Free Talk Live

Cuban President says state's role in the economy has to be reduced. Well no kidding? It only took you 51 years to figure it out.

Mariela Castro, Daughter of Cuban President, Helps Lead Struggle for LGBTQ Rights in Changing Cuba - Mariela Castro was recently granted a visa for a rare trip to the United States. Democracy Now! had a chance to sit down with her last week at the Cuban consulate here in New York City. We talked not only about her work combating homophobia, but also her thoughts on the Cuban Five and what’s happening in Cuba 50 years after the start of the U.S. embargo. She called on the United States to release five Cubans jailed for spying on violent anti-Cuban militants in exchange for U.S.

Award-winning journalist, filmmaker, author, professor Saul Landau has made more than 45 films and written 14 books, many about Cuba. His latest film is "Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up," about U.S. support for violent anti-Castro militants. Landau joins us to discuss the history of the Cuban Five and U.S. support for a group of anti-Castro militants who have been behind the bombing of airplanes, the blowing up of hotels and assassinations. Today they are allowed to live freely in the United States. "What did Cuba do to us?," Landau asks.

Does China Have a Superior Economic Model?

In a recent piece for the Wall Street Journal, Andy Stern, an Obama insider and one of organized labor's more aggressive personalities, praised what he called "China's superior economic model."

Does China have a superior economic model? That depends: Superior to what?

Short story:

Local government sells the village's land
Villagers riot
Police crack down
Police get their asses kicked
Police are currently trying to starve them out.

No religion: What was Lennon summoning? For starters, a world without "divine" messengers, like Osama bin Laden, sparking violence. A world where mistakes, like the avoidable loss of life in Hurricane Katrina, would be rectified rather than chalked up to "God's will." Where politicians no longer compete to prove who believes more strongly in the irrational and untenable. Where critical thinking is an ideal. In short, a world that makes sense.

"I've been on the fence for years about the legalization of drugs ... and now I'm a victim of this crazy war on drugs," says Freshman, who pledged to sue until "I see [the agents'] houses sold at auction and their kids' college tuitions taken away from them. There will not be a better litigated case this century."

Senior Citizen gets $100 fine for putting a newspaper in a public trash can. Sanitation cop Kathy Castro wrote Gluckin the summons for putting "improper refuse" in a city litter basket.

Never knew this existed until I came across it in a Pawn Shop a few weeks ago - great way to explains the dangers of communism to kids with an animated movie. Not as good as the book of course - but still good!