2014 show: Cafe Cubano" & recipes with Sonia Martinez & Marta Verdes Darby, authors

"Cafe Cubano" & recipes with Sonia Martinez & Marta Verdes Darby, authors...Listen in now at http://t.co/OdS4eaZOLR. #BlogTalkRadio
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1944: "Frenchman's Creek" a.k.a. the lady and her pirate?

Thanks to TCM, we got to catch "Frenchman's Creek", a 1944 romance between a beautiful lady and a pirate.    I had seen this movie a couple of times before.   

You pick something new every time.    

What can we better than that?  The story of an aristocratic English woman who falls in love with a French pirate.     The cast is Joan Fontaine (the pretty lady), Arturo de Córdova, Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway, and Nigel Bruce. 

It was based on a book but I have not read it.   

What's the best part?   No political correctness!   No preaching about global warming, identity politics, colonialism or the EPA claiming that cannons are causing environmental damage.

And Joan Fontaine looks stunningly beautiful in those dresses!

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You don't have to be a lawyer to read Scalia!

We lost Scalia in 2016 and that was quite a shock.   Scalia left behind a lot of opinions and fans like me.   He certainly inspired a lot of people to get into law, such as his successor Neil Gorsuch.

In this book, Scalia tells us about opinions. life and a few other things.

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A real hero: Ross McGinnis

In June 2008, Pres. Bush awarded the Medal of Honor to the parents of Ross McGinnis.

This is the nation's highest award for courage in combat.

It was the fourth time the Medal has been awarded for those who have served in Iraq.

Here is Ross McGinnis' story:

"In the gunner's hatch of a Humvee driving through Baghdad on December 4, 2006, Private McGinnis saw a grenade fly through the hatch, rolling to where it could have injured the four other soldiers inside.

In easy position to leap and save himself, McGinnis instead jumped to cover the grenade with his body to shield his comrades.
The four men he saved were all at the White House yesterday to pay their respects."

Every young man and woman in the armed forces is a volunteer. They choose to serve their country.   They deserve our support and respect.

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2006: Saddam executed in Iraq

Saddam Hussein, the deposed dictator of Iraq, did not make it to the New Year: Saddam was executed on this day in 2006.   He argued with the guards before the execution, according to some news reports.

In my book, Saddam should have been removed in '98.  This is when he expelled the UN inspectors. Saddam gave the world the middle finger and made a mockery out of the UN, the cease-fire and the rule of law. On top of that, he was shooting at US/UK planes enforcing the UN resolutions and paying $25,000 to the families of terrorists blowing up Israelis.

Why did Saddam do all of this?  Because he knew that President Clinton would not take him out.  

The story finally ended on this day in 2006.

I thought that President Bush made a very good case for removing Hussein.

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2006: President Ford died in California

Most of us woke up to the news in 2006 that President Ford, the 38th president of the US, had died the night before in California.    He was 93.

My generation remembers that President Ford took over for President Nixon that historic day of 1974.   Nixon resigned and VP Ford moved to the presidency.    Who can ever forget President Nixon's farewell statement at The White House?   Or President Ford's brief inauguration speech?

The 38th President served for a short time because he lost the 1976 election to Governor Carter.   Nevertheless, he is remembered as a man of integrity and exactly the right man that the country needed at the time.

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Watching “Holiday Affair”.

 

Watching “Holiday Affair”....this is the story: “A young widow is romanced by a sales clerk whom she inadvertently got fired”..........these post-War romantic movies were great.....and Janet Leigh is cute and I suppose that women think the same of Robert Mitchum....fun movie! 

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1856 and a nice Christmas history

How about a Christmas story?    I found this in another blog:

"Massachusetts was the first state to make Christmas a legal holiday, in 1856.

By that time, most of our shared Christmas traditions were set, and Harper's Weekly, on January 3, 1863, featured a drawing of encamped soldiers receiving Christmas gifts from home.

Christmas become a federal holiday under President Ulysses S. Grant's 1870 declaration."

Enjoy your holiday!   

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December 2006: A double standard for Pinochet's funeral

Back in December 2006, General Pinochet's funeral created a little controversy in Chile, and elsewhere.     The outrage over his funeral was silly and confirms that the left treats dictators differently.

Clearly, there is a double standard.  The left suffers from selective indignation.     

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We remember Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007)

We remember Lady Bird Johnson, the former First Lady. (Former First Lady Died at 94). 

She was born Claudia Alta Taylor in Karnack, Texas on this day in 1922 and got the nickname "Lady Bird" as a small child.   The future First Lady married the future president in 1934.

In the 1950's,  Mr. Johnson became US Senate Majority Leader and one of the most powerful men in Washington.  In 1960, he became VP Johnson under President Kennedy.

Everything changed on November 22, 1963.  Many of us remember that incredible picture of LBJ assuming the presidency on Air Force One. He was sworn next to Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Johnson. It was one of the most incredible pictures of the 20th century!

During President Johnson's difficult presidency, Mrs. Johnson had to deal with outrageous attacks on her husband. Nevertheless, she kept her dignity and raised two wonderful daughters.

We miss Mrs. Johnson. She was a wonderful First Lady, wife, mother and grandmother. For more on her life, see this!

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We remember Connie Mack (1862-1956)

What can you say about a man who wore a business suit and managed a major league team for 50 years?    He ran the Philadelphia A's so long that the team was referred to as "The Mackmen".

According to SABR, he was one of the most consequential men in major league baseball history:  

Connie Mack’s Hall of Fame career spanned 65 major-league seasons as a player, manager, team executive, and owner. He posted 3,731 wins, a mark that exceeds any other manager’s total by more than 1,000 victories. He guided the Athletics to nine American League championships and won five World Series titles in eight appearances. He was the first manager to win three World Series titles, and the first to win consecutive titles two times. The valleys were as low as the peaks were high - he also endured a major-league record 3,948 losses, and his team finished last in its league 17 times. He built his dynasties with rising young players, won championships with the stars he developed, and then sold off those stars when he could no longer afford them.

Mack retired in 1950.    The A's moved to Kansas City in 1954 and then Oakland in 1968.     

Mack died in 1956 and spent 66 years in baseball.

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A very nice Christmas tree story with Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh

We usually speak with Dr Ileana Johnson-Paugh about the US economy and other related issues.  It's been great having her as a guest this year.

Yesterday, we spent a big part of the show discussing her recent article:  My Christmas Tree

It is a recollection of a young woman growing up in Romania.  She lived in a country that downplayed faith.  It also forced its citizens to live with shortages and under repression.  

It was that way in every communist country, from the USSR to Cuba.

Here is the article:

"As long as I can remember, my Dad came home every December with a scraggly blue spruce, fragrant with the scent of winter, tiny icicles hanging from the branches. The frozen miniature crystal daggers would melt quickly on Mom’s well-scrubbed parquet floor. I never knew nor asked where he had found it, or how he could afford it. His modest salary of $70 a month barely covered the rent, utilities, and food. Mom had to work as well to afford our clothes. Prices were subsidized by the government and salaries were very low for everybody regardless of education and skill. We had to make do with very little.No matter how bare the branches of my Christmas tree were, it was magical to me. Two metal bars forged by hand helped Dad nail the tree to the floor at the foot of the couch where I slept in the living room that doubled as my bedroom. Our tiny apartment only had one bedroom where my parents slept.
Decorating it was a fun job every year since I made new decorations from colorful crepe paper. We had to be creative; we could not afford glass ornaments. We made paper cones covered with craftily rolled crepe paper and filled with candy. I hung small apples with red string, tiny pretzels, home-made butter cookies, candied fruit, raisins, and an occasional orange wrapped in tissue paper with strange lettering, coming all the way from Israel. Each year we bought 12 small red and green candles which we attached to the tree with small metal clips. We were careful to clamp them at the tip of the branch to keep the tree from catching fire when the candles were lit. The tree would live for two weeks before the prickly needles fell all over the living room floor.
One year I spent Christmas with uncle Ion and his wife. A gifted mechanical engineer, Ion could fix and build anything. He promised that he would fashion lights for his Christmas tree. He worked painstakingly for weeks, soldering tiny copper wires into bundles that stretched along the branches of the tree like a magical cascade to which he soldered at least 200 tiny bulbs sold as bike lights. It was a labor of love! When the wires were finally attached to a relay, the bulbs lit up like a waterfall. Nobody had such a fantastically blazing tree in the whole country. I was amazed at his dedication and craftiness and never forgot his fairytale Christmas fir.
We did not have a tree skirt but we used one of Mom’s hand-stitched table cloths. The whole apartment smelled like the fragrant mountains and, for a couple of weeks we forgot the misery that surrounded us. We lit up the 12 candles on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.
Every night for two weeks, I would admire my enchanted tree until I fell asleep, wondering what special treat I would find under my pillow on Christmas morning. It was never much, but it was such a cherished joy!
Saint Nicholas Day was celebrated on December 6th. We really didn’t know much about the real St. Nicholas, Santa Claus’s namesake. St. Nicholas was a popular saint in the Orthodox Church and presumed the bishop of Myra in Turkey in the 300s. There were many legends of St. Nicholas - the more famous story that he was the son of a wealthy family in Patara, Lycia. When his parents died, he gave away his fortune. One such random act of kindness involved throwing three bags of gold through the windows of three girls who were going to be forced into prostitution.On Saint Nicholas Day, I would put my boots outside the door, hoping that they would be filled with candy in the morning and not coals. Grandpa had a wicked sense of humor – he would sometimes fill one boot with sticks and another with candy and a chocolate bar.
Grandpa never bought a blue spruce - we cut a fir tree from the woods. We were careful not to cut down a tree that had bird nests in it. We decorated it with garland made from shiny and multi-colored construction paper. We cut strips, glued them in an interlocking pattern and voila, we had our garland. For ornaments we used walnuts and shriveled apples from his cellar, tied with Grandma’s red knitting wool. 
The warm adobe style fireplace built from mud bricks mixed with straw cast a dancing glow on the tree decked with tokens of food, something our heathen Roman ancestors did during the celebration of Saturnalia. On December 17, the polytheistic Romans celebrated Saturnus, the god of seed and sowing, for an entire week. As Christians, we celebrated the birth of Christ and the religious traditions in our Orthodox faith, in spite of the communist regime forcing the transformation of Christmas into a secular holiday.
On Christmas Eve, after we ate Mom’s traditional Christmas supper, roasted pork, baked chicken, sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls with ground meat and rice), and mamaliga (corn mush with butter cooked in a cast iron pot), we went to the midnight service at the Orthodox Church not far from our house. Sometimes it was a sloshy trek and other times it was icy and slippery. If we got lucky, a heavy snow would turn our walk into a winter wonderland with dancing snowflakes shining in the weak street lights. We had to bundle up well – the church was not heated and we circled it three times during the procession with burning candles in our hands. I always wore my flannel pajamas under many layers of warm clothes. To this day, pajamas are my favorite garment – cozy and comfortable, keeping my body warm.
I decorate my Douglas fir with beautiful lights and shiny ornaments now. My heart fills with loving memories of Christmases past and of family members lost who made our Christian traditions so special.

It is a great article.  Merry Christmas!    Get a young person a copy of her book about growing up in a communist country.

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1974: Vice President Nelson Rockefeller

We remember Nelson Rockefeller as the governor of New York and a man who ran for president a couple of times.  On this day in 1974, he was sworn in as Vice President under President Ford.  All of this happened because President Nixon resigned in August 1974.

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1620: The Mayflower and Plymouth Harbor

On this day in 1620, the Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.   Shortly after, the men, women and children started the new settlement of Plymouth Colony.

As we know now, the first winter was horrible and many died.   

Before coming ashore, they signed The Mayflower Compact.  

Eventually, many more came.  In 1691, Plymouth was incorporated into the new Massachusetts Bay Association.

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1915: President Wilson married Edith Galt

We remember President Wilson for World War I and for many more things.   He was elected in 1912 and reelected in 1916.

He also married Edith Galt on this day in 1915 after his first wife Ellen died in 1914.  

First Lady Edith Wilson became a controversial figure for her role after President Wilson suffered a stroke.  

No one really knows for sure whether Mrs. Wilson "ran the country" as some have suggested.    

Many people have written that Mrs. Wilson turned into an acting president, or the person who handled all of the president's documents, and apparently, made decisions for him.

We don't know for sure.   We do know that President Wilson was disabled and that The League of Nations died in the US Senate.    

Mr. Wilson died in 1924 and Mrs. Wilson in 1961.

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We remember Arthur Fiedler (1894-1979)

We remember one of the great American musicians of the 20th century.    

Arthur Fiedler was born in Massachusetts on this day in 1894.   His father was a violinist and his mother a pianist.   In other words, he was probably listening to music from a very early age.

In 1930, he became the conductor of The Boston Pops.  His obituary said it all:

For more than half a century, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra were joined in a musical union that, through concerts, recordings, radio broadcasts and television programs, brought untold musical pleasure to millions of Americans.

Indeed he did.   I recall watching many of his performances with my father who loved his musical arrangements.

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The Boston Tea Party story fascinated this Cubanito years ago

Like many of you, I found US history fascinating. One of my favorite stories was The Boston Tea Party of 1773.

We remember this week another anniversary of the day that a bunch of tea was thrown into the waters of the Boston harbor:

“On this day in 1773, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships moored in Boston Harbor and dump 342 chests of tea into the water.

Now known as the “Boston Tea Party,” the midnight raid was a protest of the Tea Act of 1773, a bill enacted by the British parliament to save the faltering British East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a virtual monopoly on the American tea trade. The low tax allowed the company to sell its tea even more cheaply than that smuggled into America by Dutch traders.

Many colonists viewed the act as yet another example of Britain’s taxation tyranny.”

Yes they did. A few years later, those colonists declared their independence from The British crown. The story fascinated me and inspired this young “cubanito” to learn everything about this wonderful nation that welcomed us.

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August 2006: Saddam will finally pay for his crimes

A post from August 2006:

The Crimes of Saddam Hussein By Dave Johns outlines his crimes:

"From the earliest days of his presidency, attending to his image as the indomitable “Father–Leader” of Iraq was among Saddam’s first obsessions.
Thousands of giant portraits staring down from city walls reminded Iraqis of his power.
On television, he was ubiquitous to the point of absurdity: in trenches with military men; meeting with Shi’iah imams; operating heavy machinery; berating his party underlings.
“The political reality behind all the photographs and appearances is the politics of fear,” wrote Kanan Makiya, under the pseudonym Samir al–Khalil, in Republic of Fear.

Saddam’s intimidation forced Iraqis to accept lies as truth.
In the early 1980s, he published a family tree that traced his ancestry to Mohammed’s daughter Fatima and son–in–law Ali, the founding father of the Shi’iah faith.
“This gesture … signified total contempt for the populace, large numbers of whom he knew would accept this proof of ancestry, largely because there was no longer a soul in the length and breadth of the country who could be heard if they were prepared to deny it,” wrote Makiya."

In short, Saddam will finally pay for all of his crimes. It should have happened years ago! Are we better off without Saddam Hussein? Yes we are. Israel is better off. Last but not least, Iraqis are better off!

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December 2006: Larry Elder and war

A post from December 2006:

In a perfect world, we could settle all of our differences at the UN and live happily with each other.

Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. In fact, we live in a very tough world.

See If 'War Is Not the Answer,' Then What Is? by Larry Elder:

"What of World War II -- a catastrophic conflict resulting in over 50 million military and civilian deaths? Winston Churchill wrote that if France and Britain had taken early action to stop Hitler, the entire war might have been averted. But, again, "preemptive war" is still war, is it not?"

We have to fight wars or the bad guys will win. It's as simple as that!

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December 2007: Venezuela and the latest from Iran!

Guests: Blogger Daniel from Venezuela, Jack Kelly, journalist and former Marine, and Rick Moran on the NIE Report.

Click here for the show!

December 2006: Vicente had the last laugh in Mexico

A post from December 2006:

For days, we've watched PRD politicians make total and complete fools of themselves. It was pathetic. Yet, what else can you expect from these people?

Today, Pres. Fox had the last laugh. He stunned the angry left by showing up with a big smile and lots of applause for his successor.

Frankly, I loved it.

Over the last 6 years, I've had my criticisms of Pres. Fox. On balance, I have supported him. It's very difficult to govern when one-third of your legislature is made up of the angry left.

Good luck Vicente. You deserve a little time off. You earned it!

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December 1967: "The Rain, The Park & Other Things"by The Cowsills on the radio

The Cowsills were huge for a couple of years.   It all started with "The rain the park & other things" and went all the way to "Hair".    The family was the inspiration for The Partridge Family on TV.

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Watching “House of Strangers”, a 1949 film

 

Watching “House of Strangers”, a 1949 film with Edward G Robinson, Susan Hayward & Richard Conte.....a very intense movie about a tough father with a cigar & tensions with sons...good dialogue.....I may have to watch this film a couple of times to understand the plot better....

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We remember Alexander Haig (1924-2010)

We remember former Secretary of State Alexander Haig who was born on this in 1924 and died in 2010.   He lived a very consequential life in the military and later in government.

Mr. Haig was a soldier, a diplomat and dedicated public servant. He was also a "straight shooter" by all accounts.

He served the country as a soldier in Korea and rose to become a 4-star general. Later, he was a key player in managing the White House during President Nixon's resignation and the transition to President Ford.

In 1981, Haig was named Secretary of State by President Reagan.    I remember being very happy about the selection.

Secretary Haig will also be remembered for his comments on the day that President Reagan was shot and rushed to the hospital.  His remarks about "being in charge" were misunderstood but he never recovered from the incident.

Overall, a very good man and public servant.

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Churchill and "The gathering storm"

This is a great movie:   Check it out!

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2013 post: Your Cuba 101 course

(My new American Thinker post)

Cuban-Americans like me are very passionate about the truth of the communist regime, especially the political prisons and repressive climate of Cuba.  We've all had experience with it so that's where the passion comes from.  My dad's cousin spent 14 years in a political prison without a trial so forgive me if I get irritated when we greet a dictator with a handshake.   

The battle continues even on the day that President Obama shook Raul Castro's hand:  CUBAN DISSIDENTS DETAINED ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY      

A couple of years ago, my Canadian friend Brian Lloyd French wrote a novel about Cuba, "Mojito".    It is a very entertaining story that tells you what life is really like in the island, from the "mask" that most people wear to coexist with the regime and the survival techniques that keep 1950s cars running.   

Brian explained his impressions of Cuba in a great article:  "The island of lies"  

"A few weeks ago I clicked a Facebook ad for luxurious "Boomer Tours" in Cuba. Being somewhat interested in that topic, I clicked a little deeper. I noticed that one of the local guides proudly made a claim to be a personal friend of Che Guevara - who, of course, wasn't exactly a role model for those interested in human rights. Except perhaps for those interested parties that wish to learn how to execute and imprison political opponents and get away with it.  A click later I learned that the organizer of the tour is a self-confessed Trotskyist. Which is fine - our society allows anyone to pursue any philosophy they wish. And any party, if it gets a sufficient share of the votes in an election, can receive federal funding for their party. I have many friends within the entire spectrum of philosophical positions - and we get along because we have more in common that we have in differences.  Which is the way that democracies act.  But it's not exactly that way in Cuba. Down there if you speak up you risk a term of re-education in a resort called Villa Marista. Which ain't five stars.  To the organizers' credit, they don't try to hide their beliefs. A click and a Wiki search and it's all there. Cuban propaganda is alive and well, and the internet does set us free. It's easy to discover a bias that a writer of an article might have or, like Yoani Sanchez, to actually blog from Cuba about government abuses of the governed.  Lenin described those westerners who support communism as "Useful Idiots" and he would be smiling in his hereafter about this if he hadn't been such an atheist.  A few years back, I was encouraged to write a novel as a sequel to one written by a famous friend of mine. We decided that Cuba would be a terrific place in which to place the plot and characters. Since then, I've spent a lot of time in Cuba with lots of Cubans, and I think I have a pretty good understanding of how they live day-to-day, even though I will never have to worry about what I say in public, or whether my family will eat protein at least once this week.  When does a revolution stop becoming a revolution and start being recognized as a misguided philosophy with a status present that is an insult to all those who believe in human rights?  Lies are a permanent part of life on the Castros' island paradise lost. Younger Cubans have to lie about their opinions of the government, its leadership and their opinion of the United States. Old Cubans lie about Fidel Castro because those lies are the only opinion they've ever been allowed to have. The Cuban politburo lies about everything it does, and just about everything everyone else does; especially the USA. The Castros spew lies constantly but are so absent from reality that they seem to believe them.  Fidel has always lied about his form of democracy. It started with his "temporary" suspension of free elections soon after he took power. Lie. While every few years Cubans are forced to go to a ballot box and vote for Socialist Candidate tweedledum or Socialist Candidate tweedledee, this temporary suspension is older than I am, and not likely to really become temporary any time soon.  Another great lie is that Cuba is an egalitarian paradise; where all are equal and everyone gets a great education and has tremendous health care. But as in Animal Farm, the pigs are more equal than others. In Habana, for example, loyal Fidelistas, virtually all of Spanish extraction, are rewarded with pleasant accommodations in nicer areas like Vedado and Miramar. Those who unfortunately are not in favour, who are mostly black, live in tenements in Central City on narrow streets filled with rubble that serve as both sewers and playgrounds.  There is only way to survive in Cuba. Theft. At least Fidel considers it theft. It's participation in the black market. A typical family stipend is between 10 and 20 dollar equivalents per month. Families are provided with housing (of a sort), a ration booklet that provides rice, beans, potatoes, milk (if you're a pre-schooler) and a few other staples. The ration coupons have some value as they that can be used for items to trade. Sick looking green onions and tiny garlic bulbs can be purchased at markets for a pittance. But meat isn't on the menu and eggs are treated like they are laid by a golden hen.  But what a family really has to do to survive is to somehow scrounge for something, anything of value that they can trade. It might be a coupon for a pair of shoes (size 11, men's black). They might be given chintzy curios and mass produced Cuban art to sell to naive turistas. Every month workers in tobacco factories get a box of cigars to smoke (but really to sell to gringos).  The young and old share the responsibility to come up with stuff to trade. Grannies dress up in Santarian priestess costumes to have their picture taken by tourists for a fee. Children look for kind foreigners who will give them a buck because they're cute. Some young Cubana's dream of having a child with a rich tourist and, if the Dad has at least some ethical standard, an annuity by way of child support.  Yes. There is prostitution. And yes many "northerners" from Canada, Germany, Italy and England conduct the most heinous of all acts of economic imperialism; they travel to Cuba to have sex with young people, mostly girls. White haired Decembers from the north are often seen with dusky Aprils from the South. I try to show my disdain any way I can when I see this. I'm hardly a moralist, but these guys feel rich and handsome in Cuba by throwing ten dollar bills around like man-hole covers and I don't like it.  A key source of income for families is to have at least one family member that somehow has access to tourists. They may work in a hotel, restaurant, drive a taxi (legal or illegal), or act as "tour guides".   Almost all the official jobs that are tourism related are given to those of the Spanish persuasion. The "tour guides" are almost all black and risk their freedom if they get noticed doing the wrong thing by the wrong people. You will know them by their furtive catch phrases as they pass you in the streets of Old Havana, "Chica, Senor?" "Cigar, Senor?" "Restaurant, Senor?" Trust me. Chances are almost 100% that the cigars are fake, the girl is somebody's daughter who despises her source of income, and the restaurant will be over priced. (Private restaurants - paladares -were the only way to go up to a year or so ago when Fidel started taxing them to death and dropping the prices at government restaurants. He has succeeded in pricing these entrepreneurs out of business. But I'd not be the least bit surprised that even if they're without customers that they are still forced to pay protection money to the boss.)  Public Health? Cubans have admirably healthy people at least partly because their lifestyle prohibits them from enjoying the goodies that make us die prematurely. They pretty much can't help but avoid obesity - they can't get their hands on enough food to get fat. Rum, even at a CUC (dollar equivalent) a bottle is really beyond their budget. Drugs? Really, really beyond their budget.   They don't die in car accidents because no one has cars (but the few vehicles there do put out an admirably unhealthy quantity of exhaust). Cuba brags about it's low level of infant mortality, and the lack of unhealthy life choices helps this, but so does abortion on demand which isn't reported in any of their stats. And as far as drugs, ordinary Cubans do not have access to any, from Lipitor down to Aspirin. I had a friend die last year - a great musician - who died of a staph infection incurred when he was having his back scoped.   But if you're down there doing a documentary, they'll invite you to have a kidney or cornea transplant.   Schools are pretty good but all the kids are members of Fidel's version of the Young Pioneers, which was such a rousing success in great democracies like the USSR. Fortunately, around about the time that testicles start dropping and breasts lifting, the political indoctrination of the Communist Party on Cuban youth is forgotten and replaced by a huge desire to have nice clothes and a moto to drive your sweetie around in style.  Safety? Cuba is a police state, so tourists are likely as safe there as in, say, the guest lounge in a Canadian penitentiary. There is at least one para-military on every street corner that tourists frequent. So we're safe. The entire Cuban security apparatus, including their neighbourhood spies, are there to protect Cuba from Cubans, not to be a significant factor in fighting Bahia de Cochinos Dos.  For locals, nobody has anything so there really isn't very much to steal. But I do have a friend in Havana who runs an organized crime organization, and there is crime. Just not on an Ocean's Eleven scale.  Cuba's "friends" in Canada and the USA brag about how well Cuba manages through a fairly regular procession of hurricanes and tropical storms. But they fail to mention that there is very little in property value there to be lost in a killer storm and Cubans are savvy enough to get out of the way of hurricanes. Unlike more wealthy Americans. The big lie, or course, was the first one. Fidel Castro, according to himself and his Bolshie buddy, Che Guevara, took over Cuba to rid it of a torturous tyrant in Fulgenio Batista. To let his people go.   But, history does not absolve Fidel, as he predicted in his legal defence when jailed for fomenting rebellion in Santiago de Cuba in 1953. History has proven that he is a whole lot worse than his predecessor. Cubans traded one despot for two; either and both of whom are at least as nasty as their predecessor.   First off, Batista was mulatto, not "pur laine" Spanish, and mixed race and black Cubans had lots more opportunities to get ahead under Batista than ever under Fidel. Pictures of the time reveal that Batista's Havana was a true jewel - among the most civilized of all Latin American cities with the highest standard of living and a thriving middle class. The architectural look of the place was spectacular and photos of Cubans on the main shopping street, San Rafael, reveal an eclectic population of well dressed, multi-hued and happy people shopping and having fun.  And in terms of treating political opponents badly, Batista only sent Fidel to jail for 3 years for starting a bloody rebellion. Fidel throws drunkards in the slammer for complaining about not having food to eat. And he provides vacations for newspaper journalists who don't appropriately honour him with praise.  The next big lie is everything about Commandante Ernesto Guevara de la Serna. And the one after that is the myth of Fidel ever ceding power to his younger and much dumber and meaner brother.  But those are tales for another day. Meanwhile, Fidel has a lotta esplainin' to do."  

So why go out of your way to shake the hand of the leader of 'the island of lies"?  

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send drop a dime here.

Another anniversary for The Warren Commission

A post from 2015:

A few weeks ago, we got together with some friends for another Saturday night of good food and conversation.

We discussed the subject of another movie about the Kennedy assassination that was being filmed around Dealy Plaza.  Naturally, a good family friend raised the conspiracy question.  I stayed a bit quiet, because another “who shot JFK” conversation is the last thing that I want to talk about.

However, I had to say something when it came around to me.    

I said that I believe that Oswald did it, or pretty much the official conclusion.

A week after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, his successor, President Johnson, created the Warren Commissionto investigate the murder:

During its almost year-long investigation, the Warren Commission reviewed reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, Department of State and the attorney general of Texas. It also poured over Oswald’s personal history, political affiliation and military record. Overall, the Warren Commission listened to the testimony of 552 witnesses and even traveled to Dallas several times to visit the site where Kennedy was shot. The commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone and that the Secret Service had made poor preparations for JFK’s visit to Dallas and had subsequently failed to sufficiently protect him.

We’ve had a lot of books and films since the commission made that conclusion.  I remember that a lot of authors brought their papers and books to a JFK conference held around here in 1993, or the 30th anniversary.  I heard some of their presentations.  I even heard comments about a minister who spoke with Jack Ruby at the Dallas city jail.

Some of the authors made strong cases, although I still don’t know how the conspirators could keep a secret that long.  In other words, it’s hard to believe that so many people could stay quiet.

Some of movies were just bizarre and irresponsible, such as Oliver Stone’s JFK.  I remember watching the movie in 1991 and going home furious.  The movie was absurd, a hate piece against the U.S.

One of my favorite books, and the one that persuaded me that The Warren Commission got it right, was Case Closed by Gerard Posner.  As I read in a recent book review:

Like Mr. Posner, I firmly believe that Oswald, by himself, was responsible for the murders of JFK and Dallas city policeman J.D. Tippit. And while re-reading “Case Closed” recently, I came across many outstanding hunks of fascinating text, including a good collection of direct quotes from various individuals that were placed into the book by author Posner in his efforts to provide the reader with a complete picture of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who was charged with killing America’s 35th President in Dallas.

I’ve listed some of what I think are this book’s most intriguing passages and quotes below, which give a good general indication as to the type of person Lee Oswald truly was (i.e., a strange, disconnected, secretive, violent, and abusive young man who embraced Communism and hated the American society he was living in).

In other words — Lee Harvey Oswald was the exact type of individual who might just have had an urge to take his mail-order rifle with him to work one day (a day when the President’s motorcade was scheduled to pass right in front of the building he worked in) and fire a few shots at JFK from a secluded sixth-story perch.

The evidence in the John F. Kennedy murder case, in fact, tells the world that Mr. Oswald did that very thing on Friday, November 22, 1963.

We will never know 100%, because life is that way.  However, put me down as one who believes that the Warren Commission got it right.  It’s a testament to the integrity of the commission, made up by very good people, including future president Ford.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send drop a dime here.