49 Journalists, Commentators, Freelancers, Opinion Makers in Miami Paid By U.S. Through Martis

From Today's Miami Herald Story by Christina Hoag:

After a thorough review of federal documents, The Miami Herald found 49 full-time journalists or contributors to local media outlets who also received payments from Radio and TV Martí from October 2001 to August 2006.

They included eight El Nuevo staffers, paid between $125 and $175,000, and 29 freelancers who contribute to El Nuevo. They received between $100 and $110,000 over a five-year period.

Thirteen other journalists at several Miami media, including Channel 41, Diario Las Americas, Univision, Telemundo, Radio Mambi and WQBA, were listed.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15672634.htm

Comments

[Walter Lippmann]

It would be very helpful if the Herald would post the documents received through its Freedom of Information suit to the website so that the interested public could read them.

Thanks,

Walter Lippmann

[a thought...]

Here's my question because I'm not sure about this: Can freelancers (as the name seems to imply)work for both the Herald and one of the radio stations in question? I mean, obviously you can't write one thing and then say another over the airwaves (that only works for our elected officials).

Glad to see the blog is working properly again. I am thoroughly addicted....

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

Now that, thanks to Fiedler’s unguarded remarks, racism has assumed its rightful place at the core of the witch hunt against the Cuban-American journalists, it is time to examine and dissect the other racist manifestations which this affaire elicited from Miami Herald columnists. Let’s begin with Carl Hiaasen’s “sarcastic” column (as The Herald now describes it), which led to Jesus Diaz’s resignation.

Finally, someone appreciates journalists’ work

By CARL HIAASEN

Like many taxpayers, I’d always thought Radio and TV Martí was just another political boondoggle, squandering millions of dollars while fruitlessly beaming anti-Castro programming to Cuba. [You obviously don’t read your own newspaper, which is something that you have in common with most of your colleagues in the editorial department, who didn’t appear to know that their reporters’ work for Radio Marti had been covered in the Herald for years. If you had read the Herald or bothered to verify what “[you’d] always thought,” you would know, from the the testimony of Cuban dissidents and deserters, that Radio Marti is heard by a majority of the Cuban people and that that the regime has always resented and combatted this “intrusion” on its monopoly on information, which it certainly would not do if it had been ineffective. For you, however, it is “fruitless to beam anti-Castro programming to Cuba.” Why is it fruitless? Don’t you believe that Cubans deserve to know the truth? Even if you don’t believe that it is the truth, don’t you think that they deserve another perspective than the official one? Apparently not. For you, Castro is not a problem, and if he is not a problem then there is nothing to fix].

Now we find out that the U.S. government-run stations are actually running a charity for needy journalists, at least 10 of whom have been paid to appear on their programs. [Perhaps you just found it out, since, admittedly, you don’t read your own paper; but the Herald has known all along that its journalists also contributed to Radio Marti and fired them ex post facto. As for Radio Marti being “a charity for needy journalists,” I think you are probably the last person who could empathize with “needy journalists” since for you journalism is not a job but a hobby. Perhaps you are suggesting that only rich men like yourself should be journalists since, supposedly, you wouldn’t need “charity” since the Republicans in Congress already provide the rich with all the charity they could possibly want (tax loopholes, repeal of estate taxes, etc). When a man works for a living and is paid by the entity for which he works, it is not “charity.” Or are your royalty checks also “charity?”]

Some people might call this corrupting the press; I call it compassionate conservatism. [”Compassionate convervatism,” as already noted, consists of tax breaks for the very rich like yourself. And, by the way, have you ever failed to cash your government checks?]

Is there a more underpaid, ragged and dispirited sector of the American work force than reporters? [Are you including yourself?] At long last we’ve got an administration that appreciates our toil and sacrifice and reaches out to help. [Yes, you in particular, may well rejoice at the administration’s largesse].

Look what it did for Armstrong Williams, a newspaper columnist and conservative talk-show host. Back in 2004, he got $240,000 from the government to babble wonderful compliments about President Bush’s No Child Left Behind education program.

Many journalists called Williams a sellout and a prostitute, but they were probably just envious [Finally, a little truth creeps in]. The same sort of thing is happening now to the reporters moonlighting for Radio and TV Martí. [No it is not. Williams was paid to slant the news and shill for the Bush administration. The Cuban journalists were employed by Radio and TV Marti and their employment was a matter of public record, as Armstrong’s sub rosa arrangement was not. And there was no commitment on their part to slant the news or shill for the Bush administration.]

Two of those who accepted money from the stations were fired from their day jobs at El Nuevo Herald. Said Publisher Jesús Díaz Jr.: “I personally don’t believe that integrity and objectivity can be assured if any of our reporters receive monetary compensation from any entity that he or she may cover or have covered, but particularly if it’s a government agency.” [In its final denouement, this story highlighted the lack of “integrity and objectivity” at the Miami Herald itself.]

Since Díaz is also my boss [but not for long, as (your) long knives were already out], I should be careful how I put this, but: Lighten up, bro! [Diaz, in hindsight, should have been the one who was more careful with you].

You’re right: Once a reporter starts cashing a government paycheck, his or her credibility as a public watchdog is shot. [Is that right? But only when its a “paycheck.” Not when it’s tax breaks for the rich, exemptions from estate taxes, agricultural subsidies and other perks which super-rich journalists like yourself enjoy at our expense].

But how about a teeny exception for TV Martí? Lots of folks in the newsroom could use the extra dough, and nobody will ever see them on the air because Castro jams the signals. [Do you ever set foot in the Miami Herald (let alone Nuevo Herald) newsroom? Don’t you just e-mail your columns from home while “moonlighting” for your publishers?]

Over the last five years, while staff reporter Pablo Alfonso wrote columns and covered Cuba for El Nuevo Herald, he was getting paid nearly $175,000 to host programs on Radio and TV Martí. [That’s $37,000 a year, the median wage in Florida]. During that same period, staff writer Wilfredo Cancio collected almost $15,000. [That’s $3000 a year, or pocket change to you. They weren’t paid this money as a bribe or gift, but for their work at Radio Marti. Thousands of other journalists (99% of them non-Cubans), including Edward R. Murrow, have worked for government-sponsored broadcasting. But, of course, The Miami Herald and you only bothered to cast aspersions at the Cuban-American journalists].

The fact that it took so long to catch them tells you how puny the audience is. You’ve heard of Pirate Radio? This is Pipsqueak Radio. [The audience for Radio Marti, in any case, is larger than the audience for the Miami Herald. Just how “puny” your own circulation is can well be gaged by the fact that the loss of 1800 subscribers sent the paper into a tailspin. But you are not suggesting, of course, that we judge the credibility of the Herald by its circulation? That is exactly, however, what you are suggesting about Radio Marti].

Both TV and Radio Martí broadcast from a blimp in the Lower Keys until it was popped by a hurricane last year. Then a plane from the Pennsylvania National Guard was procured to transmit to Cuba for a whopping four hours on weekends. [Four hours of truth on weekends still trumps 24/7 of the Castro regime’s lies].

Now the programs are being beamed by a specially equipped private aircraft flying out of Key West. After Fidel Castro underwent surgery, the broadcasts were increased to six times a week, but even that failed to kill off the Cuban leader. [Do you expect radio beams to ‘kill off the Cuban ‘leader’?”]

Some parts of the island do pick up transmissions from Radio Martí, though interviews with recent arrivals indicate that its listenership has dipped. [Actually, most parts of the island pick up transmissions from Radio Marti. As for its listenership having “dipped,” what do you actually base that conclusion on? How many “recent arrivals” have you interviewed? Can a “recent arrival” make it even within 50 feet of your guarded compound?]

As for TV Martí, it’s basically a ghost station that few in Cuba can receive because of the electronic jamming. Since it began ‘’broadcasting'’ in 1990, TV Martí has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $125 million. Naturally, Congress keeps shoveling money at it. [So if Castro starts shooting down our airplanes again, we should ground all civil aviation?]

Radio and TV Martí are currently funded at about $37 million annually, including $10 million for the airplane that flies around transmitting the signals, which may still be easily blocked.

That leaves about $27 million lying around for executive salaries, studio production and talent. There are plenty of U.S. journalists, including me, who are eminently qualified to host TV programs that no one will ever see. [Or write a column that nobody ever reads except when intentionally controversial, as this one].

Getting paid to say snarky things about Castro would be an easy gig. For years I’ve done it for free, characterizing El Comandante as a windbag, geezer, liar, despot and all-around phony. I never received a dime from Uncle Sam, even when my columns were properly punctuated. [Leave your guarded compound and sinecure, get a job at Radio Marti, go work every day, and you too will be paid for your work].

But now, thanks to the Bush administration’s generous Outreach Initiative for Ethically Muddled Reporters, financial opportunities abound. So does temptation. [Well, now we know that it is not “ethically muddled reporters” who are the Herald’s problem but ethically muddled policies and racist editors].

According to a report last week in El Nuevo Herald, numerous magazine and newspaper journalists in the English-language press have accepted payments to appear on Voice of America radio, the government’s official overseas megaphone. Among them: syndicated columnist Georgie Ann Geyer, Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News and David Lightman, chief of The Hartford Courant’s Washington bureau.

These folks are probably in hot water today [no they are not; no one was purged except the Cubans] because of people like my boss, who cling to this old-fashioned notion that the mere appearance of sliding into bed with the institutions we cover is intolerable. [It’s delicious irony to hear you defending the “boss” that you stabbed in the back].

Party poopers! Do they really believe that a journalist’s integrity can be compromised for a lousy $175,000? [Again, $37,000 a year over 5 years].

Where’s the trust? Where’s the compassion? More important, where’s my damn check? [Look in your mailbox, or send the help to do it].

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Manuel,

Hello, i already TOLD you what the deal was. Cuban exiles, however, will not be satisfied until every Cuban-American writer and reporter is run out of the Herald.

A.T.

Glad to see you back. I knew you would not leave. Cuban-American women always stay and fight. :)

Oscar,

Stop being a selfish dork, and open this blog back up. Manuel was right this blog was the biggest and the most active Cuban theme blog in the nation. This blog was bigger than any one person in here. Are you really going to keep it censored when the island tries to comment here. I hope not.

Val,

Open your blog up, coward. As you know i had plenty to say about Josh your official "man camp" photograher. Oh, and walking about D.C. does not make you an American. It is what you believe in your heart. Oh, did you tell anyone with confidence that you were a militant Miami Cuban exile? LOL, i doubt it.

Diaz,

Half of me is glad that you are gone. The half that is glad, is that i think you were cowardly. You say 1000 Cuban exiles canceled their subscriptions. One-thousand out of some one million Cubans living in Miami. Also, at least 1000 people move into Miami on a weekly basis.

However, you have extra hurdles to face, particularly if you move out of Miami. Good luck to you.

Henry,

You may be attracting a bit more attention than you want or expect.

[usambcuba]

Hiaasen - speaks the truth and wisely so.

Are things back to normal on the blog yet?

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Manual wrote: Now that, thanks to Fiedler’s unguarded remarks, racism has assumed its rightful place at the core of the witch hunt against the Cuban-American journalists

Just reread your post, and i wanted to add:

Brhahaaa, i see you running around the blogisphere patting Henry Gomez on the head for getting Diaz fired.

Now you are saying its all Hiassen fault...

Bwwaahahaaa

Manual, make up your mind either it is that America-hating Henry Gomez, or its Hiassen who got Diaz fired.

Oh, and guess what Manual, Cubans are not the only people who live in Miami. And most non-Cubans do not find what Hiassen wrote to be bigoted in any way.

In fact it is you militant Cubans who are the real racist. How many ugly racist comments have i heard from Val Prieto and Henry Gomez against black and mixed raced Cubans in this very blog.

[nonee moose]

Look, Fiedler may be racist, I wouldn't know. But Manuel, I think his reference to Perez-Roura and Ninoska as chihuahuas approached mathematical accuracy... if you ignore that P-R looks more like a houndog, and Ninoska looks more like a Pekingese, albeit the Hulk of Pekingeses...

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

John:

I credit Carl Hiaasen with bringing down Jesus Diaz. He accomplished this by going behind his esteemed boss's back to the McClatchy corporation and, in effect, laying a trap for Diaz which he, apt at firing others but not at preserving his own position, could not but fall into.

I credit Henry Gomez for leading the successful campaign to restore the 3 Cuban journalists to their former positions at The Herald. Modesty (a quality that I personally don't find endearing) prevents him from taking all the credit that is due him, but I have no problem recognizing his central part in this titanic battle (as Oscar styles it).

And, you know what, John? I believe that you also acquitted yourself with uncommon candor throughout this affaire, discerning truths that evaded those who were closest to this situation and generally avoiding intemporate or inflammatory remarks. I am by no means hopeful that this John will take permanent residence here, but it was good to make his acquaintance.

[roberto escarpenter]

The fact is the whole thing is a mess.
Give Corral ,Fielder and Co. a break

The real story is the Journalists
should not accept compensation
from Government entities.
Just like they should not apply
a double standard.
Radio Marti and the El Herald
and Radio Personalities like
Perez -Roura attack anyone
disagreeing with the misguided
and yes my people the intolerant
right wing of Cuban politics
and they are being paid by
the US Govt. to do it though
that was not the intention
at the creation of Radio Marti.

Perez-Roura used to do the
same thing as a 30+year old
for the forerunner of GRANMA
Revolucion
as a Militia Man/Journalist .
If you look at some of the
old issues (I found some )
you will find that he asked for
and got Revolutionary justice
for many!!
(prison,work camps,executions
,expulsion)
for those that did not side
with Castro

This is what is now held up by
so many Republicans as an ally for freedom!!!
After WW II we let in ex-nazis
Perez Roura is as guity
as any writer working for the Nazi Propaganda Ministry when he wrote
for Castro demanding
Revolutionary Justice

Hiassen or Fielder are insensitive
in their attempts at sardonic wit.

That I can forgive as I would forgive all those with limited literary ability.
I am sure they will survive my critique

I will never forgive Perez Roura
and some of his ilk
its because of people like him
that a Dictator like Fidel Castro
has stayed in power for 47 years!!

I can not forgive if the
Herald does not continue
to point out conflicts of interest
thru out the communities in Miami

Today some El Herald and Radio
Journalists have become guilty
of what some at The Herald used to do
to many in our community!!!
Like crucifying former CANF director
Joe Garcia when he pointed out
that mostly Republican cronies
in the US including Florida
are doing more business with
Fidel Castro today than
at any other time in 47 years

while Republicans simultaneously
raise big bucks from our community
yelling out Cuba LIbre at Versailles
and like idiots we cheer them on!

Herald plod on!!
But be fair and do not
re-adopt double standards!!!
Good Luck!

[manny o.]

Once again, justice has prevailed.

Loujohn: Always remember that you can't beat us, you can only hope to contain us!

By the way, is this blog still be "moderated" on weekly basis? Or can we once again post at will?

[a different thought]

Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Ideas implies that "Freedom"

This whole affair has made Miami, as usual, look like an immature political city.

Who cares who pays the journalists, as long as what they print and speak gets us closer to the truth, that's all I care about.

[a thought...]

I do not like chihuahuas....there was one in my old neighborhood that would wait until I got home and try to bite my ankles when I got out of my car....that is traumatizing.

Maybe everyone is so offended about the chihuahua remark because chihuahuas are Mexican and everyone knows that Latin people tend to get upset when they are confused with one another (ever try telling a Colombian that they're Nicaraguan? Or telling a boricua that he's Cuban? Talk about racial tension).

And you know what? Sometimes we are a lot of bark with no bite. And sometimes we don't bark at all (witness the Cubans on the island being awfully quite these days).
I think we have a lot more to be concerned about these days than what some guy calls us. Fine, he's a "guy" in a position of some power, but come on. I could not care less. I criticize other races and other nationalities when they get hypersensitive (case in point: las colombianas getting all riled up because there's some new soap opera about their obsession with plastic surgery; you know what? Practically every colombiana I've met has had "something" done; get over it, you can't argue with the facts that Colombia leads Latin nations in plastic surgeries. I'm not saying they all get it done, but a lot do), so when it's our turn to get picked on, what's good for the goose is good for the gander and any other cliche you want to throw out there.

Enough with the hypersensitivity and the political correctness. I'm short; I am NOT vertically challenged. I have myopia; I am NOT visually impaired. I need to get my hair cut and styled; I am NOT folically over-extended. Enough!!!

[cubanpatriot]

Well Mr. Bishop, do you live in Miami?

[Manuel A. Tellechea]

The Miami Herald's Scandal That Wasn't
by Paul Crespo
HUMAN EVENTS Online
Posted Oct 06, 2006

With the sudden resignation of Miami Herald Publisher Jesus Diaz on Tuesday, and the offer to reinstate the Herald’s three journalists unjustly fired on September 8, the newspaper’s "Castro-gate" scandal takes an added twist. What began as an alleged scandal involving Cuban American journalists who were "taking pay from the U.S." government, quickly has devolved into a real scandal involving an unethical, sensationalized smear job by the Miami Herald.

With Fidel Castro’s decrepit dictatorship on its deathbed and the communist island on the cusp of radical change, the Miami Herald chose a strangely strategic moment to discredit Castro’s democratic opponents in Miami. On September 8, the Herald published a front-page pseudo expose,’ "10 Miami journalists take U.S. pay," which listed me among those 10.

This hit piece tried to sully the reputation of any commentator who has ever been paid to appear on TV Marti (the U.S. government's TV news station aimed at Cuba), implying they are all U.S. government shills.

Predictably, Castro’s regime immediately began touting it as proof that all its Miami-based critics are "U.S. mercenaries." Suspiciously, in the weeks prior to this article's publication, Castro's spokesmen and "El Comandante" himself, had publicly taunted the Herald to write just such a story.

Far from the impression the Herald created, its reporters Oscar Corral, et al, are not Woodward and Bernstein, nor did they uncover Watergate. Look closely at their story, and there is little there, and the reporters look more like Keystone Cops. The real scandal is how this unprofessional smear was ever published.

Begin with the grotesquely misleading “take U.S. pay” headline that falsely implied a dirty or secret arrangement between my journalistic colleagues and the U.S. government. The headline insinuated that we all were "on the take" or being "paid off." This patently is false and borders on libel. Predictably though, left wing media quickly used the "on the take" spin in their follow-up stories. “Journalists on the take Defend Cuba Bashing,” screamed the September 15 headline in PoliticalAffairs.net, a Marxist website.

A more accurate, less sensational headline correctly could have read: "10 Miami journalists also consult for TV Marti," but that wouldn’t have been front-page news. Many prominent journalists get paid to appear on government funded media such as the Voice of America, NPR and PBS. Are they all unethical, government shills?

For added effect, the Herald immediately fired three of its Cuban-American reporters for “conflict of interest.” Expressing his righteous indignation, Herald Publisher Jesus Diaz proclaimed that, ''Even the appearance that your objectivity or integrity might have been impaired is something we can't condone, not in our business.''

Yet, former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffee, among others, has stated that the punishment did not fit the crime. While emphasizing that there was nothing illegal about the Herald reporters moonlighting for TV Marti, Coffee added that even if there were a potential conflict of interest, their abrupt firing by the Herald was excessive—like executing someone for a misdemeanor.

The Herald also crammed print and TV reporters and opinion columnists in the same boat. Yet, most media professionals understand there is a big difference. As a commentator and analyst, I get paid to give my opinion. The Miami Herald previously paid me to write editorials and a regular column.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, I was a paid on-air military analyst for TV Marti, just as I was for Miami’s Fox News affiliate, WSVN 7 TV News, giving the same perspective to both outlets. I recently began a weekly TV Marti world affairs program, which I have publicly disclosed on my radio show.

None of this is secret. All the Herald had to do was ask. The Herald claims this story was part of a two-year investigation, but all the information gained could have been collected in two days. Like the other 10 persons cited I was called for comment only the night before the article was published. The Herald printed only curt, one-liners in a response box from those it could reach.

Guillermo Martinez, a syndicated columnist and former member of the Miami Herald editorial board, says, “That’s called ambushing your target and generally considered unethical.” He adds, “Time permitting, as this case did, you are supposed to give the targets of your investigation adequate opportunity to defend themselves. Calling them after the story is basically written is wrong.”

The story quotes Iván Román, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), to argue that there was a conflict of interest for the 10 journalists in this case. Yet, this is the same group that hosted top Castro henchman, Ricardo Alarcon, to a controversial video interview for its annual conference in Fort Lauderdale in June. Mr. Roman is not exactly an impartial judge.

Coincidentally, during that interview, Alarcon cynically justified Castro’s brutal imprisonment of the few independent journalists in Cuba by charging they too were paid by the U.S.

The Herald initially claimed it knew its reporters had been collaborating with TV and Radio Marti for years, but didn’t know they were being paid. As we now learn, they just didn’t look closely enough. The Herald wrote a story in 2002 showing that one of the columnists mentioned, Olga Connor, was paid by TV Marti, even noting her salary.

Maybe the Herald should require its reporters to also read their own paper. It now has surfaced that the former editor of the Nuevo Herald, the late Carlos Castaneda, had approved their paid participation on TV Marti shows.

The Herald story’s kicker was the un-quoted closing comment of two un-named "ethics experts” equating this issue to the scandal involving the Bush administration paying pundit Armstrong Williams to promote its education program. According to the Herald’s two "ethics experts" we may have been paid to spread propaganda in the U.S.

That was outrageous.

Unlike the Williams case, everything here is in the public record. TV Marti is required to pay regular analysts a nominal fee per program for shows beamed into Cuba. Like Radio Free Europe beamed into the Communist bloc during the Cold War, nothing on TV Marti is intended for domestic U.S. consumption, nor directed at U.S. citizens. So how is this comparable?

It is not, which is why the Herald’s ethically challenged “ethics experts” remained anonymous. Or was that simply the reporter’s disguised agenda showing? As expected though, the September 9, New York Times headline falsely read: “U.S. paid 10 journalists for anti-Castro reports,” and reiterated the fallacious Williams comparison. For the record, most of my TV Marti commentary does not involve Cuba.

The background to this Herald article is even more interesting and deserving of investigation. In July, local TV reporter Juan Manuel Cao, also mentioned in the Herald article, cornered Castro in Argentina with a tough, pointed question. The enraged tyrant shot back, calling him a Bush mercenary and asking “Who pays you?”

Later, before falling ill in August, Castro publicly hinted that the answer to his "Who pays you" question soon would be revealed. A week before the Herald published its article, another Castro mouthpiece on Cuban state TV, Reinaldo Taladrid (who, like many other in the Cuban state media, is believed to be employed by Cuban intelligence) presciently asked: what if the Herald investigated the anti-Castro Cuban-American journalists in Miami?

How did Castro’s goons know of the story before the Herald published it? That has become the big question. It appears the Herald should be more concerned about Cuban government influence and penetration of the Herald.

Take Janet Comellas, currently a copy editor at the Nuevo Herald, who until November 2005 was a senior propaganda writer for Castro’s official state-run newspaper, “Granma.”

And there’s Marifeli Perez-Stable, a regular the Herald editorial contributor who in the 1970s and 80s was an open and ardent Castro defender and Sandinista sympathizer. While she has moderated her writing since then, Perez-Stable never has recanted her old views.

According to Indiana University Professor Antonio de la Cova, Perez-Stable was “outed” by Captain Jesús Pérez Méndez, a Cuban intelligence defector in 1983 as being “controlled” by Cuban intelligence.

While we don't know all the answers yet, unnamed sources say some at the Herald are "taking pay" from Castro—just don't quote me on that.

Mr. Crespo hosts a political talk show on Univision Radio's WQBA 1140 AM in Miami and teaches politics at the University of Miami. He is a former member of the Miami Herald editorial board.

[nonee moose]

Aarvaarvarvarv...aarvarvaarrvarv...

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Manual said:  I credit Carl Hiaasen with bringing down Jesus Diaz.

Diaz got fired b/c he was a coward.  If he didn't think there was going to be incessant whining by the exiles from losing their increase spending ability to dine at the finest restaurants, than he needed to be fired.  Besides you once stated that Diaz was unqualified anyway.

Manual said:  He accomplished this by going behind his esteemed boss's back to the McClatchy corporation and, in effect, laying a trap for Diaz which he, apt at firing others but not at preserving his own position, could not but fall into.

Or maybe Mcclatchy originally approached Hiaasen.

Manual said:  I credit Henry Gomez for leading the successful campaign to restore the 3 Cuban journalists to their former positions at The Herald.

Manual, Henry Gomez is the main reason why this cite is censored.  Henry would come in here under PeeWee Herman, post homosexual related remarks, and then go whine about this blog "not" being censored. And this entire blogs knows, A.T., A.D.T, Noone, USAMCuba, and you know it. So stop your bull crap.

I find it interesting that a prolific thinker and blogger like yourself, would be singing Henry's praises, regardless of your "perceived" belief in Henry making one of the biggest papers in the nation buckle.

Manual said:  Modesty (a quality that I personally don't find endearing) prevents him from taking all the credit that is due him, but I have no problem recognizing his central part in this titanic battle (as Oscar styles it).

LOL, Henry is a self-loathing fat dork.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Note:  Oscar, dont even think about deep-sixing this post, b/c of that remark.  If Henry can call people racist, bigots, uncuban, commie liberals, spies, etc,etc.  Then i can call Henry a self-loathing fat DORK.  Its my opinion, and im entitled to it. 

Manual said:  I believe that you also acquitted yourself with uncommon candor throughout this affaire, discerning truths that evaded those who were closest to this situation and generally avoiding intemporate or inflammatory remarks.

Uncommon candor?  Listen, i never lie to anyone about what i believe or what i think.  NEVER.    Second, i never brought into Oscar being a top super-secret spy, that Val Prieto and Henry Gomez were crying about.   Like i said earlier, i really didn't know what to make of the story, and i really didn't care one way or another.   All i did was sit back and read what you wrote, what Oscar and Ana wrote, and i just quietly reflected on past mergers and acquisitions.  As far as Oscar, i dont know what his bosses put in front of him, as they appear to be "very" involved in the decision-making processes now that new management is in place.

I also know from past experiences, that it is always the enlisted man that goes to jail, and never the officers.   As it is easy to condemn the man who squeezed the trigger, and never the man who told him to do so.  

As far as me not using the intemperate or inflammatory remarks.   Censorship involves more than just refraining from using inflammatory remarks, there are whole topics, including criticism of Mcclatchy board, which i refrain from doing.  

Communism, Cuban exiles, and the suffering which is going on that island tends to bring out heated emotions on all sides.   So, its not that i have chosen to refrain from using inflammatory remarks. It is that i cant anymore, nor can i delve into many subjects which i ordinarily would have in the past.  

An opened Cuban-themed blog was unique and needed in this nation. Just as Bosnia was, Cuba is the forgotten pit of misery. I also think an open Cuban-themed will be mandatory once a free Cuba explodes onto the world scene.

Truth of the matter is that there were no pro-Fidel or pro-communism bloggers in here.   Just a group of different thinkers who got together to try to figure stuff out, without the usual militant exile static. 

It was Val Preito and Henry Gomez, who rejected this free speech blog, because there was no praise of George W. Bush, or his Iraq War, and lets face it, this blog was competition. It was the grocer setting up across the street, that "had" to be firebombed by the longer-established grocer.

As you once noted, Manual, "the blog was being sabotaged and attacked not by me, but by others." Specifically, Val Preito, and his jealous "partner" Henry Gomez.  

And Manual, you turn around and pat Gomez on the head for a job well done, and at the same time complain about censorship by Oscar.  

Note:  here is when my inflammatory remarks would be coming fast and furious at you.   But i cant anymore so i will just move along

Manual wrote:  I am by no means hopeful that this John will take permanent residence here, but it was good to make his acquaintance.

Manual, listen, and listen very closely, as i wont say it again to you.   I want nothing more than a free Cuba.  For reasons, that you could never appreciate.

Where you see the anger, inflammatory, intemperate remarks from me, is b/c of right wing, militant, exile, "man camping"  closeted Foley-like, HOMOSEXUALS who seem more interested in bashing anything Democratic, rather than freedom for Cuba.  

Manual, when i have time, i will go back and cut and paste in here, the first conversations i ever had.   But i can tell you now, i first saw that "MAN CAMPER" Val Prieto.  

Was he talking about freedom for Cuba, no, he was bashing on John Kerry.   He was using this blog as his own selfish personal tool, until this Democrat came in to even it out a bit. Aint that right Val.

(Oh, and Manual, here is another paragraph where i would begin with my intemperate and/or inflammatory remarks about Val Prieto, and/or Henry Gomez, depending on my mood.  

I wont, but i should.   So dont thank me for self-restraint, thank those "man camping"  FROLICKING jealous lil militants, Henry Gomez and Val Prieto.  

P.S.

I find it interesting, that you thank me for restraint, but yet not Henry Gomez aka PeeWee Herman.  Why the distinction, as he posted way more offensive remarks than i ever did? Tell me why Manual.  

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Manny wrote: Once again, justice has prevailed.Loujohn: Always remember that you can't beat us, you can only hope to contain us!By the way, is this blog still be "moderated" on weekly basis? Or can we once again post at will?

Justice and victory Manny, is when the terrorized peoples on the island of Cuba are able to freely live their lives away from the barrel of a communist rifle.

And not when Miami Cuban exile reporters get a few extra thousand dollars for reporting on how horrible Fidel is after 47 years.

So Manny, you can continue to be proud of yourself, as life much be that much grander for you.

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

Cubanpatirot aka Val Prieto:

Who is this Bishop fellow that you are asking about?

[John Longfellow aka Lou Dobbs]

A.T. this chihuahuas thingie, is what we can term chihuahua-gate.

These right wing exiles are racist bigots themselves.

Take for example Val Prieto. Val claims not to be Hispanic. According to him, he has white skin. So therefore, he is really an "anglo-Cubano."

And whenever you go into Val "mancamp" you will never see black-Cubans profiled. Only "anglo-Cubanos" that have similiar skin-tone and complexion will be profiled.

Yes, yes, Val has coined himself a new identity. The self-loathing Cuban, is an anglo, b/c he has white skin.

So this whole chihuahua-gate, is a cooked up scandel for this self-loathing, anglo-cuban to get that "man camp" all hot and bothered again.

[roberto escarpenter]

I happen to agree that a journalist should not accept Govt money.

Mr.Lippman, do you hold to the same standard Cuba's journalists
working for the Cuban Govt.
or CNN's Alicia Newman
who never has reported
on Human right violations on the Island
because then CNN will be booted out.
Afterall Monopoly is a form
of Government Compensation
and CNN has a Monopoly in Cuba

Next time you visit Barbara Walters
ask her
about the very expensive,beautiful and priceless huge chandelier
stolen from a private home in Havanna
given to her by Castro hanging in her home
soon after her interview of the Dictator
Then drop us a line!
As for the Herald keep up the good work!!

[nonee moose]

aarvvaarrvvaarrvaarv...arvarvarvaaavrvaarv...

[roberto_escarpenter]

You noonee moosse must have read my little piece
read the one way above as well

if you still bark,
then I pity your spouse!

[cubanpatriot]

I don't know. You tell me, John Bishop.

[A. Lopez]

Oscar -- i hope you are happy. You wrote a poorly researched story, your editor did not only "cut" the most important part -- what would have made it a non-story -- but also gave it a misleading headling.

I am sure you know that people in this community are not going to trust you, beleive you again, or in any way think that your involvement can give credibility to anything you write. You sold out -- that is unacceptable.

So my questions is, what's next for you? Lucila's old job at CNN or her new one at Al Jazeera? Perhaps the latter is more appropriate since their reporting is not based on TRUTH either...right up your alley.

[a thought...]

Down, Nonee, down....what are you doing to John's leg???? That's just gross.....

Can someone please clarify what this "mancamp" thing is? John is referring to it, but I don't know what it is.

[nonee moose]

Roberto, I pity my spouse too... but that's another story...

I read your posts. They have a profound logic. If my feeble attempt at humor offended you, then I get to pity you for awhile. But the sound you heard was merely the anguished cries of chihuahuas everywhere, indignant over the comparisons to two (2) Cuban "journalists", which by your posts I surmise you don't think much of either...

So, what's your beef with me, then? And leave my wife out of this. She has enough problems dealing with me. Otherwise, I'll be forced to hump your leg...

AT- louJIF's smelled of peanut butter kibble. I simply could not resist...

[roberto escarpenter]

NOONe Moose

If you did read all my pieces you would notice I am also addressing the Non Latin journalists as well for their lack
literary ability and for their double standard now and in the past.
Personally I like to hold everyone to the same standard. I hope you do as well!

after all double standards should not be tolerated anywhere especially by journalists.
especially when they are as long winded as Carl Hiaassen! or as vindictive
as a Perez Roura
as for the spouse bit,
the woman must be a Saint!!
Best Regards

[nonee moose]

Roberto:

Agree with you that double standards should not be tolerated in any case. I found Hiaassen's column to be intemperate and myopic, but remember that he was speaking as a columnist, and so no objectivity should be assumed or required. It is unfortunate, but he had every right to be the jerk he is. Fiedler's comments were ill-advised, to be sure. He has that reputation. But it was the C-A comunity's self-appointed spokesmodels that twisted the statement into some perceived racial slur, in order to perpetuate their self-important kabuki theater. But that's just my opinion. And by doing that, and by some level of buy-in from the collective, Fiedler's larger point may have been proven. To me, that's just so funny it makes me want to cry.

[roberto escarpenter]

problem is fiedler/hiassen lose
credibility whether or not they are correct

remember ill advised is when we get caught!

their history goes back to being forced to share power with the CA staff there is a long history there
and pablo alfonso is one of these guys that cannot take critiscism.
Quite a bunch on both sides of the paper!!

if either of them had true literary talent

they would not need to backtrack,or come across as ill-advised
as you have observed

you have talent noone moose!!
you should do some book reviews or even write one! i will buy a copy!

I am going on vacation from the madness or my spouse will think I am on match.com
or something
Best Regards