blogs.miaminewtimes.com — We just usually read Parade magazine for Howard Huge cartoons and "Ask Marilyn," but the magazine actually keeps a somewhat frequently updated list of the world's worst dictators. For the first time this year, Raúl Castro and Hugo Chávez made the top ten list.
Dec 31, 2011 View in Crawl 4
angrycat70Jan 1, 2012
It's hard to argue with the list. They are all douche-buckets.
1. Isaias Afewerki- Eritrea 20 years in power
2. Omar Al-Bashir- Sudan 22 years in power
3. Islam Karimov- Uzbeckistan 21 years in power
4. Bashar al-Assad- Syria 11 years
5. Thein Sein- Myanmar 50 years
6. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov- Turmenistan 6 years
7. Raul Castro, Cuba 4 years
8. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo- Equatorial Guinea 32 years
9. Hugo Chavez, Venezuela 12 years
10. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe 31 years
zeedeoJan 1, 2012
Thank you. this list would be a great tool to help people who see in one dimension only. People should know that the US is not the center of the universe.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
particleman420Jan 1, 2012
who said anything about the US?
caramba421Jan 1, 2012
So Hugo Chavez is worse than Grand Ayatollah Khamenei?
angrycat70Jan 1, 2012
he wishes.
pabloz1Jan 2, 2012
Who did the Ayatollah replace? and why? Do some reading on the Shah of Iran and the Savak.
caramba421Jan 2, 2012
Yeah, it was bulls**t that the US ousted Mosedegh, but Khamenei still sucks ballsack.
kynizeJan 1, 2012
WHERE'S TYRANT NOBAMA ON THAT LIST
usarugulaJan 1, 2012
Hiding in the shadows if your imagination.
adaguyJan 1, 2012
Here come the black helicopters again!
pabloz1Dec 31, 2011
Good ol US propaganda. I guess we'll be going to war with them soon. Funny how neither of them is bombing innocent people.
Ouzel7Jan 1, 2012
Yeah...because all these guys are great. They build playgrounds and stuff.
pabloz1Jan 1, 2012
Actually, they do, oh and medical care for the poor. But hey, keep believing in your insulated little world.
magnetism86Jan 1, 2012
"medical care for the poor"
The funny thing is that both countries (Cuba and Venezuela) have two-tiered medical systems where the poor actually have terrible healthcare, where access is nearly nonexistent, while there are higher-end facilities for the political elite and medical tourists. You know, the places where they allow foreign journalists to look at and pretend that this standard of care is given to average citizens when it's not.
Keep believing your communist propaganda. The numerous expats from these countries could set you straight. Your entire view of these countries is tainted by your anti-US bias.
pabloz1Jan 1, 2012
WOW, I guess you don't know about the patient dumping that goes on in the US. Where even the cops have been caught dumping people on skid row. You are such a hypocrite!Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
magnetism86Jan 1, 2012
You're brainwashed.
It's illegal in the US for doctors to refuse patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
particleman420Jan 1, 2012
what does that have to do with the bulls**t of "medical care for the poor" that you said?
adaguyJan 1, 2012
'It's illegal in the US for doctors to refuse patients, regardless of their ability to pay.'
You don't know what you are talking about. There is no law that says a hospital must treat you if you have no medical emergency.
Go to the hospital, tell them you have had a few flareup's of your gall bladder in the past 6 months, and you'd like to get it removed while it's not bothering you. They'll laugh you out of the place.
Are you aware that a great percentage of today's doctors, (most of them) work for clinics that are owned by hospitals??? The doctor can't refuse you care, but the clinic sure can!Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
magnetism86Jan 2, 2012
Actually, you have no idea what you're talking about.
Hospitals lose massive amounts of money for providing uncompensated medical treatment. The government only pays for 45% of it, 55% goes uncompensated.
I know from experience that what you're saying is false, because I know people who are uninsured who have had non-emergency treatment from hospitals, and had multiple appointments and surgeries, while the hospital knew full well that they had no means of paying for it. If someone needed treatment and were turned away, they could sue.
adaguyJan 2, 2012
LEARN TO READ!
'Hospitals lose massive amounts of money for providing uncompensated medical treatment. The government only pays for 45% of it, 55% goes uncompensated.'
I'm not saying that they get paid for all they do, but what I am saying is that they are not required to treat a non emergency if the patient has no money.
Also, the government compensates each and every hospital for unpaid medical bills at the end of the year. This is why the hospital will automatically bill you for 1/3 more than they will actually expect. This way, even if they get paid what they want, (2.3 of the bill) they still get additional compensation from the Government for the 1/3 that they billed but forgave.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
magnetism86Jan 2, 2012
The only way a hospital can turn away patients, legally, is if they are over capacity. They can't refuse care to people who can't pay. And it has to be first come first serve. They can't give preference to patients who are insured or have the means to pay.
The only people who can legally turn away patients are places like specialist clinics, that do purely elective treatments.
adaguyJan 2, 2012
Junior, you are terribly misinformed!
adaguyJan 2, 2012
Here dumbass, take time to read this.
http://www.lawhelp.org/program/1610/showdocument.cfm?doctype=faq&ichannelprofileid=40215&iorganizationid=1610&isubtopicid=1&iproblemcodeid=1510100
This is posted by a legal council , not some "EXPERT" like yourself on some third rate website who claims to have all the answers.
From the second paragraph:
Q. When must a hospital treat me?
A.
The hospital must treat you if:
You have a medical emergency; or
You are a woman in active labor;
AND
The hospital is covered by EMTALA;
You go to the emergency room; and
The hospital cannot transfer you.
The hospital may not delay treating you in order to ask about your insurance or ability to pay. 42 CFR 489.24(d)(4)(i).
Before they treat you they will screen you to see if you have a medical emergency or are in active labor. 42 USC 1395dd(a).Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
magnetism86Jan 1, 2012
Because they don't have the power to. They don't need to bomb their own citizens that they can and do round up off the street and kill for dissent.
pabloz1Jan 1, 2012
Are you suggesting it's OK for the US to bomb because they have the power.....WOW! The most ironic thing about the list is americans could give a s**t about Venezuelans and Cubans. They just want to remove their leaders and replace them with guys who will give the US what it wants. Wake up, I feel very very sorry for you.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
magnetism86Jan 1, 2012
I'm not saying bombing people is a good thing. I'm stating that you can't credit someone for not doing something when it's not due to their choice but a lack of ability.
Chavez and Castro are tyrants who oppress their people. They crush dissent, centralize power, and keep their population in line by making sure they are the only source of information in the country. They also use violence against political opponents, and this has resulted in deaths.
In the US, I can get a megaphone, walk around in the city and criticize the US government. Nothing would happen to me. If someone in Cuba or Venezuela did this and criticized their government, they'd be arrested and probably wind up with a bullet in their brainstem.
It's funny how anti-Americanism is so f**king stupid and hypocritical that you actually will support dictators like Chavez and Castro just because the US opposes them. "Enemy of my enemy" thing. You have to be either completely dishonest or completely misinformed to make the argument you make.
People vote with their feet, not their mouths. If Cuba and Venezuela were as great as you and the tyrants in charge in those countries want people to believe, there wouldn't be huge diasporas from these countries. Kind of funny how millions of Cubans and Venezuelans have fled to the US if things are so great there and bad here. Obviously they didn't like how things are going there and saw the US as a superior place to live (which it obviously is). But you probably won't acknowledge their existence and will instead choose to believe the hilariously unrealistically positive communist propaganda about Cuba and Venezuela.
systemsguyJan 1, 2012
Do you have a passport?
pabloz1Jan 1, 2012
Yes, and I have lived and worked on 5 continents. So, do you have a passport?
systemsguyJan 2, 2012
No, I've got three. When was the last time you were in Caracas?
michaelmiguel13Jan 3, 2012
Cuba has more volunteers abroad than the USA.... Just sayin'
stevanoskiJan 5, 2012
They are called soldiers in most countries.
michaelmiguel13Jan 5, 2012
Actually, most of them are doctors (from cuba that is). If you go to a lot of third world countries and even some better off countries like here in Peru (which is still third world in most parts), people actually think that Cuba is a super-power because they help out so much.
stevanoskiJan 5, 2012
Dr. from Cuba, LOL, reckon why Chavez and Castro had to go to Europe for treatment?
michaelmiguel13Jan 5, 2012
Wow, that was racist
fairley7Jan 1, 2012
FYI -- Hugo Chavez was elected by a majority of Venezuelans in an election certified by the international observers. Here's a quote from the Wikipedia article:
"In the presidential election of December 2006, which saw a 74% voter turnout, Chávez was ... elected ... with 63% of the vote...The election was certified as being free and legitimate by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Chávez)
Whatever you think of him, Chavez is no more a dictator than Bush or Obama.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
kip9999Jan 1, 2012
#constantpropaganda
novenatorJan 2, 2012
Chavez is not a dictator. Venezuela is a democratic country with internationally monitored elections. The US needs international monitors in our elections.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Ouzel7Jan 2, 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/dictator-chavez-to-rule-by-decree-2160541.html
lurchermanJan 3, 2012
Nice one.
Ouzel7Jan 4, 2012
Thank you.
Thurston_HowellJan 4, 2012
Novyblather; You are certifiably nuts. However, I do agree that the U.S. needs to monitor the DNC voting machine as one that manufactures and creates Democratic votes out of thin air, and out of the graves of the deceased. Through your desire to have outside elections monitoring you admit that the DNC tampers with the vote. Thank you for your intellectual honesty on that one. There's always a first.
meowmaJan 2, 2012
Long live Chavez, the only honest high-ranking politician besides Ron Paul! Sorry, we don't buy your bulls**t demonization!!!