Steel

Oh and one other thing I just realized, there are less than 2 million Cubans in the U.S.(most of them living in Miami/Dade county, or Union City, NJ), and although this thread unfairly launches attacks towards Cubans in Miami by tagging us with with problems associated with other Spanish speaking groups, the reality is that Stats show the differences. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

You said specifically that those who couldn't speak English were useless. That was an inaccurate statement. Anyway there were actually there were 3 that I mentioned. My Grandfather , my father and myself. I could start telling you about my fathers freinds, my freinds, their fathers, or others I know from the community. But I abreviated it by saying, we (as in us 3) are the norm not the exception. I could just as well quote stats which will prove that Cuban-Americans are actually on average more successful (in terms of income) than Americans in general, as I have done before. But then I will be accused of being an ethnocentrist/racist as I have been previously. In anycase if you or anybody else wants to kid yourselves and think that you are better than us because you speak only English thats ok. Its not like there are enough misguided individuals to change our lives. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

the Spanish only speaking who are effectively useless to society outside of the spanish enclaves. --------------------------------------------------- I read this post a couple days ago and thought I should respond, but I figured this stupid thread will go away and its better to just ignore it. Then I see its still here so I thought I would respond to this post specifically. My grandfather came to the U.S. in 1966 at the age of 58, without a penny to his name. Most of the people around him could not speak Spanish, yet he still managed to get a Job at a Chevy dealer fixing cars. Whether through sign language or context clues, he was able to communicate with his English only speaking boss without any problems. A couple of years later he had his own body shop and with that, was able to buy his own two story house, send my father to Medical School abroad (in 1969) and had his house paid off 25 years later. I'd say he was more USEFUL than a lot of U.S. born, English only speaking Americans. My father came back from Spain a physician in 1975. Considering that he makes more than 6 times the national average salary, I don't think I need to enumerate any of his assets to prove his USEFULNESS. Then I come into the picture. I won't claim to be as successful as my father or had as much of a challenge as my grandfather had. But since my 3000 squarefoot house is on schedule to be paid off (all on my earned dollar) in less than 6 years, I don't think calling me or my non-English speaking roots USELESS is accurate. In fact I think its quite ignorant and downright offensive. And finally, I don't believe there is anything special about my family, we are the typical CUBAN family. =================================== The reason many parents prevented their kids from speaking anything but English was to ensure that they could travel elsewhere in America to study or work. --------------------------------------------------------- The reason people prevent their kids from learning Spanish is to prevent the bigotted backlash from the ignorant Anglos. However, I have never seen a case where the choice to appease those bigotted attitudes is not regretted in the end. I have a cousin who is my age, who wishes his father didn't make the poor choice of speaking to him only in English as a child. His father clearly regretted his error and did not make it with his younger kids. I have 6 nieces from two sisters. The oldest two were not taught Spanish early on. That mistake is not only regretted by my oldest sister, who made it. It is also regretted my nieces themselves who wish they could be bilingual like the younger ones. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Is the bakery located in Cuba? No. Then it isn't a Cuban bakery. As far as I'm concerned, a multilingual society is a step backwards ... it causes communication issues and wastes resources. I see so the German, Italian, Mexican and all other bakery's located in the U.S. are now to be referred to be referred to as American Bakery's. Should there be no more French or Chinese Restaurants either? I think you are missing the point. I am not in favor of making English not the official language, and I don't believe Cubans in general are either. I am also not in favor of forcing anybody to learn other languages. But damn it, its people right to do so if they wish and to communicate with others as they wish too. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

That article is crap sensationalism, full of half truths. Reality is that my grandmother is 91, came to this country at 50, and will never speak fluent English. My other grandparents had a similar story but are no longer with us. My parents, aunts and uncles and pretty much all my family from that generation speaks English with an accent because they were all teenagers to young adults when they came here. My sisters, me and cousins all speak perfect English, because we were all raised in the U.S., even if we weren't all born here. There is nothing special about my family. It is the typical Cuban family. I should know I grew up around it. Making a statement that the crime in the Miami-Dade is somehow the fault of the Cubans is a stupid ignorant statement. If you were from the area or looked a little deeper into the stats you would find that crimes in that area are more likely in Opa Locka, Liberty City or Carrol city (black area's Black Anglo-Americans, not White Cubans like the majority of Miami-Dade) In fact the areas and income levels don't get much better in the rest of the U.S. then they are in Kendal or Coral Gables. If it hurts your feelings that when you go into a Cuban bakery there, people like me will most likely be talking in Spanish, too fucking bad! This is a free country. The fact is the majority of the time the person working there will gladly speak in English for you, if you so need them to. And if for some unforseen reason there is not another person working there that does speak English (which is extremely rare), then someone just like me would be happy to translate, unless of course you are an asshole about it. In that case, you will most likely be told to get on your car and drive north into Broward county. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I guess this thread gives more reasons to prefer Skydive Dallas, $23/13.5K regular price, $20/13.5k on Fridays, and a month or two ago they had a special 100 jump block for $18/13.5K which I gladly took advantage of. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I could never pull up foums from my blackberry. Anyway I hate the freakin thing with a passion. I hate it mostly when a work related email comes in after business hours. But when a work email comes in in the weekend or holidays, I struggle to fight back the urge of accidently dropping it in front of my truck tire and running over it 5 or 6 times. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

and we have a winner!! I don't post all that much but I could not agree more with this statement. I have always said that the fear of being thought of as a homosexual or the fear of what a homosexual might be able to do to you is what makes sense as the definition of a homophobe. (Not somebody who dislikes something about how homosexuals act). That being said, nothing more clearly spells out "homophobe" than somebody, who feels the need to act a certain way with something that is completely NOT sexual, in order to preserve his "guy card". Examples include but are not limited to things such as, not stating that a puppy is cute, not ordering a glass of wine instead of a beer, not asking for directions if you are unsure where you are driving to, going out of your way to prove that you are not wanting to open up a picture of a guy's ass by signing a petition against a thread that has this, and so on. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I actually found a place that would do it for 100 bucks and turn turn in around in a couple of days, which is a relief for sure. Its a bronze propeller. I am not sure what that implies, but I think for now, I am just going to have it fixed and try to be more careful. Thanks for your input air and happy. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Is there a better way? Ok lets back track with the abreviated version: Yesterday was supposed to be the first time back on the lake, and after many recent repairs, it was set. Recently we noticed the prop shaft bearing was hosed. Lets just say that took 2 weeks to fix. First the prop wouldn't come off, then the torch wouldn't make it so that is could come off. Still I didn't want to buy a prop puller, finally the gear puller I rented started to do the trick but only after applying heat from the torch, simultaneously. Then the prop shaft bearings wouldn't come off regardless of what we tried. Then an internet search showed how to make a home bearing press, cheaply. Oh and before that it took days to get the prop shaft strut off. After buying the right size screw driver, it was discovered that there were bolts that required taking the floor board off to reach them. So we get out the lake and the boat is overheating. After an hour or so of troubleshooting, we find that the impeller was on backwards. None the less its all figured out and the boat is maintaining 170 degrees. running smoothly as can be. Man its so awesome, we got so much more power than ever before with this new strut bearing. Lets go skiing, YEAH BABY! Lets pick the girls up at the shore and head out after all, its 7pm and we are running out of sunlight. Everybody is in the boat, backing up and suddenly CLUNK!!! Damn was what that, full throttle forward. Man that if vibrating worse than it ever has. We can't ski like this. Lets take it out of the water and see whats wrong. Oh F&*#!, one of the three prop blades is totally fu&^#d up. Ok, I guess I need to replace the prop. Aleast now we know how to change it. So, is there a better way? could it be fixed? the dented part of the blade at least 3X6 inches. Its not a little dent. How much would I save by having it repaired, if that was possible. Am I looking in the wrong places, that is could I find the prop cheaper? The cheapest I have found is $350. Should I consider a 4 blade as the replacement? On the internet searches, it said that the four blades were more stable and produced better acceleration. Any ideas from someone who owns a ski or speedboat, will be appreciated, especially from those who may have had to replace props before. I find that its always after you have a major repair that you then find out how much cheaper if could have been if you did it another way. Cheers all, If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I can provide you with links of blogs written by others who agree with this too. http://killkasstro.blogspot.com/ is one. I can also show you a link written by Cubans in favor of still keeping the embargo. http://www.nocastro.com/embargo/embargo.htm I am not yet convinced that lifting the embargo will make any positive difference. I think that lifting the embargo would be like slap in the face. The fact that there are these two different opinions of how to deal with the problem does not change that collectively the overwelming majority of us (Cuban-Americans) see both of the Castros as what lead to Cuba's severe downfall. It also means that we have different solutions for the problem at hand, Finding a way to free Cuba. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

It is the same thing. Batista seized power without election because he knew he wasn't going to win the upcoming election. The Cuban people did not want him. So, instead of respecting the process of free elections, he staged a coup against President Socarrás. Incidentally, Castro was running for office in that election, also. Had Batista not sidestepped free elections, Castro may well have been elected President eventually. Or perhaps not. At any rate, Batista is equally to blame that his successor was not elected, since it was Batista who made a mockery of the election process in Cuba. Of course, that doesn't mean Castro is any better than Batista, but there's no reason to suggest he is worse. -------------------------------------------- I have never read anything about Castro running for office legitimately and hence doubt it. But I guess it possible that I could have missed something. The fact that Castro ruined the country and killed thousands for only political dissention makes it pretty clear to me who is worse. ============================ You make it sound as though Batista reacted to opposition peacefully. That was certainly not the case. He rightfully earned a reputation of violence against those who dared demonstrate against him. ---------------------------------------------- This sounds like a joke or word games. One guy releases a group of people trying to kill him, and you turn around say they left the country because they were afraid to be killed by the guy who easily could have but instead freed them. Meanwhile the other guy who was freed kils eveybody associated with the with his opposition when the shoe is on the other foot, but you still don't see the difference. I try to just attack the post rather than the poster but sometimes when I find myself replying to such jibberish and word games it gets frustrating. I guess the difference is I don't see this as a fun debate. This is something that really matters to me. I have family that is currently suffering because of this madman and trying to still find there way out because of him. I have talked to them personally. When I hear or read jibberish trying to cloud the real issue, such as much of what you have written here, its difficult not to take offense. ========================== As punishment for the violence those same police had visited upon Batista's opposition supporters and anti-Batista demonstrators, perhaps? -------------------------------------- This senseless logic is just getting old. Surely you are not suggesting that the US has never interfered with or intervened in the governments of Chile or any middle-eastern countries. I am suggesting that there is no equivalent to the Platt amendment for Chile or any Middle Eastern Countries. That none of the Middle Eastern countries or Chile were ever considered a U.S. territory as Cuba was between 1898 and 1902. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I respect that this is a heated and likely a personal subject for you, but this is a skydiving website, not a Cuban History and US-Cuban Politics website. If everyone to post on this topic had a PhD in these subjects, it would be a very short-lived topic. Are there any books you recommend in particular?? I'm very interested in learning more, but clearly would like as objective a perspective as possible. I hope the books you're referring to weren't written in the US. Since there is no freedom of the press in Cuba, currently, I think any books written on this matter there would be useless. Depending on how much time you want to invest in learning about Cuba, a quick start would be watching the movie "For love or Country", its a true story about the struggles of Arturo Sandoval (a Cuban jazz mucisian who was freinds with Dizzie Gillispie). "The lost city" was not based on a true story but it paints an extremely accurate picture of what actually occurred. If you get the DVD's both of these movies will have special features which will have people sharing their experiences. There are countless books and websites I can name. "Finding Manana (tommorow)" is one, "Tropicana" is another, www.therealcuba.com is loaded with a ton of information. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

If somebody was elected and then took more power than he was granted by the people, then he did just that he took more power than was granted. If somebody else was NEVER elected then its not the same thing. I never claimed that Batista was not a dictator in 1958, but instead clairified why it didn't make sense to be so short-cited as to equade him with Castro, a man who wisdom was never powerful enough to win even one free election. Do you also not see the difference between somebody who assumes power and executes thousands imdediately, to secure his power and somebody who refuses to relenquish power and does NOT execute thousands who oppose him? Here is another tidbit of information for you. In 1953 on July 26 Castro and a group of militants attacked the Moncado Garrison, trying to start a revolution. They were not successful, Castro ended up in jail, sentenced to 15 years. But Batista freed them all in May of 1955. I don't know any Cubans who don't wish Batista would have executed them all. Knowing the history, only a fool would believe that if the shoe was on the other foot that Castro would have in any way hesitated to execute Batista. The fact that one of his first orders of business upon assuming control was to kill everybody who was associated with Batista Police force proved that. The only reason he didn't just go after Batista then was because Batista had already fled to another country. I mentioned the Platt amendment to show a history of Politics being intertiwned. The Platt amendment, states that the U.S. has the right to restore order in Cuban govenment if order is lost. It was acted on a couple of time between 1902 adn 1934. This is one way in which its different from the Middle East and Chile and that was the reason I mentioned it to show some of the history. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Talking to Cubans who have immigrated to the US does not offer an unbiased view of Cuba, just like talking to expatriated Americans will not give an unbiased view of America. If the American government was killing people trying to escape and inspite of that 25% of the American population up and left to anywhere else by there, it would be a strong indication that the majority of people really did not like it there. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Which replaced one dictator with another dictator. Again, just picking something quick and easy to respond to because I can't spend all day here. Batista WAS ELECTED and later took power without the election. Castro WAS NEVER ELECTED. There is a huge differnce. Imediately upon taking control by force, Catro roundec up thousands and killed them with little or no trial. It is clearly NOT one dictator replacing another. Also Cuba is not equivalent to Chile or some Middle Eastern country. U.S. and Cuban politics have always been much more intertwined. Look up and read about the Platt Amendement if you wish. If you really know this little about the history, you should talk to people who do and then maybe they can help you find some books on the matter that are worth more than toilet paper. If you don't know what you're talking about its really just better to say, "I don't know" rather than trying to wing it as that doesn't really work. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I'm not claiming that Castro is the Cuban equivalent of the Dalai Lama or Gandhi. I also don't consider him to be the devil incarnate. Certainly not all Cubans support Castro, but not all Cubans despise him, either. Cuba had a dictator before Castro; why weren't the US concerned about Batista? At the end of the day, it is not for the US to decide what economic system Cuba chooses. Not all Cubans support him is an understatement. One that is either made out of ignorance or with an alterior motive. I don't know any Cubans who support him and I think I probably know quite a few more than you. Is it possible that a miniscule miority supports him? sure. Is it more likely that people trying to suggest he is not the Devil incarnate, are actually pointing to people who can not freely speak out against him for fear of reprisal to themselves or their family? Much more likely. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I don't think GDP in itself is a good measure of a country's economic success, but if we consider it to be, for argument's sake, US GDP is still surpassed by EU GDP. I suppose we could deny that the EU is a single country, but then it would be a little too obvious that we're cherry picking statistics in order to make the US look superior to every other country. . I spent to much time online yesterday so be aware that just because I don't address every issue on this post or others its not because there is not a rebuttal. In regards to GDP being the end all of proving a countries success, I don't agree. Population has a lot to do with how high the GDP and the GNP are. However, niether is GDP or GNP per capita. This does not take into account the level of taxation in a country. If somebody makes 125K in the U.S. and ends up with taxable income of 100K and pays 33% Federal tax on that he ends up (not counting state, SS or other taxes) with 102K in his pocket. Now if somebody makes 125K in England or Germany, he may end up with less than 60K. Bottom line is that there is a reason why so many people from all over the world want to come to the U.S. Also on a unrelated topic somebody previously question why the U.S. didn't have a boycott with the previous dictator in Cuba. That was just an example of people talking about topics they know nothing about. Fulgencio Batista the previous leader was elected as president by the people. The exact years escape me now, but if I remember corrrectly. First he was elected in the 40's then another president served, then in 1953 because of national unrest and his military connection he assumed control. The people were not pleased abourt this and all wanted to bring back the Cuban constitution of 1940, which would basically mean having a free election in which they could choose their leader. But it was not a life or death situation. Most people were still able to live their lives happily, inspite of the political battles. The bigger danger was Fidel Castro trying to take over the country by force, many knew he was a Communist in disguise (Including the U.S. government) and for that reason the U.S. governent offered Batista milatary asssistance. But because of the Cuban's unhappy with Batista who by this point had become a sitting dictator, by not allowing a free elections, because of this the U.S. pulled their military support of Batista. As Castro's military movement gained power, without the support the U.S. Batista Fled to the DR in New Years eve of 1959. Seven days later Castro drove tanks into Havana and assumed control. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

This will be my last response for the night atleast because its time to chill out and play pool. I know that its possible to have democracy with with significant degrees of Socialism. The European countries pretty much span many different levels of significant Socialism with democracy. I wouldn't even say that the U.S. has a totally Capitalist system, as many of our utilities such as electricity, gas and telecom are loaded with government regulation. The fact that somebody in the U.S. with a taxable income of 5 times as much is not paying the same in taxes but infact paying more than 5 times as much is a definate significant degree of socialism. On the whole I would say that when comparing first world countries alone, the U.S. is definately the most capitalist, as well as the most successful. To go a little further, I would say that England comes in a very clear second place to the most capitalist first world countries but not necessarily the second most sucessful. In any case before I go off in a tangent. I will state that I do not believe its possible to have a forced ruthless Dictatorship combined with Capitalism. This I believe only exists in theory and a weak theory at that. Imagine this a Ruthless, Power hungry Dictator that wants to enable the people under his rule to have choices of where to work or to open their own businesses if they desire and have an economy fourish on its own through competition. Can you think of any example where this has occurred? Does it even make any sense to you? To me it doesn't. Cheers and Gueten Nacht If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

The true answer is, I don't know. Its very hard to answer the what ifs. But because of the similarity in the message, I definately see it as a possibility that if not for the U.S. checks and balances, if he were to gain power he would. I am well aware that most if not all European counties embrace different levels of Soicaliam without it leading to mass bloodshed. But there is no way for me to know if given the opportunity, Obama would end his socialist policies at what he says in his speeches, (Which still would be very bad) or if he would try for a completely Communist government. And likewise if he indeed was able to accomplish a completely Communist government, if like Che and the Castros, he would be of the opinion that the end justify's the means. ( regardless of how many innocent people he had to kill for no other reason, other than political dissent). If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

So USA let him steel American property? ---------------------------------------- For the most part yes. I guess they could have sent their tanks in there and retrieved their stolen property. But they didn't. This I believe had to do with the fear of Soviet response, but the reality is that we don't know why, although, we do know that indeed Amercian assets were stolen. ======================== Being a socialist is not the same as being a communist! It was the American ghost running your country where many of your country men was hunted and followed in fear of comunism. That brainwashing is still working! The history you have learned is different than we are thought here in Europe. USA tied all connections to Cuba, and threatening everybody who would have anything to do with Cuba! He had only one option left. ------------------------------------------- From my perpective Socialiam and Communism is the same with regards to the parts that matter. Technical very few things are exactly the same, for instance, no two people are exactly the same height. One person is taller, whether he is a foot taller or 1/1,000,000 of a foot taller the fact is that they won't be the same height. But at some point you draw the line on the significance of the difference and classify accordingly. For me the difference between Communism and Socialism is insignificant. I find it humorous that you think this is due to brainwashing because indeed I believe the facts are quite the contrary. I recall as a very young student being in school and hearing the teacher say that true Communism was the fairest deal becaue everybody got the same, but that because of corruption, it would always turn out differently. As grammar school student, I listened to the teacher and analyzed it enough to find that I actually completely disagreed with what they were trying to brainwash me with. I thought why in the hell should a moron who dropped out of school and worked as a cashier at the local supermarket make the same money as somebody like my father who went to medical school and worked hard for his position. It didn't end there, I also couldn't/still can't stand when I heard/hear somebody say that athletes make to much money. I personally would never pleasantly sit through a baseball game, but have always believe that if the players are making millions, its because what they are doing is worth millions to somebody, and for that I am fine with it. I have always resented the class envy that leads to left wing ideology (socialism, Communism or liberalism). Its true that we may be taught different history in the U.S. from Europe. But when your imediate family has personally witnesses executions of family and/or freinds, without any trial, for polticial reasons, then any history book denying this fact whether its written in Europe, the U.S. or Cuba is still about as valueable as toilet paper to you. =============================== One day we will look back and realize capitalism was as bad as any other ideology because we are dealing with human beings! -------------------------------------------------- This is an interesting take. I definately do not believe it because I see capitalism as clearly a more fair deal. But I do see that dealing with people for the most part means dealing with lies that people make up to make themselves feel better about their short comings, and that definately does bother me. But I guess that is another completely different topic. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Um, how can someone be preaching a thing without admitting it? By saying things like, There are too many rich people here who don't really need all the money from those sugar plantations for themselves. I am going to take all there "excess uneeded money" and put it to better use feeding poor people. The general ignorant population can buy into this crap, just as many are buying into it now, in the U.S., when Obama speaks. The difference is that the U.S. political system has more safe guards to avoid this leading to thousands of people being executed to further a cause of stealing assets from all businesses. (no matter how large or how small) Most people already have these horrors associated with Communism, so by preaching the content, but denying the title, he was able to win over a few more idiots, before they started to see the effects of his madness.. By that time it was already much more difficult to overthrow him because he already so much more power. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Yeah for the most part you are wrong. Castro never "kicked the U.S. ass". He stole from a lot of American businesses, when he "Nationlized" a lot of their assests in Cuba. But to say tha he kicked the U.S.'s is a pretty far strecth. Did the CIA try to kill him? OFcourse, as have many Cubans who are upset about their country being destroyed and their freinds and/or family having been brutally executed by him and his thugs over the last 5 decades. Did they drive him into Communism? NOT, He was preaching that left wing ideology from day 1, only he would not admit to being a Communist until 20 or so months after having assumed control (through a forceful military style takeover ofcourse). Had no chocie but to cooperate with the Soviet Union? Yeah thats a funny one. I guess you can say if you want to take free country and turn it into a leftist/Socialist/Communist country you are not going to get help from a Country that is promoting Freedom and Democracy, as the U.S always has. So turning to the other Super Power that was all about taking away freedom of the press and having the government control every aspect of peoples lives, made the most sense. If you want to ruin a country by turning it to Communism, the Soviet Union certainly was more likely to assist you than the U.S. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

What the fuck does a dictatorship have to do with left wing ideology? Well I guess we can rule out knowing its history or caring about it. Fairly pious coming from someone who lives in a country that has killed millions This comment is so stupid that it does not even deserve a response. It is either coming from some Che tshirt wearing individual, who thinks he was a rock star or a Communist appologist, neither of which I think is worth educating. Both of which I am glad to hear is not living in the same country as me. Cheers, If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Also just to be specific, most of the resorts in the DR are owned by The Spaniards who never left Spain, and they are worked by the local population of the DR which is mulatto 73%, white 16%, black 11% (according to the CIA world fact book). I have been to these resorts and can tell you that the Mulatto population is probably more of an 80/20 percent black to white mixture. You can't really tell the difference between the pure black and those that are actually mixed. As for the Indiginous people, there really aren't any. Disease brought by the Europeans (the Spanish in this case) killed all of them, just like they did in Cuba and PR. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.