Political Posts

[Marco Van Basten]

27 minutes ago, cwericb said:

 

Oh believe me, I have seen empty shelves in Cuba and I have seen full shelves in Cuba - depending on the state of the American embargo. 

 

But the shelves were empty because Cuba is prevented from importing supplies due to the American embargo on imports. And the shelves are empty because of a lack of money because Cuba is prevented from exporting their products again, because of the American embargo.

 

Now it may well be that the Cuban economy is in the toilet because of communism, but how do you know that, because if any small country is prevented from importing and exporting goods it is going to have a sick economy. 

 

 

There was no embargo on the ussr or china or Eastern Europe and none of them had goods on the shelves.  There is no point in discussing this any further.  Despite the fact that communism failed every time that is has been tried, over thirty times, you still believe that it can work.  Good luck to you

[cwericb]

56 minutes ago, Marco Van Basten said:

There was no embargo on the ussr or china or Eastern Europe and none of them had goods on the shelves.  There is no point in discussing this any further.  Despite the fact that communism failed every time that is has been tried, over thirty times, you still believe that it can work.  Good luck to you

 

I said no such thing.

 

Don't try to twist my words. In the original post you said....................................

"Do you know any country that succeeded under communism?  

I replied:

"Of course not. Communism takes away incentive."

Now you say:

 Despite the fact that communism failed every time that is has been tried, over thirty times, you still believe that it can work.  Good luck to you.

 

Unfortunately my point went right over your head.

 

I was trying to explain that it is the US blockade that has ruined the Cuban economy, not Communism.

Any small country that is prevented from buying and selling goods with other countries, that country will likely fail, no mater if the government is communist or democratic.

 

There is more to life than the economy. Perhaps you might like to educate yourself on the real situation in Cuba...

 

Cuba is often cited as leading or outperforming the United States in several specific areas, primarily focused on social welfare and health: 

• Infant Mortality Rates: Cuba often reports lower infant mortality rates than the United States.
• Literacy Rates: Cuba boasts a very high literacy rate, reported at 99.8%.
• Doctor-to-Patient Ratio: Cuba has one of the highest numbers of doctors per capita in the world, often exceeding that of the U.S..
• Medical Internationalism: Cuba provides more medical personnel to developing nations than all G8 countries combined.
• Preventive Healthcare Focus: The healthcare system in Cuba is heavily focused on prevention and accessibility for all citizens.
• Elimination of Mother-to-Child Disease Transmission: In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis.
• Homelessness: Cuba has reported virtually zero homelessness. 

Infant Mortality Rates: Cuba often reports lower infant mortality rates than the United States.

• Literacy Rates: Cuba boasts a very high literacy rate, reported at 99.8%.
• Doctor-to-Patient Ratio: Cuba has one of the highest numbers of doctors per capita in the world, often exceeding that of the U.S..
• Medical Internationalism: Cuba provides more medical personnel to developing nations than all G8 countries combined.
• Preventive Healthcare Focus: The healthcare system in Cuba is heavily focused on prevention and accessibility for all citizens.
• Elimination of Mother-to-Child Disease Transmission: In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis.
• Homelessness: Cuba has reported virtually zero homelessness.

[LC]

Promises Made, Promises Kept 

 

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, Lazarus said:

 

We can disagree about that. The point is that Elon was a Canadian citizen but he fled to the USA as soon as possible since it is provides a vastly better business environment. But if you prefer, you can let your dislike of Elon overshadow that point instead of recognizing that Canada has a lot of room to improve.

 

No doubt that Canada can improve in a myriad of areas.  But I think taking Elon's decisions on what he does and where he does it should be taken with a grain of salt. 

 

The question becomes do you want to bet on someone or something that will go for homeruns, but is not a team player and when he loses it may mean the end of the franchise, or do you bet on someone or something that hits singles and doubles, but has a lasting durability over decades, if not centuries? 

 

If you prefer the former, then Elon's opinions should matter.  If you prefer the latter, then someone's opinion like Buffett's should matter.  Nation states are generally built on the latter...and for very good reason!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

On 5/8/2026 at 5:04 PM, cubsfan said:

 

Good old Elon - did his job with DOGE - a great patriot. Now the shit he uncovered is starting to come out big time.  All that fraud shit in Columbus Ohio with the Somali fraudsters,,, incredible - all because of Elon providing the lists & data.

 

He made some enemies for sure - but what a service to the country exposing all the theft!

 

 

 

Wasn't it $1T in savings?  What did he end up saving...somewhere between $1-4B?  That should cover most of the cost of the ballroom.  Cheers!

[Whensthepaintdry?]

I went to Cuba in 2017 I think. There was a huge push by locals to make cash from tourists. Government had a little too much financial influence on hotels, restaurants, and taxis from what I gathered. Our host provided us with drivers outside the local taxi system. She seemed like she had a community of services to provide outside of the government’s control. One of them was a college educated engineer and he said he made more driving in a week than a month being an engineer. There was a huge push by locals to start airbnbs as well at the time. 

[adesigar]

5 hours ago, LC said:

Promises Made, Promises Kept 

 

It’s probably going to follow the Tesla Self Driving timeline. 
 

Also didn’t this go from Made in USA to brought to life in the USA or some such crap to some new BS. 

 

[adesigar]

4 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

Wasn't it $1T in savings?  What did he end up saving...somewhere between $1-4B?  That should cover most of the cost of the ballroom.  Cheers!

The world richest man involved in the deaths of the world’s poorest children Also wasn’t this the 200 million privately funded ballroom that’s now going to cost tax payers a billion or more. 

 

 

[Spekulatius]

7 hours ago, cwericb said:

 

Oh believe me, I have seen empty shelves in Cuba and I have seen full shelves in Cuba - depending on the state of the American embargo. 

 

But the shelves were empty because Cuba is prevented from importing supplies due to the American embargo on imports. And the shelves are empty because of a lack of money because Cuba is prevented from exporting their products again, because of the American embargo.

 

Now it may well be that the Cuban economy is in the toilet because of communism, but how do you know that, because if any small country is prevented from importing and exporting goods it is going to have a sick economy. 

 

 

There rr no full shelves. Cuba can trade with any country they like except the USA. The problem, is that besides cigars and tourism , they go nothing to offer.

 Now the USA is obviously the largest economy nearby and having no trades either them hurts, but this does not necessarily  prevent them from trading with other nations, but their economy is so limited , that there is no buying power and they don’t have much to offer. Thats why there is no trade.

[Spekulatius]

IRGC has customer support:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-10/iran-strait-of-hormuz-authority-for-ships-to-cross/106652970

[cwericb]

11 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

There rr no full shelves. Cuba can trade with any country they like except the USA. The problem, is that besides cigars and tourism , they go nothing to offer.

 Now the USA is obviously the largest economy nearby and having no trades either them hurts, but this does not necessarily  prevent them from trading with other nations, but their economy is so limited , that there is no buying power and they don’t have much to offer. Thats why there is no trade.

That is a very simplistic view. You overlook the financial restrictions placed on Cuba. Cuba is broke primarily because their trade has been severly restricted by the US  for 65 years. However, their government must be changed for Cuba to progress.

Edited May 11 by cwericb

[ourkid8]

17 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

Wasn't it $1T in savings?  What did he end up saving...somewhere between $1-4B?  That should cover most of the cost of the ballroom.  Cheers!

it’s even better! Elon Musk initially proposed cutting $2 trillion in federal spending, but later adjusted his target saying that he believed a more realistic goal, or "good shot," was $1 trillion. While $2 trillion was described as a "best-case outcome"

[Lazarus]

5 hours ago, cwericb said:

That is a very simplistic view. You overlook the financial restrictions placed on Cuba. Cuba is broke primarily because their trade has been severly restricted by the US  for 65 years. However, their government must be changed for Cuba to progress.

 

It's more than that. Most of their neighbours are also poor: Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, etc. You're free to speculate as to why, but I suspect there are many reasons that are completely independent of US foreign policy.

 

A few of their neighbours have done well by becoming offshore banking centres, like the Cayman Islands.

[Marco Van Basten]

22 hours ago, cwericb said:

 

I said no such thing.

 

Don't try to twist my words. In the original post you said....................................

"Do you know any country that succeeded under communism?  

I replied:

"Of course not. Communism takes away incentive."

Now you say:

 Despite the fact that communism failed every time that is has been tried, over thirty times, you still believe that it can work.  Good luck to you.

 

Unfortunately my point went right over your head.

 

I was trying to explain that it is the US blockade that has ruined the Cuban economy, not Communism.

Any small country that is prevented from buying and selling goods with other countries, that country will likely fail, no mater if the government is communist or democratic.

 

There is more to life than the economy. Perhaps you might like to educate yourself on the real situation in Cuba...

 

Cuba is often cited as leading or outperforming the United States in several specific areas, primarily focused on social welfare and health: 

• Infant Mortality Rates: Cuba often reports lower infant mortality rates than the United States.
• Literacy Rates: Cuba boasts a very high literacy rate, reported at 99.8%.
• Doctor-to-Patient Ratio: Cuba has one of the highest numbers of doctors per capita in the world, often exceeding that of the U.S..
• Medical Internationalism: Cuba provides more medical personnel to developing nations than all G8 countries combined.
• Preventive Healthcare Focus: The healthcare system in Cuba is heavily focused on prevention and accessibility for all citizens.
• Elimination of Mother-to-Child Disease Transmission: In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis.
• Homelessness: Cuba has reported virtually zero homelessness. 

Infant Mortality Rates: Cuba often reports lower infant mortality rates than the United States.

• Literacy Rates: Cuba boasts a very high literacy rate, reported at 99.8%.
• Doctor-to-Patient Ratio: Cuba has one of the highest numbers of doctors per capita in the world, often exceeding that of the U.S..
• Medical Internationalism: Cuba provides more medical personnel to developing nations than all G8 countries combined.
• Preventive Healthcare Focus: The healthcare system in Cuba is heavily focused on prevention and accessibility for all citizens.
• Elimination of Mother-to-Child Disease Transmission: In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis.
• Homelessness: Cuba has reported virtually zero homelessness.

You have no idea how the world works.  The USSR did not have homeless either because being homeless was a criminal offense and you would go straight to jail if you were homeless.  As for statistics, I don't believe a single statistic that comes out of Cuba. 

[73 Reds]

50 minutes ago, Marco Van Basten said:

You have no idea how the world works.  The USSR did not have homeless either because being homeless was a criminal offense and you would go straight to jail if you were homeless.  As for statistics, I don't believe a single statistic that comes out of Cuba. 

Yeah, oppressive governments don't lend themselves to thriving economies and great lives for their citizens.  Really not hard to figure out.

[Whensthepaintdry?]

Even the tours in Cuba seemed controlled by the Government. They took us by like 4 things and I kid  you not this is what they said “this is the local hospital, it is very good” “this is the university, it is very good” I think one of the other buildings was a government building they took us by. 

[cwericb]

27 minutes ago, Whensthepaintdry? said:

Even the tours in Cuba seemed controlled by the Government. They took us by like 4 things and I kid  you not this is what they said “this is the local hospital, it is very good” “this is the university, it is very good” I think one of the other buildings was a government building they took us by. 

 

We have been to Cuba about 18-19 times in the last 25 years. We spend very little time at resorts but have made many Cuban friends over the years. In fact, we skipped a few years because we would get so many invites for lunch, dinner, etc that it became a little overwhelming. A lot of our Cuban friends are considered family. Like with any other vacation, if you don't get away from the resorts and meet people on your own, you really don't get to know much about a country.

Also, Cuba is a large country - it is close to 800 miles long. One shouldn't judge a country by one resort and one tour.

[cwericb]

1 hour ago, Marco Van Basten said:

You have no idea how the world works.  The USSR did not have homeless either because being homeless was a criminal offense and you would go straight to jail if you were homeless.  As for statistics, I don't believe a single statistic that comes out of Cuba. 

 

You appear to know a lot about Cuba and the Cuban people so I assume you must have toured the island quite extensively to have such knowledge of the country. I have only been there around 20 times over the past few decades, so what parts of the Island have given you such a negative view of the Island? I find the Cubans very, very friendly and in general well educated. 

 

You would probably agree with me that it is quite odd that some have a lot to say about Cuba having no first hand experience and only reflect opinions of others. 

 

I keep telling my Cuban friends that to advance their country they MUST change their government for the country to advance, but their answer is always, 'How do we do that, the government has all the control'. Do you run into the same sentiments from your Cuban friends?

 

 

 

 

[Whensthepaintdry?]

I’m not judging. Just sharing something that I thought seemed odd and not authentic. We stayed with a few families in Airbnbs throughout Cuba. That’s cool you have made some close connections there. 

[Marco Van Basten]

1 hour ago, Whensthepaintdry? said:

I’m not judging. Just sharing something that I thought seemed odd and not authentic. We stayed with a few families in Airbnbs throughout Cuba. That’s cool you have made some close connections there. 

In the ussr, the government called people like him useful idiots.

[Lazarus]

Perhaps I'm overly cynical, but I suspect that a rich guy's 'friends' in an impoverished 3rd world country might have ulterior motives. And openly criticizing a communist and totalitarian government, telling people they need to 'change' their government, is either naive or brave. 

 

[cwericb]

2 hours ago, Lazarus said:

Perhaps I'm overly cynical, but I suspect that a rich guy's 'friends' in an impoverished 3rd world country might have ulterior motives. And openly criticizing a communist and totalitarian government, telling people they need to 'change' their government, is either naive or brave. 

 

 

If that was directed at me I can assure you that I am not a "rich guy". As far as ulterior motives are concerned these are friends we have had for 15-20 years - long enough to know well who our true friends are. Yes, we used to take gifts for the children when they were small. Several of those children now are now adults holding management positions in some of the resorts and during our last couple of visits they couldn't do enough for us. I could explain further but it would end up being a small book.

 

Also, I have been very open with my Cuban friends as far as the need for regime change. Their economy is a mess and no one knows it better than the Cuban people. It has gotten to the point that many Cubans want regime change but they are not sure that they want the US to come in and make them another Puerto Rico. You know that Puetro Rico where after being devastated by a hurricane a totally tone deaf Trump tossed out paper towels to the victims. 

[cwericb]

6 hours ago, Whensthepaintdry? said:

I’m not judging. Just sharing something that I thought seemed odd and not authentic. We stayed with a few families in Airbnbs throughout Cuba. That’s cool you have made some close connections there. 

 

Cubans in general are good, friendly and well educated people. I am sure you would have made some Cuban friends while you were staying with some local families. Most of our time has been spend in the Guardalavaca area in Holguin province. Changes over the past 20 years have been substantial. In the early years something like airbnb's, private tours, roadside stands, etc would have been unthinkable as there was no such thing as private businesses. Then, about ten years ago the government began to encouraged people to start their own business as a move away from socialism. 

[jm25]

[ajlomb1011]

Surely this could never end badly right??