Bruce Golding, leader of the Opposition JLP, has at last found his winning ticket. This week he blasted Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller for ignoring and/or encouraging political victimization in the handing out of government monies – in particular monies for cleaning drains.

The Prime Minister’s garrison constituency, and the possibility that she may allow garrison politics to dominate national life, are the main reasons that many of us otherwise level headed  citizens are wondering if we want her to get a first term or a second term or even still be Prime Minister this Christmas…….

Bruce Golding needs to remind everyone of the scenario that is already causing the middle classes to choke on their hors d’ oeuvres (that’s “appetizers” to you workers – shrimp and stamp-and-go and suchlike).

The scenario goes something like this:-

The day after she gets her “mandate” the Prime Minister will get rid of Peter Phillips (our real deal National Security rock-of-ages), replace Omar (he who can make the financial sector sleep at nights) and have the dons (all of them) over for dinner.

Day Two sees the Prime Minister saying “thanks, but no thanks” to Scotland Yard and sending home Mark Shields, Les Green et al. Same afternoon Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas gets his walking papers.

Day Three the Prime Minister announces that SSP Renato Adams will be replacing Lucius Thomas as Commissioner of Police. Later the same day, Zekes’ lawyer announces that new evidence has been found exonerating his client and asks for a retrial. Zekes is released on bail….

Day Four…..well, you get the idea….

So Bruce, I think you are definitely on to something. This is the way to Jamaica House. And don’t feel too bad that Portia doesn’t give you the same care and attention that she gives to your former leader, Edward Seaga. Remember that you will never be able to do for the PNP what Seaga was able to do without even trying – give them 4 straight terms in Government……

“The Nightmare Before Christmas (Special Edition)” (Henry Selick, Tim Burton)

Waking up, getting real, or still asleep ?

Why is it that Trinis get to have all the fun ? Not only do they have a real Carnival associated with a real religious event (the beginning of Lent), but earlier this year they convicted a former Prime Minister for corruption and now they have a fun, something-for-everyone scandal involving their Chief Justice.

The Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago has said (again) that he will step aside. He is refusing to actually resign despite being accused by the Chief Magistrate of interfering in the trial of former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday . Apparently, the Chief Justice cannot resign because – as far as I can figure out – (1) the Prime Minister doesn’t like him (2) he would be arrested (3) it would shake the faith of Trinis in their justice system……

“The Dragon Can’t Dance” (Earl Lovelace)

Getting real

The staff of Air Jamaica have decided not to go on strike. Seems like they figured out that they are not likely to get a hearing when workers that actually make a contribution to national life (nurses, policemen, teachers) are demanding more money…..Yes, I know Air Jamaica did, once upon a time, make an important contribution to our national life, BUT please note that in a business environment where Swissair (R.I.P. 2002) can’t survive, we are kidding ourselves if we think that Air Jamaica will ever be more than a millstone round the neck of every hard working, underpaid and under-appreciated public servant (we’re talking nurses, policemen, teachers….)

“Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos” (Thomas Jr Petzinger)

Alternative universe section

Moving off planet this week:

Germaine Greer, who advised the British Government to provide support and educational services to black teenagers in the U.K. instead of trying to stop them from getting pregnant at all. Since not too many white women of European descent are interested in having lots of babies, hence Europe’s plunging birth rates, Ms Greer seems to think that the Government should be grateful to Afro-Caribbean girls for providing them with the next generation of Brits instead of rushing off to their local abortion clinic……While sympathizing with Ms Greer (and the girls) the idea that the U.K. government might want a black Britain, now or ever, suggests that Ms Greer phoned in her article from Mars, Saturn or Uranus…….

Consolidated Edison, supplier of electricity to New York City, who somehow managed to keep sections of the world’s most famous city in darkness for more than a week. Talk about what planet are they living on? As we all know, on planet Earth, that kind of thing can only happen in places like Jamaica…….

Sheikh Omar Bakri, an Islamic preacher best known for supporting the attacks on the U.S. on September 11 and for telling Brits that they will be much happier when the U.K. becomes an Islamic state, begged the British government to rescue him from Lebanon where he has been residing for the past year. His reasons for wanting to return to the U.K. where he lived for 20 years ? He has a wife and six children there (they wisely remained in Britain when he left ). Apparently, the war in Lebanon makes it an unsuitable place for Sheikh Omar Bakri to entertain his family for the holidays…….

“Have Space Suit, Will Travel” (Robert A. Heinlein)

Everywhere is war

Whether it’s the Lebanon or Somalia or Iraq or Afghanistan, the news this week has been all bad. Future look dark.

Please say a prayer for all those suffering, even the madmen on all sides with the guns. As we know all too well in Jamaica, there are men who would rather die than take a ‘diss’. Nothing to do for them (or for us) but pray…….

“History Of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” (Karen Armstrong)

“No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam” (Reza Aslan)

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: Air Jamaica, Bruce Golding, Jamaica, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Trinidad

Bruce Golding, leader of the Opposition JLP, has at last found his winning ticket. This week he blasted Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller for ignoring and/or encouraging political victimization in the handing out of government monies – in particular monies for cleaning drains.

The Prime Minister’s garrison constituency, and the possibility that she may allow garrison politics to dominate national life, are the main reasons that many of us otherwise level headed  citizens are wondering if we want her to get a first term or a second term or even still be Prime Minister this Christmas…….

Bruce Golding needs to remind everyone of the scenario that is already causing the middle classes to choke on their hors d’ oeuvres (that’s “appetizers” to you workers – shrimp and stamp-and-go and suchlike).

The scenario goes something like this:-

The day after she gets her “mandate” the Prime Minister will get rid of Peter Phillips (our real deal National Security rock-of-ages), replace Omar (he who can make the financial sector sleep at nights) and have the dons (all of them) over for dinner.

Day Two sees the Prime Minister saying “thanks, but no thanks” to Scotland Yard and sending home Mark Shields, Les Green et al. Same afternoon Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas gets his walking papers.

Day Three the Prime Minister announces that SSP Renato Adams will be replacing Lucius Thomas as Commissioner of Police. Later the same day, Zekes’ lawyer announces that new evidence has been found exonerating his client and asks for a retrial. Zekes is released on bail….

Day Four…..well, you get the idea….

So Bruce, I think you are definitely on to something. This is the way to Jamaica House. And don’t feel too bad that Portia doesn’t give you the same care and attention that she gives to your former leader, Edward Seaga. Remember that you will never be able to do for the PNP what Seaga was able to do without even trying – give them 4 straight terms in Government……

“The Nightmare Before Christmas (Special Edition)” (Henry Selick, Tim Burton)

Waking up, getting real, or still asleep ?

Why is it that Trinis get to have all the fun ? Not only do they have a real Carnival associated with a real religious event (the beginning of Lent), but earlier this year they convicted a former Prime Minister for corruption and now they have a fun, something-for-everyone scandal involving their Chief Justice.

The Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago has said (again) that he will step aside. He is refusing to actually resign despite being accused by the Chief Magistrate of interfering in the trial of former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday . Apparently, the Chief Justice cannot resign because – as far as I can figure out – (1) the Prime Minister doesn’t like him (2) he would be arrested (3) it would shake the faith of Trinis in their justice system……

“The Dragon Can’t Dance” (Earl Lovelace)

Getting real

The staff of Air Jamaica have decided not to go on strike. Seems like they figured out that they are not likely to get a hearing when workers that actually make a contribution to national life (nurses, policemen, teachers) are demanding more money…..Yes, I know Air Jamaica did, once upon a time, make an important contribution to our national life, BUT please note that in a business environment where Swissair (R.I.P. 2002) can’t survive, we are kidding ourselves if we think that Air Jamaica will ever be more than a millstone round the neck of every hard working, underpaid and under-appreciated public servant (we’re talking nurses, policemen, teachers….)

“Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos” (Thomas Jr Petzinger)

Alternative universe section

Moving off planet this week:

Germaine Greer, who advised the British Government to provide support and educational services to black teenagers in the U.K. instead of trying to stop them from getting pregnant at all. Since not too many white women of European descent are interested in having lots of babies, hence Europe’s plunging birth rates, Ms Greer seems to think that the Government should be grateful to Afro-Caribbean girls for providing them with the next generation of Brits instead of rushing off to their local abortion clinic……While sympathizing with Ms Greer (and the girls) the idea that the U.K. government might want a black Britain, now or ever, suggests that Ms Greer phoned in her article from Mars, Saturn or Uranus…….

Consolidated Edison, supplier of electricity to New York City, who somehow managed to keep sections of the world’s most famous city in darkness for more than a week. Talk about what planet are they living on? As we all know, on planet Earth, that kind of thing can only happen in places like Jamaica…….

Sheikh Omar Bakri, an Islamic preacher best known for supporting the attacks on the U.S. on September 11 and for telling Brits that they will be much happier when the U.K. becomes an Islamic state, begged the British government to rescue him from Lebanon where he has been residing for the past year. His reasons for wanting to return to the U.K. where he lived for 20 years ? He has a wife and six children there (they wisely remained in Britain when he left ). Apparently, the war in Lebanon makes it an unsuitable place for Sheikh Omar Bakri to entertain his family for the holidays…….

“Have Space Suit, Will Travel” (Robert A. Heinlein)

Everywhere is war

Whether it’s the Lebanon or Somalia or Iraq or Afghanistan, the news this week has been all bad. Future look dark.

Please say a prayer for all those suffering, even the madmen on all sides with the guns. As we know all too well in Jamaica, there are men who would rather die than take a ‘diss’. Nothing to do for them (or for us) but pray…….

“History Of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” (Karen Armstrong)

“No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam” (Reza Aslan)

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: Air Jamaica, Bruce Golding, Jamaica, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Trinidad

Dr. Vin Lawrence

In the first (but hopefully not the last) consequence of the Sandals Whitehouse cost overrun scandal, the much feared and disliked Chairman of the Urban Development Corporation, Dr. Vin Lawrence, has resigned.

Having accepted Dr. Lawrence’s resignation, the Prime Minister has thrown the whole Scandals Whitehouse mess to Opposition spokesman on Finance, Audley Shaw, and the Public Accounts Committee. She has charged them with shedding light on every nook and cranny of the scandal, and with hauling every wrong-doer before the proper authorities. A stunning move which checkmates not only the Opposition, but the naysayers in her own camp. You go girl !

The current Prime Minister removed one PJ crony last year when she flushed away Alston Stewart, the Chairman of the Solid Waste Management Authority. Now Dr. Lawrence, renowned for his arrogance, abuse of authority and sheer vindictiveness has gone the same way.

There must be many people, great and humble, in the local construction industry who are having a quiet celebratory drink and saying a silent prayer of thanks.

Of course, the doctors working in UDC “refurbished and expanded” hospitals who cannot use their operating theaters when it rains; and the teachers working in UDC “overseen” schools who are trying to teach in newly constructed, but leaky classrooms full of shoddily built furniture, have less to celebrate…..

Next on the agenda for Sister P ? She needs to get rid of the Dr. Lawrence surrogates installed wherever in the Government the former Prime Minister allowed his crony to run unchecked. We’re talking most of the Board and senior management at UDC, the National Works Agency, Air Jamaica, PCJ, the bauxite industry etc, etc……

And after that ? Wait for all those who supported Peter Phillips and Omar Davies to realize that Sister P intends to “run things” quite as ruthlessly as any of the boys, and watch them all get in line for the plum jobs that will soon be hers for the giving…..

Personally, I ‘m hoping Madam Prime Minister will take really drastic action and also close down these 3 pet projects of Dr. Lawrence which are perpetual swallowers of our tax money : (1) Air Jamaica (2) the incredibly costly charade of resurrecting the Jamaica Railways (3) Jentech, Dr. Lawrence’s consulting company (Jentech, of course, would be closed down by simply requiring them to use their much vaunted “experience and qualifications” to get private sector, as opposed to government, work)….

“Can You Forgive Her (The Penguine Trollope, vol. 17)” (Anthony Trollope, Stephen Wall)

“All the King’s Men” (Robert Penn Warren)

“The Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business” (Graham Hancock)

“Political Corruption in the Caribbean Basin (Studies in International Relations)” (Michael W. Collier)

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: corruption, Omar Davies, Peter Phillips, Portia Simpson Miller, UDC

It’s the middle of the year and the middle of a hot summer, however there is a certain relief in :-

The pundits, notably Portmore loudmouth Garnet Roper, stop trying to get a rise out of the PM (glad you noticed guys, she’s a female she doesn’t have one….) and start haranguing the general populace. This week, if you were the least bit interested, Garnet tells us why the PNP and the toll road will receive his continued support……..Mark Wignall, taking his mind off his own legal problems , has something to say about the deacon……Personally, I want the pastor of the Dayton Avenue Church, that retired Court of Appeal judge, arrested for failing to protect a child…..talk about supposed to know better……

“Beyond Sex Roles: What the Bible Says About a Woman’s Place in Church and Family” (Gilbert G. Bilezikian)

“Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse” (Thomas P. Doyle, A.W. R. Sipe, Patrick J. Wall)

The much discussed Portmore section of the toll road opens, and thousands chose to use it rather than sit in traffic for hours on Mandela highway. Kudos to Trevor Jackson of the Highway 2000 management who respectfully pleaded with Portmore residents not to boycott his bridge, although he has been in Jamaica long enough to know that a successful boycott was unlikely (some of us just tired of a three hour daily commute….)

“Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike” (Angus K. Gillespie, Michael Aaron Rockland)

“The Toll Gate” (Gordon Donnell)

Omar Davis stops pretending that he’s going to take his ball and go home. In the five months since his failed bid for the Presidency of the PNP, Omar has waited in vain for that lucrative local or international job to be offered – you know, the one that was going to allow him to leave office trailing clouds of glory and a repentant PNP………He has had time to reflect that he does not now, nor has he ever had, a Ph.d in Economics (his Ph.d is in Geography) and younger, lovelier, more qualified candidates (she’s called Rosalea Hamilton and has a Ph.D in Economics, a degree in law and a seat on the Board of the Bank of Jamaica) are ready to step into his job, and his constituency, about 2 and 1/2 seconds after he decides to leave it……..

Dr. Rosalea Hamilton

“How to Get a PhD – 4th edition (Study Skills S.)” (Estelle Phillips, Derek.S. Pugh)

“The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time” (Jeffrey Sachs)

In the wider world (yes, I mean outside Jamaica) Portia’s hug and kiss methods receive endorsement from two unlikely sources. According to the London Times, the new leader of the Opposition Tory party, and cute-can’t-done David Cameron, advocates a love-thy-teenager approach to the U.K.’s disaffected young people, and the U.S. Army issues a new field manual for soldiers that suggests a kinder, gentler approach to the insurgents (apparently the “if you have them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow” approach hasn’t been working…..)

“The Political Thought of the Conservative Party Since 1945” (Palgrave Macmillan)

“21st Century U.S. Military Survival Manuals and related Army Field Manuals: Including Survival, Evasion, and Recovery; Combatives; Combat Skills; Camouflage; … Visual Signals, and more” (Department of Defense)
And elsewhere in the Middle East, Arab states finally face up to their new reality (supporting anti-Israel and anti-U.S. forces like Hezbollah and Hamas may be popular, but may also make Hezbollah-puppeteer, Iran, the sole power broker in the region).

“Hezbollah” (Hala Jaber)

“The Palestinian Hamas” (Shaul Mishal, Avraham Sela)

Finally, in bad news for our local rent-a-dreads Charlotte Rampling opens in a new movie, “Heading South” featuring American women who pay, wait for it, Haitian gigolos for sex…… As if anywhere in Haiti could match up to the white sands of Negril and our dreadlocked charmers !!!! The Jamaica Tourist Board needs to get its’ act together !!!!

“The Night Porter – Criterion Collection” (Liliana Cavani)

“The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More” (Chris Anderson)

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: Christian church, Middle East, Omar Davis, Portmore toll road

It’s the middle of the year and the middle of a hot summer, however there is a certain relief in :-

The pundits, notably Portmore loudmouth Garnet Roper, stop trying to get a rise out of the PM (glad you noticed guys, she’s a female she doesn’t have one….) and start haranguing the general populace. This week, if you were the least bit interested, Garnet tells us why the PNP and the toll road will receive his continued support……..Mark Wignall, taking his mind off his own legal problems , has something to say about the deacon……Personally, I want the pastor of the Dayton Avenue Church, that retired Court of Appeal judge, arrested for failing to protect a child…..talk about supposed to know better……

“Beyond Sex Roles: What the Bible Says About a Woman’s Place in Church and Family” (Gilbert G. Bilezikian)

“Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse” (Thomas P. Doyle, A.W. R. Sipe, Patrick J. Wall)

The much discussed Portmore section of the toll road opens, and thousands chose to use it rather than sit in traffic for hours on Mandela highway. Kudos to Trevor Jackson of the Highway 2000 management who respectfully pleaded with Portmore residents not to boycott his bridge, although he has been in Jamaica long enough to know that a successful boycott was unlikely (some of us just tired of a three hour daily commute….)

“Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike” (Angus K. Gillespie, Michael Aaron Rockland)

“The Toll Gate” (Gordon Donnell)

Omar Davis stops pretending that he’s going to take his ball and go home. In the five months since his failed bid for the Presidency of the PNP, Omar has waited in vain for that lucrative local or international job to be offered – you know, the one that was going to allow him to leave office trailing clouds of glory and a repentant PNP………He has had time to reflect that he does not now, nor has he ever had, a Ph.d in Economics (his Ph.d is in Geography) and younger, lovelier, more qualified candidates (she’s called Rosalea Hamilton and has a Ph.D in Economics, a degree in law and a seat on the Board of the Bank of Jamaica) are ready to step into his job, and his constituency, about 2 and 1/2 seconds after he decides to leave it……..

Dr. Rosalea Hamilton

“How to Get a PhD – 4th edition (Study Skills S.)” (Estelle Phillips, Derek.S. Pugh)

“The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time” (Jeffrey Sachs)

In the wider world (yes, I mean outside Jamaica) Portia’s hug and kiss methods receive endorsement from two unlikely sources. According to the London Times, the new leader of the Opposition Tory party, and cute-can’t-done David Cameron, advocates a love-thy-teenager approach to the U.K.’s disaffected young people, and the U.S. Army issues a new field manual for soldiers that suggests a kinder, gentler approach to the insurgents (apparently the “if you have them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow” approach hasn’t been working…..)

“The Political Thought of the Conservative Party Since 1945” (Palgrave Macmillan)

“21st Century U.S. Military Survival Manuals and related Army Field Manuals: Including Survival, Evasion, and Recovery; Combatives; Combat Skills; Camouflage; … Visual Signals, and more” (Department of Defense)
And elsewhere in the Middle East, Arab states finally face up to their new reality (supporting anti-Israel and anti-U.S. forces like Hezbollah and Hamas may be popular, but may also make Hezbollah-puppeteer, Iran, the sole power broker in the region).

“Hezbollah” (Hala Jaber)

“The Palestinian Hamas” (Shaul Mishal, Avraham Sela)

Finally, in bad news for our local rent-a-dreads Charlotte Rampling opens in a new movie, “Heading South” featuring American women who pay, wait for it, Haitian gigolos for sex…… As if anywhere in Haiti could match up to the white sands of Negril and our dreadlocked charmers !!!! The Jamaica Tourist Board needs to get its’ act together !!!!

“The Night Porter – Criterion Collection” (Liliana Cavani)

“The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More” (Chris Anderson)

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: Christian church, Middle East, Omar Davis, Portmore toll road

Gays and lesbians object to being killed and burnt

The gloves came off this week as gays and lesbians in the U.K. and in the U.S. and in Denmark prevented well known Jamaican entertainers, Beenie Man, TOK and Buju Banton from performing at concerts in their countries.

Apparently, these groups object to the entertainers singing about the “Jamaican custom” of murdering gays and lesbians. And this in spite of many distinguished lawyers and academics (Carolyn Cooper et al) explaining that this is just one of our unique cultural practices which we should be left to pursue in peace…….

In a further development, residents and holidaymakers of Provincetown, Massachusetts (a seaside resort for gay and straight East Coast U.S. residents) are apparently discriminating against Jamaicans working in the tourism industry there. For some reason, they believe that Jamaicans are intolerant crazies who are dangerous not only to themselves but to others….

I’m looking forward to the all those who felt it necessary to vilify JET and the NJCA (for attempting to ensure that the Pinero Group’s hotel development at Pear Tree Bottom did not become a “natural” disaster) taking up cudgels against Jamaican entertainers who damage our tourism industry by causing potential tourists to think twice (or three times three times) about visiting the island……

And in case you missed it, construction at the Bahia Principe is still not back on track (due to problems in the “working environment” i.e. riots …)

If you’re depressed about the increasing influence of people who don’t follow what you understand to be the Lord’s way, don’t worry.

Just check out what’s happening in the Middle East. It’s just like it was in the time of Abraham and Sarah.

As described in the Bible

Beirut, Lebanon

(from UK Guardian, July 14, 2006)

The scorched earth policy (destroying land and buildings so as to leave nothing salvageable by the enemy) was first deployed to good effect by the God of us Christians in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis, you heathen types…..). What was good enough for God five thousand plus years ago is certainly good enough for the Israeli Army today…..

Galapagos finches evolving, Jamaicans to stay the same

Scientists that study birds in the Galapagos island have noticed that the finches first observed by Darwin have evolved smaller beaks to enable them to eat different types of seeds now that bigger newcomers are eating up their old food supply.

In a development that will either depress or comfort you, Jamaican humans have shown their determination to stay the same and resist evolving no matter what, viz:-

The elders of the Dayton Church, complicit in the cover up of the rape of a 13 year old girl, first called on God to punish the reporter who had brought the rape to the attention of the police. Then they issued a press release….As the pastor, retired Appeals Court judge Martin Wright should know, the only acceptable course of action would have been for the elders to show up at the nearest police station and turn themselves in.

Archbishop Milingo of Zambia providing a troubled world with comic relief

Heartfelt thanks to Roman Catholic Archbishop Milingo who escaped from the clutches of 3 nuns in Rome ( the World Cup was so over..) and turned up in the U.S. apparently to: –

(1) look for his wife, a nice looking South Korean lady whom he married in a Moonie ceremony in 2001

(2) to lobby the Vatican to allow the Catholic priests to marry

Good luck with that, Archbishop Milingo ! And always supposing the Vatican is so mean and short-sighted as to excommunicate you, why don’t you move to Jamaica where your brand of Christianity (and humour) will be fully appreciated !

“Art and Life” (Beenie Man)

“Friends for Life” (Buju Banton)

“Walking the Bible: A Photographic Journey” (Bruce Feiler)

“Epicenter: Why current rumblings in the middle east will change your future” (Joel C. Rosenberg)

“From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin’s Four Great Books (Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals)” (Charles Darwin)

“Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life” (Daniel C. Dennett)

“Toward an African Christianity: Inculturation Applied” (Eugene Hillman)

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: Christian church, gays, Dayton Church

My son, the gunman

At the end of a bloody week (which has turned into a bloody weekend) there were two surprises:-

Murders are still down about 24% on 2005.

Four members of the Stone Crushers gang allegedly responsible for the horrific killings of five people in Norwood, St James have turned themselves in – after their leader was killed and a bounty put on their heads. I think wanted men turning themselves in is one of the most positive developments of the Lucius Thomas/Mark Shields era so far.

Two of the boys were accompanied to the police station by their parents. One had both his father and mother with him. So much for the idea that our most dog-hearted shottas are boys who are unwanted/abandoned/unloved…..

The traditional family

The Pope is in Valencia, Spain this weekend to participate in the 5th World Meeting on Families (the first was in 1981). The meeting of tens of thousands of people is intended to lobby for the rights of the Catholic family.

You can read the Charter of Rights for the Family here. It’s beautiful and inspiring, although there are some concepts in there that would certainly give our Minister of Finance a heart attack (like a family wage which would permit a man to support his wife and children, proper housing, good schools etc).

The whole event is a reminder that we Jamaicans should not blame slavery/poverty/ignorance too much for our existing family structure. Rich, long time Catholic countries like Spain, France and Italy are facing many of the same family problems as we are – single parents, divorce, lots of alienated young men – so much so that Pope John Paul II felt it was necessary to form this lobby group.

Unfortunately, in the future I don’t think that any one group or institution is going to emerge which will be able to hold families and communities together the way the Church used to do….oh, sorry, I forgot……we’ll always have the Almighty Dollar…….

Church family, school family, no family

The Gleaner, not known for its investigative journalism, published a story this week about the gang rape of a thirteen year old girl in the back of a van being driven by a Deacon of the Dayton Avenue Church of God. The rape happened in February 2006 and was videotaped by the participants – the videotape led to their arrest.

Here is list of adults who knew about the rape and declined to report the matter to the police:-

The Deacon

The Pastor of the Church (retired Appeal Court Judge, Martin Wright)

The mother of the 13 year old girl who was raped

An unknown number of church members

Please pray for all of them, and say a special prayer for the girl who has found out in this way that she has NO family and comes from NOWHERE…….

Corrected JULY 2009: Please see letter from Faith Innerarity below

It is libellious to state that one of the boys who was involved in the “gang rape” of the 13 year old girl is the grandson of the late Justice Martin Wright. He had no grandson involved in the incident. His grandson who goes by the same first name as one of the boys who was implicated in the incident, was a young child of about 4 or five years old at the time it occurred and does not live in Jamaica nor was in any way present or associated with what happened. The boy associated with the Dayton Avenue Church who was implicated in the case and who was subsequently freed by the court without charge, is the adopted grandson of another Church leader, and not connected at all to the late Justice Wright. That particualr youngman had captured the incident on tape (molestation -fondling e.t.c, of the girl, which although totally unacceptable was determined not to be rape – as was initially reported by the Gleaner – after close examination by the authorities). The matter of this erroneous reporting that the grandson of Justice Wright was involved in the incident was taken up with the offending media houses at the time and was withdrawn in subsequent news casts. You should also therefore expunge this error from your records. The matter will be brought to the attention of the daughter of the late Justice Wright, who is a Consultant Physician in the USA and whose son is being alluded to in your article as the ‘grandson’. Please ensure that immediate action is taken to remove this error from the article in the Section Family Focus. Before he died Justice Wright, a man of great integrity, was deeply hurt by this lie that had been perpetuated in the media. Now that he is deceased, his name should not continue to be tarnished in this regard. We need much more responsible journalism.

African-Caribbean family

Thanks to the rantings and ravings of Jean Marie LePen, the right wing racist leader of the National Front party in France, I’ve just realized why I need to enthusiastically support France in the World Cup final – there are 14 players from Africa and Caribbean in the 20 man French squad.

Zinedine Zidane (born France, Algerian parents)

Lilian Thuram (born Guadelupe)

Patrick Viera (born Senegal)

Claude Makelele (born Zaire)

Now if only I had remembered that before, I wouldn’t have been so upset when they sent Brazil home early…..

We’re all one family (for real !)

All humans alive on the planet right now are not only related but have a common ancestor. This has been figured out by a statistician with a supercomputer who reckons that our common great grandpa or grandma lived between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago…..

One love fe true.

“The Story of Mankind” (Hendrik Willem Van Loon)

“The Proper Study of Mankind : An Anthology of Essays” (Isaiah Berlin)

“The Truth About Human Origins : An Investigation of the Creation/Evolution Controversy as it Relates to the Origin of Mankind” (Brad Harrub, Bert Thompson)

“Sly & the Family Stone – Greatest Hits [Epic]” (Sly & the Family Stone)

“Come On Get Happy!: The Very Best of the Partridge Family” (The Partridge Family)

“They’ Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore” (Kinky Friedman)

“Can the Circle Be Unbroken?: Country Music’s First Family” (The Original Carter Family)

“The Ultimate Collection” (The Jackson 5)

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: Christian church, French team, Jamaican family, murder rate

My son, the gunman

At the end of a bloody week (which has turned into a bloody weekend) there were two surprises:-

Murders are still down about 24% on 2005.

Four members of the Stone Crushers gang allegedly responsible for the horrific killings of five people in Norwood, St James have turned themselves in – after their leader was killed and a bounty put on their heads. I think wanted men turning themselves in is one of the most positive developments of the Lucius Thomas/Mark Shields era so far.

Two of the boys were accompanied to the police station by their parents. One had both his father and mother with him. So much for the idea that our most dog-hearted shottas are boys who are unwanted/abandoned/unloved…..

The traditional family

The Pope is in Valencia, Spain this weekend to participate in the 5th World Meeting on Families (the first was in 1981). The meeting of tens of thousands of people is intended to lobby for the rights of the Catholic family.

You can read the Charter of Rights for the Family here. It’s beautiful and inspiring, although there are some concepts in there that would certainly give our Minister of Finance a heart attack (like a family wage which would permit a man to support his wife and children, proper housing, good schools etc).

The whole event is a reminder that we Jamaicans should not blame slavery/poverty/ignorance too much for our existing family structure. Rich, long time Catholic countries like Spain, France and Italy are facing many of the same family problems as we are – single parents, divorce, lots of alienated young men – so much so that Pope John Paul II felt it was necessary to form this lobby group.

Unfortunately, in the future I don’t think that any one group or institution is going to emerge which will be able to hold families and communities together the way the Church used to do….oh, sorry, I forgot……we’ll always have the Almighty Dollar…….

Church family, school family, no family

The Gleaner, not known for its investigative journalism, published a story this week about the gang rape of a thirteen year old girl in the back of a van being driven by a Deacon of the Dayton Avenue Church of God. The rape happened in February 2006 and was videotaped by the participants – the videotape led to their arrest.

Here is list of adults who knew about the rape and declined to report the matter to the police:-

The Deacon

The Pastor of the Church (retired Appeal Court Judge, Martin Wright, and grandfather of one of the rapists)

The mother of the 13 year old girl who was raped

An unknown number of church members

Please pray for all of them, and say a special prayer for the girl who has found out in this way that she has NO family and comes from NOWHERE…….

African-Caribbean family

Thanks to the rantings and ravings of Jean Marie LePen, the right wing racist leader of the National Front party in France, I’ve just realized why I need to enthusiastically support France in the World Cup final – there are 14 players from Africa and Caribbean in the 20 man French squad.

Zinedine Zidane (born France, Algerian parents)

Lilian Thuram (born Guadelupe)

Patrick Viera (born Senegal)

Claude Makelele (born Zaire)

Now if only I had remembered that before, I wouldn’t have been so upset when they sent Brazil home early…..

We’re all one family (for real !)

All humans alive on the planet right now are not only related but have a common ancestor. This has been figured out by a statistician with a supercomputer who reckons that our common great grandpa or grandma lived between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago…..

One love fe true.

“The Story of Mankind” (Hendrik Willem Van Loon)

“The Proper Study of Mankind : An Anthology of Essays” (Isaiah Berlin)

“The Truth About Human Origins : An Investigation of the Creation/Evolution Controversy as it Relates to the Origin of Mankind” (Brad Harrub, Bert Thompson)

“Sly & the Family Stone – Greatest Hits [Epic]” (Sly & the Family Stone)

“Come On Get Happy!: The Very Best of the Partridge Family” (The Partridge Family)

“They’ Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore” (Kinky Friedman)

“Can the Circle Be Unbroken?: Country Music’s First Family” (The Original Carter Family)

“The Ultimate Collection” (The Jackson 5)

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Technorati Tags: Christian church, French team, Jamaican family, murder rate

The Grenada Truth and Reconciliation Commission has submitted its report which recommends that the Grenada 17 be allowed a retrial.

For those of you who are too young to remember, the Grenada 17 are those persons accused of conspiring to murder/murdering Maurice Bishop (the populist and much loved Prime Minister of Grenada ) and at least 20 other people in 1983.

Bishop’s murder was swiftly followed by a U.S. invasion fronted by then-Prime-Minister-of-Jamaica Edward Seaga and then-Prime-Minster-of-Dominica Eugenia Charles.

Some sort of order and parliamentary democracy was restored and the new Government tried the 17 accused, locked them up and to all intents and purposes, threw away the key. The sole woman, and Jamaican, among the accused, Phyllis Coard (nee Evans ) was released on compassionate grounds in March 2000. She was suffering from cancer.

Maurice Bishop, assassinated 1983

For many of us Jamaicans the most memorable moments of the whole bloody fiasco were (1) General Hudson Austin telling the citizens of Grenada that the island was under curfew and they should not leave their homes (2) Grenadians chanting “ You never give Bishop a chance; so we won’t give you a chance”…

The latter sentiment reflected not just the feelings of most Grenadians, but the feelings of most people in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Bernard Coard, imprisoned since 1983

Bernard Coard was Deputy Prime Minister and he (and the others) were implicated in Maurice Bishop’s murder. They participated in the deposing and imprisonment of Bishop, and when the Grenadian “massive” showed what they thought of that by freeing Bishop from prison, he was assassinated.

One of the particularly unforgivable things that happened in the days between the murder of Maurice Bishop and the U.S. invasion was the destruction/disposal of the bodies. In those pre DNA days, the body of Maurice Bishop was never identified and the report of the pathologist even now makes very upsetting reading.

What happened to the Grenada 17 after their trial was, for years, the sole concern of the families of the accused, and of Amnesty International.

Is it possible that a retrial will enable Grenada (and the Commonwealth Caribbean) to move on from the events of 1983 ?

I don’t think so. Why not ?

1. Way too many agendas

– The prisoners have been eating crow for 23 years. They want out, and think this may be their last opportunity. Coard et al seem to think that what is at stake is their guilt or innocence….. Gentlemen, the moment you allowed Maurice Bishop to be thrown in prison, it was all over for you – killing him just made sure it was all over for you in a week instead of two weeks…….

– There are lots of U.S. activists and academics who want to make sure that history (or their version of it ) condemns the U.S. invasion, no matter how warmly it was welcomed by Grenadians at the time….

-The present Government of Grenada cannot contemplate a retrial that might let the 17 get out of jail free. It would then be the responsibility of the present Government to determine who was responsible for the killings and to find the bodies. The Government does NOT want to go there….

2. Not nearly enough truth to go round

At this point it is not clear that anyone, with the possible exception of Amnesty International and historians, is at all interested in what really happened.

But, on the other hand, there would appear to be quite a considerable number of people (not least the U.S. and Grenadian governments and the 17 prisoners) who have a strong interest in ensuring that what really happened never comes out.….

3. Being forgiven requires being sorry

Are Bernard Coard, Hudson Austin et al prepared for this century ?

Are they prepared for a world where people are more likely to believe that Coard ordered Bishop to be imprisoned and/or killed because he, Coard, was/is a petty, jealous man than because he thought Bishop was betraying some revolutionary ideal or ideology ?

Are they prepared for a world where the United States reigns supreme and the Soviet Union is strictly history?

Are the prisoners prepared to “tell the truth” in exchange for being allowed to go into exile ? Or are they still in their time warp and look forward to the impossible – being exonerated ?

Are the Grenada 17 sorry for what happened to those who died at Fort Rupert in 1983, or are they just sorry for what happened to themselves afterward ?

The Government of Grenada is a bad position. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up in 2001, and it is only reporting now in 2006, when all CARICOM governments are busy preparing for Cricket World Cup.

To me it looks like the Government of Grenada has a few not very nice options:-

1. Take a deep breath, pardon the Grenada 17 and put them all on the first plane to Cuba.

2. Do a Lee Kuan Yew and put the prisoners in an open prison where their families, journalists and tourists can visit and they have some freedom of movement. (Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, kept a political prisoner on full display in a theme park on the island of Sentosa. )

3. Don’t allow a retrial, but allow the prisoners to go to the Privy Council to appeal their original sentences. That’s what the Privy Council is for, and we can rest assured that the Privy Council will let them all go free – they have after all served more time in prison (23 years) than the average common-or-garden murderer serves in Caribbean prisons……

I would recommend the pardon and first flight to Havana. Does anyone really want Bernard Coard wandering around St. George’s still trying to explain why he was right ?…..

See also:
Related post on the Privy Council

“Forward Ever! : Three Years of the Grenadian Revolution : Speeches of Maurice Bishop” (Maurice Bishop)

“Gunboat Democracy : The United States Interventions in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Panama” (Russell Crandall)

“The Caribbean After Grenada: Revolution, Conflict, and Democracy” (Praeger Publishers)

“Praisesong for Widow (Contemporary Fiction, Plume)” (Paule Marshall)

“The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (Vintage Contemporaries)” (Paule Marshall)

“Lady in a Boat” (Merle Collins)

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Technorati Tags: Bernard Coard, Grenada 17, Maurice Bishop, Truth and Reconciliation Commission