Exposing Public Servants There is a growing wave of disrespect for decent, hard working citizens of America in this country by Public Servants. No one is quite sure how it started or where they got their "power" or "bravado" from, however, if anyone has had to deal with clerks, customer service representatives or anyone who provides a necessary service, this article will ring close to home.

The Jamaican 1% - CEO'S/Entrepreneurs/Tech Gurus ???? How has Jamaica become the land of Entrepreneurs/CEO'S yet almost 20% of the population live below the poverty line? Who are the 1% in Jamaica?     Spend a few minutes surfing the net and you will soon see just how many Jamaicans are self appointed “CEO's and Entrepreneurs”. If we believed every title we'd be led to think we were reading a Zug phone book!

The people spoke for Portia Hearty congratulations to that seasoned campaigner Portia Simpson Miller, President of the People’s National Party, and her triumphant team who reminded us that the PNP are master organisers. Commiserations to  JLP President Andrew Holness and his hard-working team.  Above all, commendations to us, the people, who conducted ourselves peacefully as we discharged our sovereign duty as electors last Thursday.

‘Groundings’: Peacebuilders and the New Mindscape Perfect peace has no historical antecedents. There has never been a period when the world was not experiencing violent interstate conflicts. More than forty-five (45) or one-quarter of the world’s countries were experiencing wars in 1983 alone, including the small tri-island Caribbean State of Grenada - Carriacou and Petit Martinique. The world’s military budget in 1983 was U.S $ 800 billion, superseding official global development aid forty times over.

The Hero in our Leaders When we look back at our leaders throughout our history, including our eight prime ministers, we should be proud of the hero in each of them. Our vibrant democracy has given us Sir Alexander Bustamante, Sir Donald Sangster, Hugh Shearer, Michael Manley, and those still with us, Edward Seaga, PJ Patterson, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller – our first woman prime minister – and Prime Minister Bruce Golding.  

Jamaica, the Land we love: Paradise or Hell on Earth? A society can be measured by the way it treats its most vulnerable. The three groups that are most vulnerable in any society are: the elderly and infirm, the young, babies, toddlers, school age and adolescence, inclusive.  Lastly, the mentally ill. For our purpose, vulnerable is the susceptibility of certain groups to physical, emotional, and or sexual injury.

The Only Thing That Separates Us Is Us Caribbean leaders got an eloquent telling-off by Sir Shridath Ramphal when he recently gave the Inaugural G. Arthur Brown Lecture hosted by the Bank of Jamaica in celebration of their 50th Anniversary.  Sir Shridath, former Guyana Government Minister, UWI Chancellor and three-term Secretary General of the Commonwealth has spoken on this theme for over three decades, but never before has he captured our collective cowardice so accurately.

West Indian Crickets In The Dark Barbadian Novelist and anti-colonialist George Lamming is right to think of the Caribbean as a country with parishes strewn about the sea. A claim that Grenada’s ‘father of the West Indies Federation’ Theophilus Albert Marryshow would have approved were he alive today. I was in a land far from my own, in actuality more than a thousand miles away and I did not know the difference. I did not see it, it was not felt. I was at home and, I admit, I would not have had it any other way.

Addictions In the last few weeks, I feel like the issues of weight are bombarding me on every side.  In my attempt to get my weight back under control, I discovered an underlying health issue which I need to address and thankfully am able to do so with diet and vitamins.  No matter what I ever do I life, I will always be a food addict.  Alcohol and drug addictions are insidious, but the good thing with those addictions is that you can simply remove them from your life and do all within your power to avoid them and you may be able to keep your addiction under control.

“Nobody Canna Stop Laughing” - Language, Cultural Anxiety and the Clifton Brown Commotion Several weeks ago, parts of Jamaica experienced extensive flooding after days of heavy rains that rivaled the deluge which set Noah’s ark afloat some millennia past. Bridges, roads, homes and businesses were washed away, leaving residents in various parts of the island stranded, unable to navigate flooded streets, swollen gullies, and overflowing rivers. Jamaican television station TVJ covered the floods in the Mavis Bank area of Jamaica in the parish of St. Andrew, and reporter Dara Smith’s interview with a bystander and resident of the area, Clifton Brown, is now perhaps the most famous TV interview in Jamaica.

The Case for and against Big Love So HBO has a series called Big Love which is about a family of polygamists.  Now on the series, you get to see all the advantages and disadvantages of living in a blended polygamist family.  The clear advantages to this situation is always having help with children.  That alone is worth having a whole host of sister wives.

On Clifton Brown and Community Justice: Nobody Canna Cross It

By now, most of us have encountered the viral video “Nobody Canna Cross It (Bus Can Swim)” that has swept the social media newsfeeds in the past two weeks. I, for one, have watched this video over and over again and have shared several versions on my wall. As I was “deading” with laughter, however, 

I couldn’t help but pause to reflect on the words of Mr. Brown. 

While his twang leaves much to criticize, Mr. Brown actually exemplifies and amplifies larger issues facing the Jamaican community, to which the government has turned a blind eye.

We Can Cross It! - Big Up Clifton Brown, he is a hero in my book When poor people in many countries like Jamaica ask their government for necessary amenities like good roads, clean drinking water, bridges or important community services that can make their lives better, they wait in vain and are often times humiliated or ridiculed, sometimes to get attention they must block roads and demonstrate to get the authorities to listen and do something. Humiliation and ridicule is what Clifton Brown got for asking for a bridge.

To Floss or Not to Floss that is the Question? Nowhere else is the appearance of wealth and social status more ridge and important for display than in Jamaica in 2011. The need to show ones ability is no longer judged by ones credentials and authority those solid foundations have been replaced with gauche peacock parades of bling and wild grandiose titles they have self bestowed online. “CEO’s” without staff, “Presidents” without revenue and “Tech Guru’s” and “Consultants” who aren’t even bankable by a major brand to hire them as staff. So many, just Kings new clothes….

Jamaica’s Diaspora Representation Money talks, and with remittance revenues of over US $1 billion dollars per year, Jamaica’s Diaspora should have a loud voice.  With the value of the diaspora’s foreign exchange revenue second only to the mighty Tourism industry, no government can afford to leave the proper courtship and engagement of the diaspora community to chance.  A dedicated ministerial portfolio is required – no less!

Black no Longer Beautiful? What Is Happening To Our Children? “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds” one of the most prophetic statement by the late reggae superstar Bob Marley. Albeit this statement was most likely intended for the international community, for our purpose, let’s assign it to Marley’s native country Jamaica. What signs and symptoms were apparent in the Jamaican culture as manifested by Jamaicans to warrant such a quote?

Young People are Leaders of ‘Today’ and Tomorrow Many leaders and protectors of the old-guard habitually spew clichéd epithets about youth development at political rallies and during Youth Month which serve to alienate and degrade rather than integrate and inspire young people. Three of these catch-phrases which have attained universal renown with seemingly unchallenged public approbation are; ‘you (youth) are the leaders of tomorrow’, ‘youth are the future’ and ‘youth are the next generation’.

The Residence of Dreams My memory of the Graham-mango tree in the boondocks behind my cottage-home in Pellriver will live on ad infinitum. We were kite and tail; aphorism and sage. I would, when angst or distressed by the internal tales of the day, curl like a fetus in her arms.

Setting the record straight about the Jamaican Diaspora "Convention" and the boycott threat The Jamaica Observer yesterday finally shed light on the looming boycott of the upcoming Jamaican Diaspora "Convention" scheduled for Ocho Rios, Jamaica from June 15-17 under the theme "One Nation: Jamaica and its Diaspora in Partnership" . 

What is Jamaica, the brand? What are the images your mind conjures when you think of Jamaica? Sunny beaches, ganja and guns perhaps? Or how about laid back work ethic, homophobia or backward banana republic on the brink of civil unrest? Credible words or great misnomers?

Dream-right: What the journey to Rwanda meant to me As a child my sleeves were always soaked with liquid flames, which would hang like Jamaican wis-wis (withe) from my facial monuments. I loathed wis-wis because I suspected they strangled fruit-trees and they were always in my way causing nuisance.  In later years, I learned to use them as bands to keep firewood together and as skipping ropes.

Call for action - Improve the accountability and transparency in Jamaica today for better business ethics As a US business owner I often champion new ventures, I was eager to promote the premiere of the Jamaican Blog Awards, which I felt was a great Tech initiative. I pushed the venture to many of my clients as "a great Jamaican project". Pegasus,   LIME and NCB had sponsored so I believed it had integrity.

Gibson Relays 2011- Will it happen? The story in the Gleaner, on January 6th, 2010, regarding the possible cancellation of the Annual Gibson Relays is sad. Whiletrack and field  would surely be affected, it speaks pointedly to the overall management of sport in our country. Let me tell you some facts...

Why Jamaicans have to migrate to become productive? Why is that we all know Jamaicans who migrated, and almost overnight, became productive?  Their accomplishments surprise us when they land on other shores. Shortly after leaving Jamaica in 1984 to attend university in the United States, I encountered my first success story.

Don't Call Me An African The cost of this self inflicted inferiority complex is enormous. It destroyed our economy and those of African communities in Diaspora. We do not patronize ourselves anymore turning us into consumers of other people’s services and products because subjectively, we see them as superior to ours. The minority middle class we want our image makers to celebrate push many to glaring crime, poverty and meager infrastructure foreigners see.

The Bare Truth of it all ... according to Elisanne I’ve never gotten the thrill of the whole naked man bit at a strip club.  Now do I get it for men?  Sure do, men are very very visual and so seeing a semi-clad woman gyrating and simulating sex is appealing.  Or so I’ve been told.  Also the thrill of a “happy ending” sans hands apparently also has great cache. Apparently, the same holds true for women.  Now I’ve been to strip clubs for both men and women.  Strip clubs for men are interesting.

A Note To Bruce Golding And Other Leaders In Jamaica The political leaders of Caribbean nations, especially, Bruce Golding and others in Jamaica (both JLP and PNP) must begin to change their levels of thinking as they relate to governing. The leadership styles continue to kindle the flames of lawlessness and civil disobedience in the island.  Bruce Golding must stop the perception that criminals are cuddled by lawmakers.

A Branding Row or Ego Trip for pawns? A disappointing incident was reported as the “Branding Row” dated August 19, by another mediahouse. Tivoli Gardens football team players failed to show against Waterhouse in the sport of the football game for the championship cup. Permit me to seize this opportunity to share some concerns, questioning the ethics of the game, and relevant leaders who should inevitably be exemplary to tomorrow’s leaders – today’s football players. 

WIFE - Wonderful Instigators of Familial Excellence In a recent discussion with a group of young professional women, I think I stunned them with my very traditional view of marriage and being a wife. I think they viewed me as one of the modern women with modern views on everything. I wanted to laugh at and with them and tell them – “Don’t let the Ann Klein and Coach fool you, the fact that I don’t NEED to be a wife, doesn’t mean I don’t WANT to be a wife.”

No to More Prisons, and Yes to More Education & Job Creation in Jamaica Recently, the Jamaica Observer published an article: “Build new prisons to fight crime, says Wayne Chen”. Immediately, I was compelled to respond to said article. I don't think the US model is the best model for fighting/reducing crimes.

Surrendering freedom in a State of Emergency A State of Emergency is intended as a short-term measure to provide short-term respite, such as is evident in the decline in murder figures for June so far. Remaining in the ‘war' mode may give an illusion of strong leadership; however, applying wrong remedies can well worsen the ailment

Africa Cares About The Killings In Jamaica The crocodile cry of Let My People Go by former Prime Minister of Jamaica Edward Seaga is perpetuating the status quo of African children killing one another in Tivoli. He has never been part of the solution, Edward Seaga has always been part of the problem. He cannot shake off the rivalry between him and Prime Minister Michael Manley that he defeated and took over from. Jamaicans said it was because Manley lied. 

Am I My Brother’s Keeper? On June 4, a youngster approached a non-Jamaican man at a fast food outlet in Mandeville. The boy asked the man for money. According to news reports, the man gave the boy $500.00 and told him to go to the bathroom. He followed him there. Security personnel grew suspicious. On investigating, they found the boy bent over, and the man behind him with his pants down. Someone called the police. The man was jailed and went to court yesterday. He was charged with gross indecent assault and remanded until June 22.

All My People Say: REVOLUTION! We are strong and we shall overcome. Bruce Golding and Portia Simpson-Miller do us all a favor.  We want nothing more from you because you both have shown your ineptness and mediocrity to lead.

Latest News - Jamaica State of Emergency, Dudus extradition, Protests, Violence The Prime Minister has declared Kingston and St. Andrew in a state of emergency after gun and firebomb attacks on police. Get the latest news on the Jamaica situation from links to resources and people on the ground.

Jamaica’s moral and ethical comeuppance In this, some believe Jamaica’s darkest hours, we have come to completely understand that the truth is relative and not absolute (relativism) and that an expression of agreement is not supported by real conviction (hypocrisy). 

Johnny lands Abroad Whether you are a visitor or a returning resident the moment you step off the plane a wretched life slowly unravels. In time, your mind will swing like a pendulum dying to go back home and yet wanting to stay. All your once gleeful views of Canada will soon be lost in the great misery that surrounds you.

Immigrant - Loud and Proud! I have been ranting about the Republicans and this whole health care debacle to my circle of friends (online and offline). In the same way that it is taboo for me as a black person to talk critically about black people, apparently, there is the same feeling that those of us not born in this nation having no right to talk about this nation. In the same way that it is taboo for me as a black person to talk critically about black people, apparently, there is the same feeling that those of us not born in this nation having no right to talk about this nation.

Double Standards...boiling it down to Black and White You know black people sometimes aggravate me and I realize that I’m breaking the holy grail of keeping all negative speak about my race in silence; but really sometimes they are just plain silly. Today I’m getting my nails done and watching HLN ( a network I only ever see at the nail salon) and there’s a story about a step team (white) that has to share the winning award with another step team. So this seems simple right? Hmm, so not so. “Stepping” is a black sorority and fraternity tradition

Losing Everything, A Sign of The Times These past few years that the World has been experiencing economic upheavals has taken its toll on even the most conscientious and stable individuals in our Society. Many families are faced with the dilemma of downsizing.