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Internet-Spreading American Gets 15-Year Sentence In Cuba
decora writes "American social worker Alan Phillip Gross, who has spent years connecting developing countries to the internet, has been sentenced by a 'Security Court' in Cuba to 15 years in prison. His crime: 'Acts against the Independence and Territorial Integrity of the State.' The Cuban government also claimed he was trying to 'destroy the Revolution through the use of communication systems out of the control of authorities.'"
CIA-agent is more accurate. USAID is a CIA-cover.
I can't get upset about this. I feel it is bad enough that Americans with Cuban heritage have the right to visit Cuba while my government says that I am forbidden to do so. But this guy isn't Cuban (he's Jewish), yet somehow he get to go to Cuba on a tourist visa. He broke their laws (which really suck but he clearly knew their laws).
I can't get upset that I don't have the right to financially support a Communist island quasi-gulag, but I can understand why that pisses off "progressives" (those scare quotes are EARNED), so I empathize with you ... just a smidge. At the same time, so what if he "knew their laws"? No one should be punished for an unjust law. I'm sure the people in Cuba's prisons who are there for the horrible crime of criticizing the government would agree with that.
I'm sorry, what was I engaging my brain again? I just need to repeat, "They have Universal Health Care in Cuba!" over and over. War is Peace, Love is Hate. A=!A.
I don't make the rules. I just make fun of them.
Manning and Crowley criticised the US government ... Look what happened to them.
Manning indiscriminately sprewed hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents out the door in a fit of not liking the fact that he'd put himself - an angsty gay man - into a military job that really didn't suit his personality. The problem was that he didn't criticize the government, or use any of the many established mechanisms for pointing out specific acts or policies requiring wider whistleblower-style attention/coverage, and when straight for the personal drama (using the outlet set up by Assaange, who is also all about personal drama). He displayed the exact opposite of thoughtful, principled action. He had a tantrum.
Crowley, who worked in an appointed position at the pleasure of the chief executive, decided to deliberately call his chief executive's policies "stupid" (and more) in a public setting, for the press, and of course lost his job. He worked for the country's diplomatic wing, and showed the inability to be diplomatic and to uphold the policy positions of the person who put him in that job. So of course someone else is now going to have that job. Are you really so morally bankrupt that you can't grasp the distinction between that and being thrown in a Cuban jail for fifteen years for helping people get on the internet? Yeah, I guess you are. I don't know how you even manage to choose which brand of toothpaste to use, considering you have a case of mixed premises that bad.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.