U.S. policy elevated Castro

[CHIMO]

OTTAWA -- In sickness and in health, Cuban President Fidel Castro casts a long shadow over the world. It seems hard to believe that such a small country, with no discernible petroleum resources and little economic strength, could loom so large in the geopolitics of the Americas.

While U.S. President George W. Bush refused to speculate on the state of Castro's health this week, he did say he hoped Cuba would soon transition to a less "tyrannical" society.

Revered in Latin America

In the end, Castro was rebuffed and Gore lost the presidency. Who knows how an American-Cuban rapprochement might have helped Gore's presidential ambitions? Had Gore seized the opportunity to reach out, history might have been different. Any future handshake will now be up to others.


http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Copps_Sheila/2006/08/09/1725456.html

[bbinacan]

1. I've been out of the loop,

Do we know if Castro is alive?

[elocs]

2. Maybe it's like the old joke:

A guy goes out of town and asks his brother to look after his cat and to check on their mother.
First day away, the brother calls and asks his sibling:

"How's Mom?"

"Mom's fine, the sibling replies"

"How's the cat?"

“The cat is fine.”

Second day on vacation, same questions with same answers. Third day, the brother asks:

"How's Mom?"

"Mom's fine."

"How's the cat?"

"The cat died."

The brother loved the cat and after calming down tells his sibling that in the future he needs to use more tact in breaking bad news. Bad news should be gently told in three stages. On the first telephone call the sibling should say something like "The cat is on the roof." On the next telephone call say something like "The cat fell off the roof and broke his leg." Then on the third call, tell the person the cat took a turn for the worse and died. It's a gentler way to break the news and it prepares the listener for the bad news. "You get the picture?" The sibling said he did.

So, the brother calls back the next day and asks, "How's Mom?" The sibling pauses for a moment and then answers, "Mom's on the roof."

Maybe Castro is on the roof.

[bbinacan]

3. I think you maybe right. n/t