Word: cubanization
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...Sing heartfelt farewells to Israel "Cachao" Lopez, 89, the Cuban-born pioneer of mambo music; to classic one-hit wonder Jody Reynolds, 75, whose Endless Sleep had a suicide theme and haunting guitar thrum; to Eddy Arnold, 89, country music's chart-topping "Tennessee Plowboy" whose early career was managed by Elvis' Svengali, Col. Tom Parker; to Jerry Reed, 71, the Nashville session guitarist with the foolin'-around grin, who became a country star with When You're Hot, You're Hot, and played Burt Reynolds' rowdy pal in Gator and Smokey and the Bandit; and to Larry Levine, indispensible...
...helm. Fifty years and eleven U.S. presidents ago, his brother Fidel and he led a ragtag rebel force to improbable victory in early January 1959. Yet, days before this event, it was also Raúl’s turn to preside over the session of the Cuban National Assembly to enact a new social security law—an act that symbolizes what has gone well and badly over the past half century...
...During the same session of the National Assembly, government officials announced with pride that the minimum pension, which is what many retired Cubans receive, had risen to the equivalent of $8.33 per month. True, access to health care is free, but the elderly still have to purchase medicines, which are often missing or in short supply in pharmacies and may only be purchased with “convertible pesos”—Cuban currency, equivalent to dollars or euros—used to purchase goods or services at international prices that are quoted also in euro or dollar...
Despite the obvious health risks, cigars remain a fixture of pop culture. An episode of Seinfeld centered around a box of Cubans, while the stogie's famous champions include Michael Jordan, Rush Limbaugh and Lil' Wayne. Politicians dabble too - Arnold Schwarzenegger is a noted fan - although puffing on a Cuban can leave an eggy residue on a pol's face. A year after Tom DeLay thundered that "American consumers will get their fine cigars and their cheap sugar, but at the cost of our national honor," a photo emerged of the former House majority leader sucking on a Hoyo...
...Washington is where cigar-lovers looking to enjoy a smooth Cohiba or Romeo y Julieta - without skirting the law - can look for hope. President-elect Barack Obama has indicated a willingness to discuss with Raul Castro the repeal of bans on Cuban-American travel and remittances-gestures that could ultimately lead to scrapping the trade embargo. For aficionados, that would be a welcome tonic for the grim times ahead. As Evelyn Waugh said, "The most futile and disastrous day seems well spent when it is reviewed through the blue, fragrant smoke of a Havana cigar...