posted
Bingo, Frank. That's exactly what I'm saying. The father SHOULD have custody of his son, but as long as he lives under Cuban law, that's not possible.
Yeah, a defection would solve pretty much everything where Elian's concerned. But then there's the fact that Castro would kill Juan's parents. Sometimes you just can't win.
Beaches, Frank, aren't much fun if you don't have enough money to feed yourself. Survival before pleasure.
------------------ You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend far too much time reading this sort of trash.
posted
Right, but do we know if people in Cuba can't feed themselves?
------------------ Frank's Home Page "I was walking out of a movie, and some people recognized me from They Might Be Giants. They said 'Are you John?' and I said '...Yeah.' and then they said 'We're glad to see you getting out.'" - John Linnell
posted
They get food, and in addition the $28? Or is the $28 for food/includes food? If the former, how about clothes, housing, etc.?
------------------ Frank's Home Page "I was walking out of a movie, and some people recognized me from They Might Be Giants. They said 'Are you John?' and I said '...Yeah.' and then they said 'We're glad to see you getting out.'" - John Linnell
posted
The GDP boils down to $28 a month. I don't know whether that includes their government handouts or not, but I'd guess so, since I believe Juan makes about $2 a month, and that's considered a good job.
Their housing, such as it is, is provided by the government. Something like a two room garage is the average family home.
------------------ You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend far too much time reading this sort of trash.
posted
I know people that go to Cuba about once a year.
It's not a paradise, nor is it the horrible place some propaganda will have you believe.
The people don't all beg for money. If anything, they want the fandangled nifty soaps and toilettries and stuff you get in U.S./Canadian hotel rooms. If they wanted food, they'd beg for money, no?
posted
Oh, yeah, I forgot the toiletries. You only get them if you are one of the select few that recieve "the bag", or whatever the Spanish term is. In it you get five free gallons of gasoline, deoderant, rasors, soap, some extra rice, and other such luxuries that only Castro's favorites can have.
------------------ You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend far too much time reading this sort of trash.
posted
Personally, I've decided that just about every side in this whole affair has behaved reprehensibly.
Tell me, when was the last time the President of the US and/or the DOJ Head intervened personally in a custody battle involving an AMERICAN child?
Of course, Castro made the first public use of the boy as a political pawn, and isn't worth trusting a damn to do anything. Would he kill Juan's parents? Would his Russian idols have done anything less? This IS the man who threatened to leave Florida a wasteland before he left office, you recall (or maybe you don't recall.)
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
posted
Both of Elian's grandmothers are still in Cuba. Castro has to have some sort of leverage to make Juan do what he's doing. What other reason would there be for Juan not taking his family and defecting? Especially when offered $2 mil and a good job?
I want to list everything Janet's done and ordered that warrants her arrest.
Entering a home without showing a warrant to the occupants.
Possibly obtaining a false warrant for said entry, which by some accounts is an arrest warrant for Elian, who has commited no crime.
Assuming control of a military base.
Not allowing Elian's lawyers to see him after he was arrested.
Toss in unnesecary use of force and possibly Waco as reasons to demand her resignation, and I begin to despise this administration even more, if that's possible. It's too bad the people of this country have had their heads in the sand for the past seven years.
------------------ You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend far too much time reading this sort of trash.
posted
I'm sure this will be painful for both of us, but let's attempt to construct a logical tautology out of all this, shall we? Of course, we're going to find out that it all falls apart because you're using two mutually exclusive premises, but them's the breaks.
1.) Elian is a ward of the state. 2.) Custody reverts to the legal parent. 3.) Elian's father is not his legal parent. 4.) Therefore, his father should not get custody.
Even if we take these as all being true, we can easily see why the argument is unsound. If custody reverts to the legal parent, and Cuba is the legal parent, than by your own admission custody should revert to the Cuban government.
As to the rest of your rantings regarding Cuba, they're not really worth my time to address. Have you ever bothered to consider the fact that maybe the reason Juan Miguel doesn't want to flee Cuba is because he *gasp* likes it there? Oh, but of course anyone who even thinks about disagreeing with you and the revealed truth you carry around inside your skull must be evil, insane, or both. I understand.
------------------ "Oh, it's an anti-anti-WTO song. It's essentially a pro-Starbucks song. I saw this picture of a guy sticking his foot through a plate-glass window in a Starbucks in Seattle, and he was wearing a Nike. Man, couldn't you just change your shoes?" -- M. Doughty
posted
Er, well..... When anyone quotes that imbeclie Limbaugh or any of the other twats who participated in the witch hunts they throw their credibility into serious doubt. I mean do you actally listen to him or leave it on for the soothing sound of his voice?
------------------ "Blind faith is the crutch of fools"
posted
>"Have you ever bothered to consider the fact that maybe..."
Have you ever bothered to consider atrocious use of the english language?
There's no such thing as "the fact that maybe."
Use "the possibility that maybe," if you're using anything at all. Of course, once you admit you're talking about possibilities rather than facts, you open up a whole new can of worms. Yes, it's possible.
It's also possible that everybody in Cuba loves it there... but it isn't readily apparent, is it? Ask half of Miami.
It's also possible that people 'vacationing' in Cuba only see what they're supposed to, just as people vacationing in Disneyworld do. (I remember reading a nice National Geographic article a while back about Cuba's prostitution dens and child-labor sugarcane farms...)
It's also possible that the only reason there are ANY people left in Cuba is that there aren't enough boats, and that there ARE enough secret police to put a ghastly end to whomever in your family you end up leaving behind. (You'll notice the grandmas aren't along with the dad. Don't they want to see Elian sooo bad? Are they tired? Or weren't they allowed to come, because otherwise there'd be nothing to hold over anyone's head?)
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
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