Percy Sledge - Ian Martin's Tribute

from youtube.com

Percy Sledge, an internationally acclaimed rhythm and blues vocalist, died today at age 73. Percy, a friend of Jamaica last performed in the island little more than a year ago. Over twenty-five years ago, The Jamaica Star (“Star”), a satellite paper of the Jamaica Daily Gleaner conducted a survey of as to what its readers considered to be the top 100 songs of all time in Jamaica. To my disappointment but not to my surprise Percy Sledge’s 1966 golden hit song “When a Man Loves a Woman” sat atop the other ninety-nine songs that made the cut in the mind of the Star’s readers.

Disappointed yes, because in my mind songs like Michael Jackson’s “Ben” Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops”, Al Green’s “Let Stay Together”, Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”, Johnnie Ace’s “Pledging My Love” and the Impressions “I Am So Proud of You” to name a few from the Rock and Roll/Rhythm and Blues genre should sit atop of “When a Man Loves a Woman” even though it is among my all-time favorites. In all probability, what the song must have had going for it at the time of the survey are its lyrics and arrangement that span three generations of readers.

from last.fm

Interestingly, the song is still as popular today as when it was first released. Even more interesting is its popularity among music fans born decades after. Today with the passing of Percy Sledge, sales of “When a Man Loves a Woman” along with other Percy Sledge hit songs are expected to rise as fans pay tribute to him.

Other hit songs from Percy Sledge are, “Cover Me”, “Warm and Tender Love”, “Take Time to Know Her”, “It Tears Me Up’ and “Out Left Field.” Percy will be missed by his many fans. However, thanks to technology, his voice lives on.

from smoothradio.com

When the news of Percy’s death broke, Michael Bolton who did a cover version of “When a Man Loves a Woman” in paying tribute to Percy had this to say about him: "He was an inspiration as an artist and one of the most gracious human beings. We sang together. Forever grateful! Love MB."

Percy you played a good inning. Rest in Peace! I extend deepest sympathy to his fans, friends, family and relatives.

Ian Martin

April 14, 2015.

Time to launch a love campaign

 by Jean Lowrie-Chin | excerpt from Jamaica Observer column | 6 April 2015

A weeping student at the university in Garissa, Kenya receives assistance

WE headed to Good Friday and Easter services and were moved as we contemplated the foundation of our faith, the crucifixion, and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ. We were emotional as we reflected on the news that 147 Kenyans, the majority of them students, were massacred at their college by terrorists because of this very faith. A student who escaped said they were asked about the Koran, and those who could not answer were shot in the back of their heads. It is understood that a room where Christian students gathered for morning prayers was targeted.

The challenge to us is to ensure that we do not allow such incidents to prejudice us against people of differing religions. Those murderers are criminals, and good people of the Muslim faith in Kenya have joined with Christians to condemn the horrific acts of al-Shabab, the group that has claimed responsibility for the murders.

Our challenge is to make this love we profess for God and our neighbour into a practical and focused instrument. Clearly, such groups as al-Shabab and ISIS are using clever marketing to win over new recruits. Three British schoolgirls secretly planned their exodus to Iraq via Turkey last month, while only a few days ago, two women were arrested in New York for signing up to become suicide bombers.

Christian churches around the world must dry their tears and make their message of Christian love so attractive, so riveting, that our love campaign will recruit millions and win over benighted souls.
As we look at films on the life of Christ, we understand the suffering and the risks taken by the apostles who travelled widely after His death to spread His good news. Most of them suffered and died like Him, but His church prevailed. Now it is under dangerous siege in several countries, and all who call themselves Christian must use all our God-given talents to plan and provide security and shelter to our brothers and sisters.

• sharon ewars • 2 days ago

  you are basically advocating for another prayer breakfast. wouldnt it prove more beneficial to demand accountability from those in power now?
  

  
  

  tyroneosborne • 2 days ago

  Well , we have many Religions and a number of Gods. Love was supposed to be coming from our heats, but sometime ''Love takes a flight ,'' as we are drawn to religious dogmas. We have seen the bloodshed and there seems to be no stopping anytime soon.
  The words of John Lennon. in his song ''Imagine there is no Country etc /'' must have gone by the way side .
  

  tyroneosborne • 2 days ago

  Yea mon, ah whole heap of people prays daily , but that alone can't do a thing ! You have to use your God given senses to make life better.
  I pray too, but know fully well that God will answer, when he wants and however he wants. In the mean time common sense affi rule whatever I am doing . .
  

   
• • 

    Bobby Sharpe tyroneosborne • 2 days ago

    "Tell me all your thoughts on God...I'm on my way to see HER"...I'm happy my God would be female, if I ever had need for one...!!!
    
    • tyroneosborne Bobby Sharpe • 21 hours ago

      God does not give everything that we think we want. Sure enough we have to be satisfied that his mother is a woman, it looks like that is the best we will have.
      When ,his son, Jesus met a '' a Samaritan woman ,'' at the well, in conversation he did say who is God.
      Read John 4 : 7-24 { KJV } Jesus said that God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. { I think Jesus should know and I have reason to trust him }
      The gender of God is not that crucial,since he is Spirit . Mi Glad say he is Spirit, because if he was not he could not have saved me from my bosom close enemies !
      
• Bobby Sharpe • 2 days ago

  Jean Dearest, there is no difference between an American, al-Shabab or ISIS bombing/massacre...All are designed to cause major murder & mayhem...Religionists are "warriors" for their religion & all religions have been guilty of major crimes against humanity, as they grab for turf...All RELIGIONS. Look at the crimes the jews have committed against the Palestinians...If God was for real, such crimes would/should not go unpunished but...
  

From Gleaner: Impacts Of Benzene On Public Health

Published: Jamaica Gleaner
Saturday April 4, 2015

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20150404/impacts-benzene-public-health

By Dr Homero Silva

The Ministry of Health's acknowledgement of the highest benzene concentration ever recorded in Jamaica's air following the March 2015 fire at the Riverton dumpsite is only the tip of the iceberg.

The weak air-quality monitoring programme conducted by the National Environment and Planning Agency prevents the public from appreciating the real magnitude of Jamaica's environmental health problems, especially those related to poor solid-waste management. Air pollutants such as some of those from the 'Dirty Dozen' (dioxins, furans and PCBs), biphenol A and heavy metals are not measured, but they are more dangerous to health because they can accumulate in the body, especially in fatty and soft tissues.

Metals differ from other toxic substances in that they are neither created nor destroyed by humans. These pollutants will be dealt with in another article. This time, I will focus on benzene.

Background monitoring stations report concentrations of benzene from sources other than dump fires such as motor vehicle emissions, so the high-concentration event cannot be separated from the year-round low, but risky, benzene concentrations.

No Safe Exposure
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers benzene to be carcinogenic to humans. No safe level of exposure can be recommended. Using WHO estimates of the excess lifetime risk of leukaemia at an air concentration of 84 ug/m3, the estimate is 494 cases per million population.

Ontario regulations propose a 24-hour average standard of 2.3 mg/m3 for benzene based on the carcinogenic effects associated with exposure to benzene. The concentration of benzene at the Half-Way Tree Road background monitoring station was 7.87. Two weeks after the 2012 fire, the benzene concentration was 13. Therefore, background benzene concentrations in Jamaica EXCEED the Ontario standard. Jamaica does not have standards for benzene.

The risk of harmful health effects from toxic substances depends on many factors such as dose, health, age, adaptation, routes of exposure, frequency and duration of exposure (acute vs chronic).

Benzene is a carcinogen (causes cancer), mutagen (causes mutations in DNA), teratogen (causes birth defect), allergen (causes unnecessary immune response), neurotoxic (damages nervous system), and endocrine disruptor (interferes with hormones).

High concentrations of benzene cause the following short-term effects: drowsiness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headache, tremors and confusion immediately after exposure to high levels of the substance.

Long-term exposure to benzene causes other health problems like aplastic anaemia, excessive bleeding, reduction in the capacity of the immune system to fight infections, cancers, and chromosomal aberrations in human peripheral lymphocytes.

Other studies have also found that

- Benzene crosses the placenta and is present in cord blood in concentrations equal to or greater than maternal blood.

- Women exposed to benzene concentrations of 2.86 to 7.44 ug/m3 had a 2.3 odd ratio of having a child with neural tube defect (spina bifida) and a 1.28 odd ratio for having a child with anencephaly (improper formation of the top part of the skull and brain).

- Early-life exposure to ambient air pollution may increase the risk of upper and lower respiratory tract infections in infants.

- Increase in preterm birth or a decrease in biparietal diameter growth with maternal exposure to benzene or early exposure to aromatic solvents. Biparietal diameter is one of the basic biometric parameters used to assess fetal size.

- Benzene is fetotoxic (causes mutations in DNA) in mice and rabbits following maternal exposure by inhalation, causing a reduction in birth weight.

- Results of animal studies showed that benzene may cause Zymbal-gland (ear canal) carcinoma, oral-cavity tumours, skin cancer, lymphoma, lung tumours, ovarian tumours, and mammary-gland carcinoma.

- Dr Homero Silva is professor in public health, environment and climate change at UTech's School of Public Health and Health Technology. Email feedback tocolumns@gleanerjm.com.

That positive Obama example

President Barack Obama joins First Lady Michelle Obama on stage for a surprise visit during the Kids' State Dinner in the East Room of the White House, July 18, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

by Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer column | 30 March 2015

The officials who will be in charge of guest lists for the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama to Jamaica will certainly not be able to accommodate the many who wish to meet the great man. Therefore, let us be content to enjoy his writings and be grateful that our Maker has provided an outstanding role model for the people of the African Diaspora.

I will never forget the eyewitness account of the Inauguration of Mr Obama by my brother-in-law William Beard Jr, captured in my column of January 26, 2009.

William Beard Jr

"I was absolutely taken by the moment,” said Bill Beard. “For me it was a bookend, taking me back to that day in 1963 when relatives from all over America gathered at our house in DC, then set out with my parents to march with Martin Luther King Jr. They kept me home because they did not know if it would have been dangerous. I had seen on television marchers being beaten, attacked by dogs and knocked down by water cannons. What a far way we have come - on Tuesday I was heading to the Mall with my 13-year-old daughter, to witness the swearing-in of the first African-American president!

"You should have seen the Mall - a wonderful spirit pervaded. People knew they were being called to a higher level of behaviour. They were helping and checking on each other, laughing, sharing stories, making each other feel comfortable. The one reason was the man, Barack Obama, who was taking the Oath of Office. They wanted him to see that they could pattern the behaviour this extraordinary leader exemplified.”

In the close-ups of Barack and Michelle Obama at those 10 inaugural balls, we agreed that they impressed us with their lack of pretense, that they are truly a loving couple, very comfortable in their skin. Bill noted of their children Malia and Sasha, "When your children so readily embrace what you espouse, respect and decency, they are redefining what an American family is, at a time when family was becoming unravelled."

Bill commented, "Obama is a man sent for this moment, just as Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt were, in their time. History will place him up there with them. This is divine order, a gift from God in so many ways.”

If Barack Obama's life had been a movie script, we would have probably said it was too unrealistic. How could his parents have met in Hawaii, the same place that the black/white young couple met in that movie classic “Guess Who's Coming to Dinner”, starring Sidney Poitier? How could these brilliant individuals — one from Kenya and one from Kansas — produce an even more brilliant son, who would become the first ever African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review?

The marriage of his parents dissolved when he was a toddler and his mother Ann Dunham remarried Indonesian Lolo Soetero, taking young Barack to live with his stepfather in that Asian country. Ann awakened her seven-year-old son early every day to keep his English strong and resonant, playing inspiring recordings. The voice she played to young Barry over and over again: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. saying his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

When on May 4, 2011, Barack Obama announced that the leader of the dreaded Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden had been killed by US Navy Seals, this column referred to the description of him by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair: "The personal character is clear: this is a man with steel in every part of him."  Obama's subsequent visit to the site of the bombing of the twin towers in New York City and the New York Fire Department which had lost over 300 firefighters, gave closure to a horror story that had haunted the entire world.

Barack Obama and his close-knit family have shown us how hard work, high achievement, and righteousness took them to the most prestigious address in the world. Can we work to promote this kind of leadership for Jamaica? Yes we can!

NIA CALLS ON JAMAICANS TO DEMAND SANCTIONS AGAINST UNLAWFUL MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS

March 30, 2015

For Immediate Release

NIA calls on all responsible citizens:

· To speak out against improper and unlawful conduct in the management of public funds (as documented in recent official reports)

· Demand accountability from public bodies

· Insist on sanctions being applied against individuals found to be in breach of laws and  regulations

 

The recent official reports are:

· The Annual Report of the Auditor General 2013/2014 in respect of National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA): "NSWMA failed to table ten years Audited Financial Statements and Annual Reports in the Houses of Parliament". This failure breaches sections 12 and 13 of the NSWMA Act which requires such reports to be tabled annually so that the Parliament, the media and the public may know what is going on with the finances of NSWMA.

 

· The NSWMA failure is also in breach of the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act, section 3 (3) which require the submission of Annual Reports and Audited Financial Statements. This Act  ( section 25, (1) (a)) empowers the Attorney General to apply to bring before the Courts persons found in contravention of this section. This needs to be done in relation to all contraventions of the PBMA

 

· Office of the Contractor General (OCG) Investigation Report, February 2014 re NSWMA. This report documented the award of contracts "to unregistered contractors" and in an "irregular manner" in 2007/2008.

 

· Office of the Contractor General (OCG) Investigation Report, Hanover Parish Council (March, 2015). The OCG concludes "that there were instances of nepotism, favouritism and conflicts of interest involved in recommendations for the award of government contracts to relatives and persons affiliated with Ms. Shernette Haughton (then Mayor of Lucea). In some instances, "a complete verification of works executed is not conducted by the Hanover Parish Council".

 

· OCG Special Investigation Report, St. Thomas Parish Council (March 2015). The OCG concluded that "the award of contracts to One Touch Tours and Equipment Ltd by the St. Thomas Parish Council were in breach of section (4) of the OCG Act and the then applicable GHPPP" (November 2, 2008). Further the OCG concludes that this irregular award had "the potential to cause great and inordinate danger to human life … amounts to an egregious disregard for public safety and welfare".

 

NIA commends the Auditor General and the Office of the Contractor General for their courage and professionalism in reporting abuse in fulfilment of their roles as watchdogs over the proper use of public funds.

 

At the same time, despite these documented breaches of law and irregularity in the management of tax payers' money, no public officer responsible has been prosecuted, brought before the courts and/or fined for unlawful conduct. This is unacceptable, especially when other Jamaicans are being prosecuted, brought before the courts, fined and/or imprisoned for what on the face of it are lesser offences. The continuing impunity of so many persons in authority shall only be eliminated when the broadest cross section of responsible citizens and organisations – including the church, the private sector, professional associations, trade unions, youth and student bodies – demand that in these times of austerity taxpayers money must be prudently managed and the rule of law applied to one and all regardless of position.

 

-END-

 

Contact:

Trevor Munroe (Professor)

Executive Director

383-2447

Farkhunda: Hope from Despair by Frozan Marofi

Rights activists carry the coffin of 27-year-old Farkhunda ... www.theblaze.com

From The Guardian... 

In Afghanistan, there is a real possibility that the horrific murder of a young woman could finally bring real change to our society... 

 By Frozan Marofi

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – it started very small; none of us had a plan. When I saw on Facebook that Farkhunda would be buried Sunday morning I quickly posted the information on Timeline and got myself together. I wore black, for my sorrow; I wore trainers on my feet, so that I could be strong.

My daughter Regwida and I went to the graveyard where Farkhunda would be buried. There was just one other woman there. She was wearing very red lipstick; I told her to take it off, and she did.

All we wanted was to express our sorrow, nothing more. But more and more women began to arrive. Soon we were about 35, all come to pay their respects to this martyr of Afghanistan.

You know Farkhunda; she was the young woman – just 27 – beaten to death by a mob in the very center of Kabul last Thursday. This did not happen in some remote village, in some dark area, but right in our capital, among police checkpoints, embassies, ministries. Even the presidential palace is not far away from the Shah do Shamshira shrine, where this terrible thing happened.

A mullah said that Farkhunda had burned the Quran. It was a lie; all she did was tell him that his business of selling tawiz – small scraps of paper with religious verses that are supposed to be powerful spells – was against Islam. This mullah began to yell that Farkhunda had desecrated the Holy Book. Soon a crowd formed, and began to beat her with sticks, stones, their feet. They tied her to a car and dragged her through the streets; they threw her body on the riverbank and set it alight.

I do not know what made these men so wild; I do not know what was in their hearts. They shouted "Allahu Akbar!" as they killed her. As a Muslim, it is painful to hear God is Great chanted while taking an innocent life – it is a manipulation of the Islam I know that promises women their rights, to be educated and to have a voice.  But this is what people shout when they think they are doing something right. How could this be right?

Some of our public figures approved of the killing. Maulawi Ayaz Niyazi said that the people who killed Farkhunda should not be punished. The Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, Simin Hassanzada, agreed.

Farkhunda was laid out on a playground, where children play football. There was no room in the graveyard itself. This Maualwi Niyzai came to pray over her body, but I stood in front of him and told him, respectfully, sir we do not allow you to pray for Farkhunda.

He had a man with him who said "This is our dead body, who do you think you are?"

I told him "This is not your dead body. Farkhunda belongs to all of the women of Kabul, of Afghanistan. Her body belongs to all Afghan mothers."

Suddenly the other girls started to shout "we do not want Niyazi here."

And he left.

When the time came to take the body to the grave, the women said "We will do it." They did not allow a single man to touch Farkhunda.

But I said to her brother, "You come with us. It is your right." He answered, "No, I will not. Farkhunda's sister will take the body."

It was the very first time in Afghanistan – maybe in all the Islamic world – when women took a dead body to the grave.

There were many men from Farkhunda's family, and they made a ring around us to protect us. They supported us and respected us. I think that is such a small number of women could make such a big change in the minds of so many men, that we can do anything.

The demonstration was scheduled for Tuesday; the word spread on Facebook, on Twitter, on Viber. We were in touch with the whole world; everyone supported us.

It began to rain on that morning. I was afraid that no one would come. But when we arrived at Massoud circle, there were thousands of people. Every political party was there, civil society organization, women's rights activists, university students, and just ordinary civilians. There were women in full chadori, only their eyes exposed; there were twelve-year-old girls. There were men and boys.

We all came together with one voice, with one goal: justice for Farkhunda.

We marched in the rain, all the way to the Supreme Court and back. We shouted "Farkhunda is our sister!" "We want justice!" and "We have been silent long enough!"

I think the most moving tribute was from Rawand-e-Sabz, the "Green Trend," a movement organized by former intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh.

There were a lot of men and boys, all with green scarves or ribbons around their necks, standing silently along the route, with their heads bowed.

"We are ashamed," said Saleh, who attended the rally. "We are ashamed that we could not defend Farkhunda."

There are people who want harsh punishment for those who killed Farkhunda. Some say that the mullah who started it should be burned, the way they burned Farkhunda. But if we do that, how are we different from them? We have laws, we have a policy. They should be punished according to the law.

At the end of the demonstration a bunch of men showed up and began to shout "Allahu Akbar!"

Some people think they may have been sent to make trouble. But I prefer to think that even they were supporting us, supporting Farkhunda.

I have hope for my country. People all over Afghanistan, in Badakhshan, in Herat, in Dai Kudi, in Bamyan, all are saying the killing of Farkhunda was bad. Even the Taliban have come out to say it was not a good thing.

So I am optimistic. I hope that I am right.

Frozan Marofi is Women for Women International's Manager for Social Empowerment. She has been a women's rights activist in Afghanistan for more than a decade.

This recurring Riverton nightmare

Riverton Dump: our brave firefighters battle the result of poor planning

By Jean Lowrie-Chin | Observer column for Mon 16 March 2015

Those media sound bites we got on the Riverton City Dump fire that caused illness and dislocation, were mostly from the fire department, and the hastily called press briefing of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) last Friday left us with more questions than answers.

If you put in the search words ‘Riverton City Dump fire’ on the web, you will discover that this has been a recurring 12-year problem which has been the subject of multiple studies and minimal action.  Indeed, an action against the NSWMA brought by four complainants as a result of the 2012 fire, finally has a Court date of December 1, 2015. 

The report from the website of the Office of the Public Defender reads: “On February 6, 2012, a fire started at the Riverton City Disposal Site. The blaze lasted 6 days while the smoke abatement process lasted 17 days. The noxious emission resulted in numerous complaints being received by the Office of the Public Defender (OPD). On February 10, 2012, OPD commenced an investigation into formal complaints by residents of Portmore and the Corporate Area about the ill effects of the noxious fumes…

“This matter is of grave importance as there have been at least 12 reported fires at the Riverton City Disposal Site in the last 10 years. The Disposal Site is operated by the NSWMA which is a statutory body and is governed by the National Solid Waste Management Act 2001. Our investigation has revealed that the NSWMA has repeatedly breached its obligations under the Act and in doing so, the claimants constitutional right as guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment) Act 2011 was breached. 

“This Commission's investigation has revealed that adequate steps were not taken to extinguish the fire… The Claimants are seeking a declaration that NSWMA is in breach of its statutory duty which amounts to a breach of their constitutional right. At a directions hearing heard on the 29th July 2014 … Justice Thompson-James made several orders as it was the first hearing for the Fixed Date Claim. The trial has been set for three (3) days commencing on December 1, 2015 in open court.”

On March 15, 2014, almost a year before last week’s disaster, a fire broke out at the said Riverton City Dump. The Jamaica Environment Trust issued a statement (thanks for posting Emma Lewis) which noted: 

“The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has allowed the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to continue to operate Riverton and other dumps in totally unsatisfactory conditions over decades. We know that NEPA issued an enforcement notice with regard to this latest fire, but the smoke continues to compromise the air for thousands of people.”

Now here is a particularly disturbing observation from JET: “We know that millions of dollars have been spent on this latest fire; money that is not going to be available for proper waste management in future. It is an open secret that the fire is often set by people who have access to the unsecured dump and may well be some of the same people who benefit from the funds which then must be spent to extinguish it.”

Last week, as I noted the upsurge of child fatalities, I wondered at the cynical choices being made by some of our leaders in both political parties as they reign over their garrison communities.  How in heavens name, after 12 years of these fires and the identification of poisonous gases emanating from them, have we not put the necessary safeguards in place?  Is it because it is easier to open the gates of the dump to those poverty-stricken residents in the area so they can eke out a living, rather than have a structured plan that could still include them, but prevent the possibility of fire-setting? Clearly the technology exists to assist in such a plan.

This latest fire has hit the overseas media, with a ABC News carrying the headline: “Smoke Blankets Jamaica’s Capital as Dump Fire Burns”.  Reporter David McFadden noted that in a previous occurence: “The cancer-causing chemical benzene was detected at three times the World Health Organization's air standard. After a 2012 fire, Environment Minister Robert Pickersgill acknowledged the situation affected public health. But the dump continues to catch fire and the island's biggest city continues to be covered in smoke when it does.”

As businesses, including our very Port of Kingston, had to close because of the associated health risks, what message are we sending to the investors we were courting so fervently at the Cariforum Conference in Montego Bay last week? 

This recurring Riverton City nightmare is no longer the business of only the Minister of Local Government, the NSWMA or NEPA.  It is the urgent business of the Government of Jamaica which boasts some bright stars in its Cabinet.  Clearly, there is a disconnect between our various ministries when one agency has to be begging the media to help them find heavy equipment to which other ministries must have access. If there is a jolly picnic happening because of the JLP implosion, let our Government know that neither the media nor civil society groups are napping.  There has to be an accounting.