OK, I admit it: I expected worse of this Computerworld article on Google and Cuba.

Said Computerworld article argues that Google is not going to be able to wire up Cuba for the Internet. When I saw that, I started to huff and mutter Well, of course not it’s not going to work right. Cuba is a totalitarian Communist dictatorship.  I wonder what excuse the author will use to avoid writing that.  And then, sure enough: the author gave his ‘explanation’…

The problem is that Cuba is a totalitarian Communist dictatorship.

…Oh.  Well, don’t I look foolish, now. I’m sorry for assuming the worst.

 

Tweet of the Day, Sweet Lord In Heaven I HOPE We Wreck Cuba’s Nature edition.

It’s a Communist dictatorship!  By definition, Cuba’s current nature is horrible.  And, unless the Castro regime is unlike EVERY OTHER COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIP IN HISTORY, the ecology of Cuba is equally horrible. If there’s any other upside to this current PR debacle* that the President’s engaged in, it’ll be watching the ecology mavens discover this for themselves…

Moe Lane

*There is an upside to this: it’s not a member of my political party who is making a fool of himself right now.

Tweet of the Day, Cubans Are Just Props For This President edition.

Some days I really do wonder whether President Barack Obama is paying attention.

Shot:

Chaser:

Ouch.

Are you ready for …AMBASSADOR Charlie Crist? (Cuba.)

Oh, God, the Senate confirmation hearings.  THE CONFIRMATION HEARINGS. Marco Rubio can keep asking Charlie questions in Spanish.

This would be like candy to Rick and me and the rest of our sort.  CANDY.  We’d go nuts.

The mistaken normalization of the Castro regime continues.

I do not approve. I simply take no responsibility for the whole sorry mess: “The State Department is expected to recommend that Cuba be removed from the government’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, a U.S. official tells CNN on Tuesday, a notorious designation that has been a stumbling block in the establishment of embassies in both Havana and Washington.” This is all the Obama administration’s mistake*, and I wish them joy of the making of it.

Moe Lane

*Oh, I have no illusions that it wasn’t going to happen eventually; but we could have gotten something for it.

I’ll believe Fidel Castro is dead when I see his severed head. [UPDATE]

[UPDATE: This story is probably dubious, but my larger point stands.  And, in fact, so is that bit about ‘in a just world…’]

Severed head with the mouth filled with garlic and salt and sewn shut; his heart pierced with a hawthorn stake with a silver tip; and the pockets of his clothes all carefully resown.  I figure that that’s enough to be really sure. Or we could just dunk the corpse in holy water and see whether it sublimates; I think that would work, too. Let’s find out!

…Look, I hope that the man made a good confession before he died, but it’s officially Too Late Now if he hadn’t – and Castro was an evil, vicious bastard when he was alive. And his brother’s – who is, effectively, the King of Cuba, only Raul Castro rules without any of the things that make monarchies more palatable – no better. If you’re sorry Fidel Castro’s dead, then I want you to know this: in a just world, Cubans would be using his aforementioned severed head in an impromptu game of football* right now.

Moe Lane

*Not our kind. That thing that the rest of the world plays.

Quote of the Day, Maybe The Commie-Hipsters* WILL Move To Havana edition.

OK, lemme break a rule and quote the Daily Beast.

If you listen to people who know nothing about anything, you’ll inevitably be told that Cuba has the best health care on the planet, despite it’s poorly remunerated and constantly defecting doctors, a lack of basic medical supplies, and a lider maximo who jets off to Spain when his life is in danger (the poor saps who believe the health care propaganda, like Castro manqué Hugo Chavez, tend to end up stuffed with newspaper, covered in wax, and on display in a mausoleum).

So it might seem odd that [Alan] Gross would have lost sight in one eye, shed almost half his body weight, and emerge from captivity with the dentition of a minor league hockey player.

Continue reading Quote of the Day, Maybe The Commie-Hipsters* WILL Move To Havana edition.

Tweet of the Day, #P2 Will Parrot Obama’s Cuba Policy Or Else It Gets The Hose Again edition.

I feel that my title is stark, but true.

And you can imagine the depths of my sympathy.