CONTRA EL PINGALISMO CASTRISTA/
"Se que no existe el consuelo
que no existe
la anhelada tierrra de mis suenos
ni la desgarrada vision de nuestros heroes.
Pero
te seguimos buscando, patria,..." - Reinaldo Arenas
While no can say for sure how the negotiations to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and impending across-the-board spending cuts -- will unfold, the betting here is it will get ugly before it gets better.
First, virtually no one believes what happened last time will happen this time: President Obama won't cave on extending tax cuts for upper income earners.
So will House Republicans come to the table voluntarily, before the first of the year? Or will it require all hell breaking loose -- an expiration of the income and payroll tax cuts, sequestration, the estate tax, and the AMT kicking in, cap gains and dividend rates rising -- before they are forced to come kicking and screaming to an agreement? More >>
HERLONG, California (CNN) - If you need an example of why it is hard to cut the budget in Washington look no further than this Army depot in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada range.
CNN was allowed rare access to what amounts to a parking lot for more than 2,000 M-1 Abrams tanks. Here, about an hour's drive north of Reno, Nevada, the tanks have been collecting dust in the hot California desert because of a tiff between the Army and Congress.
The U.S. has more than enough combat tanks in the field to meet the nation's defense needs - so there's no sense in making repairs to these now, the Army's chief of staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told Congress earlier this year.
If the Pentagon holds off repairing, refurbishing or making new tanks for three years until new technologies are developed, the Army says it can save taxpayers as much as $3 billion.
That may seem like a lot of money, but it's a tiny sacrifice for a Defense Department that will cut $500 billion from its budget over the next decade and may be forced to cut a further $500 billion if a deficit cutting deal is not reached by Congress.
Diaz-Balart, King, and Garrett: Disgusted that U.S. Students Met with Fugitive from U.S. Justice During ‘Educational’ Trip to Cuba
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Peter King (R-NY), and Scott Garrett (R-NJ) sent a letter to President Obama expressing disgust that, due to abuses of weakened travel regulations under the Obama administration, U.S. students recently met with a fugitive from U.S. justice while purportedly on an "educational" trip to Cuba, which currently harbors more than seventy fugitives from U.S. justice.
Diaz-Balart said: “It is an outrage that, while on a so-called ‘educational’ trip to Cuba, permitted by President Obama’s weakened sanctions, at least one U.S. university arranged for its students to meet with a potentially violent fugitive from U.S. justice. The Cuban regime, one of only four U.S.-designated State Sponsors of Terrorism, welcomes enemies of the United States with open arms. It is appalling that an American university, aided by the administration’s weakened regulations, would expose its students to enemy propaganda from the mouths of criminals. My heart goes out to the families of those who fell victim to U.S. fugitives still receiving safe harbor in Cuba. Their losses are not forgotten, and the murderers, who have enjoyed solace from an enemy state for far too long, must be brought to justice. In the mean time, it is incumbent on the President of the United States to ensure that his expanded travel no longer compounds the injustice by licensing travel to those who seek to meet with fugitives.”
King said: “The issue of Cuba providing safe harbor to an assortment of fugitives including - cop killers, FALN terrorists and other assorted thugs is an ongoing disgrace. The fact that impressionable, young American adults are provided an opportunity to meet with these individuals is an insult to the victims, their families and our justice system. We need to know what is being done to extradite these fugitives, or are they now simply future ‘educational activities’ for American children to interact with while in Cuba?”
Garrett said: "I am concerned that the Obama Administration’s definition of an ‘educational experience’ includes having American college students meet with fugitives in a country that sponsors terrorism and gives refuge to violent offenders. This incident puts a spotlight on the Obama Administration’s ineptness when it comes to enforcing sanctions and protecting American safety abroad. The victims of the crimes perpetrated by those being safely harbored by the anti-American Cuban regime deserve to know if this meeting was an isolated incident or part of a much larger systematic abuse of licensed travel."
“Through its intelligence trafficking or own terrorist acts, Cuba has willfully and intentionally murdered Americans in the past and it will kill again. Furthermore, I believe Havana will covertly facilitate attacks on U.S. personnel, installations or interests using proxies to create situations in which it cannot be implicated as a sponsor. I also suspect Cuba will continue its efforts to cripple and degrade U.S. Counterterrorism operations. The Castro regime sees U.S. inability to respond to its aggression as a sign of weakness….”
Estados Unidos sigue siendo el “enemigo número uno” para el gobierno de Cuba y las actividades de espionaje de los agentes de la isla son una “amenaza presente” para la seguridad estadounidense, según el congresista Connie Mack, presidente del subcomité de Asuntos Hemisféricos de la Cámara de Representantes.
Las declaraciones de Mack fueron hechas durante una audiencia este jueves del subcomité en Washington con el objetivo de explorar los esfuerzos del régimen de La Habana para minar los intereses y la seguridad de EE.UU. mediante el terrorismo, las redes de inteligencia y la guerra cibernética.
La presidenta del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores de la Cámara, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, críticó la “política de puertas abiertas” del presidente Barack Obama con Cuba, “un estado patrocinador del terrorismo a sólo 90 millas de nuestras costas”, dijo.
Ros-Lehtinnen señaló que agentes de La Habana siguen tratando de desestabilizar a EE.UU. y sus aliados en el hemisferio, y censuró que el Departamento de Estado haya concedido visa para entrar al país a altos funcionarios del régimen cubano, entre ellos la hija del gobernante Raúl Castro, Mariela Castro, que la semana entrante viajará a California.
Mack calificó de “increíble” que se la haya concedido visa a la hija de Castro, y recordó cómo los servicios de inteligencia cubanos actuaron para malograr las investigaciones llevadas acabo por EE.UU en torno a los ataques terroristas del 11 de septiembre de 2001.
Durante la audiencia salieron a relucir los casos de los cinco espías cubanos de la red Avispa, condenados a penas de cárcel en 2001 por tratar de penetrar bases militares de EE.UU. y estar involucrados en el derribo de dos avionetas civiles en 1996 sobre aguas internacionales del estrecho de la Florida en las que murieron 4 civiles cubanoamericanos.
También fue mencionado el caso de Ana Belén Montes, una analista de la Agencia de Inteligencia de Defensa de EE.UU que en 2001 se declaró culpable de espiar para Cuba, en un caso que según Michelle Van Cleave, experta en contrainteligencia que testificó en la audiencia, "comprometió” mucha información para EE.UU.
Al igual que Cleave, otros de los expertos en contrainteligencia que prestó testimonio ante los congresistas, Christopher Simmons, coincidió en señalar que los servicios de espionaje de la isla siguen siendo “una amenaza” para EE.UU. porque tienen “alcance global” y facilitan información a otros gobiernos enemigos de Washington.
Simmons dijo que el gobierno cubano trafica con la información de inteligencia y obtiene cientos de millones de dólares por ese concepto. El experto puso de relieve además que la isla mantiene estrechas relaciones con grupos terroristas, entre ellos Hezbolá, y las guerrillas colombianas de las FARC y el ELN.
De acuerdo con Simmons, las comunicaciones de la Casa Blanca y todos los satélites de comunicaciones estadounidenses son objetivos prioritarios para los servicios de espionaje cubanos, que además, dijo, tienen como misiones de primer orden interferir en las operaciones de EE..UU en Afganistán y en la guerra global contra el terrorismo.
State Department’s Apparent Open Door Policy For Senior Cuban Regime Officials & Activists ‘Dangerous’, Says Ros-Lehtinen
Concerned Department is Seeking to Hide Such Travel from Congress
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement today on the Department of State’s role in facilitating potential travel to the United States by Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, and the State Department’s refusal to honor a long standing agreement with Ros-Lehtinen and the Committee on Foreign Affairs concerning travel of Cuban regime officials.
“I am greatly concerned by reports that the State Department has granted a visa to dictator Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, to attend an event in the United States next week. Mariela Castro is a communist regime sympathizer who has labeled Cuban dissidents as ‘parasites.’ Reports that Eusebio Leal, tasked by the regime to expand tourism to the island under the guise of serving as historian of Havana, is also being granted a visa to travel to the U.S. also raises alarm. If confirmed, Castro’s and Leal’s travel would be the most recent in a disturbing pattern that is developing where the doors of the U.S. are opened to officials and activists of this state-sponsor of terrorism.
Why the State Department would issue a visa to Mariela Castro or Eusebio Leal to come to the U.S. and spew the Castro propaganda is beyond comprehension. Not only has the Castro dictatorship trampled on the human rights of its people, Cuba is a State Sponsor of Terrorism with an active and well-documented espionage network operating in and against the U.S. Granting travel and access to the U.S. by high-level regime officials is dangerous and counterproductive to our foreign policy and national security interests.
And now, we are faced with the possibility that State may seek to thwart Congressional oversight over decisions regarding travel by Cuban regime officials. It is my hope the Department will continue to honor a long-standing agreement with me on behalf of the House Foreign Affairs Committee requiring notification of State actions concerning travel by Cuban regime officials. This agreement established in 1997 was adopted in lieu of a legislative mandate I had included in funding legislation and was honored by successive Administrations.
I urge the Department of State to reject these visa requests by regime operatives Mariela Castro and Eusebio Leal and abide by its commitments to cooperate with our Foreign Affairs Committee as we seek to exercise due diligence and oversight.”
La Habana, 20 abr (PL) Unos 40 senadores y miembros de la Cámara de
Representantes del Congreso de Estados Unidos mostraron interés por el
caso de los cinco antiterroristas cubanos, condenados a largas penas en
ese país, aseguraron hoy aquí activistas.
"Algunos fueron cautelosos, pero en general todos mostraron un
interés", precisó en esta capital Graciela Ramírez, coordinadora del
Comité Internacional por la Libertad de los Cinco, al referirse al
acercamiento en Washington a congresistas como parte de las actividades
que se realizan en Estados Unidos a favor de los antiterroristas. Mas >>
A real example of the eRumor as it has
appeared on the Internet:
DID YOU KNOW.............
One percent transaction tax is
proposed
President Obama's finance team is recommending a transaction tax.
His plan is to sneak it in after the November election to keep it under
the radar. This is a 1% tax on all transaction at any financial
institution i. e. Banks, Credit Unions, extra. Any deposit you make, or
move around within your account, i. e. transfer to, will have a 1% tax
charged. If your pay check or your social Security or whatever is direct
deposit, 1% tax charged. If you hand carry a check in to deposit, 1% tax
charged, If you take cash in to deposit, 1% tax charged. This is from
the man who promised that if you make under $250,000 per year, you will
not see one penny of new tax.
Keep your eyes and ears open, you will be amazed at what you learn.
Other Version:
ON JANUARY 1ST 2012, THE GOVERNMENT IS REQUIRING EVERYONE
TO HAVE DIRECT DEPOSIT FOR SS CHECKS.
WONDER WHY?
Be sure to scroll down to read entire explanation
Do you receive a retirement check from
soc sec or a pension fund and have it direct deposit?? Well guess
what....looks as if Obama wants to tax it 1% !!! *just one more nail in
the coffin me thinks.....
All of you old coots, and old coots to be had better read this. This
Obama gang is diabolical. Is your Soc. Sec. check on direct deposit?
WAKE UP AMERICA
1% tax on all bank transactions HR4646
Watch for this AFTER November
elections; remember this BEFORE you VOTE in case you think Obama's
looking out for your best interest.
1% tax on all bank transactions HR
4646
This government just cannot think of
enough ways to hurt the American people! I sure hope this dies!!!!!
FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
1% tax on all bank transactions HR
4646 - ANOTHER NEW OBAMA TAX SLIPPED IN WHILE WE WERE ASLEEP. Checked
this on snopes, it's true! Check out HR 4646.
President Obama's finance team is
recommending a one percent (1%) transaction fee (TAX). Obama's plan is
to sneak it in after the November elections to keep it under the radar.
This is a 1% tax on all transactions
at any financial institution - banks,
credit unions, savings and loans, etc. Any deposit you make, or even a
transfer within your account, will have a 1% tax charged. ~If your
paycheck or your social security or whatever is direct deposit, it will
get a 1% tax charged for the transaction. ~If your paycheck is $1000,
then you will pay Obama $10 just for the privilege of depositing your
paycheck in your bank. Even if you hand carry your paycheck or any check
into your bank for a deposit, 1% tax will be charged. ~You receive a
$5,000 stock dividend from your broker, Obama takes $50 just to allow
you to deposit that check in the bank.. ~If you take $1,000 cash to
deposit at your bank, 1% tax will be charged.
Mind you, this is from the man who
promised that, if you make under $250,000 per year, you will not see one
penny of new tax. Keep your eyes and ears open, you will be amazed at
what you learn about this guy's under-the-table moves to increase the
number of ways you are taxed.
~Oh, and by the way, if you receive a
refund from the IRS next year and you have it direct deposited or you
walk in to deposit that check, you guessed it. You will pay a 1% charge
of that money just for putting it in your bank. Remember, any money,
cash, check or whatever, no matter where it came from, you will pay a 1%
fee if you put it in the bank.
Some will say, oh well, it's just 1%.
Are you kidding me? It's a 1% tax increase across the board. Remember,
once the tax is there, they can also raise it at will. And if anyone
protests, they will just say, "oh,that's not really a tax, it's a user
fee"! Think this is no big deal? Go back and look at the transactions
you made from last year's banking statements. Then add the total of all
those transactions and deduct 1%. Still think it's no big deal?
The Truth:
There was a bill in the 111th Congress, House Bill, HR-4646, the Debt Free America Act, that was introduced on February 23, 2010, but it died in committee and was never voted on or passed into law. Some versions of this eRumor allege that the bill was being sneaked into law by members of Congress but that is also fiction.
The bill was sponsored by Democratic Congressional Representative Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania and says that it is to "establish a fee on transactions which would eliminate the national debt and replace the income tax on individuals." Fattah has a description of the bill along with a press release posted on his Congressional web site. Fattah is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, not President Obama's finance team, as some eRumors alleged.
The Thomas Library is the official site where legislative bills are posted and progress can be monitored. The bill can easily be found and currently the Thomas Library site shows that the Debt Free America Act is in the House committee and then will be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committees on the Budget, Rules, and Appropriations. Click here for the Thomas Library for text and status of the bill.
The Debt Free America Act HR-4646 can also be found at the Govtrack US site, a civic project that tracks legislative activity. Click for GovTrack.us information on HR-4646.
updated 10/9/11
I'm sorry but let me go straight. I could understad Mr. Jones because he is a lobbyist in the hill and somebody pay for it but my dear Gen. Adams youreally thinka tripto Cubaand a fewconversations withvery happy and easy Westerndiplomatsin Havanaare reason enoughto support your thesis?Do youreallythinkor is it justa joke orsomeone isencouragingto use yourmilitary credentialsto supportso naiveand foolishapproach? Do you know aboutthe history ofthe Cuban revolutionand a pairofunscrupulousdictators who since 1948[remember Colombia] to date aresubvertingthe constitutional order ofdozens of nationsfrom Chile to Mexico, from AngolatoSyria, from VietnamtoKoreanot to mentiontheUnited States ofAmerica.
The Hill/ By Brigadier Gen. John Adams, US Army retired, and David W. Jones
In 1979, the U.S. State Department began designating countries that “have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism” as State Sponsors of Terrorism. Today, four countries are on the list: Iran, Syria, Sudan and … Cuba.
Seriously, Cuba?
Countries not on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list include: Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan, North Korea (the Department of State removed North Korea from the list in 2008) and Libya (removed from the list in 2006).
Cuba was added to the list in 1982, due to its support for communist rebels in Africa and Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s.
Having just returned from an extensive research trip to Cuba, where we met with embassy officials from key European and Latin American countries, the U.S. Interests Section and Cuban government officials, we have concluded that it is simply illogical and counterproductive to keep Cuba on the list. There is little, if any, evidence that Cuba provides support for terrorism, and the evidence further shows that they haven’t for more than 20 years. More >>
What would happen if an investigation into Barack Obama’s eligibility
to be president launched by “America’s toughest sheriff” – Joe Arpaio
of Arizona’s Maricopa County – actually led to Obama being ousted from
office?
If the election ballots carrying Obama’s name were ruled null and
void because of Obama’s ineligibility to be on them, some have
speculated, Vice President Joe Biden wouldn’t be duly elected either,
meaning the Constitution’s order of succession would make Speaker of the
House John Boehner, R-Ohio, president until the next election.
But that’s an awfully big “if.”
As WND reported,
an investigative “Cold Case Posse” launched six months ago by Arpaio
concluded there is probable cause that the document released by the
White House last year as Obama’s birth certificate and alleged proof of
eligibility is a computer-generated forgery.
And even though the posse – which comprised former law-enforcement
officers and lawyers with law-enforcement experience who interviewed
dozens of witnesses and examined hundreds of documents – released its
findings at a public news conference, Arpaio claims the press on hand
were deaf to the evidence in a biased attempt to dismiss the posse’s
conclusions.
In a column published in the Arizona Republic,
Arpaio says of the reporters on hand, “Their pre-determined desire to
discredit me and my office would not even allow them to consider
listening to what was presented in an unbiased manner.”
“During our news conference, my investigators and I laid out a large
array of technical information, demonstrations and evidence that no
other law-enforcement agency in the country has even considered looking
into,” Arpaio writes. “We have produced experts in the creation of
electronic documents who will attest that the document in question is a
forgery, evidence that the president’s Selective Service registration
card is highly suspect and looked far different from any other card we
examined from the same exact post office in the same exact month in
which his was filed.
“And we uncovered information from the National Archives that is
mysteriously missing one week of flight information into Hawaii out of a
10-year span requested by my investigators,” he continues. “It just so
happened to be the week of the president’s birth.”
But even after laying out the facts the posse used to come to its
conclusion, Arpaio writes, “Not one reporter ever asked about the
evidence or the case itself.”
Still, Arpaio says, he hopes the investigation will resurrect earnest
discussion over the need for more thoroughly vetting presidential
candidates.
“Who in his right mind would disagree that would be a good thing?” he asks.
Still, a team of video producers from Special Guests
speculated what would happen in the White House and across the nation
if Arpaio’s investigation actually revealed Obama’s candidacy to be “the
biggest scandal in the history of the United States of America.” More >>
La plataforma Scarabeo 9, contratada por la empresa Repsol-YPF, buscará petróleo en aguas cubanas.
Una audiencia que se realizará la mañana de este lunes 30 de enero en las Islas Sunny, al norte de la ciudad de Miami, abordará el debate sobre los riesgos de la exploración petrolera en las costas de Cuba.
La audiencia, de la cual participarán expertos del gobierno de Estados Unidos y de la Guardia Costera, servirá para abordar las preocupaciones estadounidenses y la preparación del país sobre un posible derrame de crudo en las aguas del estrecho de Florida.
La presidenta de la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores de la Cámara de Representantes, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, participa de la audiencia la cual será transmitida vía satélite, según informa AP.
Los representantes por Florida, Mario Díaz-Balart y David Rivera también participan en el evento.
La representante Ros-Lehtinen propuso negar visas para Estados Unidos a cualquier persona que ayude al gobierno de Cuba con su exploración petrolera.
Por su parte, el representante Rivera, presentó en noviembre de 2011 un proyecto de ley llamado: "Responsabilidad del Derrame de Petroleó Extranjero del 2011", donde propone que en función del impacto que estos pueden tener en la economía estadounidense, en caso de que el derrame provenga de “un Estado Designado como Patrocinador del Terrorismo” como es el caso de Cuba, “los límites de responsabilidad y sanciones se tripliquen". Mas en La VOA
First term Phoenix area Arizona State Senator Kyrsten Sinema has thrown her hat in the ring to stand for the US House of Representatives from the newly created 9th Congressional District
Kyrsten Sinema
Kyrsten Sinema is widely known as leftist and a “progressive”. however there has been virtually no media scrutiny of Sinema’s documented ties to the Arizona Communist Party – the local affiliate of the pro China/pro Cuba Communist Party USA.
Before becoming an Arizona State Representative, Kyrsten Sinema was a signatory to an advertisement “May Day and Cinco de Mayo greetings” placed in the Communist Party paper People’s Weekly World May 4, 2002. Such ads were traditionally placed in the Communist Party paper every May Day, sponsored by local party clubs, members or supporters
People's Weekly World May 4, 2002 May Day and Cinco de Mayo greetings
Arizona’s progressive community extends May Day and Cinco de Mayo greetings to all our friends across the country. We commit ourselves to resist the Bush Administration’s drive for ever increasing military spending and a neverending state of war. We must redouble our efforts to build a people’s coalition that will drive the ultra right out of Congress next November.
This support for the communist cause was not not a “one off’ or an aberration. In 2003 Sinema again put her name to the Arizona Communist Party’s May Day greetings page.
Shortly after her first election, as an Arizona state representative in 2004, Kyrsten Sinema and former State Representative Steve formed Arizona Together, a statewide coalition to defeat Arizona’s same-sex marriage ban.
Arizona made history Nov. 7 2006, “when its voters became the first in the nation to reject a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage”, Wrote Arizona Communist Party leader and Arizona Together activist Joe Bernick ;
Why Arizona? How come voters in more liberal states have voted for similar hateful laws while conservative Arizona voted no? If you were to believe the pundits in the corporate-owned press, our rejection of Prop. 107 was due to the western libertarian traditions, the spirit of Barry Goldwater — you know them, those right-wing Republicans who are against government interference in our personal business and our bedroom… So how did we do it? The answer is: educating, organizing and mobilizing.
As soon as proponents started circulating petitions to put 107 on the ballot, opponents brought out their own clipboards, signing up thousands of volunteers. Arizona Together emerged as the campaign committee, chaired by progressive state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.
Sinema, was a founder of the Arizona State House Progressive Caucus in 2008.
If Kyrsten Sinema makes it to Congress, she will almost certainly join two other Arizona reps Raul Grijalva and Ed Pastor in the far left Congressional Progressive Caucus. Both Grijalva and Pastor also have ties to the the Arizona Communist Party.
How does a conservative state like Arizona keep on electing Communist aligned public officials?
The answer is a very strong local Communist Party, built originally on the mining industry, and sustained in recent years through work on the illegal immigration issue – a very major part of Communist party USA long term strategy.
Working hand in glove with the Arizona Democratic Party, and lacking any realistic media scrutiny, the Arizona comrades have become a major player in Arizona electoral politics.
Will Kyrsten Sinema become the next truly “Red Rep” from Arizona?
Wikipedia's English home page says, in part, "Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia."
By Suzanne Choney
Updated at 5:05 a.m. ET: Any student burning the midnight oil Tuesday may have been disappointed as what has become a primary research tool, Wikipedia, blacked out its Web pages as part of a global protest against anti-piracy legislation making its way through Congress.
"Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!," warned Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on Twitter, and with that, one of the most heavily visited websites began a 24-hour "blackout."
Google slapped a virtual black tape across the word "Google" on its home page, as if it were muffled, although it continued to be available for search. Social news site Reddit said it will be blacked out for 12 hours, starting at 8 a.m. ET. The metaphor by the protesting sites: To shutter and silence the Internet the same way many in the tech world say will happen if the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate move forward. More >>
Muy contentos y felices despertaran manana no solo las mulas y las companias de muleros de Miami y Hialeah, sino tambien tanto "disidente" desvelado por estos dias con la posibilidad que se convirtiera en ley el proyecto del congresista Mario Diaz-Balart. Punto Uno tambien respirara en paz, pues la "comunidad" se mantendra en su papel de vaca prodigiosa que solo basta ordenarla para que brinde toda la leche que se requiera. La "ayuda familiar" no es solo la principal fuente de ingresos en divisas frescas, sino que ademas es factor significativo en el mantenimiento de la estabilidad social, en tanto traslada las obligaciones estales propia de un regimen totalitario a la "fe" en el pariente de "Jayalia".
-------------------------------------------------
Juan O. Tamayo/ jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com
Los líderes del Congreso echaron a un lado tanto una medida para restringir los viajes y las remesas de los cubanoamericanos a la isla, como otra que hubiera hecho más fácil para Cuba comprar mercancías en EEUU, como toque final de un compromiso sobre una iniciativa de ley de gastos por $1 billón, informaron el martes ayudantes del Congreso.
El acuerdo retiró la medida del representante Mario Díaz-Balart, republicano por la Florida, que hubiera limitado nuevamente los viajes de “reunificación familiar” a uno cada tres años, reducido el envío de remesas a $1,200 al año y limitado la definición de “familia”.
A cambio, el liderazgo del Congreso acordó también retirar una medida de la representante Jo Ann Emerson, republicana por Missouri, que hubiera flexibilizado ampliamente un requerimiento de que Cuba pague en efectivo y por adelantado por sus importaciones desde EEUU, según las mismas fuentes.
El tema de Cuba era el último obstáculo que bloqueaba la consideración de un proyecto de ley de gastos del gobierno por $1 billón. Si el Congreso, muy dividido a través de líneas partidistas, no lo aprueba antes de la medianoche del viernes, grandes partes del gobierno tendrían que cerrar.
Hal Rogers, republicano por Kentucky y presidente de la Comisión de Asignaciones de la Cámara de Representantes, estuvo de acuerdo en el compromiso sobre Cuba a cambio de una promesa de Harry Reid, líder de la mayoría en el Senado, de permitir que la iniciativa de ley de gastos vaya a votación el viernes.
Negociadores de la Cámara de Representantes y del Senado alcanzaron esta semana un compromiso de una versión del proyecto de ley de $1 billón. Pero Reid, respondiendo a preocupaciones de la Casa Blanca, declaró que no lo daría a conocer hasta que se resolvieron el tema de Cuba y otros, incluyendo algunas regulaciones sobre el aborto,
Pero si el entendimiento Rogers-Reid fracasa, la mayoría republicana de la Cámara de Representantes podría presionar a favor de su propia versión de la iniciativa de gastos, que retendría aún el lenguaje sobre Cuba, según versiones del jueves de medios de prensa.
No quedó claro de inmediato si los republicanos de la Cámara de Representantes tienen los votos suficientes para aprobar la versión unilateral, o cómo los cuatro cubanoamericanos en la Cámara votarían sobre ella. Entre los tres republicanos y el demócrata se encuentra la representante Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, la poderosa presidenta de la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores de la Cámara de Representantes.
Una comisión de la Cámara de Representantes aprobó la medida de Diaz-Balart en junio con un voto a viva voz --sin objeciones-- como una condición para un proyecto de ley de gastos del Tesoro. A la iniciativa de ley se le agregaron otros ocho proyectos de ley de gastos, lo que dio como resultado la medida masiva de $1 billón que se encuentra actualmente ante el Congreso.
Obama, quien en el 2009 levantó virtualmente todas las restricciones a los viajes y el envío de remesas a los cubanos de la isla desde Estados Unidos, amenazó un mes más tarde con vetar la condición del republicano por la Florida. Pero no fue sino hasta esta semana que las luchas intestinas en el Congreso sacaron el tema a la luz.
Los partidarios de las restricciones alegan que los viajes y las remesas implican enviar más dinero a las arcas del gobierno comunista de Cuba, en un momento en que éste ha incrementado su represión de los disidentes políticos y activistas de los derechos humanos, y mantiene en prisión a Alan Gross, contratista del gobierno estadounidense.
Los oponentes alegaron que las visitas ayudan a las familias cubanas a reunirse, y que las remesas ayudan a los cubanos a romper su dependencia del gobierno y quizás incluso a empezar empresas privadas, como restaurantes y otros negocios.
Desde La Habana, la bloguera Yoani Sánchez envió un tweet en que dijo que la medida de Diaz-Balart “sería un terrible paso atrás.” El bloguero Orlando Luis Pardo añadió en otro tweet enviado al presidente Barack Obama: “Esperamos su veto.”
El economista habanero disidente Oscar Espinosa Chepe y su esposa, Miriam Leiva, escribieron en una columna del jueves en internet que se oponen a la medida de Diaz-Balart porque las remesas “ayudan a los cubanos de la isla que enfrentan serias escaseces y miseria”.
El proyecto de ley de gastos de $1 billón financiaría muchas de las operaciones gubernamentales durante el año fiscal 2012. La actual resolución para gastos --la más reciente de las siete aprobadas este año-- está programada para expirar a la medianoche del viernes.
La Casa Blanca ha urgido al Congreso a que si no puede adoptar el proyecto de ley de gastos para todo un año a tiempo para impedir un cierre del gobierno, debe aprobar otra resolución de corto plazo.
¨Saturno jugando con sus hijos¨/ Pedro Pablo Oliva
Seguidores
Carta desde la carcel de Fidel Castro Ruz
“…después de todo, para mí la cárcel es un buen descanso, que sólo tiene de malo el que es obligatorio. Leo mucho y estudio mucho. Parece increíble, las horas pasan como si fuesen minutos y yo, que soy de temperamento intranquilo, me paso el día leyendo, apenas sin moverme para nada. La correspondencia llega normalmente…”
“…Como soy cocinero, de vez en cuando me entretengo preparando algún pisto. Hace poco me mandó mi hermana desde Oriente un pequeño jamón y preparé un bisté con jalea de guayaba. También preparo spaghettis de vez en cuando, de distintas formas, inventadas todas por mí; o bien tortilla de queso. ¡Ah! ¡Qué bien me quedan! por supuesto, que el repertorio no se queda ahí. Cuelo también café que me queda muy sabroso”. “…En cuanto a fumar, en estos días pasados he estado rico: una caja de tabacos H. Upman del doctor Miró Cardona, dos cajas muy buenas de mi hermano Ramón….”. “Me voy a cenar: spaghettis con calamares, bombones italianos de postre, café acabadito de colar y después un H. Upman #4. ¿No me envidias?”. “…Me cuidan, me cuidan un poquito entre todos. No le hacen caso a uno, siempre estoy peleando para que no me manden nada. Cuando cojo el sol por la mañana en shorts y siento el aire de mar, me parece que estoy en una playa… ¡Me van a hacer creer que estoy de vacaciones! ¿Qué diría Carlos Marx de semejantes revolucionarios?”.
Quotes
¨La patria es dicha de todos, y dolor de todos, y cielo para todos, y no feudo ni capellanía de nadie¨ - Marti
"No temas ni a la prision, ni a la pobreza, ni a la muerte. Teme al miedo" - Giacomo Leopardi
¨Por eso es muy importante, Vicky, hijo mío, que recuerdes siempre para qué sirve la cabeza: para atravesar paredes¨– Halvar de Flake[El vikingo]
"Como no me he preocupado de nacer, no me preocupo de morir"- Lorca
"Al final, no os preguntarán qué habéis sabido, sino qué habéis hecho" - Jean de Gerson
"Si queremos que todo siga como está, es necesario que todo cambie" - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
"Todo hombre paga su grandeza con muchas pequeñeces, su victoria con muchas derrotas, su riqueza con múltiples quiebras" - Giovanni Papini
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans" - John Lennon
"Habla bajo, lleva siempre un gran palo y llegarás lejos" - Proverbio Africano
"No hay medicina para el miedo"-Proverbio escoces "El supremo arte de la guerra es doblegar al enemigo sin luchar" -Sun Tzu
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
"It is inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office" - H. L. Menken
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented" -Elie Wiesel
"Stay hungry, stay foolish" - Steve Jobs
"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years ther'ed be a shortage of sand" - Milton Friedman
"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less" - Vaclav Havel
"No se puede controlar el resultado, pero si lo que uno haga para alcanzarlo" - Vitor Belfort [MMA Fighter]
Liborio
A la puerta de la gloria está San Pedro sentado y ve llegar a su lado a un hombre de cierta historia. No consigue hacer memoria y le pregunta con celo: ¿Quién eras allá en el suelo? Era Liborio mi nombre. Has sufrido mucho, hombre, entra, te has ganado el cielo.
Para Raul Castro
Cuba ocupa el penultimo lugar en el mundo en libertad economica solo superada por Corea del Norte.
Cuba ocupa el lugar 147 entre 153 paises evaluados en "Democracia, Mercado y Transparencia 2007"
Cuando vinieron a buscar a los comunistas, Callé: yo no soy comunista. Cuando vinieron a buscar a los sindicalistas, Callé: yo no soy sindicalista. Cuando vinieron a buscar a los judíos, Callé: yo no soy judío. Cuando vinieron a buscar a los católicos, Callé: yo no soy “tan católico”. Cuando vinieron a buscarme a mí, Callé: no había quien me escuchara.
Un sitio donde los hechos y sus huellas nos conmueven o cautivan
CUBA LLORA Y EL MUNDO Y NOSOTROS NO ESCUCHAMOS
Donde esta el Mundo, donde los Democratas, donde los Liberales? El pueblo de Cuba llora y nadie escucha. Donde estan los Green, los Socialdemocratas, los Ricos y los Pobres, los Con Voz y Sin Voz? Cuba llora y nadie escucha. Donde estan el Jet Set, los Reyes y Principes, Patricios y Plebeyos? Cuba desesperada clama por solidaridad. Donde Bob Dylan, donde Martin Luther King, donde Hollywood y sus estrellas? Donde la Middle Class democrata y conservadora, o acaso tambien liberal a ratos? Y Gandhi? Y el Dios de Todos? Donde los Santos y Virgenes; los Dioses de Cristianos, Protestantes, Musulmanes, Budistas, Testigos de Jehova y Adventistas del Septimo Dia. Donde estan Ochun y todas las deidades del Panteon Yoruba que no acuden a nuestro llanto? Donde Juan Pablo II que no exige mas que Cuba se abra al Mundo y que el Mundo se abra a Cuba? Que hacen ahora mismo Alberto de Monaco y el Principe Felipe que no los escuchamos? Donde Madonna, donde Angelina Jolie y sus adoptados around de world; o nos hara falta un Brando erguido en un Oscar por Cuba? Donde Sean Penn? Donde esta la Aristocracia Obrera y los Obreros menos Aristocraticos, donde los Working Class que no estan junto a un pueblo que lanquidece, sufre y llora por la ignominia? Que hacen ahora mismo Zapatero y Rajoy que no los escuchamos, y Harper y Dion, e Hillary y Obama; donde McCain que no los escuchamos? Y los muertos? Y los que estan muriendo? Y los que van a morir? Y los que se lanzan desesperados al mar? Donde estan el minero cantabrico o el pescador de percebes gijonese? Los Canarios donde estan? A los africanos no los oimos, y a los australianos con su acento de hombres duros tampoco. Y aquellos chinos milenarios de Canton que fundaron raices eternas en la Isla? Y que de la Queen Elizabeth y los Lords y Gentlemen? Que hace ahora mismo el combativo Principe Harry que no lo escuchamos? Donde los Rockefellers? Donde los Duponts? Donde Kate Moss? Donde el Presidente de la ONU? Y Solana donde esta? Y los Generales y Doctores? Y los Lam y los Fabelo, y los Sivio y los Fito Paez? Y que de Canseco y Miñoso? Y de los veteranos de Bahia de Cochinos y de los balseros y de los recien llegados? Y Carlos Otero y Susana Perez? Y el Bola, y Pancho Cespedes? Y YO y TU? Y todos nosotros que estamos aqui y alla rumiando frustaciones y resquemores, envidias y sinsabores; autoelogios y nostalgias, en tanto Louis Michel comulga con Perez Roque mientras Biscet y una NACION lanquidecen? Donde Maceo, donde Marti; donde aquel Villena con su carga para matar bribones? Cuba llora y clama y el Mundo NO ESCUCHA!!!
![NEOCASTRISMO [Hacer click en la imagen]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5jy0SZhMlaU/SsuPVOlq2NI/AAAAAAAAH1E/4xt2Bwd2reE/S150/ppo+saturno+jugando+con+sus+hijos.jpg)
