Posted on 10/09/2005 8:11:42 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
I hear there is an opening for a cleaning woman to clean the houses of Cubas's elite. My friend's 80 year old mother has finally given up her job. Qualifications are having good knees and back.
What a coincidence, that's the same qualification to be a Clinton intern!!
And old man river, he just keeps rollin', along...,
January 29, 2002
Reviewer: Eugene A Jewett "Eugene A Jewett" (Alexandria, Va. United States) - See all my reviews
After seven years of exhaustive research Georgie Anne Geyer produced this 457 page book about Fidel Castro, one of the few remaining dinosaurs of the Marxist-Stalinist Cold War, Who still invokes communism as a governing policy. As readers of Casto's history are aware, he is at heart a murderous thug, the personification of that virulent alpha-chimp personage that can be found in every human society throughout history. His need to dominate and control his people supercedes any manifestation to the contrary putting him in the same category as a Hitler, Lenin or Stalin. Even a far-Left crank such as Noam Chomsky has averred that Cuba under Castro is a "Stalinist hellhole".
Geyer follows Castro through his entire life weaveing a surprisingly fair and balanced tale of a man who, while worshipped by Leftists, is abhorred by freedom loving conservatives whose lifestyle choices center around the touchstone of individual liberty. It's a remarkable tale of a driven, machiavellian man who, borne of not inconsiderable bravery, assiduously fights for, gains, and builds a power base 90 miles off the coast of the U.S.A. The fact that he murders and jails his own accomplices, drives his remaining countrymen into menial poverty, and becomes a player on the world stage, is all documented in this terrific book (readers of Armando Valladare's book "Against All Hope", can seamlessly interweave both narratives to form a fuller picture of Castro).
The sadness of this tale is that so few in America fully understand the cruelty of Castro and the murderous bent he shares with other, aforementioned, dictators of his ilk. The Elian Gonzalez saga was unfortunately made into a sideshow under the Clinton administration to the detriment of the truth. A more responsible press could have contrasted both sides of that issue.
That so many in America are still blinkered by Socialism's promise, of delivering unmitigated prosperity to the masses, is partial testament to why Castro has remained in control of his island prison for over 40 years. That free elections in Cuba don't exist, that hundreds of thousands have risked and frequently lost their lives making the 90 mile passage across the Caribbean sea, seems not to deter the Leftist faithful from worshipping at their self-constructed altar of Fidel. It's just too familiar a totem for them to jettison.
Geyer speaks Spanish, which helped when she interviewed Castro four different times. She also interviewed hundreds of other sources as part of her intensive research. It's made clear in this book that Castro's supporters fit the mindset in the song lyric penned by Paul Simon in "the Boxer" i.e. that a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. While Castro is a fascinating man by virtue of his political capabilities, many have been the plots to bring him down; and, to give him his due, he has survived them all well into his seventies.
This is an excellent look behind the veil of a charismatic leader who has done his best to preserve his image as a caring revolutionary bringing free education and healthcare to the those that Juan Peron called the "shirtless ones". For this his acolytes eulogize him. But, for those like Valladares, he will remain forever a heartless demon. Like many other books that have been under-promoted to the public, this one deserves to be recommended reading for all secondary and college students throughout the world.
From each according to their ability, to each according to their need?
Maybe Castro is recruiting for more prostitutes to service the touristas.
Marking.
I'm all for this Code Pink Castro asskissfest. It will further paint the 'Rats as the party of half-baked communist crazies.
I don't like the idea of a travel ban, either. However, who in heck would WANT to go there?
Anti-war activist Medea Benjamin was born in 1952 with the name Susie Benjamin.
She then lived for some time in Cuba with her first husband, who was the coach of that country's national basketball team. Because Cuba's Communist social and economic structure satisfied Ms. Benjamin's own political leanings, her move to that island nation initially made her feel "like I died and went to heaven."
Medea Benjamin is a former journalist writing for the Communist paper in Castro's Cuba.
Many of the causes that Ms. Benjamin espouses are Communist in nature. For instance, most of the major anti-war demonstrations at which she has spoken were organized by the Workers World Party, a Marxist-Leninist organization that openly supports Kim Jong Il's dictatorship in North Korea and proudly proclaims its dedication to "fight[ing] against capitalism" in America's "racist, sexist society." In years past, she vehemently opposed U.S. military aid to those fighting against Communist forces in Central America.
Medea Benjamin who has described Castro’s Cuba as “heaven,” hoped to cast the Baathist dictatorship in a similarly flattering light.
Passionately anti-capitalist, Benjamin is widely credited as a chief organizing force behind the 1999 Seattle riots in which 50,000 protesters did millions of dollars worth of property damage in their effort to shut down meetings of the World Trade Organization.
During the last week of December 2004, Benjamin announced in Amman, Jordan that Global Exchange, Code Pink, and Families for Peace would be donating a combined $600,000 in medical supplies and cash to the terrorist insurgents who were fighting American troops in Fallujah, Iraq. This news was reported by Agence France Press but was picked up by only two small news outlets. In an article dated January 1, 2005, the leftist online publication Peace and Resistance reported that Rep. Henry Waxman (D - California) had written a letter addressed to the American ambassador in Amman, Jordan to help facilitate the transport of this aid through Customs. Fernando Suarez Del Solar - an antiwar activist whose son, a 20-year-old Marine, was killed in Iraq on March 27, 2003 - carried Waxman's letter. He was accompanied on the trip by other family members of soldiers who had been killed in Iraq, as well as relatives of victims who had been killed in the 9/11 attacks. Said Benjamin, "I don't know of any other case in history in which the parents of fallen soldiers collected medicine . . . for the families of the 'other side.' It is a reflection of a growing movement in the United States . . . opposed to the unjust nature of this war. This is the positive face of the American people which we would like to show . . . so that we are not looked at with animosity but with love. Our hearts go out to the people of Fallujah and to all the Iraqi people."
Benjamin is currently married to *Kevin Danaher.
*Kevin Danaher
Co-founder of Global Exchange, husband of Medea Benjamin
Has implied that the 9/11 was not a terrorist attack, but a U.S. government-organized conspiracy
At a June 2003 anti-America, anti-George W. Bush demonstration in California, Global Exchange co-founder Kevin Danaher (husband of antiwar activist and Global Exchange co-founder Medea Benjamin) distinguished himself as the event's angriest speaker, and thus drew the loudest cheers from the crowd. Danaher opened by claiming that President Bush had "stole[n] Florida," and "isn't the constitutional President of the United States - there is a coup d'etat in this story." He then stressed the need for the protestors to become recruiters for the campaign to oust Bush from the presidency, to mobilize en masse and approach others they encounter on buses, at work, and in other locations.
Danaher implied that the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, which killed 124 on the ground and 64 on American Airlines flight 77, was not a terrorist attack, but a U.S. government-organized conspiracy. The crowd cheered.
In addition to Global Exchange, this rally was backed by the San Francisco branch of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee; the California branch of the National Organization for Women; the San Francisco branch of Al-Awda (the Palestinian Right of Return coalition); the Peninsula Peace & Justice Center (a Palo Alto-centered anti-war group); the South Bay Mobilization (a San Jose-centered anti-war group); the Children's Defense Fund; and the Revolutionary Communist Party-controlled Not In Our Name Project. Among Danaher's fellow guest speakers were members of the National Lawyers Guild, Code Pink for Peace, and Veterans For Peace. Also in attendance were two of the Communist Workers World Party's (WWP's) most prominent members, Richard Becker and Gloria La Riva.
Cuba: Talking About Revolution : Conversations with Juan Antonio Blanco By MEDEA BENJAMIN
JoJo Farrell is the Cuba Program Coordinator for Global Exchange. He coordinates research delegations to Cuba and also organizes the grassroots campaign to end the travel ban and end the embargo against Cuba. Global Exchange is part of the national movement to change U.S. policy towards Cuba. JoJo has a degree in History from Eastern Connecticut State University. His studies led him to Mexico, Central America and Cuba where he studied history, language and popular movements. Also, JoJo directs the citizenship program at El Centro Del Pueblo and contributes to the Pacific Radio Network's KPFA news program.
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/speakers/125.html
Minutemen Monitoring Report Back from the US/Mexico Border
JoJo Farrell and Bay Area legal observers who have just returned from San Diego and Imperial Counties will give a report back.
Sponsored by: Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, ACLU-Immigrants' Rights Project and Global Exchange.
Her (Medea) books on Cuba include Cuba: Talking about Revolution, The Greening of the Revolution: Cuba's National Experiment in Sustainable Agriculture, and No Free Lunch: Food and Revolution in Cuba Today.
http://www.satyamag.com/sat.site.images/medea.jpg
Anti-war protester Rebecca Wood (right) puts fake blood on the face of Medea Benjamin (left) as they prepare with other demonstrators for a peace protest near the White House in Washington, March 21, 2003.
Medea Benjamin:
When we did work around Cuba, trying to improve relations between the U.S. and lift the restrictions on our Constitutional right to travel to Cuba, we had to be escorted to the plane by military escorts because of the death threats we received. So over the years we’ve certainly faced violent responses to what we’ve been doing.
More Medea BS. Cuba is a Police State. The chances of anyone but Castro himself bumping her off are non-existant.
From what I've heard there is a strong and subversive anti-Castro group hidden within Code Pink.
They had better be careful.
lol!
FReepers vs. Code Pink at Walter Reed (round IV w/ Medea & Murphy coming to our side)
DC Chapter ^ | May 7, 2005 | BillF
Posted on 05/06/2005 12:36:47 AM PDT by BillF
For the forth [sic, should be "fourth"] time in just over 4 weeks, DC Chapter FReepers conducted a FReep of Code Pink's anti-war protest at the gate of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where many of the most severely wounded troops from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan are taken for continued treatment and rehabilitation. The FReep of the leftists' obscene blood dance was on the Friday night, April 29.
The honor roll of those in attendance: kristinn, tgslTakoma, Exit148, Always Free, staytrue, Christopher Lincoln, BufordP, and BillF. I'm doing this report in place of the originally-designated writer, who got tied up with other matters.
Code Pink co-founder Gael Murphy and Code Pink chief founder Medea Benjamin separately came over to talk to us, each for at least twenty minutes. Below are sound bites, WAV files that you can click on to hear or right click and save for later listening.
[snip]
Chief Code Pinko Medea Benjamin walks up to kristinn and our side.
[snip]
SOUND FILE (41 sec, 440 K): kristinn points out the CP reference to our military as "killers." Benjamin discusses her "heavenly" time in Cuba, claiming that she was disillusioned after living there for 4 years. (Later she claimed that she wanted Castro out.) [emphasis added]
Castro has never been one to tolerate criticism.
Castro might consider "bumping her off," or taking some less drastic sanctions against Medea, if he knew what she was saying about him.
See my post #58.
Is this group's name really "Code Pink???" You're kidding me right? I thought that's just what FReepers called this goofy group.
I can't believe they are really going to Cuba. Ridiculous.
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