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Monday, October 8, 2007
Enjoy Your Diet
I remember a little catch phrase from Rosemary Green, who wrote "Diary of a Fat Housewife." She said, "If it's not worth the calories, I won't take a second bite." She is so right! Haven't you ever seen something that looked SO delicious, so mouth-watering, but when you had that first taste it was really disappointing? It was blah, mediocre, not nearly as wonderful as it looked? Well, why waste a ton of calories on food you don't really like? In the past, I would eat it anyway. After all, it was a cupcake, or macaroni salad or whatever, so even if it was blah I "wanted" it. More accurately, I wanted to LIKE it, even if I didn't. So I would keep eating it, hoping that I would like it more on the fifth or tenth bite, or that it would magically start tasting better as I ate it. I wasted a lot of calories doing that. Now, I put it down, throw it away, go get something that tastes better for the calories.
So, part of enjoying your diet is NOT eating stuff that isn't good. "But what about vegetables?" you say. It applies there, too. If it is yucky to you, skip it. If you look hard enough, and keep trying, you will find vegetables that you really enjoy. I hate turnips. But I just love brussels sprouts. Maybe you think you hate a certain vegetable. Say, asparagus for example. You say, "I hate asparagus." Have you tried it raw? Have you ever taken raw tender spears and just blanched them in boiling water for 10 seconds and then chilled them and eaten them cold, with dip? YUM! Have you tried them lightly steamed with salt? Have you tried them with lowfat egg salad on top of them? Have you tried them oven roasted with garlic and olive oil, or stir fried? There are so many ways to try a vegetable. If you really do hate asparagus, though, go ahead and try something else. Find which veggies taste good to you. I hate raw broccoli, unless it is in broccoli salad, yum! Go to allrecipes.com and look at all the different ways to prepare any given vegetable. Or just google it, and find ideas that way.
But it isn't all about veggies. It is about meals. Eat meals that are tasty! For example, last night I had fresh baked salmon with herbs, wild rice, steamed veggies, and a romaine salad. It was delicious! I love that meal and it takes very little time to make it. Some of my favorite breakfasts are pretty healthy, too. Why have bowls of sugary cereal when you can have any of these healthy ideas:
1. A slice of whole wheat toast with 1T peanut butter, and a whole sweet red grapefruit. YUM! This is a really great combo. Something about the grapefruit and the PB... try it!
2. A bowl of real oatmeal with cooked chopped apples, cinnamon, and a dash of brown sugar or real maple syrup, with skim milk. Great with peaches, also!
3. An egg and an egg white (or egg beaters) scrambled with grated zucchini, onion, and mushrooms.
4. A whole grain waffle with peanut butter and fresh fruit on it, and a glass of skim milk.
5. A smoothie made from fat free vanilla yogurt, a fresh ripe mango, orange juice and ice.
Don't those sound yummy? If not, think about what you would like! Skip the junk and eat something yummy. Tonight, I am making baked chicken (which I love and adore) with steamed veggies and salad, and a baked winter squash. Someone has asked me how I make my acorn squash. I cut it in half, take out the seeds, and bake it on a cookie sheet (cut side down) at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Then I turn the halves over, and I put a little butter and brown sugar in the centers and bake it until it is tender (maybe 30 more minutes). And I also like salad... but only a certain way. I like it with a ton of petite peas in it, a little grated 2% sharp cheddar, some bacon bits, and Maries Reduced Fat Blue Cheese Dressing. Yummy!!! I will be thoroughly enjoying my dinner. Enjoy yours, too! (And by the way, I am down another pound to 257!)
13 comments:
- Teale said...
You are so dead on with this! This is exactly why I've been experimenting w/so many recipes, because I do NOT want to get bored & sick of the healthier food. Sometimes I make something, and it's a flop, so I throw it out... yes, it was a waste of money, but it would be a waste of calories to eat something I didn't enjoy!
- October 8, 2007 at 5:31 PM
- Heather said...
those are some delicious suggestions! I think you hit the nail on the head though when you mentioned eating something and being disapointed, and still eating! I have done that so many times. its not worth it and usually I know that. I think it is important to enjoy every meal you eat and then it never seems like you are on a diet. last week I made a dinner that kind of sucked and I ate it...and all I wanted was something else. I should have thrown it out and eaten what would have tasted better.
- October 8, 2007 at 6:26 PM
thanks for the refresher on acorn squash!!
great entry...
- October 8, 2007 at 8:33 PM
- Lauren said...
great post, I really enjoyed it and will search for new ways to cook my veggies as opposed to steamed. And I will search to see if any places around here have asparagus.
- October 8, 2007 at 9:54 PM
I love reading your blog and I really like your healthy approach to losing weight.
I have a bit to lose myself and I'm keen to be healthier by cutting all sugar and refined carbs, but it can be really hard! last night i was craving carbs SO MUCH (I never have before I started this diet) and I kept eating and eating but stayed hungry at the end. I just don't know what to think... but I'm not giving up :)
- October 8, 2007 at 10:00 PM
- Twix said...
Exactly! Enjoy your diet! And hey if it isn't worth it, just push it away. As I was reading I got an image in my head. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr.Seuss and Sam and all his efforts, lol. Eat them, eat them, I say, you might like them, Yes you may! Hee!! Personally I like vegatables, all sorts. That acorn squash sounds real yummy! :)
- October 8, 2007 at 11:08 PM
- Chubby Chick said...
What a great post! I totally agree. But yet part of me feels guilty when I am eating yummy food while on my "diet." Isn't that nuts??? Somehow part of me still has that mindset that "diet" food has to taste yucky in order for your body to lose weight. But I am slowly realizing that that is a bunch of bunk!
Congrats on having another pound off! You go, girl! :)
- October 8, 2007 at 11:20 PM
I wholeheartedly agree! I used to binge eat and even now I sometimes get the urge, but I've found that the food doesn't taste as nice as I remember. Just goes to show that bingeing is not about the food!
My husband and I love the way we eat now... and we laugh about the fact that there are people who think that we are "depriving" ourselves from the good things in life!
Pursuing tasty food also goes for "off plan" eating. If you're going to have a "cheat" (and we will obviously sometime in the rest of our lives), go for the absolute best you can find. If it's chocolate, have some expensive Belgian chocolate, not a cheap rubbish you grabbed in the check-out queue at the supermarket. If it's cheesecake, find out which restaurant or coffee shop makes the absolute best cheesecake in the NEXT town (not your own)and go there once in a blue moon.
I've been craving really good pasta, but haven't found the "right" place yet. So last night, in desperation, I decided to make my own. It was just not nearly good enough, but we had a little bit and threw the rest out... As you say, wasted calories!
I can clearly see now that I used to treat my body like a garbage disposal. Fortunately I'm learning respect and that goes a long way in assuring success.
- October 8, 2007 at 11:47 PM
- Rae said...
I really enjoyed your post it never dawned on me to try & enjoy any of this not thinking that if you enjoy something you are more prone to sticking with it I have thought about trying brussel sprouts I picked up some when I went shopping can't wait to try them
- October 9, 2007 at 11:49 AM
- honib1 said...
oh my god I was so tickeled when I read your post.. you and I must be related or long lost twins or something .. I did the exact same thing.. I mean to the tee LOL that was so funny... your ideas for snack choices and meal choices are yummy .. think I will do the scrambled egg thing tonite or we might do turkey meat loaf with asparagus not sure.. anyhow.. great great post..
- October 9, 2007 at 11:53 AM
- MB said...
You are so right. Most food I binge on is not worth it.
I read Diary of a Fat Housewife years ago. Maybe I should read it again.
Great post.
- October 11, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Just wanted to point you to one of my fav photo blogs (if u haven't heard of it alread that is!)
I love the simple breakfasts :) they all look so healthy, simple, and yummy!
- October 12, 2007 at 8:10 AM
I like reading your blog and this post is great. That's what I've been doing this time to lose weight, eat food that I enjoy. However, I still continue to eat if the food that looked absolutely wonderful does not taste the same. I have to work on learning to stop and throw away :)
- November 1, 2007 at 8:45 PM


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Summer reading is my favorite time of year! Don't these gorgeous covers just make you want to pack up and run off to the beach with a few books in your beach bag? Here are my selections for the beachiest books of the summer:
The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand. Publish date: 6/13/17. I am most excited about this one, the latest beach read from one of my favorite authors. She never disappoints. After more than a decade apart, Harper and Tabitha (identical twin sisters who live very differently) switch islands–and lives–to save what's left of their splintered family. The twins quickly discover that the secrets, lies, and gossip they thought they'd outrun can actually travel between islands. Will Harper and Tabitha be able to end their sibling rivalry once and for all? Before the last beach picnic of the season, there will be enough old resentments, new loves, and cases of mistaken identity to make this the most talked-about summer that Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have experienced in ages.
Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe. Publish date: 6/20/17. Mary Alice Monroe returns to her beloved Isle of Palms to tell the poignant, charming story of two women, one summer, and one very special beach house. Cara Rutledge and Heather Wyatt start out as strangers, but as everything around them falls apart they learn that the only thing they can really rely on is each other.
The Salt House by Lisa Duffy. Publish date: 6/13/17. Set during a Maine summer, this book traces the lives of a young family in the aftermath of tragedy. Each member of the Kelly family navigates the world on their own private island of grief. Told in alternating voices, The Salt House is a layered, emotional portrait of marriage, family, friendship, and the complex intersections of love, grief, and hope.
The Beach at Painter's Cove by Shelly Noble. Publish Date: 6/13/17. A heartwarming story of four generations of women who reunite in their crumbling family mansion by the sea for a dramatic summer filled with love, family, secrets and sisterhood. When the Muse family gets together to restore the mansion and catalogue the massive art collection, a surprising thing happens. Despite storms and moonlight dancing, diva attacks and cat fights, trips to the beach and flights of fancy, these four generations of erratic, dramatic women may just find a way to save the Muses and reunite their family.
The Summer House by Hannah Mckinnon. Publish Date: 6/6/17. When Flossy Merrill summons her children to the beloved family beach house to celebrate their father's eightieth birthday, both cherished memories and long-kept secrets come to light in this charming and lyrical novel. Flossy is determined to steer her family back on course even as she prepares to reveal the fate of the summer house that everyone has thus far taken for granted: she's selling it. With each lost in their respective heartaches, Clementine, Samuel, and Paige will be forced to reconsider what really matters before they all say goodbye to a house that not only defined their summers, but, ultimately, the ways in which they define themselves.
The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green. Publish Date: 6/6/17. Ronni Sunshine was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters, "the Sunshine sisters." The sisters have all went their separate ways, but are called back home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. Although Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy have never been close, their mother's illness draws them together to confront the old jealousies and secret fears. As they face the loss of their mother, they will discover if blood might be thicker than water after all…
Eden by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg. Available Now. Becca Meister Fitzpatrick—wife, mother, grandmother, and pillar of the community—is the dutiful steward of her family's iconic summer tradition. When she discovers her recently deceased husband squandered their nest egg, she struggles to accept that this is likely her last season in Long Harbor. Eden is the account of the days leading up to the Fourth of July weekend, as Becca prepares to disclose her secret and her son and brothers conspire to put the estate on the market, interwoven with the century-old history of Becca's family—her parents' beginnings and ascent into affluence, and her mother's own secret struggles in the grand home her father named "Eden."
The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner. Available Now. Marin Bishop has always played by the rules, and it's paid off, but one moment of weakness leaves Marin unemployed and alone, all in a single day. Then a woman claiming to be Marin's half-sister shows up, and it's all Marin can do not to break down completely. Seeking escape, Marin agrees to a road trip to meet the grandmother she never knew she had. As the summer unfolds at her grandmother's quaint beachside B&B in coastal New England, it becomes clear that the truth of her half-sister is just the beginning of revelations that will change Marin's life forever. THE FOREVER SUMMER is a delicious page-turner and a provocative exploration of what happens when our notions of love, truth, and family are put to the ultimate test.
Honorable Mentions:
The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable
Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer
Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank

subset: commoncrawl


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Monday my work schedule was all bunged up, and I didn't get out for a run, I was kind of bummed but had a productive day which is probably more important, seeing as that is what pays the bills. TRX was just me, we had class since I was already there, usually two is the minimum. It was nice to spend an hour talking with my friend about subjects all over the map and noting that my core strength has dramatically improved since I started class, late last summer. Guess regular conditioning does that for a person, eh? She laughed about how I couldn't do a curl under plank to save my life and now I was managing a solid 9 on each side. Huh...
Hubb wanted to go to Captain Scott's Lobster Dock for dinner, cool, when he got there the line was outrageous so we went up to The Plum Tomato in Colchester. Yes, a ridiculously long way to drive for pizza, it is simply the best pizza, large white, with chicken and triple pesto. Their pesto is ridiculous and the combo with a little romano cheese sprinkled on it, YUM. Washed down with a couple beers, acceptable birthday dinner.
Tuesday I got in a double run. Or really a triple. 3 at work, 1.5 warm up with Jana, which was damn close to my race pace, and 1 lap (1.5) of the Dog Watch 5K with Crutch and eventually we caught up with Jana. I was done, that was mile 6 for the day. It was fun watching every one come in and of course the beer afterwards. Good to get some time to talk with Mike and Crutch about running and non-running things. Great to meet 5K! Hi!
So that brings us to Wednesday, wrapping it up quickly my legs were a bit sore, go figure. Time to take it easy and do some walking. What better place to take a walk, watch cows munch on sunflowers, and have ice cream, because no birthday dinner is complete without dessert, off to Buttonwood Farms!
Beth, see more about eating, less about running... but if you were curious about the stats
Work Run 3 miles 9:51 pace
Warm up 1.5 miles 9:13 pace
One lap 1.5 miles 9:13 pace
See Mike, 8:30 isn't an easy warm up for me, it is a goal pace!! Eventually I'll run a few yards with y'all!


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Two old friends from Worthington decided to start a podcast, mostly to have a good excuse to see one another regularly. Nine months later, more than 300,000 people have tuned in to learn lessons from the simple fable that is the heart of the show.
An old man told his grandson: "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed and resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth."
The boy thought about it and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?"
The old man quietly replied,"The one you feed."
On a recent Saturday night, Worthington natives Chris Forbes and Eric Zimmer, both 44, stare at audio waveforms on a computer monitor in the upstairs recording space of Forbes' red-brick Merion Village home. Zimmer takes notes on his laptop while Charlie, a friendly vizsla-Labrador mix, weaves between chairs and occasionally whines at noises coming from the street below.
Forbes and Zimmer are listening to a recorded conversation with author and Breather CEO Julien Smith, to whom they spoke over Skype for their podcast, "The One You Feed." Forbes stops the recording and trims one of the waveforms ever so slightly with his mouse.
"If you tighten it up, it sounds completely live," Forbes says. "If not, there's a delay. It's just the tiniest amount, but we painstakingly edit it instead of letting it roll live, which some podcasts do. It's nice to make it a little slicker."
"A lot of podcasts, it's just an hour or two of people talking-like sitting in someone's living room," Zimmer explains. "We try to do ours more like a show-like something you'd broadcast."
That attention to detail has earned "The One You Feed" a sizable audience since the podcast debuted in January. The average podcast on iTunes gets around 1,000 listens per episode, which means by August, after 37 episodes, "The One You Feed" would have been doing well to reach 37,000 listens. Instead, the total number of downloads exceeded 300,000. The show also recently reached the No. 1 spot in the Health category on iTunes, which provides a massive directory most listeners use for discovering and consuming podcasts. At one point last summer, "The One You Feed" was ranked 35th among all the tens of thousands of podcasts in the iTunes store.
"I know a lot of podcasters, and I know a lot who launched around the time we did, and we are far and away an outlier in the success we're having," Zimmer says. "People say, 'Can you teach me how you did it?' But I don't have any marketing magic. The focus all along was, let's make a good show, and let's do it because we like doing it and because it's rewarding and fulfilling. The rest of the stuff will take care of itself."
"There's no magic secret in all of this," says Rob Walch, who has been teaching podcasters the ins and outs of the business since 2004 through his show "podCast411." "Podcasting is a lot like the movie industry. It's all about word-of-mouth marketing. If the show content is good, people tell their friends. That's how podcasts get popular. At the end of the day, people are listening because you have good content."
The good wolf-bad wolf parable supplies the entire premise for "The One You Feed." Not an episode goes by without discussing it. While it may seem unlikely one parable could provide enough fodder for discussions with dozens of guests, the story is open-ended enough that the well has yet to run dry. Similar themes routinely come up in these conversations, but Zimmer and Forbes don't shy away from retreading ground. In fact, repetition is part of the reason they enjoy doing the podcast.
"I rarely hear an idea that blows my mind anymore," Zimmer says. "I've heard most of these things before. But knowing is largely useless if it isn't put into some kind of action. I can hear something and think, 'Oh, that's profound.' I can even live that way for a few days. But sooner or later, old habits re-emerge, and then I forget. This show, for me, is the feeding of my good wolf. It's a way of keeping those ideas in the forefront of my mind so I can live that way."
"It's so easy to forget," Forbes says, then adds: "Unless you're forced to edit a podcast on a weekly basis."
Neither Zimmer nor Forbes had any podcasting experience before January, though each is well-suited to the task. Zimmer has a background in software startup companies, and he also co-founded solar-energy company Tipping Point Renewable Energy five years ago; these days, he provides e-commerce consulting for clients like Cardinal Health and The Gap. Forbes repairs audio equipment at Abel Audio by day and also does voiceover work for clients like Dairy Queen and Columbus Car Audio; for a while, he hosted "iMix," a TV show that aired on WOSU.
Forbes played guitar in Columbus bands the Black Swans and Orchestraville, and Zimmer plays guitar, as well. All the music on the podcast is the pair's creation. In fact, for each episode, they shoehorn a musical interlude into the interview. While they sometimes take advantage of the guitars hanging on the wall of the recording space, Zimmer and Forbes often have the most fun collaborating with an iPad.
"Someone does one or two tracks and then hands it to the other person," Forbes says. "Then we have full license to erase or alter whatever the last person did and then add on the next track and hand it back. It's really fun. It feels like a game."
Zimmer and Forbes have a natural chemistry born out of their decades-long friendship. The two became friends soon after graduating high school, but over the years life got busy. They weren't spending much time together, even though they wanted to. Starting a podcast was a good excuse to hang out on a regular basis.
It usually happens in two sessions per week-one to record, the other to edit. Zimmer conducts the interviews, and Forbes does the intro, outro and any promotional content from advertisers (a natural fit for a voiceover artist). Each episode features a 30- to 40-minute discussion with a featured guest-often a musician, author or spiritual or creative guru. Previous guests include musicians Dave Davies of the Kinks, Joe Oestreich of Watershed and drummer Jon Wurster; authors Matthew Quick ("Silver Linings Playbook"), Timber Hawkeye ("Buddhist Boot Camp") and Andrew Solomon ("Far From the Tree"); and guru Lama Kathy Wesley.
Zimmer and Forbes didn't have an exact template for the show, but "The One You Feed" is modeled after podcasts like "On Being" with Krista Tippett, "Good Life Project" with Jonathan Fields, "The New Man" with Tripp Lanier and "WTF" with Marc Maron. The show's website describes the podcast this way: "It takes conscious, constant and creative effort to make a life worth living. This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction-how they feed their good wolf."
"The One You Feed" is listed under the Self-Help subcategory in iTunes, but Zimmer is careful to note it's not a show about positive thinking. In fact, one episode is titled "Pitfalls of Positive Thinking," and another episode features Oliver Burkeman, author of "The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking."
"It's not like the parable is about taking a shotgun to the bad wolf," Zimmer says. "They're both there, but you have some choice. The decisions I make now impact the way I think and the decisions I'll make in the future, like a groove in a record. When you do something, that groove gets deeper and it becomes easier and easier to fall into it-both positively and negatively."
While much of the podcast's success can be attributed to good content, professional production and word-of-mouth marketing, Zimmer says they've also been lucky. "iTunes is probably our biggest supporter," he says. "They've featured us on the front page several times. They like what we're doing. That's been a big part of the success."
The support of iTunes is huge, says Walch, who, in addition to producing "podCast411," is vice president of podcaster relations at Libsyn, a hosting service for more than 20,000 podcasts (including "The One You Feed"). "About two-thirds of the consumption of podcasts are via software that comes from Apple. So Apple is a big influencer on the growth of a podcast, but it doesn't help you maintain your podcast long-term. You still have to have good-quality content."
Positive reviews in the iTunes store also help. As of mid-September, "The One You Feed" had 300 starred reviews, and the overwhelming majority of reviewers gave the podcast five stars. Zimmer and Forbes say they get several emails a week from appreciative listeners.
"The One You Feed" hasn't been much of a moneymaker so far, though the show is sponsored from time to time; Zimmer says they're close to signing a longer-term, more lucrative sponsorship. In the meantime, they'll keep tracking down interesting people for each week's show. The dream list of interviewees grows daily, with Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen and Buddhist nun Pema Chodron at the top.
Regardless of big names or big sponsorships, Zimmer and Forbes are content to pursue personal development and the development of their listeners, all the while strengthening their own friendship.
"There have been times when there are a million things going on, but it gets released every Tuesday. We have to get it done," Forbes says. "And it's just the greatest time."


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Labradorite Calibrated Cabochon Gem Stone
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Infinite Mind Balance
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For a group of 8+ individuals we can arrange to visit your premises and design a program catered to your requirements.
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Click to know more about our Corporate Wellbeing Program and Services


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The New Ice Cream Van!
Firstly- I. Need. An. iPad. Now! God bless my dad for bringing his on holiday and allowing me the pathetic bliss of Internet/ blog access, because I was finding it pretty tricky living this out of sync with civilisation!
Naturally i'm having a great time in piedmont but am currently taking a little break to bring myself bang up to date with what is going on in the uk!
WeLl, if you are lucky enough to be living in any of the above mentioned cities you are in for a Topshop treat! As much as I love a massively decadent ice cream (ideally, if you are from edinburgh as most of my readers are, a Lucas ice cream sundae with a tonne of syrupy sweet Amerana cherries topped up with vanilla ice cream and chocolate shavings- aaah bliss!) I have become increasingly fond of frozen yoghurt- and it is the latest gastronomic trend to hit the uk! The time of the frozen frube is over with chains of Snog popping up all over London (I'm destined to get seriously fat when I move to London- Snog, Hummingbird Bakery AND Laduree? Hiya chub!)which has made frozen yoghurt oh so cool and refreshingly low cal to boot!
As ever, Topshop have not failed to cotton on to this little craze with their twist on the great British icon of the ice cream truck allowing you guys to buy a little frozen yoghurt and have the opportunity to win a number of stylish prizes! Find out more on the inside out blog or follow Topshop on Twitter to make darn sure you don't miss out like poor old me!
Ah well... I'll make do with a gelato over here thanks!


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'There is no alternative.' This has been a consistent theme of politicians, corporate officials, and intellectuals for the past twenty-five years. Global capitalism has been presented as an inevitable, irreversible process that is beyond the control of states. Besides, we are told, global capitalism is good for everyone, in terms of both economic prosperity and the spread of democracy, so even if there were an alternative it would not be desirable (Steger 2005). The politics of global capitalism are defined by neoliberalism -– a coherent program of market liberalization, state deregulation, and privatization which privileges market forces above all else (Petras & Veltmeyer 2001; Tabb 2001). All non-market forces that might challenge the hegemony of the market run the risk of being either marginalized or absorbed through commodification. At the same time, labor and other subordinate social forces are disciplined by legal restrictions on union activity, punitive reductions in social welfare provision, and the extension of formal institutions of social control. The collapse of social democracy in the advanced capitalist countries (perhaps best exemplified by Tony Blair's success in expunging the Labour Party's socialist heritage from 'New Labour') (Panitch & Leys 2001) seemed to confirm – as did the collapse of the Soviet Union – that nothing could stop the tidal wave of capitalist globalization. While the Soviet Union subordinated national liberation movements and revolutionary governments in the Third World to its own interests, it also provided them an alternative to integration into global capitalism; at the same time, the Soviet Union's existence put pressure on the advanced capitalist countries to ameliorate the most destructive and alienating features of capitalism. More recently, China's move to a 'market socialist' system that seems more market than socialist (Hart-Landsberg & Burkett 2005) appears to be further evidence that global capitalism is a juggernaut that lies outside political control.
As Steger (2005) points out, such arguments play an important ideological function within global capitalism. They portray states as the passive victim of forces outside their control, and in doing so they are designed to demobilize opposition to global capitalism. In addition, such arguments are not valid empirically. States are active participants in the construction, development, and, potentially, resistance to global capitalism (Panitch 1996; Poulantzas 1975). The experience of Cuba since 1959 provides strong evidence of this. Cuba's socialist economy and its prominent role in global opposition to capitalism, as well as the unique role that Cuba plays in US politics, show the importance of nation-state policies, politics, and histories in shaping a nation's relationship to global capitalism. The continued existence of Cuba's socialist system indicates that alternatives to global capitalism are possible. At the same time, the United States has not chosen to wait for the inevitable forces of capitalist globalization to wash over Cuba, but rather has engaged in a 45-year campaign of economic and political isolation and destabilization to bring capitalism back to Cuba. In this paper I examine critically the most recent and, because of its comprehensiveness, most important statement of US policy toward Cuba -– the 2004 and 2006 reports of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba.
The Reports
In October 2003, George Bush announced the creation of a Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba "to plan for the happy day when Castro's regime is no more and democracy comes to the island" (US Department of State 2003). The Commission was chaired by Secretary of State Colin Powell and included representatives from all Cabinet-level agencies, as well as the National Security Council, United States Agency for International Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Management and Budget, Office of the United States Trade Representative, and Office of National Drug Control Policy. Core group members included Secretary of the Treasury John Snow, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Commission. The Commission held its inaugural meeting in December 2003. Five working groups produced detailed recommendations
identifying additional measures by which the United States can help the Cuban people bring about an expeditious end of the Castro dictatorship; and (2) identifying US Government programs that could assist the Cuban people during a transition (Commission 2004: xi).
The Commission's first report (hereafter referred to as 'CAFC I'), was presented in May 2004. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reconvened the Commission in December 2005, with Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez serving as co-chair, to prepare a second report "with both updated recommendations to hasten democracy and an inter-agency strategic plan to assist a Cuban-led transition" (US Department of State 2005a). This report (hereafter referred to as 'CAFC II'), which elaborates on the major themes presented in CAFC I, was released in July 2006.
CAFC I identified six tasks that the United States should undertake to hasten the transition to capitalism in Cuba. First, the United States should "empower Cuban civil society" (Commission 2004: 15). The $7 million budget administered by the US Agency for International Development for support of Cuban opposition groups was to be supplemented with an additional $29 million for USAID, State Department, and other government agencies. This money was directed for support for non-governmental organizations in disseminating information within Cuba on "transitions to a political system based on democracy, human rights, and a market economy" (22) and in providing material support for opposition groups. Such support would include medical supplies for distribution outside Cuba's socialized health care system, publications for inclusion in 'independent libraries,' and computers, fax machines, copiers, satellite dishes, etc. for 'independent journalists.' CAFC II has called for $80 million to support these programs over the next two years and a commitment to provide no less than $20 million annually after that "until the dictatorship ceases to exist" (Commission 2006: 20).
Second, the United States should "break the information blockade" (Commission 2004: 26). In order to facilitate the spread of anti-Castro information as well as that supportive of a transition to capitalism, CAFC I initiated the use of a military C-130 as an airborne platform to overcome Cuban jamming of Radio and Television Marti broadcasts. It also called for the provision of video and audio tapes, CDs, and DVDs of Office of Cuba Broadcasting programs for distribution within Cuba by NGOs. CAFC II calls for the continuation of these programs.
Third, the United States should "deny revenues to the Cuban dictatorship" (Commission 2004: 28). Cuba has increased its reliance on tourism as a source of foreign exchange in recent years, and in response CAFC I called for actions to make tourism more difficult. It is against the law for US citizens to travel to Cuba without a license, but this law has in the past been flouted by people who have traveled to Cuba by way of a third country such as Canada or Mexico. An important result from CAFC I has been increased inspection of travelers and shipments to reduce unlicensed travel and tightened restrictions on the import of Cuban goods into the United States by licensed travelers. It also placed substantial constraints on educational travel to Cuba, allowing it only when the program "directly promotes US foreign policy goals" (30). While the United States cannot prohibit tourism to Cuba from elsewhere in the world, CAFC I called for building support among international NGOs to discourage travel to Cuba. It also placed tight restrictions on family travel and shipments to Cuba. New restrictions were placed on the dollar value of gift parcels, the amount family members can spend while visiting Cuba (reduced from $164 per day to $50), and the frequency of permitted family travel (from one visit a year to one every three years). Finally, CAFC I called for intensified efforts to deter foreign investment in Cuba by filing suit in US federal court against foreign nationals who benefit from properties expropriated from US nationals by the Cuban government and by denying visas to such foreign nationals. CAFC II seeks to continue and expand these programs to deny revenue to Cuba, stating that "[t]he more financially stressed the system is, the more difficult it will be for any leader who follows Fidel Castro to preside over a succession within the dictatorship" (Commission 2006: 29). In addition, it calls for more aggressive efforts to prevent Cuba from importing medical equipment that might be used in medical programs that generate revenue by treating tourists and foreign patients (31) and to impede Cuban exports of nickel, which have become more important in light of CAFC I's restrictions on revenue (32). It also identifies an important source of revenue which has complicated US plans: Venezuela. Although CAFC I acknowledges the agreements between Venezuela and Cuba in which the former provides low-cost oil in return for Cuban doctors and teachers to serve in the Bolivarian missions (Commission 2004: 13), Venezuela takes on a more prominent role in CAFC II as one of the major "spoilers" (Commission 2006: 16) of United States policy. Although there are no explicit statements of how to respond to these spoilers, and although "Fidel Castro is calling the shots" (23) in this relationship, implicit in the Commission's report is the suggestion that continued hostility to the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela will contribute to US transition plans for Cuba.
Fourth, the Commission seeks to "illuminate the reality of Castro's Cuba" (Commission 2004: 44). CAFC I called for a $5 million public diplomacy campaign to disseminate information regarding
Castro's record of harboring terrorists, committing espionage against the United States and other countries, fomenting subversion of democratically elected governments in Latin America, and the US Government's belief that Cuba has at least a limited developmental offensive biological weapons research and development effort (45).
Fifth, the United States should "encourage international diplomatic efforts to support Cuban civil society and to challenge the Castro regime" (45). Both CAFC I and CAFC II call for intensified activity to support international NGOs in spreading information about Castro's Cuba and US transition policies. In addition, CACF II indicates that the United States must win support from international institutions and NGOs to help "accelerate Cuba's reintegration into the world economy, bring useful experiences to bear from other countries that have succeeded in transitions, and ease the humanitarian and financial burden on the Cuban Transition Government" (Commission 2006: 77).
Sixth, and finally, the Commission seeks to "undermine the regime's succession strategy" (Commission 2004: 50); in the words of CAFC II, the United States seeks "transition, not succession" (Commission 2006: 14). The goal of US foreign policy is to prevent the smooth transition of leadership from Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl (who is Defense Minister and, in his capacity as second secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and first vice president of both the governing Council of State and Council of Ministers, is first in the constitutional line of succession). This is to be done by
stripping away layers of support within the regime, creating uncertainty regarding the political and legal future of those in leadership positions, and encouraging more of those within the ruling elite to shift their allegiance to those pro-democracy forces working for a transition to a free and democratic Cuba (Commission 2004: 51).
CAFC I called for the creation of a new State Department office to coordinate Cuba's transition to capitalism and to serve as "[a]nother signal of the unwillingness of the United States to accept the Castro regime's 'succession strategy'" (Commission 2004: 52). As a result, in July 2005, Caleb McCarry, a veteran staff member of the House Committee on International Relations and former Vice President of the Americas Program at the Center for Democracy, was appointed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as Cuba Transition Coordinator (US Department of State 2005b). This office has been reinforced by other, post-CAFC II, developments. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte announced in August 2006 that an Acting Mission Manager for Cuba and Venezuela had been appointed with responsibility "for integrating collection and analysis on Cuba and Venezuela across the Intelligence Community, identifying and filling gaps in intelligence, and ensuring the implementation of strategies" (Office of the Directorate of National Intelligence 2006). In addition, five new interagency working groups have been created to more closely monitor Cuba and assist in implementing transition policies. These include three groups led by the State Department addressing diplomatic actions, strategic communications, and democracy promotion, one led by the Department of Commerce concerning humanitarian assistance, and one led jointly by the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security on migration (Bachelet 2006).
In addition to discussing how the United States can assist the transition to capitalism in Cuba, the Commission makes recommendations on the substance of this transition. A major theme in the Commission's analysis of Cuba is that of a grossly inefficient and corrupt state socialist economy that has failed to satisfy the needs of the Cuban people:
Meeting the basic human needs of the Cuban population involves the removal of the manifestations of Castro's communism; the introduction of the values and practices of democracy and free enterprise, and the building of institutions and services that will improve the health, nutrition, education, housing, and social services available to the Cuban people (Commission 2004: 55).
A free market economy will, according to the Commission, lead to a flowering of Cuban entrepreneurial energy which will allow for economic growth and adequate social welfare provision. The Commission recommends the privatization of all state-owned industries and infrastructure (including ports, air transport, public transportation, energy, and telecommunications), as well as the replacement of socially-owned housing with private housing markets. Privatization of education is to be encouraged by permitting the operation of private and church-related schools and by support for business partnerships with schools, and Cuba's socialized health care system is to be subjected to "restructuring and/or modernization" (Commission 2004: 84). Legal reform must remove the constitutional privileges accorded to state property and restore protections for private property, as "the protection of private property is fundamental to Cuba's future development" (189). In addition, the Commission envisions the creation of a private banking system "either through entry of new private banks, entry of foreign banks, or privatization of existing state banks" (235). Government ministries that "deal with non-market economic issues" must be reformed "to encourage market development, promote private sector economic growth, and expand trade" (237). Price decontrol will remove distortions to the allocation of economic resources, while "sound fiscal and monetary policies" (211), by limiting deficits and government borrowing to finance these deficits, will stabilize the economy, thereby providing a more rational context for investment. The Commission calls for a US-Cuba Free Trade Agreement as well as eventual membership for Cuba in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Trade Organization, and encourages the use of free trade zones to stimulate foreign investment. Foreign investment is also to be encouraged by removing existing rules favoring the Cuban government in joint ventures, settling outstanding property claims, and establishing favorable protections for intellectual property. Finally, the Commission recommends the creation of free labor markets and the promotion of "strengthened labor-management relations" (245).
Evaluation of the Reports
The Commission's reports are nothing short of a blueprint for neoliberalism in a post-Castro Cuba. The Commission (2004) makes use of a number of discursive devices in making its claims for support for a transition to a 'free Cuba,' but on closer examination these are revealed to be specious. First, it offers a specific interpretation of the history of US-Cuba relations that emphasizes US altruism and dedication to high moral principles (italics mine):
Improving Cubans' condition will require dramatic reforms to ensure that democratic values and a civic culture return (xx).
It has been the historical role of the United States to support the Cuban people's aspirations to hasten the day when they can restore their country to a respected, peaceful, and constructive role in the international community (2).
Because Cuba has not functioned under a stable democratic system within the living memory of most people in the country, we cannot expect democratic values and decision-making processes to be readily understood (77).
Cubans will be able for the first time in decades to enjoy the freedoms that prevail in all of the other countries of the Western Hemisphere (156).
Protection of private individual and corporate property rights, including the rights of intellectual property, will provide the basis for private sector development and Cuba's return to the rule of law (161).
Settling the issue of expropriated properties…will be seen by many as a signal that Cuba will be open for normal business once again (224).
Despite the frequent references to a 'free' and 'democratic' Cuba in CAFC I, similarly frequent references to pre-revolutionary Cuba (those emphasized in the above quotes) imply that the transition will return Cuba to a kind of golden era, ignoring the poverty and oppression that characterized that period. In the period between 1898 and 1959, when the United States exercised authority over Cuban political and economic life and either directly occupied the island or supported dictatorships, pre-revolutionary Cuba was 'open for business' to the sugar companies and casinos, foreign capitalists were 'free' to accumulate capital, and Cuban workers and peasants were 'free' to sell their labor power for miserable wages. The Commission's homage to the 'good old days' before Castro reveals that the genuine goal of US policy is the wholesale reintegration of Cuba as a dependent outpost of global capitalism.
CAFC II's position on the 'good old days' is more complicated. On the one hand, it continues to present the idea that a post-Castro transition in Cuba would restore freedom that existed previously but that had been lost:
The United States and other friends of democracy should acknowledge and honor the courage of Cuban democracy activists by supporting them as they work to secure the rapid return of sovereignty to the people of their nation (Commission 2006: 15)(my emphasis).
A Cuban Transition Government will face the daunting challenge of ending the brutal, one-party totalitarian state that has exercised complete control over all aspects of life on the island and of organizing a democratic process so that the Cuban people can reclaim their right to determine their own future (52) (my emphasis).
On the other hand, unlike CAFC I, CAFC II does acknowledge the immediate pre-Revolution past in a few brief references to the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. However, these references are striking in that they emphasize the continuity between Batista and Castro:
Since 1952, Cubans have lived under a succession of dictators, first under Fulgencio Batista, and then Batista's totalitarian successor, Fidel Castro (Commission 2006: 17f).
Just as Fidel Castro replaced Batista in 1959, Cuba's current dictator wants to impose his brother on the Cuban people (22).
This connection serves an important ideological function for US policy. It erases the Revolution from history by suggesting that Castro 'succeeded' Batista and that "the entire system has been constructed for the sustenance of the regime, not to serve the Cuban people" (Commission 2006: 34), just as it had been under Batista. The use of the terms 'succession' and 'successor' is no coincidence, especially given the Commission's statements, discussed earlier, that the United States seeks a 'transition, not succession,' in Cuba. The Commission may hope to stigmatize Castro with the image of Batista, but this is a potentially dangerous connection to make, as it raises the question of what United States policy was toward Cuba during as well as before the Batista dictatorship.
Finally, to the extent that the history of Cuba-US relations since 1959 is discussed by the Commission, it would appear that the United States has been the innocent victim of Cuban aggression. The history of US-supported military attacks against Cuba, attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro and destabilize the Cuban government through psychological warfare, use of biological weapons against Cuban agriculture, protection of Cuban exiles who have engaged in terrorist attacks against Cuba, etc. (Lamrani 2005) go unmentioned by the Commission. Instead, CAFC I reports discredited claims of Cuban support for terrorism, the torture of American prisoners of war in Vietnam, production of biological weapons, and encouragement of prostitution and sex trafficking (Commission 2004: xviii, 12, 18, 51)1 and points to Cuba's use of immigration as "an effort to intimidate and harm the United States" (12); CAFC II takes it a step further with reference to "the dictatorship which advocated nuclear war against our nation" (Commission 2006: 13). Likewise, the US blockade of Cuba which has been in force for over forty years does not exist in the Report. For example, Cuba's aging infrastructure is seen by the Commission as the direct outcome of Cuba's socialist economic system rather than the constraints imposed by the blockade. The Cuban government estimated in 2005 that the direct economic losses due to the US blockade since its inception were over $82 billion, a figure which does not include an estimated $54 billion in losses due to sabotage and terrorist attacks and to production lost due to lack of access to credit (United Nations 2005a: 13). In the Commission's eyes, Cuba exists only as a bully that has victimized the United States for decades.
The absence of any acknowledgement of the history of US aggression against Cuba is replicated in CAFC I's discussion of plans for a post-Castro 'truth commission' to investigate former government officials for alleged violations of human rights. The Commission cites approvingly the experience of truth commissions in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, El Salvador, and Guatemala (Commission 2004: 172f), but fails to note that in each of these cases the United States had previously supported the governments that carried out the human rights violations that were the subject of the truth commissions. It also offers the US record of supporting the establishment of civilian police forces in Latin America as a model for post-Castro Cuba (196-98) without acknowledging that the United States had supported for decades police use of violence against political dissidents (Blum 2003; Kornbluh 2003; McSherry 2005).
The second discursive device employed by the Commission is its use of the term 'democracy.' Cuba is portrayed as a dictatorship in contrast to the democracy and freedom "that prevail in all of the other countries of the Western Hemisphere" (Commission 2004: 156). Such a sweeping statement falls flat when one considers the examples of Haiti, where the United States forced the democratically elected president into exile and continues to support forces associated with earlier dictatorships, and Colombia, where the United States finances a government associated with death squads targeting political dissidents. More broadly, the Commission reflects an understanding of democracy that Robinson (1996) refers to as 'polyarchy,' which he defines as "a system in which a small group actually rules and mass participation in decision-making is confined to leadership choice in elections carefully managed by competing elites" (49). As Robinson argues, polyarchy serves to legitimate neoliberalism by defining acceptable boundaries of political participation that do not threaten the fundamental interests of capital and by establishing a procedural equality among citizens that obscures the structural inequalities of class. For example, there are frequent references in the Report to private and religious organizations as major agents of transition in Cuba and, more specifically, as "important democratic institutions" (Commission 2004: 55). There is no necessary reason why these should be seen as democratic institutions (other than, perhaps, that they play a major role in US social life), and as their dominance suggests a substitution of private for public space there are good reasons to question their assumed democratic nature. Polyarchy simultaneously delegitimizes alternative forms of democracy, such as socialist democracy, that see social equality as a necessary foundation for genuine democracy (Ehrenberg 1992; Held 1987).2 The advocacy of this limited and, to capitalism, safe form of democracy is reflected in the Commission's use of the United States as a model to which a 'free Cuba' should aspire. The Commission offers US assistance to Cuba in setting up political parties and running democratic elections (Commission 2004: 177-181) and in establishing free trade unions and labor law (244-248). The Commission fails to note, however, that the United States has both the lowest voter turnout rates and lowest unionization rates of any major country (Kloby 2003), and so the use of the United States as a model for a 'free Cuba' seems ironic at best. However, as with the frequent references to Cuba's pre-revolutionary 'golden age,' this apparent lack of self-awareness disguises a more significant meaning. Low levels of electoral participation are concentrated among the poor and working class in the United States (Piven & Cloward 2000) and this, along with relatively weak unions and a system of labor law that offers extensive opportunities for capital to undermine unionization campaigns (Yates 1998), contributes to the continued dominance of the US capitalist class. Thus, offering the United States as a model for electoral politics and labor relations for a 'free Cuba' is consistent with the US goal of imposing neoliberalism on Cuba.
The third discursive tool found in the Report is its discussion of human needs. The free market and democracy will, the Commission argues, replace the scarcity imposed on Cubans by state socialism with economic growth and prosperity. The problem here is that the evidence points in the opposite direction. Cuba is considered by the United Nations to be a 'high human development' country which, despite low Gross Domestic Product per capita, performs so well on health (life expectancy, infant mortality, nutrition) and education (public expenditure on education, literacy, enrollment) measures as to make Cuba one of the top-ranked developing countries, substantially outperforming measures for all developing countries and for Latin American and Caribbean countries (United Nations 2005b). Cuba is ranked 5th among 103 developing countries in terms of the U.N.'s Human Poverty Index for developing countries; interestingly, the United States ranks seventeenth among eighteen OECD countries in terms of the Human Poverty Index for high-income countries (United Nations 2005b: 229, 231). As a relatively poor country Cuba has faced enormous challenges, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of Soviet trade, but to portray Cuba as an economic disaster in need of capitalist shock therapy is simply incorrect. When compared with other 'developing' countries, the success of Cuba's socialist system is obvious. The proposed dismantling of Cuba's socialist system, therefore, threatens the human needs of the Cuban population which the Commission claims to champion. It does, however, make sense if the goal of US policy is the full integration of Cuba into global capitalism.
As revealing as these themes are, equally revealing is what is not discussed by the Commission. Earlier I pointed out that the Commission ignores the long history of US military aggression against Cuba. This is important not only because it reflects a distortion of history, but also because of how pronounced the absence of military issues is in the Commission's discussion of the planned transition to capitalism in Cuba. Reports indicate that CAFC I contained a classified section that was not released (Gedda 2004), but there is no statement to this effect in CAFC I. In contrast, CAFC II contains the following statement:
This is an unclassified report. For reasons of national security and effective implementation, some recommendations are contained in a separate classified annex (Commission 2006: 14) (emphasis in original).
Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency contributions to the transition plan are likely contained in this annex. There are isolated references in the Commission's reports to military issues, but these are made in the context of the need for a transition government to maintain order:
[The United States should prepare] to respond positively to a request from a transition government to assist with public security and law enforcement during the initial stages of transition (Commission 2004: 81).
If severe economic hardships are not quickly addressed, a transition government might have to deal with increasingly urgent demands from a newly empowered populace.
A peaceful transition to democracy will therefore require the presence of effective, professional Cuban security institutions that are committed fully to supporting the democratic transition (157).
A transition government may also conclude that loyal and dependable military units will be needed at least until a democratic government can be consolidated and a new constitution approved by the people. Reliable military forces could help transition authorities prevent massive seaborne migration and distribute humanitarian assistance (193).
A Cuban Transition Government will likely rely on this institution to perform many tasks during the transition period. The challenge for the Transition Government will be to harness the military's energies and direct it in ways that contribute to a successful transition period (Commission 2006: 60).
The question of what happens should the Cuban military resist US plans for a post-Castro Cuba is left unaddressed. The emphasis on non-military means to hasten the collapse of Cuba's socialist system could be taken as further evidence of Robinson's (1996) argument that there has been a major shift in the forms of US intervention since the end of the Cold War from coercive to consensual strategies of 'democracy promotion' (polyarchy). The significance of this strategy, Robinson argues, was brought home by the military defeat of the US in Vietnam. Coercion was judged to be counterproductive to the goal of winning the political subordination of the periphery. The strategy of 'democracy promotion' grants symbolic concessions to the periphery by providing assistance in transitioning away from dictatorship. This assistance takes the form of direct financial assistance to political parties and social movement organizations, training of officials and activists, and development of media strategies. The Report, with its emphasis on supporting Cuban 'civil society' in its domestic and international organizing campaigns, appears to fit neatly into Robinson's framework. However, there are limits to this. The US has supported 'democracy promotion' only when it has been safe for it to do so. For example, in the case of the Philippines and Haiti, the US supported 'democratization' only after dictatorships long supported by the US had lost legitimacy and thus were no longer serving US interests. Elsewhere, 'democratization' was accomplished only after military dictatorship had so thoroughly institutionalized neoliberal policies that dictatorship was no longer necessary (as in Chile), or after a war of such devastating social costs that people chose the 'correct' leadership (as in Nicaragua). In other words, a transition strategy based on civil society is not an alternative to one based on coercive power. Instead, the two must be seen as complementing and reinforcing each other.
As a result, there are good reasons to be skeptical of the argument that the Commission's reports represent a major shift in US strategy. This is most evident if the CAFC I and CAFC II are read not as isolated documents, but in a broader context defined by recent statements of US political-military strategy and by the US invasion of Iraq. According to the National Security Strategy of the United States of America, "America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are by failing ones" (White House 2002: 1). In the face of such threats, the Strategy proclaims the right of the United States to take "anticipatory action to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack. To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively" (15). The Strategy declares that such preventive intervention should "promote economic growth and economic freedom beyond America's borders." This means "pro-growth legal and regulatory policies," lower taxes, "strong financial systems" and "sound fiscal policies to support business activity," and the expansion of free trade by strengthening the World Trade Organization and creating regional and bilateral free trade agreements (17). It should also promote freedom, which is defined as including "limits on the absolute power of the state" and "respect for private property" (3), and "opening societies and building the infrastructure of democracy" (21).
The US invasion of Iraq is the National Security Strategy put into practice; it represents the imposition of neoliberalism by force. Under the leadership of the Ba'ath Party, Iraq's constitution promoted a statist version of socialism through state planning, nationalization of natural resources, state-owned industries in major economic sectors, and limits on the ownership of private property. In addition, the state subsidized the prices of basic necessities, provided free education and health care, and offered extensive employment guarantees to workers (al-Khalil 1989; Khadduri 1978). The Ba'ath Party saw the Soviet Union and its state socialist system as a development model for Iraq, but the Ba'ath's commitment to socialism existed within the context of its pan-Arab nationalism; resident citizens of Arab countries were granted the same rights as Iraqis to operate or own private businesses. The imposition of neoliberalism on a conquered Iraq has been a central element of elite policy makers' planning (Center for Strategic and International Studies 2003; Council on Foreign Relations 2003; King 2003; Klein 2004). In order to dismantle this statist economic system, the Coalition Provisional Authority enacted a massive program of shock therapy on Iraq. Examples of the CPA's neoliberal program were the seizure of all public property, suspension of tariffs and trade restrictions, abolition of laws guaranteeing employment for state workers, creation of laws providing for private ownership (as well as foreign ownership) of businesses, and reduction of individual and corporate income taxes.
It seems clear that Iraq is to serve as a lesson, for both the global South and the capitalist core, of the determination of the United States to ensure the success of US-dominated neoliberalism on a world scale. This is the context in which the Commission's reports on Cuba must be read. The absence of any direct examination of military power in the US transition plan is not because it will play no role (or, at best, a subordinate one) but because, given the current war in Iraq, there is no need to make such explicit statements. CAFC I's claims that Cuba supports terrorism and has a "limited developmental offensive biological weapons research and development effort" (Commission 2004: xviii), both of which have been shown to be outright lies or gross simplifications (Landau & Smith 2002; Smith, Muse & Baker 2004), mirror equally unfounded claims used to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq; CAFC II's oblique reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis reinforces this manufactured fear of weapons of mass destruction. It is also worth noting in this context that prior to the appointment of a mission manager for Cuba and Venezuela, the only other countries similarly monitored were Iran and North Korea, both of which are seen as nuclear threats (Bachelet 2006). If structural adjustment or 'democracy promotion' are insufficient to impose neoliberalism on a recalcitrant country, then neoliberalism will be imposed by force or the threat of force. Cuban officials understand clearly the relevance of the war in Iraq for the Commission's transition plans. Cuba's U.N. mission issued a response to the appointment of Caleb McCarry as Cuba Transition Coordinator which made clear this connection:
In Iraq they also appointed a US coordinator [L. Paul Bremer, Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority] as the foreman of a large property, but they first invaded the nation and occupied it militarily. In the case of Cuba, he was nominated without doing one thing or the other, in the certainty that if they invaded the nation they would face a much higher resistance than in Iraq (Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba 2005).3
Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque has made the same connection, referring to McCarry as "Paul Bremer for Cuba" (Superville 2006). There is, of course, another possible explanation for the lack of attention to the role that force might play in Cuba's transition to capitalism. The Report reflects considerable confidence that the Cuban population will, upon Castro's death, turn en masse toward neoliberalism. Just as US officials misunderstood the possibilities for resistance to their occupation of Iraq, so too they may not fully appreciate the likelihood of large scale resistance from Cubans to a transition to capitalism. Should that situation arise there is little doubt about the significance that US military power would then have in completing the transition.
Cuba poses, in Noam Chomsky's phrase, the 'threat of a good example,' and so if the closing off of alternatives to global capitalism is to be made reality, Cuba must be transformed. The Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba provides a blueprint for this transformation, and as such the Commission is important on a number of levels. Its importance in outlining how the United States will take a leading role in transforming the institutions which make up Cuba's socialist system is obvious. The transition to capitalism is to be accomplished through 'accumulation by dispossession' (Harvey 2003), with the United States serving as the principal agent of capitalist development. In order for a 'free Cuba' to be re-integrated into its appropriate location within global capitalism, state and socialized property must be converted into private property and a working class with certain economic and social rights must be reconfigured to be 'free' of those protections. The Commission's significance, however, goes beyond the relatively narrow boundaries of US-Cuba policy. Indeed, CAFC I and CAFC II should be seen as major documents of capitalist globalization. If there is indeed no alternative to global capitalism, then the very idea of revolution must be rendered meaningless. The central elements of the Commission's analysis of Cuba – the transformation of Cuba's revolution into a brief interruption of a golden past that must be 'restored' or, alternatively, into the simple succession of Batista by Castro, the reduction of democracy to the limited forms of polyarchy, and the conversion of Cuba's human development successes into failures – are nothing less than an effort to erase discursively the possibility of revolution. Without revolution and its promise of a better world, then all that remains is the inevitability of capitalist globalization.
This exclusion of alternatives, however, is not an inevitable process. Cuba has held off heroically almost fifty years of political, military, and economic destabilization by the United States. It has also provided inspiration to anti-imperialist movements and movements opposed to capitalist globalization. In this regard, despite important differences it is difficult to imagine how Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution could have achieved what it has without the material and moral support of Cuba. Because of this, it is essential for scholars and activists opposed to capitalist globalization to take seriously the work of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. It would be a mistake to see CAFC I and CAFC II as merely election year sops to Florida's Cuban exile population or as dealing 'only' with Cuba. The Commission's work expresses the central theses of neoliberalism, and it is directed against the state which has consistently been neoliberalism's most significant opponent. For this reason the left must renew its commitment to defending Cuba against US plans for the transition to capitalism.
1. For a critical discussion of these claims, see Landau and Smith (2002), Reynolds (2004), and Smith, Muse & Baker (2004).
2. For an examination of Cuba's socialist democracy see Fuller (1992) and Roman (2003).
3. On a 2003 visit to Cuba, the author heard similar connections voiced repeatedly by Cuban officials and social scientists.
al-Khalil, Samir. 1989. Republic of Fear. New York: Pantheon Books.
Bachelet, Pablo. 2006. "US Creates Five Groups to Monitor Cuba." Miami Herald, September 13, 1A.
Blum, William. 2003. Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.
Center for Strategic and International Studies. 2003. "Iraq's Post-Conflict Reconstruction." Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. 2004. Report to the President. Washington, D.C.: Department of State.
_____. 2006. Report to the President. Washington, D.C.: Department of State.
Council on Foreign Relations. 2003. "Iraq: The Day After." New York: Council on Foreign Relations.
Ehrenberg, John. 1992. The Dictatorship of the Proletariat: Marxism's Theory of Socialist Democracy. New York: Routledge.
Fuller, Linda. 1992. Work and Democracy in Socialist Cuba. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Gedda, George. 2004. "US Seeks to Subvert Succession in Cuba." Associated Press, May 7.
Hart-Landsberg, Martin, and Paul Burkett. 2005. China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Harvey, David. 2003. The New Imperialism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Held, David. 1987. Models of Democracy. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Khadduri, Majid. 1978. Socialist Iraq: A Study of Iraqi Politics Since 1968. Washington: The Middle East Institute.
King, Neil. 2003 "Bush Officials Devise a Broad Plan For Free-Market Economy in Iraq." Wall Street Journal, May 1, A1.
Klein, Naomi. 2004. "Baghdad Year Zero." Harper's (September): 43-53.
Kloby, Jerry. 2003. Inequality, Power, and Development. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books.
Lamrani, Salim (ed.). 2005. Superpower Principles: US Terrorism Against Cuba. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 2005.
Landau, Anya K., and Wayne S. Smith. 2002. "Cuba on the Terrorist List: In Defense of the Nation or Domestic Political Calculation?" International Policy Report (November). Washington, D.C.: Center for International Policy.
Kornbluh, Peter. 2003. The Pinochet File. New York: The New Press.
McSherry, J. Patrice. 2005. Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. 2006. "Mission Manager for Cuba and Venezuela Announced." Press Release. Washington, D.C., August 18.
Panitch, Leo. 1996. "Rethinking the Role of the State." Globalization: Critical Studies (ed.) James H. Mittelman. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Panitch, Leo, and Colin Leys. 2001. The End of Parliamentary Socialism: From Benn to Blair. New York: Verso.
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations. 2005. "Another Servant Against Cuba at Bush's Court." Press Release. New York, August 3.
Petras, James F., and Henry Veltmeyer. 2001. Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in the 21st Century. New York: Zed Books.
Piven, Frances Fox, and Richard Cloward. 2000. Why Americans Still Don't Vote. Boston: Beacon Press.
Poulantzas, Nicos. 1975. Classes in Contemporary Capitalism. London: New Left Books.
Reynolds, Maura. 2004. "Bush Took Quote Out of Context, Researcher Says." Los Angeles Times, July 20, p. A15.
Robinson, William. 1996. Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Roman, Peter. 2003. People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government. Lanham, MD: Roman and Littlefield.
Smith, Wayne S., Robert Muse and Glenn Baker. 2004. "Cuba Should Not Be on the Terrorist List." International Policy Report (November). Washington, D.C.: Center for International Policy.
Steger, Manfred B. 2005. Globalism: Market Ideology Meets Terrorism. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Superville, Darlene. 2006. "Bush Point Man on Cuba Shows Little Affection for Castro and Sentiment Is Returned." Associated Press, August 4.
Tabb, William K. 2001. The Amoral Elephant: Globalization and the Struggle for Social Justice in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Monthly Review Press.
United Nations. 2005a. "Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States of America Against Cuba: Report of the Secretary-General." United Nations General Assembly A/60/213, August 10.
_____. 2005b. Human Development Report 2005. New York: United Nations Development Program.
US Department of State. 2003. "President Bush Discusses Cuban Policy in Rose Garden Speech." Press Release, October 10. Washington, D.C.: US Department of State.
_____. 2005a. "Meeting of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba." Press Release, December 19. Washington, D.C: US Department of State.
_____. 2005b. "Announcement of Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry." Press Release, July 25. Washington, D.C.: US Department of State.
White House. 2002. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America. Washington, D.C.: The White House.
Yates, Michael D. 1998. Why Unions Matter. New York: Monthly Review Press.


text:
Catch-22Audiobook CD - 2007
From the critics
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[Mr. Werner] I really dislike this performance. Not sure if the book reads better than the narration, but it is chapter after chapter of excessively wordy descriptions (and dialog) painting the characters and their sordid behavior. Very little "action" at least as far as I listened. Terribly cynical. When I wasn't bored by the droning on of/about each character, I was annoyed by the narrator's shouting the character's parts. Hard to listen to. I am returning after listening to about half of it.
Comical and lively, and yet each scene seethes with a choked bleakness. For me, the real joy of Catch-22 is the sing-song banter. I love conversation as exposition and Joseph Heller is one of the best. To those of you who've previously given up on this one and wish to try again, I recommend simply listening to the back-and-forth exchanges as if they were song. Doing this helped me make a little sense of the absurdity.
One of my favorite novels. A classic!
I had a hard time starting this in book form, so I decided to try the audiobook. I believe this book could have worked better as a novella, although I think the fantastic ending is earned in part to it's length. It is not an easy read, but it is easy to understand why it is considered such and important work.
The narrator is fantastic, maintaining different personalities and inflections for each of the characters in the large cast. Check it out. 4/5
I recommend this audiobook to anyone who enjoys satire, especially satire of military operations, formality, and the important things in life. The brand of humor may not be for everyone -- it reminded me of Men Who Stare At Goats or O Brother, Where Art Thou? It is very well written and superbly performed by Jay Sanders. The production quality on the CDs is very good; my only minor complaint is that the opening and closing music on each disc goes on for way too long.
This book repeats multiple parts of itself multiple times to the point of creating a huge urge in me to give up reading it. In fact, I'm not sure why I did read it all the way through.
Suddenly, with 30-50 pages to go to the end Heller turned it into one of the great books of the 20th century!
Stick with it. Yeah, it repeats and repeats way beyond what is necessary, but the events at the end make it worthwhile.
Wow I was so frustrated by the characters! I just wanted to slap half of them and just wake them up! I completely understand the phrase 'catch 22' now! Very unique book... everyone should read it at least once!
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text:
today, while talking to me, somebody took two furtive glances at my post-dinner stomach like he couldn't help his eyes because its bloatedness intrigued him on a sub-conscious level. upon noticing, i self-consciously adjusted myself so that i was facing 90 degrees away from him and tried to stand a bit straighter so that it wouldn't be sticking out that prominently. unfortunately, i suddenly realise now that a side view of my stomach may actually make me look pregnant, sadly. i mean, you've all seen my "say hi to" pic - you know how it looks - except i think it's bigger now! i guess it's time to start some targeted exercising again. sigh.
Mood: embarrassed


text:
The GeoEye-1 satellite sensor was successfully launched on September 6, 2008. The satellite, which was launched at Vanderberg Air Force Base, California, provides a resolution of 0.46 meters.
Watch a video of GeoEye-1 satellite launch.
GeoEye-1 Satellite Sensor (0.46m)
(Image Copyright © DigitalGlobe.)
The GeoEye-1 Satellite sensor features the most sophisticated technology ever used in a commercial remote sensing system. This newly developed sensor is optimized for large projects, as it can produce over 350,000 square kilometers of pan-sharpened multispectral satellite imagery every day.
GeoEye-1, launched in September 2008, has been flying at an altitude of about 681 kilometers and is capable of producing imagery with a ground sampling distance of 46 centimeters, meaning it can detect objects of that diameter or greater.
During late summer of 2013 the orbit altitude of the GeoEye-1 Satellite sensor was raised to 770 Km/ 478 Miles. GeoEye-1 new nadir ground sample distance (GSD) is 46cm compared to the previous GSD of 41cm.
|Launch Date
|September 6, 2008
|Camera Modes
|Simultaneous panchromatic and multispectral (pan-sharpened)
Panchromatic only
Multispectral only
|0.46 m / 1.51 ft* panchromatic (nominal at Nadir)
1.84 m / 6.04 ft* multispectral (nominal at Nadir)
|Spectral Range
|Panchromatic: 450 - 800 nm
Blue: 450 - 510 nm
Green: 510 - 580 nm
Red: 655 - 690 nm
Near Infra Red: 780 - 920 nm
|Metric Accuracy/Geolocation
|5 m CE90, 3 m CE90 (measured)
|Swath Widths & Representative Area Sizes
|Nominal swath width - 15.2 km / 9.44 mi at Nadir
Single-point scene - 225 sq km (15x15 km)
Contiguous large area - 15,000 sq km (300x50 km)
Contiguous 1° cell size areas - 10,000 sq km
(100x100 km)
Contiguous stereo area - 6,270 sq km (224x28 km)
(Area assumes pan mode at highest line rate)
|Imaging Angle
|Capable of imaging in any direction
Revisit Frequency at 770 km Altitude (40° Latitude Target)
|Max Pan GSD (m)
|Off Nadir Look Angle (deg)
|Average Revisit (days)
Daily Monoscopic Area Collection CapacityUp to 700,000 sq km/day (270,271 sq mi/day) of pan area (about the size of Texas). Up to 350,000 sq km/day (135,135 sq mi/day) of pan-sharpened multispectral area (about the size of New Mexico)
|Launch Vehicle
|Delta II
|Launch Vehicle Manufacturer
|Boeing Corporation
|Launch Location
|Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
|Satellite Weight
|1955 kg / 4310 lbs
|Satellite Storage and Downlink
|1 Terabit recorder; X-band downlink (at 740 mb/sec or 150 mb/sec)
|Operational Life
|Fully redundant 7+ year design life; fuel for 15 years
|Satellite Modes of Operation
|Store and forward
Real-time image and downlink
Direct uplink with real-time downlink
|Orbital Altitude
|770 km / 478 miles
|Orbital Velocity
|About 7.5 km/sec or 17,000 mi/hr
|Inclination/Equator Crossing Time
|98 degrees / 10:30am
|Orbit type/period
|Sun-synchronous / 98 minutes
GeoEye-2 (WorldView-4) Satellite Sensor (0.34m)
As of February 2013, following the merger of GeoEye and DigitalGlobe, GeoEye-2 satellite sensor will be held in storage until needed. DigitalGlobe's next satellite the third-generation satellite capable of discerning objects on the Earth's surface as small as 34cm (13.4 inch) in the panchromatic or black-and-white mode. It will collect multispectral or color imagery at 1.36-meter (4.46 feet) resolution. GeoEye-2 will have the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system. This advanced resolution will offer customers unprecedented, precise views for mapping, change detection and image analysis.
On July 31, 2014 DigitalGlobe announced that the GeoEye-2 Satellite sensor will be renamed WorldView-4 and launched during 2016 with a panchromatic resolution of 30cm and multispectral resolution of 1.20-meters.
(Image Copyright © DigitalGlobe)
GeoEye-2 (WorldView-4) will be of the same general class as GeoEye-1 launched on September 6th, 2008 (Article: GeoEye-1 Satellite Sensor Launch) and became commercially available on February 5th, 2009. Besides unsurpassed spatial resolution, GeoEye-2 will offer exceptional geolocation accuracy, which means that customers will be able to map natural and man-made features to better than 5-meter CE90 (specification) and 3- to 4-meter CE90 (expected) of their actual location on the Earth's surface without ground control points.
GeoEye-2 will make 15 orbits per day flying at an altitude of 681 km (423 miles), with an orbital velocity of 7.5 km/sec (16,800 mile/hour). GeoEye-2 will be able to "revisit" any point on the globe every three days or sooner, depending upon the required look angle. The altitude could be revised before launch to utilize the recently obtained permission to acquire and deliver 0.25m resolution Imagary.
GeoEye-2 customers will have a choice of ordering BASIC (satellite projection), Geo (geometrically corrected), GeoProfessional (terrain corrected or ortho-rectified), or GeoStereo (stereo pair) products, as well as imagery-derived products, including Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), Digital Surface Models (DSMs), large-area mosaics and feature maps.
GeoEye-1 DigitalGlobe brochure


text:
Horror sites and blogs such as this are known for celebrating the Halloween season by highlighting its movies, actors, attractions, and horror hosts. Few, however, ever really get down to the ground level of Halloween – that is trick-or-treating! While it can be traced to other parts of the world, the tradition really took off in this country during the 1950's. By the time I was old enough to start knocking on neighborhood doors and ask the question that would invariably lead to a bag full of candy, it was over 20 years later and firmly established as a holiday tradition.
It was during my childhood that various "legends" also began to evolve such as the notorious "razor blades in an apple" scare that had my mother "sorting through" our candy before giving them back to us. We'd sit and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" while our candy went through inspection ala' a giant pile of goodies on the kitchen table. Now that I'm an adult I am convinced that this practice was probably more my parents way of snagging some of the good stuff for themselves as opposed to keeping us from harm.
The coveted "Snickers" and chocolate bars often didn't pass "inspection"
Despite these fears, I remember going off with my friends and walking blocks and blocks while loading our bags with candy. Today's kids aren't allowed to go off by themselves as we were and I also noticed seem to tire out a lot easier. Like cartoons, candy and sweets are much more readily available to them these days and not worth the arduous journeys we adults were willing to do back in our youths.
This is not to suggest, however, that trick-or-treating has lost its allure. We monster kids have grown up, and the holiday has become nearly as big a commercial success as Christmas. Homes today can now offer much more yard appeal than a simple jack-o' lantern in the window. This was never more evident to me than earlier tonight when I took my kids out to trick-or-treat. I grew up in Homewood, Illinois and returned years later to raise my own family. Not far from my childhood home, lies Page Avenue – a street that has become the number one spot for local kids to obtain their goodies.
The residents here are friendly and many don't even wait for you to ring their doorbells. They are often seen sitting outside their homes, bowl of treats nearby, and many even have little fire pits so parents can keep warm while their kids handle the task at hand. I remember the year my son dressed as Horror Host, Svengoolie, this was the one street where EVERYONE knew who he was.
Two houses in particular go ALL OUT on Page. They are right next door to each other and, each year, seem to add more and more great stuff! One of them even uses his garage to further the entertainment!
I noticed the house next to them is for sale and it's too bad this wasn't the case when I moved back to Homewood. We could have really been a Trilogy of Terror! This year I decided to wear my Wolfman mask created by horror host, Dr. David Lady, and his wife. David bought it for me at the last Horrorhound Weekend and I decided that now was the time for it to make its public debut. I didn't do too much else in terms of a costuming because my young niece was joining us this year and I was afraid I'd scare her. Page Avenue also proved a great place for The Wolf man to reunite with his old adversary, Frankenstein, via a PVC pipe custom monster made by one of the residents!
By the way, if you think I was kidding about kids getting lazier, allow me to call to your attention something else I saw tonight. I little land rover transporting trick-or-treaters to the best houses!
Well I guess Trick-or-treating was bound to evolve at some point!
Dave Fuentes~