My Cuban Trauma: Cuban Cooking

Here's another good website full of Cuban recipes!!! My Cuban Trauma is the blog of Marilyn, a Cuban now living in California. Enjoy browsing through the recipes she’s posted here and even making some of them. Believe me... they're absolutely delicious! :-)

Cuban Cooking - Comida Cubana: Marilyn even does the Cuban meatloaf the way my mama used to make it. With hard boiled eggs inside. :-)

Obama Wins: Get a copy of the New York Times or other newspapers for $5 to $10

While watching the news on 5 November 2008, I saw folks in long lines in front of the newspaper office of The New York Times, all wanting to buy a copy of today's issue. It dawned on me that, yes, today's copy, showing Obama as the country's President-elect, would be a keepsake. The first African-American president to be elected in the United States was a historic event, regardless of whether one had voted for him or McCain. So I drove around town looking for such copies with Barack Obama on the front page. I was only able to get a copy of the Denver Post and was told that all other papers were sold out first thing this morning. I purchased my copy of The Denver Post and thought I'd buy the other papers online.

I found an article by Peter Kafka, The Obama Aftermarket: $20 for a Copy of Today’s New York Times? and was actually willing to pay $20 for it but the eBay seller had sold all his copies. [Image Credit: specialkrb]

Not to be deterred, I called both newspapers and it turns out we could order the 5 November 2008 issue at the fair price of $4.95 (USA Today) and $5.75 (NYTimes) plus shipping. I'm not sure how long the papers will be taking orders but, for history's sake, I went ahead and ordered 5 copies from each newspaper for our family to treasure as keepsakes.

Here's the information I found, in case you'd like to order your copies:

The New York Times: $5.75 + s/h
How to order Back Copies of The New York Times newspaper
Back Copies of The New York Times from the last 90 days can be ordered directly from the newspaper by calling 1-800-543-5380. I had to wait on the phone for almost 45 minutes but it's worth it to order the 11/5/08 copy of the paper at a reasonable price of $5.75 per copy sent to me Second Class mail.

U.S.A. Today: $4.95 + s/h
You may have to set up an account in order to order your copy but setting up the account is free.

• Go to: https://service.usatoday.com/welcome.jsp
• Click "Order Back Issues" on the left hand column
• Click "USA Today Previous Issues"
• Click "2008 Previous Issues"
• Click "November Previous Issues"
• Scroll down the page until you see "11/05/2008 Issue of USA TODAY" and select how many copies you'd like to order at $4.95 per copy.
  
• Click "Add to cart" and follow directions to check out.

The Washington Post: $9.95 + s/h
Washington Post Commemorative Edition Paper was available from cafepress.com for $9.95 plus S/H. Their webpage says the, "Commemorative Edition Paper includes front section and election section from the paper published 11/05/08."

Chicago Tribune: $10 includes s/h
The Chicago Tribune Store shows that, normally, back copies are $0.75 each. The 11/5/08 issue, however, could only be ordered for $10 a copy by calling their phone number, 312-222-3080.

Chicago Sun Times: $10 + s/h
[Nov 6, 2008, suntimes.com] "Barack Obama's overwhelming victory in Tuesday's election also led to an overwhelming demand for copies of the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday. Tens of thousands of extra copies are being printed and will be available...by ordering online." Back issue online order form - $10 per copy

I would love to hear your comments on how folks were able to obtain copies of 11/5/08 newspapers from around the world announcing Obama's win. If you purchased copies yourself, tell us why you did so. Who did you purchase them for? Yourself? Others? Which paper did you get?

Help me find the real America

When I came to the USA, oh so many years ago, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Now, years later, I still feel the same. America! The United States of America. My parents and their six daughters, me being the oldest of the six girls, were finally in the USA and we were safe. It took three years for Castro's communist government to give us permission to leave Cuba. We then lived almost a year in Spain while our USA residency papers were processed and all eight of us received our green cards.

We've always been a strong Christian family. Our faith in God played no small part in keeping us safe and sane during the turbulent and terrifying years we lived in Cuba after Fidel brought communism to our homeland. It also held us together when we arrived in the USA with nothing to call our own except a dream and a hope that we'd arrived in the USA, the land of opportunity, the land where dreams come true for those who work hard and do not give up.

And America did not disappoint us. It allowed all eight of us the privilege to become naturalized citizens. Our parents worked 1-1/2 jobs each in order to build a future for their six daughters. With their help, all six of us worked our way through school and graduated from college. The years have gone by and both Mamá and Papá are now in heaven, along with one of my sisters. During all this time the one thing that remained constant in each of our lives was our deep faith in God and in the American dream. We were living proof that both existed, for they existed in our lives and in our hearts.

Therefore, it was with mixed feelings that I saw a Vice Presidential candidate spearheading the notion that, somehow, if we did not agree with her views, and voted for her ticket, we were not real Americans. What? I do not belong to the real America just because I may not vote for Palin/McCain? Have I been deluded all these years into thinking that the adopted country I love is not the real America? Which America is it that took our family in? Which America gave us a home when we had no home? I always thought it was just one America, one U.S.A., "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I myself am a registered Republican and it saddened me to see the GOP attempting to win an election by using divisive methods and rhetoric. Just like it was through young people talking to me that I first began to get to know Senator Barack Obama, it also was through watching the TV show that many a young person tells me they watch, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, that I came upon three segments that brought home the ridiculousness of someone saying there's more than one single United States of America.

So I watched the following three video clips from the Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and decided that, according to Governor Sarah Palin, I am NOT a real American. But the truth is that, regardless of what Governor Palin thinks, neither she nor anyone else can take the love and pride and honor I feel when I think of the USA, my adopted homeland, the country I feel indebted to...for it took me and my family in when we had to escape the totalitarian regime that overtook the land of our birth.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Quiz: Are You a Real American?
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Understanding Real America in Wasilla
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Pfriend or Pfoe?
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

What are your thoughts when it comes to rhetoric used by political candidates? Does negative campaigning work for you? Does it influence your choice of candidate when it comes time to vote?