2002 - September Issue

I Had A Bigger Fish To Fry!

I've finally figured out what that "fish" is... and now... I'm ready to "fry" (tell you about) that sucker.

Here's one of the most important things anyone will ever teach you about life: Look, here in southeast Florida almost every day of the year clusters of people wash up on our shores. The lucky ones are still alive when they finally reach land. Unfortunately, many others (an astonishingly high percentage) are dead. That's because they couldn't survive the rigors of their voyage from Cuba to the U.S.

And, it's no wonder. I've seen some (actually many) of the "vessels" these poor souls have used to make that trip. They are often incredibly small. Sometimes, these desperate people don't even use a boat. They make the trip on a raft. Or sometimes an innertube. Some have held onto a mere log. They urgently need to get out of Cuba because... in that country (legally, at least)...

There Is No Way Out...

And... No Way Up!

It doesn't matter how hard you work, how much of an education you have or how valuable you are to society. A medical doctor, for example, makes about $8.00 a month. So does an unemployed bum.

Now, in your "mind's eye" I want you to visualize two Cubans who make it today to one of our Florida beaches. One of the men was a dishwasher in Cuba. However, he got "lucky" and managed somehow to steal $500,000 from a group of businessmen who were visiting his country. He got away with it, put the money in a waterproof container and managed to get himself and all that cash right here to the land of freedom.

Yahoo!

The other guy? He doesn't have a single penny. He doesn't have any carpenter tools or anything like that. He doesn't have anything whatsoever except the tattered clothes he is wearing. But, get this: This other guy was a brain surgeon in Cuba. One of the best that country ever produced.