A New Look for The Front Door

One of the most significant changes made on the Home Page (cuba.htm) is the removal of the left side div which, for years, was the place where the logo would hang out. On small screens the div would disappear and the logo would relocate to the very top.

Removing it wasn’t an easy decision to make, but combined with other changes, it allowed for a more stream-lined page.  

The left side was there for over fifteen years, serving the larger screens of the time and going through various cosmetic updates along the way. But now that screens are both larger and smaller than ever, it’s time for an evolutionary change.

This change would invoke CSS grid and Flexbox to power the page. A new version of the home page is currently being developed, tested (and cursed at—in Spanish) for the near future. Here’s a peak, though it’s not quite ready for prime time.

But first, as they say in morning news, a little something about a 17-year-old home page that has recently retired.

Seventeen years is a long time for a home page (the “front door”). Over the years it has featured different looks, and for a brief time at the beginning, it even included pictures of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

Those were the early days, during the Clinton Administration, when I was still in denial about the hate that existed towards the only names and faces widely recognized in the U.S. as “Cubans.” A friend suggested that I use a picture of “Ricky Ricardo” instead.

“You mean, Desi Arnaz?” I said to her.

“Who!? No! Ricky Ricardo. Lucy’s first husband.”

The third most recognizable Cuban at the time was not even remembered by his own name. And the 2^nd most recognizable Cuban (Che) was born in Argentina. Castro and Che were evicted off the Home Page and replaced by Martí and Maceo. It didn’t matter that Americans didn’t know who they are. I would gladly tell them.

Eventually, as the site grew, the Front Door and the Timetables became the most worked pages.  

An early Home Page (Front Door) made
with HTML tables

Initially both were built with clumsy HTML tables for layout.  This early screenshot shows a tables layout with a JavaScript gallery showing a Martí stamp. At the top, next to the logo, a mouse-over effect invites you to wave the Cuban flag.

At some point David-Siegel-like single-pixel-Gifs were everywhere. I remember staying up nights with Siegel’s first book considering how to improve the look of the site.

As the specifications for HTML evolved, so did the timetables, though not the Front Door. The new HTML 4.01 pages (on the timetables), built with CSS and embracing floats and positioning became, almost by accident, mobile-friendly. The effort to adhere to the demands of assisted technologies paid off in unexpected ways, though I didn’t really “get it” at the time.

Today, the new CSS Grid frontdoor seems an awfully serious decision. Here’s what’s happening;

While I know what I want the small screen to do and look like (a variation of the current one shown at left, but more streamlined) it’s the large screen that’s giving me trouble. It’s always easier to throw things on top of each other than to assemble them into meaningful coherence.

Background Image

A background “hero” image is loaded with the body, depicting true heroes of Cuban history inone of their most heroic moments;

.bod2 {
background-image: url(http://historyofcuba.com/images/New/HoC-NewCover-4.jpg);
 background-repeat: no-repeat;
 background-position: center center;
background-attachment: fixed;
-webkit-background-size: cover;
-moz-background-size: cover;
-o-background-size: cover;
background-size: cover;}   

   Martí on the left side to greet us, with rebels behind him… this image appears at screens at least 600 pixels wide and disappear from smaller screens.

I used this image because of its “history” with the site. “Crossing of the Trocha, Jan 1, 1896,” symbolizes the relentless struggle for independence inspired by Martí and led by Maceo and Gómez… the image has been desaturated a bit for the front door.

Part of the central image is repeated on the .article2 div (without Martí) that appears on screens 1200 pixels or higher. The image links to the Gallery page in which this image is further explored.

On pages 900 pixels wide, Grid-template areas provide for a 6-column, 4-row grid, leaving the left area open for Martí.

 grid-template-columns: repeat(6, 1fr);

    grid-template-rows: 80px 180px 1fr 90px;

    grid-template-areas:

    " . header header  header  header  header"

    " . mainbar mainbar article article sidebar"

    " . article2   . article3 article3 sidebar"

    " . search footer footer footer footer";

The grid-template-areas reassemble themselves d for different screen sizes, leaving out sidebar1 and article2 from the smaller screens.

Firefox screen shot shows grid-template-areas

Various grid items feature semi-transparent colors (rgba) to separate and isolate the section. This includes article3, article, sidebar and mainbar. This is still in the testing stage.

SEARCH

The search window appears at the bottom… I want the visitor to glance through my offerings before they go searching for stuff. On the other places where it is used (contents.htm & content2.htm) the Google Search appears at the top right.

I don’t recall when the Google Search was established, but it must be approaching legal age and it still works like a Laker point guard in their prime.

Screen breaks come at screen widths of 500, 600, 800, 900 and 1200 pixels. Aside from reorganizing the grid-template-areas, they mostly adjust font sizes …

A Chrome screen shot shows the basic idea for the page

Along the way I came across various peculiarities in how the same exact page displays on Firefox and on Chrome…

On Chrome the page lays out as expected… and it shrinks as you’d want it to. The Firefox page is a different story.

Once established, this layout may be used on different menu pages… with slight variations relating to different site topics. I can’t wait to get there.

Maceo in Havana, Part 2

The Director

Excited by the possibility of updating and rewriting my screenplay about Antonio Maceo, I began to re-visit books by Syd Field and Robert McGee and others that promised to unleash the secrets of successful screenwriting… I also started reading screenplays with more frequency, even if they had nothing to do with waging war or achieving independence from a mean and powerful empire.

Some screenplays I couldn’t put down, such as Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.” And others I enjoyed more than the actual movies, such as Steve Martin’s “LA Story” and Tarantino’s “Natural Born Killers.”

Lucky for me the San Francisco Public Library had lots of screenplays I could borrow, and many screenplays were now appearing in book form.

But, even if the screenplay was properly completed and I was to get a producer or agent in HollywoodLand to read it, and buy it, who could direct it?

Tarantino and Maceo are a great match, but Maceo also matches well with African-American directors such as John Singleton or F. Gary Gray or Antoine Fuqua or Spike Lee. These guys may be a better choice, since they’ve not announced a formal retirement from making movies.

Still. Imagine the headlines: “Tarantino postpones retirement to direct a movie about Antonio Maceo.” One thing I like about him is his willingness to remind us of the racist nature of our culture… hidden from textbooks and denied blatantly by its most visible supporters. (I refer mostly to the brilliant dialogue in “The Hateful Eight” and the plot to “Django Unchained.” Yet, to this day, my favorite Tarantino movie may still be “Jackie Brown.”)

One thing I dislike about him is his willingness to change facts for the sake of dramatic accent marks. “Inglorious Basterds” being my case-in-point. The memory of Maceo demands that his story be told with honesty. (Not to blame it all on Tarantino, but there are many that probably believe this is how WWII ended.)

Mario Van Peebles made a Western (“Posse”) that I liked at the time but was panned by critics. It featured a black man returning from the Spanish-American War to seek revenge on the man who lynched his father.  Van Peebles’ film seems much more relevant today, as our President revives the racist feelings America nurtured in private while not saying the “N” word in public. I looked up Roger Ebert’s review from 1993. He’s still one of my favorite film critics. Except, of course, for those times when he’s completely full of shit, as he is with “Posse” (and with “Death to Smoochie” in 2002).

Ebert’s review of “Posse” hints at potential problems with a movie about Maceo. He clearly acknowledges that the story “needs to be told.” “It is a West not often seen in Hollywood movies,” he adds in reference to the presence of black people in the real West but not in the celebrated Hollywood Westerns of yesteryear that came before his time. (I will look up what Ebert had to say, if anything, about those Westerns.) Then he obliterates the film; “Unfortunately, Van Peebles is never able to find a clear story line and follow it.” Ouch… this hurts more because it’s not true. “The movie is action without meaning, violence without the setup that would make it meaningful.”  

Denying our racist history is a well-practiced artform. Now more than ever. We all know its there, we just avoid discussing it. 
I usually enjoyed Ebert’s reviews. But let’s not forget that, like most critics, he was sometimes completely full of shit.

Richard Price’s screenplays were also lots of fun to read, and I enjoyed William Goldman’s as well, including “Magic.”

I began to really think that I could finish my screenplay, that my original flawed attempt was not that far off the mark… that if I abandoned the academic nature of the timetables I could create a film about Maceo that could gain something like the popularity HE had with Black Americans in his time… (some used “Maceo” as a first name for their male children).

Dreamer-logic seemed to be on my side… I was the perfect person to write a movie about Maceo. I spent over a decade researching Maceo and his role in Cuban history… I was a natural movie-lover and story-teller… and I was convinced that Maceo’s bravery on and off the battlefield would inspire new generations.

But simple logic does not a movie make anymore than simple math a U.S. Presidential election decides.

I was warned against a 2^nd act scene in which Maceo and Spanish General Santocildes have a brief conversation and Maceo expresses that he would never accept Cuba falling into the hands of the U.S. Empire, which was also Martí’s fear, and what actually happened after their death.

Brad Pitt could act the hell out of General Santocildes, the proud Spaniard who faced Maceo in battle years earlier and has a great deal of respect for the Cuban… and he knows it is almost inevitable that they will face each other in battle again. (Don’t ask me what happens. You’ll have to see the movie.)

In the past decade things have changed in Hollywood, which suddenly seems much more Democratic than Washington. Even if it’s only dollar-Democracy. Suddenly even the Academy Awards seem multi-cultural.

The same world-wide audience that embraced “The Black Panther” would love Maceo in Havana.  

How to sell Maceo In Havana to the public

Today, the world is much more sympathetic to Cuba than our public media would admit.  

And this is where Hollywood’s dollar-Democracy could benefit the memory of Antonio Maceo.

Almost a full century before Castro, Maceo faced the Spanish Empire with fierce devotion and was embraced by Cubans for it. But he became so hated by the Spanish Empire, in that special way that only empires know how to hate, that they wanted to kill him.

In between the failed 10 Year War (1868-78) and the Final War for Separation from Spain (1895-98) the empire sought to rid itself of Maceo through numerous assassination attempts. (Castro still holds the record.)

The natural elements in our story provide an easy “sell” in a post-Black Panther market:

·       Indigenous people fighting for independence

·       Battles on horseback

·       Overdressed Spanish royalty, with black-slaves-dressed-in-white, decrying their God-given right to rule The Pearl of The Antilles ­­

·        Near-naked rebels with clubs and machetes

 Blacks and Whites joining hands for freedom

·        A small but proud neighbor country establishing its own identity through independence from an oppressive regime

·        Lots of bloody machete attacks   

·       Fires, explosions, executions

·       Maceo’s battle call “Al machete!”

·       José Martí’s speech at Steck Hall!

·       More in-house fighting than in all the “Avengers” movies combined

·      The final expulsion of the Spanish Empire from the Americas!

You could easily reassemble these bullet-points into a Marvel 3-D extravaganza that could add billions to Disney’s pockets. (I’m sure there’s still room in their pockets for more.)

Netflix or HBO or Amazon Prime also could score big with this project. Right now, there isn’t a single movie about Antonio Maceo, even though his life featured (naturally) all the things that the top-grossing motion pictures of the past ten years have in abundance: violence, heroics, blood, explosions, romance, betrayals, tragedy, relentless scumbags, traitors and backstabbers, needless human suffering and brief moments of celebratory happiness. And it isn’t fantasy from a publishing conglomerate, but a true story of a people still fighting for their independence.

Can what remains of the traditional Hollywood Studios make such a movie? Or is it up to the new guys?

Will a big-screen film about Antonio Maceo lead to peace and harmony throughout the world? A time of commerce and trading unlike any in history?

Please don’t answer that.

NEXT: Who would play Antonio Maceo?

José Marti’s Song for Freedom

A day after I should have celebrated Marti’s birthday (1/28/1853) it seems obvious that even I can’t think about Cuba all the time. It would not be healthy. But in spite of seeing connections to Cuban history in strange and obscure places, there are still many other things in life that interest and distract me.

Sometimes the best way for me to deal with the meanness and unfairness we regularly push towards Cuba, is to escape into Photoshop, with headphones and suitable music.

But with the possibility of our beloved Democracy crashing to a fiery end in the hands of a spoiled-rich racist child with no manners and a Congress confusing the meaning of the word “president” with the word “king,” my Cuban family seems safer than my American family.

Today, as I look back on José Martí’s 185^th birthday, I want to tell you about a recently published book: Marti’s Song for Freedom, written by Emma Otheguy, beautifully illustrated by Beatriz Vidal and published by Children’s Book Press. It’s a bilingual children’s book that should be available in public libraries and schools… (buy it here) and perhaps your own child’s library.

Vidal’s images present Martí in his most ideological and humane … he appears in his chosen black suit (not in that Spanish garb that some TV-Marti supporters want to dress him in).

Vidal also shows, in the last image, a diverse Cuban population that could easily represent the American trend that White Nationalists oppose; black and white Cubans, brown Cubans, and coffee-colored Cubans with different levels of cream and sugar…

Aside from being a writer, poet, revolutionary organizer and visionary (of a race-less society that values peace and education) Martí was a spiritual leader… one that we can still employ to help us crawl out of this destructive moral and spiritual quicksand we’ve fallen into.

Our country, sadly, was never allowed to grow its own Martí. Either through White Nationalist intimidation or assassination, our potential Martís are murdered, and our education system actively blocks their contributions from entering our culture. It keeps things from changing. It stunts growthful evolution.

Martí died in battle in 1895, but his spirit lives on. A beautiful image near the end of the book depicts the Maestro in battle, shortly before he was killed.

If there’s one thing that I would criticize is that Martí is referred to throughout the book as José, not Martí. This isn’t a big deal. The name José is popular in our reality (Conseco, Calderon, Velasco, Reyes, Antonio Dominguez Banderas, Ferrer, Fernandez, etc.) but only one Martí. Even the Mexican parrot from Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room is named José.

Still, this new children’s book could be the start of a journey to help us find the beloved maestro. To share him. To let his love and humanaity warm our hearts. It is also the ideal way to introduce a young child to the issues of our past.

Que viva Otheguy and Vidal!

Mariana, María and Antonio Maceo

[What follows is a fictional account of one of the greatest chapters in Cuban history. It was created for a writing class at the California Institute of Integral Studies about ten years ago. Although it is a true story, some of the facts have been pulled out of thin air. Essentially that’s all that the Cuban rebels had in the mid-19^th century. All dates given are as accurate as history allows.]

In his battles against the Spanish Empire, Cuban leader Antonio Maceo suffered 24 battle wounds, some of them nearly fatal. But this is not a story about him, although he features prominently in it. This is the story of how his mother, Mariana Grajales, and his wife, María Cabrales saved his life repeatedly during the Ten-Year War (1868-78).

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Add caption

When María Josefa Eufemia Cabrales y Fernández was born in San Luis, Oriente Province (March 20, 1842) the idea of a free Cuba was growing quietly among the black and white people of Oriente Province.

The following year Marcos Maceo and Mariana Grajales y Cuello entered into a common law marriage. Their first son, Antonio, was born two years later.

The Maceo family ran a couple of farms and generally stayed out of the way of politics and controversies. But Antonio had a natural curiosity and an easy ability with people, and there was no way to escape fate.

On February 16, 1866, just less than two years before Cuba’s first war for independence began, Antonio Maceo married María Cabrales. They moved into a house in the Maceo family farm (La Esperanza), and their first daughter was born in November of that year.

Like many free black Cubans, the Maceo family lived what we’d now call a multi-racial existence, with black and white friends and the bonds that came from opposing the Spanish Empire and dreaming of a free Cuba, where Cubans could decide their fate and finally eliminate the imposed racism of an aging empire.

The war began with the Grito de Yara (Cry of Yara – on October 10 1868), in which Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and other landowners in Oriente Province freed their slaves and declared their freedom from Spain.

The first clash with Spanish troops came two days later, at Yara. The rebels were victorious, and that night they had dinner at the Maceo home in Mujabuabo. The family was all there, including María and her newborn daughter, Maceo’s mother (Mariana Grajales) and father (Marcos), five brothers, two sisters and various children.  

Before most of the Maceo men left with the rebels to fight for Cuban independence, Mariana spoke; “Everyone, parents and children, kneel before Christ, the first liberal man who came to the world, and swear to free the country or die for her.”

In A History of Cuba and its relations with The United States, Volume 2, historian Philip S. Foner wrote: “Indeed, as a passionate patriot and foe of the Spaniards, this Negro woman, Mariana Grajales, one of the outstanding women in Cuba’s revolutionary history, swayed her entire family to the cause of independence.”

As the rebels rode away, Mariana looked at her daughter in law María, who held her newborn baby as her husband faded into the distance with the other black and white Cubans. The women shared a sad look. “I’m not as tough as her,” thought María.

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The Spanish Captain General (a combined military/civil title for the ultimate ruler of the country in the absence of the Spanish king or queen) was surprised that the Cubans were able to put up such a good fight.

The Cubans were unstoppable, even with limited weapons, untrained soldiers and a largely inexperienced leadership. Once the rebels began to distinguish themselves, the Captain General began to pay close attention to the insurrection.

One man in particular had begun to stand out on the battlefield because of his courage, intelligence, and knowledge of the terrain. As a result, Antonio Maceo’s family had to leave their property and join the war effort. The youngest brother, Rafael, became the first casualty. He was captured and quickly executed.

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María and Mariana soon found themselves in the roles of impromptu nurses and doctors and all around medical troubleshooters in the battlefield. As soon as the rebels could assemble a hospital, both women were among the most principal members.

Mariana stood apart as being particularly tough and solid, and María maintained as best she could, holding in her emotions and getting the job done.

On May 22, 1869, Antonio Maceo received his first of 24 wounds. María and Mariana were surprised to see him, but they nursed him back to health and he returned to action within a week. Maceo and Maria’s two daughters died a few weeks later of cholera. The long war was just beginning.

The Maceo brothers received their share of wounds during the first five years of the war, and many would joke that Antonio’s heroism was due to the fact that he could spend time with his wife when wounded. It wasn’t a particularly good joke.

One rainy afternoon there were many more wounded and dying coming in to the makeshift hospital than they could care for. One of the young wives could not easily accept her role as nurse. “He was just alive,” she cried. “He was just alive…” Frozen from the sight of a dead young man in front of her, another woman cried that she knew the deceased.

María approached the group. “This one’s already dead. That one needs your help, now.” The woman hesitates. “I know this man… I know this man…”  She’s frozen. Mariana steps in. “There’s no time for tears here. If you skirts can’t handle it get out and let the rest of us do our jobs.” She turned towards her daughter in law María, who was already attending to the wounded soldier. “That’s my girl,” she thought secretly.

The war got rougher, and many rebels died. The hospital had to be moved frequently, as the Spanish Empire was not about to easily let go of her one remaining foothold in the new world.

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María and Mariana were proudest of their men when they were freeing slaves.  They heard the stories from the wounded soldiers they helped heal.

Being a free slave in Cuba wasn’t an easy life. Their choices were to join the rebels in battle, or to run and hide in the hills. Many slaves had never held a weapon in their hands before. Many of the women served in hospitals, others were runners, or carriers, able to blend into a city or town, bring or pick up rebel news, and move on. Those who were captured in this capacity were tortured, raped and killed.

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The war didn’t get any easier for María, who felt that she could not handle things as well as her tough mother in law.  But everyone else seemed to think that she handled things well enough. She could be counted on to do the things that today a trained and well-equipped professional would do. And the few times when she had to pick up a rifle and fight for her wounded, she did that too, quite well.

It is said that on more than one occasion the women treated the very Spanish soldiers they had fired at in battle.

But it was Mariana’s name that was becoming legendary, although few outside the rebel circles could identify her. She was often described as the mother of the bravest soldiers the island had yet produced.

After her husband (Marcos Maceo) was killed in battle (his dying words to his son Antonio were: “I hope I’ve been good to Mariana…”) her bravery and devotion became legendary.  Historian Philip Foner, in his book, Antonio Maceo, describes the scene of Marcos’ funeral; "Mariana Grajales, living incarnation of Cuban patriotism, cried out to the youngest of her sons, still a little boy: 'and you, stand up tall; it is already time that you should fight for your country.'"

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On August 6, 1877, Antonio Maceo received his most serious wound in the war so far. His close friend and doctor, Félix Figueredo, did not expect him to survive. General Gómez asked for volunteers to take care of Maceo. Antonio’s brother, José, and Dr. Figueredo were the first to volunteer, and soon they picked about a dozen others from a much larger share of volunteers. Their mission was to move Maceo to safety and guard him during the recovery period.  The first task was to stabilize him on a stretcher and move him away from the battle.

Within a few days, María joined the small band of rebels, and at about that time pursuit from the Spaniards began.

The word had spread among the Spanish troops that Maceo had been killed in battle. But eventually they learned from a re-captured slave that he was being treated in the hills. The Captain General ordered that Maceo’s death was the highest priority, and his capture, if possible, would be the second priority.

A frantic search began, with Spanish troops forming small bands of soldiers that could move easily through the hills and mountainous terrain of Oriente Province. They were so close during those hot days of mid-August that the rebels were unable to start fires for cooking, and could not trust anyone they met, as Spanish spies had been promised gold and other rewards for Maceo’s death.

On various occasions María and Chucha, an ex-slave who had known the Maceos since before the war, had to carry Maceo’s stretcher while José and Felix fought off the enemy hand to hand, preventing them from firing the weapons that would warn others.  Sometimes bullets would whiz by, and other times the hand-to-hand combat came close enough to touch.

On August 13 Dr. Figueredo wrote to General Gómez that in spite of his earlier estimate that Maceo could not survive, he now appeared to be out of serious danger. That was a completely medical assessment, not a military one.

The Spaniards were closing in, even as the rebels went deeper into the woods, or higher into the mountains. “We could hear them breathing,” wrote Figueredo. Maceo was still on a stretcher, and had to be carefully moved by two people, generally María and one of the other freed slaves.

On one sunny morning Chucha gave everyone a hug, said goodbye and left the camp. It didn’t take long before a Spanish guard stopped her. She pretended to have been frightened by the rebels and gave false information which would lead them away. It was a dangerous move; if the Spaniards had not believed her, they may have killed her on the spot, or they might have brought her with them to make sure she was telling the truth. She was lucky, and they let her go.

They must have believed her, because for the next few days the rebels were able to enjoy the kind of peace and quiet, they hadn’t seen in a while. Some of the locals brought them cooked meat, bread and beans, and news that Captain General Martínez Campos himself had ordered a column of 3,000 men to surround the area. They wouldn’t be able to stay there much longer. The locals promised not to disclose Maceo’s location.

María cried in secret. There was no way they could outdistance a mobile army of 3,000 men.

The siege began within a week, and for a two-week period the chase was relentless, as a small group of soldiers that included 2 women (María and an ex-slave girl liberated by Maceo) fought a running battle that almost devastated them. Some historians, Foner included, have referred to this as one of the greatest moments in Cuban history.

At the end of this period, it was María and the ex-slave girl who suggested a Cuban version of the “Kansas City Shuffle.” Dressed in the rags of slave women, they ran towards the Spanish forces and warned them of “wild rebels” in the area. They described larger forces than were actually there and suggested a direction they might take.  This was a similar “story” to what Chucha had done a few weeks earlier, but the troops were different. The women were escorted off the hills to the edge of town and released.

On September 27, less than two months after receiving his terrible wounds, Maceo was able to mount his horse (Guajamón) and gallop away in a "cloud of dust and smoke."

Three days later he was safe in San Miguel with María, Marianna, his brother, and other members of his escort. It was one of the few dinners they were able to have together in about a decade.

John Bolton is Back - Be Very Afraid

On May 6, 2002, less than a year after 9/11, Undersecretary of State John Bolton embarked on a campaign that claimed Cuba was developing “bio-weapons” to use against the U.S.  

In the same speech, at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, he linked Cuba to countries such as Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran and North Korea, and suggested a cooperative relationship between them. He offered no additional details about the types of weapons in question or timeline.

This was, of course, a giant lie with no basis in fact. No documents or photographs, or reports of any kind. The latest State Department report on global terrorism, issued the previous week, included 47 lines of text on Cuba, out of 177 pages. The section on Cuba did not include one word about bio-weapons or biological warfare.

Bolton just pulled the idea right out of his ass and threw it in the wind.

At the time, many feared that President G.W. Bush was about to take a more accommodating stance towards Cuba, and ex-President Jimmy Carter was about to embark on a historic visit (May 12-17) to the island. The first visit by a U.S. President since 1959.

For what seemed like long weeks, Bolton kept pushing the idea of Cuba’s collusion (my word) with other terrorist-friendly states against the U.S.

When members of the State Department refused to sign off on Bolton’s statements, he went after them personally and fiercely, which had not been the norm at the time and created an “unsafe” work environment. But he persisted in repeating and expanding the statement.

Eventually, President G.W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell ordered him (several times) to stop making those unprovable statements about Cuba.

I can imagine G.W. on the phone: “Shut up, Bolton. Just shut up! You’re embarrassing us! Everyone knows you’re lying for God’s sake! There is no evidence OR suspicion. You don’t know how to do this. You should just let our Cubans and the CIA handle this sort of thing. They’re good at it. Been doing it since Bay of Pigs…” Maybe it’s Josh Brolin I’m imagining.

The main goal of the anti-movement continues to be a “rear-guard action” against the possibility of dialogue between the two countries. Dialogue is a frightening thing to a hate movement. It can lead to clarification and understanding and the discovery of common ground.

This was simply Bolton playing a “terror card” against Cuba. No truth required.

The recent “sonic attacks” seem like another timely maneuver. The State Department has issued a travel warning even though no tourist has ever been harmed and Cuba is still considered one of the safest places in the world for Americans to visit.

Prior to the Cuba statements, Bolton was “certain” that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction” even after it was proved that they didn’t have any. It was later reported that he had more than a willing hand in our misunderstanding of collected evidence.

And yet on May of 2005, President G.W. Bush nominated Bolton for U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., but a Republican-majority Senate refused to confirm him, TWICE! (2005 & 2006)

At the 2^nd hearing, high-ranking State Department officials testified about Bolton’s abusive behavior and his insistence that they support his point of view regardless of the facts. An open letter from a contractor claimed aggressive and sexually insulting behavior. When she was brought before Congress for an interview, she said Bolton even insulted her weight.

Still, days after Congress adjourned for the summer in 2006, G.W. appointed him to the job regardless of Congressional approval. A bold Trumpian move from Jeb’s little brother, a man that can no longer be identified as the worst U.S. President of modern times.  

Way back in 1994, Bolton showed us his true ideology; he joked about knocking down the top 10 floors of the 39-floor UN building, claiming that it wouldn’t make “a bit of difference.” In the same speech he said, “There’s no such thing as the United Nations, just an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world, and that is the United States.”

Imperial enough for the U.S. of Trump?

And now he’s back, folks. And he may be our next National Security Adviser. Imagine the options he’ll present to the President.

Is there a better fit for the Trump White House? Aside from the fact that Trump is on record as disapproving of Bolton’s gentlemanly moustache, (warning: That was not a joke.) they appear to have much in common.

Trump, Bolton and the anti-Castro movement make an ideal threesome; they improvise their facts when existing ones don’t support their plans. They invent willful lies with no shame. And all easily resort to abusive verbal insults:

·       Bolton called the State Department analyst that would not sign off on his claims a “Munchkin” and tried to get him transferred.

·       Anti-Castroistas still call everyone that disagrees with them a variation of communist. Consider the may words used constantly to describe Castro: despot, tyrant, etc.

·       Trump is the undisputed insult King, with classics such as Little Marco, Crazy Bernie, Mr. Magoo, Lying Ted, Crooked Hillary, Low Energy Jeb, Crazy Jim Acosta, Crazy Megyn, Psycho Joe, Little Rocket Man… Here’s a Wikipedia page that lists most the President’s nicknames for his opponents: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump ).

After leaving the Bush administration in December 2006, there was no place in politics for Bolton. I still recall that Bill Maher was kind to him (May 29, 2009 –Unfortunately I couldn’t find the show on Bill Maher’s You Tube page). Eventually he started showing up regularly on FOX News as a commentator, where he’s advocated a military first strike against North Korea.

Much like President Trump, Bolton is an old-fashion male. He enlisted in the Maryland National Guard in 1970 (to avoid going to the war in Viet Nam) but has always supported wars as a way to solve problems and further his agenda. Especially wars against non-whites.

In a COMMENTARY for the Wall Street Journal (February 28, 2008) Bolton wrote, “It is perfectly legitimate for the United states to respond to the current ‘necessity’ posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons by striking first.”

In December 2013, he suggested on FOX News that Edward Snowden “should swing from a tall Oak tree…”

In a New York Times editorial (March 26, 2015) Bolton said, “The inconvenient truth is that only military action… can accomplish what is required. Time is terribly short, but a strike can still succeed.”

Do you think he would support a military invasion of Cuba if it was brought before him as a possibility? Or a new massive campaign of targeted sabotage and murder?

As people with brains and conscience leave the White House at high speed, the Year of Bolton seems to be looming...

Time to be very afraid. The dark ages are crawling back, right into the digital age.

Resources

Bolton on NPR’s Talk of The Nation:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9942906

Link to VOX article: https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/12/17091772/john-bolton-trump-national-security-adviser-war-iran-north-korea

Link to The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/hiring-john-bolton-would-be-a-betrayal-of-donald-trumps-base/555020/

How Big Is Cuba? And Why Does She Owe Us “A Better Deal?”

Recently I spent some time at home recovering from a minor injury and Google helped with the entertainment. Here are some things I found out and/or re-discovered.

Cuba is big. I mean BIG. Bigger than her actual size and bigger than most of us realize.

She’s bigger than her music and her food and her history and her beautiful women and her Finlay Institute and her amateur boxers and her free vaccines and her baseball players and her universal healthcare and education… and her undeniable moral superiority.

Some people think she’s ours. She’s not. Or that she can still be ours. She can’t.

Some people think we can still conquer her. We can’t. 

Some think she will allow herself to be ours again through murder and embargos and sabotage and terrorism. She won’t.

One thing that makes Cuba so big is her resiliency, and this makes her an example to developing countries all over the world.

Cuba was Spain’s last colony in the new world, and the first neocolony for the U.S.

In 1898, after a 30-year period of wars and insurrections against the Spanish Empire, the U.S. not only forced the dismantling of Cuban ideas over a hand-me-down constitution that went on to foster many corrupt Presidents… but the Spanish-supporting Cubans got to stay, and made out well during the transition between empires. They stayed in power then, and they want that power back.

A recent book by Francisco López Segrera, “The United States and Cuba, From Closest Enemies to Distant Friends” touches on the touchy history between my two countries, and provides clues about Cuba’s hidden size. It points out how the island’s “collaboration with countries of the third world have given it considerable political capital.” (pg. 33)

“Cuba has always given great importance to its relations with developing countries in a framework of international solidarity.” (pg. 35)

“Cuban doctors and health professionals are present all over the world, from South Africa to the Pacific Islands… The role of Cuban health personnel in Haiti’s earthquake and in the fight against Ebola in Africa is internationally recognized.” (pg. 36)

Segrera’s book is a fast read, but it covers all the basics. You probably already figured out that U.S. policy “made necessary a revolution as profound as Cuba’s,” and that “U.S. policy toward the Cuban revolutionary process from 1959 until the present has brought about exactly the opposite of what it sought.” (pg. 32) emphasis mine-JAS

“…that policy did not leave Cuba any alternative other than a confrontation that it never sought.” (pg.32)

Cuba is not the new kid on the block. She’s just the one that got away.

Cuba existed as Cuba long before the United States appeared.  She’s now just over half millennia young. In her time, she has divorced four empires, some of which took excessive liberties with her.

Only two of them fell in love with the “pearl of the Antilles” (the Spanish and the American empires). The others were just an affair of convenience (USSR) and a one-night-stand (British).

We can accept that the British Empire didn’t love Cuba when they held the Port of Havana so tightly for nearly 2 years in the early 1760s. They made a “deal” and traded for Florida.  

During the British occupation, Cuban merchants could trade their goods in the open market (for the first time) and the freedom that Cuban businesses encountered led to blacks and whites joining hands to form the idea for the Cuba of today.  

Still, imagine trading a “stand your ground” State for Havana. The Spanish made a “good deal.”

After the Spanish Empire got their precious island back, Cubans could only trade with the government, at terms set by the government, who would then sell the goods in the open market and pocket the profits. (It’s good to be Captain General!)

If only the Cubans could get rid of that pesky empire that cares nothing about the people that live and work and die on the island. If only… someone like Martí and Maceo and Gómez would emerge into the Cubano-sphere to inspire the population and unite the variously shaded Cubans to take one small step for man… one giant leap for mankind (thanks Neil) to create one of the most unique nations on Earth.

Cuba was always Cuba, and it was always surrounded by water… and every empire that tried to exploit and/or abuse her… called her Cuba.

Cuba always was and is an island.

The Republic of Cuba… is still Cuba.

Here’s some other stuff.

 I contacted mylifeelsewhere.com (www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/united-states/cuba) and asked; how many times would Cuba fit in the United States? It seemed like a reasonable question. I should have asked; how many Cubas would you need to “umbrella” the territorial United States? That may have been more scientific…  

A lot of people don’t like the term “territorial United States.” It implies something they don’t want to hear. Maybe I shouldn’t use it.

I’m still waiting for a response, and I may have to look for other ways to figure this out.

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Thinking about previous conversations with friends and family in the anti-Castro community, I wonder if Tim Berners-Lee has now, or ever, been accused of being a communist.

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Did you know that Cuba, like 95% of the world, still uses the metric system? When are they gonna learn?

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How big is Cuba?

Cuba is slightly smaller than the state where American pencils go on vacation when they can afford it; Pennsylvania

The United States is 89 times bigger than Cuba. The island is about 42,803 square miles (110,860 sq km), while the U.S. is approximately 9,826,675 sq km.

The island runs East to West for 760 miles (1,223 km) long and about 55 miles (89 km) wide. She looks like a lizard crawling out of the ocean for a snack. From orbit, the island looks like she’s about to be swallowed by a hungry lizard-eater.

Cuba is the largest country in the Caribbean, accounting for over half of the land mass in the West Indies.

The Royal Palm Tree, which can grow as tall as 75 feet, is Cuba’s national tree. Is it because tall trees get more rebounds? They are beautiful to look at, but not always practical for shade.

According to ifitweremyhome.com (http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/US/CU) Cuba is the 77^th largest country in the world!

My Life Elsewhere (http://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/united-states/cuba) also has a good comparison tool that I found amusing. You can compare countries to the U.S. or to each other.

Did you know that the United Kingdom is only 2X bigger than Cuba?

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And why does Cuba owe us a better deal?

During his run for office last year, President Trump said that he (and only HE) could get us a better deal with Cuba… but why does Cuba owe us a better deal? Does his recent speech in Miami (6/16/2017) represent a better deal? Or is it just the same bad deal we’ve been pushing and Cuba has declined for 57 years?

The answer is found in an obscure and abstract memory from my 7^th grade experience at Mark Twain Jr. High School (in Venice, CA): “Because we’re bigger than you and will just steal your lunch money you fucking little runt.” *

*Please excuse the cursing, but it was necessary to maintain the integrity of the memory and the hostility it still represents.

Today, the best deal we could make for ourselves is to stop being the bad guys and start setting a good example by taking care of our own people. Sadly, I do not see that happening.

 

“Just don’t misspell her name, she’s the one that got away.” Tom Waits