Think that the only place in the United States where good cigar tobacco can be grown is Connecticut?

If so, you are mistaken.

Deep in the Bluegrass State, in an area more known for thoroughbred horses and fine bourbon, something unusual is happening. Some fine cigar wrapper tobacco is being grown because of the vision and efforts of Mark Barrow, a man who decided to try something no one else had tried.

“I think Kentucky’s heritage is tobacco, bourbon and fast horses, and I want to keep all three of them going,” said Barrow.

Mark Barrow is not just a visionary. He is a visionary who has succeeded.

The story continues after the jump.

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Bert Shapiro, of Pheasant’s Eye Productions, is a very talented independent filmaker. He makes short films about real people, doing real things.

And he concentrates on ways of life that are vanishing.

Ways of life like rolling cigars by hand in New York City.

Here, courtesy of Pheasant’s Eye, is a look at how a torcedor — a cigar roller — turns a pile of leaves into a work of art in the award winning short film Hand Rolled on 29th Street.

The film takes less than three minutes to view. If you have never had a chance to see how a cigar is rolled, you should find this especially fascinating.

More on Bert Shapiro, the filmaker, below the fold.

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Related Link: new york hotels make up the great New York skyline

Ever since I saw the four photos released today in Cuba that show Fidel Castro alive and recovering and are alleged to have been taken yesterday — right down to the hostage-like photo of Fidel holding up a newspaper to display the headline and pinpoint the date — several things have been bothering me.

And one of them has definitely…bugged me. But more on that below the fold.

Mis-match of red logo and title color in actual Saturday edition of Cuba newspaper Granma
and black logo and title in newspaper Castro is shown holding in an 80th birthday photo

First, notice in the photo above that the Granma newspaper that Fidel Castro is shown displaying has a black logo and a black headline. The problem is that Granma uses a bright red logo, and often uses color in other places on the front page.

The second photo, to the right, shows the actual front page of yesterday’s Granma, with a red logo and a bright red headline.

Why the discrepancy?

Perhaps the copied red text did not show up as well in the photo when Photoshopped onto the newspaper Fidel was actually holding in this picture. Perhaps the red color of the headline and logo were more difficult to match in with Fidel’s hand at the top where his thumb was overlapping the page. Perhaps the Cuban government hired freelancer Adnan Hajj to prepare the photo.

I don’t know why they would have changed the color of the headline and logo. I only know that the color is different from that in yesterday’s actual edition of the newspaper.

Part two of the problem with the newspaper. Even if the color of the headline and logo were explainable, the size of the Cuban newspaper is not the same as the size of the newspaper Castro is shown holding.

Size mis-match of Granma newspaper and newspaper Castro shown holding in photo.
Overlay shows Granma to be wider and shorter than newspaper Castro holding

In the photo above, the actual Granma newspaper frontpage from Saturday, August 12, 2006 is overlaid on the photo released today purportedly showing Fidel Castro holding the same edition of the newspaper. The overlay is partially transparent to show the underlying Castro image.

Note that the black Granma logo on the Castro photo matches the red Granma logo overlaid on it in size. Note that the picture of Castro illustrating the story matches in size in both the birthday photo and the overlay photo (although they are slightly out of register). Note also that the text columns at the bottom of the newspaper page in the overlay match in height and width the text columns in the paper Castro is show holding.

Now notice the headline. In the overlay, it stretches far beyond the width of the newspaper page that Castro is holding. The color is not the only thing that is different. The headline on the newspaper Castro is holding has been reduced in size so that it will fit.

The columns of text which end above Castro’s right hand, holding the bottom of the newspaper, appear to be at the actual bottom of the page on the real Granma front page. This would explain the large amount of white space at the bottom of the newspaper in the birthday photo.

The hands of the woman holding the real Granma newspaper, when overlaid on the Castro birthday photo, also appear quite large in comparison to Castro’s hands. This also indicates that parts of the front page of Granma were enlarged and manipulated in order to fit the size of the newspaper Castro was holding in the photo.

That isn’t all.

The story continues on the next page.

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A closer examination of the photos released this morning from Cuba purportedly showing Fidel Castro after his surgery reveal some discrepancies that raise questions about their authenticity. Facial details do not match up with the most recent photos of the Cuban dictator before his recent hospitalization.

Age Spot on Fidel Castro’s Face in July 26, 2006 Photos Missing in
Purported Post-Surgery Photos Released on Cuban Leader’s Birthday

In the photo above, a large “age spot” on Castro’s right cheek near the cheekbone shown in a photo taken on July 26, 2006, at his last public appearance before his recent illness is missing in the photo alleged to have been taken yesterday. This raises questions about whether the photos released to the media this morning were actually taken weeks, or even months, in the past.

This is not the only discrepancy in the four photos released today.

Evidence of deliberate manipulation of one of the photos is below the fold.

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The first photos of Fidel Castro since his emergency surgery two weeks ago were published today, his 80th birthday, by Cuba’s Communist Youth newspaper in their online edition Juventud Rebelde.

First Post-Surgery Photos of Fidel Castro Published by Cuba Communist Youth Newspaper

In the first of the four photos, shown above, Castro holds a copy of the Saturday August 12, 2006 edition of Granma, the Cuban Communist Party newspaper. The headline reads “Absolved by history.” The photos were picked up this morning by the Associated Press wire surface, and offered with this statement:

“The Associated Press cannot verify the authenticity or the date when these photographs were shot”.

And so, the first question of the day is whether the photos truly show Fidel Castro recuperating from his illness, or whether they were photoshopped or are deceptive in some other way.

The second question is why AP is so hesitant in identifying them definitely as authentic post-surgery Fidel Castro photos (fall-out from the photo scandals hitting them, Reuters, and other media? Or something more specific that gives them pause?)

The third question is exactly how serious the situation is in Cuba behind the shield of military mobilization and total news blackout of the past few days if it is necessary to publish a picture of Fidel Castro holding up a newspaper in a hostage-like attempt to show that he was alive as of yesterday.

Prior to these photographs published today and purportedly taken yesterday, Castro was last photographed on July 26, 2006, at the 53rd anniversary of his barracks assault that launched the Cuban revolution.

A photo from that event is shown for comparison of the Cuban leader’s appearance then and in the latest photos.

No matter what the ultimate answer to that question may be, one thing is certain. Change has come to Cuba and nothing will be the same as it was before the Communist dictator ceded power for the first time in nearly a half century.

Cuba, and the world, are now seriously contemplating the reality of life post-Fidel.

More on this latest development, and more photos, below the fold.

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In the Dominican Republic last Friday, the National Tobacco Institute (INTABACO), the Attorney General’s Department, and Dominican state security institutions impounded 2,871 boxes of counterfeit cigars from tourist centers and stores in that nation.

The latest raids, part of a crack-down by Dominican authorities, netted 40,000 cigars counterfeiting famous brands that included Romeo y Julieta, Cohiba, Montecristo, Davidoff, Partagas, Gloria Cubana, Macanudo, Punch, Troya, and others. The cigars were seized in shopping centers, stores, beaches and tourist plazas in Santo Domingo, Bayahibe, Higuey and Bavaro.

Yesterday, on August 9, INTABACO incinerated 7,000 boxes of confiscated cigars, most with fake Cuban brand labels, seized in this most recent round of raids. The incineration took place in a lot next to INTABACO’s offices, located in the community Villa González, in this northern province.

INTABACO director Adalberto Rosa said that with these actions against the fake cigars, the national tobacco sector will obtain a market free from irregularities that will allow the development of healthy business practices. “These actions represent a hard blow for the cigar forgers who have affected the image of the Dominican Republic abroad,” he said.

Would that it was true and it was that easy.

More on the counterfeit cigar problem after the jump.

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