Fidel, Fidel, Fidel

You finally died. That chapter of history has more or less ended. The weekend of November 25, 2016. Thanksgiving, indeed. After 90 years of doing things in your island, your way.

Dictator. Of the people? Liar. Men and women of the people allow choices. Freedom. That you did not permit. Deceiver of yourself and the masses you coerced.

We hope that a new chapter arises on that great island nation. Hopefully for the better.

A relatively small country became a large thorn in the side of the biggest power in the world, for a very long time. And the US had little answers.

Your new system was supposed to help Cuba and its Communist Revolution for the poor and the laborer, the proletariat, the lowly that assumed to benefit from the selfishness of capitalism.

But it didn't.

Now your brother is in charge, replacing you by plan and for the continuation of your failed cause.

Good riddance, Fidel.

My professors of Chile knew and believed in you, confided in you, thought that the world wide plan of Communism was right ... But then they worked for the diplomatic corps of China, then Cuba, and then East Germany, perhaps worst yet under Soviet rule. Hard to imagine a place worse than China where millions disappeared under the auspices the of the People's Republic of Mao. A terrible,  miserable, unbelievable joke.

And they, my teachers, the two Rojas, escaped from your maddening  schemes of "healing the planet" this socialistic plan of intervention.

Hog wash. It was just a new means to exploit and undermine the people.

Some got better health care or medicine, some Cubans excelled in sports and the arts. But most? Still left behind, you gran mentiroso.

Leave your people be, and move on to that God that you have denied, that you unfairly and cruelly replaced for the Cubanos relegated to the margins of your culture.

They will survive, because neither you nor your cause are God or divine. You do not have ultimate control.

Thank the Divine.

You could not admit you were wrong.

Death is the answer for you.

Friend of Che Guevara, another so-called hero who only lead people to more misery.

Fighting powers that should have been accepted.

Oh, well. At least my professor Gonzalo learned to renounce Communism by 1979.

Fidel, Fidel, Fidel. Did you never learn?

Perhaps now in the heavens.

See you there someday, amigo. We'll talk some more about your legacy.

QDEP 2016 : Now the real revolution can begin.

In a Perfect World ...

 In a Perfect World ...

In a perfect world, things would not be perfect, but things would be much better.

For starters, no one would go hungry. No humans, anyway, would suffer from the lack of food and nutrition. I don't know about all the domestic pets and beasts around, because as far as I am concerned animals exist first to help us from not starving, and then maybe for those who are blessed and privileged people can derive utility and pleasure from them. But I don't like when animals are getting better care and food than humans. Doesn't sit right, doesn't make sense to me.

Especially minors. Kids deserve food, there should be no empty stomachs. I don't care if its Greenland, Namibia, Bangladesh, or the Marshall Islands. Children should not suffer hunger.

In the last thousand years the human race has not done a very good job of staving off hunger for its people, yet we have the means to produce food. Where we have done perhaps the worst job is in the dissemination of food. Places and regions have had their droughts and blights while neighbors are not able to help, because of selfishness, or a myriad of other reasons, like poor leadership that allows its people to die while those in power hold on to their own control, like the modern day North Korea or Somalia or a dozen or more other African nations. Syria has seen the same issues because of war recently, as well as Yemen.

War.

Feast or famine, war is another area where there would be a lot less of it in a perfect world.

Violence in general would be, should be, so much less.

Why are so many people getting killed in Chicago this year? It's 2016. The current president hails from Chicago. I call that a mini-war.

Some talk about a war on poverty, a war on drugs. I think there ought to be a war on war, starting with stopping the motivations that make people want to kill other people.

Killing is bad, and in a perfect world it would be reduced, from the big wars down to the smallest potentially deadly conflicts, like gang violence. Or ethnic groups being systematically targeted and oppressed, or gassed, or buried in mass graves, or suppressed in their languages or movements.

What about the Kurds? In a perfect world, we wouldn't necessarily have a Kurdistan, but Kurds would peacefully cohabitate in their homelands, and we would not have to worry about them getting massacred, be they Sunni or Shia or Yazidi or Shabak.

Religions and languages should not be reasons to kill or unfairly discriminate.

And yet, we do.

Do we blame religion? Superstition? Ideologies? Governments?

I blame: us. People.

In a perfect world, we would be people, human, and we would protect and sustain life. We would not use every system and organization to take advantage and exploit people. Or exploit the weakness of others. We would give and protect.

We would be kinder, more generous, and abhor those that prey on the weak.

It all starts with each waking decision we make.
 

Top Twelve Things About You Know Who

 Top Twelve Things About You Know Who

1. When I first met her, she had me at ... whatever she said, that I cannot quite remember, (maybe she can, I can make an educated guess), but suffice it say, whatever she was selling I was buying. Check, please!

2. The last time I ever see her in this life, I'm pretty sure she will smile and cry and be one happy wet mess. And I like that. Not a great thought, really, but better than a smirk or a dismissing sigh.

3.  I was glad to know some of her large family before meeting her, because I kind of felt like Moses exiled in Moab, surrounded by a bunch of young gigglers at the well. You know, the one with all the goats and the thugs when Moses was parched after crossing the Sinai. And then of course she showed up, and it was immediately obvious who Charlton Heston was gonna fall for. Obvious. God and Cecil B. DeMille know how to direct, and all I need to do is follow the script. Thank you God and Mr. DeMille. Great casting!

4. She cooks really well, and not only does she cook, bake, and assemble food items in great quality, but she has an incredible talent for consistently producing more good eats, when maybe some tables and fridges would be running bare. I've never feared hunger in my house. Or even at my work. She can pack food, too!

5. She has cute things all over, but I don't want to embarrass anyone about the details, especially minors, elders, those of mixed company and the 7th fleet of the U.S. Navy. Enough to make a sailor blush! I guess I can surmise it with: I love her all over. Take her toes, for examples ...

6. She is pleased with gestures from me and others, large and small. At the end of the day I am not sure how big of gestures I can come up with, so I am reasonably confident that I have to bet on keeping her with any gestures, even if they don't add up to too much. But with her, it seems like the thought counts.

7. Reason number seven, rhymes with leaven, one word: heaven.

8. She is talented musically and a really good singer.

9. She speaks Spanish and compelled me to go back to one of my favorite second countries, where we stayed for six months. Great memories, a lot of people cannot claim to have done something like that. All that after actively attending a Spanish speaking congregation in the US for two years!

10. Numbers 8 and 9 were prerequisites that I had right after my mission at age 21. By the time I was 28 or so and still very single, I had given up on those dreams of a future mate, being fluent in Spanish and good at music. However, this lady made all my dreams come true!

11. I had another pre-requisite or two of a future spouse when I was a newly returned missionary from South America: she had to be nice and she had to like me. So far, I think we're good.

12.  She is the mother of some pretty awesome kids, and she follows up  with them. I have never seen or heard of anyone better. I'll go with my pick.

13. Yeah, she's worth 13 on a list of top twelve.

#45, Presidents Come and Go

The Donald. The Ego.

He did it. Surprising. Shocking.

Wow, America.

The United States, a continual experiment going global. Well into the 21st century, some 15 years into our Long War, the Global War on Terror.

And it still is about the economy, Stupid.

On our 45th try, after more than 200 years, we picked a guy who had never held public office or served in the military. But he learned the Art of the Deal. And has some New York attitude.

We chose him over a very experienced first time ever female presidential candidate, former first lady, Senator, Secretary of State. Hmm. We are different than our forefathers for sure.

I think he is older than any candidate ever. But he is pretty tough and in good shape.

So far. Let's check a couple years from now.

So the experiment continues.Four more years.

Generations of Cubs Fans: Tonight might be the Time

 I watched the Cubs as a kid in the 1970s because there didn't seem to be much else to watch during the day in the summer. And we only had about 12 channels, and WGN was a big one. I watched the excitement of the 1984 team that made the playoffs with all the memorable nicknames: the Bull, the Penguin, the Sergeant, and the Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, ace Rick Sutckiffe, Haray Caray favorite Jody Davis....
Again in 1989, it wasn't meant to be. I was a hard core Expo fan by then, but if not my Montreal Expos, why not the good ole' Cubs? Sammy Sosa hit his hundreds of homers in the 1990s, but to no avail. 

Could this be real? Does a 5 year-old from Illinois exist somewhere on the earth, who would now be 103? Could a living person remember? Certainly the geriatric have memories of their parents and grandparents who talk about it. The 1908 World Champions.

Ahh, the nostalgia and wonder...

Generations of Cubs Fans: Tonight might be the Time

Hope springs eternal for Cub fans. There's always next year...

Those Lovable losers! Who needs to win championships? This is a pastoral game to be enjoyed.

Cubs fans like the game, win or lose. Purists.

"Let's play two!" said Mr. Cub Ernie Banks, a great player who never made the World Series with the Cubs, mostly in the 1960s, long before Wrigley Field adopted lights for night games.

The park and city and club was for purists. And decade after decade, generation after generation, for losers.

Bartman proved it in 2003.

The Curse of the Goat was real.

So tonight?

Could all that futility end?

It ... just... might.

And history will end. The Mayan calendar was four years off.

Or ... the Indians will do it for the first time since 1948.

Not bad for baseball , either way.

Let's play two!

Win one.

Game 7, it's all in the 9 or so innings tonight.

1908. Was it Teddy Roosevelt back then? How many Americans had radios?

2016.

Get ready social media, it's your time to shine, win or lose.

Cubs.