Jan 11

What happens when you Google ‘caveman’?

Americas, Caribbean, Culture, Internet Comments Off
Page's yacht now docked in St. Martin.

Larry Page's yacht, Senses, now docked in St. Maarten. (marinetraffic.com)

Google co-founder Larry Page’s recent purchase of an 187-foot, $45 million yacht is a classic case of “conspicuous consumption.” The term, coined by  economist Thorstein Veblen, refers to  “the waste of money and/or resources by people to display a higher status than others.”

As an investment the purchase of the yacht, dubbed “Senses,” makes little sense, as one commenter to Business Insider notes. The purchase is an intentional waste of money designed to prove something we already knew: that Page has the capacity to waste more money than most of us will have. Continue reading »

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Nov 23

Gay politics in Cuba

Americas, Cuba Comments Off

Capitol Hill Cubans, an anti-Castro blog, criticizes the Havana government endorsing a “homophobic” measure that removed sexual orientation from a UN Resolution Condemning Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.

This would be more convincing if CHC did not oppose the rights of all Americans–gay, straight, and in between–to travel to Cuba.

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Nov 22

JFK: What we know now

Americas, assassination, Cuba, political violence, United States Comments Off

JFK Z film thumb My take on the historical record of JFK’s assassination appears today in the Atlantic.com (and en espanol on Cubebate.cu)

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Feb 11

Under the radar: Posada fighting extradition in Texas

Americas, Caribbean, Cuba, political violence, Venezuela Comments Off

Luis Posada Carriles, former CIA operative deeply implicated in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana airline jet that killed 73 people, is facing perjury charges in El Paso. Venezuela and Cuba want to try him for the crime. The United State is balking.

Jose Pertierra, a Washington lawyer who represents the Venezuelan government in the case (and full disclosure: a personal friend), describes the latest twists and turns in this long-running saga in Machetera.

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Jan 15

Fidel on the earthquake

Americas, Cuba, Natural disaster Comments Off

“The tragedy has genuinely moved a significant number of people, particularly those in which that quality is innate. But perhaps very few of them have stopped to consider why Haiti is such a poor country. Why does almost 50% of its population depend on family remittances sent from abroad? Why not analyze the realities that led Haiti to its current situation and this enormous suffering as well?”

Former Cuban president Fidel Castro via granma.cu,  The lesson of Haiti.

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