Saturday, November 23, 2024

It’s her privacy, stupid!

 Did the Democrats learn anything from the 2024 results? I think that it’s fair to say that voters sent a clear message on issues like men in women’s bathrooms or competing against their daughters.

Enter Rep. Nancy Mace, who doesn’t want a man in the women’s room even if the person in question is a “trans woman” elected in Delaware. Well, here is the story:

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Tuesday that her effort to ban transgender women from using female bathrooms at the U.S. Capitol is a direct response to the election of Sarah McBride, who is set to be the first openly transgender person in Congress.

Mace introduced a resolution Monday to prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” She was asked by reporters Tuesday if the move was in response to McBride.

“Yes and absolutely, and then some,” Mace told reporters, adding, “I’m absolutely 100% gonna stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women’s restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting you every step of the way.”

Good for Nancy. It’s not about the “trans”; it’s about the male thing down there, if you know what I mean.

My guess is that most men and women agree with Rep. Mace. This is not a civil rights issue but rather a matter of common sense and decency. Who wants their wife, sister, cousin, daughter, etc., to go to a bathroom visited by men wearing a dress? I’m sorry, but dressing up as a woman, mascara and all, does not make you a “she.”

You can’t stop Democrat voters from voting for a “trans” person. He or she won fair and square. Nevertheless, that doesn’t give this person a pass to violate the privacy of women who don’t want a dude in a dress in that private space.

So, let the Democrats fight on this hill. I’m just warning them that this is not the hill that you want to die on. Why? Because you are going to die for lack of public support.


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We remember Luis Tiant (1940-2024)






We remember the great Tiant.

Luis Tiant was born in Marianao, Cuba on this day in 1940.  He died in 2024

His father was Luis Eleuterio Tiant, who pitched professionally in the old Negro Leagues in the US as well as in Mexico.

Tiant made his debut in 1964 with Cleveland: 10-4, 9 complete games, 3 shutouts and a 2.83 ERA. A few years later, Luis led the AL in 1968 with a 1.60 ERA! By the late 1960’s, El Tiante was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Suddenly, he suffered a series of arm injuries in 1970-71, was released and passed up by several teams who thought that he was finished.

Everything changed when the Red Sox gave him a chance in 1972: 15 wins and a AL leading 1.91 ERA. Tiant won 81 games over the next 4 seasons and became the darling of Fenway Park

We remember Tiant and the 1975 post-season. He shut down the A’s in game 1 of the ALCS, beat the Reds in games 1 and 4 of the World Series. And his aforementioned father had a chance to watch him pitch. It was a wonderful post season for father and son.

Luis Tiant retired with 229 wins, a 3.30 ERA and 189 complete games. In my opinion, he should be in The Hall of Fame. Let’s hope that he goes in the next time around.

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1936: The first issue of LIFE magazine

LIFE magazine was born on this day in 1936

It built a great reputation and huge circulation.   TIME was published until 1972 and returned in 2004 as a supplement to newspapers.

I loved the pictures.   The cover pictures were just spectacular.    This is one from 1964 at the height of Beatlemania.    

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We remember Robert Vaughn..........1932-2016

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2003: President Bush and Thanksgiving in Iraq



Several years ago, I became fascinated with presidential proclamations, from President Washington in 1789, President Lincoln during the Civil War, and President Reagan in 1988.  
So let’s remember one president who spent Thanksgiving in a very unique way.
We’ve had some talk lately about President Bush and the decision to take out Saddam Hussein.  I continue to support the action. 
North Korea is what happens when you leave people in power who have or look to have weapons of mass destruction. The Middle East would look a lot different today if Iraq was conducting nuclear tests or threatening to hit Israel or others.
Back in 2003, President Bush showed up in Iraq for Thanksgiving. It was a great story and must have been quite a treat for the soldiers enjoying some turkey:  
Mr. Bush sneaked out of Crawford on Wednesday in an unmarked car, then flew to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, where a few advisers and a small number of reporters sworn to secrecy joined him. They then flew on to Baghdad International Airport, arriving around dusk.
He spent 2 hours 32 minutes in the country, dining with the chief United States administrator there, L. Paul Bremer III, and sharing Thanksgiving wishes with about 600 troops at an airport hangar. Mr. Bush actually helped serve dinner to the troops, who had been told they would be dining with Mr. Bremer and with Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq.
He also met with four members of the Iraqi Governing Council.
The trip must have raised enormous concerns for the president’s security team. A DHL cargo plane using the same airport Saturday was struck in the wing by a shoulder-fired missile, forcing it to make an emergency landing. Such missiles, reliant on visual contact with their targets, are considered ineffective after dark, however.
For security reasons, the President’s trip was such a secret that even First Lady Laura Bush and his parents were not told about it. It must have been quite a surprise when plans changed from Crawford to Iraq.
Many years later, I say thanks that President Bush took out Saddam Hussein and prevented Iraq from turning into North Korea.  
My guess is that Iraq’s neighbors share my sentiments.

Hiroshima 1945: Truman and the bomb with Barry Jacobsen


Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Wikipedia

We remember another anniversary of one of the most consequential days of the 20th century.

Back on this day in 1945, many people heard about Hiroshima on the radio or perhaps saw the scenes on one of those newsreels.

In the summer of 1945, President Truman was confronted with one of those decisions that only a president faces.  He looked at the horrible options and made the right call, as my friend Bill Katz explained.   The bomb stopped the war and the killing:

Of course we regret the lives that were lost, as we always regret death and destruction in war, but guilt is not required.  In what is sometimes called the  bloody arithmetic of war, the nuclear bombs reduced the ultimate death toll of World War II dramatically.  And as the late historian Paul Fussell, a soldier in the Pacific at the time of Hiroshima later wrote, recalling his thoughts when he learned of the atomic bomb's use, "We were going to live.  We were going to grow to adulthood after all."  For that we can be grateful.

We will probably hear the usual criticism of President Truman's decision, specially from those who were not alive back then nor have taken the time to study the real options on his desk.   In other words, President Truman was not choosing between war and peace but rather war and more war.   He also knew that there would be huge casualties on both sides, if he decided to invade Japan.

Today's anniversary reminds us that presidents often face awfully difficult choices.  In this case, President Truman made the right decision. 

Click to listen to our 2015 show with Barry Jacobsen about President Truman and the decision to drop the two bombs:



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The story of World War II with Barry Jacobsen, part 3


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CLICK TO LISTEN:

The story of World War II with Barry Jacobsen, part 3 06/06 by Silvio Canto Jr | News Podcasts:

Guest: Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger..........we will continue our series about World War II..............the outbreak of war after the invasion of Poland.........the German blitzrieg warfare.........the use of weapons and tactics in The Spanish Civil War...........and more stories.................................

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Martin Dihigo, Hall of Fame baseball player


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We remember today the life and times of Martin Dihigo, the great Cuban player and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dihigo was born on this day in 1905 and played in the Negro Leagues from 1923-47.

Dihigo was 42 by the time that Jackie Robinson broke "the color line" in 1947.    
We do know that Buck Leonard, the legendary player and manager of the Kansas City Monarchs said this:
"He was the greatest all-around player I know. I say he was the best player of all time, black or white. He could do it all."
He hit .304 over a 12 year career in the Negro Leagues He died in Cuba in 1971.

Click below for our show with Fernando Hernandez:


A 2013 chat with Carlos Eire about Cuba 1959

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Carlos Eire, author & historian, joined me for a look at Cuba 2013, 54 years after Castro.
Click to listen.
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MSNBC headed for hospice care

MSNBC headed for hospice care: It appears that MSNBC's future is in doubt. This is what we hear: Comcast on Wednesday officially announced it would spin off several NBCUniversal cable networks, including MSNBC, in a move that will dramatically shake up the landscape ...
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It appears that MSNBC’s future is in doubt. This is what we hear:

Comcast on Wednesday officially announced it would spin off several NBCUniversal cable networks, including MSNBC, in a move that will dramatically shake up the landscape of legacy media as the liberal cable outlet will no longer be affiliated with NBC News.

Cesar Conde will continue leading the NBCUniversal News Group, but now that group only includes NBC News, the NBC News Now streaming service, Telemundo and owned-and-operated local stations. Conde loses oversight of MSNBC and CNBC in the process, and the fate of shared resources — and even the cable network’s name and editorial direction — are in question. 

A current MSNBC staffer is “intrigued by the amount of thought that seems to have gone into” the decision from a business standpoint, but said there is a “big concern” about what this means going forward for MSNBC. 

“No mas” as boxer Roberto Durán once said. At the same time, I am not surprised that a news channel obsessed with President Trump and calling his voters racist would eventually lose its affiliations. Imagine working at NBC and having to react on a daily basis about what Rachel, Joy, and the others said last night. I don’t know anybody at NBC, but I have to believe that this is a welcome separation. Who wants to be with people who hate?

The moral of the story is that hatred will eventually destroy the hater. Unfortunately, MSNBC became a hate machine airing nonsense and lies nightly. At the same time, how many times can you hear about Trump before you switch the channel and want something else?

I guess it was a few years ago, circa 2000 and the Bush-Gore campaign, I used to catch Chris Matthews on my office computer. It was a good show and informative as well. I knew he was a Democrat but never felt that he hated me because I wasn’t.

MSNBC is headed for hospice care. It will cease to exist soon and we wish all the haters over there a happy Christmas. I have to think that the late Tim Russert, a decent man who would often speak with Matthews on the aforementioned broadcast, must be giving management a thumbs up for unplugging this unwatchable garbage that the network turned into.

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We learned who shot J.R., but will we ever learn who voted for Biden?

The "Dallas" TV series was a huge success in the 1970s, 1980s, and even 1990s.  On March 13, 1980, the season ended with someone shooting J.R. Ewing, the Texas oilman that everybody loved to hate.  

The show's fans spent most of the summer wondering "Who shot JR"?  In fact, it was millions, and around the world:  Who shot J.R.?  Some 83 million people in the country saw the show or an amazing 76% of all of the TVs in the US.   As I recall, it was Kristin who shot him and the mystery was over!     

Forty years later, many of us are asking a different question:  Who voted for Biden?   How did this man win the election given the red wave that swept the U.S. House and state legislatures?   The GOP won everything that mattered, and specially so, looking ahead to redistricting.
 
Biden may be taking the oath of office in January but the numbers just don't add up, as David Catron wrote:  
 
In the end, to accept Joe Biden as our legitimate chief executive, we must believe the voters hammered the Democrats in congressional, state, and local elections, yet decided to elect the “leader” of their party president. 
 
We must believe that Biden dramatically underperformed among minority voters, yet received 10 million more votes than Barack Obama. 
 
We must believe that virtually all of the reliable election bellwethers were wrong. 
 
We must believe that all of the elections in the swing states were conducted honestly and that the Venezuelan software used to tabulate the votes was secure. 
 
All of this beggars belief. 
 
Yes it does.  We learned who shot J.R. because someone actually did.  In the case of 2020, we "elected" a president but no one can tell you how he won.
 
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Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/11/we_learned_who_shot_jr_but_will_we_ever_learn_who_voted_for_biden.html#ixzz6eQpZdDc7
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1980: Who shot J R Ewing of the Dallas TV series?


The "Dallas" TV series was a huge success in the 1970's.  

On March 13, 1980, the season ended with someone shooting JR Ewing, the character that everybody loved to hate.  

The show's fans, and a few others spent most of the summer wondering "Who shot JR"?

On this day in 1980, millions of people around the world tuned in to answer the question:  Who shot JR?  

83 million people in the country saw the show or an amazing 76% of all of the TVs in the US.

As I recall, it was Kristin who shot him!





1963: It’s time to take a second look at JFK

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We remember another anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination this week. 
It's time for another look at President Kennedy’s legacy as Alan Brinkley wrote a few years ago
President Kennedy spent less than three years in the White House. His first year was a disaster, as he himself acknowledged. The Bay of Pigs invasion of Communist Cuba was only the first in a series of failed efforts to undo Fidel Castro’s regime.
His 1961 summit meeting in Vienna with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was a humiliating experience. Most of his legislative proposals died on Capitol Hill.
Yet he was also responsible for some extraordinary accomplishments.
The most important, and most famous, was his adept management of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, widely considered the most perilous moment since World War II.
Most of his military advisers — and they were not alone — believed the United States should bomb the missile pads that the Soviet Union was stationing in Cuba.
Kennedy, aware of the danger of escalating the crisis, instead ordered a blockade of Soviet ships.
In the end, a peaceful agreement was reached. Afterward, both Kennedy and Khrushchev began to soften the relationship between Washington and Moscow.
So how long will this “sainthood” of President Kennedy continue? Or are we finally going to get a more objective view?

Maybe it will start now as more allegations of sexual misconduct come out against politicians. It’s obvious that President Kennedy had a problem with women, too.

My bottom line is that President Kennedy should be viewed as a politician and not as a saint, as he has been for many years.

A second look at the Kennedy record is overdue and necessary.

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Moody blues south of the border

Moody blues south of the border: Well, a funny thing happened on the road to a new presidential term. Yes, Moody's, the investment firm, dropped some bad news about the Mexican situation. This is a summary from Kelin Dillon in Mexico City: Big three credit rating….
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Well, a funny thing happened on the road to a new presidential term. Yes, Moody’s, the investment firm, dropped some bad news about the Mexican situation.

This is a summary from Kelin Dillon in Mexico City:

Big three credit rating agency Moody’s has revised its growth forecast for Mexico for the near future, lowering it to 1.5 percent for the current year and predicting a decline in dynamism for 2025 from 1.5 percent to 1.3 percent. 

Moody’s predicted slowdown in Mexico is expected to accompany similar trends in Latin America, particularly in Brazil and Argentina.

“There will be a slowdown in Mexico, driven in part by high interest rates, and a rebound in smaller economies,” read Moody’s report. “Growth will also slow in Argentina due to austerity measures aimed at correcting long-standing fiscal and external imbalances. Likewise, Brazil will experience a slowdown as high interest rates weigh on economic activity. However, growth has been stronger than expected, and ongoing structural reforms could boost it further.”

In its recent economic outlook update, the rating agency — which downgraded Mexico’s credit rating from stable to negative just last week — noted that a gradual stabilization in global and local macroeconomic conditions could support the credit quality of governments, companies, and financial institutions in emerging markets by 2025.

So maybe things will improve next year but for now it’s thumbs down.

The official reason for the downgrade is increases in government spending creating a fiscal deficit. Or as my Mexican friend said: former President Andres Lopez Obrador bought every point in approval rates by handing out “pesos.” It certainly helped current President Claudia Sheinbaum run for election with a happy days are here again message.

The other reason, and the governing party is in the middle of this mess, is the overhaul of how judges are selected. From now on, the judges will be elected by the people — the ones who get benefits from the federal government. The investors and business class are not pleased with the risk of doing away with the checks and balances that come with an independent judiciary. 
For most of my Mexican contacts, it’s the concerns about the judiciary driving concerns about investing in Mexico. There are also concerns with PEMEX, the oil monopoly, and the company’s massive debt. Why would an oil company have such massive liabilities? Well, it’s what happens when an oil company is nothing but a source of finance for every social program conceived by politicians.

So Moody is singing the blues in Mexico and it’s not the famous rock group.

Last, but not least, this situation south of the border will strengthen Trump’s hand because any slowdown in exports to U.S. will be devastating to Mexico.

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November 1964 and "Leader of the pack" was # 1 on the radio


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In late 1964, The Shangri-Las hit # 1 in the US charts with "The Leader of the Pack."

The girls were Mary Ann Ganser, Marge Ganser and Mary Weiss.  They had a unique style of singing and speaking in their songs! 

The girls were very young and had a few other hits but nothing came close to the success of "The Leader of the pack".

According to songfacts:
"This is a tale of young love, parental disapproval and death by motorbike."
It is one of my all time favorite "girl group" classics.

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We remember Stan "the Man" Musial (1920-2013)



The great Stan Musial was born in Donora, PA, on this day in 1920.  He died in 2014.

I  never saw Musial play.  He retired at the end of 1963 season so I never got to see him play.  

Nevertheless, it did not take me long to learn about his amazing career:
"Musial's rank in several career offensive categories is significantly closer to first despite missing the entire 1945 season to serve in the United States Navy. When he retired after the 1963 season, he shared or held 17 big league records and 29 National League records. He currently ranks in the top 10 in five career categories -- second in total bases (6,134), third in doubles (725), fourth in hits (3,630), sixth in RBIs (1,951) and ninth in runs (1,949). His .331 career batting average stands 30th. He received MVP votes in 18 seasons, finishing as the runner-up four times after winning his third award in 1948. He was second in the balloting in 1957, when at age 36, he won the NL batting title for the final time. He won his seventh title -- only Ty Cobb (11), Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn (eight each) won more -- 14 years after his first."
A few years ago, I wrote a post about Stan Musial.   I recalled his last at bat, a ground ball to right field that Pete Rose, the Reds rookie second baseman, could not catch.  Of course, Rose passed Musial later on his way to breaking Ty Cobb's all time hits record.

Stan the man was great!  I'm sorry that I never got the chance to watch him play.


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Happy # 55 Ken Griffey, one of the best players ever!

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We say happy birthday to Ken Griffey, perhaps the best player of our generation.  He was born in Pennsylvania on this day in 1969.

Ken broke with Seattle in 1989 at age 19.   He was awesome in the 1990's winning 3 HR titles and several seasons with 140-plus RBI's.     

Injuries caught up with him in Cincinnati and we never saw the offensive numbers that he put up in Seattle.

Griffey retired with 630 HR & 1,836 RBI.    He was also an amazing center fielder!

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2013 podcast: Dr. Carlos Eire and the Castro regime



Carlos Eire, author & historian, joins me for a look at Cuba, 54 years after Castro.

Carlos wrote an amazing article about Cuba today.  Read here!


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World War II and the great military leaders with Barry Jacobsen



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Trump Derangement Syndrome, pastry edition

Trump Derangement Syndrome, pastry edition: If you forgot, it was the late Charles Krauthammer who penned the derangement syndrome tune. He did it back in 2003 about then President George W. Bush. This is what he wrote:  It has been 25 years since I discovered a psychiatric….
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If you forgot, it was the late Charles Krauthammer who penned the derangement syndrome tune. He did it back in 2003 about then President George W. Bush. This is what he wrote

It has been 25 years since I discovered a psychiatric syndrome (for the record: “Secondary Mania,” Archives of General Psychiatry, November 1978), and in the interim I haven’t been looking for new ones. But it’s time to don the white coat again. A plague is abroad in the land.

Bush Derangement Syndrome: The acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.

The late and great Dr. Krauthammer added Cheney Derangement Syndrome to his inventory. Yes, that was before daughter Liz decided to hang around with the people who called her dad a war criminal and forgot people like me who defended her father.

If Dr. K was around today, he’d be giving weekly awards for Trump Derangement Syndrome. His latest would have to be Whoopi Goldberg, who may have destroyed her career and put the ABC Legal Department in panic mode.

According to Professor Turley, the bakery has a case:

In his latest column, the George Washington University law professor addressed the controversy over Goldberg’s defaming of Holtermann’s Bakery, a Staten Island, NY institution for 145 years, accusing the establishment of refusing to provide her order of Charlotte Russe treats because of her political views, a lie that was shot down by the baker’s owner.

Turley argues that even though Goldberg did not specifically name Holtermann’s Bakery during her dishonest rant, a defamation lawsuit against her could still be “a piece of cake.”

Well, a delicious piece of cake we assume.

I am not in the habit of promoting lawsuits or seeing careers destroyed. Instead, I do think that irresponsible people should pay the consequences of being reckless or stupid. In other words, if you accuse a bakery of denying your order because of your politics then you better get ready for the backlash.

Of course, the larger point is what the late Dr. Krauthammer detected. This is not the usual political disagreement. This is a mental disease that brings you clicks in the new social media world but harm when your bosses have to bail you out by writing a big check.

I hope that the rest of the ladies get the message and stick to common sense rather than bashing Trump in every show. They may get more women to watch their daily show — what I thought was what the advertisers pay for.

Whoopi cupcakes? Maybe they’ll serve them at the next Trump rally.

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From 'Los Reyes Magos' to Santa Claus: Cuban Americans and Christmas


CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO LISTEN:


A Cuban American roundtable.... Jorge Ponce, columnist, Fernando Hernandez, author, Amarilys Rassler, author, and Tersi Bidenburg, storyteller...............We will discuss our first Christmas in the US......and any memories of our last Christmas in Cuba............my guests and I share a Cuban American experience going back to the 1960s when we left the island for political reasons........we grew up in the US in a Cuban American culture that combined Santa Claus & Los Reyes Magos....................


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The Cubans: The music of Ernesto Lecuona & others with Fernando Hernandez, author

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Guest:  Fernando Hernandez, author of "The Cubans".  We will review the career of Ernesto Lecuona, one of the greatest composers of the Spanish speaking world, plus Moises Simons, Rene Touzet among others.....

Click to listen.......

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World War II : Rommel, the Desert Fox with Barry Jacobsens



Guest: Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger........we will remember Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel, known as the Desert Fox............and more stories............

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World War II and the difficult year of 1942.....with Barry Jacobsen

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Remembering the Cuban Christmas and "Los Reyes Magos"

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Guests:

Marta Sosa (Cubanarama on the radio);

Tersi Bendiburg (storyteller)

Fernando Hernandez ("The Cubans, our footprints...") and,

Amarilys Gacio Rassler ("Cuban American.....")




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