Cuba policy (and, oh, is Fidel dead?)

Once again, rumors are flying about Castro being dead. Cubans, however, were unperturbed:

On official Cuban television, there was no hint of trouble Friday. A rerun of the hit NBC series "Friends" played late in the afternoon.

Is the message that Castro can’t be dead if Cubans are watching David Schwimmer?

This coincides with the policy debate sparked by Barack Obama, which I railed about the other day. One positive outcome of his comments has been more discussion about the (in)effectiveness of the embargo and related policies. The LA Times published an editorial agreeing with him, as did a south Florida paper, while the Chicago Tribune agreed with me about how a much fresher approach must be taken:

Anyone who expected the Democratic takeover of Congress to make a difference on Cuba must have been hallucinating. House Democrats have done everything possible to show they can match anyone for blind obstinacy.

I have no illusions about this prompting any policy change regardless of who is elected, but the mere existence of a national debate about Cuba policy is welcome.