NABA

I'm cribbing the title of this post from Slacktivist, who may have been cribbing it from someone else. It means Not As Bad As, and refers to... well, I'll let you figure it out.

A headline caught my attention. Just the headline, now. "Cuba 'jailing fewer dissidents'"

Here is a list of things which one could say that are slightly less hopeful than that, but only slightly.

• My body is covered with less toxic sludge!
• I have less gonorrhea!
• My children hate me less than they did yesterday!
• President promises less corruption!
• Cuba killing fewer babies!
• Cuba raping fewer babies!
• Cuba eating fewer babies!
• Cuba wearing fewer baby skins!

I believe you get the point. The point is that Not As Bad As isn't good. So the fact that Cuba is jailing fewer dissidents than they used to (15 fewer, down to 219) doesn't make them a shining beacon of civil rights. Not that I'm saying that anywhere is a shining beacon of civil rights, but Cuba certainly doesn't get to win any medals for cutting their jailing of dissidents right down to the bone. My God man, 15 fewer! Where can we go from there? 20? 25? Where will it end!

Interestingly, the article goes on to point out that one of the reasons for this slicing of jailed dissidents to practically almost nearly zero is the fact that the Cuban police have instituted a catch-and-release dissident program. So they can still lock you up at any time, but there's less chance you'll rot in prison forever.

Here is a list of things which are slightly less hopeful than the fact that dissidents are less likely to wind up in jail in perpetuity, but only slightly.

• My body is covered with less toxic sludge!
• I have less gonorrhea!
• My children hate me less than they did yesterday!
• President promises less corruption!
• Cuba killing fewer babies!
• Cuba raping fewer babies!
• Cuba eating fewer babies!
• Cuba wearing fewer baby skins!

And so on.