Another Cuban dissident dead at the hands of the castro regime and it will be business as usual today at the International Flights Terminal at Miami International Airport. The lines for the Miami to Havana flights will still be the same, with "gusanos" stuffed to the gills all over, brand new TV's and Playstations wrapped up all nicely in their boxes and gold jewelry laden "good" Cubans waiting with pockets teeming with cash. Every single one of them, of course, dutifully there to visit and "help family" back in Cuba. The very same country these good Cubans fled and were granted asylum from.

Ask anyone of them what their thoughts about the death of Wilmar Villar Mendoza are and, if you don't get the resounding "Who?", you're sure to get the standard feigned sympathy. "Si, que lastima." and then they'd go back to the business at hand of waiting for boarding.

The Envios a Cuba stores are still in full operation today like any other day. With "good" Cubans also dutifully waiting in line with their packages of luxuries, also neatly boxed and wrapped, ready to be shipped back to those families back home in dire, dire need of curling irons and cafeteras. Care packages, we're led to believe, to ease the dreary and the mundane. Bandaids for the misery.

Ask any one of those "good" Cubans about Wilmar Villar Mendoza's suffering prior to his murder and, if you don't get the unapologetic "I don't know who he is" you're sure to get hypocritical empathy. "Muy triste," they'll say, and then pony up the cash to send that much needed dress for a cousin's birthday, or that crisp C-note which will ultimately end up in the hands of the needy uncle as a Ulysses S. Grant.

It's business as usual at Valsan and No que barato today as well. With duffel bags flying off the shelves as well as their bloomers and tshirts and shorts and sneakers stuffings. More "good" Cubans taking care of their own, making sure their families are not want of sparkly shoes and shiny earrings.

Ask any of these "good" Cubans if they might send Wilmar Villar Mendoza's family a candle to help them mourn, and, if you don't get a roll of the eyes and a scoffing "Bah. You're one of those intransigent Cubans," you're sure to get ignored.

Today, the day after the murder of Wilmar Villar Mendoza, the all-inclusive retreats along Cuba's beaches are all song and dance as usual. Daiquiri's and Piña coladas flow aplenty, quenching not just the thirst of foreigners from around the world, but the insatiable appetite for vacilon of those "good" Cubans. Those who left their homeland as political refugees but who've returned after a year and a day for "their families" who would otherwise never be able to step foot in that resort. Dignity is a small price to pay for two weeks of fun in the sun.

Meanwhile, the puppet masters in Cuba sit gladly by and pack their money counting machines. They wrap those earnings nicely in their bundles then split their take. One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me. Only there is no "you." There is only "me." And like true pennypinchers, they will spend only what they need on their bought and paid for underlings, on their muscle, on tonfas and screamers, tough guys and overseers, mouthpieces and echo chambers as recompense for maintaining the "me."

Wilmar Villar Mendoza lived his final days within a putrid, dark and damp cell. He had no HDTV flatscreen TV or XBox. When his cell door opened he didn't receive packages from abroad with new tennis shoes or fancy jeans. That's not to say he was deprived of gifts from "good" Cubans from abroad. The largesse of "good" Cubans from abroad is clearly evident: brutal beatings and depraved indifference, funded and shipped from America.

Wilmar Villar Mendoza, Cuban dissident on hunger strike for 50 days protesting his incarceration and the abject violation of his basic rights and freedoms, died yesterday at the hands of the Cuban government. He was 31 years of age.

Wilmar Villar Mendoza died a hero, not only because of his courage to stand against the Goliath of the castro regime for his convictions, but because of the steadfast dignity of his sacrifice.

Wilman Villar Mendozr was subjected to unimaginable brutality and inhumanity. He was tortured physically, psychologically and spiritually. Yet he never gave in and never gave up.

Wilmar Villar Mendoza never relented for he knew that the suffering he endured, the degradation forced upon him and the cruelty he was subjected to was not about one man. It wasn't solely about his imprisonment. It wasn't solely about the usurption of his rights and freedoms. It wasn't solely about the injustice and indignity unleashed upon him.

Wilmar Villar Mendoza sacrificed and died so that 11 million of his fellow Cubans could be free of the very tyranny that killed him.

***This post will stay at the top of the blog all day. For newer posts, please scroll down.***

Please help stop two bills currently in Congress that will censor the internet. Sign the petition and write your congressman right here.

Here's info on the House Bill "SOPA".
Here's info on the Senate Bill "PIPA."

SOPA and PIPA in layman's terms:

Animation courtesy of The Oatmeal.

Letters from Senator Rubio and Congressman Rivera in opposition to these bills below the fold.

Senator Rubio:

A Better Way to Fight the Online Theft of American Ideas and Jobs
By Senator Marco Rubio

In recent weeks, we’ve heard from many Floridians about the anti-Internet piracy bills making their way through Congress. On the Senate side, I have been a co-sponsor of the PROTECT IP Act because I believe it’s important to protect American ingenuity, ideas and jobs from being stolen through Internet piracy, much of it occurring overseas through rogue websites in China. As a senator from Florida, a state with a large presence of artists, creators and businesses connected to the creation of intellectual property, I have a strong interest in stopping online piracy that costs Florida jobs.

However, we must do this while simultaneously promoting an open, dynamic Internet environment that is ripe for innovation and promotes new technologies.

Earlier this year, this bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously and without controversy. Since then, we've heard legitimate concerns about the impact the bill could have on access to the Internet and about a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government's power to impact the Internet. Congress should listen and avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences.

Therefore, I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act. Furthermore, I encourage Senator Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor. Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet.

Congressman Rivera:

Thank you for contacting me to express your views on H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act of 2011. I appreciate hearing from you.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. SOPA would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek injunctions against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. The actions could include excluding online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the infringing website, excluding search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to obstruct access to the offending sites. H.R. 3261 was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas and referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.
While I believe that intellectual property rights should be respected, I oppose H.R. 3261 because it lacks sufficient protections to keep the internet an open forum for the free exchange of ideas. The internet has revolutionized the way the world learns, interacts, and does business. It has made it easier for people to communicate with each other and it has allowed people living under oppressive regimes to bypass government propaganda and collect and spread information.
Rest assured that I’ll continue to work with my colleagues to ensure copyrights are protected while not infringing on free speech.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to contact me whenever there is an issue you wish to bring to my attention. Your views are important to me and always welcome

The lead story in my Yahoo newsfeed this morning:

Outrage over 'human zoo' on islands

A video of tribal women lured to dance for tourists in exchange for food has rights groups crying foul.

It's in India, but it might as well be Cuba.

Preface

Those of you that visit this blog often know that I have not written much of anything Cuba related here in quite some time. My reasons for this are varied, ranging from disillusionment to anger to frustration and quite a few other things in between. This includes a little nagging voice that reappears every so often that drones on and on "Dude. Forget about it and move on, It's not worth it." What keeps me in the fray - albeit behind the scenes most of the time - is the thought of a Laura Pollan or a Dr. Biscet, or the Ladies in White or any of the very few Cubans on the island with the courage to risk life and limb for what is right and true and just.

Intro

I don't consider myself a Cuban patriot nor did I start this blog with any preconceived notion to be regarded as such. I'm just a guy who had an opportunity to do something he thought might make a small difference. And I am nothing in the grand scheme of Cuba's history. Merely a grain of sand and I'm completely content with that. Those of you that know me, or that have read me, know I'm pretty far from being arrogant. I'm just a guy who calls them like I see them. Plain. Simple.

In the almost nine years that this blog has been around, you will not find many instances where I criticize my own. That is, where I take a Cuban or Cuban-American that isn't a socialist or fidelista to task for his or her opinions, no matter how absolutely wrong said opinions may be. This is because it is my firm belief that we Cubans are our own worst enemy. We attack each other constantly while our common enemy looks on in delight at the fruits of his labor. And we stagnate ourselves and our cause because we are too busy pointing fingers at each other and lose sight of our true objective.

Every contributor to this blog has been criticized many a time throughout the years by some of our own. Yet the editorial policy of this blog remains as simple as day one, with one rule and one rule only: Do not criticize our own. We have tried to stay true to that rule, day after day, attack after attack, for all these years.

Today, however, I fear I must briefly bend that rule somewhat.

Conclusion

We have followed and supported the work of Ernesto Morales Licea for some time on this blog. I've found the guy to be a reasonable thinker for the most part and a pretty good writer. I have also felt a certain kinship with Ernesto as he stems from Bayamo, which is the city where I was born and where my family is from. Moreover, Ernesto did me and my family a service for which we will always be thankful and which shall never be forgotten: he went to the cemetery in Bayamo where my Tia Amanda is buried - the woman whose eyes adorn the header of this blog - and placed flowers on her grave. I cannot even begin to describe just what that meant to me personally, and to the rest of our family. For that gesture alone, regardless of any difference of opinion we may have, I'd always consider him a brother.

I never wrote about this gesture on Babalu as it was of such a personal nature that I felt it should be kept between ourselves.

Yesterday, Ernesto published a recollection of this gesture on his blog. You can read that right here. It's a well written recollection, for the most part, telling the reader just how much trouble he had to go through - the long trek to an abandoned cemetery, the dust, the heat, the rain, the sweat, etc... - for this simple act of kindness towards me and my family. While I am appreciative of that act of kindness, and, ordinarily, would be doubly so appreciative of his taking the time and putting forth the effort to write about it at such length, I can't help but be disappointed with the whole thing.

I'm disappointed in the underlying motive and purpose of the piece. See, Ernesto takes this act of kindness and uses it to attack me publicly as a person. This attack, of course, is because I took issue with a previously published piece wherein he criticized Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez for their attempt to enact legislation to limit travel to Cuba. I voiced my opinion of that article to Ernesto privately through a third party. I did not write about it on this blog or anywhere else as I do not believe in airing our dirty laundry in public.

And it was not his opinion on the legislation, our Senators, or the travel restrictions I took umbrage with. We discuss this issue on a daily basis here and at other venues and via other social media outlets. It was not the pedantry of the prose that bothered me but the sheer sophistry of the argument.

According to Ernesto, if you agree with the travel to Cuba restrictions and you are Cuban, you A) have no family left on the island or B) are a terrible son, terrible brother, terrible father, terrible everything. In Ernesto's ivory tower, there are no in betweens. And, if you agree with the travel restrictions Ernesto has "zero respect" and "zero need for you or your opinions."

This means that all of us who understand just what a boon for the regime the opening up of travel to Cuba would be, all of us that have family in Cuba whom we've not seen in ages, all of us who work to improve the lives of ALL Cubans and not just our own, and, all of us who are not willing to reward or forgive the regime responsible for the death of untold thousands of Cubans, all of us, we are all terrible, terrible people.

And terrible are those Senators and Congressmen! The very same Senators and Congressmen that, when Ernesto found himself in a panic in Cuba because his exit permit was about to expire and he might be forced to stay in the evil grasp of the very regime he now wants to reward with tourism dollars, I contacted on his behalf, and who graciously in turn acted on his behalf, to help him get out of Cuba. Terrible, evil people those Senators and Congressmen.

Now, I'm no intellectual like Ernesto portends to be (and I certainly don't get paid to serve up my opinions like he does) but, given that he knows that I am a proponent of travel and remittance restrictions, and that, according to him, I'm a terrible person for whom he has zero need and respect (and thus the reason for my disassociation from him), I can think of no reason why he would go through all the trouble and put forth such pedantic effort to criticize me.

Epilog

I can say this, though, that simple act of kindness he performed for my family has lost much if not all of its value, not because he and I don't see eye to eye on certain issues, but because no real man would take that beautiful gesture of kindness and use it publicly as a sword to fall upon to make himself a living martyr.

Feliz dia de Los Reyes Magos!!!!

Staunch anti-communist, former President of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel has died.

"When a truth is not given complete freedom, freedom is not complete."

-- Vaclav Havel

Vaclav Havel vis a vis Cuba, right here.

I'd like all of our wonderful readers and commenters and friends and family to take a moment to wish Alberto de la Cruz a very happy birthday today.

Have great birthday, Alberto! And thank you for being a great friend and staunch fighter for the freedom of Cuba.

PS We all ponied up a few bucks and got you a little something, below the fold.

A huge and magnificent and hug-filled Happy Birthday to the greatestestest Goddaughter EVAH!!!!!

I had the privilege and honor this past year of meeting some exceptional men and women of our armed forces at the Wounded Warrior Support Center at Brooke Army Medical Center while participating in two events with Cooking with the Troops. (The word "exceptional" falls way short in describing these young men and women as they are so much much more.) It truly is hard to fathom - and moreso to try to describe - the sacrifices our servicemen and women make on our behalf.

But, having spent some time with some of our Warriors this year I can say this without qualm or compunction: The men and women of our Armed Forces are this Nation's greatest asset and representative of the absolute best this country has to offer.

It is with our sincerest gratitude and most profound admiration and respect that we salute our Veterans today. Past, present and future. Your sacrifices are our freedoms.

A message for WaPo's Manuel Roig-Franzia, from Marco Rubio, way back in 2008:

The Cuban-American community is a minority within a minority, and one that by all measures is over-represented economically, intellectually and politically in this country. In the eyes of the left and the liberal media, however, we are overachievers who do not toe the official minority line, and thus are subjected to much ire, resentment, criticism and ridicule.

Just imagine the outbursts, the outright indignation, the calls of "RACISM!" and the ubiquitous criticism WaPo would have gotten had Roig-Franzia's hit piece been aimed at any other member of the Hispanic community other than a Cuban-American. But as Senator Rubio states above, the Cuban exile community is truly "the only ethnic group that it's politically correct to attack."

Look for attacks on Senator Rubio to be more frequent and much more desperate in the coming months.

Otro hijo de la gran puta.

Me cago en el recontracoño de su madre.

Obama get's tough, shouts "Hold me back! Hold me back!":

When demanding approval of so-called jobs bill, Obama essentially threatened Republicans: If they vote against the legislation, the president said, then they’ll have to “explain to me” why they voted against it. On several occasions the president returned to this theme: voting against Stimulus II will require Republicans to answer not only to their constituents but to The Great and Mighty Obama. Every senator who even dares to entertain the thought of voting against what the president wants had better think “long and hard” about doing so. If not, after all, Obama may use their vote against them in 2012.

I believe I can safely say that I speak for our Republican Senators when I say:

Have something negative to say about Barrack Obama? Be careful, you might want to curtail expressing your thoughts or opinions, or at least, do so only under the auspices of the privacy of your own home just like your family in Communist Cuba, as the Obama Campaign now has the cyber CDRS.

Unreal? Coming from this thin skinned, paranoid administration? Absolutely not.

Of course, Attack Watch is already the "laughing stock of teh internets."

My favorite? ATTAAAAACK WAAAAATCH:

From the 104th Floor
by Leda Rodis (age 14)

When the plane hit the building
rocked first
to the right
then
to the left,
and outside all the skyscrapers
of New York
seemed to tremble.

The alarms screamed louder
than we did, and I knew
it was time to get away. It's funny
what you notice:
a pen rolling across the floor
my screen saver flicker and go off
a picture of you
and me
at Coney Island.

So much to leave behind. And yet so little.

Running down the hall I remembered
my mother
taking me to the top
of the Empire
State Building when I was just
a little girl,
telling me that a plane
had crashed there a long
time ago. So I thought that maybe
that's
what happened. Just
an accident. And accidents
happen everyday.

Under the blown-out exit sign
a crowd
is screaming,
crying,
pounding
on the door.
I know:
There's

No
Way
Out.

You have to believe that I tried. I'm not the one
to give up.
Back at my desk, I rescue
the rolling pen,
stare
at the blank screen, and
hold
my picture
of you.
I look out
at the blue morning.
I expect
to see God there.
But what I really see is
another plane.
And I know what it means.
But I don't know why...

I always thought that life was full of choices.
It always has been.
What to wear
Where to eat
Who to love
(and you know who I chose).

Now my choices have been taken away from me.
The men in the planes have narrowed my choices
down
to
two:
Death by fire, or death by fall.

I see the smoke
rising
filling the room
It's hard to breathe

I look towards the open window.
What
would falling feel like?

I remember the roller coaster at Coney Island.

The wind tugging at my hair
How good it felt to scream.
The feeling in my stomach.

And how all the way down

I was with you.

Yes, Babalu, there are tennis balls in heaven. Tons of them. In all colors. New ones and chewed ones. And, yes, there are footballs. And sticks. And Frisbees, too.

Of course you'll have a yard in heaven, you Big Galoot. A big one, bigger than ours, with shade trees and grass and flowers. And yes, there's a guava tree, too, and all the fruit hang low, just for you.

A swimming pool? Of course you'll have a swimming pool in heaven, Popsicle. A big pool, only for dogs like you. There's a lake, too. And a beach. A whole bunch of swimming holes, Babalu.

Oh, yeah, there's cats in heaven, Bobby Lou. And you'll never get tired of chasing them. Cat poo? All over the place, and, you can get it all over your coat and no one will say Shitdog to you.

Of course there will be barbeques, you Big Malanga. There will be chicken and steak and bacon. Sausages and bones. All for you know who.

No. Baths are optional in heaven, Stinky Dog.

Other dogs? Of course, Pops. Dogs galore, even a retriever or two.

Yes, ducks too, Galootius Maximus. Hundreds of 'em. Thousands, even. And no, you probably won't catch any of them, when did you ever? But at least, in Heaven, the ducks wont taunt you.

Heh! No you big Palanka. Leashes are illegal in heaven. Collars, too.

What's that you say, Big Guy? No, Papilu. I wont be going with you. That heaven you're going to is only for you. It's reserved for the good, and the pure, and the true.

And that, my friend, is you, Babalu.