Vampires in Havana (YT, 1:09:58, Spanish with English subtitles, also available on Netflix streaming) is an
animated film by Cuban director
Juan Padron about the battle between European and American vampires for control of Vampisol, a formula which allows vampires to go out in the sun.
posted by Daily Alice
on Dec 20, 2011 -
8 comments
After months of struggle to get his family out of Cuba,
Orestes Lorenzo got his response. Raúl Castro, then Minister of the Armed Forces, declared "
If he had the balls to steal one my MiGs, then he can come back and get his family himself!" In hindsight, that was probably the wrong thing to say.
[more inside]
posted by Cobalt
on Sep 26, 2011 -
68 comments
61-year-old Diana Nyad is back in the water. Again.
(previously)
American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad
is making her third attempt (and second in as many months) to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, a distance of 103 miles. Her previous attempt failed after a crippling asthma attack. At the time, she swore she wouldn't try again, but a week later she was already
having second thoughts. You can track her progress
here.
posted by BlahLaLa
on Sep 23, 2011 -
26 comments
Diana Nyad is in the water! One of the world's greatest long-distance swimmers from age 20 - 30,
Nyad set records and was a media sensation. And then, after famously failing in a swim from Cuba to Florida (rough water sent her far off course), she quit -- and didn't swim a stroke for 30 years. As age 60 approached, however, she got remotivated to tackle the
one challenge that got away. No shark cage, no wetsuit, and an estimated 60 hours of swimming to go. CNN's
tracking map.
posted by BlahLaLa
on Aug 7, 2011 -
41 comments
Current TV
previously & previously, the media company founded by Al Gore after the 2000 election, has picked up the kinds of in depth long form journalism being rapidly dropped by major networks, but has been tantalizingly unavailable for those without cable; until now. They have been putting their Vanguard episodes up on their website and on YouTube.
[more inside]
posted by Blasdelb
on Apr 30, 2011 -
24 comments
On Saturday, Cuba issued an unprecedented public report on the status of an imprisoned dissident.
Guillermo Fariñas Hernández began his hunger strike in February, the day after the first Cuban hunger striker death in almost forty years. He is now
near death.
[more inside]
posted by hat
on Jul 6, 2010 -
21 comments
Su Majestad 'El Bolero' - Sonidos del Mundo::
2::
3::
4::
5:: Special bolero, a musical genre with Iberian and African mergers that are installed in the Cuban archipelago in the late nineteenth century.
Classical introduction of Matt Ramirez (Radio Felicidad 88.9 - Peru) who is involved in a musical gatherings led by Mabel Martinez. The same applies to journalists Eloy Perez and Agustin Jauregui Aldave.
Since my senses perceived that needle to settle into the grooves of vinyl. After listening to the announcer's voice and even at that moment, unknown bolero invaded me as they say, the sweet joy of 'sad', called melancholy.
I remembered that magical scene of an afternoon in which, from a makeshift place, interrupted the dance of two lovers who blushed as teenagers after being discovered.
Well I wrote my Father on the album cover photo she shared with 'her pimp'. Love? There are lots... but like ours are very few people there.
Now imagine how lucky I am to have been a spectator of so simple and beautiful moment. (google translate)
posted by vronsky
on Dec 14, 2009 -
6 comments
The
Committee to Protect Journalists has released the
2008 prison census. China retains the lead with Tibetan issues bringing them 28 jailed journalists. Cuba claims 2nd place with 21 jailed journalists. Burma & Eritrea almost tied for 3rd with 14 & 13, respectively. But the biggest news is internet journalists are now the largest group of journalists in jail.
posted by jeffburdges
on Dec 5, 2008 -
17 comments
In 2009,
a remarkably gifted politician, confronting a remarkably difficult set of challenges, will
have to learn to say "No we can't",
Guantánamo will prove a moral minefield,
economic recovery will be invisible to the naked eye,
governments must prepare for the day they stop financial guarantees,
we will judge our commitment to sustainability,
scientists should research the causes of religion,
we will all be potential online paparazzi,
English will have more words than any other language (but it's meaningless),
Afghanistan will see a surge of Western (read: American) troops,
Iran will continue its nuclear quest while
diplomacy lies in shambles,
the sea floor is the new frontier,
we should rethink aging,
(non-)voters will continue to thwart the European project --
but cheap travel will continue to buoy it --
though it has some unfinished business to attend to, and
a Nordic defence bond will blossom.
The Economist: The World in 2009.
[more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane
on Nov 27, 2008 -
31 comments
Perhaps you think you've had your fill of photographs of decaying architecture and abandoned buildings. If so, the rich color and play of light in
Michael Eastman's beautiful body of work from Cuba, Europe, and the U.S. may change your mind. His site is flash - for non-flash folks, the
Duane Reed Gallery has additional works, including his B&W portfolios on horses, landscapes, and succulents.
(no relation to the Kodak family; via BB-Blog)
posted by madamjujujive
on Aug 23, 2008 -
15 comments
"Operation Northwoods [pdf]
, which had the written approval of the Chairman and every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for innocent people to be shot on American streets; for boats carrying refugees fleeing Cuba to be sunk on the high seas; for a wave of violent terrorism to be launched in Washington, D.C., Miami, and elsewhere. People would be framed for bombings they did not commit; planes would be hijacked. Using phony evidence, all of it would be blamed on Castro, thus giving Lemnitzer and his cabal the excuse, as well as the public and international backing, they needed to launch their war." [
YouTube]
[more inside]
posted by blue_beetle
on Aug 12, 2008 -
54 comments
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution. Hasta la revolucion ? Maybe, but some revolution is dictated more by need than by politics. In this
documentary, we are shown how Cuba is converting from oil-subsidized agricolture to organic agricolture with remarkable results. The presence of a police state isn't conveniently forgotten, as much as the facts that public education, public healthcare and limited, regulated free enterprise markets are helping Cubans in the transition from the illusion of freedom in a subsidized economy to a far less comfortable and rich, but more sustainable and independant economy.
posted by elpapacito
on Oct 26, 2007 -
48 comments
Frederick Remington was an American artist who in 1898 became a war correspondent and illustrator for the
New York Morning Journal during the Spanish-American War. The
Journal's editor in chief, William Randolph Hearst I was an American newspaper magnate whose paper had, circa 1895, fought to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule by writing sensational stories of Cuban virtue and Spanish atrocities in an attempt to influence US opinion. In 1898, Hearst sent Remington to Cuba to report on the war which Hearst was certain was about to begin. However when Remington arrived, he telegrammed Hearst saying "Everything is quiet. There is no trouble here. There will be no war. I wish to return." Hearst responded "Please remain. You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war." Not long after, the war began. These telegrams are often cited as one of the most famous (if not the first) examples of
yellow journalism (so much so it is mentioned in
Citizen Kane) and is meant to speak to the powerful potential effects of the news media.
But did The Remington-Hearst "telegrams"actually ever take place, or is this simply another urban legend?
posted by Effigy2000
on Jul 6, 2007 -
8 comments
It began with an innocent-looking Valentine's Day card in 2005.
Inside the card were several slips of paper, a hastily cut-up printout of names of 550 secret detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The human rights lawyer who received "this weird valentine" handed it over to authorities, and this week the court martial begins for JAG LtCmdr Matthew Diaz, facing 36 years for divulging state secrets.
Whither goest thou, American Jurisprudence?
posted by planetkyoto
on May 15, 2007 -
47 comments
Jan. 11, 2002, the first 20 detainees, shackled and blindfolded, arrived from Afghanistan .... and since then, nearly 800 prisoners have passed through the detention center in southeastern Cuba.
To mark the anniversary, demonstrations are planned Thursday in New York, London, Sydney, Australia, and other cities as well as dozens of small towns in the United States and Britain.
Gitmo Detainees Join Hunger Strike .... & ....
WikiPeidia History Article
posted by Bodyguard
on Jan 11, 2007 -
7 comments
Snakes on a Base! In the wake of today's announcement that Raul Castro will be 'temporarily' taking power in Cuba while Big Brother (did I say that?) has an operation for some GI bleeding, The Smoking Gun has published some declassified Spec Ops planning cover sheets from the 60s and 70, listing plans to destabilize Cuba. Operation Bingo, on page 3, is especially amusing.
posted by baylink
on Aug 1, 2006 -
15 comments
The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled
President Bush overstepped his authority in creating military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees. The 5-3 vote (Roberts recused himself) found the "military commissions" illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva Convention. More from
SCOTUSblog.
posted by XQUZYPHYR
on Jun 29, 2006 -
191 comments
The Road to Guantanamo , the latest film by prolific UK director Michael Winterbottom, details the experiences of the
Tipton Three (previously discussed
here), a trio of British Muslims who stumbled into US custody in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 and ended up spending two years in Gitmo. The film tells a powerful if
somewhat one-sided story of naivety, incompetence and rank injustice.
Last night the film was shown on Britain's Channel 4 to an
estimated 1.6 million viewers, and it was the talk of the Berlin Film Festival a couple of weeks ago. In a bizarre twist, on their return from attending the premiere of the film in Berlin, the Tipton Three and the actors who played them were
arrested and interrogated about terrorism links. Luckily for them, this time their captivity was measured in hours, not years.
posted by LondonYank
on Mar 10, 2006 -
23 comments
Weathering the Storm: Lessons in Hurricane Risk Reduction from Cuba [pdf] Oxfam America report described Cuba's community-based response system in April 2004, five months before category 5 hurricane Ivan tore across the island but resulted in zero deaths. From
Medicc Review: "Of those evacuated, fully 78%...were sheltered in the homes of family, friends or neighbors. 8,026 tourists were transferred to safe areas. 359,644 boarding school students were transferred to their homes. 898,160 farm animals in vulnerable areas were moved to safer ground." The International Red Cross had
similar praise for Cuba's planning after Hurricane Michelle in 2001: " The contrast between events in Cuba and earlier disasters, such as Hurricanes Mitch and Georges in 1998 and the floods in Venezuela in 1999, is enormous."
posted by mediareport
on Sep 6, 2005 -
34 comments
Ibrahim Ferrer has passed. The 78 year old vaulted from relative obscurity - outside of Cuba, at least - to the forefront of the badly and over-generally named "International" or "World Music" scenes when he came out of retirement to perform with a number of past colleagues (including
Compay Segundo and
Ruben Gonzales) as Buena Vista Social Club. A
film, directed by Wim Wenders, and an album made with the help of guitarist
Ry Cooder cemented his position as one of the sweetest voices in
Cuba's rich musical history in the west and elsewhere. He was generally considered one of the greatest masters of the traditional
son and
bolero styles.
posted by luriete
on Aug 7, 2005 -
36 comments
