Fidel Castro: A Revolutionary Hero

I've been wanting to say something about Fidel Castro for ever now it seems but was never sure where or how to start. So to get the ball rolling.

This is one leader that I admire greatly. His resolve, determination and charisma are all traits to be worthy and admirable of.

Born in the caribbean island of Cuba he fought against imperialism and brutality of a terrorist dictator Fulgencio Batista, eventually ousting him in 1959. A revolutionary war known as the 26th of July Movement is what started his march to the top.

The entire history up to this point is very interesting. And if you have not yet, I suggest to read a bio of Fidel or the revolution in Cuba. I'll be posting up some short and interesting facts here myself in due time.

What's alarming and concerns me now is the $80M that George Bush has pledged to a Cuban Democracy Plan. He has outrightly said that he will fund this plan. If you don't believe me then visit this article from the BBCNews - US in $80m 'Cuba democracy' plan - 'they have a whole set of other intelligence.' And they're doing this in light of the fact that he's going to celebrate the 80th anniversary of his birthday in about 3 weeks. They're already planning his demise.

How blatant is that? If some other world leader made a pledge like that how do you think the Americans would react to that? To-date I have not heard of anyone condemning this action.

26th of July

Today is the 26th of July - the 47th anniversary of the overthrow of the Batista regime in Cuba by the revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, and named the 26th of July Movement.

I thought I would take some time to give you some highlights, courtesy of wikipedia.com, of the history of this movement. Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader and hero, is someone that I admire, and so I try to read up and know as much about the mindset of this persona as I can.

The 26th of July Movement (Spanish: Movimiento 26 de Julio) was the revolutionary organization led by Fidel Castro that in 1959 overthrew the Fulgencio Batista regime in Cuba. Its name originated from the attack on the Moncada Barracks, an army facility in Santiago, on July 26, 1953. The movement was re-organized in Mexico in 1955 by a group of exiled revolutionaries (including the brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro, and the Argentinian Che Guevara, numbering a mere 82 people). Their task was to form a disciplined guerrilla force ready to overthrow Batista. Some members of the movement remaining in Cuba carried out acts of sabotage and tried to stir up political discontent there.

On December 2, 1956, 82 men landed in Cuba, having sailed in the boat Granma from Tuxpan, Veracruz, ready to organize and lead a revolution. The early signs were not good for the movement. They landed in broad daylight and were attacked by the Cuban Air Force. Most of those who landed died after being fired upon by the Cuban Air Force. The landing party was split into two and wandered lost for two days, most of their supplies abandoned where they landed. Of the 82 who sailed aboard the Granma, only 12 eventually regrouped in the Sierra Maestra mountain range. There they encountered the Cuban Army. Guevara was shot in the neck and chest during the fighting, but was not severely injured, and continued to give first aid to other wounded guerillas. This was the opening phase of the war of the Cuban Revolution, which continued for the next two years. It ended in January 1959 after Batista fled Cuba on New Year's Eve. The movement's forces marched into Havana.

That's the short of it.

In Her Jeans

I had to write this down as it felt kinda strange for me. This morning I found myself walking to the stride of this lady in front of me. I saw her walk up the path in the subway and she happened to be walking in the same direction I was, so naturally we were in the same steps. And when she turned around and headed up that ramp – wow!!!

She was dressed in almost the perfect fitting jeans (and may the maker of the jeans rest in peace!) and they were hugging her just the right way. They were the tight fitting straight leg type (yes I know my jeans), kinda dark blue and she wore them with heels. Sunglasses over her hair like the movie stars do, blue sleeveless top and hand bag under her left arm. She had long legs and an upright posture. My eyes, while not glued to her posterior, well somewhat, were drawn to her body like a magnet.

She looked really good in her jeans and for some strange reason I found myself walking to her beat. She arrested my attention and seemed to hold it hostage as I was almost helpless in turning away. It was like there was no one else around and things just slowed down with each long, graceful step she took. I watched and studied the curve of her hips and the cup of her butt in the jeans. With each step, left…right…left…the up and down motion of her derriere had me hooked. It was like a hypnotist swinging his clock back and forth in an effort to hypnotize a patient. And so too was the very effect her steps had on me - with every up and down.

It was not lustful. She was just a thing of beauty in a pair of jeans that I saw this morning. It was not lustful. I just had to preserve and posses in my mind that which I was drawn to look at. She reminded me of someone I once knew – beautiful. What a way to start my day. And she has no idea the effect that she had or that she was the reason for my smile this morning.

The Internationale

This is the introduction to a topic of major interest to me. I happened to watch a PBS special (they have the most educational show, I mean it) on the tele tonight. this show was about the song 'The Interntionale.' Unfortunately I tuned in too late to get much information on the history/origin of this song but early enough to catch some pretty interesting information. This song seems to be the anthem of the oppressed and revolutionaries and was sung from way back when in the days of early wars, socialism and communisim to the students in China's Tiananmen Square.

Original English (translated) Lyrics

Arise, ye workers from your slumber,
Arise, ye prisoners of want.
For reason in revolt now thunders,
and at last ends the age of cant!
Away with all your superstitions,
Servile masses, arise, arise!
We'll change henceforth the old tradition,
And spurn the dust to win the prize!
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.

2nd Verse
No more deluded by reaction,
On tyrants only we'll make war!
The soldiers too will take strike action,
They'll break ranks and fight no more!
And if those cannibals keep trying,
To sacrifice us to their pride,
They soon shall hear the bullets flying,
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.

3rd Verse
No saviour from on high delivers,
No faith have we in prince or peer.
Our own right hand the chains must shiver,
Chains of hatred, greed and fear.
E'er the thieves will out with their booty,
And to all give a happier lot.
Each at his forge must do their duty,
And we'll strike the iron while it's hot.
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.

Here's a little history on this courtesy of Wikipedia.
The Interntionale (L'Internationale in French) was written in 1870 by Eugene Pottier (1816-1887) who was a French revolutionary socialist, poet and transport worker. Being a revolutionary it's no wonder that this song has all the makings of an-oppression and has become the anthem of socialist movements from since the days of it's writings.

The lyrics and the song have since transcended the mere socialist conditions that it was written about and can now be applied to every individual life and the oppression that it endures. From personal problems to more serious ills, this song has a place in all our hearts. My new favourite, an anthem I sing and a new source of revolutionary strength and meaning.

Below are links to the English, French and Spanish versions of this song. Please check it out and listen. Read the lyrics and see how it applies to you.

English Version
French Version
Spanish Version

If you have any memories or stories surrounding this song, please email them to me or place it in the comments as I will be composing for a later rant your stories. So please share them.

Zidane Apologizes To Fans

"I want to ask for forgiveness from all the children who watched," Zidane said.

Those were the words of Zinedine Zidane on French TV station Canal Plus. An apology was made but still no clarification on what Materazzi said that ignited this aggressive reaction from the lengendary player. But Zidane did however contine to hint that what was said was serious enough to evoke that action. And he made no apologies for it: "I can't regret what I did because it would mean that he (Materazzi) was right to say what he said". Of note should be the fact that he apologized to his fans for his behaviour but not the for his action and definitely not to Materazzi who in return sticks to his story that he did not insult Zidane's mother but did however say something insultive.

The French Team Welcomed Home


Look closely you can see that Materazzi is hiding something. First he says that he did not say anything insultive to Zidane then he says that what he said (meaning that he did say something) is something that's said many times on the pitch and that "It's true, I shot back with an insult."

So Zidane we're still waiting to hear exactly what Materazzi said.



Rumour has it now, and not so rumour coming from the source, that Fifa is investigating the head-butting incident and may strip Zidane of the best player title. But this coveted title was decided on by an independent group and not by Fifa, so it would be interesting to see how this fares. But I have every reason to believe that Zinedine Zidane will keep his title.

I can't say that I am all too pleased simply with just an apology from Zidane and neither are you reading this right now. I for one was at least hoping that Zidane would have revealed what Materazzi said to him that made him go off like that. But again I wait, we wait... But Zidane, come on and say what was said to you already! Gosh. Right now most of us don't really see what the big deal is - but why the secrecy?

So Zidane we heard your apology and we forgive you. Carry on! You legend has not been tarnished by your courageous decision, albeit foolish at the same time, to stand up for something that offended you and would be offensive to any of us had it been directed our way. We do not approve of your course of action - the way you chose to fight - but we do understand your reason for it. Somewhat at least. Well, some of us.

Read the full article - Zidane makes apology for headbutt - on BBCNews.com

Or Read the interview session.

Even as the light of attention seems to settle on the Italian celebrations on wining the World Cup 2006, one seems to be still shining, however fading, on the Zidane incident and indeed on the sport itself.

July 13th
Update: Zidane For President!
I just wanted to add this bit of information that I received not too long ago. In an article in the Wall Street Journal dated July 13th, 2006 says that a ruling party parliamentarian in France is demanding that Zidane be given a Legion d'honneur, France's highest decoration. Pretty soon we may be hearing the call for "Zidane For President." So let me be the first one to say it: Zidane For President! Zidane pour Presidente!

In addition to the honneur a French lawyer has declared yesterday that he will 'go to court to try to get the World Cup final invalidated on the grounds that Mr. Zidane's expulsion was illegal.' He wants to have the match replayed to prove the fact that with Zidane still playing, the game would have been won by France. I remind you of my chant at the opening of the game: "Zidane, Zidane he's our man, if he can't do it no one can!"



How crazy would that be if it were to happen. What do you think? Do you think that the game should be replayed in light of the fact that may have been an illegal expulsion? I think Italy won - the best team won that day. Let's just deal with the issue of Zidane and Materazzi and move on already.

Please feel free to leave me your comments and thoughts on this.

The Head-Butt Felt Around The World

Ok so this is the latest update that I have for you on this head-butting incident. And just like I thought something highly insultive and offensive was said to Zidane which forced this reaction from this cool guy. And to those dumbass anchor men (pardon my French) on tv and writers who don't know jack about the man let alone the game, who say with disgust 'how could the organization award the best player trophy to this man?' I say to you to be quiet. The sum of Zidane's collective efforts, his legend, in this entire tournament, nay his entire career does not boil down to this single incident. The man is a legend, the man remains the most outstanding player in this World Cup and without question he commanded the respect of the fans and fellow players - and that's most important, Mr. Prompt-Reader and Johnny Literature. But to stay on track here are some clippings from another BBC article "Materazzi denies terrorist insult", one I read today about the incident. [Read the BBC article to get the full story].

"I held his shirt, for only a few seconds," said Materazzi, who had scored Italy's equaliser after Zidane put France ahead from the penalty spot.

"He turned towards me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance,up and down.

"He said 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later.'

"It's true, I shot back with an insult."


This is the part that struck me the most from this article:

BBC Radio Five Live asked for help from a deaf lip reader, Jessica Rees, who read the words phonetically to an Italian translator.

She deciphered the insult as being "you're the son of a terrorist whore" - a translation also carried by many national newspapers in Britain on Tuesday.

The BBC's Ten O'Clock News also called in experts to study the television footage of the incident and determined the following:

Materazzi's first word to Zidane was "no" before he then told him to
"calm down".

He then accused him of being a "liar" and wished "an ugly death to you and your family" on the day the Frenchman's mother had been taken to hospital ill. This was followed by "Go f*** yourself".

So make of it what you will. But stay tuned for the full story, the truth of what happened as told by Zidane. I don't think I'll be posting any other speculation articles on until the Zidane himself says what has happened. And as I suspect he will be vindicated.

Zidane Nooooooooooo !!!!

That was the yell heard two floors up and one floor down in my building sending my neighbours in alarm. I apologize, but all is well. We all saw the game. We know that Italy won in penalties 5-3 after the extra time. But that which stands out most and will be remembered above all else in that game was the solid headbutt Zinedine Zidane landed in the chest of the seemingly innocent Materazzi which sent up flying off his feet landing hard on the pitch. This act rightfully won him the red card and an instant ejection from the game and the tournament. Hearts dropped like rocks as the red card went up, almost in slow motion, into the air! A seemingly sad end to a great career.



However, the question that remains and lingers on the minds of everyone is 'was he provoked?' Those who are quick to dismiss this as a mere act of aggression by a frustrated player would undoubtedly say 'no.' But for the rest of us, the more reasonably minded would venture to say 'yes' or even 'quite possibly.' As I watched the match and saw Zidane react that way my instant reaction was that he was provoked...something "very serious" must have been said to provoke this world class player in the final game of the most prestigious competition and in the final game of his career for him to even risk something like that, let alone to do it. So what was said? My thoughts were that Materazzi must have insulted Zidane's mother; others, along with me, thought also that he must have made some racist remarks. Coming from the tensions with the Spain game where Spain's coach was fined for racist remarks which he still has not apologized for against team-mate Thierry Henry would be a sensitive spot for the captain of the defending World Champions.

So the speculations continue and with no word yet from the captain as to the provocation only lends fuel to the growing speculation. And added to that Materazzi's silence only gives credit to the assumptions that he did indeed provoke the captain with some insultive remarks. And what he did say only made him more guilty: " "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means," the Italian news agency Ansa quoted Materazzi as saying..." This is an excerpt from the recently publiched BBC article - Zidane blames Materazzi insults - about the headbutting incident. Oh. My. Goodness! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Can Materazzi actually expect us to believe that he doesn't know what the word terrorist means. He has either been living under a rock in a hole somewhere, incredibly stupid or very insultive of all our intelligence, individually and collectively, if he expects us to believe he does not know the meaning of the word terrorist. That statement alone lets me know that he is guilty of something. And for those who might say otherwise this is a direct quote from an Italian paper by an Italian who questioned him in Italy. [Read the BBC article for the full story]

Like the article says we should be getting some more news on this next week. So for now we wait and in the meantime we speculate. Already it's amazing how many articles have been written condeming Zidane's actions, ridiculing the man and the player. Those are the very same ones who will get their foot in their mouths when the true story comes out and they are wrong - too quick to judge.



But despite their rapid praise to criticism, inspite of the red card Zidane, the most hopeful to lead his team to victory with the most consistent thumbs up, won the Golden Ball award for the World Cup's Best Player.

For now I'm agreeing with those who say that he should have reacted differently, no matter what was said to him. Very little justifies acts of physical aggression towards someone else especially in a regulated and friendly zone as the football pitch of the worldcup finals. But if it turns out that Materazzi did make racial slurs or offensive remarks I hope the light of judgement and the sharp forked pencils and tongues of those many writers who are quick on the tip aim this light at the true culprit of this incident and highlight this act for the rest to know what it really is.

The life's lesson here, as my friend's mom pointed out, is that you could be on the top and have everything going for you with the world cheering you on and in a minute it could all just fall apart from one silly spur-of-the-moment judgement-call/action. These were not her exact words but it is to the effect what she said.

Was this the act of a man who acts aggresively or was this the stance of a legend, a conscious man standing up? Let's wait to find out. In the meantime let's get back unto the pitch and play ball.

World Cup Finals France vs Italy

So with World Cup 2006 about to end and the final game between France and Italy only a few hours away, I thought I'd come on and post one of my last thoughts on the games so far. First off, I'm supporting France - experience and skill over all other. But as a Friend pointed out to me, we really shouldn't support any team that puts out Brazil - our team - and any team that puts them out is the enemy. Hahaha I so agree with that! So the enemy plays Italy today. But the odds and the stats so favour France in this final, and if there's a team who is going to win or should win, statistically, it's them, France. So instead of saying that I support France - I say that France is going to win - but I hope they get beat for putting out Brazil.

So on to my predictions! I predict France takes it in 2 ... by 2 and one goal is going to be scored by Zidane. Because you know that "Zidane, Zidane, he's our man, if he can't do it no one can!"

By now you may have heard, or not, the allegations of match fixing and rumours of sells. The Greeks have recently been baned by Fifa for just such acts. And more rumours seem to be surfacing, so as I get hold of them I'll let you guys know.

So enjoy the game today!

Which World Cup Team Has The Hottest Fans?

Ok, so I have checked out several photos on flickr, bbc and else where of fans from the different countries taking part in World Cup 2006. And many of them seem incredible. But from what I have seen Brazil and Argentina seem to have the hottest fans. And if I had to chose between the two I'd go with Brazil. To try to help me decide and for you to understand why I chose Brazil below are the postings of 6 fan fotos; 3 Brazilian and 3 Argentinian. And then there's this bonus Brazilian fan foto that I just had to put on there (thanks alexpn for the great eye). So my list of top 5 hottest fans are as follows:
1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Sweden
4. Trinidad & Tobago
5. Germany.

And Oh My Gosh - The Swedish fans are so Poppin!!!


Brazil Fans

Who Is She?
,



Bonus Foto



Argentina Fans

,

It was indeed a very hard decision. And I think I'll make an album of the hottest 3 fans from each country and ask you guys to vote on it. But feel free to let me know what you think of my current picks. Aren't they just freaking hott!

World Cup 2006 Blues

How well it fares that my very first blog entry is a mild rant on the world cup remains to be seen, but I just needed to as that was the very last thing of interest impressed upon me. I'm talking particular of the games yesterday: England vs Portgual and Brazil vs France. Both upsets and disappointments, not just for me but for many fans out there. My predictions for this world cup was a final between England and Brazil. Well as you can tell my abilities to predict the furture of world cup is not very on point. But it was not all without merit.

Both of the teams I thought would make it to the final round lost and in the same day. The most disheartening was the lost by Brazil to France, not so much England. That's because I felt that England has not been that impressive through-out and were basically riding on luck which ran out yesterday. And now Beckham has quit as England's captain. But Brazil, the World Cup hopefuls, the ones that so many critics, futurists and psychics had predicted, much like myself to win, lost. Kudos to France they played a great game.





So now I am trying to figure out who's going to make it to the finals. An all European finals is ont one embraced by many people but does not matter much to me because the best teams will be the best teams and the ones who make it to the latter rounds. But there's already talk of major irregularities and cheatings in this cup, espcially with the lost by Argetina to the Germans. There's talk of the Argetinian goal keeper being passed a paper just before the pentalies. What was written on this paper I do not know know, by the talk seems to be in the direction that it was brief stats. on the kickers. I would assume it's information on the side they would likely take their shot, giving the goalkeeper an advantage. But so far it's all talk.

So now with Brazil, the team with the hottest looking fans, out most of us have to try to find another champion. For me both France and Portugal have played impressively. I'm not too sure of Italy, though some seem to feel that they are right up in there. But we'll see.