Fidel Castro Is Not Dead

So I'm over at my friends' house sitting on a patio drinking scotch and puffing a cigar and suddenly my buddy (code name: "Flipper") mentions Fidel Castro died today, and I'm like, "WHAAAAT???"

Ten seconds later I'm on his computer, searching the Guardian's Web site--then the New York Times, then the Globe and Mail for verification.

And you know what? Fidel Castro is not dead.

The person who's dead is Juan Almeida Bosque, a Cuban revolutionary and beloved national figure. You can read the story here in the Globe and Mail.

But it would've been a hell of a strange turn if I'd learned of Castro's death with a Cuban cigar dangling from my mouth. I probably smoke a Cuban cigar once every 18 months. Incidentally, Flipper was ironically given this cigar from a very generous (and profoundly misguided) staunch Stephen Harper supporter. I rather doubt Stephen Harper is much of a Fidel Castro supporter. So yeah, weird chain of events.

In other news I just found out now:

1.) Larry Gelbart, creater of TV's M*A*S*H, died today (Globe And Mail). I owe a lot of my politics to that show. Thank you, Larry. God bless* and rest in piece.

2.) They're lynching gays in Iraq (Guardian). I. Despise. Religious. Bigots.

3.) Scotch and cigars seem to be doing wonders for my cold. I'm sure sleeping half the day away also helped.

*I mean this in the atheist way of course.