I have never been impressed by Mr. Marco Rubio.  He appears to me like all Hispanic politicians I have ever been aware of in life.  Their culture turns them into emotional supporters of the demands of Hispanics.

Again, I state that I do not fly the Hispanic flag.  I do not salute the Hispanic flag.  I am human. The human race is the only race I claim allegiance to in life.

My personal immigration story is a sorted tragedy.  I was illegally imported into the US by my parents around 1970.  On my 18th birthday I received a letter asking me to clarify my immigration status or leave the country.  I stood there with my hands up in the air wondering what immigration status the letter was talking about.

Apparently, my mother did not take care of this immigration situation before I became an adult.  I had cash saved up.  I went to lawyer that was recommended to me.  Within a month this lawyer had my legal residency card.

During the proceedings I was scared.  There were many worried days.  Today, I am a man without a country.  Mexicans do not like me.  Americans think I am an alien.  I find it offensive that my residency card reads Permanent Alien Passport. I am not gray with a strange shaped head.

These are the reasons I do not salute nor fly the Hispanic flag.  What is right is right.  What is wrong is wrong.

It is this simple.  American tax payers do not have an endless supply of money to take on the burdens of everyone in the world.

I can tell you that Mexicans who cross into the US illegally are not poor victims of life just looking for a way to earn a living.  For decades Americans- politicians and others-have been promising illegals support and benefits.

Many illegals from Mexico come expecting what they have been promised.  They expect food stamp, welfare, housing, and assistance in immigration for their family members.

It has been the politics of America that has planted these ideas in the minds of people from Mexico.  I was born in Mexico.  For over 40 years I have lived in the border city of El Paso, Texas, USA.  Every job I have had has involved public contact.  I have been hearing the attitudes and opinions of people from Mexico all my life.

I suspect Mr. Marco Rubio is interested in his own political career.  Mr. Rubio lives in areas with a large percentage of people from Cuba.

The immigrants from Cuba are completely different then the people of Mexico.  I have written many articles describing the immoral and unethical behavior of people from Mexico.  In these articles, I have expressed my conclusion that the people of Mexico worked together to destroy their country.

The corrupt politicians, corrupt business people, and criminals have played a big role in the death of Mexico. However, the average Mexican’s attitude the “since the rest  are corrupt we can do what we want” has also contributed to the death of Mexico.

Mexico is dead.  The zombie just does not know it.  Even today in the present day Mexican president’s war on drug dealers military leaders, politicians, and bureaucrats, in Mexico continue to work for Mexican drug dealers.

The people of Cuba are victims of Fidel Castro and his brother.  Cubans did not decide since everyone is corrupt we are going to do what we want.

Mr. Marco Rubio how do you stop a bad behavior when you forgive it and reward it.  America cannot be held as a political hostage to people who only want to live of the American tax payer.  With all respect to you Mr. Marco Rubio I have more credibility on the issue of illegal immigration from Mexico then you do sir.

It is a tragedy that so many are in what Mr. Rubio calls “limbo”.  However, it is the parents of these children who have to be held responsible.  Consequences correct bad behavior. Consequences teach people how to do things better.

If the goal is to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, then there have to be real consequences for breaking American laws.  In addition, people in the US illegally can very easily return to their respective countries.  There they have papers.  They can work, study, and live out in the open in their respective countries.

Furthermore, I am tired of the charge that expecting everyone in the US illegally to self deport as uncompassionate.  Mr. Rubio and the rest of you US politicians you are supposed to be representing Americans.  You should have compassion for the American tax payer who is working hard and having less to show for it because they are funding politicians supposed compassionate policies.

If you want to arbitrate for the people of Mexico, move to Mexico and work at improving conditions in Mexico. The rest of us will be here, in the US, working to improve conditions here in our home which we love and take pride in ownership.

It is wrong for conservatives to reward and forgive illegal Mexicans just to win elections.  There have to be high standards in order to maintain a successful society.  Everyone who is able to work has to work. We all benefit from living in America; we should all fund the limited US government that respects individual rights.  Being that American tax payers financial resources are limited resources, Mexicans and people from other nations are going to have to respect America’s borders.

Now, I am smart enough to know that the special interest operatives, politicians, liberal news media, and Mr. Rubio will not change their opinion on immigration because of the opinions I have expressed here in this article.  My comments are for my traditional values neighbors in the US.  You should not feel bad about expecting illegal immigrants to respect your home and respect you.  You did not destroy Mexico.  Mexicans destroyed Mexico.  Now, they want to destroy the US with their entitlement attitude.

The US continues to present Cuba as the evil neighbour still under the Communist rule. Right, all this is nothing but sticking to the American political tradition since Fidel Castro came to power.

Let’s be honest and take a look at the 20th Century history and see how Cuba has influenced the live of American and how real the danger was.

Nobody can hide the fact that such a small underdeveloped poor country has shaped US politics and elections for decades. Was all this paranoia about Cuba realistic? No, absolutely not. Cuba has done absolutely nothing in 50 years to threat the US and its citizens, among other reasons because it has never had the capacity to do it. It may come to your mind the Cuban Missile Crisis of the early 60’s, but that was not a real Cuban affair but one of the Soviet Union putting pressure on the US in the midst of the Cold War and in a far more complex scenario that just US-Cuba relations. The only things that actually regularly came from Cuba were annoying speeches from Fidel Castro and excellent cigars (Habanos) that, despite being illegal in the US, they keep making their way through and are in high demand by American cigar smokers.

So, what is the whole deal about? Well, if you live in Miami there is a significant group of Cuban inmigrants that vote and may have some weight to carry the elections for Major as well as the State of Florida in the Presidential elections. Other than that there is no real reason to understand the weight of Cuba in the American Foreign Policy of the last decades.

How do we bring the Cuban regime down? If we want to, not sure we should, it may be too late as nature is doing its job and looks like Fidel Castro is just coming to the end of his journey. There may be others waiting to take power, like his brother Raul, but it all looks like that once the charismatic leader disappears the whole things would collapse. We are no in a North Korean scenario here, forget.

Can we speed up the process? Probably yes. The key is not to impose embargoes on the island nor ban US citizens to travel to the island. The key is exactly the opposite, open it all up and let the people flow into the island. Nothing changes and shapes more a community than modern tourism. It kills all traditions and local way of life, believe me. We should also forget the embargoes, they only have an impact in the poor population who suffer the shortages; embargoes really help dictatorial regimes as they use them to blame (US in this case) of their shortages and harsh living conditions, the regime can not provide more because the embargo prevents it. Does anyone really think that the ruling elite suffer any shortages? Come on, open your eyes.

  Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United States (U.S.) Hillary Clinton was caughtpartying in a bar, when he attended the American Summit in Cartagena,Colombia. Clinton is known to party in a Cuban-themed bar.

So far, the U.S. is always in conflict with Cuba, which often do they considerhuman rights violations. Clinton’s presence that appeared to dance in Havana Barin Cartagena, would be an irony for U.S. policy toward Cuba over the years.

It is unclear whether the former U.S. First Lady was accompanied by Colombianofficials. But it was clear that Clinton actually spent time with pleasure.

“He seemed to have fun while in the bar,” said a witness who saw Clinton at thebar, as quoted by Sky News on Monday (4/16/2012).

Clinton’s visit to the Cuban-themed bar, came after a small resistance against theU.S. that prohibit Cuba to attend the Summit of America.

During the summit the U.S. was attacked by the Latin American countries areurging the U.S. to change his opinion against Cuba. Most of the Latin American countries would not intend to hold a summit next year, when Cuba was not allowedto participate.

Slap against Obama on this refusal, coupled with a sex scandal by 11 Secret Service agents at the Hotel Caribe, Cartagena. 11 agents known to date withcommercial sex workers (CSWs), who then complain do not receive a satisfactory fee.

President Obama also claim to be outraged if the allegations were proven true.Obama also urged that the case be investigated thoroughly.

This isn’t news, this guy has been saying nutty things for years. The difference is, this time, he angered his team’s fan base.

It has been a few days now, and it seems that the uproar over comments regarding Fidel Castro which were made public in a Time Magazine article has begun to die down. He has apologized, and been served a 5 game suspension. We will have to see whether that pound of flesh will prove sufficient. Some are still calling for him to be fired by the Miami Marlins.

In a nutshell, Ozzie said that he loved Fidel Castro. He went on to say that he admired him since people have been trying to kill him for years, but he is still around.

Fidel Castro becomes the leader of Cuba as a result of the Cuban Revolution (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is unclear what Ozzie’s feelings are regarding Castro’s wardrobe choices.

Can we just be honest here a moment about his comments? Is this really that big a deal? The whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. Any rational person can look at his comments and realize that it was a bit tongue-in-cheek. The comments were certainly ill-advised, and poorly worded, but the fact that his job has been placed on the line is a bit much.

Don’t misunderstand-I’m not pro Castro. I realize that he is this generation’s Hitler. I get it. The thing is Ozzie was clearly not saying that he loved or respected Castro’s politics or leadership style. It is clear that Guillen, who has been on the hot seat more than once, respected the fact that though many were trying to take Castro out, or get him out of power, yet he was able to persevere. Why wouldn’t Ozzie admire that? That toughness in and of itself is to be admired. In a vacuum, Fidel Castro should be admired for that. Of course, we don’t live in a vacuum, and Castro has caused much harm to many, many people, but let’s look at this a bit closer.

What if Guillen was saying he admires Castro? What then? Isn’t it more than a little hypocritical for Americans to be up in arms when someone says they admire someone we have allowed to remain in power? We know the atrocities there in Cuba. We see the affects of Castro’s regime. We witness the refugees risking their lives to escape his brutality. We see their desperation caused by this tyrant and yet we call the refugees the criminals labeling them “illegal immigrants”. If we simply allow him to continue in his evil ways, is that much different than admiring him? We can say we detest his actions, but why don’t we do anything about it? Aren’t we culpable in the least? If Cuba was oil rich, would we be as complacent?

Similar to many righteous ovrthrowing of regins before theirs they always ends up in similar fashion in time. When Bastiste was president of Cuba during the fifties and allegedly taking payment, from the mobsters that made his country their home away , from America. Many probably thought highly of him. Although, many people was suffering under this leader too.

Sure, it seems Guillen picks controversial people to admire in his eyes. But, what bothers us probably doesn’tbother him. Notice, the many wealthy supporters, of the Nazis, under that little dictator.

“The Marlins announced today the suspension of manager Ozzie Guillen for five games and will be applied immediately. The Marlins recognize the seriousness of the comments attributed to Guillen. Pain and suffering caused by Fidel Castro can not be minimized, especially in a community full victims of the dictatorship, “said the statement of the entire state of Florida.

“The last days have been quite difficult. Only God and my family know what we went through. What I meant was how a person who has hurt so many years is still” Guillen said at a news conference. “Still I’m sorry for everything and I apologize. Why I’m here.”

Guillen added that Hugo Chavez is “doing the same damage in Venezuela Fidel in Cuba. I’d rather be dead than vote for Chavez. Capriles have to vote for it is the only competition that will make you” topped the World Series champion in 2005 . “Today is the last time you talk about politics,” he said.

The strategist warned that the last thing that matters right now is its suspension with the Marlins. “What I want is to fix this with the community first.”

1. Anna Livia is a bronze monument in Croppy Acre Memorial Park in Dublin, which was formerly located on O’Connell Street, what is it commonly known as?

Picture from Wikipedia

2. What outsider won the 1967 Grand National after a pile-up at Aintree’s 23rd fence?

Aintree in 1890 Picture from Wikipedia

3. What 1989 film starring Kevin Costner is based on the novel Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella?

Picture from Wikipedia

4. Who was born as Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar in 1946?

10. What female athlete set world records of 10.49 and 21.34 respectively for the 100 and 200m in 1988?

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ANSWERS

1. Floozie in the Jacuzzi

2. Fionavon

3. Field of Dreams

Picture from Wikipedia

4. Freddie Mercury

Picture from Wikipedia

5. Fingerprint identification

Picture from Wikipedia

6. Founding Fathers

Picture from Wikipedia

7. Foreign Legion (or French Foreign Legion)

Picture from Wikipedia

8. Florida

9. Ford Mustang

Picture from Wikipedia

10. Florence Griffith Joyner

Picture from Wikipedia

As President Raúl Castro watched from the front row, Benedict focused on the need for Christian love in a country that has been under dictatorship for 50 years and until recently was officially atheist.

He referred to a biblical account of how children persecuted by the Babylonian king preferred to face death by fire rather than betray their faith.

“Cuba and the world need change, but this will occur only if each one is in a position to seek the truth and chooses the way of love, sowing reconciliation and fraternity,” he said.

Benedict said people find freedom when they seek the truth Christianity offers, but the pursuit of truth must be voluntary. “There are those who wrongly interpret this search for the truth, leading them to irrationality and fanaticism. They close themselves up in ‘their truth’ and try to impose it on others,” the pope said from the altar in front of an image of Cuba’s revolutionary hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a Marxist who oversaw the execution of scores of political opponents of leader Fidel Castro.

The retired Cuban leader — a onetime altar boy who was educated by Jesuit priests — met with the pope for 30 minutes after Wednesday’s Mass.

Fidel Castro essentially interviewed Benedict, asking him about the changes in church teachings since he was a child, what it’s like to be a pope and the challenges facing humanity, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, spokesman for the Vatican. Benedict raised issues such as the role of freedom and liberty, Lombardi said.

The meeting began with some jokes about their ages. Fidel Castro is 85, and Benedict will reach that milestone next month. “Yes, I’m old, but I can still do my job,” the pope said, according to Lombardi.

The U.S. State Department said it asked the pope to ask Cuban officials about the case of U.S. contractor Alan Gross, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for helping Cubans obtain Internet access. The Vatican said the pope made a “humanitarian request” of Raúl Castro but did not say whether specific cases of political prisoners were discussed.

Benedict began his trip Friday in Mexico. He arrived in Cuba on Monday and left Wednesday afternoon to return to Italy.

At the morning’s Mass, banners large and small filled the plaza, and many people took shade under umbrellas as announcers shouted, “Viva Cuba! Viva el Papa!”

“It’s a privilege for this country. We Catholics feel very honored,” said Maira Bisciedo, 60, who, along with three friends, wore white Pope Benedict XVI T-shirts and caps. “I hope there’ll be changes after this visit.”

Antonio Juan, a doctor, said Fidel Castro’s hostility toward the church is in the past, but it is not up to Catholics to change Cuba for the better. “It can’t depend on the pope whether things change more after this,” he said.

He said the Cuban people need improvements, such as in medical care. “We don’t have everything we need in the hospital,” Juan said. “We work but with great difficulty. There’s a lot of things we can’t get hold of because we don’t have resources.”

“The pope is something big for Cubans,” said Carlos Herrera, a tourism worker who came to the plaza with his wife. “I come to hear his words, wise words for the Cuban people. That helps us. It gives us peace, it gives us unity.”

Some Cubans said they were told to attend by their employers. The country is accustomed to organizing mass events, usually meant to show support for Fidel Castro.

The Vatican said the Plaza of the Revolution holds 600,000 people. It appeared nearly full.

Oswaldo Payá, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated activist and a Catholic, said many of his fellow activists who work for human rights and democracy were prevented from attending the Mass.

“The government repressed the arrival at the Mass of them,” he said. “I’m sad about that.”

Payá and other members of the Christian Liberation Movement founded the Varela Project, which collected more than 10,000 signatures from Cubans calling for a national referendum on political and economic change.

During the Mass, a man in the crowd shouted, “Pope, don’t leave until communism falls!” He was led away by men in plainclothes. The incident was similar to another during the pope’s Mass in Santiago on Monday, when a man shouted anti-government slogans before being beaten and hustled away.

“The state controls everything. The pope’s right. We need more independence,” said Jorge Rodríguez, 44, a hospital worker who was eating ice cream in central Havana. Rodríguez said religious freedom opened up a bit after a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1998, but not the economy. “People can own a private bed and breakfast, but the state controls it. I don’t think the visit will change anything,” he said.

Margarita Florez, 32, was selling hot dogs in central Havana and said the pope wasn’t speaking about Cuba in his homily. “He was talking about the entire world needing to find its freedom. I feel free here. I can do what I like. I can walk around at 3 a.m. In other countries, I’d be killed,” she said.

Raul Velascu, 52, who was selling sweets in the street, said the problem with Cuba is the economy. “We have great difficulties with the economy, but education, health is good.”

“I wish to call to give new vigor to their faith, to live for Christ and for Christ, and the weapons of peace, forgiveness and understanding, strive to build an open society and renewed, a better society more worthy of man, to reflect more the goodness of God, “Benedict said at the end of his homily, DPA reported.

The pontiff, who arrived on the island today from Mexico, also welcomed the “effort” and “devotion” of the Cubans in the “circumstances of their country.”

“I know how much effort, courage and devotion to work every day, in the particular circumstances of their country and in this time of history, the Church increasingly reflect its true face,” said the Pope in the central square of the second city of the island.

He also had words for families. Pope defended the dignity of human beings and said that God “has given the family founded on marriage, the high mission to be the fundamental unit of society and true domestic Church,” Efe reported.

Addressing the marriage, told them to be for their children “real and visible sign of Christ’s love for the Church.”

“Cuba needs the assurance of its fidelity, its unity, its capacity to serve human life, especially the most helpless and needy,” he said, a veiled condemnation of abortion.

The square, with a capacity of about 100,000 people, was filled gradually during the afternoon. It was Cuban pilgrims arrived from other provinces like Camaguey and Ciego de Avila. The Mass began about an hour behind the scheduled time.

Earlier, President Raul Castro criticized the U.S. embargo on the island for half a century in his message of welcome to the pontiff. The Cuban government expects the pope to rule on the island against the embargo, as did John Paul II during his 1998 visit.

Benedict’s visit has generated several expectations both inside and outside the island. The internal opposition and Cuban exile, mostly in Miami, expect the pope publicly addressed the situation of human rights in the country.

Tensions increased with dissidents in the days before the arrival of Joseph Ratzinger. Opposition sources accuse the authorities have made several arrests to prevent activists temporary as the Ladies in White to reach the mass.

The square, which was filled in the two hours before the Mass, wore a festive evening. The event was however marred briefly by the arrival of an alleged opposition activist who tried to reach the altar of Pope shouting slogans before being reduced by security.

“Down with Communism” shouted the man be removed from the square, as television cameras of the foreign press. The man was attacked by some people as he took out of place. The event then continued normally.

The pontiff was concluded earlier by the crowd with white handkerchiefs and small flags of the Vatican and Cuba to enter the square. The “Popemobile” was a circular route through the square. The place had pilgrims from different provinces and Santiago itself.

“They invited me to come,” said Hobert, 42, driver of the head of the jam factory in Santiago, which arrived in the square with several companions of his enterprise. The Cuban government today declared a holiday for state workers to attend mass.

Official language: Spanish

Land area: 42,427 sq mi/109,886 sq km

Population:  11,265,000

Dominant religion:  Christianity

Capital:  Havana

Current leader:  President Raul Castro

Cuba is an island country located in the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico. It is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Key West, Florida. It consists of one large main island and some 1,700 smaller offshore islands, most of them uninhabited. Cuba’s main island is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. For more than 50 years it has had the distinction of being the only communist-ruled country in the Western Hemisphere.

 Almost all Cubans are of either mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry or African and Spanish ancestry. Some are a mixture of all three. About 99 percent of the population lives on the main island. Most Cubans are Roman Catholics although the government tries to keep a lid on religion, fearing that it could undermine the government’s authority.

 Cuba is the world’s leading sugar cane exporter. Other major crops are bananas, oranges, mangoes and tobacco. Cuba is known worldwide for its high-quality cigars.

 Despite being a very poor country, due in part of the strict U.S. embargo, in many ways, Cubans enjoy relatively comfortable standard of living. It has one of the world’s high literacy rates. Education is free and schools are plentiful. Health care is also free and its health care system is considered to be one of the best in the world.

 Except for a brief spell from 1762 to 1763, when it was seized by the British, Cuba was a Spanish colony from the early-1500’s to 1898, when it was acquired by the United States from Spain following the Spanish-American War. The U.S. granted the country independence in 1902.

 During the 1930’s and 1940’s Cuba flourished as Latin America’s main center of culture and arts and was a top destination for the wealthy. However, this also helped create a frighteningly large gap between the rich and poor, the later becoming increasingly resentful. Rebels, led by Fidel Castro, who was aided by Che Guevara, drove then-dictator Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar from power. Castro assumed leadership and began slowly dismantling individual freedoms and taking complete control of the economy. Relations with U.S. deteriorated and Castro sought closer ties with the Soviet Union.

 In 1962, Cuban became ground zero for the most fearful moment during the Cold War when he allowed the Soviets to station nuclear-tipped guided missiles in the country. U.S. President John F. Kennedy ordered an immediate naval blockade of the country to stop the movement of Soviet missile. For thirteen harrowing days the world stood on the brink of the long-feared war between the world’s two most powerful countries. After feverish talks, the Soviet Union backed down from its decision to place the missiles in Cuba.