Fidel's Sister Quiet in Miami

The Miami Herald has a really interesting story about Fidel Castro's sister in today's paper. While her older brothers try to maintain their Communist power just 90 miles south of Key West, Juanita Castro quietly goes about her business at her pharmacy. Here is an excerpt:

''I never listen to the radio. There is so much hatred in this community. And they will say that all Castros are the same,'' she said. ``And that is a lie.''

While she is no fan of her brother's politics and chose to live her life in exile, she said she had mixed feelings about the hordes of celebrators who took to the street the night before, leaning on car horns well past midnight.

''Ninety-nine percent of them didn't have the courage to stay and fight,'' she said.

Although completely unrelated to this story we found out that a movie was made about Juanita Castro in the 60's. The Life of Juanita Castro was directed by Andy Warhol and written by Ronald Travel in 1965 when they were making movies at a rapid pace- sometimes two a month. The film was a basic satire of the Cuban Revolution as seen through the eyes of Fidel Castro's sister according to IMBD.Com.

The Day After Surgery

While citizens in Calle Ocho prematurely celebrated yesterday, the Cuban editors prepared standard get well headlines. According to an AP, Story "Cuba Tries to Reassure its Citizens" the morning papers in Cuba were representative of a state run media paying respect to its leader.

"Fidel, Get Well," read a front-page headline in the Communist Party daily, Granma. "The Revolution Will Continue While Fidel Recovers," proclaimed Juventud Rebelde, the Communist youth newspaper.

Reports from Cuba suggest that Fidel is in stable condition and in good spirits the day after his surgery. He has not made an appearance and the media still has not received a real description of the medical condition beyond the words of a "stomach crisis." Raul Castro did not make an appearance yesterday, but that is not unusual. Fidel often makes speeches at night, but there are times when he has gone almost two weeks before making any type of public appearance. Cuban exiles here in Miami as well as the people of Cuba will tune again tonight for the popular round table show, Mesa Redonda, created during the Elián González dispute.

Image Credit: The Real Cuba

Dancing In The Streets

In a letter addressed to the people of Cuba, Fidel Castro's secretary read the words that Cuban exiles here in South Florida have been dreaming about since '59.

''Days and nights of continuous work, barely able to sleep, my health, which has withstood all trials, was subjected to extreme stress... This provoked an acute intestinal crisis, with sustained bleeding, that forced me to face a complicated surgical operation . . .The operation will force me to spend several weeks in repose, away from my responsibilities and duties...I have not the slightest doubt that our people and our revolution will fight to the last drop of blood . . .. On to victory always.''

Buried inside the letter was the announcement that Raul Castro will assume his older brother's responsibilities while he is sick or should he not be able to return. As the Miami Herald and the Sun-Sentinel report, this letter led to a celebration of sorts on Calle Ocho, but the streets of Havana were relatively quiet. Any announcement about the ailing health of a controversial leader ellicits a response, but this letter really should come as no surprise. Raul has been raising his profile in the public and it may be naive for the U.S. to think that Castro has not made plans for a successor even beyond his brother. As for the Cuban exile community opposed to Castro rule, any news is good news.

-Ist Best of The Week

Hey, have y'all been using our new "Recommend this" feature at the bottom of each post? This week we're bringing you the "Most Recommended" posts from across the -ist world, as well as recommending some of our own.

Phillyist thinks that readers recommended this post the most because "most of our quieter readers (probably) agree with us that rude commenting sucks." Know what else sucks? Philly's not getting the Olympics, but they are getting thinner.

Torontoist's most recommended post is about the move to save an historic local movie theatre. When Torontoist isn't saving the movies, they're out interviewing The Futureheads, and evaluating the handwriting on those restaurant chalkboards. They're everywhere!

The first part of Chicagoist's Guide to the Pitchfork Music Fest was their top-recommended post (see part two here). For those of you not about to rock, check out posts on how Chicago's big box stores must pay a higher minimum wage and a journalist who wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Who knew that Austinist readers would recommend a personal account of fertility-challenges in droves? Not us! We're far less surprised (but insanely jealous) that Austinist would get profiled in their local daily newspaper. Another Austin blogger to get some attention: Stephanie Klein, who is living the blog-to-book dream.

LAist's most recommended post is this seriously intense personal account of a laptop theft and retrieval, easily the most heart-pounding thing we've read online all week. Fortunately, we can get back to our usual state of Zen with this review of a new vegan restaurant and this summer photo essay.

We were, quite literally, drooling over Gothamist's most recommended post, on the most amazing chocolate store we have ever seen. We're booking a ticket to NY now, and refuse to be dissuaded by this tragic tale of underage clubbing gone bad. So sad! We prefer our crime Muppet style.

Bostonist theorizes that "people probably were into dogs exploding -- unfortunately all they found was crudely drawn comics" when they recommended this post. Bostonist also gives us our favorite sentence of the week, in "What could be more surreal than an elderly bagel maven snorting his worth in blow?". What, indeed? Hey, Ikea meatballs are our anti-drug.

Seattlest's most recommended post blows the lid off a secret restaurant. Meanwhile, the Washington Supreme Court upholds the Defense of Marriage Act, and Seattlest subtly protests this move by doing the gayest thing you can do while dressed: buying a mango slicer.

Shanghaiist's most recommended post makes us sing "F**k Yeah!" regarding a cop on cop Sanshou shoot out. Shanghaiist fag hag continues to give us what we want with this week's column on cab drivers. And who doesn't relish a bad restaurant review?

Londonist's new column, Hacking London, topped their recomendations by interviewing one of the creators of property-finding tool Nestoria. In the unofficial trend of first person narratives this week, Londonist Alex is an assassin. And what the hell are these?

While San Franciscans have never been known for thair fashion sense (does polar fleece count as fashion? We think not.) SFist's most recommended post was on a sighting of their mayor in acid washed jeans. Almost as recommended was the post thanking Bay Area readers for voting SFist Best Blog in the Bay Area in the leading local weekly. Also, they fret that Halloween might be cancelled.

What is it with DCist readers and Whole Foods? DCist speculates that their readers recommended this post on the grocery store because "people in the District are pretty opinionated about grocery stores. Either they hope a Whole Foods bumps up the value of real estate, are pissed Whole Foods may gentrify the nabe and want to keep it real, or are too lazy to walk, ride their bikes, or drive 10 blocks to the one that's already there." Maybe they'll be more inclined to just go out to eat after they read this insider's perspective on fine dining. Oh, and if you're wondering where the images from today's post came from, here's an explanation.

All images from Ironic Sans, used by permission

Links compiled by SFist Eve "Recommend This!" Batey

Extra, Extra

Isreali Warplanes Target Beirut Airport - A day after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a border raid, the Isreali Government responded with an air and naval blockade on Lebanon and attacks on the airport runway.

Weather - Intense showers have made for a rough week in South Florida, but the weekend forecast appears to be a welcome change. Another tropical wave could impact the weather at the beginning of next week.

Senate Deal May Protect One Side of the Coast - Senate leaders announced an agreement yesterday that could keep drilling 125 miles off the western shores of Florida. Senator Nelson says the deal is in the right direction but will continue to fight for protection of the Florida coastline.

-ist Best Of The Week

Sometimes you need to clean yourself up, get serious, and move in with daddie for a few months before you head to Latin America for a new gig. The District bid's Jenna Bush adios. D.C.-based television shows have an elderly audience and DCist has Butterstick the panda bear a birthday bash.

Yeah, we may have a few issues with our World Cup broadcasters here, but this guy calling games in China has to be heard. These shrimps/crawfish/"little lobsters" need to be tasted and can be at these fine locations. And Shanghaiist isn't so sure about sex-selective abortion.

Everyone gets a day these days so, why not, Go Skateboarding Day. The NBA Draft worked out alright for Philadelphia all things considered and the Phillyist playlist is posted this week.

One, two, three, four, someone declared a bubble war and Torontoist is definitely down. The Lord of the Rings musical is getting thrown into the Crack of Doom. Closing, that is to say. And happy birthday dear CN Tower, happy birthday to you.

In London there's a cell phone throwing contest approaching. So cool. Please someone do that here. Trampoline injuries are on the rise in England, presumable with trampoline sales coinciding, and the English need to work on their secret keeping skills.

The Intonation Music Festival played this week to Chicagoist and several thousand friends (in words 1, 2, 3 and pictures, 1, 2). The Chicago Fire open their new and awesome stadium with a win. And Superman matters.

Hey, that's that chick from Project Runway! Some guy in Houston turned himself into a guy missing a finger and his girlfriend into a woman who received a finger in the mail from her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, of course. And Anna Nicole's competition for her departed husband's riches departs.

Oooo, multi-media extravaganza at LAist. There's a video of an interview with the L.A. Bus Rider's Union and then one hot minute inside a BET awards party video and the sexy results of a stop at the Erotic L.A. Convention.

One thing you can't take away from a man is his inalienable right to enjoy a dance in a private booth. Or, actually, you can take it away. 1000 rats deigned to live with this freak and 'DiFi' cosponsored the flag burning thing.

A trend is gathering on the horizon: dumps reborn as rec space. Gothamist's Laughable Hype 2.0 event went down this week and twenty years later crack is still wack.

Some guy in Miami managed to convince a jury that he shot his cat out of love. Usually people "love" their neighbor's cats... In other news of the wild kingdom, shark bites man. And a few Miami locals are bitten by the NBA draft.

The Seattle to Portland commuters got a new Amtrack train this week, which is well timed because Seattlest is giving up on the Emerald City after the NBA Draft and has adopted PDX. Amazon.com grocery shopping ensures that you never have to leave your home again. Ever.

Official proof that you can sell tickets to a small pox encampment/city dump and tourists will go for it. Pedro made his not-so-triumphant return to Boston this week and you know how it went. And everyone loves pizza.

A new entry into the fantastical world of audio comes this week courtesy of Austinist. Listen in as they blow up improv. Also, A Scanner Darkly premiered and Band of Horses submitted themselves for questioning.

Chicago Fire photo courtesy of Todd McClamroch.

Germany draws first blood in the World Cup

Soccer, "the world's sport", started today with the opening game between Germany and Costa Rica in Munich. Millions of people around the world watched as Germany defeated Costa Rica 4-2. Germany's defender, Philip Lehm scored the first goal in the eleventh minute of the game. The next two goals for Germany came from forward Miroslav Klose. And just when you thought Germany had done enough midfielder Torston Frings scored with seven minutes left in the game off of a free kick. Costa Rica forward Paulo Wanchope scored both goals for Costa Rica. All 64 games will be televised on ESPN and Dave O'Brien will handle a majority of the announcing. Playwrights on South Beach will be a great spot to catch the U.S. game versus the Czech Republic on Monday (ESPN2, 11:55 a.m.). On June 17, the U.S. faces Italy (ABC, 2:30 p.m.). The U.S. plays Ghana on June 22 (ESPN, 9:55 a.m.).

Antartica Melting Rapidly

Researchers at the University of Colorado have concluded that between 2002 and 2005 Antarctica lost ice at a rate of 36 cubic miles a year. What that equivocates to is 30 times the amount of fresh water used by the city of Los Angeles in a year, according to Times Staff Writer, Robert Lee Hotz. This study along with research conducted by a Canadian University suggests the glacier is melting twice as fast as it was five years ago. Coupled with data about temperatures in the last 10 years, this means sea levels are rising faster than most estimates are calculating.

Photo Credit:Feona

Track NYC Transit Chaos on Gothamist

Transit Strike 2005 Day 2
Photograph from sgoralnick on Flickr, via Gothamist Contributer.

CIA Says Castro Has Parkinson's

Fidel Castro's decision making ability has always been a source of contention but his mental health is the newest concern. Two CIA officials recenty confirmed their belief that the Cuban dicatator has Parkinson's. The Miami Herald says the CIA has warned policymakers to be ready for trouble as his health deteriorates. Fidel successor is his brother Raul, but there is a concern about the 11 million citizens reacting to their leader's declining health. Rumors about Parkison's have floated around since the early 1990's, but this is the first time a story has linked the CIA and quoted an unnamed source. Fidel Castro is 79 years old and his ability to speak in public and struggles with walking have been well publized in the last couple years.