Let the deprogramming begin

Linet, a Cuban college student publishes the following blog. She publishes in English, which clearly defines her target audience, and her orders.


OK, take a moment to let your gastric juices settle down. Do not blame Linet, she is just a product of the system in which she has grown. Linet knows no better, and no one has told her otherwise. Does she know about Dr. Elias Biscet or Guillermo Fariñas or the 300 plus political prisoners congesting Cuban jails? I would probably guess that she does not. Everything that Linet has read, or allowed to write has been tightly controlled, it is not her own. In a way Linet is just a naive college student, with a head full of mush, castroite mush. Now without being curt, would you please take the time and visit Linet, and let us start her deprogramming.

Hurricane castro and his toll

Katrina was one of the most destructive- most costly-disaster in US history, with an estimated 1,500 lives lost. There is really no need to link this statement to any particular website, on this the first anniversary there will be plenty of reminders including finger pointing. Katrina is now history, but hurricane castro has endure for more than 47 years, with a force that has devastated Cuba economically, morally, and stripped its people of hope. The death toll by hurricane castro is estimated at over 90,000 dead Cubans. If you do not believe me, pay a quick visit to www.cubaarchives.org, and read this article about the selfless folks that are doing the count. Here is a paragraph that I found particularly interesting and telling.

"We need to put the focus on the victims," said Werlau, seated inside the townhouse where she lives and works. "Unfortunately, Cuban exile groups have focused too much on the politics instead of those killed, their families. We have to remember this is not about us."

I though this was clever

This parody is written to the words of one my favorite Jose Martí poems. I memorized it when I was just a young lad and from a copy of La edad de oro given to me by my favorite aunt. Sorry, I think that it only works in Spanish (Cuban), so no translation will be attempted.

H/T: Nilcia - Una compatriota con su propia historia que contar.

"El caballo se jodió"
(Parodia de “Los Dos Príncipes” de Martí)

El Partido esta de luto
porque se ha muerto Fidel
y Raúl esta llorando
donde no lo pueden ver.

Con banderas verde olivo
lloran en la U-Jota-C.
Los pioneros inocentes
están llorando también.
Los cañones llevan puestas
municiones de poder
Los soldados no han tirado
porque no saben que hacer.

Y la industria papelera
quedó sin hojas esta vez.
Todo el mundo fue al entierro
con banderas de papel.

¡El Coma Andante se ha muerto!
¡Estiró la pata Fidel!

>-o0o-

En una calle en La Habana
vive humilde un constructor.
Su mujer está diciendo:
"!Gracias, mil gracias, Señor!"

Los vecinos de la cuadra
vienen todos de a montón.
Una tribuna muy grande
esta haciendo el constructor.

Entra y sale un perro alegre
Canta en la calle una voz:
"Caballeros, que es en serio,
¡El Caballo se jodió!"

El constructor se levanta
sube orgulloso al balcón,
abre el micrófono al viento,
suelta enérgica la voz:
¡"Libertad para mi pueblo!
Que Fidel ya se acabó!
¡VIVA MI CUBA LIBRE
y demos gracias a DIOS!

Sin fidelis

This a very nice story, that kind that makes your chest puff out about 3 inches. The young man comes to the US and soon thereafter, very soon thereafter, joins the Marines, and there he is having taken the oath to “defend and protect.” The story gets into the economic woes of Cuba, but I think that is it just the perspective of a young person that was never exposed to anything else under the communist rule. The real story that needs to be told is that of his father. I have enough of a tough time sailing out on the Pacific Ocean on a 50-ft yacht out of Dana Point Harbor for “a four hour tour,” much less on a rickety raft across shark infested waters. Oh, the desperation! That is the real story.

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C.(Aug. 17, 2006) --

From his perch in a coconut tree, a five-yearold boy watched his father remove a boat from a thick covering of grass. The boat was essentially branches bound by wires and sealed watertight by the sap of a gum tree. If the Cuban police saw Roberlando Padilla set out for Florida, he would have been incarcerated for years or shot on the spot. But Padilla evaded communist authorities and made the four-day, 90-mile journey across the shark infested waters, occasionally throwing bags of food overboard to divert the underwater predators.

Fourteen years ago, Pfc. Roberlan Padilla, was the boy in the tree. Until 2002, he remained in Cuba with his mother and grandparents. In 2002, his father, after starting his own carpet company, claimed his as a dependent, and Roberlan received permission from the Cuban government to come to America. Roberlan flew to Miami, Fla., that year. Last June, he received his high school diploma, and this year, he joined the Marine Corps. Roberlan is now enjoying the freedoms of living in America and adapting to life as a Marine and an administrative clerk with IPAC. More [here].

Oh, I've changed my mind

And the child grows saluting fidel...

This from realitycheck.org and freelance writer Tony Zissa. This article gives a glimpse into many future articles that will be written about Cuba, as the blind start to see the truth about the brutal tyrant that oppresses the island.

Rethinking Elian Gonzalez

by Tony Zizza


With stories and photos of Fidel Castro's "personal health" bombarding us 24/7, I have given some second serious thought into my own involvement in the infamous Elian Gonzalez case. Once you hear the name "Elian", how can you ever forget this six year old boy and the media rampage that started in late 1999, and came full circle more than six years ago?

Looking back, I have come to realize that in my advocacy to advance the concept of fathers' rights, I forgot to understand that young Elian was the wrong boy and the wrong case to champion in the name of American fathers' rights. We can properly state over and over and over again that fathers, and subsequently their children, are victimized far more often in family courts across this country, than mothers are. This must stop. However, you don't start to bring media attention to a noble cause with the wrong case. I'm speaking for myself, and understand a million and one divorced fathers will come down on me. So be it. [More here]

Extremely sad story

Twelve Cuban rafters were rescued by the Mexican navy 29 days after being at sea. Two died shortly after the rescue; dehydration and drinking big quantities of water too quickly after a prolonged period without it is sited as the cause of death. Their goal was to reach the US, but they never made it, including those that are alive. Arriving in Mexico illegally means being returned to Cuba (prison), a Mexican double standard. Imagine, they are just now finding out that the tyrant is in his deathbed and his younger brother has been willed the gran hacienda.

Here is the story [in Spanish].

RESCATAN A 12 BALSEROS CUBANOS, PERO DOS MUEREN

MEXICO, 20 (ANSA) - La Armada de México rescató a 12 balseros cubanos cerca de las costas del estado norteño de Tamaulipas, cuando llevaban 29 días a la deriva y dos de ellos murieron poco después de ser puestos a salvo por tomar agua rápidamente.
Según informa hoy el diario mexicano Milenio, los cubanos que pretendían llegar a Estados Unidos sufrían una severa deshidratación cuando su frágil barcaza fue avistada el sábado por una nave de la marina mexicana.
Carlos Alberto Hernández, de 29 años y otro cubano llamado Joel, cuyos apellidos se desconocen, fallecieron tras ser rescatados.
El secretario de Salud del gobierno de Tamaulipas, estado limítrofe con Texas, Estados Unidos, Pedro Lozano, dijo que la muerte se debió a un fenómeno que se presenta cuando una persona expuesta a un calor intenso y que ha absorbido cantidades considerables de sal o bicarbonato, bebe mucha agua en forma repentina.
Se estima que antes de beber agua dulce los fallecidos habrían ingerido también agua de mar.
20/08/2006 16:43

Fidel will live to 140 years old

Via Medicina Cubana, fidel's doctors claim that the tyrant is in excellent health and will live to be a 140 years old.

Mierda, forget 140 years, why not for 200 years. Like this!

Back to schrewl

Yesterday, I helped my son move into his apartment for the third time since he started the university. I everything goes to schedule there will only be one more move and I am done (he is done), and will not have to endure being greeted by collegiate lost souls like this one. Then in the midst radical liberal professors and equally obnoxious guest lecturers, they throw in a token lecture that at least is somewhat cleansing. It would be embarrassing to tell you how much this institution of higher learning takes away from my retirement every year.

Get ready for more photos and videos

This time the cocalero Evo Morales will be the one drooling and holding the hands of the dying tyrant. This meeting will take place in September during a summit of the Non-aligned Movement leaders. Evo, please do not forget to bring that coca and llama dung cake you offered to make for fidel’s birthday. After all, he shared ice cream with his first lady.

Click here for the story [in Spanish].

If Reuters fakes photographs

...why wouldn't the Cuban nazis?

Bloggers scrutinize photos of Castro [subscription]

By Joseph Tartakoff

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

MIAMI - Fidel Castro is still alive - chatting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a video shown this week. But that hasn't stopped bloggers from speculating that earlier photos, the first released since Castro's illness, were doctored.

While the debate might seem moot - since few are questioning the authenticity of the Chavez and Castro video - the frenzy over the Castro photos points to the ease with which digital photos can be manipulated and then widely disseminated over the Internet.

Kenny Irby, the visual journalism editor at the Poynter Institute, said pictures have always been tweaked but the advent of digital photography has made the doctoring a lot easier.

"These practices were far more laborious and cumbersome," he said. "Now, it's seamlessly done by a click of the mouse."

Throughout the week bloggers have questioned many of the elements in the original Castro shots, which were released Sunday, and some have even tried their own hand at transforming one of the images.

Community website MiamiBeach411.com opened a contest Monday allowing users to manipulate a photo showing a rosy-toned Castro holding up a copy of Cuba's Communist newspaper, Granma. The creator of the best image wins a ticket to Disney World. One entrant placed a copy of Maxim magazine in Castro's hands; others came up with more devilish versions of the photo.

With the surge in blogging, thousands of online commentators jump on many photos in the mainstream media that seem slightly amiss.

Earlier this month, for example, the Little Green Football blog revealed that a Reuters stringer had doctored a photo of Beirut by using software to make the smoke over the city appear more intense.

Bloggers also seized on a photo montage, published June 25 in El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language sister paper of The Miami Herald, that combined two shots, making it seem that Cuban police were ignoring prostitution.

"Blogs have really put the mainstream media under a microscope," said Jim Romenesko, who runs the media blog Romenesko. "Every step is being watched and being criticized."

Irby of the Poynter Institute said one red flag on both the Lebanon and Castro photos is that neither was taken by an accredited photographer.

Indeed, when the Associated Press distributed the first shots of Castro recuperating from his surgery it attached a disclaimer that the AP "cannot verify the authenticity or the date when these photographs were shot." Santiago Lyon, the AP's director of photography, said in an interview that his agency was simply being cautious.

But bloggers seized on the tagline as possible evidence that the AP thought the photos might have been tampered with.

Even White House Press Secretary Tony Snow described one picture as "the cheesy Photoshop picture" to reporters.

No pixel on the first Castro photos was overlooked. Bloggers noted that there was an odd line between Castro's hand and the paper, that Castro's facial lesions were missing, and that Castro appeared to be wearing the same Adidas jacket - of the Cuban Sports Federation - he wore in 2002 when Jimmy Carter visited the island.

"The Adidas jacket appears to have weathered the more than four years since then remarkably well," a blogger at www.cigarenvy.com wrote Monday. "Perhaps he doesn't wear it very often. Or perhaps he takes exceptionally good care of it."

Experts in Adobe Photoshop, the dominant imaging software, had their takes too.

Ken Milburn, the author of Digital Photography: Expert Techniques, said there were definite signs of tweaking in the Castro photo, but nothing that would question its authenticity.

For example, he said it seemed that the whites of Castro's eyes had been whitened.

"People's eyes don't look like that when they're 80 years-old. Most people's eyes don't look like that way when they're 22. That's one of the basic retouching techniques," Milburn said.

Richard Quindry, a Photoshop artist in Lansdale, Penn., said it was normal for photographers to try to make their clients look as good as possible. For example, he said Castro's beard looks darker in a photo of Castro with his hand on his chin than in the other shots. By pushing on the beard, though, it would seem denser and thus darker.

"People might be doing things to make him look a little better but it doesn't mean that the photo is an outright fake," he said. "It doesn't mean that the White House press corps wouldn't do the same thing for Bush."

David Friend, a former photography director at Life magazine and author of the forthcoming book, Watching the World Change, noted that many governments doctor photos of leaders.

"The Soviets were especially good at it," he said. "There was a cosmonaut who fell out of favor and he was extracted from the background of pictures of the Soviet leadership."

But he cautioned that the accusations - especially when they're made on the Web - sometimes turn out to be false.

"There are a lot of arm-chair conspiracy theorists with time on their hands," said Friend.

Banking on the Bolivarian Revolution

The good times are rolling for Venezuelan bankers; the abundance of black gold and high market prices is making them wealthier and wealthier. However, it looks like the party is almost over as Chávez seeks to meddle more into their business, and nationalizing the banking system is not totally out of the question.

Bankers get rich from Chávez’s revolution
By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas
Published: August 16 2006 17:46 | Last updated: August 16 2006 17:46

Bankers traditionally face firing squads in times of revolution. But in Venezuela, they are having a party.

Dirán Sarkissián, president of the local subsidiary of Stanford Bank, a US bank with offshore operations based on the Caribbean island of Antigua, is proud of his rapidly lengthening list of high-net-worth customers who are enjoying President Hugo Chávez’s self-styled “Bolivarian Revolution”.

“As far as growth is concerned we’re very happy,” says Mr Sarkissián. That might be an understatement. Deposits have increased by 600 per cent to $106m (£57m, €84m) in the year since the boutique bank opened for business in Caracas.

For an embargo to work you have to plug the holes

In a properly executed embargo you would not have Joya training in Cuba to become a doctor for "free." Free to whom? Believe it folks is it not any cheaper to train a doctor in Cuba and someone has to pay for that bill. Could it be the Cuban people?

It a subscription site, thus I have pasted the whole thing here, so you won't have to.

Now go read on about Joya going to the "land of opportunity."

Her dream leads her to Cuba
Program will help her earn medical degree — for free
By JOEL DRESANG
jdresang@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 16, 2006

Joya Mosley sees Cuba as a land of opportunity.
Advertisement

As the world scrutinizes the health of Fidel Castro and speculates on Cuba's future, Mosley packs her bags, preparing to return to Havana next month to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.

"I am not worried," Mosley said on the porch swing of her mother's house on Milwaukee's north side.

Mosley plans to join about 95 U.S. citizens already studying at the Latin American School of Medical Sciences, which has been educating doctors from undeveloped countries and, more recently, from the United States. Tuition, housing, meals and books are free. Students have to be economically disadvantaged and committed to practicing medicine in underserved U.S. communities.

That commitment is part of the appeal to Mosley, who at 23 has a history of community service. She also welcomes being trained in Spanish. And then there's the price tag.

The average yearly cost of medical school in the U.S. ranges from more than $36,000 at state schools to about $52,000 for private schools, and the average graduate has debts exceeding $120,000, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

"I was like, how am I going to pay for this?" Mosley said.

A 2001 graduate of Riverside University High School, Mosley has dreamed of being a doctor. She volunteered as a hospital candy striper and became a certified nursing assistant as a teenager to get hospital experience.

Knowing about Mosley's dream, a friend of her mother's told Mosley about the medical school in Cuba.

"She's very studious, very serious about wanting to be a doctor. We think she'll do well," said the Rev. Lucius Walker, a founder of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization, a 39-year-old non-profit group that coordinates the Cuba medical scholarships.

Castro himself has promoted the six-year medical scholarship program, which began enrolling U.S. students in 2001. The schooling has the backing of the Congressional Black Caucus, which has intervened to protect the U.S. students so that their participation isn't a violation of the 44-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba.

As with other foreign-trained doctors, graduates of the Cuba medical school must pass licensing exams and complete U.S. medical residencies.
International cooperation

Art Heitzer, a Milwaukee attorney who has visited the medical school, called the scholarship program "a fine example of international cooperation" that lets Mosley interact with medical scholars from Cuba and other countries.

"It's a fantastic goodwill mission in all directions, just for her to be able to share her experiences with other dedicated people from all over the world," said Heitzer, who's on the steering committee of the Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba.

Detractors of Castro, who has ruled in Cuba since 1959, have characterized the free medical training for U.S. citizens as an attempt to embarrass the U.S. government.

For her part, Mosley won't talk about politics.

"I'm more into natural sciences, not political science," Mosley told Heitzer's group two years ago at a presentation on her experience in Cuba. "I just went for my goal."

But even with free tuition, room and board, Mosley has expenses in Cuba that have delayed her progress.

When she came home from Havana in late 2003, after completing two semesters of Spanish immersion and pre-medical training, Mosley lacked the airfare to return. She already depleted her savings, and she wasn't able to get student loans for Cuba.

So for the past two years, Mosley has been studying biology and chemistry at Alverno College - using scholarships, student loans and savings from her work as a part-time patient care assistant at Columbia St. Mary's.
Following her dream

But she hasn't surrendered her dream. Mosley is ready to return to Cuba to begin six years of medical training. Classes start Sept. 4.

Mosley figures she has enough savings set aside for the next year, with the proceeds from the sale of her mother's Jeep covering airfare - which, because of U.S. travel restrictions, she is arranging through the Bahamas.

Walker, who used to live in Mosley's neighborhood, where he began his civil rights ministry in the 1960s, said Mosley's drive impresses him.

"Her family can't lay down the money like some wealthy families, but she hasn't lost her dream," Walker said. "She's still pursuing her dream, and I think that's very positive. You know, sometimes we don't see our young people striving. They come out of tough circumstances, and they let those circumstances determine and shape their lives. She doesn't want to do that. She wants to realize her dream."

About one in five of the scholarship recipients drops out, but none has done so for financial reasons, Walker said. "But we have had some, like Joya, who had to come back home and work and raise money somehow so they could continue."

Mosley said she'd like to come home once a year and estimates she needs about $2,500 a year beyond what the scholarship covers. She has been trying to raise donations, but if nothing else, she says, she'll try to earn money when she comes home for breaks.

"She seems like a very intelligent, dedicated person," Heitzer said. "You've got to be an extremely mature person with great dedication to your goal. Not everybody can do that, that's for sure. I admire her for her commitment to it."

Neither Walker nor Heitzer is worried about the medical school's prospects after Castro's time has passed. It's a high priority for the Cuban government and has benefited too many other countries to think that it should be discontinued, they said.

"The program is secure. It's permanent," Walker said. "Nothing is going to be modified because Fidel is sick - or even if he should die."

No Electoral College - No Cuban voting power

Here is an article that very cleverly presents the idea that “fidel castro decides” who gets elected as president in the US, but that is not what the writer intents to convey.

…when it comes to our political leaders' obsession, the answer is more fundamental. Simply put, Fidel is hugely responsible for who gets elected president of the United States.

The article suggests eliminating the Electoral College, which is the one responsible for giving Florida and those wild-eyed crazy Cuban-Americans that love to hate fidel the voting power they should not have.

Whenever you see national news related to Cuba or Fidel, reflect on how our system gives such influence to a small minority of voters (Cuban-Americans). Read more [here].

Tyrant not dead, yet!

Here is the video of crowned prince Huguito Chavez visiting fidel at his bedside. The video runs a little over 5 minutes of meaningless conversation, mostly Chavez talking, when he is not ass kissing. WARNING: This video may cause involuntary spasmic movements, causing you to eject part or all of the contents in your stomach. And that is just the raul castro part.




H/T: Abajo Fidel

I am back

I am just catching up with things after taking some needed “rest” in Las Vegas. Well, let us not call it rest let us call it distraction. Anyone that has been to LV knows it is not the place for rest. I am not much of a gambler; however, when I do play it is the roulette. It is very random and very little thinking is involved, which suits me fine. I kept on top of the news by checking my cell phone, which has internet access capability. It is automatically programmed to Babalublog, who else? The only news that interested me during vacation was the news that would dictate how much additional celebration was required of me. Of course, I am referring to the death of a certain bearded tyrant.

Well, I am now at home, and have finally been able to view the photos of the "recuperating" fidel, published in the national toilet paper of Cuba, Granma. The funniest is the one in the Adidas jacket, which makes fidel looks like a hip-hop caricature, less the reversed baseball cap. I would be lying if I did not tell you that it was disappointing to see the photos.



This photo in particular bothered me. Cubans in general love ice cream (I think that is what crowned prince chavecito and the tyrant are eating), and to many is a distant memory or difficult to find any. Right now you can step out your house, get in your 2006 Lexus, go to the nearest supermarket and go directly to the ice cream freezer case, and return home without any ice cream becuase you had too many choices and could not make up your mind. The photo is simply a slap across the face of all Cubans, who struggle to find their daily subsistence, and on many days yielding little or no results, much less the luxury of a scoop of ice cream.

Castro animated and loving his work

America provides freedom

Maykel Galindo was already a great soccer player when he defected from Cuba, but there was something missing preventing him from being the full person he is today. FREEDOM! This story repeats itself time and time again, but it is ignored by the castroite idiots.

His grandmother, Isabella Mesa, would never understand. Why would he leave her, the kind woman who basically reared him?

Por futbol, mi abuelita, por futbol.

"All I wanted was to be a professional soccer player," Galindo said through a translator, assistant coach Bernardo Ruiz.

"There's no pro soccer in Cuba. I wanted to give my family more security. I could do this for them by coming to America." Read his story [here].

My gift

I am gone for the weekend, this time to Las Vegas (no airplanes), but I wanted to take this opportunity of leaving my birthday gift to fidel castro. If he is still alive, I hope that he is never separated from the colostomy bag, and the his bedpan needs to remain at his side forever. But what I truly wish him is that he disappears from the face of the earth.

Seth gets it

I do not know who Seth Gordon is, but he is not wearing wearing liberal pink colored glasses.

Seth Gordon: Cap Times knows nothing of Castro's Cuba
A letter to the editor

Dear Editor: As a New York-born liberal Democrat raised and educated in Boston, but who has lived in Miami long enough to understand the reality of Fidel Castro's butchery, I was awed by the immeasurable ignorance reflected in The Capital Times editorial about Castro.

Your reference to "gains in health care and education" echo the Southern slave owners' rationale that their black chattel ate well in their comfy hovels.

If I had suffered the fate of the Cuban people at the hands of this vulgar and blood-thirsty monstrosity, I would be doing more than simply dancing in the streets at the prospect of his imminent death.

I admire their restraint.

Seth Gordon
Miami, Fla.

Returning home

What a mess! I was running late for the flight home, and since I usually do not check any bags when taking short trips, I proceeded directly to the security checkpoint. The security line in Phoenix was long and more chaotic than usual. Right at the entrance of the zigzagging line, an airline employee and a TSA employee were providing instructions that anyone carrying liquids, gels, toothpastes, etc., will have to have either to check it in with the airline or discard the items. I went back downstairs to the 2nd floor to check my one bag carrying all the toiletries, but that line serpentined for at least a mile, and it was moving very slowly. Forget it! I went back upstairs to the security point and to the disposal bin placed just for that purpose. All the contents of my toiletry bag, including the water bottle were discarded, overall, about $100 worth of products. BASTARDS! To boot all the airlines were running late, at least an hour late, mine included.

As a response the latest terrorist attempts, Muslims are getting on the media, and instead of denouncing terrorism, and loudly standing with the majority of America, they are more worried about their “image” and saving their own hide. Here a little advice, next time you go to the mosque and see and hear anything suspicious, don’t keep quiet, report it to the authorities. Keeping quiet makes you (all Muslims) complicit.

Off to Arizona (Update)

I am on my way to Arizona this morning; therefore, posting is going to be light for the rest of day. Maybe no more postings. But since the whole world is praying for the tyrant's health, here is my prayer.

I pray that by the time my airplane lands, Cuba is free of the menace that has tormented her for more than 47 years. Lord if this means the death of the tyrant fidel castro, then let it be your will. AMEN.

Update: Prayer not answered. Will keep praying.

A dichotomy

On March 30, 1981, the demented John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan; this picture of the President in a bathrobe was taken four days after the incident. A .22 caliber-exploding bullet (that miraculously did not explode) entered the chest under the left arm. The President lost a great deal of blood and suffered a collapsed lung. Yes, POTUS was quickly recovering, and there were the pictures to prove it, and the nation breathed a sigh of relief and the enemy trembled.

Ten days ago the tyrant fidel castro was operated from intestinal bleeding, so they say. He ceded control of the nation to his equally abhorrent brother raulito and a couple of other high-level mucky-mucks. No one has seen fidel and no has seen raul, there are no pictures, speeches, and/or statements by either one [even dough fidel is quickly recovering, and apparently sending messages]. In the country, the army has been mobilizing, showing their presence, and fear, and uncertainly abounds. Where are the mucky-mucks? They are far away from the Cuba, collecting frequent miles.

The MSM parrots

Fidel Castro has been among the world's longest-ruling leaders, outlasting nine US presidents.

How would you interpret this sentence? It is a favorite ending sentence of the BBC, appearing in several articles about Fidel [here and here are examples]. No need to read the entire article just move your eyes the bottom of the page. It is an irking statement to any Cuban exile, a reminder of the years that have kept us away from our beloved soil; it is like rubbing salt on an open wound, which is the context in which it is presented. This is a clever way for the MSM to point out how their admiration and durable fidel has been, while thumbing his nose at imperialism (the US).

They fail to point out the fidel is the only leader in the Western Hemisphere that was never elected to office, and in 47 years has never held a free election. Meanwhile, the MSM ignores this, and continues to blindly Xerox the same old mantra published in Cuba’s national toilet papers.

Off to the school of higher learning

The school year is about to start and your recently graduated senior is still at home wondering what to do? Well, there is still time to send them to college; here is a university that promises quick acceptance. The dress code is minimal; a Che t-shirt will suffice.

Fidel: International terrorist

The National Clergy Council is pressing for open inspection of 30-year old detention camps in the North African country of Algeria run by the POLISARIO Front, a Marxist-inspired terrorist organization bent on toppling the neighboring government of Morocco. Morocco is America’s nearest African neighbor and among its strongest allies in the region.

Some 40 years ago, Fidel Castro set his sites on the former Spanish Sahara, a swath of dessert between Africa’s Atlantic coast, Mauritania to the south and Algeria to the northeast. Morocco has a 1000-year history of sovereignty over the area interrupted only by the century-long Spanish occupation that ended in 1974.

With backing from the former Soviet Union and Libya, Castro provided training and weapons to the POLISARIO guerillas. With the decline of communism, the POLISARIO has turned to international crime to fund its operations, including the diversion and black market sales of millions of dollars in aid provided by Christian organizations.

More than 50,000 inhabitants of Morocco’s Southern Provinces of the Western Sahara have been held in the detention centers, some for decades. Tens of thousands of their children have been shipped off to Cuba for communist indoctrination. Many never returned. Christian Newswire.

“The Polisario is made up of 10,000 idle soldiers. Half of them went to Cuba to learn sabotage techniques that can be used by terror groups," Zerouali said. Morocco Times

If you train terrorist, does that make you a terrorist? The Polisario offer their greetings to their benefactor for a quick recovery. Terra EFE

Todo cubano (Every Cuban)

Todo cubano sin distinción de credo, raza, condición económica, o afiliación política:

• Tiene el derecho de elegir a sus gobernantes.
• Tiene el derecho de opinar y expresarse públicamente sin temer a represalias.
• Tiene el derecho de gozar de la libertad de prensa. Leer y publicar lo que quiera y cuando quiera.
• Tiene el derecho de tener acceso a Internet, no solo los privilegiados o los vinculados con el gobierno.
• Tiene el derecho de viajar libremente por donde quiera y cuando quiera fuera y dentro de Cuba
• Tiene el derecho de no ser ciudadano de segunda clase. Los derechos de los cubanos deberían ser por encima al de los extranjeros, y no ser extranjeros en su propia patria.
• Tiene el derecho de cuestionar y criticar a sus gobernantes y hacerlos responsables de sus acciones.
• Tiene el derecho de congregarse sin temer perder su libertad.
• Tiene el derecho de poseer y vender propiedad.
• Tiene el derecho de practicar su religión escogida.

Todo somos cubanos y todos disfrutaremos de estas libertades. Dígale no a la sucesión. El cambio democrático en Cuba está presente.

Following the script

Nothing happens in Cuba unless it has been orchestrated to a T. Imagine living in a country where anything that you say in public could land you in trouble with the authorities, which could mean prison time. The following video shows a Cuban reporter asking the “man and woman on the street” their opinion about fidel’s health. The people interviewed know their script, they know how to recite it and recite it well; all are in support of fidel and the revolution. You can bet your bottom peso that the interviewees were not randomly selected.

Osler's update from Havana

David Osler is a Brittish journalist that is currently vacationing in Havana. I stumbled onto his blog Dave’s Part by accident and made comment about him posting the picture of the dead prick Che. Dave’s posting is rather scarce since arriving in Cuba. Visitors to the site including me are encouraging him to forget the sightseeing bullshit and to provide his observations with more frequency, here is what he wrote today. I must warn you that if you visit the site get ready for points of view coming from wayyyyyyyyyy left.

Sunday, August 06, 2006
Update from Havana
Things are definitely getting heavier here. Last night I saw troops on the streets of Habana Vieja. Granted, they were unarmed. But they were in uniform, and conspicuous by their numbers. I think most of the population got the message.

Despite the media black-out, increasing numbers of Cubans have heard the rumour that FC has kicked the bucket. But most seem to write it off as propaganda.

Interesting chat in a bar last night with a guy who insisted that Cubans support socialism, but want democracy with it. Mind you, he went on to spoil his chances of being designated an 'unconscious Trotskyist' in the annual Pablo Memorial Awards by immediately thereafter offering to pimp any chica in the room that caught my eye.

Meanwhile, I have sent many emails of the last week, but have had no responses. I don't know if they are getting through OK or not. Apologies to those expecting to hear from me.

Ah, there is raul!

...it appears that fidel's health is improving.



H/T: Dr. Sanity

Evo: Lage's news is not enough

Vice-dictator Carlos Lage and a heavyweight of the Cuban junta (in place while fidel dies) is visiting Bolivia and has reported to Evo “El cocalero” Morales that fidel “has had considerable improvement after the operation.” However, it seems that Evo is questioning Lage’s credibility, since he has decided to find out for himself. A Bolivian contingent will be on its way to La Habana to question about the health status of the tyrant. Evo is not sure whether to go-ahead and bake the coca and llama dung (em) cake he promised the tyrant for his birthday. Evo go ahead and bake the cake, it will taste better on his deathday, I'll even have a slice.

Morales enviará misión a Cuba para visitar a Castro

Associated Press

SUCRE, Bolivia - El presidente Evo Morales enviará una misión de alto nivel a La Habana en los próximos días para visitar e indagar sobre la salud del mandatario cubano Fidel Castro, anunció el domingo el portavoz oficial Alex Contreras.

"Tenemos previsto que en los próximo días viaje una comisión gubernamental a Cuba", declaró el vocero presidencial. El gobierno "evalúa" a quiénes delegará la misión, añadió.

Contreras dijo que "oficialmente" el gobierno boliviano no conoce un informe sobre la evolución de la salud de Castro que fue sometido a una operación intestinal que le obligó a delegar el mando temporal de su país a su hermano Raúl.

Explicó que el vicepresidente cubano Carlos Lage, de visita en Bolivia, comentó al mandatario boliviano que la salud de Castro "ha mejorado notablemente después de la operación" a la que fue sometido.

Lage dijo a la prensa en esta ciudad que el presidente de su país no tiene cáncer y que "evoluciona favorablemente".

Morales había prometido a Castro llevarle hasta La Habana un pastel con harina de coca para celebrar los 80 años del líder cubano el 13 de agosto, pero los actos oficiales fueron aplazados.

En una carta que le remitió el martes, llamó a Castro "amigo y hermano", y en la misiva le deseó una pronta mejoría "para continuar en la trinchera de la lucha antiimperialista".

On a side note, Jose Ramon Balaguer another junta heavy is also outside the island, this one traveling through Guatemala. And raul castro? He was spotted in a Hialeah liquor store late last night.

¡Ya Se Acabo (It's Over)!

The MSM has always painted the die-hard anti castro Cubans as old, stodgy old men and women holding onto a long gone past. That is not what I am seeing or hearing.

Pitbull raps Castro
(Friday August 04, 2006 11:15 AM)

Miami rapper Pitbull has expressed joy over the current ill health of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in a controversial new track.

The reggaeton star wrote and recorded "Ya Se Acabo (It's Over)" less than 24 hours after media reports that Castro had temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul due to illness.

The track, which can be heard on Pitbull's MySpace page, contains lyrics wishing for the Cuban leader's early death.

These include: "No more 90 mile trips to the Keys. No more risking your life for freedom.

"I'm hoping he's dead, because we don't need him."

The chorus repeats the words, "El tiempo tuyo ya paso" [or "Your time has run out"].

Posted on August 1, the track has already been played more than more than 30,000 times.

Listen to Pitbull [here].

La Iglesia Católica pide que oren por el hijo del diablo

Una vez más la Iglesia Católica pierde la oportunidad de poner en acción lo que predica. Dice que está al lado del desahuciado, el oprimido, el indefenso, pero históricamente termina en el lado opuesto. Hoy la Iglesia Católica de Cuba pide a los cubanos que oren por la salud (si no está muerto ya) del sátrapa fidel castro. Supongo que lo correcto sería pedir que oren por el futuro de Cuba (sin fidel), y no por el asesino que mantiene a 11 millones de personas en cautiverio. Pero que ha de esperarse, estos son los mismos que permanecieron inatentos durante la gran exterminación por Hitler de 6 millones de judíos. Por cierto que le tomó más de 50 años en pedir un flácida disculpa. ¿Será que no ven la diferencia entre fidel y Hitler?

La Iglesia Católica pide a cubanos orar por Fidel Castro

WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
El Nuevo Herald

La Iglesia Católica cubana exhortó ayer a sus feligreses a que oren por la salud del gobernante Fidel Castro y pidió a Dios que ''ilumine'' a quienes han asumido temporalmente las riendas del país, con el general Raúl Castro a la cabeza.

La declaración de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Cuba (COCC) --divulgada ayer-- califica de ''especialmente significativo para nuestro pueblo'' el delicado estado de salud que aqueja al mandatario, próximo a cumplir 80 años.

''Los obispos de Cuba pedimos a todas nuestras comunidades que ofrezcan oraciones para que Dios acompañe en su enfermedad al presidente Fidel Castro e ilumine a quienes han recibido provisoriamente las responsabilidades del gobierno'', indica la nota del clero de la isla.

La misiva será leída en todas las parroquias cubanas el próximo 6 de agosto durante la misa dominical.

''A la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, patrona de Cuba, confiamos todo cuanto nos preocupa en esta hora de la historia de nuestra patria con un hondo deseo de paz y de fraterna convivencia entre todos los cubanos, que no puedan ser perturbados por ninguna situación externa o interna'', agrega el documento.

La proclamación fue recibida con cierta reticencia por sectores del exilio cubano de Miami, donde la población católica es mayoritaria.

Pero Monseñor Agustín Román, uno de los líderes espirituales de la comunidad cubana, calificó la declaración de 'convencionalmente eclesial', y dijo que deben entenderse ``las sutilezas que contiene el lenguaje que sale de Cuba''.

''Siempre he rezado por la salud de todos los enfermos y el descanso de todos los difuntos'', explicó Román. ``Y por Cuba, para que reine la paz, pero la paz de la Iglesia, que es verdad fundada sobre los pilares del amor, la justicia y la libertad''.

Un diácono contactado ayer telefónicamente por El Nuevo Herald en La Habana coincidió con Román en que ``la paz que menciona la Iglesia Católica no puede entenderse sin justicia y libertad''.

''La Iglesia no puede dejar de orar por un ser humano'', indicó la fuente. ``Es un texto discreto en su preocupación por la salud del jefe de Estado''.

Varias fuentes en La Habana y el interior del país han confirmado un incremento visible de personas orando en las parroquias desde que Castro anunció que delegaba el poder a su hermano por motivos de salud, el pasado lunes.

La carta de la COCC se produce tres días después que la Arquidiócesis de Miami emitiera una declaración sobre el incidente implorando la democratización de la isla. El Vaticano no se ha pronunciado aún sobre la salud de Castro.

''Invitamos a todos a la calma, el buen juicio y a intensificar la oración por el bien de Cuba para que este sufrido pueblo pueda vivir en una sociedad donde se respeten todos los derechos de los ciudadanos'', afirma la proclama firmada por monseñor John C. Favalora, arzobispo de Miami.

Este domingo en la Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre, en Coconut Grove, habrá plegarias cada hora --comenzando a las 8 a.m.-- a favor de la paz en Cuba. La jornada de oración concluirá allí con una misa a las 8 p.m. La Arquidiócesis de Miami enfatizó que en este momento de transición en la isla, los fieles deben rezar por paz, reconciliación y unidad.

Raul castro won't come out of the closet

You know how to change the names

From a Brit that wraps it up nicely

Offered without comment.

Castro: Last days of a monster
By ANN LESLIE, Daily Mail 08:29am 5th August 2006

The BBC's Guardianistas been fawning over an ailing Castro all week. But the truth is he's a megalomaniac who's run a corrupt, brutal and inefficient state that will collapse into criminality when he dies

When a young royal oaf like Prince Harry wears a Che Guevara T-shirt, you can safely assume that His Royal Highness knows zilch about the murderous, economically incompetent, but undeniably pretty, Argentine-born Cuban icon.

Che, for the brainless, is just another must-have fashion item. He knows no better — but others do.

When the news came in this week that Cuba's dictator, the ailing 79-year-old Fidel Castro, had 'temporarily' handed the reins of 47 years of uninterrupted power to his younger brother Raul, 75, I felt faintly disgusted by the hero-worshipping remarks uttered here about the possibly dying Fidel.

Castro, we were told, "will be remembered as one of the towering figures of the last half-century".

In Cuba itself, you'll hear other descriptions of this 'towering figure', who has executed trade unionists, and imprisons dissidents and journalists for up to 28 years.

I've worked in that beautiful, benighted island and talked, secretly, with its bored and bitter youth who dream of escape to America, a mere 90 miles away, and who scornfully describe Fidel as el viejo loco (the mad old man). Catch up with the rest of the story [here].

Cuban medicine fails fidel, the man has cancer (UPDATE)

UPDATE: It seems that the Brazilian government (Lula) is rather pissed at the news that points to it as the source of the news about fidel having stomach cancer. Lula has basically ordered his staff to shut-up!

Gobierno de Brasil niega tener informes sobre salud de Castro

El gobierno brasileño negó hoy que el presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva haya sido informado por autoridades cubanas de la supuesta gravedad del estado de salud del gobernante cubano, Fidel Castro.

'El presidente de la República, que sigue la situación de salud del presidente cubano por medio del ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, en ningún momento fue informado por autoridades cubanas o cualquier otra, sobre el supuesto diagnóstico', según una nota difundida por el portavoz de la Presidencia de Brasil, André Singer.

El diario 'Folha de Sao Paulo' indicó hoy que el gobierno de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva trabaja con la hipótesis de que Castro 'está mal' y tendría un cáncer que le impedirá retomar sus funciones.

'Autoridades cubanas dijeron al presidente y al Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) que el dictador tendría cáncer y que aunque se recupere puede que no vuelva al poder', escribió el rotativo sin citar fuentes.

El texto afirma que 'relatos de la Habana recibidos reservadamente dan cuenta de que Castro está bien mal'.

Según el diario, Lula, conmovido, pidió a su equipo que mantenga discreción y les dijo a sus amigos que hace votos por la recuperación de Castro, quien cumplirá 80 años el 13 de agosto.

Otros medios locales afirmaron hoy que la versión del diario irritó al gobierno brasileño, pues Lula es considerado una figura próxima al gobierno de Cuba y entiende que el estado de salud de Castro es asunto de Estado para la isla caribeña.

______________________________________________________________

Did the “great” Cuban medical miracle failed fidel? According the Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo, sources in Cuba close to President Lula’s government inform that the tyrant has a “malignant stomach tumor.” Fidel is gravely ill and may not return to its former post of dictator, even if he recuperates. Did Cuban doctors failed to diagnose this before it got to its current stage, or was it a greatly guarded secret?

FIDEL CASTRO ESTA GRAVE SEGUN GOBIERNO BRASILEÑO, FOLHA
SAN PABLO, 5 (ANSA) - El presidente cubano, Fidel Castro, está más grave de lo que admite La Habana, y lo más probable es que no retome el poder, escribió hoy el diario Folha de Sao Paulo en base a informaciones que maneja el gobierno brasileño.
De acuerdo al diario, el presidente cubano "tiene un tumor maligno en el abdomen, según la versión con la que trabaja el gobierno brasileño".
"Autoridades cubanas transmitieron esta semana al presidente, Luiz Lula da Silva, y a miembros de la cúpula del Partido de los Trabajadores, que el estado de salud de Fidel Castro, de 79 años, sometido a una cirugía el lunes, es peor de lo que admiten públicamente", agregó Folha.
Según el diario, que cita como fuente "auxiliares" de Lula da Silva, las autoridades cubanas informaron al presidente brasileño que Castro "puede quedar inhabilitado para retomar el poder real, aunque se recupere de su enfermedad".
05/08/2006 13:05

H/T Uncommon Sense

¿De dónde salen estos idiotas?

Yeah, right! Must be the water.




H/T Cuaderno de Cuba

Cuba's Catholic Church prays for the devil

There is a reason why protestant religions are on the increase in Cuba. Published in the castroit regurgitator Granma, is a call from the Cuban Catholic Church to pray for the tyrant's health. What about asking God to exercise HIS will?

Miami's expectations

Via ¡Ya No Mas!

Notice the number of young poeple in Miami reacting the news of the dictator ceding control to his younger brother castrigula.

Castro, Castro everywhere

No, not the newly crowned queen and certainly not the deceased dictator. But siblings and daughters are making their fame from the infamous.

All quiet on the Cuban front?

As bloggers dedicated to a free Cuba can attest, traffic at their respective sites is considerably up. Traffic at EC is up, and with good reason. Cuba has clamped down, information coming out of the island can be described as zilch, none, nada, and people want to know the latest. The foreign press is persona non grata. During the last three days, the usual Cuban visitors to EC have been suspiciously absent. I did get an e-mail with propaganda photos of supposedly dead Lebanese children. Could it be that all the commies are packing their bags, destination Venezuela?

The burden of being Cuban

It seems that wearing the tag of Cuban-American means that we need to have an opinion ready to be espoused, if asked. Sometimes we express it even when not asked; a Cuban trait. During these last days, we all have been working over time, responding to those that inquire and are interested what we think about Cuba’s situation. Cuban-American writer (and amigo) Domingo Ivan Casañas and author of Cuba the Tarnish Pearl expresses his passionate opinion about what has happened to the tyrant.

I BELIEVE THAT CASTRO HAS BLED TO DEATH....A NEW BEGINNING FOR THE CUBAN PEOPLE

Domingo Ivan Casañas
August 2, 2006

Yes, you have heard it right here. I believe that Fidel Castro is being kept in a freezer so that on August 13th they can say he died on his birthday. The book that I wrote, Cuba the Tarnished Pearl, had a 30-year wait to be published. Why? Because my father had turned over a journal to me on many unknown facts about Cuba and Fidel. He did this in 1975 and asked me to write a book based on the information he had handed to me 30 years after his death.

My father passed away in 1976, and I turned my finish product on father’s day 2005 to honor him. In the book I ask why? Why did my father ask me to wait 30 years to have this book published? Was it because a major event was going to happen in Cuba in 2006? The answer is so clear now. Look at the major event that just occurred. Castro turned over power of the island to his alcoholic brother, Raul.

Now, let’s look at the event itself. Castro with his so-very-large ego would have loved to have made a great speech about turning power over to his brother. He would have loved to announce it to the world, and assured everyone that he would be back after his surgery. I believe that he was not able to do this because he is dead. Why am I jumping to such a conclusion? Several reasons: one, it makes sense for the Cuban Government to do this in order to give Raul time to get sober. If you notice, Raul has not been shown on any news coverage. I believe he is mourning the death of his brother with several bottles of rum. Yes, I think that the tyrant bastard is dead, bled to death, all the blood he had taken from the innocent started to flow out of him via his colon. Now he waits for his frozen body to make its way through the "hell tunnel" and when he arrives he will burn and finally be in his own hell that he so much deserves.

Wow! Was that me writing those two paragraphs? Or was it the bad feelings that I have for this tyrant? The tyrant that confiscated everything my father and family owned in Cuba without any compensation. The tyrant that made us leave our homeland. The tyrant that oppressed the Cuban people for over 45 years. The tyrant that killed so many innocent lives on the island, as well as on the sea. The tyrant that had others do the dirty work when he did not have time to do it himself. Yes! My feelings are typing whatever goes on this article. So let’s take a break from the feelings and see the possible new beginning for this paradise island.

The first thing that comes into play during a shift of power or a new ruler is, can the new ruler take the job on? The facts are clear that Raul Castro is not as popular as Fidel. The other fact is that Raul has been an alcoholic since his teens. His liver must be rotten by now. Can Raul keep Cuba going in the same direction Castro had it going? The answer is clear: Raul can only rule for no more than six months. The only way he might be able to go further is if Hugo Chavez from Venezuela decides to help him. This brings us to a situation where the United States government would intervene if Hugo would try to occupy Cuba with some of his military.

Another scenario that can possibly play out is when the death announcement becomes official, the people of Cuba take to the streets to celebrate and ask for government reforms. Raul will panic and make an announcement that anyone who wants to leave can do so, and another Mariel boat lift will occur. This is when the United States will take the opportunity to do an invasion with Cuban-Americans in Florida, this time a clandestine one so that the Cuban military won’t be waiting like they were during the Bay of Pigs invasion.

The main thing right now for Cuban Americans and the Cubans of the island is the satisfaction of knowing that for the first time in a very long time, Castro is gone from power. The sun will shine brighter; the prayers of many have been answered and Cuba will soon be Free. Excerpts of my book may be read at: WWW.CUBANBOOK.COM

The Cuban fear factor

...stretching across the sea

And the fine is...

Very large, I hope.

Puerto Rico detains 50 for 'illegal travel' to Cuba
AP
Tuesday, August 01, 2006

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - A group of Puerto Rican volunteers who travelled to Cuba were detained by US immigration officials for several hours yesterday, authorities said.

Fifty volunteers travelled by ferry to the Dominican Republic, to work in education and agricultural projects, said Isabel Berrios, a law student in the group. Finish story [here]

Isabelita, the law student better start preparing her defense.

A little levity with the truth

From blogger Hanfote. Clik on picture to see it in large.

Is Raul mute?

Cuban (not free) bloggers [here and here] have been quick to republish a statement supposedly made this afternoon (at 17:30 hours) by the coma-andante. The statement simply states that he is in good spirits and stable, damn it! Who is to say for sure that he made any statement? However, one thing for sure, kagasstro is talking more now that he is near death than his crowned brother raul. Has anyone heard from raul?

Topping the news in Los Angeles…

In order of importance, the story that dominated the news today was that of a tequila drunken actor, his anti-Semitic ranting during his arrest and his subsequent lame apology. Tony Blair stopped by, circumventing George, met with mucky-mucks Arnold, Antonio and ex-Prez Bill and signed some type of agreement to prevent global doom. The fidel castro news received minimal attention, and I mean minimal, the above dominating the newsday. For a Cuban-American, the left coast is a news dessert, but thanks to God for the internet, which is how I kept updated. Cuban-American bloggers providing most of the information in addition to listening live to Miami radio (WAQI and WQBA). Imagine living in Cuba where both the press and the internet are state controlled, and neither one tells the truth.