Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Wednesday: Cuba and other US-Latin America stories


As Babalu readers know, Alberto de la Cruz does a great job posting about human rights violations and so-called "reforms" in Cuba.

 Alberto's posts demonstrate that the "reforms" are false and the repression is alive an well.

 Speaking of repression, we learned from Alberto's post that "Las Damas de Blanco" were not allowed to honor Laura Pollan's death.  Instead, the "Castro thugs" were mobilized to prevent a group of peaceful women from remembering their late friend.

 Where is Jay-Z when we really need him?  Anybody seen Jesse Jackson lately?

 Speaking of reforms, we learned from Alberto's recent post that Cuba is not privatizing its economy:
"Cuba is not turning its state-owned-and-managed property into private property, says economics czar Marino Murillo.
Addressing Cuba’s National Assembly of Popular Power, the head of the Commission on Implementation and Development of the Guidelines made several important points about the reforms in the nation’s economic structure that are known as “actualization” or updates.
The address was delivered on July 7 but was publicized this week by the official website Cubadebate to coincide with the opening of the First International Congress on Economic Management and Development being held in Havana."
Translation:   Cuba will continue to be run by "Castro Inc", a family business run by the Castro brothers and their children.   This is the same Castro family listed in "Forbes' List of Fortunes Of Kings, Queens And Dictators"!

 We are so happy that Alberto joined our weekly US-Latin America issues show to talk Cuba.

 Fausta Wertz of Fausta's Blog is a regular in our panel.  Fausta has great coverage of Cuba stories, as well as her wonderful "Carnival of Latin America' every Monday.

 Click here for the show:


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What would President Obama's approval rating be if we had a media willing to hold him accountable for something?

(My new American Thinker post)

 Another week and more computer "glitches" and "cost surprises".

 In New Jersey, residents are opening their mail and finding out this, according to The New York Post:   

 "Substitute "false political promises" for "easy money," and you have a good idea of the flim-flam Garden Staters are finding with ObamaCare.    That's the gist of a Star Ledger story that begins as follows: "Hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans opened the mail last week to find their health-insurance plan would no longer exist in 2014 because it does not cover all the essential benefits required by the Affordable Care Act."    
The story goes on to say the changes will hit more than 800,000 New Jerseyans.    
Some defenders say it's still an improvement, because these people will get more coverage. But that wasn't the promise. 

 In 2009, President Obama put it this way:     
"No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. If you like your health-care plan, you will be able to keep your health-care plan."  

 Just as New Jersey's web site for insurance fraud says, we're sure President Obama would never think of robbing a bank or stealing a car.  

 Too bad he, too, found the temptations of insurance fraud just too hard to resist."

 Add to this the "part time work" effect of ObamaCare, as posted by Andrew Puzder:   

 "The logic for businesses is simple. If you have three employees working 40 hours per week they will produce 120 labor hours. Five employees working 24 hours per week also produce 120 labor hours. Employers must offer the three full-time employees health insurance or pay a penalty. They have no such obligation to the five part-time employees, making part-time employment less costly. Make something more expensive and employers will use less of it; make something less expensive and they will use more of it.    
This unintended consequence of ObamaCare must be addressed. The bipartisan "Forty Hours Is Full Time Act" introduced in the House and Senate earlier this year offers a viable solution. The bill redefines a full-time employee as one who works 40 hours a week or 174 hours a month based on a 52-week year. That change to ObamaCare would encourage economic growth and job creation.   
Congress and the administration can solve this problem. A good first step would be for the White House to admit that there is a problem."

 So higher costs and "part timers" is what we have to show for ObamaCare so far.

 What would President Obama's approval rating really look like if the media was holding him accountable for results?  He'd be around 30%!  
P.S. You can hear my chat with Clayton Moore, businessman, US history professor & and software specialist, here:


New Politics Podcasts with Silvio Canto Jr on BlogTalkRadio


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Pay Castro Inc “un honorario de 20%” and you can play overseas!

(My new Babalu post)
According to Maria C. Werlau, "Fidel Castro Inc" is one big conglomerate for a guy who is made a career pretending to be a socialist.   The family business is big enough for Fidel and Raul to make the list of some of the richest people in the planet.
Again, not bad for a couple of brothers who are cheered around the world as "revolutionaries"!
The latest money making scheme for Castro Inc is to send Cuban athletes overseas.   Castro Inc never passes up the opportunity to make a "peso"!
As you may remember, professional sports were outlawed in Cuba in 1961.   That was then, or the days of the Soviet subsidy and when the regime spent all of the stolen property from Cubans and foreign interests.
This is now, or the reality that Cuba desperately needs hard currency and no one is lining up to lend the regime any money.  Why would you lend money to an enterprise that defaults often?
To say the least, Cubans in the major leagues are doing quite well, from Puig in LA, to Cespedes in Oakland to Fernandez in Miami.    The latest name is Jose Abreu, a first baseman with power who is shopping for a major league contract.
However, these four men do not "share" their income with Castro Inc.  They are professional athletes who had the freedom to negotiate contracts.
They are "defectors" or players who established residency in another country and became free agents.  They are eligible to sign with any organization, as the aforementioned Abreu who will be playing somewhere next year.
That's the way it should be until there is regime change in Cuba!
A few weeks ago, Castro Inc made a change and announced that Cuban athletes could play overseas.
Alfredo Despaigne is the first "test case" for Castro Inc.  The arrangement is that the regime keeps 20% of the salary.  He played in Mexico this year and hit well.  At the same time, let's remember that the Mexican summer league is a low version of AAA baseball.  It's not unusual for a good Cuban player to hit .338 against the quality of pitching in that league.
Let's not forget also that Cuban players know that the best baseball is played in the majors.  This is where they want to play and that is why they defect!
Major League baseball, and the US government, should take a tough position against Castro Inc. when it comes to these ballplayers.
Castro Inc wants to "rent" the players and create another source of income for the family business.
I believe that Commissioner Selig should make it clear that MLB is not going to play this game.
The players should be free to sign their own deals and negotiate directly with a team.  They should not be forced to share their income with Castro Inc.
The players' union should oppose that arrangement too.
Let's fill the majors with Cuban players.   However, let them be "FREE" Cuban players not "servants" of Castro Inc.
P.S.  Click here for CANTO TALK:
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A chat with Clayton Cramer about the ObamaCare computer problems


We spoke with Clayton Cramer about the ObamaCare computer problems:

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The state of Washington politics with Rick Moran of American Thinker




We spoke with Rick Moran of American Thinker about the state of politics in Washington.

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The week in review with Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda



We spoke with Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda about the week's top stories!
Tags: The week in review with Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
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