PM SAYS!! Caribbean cultural identity IN CRISIS

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis: The constant flow of information and the build up of images from North America has led to a somewhat confused state of affairs, with regard to the cultural identity of the people of the region.

That view was expressed by Minister with responsibility for Culture on Nevis Hensley Daniel at the official launch of a Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase in Nevis which concludes this weekend.

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THE RECESSSION HITS JAMAICA AS WELL

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Unemployment is becoming a serious problem in Jamaica and to underscore the current situation, 600 persons recently turned up to apply for 10 vacancies at the Captain's Bakery and Grill in St Andrew.

In a recent story in the Jamaica Gleaner entitled “We want work”, the newspaper reported that the cry for jobs has been echoing across the island.


"You have a job can give me?” one frustrated woman asked the Gleaner reporters, while others offered to do any sort of job that was available.

The Gleaner report stated that that thousands more Jamaicans had lost their jobs in the past 12 months and indications that the worsening global economic crisis could cause many others to be sent home.

The government, which was elected in 2007 with a promise to create "jobs, jobs and more jobs", has said that it is “pulling out all the stops” to find new job opportunities.

The Minister of Labour Pearnel Charles has announced that his Ministry will be switching its focus from industrial disputes to human-resource development.

According to Charles, the government will spend approximately J$90 million (US$1 million) to train and place Jamaicans in jobs locally and in the wider western hemisphere.

OHHHH SHYT!!! JAMAICA RETAIN THE DEATH PENALTY

KINGSTON: Jamaica's senate voted to retain the death penalty, a punishment that has not been carried out in the country for 20 years, amid opposition from rights groups.

Ten senators voted in favour and seven against Friday with three abstentions to keep the death penalty, siding with an earlier vote in the House of Representatives in November.

The issue is due to go back to the lower house when parliament resumes next year to consider a proposed amendment to bypass restrictions imposed by the London-based Privy Council, the highest court of appeal for a number of former British colonies.

The vote went ahead despite a plea from opposition lawmaker Mr A J Nicholson, a former justice minister and attorney general, to put off the issue until the New Year in honour of the Christmas holidays.

But the Prime Minister, Mr Bruce Golding, whose Jamaica Labour Party won elections in 2007, had vowed to press ahead with the vote.

Jamaica has avoided carrying out the death penalty since 1988 under pressure from human right groups. Eight inmates are currently on death row. After five years on death row, death sentences are commuted to life in prison.

The debate in parliament stirred passionate debate in almost every sector of Jamaican society, as serious crimes including murders, abductions and rape have been escalating to unprecedented levels.

There have been some 1,200 murders on this island nation of 2.7 million people since the start of the year, and crime against children has also risen sharply.

Tourists flee as Gustav churns toward Jamaica

BIG UPS MY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAY GOD HOLD YOU CLOSE AND YOUR IN OUR PRAYERS FOR MY FAMILY AND CAMILLE MI BEST FREN A.K.A. JUKIEMADDA!!!!

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Tourists and oil workers fled Thursday as Gustav churned toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force. Louisiana called a state of emergency and put the National Guard on standby, hoping to avoid the chaos of Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

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Gustav moved away from the island of Hispaniola, where it killed 23 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and inched toward Jamaica's low-lying capital, 80 miles (130 kilometers) to the west. Forecasters predicted it would hug Jamaica's southern shore before making a near-direct hit on Grand Cayman.

Even as tourists searched for flights off the islands, officials urged calm. Theresa Foster, one of the owners of the Grand Caymanian Resort, said Gustav didn't look as threatening as Hurricane Ivan, which destroyed 70 percent of Grand Cayman's buildings four years ago.

"Whatever was going to blow away has already blown away," she said.

Gustav was lashing Jamaica with tropical storm-force winds, and forcasters said parts of the island could get up to 25 inches (63 centimeters) of rain, which could trigger landslides and cause serious crop damage. Authorities told fisherman to stay ashore, and hotel workers secured beach umbrellas in the resort city of Montego Bay.

Oil prices jumped above $120 a barrel Thursday on fears that the storm could affect production in the Gulf area, home to 4,000 oil rigs and half of America's refining capacity. Hundreds of offshore workers pulled out as analysts said the storm could send U.S. gas prices back over $4 a gallon.

"Prices are going to go up pretty soon. You're going to see increases by 5, 10, 15 cents a gallon," said Tom Kloza, publisher of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. "If we have a Katrina-type event, you're talking about gas prices going up another 30 percent."

In the Atlantic, meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna formed on a course that pointed toward the U.S. east coast. It was too early to predict whether Hanna could threaten land, but Gustav was causing jitters from Mexico's Cancun resort to the Florida panhandle.

With top sustained winds just below hurricane strength, Gustav was projected to become a major Category 3 hurricane after passing between Cuba and Mexico and entering the warm and deep Gulf waters. Some models showed Gustav taking a path toward Louisiana and other Gulf states devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Gustav hit Haiti as a hurricane on Tuesday, causing floods and landslides that killed 15 people. In the neighboring Dominican Republic, a landslide buried eight people, including a mother and six of her children. Marcelina Feliz, 32, was found hugging her youngest, only 11 months old.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency to lay the groundwork for federal assistance, and put 3,000 National Guard troops on standby. New Orleans officials began preliminary planning to evacuate and lock down the city if the current projections prove accurate.

"I'm panicking," said Evelyn Fuselier of Chalmette, whose home was submerged in 14 feet (4 meters) of Katrina's floodwaters. "I keep thinking, 'Did the Corps fix the levees?,' 'Is my house going to flood again?' ... 'Am I going to have to go through all this again?'"

In Gustav's wake, Haitians struggled to find affordable food. Jean Ramando, an 18-year-old banana grower, said winds tore down a dozen of his family's banana trees, so he was doubling his price.

"The wind blew them down quickly, so we need to make some money quickly," he said.

DADDY BOLT!!!! BIG UPS!!

MONTEGO BAY, St James - A beaming Wellesley Bolt touched down at the Sangster International Airport here at about 6:15 am yesterday, full of excitement at having made the trip to Beijing, China, where his son Usain shattered the 100m and 200m world records and helped the 4x100m relay team set a new world record at the just concluded games of the 29th Olympiad.

"I enjoyed it all...the whole thing...it was great, just great," he told the welcoming party comprising journalists, representatives of his corporate sponsors, Digicel Jamaica, and the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Wellesley Bolt (left) regales Joy Clarke, Digicel's regional sales manager, Western Jamaica, with tales from Beijing, China, yesterday on his arrival at the Sangster International Airport. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)Wellesley Bolt (left) regales Joy Clarke, Digicel's regional sales manager, Western Jamaica, with tales from Beijing, China, yesterday on his arrival at the Sangster International Airport. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)

Initially reluctant to make the long trip to eastern Asia - he feared the almost 20-hour journey would prove too much for him - Bolt senior left the island last Tuesday at Digicel's insistence to join up with his son hours ahead of his 22nd birthday.

Yesterday, he said he was very happy he went as the experience was beyond anything he had ever imagined.

"I became a celebrity...the people there mobbed me, wanting my autograph...and things like that. The police had to take me away," he said excitedly. "Then when I saw Usain after the 200m, he said, 'Daddy, how do you feel?' I said 'great' and we hugged...it was great," he said.

Looking smart in blue denims and Puma brand tee, cap and shoes, Wellesley Bolt said the first thing he was going to do when he got back to his home in Sherwood Content was rest.

However, in spite of his fatigue, he spent several minutes regaling journalists with anecdotes from the Beijing experience before Digicel's representatives saw him off in the red Mitsubishi Grandis motor van they rented for his convenience.

The conversation covered almost everything about his son, from his upbringing and diet, to his engaging personality, reflected in Usain's on-track dancing celebrations which ticked off the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge.

"It doesn't matter what anybody wants to say...it's the yam, banana, coco," Wellesley Bolt explained. "Usain loves yam, it's only when he got older that he began to like rice and peas.and he always had a quart of cow's milk every morning."

On arriving home, he found it impossible to sleep and within hours it was back to business, writing up bills for his grocery shop.
"I could have gone to sleep as nobody realised I was back since it was a strange vehicle. But I'm not used to sleeping in the day, so it's back to work for me," he told the Observer later in the day.

Bolt's mother, Jennifer, who is spending a few days in London, is expected back by the end of the week, while Bolt is expected back some time next month.

WE KNEW IT WAS COMEING!! OFF THE RUMOR MILL FROM MEDIATAKEOUT.

EXPLOSIVE RUMOR: MIAMI DOLPHINS COACH BILL PARCELLS SENDS TALENT SCOUT TO CHINA TO 'TALK' TO USAIN BOLT ABOUT POSSIBLY COMING TO THE NFL!!!



World record holding Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt may have good things in store for him when he gets back to this side of the world. MediaTakeOut.com just spoke to a person affiliated with the NFL's Miami Dolphins organization who claims that Bill Parcells is interested in trying out Bolt for the Miami Dolphins.

The insider told MediaTakeOut.com, "Coach Parcells kept saying that he wanted to try out Bolt and [all the players] thought he was just joking. But now [one of the scouts] is on a plane to China to talk with Usain's manager."

6 foor 4 and runs the 100 meter in 9.6 seconds. Can't say we blame Bill for trying...


T4R: IF THIS IS TRUE ALL WE CAN SAY IS DON'T DO IT SIR BOLT, WE KNEW IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE BIGGIES EYES START SEEING DOLLAR SIGNS!! AND IT WIL NOT BE IN YOUR BEST INTREST ONLY THEIRS!! BIG UPS MI YUTE!!!

NO STERIODS FOR BOLT!! THEY JUST KEEP ON HATEING ON JAMAICA!!! GET OVER IT!!

Twenty years after the biggest doping scandal in Olympic history, it was as inevitable as the sunrise that world records would be followed by questions about doping - and one of Jamaica's team doctors was ready.

Minutes after Usain Bolt smashed the 200 metres record with a stirring 19.30-second dash, Herb Elliott was heading off speculation that the world's fastest man was fuelled by performance enhancers.

"I test in Jamaica, and I have tested Usain 15 times since November of last year," said Elliott, an internist and former track athlete for the Caribbean island. "He's been tested another six times since he's been here, including blood tests.

"Anybody who wants to cast aspersions on our program for drugs, I say one thing [to them]: Go to hell."

Jamaican sprinters had said - only half-seriously - before the Olympic track meet that they'd been asked for so many blood tests that they were afraid they'd be too weakened to run their best.

But the suspicion has lingered over the world's top sprinters since Canadian Ben Johnson set a world record for the 100 metres while on the steroid stanozolol at the Seoul Games in 1988. Elliott was reminded that Johnson's coach, Charlie Francis, had made similar denials because his charge was passing tests.

"Charlie Francis was an idiot," Elliott countered. "He had [the late doctor] Jamie Astaphan and he was lying about it. I don't have to lie."

Elliott, who said he has known 6-foot-5 Bolt since he was "a gangling boy of 13," said he didn't resent being quizzed about whether the new world's fastest man is running a clean race. "I don't resent the questions," he said. "All people are entitled to ask."

He said Bolt had been fast from childhood "and he's still the [junior] 400-metre record holder from the boys school championships. He wanted to up his speed, so he dropped down to the 200 and 100.

"His coach, Glen Mills, has done a great job, and his parents have kept him down to terra firma."

Another Jamaican team physician, Warren Blake, said all eight finalists in the 100 metres were tested after Bolt smashed the world record with a time of 9.69 seconds.

"It validates all results," he said. "It has come to the time when the cheats are on the back foot."

JUST THE OTHER DAY IOC president Jacques Rogge criticized Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt Thursday for showing a lack of respect to other competitors after his record-breaking gold medal performances in the 100 and 200 meters.

“That’s not the way we perceive being a champion,” Rogge said.“I have no problem with him doing a show,” Rogge said in an interview with three international news agency reporters. “I think he should show more respect for his competitors and shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones immediately after the finish and not make gestures like the one he made in the 100 meters.”

These Haters stay nitpicking for every little thing. Sir Bolt just turned 22 years-old and is tearing up the track. Who gives a crap if he didn’t shake hands. Let the man enjoy his victory. (SMH). source Bossip.com

T4R:

BIG UPS SIR BOLTS!!!! Do what you do best!!

JAMAICA IS DOING THEIR TING!! CONGRADS TO MELAINE WALKER

WTF!! NBC HAETING ON USAIN BOLT!!!

Usain Bolt picked a bad night to run the most electrifying 100 meter race in Olympic history. As Michael Phelps' eighth gold medal dominated television coverage, Internet sites and newspaper headlines in the United States on Saturday night, Bolt's scintillating 9.69 was buried as a second story. Normally the premiere race of every Games, the men's 100 final received scant domestic publicity despite it's historic, thrilling result.

Clearly, the 12-hour time difference played a huge role in the under-coverage of Bolt's feat. While Michael Phelps' races garnered live coverage on NBC (because it was competed in the morning in Beijing), Bolt's wasn't shown until nearly 13 hours after its completion. Even then, it felt like an afterthought to Phelps' eighth gold medal swim.

NBC is said to be worried about post-Phelps ratings for these Olympics, yet they squandered the opportunity to turn Bolt into their second-week star by dumping his race in the outer-reaches of primetime and then giving it no notice on yesterday's broadcast. Bolt's speed, charisma, youth and good looks make him a prime candidate to be the breakout star of these Games. The Peacock Network is more concerned with squeezing every last ounce of coverage out of Michael Phelps though. (Not that I blame them.)

Bolt will have the stage to himself on Wednesday when he runs the 200 and is expected to challenge Michael Johnson's 12-year old world record. Hopefully he'll get the coverage he deserves.

T4R EDITOR:
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PROUD OF MY PEOPLE , SEEING AS WE ARE SUCH A SMALL ISLAND WE ARE STRONG PROUD AND DETERMINED. MR BOLT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG IN THE WAY YOU CELEBRATED YOUR WINNING, I HAVE SEEN ANOTHER COUNTRY DID A LOT MORE GRAND STANDING RUN THROUGH THE CROWDS AND WAVE HIS FLAG, I GUESS THAT WAS OKAY. JEALOUSY SURE IS A DISEASE,CONGRATS ALL JAMAICAN ATHLETES WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO PROUD TO CALL OURSELVES JAMAICAN GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

JAMAICA IS BLAZIN THE TRACK AND FIELD MASSIVE BIG UPS TO SHELLY-ANN FRASER

A few fun-loving fresh faces have suddenly turned Jamaica into the "World's Fastest Nation."

And that supposed U.S. track and field juggernaut? Well, things aren't quite going to plan.

Right fist thrust overhead as she crossed the finish line all alone, silver braces shining in the Bird's Nest lights as she hopped in celebration like the 21-year-old she is, little-known Shelly-Ann Fraser won the women's 100 meters Sunday night in 10.78 seconds to help make these Olympics a sweeping success for the Caribbean island.

Fraser was followed across the line, steps later, by teammates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, who both finished in 10.98 and both collected silvers — giving Jamaica the first sweep of medals in a women's 100 by any nation at any Olympics or world championships.


T4R-EDITOR
I would like to say that I am very proud of the Jamaican Team. You all went out there and did your best. Keep up the good work and continue to bring home the medals. We love you and are praying for you all. A great performance I must admit. Let us repeat this again. Respect to the trainers and others who put this Dream Team together. From a Jamaican Living in the USA and definately not ashamed of either.

LIGHTING BOLT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE FAEST MAN ALIVE!! BIG UPS!!

Usain Bolt of Jamaica easily broke his own world record in the 100 meters to win the Olympic gold medal Saturday night, slowing up to celebrate and still finishing in 9.69 seconds.

Bolt stretched his arms out wide and put his palms out, then slapped his chest just before crossing the line. He came in well below his old mark of 9.72 seconds, set May 31 in New York - less than a year after Bolt took up the dash.

What had been billed as a showdown was not close at all. Richard Thompson of Trinidad took the silver medal in 9.89, and Walter Dix of the United States was third in 9.91.

The 21-year-old Bolt's performance left no doubt whatsoever about who deserves the title of "World's Fastest Man."

Former world record-holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica was fifth, while reigning world champion Tyson Gay of the United States failed to qualify for the final.

Bolt's specialty has been the 200 meters, which he will be a heavy favorite to win next week in what would be first men's Olympic sprint double since Carl Lewis in 1988. But he persuaded his coach to let him try the dash - and what quick progress Bolt has made.

Jamaican sprinters check into Olympic village

Jamaica's Olympic team follow their national flag-bearer Veronica Campbell-Brown during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium, August 8, 2008. The stadium is also known as the Bird's Nest


Runner Veronica Campbell of Jamaica carries her country's flag to lead out the delegation during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China

Lesbian avoids deportation to Jamaica

A Jamaican lesbian was spared deportation to her native country after a judge found that she might be tortured there because of her sexual orientation.
In an extremely rare move, a Jamaican lesbian living in Sunrise has avoided deportation -- for now -- after an immigration judge allowed the 29-year-old to stay in the United States because her sexual orientation could cause her to be tortured in her home country.

''The general atmosphere in Jamaica is a feeling of no tolerance towards homosexuals in general, and as such, . . . the respondent's life is definitely at risk,'' Immigration Judge Irma Lopez-Defillo said, according to court documents.

Lopez-Defillo initially ordered that the woman be deported because of a pair of drug convictions. In the same ruling, the judge deferred the order based on the climate of intolerance in Jamaica. Nichole checked in with immigration authorities on Thursday regarding her order of supervision. She is due to report back in three months.

The woman was released from a detention center in Puerto Rico in June and is staying with her parents in Sunrise. Nichole asked that her first and last names not be used in order to spare her parents from embarrassment. Nichole is her middle name.

The judge's decision comes as the issue of homophobic violence in Jamaica has reemerged as a pressing concern among rights groups. In January, a mob broke into a house in a centrally located town and slashed the occupants, sending two to the hospital, Human Rights Watch reported. One was severely injured and the other is missing and feared dead. The men were suspected of being gay.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review doesn't document cases based on sexual orientation. But immigration attorneys say they've handled similar cases for clients from Jamaica, Guyana, Mexico and Honduras.

Court decisions on cases where immigrants cite torture are extremely rare.

According to the EOIR, immigration courts handled 28,130 cases in fiscal year 2007 in which undocumented immigrants claimed under the U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT) that they ''more likely than not'' will be tortured if removed from the United States. Of those cases, only 449 were actually granted, meaning the immigrant was spared deportation. A mere 92 cases -- less than one percent -- were granted a deferred removal.

`PHENOMENAL WIN'

These figures have remained consistent since at least 2002.

''It's a phenomenal win,'' said Jonathan Eoloff, an attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago. ``. . . A deferral of removal under CAT is rare.''

The Department of Homeland Security still has the authority to remove Nichole to a country other than Jamaica, leaving her in limbo. Her attorney plans to file documents so Nichole can apply for legal residency.

Nichole grew up in Ocho Rios, a coastal town and tourist destination in northern Jamaica, and moved to the United States at the age of 10 with her parents. She said she has been attracted to women for as long as she can recall.

`LIVE UNDER COVER'

Life as a Jamaican lesbian hasn't been easy.

Being gay ''is the worst thing you can be stricken with [in Jamaica],'' Nichole recently quipped in her attorney's West Miami-Dade office. ``You basically have to live under cover.''

When she was a teenager and her sexuality became apparent, her parents, Seventh-day Adventists, tried to stage an intervention.

Her parents sent her back to Jamaica when she was 14 -- an effort that aimed to instill strong Christian values in her so she would gravitate toward men.

Nichole's stay lasted two months.

While enrolled in an arts program, Nichole spent what an aunt considered to be an unusual amount of time with a girl.

The aunt slapped her.

''That's when my life changed,'' Nichole said, smiling at the obvious. ``It was basically broadcasted -- my sexuality.''

Word of Nichole's homosexuality spread among family members on the island and in the States. The aunt couldn't ''deal with the situation,'' the judge noted in court records.

`WASN'T ANY USE'

Nichole's parents came to Jamaica to fetch her. Nichole told them she was a lesbian.

''There wasn't any use in lying anymore,'' Nichole said. ``Everything in darkness comes to light some day.''

Through it all, Nichole said her parents loved her but couldn't accept her sexuality. This led Nichole to seek support from others. When she was in a relationship, she lived with the girlfriend. When she wasn't, she lived with an aunt.

Nichole lived in the South and then she settled in Broward at age 25. With her short haircuts and oversize clothes, she sometimes met hostility.

A few years ago, while waiting in line outside a Broward club popular among Jamaicans, her brother overheard somebody comment on her looks.

' `Oh you know, she needs to make up her mind if she's a dude or a girl, because she's -- you know, she's a woman. But if she acts like a dude, then, you know, we can bust her a--.' '' Nichole's brother told the immigration court.

`NOT A GOOD MOVE'

In sworn testimony, the 33-year-old brother also talked about what would happen if she was sent back to Jamaica.

''Nobody would accept her,'' said her brother, also recalling on the stand how he once witnessed in Jamaica two men believed to be gay chased up a tree and then pelted with stones. ``I don't know where [she] would live or what she would do. It's not a good move for her to go back to Jamaica. I'm strongly against that move.''

In records, Lopez-Defillo notes that Nichole has had a ''very difficult life,'' seeming to stem from her sexual orientation and the rejection she encountered from her family.

This ''difficult life'' came to a head in 2006.

That year, she was convicted on a cocaine-delivery charge after pleading no contest, records show. Not much later, she was convicted in a Broward Court on charges of possessing cocaine, alprazolam (Xanax), cannabis, and drug paraphernalia.

''She took the plea out of convenience and was unaware of the consequences,'' said her attorney, Christina Marquez. ``There wasn't any proof that she was selling drugs.''

The court sentenced Nichole to a Florida detention center for one year and one day. Immigration authorities sent her to a West Palm Beach detention center. Later, she was transferred to a facility in San Juan.

During the proceedings in Puerto Rico, Homeland Security filed an appeal against the judge's decision but the motion was dismissed.

NEW LIFE

In June, Nichole was released after two-plus years of incarceration.

These days, the Jamaican native is trying to adjust to her new life. Stripped of her residency status, she can't work and spends time with her parents in their Sunrise home. She watches TV crime shows. She's making compromises.

''When I was younger, I was determined to be myself to the fullest extent,'' Nichole said. ``Being older, I've learned how to live with my parents and respect them.''

She has ditched the baggy attire and wears diamond earrings. She grew her hair, which now reaches her shoulders.

She's also holding off before dating again. In the meantime, she writes poems and stores them in a diary.

Scared to go back to my origin,

fearing the ultimate sentence, an

early grave.

. . .

Yet my freedom of expression poses

as lethal.

Give me liberty or give me death.

Though I'm not ready to die for

being me yet.

JAMAICA!!! Crime triggering Incest! GEEZZZ!!

Walled in by crime and violence in some of Jamaica's violent inner cities, men and women answering nature's call for sex and companionship have turned to blood relatives - in some cases fathers to daughters, brothers to sisters and even mothers to their sons, the Sunday Observer has learnt.

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British army considering recruitment drive in Jamaica

KINGSTON THEY COMING FAYUH!!!
LONDON: The British Army says it is considering a recruitment drive in Jamaica as it struggles to find enough soldiers to meet its international commitments.

The military says it is weighing whether to send an Army "overseas selection team" to Jamaica. The Caribbean country is a former British colony and remains a part of the Commonwealth.

The military has had difficulty recruiting and retaining soldiers as it maintains its deployment in Iraq and engages a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Army said in a statement Sunday that it is proud to recruit soldiers from countries with close historical ties to Britain.

The British military already employs some 600 Jamaican soldiers. They are among about 12,000 foreign and Commonwealth personnel who serve in its armed forces.

Can We Please Ban Mampies in Carnival Costumes

*Attention: This Post May Piss Off some People while They Eat & Slobber over Their Computer”

So Gentle People, I was viewing some pictures from Jamaica Carnival today from april …

*click* “Yeh man, dah gyal deh hot!”

*click* “Woy, the things I could do to that slim ting!”

*click* …. “My Gaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwdddddddddddddd, Is That A Woman or Elephants are now a part of Jamaica Carnival?”

I know for Carnival it is customary for people to jump and wine and sing hold on to the “big” truck, but at some point we have to draw brakes and park the BIG truck.

Come on man people … The extra poundage on women all held together by what is suppose to be a carnival outfit has to stop.

Please the Carnival Committees of the World, please ban mampies at Carnival.

Matter of fact we going to start a new group, Committee Against Mampiness At Carnivals : CAMAC

Cause it is disrupting my appreciation of the hot slim girls dem jumping and waving half naked in the splendidness of the beautiful Caribbean sun.

I say, if you are a roly poly pushing 200lbs and above you should just kotch on the sidelines with the rest of the spectators and jump up on your inside while fully clothed…. and let the fit girls dem do their thing, cause they spent the whole year getting their body in shape for the appreciative public and myself, to enjoy.

Or…

Better yet, every Carnival should just have a Pleasantly Plump Revelers section, where all the people on the more robust side, can jump and pounce together, belly rolling and everything. So onlookers can just turn around and don’t have to deal with a 500 pound womans bottom, filled with dimples and stretch marks, gyrating in their face.

I’m just saying yeow … the boobble loops dem need to tek a break from the excessive display of skin in Carnival. ‘Cause I can’t tek it nuh more!

Sink your teeth into this decadent dish - Yellow Yam Recipe

However, go light on this creation from Axel Wichterbich of Marblue Villa. Made with cream, irish potato and yam, it’s delicious but sinfully rich.

Wichterbich, an architect from Cologne, Germany, says he first made this Yam au Gratin when a villa guest wanted Potato au Gratin. But, with no potatoes on hand, he substituted yellow yam. “Irish potato only has one taste but the yam and sweet potato give you a better flavour.”

Wichterbich who, with his wife Andrea, owns Marblue Villa in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, says he learned to cook because his mother and grandmother were always cooking. He honed his kitchen skills with the help of a friend in Cologne. He makes a wicked goat dish, based on German Sauerbrate, he says. Instead of beef, he marinates goat meat for six days in a mixture that includes red wine vinegar, bay leaf and onion. “With the goat it’s even nicer.”

This architect, turned cook, who visited Jamaica for the first time seven years ago and took up residence two years later, also makes a mackerel rundown with balsamic vinegar.

Yam Au Gratin
1 pound yellow yam, peeled
1 pound Irish potato, peeled
2 cups whipping cream
2 cups milk
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Nutmeg (freshly ground)
1 garlic glove
Unsalted butter

Breakthrough with the talented and beautiful Brick & Lace

The musical upsurge of the uncompromisingly expressive sibling duo, Brick and Lace, commanded the attention of millions as they released their blockbuster single Love is Wicked on Akon’s Kon Live Distribution and Geffen Record Label last year. The infectious dancehall beats mixed with the smoothness of R&B has produced a unique semi-urban sound that only they can perfect.

Born and raised predominantly in Kingston, the video vixens Nialah and Nyanda Thorbourne were destined to have a career in music as their mother sang in a choir and their father was a professional gospel musician. Not surprisingly their first few performances were in church. However their pursuit of gospel music was not a serious one as they confess that their influence came from “Whitney Houston to Bob Marley to more contemporary acts such as TLC and Mary J.Blige mixed with dancehall”

The stylistically edgy Nyanda and versatile vocalist Nailah create distinctive melodic sounds with a hybrid effect that they so eloquently deliver at each performance. Their dynamic performances have made a lasting impression as they received the Jamaica Academy Awards for Best Performance by Group /Duo. Their lyrical chops, which have been honed by their experience with writing songs with the likes of Janet Jackson, Parish Hilton, Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussy Cat Dolls) as well as, writing/co-writing all the songs on their album, are evidence of their composing prowess.

Their savvy compositions are accentuated by colourful and energetic videos. Their video Love is Wicked got over 4.7 million views in only seven months and peaked at number four on both Tempo and RE TV and number six on Hype TV’s Video Countdowns. It is no doubt that they received four awards at the recently staged Youth View Awards. These include, Local Music Video of the Year, Chart Topping Song of the Year for the hot single Love is Wicked, the Young Hot and Hype Award and Favourite Group/Duo of the Year.

Love is Wicked also received over 430,000 spins on MySpace and peaked at number 5 on Richie B’s countdown having spent 14 weeks in the top 20 music countdown. The addictive sounds of Brick and Lace have gotten 350,000 spins on Imeem surpassing Nelly Furtado’s most popular single by over 190,000 spins. When asked about the success of the single and album a very humble yet confident Nialah answers “I truly feel like it’s our time” to which Nyanda affirmatively nods.

Their edgy yet dainty outlook has earned them multiple performances as co-headliners in Nigeria and Uganda and headliners on multiple shows in the Caribbean. However they still make time to effect positive change in Jamaican students through the RE TV High School Tour which is viewed by Japanese fans via MTV. They are currently en route to Africa to perform once again in Nigeria and Tanzania. They will then leave for Finland in April while preparing for their US Tour in summer 2008.

Brick and Lace promises to continue to intensify their efforts to produce good music and attract vast audiences worldwide through the legacy they have received from their Jamaican roots. Thus staying true to their Excellence in Music and Entertainment Award, as Breakthrough Artistes of the Year.

JAMAICA CRACKING DOWN ON CRIME???

PRIME Minister Bruce Golding says the Government will be implementing more rigid measures to tackle the country's high rate of crime.

Jamaica House, in a statement issued after meeting with representatives from several Government agencies and international development partners yesterday, said new legislative measures and actions to tackle the country's crime problems would be outlined in Parliament next week.

"We are going to get tough. We might offend the sensitivity of certain groups but the security of the country cannot be compromised," the Jamaica House statement quoted the prime minister.

Golding said the new measures were necessary and needed to be quickly implemented in order to be effective.

"We have a crime problem that's the second highest in the world and so we need a strong, decisive national security strategy," said Golding.

So far, almost 800 persons have been murdered since the start of the year, although the monthly murder toll has decreased since May when 199 persons were killed.

Community says farewell to J'can who died neglected at NY hospital

The body of Esmin Green, the Jamaican woman who died under questionable circumstances at King's County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, last month, has been flown to Jamaica for burial.

Friends, loved ones and a concerned community said goodbye to her on Sunday, July 5, at a funeral service held at the church where Green worshipped in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

The Jesus Is Lord Sanctuary, a Seventh-day Church of God, was packed to capacity with mourners spilling over into the church yard and the streets.

They shared the tight space with police and members of the international media who turned out to cover the funeral of a mentally ill immigrant who died after waiting more than 24 hours for medical attention which she only received after she was dead.

Condemnation

While praise was being heaped on the deceased inside the church - who was remembered as an animated and generous woman who loved children - strong words of condemnation were being echoed outside for the system and the workers who failed her.

"It's a disgrace knowing that King's County falls within an immi-grant community and I would say some 90 per cent of the workers are immigrants, and for another immi-grant to be treated the way she was is a shame," said Michael Russell, a community activist who is running for City Council.

A security camera, in the emergency room of the psychchiatric ward where Miss Green was waiting to be seen, showed her falling off a chair at 5:32 a.m. on Thursday, June 19 - more than 24 hours after she was brought there by emergency medical service workers. Two security guards at different times peeked at her and one staff member even nudged her prone form, now on the hospital floor, with a foot. But no one assisted her.

An hour after she collapsed, medical staff moved in with their equipment to revive the now-dead woman.

"Those people who saw her and never came to help should be locked up," one of Green's friends expressed with horror.

"She was honest, a prayer warrior, always with her Bible," said another close friend, Pauline Robinson, whom everyone calls 'Miss Cherry'.

Miss Cherry explained that Green was a hard worker who had been laid off and had lost the lease on her rented apartment.

"She can't tek problem," she added, providing a clue to what may have caused her friend's mental breakdown.

Agitated state

Green had stayed with Miss Cherry over the three days preceding her death when she awoke agitated early Wednesday morning, June 18, insisting on calling her pastor, Marilyn Ann Johnson.

It was 4:15 a.m. when she ran off and, as Pastor Johnson later recounted, turned up 4:43 a.m. at the Bishop's residence where the pastor and her husband were staying.

This was the fourth time Pastor Johnson had seen her through a breakdown and once again, attempted to calm her parishioner's agitated spirit and get her medical help.

"She was screaming that her soul was in trouble; that she needs forgiveness and if she don't get forgiveness, she won't have mercy," the pastor explained.

Guarded privacy

Johnson said she guarded Green's privacy during her mental crises because the woman she called "a friend and a sister, a sweet person" was embarrassed about her situation and did not want anyone to know, including her family in Jamaica.

As the community attempts to put together the scenario which led to Green's death, what has emerged is a picture of a woman with a fragile mind, to whom the immigrant life had not always been kind.

In difficult times, she relied on friends and her church family for assistance but when she sought medical help for her fractured mind, she came upon a system with its own fractures and fell through those cracks.

Esmin Elizabeth Green, a dressmaker by training, was 49 years old when she died.

She was born in Lluidas Vale, St Catherine, and was the mother of six - Tecia, Darion, Susan, Tanya, Darryl and Travanis. She also had seven sisters and six brothers.

She started visiting New York in 1995 and moved there permanently in 2000. It was the last time her daughter Tecia saw her alive.

Heartbroken

When she saw her mother again with a handful of relatives from Jamaica, just over the weekend, it was to claim her body and escort her remains home.

The helpless woman that inter-national viewers have come to know via the disturbing videotape of her death is not the woman her daughter knew in life.

"My mother was one of the bravest, strongest women I've ever met in this world," a very tearful but stoic Harrison said to members of the press gathered at her mother's funeral. "My brothers and sisters are heartbroken. They're weeping, especially my brother Darryl. He's 20 years old. He was my mother's big son. They didn't see each other, but they talked a lot on the phone."

THE FAMILY IS SUEING FOR 25 MILLION DOLLORS


T4R PRAYERS GOES OUT THE FAMILY