Paxety Pages

The fourth National Summit on Cuba, to be held Friday and Saturday, is sponsored by the World Policy Institute based at the New School University in New York. Previous summits have drawn about 300-350 participants.

"We are creating a forum for an intelligent and balanced discussion of U.S.-Cuba relations," said summit spokeswoman Lissa Weinmann, a researcher at the institute. She said the agenda for the meeting is "wide-ranging, but the focus is on trade."

Doubt my take that it's about money?

Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks is one of the 40 speakers, including other trade counterparts from states on the Gulf of Mexico. Sparks has made five trips to Havana since taking office in 2000.

"We're very proud of the relationship we've been able to build," Sparks said.

Trade with Cuba is profitable for Alabama farmers, he said, citing sales of poultry, soybeans, wood and cotton products.

Of course, one guy only wants to paddle his canoe.

This half-assed embargo is just not working. We need to do something else.