OT: Just saw where Moe Green died

Dude had his own brother capped.......just business, nothing personal.

Knew a guy who was ex-Special forces and ex
-swat and he told me they shot a guy one time and the bullet went in one eye and out the other and exc ot for that, the dude was ok.

That would be Meyer Lansky. I just read Havana Nocturne by TJ English while on vacation in Marco Island and would recommend it to anyone interested in the Havana Mob and its role in the Cuban Revolution. Lansky and Luciano were the two who set the plan in motion in the late 30s. A plan to infiltrate the political and economic structure of an entire Caribbean Island and build a safe haven from US legal jurisdiction. After prohibition was repealed, they put their future in the hotel/casino racket. They would be able to do it free of US legal interference unlike in Vegas and other U.S. gambling cities.

The plan had to be put on hold due to how WWII drastically lowered tourism to Cuba. And Luciano never got to reap the rewards as he was prosecuted in the US and convicted on prostitution ring charges and deported to Italy. Lansky, however, made the plan reality with the famous mob boss conference in Havana in 48 where the plan was set into action. He and Santo Trafficante spent 12 years making Havana into the worlds most sexy, sultry and posh destination other than Monte Carlo.

After Batiste overwhelmingly won the obviously rigged free election it was clear sailing for the Havana Mob. Batiste was cut in on every single skim of every single hotel and casino. When he fled Havana in 59, he departed with $350 million U.S....an astronomical sum at the time.

The mob vastly underestimated the revolutionary sentiments building outside of Havana under Castro and Che. Lansky and his associates thought that the small revolutionary movement would fade away or at least be easily quelled given the immense prosperity occurring in Havana. Castro and the rebels were irate that Batiste and his cronies were pocketing all of the prosperity from the Havana boom and not investing a cent into the betterment of the regular Cubans outside of Havana. At worst, Lansky believed that even if Batiste was deposed.....the new Government would never be so foolish as to banish the goose laying the golden egg. Havana casino and tourism would not be affected.

Boy, were they wrong. But damn, they had an unbelievable racket going for a decade. World class casinos and hotels constructed. World class entertainers and shows like Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie. Tito Puente and other pioneers of Afro Cuban jazz like Chano Pozo and "Machito." World class dancers. The sexual mambo being danced at clubs all night. Sex shows featuring world famous "Superman" with the 14" dong. Caribbean cocktails and cigars all night....every night. Chrysler, Chevy and Ford dealerships saturating the city with beautiful American cars. A non stop party/entertainment destination.

Back to Bugsy. Though Lansky never owned up to ordering the hit, it was all but proven by the admissions of several other bosses who sat in on the meeting where the Bugsy problem was discussed that Lansky had him hit. Bugsy was causing them a lot of problems in Vegas and had grown to big for his britches. Ironically, Trafficante almost suffered the same fate in Havana as he was making some crazy demands regarding "shares" even though he was never involved in the original Havana plan. He bounced down from Tampa only after it was up and thriving. Lansky was able to compromise to Trafficantes satisfaction and avoided the potential fallout from having him killed.