Almost everything is made in China but I still can't buy a cigar from Cuba.

[Nitro Express]

Go to any retail store and look where things are made. Communist roll the protesting students over with tanks China. We are running a huge trade deficite with a communist country but I still can't legally buy products from Cuba. Go figure. China has more blood on it's hands and more human rights abuses than Castro ever did. What a fucking joke!

[FORD]

The BCE are partners with China, but they failed in their attempts to take over Cuba.

But even if Fidel comes through his current medical problems, he can't be around too much longer. Might want to cut some deals with Raoul........

[Cathedral]

Jeeze, man, the BCE is everywhere it seems.
We don't stand a chance against these people if they are woven into every country the way you claim they are.

I'd be careful if i were you, Ford....ya never know who's watching you at this very moment, bro. ;)

[knuckleboner]

it's because there aren't a ton of angry chinese dissidents voting in miami...

[DrMaddVibe]

You won't have much longer....




Castro Relinquishes Power Before Surgery
Jul 31 11:43 PM US/Eastern
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By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press Writer


HAVANA


Fidel Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, rebuffed repeated U.S. attempts to oust him and survived communism's demise almost everywhere else, temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night because of surgery.

The Cuban leader said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, according to a letter read live on television by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga.



"The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest," said the letter. Extreme stress "had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure."

Castro said he was temporarily relinquishing the presidency to his younger brother and successor Raul, the defense minister, but said the move was of "a provisional character." There was no immediate appearance or statement by Raul Castro.

It was the first time in his decades-long tenure that Castro has given up power, though he has been sidelined briefly in the recent past with occasional health problems.

The elder Castro asked that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Castro said he would also temporarily delegate his duties as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Raul, who turned 75 in June and who has been taking on a more public profile in recent weeks.

In power since the triumph of the Cuban revolution on Jan. 1, 1959, Castro has been the world's longest-ruling head of government. Only Britain's Queen Elizabeth, crowned in 1952, has been head of state longer.

The "maximum leader's" ironclad rule has ensured Cuba remains among the world's five remaining communist countries. The others are all in Asia: China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea.

In Old Havana, waiters at a popular cafe were momentarily stunned as they watched the news. But they quickly got back to work and put on brave faces.

"He'll get better, without a doubt," said Agustin Lopez, 40. "There are really good doctors here, and he's extremely strong."

In the nearby Plaza Vieja, Cuban musicians continued to play for customers _ primarily foreign tourists _ sitting at outdoor cafes. Signs on the plaza's colonial buildings put up during a recent Cuban holiday said, "Live on Fidel, for 80 more."

"We're really sad, and pretty shocked," said Ines Cesar, a retired 58- year-old metal worker who had gathered with neighbors to discuss the news. "But everyone's relaxed too: I think he'll be fine."

When asked about how she felt having Raul Castro at the helm of the nation, Cesar paused and said one word: "normal."

Over nearly five decades, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled Castro's rule, many of them settling just across the Florida Straits in Miami.

The announcement drew cheering in the streets in Miami. People waved Cuban flags on Little Havana's Calle Ocho, shouting "Cuba, Cuba, Cuba," hoping that the end is near for the man most of them consider to be a ruthless dictator. There were hugs, cheers and dancing as drivers honked their horns. Many of them fled the communist island or have parents and grandparents who did.

White House spokesman Peter Watkins said: "We are monitoring the situation. We can't speculate on Castro's health, but we continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom." The State Department declined to comment Monday night.

Castro rose to power after an armed revolution he led drove out then- President Fulgencio Batista.

The United States was the first country to recognize Castro, but his radical economic reforms and rapid trials of Batista supporters quickly unsettled U.S. leaders.

Washington eventually slapped a trade embargo on the island and severed diplomatic ties. Castro seized American property and businesses and turned to the Soviet Union for military and economic assistance.

On April 16, 1961, Castro declared his revolution to be socialist. The following day, he humiliated the United States by capturing more than 1,100 exile soldiers in the Bay of Pigs invasion.

The world neared nuclear conflict on Oct. 22, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy announced there were Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. After a tense week of diplomacy, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev removed them.

Meanwhile, Cuban revolutionaries opened 10,000 new schools, erased illiteracy, and built a universal health care system. Castro backed revolutionary movements in Latin America and Africa.

But former liberties were whittled away as labor unions lost the right to strike, independent newspapers were shut down and religious institutions were harassed.

Castro continually resisted U.S. demands for multiparty elections and an open economy despite American laws tightening the embargo in 1992 and 1996.

He characterized a U.S. plan for American aid in a post-Castro era as a thinly disguised attempt at regime change and insisted his socialist system would survive long after his death.

Fidel Castro Ruz was born in eastern Cuba, where his Spanish immigrant father ran a prosperous plantation. His official birthday is Aug. 13, although some say he was born a year later.

Talk of Castro's mortality was long taboo on the island, but that ended June 23, 2001, when he fainted during a speech in the sun. Although Castro quickly returned to the stage, many Cubans understood for the first time that their leader would one day die.

Castro shattered a kneecap and broke an arm when he fell after a speech on Oct. 20, 2004, but typically laughed off rumors about his health, most recently a 2005 report that he had Parkinson's disease.

"They have tried to kill me off so many times," Castro said in a November 2005 speech about the Parkinson's report, adding he felt "better than ever."

But the Cuban president also said he would not insist on remaining in power if he ever became too sick to lead: "I'll call the (Communist) Party and tell them I don't feel I'm in condition ... that please, someone take over the command."

___

[DrMaddVibe]

U.S. Has Plan to Aid Post-Castro Cuba
Aug 01 9:49 AM US/Eastern
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WASHINGTON


The Bush administration, which has made no secret of its desire to see the end of Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba, said it has a plan in place to help transition the island nation to democracy after Castro.

"We can't speculate on Castro's health, but we continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom," said White House spokesman Peter Watkins. He also said the U.S. is closely monitoring the situation.



On Monday, before Castro's illness was announced, President Bush was in Miami and spoke of the island's future.

"If Fidel Castro were to move on because of natural causes, we've got a plan in place to help the people of Cuba understand there's a better way than the system in which they've been living under," he told WAQI- AM Radio Mambi, a Spanish-language radio station. "No one knows when Fidel Castro will move on. In my judgment, that's the work of the Almighty."

The president apparently was referring to a recently updated plan that calls for diplomacy enlisting Cuban citizens and other nations to demand a new government after Castro dies. The plan, released last month by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, recommends that the United States spend $80 million over two years for food and other aid to Cuba to encourage multiparty elections, free markets and democratic institutions.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a member of the House International Relations Committee who has long opposed Castro, said even a temporary relinquishment of power by the dictator is "a great day for the Cuban people and for their brothers and sisters in exile."

"Fidel Castro has only brought ruin and misery to Cuba so if he is incapacitated, even for a short period of time, it is a marvelous moment for the millions of Cubans who live under his iron fisted rule and oppressive state machinery," she said. "I hope this is the beginning of the end for his despised regime."

The State Department declined comment, but the United States has been open about the fact it is prepared to go to some lengths to ensure that the communist system Castro created goes out with him.

It is official U.S. policy to "undermine" Cuba's planned succession from Castro to his brother Raul, to whom Fidel Castro temporarily transferred power Monday, citing an operation over an intestinal problem and internal bleeding.

The transfer marked the first time that Castro, two weeks away from 80th birthday, had relinquished power in 47 years of absolute rule.

Watkins, the White House spokesman, said the administration was "monitoring the situation," though he did not provide details. Cuba itself has disclosed little about the dictator's circumstances beyond Monday's statement about Castro's operation.

Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, resisted repeated U.S. attempts to oust him and survived communism's demise elsewhere.

Cuba has been under a U.S. financial embargo since 1961, two years after the Castro came to power with the ousting of then-President Fulgencio Batista.

[Angel]

Originally posted by Nitro Express
Go to any retail store and look where things are made. Communist roll the protesting students over with tanks China. We are running a huge trade deficite with a communist country but I still can't legally buy products from Cuba. Go figure. China has more blood on it's hands and more human rights abuses than Castro ever did. What a fucking joke!

Come to Canada, you can find Cuban cigars at any tobacco/smoke shop. ;)

[Big Train]

From what I hear from cigar aficiando friends, Cuban aren't even the best anymore. There are a lot of knock-off's claiming to be Cubans. Supposedly South America is the place to get Cubans, as a lot of refugees settled down there and still make them the old way. And they are nowhere near the cost of a "cuban".

But what do I know, I prefer studying the merits of various whiskey drinks..

[DrMaddVibe]

Castro is on ice

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Angel
Come to Canada, you can find Cuban cigars at any tobacco/smoke shop. ;)

I've thought of trying this, but the problem is getting them back over the border. I think it's a serious offense that ranks right below smuggling coke.

I once got shit for buying a bottle of Absolute vodka at a duty free store, and bringing it back without spending the requisite 24-hours in Canada. If the customs people want to be pricks, they can be difficult. On the other hand, I've known people that just shop for their liquor and (more potent) Canadian versions of beer at duty free, without any hassles from the customs.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by Big Train

But what do I know, I prefer studying the merits of various whiskey drinks..

Definitely a more worthwhile endeavor. :D

:gulp:

[bastardog]

Originally posted by Big Train
From what I hear from cigar aficiando friends, Cuban aren't even the best anymore. There are a lot of knock-off's claiming to be Cubans. Supposedly South America is the place to get Cubans, as a lot of refugees settled down there and still make them the old way. And they are nowhere near the cost of a "cuban".

I have a friend tha is a cigar aficionado and he says that the best cigars are rigth now in Dominican Republic. He even mentioned me some names of cigar builders that refugees on that shitty island and others that went to build them on south america.
He said that Cuban cigars (he travels to Cuba once a year with a simple trick) are just average....including the famous and expencive Cohiba.

[bastardog]

My friend trick to visit Cuba....
Just booked a fligth to Dominican Republic. Once there buy a fligth ticket to Cuba. When in Cuba just request that they don't mark your passport because "can have problems returning to US". That simple.

You can do the same traveling first to Canada instead of Dominican Republic.

If you let Cuba to mark your passport you will have very big problems returning to US territory. Will have to pay (if lucky) $5000 and passport revoqued or even some spare time in jail.

[BITEYOASS]

I'm gonna be laughing my ass off when china unionizes everything and seizes US big business property in their country, then transfers it to the government. See if the repugs will like free trade then.

[Little Texan]

Originally posted by bastardog
I have a friend tha is a cigar aficionado and he says that the best cigars are rigth now in Dominican Republic. He even mentioned me some names of cigar builders that refugees on that shitty island and others that went to build them on south america.
He said that Cuban cigars (he travels to Cuba once a year with a simple trick) are just average....including the famous and expencive Cohiba.

Would those Dominicans, by chance, be the same ones that Kramer hired to make imitation Cuban cigars? Don't they roll them too tight? You'd have to be an avid watcher of Seinfeld to even remotely know what I'm talking about.

[Satan]

Originally posted by Little Texan
Would those Dominicans, by chance, be the same ones that Kramer hired to make imitation Cuban cigars? Don't they roll them too tight? You'd have to be an avid watcher of Seinfeld to even remotely know what I'm talking about.

(In the Seinfelds' condo, the three guys are asleep on the fold-out couch and a chair, while an upset Jerry rants into the phone.)

JERRY: (animated) They're real Cubans?! They're human beings, from Cuba?!

KRAMER: I said Cubans. What'd you think I meant?

JERRY: Cigars!

KRAMER: Jerry, Cuban cigars are illegal in this country. That's why I got these guys.

JERRY: (incredulous) You're making your own cigars now?

KRAMER: Yeah, yeah. I got investors all lined up.

(Behind Jerry, Morty wanders over to the kitchen counter.)

JERRY: (to Kramer) Hold on a second. (to Morty) Hiya dad.

(Morty sorts through some pill bottles, before picking one out.)

MORTY: (without looking up) Who are they?

JERRY: They're Cuban cigar rollers.

MORTY: (walking back out of the room) Don't tell your mother.