YouTube: Ladies in White unsuitable for advertising

Zero dollars

YouTube sent me an email earlier today saying that a video I made about a Ladies in White march in 2010 contained content that was not "advertiser-friendly."
That makes the video ineligible for advertising revenue.
Now it's not as if that seven-year-old video was raking in the dough. It had just 170 views as of this evening and had not earned a single cent.
I don't earn much from YouTube. Most videos I produce cost more to make than they earn. But I think it's ridiculous that women fighting for basic human rights in Cuba, whether you agree with them or not, are considered unfriendly to advertisers.
Holier-than-thou YouTube says content considered unsuitable to advertising includes:

• Sexually suggestive content, including partial nudity and sexual humor
• Violence, including display of serious injury and events related to violent extremism
• Inappropriate language, including harassment, profanity and vulgar language
• Promotion of drugs and regulated substances, including selling, use and abuse of such items
• Controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown

My guess is that YouTube classified the Ladies in White video as a controversial event or "political conflict," as described above.

Cuban planner fears for Havana's future

The Cuba at the Crossroads event was held at Rollins College.

Old Havana streets are covered with Massachusetts stones that were used as ballast in ships that once journeyed to Cuba to pick up sugar.
"That means when you are walking around on the streets of Havana, you are walking on American soil," Cuban architect and urban planner Miguel Coyula joked today during a presentation at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.
Coyula was the keynote speaker at the college's Cuba at the Crossroads symposium. He covered a lot of ground - from the 1500s to present day and explained how Havana developed its unique character.
Cuba's indigenous people didn't influence Cuban culture or society in a big way, Coyula said, because they were "rapidly exterminated" - some 250,000 people were killed over a 30-year period. But European influence can be seen all over Havana. Coyula said that many of Cuba's creoles - the children of Spanish settlers - traveled to Europe to study. They brought back European customs and ideas when they returned.
"Old Havana is a little piece of Europe in the middle of the Americas," said Coyula, a professor at the University of Havana.

Former CIA officer: Spy agency faces retooling

Scott Eder at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida

After the Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump was working with advisers on a plan to dramatically shrink the country's top spy agency, a Trump spokesman issued a quick denial.
But retired CIA officer Scott Eder said Thursday he believes that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will be reduced in size.
"That staff will be shrunk," said Eder, speaking to students and faculty at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.
President Trump has talked about his desire to "reorganize, retool and sharpen the intelligence community," said Eder during an appearance at the college. "The major target of that is the Office of Director of National Intelligence."
The Trump administration will not disband the agency, but he will likely shrink it, said Eder, who was a CIA officer for 28 years.

GAO: U.S. engagement with Cuba limited

Havana

"Embargo restrictions, resource constraints, and Cuban government priorities" have hindered U.S. government agencies' ability to help U.S. companies do business in Cuba, a new Government Accountability Office study says. Highlights of the study are below.

What GAO Found

The Cuban private sector has grown rapidly since 2008 but remains small compared with other economies and faces various constraints. The Cuban private sector includes (1) self-employed entrepreneurs, (2) agricultural cooperatives and other private farmers, and (3) nonagricultural cooperatives. Cuban government data indicate that the percentage of the Cuban workforce in the private sector has grown from 17 percent in 2008 to 29 percent in 2015. However, the Cuban private sector is smaller than in 16 comparable countries GAO analyzed. It is also still highly constrained by the Cuban government and faces challenges, including a lack of access to needed supplies and equipment.