Foundation Director Leaving Post

Cuban American National Foundation Executive Director Alfredo Mesa says he's leaving to join Dutko Worldwide. The foundation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary meeting this weekend, has not yet announced a replacement. Mesa had taken the place of Joe Garcia, who is now a high-profile consultant for the national Democratic Party. Photographed at left is CANF Chairman, Jorge Mas Santos, and Mesa on the right. Before joining the foundation, Mesa was an aide to former Miami-Dade mayor Alex Penelas.

Comments

[a thought...]

What is Dutko?

[Tu Abuela]

The Foundation is irrelevant. Mesa must be a smart guy if he decided to bail for more loot.

[nonee moose]

AT: Dutko is a lobbying and public relations group...

[nonee moose]

OK, Ninoska, get off the blog... LOL

[a different thought]

Is it me?? or does it all sound slightly incestous???

[nonee moose]

ADT, splain, please?

[Liborio]

I remember Joe Garcia stating on live TV during the last presidential election day, at around 5:30 PM, that Kerry had won the state of Florida. He returned thirty minutes later to purport that Kerry had also won Ohio and therefore was going to be the president. The next day, someone sucker-punched him at Versailles Restaurant and knocked him out. Interesting how the Herald never reported any of that about the "Golden Boy" of the Democrats.

[nonee moose]

Liborio, grasshopper, the Herald couldn't report it because it was GUS Garcia that got sucker-punched at Versailles. This first lesson is on me, but the next one will cost you...

[a different thought]

It's all the same people, voicing a slightly different agenda when they change their group....I mean can we just start over????

[Liborio]

Mr. Moose:

Your response with name calling and being defensive toward the Herald gives the impression that you work for them. Especially, your knowledge about an incident two years ago that was not published in the Herald is only remembered by Cubans.

The fact is the Herald did not report either incident. There is a pattern that Herald reporters generally neglect to be as critical of Cuban Americans who are Democrats or leftists in contrast to those that are Republican or anti-Castro militants.

I am a registered independent and have not voted in more than a decade because none of the political candidates impress me.

I also feel that pointing out the Herald mistakes in a Herald blog is an exercise in futility. Nothing will change.

[usambcuba]

ADT - Dutko Worldwide is a major lobbying organization. Big bucks lobbyists - the kind where minimum retainers are $20K and higher per month.

CANF missed out on its mission - by supporting the embargo and travel restrictions on Cuban Americans and Americans in general and some of its leaders supporting indirectly violence as the means of the solution to the U.S. Cuba issue, it has not been a very effective organization. It is a more an extension of the personalities that lead it. And it has money, so politicians will flow to tell them what they want to hear and collect a check in the process.

Instead it became an instrument of the policy whore that is our present day U.S. Cuba policy.

So much money wasted, ie. Radio TV Marti and the assortment of entities feeding on the public trough in the "name" of promoting liberty in Cuba. NOT.

ADT - you ask a very good question - how do you start over? The first step in starting over is being willing to authentically face up to where you are and acknowledging it. This community does not. It has leaders who lead with hypocrisy, who serve this community a bill of goods and torture principles of democracy and sound foreign policy.

There is an axiom - what you resist persists. The resolution to the U.S. Cuba conflict will not be resolved through the failed policies that reflect this resistance to what? There has been a poker game going on, and we have not been willing to play the game, even when we know the adversary has a losing hand, yet we do not want to play the game. Why? So the game continues, with too few hands played, and many wasted aces that we hold sit idle.

I have not been doing much blogging lately. Many posts degrade into personal attacks and insults. We will not get very far with that approach. But when there is intelligent banter, I am glad to jump in and share a perspective.

[nonee moose]

Liborio:

1. I do not work for the Herald. You are free to believe it or not, because you would be correct in assuming I would not admit to you if I did. I don't. Ask anybody... I will bust your onions por amor al arte.

2. I have not called you any names. I used a term of endearment, at worst of condescesion, to gently point out what I will politely term "benign ignorance" based on your seeming newness to this jungle. Only your persistent ignorance and your own willingness to engage in name-calling could possibly drive me too respond in kind. Note: insulting one's intelligence is not name-calling.

3. If I relied only on what I read in the Herald for my information, then what moral authority would I have to talk down to you like this? I don't even know you, right?

4. As a registered Republican, albeit a conflicted one, I probably share some of your frustrations with the Herald's biases at times. In this case, however, I don't think its failure to report the incident was a liberal bias. On the contrary, a liberal bias would have put the incident in bold letters to hi-lite the intolerance of the Cuban American hardline.

5. The fact that louJIF has adopted you as some fountain of knowledge speaks as highly of you as it does of him. (That, for example, was not name-calling)

6. Regarding your registered independence, been there. Regarding your prolonged boycott of the democratic process, thank you for your participation. Regarding your righteous apathy, it will buy you no quarter with me here, at least.

Thank you for breakfast.

[nonee moose]

U-sam:

Always good to hear from you. It has been a little out of hand here lately...like the Dark Ages with hyperlinks.

Liborio, listen to U-sam, he knows what he's talking about. He's just totally and completely wrong. LOL

U-sam, a point of order I hope you will concede. I think the split that occurred within CANF signaled at least a rift between the ultras that left and the "moderates" that remained. Perhaps an insufficient distinction in your opinion, granted, but a distinction worth noting?

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Nonee accurately stated: On the contrary, a liberal bias would have put the incident in bold letters to hi-lite the intolerance of the Cuban American hardline.

That is for sure. I have been ferviously searching for this incident, and i cant find it. A liberal like me would certainly use this incident as a hammer.

[Shirl McArthur]

Congress Watch

A Conservative Estimate of Total Direct U.S. Aid to Israel: $108 Billion

By Shirl McArthur

Because of the uncertainties and ambiguities associated with U.S. aid to Israel, arriving at a precise figure for total direct U.S. aid to Israel probably is not possible. Parts of it are buried in the budgets of other government agencies—mostly the Defense Department (DOD)—or in a form not easily quantifiable—such as the early disbursement of aid, allowing Israel a direct gain and the U.S. Treasury a direct loss of interest on the unspent money. Given these caveats, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA) conservatively estimates cumulative total direct U.S. aid to Israel at $107.961 billion.

It is important to emphasize that the following analysis will attempt to give a conservative, defensible accounting of U.S. direct aid to Israel, not of Israel’s cost to the U.S. or the American taxpayer, nor of the benefit to Israel of U.S. aid. The distinction is important, because the indirect or consequential costs to the American taxpayer as a result of Washington’s blind support for Israel exceed by many times the amount of direct U.S. aid to Israel. Some of these “indirect or consequential” costs would include the costs to U.S. manufacturers of the Arab boycott, the costs to U.S. companies and consumers of the Arab oil embargo and consequent soaring oil prices as a result of U.S. support for Israel in the 1973 war, and the costs of U.S. unilateral economic sanctions on Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria. (For a discussion of these larger costs, see “The Costs to American Taxpayers of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: $3 Trillion,” by the late Thomas R. Stauffer, June 2003 Washington Report, p. 20.)

Perhaps the greatest consequential costs (and not included in Stauffer’s $3 trillion estimate) are those resulting from the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, which is almost universally believed in the Arab world to have been undertaken for the benefit of Israel—hundreds of billions of dollars, 2,500-plus U.S. and allied fatalities and untold tens of thousands of Iraqi fatalities, and reduced Arab travel and investment in the U.S. and purchases of U.S. goods and services by Arab countries.

Among the real benefits to Israel that are not direct costs to the U.S. taxpayer are the cash transfer of economic and military aid, in-country purchases of a portion of military aid, and loan guarantees. The U.S. gives Israel all of its economic and military aid directly in cash, with no accounting required of how the funds are used. Furthermore, Israel can spend 26.3 percent of the military aid in Israel, clearly a subsidy to the Israeli defense industry at the expense of American defense contractors. Other countries receiving U.S. military aid generally have to spend 100 percent of it in the U.S. Also in contrast with other countries receiving military aid, who must purchase through the DOD, Israel deals directly with U.S. companies.

A further benefit to Israel are U.S. government loan guarantees. While they have not (yet) cost the U.S. any money, they are listed as “contingent liabilities”—that is, should Israel default they would become liabilities to the U.S. However, they have unquestionably been of tangible financial benefit to Israel, because they have enabled Israel to get commercial loans at special terms and favorable interest rates. The major loan guarantees have been $600 million for housing between 1972 and 1990; $9.2 billion for Soviet Jewish resettlement between 1992 and 1997; about $5 billion for refinancing military loans commercially; and $9 billion in loan guarantees included in the FY ‘03 supplemental appropriations.

Components of Israel Aid
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid since World War II. The $3-plus billion per year that Israel receives from the U.S. taxpayer is about one-fifth of the total U.S. aid budget, and amounts to more than $600 per Israeli. Most of this money is transparent, earmarked in Congress’ foreign operations (foreign aid) appropriations bills, with the three major items being military grants (Foreign Military Financing, or FMF), economic grants (Economic Support Funds, or ESF), and “refugee assistance.” Not earmarked, but also included in the foreign operations bills, is Israel’s portion of the grants for American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA). In addition, and less transparent, is the interest from early disbursement of aid and monies buried in the appropriations for other departments or agencies, primarily the Defense Department (DOD). These are mostly for so-called “U.S.-Israeli cooperative programs” in defense, agriculture, science and hi-tech industries.

Before 1998, Israel received annually $1.8 billion in military grants and $1.2 billion in economic grants. Then, beginning in FY ‘99, at the instigation of then-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, economic grants to Israel have been reduced by $120 million and military grants increased by $60 million each year. For the current fiscal year (FY ‘06) the amounts are $2.28 billion in military and $240 million in economic grants, for a total of $2.52 billion.

Methodology

Previous WRMEA estimates of U.S. aid to Israel, most recently in the April 2005 issue, relied heavily on Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, which used available and verifiable numbers, primarily from the foreign operations bills. Although the CRS reports do include such items as the old food for peace program, the $1.2 billion from the Wye agreement, the subsidy for “refugee assistance,” and money from the ASHA account, they do not include monies from the DOD and other agencies, nor do they include estimated interest on the early disbursement of aid funds.

This current estimate is based on the same methodology, building up from the CRS January 2006 report on U.S. foreign aid to Israel, showing a total of $96.156 billion through FY ‘05. Table 1 is drawn from the summary table from that report, plus the totals from the FY ‘06 foreign operations appropriations bill, for a total of $98.7196 billion through FY ‘06.

Direct government-to-government loans are included in the above numbers for total aid, because the U.S. has “waived” repayment of several loans. Israeli officials and their congressional supporters are fond of saying that Israel has never defaulted on a loan from the U.S. Technically, this is true, but a previous CRS report noted that from FY 1974 through FY 2003 Israel received more than $45 billion in waived loans.

Estimate of Amounts not Included In Table 1: $9.2417 Billion
Defense Department Funds: 6.794 Billion. The military aid from the DOD budget is mostly for specific projects. For previous estimates, a search going back several years was able to identify $6.054 billion in specific items from the DOD to Israel through FY ‘04. Adding $355 million from the FY ‘05 DOD appropriations and $385 from the FY ‘06 appropriations gives a total of $6.794 billion. The largest items have been the canceled Lavi attack fighter project, the ongoing Arrow anti-missile missile project, the ongoing tactical high energy laser anti-missile system, the ongoing Bradley reactive armor tiles program, and the completed Merkava tank. The FY ‘01 appropriations bill also gave Israel a grant of $700 million worth of military equipment, to be drawn down from stocks in Western Europe. In addition, since 1998 Israel has been designated a “major non-NATO ally,” enabling it to receive outdated military equipment at either reduced cost or no charge; the FY ‘05 defense appropriations bill includes a provision authorizing the DOD to transfer an unspecified amount of “surplus” military items from inventory to Israel. In addition, Israel was recently named a partner in the Joint Strike Fighter project, although it is unclear what the significance of this will be.

Interest: $1.991 Billion. Congress has mandated that Israel’s economic and military aid be transferred in one lump sum within one month of the new fiscal year or passage of the appropriation act. Israel began receiving early disbursement of U.S. economic aid in 1982, and of military aid in 1991. Using one-half of the prevailing rates of interest (because it has to be assumed that the aid monies were drawn down over the course of the year), last year’s summary estimated interest on early disbursement of economic aid at $1,234 million and of military aid at $698 million through FY ‘04. The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv’s Web site lists interest on early disbursement of military aid at $660 million through FY ‘04—slightly less than WRMEA’s estimate—but gives no figure for interest on economic aid. This WRMEA report uses the Embassy Tel Aviv number for interest on military aid and keeps last year’s WRMEA number for interest on economic aid, for a total of $1,894 million through FY ‘04. To this is added $46.5 million ($40 million military and $6.5 million economic) for FY ‘05 and $50.5 million ($45.5 million military and $5 million economic) for FY ‘06, for a total of $1,991 million through FY ’06.

Other Grants and Endowments: $0.4567 Billion. The Embassy Tel Aviv site lists $456.7 million in other grants and endowments. The two largest items are $158 million for the BARD Foundation (Binational Agriculture and Research and Development Fund) and $140 million for the BIRD Foundation (Israel-U.S. Binational Research and Development Foundation).

The Grand Total: $107.9613 Billion
Adding the “unincluded” totals to the total from Table 1 gives a grand total of $107.9613 billion total aid to Israel through FY 2006. For the convenience of those who wish to look up more details, citations for the foreign aid and DOD appropriations bills for the past five years are given in Table 2 above.

Shirl McArthur, a retired U.S. foreign service officer, is a consultant based in the Washington, DC area.

[a different thought]

Ambassador, I'm with you, my poor attempt at humor just shows my personal frustration with this subject.

[nonee moose]

The Department of Blogland Security has raised the cut-and-paste alert level to Oh-Shit-Here-We-Go-Again...

[a different thought]

That's why the regular bloggers are appearing less and less on this blog, even LouJohn.

[usambcuba]

Nonee - agreed about the split between the ultra rightists and moderates in CANF. Still it behaves as an ineffective dysfunctional organization when it could have been a truly effective organization.

It betrays the community it purports to represent right along with the other right wing Cuba groups. The basis for most of their positions are illogically and irrationally grounded.

It is too bad there are those who want to cut and paste nonsense or other topics when there are many who would simply like to participate in this debate with intelligent discussion.

[nonee moose]

I think ineffective is a subjective term that assumes entirely innocent, generally accepted and empirically desirable objectives. To the extent that is in fact the case, then it is easy to hang that term on all efforts so far, of every stripe. If it is not the case, then who nows?

Dysfunctional? Of course. What big happy family isn't?

For the record, I am responsible for the Jabberwocky post... If we were going to be subjected to Lewis Carrol, I felt it should be something less pedestrian than Cabbages and Kings...

[nonee moose]

Henry:

Pee wee's just jealous. He's still upset Dallas lost to Miami in the finals. He needs to get over it.

[another view]

Totalitarian anti-Castroism

By Alejandro Armengol

The original sin of a good portion of anti-Castroism in Miami is that it's not truly democratic. That's the reality behind the positions of a large group of members of the so-called historical exile who daily declare they are committed to the struggle for the freedom of Cuba, while they defend dictatorships past and present, terrorists and censors.

These exiles define themselves best when confronting the Castro regime. Except that what is good for them is not necessarily good for the Cuban people. In addition to a vocation for bossism that never leaves them, they cling to obsolete tactics and points of view. Their ideal is to exert a monopoly over their opponents' thoughts, and they live in a world where the Cold War has not yet ended. This stopped time may fill them with hope, from an existential point of view, but it contributes to the fact that their vision of the island is valid only on Calle Ocho.

This compulsion to cling to the past makes them the only heirs to Washington politics in the era of Eisenhower and the Dulles brothers, when an anticommunist tyrant was preferable to a progressive government. The era that made possible the existence of Odría, Rojas Pinilla, Pérez Jiménez, Trujillo, Somoza, Stroessner and Batista. The mentality that later led them to support Pinochet and Fujimori, not to mention various military dictatorships, and to experience a fervent nostalgia for Francisco Franco's Spain.

This strategy of the 1950s is joined by the paranoia of the defectors who joined the exile community decades ago and who -- while identifying with the thought of their former enemies -- are incapable of shedding the logic of the Party and now are intent on applying it in the opposite direction.

The tendency toward totalitarianism is visible in their desire to stifle any contrary opinion and to engage in censorship, in their inability to admit the independence of the branches of power, and in a determination to impose their criteria. It is impossible for democratic ideas to be safe among people who are not democrats.

Anti-Castro totalitarians dream daily about the death of Fidel Castro. In their minds, it's similar to the departure from the island of dictator Fulgencio Batista. This other dictator dies, and the clock goes into a dizzying reverse. Powerless over the future and prisoners of the present, they can only look to the past.

Of course Cuba will change after Castro is dead. How and when? Unable to find answers, some prefer to find refuge in fantasy. And Washington is there to provide it.

The famous plan by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba is a million-dollar farce. It's a bureaucratic report that says nothing and promises much: $80 million is a considerable sum. But, as stated by dissident leader Martha Beatriz Roque, "almost all of it stays in projects made in the United States."

This project performs two distinct functions: to "demonstrate the interest" of the administration of President George W. Bush in accelerating a democratic transition in Cuba and to distribute money to specific groups in exile and Radio and Television Martí.

Both functions are political, but we're not talking about international politics. We're talking about political campaigns, about taxpayer money degraded into an electoral slush fund. The money must be approved by Congress, so the Republicans have an excellent argument to bid for the votes of Cuban-Americans.

The issue here is not to deny the need for funds to support dissenters and those who oppose Castro, or to be against the need for Cubans to receive more and better information. The key is the utilization of the money and the fact that a great many dissidents have expressed their rejection of -- or at least their reservations about -- an offer of money they never requested.

The fear is that, if those funds are finally approved, they will be wasted on broadcasts that never reach the Cubans, on anti-Castro boondoggles and a couple of publications that are clumsily put together and deal more with the past than with today's reality in Cuba. Washington has come up with a made-to-order plan to justify the rhetoric between Miami and Havana.

The time has come to recognize that two simultaneous struggles are being waged in Miami. One is against the Castro regime; the other, against the anti-Castro monopoly. They are not equal struggles and cannot be compared. The former is well defined. The latter is a debate between a breadth of criteria and a compulsion to cling to an obsolete and unreal strategy that serves electoral purposes only. What's impossible, however, is to remain silent and patient in the face of a position wielded only for the benefit of a few.

This column appeared originally in El Nuevo Herald.

[A. Lopez]

It's unforunate that the most recent post on this blog is not about the presence in Miami this past Friday of US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to discuss with members of the Cuban Community the President's new Cuba Commission Report. As the press reported, he was joined by the Cuban-American House Members and Senator Martinez. This was a rather significant gathering of our Cuban-American leaders, yet the most recent post I find is about Alfredo Mesa leaving CANF.

In all honesty, who cares? Based on my reading, CANF is an irrelevant organization. It does nothing, only has about a handful of members(literally), and is now desperately trying to stay visible by celebrating its 25 year history. Unfortunately, it will never get back what it once had...CANF's founder stood on princple...those left do not.

Mr. Mesa, best of luck to you -- glad you realized the irrelevance of your organization -- maybe your departure will help others that are living in the past realize that as well.

[The Who]

What exactly does Mesa bring to the table at Dutko? These high paying clients need results. Anyone know?

[Bob Dylan]

They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
"It takes one to know one," she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave"
And the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortunetelling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing
He's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row

Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her profession's her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah's great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She's in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
"Have Mercy on His Soul"
They all play on penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They're getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
A perfect image of a priest
They're spoonfeeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words

And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
"Get Outa Here If You Don't Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row"

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
"Which Side Are You On?"
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can't read too good
Don't send me no more letters no
Not unless you mail them
From Desolation Row

[Bob Dylan]

I pounded on a farmhouse
Lookin' for a place to stay.
I was mighty, mighty tired,
I had gone a long, long way.
I said, "Hey, hey, in there,
Is there anybody home?"
I was standin' on the steps
Feelin' most alone.
Well, out comes a farmer,
He must have thought that I was nuts.
He immediately looked at me
And stuck a gun into my guts.

I fell down
To my bended knees,
Saying, "I dig farmers,
Don't shoot me, please!"
He cocked his rifle
And began to shout,
"You're that travelin' salesman
That I have heard about."
I said, "No! No! No!
I'm a doctor and it's true,
I'm a clean-cut kid
And I been to college, too."

Then in comes his daughter
Whose name was Rita.
She looked like she stepped out of
La Dolce Vita.
I immediately tried to cool it
With her dad,
And told him what a
Nice, pretty farm he had.
He said, "What do doctors
Know about farms, pray tell?"
I said, "I was born
At the bottom of a wishing well."

Well, by the dirt 'neath my nails
I guess he knew I wouldn't lie.
"I guess you're tired,"
He said, kinda sly.
I said, "Yes, ten thousand miles
Today I drove."
He said, "I got a bed for you
Underneath the stove.
Just one condition
And you go to sleep right now,
That you don't touch my daughter
And in the morning, milk the cow."

I was sleepin' like a rat
When I heard something jerkin'.
There stood Rita
Lookin' just like Tony Perkins.
She said, "Would you like to take a shower?
I'll show you up to the door."
I said, "Oh, no! no!
I've been through this before."
I knew I had to split
But I didn't know how,
When she said,
"Would you like to take that shower, now?"

Well, I couldn't leave
Unless the old man chased me out,
'Cause I'd already promised
That I'd milk his cows.
I had to say something
To strike him very weird,
So I yelled out,
"I like Fidel Castro and his beard."
Rita looked offended
But she got out of the way,
As he came charging down the stairs
Sayin', "What's that I heard you say?"

I said, "I like Fidel Castro,
I think you heard me right,"
And ducked as he swung
At me with all his might.
Rita mumbled something
'Bout her mother on the hill,
As his fist hit the icebox,
He said he's going to kill me
If I don't get out the door
In two seconds flat,
"You unpatriotic,
Rotten doctor Commie rat."

Well, he threw a Reader's Digest
At my head and I did run,
I did a somersault
As I seen him get his gun
And crashed through the window
At a hundred miles an hour,
And landed fully blast
In his garden flowers.
Rita said, "Come back!"
As he started to load
The sun was comin' up
And I was runnin' down the road.

Well, I don't figure I'll be back
There for a spell,
Even though Rita moved away
And got a job in a motel.
He still waits for me,
Constant, on the sly.
He wants to turn me in
To the F.B.I.
Me, I romp and stomp,
Thankful as I romp,
Without freedom of speech,
I might be in the swamp.

[Allen Ginsberg]

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and
saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes
hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy
among the scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy &
publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull,
who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear,
burning their money in wastebaskets and listening
to the Terror through the wall,
who got busted in their pubic beards returning through
Laredo with a belt of marijuana for New York,
who ate fire in paint hotels or drank turpentine in
Paradise Alley, death, or purgatoried their
torsos night after night
with dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares,
alcohol and cock and endless balls

[Alice]

Whomever said CANF is irrelevant is absolutely right.

This past Friday, the three Cuban-American members of Congress, Sen. Mel Martinez, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Caleb McCarry, Cuba Policy Coordinator at the State Department, were ALL at the Biltmore Hotel meeting with Cuban-American leaders/activists and delivering remarks on Cuba policy.

It was open to the press and over well over 100 Cuban-Americans participated in this invitation-only event. The ones who were not present because they were not invited were the directors of CANF.

Ironically, CANF was also holding an event at the same hotel, on the same day, at the same time. Despite their desperate attempts to get some of the VIP's/elected officials to attend their meeting, all declined.

The top officials in Congress and the Administration who work on Cuba policy were all within a few short steps from the CANF event, and NONE found the time or inclination to go see them. They were under the same roof for hours and hours, and not a single one set foot at the CANF meeting. If this is not snubbing, I don't know what is.

Who were the "VIP's" the Herald reported were attending the CANF event? 1) Bob Toricelli, a disgraced former senator who left the Senate under censorship and clouds of corruption charges; 2) Bill Richardson who was in Miami for a Democrat event (he and Joe Garcia are the only ones who believe the talltale that he is on the short list for Democratic presidential nominee); 3) Oh! and last but not least, the Nicaraguan presidential candidate in last place in the polls, Jose Rizo, a puppet for former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman who is under home arrest for stealing from the nation's coffers and who was CANF crony.

Yup. I would say it is quite accurate to say CANF is irrelevant. In fact, it would be even more accurate to say CANF is pathetic.

[Weasel]

All around the mulberry bush,
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread, A penny for a needle.
That's the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

[Mikimbin]

Wow!!! Alfie Mesa goes from one irrelevant group to another!!!

[Juan (Pancho) Valquez]

Ok Oscar. There is a difference between censoring relevent posts that you disagee with or even find offensive and protecting the functionality of your site. If you delete posts for the first reason you are a narrow minded frightened man. However if you delete posts for the second reason you are simply protecting services that you offer to the public from being destroyed.

Whomever is making these spam posts is committing an illegal Denial of Services attack. If you continue I wouldn't be suprised if the herald fowards your IP onto the approcrate authorities. We get it, you are afraid of the open discussion of ideas. Free though scares you. Sneak back into whatever padded room you escaped from and let the warden pump you full of thorizine again. That way scary things such as: reason, logic, and rational debate won't haunt you anymore.

[Juan (Pancho) Valquez]

Errm I meant 'appropriate' not "approcrate".

[a thought...]

Okay, that's it. This has gone from a great place to exchange ideas and discussions (and have some fun) into a place where child-molesting freaks have found a home. How this evolved from "The Cuban Connection" to "Child Molesters Connection" is beyond me. Therefore, this one is for all you NAMBLA supporters and members: I hope you all burn in hell for what you do to innocent children. And anyone from the ACLU who defends your actions can burn right with you. Molestation and exploitation of children is against the law as well as being immoral. No rehabilitation for child molesters and pedophiles!!!!

You are all on the wrong website and if you are truly propagating this deviant and disgusting way of life, I hope the FBI and the CyberCops get you. I hope they toss you into general population so you can get what you deserve.

I also hope this blog goes back to being what it was before people obsessed with homosexuality and child porn got hold of it. In this (despite our other differences), the Ambassador, John, Nonee, ADT, Gansi and I can all hopefully agree.

[manny o]

To the person who is posting these rhymes and poems:

PLEASE STOP!!!!! You are correct in that you have every right to post whatever you like and not be censored. However, your rights end where my rights begin. We love our blog. We enjoy hearing the diverse opinions (not matter how ridiculous that might be sometimes). We welcome your opinions, but not your spam. There are plenty of other blogs that would welcome your poetry, just not here.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

So the ACLU defends the right of NAMBLA to publish its propaganda just as it upholds the right of Castro's propagandists to have their works represented in Miami schools. The logical next step for the ACLU is to demand that NAMBLA literature not be banned in public schools.

It would appear that the Miami Cubans who are supporting the banning of "Vamos a Cuba" are all that stands between civilization and barbarism in this country. The ACLU, of course, is leading the forces of barbarism.

[nonee moose]

Oscar:

Pancho made a great point a few posts ago. There's censorship and there's censorship. Please, do one and not the other. You know what I mean... Don't you?

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

With threads that sometimes inch towards 400 posts, Miami's Cuban Connection is by far the most successful Cuban-themed blog in the history of the internet. Obviously, someone doesn't like that fact and is actively engaged in sabotaging this blog. This is no mere vendetta against John or the ravings of some depraved pedophile. What we have here is a concerted campaign to destroy this blog. Period.

Who is responsible for this? I should think whomever it is that stands to gain the most by silencing this blog.

Since Oscar Corral is either oblivious to this situation or just doesn't care if his blog lives or dies, it is up to us to save Miami's Cuban Connection. The only way we can take it back is to be become more, not less, engaged in this blog. In other words, we must post ten comments for every one from the blog-terminator. Since we are many and he is one, we shall soon have him routed and out of here. Inactivity on our part is the kiss of death for this blog. Remember: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

[a thought...]

"With great power comes great responsibility"- Ben Parker

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Manuel,

Brillian post!! I agree wholeheartedly that someone is sabtoging this blog. But we all know who that "those" someone are. The first big post was the 200 comment post concerning Val Prieto and Henry Gomez. They were upset with Oscar because he 1) did not make his politics public 2) he did not delete my post. So a few months later there are post about child porn. Posted not to run me out. But rather, to offend and run out future visitors and commenters. It is not surprising that opponents and enemies from the Miami exile community would do this. As their history is filled with political threats and murders.

Manuel, when i first posted here, Henry Gomez and Val Prieto were the only two commenters here. And they were just bashing the Democrats. They thought it was their own private blog. So i came in and bashed them right back. I thought it would be a private battle back and forth.

Now this blog has grown and prospered. And quite frankly i am happy about that. Instead of bashing, i have learned more in a few months than most non-Cubans ever could hope to in a lifetime. The most important thing i have learned is that all Cuban-Americans are not the foaming, irrational types the nation witness on our television screens during the Elian Gonzales situation.

As far as Oscar not taking steps against this. Well perhaps he thinks this is a slippery slope. Meaning that if he deletes one post, he will have to delete other post. Note: Oscar has deleted several of my post.

Having said that, i respect what Oscar is attempting to do here with the Cuban Connection. The Cuban issue is one of the tragic episodes in this hemisphere. And with passions running hot, it is a wonder that more militant Cuban radicals like Henry Gomez and Val Prieto dont pressure Oscar more than they do.

Nevertheless, i think that the posting of the child porn site was horrible. I am surprised that "if" Oscar saw it, he would not delete it.

Finally, i am about to go out of town for a couple of days. So i wont be posting. Laters

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

A.T.

Talk to you when i get back sugah.

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

"Raul Castro:"

If you will limit yourself to issues concerning Cuban gays, no one would object. What is reprehensible and unacceptable is to drag-in NAMBLA and other extraneous subjects that have absolutely nothing to do with Cuba.

[a thought...]

Bye, John, have a good time and that was a great post! Manuel, excellent last post. I just read the article on how The Czech Republic is starting to crack down on Cuba as well. Hopefully, it will make the blog soon.

[nonee moose]

Everything in context... hell, I'll even take Lewis Carrol in context. Or Emmanuel Lewis... even Merriwether Lewis. But not Jerry Lewis, never him.

So, the Czechs are pressuring Cuba? Good deal. I seem to recall a fledgling coalition of former eastern bloc nations for the purpose of publicly shaming the regime into reform. Can anyone shed light on this?

Seems like great PR, but remember, how to shame the shameless?

[a different thought]

Vamos a Cuba!! Back on the shelves...see what happens in a country where the rule of law is respected!!!

[a different thought]

Dudes...The ACLU protects freedom of speech under the First Amendment. The minute you try to stifle speech based on it's content, you have violated the 1st Amendment.

I agree with A.T. that NAMBLA is disgusting and immoral, but unfortunately, they have a right to state their opinion (not a right to act on their thoughts). The minute we begin to censor and allow or disallow speech because of it's content is the minute that we've gone the way of Castro. It's hard to respect, but it's harder to live in a world of disrespect.

[a thought...]

I am also glad to know that the book is back on the shelves. I won't be buying it, though. But see, that's my choice and that's what's great about freedoms.

Hi, A.D.T. Yeah, NAMBLA can state their opinions all they want, but like I was taught in basic high-school government class: Your rights end where another person's rights begin. Therefore (again like ADT stated), NAMBLA has no right to act on their thoughts because that would be intruding on the rights of another person. Even though I don't think NAMBLA considers children to be "persons". I think those pedophiles just consider them as objects.

[Little Black Sambo]

Here is a book that Mr. Crew should also put on all Miami-Dade School Libraries so that African Americans can learn about their heritage.

The Story of Little Black Sambo

BY HELLEN BANNERMAN

Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was Little Black Sambo. And his mother was called Black Mumbo. And his father was called Black
Jumbo.

And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat, and a pair of beautiful little blue trousers. And Black Jumbo went to the Bazaar, and bought him a beautiful
Green Umbrella, and a lovely little Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings.

And then wasn't Little Black Sambo grand? So he put on all his Fine Clothes, and went out for a walk in the Jungle. And by and by he met a Tiger. And theTiger
said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"
And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat."
So the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Red Coat."

So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Red Coat, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little BlueTrousers."
So the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Blue Trousers."

So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Blue Trousers, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."
And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings."

But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got four feet, and you've got only two; you haven't got enough shoes for me."

But Little Black Sambo said, "You could wear them on your ears."

"So I could," said the Tiger: "that's a very good idea. Give them to me, and I won't eat you this time."

So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest
Tiger in the Jungle." And by and by Little Black Sambo met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"

And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful Green Umbrella."

But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an umbrella, when I need all my paws for walking with?"
"You could tie a knot on your tail and carry it that way," said Little Black Sambo.

"So I could,"said the Tiger. "Give it to me, and I won't eat you this time."

So he got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful Green Umbrella, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And poor Little Black Sambo went away crying, because the cruel Tigers had taken all his fine clothes. Presently he heard a horrible noise that sounded like
"Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrr," and it got louder and louder.

"Oh! dear!" said Little Black Sambo, "there are all the Tigers coming back to eat me up! What shall I do?"

So he ran quickly to a palm-tree, and peeped round it to see what the matter was.
And there he saw all the Tigers fighting, and disputing which of them was the grandest.

And at last they all got so angry that they jumped up and took off all the fine clothes, and began to tear each other with their claws, and bite each other with their
great big white teeth.

And they came, rolling and tumbling right to the foot of the very tree where Little Black Sambo was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind the umbrella.

And the Tigers all caught hold of each other's tails, as they wrangled and scrambled, and so they found themselves in a ring round the tree.
Then, when the Tigers were very wee and very far away, Little Black Sambo jumped up, and called out, "Oh! Tigers! why have you taken off all your nice clothes?
Don't you want them any more?"

But the Tigers only answered, "Gr-r-rrrr!"
Then Little Black Sambo said, "If you want them, say so, or I'll take them away." But the Tigers would not let go of each other's tails, and so they could only say
"Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"

So Little Black Sambo put on all his fine clothes again and walked off.

And the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let go of each other's tails.

And they were so angry, that they ran round the tree, trying to eat each other up, and they ran faster and faster, till they were whirling round so fast that you couldn't
see their legs at all.
And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all just melted away, and there was nothing left but a great big pool of melted butter (or "ghi," as it is called in
India) round the foot of the tree. Now Black Jumbo was just coming home from his work, with a great big brass pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of
all the Tigers he said, "Oh! what lovely melted butter! I'll take that home to Black Mumbo for her to cook with."

So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it home to Black Mumbo to cook with.When Black Mumbo saw the melted butter, wasn't she pleased! "Now,"
said she, "we'll all have pancakes for supper!" So she got flour and eggs and milk and sugar and butter, and she made a huge big plate of most lovely pancakes.

And she fried them in the melted butter which the Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and brown as littleTigers.
And then they all sat down to supper.
And Black Mumbo ate Twenty-seven pancakes, and Black Jumbo ate Fifty-five but Little Black Sambo ate a Hundred and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.

The End

[Julius Streicher]

Here is a book that Mr. Rudy Crew can put in the Miami-Dade school libraries so that Jewish children will understand what the Holocaust was all about.

The Poisonous Mushroom

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A mother and her young boy are gathering mushrooms in the German forest. The boy finds some poisonous ones. The mother explains that there are good mushrooms and poisonous ones, and, as they go home, says:

"Look, Franz, human beings in this world are like the mushrooms in the forest. There are good mushrooms and there are good people. There are poisonous, bad mushrooms and there are bad people. And we have to be on our guard against bad people just as we have to be on guard against poisonous mushrooms. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, mother," Franz replies. "I understand that in dealing with bad people trouble may arise, just as when one eats a poisonous mushroom. One may even die!"

"And do you know, too, who these bad men are, these poisonous mushrooms of mankind?" the mother continued.

Franz slaps his chest in pride:
"Of course I know, mother! They are the Jews! Our teacher has often told us about them."

The mother praises her boy for his intelligence, and goes on to explain the different kinds of "poisonous" Jews: the Jewish pedlar, the Jewish cattle-dealer, the Kosher butcher, the Jewish doctor, the baptised Jew, and so on.

"However they disguise themselves, or however friendly they try to be, affirming a thousand times their good intentions to us, one must not believe them. Jews they are and Jews they remain. For our Volk they are poison."

"Like the poisonous mushroom!" says Franz.

"Yes, my child! Just as a single poisonous mushrooms can kill a whole family, so a solitary Jew can destroy a whole village, a whole city, even an entire Volk."

Franz has understood.

"Tell me, mother, do all non-Jews know that the Jew is as dangerous as a poisonous mushroom?"

Mother shakes her head.

"Unfortunately not, my child. There are millions of non-Jews who do not yet know the Jews. So we have to enlighten people and warn them against the Jews. Our young people, too, must be warned. Our boys and girls must learn to know the Jew. They must learn that the Jew is the most dangerous poison-mushroom in existence. Just as poisonous mushrooms spring up everywhere, so the Jew is found in every country in the world. Just as poisonous mushrooms often lead to the most dreadful calamity, so the Jew is the cause of misery and distress, illness and death."

The author then concludes this story by pointing the moral:

German youth must learn to recognise the Jewish poison-mushroom. They must learn what a danger the Jew is for the German Volk and for the whole world. They must learn that the Jewish problem involves the destiny of us all.

"The following tales tell the truth about the Jewish poison-mushroom. They show the many shapes the Jew assumes. They show the depravity and baseness of the Jewish race. They show the Jew for what he really is:

The Devil in human form.

[nonee moose]

100 Yahoo! bucks sez, Renee Richards posts next...

[a different thought]

So are we supposed to print long posts having nothing to do with Cuba? Here goes....... The Bill of Rights, for those of you who need review.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.