Sarussi

ok havent been posting much, lots of work to be done here, but it looks like i will go back to the states for a few weeks while i take care of some visa issues.. i can tell you that one of the very first things id like to do is go to sarussi for a sandwich and an ironbeer..

Castro condition leads to santeria

this appeared in various brasilian news websites today..

Saúde de Fidel provoca aumento de rituais de "santería"

thats from reuters which is translated below

this one appeared in o globo, basically the same story..

04/08/2006 - 12h20m
Saúde de Fidel Castro provoca aumento dos rituais de 'santería'

Reuters

MIAMI - A doença do líder cubano, Fidel Castro, levou os praticantes da santería, religião afro-cubana que recorre ao sacrifício de animais para se comunicar com os deuses, a apelar por ajuda divina. Os pedidos servem tanto para apressar a recuperação dele, quanto para garantir sua morte. A postura depende do lado do estreito da Flórida em que se está.

Estes são tempos difíceis para criaturas como galinhas, cabras e, neste caso, pombos. Segundo estimativas de especialistas em assuntos religiosos, até 3 milhões de pessoas em Cuba e 60.000 na Flórida praticam a santería.

O vendedor Oscar Osorio afirmou que cerca de 20 pessoas recorrem a sua loja diariamente, em Little Havana (bairro de Miami com grande concentração de cubanos), para comprar aves, pólvora e jóias usadas nos rituais em que pedem aos deuses que tirem a vida de Fidel a fim de poderem regressar para casa.

Enquanto os cubano-americanos da Flórida imploram aos deuses pela morte de Fidel, em Cuba alguns deuses ouviram apelos para que curem o presidente.

- Estamos rezando por ele porque esta é uma situação muito dolorosa para todos nós - afirmou o babalaô (espécie de sacerdote da santería) Guillermo Diago, em Havana.

Membros da Associação Cultural Iorubá de Cuba disseram ter arrecadado dinheiro para comprar animais a fim de sacrificá-los em nome da saúde de Fidel.

- Nossa postura é a de seguir os planos dos deuses, planos esses que são de compreender e apoiar as decisões tomadas por nosso líder máximo - disse o grupo.

Em Miami, as pombas brancas são as mais procuradas no momento porque, sendo um símbolo tradicional da paz, o significado dela é tanto político quanto religioso. "As pessoas querem paz para Cuba", afirmou Osorio.

Para o azar das aves, vendidas a US$ 15 cada, o preço da paz inclui seu sangue e suas penas.

Os adeptos da santería não são os únicos preocupados com o futuro de Fidel. Nas igrejas católicas de congregações dominadas por cubanos, os padres falaram sobre os fatos

ocorridos recentemente na ilha e pediram paciência aos fiéis.

Santeria followers sacrifice doves for Cuba, Fidel
Fri Aug 4, 2006 8:56 AM ET

By Jeff Franks

MIAMI (Reuters) - The white dove looks warily at shopkeeper Oscar Osorio as he pulls it from a cage and holds it in his hands.

"I don't think he trusts me," Osorio says while he gently rubs the dove's feathers and spreads its wings for a visitor to admire. "I think he knows what's coming."

The bird has reason to be nervous, because the illness of Cuban leader Fidel Castro has moved adherents of Santeria to appeal for divine help in hastening either Castro's demise or his recovery, depending on which side of the Florida Straits they live.

Santeria is the voodooish Afro-Cuban religion that uses animal sacrifice to communicate with the gods, which makes these tough times for favorite sacrificial creatures such as chickens, goats and, in this case, doves.

As many as 3 million people in Cuba and 60,000 people in Florida are believed to be involved in Santeria, according to religious experts.

Osorio said about 20 people a day are coming into his "botanica" in Miami's Little Havana section to buy birds, powders and jewelry for rituals in which they ask the gods to please finish off Castro so they can return home.

The white doves are most popular at the moment because, as traditional symbols of peace, their significance is as much political as religious.

"People want peace for Cuba," he said.

Unfortunately for the birds, which sell for $15 each, the price of peace includes their blood and feathers.

Sometimes, said Osorio, a genial man with a round belly, his customers prefer to just clean the birds and let them fly away. "Those are the lucky ones," he said.

While Osorio disagrees with the concept of asking gods to kill someone, even if it is the hated Castro, from whom he fled a year ago, he does not question his customers' motivations.

"I need the money. I need the money," he shouted.

FACT-FINDING RITUAL

After Cuba announced on Monday that Castro had stomach surgery and put brother Raul in charge, Rigoberto Zamora, a babalawo, or priest, of what he calls Yoruba, the African name for Santeria, performed a fact-finding ritual.

After sacrificing a couple of black hens and a rooster to satisfy the hunger of the gods, he got the word from them: Castro is already dead; he died on Monday.

"We were astonished by such good news. It made us happy because politically we are against Fidel," said Zamora, who left Cuba in 1980 and lives in the Miami neighborhood known as Little Havana.

The news from the gods was not all good. It turns out that Castro's demise will be followed by three months of intense fighting before peace is restored, he said.

While Cuban-Americans in Florida beseeched the gods to kill Castro, in Cuba the same gods were asked to make him well.

"We are praying for him because it's a very painful situation for everyone," said babalawo Guillermo Diago in Havana.

Members of the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba said they were collecting money to buy animals to sacrifice for Castro's health.

"Our position is to follow the plans of the gods, which are to understand and support the decisions taken by our maximum leader," the group said.

Santeristas are not the only religious types preoccupied with Castro's future.

In Miami's Roman Catholic churches with heavily Cuban congregations, priests spoke about the events in Cuba and urged patience.

But Little Havana shopkeeper Maria Vazquez, who sells toilet paper imprinted with Castro's image and T-shirts with anti-Castro messages, said, "We are praying every night that he is dead."

"It's probably not the Christian thing to do, but it is very human," said Vazquez, who fled Cuba with her family when Castro took power 47 years ago and longs to return.

(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes in Havana)

who is in command here?

according to this story, a junta is in command of cuba... it also says at the end of the article that carnaval has been postponed until there is an update in castros condition..

Seis homens do governo de Fidel Castro estão no comando do país, segundo o diário El País
Belisa Figueiró
SÃO PAULO - A aposta oficial de uma sucessão institucional e um governo de direção defensiva já está se confirmando em Cuba. Segundo o jornal El País, seis homens estão no comando durante o afastamento do presidente Fidel Castro, além do seu irmão Raúl, nomeado como representante oficial. Todos são membros do governo castrista.
Entre eles, destaca-se o secretário do Comitê Executivo do Conselho de Ministros, Carlos Lage, de 54 anos. Ele foi responsável por aplicar as reformas de abertura econômica na década de 1990 e já atua como primeiro-ministro. Felipe Pérez Roque, ministro das Relações Exteriores, é um dos colaboradores mais próximos de Fidel e junto com Lage foi secretário pessoal do presidente durante seis anos.
Outras duas peças-chave nesse cenário, de acordo com o jornal, são os comunistas ortodoxos José Ramón Machado Ventura, atual chefe da organização do Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) e José Ramón Balaguer, que idealizou a organização e representa com Raúl a continuidade histórica. O presidente do Banco Central de Cuba, Francisco Soberón, que também atua no processo de "recentralização" econômica, está no mesmo grupo.
Assim como Raúl, nenhum deles apareceu em público até agora. Por enquanto, analistas e diplomatas concentram seus olhares para os movimentos do PCC e na saúde de Fidel, cujo mistério ainda continua. Os comentários informais, segundo o El País, são de que o estado do líder cubano não é grave e se recuperaria antes da próxima Cúpula do Movimento dos Países Não Aliados, prevista para acontecer entre 11 a 16 de setembro, em Havana.
Na capital, o carnaval cubano foi adiado até que haja um novo boletim médico ou aviso oficial sobre Fidel. O coordenador do Comitê de Defesa da Revolução (CDR) e sexto membro da direção, Juan José Rabilero, afirmou que está "fortalecendo a vigilância popular para evitar uma manifestação contrária à revolução".

the wall street journal on fidel

the wall street journal and peggy noonan stick it to fidel
The Fabulous Castro Boys All about Raúl, ruthless and reformer? Wednesday, August 2, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
To outlive one's enemies is said to be a kind of revenge. This would explain the big, noisy party on Calle Ocho in Miami Monday night when Cuba announced that Fidel Castro was undergoing emergency intestinal surgery for hemorrhaging and had passed power to his 75-year-old brother Raúl.
Whether Fidel is sick, dead or only merely testing the response of Cuba's military and political elite to the anointing of Raúl is still not clear. El Maximo Lider did qualify the power transfer as "temporary." But the old man turns 80 on August 13 and even he won't live forever. The most likely scenario is that we are now watching preparations for a transition of Cuban power not seen for 47 years.
Fidel is not only the longest-reigning dictator in the history of the modern world; he is also the archetype of the paranoid communist micromanager. He is known to be ruthless, insecure and distrustful, to the point of executing ideological allies suspected of disloyalty. He has also been obsessed with anti-Americanism for more than a half-century. If Cubans are malnourished and the country resembles a rundown 1950s' museum, so be it. Fidel has been more interested in his legacy as the revolutionary who stood up to the imperialists. The odd admiration for his handiwork among many on the U.S. left--he may be a dictator but the health care is good!--is a mystery of our time.
Enter Raúl, five years younger than Fidel, and, historically, every bit as dedicated to the revolution. During their exile in Mexico in the 1950s, Raúl was the brother who befriended Che Guevara and he encouraged the adoption of a communist hard-line in 1960. Beginning in Mexico and especially when consolidating power after they overthrew Batista in 1959, Raúl did the bulk of Fidel's political dirty work.
And yet, despite this brutal past, Raúl is now widely thought to be the reformer. Some of this is relative, given the harshness of his narcissistic older brother. But Cuba watchers say that Raúl has been known to express concern for the suffering of the Cuban people under the current system and has been a consistent voice for economic change.
As minister of defense, Raúl has also been in charge of the military which owns and profits from the most lucrative businesses in Cuba, particularly tourism. He has undoubtedly noticed how China's military has prospered from creeping market liberalization. Should the U.S. trade embargo be lifted, he knows that he and his cadre of raulistas would be the immediate beneficiaries.
Raúl has already successfully won one internal round for economic reform. Back in the early 1990s, when Soviet support ended and the Cuban economy sank ever lower, he pushed to allow at least some private economic activity, as well as more foreign investment, to alleviate the scarcities. Small farmers' markets, "restaurants" in private homes and taxi services permitted to carry tourists popped up around the country. Along with Spanish hoteliers putting capital down on Cuban beaches, these changes helped reverse a desperate slide.
Those same reforms also began to threaten Fidel's power, however. And he quickly closed the tiny space for Cuba's private sector, creating a system of economic apartheid in which foreigners and the military have prospered but ordinary Cubans have been shut out. Many of the revolutionary faithful are believed to be exceedingly dissatisfied with the resulting inequalities.
Raúl is aware of the political risks of creating more private economic space, and we would expect political repression to continue as he tried to consolidate his own control once his brother dies. Yet, as the world saw after the collapse of Communism in Europe, freedom movements are hard to contain once unleashed. Ask Mikhail Gorbachev. Raúl would probably attempt to imitate the Chinese model of opening up to foreign investment and private Cuban business while keeping strict political control.
If Raúl wants to go in that direction he may also make some conciliatory gestures to the U.S., shelving his brother's anti-American rhetoric and offering cooperation on bilateral issues. The U.S. will have to be ready to respond, and in ways that use American influence to leverage more freedom. One helpful step to take now would be to repeal the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which stipulates that a U.S. President may not lift the trade embargo as long as Fidel, Raúl or anyone they have appointed are in power. This denies the President important discretion and reduces the possibility that the U.S. could promote peaceful change through economic engagement with a post-Fidel Cuba.
Whether it comes sooner or later, Fidel Castro's death will be a moment of hope for the liberation of an island that was once a jewel of the Americas. If Raúl wants to go there, the U.S. ought to help show him the way.
No Más Castro may be dead. It's time to kill Castroism.
PEGGY NOONANThursday, August 3, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
It has long been my bitter hunch that the man I can't help think of as the last monster of the 20th century, Fidel Castro, creator and warden of the floating prison to our south, would die of old age in a big brass bed, a snifter of brandy in one hand and a good cigar in the other. No firing squad, no prison. He'd leave thinking he got away with it all. He had that kind of luck. The devil takes care of his own.
I hated that hunch.
Now Cuban authorities say Castro has temporarily stepped down due to ill health. And it is possible this is true. It is just as possible that Castro is dead, and that what we are witnessing is not the graceful and temporary relinquishing of power--that would be unlike our Fidel, whose frozen fingers would more likely have to be peeled off the steering wheel with the back of a hammer--but the spinning of the death of a monster whose sudden departure might shock the people of Cuba into something like movement toward progress. And so Fidel is "sick" and his brother "stepping in." One suspects that in the coming weeks Castro will "take a turn for the worse," and that Raul Castro will take to hurried midnight visits to an empty hospital room, offering afterward to the waiting media both color coverage and play by play: "The tubes have been taken out. He mouthed the words, 'Tell the people I love them, and leave them in good hands.' "
Then, once the spontaneous mourning demonstrations have been arranged, will come word of his passing.
The pre-positioning of Raul solves a potential struggle for succession and inhibits competitors. The world gets used to him. Things continue as they were. Forty-seven years becomes 48, and 49 . . .
What to do now?
How about this: Treat it as an opportunity. Use the change of facts to announce a change of course. Declare the old way over. Declare a new U.S.-Cuban relationship, blow open the doors of commerce and human interaction, allow American investment and tourism, mix it up, reach out one by one and person by person to the people of Cuba. "Flood the zone." Flood it with incipient prosperity and the insinuation of democratic values. Let Castroism drown in it.
The American economic embargo of Cuba is 40 years old. It has been called ineffective--it did not produce Fidel's downfall. It has been called effective--it kept the squeeze on, demonstrated what communism reaped and reaps. In any case it was right to deny a monstrous regime contact with, and implicit encouragement from, the American democracy.
All fair enough. But the monster may be dead and is surely dying. In any case, what remains of Cuban communism dies with him. Cubans don't know what they are economically except one thing: poor.
Castro survived the ruin of his economy--he had the guns--and he used his resistance to isolation to enhance his mystique. Fearless Fidel faced down the yanqui. Still, he was forced to swerve and pivot. In 1994, after Soviet cash supports had ended, he was forced to allow some modest individual self-employment.
With Castro gone, why not seize the moment for some wise, judicious, free-market love-bombing?
As in: Allow Americans to go to Cuba. Allow U.S. private money into Cuba. Let hotels, homes, restaurants, stores be developed, bought, opened, reopened. Use Fidel's death to reintroduce Cubans on the ground to Americans, American ways, American money and American freedom. Remind them of what they wanted, what they thought they were getting when the bearded one came down from the Sierra Maestre. Use his death/illness/collapse/disappearing act as an excuse to turn the past 40 years of policy on its head. Declare him over. Create new ties. Ignore the dictator, make partnerships with the people.
Yes give more money to Radio Marti and all Western government efforts to communicate with the people of Cuba. But also allow American media companies in. Make a jumble, shake it up, allow the conditions that can help create economic vibrancy and let that reinspire democratic thinking. The Cuban government, hit on all fronts by dynamism for the first time in half a century, will not be able to control it all.
That is how to undo Fidel, and Fidelism. That's how to give him, on the chance he's alive, a last and lingering headache. That's how to puncture his mystique. Let his people profit as he dies.
If he is actually ill, why not arrange it so that the last sounds he hears on earth are a great racket from the streets? What, he will ask the nurse, is that? "Oh," she can explain, "they are rebuilding Havana. It's the Hilton Corp. Except for the drills. That's Steve Wynn. The jackhammer is Ave Maria University, building an extension campus."
Imagine him hearing this. It would, finally, be the exploding cigar. That's the way to make his beard fall off.
What is the reason we don't do this--open Cuba as far as we can, retake it with soft, individual, and corporate power, let the marketplace do the heavy lifting? Tradition, habit, prevailing concepts. Politics. As all but children know, Florida is a swing state, and Cubans forced to flee Castro--and their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren--justly and rightly hate Fidel, dictatorship, all dictatorships. Their vote is significant and can swing the swing state. Cuban Americans know how to cohere and to show loyalty and antipathy within the democratic drama. Good. But I hope they are thinking about how to defeat Castroism now, today, with today's conditions. They're in the right war, but all good fighters know to shift troops, weapons and tactics when the landscape changes.
There is little President Bush can do, which, considering the politics of the matter, would be a relief to the White House. The president's hands are pretty much tied by the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which keeps the U.S. government from lifting sanctions on Cuba or changing current arrangements until Castro frees his political prisoners and announces authentic elections.
Assuming he's too dead to do that, it won't happen. It wouldn't happen anyway, as he never admitted he had political prisoners or didn't hold real elections.
Congress could repeal Helms-Burton, and the administration could flood the zone, drowning Castroism in it. This could yield a great public good not only for the people of Cuba, and America, but the world.

Juanita Speaks

ok the castro story is still running, so im gonna pass along a couple of items from the brasilian press... "Se Raúl Castro tomar o poder em Cuba esta será uma oportunidade que deve ser aproveitada porque ele é mais aberto do que Fidel" here, juanita castro, sister of fidel and raul says raul is more "open" than fidel.. she goes on to say now is the time to approach cuba and normalize relations... in this story, juanita says alive but very ill.. she says he is out of intensive care.. she spoke to someone on the island "who knows what goes on with fidel".. the phone call was disconnected.. she tried to call back but the line is constantly busy.. shes concerned because she never has had problems in the past getting through.. she says despite ideological and political differences, he is still blood, and she has nice memories of their childhood.. she says she and fidel have argued on the phone in the past, on political issues.. juanita says that in the past, people have gone to her pharmacy asking for help back in the island, letting a family member leave, or assistance with a relative who in prison.. in the past she had no desire to visit cuba, but says she would go today if fidel asks for her.. she again said that she was hurt with the way many exiles took to the street to celebrate the news about fidel, fidel may be fidel, but he is still my brother, blood.. on raul, she says he is very different from fidel, and more open to change..

for thr 411 on cuba, visit babalu blog

ok i noticed that alot of people have stumbled on this page due to searches on fidel and cuba, and while i made a few posts on it, thats really not what i planned to blog about.. basically i just wanted to post a few odds and ends about my day to day here in garanhuns, and different news items that i found interesting.. if you want to really find out about fidel and cuba, i highly recommend BABALU BLOG.. while i dont agree 100% with val on some issues, he does a fine job.. he also has a load of links on other pages dealing with cuba.. enjoy it!!!

time for a break

ok so the past couple days was alot of castro-cuba blogging, but i got a sort of break today, when i headed down to the stadium, "o gigante do agreste" to watch the local team, sete de setembro against íbis... íbis is pretty much known in brasil as the worst team ever.. they went years without a victory or a goal, kinda like columbia university in college football a few years back.. sete won on a fluke goal.. but at least now i can die saying i got to see ibis play.. íbis, the most infamous team in all of brasil.. i got to say this about the passion here.. people dopnt care if its a small unknown team, its their team and thats all that matters.. the 100 or so fans in the stadium today feel the same love and passion as fans of the larger teams do..

a realidade de cuba

OK i am REAL sorry i cant translate this right now, but i got a game to run out to right now and thought this is of interest.. the paya article appeared in a brasilian magazine called VEJA.. its a crappy babelfish translation, but you can try reading it in portuguese, think in spanish..
a realidade de cuba
The official announcement that the dictator Fidel Castro, 79 years, was operated of a intestinal hemorrhage - (ACI - Havana 01ago06), and passed control of the government his brother Raul of 75 years, made the Cuban people to remember the famous prophecy of Saint Antonio María Claret, in middle of century XIX, that Cuba would again insert in the ' Concert of the Nations ' soon after the death of Fidel Castro, with a brief period of internal violence. The Spanish saint was Archbishop of Cuba between 1851 and 1857. In accordance with one strong verbal tradition and with writings conserved for the Congregation that it established, the Virgin of the Charity of Cobre disclosed to it that the Island would more than suffer a dictatorship from 40 years, and that [ Fidel Castro would finish with the death leader it ] in its bed. The prophecy spoke of a young leader very bold, bearded and folloied of other also bearded men, and that it would be acclaimed by all and that would be taken possetion little by little of the power, submitting the Cuban people to a railway dictatorship that would last 40 years, during which Cuba would suffer to numerous calamities and penúrias. E that finally this man would die in the bed. The people has this prophecy in high account, and the world waits that, in fact, it has a return of the democracy Cuba. Since that for the weapons the dictator Fidel Castro knocked down president Fulgêncio Baptist, to the 8 of January of 1959, and implanted, there, a railway communist dictatorship, and since then, the Cuban people did not know more what it is freedom and democracy. He does not have the free press and nor elections. From there, the Country lived under exclusive regimen of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), lead with hands of iron for the dictator, Fidel Castro, eliminating the adversaries. It says the unsupicious "Black Book of the Communism", written for the French historian Stéphane Courtois, and a team of six collaborators, who:"Havana and Santa Clara had been palco of executions em.massa. In accordance with the foreign press, this summary purification made 600 victims between the partisans of Baptist, in only five months. Execution courts had been organized, created to pronounce executions solely... In May of 1958 all the religious colleges had been closed, the respective buildings had been confiscated, also the Jesuit college of Belen, where Fidel makes its studies. Envergando its uniform, the Maximum Leader declared: ' that the falangistas priests if prepare to make the luggages '. The warning was not gratuitous, since in 17 set 1961, 131 priests religious diocesans and had been expulsos of Cuba. In the arrest of La Loma of los Coches, a thousand ' against revolutionaries ' had been more than fusilladed ". (Ed. Bertrand Brazil, 3ª. Ed. RIO DE JANEIRO, 2001, pg 770)The religious persecution in Cuba was enormous, as it also happened in all the communist countries, Russia, China, Vietnam, Cambodja, among others. The churches had been closed; religious and religious they had been imprisoned, exiled or died; e the religion alone could be practised under the guardianship of the State. The children and the young, in the day-care centers and the colleges, receive fort and constant marxist indoctrination, enaltecendo the "Revolution" and its "commander" Fidel. according to more respected not conforming Cuban, Oswaldo Payá, Fidel he was not imprisoned for being an international celebrity, and affirms: "the end of the communism in Cuba depends only on the biological fatalismo: the death of the dictator " (SEES, 18 May 2003). In 2003, the opponent was with the Pope in the Vatican, met with the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in Washington, and had its enclosed name enters the candidates to the Prize Nobel of the Peace Is a practicing catholic, whom dirige established and the "Christian Movement Release", and a reference for the future of Cuba its is well articulated proposal of a pacific transistion for the democracy. Payá is also the mentor of the Project Varella, the below-signed one asking for to opening politics. In Havana, where it works as engineer of hospital equipment maintenance, it it does not give a step without being followed by the policy. But it is not left to intimidate. Still boy, was the only pupil of its primary school that if refused to enter for Communist Youth. Adolescent, led a manifestation against the Soviet invasion of the Checoslováquia, in 1968.
In interview to the magazine "VEJA", Payá said that "always it had a great disinformation on the Cuban reality. All the Soviet block, including the Government Cuban, was specialist in launching a false image of our Country. The world always saw Cuba as the island of the freedom, populated of revolutionary, legendary and romantic leaders. We had here of everything, little freedom and equality ". E also affirms that "a culture of the fear arraigada in Cuba Exists has decades... The express totalitarianism if by means of exerted mechanisms of control on the population... It has a complete monitoring on the citizens, what it inhibits any possibility of personal growth or individual freedom." (VEJA, 18 May 2003).
Philip Aquinofelipeaquino@cancaonova.com

Juanita Castro on the news out of Cuba

pretty good article in todays herald on juanita castro and the news out of cuba..
Cuban leader's sister not crying, not cheering
While her big brother has ruled Cuba for more than four decades, Juanita Castro Ruz presides over a small local pharmacy -- and tries to keep a low profile.
BY TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE
The only place in Cuban Miami, it seemed, not abuzz with the excited chatter of exiles was a small pharmacy off Southwest 27th Avenue -- a tacit courtesy toward its diminutive and elegantly dressed owner, the little sister of a man most consider a ruthless dictator.
No joyous exclamations of Cuba libre. No chisme, or gossip, about the stricken Fidel Castro.
''People have been respectful,'' said Juanita Castro Ruz, who fled the island more than 40 years ago after working with the underground against her brothers Fidel and Raúl. An ailing Fidel this week handed Raúl Castro temporary control over the island's communist government.
''I have differences with my brother, ideological and political,'' said Castro, who owns the Mini Price pharmacy at 2671 SW 27th Ave. and has largely shied away from the often contentious nature of exile politics.
Tuesday was no different, with the 73-year-old Castro emphasizing she had nothing to say about her 79-year-old brother, his illness or the state of affairs in her homeland.
''I'm not going to be making any declarations about that,'' she said, idly straightening a row of Advil bottles.
Nearby, her team of pharmacists made polite chitchat with elderly patients awaiting prescriptions. No one brought up anything remotely related to Cuba, and Castro said she takes pains to ignore local Spanish-language stations -- especially on a day like this.
''I never listen to the radio. There is so much hatred in this community. And they will say that all Castros are the same,'' she said. ``And that is a lie.''
While she is no fan of her brother's politics and chose to live her life in exile, she said she had mixed feelings about the hordes of celebrators who took to the street the night before, leaning on car horns well past midnight.
''Ninety-nine percent of them didn't have the courage to stay and fight,'' she said.
The man so many people publicly hoped was dead -- or at the very least, dying -- is family, after all.
''This is a spectacle, all this happiness,'' she said, shaking her head. ``I can only say that I am human.''
Before she defected to the United States in 1964, Juanita Castro operated a boarding house for university girls -- at least publicly. Her home in Havana, next-door to a Chinese laundry, was also known for running a supply house and escape route for those opposed to her two big brothers.
She is fiercely protective of her family name, nonetheless.
Last year, she won a libel suit in Spain against Alina Fernández Revuelta, the illegitimate daughter of the Cuban ruler, who defected 15 years ago.
Castro sued over passages in Fernández's book, Alina: The Memoirs of Fidel Castro's Rebel Daughter, which she said libeled her parents.
The book depicted Angel Castro -- father of Fidel, Raúl and Juanita -- as a murderous land baron who exploited his workers, and their mother, Lina, as a mixed-race peasant who practiced witchcraft.
Fernández, who hosts an evening radio program on WQBA, has said the book was accurate and based on previously published material.
She could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Juanita Castro said she does not recognize Fernández as family. She has no children of her own and said she has ''been talking with people'' in Cuba about her brother's health, but declined to elaborate.
''Los lazos de sangre son fuertes,'' she said with a shrug. The ties of blood are strong.

Fidel will fight until the very last moment

Fidel will fight until the very last moment, according to Ricardo Alarcon, but that moment is far off, according to Ricardo Alarcón
“Fidel vai lutar até o último instante” Data: 02/08/2006
O presidente do Parlamento de Cuba, Ricardo Alarcón, um dos principais aliados de Fidel Castro, afirmou ontem que o presidente cubano "vai lutar até o último instante", mas que este momento ainda "está muito distante", segundo a agência de notícias oficial de Cuba.
"O líder cubano sempre irá lutar até o último instante. Mas este último instante ainda está muito distante", declarou Alarcón.

Cubans in Brasil react to Fidel news CLEANED UP TRANSLATION

this was in a brasilian paper today, its a babelfish translation cause im swamped right now, but its enough to understand the article...

Three Cubans who live in Brazil follow with surprise and concern the news on the health of Fidel Castro, 79. Submitted to a surgery of intestine in this Monday, the president of Cuba provisionally delegated the control of the government his brother Raúl Castro, 75.

Cuban Idália Morejón, 40, teacher of Latin American literature of the PUC (Pontifical University Catholic of São Paulo), living in Brazil as political refugee for eight years, affirms that had "an ambiguous" feeling when she heard the news . "While we wait for Fidel to' fall ' to recoup freedoms, at the same time it would be as if a family father died", she said.

Morejón desires to come back Cuba with her son Javier Arrests, 15. "Since I arrived here I feel that I am preparing myself to go back". she affirms. The teacher, however, is skeptical with regard to changes with the possible definitive exit of in power. "It's not that if Fidel to die, all the structures go and disappear. Everything is planned, the government has been preparing for some time now".

But Morejón says she fears the presence of Raúl in the power. According to her, the brother of Fidel is an disagreeable figure that can take "measured extreme" in case of popular revolt.

Surprise and concern

The Cuban translator Amaury Bu Wilson, 37, arrived from Cuba three weeks agoto live in São Paulo, said to the Folha Online that he felt "surprised and worried" when he heard of the illness of Fidel, but that he imagines "that this is not the last crisis". On Raúl, he has another opinion.

Wilson thinks that Raúl does not have the same force and the same empathy that Fidel between the Cuban people and, therefore, waits that "everything runs in a calm form and that Fidel comes back to the command". He said he desires that another President is to the control of the United States when, for some reason, Fidel has to abandon the power definitively. Milanez makes said.

"I do not want to think about the one that comes later. No matter how hard I want things chnage, I prefer to wait at least until the president of U.S.A., George W. Bush, is out of power ".

The Cuban photographer Mailin Milanez, 35, has lived in São Paulo for almost a year, says that she felt "strange" when she listened to the news. "This isthe first time that they give a notice with antecedence. Normally Fidel gives one week and starts the speculations: I had a cold, pneumonia. I find that they had informed before because he's going to be away for a while '."

Indignation

Although to express the desire of that some things change in the country, Milanez and Wilson they had revealed indignation when seeing the Cuban opponents who live in Miami commemorate the internment of Fidel. "I do not like to see the people commemorating", said Wilson. "I feel anger", added Milanez.

Via email, Cuban student Valéria Mancheva, who lives in Havana, affirmed to the Folha Online, that the day today was normal, despite the notice on the health of Fidel. "The day was just like any other. The only information that we have is what was divulged in the letter of Fidel, where he communicates to have delegated power temporarily the Raúl Castro and explains the reason."

Cubanos no Brasil divergem sobre afastamento de Fidel Castro02/08/2006 00:04:05 - Folha On LineTrês cubanos que vivem no Brasil acompanham com surpresa e preocupação as notícias sobre os problemas de saúde de Fidel Castro, 79. Submetido a uma cirurgia de intestino nesta segunda-feira, o presidente de Cuba delegou provisoriamente o controle do governo a seu irmão Raúl Castro, 75.A cubana Idália Morejón, 40, professora de literatura latino-americana da PUC (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo), que vive no Brasil como refugiada política há oito anos, afirma que teve um sentimento "ambíguo" quando recebeu a notícia. "Ao mesmo tempo em que esperamos que Fidel 'caia' de uma vez para recuperarmos liberdades, seria como se um pai de família morresse", disse.Morejón deseja voltar a Cuba com seu filho Javier Prendes, 15. "Desde que cheguei aqui sinto que estou me preparando para voltar". afirma. A professora, porém, é cética com relação a mudanças com a possível saída definitiva de Fidel do poder. "Não é que se Fidel morrer, todas as estruturas vão desaparecer. Está tudo planejado, o governo está se preparando faz tempo".Mas Morejón diz temer pela presença de Raúl no poder. Segundo ela, o irmão de Fidel é uma figura antipática que pode tomar "medidas extremas" em caso de revolta popular.
Surpresa e preocupação
O tradutor cubano Amaury Bu Wilson, 37, que chegou de Cuba há três semanas para viver em São Paulo, disse à Folha Online que se sentiu "surpreso e preocupado" quando soube da doença de Fidel, mas que imagina "que esta não seja a última crise". Sobre Raúl, ele tem outra opinião. Wilson pensa que Raúl não tem a mesma força e a mesma empatia que Fidel entre os cubanos e, por isso, espera que "tudo corra de forma tranqüila e que Fidel volte ao comando". Ele disse desejar que outro governante esteja à frente dos Estados Unidos quando, por algum motivo, Fidel tenha de abandonar o poder definitivamente. Milanez faz coro. "Não quero pensar no que vem depois. Por mais que eu queira que mude muita coisa, prefiro esperar pelo menos até que o presidente dos EUA, George W. Bush, esteja fora do poder".A fotógrafa cubana Mailin Milanez, 35, que vive em São Paulo há quase um ano, diz que achou "estranho" quando escutou a notícia. "É a primeira vez que dão uma notícia assim com antecedência. Normalmente o Fidel some uma semana e começam as especulações: estava com gripe, com pneumonia. Acho que avisaram antes porque ele vai ter que ficar afastado um tempão'."
Indignação
Apesar de expressar o desejo de que algumas coisas mudem em seu país, Milanez e Wilson manifestaram indignação ao ver os dissidentes cubanos que moram em Miami comemorar a internação de Fidel. "Não gosto de ver as pessoas comemorando", disse Wilson. "Sinto raiva", acrescentou Milanez.Por e-mail, a estudante cubana Valéria Mancheva, que mora em Havana, afirmou à Folha Online, que o dia hoje foi normal, apesar da notícia sobre a saúde de Fidel. "O dia acaba de amanhecer como outro qualquer. A única informação que temos é a divulgada na carta de Fidel, em que ele comunica ter delegado o poder temporariamente a Raúl Castro e explica o porquê."

Fidel died in 1981

with all the news that fidel is dead, lets keep in mind that he may already have died back in 1981.. he was replaced by alexis papagos, and that was the real reason elian was sent back..

Fidel Castro died in 1981, and was replaced by a look-alike CIA plant. The dictator ate tainted shellfish and died. CIA infiltrators wasted no time in covering this up, and installing an agent named Alexis Papagos to impersonate Castro, and run the country. This information comes to THE UNCOVEROR via Cuban national, Igor Davidovich Martinez.
Why, then, does the U.S. government maintain the embargo against Cuba? "The CIA is turning a great profit by selling contraband Cuban goods on the black market," says Martinez, "and they don't want to give that up." The CIA sees to it that the embargo stays.
What tipped Martinez off? Before 1981, the real Fidel Castro nearly always wore a military uniform. After that year, "Castro," really Alexis Papagos, appeared more often in civilian clothing.
This prompted Martinez, and several others to start digging. Of those who discovered this deception, only Martinez remains alive.
The plot almost failed. A few people in 1981 heard of Castro's death, and began a rumor that he had died of syphilis, but the CIA quickly made those people, some of them Americans, Disappear. They needed the world to think that Castro was still alive. They didn't want you to know, but thanks to THE UNCOVEROR, now you do.

CUBAN CHILD ALMOST BLOWS CIA'S GREATEST SECRET: CASTRO IS A CIA PLANT!
Why is the U.S. Government so eager to send little Elian Gonzales back to Communist Cuba? He holds the secret of the CIA's central operative in the Cuban Goverment: Fidel Castro! (See the UNCOVEROR'S original Fidel Castro exclusive) This startling revelation was brought to us by an anonymous source from within the CIA itself! It was very dangerous for the person who we will call AGENT X to bring us this information. Apparently Elian's mother was willing to risk her own life and that of her son's to bring this news to the Cuban people of Miami, FL. The CIA had been scouring the Carribean after she fled Cuba and presumed her lost at sea prior to Elian's discovery by a fisherman.According to our source, AGENT X, she imparted all she had uncovered about the imposter Castro (really CIA agent Alexis Papagos) to her young son, in hopes that someone would find him should she perish. The CIA sought desparately to snuff this information and thus sent Elian's "father" on a crusade to the U.S.A. to retrieve the boy. "The man isn't even his father, he's another agent for god's sake! They need to have him back in Cuba under their control," AGENT X explained to us, frustrated over the plight of this innocent child.AGENT X's stroy is validated by the INS Raid that recovered Elian from the family he was staying with. Why would Immigration Services send an armed raid to pick up an illeagal alien child? To keep people under their control! The family of the man who was keeping Elian here in the U.S. has been threatened under the pain of death to not disclose what he knows. He refused to speak to us, scared of what "Big Brother" will do if he talks. We can only be thankful for the few scrupulous Agents like, AGENT X, that work in the CIA who are willing to put life and limb on the line to bring this disturbing information to the UNCOVEROR. Shortly after telling us this story, AGENT X was "reassigned." We can only speculate on his whereabouts, and pray for his safety...

is this the day?

well the news coming out of cuba has spread like wildfire.. kind of interesting the way i found out.. theres a bar i drink at from time to time.. late last night theres a knock on my door and its one of the girls that works there.. she came to tell me that for some reason there was a bunch of people on the tv jumping up and down, with the flag that is on your soccer jersey (she was talking about my cuba soccer jersey).. so i grabbed my jacket and headed off to the bar.. sure enough, the national news broadcast was showing the images from little havana.. like ive said before, lets wait and see, but if it is true, heres what im going to do.. first ill head down to the church and say a prayer for his soul.. sfter all, who needs prayers more than him.. but after that, im going to buy three of "colhetes" (big ass bottle rockets) and set them off.. then im going to get shit faced drunk, not for me, but for anyone who wanted to see this day and didnt make it..

42 midgets vs a lion

this story has been running around on the web for some time, and YES, I KNOW ITS FAKE, but its just so damn funny.. Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight... here is the page where the whole story is explained.. laugh it up..

The Wonder of Voodoo Economics

The Wonder of Voodoo Economics
Bush 43 gets it.
By Rich Lowry
Who says you can’t cut taxes, increase spending, and reduce the federal budget deficit all at the same time? That’s what the Bush administration has managed to do. Two decades after then-presidential candidate George H.W. Bush characterized Ronald Reagan’s idea that tax cuts would spur revenue-generating economic growth as “voodoo economics,” the witch doctor is again at work.When President Bush pledged in 2004 to cut the deficit in half by 2009, critics guffawed. The Boston Globe headlined a story, “Bush’s plan to halve federal deficit seen as unlikely; higher spending, lower taxes don’t mix, analysts say.” “Fanciful,” “laughable” and “all spin,” said the critics. Well, it turns out that 2009 might be coming early this year. The 2004 deficit had been projected to hit $521 billion, or 4.5 percent of gross domestic product. Bush’s goal was to cut it to 2.25 percent of GDP by 2009—not exactly as stirring a national goal as putting a man on the moon, but one that was nonetheless pronounced unattainable. This year, the deficit could go as low as $300 billion, right around the 2009 goal of 2.5 percent of GDP.The key to the reduction is revenue growth, which has been stoked by economic growth. Government revenues are up 12.9 percent in the first eight months of this year over the same eight-month period last year—without any tax increases. When individuals, investors, and corporations have more cash in a growing economy, they send more to the federal government in tax payments.This, despite—or, more accurately, because of—a couple of rounds of Bush tax cuts that were supposed to have been fiscally ruinous. The Bush tax reductions played some role in the economic expansion and therefore are responsible, partly, for the increased revenues. This doesn’t mean that tax cuts “pay for themselves,” as their most fervent advocates say. But they certainly can offset some of their own cost. In 1999, the Congressional Budget Office was projecting 2006 total federal revenues of nearly $2.4 trillion, prior to anyone foreseeing Bush’s tax cuts. This year, revenue could go as high as nearly $2.4 trillion, even after those tax cuts. In January 2003, prior to Bush’s second round of tax cuts in that year, the CBO guessed revenues would be close to $2.4 trillion this year—again, in the ballpark of where they could be this year. According to Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation, if annual spending increases in the Bush years had been limited to the rate of the Clinton years, roughly 3.3 percent, there would be a federal surplus now. Instead, spending has been growing at 8 percent a year. That demonstrates that the formula for deficit reduction from the 1990s—moderate-spending restraint coupled with higher-than-expected growth-generated revenues—would work again today, if only someone could manage the moderate-spending restraint.Another similarity from the 1990s is that the revenue surge is driven by high-end earners and corporations. Liberals always rue it when the rich get richer, but when they don’t, the federal fisc tends to be ruined because they are the ones who pay most of the taxes. The deficit climbed unexpectedly in the early Bush years and is declining unexpectedly now, not because the projections for economic growth were wildly off, but because the kind of people who pay the most taxes took a bath early in the decade and are recovering now. Almost 47 percent of income taxes are paid by those making more than $200,000 a year, and they are thriving again. A chunk of the current revenue surge is also from corporate income taxes, which are up 30 percent over last year. There are limits to voodoo. Today’s fiscal improvements will be overwhelmed by the exploding costs of entitlements just over the horizon. In light of that, we should be maintaining a high-growth, low-tax economy to reap all the benefits of growth, but dutifully restraining entitlements. That’s not sorcery, but just good sense.— Rich Lowry is author of Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years.(c) 2006 King Features Syndicate.

Von Richtofen case comes to a close

Suzanne Von Richtofen got 40 years for the killing of her parents. Daniel and Christian Cravinhos got the same sentence. Two stories below.

Brazilian trio get 40 years for slayings
By STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press WriterSat Jul 22, 8:05 AM ET
A wealthy young woman, her lover and his brother were convicted Saturday in the deaths her parents, a crime that riveted Brazil with a tale of love across rigid class lines. Each was sentenced to about 40 years in prison.
Manfred and Marisa von Richtofen were beaten to death at their home in a wealthy district of Sao Paulo on Oct. 30, 2002.
Manfred von Richtofen, the great nephew of the World War I German ace known as the Red Baron, and his wife disapproved of their daughter's relationship with Daniel Cravinhos, who is from a lower-middle-class family.
Prosecutors said Suzanne von Richtofen, Cravinhos, and his brother Christian plotted the murder because they wanted the couple's estate, valued at $920,000.
"The three, acting in cold-blooded fashion, plotted and carried out the murder of the von Richtofen couple out of greed," Chief Prosecutor Roberto Tardelli told the jury on Friday.
Prosecutors said Richtofen, 22, let the brothers into the house late at night and checked to make sure her parents were sleeping. Then the brothers sneaked into the bedroom and bludgeoned them to death with iron bars.
The house's library was ransacked to make it look like a break-in and Daniel Cravinhos and Richtofen went to a motel to fabricate an alibi, police said.
The brothers, who confessed to the crime, took some $7,000 from the house. Investigators were led to Christian Cravinhos when he purchased a motorcycle the day after the murder, paying for it with 36 $100 bills.
Richtofen was driven by a desire to "get her hands on the money and assets her parents had worked so hard to obtain," Tardelli said. She "wanted her freedom and her independence without having to work for it."
Defense attorneys were expected to appeal. Richtofen's lawyer, Mauro Octavio Nacif, tried to convince jurors that she did not orchestrate the killings.
"If Suzanne had not met Daniel, would her parents still be alive today?" he asked. "Of course they would. This crime was committed only because Daniel wanted to. He was the only one with a motive — money."
The lawyer for the Cravinhos brothers blamed Richtofen. "The only person responsible for all this is that young lady," Geraldo Jabur said, pointing to her.
More than 200 people packed the courtroom for the final session, which ended early Saturday.
During the five-day trial, Daniel Cravinhos, 25, and Christian, 30, claimed Richtofen persuaded them to kill the couple because she said her parents often mistreated her. Daniel Cravinhos said her father tried to sexually molest her, but Richtofen denied it.
Richtofen accused her estranged boyfriend of threatening to leave her if she did not help kill the couple.
"I couldn't resist his spell. He was like a God for me," said Richtofen, adding Daniel was her first lover.
"He once told me to imagine how wonderful it would be to live with him without the presence of my parents," she said. "A few months later, he told me the time had come to get rid of my parents, and if I didn't follow him, he would abandon me."

Brazil sentences woman for killing parents
Sat Jul 22, 11:10 AM ET
A former law student from a wealthy family has been sentenced to 39 years in prison for killing her parents in Brazil's most publicized murder trial in recent years.
The jury in a Sao Paulo court found Suzane von Richthofen, her boyfriend Daniel Cravinhos and his brother Cristian guilty of murdering her parents in October 2002.
All three have confessed to the crime.
In a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the world, this drama in a well-to-do family repeatedly grabbed media headlines for nearly four years.
Suzane, a 19 year-old law student at the time of the crime, let Daniel, 21, and Cristian, 27, into her parents' home in a middle-class neighborhood of Sao Paulo, prosecutors said.
The two brothers beat the parents, Marisia and Manfred von Richthofen, with an iron rod while they slept, they said. In addition, they were convicted of smothering the mother with wet towels and trash bags.
Prosecutors said the three committed the crime to take control of the Richthofen's belongings. Police said Suzane planned the murder because her parents had prohibited her relationship with Daniel.
Suzane's lawyers said Daniel persuaded her to participate.
Judge Alberto Anderson Filho sentenced Suzane and Daniel to 39 years in prison. Cristian was sentenced to 38 years, a spokesperson of the Sao Paulo court said.
The rulings are subject to appeal.
According to local press reports, Manfred von Richthofen, a naturalized Brazilian and an engineer, was the grandson of a brother of "Red" Baron Manfred von Richthofen of Germany, who shot down 80 enemy aircraft in World War I before being killed in action in 1918.

The Sports Economist

theres a handful of blogs i like to drop in on, and here is one that is one of my favs, mainly cause it combines sports and economics..
THE SPORTS ECONOMIST does a nice job of covering a wide array of sports.. in the last few posts, its covered the NBA, the italian soccer scandal, horse racing, ultimate fighting (UFC), and the tour de france...
if you enjoy both sports and economics, its worth a look...

XVI Festival de Inverno; Garanhuns, Pernambuco

Here is the lineup of acts on the main stage, in the main city plaza....
XVI Festival de Inverno
Garanhuns, Pernambuco

Praça Gualadajara
A partir das 21hDia 20/07 – Quinta-feiraAbertura do 16º Festival de Inverno de Garanhuns

1. Noite dedicada à Cultura Popular

Mestre de Cerimônia: Salustiano Convidados: Lia de Itamaracá, Orquestra de Frevo da Bomba do Hemetério, Cia. de Dança Popular de Tuparetama, Maracatu Piaba de Ouro, Banda de Pífano de Dois Irmãos Caruaru, Bacamarteiros, Ivanildo Vila Nova, Galego Aboiador, Coco Popular de Aliança, Maracatu Porto Rico. Participações: Silvério Pessoa, Jorge du Peixe, Otto e DJ Dolores
Dia 21/07 – Sexta-feira

1. Renato Godoy


2. Irah Caldeira


3. Nando Cordel


4. Elba Ramalho

Dia 22/07 – Sábado

1. Bambás


2. Silvério Pessoa


3. Vanessa da Mata


4. Nando Reis

Dia 23/07 – Domingo

1. Os Valvulados


2. DJ Dolores


3. Otto


4. Nação Zumbi

Dia 24/07 – Segunda-feira

1. Companhia do Forró


2. Gláucio Costa


3. Jorge de Altinho


4. Magníficos

Dia 25/07 – Terça-feira

1. Banda Flash


2. Augusto César


3. Os Pholhas


4. The Fevers

Dia 26/07 – Quarta-feira

1. Léo Noronha


2. Gina Sollo


3. Paulo Diniz


4. Oswaldo Montenegro

Dia 27/07 – Quinta-feira

1. Luciole Maranhão


2. Moonlight (Garanhuns)


3. Clã (Portugal)


4. Los Hermanos

Dia 28/07 – Sexta-feira

1. Karla Cibele


2. Gustavo Travassos


3. Junio Barreto


4. Maria Rita

Dia 29/07 – Sábado

1. Eclipse Urbano


2. Lady Murphy


3. Uptown Band


4. Barão Vermelho

frosty the snowman visits garanhuns

festival de inverno (winterfest) starts today, and here is a pic of the new orelhão (payphone) they installed, the frosty the snowman edition..

The strange case of Suzane von Richtofen

The strange case of Suzane von Richtofen.
this is one of the stories that has all of brasil talking.. it has sex, murder, and money.. its had twists and turns.. at one point suzanne was interviewed for a national tv show, and during a commercial break, the cameras caught her lawyers coaching her to cry as she spoke of the murder.. the tv here has round the clock coverage, just like the oj trial..
Man admits killing girlfriend's parents
By STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 17, 10:03 PM ET
SAO PAULO, Brazil - The former lover of a wealthy young woman testified Monday that he killed her parents because they opposed their affair, which crossed Brazil's rigid class lines.
Daniel Cravinhos, 25, said he beat Manfred and Marisa von Richtofen to death with an iron bar as they slept at home in a wealthy district of Sao Paulo because the couple's daughter, Suzane von Richtofen, persuaded him to do it.
Cravinhos said 22-year-old Richtofen told him she was sexually abused by her father and beaten by her mother.
"She said she hated them and wanted to see them dead," he said as the trial opened Monday. "I was shocked."
Cravinhos and his older brother Christian are accused of the murder, but the younger brother said he killed the couple himself at his lover's behest.
Manfred von Richtofen, 49, was an engineer and the great nephew of the World War I German ace known as the Red Baron. His wife was a psychologist. The couple disapproved of their daughter's relationship with Cravinhos, who is from a lower middle-class family, the daughter's lawyers have said.
Cravinhos said the father had threatened to disinherit Richtofen from his estate, worth a reported $954,000, if she did not end their relationship.
Cravinhos said Richtofen persuaded him to test a gun in her parents' bedroom three months before the murder to see if it made too much noise, but then discarded the idea of shooting them.
He said Richtofen let the brothers into the house on the night of Oct. 30, 2002. Armed with iron bars, they sneaked to the parents' bedroom, but his brother "froze," he said.
Daniel Cravinhos testified he then hit each parent "four to six" times in the head and covered their faces with black plastic bags so Richtofen's younger brother, Andreas — who was out at an Internet cafe — would not see them.
Christian Cravinhos said on the day of the crime, the couple came to his house looking "extremely agitated and nervous."
"Both said they were going to kill Suzane's parents," he told prosecutors.
Prosecutors said they would seek the maximum sentence of 60 years in prison for Richtofen and the two brothers — 30 years for each killing.
Richtofen's attorneys have said Cravinho threatened to leave her if she did not get rid of her parents.
Police say the Cravinho brothers took some $7,000 from the house, and investigators were led to the older brother when he purchased a new motorcycle the day after the murder, paying for it with 36 $100 bills.

XVI festival de inverno in garanhuns

XVI festival de inverno.. winterfest.. 10 days of music and food and non stop partying.. there are tents and stages set up all over town, and each area has a different style/ type of music so there is something for everyones tastes.. this year they are going to feature cuban music at one of the stages, so im excited about that.. theres a handful of cubans in this town, mostly doctors and dentists who left cuba over the years, and they are also excited and proud that this year cuban music will be showcased and represented.. the fun starts each night at about 10 PM and doesnt stop till the early hours the next morning.. not much gets done during festival.. i will try to post pics of the fun..

fidel castro dead?

this guy has been killed off more than i dont know what.. ive heard this story a million times now.. one of the things i was afraid of before i moved to brasil was that i would miss the scene in miami when fidel castro finally died.. there are stories buzzing all over the internet.. val at babalu blog has some info here, and links here, and here is a story.. of course, there are those that think he was killed off in 1981 and replaced by alexis papagos.. (thanks to sergio at babalu who found that story)

more on zidane

someone in the comments section asked for a bit more on the zidane incident.. here is a link to google news with more info, and here is another.. follow tem and you will find more info on it.. this story is bringing everyone out of the woodwork.. in this story, an iranian official says zidanes reaction was a result of islamic pride.. in this story a far right italian politician has interesting comments.. here is a snippet : Meanwhile, the far-right vice-president of the Italian Senate stoked anti-French feeling in the country on Tuesday, branding the French team as "blacks, Islamists and Communists".Roberto Calderoli, head of the right-wing popular Northern League party, refused to retract earlier comments in which he hailed Italy's defeat of France in Sunday's World Cup final as "a victory for Italian identity"."When I say that France's team is composed of blacks, Islamists and Communists, I am saying an objective and evident thing," Calderoli was quoted on Tuesday as saying by the Ansa news agency.Italy's all-white team, from a largely devout Catholic populace, had won against "a France team which sacrificed its own identity by lining up blacks, Islamists and Communists to get results," Calderoli had said on Sunday.

everyone has an opinion....

zidane

just one way to describe the zidane incident:

O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low?Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,Shrunk to this little measure? (julius caesar 3.1.148)..

one of the best players in the history of the game, the best french player ever.. more cantona than platini...