I will agree with you on the point of infant mortality. It is truly inexcusable for the U.S. to have a higher rate than Cuba. That can be largely attributed to the amount of drug addict mothers in America, I would think. I don't think Cuba has as much of a drug problem, but I'm not sure. Bush has proposed that federal money be alotted for prenatal care just as it could be provided to children and adults in need. Maybe this is a step towards improving infant mortality rates?

I'll also agree that ending the blockade makes sense, if only so I can enjoy the best cigars in the world more than once in a lifetime :-) Ending the blockade would make the U.S. out to be the good guy, would start the move towards Cuba becoming a bigger part of the world economy (since it can no longer sell all it's sugar to Russia), and would probably help loosen the bounds of Communism over time.

One thing I think that would be most beneficial would be to allow free travel to and from Cuba, and for Castro to allow Cubans to immigrate to the U.S., or at least apply if they desire. That is the one thing that still baffles me about the supposedly superior Communist system of Cuba: Everything is provided to everyone, yet people can't wait to leave to join the "enemy" for a chance to be free and survive on their own. And Castro has to make laws banning such actions. It's pretty amazing that the U.S. would probably have to put up fences keeping people out (I don't endorse that) rather than keeping them in.

I hope my posts haven't seemed overly argumentative. I said what I had to to defend my positions. I certainly enjoy these spirited debates, and try to keep in mind the first two letters of the thread topic when writing and reading posts....