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Here it is, the speech heard around the world today (Original Post) madokie Dec 2014 OP
A truly beautiful speech flamingdem Dec 2014 #1
I have tears listening to this madokie Dec 2014 #3
Some Afro Cuban music - this is for Ellegua the door opener - who clears obstacles flamingdem Dec 2014 #5
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! malaise Dec 2014 #10
Kick and rec to watch later. A huge day. morningfog Dec 2014 #2
Are we closing down Guantanomo Bay Aerows Dec 2014 #4
WHAT.THE.FUCK????????????????????? Schema Thing Dec 2014 #6
It's a perfectly legitimate question: Hissyspit Dec 2014 #16
Is addressing the huge elephant in the room Aerows Dec 2014 #21
... babylonsister Dec 2014 #7
+ 1000 countryjake Dec 2014 #18
Me too. Aerows Dec 2014 #22
Did you see this? countryjake Dec 2014 #24
At least there will be something Aerows Dec 2014 #25
About goddamned time Scootaloo Dec 2014 #8
Don't worry Aerows Dec 2014 #23
Here it is, the speech heard in Central America (you know states that start with a vowel, and such) Brother Buzz Dec 2014 #9
Mahalo madokie! Cha Dec 2014 #11
Mahalo Cha madokie Dec 2014 #13
And, I'm loving it.. thank you.. Cha Dec 2014 #14
I'm celebrating tonight come hell or high water madokie Dec 2014 #15
I was still reeling from all the Judicial Nominees CONFIRMED.. and our New SG, Dr Vetek Murthy.. Cha Dec 2014 #17
i've been on cloud nine since a couple days after the election madokie Dec 2014 #19
Precisely, madokie! Cha Dec 2014 #20
'Wonders Never Cease,' madokie. freshwest Dec 2014 #34
I'm liking our unleashed President madokie Dec 2014 #35
He's very aware of time. 'In my second term, I will have more flexibility.' ~ President Barack Obama freshwest Dec 2014 #36
Momentous! yellowwoodII Dec 2014 #12
Thanks, madokie! freshwest Dec 2014 #26
White House factsheet: charting a new course on Cuba malaise Dec 2014 #27
This should have been done years ago in my Opinion madokie Dec 2014 #28
Yessssssssssssssssss! malaise Dec 2014 #29
Our lame duck healed pretty fast, huh madokie Dec 2014 #30
Impeccable timing in more ways than one malaise Dec 2014 #31
Pour it in the sewer and try to float his way out of here madokie Dec 2014 #32
Yes. lovemydog Dec 2014 #33

flamingdem

(39,303 posts)
1. A truly beautiful speech
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:23 PM
Dec 2014

and I loved that he said about the lives of Cubans "no es facil" meaning "it's not easy" a saying every Cuban on the island uses.

madokie

(51,076 posts)
3. I have tears listening to this
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:27 PM
Dec 2014

tears of joy, no aprehensions, no regrets all just looking forward to the good that will come of this


I'm old enough to remember that C&H used to stand for Cuban and Hawaii sugar.

flamingdem

(39,303 posts)
5. Some Afro Cuban music - this is for Ellegua the door opener - who clears obstacles
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:32 PM
Dec 2014

- must have been many in Cuba thanking Ellegua today!

Hissyspit

(45,788 posts)
16. It's a perfectly legitimate question:
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 07:46 PM
Dec 2014

Last edited Thu Dec 18, 2014, 06:21 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.ibtimes.com/us-cuba-relations-guantanamo-bay-will-not-be-closed-part-thaw-white-house-says-1761851

US Cuba Relations: Guantanamo Bay Will Not Be Closed As Part Of Thaw, White House Says
By Dennis Lynch @neato_itsdennis on December 17 2014 4:56 PM

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base will not be under discussion, the White House said on Wednesday. U.S. President Barack Obama announces a shift in policy toward Cuba in an address to the nation from Washington, Dec. 17, 2014. Reuters/Doug Mills/Pool
Re-engagement with Cuba will not affect the status of the U.S.’ Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, the White House said Wednesday, according to McClatchy DC.

President Barack Obama's announcement of restored relations between the two companies came as Cuba released Alan Gross, an American who has been held there for five years. The U.S. released three Cuban nationals in exchange.

Cuba reportedly asked the U.S. to return Guantanamo, a 45-square-mile plot of land on the southeast tip of the island, but the U.S declined. American military has detained high-value prisoners captured in the War on Terror there since 2002.

Obama said his broad approach to Cuba will include re-establishing a diplomatic relationship, easing travel restrictions so as to reconnect families and promote economic growth in Cuba, and ending an embargo that went into effect in 1960. Lifting the embargo would require a vote in Congress.

The status of the Guantanamo Bay facilities is not mentioned in either of the White House’s press releases on Cuba, even though the administration stated it did in fact want to close the controversial facility. A number of Guantanamo prisoners -- who do not have the right of habeas corpus -- have gone on hunger strike to protest their continued imprisonment without trial.

A number of Guantanamo detainees were subject to the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques," which critics call torture, before they were interned there. An exhaustive report by the Senate Intelligence Committee released last week shed light on the tactics.



 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
21. Is addressing the huge elephant in the room
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 09:16 PM
Dec 2014

suddenly a reason for surprise?

I asked, because - Cuba. Guantanomo Bay. Place where we have people we've renditioned.

It seems sensible enough to inquire.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
22. Me too.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 09:18 PM
Dec 2014

We NEED some closure from that horrible blight on our nation's history. It isn't "inconvenient" to discuss it, it's an embarrassment that we have to in the first place.

countryjake

(8,554 posts)
24. Did you see this?
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 09:25 PM
Dec 2014

Last edited Wed Dec 17, 2014, 09:59 PM - Edit history (1)

American Torture -- Past, Present, and… Future?
Beyond the Senate Torture Report
Rebecca Gordon, The Torture Wars

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175934/tomgram%3A_rebecca_gordon%2C_the_torture_wars/#more


It’s the political story of the week in Washington. At long last, after the endless stalling and foot-shuffling, the arguments about redaction and CIA computer hacking, the claims that its release might stoke others out there in the Muslim world to violence and “throw the C.I.A. to the wolves,” the report—you know which one—is out. Or at least, the redacted executive summary of it is available to be read and, as Senator Mark Udall said before its release, “When this report is declassified, people will abhor what they read. They’re gonna be disgusted. They’re gonna be appalled. They’re gonna be shocked at what we did.”

So now we can finally consider the partial release of the long-awaited report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the gruesome CIA interrogation methods used during the Bush administration’s “Global War on Terror.” But here’s one important thing to keep in mind: this report addresses only the past practices of a single agency. Its narrow focus encourages us to believe that, whatever the CIA may have once done, that whole sorry torture chapter is now behind us.

In other words, the moment we get to read it, it’s already time to turn the page. So be shocked, be disgusted, be appalled, but don’t be fooled. The Senate torture report, so many years and obstacles in the making, should only be the starting point for a discussion, not the final word on US torture. Here’s why.

Mainstream coverage of US torture in general, and of this new report in particular, rests on three false assumptions:

1. The most important question is whether torture “worked.”

2. US torture ended when George W. Bush left office.

3. The only kind of torture that really “counts” happens in foreign war zones.

Let’s look at each of these in order.


Article was also published by The Nation.
 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
25. At least there will be something
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 09:33 PM
Dec 2014

heinous to focus on when the market crashes to direct the misery inward.

How's that thought for you?

I'm absolutely disgusted with our politicians, this celebrating that Obama opened trade with Cuba (which I DO agree with), while turning a blind eye to trade deals that will end 65% of the wealth of those who possess any of it, and lets our standing in the view of the world be degraded because on HIS, YOUR and MINE - our watch, we rectally fed human beings that we weren't even certain were guilty of a goddamned thing.

 

Scootaloo

(25,699 posts)
8. About goddamned time
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 07:09 PM
Dec 2014

The only part I'm a little leery of, is the notion of throwing hte doors open to American business and banking. That's proven, time and time again, to be an excellent way of ruining a developing nation's economy. However, i'm certai nthe cubans are well aware of this, and the topic will be worked over in detail as things progress.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
23. Don't worry
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 09:21 PM
Dec 2014

a huge crash is coming regardless because the default swaps were such a handy way to explain why the LAST economic train wreck occurred. Congress paved the way for yet another one, and I'm pretty sure it will destroy the FDIC this time.

I hope I'm being over-cautious and stating something that won't happen. I've lost that faith, though, because I've seen the cycles of every 7 years the market resets itself, and a HUGE one is coming.

Take your money out, a bit at a time, because if you have savings (which many people don't anymore, but I digress) you won't get saved this time.

madokie

(51,076 posts)
13. Mahalo Cha
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 07:30 PM
Dec 2014

Methinks the President is going to stick it to the pukes for these next two years. He has been unleashed and taking advantage of it

Cha

(295,899 posts)
17. I was still reeling from all the Judicial Nominees CONFIRMED.. and our New SG, Dr Vetek Murthy..
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 08:07 PM
Dec 2014

thanks to Cubano, Ted Cruz.

Ole!

madokie

(51,076 posts)
19. i've been on cloud nine since a couple days after the election
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 08:16 PM
Dec 2014

when I realized that President O was going to do what needed to be done, things that he legally can do that is. No way would he try or even want to do something illegal

Its almost like every day is another awesome day in the life of this old man and by extension the whole country, hell the whole world.

madokie

(51,076 posts)
35. I'm liking our unleashed President
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 05:44 PM
Dec 2014

from here on out all he has to do is be true to himself and I trust he will be surprising us with some awesome happenings. Things that should already have been done that now he can do that he doesn't have to worry with stepping on anyones toes while doing it. He's a smart man and I'd bet money that he is going to pull some things out of his hat that will surprise us all, all good stuff too. Like reclassifying weed and emptying out some of our prisons of non violent drug offenders etc.

The pukes have done pissed this man off and I'm happy to see it finally happen.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
36. He's very aware of time. 'In my second term, I will have more flexibility.' ~ President Barack Obama
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 06:29 PM
Dec 2014
Obama Has Released A 27-Point Plan For His Second Term, And It's A Doozy

Walter Hickey - Oct. 24, 2012



http://www.businessinsider.com/obamas-plan-second-term-economy-jobs-election-2012-10?op=1

The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another.

But above all, try something.

The millions who are in want will not stand by silently forever while the things to satisfy their needs are within easy reach.

We need enthusiasm, imagination and the ability to face facts, even unpleasant ones, bravely. We need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer. We need the courage of the young.

Yours is not the task of making your way in the world, but the task of remaking the world which you will find before you. May every one of us be granted the courage, the faith and the vision to give the best that is in us to that remaking!


Oglethorpe University Commencement Address (22 May 1932).

One paragraph at Wikipedia, split up by me. Yes, that was the intent of President Roosevelt, and that is what we need - not the slogans - not the labels - the intent behind things, with life being the most important thing.


madokie

(51,076 posts)
30. Our lame duck healed pretty fast, huh
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 08:52 AM
Dec 2014

piss on a bunch of asshole republiCONs who will try their damnedests to derail this big step in the right direction.


malaise

(267,801 posts)
31. Impeccable timing in more ways than one
Thu Dec 18, 2014, 09:08 AM
Dec 2014

Seriously that was a checkmate moment. Left them scrambling like typical ReTHUG morons.

Road kill Rubio exposed yet again that he is a sub-par amateur attempting to box way above his weight - I recommend that he grabs another bottle of water and heads back to the lower ranks where he belongs..

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