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"New Chapter" in US-Cuba ties

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  • #61
    Sandreth still selling these timeshares ?

    some fine snatch you are posting but its not asia. These women are just not the same. They are not that easy to communicate with cuz they are so introverted.
    Last edited by socal; 02-28-2015, 11:37 AM.

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    • #62
      Nice entertaining story about Conan visiting Cuba.

      5 Things That Happened To Conan O'Brien When He Went To Cuba

      "Hey, who's paying for this?" asked Conan O'Brien as he entered an Italian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, where about a dozen journalists were sitting in front of appetizers, waiting for him to arrive. The purpose of the luncheon was to hear, first-hand, how O'Brien became the first U.S. late night talk show host to shoot an episode from Cuba since the embargo began. The episode will air March 4.

      Those familiar with O'Brien's popular remote segments know that his "fish out of water" approach to new cultural phenomena can be hilarious. After President Barack Obama's announcement that the U.S. was working toward ending the embargo with Cuba, head writer Mike Sweeney casually suggested that they go there. O'Brien took the idea seriously because he remembered when then-"Tonight Show" host Jack Paar shot an episode from Havana after the revolution ended but before the U.S embargo in 1962.

      "So the minute I heard [Sweeney suggest] that I was like, 'We gotta go, and we gotta go right away, because we don't know what's going to happen,'" O'Brien said.

      And with that, O'Brien and executive producer Jeff Ross began planning a completely under-the-radar trip to Cuba for four days over President's Day Weekend to shoot a 1-hour special completely from Havana.

      "I wanted the whole thing to be from Cuba, not a cutaway [from California]," O'Brien said. "We asked a cafe if we could borrow their cafe table, then we put an old microphone on it. There was a band of three or four Cuban women playing and I asked if they would be my house band. Then we found a guy to be Cuban Andy -- who I actually have better chemistry with -- and we shot the wraparounds there, just to give it that sense."

      Here's a breakdown of what happened during the trip, which O'Brien explained over lunch.

      1. Getting there was an adventure of its own, so much so that O'Brien sought comfort in "The Gilmore Girls."

      First of all, the trip had to be covert. O'Brien and his team didn't announce it publicly because they feared the Cuban government might shut it down -- nor did they tell anyone at TBS or Time Warner for the same reason. Ten people traveled in total, six of them being the camera crew who flew out of Toronto, a more accepted way for U.S. citizens to get there. O'Brien, his assistant, Ross and Sweeney flew directly from Miami on a charter flight. They had contacted a Canadian production company in Havana who told them to "just come," saying that they would seek a formal invite from the Cuban Ministry Of Culture and get their Visas upon arrival. What they didn't know, as their charter left them without any way to reach their contact on the other side of customs, was that the Visas were on the plane.

      "We see the charter plane start to pull away," O'Brien explained. "We walk up and we're greeted by this very genial man who asks for our papers, so we hand him this form that we were told takes care of everything, and he looks at us and goes 'No, Visa!' and then he folded up the paper and threw it away. Jeff and I are standing there. We don't know if he's coming back, we have no phones, we 're in Cuba. We had this idea that we thought would be pretty cool and now we might just be completely ****ed."

      Luckily there was a bit of American comfort waiting for them at the airport.

      "So we go into this very small, not impressive building where airport workers are sitting around looking so bored because there's nothing to do, and in the corner there's an old television and it's showing 'Gilmore Girls' in Spanish. And I had this feeling of comfort for a second [...] It's the episode where Rory has decided to leave Yale and Edward Herrmann's upset ... I'm just getting lost in it and looking around at these people who couldn't give a shit if Rory leaves Yale or doesn't leave Yale."

      Ross explained that after waiting around for quite some time, "the guy who runs the airport" came to them and worked everything out (luckily the charter plane hadn't yet left the airport with their Visas).

      2. O'Brien found out he was bad at making cigars, among other things.

      The trip was a short one but they planned to visit various sites, such as a cigar and rum factories, and pick up lessons in Salsa dancing, authentic Cuban music and more. "We were winging it, but it was planned winging it," O'Brien said, explaining that much of the trip was spent walking around and talking to people. But it was the cigar factory experience that he spoke about the most.

      "They let me into a cigar factory, which is fascinating. It's 400 people in a room where they make them by hand and they're works of art, each one. It takes nine months of study to get to the point where you're even allowed in the factory," O'Brien said. "I actually started improvising with this great woman who tried to teach me how to make a cigar, and obviously I'm terrible at it."

      O'Brien wanted to be sure that his special was not a "snarky, American comedy take," instead relying on his ability to be a comedian who makes fun of himself. "I'm not in my own land and I'm not good at things," O'Brien said of the special's ethos.

      He said he further proved that intention when he got a traditional Cuban singing lesson and started supplementing the lyrics for 8th-grade Spanish phrases like, "The cat is in the sky" and "The dog has no milk."

      3. O'Brien was brought back down to Earth when he saw a familiar face at a paladar.

      Restaurants in Cuba are mostly state-run, but years ago it became legal to operate paladars (a.k.a privately owned restaurants run out of people's homes) which has led to some unique dining opportunities in Havana. When O'Brien decided to pay one a visit, he was taken aback by how beautiful and unsuspecting the building was. For a moment, he thought he was the first person to stumble upon this incredible find. But all it took was one photo to give him a wake-up call.

      "Imagine a really nice, Upper West Side, beautiful 1900s apartment, and two of the three floors are in ruins, meaning crumbling. But you get to the top and there's a beautiful restaurant. There's no signage. And I'm thinking I'm the first guy here. Then I look up and on the wall there's a picture of Rob Schneider!" O'Brien said with a laugh. "Amongst others ... but Rob Schneider? The guy I shared an office with at 'SNL' like 20 years ago."

      4. O'Brien had a great rapport with the Cuban people (even though he was only recognized by Canadian tourists).

      Due to the lack of Internet and no access to American television, O'Brien wasn't recognized much in Havana except by Canadians who were there on vacation. But that didn't stop him from trying to convince Cubans that he can make them laugh.

      "Everywhere I went, people were very open. When I would improv with them, they were really funny and really quick," he explained. "It's a form of humility to make yourself the butt of the joke in another culture and I think they respond to that."

      Using an iPad to show clips of his TBS show, O'Brien did a lot of talking to Cubans about being from the U.S. ("Sometimes I would say I'm the greatest star in America," he joked) and found that many of them seemed relieved to hear that Americans do not harbor ill feelings toward the Cuban people.

      "The one thing that was a constant is they were very interested in how Americans feel about [Cubans]. I did not get into how people feel about the Castro regime the last 53 years -- I don't think they wanted me to get into that either -- but I explained that America's a very divided country. We disagree on everything, 50/50, pretty much, and recently they did polls about normalizing relations with Cuba and they were overwhelmingly in favor," O'Brien said. "They were very happy to hear that. They want things to change, very much so."

      5. O'Brien realized he might want to do more of this in the future.

      O'Brien made a deliberate choice with this special to seek out more than just the funny parts and, now that he's returned, he's thinking outside the late-night show box.

      "We're used to only thinking about comedy. For this one we thought: we want there to be funny moments, we want there to be really sweet moments and moments of connection, but we really just want to get the palate of Cuba," O'Brien said. "That was the big difference to me. I've only, for 22 years, been aggressively pursuing what's funny, and this was a different agenda."

      O'Brien's career as a late-night host could morph into something closer to what Anthony Bourdain does, but with a comedic bent rather than a foodie one. He explained that in a world where there are more and more talk shows every year, he feels more of an impetus to keep changing and "do something radically different than what [he] did 10 years ago."

      "I love travel and I love exploring things and I love trying to see if I can make someone laugh in a different culture," O'Brien said. "That was the most satisfying part of this project, just getting people to laugh who might not speak much English, don't know much about our culture, but they understand this guy not being able to make a cigar."

      O'Brien hopes to somehow get a copy of the finished special down to Cuba after it airs so people can watch it, in hopes that his portrayal of the Cuban people helps to heal relations between the two countries, even if the special was done in the name of comedy.

      "And maybe it's not a bad form of diplomacy," O'Brien said. "It is a universal language, if you can get it right."

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6756412.html
      Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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      • #63
        Watched Conan on Jon Stewart's show talking about his Cuba trip - nice, something Canadians, Europeans etc... have known for ages

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        • #64
          I've given this dickweed OBrien the benefit of the doubt. I've watched his latenight show several times (is it still on?). He has never said anything that was remotely funny. I sat there shaking my head at how not funny it was in spite of the uproarious canned audience laughter.

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          • #65
            Originally posted by Texpat View Post
            I've given this dickweed OBrien the benefit of the doubt. I've watched his latenight show several times (is it still on?). He has never said anything that was remotely funny. I sat there shaking my head at how not funny it was in spite of the uproarious canned audience laughter.
            I came here to post this. Guy is a loser

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            • #66
              US direct for transport to Cuba rises amid unfreeze in US-Cuba relations
              http://cubatrips.org/charter-flights-to-cuba.htmlhttp://reportnewstoday.com/us-demand...uba-relations/


              Originally posted by Panama Hat View Post
              Watched Conan on Jon Stewart's show talking about his Cuba trip - nice, something Canadians, Europeans etc... have known for ages
              I am sure.

              I have some friends (US citizens. One was a Cuban) that have visited the country before and have shared stories with me. One reason I am looking forward to the visit (the stories).
              Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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              • #67
                Aids in cuba

                http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-10057570.html

                of course you can discount the research based on stupid Brittle idiots. Butt sex with AIDS riddled Cubans ain't so bad -- or is it? Has anyone told Reach Around?

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                • #68
                  O'Brien becomes first late-night host to visit Havana in over 50 years on 'Conan in Cuba' special

                  Over the past few months, the United States has slowly been peeling back the rigid Kennedy-era embargo placed on Cuba, allowing citizens to freely travel and eventually trade with those on Fidel Castro's turf. On Wednesday night's Conan, Conan O'Brien became the first late-night host to tape a show from the island nation in over 50 years. For the Conan in Cubathe Team Coco site.

                  http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/video...visit-20150305

                  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                  • #69
                    http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/0...n-wsjnbc-poll/
                    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                    • #70
                      U.S. and Cuban diplomats meet in Havana for third round of talks
                      Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson was in Havana on Monday for more talks aimed at renewing diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and opening embassies.

                      The talks were to take place on Monday and could be extended beyond a day if warranted, said a senior U.S. State Department official who briefed reporters Friday on the trip.

                      "There's not a historic nature to this one," said the official who added that the ongoing conversations had progressed to a point that both sides thought another face-to-face meeting was a good idea.

                      During this third round of talks, Jacobson will once again meet with her Cuban counterpart, Josefina Vidal, director general of the U.S. division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

                      Although time is running short, the Obama administration is still hopeful relations can be renewed and embassies opened by the April 10-11 Summit of the Americas in Panama.

                      "We will see whether we can get there," said the State Department official.

                      The United States' half-century-old policy of isolating Cuba has caused tensions with other countries in the hemisphere and the administration would like to show significant progress on Cuba before the Panama meeting.

                      Both President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro plan to attend the summit.

                      The leaders announced on Dec. 17 that the two countries were committed to re-establishing ties and opening embassies in their respective capitals.

                      The Cuban and U.S. delegations last met in Washington on Feb. 27 and have been in communication on various topics since then.

                      The U.S. delegation plans to work on some of the same issues that were discussed in earlier conversations, such as its desire for American diplomats to travel freely outside Havana and talk with the Cuban people, staffing levels at the future embassy and unimpeded access to the U.S. diplomatic mission.

                      The official said a review of Cuba's continuation on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism is continuing: "That review is underway. We will complete it as quickly as we can. We have always said that it shouldn't be linked to reestablishing diplomatic relations and reopening embassies."

                      Part of the review process involves getting information from the Cuban government, the official said.

                      The U.S. side is disappointed but not surprised at the Cuban position on recently announced U.S. sanctions against some Venezuelan military leaders, the official said, but those differences "will not have an impact on these discussions."

                      Since the Feb. 27 talks, the two sides have met to discuss civil aviation and air travel links. "Those talks were quite productive," the official said.

                      The two sides also met to discuss human trafficking, and a U.S. delegation will head to Havana for a March 24-26 dialogue on a U.S. proposal to open the Cuban telecom market to more participation by American companies.

                      A dialogue on human rights also is expected to be held before the end of the month, but no date has been set yet. Asked about the high number of short-term detentions of Cuban dissidents and activists - even with the talks underway - the official said that the United States remains concerned about the tactic.

                      Still, the official said progress is being made in improving relations between the two formerly hostile neighbors.

                      "I think since the second round (of talks), there's been a real seriousness of purpose," said the State Department official. "I am pleased with that and think we're making very good progress. As the president and secretary have said, you don't overcome 50 years of policy in a month."

                      The official added that legally and diplomatically, re-establishment of diplomatic ties and opening of embassies don't have to occur at the same time, "but we believe they should happen simultaneously."

                      http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/1...s-meet-in.html
                      Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                      • #71
                        S Landreth stopping by to plug his timeshares again

                        Do you contribute anywhere else on here ?

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                        • #72
                          A third round of negotiations over the restoration of full diplomatic relations ended after a day of talks, Cuban and U.S. officials said Tuesday. Hours later, Cuban President Raul Castro delivered a toughly worded attack on the United States for levying a new round of sanctions on his country's closest ally, Venezuela.

                          Neither Cuba nor the U.S. provided details on whether progress was made toward a deal on reopening embassies in Washington and Havana.

                          The two countries have been trying to strike an agreement on embassies before presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro attend the Summit of the Americas in Panama on April 10-11.

                          Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Relations said the talks took place "in a professional atmosphere" and "the two delegations agreed to maintain communication in the future as part of this process." Jeff Rathke, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said that "the discussion was positive and constructive and was held in an atmosphere of mutual respect."

                          But Castro later delivered a searing defense of Venezuela at an emergency meeting of leftist Latin American governments called in response to U.S. sanctions levied on seven Venezuelan officials last week. In announcing the move, the U.S. declared Venezuela a threat to U.S. national security.

                          Washington has asserted that the Venezuelan sanctions wouldn't affect its negotiations with Cuba, but Castro made clear in Caracas that he sees the two issues as linked.

                          He described Obama's declaration of detente with Cuba as a recognition that a U.S. policy of hostility to Latin American socialism had failed.

                          "Nonetheless, the spokesmen of his government have made clear that the objective remains, only the methods have changed," Castro said. "The U.S. must understand once and for all that it's impossible to seduce Cuba or intimidate Venezuela."

                          Neither Cuba nor the U.S. said Tuesday whether they had resolved any of the obstacles to reopening embassies, which include Cuba's continuing presence on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and Cuba's objections to U.S. diplomatic contact with dissidents on the island.

                          The secretive atmosphere was a striking contrast to previous discussions about U.S.-Cuban detente. After two earlier meetings, U.S. and Cuban diplomats engaged in wide-ranging exchanges with reporters from both nations that were broadcast on Cuban state television.

                          Cuban state media dedicated virtually no coverage to Monday's talks, focusing instead on statements of support for Venezuela.

                          Despite the heated rhetoric, Julia Sweig, an expert on U.S. relations with Cuba and Venezuela, said early Tuesday there was no sign the increasingly strained U.S. relationship with Venezuela was affecting the warming of relations with Cuba.

                          "What's so interesting is that it doesn't seem to derailing the bilateral process, which is exactly as it should be," said Sweig, a senior research fellow at LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.

                          http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ended-29693944
                          Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                          • #73
                            http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/r...perty-29975221
                            Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                            • #74
                              Poll of Cuban-Americans shows support for new Cuba policies growing



                              http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...e17056742.html
                              Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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                              • #75
                                Home holiday rental site Airbnb has added Cuba to its list of destinations.


                                More than 1,000 properties in the Caribbean nation are already listed, but can only be booked by users in the US.

                                The San Francisco-based site is restricted from showing the listings elsewhere because of a US trade embargo against the island.

                                Nevertheless, Airbnb said Cuba could eventually become one of its biggest markets in Latin America.

                                "We are actually plugging into an existing culture of micro-enterprise in Cuba," said the firm's regional director Kay Kuehne.

                                "The hosts in Cuba have been [renting out rooms to travellers] for decades."

                                http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32161086

                                Hope, in time Onefinestay will start services in Cuba. They might be a bit better: http://www.onefinestay.com/?gclid=CN...&awsearchcpc=1
                                Last edited by S Landreth; 04-02-2015, 08:39 PM.
                                Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

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