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THIS WEEK’S SUMMARY
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GOLDING DEFENDS SIZE OF CABINET—09/15/07
After facing growing criticism about the large size of his new Cabinet, Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the 18-member executive is designed to address the challenges facing Jamaica at the present time. Golding said the size issue is relative, noting that Guyana had a Cabinet of 23 ministers, while Trinidad and Tobago had 24 ministers in its executive. In Golding’s judgment, there is a need to ensure adequate policy direction so the Government will focus on critical tasks that will make good on commitments he made during the election campaign.
FORMER PRIME MINISTER CALLS FOR ELECTION INVESTIGATION—09/16/07
Portia Simpson Miller, who was defeated in the General Election in her attempt to retain the job of Prime Minister, says that the electoral system in Jamaica “is flawed” and has called for an investigation of the election process. Simpson Miller has asked that the bipartisan and independent Electoral Advisory Committee review the results of several election contests. She says supporters of her party were turned away from polling places because they were not on voter lists. The Electoral Office has denied this allegation.
GOLDING WANTS “UNITY GOVERNMENT”—09/16/07
Newly elected Prime Minister Bruce Golding believes that the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) cannot govern the nation effectively with the help of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP). Golding says he wants a “unite government” because his JLP won the General Election by just a six-seat majority in the 60 seats in parliament. The unified approach to Jamaica’s government was a part of the JLP’s manifesto before the election, Golding says.
JAMAICAN-BORN POLICE OFFICER HURT IN MIAMI SHOOTING—09/17/07
Jody Wright, 31, remains in the hospital with injuries she received in a shooting. Jamaican-born, Wright was hired by the Miami, Florida, police in June 2005. She had been assigned to uniform patrol in Miami’s Cutler Ridge district. She was shot in the knee and went through five hours of surgery to repair the damage. Three other officers were injured, and one officer died during an attack by a youth in the district. The gunman was shot dead by police some hours after the attack.
DETECTIVE FORCED OUT OF JOB FOR DENIGRATING CRIMINALS—09/18/07
In the United Kingdom, detective constable John Thorley, 51, was forced to leave his job after he referred to criminals as “Jamaican pond life.” His remark to his colleagues was heard via “bugs” planted in a CID officer in Nottingham during an investigation of a corrupt police officer. Thorley, who has been with the police for 29 years, says it “could be considered rude” to refer to a group of individuals as “Jamaican pond life.”
BARTON KIRKCONNELL MOURNED—09/19/07
The Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) mourned the recent passing of a past managing committee member, Barton Kirkconnell, in the United Kingdom. The managing committee, members, and staff of the association were saddened by the loss of Mr. Kirkconnell. He was a dynamic member of the SAJ while in Jamaica and served on the managing committee in the 1970s. He helped make the Port of Kingston one of the finest in the world, says the SAJ.
NARCOTICS EFFORTS IN JAMAICA NOT REWARDED—09/20/07
Jamaica continues to have a place on the narcotics watch list kept by the United States government. This is the case despite the fact that police have made a “major dent” in the illegal drug trade. A senior narcotics investigator who asked to remain anonymous says that, based on effort and hard work, Jamaican police have done enough to be taken off the American’s watch list.
PNP OFFICIALS LEAVE STATE-OWNED HOUSES, VEHICLES—09/21/07
After almost 20 years of rule, former members of the Cabinet, junior ministers, advisers, and others linked to the former administration are leaving the Government for life without perquisites. While the new ministers are taking up residents in various offices, officials of the People’s National Party (PNP) have either already vacated the rooms or are preparing to do so. Many PNP officials must also return the SUVs and other cars that were assigned to them, along with the Advance cards with which they bought fuel for the vehicles. Some of these cars have tabs totaling $33,000 per month.
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JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
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JAMAICANS PROVIDE INSURANCE SOFTWARE TO BAHAMAS—09/16/07
A team of Jamaican computer programmers developed software that gave local insurers British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC) and NEM a platform for providing on-scene accident response. The team will now provide the same type of software to the Bahamas. Felicity Crosswell-Brandt, Rupert Gordon-Whyte, and Mike Thomas created and managed an accident service at no cost to drivers who have their insurance through authorized agents of Bahamas First General Insurance Company (BFGIC). This is the first service of this kind in Nassau. Nassau Bahamas First Response began on August 1, 2007, and offers on-site help and support from the first moment of an auto accident through the claims and repair processes.
WORKERS LEAVING FOR CANADA ENCOURAGED TO BE STEADFAST—09/17/07
Jamaica’s new Labor Minister, Peamel Charles, told the first group of construction workers departing for Canada to fulfill their contracts. Charles pleaded with the workers not to “run off” and said “Don’t let me down.” Eleven workers were given a two-year employment contract to work in western Canada. They will help in building a bridge in British Columbia. The workers represent the first group of construction workers to be sent via the overseas program to that region in Canada. Charles told them Jamaica cannot afford to let this program fail.
JAMAICAN-BORN RUNNER WINS HALF-MILLION DOLLARS—09/18/07
Sanya Richards, who was born in Jamaica and who now lives in the United States, won $500,000 in her event in the final Golden League meet of the season in Berlin, Germany. Richards won the sixth race of the IAAF Golden League 2007 series with a time of 49.27. She says she is proud of herself and excited that she could win the Jackpot for the second time. Richards had a share of the Jackpot in 2006, taking home US$250,000.
YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART TO PRESENT JAMAICA EXHIBIT—09/19/07
The Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, will present an exhibit entitled “Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds” from September 27, 2007 to December 30, 2007. The show will commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition of the British slave trade. It will be the first exhibit to focus exclusively on the visual culture of slavery and emancipation from the beginning of Britain’s rule in 1655 to the aftermath of emancipation during the 1840s.
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SPORTS
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GRANGE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUTH AND SPORT IN NEW GOVERNMENT—09/15/07
Olivia “Babsy” Grange will take the position of responsibility for Youth and Sport in Bruce Golding’s new administration. Grange, who will also be responsible for Information and Culture, has considerable experience in government. She is expected to discuss the needs of sports interests with the heads of a number of sports organizations. Chronic shortages of resources for sport are likely to be the main topic of discussion.
JAMAICAN SEEKS WIN IN WORLD JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS—09/16/07
Ivan Salazar-Chang, 31, a Jamaican who has lived in Spain, has risen through the judo ranks and holds a fourth-degree black-belt rating. This status has taken much of his life to attain. He will represent Jamaica at the World Judo Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the under-60-kilos class.
CAMPBELL, POWELL WIN SPRINTS AT VAN DAMME MEMORIAL—09/17/07
Veronica Campbell and Asafa Powell, both Jamaicans, won the 100-meter sprint contests at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels, Belgium. Powell ran the 100 meters in 9.84 seconds to best Jaysuma Saidy Ndure of Norway, while Campbell ran her 100-meter race with a time of 11.11 seconds, defeating Christine Arron of France.
SUNSHINE GIRLS LOOK FOR WIN—09/19/07
After their worst defeat versus England in recent memory, Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls volleyball team is hoping to return the favor when they meet the Brits in the second match of a three-Test netball series at the National Indoor Sports Center. England won a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games. The Sunshine Girls suffered a crushing 32-52 loss to England in the first game of the series.
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SPORTS
JAMAICAN ATHLETES PERFORMED WELL IN JAPAN—09/08/07
The depth of Jamaica’s track and field athletes was on display at the 11th IAAF Championships in Osaka, Japan. The athletes brought back a record number of medals from Nagai Stadium. Jamaicans won ten medals and took overall eighth position in a field of 203 nations. The top performer was Veronica Campbell, who won the only gold medal. Campbell took the gold in the 100 meters and silver medals in the 200 meters and the 4x100 meter relay.
ASAFA POWELL BETTERS HIS OWN WORLD RECORD—09/09/07
The “fastest man in the world,” Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, improved upon his own world record in the 100 meters at the Rieti Grand Prix in Rieti, Italy. Powell ran the 100 meters in 9.74 seconds. Powell said his performance improved when he started to “listen to the coach.” Powell wanted to remind his fans that he is “still here,” saying “I made a couple of mistakes, and I corrected them.”
OUTGOING, INCOMING PRIME MINISTERS CONGRATULATE POWELL—09/10/07
Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, who will leave office following her defeat in the General Election, and Prime Minister designate, Bruce Golding, both offered congratulations to Asafa Powell for his recording-breaking victory in Rieti, Italy. Simpson Miller noted Powell’world-record run of 9.74 seconds in the IAAF Grand Prix contest, saying that his race “underpins the true Jamaican spirit” in his “ability to rebound after a major disappointment.” Bruce Golding, Prime Minister designate, lauded Powell’s lowering of his own world record. It showed his “resilience and ability to bounce back,” said Golding.
U-23 FOOTBALLERS MOVE ON TO CFU OLYMPIC GAMES QUALIFIERS—09/12/07
The Under-23 footballers of Jamaica have essentially achieved a place in the next stage of the CFU Olympic Games qualifiers by defeating Barbados at the Complehjo Deportive Guillermo Trinidad. The Jamaicans won 1 to 0. Ricardo Cousins, stand-in skipper, scored the goal with an excellent 25-yeard freekick, which received cheers of appreciation from the crowd of fans watching the match in Oranjestad, Aruba.
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DEVOTIONAL
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Loving One Another (Part I)
Two of the most profound things about Jesus' teachings were the simplicity of His messages, and how those messages often impacted all the different domains of our lives. The more I read the Gospels, the more convinced I am that amidst the hustle and bustle of life, and the many mixed messages from our pulpits, a good place to go is back to basics. What did Jesus have to say about specific situations in which we find ourselves?
I thought about this as I had cause to reflect on His words, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35), and wondered, what would happen if we all did that? In one incident recorded in Mark, a Scribe asked Jesus what Commandment was the first of all, to which He replied, "The first is ... thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these" (12:29-31). The profoundness of the last eight words of His reply is beyond words, yet Matthew took it one step further when he reported Jesus saying "On these two commandments hangeth the whole law, and the prophets" (22:40). Nothing else that we are commanded came close to the command to love God with all our being, AND our neighbours as ourselves. Paul expanded on this concept when he wrote, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Without the love of Christ demonstrated to each other in our everyday lives, nothing we could ever do matters.
Now, I readily concede that some people, for whatever reasons, are very difficult to love. Left to our own imaginations, we would prefer not to be within a country mile of them, yet Jesus did not command us to love only the lovable, or those with who were nice to us. He said, without ambiguity, "Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you: that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven ... For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" (Matt. 5:44-46). I'm struck by Jesus' reason for our showing this kind of love; "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." We should note His deliberate use of the word "disciple", as against "follower". The disciple is a learner, a pupil, whose only goal is to learn from his teacher in order that he may become like that teacher. A follower has no such ambition. As we reflect on this important distinction, the relevant question therefore is, which are you?
CEW
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CREDITS/SOURCES
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The weekly news is compilation of new articles from top Caribbean and Jamaican news sources.
