Remind me again, why is OK to do business with China and not with Cuba?
WHO SAID I SUPPORT CHINA? THAT’S EQUALLY OUTRAGEOUS.
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

titletown on February 6, 2006 at 3:36 pm

Chill out!
1. Maybe it’s against US law,but it’s not against Canadian law. If Americans want extraterritorial application of US law, then it is understandable why people are frustrated with them. if you want extraterritorial application of US aw about cigar smoking, you are pettifogging.
2. Even if it was prosecuted, how do you prove the elements of the offence? Assuming the defendant does not testify, how do you prove knowledge that it was Cuban? How do you prove it was a CUBAN cigar? (people saying it was are testifying to hearsay, and thus purporting to give inadmissible evidence). It is unlikely you will get Canadian import records, and any evidence about the cigar itself has probably been burned.
With all the problems facing the US (and the rest of the world) you want to waste resources on this?
Just so you know where I am coming from, I am a non smoker and never want to test a cuban or other cigar. I aslo happen to agree with you about the abysmal human rights record of Cuba, and I wish Canada would take a harder line against Castro. That said, in Canada, the law is the law, and we live with it unless it is legally and democratically changed.
Forget about Travolta and worry about the attacks on Free Expression by radical Islamists.

Blaise on February 6, 2006 at 3:48 pm

Okay, so MAYBE http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/travgay4.htm he’s straight…i’m STILL keeping my gerbils away from Gere and wouldn’t even think of picking up a C-note if i dropped it in front of TC…but what the hell does that have to do with Cuban cigars???
YOUR recent apotheosis of the SUV could be equated to the Hamas/OPEC drive-the-Jews-into-the-sea theological politricks…but sometimes a dude just DIGS a good cigar—Rush smokes ’em.
When WE *aliyah* it to Israel, HOPE you’re no longer into the NONissues…LOL

EminemsRevenge on February 6, 2006 at 3:53 pm

Here’s a partial list of hypocritical, duplicitous, LIBERAL, America-hating, Hollywood glitterati who have fallen in love with a murdering tyrant who has terrorized the Cuban people for the last 45 years;
Saul Landau, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Chevy Chase, Harry Belafonte, Ted Turner, Robert Redford, Spike Lee, Sidney Pollack, Oliver Stone, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Ed Asner, Shirley MacLaine, Alanis Morissette, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Costner, the president of CBS TV, the head of MTV, and the editor of Vanity Fair.
They should try living there under an assumed name.

Thee_Bruno on February 6, 2006 at 4:06 pm

I didn’t say YOU support China; it was a rhetorical question. Can anyone tell me why it’s OK to do business with China (even giving them “most favored nation” status) but not OK to do business with Cuba? The only reason I can think of is that money talks, human rights walks.

titletown on February 6, 2006 at 4:17 pm

No law was broken here. It is legal to smoke Cuban cigars in Windsor. I can understand you being upset if this was the 60’s but really, no long to you guys hold a grudge? Can you buy German or Japanese cars in the US? Get over it.
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY COMPLETELY IGNORANT ON U.S. LAW REGARDING THIS. IT IS AGAINST U.S. LAW TO PURCHASE OR UTILIZE CUBAN MERCHANDISE EVEN IF IT IS DONE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY. AND IT CAN AND HAS BEEN PURSUED BY AUTHORITIES. LEARN THE LAW BEFORE YOU SPEW IGNORANCE ABOUT IT. AND BY THE WAY, IF YOU CALL THIS A GRUDGE, WHEN PEOPLE ARE BEING PERSECUTED AS WE SPEAK BY CASTRO, THEN YOU ARE EVEN MORE OF AN IGNORAMUS THAN I HAD EARLIER DIAGNOSED. GERMANY AND JAPAN HAVE CHANGED. CUBA HASN’T.
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

lovefm on February 6, 2006 at 4:41 pm

It isn’t against U.S. law for a Canadian to smoke Cuban cigars in Windsor, Canada, for the very simple fact that there is no such law since the U.S. has no authority to make such a law. However, Debbie pointed out that it is a violation of U.S. law for U.S. citizens to violate the U.S. embargo on Cuban goods no matter where those citizens happen to be.
EXACTLY!
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

Thee_Bruno on February 6, 2006 at 4:48 pm

Rush Limbaugh smokes cubans too.
http://www.winespectator.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,18,00.html
—
But lurking in the back of his mind was Cuba. “I have always been interested in getting the best that I could afford, whatever it is. So I was just dying to taste some of these Cubans. I was reading all about the Cohibas and the Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas. And then I went to London last September with the same friend who had the pre-Castro Montecristos.”
Limbaugh stayed at the Connaught Hotel, “and I got up on a Friday morning and walked across the street to Desmond Sautter’s. And I was in heaven.” The store didn’t have any Hoyos, he says, “but they had some Punch Double Coronas and Partagas Lusitanias and Montecristo No. 2’s. And I tried them. And I don’t care what anybody says. I know it’s a matter of taste, but as far as I’m concerned, this is something that not even the Communists have been able to screw up. It’s the best tobacco in the world. There’s no comparison. This is not to put anybody else’s down. I’ve looked into it. I’ve studied it. It’s like Bordeaux grapes. You can try growing them in California, but they’re not the same. They’ve taken Cuban seed to Jamaica and Honduras, but it just isn’t the same.”
Limbaugh loves sitting back and relaxing with a cigar. “Of course you have to save the Cuban cigars for special occasions. I like keeping things special in my life. So I do smoke some Honduran Punches now and then. And I still have a box of Ashtons and Partagas No. 10’s. But this is a special occasion. Being interviewed by Cigar Aficionado is a special occasion. And this Ramon Allones Gigante is a hit. This is like five Cohiba Robustos rolled into one.”

John Lombard on February 7, 2006 at 10:12 am

So, does Rush Limbaugh support cuban tyranny? And did he break the law?

John Lombard on February 7, 2006 at 10:14 am

The Cuban Embargo states, “…prohibits any person subjects to US Jurisdiction from dealing in any property in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest”
Property is not limited to contracts or services. It’s also applicable to goods such as Cuban cigars.
Therefore, Messrs. Limbaugh and Travolta may have violated US law by smoking or purchasing Cuban cigars. The question is whether they are subject to US laws while outside the US. I’m not a lawyer but common sense tells me that they didn’t.
Sorry Debbie but I think you are wrong this time.
On the other hand, Messrs Limbaugh and Travolta are supporting a ruthless tyranny by consuming banned Cuban goods. Mr. Travolta is a liberal and expect him to behave as such. Mr. Limbaugh is a conservative and should know better.
/AC

milostea on February 7, 2006 at 10:53 am

And don’t forget, there’s a pretty craven level of hypocrisy in railing against Communist Cuba but supporting it by violating the embargo.
Also, apparently unlike Travolta, Limbaugh does smoke them in the US. The interview took place in Manhattan and he smoked one during the interview.
So: did he smuggle it into the United States himself, or did he just pay someone to procure it for him on the black market?

John Lombard on February 7, 2006 at 11:13 am

I wouldn’t be surprised if Travolta supports a Cuban Tranny from what I’ve heard…..oh wait, it says “tyranny”, not “tranny”….uh, nevermind.

Jeff_W on February 7, 2006 at 12:59 pm

Debbie, take it easy.
What I said was “No law was broken here” Here is Canada. I’m Canadian. Therefore, I’m not “OBVIOUSLY COMPLETELY IGNORANT” on U.S. law as I was not talking about your laws.
I’ve been to Cuba and it’s a very nice country and I like their Cigars. They haven’t done anything wrong or evil to me so I don’t do anything evil or wrong to them. I’m not a lefty or some pink-o but they are their own country and that has to be respect, you do know what respect means? It’s kind of like not typing in caps and calling people names. I’m a proud conservative but rants like yours give us a bad name.
Also to quote from above… “prohibits any person subjects to US Jurisdiction from dealing in any property etc…” Who is to say that when in another country like Canada they are “subjects to US Jurisdiction”
Are people being persecuted in China? Does the U.S. trade with them???
You should relax, have a cigar.

lovefm on February 7, 2006 at 1:03 pm

lovefm, I guess if we took that attitude towards Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, etc. many of us wouldn’t be here today or we’d be calling the country “Amerika” and/or yelling “Seig Heil” :_(
That said though, I do think if we’re going to be this tough with Cuba, we should stop any trade with China as well. And better yet, no importing of oil from Iran, Iraq, yeah, Saudi Arabia too. They’re all pretty undemocratic and repressive, yet we’re allowed to travel to them and use their products (OK, travel to Iran and Iraq is not easy to accomplish, and is risky and foolish anyway).
While Castro is not a nice guy and I laugh when celebreties “defend” the regime, I think the real reasons for the “double standard” are:
1) The Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missle Crisis made the US gov’t feel humbled, so we just can’t deal with them in any way, even 40 years after the fact.
2) Cuba doesn’t really have anything we can’t get anywhere else, so it’s easy to embargo them. Otherwise, we’d treat at least Iran this way since the Hostage crisis surely is an equal to #1 above (albeit I think we only get oil from Iran and nothing else).
3) Cuba can’t nuke us. China (and probably soon Iran to some extent) can.
4) There’s a big Cuban-American lobby to do this that is absent with Chinese-Americans, Arab-Americans, even Vietnamese-Americans (similar action against Vietnam was lifted a few years ago, though there regime is just as bad as it was circa 1975).
I agree that Cuba is an evil repressive regime and should be dealt with, but compared to other equally bad places we’re applying quite the double-standard.

hairymon on February 7, 2006 at 2:00 pm