Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90

Don
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 6:09:32 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 6:09:32 GMT -5

BBC's coverage

Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, one of the world's longest-serving and most iconic leaders, has died aged 90.

His younger brother and successor as president Raul Castro announced the news on state television.

Castro toppled the government in 1959, introducing a Communist revolution. He defied the US for decades, surviving many assassination plots.

And that's all I have to say about Castro until I find out if we're only doing hagiographies here, or if we can go with truthfulness.

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
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Rolling Thunder Savant Chaos is the lapdog of freewill Posts: 481	Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 6:17:02 GMT -5 Post by Rolling Thunder on Nov 26, 2016 6:17:02 GMT -5 Liberty Will shed a tear of joy. Little Havana is.
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celawson Illuminati Trumpis Susceptor Ergo Hypocrita Posts: 1,079	Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 12:37:18 GMT -5 Don likes this Post by celawson on Nov 26, 2016 12:37:18 GMT -5 IMO, brutal communist dictators who kill thousands and keep their country in poverty for decades should get the obituaries they deserve. But I will wait and see what the higher ups tell us to do.
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Deleted
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 13:19:38 GMT -5 celawson likes this

Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2016 13:19:38 GMT -5

Nov 26, 2016 12:37:18 GMT -5 celawson said:

IMO, brutal communist dictators who kill thousands and keep their country in poverty for decades should get the obituaries they deserve. But I will wait and see what the higher ups tell us to do.

By "higher ups", do you mean us mod types? Pfft. This is a free speech zone as far as opinions go, c.e. Provided you don't call other members names or say trollish stuff that's aimed to inflame and offend without adding substance (e.g., bigoted remarks), as far as I'm concerned, you can express all the strong opinions you like.

Sorry I haven't been posting much this last couple of days, everyone. Between catching up with friends, cooking, a bit of unexpected work, and some Christmas shopping, I haven't been at my computer much! I promise, I'll be back -- hopefully tonight.

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Don
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 13:46:10 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 13:46:10 GMT -5

Nov 26, 2016 12:37:18 GMT -5 celawson said:

IMO, brutal communist dictators who kill thousands and keep their country in poverty for decades should get the obituaries they deserve.

"A brutal communist dictator who killed thousands and kept his country in poverty for decades."

I agree. That's all the obituary he deserves. I may say more if I find a deserving hagiography to deconstruct.

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
____________________________________________________

Quote

celawson
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Trumpis Susceptor Ergo Hypocrita

Posts: 1,079

Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 13:55:47 GMT -5

Post by celawson on Nov 26, 2016 13:55:47 GMT -5

I had no idea until I read an article in the Weekly Standard this morning, that part of Cuba's economy is selling the blood of citizens who think they are donating to save lives. Not to mention the history of forced blood extraction of prisoners in the 1960s. Horrible stuff. Yet it hits a pretty accurate metaphorical note.

www.cubaarchive.org/files/Blood_Extraction.pdf

The Cuban revolutionary regime one-upped the feared

former East German political police, Stasi, which in the

mid-1980s sold blood that had been “donated” under

duress by political prisoners to the Bavarian Red Cross.1

Not only does Cuba engage in this same practice, but in

the 1960’s it massively drained the blood of political

prisoners on their way to execution.

Cuba Archive has credible information of at least eleven

cases —twelve corroborated and one reported— of

forced blood extraction before execution, two were U.S.

citizens: Howard Anderson and Robert Fuller.

Additional reports are being investigated. That the

recorded incidents took place over the course of several

years, from 1960 to 1964,

Mass execution ceased after the small farmers’

insurrection was extinguished around 1967-68 and no

subsequent reports of this forced blood extraction are

known. However, Cuba has continued to sell blood

products to other countries, obtaining annual revenues

averaging $30 million from 1995-2012. Blood is

systematically obtained from citizens throughout Cuba

led to believe that their altruistic and uncompensated

donations are needed to save lives, unaware that the

Cuban state is engaged in a lucrative export business.

(See the Reports section of www.CubaArchive.org for

international statistics and details of this practice.)

cubaarchive.org/wordpress/

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Deleted
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 14:07:30 GMT -5

Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2016 14:07:30 GMT -5

It's bizarre to me to see many of my friends on the left who are terrified of Trump are praising Castro, who has a pretty shitty record with regard to civil rights, e.g., with regard to LGBTQ people, and a pretty strong record of suppressing opposition and free speech.

More later -- I have shopping to do. (Damn, now I have at least three threads marked for some serious rants on my part.)

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Vince524
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 16:22:39 GMT -5

Post by Vince524 on Nov 26, 2016 16:22:39 GMT -5

Yeah, he was a pretty bad hombre, yet some on the left seem to be saying he wasn't all bad.

www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/fidel-castro-en/article117186483.html

He ended American domination of the island’s economy, swept away the old political system and the traditional army, nationalized large and small land holdings and brought reforms in education and healthcare.

He also was a ruthless dictator, the Maximum Leader who reneged on his promise of free elections, executed thousands of opponents, imprisoned tens of thousands, installed a Communist regime and made his island a pawn in the Cold War. His alliance with the Soviet Union brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in 1962.

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tanstaafl Pundit Retired 11/01/2016 and loving it! Posts: 91	Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 17:10:54 GMT -5 Post by tanstaafl on Nov 26, 2016 17:10:54 GMT -5 "Bad Hombre." Was that deliberate or subconscious?
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robeiae Thaumaturge On a down bound train Posts: 6,692	Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 17:16:51 GMT -5 Post by robeiae on Nov 26, 2016 17:16:51 GMT -5 FWIW, people who take part in or personally order others to take part in the murder of innocent people just to consolidate power deserve to be remembered for what they did.
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Don
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 18:21:50 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 18:21:50 GMT -5

Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau is taking some flack for his kind words.

People around the world reacted with astonishment Saturday after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waxed poetic about Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro in a statement he released hours after news broke that Castro had passed away.

In his statement, Trudeau referred to the former dictator as a “remarkable leader” and pointed to his friendship with Trudeau’s late father, Pierre Trudeau. Castro attended Trudeau’s Montreal funeral in 2000.

“It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba’s longest serving President,” Trudeau wrote in the statement, which was circulated around 4 a.m. EST this morning. “Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation.”

“While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro’s supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante.'”

Last Edit: Nov 26, 2016 18:22:41 GMT -5 by Don

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
____________________________________________________

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Vince524 Illuminati Eating bacon Posts: 2,009	Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 18:30:18 GMT -5 Post by Vince524 on Nov 26, 2016 18:30:18 GMT -5 Nov 26, 2016 17:10:54 GMT -5 tanstaafl said: "Bad Hombre." Was that deliberate or subconscious? Deliberate. If I were female, you could call me a nasty woman.
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Don
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 18:36:49 GMT -5 celawson likes this

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 18:36:49 GMT -5

I've had a bad case of the giggles since someone on FB pointed out the irony of Castro dying on Black Friday.

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
____________________________________________________

Quote

Vince524 Illuminati Eating bacon Posts: 2,009	Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 26, 2016 18:56:57 GMT -5 Post by Vince524 on Nov 26, 2016 18:56:57 GMT -5 Nov 26, 2016 18:36:49 GMT -5 Don said: I've had a bad case of the giggles since someone on FB pointed out the irony of Castro dying on Black Friday. I'm stealing that. Maybe in a few places.
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Don
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 Nov 27, 2016 6:49:25 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 27, 2016 6:49:25 GMT -5

A serious look at the "wonders" of the Castro regime.

Economic Deprivation Is Oppression Too: The Case of Cuba

Communism should be remembered first and foremost for the death, brutality, and repression that occurred whenever that evil system was imposed upon a nation.

Dictators like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, the North Korean Kim dynasty either killed more than Hitler, or butchered higher proportions of their populations.

But let’s not forget that communism also has an awful economic legacy. The economic breakdown of the Soviet Empire. The horrid deprivation in North Korea. The giant gap that existed between West Germany and East Germany. The mass poverty in China before partial liberalization.

After that brief survey of the worldwide successes of communism, the article zeros in on details about the Cuban economy, including this quote from Michel Kelly-Gagnon.

As anyone who has spent any amount of time in Cuba outside the tourist compounds can tell you, socialism, particularly the unsubsidized version that we have seen since the fall of the Soviet empire, has been a disaster. …The hospitals which supposedly offer free care only do so quickly and effectively to the politically connected, friends and family of staff members, and to those who pay the largest bribes…

That “free” university education that many Cubans get in technical fields is rarely worth much more than what students pay for it. There are few books in the country’s schools, and those that can be found are years, if not decades old. The country’s libraries are empty… The guaranteed jobs that all Cubans have are fine, until you realize that the average salary is in the range of $20 a month. Worse, the food and other staple allotments that Cubans have long felt entitled to, have shrunk over the years. Tourists often marvel at how thin and healthy Cubans look. Sadly many of them are outright hungry.

Heckofajobthere, Fidel!

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
____________________________________________________

Quote

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 6:09:32 GMT -5

Post by Rolling Thunder on Nov 26, 2016 6:17:02 GMT -5

Post by celawson on Nov 26, 2016 12:37:18 GMT -5

Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2016 13:19:38 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 13:46:10 GMT -5

Post by celawson on Nov 26, 2016 13:55:47 GMT -5

Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2016 14:07:30 GMT -5

Post by Vince524 on Nov 26, 2016 16:22:39 GMT -5

Post by tanstaafl on Nov 26, 2016 17:10:54 GMT -5

Post by robeiae on Nov 26, 2016 17:16:51 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 18:21:50 GMT -5

Post by Vince524 on Nov 26, 2016 18:30:18 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 26, 2016 18:36:49 GMT -5

Post by Vince524 on Nov 26, 2016 18:56:57 GMT -5

Post by Don on Nov 27, 2016 6:49:25 GMT -5