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BS: Keep Castro alive
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Subject: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Donuel Date: 16 Jan 07 - 12:09 PM Currently suffering from terminal flatulence Fidel needs the ultimate anti biotic (V) unavailable in Cuba. Please do what you can and send all your money and support to Donuel.com I pledge to not divert iculitis any of the funds or drugs for private use. The alternative will be to turn Cuba into the biggest damn Island resort the world has ever seen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: GUEST,a bit self-conscious Date: 16 Jan 07 - 12:55 PM According to Skipy in the 'smoking in pubs' thread, everybody farts 14 times a day. Well I only did one yesterday, and none yet today, and I was wondering if someone else was doing 27/28 a day to compensate for my poor performance. Now we know who it is. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: artbrooks Date: 16 Jan 07 - 01:15 PM Guest, your turn will come tomorrow. Please let us know where you are, so that I can be at least one state away. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Little Hawk Date: 16 Jan 07 - 02:44 PM Don't be silly. There's no such thing as terminal flatulence. At least, I hope not! Everyone dies eventually. Castro, Margaret Thatcher, George Bush, you, me... The only question is whether or not they go before you do. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: GUEST,albert Date: 16 Jan 07 - 04:54 PM Much respect to Fidel.He has kept the island out of the clutches of US big business and its military arm despite decades of economic sanctions,an invasion,acts of US organised or inspired terrorism and all kinds of other threats. Albert |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Peter K (Fionn) Date: 16 Jan 07 - 04:58 PM And he has achieved levels of health and education services that should shame his wealthy neighbour. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Slag Date: 16 Jan 07 - 04:58 PM Yep, Fidel saved the LAND. He didn't do too well for his people though. Mixed bag. Good cigars, lousy prisons. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: cobra Date: 16 Jan 07 - 06:46 PM Castro has always been an easy target for many people in the US. Cuban poverty levels are cited, the crumbling infrastructure of Havana, the prevalence of 1950s gas guzzlers kept together with little more than string. We would do well to recognise that Castro did not come from thin air. He was, some would say, the inevitable consequence of years of US exploitation of Cuba. The popularity of the man and the affection for him which his people share should not be underestimated. Of course there are those in Miami who decry the man and his work but these are the same people (or their descendants) who did the dirty work for the US during its worst excesses. In fact, Castro took advantage of the opportunity to empty his prisons of lowlife scum and let them head to Miami in their droves. I suspect there is more than a little disgruntlement with the offspring of some of these early "settlers" in Miami, even today... Cuba was no more than a playground for the USA. Yes, it had the first automated canning production line in the world and it had the world's first automatic telephone exchange. BUt those were merely prototypes which were being tested prior to maodification and roll-out in continental USA. There was never any US commitment to improving the Cuban lot. I would commend any of the works of Huberman & Sweezy, two American economists, who wrote extensively and passionately about Cuba and its revolution. I defy anyone not to shed a tear at the description of children with maggots emerging from their bodies simply because there was no healthcare for 98% of Cuban people, yet Americans and the Cuban elite ate and drank of the best whilst the people suffered. Castro will leave behind a legacy of world-class standards of educational and sporting achievement, of medical excellence, of crime rates significantly lower on a per capita basis than virtually any part of the USA and a social welfare structure which actually values and prizes the people of Cuba. Most of all, he has been a beacon for oppressed people everywhere, the living proof that small nations can succeed in the face of naked aggression from bigger bullies. And, bear in mind, this success was achieved against a backdrop of blockades and dirty tricks by successive US administrations. It never ceases to amaze and amuse me that some Americonians have the temerity to castigate other countries for aspects of their processes and procedures. I am no expert on prisons but I am prepared to bet that Attica and any of the major US penitentiaries will not get high marks from any assessor. In fact, I am confident the one prison on Cuban soil which will top any list for cruel and inhumane treatment will be Gitmo. Yes, we all have much to learn from the US prison system. Viva Fidel! Viva la revolucione! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: cobra Date: 16 Jan 07 - 06:49 PM Oh, and as a nod towards the fine musical tradition which Mudcat espouses and champions, Castro's Cuba maintains an excellence in music and dance. That and some damned fine cigars. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: mack/misophist Date: 16 Jan 07 - 09:01 PM Back to the topic: the reason shit floats is that most of the gas produced in our guts in embedded in it. Flatulence isn't always necessary. Unless you have the runs. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: curmudgeon Date: 16 Jan 07 - 09:01 PM Don't forget the rum! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Slag Date: 16 Jan 07 - 09:43 PM I disagree with snake and El Revolucione'. But I have to say that the heavy handedness of the US and the attitude that "we'll grab the best off the top" for ourselves, especially in Latin American Affairs certainly gave Castro a clear view of what lay in store if he continued to play ball with the CIA. As much as I dislike the represive regime I, and any honest observer, must give credit where it is due: Fidel is a survivor and an adept at playing both ends to his advantage. Post Kennedy and the missile crisis, US policy toward Cuba looks so much more like sour grapes than security and ideological differences that it's an embarrassment. If we could seek normalized relations with Vietnam, why not Cuba? With China, why not Cuba? With Russia, then why not Cuba? I'm open to explanation??? Anybody??? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: GUEST,MarkS Date: 16 Jan 07 - 10:09 PM Hey = lets leave out the cigars. Got enough trouble with tobacco already. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Slag Date: 16 Jan 07 - 10:35 PM Let me say this about that! (Gee, that sounds familiar?). I know it's a little off-topic but there are several tabacco related threads going right now. I do not smoke and find cigaret smoke utterly disgusting. Oddly enough, one of the BEST aroma I encounter is when I walk into a tobacconist's shop. There is something magical and rich about the aroma of unburned, cured tobacco. At times I have bought good cigars just to have the cachet in my chest of drawers or night stand. Many years ago I would smoke a cigar on occasion, or rather burn one and that was a pleasant experience too. Tobacco has its place and Cuban handmades are the finest example of this in all the world. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Little Hawk Date: 16 Jan 07 - 11:39 PM I've been a supporter of "La Revolucion" for a long time, but specially since my visit to Cuba in 2000, and getting to know a lot of Cubans there personally. Marvelous people, and a marvelously brave attempt at self-government in the immense shadow of El Norte. Castro was always a man with an incredible amount of guts (no joke intended), and I wish him well. Without his revolution, Cubans would have been a lot worse off than they are. I don't care about the cigars, but I agree they smell great as long as they're not burning! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: number 6 Date: 16 Jan 07 - 11:48 PM I like their cigars, their music and their baseball. I could never understand why the U.S. has boycotted Cuba (a communist nation) while on the other hand they open up trade and quite literally are selling themselves off to China (another communist (in theory) nation that commits atrocious human rights violations). biLL |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jan 07 - 02:16 AM They do it for the same reason that a major crime boss who controls the downtown of a city does not allow a business in that area to operate outside his protection rackets without suffering consequences... It's a matter of turf. China is not located on what the Americans consider their turf, and China is not small enough to bully in any case. None of this is EVER about human rights. It's about business. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Richard Bridge Date: 17 Jan 07 - 04:01 AM Bullis always bully because they can. They like it. Now that the USSR is not there to protect Cuba, I am quite surprised that Bush has not invaded Cuba. Indeed, when he figures out it will be an easy war to win, and probably popular at home, and that he will probably not face the same cultural and religious opposition to occupation (not least because he can put his corrupt cronies from the mainland back in charge) as in Iraq, Afghanistan and probably soon Iran, I would not be in the least surprised to see anoher Bay of Pigs - perhaps more successful. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: akenaton Date: 17 Jan 07 - 04:42 AM Castro is a hero. If his death is imminent, and I hope he lives for many more years, the arseholes who condemn his regime on this thread will be shamed by the affection which will be shown by the REAL people of Cuba for the father of their nation. Not every person in this world values money and a mad materialistic lifestyle above all else....Ake |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Wolfgang Date: 17 Jan 07 - 05:50 AM Castro is one more sad example in this world that too many socialists think that freedom does not go well together with socialism. The way he has treated his critics shames socialism. The revolution in Cuba was necessary and a good act welcomes byan overwehlming majority of the Cubans. What this autocrat has made of it later is a mixed bag. On the other hand, the reaction of the USA to Castro's Cuba was stupid and plainly wrong. Ake, do you use the word "arsehole" as meaning "someone with a different opiniont from my own"? And "REAL people" being only those who share your feelings? Point to just one post in this thread that has been critical of Cuba in a way that merits the word "arsehole" for the poster. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 17 Jan 07 - 06:21 AM "an easy war to win" - I suppose Bush might be stupid enough to think that would be the case. And "probably popular at home" - not for long it wouldn't be, as the death count rose higher and higher, and the fighting spread to the cities back home, as it undoubtedly would. Relatively small countries under attack from powerful enemies tend not to be too democratic - take the UK under Churchill in the war, and imagine that war stetched out for half a century. Many of the faults associated with Castro's Cuba can be laid primarily at the door of the USA's behaviour towards that country over the years. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: DougR Date: 17 Jan 07 - 01:29 PM I wonder. Do you suppose they sell TUMS or BEANO in Cuba? DougR |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 17 Jan 07 - 01:46 PM "Beano"? I suppose it might cheer the old bloke up. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jan 07 - 02:23 PM I've been in Cuba. If the USA was stupid enough to invade that country....they would no doubt succeed initially with their immense firepower in scoring a conventional victory over the Cuban armed forces. Uh-huh. And that would be just the beginning of a vicious guerilla war in both the cities and the mountains that would never end until the Americans finally left. Kind of like Iraq. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: number 6 Date: 17 Jan 07 - 04:25 PM "China is not located on what the Americans consider their turf," No ... but they pretty well own "their turf by now". "If the USA was stupid enough to invade that country." they already did ... Kennedy realized what a mistake he had made and pulled out as soon as it began (Bay of Pigs). biLL |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 17 Jan 07 - 04:36 PM But Bush is no Kennedy. If he makes a mistake he doesn't try to undo it, he pushes ahead and makes it worse than ever. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jan 07 - 06:40 PM Kennedy was a smart man. I don't think Bush is. Considering the American $ debts to China, I think it's more like China pretty well owns America by now... ;-) They could pull the plug on the USA if they wanted to, but that would start a world war. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Keep Castro alive From: Donuel Date: 17 Jan 07 - 09:21 PM Looong time ago there was a CIA plot to slip Fidel an agent that would cause immense flatulence and supposedly humiliation. I kid you not. Through an FBI contact we got our hands on some of this blasto matic powder. It truely would create some farts for the record books. Funny truth aside... Castro was a hero, he also was mistreated by the US, particularly by Nixon. Fidel also became a Soviet pawn. He was sincere but overeached in his need to be hands on EVERYTHING. As a result, without his personal seal of approval nothing often got done. Hugo will probably never achieve the hero status of Fidel but will have much still to learn from the succes and failures of Castro. IF the US gets its a corporate hotel grip on Cuba it will be as though the entire city of Los Vegas picked up and moved 90 miles off shore. |
