Adios Fidel

I was born in 1957 and all my life there has been a communist threat from Fidel Castro. Now with out any fanfare he has resigned as the leader of Cuba. I recall being sent home from school during the missile crisis in October of 1962, when we were taught to stop drop and cover. When we found that our world was on the brink of nuclear annihilation.

This was the mantra of my youth. Personal bomb shelters where in vogue. We feared the great communist threat and the fact that they would one day attack and change our way of life. So, after the incident that almost brought us to the brink of nuclear war. The patriotic gene was ignited in me. I thought that Fidel was the devil incarnate.

But now we have a world were Fidel has resigned his reign over the lives of the people of Cuba. Perhaps Raoul is much like his brother. But I agree with what senator Obama said, he said “we should not fear to negotiate, but not negotiate out of fear.” Fidel outlasted 8 of our presidents and numerous covert attempts on his life. Now he is old and by all accounts feeble and not able to manage the affairs of his nation. We now have a golden opportunity to do something different. We can do something bold and unprecedented in the annals of American, Cuban relations, in our lifetime. We as the world’s super power can reach out and regain the position as the world’s leader on moral and human rights and offer an olive branch to the nation of Cuba.

Our image on the world stage has been so seriously damaged by the war in Iraq. And as result we are no longer looked upon as leaders in the world as it pertains to the issue of human rights. This is a direct result of how this war has been propagated. So we are in desperate need of a foreign policy coup and Cuba could be that victory. Will we allow the politics of the past to continue to define the foreign policy of the 21st century? Or will we take bold new steps to ensure the safety and economy of the future? The current political situation has this as one of its core issues, whether or not the candidate is qualified to take office on day one. Also who is best suited to address America’s stand on this new and dynamics world stage. One in which America may not have the same influence as it had in the last century. One in which the global economy makes it a necessity to deal rather than mandate.

Will we continue to be a nation that looks down on the rest of the world? Or will we become the nation that reaches out to the rest of the world?

What can we eat?

We are once again facing a major recall of food. This time the Westland/Hallmark Company of Chino, California has been sited for improper treatment of cattle at that plant. 173 million pounds of beef are question. What concerns me is that it took the Humane Society to make this discovery. When according an FDA spokesman, there are government inspectors on site.

So what where the inspectors doing when these violations occurred? Additionally why did it take over a month for the recall to be announced? This is the latest in a long line of recalls from spinach to peanut butter. If you check the FDA website you will see that there have been over thirty recalls issued this year alone.

If we don’t do a better job of protecting our food supply then we all might be at risk from some type of food borne epidemic. This epidemic could have devastating consequences on our population in general and our children in particular.

I have personally endured one major health scare with my daughter. She had to undergo a bone marrow transplant a few years ago. When we asked what caused her to develop aplastic anemia the doctors said the cause was idiopathic. In layman’s terms that means they had no idea what caused it. We also have an autistic son and the causes for autism are still unknown.

I can’t say conclusively that my children’s condition where caused by some type of contaminated food. But this can not be ruled out a cause either. We must protect the safety of citizens and restore confidence in our food supply before a national disaster of biblical proportion befalls our country.