Remember when Donald Rumsfeld dismissed resistance in Iraq a couple years after the invasion as "a bunch of bitter-enders". Cubans in South Florida are the bitter-enders to end all.
― Aimless, Thursday, 12 April 2012 20:43 (twelve years ago) link
51st anniv of the Bay of Pigs, which always makes me think of the JFK-autographed photo on Peter Falk's wall in The In-Laws: "We tried."
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
No need to remind me: Cuban radio was like a wake this morning.
Best book I've read on the subject.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
From the summary on Amazon: "In its wake, the United States appeared inept, reckless, and corrupt."
The tact involved in that choice of verb stands out a mile.
― Aimless, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:55 (twelve years ago) link
Tariq Ali:
Of course there is one thing Obama could do without fear or favor. Lift the embargo on Cuba and recognize the country. It is in the interests of the US itself to do so, but will he? Will the Clintons who are dreaming of a return to the White House let him? Nixon in Beijing. Obama in Havana. Might make a good opera and help posterity forget the drones and assassinations. Just a thought.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/07/the-triumph-of-conservatism/
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 7 November 2012 19:01 (eleven years ago) link
my Cuban relatives already think he's a Commie, so why not? Besides, they're dying.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 November 2012 19:06 (eleven years ago) link
so the NYT has run 3 pro-embargo-ending editorials the last 3 Sundays. And nothing's going to happen til Fidel kicks, is it?
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 4 November 2014 03:58 (nine years ago) link
1994 refugees today (photos)
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/11/20-years-after-the-1994-cuban-raft-exodus/100852/
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 November 2014 16:07 (nine years ago) link
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/17/371398638/cuba-frees-american-contractor-alan-gross?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
I know nothing of Cuba besides the Bay of Pigs/Missile Crisis. What's some good reading on Cuban history and the Cuban exile community in America.
― the mooney tanuki (how's life), Wednesday, 17 December 2014 14:54 (nine years ago) link
Second sentence should end with a "?".
― the mooney tanuki (how's life), Wednesday, 17 December 2014 14:55 (nine years ago) link
My mom just got back from a week in Cuba yesterday, and was telling me all about the Gross/Cuban 5 stuff. I'd like to credit her personally with this dramatic turn of events.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 17 December 2014 14:57 (nine years ago) link
Didion's Miami is a good and undated overview. So is Marvin Dunn's history of black South Florida. One of the heartbreaking ironies of history is how white Cubans snatched the middle class jobs from blacks just as the Civil Rights Act passed.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 December 2014 15:01 (nine years ago) link
from Guardian story:
But the ongoing imprisonment of Alan Gross was the very least of the many domestic political impediments in the way of any wider deal over trade, travel and diplomatic restrictions that have kept relations between the two countries in a Cold War deep freeze for decades.
It is is telling that the carefully orchestrated exchange of prisoners – something that must have taken months to negotiate – took place hours after US senators left Washington to go home for Christmas. It is also unthinkable that the Democratic White House would have risked such a move before November’s midterm elections, when hawks in both parties were already criticising him for similar concessions in Iran.
But the decision to attempt a complete Cuban “re-set” - to use the administration’s favoured phrase – is very much in keeping with Obama’s post-election radicalism.
It is a gamble that could backfire if relaxing the embargo does not create the desired internal pressure for reform inside Cuba, but Obama is not the only one who suspects that the existing, and very tired, US posture toward its near neighbour has long since proved past its sell-by date.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 December 2014 15:10 (nine years ago) link
Obama’s post-election radicalism
man that word is just completely trashed in the UK eh
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 17 December 2014 15:21 (nine years ago) link
For American travelers to Cuba, this is an important detail buried in the Obama announcement: $100 worth of cigars and rum will be allowed.
― gyac, Wednesday, 17 December 2014 18:40 (nine years ago) link
well the US Interests Section in Havana is now the embassy.
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Monday, 20 July 2015 19:39 (eight years ago) link
many Irish-Americans who conspired to arm the IRA during the Troubles wound up in prison
This is news to me and, I suspect, everybody else in the UK.
― Possibly Fingers (Tom D.), Monday, 20 July 2015 19:59 (eight years ago) link
eh, while US citizens, including prominent politicians, donated huge sums of money to charity-fronts to finance the provos the US gov and law enforcement agencies didn't turn a blind-eye to provo activities in the US.
― Rave Van Donk (jim in glasgow), Monday, 20 July 2015 22:14 (eight years ago) link
i mean did you never watch the devil's own?
― Rave Van Donk (jim in glasgow), Monday, 20 July 2015 22:17 (eight years ago) link
Never seen it, should I have? What activities?
― Possibly Fingers (Tom D.), Monday, 20 July 2015 22:24 (eight years ago) link
Anyway, major league thread derailment or what? Apologies!
― Possibly Fingers (Tom D.), Monday, 20 July 2015 22:32 (eight years ago) link
the devil's own (1997) is a terrible film were brad pitt plays a ra man and ends up getting shot by new york cop harrison ford as he tries to take SAM missiles in a boat from new york to ireland. don't watch it it's awful.
these sorts of activities: http://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/14/nyregion/four-found-guilty-of-plotting-to-smuggle-arms-for-the-ira.html
― Rave Van Donk (jim in glasgow), Monday, 20 July 2015 22:36 (eight years ago) link
That's a famous case, famous because of its rarity, and of the four only one was an actually Irish-American. So, yes, I would still be surprised to find out that 'many Irish-Americans' were imprisoned by American law enforcement agencies during the Troubles.
― Possibly Fingers (Tom D.), Monday, 20 July 2015 22:40 (eight years ago) link
and commercial flights from US begin
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/30/politics/cuba-flights-commercial-security/index.html
― The Hon. J. Piedmont Mumblethunder (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 31 August 2016 16:46 (seven years ago) link
Our Morbs in Miami
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 August 2016 17:29 (seven years ago) link
i have been to Santa Clara (and Che's tomb), but not Fort Lauderdale.
― The Hon. J. Piedmont Mumblethunder (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 31 August 2016 18:13 (seven years ago) link
I wanna do a tour with American Ned Sublette, who has written a book about Cuban music, and been there a bunch
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 1 September 2016 16:37 (seven years ago) link
back to the '60s (or 2004). These 'attacks' sound like some spytech lit gimmickry.
The United States is warning Americans against visiting Cuba and ordering more than half of U.S. personnel to leave the island, senior officials said Friday, in a dramatic response to what they described as “specific attacks” on diplomats.
The decision deals a blow to already delicate ties between the U.S. and Cuba, longtime enemies who only recently began putting their hostility behind them. The embassy in Havana will lose roughly 60 percent of its U.S. staff, and will stop processing visas in Cuba indefinitely, the American officials said.
In a new travel warning to be issued Friday, the U.S. will say some of the attacks have occurred in Cuban hotels, and that while American tourists aren’t known to have been hurt, they could be exposed if they travel to Cuba. Tourism is a critical component of Cuba’s economy that has grown in recent years as the U.S. relaxed restrictions....
To investigators’ dismay, the symptoms in the attacks vary widely from person to person. In addition to hearing loss and concussions, some experienced nausea, headaches and ear-ringing, and the AP has reported some now suffer from problems with concentration and common word recall.
Though officials initially suspected some futuristic “sonic attack,” the picture has grown muddier. The FBI and other agencies that searched homes and hotels where incidents occurred found no devices. And clues about the circumstances of the incidents seem to make any explanation scientifically implausible.
https://apnews.com/3602399b00044443883aa2bdef0f1a84
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 29 September 2017 14:42 (six years ago) link
"The Cuban national assembly meets this Wednesday to elect the next president, and Raúl Castro is widely expected to be replaced by the current vice-president Miguel Díaz-Canel."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/18/raul-castro-cuba-step-down-leader-miguel-diaz-canel
― brain (krakow), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 10:32 (six years ago) link
Also, Canada just pulled its people for familiar weird health reasons.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 11:58 (six years ago) link
With reference to the previous "sonic attacks" (quotes for my personal scepticism)... some scientific research with a sense of humour: https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/devices/finally-a-likely-explanation-for-the-sonic-weapon-used-at-the-us-embassy-in-cuba
― brain (krakow), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 12:23 (six years ago) link
have there been any other strange historical examples of sonic interference injuring or damaging dozens of people?
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 12:47 (six years ago) link
I know several high schoolers in the eighties who attended a Bon Jovi concert.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 12:48 (six years ago) link
I've been to a few Sunn O))) gigs that could easily qualify as well.
― brain (krakow), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 15:49 (six years ago) link
― brain (krakow), Wednesday, April 18, 2018 3:32 AM
"Finding the path to modernizing Cuba's economy will now fall squarely on the shoulders of Miguel Diaz-Canel, Castro's successor as president who is expected to take over as head of the communist party."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/15/americas/cuba-raul-castro-communist-leader-intl-latam/index.html
― nickn, Friday, 16 April 2021 21:05 (three years ago) link
Fidel was right though x pic.twitter.com/k5PPWnLycv— marcus 🇧🇧 (@marcusjdl) May 15, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 15 May 2022 11:13 (one year ago) link
A thread on the Families Code and referendum in Cuba. This is a comprehensive piece of legislation, widely described as being one of the most progressive in the world.— 🇯🇲 Co-operative Textile Mill ☭ (@SiggonKristov) September 26, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 10:10 (one year ago) link
In Cuba during hurricanes, neighborhood committees go door-to-door and make sure that everyone is safely evacuated with their belongings. In St. Pete, the police drive around warning poor people on loud speakers that there will be no help for them. #HurricanIan https://t.co/jlL0hMh1qu— Karla Correa (@comradekarla) September 28, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 28 September 2022 20:05 (one year ago) link
This absolute queen gets freed in a month pic.twitter.com/FP6Y0Z9USS— cabral (@comradeaux) December 5, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 14:36 (one year ago) link