Cuban Exiles Celebrate in Miami's Little Havana

Good riddance to Fidel Castro. 

2016 has seen the departure of all too many notables from David Bowie to Florence Henderson, but I can't say that I'm sorry to see the last of Castro. A bunch of my leftie friends are busy waxing eloquent about him, but my sympathies are closer to Andy Garcia's sentiments and to the Cuban exiles celebrating in Little Havana.

Here's a detail:

The passing of Castro was also welcomed by Miami’s mayor, Tomas Regalado, who was born in Cuba and whose father was a political prisoner for more than 20 years. 

“For 57 years Fidel Castro has been the symbol of tyranny and oppression of our people,” Regalado said in a statement. “I call on the Obama administration and the Trump administration to demand real changes from the Cuban regime, on behalf of many Cubans who have died in the U.S. and in Cuba waiting for this day and for freedom.”

UPDATE 1: Obligatory "Cuba Libre" joke/tie-in. 

UPDATE 2: A Yale history professor does some mythbusting. Good for him.

UPDATE 3: Read this.

Just Another Day's Work For the US Coast Guard

Check out the photo!

Idiots 1, Science 0

*facepalm.*

Venezuela's Chávez Dead; Exiles Rejoice

Venezuelans in south Florida respond with cheers.

One Patient's Thank-You Note to His Doctor

Kudos!  Dr. Daniel Chan is the man! (Of course, John Williams is also the man!).

From Florida: It's the Economy, Stupid

That's the overwhelming reasoning behind every single newspaper endorsement for Romney that I've read, and that is the overriding reason why papers that endorsed Obama in 2008 are supporting Romney now. (A little background.) The latest paper is the Sun Sentinel, and these Florida papers I think may be especially interesting because Florida is the perpetual battleground state. Here's a piece of it:

Nerd News: Florida's New Plan for Racially-Based Educational Goals

OK, how is this not both stupid and blatantly raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist?

The Florida State Board of Education passed a plan that sets goals for students in math and reading based upon their race. On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.

There's so much wrong with this that I don't even know where to start. The Florida State Board of Education sucks, and you can quote me on that.  

Hello Kitty Monstrosity of the Day: Crime and Punishment

Just read this news story and note the related photo.

Mark Steyn on Lindsey Graham and the First Amendment

Comment the first, comment the second.  Basically in this entire mess, just about everybody is a dirtbag (except, of course, Steyn as scathing commentator).  The nutty embarrassment of a "pastor" in Florida, the howling murderers over there, the mewling political twits over here.  Hasn't anybody ever heard of the old adage that the best remedy for bad speech is more speech?  Or Voltaire?   Here's a thought.

It Begins: 14 States File Suit Against ObamaCare

"an unprecedented encroachment on the sovereignty of the states" (quoted verbatim from the legal complaint)

It's gone from speculation to fact as the attorneys general of Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Louisiana, Idaho, Washington, Colorado, and Virginia sue. (To be nitpicky, though, I could point out that technically Pennsylvania and Virginia are "commonwealths.")

Those of you gentle readers who are legal eagles might like a look at the complaint (in PDF).

Here are a few more thoughts about the individual mandate and judicial review at Volokh, a law professor blog.

A thought: the fact that more than 30 states are asserting their opposition to ObamaCare is something worth remembering.

(I feel that I should create a tag named "states' rights" or something like that, but that term kind of sounds too Civil War-ish to a history nerd like me. Can you think of a better tag?)