Ungrateful Cubans

Things like this make me sick....This is from the Seattle Times:

MIAMI - They led a life of privilege in a society of chronic scarcity. Children of top Cuban officials from Fidel Castro on down, they attended elite schools and often received coveted visas to study abroad.


They were being groomed to lead Cuba into the 21st century. Yet, with the passage of time and the decline of communism in the world, many of the children of Cuban revolutionaries have stopped believing in their parents and their values. Some never did believe.

The recent spectacular escape to the United States of Castro's own daughter dramatized the crisis of confidence among the children of the Cuban revolutionary "aristocracy." Alina Fernandez Revuelta, Castro's 37-year-old daughter, is only the latest in a growing number of elite defectors, a few of whom are now in Miami.

Fidel Castro has provided his people with programs for jobs, healthcare, and education.  There's hardly a Cuban alive who hasn't benefited from his economic, medical, or academic systems. 

He's given them roads.  He provided infrastructure - telephone lines, plumbing, and electricity.  Every time a Cuban looks at anything on his island, he should proudly step back and say "I didn't build that". 

But there are so-called "reformers" in Cuba who want to destroy the very system that has supported them their entire lives!!! 

Some of them want to overthrow Fidel Castro.  Yeah.  You heard it right.  But whose roads are the idealistic revolutionaries going to march on?  Fidel's.  Whose food will they eat?  Fidel's.  Whose roofs will they sleep under?  The ones provided by Fidel Castro. 

The hypocrisy makes me ill. 

Cubans didn't plow those sugar cane fields, erect those buildings, or pave those roads.  The Cuban government did it. 

If any of those ungrateful little Cubans can read this blog post, it's because Fidel Castro provided a system that taught them how to read. 

Kim Jong-Il is dead !

I've been swamped at work for about two weeks, and have gotten behind. 

So....

KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD !  KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD !  KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD ! KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD !  KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD !  KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD !  KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD ! KIM JONG-IL IS DEAD !

Ah..., that felt good.  I don't believe in any of the various Hells, but in the words of my friend Denny, I kinda hope they invent one just for that Totalitarian bastard. 

How bad a dictator was Kim?  He was so bad that even our State Department wouldn't give him any support, training, or money, despite their willingness to hand out money to every other despot who asked.  Now that's a bad dictator. 

Let us all hope that Kim is closely followed by Fidel Castro. 

I'm not the only person to post this bit o' greatness from "Team America: World Police" in honor of this occasion:



The Kim goes to hell cartoon came from here. 

Fidel Castro finally figures it out

Fidel Castro now says that (after decades of glorious success) his unique brand of Socialism isn't getting it done any longer:

Jeffrey Goldberg, a writer for the Atlantic Monthly magazine, wrote in a blog that he asked Castro, 84, if Cuba's model -- Soviet-style communism -- was still worth exporting to other countries and he replied, "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."


As Stephen Smith pointed out somewhere or another, "the words 'still' and 'anymore' in the question and the answer imply that there was once a time where the Cuba/Soviet scheme was succesful".  Not his exact words, but you get the idea. 
The comment appeared to reflect Castro's agreement, which he also expressed in a column for Cuban media in April, with his younger brother President Raul Castro, who has initiated modest reforms to stimulate Cuba's troubled economy.

What is it with all these collectivists who are having such a hard time stimulating their economies? 

Goldberg said Julia Sweig, a Cuba expert at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Washington who accompanied him to Havana, believed Castro's words reflected an acknowledgment that "the state has too big a role in the economic life of the country."

It has taken Fidel more than 50 years in power to figure that out.  Obama will only be president for 2 and a half more years.  Castro (and this isn't saying much) is a lot smarter than Barack Obama.  Therefore, we are doomed. 

Readers who like my schtick will possibly like this earlier posting about Castro stepping down as CEO of Cuba, Inc.

Pictures from Cuba's free healthcare system

Go here for pictures of Cuba's free healthcare system. 
It might not be the best, but at least its fair. 

Things that have been piling up on me, all worthy of perusal....

Johnathan Pearce of Samizdata takes a look at the rapidly improving Cuban quality of life (now that Fidel is about to start pushing up sugar cane) and causes me to wonder how much better life would be if Castro would hurry up and go to The Worker's Paradise in the sky.

Subadei/Subdujour, who eats this Foreign Affairs/Diplomacy stuff up and has a double helping for breakfast, takes a look at Cuba and wonders why Bush doesn't do a little more to speed things along.

When Hazel at The Line Is Here hosted, posted, and lightly roasted (sorry, DWSUWF) the latest edition of my Carnival Of The Libertarians project, it attracted comments from Andrew Ian Dodge (the Dodgeblogium site, at right) and The Devil's Kitchen (ditto.) I have two other sites lined up to host through May, but I'm going to ask Mr. Dodge and Mr. Devil to host after that. If they agree and apply themselves with their usual level of effort, it will be the most darkly intense (Dodge) and hilariously profane (Devil) things you've read in a while.

Steve-O at Caravan of Dreams has a wonderful post about WWII journalist Ernie Pyle's last byline, reminding us that before we go off any military adventures we should always count the cost. And see the cost.

My friend the Moderate Baptist Bass, Dr. Ralph, provides all of us with words to live by in this short little post.

If you ever watch the British Parliament on late night TV, and wonder why it's so much more entertaining than the animated waxwork displays on C-Span, Vindico at Curious Snippets from a Cynical Optimist explains why. Their representatives don't address a TV camera, they address each other. At least I think that's what he's referring to. Either way, Vindico is entertaining when irritated.

Speaking of irritated, my fellow Mississippian Gus Van Horn gets irritated when journalists blame "reason" for terrorism.

Becky, The Girl in Short Shorts Talking About Whatever, gets irritated by victimhood in the workplace.

My boss is in China, and has confirmed what this site told me a while back. I'm banned over there.

Castro resigns from Cuba Inc.

The good folks at The Line Is Here were the first to give me the news.

Fidel Castro, the wealthy plantation owner's kid who went on to own every plantation in Cuba, has stepped down as company president of Cuba Inc.

Castro gained control of Cuba Inc. through a series of Hostile Takeovers.

Forbes magazine estimated Castro's $900 million dollar fortune to be somewhere above that of Queen Elizabeth II, but less than that of Prince Albert II of Monaco.

In order to keep the family fortune intact, Castro will probably transfer power to his brother Raul. Little opposition is expected, since there are no other company shareholders outside of the Castro family.

Socialist ideology, like so many others, has two main dangers. One stems from confused and incomplete readings of foreign texts, and the other from the arrogance and hidden rage of those who, in order to climb up in the world, pretend to be frantic defenders of the helpless so as to have shoulders on which to stand.

-Jose Marti