Bad News Blues

Yesterday was an exercise in deep grief and tragedy.

I sat through the first half-hour of TVJ's news broadcast experiencing a gamut of feelings from the darker end of the emotional spectrum.

First, a policeman was killed and five others injured during a tactical training exercise. Somehow, one (or it could be some) of the rifles that were supposed to contain blanks were loaded with live rounds of ammunition. The result was fatal. Then 14-year-old Sherifa Saddler was killed, allegedly strangled with her school uniform tie, and her body thrown from a car onto a street. Then some deranged lunatic shot a four-year-old in his face. He died on the spot. To hear the mother talk was heartbreaking.

I haven't watched the news and felt this way in a while. It wasn't the normal level of expected sadness. I felt  wave after wave of overwhelming grief as story after story unveiled horror upon horror. I cried.

But it wasn't done. Imagine my shock when I later found out that the decomposed body of former high-schoolmate, 23-year-old Brittney Mighty, was found in Port Rocky yesterday. Brittney had been reported missing for a week, and now ... well, we all know the tragic end to her story. It's too sad. And it's too much too soon.

Today is the first of February. Jamaica has already racked up a shocking number of deaths by murder – and murders of a most gruesome nature. We're one month into the new year, and I'm just hoping that these murders/stories are not indicators of how 2013 will be.

We want Jamaica to be the ideal place to live, work, and raise a family by 2030, and yet it seems that not even our police force can get it right – with each other. I shudder to think what the death toll will be like at the end of this year if we continue this way. I shudder to think that so many lives are uselessly lost in this very small, yet very great, island each day. Why can't we just get it right?

Seriously, why can't we just get it right?? If you believe in prayer, do us a favour and whisper a prayer for Jamaica.

Celebrating International Literacy Day

The following is a message from the World Assembly of Youth in recognition of International Literacy Day.

Illiteracy is a crucial problem that affects all corners of the earth;
it has no boundaries and exists among every race, age group, and
economic class. According to the UNESCO statistics, one out of five
adults is illiterate while 67.4 million children are either out of
school or lack sufficient education. About 131 million youths aged
between 15 to 24 lack basic reading and writing skills.

Among many of the issues in literacy is gender disparity. Majority of
females lack education as compared to the male gender. Everyone needs
some basic education and has the right to it. Human rights to access
education must be exercised by all institutions with governments
enforcing such laws.

Knowledge is power when used to its full potential. To the societies,
literacy is essential for the development and economic growth of our
nations. We need to be able to read and write to get through our
important everyday tasks, excelling in school and be able to secure
jobs. Literacy opens up a window of opportunities to those who have it.

It provides people with the option of becoming members of a
self-confident and informed populace that can understand issues,
represent themselves, take responsibility for self-improvement
and family health, and better participate in civic affairs. These
are among the more priceless payoffs of literacy. It is also a vehicle
for tackling communicable diseases such as HIV, overcoming poverty and
a tool for achieving Millennium development goals.

Being the youth organization that we are, we are very much interested
in investing into the education of youth and raising awareness to the
issues of concern by all means. On this day, World Assembly of Youth
would like, not only to give insight on literacy issues but to also
encourage everyone especially the youth to pursue after knowledge and
hold on to it in order to preserve human potential.

May all be empowered with knowledge. Everyone can make a contribution
to the rise of literacy rates.

What's Jamaica's NEET story?

August 12 was celebrated as international youth day. Not that very many Jamaican youth would know. Or care. To them, it would be just another day, because unless they had been involved in something like acing GSATs, getting 10 CSEC subjects, or winning Olympic gold medals, they'd probably feel like the country doesn't care very much about them anyway ... probably.

And that's probably the way British youth felt, too, when they decided to take to the streets in what was intended to be a peaceful protest over the police shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan earlier this month. Twelve hours later, there was mayhem and madness - looting, burning ... a full-fledged riot was on. And it was youth at the helm.

While there is widespread consensus on what happened during the riots, divergent views abound as to why it happened. Was it the result of British morality's demise? Was it the inevitable outworking of  selfishness groomed in this 'me-first' generation? Was it just a bunch of black Brit opportunists spreading their nihilistic culture (ask David Starkey about that)? Or were the rioters desperate, frustrated, unemployed and dispossessed youth finally getting their nation's attention?

Well, what if they were the latter?

In a Guardian article titled 'Looting Fuelled By Social Exclusion', Alexandra Topping quoted Professor John Pitts, youth culture expert, as saying that most of the rioters were from "low-income, high-unemployment estates" without "legitimate futures". He said, "Much of this was opportunism but in the middle of it there is a social question to be asked about young people with nothing to lose."

The Washington Post editorial of August 9 noted that "This is becoming a year of rebellion by the dispossessed." Their portentous warning: "At a time of economic disruption, no country is immune from such upheaval." No country. Especially not Jamaica.

The BBC identified 18 to 24-year-old English youth who are not in employment, education or training as NEET (capitalised for emphasis). Pointing out that 18.4% of England's youth population is in that predicament, the news service identified several contributing factors: cutbacks in career services, the discontinuation of the Education Maintenance Allowance, lessening youth apprenticeships, and a general disregard for the growing levels of disempowerment, dissatisfaction and unemployment among youth.

This is where it gets interesting, because over the years, Jamaica has seen a growing discontent among its own youth population. The Gleaner's editorial of August 16 drew parallels between Britain's situation and ours, noting that nearly 60 per cent of Jamaicans 15-29 are either unemployed or out of the workforce altogether: "That is nearly 400,000 young people. Perhaps 100,000 youth of school age are 'unattached' - they are not in school, not engaged in other forms of training, nor have jobs". That's our NEET.

The editorial went on to note that "it is largely from this group of jobless and largely unemployable youth that come the perpetrators of so much antisocial behaviour and who commit, or are victims of, 80 per cent of the country's murders". That's our NEET's story. They're not rioting yet, but they are well on their way. We'd do well to heed Gleaner's closing warning:

"If you hear a ticking, it may just be a time bomb among these drifting, disenchanted youth. The urgent task for policymakers is to find a way to defuse it."

David Starkey's Big Booboo

"The whites have become black ... a particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture has become the fashion ..." Ooh, so that's what black culture is!
 


The response gives food for thought ...

And yet another thought-provoking response in the Gleaner's editorial of Sept 5.

Why I Still Watch the Commission of Enquiry

You are a good and sensible heart. You, too, see past the charade to the seriousness of the issue. I hate this resignation to a crappy fate that Jamaicans have been displaying. And I intensely despise the arrogant nonchalance and politicking of what is, essentially, a human-rights issue. It is painful to watch the serious business of our nation bandied about like fanfare. It is painful to feel the snub of politicians who continuously trivialise serious and solemn issues of paramount national (and international) import.

But I MUST watch the Commission. I want the truth of their carelessness to be cemented so irreversibly in my mind that, please God, every piece of journalistic work - any kind or type of work that I create – will reflect with acute, meticulous and irrefutable precision and exactitude the reality of the Jamaica we live in. I want it branded into my mind so I can share it well, so I can paint so vivid a picture that readers, listeners - whoever - will understand clearly when I speak/write about it. Because we must never forget.

Comedy of Enquiry ... or Tragedy of Errors?

Entertainment at its best?
Government at its worst?
The serious business of the people treated like fanfare.

Yes, Jamaica. This is the Dudus-Manatt Commission of Enquiry. We've finally replicated an O. J. Simpson-type scenario. Take a front-row seat. Prepare for temporary amusement. Hear the absurdities. Roll back your head, widen your eyes, jut out your chin, and laugh.

"When you do that, you make my adrenaline flow like the waters of the Dunn's River Falls," says one man to another. A very funny statement. And so, we laugh. We laugh in gaiety at the folly – the insidious ineptitude and injudiciousness of our leaders. We laugh, swept up in a tide of incredulous hilarity. Laugh at the drama - the comedy. Laugh at the irony - the frustrating futility.

Then pause - deliberately - take a moment for mindful breathlessness. A titter here. A giggle there. And slow, painful realisation. With whom do we laugh? At what do we laugh? Why are you laughing, sweet Jamaica? Like a naked woman in a jeering crowd, have you been laughing at yourself?

And have you now, realising your nakedness, made no attempt to cover your shame? As the world  feasts on your vulnerabilities, why do you stand here still, and laugh?

Beware the permanent disgust - the nasty taste that will linger in their mouths, the sting of gall in the recesses of their oropharynxes, long after your commission is gone. Beware the sinking feeling that will nip at the hearts of your people. It will manifest in the next business transaction. It will reflect in the next general election.

But most of all, beware the moment when you stop laughing. When you stop laughing long enough to realise the hopelessness of it all. And then, Jamaica, let me hear you cry.

Suspending A Blogging Teacher??

Photo from Yahoo

This story on Yahoo about high school teacher, 30-year-old Natalie Munroe, caught my eye. To summarise, it spoke about the fact that she blogged about her students (anonymously) and was suspended for saying negative things about them (even though she did not identify them in any way).

Among other things, she called her students 'disengaged, lazy whiners', and they (students and school) were none too happy about it. These students found her blog and must have identified themselves in her very descriptive and honest post, brought it to the school's attention, and wallah ... she was suspended. Miss Munroe must have thought at that point, 'the whiners win again'.

It gets me concerned to think that the teacher was suspended for speaking her mind. Think about it. This woman is writing on her personal blog. She is speaking out of deep frustration. Must she take a fall for speaking the truth without doing any real harm to anyone? Because no one, or very little people, would have known that she worked at the school or would have known which students she was talking about if they had not made such a big stink out of it.

As one speaker pointed out, she could have been any teacher in any high school in America. Is it fair for her to be suspended? Is it fair for the school to take that step? And what is the alternative? Are they saying that teachers should not be allowed to keep personal blogs or to write honestly about their work experiences on them? And, by extension, are they implying that professionals should not blog honestly about their work experience, even if they are doing so under the shroud of anonymity?

As with all things private and professional, responsibility and discretion must be exercised. But where do we draw the line between unfair, unwarranted censorship and freedom of expression?

The Bruised Backside ...

One plus one equals two. Because when you take one thing, and add it to another thing, you end up with two things. It stands to reason. It makes sense. It FOLLOWS.

When you use a football field as the venue for a concert, and there is rain, and a huge crowd of stomping, jumping, dancing people, you should expect the field to be ruined by the end of the seven-day event. The grass will go missing, not because some mysterious stranger took 500 truckloads of it (like they did with the sand off one unfortunate gentleman's beachfront property two years ago), but because the stomping, jumping, dancing people stomped down the grass, jumped on the mud, and danced around in it just enough to spread it over a noticeable area and kill off all of the grass ... It doesn't take a commission of enquiry or any serious investigation to figure that out. It's common sense. It FOLLOWS.

Photo from Jamaica Observer

When you carry in an official inspection team to survey that field 11 days after the concert, five days before an international sporting meet is expected to be held using that same stomped-on, jumped-on, danced-on, ruined field, you should expect them to declare it unfit for games. Not because they're biased and have a vendetta against your country. Not because the contractor 'faked' a field to show you (and even if he did, what did you expect him to do? Turn water to wine??). But because the field is ruined. And you cannot use a ruined field to host a serious international event. You cannot allow a player to fall on his backside in sun-dried, caked up mud instead of on that cushiony sea of lush green grass that is supposed to be there to prtect his derriere. The man will bruise! And the hurtful part for him would be that the lush green cushion for his backside was probably there before YOU decided to host a seven-day concert of stomping, jumping and dancing it to death, knowing full well that you were jeopardising the usability of the field thereafter, and thereby increasing the vulnerability of the poor man's netherend, not to mention hanging your country's reputation out to dry! It doesn't take a commission of enquiry or any serious investigation to figure that out. It's common sense. It FOLLOWS.

So when I hear Sports Minister Olivia Grange talking about conducting an investigation to determine why the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium football field, which was used to host the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival over a seven-day period, is now a disgraceful, grassless mess, I have to seriously wonder when common sense became so ... uncommon. Of course the field was declared unfit to host the 2011 CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup Qualifying Tournament! It doesn't take a commission of enquiry or any serious investigation to figure that out. It's common sense. It FOLLOWS.

And the worst part? To quote Jamaica Football Federation general secretary, Horace Reid, "Our reputation has been tarnished as a country and as a football federation. Our reputation with CONCACAF has been tarnished and there will be repercussions down the road." Why were no alternate preparations made, especially considering the high probability of the field being damaged after a seven-day, continuous beat-down? In this instance, I feel more sympathy for the football field. It exits, stage left, with a sore, back-and-blue, bruised backside ... and Jamaica's reputation follows closely behind (no pun intended).

See the news story from:
Observer
Gleaner
RJR

62 million GONE!

*Ghet-towz family living room*

Shenanae: Dis yah robbery yah CONNEK!

Mrs. Ghet-towz: What a body couldn't do with 62 million dollars ...

Mr. Ghet-towz: A body cudda mek a body wid dat ... cudda mek nuff body and mine dem!

Mrs. Ghet-towz: Eeh? Nuh badda wid dat. Try tek yuh mine offa making nuh more body and mine di one dem yuh have, awoi!

*Whole family laughs, intersperesed with exclamations of 'Raaaae', 'Woooi' and Laaaawd'*

Mrs. Ghet-towz: Mi nuh tink dem ago fine dem tief deh. Di ting well sort out. It plan good bad.


Mr. Ghet-towz: All if a police catch dem now, weh him ago do more than beg a piece'a di action?


Mrs. Ghet-towz: A di security guard dem weh get rob ago inna hot wata, cause a dem haffi go explain how dem mek di tief dem get weh ... an it look fishy fi true.

Mr. Ghet-towz: Mi sorry fi dem. All lie detector dem ago use pon dem ... wuddn waan fi inna fidem shoes.

Mrs. Ghet-towz: Kinda sad, though. Di tief dem get weh, an di man dem weh did a do dem job, a dem  get eena trouble.


Mr. Ghet-towz: Nuh suh di system set. Honest people cyaan prosper. Look like mi haffi go find some tief an go rob a truck too ... an den start mek and mine some body! 

*He touches shoulders with his wife, who pushes him away and hisses her teeth loudly, in between exclamations of 'Raaaae', 'Woooi' and Laaaawd' from their children*

Will the real PASSIONATE Jamaican youth please stand up??

Photo from
Facebook Youth Stand UP campaign

Passion cannot be turned off. You either have it or you don't. So says one of my coworkers. A lot of our so-called youth leaders' actions are indicating a lack of serious, sustained passion for any meaningful development in our young people.

I often wish to see even a glimpse of old-time Jamaica, not because I have a nostalgic Achilles' heel, but because I'd love to see the kind of fire and passion that drove a nation full of enslaved chattels to fight - to their last breath - for a cause they believed in. I'd love to do an autopsy on Jamaica's freedom revolution - find out what killed it, when it died and why.

True, we've come a long way and there may no longer be a need for drastic, revolutionary action the likes of which our forefathers displayed, but still, I don't think enough of our people - enough of our youth - realise that we're not there yet! We have not yet attained the pinnacles of human success for which our forefathers fought! Honestly, with our high illiteracy, unemployment and disempowerment rates, we have not even scratched the surface of where our country and society ought to be, or wants to be.

It's like the Gleaner's acting opinion editor, Andre Wright, said in his letter last week - we're not angry enough. We've become so passive and receptive of whatever the Government and corporate sector dish out to us that we're all sailing to high tide in a handbasket, whistling Bob Marley tunes along the way ... And when we do get angry, it's about issues that are ephemeral and temporary.

It's high time for us to WAKE UP and TAKE ACTION. And our young leaders ought to be charting this course. Unfortunately, as we have seen, they're too busy repeating - with alarming accuracy - the mistakes of their predecessors.

To this day, I don't know (and I would love to know) what the outcome of their private meeting with the ministry of youth's parliamentary secretary was. The media was not allowed in the meeting (a move I would love an explanation for), and none of these young leaders have come forward to disclose anything except that the meeting was 'cordial' - how informatively vague!

It's ironic, because they went into that meeting to represent the interests of this nation's youth. Failing to communicate the outcomes of this meeting with the very people they went in there to represent raises more than a few questions and eyebrows ... it calls method and motive into question.

I'm not saying that ALL our nation's young leaders are at fault. However, I can only speak about what I have seen and experienced. Transparency is necessary in leadership, and, balanced by a rational, level head, there MUST be that essential element of PASSION.

Now, will the real PASSIONATE Jamaican youth please stand up??

Youth: Empowerment, Activism

Photo from Google Search

A coworker of mine made the candid remark that youth activists should shut up and get 'real jobs'. I immediately questioned the notion of what 'real jobs' are ... was he, for example, saying that activism was not or should not be considered a factual, actual, verifiable and payable occupation?

PS: In case you're wondering where the proliferation of posts about youth empowerment and activism are coming from, you can check the links below:

The Gleaner article that started the whole debate
In essence, this article explains that in an Editor's Forum meeting, The Gleaner discovered that some of the nation's youth leaders are dissatisfied with how Minister of Youth Olivia 'Babsy' Grange is handling their portfolio, and expressed preference for the youth portfolio to be paired with education, instead of with culture, sports and information.

The response to the youth leaders' claim
In this article, Senator Warren Newby basically says that he wishes the youth leaders had directed their comments at him instead of at Minister Grange, and disclaims some of the points they raised.

One youth leader's response to Newby
Tafari Grayson, president of the Portmore Youth Council, disagrees with Senator Newby's response, stating that any comments regarding the handling of the youth  ministry should be directed at Minister Grange, since people voted for her and not for Newby.

Then there was the meeting held in camera ...
... to which the media was not invited or allowed... and about which we have yet to hear anything substantial.

... and the one measly report about it
... which clears absolutely nothing up!

Then we have the commentators:
Betty Ann Blaine, Observer columnist, commending the youth for their bold step
Ken Chaplin, Observer columnist, saying youth leaders need greater organisation
Niawak, Jamaican blogger, asking 'what advocacy?'
Tyrone Hall, Jamaican blogger, student, calling our youth leaders 'baby blowhards'
JYAN's response, detaching themselves from the controversial youth leaders
The Gleaner's editorial, calling for deeper discourse

Laid back, detached and YOUNG!

How ironic that while the Gleaner was trying to contact Youth Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, or someone from her office,  for a response to the many accusations/complaints levied against her administration by national youth leaders, Minister Grange and her officers were busy preparing for the Prime Minister's Youth Awards for Excellence, and therefore unable to respond to the urgent cries of the nation's next set of leaders.

A fitting metaphor of the country's current crisis.

The Gleaner's Editor's Forum has struck gold with their revelation of the dissatisfaction being experienced by Jamaica's youth leaders, sparking debates that have culminated in the issue of youth empowerment and development coming to the fore in print media. It is my sincere hope that this time, it will evolve from bickering, blame-gaming and naysaying into constructive discourse and the consequent implementation of workable solutions to what are, doubtless, important national issues.

The Gleaner's main story on Sunday, January 23, titled 'Boot Babsy', reported that the nation's youth leaders were extremely dissatisfied with the management of the youth portfolio by the minister with responsibility for information, culture, youth and sports, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange. There were suggestions by some of the young leaders that the portfolio should be paired with the Ministry of Education, which, in my view, is a suggestion that should be explored.

While some youth get highlighted and glorified by the nation's leaders, others - the majority - are often left unempowered and underrepresented. To be honest, I can't identify any point in my lifetime when I felt that Jamaican youth were receiving comprehensive, deliberate, consistent attention, whether through programmes or other such initiatives,  that led to sustained growth and development in that demographic.

When I first read the news stories of young leaders expressing  dissatisfaction with the lack of attention  received from Government, especially the minister with responsibility for them, I thought, "Finally somebody is listening to us. Bravo, Gleaner.' Then I realised, sadly, that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

While these young leaders raise a ruckus and demand more attention, they will, once they get it, most likely become satisfied with pushing their own agendas and programmes, which, it can be reasonably argued, in most cases, will NOT be representative of the needs of the wider youth populace. It will, instead, represent what they think the needs of the youth are, based on their often limited and myopic understanding of the demographic they claim to represent.

As a friend pointed out, our young leaders sometimes remind me of politicians who scream and cry to get their hands into the kitty for the many good and virtuous causes of their constituents, only to miraculously forget all notion of goodness and virtue once that access is obtained. And woe be unto the constituents thereafter.

I sincerely hope that I am proven wrong. I hope that there will be sustained, lasting, positive change in our Government's attitude to youth,  in our youth leaders' attitudes to the people they claim to represent, and in our youth's attitude toward themselves, for, as Marcus Garvey so aptly noted, "There shall be no solution to this ... problem until you (youth), yourselves, strike the blow for liberty."

 

More to come ...

Hello Yendiverse

Yendi did it.
She placed second in the Miss Universe 2010 pageant.
She tried for Miss World.
It didn't happen.
She gave it a break.
She tried for Miss Universe.
People told her to quit.
A large portion of Jamaica told her to "give someone else a chance" ...
Someone said she was stupid to think that if she missed the first time, she'd get it right now ...
And the obstacles just kept coming.

But tonight, she did it.
Found her inner lioness.
Roared to an international crowd.
Made history.
Achieved a goal.
Planted Jamaica's name more solidly on the map.

Congratulations a million times over.
I believe in dreams.
I believe in fighting.
I believe in not giving up.

And so, tonight, I celebrate Yendiverse.
I celebrate a dream come true.

Comedy Saves The Day

A rumour was being circulated today that Bill Cosby was dead.

When I heard it, tears immediately sprang to my eyes.

But, thankfully, it wasn't true. Below is the very witty and remarkably humorous reply of that man whom I have come to respect and recognise as an icon of all things comedic:

"About 10 hours ago, an Internet hoax started that said Bill Cosby is dead. The announcement of me being dead may be a VIRUS.

And now ladies and gentlemen for my rebuttal:

As you well know, a dead person cannot rebuttal. Therefore, I am rebuttaling to tell you that when I heard the news I immediately began rebuttaling and went into denial. My wife has just informed me that there is no such word as rebuttaling, she says the word is rebutting. But I don't care, because I'm alive!

Thank you.

PS. That's another thing dead people don't say."

I read it with a big smile on my face.

Throwing a Theory Out There...

Some misguided direlict made the statement that all good things must come to an end. When I look at the mess Jamaica is in right now, I disagree: ALL BAD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END. And coming to an end (or at least temporary recession) they are...

The revelations of the connections between our politicians and drug-dealers, dons, king-pins, etc are about to get worse. This is the tip of the iceberg, and people will begin to squeal like stuck pigs...

Do you realise that it is the 'dreaded' economic recession that has propelled all of this?? Times got tight, and the people laundering or illegally dealing in money started to find it difficult to source easy capital... as they became unable to make good on their promises to their 'lenders' (think CashPlus, Olint, WorldWise, Madoff's empire), their lenders became restless, their activities began to look suspicious, they came under international and national scrutiny, and were subsequently exposed.

That is directly linked to the seemingly legitimate bigwigs who assisted or depended on them for money... their connections to these people, and the sources of their wealth started being investigated as well. Some of them have already gone down and the rest are very close to going down.

How does this tie in to politics?? Well, these bigwigs are connected to politicians who facilitate their illegal acquisition of wealth in exchange for 'sponsorship' of political programmes and campaigns. It can be in as illicit a manner as providing the 'dons' or small men to do this bigwig's evil bidding, or as small as turning a blind eye to wrongdoings of their 'brethrens'. These politicians are getting antsy, because these bigwigs are going down, and their connections to them are also being questioned and coming under international scrutiny.

Enter the infamous extradition matter. The entire Jamaican Government froze. That's a big risk. In more than one ways, for more than one reasons... depending on who you're batting for. This extradtion matter has raised questions about (the already well-known absence of) cleanliness and transparency in our Government. It puts them directly in the limelight (and they're already indirectly in the limelight through their connections to these bigwigs now being exposed and brought down). It's the final link. It shows the connection between the government and the dons, druggists, gunners. The blood that flows through all their veins is POWER and MONEY. It's always been about these two elements.

But now, (I really hope), this system is going downhill and leading to one place: exposure.

I'm not sure if I'm 100% correct, or if I'm not missing some key links, but from my viewpoint, this is what I see... you can let me know what you think.

Kids are desperate

I've started this post about a hundred different ways, and then promptly deleted each paragraph, because I don't quite know what to say, don't quite know where to begin, don't quite know how to verbalise these feelings ... don't even know if I should yet again enunciate syllables that have reverberated in the corridors of our nation's history for centuries. Sometimes, words just seem inadequate.

"Children are desperately vulnerable," said Glenn Tucker in his letter to the editor in The Gleaner recently. He couldn't be more right. Children are desperately vulnerable. Vulnerable not only because of their inherent innocence and naïvette about the world they live in, but also because the care and protection that these inherent weaknesses necessitate are not being and cannot be met by a society full of irresponsible, selfish, greedy, apathetic and unconcerned adults.

Why are we so unmoved by the plight of our children?? Where did our hearts go? When did the little red valves and capillaries stop performing their critical functions? When did collective responsibility become a relic of an era buried under centuries of callous, inimical inertia?

Have we forgotten that our children are the future? Maybe that statement has become so regularised that we no longer remember what it means - that our children are us - in a future light, yes, but still, they are us. Ask any mother and she will tell you that her child is a living, breathing and irreplaceably precious extension of her life ... that that little bundle of ingratitude and laughs makes her existence meaningful, worthwhile and complete.

Kids complete us. They finish the life cycles that we begin and help to fulfil our lives in ways that we never truly understand until we're over the eighty year mark and ready to consider the 'important' things in life.

And what irks me is, we've all talked. Everybody has an opinion on the issue. Everybody gets hot, sweaty and pasionately riled up about these things. And, after venting their frustrations, concerns, heartaches and heartbreaks, we shut up, put up and do nothing. We go home to our warm, comfy beds and sleep peacefully and do nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all!

I don't want to sleep anymore. I can't anyway. Not now. Not anymore. I lay awake thinking. I lay awake dreaming. I lay awake groaning in my spirt for kids I've never seen. Angst and desperation bitter my respiration as I try to wrap my brain around the situation, and find the solution. There is a solution. There has to be a solution. Or else, what are we living for??

If not us, who?? If not now, when?!! I pray God give me the strength, courage and wisdom to once and for all shut up and act - decisively, effectively - to help rid our nation of the evils we have for so long gabbed about.

Dreams

Dree-ee-ee-ee-eeams, dreams, dreams, dreams ...
Dree-ee-ee-ee-eeams, dreams, dreams, dreams ...

That song is exactly what I feel like ... dree-eee-ee-ee-eeams. Just lots and lots of dreams packed up in one head and heart that's about to explode!

I watched the Oscars yesterday, and saw Gabby Sidibe sitting there, nominated in the same category as Meryl Streep after only her first movie role... can you say dreams??

I saw Sandra Bullock finally win an Academy Award for lead actress, even though she's been leading for so long... Can you say dreams??

And what of Jeff Bridges? His breakthrough came after 38 years! Can you say dreams?

And Kathryn Bigelow was the icing on the cake with her best director prize... the first woman to win that award, after 82 years of Oscars. Can you say dreams?

Dream hard, scheme harder, start planning for your AA moment.

Tuh-ribble!

Below is a video of a sting operation that was carried out by a police group. It shows an UNCLE selling, prostituting his BARELY THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD NIECE to tourist men for money.

My stomach turns. I am truly pained by this. First time I saw it, I hit at the man and nearly destroyed my laptop monitor.


I wonder, though, about so many things... they say the mother did not know, but did she really not know... didn't she have even a smidgen of suspicion? And at thirteen, what experiences could this young girl have had to lead her to believe that sex with tourist men is normal and acceptable ... and not worth telling her mother, or someone else who could put a stop to it, about?

Someone must be held accountable for this. The uncle is the obvious target. But what if there are others involved? How do we get them? Because we need to get them!!

Caribbean Newspapers Falling Short?

Things and times certainly have changed… and the big money says they will continue to do so as long as things and times exist. Newspapers and journalists cannot afford to have a myopic approach to the many new developments on the internet. We better turn with the tide, or else get turned over.

Speaking from a Caribbean perspective, I think a reanalysis of the relevance of (Caribbean) journalism to today’s socio-technological climate is loooong overdue. Caribbean news-houses, especially our newspapers, are lagging behind in their use of modern technology to optimise content and capture new, untapped audiences. And it’s funny and sad, because their online presence as a textual authority provides (in my opinion, at this point) many more opportunities for a wider scope and reach than other forms of traditional media outlets, which have not as yet even begun to make their presence felt online.

In her address to a US Senate hearing on the future of journalism last month, Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, Marissa Mayer, explained that one of Google's latest and most innovative products, Google Wave, can be especially useful to media houses, if they take the initiative to use them.

Mayer’s points are well worth taking note of. And our newshouses must realise that whether or not they pay attention to what she has to say, her words still stand as truth and prophecies that, if not now accepted and acted upon, will be later remembered and (unfortunately) regretted. Google (with their awesome, enlightened selves) will continue to break new ground and be at the helm of new technological innovations. They will continue to reap the benefits of their insight and foresight, whether or not newspapers pay attention.

It stands to reason, therefore, that our newspapers should quickly act on this invitation to be a part of the 21st century, and see Google as friend, not foe. We should be making every effort to tap into the multi-million people market to which Google already has access. How else do we plan to optimise our reach in the face of ever-growing technological innovations? Best advice is to take Mayer’s advice: act fast, act now!!

Boycott Jamaica?

There is a growing wholesale attempt to sink my beloved Jamaica! The boycott-Jamaica website is the latest.

I've heard of boycotts of certain events where anti-gay music is played, and of performers who support and promote violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBTs)... but the whole country?? Wow.

I guess I should hurry up and get my migrate on like my friend Destiny. Cause I certainly won't relish being part of the innocent many that are made to suffer for the guilty few. Or the innocent few that are made to suffer for the guilty many. Why are the innocent always the unwilling sacrificial lambs?

No to Red Stripe & Myers Beer & Blue Mountain Coffee & Jamaica as a tourist destination?

It's happened so many times before in history: we don't like your look, so we're just going to make all your people suffer till you do what WE want you to do... diplomatic bullying! I mean, hey, it's cheaper to go wholesale and just label the whole island. Because they're all LGBT haters. And they all deserve to die! They're anti-us. So let's be anti-them. That's a perfectly reasonable approach, right?? Right? Let's make Jamaica the next Cuba! Or Iraq! Or holocausted Jews!

Too brilliant.

Slaughter leftist Jamaica in mainstream media. Declare war on Jamaica for its undemocratic stance. Land a bomb and sink the island to get rid of all the LGBT haters. No. Wait. That sounds barbaric. Can they do that? Have they done that? Are they doing that?

So if I were to think based on this premise, I'd say, let's boycott the boycott-Jamaica website. I mean, hey, we have good reason. Our welfare and the welfare of our children may very well depend on it. Cause let's face it, they're trying kill us. Let's get them first and keep the cycle going!! It's our obligation! And our right!

I hope they fly out all our LGBTs before their awesome plan sweeps our island; or else I hope they realise that they'll be making our LGBTs suffer too. Or are Jamaican LGBTs earmarked to be the martyrs of the cause (especially considering they're Jamaican and therefore highly likely to possess that genetic strand of violence and anti-LGBT-ness)?

I should stop talking before somebody calls me a paranoid conspiracy theorist and throws me into prison for being subversive...

PS I will never support violence against LGBTs, or anyone else, for that matter. I believe in respect and equal rights for all. I just don't agree with 'punishing' Jamaica into a response. I'd gladly support an education and awareness campaign/website any day. In fact, I suggest more energy be channeled in that direction, instead of this anti-Jamaica campaign.

For more on this issue (cause balance is important) check the Axoriak, Towleroad, The Washington Blade report, The Gleaner report