Sticks and stones and tweets

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.

As kids, many of us were taught this as a reminder to not take verbal teases too seriously. It seems the authorities in Cuba never learned this bit of wisdom.

A few days ago, false rumours were tweeted about Castro’s death. The former ruler laughed it off. But now, the Cuban government is criticising Twitter for allowing the rumours to spread across the twittersphere – briefly becoming the 4th most popular topic.

It’s funny when you think about it: Cuba boasts that Castro has survived hundreds of attempts on his life (purportedly by the CIA), yet gets their feathers ruffled by a virtual assassination.