Castro's words from beyond the grave?

Fidel Castro published his latest "reflections" yesterday in the official paper of the Cuban Communist Party. He hadn't written one in over a month. This latest reflection is much shorter then his previous ones and is published at a time where the rumors of his death are once again surfacing all over the internet.

Havana Journal has published them in English for all of us to read. I find this latest "reflection" to be vastly different, not only in length, from his previous ones. It's written much more candidly and he actually praises the new President of the United States. Let's take look so you can see what I mean...

"No one can doubt the sincerity of his words when he affirms that he will convert his country into a model of freedom, respect for human rights in the world and the independence of other nations."

"The intelligent and noble face of the first black president of the United States since its founding two and one-third centuries ago as an independent republic had transformed itself under the inspiration of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King into a living symbol of the American dream."

Really? Have you ever heard Fidel or anyone in the CCP talk about the American dream like it was a good thing? Or for that matter say that "No one can doubt the sincerity of his words"? This is very unlike Fidel.

"I have reduced the Reflections as I had planned this year, so as not to interfere or get in the way of the (Communist) Party or government comrades"

Again, does this sound like Fidel Castro? Since when has he not interfered with affairs of government in Cuba?

"I am well, but I insist that none of them should feel bound by my occasional Reflections, my state of health or my death."

And this is where I start to think that he's not even writing these at all... Telling the Cuban government not to be swayed by the state of his health or his death? This doesn't sound like something he would write at all.

In fact I'm willing to bet that someone in CCP wrote this because El Comandante is no longer around to write these himself. They're just trying to set the stage for the announcement I'm sure... Oh well who knows.

Muchacho Enfermo

Everybody wins!

When I was a kid I played soccer. My team was bad... I mean horrible. No matter how many goals we lost by at the end of the game the coaches and refs would say that we had all won. Everyone was a winner!

Now look at Israel pulling out of Gaza...
Israel says: We won!
Hamas says: We won!

Which just goes to prove my point: Watching this stuff play out in the middle east is like watching a children’s sporting event where everyone gets a trophy. Hamas can’t possibly say that they won because Gaza City looks like Nuremberg did after the Allies bombed it. Hamas is like those idiot coaches who tried to make us feel good for being mediocre. Over 1000 dead, a crumbling city and leaders in hiding for over two weeks? You can hardly call that a victory by anybody’s standards.

Israel can’t really say it won, even though it’s clear they inflicted the most damage. You just can’t win against people like Hamas. They’re willing to sacrifice their on people to launch 30 rockets a day at Israel and inflict exactly ZERO casualties. Israel is not the winner in this conflict, all it did by pulling out is to play into Hamas’ hand. Hamas knew international pressure on Israel to pull out would grow and that one day Israel couldn’t ignore it anymore. So they waited in bunkers and planned their victory speeches...

Watching this is sad, watching the Hamas soldiers walking around Gaza giving people money because they lost their homes and their loved ones. How much money? One source stated that he received a few thousand dollars after he lost his house and his business to Israeli bombs. A couple of thousand dollars? Wow... I could walk to an ABM and cash advance that on my credit card right now. Good job on taking care of the people you’re supposed to be defending Hamas.

All that to say that this twisted little interpretation of victory only goes to show the world how far in left field both sides of this conflict actually are.

Muchacho Enfermo

An award from ~Zurama~

In the comments section of my last post fellow blogger ~Zurama~ has decided that she was giving an award.

What I love about this award is that it's something that was given freely, without voting, without politics... it's a great gesture and one that means a lot to me!

Thanks Zurama for reading my blog and for thinking it's deserving of an award!

As it goes with these awards, I'll pay it forward, so without further delay here are the blogs I want to give this award to as well:



A Reluctant Mind
The Nexus of Assholery
HHH
Desde Aqui
Sunrise in Havana









Thanks again Zurama!
And to everyone else don't forget to pay it forward!

Muchacho Enfermo

Hope for the hopeless?

Cartoon: from embassymag.ca


Reading article after article about Obama since his election in November all the way until today one thing is clear: in him people see hope for change. Love him or hate him, he is bringing something new to the mix in Washington and his presence is already shaking things up.

Here in Canada, looking at our current potential leaders, it's hard to have hope. It's even harder to have hope for change. The same old boys club, the same graying hair, the same rhetoric, the same arguments, the same problems.

Since Harper's first term in office we have seen a deep divide form in this country, from the rebirth of Western separatism and Quebec nationalism, to Danny Williams doing whatever the hell wants (WILLIAMS FOR PM PLEASE!)... I'm not a old man, heck I'm a young guy, but talking to people in their early 20s it seems that politics hasn't grabbed their attention. There's a deep feeling of complacency in the majority of our young voters. Who's to blame? The politicians haven't captured our attention, the politicians we have now don't campaign on anything. They spend so much time attacking each other that none of them have capitalized on their chances to captivate voters.

Obama campaigned hard, he campaigned on promises of Change(with a capital C) he spoke with passion, he was eloquent. Weather he can make things happen remains to be seen. But the bottom line is I don't remember anyone campaigning with fire like that here in the last 8 years. Maybe someone in Ottawa should hire some of Obama's campaign managers and learn a few things.

This is my challenge to the four clowns in Ottawa: grab our attention, make us believe, make us fight for you, make us tell our friends and talk about Canadian politics over dinner and drinks with our friends. Do your jobs.

As long as our politicians act like hopeless children, I have no hope for change or improvement.

Muchacho Enfermo

Ciego de Avila (a shout out from me!)

¡Hola a quienquiera está listo mi blog de Ciego de Ávila!
Por favor deje comentarios, a quienquiera usted es.















Hello to whoever is ready my blog from Ciego de Avila!
Please leave comments, whoever you are.

9 year old raped, court rules no punishment for attackers

This is an old story, this dates back to early October before I started this blog. It was brought back to my attention this morning when I received an email from a friend asking me to sign a petition that called for stronger penalties for youths who commit violent crimes.

Before I tell if I signed or not... how about I tell you all the story (here it is in French as originally reported in La Presse de Montreal)in English:

In the suburbs just north of Montreal in a quiet upper middle class neighborhood, a little boy (we'll call him Eric, who is 11, invited Lea who is 9 to lunch at his house not far from their school. Another (we'll call him Louis)9 year old boy followed them to Eric's house. Eric's parents weren't home. Eric asked Lea to strip. When she said no he hit her with a chain. After she had stripped Eric instructed to younger boy to touch her with his hands, to insert them in parts of her body and how to do it. As if this wasn't enough Eric chained her feet together and inserted a vibrator in her anus, scarring the girl physically by the force of the thrust.
The youth courts (which are supposed to protect all youths) here in Quebec have ruled that since the boys weren't even 12 yet they couldn't be tried as minors and would face no consequence. Even though both children admit their actions and the older of the two boys even brags openly about having raped the girl.

As much as I hate to say this... I think both these boys should be tried as at least juveniles. I also think that Eric's parents should be up on trial for raising such a messed up child and for not limiting his access to sex toys... I mean seriously...
What kind of abuse must that poor boy have suffered or witnessed to want to inflict that kind of pain on someone else? Some will say you can't blame the parents but I don't really care what you say: I'm blaming them. Some will say you can't blame the kid he's only 12... but really? he lured a girl into his house, tied her up and abused her, it's clear to me that if he was ready with a vibrator and chains that he knew what he was doing. He knew he'd have to tie her up because she wouldn't like whatever he was going to do and he already had a plan!!! The only thing this 12 year old was ignorant about was the consequences of his actions. But surprise surprise our justice system strikes again and there are NO consequences whatsoever! Welcome to Quebec.

Muchacho Enfermo

We all have a dream

Here is the famous I Have a Dream speech posted here to mark Martin Luther King day, to mark the advancement of human rights. Mostly to remind us that even if we have come a long way, we still have a very long way to go if we're one day to see Dr King's dream realized. Not only for blacks in the US, but for everyone in every country... For all of us to live in a world free of prejudice, where color, religion and ethnicity don't matter. Dr King had a dream and he passed on to the generations and everyday we dream that very same dream.

Here it is:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
Martin Luther King, Jr., delivering his 'I Have a Dream' speech from the steps of Lincoln Memorial. (photo: National Park Service)

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Rest in peace Dr. King.

Muchacho Enfermo

Women must be executed for... shopping?

I read today in a blog I fallow called A Reluctant Mind that in the city of Mingora in Pakistan the Taliban have declared that all women entering the market will be executed. This was originally reported in the Daily Times.

To most of us in the west this seems crazy... as it does to most people living in urban centers in Pakistan. But the bottom line is that things like this happen even in a country that is considered a major US ally in the fight against the Taliban.

I'm just really at a loss for words I'm just in shock...


"‘Women are not allowed in the market,’ reads a banner displayed at the entrance of a market in Mingora. Taliban have banned the entry of women in markets and ordered the killing of women who violate the ban. Most shop owners have sold or shut down their businesses because of falling sales following the restriction." Daily Times

Muchacho Enfermo