Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Bar imitates life


Via Babalu
Trendy spot in the big city: Socialista

And it’s just like Cuban “socialism”:

The bien-pensant finance it: TV producer Ben Silverman, Harvey Weinstein and Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler.
There’s a two-tier system for the benefit of the elite: “gaining entrance to the upstairs lounge is a long shot for most,” and you need a secret phone number.
Just like in the island-prison: little-person doorman serves as comandante.
You must pay your dues: “Unless you’re amigos with investors Sting, Harvey Weinstein, and Giuseppe Cipriani, you’ll be leveled a minimum tab for table service that may have you shouting ‘Down with capitalism!'”
You get the same-old, same-old, but pay through the nose: “SIGNATURE DRINK Socialista (vodka, fresh citrus, spiced syrup), $16.” A lot of bucks for an OJ w/vodka.
And the bulls*** flows on: “the hard knocks of elitism built on equality were on view on a recent Friday night”

Do the guys washing the dishes get free schooling and healthcare, I wonder? Do they have to swim out of the place when their shift is over?

Socialista: for the useful West Village idiot that drinks!

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Thank you, Andy Sommers

Following up on Monday’s post and podcast,

Police Guitarist Unexpectedly Shows Up At Vigil
Organizers Got The Unexpected Attention Of Band’s Guitarist

Gomez didn’t get a chance to tell Sting personally, but according to the latest posting on his blog, Gomez had the chance to talk to guitarist Andy Summers.

“While we were in the middle of reading the names of the 300 political prisoners, one of my best buddies approaches me and says, ‘Andy Summers is here.’ Andy Summers is the guitarist of The Police. It turns out that he was simply there to have dinner at Miami’s most famous Cuban restaurant. I politely approached him in the foyer before he was seated. I told him we were having a candlelight vigil outside, precisely because he and The Police are in town,” said Gomez.

“He listened patiently as I explained that Amnesty International recognizes 69 prisoners of conscience in Cuba and that in our Miami community there are close to 1 million Cubans who fled the human rights abuses in that country. He told me that the Cuba concert is not a certainty. I told him that we weren’t protesting the concert but appealing to them to stand up for human rights in Cuba like they had in the past for other countries. I asked him to share the message with his band mates and he said he would. The entire exchange took no more than 90 seconds while he waited for his table,” Gomez posted in his blog.

According to a 2007 Amnesty International report on Cuba, there are an estimated 69 political prisoners being held in jails throughout Cuba.

Gomez said the BUCL is not necessarily calling for The Police to call negotiations for a free concert for the people of Cuba but rather set the rules of their appearance.

“If you’re invited to play for regime you should set the terms in which you will perform — that you can say whatever you want when you are on stage, those are not unreasonable terms to make,” said Gomez.

According to Gomez, Summers said the Havana concert was not a sure thing and that he promised to relay the group’s views to Sting.

Read more about it at the BUCL site, and at Babalu Blog

The video shows the Ladies in White/Damas de Blanco, who won the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament in 2005.

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