US Erection 12 *AND* 16 *AND* 20 *AND* 22 *AND* 24 *AND* Beyond

[donlever]

Correct on both counts.

...as far as the latter I didn't intend to suggest otherwise.

[Topper]

In the 90's I made a few business trips to Cuba as it was thinking of opening its economy after the Soviet collapse. The Professionals I was dealing with would privately, but cautiously voice their criticism of the Castro regime. More so in private than if around their co workers. Until you reached the upper levels of the Civil Service and they followed the Party line when speaking with me, despite showing me their frustration in other ways. Usually be pointing things out that we saw in our travels.

Interesting discussion with a peasant farmer. He said his grandfather and father had all farmed the same patch of dirt he was farming, but his daughter was now a medical Doctor because of Fidel. She had come along in the peak of Soviet welfare to the Cuban State and benefited from it.

A regular geologist working in a regional government office asked us to stop at another small farm where he bought the scrawniest chicken I have ever seen because his wife was pregnant and he wanted to get some extra protein in her diet. It cost him a month's pay.

I drove from Havana to Santiago de Cuba with two of the top geologists in the country, they made $5 US a month. One fellow's wife was a medical Doctor and made the same. We stopped along the hwy so they could buy a black market rope of onions and a litre of homemade palm oil. They split the cost at just over a week's salary each.

Foreign businessmen I met would travel to Cuba with three over stuffed extra huge suitcases each. One suitcase would be filled with toiletries, one with frozen meat and the third with used children's cloths from a thrift store back home. The first two suitcases would be dropped off at whatever government department they were dealing with to be shared with the staff. The third would be dropped off at an orphanage. It meant we always got a dinner invite to one of the government official's home to have a home cooked roast that we had brought for them. At one of the dinners, there was a knock at the door, they were given an envelope of vitamins. We had read in the National newspaper that there had been an outbreak of malnutrition related illness and apparently the vitamins were the government's response.

Toiletries were non existent in shops, a Cuban may get a bar of soap and a tube of toothpaste every few months, Feminine hygiene products were some of the most popular things a foreigner could bring to Cuba.

I'd rent a 4x4 Suzuki and buy a stack of gas ration coupons that were only sold to foreigners. End of the trip, I'd get together with one of the Cuban geo's I routinely worked with who still had a Lada but couldn't afford fuel. We'd go to the gas station, fill his gerry cans with gas from my excess coupons and go fill his Lada so he might take his family for a Sunday drive to visit family outside Havana.

My first trip, it was illegal at that time for Cubans to possess foreign currency, but there were US$ grocery stores for foreigners where you had to show your passport at the gate before entering and at the cash register when paying. There was always a crowd of Cubans at the gate with US$ sent from family in the US asking us to buy something for them. Usually toiletries. Later trips, Cubans were allowed foreign currency, the US$ stores were gone and all stores were empty. Jobs waiting tables and bar tending in resorts were the best jobs to have because it meant tips on top of government wage mandates. By this time some Cuban's were so desperate they were prostituting their daughters to foreign leeches. The country was a whorehouse.

Fucking commies.

[donlever]

Nice post appreciate the story.

I can not provide a comparable.

I went to the Bahamas once, pleasure not business, and did a little bit of "to see the country" and it was not pleasurable.

My comment to the current gash at the time was that's the last time 3rd World for me....no Cuba, Dominican, Caribbean...nada.

...and I've never done so again (unless you count Playa once which was also a mistake).

Humble nyet.

[Meds]

If Topper's post doesn't give Lever pause to at least think about changing his mind regarding communism, it's safe to say he's a stubborn old ox.




Or just towing the company line for the sake of gash.

[donlever]

Change my mind?

I'm just basically saying I know a lot of people there who live like me.

And some better.

Through work and opportunity.

[Topper]

I knew someone who lived very well in China. An expat pilot flying for a Chinese airline, lived tax free, was fortunate enough to be in Canada when COVID hit and got word from a co worker to abandon ship and not to bother returning. He's currently putting the finishing touches on his cliffside house above Skaha Lake. Had to do some blasting to make space for the pool.

[Cornuck]

"It must be because of M.I.T., my relationship with M.I.T., very smart, I say, what would happen if the boat sank from its weight, and you have this tremendously powerful battery, and the battery is now underwater and there's a shark that's approximately 10 yards over there ... by the way, a lot of shark attacks lately," Trump said before derailing the conversation with a purported shark attack story. He then rejoins his original tale about the sinking boat, asking, "Do I get electrocuted or do I jump over by the shark?"

[Meds]

"It must be because of M.I.T., my relationship with M.I.T., very smart, I say, what would happen if the boat sank from its weight, and you have this tremendously powerful battery, and the battery is now underwater and there's a shark that's approximately 10 yards over there ... by the way, a lot of shark attacks lately," Trump said before derailing the conversation with a purported shark attack story. He then rejoins his original tale about the sinking boat, asking, "Do I get electrocuted or do I jump over by the shark?"

WTF????

[5thhorseman]

"It must be because of M.I.T., my relationship with M.I.T., very smart, I say, what would happen if the boat sank from its weight, and you have this tremendously powerful battery, and the battery is now underwater and there's a shark that's approximately 10 yards over there ... by the way, a lot of shark attacks lately," Trump said before derailing the conversation with a purported shark attack story. He then rejoins his original tale about the sinking boat, asking, "Do I get electrocuted or do I jump over by the shark?"

I have to agree with Trump here. I would choose electrocution.

[Strangelove]

Well I mean the shark is going to eat you in either case

... but yeah, best to be eaten after you've been electrocuted to death.

"My orange hero" makes a good point though:

Shark attacks and electrocution from EV boats are equally frightening.

Fucking Joe Biden and his EV agenda...

[5thhorseman]

MSM are not reporting on this story at all. Fucking elites eh!?

[Topper]

I didn't realize the 34 felony convictions in NY invoked the death penalty, nor did I realized sharks were an option.

[Cornuck]

I didn't realize the 34 felony convictions in NY invoked the death penalty, nor did I realize sharks were an option.

Let the people vote! "State's rights" and all that.

[Topper]

Cryogenic Biden chewing squid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1iVJy8mX50

Maybe the brother of the crack head counterfeiter standing next to him slipped him something.

Maybe the drag queen slipped him something.

[Strangelove]

Cryogenic Biden chewing squid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1iVJy8mX50

Maybe the brother of the crack head counterfeiter standing next to him slipped him something.

Maybe the drag queen slipped him something.

I haven't seen anything like this since Weekend at Bernie's!