Book meme scarfed from .

In re Castro…

Couple stray thoughts. One: how unfortunate that he took ill while such a total dipshit is in power in Washington. A real President would be able to handle a presumed change of state in a manner befitting the aspirations of the Cubans. Only to that extent do I hope that nothing really breaks until someone who’s not a complete asshat takes the Oath of Office here.

Two: the ghoulish “celebrations” by the exile community and their previous childish and petulant behavior only makes me hope that the Cubans who stayed and survived the last half century manage the post-Castro change on their own. Let’s not forget that the exile community is what got us embroiled in the Bay of Pigs invasion, and that Cuban exiles were hired for the Watergate burglary. Let’s also not forget that the Cuban exile community already here were among the most vocal detractors of the Marielitos (the vast, vast majority of whom have integrated and succeeded here), and of course let’s not forget their demands that Cubans were not subject to the same laws that govern everyone else in the country during the Elián González controversy. Add that to the way that they have manipulated US policy toward Cuba since Castro’s takeover, and you know what? I hope they’re entirely frozen out of controlling a post-Castro Cuba. Castro is a dictator… but so was the man he replaced (not to mention being a crook and in the mob’s pocket, as well), the man that many–not all, but many–of the original exiles were supporters of. And let’s never forget that one of the reasons that Castro turned to Krushchev was because he was rebuffed by Eisenhower. He wanted our support first, and Ike pointedly denied him. So let Cuba be for Cubans, not for runaways. One can hope they have the decency to allow Cuba to be managed by those who stayed and fought and suffered.

Three: For Pete’s sake, if we’d maintained relations all along, Castro would have fallen by now anyway. The embargo only serves to allow him to present himself as a great patriot and defender of Cuban autonomy against the much more powerful “enemy” to the north. So I lay part of the reason for Castro’s longevity in power at the feet of the exile community that claims to want him gone.

Stray things.

Coolest. Flash toy. Ever. Or how about a sort-of 3D Spirograph? Or a regular Java one?

Here’s one especially for : there’s a new Steinbeck on deck.

When Stephen King asks you not to kill a character in a book, is that merely ironic or cause to worry?