politics for the 99%

Published on Washington’s Blog, by DavidSwanson, Feb 15, 2015: What can I be sure of after only one week in Havana? Very little. There are exceptions to every pattern, and sometimes more exceptions than patterns. But a few claims, I think, are possible … // … Cubans shouldn’t believe that U.S. roads have no potholes. They should come to the United States to see homelessness. And extravagance. They should see people walk by without saying hello on streets with no music under skies with no sun. They should add the flaws to the positives that they’ve learned from Hollywood’s version of perfection. And if, when they start respecting copyrights, they ingest a little less Hollywood, so much the better. Americans shouldn’t believe the vast emptiness that fills the part of their brains where history is supposed to go. They should come to the Museum of the Revolution to learn Cuba’s modern history. They should come to the Museum of the Ministry of the Interior to see the collection of weapons and gadgets captured from the hapless CIA. They should learn that their own government has for decades blown up buildings and airplanes, poisoned crops and livestock, spread diseases, and generally engaged in low-scale one-sided warfare (aka terrorism) against Cuba. Tours of Hemingway sites should include information on how he died. American tourists should get free rum and cigars if they pass a quiz upon leaving a museum:

• What did Cubans want in 1898? (Hint, the United States is currently bombing [fill in current nation] in its name.)
• What did they get instead?
• What nation has killed 3,000 Cubans in terrorist attacks?
• Why has Cuba not invaded Afghanistan and Iraq in response?
• Has Cuba ever organized any attack on the United States?
• Why does the United States want to overthrow the Cuban government?

Five correct answers should be sufficient to pass the test. As answers to #6 “To fend off the Communist takeover of the world” should get the tourist a sympathetic kiss and a gentle kick in the ass. “To spread inequality” or “to increase poverty and insecurity” or “to maximize environmental destruction” should get the tourist a free pass to visit a Cuban psychiatric clinic. Anything along the lines of “The plutocrats who control Washington want to get their claws on Cuba too” or “Those wronged in the revolution are still in a rage” or “The mob wants its casinos and brothels back” should be considered close enough to win a free song by a live band on the steps of the museum … // … And while I’m giving unsolicited advice: Here is the second priority: Build that wall higher along the sea, because it’s rising and we want this beautiful city to stay right where it is. (full text inkl many pictures). Links: Ukraine Military High Command Confirms: No Russian Invasion or Regular Troops, presence of NATO Forces in Donbass, on Global Research.ca, by George Eliason, Feb 15, 2015; E. Ukraine leaders order ceasefire, voice amendments to constitution, on Russia Today RT, Feb 14, 2015; Major US newspaper prints map of Ukraine without Crimea, on Russia Today RT, Feb 14, 2015; The page Ukraine turmoil on Russia Today RT; Egypt: The costs will be high, on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Dina Ezzat, Feb 12, 2015: Ziad Bahaaeddin tells, that a radical overhaul of state institutions is long overdue. … Baheddine argues that “the collapse of the Mubarak regime was in many ways the result of the collapse of state institutions …; Egypt: Moscow’s helping hand, on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Noha Moustafa, Feb 12, 2015: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Egypt this week was concluded with agreements to set up a nuclear power plant, a free trade area and the first Egyptian sovereign investment fund …; Egypt: Conflicting accounts, on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Ahmed Morsy, Feb 12, 2015: How did 19 Zamalek fans die on Sunday? … The death of 19 fans on Sunday was the deadliest football-related disaster since the infamous Port Said massacre which left 74 people dead in February 2012 …; Canada Responds to Tsilhqot’in Decision, Extinguishment or Nothing, on New Socialist, by Russell Diabo and Shiri Pasternak, Feb 8, 2015; The Tsilhqot’in Decision and Indigenous Self-Determination, on New Socialist, by Arthur Manuel, Jan 25, 2015; The Tsilhqot’in Decision and Canada’s First Nations Termination Policies, on New Socialist, by Russell Diabo, Jan 13, 2015; The Tsilhqot’in on en.wikipedia (/tʃɪlˈkoʊtɨn/ chil-koh-tin;[2] also spelled Chilcotin, Tsilhqut’in, Tŝinlhqot’in, Chilkhodin, Tsilkótin, Tsilkotin) are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group that live in British Columbia, Canada. They are the most southern of the Athabaskan-speaking aboriginal peoples in British Columbia; … and this:

• AUDIO: Magic Quantum, 9.03 min, (Instrumental Mix 432 Hz), by Damian DeBass, on SoundCloud … and more audios in autoplay.