Education and healthcare are considered by most countries to be a right and not a privilege. Sadly many developing countries struggle to provide even the most basic of health and education to their citizens due to the fact that they simply cannot fiscally afford to. There are also a few countries rich enough to provide both to their population but don’t view either as a right.
I read an article today which noted that one in four Americans did not read a book last year and it brought to mind another article I read recently about a unique approach to promoting literacy in Venezuela. The programme uses mules to transport books to remote communities which would not normally have access to libraries.
Health care and insurance are major political issues in the US, the world’s richest country, where so many people are unable to afford basic healthcare and one of the news items today concerned a city health department report which states that one in six New Yorkers do not have health insurance. It made me recall an article of a few weeks ago about Cuban trained US doctors.
Showing posts with label Cuba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cuba. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
English and American Humiliation and 35 Years in Solitary Confinement
It was immensely satisfying to watch the England team suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of South Africa. Abject batting and poor bowling from the English was matched by excellent bowling (particularly from Andrew Hall) and swashbuckling batting by South Africa who approached their innings like a 20/20 match! The South Africans also seemed intent on throwing off their tag of chokers in this match which assumed knockout value. The over rated Freddie Flintoff once more failed with the bat as did Michael Vaughan. Is this the end of the line for him as one day captain and indeed his one day career? They do play West Indies next however and we have a tendency in recent years of bringing severely out of form batsmen right back into form. I won’t be surprised if Flintoff makes some runs or if Vaughan does the same and manages to save his one day career.
On April 17, 1961, American-trained Cuban exiles invaded Cuba with American support from the sea and air. Vastly outnumbered, their expectations of massive Cuban defections to their side never materialised and they were soundly defeated with over 100 killed and 1 189 taken prisoner. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a major foreign policy embarrassment for the US and President Kennedy and would serve to both strenghten Castro's hold on power and bring the Soviet Union firmly on to his side.
Also on this day, thirty-five years ago, three black men were placed in solitary confinement. One, Robert King, proved his innocence and was finally released in 2001. The other two, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox still languish in solitary confinement today! The men, known as the Angola Three, were put into solitary on the same day that a young white prison guard was murdered and then convicted of the guard’s murder in a trial later exposed as a farce. 12 775 days in solitary confinement for a crime they never committed. Most Americans will have never heard about this case, of the men unjustly confined to a 6x9 cell, of this severe abuse of human rights, of this glaring example of what it means to be black in the US. An article about this can be read here.
On April 17, 1961, American-trained Cuban exiles invaded Cuba with American support from the sea and air. Vastly outnumbered, their expectations of massive Cuban defections to their side never materialised and they were soundly defeated with over 100 killed and 1 189 taken prisoner. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a major foreign policy embarrassment for the US and President Kennedy and would serve to both strenghten Castro's hold on power and bring the Soviet Union firmly on to his side.
Also on this day, thirty-five years ago, three black men were placed in solitary confinement. One, Robert King, proved his innocence and was finally released in 2001. The other two, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox still languish in solitary confinement today! The men, known as the Angola Three, were put into solitary on the same day that a young white prison guard was murdered and then convicted of the guard’s murder in a trial later exposed as a farce. 12 775 days in solitary confinement for a crime they never committed. Most Americans will have never heard about this case, of the men unjustly confined to a 6x9 cell, of this severe abuse of human rights, of this glaring example of what it means to be black in the US. An article about this can be read here.
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