LET'S RECAPTURE CUBA

And Get Rich Quick!!

     USAID is the acronym for United States Agency for International Development. It has been known to use tax dollars to help needy people around the world. But when it comes to Cuba, USAID, it seems, plunges head-first into CIA territory, which has been known to have participated in...uh, let's say...regime-change schemes in more than a few countries -- from the Congo to Chile, and that's just dipping into the countries that start with a "C." The fact that the results produced fiendish U.S.-friendly dictators -- Mobutu and Pinochet, to just mention the "C's" -- has never seemed to bother the American people, whom the Founding Fathers expected to be fierce defenders of their democracy, such as the ferocity the Greatest Generation in World War II exhibited. And since 1898 when the USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor to become the pretext for the Spanish-American War, or since 1903 when the U. S. extracted Guantanamo Bay from Cuba, or since 1952 when the U. S. teamed with the Mafia to support the Batista dictatorship in Cuba, or since 1976 when Cubana Flight 455 was blown out of the sky by a terrorist bomb, or since USAID departed from its main course, which is helping needy people in foreign nations, to not-so-clandestinely fund regime-change operations in one particular country, Cuba, the two post-World War II generations of Americans have either been too timid or too ignorant to care, even one iota, about such things as a 191-to-2 UN vote denouncing America's Cuban policy mandated by a dysfunctional, Batistiano-infiltrated U. S. Congress and now, it seems, exacerbated by today's USAID.

     Tracey Eaton knows Cuba like the back of his hand. He spent years on the island as the Havana-based correspondent for the Dallas Morning News. He is now a journalism professor at Flagler College in Florida. His articles about Cuba are carried in high-profile forums such as USA Today, Huffington Post, Pulitzer.org, etc. He regularly revisits the island to obtain video interviews with everyday Cubans, dissident Cubans, and pro-revolutionary Cubans. You can see dozens of those interviews on Tracey's websites or on venues such as YouTube. As one of America's best and fairest Cuban experts, he is also America's very best investigative reporter when it comes to U.S.-Cuban relations. Expertly using the Freedom of Information act, a still-viable democratic tool, Tracey regularly reveals exact details on a myriad of tax-dollars devoted to countless regime-change programs that otherwise are never reported by a cowered U. S. media and which force Cuba to remain in a defensive mode to protect what it considers its sovereignty and its culture. On January 22-2016 a Tracey Eaton article revealed yet another open solicitation by USAID to make some more people rich if they hold up their hand and explain how they can oppose Cuba's revolutionary government. He wrote: "USAID announced a $6 million grant to anyone chosen to make political changes in Cuba. Grant amounts will range from $5,000,000 to $2 million. The application deadline is Feb. 25. The agency says that grant recipients will be going to Cuba at their own risk and may not hold USAID responsible for what might happen to them."

     The saga of Alan Gross is well known to Americans, except they have gotten a mostly pro-U.S./anti-Cuba spin that grossly sanitized it with the usual tilt against Cuba. His imprisonment in Cuba, his hunger strike, etc., will forever remain a microcosm of U.S.-Cuban relations in the post-Cold War period. Among the minimized truths, once he was freed, is the fact that he successfully sued the U. S. government -- TAXPAYERS! -- for his well-paid but dangerous anti-Cuban venture on the island.

         If you Google Wikipedia, it's first lines about Alan Gross are: "Alan Phillip Gross is a United States government contractor employed by the United States Agency for International Development {USAID}. In December 2009 he was arrested in Cuba while working on a program fueled under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act." The Helms-Burton Act -- like the Torricelli Bill, etc. -- was easily rammed through the U. S. Congress by the most ardent anti-Castro zealots in Miami aligned with Congressional acolytes like the infamous Jesse Helms, Dan Burton, Robert Torricelli, etc. From those days to this day, Helms-Burton, Torricelli, etc., have funneled vast sums of tax dollars from Washington to Miami to fund anti-Cuban programs and enrich just about anybody that concocts any program...such as the money-soaking Radio-TV Marti enterprise or the Wet Foot/Dry Foot boondoggle that dates back to 1966's Cuban Adjustment Act...that even remotely claims a desire to help eliminate or overthrow Cuba's revolutionary government. So, long before USAID got on the anti-Cuban bandwagon, tepid American taxpayers were and are being drained of tax dollars flowing freely and endlessly in pipelines from the U. S. Congress in Washington to anti-Castro zealots in Miami. The very day -- Jan. 22-2016 -- Tracey Eaton exposed yet another USAID multi-million-dollar package, there were updated news reports about a money-saving scheme in Flint, Michigan, that was grossly poisoning the water for its mostly black citizens. And on Jan. 22-2016 there was a news report about a school in Detroit where teachers and local officials said students could not learn because their classrooms were "unsafe" due to falling plaster from the ceilings and dangerous mold discolorations that scared them. In Flint, in Detroit, and elsewhere around America -- and the world, for that matter -- ARE THERE BETTER PLACES FOR USAID TO SPEND ITS TAX DOLLARS THAN ON COUNTLESS REGIME-CHANGE PROGRAMS AIMED AT CUBA OR ON ENRICHING ANTI-CASTRO ZEALOTS IN MIAMI OR "CONTRACTORS" LIKE ALAN GROSS?? And, as with Alan Gross, when such "contractors" sue the U. S. government for putting them in harms way, guess who pays the multi-million-dollar lawsuits? I believe the answer is...we very stupid or cowardly taxpayers.

      Sarah Stephens is an American treasure as the founder and director of the Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas. As the world-class expert on U.S.-Cuban relations, her Cuba Central segment of the CDA website each Friday is America's best update on that week's latest U.S.-Cuban developments. In her Cuba Central report this past Friday, Ms. Stephens started off with Tracey Eaton's latest USAID solicitation for more anti-Cuban contractors although, of course, reminding them that...while they would get rich...USAID "would not be responsible" if and when they got arrested in Cuba, which has a reputation for being on the alert for such get-rich-quick Americans. Ms. Stephens pointed out that much of that USAID money is designed to provoke or entice dissidents on the island to make headlines by, for example, getting arrested while being photographed or videotaped. She thanked Mr. Eaton for his continuing revelations and she wrote: "I think it's worth pointing out that many of those arrested for political reasons are taking part in programs funded by the U. S. government or U.S. government-financed organizations."

         28-year-old Cristina Escobar is Cuba's most popular television news anchor and journalist and, as indicated by the above photo, her cogent, precise, and unabashed opinions about U.S.-Cuban relations are sought-after by regional and international news outlets, including last summer in Washington when she made headlines while covering the last Vidal-Jacobson diplomatic session. Either in Spanish or English, Cristina is the leader on the island of the twenty-something generation that is determined "to have more of a say in post-Castro Cuba than Miami Cubans or the U. S. Congress will ever have." Cristina, in Spanish or English, will readily tell you all about "the Cubans who have died fighting for sovereignty against Spanish and American imperialists, and my generation of Cubans now on the island who are willing to do the same."

       On his frequent trips to Cuba, Tracey Eaton has gotten video-taped interviews with many of the most vehement anti-Castro dissidents all across the island. But he is fair enough to present both sides of the two-sided menagerie. The above image is taken from Eaton's interview with Cristina Escobar. A 15 minute, 22-second version in Spanish is posted on YouTube as is a 3 minute, 29 second segment that includes the English translation. You'll hear Escobar's opinions on items uppermost on her mind, such as Cuban sovereignty and American regime-change programs. Based on his interview with Cristina, Eaton wrote an informative article widely published last week entitled: "Cuba's Fate Up To Cubans, Not Americans." 

         Not to know Cristina Escobar in 2016 is to not know why the Batistianos and the Mafiosi have not regained total control of Cuba, especially considering the fact that, since 1959, the recapture-Cuba forces have been backed by a nearby nation that happens to be the strongest and richest nation in the history of the world. A rebel named Celia Sanchez was the main reason the Batista-Mafia rulers in Cuba were booted off the island on New Year's Day in 1959. A diplomat named Josefina Vidal is the main reason the Miami/Congress-based Cuban-Americans have been held at bay in recent years. Cristina Escobar -- a rebel who prefers diplomacy, like Vidal, but is willing to fight, like Sanchez -- is a third-generation Cuban who direly believes her island should be a sovereign nation, not one dominated by an imperialist power and not one that "forever must defend itself against regime-change schemes concocted by money-crazed rogues." In the Eaton-produced video, she says, "I don't want {Obama, the U. S., Miami} to bring me democracy." She means, if and when it comes, she wants Cubans on the island to do it. And she means what she says. Cast in the mold of the fighting rebel, Sanchez, and the diplomat, Vidal, Cristina Escobar -- unlike most of the U. S. media and most Americans -- is not afraid of extremists in Miami and Congress. And that's why Cuba, in 2016, might continue to shock the world by remaining a sovereign nation for a few more days...at least.

Celia Sanchez: Cuba's pivotal fighter.

Josefina Vidal: Cuba's pivotal diplomat.

Cristina Escobar: Cuba's pivotal anchor.

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Unafraid of Cuba Haters

And Other Injustices

       Don Cheadle was born in Kansas City 51 years ago. Since 1987 he has been one of America's greatest actors, producers, directors, writers, and husbands. He has been married to the talented actress Bridgid Coulter since 1992 and they have two children, Imani and Ayana. In the U. S. and internationally, Don has won more awards than I have space to list. And...oh yes...he won a Nobel Peace Prize too. He co-authored a great book -- "Not On My Watch" -- that helped end the genocide in Darfur. He has worked tirelessly with the United Nations to correct or at least make the world acutely aware of other crimes against humanity. It is, therefore, no surprise that Don Cheadle has taken a Hollywood film crew to Cuba to shed light on injustices against the people of Cuba perpetrated by usurpers from a foreign power, a foreign power that happens to be the world's greatest and strongest democracy. Mr Cheadle told CNN, "Cuba is a place to shoot authentic scenes. It's a place that deserves to be brought onto the world stage. Cuba has a culture of its own. It shouldn't be squashed by a foreign power." Such words could only come from a very decent and very brave man. Don Cheadle is one of America's greatest talents as well as being a decent and brave man. Regarding Cuba, that makes him somewhat unique in the United States.

          This image of Don Cheadle on a street in Havana is courtesy of CNN. On January 22, 2016, CNN's Cuban bureau, headed by Patrick Oppmann, had a feature entitled: "Don Cheadle's 'House of Lies' Makes Friends in Cuba." Using Americans and Cubans as paid workers and actors, Mr. Cheadle is filming "House of Lies" in Cuba and encouraging other Hollywood power-brokers to take advantage of President Obama's "overdue friendly overtures" to Cuba and "start bringing these worthy neighbors in from the chilly cold."

           This Cuban T-shirt salutes the decent wages being paid by Don Cheadle to film "House of Lies" on the island. On January 22nd both CNN and CBS told Americans about the camaraderie among Cubans and Americans working on the project. This T-shirts reads: "Island Film Cuba and House of Lies 2016."

         This iStock photo backs up Don Cheadle's reminder that Cuba is a great place to shoot movies, especially if you want an eager workforce and, perhaps, scenes depicting the 1950s. In Cuba, it's not hard to find a plethora of fine-tuned 1950s American cars or to find Cubans very friendly to Americans.

         But the main thing that Don Cheadle is trying to convey this week is the Truth about Cuba, and WHO DOESN'T LOVE THE TRUTH. Well, according to Don, the last two generations of Americans -- since the 1950s -- have accepted lies about U.S.-Cuban relations, lies that have hurt the worldwide image of the U. S. just as much as they have hurt millions of innocent Cubans. Thanks to the Miami-Batistiano control of the U. S. Congress regarding Cuba, the Cuban laws and narratives in the U. S. have included such things as...denying everyday Americans the freedom to travel to one place on this planet -- Cuba. That, of course, has allowed self-serving misinformation about Cuba that wouldn't be possible if Americans could visit the island and make their own judgments. Thanks to a decent and brave U. S. president, Mr. Obama, more Americans are being allowed to visit Cuba although Batistiano-dictated Congressional laws are still quite restrictive in continuing defiance of the freedoms Americans otherwise enjoy. Don Cheadle's film crew in Cuba is trying to project the Truth about U.S.-Cuban relations. Americans deserve the Truth about Cuba.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann actually tells the truth about Cuba.

How about that!!!!!

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Miami's Much Maligned Majority Moderates

Are They Unrepresented?

         Hugo Cancio is a Cuban-American moderate who has lived in Miami for 35 years. He is a successful businessman with offices in both Miami and Havana. He opposes the U. S. embargo against Cuba as well as other congressionally mandated U. S. laws supposedly designed to hurt Fidel Castro that actually have hurt, for decades now, everyday Cubans on the island while also enriching and empowering Cubans who are enticed to defect to the freedom of Miami. Cancio believes that he is among the majority of Cuban-Americans who are un-represented by elected officials who, to his reckoning, are anti-Castro extremists more focused on Cuba than on the needs and interests of Americans and Cuban-Americans in Miami.

        Miami massively dominates southeastern Florida and is a mere 100 miles or so north of Cuba. North to Hialeah and Miami Shores then south to Coral Gables and South Miami, the Miami metropolis has a population of about 5.5 million with Miami itself being home to about 418,000. East of Miami is Miami Beach, South Beach, Fisher Island, and Virginia Key -- where countless millionaires and billionaires reside.

This Wikipedia photo looks at Miami from the Virginia Key.

This Wikipedia photo looks at Miami from South Beach.

Tomas Regalado has been the Mayor of Miami since 2009.
Mr. Regalado was born in Havana in 1947.

Carlos Gimenez has been Mayor of Miami-Dade County since 2011.
Mr. Gimenez was born in Havana in 1954.

Esteban Bovo is the powerful Commissioner of Miami-Dade County.
Mr. Bovo was born in 1962 and his father fought at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

        Miguel Fernandez, shown above in a montage with his primary benefactor Jeb Bush, arrived from Cuba at age 12 in 1964. Mr. Fernandez is a billionaire who is legendary for donating huge sums to conservative Republicans, especially the Bush dynasty and particularly Florida's two-term governor and 2016 presidential contender Jeb Bush. The Bush dynasty for decades has been so tied to the Cuban-American power-brokers that most of them strongly support Jeb over even one of their own -- Miami's Cuban-American presidential contender Marco Rubio, a fact that Americans are not supposed to ponder.

       The depiction above, which I do not like to see in America, reflects the fact that many in Miami, like Hugo Cancio, are tired of an electoral process that so heavily favors white anti-Castro zealots -- such as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Marco Rubio. The Havana-born Ros-Lehtinen has been entrenched in the U. S. Congress from Miami since 1989 when Jeb Bush began his rise in Florida politics by being her Campaign Manager. Diaz-Balart is the son of Rafael Diaz-Balart, a key Minister in the Batista dictatorship that was overthrown in 1959 by Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution. Rubio is a first-term U. S. Senator and highly funded Republican presidential candidate from Miami that many Miamians, including Hugo, believe has purely benefited from being born a Cuban-American in a Cuban-American city. Contrary to Rubio's political rhetoric about overcoming poverty in Miami, Hugo Cancio and others believe Rubio's fame and fortune has mostly resulted from financial and political advantages accorded Cuban-Americans in Miami via local politics and a Batistiano-aligned U. S. Congress that sends veritable pipelines of tax dollars from Washington to Miami to hurt Cuba, entice Cuban defections to Miami, and empower Cuban-Americans in both local and national {the U. S. Congress} political arenas.

         The above graphic created by Dale Stephanos was used this week to illustrate an almost book-length article in the New York Observer, both its print and online editions. The article was written by respected journalist Ken Silverstein and, in case you want to Google it, is entitled: "Poor Little Rich Boy Runs Into Real Estate Trouble" with this sub-title: "The Senator's Three Houses, Various Lady Friends, Assorted Con Artists Pals and Piles of Unexplained Cash." The first line was gentlest of all but stated: "When it comes to sheer brazen corruption, chicanery and dishonesty there is one candidate who stands head and shoulders above everyone else and he is the right-wing Cuban-American and Tea Party darling Senator Marco Rubio of -- naturally -- the great state of Florida." The rest of the article involves Ken Silverstein's investigative conclusions as to why and how Rubio emerged from Miami's political cauldron to the U. S. Senate where, in a display of disrespect for the exalted legislative body, he hit Washington running for President and -- too busy campaigning and begging billionaires for money -- is dead last among the 100 Senators when it comes to actually showing up to vote. The Silverstein article pulls no punches in forthrightly naming and displaying photos of controversial politicians and lobbyists who steered Rubio's abundant political pots. For example, Silverstein describes Rubio's connections to the ultra-powerful Miami-Dade County Commissioner Esteban Bovo, whom he described as the "notoriously corrupt Floridian and lobbyist named Esteban Bovo." Silverstein was no easier on such Rubio-connected politicians as David Rivera and Ana Alliegro as well as Rubio lobbyists such as Dana Hudson in Washington. The article was published in the New York Observer on January 18, 2016. I thought, within a day or two, Ken Silverstein and the newspaper would be inundated with lawsuits. But, it seems, apparently not. Yet, it begs the question: Why Marco Rubio, a controversial extremist? Why can't one of the moderate Cuban-Americans in Miami become a member of the U. S. Congress and, yes, a presidential candidate?

            The Washington-based Ken Silverstein is not your run-of-the-mill, easily dismissed journalist. He has carved out quite a reputation as a former editor of and still a reporter for Harper's Magazine as well as a star journalist for the likes of the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. Therefore his aforementioned excoriation of Marco Rubio as a product of Miami's unique Cuban-saturated economic and political structure will probably not get him sued by either Marco Rubio or the myriad of other players that he aligned by name and photos to Rubio's ascendancy.

         Day after day and month after month, the brilliant wisdom of all the Talking Heads on television news programs in the United States have grossly misled the American people about how and why a pompous non-politician -- Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman -- has dominated the ongoing Republican presidential race. Americans, often belittled for their political expertise and general intelligence, apparently are smart enough to have tired of a money-crazed, bought-and-paid-for political system that caters to the millionaires and billionaires who so easily purchase politicians who, in turn, lavish favors on the extremely rich at the expense of everyone else.

         Incredibly, two first-term Cuban-American U. S. Senators -- Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas -- are two of the top three in the Republican presidential sweepstakes. Both hit the Senate running for President and, when they have shown up, they have achieved nothing -- except venting their anti-Castro vitriol, vowing to shut down the government if they didn't get their way, etc., etc. Both launched their Senate bids by, first, latching onto the Bush dynasty and, secondly, latching onto the Tea Party. Both have unabashedly and successfully seemingly begged every conservative, right-wing, Jewish, and religious billionaire for money to grease their paths to the White House where they would also be Commander-in-Chief and where the next U. S. President can be expected to appoint from one to four Supreme Court justices. If you think this week's article by Ken Silverstein in the New York Observer excoriated Marco Rubio, you REALLY SHOULD READ the scathing January 20th editorial in the New York Times entitled: "Two Sides of Ted Cruz: Tort Reformer and Personal Injury Lawyer." The NY Times editorial pointedly explains why, earlier this week, Republican icon Bob Dole said that a Cruz victory in the Republican primary would be "cataclysmic." CRUZ? RUBIO? HEY, WHY NOT A CUBAN-AMERICAN STRAIGHT-SHOOTER??

          Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have used their first terms in the U. S. Senate to strictly run for President and assail every positive aspect of Barack Obama's two-term presidency -- such as normalizing relations with Cuba, providing affordable health care for even poor Americans, trying to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill so the slaughter in U. S. cities will at least slow down, using diplomacy to deal with international problems instead of carpet bombing or sanctioning everyone who has an opposing viewpoint, etc. Disrespecting President Obama is one thing, but disrespecting democracy and the office of the presidency is something else altogether. 

        My passion for Cuba -- as opposed to, say, my passion for Jamaica -- relates to the fact that my primary passions are America and democracy. I believe the Cuban Revolution, 1953 till 1959, and Revolutionary Cuba, since 1959, say a lot more about the United States than they say about Cuba. One thing they say is...the world's greatest and strongest democracy can be vulnerable to cancer-like attacks from within unless greed, thugs, and criminals are overruled or at least held in check by the supposedly sane, decent, and patriotic majority. In 1952 apathetic Americans let the U. S. team with the Mafia to support the vile Batista dictatorship in Cuba. That was undemocratic and anti-American. But the supposedly sane, decent, and patriotic majority that let that happen also has, in two generations since, not been sane enough, decent enough, or patriotic enough to deal democratically with the remnants of the long-ago flirtation with the Mafia and Batista in Cuba.

        That brings me back around to Hugo Cancio, one of Miami's much maligned majority moderates. Hugo is a Cuban-American who has lived in Miami for 35 years and, like most of his peers, is not an anti-Castro zealot. He travels frequently to Cuba and tries to help Cubans on the island, not punish them in the guise of hurting Castro while hiding behind the might of the U. S. Congress, the U. S. treasury, the U. S. military, and the right-wing Tea Party. Hugo says that he and the majority Cuban-American moderates in Miami like him are not represented by Miami's Banana Republic-style political system. DOES HE HAVE A POINT? I think he does. Now...if a moderate Cuban-American gets elected to high office in Miami-Dade County, or if a moderate Cuban-American is sent from Miami-Dade County to the U. S. Congress, that would show that Miami's Cold War mentality regarding Cuba had taken a democratic turn.

     When or if Miami is ever capable of sending someone like Hugo Cancio to the U. S. Congress, America and democracy will be much obliged, I think. As a lifelong democracy-loving conservative Republican, I would support a Cuban-American such as Hugo Cancio for President in a heartbeat. But on a national level, the Cuban-American political contribution comes from Ros-Lehtinen, the Diaz-Balarts, Rubio, Cruz, etc. That leaves moderates like Hugo Cancio out in the cold in what he considers a cruel and undemocratic fashion. Hugo is a Cuban-American businessman in Miami, not a politician. He just wants to be represented by politicians.

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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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