Congratulations to my friends who are Saprissa fans. You won another "Classico," and another championship (yawn), whats that... the third one THIS YEAR? Whatever...

A classic is when two teams who are heated rivals play ONCE a year, or in a championship series... especially when its all on the line... I am thinking USC vs. Notre Dame, Boston Celtics vs. Lakers... Not a soccer game that happens 20 times a year...

Nevertheless, congrats... You get to brag for what... a whole couple of months, before it starts all over again?

My Evil Dictator is more EY-VIL than your Evil Dictator!

Now that the Weblog Awards are over, and I have offered all my congrats, including the winner in my category, Babalu, it's time to get back to some discussion...

In light of all concern lately in the news about the victims of Latin American dictators see if you can find the terms "anti-Pinochet extremists" or "anti-Pinochet hardliners" or "rabidly anti-Pinochet hotheads" linked to any of those who sought "justice" for the Chilean Junta's "human rights abuses." Look for any hint that these noisy Chilean malcontents are "intransigent," and "living in the past."

Okay, now replace the word "Pinochet" in the above phrases with the word "Castro" and see if you manage to find any of these terms ABSENT from any media mention of those who seek justice for a list of (genuine) victims that dwarfs the one for Pinochet's rule.

While we're at it, go back a bit and see if you find the term "anti-apartheid extremists" or "anti-aparthied hardliners" or "rabidly anti-aparthied hotheads" used for those who advocated economic sanctions against South Africa.


Babalu

* Who gets to decide who is a (genuine) victim?

Now I have not read Babalu since last years competition. I mean there is so much of "Castro Sucks, yada, yada," I can take. And frankly I have not given a damn about Right Wing Cuba fantasies for a while now, especially since they decided to make a kid a political pawn. Yep, you heard me right. I am a daddy, and I don't give a Rats Ass what a bunch of Right Wingers think, if the mother of my children dies, I make the call on where they live, as long as it is with me. If I want to sell dried yak meat on the slopes of Mounth Kilimanjaro, it's my damned business.

I left a comment on Babalu, will repost here...

A murderous dictator is a murderous dictator, the number "about 3000," is bandied about as if someone is keeping score on who is worse. I think that is tacky as hell... and seems to miss this important point:

Chile's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Commissioned after the country’s transition to democracy in 1990, it found that some 3,197 Chileans had been killed, 29,000 tortured, 957 "disappeared," and untold thousands banished into exile during Pinochet’s 17-year reign.

Eh, in case you haven't figured it out yet... DISAPPEARED is DEAD! None of these people are going to suddenly reappear and proclaim Pinochet a Saint.

As an African American, I find it equally disgusting that somehow Castro's persecution of his people is somehow supposed to be more heinous than what happened under Apartheid. I live in Latin America, love Latin Culture, and have met some wonderful Cuban people, but I find that many of the white Cubans, and even some that obviously have more African Blood than European, somehow consider themselves better than blacks. This is stupidity in it's highest, and one of the reasons that we all get pissed on.

Apartheid was a criminal system of monstrous proportions, as was the political murder of Pinochet opponents. I have no problem sympathizing with those who would seek to oust Castro, but Frank at the Beach is a hypocrite. A dictator who murders his own people, on the Right or Left, is a murderous dictator, and anyone who acts as an apologist for them is a morally bankrupt person.

One of the Babalu regulars, I imagine, has already jumped into the debate with me in comments to the post.

A typical Right Wing response... Make it all about me... Not about the issue... File this one under Whatever... It fits.

Have you noticed how many of the Right Winger Blogs have been discreetly... oh so discreetly, trying to downplay Pinochet's murderous reign over his country... It's the old "but the trains ran on time," argument, updated for the late 20th century!

I would not have believed it, but washed up Actor Sylvester Stalone has figured out a way to milk just a few dollars more out of the Tired Rocky Franchise!

The marketing of "Rocky": The release date for Sylvester Stallone's final installment of the Rocky story -- "Rocky Balboa" comes out Dec. 22 -- is no coincidence. The film is being marketed directly to Christian audiences, and the Christmastime opening is a part of that effort. Church groups have been provided with study guides and special screenings, and Stallone himself has been reaching out to the faith community to peddle his boxer's tale; in a recent teleconference with religious leaders, he admitted his own faith had influenced the Rocky story greatly. "The more I go to church and the more I turn myself over to the process of believing in Jesus and listening to His Word and having Him guide my hand, I feel as though the pressure is off me now," he said. "You need to have the expertise and the guidance of someone else. You cannot train yourself. I feel the same way about Christianity and about what the church is: The church is the gym of the soul." (RockyResources, CitizenLink via Drudge)

Once again, it appears that he will milk the Great White Hope theme.

Hey it works... why not? Hmmmm... Sylvester probably owes the IRS some money or something. He is not the first "boxer," to come out of retirement to make one last payday.