Durbanite and his immediate family members emigrated to England about five years ago. He just never comes around here anymore.
So if he didn’t get caught in the political riots in South Africa he got caught in the football riots in England. Our former favorite agoraphobe can’t catch a break.
He's still my favorite. Perhaps I misunderstand, is he a former favorite or a former agoraphobe? Nobody has replaced him as my favorite.
In case anyone is curious where BLM stands, they've issued a statement on the Cuba situation. Hint: Of course they condemn the US, but praising Cuba? Really?
The embargo on Cuba also has nothing to do why the people there are protesting. That aside, the praise for Assata Shakur is revolting.
Well, they’re right in this situation. Your country has bullied Cuba and has attempted to inflict non-stop misery on them for decades. Step outside your country, and you are NOT seen as the “good guys” in that particular situation by almost any other country in the world. Your country committed the Iran-Contra affair. Hypocrisy and high treason, full stop. Cuba hasn’t been a bother to USA since the Bay Of Pigs invasion failed and America has been bitter ever since. Those people gather around TVs everywhere watch MLB baseball games (lots of Red Sox fans in Havana, but the half the jerseys I saw being worn were Ichiro), wear all your fashion, watch your shows and hope to live in America some day and everyone thinks they still think they’re evil and hate America. They’ve suffered for this ignorance.
Yeah, but we don't care. The issue with Cuba is bigger than with than being butt-hurt over Bay of Pigs, it's more to do with economic and military dominance of the Caribbean that has more/less been the same philosophy since the Spanish-American War. America has massive economic interests on the southern coast that rely on open waterway transit in the Gulf and Caribbean and cannot risk even the inkling of a hostile power in the region that could disrupt it. The foreign policy in this region is neurotically overbearing on purpose. It's why even Obama only tip-toed in the the direction of loosening ties. It's also why the U.S. risked a nuclear war to prevent the Soviets from setting up shop there during the Cuban Missile Crisis. A hostile dictatorship in the middle of the trade routes with South America is a non-starter for the State Department and basically every administration, Democrat or Republican. To turn things around, you would need three things to establish and accelerate very quickly and almost in unison: tourism, sugar cane agriculture and manufacturing. A communist government isn't too fond of 2 out of 3 of those things, at least from a privatization standpoint. I'm not passing judgment on the wisdom of the embargo, I'm just explaining why it hasn't changed.
Seems to me that ending the embargo, especially in this age of communication, would take fire right of the regime's "The Yankees are doing this to you!" gimmick.
Tpurism is ready and waiting to make a killing in Cuba since it always really has been doing well. I’ve partaken a few times and we had our honeymoon there. Its mostly UK and some Canadian tourists, but you’ll run into Americans who know how to bounce around the flights correctly. It’s safer, cheaper, cleaner and friendlier than Mexico. And…. It’s close. Opening tourism to America would be a great two way street for both countries. Not just resort tourism, but deep sea fishing, excursions, climbing, they have plenty of things for people to travel there. And maybe they can finally get Dime fucking new cars. Unrest certainly is a rare thing there. Funny thing that one of the main focuses of the current protests was lifting the customs/travel restrictions on tourist goods. Many people who work in the tourist industry get “gifts” (tips) from departing tourists in the form of things like toilet paper, tylonol, licensed sports wear, etc. because it’s hard to get in good quality anything there (with the exception of booze), so decent over-the-counter merch is gold to them. People there are very dependant on what tourists bring in and leave behind for them. It’s a “thing” between citizens and tourists, like in Japan how when somebody gives you a toothbrush it isn’t an insult but a friendly gift. If you’re a tourist, you can’t tip or give people money working in Cuba. Tourists use a separate form of currency that is only of value to a business, not a citizen. So, if you want to tip people money in Cuba you have to find a black market money changer (usually in the form of your smiling and very apt bartender) so you can buy Cuban money with Cuban tourist money. Sheesh. Prices there are insanely cheap. A top-shelf bottle of rum would be about $9, I remember renting a old school Vespa scooter with no ID for three hours I tore around for about $7, to actually swim with and get thrown around by real dolphins in a lagoon cost $100… there’s lots to like there. Just don’t smoke weed or you’ll go to jail for two decades.
Sure, I agree. But this also highlights another part of the problem. The Cuban economy could explode with wealth tomorrow and you'll still have all that wealth concentrated in the hands of the state. The country already has access to 180+ national markets, and it's still poor. If the embargo was lifted, I would hope they would be required to join NAFTA/USMCA as a condition.
All that Cuban coastline with no embargo to keep FL smugglers away... it'd be a funny sight, bringing consumer goods south instead of drugs north.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-reports-first-death-human-110330191.html More good news from China....
I hope the people still flying their Trump and blue stripe flags are tuned into this Capitol Police testimony. But I doubt it.
do you have a link by chance? No tv out here so I can’t record the stuff. Didn’t know it’d start so quick!!