The population of Castrolandia  is growing older and the young are slaughtering their offspring in record numbers. Gee Whiz !  What could be the reason, with free healthcare and education and all those goodies?

The Associated Press has the answer: Castrolandia has far too many university graduates, and, as a rule, such folk are not at all into child-bearing or child-rearing.  Same problem that all of the European nations have.  Too much education, too much enlightenment.  Who wants to spend several years changing diapers or spending money on clothes and toys that would be better spent on a vacation in the Seychelles or Bora Bora?

Once again, as always, Castrolandia's Ministry of Truth has found an outlet for its spin on disastrous news.  The AP has long been a most compliant reporter of the Truths forged at the Ministry, for the benefit of the world.  Read the article below and you will see that the core of the story is this: young people don't want to stay in Cuba, and those who do stay refuse to have children.   Among the shocking statistics buried in this piece:  "Abortions are free and it is estimated that half of Cuban pregnancies are terminated." Yes, this is most definitely a sign of progress and of a happy society.   But the author of the article is a spin master, quite eager to make even the worst of news seem good.  Abortion is free!

Also notice that "The aging of Cuba’s population has its roots in some of the core achievements of Fidel Castro’s revolution, including a universal health care system that has increased life expectancy."   Never mind that half of the population is being slaughtered before it is born.  Let's talk about the great achievements.

This Orwellian masterpiece is so full of newspeak and Castrobabble that if some award existed for Truth-forging of the Orwellian sort, this one could surely be a top contender.  The talented writer saves the best spinning for the end.   There is a solution to this problem, after all.  Cuba is so attractive, that it could actually rely on immigration to offset the fact that all of the young are leaving and killing their offspring:  "Cuba might be able to woo immigrants from countries where extreme poverty is rampant and homicides are skyrocketing, places where the Communist-run island’s free health care and relative public safety might seem a good alternative."

Yeah.  There is nothing better than moving from the fifth to the sixth circle of hell.  Or selling yourself into slavery.

George Orwell could not have come up with this one.  No sir, no ma'm.   This is beyond Orwellian.  It's even beyond Tommy Flanagan, the pathological liar.

From the Ministry of Truth at the Associated Press:

As Cuba goes gray, aging population poses a challenge for Raul Castro’s economic agenda

HAVANA — The scene at the park in Havana’s Vedado district is typical enough, with a handful of boys kicking a soccer ball through trees while dozens of gray-haired seniors bend and stretch to the urgings of a government-employed trainer.

So few children, so many elderly. It’s a central dilemma for a nation whose population is the oldest in Latin America, and getting older.

The labor force soon will be shrinking as health costs soar, just when President Raul Castro’s government is struggling to implement reforms that aim to resuscitate an economy long on life support.

“We must be perfectly clear that the aging of the populace no longer has a solution,” Castro’s economic czar, Marino Murillo, told lawmakers in an alarmed tone last month. “It is going to happen, and that cannot be changed in the short term. ... Society must prepare itself.”

The aging of Cuba’s population has its roots in some of the core achievements of Fidel Castro’s revolution, including a universal health care system that has increased life expectancy from 69 years during the 1960s to 78 today, comparable with the United States.

Abortions are free and it is estimated that half of Cuban pregnancies are terminated. High university graduation rates, generally associated worldwide with low fertility numbers, have Cuban women averaging 1.5 children, below the rate of replacement.

Cuba’s National Office of Statistics says about 2 million of the island’s 11 million inhabitants, or 17 percent, were over 60 years old last year. That’s already high compared to Latin America as a whole, where the rate is somewhere north of 9 percent, extrapolating from U.N. figures from 2000.

That U.N. study shows Cuba’s population is aging even faster than that of China, which has forbidden couples to have more than one child. Cuba’s rate would be typical in a wealthy European nation. But Cuba lacks the wealth to cope with it.

If you want to keep reading this Orwellian masterpiece, there is much, much more here, .

Tommy Flanagan, Pathological Liar, AP Correspondent