1/21    US sponsors genocide of Cuba!
        \_ Sad but true.  What had Cuba done to warrant an embargo even
           worse than one given to Iraq?  So it has a communist regime,
           is that a crime?  What is this BS from US government that
           the embargo is meant to promote freedom of speech and crap
           like that?  What about freedom to live?
           \_ the embargo is the legacy of influential lobbyists
              funded by people who lost property when castro
              made cuba a communist state and they are not going
              to go away anytime soon, they are patient and
              are just waiting for castro to pass on.
        \_ AMERICA.  LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT, BUDDY. - danh
          \_ I think the embargo of Cuba is stupid and does no
             good, but the US is the only major nation that enforces
             the sanctions. They can get whatever they want from Canada,
             France or any of the other 200 countries that do not
             have restrictions on trade with Cuba. Any genocide
             is a result of Castro and the Communist government,
             not of the US embargo. this is unlike the sanctions
             against Iraq, which were supported by the West for a long
             time. This is no excuse for hussein's atrocities, but let's
             keep the facts straight. If you think the problems of the
             Cuban people are to be blamed on the US embargo,  then
             you have a serious misunderstanding of politics and economics.
            -fab@csua
             \_ Wrong.  USA punishes domestic and foreign companies that
                trade with Cuba.
                \_ this is only partially true. As far as I understand it,
                 the helms-Burton act has only been enforced against a
                 a small number of firms. While a lot of people are pissed,
                and justifiably so -H-B act is pretty silly, it has
                made no impact on the trade between cuba and foreign
                nations. the H-B act is an empty threat in the overwhelming
                number of cases. Ie, Jesse Helms is just one guy.
                One cranky Southern guy can't stop world trade.
                Finally, the US cannot punish firsm which do no business
                in Cuba. Another good example of what i am talking about is
                Jordan and Israel. Israel refuses to trade with Jordan,
                until recently. But trade still happens. All the goods
                are routed to Cyprus, a neutral country. as I understand it,
                that is how a lot of US/Cuba trade actually happens.
                Any foreign firm with US ties could set up dummy companies
                with no US ties, which is what happens. Of course, since
                cuba with its present economic system, produces little wealth,
                its probably not to profitable to try to often. The fact
                remains: any country that wanted to trade with Cuba, can.
                Cuba's poverty is not primarily the fault of the US embargo.
                I recommend removing the embargo so that fact will be
                totally clear. - fab@csua

01/21   The CSUA needs a treasurer.  Please read the minutes for details --brg

01/21   Politburo meetings Wednesdays at 5:30 PM in 337 Soda. --brg

1/21    Can someone fix <DEAD>www.csua/motd<DEAD> to include motd.public? Thx.
                \_ it's now cron'ed to update every hour. --jwang
        \_ It's not missing - it just hasn't been updated since long ago.