Steel

Nice attempt at a PA.. there .... hey at least MY boats are mine.. not my daddies. What I have earned in my life.. has been earned by me.. not given to me by daddy.

I have been holding back from posting to this thread because the hopless ignorance/ethnocentrism/racism that has been posted by our favorite North Western lefty who thinks she is rich , does not deserve a response. However, to address your point. What is currently being done (and has since Clinton instituted the wetfoot / dry foot policy in 1994) with Cubans trying to migrate to the U.S., is actually illegal as it violates the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966. This policy was an attempt controle the situation developed because many Haitians were trying to pass themselves off as Cubans. There is a clear difference between wanting to leave your country because it sucks because nobody wants to work to improve it and wanting to leave your country because voicing any dissenting opinions can lead to prison or death. Its also very different when a Haitian, Mexican, Dominican or what have you says I want to leave for a better life elsewhere and the government says ok, as opposed to shooting them dead on the spot while trying to escape. This all started in 1994 when 32 Cubans hijacked a tug boat in Cuba with the purpouse of escaping in it. A Cuban patrol boat rammed and sank the tug boat killing the 32 people, obviously not because they cared about the boat but because, it is the Castro's policy to kill those who try to escape. However, in this instance for the third time in history, Castro decided to re-impliment his open migration policy in Aug 18,1994. Basically saying anybody who is not with the revolution can leave now. Ofcourse upon saying that thousands imediately up and left and it only went to the point where Castro decided to put a stop to it. Its not like he was going to let the entire Island empty out. The first time this occurred was in September/1965, when he said anybody who wanted to leave could do so by port of Camarioca. That one lasted for about a month with 5,000 leaving daily. It also led to one of the few good things I can attribute to the Johnson administration. He instituted a program known as 'Freedom flights' which lasted from 1965-1973. Here Castro agreed to let one plane fly in and out daily taking Cubans who didn't want to be there to the U.S. 265,000 Cubans rode this plane to freedom during that time. The other time that Castro said anybody who wants to leave could was in 1980 through Mariel harbor. What led to this occurred on March 28,1980. A bus, full of Cuban citizens, intentionally rammed into the Peruvian ambassy in Havana and claimed asylum. Soon after, 10,800 would follow at the Peruvian Ambassy. Jimmy Carter then announced that he would take 3500 who were processed by the Costa Rican ambassy. At this point Castro felt he was being made a fool of, so he said anybody who wants to leave can by Mariel Harbor. Finally to address the root of this post. Is Castro alive or very ill? The truth is we don't know. But here are some facts that are promising. The Brazilian leadership leaked that he has a stomach cancer. I like this possibility, as it will assure a painful death. Meanwhile, he has not been seen in public. But obviously photo-shopped pictures have been released. Then a video which can not be clearly determined is released. In it there is nothing which proves that the video was not shot 3 weeks ago or three months ago. Combine this with the fact that we know he has body doubles which could have been used to make this short video. See attached Castro before and after the operation picture. And then for some amusement see the other pictures attached.

You know I was going to reply back as I still find your post funny. But since that is not what this thread is about, I will leave it at that. , 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.

No the person laughing will be me as you have already tried to brag about you 6 figure income and your measly 27 foot boat. Its clear where you are at, and I am not saying you are poor. But you do think to highly of yourself, which I find laughable. Since unlike you I was at that level when I was half your age. 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 didn't say it was. But it was an anti Cuban-American post. And in a way it was a pro-Castro post. It was suggesting that Castro was out-smarting the U.S. Granted that at that time Carter was in office that it wasn't hard to outsmart him. But I don't think Carter made a bad decision here. Also to re-address, when the U.S. government found out that there was a high minority of criminals (perhaps 10%)coming in 1980, they quickly took action. They did not give them imediate citizenship like they had the previous Cubans. As a matter of fact they rounded them up under route 95 in Miami and interogated them, before allowing them to get green cards. Still unfortunately too many bad ones did get through. But as a whole the Cuban-Americans even with the few bad ones are still living better than the average American. , 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 meant what I said...I would have preferred for them to stay and FIGHT....to stand up for what they believed in. By the way I do fairly well...and that was by doing it all myself...served my country and used the GI Bill....with no help from my family ....shoots your statement of bile right in the foot now doesnt it. No I don't think it does. I am sure that at best you earn 1/3 of what my father and many Cubans like him (People who learned English in their mid twenties in a foreign country, where unlike you they really did have to start from the bottom) , 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.

Heroes All! Only... When ANY Cuban who got to America was automatically welcomed and given full citizenship, didn't Castro take the opportunity to EMPTY his prisons onto boats and literally tow them to American Territorial waters? You have to smile at such a plan for ridding a society of it's dregs. In fact... Can Y'All get some Government to embargo US on the same terms please? We have a SHITLOAD of Political Prisoners (who also happen to be thieves, thugs, rapists, child-molestors, murderers, etc...) just waiting for the opportunity to escape to a free country where they can live their lives without fear of persecution from our regime! Mike. I find it fasinating how when people talk about something they really don't understand they spout off partial truths to confuse the issue. First of all what you are describing was the Mariel boat lift in 1980. The majority of the Cuban-Americans exiles came in the 1960's. Second of all out of the 125,000 that came in 1980 through Mariel harbor, it was an estimated 25,000 that had criminal records, many who were branded as criminals simply for opposing the communist government. There were a lot of bad people that came in 1980 staining the Cuban name, but even so it was a small minority. Basically this was not the first time Castro went on his little rant saying anybody who wants to leave can. The first time he did that was in 1966, which was when a lot of the parents came and got together with the children that they sent in 1962 in search for a meaningful life. Still, it didn't take long on both these occasion for Castro to realize he was loosing to many people, because nobody wanted to live with his shit. The main difference in 1980 was that Castro got creative and rather than just letting anybody who wanted to leave go, he went to the jails, and mental institutions to ask people if they wanted to leave. None the less 80% of the imigrants arriving in 1980 were NOT from jails and of the ones that were many were political prisoners. So it looks like you need to do some better research and preferably not from the biased BBC, if you want to atleast sound like you have a minimal understanding of what is and has really occurred. , 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 am sure you would have preferred to have more counter-revolutionaries die in firing squads ordered by Castro or Che, than come over here as immigrants, with nothing, and within a couple of decades be far more successful than people like yourself who had been here for 3 or more generations. Knowing that such ignorance and disregared for human life exits even in such a great country as the U.S., I am thankful that atleast the U.S. government and the CIA didn't fall prey to such imorality and jealousy. , 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.

Right but here you would be reading about what was learned and not a defense for Hirohito or the Unibomber. If Castro's doctor made some advancements in medicince because of the unethical use of human specimens, (which I don't doubt as a possibility), then sure lets learn what he learned ABOUT THAT. But if somebody is going to use this advance in medicine to make a defense for Castro, I won't be listening. Nothing could ever justify the hundreds of thousands he had killed. , 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.

Wow, we got to Godwin's Law pretty quickly on this one... Not quite, it seems like you didn't read your link. This IS indeed quite similar, and therefore the comparison applies. Nice try , 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.

Obviously it wasn't psycho-babble since you agreed with a big portion of it. Unless off course you make a habit of believing a psycho-babble? It does show that even though you may not agree with a persons actions, sometimes it is worth while to listen to them. If Castro develops a vaccine against every form of cancer, should we just dismiss it because of his previous actions? If a person is a psycho and he is babbling, I refer to it as psycho babble. Once I establish that somebody is a horrible person, I imediately think less of people who defend him or her. Now if somebody said to me, Hitler discovered X about medcine in a concentration camp, that may be able to help up understand y. Then I would say fine study X. On the other hand if somebody said, "You know Hitler wasn't hated by everybody. A lot of Germans were happy to have him as a leader and btw., he discovered X which helps with Y". This person I would take for a Nazi sympathizer, and from that point I would take his opinions as worthless. , 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 difference ofcourse is that I didn't know who writing I was reading. You posted it anonymously. Perhaps if the writing included a desire to mail people bombs, then I would have known, I was reading psycho-babble and I probably would have stopped reading there. I think that regardless of who you are talking about, you can probably find something that you agree on. But some people have committed such attrocities that any defense of them, I consider useless and not worth reading. , 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.

Actually that depends on many things. what he took, if he had ever taken before are just two of the major factors. In anycase here is a website which has most of the steroid profiles. It goes into details about what one could expect with respect to sides effects as well as intended effects. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catsteroids.htm , 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 am not sure if I buy that Absolute power ALWAYS absolutely corrupts. Never-the-less Castro and Che were ruthless from the get go, long before they had power. It took 20 months after gaining controle for Castro to declare himself a Marxist-Lennist. But it didn't take 20 months for the firing squads to get started. And before the Revolution started, at the Sierra Maestra Che killed 14 personally with his own gun. 1. ARISTIDIO 2. MANUEL CAPITÁN 3. JUAN CHANG 4. “BISCO” ECHEVARRÍA 5. ECHEVARRÍA BROTHER 6. ECHEVARRÍA BROTHER 7. EUTIMIO GUERRA 8. DIONISIO LEBRIGIO 9. JUAN LEBRIGIO 10. “EL NEGRO” NÁPOLES 11. “CHICHO” OSORIO 12. ONE UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER (“EL MAESTRO) 13.-14. 2 UNIDENTIFIED PEASANTS I must say, I didn't see the connection with the first one and what I was stating and I took my best guess as to what you meant by the second one and answered accordingly. , 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, I ask again. Would you NOT imediately dissmiss the viewpoint of a Neo Nazi as stupid? I would, as I think most would. And I see it as a very similar senario, for the same reasons. , 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.

Communist cubans: We are right and you are wrong. Steel: I am right and you are wrong. What exactly is the difference? Difference is. Steel doesn't have like minded individual, who say oh 200,000 people dissagree with me. Lets get the firing sqaud out there and kill them all, until nobody dares to even think about dissenting. I just want to kill the ones directly responsible for the mass-murders, the Castros. Many other's that you wouldn't attack here are in favor of the death penalty. I think directly and indirectly killing hundreds of thousands definately call for the death penalty. , , 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.

Meanwhile to pretend to show both sides they print the opinion of yet another Communist. The difference is only this guy is not in support of slaughter of 100's of thousands that oppose his stupid ideas. Bruno, Have you considered how "Totalitarian" your views on Cuba and the media coverage of it are? You seem to act in exactly the way you accuse and complain about Castro & his regime of acting! ------------------------------------------------ Are you for real? I am doing exactly what I accuse Castro of doing. I am killing thousands who oppose my viewpoints? No, but it seems like you are playing word games trying to confuse the issue. , 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.

Meanwhile to pretend to show both sides they print the opinion of yet another Communist. The difference is only this guy is not in support of slaughter of 100's of thousands that oppose his stupid ideas. Bruno, Have you considered how "Totalitarian" your views on Cuba and the media coverage of it are? You seem to act in exactly the way you accuse and complain about Castro & his regime of acting! Determined to shout down and deny any viewpoint other than your own extreme one! Mike. Because there is such a thing as a right and a wrong. If you also believe that we should take Neo Nazi's seriously and consider their jibberish, then your comparison might hold water. However, not as many people would quickly jump on your band wagon. This double standard, I think is quite sad. , 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 system does suck and we see more and more changes in it. That still does not make a country socialist. The US welfare system is a distinct socialist system. However, that does not make the US a socialist country. I don't dispute that the U.S. has some socialist aspects of government, Telecom, electric companies, natural gas companies are all extremely state regulated. But still I think its a given that in the first world line up the U.S. by far the most capitalist system. Would you argue that the Canadian government is not sinificantly more left leaning that the U.S. government? , 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 the US has any leg to stand on when it comes to Human Rights. Canada is far from a socialist country, you may want to check up on your definitions again. Canada prides itself in it Socialist healthcare, which incidently sucks from what I hear. , 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.

Meanwhile to pretend to show both sides they print the opinion of yet another Communist. The difference is only this guy is not in support of slaughter of 100's of thousands that oppose his stupid ideas. The reality is that there is a reason why these stupid systems always have little to no human rights associated with them. I.E. China, Cuba, North Korea The reason is that, in a democratic system, these jackasses would be voted out of office in a heartbeat. They can ONLY exist in an oppresive Totalitarian system. I know that many like to point to Canada, Swedan and other countries like that and say, "see Socialism/Communism does not need to throw human rights out the window." But the fact is that in places like Canada or Swedan there are wealthy people who were successful with their careers, business or what have you. There is no question that their systems are far too Leftist for me. But there is far more opportunity there, because of democratically elected governments. The reason is because the governments that are democratically elected that don't go nearly as far to the left, as they would loose their elections. 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 are obviously knowledgable on the subject, but your extreme bias and tendency to call anybody who shows the other side of the story an idiot makes it very difficult to take you seriously... What kind of a reaction would you expect from a person who parents escaped from a concentration camp if you started to spout off all the "positive" things you think Hitler did? This is no different. I know of many who were killed is extremely cruel and unprecidented ways directly or by direct links to the Castro's and Che, and therefore I have no tolerence of some ignorant fool who praises them. , 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.

Noice..... I took it as a personal account of somebody who has actually been to Cuba and who doesn't have this enormous personal bias. How many times have you been to Cuba, Mr. Expert? And... How many times has the "Canadian Who Knows The Real Cuba" been there? The "Letter" is pure diatribe with NOTHING in it to back up the accusations it levels. Mike. The letter is just intended to defend Canada. That is by showing us that not everybody there is an ignorant fool with respect to matter about Cuba. The evidence is in the pictures, the testimonies of millions who have fled or died trying. However, its not difficult to see that somebody who wishes to stick there head in the sand and ignore fact will continue to do so over and over again. , 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.

Noice..... I took it as a personal account of somebody who has actually been to Cuba and who doesn't have this enormous personal bias. How many times have you been to Cuba, Mr. Expert? I have already addressed that question and don't care to run through it again, Mr. Clueless. , 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.

Just about every religion has tracts that can be taken in support violence or against it. In spite of the insinuations of the fellow that started this thread, there's plenty of material in the Koran and in the New Testament that could incite violence. As well as the Torah. None of it means anything until it is interpreted by a human. I will agree when interpreting people come up with some theories that seem way out in left field. However, when you read the texts as they are stated, the Koran has parts which are obviously pretty vicious. I have never read any of the Torah so I don't know what it states specifically. But I understand the jews read the Old testament, which has some pretty vicious references in it as well. Christianity on the other hand if often suggested to be no different in this aspect. The funny thing is that everytime, I have heard/read a bible quote that is being used to prove violence in Christianity, its was coming from the Old testament. Since you have stated in your post that there is some violence supported in the New Testament, I welcome you to educate us by quoting some of it. , 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.