Not to offend anyone, but who cares?
"US couple in jail after fleeing to Cuba with kids" by Mike Schneider and Kelli Kennedy | Associated Press, April 11, 2013
TAMPA, Fla. — Joshua and Sharyn Hakken seemed to have a charmed life, doting on their two young boys, buying a comfortable home, and building successful careers as engineers. It all derailed last year, when police in Louisiana found the family inside a hotel room with drugs, weapons, and promises from the parents to take ‘‘a journey to the Armageddon.’’
The couple is now jailed on charges they kidnapped the boys from their grandparents in Florida and sailed to Cuba on a boat called ‘‘Salty’’ to elude US authorities. The family arrived in Florida early Wednesday morning, accompanied by federal, state, and local authorities after being handed over by Cuban officials. Four-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase are now with their grandparents, and their parents are in jail, closing a bizarre ordeal that began with an Amber Alert and ended with diplomatic intervention.
Friends of the couple said the family seemed happy and had no marital problems.
‘‘This is a train that went completely off the tracks, and I don’t have any explanation for how it can go off the track that badly basically in a year and a half,’’ said Darrell Hanecki, who employed Sharyn Hakken for nearly a decade at Hanecki Consulting Engineers. “It’s very bizarre.’’
He said Sharyn Hakken was pragmatic and responsible, graduating from the University of South Florida in 2008. She occasionally gave advice to Hanecki’s daughter, an aspiring engineer, and encouraged her to finish her degree.
She resigned in 2011, saying it was too difficult to juggle work with caring for an infant and toddler.
Sharyn Hakken’s husband, Joshua, also seemed to show few signs of trouble. He attended the US Air Force Academy from 1996 to 1998 but did not graduate, according to academy spokesman Sergeant Vann Miller.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.
Joshua Hakken also worked as an engineer, employed at one point by Hahn Engineering Inc. A woman who answered the company’s phone Wednesday declined to comment. Last year, the Hakkens started their own company, listing Sharyn as president and Joshua as vice president, but it is unclear what type of business it was.
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Then, last year, police in Louisiana came upon a disturbing scene in a hotel room: The Hakkens were inside with drugs and weapons, talking about ‘‘completing their ultimate journey’’ and saying they were traveling across the country to ‘‘take a journey to the Armageddon,’’ Daniel Seuzeneau, a spokesman for Slidell Police, said in a news release....
Last week, the boys’ maternal grandparents were granted custody. That’s when police say Joshua Hakken broke into the home, tied up his mother-in-law, took the children, and eventually set sail for Cuba. Federal, state, and local authorities searched by air and sea for the sailboat Joshua Hakken had recently purchased. The Hakkens were found in Cuba, thanks to a crucial tip from the person who sold the boat to Hakken.
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"Boys adjusting after Fla. kidnapping" by Mike Schneider | Associated Press, April 12, 2013
TAMPA — Two young boys seem unaware their parents kidnapped them and believe their sailboat trip to Cuba was only a vacation, not a failed attempt by their mother and father to flee US authorities, the children’s grandparents said Thursday.
Patricia and Bob Hauser said they want to get the boys back to a normal schedule and ‘‘just be carefree little boys again.’’ The grandparents were awarded custody of the two before their parents kidnapped them, detectives said.
‘‘We haven’t asked the boys anything about the journey,’’ Patricia Hauser said at a news conference outside their house in suburban Tampa. ‘‘We’re just letting them tell us as things come out, if they feel like talking. We’re just treating it like a vacation.’’
Four-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase appeared briefly during the news conference to say ‘‘hi.’’ Cole jokingly struck a pose on the lawn for the cameras and stuck out his tongue. Chase held up his toy cars.
Their parents, Joshua and Sharyn Hakken, were charged with kidnapping the boys and ordered to remain in jail without bond.
Judge Walter Heinrich ordered them to have no contact with any of the victims or witnesses in the case.
They will face a judge during a pretrial detention hearing on Friday.
The Hakkens arrived in Florida on Wednesday with their sons and the family dog, accompanied by authorities after being handed over by Cuban officials.
Does that mean we will hand over the Cuban Five?
Last year, police in Louisiana arrested the Hakkens in a hotel room on drugs and weapons charges, authorities said.
Their two children were in the room at the time.
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Also see: Change Coming to Cuba
Not so fast:
"Cuba’s strides in gender equality cited but threats remain" by Peter Orsi | Associated Press, March 08, 2013
HAVANA —‘‘Just like everywhere, in times of economic crisis it’s women and families and kids that are often the most vulnerable,’’ Sarah Stephens, the executive director of the Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas, said Thursday....
The center recommended that Cuba implement measures to support women as independent workers and small business owners, such as offering training in finance and marketing, improving access to credit, and providing day care, according to a report from the US study group published to coincide with International Women’s Day on Friday.
I suppose dropping drone missiles on them is supporting them?
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I'm sorry, folks, I'm just tired of this. Tired of the agenda-pushing horse s*** from my Jewish War Daily.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: A new path to Cuba
I'm not following it, sorry. I've been for the ending of the embargo for decades.
