From time to time it seems useful to take some time out of the daily
regime of copying, forwarding and commenting on articles from the other
media to make a few personal comments. I like to do that when we hit
bit numbers. I was so swamped that Message Number 40,000 slipped past
before I realized it, so I didn't take the time until #43,000. Now we
have reached 44,000 and there are a few interesting items to share at
the moment. We've come a long way since our first messages went out
in August 2000, following the rescue and repatriation of the Cuban
child Elian Gonzalez. That victory, hard-fought and won, was a great
triumph for justice, fairness, and the rights of parents everywhere.
This list came into existence after the Elian struggle when those of
us who worked on that decided to turn our mailing list of a few score
into a more formal news service, the CubaNews list of today.

To see how far we've travelled, check out out very first messages:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/messages/1

Here in Cuba, history is always with us. Yesterday, Cuba's capital
city, marked its 486th birthday. These events are always a cause for
celebration here. On Tuesday I went out with some friends to attend
the annual event at which people are expected to walk three times
around a ceibu tree which is in the front of a large Roman Catholic
Church in Habana Vieja (old Havana). This is a Santeria event and is
supposed to get you your wish if you make the short journey. When we
got there, about 9PM, we found that the line was so long, several big
blocks long, that we decided to pass on this occasion. Friends here
have told me they were amazed to hear that so many people came out to
mark the event.

While people in the United States are notoriously not historically-
minded, Cubans very much are. And while the dates of revolutionary
history are marked faithfully (July 26th, March 13, January 1 and so
on), important dates in the nation's history which began long before
the Revolution are also still regularly marked. A few days ago there
was a commemmoration of the 55th anniversary of Cuban television and
we also had the birtheday of the founding of the Fire Department here,
an incredible 309 years old. We've forwarded some of the short notes
from Prensa Latina about these, and will send some longer features
when we get them translated for you.

We've sent out a series of features from the Cuban media about Pier
Paolo Pasolini, the famous Italian film director who was also both
a member of the Italian Communist Party and an open homosexual who
was murdered, but whose life and work have been written about and
performed here on Cuban states. In recent days we've seen even more
material, quite a noticeable amount, on gay or gay-related themes,
including a feature on the famous actress Greta Garbo written by
one of the island's best writers, Lisandro Otero who also serves
as head of the island's national language institute. Otero writes
one of Garbo's lovers was the portrait photographer Cecil Beaton,
who, Otero says, gave up his homosexuality for a time to be Garbo's
lover. There have also been several features on the novelist Truman
Capote. We'll share the translations of these when we receive them.
Further, last year's feature film in the life of sexologist Alfred
Kinsey is currently playing at the Yara and other local theaters.

It's nice also to see that BLACKLIGHT ONLINE has reported its large
section called GAY CUBA. This section features several different
reports on Cuba, including the one I wrote some years ago. after
my first extended visit to the island. Most of the articles have a
sympathetic slant as mine does, but there's one which is also very
critical. You can see mine here:
http://www.blacklightonline.com/cubanow.html and the whole section
linked at the website's home page: http://www.blacklightonline.com/

Last night's prime time television news here featured two stories
of particular note. In addition to the regular domestic and world
news, sports and cultural developments, there was an extended news
feature on the Cuban medical aid team which is working in Pakistan.
The segment included interviews with two of the Cuban doctors, one
male, one female. The Cubans, like everyone else in the section had
on heavy winter clothing, something which we only see here on the
island during the brief period, normally for about a week at the
end of December or beginning of January. The two Cubans spoke of
their experiences, and a Pakistani soldier who was interviewed on
camera made a point of commenting on the appreciation which the
Pakistani women patients expressed for the sensitivity by Cuban
doctors to their needs during this crisis period.

The other segment was an ongoing part of the series reporting on
Operation Carlota, Cuba's massive military intervention on the
side of the Angolan people against South Africa which began in
1975. Each day we've been shown segments in which Cubans who had
been part of Operation Carlota spoke about their activities. We
also had today a section with the Angolan ambassador to Cuba who
has been participating in these anniversary ceremonies.

Cindy Sheehan's "The Real Cost of War" which appeard on Truthout
two weeks ago has been reprinted today in the Cuban daily paper
Juventud Rebelde. Cindy Sheehan's very much a heroine here in Cuba
where her activities, arrest and commentaries are often reported.
Sheehan's authority flows from a combination of being a Gold Star
mother, that is, because her son was killed in the Iraq war, and
her relentless opposition to the deaths of any other mother's son
or daughter. Cindy's role as a leader of the anti-war movement has,
along with the escalating death toll, propelled debate on the war
to a new and higher level. Thus the campaign against her by some
in the media as well. Anyway, she's much appreciated in Cuba.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/110105Y.shtml
http://www.jrebelde.cu/2005/octubre-diciembre/nov-17/opinion.html

GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE CUBAN FIVE CASE:
Appeals and arguments to be filed in a few short WEEKS:

ATLANTA COURT ANNOUNCES APPEALS´ CALENDAR
NOTE FROM: Working Group against Terrorism

Yesterday, November 15, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eleventh Circuit issued the procedure for the upcoming en banc
rehearing of the case of the Cuban Five by the 12 active members of
that Court.

The Court set the calendar for the Defence and Government arguments
to be filed up to January 27, 2005 and decided the case will be
argued in a hearing before the Court en banc during the week of
February 13, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The first brief shall be filed
by the Appellants on December 15, 2005.

The issues to take into account by the Court in the rehearing of the
case will be the Florida District Court’s discretion to deny the
defendants´ motions to change venue and for new trial and the process
to select an impartial jury.

The document issued by the Court appears in its website:
http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/enbanc/issues/eb01-17176issues.pdf

CubaNews list has now reached 760 subscribers, a pleasing milestone.
We have 140 on another list, which presents a "best of" selection.
This material is selectively added to other lists as well, from the
Now War On Cuba Information list out of Washington, DC and others.
As appropriate we have material on one Venezuela list, one Argentine
list, the GreenLeft discussion list based in Australia and now we
have two other lists which are based in Pakistan and which now reach
close to two thousand more readers. During the recent summit and
protests at Mar Del Plata, Argentine, we learned more about those
events and their background from an Argentina-based Yahoo group.

We've received a number of letters about the whole issue of whether
or not Fidel Castro has Parkinson's Disease, and other issues and
we appreciate the time readers have taken and the interest in these
issues. CubaNews, when sharing information as we do from a very wide
range of sources, do not by any means endorse any one particular
article, just because we share it with you. This list is designed
to provide a service for the reader, bringing a wide range of news,
views and information on Cuba to an interested public. My work is
guided by my conviction that the Cuban people have the right to
build their own society as they choose, without the intervention
of Washington or anyone else who want to try to impose their
values and institutions on the Cuban people. Cuba won independence
fully on January 1, 1959 with the triumph of the Revolution.

It's made many gains, and made plenty of mistakes as well during
the intervening years. My mission, which I've chosen to accept and
which will NOT self-destruct in five seconds is to help the reader
follow the Cuban story and to share what experiences I and others
have so that the reader can do what they can to help keep Cuba an
independent country. Cuba is striving, with all its strength and
still, to build what Jose Marti called a society "with all and for
the good of all". That's a completely worthy goal and one which I
strongly support.

We plan to provide additional material about Jane McManus whose death
at age 85 here in Cuba we reported to you yesterday. We hope that
those of you who knew Jane McManus and appreciated her work will take
the time to write and share with us your memories of her work.

Thanks also to the various people whose work makes CubaNews better,
including NY Transfer News, the growing subscriber base of the Cuba
News list, and to the dedicated readers who politely but firmly call
me to order when I make mistakes. We very much appreciate the efforts
contributors make which improve our material, and we know that it's
shared widely because messages come in from all over the world with
questions, comments, suggestions and occasional criticism, all of
which are read and appreciated. I try to respond as much as possible.

I appreciate very much the time that readers take to go through our
voluminous selection of material. I don't expect that everyone will
read every word sent, though I can say that I read nearly every one.
My goal is to make the information available to you to you can both
better understand, and act more effectively to help Cuba maintain
its independence. We can learn a great deal from the experiences of
the Cuban people and their revolution.

To be continued...


Walter Lippmann, CubaNews
http://www.walterlippmann.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews