Free Republic

Had Che Guevara not been executed by Bolivians in 1967, he may well be celebrating his 77th birthday this week. Or he may have endured a bloody death at the hands of other enemies. Had he lived, Western college students almost certainly would not be walking around campus mindlessly displaying his likeness on flaming red T-shirts. A dead martyr is much easier to lionize than a living dictator. Though he died nearly 40 years ago, Guevara is still sparking controversy. Rolling Stone magazine reported last week that guitar legend Carlos Santana was protested at his June 1 Miami concert. The...

Sometimes in the unscripted moments of a campaign, when the handlers are away, a candidate shows his true nature. Earlier this month, Andres Oppenheimer of The Miami Herald asked John Kerry what he thought of something called the Varela Project. Kerry said it was "counterproductive." It's necessary to try other approaches, he added. The Varela Project happens to be one of the most inspiring democracy movements in the world today. It is being led by a Cuban dissident named Oswaldo Payá, who has spent his life trying to topple Castro's regime.

<p>With the one-year anniversary of former President Jimmy Carter's trip to Cuba fast approaching, we realize that history has repeated itself and Cuba's brutal dictator Fidel Castro has played Mr. Carter once again as a fool.</p> <p>The first time was in 1980, when after relations (or in the diplomatic speak, "interests") were established with Mr. Castro, then-President Carter saw over 124,000 Cuban immigrants leave Mr. Castro's island-fortress on shabbily constructed rafts in an effort to build a better life in the United States. Many — if not most — of these immigrants left Mr. Castro's brutality and successfully became part of the American dream. However, a small amount of these immigrants were sent to the United States directly from Cuba's jails and mental institutions. Sending these individuals to the United States not only freed Mr. Castro from having to provide appropriate services to these people, but it also allowed him to laugh at how he just duped Mr. Carter into believing that his agreement to have relations with the United States was well-intended.</p>

Please excuse the Vanity post but the fact that there is NO CNN source for this story is the very reason for this post. I once made note of something that I have called the Asimov Effect. This is named after an observation that young Isaac Asimov made during WWII. When he checked the Periodical Guides at his local library, he noticed that right after the war began, all references to Atomic Energy suddenly ceased since nothing about this was written up in periodicals. Asimov then came to the conclusiion that there was a top secret government project involving atomic...

Cubans asked to declare Castro socialism 'untouchable' in future Fri Jun 14, 7:02 PM ETBy ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer HAVANA - Millions of Cubans are being asked to publicly affirm Fidel Castro's four-decade-old socialist system as "untouchable" in a government campaign defying calls for democratic reforms. Over four days beginning Saturday, all Cubans 16 years of age and older will be asked to sign a petition saying they support a constitutional amendment declaring the nation's economic, political and social systems "untouchable" — meaning they cannot be changed. Opposition activists say the effort is Castro's answer to their own civil...