When Raul Castro replaced his brother Fidel as leader of Cuba last month, President Bush took a predictably cynical perspective. In a March 7th press conference he stated that,

“So far, all Cuba has done is replace one dictator with another. And its former ruler is still influencing events from behind the scenes. This is the same system, the same faces, and the same policies that led Cuba to its miseries in the first place.”

Well Mr. Bush, here’s a newsflash for you — if Mariela Castro, Raul’s daughter, has her way, Cuban transsexuals and gays will have more documented rights than any other Latin American country. Moreover, despite the overall human rights abusing nature of the regime, the bill will allow transsexuals and gays more equality and options than what is offered in the US.

According to the BBC, under the bill, same-sex unions and inheritance rights would be recognized. Transsexuals would have the right to free sex-change operations and switch the gender on their ID cards, with or without surgery.

Let’s compare this proposal to current US policies shall we? Read More »

As you may have heard by now, the big news this week is Fidel Castro’s resignation as leader of Cuba. Castro has been in power since 1959 (we’ve had ten presidents since then!), and many thought he would continue to rule until he passed away, rather than ever resigning.

America has cut off all contact with Cuba since Castro’s rise to power, which means his announcement is a huge turning point for a country that once almost brought us to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

Beginning in 1953, Castro led a guerrilla movement against the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, who at the time was using violence to suppress a rapidly-growing resistance made up primarily of students and other middle and upper class Cubans. Batista had begun to suspend certain constitutional rights and censor the media, even closing the strongly anti-Batista University of Havana in 1956. Read More »

Perez.

He’s done a lot for us over the years. Taking down annoying starlets one vajayjay flash at a time, dragging certain stars out of the closet, giving us up-to-the-minute Lindsay Lohan rehab news, and forcing a bit of humor out of that self-important land called Hollywood.

After learning about his site a year ago, I find myself checking it almost daily, needing my fix of A, B, and C-list celebrities like a smoker needs that after dinner cig.

I can’t help it, Perez and his mysterious “sources” have me hooked.

Starting out from a nobody and becoming a giant somebody isn’t easy, and Perez (a.k.a Mario Armando Lavandeira) has certainly climbed his way from unknown to a celebrity in his own right. That being said, I can’t help but notice the irony of a guy who makes a living bashing the overexposed saturating the media himself.

He’s everywhere now. In magazines, in major newspapers, all over the talk-show circuit, even featured in a hideous-looking new show on MTV called Celebrity Rap Superstars. The man who used to be just like us—a regular person gawking at the famous people—is now more like the celebrities he draws penises on.

Far be it from me to begrudge anyone newfound fame, but you have to wonder what Perez would say about himself on his website. Read More »