Fidel Castro Dies . . . Again! And this time it's for realz.

[Dr. MD MD]

Can't be too great if people have been risking their lives to leave that island ever since he took over.

People don't defect to Cuba either.

Oh, I'm sure a lot of those well trained docs would jump at the chance to be making a lot more money in a free market. 

[GravitySucks]

yep , did you ever read on how the cuban military goes around and takes aways peoples high powered tv and radio attennias so they wont be able to pick up american broadcasts.

I hadn't heard that. Do we still do those propaganda broadcasts on the radio?

[21st Century Man]

I wasn't necessarily being pro-Castro in my statement. I was just trying to be honest. I don't like when mafias are running things and working in collusion with governments. I think the initial sentiment regarding him after his revolution was similarly cautiously optimistic by our government and people then, at least outwardly, anyway. I believe he was even officially invited here by the Eisenhower admin. There are actually a lot of well trained docs there and drugs are super cheap. Regardless of what happens with Trump I think we'll have to go single payer eventually.

Maybe so.  I'll make a confession now.  I don't like what Castro stood for but when I saw him interviewed in the 70's and 80's, I kind of liked him.  He was affable and had a love for baseball which I shared. So I have very mixed feelings about the man on a personal level.  I don't like what he brought to Cuba though.

[Taco Bell]

I hadn't heard that. Do we still do those propaganda broadcasts on the radio?

Only in the form of Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.

[Dr. MD MD]

Maybe so.  I'll make a confession now.  I don't like what Castro stood for but when I saw him interviewed in the 70's and 80's, I kind of liked him.  He was affable and had a love for baseball which I shared. So I have very mixed feelings about the man on a personal level.  I don't like what he brought to Cuba though.

Yeah, my feelings are similarly mixed. Dictatorship is never a good thing. It's too bad he didn't eventually allow free elections but then again...the CIA. 

[norland2424]

I hadn't heard that. Do we still do those propaganda broadcasts on the radio?

im sure cuban tv in miami does.
http://www.futurodecuba.org/cubans_risk_raids_to_get_satelli.htm

[21st Century Man]

Soon to be in theaters.

[PB the Deplorable]

There will still even be a Castro in power.

Fidel retired and Raul replaced him quite awhile ago. 

[PB the Deplorable]

... Also, their health care system is actually better than ours in a lot of ways. 

And the Potemkin villages were the talk of Czarist Russia

[Dr. MD MD]

And the Potemkin villages were the talk of Czarist Russia

Yeah...no, I wasn't implying it was some sort of utopia, just that they got a few things right. 

[I Am Gary]

Rest in peace to a true freedom fighter. He freed his country and outlasted eleven imperial Zionist stooges.

So what's worse - a zionist or a communist. You stupid socialist fuck.

[WOTR]

As for their health care system,  all I've heard are Michael Moore's claims that it is a better system and I don't believe anything that fat prick says.

I don't know about their health care system in Cuba first hand, but from Forbes "Cuba treats healthcare as a human right, specifically stipulated in its constitution. Cuban nationals receive care for free, and have a neighborhood primary care physician who often knows them by name and sees them regularly."  I seem to recall reading that they have roughly twice the number of doctors per capita in Cuba as the US does...

If you pay attention to international news you will find that Cuba almost always sends more medical staff than other countries (including the US.) during a crisis.  When the US was actively discouraging doctors from going abroad to treat Ebola victims (quarantine, job loss etc), Cuba sent hundreds of doctors to work on the front lines (I seem to recall that dozens contracted ebola.)

To get you started, here is an article with the headline "Cuban medics in Hati put the world to shame." http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/cuban-medics-in-haiti-put-the-world-to-shame-2169415.html

Say what you want about Castro or the system, in general- but they do produce world renowned doctors by the thousands, and have tens of thousands abroad (some being paid, some for aid work, some for humanitarian work.)

[Dr. MD MD]

So what's worse - a zionist or a communist. You stupid socialist fuck.

DO we really have to pick one?! I mean, my choice would be neither, thanks. 

[(Reality)]

Rest in peace to a true freedom fighter. He freed his country and outlasted eleven imperial Zionist stooges.

I agree with you my friend.
He was an example how to protect your country from cruel outside imperialism.

[21st Century Man]

I don't know about their health care system in Cuba first hand, but from Forbes "Cuba treats healthcare as a human right, specifically stipulated in its constitution. Cuban nationals receive care for free, and have a neighborhood primary care physician who often knows them by name and sees them regularly."  I seem to recall reading that they have roughly twice the number of doctors per capita in Cuba as the US does...

If you pay attention to international news you will find that Cuba almost always sends more medical staff than other countries (including the US.) during a crisis.  When the US was actively discouraging doctors from going abroad to treat Ebola victims (quarantine, job loss etc), Cuba sent hundreds of doctors to work on the front lines (I seem to recall that dozens contracted ebola.)

To get you started, here is an article with the headline "Cuban medics in Hati put the world to shame." http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/cuban-medics-in-haiti-put-the-world-to-shame-2169415.html

Say what you want about Castro or the system, in general- but they do produce world renowned doctors by the thousands, and have tens of thousands abroad (some being paid, some for aid work, some for humanitarian work.)

I do think everyone should have equal access to healthcare and that is where our system fails us.  Cost should not be an issue when it comes to health treatment.  The poor should be able to get the same treatment as the rich when it comes to health matters.  That is where I diverge from many on the right.  The intricacies of such a system would have to be worked out. How do you keep pharmaceutical industry incentivized to search for new cures if they have a ceiling on their profits?  I don't know the answers to these questions.

[Dr. MD MD]

I do think everyone should have equal access to healthcare and that is where our system fails us.  Cost should not be an issue when it comes to health treatment.  The poor should be able to get the same treatment as the rich when it comes to health matters.  That is where I diverge from many on the right.  The intricacies of such a system would have to be worked out. How do you keep pharmaceutical industry incentivized to search for new cures if they have a ceiling on their profits?  I don't know the answers to these questions.

Well, I agree it is a dilemma. You certainly don't want to stifle innovation or eliminate the profit motive but there is a moral question aside from the economic one. Health is not only fundamental to the well being of individuals but to the society those individuals make up. So, achieving at least some baseline of health must be considered an essential service. We need clean water and trains that run on time too but would we as a country allow the people responsible for those things to hold us over a barrel economically? I doubt it. I guess what I'm saying is that large segments of our population including those involved with health care and the insurance industry need to be bitch slapped back into reality a bit. I'm all for free market capitalism but for some essential things we need to be socialist. Otherwise, what's the point of even having a country?! Corporations should be left to their own devices, for the most part but when they start gaining enough power to rival the very country from whose people and resources they draws their subsistence then it's like a growing rival faction attempting secession. I think this is where the socialist line needs to be drawn. 

[MV/Liberace!]

How do you keep pharmaceutical industry incentivized to search for new cures if they have a ceiling on their profits?

You don't. In some instances, profit concern is the very thing preventing certain types of pharma research.

We should set up government run, non-profit R&D labs to work on new pharmaceutical advancements, and any new discoveries should be open sourced for anyone to manufacture (provided manufacturers meet quality/safety standards).

[21st Century Man]

Well, I agree it is a dilemma. You certainly don't want to stifle innovation or eliminate the profit motive but there is a moral question aside from the economic one. Health is not only fundamental to the well being of individuals but to the society those individuals make up. So, achieving at least some baseline of health must be considered an essential service. We need clean water and trains that run on time too but would we as a country allow the people responsible for those things to hold us over a barrel economically? I doubt it. I guess what I'm saying is that large segments of our population including those involved with health care and the insurance industry need to be bitch slapped back into reality a bit. I'm all for free market capitalism but for some essential things we need to be socialist. Otherwise, what's the point of even having a country?! Corporations should be left to their own devices, for the most part but when they start gaining enough power to rival the very country from whose people and resources they draws their subsistence then it's like a growing rival faction attempting secession. I think this is where the socialist line needs to be drawn. 

Yeah, when we focus more on making money than actually helping people then we have probably lost our way.  It is a moral question for me.  I definitely think everybody should take responsibility for their own lives and a line needs to be drawn in the sand where charity ends but health issues arise that have nothing to do with diet but more with genetics.  I dislike the term socialism but I definitely think that sort of solution may need to be applied to health issues.

[21st Century Man]

You don't. In some instances, profit concern is the very thing preventing certain types of pharma research.

We should set up government run, non-profit R&D labs to work on new pharmaceutical advancements, and any new discoveries should be open sourced for anyone to manufacture (provided manufacturers meet quality/safety standards).

That's a good point and a worthwhile solution to consider.

[PB the Deplorable]

You don't. In some instances, profit concern is the very thing preventing certain types of pharma research.

We should set up government run, non-profit R&D labs to work on new pharmaceutical advancements, and any new discoveries should be open sourced for anyone to manufacture (provided manufacturers meet quality/safety standards).

Run by the people who run the other bureaucracies?  No thanks. 

People tend to see a few abuses in the business world, focus on that, and apply it to every other business.  Somehow the abuses and incompetence in government - which are always more and worse - are ignored or overlooked, because that's 'government service'.  Because they're the good people and mean well.  Do you really think your proposal would improve things?  Do you have evidence for it?

The US leads the world in new pharmaceuticals, in new medical procedures, and in new medical technology. 

The siren song of socialism will always be with us, unfortunately.  No need for evidence, let's just change everything.

[PB the Deplorable]

I don't know about their health care system in Cuba first hand, but from Forbes "Cuba treats healthcare as a human right, specifically stipulated in its constitution. Cuban nationals receive care for free, and have a neighborhood primary care physician who often knows them by name and sees them regularly."  I seem to recall reading that they have roughly twice the number of doctors per capita in Cuba as the US does...

If you pay attention to international news you will find that Cuba almost always sends more medical staff than other countries (including the US.) during a crisis.  When the US was actively discouraging doctors from going abroad to treat Ebola victims (quarantine, job loss etc), Cuba sent hundreds of doctors to work on the front lines (I seem to recall that dozens contracted ebola.)

To get you started, here is an article with the headline "Cuban medics in Hati put the world to shame." http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/cuban-medics-in-haiti-put-the-world-to-shame-2169415.html

Say what you want about Castro or the system, in general- but they do produce world renowned doctors by the thousands, and have tens of thousands abroad (some being paid, some for aid work, some for humanitarian work.)

Writing something in the Constitution of a dictatorship is meaningless.  Take a look at China's Constitution some time.  Or the one from the old Soviet Union.

The average Cuban receives poor treatment.  The fancy medical care is available only to elite party members and foreign tourists.  Even if the government cared about ordinary folks, the money isn't there.

Cuba sends doctors out to the rest of the world as a way for the regime to earn foreign exchange, and as a propaganda tool.  Neither of which benefit Cubans.


There is a big difference between health care, and health insurance coverage.  The US has the best healthcare in the world - the best trained doctors and nurses, the best hospitals, more equipment available per capita, shorter waits to see doctors and specialists, on and on. 

Prior to ObamaCare, the stat I saw was 85% of Americans were happy with their insurance.  I didn't see that disputed.  The new bill should have addressed the remaining 15%, not overturned the whole applecart.  I have no idea where we are today.  I doubt ObamaCare made thing better overall

[PB the Deplorable]

This is an op-ed piece, rather than a so-called 'news' article from Main Stream Media.  It came out around the time Obama tossed decades of a bi-partisan effort to contain Cuban mischief in our hemisphere, and encourage reform.  None of it is anything new, except for those who've only heard the Left-wing and Marxist propaganda about how terrible Cuba was before Fidel, and how wonderful they are doing now.

The truth is, Cuba was the most advanced country in Latin America by many metrics before Castro, and has been at or near the bottom since.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/12/cuba_before_castro.html

[Jackstar]

I don't see much point in participating (or even reading) this thread, given that I am sure that most of you have no Earthly idea that Castro was working hand-in-hand with the deep state since before Dulles was fired--and then, balls-in-mouth.

I'll leave you peasants to your grieving in peace. Namaste.

[Jackstar]

the most advanced country in Latin America by many metrics

see above, re: "balls-in-mouth"

[Jackstar]

yep , did you ever read on how the cuban military goes around and takes aways peoples high powered tv and radio attennias so they wont be able to pick up american broadcasts.

Yes, and when I read it, I figured out that they're doing that to prevent transmissions.

Let me guess--you were indoctrinated differently, nyet?

[GuerrillaUnReal]

F

[Juan]

Can't be too great if people have been risking their lives to leave that island ever since he took over.

People don't defect to Cuba either.

Cop killing Americans like Joanne Chesimard and international criminals like Mark Rich do.  And so did Circles Robinson.
fidel castro and his boy che killed a larger percentage of the Cuban population than Hitler killed European Jews.

[Jackstar]

Cop killing Americans like Joanne Chesimard and international criminals like Mark Rich do.

These criticisms seem oddly specific.

Hitler killed European Jews.

YouTube or it didn't happen.

[whoozit]

I usually don't celebrate the death of anyone but I'll make an exception for this piece of shit.  I sure hope it's hot in hell.  Too bad you won't meet any of my relatives you murdered there.

[Jackstar]

I sure hope it's hot in hell.  Too bad you won't meet any of my relatives you murdered there.

Why can't it be both?