I remember growing up in Jamaica I always heard the “the ball is round”. Which means on any given day the underdog can beat the favorite. That is the way I felt about the US win over Spain. It is not going to drive people who live in the US to become fans of soccer. It seems like quite a few people agree based on a Yahoo poll here that asked the questions “What is the status of U.S. soccer now?”  See the current results.
What is the status of U.S. soccer now?
World Cup title contender 13%
Team no one wants to play 16%
No difference … just a great win 72%

47813 Total Votes

I was reading this story on aid to Haiti the the excerpt below stood out as it seems like a political way to get money and attention for the from the US.

Source: Miami Herald

Writer: Jacqueline Charles

Haiti observers have long said the United States’ preoccupation with the war in Iraq has created an opening for countries like Venezuela and Cuba to now become among Haiti’s chief benefactors.

REBUILDING

The Haitian government used savings from the Venezuelan Petrocaribe oil fund to buy heavy machinery following last year’s hurricanes. Without it, Haitian government officials have said they would still be waiting on the international community to dredge deadly rivers, reinforce banks and reconnect storm-damaged roads.

Also, using South Korean parts, Venezuela, with help from Cuba, constructed three new power plants in three major cities, and also provided $48 million in fertilizer to Haiti.

Cuba recently sent a team of experts to help Haiti figure out how to evacuate residents in cases of hurricanes.

”With the Cubans, it’s a very good cooperation. They don’t bring money, they bring their savoir faire in health, in education,” she said. “They are not transporting ideology to the country. They are low-profile and very serious.”

The partnership with Venezuela is ”based on the needs expressed by the president and the government,” Pierre-Louis said. “I don’t put them in competition, but it’s true that the U.S. could do much more and better focused, better targeted.”

The greatest performer this world has known is dead. RIP MJ

I have the same discussion with relatives who are coming from Jamaica. They want to bring patties as a gift and I tell them no need to do that. We have enough patties shops here in South Florida and they make decent patties. The typical response is that real patties come from Jamaica and it tastes better. I must agree it does in most cases but I just don’t like the hassle of  eating heating up patties. It takes away from the crust, (there are methods to heat up a cold patty and preserve the crust) that is why I like it fresh.

A member of our forum alerted us of a news story on Radio Jamaica that  “real Jamaican” patties are being imported to Jamaica from New York.  Why is Jamaica importing patties?

Jamaican Jerome Jordan will not be in the 2009 NBA draft. He is going back to Tulsa for his senior year. In the draftexpress.com 2010 mock NBA draft he is projected to go in the first round in 2010. Team always need a big man and if he improves on his scoring and blocks he will be in the first round.

So last week I mentioned my struggle with what should be private and what is public on social network sites. Then came the news of a Jamaican politician who is in hot water because of what he posted on facebook page. It is seen as taking a swipe at his party and the leadership. First he posted it “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results” (Albert Einstein) then removed that and replaced it with “”A genuine leader is not a searcher of consensus but a molder of consensus” (Martin Luther King). Does he like quotes by famous people? Was it a person swipe? Was he venting? This is where it gets very gray when you post on these social network sites.

Last night I was watching the evening news and there was a report asking the question “Is President Obama overexposed?”. Today I visited Apple’s website to review the new manual for the iPhone 3.0 Operating System (OS). Guess who is in one of the screen shots in the manual?