Forbes | Greece's Long Love Affair With Soviet-Maoist Communism Forbes Greece's biggest problem isn't a heavy debt burden. It's the love affair of its citizens with Soviet-Maoist communism, a system that wastes the country's resources and talent, killing sensible economic growth initiatives. Greece never became a ... |
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Greece's Long Love Affair With Soviet-Maoist Communism - Forbes
President Trump announced his decision on Friday to partially reverse the previous administration's Cuba policies during in speech in Miami. "It's hard to think of a policy that makes less sense than the prior administration's terrible and misguided deal with the Castro regime," Trump said.
The president seized the opportunity to issue a forceful and vivid rebuke of the island nation's communist regime. "Many of you witnessed terrible crimes committed in service of a depraved ideology. You saw the dreams of a generation held captive. And, just literally, you look at what happened and what communism has done," Trump told the crowd of cheering Cuban Americans gathered in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood.
"You knew faces that disappeared, innocents locked in prisons, and believers persecuted for preaching the word of God. You watched the women in white, bruised, bloodied and captured on their way from mass. You have heard the chilling cries of loved ones or the crack so for firing squads piercing through the ocean breeze," he said. "Not a good sound."
Trump continued, drawing on the plight of the Cubans to speak more broadly about the dangers of communism as a model of government. "The exiles and dissidents here today have witnessed communism destroy a nation," the president observed, "just as communism has destroyed every single nation where it has ever been tried."
"But we will not be silent in the face of communist oppression any longer," Trump promised the crowd.
By contrast, former President Barack Obama did not use any form of the word "communism" in his May 2016 speech in Havana, choosing instead to speak of the country's "one-party system," "socialist economic model," and emphasis on "the role and rights of the state."
Emily Jashinskyis a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
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Trump's forceful condemnation of Cuban communism - Washington Examiner
Andrea Seastrand forgets to mention Russia's communism antics The San Luis Obispo Tribune After reading Ms. Seastrands viewpoint excoriating Rep. Rob Bonta's bill about allowing communists to work in state government (California's liberal Legislature voted for communism), I had a few questions for her. She listed many current regimes that ... |
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Andrea Seastrand forgets to mention Russia's communism antics - The San Luis Obispo Tribune
Joseph Morris
President at Lincoln Legal Foundation
Born and reared in Gary, Indiana, Joseph Morris earned his A.B. and J.D. degrees from the University of Chicago. He held several positions in the Reagan administration, and heads the Lincoln Legal Foundation individual liberties, limited, constitutional government. He is also on the board of advisers of the conservative Federalist Society, and is a former managing editor of The American Spectator. Over the years, he has held leadership positions in the Republican Party, including president of the United Republican Fund Illinois.
I put nailed in the headline of this post and, as you will see, I was being both accurate andrisqu. Bear with me.
In my opinion, Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal is the best theater critic in the business today.
On Friday he revisited a play, 4000 Miles by playwright Amy Herzog, that he has reviewed before in prior productions. Its now on the stage in Hartford, Connecticut, and he looks at it afresh.
Mr. Teachout praises everything about the play, from the text itself to the staging and the acting. He points out that the play has an overt, but subtle, anti-communist theme. Overtly, but subtly, is often the best way in which art can instruct us, and those who would join the Gramscian battle against socialists and statists for control of the high ground of culture and the academy should take note.
Of course, overt and subtle can be elastic terms, which you will understand upon reading the review and learning that a major characters denunciation of communism is delivered with an epithet and an analogy to non-consensual anal sex.
We live in times in which the overt and the subtle are not prized as much as they ought to be, but we must do the best, as Ms. Herzog seems to have done, as we can.
[Trigger warning (in the spirit of the age) about Mr. Teachouts review: He quotes the epithet, the f-word, which he defuses with the customary three stars.]
Teachout Reviews a Play in Which Communism Is Nailed as the Ignoble Flaw was last modified: June 16th, 2017 by Joseph Morris
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Teachout Reviews a Play in Which Communism Is Nailed as the Ignoble Flaw - Somewhat Reasonable - Heartland Institute (blog)
GET there before it changes, is the message churned out in just about every travel article written in the past decade or so about Cuba.
After many of the sanctions against Americas near neighbour were lifted, there was a fear there would soon be a McDonalds and a Starbucks on every corner of this flamboyant tropical paradise.
Fortunately, this hasnt happened and there is only one set of golden arches on the 600-mile island at the Guantanamo Bay US naval base.
The Caribbeans biggest island is still under Communist rule and just because departed leader Fidel Castros brother Raul has relaxed things a little since 2008, its uniqueness is still there.
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The Caribbeans biggest island is still under Communist rule
Cubas grand capital city of Havana is home to more than two million people and 60,000 pristine classic American cars.
Shiny Buicks, Chevrolets, Plymouths and Corvettes all from the 1950s and 60s are everywhere, and theyre worth an extraordinary amount of money.
No parts for them are manufactured nowadays so the resourceful islanders fashion spares themselves, welding anything together, even household objects, to keep these prize possessions in top nick.
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The cars are all part of the attraction of Havana and there are many specialist tours which cruise the city streets in these now iconic automobiles.
Alternatively, take a leisurely stroll around the traffic-free plazas, the crumbling old suburbs and gaze up at the shells of former architectural riches youll feel an instant connection with the past.
For a real taste of the city, restaurants such as Paladar Los Mercaderes in Old Havana serve succulent meats and seafood in exotically-spiced sauces to the sounds of live Cuban music. La Guarida, which means the refuge or hideout, is set on the third floor of a faded mansion in Havana Centro.
Head up the marble stairs, edge past the white linens drying on washing lines and youll find cool customers sipping cocktails and ordering tacos, octopus and spicy dishes, as well as the Cuban favourite of rice and beans. If you fancy moving on to somewhere with a little more heat, Tropicana Cabaret is a carnival of camp set in a forest packed with palms, cedar and mango trees.
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Singers and dancers wearing sequinned two-pieces, feather plumed head-dresses and dripping in jewels, burst on the stage shaking their stuff to sexy rhythms. Unless youre damn good at hiding, they will have you up on stage to join in with the show before youve finished your first mojito!
If youre going all-out, Havana-style, bed down at the luxury Hotel Parque Central, one of the fi nest colonial-style hotels in the Caribbean. It has a rooftop pool, a spa and fitness suite, live Cuban music shows, three restaurants and five bars.
Most Brits visiting Cuba combine a trip to the city with time chilling on its beautiful beaches. Two hours east of Havana on a 15-mile sliver of land is the classic Caribbean-style resort of Varadero. At the end of this stretch is the five-star Iberostar Varadero hotel, built in a mock colonial style on a white sandy beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The all-inclusive resort has three pools, a swim-up bar, spa, shopping and three themed restaurants plus a nightclub.
Travel belfies are spreading across Instagram.
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We took a catamaran cruise to the uninhabited island of Cayo Blanco for a beach buffet and swim in the crystal waters. Evening brought a riot of cocktails and salsa lessons at nearby Mansion Xanadu, a four-star golf resort overlooking Varadero beach.
The next morning we took a self-drive aqua ray boat trip through the mangroves then out to sea.
Easy to handle, these boats are a super-cool way to beat the Caribbean heat and explore the island. For something more unusual, we headed to La Coincidencia, a vast organic farm and sculpture park in the Matanzas province west of Varadero, owned by Hector Correa.
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His sons busy themselves creating decorative terracotta pottery and plates, which keep the farm going during tough economic times.
But, as Hector reminded us, the pottery and artistic creations are just business the farming is the art. He prised open one of his beehives, handed me a straw and invited me to drink honey straight from the pods in the hive.
Thankfully, the thousands of bees ready to kamikaze were a species called Mayan bees which are stingless. They were just a bit angry I was raiding their home!
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Cuba capital Havana is full of charm after decades of communism - Daily Star