Lowrie-Chin Post

'Get back on board!'

2012-01-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

Link to last week's Observer column

'Get back on board!'

John Pringle - Jamaica's tourism genius

2012-01-24T07:30:00.002-05:00

JOHN PRINGLE - Muna Issa photo

Flashback - Great report via Rob Mullally

Telegraph (London) - 27 January 2007

John Pringle, who has died aged 81, played a central role in the creation of Jamaica as a holiday destination, initially as founder of one of the great post-war hotels, Round Hill, and then as the country's first director of tourism.

Pringle's grandfather, who had begun as a doctor in Scotland, eventually amassed 100,000 acres of Jamaica's plantations. Yet the collapse of sugar prices, and the fondness of Pringle's father for the racetrack, meant that by the 1930s his mother had to make shift by running a fashionable hotel in Montego Bay.

This, and the open house his father kept for friends such as the Duke of Sutherland and the jockey Steve Donoghue, served as Pringle's model when, aged 26, he began to plan his own establishment on the island's north shore. He envisaged it as a village resort of 25 cottages served by a central hotel, all overlooking the Caribbean. It was a model widely copied afterwards, for instance by the Aga Khan on Sardinia.

Pringle proposed to sell the cottages to individual stakeholders, thus raising the money for their construction. His first stroke of luck was to find himself next to Noël Coward on a flight to New York. Pringle pestered him with photographs until, in desperation, Coward grasped his knee and said: "If you'll only stop boring me, I'll buy one of your effing cottages." The next day, Pringle sold a second to Adele Astaire.

Opened by Coward in 1953, Round Hill would play host to President Kennedy and Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock and Paul Newman, Princess Margaret and Clark Gable. Cole Porter sang in the bar, while Rodgers and Hammerstein worked on The Sound of Music there.

Over it all presided Pringle, less the owner of a hotel than the giver of a very good party, albeit one who was partial to ribald anecdotes. Typical was the one which began: "My dear, have I told you about the time Errol Flynn and I burned down a whorehouse in Trinidad?"

Once Pringle had to rescue a terrified French aristocrat who had planned to pass a week there with his mistress, only to discover his brother-in-law was in the neighbouring cottage. When Rex Harrison accused Pringle's beach manager of swiping a signet ring, Pringle promptly ejected the actor, and for good measure rang the newspapers with the story. "I adore personal publicity," he would remark disarmingly.

Yet his success came as much from hard work as from commercial acumen. For 10 years Pringle rose at 5am to supervise each breakfast tray, believing that the first impression of the day is the most telling. He employed only American barmen ("English ones fumble around, like men in a chemist's shop") and even told the maids to clean the tops of toothpaste tubes in the bathrooms.

Though Round Hill was a success, Pringle was only a part-owner and did not make his fortune from it. Indeed, in 1962 his doctor feared that Pringle was working himself so hard that he sent him for a year to Switzerland as a rest cure ("so dull, like immersing yourself in a glass of milk"). From there, he was summoned home to become the first director of tourism for Jamaica.

In four years Pringle transformed the fortunes of an industry in the doldrums, tripling tourist revenue from $30 million to $100 million. He believed in the creative potential of white and black Jamaicans alike, and was instrumental in establishing an image of the country abroad that was not simply about beaches.

For a time he was Jamaica's youngest MP, and close to his childhood friend Michael Manley, leader of the leftist PNP; but unlike Manley he believed the best way to empower Jamaica was by bringing in money from outside, rather than by implementing social change. Pringle's ideas did, however, influence his cousin Chris Blackwell, whose Island Records label was to bring the country's music to a global audience.

John Kenneth McKenzie Pringle was born at Claremont, Jamaica, on October 4 1925. He proved averse to education, and claimed to have been ejected from school after being identified in a strip club by his college tie.

In 1943 he was commissioned into the 7th Hussars and then served briefly as the most junior of the Duke of Windsor's equerries in Nassau. He soon fell under the Duchess's spell, testing shades of face powder for her by chalking them on the expensively refurbished walls of Government House. The Duke he found "a spoilt, sad little man", and their relationship had to survive a difficult first night when Pringle forgot the names of all the guests assembled to meet the Governor.

After the war Pringle worked for the cosmetics empress Elizabeth Arden. She was, he recalled, "enormously rich and completely mad. The most fearful language. Shouting her head off at salesmen, yards of chiffon flying everywhere." In 1948 he married Liz Benn, one of the world's leading models.

Pringle's infectious enthusiasm prompted the advertising agency DDB to make him their European chairman in 1967. He tripled the firm's profits in a decade, while also working as an ambassador-at-large for Jamaica. He later moved into film and television as a producer. In the 1990s he advised Blackwell on his hotels in Jamaica, such as Strawberry Hill, and in Florida. It was characteristic of Pringle's sense of priorities that at the Tides, Miami, he should install a telescope in each bedroom, for scanning the beach.

John Pringle was a complex man, capable of both shrewd opportunism and great generosity, as long as he was not being bored. He could be pernickety yet open-minded, childishly naughty (though never malicious) and entertainingly outrageous, a trait encouraged in recent years by the slow onset of Alzheimer's Disease. He also had superb taste, shown to advantage in his house at Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, and in his fondness for Doug Hayward's tailoring.

Pringle was appointed CBE in 1965, and also held the Order of Jamaica. In 2004 he and Round Hill appeared on a set of the nation's stamps. He died on December 12. He and his wife had divorced, but remained close. His daughter survives him.

Bolt runs on chicken?

2012-01-23T14:15:00.001-05:00

Some found this funny, others not. For the record, Bolt said he ate a meal of Chicken McNuggets before breaking his first record at the Beijing Olympics - what do you think?

Audrey Allison Aww) too funnnnnyyyy mann!! DWL
14 hours ago · Like
Peterson Michel Dézodman hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhah ho merde
13 hours ago · Like
Wilfred Brown FUNNY
13 hours ago · Like
Jeffrey Simms No, not this one!!
13 hours ago · Like
Suzette Nasanny Preces Pryce lol
13 hours ago · Like
Click Track If the worlds fastest man is on the corner of a 200m and still havent caught her, He is not gonna catch her
13 hours ago · Like
Nana Ama Boatema Kore Hahahahohohohehehehe! Child means business boi.
8 hours ago · Like
Justin Oprah Hilarious bruv! Couldn't stop laughing.Happy Monday's for true..x
8 hours ago · Like
Ai Ai Mokey Dance Funny,,lol
6 hours ago · Like
Richard Cogan ha ha ha ha BRILLIANT!
6 hours ago · Like
Mohammed Aldaqqaq her facial expression : Priceless
6 hours ago · Like
Mikey Demola Egana Funny
6 hours ago · Like
Ian Cunningham Gonna have to steal this D. lol
5 hours ago · Like
Chiamaka Chike omg lmao
5 hours ago · Like
Phil Green i'm pretty sure this is racist
5 hours ago · Like
John Groover ummmmm . Either you support racism or childhood diabetes. Either way the photo is funny.
5 hours ago · Like
Donna George Lv it.. Lolololol. Funny pic!
5 hours ago · Like
Grace Atkinson Its racist, a black man chasing a white child with chicken in her hand, not funny!!
5 hours ago · Like · 2
Kevin Philip lol
4 hours ago · Like
Tanisha Brown lol so funny
4 hours ago · Like
Jeddy Allotey I can see how this can be seen as funny however who made up this picture and why, would Mr Bolt see the funny side?
4 hours ago · Like · 1
Brian Gaynair Jamaican's don't chase chicken!!!
4 hours ago · Like
Johnell Roach lol
4 hours ago · Like
Haydn Richer Kennedy HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
4 hours ago · Like
Marlene Blair Funny, funny, funny
4 hours ago · Like
Annmarie De Verteuil poor child
4 hours ago · Like
Jo Chandler Haha this aint to do with colour its about that childs facial expression that's made it "famous" kid could have been any colour! And any good Jamaican would do anything for some fine chicken! Like I would a fine malt whiskey!
3 hours ago · Like
EmpressJo Allen Deading lol
3 hours ago · Like
Michael Martin Lol
3 hours ago · Like
Ike Nweke LMFBO!!!!!!!!! Chiamaka really
3 hours ago · Like
Laken Dyer pmsl! lol
3 hours ago · Like
Imani Francois DFKM HAHAHAHA!
3 hours ago · Like
Arthur Fearon not even bolt can catch the fat kid with KFC LOL
3 hours ago · Like
David Matrix-Allen dwl
3 hours ago · Like
Jennifer Poyser If this is a photoshopped pic it is racist. Black people can't you tell? Why would you find something utterly racist against yourself as funny? THINK!!!!!!!
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Jennifer Poyser
I saw this original post it had 97 comments. 1) Two of the persons commented could be an other ethnic origin other than black. 2) meaning most of those commented are black, unless their FB pics posted are just a trick. 3) I am confused that...See More
2 hours ago · Like
Valerie Lawson Very funny...love it!
2 hours ago · Like
Valerie Lawson I don't see racist...I see a white person stealing from a black person, and the white person take off running. In the end the black person won.
2 hours ago · Like
Jessica Black I don't find this funny! What, a black person would chase anyone for a piece of chicken???
2 hours ago · Like
Roddy Boon I luv this Nanette....lmao
2 hours ago · Like
Valerie Lawson I respect all your comments and fully understand what you are all saying but on the on other hand I think the creator of this photo is having fun with the stir it has :caused. Lets not take this too serious. Love you all.
2 hours ago · Like
Prince Yuyi Hilarious....
2 hours ago · Like
Andrew Baker This picture is not a good 1 .....this a big disrespect.
2 hours ago · Like
Neeka Honour loololololol
2 hours ago · Like
Gemma Waud Hahaha x
56 minutes ago · Like
Gary Henry ROTF....Run girl run!!!
54 minutes ago · Like
Gary Henry Clearly it is a photoshopped pic.....I personally don't think it has nothing to do with racism....It's just for amusement.
51 minutes ago · Like

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YOU MAY POISON YOURSELF ACCIDENTALLY

2012-01-20T22:34:00.001-05:00

Received from a relative - Poison - be careful
YOU MAY POISON YOURSELF ACCIDENTALLY

A woman suddenly died unexpectedly with signs of bleeding from her ears, nose, mouth & eyes.
After a preliminary autopsy it was diagnosed that death was due to arsenic poisoning. Where did the arsenic come from? The police launched an in-depth and extensive investigation.
A medical school professor was invited to come to solve the case. The professor carefully looked at the contents from the autopsy. In less than half an hour, the mystery was solved.
The professor said: 'The deceased did not commit suicide and neither was she murdered, she died of accidental death due to ignorance!' Everyone was puzzled, why accidental death?
The professor said: 'The arsenic was produced in the stomach of the deceased.' The deceased used to take 'Vitamin C' everyday, which in itself is not a problem. The problem was that she ate a large portion of shrimp/prawn during dinner. Eating shrimp/prawn is not the problem - that's why nothing happened to her family even though they had the same shrimp/prawn. However at the same time the deceased also took 'vitamin C', that is where the problem was!
Researchers at the University of Chicago in the United States, found through experiments, food such as soft-shell contain much higher concentration of five potassium arsenic compounds. Such fresh food by itself has no toxic effects on the human body. However, in taking 'vitamin C', chemical reaction occurs and the original non-toxic elements change to toxic elements. Arsenic poisoning has magma role and can cause paralysis to the small blood vessels. Therefore, a person who dies of arsenic poisoning will show signs of bleeding from the ears,nose, mouth & eyes. Thus as a precautionary measure, DO NOT eat shrimp/prawn when taking 'vitamin C'.
After reading this; please do not be stingy. Forward to your friends

Kind regards
Jean

Frightening Road Fatalities

2012-01-20T09:50:00.003-05:00

From Jamaica Observer - excerpt from Jean Lowrie-Chin's column Mon 16 Jan 2012

The heart-rending cries of family members and the mangled motor vehicles featured on major newscasts since the beginning of this year, are a stark warning to road users. At a meeting chaired by National Road Safety Council convenor Dr Lucien Jones and hosted by Jamaica National’s Earl Jarrett, some of the island’s leading experts on road safety shared useful information.

Most crashes occur later in the day and on weekends. Motorists should remember that visibility is reduced at night, so they must proceed with caution especially where there are no street lights. Pedestrians should remember to wear light colours at night so they can be easily seen. Parents and guardians are to ensure that toddlers and young children are accompanied on the road.

The police is stepping up road surveillance this year. Use seatbelts and other safety devices, reduce your speed, don’t drink and drive. We understand that in this tightening job market, more employers will be checking on road violations. Slow down, take care: don’t lose your license, your job and worst of all, your precious life.

“Out of Many, One People”

2012-01-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

From Jean Lowrie-Chin's column - Jamaica Observer - 16 Jan 2012

I remember well those two occasions when I was privileged to sit in our National Stadium to hear MLK congratulate Jamaica on her oneness, and many years later, to hear Nelson Mandela look at the bouquet of people of every possible shade in the stands and declare, “Today is the happiest day in my life!’ Jamaicans have hybrid strength from the intermingling of various ethnic groups and there is nowhere in the world that enjoys our high level of racial harmony.

So let us vehemently reject Carolyn Cooper’s declaration that those of us whose ancestors did not hail from Africa, are mere ‘minorities’. While I enjoy Carolyn’s vigorous style, she is just plain wrong to suggest that we missed the mark with our motto ‘Out of Many One People’.

And what is this crazy accusation of racism in the selection of those featured in the Observer’s ‘Page Two’? The Gleaner was big enough to publish an apology for this unwarranted attack. If my memory serves me right, Carolyn herself has been carried on Page Two in one of her beautiful African outfits!

In this Golden Jubilee Year of Jamaica’s Independence, we will not countenance any attempt to divide the beautiful people of this blessed land.

An honest look at Jamaica

2012-01-20T09:46:00.000-05:00

Observer column | Mon 16 Jan 2012 (excerpts)
Jean Lowrie-Chin

In our already tiny country, social media is putting us under the miroscope and will herald a new breed of leaders, whether already clean or newly reformed. It’s a good thing that Contractor General Greg Christie did not need this kind of scrutiny to do his job well, and so he hastened the process of getting folks to straighten up and fly right. We are proud that the Trinidad & Tobago Parliament has invited him to share his experiences as they develop their guidelines for the award of contracts.

Those who have never passed a dollar under the table to get anywhere, have a simple secret: we were brought up to love honest work and to despise dishonest gain. In circles where graft is a given, we have been burned many times, but are still dismayed every time it happens.

How are we going to nurture a more honest nation? We will have to promote the value of diligence alongside the importance of a good education. This nation was built by Jamaicans who, before they picked up their schoolbooks and headed off to school, hewed wood and drew water. They became accomplished women and men, never shy of heavy lifting and confident in themselves. Capable and honourable people do not stoop to the devious acts of second rate shysters.

Our leaders need prayer

We have been seeing many prayerful moments with the installation of a new administration. This Thursday, representatives of Government and Opposition will gather at the annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast to ask for God’s guidance. Each year as the Prime Minister - sometimes JLP, sometimes PNP - ascends the stage to read, we note that the only constant and enduring presence there is the Holy Bible.

It is a sober reminder that we are all frail humans who must eventually return to our Maker and account for the conduct of our lives. In the United States of America, today is celebrated as the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr, a man whose relentless non-violent struggle for equality for people of colour resulted in the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It is worthwhile to remember MLK’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ as our leaders make themselves ready, whether for Parliament, the Senate, cabinet, shadow cabinet or parish council.

“More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will,” wrote Dr King. “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

He continued, “Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.”

Thank you and Happy Birthday Dr King.

Leila Maisie Through the Years - Happy Birthday!

2012-01-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

Ackee & Saltfish National Geographic Global #2!

2012-01-14T11:32:00.002-05:00

- Ray Valentine Photo

From Ruby Martin and Hermine Metcalfe:

So amid all this campaign activity, I came across an article in National Geographic which rated Jamaica 's national dish, ackee and salt fish, as No. 2 in a list of the top 10 national dishes from around the world.

This may seem like a matter of little consequence to the average person, but I was really thrilled to see another positive story about our country in the international media, since we are so often pilloried and beaten down by others. I was a little indifferent to the fact that hamburger was rated number one, nonetheless, I felt good that there is strong acceptability of our culinary delights by others outside Jamaica .

It matters not that salt fish (cod) is not a native of the island. Our motto, 'Out of Many, One People', speaks to the diversity of our people and Jamaica 's cuisine has always been open to foreign influences. Think curried goat, mackerel and bananas. We have found a way to combine salt fish with the exotic yellow fruit and made it into something distinct and delectable.

For me, nothing beats a meal of ackee and salt fish. It's such a versatile dish that it can be served with roast breadfruit, boiled yam and bananas, fried dumplings, festival, and bammy.

Although commonly served at breakfast, it can be had for lunch and dinner and I have seen some creative people use it for cocktails as a dip with breadfruit slices. Are you hungry yet? Jamaicans are always in concert with their tastes and this rating by as prestigious a publication as
National Geographic puts our little country way up on the world's cuisine map.

O, how the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Ministry of Tourism are missing out on opportunities to play up such positive endorsements. I submit that no visitor to the island should escape a taste of ackee and salt fish because, as they say, 'If you have it, flaunt it.'

Kind regards
Jean

SAMANTHA CHANTRELLE JOINS DIGICEL FOUNDATION AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

2012-01-13T19:18:00.001-05:00

Samantha Chantrelle has joined the Digicel Foundation in the role of Executive Director, it was announced today.

This role will see Samantha taking responsibility for ensuring the continued positive progress of the Digicel Foundation, particularly in the critical areas of community upliftment, education and special needs. Samantha replaces Major General Robert Neish, who led the Digicel Foundation for over seven years and has now been promoted to the role of Executive Vice Chairman.

A development specialist, Samantha brings with her a wealth of experience having set up the NCB Foundation and worked in the areas of human development and poverty reduction with organisations like the United States International Development Agency (USAID) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Samantha has also volunteered with organisations like youth to youth leadership group, Beacons for Peace and Achievement (BPA) and Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Sociology from the University of California at Berkley and the University of the West Indies.

The Digicel Foundation, which was founded in 2004, has undertaken over 200 community projects to benefit education, sport and culture and community empowerment across Jamaica. In her role as Executive Director, Samantha will be responsible for ensuring the continued work of the Foundation, particularly in the critical areas of community upliftment education and special needs.

Commenting on her appointment, Samantha Chantrelle said; "For many years, I have admired the work that the Digicel Foundation has done all over the country. It is truly committed to making long term sustainable change to help people and the communities in which they live. I hope to continue along with this tradition by helping to move our communities forward in a positive way."

Lisa Lewis, Chairman of the Digicel Foundation, comments; "We are delighted to have Samantha on board as Executive Director of the Digicel Foundation. With her wealth of development experience both in Jamaica and further afield, we are looking forward to taking the Digicel Foundation to new heights in 2012 and positively impacting the lives and futures of more Jamaicans."

Paulwell endorses new Digicel-Claro merger condition

2012-01-13T10:15:00.001-05:00

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=34527

The newly appointed Information and Communications Technology
Minister, Phillip Paulwell says he has no difficulty with the change
in a condition for the Digicel/Claro merger.

Paulwell says he did not believe the original stipulation was practical.

When then Prime Minister, Bruce Golding approved the Digicel/Claro
merger in August, he insisted Digicel must continue operating two
separate networks.

The move was meant to keep in check Digicel's dominance in the market.

But yesterday, the Office of Utilities Regulation revealed that former
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, withdrew the condition after he assumed
the mantle in October.

However, Paulwell says he will be immediately reviewing proposed
legislation aimed at encouraging competition.

Among the issues he wants urgently resolved is the rate for calls
between networks.

debbie-ann.wright@gleanerjm.com

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

TT Parliament asks JA CG to share experiences

2012-01-12T14:13:00.000-05:00

Jamaica's Contractor General Greg Christie

MEDIA RELEASE

Trinidad and Tobago Parliament Invites Contractor General to Share Experiences Aimed at Assisting in Reform of Country’s Procurement Framework

Kingston; January 12, 2012 – Jamaica’s Contractor General, Greg Christie, has accepted an invitation to pay a one-day visit to Trinidad and Tobago to hold in camera discussions with members of that country’s Joint Select Parliamentary Committee on Public Procurement, as the Committee seeks to gain a first-hand and expert account of the operation and oversight of Jamaica’s procurement systems.

The Trinidad and Tobago Government is currently engaged in the process of reforming its procurement framework to secure, among other things, improved levels of effectiveness and transparency in the award and oversight of Government contracts. In consequence, the Parliament has been reviewing certain legislative proposals which have been submitted to it for pre-legislative scrutiny.

In his letter of invitation to the Contractor General, which was dated January 3, 2012, the Speaker of the Trinidad and Tobago House of Representatives, the Hon. Wade Mark, advised that the Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Public Procurement had become “aware of the progress that has been made in Jamaica since the establishment of the country’s Office of the Contractor General (OCG)”.

The Committee was, therefore, of the view that “it would be beneficial to hold discussions with the Contractor General of Jamaica in order to hear of the experiences of your Office and to gain a better understanding of the procurement process and the system as it operates in Jamaica”.

The Trinidad and Tobago Joint Select Parliamentary Committee on Public Procurement has among its members its Chair, the Minister of Planning and the Economy, the Minister of Legal Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Education, the Attorney General and the Leader of the Opposition.

Only recently, in September 2011, a similar overture for assistance was made to the Contractor General by the Deputy Governor of the Cayman Islands (CI) Government, the Hon. Donovan Ebanks. Subsequently, on November 28, 2011, an official CI Government Delegation, which was led by the country’s Premier, the Hon. McKeeva Bush, met with the Contractor General and other OCG officials in Jamaica when they were briefed on the OCG’s role in the monitoring and investigation of Government of Jamaica contracts and licences. While in Jamaica, the CI Delegation also received briefings from the Office of the Financial Secretary and the National Contracts Commission.

The Contractor General is scheduled to travel to Trinidad on Sunday and to return to the island on Tuesday. He will be accompanied by Mr. Craig Beresford, the OCG’s Senior Director of Monitoring Operations, Corporate Communications and Special Projects, and Ms. Sashein Wright, Special Projects Assistant to the Contractor General, Communications Officer and Special Investigator.

The OCG, which is an Independent Anti-Corruption Commission of the Parliament of Jamaica, is vested with the exclusive statutory and quasi-judicial authority to monitor and to investigate the award and termination of all Government of Jamaica contracts and licenses – this with a view to ensuring probity, impartiality, merit, propriety and the absence of irregularity in the Jamaica Public Sector procurement, contract award and licensing processes.

The OCG’s jurisdiction currently covers the activities of roughly 200 ministries, agencies, departments and statutory corporations of Government. Together, they issue more than 600 different categories of licences and permits, and award in excess of 11,000 high-value construction, goods, services and asset divestment Government contracts, each year, valuing an estimated $110 billion, or an amount which is equivalent to roughly one-fifth of the overall annual expenditure budget of the Government of Jamaica.

The award of Government contracts and licences, and the divestment of State-owned assets, are recognized as constituting the single largest corruption enabling conduit that exists today in any country in the world.

-END-

Contact: The Communications Department, Office of the Contractor General of Jamaica
C/o Craig Beresford, Senior Director of Monitoring Operations, Corporate Communications and Special Projects
E-mail: communications@ocg.gov.jm. Tel: 876-929-8560; Direct: 876-926-0034; Mobile: 876-564-1806

PM Simpson Miller greets Digicel Jamaica CEO

2012-01-10T12:03:00.001-05:00

Prime Minister The Hon Portia Simpson-Miller chats with Digicel Jamaica's CEO Mark Linehan at the Racers Awards held at The Pegasus Hotel on Friday January 6. - Gleaner

Click on title for link to Gleaner photo gallery

President Obama Congratulates Prime Minister Simpson Miller

2012-01-09T14:09:00.000-05:00

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
January 09, 2012
Readout of the President’s Call with Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller

Earlier today, President Obama called Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller of Jamaica to congratulate her on her recent electoral victory and to commend the Jamaican people for their dedication to democracy. The Leaders discussed their shared responsibility for enhancing citizen security and underscored the importance of economic growth in advancing the well being of all Jamaicans. President Obama also underscored the strong bonds of friendship between the American and Jamaican people, which includes the contributions of so many Jamaican-Americans. The President said that he looked forward to working with the Prime Minister on bilateral and regional issues at the Summit of the Americas, which will occur in April 2012 in Cartagena, Colombia.

US Embassy celebrates 50 Years of Friendship with Inspiring Johnny Johnson Exhibition

2012-01-09T13:35:00.001-05:00

The celebrated Virginia artist Johnny Johnson says about his work, “My inspiration comes from my love of people and our natural environment. An effort is made to express the essence of the subject without unnecessary details. I enjoy the challenge of forcing the viewer to look at the work from many different perspectives. Social commentaries are often present in my work and are based on my own life experiences. It is exciting for me to experiment as I create.”

· The exhibition will consist of forty paintings by Johnny Johnson, many of which are from Ambassador Bridgewater’s collection at her Kingston residence. Mr. Johnson is a life-long friend of the Ambassador. The paintings are energetic, vibrant and provide splashes of vivid colour and movement. Please see examples of his work at http://www.artfirstgallery.com/artists/johnnyjohnson/ and

· Johnny Johnson was born in 1936. He obtained his first degree in art education from Virginia State University, and his Masters in Fine Arts from Howard University. Mr Johnson left his home town of Henderson, North Carolina and came to Fredericksburg, Virginia for his first job as an art teacher. Since then, he has worked in the Fredericksburg Public School System and has taught at Mary Washington College and Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, among others. Mr Johnson was very much involved in the civil rights movement and was a member of the NAACP and the regional Council on Human Relations. He has always been involved with several civic organizations – including Big Brothers. He was the first black teacher at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg. “I always wanted to be both a teacher and an artist,” he says. He received the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Virginia Teacher of the Year, Citizen of the Year and numerous other art awards for his watercolor and mixed media paintings. Mr Johnson has conducted numerous workshops.

· Johnny Johnson’s paintings have been included in the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies program (established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963) in three African countries (Benin, Eritrea and Ghana). The programme curates temporary and permanent exhibitions for the representational spaces of all U.S. chanceries, annexes, consulates, and embassy residences worldwide, commissioning and selecting contemporary art from the U.S. and the host countries.

- Courtesy of Public Affairs - U.S. Embassy, Kingston, Jamaica.

John Maxwell speaks about PNP leader from beyond the grave

2012-01-05T14:27:00.002-05:00

Portia faces life

Jamaica Observer | Thursday, January 05, 2012

The late veteran journalist John Maxwell wrote this column which was published on March 6, 2006 on the eve of her first selection as prime minister to succeed P J Patterson. Following are excerpts from that column which is as relevant today as it was then. It is as if John had written it from beyond the grave:

Most people who know me are aware that I have been a partisan of Portia Simpson's for a very long time.The reason is simple: I believe that she is the only leader in the People's National Party (PNP) who really understands what the PNP was founded to achieve and who realises that those original aims and objectives are not only unfulfilled, but in urgent need of fulfilment.

The PNP was always a small people's party despite the propaganda generated by Bustamante's 'dutty shu't" (Dirty shirt) rabble-rousing of the 1940s which allowed Ulric Simmonds and almost every other journalistic commentator in Jamaica to label the PNP 'the intellectuals party' or the 'middleclass party' or 'the school-teachers' party' or even the 'policemans' party'. If that were true, the PNP could never have won an election in Jamaica nor could it have become by the 1960s the natural majority party in the country.

The real point about the PNP is that it began to work to create out of the disinherited masses of Jamaica the 'labourers', the peasantry and the unemployed, a productive and relatively prosperous community of Jamaicans united to work together for 'the good and welfare' of all. What you might call, perhaps, a 'populist' movement towards a plural society with fair shares for all and no one left out.

Populism has become, a dirty word under the influence of American fundamentalist capitalists and the Washington Consensus of international financial institutions. The World Bank has even paid a West Indian scholar whose name escapes me at the moment, to write a learned disquisition about the evils of populism. I doubt, however, that any of those bandying the word about recently could provide a coherent definition of 'populism'.

Which is sad, since it is a reputedly fatal affliction from which Portia and so many others of us suffer.

Writing before last week's election, in my column published last Sunday, I referred to one of the priorities I believed our next PM would have to confront. I was confident enough to refer to that person as 'she' ? because I had no doubt that despite the scads of foreign and local money against her campaign, you could almost always trust the ordinary Jamaican people to do the right thing, or, as her adversaries might say, the 'Left' thing.

Fortunately for us, Portia is neither right nor left, not an ideologue except in the more barren wastelands of American journalism. But, realistically, anyone who champions the cause of the poor must be 'Left' in one way or another.

The fat ladies sing

It isn't all over, even if the fat ladies of the PNP have sung. It hasn't even started in real terms. Winning the leadership of the PNP was the easiest thing Mrs Simpson-Miller will have to do for a long time to come. Facing her are all kinds of expectations, not least from the most well-off in the society, who think the gravy train has got to keep running on their tracks. Realism should tell them different.

The major problems facing Portia are problems neglected by every government of Jamaica since 1980, including Michael Manley's third term. Our governments have chosen to fight irrelevant wars on battlegrounds chosen by their opponents and with everything stacked against them. We have bought into deregulation, privatisation, liberalisation, globalisation and the continuing devaluation of the Jamaican people (and their currency).

As the financiers, loan sharks and usurers,would say, we are 'not competitive' and we won't be competitive until the free market has reduced us to the condition and status of Haiti and the Central African Republic.

Portia has said she wants to "Make Jamaica Work" and I understand from this not only that she wants to get people back to gainful employment, but that she wants Jamaica to begin to function again as a civilised, safe and peaceful community of productive and happy people.

To do this she has proposed that she will work to get the people to plan and design their future themselves, to get them to be wholly invested in the making of the significant decisions which order their lives. She says she wants to end patronage politics, the Lady Bountiful politics in which members of a distant middle class are intermediaries between the people and the power.

What she appears to be suggesting is that the people should 'name' their own deputies, worker delegates or shop stewards and that local government should be where the action is. We are, of course, speaking of popular empowerment, a prospect which terrifies the haute bourgeoisie in its less rational moments. Yet, the paradox is that for all of us, and for the wealthy elite most of all, Jamaica cannot continue business as usual without an almighty explosion. Jamaica cannot continue the bleeding of its resources into foreign bank accounts and the starvation of the social services. Carl Stone, no leftist, projected a bloody explosion if Michael Manley's PNP had not won the 1972 election, I wonder what he would say now, after 17 years of 1960s laissez faire capitalism?

Children first

So Portia will need volunteers from every class if she is going to be able to listen to the ordinary Jamaican people and help them organise themselves out of penury, misery, disease dependency and crime. I believe she will need to set up a special secretariat to organise the sampling of Jamaican public opinion, to harvest the wisdom of the people. And I also believe that when she calls on Jamaicans to volunteer she will get an enthusiastic response from all classes.

It is my belief that the first thing that people will say is that they want safer, cleaner, more harmonious communities because without them, we cannot protect our children and nurture them so that they can fulfill their best selves, the most basic prerequisite of a civilised society.

We, the Jamaican community in Jamaica and abroad, have long understood that we must put children first. That is the reason so many of our brightest, most vigorous young people go abroad in search of a better life for their children, even more than themselves. What we need are the facilities to do this. We need nutrition programmes, so that mothers can be able to breastfeed their babies for at least six months, giving them a headstart on life. The World Bank, on Friday, published a report on Health, Nutrition and Population which says it is now provable that nations can add between 2 and 3 per cent to GDP simply by improving the nutrition of the poorest. "Children are irreversibly damaged by malnutrition by age 2, long before they begin primary school". Programmes begun after 2 can never reverse the stunting, physical and mental, that occurs in the first two years of childhood.

If mothers are going to be helped to nurture their children they will clearly need better organised, safer and healthier communities with more convenient schools and community and sports facilities. . Much of this work can be accomplished by the people themselves, although programmes of this sort (like the 'Crash programme' of the 70s) are regarded by some boobies as giveaways and handouts. If we expect people to work for nothing we should realise that they know that getting a firearm is easier and more cost-effective.

Which brings us to crime. Healthier communities means that we've got to stop burning garbage as well as to stop turning young people into garbage. I keep saying that there are Einsteins and Colin Powells cutting cane in Jamaican fields. There are Mozarts and Muhammad Alis on Death Row, as the Barnett Report on Jamaican prisons suggested 30 years ago...

We can help Jamaica to work again and in doing so, help the whole world to work better. We don't need cash so much as the inspiration and the will.

Which is why I believe Portia Simpson if she gets a fair chance, may transform our civilisation. She has what it takes.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Portia-faces-life_10497446#ixzz1ic5WJAxI

Jamaica Snapshots on the eve of a new administration - headlines

2012-01-04T21:20:00.001-05:00

Observer headlines

Gallimore confirms resignation

No vuvuzelas or horns at swearing in ceremony — Simpson Miller

GG gets election results

PNP receiving full cooperation from outgoing administration — Davies

Three women among 8 Jamaicans wanted by DEA for drug offenses

'Ignore the poor at our peril' - Bishop warns Government

Permanent memorial to be erected for J'can 9/11 victims

More Jamaican children said trafficked to US

Unions want labour market reform high on gov't agenda

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Three-woman-among-8-Jamaicans-wanted-by-DEA-for-drug-offenses#ixzz1iXvB7q52

Gleaner headlines
www.jamaica-gleaner.com

PNP urgently looking at JDIP

The People's National Party says it will be immediately seek to renegotiate aspects of the Chinese loan for the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme. 5:40 pm EST
Tufton concedes defeat
New Year brings higher gas prices 5:30 pm EST
All set for new school term 5:23 pm EST
Cop in Christmas Day killing granted bail 5:21 pm EST
UK police inquiry focuses on missing women
Sugar prices drop
Davies says all on target, ensures fully functioning government
PNP Gov't to engage Derek Latibeaudiere

The people spoke for Portia

2012-01-02T10:52:00.000-05:00

Prime Minister Designate Hon Portia Simpson Miller
Jean Lowrie-Chin | Observer column for Monday 2 January 2012

Hearty congratulations to that seasoned campaigner Portia Simpson Miller, President of the People’s National Party, and her triumphant team who reminded us that the PNP are master organisers.

Commiserations to JLP President Andrew Holness and his hard-working team. Above all, commendations to us, the people, who conducted ourselves peacefully as we discharged our sovereign duty as electors last Thursday.

I was in the supermarket the Saturday before the general election when I could not help overhearing a political discussion. “I going vote them out!” a woman shouted. “Time too hard!” On Wednesday a successful professional told me that “bad as bad”, he had always supported the PNP – he would not have been able to go to UWI if Michael Manley hadn’t lowered the fees. Out of these discussions, an interesting demographic of the PNP supporter emerged. On the one hand, there was this woman, living on the margin of poverty; on the other, a well-heeled party loyalist.

This supporter was confident of a PNP victory. When I mentioned some of the negatives that were being discussed about the PNP, he waved them aside. “Debate?” he asked. “Middle class people don’t have a clue – the ordinary Jamaican is not interested in that. They are interested in getting a job, getting food on the table, and getting their utility bills paid. People are really suffering – they are going to vote out the JLP.”

In a conversation with Jamaican friends visiting from the US, I realised how deeply they felt about the Manatt-Dudus imbroglio and Jamaica’s reputation for homophobia. “I was so embarrassed over this Dudus thing,” one said. “People kept asking me why the Jamaican government was protecting a criminal.” A relative said she had suggested Jamaica as a vacation spot to a friend who replied that, “They hate gays too much. I am not going there.” Even as we respect the beliefs of the church, we have to remember that only the sinless should be casting stones. I have seen too much anguish and loneliness in my gay friends to condemn them – they do not choose to be gay, they simply are.

I think we have many more pressing national issues to address. We have over 500 children missing in the year 2011. We have waves of new graduates expecting employment in a shrinking job market. We have a growing senior population living on pensions that can barely cover a single utility bill. These issues of safety and survival are crying out for immediate attention.

The JLP had several commendable accomplishments, but spent too much of their campaign funds on negative images. One class of Jamaicans probably thought the ‘no piece of paper’ and ‘don’t draw my tongue’ ads were showing up PNP President Portia Simpson Miller. They did not understand the emotional connection between Portia Simpson Miller and the Jamaican people. We are a matriarchal society and Sister/Mama P is that humble relative who makes the family proud. Contrary to the cartoon portrayals, she is attractive and charismatic. The more sophisticated among us would probably opt for a more articulate leader but her people are quite fine with how she speaks and those bouts of temper only make her more human in their eyes.

When G2K copied media an urgent letter protesting a delay by a television station in carrying an anti-Portia ad, I wrote back, “Enough is enough”. As Kevin O’Brien Chang maintained in his election commentary, the JLP had several significant achievements which were overshadowed by their insistent Portia-bashing. We heard little about reduction in crime and not enough explanation about the importance of a stable dollar to the man-in-the-street. JLP president Andrew Holness said in a post-election interview, “This is a time of introspection – we will rebuild.” In response to a question from the press on how the Manatt Dudus may have affected the results, he replied, “It was always in the background.”

There is also speculation about the unusual timing of the general elections. It was colleague columnist Franklin Johnston who first expressed his dismay at elections being run in Christmas week, ascribing the act to the lack of enthusiasm felt by Mr Holness’ denomination for this significant religious event. An ardent JLP supporter said he felt it was insensitive – “Imagine, I couldn’t turn on my radio on Christmas Day without hearing a political ad!”

In the meanwhile, the master strategist former Prime Minister and PNP president PJ Patterson had been assisting in organizing the party, bringing in well-seasoned heavyweights. Malcolm Gladwell, that gifted writer with Jamaican roots, said that to excel at anything, you need to do it 10,000 times. That is why our most memorable mentors are the seniors in our lives. That is why one should never underestimate the political clout of that grassroots veteran Portia Simpson Miller.

As we perform those tasks, 10,000 times over, we become masters. It happens with a student practising math or a concert pianist practising Bach. And so, as Portia Simpson Miller ascended the stage at PNP headquarters last Thursday evening, flashing her famous smile, and hugging her candidates one after the other, we saw a woman practiced in the way of politics, hitting all the right notes and ensuring that there was “no piece of paper” in her hand.

She started with a well known Bible verse. Then the DJ played Tony Rebel’s song, “Mind what you say to yu sister – she could be the next Prime Minister,” an in-your-face reply to the G2K ads. She thanked among many, “Comrade PJ Patterson”, her helper Marva and Andrew Holness who had called to congratulate her, saying that “he was very gracious”. She referred to the welcome sight we saw more of in this than any other previous election, “PNP supporters in orange and JLP supporters in their green hugging in friendly rivalry.”

On a sad note, Mrs Simpson Miller spoke of her good friend and faithful campaigner, the late Howard Aris as “one sweet spirit that is smiling right now – my friend and brother ‘Fudge’ Aris that left us on the campaign trail.” Significantly, she observed, “Today was a rough day for members of the media … and I want to thank them.”

The Prime Minister-designate appealed: “Work with us as we will be working with you. [There will be] consultation and dialogue … we will hide nothing from you. …to all business persons, you have a government that you can trust.”

Let us hold our leaders to their promises by taking active part in our nation’s business. Onwards into 2012 with faith, focus and diligence! Happy New Year!

My Blogging Story

2012-01-01T23:14:00.001-05:00

I have been blogging for over four years - inspired by Annie Paul's 'Active Voice'. The most exhilarating time for my blog 'Lowrie-Chin Post' was the summer of 2008, when we attended the Beijing Olympics. There I was capturing in real time Jamaica's most amazing Olympic outing in our history! Three World Records involving the phenomenal Usain Bolt! A cornucopia of Gold from Usain, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Melaine Walker, Shelley-Ann Fraser, and the Relay Team of Bolt, Asafa Powell, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter.
I was blogging in the line, in our seat at the Bird's Nest, and capturing the lead stories in the China Daily. I was the envy of my friends as I blogged about partying with our Olympians.
After that I had regular visitors to the blog, and have been posting my weekly Observer column, local and international news highlights, and family events. I have also created a sub-blog for my book 'Souldance'
Interestingly, I am now using the Search feature to share interesting content with friends and to actually research for current pieces.
I now have over 30,000 visits to my blog from mostly Jamaica, the US, Canada and the UK. I do have followers from as far away as the Far east and New Zealand.
As millions create their blogs, media has been democratised and we are feeling our influence as we can Facebook and Tweet our posts. The blog is a great innovation - may we use it for enlightenment and empowerment!
Jean Anita
1JAN12
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Hughes called it at 7.45 PM!!

2011-12-30T12:49:00.000-05:00

A telling Election Timeline

7.11pm PNP leading in 39 seats – at 40% counted – 7.11 pm – PNP ‘winning handsomely’ - 2766 boxes – PNP 52.7% JLP 47.4% - 184,000 vs 166,000 votes

7.25 declaring Wheatley SE St Catherine

7.34 PNP leading 36/JLP 27 – Cliff: PNP enjoying a comfortable lead 57% to 43% JLP

7.45 Cliff Hughes has called it! PNP has won the election!

7.58 West Rural St Andrew lost by Andrew Gallimore – won by Buchanan

Montague trailing

8.08 5,955 BOXES COUNTED – PNP 404,400 votes

Looking for Christ in our leaders

2011-12-27T18:43:00.000-05:00

Jean Lowrie-Chin | Observer column | Tuesday 27 Dec 2011

As we avidly watched the news with the Election highlights, the telephone rang. It was Anne Marie Rhoden who assigns readers for our church services – she asked us to participate in the New Year’s Eve Mass. Suddenly we were reminded that we as Christians were in the midst of one of the most important religious celebrations and that we should be looking beyond this struggle for earthly power.

“The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light…A child will be born for us. A son will be given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. He will be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and peace will have unlimited growth … He will uphold it with justice and righteousness now and forever.” (excerpt from Isaiah 9:2-7)

This ‘justice and righteousness’ is what we are seeking in our leaders, as we head to the polls on Thursday. Here are some thoughts from an address I made recently to a splendid group of young people from The St John the Baptist and Our Lady of the Angels church parishes.

It may seem like a far stretch, but we can actually draw inspiration from the electoral process that is unfolding around us at this time. Like the good servant who multiplied his talents, our electoral officials have continued to improve on an excellent system, developed through the collaboration of our two political parties.

For one thing, we can take great pride in the fact that, through the efforts of the founders of the two parties and other noble pioneers, Jamaica achieved universal adult suffrage (one person, one vote) before the United States and many other world powers did. Jamaica had our first election under universal adult suffrage in 1944, the same year that France introduced adult suffrage including women. Japan came on stream similarly in 1945.

All American citizens were supposed to have had the right to vote long before us, but that was an illusion. Many southern states prevented African Americans from voting. It was only in 1965 that America achieved universal adult suffrage, thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For Switzerland it was 1971, for South Africa it was 1994 before every citizen had the right to vote, and in Kuwait, it was only six years ago that women got the vote – provided they vote in polling stations separate from those used by men!

We are indeed fortunate to live in this God blessed country. Our electoral system has had the approval of the Carter Centre in the US and our local group CAFFE has been monitoring proceedings for the last four elections.
Our Jamaican system is so well respected that our officials are now being asked to help organize and preside over elections all over the world. ECJ Chairman Professor Errol Miller said that recently, two officials from Tunisia visited Jamaica to familiarize themselves with our system on the recommendation of an international funding organisation, as that country resolves to become a democracy following the demands of a popular uprising.

Last Thursday we went to our EOJ Constituency office to collect our new Voter Identification cards, and were out in five minutes! The professional, courteous officials located the cards quickly and presented the documents for us to sign in confirmation of collection. This is a well-oiled, proper functioning system of which we can all be proud.

Remember to check if you are on the Voters’ List at www.ecj.com.jm. Once you are on the list, you have a right to vote, whether or not you collected your voter ID card. Remember that the ballot is secret. Your vote cannot be traced back to you. Vote with pride – you have the same single vote as the most powerful person you know. On Thursday, you will make your mark for a democratic Jamaica. Whatever the result may be, let us respect the will of the majority.

Happy Birthday Dave Rodney!

2011-12-23T15:40:00.000-05:00

Advertising/PR executive/author Jean Lowrie-Chin of PRO Comm (third from right) hosted a birthday luncheon for Dave Rodney, (third from left) visiting media marketing specialist from New York, on Wednesday at Devon House On The Terrace. Others from left are: Barbara Ellington, Gleaner Lifestyle Editor; Alison Ross, SVP, The Portfolio Marketing Group, New York, Sharon Shroeter, TVJ

Dave Rodney is a down-to-earth intellectual, speaker of many languages, talented organist and publicist par excellence. It was wonderful to celebrate this special Jamaican, now co-Principal of IMAGES Media LLC in New York.

Here He is - Holy! Holy!

2011-12-23T13:00:00.001-05:00

Christmas Message from Mustard Seed

Please stop what you are doing and think on this. It is a prayer we say with our children every morning at 3:45 in the Chapel.

As we prepare to RECOGNIZE Christ even more in this Christmas Season we should know that:

HE IS HERE HALLELUJAH
HE IS HERE AMEN
HE IS HERE, HOLY, HOLY
I WILL BLESS HIS NAME AGAIN
HE IS HERE, LISTEN CLOSELY
HEAR HIM CALLING OUT YOUR NAME
HE IS HERE, YOU CAN TOUCH HIM
YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME

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Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T17:33:00.001-05:00

Food For The Poor Organises release of 85 Prisoners

2011-12-21T15:25:00.001-05:00

Food For The Poor Organizes Prisoner Releases

Nonviolent Offenders Freed in Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti and Honduras

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Dec. 20, 2011) – In anticipation of Christmas, Food For The Poor released prisoners who have committed nonviolent offenses in Jamaica (22), Guyana (25), Haiti (36) and Honduras (2). They were incarcerated due to their inability to pay required fines. Eighty-five prisoners have been released in these countries in time to spend Christmas with their families.

"When you visit a prison, desperate eyes peer out of the dark cells, into the light, pleading silently for help," said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor's CEO/President. "They want to feel a connection with the outside world, to be a brother in Christ, to be prayed for – and to not be forgotten."

In developing countries, the destitute sometimes have no way to feed their families other than to steal food. The consequence often is imprisonment without first appearing before a judge, or receiving a prison sentence. Sometimes, by the time they are tried, they have spent years longer in jail than their prison sentence requires.

Food For The Poor's Prison Ministry Program is based on the scripture, "When was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you," (Matthew 25: 31-46).

Mahfood visited a prison in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, this year with 17 priests and pastors. Together they prayed for the inmates, who live in decrepit buildings and are at the mercy of disease outbreaks, such as cholera. Prison cells measuring 16-by-16 feet sometimes hold more than 30 men.

Since the inception of Food For The Poor's Prison Ministry Program in 2000, more than 1,048 prisoners have been reintroduced back into the community as productive citizens. Food For The Poor works with the prisoners before and after they are released to ensure they will not be repeat offenders.

"Behave yourself, because in there [it is] rough," said a 34-year-old former Jamaican inmate, when asked if he had any advice for youngsters outside of the penal institutions. "I appreciate the help from Food For The Poor," he continued, "because my mother had been helping to take care of my children while I was in there, but they are my responsibility and I just wanted to come out and be a father to them."

This year in Jamaica, a total of 22 inmates were released from prisons in Mandeville, Spanish Town and St. Catherine.

"All of us deserve a second chance and we have given these men and women that opportunity," said Sandra Ramsay, administrator of the prison ministry at Food For The Poor-Jamaica.

Twice a year – during the Christmas and Easter seasons – the Food For The Poor Prison Ministry Program releases inmates who have committed minor offenses. Prison authorities have found Food For The Poor's Prison Ministry Program to be so successful that they have implemented a similar program themselves. Some prisons now offer inmates jobs in the prison where they are held so that they can earn money to pay off their fines.

Food For The Poor, the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org

-END-

Photo credit: Food For The Poor

Photo captions:

The sole female inmate to be released from the Fort Augusta facility was a 25-year-old mother of three who was convicted of larceny after taking money from a family member, without permission, to purchase food and other items for her sick infant.

Some of the inmates shed tears as they learned their fines had been paid, and that they would be reunited with their families in time for Christmas.

Jennifer Leigh Oates
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
E-mail: jennifero@foodforthepoor.org

Food For The Poor, Inc.

6401 Lyons Road

Coconut Creek, Florida 33073 USA

Main Tel: 954-427-2222

Main Fax: 954-570-7654

Food For The Poor (FFP), the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed the millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96% of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information visit our Web site at www.foodforthepoor.org

Black Belgian Nurse Who Saved GIs In WWII Honoured

2011-12-18T18:30:00.002-05:00

Augusta Chiwy (Photo: Clark Boyd)

Thank you Neville 'Gladdy' Hoo for sharing this story!
--------------------------------------
BRUSSELS December 12, 2011, 04:32 pm ET
BRUSSELS (AP) — A Belgian nurse who saved the lives of hundreds of American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge at the end of World War II was given a U.S. award for valor Monday — 67 years late.

Congolese-born Augusta Chiwy, now 93, received the Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service medal from U.S. Ambassador Howard Gutman at a ceremony in the military museum in Brussels.

"She helped, she helped, and she helped," Gutman said at the ceremony. He said the long delay in presenting the award was because it was assumed that Chiwy had been killed when a bomb destroyed her hospital.

The Battle of the Bulge was a ferocious encounter in the final stages of World War II. In desperation, Adolf Hitler ordered a massive attack on allied forces in the Ardennes, in southern Belgium. More than 80,000 American soldiers were killed, captured or wounded.

Chiwy had volunteered to assist in an aid station in the town of Bastogne, where wounded and dying U.S. soldiers in their thousands were being treated by a single doctor in December 1944 and January 1945. Chiwy braved the gunfire, helping whoever she could, and saving the lives of hundreds of American GIs.

The Nazis hoped the surprise attack would reach the sea at the Belgian port of Antwerp and cut off the advancing allied armies. Bastogne, a market town that was also a critical road junction, was quickly besieged.

The U.S. troops — led by paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division — found themselves surrounded. But they resisted fiercely, and the key crossroads was never taken.

During the battle, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, the 101st's acting division commander, delivered his famous reply to a German surrender demand when he scribbled: "To the German commander: Nuts! The American commander."

In the ensuing siege, Bastogne was heavily shelled and quickly reduced to ruins. Another Belgian nurse — Chiwy's friend Renee Lemaire — was killed along with about 30 patients when a bomb penetrated a cellar where she was tending to the wounded.

Gutman said the diminutive Chiwy combed battlefields during the battle, often coming under enemy fire, to collect the wounded in the deep snow.

"What I did was very normal," Chiwy said during the ceremony. "I would have done it for anyone. We are all children of God."

But Col. J.P. McGee, who commands a brigade of the 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, said that to the wounded soldiers Chiwy was "a goddess."

"Men lived and families were reunited due to your efforts," he said.

McGee said the army's doctor in Bastogne, John Prior, had joked that the German snipers couldn't hit Chiwy because she was so tiny. But Chiwy, who moved to Belgium from the colony of Congo before the war, responded that they were just bad shots.

Historian Alexander Omhof, who has dealt extensively with the history of the allied advance, also praised Chiwy's deeds during the month-long battle.

Chiwy then received a letter of appreciation from Gen. David Petraeus, himself a former commander of the 101st Airborne.

After the battle, Chiwy slipped into obscurity, working as a hospital nurse treating spinal injuries. She married a Belgian soldier and had two children.

She was finally located several years ago by a British author and historian, Martin King, who had heard stories about a black nurse at Bastogne.

Chiwy was knighted by the Belgian king in June.

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News Alert: Breaking News: U.S. formally ends war in Iraq

2011-12-15T06:34:00.000-05:00

Thursday, December 15, 2011 5:50:49 AM
NEWS ALERT
U.S. formally ends war in Iraq BAGHDAD — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta paid solemn tribute on Thursday to an "independent, free and sovereign Iraq" and declared the official end to the Iraq war, formally wrapping up the U.S. military's 81 / 2-year mission in the country."After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real," Panetta said at a ceremony at Baghdad 's international airport. "To be sure, the cost was high – in blood and treasure for the United States, and for the Iraqi people. Those lives were not lost in vain. "The 1:15 p.m. ceremony (5:15 a.m. in Washington) effectively ended the war two weeks earlier than was necessary under the terms of the security agreement signed by the U.S. and Iraqi governments in 2008, which stipulated that the troops must be gone by Dec. 31.But commanders decided there was no need to keep troops in Iraq through the Christmas holidays given that talks on maintaining a U.S. presence beyond the deadline had failed. The date of the final ceremony had been kept secret for weeks, so as not to give insurgents or militias an opportunity to stage attacks. Read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraq-war-draws-to-quiet-close/2011/12/14/gIQAPEjLvO_story.htmlOr visit washingtonpost.com.SEND TO A FRIEND
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A professor, a bishop and two Delanos

2011-12-12T11:47:00.000-05:00

ECJ Chairman Professor Errol Miller

Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair

Observer column by Jean Lowrie-Chin | 12 December 2011

This Jamaica takes us through so many highs and lows! We have been enjoying a great deal of sober public discourse on all sides about the December 29 general election. But then, we see these disturbing clips of gunmen engaging the police in a shootout on the grounds of St Jago High School in Spanish Town. (Thankfully, the students were unharmed.) The news also carries the usual political platform drama, with KD warning Dwight, Andrew apologising to media, and Portia wagging her finger at Andrew.

We saw an excellent group of Jamaicans on TVJ's Impact last Thursday, signalling that Jamaica's electoral system was in very good shape. The probing Emily Crooks hosted Professor Errol Miller, chairman of the Electoral Commission; Bishop Herro Blair, political ombudsman; and those cookie-cutter campaign spokespersons Delano Franklin and Delano Seiveright for the PNP and JLP respectively.

We learned a lot. Prof Miller made three important points:

*If you are not on the voters' list published on November 30, you simply cannot vote. He said that voters may check for their names at post offices or on the web - www.ecj.com.jm. You should vote at your location on the list, even if you have changed the address of your residence since being enumerated.

* Agreement on the location of polling stations was reached after dialogue with both political parties and much planning. He emphasised that there can be no change of these locations.

* The ballot in Jamaica is absolutely secret. If you expose your "X", the ballot will be taken away from you. The presiding officer may not look at your choice and may not ask for whom you voted. The ballot is folded in such a way that even when the numbered counterfoil is being removed, the section with your mark remains folded and unexposed. Once the counterfoil is removed, and the ballot placed in the box, there is absolutely no way that it can be traced back to the voter.

Prof Miller also mentioned a criticism of a party representative that four candidates with dual citizenship had been accepted for nomination for the last general election by the respective returning officers. Prof Miller made it clear that the Electoral Office has no jurisdiction over such matters. Today, nomination day, we should bear in mind that the returning officer must accept the nomination of the candidate once the person satisfies three requirements:

(1) The prospective candidate has the endorsement of 10 registered voters

(2) The individual makes his/her application at the designated location between 10 am and 2 pm

(3) The individual pays a nomination fee of $3,000.

Congrats to the Women's Political Caucus of Jamaica supported by the Rose Leon Memorial Trust - they will pay nomination fees for all women candidates, irrespective of their political affiliation. For this election, there are 18 such candidates - five from the PNP led by Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller and 13 from the JLP - the highest ever in Jamaica's history.

Bishop Herro Blair disclosed that he had been kept extremely busy. "It is the first time since 2002 that I have had so many calls and complaints," he said. He explained that if his office decides to pursue a complaint, it is heard by a tribunal comprising the general secretaries of both political parties. Some of the matters they have dealt with for this election include the defacement of the Danville Walker billboard in Central Manchester.

The political ombudsman says there are 20 investigators attached to his office, all of whom are sergeants with the JCF. He says it is incumbent on the political parties to field candidates who are "people beyond doubt". He is asking the parties to quell "unacceptable behaviour" and reminding them that it is illegal to hoist green and orange flags to mark areas that are purported to be JLP or PNP. "There are provisions under the NSWMA Act against affixing anything in a public place, as this is contributing to the defacement of the environment," he noted. "This includes light posts."

Of course, both Delanos declared victory for their respective parties. "The JLP is on the verge of a possible landslide," opined Seiveright. "The people want something different, we are about Jamaica, about moving our country forward."

Franklin predicted that his party "will take 32 and more" and that they are campaigning aggressively because "Jamaicans want something new and different". Pundits are looking at a worldwide tendency to vote out incumbents in two ways: it could be a win for the PNP or it could be that the recently appointed JLP leader is seen as a fresh face in politics.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/A-professor--a-bishop-and-two-Delanos_10357959#ixzz1gL4uCmbw

Lowell Hawthorne - From Minibus Driver to Observer Business Leader

2011-12-08T21:45:00.001-05:00

We continue to be inspired by courageous entrepreneurs, and this year Moses Jackson and the Observer Team shone the light on Jamaican entrepreneurs in the Diaspora. Lowell Hawthorne, Co-Founder and CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill emerged the Business Leader of the Year. With his six siblings, The Oberlin High School graduate and former minibus driver, inspired by the example of his parents, started a bakery in the Bronx. Now they have 122 branches in nine states, 1,800 employees and more than US$100 million in gross annual sales!

Please read the amazing stories of courage and perseverance of all eight nominees on the Observer website. We salute Verona Greenland, Monique Hamaty-Simmonds and Marcus Simmonds, Vincent and Janette HoSang, Vincent and Lorain Lai, Beverly Nichols, Richard Powell and George Yap. Everyone a true winner!

Read more at:

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Brand-Jamaica-reigns-supreme-at-Business-Leader-Awards_10309447

Jamaica – not all about elections

2011-12-05T23:19:00.000-05:00

Patricia Sinclair McCalla - CEO of the Jamaica's Public Sector Transformation Unit

Observer column for MON 5 December 2011
by Jean Lowrie-Chin

Don’t let the headlines fool you. Today’s Jamaica is not all about elections. As a matter of fact, because we know what must come right after elections, regardless of the winner, discerning Jamaicans know we are in a serious plight. What must come very soon, is no indictment on one party, nor a recommendation for the other – what is coming is akin to an unstoppable weather system, where the global economic storms demand clear thinking and preparedness.

Lucky for us, our geographical position, natural beauty and the gift of the English language, bestowed on us by General Penn and Admiral Venables, have made us an attractive destination. However, the international community which has been hugely supportive in the past must now attend to financial crises on the home front.

Jamaica really needs to grow up and have a conscience. How some of our benefactors wish that they could produce crops all year round, that their summer facilities could remain open after October, that their homeless would not be in danger of freezing to death. For decades, Barbados gave tax relief to homeowners who installed solar water heaters. I am still not sure what incentives exist to harness this unlimited solar power around us.

We have to make productivity a priority. Patricia Sinclair McCalla, CEO of the PSTU recently gave us a snapshot of the public sector in a public lecture: “Sixteen ministries, approximately 230 entities, including statutory bodies, limited liability companies and other public bodies, to include executive agencies that are departments of Government, all of which comprise over 120,100 public officers, excluding the 4,500 Jamaica Defence Force personnel. The Government is in fact, the largest employer contracting just over ten per cent of the Jamaican labour force.”

She reminded us that we have a public sector wage bill of $127.9b, which currently stands at 10.4 per cent of GDP in the current financial year, “and which is expected to be reduced to 9.0 per cent of GDP by 2015/16”

She had good reason to cite the Singapore transformation, explaining that their public servants were not only well-trained, but also well paid to minimise the temptation of corruption. “The enabling environment was created by Lee Kuan Yew, through the provision of education to its citizens focusing on, English language, science and technology,” said Mrs Sinclair McCalla. “He challenged old cultural norms ...ensured that his ministers were already successful businessmen who were highly educated and well resourced.”

“In Jamaica where there resides little faith in political agencies and government institutions, governance is vitally important,” wrote Al Edwards Caribbean Business Report’s editor in his timely lead in Friday’s Observer. “The country has declared that it wants to hold developed-country status by 2030, that status would be difficult to attain without adhering to good governance practices.”

Such practices have to be underpinned by strong values. Our impressionable youngsters are fed a steady diet of images on television and the internet which create false expectations and lower their self-esteem. Unfortunately, they are getting a lot of these very images on the campaign trail as well, and we should be watching to see how the leadership of both parties panders to this element in the coming weeks as election fever takes hold.

As we look back on a successful Journalism Week spearheaded by dynamic PAJ President Jenni Campbell, and the tributes to the brilliant Dr Aggrey Brown, media practitioners are reminded of their responsibility to nation building. Certainly, we have the attention of the nation and therefore we are important participants in Jamaica’s development.

Women’s Media Watch’s new study and training manual, “Whose Perspective: A Guide to Gender-Aware Analysis of Media Content”, describes the negative effect media images are having on impressionable minds and challenges us to move out of our comfort zone.

Judith Wedderburn of the FES Institute pointed to the expanding impact of social media, commenting, “This now makes the process by which the media itself shapes and reflects political culture and public discourse far more complex, fluid and challenging.” Those of us who have been blessed with an education can use social media to enlighten and inspire. Nothing wrong with the great jokes, but let us stay away from bile and vulgarity. We have young minds to mould and a country that needs positive thinking and action, to take us beyond Election Day.

Why PROComm created the Lasco Teacher of the Year

2011-11-28T17:26:00.000-05:00

We need to avoid objectifying our women as this encourages the very violence that we condemn. It is for this reason that our company has a policy of not promoting beauty contests. After our refusal to do so for Lasco in 1998, we created a better gender-balanced alternative, the "Teacher of the Year" programme. We salute tomorrow's recipients. This led to the other affirmation programmes for nurses and police officers. Last year, we suggested the reservation of shares in the Lasco initial public offer (IPO) for these groups and CCRP seniors, thus contributing to their financial empowerment. Women do bring a practical perspective to issues. We do not have to follow the status quo - indeed, it is by looking higher, that we grow.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Are-they-Andrew-Holness-s--Lucky-13--_10255641#ixzz1f2dt6aIw

Are they Andrew Holness's 'Lucky 13'?

2011-11-28T17:24:00.001-05:00

Jean Lowrie-Chin | Observer Column | Monday, November 28, 2011

If we are to use the findings of the "51% Coalition" as a yardstick, they could indicate that the JLP may have a significant edge over the PNP in the next general election. In a full-page advertisement declaring "Respect and Recognition", the JLP announced 13 women candidates, the highest number ever fielded by a major political party.

The 13 JLP candidates are: Olivia Grange, Shahine Robinson, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, Senator Marlene Malahoo-Forte, Sharon Hay Webster, Dr Sandra Nesbeth, Dr Saphire Longmore, Camille Buchanan, Dr Patrece Charles-Freeman, Joan Gordon-Webley, Beverly Prince, Paula Kerr-Jarrett and Rosalee Hamilton.

Ironically, the PNP - led by Portia Simpson Miller who is the first and only woman prime minister in the history of Jamaica, has only four other woman candidates: Lisa Hanna, Natalie Neita-Headley, Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams, and Denise Daley, having lost Sharon Hay Webster to the JLP. Some may argue that powerhouse Simpson Miller packs the punch of 10!

Last Tuesday, several women's groups launched a coalition and campaign for quotas for women in decision making - "The 51% Coalition for development and empowerment through equity", supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Dr Marcia Forbes, one of the organisers of the 51% Coalition, so named to represent the percentage of women in the Jamaican population, shared her excellent notes of the meeting and some interesting findings from Studies re Women On Boards - UK Report, February 2011 (http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-law/docs/w/11-745-women-on-boards.pdf) prepared by committee led by a former minister for trade, investment and Small Business 2009 to 2010 UK.

Companies with more women on their board of directors outperform their rivals with42 per cent higher return in sales; 66 per cent higher return on invested capital; and 53 per cent higher return on equity. It was observed that women bring different perspectives and experiences to bear.

The current situation in Jamaica shows that we are far from the mark. In the case of boards of directors, women serve on only 33 per cent of those in the public sector - over 10 years from 1998 to 2008 this grew by only four per cent. Women served on only 16 per cent of private sector boards in 2008, increasing by only two per cent over the previous 10 years. In the case of government, women make up 13.3 per cent of MPs, 11 per cent of Cabinet and encouraging 23.8 per cent of the Senate. Sixteen per cent of local government councillors are women, and a tiny 7.6 per cent are mayors.

"Quotas often create controversy in society," observed guest speaker Mathu Joyini, South Africa's High Commissioner to Jamaica. "Women's rights and gender equality have not been separated from human rights in South Africa. When you do business with the South African government they ask, how engendered are you and how black are you? Who benefits from your corporate social responsibility programme? If you don't measure up well on these points then you cannot do business with the government.

Some of these measures are self-imposed quotas so there are problems with implementation. So we are doing assessments to see what measures we can put in place to ensure enforcement."

She told the audience that pre-1994, women were two per cent in Parliament but when the ANC came into power in 1994 it went up to 18 per cent. "Today it is now 45 per cent. Thirty-six per cent of women are in senior positions in government - managerial positions... but we have had challenges in the private sector...(there is) 37 per cent of women in senior management but not many on boards, so there is still work to do in this area."

Linnette Vassell of Women's Resource Outreach Centre (WROC) suggested that the Coalition "challenge our sisters in the JLP to step out of the accustomed mode and say that this cannot stand, eg, NWC board with all men." Government Senator Camilla Johnson-Smith, in congratulating the initiators, said, "It is your work why I am in the position I am today. What is democracy without advocacy? The coalition is playing a key role in promoting gender sensitivity. I found the South African experience very inspirational."

Siddier Chambers of the Bureau of Women's Affairs observed that Minister Olivia "Babsy" Grange had "tabled the policy this afternoon at Parliament. The Bureau stands ready to support this coalition."

"We have to make it clear that we are women of competence that will transform decision-making in Jamaica," said the UNDP's Carol Narcisse. Patricia Donald of Women's Media Watch and the Ministry of Health gave "big endorsement for quotas - I used to be ambivalent about the quota system but now I think that we need it. We need to learn how to respond to the critics".

"I am in favour of quotas," noted entrepreneur Peta-Rose Hall, secretary of the International Women's Forum. "We should be practical in the sense such as suggested by Donna Duncan re shareholders asking more about the representation of women on boards. Women have purchasing power but we don't use it."

"For the last 20 years, we have been encouraging women to take the leadership," said Merlene Daley of the Jamaica Women's Political Caucus. "There was a time when I felt quota was taking it beyond, but having served so long it seems that quota is the only way to go forward. I endorse it."

More good news about coffee

2011-11-28T13:20:00.000-05:00

Coffee may do your body good.. (IStock Photo)

Washington Post | Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 11/28/2011

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

If you’re enjoying your Monday morning cup of coffee, take a moment to appreciate it for its deliciousness and the good it may be doing your body.

As I wrote in the “Eat, Drink and Be Healthy” column a couple of weeks ago, recent research has found that coffee’s potential health benefits may outweigh any health risks it might pose. Coffee consumption may help ward off Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and a score of other conditions.

That growing list may now include endometrial cancer: A study published last week in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research) found that coffee consumption may reduce women’s risk of developing endometrial cancer.

The endometrium is the lining of the uterus. An estimated 46,470 women will be diagnosed in the United States in 2011, and an estimated 8,120 deaths will result from the disease.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed data for 67,470 women taking part in the Nurses’ Health Study in 1980. Over 26 years, 627 cases of endometrial cancer occurred among study participants.

The data showed that drinking four or more cups of coffee daily reduced risk of endometrial cancer by 25 percent compared to drinking less than a cup a day. The association held true for decaffeinated coffee, though the link was less robust — perhaps because only a tiny fraction of the women in the study reported drinking decaf. No association was found between drinking caffeinated tea and endometrial cancer risk.

Coffee is believed to alter the way estrogen and insulin, both of which influence our risk of chronic disease, work in our bodies.

The study notes that regular exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight are the best defenses against endometrial cancer. Still, adding coffee to the mix could potentially help keep women healthy. Unless, that is, they add cream and sugar to their coffee, in which case the added calories and fat might undo any good the coffee might offer, the authors suggest.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 11/28/2011

Watch Geminid meteor shower

2011-11-28T00:01:00.001-05:00

Message below from Jennifer Rowe, Secretary of the wonderful Astronomy Association of Jamaica - reminding us of the wonder of this vast Universe!

"Check this link:
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/ten-
tips-for-watching-the-geminid-meteor-shower

"The best time to watch December's 2011 Geminid meteor shower is from midnight to dawn, on December 14 and 15. You should also see meteors on nights before and after that.
"This year, however, a large waning gibbous moon
will wash out a good number of Geminids in 2011.
"Best direction to look? The meteors radiate from a point that's east in mid-evening – and overhead by 2 a.m. But, like all meteors in annual showers, they will appear in all parts of the sky."

Kind regards
Jean

Bob Marley -- A Celtic fan !!!

2011-11-25T14:47:00.001-05:00

Great information from Neville Hoo

Lisbon Lion Zion

APBob Marley and Brazil's Paulo Cesar

As they trail arch-rivals Rangers by ten points in the SPL, Celtic could really do with a shot [The Sheriff] in the arm and former Hoops striker John 'Dixie' Deans provided one this week when he revealed that Bob Marley was a huge Celtic fan and could even name all of the Lisbon Lions side that lifted the European Cup in 1967.

In his new autobiography, Deans, who scored 124 goals in 184 appearances for the [Bad] Bhoys, tells of a chance meeting with the Rastafarian reggae legend, who approached him during his time at Adelaide City in the late '70s and said: "Are you the Dixie Deans who used to play for Celtic?"

Marley went on to name all of Jock Stein's side that beat Inter Milan 2-1 at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon, adding: "I'm a big Celtic fan. I would love to go to Scotland to see Celtic Park and maybe even kick a few balls there. Celtic has always been my team."

Deans, who admits he didn't know who Marley was at the time, wrote: "I was greatly impressed by the great man's football knowledge. And when we got down to training, I was just as impressed by his football ability."

REMEMBERING THE BRAVE MIRABEL SISTERS

2011-11-25T14:12:00.001-05:00

The Mirabel Sisters

WHY WOMEN ACROSS THE WORLD COMMEMORATE NOVEMBER 25 AS
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Between the years 1940 to 1961, the Dominican Republic was subjected to a political regime under the leadership of President Trujillo that was as cruel as it was corrupt. During this period, a group calling itself the 14th June Resistance movement was formed, which was led by the militant Mirabel sisters, Minerva, Patricia and Maria Teresa. This organization was accused of plotting to overthrow the Trujillo regime, and as a result, the husbands of the three women, as well as Patricia’s son, were arrested.

The three sisters were eventually ambushed, tortured and raped. They were then placed in their jeep and pushed over a cliff in an unsuccessful attempt to make the murders appear accidental.

This incident took place on November 25th, 1960.

When women from Latin America and the Caribbean met in Bogota in 1981, they proposed that a day be set apart each year that would be recognized as an international protest against violence against women.

Minerva, Patricia and Maria Teresa Mirabel had never been forgotten; and so November 25th was chosen as the day when the world would be asked to remember them, and the countless other women and girls all over the world who have died as a result violence.
- Information courtesy of the Women's Bureau - Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture

Unite to End Violence Against Women

2011-11-25T14:03:00.000-05:00

THE BUREAU OF WOMEN'S AFFAIRS PRESENTS

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
(IDEVAW)

THEME: Unite to End Violence Against Women: Peace in the Home and in the Society

WEAR THE PURPLE RIBBON TO

COMMEMORATE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (IDEVAW) AND THE 16 DAYS OF
ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN.

Each year, NOVEMBER 25 IS OBSERVED AS INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR
THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (IDEVAW).

On this day, women and girls all over the world who are, or have been victims of
violence are remembered.

As a symbolic gesture to mark this year’s unique observation of IDEVAW and the
16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence Campaign, we kindly request that
you wear the purple ribbon throughout the 16 days of scheduled activities
beginning November 25 to December 10.

A Jamaican buzz in New York

2011-11-21T15:05:00.000-05:00

Former US ambassador to Jamaica Sue Cobb presented the AFJ International Humanitarian Award to Chaiman, Digicel Group Denis O’Brien.

Lester Spaulding, Mark Linehan and William Mahfood join in the festivities

JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN | Observer column | Monday, November 21, 2011

We had traffic delays in New York City last week as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests gathered momentum. Jamaicans should put politics aside when they examine the efforts of the current and previous administrations to ensure a higher level of fiscal responsibility after our own 90s meltdown.

Yes, there were those Ponzi schemes that attracted too many otherwise level-headed Jamaicans even as the Financial Services Commission published warnings and rolled out an ad campaign created by our firm, appealing to Jamaicans to "Think and check before you invest". One of the biggest challenges of the regulatory bodies was that some individuals with valuable airtime actually accused legitimate investors in the financial sector of not wanting to give "the little man" a break, an implied endorsement of unregistered financial organisations. We have yet to receive a public apology from them. Columnist John Maxwell had seen through these dissemblers and had been one of the first persons to express a strong caution - no wonder he is so greatly missed.

And so, we were encouraged to hear Denis O'Brien lauding the steps Jamaica had taken in recent years to address our fiscal crisis. "We could do with 10 or 20 Audley Shaws in Europe right now," he declared at the American Friends of Jamaica Gala in downtown Manhattan where he received their 2011 International Humanitarian Award, in the presence of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Mrs Holness.

O'Brien also praised Jamaica's Ambassador to the US Audrey Marks, expressing his delight that he was able to support her efforts to promote "good, high quality" foreign direct investment in Jamaica. Earlier this year Ambassador Marks had held an event in Washington DC, where O'Brien shared his positive Jamaican experience and invited top US business moguls to come on board.

Jamaica is extremely fortunate that the American Friends of Jamaica, led by former US Ambassador to Jamaica Sue Cobb, continue not only to fund our needy causes, but also make important business connections for us. The Board of the AFJ includes a Who's Who of diplomacy and business: honorary chairs Ambassadors Pamela Bridgewater and Audrey Marks, former Ambassadors to Jamaica J Gary Cooper, Glen Holden, Brenda Johnson, Stan McLelland and former Chargé d'Affaires Lacy Wright Jr, as well as the dynamic Monica Ladd and Dr Laura Tanna.

We also spoke with former USAID Mission Director Dr Karen Hilliard who disclosed that USAID would be supporting the Digicel Foundation's market upgrading by contributing to the restoration of the Queen's Market in downtown Kingston. Dr Hilliard has been one of the most active, knowledgeable supporters of local community policing and SME business development that we have ever met.

In replying to the AFJ's accolades, including videos lauding his contributions in Jamaica and Haiti from Prince Charles and Bill Clinton, Denis O'Brien affirmed his company's Jamaican roots: "We have taken Digicel and grown it into a Jamaican multinational with our global headquarters in Kingston. Our Jamaican managers are now scattered far and wide throughout the world and their talents have made a massive impact on our operations. Our ethos is to create a different, more responsible form of capitalism. That is why the Digicel Foundation is such an important part of what and who we are... We also have taken risks that hopefully will be seen to be the right thing for Jamaica, for instance, by moving our global headquarters to the vibrant downtown Kingston area and backing the government's plan for urban renewal."

Successful Jamaicans abroad

One of the high points of my visit was the opportunity to meet so many successful New York-based Jamaicans at the launch of my book. They have been making their mark in commerce and industry. It is coincidental that only last Monday the Observer editorial spoke of these fine Jamaicans, several of whom have been nominated for the Jamaica Observer Business Leader Diaspora Investor Award as "the most patriotic, hard-working, and law-abiding citizens. In many cases, they give back to this country beyond measure".

The editorial condemned "the vicious animosity of their fellow Jamaicans who subject returnees to many unpleasant acts, including robbery". We should condemn this abhorrent behaviour which the Observer believes is attributable to three factors.

"First is jealousy, the most pandemic of human emotions spawned by resentment that Jamaicans who lived and worked abroad come back economically better off...," the editorial stated. "There is, too, an entrenched feeling that with more Jamaicans returning home, the more people will have to share scarce resources like land... Then there is the misguided view that once a Jamaican goes abroad to live and/or work, he or she is somehow no longer a 'true' Jamaican. The departure is subconsciously viewed as an act of betrayal and the sojourn in foreign lands is assumed to contaminate them."

As we try to keep our heads above water, we had better guard our returning residents, willing to invest here, from predators and bad-mindedness. One of my colleagues says this extends to public servants who have actually responded to a legitimate request with, "So why you want any more convenience? You don't think you have enough already?" Oh yes, the line was open so my associate has witnesses!

The sad truth is that there is a remittance-barrel mentality among some folks - diligence was never taught nor productivity encouraged. Now that returnees have brought back their funds, hard-earned as they slogged through cold and ice, lazy louts are hovering dangerously. That tireless defender of returnees, Percival LaTouche, has some sad stories to tell about unsuspecting Jamaicans who have fulfilled their dream of returning to Jamaica to retire, only to experience the nightmare of these criminals.

The good news is that never before have we heard so much enlightened discussion around important national issues. Decent Jamaicans are standing up and being counted. Let us serve notice on all pretenders - we are finally taking charge of our country.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/A-Jamaican-buzz-in-New-York_10202314#ixzz1eN73MkxW

Electioneering, Jamaican-style

2011-11-14T13:24:00.000-05:00

FRESH FACES IN POLITICS

Paula Kerr-Jarrett, who will represent the JLP for the Eastern Hanover constituency

PNP's Dr Dayton Campbell, a medical doctor, who will contest the St Ann North West seat

JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN | Observer Column | Monday, November 14, 2011

Jamaica's multifaceted personality sparkles at election time. Oh yes, this is democracy grooving to a dancehall beat, bells and trumpets. In a single breathless day, there is an exciting panoply of sights and sounds, thanks to the omnipresent media. Let's take last Thursday. In the morning, we read that Dr St Aubyn Bartlett would be replaced by Dr Sapphire Longmore-Dropinski as the JLP candidate for the Eastern St Andrew constituency. By evening, we see Dr Bartlett on the news saying that his supporters do not want him to go, so he may be staying.

The Observer website has photos of the PNP motorcade in Portland, with a lot of orange-garbed folk protruding through windows. On television, we see KD Knight swaggering on the campaign trail like a Jamaican John Wayne.

We hear Danville Walker explaining on morning radio that he saw a transport deficit for the Central Manchester police and asked Stewart's to donate vehicles, whereupon MP for the area Peter Bunting sent up howls of protest. By evening, it is announced that the vehicles will go to the commissioner's office for his decision on where they would be assigned.

We enjoyed a refreshing interlude when three young, fresh-faced candidates spoke on Cliff Hughes' Impact about their resolve to make a difference. The luminous and energetic Paula Kerr-Jarrett, who will represent the JLP for the Eastern Hanover constituency, explained her belief that "to those that much is given, much is required". As a daughter of privilege, the attorney-at-law is not your typical politician, but she explained that service had always been a way of life as she grew up in a home where her parents Chris and Michelle Bovell were fine exemplars of patriotic philanthropy. She spoke about spending time "listening" to the people and reflecting on their positive attitude despite their humble circumstances.

The two young PNP candidates were also inspiring. Mechanical engineer Leonard Green, who will be vying for the Western St Thomas constituency, and Dr Dayton Campbell, a doctor, who will contest the St Ann North West seat are accomplished young men who had humble beginnings. They were both born in the constituencies for which they are running, and in recalling their personal struggles, want to give a hand up to the residents in their respective areas. Dr Campbell, who is only 28 years old, is now studying for a law degree.

On the news, we saw the brilliant Senator Marlene Malahoo-Forte announce her plans to serve Westmoreland, the parish of her birth. The former Mannings High School head girl is proving to be an energetic JLP campaigner for the Central Westmoreland seat. However, one should not underestimate the PNP's jovial candidate Roger Clarke.

The new candidates, PNP's Damion Crawford for West Rural St Andrew and JLP's Collin Virgo for South Manchester, also acquitted themselves well on CVM TV's Direct. Soon we will find out if the land of Bob Marley will embrace a Rastafarian representative. Like Dr Dayton Campbell, Virgo is only 28 years old.

Shakespeare must have witnessed our election cut and thrust to declare "all the world's a stage". On Thursday, Luther Buchanan, the PNP's member of parliament for Eastern Westmoreland, also planned to apologise publicly to JLP caretaker Don Foote for tearing his shirt in a fracas during the 2007 election campaign. Later in the day, the plot thickened as we were told that there was a demonstration against Mr Foote's representation by JLP supporters.

As we approach November 20, the second day of the JLP Annual Conference when we expect Election Day to be announced, we will be seeing much excitement and drama. Our prayers are with the brave members of the JCF as they work to keep the peace.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Electioneering--Jamaican-style_10148556#ixzz1dgvSmMYd

‘SOULDANCE’ LAUNCH IN NEW YORK THIS WEEK

2011-11-11T10:44:00.002-05:00

Guest of Honour Ambassador Audrey Marks

JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN LAUNCHES 'SOULDANCE' IN NEW YORK THIS WEEK

A wave of book lovers, tastemakers and literary luminaries are expected to show up on Wednesday evening at Ruder Finn in midtown Manhattan's East Side for the New York book launch of Jean Lowrie-Chin's Souldance, a collection of poems and writings.

"Souldance is a lavish, well-seasoned buffet of some of the most tantalizing writings coming out of Jamaica presently", author and Olympian Devon Harris gushed. "This short and sweet literary feast explores the subtle sensibilities that make up the very complex tapestry called Jamaica", he continued.

Lowrie-Chin is a gifted writer with a perceptive eye for detail. Her early rural and urban experiences have enabled her to soulfully and skillfully dance through over thirty years of an enduring love affair with Jamaica. Sometimes her lexicon takes on the flavor of rock steady and at other times it embraces a rhythm of reggae.

In her epic poem Yu See Mi? she explodes with the unabashed poignancy of dancehall. Souldance is a delightful and delicious read as it journeys through Jamaica from coast to coast, sometimes making crucial stops to pay homage to outstanding Jamaicans like Miss Lou, Usain Bolt and Jessie Ripoll.

Wednesday's launch is being hosted by Gail L Moaney, executive vice president, Travel & Economic Development, Ruder Finn Inc. Guest of Honor is Jamaica's ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency the Hon. Audrey Marks. Other high profile Jamaican guests visiting New York during the week are also expected to attend the event.

Jean Lowrie Chin will kick off a reading session at the launch and she will be ably assisted by Jamaican actor and playwright David Heron who has just returned to New York from a California TV commercial shoot. A press day for Lowrie-Chin will follow on Saturday when she will have the opportunity to tell Jamaican residents in several US cities about her book.

Souldance is carried by Ian Randle Publishers and the book is available at leading book stores as well as at amazon.com. The launch is being executed by Dave Rodney and Anthony Turner of Images Media LLC in association with Rhum Barbancourt.

Contact:

Dave Rodney, (212) 767-9000 or diademata@aol.com

Anthony Turner, (845) 206-5906 or anthonyhturner@gmail.com

Howard Aris - our family Hero

2011-11-11T10:06:00.002-05:00

Howard Aris celebrates Usain Bolt's first World Record in May 2008 - l-r Howard Aris, Yvonne Wilks, Paula Pinnock-MacLeod, Usain Bolt and yours truly.

Howard Aris, our family hero

We are deeply saddened at the death of that fine Jamaican, Howard Aris, who passed away suddenly while travelling with the PNP campaign in Portland yesterday.

For our family, Howard Aris is a hero. When we were children, he volunteered to take my wheelchair-bound Dad for physiotherapy at his Tangerine Place office. Mr Aris would drive to our home, collect my Dad, take him for therapy and drive him back home, refusing to charge extra. His expert care added many more years to our father’s life, enabling him to continue his accounting practice at home. We mourn with his beloved wife Sandra, other members of his family and the sporting fraternity that he served so well.

No US restrictions on Jamaican food exports

2011-11-10T14:32:00.001-05:00

Kingston, Thursday, November 10, 2011: The U.S. Embassy in Kingston confirms previous media reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has placed no restrictions on Jamaican food producers who wish to export to the U.S. In a press release yesterday, the PNP reported that temporary bans had been imposed on some Jamaican food processors after they were inspected by the FDA.

The FDA inspection the PNP referenced was a routine check of agricultural products' production and processing, and was coordinated through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Jamaica, the Bureau of Standards of Jamaica, and the exporters themselves. Such inspections assist Jamaican exporters by assuring that the FDA's standards are met, and that Jamaican goods will be eligible for importation and sale in the United States. FDA inspection is a service provided at no charge to either the Government of Jamaica, or Jamaican exporters.

Citing concerns about the mischaracterization of the FDA inspector's visit, the agency decided to suspend the assessment having completed only one of four scheduled inspections of Jamaican food processors. The FDA will determine if and when the remaining three companies will be rescheduled for inspection.

The Public Affairs Section

United States Embassy - Kingston

142 Old Hope Road, Kgn. 6

Tel: 702-6161; Fax: 702-6348

E-mail: kingstonpress@state.gov

Good living creates employment

2011-11-08T11:22:00.000-05:00

Businesses like this generate employment. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

BY JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN | Observer Column | Monday, November 07, 2011

WE read where a commentator reflected on the cost of a fancy dinner, the plight of the poor and in the end opted for a couple of patties. It all sounds very admirable until you realise that in his figuring, he said he would have given the waiter a $1,200 tip. That $1,200 tip would have probably given the waiter's children bus fare and lunch money for the next day.

It makes us stop and think about events like Caterers' and Restaurant Week. The cynic may flip through the pages of delicious offerings and dismiss them as fluff, but businesses like these generate many thousands of jobs across Jamaica.

How will this economy keep going if we don't keep employers in business? Of course, we shouldn't spend what we don't have, but passing on a few dollars in a store or at a restaurant is like giving way in bad traffic — keep the flow going, keep the stress at bay.

This current political campaigning is like a second Christmas for non-garrison communities — yet another argument against garrisonisation. Wake the garrisons and tell the people — let the politicians court you, not cow you! Let them buy you T-shirts, caps, lunches, dinners and drinks. Let them fix those disgraceful roads and tear down the zinc fences, creating work in the communities. Elections may not pass this way for a very long time again, so "make hay while the sun shines".

Seriously, the gap between rich and poor is getting ridiculous. We have to ignore those minimum wage guidelines and make up our minds to pay our workers properly so they can afford even the transportation to get to work. We have to ensure that our helpers receive proper meals when they are on the job, because Lord knows what awaits them when they get home. The adage that "Charity begins at home" has new meaning now — we have to save the dignity of our sisters. Make sure that what you are offering is a job, not "a work".

Even if you can't create a job, look out for our up-and-coming entrepreneurs. It is heart-warming to see teens now sporting Bridget's sandals. Bridget Brown is a creative Jamaican lady who sent herself to Italy to learn the basics of shoemaking, and has been producing stylish sandals for over 20 years, now supplying a second generation of Jamaican women.

My friend Jan Young Sang is so proud of a friend's Solomon Gundy that she buys lots of bottles as gifts. But that budding entrepreneur has been facing roadblocks. She was encouraged by her admirers to do proper labelling and market her product to the stores. She did so and has been waiting in vain over many months for word on the label from the authorities. Why are we so hard on each other?

We know that buying online is on the rise, but Jamaica is where we live, and this is the economy that needs every dollar we may have to spend. We hope the bureaucrats will simplify their approval processes — supporting local businesses means more jobs. We have great role models. Digicel CEO Mark Linehan commented at a World Project Management Day event on Thursday: "A sense of urgency underpins our strategy. We are constantly seeking ways to challenge ourselves." We need to feel this sense of urgency in the public, as well as the private sector.

COMMENTS
Kwame Gordon-Martin
11/7/2011
Every politician knows that our government is too bureacratic, that too many procedures are triplicated to keep too many employed, that it's a drain on resources and a waste, that if we are more efficient in service delivery we could modernise our government without increasing spending, etc, etc, etc. Yet no one does anything about it, EVER! When these things change you will know that we have elected serious people instead of the children we have now scurrying about on either side.
Ruby Shim
11/7/2011
One of the ways we can increase employment is to support our local industries. Whenever I do my supermarket shopping I always ensure that the products I purchase are locally grown/manufactured. Furthermore, the foods we import are not as flavourful as our home grown produce. I have had visitors from abroad tell me this fact so many times, so why are we buying foreign fruits and vegetables when we go shopping.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Good-living-creates-employment_10096278#ixzz1d8CXexoN

Kronik now at World #2

2011-11-05T19:20:00.000-05:00

‪
Message from Peter Brooks - Father and Manager of STGC Old Boy Kronik:

Thanks for everyone that has been voting for KroniK's "Shake It" on the Music World Radio Top 20 Chart for the past few weeks. Through your help the song has risen to # 2in the charts. We have done well so far by garnering in excess of 45,000 votes this week. We still need your help. Ensure that you vote right now by visiting http://www.topchoons.com/vote.htmland casting your vote for a fellow Georgian (Class of 2007) and my son. We also need your further help by asking you to forward this mail to as many people as you can this week so we can make a major push to get the approximately 60000 votes we need in a week to get to #1. Please remember each person only has 1 vote each week so we need it spread to as many people as we can. Not only will this be of great assistance to the artiste but it will be a great accomplishment for Jamaica, as it will be historic for a dancehall song to top one of the most diverse charts in the world . You can check out the video for the song on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emn7nuz1NRg&feature=channel_video_title to see what you are voting for or check out his blog address at www.kronikmuzik.blogspot.com to learn more about him. It literally takes seconds to vote but the impact can be far reaching. Thanks for your continued help.

Kind regards
Jean

Unlocking garrisons to end a national disgrace

2011-11-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

BY JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN | Observer Column | Monday, October 31, 2011

DURING the years that my widowed mother was a small shopkeeper in Savanna-la-mar, she would lend tables and lamps to both political representatives to hold their meetings by the fountain in front of the courthouse. Once, a disgruntled party faithful demanded to know why she helped out the other side and she replied, “You all buy at my shop: I can't support one and not the other.” They laughed it off, and all was well. Perhaps in another time or place, her shop would not have seen morning!

This is why we were heartened when Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared in his inaugural address, “It is time to end garrison politics… It is important that people living in these areas get to see other political representatives without the objection of enforcers. Let us start the process by getting the leaders to walk together in these areas of exclusion.”

Mr Holness wisely observed, “It is not only that the rest of Jamaica is locked out of these communities; I am concerned that the residents of these closed communities are locked off from the rest of Jamaica… Criminals must never be seen by the community as protectors. Once there is this integrated and shared national vision, garrisons will no longer be havens for criminals.”

Indeed, we must address the lukewarm response from young professionals to voter registration – they are disillusioned by this national disgrace of garrison politics. The PM referred to them as “casualties to the politics of exclusion”. Women in particular are intimidated by this kind of politics, and we have heard enough to know that sometimes those who venture out are given some of the most challenging constituencies that place them between “a rock and a hard place”. We will never forget that discussion at the Rose Leon Lecture Series when Olivia “Babsy” Grange and Jennifer Edwards (on behalf of Portia Simpson Miller) spoke of the abject conditions of their constituents and their uphill battles.

I surprised a group recently when I appealed to them to “find a politician to love”. I explained that there were indeed good, earnest Jamaicans who had entered politics and who were being demoralised by the negative labels we pin on them. If we try to identify and support them, we would send a strong signal to their negative counterparts.

Last Thursday, we saw the dance of democracy at its most attractive as private and public sector leaders gathered to induct visionary entrepreneur Lascelles Chin into the PSOJ Hall of Fame. PM Andrew Holness was cordial and dignified as he greeted captains of industry led by PSOJ President Joseph M Matalon, also a relatively young leader. Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller embraced guests, while Minister Mike Henry, Minister Ruddy Spencer, Mayor Desmond McKenzie and Opposition MP Peter Phillips enjoyed animated conversations.

As the programme unfolded, we heard GraceKennedy CEO Don Wehby introducing a video presentation on Lasco founder and chairman Lascelles Chin. The PSOJ fosters close collaboration among business competitors as they work to advance the cause of free enterprise in Jamaica.

Realising that business cannot flourish in a troubled society, they have launched the “YUTE” Programme to mentor and guide our young people from inner-city communities.

When it comes to national issues, our business leaders have no difficulty in getting together to tackle them. This is the level of leadership which we should require from the two major political parties. The Partnership for Progress, which has been renamed the Partnership for Transformation (PFT), requires that both political parties join hands with major national stakeholders in business, labour and civil society for Jamaica's advancement. This seven-year effort has been stalled by “cute” politics – we must not allow this to happen again. No wonder productivity remains low while unemployment is skyrocketing!

I have been having interesting discussions with friends from either side of the political fence. They are well-meaning, but some are so fanatical that they are convinced they have the patent on our solutions. Come on now, time to unload the tribalist baggage. We enjoy the colourful chat – “loader man” did not faze us – but when it moves from banter to vitriol, remember the communities you leave to digest your messages, after you have packed up your handsome SUV and headed out. Did you leave behind thugs with cynical instructions? Did you sow discord that will split families asunder?

No true Jamaican can wish ill on an individual, family or community, in their quest for political power. That is not the dance of democracy: it is the dance of death.

We want to hear our politicians encouraging their followers to seize the day, rather than each other's democratic right. In reminding Jamaicans of their own power, we create a more governable society. Let us support those leaders who are stirring ambition in our people, versus those who are stoking division.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Unlocking-garrisons-to-end-a-national-disgrace#ixzz1cSopiJPN

COMMENTS (7)
Nejeeper KNG
10/31/2011
@PL saying that you are neither with nor against the Security Force is illogical. Your explanation of a garrison is someone who is in denial. Statements like “The problem is not of such political, it’s more a social and economic problem” is laughable. Garrisons are enforced by area leaders/dons who will kill in their effort to control who people in the constituency votes for. I grew up in KGN 11, this is 1st hand account. Social and economic issues are a problem but it didn't create garrisons.
Nejeeper KNG
10/31/2011
@PL BOGLE I grew up in Olympic Gardens; I remember when Keith 'Trinity' Gardner use to put on his full black suit. I know what police brutality is. Police brutality is an unfortunate state of affairs that affects countries worldwide not just JA that is why countries like Canada and the US has “Internal Affairs.” PL I cannot be against the police they need our support. I hope you are not condoning criminality and I hope that you will report crime for peace’s sake and our children’s sake.
PL BOGLE
10/31/2011
@Nejeeper KNG. "PL BOGLE are you with or against the security force?" Neither! I'm with equal rights and justice. My friend I grew up in Olympic Gardens the same community that Mr. Holness is asking Portia Simpson Miller to walk with. So I’m speaking from personal experience. The problem is not of such political, it’s more a social and economic problem, if not addressed from the root cause, and then all efforts will be useless. Inequality and injustice that's embedded in the system is the root cause of garrison communities. Every man woman and child that’s living in these communities is exploited because of their social and economic status, by politicians, the security force and criminal elements.
Chipmunk L.
10/31/2011
Great article!
Now is the time for Politicians to walk the walk in cleansing the Island of dirty folly-tricks and practice clean politics. Jamaicans are ready for positive actions which will change the dynamics within the Country.
The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition needs to clarify their goals for the betterment of life in Jamaica and whichever member does not want to toe the line should be booted out regardless of tenure or perceived clout.
Jamaica first ! Now and always.
Ruby Shim
10/31/2011
It's obvious that some of our politicians do not want an end to garrisons - this is how they retain their seats in the house of parliament. They dont want to educate the people in these constituencies for fear that they might wise up to them and vote them out. Why wont the Opposition leader walk with the Prime Minister to demonstrate her willingness to end this garrison type politics.
Luv Quest
10/31/2011
This article is so true. I'm surprise at the lack of comments to this emergency.
Nejeeper KNG
10/31/2011
@Jean Lowrie-Chin thank you so much for this article, the title is a national emergency. There is an article today “we must do better on selecting party candidates.” The thing is in a garrison constituency electorates are not given the choice to evaluate a candidate’s ideology/policies and make a choice. The choice is made for them by area dons. Where is the legitimacy in our political system? Some of us are so accustom to this tribal politics that we accept this backwardness as the norm.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Unlocking-garrisons-to-end-a-national-disgrace#ixzz1cSovtLao

Coconut Oil helps Alzheimer's patients!

2011-10-29T11:35:00.002-05:00

Important message from Neville 'Gladdy' Hoo: How worried should drug companies be about supplements eating into their monopoly profits? A lot, as this story will show. Please share it with anyone you know who is suffering from Alzheimer's or is worried about it.

Of course, just about everyone worries about Alzheimer's. It currently
afflicts 5.2 million people in the US and is the seventh leading cause of death. The cost of treating it is estimated at $148 billion. Mary Newport, MD, has been medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Florida since it opened in 2003.

About the same time the unit opened, her husband Steve, then 53, began
showing signs of progressive dementia, later diagnosed as Alzheimer's
Disease. Many days, often for several days in a row, he was in a fog; couldn't find a spoon or remember how to get water out of the refrigerator, she said.

They started him on Alzheimer's drugs--Aricept, Namenda, Exelon--but his
disease worsened steadily. (It should be noted that the latest research
shows that the various Alzheimer's drugs, like Aricept, have proven
disappointing, with little real benefit and often distressing side effects.) When Dr. Newport couldn't get her husband into a drug trial for a new Alzheimer's medication, she started researching the mechanism behind Alzheimer's. She discovered that with Alzheimer's disease, certain brain cells may have difficulty utilizing glucose (made from the carbohydrates we
eat), the brain's principal source of energy. Without fuel, these precious
neurons may begin to die. There is an alternative energy source for brain
cell fats known as ketones. If deprived of carbohydrates, the body produces ketones naturally.
But this is the hard way to do it; who wants to cut carbohydrates out of
the diet completely? Another way to produce ketones is by consuming oils that have medium-chain triglycerides. When MCT oil is digested, the liver
converts it into ketones. In the first few weeks of life, ketones provide about 25 percent of the energy newborn babies need to survive.

Dr. Newport learned that the ingredient in the drug trial which was showing
so much promise was simply MCT oil derived from coconut oil or palm kernel
oil, and that a dose of 20 grams (about 20 ml or 4 teaspoons) was used to
produce these results. When MCT oil is metabolized, the ketones which the body creates may, according to the latest research, not only protect against the incidence of Alzheimer's, but may actually reverse it. Moreover, this is also a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease,Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), drug-resistant epilepsy, brittle type I diabetes, and type II (insulin-resistant) diabetes.

So Mr. Newport, not being able to get into the drug trial, started taking
the coconut oil twice a day. At this point, he could barely remember how to
draw a clock. Two weeks after adding coconut oil to his diet, his drawing
improved.

After 37 days, Steve's drawing gained even more clarity. The oil seemed to lift the fog, and in the first sixty days, Dr. Newport saw remarkable changes in him: every morning he was alert and happy, talkative, making jokes. His gait was still a little weird, but his tremor was no longer very noticeable. He was able to concentrate on things that he wanted to do around the house and in the yard and stay on task, whereas before coconut oil he was easily distracted and rarely accomplished anything unless he was directly supervised.

Over the next year, the dementia continued to reverse itself: he is able to
run again, his reading comprehension has improved dramatically, and his short-term memory is improving; he often brings up events that happened
days to weeks earlier and relays telephone conversations with accurate
detail. A recent MRI shows that the brain atrophy has been completely
halted.

Let's take a moment to consider what actually happened here. Synthetic
(patentable) Alzheimer's drugs have failed. A drug company reluctantly
decides to put a non-patentable natural substance (medium-chain
triglycerides derived from coconut or palm) through an FDA trial. It works.
But, darn it, a smart doctor figures out that a natural food can be substituted for the super-expensive drug.

Not only that, the ketones from natural coconut oil last in the body longer than the drug version--eight hours instead of three hours. This is enough to make a drug company start worrying about its future. What if this natural health idea really catches on? Goodbye to monopoly profits!

Coconut oil can be found in many health food stores and even some grocery
stores. One large US chain sells a non-hydrogenated (no trans-fat) brand of
coconut oil in a one-liter size (nearly 32 ounces) for about US$7.

It can be purchased in quantities as small as a pint and up to five gallons online. It is important to use coconut oil that is non-hydrogenated and contains no trans-fat. We would also strongly encourage the use of virgin oil (chemicals used to extract non-virgin oil are potentially dangerous, and better still, virgin organic, still quite reasonably priced.)

For more information, see Dr. Newport's website. Sadly, you will not find any information on ketones, or the use of coconut oil or MCT oil, on the Alzheimer's Association website.

Coconut oil is not the only natural product that has the potential to turn Alzheimer's around. We will cover some other ones, and drug industry efforts to steal some of them, in a future issue.

http://www.coconutketones.com/biography.html‪

NB - Coconut oil is widely available in Jamaica's shops and supermarkets.

‬

Jamaica will miss USAID's Dr Karen Hilliard

2011-10-28T14:59:00.000-05:00

Dr Karen Hilliard - our loss is Mongolia's gain

Dr Karen Hilliard could have chosen to direct the USAID Mission in Jamaica over the past four years from her comfortable office. However, her passion for Jamaica’s development sent her into remote areas of the country, actively supporting projects in health, agriculture, education and governance. Never one for cliché-laden speeches, she gave engaged commentary and advice on a myriad of subjects.

At a farewell event for her, then PM Bruce Golding remarked on her deep concern for our needs, as she sometimes appeared to be “Jamaica’s ambassador to the USAID”. Dr Hilliard combined diplomacy with refreshing pragmatism. Our loss will be Mongolia’s gain and we wish her a fulfilling tour of duty there, and many future visits to this land – we will never forget those extra miles she travelled with so many of us. If only we could love ourselves as much as our international friends love us. Thank you, Dr Hilliard!

Crawford, Grace and Staff get Gleaner thumbs up

2011-10-27T15:49:00.000-05:00

We honour you! Gleaner Honour awardees Vivian Crawford (left), executive director of the Institute of Jamaica, who received the award for arts and culture, and James Moss-Solomon (right), chairman of the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation which received for voluntary service, pose with (at back from left) Frances Madden, general manager, Grace and Staff; Douglas Orane,GraceKennedy Chairman; Christopher Barnes, Gleaner Co Managing Director, Elon Beckford of the Selection C'tee, and GK Guidance Counsellor Curtis Sweeney.

Vivian Crawford and members of the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation joined The Gleaner at the newspaper's North Street, Kingston, office yesterday to accept their 2011 Honour awards for outstanding service to Jamaica.

Crawford was honoured in the category of arts and culture for his role in the preservation and promotion of Jamaica's indigenous cultural expressions.

Grace and Staff earned the award for voluntary service, for its support of community development and the care of the less fortunate.

Crawford, during a luncheon at North Street, was all smiles in accepting his award.

"This is generosity at its highest. Christmas in October," he beamed.

"I must express my everlasting gratitude and thanks to The Gleaner Company for this never-to-be forgotten award. May you grow and grow from strength to strength. I know that your continuity to nation building will be of immense benefit to Jamaica."

Crawford, who has been the executive director of the Institute of Jamaica for the past 11 years, is a leading expert on Jamaican culture.

Accepting on behalf of Grace and Staff, chairman James Moss-Solomon thanked the directors of The Gleaner and the selection committee for considering his foundation worthy of such an honour.

"We are extremely grateful on behalf of the many thousands of staff members of GraceKennedy who for the last 32 years have contributed voluntarily from their salaries to make this foundation a success," noted Moss-Solomon.

Transforming the inner city

Through staff donations matched by the company and support from external organisations, Grace and Staff has transformed the lives of more than 2,000 students from inner-city communities who needed an opportunity to realise their dreams. Additionally, the foundation is involved in a number of social and economic transformation projects in inner-city communities bordering the company's offices.

Since 1979, The Gleaner Honour Awards has been recognising the initiative, accomplishment and courage of individuals or organisations that have contributed significantly to improving quality of life in Jamaica, whether in arts and culture, public service, sports, education, science and technology, health and wellness, entertainment, voluntary service or business. The Man of the Year is also selected during a gala luncheon.

Karin Cooper, The Gleaner's business development and marketing manager, said this year 151 nominations were received and, on October 6, the selection committee awarded a nominee from each category, except education.

"Today we honour stalwarts in these two areas of endeavour through our 2011 awards. These recipients have joined a long list of distinguished persons and organisations whose achievements have been recognised through this programme," stated Cooper.

JAMAICA'S NEW CABINET

2011-10-26T11:21:00.000-05:00

Prime Minister Andrew Holness (centre front row) with members of his Cabinet (in front from left) Robert Montague, Olivia Grange, Dr Ken Baugh, Shahine Robinson, Audley Shaw, and Pearnel Charles. In second row (from left): Dr Horace Chang, Clive Mullings, Ed Bartlett, Arthur Williams, Delroy Chuck, Mike Henry, Rudyard Spencer, Dr Christopher Tufton, Daryl Vaz, and Dwight Nelson.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/The-PM-s-deck_10017398#ixzz1buBvMn1m

Memorable Quote from PM Holness' Inaugural Address

2011-10-24T11:50:00.000-05:00

"I want you to understand that the sum total of our potential exceeds our problems; that our collective capabilities are greater than our challenges but it is only through participation that these capabilities and this potential can be seized, harnessed and realized for the good of Jamaica. I know we can do it. I know we can practice a better politics. I know that a better politics which allows broad participation and honest conversation with the electorate will lead to better more sustainable policies to manage our economy and create jobs and opportunities. This is how we create a better Jamaican. Better politics, better policies, better people.

"I know the days ahead will not all be easy. I have found comfort in some words accredited to Mother Teresa. It reflects how I have always lived my life, sums up how I intend to conduct myself in this office.

'Paradoxical Commandments
People are sometimes unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, no doubt you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.'

"I pledge to give my best, and with faithful prayers and hard work we will succeed. May God bless you and may God bless Jamaica."

Tony Deyal 'contemplays' Trini PM's shoe option

2011-10-22T12:57:00.002-05:00

Jamaica Gleaner Online | 22 October 2011

Tony Deyal, Contributor

The previous Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) prime minister (PM), Patrick Manning, had a faith healer who was his closest confidante. The present PM, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has turned into a feet heeler. In the middle of an International Food Festival held two weeks ago at the poolside of the Trinidad Hilton, the prime minister called on women to start wearing "flats instead of heels".

Maybe they served sole food at the festival and she had too much of it, but whatever the reason, the PM provided a non-sequitur that seemed to be her idea of food for thought. According to a media report, the PM, while "showing off her own bejewelled slippers", boasted, "The people around me are saying I'm going to set a new fashion trend. So, ladies, check my feet! I'm going flat because it's healthier and I'm getting a lot of jokes about it because I would normally wear heels, but God is great, my toes are open and my shoes are flat ... . So it's a new fashion trend. Let's try it throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Ladies, I'm sure you'll feel far more comfortable splashing around in flats instead of heels, so be more comfortable and enjoy it!"

While some of my Trini friends came up with old jokes about open-toed women, I prefer to wonder whether the PM's advice would fall flat or would women say to heel with her? First, let's look at the age-old symbiosis of women and shoes. Most men have at most three pairs of shoes - one black, one brown and one sneaker. We don't understand, and I have always wondered, "What's this with women and shoes?"

Footwear sales up

According to Cosmo, "While sales of most things have plummeted thanks to the recession, footwear sales have gone up compared to the same period last year." Cosmo continues, "Buying a pair of shoes has always had near-supernatural effects - like instantly updating an outfit from last year or just making you feel hotter than hell - but that doesn't fully explain how footwear is beating the odds in sales. Trust science to have the answer: Turns out, we've always been wired for shoe lust, even when the going gets tough."

Cosmo quotes Martin Lindstrom, a branding expert for Fortune 100 companies and author of 'Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy'. His view is that when you try on or buy any kind of apparel, your mood is boosted. He explains, "The neurotransmitter dopamine is released, providing a feel-good high, similar to taking a drug. The dopamine increases until you swipe your debit card." Usually, the high then flatlines, and guilt starts creeping in ... except, that is, when the item you're purchasing is a pair of shoes. Lindstrom believes that shoppers rationalise shoes as a practical buy - something they can wear multiple times a week - so they hold on to that pleasurable feeling longer. The research also shows that with high heels you get an extra lift.

However, it's not just dopamine at work. Lindstrom says that the mood-altering traits of shoes also come from another brain reaction. Buying new footwear stimulates an area of the brain's prefrontal cortex termed the collecting spot. According to the Daily Mail, "The average woman owns 20 pairs of shoes and more than half of them - worth around £400 in total - are never worn, sitting in the wardrobe waiting for the right occasion, which never comes." Suzanne Ferriss, PhD, editor of 'Footnotes: On Shoes', maintains, "Shoes are a collector's item, whether women realise they perceive them that way or not. Just think of how they're often stored artfully on shoe trees and shelves. They're like sculptures." As a result, collecting each type provides a mini-adrenaline rush similar to the satisfaction a stamp collector gets when he acquires a rare find. In that sense, Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, might have been excessive but far from unusual. Instead of a case of the 'blahs', when depressed she got Blahniks.

So where do high heels fit in and why are they getting even higher? It is not just all pumps and circumstance. The research shows that it would take a much higher power than the T&T PM to get women to give up their heels for flats. It seems that it is biology, and not advertising at work. Cosmo quote Helen Fisher, PhD, an anthropology professor at Rutgers University, "Like most animals, we're wired to associate height with power. High heels can literally raise your status because you're taller when you wear them."

'Measure of class'

Dr Fisher says the heels carry historical significance as well, adding to their appeal. In previous centuries, only the wealthy wore high heels - everyone else had practical footwear to do manual labour. "Shoes were a measure of class," says Fisher, "and we still have a bit of that mindset ingrained in us."

The real deal of the high-heel appeal comes down, like everything else, to sex. Dr Fisher says that when a woman wears stilettos, she assumes a primal mating pose called 'lordosis'. "Her butt lifts and her back arches," Fisher insists. The sex angle is also reinforced by Dr Daniel Amen, author of The Brain in Love. He says that our minds are structured in a way that may associate feet with sex. "The area of the brain that communicates with the genitals is right next to the area that deals with the feet," says Dr Amen. "These regions share neural crosstalk, which may be why shoes can be erotic." It is possible, with advancing age, the crosstalk becomes muted, but Marian Keyes, author of The Brightest Star In The Sky, is certainly one person who hears it loud and clear. She flatly refuses to wear anything but high heels. "I never wear flats," she stoutly maintains. "My shoes are so high that sometimes when I step out of them, people look around in confusion and ask, "Where'd she go?" and I have to say, "I'm down here."

Psychiatrists now talk about 'Shoe Obsession Disorder' (SOD). That means that if anyone, be it PM, prince or pauper, goes to someone with that condition and tells her to wear flats, her natural response would not be "Shoe!" but "SOD off"

Tony Deyal was last seen writing a footnote to his shoe column. He says that Christian Louboutin's shoes make him see red, he loves the sound of Jimmy Choo's shoes, and he could whisper "Ferragamo, Ferragamo" all night long.

Out of brokenness - more beauty!

2011-10-19T14:40:00.001-05:00

I broke my jade bangle - a treasured gift from my Mother-in-Law. I took the pieces to a jeweller - and look what he made!

Out of brokenness comes beauty - if we just keep the faith!

Madame Rose Leon Centenary

2011-10-19T09:15:00.002-05:00

This Thursday, October 20, 2011 is the Centenary of the birth of an extraordinary Jamaican woman, Madame Rose Agatha Leon, the first woman Minister of Government and the only politician to have held a post in the Cabinet of both JLP and PNP governments.

Rose Agatha Leon was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 20th October 1911, the daughter of Dr. R.J. Huie and Mrs Huie.

She was educated at Central Branch School, Wolmer's High School for Girls, and the Abyssinian School of Cosmetic Chemistry.

Before entering the political arena, Madame Rose and her husband, Arthur Alexander Leon established a manufacturing company, Leon's Beauty Products in 1939, and later the decades old Leon's School of Beauty.

She joined the Jamaica Labour Party in 1944 and was elected Chairman of the Party in 1948.

Madame Rose was an ardent party activist and fundraiser, even seconding her own staff members to support the JLP's office and purchasing furniture from her own pocket.

The late Lady Bustamante said of her, "No one in either the JLP or the PNP has been able to match the length or quality of her service for 12 years [as chairman of the party]."

After winning the Western St Andrew seat for the JLP in the 1949 general elections, Madame began eight distinctive years of service as a Member of Parliament.

After the Ministerial system was established in the Jamaican Constitution in 1953, she was appointed Minister of Health and Housing.

In 1960, Madame Rose left the JLP, but was unsuccessful in running as an independent candidate.

In 1967, she was invited to join the PNP by Rt Hon. Norman Manley, winning a seat in the Local Government election in 1969.

She served as Chairman of the KSAC Roads and Works Committee from 1969 to 1972, and as Deputy Mayor of the KSAC in 1971.

In 1972, Madame Rose regained the West Rural St Andrew seat for the PNP and was appointed Minister of Local Government.

She lost the seat in 1976 to Dr Mavis Gilmour and was appointed Special Advisor to the Minister of Social Security until her retirement from active politics in 1980.

This allowed the manufacturing dynamo to expand her businesses and dedicate herself to the cause of local manufacturing and women's causes.

She was a founding member of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association, serving as its President in 1967.

She became one of their longest serving Board members and was made a Life Member in 1993.

She was also a founding member of the enduring Jamaica Federation of Women, along with Lady Huggins and Mrs Mary Morris Knibb.

Madame Rose was a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother and mentored hundreds of young students who became successful business owners in Jamaica's burgeoning beauty industry.

Her daughter, Mrs Gloria Millwood succeeded her as head of the manufacturing and training businesses and her grand-daughter Dr Gisele Leon-Ritch is a well-known authority on nutrition and wellness.

Among Madame Rose Leon's many awards are the National Honour of the Order of Distinction – Commander Class, the Woman of Distinction Award from the Bureau of Women's Affairs in 1985 at the end of the UN Decade for Women, and Special Awardee as one of the country's longest serving Justices of the Peace.

Madame Rose was also honoured by:

- New York Mayor John V Lindsay with the Keys to the City of New York in 1971- Rt Hon Lord Mais, Lord Mayor of London with the City of London Medal in 1973- The Bustamante Institute for her outstanding contribution to Caribbean and the field of politics, as the first woman Minister of Government in Jamaica- The St Andrew Business and Professional Women's Club in1989, in recognition of Distinguished Public Service and Leadership- The KSAC in 1999 –75th Anniversary Award posthumously – for Long and Dedicated Service.

Madame Rose Leon lived her motto: "Hard work as a way to achievement: envy no one."

The Jamaica Women's Political Caucus launched the Rose Leon Memorial Lecture Series in 2002.

At the Inaugural Lecture, Hon Dudley Thompson described her as "a people's politician".

"Always uppermost in her mind and actions were the underclass, the underprivileged in our society," said Ambassador Thompson.

"She had sincere and genuine compassion for them and they in turn replied with an effusion of popular love."

In reflecting on her accomplishments, the Ambassador said, "She sent a clear signal that the women of Jamaica were ready and that the woman's place is not only at home, but in the forefront of national development."

He recalled her service as Minister of Housing and Health during the regional epidemic of poliomyelitis: "Madame Rose …threw herself into the task and rallied the entire Health Department behind her.

She visited every trouble spot and eventually saved this country from this dreadful affliction.

This and much more of her work is not as well known as it should be."

Madame Rose lost her life tragically in a robbery at her St Andrew home in 1999. Her work continues to inspire Jamaican women in politics and business, who in recalling her phenomenal achievements are convinced, in the words of Mohandas Gandhi: "If the qualities of gentleness, compassion, tolerance and peace are the standards by which we judge mankind, then surely it is a libel to describe women as being the weaker sex."

To mark The Centenary of the Birth of Madame Rose Leon, there will be a Wreath-Laying ceremony at her grave at the Dovecot Memorial Park this Thursday, October 20 at 2.30 pm.

Wreaths will be laid by The Leon Family, Lay Magistrates Assn of Jamaica, Leon's School of Beauty and the Rose Leon Trust for the Jamaica Women's Political Caucus.

Sources:

Tribute to Madame Rose Leon by UWI Lecturer Hermione McKenzie – March 4, 2002

Rose Leon Inaugural Memorial Lecture by Ambassador Hon Dudley Thompson – 2002

Prepared on behalf of the Members of the Rose Leon Memorial Trust for the Jamaica Women's Political Caucus:

Mrs. Evelyn Smart, Chair
Mrs. Gloria Alvaranga
Mrs. Joan Browne

Mrs. Merline Daley, O.D.

Dr. Lisa Lawrence

Dr. Gisele Leon-Ritch

Mrs. Jean Lowrie-Chin

Mrs. Hermione McKenzie

Mrs. Gloria Millwood

Dr. Louise Spencer-Strachan

Miss Marie Thompson
____________________________

Contact:

Jean Lowrie-Chin/Angela Foote – PROComm – 926-6740

Date : 18 October 2011

STGC Remembers Mr. Carl Anthony Chang

2011-10-12T13:26:00.001-05:00

Message from Lloyd Tenn

It is with regret that we announce the sudden passing of our own Carl Anthony Chang this morning. He was 67 years old.

He apparently was not feeling well last night, complaining of feeling nauseous. This morning, he was at home,in the company of his workers, when he collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead.

Carl, as most of us know was the driving force in the upgrading of the infrastructure at St. George's College. He oversaw the reconstruction of the O'Hare Building which sustained serious damage after hurricane Ivan. He was the main driving force behind the construction of the Archbishop Burke Building. He undertook many small and medium sized projects at the school, much of which was financed out of his personal funds.

He once shared with me that he had made a promise to himself and the Lord, that he would give five fully committed years to St. George's College, the time he spent as at the school, to improve the general condition of his beloved alma mater. I dare say that he would probably have spent more time if the Lord had allowed him.

He was also instrumental in getting the late Carlos Lopez officially recognized when he was seriously ill.

We have to pray for his wife, Paula and his four children at this most difficult time.

And so we will miss this generous man; a husband, a father, a businessman and most of all, a man of tremendous charity.

May His Soul And the Souls of the Faithful Departed Rest In Peace.

Regards,

Lloyd

From Tony Wong:

His passing has left his Alma Mater in tears as I have witnessed today, for it will be without the benevolence of Carl, who waded in to solve the water problems and installed proper systems to reduce the electricity bills, searched, found and corrected other problems like painting where need painting and repaired the horrendous plumbing installations.

He had installed the first set of solar panels to light the school grounds. And this does not include the improvements to the O'Hare building done in record time last year. The list of his generosity in these matters is endless.

Today I saw the builders of the LB Bldg. ever so sad and without instruction built three flag poles on the new building and hung black flags on them out of respect for someone they truly loved and I became more moved by their repeated vows to complete the building no matter what- "for Mr. Chang say him going finish it"

Like these workers we, the past students should ensure that this happens. It is the least that can be done to honor a stalwart old boy and to respect the dedication of a unique Georgian and a memorable gentleman.

He will be sadly missed.

May his soul rest in Peace

Tony Wong

Food for the Poor's Eloo Project - waterless toilets!

2011-10-11T16:55:00.002-05:00

From Susan James, Food for the Poor

These photos are of the Eloo toilets that we installed at the
Eccleston Primary School.

Please note that the building will be painted.

This first set is a pilot to see how well these environmentally friendly
toilets function - they do not require running water.

Additional info - HOW ELOO WORKS

http://www.swsloo.com/how-eloo-works

The ELOO®, although not a composting toilet, provides the right environment
to treat and stabilize human waste by the natural processes of dehydration
and evaporation. The waste is reduced into an inoffensive and harmless, dry,
ashlike material, which is then disposed of according to local county,
state, and Federal regulations.

The ELOO® operates by separating the liquid and solid waste. This waste is
subjected to ambient heat and directed airflow to achieve the necessary
dehydration and evaporation to convert this waste, with ancillary bacterial
and biological activity, into the dried, ashlike material which is
approximately 5-10% of its original mass (solid waste). The liquid waste
totally evaporates.

The liquid waste drains into the trap area below the solid waste drying
plate (see drawing). By separating the solid and liquid waste, anaerobic
conditions (cause of odor) do not occur. Constant, directed air flow
through the intake pipes, around and over the drying tray, then up through
the evacuation vent pipe facilitates both the dehydration and evaporation of
the waste. The turbine on top of the vent pipe aids in the air flow and
dehydration processes.

Installation of the The ELOO® should be with the back of the unit placed to
collect the most sunlight and heat - the solar window in your hemisphere.
The heat build-up (radiant heat) is absorbed through the UV-protected black
polyethylene plastic of the maintenance cover and vent pipe. The increased
internal temperature causes convective airflow which adds to the airflow
through the intake pipes.

Depending on the climatic conditions where the The ELOO® is installed,
additional solar fans may be added to the unit to increase air flow. Local
state regulations may require a high-water alarm be placed in the ELOO®.
SWSLooT provides a choice of solar or battery alarms, either audio or visual
or both, to meet state and/or county requirements. Testing of the The ELOO®
indicates that the evaporation and dehydration processes continue working
until the interior temperature of the unit reaches a low of 1 degree
farenheit, which means that the Eloo will continue to operate in most
climatic conditions in a very large range of temperatures.

OCEAN SPRAY WATA COOLS FR HOLUNG'S TEAM

2011-10-11T14:24:00.001-05:00

CHILLING AT REHEARSAL: Acts of the Apostles Director, Greg Thames (left) and Production Designer, P.J. Stewart cool off behind the scenes with Ocean Spray Cran WATA during the play's dress rehearsal at the National Arena. Ocean Spray WATA was one of the major sponsors of Father Holung's production.

Klao Bell-Lewis on Father HoLung's Productions

2011-10-11T13:46:00.001-05:00

Father Holung's series of religious plays and musicals are the most unique and significant theatre productions in Jamaica and provide an unparalleled space for amateur and professional artistes. It is probably the only production that is guaranteed to have a sold out audience every time AND succeed at the National Arena!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of the actors are known secular performers and although the subject matter is biblical, the interpretation and expression of the actors who bring the characters to life cannot be labelled Christian or secular.

Where else can accommodate the magnificent set and props. I eagerly look forward to the moment when the grand entrance is made of whatever large prop is used. This year, the audience was treated to three!!! Exciting stuff. Not to mention this is the closest we have to a Jamaican opera from which musical CD spin offs with 100% original lyrics and score are made available for posterity. Such a rich cultural feature!!!!

Klao Bell-Lewis PMP
Communications and Project Management Consultant
876-257-1951
klaobelllewis@gmail.com
Skype: klao.bell.lewis
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=69573135&trk=tab_pro

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Klao Bell-Lewis PMP
Communications and Project Management Consultant
876-257-1951
klaobelllewis@gmail.com
Skype: klao.bell.lewis
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=69573135&trk=tab_pro

Help needed for Jamaicans with Alzheimer's disease

2011-10-10T17:58:00.003-05:00

Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer - called for an end to the discrimination against those living with Alzheimer

BY NADINE WILSON Observer staff reporter wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, October 10, 2011

WITH an estimated 40,000 Jamaicans living with Alzheimer's disease, local experts are hoping that increased focus will be placed on providing more resources for the caregivers of those living with the disease.

According to the president of the Alzheimer's Disease Outreach Programme and the Alliance on Ageing, Dr Albert Chen, while the number of persons living with the disease is increasing, limited focus on diagnosis and treatment has resulted in many Alzheimer's patients living in isolation.

"These people live all over Jamaica, we visit them in the hills of St Catherine and in the valleys all over," said Dr Chen, who is also a consultant clinical gerontologist.

"Many of them we don't see, we don't hear from them, but they are on beds all over, suffering, no help at all, missing in action. We don't even see them in our health centres because it is hard to get there; and delivering care to persons with dementia in a busy health centre, a health clinic or outpatient department is not going to cut it," he said.

After much lobbying and advocacy, Alzheimer's Disease International, of which Jamaica is a part, was finally able to get the World Health Organisation to list Alzheimer's as a non-communicable disease (NCD) on September 9 of this year. This means that the disease will be given the same level of priority as other NCDs such as cancer, diabetes and lung disease.

President of Alzheimer's Jamaica (AJ), attorney-at-law Dundeen Ferguson, is hoping that the recent ruling will push governments to help to raise awareness and implement policies that would allow Alzheimer's patients to get easier access to medication.

"Every call that I get on the phone it is about medication and how families cannot afford it," said Ferguson, who founded AJ during her struggle to get help for her parents when they were living with Alzheimer's. The group provides counselling and referrals for those affected by the disease.

Ferguson expressed concern that some Alzheimer's patients are being stigmatised because of ignorance of the disease, and implored family members to be more understanding, despite the challenges in caring for someone with Alzheimer's.

"You will learn that this disease is something that they are living with, and they themselves are conscious of it and we need to recognise that in the early stages, some of them are very much aware that changes are happening and they just don't understand what it is," she said.

Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behaviour. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks, with sufferers often having to rely heavily on caregivers.

Just over a week ago, the Alliance on Ageing hosted a Worlds Alzheimer's Day 2011 public lecture which saw scores of people packing the Guardian Life Auditorium on Trafalgar Road in New Kingston to learn more about the disease.

The lecture was delivered by Professor Denise Eldemire-Shearer, who took issue with the fact that many people continue to view Alzheimer's as a natural part of aging.

Professor Eldemire-Shearer said that measures such as controlling the blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol, as well as stimulating the brain by doing puzzles and watching television, could go a long way in slowing down the progression of the disease. She too called for an end to the discrimination against those living with Alzheimer's.

"We cannot hide our demented family members, our demented patients, we need to take them out," she said before adding, "Yes, they are going to walk up and down the place, they are going to make some noise, but so what, it needs to be accepted."
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Wonderful evening with Erinn Cosby

2011-10-10T09:39:00.000-05:00

Erinn, Jean and Trish

Spent a wonderful evening at Devon House recently with the witty, elegant Erinn Cosby, who combines the fine qualities of her parents Bill and Camille Cosby. We were proud that she considers Jamaica 'my second home' - she absolutely loves the country!
Erinn was introduced to us by writer/editor Barbara Ellington and we were kindly hosted by Digicel's Trish Thompson. She was in Jamaica for a friendly assignment - she is a fine professional photographer and handles all of her famous Dad's publicity images. She is currently pursuing her Master's in Education, following in his footsteps.
Of her parents, she says, "They are just great, and enjoying this time of their lives, which they so richly deserve." We couldn't agree more!

The maturing of Jamaican politics

2011-10-05T11:32:00.001-05:00

Andrew Holness

from Jean Anita:
It was good to be at the Terra Nova Hotel this morning for the JLP Press Conference. One by one, aspirants to the JLP party leadership stood up and expressed their support for Andrew Holness to succeed Bruce Golding and become the next Prime Minister of Jamaica. Bobby Montague - who bought him a map and encouraged him to ride a bicycle around his constituency (which he did), Audley Shaw, Dr Ken Baugh, Dr Christopher Tufton. Then Andrew Holness stood to speak, and we were impressed by his calm and serious delivery.

Now, we can only hope that Jamaicans will respect our democratic process and allow the positive steps taken by the Government to go forward, even as they give the constructive criticism needed to keep our leaders on their toes.

OBSERVER REPORT BELOW AND LINKED:
Holness to be new PM

BY INGRID BROWN senios staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

ANDREW Holness was this morning given the backing of the Jamaica Labour Party's parliamentary group to be the next leader of the ruling party and subsequently Prime Minister. The announcement was made at a press conference at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston this morning.

Holness' rise to the top of the ruling party comes after Prime Minister Bruce Golding's recent announcement of his plan to resign as party leader and Prime Minister.

The party also announced that the support for Holness was at the Parliamentary level and that nominations were not closed.

Party Chairman Mike Henry, who signalled his intent to run for the post of party leader, was not present at the press conference.

All four main contenders, Audley Shaw, Christopher Tufton, Ken Baugh and Robert Montague, publicly declared their support and that of their constituents for Holness

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Holness-to-be-new-PM#ixzz1ZvRjLaGB

Charges against Vybz Kartel

2011-10-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

Vybz Kartel

Buju Banton

Ninja Man

Ninja Man and Buju Banton languish in jail and now Vybz Kartel is facing serious charges including murder. Why are our stars falling so hard? We need a new cadre of professional managers to not only benefit from the stardom of our artistes, but also be their mentors. Instilling strong values should become priority #1 so that our stars can have lasting enjoyment of what they have worked so hard to build. Then they can become wholesome role models for the young people who are so dazzled by them.
Even now, with proper guidance they could be reformed and use their celebrity to keep their fans on the right track.

Bruce Golding’s graceful exit

2011-10-03T14:04:00.002-05:00

PM Golding addressing the United Nations High-Level Plenary on Millenium Development Goals last September

Jamaica Observer column | Monday 3 October 2011 (Amended)
by Jean Lowrie-Chin

Last Sunday Bruce Golding decided to step down from the most powerful position in the land, with no significant nudge and no serious illness; he stuck with his decision despite the urging of the JLP executive.

It is said that power meant little to him, because his priority was to resolve issues towards the country’s social and economic well-being. At the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with members of Jamaica’s public service in July, he thanked individuals from both sides of the political fence who had come together to assist in bringing that crucial matter to resolution, taking no personal credit.

Soon after came the divestment of the Government-owned sugar interests to the Chinese-owned Complant, and word from the EAC that guidelines governing campaign financing would shortly be finalised. Members of the security forces intimated that never before had they felt so unrestricted in their crime-fighting efforts. Members of the diplomatic corps remarked on this knowledgeable and articulate prime minister.

A young reporter commented after the resignation, “I hope they have someone who can represent Jamaica, the way Mr Golding did when he went abroad. Those folks at the UN were very impressed with his address. He made little Jamaica very proud that day.”

He was referring to Mr Golding’s address to the United Nations High-Level Plenary on Millenium Development Goals (MGDs) held last September. In his comprehensive yet succinct presentation, Bruce Golding showed his firm grasp of global, hemispheric and regional issues.

“Real achievement in the reduction or elimination of poverty is to be measured not by the number of people kept out of poverty by fiscal cash transfers but by the number that escape poverty without the need for such programmes,” said the prime minister. “The Millennium goals must, therefore, be seen as a development imperative, not merely as statistical targets.”

Bruce Golding harked back to the global sea-change that was 9/11: “This is not the only setback we have suffered since the adoption of the MDGs. The increasing impact of climate change and the costs associated with measures we have had to adopt to counter international terrorism have constrained our progress toward attainment of these goals.”

The prime minister did not shy away from the incidents in Western Kingston that had wracked Jamaica only four months before: “I raise an issue that escaped specific attention in defining the Millennium goals. Crime and violence are proving increasingly to be an obstacle to the attainment of these goals. It is not just a law-enforcement issue... Its links with the large international network of organized crime makes it a matter of global, not just domestic, concern.”

In its latest issue, The Economist says of Bruce Golding, “Sometimes almost despite himself, he has been Jamaica’s most successful leader in decades… His government restructured the country’s debt and reached an agreement with the IMF, shoring up the economy amid the global financial turmoil. Jamaica is the only English-speaking Caribbean island where tourist numbers have kept on growing.” Referring to the Dudus Coke extradition drama, they commented, “When the government finally moved against Mr Coke in May 2010, arresting and extraditing him, the confrontation left 73 dead. But it has been followed by a fall of more than 40% in the murder rate.”

When family, friends and well-wishers gathered at that little church in Old Harbour last Wednesday to say farewell to the mother of Orrette Bruce Golding, we discerned the mettle from which this career politician was formed. Mrs Enid Golding was a well-qualified teacher, a historian who co-wrote a high-school history book with her brother Rupert Bent Sr, regarded as the first of its kind in Jamaica. She was a woman of great faith and in his amusing and stirring tribute, the PM said, “We were not sent to church – we were taken.”

Bruce Golding’s daughter, Sherene Golding Campbell reflected on her grandmother’s kindness and wisdom: “She told us to be busy, and to be busy with a purpose,” she said. The tributes of the beautiful great grandchildren, niece Blossom Ormsby and the PM’s accomplished brothers, revealed a family founded by two stalwart Jamaicans and held together by a passion for righteousness in all aspects of their lives. Mrs Golding and her late husband, JLP MP and Speaker of the House Tacius Golding had been married for 52 years, and made family their first responsibility.

We harked back to TV commercials for the JLP election campaign of 2002 when Bruce Golding’s wife Lorna and daughter Sherene told us about his support and affirmation of family. “See this kitchen cabinet?” gestured Sherene. “Pops installed it for me.”

Believe it or not, Bruce Golding is reserved almost to the point of shyness, which has been misinterpreted by some as aloofness. But those who know him, know that this is a deeply caring human being. I remember meeting the mother of 2008 Digicel Rising Stars winner Cameal Davis of Denham Town who said Mr Golding had enthusiastically supported his constituent’s efforts, donating phone credit so she could vote multiple times!

And so, as I said to Lorna Golding last Sunday evening, Jamaica hasn’t truly understood this man who loves her so passionately, that indeed he has dedicated his life to her development. Staff members at Gordon House say there is no politician that has used their library so avidly, ever since he entered that place at the age of 24, still the youngest Jamaican ever to have been elected to a parliamentary seat.

As the aspirants to Jamaica House make their feelings known, I cast my mind back to that balmy November evening when my friends Bruce Golding and Beverley Anderson Manley sat with us to celebrate our company’s 30th anniversary. Beverley glanced at Bruce’s shoes and humorously observed their size. Yes indeed, those are big shoes to fill. Golding’s successor will do well to lean on this statesman (hardly yet an elder) for wisdom and guidance.

A talented senior!

2011-10-01T15:08:00.001-05:00

Milliner Sylvia Fagan (left) adjusts one of her lovely hats for celebrated poet Dr Velma Pollard while Irene Walter shows off her new purchase. Occasion is the celebration of the International Day of Older Persons organised by the National Council for Senior Citizens at the St Andrew Parish Church.
Please support her at 33 Tarrant Drive, Kingston 10
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Ja Computer Society - leaping into the future

2011-09-30T08:36:00.001-05:00

Important communique from the Jamaica Computer Society - we're "Likkle but Tallawah"!

The Jamaica Computer Society opened its 2011 Knowledge and Exhibition Forum at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on Thursday 29th September. The theme of the 2011 event is "Certification: the Key enabler for the Knowledge Economy". President and Council Members in continuing the focus of their administration on the critical role of the human capital asset in the ICT sector, reiterated the rallying cries for the 2010-2011 administrative period of

"Likkle but Tallawah" and "Punching above our weight class".Platinum sponsor for this year's event is Anixter.

The nearly 80 attendees in this year's event are eagerly participating in Security +, Project +, Web Design and 3D Animation training classes.

During lunchtime on Thursday, the participants were addressed by Regional Manager for Microsoft, George Cobin on emerging solutions for unifying technologies for increasing personal productivity and business effectiveness, locally and globally.

Over the past year the "Likkle but Tallawah" theme has gained tremendous traction and will be the background soundtrack for the Knowledge Society Foundation's 16-part series to be aired on CNS starting Wednesday October 5th.

Jamaica Computer Society "Likkle but Tallawah is strong message for leaping into future"

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Economist on PM Golding's resignation

2011-09-29T18:47:00.001-05:00

Jamaica's prime minister
Golding goes
The political price of an extradition

The Economist | Oct 1st 2011 | from the print edition

ON THE face of things, the announcement on September 25th by Bruce Golding that he plans to step down as Jamaica's prime minister in November is both a surprise and a puzzle. Mr Golding has his critics, but there was no huge pressure on him to resign. No powerful opponents within the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have openly challenged him.

And, sometimes almost despite himself, he has been Jamaica's most successful leader in decades.

Mr Golding narrowly won an election in 2007, ending 18 years in opposition for the JLP. His government restructured the country's debt and reached an agreement with the IMF, shoring up the economy amid the global financial turmoil. Jamaica is the only English-speaking Caribbean island where tourist numbers have kept on growing. Mr Golding's poll ratings are poor but not disastrous, with 32% approving of him in June, up from 25% a year earlier.

He said that the "challenges" of four years in office had "taken their toll". Most testing was an American request in August 2009 for the extradition of a leading drug "don", Christopher "Dudus" Coke. For months, the prime minister stalled, reluctant to take on a gang leader who ruled the streets in Mr Golding's own Kingston Western constituency, handing out school books and hosting Christmas parties. When the government finally moved against Mr Coke in May 2010, arresting and extraditing him, the confrontation left 73 dead. But it has been followed by a fall of more than 40% in the murder rate.

In 1995, as a youngish MP, Mr Golding called for a clean break with Jamaica's "garrison politics" in which both main parties formed alliances with local gang leaders. But in 2002 he replaced Edward Seaga, the JLP's veteran leader, inheriting his parliamentary seat through a by-election and with it the unwelcome problem of Mr Coke. "Dudus" seems to have damaged Mr Golding doubly: taking him on has turned the prime minister into an electoral liability in his own constituency, while his delay in doing so has hurt him nationally.

A general election must be held by the end of 2012. Nobody has yet claimed the JLP leadership, but it may pass to a younger generation. With a fragile economy, gang violence and pressures from the Americans, whoever wins will not have an easy job.

from the print edition | The Americas

http://www.economist.com/node/21531033
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Yvette Taylor-Hachoose's Life Lessons

2011-09-27T11:16:00.002-05:00

Members of the CCRP (Caribbean Community of Retired Persons)were delighted to have been hosted by the US Embassy's Hanan Ghannoum, Deputy Public Affairs Officer and Emma Lewis, Public Affairs Specialist last Thursday September 22 for a brilliant presentation on Estate Planning by Yvette Taylor-Hachoose. The column below reflects on the importance of her presentation.
Getting our lives in order
by Jean Lowrie-Chin
Jamaica Observer | MON 29 SEPT 2011

Before she went into her lecture on estate planning, US attorney Yvette Taylor-Hachoose shared some principles of wealth which we would do well to follow. These included:

(1) Love what you do. Once you enjoy what you are doing, the money will follow.
(2) Adhere to a spending plan. She urged us to have a budget and discipline ourselves to live within it. This includes paying credit card bills in full when they become due.
(3) Put your money to work for you. She cited the book, ‘The Millionaire Next Door’, to explain that some of the wealthiest folk are living humbly. They are investing their money, not throwing it around on a flashy lifestyle.
(4) Protect your resources. She wants us to be prudent and not react to hype, for example get-rich-quick schemes.
(5) Save for your retirement.

These are invaluable guidelines, for young people who are just starting their careers, as well as for parents who may believe that their children are making wrong career choices. In ‘Catch A Fire’, we learn that Bob Marley had been advised to stick with welding because some folks thought his obsession with music was not going to take him anywhere in life!

Yvette Taylor-Hachoose (pronounced Ha-choo-say) has a distinguished legal career as former VP with Prudential Insurance Company and Assistant General Counsel with both Prudential and CIGNA Corporation. She decided to go into private practice and focus on estate planning after seeing many cases of poor planning resulting in conflict and heartbreak. Here in Jamaica the phenomenon of ‘dead lef’’ has torn families asunder, and so this series of free lectures sponsored by the US Embassy, is well needed.

Mrs Taylor-Hachoose explained that estate planning did not mean simply writing a will to say who would get your belongings. She showed us the wisdom of establishing a trust which would ensure that funds and property left for a beneficiary are well managed. She urged us to write a ‘living will’, citing the case of Terri Schiavo, who was kept on life support for 15 years until the courts had to make a ruling. A living will states your wishes, should such a fate befall you.

Another important consideration is specifying whom you would entrust with the guardianship of your minor children. In her excellent book, Stop! What are you waiting for? Your step-by-step Guide to Estate Planning, Mrs Taylor-Hachoose shares the case of the former Playboy model celebrity Anna Nicole Smith’s five-month-old baby who became the subject of a custody battle.

“My advice is to take the time now to survey the list of potential guardians for your minor children,” she writes. “Make a decision regarding guardianship, and stay current by updating your will when necessary.”

Dr Taylor-Hachoose reminded us that proper estate planning saves money, ensures peace of mind, protects resources, establishes a legacy and addresses special concerns. She said that this legacy was not just physical property, as one of the most treasured possessions she and her siblings share, is a book written by her father about his life. She said they learned about his challenges as a young soldier in the Korean War and understood how he overcame his bout of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to become a fine educator and family man.

Dr Taylor-Hachoose paid tribute to her professor from her undergraduate years in Maryland, none other than US Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater, who invited this brilliant attorney to share her knowledge with us. Let us act on her important advice and get our lives in order, so we can give our families a worry-free legacy.

Acts of the Apostles

2011-09-23T17:18:00.001-05:00

Father Richard Ho Lung speaks at launch - please support this world class musical - every cent goes to the poor.

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Enjoying RumBar

2011-09-20T13:11:00.001-05:00

We broke the RumBar open last Friday, and discovered its rich flavour! I even had some neat and enjoyed every sip.

Attached is photo of our team enjoying the product after a very tough week.

Thank you Robert Clarke and here's to RumBar's success!

Strength in our diversity

2011-09-19T10:44:00.000-05:00

Observer Column | 19 September 2011
BY JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN

I will never forget that day in the mid-sixties when always-present Carol Hoo did not turn up for class at Alpha. Her parents' little grocery store on Victoria Avenue in downtown Kingston was torched by a mob. Luckily, no one was hurt in the fire. The Hoo family had no quarrel with anyone. However, one dispute on Spanish Town Road between an employer of Chinese extraction and a worker escalated into anti-Chinese clamour, spreading to the other side of town.

Recently, a couple of idiots told HEART/NTA that they want to hire only "brownings" and the issue is being blown out of proportion. Yes, there was a time when colour was an issue in Jamaica but today such bigotry is an aberration. At every bank, every hotel, every major corporation, we see proud black Jamaicans taking their rightful place.

Well-known Jamaican companies are not only colour-blind when they hire, they are also ensuring that humble employees are given the chance to move up through the ranks. Thus, Debbie Williams, the cordial receptionist at the Digicel Group office actually joined the company ten years ago as an office attendant. Dawn Patterson, the receptionist at Lasco Pharmaceutical, has a similar history.

The best way to deal with a bigot is to hit him/her in the pocket. Name them and shame them - before you say "bankruptcy" they will straighten up and fly right. The majority of Jamaicans - of every colour - would boycott such establishments.

On Facebook, I saw a discussion about last week's All Angles TVJ programme, which had Wayne Chen as a panellist. One writer dismissed Wayne as "elitist". Clearly, that person does not know the history of the Chen family. His mother, Hyacinth Gloria Chen was, an orphan who struggled to raise her children. As a book-keeper at Frenchman's Cove in the 60s, she begged a gardener job in the summer for her teenage son Michael Lee-Chin, who was attending Titchfield High. Her husband Vincent Chen applied for a job at Barclays Bank and was told he was not light-skinned enough for the position. In 2002, Vincent Chen's stepson Michael bought NCB, formerly Barclays Bank. It is led by the admirable Patrick Hylton and managed by competent Jamaicans of every shade and colour.

These are tough times when the scarcity of jobs can make people bitter. However, they should guard against judging without knowing the facts. As a so-called "browning", I have found myself being the marginalised one on certain occasions. I remember with some pain, visiting the family of a dear friend who had died suddenly and watching a group of persons whom I considered to be mutual friends, whispering arrangements for her funeral. It was clear from their furtive glances in my direction that they were pondering whether I should be asked to participate or not. After the discussion ended, none could look me in the eye. They had decided not to include me - I did not match the "colour scheme".

We had better be careful that Jamaicans of other ethnic backgrounds do not become sidelined. Only last week as we pondered the expansion of a well-needed committee, a dedicated member suggested a name and quickly withdrew it. When we asked why, she said she did not want people to think that she was bringing too many "white" people on the committee! This is crazy! Jamaica is, for the majority of us, colour-blind and respectful. Let us not allow this isolated incident to poison our relationships and deter solid, generous Jamaicans from making their contribution.

Our diversity is our strength. What would have become of Bob Marley's music, had it not been for the visionary Chris Blackwell? Edna Manley sculpted one of the most iconic pieces, symbolising the ascendancy of the labour movement in Jamaica, "Negro Aroused". The late Dr Ajai Mansingh described how the recently freed African slaves rescued Indian servants who were thrown off the estates because they were considered too weak. I want to believe they shared their spices and thus was born Jamaica's love for "curry goat".

So let us make it very clear that we don't do prejudice in Jamaica, neither against black nor white. We are streets and lanes ahead of many countries in this respect - let us show the world that "One Love, One Heart" and "One Blood" are not just nice words, but the living philosophy of a proud people.

COMMENTS (5)
pete delisser
9/19/2011
Good article Mrs Lowrie-Chin. But colour coding has always been, and will always be apart of our colourful culture- I guess. Ever notice our Miss Jamaicas are mostly light skinned, long 'pretty' hair??...It may seem trivial, but its real. Bleaching creams still sell like hot bread. Im brown too..Im always called "brown man" or "red man" out on the streets- doesnt bother me in the least. but Ive had doors/opportunities open up cuz of my look..and my name. Gotto luv St Andrew, Thanks much!!
Peter Sparks
9/19/2011
There are those that enjoy being victims and blame others for their failures; they also excuses (sex. melanin inskin lack of money, etc) as well. This is unfortunate. enough of the "american import" te deliberte intent to use race as a wedge. These so-called people who think Jamaica is for "black people" are sadly mistakened. Jamaica is the product of all races and ulurtrs that have lived there, whether we like it or not. "Out of Many, One People!" Skin colour- nuh put food pon' table!. Stop it!
Anthony II
9/19/2011
II. I am glad that this debate is taking place; it is an issue that wi need fi trash out. We have never had a serious discussion about race/color/class in Jamaica (none I recall). We hide behind disingenuous claims about diversity and "Out of many one...", even when we know the realities "on the ground." We know many JAMs have problems with skin color and race (e.g., paying deference to others based on this). We see people bleaching; we see 'beauty" encoded as "light skin." We need this debate.
Anthony II
9/19/2011
I think what is overblown is this idea of our "diversity." Yes, there are many non-black Jamaicans. I went to a HS that had students of white, Chinese, and Indian background, and so on. But the overwhelming 98% were black Jamaicans (be they light or dark skin; yes "browning"; unnu black inna countries where skin color matters!). To be constantly talking about our "diversity" fails to recognize that we live in a country where over 90% of the people are of African descent. How diverse is that?
wanda woeman
9/19/2011
The writer is quick to dismiss the color problem as overblown, although at the same time acknowledging that it exists. Good for her. She and her kind have never been subject to the humiliation of being denied a job based on the color of their skin.
I would not blame the light-skinned people as the perpetrators of the act, however. We all know that even the darkest skinned among us will bow and scrape to people of a lighter hue and will seek mates with this feature.
We also know that the probability of who will get the job, given that one is lighter skinned than the other but equally qualified. We need to face the problem head-on and not skirt around it and not necessarily put the blame on the lighter skinned people. My father who used to be as black as they come (God rest his soul) used to admonish us, “anything too black nuh good.”

Jean Lowrie-Chin answers: I have been kept off committees and out of projects because I am not black enough. Reverse racism has hurt me many times - So yes, I HAVE been denied! Also check the Black Jamaican and the Black Barbadian - then you'll see how mixed race the majority of us are. Come on - let's stop this rubbish!!

HAITI - “YOUR DOLLAR OUR FUTURE”

2011-09-16T17:33:00.000-05:00

Message from Antonia Graham - CONCERN WORLDWIDE

As you know, one and a half years on from the 7.0 earthquake that devastated the city of Port au Prince in Haiti, the people there are still desperately in need of assistance.

One area particularly in need is education. With 87% of schools were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake – today, 50% of primary school children are not enrolled in school.

There simply isn’t enough funding or resources to build and rehabilitate the schools, train and hire teachers or purchase the materials to administer the education. And the hardest part to comprehend is that it costs less than US$1 per day per child to provide a complete education to Haiti’s children. And with 42 percent of Haiti’s population under the age of 15, it’s not an oversimplification to say that a brighter future for Haiti depends on getting kids into school.

As such, I am proud to be a part of a project with the NGO, Concern Worldwide, to do something about this.

Our “YOUR DOLLAR OUR FUTURE” fund raising campaign – proceeds of which will go to Concern’s education programmes in Haiti.

Our aim is to raise US$2 million between now and the end of the year – so please visit our website at www.yourdollarourfuture.org and check out our campaign – any donation or show of support is gratefully received and goes to the very best of causes – helping Haiti’s kids to a brighter tomorrow.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards

Antonia Graham

Head of Group Public Relations

Digicel Group

Separating truth from propaganda

2011-09-13T21:17:00.000-05:00

Observer column for MON 12 SEP 11 | by Jean Lowrie-Chin

Electoral Commission Chairman Prof Errol Miller has reminded us that last Wednesday, September 7, marked the first day of the final year of the current Government’s term of office. So here is Jamaica, once again in heightened election mode. We say heightened, because our political parties are always campaigning. Depending on the perspective, we can either be glad that our economy has shown slight growth and our crime rate has decreased; or we can be worried that our unemployment rate is disturbingly high and productivity lower than most of our Caribbean neighbours.

In the coming year, the Jamaican people will be subject to a tsunami of propaganda. We are therefore calling on the church and civil society to lead the charge in helping to educate the public on how to assess their political representatives, and how to uncover the kernels of truth in the various messages that will be inundating press, broadcast and social media.

We saw a glimmer of the use of social media in the last elections, but with over 600,000 Jamaicans on Facebook and an ever increasing number on Twitter, our politicians will be facing off and tweeting as never before! We who timidly put ourselves on Facebook so we could keep in touch with family and close friends, have slowly widened our circle. For me, it has been a mostly positive experience. I have learned a lot from Dr Leahcim Semaj and Francis Wade, received spiritual upliftment from Pastor Winston ‘Bello’ Bell and enjoyed the good humour online.

Should we ‘friend’ politicians? I believe we should. Criticise them all you want, they have a very tough job and social media is going to make it tougher on them. It is actually an act of bravery on their part to put themselves up for such close scrutiny. We can check their profiles to get a glimpse of their philosophy of life. We can hear from their status notes what is dearest and most concerning to them, we can write on their ‘walls’ and see how they respond … or not. Of course they all dream to be as popular as Barack Obama (notwithstanding recent polls), who has 23,003,775 fans ‘liking’ his Facebook page.

We should also encourage each other to upload and ‘tweet’ links from the various websites that play a role in our country’s governance: Electoral Office, JIS, PNP, JLP, CAFFE, Political Ombudsman. But most of all, we should be careful that our utterances are based on fact, not rumour and that we remember the basic tenet of human interaction: ‘Do No Harm’. As the fever gets high, we tend to forget that politicians have parents, husbands, wives, and children. Through social media, they are even more vulnerable to negative reports and opinions.

And what of those who are not on the internet? There is no shortage of outlets, with 19 radio stations plus several other community stations, three free-to-air television stations and multiple community cable channels, everybody has the chance to be a star … even if only in their neck of the woods.

The ability to drive all of these communication vehicles will probably be the deciding factor in who will win the next general elections. This will be particularly difficult for the party in power, as they must not only be performing, but also be telling the public how well they are doing. The opposition have far more time on their hands to strategise.

In an analysis I had presented at a forum on political advertising held by the Research and Policy Group at the Mona School of Business soon after the September 2007 elections, I pointed out that the JLP had shown more new-media savvy than the PNP, and that it may have given them the edge. Interestingly, the spokespersons for the two political parties at the time were Karl Samuda for the JLP and Sharon Hay-Webster for the PNP. Samuda gave kudos to ‘The G2K geniuses’ while Hay-Webster said there were ‘lessons learned’, and reminded her audience that the JLP had won by the slimmest margin ever.

The advice to choose words carefully and speak truthfully should be heeded by candidates. Now more than ever before, they will return to haunt whether on YouTube or elsewhere. In the same breath, members of civil society are being called to bring the highest level of scrutiny to bear on our candidates, not only as they campaign, but also on their biographical data. The way they have performed as parents, spouses, professionals and community members will help us to decide if they can handle the highest positions in the land.

PROComm Education Grant

2011-09-11T16:09:00.001-05:00

PROCOMM GRANT: Vanessa Gaynor (centre) of Mona High School is delighted to receive a PROComm/Stella Maris Education Grant from PROComm's Noel Chin and Anita Chin. The Scholarship Fund was established over 10 years ago and has benefitted several students from Grant's Pen and other inner city communities. Vanessa was one of five recipients of Grants for this academic year. The Fund is administered by The Stella Maris Foundation.

NY Times - 'A Day That Stands Alone'

2011-09-11T15:38:00.002-05:00

Click on headline above to see moving photos from the NY Times

By JAMES BARRON
New York Times | September 11, 2011
Just as Sept. 11 was unthinkable, Sunday was inevitable: the 10th anniversary of a day that stands alone. In history. In memory.

Three-thousand six-hundred fifty-two days have now passed. At 8:46 a.m. — the time when the first plane slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center — 87,648 hours had gone by. Another 5,258,880 minutes. Another 315,532,800 seconds.

Once more, the families gathered at ground zero, where 2,749 died, and in Northern Virginia and in Pennsylvania, paying tribute to the 224 who died there.

Once more, there was an outpouring of grief. But there were also fresh jitters about security as the Obama administration’s top counterterrorism official, John O. Brennan, appeared on television news programs to say that the administration would “leave no stone unturned” in its pursuit of an intelligence tip that Al Qaeda was plotting to disrupt the anniversary.

“It’s not confirmed,” he said, “but we are not relaxing at all. This is a 24/7, round-the-clock effort by all elements of the U.S. counter terrorism community.”

The ceremony at ground zero brought together the officials who were in office 10 years ago — President George W. Bush, Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco of New Jersey and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani — with their successors: President Obama, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who said the attacks had turned “a perfect blue-sky morning” into “the blackest of nights.”

“We can never unsee what happened here,” the mayor said.

Mr. Obama read Psalm 46, which talks about God as “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” and Mr. Cuomo read from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, the “four freedoms” speech — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear “anywhere in the world.”

Mr. Bush quoted Abraham Lincoln on the casualties in the Civil War as he commemorated the casualties of Sept. 11. “I pray that our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement,” Mr. Bush read from a letter Lincoln had written in 1864 to a mother whose five sons had died in the war.

He added, “President Lincoln not only understood the heartbreak of his country, he also understood the cost to sacrifice and reached out to console those in sorrow.”

There were also long moments of silence, first at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower, and again at 9:03 a.m., when United Airlines Flight 175 smashed into the other tower. Another silence — at ground zero and at the Pentagon — came at 9:37 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into what had been considered the unshakable nerve center of the world’s most powerful military.

“There are no words to ease the pain that you still feel,” Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told relatives of the 184 people who died there.

Another moment of silence, at 10:03 a.m., marked the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa. — the plane on which passengers tried to fight back, storming the cockpit and trying to take control of the plane from the terrorists who had hijacked it.

“There is nothing with which to compare the passenger uprising of 10 years ago,” said Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania. “It has no companion in history in my mind.”

“Their uprising marks the moment in history when Americans showed what makes us different,” he added. “We refuse to be victims. We refuse to settle for the term ‘survivor.’ Captivity will not suit us.”

Later, Mr. Obama — who left ground zero to travel to Shanksville —laid a wreath at the Flight 93 memorial. He and the first lady, Michelle Obama, stood for a moment of silence, then left to applause and chants of “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”

At ground zero, the silver bell was rung to remember passengers from Flight 93, as it had been rung through the morning to remember the passengers on the other hijacked airliners and the people inside the twin towers — office workers, custodians, people having at breakfast in the restaurant a quarter-mile above the street.

The bell tolled again at 10:28 a.m. “North Tower falls,” read large letters on video monitors — three short words that described the destruction of one of the world’s largest buildings, one that had taken some six years to complete.

That silence was the longest, and was the last scheduled at ground zero. But the vigilant did not pause. On a construction scaffold of 1 World Trade Center, on a deck of the World Financial Center, on the post office building across from the site, police officers with binoculars scanned the crowd below and the sky above.

Then Mr. Giuliani, who was approaching the end of his tenure on Sept. 11 — and who provoked criticism for seeking an extension — stepped to the lectern. “The perspective that we need and have needed to get through the last 10 years and the years that remain are best expressed by the words inscribed by God in the book of Ecclesiastes,” he said before reading the famous passage that begins, “To every thing there is a season.”

“A time to be born, and a time to die,” Mr. Giuliani read, as his wife, Judith Nathan, stood behind him. He was applauded after the last line: “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Once more, the names were recited — solemnly, but sometimes with poignant, personal reminiscences. One man was thanked for looking down from heaven and helping the Dallas Cowboys. Another relative mentioned “your laughter, your smile and your meatloaf.” And Jefferson Crowther stood at the microphone with a red kerchief in his shirt pocket.

The ribbon’s significance became clear when he got to the last name he read.

“And my courageous son, Welles Remy Crowther,” he said, his voice cracking. “The man with the red bandanna.” Welles Crowther had worn a red bandanna on Sept. 11 as he tried to help people escape from the World Trade Center.

The 10th anniversary dawned on a city and a nation that has changed immutably, with continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and persistent security worries at home. And no longer is ground zero a scarred reminder of what was, but a symbol of resurgence, with the National September 11 Memorial about to open and a not-yet-finished skyscraper now 961 feet above the street where thousands fell.

What was then the site of the World Trade Center is now surrounded by construction fences. But reminders of what happened were everywhere: There were flags on the new Tower One, the “Freedom Tower.” The subway station nearby has an exit sign that identifies it as the “Rector Street 9/11 Memorial,” with the “11” written to look like the twin towers.

Ten years ago, it was just another morning — a Tuesday, a day when ordinary people did the most ordinary of things: Scrambling to work, kissing their families goodbye, running for the train. And then there was the dark gash and the ball of fire high up in one of the buildings, and a few minutes later, a second gash, a second ball of fire and a plume of smoke visible for miles.

“Things were never going to be the same again,” said Charles Mintzer, a now-retired New York State employee. On Sunday, he returned to the place he had watched a decade ago, the promenade overlooking the East River in Brooklyn Heights.

So did Marcy Chapin, a retired foundation executive, who had gone there on Sept. 11 and remembered hearing shouting in the streets about New York being under attack. She reached the promenade — as the second plane hit.

“I thought: ‘What could be next? The Brooklyn Bridge?’ ” she recalled.

Sept. 11 put New York, a city that had not faced combat in more than 200 years, on the front lines in a global war on terrorism. Sept. 11 made slogans created by Madison Avenue like “If you see something, say something” as widespread as “Loose lips sink ships” once was.

But Sept. 11 redefined so much more.

One measure of how Sept. 11 changed everything was how little grumbling there was last week as drivers waited to crawl through police checkpoints after officials began investigating the report of a possible Qaeda plot to coincide with the anniversary. The acceptance of the police inspections was a sign of how Sept. 11 had redefined bridges and tunnels in a way that generations of commuters had never imagined, as potential targets.

Sept. 11 redefined so much more.

It brought color-coded threat levels (though the Department of Homeland Security, itself a post-9/11 creation, phased them out several months ago).

Still travelers worry: Is it safe to fly? Now airline passengers have to pull off their shoes and empty their pockets, and they have feel embarrassed when they forgot they had a too-big bottle of shampoo or mouthwash in their carry-on.

And still there were episodes when terrorists on international flights tried to set off plastic explosives hidden in their shoes or sewn into their underwear.

Is it safe to open the mail? A week after the Sept. 11 attacks, letters containing anthrax killed 5 people and infected 17 others. It took the Federal Bureau of Investigation five years to conclude that an Army microbiologist had been responsible. In the confusion at first, people hoarded antibiotics, and officials briefly grounded crop-dusting airplanes.

But this anniversary played out against a different backdrop than the first anniversary, in 2002, or the fifth, in 2006. For the first time, Osama bin Laden was dead. “We’ve taken the fight to Al Qaeda like never before,” Mr. Obama declared Saturday in his weekly radio address.

For the first time, too, there was tangible progress toward fulfilling the promise to rebuild — a promise made in the aftermath of the attacks but delayed by squabbling over architects, plans and finances. Buildings are rising between Church and West Streets in Lower Manhattan, and the National September 11 Memorial will open to the public on Monday. Relatives of those who died at the World Trade Center will get a first look on Sunday.

If they were to measure it, they would see that the memorial covers about half of the 16-acre World Trade Center site. They will see that the names of the dead have been inscribed on the walls of two reflecting pools that now fill the footprints of the old towers — pools that hold 550,000 gallons of water and are lined with 3,968 panels of granite, each weighing 420 pounds. A museum is to open next year. For the memorial and the museum together, the plans called for some 8,151 tons of steel and 49,900 cubic yards of concrete.

“The size of it all is kind of breathtaking,” said Paul Schlenr of Cincinnati, who said his wife’s sister, Margaret Seeliger, died in the south tower.

Christine Corday, an artist whose husband runs the company that installed the bronze plates with the names, had been at ground zero early on Sunday, polishing the letters that had been etched in. “Every name has run under the palm of my hand,” she said. “Each name here is a life, and that’s never been lost on anyone that’s worked on this project.”

Mary Dwyer of Brooklyn, whose sister, Lucy Fishman, also worked in the south tower, said it was moving to be able to stand, for the first time, near where Ms. Fishman had died. “It’s the closest I’ll ever get to her again,” said Ms. Dwyer, adding that she is 36, the same age her sister was on Sept. 11, 2001.

Of the waterfalls, Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles, was the pilot on American Airlines Flight 77, said, “Some people think of them as tears” — an idea echoed by Alice M. Greenwald, the director of the museum, as she walked along the pools.

In late-afternoon sunlight, Mr. Greenwald said, rainbows appear in the pools. And at night, lights shining from below create patterns that remind her of the latticelike skin of the twin towers.

“The difference for me is seeing people here,” Ms. Greenwald said. “This is now a place, not a construction site, not a design. It’s now a place in New York.” She said the difference was “transformational.”

Beyond ground zero, there were other signs of remembrance. The U.S.S. New York, commissioned in 2009 and made with seven-and-a-half tons of steel from the twin towers, spent the weekend at anchor in the Hudson River. On Sunday morning, it was to cruise to Lower Manhattan, stopping within sight of the new tower at the trade center site. And the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site, planned a moment of silence for 1 p.m. and issued a statement asking Americans to “cease all regular activity for one minute to reflect on the lives lost and those affected by the tragedies of 9/11.”

Other communities remembered those lost.

In New Jersey, which lost more than 700 residents, nearly every town, it seemed, had someone to mourn. Churches held special masses; ceremonies were held across the state. In Jersey City, firefighters used their ladders to hoist an American flag on the waterfront, with the rising 1 World Trade Center in clear view on the far bank of the river. Nearby, as in many New Jersey towns, was a piece of twisted steel from the twin towers.

In Atlantic Highlands — one of numerous communities along the Jersey Shore where nearly everyone knew someone who died at the World Trade Center — drums rolled and bagpipes played.

“That day brought the world’s problems to our door,” said Jayne Swiercinsky, 31, a product manager from Howell, N.J., who joined a crowd of 150 in a ceremony that commemorated the anniversary.

In Massapequa, N.Y., one man stood by a wall of gray and black granite by the beach honors 89 residents from the Town of Oyster Bay who died in the attacks. The man, Eric Szillus, 42, is a retired New York City firefighter who was wearing in his dress uniform and talking about the lieutenant who had saved his life.

On Sept. 11, Mr. Szillus was assigned to Ladder 114 in Brooklyn and rode to the World Trade Center.

“As we were about to go in,” Mr. Szillus said, “O’Berg sent us back to our rig to give us a talk.” Mr. Szillus remembered that the lieutenant asked if Mr. Szillus and his colleagues understood the seriousness of the situation. By then, they were certain the attacks had been orchestrated by terrorists.

“It was those 15 to 20 minutes of pep talk that saved my life,” Mr. Szillus said, because when the lieutenant finished, they saw the south tower begin to collapse. They did not go in, he said.

Lieutenant O’Berg’s son, also named Dennis O’Berg and also a firefighter, was also at the disaster site. After the towers fell, the lieutenant hunted for his son, but found only his fire truck, smothered in debris. And still what happened on that morning seems as impossible as it did in those first few minutes, when one friend called another and said something like: “Go turn on the television. A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.”

Or when, in the seconds before the picture came on, an anchor was heard saying something like: “Wait. These are live pictures, not the tape? So that was a different plane, and it hit the other one?”

Like the day when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, or the day when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986 or the day when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Sept. 11 was one of those days that divided things into “before” and “after.”

New Yorkers still talk about what a bright morning that was, after a thunder-and-lightning show in the sky the night before. They talk about how late-summer days are forever different. They talk about the foreboding that has replaced the promise in the pink of the sunrise and so much joy in the deep blue of the midmorning sky.

And they talk about what the World Trade Center was, a city-within-the-city that dominated the skyline. Below 14th Street, it was a direction-finder as sure as the “N” on any compass. It had been bombed in 1993. The damage had been repaired, but the two buildings remained a target for Al Qaeda.

Reporting was contributed by Anemona Hartocollis, Christopher Maag and Tim Stelloh from New York; Angela Macropoulos from Massapequa, N.Y.; and Nate Schweber from Atlantic Highlands, N.J.

Avocado - The Wonder Fruit

2011-09-11T11:29:00.002-05:00

This is good ol' Jamaica 'pear'! (emailed by Ruby Martin)
-------------------------------------
Avocado - The Wonder Fruit
by Jackie Silver

The avocado has been misunderstood in the past because of its high fat content, but avocados provide more than 25 essential nutrients. A serving of avocado, which is one-eighth of the fruit, has only 5 grams of fat per serving, but that fat is the monounsaturated kind, which is heart-healthy and may help to lower cholesterol. Avocados are also rich in omega-3s, another heart-healthy ingredient. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the avocado is the potassium content. Compared to bananas, avocados have 60 percent more potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure. Adequate intake of potassium can help to guard against circulatory diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure or stroke. Remember, though, everything in moderation. A whole avocado has 520 calories and 40 grams of fat. Even though it's "good" fat, it can still add up to weight gain.

According to the California Avocado Commission, the avocado (Persea americana) originated in south-central Mexico, sometime between 7,000 and 5,000 B.C. But it was several millennia before this wild variety was cultivated. Archaeologists in Peru have found domesticated avocado seeds buried with Incan mummies dating back to 750 B.C. and there is evidence that avocados were cultivated in Mexico as early as 500 B.C. Find out more about avocados at the California Avocado Commission ( http://www.avocado.org/).

Here are some creative ways to enjoy avocado:

1. Instead of slathering mayo on your sandwich, why not mash up some avocado and spread it on your sandwich? One tablespoon of mayonnaise has about 110 calories of pure fat. One-fifth of a medium California avocado has 50 calories, with 35 calories from fat, but remember – it's the "good" fat.

2. In a food processor, mash one half of an avocado with a half cup of organic cottage cheese, squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice on top, sprinkle with black pepper and use it as a dip with cut vegetables for a protein-rich, tasty, healthy meal or snack.

3. Make an avocado boba drink. Boba drinks usually contain soft, chewy tapioca balls in the bottom of a drink such as tea or coffee, but here's a creative twist: Using a small melon scoop, make avocado balls and add them into tomato or vegetable juice for a new, healthy spin on boba.

4. Cut up avocado chunks and put them on top of gazpacho, the cold Spanish tomato soup, for a filling snack that's veggie-licious.

5. Add avocado on top of any omelet for a burst of extra flavor.

Jackie Silver is the founder and president of Aging Backwards, LLC and author of "Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young." Send your questions or comments to: jackie@agingbackwards.com. Sign up for her free newsletter at: http://agingbackwards.com/ and follow her on Twitter, @AgingBackwards.

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

‘Lifting as We Climb’ by Lanvell Blake Jr

2011-09-08T00:15:00.000-05:00

PROFESSIONAL JAMAICANS FOR JAMAICA
Esmie L. Walters Essay Competition 2011
SPONSORED BY HORACE A. DALEY, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, PJFJ

Topic: Explain this Quote: ‘Lifting as We Climb’.

WINNING ESSAY BY LANVELL A. BLAKE JR
St. Elizabeth Technical High School (Sixth-Form)

You might appreciate the deliberateness that influenced the selection of “Coming together as one people” as the title and focus of my essay.
For me, Lifting as We Climb means that as you climb, move towards your goal you help to uplift not only yourself but your community, your country and it could also be seen as symbolic where you become a model for others as you motivate or uplift them as well.

Personally, Lifting as we climb, means that as I climb the ladder of success, elevate myself, I am also in the process of trying to help others ‘reach the top’ as well. I show my unselfish love for others by giving them a helping hand, not allowing others that are ‘less fortunate’ to ‘fall by the wayside’, but instead help them to elevate themselves into productive individuals of society, contributing to nation building- “United we stand, and divided we fall”. Lifting as we climb, emphasizes teamwork, and that we are all in this together, and that really nobody ever gets anywhere without the help of others. It’s humbling. It reminds us not to be so self-focused but to assist as much individuals we can in our quest for success.

Those familiar with the early Chinese philosophy may point to the “YIN-YANG” principle. This principle explains the balance that is necessary in human behaviour. It implies how having a basic understanding of “give and take” could improve human relationships, and ultimately bring about a better world/society. It is simple “one hand can’t clap” and it takes “two to tango”. This is why we must aspire to come together as one people, lifting as we climb, because the commonness of our humanity imposes such conditions that we truly need each other. Now, as a farmer needs rain and a baker needs flour, so too do we need one another. We need each other help us to win the fight to overcome the bad stereotypes that have held us back in the backwaters of life. After all, “No man is an island. No, man stands alone”. We need to lift each other as we climb.

And since we were socialized to separate ourselves and to see ourselves through vastly different prisms from how we see our less fortunate brothers and sister, coming together as one people could continue to be a fleeting dream for many around the world. For, year-in-year-out, our only purpose is to expand the kingdom of the crab. It is a state where we are perpetually at war; pulling each other down in order to push ourselves forward, because we cannot stand to see the other crab crawl out of the barrel ahead of us; even when that forward movement stands to benefit the larger group. We call it the “crab in a barrel’ syndrome.

The results from these behaviours manifest themselves in ways unthinkable. We kill our own ideas. We do not ventilate our misgivings in amicable ways. We amplify the negatives. We dig ditches for our brothers and sisters to fall in them, without knowing that we could be “hoisted by our own petards”. We play tricks, backbite, plot, and weave some monumental webs. We come to the table of dialogue always well-prepared to defend, but never to amend, our proposals.

We must overcome other deeply entrenched socio-cultural barriers. You see, we erected these enormous fortresses of stratification just to protect our individual status, but none of it was earned. Yet, we claim paternity, so we can wallow in self-importance; without an ounce of mortality to back it up. And no references ever made to the commonness of our humanity, or to the sameness of the essential elements and functioning of our bodies! Still, "we are cooled by the same winter, warmed by the same summer, and if you prick us, we all bleed!"
The impact has been painful and we still struggle with extricating ourselves from the paradigm of the plantation.

If there are any doubts about the lasting legacy from the plantation culture, just look about you for today’s form of class prejudice that mirrors those divisions between the house slaves and field slaves. And if there are any questions about the harsh realities of racism then just look about you for today’s version of that saying: “If you are white then you’re right, if you’re brown stick around, but if you’re black stay back”.

There are other times too when coming together as one people is very difficult not because of any of the aforementioned conditions, but because of our obedience to, and reliance on, the weird dogma of mental and psychological supremacy. Some of us harbour the foolish thought of being better than the person sitting next to us, and then justify it by pointing to advanced sociological and psychological development. They never get access to the contracts or contacts and do not have a seat at the table, but we do not try to help them up, we push them down.

There are great benefits to be derived from coming together as one people: the benefits are not limited to financial matters, they go far beyond that to include social cohesion, cultural preservation, environmental protection, environmental, technological advancements, political stability, good and effective governance and importantly to create networks of ideas. I hope my friends in CARICOM could hear and understand the urgency that must accompany the finalization for CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy)- for instance- coming together as one people is as parochial as it is regional.

And finally, let the coming together motivate us to action, where we hold ourselves accountable for our behaviour, where were decry foolishness and condemn hate, discord, violence, disingenuousness and pretense. For in the long run only when we join forces together, speak on one accord, lock hands and hearts in the movement to advance ourselves, our communities and our country will we be true stewards of this precious citizenship we hold-first as Jamaicans and then as citizens of the world.

Esmie L. Walters Essay Competition
Name: Lanvell A. Blake Jr
Proof of I.D: See attached school picture
Address: Accompong Town
Bethsalem P.A.
St. Elizabeth

Name of School: St. Elizabeth Technical High School (Sixth-Form)
Name of Parent: Lanvell A. Blake (Snr.)

J'can charm sweeps World Championships

2011-09-05T09:51:00.000-05:00

Medal haul includes 4 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze
Monday, September 05, 2011 | Jamaica Observer

DAEGU, South Korea — A blistering world record run for gold by the Jamaican male relay quartet, in the wake of a silver run by their female speed counterparts, brought the 13th IAAF World Championships to a dramatic climax in Daegu yesterday.
With nine medals including four gold, four silver and a bronze in the pocket, the Jamaicans stamped their magic and island charm on the closing day of the nine-day World Championships, ensuring that the IAAF's gamble to end the championships with the 4X100m relays had paid off in brilliant style.
The World Championships traditionally ended with the 4X400m relays.
Usain Bolt, the world's fastest man, powered the Jamaican team to a new world record of 37.04 seconds for the men's world 4x100m relay title, the final event of the highly eventful competition.
Bolt, who missed out on defending his world 100m title after a dramatic false start saw him disqualified a week ago, rebounded to retain his 200m crown Saturday in an electric 19.40sec.
And come the relay, it could not have been better scripted for Bolt and his Jamaican sprint teammates of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake, who won 100m gold.
Carter went off like a bullet from the blocks, and smooth handovers to the dependable Frater and Blake saw Bolt in prime position for a record home stretch sprint. He did not disappoint.
Teeth clenched and eyes stuck on the trackside clock by the finish line, the 25-year-old dipped in determination, his head pivoting to see if the record had been broken.
"For me it was just to go out there fast," said Bolt. "We did just that. I am proud of my team, I'm happy with myself. I enjoyed being the anchor," he said in reference to the fourth leg normally run by Asafa Powell, who missed these Worlds with a recurring groin injury.
"I had a little problem with my achilles, I can't run the bend. It was decided I would run the anchor.
"Yohan Blake ran a great bend — I'm happy with that," said Bolt.
New addition Blake added: "We were feeling wonderful. We got this and knew we could do it. When Usain got the baton I could see the record come tumbling."
The previous record of 37.10 sec was set in the final of the Beijing Olympics by Carter, Frater, Bolt and Powell (who ran a 8.70 sec for the anchor), and yesterday the Jamaican quartet were presented a cheque for $100,000 for their efforts by IAAF head Lamine Diack.
There was, however, disaster for Jamaica's main rivals, the United States.
Lying in second place coming into the final bend, Darvis Patton made contact with Briton Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, crashed to the track and failed to get the baton to Walter Dix.
"I felt a knee on my arm," the Englishman admitted. "I didn't come here for this...I am sorry to the nation and the whole team. I was in my lane but I still have to say sorry to the American guy."
France, with 200m bronze medallist Christophe Lemaitre running the second leg, took silver (38.20 sec) and Saint Kitts and Nevis bronze in 38.49.
"You never take anything for granted when you have these Caribbean guys running in the same race," said Lemaitre, the triple European sprint champion.
"It's a pity for the US team because after the Jamaicans they are usually the strongest. They will be back and we will be ready for them in 2012."
For St Kitts and Nevis veteran Kim Collins, it was a bronze to add to a similar medal he won in the individual 100m.
"Whenever I come to the championships, I want to bring home a medal," the 35-year-old said. "I'm very pleased we managed this today."
— AFP/Observer

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/J-can-charm-sweeps-World-Championships_9620521#ixzz1X5cQbS8w

Christopher Coke pleads guilty to racketeering and assault

2011-08-31T16:45:00.000-05:00

NEW YORK POST | By BRUCE GOLDING (just a coincidence! NOT the Prime Minister)

Last Updated: 5:09 PM, August 31, 2011

Posted: 5:08 PM, August 31, 2011

Read more:
He wasn't wiggy enough to risk dying behind bars.

A violent Jamaican drug lord who got busted while disguised under an Afro wig and fake Gucci cap pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges that could send him to prison for 23 years.

Christopher Coke, 42, struck the plea bargain with Manhattan federal prosecutors just weeks before the scheduled start of a trial at which he would have faced life in prison without parole.

The sudden turnabout came after the judge refused to toss damning telephone wiretaps and prosecutors moved to introduce evidence that Coke committed at least five murders in his home country while heading a drug ring known as the "Shower Posse" and the "Presidential Click."

Court papers say one of the victims was marked for death after stealing "drug proceeds" from Coke, who then administered his own brand of "Scarface"-style justice.

"While the victim was tied down, Coke killed him with a chainsaw," prosecutors Joceyln Strauber and John Zach wrote.

Coke's fearsome reputation prompted residents of the Kingston neighborhood he controlled to repeatedly clash with police after Prime Minister Bruce Golding ordered his arrest and extradition last year.

At least 76 people died during the month-long mayhem, which ended only after Coke was nabbed during a traffic stop, reportedly on his way to surrender.

In court this afternoon, Coke spoke with a lilting accent as he admitted conspiring to ship at least 3,000 kilos of marijuana and 15 kilos of cocaine to the United States between 1999 and June 2010.

He also admitted ordering the 2007 knifing of a Bronx drug dealer who owed money to one of his cronies.

"He got stabbed in his face," Coke said of the unidentified victim.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/jamaican_druglord_christopher_coke_e0W0yrd52zJTNikveT4Q2J#ixzz1We3oy6gU

Drama at a Tripoli hotel

2011-08-30T10:53:00.001-05:00

Drama at a Tripoli hotel

We tracked the dramatic overthrow of the Moammar Gadhafi regime on CNN and could see the mounting tension in their senior correspondent Matthew Chance, even as he continued to report bravely on developments. He was being held with other members of the media by army personnel in Tripoli's Hotel Rixos.

Chance hinted at their precarious plight on Saturday, August 20 when he heard the reports of the successful takeover of Tripoli by the rebels, and disclosed that he and his colleagues were not being allowed to leave the hotel. During five tense days, the journalists realised that a number of frightening scenarios could develop: they could be held hostage, used as human shields, summarily executed.

The brilliant Jomana Karadsheh, a Jordanian CNN producer based in Baghdad struck up a conversation with one of the soldiers, saying how she longed to see her loved ones, and wished to leave the hotel. The 50-year-old soldier's eyes filled with tears as he related to her and an Arabic-speaking CNN cameraman, how concerned he was about his own family caught up in the rebellion.She was able to convince him to release her media colleagues.

In a moving account on the CNN website, we see an aggressor being coaxed into the rediscovery of his humanity:

"Karadsheh and the cameraman reminded him that all the senior officials - and now even his young comrades - had abandoned him.

It was time to give up. 'Slowly, he started to change.'

The cameraman slowly stripped the soldier and gunman of their weapons. Now unarmed, the man looked at the journalists and said, "You can go now."

Where 'doing more with less' is the norm

2011-08-30T10:49:00.001-05:00

Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer | Monday, August 29, 2011

THE recent Jamaica Teachers' Association Annual Conference was interesting. A militant outgoing JTA President Nadine Molloy-Young objected to the term "failing schools" while a grim-faced Education Minister Andrew Holness listened intently. The minister eventually had the last word, figuratively turning the Ministry's pockets inside out and declaring, "We have to do more with less."

We have wonderful teachers, but many of them may not understand the sacrifices made by their fellow Jamaicans to pay those taxes which fund the national budget. There are people in small businesses working 50 weeks per year, averaging 60 hours per week. They get no duty concessions, so they buy second-hand cars. They learn new technology overnight, glad for any gadget that could help them to do "more with less". When it comes to performance-related pay, they must submit detailed reports of activities and results along with invoices.

These brave entrepreneurs must prepare budgets which may have several iterations before final agreements are reached. Collections can be arduous - we know a pest-control outfit that ended up subsidising their customer after making two trips to Montego Bay to get hard-earned payment.

They had better file returns and pay taxes on time so that Tax Compliance Certificates (TCC) are up-to-date and they can get approval from the National Contracts Commission (NCC) to be able to tender for jobs. To stay on a productivity curve, they must have activity plans, board meetings, staff meetings, and strong financial management. When a business must present its results to a tough-talking board of directors, managers know it is a case of "put up or shut up".

Imagine then, when these businesses squeeze to hire a high school graduate with all sorts of teacher and pastor recommendations, only to discover that the individual can barely speak, much less write passable English. Teachers, you may not want to use the term "failing schools" but even a nicer name will not hide the fact that university lecturers are having to teach their students the fundamentals of grammar.

Nadine Molloy-Young is herself a role model, a winner of the Lasco Principal of the Year, impressing the panel of judges with her track record of leadership of the Buff Bay High School. She has every right to be defensive of and loyal to her fellow teachers, but she should call out the underachievers among them who are giving her noble profession a bad name.

Drama at a Tripoli hotel

In a moving account on the CNN website, we see an aggressor being coaxed into the rediscovery of his humanity:

"Karadsheh and the cameraman reminded him that all the senior officials - and now even his young comrades - had abandoned him.

It was time to give up. 'Slowly, he started to change.'

The cameraman slowly stripped the soldier and gunman of their weapons. Now unarmed, the man looked at the journalists and said, "You can go now."

Unusual week for Washington DC

It was an unusual week for Washington DC, where our relatives who always felt safe from such tropical occurrences as earthquakes and hurricanes experienced them both. The long-awaited opening of the Martin Luther King Jr Monument scheduled for yesterday to mark the 48th anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech, was postponed because of Hurricane Irene. At the time of writing this column, the warnings were grave: extensive flooding as far north as New York City. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

lowriechin@aim.com

Grenadian Teen Kirani James wins World Champs Gold

2011-08-30T08:54:00.001-05:00

DAEGU, South Korea | Tue Aug 30, 2011 6:43pm IST

(Reuters) - Teenager Kirani James chased down defending champion LaShawn Merritt on the home straight to win 400 metres gold and Grenada's first medal at the world championships on Tuesday.

James, who turns 19 on Thursday and has run just a handful of senior races after winning a string of junior titles, surged past American Merritt just before the line to claim victory in a personal best time of 44.60.

Olympic champion Merritt, who has just returned from a 21-month ban for doping, had come round the final bend with what looked like a comfortable lead before being beaten by James's finish.

Merritt took his second world championship silver medal in 44.63 with Belgium's Kevin Borlee, whose twin Jonathan was also in the final, claiming bronze in 44.90.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond)

Bolt beats Irene on Washington Post

2011-08-28T23:21:00.001-05:00

Washington Post's The Post Most

Most Popular

1. World track championships: Usain Bolt is disqualified in 100-meter final
2. Overhyped Irene makes Washington the inevitable butt of snickers
3. Beyonce is pregnant
4. Hurricane Irene was not the powerhouse most expected
5. Hurricane Irene closings, cancellations in the D.C. region

Click headline above to go to Washington Post homepage

Statement from the Bolt Camp

2011-08-28T09:39:00.001-05:00

FALSE START - By Bolt publicist Carole Beckford

28 August 2011 - Daegu, South Korea - The world was unable to see the world's fastest man Usain Bolt defend his 100 metres title at the 13th World Championship in Daegu, South Korea on Sunday, August 28; this after a false start in the final.

Bolt who entered the final as favourite following easy wins in rounds one and two, cruised to 10.10 and 10.05 seconds respectively and was drawn in lane 5 in the final.

Bolt's teammate, Yohan Blake, took the gold to become the youngest world champion in 9.92 seconds with Walter Dix, second in 10.08 and former world champion, Kim Collins third in 10.09.

The false start proved to be an anti climax to the Championship so far following two other false starts on Day two. There is expressed disappointment for Usain and his team and overall for the Championship.

Usain will compete in the 200 metres heats on September 2 and the 4 X 100 metres relay on September 4.

Bolt has the world record of 9.58 seconds for the 100 metres.

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Happy 90th Birthday Daphne Hewett!

2011-08-26T16:45:00.004-05:00

Daphne as Miss Jamaica 1938

Daphne – a luminous 90

Daphne Hewett with granddaughter Shelley Hendrickson (back row, left), and great-grandchildren (clockwise, from top) Amanda, Craig and Rachel Hendrickson for an oh-so-lovely family portrait. (photos from Jamaica Observer)

Folks at the Stella Maris Foundation in Grants Pen are delighted that one of their most generous supporters, Mrs Daphne Hewett, recently celebrated her 90th Birthday in fine style. Here is a lady who was Miss Jamaica 1938, and later had a wonderfully productive partnership with her late husband Gordon Hewett, earning her the Women Business Owners Trailblazer Award. Their Dagor chain of boutiques in hotels throughout Jamaica exuded Daphne’s beauty and elegance.

Daphne’s indomitable spirit comes from a deep faith in the Almighty, which she enjoyed sharing by leading praise and worship sessions for the young people in Grant’s Pen. Daphne continues to be a major donor to the Stella Maris Foundation, where the Sewing Centre is named in her honour. Here’s to a magnanimous Jamaican lady!

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/results/SO2---Timeless-Beauty_9477572#ixzz1WApcNWsM

Hurricane Preparedness Tips from NOAA

2011-08-25T21:38:00.003-05:00

What steps should I take when a hurricane watch/warning is posted?

Contributed by Neal Dorst

When a hurricane season starts -

The time to start your preparations is long before a hurricane watch is issued for your area. A good time to begin is during Hurricane Awareness Week, which occurs the week before hurricane season begins on June 1st. This is the time to make a hurricane plan or assess the one you have already formulated.
- Go through your hurricane supplies and replace any items that are outdated.
- Test your flash lights and other battery operated equipment.
- Check your shutters to ensure they're in good working condition. You may even want to deploy one or two to make sure they fit properly and you remember how they go up.
- Update any emergency numbers and phone numbers for family contacts outside the area.
- Pick up a hurricane preparedness brochure at the store and review it for pertinent tips and useful information.

When a hurricane watch is issued for your area -

Now is the time to double check your supplies, your shutters, and your plans.
- If there are any actions in your plan that need to be done long before you hunker down, now is the best time.
- You should get some cash from the bank or ATM and gas up your car.
- The longer you wait, the longer the lines will be, wasting your time.

When a hurricane warning is issued for your area -

Now is the time for action! Put up your shutters before the winds get too high.
- Clean up your yard and prep your pool.
- Lower your refrigerator temperature and fill up your bathtub and any extra jugs with water.
- If you are evacuating, prepare your property first then leave the area with plenty of time ahead since roads will become congested soon after the warning is issued.

This is just a general outline of actions you ought to take. Look at these Websites for more detailed safety plans:

Red Cross
Preparado para un huracan - Red Cross en Español
FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency

Last Updated : April 21, 2010

OAR/DOC/NOAA

Buildings evacuated on the Hill

2011-08-23T15:24:00.001-05:00

My folks were sightseeing when the earthquake happened - they took this photo right after they evacuated the museum near the Capitol!
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

UWI Memories - Dionne and Minna

2011-08-21T22:56:00.005-05:00

Dionne Jackson-Miller

Minna Israel

It was great to see fellow students from our undergraduate years at last week’s UWI Reunion. They look amazing – healthy habits pay off, and I learned that as a day student I missed quite a lot of that enjoyable rivalry between halls of residence. We enjoyed insightful and humorous reveries from Minna Israel, Dionne Jackson-Miller, Wayne Chen, Leighton McKnight and Michael McNaughton. Below are excerpts from Dionne’s and Minna's remarks. - Jean Anita

Excerpts – Dionne Jackson-Miller’s Reflections on Mary Seacole Hall

I’m a proud graduate of the UWI and of Mary Seacole Hall …
- I was promptly renamed MUG, the reason for which is lost in the mists of 19….. and my brother Howard was just as promptly renamed Jug when he landed on Chancellor several years later
- One advantage of university and hall life is supposed to be making friends and contacts you’ll have all your life, but the hall name thing can kinda defeat that purpose
- Imagine this – one busy afternoon in the newsroom, major developments on the industrial relations scene, I’m trying to make sense of it all and I know someone who can help me, a brother from Chancellor I used to lyme with
- Problem is – I can’t exactly phone up the Ministry of labour and ask for 'Cumfart'
- So there I am calling all over Jamaica, trying to find someone to tell me 'Cumfart’s' real name….
- Or you’re at a political rally, and look…there is…there is… the only name coming to mind is Back-a-neer
- Renaming was just one part of freshers week
- Freshers week was a wonderful time that I still have great memories of
- The banging on the door at 3 o clock in the morning so you could get a guided tour of the campus in the pitch black
- Squinting through the darkness while someone pointed out ODT or old library
- Having Chancellor Hall chairman Rod Stewart and Seacole chairperson Hughjeanette Allen marching around us with huge sticks while we obediently assumed the fresher’s position when someone yelled “Freshers all…ATTEN-SHUN!!!!!!!!” stand at ease - atten-Shun - stand at ease - over and over and over
- Trying to figure out that first morning what was Chan-Sea
- And learning quickly that was the name given to the two united great halls Chancellor and Seacole
- Learning how fortunate we were to have been accepted into the bosom of Chan-sea
- Pitying our friends who wound up in other places - still sorry fi onnu
- I still can’t fathom the idea of Chancellor and Seacole not united as Chansea - but and I feel fortunate that that wasn’t my experience
- We worked together
- We cheered for each other
- We married each other
- From the very first week - We marched together as freshers
- we made friends very quickly - it’s hard not to make friends when you have Rod Stewart ordering the freshman marching beside you to wax lyrical and then hanging around to listen in to the conversation and see if the waxing was lyrical enough!!! And joining in the conversation if he thought the freshman was falling short to show him how it should be done
- we learned that one of the worst things to be on hall was a lumpen
- The mere fact that you were a dedicated student, even a med student was no excuse - after all Dennis Brown was a prime example that you could beat and lyme -
- He’s now a successful doctor
- Saw him the other day and had a nice chat with him - didn’t tell him I couldn’t remember his real name either
- We didn’t need a megaphone on Seacole in my time we had Helen
- At the top of her voice exhorting Seacolites to ROPE OUT!! Whether it was to 5 am Ring Road or a hall meeting
- Living on mary Seacole hall made a life long impression on me
- I cherished my time on hall
- I made lifelong friends and developed a lifelong loyalty to Mary Seacole hall and equally strong loyalty to and good memories of our brothers on Chancellor

Excerpts from Minna Israel’s remarks

Since I have left UWI – the one thing that has never changed – is the importance I have placed on the relationships that were built there, and the experiences I carried with me as I built my career. Our UWI foundation provided the bases upon which we have all built successful careers, and engaged in lifelong pursuits, friendships and relationships; and, with confidence, assumed our places in societies all over the globe. We are indeed special.

So, this evening we CELEBRATE this phenomenal institution. An institution that is unmatched in its contribution to the development of this nation and the region.

So, fellow Alumni and friends of UWI, I ask us all – How do we breathe life into our Alumni Motto? How do we raise the bar and give new meaning to our Motta - “Proud to be making a difference” - and indeed make a difference?

I submit that when we support and contribute to UWI Alumni Association, we are guaranteeing a better future for our students, and by extension, our country, the region and the world.

We wore black today

2011-08-19T15:31:00.003-05:00

It's tough running a business, trying to conserve and being faced with ever-mounting electricity bills. We're now investigating solar alternatives.

LASCO Mega-Million Fun-anza

2011-08-19T09:32:00.000-05:00

The Excellent Prof Ajai Mansingh

2011-08-19T08:43:00.003-05:00

“I felt blessed with cosmic bliss. I could see nothing but unity in the world – one Source, one unity, pure divine bliss, not man-made.” - Prof Ajai Mansingh

A fond farewell to a tireless scientist and historian, Professor Ajai Mansingh who passed away recently. His dedication to family, his insightful book “Home Away From Home – 150 Years of Indian Presence in Jamaica” and his leadership of the Interfaith Prayer Group were inspiring. Our condolences to his wife Dr Laxmi Mansingh, son Dr Akshai Mansingh, daughter-in-law Gunjan, and grandsons Abhijai and Atishai.

Excerpt from a column published in the Jamaica Observer 19 October 09
by Jean Lowrie-Chin

How can a country of such wonderful people, be almost on the edge of despair? Let us remember that there is not a single place in the world that enjoys our level of racial and religious harmony. Our history of challenges and triumphs, the heroes we honour today, should help us to rise above the bickering and accusations.

One scientist, who came here in 1973 from India via Canada, fell in love with beautiful Jamaica and has never wanted to leave. He has had his most moving discoveries and life experiences in Jamaica. Professor Ajai Mansingh, author of “Home Away From Home – 150 Years of Indian Presence in Jamaica”, explained why there has been a longstanding kinship between Jamaicans of Indian and African descent. The Indians who had been hired as indentured labour on the plantations after 1845, were left to starve by their masters. “The recently emancipated African slaves had very little, but they took pity on the Indians and shared their food with them,” he explained.

Mansingh went on to explain that the Africans who had been attending Christian churches, observed the Indians gathering under trees to conduct their ethnic religious ceremonies. This inspired them to return to their African forms of worship, Christian in belief but with Hindu influences including the central table laden with food and flowers. “There is still a revival group in August Town that serves dahl bhat at their ceremonies,” he says.

The Professor, a Hindu by birth and conviction, says he had his own personal encounter with Jesus, one that would lead him to become a co-founder of the National Interfaith Fellowship. One afternoon in 1987, while sitting with two students on the porch of his home in College Common, he had a vision. “Suddenly I saw a golden aura that I identified as Jesus Christ, and I went towards Him to receive Him,” said the Professor. “I felt blessed with cosmic bliss. I could see nothing but unity in the world – one Source, one unity, pure divine bliss, not man-made.”

When the Professor opened his eyes, he saw his two students crying. “They said that all the life had gone out of my body – I was pale and apparently not breathing during the episode.” Mansingh said that he went immediately to the United Theological College, to relate the episode to his friend Rev Ashley Smith, when he saw him in the car-park. “Imagine, he said he was just about to drive to my home,” said Prof Mansingh. “He wanted to discuss the building of a Hindu temple by the Christians of Jamaica!”

On October 2, 1992, the promulgation of the National Interfaith Fellowship took place at King’s House with signatories from the Jamaica Council of Churches, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslins, Baha’is and Rastafarians. Co-founders were Professor Mansingh, then Governor General Sir Howard Cooke and Rev Ashley Smith. The members continue to meet and pray together to this day, deeply respecting each other’s beliefs.

...Professor Mansingh shared the prayer of the Interfaith Fellowship which gives thanks for “the gifts we bring one another when we meet in the spirit of acceptance and love”, and asks that we “listen to each other in humility.”

They sneeze – we wheeze

2011-08-15T16:48:00.003-05:00

(From The Telegraph) Burning building during the recent London riots - Photo: PA

Observer column|Jean Lowrie-Chin | MON 15 Aug 11
______________________________________________________

We don’t have to wonder why we were riveted by the US Congress stand-off on the raising of their debt ceiling and the riots in England. These two countries are important to small states like Jamaica, with a deeply dependent economy and our assimilated diaspora. Thus, we have been warned that any threat of a US recession will affect two golden lifelines – tourism and remittances.

A 68-year-old man, Richard Mannington Bowes of Ealing, West London died on Thursday after he was attacked while trying to put out a fire set by thugs. As we looked at a CCTV image of the suspected attacker on the BBC website, we prayed, ‘Please Lord do NOT make him be a Jamaican’. It is a comfort that relatives of Mark Duggan, whose killing by police triggered the rioting, have asked for calm, saying that they regretted the damage to the property of innocent people. Duggan’s relatives, some with Jamaican roots, and friends had been staging a peaceful demonstration when the mayhem started.

When we were children, we would sing in rounds, “London’s burning! Fire, fire! And we have no water.” It was ironical that in the face of a burning London, Prime Minister James Cameron announced that the police would be using water cannons … with 24 hours notice. So now a lot of blame is being heaped on the Police -- looks like they are everyone’s favourite scapegoat everywhere. They were treading on eggshells, as one more police killing could have become an even more dangerous flashpoint. So there were these sturdy youth, well dressed, taking over the streets of London. One of the boys arrested was 11 years old. Two teenage girls were interviewed at 5am after a night of drinking looted wine. One of the semi-drunk losers said she was doing it to “teach the rich a lesson.”

The Independent newspaper described the riots as “a Katrina moment” (thanks for sharing Rob Mullally). It noted, “Just as the US government failed to shore up the levees above the city of New Orleans when it had a chance, successive British administrations have failed to repair the social levees that ought to protect our society from this kind of aggression. At the weekend, those levees burst, and we have been witnessing the ugly results.”

“This disturbing phenomenon has to be understood as a conflagration of aggression from a socially and economically excluded underclass,” opined the writer. “A disaffected criminal fringe, made up of people who feel they have no stake in society, has decided to exert itself on the streets. Alienated young men and women, some of them barely more than children, have taken this as an opportunity to steal, riot, burn and to generally kick against authority.”

Sounds familiar? Year after year, decade after decade, our sociologists warn us about the grinding poverty in which fatherless children are raised. Yes, colleague Mark Wignall, many are exposed to sex too soon, but it cannot only be the desire to buy a girl a makeover that sends our youngsters into crime. It is the misplaced machismo of the absent father who boasts that he “got” a child, much like a supermarket free sample. It is the tragic ignorance of the impoverished mother who has baby after baby, hoping that this time, the father may just stay and look after her expanding family.

In Jamaica, you can detect this poverty from the appearance of the victims but in the welfare state of Britain, these lost youth are well looked after physically by an efficient health system and clothed by an unemployment ‘dole’ that is higher than the minimum wage. In many of Jamaica’s ‘better’ high schools, there are at-risk students similar to the rioters, their spirits stunted by careless parenting and a surfeit of gadgets.

We have been warned by Minister responsible for information Darryl Vaz that in view of the economic challenges including those from US belt-tightening, Cabinet will have to explore budget cuts. Hopefully, this will be seen in the tone and lifestyle of our politicians on both sides of the House. We are hearing the campaigning and join with Bishop Herro Blair to demand an apology from politicians who have been associated with gunmen. With the US’ credit rating downgraded and old England not feeling so jolly, we have to be ever vigilant and scrupulous if we want to attract any of the scarce benefits from our beleaguered benefactors.

Jamaica needs a strong JLP and a strong PNP, both mature enough to know that in a democracy, the winner gets to govern and the loser gets the winner to govern more carefully. We heard some encouraging sounds from both sides last week. Opposition Finance spokesman Peter Phillips was critical but cautious in his press briefing. Technology spokesman Phillip Paulwell commented positively on the appointment by Industry and Commerce Minister Christopher Tufton of ICT visionary Patrick Casserly as ambassador/special envoy. Agriculture Minister Robert Montague seems to have hit the ground running and we respect the independent thinking of Energy Minister Clive Mullings.

We have to give special kudos to Education Minister Andrew Holness for insisting on the improvement of our failing schools. Success can only come from strong performance as our finer teachers and principals have demonstrated over the years. They are result oriented and courageously insist on excellence. We simply cannot afford to graduate any more illiterates and disaffected youth. Let the mobs of London be a warning to us. Let us ensure that when we open our data centres we will have qualified and responsible personnel who will wow North America to bring even more well-needed jobs to Jamaica.

CAL Crash - JA and T&T photos

2011-08-08T16:27:00.004-05:00

Talk about perspective!

The top photo appeared in the Jamaica Observer.
The one below appeared in the T&T Newsday.

Farewell Anthony Abrahams

2011-08-07T20:35:00.001-05:00

Farewell to a brilliant Jamaican! Anthony Abrahams was an early achiever - first Black on BBC - Rhodes Scholar - youngest Tourism Director. He and Beverley Manley were the thought provoking duo whose 'Breakfast Club' took national discussion to a new level. We remember Anthony's passion and courage.
Safe journey to God's loving arms.

Link to RJR94 report:
http://rjrnewsonline.com/news/local/anthony-abrahams-dead?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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US 'still attractive to park money'

2011-08-06T09:20:00.001-05:00

From The Guardian
By Richard Blackden, New York
Last Updated: 2:53PM BST 06/08/2011
China has rebuked the United States for its Analysts at Capital Economics said the move will "surely rock the financial markets when they open on Monday" but added that any moves are likely to be short-lived because the slowing global economy makes US government debt, or Treasuries, an attractive place for investors to park money. At roughly $9 trillion in size, the Treasury market has advantages and liquidity that rival government bond markets, including Britain's, cannot match.

Excerpt from report below:

Despite the threat of the downgrade, the prices for Treasuries are close to their highs for the year as investors seek safe-havens and expectations for economic growth diminish.

Whatever the reaction next week, investors are clearer that the downgrade is a severe blow to America's prestige and is also likely to increase the US government's borrowing costs. JPMorgan this month estimated that such a move could add about $100bn a year to America's funding costs as lenders demand more to compensate for the greater risk. The US spent $414bn last year on interest payments.

"I have a feeling the dust may settle quite quickly," said David Buck of BGC Partners in London. "The US Treasury market is the most liquid in the world."

Either way, it frays nerves further before what was already going to be tense opening of financial markets next week.

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Congress approves debt deal, averts U.S. default

2011-08-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

A moment in US History ...

News Alert: Congress approves debt deal, averts U.S. default
August 2, 2011 12:51:58 PM
--------------------------------------The Senate approved a plan, 74 to 26, Tuesday that will increase the federal debt ceiling just hours before the Treasury said it could begin running out of money to pay the government's bills. The measure now goes to President Obama, who is expected to sign it shortly. The plan will cut the national debt by at least $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years with no immediate provision for tax increases.

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/E5QODK/A7Y36O/W6E6X9/CBE3FL/XJGP0/ID/hFor more information, visit washingtonpost.com
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