Backlash - NYPD

Police Union Officials and politicians accused those who have protested the deaths of Garner and Brown of fanning anti-police fervor.

The President of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association said the blood of the assassinated police officer's are on the hands of the demonstrators and elected officials who have criticized police tactics.

The news media were quick to label Ismaaiyl Brinsley as mentally sick. Civil Rights leaders labeled him as criminally insane and that all the protests were peaceful.

I personally think in respect to Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu the protesters should take some time off.

What American Cubans are Saying

Merieles, an American Cuban says this, "Most of us are tired of all this ridiculous situation. It's been 50 years." He said that Castro destroyed Cuba and 3 or 4 generations.
Meireles parents escaped Cuba by boat and went to Florida in 1980. He said that he is "more or less in favor," of the actions that Obama took. He predicts that American businesspeople and tourists will help bring new thinking. But he has no intention of returning to Cuba. He wrote his dad who is presently in Cuba told him not to come back. "You may not be able to leave," his dad told him.

Many American Cubans believe the changes that Obama started in motion for Cuba will only help the totalitarian regime. They believe Obama gave up a lot and received almost nothing. They also believe nothing good can come from dealing with a Castro government. (Remember the dirty trick Castro Senior pulled on Carter - Carter relaxed Cuban refugees and Castro unlocked his prisons.)

Machado says, "Obama doesn't know with whom he's dealing. He might think he is wise, but Raul and Fidel, they might be the father of obama in knowing how to deal with these dirty tricks."

Is it a slap in Uncle Sam's face? Castro thanks the U.S.A. but reaffirms Communist rule in Cuba.President Ratil Castro declared victory for the Cuban Revolution on Saturday.  In essence he has said that Cuba has won the struggle it engaged against America. 

Castro told his people that the embargo remains in place - limits on international financial transactions. Cuba lost it's 6 billion in annual subsidies from the Soviet Union after the collapse of the communist nation. 

Dangerous Times in Russia?

Steep declines in oil, rubble are plaguing Russia. A cornered bear is very dangerous.

The prediction is that that Putin will want to take attention off his economy and start something somewhere else. Sanctions are hurting the economy of Russia and few see Putin as backing down.

Russia began the year as the eighth strongest economy in the world. It's not that way today. Today the ruble is now about 50 percent of its value. That puts it roughly on par with Mexico and Indonesia.

Kurdish Woman on the Front Line - Update

Pervin Kobani, a 19-year-old female, is one of the fighters on the front line to defend the Syrian town from an onslaught by the ISIS. She is part of a team holding an eastern front-line position that comes under regular attack. "I didn't really have any other ambitions. I just wanted to live a free life, as a woman, to be able to see our reality and have our rights and just live," Pervin said concerning the reason she fights. She continues, "We won't allow the terrorist groups in until the last drop of our blood."
That message was from last December 2014.


August 11, 2015: In her hometown of Kobane, 80 percent of the city remains in rubble and streets are littered by empty shells and corpses yet to be buried. Yet, the city has not fallen to ISIS. I tried to find information on Pervin Kobani, but there is none other than she joined her father on the battlefield.