Here are the topics for this week's blog: Cuba bound; the American middle class; justice in India; Donald vs. Bernie; Pope Francis; the Greek bailout.

Havana or bust! It was inevitable, just a matter of who would be first and Carnival cruise line appears to be the winner. On a trip quite a while ago, the cruise director mentioned that every major cruise line was "in line," so to speak, vying for dock-dates in Cuba. The major problem was obvious,  the US embargo, which is now being slowly lifted. The other problem about which there has been little discussion was/is Cuba's limited pier space ability to accommodate the large numbers that would come streaming off the ever larger cruise ships. The Carnival ship chosen for initial entry is one of their smallest.
     The further good news is that the looming end to the travel embargo will undoubtedly have a price effect on the educational and cultural tour that are now provide the only legal access for most Americans.

The poor and middle classes and the lotteries. In a recent column, Michael Gerson, a prominent conservative pundit, posits these questions: "Can the United States go on as it has been with a good portion of its working class almost entirely isolated from the promise of our country?" He continues, "It is a yes or no question. A “yes” involves the acceptance of a rigid, self-perpetuating class system in a country with democratic and egalitarian pretentions — a system upheld and enforced by heavy-handed policing, routine incarceration and social and educational segregation. A “no” is just the start of a very difficult task.The mixed legacy of the Great Society — helping the elderly get health care, it turns out, is easier than creating opportunity in economically and socially decimated communities — has left the national dialogue on poverty ideologically polarized."
     Gerson then discusses some particular odious financial predations against the poor. "I am referring to a broad and growing collaboration between government and business to systematically defraud and exploit the poor through state lotteries, payday lending and payday gambling." The emotional pull is ever present. For example, the Mega Millions jackpot for Friday, July 10th is an estimated $106M. Gerson finds state lotteries and payday lending to be especially -- attractively -- pernicious. 
     CO is one of 36 states that allow payday lending where triple-digit annual interest rates are common. There are now more payday lending sites in the US than McDonald's franchises, a $46B industry legally engaged in what used to be called loan sharking and usury.

Advertising. Those who dream up advertisements are nothing if not inventive. In the above blog segment, a side ad in the Gerson story touts Viagra, in the new, improved ad. Forget that old ad with the virile, mud-covered male who has taken his team of horses from the trailer in a rain storm in order to pull the stuck pickup truck out of a massive mud hole. The new print ad for Viagra features a comely lady stretched on a bed with a come hither smile. In the same TV ad, she languidly strides across a deck before ending up on the bed.

Indian justice. Just when you thought you had heard all you needed about Bill Cosby's foibles, comes this story from New Delhi, India. "Judge asks rapist, victim to reconcile...A judge in India recently released a rapist from jail so he could attend mediation sessions with his victim, in the apparent hope that the two could put their differences aside and possibly marry." We can only hope Cosby's lawyers do not hear about this.

The Socialist and the ??. What is one to make of the contest between these two unlikely candidates, both of whom are "inching" up the in the polls? Senator Sanders (I, VT) revels in his designation as a socialist, a nasty word that would normally render him unthinkable. The Donald revels in his own outlandish persona which should be equally unthinkable. The Daily Beast: "Put it another way: When Democratic base voters flock to Sanders, they are expressing dissatisfaction what current Democratic policies. When Republican base voters flock to Trump, they are expressing dissatisfaction with Republican rhetoric."

Pope Francis' Latin American tour. Latin Americans are appropriately delighted with welcoming the Church's first pope from South America. This article begins with this undeniable truth: "Francis’s apologies for the sins of colonialism in Bolivia are as much about the future as they are about the past."

The Greeks, the Euro, and drachma. This story, "The Berlin bulldozer and the the sack of Athens," takes an unfavorable look at the Euro zone and it future. The subtitle and subsequent comments say as much.

Europe’s creditor-in-chief [Germany] has trampled over values like democracy and national sovereignty, and left a vassal state [Greece] in its wake. Which country will be next?...Yes, small countries such as Slovakia and Finland agreed with Germany. But their voices are hardly decisive. From Berlin’s perspective, they are the useful idiots who provide cover for its narrow interests. Remember that, through their loans to Greece, Finns and Slovaks bailed out German banks, not Finnish and Slovak ones. It is naïve to think that Berlin wouldn’t bulldoze them if they stood in its way."

The Germany has, of course, by far the most robust economy in western Europe and jealously guards its overall worth. Time will tell.

Thanks for reading. Have an enjoyable week.