Slashdot Mirror
No OLPCs for Cuba, Ever
An anonymous reader writes "In a move going largely unnoticed by developers, the OLPC project now requires all submissions to be hosted in the RedHat Fedora project. While this may not seem like a big deal, the implications are interesting. First, contributors have to sign the Fedora Project Individual Contributor License Agreement. By being forced to submit contributions to the Fedora repository they automatically fall under the provisions of US export law. So, no OLPC for Cuba, Syria and the like. Ever."
I know we like to blame the UN for everything here at Slashdot, but the embargo against Cuba was enacted by President Kennedy in 1961, with the total travel ban enacted in 1963. The UN certainly has its hands in a lot of useless sanctions, but to pretend the UN is responsible for the Cuba situation, or that the US does not exert tremendous influence over the UN, is just flat wrong.
No - if Cuba wants the embargo lifted - they need to persuade the politically strong Cuban-American groups that work so hard to keep the embargo in place. This issue, like so many others - has deeper roots and issues than your humorous comment allows.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I think GP was reacting to the rather more ridiculous contention that American politicians by and large give more of a crap about the people they govern than politicans in other countries. That the countervailing evidence manifests as health insurance being inaccessible for a huge swath of the working population (when a good portion of the rest of the world has amply demonstrated is not a necessary situation), and the prosecution of an transpatently profiteering war that has killed tens (hundreds?) of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of Americans (which most of the rest of the world considered if not illegal than just plain stupid to get involved in), is simply a reflection of our own neuroses. Other countries screw over their people in different ways, according to different guiding ideologies.
All the techniques ever used to make men moral have been themselves thoroughly immoral... (Nietzsche)
No. Not necessarely at least.
When Castro dies, his brother Ramon will take over. And he is a stalinist-type communist.
Fidel himself was not a (pure) communist from the beginning, but as Cuba was isolated by USA after the revolution he had to go to Soviet for help (economical and other).
And by that the regime went to communism.
Mundus Vult Decipi
But Cuba's main agricultural product, besides tobacco, is sugar, and the US has had high tariffs on sugar for a long time. Not only does that prop up US sugar producers (mainly Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida_) by keeping the US sugar price far higher than the world average, but the High-Fructose Corn Syrup lobby likes high sugar prices because they can put their dreck into our soda, while the rest of the world gets to have Coke with real sugar in it. So the Archer Daniels Midland gang also don't want free trade with Cuba.
I'd recommend that next time you're in Canada, you get some Cuban cigars, except for the problem that they put carcinogenic flammable tobacco products in the things....
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Good luck with that.
If you've travelled abroad lately from the US, you know that the folks at Homeland Security take their jobs very seriously. Also, the State Department has been nailing US citizens who have visited Cuba without authorization with very stiff fines. When they do find out you've visited there from a 3rd country (and they will), expect a registered letter or summons to appear in federal court. It's happened to people I know. Fines and court fees can run in the thousands of dollars.
Cuban products are also considered contraband in the US and therefore are just as illegal as if you were smuggling pot or cocaine. If you are found with cuban made cigars, rum, etc. on your person that you have not declared, you can be detained, prosecuted, fined, and possibly jailed if you get a nasty prosecutor. Not at all worth it for an authentic mojito and a few cojibas IMHO.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
Fixed it for ya.
Oh, damn, I didn't see the "don't feed the trolls" sign. Sorry.
"Hey, the third matrix movie would have been good except for the plot,story, and acting." --AC
lol, you do realize Castro's family was rich and was part of the ruling class in Cuba BEFORE the revolution. Same with Che Guevara's. Guess what plantation was the first one given over to the "people" Castro's mother's. Castro gave everything his family owned to the people.
Castro lives in a shack compared to the average upper middle class in the US.
When I say that children will get the best first in Cuba its just a continuation of their philosophy. Schools have better computers than banks in Cuba. If you aren't working you are in school in Cuba. They know its the best defense against being exploited again. You can't exploit a society thats smarter than yours.
What you need to do is assume everything you hear on Fox news is the opposite of how it is in Cuba.
What gave you that idea? US citizens are banned from traveling to Cuba except for educational or humanitarian purposes. The fines tend to be in the $30,000-$40,000 range. They didn't enforce it very often until the current administration took office, but now it is very common.
Here's a perk of living in (even rural) Canada: I go down to the garage/general/liquor store, and there on the shelf is Havana Club, "Ron puro Cubano," mmm, great is right. And cuban coffee in the cupboard, it's only pretty good but it's organic.
There may be long-term competitive benefits accruing to Cuba out of the blockade and its hardships.
The whole island has pretty much gone organic, as part of the austerity produced by the embargo, and they're trying to turn that constraint into a strength. When the embargo finally drops in the US, watch for cuban specialty products showing up in the organic food stores.
They need an internationally credible domestic certification system to really flourish, however the embargo has forced them to look hard at their local food security, so they'd be okay if international trade was interrupted. They have international trade in things like organic fruits and coffee, and they've made interesting innovations with domestic distribution in mind, like the Organopónicos.
The embargo has created constraints that make it an interesting testbed for development without the overwhelming influence of large transnationals. It's a race between the international organic sector to help establish Cuba as an entrenched organic ag system and the influx of Life Sciences transnationals that might happen if there's regime change.
Cuba's ripe turf for donated linux-ready systems, so support that goal in some way. There's enough real zeal for independence and common interests to make it a interesting test bed for a society running on open-source software.
Damn those pesky terrorists