Of Petty Tyrannies

My preferred method of travel is driving, but yesterday I found myself flying out to LA. Because Sarasota is off the beaten track, so to speak, I no longer fly directly to any destination. Since I was heading out to LA, this was a good thing.

Actually I don't fly anymore if I can avoid it, just as I will never again darken Disney World's doorstep. Many entities in the name of public health and political correctness have made the decision that it is okay to torture and inconvenience nicotine addicts like myself who have very little recourse but to submit. My absolute nightmare is being stuck on the tarmac for eight hours. I literally think I would get myself arrested. I don't wish to hurt or inconvenience others, but some consideration for approximately a quarter of the population- that's more than any minority group- would be nice. How about a sealed off area somewhere? What the greatly virtuous and inordinately "holier-than-thou" crowd miss is the horribly addictive nature of smoking.

So when, it comes to flying, if you add the airport wait time to the five hours it takes to fly out, Atlanta, which has a smokers' lounge, sounds just fine to me. Alas, my first flight was late, leaving me but fifteen minutes to cross the entire length of the airport. As it was, I was literally the last person on the connecting flight to LA. So I get on the airplane after about three hours of abstinence. By the end of the flight five hours later (we got delayed a bit), I was ready to cry or kill someone.

But then that's just the general backdrop of my trip. Being something less than a dinosaur, maybe a mammoth, when it comes to technology, I booked my flight online. I didn't choose seats because I figured I didn't much care. Mistake. I check in at the Delta counter where everyone else is getting boarding passes, and I get a "request for a seat." Okay, so I don't freak, yet. They'll do it at the gate when I check in there. But when I get to the gate, they're starting to board and the guy at the counter waves the unfortunates off with "I'm working on it."

Now I'm a bit annoyed. I book my ticket months ahead of time, and here I am lumped together with the standby supplicants. You know there's going to be no room in the overhead bin by the time I get on. And, as a veteran of Sunjet, I 'm a bit suspicious that they're going to say, "Oops, no more room." So I very mildly explain my concerns to the aforementioned guy, who looks like the actor with the once shaved head on the Las Vegas franchise of CSI. Oh, he tells me "Zone 1 is just for frequent fliers." Well, 1 was followed by Zone 2, and 3 and 4. When I get my boarding pass, I'm magically Zone 9. By the time it was announced, there were three of us left. I did not complain or cause a scene, because when it comes to flying, we do not enjoy many of our rights as American citizens.

So as I sat in the middle between two rather beefy fellows, one of whom had little familiarity with a bar of soap judging from the effluent he was giving off, I had to smile. I'm sure the guy who looks like the actor with the once shaved head really enjoyed that brief momentary exercise of power in what must be a pretty thankless occupation. As for me, my smokeless day was shot anyway. Thank you, Delta Airlines.

Y,Oh, Y!

Here's a brief and entertaining bit on Miscelaneas by José Manuel Caraballo Bravo from down Cuba way, a rumination on the decided aversion to all things y on the part of the Havana "Commission." Let me share the conclusion of his commentary-

Up to [now] the brief comments of a totalitarian government who is allergic to the "Yahoo", "Yankees", "Young people", "Yuletide", and the "Generation Y created by Yoani". If you'd like more information try to ask someone from the government for the reason; but be careful because WHY ends in a "Y".

Read it here. It's in English.

What They Don't See

What would a week be without at least one "in the know" report about Cuba from some tourist type? Most of them are rich in dramatic irony. Try this one:

Taxis are dirt cheap. You can go anywhere for a few bucks; better still hire a driver who can speak a little English who’ll drive you all over town for the night for $20.

My taxi-driver, Claudio, was a doctor moonlighting in his battered Soviet-era Lada. He drove me out to see DJoy play ear-blistering house music at the Jardins de la Tropical (Avenida 41, Playa), another terrific outdoor venue under a cover of giant banyan trees. Back in the day the Jardins was the place for couples dressed in all their finery to dance salsa, but on this night strobe lights were bouncing off the palm trees and trendy young things were happily waving their arms in the air.

How many doctors in any country are forced to moonlight as cabbies? Or is it a taxi fetish on the part of the medical professional? Does this erstwhile traveler even stop to think? No, he is bent on his own pleasure, on demonstrating his "cool" credentials.

There's more here.

Enter the Greek Chorus

More and more is starting to appear in reference to the ethanol boondoggle. Even Mr. Obama has commented. Here's one via Townhall. An inconvenient truth, indeed. The cyclone in Myanmar doesn't help the situation either.

Reaction to Yoani's Absence at the Awards Ceremony

Thanks to El Pais, we have some of the commentary.

Yoani (in a telephone interview): Nothing I have written in my blog is as pointed as my absence from the ceremony.

Sanjuana Martínez, Mexican winner of the prize for investigative reporting: I would like to send out a greeting to Yoani, whose absence is a symbol, no more no less, that there are no changes. In Cuba you can buy electrical appliances and cell phones, but there is no free press.

Gervasio Sánchez, winner of the prize for photography: The prohibition creates a greater media impact and has negative repercussions for the image of Cuba.

There's more, but my powers of translation fail me. Some even questioned Spain's policies toward Cuba.

No Prize for You!

Not surprisingly the Cuban regime has tacitly denied Yoani Sanchez's application to leave the country by deciding not to decide. Of course, Yoani will not be able to receive the "Ortega y Gasset Prize" in electronic journalism, a prestigious award granted by the Spanish newspaper El Pais being handed out today, in person. Yoani's blog, Generacion Y, has propelled her to well-deserved fame as she posts on her life in Cuba.

This was a no-win situation for the Havana Dons, as allowing her to accept the prize would highlight the conditions in Cuba. Refusing to let her go, on the other hand, emphasizes the repression of speech. 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. True to form, they chose the nastier option.

One consolation is that Ernesto of Penultimos Dias was asked to accept it in her stead. He has posted a moving open letter to Yoani. It's in Spanish. If Yoani can't be there, I can think of no better representative. El año que viene in la Habana.

Stories in English here and here.

Summer Reading

This summer promises books from some of my favorite authors. So my fellow bibliophiles, here are the highlights of the summer reading list:

Legally Dead by Edna Buchanan due out in August.

Swan Peak by James Lee Burke in July. It's a Dave Robicheaux novel, and I love Robicheaux.

The Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver in June. It's the eighth book featuring Lincoln Rhyme, this time with a cyber twist.

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston of Relic et al fame in June. This one is a true life story of his hunt for a serial killer in Florence, Italy. It sounds like a strange story.

An Advancement of Learning by Reginald Hill out in April. It's not one of the Pascoe novels, but rather number two in a series where I missed one, but I'll give it a try. There's nothing like a refined British mystery with a glass of vino on a Friday afternoon.

Vineyard Chill by Phillip R Craig due out in June. This is a sad one. It's the final Martha's Vineyard mystery because Mr. Craig died after its completion. These were always light whodunits.

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith out now. This is one of those titles the library purchases two of and then you're on a waiting list forever. Could be because Barnes & Noble highlighted it. Last one was the Davinci Code. Anyway, sounds like a distant cousin of Gorky Park: serial killer in Stalinist Russia, official dissembling, suspense. Speaking of which, if you haven't already read Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith you might want to do it. It doesn't disappoint.

As The Worm Turns

It warms the cockles of my heart to see the list of truth tellers grow. Who'da thunk it? This week, we add The Miami Herald, not known for being particularly fond of their own Miami Cubans. How's this for an editorial?

***

Cuba's leader tells another whopper
OUR OPINION: RAUL CASTRO'S LIE REFUTED BY A LEGACY OF SHAME

As a practical matter, it is impossible for this or any other newspaper to set the record straight every time the Cuban government tells a whopper. Orchestrating lies is the specialty of police states. Anyone who has ever listened to Radio Havana or watched a Cuban TV ''news'' program knows that Cuban leaders lie to their own people and lie to the outside world. They even lie to each other. But sometimes the lie is so blatant, so malign, so far removed from the painful reality of life in Cuba that it must be refuted, for the sake of common decency if nothing else.

That's the case with Raúl Castro's recent claim that there has not been ''one sole case of torture'' in Cuba. Even by Cuba's standards, this is an astonishing falsehood, a lie of such outsized proportions that even Raúl Castro should have been ashamed to utter it. But since he was speaking before the National Assembly, where slavish agreement is the only acceptable response to the leader's declarations, it doubtless went down like a smooth cafecito.

The truth, of course, is that torture and the humiliation of government opponents is a way of life in Cuba. The abusive legal and institutional mechanisms of the state deprive the people of Cuba of their most basic rights on a daily basis, and that extends to the practice of torture in Cuba's jails for both common criminals and political prisoners

***

The rest of the editorial here.

H/T Gusano at Babalublog

Oh, No, Not That!

Serbia will be holding parliamentary elections on Sunday. This article casts it as a contest between modernity and nationalism. Interesting to note:

Some Serbian liberal intellectuals fear a nationalist coalition government will turn Serbia into a Balkan Cuba.

"They want to bring back state socialism," said Misa Brkic, a prominent liberal economist. "They will block our joining the European Union and make Serbia a 21st-century Cuba as Cuba was for the Russians in the 1960s in its relations with the United States."

Republican Women for Hillary?

I warned that the C-word would come out of the closet to haunt McCain. Sure enough, it was brought up at a town hall meeting. See Fausta's Blog for the video. I'm telling you, if it's verified, I'm outta that camp.

What a long, strange trip it's been. I started the election cycle with "anybody but Hillary" as my mantra, although I have long admired her strength of character. It's her positions I've always objected to. But compared to Obama who? she is looking decidedly better. Maybe Anne Coulter was on to something, although I thought she was insane at the time. Now I come across this article at the Weekly Standard about how conservatives are coming to grudingly respect her. I tell you the woman is brilliant.

Who knows? If Obama doesn't finish her off quickly, we may yet see Republican Women for Hillary.

Another Perspective on Kosovo: Charles Simic

I was looking for the Mathiessen article I had read in the Digest, when I stumbled upon this by Charles Simic. Now Simic happens to be one of the few contemporary poets I like, and the hubster being originally from the former Yugoslavia meaning I've done my fair share of reading about the situation, particularly West's two volume epic, so I have to read Simic.

As I read the article, I say to myself- Simic has to be from Serbia. Now it's a novel viewpoint for me because between the Slovenski/Croatian orientation of the family and the atrocities Serbs perpetrated in the name of the "Greater Serbia," not to mention a horrible Serb in-law, I don't have a particularly good opinion of the place. Still, Simic presents a fairly complex view of the situation.

Then I go off on a link to a response by a Kosovar which in turn leads to a reply by Simic, and it hits me how similar the give and take to what Cubans go through. The same truths are seen at best through many different lenses. Just thought you'd benefit from seeing some up close info from a part of the world probably even less understood than Cuba.

Random Moments of Grace

I cannot tell you how glorious the weather is here today and has been for a few days. I've got the hot tub warming up. I'm struck by these little moments of grace that crop up unexpectedly.

The other day at work, we were having a discussion on of all things: beans. An older, almost elfin, gentleman who works in the cafe says "I don't like the way you Cubans make red beans." I suspect strongly he's Mexican which of course explains it. But as he continues, "I once spent a year in Cuba with the circus." And I know he's telling the truth, at least I know he once juggled with the circus. He still has that really erect bearing of an acrobat or drill sergeant. "Yes," he says, "in 1953, the best year of my life. I was in my prime then, and the place was a lot of fun."

Or I'm driving home today from Downtown when a man crosses the street in front of me. For a minute, I think he might be the Mexican hobo who frequents the area and makes me crazy because he tarnishes the Anglo impression of Mexicans, all of those I know being hardworking types. The pale blue striped polo co-ordinates with the shorts, but something about him spells "homeless," maybe it's the mochilla over his shoulder. Can his hair have gotten that white, I'm pondering, when I realize it's not him. At that very moment, the gentleman in question stops in midtraverse, looks at me, and winks. Then he turns and proceeds on his way with nary a look behind. Something significant has happened here. Something with no words, no intellect, just grace.

Putting the Sunday Edition to Bed on Monday

No Festival. Seems I'm not the only one lamenting the demise of the festival. It is not often that I agree with an editorial position in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, but this time they're just plain right. There have also been some letter writers. My favorite: this one which recognizes the sad reality of where Sarasota's heading.

No Safety. In a truly sad story, a young woman was raped and beaten while returning a book at the night drop at the Bloomingdale (FL) Regional Library. There is no such thing as safety anymore. Read about the arrest here.

No Shame. Yet another in what has become a tediously long line of articles, this time in the International Herald Tribune, about how younger Cuban Americans are changing voting habits. Again, Joe Garcia pops up like a political rolypoly. If he is correct, it is a case of no harm, no foul. But it occurs to me that if Garcia is soundly trounced, he will have performed a great disservice to Cuban Americans, having fed into that whole mindset about the intransigent elders. Read it here.

Wee Willie. Finally, police, yes, police, in the Congo have arrested thirteen reputed sorcerers for shrinking penises, other people's that is. This is serious stuff as there have been attempted lynchings over the matter. Read all about it here.

The Populist Reader

Managed to polish off Anne Perry's Buckingham Palace Gardens and Stuart Wood's Shoot Him if He Runs, as well as a little morsel by Mary Kay Andrews. Seems the theme this week was "how the other half lives." The upshot: Perry's latest entry into the Inspector Pitt series satisfies as usual, although the marked absence of Charlotte Pitt leaves a gap in the proceedings. Set in Buckingham Palace during Victoria's reign, although in her absence, the plot is set in motion with the early morning discovery of a murdered lady of the evening in the Queen's linen closet. Again we have the tensions between the pursuit of justice and the pretensions and snobbery of the upper classes. Perry is always at her finest in conveying the Victorian social milieu. Despite having devolved into being somewhat formulaic, her mysteries have heft, an impression made stronger by comparison to the Stuart Woods novel.

I had forgotten that I had sworn off Stone Barrington novels when I picked this one up. All that slice of upper class life in trendy New York is getting tedious- their hanging out at Elaine's in particular gets my goat. Not that I object to the rich in principle, it's just that there is just the slightest tinge of elitism in there. And then there is the sexual angle. Holly from the Orchard Beach novels reappears in this case and almost spontaneously falls into Barrington's bed. There is no foreplay for the reader. At this point, the most appealing character in the book is the villain. Having highlighted all my objections, I still have to say that it's a fair read for a sunny afternoon, if you were once fond of the Woods' novels, say like my favorite, Chiefs.

Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews also boasts a wealthy main character, at least initially. In this unabashed piece of fluff, old money Savannah native Bebe Loudermilk-that's pronounced Beh Beh- finds herself fleeced by a smooth talking con man. Left only with a broken-down motel on Tybee, one with a title in question, she sets about picking herself up with the help of an assorted cast of characters. Also with their help, she works her own con and recovers the lost loot. The one thing I found jarring was the switching of perspective in a few chapters. Definitely a girlie beach read.

On a more serious and substantial note, I came across an article in the New York Review of Books on a new/old effort on the part of Peter Matthiessen. I've posted on his Everglades trilogy before, but it seems he has reworked the material into a single 975 page book. I don't know if I'll read it. I still savor the haunting quality of Lost Man's River. Don't want to ruin the taste, if you know what I mean. The article itself by Michael Dirda, as well as the actual history, is fascinating. Read it here.

Finally, a bit of book news. Michael Connelly, a must read if you like crime novels, has edited a book of police stories- The Blue Religion. I actually met him at a reading festival. Here's a link to an interview about the same, courtesy of the National Review Online.

Today's Turn of Phrase: "Castro Shrugged"

I ran across an issue of Reason with a brief article which included the infamous picture with the Greenspan book. Brian Doherty's take on that moment goes beyond the "proof of life" interpretation many of us gave it. He maintains that it was a rare moment of honesty when Castro admitted he didn't get it (Greenspan's book). I don't necessarily agree, and it is a given that I don't agree with his conclusion. Still it's thought-provoking, because once in a while, the veil does seem to lift in one of his ramblings, and for a moment, the veriest hint of self-examination possibly comes through.

But it's the title which seized my fancy. Take a look at the allusion to the Ayn Rand novel, Atlas Shrugged, the same Ayn Rand who extolled the very philosophy incomprehensible to Fidel. Elegant. Then there is the allusion to Atlas, the Titan who held up the world in Greek mythology. Again apropos to Castro, who has always seen himself as a titan, a giant among men. If you'll pardon another literary allusion, in my mind the word hearkens to that description of Julius Ceasar- he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus. Finally, there is the notion of shrugging, which here seems to be equivalent to Castro "blinks," thereby resonating with the rare admission of fallibility. How very neat.

Death in Havana?

Don't get excited, because it's fugitive financier Robert Vesco who "may" have died in Havana of lung cancer. There is some evidence to indicate that it was Vesco, a colorful character who apparently could not contain himself even on the lam and wound up in a Cuban jail for purportedly defrauding Castro relatives. Here's an old Fortune story with quite a few of the details of his life and his exile. And here is an article about the death(?) from Moldova. Yup. To be fair, they got their info from a Times story.

Of Heroines and Pioneers

Yoani Sanchez, whose blog Generacíon Y is linked on the brand new and unfinished blogroll next door, is among Time's 100. In an elegant little profile, written by none other than Oscar Hijuelos, a favored author of mine, she is described as practicing freedom of speech in a speech-stifled country.

Yoani's version of free speech is to write about her life and thoughts. She does not stand on a soap box, or not much of one anyway, but her honest and often witty posts make absolutely clear the realities of life in Cuba. She does what she does at her own peril. God watch over her and throw some real lemons her way.

Profile here.

A Nice Place to Live?

The average state salary is just 19.50 US dollars per month, though health care and education are free, basic food is subsided and most people do not have to pay for housing.
-from this CBS report about May Day celebration in Cuba.

Gee, sounds like they're living off the fat of the land! Talk about your oversimplification.

An Eco Fable

Just finished a post for Babalublog which reminded me of a story one of those high-priced consultants brought in just for the occasion once told at an in service day. It's also enviropolitically correct.

Once upon a time, some very happy frogs lived in a very happy little pond. But then a big, bad paper company opened a plant next door. They discharged heated toxic water into the pond. At first, it was just uncomfortable, so the frogs put up with it. But as the temperature and toxicity kept rising, some frogs started questioning whether they should leave the only home they had ever known. They eventually took off and were never heard from again. The others adapted, and adapted still more as conditions worsened. Finally, they were all killed off by the conditions. Did the other frogs make it? Who knows? But at least they had a fighting chance unlike their compatriots.

I tell the story for no other reason than to remind myself. It seized something in my imagination. I share it because I think it says something important; I'm just still haven't worked it out.

In the News: Corrected

so to speak. This month's Townhall magazine, only the second issue, has a most excellent article by Humberto Fontova, who has managed to break through to American media outlets. In it, he quotes, among others, our very own Henry Gomez. He also cites the work of Antonio de la Cova. Professor de la Cova's website has an incredible array of materials. And lest we forget who exactly we are dealing with, here is a link to the early work of those grand humanitarians, purveyors of literacy and free health care on the same website.

H/T Babalublog

Correction: It is the fifth issue. Sorry.

Sarasota Reading Festival: RIP

The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that the Reading Festival's board of directors met, canceled the festival, and are to dissolve the corporation. Apparently, mounting the festival was getting so costly that the charity goal of the fete, the raison d'etre of the whole proceeding, could not be met.

While quite understandable, it is- like so much of what goes on in Sarasota- penny wise and pound foolish. Granted, the funds when they were available were nice. But other the years, the festival became so much more. It was a true celebration of literacy. It was positively thrilling to my old bibliophile's heart to see the excitement on young people's faces, put there by books. You can read my transports over the last one on this blog.

The festival was a private undertaking, but its demise is symptomatic of a greater malaise in town. Sarasota which prides itself on its cultural heritage and sophistication seems to be hell bent on turning into any one of hundreds of Florida municipalities, bastions of materialism. If it is not quantifiable, it is cut back, eliminated. Budget shortfall? No problem- cut libraries, parks. Libraries are a "privilege" which not everyone uses, as if raising future citizens were producing widgets. And culture, well, apparently that is the province of the well-heeled. Coming from the New York City school of cultural egalitarianism, I still have difficulty with the concept.

I'll miss the reading festival where over the years I met quite a few of my favorite authors, including fellow Cuban Carolina Garcia Aguilera, who is an extremely nice lady. More importantly there are literally thousands of children who will never know what they missed.

La Primera Agua de Mayo

I was rooting around, trying to remember that ditty about “30 days have…” because I needed to know when the month was changing, when I remembered my old Cuban granny.

I was an obnoxious preteen when my grandparents came to live with us in the United States. We lived in Staten Island, one of the outer boroughs of NYC. At the time, there were maybe two Cuban families who lived there. So when they arrived, strangers with even stranger customs, it took some getting used to.

First of all, they didn’t speak a word of English, ni una papa. Grandma insisted on answering the phone, so we had to tape a cardboard with “Ruthy, no jiar. Col leira” to it. The floors got cleaned by a wooden toothless rake with a rag on it. And Grandpa, who had never seen snow, suddenly saw himself in charge of disposing of mounds of it. Although he only had a third grade education, he was pretty sharp. In no time at all, he had created a snow plow out of one of those old summer baby carriages and a piece of tin. Unfortunately, it was too light, so my toddler brother was forced to sit in it as Grandpa plowed up and down on the sidewalk.

You could set your clock by their habits. Every day at three o’clock, they would take a bath and change into their afternoon clothes, not to be confused with their going out attire. At five, they would eat. Suddenly all sorts of tubers and the like started appearing on our kitchen counters. She would boil them or fry them up and chase me around with a little dish she had put aside for me.

So one day, I was doing something or other in the backyard, when Abuela came running out with a glass of water, thrusting it at me. “Ruthy, Ruthy, tienes que tomarte esto!” she insisted. I eyed the clear liquid with suspicion. “Que es, Abuela?’ or “What is it?” I asked. Es la primer agua de mayo, she informed me, the first rainfall in May. Now we lived across the aptly named Kill van Kull from all the petro refineries in Jersey, and it was not unusual to wake up and find the lawn furniture corroded in the night, which made me a bit hesitant. “Toma la primera agua de mayo para belleza,” or “Drink the first rainfall in May for beauty,” she iterated. I looked at the glass; I looked at her beaming face, sharing herself, her past with me; and PBC’s or no PBC’s I gulped it down. Heck, a little beauty wouldn’t hurt either.

So watch out for that first rainfall. I’m a little unclear as to whether it works for guys, but unless you live in Staten Island, it can’t hurt.

A Pithy Observation about Life and Death

On today's revolutionary menu is the the commuting of death sentences to life imprisonment. In Cuban prisons, however, the words are somewhat interchangeable. Conditions are so horrendous and medical treatment so inadequate that spending any appreciable amount of time in a Cuban prison is potentially life threatening. The handful of political prisoners from the Black Spring roundup who have been released have been let go on medical paroles. So while Raul does away with the de jure death sentence, given conditions in the prisons, he conceivably condemns them to another type of death, just a more lingering one. Story here.

More or Less Grist for the Mill

From the Washington Post, spike in wheat prices caused by switch to corn. Read it here. And don't miss their series "Global Food Crisis" here.

The Long, Hot Summer

In a post today, Rafael Martel sounds a warning bell about the summer to come, a scenario of continually increasing gas and food prices, shortages, etc.... It is a subject meriting some worry and much anger.

Let's stipulate that there is increasing demand for commodities from countries with developing economies. The question, though, is why has it come to a head now? Much as Sebastian Junger's "Perfect Storm" was the conjunction of three separate systems, the present difficulties with food and fuel are the result of the confluence of a number of current trends.

Start with the Global Warming idiocy. I do not maintain that there is no such thing. I do, however, maintain that this headlong and mindless rush to eco-cool without thought to consequence is partially to blame for the present dire straits of economies the world over. Take for instance, corn ethanol. From the beginning, it has been apparent that the US could not grow enough corn, that using corn is not energy efficient. Yet, and here I have to blame our leaders, it has been pushed to the point where the price of corn has risen dramatically, causing a rippling effect on other crops, as well as substantial price increases at the supermarket on everything from milk to chicken to cakes.

Then factor in the housing debacle. No longer able to leverage themselves in the credit markets, speculators, who have long been bidding up the prices on oil, have turned their attentions to commodities-everything from soybeans to rice. Under normal circumstances, having bid prices up to unrealistic levels, at some point they would have their heads handed to them. Unfortunately in this case, they not only have a pretty much captive market, but they will cause a great deal of suffering before this run-up is all over. The hedge funds in particular are a blot on the economic landscape.

In the meantime, it is the poor who will pay the freight. So where are our leaders? You know, the ones who worry about universal healthcare and factory closings. Well, while they are whistling "Dixie," Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson is the only politician I've seen address the situation in a piece entitled "Undoing America's Ethanol Mistake." Her solution of freezing the required ethanol production levels would seem to be a good, if insufficient, answer. Many more are needed.

If Truth be Told...

The Washington Post has nailed it in an editorial. Their parting shot:

Here's a fair test: Let Mr. Castro respect the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights his government recently signed, which guarantees not only freedom of assembly but the right to freely leave the country. Cuban officials recently hinted that the current ban on foreign travel by average citizens might be changed; let it be removed. Then Mr. Castro can discover just how many of Cuba's 11 million people are willing to go on enduring a regime whose idea of reform is permitting the sale of microwave ovens.

It's beautifully written, too.

H/T Henry at Babalublog

More Fishwrap

The announcement made by the organ of the Communist Party... that the newspaper Granma will be contain twice the pages on Fridays benefits humble residents, given the high price of toilet paper*, the scarcity of packaging materials to wrap and transport products acquired at the market and to collect everyday domestic garbage.
-Oscar Mario González, independent journalist

*A roll of toilet paper costs the equivalent of three days pay. Read the story in Spanish here.

Sunday Syllabus

Biography. Vanity Fair seeks to answer the question, "Is Obama tough enough?" Since it is Vanity Fair, what do you think the answer is? Still I offer it because we know way too little about the man who would be President. 7 page article here.

Economics. This article from the Times online is instructive in placing our current economic difficulties in context. Enjoy.

Biology. A few diners in Florida got more than a few burritos when they went to their local Mexican restaurant. In a scene reminiscent of the Killer Bees, they were besieged by clouds of irate bees which seemed to blot out the skies. No one was seriously hurt. That was not the case in another Florida locale where a man was killed in the first documented case of a mortal encounter with Africanized bees in the state. Articles here and here.

Anatomy. Try this depressing graphic from MSNBC on "How the Body Ages." Ah, rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come. But wait, that's English class.

Psychology. But before you go off in a fit of the vapors, read this one from the same source, an upbeat AP story. Yup. Unbelievably in our youth-centered culture, old people are the happiest. From my own experience I have to attest that there are consolations to growing older. Still, it was nice when my skin was actually attached to my body.

Ring around the Blackboard

This week, George Will marked the 25th Anniversary of the release of A Nation at Risk, the landmark report on the state of American education, with a melancholy column that turns into a panegyric on the late Patrick Daniel Moynihan. It's fine with me. As far as I am concerned Moynihan was an amazing man for whom I voted religiously, despite party affiliation. Anyway, Will's conclusion, more elegantly phrased, of course, it ain't gettin' any better.

There are solutions to be had, as Dr. Matthew Ladner maintains that Jeb Bush's reforms in Florida have borne fruit in this piece. It's hard to argue with the variety of statistics he unearths. Here in the Sunshine State, we remember the debate, which rages to this day, about "teaching to the test." My view: the test measures reading, writing and 'rithmethic. Something wrong with that? Of course, that's a gross oversimplification. But the point is valid.

According to the previous column, one the strengths of the Bush policies was "school choice." Speaking of same, Florida voters are being given the chance to bring back the voucher program, which was deemed unconstitutional by our progressively inclined Supreme Court. It's one issue on which inner city moms find themselves aligned with Republican preachers. Read about the November ballot here.

Let's finish the discussion with this Mary Grabar column on some of the realities in the classroom, particularly sad is the state of higher education. It's another one of those boomer indictments. And speaking of indictments, get a load of this news report. Remember the events here transpired in very law abiding Sarasota, where our criminals are mere babies in the art. One has to think there is little an educational system can do, if these are the parents.

Mas Me Ayuda

Need more. This film student's stay in Cuba is exactly why these exchanges are dangerous. Yes, it is the big, bad embargo that is hurting Cubans, not their totalitarian government with its disastrous economic policies.

And what the hey, if they have no freedom, the very freedom this erstwhile film student enjoys, they have health care. Here's a quote for you:

"The people there will never overthrow the government," thinks Wiseman. He adds, "In Cuba [they have] 98% literacy rate, there's free health care everyone has a house."

But wait, he did figure out he was in a Communist country-

Still he says what the people get for free has its price. "Their health care is not the best, their transportation is in a terrible situation," adds Wiseman. "This is still a communist society. They don't have the basic rights of freedom of speech and they can't leave the country."

If you're in the mood for simplistic, read it here.

A Rationale for Restrictions

Like I hate to be mean and all because they are young and foolish, but please explain to me what possible good came out of this little junket?

My favorite quote-

Before I went, I had some doubts because my parents and my friends were like, ‘You shouldn’t go there because it’s a Communist country,’ and all that stuff. But it was actually really friendly, and really safe.

I being the center of the universe, of course. Check it out in the NY Times here.

The Battle of Ideas

Of all of the vitriolic verbiage that is hurled at Exiles and Cuban Americans, there is one that stings. Over time, I've grown accustomed to hardline and rightwing, even intransigent. And Miami mafia is laughable. What comes close to tender places is the assertion, "Face it. You lost; they won. Deal with it." That is the general gist. It comes close that spot in the psyche where the child's objection- "That's not fair"- yet lingers.

But then I came across this opinion by a Rafael Rojas, a Cuban exiled in Mexico, in El Pais. In it, aside from highlighting the reality that revolutions have a beginning and an end, despite the pretensions to ongoing process the regime has maintained for near a half century, he asks, "When is an exile over?" In this discussion, he raises an interesting notion. To look at the Cuban population in exile all over the world and compare its lot to that of those in Cuba itself is to realize that it is the exiles who have won the battle of ideas.

I realized he was speaking true. Through their achievements, by their very lives, each and every day, those in exile- who have had nothing handed to them other than opportunity and sometimes not much of that- demonstrate the falsity and fallacy of those grandiose claims of the interminable revolution.

So in part, as one writer said recently, we cannot return to the past. That is over and done. In that our critics are correct. What's lost will not be found. But as we see the tide turning against us in the propaganda wars; in the arena where it counts, that of reality we have the small consolation of knowing we have won. They have presided over not a revolution but the devolution of a country; they have been a force of destruction, and exiles have created new identities, new lives, new families, new realities.

That is little or no comfort to those who suffer under the present regime, but it should motivate us to continue the good fight, until someday our brethren on the island can enjoy the same blessings we do.

A Pair of Short-Shorts

First is more of the genealogy of outstanding claims by American Corporations against the Cuban government for the seizure of assets. According to the Fortune story on CNN, claims now total 20 billion dollars.

Then on the heels of all those articles gushing about the long lines of Cubans waiting to buy the newly liberated cell phones, etc., comes this info from the only game in telephone town. In the first 10 days, Cubans bought 7,400 phones. Query: what percentage of a population of 11 million is 7,400?

Telling Truth

May’s Harper’s magazine boasts an article on Cuba entitled “Searching for the Cuban Opposition.” Written by the author of The Boys from Dolores, Patrick Symmes, the article in a way represents the author’s journey into the heart of darkness. For those of us who read his book, the article- the tone of which is still one of careful detachment, although he does allow himself one “dictatorship lite”- represents a further way station in Symmes’ immersion in Cuban reality, a peeling back of yet another layer of regime mythology.

If every American journalist, scholar, author who visited Cuba took the time to do the due diligence that Symmes has, the world would have a much different perception of the Cuban system. I confess that I approached the article with some trepidation, as Cuban Americans are wont to do, but figuring that with his earlier book, his opinions had earned some respect. What I found was truth. Symmes undertakes an odyssey throughout Cuba, visiting with Elizardo Sanchez, Hector Palacios, “Coco” Fariñas, and Oswaldo Paya, among many others.

The article is exhaustive. It’s all there in the pages of Harpers: the independent libraries, the Ladies in White, the Varela Project, the Church, and more. More importantly, also front and center are the grinding poverty, repression, acts of repudio, the arrests of Black Spring, and the imprisonment of many he seeks out. And truth be told, because it is impossible to read it without seeing it as a good faith effort to tell the same, Symmes finds only pockets of open opposition. Time and time again he is told that the overwhelming mass of the Cuban people are against the government, but time and time again he is told that x, y, or z group consists of a dozen or so members. The reason for the small numbers, he is informed, is fear; some say terror. Symmes takes no position on the why. His is a search.

His portrait of the opposition leads to a no-holds barred picture of life in Cuba. Isn’t it a statement about those who cover and write about Cuba that to find a single writer who takes the time and effort to find the reality behind the veil evokes gratitude? Symmes has mine.

The article is available online only to subscribers.

Cross-posted at Babalublog

Book Thoughts

Posts on books have been scarce as of late because I have been battling my way through Desert Queen by Janet Wallach. It came highly recommended, but I've been slogging through it for the past few weeks. I may yet abandon it. The story of the life of Gertrude Bell, billed in the subtitle as "Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia," it sounds promising enough. Right now, though, I'm in the middle of this trip to the Middle East and that trip to the Middle East. It's all very Victorian and very tedious.

So in between, I 've rewarded myself with a perfectly delightful Rhys Bowen mystery and, yesterday, with Dean Koontz's The Darkest Day of the Year. It's everything you've come to expect from Koontz- well-plotted and exciting. Still, I've enjoyed the Odd Thomas books more. Can't beat the King's presence. But tonight, I look forward to an Ann Perry. More about that one later.

Blog Alert!

Just discovered that one of my favorite Cuban independent journalists, Oswaldo Yañez, has a blog. He is learned, accurate and witty. His trademark is dating his reports in the year of imminent freedom. Alas, the blog is in Spanish, as are his reports. Today he amplifies his dispatch with a video of events yesterday, the forcible breakup of the Women in White demonstration in Havana. Take a look see here.

Credits for Video

which I forgot to include in the original post. I came across it at MiscelaneasdeCuba.net It is the product of AB Special Productions.

The Bum Rap over Elian

See for yourselves. I fantasize that when he reaches maturity, Elian will hop on a raft to the United States, write a book, and hopefully make lots of money. Then we'll get the truth.

It's the groceries, stupid!

A while back I wrote about the hyperincreases in the price of corn, wheat, and then rice. I was thinking at the time of the Asian countries where rice is a large part of the diet and where much of the population is on a subsistence level. Little did I imagine then that in scenes reminiscent of South Florida before a hurricane, people in the United States would be racing out to stockpile rice. According to the New York Sun, that's what's happening in parts of the country. They even used the "r" word: rationing.

While they who would be president are running around decrying Iraq, the lack of affordable health care, global warming, and who knows what all, there is an insidious threat out there- grocery creep-going on unremarked. There are millions upon millions of people in the United States who either rent or did not go beyond their means in purchasing a home, but every single household in the country has to buy groceries. The substantial increase in the same amounts to a regressive tax on the poor. After housing, food is their largest expense. What can the government do?

Let's start by forgetting this corn ethanol nonsense. It is a negative proposition to begin with. It sounds sexy in this politically correct world of global warming, but take a look at it. First it takes more to create than the energy produced. It is physically impossible to plant enough corn to cover our energy needs, even if we had the infrastructure in place to distribute the ethanol, which we do not, and the cars capable of using it as fuel, which we do not. Let's get real. All we are doing at the moment is allowing the vilest element in our markets to speculate at the expense of the global population, much of which can ill afford it.

What else can be done should form the topic of political discourse, not the tired old hobbyhorses which each party trots out every election year. How about true bread and butter issues, guys and gals?

Article here. By the way, rice hoarders, a reminder: gorgojos.

Reform of the Day?

"They are dying, they are dying,

-about the political prisoners in Cuba.

It was the lament of one of the handful of women in white who attempted to demonstrate peacefully in Havana today for the release of their husbands and fathers and sisters but were forcibly removed by a busload of party apparatchiks. Read the Reuters article here.

Sunday Cinematics

Return to the Future. Perhaps Obama's bittergate difficulties stem from what Jonah Goldberg sees as Obama stuck in the 80's. Yup, Goldberg writes here that Obama is essentially a holdover, self-hating Yuppie. Lends a different interpretation to Biden's "well-groomed" comment, don't it?

Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In keeping with the political theme, here's an odd report from Dana Milbank over at the Washington Post which maintains John McCain received a box of donuts and a standing ovation from a group of newspaper editors convened at an AP luncheon. Obama did not. Lends credence to the shibboleth that McCain is the "media" candidate. What happened to elitism?

Grapes of Wrath. On the economic front, the view is grim for retailers according to this one via the New York Times online. Caught up in the housing woes and tightening credit markets, such longtime retailers as Fortunoff and Sharper Image have found themselves in trouble, and Bombay is already sold off. A bit scary.

The Trial. In a bureaucratic snafu P.P. James served 50 years in in Sri Lanka for the crime of killing his father. Sent to an asylum for the criminally insane in 1958 when he was found unfit to stand trial, he spent decades in the institution, despite doctors' recommendations he be released. Lost apparently was his file. But, wait, it gets better. Had he been convicted of the crime, he would have served half the time. Biggest problem: his father was alive. The stuff of fiction. Read the AP story here.

The Omen. From Drudge, the world population will be 6,666,666,666 on May 10. Keep track here at the Census Bureau

Reform du Jour: Freedom to Travel?

That's the scuttlebutt these days: Cubans will no longer have to apply and pay for the privilege of leaving the country, unless they happen to be doctors, university grads and the like in which case they can't leave. The medical profession in particular is already under pressure, as "pool boy" or "rickshaw taxi" are more lucrative occupations. Now the prospect of life without parole is bound to have a further dampening effect.

The latest in an increasingly longer line of "reforms," this one would seem to hold a bit more promise for the bulk of the population, seems the operative word here. In yet another masterstroke, Raul the Munificent (I borrowed that) continues steadily undermining American policy. Please note, first he removes the restrictions that make Cubans feel like second-class citizens in their own country, while at the same time countering the one objection to the regime's treatment of the Cuban people that has gained some traction- "tourist apartheid," apartheid being the one word liberals can understand because they remember the halcyon days of boycotting South Africa. It is interesting to note that the lack of civil liberties, arbitrary imprisonment, and convictions of "precriminal dangerousness" in Cuba seem to have made nary a dent on the same liberal psyche. People who cry bounteous tears over enemy "combatants' in Guantanamo give no thought to the "enslaved population" in Guantanamo proper.

What Raul would be doing is to place the responsibility for the failed regime on the United States and to a lesser extent countries like Spain, saying, in effect, "put your money where your mouth is. You care about them so much, you take 'em." And what country can and will absorb huge swaths of the Cuban population? Think of the numbers who will suddenly be seized with an overwhelming desire to see cousin Yasnavi in Union City. What will happen when the huddled masses apply to "visit" relatives? The United States government is already wary of admitting visiting Cubans for fear they will stay. Gone will be the automatic asylum. And the ramifications for politics and policy could be mind boggling. Would this create a perfect storm in the present climate of paid "experts," wouldbe embargo lifters, and xenophobes? Would this be the wedge that finally splits the Miami voting bloc and allows easing of the restrictions and the lifting of the embargo? At the same time, it would serve as an object lesson to the Cuban people as Papa says to his children, "see, they don't want you." Speculation? Sure. It bears some thinking, though.

But there is always the law of unintended consequences. What would be the effect if Cubans did get to visit other countries? What would happen if they were to see that people in capitalist countries do not have to scrounge daily for sustenance, observe what it was like to be able to voice your opinions without fear of retribution, and see first hand what it is like to live in a home that was painted after 1963? That is also a consideration. It is a dangerous game for the regime and a sign of the dire straits in which it finds itself. I used to think that Castro the first had made a Faustian bargain with the Devil in order to stay in power all these years, but now I begin to suspect that he had the clever fiend at his side all the time.

See, They're Learning Already

“The ones who criticize me - as captain of the team – they’re not Cuban, because really, Cubans are the ones know that this was the best thing for us to do, because of what’s going on in Cuba,” explained Bermudez. “People don’t know the situation there, what’s going on in Cuba right now, what it’s really like. They don’t know the reality.”

-Yenier Bermudez, captain of the Cuban Olympic Soccer Team and who defected from the qualifying trials a few weeks ago.

Remembering the Bay of Pigs: April 17, 1961

When the history of Cuba is written, and I don’t mean what passes as history these days, the Bay of Pigs invasion will perhaps get the respect it merits. Ridiculed, minimized, and pronounced a mistake, the entire sorry tale is told through American eyes in geopolitical terms. It was a misguided boondoggle, a leftover from the Eisenhower administration.

Omitted from these accounts are the tactical misjudgment and betrayal of JFK who changed the location away from the Escambray Mountains where there was already insurrection and did not call a halt to the whole operation, but only the vital air support without which there could be not the slightest chance of success against a well-supplied army many times larger. Researching the topic in the Barnard Library in the late 1970’s, I found “authoritative source” after “authoritative source” which ascribed the failure of the planes to appear to a problem with timing, i.e. synchronizing watches. For years, it was some variation of excuse. I was well into adulthood when for the first time I heard an acknowledgement of the same. It took a PBS special on the CIA to hear it said publicly. That was a sweet moment.

Omitted also are the men who fought and bled on Playa Giron. Passionate about their homeland and their freedom, they were men who took on overwhelming odds and defied a dictator, and men who, not too wisely, depended on the word of the United States Government. It is ironic, but what we need is a movie that tells the truth, the truth about Felix Rondon and Barberito and Commander Pepe San Roman and all those Humberto Fontova has written about:

Felipe Rondon was 16 years old when he grabbed his 57 mm cannon and ran to face one of Castro's Stalin tanks point blank. At 10 yards he fired at the clanking, lumbering beast and it exploded, but the momentum kept it going and it rolled over little Felipe. Gilberto Hernandez was 17 when a round from a Czech burp gun put out his eye. Castro's troops were swarming in but he held his ground, firing furiously with his recoilless rifle for another hour, until the Reds finally surrounded him and killed him with a shower of grenades.

and

Another boy named Barberito rushed up to the first one [Stalin tank] and blasted it repeatedly with his recoilless rifle, which barely dented it, but so rattled the occupants that they opened the hatch and surrendered. In fact, they insisted on shaking hands with their pubescent captor, who an hour later was felled by a machine-gun burst to his valiant little heart.

It is interesting that the failure of this invasion is often mocked, while another lost battle is glorified. Why its very location has become synonymous with determination and courage and gallantry. The Bay of Pigs is our Alamo. When the real story is told, it will be about fourteen hundred men who left family and future in the quest to liberate their homeland, who, out manned, outgunned and betrayed, took on a force many times their number and held them off for three days amidst the barrage of fire from tanks and planes, and who surrendered only when they ran out of ammunition.

In addition to the Fontova articles here and here, you can visit the Bay of Pigs Museum online here.

Cross-posted at Babalublog

The Case of the Lowly but Deadly Castor Bean

A few years back, I was writing a somewhat bad novel when I had occasion to kill off my prime suspect. It had to be by a poison that was not fast-acting and would leave no trace. The infamous umbrella murder came to mind. In 1978 Georgi Markov, Bulgarian exile, was killed by a pellet of ricin embedded in his leg by the tip of an umbrella. The poison was identified, not by what was in his system at the time of death, but by the residue in the actual pellet itself. Here then was a poison that could be administered either through inhalation or ingestion. There is no cure, as far as I know. It is a matter of dosage.

So it was scary when police in London, site of the Markov assassination, found ricin in the apartment of a purportedly Al Queda-affiliated group. On this side of the Atlantic, we have our own ricin stories. A woman murdered her husband feeding him ground up Castor beans or some such. And more recently, ricin was found in a Las Vegas hotel room, after a guest sickened. Roger Bergendorff, that guest, was arrested today after being released from the hospital. It seems he manufactured the ricin from Castor beans in his cousin's basement, presumably in his underwear. Castor beans are legal; ricin is not. Still missing- the "why"? Stay tuned, this should be an interesting story.

AP story about the last case here.

Understatement of the Day

By most measures, Cuba's new president, Raul Castro, would seem to be no Mikhail Gorbachev.
-from an editorial in Newsday, well-known in certain circles as apologists for the revolution, an editorial that seems kind of lukewarm for them.

Potemkin Would be Proud

Although Cuban authorities tend to reserve maintenance for tourist areas, i.e. the socialist theme park, the powers that be at Guayabo Prison on the Isle of Youth in Cuba have gone all out for music star Silvio Rodriguez's visit, along with the much ballyhooed entourage of cultural emissaries. It could be he rates, or it could be that there might be photographers along, but the performance area is to be repaved, common areas painted for the first time in 30 years. And when shown the urinal to which Rodriguez would be ushered if nature called, the man in charge of preparations for the visit said, more or less,"no way." So the offending, and one imagines offensive, pissoir was demolished and prisoners forced to construct a new one.

Oh, and any complaints during the visit will result in a one year restriction to cell, as per the head of the prison, one Julio Ordóñez. Maybe they could invite that Rapporteur fellow, who did such a good job on the food situation that he is now an advisor on human rights, and kill two dodo birds with one stone.

Article in Spanish on Cubanet here.

Quote for today

"I've gone from a native to a [Cuban] national."
-a sommelier at a chi-chi restaurant upon having his cellular put in his name on the first day of sales to Cubans.

All the Cuba News I Missed

Time to clean out the closet, before the articles are pulled from online.

First is a human interest story and a congratulatory note to the Medina family, who after making a temporary stop in Orlando 38 years ago, opened a grocery store and wound up as the driving force behind this past weekend's Fiesta Medina, the oldest Latin festival in Orlando. A regular patron, none other than Mel Martinez.

I posted about this one at Babalublog.com. With the disappearance of Cuban reggaeton artist Elvis Manuel, I decided to learn about the connection to hip-hop. Discovered this article, noteworthy for its lack of understanding about the political climate.

In keeping with the hip-hop theme, The Mail and Guardian posted this article about Havana Bling. The title is misleading, and the content surprising in that it doesn't cheerlead. It ends with the major question, will the reforms be enough?

In the same vein, I have to commend NewKerala.com for this one. It's an IANS story, most notable for a waiter's quote: "The hotel thing is good news, but what many people are waiting for is the way to get out," a waiter whispered at the Hotel Nacional.

Finally, I'm not sure about this travel article re Hemingway's house. Since it is illegal to travel for tourism to Cuba, and this is Charleston paper, I'm not sure what the point is. Still it's interesting reading and some good pictures. My advice: visit Hemingway's house in Key West.

Sunday Popery

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing. Stumbled on this somewhat ponderous and politically skewed commentary which is worth reading nonetheless. Just gloss over the political agenda and weigh what he considers the historical tendencies in the United States. Interesting.

Taste not the Pierian spring. In this latest installment in the water situation in the South, the one at the intersection of drought and drying aquifer, Oakland, a small Florida town, is threatening to limit residents to 100 gallons a day. As this report notes, a resident can go through 90 gallons before he or she goes to work. At least one resident wants to know why development has not been stopped.

Fools Rush in. In the luckiest slob on the planet department, William M Bowen, after a rough night of drinking, awoke in the back of a garbage truck. The driver, just about to initiate the compactor, was alerted by the sound of Bowen hollering. For the record, Bowen has no idea how he got there. Read the article.

Where angels fear to tread. Literary agent Robert Eringer maintains that member of the Cuban Interest Section tried to recruit him as a spy at the same time he was an working undercover for the FBI. Among the targets: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Robert Menendez. Eringer seems to be a colorful character, and the report reminds me that almost as deadly an occupation as "friend of fidel" is that of retired Soviet mole in Moscow.

Read: Winter Study by Nevada Barr

I first came across Nevada Barr in the Port Richmond branch of the New York Public Library in Staten Island. If I were ever filming a movie that called for a library location, I'd choose good old Port Richmond. Dark with wood-paneled walls, even the architecture there says "shh, library." Anyway at loose ends for something to read, I was desperate enough to head to the revolving paperback stands. There I found a dog-eared copy, the bottom right corner of the cover with its lurid art reminiscent of the early sixties gone, of A Superior Death. A few hours later, I was hooked.

Nevada Barr's mysteries all take place in National Parks; it's one of their trademarks. Her heroine, Anna Pigeon, park ranger and by this installment District Ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park, is a sort of earthy everywoman. Those who have read the series have followed Anna's personal and professional evolution from grief-stricken widow and bureaucratic rebel to newly married, middle-aged rebel with a post. All of this information seems superfluous in discussing this installment because none of the characters we've come to love- her psychiatrist sister, Molly, who we will recall took up with Anna's earlier FBI beau, and her Mississippi police chief/preacher husband Paul- makes an appearance here.

The star of this novel, if such terminology may be permitted, is the Isle Royal National Park in Michigan. It is the park in the earlier A Superior Death, this time in winter. The park is closed, but the winter study of wolves is conducted annually. It is this study for which Anna has volunteered. The conditions are arctic and brutal. And Anna experiences a variety of life-threatening situations. Thrust, as usual, into a perilous and mysterious situation, Anna, as usual, saves the day at the expense of her aging body. One can only imagine how much scar tissue she would have by now. As to aging, here's an observation from Anna herself:

The Previous season, when she'd been on a twenty-one-day fire assignment in the mountains east of Boise, Idaho, she'd noticed that the difference between the old firefighters and the young ones wasn't in strength or endurance. It was in recovery time. The old guys, the firefighters over forty, were as strong as the kids. She and the others could lift and run and dig with the best of them. But they wore down. The kids were stronger after three weeks of hard physical labor. The grown-ups were just bone tired.

Winter Study is not going down among my favorites. It joins the one set in New York City at the bottom of my list. But it is still good entertainment, good for a few hours of escape at the very least. It is also good in another way. The best reading here involved the park and its creatures, which was in itself fascinating. If you haven't read Nevada Barr, do yourself a favor: start with the first one.

A Historic Event..

...or so Coco Fariñas and Elizardo Sánchez termed the gathering of some of the most well-known members of the Cuban opposition to launch a joint effort: Agenda for the Transition. Here are its basic tenets:

* The liberation of political prisoners.
* The immediate cessation of government repression against the political opposition.
* An end to the embargo imposed by the Cuban regime on the Cuban people's fundamental freedoms.
* The substitution of a democratic state for a totalitarian state.

In a dispatch about the event, independent journalist René Gómez Manzano makes much, deservedly so, about the show of unity. Attending were some of the most familiar names:

María Antonia Hidalgo Mir, Idania Yanes Contreras, Félix Antonio Bonne Carcassés, Margarito Broche Espinosa, Francisco Chaviano González, Guillermo Fariñas Hernández, Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez), René Gómez Manzano, Roberto de Miranda Hernández, Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello and Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz.

According to another account, Hector Palacios was not there because of medical treatment in Spain, and Oswaldo Payá who did not respond to his invitation, signalled that he was "open to a future incorporation with the group," promising to keep channels of communication open.

As Gomez indicates when he has access to news accounts about the event, he hopes not to see "the divided Cuban dissidents" or "the fragmented internal opposition in Cuba" for once. Amen.

The Importance of a Word

Ask any guy if there is one word that freaks women out, and you'll invariably get an answer: the C word. I was forcibly reminded of this when I read this week about a book The Real McCain which recounts a purported incident between McCain and his wife which took place in front of three Arizona reporters, none of whom would go on the record. Here is a view from the left:

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c[word]." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.

Thanks to Nelson Guirado, who wites about the story we have a rebuttal of sorts from the right:

Because, you know, Arizona reporters would never report that at the time. A sitting senator up for reelection using that kind of language to his wife's face, in front of reporters, just wouldn't be newsworthy. Those reporters would hold onto that story, and keep it secret, as McCain became a prominent national figure in the 1990s, throughout the 2000 race, throughout McCain's campaign of the last year and a half, just so they could reveal it now to "Netroots author Cliff Schecter" — because his book is the right venue to reveal this shocking outburst. Obviously, it's extremely plausible that these three reporters would tell Schecter this instead of reporting on the outburst themselves, because journalists are well known for casually giving away shocking scoops to other reporters. It happens all the time. Yes, this field is one big happy scoop-sharing cooperative.

Okay, that was the reasonable, rational part of the post. I'm waiting for the response from the campaign. See, that's a blood libel in my eyes. Had he called her a bitch, or had he called another woman a c*#@, I would find it distasteful, but I could live with it. But any man who can call his wife the c word and in public, no less, is not worthy of the post of dogcatcher, let alone president. I honestly think I could not vote for him. I suspect many women would feel the same way. And websites are picking up the story and presenting it as truth. So do yourself a favor, McCain campaign, sue the guy. I'm not kidding. If not, I can actually see myself longing for Hillary as a candidate.

Huh?

Unless I'm mistaken, a decided possibility, one would be politician is on the way to being politically DOA. Joe Garcia who is running against Mario Diaz-Balart to much ballyhoo about "the generation gap" might have made a fatal misstep in his attempt to ingratiate himself with his Democrat masters. How? Simple. He is having a fund raiser in New York, his special guest none other than than every Cubiche's bogeyman, Charlie Rangel. That's right, Charlie Rangel of the innumerable attempts to lift the embargo, Charlie Rangel of the characterizing the Brothers to the Rescue pilots as "right-wing" extremists and continual badmouthing of Miami Cubans, Charlie Rangel who felt the need to apologize to the Cuban regime because its victims were dancing in the streets at the news of Castro I's illness. To illustrate a point, picture Joe Lierberman holding a fundraiser with Louis Farrakhan as a "special guest." I suggest he enjoy his moment in the sun.

There had better be a whole lot of "progressive" 18 year olds; otherwise Garcia is dead in the water.

H/T Henry at Babalublog

3 for O

This time an incisive and well-considered feature story from Earthtimes. Most pointed:

Communist Cuba is moving. The ailing Fidel Castro, 81, is having to watch powerlessly from the sidelines a renovation process set to catapult Cubans into the future. The process can no longer be stopped, and the old revolutionary hero, the man who led Cuba for almost half-a-century, is watching with worry from his sickbed.

Can it really be that the process can no longer be stopped?

Meanwhile in Russia....

It's interesting to keep an eye on the Russian News. Here they have a Reuters video from Cuba. What's doubly interesting is the collection of stories along the sidebar. Have fun.

Telling it Like it is

I have really come to appreciate Mississippi. Here's an editorial from Senatobia, where they apparently have a lot of sense.

Wow! What a country!

The Cuban government has just announced that Cubans will now be permitted to stay in state-owned "luxury" hotels. This ends a long ban that islanders have labeled "tourist apartheid." Of course they use such labels and make such comments silently - to utter a derogatory declaration out loud in Cuba could lead to a long stay in a government owned "hotel" that no one would consider "luxury" class.

This is part of The Democrat's editorial on changes in Cuba. The rest, including the money line, here.

A Snapshot in Time

Earlier in the week, the Post and Courier posted this article, highlighted by Cigar Mike here. While I liked the piece overall, despite some differences, it reminded me of the family photo collection. My parents in Cuba were poor as church mice, living in genteel poverty. They lived with my grandparents, who were middle class, because Dad had difficulty finding a decent job, despite a herculean willingness to work and get ahead. It was an opportunity this country ultimately gave him.

Yet so many of their pictures show them enjoying life at the local "club" in much the same way Americans did in Havana. There are a few in particular, my mother in sparkling ballgown (which she sewed herself), smiling over my father’s shoulder as they dance to the strains of the orchestra at the Club ________, vocals provided by Beny More. I know about Beny because my mother loved his music. There is another photograph, a bottle-strewn table full of young people, all dressed to the nines, most of whom I would know as adults in another time and place. People I would watch age and die. And they were neither elite, nor Batistianos, nor worms.

It was a different way of life, as it was in the United States where men wore suits even in their leisure time. If they were poor like my father and his friends, they bought them second hand from the tailor, and they never left the house without a fedora- wool for winter and straw for summer. In any case, with all its flaws- they were many and serious in both countries- it was a more gracious era.

On a Lighter Note: Congratulations

to the owner of Honolulu's only Cuban eatery who is up for a National Restaurant Association Award which recognizes restaurant workers who've achieved the American Dream via the dint of hard work. Sound familiar? A few more details here at the Pacific Business News.

Exhibit A

My post about the pitfalls and pleasures of being a Cuban American blogger made it to the august precincts of Babalublog and elicited the following comment:

Well said, I guess, but I'm not sure anyone cares with the "anguish" we CA bloggers might or might not feel as we do our thing. If it's so hard, just do something else. To whine in public like this is just a wasteful self-indulgence and does nothing to serve our cause.
I don't begrudge your sentiment, but don't lose perspective. Whatever anguish or discomfort or frustration you are feeling is nothing — absolutely nothing — like that felt by people, i.e. Cubans on the island, suffering each day because of the dictatorship. Making the story about us, the bloggers, does nothing to help them, the Cuban people.
We really have no right to complain.

I really had two things in mind when I wrote the original post, namely that we do our cause a disservice when we get lost in personalities and secondly that we do serve a cause larger than ourselves. I guess it came across as bellyaching, not my desire. Because many people suffer grievously and some die makes it no less frustrating to try to help them. I believe a good portion of my work is directed at highlighting this same suffering. And perhaps as instructed, I might be better off selling shoes, or working in my professional capacity. It's really not my choice. Blogging in this instance is a calling. It would have sufficed to say that the post was in error, that we should not forget the suffering of others, or whatever. As it is I took it as a personal attack administered publicly. And I am Cuban enough to respond as such. But since it came from a source I liked, respected, and trusted, I'll have to think about it. That's it. Least said, soonest what can be mended will be.

Let's Talk Turkey with a Papaya Glaze

Anita Snow's been in Cuba too long. She's got a food fixation. First she goes on the "ration book diet" and now goes into orgies of delight over a few of the surviving paladars in this article. Bet you think I'm going to carry on about how Cubans don't have enough to eat, or about how paladars were essentially put out of business when the regime latched on to the Venezuelan sugar teat, or even point out that one of the paladars which belongs to the gentleman, a Spaniard, who interviewed John McCain is in front of a big white mansion. But no, I want to talk food.

Miamians have much to answer for in terms of the Floribbean trend they've helped foist on the rest of us. Now any second rate chef thinks he's a new age Escoffier. The result is apparent in Sarasota where mango chutney has been sent into places it was never meant to go. Once, I ordered the pecan-encrusted veal with a reduction of Pear liquor which turned out to be a veal cutlet in a pecan pancake laced with syrup, undeniably the worst meal I have ever eaten, nearly vomitous. Take a gander at some of the dishes highlighted in the report: Tuna steak grilled with sugar cane, pork medallions with a mango glaze, and, one of my personal favorites, rabbit lasagna.

True she does point out that most of the paladars do not offer such sophisticated fare and are very flexible, using Swiss chard when there is no spinach for the salad and milk when there is no cream for the pumpkin soup. Spinach? Pumpkin soup? I must have grown up in a very atypical Cuban home, because spinach was what Popeye ate. Salad was just a prop you put on the table to punch up the appearance of the real food, and it inevitably consisted of crackly iceberg lettuce, tomato, and radishes. As for pumpkin soup, I guess you could say we had it in our Ajiaco.

Read it, and read all about Beverly Cox, author of Eating Cuban, who went to the island twice to do research. I wonder if she included my Cuban family's recipe for making Chicken Fried Grapefruit Rinds, cubed steak being a dim memory?

Cross-posted at Babalublog

Sunday Afternoon Edition

Evil Genes? Researchers in Israel seem to be on the way to finding a "ruthless" gene that may explain in part the behavior of some less than altruistic types. They came to their conclusions after having subjects play the "dictator game." Results were mixed, as part of the behavior of subjects related to what they felt was expected of them. Article here.

Two Standards? If there is such a gene, then one possessor must be the subject of this editorial in the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Less than fair to Cuban Americans with more than one nasty editorial to its credit, the paper once published a guest editorial by a local dimwit politician which numbered amongst its egregious errors and misrepresentations the assertion that there were free elections in Cuba, but it is all for freedom in Zimbabwe. It is interesting to note the selectivity with which "freedom-loving nations" should offer support. I guess Robert Mugabe did not learn from his friend Fidel that there should only be one party on the ballot to avoid messy situations like this one.

Empty Seats? If there is one thing that makes my heart glad it is that the plethora of anti-war movies have bombed at the box office. Here's Bill O'Reilly's take. Personally, I love the $65,000 gross on the Mark Cuban/ Brian de Palma flick.

Left Field? Here's just more proof that the mainstream news we get must be skewed. Only 6% of journalists nationally describe themselves as conservatives. Interestingly enough, the vast bulk describe themselves as, you guessed it, "moderate." Wonder what that means in NYC's Upper West Side? Certainly not what it means in Columbia, SC. Read all about it here.

Idol Minds? Here's a piece about Kenny Loggin's son in some Idol-like reality show with the children of other past performers. As Olivia Newton John laments even their children are having trouble breaking into the business. Are we to believe that nepotism is dead?

Mind Games? In my internet travels, I stumbled across this on MSNBC's site. Have not finished fully exploring, but it looks promising. Ta ta.