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Cuba's Communist Party tried to quell fears of chaos on Thursday following the temporary surrender of power by the ailing Fidel Castro but failed to clear up doubts over who is in charge of the island. In a typically cryptic message, the main Communist Party newspaper Granma printed an old speech by Raul Castro, who took over island leadership on Monday, saying that his brother's only heir was the Communist Party itself. While the front page publication of the speech was obviously designed to quell fears that Fidel's possible exit after 47 years of rule would unleash chaos, it could...

The dentist cranks up his drill, revs it up and digs in. At first, no problem. The Novocain kicked in minutes ago. Half our head is numb. He asks us a question and we nod spastically. He asks another and we mumble like Steve Martin in “The Jerk” when reading Bernadette Peters’ goodbye note that fell in the bathtub. Meanwhile his drill keeps buzzing. The buzz gets louder, harsher. Our jaw—and finally our whole head—start vibrating. The sadist in the face mask and rubber gloves drills deeper, deeper. Soon—“AAWH!” We wail in pain. He went too deep. Either that, or...

President Fidel Castro called the U.S. airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a "barbarity," saying he should have been put on trial. The United States acted as "judge and jury" against the leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq, Castro said late Friday. "They bragged, they were practically drunk with happiness." "The accused cannot just be eliminated," he told a literacy conference. "This barbarity cannot be done." The U.S. military has said al-Zarqawi initially survived the dropping of two 500-pound bombs on his hide-out Wednesday, but died a short time later. Castro said if Cuba used the same logic, it could...

If men who voluntarily took up arms and put their lives on the line to smash Castro's regime don't qualify as freedom fighters, then I surely learned the English language in vain. And 45 years ago this week, 1,400 of them were hard at it on the beaches surrounding Cuba's Bay of Pigs. Pigs will flap their wings through interstellar space before Hollywood (or the MSM) deigns to depict that battle accurately. But to get an idea of the odds faced by those freedom fighters, the desperation of their battle and the damage they wrought, you might revisit Tony Montana...

CUBANS have marked the 45th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, when a US backed assault by 1,400 Cuban exiles failed to bring down Fidel Castro's two year old government. A 21-gun salute was fired from San Carlos de La Cabana Fort in Havana to mark the time when Mr Castro, then 35, declared Cuba to be a socialist country. Mr Castro, now nearly 80, was absent though as veterans celebrated their fight on the Bay of Pigs' Playa Giron beach on Cuba's south coast, which was stormed by the CIA-organised and trained force on April 17, 1961, two...

Traitors of Record: The Record of the New York TimesBy Fedora “. . .the most untrustworthy paper in the United States. . .” --President Dwight Eisenhower, referring to the New York TimesIntroductionLast week Senator John Cornyn criticized the New York Times for endangering national security with a James Risen story on NSA surveillance timed to coincide with a vote on the Patriot Act and, incidentally, with the release of a book by Risen. A review of the record illustrates that endangering national security through irresponsible leaks is nothing new for the New York Times. Some particularly outrageous examples are worth...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

"A more vital piece of U.S. history would be hard to find," gushed the Boston Globe last week about a new item in the Kennedy Library and Museum, a map of Cuba. The Library obtained it from the estate of Robert L. White, a collector who had earlier received it from JFK's late secretary, Evelyn Lincoln. "This map bears the marks of history," continues the Globe story, "a series of X marks in black ink, crosshatched east and west of Havana by President John F. Kennedy, and two foreboding words scrawled above them: 'missile sites.' This map was used by...

Reports from Cuba say the island has been invaded by counter-revolutionary forces trying to overthrow the country's leader, Fidel Castro. The only news coming out of Cuba is broadcast by the government-run radio station. All other communications with the island have been cut. THe first landing is reported to have taken place in the early hours of this morning. Broadcasts from Cuban government radio appealing for medical help indicate that the raiders have successfully penetrated 25 miles (40km) inland. They appear to have come ashore on an area of the coast known as the Bahía de Cochinos, or Bay of...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Notwithstanding former President Jimmy Carter's recent statement to the contrary, Undersecretary of State John Bolton's remarks about Cuba's biological weapons capabilities underscore lingering concerns with the rogue island only 90 miles from the United States. Bolton, on May 6, told an audience at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation that the U.S. is suspicious about Cuban biomedical laboratories and their ability to transfer biological weapons technology to Iraq, Syria and Libya, all countries that Cuban President Fidel Castro visited last year. Bolton also made remarks, which may be interpreted as a clear signal of hardening State Department policy toward Cuba, faulting...

Cuba's armed forces have begun their biggest military exercise for nearly 20 years, involving hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians. The exercise, called Bastion 2004, is a response to "the continued aggression and threats" of the US, Cuba says. The manoeuvres are being led by Defence Minister Raul Castro - brother to President Fidel Castro and second in the Cuban hierarchy. The US said the drill was an attempt to "distract" Cubans from daily hardships. The exercise will involve exercises with Cuban air force MiG-29s, anti-aircraft units and elite troops. Two days of civil defence exercises at the end...

MIAMI-A judge awarded more than $86 million Thursday to a woman who sued the Cuban government over her father's execution following the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

MIAMI -- The daughter of a CIA pilot killed by the Cuban government during the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion testified Monday she held President Fidel Castro personally responsible for his execution and for displaying his frozen body in a glass case. Janet Weininger is seeking $112 million from the communist government in a lawsuit filed under a federal anti-terrorism law that allows the families of victims executed by state sponsors of terrorism to seek damages. Weininger's 18-year quest to recover the body of her father, Alabama National Guard pilot Thomas ''Pete'' Ray, began when she was 6. She said...

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- President Fidel Castro fell, possibly breaking his leg, after giving a graduation speech Wednesday in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara. Sending a buzz through the crowd, the 78-year-old leader appeared to trip as he was walking away from the podium. In an effort to calm the crowd, Castro took the microphone after a few minutes, saying: "Just so that there won't be any speculation, it seems that I broke my knee." He apologized for any concerns he may have caused for those who care about him and then joked how his spill was likely...

HAVANA -- A former political prisoner whose case was highlighted by President Bush urged Cuba's government Friday to hold a referendum on whether to change the communist island's political system. In a 10-page report called "The Cuba We Want," Leonardo Bruzon Avila and fellow dissident Carlos Rios Otero called for the referendum and laid out a plan for Cuba's transition to a multiparty, democratic system and free-market economy. The report was delivered Friday to the offices of Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Diaz Sotolongo. There was no public reaction by the President Fidel Castro's government to the recommendations. The proposal echoed...

Cuba has restored citizenship to seven exiles involved in the failed U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of the island in 1961. The government acted Friday during a migration conference in Havana attended by 450 Cubans who live abroad. Officials handed Cuban passports to six of the seven men who took part in the unsuccessful effort to overthrow President Fidel Castro's government. The seventh person was not present. The Reuters news agency says the government called the move an act of reconciliation toward the exile community. More than one million Cubans live overseas, many of them in the United States. The...

Mr. Wonderful and The Bay Of Pigs Humberto Fontova Wednesday, Apr. 14, 2004 "The Republicans have allowed a communist dictatorship to flourish eight jet minutes from our borders! We must support anti-Castro fighters. So far these freedom fighters have received no help from our government." -- Democratic presidential candidate, Oct. 1960 "George Bush and the Republicans in Washington have run the most inept foreign policy in the modern history of this country! It has been a failure!" -- Democratic presidential Candidate, April 2004. No, friends, it didn't start with this campaign. Indeed, Kerry apes his idol (JFK) faithfully. Problem was,...

"The Republicans have allowed a communist dictatorship to flourish eight jet minutes from our borders! We must support anti-Castro fighters. So far these freedom fighters have received no help from our government." -- Democratic presidential candidate, Oct. 1960 "George Bush and the Republicans in Washington have run the most inept foreign policy in the modern history of this country! It has been a failure!" -- Democratic presidential Candidate, April 2004. No, friends, it didn't start with this campaign. Indeed, Kerry apes his idol (JFK) faithfully. Problem was, during the '60 presidential campaign Kennedy left out the sly smile, the shifty...

Get series about HEALTHY, and LOW CARB FOOD This, and future threads, will attempt to answer some of your questions and requests regarding HEALTHY food in general, and LOW CARB, LOW CALORIE diets and recipes in particular. With my background as a Master Chef, and Natural Foods Sexonutritionist, aka SexyChef  (/dreamer) Bwhahaahahahahah, it affords me a wonderful vantage point to assist in creating this forum, where everyone can contribute, exchange ideas and voice their valuable opinions. Moderating in no way qualifies me as an authority on this, or any other subject.*..heheheh ..that has never inhibited me before.. blush* (a cheap...