Thursday's video: The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda. We will review the events of 2024 & look ahead to 2025. Also the latest terror attacks in New Orleans plus other cities.....click to listen:

Obama and Cuba: Change but no hope

Obama and Cuba: Change but no hope : Ten years ago, President Obama decided to try something new with Cuba. Today, 10 years later, the “something new” has brought nothing to Cuba. We have an embassy, and President and Mrs. Obama watched a baseball game in Havana. They did….

Obama and Cuba: Change but no hope - American Thinker https://t.co/0sU8WfFnfG

— Silvio Canto. Jr. (@silvio_canto) January 2, 2025

 

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Obama and Cuba: Change but no hope

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Ten years ago, President Obama decided to try something new with Cuba. Today, 10 years later, the “something new” has brought nothing to Cuba. We have an embassy, and President and Mrs. Obama watched a baseball game in Havana. They did the wave with Raul Castro and lots of people thought that things would change. Nothing did.

Down in Cuba, there is little hope, as we saw in The NY Times:

It wasn’t long ago that Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution was packed with American tourists knocking into each other with selfie sticks while taking photos of the iconic image of the revolutionary Che Guevara and trying to catch a ride in a candy-apple red 1952 Chevrolet Bel-Air.

Today, those polished 1950s-era American convertibles that came to symbolize quintessential Cuba sit empty, the tourists they once carried largely gone.

The drivers spend their lives like most Cubans do: coping with prolonged power outages, standing in line at poorly stocked supermarkets and watching their friends, family and neighbors — sick of all the hardships — pack up and leave.

Ten years ago, President Barack Obama stunned the world by restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, ending more than 50 years of Cold War estrangement between the United States and a country with which it had once been on the brink of nuclear war.

For two and a half years, Cuba brimmed with enthusiasm amid a remarkable wave of investment and tourism, fueled by deals signed by major American companies such as Google, AT&T and Major League Baseball.

But a financial implosion caused by a cascade of factors — the tightening of U.S. policy by the Trump administration, Cuba’s mismanagement of its economy, the crushing effect of the Covid-19 pandemic — has kept visitors away and launched an immigration exodus of epic proportions.

Yes, the tourists came and settled their curiosity touching those 1950s car models driving around Havana. The excitement didn’t last and now everybody is wondering if the Cuba policy was worth it all.

Add to this that the Obama administration did not demand a single concession from the Castro regime. We gave Cuba an embassy, a presidential visit, lots of attention but nothing came back. Did we demand the release of political prisoners? Did we demand some economic reforms to make the country more appealing to investors? No we didn’t.

Raul got his embassy and Obama got to tell the liberal college professors that he changed the policy. In reality, nothing changed, and that was a huge victory for the communist regime.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

Jan 2, 1966: Packers beat Browns to win the NFL title

The 1965 Packers were my introduction to what we called "American football".  

As a youngster growing up in Cuba, I had no contact with the NFL or any kind of football.  As a youngster growing up in Wisconsin, the Packers were the biggest thing going on.

On Jan 2, 1966, the Packers beat the Browns to clinch the NFL title. Back then, nobody took the AFL seriously so the NFL championship was considered the big game in football.  It would stay that way until the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III in January '69.

The game against the Browns introduced me to playing football in snow.  Shortly after the game, my brother, cousin and I were outside rolling on the snow.

And you can read it in my book.

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1974 and 55 was the new speed limit!

 

January 2, 1974:  President Nixon signed "The Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act", setting a new national maximum speed limit.....or 55 MPH! It was intended to save fuel.......it probably did but it also drove a lot of people crazy driving down our highways!

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 2, 2018

We remember Roger Miller (1936-92)

We remember Roger Miller who was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, on this day in 1936.   He died in 1992.

In the 1960's, Miller recorded a ton of country and pop hits, such as "England Swings", "Dang me" and "King of the road".

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

2014 podcast: World War I & Spanish flu with Leslie Eastman & Barry Jacobsen

A show from 2014 with Leslie Eastman & Barry Jacobsen....

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

"'World War II: the War that Made Our World" with Barry Jacobsen

CLICK TO LISTEN:

'World War Two, the War that Made Our World' Episode One 05/20 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics Podcasts:

Guest: Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger......this is our World War II series...........'World War Two, the War that Made Our World Episode One: 'From Out of the Ashes, The Rise of Communism and Fascism'................the end of World War I left many unsettled issues in Europe.......also, the German economy collapsed and that opened the door for Hitler........the collapse of the Czars in Russia created the communist state or the USSR............ and other stories of the week.... .

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

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

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The story of World War I with Barry Jacobsen, part 3 08/22 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics Podcasts:

Guest: Barry Jacobsen, blogger and military historian. 

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The origins & causes of World War I with Barry Jacobsen, part 1

The origins & causes of World War I with Barry Jacobsen.....

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) August 8, 2014

  P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog

FIRST WORLD WAR, PART 5, WITH BARRY JACOBSEN, MILITARY HISTORIAN.

THURSDAY: FIRST WORLD WAR, PART 5, WITH BARRY JACOBSEN, MILITARY HISTORIAN....Listen in now at http://t.co/c8f3jfUezP. #BlogTalkRadio

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) September 5, 2014

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The story of World War I with Barry Jacobsen, part 4

CLICK TO LISTEN:

The story of World War I with Barry Jacobsen, part 4 08/28 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics Podcasts:

Guest: Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger. This is our 4th show about World War I. 

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

World War I, part 7, with Barry Jacobsen

 

A show from September 2014:    World War I, part 7, with Barry Jacobsen...Listen in now at http://t.co/bnCXrusSxt. #BlogTalkRadio

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) September 20, 2014

 P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

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WORLD WAR I, part 4, WITH BARRY JACOBSEN

THURSDAY: WORLD WAR I, part 4, WITH BARRY JACOBSEN, military historian....Listen in now at http://t.co/siIUDLTn6m. #BlogTalkRadio
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) August 29, 2014

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The story of World War I, part 2, with Barry Jacobsen

THURSDAY: The story of World War I, part 2, with Barry Jacobsen.....

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The story of World War I, part 2, with Barry Jacobsen

 

 

The story of World War I, part 2, with Barry Jacobsen.....Listen in now at http://t.co/KsUi8Lkx1e. #BlogTalkRadio

 P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

WORLD WAR I, part 4, WITH BARRY JACOBSEN, military historian

THURSDAY: WORLD WAR I, part 4, WITH BARRY JACOBSEN, military historian....Listen in now at http://t.co/siIUDLTn6m. #BlogTalkRadio
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) August 29, 2014

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  

December 21, 1945: General Patton killed in accident in Germany

Guest:   Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger.............we will continue our series of World War II episodes...

Today we will look back at the winter of 1942-43, Manstein's Miracle in Russia, and the Rise of Patton.............

Click to listen:

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The origins and causes of World War I with Barry Jacobsen

In 2014, we looked at the 100th anniversary of World War I with Barry Jacobsen.   Here is the first part.....

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

A chat with Matt Baldoni about his career and the Australian Bee Gees

A chat with Matt Baldoni about his career and the Australian Bee Gees....Listen in now at https://t.co/aV8G5WG4IM. #BlogTalkRadio

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) March 17, 2017

 P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

American Graffiti 1973 with Frank Burke

Once in a while, you can catch "American Graffiti" on TV.  In fact, I saw it a few months ago.  Frankly, I enjoyed it a bit the more "the 10th" time around.

Back in '73, I did not get into "American Graffiti" at all.  It "didn't have much a plot" as they sang in "Wake up Little Susie"! 

Happy anniversary to a very popular movie.  

The music was great but the story is still a bit confusing so many years later.    Like "Saturday Night Fever", the songs were better than the story.     Nevertheless, the movie had an impact and introduced a lot of people to Wolfman Jack, the legendary DJ who was very popular in the West coast.

Let me find my soundtrack copy, that double LP that I bought in the 70's now available in a digital format.   We remembered the movie with our friend Frank Burke:

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

Cubanos in Wisconsin, a 2013 review by Israel Ortega

(Review by Israel Ortega)

Quickly juxtaposing Wisconsin and Cuba is difficult.   

The first embodies the rugged Midwestern spirit of long working hours, Green Bay Packers and bone-chilling winters while the other conjures up images of a tropical paradise and that bearded General that has stayed in office way too long. 

In Cubanos in Wisconsin, blogger, author and radio host, Silvio Canto Jr. pens an autobiographical journey of how a countryside Cuban managed to make it to the frozen tundra that is Wisconsin. 

In the process, Canto provides us with an ominous account of just how quickly a relatively prosperous and stable country can be turned upside down because of communism.

As Canto explained to me, “the political and economic repressions that took place once Castro took over happened very quickly….It reminds me to never take your freedom for granted.”  

Canto, like many Cubans his age  seldom need reminding of the perils of socialism and government planning with many having lived through the horrors of communism first-hand.

But what about younger Americans and younger Cuban Americans that have no recollection of what life was like in Cuba under the Castro regime?  What can they get from this account?  

A question I posed Canto when interviewing him about his book.  Canto acknowledged the generational gap of the Cuban American experience, but correctly remarked in the universality of the immigrant experience that is sure to resonate with younger readers.

Indeed, as a recent Census Bureau Report suggests, nearly a third of Hispanics in the United States have at least one parent or grandparent that is an immigrant suggesting that the ties to Latin America are indeed still very much personal.  What’s more, there’s a natural curiosity about Latin America for many of the Hispanics born in the United States as evidenced by Canto’s own sons that learned a great deal about their father’s native Cuba and his adventures along the way, including the story of how a young Silvio almost started World War III at the height of the Cold War by setting off an alarm in a Soviet truck in a military compound.

And although the Cuban Revolution and the Cold War serve as the prominent backdrop to Silvio’s story, much of it could happen in 2013.  Leaving your friends, family and loved ones for a new country with a new culture and new language is experienced by many young immigrants.  And even if one didn’t immigrate to the country, today’s multi-cultural families are as American as apple pie.

For Silvio, the young immigrant should remember that this country, the United States of America, is a special place. Special because it is one grounded in liberty and the promise of endless opportunity.  Unlike his native Cuba that promised equality of outcome once Castro took over, the United States provides that individual can accomplish whatever one sets their heart and mind to fulfilling.

This is a good reminder particularly in a time when the general consensus among the political elite that expanding the social welfare safety net is the only way to confront income inequality.

Beyond the political subtext, Cubanos in Wisconsin is also a good reminder that the Hispanic population is, and has always been geographically diverse.  Almost intuitively, Americans are wired to think that Hispanics live only in California and Texas, but as Canto’s book makes clear, Hispanics were living in Wisconsin long before the Latino craze started sweeping our country a few decades back.

Canto’s Cubanos in Wisconsin is an enjoyable read with an important message about how big government can ruin a country and decimate it completely.    Despite our current travails, we are indeed a blessed lot with endless possibilities. Canto and other immigrants that come to our shores are a good reminder to fight to preserve and protect those liberties that so many have come here looking for with that promise of a better tomorrow.

P.S.  You can order the book here: