Sarasota: The Devolution of Paradise

Before I moved to Sarasota, I had gone over forty years without ever realizing that I was a peon. I knew I was a second-class citizen because I was Cuban, Hispanic, Latino. (I answer to all three, as well as American.) But by the time I reached adulthood that was a thing of the past. The world had changed; the culture had become more accepting. I married and lost the surname. I still use it in place of a middle name, perhaps because it is so charged. My looks are generic brunette, making me of indeterminate ethnic origin. And having lived in NYC for decades, I had the New Yorker's native aplomb and egalitarian perspective.

When I moved to Sarasota, it was a town that didn't quite realize it had morphed into a city. Once a week, I'd go downtown to Main Street, visit the library, frequent the sleepy stores, and have a coffee at the depot. Despite the city's many pretensions to culture, I soon found that any cultural pursuit involved being the only one in the audience who didn't have blue hair. Further, I soon realized that unlike in New York City where people of all socioeconomic and sartorial levels mingle at cultural venues, in Sarasota attending any of the arts was an exercise in social climbing. I should have gotten the hint then.

Soon in the guise of development, the city commission sold the soul of Sarasota, not to the highest bidder, but to the most well-heeled one. One after another luxury buildings went up downtown. It was not unusual for the politicians to throw 6 million tax dollars at a private project. The result of which is that the poor and middle class were edged out. Now they run around carrying on about "affordable housing." The housing projects in town are in a dismal state, but there is no money to fix them. The federal government has had to step in and take them over. Yet on two luxury condominium projects alone, they subsidized the rich to the tune of 12 million tax dollars.

At the time, when they were all giddy with glee that Whole Foods and its patrons were coming, I was a voice in the wilderness. I pointed out that they were trying to turn downtown into Park Place, but that New York also had Broadway and Chelsea and the Village. By the time the locals figured out what was going on and booted a couple commissioners out. It was too late. All the funky little places and just about all the local color is gone.

Away from downtown, development after development sprang up behind walls, despite the lack of crime, an exercise in elitism. Each cookie cutter, faux Mediterranean was surrounded by perfectly manicured, over-watered, over-fertilized lawn.

Well, what's done is done. Still, what is most insidious to me is the culture that has developed. There was always a snobbish element in this town, but it was a small circle. In fact, I was oblivious to it, until I volunteered for a benefit and realized that who I was and what talents I brought to the table were irrelevant because I did not have or pretend to have copious amounts of money. Unfortunately, that mind set is now the norm. These are not high society types, nor are they culture mavens. They are well to do people who have sold their homes up North for ungodly sums and invested these in condominiums. Now they have arrived. They are somebody. Add in the poseurs and shameless self-promoters who come to town and take it by storm, only to be exposed at some point down the line, sprinkle in some of the truly wealthy, and you have a town that worships money and nothing else. In short, you have a town without a soul, a town of Philistines.

It really saddens me, because for a long time, this really was paradise. There is almost no place that rivals Sarasota for natural beauty. It is, however, a natural beauty that is rapidly becoming the province of those than can afford it. Why, they've been angling for the past few years to install parking meters at the beach. Imagine.

The Perfidy of the Press

On Babalublog, Val takes on The New Republic and the MSM. The New Republic article is a must read for being behind the 8 ball. It naively maintains among other idiocies

The Cuban government has acquired an image as adept at lies and cover-ups. Though the reputation has stuck, it's in large part a myth of the government's own making.

and

Another reason the Cuban government isn't going to pretend he's alive when he's not is that his ministers believe that the Cuban people will need a chance to mourn him before moving forward.

Val's post, however, is notable in how very well he expresses my sentiments and those of many, many others in reference to the role of the MSM:

The Mainstream Media has not only been instrumental in the lack of information regarding the death or "aliveness" recently of fidel castro, but reporters very much like Ms. Barclay are responsible for bringing fidel castro into power; ignoring the apartheid system in place in Cuba; ignoring the human rights abuses in Cuba; ignoring political and ideological prisoners in Cuba; ignoring the systematic repression of dissenting opinions in Cuba; ignoring dissidents; ignoring actos de repudio; ignoring the abysmal state of healthcare for the average Cuban Jose...etc. So, not only are MSM journalists, who kowtow to the castro regimes whims and regulations so that they not be expelled from the island and allowed to remain to cover "the big story", instrumental but complicit in the subjugation of the Cuban people, and not just in the "covering up" of fidel castro's "death." One need only look at the facts and the history of the castro regime's manipulation of the media.

By the way, am I the only one who remembers the original post in which Val said it could be a rumor?

Forgive me, but...

I have some questions:

Look at the news from Cuba. It seems a hundred flowers have bloomed forth in Cuba's relations with the distaff side of world governments. Why?

Should I be surprised that both Mexico and Spain are approaching a rapprochement with the regime? As far back as I can remember, Mexico has been Fidel's enabler, why would they change now? It was unusual that Fox took them on. And Spain, well, I have read many apologists for the Spaniards who say it is the Zapatero government. But who was in charge when they rescued the dictatorship at precisely the point when it was on its knees with their investments in tourism, when they built hotels on stolen land verboten to Cubans, and when huge numbers of tourists availed themselves of same with nary a thought to the populace?

And what about all those news reports coming out about ordinary Cubans being allowed to complain about their lot? Gee, why don't any of those reports reference the round up of up to 200 dissidents? Oh, right, this is the kinder, gentler dictatorship. They were released, and the MSM are apologists for the revolution. Is that why they don't point out that criticism is fine for the moment, as long as the regime is not directly threatened, that wanting freedom is illegal?

If the judge in the Izquierdo/Elenita case once suggested that crime in Miami would be eliminated by sending all Cubans back, why didn't she recuse herself? Why was she allowed to preside over the case?

Speaking of which, if the lawyers in this case falsified evidence, as it is alleged they did, how come there is no word of an investigation?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Cane Not: The New TV Season

I'm sitting here posting and missing the next episode of Cane. I had to give it up since I made Packrat, Sr watch Bones and House instead of The National Geographic Channel. I think he's a little miffed that he missed the 12 deadliest animals in Africa of something to that effect.

Speaking of House, I'm glad to see that Chase and Allison are back in the picture, even if indirectly. The competition to fill their old positions is pretty amusing and generally works. It's looking good, and not a single reference to drug addiction.

In the supernatural being category, just when I was feeling overwhelmed at the loss of Saving Grace, comes Moonlight about a crime fighting, private eye vampire. Yup, a bit campy, particularly his rich boy fellow vampire pal, but it's fun. As one reviewer pointed out, he's got a great kitchen. It's all gonna depend on the writing here.

My favorite new show is Chuck. It's about a geek whose life is turned upside down when he is infected with superspy software by the guy who got him thrown out of school and stole his last girlfriend five years before. How cool is that "Herd of Nerds' car?

Next Cuban Contemporary Art Exhibit at the Ringling Museum

I posted earlier that there was another Cuban-themed exhibit coming to town. Check it out here. At the time, I expressed some reservations. In my experience, many well-meaning and some nefarious types almost inevitably get it wrong and feed into the great propaganda machine. So lots of times, I just wish they would base their programs on "Art in Samoa" or "The Cinema of the Australian Outback," as they do more damage to the cause of freedom in Cuba than anything else.

So it was that this article appeared in Sunday's "Ticket" from The Sarasota Herald Tribune. On the surface, it seems innocuous enough. So I'm reading about the upcoming exhibit with suspended breath, looking for tells.

The article opens with the assertion that the show, which includes works from Cuban artists both on and off the island, transcends politics. As the Ringling curator indicates:

"It's here because it's important art, not because it's politically charged."

Fair enough, but can you really divorce politics from Cuban anything? How big a step is it to say as the curator of the exhibit does-

For Kerry Oliver-Smith, who curated the show for the Harn Museum, the difference between art created by artists still living in Cuba and those who have emigrated to other places is not immediately apparent.

-to the we're all the same; let's forget about the oppression and repression of the Cuban people.

Well, even the collector, a Howard Farber, notes the tensions that surround the topic. He tells the Miami Herald

Farber told the Miami Herald that his passion for Cuban art doesn't carry a political message. "People have to realize that not everybody that has the ability to collect Cuban art is involved in politics!" he said

Here is a statement indeed. Perhaps because I have witnessed the "chichification" of Sarasota, I am hypersensitive, but let's parse the statement. "...not everybody that has the ability to collect Cuban art" is an interesting formulation. Does that mean has the money to buy the art, unlike Martha Stewart's "little people"? Maybe it means has the ability to go to Cuba. This I researched, because it is generally illegal to go to Cuba. It appears he went on a Metropolitan Museum junket, doubtless one of those educational programs, now curtailed, with his wife, who is described as a "great patron of dance," bringing with them "shopping bags of powder" for the feet of Cuban ballet dancers. Pardon me while I avail myself of the barf bag. Someday soon I will get into the Sarasota scene, and you will understand my perspective.

To be fair, so far the Ringling has kept an aesthetic perspective, and I am delighted to be able to see the stuff. Anyway, your humble correspondent plans to go on Monday. I'll report back then.

Religion in Cuba

Here's an interesting example of the vagaries of getting information about Cuba. A few days ago, I read an article from Christian Today, entitled Archbishop: Religion Growing in Cuba. Yesterday, I'm combing through the news and find another, this one under the headline, Catholic Church Losing Strength in Cuba from the Sun-Sentinel.


In first, Ethan Cole quotes Archbishop Dionisio Guillermo Garcia Ibanez of Santiago


“The faith of our community has manifested, it has been reborn,” said Garcia, during a recent visit to Miami, according to The Associated Press. “The Catholic faith in our community has resurrected.”


Garcia cited the ability to knock on doors to share the gospel, hold religious processions in streets, and the ability to broadcast Catholic radio programmes as indicators that progress had been made in securing religious freedom in Cuba’s religious freedom

This would seem to contradict the Sanchez article, which quotes now retired Archbishop Pedro Meurice


"In the end, we have not accomplished what we're entitled to; the Catholic Church has not been granted the right to evangelize and spread without fear of losing its religious freedom," Meurice said in a recent interview.

Sanchez expands on this citing the fate of workshops and a Catholic magazine editor, Dagoberto Valdes. According to whom

"What has happened with Vitral and the civic center … demonstrates that significant restrictions are now being applied," Valdes said. "I'm being prudent in using the word 'restrictions.' I think these services are being eliminated."

Where is truth, then? Well, even Garcia's host, another prelate, tempers his optimistic comments.

“That is a society that is not pluralistic, it is unidimensional and somehow they have to live with that reality,” said Bishop Felipe Estevez, an auxiliary bishop with the Archbishop of Miami. “They are kind of talking out of adversity.”

A sentiment echoed in the second article by Meurice

Meurice said: "Below the surface, very little has changed. While the state is no longer officially atheist, there is still only one party, the Communist Party."

In the eyes of this jaded observer, it would seem that after the Pope's visit there was significant loosening of religious restrictions, read that as the churches were not outlawed. The people responded as they respond to any lifting, no matter how small, of the governmental yoke. True to form, however, the government, threatened, has begun pulling back just as they did with small private enterprises. Read both and come to your own conclusions.

What was that about a riddle wrapped inside an enigma?

FIDEL CASTRO MIENTE

Couldn't resist this one, especially after the post below.

Descarado/Shameless

Read all about Perez Roque's attack on Bush's legitimacy. Still smarting from the tongue lashing he couldn't face at the UN, the following day he questioned Bush's legitimacy.

Felipe Perez Roque told world leaders that Bush "came into office through fraud and deceit" and has "no moral authority or credibility to judge anyone."

So, it was Bush who lied his way into office, huh? Now Roque knows his American Politics, particularly the Moveon.org talking points. Try this one.


Perez Roque accused Bush of winning his office through fraud. "We would have been spared his presence yesterday, and we would have listened to President Al Gore talking about climate change and the risks to our species."

Poor guy, there's almost something wistful about the sentiment. And here's my personal favorite.

"He has been the most selfish and reckless politician that we have ever seen," he said. "President Bush has no moral authority or credibility to judge anyone."

Wait, he must be confused. Surely, it's his boss Fidel he's describing. Here is another prime example of how propaganda works. Not a single report provided context. Read it here.

Literary Interlude: Women's Work

I make rice- white, fluffy, each discrete grain
visible, coated and gleaming-
like my mother did,
and her mother did before me,
Sacramental in the latin liturgy,
not night after night as they did
culinary offerings of every culture
bedecked with mounds of steaming comfort
My late father, beloved, ate his with spaghetti.

No, I make it as Americans do-
bloodless carbohydrate complement-
yet as I make it, I am linked
down the years, mothers and
grandmothers, even to those
forebears, grand and native,
the tall, proud, and dark, as
well as the little frizzle headed men from the sea.
conquerers and unvanquished

Daughter of Hatuey who gave up heaven
to avoid the hated presence of the Spaniard
And of the dread Spaniard who thought gold
led the way there.

Eh tu, Mengele

Sorry, I understand the scientific point made, but there's something creepy about the article.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Cienfuegos, Cuba and Loyola University had a unique opportunity to observe the impact of population-wide weight loss due to sustained reductions in caloric intake and an increase in energy output.
This situation occurred during the economic crisis of Cuba in 1989-2000. As a result, obesity declined, as did deaths attributed to diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke.

One researcher tries to soften it. See highlighted text.

"This is the first, and probably the only, natural experiment, born of unfortunate circumstances, where large effects on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality have been related to sustained population-wide weight loss as a result of increased physical activity and reduced caloric intake," said Manuel Franco, MD, a PhD candidate in the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Department of Epidemiology.

I'm used to Cubans being depersonalized, relegated to cute brown natives in the mindset of European tourists, but this is weird. Apparently, a perpetually starved population makes for good research. If that's the case, right now there are thousands of potential subjects in huge swaths of Africa. But why stop there? We can replicate the conditions in the United States. We don't even need to ask for volunteers. And by the way, there was nothing natural about the Castroite experiment.

Anyone else creeped out? Read the whole thing here.

Adieu, Jules

Two days ago I learned my friend had died. Julie had been my friend, contemporary, and coworker in the circulation department at a library. We both worked part time in a job well below our abilities but that satisfied the urge to do something, to move, and to earn play money without giving away our lives. And we were part of a very good crew. By the time we left every evening, it was as if the elves had come and cleaned up. Julie, in particular, was a dynamo. So hard as it was to believe that so much good-natured energy resided in that little body, it is harder still to believe it is gone.

We hit it off right away when we met. I was a Cuban from New York and she, an American from Miami, Cuban by association. Many an evening, she tortured me with descriptions of Cuban food we did not have. We spoke the same language of street smarts; we shared the same wicked humor. Unlike me, Julie was ever pleasant, ever helpful, and beloved by the patrons. In fact, the only time I ever witnessed her in a disagreement was with some gentlemen I won't mention, because I don't want to go to jail.

One day, the chronic condition that caused a tumor on her leg was causing her so much pain that she had the growth removed. Then came the news. At age 44 or so, she was told it was malignant and her leg would have to be amputated. So beautiful, vivacious Julie lost her leg. It had also spread. Her husband at the time was pulled aside and told she would not last the year.

But the doctors did not know the Julie we did. She faced the cancer, the way she had faced life. She braved the pain caused by the lost limb, writhing on her floor. She overcame the new disability, lavishing attention on the guide dog she acquired. Somehow, she made it through the death in a motorcycle accident of her only son. In the middle of a divorce when she was diagnosed, she met and married a young man. That, too, turned sour under the weight of her illness. Yet, she was irrepressible.

I want to say that we were close, but I only visited her home once. It was after she became ill. Yet we were close in the way women who've lived hard times are, those that belong to that secret sorority. Somehow, we recognize each other. Julie did not have an easy life, but you would never have guessed.

For four or five years, she held off the inevitable. So when I heard she was in the hospital, other than sending her a card, I did nothing. Julie couldn't, wouldn't die. Then she did.

Signs of Hope:

Sometimes, like after yesterday's news, it is easy to be overwhelmed. Our stance is that nothing has changed in Cuba. We know this intellectually. Yet, there lingers that teeny hope inside that maybe, just maybe.... Then the roundup of dissidents yesterday reminds us that there is no quarter. These are not men; these are beasts who starve their brother citizens in order to amass wealth for themselves and their broods, who practice a twisted version of the capitalism they deny everyone else, who wield power at the expense of the freedom and dignity of their fellow man. What hope, then?

It is easy to become discouraged in this instance, and yet there are glimmers. Most of those rounded up yesterday were released. Why? Then take a look at the only English language article I've been able to find, this one from Reuters and found through Castro Death Watch. Last night the only articles were in Spanish from island sources.

The demonstrators, led by prominent dissident leader Martha Beatriz Roque, were pushed and yelled at by a group of 100 government supporters sent to quell the protest, and then put on a bus and driven home, Roque said.

Notice the words sent to. There was a time that this would be framed as " a group of 100 citizens, outraged at the demonstration....." Here we have Reuters admitting it was a goon squad. The rest of the article presents the viewpoints, shockingly, of dissidents.

We are demanding that the political prisoners be treated with dignity, because they are human beings, and besides, they are innocent," Roque, an economist who has twice been jailed for several years for criticizing Cuba's one-party state.

and

Most prisoners lack hygienic cells, clean water, adequate food and medical attention, he said, and many are ill.

The government point of view is almost an afterthought in the last few lines as they deny they hold political prisoners calling them "mercenaries." True, it would have been better if Reuters itself had highlighted the plight of political prisoners. But this article, as it stands, presents progress.

The recent John Stossel report on 20/20 was breakthrough in that it was broadcast on a major network. Would it have been possible, would it even have been considered, without the presence of the Cuban/Cuban American blogosphere, particularly The Real Cuba? Cuban citizens are not allowed to tell the truth. MSM operations on the island face expulsion if their stories are deemed too negative.

So the regime is right to ban the internet, for in the internet, whether the blogs, or YouTube, or the news releases and blogs coming directly from the island that escape their iron curtain, lie the seeds of their destruction.

There is a psychological principle that what is brought into the light loses its power. In mythology, naming someone saps his or her power. That is what the Cuban/Cuban American blogs and their readers do. And I believe wholeheartedly that it is having an effect, as yet infinitesimal, but an effect nonetheless. Every time some stooge, useful idoit, well-intentioned dogooder or media outlet perpetuates the lies of the regime, and we respond en masse, we are witnesses to the truth, helping to frame the discussion because we know the name of the beast. And the name of the beast is Repression.

Let's See

The gentler, kinder regime flexes its muscles, rounds up 21 dissidents, and releases some, if not most. Apparently, they feel the need for greater intimidation of the citizenry without upsetting their PR plans unduly.

The American news reports every day include some tinpot dictator trumpeting solidarity with or expressing gratitude for some beneficence bestowed by Cuba, which might be better served by feeding its own people. Havana is on the Iranian President's intinerary.

All the usual useful idiots are alborotado. Lawrence Wilkerson, a man one would think would have an intellect substantially bigger than that of a Ring Ding, spouts the Castro Regime talking points on the newly established The Havana Note. Suddenly Havana is so important that it needs a counterpart to The Washington Note.

Kevin Spacey decides he absolutely must see Caracas and Havana. Kinda reminds me of the movie stars who showed up at the Gotti trial.

I cannot even attempt to fathom the byzantine workings of the regime in Cuba, but I know they are up to something.

Thursday Shorts

Doin' an Imus? Media Matters again leads the charge and the MSM picks it up in accusing Bill O'Reilly of racist comments. I bring it up because tonight he was complaining about how the MSM media doesn't tell the truth and is corrupt. Last night, he was complaining the MSM doesn't do its research and picks up its material from liberal websites. Welcome to our world, Mr. O'Reilly. The original "Talking Points Memo" here.


Pinhead! Yup, he was last night's "pinhead" on The Factor. Yesterday's news was the Kevin Spacey/Chavez tete a tete. Tonight, the report was that he had questioned Chavez about the proposed changes to the Venezuelan Constitution. Oh, I'm sure that made the red-bereted one squirm. Spacey's next port of call? You guessed it. Cuba


What is up with this guy? Lawrence Wilkerson, promoted as ex-chief of staff to Colin Powell, has me nonplussed. First it was the post on the Cuban healthcare system. Now it's a defense of the Cuban Five. You see, they were just defending their country against those evil exiles who were killing Cubans. Did this guy get the official regime talking points or what? He does say, if what he heard was true. I say, let them do a Nathan Hale. You gotta see this and tell me this guy is for real. Just go to The Havana Note. Add a .com 'cause I ain't linking to it.


Author Antics! After being fed all this tripe, you need a little lift. MSNBC has an interesting article from Mental Floss about the lives of famous authors. Read it here.


A Sad Note. World famous mime, Marcel Marceau was buried today. Just another sign of the passage of time.

"I'm Not About War."

May I remind our readers who this is in the picture with the U.S. hostages.

Que Pasa, Cane?

Well, Cane debuted last night. It didn't take more than 45 minutes to turn Jimmy Smits, as the scion of a rum-making Cuban American family, into a murderer. The coming attractions seem to herald his transformation into serial murderer. All of which is not as much of a smear as it would seem, once you take into account the present moral compass of our society. Nor does Jimmy Smit's appearance bother me. Although to me the Cuban type, the white variety, consists of almost black hair and very fair skin, we come in all shapes and sizes. And face it, after Al Pacino's barrio accent, I can tolerate almost anything. Problem is that it was just plain bad: poor man's Godfather with a more than healthy serving of Dynasty mixed in. This one doesn't make it through the season.

A suggestion for TV studios, if you ever want to make a real series about Cuban Americans, dust off the old Que Pasa, Usa? and update it. Nah, if you don't have murder, treachery, sex, drugs, etc... no one will watch it.

I was reminded of the show by Frances Martel in a pretty interesting article in which she interviews Paul Bouche of A Oscuras Pero Encendidos fame, if that is the right word. While I am no fan of Spanish language TV, she raises an interesting point about the use of the double entendre. Read it here.

Cuba: The View from Sarasota

As promised, I made it to the Ringling Museum on Monday. The photos were amazing. The landscapes and the photography are lush. The clouds brood over the the black and white panoramas. One photo in particular hearkens back to the prototypical western backdrops with a lonely butte in front. Here, however, the iconic image is decidedly tropical. Before I wax too eloquent, there are only twelve large giclees. They will be on display until some time in January. This exhibit will overlap with one of modern Cuban artists, both on and off the island, as I understand it, coming on October 6. So unless you live in Sarasota, you may want to wait.

For those outside of the area, the museum itself is well worth the trip and the adult admission of $19.00. I hadn't been there since their Surrealist exhibit a few years ago. In the interim it became part of the Florida State University which has made remarkable improvements, particularly in restoring the grounds. The art museum itself is on a par with those to be found in the more cosmopolitan cities such as New York and Boston. Added in as a bonus is the circus museum and the first floor of Ringling's Ca D'Zan, modeled on the Doge's Palace in Venice. All of this is footsteps from the bay. Enough said.

commemorative video?

This supposedly commerative video starts off with Fontova's book! Obviously who ever put it together had no idea.

Dean Martin Show - Guest Stars

Classic Dino and Reagan.I believe it was ad libbed, are there any politicians like this left?

Estefan and Her Cuban Roots: Quick Turnaround

Update: There's an odd article about the new album in Newsday.com. Catch this

Two songs, the title track and "Esperando," capture the displaced nationalism of Miami Cubans as few others do. "Esperando," driven by hard rumba rhythms, is a call for a celebration of Cuba's impending "freedom," a passion stoked late last month when Perez Hilton's Web site posted a rumor of Castro's impending death and it made the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Estefan's call for unity between island and Miami Cubans is hopeful, but its reality remains to be seen.

Gee, was that all part of the plan to invite Che-loving, synapse-fried Santana to play? Nah, but it's fun to think it. Now to the truly odd part.

On the title track, Estefan pays tribute to Yoruban deity Eleguá, asking him to deliver liberation, although his role as the guardian of the crossroads may not dispose him to take sides. "Me Odio," features a singing style apparently influenced by the rap group Orishas, and "Morenita" and "Caridad" praise Cuba's patron saint Caridad de la Cobre. Could it be that this Estefan-style revelation of Cuba's African spirituality might be more important than the politics of left and right?

Our reviewer here seems awfully familiar with Eleguá, which is a first. And is it a prediction?
And the end? Odd. Read it.



Is Gloria trying to counter the recent controversy by reestablishing her bona fides? She apparently gave an interview to Readers Digest that is quoted in The Detroit Free Press.

When the family immigrated to the United States, she tells RD, her father mysteriously disappeared in the night. "He was part of the Cuban exile forces being trained by the U.S. government for the Bay of Pigs invasion. When the infamous attempt to reclaim Cuba failed, in April 1961, my dad was again taken as a political prisoner by Castro's forces."

I don't have the Readers Digest, but here is a link to the DFP.

Castro Video, So What!

I don't care if they wheel out that carcass for a dog and pony show. He is dead. He is gone. He is not involved in the goverment anymore, absent from meetings etc.... The Cuban gov't isn't going to tell anyone when he dies, they stand too much to lose. They are going to try and ride the wave as long as possible.

It's Alive!

Barely, it would seem. See the report at the Sun Sentinel here. His first meeting with a head of state in a while. There's a picture, too.

Literary Interlude: Potpurri

Our regularly scheduled poem has been pre empted on account of fifo's rising from the dead. Well, that kinda put me in mind of Macbeth. So...

Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time,

Ere humane statute purg'd the gentle weal;

Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd

Too terrible for the ear: the time has been,

That, when the brains were out, the man would die,

And there an end; but now they rise again,

With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,

And push us from our stools: this is more strange

Than such a murder is.

(Act 3, Scene 4)

A thought...

A man wrestles a tiger. The tiger is a 600lb Bengal, and the issue is never in doubt

to anyone except the man, that is. For the odd moment or two, the man manages to hold

off the beast. He turns his head. "See," he says, "I'm in control here." Then inevitably, inexorably, the beast slips his grasp and the dance continues.

What if?

One of the most intriguing parts of The Boys from Dolores concerns a letter written by the boy Fidel Castro to FDR. According to Symmes, it's still in the national archives. I'd heard about it, but here is most of the text complete with mispellings:

My good friend Roosvelt
I don't know very English, but I know as much as write to you.
I like to hear the radio, and I am very happy because I heard in it that you will
be President for a new [periodo].


I am twelve years old. I am a boy but I think very much but I do not thing that
I am writing to the President of the United States.
[I]f you like, give me a ten dollars bill green american, in the letter, because
never, I have not seen a ten dollars bill green american and I would like to have one of them......

...If you want to make your sheaps, I will show to you the biggest (minas) of iron

of the land. They are in Mayari, Oriente Cuba.

Castro's reaction to whatever response he received:

"Yeah, well....He won the election. But the Americans are assholes. I asked for ten dollars and they didn't send me a cent."

Deja Vu Update

I gotta share this one. So, I'm in the library, not my usual branch, looking through the new books when I spot...can it be... is it? Yes, it's Fidel Castro on the cover. Wait, there's Chavez, and that's Evo Morales. Intrigued, I pick it up. The book in question is titled Pirates of the Caribbean: An Axis of Hope. I only hope the link works, so you can see first hand the halo over fifo's head. Try it here. I kid you not.

Elian Revisited- Hang onto your seats, boys and girls! Just when the present court case is coming to a close, this Wednesday the Discovery Times Channel is presenting a documentary on the Elian case. With the Times in the moniker, this cannot be good. Some days it just seems like we're trying to bail out the SS Cuban American with a leaky sieve.

The Great Left Wing Conspiracy- In the past, I have used the phrase, the Great Left Wing Conspiracy in jest. But today's news about Ted Stevens being investigated makes me wonder. Frankly, I couldn't care about Stevens, but am I the only one that is noticing a pattern here?Doesn't it seem that invariably during election season these days a scandal concerning a Republican politician hits the airwaves? I want to ask are only Republican pols corrupt? Let's not forget that exit polling in the last election showed that it was corruption, not the war, that fueled the Republican debacle. Remember Foleygate. A hint here, a leak there, it would be easy to do. Of course, the Dems have been caught with cashsicles in the freezer and fugitive fundraisers with no apparent consequences. One can only imagine what it would take to turn off their base.

This Week's Read: The Boys from Dolores

Whenever I pick up a book about Cuba, not written by a Cuban or a CIA operative or someone of that ilk, I approach it with suspicion. So it was that I had my doubts about The Boys from Dolores: Fidel Castro's Classmates from Revolution to Exile by Patrick Symmes. I mean the guy had written a book about Che Guevara, which immediately said something. It was the subtitle that snared me. It was just too novel an approach to pass up. And true to his word, the book treats Fidel obliquely, just a few brushstrokes in the portraits of his classmates, enough however to show the nature of the boy and the man and the wreckage he created.

My fears that Fidel and the Revolution would be glorified proved almost groundless. Yes, as one reviewer on Amazon indicated, he did get some historical fact wrong. For instance, his account of the Bay of Pigs doesn't quite jibe with other accounts, even the PBS version. His tiresome iteration about the boys at the school being children of privilege and the contrasting poverty and illiteracy of the countryside is too close to the revolutionary shibboleth. It is also something he seems to contradict when discussing the size of the middle class.

But the true genius of the book lies in Mr. Symmes ability to elicit the truth from those he interviews and, amazingly, from random Cubans he stumbles upon in his many travels through Cuba. It is no surprise that the only other book I've read that comes close to eliciting how people live and feel is Mi Moto Fidel. In both cases, these American authors avoided minders and took the time to really talk to Cubans. The result of which is that their depiction of Cuba is very different from the usual Snow jobs. All of the doble cara, the contempt, the hand gestures that make up the only free expression of average Cubans is here.

At the same time he conveys the present reality in Cuba, he tells the story of a very special Jesuit school in a unique time and place through the stories of those who would soon see their lives overthrown and the history of their nation changed. It is a story that he tracks back from the present, starting with a reunion in Miami. These early chapters are a lyrical, haunting portrayal of loss, as he visits with the survivors of the school in the waning years of their lives. It's an emotional punch in the gut.

The lyricism and the shuffling back and forth in time account for some slow going in the middle chapters. His descriptions of the school, the boys, the Jesuits exhibit a wealth of imagination, a gift for placing himself in their shoes, their world. Suddenly, however, the reader is hurled to the present, only to be sent back to the rituals of the school day. So, at times, reading this book feels like slogging through mud. Yet for those truly interested, it is worth the patience. It is an incredibly dense, incredibly rich book. It is perhaps too ambitious, but it does convey much- from the human face of political consequence, the lost world, the new world, the exile experience, and finally the character of the boy who would be king.

My Fantasy Poll

Made the mistake of stopping by The Havana Note. I can't get over this gal. You've got to read her complaints about John Stossel's assessment of Sicko! Not to be believed. Poll above.

The "Historic" Exiles

People who use the term dislike Cubans, would like to render them mute. They use it to immure our fathers and mothers in stone, freeze them into position, so that they are no more relevant than the Elgin Marbles. The term implies that the exile, the angst is over and that it has no relevance today. How easily they dismiss the pain and loss. Yes, perhaps the historic exiles and their offspring are a tad intransigent, perhaps we could be more flexible in the face of newer realities, more understanding of newer waves of Cubans. But maybe those who so facilely decry them should walk in their moccasins for a bit.

Historic exiles arrived in the United States when there were very few Hispanics. There were no Spanish language forms. In fact, no one spoke Spanish. One friend of my father's was lost in the NYC subway system for a day. Finally, he spotted an Oriental. "Chinito, Chinito!" He was sure the Chinito would speak Spanish. "What?" the poor Oriental asked.

Another of the friends called she was lost. "Where are you? Look up that the corner," her husband instructed her. "What does it say?"
"It says ohnah waiy," she answered. These are cute anecdotes but they mask what was a harsh reality.

They went to work in factories and restaurants because they were the only ones who would hire them. One very prominent Park Avenue physician my parents knew literally washed dishes for years while trying to get his American license. They did what they had to. Men in those days wore suits, and you bought them at a second hand store since that was what you could afford. Very few had a car. If you had one, it was a clunker, like the one my father had that dropped the gas tank on some street. Macys was a store you had never seen the inside of. You did your shopping at Woolworths and Korvettes. If you were really strapped you had to buy at John's Bargain Stores, where they just threw cheesy merchandise haphazardly in bins.

If someone died, you would make a collection from the handful of Cubans you knew. No one actually had the money to bury the deceased. In coming, you gave up the possibility of ever seeing your family again, unless you were fortunate enough to have them come later. It was only much, much later when Fidel needed money that the possibility of family visits arose. My father left Cuba in his twenties. It would be decades before he laid eyes on the father who had single-handedly raised him. His brothers, he never saw again.

And the shame. I wish I could convey the corrosive nature of the discrimination we faced. From the time that I could walk through the front door to go out and play for fifteen minutes (my father worked in a factory overnight and needed his sleep), I was taught that I must be perfect. Any failing on my part, any misbehaviour or disrespect, would immediately result in my being labeled a "Spic." The reputation of whole peoples rested on my fragile, four year old shoulders. If my mother spoke Spanish to me in a store, it would result in looks of disdain nowadays reserved for smokers.

Our three room apartment in a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, where I slept on the couch, had been rented to us in error. They had mistaken my fair-skinned father for an Italian. No one wanted to rent to Hispanics, even in Miami, which was a sleepy, decaying town, the glory days of tourism having left. In the summer, it was basically closed down, except the little hotels with two ghostly retirees rocking on the front porch. I know, I was there in '65. And there was nothing as gray, as dead, as depressing as Union City, perhaps that's why the first Cubans were allowed to settle there.

The worst was having to go to government agencies. Since I was the only one who spoke "good" English, and they were all afraid of the American world, I was the interpreter for the extended network of Cubans my parents knew. Immigration, department of motor vehicles, the phone company, and, worst of all the unemployment office, where the contempt was barely disguised, were the venues to which my seven year old tush was dragged. I am still traumatized.

They were truly strangers in a strange land who learned very quickly they were here on sufferance but did not truly belong. In short, they got the kind of welcome here that others had gotten in the past. But they never forgot they were Cuban. In their isolated homes, Spanish was spoken. The children were taught the mother tongue. There was the outside world where they insisted the children assimilate and excel and the inside circle of family. In this safe, insular world, they passed down their love of Cuba and their hatred of its oppression.

So I would propose to those who want to silence those very children that if the world we grew up in as second class citizens could not beat the Cubiche out of us, now that we are adults, no one else will. Yes, I am an American and proud of it. But to deny my Cuban heritage or bury it would be to turn my back on my father and all those "historic" exiles" whose faces I can still see: El Cabezon (my father); Andres; Tio Mario; Miguelito, el Polaco; Oscar who had a perfectly round hole between his front teeth that fascinated me as a child, Nena, Jacobo, Camilo, the grandparents, all of whom lie under gray skies in the unfamiliar cold soils of the North. They paid their dues. So by all means, you may differ with them and their progeny, but please treat them with respect. They earned it.

Tourism in Havana: A Slice

I'm in the middle of The Boys from Dolores by Patrick Symmes and came across this snippet. So here's to the notion that freedom will "ruin" Cuba. About Havana....

The parks were full of prostitutes, the houses full of liquor, and in this capital inmoral of the Revolution, even cocaine. I'd see colonels eating lobster with teenage girls at 3:00 A.M. English rock stars expounding on socialism from the lawn of the Nacional, Russian real estate mobsters on three-girls-a-day benders, Mexican guerrillas turned Marxtrepreneurs, Chilean assassins making a killing in fruit juice, and the astounding perverts of all nations, wallowing in it.

When I Became a Republican

I've always worked in schools and libraries where my political leanings differed markedly from those of most of my colleagues. I found that if I didn't discuss my beliefs, they would assume that I was- like any right-thinking pseudo intellectual- a liberal. I will, however, tell anyone who asks the truth. One coworker was so shocked that she called me an anomaly. "Anomaly?" I asked. "Yeah," she replied, "an intelligent Republican." "Actually," I informed her, "I like to think of myself as an enlightened Republican."

As a teenager, my daughter once asked, "Mom, when did you become a Republican?"
Facetiously, I replied, "when I started paying taxes."

She asked because the joke around here is that when I turned eighteen, I turned around and used my newly granted right to vote to cast a ballot for McGovern. I also voted for.... I'm going to say it...confession is good for the soul...I also voted for Jimmy Carter. Now, I'm a card carrying Republican.

It was Ronald Reagan who brought me back to my senses, back to the good learnin' my parents had given me. It's not that I liked Reagan. When he was elected President, I thought it showed that if you ran for the office often enough, you'd eventually make it.

But Reagan had one incredible gift. He was a true believer. He believed in this marvelous ideal of the United States of America. I have this theory that God watches over us and gives us exactly the President that we need at the time. Here, he was, after the stomach turning glee with which they went after Nixon, the despretigio of Vietnam, the enthusiasm for trashing those institutions we held dear, saying it was okay to believe. I could literally feel the morale of the emotionally bankrupt nation rise again.

So I am a Republican. I don't subscribe to all the party positions. But then, I don't agree with most of the Democrat positions. I am not a small-minded, mean person. But, I've seen the other side, and I want no part in a world where political expediency dictates policy, where there is no respect for the authority of office, the sanctity of marriage, the right of self-determination, where national morality is determined by what new fad is in vogue with the majority, and smoking is pursued with more zeal than terrorism. A world where scurrilous and unproved accusations are leveled at my President nightly, but the propaganda of a murderous regime is accepted verbatim.

I Was So Much Older Then...

...I'm younger than that now. The Dylan lyrics came to me as I read the first entry on Yahoo's Cuba news roundup today. It was from The University of Miami newspaper, entitled "To free or not to free." As I read, I was reminded of my brief, inglorious stint on my college paper. So full of myself, ready to make sweeping pronouncements on the basis of my eighteen years of experience. The days when I thought I knew everything and believed everything my professors said. And when above all, I wanted to be cool. So enveloped in the warm glow of yesteryear, I began to read.

Given to the occasional Shakespearean allusion myself, I could overlook the stretch here. And I was so mellowed by my stroll down memory lane that my blood pressure remained relatively stable as I read

I'm not going to give you monotonous and overstated examples of how Cuba has had some relevant improvements under Fidel Castro, like the "best education in Latin America" argument or even the innovative and environmentally-friendly agricultural system (which happens to be not only sustainable but also an example to follow for many nations).

Besides, he writes he's not going to do this, although he does manage to sneak it in, fallacious as it may be. I guess he didn't read the book about how Castro has trashed the environment. No, it seems his argument is basically that a "free" Cuba would fall to the all the economic and social ills of the Caribbean and Latin America. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, he makes statements such as

Just like Jamaica or Haiti, political freedom would prevail and economic advancement would finally be a reality. I can picture La Havana with American-owned casinos, Bentleys and Ferraris parked outside the five-star hotels, nightclubs pumping techno until sunrise and University of Miami students eating McDonalds at 7 a.m. right after a long night of spring break partying.

Now, I ask you, is that such a dire fate? Let me spell it out: E M P L O Y M E N T.
But, no, apparently it is better to keep Cuba as a third world theme park. Oh, that's right. Those little brown natives don't really want to have just a fraction of what the developed world has.

In Cuba, American corporations will not pay menial wages and Chinese companies will not destroy the local industries. Cuba will not be transformed into a dependent and rotten economy under the flags of globalization.

Speaking of employment, how much more menial can the wages of Cubans get than the twenty dollars a month they presently get, especially since their ration books don't begin to cover a minimal diet and the rest must be purchased dearly on the black market. My favorite is the implication that Cuba now has an independent and healthy economy. I must have imagined that they were propped up first by the Russians and now by Venezuelan oil, that the sugar harvest is now at depression era levels. The list of their present successes is endless.

... And if you're one of those leftists who believe Latin America did not prosper from neo-liberalism, let me prove you wrong. Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay and other countries did extremely well in the '90s when neo-liberalism was at its best. Their economies boomed (and then heavily crashed), investments soared (and all the profits left the country), states underwent privatization (only to be bought by foreign companies) and most importantly, poverty was a big concern (but nothing much changed, other than an exponential growth in inequality).

These are real concerns, but they get lost in the hyperbole. And why assume that Cuba would not go the route of say Costa Rica, the United States? And what is the alternative?

So we should all chant "let's free Cuba" and remember that Cuba will be different because no frenetic capitalism will invade the island. More importantly, when advocating its freedom, remember that it will all be done in the name of destroying communism once and for all. As for the ideals of valor, solidarity and the spirit of a once-true social revolution, remember them the most, because soon they will be replaced by our dear consumerist values.

That's a straw man. There is no need to destroy communism; it has destroyed itself. What you have in Cuba is the rotting carcass of a dead beast. This is the sad part, whatever the people might have been led to believe, there was no "once-true revolution," because it's very leaders didn't believe it. It was all a big fat LIE.

I think the writer's heart was in the right place, but it takes getting knocked around a bit to learn that maybe situations are a lot more complex than they would seem to be. Parting questions, how many would trade our dear consumerist values for repression and want? Imagine if you could not publish this editorial because it was not in keeping with the government's interests and that by the very act of writing it, you had signalled yourself as a dissident, opening yourself up to imprisonment under conditions that make Guantanamo look like a sleepaway camp?

I've quoted most of it, but you can read it here

Quote for the Day

Don't argue with them, ever. Cubans are born inherently wise. They don't need to read, they know everything. They don't need to travel, they have seen everything. The Cubans are the chosen people...chosen by the themselves. they pass among lesser peoples like a ghost passing over water.

Cubans are characterized individually by their sympathy and intelligence and as a group by their shouting and passion. Every one of them carries the spark of genius and no geniuses are tolerated. That's why it is easy to reunite Cubans, and impossible to unite them.

from "El Profeta," an article written in 1986, by Lundy Aguilar, retired Georgetown professor and quoted in The Boys from Dolores by Patrick Symmes.

They're At It Again

I received this email from Packrat, jr tonight.

On Wednesday, August 1st, H.R. 3162 which included at $4.50 per carton federal cigarette exercise tax increase was passed by the US House of Representatives by a vote of 225-204. On Thursday, August 2nd, H.R. 976 which included as $6.10 per carton federal cigarette exercise tax increase was passed by the US Senate by a vote of 68-31. Both bills also included increases in the federal exercise tax on other tobacco products.

Now before you start feeling smug that you might not be a smoker and self-righteous that smokers deserve what they get, remember that this mentality may be aimed at you someday. Now say it: transfat!

As for me, I fail to see that my unfortunate addiction should make me a cash cow for the government. And don't give me the hooey about health costs. Smokers die young. They actually cost society less. Not to mention, the majority of smokers come from low income brackets which makes this a regressive tax. Of course, that didn't seem to bother my Democrat Senator.

Anyway, if you are a smoker, or just a person who believes in fair play, you can click here to let your reps know. Surprise, surprise, Phillip Morris is spearheading the campaign against the legislation.

Updated: Butcher Cuba Photos in Sarasota

Update: On Mondays, the art museum only is free. That's where the Butcher show is. I'm there. If not today, next Mon.


Clyde Butcher, long known for his photography of the Florida landscape, went to Cuba on behalf of the UN. Politics aside, which is more or less what he said, the results will be exhibited at The Ringling Museum of Modern Art in Sarasota. Based on his other work, I'll be right there. Admission is $19.00 for adults with various student and sr. citizen discounts available and includes entry to various parts of the museum. You used to be able to go just to the art museum for free on Mondays, but it seems they've changed that. Manda madre if you have to pay 19.00 for the whole shebang every time they bring in a show. I'm looking into that. Click here for the promo. If you're anywhere near the area, it should be worth the trip; the money, I don't know.

Unfortunately, they also seem to have some Cuba programs going on about the same time. I say unfortunately, because based on the following, I fear it's going to be one of those let's all join hands with the dictatorship and sing kum ba ya. I hope I'm wrong.

Havana Film Festival New York is a project of American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, a non-profit organization building cultural bridges between the U.S. and Cuba through programs in the arts. Carole Rosenberg is President of the Foundation, Chairperson and Director of the Festival. Visit www.hffny.com for more information.

Why do I think I recognize some of the usual suspects?

Literary Interlude: The Renunciation

My father used to recite this poem often, as if he loved the sound of it all. A little research yielded the fact that Buesa was one of the major Cuban poets of the twentieth century.

POEMA DEL RENUNCIAMIENTO
Mon ame a son secret...
ARVERS

Pasarás por mi vida sin saber que pasaste.
Pasarás en silencio por mi amor y, al pasar,
fingiré una sonrisa como un dulce contraste
del dolor de quererte... y jamás lo sabrás.

Soñaré con el nácar virginal de tu frente,
soñaré con tus ojos de esmeraldas de mar,
soñaré con tus labios desesperadamente,
soñaré con tus besos... y jamás lo sabrás.

Quizás pases con otro que te diga al oído
esas frases que nadie como yo te dirá;
y, ahogando para siempre mi amor inadvertido,
te amaré más que nunca... y jamás lo sabrás.

Yo te amaré en silencio... como algo inaccesible,
como un sueño que nunca lograré realizar;
y el lejano perfume de mi amor imposible
rozará tus cabellos... y jamás lo sabrás.

Y si un día una lágrima denuncia mi tormento,
—el tormento infinito que te debo ocultar—,
te diré sonriente: «No es nada... ha sido el viento».
Me enjugaré una lágrima... ¡y jamás lo sabrás!

José Ángel Buesa


A Very Bad Translation:

You will pass through my life without knowing you have passed.
You will pass in silence through my love, and in passing
I will feign a smile, a sweet contrast
to the pain of loving you... and you will never know.

I will dream of the virginal mother of pearl of your forehead
I will dream of your eyes like emeralds come from the sea
I will dream desperately of your lips
I will dream of your kisses... and you will never know.

Perhaps you will pass with another, one who whispers in your ear
those words you will never hear from one like me,
and, drowning forever my unfortunate love,
I will love you more than ever... and you will never know.

I will love you in silence...like something inaccesbile,
like a dream I could never reach;
and the distant perfume of my impossible love
will mist all around you and you will never know.

And if one day, a tear should make evident my torment,
-the infinite torment I need hide from you-
I will say smilingly "It's nothing...it was the breeze"
I will joke away my tear...and you will never know.

M.I.A.

This one picture says it all. Fido is nowhere to be seen. That is because he is on ice somewhere.
h/t Babalu

You Want WHAT? Perfidy and Payback

I knew this day was coming. Today I received a fundraising letter from Sen. Mel Martinez. I'm on his list because, thrilled at the prospect of a Cuban American Senator, I once contributed twenty bucks of so. Okay, maybe it was more than once. Anyway, don't have much disposable since Packrat, Sr and I dropped out of the rat race years ago, although it does keep trying to suck us back in.

So on two occasions, the Che recordings and the Oliphant cartoon brouhaha, I contacted his office. I never even got the courtesy of a reply saying he could or would do nothing. I mean, even Nelson did that once. Frankly, I have never contacted a politician's office without some sort of reply. As a matter of fact, I've always felt badly that Congressman Murphy of Abscam fame met his political end doing what he did for free for his constituents. I know he helped my family with an immigration matter when my Grandfather was losing precious time in Jamaica waiting for entry into this country for a visit.

Notice I did not expect him to get embroiled in the daily grind of holding appeasers and liars accountable. No, the Smithsonian receives government funding. Martinez is a member of that government. A natural, right? Apparently not. The cartoon amounted to hate speech. Obama and assorted politicians took on Imus. Well, not this Senator. Well, as far as I am concerned, if the Dems don't get too carried away, come reelection time, I'm holding my nose and voting their way for Senator, doubtless adding to some FIU poll.

Maybe in his rush to become an American, the good senator forgot to learn how one treats constituents.

MTV

This has nothing to do with Cuba, but I looked at the list of people receiving awards, and I didn't know any of them. Something has gone seriously wrong over there when people are complaining that Brittany messed up her Lip Synching! Whatever happened to playing guitars and drums and writing your own music.

Ruling From The Grave

Regardless of what the Communist propaganda spurts out, Fidel is no longer here. Whether in person or spirit. What other country do we know of that can be without a leader for over one year. I know of none. How much longer will this 'papelaso' play out. How much more can be asked of the Cubans on the island. At least he should have had the decency to let go after he left.

9/11: The Day After Updated

Update:
Among all the rememberances observed yesterday, there is one that will not receive publicity, instead media attention will be turned to the purported rantings of a man who is dead, in effect if not fact. It seems that a Human Rights Council in Cuba opened a book of condolences for the victims of 9/11 for well wishers to sign. According to Roberto de Miranda, vice president of the organization and head of the independent educators

“Estamos compartiendo el dolor y el sufrimiento eterno con los familiares de aquellas víctimas inocentes que fueron vilmente arrancadas del ceno de su pueblo y con ello estamos dando un claro y enérgico mensaje a todo el que pretenda el exterminio o terror de los pueblos. La creación de Jesucristo es sagrada y el ser humano su más importante criatura, quien lo ataca, ataca a Dios mismo.”

Rough translation

We are sharing in the pain and unending suffering of the families of those innocent victims who were so vilely ripped from the breast of the community and with them we are sending a clear and powerful message to all who aspire to exterminate or terrify communities. The creation of Jesus Christ is sacred, and the human being is his most important creation. He who attacks him, attacks God himself.

That they would take the risk of doing this is humbling.
(H/T Payo Libre)
Reading the blogs yesterday was a terribly sad, but satisfying, occupation. It started with
the poem posted on Babalu. I was reading, remarking that I liked it as a poem, only to be blown away to find out the poet was fourteen years old. As someone commented, "the kids got chops."

Went from there to Charlie Bravo's memories of that day, aptly titled "Vaccuum," both powerful and haunting, particularly the end.

Came across this tribute on The Queen of all Evil billed as the best 9/11 tribute ever. She's right. Watch it if you can. I was reduced to tears.
(H/T Babalublog)

These are just a few that stayed with me. There were many more. One observation to make, though. For obvious reasons, photos were always powerful; but as time has worn on, more and more we enshrine our remembrances in poetry. It's ironic because the market for poetry has contracted terribly, perhaps because people are less into reading, perhaps because our world requires a different type of poetry than what is marketed. Yet, when it comes to reducing the experience to its essence, to extracting every last scintilla of meaning, we naturally tend to the poem. A poem, like a photo, involves us, makes us fill in the outlines with the horror. Food for thought.

Lighter note: It seems that as Fifo supposedly gasps his last.... That can't be accurate, didn't he have a tracheotomy? Oh, that's right, we don't know for sure. In Search of....Fifo. Anyway, we have a new entry in the ranks of the conspiracy theorists, the phantom dictator. Apparently, it wasn't a plane that went into the Pentagon. Gusano has a pretty amusing take on it all, read it here.

The Pipes
The last day of the recovery

arms swinging in time to martial drums
a fierce, measured cadence of incredulous rage

The stocky gray-haired piper,
the brown-skinned uniformed policeman, and
the middle-aged Latino schoolteacher
watching on TV-
all infused with the righteous anger of Celtic warriors

we mourn our dead, guilty only of geography,
we sit and weep,
while TVs tell stories of flame-filled horror and
mythic courage.
Still the pipes play and the drums beat on.

We, the people of cities with gleaming towers,
are not patient, nor are we bloodless.
Roused, we find comfort in the those pipes,
for in that very measure is the promise of the
government of men, monolithic, imperturbable,
unrelenting

The pipes herald true battle fields
not the killing grounds brought about by men
who were afraid they were not men
in the dark, misguided service of a Deity they blaspeme.

A Day to Remember

I love country music. It occasions all sorts of snide remarks from my family and friends, even those from Mississippi. Some of the better qualities of country music:

1. Songs have a melody, a rarity these days.
2. People who write country songs like words. Who can forget, "If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?" or "All my exes live in Texas that's why I live in Tennessee" or even "Here's a quarter, call someone who cares"?
3. Country songs have strong women and men who are cheaters, alcoholics, or jailbirds.
4. In country music, life is simple: heartache, partying, and patriotism.

It's this last that concerns me today. Unabashed patriotism is the generally accepted norm, no relativism here. So, on this anniversary, let's share in country's take on 9/11 with a portion of Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue."

Now this nation that I love has fallen under attack.
A mighty sucker punch came flying in from somewhere in the back.
Soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye,
Man we lit up your world like the Fourth of July.

Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly,
And there's gonna be Hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell!
It's gonna feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you...
Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!

Oh, Justice will be served and the battle will rage.
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
You'll be sorry that you messed with the US of A
'Cuz we'll put a boot in your ass
It's the American way.

Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly,
And there's gonna be Hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell!
And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you...
Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!
Of the Red, White and Blue..
Of my Red, White and Blue

History's Mysteries

These are some of the unanswered questions floating in the atmosphere, the kinds of things you wonder about late at night while watching the History Channel:

• Where was Atlantis?
• What happened to the treasure of the Templars?
• Where was Flight 19 heading?
• What really happens in the Bermuda Triangle?
• Where happened to Amelia Earhart?
• What happened to Wade Boggs' plane?
• What sank the Edmund Fitzgerald?
• Where did the crew of the Mary Celeste go?
• What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?
• Where is the famed Amber Room?
• Where are the paintings stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum?
• What really happened to Michael Rockfeller?
• Who was Jack the Ripper?
• Who was the Zodiac killer?
• What happened to DB Cooper?
• Is there really a Jersey Devil? Loch Ness Monster?
• Where's the Dutchman's Mine?
• What happened to Fidel?

mmm...l

A Hierarchy of Needs

Do a survey of what is being written in the MSM about the death of Fidel and the succession to the throne of Raul, and you'll come away with the impression that free health care, guaranteed schooling, and a plate of food are an acceptable replacement for the freedoms we enjoy. As Tennyson's Ulysees says, "as if to breathe were life." Forget Patrick Henry: "Give me liberty or give me death!" In our age of moral relativism, totalitarianism is good for some, if not for us. After all, the same people that see in the succession and its supposed coming quasi Chinese reforms a positive sign are the same people who criticize the Patriot Act. Go figure.

Anyway, I've been struggling with how best to use the non-occasion (at least it will be by the time they get around to announcing it) of Castro's death to help further the cause of freedom in Cuba. Celebration of said occurrence is guaranteed to occur. And I can't say I would stop it. After all, I share in the impulse. At the same time, the scene of glorious rejoicing on the streets of Miami would indicate to the American public that it's over. Only, of course, it isn't over for those who live in Cuba.

Then yesterday, the feast day of Cuba's patron, La Caridad del Cobre- an apparition of the Virgin Mary- Gusano wrote something which struck a chord.

And I got me one of those big old candles with her likeness on it and I'm going to light it right now and join the millions of Cubans that today pray that, just like she saved those three Cubans from the storm so long ago, that she protect our island during the looming tempest. And that once the clouds begin to clear that the light of freedom shines brightly to every corner of our enslaved island.

That's it, I thought. What if the announcement were met with something symbolic, a mass procession, maybe a candlelight vigil for those still suffering under the yoke of the Castro Crime Family? An ecumenical prayer service, representing a cross section of Cuban culture, with Priest, Rabbi, Ministers, maybe even Buddhist monks. With all the press that will certainly descend on Miami, what better way to put the spotlight on the regime? Use the partying to get attention, then....

Alas, I discovered the Mediterrenean, because as Gusano informed, plans are already in the works for something like, as well as a memorial mass for those who lost their lives in the seemingly interminable national nightmare. I look forward to hearing more.

Two More Reads for the Collection

This week's entry is Dancing to "Almendra" by Mayra Montero, a Cuban columnist and writer from Puerto Rico. Set in 1957 Havana, it's somewhat of a mystery, as a young Cuban journalist sets out to connect the killing of an escaped hippopotamus from the Havana Zoo to the murder of Anastasia in the barber's chair in New York. The seemingly farfetched connection leads to the nest of Mafiosi running the casinos in Havana and, seemingly, the corrupt government. Luciano, Trafficante, Lansky, and even Anastasia, all make token appearances. It's got's one armed courtesans, a leprous dance director, circus types, as well as the requisite motifs of the 21st century. I'll let you guess what those are. It all ends in a surprise of sorts. My one concern with this one is that it may color the average person's impression of preCastro Cuba. As my mother once said of the Havana scene in The Godfather, "que despretigio." It was interesting, not a bad read.

For the next one, I'll dig back into 1994, when as far as I can tell, it was last published. A New York Times "Notable Book" and bestseller, it is still available at some libraries and at Amazon. I was reminded of it by the celebrations for La Virgen de la Caridad, when someone called her Ochun. In Alex Abella's Killing of the Saints, Charlie Morrell is called to investigate some particularly brutal slayings at a jewelry store in LA. Before you can say, "Babalao," he finds himself confronting centuries old African beliefs at work. It is a page turner, which will have you believing the near unbelievable. Read it. One of the movie studios picked it up years ago, but I don't think they've ever made the movie.