Castro Speaks

The Maximum Leader comments on the election of Barack "He whose middle name may not be uttered" Obama:

BRRRRRAAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNNNSSSSS!!!!

Castro Update

Cuba:

Happy Birthday, Maximum Leader.

Castro:

BRRAAAAIIIIINNNNSSSSS!

Castro Live–Sort of

Castro gives his first television appearance since dying ceding power.

The soundtrack is silent because most of his dialogue consists of "BRRRAAAAIIIINNNNNSSSS!!!!!"

Health Care Cuba

Raul Castro: "Free sex change operations"

Fidel Castro; 'BRAAAAIIIIIINNNNSSSS!!!"

Raul Castro "Selected"

Raul Castro has won the power struggle been unanimously "selected" leader of Cuba.

Now his brother can "die" happy.

Select Reporting

BBC headline:

Cuba to select Castro's successor

That's "select" as in Stalin was "selected" after slaughtering all his rivals.

Tyrant "Retires"

"Castro" has announced his retirement.

Given that he has done so in a letter, it looks as if we're back to square one. Is that retired as in ill health, or retired as in on ice until it's convenient to announce his "death"?

I Don't Want To Go On The Cart

According to the news sources, this video proves that Fidel Castro hasn't popped his clogs yet.

My Spanish isn't up to it and I haven't seen a translation of the old gasbag's interview, so I've no way to judge whether it's authentic or not, but since no one with better linguistic skills than I have has denounced it, I can only assume that the Earth is still heavier by the weight of one tyrant.

Still, I can't help feeling that the tone of the video was rather similar to this:

A Matter of Tenses

Reuters headline:

Cuban officials say Castro not dying

For once, I have no doubt they're speaking the truth.

Scooby Doo, Call Your Service

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque says that Fidel Castro is in "permanent" contact with leaders of the Communist party and the government.

Translation: Run for your lives, the Havana Capitol Building is haunted.

Update: Maximum Leader's condition may be "stable", but the rumours about his death are alive and kicking.

Maybe When They Finally Bury Him...

BBC headline:

Fidel absent as Cuba celebrates

Would it were so!

Appetite Killer

From the AP:

Convalescing Fidel Castro said in an essay Tuesday that he has been so engrossed with Cuba's performance at the Pan American Games in Brazil that he forgets to eat and take his medicine.

That and "convalescing" in a meat locker will do that.

Death, Lies & Videotape

Fidel Castro appeared in a taped interview on Cuban television, where he discussed world events-- from 1973.

The interview was taped on Monday. Which Monday is left to viewer's interpretation

The Train That Never Arrives

From the BBC:

Castro almost 'fully recovered'

Is that like "mostly dead?"

Castro: Still "Stable"

Headline from the AP:

Castro says he's better, weight stable

The weight of the turkey in my deep freeze is "stable" for similar reasons.

Castro, Still Stable

From the BBC:

Castro fails to appear on May Day

So did Franco.

Castro: Still Recovering

Castro just keeps getting better and better. According to fellow despot Hugo Chavez, Castro is "almost totally recovered."

At this rate, he'll soon be as "recovered" as Yasser Arafat.

Postings From Beyond

From the AP:

Castro publishes article criticizing U.S. on environment

It must have been hell dictating that by ouija board.

Ballot Box or Pine?

Fidel Castro's health is improving so much that he will soon be well enough to be buried stand for "re-election".

Signature News

Nascent Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has proof positive that Fidel Castro is in incredibly good shape for a dead sick man.

His proof? Castro's autograph.

Well, I'm convinced.

Love Letters to Dead Tyrants

The BBC has another hard-hitting article on Cuba, this time culling the reaction of British residents to Fidel Castro's death health. The tone was set early from the moment they referred to the Maximum Leader as "the world's longest-serving political leader" rather than "one of the last of the Communist dictators."

Unable to find any actual Cubans who were willing to risk the safety of their relatives back home, the Beeb had to fall back on a dance video producer, the spokesman for a Communist front organisation that the BBC calls "non-party political" despite having card-carrying members of the British Communist Party on its executive board, and Labour MP Ian Gibson, who last graced these pages when he blamed the incidence of diabetes in his constituency on inbreeding.

I'd love to sit in on the editor's meetings at the BBC that okays this sort of thing for publication. It would afford a glimpse into a new and terrible world.

AP Translator Service

AP headline:

Castro Reportedly in Grave Condition

Translation:

Castro Reportedly in Grave Condition

Still Chilling

In a turn of events that surprises no one, Fidel Castro was unable to attend a military parade in his honour because of his being dead prolonged illness.