Now, there are two schools of thought on violence and video games. Some hee and haw about how virtual killing fields do nothing but give the young a taste for blood, a taste that will then lead them down a murderous path. And, thanks to all those hours glued to the tube, their shot's going to be pretty good, so the public should be scared.

Others, meanwhile, argue these games provide a relatively healthy way to expel pubescent angst and, perhaps, prevent unsavory outbursts. Let's assume for a second that the former's the truth. The lawmakers — who will again vote on the matter — see a link between rising murder rates and video games. Why? Because 100,000 people have been murdered since 1999, when current President Hugo Chavez took office. Video games have become more realistic and, therefore, bloody in that same time period. Thus, there must be a connection.

Fine, okay, but these same lawmakers are forgetting the fact that their army needs the United States' help to contain terrorism and drug traffickers. Rather than trying to stop violence via some bullshit bill, they should harness that destructive intemperance and direct it against the nation's common foes. (Which, according to Fidel Castro, includes the United States.)

But maybe that's just us being glib. Perhaps a better reaction would be to tell the National Assembly to urge parents to be more aware of their offspring's proclivities and address it themselves.

Dan Abram's "GossipCop" reminds us that Perez broke the news of Fidel's death on this day in 2007. (And had GossipCop been around back then, they would've promptly "fact-checked" Perez by printing a routine denial from Fidel Castro's publicist.) And ever since that death, the Cuban media has periodically released new photos of a gaunt and sickly looking Castro hanging out in various flashy Adidas tracksuits.

Yesterday, the Cuban state-run tv aired video of Fidel that they claimed was shot on Saturday, and then the state-run youth newspaper ran a photo of a fit-looking Fidel meeting with the President of Ecuador. But the real news is that Fidel is wearing a short-sleeved white workshirt instead of one of his Run-DMC costumes!

Let's take a look back at some of Fidel's best posthumous looks.

No, seriously, that's Glenn Beck logic in action for you. It really is as simple as this—A) FIdel Castro condemned the coup in Honduras. B) Hugo Chavez condemned the coup in Honduras. C) Barack Obama condemned the coup in Honduras. Therefore, Barack Obama is a communist dictator just like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.

And now you know.

And judging by the headline on Drudge right now, this appears to be a new conservative line of attack.

This guy was out to prove that young Tony Castro could be got. And he got him. With Yahoo Messenger:

Mr Dominguez, who was born in Cuba, said his sting operation had been designed to "shatter the myth of an impenetrable" security network around the country's first family.

He could have, what, come slithering through the webcam like the girl in The Ring and strangled Castro Jr., mysteriously? Not quite clear on the concept here. Let's let the people decide.
[Miami Herald, Independent. Pic via]

In Granma, the official newspaper of Cuba's Communist Party, Castro writes:

WHAT a strange surname! It appears Spanish, easy to pronounce, but it's not. Never in my life have I heard or read about any student or compatriot with that name, among tens of thousands.

Where does it come from? I wondered. Over and over, the name came to mind of the brilliant German thinker, Immanuel Kant, who together with Aristotle and Plato, formed a trio of philosophers that have most influenced human thinking. Doubtless he was not very far, as I discovered later, from the philosophy of the man closest to the current president of the United States, Barack Obama.

It's deep and yet deeply loopy. Read it all!

They found this all amusing at TNR's The Plank, too.

We already knew Emanuel had the power to send Republicans over the bend. Who could have guessed Communists hated him, too? This is going to ruin shouty conservative pundit Glenn Beck's Obama-is-a-Communist campaign:

(Photo of Castro in 1959, the year Emanuel was born, via San Diego University)

"I got some great news today because I was trying to figure out how I was going to get Castro into the Oscars and for me he resigns today so he can come to L.A. and go as my guest and perhaps give the acceptance speech."

Unfortunately, when the other actors heard about this, they didn't realize Moore was kidding. Soon enough, Marion Cotillard's publicist was on the phone with Hugo Chavez begging him to be her date. Jamie Foxx called Kim Jong Il personally and said he wanted to "roll up" with him. Not to be outdone, Jessica Alba told Cash Warren that his escort services were no longer needed and that instead she would be digging up the rotting corpse of Adolph Hitler, stuffing him into a Dolce & Gabbana tux and heading to the ceremony. Anything to stay relevant in Hollywood!

• Michael Moore: Bring Fidel to the Oscars [AP]