I say this because even in education fantastic ideas can be ‘raped’ – Freire’s ‘continuing education’ principle was turned into ‘automatic school approval’ which is continually ‘forming’ 8th-grade functional analphabets here in SP.

By the way: McTurk was not unique. There are many other tourists in Cuba doing exactly what he did. What are the Cuban police doing about it?

The overworked Cuba police should spend less time harassing the Ladies in White and more time catching these predators, and the Cubans who rent out these children.

Yes, Cuban-Americans are allowed to speak their minds and call for the political changes they want. Ironically, that’s a right the Cuban people do not have in Cuba.

That Leftists round the world hail him as a hero is revealing of their moral inversion.

Incompetence? Stupidity? The craven political opportunism of not wanting to spoil the lucrative tourism industry? Or the tragic confluence of all three?

Throw the creep in among the general population in prison and see if he survives a year.

I’ve replaced most of my mercury-laden CFLs with them, and am very satisfied. The higher price is a lump in the throat, but it seems worth it to save money in the long run, protect the environment, and support a new and better technology.

One problem is that they do not offer a 100 watt-equivalent bulb, which is what I’d truly like to use to brighten-up the place. Perhaps we will change our lamps to two-headed fixtures.

We have a Maytag refrigerator that’s over twenty-years-old. The damned, electricity-sucking thing just will not die and force us to purchase a new, energy-efficient one!

Planned obsolescence is a pisser, and it is everywhere. Cheers.

The long-life, reparable lightbulb you mention is particularly intriguing. I have read that this is a type of LED light, which consumes very little energy.

In many countries, there has been a push to switch from incandescent bulbs to compact florescents, due to the energy savings. In the long run, however, I do not think this truly benefits the environment because the florescent bulbs contain mercury, which is hazardous.

It would be wonderful if Cuba would start manufacturing Muros’ bulb. I hope project like that will be possible!

“Señor Muros, usted no puede poner en el mercado sus sistemas de iluminación. Usted y su familia serán aniquilados”

http://www.eleconomista.es/hpymes/noticias/4290506/10/12/Me-persiguen-por-crear-una-bombilla-que-no-se-funde.html

Nor did the letter claim the US position is being dictated by 3 Cuban American members of congress. The letter was a response to a statement made by these members of Congress.

Cuban Americans who support more engagement with the Cuban government have just as much right to try to change American foreign policy as those Cuban Americans who want to maintain a hard line.

But I wonder . . . Do you realize, comrade, that if the workers should be “allowed” to “own” their companies cooperatively, this would mean a reintroduction of private productive property rights into the Cuban model?

Do you realize that this would go against the traditional concept of Marx/Engels/Lenin/Trotsky/Stalin, and others, that socialist property can only be state property?

If you will look closely at what you see as socialism, Pedro, you will see that you agree with the US cooperative republican movement, that “real” socialism is where private productive property rights are retained and utilized by the leading party for socialist construction.

But you should also realize that, if workers form cooperatives a usufructories, then the old (Stalinist) idea that only state property can be socialist, is still in force. This would mean a continuation of the state model in Cuba, which appears to you as state monopoly capitalism.

I know it may be difficult for you to face the fundamental truth inherent in your alternative b). But face it you must, comrade, if you are going to be able to break free of a Utopian-style rejection of the historically-evolved institution of private property rights, and to advance a workable core hypothesis for the further experiment in socialist transformation. Cheers.

In essence, the National Security doctrine consisted in an extensive use of (unconstitutional) martial law prerogatives, aimed at destroying all divergent thought or practice, crushing popular resistance and providing a stable environment where the local and foreign bourgeoisie could conduct business efficiently and efficaciously.”

Now I’m confused, what country are you talking about? Or more exactly about what country are you NOT talking about?

But the balance of trade is not the whole picture of Cuba’s economy. The Gross Domestic Product is the sum of all economic activity in Cuba. In 2012, the Cuban GDP was either $120 billion, or $72 billion, depending on who you ask. Obviously, it’s hard to calculate such a figure when dual artificial currencies are involved. The GDP per Capita is estimated at $10,200.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Cuba.