Cigar Lovers Descend On Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

Cigar Lovers Descend On Cuba

POSTED: 6:17 am PST March 4, 2006
UPDATED: 6:27 am PST March 4, 2006

HAVANA, Cuba -- Cigars lovers are descending on Cuba this month for Havana's annual cigar festival.

Connoisseurs from around the world are experiencing supreme stogies that they say bring them pleasure, peace -- and often big bucks.

One aficionado said people need to know how to smoke a good cigar. He said it should not be smoked like a cigarette and should not be smoked in a disco.

People at the cigar festival get to visit cigar factories and plantations, as well as network with distributors. Multimillionaire businessmen and mysterious figures mingle with publishers, musicians and engineers.
(snip/...)

http://www.ktvu.com/travelgetaways/7680576/detail.html

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Havana Cigar Festival Draws Aficionados

By VANESSA ARRINGTON
Associated Press Writer

March 4, 2006, 3:57 AM EST

HAVANA -- Passion comes in many forms. For hundreds of visitors to Cuba this month, it's brown, rolled and good with brandy. Havana's annual cigar festival draws connoisseurs from around the world who come to experience the supreme stogie at its source. They say the smokes bring them pleasure, peace and, often, big bucks.

"This is my life," said Jimmy Ng, a Malaysian who left the travel business to become a cigar merchant some 10 years ago.

Ng, 46, spends most waking moments devoted to his new trade. He owns hundreds of books on cigars, and smokes from five to seven stogies a day.

At his La Casa Cubana in Singapore, he only sells Cuban cigars. "I'm a purist," he says.

His clientele is 75 percent foreign and includes officials and businessmen from Indonesia and Thailand.
(snip/...)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-cuba-cigar-fans,0,4397067.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Jade Fox]

1. "...should not be smoked in a Disco...."

Um, good to know.

I hope this Festival brings good things to the Cuban people and their beautiful country.

[rodeodance]

2. sounds like a good party.

[Judi Lynn]

3. A lot more people showing up than certain administrations would like

you to believe would go to Cuba!

Here's a photo of HavanaJournal's publisher, I think, in front of Cuba's most famous cigar factory:



Here are also more photos from a cigar lover who went to Cuba (found on the internet), and there's a funny tiny signature at the bottom of the very last post I just finally understood. You have to read his lips. The man looks like one of the two guys in Penn and Teller:

~~~~ link ~~~~

[Mika]

5. Look at what a shambles Havana is in that picture!

See, its just like the hardline Cubaphobes describe - crumbling. :crazy:

Good thing that we Americans are banned by our own government so we don't have to see such a mess. :sarcasm:

[tatertop]

11. That link is just excellent. Viva Cuba!

[saigon68]

4. I hear there's some fine Rum to be sampled there too

Nice Embargo Chimp-- you fucking draft dodger.

[tatertop]

12. I'll bet you are right about that rum

Just thinking about it makes me go me-ow ;)

[Mika]

17. There are great rums in Cuba.

Including some good home made stuff.

MMMmmmmm.


F-ing travel ban. :mad:

[Ignis]

26. Despite myself, I'm forced to agree.

I've always been a lover of rums from elsewhere in the Caribbean--particularly those from Barbados and environs. I finally had a chance to sample several fine rums from Cuba this past weekend, and OH MY I've been missing out! :)

[High Plains]

6. And you can enjoy it all while drinking mojitos at Dos Hermanos

a nice little bar near the harbor.

Fuck the embargo. Free citizens go where they wish.

[monktonman]

7. ok let me get this straight....

An story about cigars and nobody has mentioned Clinton or Monica??
Never thought I'd see the day.

[WhiteTara]

8. have you been living with the freepers?

we at this forum think that lies about wars are far far far far more serious than a sexual encounter. As they say, Bill lied, Hillary cried, Bush lied and people died and are dying every day. Enjoy your stay at DU :hi:

[saigon68]

9. Well put --- I couldn't have said it better

Some people have minds like a dust mite.

I'd love to go to Cuba unfortunately I probably can't in my lifetime.

I have however been to a number of Carribean countries.

You can enjoy a good Cuban cigar in these countries.

What fucking ass wipes the Bush Criminals Are.

[WhiteTara]

10. thanks saigon68

My ex came home in 67...wonderful guy, what a mess...

I've never been to the islands, but Cuba is one place that I think would be wonderful to visit.

[monktonman]

13. not living with freepers....

I've just managed to keep my sense of humor.
Remember that??? HUMOR???
Besides no matter how fondly I look back to the good old days, Clinton getting a blow job is still pretty fucking funny.
There is nothing funny about shrub.
I prefer to laugh.............and you?

PS enjoy being angry.

[Joe Chi Minh]

15. Your sense of humor sounds wall-to-wall: from the

incomprehensible to the retarded. If you think Bush is a joke, you're dangerous anywhere near anything to do with politics.

It's one thing to beg to be satirized and another thing all together to be a really funny guy, when you're responsible for the kind of things Bush is. Even a guy responsible for great actions of goodness isn't funny - though he may be wildly eccentric and have a wicked sense of humor. Seldom have I laughed as uproariously as I did at some of his anecdotes and political invective, but Hunter S springs to mind, as one very serious man.

Just supposing adulterous oral sex, whether by a President or a dogsbody, had the potential to convulse the average adult with laughter, however easily that activity tickles your funny-bone, there is no way in the world that such humor could begin to compete with the vileness, the utterly scandalous moral turpitude of powerful, far right-wing politicians suborning the media to publicize what was an intrinsically totally private activity*; and absolutely none of their business nor that of anyone else, other than, in principle, at least, Hillary.

And for what purpose did they do this? To gain the political advantage the people were never going to give them, to govern the country. Worst of all, like the scribes and the Pharisees of Christ's own day, they cloaked their turpitude with an all too transparent evocation of a concern for Christian morality. There's something sorely amiss with your priorities if you missed that. Golden Rule: if anyone on the far-right impugns or ridicules any action or behavior of a Democrat, such action or behavior will be, either none of their business, all together unexceptionable, or entirely admirable. It's not rocket science.

[monktonman]

24. OK let me get this straight.

You wrote all that because I think about bill clinton when you mention cigar?
wow

[Joe Chi Minh]

27. No. I thought of that pretty quickly too. The difference is that

you don't seem to realise that by accepting any of Bill Clinton's private life as a fit matter for bent Neocons to ridicule, plays straight into their hands.

And the whole business doesn't double me up with laughter anyway, because blokes in suits and high-power jobs are more likely, not less likely, to be more morally weak than than the general population, whether in terms of sexual morality in their private life, or much more commonly, in terms of their personal enrichment and lust for worldly power and status, at the expense of the people they are supposed to be serving.

Fortunately for the USA and the rest of the world, Bill's weakness was for the former, while his public service was and still remains in the hearts and minds of most Americans, and certainly the rest of the world, monumental. You have your Mt Rushmore to remind you of your great leaders, but the rest of the world still has the memory of Bill Clinton's administration fresh in its mind.

[monktonman]

29. wow

so its true...you have no sense of humor.

[Joe Chi Minh]

30. Wow!... that one had a sting in its tail!

I must remember not to bandy words with you, and no mistake.

[monktonman]

32. ok guy

I didnt know this was about fighting and making yourself feel like a big man.
I'll make sure I shut the fuck up whenever I see your name on a post.

[IA_Seth]

36. FYI, I thought it was funny.

And welcome to DU.

[IA_Seth]

35. Oh jeez...

It IS funny, and when we lose our sense of humor we sound pathetic..hint, hint.

I understand the outrage, I understand the anger towards the Bush admin...but Bill Clinton was and is a funny mo' fo' and I am sorry, but I think the BJ stuff is comedy.

[sam sarrha]

14. i got my wife a vibrator, looks just like a Cigar with a band with Monicas

picture on it... it is very nicely made..soft brown rubber.. she really got a kick out of it...

[sam sarrha]

16. Cigars have over 40X the nicotine,i have had 2 friends die of throat cancer

who smoked cigars.. 40X that of a cigarette

it isn't cool, it is a dangerous drug delivery system.. it is a deadly fad

[Mika]

18. True. Mr Castro won a WHO award for the Cuban smoking cessation pgm.

He stopped smoking in the late 80's and globally promoted smoking cessation.

[Joe Chi Minh]

19. Wow. Is there any other leader in the world who would have done

that in his shoes?!

[Mika]

20. Promoting health and health care is the way of modern Cubañia.

Cuba has some of the best health care and education stats in the world.


But, Castro didn't do it. The Cuban people did it.



Cubans wanted universal health care for all Cubans, and they have it. They pushed for government that represented their ideals, and organized and formed infrastructure that enabled Cubans to create a fair and complete h-c system.

Cubans wanted universal education for all Cubans, and they have it. They pushed for government that represented their ideals, organized and formed infrastructure that enabled Cubans to create a complete and world class ed system, and they have it.

Cubans want to assist the world's poor with doctors and educators, instead of gun ship diplomacy.. and that is what they have done WITH their government, not at odds with their government.

Can Americans make this claim about their own country/government? I'm afraid not.

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. That is just brilliant to read. And an even greater tribute to the

great man.

[TX-RAT]

31. You missed with your comparison

Been a cigar smoker for over 25 years, and know many more people who have smoked cigars just as long. Myself nor any of my friends inhale. I would go as far as to say 90+ percent of all cigar smokers don't inhale. My lungs are clean as a whistle.


(it is a deadly fad)?
People were smoking cigars long before they were smoking cigs.

[Mika]

37. Its not the lungs that take the hit from cigars. Its the mouth and throat.

I've seen many tumors and other cancers in cigar smoking patients (I'm a DDS).

Its bad. Painful. Ugly. Scary. Surgery. Implants. Transplants. I've even been involved in transplanting rib bone to mandibles.

If you do smoke - please stop if you can.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

21. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

...but SOMETIMES it's a CUBAN cigar, and that makes all the difference.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

28. I think you just created a TV ad, Sigmund. -nt

[cantstandbush]

23. Will Rush-oxycotin-Limbaugh attend? n/t

[Lochloosa]

25. I think Rush quit

smoking cigars that is.

[Judi Lynn]

33. Cuba's off to a good start at the World Baseball Classics:

Cigar for Gourriel in Cuba's first win



BY CHRISTIAN RED
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

SAN JUAN - Fidel Castro was not one of the 6,129 present at Hiram Bithorn Stadium yesterday, but "El Comandante" was probably smiling a little farther to the west of Puerto Rico.

Despite wasting two early leads, Cuba won its first game of the World Baseball Classic, 8-6, over Panama in a four-hour, 11-inning thriller. The Cubans scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th and added an insurance run with back-to-back RBI singles. But this game will be remembered for the performance of 21-year-old Cuban second baseman Yulieski Gourriel, who went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and four RBI and was stellar in the field.

You can bet that another Boss - the one in the Bronx who owns the Yankees - may already be fantasizing about Gourriel in pinstripes.

"I'm very happy," said Gourriel, after Cuba improved to 1-0 and eliminated Panama from advancing to the second round. "With so many foreign broadcast journalists watching, it was a good opportunity to see that Cuban baseball players play well anywhere in the world and at any level."
(snip/...)

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/398186p-337422c.html

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You may remember _Bush did everything possible to keep Cuba out of this tournament, actually able to keep them from entering Puerto Rico, and finally the baseball commissioner or whatever he is, intervened, along with a lot of other people.

[Judi Lynn]

34. Gourriel is no longer the secret to Cuba's success

Posted on Thu, Mar. 09, 2006
CUBA 8, PANAMA 6 (11)
Gourriel is no longer the secret to Cuba's success



BY KEVIN
@MiamiHerald.com

SAN JUAN - Cuban manager Higinio Velez said he hoped his team's participation in the inaugural World Baseball Classic would ``change the mystery that surrounds the Cuban team.''
That's not going to happen overnight -- even after Cuba's 8-6 win over Panama in 11 innings. Yet one afternoon was all it took to lift the shroud of secrecy off Velez's 21-year-old second baseman, Yuliesky Gourriel.
The best player few outside of Cuba has heard of, Gourriel introduced himself to an international television audience Wednesday by collecting three hits -- including a tiebreaking two-run home run -- driving in four runs, scoring twice and contributing a pair of spectacular defensive plays.
''If they didn't have him,'' Panama starter Bruce Chen said, ``we would have won that game. Every time he came up to the plate, he was part of rally.''
In Wednesday's second game, Puerto Rico assured itself a berth in the tournament's second round with an 8-3 victory over the Netherlands. Cuba, meanwhile, needs a victory over the Dutch tonight to also advance -- giving everyone at least another week to savor Gourriel's brillance.
`VERY IMPRESSIVE'
''He's a very impressive player,'' said Ross Atkins, director of Latin American operations for the Cleveland Indians. ``What you see is athleticism, strength, range, good hands and a very professional approach to hitting.''
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/baseball/14053054.htm