Cuban Cigars for EVERYONE!
The Gist
In a HUGE departure from stated American foreign
policy goals, the Obama administration said it will start the process of normalizing relations with our communist neighbor, Cuba. Cuba is currently one of five
countries that the Unites States does not have relations with (the others are:
Iran, North Korea, Bhutan, and Taiwan). The United States severed relations in
January 1961. The back channeling that got us here was helped by the
media-loved Pope Francis, pot-loving President Jose Mucia of Uruguay and the
ever likable Canadians. The announcement is seen as an admittance by the
United States that isolating a country diplomatically and economically simply
does not work (fifty years later and a Castro still rules Cuba). The Cuban
expatriate community reaction, which is primarily Republican, will probably be mixed.
On the one hand, they will be able to send much needed American dollars back
home with less problems. On the other hand they might see this move as an
acceptance that Cuba will not return to the days when Havana was a capitalist
haven (and a haven for organized crime: Lucky Luciano held his famous Havana
Conference at the mafia run Hotel Nacional). Reaction on Capitol was, unsurprisingly, divided among party lines (Cuban-American Senators Cruz, Menendez and Rubio were quick to comment). More important than the enormous geopolitical implications of this announcement, is the fact that lawyers, frat guys and businessmen
all over America may be able to smoke Cuban cigars once more (CNN broke down the Cuban embargo for us)…and now you know
the gist.
The Disaster in Bhopal, India
The Gist
December 3rd marked the 30th anniversary of the Union Carbide explosion in Bhopal, India that killed several thousand and affected hundreds of thousands more. The plant's owner, Union Carbide, still contends the accident was an act of sabotage by a disgruntled employee (not, as many others contend, by lax safety protocols). Photographer Raghu Rai took heart wrenching photos of Bhopal in the days after the disaster and recently returned to photograph the people of Bhopal. To this day, many survivors suffer serious ailments or have children with birth defects because of the initial exposure to the toxic gas (or later exposure to contaminated drinking water). The area also has an alarmingly high cancer rate. Although the Indian government brought criminal charges against Union Carbide and its then chairman Warren Anderson (who has since passed away), both refused to partake in any proceeding. Union Carbide (now owned by Dow Chemical) provided $470 million to victims (activist say this is only half of what experts say is necessary to rehabilitate survivors). An Indian court recently sent Dow Chemical a summons to explain why it’s wholly owned subsidiary has not taken responsibility for their part in the worst industrial accident in history. If, like many suspect, Dow Chemical ignores the summons, the thousands of activists and survivors will simply keep shouting until one can’t help but listen…and now you know the gist.
Eric Garner, Cattle, and Bill O'Reilly
The Gist
Eric Garner died after he was put in a choke hold, banned by the NYPD since 1993, by police officer Daniel Pantaleo who believed Garner was selling black market cigarettes. Although the grand jury was able to see the video that caught the whole incident (where Garner is heard to say “I can’t breathe” numerous times), they still didn't think it appropriate to indict Pantaleo. In order to indict, 12 of the 23 jurors on the grand jury must find the evidence presented to them is both legally sufficient and provides reasonable cause to believe that the defendant has committed the crime. A grand jury is considered a tool for prosecutors, who can offer a certain version of a story and do not have to present evidence that could exonerate the perpetrator. Defenders of Pantaleo allege that he was not using the choke hold (which he testified to at the grand jury), but rather a technique taught at the police academy and, had Garner not suffered from asthma and heart disease, he would have survived the incident. Others, say the chokehold/appropriate-police-academy-taught-maneuver was grossly disproportionate considering Garner had his hands up, was outnumbered and did not threaten the police officers. The Atlantic wrote a fascinating story that asked readers the following:
“imagine that Eric Garner had been white….the police hassled Garner because he had a history of selling untaxed cigarettes….the kind of big-government intrusion that drives Tea Partiers nuts…[this case] bears some resemblance to that of Cliven Bundy, the…rancher who…prevented Bureau of Land Management agents from impounding his cattle after he refused to pay government grazing fees. Like Garner, Bundy was engaged in a form of commerce he believed the government should not tax… [he] resisted law enforcement’s efforts to punish him for it. For many conservatives, this made Bundy a hero….”
One does have to wonder why the grand jury decided decided not to indict when such polar opposites as Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart agree it should have…and now you know the gist.
Mustaches.
The Gist
With November over, there should be a lot more clean-shaven men on the streets. Since 2004, the Australian charity Movember has both raised awareness of and millions for men’s health issues. Facial hair for men goes in and out of style, but for the majority of history it was seen as a sign that a boy was finally a man. In the Middle East, facial hair (or lack of facial hair) can even be a provocative political statement. CBS Sunday Morning recently did a piece on the World Beard and Mustache Championships, where one could see the Garibaldi (pictured), the English Mustache, the Dali Mustache, the Imperial Part Beard, the Amish beard, and the Fu Manchu, among others. Beards aside, the Movember organization has raised awareness on topics that are rarely talked about, not least because men don’t really like talking about their testicles and prostate (at least outside of a l0ckeroom). Over 8,000 men will be diagnosed with testicular cancer (which usually occurs in younger men) and over 230,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer (which usually happens in older men). Although statistically six million men suffer from depression in this country (depression peaks in men in their 20s and again in their 60s), the real figure is probably higher because depression, like anxiety, manifests itself differently in men than in women. To date, Movemeber has raised close to $200 million worldwide…and now you know the gist.
