindy McCain.

As a Cuban-American (native of Miami), grandson and son of two members of the glorious Brigada de Asalto 2506, I feel totally insulted and vehemently offended that you would employ your program in order to effectuate a dirty and false campaign against Sen. McCain and his wife, Cindy.

I am at loss as to what nexus you can maliciously establish between McCain, his wife’s company and pre-existing European sales to Cuba??? To reiterate she is but a distributor and a minority shareholder of the St. Louis manufacturer who did not vote on the merger of these two companies, which is being reviewed by the relevant departments of the US government.

Cindy McCain, who unlike Michelle Obama has always been proud of her country, is a woman of distinction and grace who has donated millions of dollars and provided a plethora of assistance to disadvantaged children in Asia and Africa.

There are many leaders and important figures in our community like Roberto Martin Perez, Ninoska Castellon, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, Felix Rodriguez, amongst others, who know the Senator best and can personally attest to his political trajectory.

It is shameful that you call into question the honor, dignity, valor and service to the Republic of Sen. John McCain and his descendants.

Carlos Echevarria
Miami, Florida

Carlos has a blog which we are adding to our Cubiche blog roll.

What's killing bats (but not Batman)?

That's right, boys and girls! Its

GLOBAL WARMING!

(H/T J Scott Barnard)

What hurts Blacks more than other racial groups?

That's right, boys and girls! Its

GLOBAL WARMING!

(H/T J Scott Barnard)

Alleged 2001 anthrax terrorist commits suicide

The anthrax terrorist attacks, coming hard on the heels of September 11, shook all of us and made America more than a little paranoid about everyday activities. It appears that the suspect the Feds were looking at in connection with the attacks, a microbiologist at USAAMRID in Fort Detrick, Maryland, has apparently committed suicide before the indictments were handed down. Rea it all here. Here's a snip:

The scientist, Bruce E. Ivins, was a leading anthrax researcher for the past 18 years at the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick, Md.

Ivins, 62, had worked for more than a decade to develop an effective anthrax vaccine, even in cases where different strains of anthrax were mixed, which made vaccines ineffective, according to federal documents reviewed by the AP.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing grand jury investigation, said prosecutors were closing in on Ivins. They were planning an indictment that would have sought the death penalty for the attacks, which killed five people, crippled the postal system and traumatized a nation still reeling from the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Quote of the day

"You're a free man, you can do anything you want here," he said. "Even working doing the streets picking up garbage is 10 times better."

- William Plaza

Havana at Night

You can almost smell the sea carried on a warm breeze, cant you?

BVD's and Maraschino Cherries

I've been picking up empty beer bottles and there's spilled champagne all over the place and half eaten cakes on paper plates are strewn everywhere here following last night's big 3 million mark bash. Our contributors are great writers and thinkers, but man, they are lousy at picking up after themselves. The place is a mess! I even think I see Pitbull's underwears tossed under a table. I dont even want to know why there's maraschino cherries all around them.

Hehehehe. Im just kidding, of course. A huge thanks to the crew for their great posts for the occassion and of course, to you all for putting up with us all this time.

Now I have to do something I hate doing: I need to ask for your hard earned cash once again. Believe me, I know times are tough right now, but since we dont really advertise here on the blog, save for a few ads for a few friends now and again, the costs to run the blog basically come out of my pocket. It's not very much, and I have never really asked for donations to help keep the blog up and running, but like I said earlier, times are tough and I could use a little bit of help. So, iffin you can spare a crisp fiver or a ten spot, please consider dropping them in the collection plate.

Trust me, anything would be a big help right now. Just click the donate button below to help us defray some of the costs.

Crybaby Obama, Stonewall Pelosi, & Obama Girl

Happy Friday infidels. I guess these posts too will cause unstable idiots to go on shooting rampages as some lefty bloggers have recently insinuated. So if you're mentally unstable, please do not read this post. There I'm legally absolved. Now back to the post.

My first post today is from the crybaby Democratic Candidate. Say anything about his thin credentials, his naive foreign policy, his socialist leftist views, his Jimmy Carter era economic policies, and his messiah complex and you're called a racist by his minions and lackeys. When President Clinton or Gerry Ferraro comment regarding the fact that his race has been an asset in him getting the votes and nomination, they are called racist. Despite the fact that there has been no racist or racial overtones from any of the McCain ads, Obama calls the latest ad racist cause it pictures him next to Paris Hilton. Oy vay. Well the WSJ has a good take on Obama's race card politics. The second article I will link you to is on Pelosi's continued stonewalling of an oil drilling vote. The polls from Florida is that they want it. The country wants it and needs it. But Nancy the Dominatrix would rather see the country tank and gas remain high for the good of her party and her tree hugger pals. That's sick infidels. So I leave you with these articles as I go prepare to crush my opposition at trial next week.

Obama's Bad Turn August 1, 2008

Is there a way that Barack Obama and John McCain could reboot the Presidential campaign? Both men this week have locked up in modes that surely have little interest to voters.

Senator McCain's latest "inexperience" TV ad about his opponent opened with fleeting images of celeb babes Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, who likely don't know who he is. The celebrity link was a leap that fell flat.

If that was silly, Senator Obama's verbal crackback at his opponent's criticism was more troubling. Campaigning in Missouri, he said: "So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, 'He's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'He doesn't look like all those other Presidents on the dollar bills.'"

The Obama camp says the reference to dollar-bill portraits wasn't meant to suggest that all of them are white and he is black. We might give him the benefit of the doubt on this were it not that it's the second time Mr. Obama has used this device. In late June in Florida he said: "They're going to try to make you afraid. They're going to try to make you afraid of me. 'He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?'"

For starters, this sounds Clintonesque, almost literally so. Recall how the Obama camp went ballistic at the former President's racial insinuations after the South Carolina primary this year. For the record, Senator McCain at no time has said anything remotely touching on his opponent's race.

It would be not only good for this campaign but also in Senator Obama's political self-interest if he dropped this unattractive implication about his opposition. The more he tries to use race as a shield from criticism, the less he'll look like a potential leader of the entire country and more like a traditional liberal playing racial politics.

For a more in depth analysis on "The One" Please read the op ed "Jesus Christ Superstar" by James Tarranto.

Oh and if you want to read the lefty take, just read the drool from Mr. Lefty Eugene Robinson whose head is so far up "the One's" tuchas it's vile.

You can read the article on the Pinko Pelosi here.

Another great op ed from Krauthammer on the deadhead Pelosi's refusal to save our country from foreign oil and higher gas prices.

AND SPEAKING OF PUTZES, HERE IS THE ANOINTED ONE'S PLAN ON ENACTING A JIMMY CARTER WINDFALL PROFITS TAX ON OIL COMPANIES TO GIVE THE PEOPLE MORE STIMULUS CHECKS. WHAT KIND OF DUMBASS POLICY IS THIS? MAKE IT MORE EXPENSIVE FOR THE OIL COMPANIES TO PRODUCE DOMESTIC OIL SO THAT THEY WILL INSTEAD PURCHASE MORE FOREIGNH OIL. WHAT A ROCKET SCIENTIST THIS MESSIAH IS. YOU SURE HE DOESN'T HAVE A TRIPLE 6 TATTOO?

UPDATE: If you simply are tired of it all and of the liberal tripe and of seeing the constipated look of liberal politicians, you can alternatively enjoy the Obama Girl's website here. You'll get more substance from her website than you will ever get from "the One" or the platform of the DNC.

Pepito and Bill

If you're one of the tens of thousands of folks that drives south on US-1 in Miami every day like I do, then you have no doubt noticed one of the weirdest billboards in the history of advertising. Our good friend Bill Teck of Generation ñ magazine fame has a couple of posts about the billboard on his newly redesigned blog.

Stop by and read all about Pepito the little white dog that's living a life of adventure now that he's had Lasik surgery.

Professor Tony de la Cova Vindicated!

In early 1959 Dr Rafael Diaz-Balart (Mario and Lincoln's viejo) tried warning the CIA and U.S. State Dept. that Fidel Castro was rabidly anti-American and a dangerous totalitarian megalomaniac with Communist ties. Their fervent support for his regime, stressed Dr Diaz-Balart, was idiotic and would come back to bite them on the ass.

The U.S. thanked Dr Rafael Diaz-Balart by threatening to deport him. New York officials actually jailed Dr Diaz-Balart and several of his compatriots from the anti-Castro group La Rosa Blanca overnight in New York city in a cell with common criminals.

In the late summer of 1962 Cuban youths from the Directorio and other groups risked their lives obtaining proof that the Soviets were shipping missiles to Cuba. For months they turned all this information over to U.S. authorites.

"Nothing but refugee rumors!" snorted JFK's National Security Adviser, Mc George Bundy, on America's biggest Sunday morning news show, Issues and Answers. "Nothing in Cuba presents a threat to the U.S." he continued, barely masking his scorn. The date was Oct. 14th 1962. Exactly 24 hours later Bundy was studying U-2 photos of those "refugee rumors" aimed at his very house.

Since 1993 professor Tony de la Cova has been warning of an agent for Castro's Stalinist regime named Marifeli Perez-Stable, in the employ of both a "prestigious" Florida University and a "prestigious" Florida newspaper. For his pains, Professor de la Cova has been threatened with lawsuits and denounced as a "terrorist."

Tonight on Miami's talk/news program A Mano Limpia, Lt. Col. Christopher Simmons, a US Army counterintelligence officer (formerly with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency), revealed (to those unfamiliar with Dr de la Cova's work) that Marifeli Perez-Stable has been under watch for years by his agency because she is an agent for Castro's Stalinist regime.

UPDATE (Henry):

Here's video of Simmons on local television. At the the end of this clip (about the 10:20 mark) Simmons mentions Dr. Perez-Stable by name. In the second clip he discusses Perez-Mendez (the Cuban defector who denounced Perez-Stable back in the early 80s).