Obama to Announce Easing in U.S.-Cuba Relations

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

Digital age dude. Look at the Internet. People can learn for themselves.....and eye witnesses. Old age propaganda ain't playing anymore. YOU. Saying that you have family there AND are for the embargo..... that hurts those you say live there. Not logical. Sounds like old day hate. Screw the Castros....

a reply to: intrepid

Riight, I forgot, screw the Cubans, and Cuban-Americans who have been there and lived through the realities of Cuba... Screw the Cubans in the island who would dare speak out... Heck, let's just believe the tourists, and the pro-communist propaganda that comes from the Cuban government or from blind tourists...

The embargo is not the reason why Cuba is the way it is...That's what people like you keep trying to ignore. Others like you said the same thing in these forums about Venezuela while claiming "socialism/communism in Venezuela will be awesome"... While ignoring the fact that Chavez and his thugs wanted to install a Cuban style dictatorship as they said it themselves... Now Venezuelans have to fight in the supermarkets for the last food items... meanwhile tons and tons of food rot in government warehouses... Let's not forget how much more free Venezuelans are right? After all, what bad can it come from another country accepting communism...

But hey, intrepid believes that giving more money to a dictatorship is going to give more freedoms and money to the people...

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

OMG! It's terrible. Pointed out by another on ATS:

It’s true that Cubans still have a strong safety net: most do not pay rent, and education and health care are free.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Did you know that...not being there for 15 years. I didn't. I listen to people that actually have experience......TODAY! That's the key here EU. Today. Living in the past and keeping OLD grudges are not helping anyone.

a reply to: intrepid

It’s true that Cubans still have a strong safety net: most do not pay rent, and education and health care are free.

It's Quality that counts,

not quantity.

originally posted by: xuenchen
a reply to: intrepid

It's Quality that counts,

not quantity.

A totally off topic post. You should take your own advice.

a reply to: intrepid

OMG!, didn't you know that North Koreans also have cell phones? Heck, they can get haircuts approved by little kim. I guess it must not be that bad in North Korea huh intrepid?...

As for the healthcare in Cuba?... please... How about you search for REAL Cuban hospitals, and not those reserved for tourists and the communist?

You know, instead of looking for hospitals where they speak in ENGLISH, how about Spanish speaking hospitals where most Cubans are allowed to go?...

You know, such as...

The following is in Spanish, and don't get fooled by the paint outside the hospital, keep looking to see how it is inside the hospital.

You can turn on cc for subtitles in English.




But of course, you have already ignored similar videos I posted here already. it's not like you want to continue being blind.

BTW, TODAY I have family in Cuba... TODAY I have an uncle who is a prominent doctor in Cuba, but I won't mention his name, nor my last name. It will cost dearly for my family, which is another fact people like you want to ignore and dismiss.

We keep in contact with family in Cuba, we don't keep in contact with FOREIGNER TOURISTS... I have no idea how many times I have told you this, yet you keep ignoring it because you want to remain blind...

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: intrepid

OMG!, didn't you know that North Koreans also have cell phones? Heck, they can get haircuts approved by little kim. I guess it must not be that bad in North Korea huh intrepid?...

Dude. Quit while your WAY behind. THAT is ridiculous.

a reply to: intrepid

Riight, right. keep ignoring...

Meanwhile those Cubans who actually speak out in Cuba say this, and this from last year...

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

I've been saying all along....TODAY!!!!!!!

Cuban-Americans have had an outsized influence in keeping the U.S. embargo since Fidel Castro seized power. Now a younger generation, with strong familial ties there but far removed from the memories of Castro's revolution, want the embargo to end.

www.cnn.com...

Old hate and "Screw the Castros" has come to an end.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

We get it. Cuba is a Communist country.

Communist Countries, Past and Present

Current Communist Countries: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam.

Formerly Communist countries (by current name):
Formerly part of the Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Other Asian countries: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Yemen.
Soviet-controlled Eastern bloc countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany (East), Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia.
The Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Rep. of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Africa: Angola, Benin, Dem Rep. of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Mozambique.

Read more: Communist Countries, Past and Present | Infoplease.com www.infoplease.com...


Whaa? you mean there are countries that USED to be Communist? Looks like there are more countries that USED to be Communist, than there are active Communist countries!

What does it mean? What can it possibly mean? Maybe, that with a little help from some friends there is a way out after all?

Being a defeatist never brought anything but more defeat.

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Humm, do you even know how those communist countries supposedly collapsed? I am going to give you a hint... It wasn't by the communist regimes getting more money...

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

Wow. Just wow. NVM. Never in my life have I seen such a closed and negative mind. I really think you are traumatized, perhaps from your experiences, or those of your relatives.

Good luck to you.

My best,
liw

ETA: I was off to another room, but came back to see if you had taken offense to my use of the word "traumatized". If you were, I do apologize. Didn't mean it in a clinical sense...........

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: ParasuvO

Because the regime doesn't use the money to help Cubans. It never has.

Which is why they have had public education and health care to PhD...while the US maintains it can't afford it, right? Which the comparable Dominican Republic, with all its 'democracy' doesn't.

Face it, you won't be happy until Cuba has a right-wing government,,,far right of the US itself.
I'm guessing yer outta luck.

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Ah, so I have a closed mind huh?

Could you please remind us again how was it that the Soviet union collapsed?

Let me remind you...

Causes of Soviet Collapse

Stagnating Economy: The Soviet Union had grown to a size large enough to the point where it became cumbersome to continue state planning. The massive and intricate Soviet economy became too large to manage by state planners, who were unwilling to enable more autonomy at mid-managerial level to remain responsive down to a localized level. This resulted in failed economic policies (failure to respond timely to continuous changes), while thwarting innovation. Managers commonly fudged numbers to show that quotas and goals were being met.
...

www.worldology.com...

Did all communist countries change in the same manner? no, but having the dictatorships getting more money wouldn't have helped in the collapse.

originally posted by: JohnnyCanuck

Which is why they have had public education and health care to PhD...while the US maintains it can't afford it, right? Which the comparable Dominican Republic, with all its 'democracy' doesn't.

Face it, you won't be happy until Cuba has a right-wing government,,,far right of the US itself.
I'm guessing yer outta luck.

Riiight, yeah I forget, and you know this how exactly? Because you had schooling in Cuba as a Cuban?... oh, wait, that's right, you are another Canadian leftist who thinks "Cuba is not that bad", heck Canuck can vacation there and doesn't see anything wrong there!!...

The majority of Cubans are not PhDs... And not all doctors are as knowledgeable as others.

As for education and healthcare being free?... If you don't care that there are barely any medicine for regular Cubans... if you don't care that the best hospitals are for rich tourists like Canuck, or for the top communist brass... and if you don't care that you are forced to work in hard labour camps since you are 11-12 years old until you graduate for 45 days every summer... No ac, no fans, living in the hot temperatures of the tropics in buildings that are in very bad shape, and with even walls made of cloth... And then if you don't care that you will get paid from around $30 to at most $60 or so a month and you must work where the government orders you to work...

And me wanting Cuba to be far right of the U.S.?... LOL... Not wanting a communist regime doesn't equal wanting a far right wing government... But hey, let's try to change the topic to talk about the U.S... After all Canuck claims that Cuba has more in common with the U.S. and Canada than with North Korea...

a reply to: ElectricUniverse
And I maintain that if you wear # coloured glasses, all you see is #. Enjoy that Chinese computer while you ignore my bigger questions of you.

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting
a reply to: ElectricUniverse

Okay then! The Cuban people might as well go bury themselves in the sand! There is no way out. No hope. Despair and deprivation is all eternal.

That's what I'm seeing, from reading the posts here.
If lifting the embargo and "normalizing" is bad, what IS the right thing to do?
Does the USA just keep it the way it was?
If it's really bad for the Cuban people, how can it be made better? How is doing nothing better?
Plus, the Castros are getting old, Fidel is almost dead.

Instead of the arguing for pages and pages, what about constructive suggestions?
And, no, I've never been there, I just want to know why no matter what is done, it's all wrong

So we have normalized relations with vietnam, Russia, China, and a whole slew of other countries that have human rights issues and actually John McCain once said that we needed to have normalized relations with Vietnam (which is still commmunist by the way) so that we could influence them in a positive way.

Why is Cuba like the worse country in the world to you guys? We treat Cuba like we treat North Korea. They're not even close. Normalized relations with Cuba is a good thing. It will be good for us and them and our national security...and baseball! and cigar smokers and music lovers...it's a good thing. Don't let the old way of thinking keep you back. Move on...evolve.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

In a true Communist society there is no money. Also humanity does not need money to survive.

It is worht mentioning that one can go through the US and find hospitals and re-hab facilities with deplorable conditions. Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than we do in the US....

The ideals of Christianity are essentially communist.

In the US today, most of do not equate communism with evil as most were conditioned to do so in past generations.

originally posted by: jrod

In a true Communist society there is no money. Also humanity does not need money to survive.

That's completely untrue, and it shows just how much you know about communism.

In case you didnt know, the fifth plank of communism is about a central banking system and controlling credit/money.

...
So why do socialist like central banks? It is about a control. A central bank controls the moneytary system. So as John Butler says in his article, "Marx and Lenin actually encouraged inflation as a means to confiscate wealth from the capitalists and concentrate it in a central bank owned and run by the state. The establishment of a central bank was plank 5 of Marx’s Communist Manifesto."
...

neilski.typepad.com...

originally posted by: jrod
It is worht mentioning that one can go through the US and find hospitals and re-hab facilities with deplorable conditions.

Not like those in Cuba. You simply don't know this because all you have seen, and all you believe are the photos and videos of the hospitals in Cuba which are reserved for tourists, and the top brass of the communist dictatorship. Those hospitals cannot be used by most regular Cubans, and tourists are not sent to the real Cuban hospitals.

originally posted by: jrod
Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than we do in the US....

Cuba is a dictatorship where no real human right group is allowed to find whether or not this claim, and many others are true... Instead the DICTATORSHIP gives the information to foreigners that the communists want foreigners to believe...

originally posted by: jrod
The ideals of Christianity are essentially communist.

Sorry, but that is wrong... First of all, Marx himself was against religion, and he stated that religion needed to be abolished...

The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.

Karl Marx

Read more at www.brainyquote.com...

So again this shows your knowledge about communism.

Not to mention that Jesus Christ wasn't a "revolutionary" like many socialists and communists try to claim. He was a pacifist and his teachings were spiritual, not political.

originally posted by: jrod
In the US today, most of do not equate communism with evil as most were conditioned to do so in past generations.

Yeah well, most Germans did not equate Nazism with evil either when Hitler was in power...