I visited Havana and met many local people.  They taught me what it’s like living in Cuba.  Of course, I met people in the usual tourist spots.  But I also talked to many others: musicians, artists, museum guides, factory workers, and drivers.  I’m certainly not an expert.  Here’s what I learned.

Living in Cuba means you lack almost everything we take for granted.

Food is rationed and every family gets a ration book in which items are checked off when picked up.  I was surprised to learn that a family of four gets one chicken a month and one liter of oil.  They lack aspirin, appliances, dependable cars, underwear, and quality food.  This is caused by a combination of bad government planning and the U.S. embargo.

Living in Cuba means everyone has a guaranteed job.

Everyone is guaranteed a job when they reach 18.  Every job pays the same—$30 a month.  If you are more skilled like a teacher, engineer, or doctor, you get $35 a month.  Their food and housing is subsidized, but how can anyone live on so little?  The answer: they can’t. That means everyone has some  kind of work on the side.  Sometimes it’s illegal and sometimes, the government ignores it.  I met a doctor who inherited a classic car.  In his time away from the clinic, he used the car as a taxi for tourists.

Living in Cuba offers everyone free education and medical care.

One of the best aspects of the government is they offer free education to everyone for many years, including college level.  Everyone also gets free medical care, surgeries, and after care.  When I first heard that, I thought of the U.S. where 44 million people don’t have health insurance.  The problem in Cuba is different.  They get free care but don’t have up-to-date technology or simple things like medicine.  (See the lack of thing above)

Cuban people are happy but frustrated.

Many Americans have the idea that all Cubans want to move to the U.S.  I learned that is untrue.  They want to remain in their country.  Cubans reject many aspects of our excessive consumer culture.  Although the people want the basic goods for day to day living.  They have extensive family and friend connections that help them survive the shortages.  These networks give them great support.  Music, art, and sports are all fully expressed.  And even with limited Internet availability, they get a glimpse of the outside world.  They’re frustrated by their government’s corruption and ineptitude.

I found the people to be warm, friendly, well educated, funny, and hopeful about the future.  I hope they get more than one chicken.

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My wife and I traveled to Havana in January.  We met dozens of wonderful people.  They were surprisingly open about the relations between our two countries.  Keep in mind that the Cuban economy is a combination of socialism and “Fidelism.”  Both of which have left the people in extreme poverty.

When you pile on the Cuban embargo, here’s how the people deal with it.

—Cuba offers free medical and education to all its people.  Everyone is guaranteed a job—that pays $30/month.

—Since no one can survive on $30/month, everyone works a side business

—Recently, the Cuban government allowed private business.  Today, private business makes up about 35% of their economy.  You find most of these jobs in B&Bs, restaurants, cab drivers, and unofficial tour guides.

—The government rations food in official stores.  Again, people can’t survive on the small amounts.  For instance, each family of four gets one chicken/month.

After the Cuban embargo started, things became worse for people.

—All of this led to a parallel economy alongside the official one.  The Cuban government knows about it.  But they realize without the second economy people would starve.  So, the government ignores it.

—Because of the Cuban embargo (It also affects Canadian and European companies.  If any company trades with Cuba, the U.S. sanctions the Canadian and European companies.), the Cuban people have almost nothing.  Including toothpaste, aspirin, microwaves, clothing, cars, food, etc.

—The biggest source of products for people come from relatives who live in the U.S. They ship things to family members in Cuba.  Once there, the Cuban people barter or sell the items for a profit.  People can’t communicate through the Internet since it doesn’t exist.  Therefore, they participate in huge networks with other people who pass information and goods around.

—Some call the Cuban embargo successful.  It certainly caused extreme hardship for the Cuban people.  However, the government elites get smuggled goods that the ordinary people can’t.  That means the government people don’t suffer as much.

—Cubans are well educated and very resourceful.  If the Cuban embargo were lifted, U.S. companies would find a huge market.  People are anxious to buy our products.

So how do the people feel about the Cuban embargo?

President Obama visited a few years ago and promised to start lifting the embargo.  People became very excited.  Since President Trump clamped down on the embargo again, the Cuban people are discouraged.  But they told us, they have waited decades for more freedom and more consumer goods.  They can wait a little longer.

Meanwhile, they play music, dance, and enjoy their lives the best they can.

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Of course, the big question was: did Michael Cohen lie to the House committee?

To determine that, let’s look at tools that anyone can use.  The media “experts” kept saying to be believable, Michael Cohen should produce corroboration for his accusations.  That means, he needs to have more evidence—independent of himself.  A good example is the check he gave to the committee.  But there are many more tools besides corroboration the experts missed.

Here’s what I mean.  All states have guidelines for juries to help them determine the trustworthiness of witnesses in trial.  Let’s look at Florida’s list as an example.  (These are similar across the country)   Anyone can apply these tools to Michael Cohen’s testimony.

1.  Did the witness have the opportunity to see and know what he testified about?

2.  Did the witness seem to have an accurate memory?

3.  Was the witness honest and straightforward about answering questions?

4.  Did the witness have an interest in the outcome of the case?

5.  Has the witness been offered anything to get them to testify?  (Reduced prison time is common)

6.  Has any pressure or threats been made against the witness to get them to say something?

7.  Has the witness been convicted of a crime that involves dishonesty or truthfulness?

8.  Has the witness testified earlier to things that contradict what he testified about in this trial?

As you can see from this list, there are many other things to keep in mind besides corroboration.  All of these tools are equally important and should be used by anyone trying to decide if someone is lying.

You can use them for any case.  Not only Michael Cohen.  Think back to the senate hearings on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court.  Christine Blasey Ford testified about him.  Again, all the “experts” kept harping on the lack of corroboration.

Sometimes, crimes don’t have corroboration—like sexual assault.  It’s just two people.

That’s when other tools become important for you to use.  Think about these the next time there’s public  testimony.  Of course, the Michael Cohen hearing was not a trial.  It didn’t have the tight rules that are applied in a trial.  That give the best chance for a jury to find the truth.

As in so much of politics, the truth is irrelevant.

The post What Legal Piece People Missed About Michael Cohen’s Testimony appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.

At 15 he committed a brutal murder in Davis, California.  He stabbed to death a husband and wife.  Police didn’t solve the case for two years.  But Daniel Marsh began bragging of how he killed the two and got away with murder.  Police questioned him.  After a short time, he confessed.  His detailed description of the crime and how he enjoyed it, caused even seasoned detectives to worry.

At the time, under California law, the prosecutors tried him as an adult and convicted.  Sentenced to 52 years in prison, Daniel Marsh began his sentence.  Today, he may be released from prison at age 25.  Why?

California passed a new law which prohibits anyone under 16 from being tried as an adult.  See the story on CBS news:

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/48-hours-explores-how-new-california-law-could-set-a-convicted-killer-free/

What’s going on?

In most states, the law says a juvenile may be tried as an adult.  But the minimum age is 16.  During Daniel Marsh’s trial, California law allowed a 15 year old.  But now California changed to set the minimum at age 16.  Which raises a lot of questions about his case.

—When arrested, police questioned him for over 3 hours.  No parent or lawyer accompanied him.  Is this a fair way to get a confession considering how immature kids are at 15?  Should he have the same protections (a lawyer) that adult suspects get all the time?

—Psychiatrists diagnosed Daniel Marsh as a psychopath—scoring one of the highest scores ever seen.  But psychological research clearly shows that kids do not have a fully formed brain or capacity for mature judgement until at least 18 or older.  Should Daniel Marsh be held to the same standard as an adult?  What if his psychiatric profile has changed?

—The offense and his careful, cold-blooded execution of the victims stunned the police.  Should the brutality and lack of empathy he showed be taken into account?  Is that a standard we should use to decide if a juvenile goes to adult court?

—What programs are available for both punishment and rehabilitation for juvenile killers?  The public must also be protected from killers like Daniel Marsh.

It’s a tough situation for both the victim’s family and Daniel Marsh.  What do you think should happen?

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Before we got to the house, we arrived in Havana.

The city holds a kind of magical allure for most Americans of a certain age.  (Older . . .I guess)  I remember the closing of Cuba, the missile crises, and the embargo slapped on the island. Trying to dislodge Fidel Castro from power.  Didn’t work.  He died recently—still the supreme leader.

Havana offers so many fascinating things to see, do, and hear.  (Music all over)  But the path most tourists travel is the trail Ernest Hemingway left there years ago.  I doubt many of the tourists ever read a word of his, but the guides push them along the trail.

Havana restored the oldest area beautifully, thanks to money coming through UNESCO.  If you’re smart, avoid the crush of people coming off the cruise ships.  In order to visit Ernest Hemingway, you must brace yourself for a similar onslaught.  Hundreds of tourists crowd the old city.  Guides take them through a prescribed series of landmarks which ends at the home of Ernest Hemingway.

We followed the crowds around the Viejo Habana (Old Town).  Stood with dozens of people in the narrow street looking up at the Hotel Ambos Mundos—a hotel where Ernest Hemingway often lived.  Then we stopped at a small, seedy bar called, La Bodeguita.  Another of the endless bars that Ernest Hemingway frequented.  This one was dark, dirty, and packed with tourists—none of them bought a drink.  Outside, on the even smaller street, dozens of people took photos, pushed each other for a shot of the interior, and dodged the many musicians who wanted money.

Four blocks away we all found another bar called, La Floridita.  Many people complained because it was closed.  They wouldn’t have bought a drink anyway.

Next, people piled into buses and driven to the small suburb of San Francisco de Paula.  It’s a dusty, shabby little place.  Wooden buildings that probably predate Ernest Hemingway still stand in the sun.  When the buses turned between two tall stone pillars and climbed the road, you know they’re getting close to the shrine of his house.

Out of the buses, people flood the grounds in all directions, seeking . . .something—since I doubt any of them (many foreign people) know much about the writer or his work.  You can’t go inside the house.   But all the windows are open and you stand next to hundreds of people, straining to get a view.  The interior has been preserved as Ernest Hemingway left it.  Even down to the bottles of booze on a cart in the living room.  (The guy drank a lot)

There were so many people stomping around, I was surprised no one fell into the pool.

I found the preserved history fascinating.  But even more interesting was what fame does to people.  Hemingway has been dead for almost 60 years.  And yet, people come from all over the world to get a glimpse.  And meet Ernest Hemingway..

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