The bright side...

'Nobody Does Evacuations Like Cuba'

The Associated Press's Anita Snow, reporting from Havana on the response to Hurricane Ike, finds the bright side of totalitarianism:

If there's one thing the communist island does right, it's evacuations. And in the end, that saves more lives than anything else. . . .
Of course, this is easier done in Cuba than in the United States because the communist government owns and controls most of the nation's resources. Unlike the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, it doesn't have to buy supplies or contract services from private companies, or pay overtime.
Most Cubans work for the government and don't have to worry about losing wages if they take off from work. And because police keep a close eye on evacuated areas--and because most Cubans have few possessions of value anyway--looting isn't a major concern.
That was the problem in Katrina--the people in New Orleans were too rich! Then there's this:

If anyone has doubts, authorities quickly put an end to them.
Does American journalists really yearn to live in a country in which "authorities" excel at quickly putting an end to doubt?