US probes director Moore on Cuba

[homesick_american 1]

I'm surprised the 'wingers haven't posted this yet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6644845.stm

Award-winning film-maker Michael Moore is being investigated by US authorities for a possible violation of the trade embargo against Cuba, he has announced.

Mr Moore took a group of 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba in March to film part of his new documentary about healthcare provision in the US.

The US Treasury has sent him a letter asking him to explain himself.

Mr Moore is a long-time critic of the Bush administration and has campaigned against the war in Iraq.

The US imposed an economic embargo on Cuba more than 40 years ago in a bid to isolate Fidel Castro's communist government.

Ailing workers

Mr Moore made the trip to Cuba to film part of Sicko, an examination of America's health care industry which, according to the film's producer, Meghan O'Hara, will "expose the corporations that place profit before care and the politicians who care only about money".

His spokeswoman, Lisa Cohen, told the French news agency AFP that he took around 10 ailing New York rescue workers with him for medical treatment.

The group were suffering from conditions thought linked to their work clearing up debris from the site of the World Trade Center bombings on 11 September 2001.

In a letter dated 2 May, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control gave Mr Moore 20 working days to provide more details of his visit, including who went with him and why.

"This office has no record that a specific licence was issued authorising you to engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba," it said.

Sicko is due to open at the Cannes Film Festival next week.

Mr Moore won an Oscar in 2002 for the documentary Bowling for Columbine, a critique of US gun culture in the wake of the shootings at Columbine High School.

He followed that up with Fahrenheit 9/11, an examination of the White House's decision to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan after the 11 September attacks.

[Ban Hammer 14,455]

I'm surprised the 'wingers haven't posted this yet.

saw it several days ago, i was waiting for the left wingers to post it as another protest against bush

[mawilson 2,133]

Michael Moore thrives on conflict and controversy... sure way to get another Palm d'Or.

[homesick_american 1]

I'm surprised the 'wingers haven't posted this yet.

saw it several days ago, i was waiting for the left wingers to post it as another protest against bush

I'm getting kind of tired of Michael Moore, to be honest.

[Ban Hammer 14,455]

I'm surprised the 'wingers haven't posted this yet.

saw it several days ago, i was waiting for the left wingers to post it as another protest against bush

I'm getting kind of tired of Michael Moore, to be honest.

maybe we can work out a deal with fidel - fidel keeps mooreboy in cuba and we lift some trade restrictions

[homesick_american 1]

I'm surprised the 'wingers haven't posted this yet.

saw it several days ago, i was waiting for the left wingers to post it as another protest against bush

I'm getting kind of tired of Michael Moore, to be honest.

maybe we can work out a deal with fidel - fidel keeps mooreboy in cuba and we lift some trade restrictions

LOL...I think he was incredibly stupid to go to Cuba without advance permission. It's not like the government wasn't going to find out about it...he FILMED himself doing it. What a moron. I think the embargo is stupid, but it's not my place to break the law just because I don't agree with it. I suppose the fact that I have no desire to visit Cuba makes it easier.

[almaty 19]

I'm surprised the 'wingers haven't posted this yet.

saw it several days ago, i was waiting for the left wingers to post it as another protest against bush

I'm getting kind of tired of Michael Moore, to be honest.

maybe we can work out a deal with fidel - fidel keeps mooreboy in cuba and we lift some trade restrictions

LOL...I think he was incredibly stupid to go to Cuba without advance permission. It's not like the government wasn't going to find out about it...he FILMED himself doing it. What a moron. I think the embargo is stupid, but it's not my place to break the law just because I don't agree with it. I suppose the fact that I have no desire to visit Cuba makes it easier.

i agree, although, i like to visit cuba

[JoeMama 0]

i agree, although, i like to visit cuba

I like to visit all those places that are or were considered "off-limits" to US citizens because of them being "evil". Remember all the propaganda about Russia and their citizens? After going there, I discovered the citizens weren't evil as most of us around my age were led to believe growing up. We share a lot in common with these countries. They don't like their government or politicians any more than we like our own!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I'd love to visit Cuba. Lots of Americans go, there are ways to go without getting caught.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The embargo is f*cking stupid.

[homesick_american 1]

i agree, although, i like to visit cuba

I like to visit all those places that are or were considered "off-limits" to US citizens because of them being "evil". Remember all the propaganda about Russia and their citizens? After going there, I discovered the citizens weren't evil as most of us around my age were led to believe growing up. We share a lot in common with these countries. They don't like their government or politicians any more than we like our own!

That's not what keeps me from going to Cuba. I'm just not interested.

[reach449 2]

It is shame Fidel is still in power. The infrastructure is really run down and the people are in poverty, but tourism would flourish there; it is a beautiful island. If it became a free country without Fidel's tight grip, it would be like a vacumm and all the resorts and hotels would pop up everywhere.

[JoeMama 0]

It is shame Fidel is still in power. The infrastructure is really run down and the people are in poverty, but tourism would flourish there; it is a beautiful island. If it became a free country without Fidel's tight grip, it would be like a vacumm and all the resorts and hotels would pop up everywhere.

I believe that is what will happen there after Fidel is gone. It'll be the next hotspot for tourism. A lot of money to be made.

[Emancipation 2]

I'm getting kind of tired of Michael Moore, to be honest.

Perhaps the "lefties" are too.. PURE publicity stunt there.. And mentioning he had to stash his movie off shore so the Feds wouldn't tinker with it.. He knows better than to pull the conspiracy card.. honestly..

Edited May 12, 2007 by Emancipation

[Emancipation 2]

It is shame Fidel is still in power. The infrastructure is really run down and the people are in poverty, but tourism would flourish there; it is a beautiful island. If it became a free country without Fidel's tight grip, it would be like a vacumm and all the resorts and hotels would pop up everywhere.

I believe that is what will happen there after Fidel is gone. It'll be the next hotspot for tourism. A lot of money to be made.

Cuba IS the place to go if you are CDN.. It's a cheap vacation spot in the winter and I hear that Havana is a wonderful city with a great "feel" to it. Many CDN's pack heavy and leave most of their belongings behind (for the people they have met along the way) when they come back.