Coffee

[KurtV]

Yes Carl, I agree - it's hard to get good rum in the USA (and good beer for that matter!). That's why Canada is the only alternative choice!
I on the other hand, like to sit back with a nice hand rolled Cuban cigar and a Cuban Libre while watching the wildlife in my yard - I know what you're thinking - wasting that NICE rum watering it down with coke!!!
As for the Cuban Coffee - don't care that much for it - although my son loves the sugar packets I bring back for him - "best sugar in the world" he says!

Kinda ironic that you're enjoying a Cuba Libre made with products whose purchase will tend to delay that event. Maybe you should call it a Cuba Opresa.

[matt4x4]

ahem - excuse moi - I purchase these products IN Cuba - maybe not the coke, but all the others - yes...but we produce coke in Canada by Canadian companies - coke being the general term for the product.....doesn't have to be the actual brand name you know....
And - any Cuban rum or other Cuban spirits sold in Canada are also purchased properly and legally by our importers - at least some countries are actually helping Cuba, not raping it or waiting with baited breath for an oppertunity TO take advantage of the country.
If you (general term here) take a closer look, our country aids Cuba in many ways and has greatly improved the infrastructure there.
Unfortunately, it was the usual pillaging and plundering of another country (whose name I won't mention here) that led to Cuba's demise and to be honest, they're probably a better country for having broken off THAT relationship....

You (being the general word here again) could learn a lot of good things from them by looking beyond the oppression.
Heck - many could even learn about health care....

[Jeffski]

You lost me at health care. I'll take my chances in the US.

[KurtV]

What I've learned mainly from watching Cuba closely for the last twenty years is that foreign currency continues to enable one of the most brutal dictators of our time. I've learned that from the tens of thousands of Cubans I've picked up in the Straits of Florida while they were fleeing that "paradise" and I've learned that by following the sad sagas of people like Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez. A man willing to stand up to the thuggish Castro who has been imprisoned for his temerity.

The miracle of the Cuban health care system has been pretty thoroughly debunked; it results in large part from questionable statistical practices (e.g. deflating infant mortality rates by not counting as live births those infants who die in their first seven days) and party propoganda.

Look, I know this isn't the place for this and I should not have started it here. That said, I've seen first hand the misery and opression and death brought on Cubans by Castro and feel a moral obligation to speak up for them whenever I can. I hope Matt and others will at least consider that their and their countries' support for the Cuban people may actually be prolonging Castro's reign.

[matt4x4]

I'm not saying Castro's great, I doubt his reign will be prolonged - mainly because his ailing health can't really be reversed, and if/when he passes on, it won't be kept a secret for long. Likely, his successor, whoever it will end up being, will better the country's economic state through abandoning communism, however, I feel strongly that at this point in time, the country will be taken advantage of by mightier powers who have been waiting to get their hands on every little bit of potential profitability and take it with reckless abandon.

Jeffski - As for public healthcare - outdated as it may be, it's still better than anything south of Canada's border seeing that there is next to none unless you pay.

[Jeffski]

Just deleted a paragraph in order to remain friendly. The healthcare in America is better than Cuba and Canada, period. Don't play the "grass is greener" card just because you ("you" meaning in general, not aimed at anyone) think you're getting a raw deal.

[matt4x4]

Jeffski - I really don't feel we're getting a raw deal here, going to the emergency with whatever issues you have and walking out fixed up isn't a raw deal - a raw deal is when you pay taxes walk out fixed up and have a 30,000 bill in your pocket for an hour's time.

Outside of that, I'm not sure what you feel is "healthcare" in the US because I really don't think you have ANY (unless you're given some nice coverage through benefits or pay for your own coverage).

We might br misinterpreting the word i used - whatever, but all I was referring to was basic "free" healthcare that comes with living in a country - like the paved roads we take for granted......when a broken arm costs you thousands and 25+% of your hard earned income goes to taxes, I think you're being taken.

[Poolsean]

OK, OK, OK.
Let's get back to Cigars. Matt, let's say I was to be up in Calgary or Toronto sometime soon, any Esplenditos or MonteCristo #2 available?

Have you tried Rocky Patel's Old World Reserve Maduro? Awesome smoke. A bit pricey though.

[KurtV]

Jeffski - I really don't feel we're getting a raw deal here, going to the emergency with whatever issues you have and walking out fixed up isn't a raw deal - a raw deal is when you pay taxes walk out fixed up and have a 30,000 bill in your pocket for an hour's time.
It's very telling that many Canadians, when they have a very serious condition and can afford to pay their own bills, seek treatment in the U.S. It's not so much that they get better care here (though that is sometimes the case), but that the health care rationing that's the inevitable result of a socialized medicine system creates long waiting times for many treatments. I imagine that it's pretty rare that someone dies awaiting treatment, but people certainly suffer with some conditions longer than they would like. Elective surgeries such as joint replacement apparently have the longest waiting times.

Outside of that, I'm not sure what you feel is "healthcare" in the US because I really don't think you have ANY (unless you're given some nice coverage through benefits or pay for your own coverage).
About 85% of Americans have private health insurance; almost all of those through their employer or a group insurer that covers the self employed. The vast majority of those have very, very good coverage that covers a greater percentage of the cost than the Candadian socialized system (80+% vs. about 70%). The 15% of Americans without private insurance are mostly covered by Medicaid. There are some who have no coverage at all, but it's a pretty small number and most of those are the relatively young and healthy (all the elderly are covered by Medicare).

We might br misinterpreting the word i used - whatever, but all I was referring to was basic "free" healthcare that comes with living in a country - like the paved roads we take for granted......when a broken arm costs you thousands and 25+% of your hard earned income goes to taxes, I think you're being taken.

I'm not passing judgement on which system is better. While we, without question, have available here in the U.S. the very best health care in the world, we pay dearly for that; some 15+ % of the U.S. GDP goes for health care while that figure is at or less than 10% in the rest of the G7. We also do have a small but significant percentge of people with no health insurance or health care welfare benefits. In contrast, socialiazed systems take care of everyone but deliver fewer services by rationing care. Pick your poison.

For anyone who thinks Cuba is even in this game, check out who treated him when he fell seriously ill. It was not the vaunted Cuban health care system.

[KurtV]

I'm not saying Castro's great, I doubt his reign will be prolonged - mainly because his ailing health can't really be reversed, and if/when he passes on, it won't be kept a secret for long. Likely, his successor, whoever it will end up being, will better the country's economic state through abandoning communism, however, I feel strongly that at this point in time, the country will be taken advantage of by mightier powers who have been waiting to get their hands on every little bit of potential profitability and take it with reckless abandon.

His reign has already been prolonged. Mostly by the Soviets who propped him up for most of 40 years but also by those who do business with the despicable excuxe for a human being that is Castro. The dollars (and Euros and pesos, etc) that he gets through tourism and through the export of sugar, rum, and cigars enable him to continue to hold on and may allow Raoul to keep it going for years longer. This is true whether you buy your cigars in Canada or Cuba.

What you call being taken advantage of I call investment. When the communists do fall, capital will be the cure for what ails Cuba. As it doesn't exist in bankrupt Cuba, that capital will come from foreign investors. That will lead to economic growth and economic and political freedom for the people. I don't see the downside.