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I visited the USSR and Eastern Europe in the late eighties right before the collapse of communism. Great care was taken so that the tours would only showcase whatever the leaders wanted us to see. I'll never forget visiting East Berlin. The woman tour guide really played up the rebuilding of East Berlin from the rubble of WWII. And they did do a good job. But compared to West Berlin, where we had just come from, it was a shabby job. And no freedom. And yet some tour members insisted that East Berlin was a much more beautiful city than West Berlin, and how much more progressive it was. It was amazing to watch the self-delusion that went on.

And then when we were in the USSR, they would only take us to the dollar stores. Hard currency such as US dollars, deutchmarks, francs, etc were only allowed as the currency to buy the very best products. My friend and I didn't go on most of the official tours, we went to see for ourselves. We went to a meat store where women would have plastic bags for the meat, and blood would drip from their purses as they exited the store. The fruits and vegetables store had potatoes, carrots, and apples for sale, and we couldn't pick them out ourselves, the cashier did. The department stores had nothing of value to buy. It was pathetic. The level of hygiene was low too, one could smell the bathrooms before arriving at them. We'd always laugh because a lot of the tourist sites were pre-Revolution. Absolutely exquisite everything, post-Revolution was junk. It was a very interesting experience for me, and one that I will never forget.

We'd always laugh because a lot of the tourist sites were pre-Revolution. Absolutely exquisite everything, post-Revolution was junk. It was a very interesting experience for me, and one that I will never forget.

Communists destroy everything they touch.

The following makes the prison conditions at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay look positively 5 Star!!

Alain Gonzales fumigates a home against mosquitos Monday, Jan. 14, 2002 in the Old Havana neighborhood of Havana, Cuba. Cuba is launching a campaign in Havana against mosquitos that carry the dengue virus. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia)

Cuba Wages Offensive on 'Over-Sized' Houses -- [Excerpt] ``The day money is the factor behind distribution of the nation's properties is the day we will be divided into social classes. We will not allow that,'' said Juan Contino, who heads the movement of Cuba's state-affiliated neighborhood groups, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR).

The CDRs are encouraged to keep a lookout for property ''irregularities'' and make denunciations where appropriate. ``We are the good neighbors, those who have to go out and warn people 'you're making a gigantic house','' Contino said.

The housing offensive has spread terror among the numerous Cubans who have in recent times carried out home extensions or ''permutas'', or used their houses for illegal purposes. **(like trying to surivive)**

``They've destroyed my life. They say my house is 'over-sized' and I don't know where this is going to end,'' said one Cuban resident, whose repairs brought threatening inspectors' visits. ``They take my house away, I have nowhere to go.'' [End Excerpt]

I went to East Berlin and the USSR in the Eighties too. When you saw a brand new building it was like looking at a building in the West that was decades old, faded, and only partly maintained. You got the feeling that it must have been grand in it's day and then you find that it was completed the previous year. That describes the best of what communism had to offer. The best was stark, drab, and rather sad. The worst was a bit o' third world hell.