LET'S FIGHT BACK

LET'S FIGHT BACK
GOD BLESS AMERICA

Friday, March 31, 2017

Australia: Muslim MP wants to make offending Muslims a criminal offense

Australia: Muslim MP wants to make offending Muslims a criminal offense

Iran sentences man to death for insulting Islam after promising pardon if he confessed

Iran sentences man to death for insulting Islam after promising pardon if he confessed

North Chicago: Muslim cop who claims “Islamophobic” harassment made anti-Semitic remarks

North Chicago: Muslim cop who claims “Islamophobic” harassment made anti-Semitic remarks

Pakistan: Prosecutor tells jailed Christians he’ll acquit them if they embrace Islam

Pakistan: Prosecutor tells jailed Christians he’ll acquit them if they embrace Islam

UK cops actively sought out “Islamophobia” reports after Westminster jihad attack

UK cops actively sought out “Islamophobia” reports after Westminster jihad attack

Shalom Cuba- Issue 4

 
A publication of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS)
NEWS
As Cuba’s economy flat-lines, pensions must be supplemented by whatever work is available
By The Economist
Though revolutionary Cuba had one of the region’s earliest and most comprehensive pension systems, in recent years retirement has almost vanished... 
Read story »
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Cuba: New Crackdown on Civil Society
By Freedom House
“The government of Cuba is trying to silence anyone bringing attention to the arrests and imprisonment of critics, including members of UNPACU,” said Carlos Ponce, director for Latin America programs...
Read story »
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Christie Renews Call to Demand Cuba Return Convicted Killer
By AP
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has again called on the federal government to have Cuba return a woman convicted in the murder of a state trooper...
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SPOTLIGHT
What a Holocaust Survivor Can Teach Cuban-Americans about Fighting Evil
By Jose Azel
When Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, the Nobel Committee called him a “messenger to mankind.” The Romanian-born, American Jewish writer, professor, political activist and Holocaust survivor was the author of 57 books, most famously Night, based on his experiences as a 15 year old prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps... 
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Cuban dissident leader to Trump: ‘Treat Cuba like a dictatorship’
By Nora Gamez Torres
Frustrated by what they see as “indolence” from the previous administration, some Cuban government opponents are urging President Donald Trump to backtrack current Cuba policy and speak out about increased government repression on the island...
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Cuba’s Continuous Support for Terrorism
By Jaime Suchlicki
Iran, Cuba and Venezuela have developed a close and cooperative relationship against the U.S. and in support of terrorist groups and states. The three regimes increasingly coordinate their policies and resources in a three way partnership aimed at counteracting and circumventing U.S. policies in the Middle East and Latin America. Within this relationship, Cuba plays a strategic role in terms of geography (proximity to the U.S.), intelligence gathering (both electronic eavesdropping and human espionage) and logistic..
Read story »
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Share your thoughts on Shalom Cuba with us at iccas@miami.edu  
Editor, Web and Digital, Shalom Cuba
Jennifer Hernandez
Published by the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) Copyright © 2017 
University of Miami

Laura Ingraham 3/30/17 - Republicans Are Going To Get Health-Care Replac...

Hannity 3/30/17 - Sean Hannity Podcast March 30,2017 | Sean Interview Au...

Watters' World 3⁄30⁄2017 Jesse Watters Show March 30, 2017

The O'Reilly Factor. March 30, 2017

Fox & Friends. March 30, 2017

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The Savage Nation with Michael Savage - March 30 2017 [HOUR 2, HOUR 3]

Alex Jones (FULL SHOW Commercial Free) Thursday 3/30/17: James Wesley Ra...

Rush Limbaugh Thursday - March 30,2017

Mark Levin Show 03-30-2017

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Jihad Watch – Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Jihad Watch – Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Canada: Imam fears backlash after London jihad attack, says he shouldn’t have to condemn jihad massacres

Canada: Imam fears backlash after London jihad attack, says he shouldn’t have to condemn jihad massacres

UK: Muslim prisoner pours boiling fat over other prisoner’s head because of “insult to Islam”

UK: Muslim prisoner pours boiling fat over other prisoner’s head because of “insult to Islam”

Islamic State stones to death a youth accused of homosexuality in Mosul

Islamic State stones to death a youth accused of homosexuality in Mosul

Hugh Fitzgerald: An Independent Kurdistan: Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Plan

Hugh Fitzgerald: An Independent Kurdistan: Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Plan

Video: Robert Spencer on Newsmax’s Malzberg: FBI Wanted Pamela Geller and Me Dead in Garland Jihad Attack

Video: Robert Spencer on Newsmax’s Malzberg: FBI Wanted Pamela Geller and Me Dead in Garland Jihad Attack

Detroit: Muslim threatened to attack church for ISIS, US Attorney says “he lacks self-control”

Detroit: Muslim threatened to attack church for ISIS, US Attorney says “he lacks self-control”

FOX & Friends 8AM 3/28/17 | Fox News March 28, 2017

Your World with Neil Cavuto 3/28/17 | NEIL CAVUTO Fox News March 28, 2017

The Five 3/28/17 | The Five Fox News March 28, 2017

The O'Reilly Factor News Show March 28, 2017

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT ¦ Fox Business ¦ March 29, 2017 ALERT NEWS

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Hannity 3/28/17 - Sean Hannity Podcast March 28,2017 | Sean Interview Ne...

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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

FBI agent “didn’t try to stop” Garland jihad attackers — did FBI want Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer dead?

FBI agent “didn’t try to stop” Garland jihad attackers — did FBI want Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer dead?

Pakistani government: Facebook heeded its demand and has removed 85% of “blasphemous” material

Pakistani government: Facebook heeded its demand and has removed 85% of “blasphemous” material

Iowa State University asks students to write about 9/11 jihad attacks from jihadis’ perspective

Iowa State University asks students to write about 9/11 jihad attacks from jihadis’ perspective

Florida: Muslim prof teaches Islam as fact, Christian student disagrees, gets suspended, police report filed

Florida: Muslim prof teaches Islam as fact, Christian student disagrees, gets suspended, police report filed

Australia: Muslim leader says people who leave Islam should be put to death

Australia: Muslim leader says people who leave Islam should be put to death

London jihadi’s daughter refused his pressure to convert to Islam, wear a niqab

London jihadi’s daughter refused his pressure to convert to Islam, wear a niqab

London jihad murderer was receiving welfare checks

London jihad murderer was receiving welfare checks

France’s Hollande says his final mission is to ensure that “populism, nationalism and extremism cannot win”

France’s Hollande says his final mission is to ensure that “populism, nationalism and extremism cannot win”

UK: Muslim pol says London jihadi was “violent Christian before he was a violent Muslim”

UK: Muslim pol says London jihadi was “violent Christian before he was a violent Muslim”

2017 ASCE Conference Abstract Submission



CALL FOR ABSTRACTS / PAPERS / PANELS

ASCE’s Twenty Seventh Annual Meeting: “Cuba: Navigating in a Turbulent World”

Requirements: Abstracts, papers, and/or panel proposals should describe original work related to the economy of Cuba in a broad sense, including legal, sectoral, and social aspects of economic development.  Abstracts must not exceed 250 word and must be accompanied by a 150 biography for each author.  There are two ways to submit an abstract.  Abstracts can be submitted through the on-line submission system below which is the preferred option.  To submit through the abstract submission system you will need to register and then proceed to the on-line submission system.  Options to add additional authors are given by the blue circle on the right hand side of the submission form.
If you have difficulties with the on-line submission system you can alternatively submit an abstract and biographies via email to asce@ascecuba.org.  For email submission include the words “ASCE CONFERENCE ABSTRACT” in the subject line.  Authors of accepted papers will be required to register for the annual conference.

Deadlines for submitting papers for the conference

  • Abstract submission deadline: April 1, 2017
  • Notification of acceptance: May 1, 2016
  • ASCE XXVII Annual Conference: July 27 – July 29, 2017
  • Draft papers due: July 15, 2017
  • Final papers for proceedings due: September 15, 2017

Monday, March 27, 2017

We the People

the AZEL

PERSPECTIVE

Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 67
 


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The constitutions of Latin American countries, almost without exception, begin with a sentence exalting the nation-state or highlighting the patriarchal role of the elected representatives. “We the representatives of the people of Costa Rica…, The Congress of the Republic of Venezuela…, The Constituent Congress (of Peru) invoking God Almighty…, The sovereign nation and its government (of the Dominican Republic)…We the deputies (of Honduras)…Bolivia, free, independent, sovereign…,The Panamanian Nation.., The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is the political association…”
Generally, the constitutions then go on to mandate, in insufferable paternalistic detail, what values the citizenry and the State ought to uphold. For example, Article 8 of the Bolivian constitution dictates that “Each person has the following fundamental duties: (b) To work… in socially useful activities. (c) To attend at least primary school, (e) To assist, feed, and educate his/her children…and to assist ones parents when they are sick… (g) To cooperate with the State and the community…” All laudable aspirations, but do we need to be ordered to do this by the constitution?
 
Article 4 of the Nicaraguan Constitution charges the State with “promoting and guaranteeing advances in the social character to assure the common good…” The Paraguayan constitution, in article 6, asserts that “the quality of life will be promoted by the State with plans and policies that recognize conditional factors…” Peru, in article 2 (6), wants to insure that “information services…do not provide information that affect personal or familiar intimacy.” And Ecuador requires the State to plan the national development, to eradicate poverty…so as to have access to the good life.
 
In vivid contrast, the United States Constitution-the shortest written constitution- not only begins by vesting all power in “We the people,” but proceeds immediately to set the limitations of government and to guarantee personal freedoms in the first seven articles and in the Bill of Rights. It is this great American experiment in freedom, as Alexis de Tocqueville called it, that we celebrate each Fourth of July with fireworks, parades, barbecues, fairs, and picnics.
 
Explicitly and implicitly the Latin American statist governing mindset is that power must rest, not with the uninformed people, but with the enlightened representatives who arrogantly believe they know what is best for the people.  This variety of epistemic paternalism holds that our individual decision making capabilities are subject to errors that impair our wellbeing and thus, for our own good, we must rely on government to exercise power over our decision making.
 
This infantilizes us since, as individual adults, we are the best judges of what it means for our lives to go well.  Moreover, we usually make better choices than those who endeavor to choose for us via one size fits all government programs.
 
Indeed we make mistakes, but even those are often instructive and improve our future decision-making.  Public officials, even if principled and public-spirited, make mistakes as well. In the end, our errors may be less damaging than those made by public officials.  Governmental paternalism makes our lives go worse if only because when we are denied freedom of choice we experience a loss in wellbeing.
 
The inability of even close friends and family to know what we would like is neatly captured by Joel Waldfogel in his book “Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays.” No matter how hard we try to find the right gifts for our loved ones, we are likely to fail and end up giving presents that the recipients would not buy for themselves. Research shows that when choices are not made by the ultimate consumers, gift recipients would not have paid anything close to what we paid - on average only twenty-five percent of our purchase prices. Government, ineptly attempting to choose for us, destroys value.
 
Latin American governments would do well to stop their  paternalist, statist ways and adopt John Stuart Mill’s Harm Principle that “…the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or mental, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forebear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others , to do so would be wise, or even right…”
 
We the people know what is in our best interest.

Please let us know if you Like Issue 67 - We the People on Facebook this article.
This article was originally published in English in the PanAm Post and in Spanish in El Nuevo Herald.
 
José Azel, Ph.D.
José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.  

He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies as a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami and has published extensively on Cuba related topics.

In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. 

Dr. Azel is author of Mañana in Cuba: The Legacy of Castroism and Transitional Challenges for Cuba, published in March 2010 and of Pedazos y Vacios, a collection of poems he wrote as a young exile in the 1960's.

José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp.

They cycled St. James Way (
El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary. They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast. 

Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them. 
Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro.

Books by Dr. José Azel
Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future.
Buy now

 
Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish.
Buy now
To friend, follow or email author click on the icons below:

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Obama loyalists replaced “radical Islamic terrorism” with “violent extremism” in Trump’s immigration executive order

Obama loyalists replaced “radical Islamic terrorism” with “violent extremism” in Trump’s immigration executive order

Germany: “Mentally ill” Muslim migrant smashes cyclist’s head with hammer

Germany: “Mentally ill” Muslim migrant smashes cyclist’s head with hammer

Mattis says al-Qaeda terrorists “defame Islam”

Mattis says al-Qaeda terrorists “defame Islam”

Muslim countries to press at UN for “legal options” against “blasphemy” on social media

Muslim countries to press at UN for “legal options” against “blasphemy” on social media

Pakistan asks Facebook and Twitter to identify Pakistanis outside country who post anti-Islam material

Pakistan asks Facebook and Twitter to identify Pakistanis outside country who post anti-Islam material

UK: Muslim rape gang victim whose life was destroyed slams Rotherham authorities

UK: Muslim rape gang victim whose life was destroyed slams Rotherham authorities

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German state bans mosque group after imam repeatedly calls for killing of infidels

German state bans mosque group after imam repeatedly calls for killing of infidels

Board of Deputies of British Jews reassures Muslims who are “anxious” after London jihad

Board of Deputies of British Jews reassures Muslims who are “anxious” after London jihad

Australia: Muslim teen in deradicalization program plotted jihad massacre

Australia: Muslim teen in deradicalization program plotted jihad massacre

London jihad murderer was “very religious”

London jihad murderer was “very religious”

Brussels mayor: “All mosques in Brussels are in the hands of Salafists”

Brussels mayor: “All mosques in Brussels are in the hands of Salafists”

UK police on London jihadi: “There is a possibility we will never understand why he did this”

UK police on London jihadi: “There is a possibility we will never understand why he did this”

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Belgium: Muslim who tried to ram pedestrians had liquid gas, assault rifles and knives in car

Belgium: Muslim who tried to ram pedestrians had liquid gas, assault rifles and knives in car

Theresa May: London jihad attack not Islamic, but “Islamist terrorism…a perversion of a great faith”

Theresa May: London jihad attack not Islamic, but “Islamist terrorism…a perversion of a great faith”

Islamic Republic of Iran’s Intelligence Minister boasts of “lobby group” boosting its interests in DC

Islamic Republic of Iran’s Intelligence Minister boasts of “lobby group” boosting its interests in DC

NBC reporter fears London jihad attack will “put wind in the sails” of the “right-wing movement”

NBC reporter fears London jihad attack will “put wind in the sails” of the “right-wing movement”

Canada: Death knell for freedom of speech as House of Commons passes “anti-Islamophobia” motion

Canada: Death knell for freedom of speech as House of Commons passes “anti-Islamophobia” motion

Italy: Muslim tries to run down police, then stabs officer

Italy: Muslim tries to run down police, then stabs officer

London jihad murderer once stabbed a man in the face

London jihad murderer once stabbed a man in the face

Neighbor says he knew London jihadi from mosque, mosque says they didn’t know him

Neighbor says he knew London jihadi from mosque, mosque says they didn’t know him

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