Public Secrets

If he's a saint, then I'm an atheist

Fausta is aghast that the UN General Assembly President would say of Fidel Castro [he] "...is what best resembles a saint in our troubled world.”

Say what?

Perhaps Senor D'Escoto would like to review the United Nations' own Universal Declaration of Human Rights and compare it to this "saint's" record.

Someone tell me again why we're paying a dime to this organization?

Oh, yeah. So we can pay criminals' legal fees.

 

Technorati tags: Miguel D'Escoto, Fidel Castro, dictators, Benon Sevan, human rights, farce, united nations, oil for food

The friends of Barack

Gosh, did you know the terrorist Weathermen, whose former but proud leader William Ayers let his home be used to launch Barack Obama's career, received help from Fidel Castro's Cuba?

But it would be racist to bring that up.

(hat tip: The Jawa Report)

 

Technorati tags: Barack Obama, William Ayers, Weather Underground Organization, Cuba

Another good commercial

Between Cuba and his willingness to talk to Iran, a government that wants to bring about a second Holocaust, Obama is going to have a heckuva time winning Florida this year. The Republican National Committee is going to make sure Florida's Cuban-Americans hear all about the Prophet's willingness to talk to Raul Castro without preconditions:

 

(hat tip: Hot Air)

 

Technorati tags: Barack Obama, Cuba, Raul Castro, Carterism

Castro resigns

Good coverage at Fausta's blog.

One thing to note is that the murderous 81-year old dictator is handing the reins of power to his 76-year old "kid brother," Raul.

Anyone else have memories of the USSR circa 1982, when Brezhnev finally died and was succeeded by the elderly Yuri Andropov, who died in 1984 and was in turn succeeded by the equally aged and even less healthy Konstantin Chenenko, who himself died less than a year later? Next came Gorbachev, and we know what happened to the Soviet Union after that.

Will we see a similar pattern in Cuba, or will the leadership manage the transition to maintain their rule, as the Communist Chinese did after the death of Mao?

UPDATE: Richard Miniter points out something that everyone else (including me) missed, and also notes the Castro-worship on NPR's "Morning Edition."

Technorati tags: Cuba, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Soviet Union, USSR

Obama

May want to keep closer tabs on his campaign workers.

Technorati tags: Barack Obama, Che Guevara, Cuba, embarrassments

A keen sense of the obvious

From today's Jerusalem Post:

The United Nations Human Rights Council has not managed to deal fairly with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the council's president Doru-Romulus Costea told a Spanish newspaper on Saturday, according to Israel Radio.

Doru admitted that he was dissatisfied with the fact the council had overly focused on the degree of human rights violations by Israel.

That's putting it mildly. The UNHRC (and its predecessor) spends almost 100% of its time criticizing Israel, which, while not perfect, is a liberal democracy and the most moral, ethical, and humane nation in the region. Meanwhile the commission ignores real atrocities committed by real dictatorships -- North Korea, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Russia (yes, it's a dictatorship), Cuba, and a host of others. The UNHRC --and the UN overall-- is nothing but a playground for diplomats from corrupt, repressive governments and serves no useful purpose. The world would be no worse off if the UNHRC --and the UN, overall-- were to vanish. It might even be better for it.

 

 

(courtesy: Jerusalem Post)

(hat tip: LGF)

Technorati tags: United Nations, UN, Human Rights Council, Doru-Romulus Costea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, China, Zimbabwe, Cuba, North Korea, hypocrisy

Is Edwards really this ignorant?

Or just a lying cynic?

(hat tip: Roger L. Simon)

 

Technorati tags: John Edwards, Elmer Gantry, Cuba, healthcare, Sicko, Michael Moore

Fred Thompson 1, Fat Hack Director 0

Michael Moore took affront at former Senator Fred Thompson's criticism of Moore's recent trip to Cuba and in reply challenged Thompson to a debate over healthcare. Thompson then answered in turn, saying he didn't have the time to debate Moore, but he did have some advice for the famed propagandist director:

 

And note the irony: Moore the filmmaker made his case via letters, while Thompson the politician released a video.

I'm liking this guy more and more.

(hat tip: PJM)

LINKS: Bob Krumm thinks Thompson's move was brilliant, while Keeping It Real has declared himself a fan for life. Salena Zito wonders if this is Thompson's watershed moment.

UPDATE: YouTube lies! The video is still available at this link.

 

Technorati tags: Michael Moore, Fred Thompson, healthcare, 2008 election, Cuba

Cuba denounces Viking imperialism!

Another scene in the theater of the absurd.

 

Technorati tags: Cuba, Sweden, vikings

If Cuban healthcare is so good

Why are so many Cuban medical professionals defecting?

Perhaps they don't like being treated like chattel:

Rarely are defections made public. Embassies in Latin America that receive requests keep quiet to protect the asylum-seekers and not fuel the indignation of the host government. Still, details seep out -- such as an internal U.N. report in 2003 that said 100 Cubans were trying to seek asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.

"It's common, but no one ever sees it or knows about it," said Nora Garcia, 46, an orthodontist who is among those who defected to Bogota. "You don't talk about desertions."

Yovany Ciero, 29, a sports trainer who is among those who defected to Colombia, said he planned to abandon his post from the moment he was told he was going to Venezuela.

In Tachira state, on the border with Colombia, he lived in a house with seven other Cubans, working 10 hours a day, seven days a week, he said. "I felt like merchandise, to be exchanged for petroleum," he said.

Venezuela's dictator, Hugo Chavez, supplies oil to Cuba at heavily-subsidized prices. In return, Chavez gets Cuba's main export: doctors. These doctors are then assigned to poor neighborhoods to provide 24/7 medical care for residents. But the doctors themselves complain about harsh conditions: long days, high crime, high expenses, and no liberty -- they have to apply to Venezuelan and Cuban authorities for permission to leave their assigned areas, cannot talk to any foreign journalists, and they're watched by the security services. It's not surprising, then, that over 500 worldwide have applied for asylum in the US.

LINKS: Captain Ed has more, including a report on a tourist-family's nightmare vacation in Cuba.

 

Technorati tags: Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, defections, healthcare, asylum