Imagine: Cuba
Weekend Edition August 29-31, 2014
Time for a Little Anarchy in America?
Imagine: Cuba
by MATEO PIMENTEL
Imagine living in the world’s most literate nation—a nation where health care is free and universal, and of the highest quality by world standards.
Imagine that, in this nation, education (also free and universal) is not only considered a human right, but it is also higher in quality than that of the wealthiest, most super industrialized country the world has ever known.
Imagine that this nation actively seeks—from social to governmental dimensions—to correct and eradicate racism, and racist proclivities, so as to ensure a truer, more democratic inclusion for all.
Imagine its dedication to gender equality and women’s rights: more than forty percent of its parliament is female; more than sixty percent of its university positions are occupied by women; and all its women receive maternity leave for eighteen weeks with full pay.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/29/imagine-cuba/
= new reply since forum marked as read
DUers wouldn't tolerate that--there'd be a revolution before nightfall...
The author of that piece, I notice, doesn't LIVE in Cuba--he's a happy camper on the "Mexican - US border." Wonder what side? He coyly doesn't say....
You've got the priorities straight. 
Internet over all. Yep. That'll accomplish much more than Cuba already has accomplished.
More laughable doggerel from you.
I text and Facebook with my Cuban friends all of the time.
And no, to preempt your typical accusation, they're no friends of any Castros.
Maybe you should get acquainted with some real Cubans IN Cuba. That way you could converse with them regularly, and possibly see what utter bullshit you're peddling here.
Have a nice evening. 
Yes. My friends are all personal friends with Fidel himself. Oh noes111! You blew my deeeep cover.
Its not an insult to say that your above commentary is idiotic. Its a fact that it is.
No matter, keep on spewing your dark fantasies here. I'll continue to carry on as usual ... talking to my friends in Cuba, Facebooking with them, texting with them, writing letters, etc etc.
http://www.dimecuba.com/en
(Click on Text Messages to and from Cuba to see rates)
But if you're just an ordinary Cuban, you do NOT have internet access. You cannot afford internet access. If you're communicating with someone in Cuba, it's on a satphone paid for by someone over HERE-- or via a for-profit corporation acting as middleman for a price, as your dot COM website proves.
Gee, I wonder who owns that for-profit enterprise? I know it doesn't have Cuban ownership. Let's have a look, shall we?
Registry Domain ID:
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.ovh.com
Registrar URL: http://www.ovh.com
Updated Date: 2013-07-28T01:15:06.0Z
Creation Date: 2012-06-26T15:34:12.0Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-06-26T15:34:12.0Z
Registrar: OVH, SAS
Registrar IANA ID: 433
Registrar Abuse Contact Email:
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +33.899498765
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Padron Israel
Registrant Organization: Uniontel Communications, LTD
Registrant Street: Room 1203, 12/F, Tower 3, China Hong Kong City. 33, Canton Road, TST, KL
Registrant City: Kowloon
Registrant State/Province:
Registrant Postal Code: 0000
Registrant Country: HK
Registrant Phone: +852.58086044
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email:
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Suarez Antonio
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: dimecuba.com, office #4714883, c/o OwO, BP80157
Admin City: 59053
Admin State/Province:
Admin Postal Code: Roubaix Cedex 1
Admin Country: FR
Admin Phone: +33.899498765
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email:
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Suarez Antonio
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: dimecuba.com, office #4714883, c/o OwO, BP80157
Tech City: 59053
Tech State/Province:
Tech Postal Code: Roubaix Cedex 1
Tech Country: FR
Tech Phone: +33.899498765
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email:
Name Server: dave.ns.cloudflare.com
Name Server: lady.ns.cloudflare.com
DNSSEC: signedDelegation
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System:
http://wdprs.internic.net/
http://whois.domaintools.com/dimecuba.com
And, fwiw, you don't have to telegraph the weakness of your argument by disparaging my comments with terms like "spewing" and "idiotic." You clearly cannot argue from strength if you resort to those tactics. I also think if you are going to snark about my "uninformed" and "unintelligible" POV, as you rudely did in your subject line, you might try at least being "intelligible" yourself--you don't acquit yourself well at all by insulting me in such fashion and AND misspelling not just one, but both words!
18. Uniformed and mostly uniteligible.
I haven't been "uniformed" in many years...
So, you can play the sarcasm/smilie game all you'd like, but the truth is that your bargain rates need to be subsidized by friends abroad. For the ordinary Cuban with no friends or family abroad, well, they're screwed. When you make twenty bucks a month, those rates are just out of reach. A thirty minute call would be a month's salary. Now THAT is a "dark fantasy." Only wait--it's a reality.
Here, again:
Thanks for the CIA's "latest".
The Shifting Policy Landscape of Development Education
Autumn 2011.
Cuba's Model of Development: Lessons for Global Education
~snip~
Cuba’s Development Model
From the outset of the Cuban revolution in 1959 education has been a priority for its leaders. In 1961 Cuba launched a year long literacy campaign to address the high levels of illiteracy that were part of the social neglect characteristic of the pre-revolutionary period under US-sponsored dictator Fulgencio Batista. The literacy campaign was a great success and in 2011 the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) revealed that the ‘Cuban Literacy Program’ was implemented in 12 other Latin American states with plans to expand this model to other regions (Cuba Sí, summer 2011:6). UNESCO also praised Cuba’s expenditure on education which according to the United Nations Human Development Report 2010 was 13.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to 5.2 per cent in Brazil and 4.9 per cent in Argentina in the same period; countries with much bigger economies in the American Hemisphere. Cuba’s commitment to education as an essential human right available to all citizens means that it is available free at the point of delivery. Education in Cuba is not a privilege, particularly at third level, available only to those who can afford to pay for it as is the case in Ireland and Britain.
Cuba has a similarly socialised approach to healthcare with just under 10 per cent of GDP spent on health (UN, 2010) compared to 6.1 per cent in Ireland, 6.9 per cent in Britain and 7.1 per cent in the United States. As a result Cuba can boast of a ‘developed world’ life expectancy rate of 79 years which is just behind that of the US (79.6) Britain (79.8) and Ireland (80.3). But the success of Cuba’s health system is more than just a matter of statistics and free access; it is built upon an effective public model that Barry and Lynch suggest is ‘a protective and supportive system for Cuban citizens, run by the state, but in a decentralised and integrated system’ (2008: 156). The preventative component of the Cuban health system is key and is constructed around an effective primary care programme which not only prevents illness but promotes healthy lifestyles. As Barry and Lynch argue:
“health is viewed as enabling people to achieve their full capacity, irrespective of age or ability, and with full cognisance of the wider determinants of health, such as housing, education, nutrition and exercise” (2008: 157).
However, the benefits of Cuba’s system are felt well beyond its own borders. In 1999 Cuba established a Latin American School of Medicine which trains doctors and medical personnel from other parts of the Americas, including the United States, and Africa. Almost 10,000 students from 29 countries are enrolled in the school with students committing themselves to return to their countries and work in communities lacking adequate healthcare (Medical Co-operation with Cuba, 2011). Cuba itself now has as many doctors servicing its 11 million citizens as there are in Britain meeting the needs of 60 million people. Michael Tynan, Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Cardiology at King’s College, London has been engaging in medical exchanges with Cuba since 1987 and found that ‘Cuba’s commitment to public health has been the heartbeat of their socialist programme – both domestically and internationally – since their struggle against Batista in the 1950s’. He adds that ‘[c]onsidering the intensification of the blockade, Cuba’s achievements in the field of healthcare – particularly in the areas of infant mortality, life expectancy and internationalism – are nothing short of miraculous’ (Cuba Sí, summer 2011: 30).
Cuba’s internationalism includes the Henry Reeve Brigade, a specialist medical team of 1,200 personnel set up in 2005 to respond to humanitarian emergencies and disasters anywhere in the world. In 2005, it was the first team on the ground following the Pakistani earthquake in Kashmir and six months later the last to leave. More recently, Cuba’s medical personnel were the first on the scene in the Haitian earthquake in 2010 because they already had a 350-strong team on the ground which immediately went to work in ‘providing primary care and obstetrical services as well as operating to restore the sight of Haitians blinded by eye diseases’ (Aljazeera, 16 February 2010). This team was later strengthened by Cuba after the earthquake struck and treated 30,000 cholera patients between October and December 2010 (Independent, 26 December 2010).
It was notable that, while the efforts of Western development agencies in Haiti were highly praised, the work of the Cuban medics was largely ignored by the media. Aljazeera was one of the few news organisations to highlight Cuba’s efforts in Haiti noting that ‘their pivotal work in the health sector has received scant media coverage’ (16 February 2010). The London Independent also acknowledged the media’s sidelining of Cuba’s medical work in Haiti with a piece titled ‘Cuban medics put the world to shame’. It placed Cuba’s work in Haiti in an international context noting that ‘[a] third of Cuba's 75,000 doctors, along with 10,000 other health workers, are currently working in 77 poor countries, including El Salvador, Mali and East Timor’ (Ibid). In addition to the work of the Henry Reeve Brigade, Cuba’s medical efforts have included an international programme called ‘Operation Miracle’, which ‘began with ophthalmologists treating cataract sufferers in impoverished Venezuelan villages in exchange for oil. This initiative has restored the eyesight of 1.8 million people in 35 countries, including that of Mario Teran, the Bolivian sergeant who killed Che Guevara in 1967’ (Ibid).
More:
http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue13-viewpoint2?page=show
(That last line's a killer, isn't it? Wow.)
[center]
[/center]Just ask our resident "expert".
if you can't whip around fast anytime you want, and troll the hell out of progressives?
Life would have no meaning, Mika, for a small cluster we know!
