CASTRO IS DEAD. Unconfirmed, heard on Spanish Radio.

[seriousstan]

No link and no confirmation.

[jobycom]

1. He's died a lot more than usual this year, always unconfirmed. nt

[seriousstan]

3. Yes but......Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead

update at 11

[sam sarrha]

4. did you ever see how bad the killed franko.. they really wanted him DEAD

blew his limo entirely over a cathedral and it landed on a 7th foor balcony a block away.. good shot, they packed the sewer full of explosives

[seriousstan]

6. You are thinking of Luis Carrero Blanco , the first Spanish astronaut.

Within about six months of being named prime minister, Blanco was assassinated in Madrid by four Basque members of ETA, who carried out a bombing while he returned from mass in an armored Dodge Dart. ETA placed 80-100kg of explosives in a tunnel they had excavated under the street. The blast catapulted the vehicle over the church in front of which it had been parked, and it landed on a second floor balcony on the other side. The violence of the explosion led to a joke, still repeated, in which Carrero Blanco is referred to as "the first Spanish astronaut".

Franco died a lingering death.

Side note, I never did like the body style of the '73 Dodge Dart.

[sam sarrha]

7. thanks

[MADem]

9. Oh...Jeeeeeeeeeeeeez......... I never HEARD that joke before!!

Here's the funny, or, really, not so funny thing--I knew the guy. He was a family friend. We didn't discuss politics at all, FWIW....

We went to the funeral....that's one chiste I won't tell to every member of the family...but I will tell a few.

Ay, Dios mio!!!

[Deep13]

21. "...never did like the body style of the '73 Dodge Dart."

Now them's fighting words. How could anyone not love those triangular vent windows.

[seriousstan]

24. They lost me at 1967. Before that they were shorter and lighter.

I mean, who doesn't love a '65 Dart with a 426 Hemi crammed under the hood?

[Deep13]

25. Too front-heavy.

Too much power for that small car as well. The "slant" 6 is the perfect engine for that car. Or the 318 for towing. Now take that Hemi and put it in a Road Runner...:7

[MnFats]

27. FRANCO Died in BEd. It was Carrara Blanca that was blown to the seventh floor.

Carrara Blanca was his hand-picked successor.
It was said ETA blew him up but no one knows.
the assassins posed as sculptors to explain the digging under the street where Blanc left his limo every day.
when they were ready they packed their tunnel with explosives and waited until Blanca showed up..

[itcfish]

29. Franco Did't Die

It was Carrero Blanco

[Warpy]

10. Pinochet is still dead, too

He died on International Human Rights Day.

If that isn't a sign of some sort, what is?

[seriousstan]

19. I thought Dec 10th was impeachment day

I get these so confused.

[Warpy]

20. Not according to Amy Goodman

It's one of those things I heard on the car radio yesterday. Since I still can't read anything that's not on puter and enlarged half a dozen times,...

[KKKarl is an idiot]

22. Yeah I think he did

It may be his age. People like him die more often when they are as old as him.

[FrenchieCat]

2. on with Castro 24/7 from now till after Xmas!

if this is true.

That would mean bye-bye to election 2008 pundit fest focused on the Democratic wannabe ticket like a laserbeam.

[MADem]

5. Are you sure it wasn't Motormouth's latest wish you heard???

Florida congresswoman says video clip of her calling for Castro killing is fake


http://www.eyewitnessnewstv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5795456&nav=F2DO

MIAMI A congresswoman says a video clip showing her calling for Fidel Castro's assassination is fake -- a charge denied by the film's director.

Florida Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (ih-lay-AH'-nah rahs LAY'-tih-nehn) appears in the 28-second clip made available on the Internet by the makers of a new British documentary, "638 Ways to Kill Castro."

In it, she says: "I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people."

However, the Havana-born lawmaker says the filmmakers spliced clips together to make the sound bite. At the same time, Ros-Lehtinen says while "no one advocates assassination," she's not shy about wanting Castro dead.

The film's director, Dolan Cannell, stands by the authenticity of the footage.

Documentary website, here: http://www.638waystokillcastro.com/


And then, there's the "he's crazy and almost dead" school of thought:

MIAMI - As the head of a Cuban revolutionary radio station and newspaper, there was a time that Carlos Franqui worked a great deal on Fidel Castro's image.

Now he looks at the unflattering photographs and videos the Cuban government has released of the 80-year-old Castro since got sick four months ago and wonders: what are they thinking?

Or rather, what was Castro thinking, for Franqui believes that it is the Cuban leader himself who has been directing the release of the images from his sickbed.

"Evidently, it shows he has lost mental control," Franqui said by phone from his home in Puerto Rico. "If he was in his right mind, he would never have published those pictures."

One of the photos shows an ugly purple mark on the back of Castro's neck. In another, a lump under Castro's track suit raised the possibility that he had been fitted with a colostomy bag. A third shows an almost gaunt figure in pajamas and slippers, resting on a rocking chair.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/16220923.htm

[MADem]

8. I found a few cites, some of them are a bit to the right of our crowd, I suspect

http://flapsblog.com/?p=3952 December 12, 2006
Cuba Watch: Is Fidel Castro Dead?

http://www.babalublog.com/archives/004377.html


http://crotchetyoldbastard.com/blog/2006/12/castro_dead.html

How long before the obligato remarkssnarks flow--I hate to say it, but this one begs for a spot, seeing as rumors of his death have cropped up every two to three months lately, without fail:

C: I'll tell you what's wrong with 'im, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with 'im!

O: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.

C: Look, matey, I know a dead dictator when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

O: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable dictator, that Castro, idn'e, ay? Beautiful island!

Apologies to: http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/monty-python-parrot.html

[Gloria]

11. Will have to see if there's anything on Radio Havana tonight....

[mod mom]

12. Time to research Bush's Uncle Herbert and ties to Cuba. back in a bit

You can bet if this is true, the BFEE has plans that are NOT in Cuba's best interests!

[mod mom]

15. Here's some info on Bush's ties to Cuba:

KEVIN PHILLIPS: George H. Walker was a real piece of work. I mean, he was a buccaneer. He was sort of a Joe Kennedy, but with a social register type qualification. He got involved in the 1920's with a bunch of Cuban companies, because of his ties to Percy Rockefeller and the National City Bank. They handled a lot of investments in Cuba. He was a director during the 1920's of eight or nine Cuban companies. George H. Walker had ties to the -- investment ties that were independent, so he had invested in some of these companies. One of them turned out several -- several turned out to merge into something called West Indies Sugar. West Indies Sugar became one of the major American companies in Cuba, and George H. Walker Jr., the son of George H. Walker and Prescott, Bush's cousin was a director, held a family seat on West Indies Sugar. Now during the late 1950's, West Indies Sugar was based in the Indy province in Cuba. That's where the Castro insurgency was developing. Castro and his people sort of shook down West Indies Sugar. They used their trucks and hit them up for money and so forth. They were unhappy with the Castro movement. In 1959 or 1960, I forget which year, Castro's people nationalized West Indies Sugar, and at this time George H. W. Bush's uncle was Director of West Indies Sugar. The value of West Indies sugar had been about $50 million and it wound up being virtually peanuts. I don't know how much their stake was. I couldn't begin to guess. It may not have been nearly as much as one would suggest from the bigger numbers. They were an unhappy set of campers when West Indies Sugar went bye-bye.

-snip
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/12/1448237

[OzarkDem]

13. Florida preparing for influx of Cubans

MIAMI - Picture this: Cuban leader Fidel Castro dies, Cuba's military battles protesters on the streets, and frantic Cubans take to the seas. In South Florida, exiles board boats and head for Cuba to pick up desperate relatives - or to help start an armed insurrection against the 47-year-old dictatorship.

The Florida Straits get jammed with boat traffic on choppy seas. People drown. Chaos erupts.

The U.S. government believes this could happen. On Tuesday federal, state and local authorities accelerated preparations for Castro's death - starting a two-day drill on how authorities plan to respond to a mass exodus to Florida.


http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/16225276.htm

[IndianaGreen]

14. Nothing on the Venezuelan and Mexican media

they would have been among the first to report it. Nothing on AFP or BBC, or even Reuters.

I think you might have been listening to Radio Marti.

[zulchzulu]

16. Put it this way. He will be dead soon.

Whether it's announced or not, he is certainly in his final days.

I shudder at what the Bush Crime Family will do when they hear the official word that he has passed...

[AtomicKitten]

17. dead again

[alfredo]

18. Tried BBC and Radio Havana, nothing. He's near his end

so it could be true.

[RebelOne]

23. I'm sure it's just a rumor. I went onto the Miami Herald Web site

and if it is true, they would have the news posted.

[madinmaryland]

26. Guaranteed within 24 business hours to be confirmed.

:hide:

BTW, Abe Vigoda is still alive.

[displacedtexan]

28. I have that Abe Vigoda status bar at the bottom of my screen.

Any change in his health, and I'm alerted instantly.