Lessons to be learnt

Events over the last few weeks gave insight into the mass media. Basically, they are whores… and not to the truth or news.
Immediately after the Iranian election, the American television news media began to portray the election results as fraudulent… with their only proof being the demonstrators in the streets.
I could not find any other news on the television except for the anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrators… this was moreso on CNN. All the sanctimonious talking heads were decrying fraud, proof withheld.
Obama tried to do the right thing by keeping a distance, but even his words when he uttered them showed his American tendency to pass judgement. But while he tried to remain act fair, the media were acting as proxies for the state department… stoking fires so as to topple a foreign head of state. Should I say ‘déjà vu all over again’?
I have no idea if the election was stolen or not and without proof, I would not make such a claim. At the same time, without proof, I can’t state that it was free and fair either. The western world has taken a side and though I don’t know if they ‘interfered’, I can clearly see why the Iranians are claiming such.
I won’t rehash history too much but the Americans and British did overthrow a legitimately elected Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, did install and support the brutal and repressive regime of the shah Reva Pavlevi, did train the brutal Savak police, did arm, train and supply Saddam Hussein’s invasion and war with Iran, did ‘accidentally’ shoot down an Iranian airline (1988). How many Americans do you think would think ‘accident’, if Iran shot down an American passenger plane?
Furthermore, the United States has a long history of this type of interference. Vietnam and Chile come immediately to mind, but for a more recent reference we can add Venezuela.
As for the Iranians demonstrating… I can figure they are breaking the law. I don’t know the Iranian law governing protests and demonstrations, but I know that even in the US, there are laws governing such. You need a permit and you need to stay on the sidewalk.
If demonstrators here were doing the same thing, many would be arrested. The ‘right’ to protest does not overrule the law of the country, so arguing that the Iranian police arresting protesters and breaking up of demonstrations were signs of repression, is a non-starter for me.
But back to the news media. I have to wonder the motives of the major television networks during the Iran demonstrations. We were getting 24/7 coverage with little left for ‘other news’. And the commentators were one-sided in their opinions. It was almost if the networks, particularly CNN, was taking orders from Hillary Clinton herself.
CNN appeared to be trying to whip the local populace into some position. I’m willing to bet that if one took a poll before the CNN coverage, a great majority of CNN viewers cared very little about the Iranian elections.
We still have an economic crisis and many home-grown sub-crises for us to worry so much about Ahmadinejad. Yet nothing else was aired. Until…
***
Michael Jackson died. And all of a sudden Iran couldn’t get air-time. So much for the importance of selling democracy and freedom overseas.
This clearly is another lesson to be learned. Your cause is only important until a superstars dies or is caught in a scandal. The Iranian demonstrators whose spirits were bolstered by the media support they were getting, must be greatly deflated. They moved from top of the charts to nothing in a matter of seconds.
For all we know, the revolutionary guards might have massacred and jailed thousands of anti-Ahmadinejad supporters and we frankly wouldn’t know about it, or care.
The important thing is dear Michael died. Boohoohoo. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I like MJ, always liked his music, think he is the best entertainer ever. My first romantic episode had a Jackson 5 soundtrack … ABC, 123, do-reh-me.
I have his music, frequently watched his videos and movies, was sometimes caught up when the media set out to massacre him, and defended him at times. But frankly it creeps me out when people on Facebook substitute their pictures for him.
This shows the penchant for banality, that many of us don’t have lives of our own and so try to live something through association with someone else’s greatness.
I like Michael, but I don’t love him. I save love for family members and those who can love me back. Michael didn’t know of our existence except as masses of crowds and numbers buying his music. He did love us, because we foolishly poured god-like adoration on him… though we also reveled in his little mishaps. Such is the mindlessness of crowdthink.
Jackson was a brilliant character but also very flawed. He is not someone that I idolize and want my children to be admire too much (too late for that however). His genius at entertainment was counterbalanced with far too many episodes of whackiness. And his addiction to plastic surgery and changing his appearance… gross.
No one can tell me that Michael loved black peeps except in an overall kind of way, as part of his market. All his distinctive black features were surgically removed and replaced with caucasoid features.
And to follow this up, his main friends and even his so-called children were white. If I’m proud of my race, I try to perpetuate it. Not excise it.
Now the next year is going to be dominated by Michael Jackson moments. And we can’t wait til the struggle for his fortune or misfortune begins. So much for anything else.
***
Spent a little time in Jamaica, but in the light of Michael’s passing, that seems so unimportant… but still.
Not much has fundamentally changed. With the new rounds of burdens placed on the Jamaican people from the last budget, people are still resilient. Life still goes on… especially for those who know little about Michael Jackson’s passing. There are more important things in their lives… survival for example.
Had a few days down on the north coast and know there is worse to come for Jamaica. Bauxite revenues are down and tourism revenues will remain close to stagnant for some time. Granted we are just entering the summer period, but I don’t see much happening. The beaches were deserts. Outside of the locals, little life seen.
On the streets, everyman was a hustler, vendor, cd/dvd seller, tour guide, companion, taxi-driver…. Wait a minute. Wasn’t that the exact same thing I said about Kingston some weeks ago?
The Jamaican worker class is being devastated by the economy. When I left, the IMF was high on the agenda… another round of our begging.
Yet we remain strong in spirit and generosity. I bought phone credits at Digicel and came up $10.00 short. Not only did the cashier forgive the shortfall (“Wen yuh pass back”), but some dude, without me asking, without even eye contact, just gave me $20.00. Granted, J$20.00 isn’t a lot of money, but I was a stranger and he didn’t even hesitate or wait for me to thank him profusely.
Jamaica… a paradox wrapped in an enigma, boxed in mystery, tied with a ribbon of contradictions. Man, I love the country of my birth.

Who’s right?

Who’s right?
I have long been fascinated… no that’s not the right word… perturbed by America’s fascination with abortion issues… a topic that practically anywhere else in the world, is far less than a one-day wonder. No other country gives this topic as much relevance to our daily lives and Americans.
Many, many years ago, when I first started writing for newspapers, one of my first columns for the then Daily News, was a verbal scuffle with an anti-abortionist over the issue of abortions. His name was Edmund Broad (funny remembering that name) and I have no idea as to his status, though I suspect he might have long passed.
Broad was a vocal opponent of abortion at any level, for any reason. I disagreed and we took to the papers. I remember one of the questions I had asked of Broad, ‘What becomes of the child born but unwanted? Would Broad or his cohorts take care of those they fought to keep from being aborted’.
The reply if my memory serves me correctly, was that ‘…there were children’s homes and adoption’. And it has always filled me with wonder that anti-abortionists fight to keep the pregnancy alive, but want to have nothing to do with the born child.
Recently the topic has again moved front-page, what with Obama’s nomination for the supreme court, Sonya Sotomayor and with the murder of George Tiller, a doctor who performed late term abortions on women who didn’t want to bring their deformed fetuses to birth.
I haven’t changed my stance on abortion as I believe that it is every woman’s right to choose whether or not she carries her ‘baby’ to term. The truth is that abortion is a far more difficult task to defend than to attack. The woman’s right to choose is almost too subjective to build an argument around.
If I was forced to defend myself, I doubt that I could relay sum up a decent debate. Most of the arguments defending are fairly weak, except of course the fact that if abortions were made illegal, many women would either die or suffer severe complications from procedures performed by hacks.
Whether anyone likes it or not, abortion will always be with us. Women will always resort to that action based on the circumstances of the pregnancy.
The so-called pro-lifers arguments are a little more cogent but still far from decent debate material. Who knows exactly when a pregnancy should be considered a human being? And how factual can one make the claim that a woman has no right to make complete choices of her body and what may or may not be in it?
To me, the acceptance of the right of a woman to maintain full control of her body irrespective of the beliefs of a male dominated society, is unshakeable and doesn’t necessarily need a supply of facts. I would agree that abortion opponents have the right to believe the opposite. But both beliefs are not facts.
There are no facts available to support that ‘all men are equal’. Yet not many of us would differ. And there are also no facts backing any belief that one man is superior to another .
However, what I do know is that no one has the right to deprive another human of life just on the basis of this disagreement, something the so-called ‘pro-lifers’ fail to accept. The harassment, violence and even murder that these people carry on to enforce this belief must stop, and such crimes should be treated as hate crimes with extremely tough penalties.
I have always thought that if men were the ones getting pregnant, abortion wouldn’t be an issue.
***
Last week I read an article that stated that Iran’s current president Ahmadinejad was history, that he would lose the Iranian election big time. I know wishful thinking when I saw it and knew it someone would be severely embarrassed. Well, Ahmadinejad has been declared the winner and westerners are scratching their heads and crying foul.
I have no idea whether voter fraud took place and apparently that will be investigated internally. Of course we will hear that is not enough and any inquiry must come form outside. Why?
In the 2004 election, the United States rejected the idea of being monitored by Jimmy carter’s US election group.
Ahmadinejad loss is the thinking of the current administration and a glow would have suffused Obama if he had lost. It would have given Americans the impression that Obama’s speeches to the Arab nations had an effect. Again, more wishful thinking.
Arabs aren’t fools as much as the experts and pundits would have us think. They know which side their interests are buttered on. They know the history of the United states and one or two speeches by a black president isn’t going to affect much change… especially when that president has already described his relationship with Israel as unbreakable.
The Arabs hatred of Israel is based on solid conviction coming from the past to the present. There is no two words about it… what is going on in Israel regarding the Palestinians and other Arabs is apartheid, bordering on genocide.
The United States one must remember, accepted and supported the apartheid regime in South Africa so Israel is par for the course. Sensible people should realize that against overwhelming military weaponry, the Palestinians fight back, even with stones. Something must be wrong. There must be something more than the public is being told.
It is not far from when northerners were being told that black slaves were better off as they were, than as free men. That they actually enjoyed working under fatal conditions on massa’s plantation than being back in the land they were forcibly taken from.
Yet many northerners accepted these lies and many of us accept the lies that the Israelis are always the good guys and the Arab’s the bad guys.
***
And while that is going on, there is another dance of absurdity going on over North Korea.
To hell with them all, I say. If North Korea wants nuclear weapons, let them make the, buy them, barter them, whatever. Why shouldn’t they? They are no more unstable than most governments worldwide.
The real point should be to clear the planet of all wmds and not have an exclusive nuclear country club. I trust no government with nuclear weapons. We are just one psychotic breakdown from having a disaster, depending on who is in power, including who is in the white House.
Let everybody have the weapons or have none at all.
Interestingly, the argument used by those who defend the right to arms, states that the more weapons there are, the less thieves are likely to rob anyone (a fallacy of course). Why then shouldn’t we extend the same principle to wmds.
Obama says that the North Koreans are dangerous. That’s just for public manipulation. He knows better. It’s all a distraction folks.
***
One of the definitely good things Obama is trying domestically, is for national health care coverage. Whether we believe the 46 million w/o health care numbers, the fact is that millions of Americans are without health coverage of any sort, while some have the barest of coverage.
One would have thought that any attempt at health reform would be greatly embraced, yet the administration is going to have a hard time getting this agenda done. There are many economic interests involved because there is so much money to be made on the backs of the American people, using or better abusing the system as it is now.
The doctors are mixed up with the insurers who are in it with the pharmaceutical companies who buy primarily republican politicians to keep the system as is.
And everyday more and more people find healthcare beyond their reach.
At a recent medical association meeting, Obama was booed. No surprised there, simply because he didn’t help them with their priority… limits on awards from medical malpractice cases.
The truth is that there is an issue. But not with the legal system… with the doctors themselves. I would think that more than 30% of America’s doctors practicing today would flunk out of UWI med school… more if you removed those foreign born.
The culture of American medicine makes little priority of patient care. The money is made ripping of the patient. Studies have shown that at least 30% of the health care dollar is spent on tests and procedures with little value. In other words, doctors willfully send patients for expensive tests that are unnecessary.
Ask any Jamaican nurse to tell you stories of the amount of misdiagnoses, the errors in prescription or drug dosages. It’s a comedy if so many people weren’t dying or losing wrong limbs.
These are the types of tragedies of self-interest we have when capitalism goes mad.
***
I will be spending a few days in Jamaica, so I’ll probably tell you more when I return. But let me do a little bit of shameless self-promotion which is the poster below. Until next…

Obama and Usain Bolt

The Pentagon recently released a report stating that 1 in 7 Guantanamo ex-detainees are now involved in ‘terrorism’. The Pentagon offered no specific reason for this.
Perhaps I can help. When you detain someone innocent (they were released because there was no evidence) behind bars, far not only from their home but their hemisphere, treat them with high disregard, house them with other angry people, release them into places they don’t know or return them to their home where they remain suspected and harassed, or where they return to find many things changed, their families and friends uprooted or killed… then yeah, I can understand why they become recruits for al qaeda.
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President Obama seems as if he has outflanked the republicans by providing a Hispanic, female nominee. The republicans who were poised to create hell irrespective of who Obama nominated are caught between a rock and a very hard place.
It would be difficult to root against a female, what with their supposed newly championing of woman power (Sarah Palin), but worse still they would face one heck of a backlash from the Hispanic community which has been slowly drifting away from the republicans.
Still, they are trying by using the so-called religious community to front for them. Should be fun.
***
But talking of Gauntanamo. Many people have missed the political theatre over closing the prison camps. Democrats who had once supported Obama on the issue, suddenly backpedaled and started being more repugnant than the repuglicans.
It’s the kind of theatre that makes for good tv, but it’s the kind of crap that Americans are becoming fed-up with. Americans just want the country’s business be done without the drama, the games, the hysterics.
I guarantee that the democrats played this one in a way that will make Obama look good in the end but it belittles them to even be involved.
The worse of it is to hear those who defied Obama talking about the dangers presented by housing ‘terrorists’ in American high security camps. Firstly, many so-called ‘terrorists’ are already being held in American prisons but it goes against the undisputed fact that the United States with about 5% of the world’s population, has more than 24% of the world’s total prisoners.
I guess to those behind bars, democracy sucks.
***
On May 8, I commented on a column written by Michael Burke in the Jamaica Observer. Apparently a reader linked the column to Burke. Below is the ensuing communication between the reader and Burke. The reader was good enough to pass this on to me. I’m afraid it’s rather lengthy, but telling as to the kind of people who continue to peddle influence in Jamaica.
I urge you to note particularly, Burke’s arrogance and his comment about Bolt’s intelligence. Also that having read my blog, he chose instead to take on the reader.
Should you have the time, I urge you to read Burke’s original column http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090422T200000-0500_149952_OBS_HONESTY_YES__STUPIDITY_NO.asp. and tell me whether you think Bolt bested him or not, and the quality of Burke’s counseling.
Reader DM: I noted this blog… http://blogs.jamaicans.com/hearirant/2009/05/08/talking-about-faith/#comments… which was the first to alert me to your column. I agree with this blogger. I don’t think you put up a very good argument with Bolt and think that you used the column after as revenge. I note that several times you have an issue with Bolt but for what I don’t know. You don’t seem to be counselling him, but chastising him.
I’m also a little disturbed by your convenient attitude to lying and can quite understand instances where a lie might be easier than the truth. But it is still a lie, and I don’t remember any biblical injunction making a separation between lies.
And I myself would ask the same question, On what other commandment do you choose as a matter of convenience?”
Bolt was not wrong to answer the question saying that he once smoked
ganja. Sooner or later if he had lied, it would have caught up with him, and then he would have been both a ganja smoker and a liar. How would you have counseled him then?

Michael Burke: You need a course in logic. I neither know how you could have deduced “revenge” or “convenient attitude to lying” form either article “honesty yes, stupidity no” (April 23 2009) or “The truth and its protection (May 7, 2009). It is either that you need such a course or your email is malicious.
Revenge? I am a Jamaican with a background in social work who has Usain’s interest at heart whether he knows it or not. I am also aware of our tourist industry which is made up in part of tourists looking for ganja and other tourist who want a drug-fee vacation in Jamaica and will cancel a trip at the slightest hint that “everyone smokes ganja” which Usain says he did not say at all and i believe him because i know how the media can exaggerate things.
As to “convenient attitude to lying”, I know that I ma far more honest than most who criticise me and perhaps more honest than you.
Incidentally most of my feed back, perhaps 95 percent, on my article son Bolt have been positive. But the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and I am Roman catholic, addresses concrete situations. Please google Catechism of the Catholic
Church paragraphs 2479-2492 to understand where I am coming form even if you disagree.
Lies come from Satan but a discreet answer in certain situations is not a lie. That is the Roman Catholic position, but Bolt “aint no Catholic” despite the fact that he makes the sign of the cross on the field. I have to communicate to him on his terms. I was trying in a few words, and Bolt is not too bright, to give him a crash course on using his discretion as I would only be with him a few minutes and he
was being defensive. he w1as taking away food so he was simply waiting on his food parcel to be handed to him. I had to do my best in the circumstances.
Jesus Christ did tell his disciples that they were to be as cunning as serpents though harmless as doves. And Jesus Christ did say “woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees who abide by the letter of the law and not the spirit of the
law. And he did call the Pharisees hypocrites when they criticized him for healing n the sabbath “Which of you having your donkey fall into the well on the sabbath day will not get him out? I do not know how to google references while writing an email but you can google the bible references yourself.
And for the record, I hate dishonesty. But I insist that the media had no right to know that Usain smoked ganja as a child especially when all the current tests say that he is clean. I do not have the right to know that either, but it was “In my face”. And if you write again, you should tell me what you would expect me to tell a gunman if you were in my house hiding from him and if i should tell him the “truth”. Some people can be such self righteous hypocrites!
Michael Burke

DM: Whoa there cowboy! I guess I should have asked you not to shoot the messenger… which is exactly what you have gone ahead and done. Bredrin, I was only pointing out what someone had blogged even though I did editorialise a bit. But if you went to the site, you could easily have addressed the blogger himself.
But since you did shoot the messenger. I might need a course in logic but certainly not from you. You have shown that you are in no way, shape or form, qualified to give a course in logic, ethics, or moral values.

I didn’t ‘deduce’ revenge. I was only offering what I thought indicated by ‘I think…”. To deduce means that I came to a conclusion and I didn’t. If I did ‘deduce’, I would have clearly stated that you wrote the column as an act of revenge. I didn’t.
The reason I put forward ‘revenge’ is because it was quite clear that Bolt bested you intellectually (ouch… that must have left a scar) and you in retort went to your column.
But hey! You might very well have thought that you got the better of the exchange. That’s only your ego speaking. You didn’t.

I don’t know what your background in social work has to do with anything, and while you might think that you have Bolt’s interest at heart, your offering is so terribly bad.

I didn’t mention anything about tourism, the blogger did. Address that with him. But since you know that Usain didn’t say that, why do a column in the first place? Since the internet gives ‘tourists’ access to your column, you are abetting the dissemination of misinformation.

As to ‘far more honest..’, what a holier than thou attitude to take. You don’t know me and you can’t know how honest I am (illogical comment, perhaps). You however, have publicly put your honesty up for the test. You know nothing about me, but I know you have varying degrees of honesty.

Whether or not ‘95%’ of your feedback agrees with you or not, is irrelevant. This is not about a popularity contest. Fools often congregate. 55% of the American people voted for Bush twice. Does that mean they are smart?

What is a lie? … to say something that is not true, to give a false impression. Should Bolt have stated the truth or should he have passed on the question? And if he did the latter, wouldn’t the omission be glaring and wouldn’t the questioner come back to it?

Aaah. Here is the crux of the matter. By your words, “Bolt is not too bright…”. That says a lot about arrogance and self-importance. But it must hurt that he still bested you intellectually.

Biblical references… the refuge of the ignorant and pompous. I take it this is your justification for lying. I know many preachers who do the same, while carrying out the same sins that they exhort their parishioners not to. Hmmm. I think we have a winner here.

To me a lie whether in necessity or not is still a lie. One might have a good reason to lie, but it is still a lie. If you hooked up to lie detector, it would still record as a lie.

You hate dishonesty. Is there some self-hatred, some conflict going on inside of you? Are you say, schizophrenic, or bi-polar by chance. Which reminds me of Ferdie Mahfood of Food for the Poor. You remember him, don’t you? Another fervent catholic? Here is a link to refresh your memory … http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_44_36/ai_66888038/ Wasn’t he also against dishonesty?

As to your question… I perhaps would hope that you would lie. But that doesn’t change the fact that it would still be a lie. So let me ask you this question this we are into this type of game. If you had a choice in the same situation, wherein your ‘soul’ would be immediately condemned to eternal damnation should you lie, what would be your final answer when the gunman said, “Yes or no. Is he (me) hiding in your house?”. Would you tell him “Yes” or “No”?

Or if he said, “If you lie and I find him, both of you will die. If you tell me where he is, I will spare your life”. What would be your answer ‘Mr Extremes to prove a point?

Self-righteous and a hypocrite… guess you were looking in a mirror as you wrote that.

By the way… ‘Spelchek’, it’s a feature on your computer… familiarize yourself with it. If your English teacher read your reply, he/she would be appalled.

MB: Whether you wanted to believe it or not, I am in a position to give you a course in logic, although you might not be humble enough to admit it. However I did not say I was offering the course but now that you mention it, perhaps I should. Usain did not best me in logic, but perhaps he bested you.

God alone is my judge. I still say that I am far more honest than many of those who criticise me. And if my offering to Bolt is terribly bad, who don’t you best it by helping him? Why write the column if he did not say that every Jamaican smokes ganja, you ask. I did write that Usain needs counseling a point you seem to be skirting.

And who is being conceited if you think that you are more intelligent than the rest? True, fools often congregate. I do not know about you and you know little about me. You say I have varying degrees of honesty because i told Usain that not every lie is a sin. This reminds me of the Pharisees who complained about Jesus healing on the sabbath’ You hypocrites he said which one of you having your donkey drop in a well on the sabbath will not pick him out? My question was similar to Bolt re the hypothetical man being hidden.

A lot of what you say about me might best describe yourself.
Michael Burke

Hand-jobs and more

Recent posturing by Israeli pm Netanyahu might appear to be an aggressive response to Barack Obama’s wish for peace in the mid-east. According to news reports, Netanyahu is signaling that he may resist Obama’s call for Palestinian statehood, and that he may authorize military strikes against Iran if the United States doesn’t act first.
In addition, there is an announcement of a go-ahead on new settlement construction in the West Bank, despite the US administration lack of support.
Hmmm. Netanyahu is regarded as a hardline rightwing neo-con and one least likely to accept peace initiatives with the Palestinians. Surely this ‘news’ will send discomfort amongst middle east watchers. But what we need to understand is that real action rarely takes place in the public arena. Both administrations most likely have already worked out a plan and the recent ‘news’ is simply for public consumption. The question is ‘which public’?
Could it be Iran, the US, or the Israeli’s? Or another.
Iran certainly won’t fear such posturing. They have already measured the dimensions of the other players and what they can do and won’t do. An Israeli or American strike against Iran is not likely. That would too much ignite a new level of turmoil in the region and in the US itself.
Is it a signal to the Palestinians? Possibly. America is short of credibility and Obama’s acting in feigned support of the Palestinian cause would do wonders for him. Is it for the American public? Possibly. Again it would work to Obama’s advantage because anti-Israel support is growing. More and more Americans are justifiably pissed at the tail wagging the dog.
There is a lot of play-acting here. The real truths are buried way beneath the surface of superficial news releases. Hmmm. I wonder what is going on?
***
I have been criticized when I have written that as far as foreign policy is concerned, Barack Obama is as George Bush and George Bush himself… very little separates them.
Obama’s turnaround on military tribunals and on releasing to the public more Abu Ghraib photos are just more examples him endorsing Bush policies. How then can he be expected to support any venture to indict the Bush regime for war crimes?
When apartheid fell, the Nelson Mandela-led government instituted a ‘truth and reconciliation’ commission. Though it had its shortcomings, the commission was more about accountability and closure than about retaliation. Some perpetuators of human right abuses under this most uncivil period, were even granted amnesty.
At the end of the day, the commission released the steam of hatred and bigotry and moved ahead in nation building.
Obama like those before him, are more content to try to hide the crimes of his predecessors, as if everyone doesn’t already know. To talk about releasing the photos will ‘endanger’ the troops is pure crap. No one is going to say, “I’m going to join al qaeda because of American-led prisoner abuse photos”. Too many photos are already out there, the crimes and lack of punishment are already out there, other abuses are already out there.
Obama is protecting the fragile American psyche, which would like to have a war without deaths, kill people without any sign of bloodshed. People who want success without having their hands or consciences sullied. Do it in our name but don’t let us know about it.
And oh yes, he is protecting his new mentors, George Bush and Dick Cheney. Releasing those photos would reignite debates on war crime trials. And Obama doesn’t want that.
***
Have you ever been on a plane which hit an airpocket and dropped like what seemed seems to be a hundred miles? Your head stays up there but your stomach is nowhere to be seen. That’s how I felt when I learned that many co-pilots of passenger airplanes earn as little as $16,000. year.
I don’t want to dwell on the relative worth of salaries but I would feel better if my pilot was paid better than the dude who cut lumber at Home Depot. After all, how likely am I likely to die of an operator error at Home Depot?
The issues of low salaries and long hours were brought to the fore during the enquiry regarding the Continental plane crash in Buffalo earlier this year, killing 49 people (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/nyregion/17pilot.html?em). At this moment, pilot error has been determined to be the reason for the Buffalo crash.
Though the flight was a Continental commute, the flight was apparently subcontracted to a Coglan Air (anyone familiar with that name? No? Me neither). It appears that it’s not unusual for larger airlines to subcontract regional flights to small companies where standards are not as high.
Some years ago, I took an Air Jamaica plane that was to have stopped over in Barbados then on to St Lucia. Instead we were transferred to a small commuter late at night. Believe me when I tell you I thought that I was gonna die that night.
***
And while in the Windies, I believe the West Indies Cricket Board continues on an abysmal path for WI cricket. After recently beating England in the West Indies for the Wisden Trophy, the Indies immediately went to England to lose the trophy a few weeks later.
The loss is not the issue. In the England series, the WI was filling in for the Zimbabweans who were banned last year from playing cricket in England. The problem is that the Board never foresaw that they could have won the local series (which they did) and as such put the trophy up for grabs even before a little dust could gather on it in our trophy case.
As it turned out, the team was ill-prepared for England and are being trounced as I write.
***
Jamaica has been in preliminary talks with the IMF. Hmm. What to make of that? Well sometime ago, in this forum, I wrote that the IMF, World Bank and other international lending agencies have finally come to realize the raw deal that they gave countries like Jamaica over the years, including deregulation, liberalisation and globalisation strategies of the 80’s and onward.
So according to a Jamaican finance spokesmen, these agencies would not likely take the same hardline, nonsensical approach. Of which I agree. However here is the thing… and thing. These agencies should be re-imbursing us instead of giving new loans. And secondly, the IMF still works on behalf of the larger countries and even if they ‘ease up’, the loan conditions are never gonna favour us.
To paraphrase Malcolm X, it would be like stabbing us in the back and then taking the knife half-way out.
***
The other day I bucked up this video on Facebook and Youtube. Watch it to the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phe3_EfYRJU The only question is why didn’t we do it. As much as I love the original setting, I am a little tired of the same ol’ renditions of Jamaica Folk songs and think that many should be brought into this century. After all, the youth will more likely accept our folk songs if it is more relevant to them.
By the way, ‘it mek mi proud yuh si, fi kno seh Miss Lou sang-dem so widely ‘preciated abroad’.
***
And from high culture to the vulture. When in Jamaica a few weeks back, I bucked up on a set of 21 ads in one of the larger newspapers, promoting ‘adult services’, some even offereing specials. Names like X-quisit, Classique, Tempted, Hot and Sexy massage services, Candy Cane more or less promised massages and escort services, but surely meant more.
The hot luscious looking ‘semi-nude ‘babes’ suggested even more than massages. I doubt if most of these ‘ladies’ ever went to massage schools.
The point is that Jamaica is heading in a direction that I cannot like. As the economy plunges downward, our women and eventually our young men, will be exploited in the sex trade.
One ad offered a Hot and Spicey mature woman who does ‘private service and massage’… both for the grand price of J$1,500.00.
***
Next time I will look at how minorities were targeted for sub-prime loans.

Talking about faith

I really don’t want to s spend too much time on Jamaica’s budget but I note that in prime minister Golding’s presentation, he is supposed to be putting emphasis on the youth, initiating a programme called Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP), aimed at helping high school leavers get employed. More like setting them up for business, and a fall.
Basically the programme is to provide small business loans for youths. I sense only a small minority will be able to take up this micro-credit. I’m not aware of any extensive educational process that will allow the HIGH school leaving youth to jump straight into managing a business. Without such a process, most businesses are bound to fail. Budgeted… $250m.
I prefer that the money and energy be put into a revived National Youth Service. Sure it has been tried and failed, but the failure is based on the limited thinking of the implementers.
Under the PNP in the ‘70s, the programme was highly politicized but its eventual failure came from the fact that the emphasis was on soft-hand jobs (no pun intended), like clerical duties. There was also a bit of class warfare going on with uptown parents adamant that their ‘sweet little things’ should not be put to work below Half Way Tree.
But the NYS did help many youth, who eventually ended up making a career where they were placed. Barry Gordon of radio was one, and I was another. My first dip into communications media was via the youth service… so you have that to blame.
The NYS was a brief respite between leaving school and being forced to swim with the sharks in the job market. Even in those days, many of us were aimless and confused… so it prepared us for the future… a waystation so to speak.
The NYS also provided a little subsistence, taking some of the burden from parents, and also allowing the youth to understand concepts of self-sufficiency.
The problem I had with that period and all subsequent similar programmes, is that there was little or no emphasis on nation building. That is, it was useful and nice for the youth to help clear up the clerical backlog in government offices, but that only shaped many of us into pencil pushers.
Yet the needs of the country then and now, remains the much maligned (in our society as in the US) physical labour. We then as now, should be building houses for the indigent, cleaning up territory after hurricanes and fires, gully cleaning, beach cleaning, painting of house and buildings, demolishing burnt-out and abandoned buildings, army training, mechanics, river training. Hard physical labour in the hot sun, something that builds character, make us appreciate hard work.
Now all our youth wants is something soft, where they won’t sweat or get their nikes dirty, and where they can talk on their cellphones forever. We have lost the appreciation for community and country, turning instead into selfish, self-centred little brats. Our youth have no centre, no purpose, no focus.
The Golding YEP won’t help the central problems of inactivity, unemployment and idleness. The youth don’t want to work, you say. That’s because of how we are bringing them up, with a mixed up set of priorities.
“I have faith in the young people of this country. I believe that if we invest that faith in them, they will pay big dividends; they will not let us down”, the prime minister said.
If you really had faith, sir, you would not be feeding them illusions.
***
Jamaicans frequently describe their fellow citizens as those with a ‘crab inna barrel’ mentality. In other words, our tendency to pull down those who are progressing. A prime example of this is Jamaica Observer’s columnist Michael Burke’s attack on Usain Bolt in his column on April 23 http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090422T200000-0500_149952_OBS_HONESTY_YES__STUPIDITY_NO.asp.
The column’s headline is Burke’s response to Bolt having admitted in an interview abroad that as a youth, he had smoked ganja. That’s the honesty part. This honesty according to Burke, was stupid.
Let me first put in context that Usain Bolt has done far more for Jamaica than Michael Burke has ever done or likely to do, given most measurements. And while I respect Burke’s opinion, it points out that he is both arrogant and dishonest.
Burke relates a chat he had with Bolt after the interview, when he introduced himself to Bolt and where Bolt was gracious enough to listen and reply to a man who not only instructed him to lie, but who would shortly publicly question his intelligence.
Burke starts out his inquisition of Bolt by asking him if he listens to anyone apart from his coach. When asked why, Burke said he had assessed Bolt from tv as someone who doesn’t listen. Bolt’s brilliant answer was how can anyone make that assessment based on watching tv?
Burke’s weak retort was that he was ‘in the church’ and had the holy spirit’s gift of discernment. Riiiiiight. Clearly round one goes to Bolt.
This was followed by Burke asking if Bolt was ever counseled how to deal with the media. Bolt told Burke that he has merely spoke the truth and asked if Burke (a man of the church by his own admittance) expected him to lie.
“MB: It is not every lie that is a sin.
Usain: (Laughing) It’s the first I am hearing that.
MB: Jesus Christ did not ask us to be stupid.
Usain: So are you saying I am stupid then?”
At this pace, Burke is certainly getting an intellectual beatdown. Round two to Bolt.
Burke tried to explain the importance of tourism to Bolt, with Bolt countering that he had had done loads of work for the JTB. Round 3, Bolt.
Just those excerpts, written by Burke, tells me that Bolt is not an idiot. But losing the debate caused Burke to take his revenge in the newspaper, his bully pulpit, where he quotes the catholic church that lying is not always sinful.
Burke then decides to make this atrocious statement, “Usain Bolt is obviously influenced by the strong Protestant tradition in Jamaica that inflexibly declares sin to be sin, regardless of the circumstances… With a mindset like that, Usain Bolt is like a loose cannon in international diplomacy which means that he could misspeak again.”.
Now, I have no problem when there is internecine warfare in the church. I wish they would go at it more and eventually exterminate themselves. But as is usual, the religious right have no problem with collateral damage, in this case Usain Bolt.
Now I have many obvious problems with Burke’s reasoning throughout, mainly his convenient approach to the breaking of one of the commandments, “Thou shalt not bear false witness”. Which other commandment does he also choose to be flexible with? When for example, is adultery not adultery? What about theft, murder, idolatry? What are those grey areas?
Burke is someone I call ‘a menu christian’… someone who picks and chooses according to current taste. Apparently he believes that he can interpret laws according to his convenience.
What message is Burke sending to children and young adults? What are his boundaries for lying and other ‘near’ sins? Who decides on flexible sins? Since when is truth bad? Does Bolt ore anyone have a moral obligation not to be truthful?
Prime minister Golding said on BBC that he won’t have any battyman in his Cabinet. Did Burke write a column titled “Honesty yes, Stupidity No”? After all, that comment did trigger an attempted gay boycott of Jamaica’s tourism product. Did Burke chastise the pm for his protestant inflexibility?
Burke doesn’t realize that the association of Jamaica with ganja is very well known and isn’t going to go away. This reputation hasn’t really damaged Jamaica, particularly when the main source of our tourist dollars love the local weed.
There is a great difference between what Bolt said, and the guy on the street harassing every ‘touris’ to buy some weed.
Burke seems to forget that the current president of the United States admitted not only to weed, but to cocaine. A former president admitted to some weed use, though he didn’t ‘inhale’, and a third admitted to ‘lusting in his heart’. All before they were elected. And the country survived, only to be made worse by the religious bigoted and the ex-drunk christian.
I have never met anyone who says they won’t come to Jamaica because of ganja.
Jamaica’s tourism will survive Bolt’s admission, it might even start a new regime for early childhood athletes. Ok, that’s just a bit of levity.
But there is nothing joking about Burke’s condescending and hypocritical attack on Usain Bolt. Jamaica’s problems doesn’t lie with the likes of Usain Bolt, but with the Michael Burkes.
I doubt if Bolt expects an apology… Burke couldn’t catch up to him, mentally or morally.
***
Barack Obama is scheduled to address Notre Dame commencement class on May 17, but his invitation to this so-called prestigious catholic school is causing a flap, based supposedly on Obama’s pro-choice stance on abortion.
Reading many of the blogs, postings and newspaper articles, I wasn’t in the least bit amazed at the level of bigotry outputted on behalf of the catholic nation. Many speakers say that Obama’s position is incompatible with catholicism, which might be true. But how does their position mesh with the pope’s congratulation when Obama was elected president?
I mean, as head of the catholic church, the pope’s example should be followed. Isn’t he the elect of god? Or is the pope… aaah, flexible, Mr Burke?
What hypocrisy by some of those from the school. I’m sure if the star quarterback knocked-up some cheerleader and they decided on an abortion, it would be hush-hush as long as the tv revenues are rolling in. I wonder, do they quiz the footballers for catholic eligibility? Or is this the kind of flexibility that Michael Burke says the catholic faith teaches.
Regarding Obama’s right to speak, there doesn’t seem to be much flexibility at all.
By the way, where in the hell is Notre Dame?

Paradise Losing

In the 1970’s, Ernie Smith did a song called ‘Jah Kingdom goes to waste’. Visiting Jamaica recently, I can’t help but recall the hauntingly familiar song.
I was there during the beginning of the budget presentation and wondered what bizarre world some people were living in. As I form this blog, protests had taken place over the gas cess. But let me take a step back.
I arrived in Jamaica the weekend before finance minister Audley Shaw did his presentation, on the weekend of ‘carnival/bacchanal’, and as usual whenever I go to my island home, I try to assess the pulse of the nation. I was only there for 10 days and didn’t go many places. So admittedly, this isn’t scientific and is just my personal observations, honed by years of experience as a social eyewitness of my country.
The first thing I felt, perhaps even before landing, is that there were now stricter racial and class lines of demarcation at play in the society. I felt there was a widening gap between rich and poor, and that ‘white was again, the new black’. Read into that what you wish.
The one thing that struck me almost immediately was that many Jamaicans, the black ones mainly, were far less complaining… as if they were resigned to their fate, deciding every day that whatever happened, they would make the most of their situation. This bothers me because I felt that there is a volcanic frustration welling up.
Interestingly, the complainers were often those who were ‘privileged’ by benefit of class and race. They were the ones it appeared, eager to flee the island, venting against the backwardness of this ‘third world country’ (a designation I absolutely abhor).
It appeared to me, that every time Jamaica dropped a notch, they took the rise in price of every little bauble as a personal affront, while the poor were being forced that much closer to extermination.
I noticed the tremendous rise in electronic gates and house alarms. The fear of crime I suppose, has to enrich someone.
I also noticed that every man is a hustler, a vendor, a dvd or cd seller (pirated music and movies), a guide (Ocho Rios), a taxi-man, a bus/taxi- loader, higgler of cheap foreign goods, crown and anchor man. I figured that it was the underground economy that was keeping the country afloat while at the top end, Digicel and Cable and Wireless (now Lime) are the current reigning corporate giants. Well, let’s not leave out NCB and Scotia, but it was the first 2 whose presence are felt everywhere. It’s not unusual to hear a cell phone conversation punctuated with the reference to ‘minutes running out’… life hanging by the thin threads of telephone credits.
It is woeful that the top corporations in Jamaica are not producers of tangible goods, but services, most are not net foreign exchange earners but net consumers. We have become a nation of shopkeepers to quote Margaret Thatcher.
The deterioration of the roads have really exploded since I was last there. Fern Fully and road into Ocho Rios from Kingston, should be a call for criminal negligence.
Downtown Kingston has gotten shabbier. The burnt-out buildings that I last saw in 2001 are still standing, seeming everlasting monuments to Kingston’s inability to throw off its mental poverty. Gutters in side streets were still reservoirs for garbage, creating a dark, stagnant, primordial soup suited to creating new but frightening life forms.
The old post office downtown was home to masses of indigent… apparently the replacement for Bellevue. Fresh paint was a scarce commodity with shopkeepers knowing that how the place looked didn’t affect people coming inside or not. You went there because you had to.
Cross Roads was much the same and Half Way Tree and New Kingston have taken on the decaying tone of downtown. What was in decay then remained so now or deteriorated even further. Buildings were shuttered, padlocked, abandoned with little hope of seeing better times. What development I saw was not an improvement. It was like development with destruction.
All three areas have lost their character, looking now as if town planning was never a concept. Jamaicans would say’ chaka, chaka’. It is felt worse in New Kingston, which had a pristine and modern look to being the financial center. Now it just looked like a design nightmare. Vendors and all the previously mentioned occupations were in full flow.
But in this bleak and gloomy overview, the sense of the people’s will to accept their plight and survive was both sad and affirming. Sad, because the fight has apparently been drained out of a once proud people and I couldn’t help but wonder how much more insane leadership they can take. Affirming, because it illustrates their underlying strength and resourcefulness… something the civic leaders all praise but fail to take into consideration in their economic planning.
The core of the Golding-led budget was the imposition of a J$8.75 cess per litre on petrol. It was frightening to hear a tv economist describe the budget as ‘great’, and others as the most ‘equitable’ way of sharing the burden.
But the budget is far from equitable. The rich will only make minimal changes to their standard of living mainly because they will pass on the burden to their workers and customers. The poorer class will always bare the larger burden because they have limited flexibility.
The cess on petrol is going to drive everything skywards as transportation of goods and service will be affected. Thus food stuff, like every other goods whether imported or not will rise, and it is the underclass that will be further marginalized. When fuel goes up as it most certainly will, then the ‘sufferation’ of the Jamaican people will increase exponentially.
Worse still, the government has seen fit to add GCT to items previously spared, including salt, noodle soup, syrup, most books and computers. The first 3 items are used extensively by the poor, and it is incomprehensible that it is going to cost Jamaicans more to read and learn, which is exactly what will happen by increasing the cost of books and computers.
Though the government has taken some of the burden from PAYE taxpayers, those gains will be more than completely eroded. And while there is a minimum wage increase, this won’t affect the thousands of people in the underground economy who really have no jobs to speak of, but little ‘hustlings’.
Those who could enjoy the benefit of a minimum wage increase might have to trade-in that for the ability to keep a job.
In speaking with many people, I got the impression that the upper echelons of the Jamaican society were greatly in favor of Bruce Golding, while dissatisfaction with him and his administration’s performance resonated loudly amongst black people.
The budget so far seems to underscore which side Golding is set to satisfy.
The budget in my mind, failed to address many issues including how the certain rise in unemployment will be addressed.
The problem is that the continued devaluation of the Jdollar will not make things any better as the so-called theory that it will ‘make our goods cheaper’ has long been disproved as an economic myth. The dollar devalued some 20% last year, mostly between December and March.
With some 60% of the island’s revenue going back into paying debts, it’s hard to see how this budget will set Jamaica on a path to economic recovery. It is fair to say that this administration, like all previous administrations, is trying the same old failed policies, offering the same weakened medication while the sick patient is getting sicker.
***
Usain Bolt became the topic of conversation recently for more than one reason. One was the car crash, where thankfully, it doesn’t appear that he was too badly hurt. But previous to that, it appears that his admission in an overseas to having smoked ganja as a youth, set off some furor and had some people questioning his intelligence.
For my next blog, I will address the that issue, by examining a noted columnist who criticized Bolt.

If you stick a knife 9 inches into my back..

Am I going through writer’s angst or is there nothing really interesting to blog about? It’s so bad that I’m taken to book reviews, even though they are really informative books.

In high school the only things I was good at were English and history. I love reading history. History is the path leading us to tomorrow. Right now, I’m still going through Jimmy Carter’s “Palestine: Peace not Apartheid”, but I’m also reading Bob Woodward’s “Bush at war”.

I had previously read Woodward’s “State of Denial” and found that it gave fascinating insights into the extremely flawed (mild description) personnel of the Bush regime. “Bush at war” preceded in the same vein… having been written first.

Though I wish I had read it earlier, it still holds some lessons for us today, particularly in respect to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But what held my attention most was the disturbing arrogance of those who led the United States. The following choice quotes will illustrate my point.

*Immediately after 9/11, George Bush met with congressional leaders where he used a whole lot of ‘they’ to define the enemy, including “They hate Christianity and they hate Judaism”. To me this indicates that the enemy is not radical Islam, but Islam itself.
*At one point, the head of the Pakistan Intelligence Service, General Mahmoud Ahmad was visiting the CIA and was trying to contextualise the Taliban’s leader Mohammad Omar… claiming that Omar was a religious man and one given to humanitarian instincts, not a man of violence. He was rudely interrupted by a low ranked CIA officer with, “Stop! Spare me. Does Mullah Omar want the United States military to unleash its force against the Taliban?… Will you go ask him”.
Two things. The visiting head of an important governmental position in Pakistan was treated like a messenger. The functionary wasn’t interested in the point of view of a ‘non-American’ expert.
*At the state department, Mahmoud again tried to put the taliban in historical context but this time he was interrupted by Richard Armitage, Colin Powell’s deputy. Armitage warned, “The future begins today”. This indicates the fundamentals of US’s weakness… arrogance and a severe lack of appreciation for history. This will continue to haunt them.
*The CIA had the belief that their technical superiority would give them a significant edge. It did only up to a point.
*The head of the CIA’s counterterrorism department Cofer Black, in briefing Bush, said this, “…we’ll set this thing up so it’s an unfair fight for the US military”. He also continued, “When we are through with them, they will have flies walking on their eyeballs”.

What’s my point? I’m getting to it. Be patient.

*The same dude was warned by a Russian counterpart, “With regret, I have to say that you’re really going to get the hell kicked out of you”. Black’s retort, “We’re going to kill them. We’re going to put their heads on sticks. We’re going to rock their world”.

Seven plus years later, Mullah Omar is alive and free, Osama bin Laden remains not captured, the taliban has control of most of the country, making audacious raids in the US controlled capital Kabul, Barack Obama is sending additional troops to Afghanistan and is trying to find some way out of a second and now admittedly, unwinnable war.

Sidebar: While many US and coalition soldiers have died in Afghanistan, Cofer Black resigned from the CIA shortly after Bush began his 2nd term and has since been a vice-chairman of Blackwater USA. Yes, the now infamous private security firm that became the state department’s biggest contractor (two-thirds of their government contracts under Bush were no-bid contracts). Blackwater’s heavily armed personnel were very visible in New Orleans after Katrina and scared quite a few legitimate police officers.

Blackwater has been accused by the Iraqi’s of murdering citizens and was expelled from the country in 2009. They have changed their name to Xe.

Oh yes, they run a gift shop. Creepy.

To be honest, much of the planning for the invasion of Afghanistan had solid ideas. Humanitarian aid, propaganda leaflets telling the population that this was not a fight against Islam but the ‘invaders’ (al qaeda), roping in a coalition even with a prevalent go-it-alone mentality in the upper echelons of the Bush regime, low collateral-damage targets.

But two things undermined the intellectual part of the planning. The first was ego particularly Donald Rumsfeld’s, and the second was well, the American persona. Put it this way. An overweight man decides to go on a diet (good idea) but the moment he passes a McDonald, then shit happens.

Once the war started, everybody reverted to typecast. Screwing up is in their nature.
More on this book as we go.
***
As anyone failed to notice the rash of multiple killings recently? Man kills four police officers, man kills three police officers, man kills wife and children, man kills, man kills. I think that there are about 8 of them nationally.
Other than the fact that they are all male killers, there are some similarities in that most were going through very depressive circumstances. Loss of jobs, home foreclosure, divorce, economic difficulties. Wow. Makes me wonder how fast this society is degenerating into anarchy.
Four of the 8 incidents since March 1, had an unemployment factor, either loss of job, unable to find employment, or fearing loss of job. Three had marital troubles.
Moral. If your husband loses his job, now is not the time to bring up divorce.
Oh yes, one other similarity. THEY ALL USED GUNS!!!
***
Many, led by a small surge of positive numbers, have all but declared the recession done.
But I’m not sure that things are really looking up. What I’m sure of, that those hardest hit at the bottom will take years to recover. One friend just lost her job and is now coming the point where she is in deep mortgage do-do.

Cases like hers are in abundance. The banks and credit card companies are tightening loans and other credit facilities to save themselves but also to be in a position to launch massive cannibalizing of weaker entities. It will be some time before they turn their attention to us. And even when they do, they might very well be with Shylock-like ruthlessness.
***
A big deal is being made Obama reducing restrictions that Bush and others before him had put in place on Cuba. This I think was because Obama is scheduled to be in Trinidad soon to meet with latin American leaders… most of whom are asking for normalized relations between the two.

I think that Obama is just basically posturing. And obviously Fidel Castro agrees, stating that without lifting the embargo, nothing really tangible would have been done.

There are those who argue that the ball is in the Castro government’s half and it is for them to make matching moves. That will be rejected and I agree.

The embargo has been going on for nearly half a century now and it has not achieved what it intended to do. It has caused onerous difficulties on the people of the island. They can’t argue about dictatorship when they have coddled and are still coddling many of the most repressive dictatorships. They can’t argue human rights when Hillary says it’s not an issue with China, or for that matter Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

This reminds of a quote from Malcolm X, “If you stick a knife nine inches into my back and pull it out three inches, that is not progress. Even if you pull it all the way out, that is not progress. Progress is healing the wound, and America hasn’t even begun to pull out the knife.”

Hypocritical indignation

A friend pointed me to a renewed campaign to ‘boycott Jamaica’, because the country ‘is the most homophobic on earth’. Here we go again.

When I read the links and the websites promoting boycotts, the continuous thread was one of arrogant stupidity and ignorance. One would think that there were mass killings of ‘gays’ in Jamaica and that most Jamaicans thirst for gay blood. These people would like to think that they are way up the list of Jamaican priorities. Truthfully, most Jamaicans wouldn’t put the ‘homosexual problem’ in their top 30 list of issues.

It is so sad that those who don’t want to be judged by stereotyping, are themselves quick to apply sweepingly broad brushes to others. So for the arrogant, ignorant, hypocritical screaming harpies, here is some information.

Jamaica is a country of over 2.5 million people. Like all large groups of people, opinions and actions differ. We are not a cult. There is less than 0.5% of the nation that can be accurately described as homophobic. Less than 1% of Jamaica’s murders or physical assault has any relationship to homophobia. Jamaicans don’t get up in the morning with the specific intent to do damage to homosexuals.

Granted, amongst a good percentage, there is not a high tolerance for homosexual acts. Note the difference between homosexuals and homosexual acts. The smart amongst you will discern a difference. The wild-eyed ranting dummies can skip on. Many homosexuals live in relative peace and safety in Jamaica.

Is there violence against homosexuals in Jamaica? Of course. There is intolerance everywhere including in the United States. The important thing is to understand where the violence comes from. There is usually a trigger… like a rumor, sometimes substantiated, sometimes not, of a male child being molested by a man. That sparks a mass emotional response and the rage falls upon many who are suspected of being gay. Irrational? I can agree with that.

Unusual… even in the US? Of course not. In fact just a few years ago, and still in many parts of the US, blacks face death for chatting up a white woman. Guess you don’t believe that, huh? Shows you don’t know your own country.

Jamaicans attitude homosexuality is often rooted in the christian religion, which by the way if you morons forget, was forced upon them by Europeans… the forefathers of many of you. Thus they consider it a sin, just as the pope in Rome does. Is that a justification for violence? No. Was the supposed wmds in Iraq a justification for US invasion? What do you think?

There is a maxim “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. Why not apply that when you visit Jamaica? What right do you think you have of flaunting behaviours that you can in your country, in a country that find that behaviour unacceptable? It’s a question of respect. You want respect but you don’t want to respect us and our social mores.

Should some dude come from Amsterdam, and decide to toke up in Starbucks, would you think that he would be tolerated because it’s what he is accustomed to at home? Or would he find his ass in jail?

Put away your arrogance. You are no better or no worse than us. As equals we expect to be treated as such. So just as you would like us to respect you and your laws while in your land, all we ask is for the same consideration.

I find it unbelievably callous but not unusual, for some of you to think that it is ok to risk the lives of those gays in Jamaica by promoting a boycott. It is so easy to sit back in the cushy armchairs in New York while your ‘brethren’ are mauled to death in a fight you instigated, but in a battleground you won’t visit. Woohoo… you’re a real Dick Cheney type. Someone else’s blood shed for your perverse, cowardly satisfaction (said with all the contempt I can muster).

I don’t defend the persecution of gays or anyone in Jamaica or anywhere. I don’t support the sodomy laws there. But if you idiots think that you are going to promote change by boycotts, then you surely have your head up someone else’s arse.

Jamaica will change. Just because you have no patience for slow change, doesn’t mean you should attempt to force evolution. Let us be. Attack us and it will be like Iraq all over again (morons, that’s a metaphor).

You don’t know Jamaica. Most of you are driven by ignorance, misinformation and a misplaced rush to judge. You wish to punish several million people without knowing the minute percentage who are hateful and who commit crimes against homosexuals… just to get your rocks off.

Don’t come to our island… that’s your right and your decision. But it isn’t your right to force your misperceptions and outright lies on anyone else. And it isn’t your right to cause harm to others just because you are el stupido.
***
My focus on the Obama administration has been primarily foreign policy. The reason being is that it’s too early to tell what will happen with the economy and generally, I tend to agree with most of the moves.

But Obama’s foreign policy moves are right out there in the open and are defiantly contradictory to what he promised. More and more pundits are concluding that for the greater part, as far as foreign policy is concerned, we are seeing George Bush part deux.
***
Couple weeks ago, the western powers trumpeted their indictment of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir for genocidal crimes. Bashir so far has snubbed the UN Security and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Both the Arab League and the African Union have expressed support for Bashir.

As is usual in the west, the positions of the Arab League and the African Union is tantamount to them circling the wagons and protecting their own.

Truthfully, I am a little uncomfortable with Bashir but really have little solid and identifiably truthful evidence on which to judge him. But that is not really my point.

I don’t see the ICC and the UN calling for the indictment of George W Bush and his band of murderous rogues. Obama and the democrats have already stated that they will not entertain any US action against them. Thus Bush, who has fomented more deaths and crimes than any other leader in this young century, lives free and in wealth.

The world knows this. The African and Arab world recognize this hypocrisy. I stand with them. This does not mean that Bashir is innocent… it simply means that the west needs to dig the mote out of their eyes before turning their righteous indignation elsewhere.
***
Barack Obama is invited to speak at catholic university Notre Dame in May but his selection as guest speaker is being met with anger by catholics… mainly from alumni (about 70% of letters from alumni opposed Obama’s presence), while students largely support his visit.

The furor is based on Obama’s willingness to give federal funding to embryonic stem cell research and international family planning groups that support abortions.

One student quote said, “To not allow someone here because of their beliefs seems a little hypocritical and contradictory to what the mission of the university and church should be”. Amen to that.

Mixed messages

Barack Obama and the economy still hold full rein over the nation’s headlines. The most recent item of note being AIG continuing to use taxpayers money to fund their bonuses. I believe that I read somewhere that the government was looking at AIG from a criminal action perspective (I think I read it or it might be my rampant imagination again).

Perhaps the government should apply the thoughts of French playwright Honore de Balzac who said, “Behind every great fortune there is a crime”. I suspect that if the justice department were to investigate the guys getting the bonuses, they would find several shady financial dealings in their recent history. Just the threat of going to jail would make them a bit more socially responsible.
***
The question now in the minds of many of the administration is whether America can win the war in Afghanistan. We can’t. I won’t bother to rehash why that war is also morally and legally whacked-out, but I would like to address Dick Cheney’s and other republican assumptions that the surge in Iraq was successful and al qaeda was defeated there.

True, al qaeda’s presence in Iraq is largely diminished as is the violence against American soldiers. But that isn’t necessarily tantamount to defeating them. What if they strategically decided to leave after already succeeding in their goals? Can that be called an American success?

If there is any entity that can claim success in Iraq, outside of Cheney’s band of looters like Halliburton, then it must be al qaeda. A little bunch of ragheads created havoc within and outside of the battlefield. The American economy is in shambles, the military is tarnished on many fronts, but foremost is that the myth of American military invincibility has been exposed to ridicule.

But look what is happening now in Afghanistan. The casualty rate of American soldiers has risen, violence has increased, the Taliban is gaining more ground, there is infighting between the Americans and their stooge leadership of Hamid Karzai.

The obvious reason. Al qaeda merely moved the battlefield.
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Once a time the United States would look for someone to beat up. Jamaica, Cuba, Panama, Grenada, Somalia. Now someone is pushing them around. A few weeks ago, the Chinese navy harassed the daylights out of an American ship in or around Chinese waters.

The Americans said that their ship was unharmed but it turned out that it was trying to track Chinese submarines.

But the times, they are a-changing. Following that naval bitch-slapping, the Chinese premier sent a warning that it was concerned about America’s financial dealings and the methods of the bailout, saying essentially that they were worried that deficit spending could devalue the money that the Chinese have used to prop up the American treasury.

No wonder Hillary Clinton dropped the whole issue of human rights in China. Duppy know who fi frighten.
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If you want further evidence that America’s foreign policy isn’t going to take a significant shift, then here is proof. This also is proof that Obama is just another American where foreign policy is concerned and that he is currently ratifying most of George Bush’s FP initiatives.

Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, recently announced that he was installing Charles Freeman Jr in a top post. The problem, Israel and its backers would have none of it.

Freeman, is a longtime diplomat and critic of America’s foreign policy relationship with Israel. In 2005 he said this, “… as long as the United States continues unconditionally to provide the subsidies and political protection that make the Israeli occupation and the high-handed and self-defeating policies it engenders possible, there is little, if any, reason to hope that anything resembling the former peace process can be resurrected.”

Freeman also warned that what was good for Israel wasn’t necessarily good for the United States.

One of the most prominent Israel lobbyists was democrat NY senator, Charles Schumer.

Undoubtedly, America’s blind deference to, and actions on behalf of Israel is the reason for America’s fall in world leadership. Nations worldwide watch in wonder as America’s hypocrisy regarding Israel makes professional contortionists look like amateurs.

The maintenance of this policy will mean that Iran will continue to be harassed on so-called nuclear and terrorism non-issues, the Palestinians will continue to face apartheid and possible genocide, and any voice of reason in the region will be quelled.

At the same time, the American economy will continue to pay out huge sums to keep Israel afloat and militarised.

Readers should check Jimmy Carter’s ‘Palestine: Peace not Apartheid’ and see how they have been misled by their governments for years. As long as Israel continues to wag the dog, there will never be peace in the world.
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The two Koreas are marching to the brink again (groan).
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Republican leader(?) Michael Steele is proving a boon for the democrats. Steele, whom many consider to be a democrat in rats clothing, has been tweaking his party, virtually sending the right-wing nutjobs into an apoplectic fit.

Steele, in an interview currently on the racks, at one point declared that abortion should be an individual… much to the outrage of his party. He later again, flip-flopped. He added that homosexuality is not a choice.

He also said that he was willing to work in a bipartisan manner with Obama, something the bulk of the republican politicians have shown little inclination to do.

I read the interview and couldn’t make much of Steele. He is a little too pompous and flippant for my taste, but I’m very glad he’s the head(?) of the republican party.

68% of the republicans say they have no leader, while Steele and John McCain both lead the runnings with a measly 5%. Rush Limbaugh is at 2% and Sarah Palin at 1%. Democrats see Obama as the clear leader by 66%.

He and I seem to agree on Obama’s approach to American foreign policy, “ … in fact, as we see, the Obama administration is adopting a lot of Bush policies on the war and the approach for homeland security—including bringing on his secretary of defense. So when people talk about—you know, during the campaign—that John McCain would be a third Bush term? Welcome to the third Bush term, when it comes to national security and foreign affairs”.

Nuff said.
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Employment is still falling with several states registering highs above 10% (translate that as a reality of 20%+). The 4 states that “register” above 10% are California, Michigan, South Carolina and Rhode Island.

Florida gladly isn’t in the front pack as yet. But I another report, Florida was ranked 43rd in respect of how well states addressed the problem of homeless children. Go Floriduh!
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The democrats should look at the senate race in Minnesota where democrat Al Franken holds a slim recount lead of 225 votes over his republican adversary. Are the repubs giving in. Nope. They intend to drag it out as long as possible.

Contrast this if and when the tables are turned. “Quoting ‘national unity’, the democrats have decided not to contest the thieving republicans even though there is clear evidence of electoral fraud by the republicans”.

With the republicans, it is never ‘kumbayah’. When will the democrats learn.

Was I off my meds?

Wait a minute. While in a computer store looking over a Mac, I logged onto Yahoo and saw a story about UK prime minister Gordon Brown saying that the UK will recognize Hezbollah and a Lebanese Shi’ite movement, both of which were regarded by Britain as ‘terrorist’ organizations. This was a ‘Whoa’ moment for me because this would be big.

But on reaching home I couldn’t find the story anywhere, not on NY Times, Al Jazeerha, BBC or CNN, and I couldn’t find any reference to it on Yahoo, or Google. Now, its things like these that makes me question my sanity (I can hear some friends of mine cheering. They have been questioning my sanity for years).

Now, I’m not the sanest person in the world, but I’m not freaking crazy… yet. But it is challenging when it appears that I’m hallucinating about world events. I googled some more using different references and with each failure, I was closer to booking a date with a nutcracker.

Then bingo! There it was… Reuters, March 4, 2009, 9:02:pm. But not exactly. This was a watered down version of what I had seen, speaking only of holding talks with Hezbollah’s political wing.

The story I saw was far more comprehensive. So what happened to it? Was it some form of conspiracy? Was something released prematurely, retracted and then all trace of it wiped away? I have no idea, but lets explore my hallucination for a moment.

The story added that Gordon Brown wouldn’t recognize Hamas but was willing to speak to them through intermediaries. A move such as the story I’m sure I saw, meant that apparently, Brown had seen the futility of the western position as it relates to the mideast. It’s commonsense that the west will eventually have to come to the table. They were forced to do so in Vietnam… and well, the writing is on the wall. The legitimising of organisations once deemed terrorists would have far-reaching consequences for long-standing US foreign policy philosophies.

It would even have consequences for Israel which for years have western nations fronting for them. And it would greatly diminish America’s ongoing propaganda war against Iran.

Hmmm. Was I off my meds? Hmmm. Or did I get a quick peek into a crystal ball. Hmmm.
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And speaking of Obama and Iran. The acrimony is getting thicker as a more aggressive tone has been adopted by both the US and Iran, with shouting matches between Obama and Clinton on this side, and Ahmadinejad and ayotallah Khamenei on the other. The US is trying to play up to Russia, willing to shift their position on NATO missiles in Poland, if the Russians will gang up with them against Iran.

Russia so far, is buying none of it, mainly because it is Russia that is helping with Iran’s nuclear programme, but also Russia recognises that because Iran is years away from a nuclear bomb and the means to launch one against Europe, the American-led missile shield can only be a threat to Russia.

With the world trying to get itself under a massive economic crisis created by and in America, we now have an added fear hanging over our heads. The hardening of the rhetoric doesn’t bode well for Obama’s believability anywhere else in the world. Obama promised a new foreign policy but so far, it’s more of George Bush.
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By now, all cricket followers must have heard that cricket’s new wonderboy, American Robert Stanford, is wanted by the federal government for a $8b billion dollar fraud through another Ponzi scheme. Stanford, for those not up to speed, has been pumping lots of money into cricket, particularly popularising the 20/20 format.

The West Indies has been a major beneficiary of his largesse, particularly Antigua. But now many of the Caribbean’s politicians and cricket leaders are distancing themselves.

Stanford is the typical ‘Ugly American’, throwing his weight around, bullying if things didn’t go his way, and from many reports, treating many of the West Indians like dirt.

Many who said little during his reign, are more vocal now as the news of Stanford’s fall from grace.

He proved to be the ‘tale of two cities’… enriching a few, but ending up bankrupting thousands around the world.

There are several morals to the Stanford story. One is that ‘all that glitters is not necessarily gold’. One now gets the feeling that anyone who makes billions off any form of the financial market has done so via a pyramid scheme.

Another moral, Americans don’t know how to use wealth and power tastefully and discretely.

And thirdly, when a bully falls, there are always too many willing to deliver another swift kick to the testicles… even if they had supped well at his previously bountiful table. Such is life.
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And while on the subject of thievery, $50 billion thief (can you call a man a thief when the amount is so staggering) Bernie Madoff wants to keep his $7m penthouse in Manhattan and $62m in assets, claiming that they are unrelated to his fraud. Who says crime doesn’t pay.
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A few weeks ago, I declared that the election of African-American Michael Steele to the leadership of the Republican National Committee was essentially a farce, a badly played face-card…. that he would be in no position to accomplish anything.

Well, Steele has been so brutally bitch-slapped by republican propagandist Rush Limbaugh, he will be on painkillers for the entire tenure of his so-called leadership. Steele’s blunder was to claim publicly that he is in fact the de facto leader of the party, at the same time dissing Limabaugh.

Limbaugh who was once arrested for drug abuse, quickly reminded Steele that he was just a token black guy. Embarrassingly to all black people, Steele with his tail between his legs, scampered to apologize to Limbaugh, even more publicly. It was utterly shameful.

Here is the thing. Limbaugh ‘represents’ the conservative republican, the gun-toting, beer swilling, inbred, racist, homophobic republicans. The ‘Joe the plumber’, the Danny 6-pack, the morons attracted to the Sarah Palin candidacy. No way that type would take leadership from a ‘nigger’. Where do you think this is? America?

Anyone who thought that the KKK could ever be an inclusive party should be borrowing Michael Phelp’s bong. The moderate republicans thought that after the crunching loss to Obama and the democrats, they could retake their party from those who had lowered it below the lowest denominator. They are wrong. The base of the party actually despises these moderates as too liberal, but more stingingly, too intellectual. They can only relate to someone as dumb as their pigs… in other words, themselves.

Steele reacted as any slave would do when the owner is vexed with him. Apologise and bend over.

But more was to come. The republicans Conservative Political Action Conference a major conference for all the movers and shakers of the party was just held. And John McCain, losing republican candidate, wasn’t even invited. His name, like George Bush’s, ‘is not welcomed aroun’ yaar’. And the conference’s keynote speaker was drug abuser, Rush Limbaugh.

The republicans, even by their very distancing themselves from the American people and the economic needs of the majority of this country, have drawn their line in the sand. “Backward ever, forward never”. Aren’t we having fun yet?
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Gleaned from the news.
As an Arkansas state panel kills an attempted legislation that would allow concealed weapons in churches, the republican sponsor (who else) of the bill, says it’s a question of religion freedom, and a pastor says that churches should have the right to make the decisions, “It’s not the role of the state to preserve the sanctity of the church, and it’s not the role of the state to impose religious judgment calls on churches”. I withhold their names because stupid people should get no publicity, good or bad.
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Wesley Snipes must be wondering why he didn’t choose politics instead of acting. Four of Obama nominees have had tax evasion issues, discovered and rectified only after their nominations. They have been allowed to ‘pay and play’. Snipes on the other hand found no such mercy and was sentenced to the maximum 3 years for tax evasion.

Snipes prosecutors argued that he should be sent to prison to set an example: “This case cries out for the statutory maximum term of imprisonment, as well as a substantial fine, because of the seriousness of defendant crimes and because of the singular opportunity this case presents to deter tax crimes nationwide,” they wrote.

Certainly didn’t deter those politicians.
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