Warmest Words In A Half-Century

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba-United_States_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_embargo_against_Cuba

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7997439.stm

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5glBD-LLqswmnj4XJ9NLzqNYVKLuwD97JVTN81

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — Trading their warmest words in a half-century, the United States and Cuba pressed ahead Friday with a dizzying series of gestures as leaders of the Americas gathered for a summit. The momentum was so great that the head of the Organization of American States said he'll ask his group to invite Cuba back after 47 years.

In a diplomatic exchange of the kind that normally takes months or years, President Barack Obama this week dropped restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba, then challenged his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro to reciprocate.

Within hours, Castro responded with Cuba's most open offer for talks since the Eisenhower administration, saying he's ready to discuss "human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners everything." Cuban officials have historically bristled at discussing human rights or political prisoners, of whom they hold about 200.

The United States fired back Friday, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offering: "We welcome his comments, the overture they represent and we are taking a very serious look at how we intend to respond."

And OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said he would ask the 34 member nations to invite Cuba back into the fold. Analysts doubted Insulza known for his political caution would have done so without a nod from Washington.

"We're going step by step," Insulza said. He called on the group to annul the 1962 resolution that suspended Cuba because its "Marxist-Leninist" system was incompatible with OAS principles. If two-thirds of foreign ministers agree at a meeting in Honduras next month, the communist government will be reinstated.

But while White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said U.S. officials were struck by Castro's new openness to admit change might be needed, he also said Cuba needed to start making concrete moves toward freedom.

President Barack Obama waves as he arrives for the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

President Barack Obama arrives for the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Friday, April 17, 2009.

US President Barack Obama arrives at Piarco International Airport in Port of Spain, Trinidad April 17, 2009 to attend the 5th Summit of the Americas.


President Barack Obama waves as he arrives for the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain.

Bolivia's President Evo Morales, Cuba's President Raul Castro, center, and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, waved during the official photo of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, Summit in Cumana, Venezuela.

A Marine One helicopter, with President Barack Obama on board, prepared to land at the Campo de Marte military field in Mexico City Thursday April 16, 2009. President Obama was in Mexico for a brief official visit on his way to attend the Summit of the Americas in the Caribbean.

President Barack Obama arrived at the Los Pinos presidential residence surrounded by Mexican honor guards in Mexico City.

President Barack Obama, left, smiles during a joint news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at Los Pinos presidential residency in Mexico.

A man waved a flag of US President Barack Obama in Port of Spain, on April 16, 2009 a day before the opening of the 5th Summit of the Americas. Trinidad and Tobago is to become the first Caribbean state to host a summit of the Americas, where a total of 34 countries from across the American continent will converge - all, in fact, except Cuba - excluded due to US pressure, on April 17-19.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, shook hands with Dominican republic's President Leonel Fernandez at the end of a press conference at the national palace in Santo Domingo, Friday, April 17, 2009. Clinton was on a 24 hours official visit to Dominican republic.

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Mexican Beauty Queen Arrested

Laura Zuniga is crowned Miss Sinaloa 2008 at the Pacific resort city Mazatlan, Mexico, July 2, 2008. Zuniga, a 23-year-old model, has been arrested at a military checkpoint, just outside the city of Guadalajara, after she was found riding with suspected gang members in a truck filled with weapons and cash.

Laura Zuniga poses in swimsuit during the Miss Sinaloa beauty pageant at the Pacific resort city of Mazatlan, Mexico, July 2, 2008. Zuniga, a 23-year-old model, who won the Miss Sinaloa 2008.

Miss Sinaloa Laura Zuniga is pictured in August 2008 during the official presentation of candidates for "Nuestra Belleza Mexico 2008" in Mexico City. Zuniga, the Mexican beauty queen jailed after she was picked up with an alleged drug cartel leader and heavily armed men, has been stripped of one of her titles, Bolivian organizers said.

Laura Zuniga Huizar seen in this photo released December 26, 2008.

This picture released by the Jalisco Goverment's press office of the members of a gang arrested on December 22, 2008 in Jalisco, Sinaloa state, Mexico. Laura Zuniga (C), the Mexican beauty queen jailed after she was picked up with an alleged drug cartel leader and heavily armed men, has been stripped of one of her titles, Bolivian organizers said.

In this two-image combo made from photos released by Mexico's Attorney General's Office on Friday Dec. 26, 2008, the 2008 beauty queen of the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, Laura Zuniga, left, and one of the alleged leaders of the powerful Juarez drug cartel, Angel Orlando Garcia stand during their arraignment in Mexico City on Dec. 24, 2008. A judge has ordered Miss Sinaloa Laura Zuniga, Orlando Garcia and other 5 men who were arrested last Dec. 23 while driving in a truck filled with weapons and large amounts of cash, to be held for 40 days while police decide whether to charge them, the federal Attorney General's Office said in a statement.

In this two image composite, Laura Zuniga is crowned as Miss Sinaloa state at left in the city of Mazatlan, Mexico July 8, 2008 and is shown to the press with unidentified gunmen after her arrest in the city of Zapopan, Mexico Tuesday Dec. 23, 2008. Police said Zuniga who was stopped at a checkpoint, was riding in one of two trucks with seven men, where soldiers found a large stash of weapons and some $53,300 in U.S. currency.

The 2008 beauty queen of the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, Laura Zuniga, center, is shown to the press with other unidentified suspects after she was detained with guns and large amounts of cash in the city of Zapopan, Mexico.

The World's Heaviest Man Married

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2008/10/02/2008-10-02_worlds_heaviest_man_to_wed_in_mexico.html
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2008/10/27/20081027heaviestman.html
http://wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1489296

Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008 MONTERREY, Mexico — The world's heaviest man has tied the knot. Manuel Uribe, who hasn't left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis Sunday in northern Mexico.

Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.

He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests. For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad.

A popular local norteno band played accordion-heavy tunes at the reception, which featured a banquet of meat and buttered vegetables.

Uribe's mother, Orquedia Garza, said the groom steered clear of the five-tier wedding cake.

"He didn't break his diet," she told The Associated Press. "His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely."

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.


"I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life," Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey.

A flatbed truck was brought in to tow his custom-made bed decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows to the wedding at a local event hall. Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms), earning him the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago.

Uribe said he's gunning for a new title: world's greatest weight loser.

Privious Blog:
http://pictzz.blogspot.com/2008/10/700-pound-man.html

World Longest Hot dog

Chefs get ready to prepare a hot dog during an attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the largest hot dog, in Monterrey, northern Mexico on 27th September, 2008. The event was organized by local businesses with the support of the Monterrey city hall.

The hot dog measured 76.23 meters (250 feet) and broke the previous record of 61 meters (200 feet) set in Japan.

Volunteers prepare a hot dog during the attempt to set the Guinness World Record.

Chefs put mustard on a hot dog.

Chefs put the final touches on a 76.23 meter (about 250 feet) long hot dog.

Volunteers wait next to a hot dog.

Danny Girton Jr., adjudication executive for North America for Guinness World Records, measures a hot dog.

Danny Girton Jr., adjudication executive for North America for Guinness World Records, stands next to the largest hot dog.

People gather for a free hot dog!!