It's A Start

Cuba’s Fidel Castro has wasted no time taking Barack Obama, US president, to task over his removal this week of limits on travel by Cuban Americans to their homeland and how much money they can send to relatives.

If I have any criticism of President Obama on this issue it will be that he hasn't gone far enough, but at least he's facing in the right direction.

The embargo against Cuba was a not-very-good idea whose failures to achieve it's objectives have been made evident for decades.
But even if these objectives were met, does it really make sense for a nation such as ours, a nation that brags about it's freedoms, to restrict the movement of it's own people and goods?

Of course not. All it shows is that we can be hypocrites ourselves when passions overtake our collective logic.

I know, I know...
Most of the reason for this embargo being kept in place long after it's expiration date was the power of Cuban exiles in Florida, and the need to maintain, or at least not lose, Florida's electoral votes every four years.
Because nothing animates a Cuban exile like the concept of 'punishing' Fidel, even if Fidel doesn't feel any pain from it.
It's the thought that counts, I guess.

I suggest, if we really want to bring freedom to the Cuban people, we should act like the free people we claim to be: go to Cuba whenever we want to.
One thing that would threaten the vise-like hold on power exercised by the world's largest plantation master is an influx of visitors from a nearby land telling tales of the better American lifestyle that can be had if only the host's system was a little less dictatorial.

He Is Risen!

Arrgh!

The first war our nation engaged in was against the Barbary pirates, along the northern coast of Africa. Early 1800's this was. To be followed up with another Barbary war about ten years later.

Many things have changed, but much is still quite similar. Back in the early day, nations would make yearly tribute payments in order to keep the pirates from attacking their merchant fleets.
When the United States became independent, it's merchants no longer sailed under the protection of Britain's tribute payments. Tributes were paid by the young nation, but not without much controversy.
When Jefferson became President, he refused to pay tributes on behalf of his nation, claiming the right to navigate the seas and engage in trade is a basic right of a sovereign state.

Eventually, continued attacks upon American merchant vessels led us to the First Barbary War. Warships were sent, and the U.S. Marine Corps exploits were enshrined in the opening lines of Marine Corps Hymn ("...to the shores of Tripoli").
Short story shorter: the Corps kicked ass.

I find it rather amusing that today, in another run-in with North African pirates demanding ransoms, the warship first on location is the USS Bainbridge, named in honor of Cmdr Bainbridge, who was captured and held for ransom, triggering the First Barbary War. (He later had his chestnuts pulled from the fire by Cmdr Decatur, who delivered the whoop-ass.)

I agree that our right as a sovereign nation to navigate the seas is non-negotiable. And likewise, our right to conduct trade with whomever,where ever.

I suggest we send in the navy and the marines to deliver a little more whoop-ass to those coastal settlements the Somali pirates operate from. After a village or two goes up in a ball of fire, I'm sure they'll leave our ships alone.

An Orgy Of Mastication

Things are starting to look better.
Today's therapist appointment went pretty well. She wanted me to try to swallow food again, and thought just maybe I might be able to handle something classified as "solid".

Her explanation: pureed foods, such as applesauce, have a tendency to get stuck in the folds of the esophagus for some patients. Normally, puree would be the starting point, but I just might be one of those exceptions.

Following her instruction, I took a few nibbles of a saltine cracker and, Praise the Lord, it went down.
Gradually, I was able to work up to about 1/4 of a cracker at a time.
And a corn chip. A full teaspoon of water. Diced peaches (one piece at a time).

To get them down is a five-step exercise of it's own:
Step One: Turn head sharply to the right.
Step Two: Tilt head sharply downward. (Basically, my chin should be almost on my shoulder. The right side is the paralyzed side. This pinches off that side, forcing everything toward the muscles on the left side.)
Step Three: Breath in. (This fills the lungs, to keep 'stuff' from going into them.)
Step Four: Bear down, as if taking a hard dump. (This clenches the vocal cords, and helps to keep 'stuff' on the right path.)
Step Five: Swallow hard.

I'm still a long time away from enjoying a dinner plate, but I'm grateful for any blessing that comes my way.(Like realizing just how tasty a saltine cracker can be.)

That, and there is some hope that I may be 'fit' enough to attend a certain wedding in May.
For now, I'm keeping the fingers crossed.

More Outrage

Chris Brown will plead not guilty in the savage beat down of Rihanna.

I guess those bite marks on her shoulders were self-inflicted?

Seriously, somebody needs to escort this son of a bitch to the top of a tall flight of stairs.

Another Event In The Outrage Olympics

Two New York City fried chicken restaurants in predominantly black neighborhoods are under fire for putting President Barack Obama's name on their signs.

"People from the community were calling me and saying they were outraged by this racist connection to Barack Obama and fried chicken," Barron said. "If you think that free speech gives you the right to insult and degrade us and stereotype us, then you've got a battle on your hands."

I understand how they feel.
All the fried chicken places in my nieghborhood are represented by an old white guy with a grey beard.

But I still don't see what is racist about it.
I mean, just who is buying all this fried chicken in the black nieghborhood. Are older white guys driving across town? Leaving the peace and safety of their own neighborhood, risking car jacking and riots, just to get a bucket and biscuits?

Jet Blues

Hey, remember when the airlines use to brag about their comfort and amenities and friendliness?
"Fly the friendly skies"
"The proud bird"
"The only way to fly"
Yup. Them days are over.
Now it's: Get in, sit down and shut the hell up.

The last few times I took air travel I was pissed off at the conditions the airlines try to force their passengers to endure.
For example: my last trip in October, I was assigned a middle seat in a row of three. The seat was just big enough to fit my mid-sized frame.
My ass was only a 38" waist (now, it's a 34", post-surgery).I'm not a large dude, but I'm not a little dude either.

I filled up that seat, from arm rest to arm rest.
The seat was upholstered in some plastic vinyl material, and within five minutes I was all fidgety from butt sweat.

As the plane filled up, two large dudes came along and took the two seats on either side of me. These dudes were thick. Literally, they filled up their own rented space and were encroaching on mine.
From both sides.
The flight was booked solid, so there was no place else to go.
I was stuck.
(To their credit, my two neighbors seriously tried keep within their own assigned confines, but the impossible is still the impossible.)

Adding insult to indignity, they had the nerve to ask for Breast Cancer Research donations. And if you contributed enough, you got a Pink Ribbon pin! ("Well, if I was able to fit my hand into my pocket, I might toss you some cash. But right now, I'm just too angry to try. Besides, my space has no room left to fit a pin. Now, get away from me.)

So, we endured,like sardines, for five hours.
It was miserable, and I swore that would never fly again if given an option.
Not worth the disrespect.

Next time, if at all possible, I'll drive.
Sure, adds a few days to the vacation, but how could a longer vacation be a bad thing for somebody who enjoys road trippin' in the first place?
A bonus: I could pack whatever luggage and stuff that I want to without space/size/weight limitations.

The last few years, and especially more so just in the past two years, airline service has gotten worse than at any time in my memory. Though it hasn't been my experience, many flights are delayed on the tarmac for hours at a time.
These affected passengers are required, either by law or something similarly stupid, to stay in their seats and tough it out.

Here is an account of a recent episode.

New York City prosecutors have filed criminal charges against an air traveler who got fed up waiting on the tarmac at Kennedy Airport, and tried to open a jet door and get out. Authorities said 60-year-old Robert McDonald, of England, faces reckless endangerment charges for opening an emergency exit hatch as the plane waited out an hours-long delay at JFK.

(emphasis mine)

This makes no sense whatsoever.
Why can't the passengers be allowed to leave the plane, maybe escort them to a large secure holding area or something, for these hours.
Better still, why board the plane at all. The airline should know thirty minutes before take-off that they won't be taking off anytime soon.

This is not an isolated event. There have been similar reports of passengers attempting to flee captivity during hours long delays on the tarmac, and after what I've been through, I can say that I don't blame them.