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Message |
    
sbenois
Supporter
Username: Sbenois
Post Number: 15460
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 8:17 pm: | 
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How come no one has mentioned this? What is the deafening silence all about? |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 429
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 8:30 pm: |
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Actually its bad news for us Republicans. I estimate that as many as 1/2 million Republican votes in Florida will move back to Cuba. |
Mr. Big Poppa
Citizen
Username: Big_poppa
Post Number: 829
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 8:33 pm: |
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It's only a temporary release of power. Castro announced he is in stable condition after his surgery. He's like the engergizer bunny...he won't die.
The Miami Cubans were pretty excited, though. Most of them are 2nd generation, so they've never even been to Cuba.
Once he actually dies and communism falls, it will be bedlam in Cuba. Property has exchanged hands a few times and even fallen in the hands of international owners (Sol Melia for instance). When the exiles return with their claims, I doubt they will be heard unless the US government props up another puppet democracy. |
Michaela
Citizen
Username: Mayquene
Post Number: 235
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 9:07 pm: |
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What is it about threats that start "Bad news for Libs"?!
Silly sbenois.
I wonder if Castro is an android of some sort. |
Factvsfiction
Citizen
Username: Factvsfiction
Post Number: 1267
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 11:14 pm: |
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Damn. I thought the cigars would be coming in by now...
 |
anon
Supporter
Username: Anon
Post Number: 2921
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 10:57 pm: |
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sbenois: Last time you began a thread questioning "deafening silence" it resulted in 796 posts! |
Josh Holtz
Citizen
Username: Jholtz
Post Number: 568
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 9:26 am: |
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Along the lines of Michaela's post - Castro actually died about 20 years ago. The person who is running Cuba is actually a clone of Castro, fully re-created from the DNA taken from the original Castro's nose. Yes folks, after Castro had passed away, scientists removed the Cuban leader's nose and placed it in an ultra sterile enviroment. Then they delicately began to grow a new Castro all around the nose. What's amazing is they were able to build a bigger, faster, stronger Castro than the original one.
So you ask why did he need to go under the knife this week?
Truth be told Cuban scientists have added extra ligaments into Castro's throwing arm, as closed-door deal was just made to export the new and improved Castro to the NY Mets to help bolster their recently weakened bullpen. |
Illuminated Radish
Citizen
Username: Umoja
Post Number: 51
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 2:49 pm: |
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Honestly,
Looking at how Cuba was before the revolution, I question if the many cuban refugees who have a lot of money, will go back to Cuba as citizens.... or the new ruling class.
I don't know if Cuba will be able to handle a hard shift to hard capitalism. The wealth concentration will be strongly American.... just like pre-revolutionary Cuba.
Granted, human rights abuses have happened in Cuba, but from what my friends who have visited Cuba have said, most of the people aren't living in squallor. Despite the lack of liberty (which I won't deny is lacking by American standards), they don't have a piss-poor quality of life. |
S.L.K. 2.0
Citizen
Username: Scrotisloknows
Post Number: 1844
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 2:00 pm: |
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sbenois-
the silence is due to the SO/maplewoodian liberal majority being in mourning...  |
Ender
Citizen
Username: Enderw
Post Number: 84
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 3:29 pm: |
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Liberals believe that the Cubans like being under Castro - they are happy, ask any Cuban and he'll tell you they're happy. They don't realize that if they express their true feelings, they'll be killed. |
Mr. Big Poppa
Citizen
Username: Big_poppa
Post Number: 844
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 4:16 pm: |
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I visited Cuba in '99. Most of the Cubans I met seemed to truly love Castro. I met them off the beat and path and I speak Spanish fluently, so I do not think they were hiding anything. They also sincerely questioned me why Americans hate Cuba. What I realized was that after being raised and schooled on Castro's Cuban propaganda, they were brainwashed. I would see big billboards everywhere that spoke to the Revolution, Communism and power of the workers. It was inescapable. After living close to 50 years of that, it is reasonable to expect the people to be brainwashed.
Also, I would say there living conditions were poor. They weren't living in squallor like the poor I've seen in other countries (India, Honduras, Ecuador, Indonesia), but there was obvious poverty. Also, the rationing (much due to limited supplies from the embargo) requires the Cubans to spend much of their free time standing in lines.
I used to live in Miami and was annoyed by the obsessiveness of the Miami Cubans about Castro. One of the reasons I went to Cuba was to see the situation for myself. After my trip, I believe Castro sentenced his country to 50 years of backwardsness, poverty and oppression. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 5406
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 9:00 pm: |
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The people of eastern Europe were brainwashed nearly that long, but once given the opportunity threw off communism without hesitation. There must be more to it than that. |
J. Crohn
Supporter
Username: Jcrohn
Post Number: 2664
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 9:38 pm: |
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Poppa: "I met them off the beat and path and I speak Spanish fluently..."
Better than English, perhaps. The expression you meant to use is, "off the beaten path."
Tom: "There must be more to it than that."
Why? Unlike eastern Europeans, Cubans have never had the opportunity to throw off Communism.
MrBP's assessment sounds about right to me: "Castro sentenced his country to 50 years of backwardsness, poverty and oppression."
We may have helped make things worse, though, for no terribly important geopolitical reason (at least, not post-1989).
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Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 10344
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 11:37 pm: |
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No one in Cuba is going to come out and tell a complete stranger they hate Castro and are tired of living in the past. I'm sure many listen to Cuba Marti and have a pretty good idea of what's going on. Hardly brainwashed, just not being so free with words. |
Mr. Big Poppa
Citizen
Username: Big_poppa
Post Number: 845
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 11:49 pm: |
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J Crohn, thanks for the correction.
Tom, you said "The people of eastern Europe were brainwashed nearly that long, but once given the opportunity threw off communism without hesitation. There must be more to it than that. . Well, the Cubans haven't had the "opportunity"
Dave, have you been to Cuba? Were you with me when I spoke with the Cubans? Don't think brainwashing can happen.....how did we end up in Iraq then?
Go there for yourselves if you really want to learn about Cuba under Casto. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 10346
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 11:53 pm: |
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I've lived in a communist nation for just under 2 years. My perspective in the first two weeks is at significant variance from the perspective I accumulated by the last two weeks of my stay. Visitors don't get anything close to an understanding of how people live and what they believe. The longer you stay, the more complex it gets. If you think you absorbed the reality of Cuba in a visit, I think you may be fooling yourself a bit and underestimating their intelligence. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 5407
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 12:26 am: |
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Maybe I wasn't clear: I question the simple notion that the people of Cuba are brainwashed. They, like the eastern Europeans, have learned to be discreet in what they say and who they say it to. Caution is different from being brainwashed. |
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