http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:27:08 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software /archives/2008/07/05/115906.php#comment-772952 The only real whores are Americans and the government they pay taxes to. 772952@blogcritics.org Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:27:08 EST /archives/2008/07/05/115906.php#comment-735042 I am the son of two Cubans who fled after the revolution. They hold that under Batista you were free to live the life you pleased and they acknowledge the fact that corruption existed but point that it existed here in the US as well. I think it is foolish and partisan to attack the lesser evil in Cuba's history while downplaying its current situation. I long for a book that speaks truth on the corruption that once existed while also exploring the total collapse, decay, and abuse that exists there today. Batista had several prostitutes in Havana, Fidel has twice as many with several underage since you make more money being one today then you do with any legal occupation. 735042@blogcritics.org Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:36:37 EDT /archives/2008/07/05/115906.php#comment-731334 I'm not making excuses for Castro, Ken. What he has put Cuba through has been a disaster, although his brother now in power may not be much better. The revolution was not unlike the protests in Vietnam, where a group made enough noise so they had to be paid attention to. 731334@blogcritics.org Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:24:05 EDT /archives/2008/07/05/115906.php#comment-731236 Another excuse for Castro. I do not understand why those who prefer totalitarians insist on living in free countries. English should move to Cuba and get paid for his propaganda. 731236@blogcritics.org Mon, 7 Jul 2008 03:29:04 EDT /archives/2008/07/05/115906.php#comment-731102 What a ludicrous title! A few mafioso in Cuba and some gambling casinos turns into control of a country. I don't buy the title. 731102@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Jul 2008 12:27:38 EDT /archives/2008/07/05/115906.php#comment-731085 Your piece demonstrates exactly what I feared when I first heard about this book. I was afraid that it was either inaccurate or skewed so that the reader would come away with the wrong impression. The mob did not own Cuba. It did not even own Havana. Whatever part of the capital they controlled in whatever form with whatever government complicity was but a small portion of a larger country. To perpetuate the myth popularized by the Godfather does a disservice to the truth. As to your comment about those good old boys Che and Castro, it is, perhaps, not the wisest thing to minimize, distort, and make light of a movement and situation that has caused seemingly endless suffering to millions. 731085@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Jul 2008 09:06:22 EDT