More thoughts on Cuba

I just got back from visiting my family in Florida this week and there was a common theme in many of our conversations: How much the current situation in our country remind them of what happened in Cuba 50 years ago.

In my last post I said how what was happening with the car dealerships reminded me of hearing about what happened with my grandmother and her beauty salon and in conversation one day she told me that listening to what has been happening reminded her about that also, same with my dad.

When I visited my grandfather, my mother’s father, he kept coming back to the similarities between what happened then and what is happening now. He kept saying that he has seen this before and that people just don’t understand what the consequences are.

While I was visiting with him we went through some old pictures including my grandparent’s wedding pictures and as we were looking over the very few pictures he had from Cuba he pointed to a man in one picture and told me that he was the man that smuggled their pictures out of Cuba, when he left through Mexico. He mailed them to my grandparents from Mexico. The pictures made it to their destination but he never did. He, very mysteriously, was murdered just before he made it to the US. He pointed to several other people in one of the wedding pictures, taken just five short years before the revolution, and told me that they were killed by the Castro government, shortly after the revolution.

I was talking to my dad about the similarities between what is going on now and what happened in Cuba and we got to talking about when they left and I said something about the scene in “The Lost City” when Andy Garcia’s character leaves Cuba and he has to leave everything behind. My dad said that was exactly what it was like; you couldn’t take anything with you at all. Not even family mementos like pictures, things that have no real value other than sentimental value. I had never realized that there were hardly any pictures of either side of my family from their days in Cuba and now I know why that is. I brought home all of my grandfather’s pictures for my mom to arrange for him and as I looked through them the other day I noticed that there were a few black and white pictures in one old album, that I know are old enough to be from Cuba, but other than that, there is nothing. Almost all the pictures pre-1967 are gone. I can’t explain why but it makes me sad to think about that. There are just a few pictures of my mom as a baby and a girl, up until she was 10, there are only a few pictures of my grandmother growing up, there are no pictures of my grandfather until the wedding pictures, he was 27.

So with all the reminiscing last week, I came home and put the lost city on my instant play list on Netflix and some suggestions popped up. One of the suggestions was Fidel. It is a documentary about Fidel and according to it he is a wonderful man and possibly the best thing that has ever happened to Cuba. I beg to differ. There was one old man, a journalist, talking about how great Fidel is from the comfort of Miami. I kept thinking: if he’s so great then why are you in Miami instead of in Cuba?

Of course there were also the American celebrities that think he’s wonderful too. Belafonte and Alice Walker think he has great qualities. But of course they live here in the United States and not in Cuba. I wonder if they would still think so highly of him if they had to live in Cuba, as everyday Cubans, in poverty.
I wonder if they would feel the same way if they had to live like these people:

All these videos are from O-jec.com. They have a lot of great videos, some are subtitled and some you don't even need to know what they are saying to realize how bad the situation is. Check them out.

Getting water in Cuba:



How about food?

There is no translation on this one but this guy interrupts an interview and he's pretty much saying that there is no food and that the people of Cuba are going hungry:



How hungry are they? Well how hungry would you have to be to eat garbage off the street?



And how about living conditions:

This lady pretty much says that tourists have this image of Cuba being so pretty and that the people don't have any need but that in fact they dont have clothes or shoes, that it's hard to get food, that kids are dying because they can't get the medicines they need:







This lady is showing how she works her old stove and then her family buys her a new stove:



Can you imagine if these celebrities that thing Castro is so great had to live like this?

And after seeing that look at these pre-revolution pictures of Havana and tell me which one you would rather live in:

What Next

So far the administration has stuck it's tentacles into different areas of our private sector.
Starting with regulating CEO pay and bonuses to firing CEO's, and firing military generals with 30+ years of distinguished service for no good reason, it's become quite alarming to say the least.

Yesterday afternoon I was listening to Rush and he was reading a letter sent to American Thinker from an owner of a Dodge dealer.

When I heard Rush read:

On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them...

THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY

This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong...

The first thing that came to my mind was my dad telling me about the day, in Cuba, that my grandmother went to open her beauty salon and there were government officials waiting for her to tell her that it was no longer her business. Just like private property and private businesses were seized from law abiding, hard working, Cubans 50 years ago, now it is being seized from Americans.

I don't understand how, in America, a person can lose their business the way a couple of thousand dealership owners have in the last week. I used to think this was not the type of thing that happened in our great country but I guess I was wrong. It didn't stop with capping pay and bonuses and it is not going to stop with owners losing their businesses at no fault of their own. But when will it stop? When are people going to say enough is enough and at that point is it going to be to late?

What I'm really scared of right now is that there are more people in this country that just want to get "theirs" from the government and they are not concerned with what they are losing in the process. I'm also scared that too many of these people don't even realize what they are losing and/or just don't care as long as they are going to be taken care of. I also think that too many people think they are owed something instead of taking care of themselves. Come one people, put your big kid pants on and take care of yourself and your own and quit expecting someone else to. When you depend on them they have control over you, they shouldn't have the control over us, they work for us remember?

So much to say, so little time

I have been beyond negligent about posting. Trust me, it's not for a lack of things to say. Every day, there are things on the news that get my blood boiling and I have a million things going through my head. There has been way too much going on though.

First, my Internet connection has been iffy for the past month. Today the cable company had several trucks out here all day working at just about every house on the street. So, hopefully, whatever was going on will be fixed now.

Second, The Army Dude finally left for Korea. It's been a pretty smooth transition, probably because I've become used to him being gone all the time because of work, but it still has taken some getting used to being the only parent again.

Third, I found out my at the end of March that, as of the end of April, I would be out of a job. I told the Army Dude on election night that I'd probably be without a job by summer and sure enough. But it was a blessing in disguise because Army Dude's reaction was to get command sponsorship for us to move to Korea too. YAY! Which brings me to:

Fourth, now that I'm not working anymore I am full steam ahead, getting ready to move this summer. Right now I'm still getting the house ready for the real estate agent to come take pictures and start advertising it. We decided to just rent it because we'd love to move back here, either after Korea or when Army Dude retires in less than 5 years (YAY!).

And Fifth, school, I decided to take 3 classes again this term, because I didn't learn my lesson last summer. It's been hard to keep up at times and having bad Internet connection has not helped at all. But I have learned one very important point this term. I HATE public administration and I'll be changing my major, once again, after this term. I'm also not taking classes over the summer because that would be insane to do when I'm trying to move overseas. But come fall I'll be back and this time I'll be majoring in international relations.

So that's a quick run down of what's been taking up most of my time lately. There are some things that I really want to comment on, hopefully by the end of the week, including the release of the interrogation memos and Nancy Pelosi's apparent onset of Alzheimer's, the release of one Presidential plane picture that reminds us of just how insensitive the Obama administration is but the release of hundreds of pictures that make the military look bad, and of course, keeping with the theme, the firing of a general officer with decades of honorable service for no apparent reason other than they want change.

If by Freedom You Mean...

Have you seen any of these Congressional Black Caucus Members that went to Cuba this week talk about their meeting with Fidel?
It's sick really.
I've already said that the embargo hasn't worked and we should just lift it all together so I have on problem with that part of it. What they said about the Freedom in Cuba and the praise they heaped on Fidel was just makes my blood boil.

It was quite a moment to behold," Lee said, recalling her moments with Castro.

Yes I'm sure it was, a defining moment right?

“It was almost like listening to an old friend,” said Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Il.), adding that he found Castro’s home to be modest and Castro’s wife to be particularly hospitable.

“In my household I told Castro he is known as the ultimate survivor,” Rush said.

Like listening to an old friend? How many friends does Rush have that imprisons or murders people that dare speak out against them, that steals people's private property, that lives in luxury while the people he represents live in poverty.
Oh wait, never mind you don't have to answer that.
By the way, in my house Castor is not exactly known as "the ultimate survivor" but it's not lady like to say what he's known as here.

Here is an interview with Congress Critter Richardson on her meeting with Fidel.

Love it when she says that she saw freedom in Cuba and that she didn't see dissent. Well that may have to do with the fact that dissent is met with imprisonment at best. And by the way you are seeing what Cuba wants you to see, next time go off the beaten path and see the real Cuba, see where regular people live, what they have to eat, and what hospitals they go to. Oh and for shits and giggles ask them how much money they make in a month (Here's a hint, I couldn't get a tank full of gas).
Think of this too, if things are so great in Cuba, why do Cubans risk their lives, and die, in inner tubes for the chance of getting to the US? When was the last time thousands of Americans risked their lives in inner tubes to get to Cuba?



Once again, Bobby, I'm glad that murderous dictator could endear himself to you with his sense of humor. It's killer!

2010 Starts Now

The quest to take back the Senate and House in 2010 starts now.

In the next couple of weeks there will be a couple of special elections to fill seats in the House that were left vacant because of the new Obama Administration.



The first one will be March 31. This race is for the seat (NY 20th) left vacant by Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat by Gov. Paterson.
Jim Tedisco is the Republican running for this seat and so far it seems promising. Show your support, give if you can, pass along his information, if you live in the 20th District make sure you go out and vote on 3/31. I know how hard it is to remember to vote in special elections (as I almost forgot to during the run off here in December) but what better way to get the buzz going for 2010 than to vote in a Republican to a seat formerly held by a Democrat.



And speaking of voting a Republican in seat formerly held by a Democrat: My friend Sarah did this great run down on Rosanna Pulido who is running for the seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel when he became Obama's Chief of Staff. This election will take place 4/7, again another important race and another opportunity to send an early message for 2010. Check it out, she has some great information and websites to check out.

With Friends Like These

We already know that Michelle Obama wants to take military families under her wing and every few weeks she goes down to a military base and feels their pain for an hour or two but what good will really come out of that?

Well we already know that her husband didn't think it was important to serve his country in the early 80's, and we've heard the rumors that he wants to make vets' private insurance pay for their service related injuries.

Well the rumor is not so much a rumor anymore. And today Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion met with the Commander in Chief and Gen Shinseki (Anyone else think he's more trouble than he's worth?) among others about it.

"He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."


The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!"

Thank you Commander Rehbein, General Shinseki should take notes on what you say and actually take a stand for the veterans for a change. But of course I don't expect much from the man behind the black beret debacle.
And it is absolutely outrageous that they are doing this to save several hundred million. There are earmarks in the porkulus bill that cost more than they are trying to save! How about we cut those out before we cut benefits to the vets.

In any case back to Mrs. Obama. She went to Ft. Bragg last week.

And what did she have to say?

"It hurts. It hurts," Mrs. Obama said of hearing about military families on food stamps. "These are people who are willing to send their loved ones off to, perhaps, give their lives _ the ultimate sacrifice. But yet, they're living back at home on food stamps. It's not right, and it's not where we should be as a nation."

Well, how about we take a good long look at how much we pay our military and do something about that. Go ahead, take a look. Make sure to pay particular attention to what enlisted members make.

This is what we are paying the men and women that defend our country. This is what we pay people to put their lives on the line for our country and our freedoms. This is what we pay the people that give up years of their lives and their families' lives for our country. This is what we pay people who wont be there when their children are born, wont see their first steps, wont be there for birthdays, Christmases, school recitals, graduations because they are defending our country. This is what we pay people who may never come home, who may lay down their lives so we don't have to, for our country. Is this what they deserve?

So what are congress critters getting paid this year? $174,040

I think our military deserve that kind of pay more than congress, but that's just me.

Oh and my favorite part of that article about Mrs. Obama visiting Ft. Bragg:

Sgt. 1st Class Ashlyn Lewis, 31, of Indianapolis, said it was a remarkable experience to see the first lady in the cafeteria at Fort Bragg. She said the Obamas have a lot of work ahead of them to shore up deficiencies in the military's medical system.

"Right now the biggest concern would be taking care of the vets, making sure that the people that are coming home are getting the proper medical care _ not just for the Iraqi or Afghanistan vets, but also, there are a lot of Vietnam vets who haven't been receiving the proper care," Lewis said. "I believe (the Obamas) are headed in the right direction, but it's going to be a lot of work."

I think someone should give SFC Lewis a copy of the article posted above.

And finally all I have to say to Michelle is: Put your money where your mouth is, talk is cheap. Don't just use us as a backdrop to make you look like you care when your husband is taking even more benefits away from our vets.

Sorry Mom and Dad

I didn't know, until I heard it on the news this morning, that there is a provision in the Omnibus bill to ease travel and remittance restrictions to Cuba.

CUBA TRAVEL AND TRADE

Obama has made clear he favors relaxing limits on family travel and cash remittances by Cuban Americans to Cuba, although he has said the U.S. trade embargo should stay in place to press for democratic reforms.

The Cuba proposals do not lift the overall U.S. embargo on the communist-run country, but would prohibit the Treasury Department from enforcing Bush administration rules requiring payment of cash in advance for agricultural sales to Cuba.

The legislation proposes to allow Americas with immediate family in Cuba to travel there once a year instead of once every three years and broadens the definition of immediate family.

"It's being done in a haphazard way without real clarity about the implications that it all will have," said Republican opponent of the provisions, Senator Mel Martinez from Florida, which is home to thousands of Cuban exiles like himself.

So this is where I feel I may need to apologize to my parents but why stop there?
Why not just completely do away with the embargo?

As the daughter and granddaughter of Cuban immigrants, I know what I am about to say goes against everything I should probably stand for (at least as far as my parents and grandparents are concerned)but here it goes: First of all what exactly is the embargo accomplishing? When it started 40-odd years ago the intent was to isolate the Castro Regime, who at the time was allying with the USSR. They posed a national security threat and the intention was to isolate and undermine the regime and lead to its downfall. Since 1991 and the fall of the Soviet Union Cuba really poses no threat and we are the only country with an embargo against Cuba and the Castro Regime is still in power. So I ask is it really working? What exactly is it achieving?

Well, in a speech Dan Griswold of the CATO Institute had this to say:

As a foreign policy tool, the embargo actually enhances Castro's standing by giving him a handy excuse for the failures of his homegrown Caribbean socialism. He can rail for hours about the suffering the embargo inflicts on Cubans, even though the damage done by his domestic policies is far worse. If the embargo were lifted, the Cuban people would be a bit less deprived and Castro would have no one else to blame for the shortages and stagnation that will persist without real market reforms.

Think about it, if Castro is using the embargo as propaganda to show the Cuban people how evil the Americans are and how all their suffering is because of the American embargo then who will he have to blame when the embargo is lifted? Who will they blame when there is no one left to blame for their failed policies.
And it's not just the Cuban government, but other countries blame the US for the economic hardships in Cuba. They don't bother to mention that not only do other countries, Canada, the EU and Latin American countries, trade with Cuba but that Cuba does have limited trade with the US:

In 2000, Congress approved a modest opening of the embargo. The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 allows cash-only sales to Cuba of U.S. farm products and medical supplies. The results of this opening have been quite amazing. Since 2000, total sales of farm products to Cuba have increased from virtually zero to $380 million last year. From dead last in U.S. farm export markets, Cuba ranked 25th last year out of 228 countries in total purchases of U.S. farm products. Cuba is now the fifth largest export market in Latin America for U.S. farm exports. American farmers sold more to Cuba last year than to Brazil. Our leading exports to Cuba are meat and poultry, rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans.

So I say, in the spirit of transparency, go ahead and lift the embargo and lets see what happens. If the embargo hasn't fulfilled it's purpose yet then lets see what we can do when we are allowed to go to Cuba and spread our ideas and money on that island. Lets see what we can do when the government cant blame us for their problems anymore.