Cuba Has Problems

Unrelated to Miami & Congress

       Like all countries in a turbulent world, Cuba has problems...both natural and man-made. In the last six decades, most of the man-made problems have emanated from nearby Miami and the U. S. Congress. But since its creation many centuries ago, and throughout its existence, Cuba has also been forced to confront natural disasters -- such as hurricanes and tsunamis. And now in the 21st Century, such perilous things as global warming and earthquakes threaten the island that is home to over 11 million Cubans.

        Last Sunday -- January 17th -- was a sunny and peaceful day in Cuba. But the photo above, courtesy of Maria Carla O'Connor/Granma, shows that it turned mean. The sea north of Havana was turbulent and water splashed over the famed Malecon seawall, flooding Cuba's capital five to seven blocks into the city.

        That same day -- Sunday, January 17th -- a natural calamity on the southeastern tip of the island, around Santiago de Cuba -- sent Cubans out of their homes onto the streets, as shown by this photo courtesy of Miguel Rubiera Justiz/ACN. On that peaceful Sunday, early morning earthquakes, about a dozen of them, rattled both the ground and buildings. The strongest tremor registered 5.0 on the Richter scale.

       The above photo and caption is courtesy of OceanDoctor.org and its president and founder Dr. David E. Guggenheim, a great American and world-class marine biologist. Back in November Dr. Guggenheim was instrumental in getting Cuba and the United States to sign a Memorandum of Understanding {MOU} between America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration {NOAA} and Cuba's highly respected Minister of Science. Dr. Guggenheim is trying to save Cubans and Americans who are mutually threatened by natural and man-made calamities related to their contiguous sea and its maligned ecosystem. On January 19th the United Nations predicted that, very soon, plastic will "out-number" fish in the sea that America and Cuba share. Securing the cooperation of Cuba's and America's best marine scientists to deal with that acute situation makes Dr. Guggenheim an American treasure.

     Dr. David Guggenheim has been spotlighted on America's one remaining top-rank, must-see news program -- 60 Minutes, the Sunday night gem on CBS. Otherwise, America's increasingly deficient broadcast news coverage primarily relies on Talking Head pundits and, when it comes to Cuba, only the viewpoints of anti-Castro zealots from Miami and the U. S. Congress. Did you catch Dr. Guggenheim on 60 Minutes? If not, you probably never heard of him or the incredibly important work he and his Ocean Doctor associates are doing to try to save the sea lanes vital to North America, even more vital than Donald Trump's latest political jabs.

    Dr. David Guggenheim's Ocean Doctor program believes the United States and Cuba should work together to protect the ecosystem that both nations share. Of course, his work doesn't get nearly the media coverage or support routinely showered on self-promoting, obnoxious television Talking Heads or the endless rantings  of shady politicians during endless billion-dollar political campaigns.

        Dr. David Guggenheim's work as a marine biologist today is reminiscent of Rachel Carson's work from 1940 till 1964. If today you are an American who has children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren alive and healthy, you owe a debt of thanks to Rachel Carson, truly one of America's all-time super-heroes.

         Rachel Carson, already a renowned marine biologist and environmental writer, wrote a book called "Silent Spring" that was published in 1962. It made the United States and the world that we know today a far better place. Ms. Carson, knowing she was dying of cancer, was inspired to write "Silent Spring" when, sitting in her backyard, she noticed a silence that disturbed her: She didn't hear the peaceful chirps and songs of her beloved songbirds. Though sick and weak, she resumed her work as a marine biologist to discover what had caused the absence of songbirds in her backyard. She discovered that songbirds were dying, and their eggs were too brittle to hatch their babies. She also discovered that frogs were also dying or being born deformed. She discovered the cause was a prodigiously popular chemical called DDT.

        Rachel Carson's monumental book -- "Silent Spring" -- resulted in her becoming an unmerciful target of the $300 million pesticide industry, which had bought-off powerful members of Congress and even some influential newspaper publishers. Although dying of cancer, she defended her book with all of her might. She knew if those chemicals were killing her "voices of spring" -- her beloved songbirds -- and also killing and deforming frogs, eventually humans would also be vulnerable. For her findings and her beliefs, Rachel Carson was viciously attacked and ridiculed by the bought-and-paid-for pesticide advocates.

      But, battling cancer and her powerful critics, Rachel Carson somehow summoned up the strength to courageously testify before a defiant United States Congress in defense of her book, her songbirds, and the human race. Today, in my opinion, "Silent Spring" is the most important American book ever written and Rachel Carson certainly stands at or near the top on the pantheon of All-Time Greatest Americans.

      This photo of Rachel Carson was taken in 1940 and is used courtesy of The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She was born on May 27, 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania. She died of cancer on April 14, 1964 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Every American who is alive today, young and old, should appreciate the life that Rachel Carson lived.

Rachel Carson...would have loved...this little guy.

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