tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50496662789290061002024-02-01T23:23:34.197-05:00But See Yah!!!...One Jamaican's mad rant at the madness of life around himJamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-20287360985722182242008-04-23T22:40:00.004-05:002008-04-23T23:04:36.087-05:00The Prime Minister's assault on the Public Services CommissionI have had grave reservations about the whole controversy over the firing of the Public Services Commission and the mess surrounding the appointment of the Solicitor-General. The PM thought he was being cute by citing misbehaviour, when everybody knew it was about the Commission's refusal to back down from their recommendation to appoint Professor Stephen Vasciannie, a man who compared Bruce Golding's return to the JLP as akin to someone flinging a dead cat on the deck of a ship...i.e., it would stay there and stink up the place, and then someone would wash it off. A particularly nasty comment, I thought, but if you are like me, you revel in these moments when the gloves come off and nastiness rules among people who really ought to know better...ahem...your petticoat is showing...<br /><br />The PM dipped into the controversy during his presentation on the Budget Debate. Perhaps it was unwise, as he really didn't score any points, in my humble opinion. He trumpeted the letter written in 1977 by the then Chairman of the Public Services Commission, written to the GG, tendering the resignation of the members, and tried to use that letter as proof of the rectitude of his position in forcing the firing of the last board of members, since they were defying his wish for them to resign on the change of government.<br /><br />Someone should have told him not to read that letter. It does not advance his position one bit.<br /><br />For those who didn't hear the Budget Presentation, simply put, the then Chairman, Prof. Gladstone Mills, related in the letter that PM Manley had demanded their resignation on the basis that ideological positions had been staked out in Jamaica, in light of the mandate Manley believed that the PNP had received in the December 1976 elections. Prof. Mills pointed out in his letter that the position of the PM was fundamentally wrong, and unprincipled, in light of the constitutional protection afforded to the members of the PSC, as distinct from statutory boards etc., who were expected to resign on a change of government. He stated quite eloquently that no such requirement existed in relation to members of the PSC. He related a meeting that was held with Manley, where their position was put to him, and Manley basically told them to fuck off, principle notwithstanding. Prof. Mills went on to state in the letter that while he maintained the PM was wrong, he wasn't about to pick a fight with the PM however, and so, with regret, he and the other members would resign.<br /><br />How does this support our current PM's position? I submit it does not. All it does is put him in the same unfortunate position that Manley found himself in, in pursuing a wrong-headed ideological position, flouting principle and the Constitution and bullying public servants to do his bidding. Daisy Coke and others did not want to back down and either resign or appoint the favoured choice for Solicitor - General, as they are entitled to do. Does our current PM mean that because Manley did it, he is entitled to do it? Clearly that is untenable. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now.Then he tried to cloak his position with noble aims...saying that he could not blame 'other people' (i.e., the PSC) if he failed the public in his mission, implying that he needed to get the former members of the PSC out of the way in order to do his work.<br /><br />What that did - which is interesting - was betray that his real aim in firing the PSC was not the charade of misbehaviour as claimed in the papers, but in order to push through his agenda, whatever that is. It is still unsupportable.<br /><br />Once we begin to jettison principle and the Constitution on the altar of political expediency, we begin to walk down a slippery slope. Where do we draw the line and who is entrusted to draw that line?<br /><br />Mind you, I understand the PM's dilemma in that he feels it necessary to stack the deck in the way he wants, in order to move full speed ahead. I suspect that the PNP did its own hatchet job on the impartiality of the civil service, and probably deserve a large portion of the blame. In fact, I would wager that the subversion of principle is something that Jamaica has been living with since the 1960's. It probably reached fever pitch in the 1970's with the ideological fervour of the PNP's socialist position and the creation of odious bodies such as the Pickersgill Committee, and everything since then has been a reaction to the monster that was then created, to wit, an ideologically charged civil service. The Gladstone Mills letter would be exhibit A in my submissions on that point.<br /><br />I do not, however, believe that continuing down that path is the method of correcting it. My own view is that the PM should simply have let the PSC continue and then deal with the issues as they arise. One wrong does not deserve another. If the PSC appoints someone who misbehaves in the execution of their job, then let the chips fall where they may and fire that person's rass. I also think that we might be inventing a problem that either does not exist or can be tamed. I say this because I do not see Daisy Coke, whether she is a PNP sympathiser or not, or the others on the PSC, defiling their reputation by presiding over the appointment of unqualified persons to critical positions, whether those persons are PNP sympathisers or not. I therefore think that the risk the PM perhaps saw might have been just a little bit exaggerated. I also think it is more important to get people in positions who are competent than politically aligned to you.<br /><br />My view is that if your (i.e., the political directorate's) policy aims are legitimate and credible, competent professional people will be on your side. The need for people who are sympatico is only critical when you are trying to do shit, and you need people who will hold their noses as they shovel your shit. That may have been why the PNP felt it necessary to stack the deck, one might argue!<br /><br />So my advice to Bruce in a quiet moment would have been this - "If you believe that what you are doing (in terms of various policies) is correct, then press ahead. If apparatchiks in the civil service block you, then get rid of them. But don't fall into the trap of subverting principle for pereceived expediency, because all you are doing is behaving like you are just another politician, as opposed to a leader".<br /><br />In politics, as in life, it is never sufficient to simply fall back on trite explanations like those that have been proferred to justify the PM's railroading of the PSC. Leadership demands an elevation of perspective, vision and conduct; that certain quality that says "I am the leader because I deserve to be, as shown by my exemplary approach".<br /><br />That is why I felt Portia was never qualified to lead the PNP or this country, despite her cheerleaders in the media, i.e., Mark Wignall et al. They know themselves and have thankfully already said their mea culpas.<br /><br />Bruce has strong 'leader' potential. He is also a skilled politician, but don't hold that against him. Leadership is not perfection. Truth is I am expecting him to eventually join NW Manley, Michael (despite his glaring flaws) and Eddie as our top tier of leaders. He must live up to it. This episode does not help him in that journey and is a needless blot in his copybook.<br /><br />Do we amend the constitution to solve the problem? Tricky tricky question. As I have said before, it is dangerous to legitimise the politicisation of the PSC and by extension the civil service. When ideology begins to take priority, it is principle that suffers. In the USA, political appointments to places like the Supreme Court, the Federal bench etc., makes for law that is more expedient than correct, and I don't know if in our fragile democracy we will be well served by going down that path.<br /><br />Why can't we simply have an arrangement where our Governor-General exercises his absolute discretion to appoint 3 members of the PSC, and have the PM and the Leader of the Opposition nominate one each? Could that work, or am I being naive?<br /><br />We have to believe in the sanctity and primacy of the law, because it is the law which protects us all regardless of our political allegiances, from the excesses of the political directorate. Call it myopic if you will, but that is the root of our objection to the PM's approach. Laymen are fond of saying the law is an ass, until such time as they run behind it for protection. I am not advocating a static approach to the law however, but the issue here is how best to deal with what is, and also a debate on what it should be.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-36232121255780562092008-04-19T15:47:00.003-05:002008-04-19T16:06:31.229-05:00Japsey Thursday<a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080418T210000-0500_134723_OBS__JAPSEY_THURSDAY__PATRONS_PROTEST_MIDNIGHT_LOCKDOWN.asp">http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080418T210000-0500_134723_OBS__JAPSEY_THURSDAY__PATRONS_PROTEST_MIDNIGHT_LOCKDOWN.asp</a><br /><br />This one takes the cake, the bakery, the whole thing...<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">MONTEGO BAY, St James - A strong police/military presence was maintained along sections of Barnett Street and Barnett Lane up to late yesterday evening following a massive demonstration by patrons attending the popular 'Japsey Thursday' dance which was shut down at midnight by cops. Thursday night's police action, in accordance with the Night Noise Abatement Act, took some patrons, who normally attend the popular dance after midnight, by surprise. The sound was locked off by the cops before the dance got into full swing, much to the ire of the patrons.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Yesterday morning, traffic was forced to a standstill after the angry demonstrators mounted numerous blockages which they lit afterwards.</span> <span style="color:#ff0000;">Early morning commerce suffered in that area of the town as most business establishments were forced to keep their doors closed later.</span><br /><br />Under the Night Noise Abatement Act, entertainment sessions are allowed to go until midnight on week days and until 2:00 am on weekends. One week ago, the hierarchy of the Area One Police Division, who have adopted what they described as a zero-tolerance approach toward offenders of the Night Noise Abatement Act, invited all promoters to a meeting where they sensitised them to the consequences of breaches of the act.<br /><br />But the patrons are in opposition to the law which, they argue, is "unreasonable", and are demanding a "compromise". "<span style="color:#ff0000;">It can't work so. Nuff enemy from all bout come here and them haffi hold them order and know say a so it a go, you see it. So wha mek them come turn off the sound 12 midnight?"</span> one patron fumed yesterday morning. "You don't know how me feel when me see 12 o'clock and me no ready yet and sound turn off when nothing no start yet. A foolishness."<br /></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">But Deputy Superintendent of Police Paul Stanton defended the cops' actions. They (promoters) were sensitised. It is not that it came upon them suddenly, they were told unconditionally," Stanton said. "For every permit that was issued, there is time stipulation that governs the staging of such functions. So last night, we turned off the music at midnight and the people took to the streets in protest this morning."<br /><br />The patrons had high praises for 'Japsey Thursday', which has been running for the past four months. <span style="color:#ff0000;">They claim that no illegal activity is allowed at the dance.</span></span></em><br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Now, seriously folks...is this not why we cyan reach nowhere in this country?? My favourite sections of the article are highlighted in red. Let no-one fool you...we Jamaicans are very serious about our entertainment. No guy cyan come roun' 'ere and lock off no %$@# dance...yuzimi? </span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">When did the fact that "no illegal activity is allowed at the dance" become a point of supporting the breaking of the law? Twisted does not even begin to describe this 'logic'. The fact that there is a law, and the law puts certain requirements on the promoter apparently means nothing. But the truth is, with these things, that the blame rests squarely on the authorities, because since the passing of the Noise Abatement Act, the amount of dances etc, that breach it has multiplied significantly. It is probably fair to say that there is a dance every night of the week in Jamaica, in most major towns/cities. They didn't start overnight. Nope, they started slowly, incrementally and citizens probably called in and complained to the police and the police did nothing and so they took hold. Had the police simply acted at the time, this phenomenon of dancing 7 days a week would not have grown. Now we are trying to cut down the tree after its roots have spread deep and wide. </span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">There are legitimate interests here...the interest of people to enjoy themselves and be entertained. How do we accommodate those interests without infringing on a superior interest, namely the interest in not being disturbed? Not sure...indoor events will have to resume their place in the spectrum, I guess. Those infringe on other people's rights to a far lesser extent than outdoor ones, which from personal experience, are capable of sending you into the abyss of madness. The state does not have a hand in providing an alternative; let the promoters sort that out. All the state has to do is maintain a correct balance in protection of the wider social interest, and they have finally started to do so, at least to this limited extent. </span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Now to move on to the open-air bawl out clap han' 'churches' and such like... </span><br /><p><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#3333ff;"></p></span><br /><br /><br /></span>JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-38191899938905384712008-04-14T00:28:00.004-05:002008-04-14T00:55:26.590-05:00Comrade MugabeI must confess I am conflicted about President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Don't take this to mean that I am not clear on how I feel about him. What I mean is this: his cartoonish attempts to hold on to power are just that, but they are also tragic, to be honest. I remember Zimbabwe's struggle for independence, being of a certain age, and I remember it was Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo and Abel Muzorewa who were the prime characters of that struggle, with a wonderful triumph of good over evil in the end. Bob Marley, the I-Three and the Melody Makers performed at Zimbabwe's independence celebrations.<br /><br />And now, here we are. Mugabe allowed his despotic characteristics to come to the fore and not content to simply hold Zimbabwe in his vise-like grip, he has proceeded to ruin it.<br /><br />But here's where I become conflicted on Mugabe...<br /><br />The righting of ancient wrongs, i.e., the transfer of land from whites to blacks is, at first blush, completely unjust, defying the law of property and all that lot. However, the truth is that he was really righting ancient wrongs and I support it in concept, though not in execution...some white man did push off black people from the best land and take it for themselves, albeit a few centuries ago, and Mugabe is the only African leader to have addressed frontally one of the root causes of persistent African poverty, which is the acquisition of its resources by the Europeans centuries ago, and the consequential failure of Africa's wealth to serve as the engine of growth of its society. We in the Caribbean have much the same issue, except the Europeans came first, dragging us later across the Atlantic to work on their plantations, so we don't have the same case as the Africans. But the issues are the same...export of wealth gets a country nowhere over time. <br /><br />But so hamfisted and corrupt have Comrade Mugabe's efforts been that it will be a brave man to get up and say he is right to re-distribute land. I mean, the concept of land re-distribution is something with which many leaders have grappled...including those in Jamaica, most notably NW Manley and Michael. However, had they tried Comrade Mugabe's stunts, we too would have had 100,000% inflation, as if the 5 flights per day weren't bad enough!<br /><br />So, the tragedy is that Mugabe has destroyed his legacy by running a stable prosperous country into the ground with a justifiable policy that was ruinously carried out, with his neighbours looking on and cheering him on. <br /><br />But I say cheers to Zambia for having the nerve to do something about the elections crisis by calling for the meetings, and brickbats to that blasted idiot President Thabo Mbeki, a disgrace to his father and to the legacy of Mandela, for continuing to suck up to Mugabe and maintaining that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe. Perhaps he has another explanation as to why so many Zimbabweans are crossing the crocodile-infested Limpopo River, dodging barbed wire fences and armed border guards to get into South Africa. Blasted idiot. <br /><br />But then, HIV does not cause AIDS either, in Mbeki's twisted world. <br /><br />May he and Mugabe both retire to some estate for the bewildered in short order. Africa is better off without them both.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-34123064840946745682008-04-13T23:38:00.002-05:002008-04-14T00:07:16.849-05:00Crash Plus/MinusI know...must I too add to the thousands of words/electrons/hot air expended on this topic? Yeah...because it reaches right back into the key theme of this blog...namely the madness of life around me. <br /><br />I was really stunned at the collective willing suspension of disbelief in which thousands of Jamaicans engaged during this whole foray into la-la land with the pony-tailed Carlos Hill and his merry band of crooks. I first heard about Cash Plus sometime in 2005 when I noticed a sign in Red Hills, near the square, advertising a Cash Plus Distribution Centre. I was headed to the country, I think, and avoiding the Gorge by going via Sligoville, a wonderful road for would-be rally drivers like myself. I had a moment of curiosity about it, and then pushed it out of my mind, focusing instead on the driving at hand. <br /><br />Some weeks later, a (then)recently-widowed old family friend whose sole asset was the cash from the proceeds of sale of the family home that her husband had left her asked me whether she should invest the lot in Cash Plus, and gave me details on the scheme. Apparently another biddy friend of hers had invested her retirement savings in the scheme and was smugly reaping rich rewards. I told her I knew nothing of it, and could not tell her what to do about it. I did ask her if she knew more than what her fellow biddy had told her, which she didn't but I got the sense she was pretty much determined to press on and invest the lot...some $13M at the time. I do not have the heart to ask her now the inevitable question: whither the money? I don't want to know.<br /><br />My barber once asked me about it, as he cuts the hair of a member of the Cash Plus management team who was singing its praises. This was now some time late last year. This time, I was unequivocal in telling him "not a backside". He rang me last week to remind me of the conversation, even as Senor Carlos was being led off to jail.<br /><br />I have friends...educated, smart folks...professionals, lawyers even, who were invested in it. I thought that their smugness and their happiness bordering on delirium were interesting, not least because it reminded me of the experience I had when I first bought a lottery ticket in Jamaica. It was a large jackpot, and a man who was a few places ahead of me in the line bought his ticket, and I could not help but notice his face as he left the shop...he was beaming with pleasure, as he no doubt - in his mind - held the only winning ticket, which he had clearly just managed to wrest from the gods. Poor fool, I thought...which is the same thing I thought about my friends who chortled about their regular cheques received with the promptness of Swiss trains. <br /><br />Even more interesting was their aggression whenever hard questions were posed, like...oh, I don't know...what does Cash Plus do to make money??? They would first trot out what would become the stock responses...."Oh, they own the Hilton, Drax Hall' etc etc. I would then mention that the Hilton does not appear to be a net generator of cash since it has changed hands so frequently in frequent years you would be forgiven for thinking that it resembled, at least in that regard, the 'ladies' who frequent its pool bar. Then I would mention that Drax Hall managed to help drag down at least one other company before (Dyoll Life) and as it was vacant land, it was unlikely to generate cash this year or the next. That's when things would get ugly and they would pull the trump card...namely, "Mi nuh business wid wah yuh waan seh, but mi get mi cheque dem every month!!!", to which I did not usually respond, because I realised they had been drinking, nay, swimming in the Kool-Aid and there was little point in introducing an unpleasant thing like logic into the equation.<br /><br />Of course, I have to tip my hat to a friend of mine who said he was not interested in Cash PLus because he had two simple rules which Cash Plus offended....<br /><br />Rule 1 - Do not place your money with a man named Carlos.<br />Rule 2 - Do not place your money with a man named Carlos who also has a pony-tail and bad teeth.<br /><br />I think we should commend those rules to the FSC.<br /><br />Fun and joke aside though, what the backside were these people thinking???? I just hope that this episode will give people some pause to think about what they do with their money, and realise that they should simply give it to me, for investment in my OWN scheme, which will be much more simple...I will accumulate assets for my own use and enjoyment, and then run off to Brazil with the cash when I find I cannot beat off the investors with a stick any more.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-7962127768302794862008-03-13T00:54:00.003-05:002008-03-13T00:56:11.723-05:00Oh...by the way...Ok...so it's been a while now, with nothing from me. I actually was surprised I remembered my password to get into this blog. Well look, I've been busy, so there. But my solemn vow is to remember to post more, and more often, because I know you are reading and you care. Both of you.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-78287209512383065172008-03-13T00:43:00.002-05:002008-03-13T00:54:02.258-05:00Spitz-ing<em>"Spitz"....(Verb)..meaning: to completely out oneself as a red-blooded asshole, complete with visceral desires, after spending a lifetime being a poster child for the squeaky clean. (See...e.g., soon-to-be-ex-NY Governor Eliot Spitzer)</em><br /><br />Well, well well. What have we here. A man sleeps with prostitutes, and 'transports them across state lines'. LOL....in this day and age. I feel a lot of sympathy for those who think in relation to our man Eliot seh a nuh nuttn...man want pussy, man buy pussy, so what? Yes, generally, I agree. But not this man. Not Mr. Clean. Not "The Sherriff of Wall Street". He has spectacularly become undone. And most of the world is cheering, notwithstanding the public protestations.<br /><br />I understand the position of those who feel that Spitzer has become undone only in a personal way, and that it ought not to affect his right to sit as Governor. But I disagree with them, and its not from some Pollyanna-ish sense of morality on my part.The man has done precisely what he said he was not going to do as Governor, and he has utilised the services of prostitutes, having prosecuted those behind similar operations, when he was Attorney-General. It's clearly a thin line, verbal or otherwise, between "prostitution" with "prosecution". <br /><br />Maybe he thought this was the best way to give them a stiff penalty? Leaders must have the moral authority to lead, and when they drop the ball on those issues, they need to move on. <br /><br />I distinguish this from Bill "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" Clinton. I mean, the hair-splitting (viz., "it depends on what the meaning of "is" is...") wasn't cute, but sleeping with his intern is a little different from utilising the services of a criminal enterprise. Had he been boffing his own intern, I couldn't care less. But, the fact is that (a) transporting women across state lines for 'immoral purposes' is illegal...I know, its an archaic federal statute, but...it is still there.... and (b) this is precisely the same sort of crime that Spitzer would have prosecuted with his trademark glee and fervour in his heyday as a hot shot prosecutor.<br /><br />Back in the day in 2001/2, when I first heard of him, he was prosecuting anything that moved, for anything vaguely resembling bad conduct in the corporate world. Securities fraud, insider trading etc etc. He had a reputation of zero tolerance, show no mercy, employing all the state's resources avlb to him to run down the criminals. Well, my friend, as I heard one commentator say on CNN, "a halo only needs to slip a few inches to become a noose". Never was a truer word said.<br /><br />Of course, there are probably Eliot parties all over Wall Street now...I can't blame anyone who was pursued by him enjoying a profound feeling of Schadenfreude at his meeting his political Waterloo. When you present as having an 'un-embargoed moral centre', I think you must simply turn your back, drop your pants and submit to the public ass-whipping that is the natural and ordinary consequence of being a holier than thou.<br /><br />My final thought is this: In the wake of a bad season for politicians, both local and overseas, what skeletons lurk in the closets of our local politicians? Which prostitutes have serviced them? Who's a queer? Who's taking money on the side for favours? Is Kern Spencer a rare bird, or just a clumsy flightless one, like the now extinct dodo?JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-28096315256089150872007-06-24T14:48:00.001-05:002007-06-24T15:16:42.554-05:00Edu-ma-cationIn my life, I have been besieged by people who, admirably, wish to work but have no jobs. The difficulty is that their appetite for work is not aligned with their appetite for doing the things that are recommended in order to become qualified to work. I once met a young man who, after months of him asking me to help find him work, I agreed to assist. I was impressed by him initially, as based on our conversations, he was obviously a keen observer of the world around him, and despite his somewhat rough manner, was reasonably articulate, which implied a working brain.<br /><br />I asked him to help me by giving me some personal information, pertaining to experience, qualifications and such like. There was limited experience beyond simply being a virtual beast of burden on various construction sites (you've seen them...they carry water to mix the cement, they move stones, dig trenches and the like), and more importantly, little by way of formal education. I asked why his high school education ended after 4.5 years. It turns out he had been expelled for fighting. The school administration did not like him, he said. All of that is well and good. But what struck me, is that he figured that he had enough of a base to move forward. He had had odd jobs from time to time, but had used that money to live, and acquire material possessions. Not for him, going back to school and depriving himself of the flat screen tv (which subsequently blew up when his stolen unregulated electricity supply fried it). He has also enlarged his current abode, situated on premises leased by a landlord of dubious title, money which is largely irrecoverable.<br /><br />Where did I learn life lessons like education first, everything afterwards? My parents, I guess, and my peers. I suppose in his hardscrabble world, making yourself into a man requires him to acquire visible and tangible assets.<br /><br />So, where do we go? <br /><br />I support a strong national programme where unskilled labour like his is recognised as a national asset that can be employed in projects that have some national utility...whether it is bushing verges, open lots, demolishing derelict buildings. This differs from Portia's Crash Programme Redux, in that the labour is recognised as an asset and this dignified, and rendered in exchange for coupons (and some cash, i.e., a stipend) redeemable at dedicated educational programmes designed to take adult students to at least a first level of educational qualifications. CXC Basic Math and English Language should be a must, and others optional according to aptitude/appetite. <br /><br />In conjunction with this programme, we would also establish community homework centres, recognising that this programme of academic study requires out-of-class work, and that many of these persons reside in areas and circumstances where that is not an option. Professional persons who have some aptitude could be asked to assist in these programmes by monitoring and offering assistance to students.<br /><br />At the conclusion of the programme, we would have placement akin to the HEART trainee placement programme. Even if we don't we at least have a far better educated workforce, whether employed or otherwise....which means a better waiter, bartender etc...Am I too much of an idealist? I hope not.<br /><br />Whether one agrees with me or not, there are some basic truths that we must recognise as a nation. One of them is that our current education system is sorely in need of a makeover. One of the premises on which it rests is that students will have the requisite level of maturity, emotional and otherwise, to pass through satisfactorily. For the vast majority of students, I suspect, it is simply not true. I would wager that the daily life and circumstances of, say, 60-70% of our primary and secondary level students is completely at odds with what the system assumes. We need to either re-design the system to recognise this, or we need to have an educational safety net in place to catch these misfits (I do not use the term pejoratively). We can talk about free education all we want, but that only goes to solving part of the problem. We need to recognise the very different social circumstances that obtain in today's Jamaica. We cannot afford to do otherwise.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-70166330960362404672007-06-24T14:22:00.000-05:002007-06-24T14:45:06.632-05:00Laziness is a curse...and it is also a human condition. So....to catch up again. I've been terribly tardy in putting anything on this blog that invites reading. This will change however....yes, I know, one has heard it all before.<br /><br />So much has happened around me in this place that I can't even blame a shortage of material as an excuse.<br /><br />Let's see...Bob Woolmer murdered/not murdered. Hmm.....everyone wants to jump down Mark Shields' throat, for what reason I don't know. People seem to feel he was "hogging the spotlight". How, exactly, does the senior officer on the case, the lead investigator on a case and one extremely experienced with dealing with the feral media, "hog" the spotlight? I guess his being the person who more often than not delivered the media briefings bothers people not used to seeing regular police briefings or a policeman being adept at dealing with the media. But so be it. Let Mark Shields be. And let's ignore Renato Adams, a personality who knows all about hogging the spotlight with his out of turn comments. He is the first police officer I know who spoke to the media that much. Anyhow....we can hopefully close the book on that now.<br /><br />Elections? Rumour has it we will be looking at a new administration (whether a new PNP or the JLP) by Emancipation Day. Or we could have a 30-30 split, which, given this country's propensity for drama, would be entirely more consistent. The bacchanal we saw in T&T when that happened would pale in comparison to what would occur here. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a quasi-civil war. My PNP problems are many and varied. Complicity in corruption....dodgy decision making.....an almost compulsive devotion to spend money on grand projects, instead of doing the small things right (the Trelawny stadium, anyone?)...an atrophied sense of creativity in developing solutions for our problems....the list goes on and on. Portia does not inspire loyalty. I wished her all the best as she came to power; hoping she would harness the cross-party popularity she appeared to have and put it to good use in starting to fix things that needed fixing. Instead we got more of the same, and worse. We got ungracious behaviour, screaming and un-statesmanlike public stances. Someone forgot to tell her she was now PM and not MP. She now led a nation, not merely a constituency. But I blame her advisors, perhaps more than I blame her. <br /><br />Now...onto the JLP. Is Bruce the Messiah? He certainly behaves like a statesman, not being given to staged public hysteria on cue. So much so that he has been going around the country stirring up apathy. We like a showman. Charismatic leaders were our mother's milk, from Busta to Michael (no last name necessary). Even the somewhat dull PJ Patterson, whose personal flavour, if represented as an ice-cream, would have been "wet cardboard", could give a good quip or two. Remember "shoot that horse"? But Bruce...none of that for him. Is that a problem? Not in a perfect world, so the answer is yes. Would I mind him as PM? Not really. I think if after almost 18 years in power more things are wrong than are right, someone else deserves a fair try. Plus, why does a party need to be in power for 18 years, given the absence of blinding prosperity and a sense that the Government is making all the right moves?JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-29454029829802516392007-05-31T01:59:00.001-05:002007-05-31T02:01:45.617-05:00Nope....I'm aliveIn case you were wondering and assuming you all cared, I am very much alive. I was engaged and engrossed in cricket for March through April, spent the rest of April and the first half of May travelling enjoying life and now I am back. <br /><br />There is a whole lot of shit I have on my chest, and this weekend, I swear, I will let it out....in part. So stay tuned. No doubt, you are all perched on the edge of your seats.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-50728997378441349452007-02-26T17:34:00.000-05:002007-02-26T18:28:35.122-05:00Gay bashing rampage in Half Way Tree in pictures<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrlkfO1pCC6U9Ww3jYliqpWS0Ff_sz1xF18LYfsCa0o3nfea0GPDVeAOT2IKcO7vnpGTBuk3gn2jnq6TXeyGp921y5g8R_v-hF1WPUd6vt805hSoQ8B2wjqp7163FAfN-wGozl8HIXAR6/s1600-h/DSC_0839.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035976956270693794" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrlkfO1pCC6U9Ww3jYliqpWS0Ff_sz1xF18LYfsCa0o3nfea0GPDVeAOT2IKcO7vnpGTBuk3gn2jnq6TXeyGp921y5g8R_v-hF1WPUd6vt805hSoQ8B2wjqp7163FAfN-wGozl8HIXAR6/s320/DSC_0839.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5V-MtEVXPURWNrHzv02UVyEBk_JzsX3BztbJTwzpUogYzxTfpGkD13Ttv1uVDz8K7IYywU4AjnxH9fkuqBJomUWePV-l0K-YETJx6yA0424OcrKjFV_hqTE5IszuLaJdji8fJzxdfNvq6/s1600-h/DSC_0845.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035976960565661106" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5V-MtEVXPURWNrHzv02UVyEBk_JzsX3BztbJTwzpUogYzxTfpGkD13Ttv1uVDz8K7IYywU4AjnxH9fkuqBJomUWePV-l0K-YETJx6yA0424OcrKjFV_hqTE5IszuLaJdji8fJzxdfNvq6/s320/DSC_0845.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdlyuIcJd_o7iHl0jLVbUQ1IRu2jjqg1YiEhh_mkTxZlNiAVB_dI_SAbLQnHPBtH304Jp1BblVEsR-v4mWiH9IvGJnflHBaEpRud6gx6fsScGhfMlSJuRG-XA5-43RPvwhLOTf6pzsfZa/s1600-h/DSC_0868.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035976960565661122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdlyuIcJd_o7iHl0jLVbUQ1IRu2jjqg1YiEhh_mkTxZlNiAVB_dI_SAbLQnHPBtH304Jp1BblVEsR-v4mWiH9IvGJnflHBaEpRud6gx6fsScGhfMlSJuRG-XA5-43RPvwhLOTf6pzsfZa/s320/DSC_0868.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6olLKsfgYwFxhwFHgUtHwfUotKtG1ugbElirfpSrxb9gVAsaWbOsrS9Fvhosn5y0O75ELcjK_CVJELVIdZu56oZvZOiSweW7fGI0sCd3_A8li3JE3ygIXVAzLetm9c2sRYQVoCzaFEVOX/s1600-h/DSC_0879.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035976964860628434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6olLKsfgYwFxhwFHgUtHwfUotKtG1ugbElirfpSrxb9gVAsaWbOsrS9Fvhosn5y0O75ELcjK_CVJELVIdZu56oZvZOiSweW7fGI0sCd3_A8li3JE3ygIXVAzLetm9c2sRYQVoCzaFEVOX/s320/DSC_0879.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwlEIBf2vLjdfuKqD9OmFH-smW6EJCErWY43X95SaILCnSsZTjD0JF4A6bp-aRx42y35Kkz__6S6NdVJ8s1OqcGOWCNGeixa2OEsiBz-aOvj2VnGd3N_fO1_m_v9X6fCRa3RhWtNACjhq/s1600-h/DSC_0882.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035976964860628450" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwlEIBf2vLjdfuKqD9OmFH-smW6EJCErWY43X95SaILCnSsZTjD0JF4A6bp-aRx42y35Kkz__6S6NdVJ8s1OqcGOWCNGeixa2OEsiBz-aOvj2VnGd3N_fO1_m_v9X6fCRa3RhWtNACjhq/s320/DSC_0882.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So, I got these on the 'net circulating today. The first two pictures show the mob waiting expectantly outside the pharmacy in which the men were holed up, apparently asking for them to be released to their care and custody.<br /><br />Then, there is a dramatic shot of a policeman with his rifle held aloft, waiting to spring into action. Note the grinning face of one of the girls behind the policeman. This is bloodsport, folks.<br /><br />Next.....one of the "alleged homosexuals" (what a term!) emerges, with a hint of drama, from the shelter of the pharmacy in the care and custody of the police, who have cleared a tunnel for him, and finally, the "alleged homosexual" is ducking, apparently from stones thrown as he prepares to duck into the police car.<br /><br />Wow. I had watched the TV coverage with horror, as I didn't really think that this scene was possible even in Jamaica. I expect that maybe if they were caught having sex, then perhaps this could happed.<br /><br />After all, I saw THAT happen in Downtown Kingston in 1986 or thereabouts, on the corner of Tower and Duke Streets. On that occasion, I think the story was that three or two men were caught in a compromising position in an abandoned building. This seemed plausible, as the man who was being beaten was clad only in his underwear. I can remember the scene to this day. The man had blood pouring out of his head, was crouching down with his hands clasped crying "unno nuh beat mi, do....mi beg yuh!!" (For non-Jamaican readers, this translates to "I'm begging you not to beat me, please!!") The crowd's response to this was to roar some more for blood, and one man slapped him in his head with a shovel, while another ran in and banged him in his head with a 2 x 4 piece of lumber.<br /><br />I stood, transfixed, unable to grasp the enormity of what I was seeing. Because I was still locked into a different way of thinking at the time, while it was disturbingly violent to me, I don't think I comprehended what it really meant. And I learned later that day that (a) the other participants had been beaten elsewhere, and (b) the man I saw being beaten had eventually died.<br /><br />Only much later in life did I really realise what I had seen and what monsters walked amidst us. Because that is the face of violent homophobia. When a DJ says "batty bwoy fi dead", those lyrics mean that they are to be beaten -if you choose to beat vs shoot or stone - and that scene I saw so many years ago is to be re-enacted in a thousand different places. Incredible.<br /><br />I don't know if people see it as a bit of harmless blood sport, a modern day version of Christians vs the lions, but I will bet money that anyone who watches someone get beaten to a pulp will think twice about articulating it. This is not about whether you like gay people or not. You can be Hardaway-ian about it as in "I hate gay people" or you can murmur your disapproval, even as you are gracious towards them. But you cannot stone, beat, shoot or wish death upon them.<br /><br />Does the state have a role to play in this? Of course it does. The state needs to set a moral tone. And the correct moral tone is that it is NOT ok to mete out your own brand of Old Testament justice on those deserving of your ire....if that were the case, fornicators and adulterers would be stoned in the middle of Constant Spring and Liguanea and the lofty heights of Manor Park, and woe to those who wear blended fabrics...might be ripped from your body, followed by a right flogging. But the cowards in Parliament, otherwise known as the Honourable Members of Parliament, are not about to sip from that poisoned chalice, and are content to be modern day Torquemadas, sitting in judgment of those who fail to adhere to Judeo-Christian principles of moral rectitude, and want to enlist the jackboots of the state to enforce compliance. (Hear that, Errol Ennis??)<br /><br />The other day, I heard Collin Hines, the DJ from FAME FM complaining on-air about the rise of violence in the music...apparently someone has a song out where killing someone else's first-born is being advocated or some such. I was incredulous....this is a DJ who has been defiant about playing songs of peace, love and harmony like "Boom Bye Bye" at fetes where he has been billed as a selector. So, if I understand him, advocating the killing of a "batty bwoy" is one thing - acceptable - but advocating the killing of someone's first-born child is unacceptable.<br /><br />Here's a moral dilemma for Capt. Hines....suppose that first-born child grows up and is discovered to be a "batty bwoy"? Should there be a boom bye bye for him? If so, then what would have been the issue in killing him in the first place? If not, then what...? Kill second-born children who are "batty bwoys"? Wash bellies? (J'can slang for lastborn child) I feel an entire post could be devoted to this one...<br /><br />But folks....what really bothers me, is we don't really have time to waste in beating "batty bwoys". We have an anemic economy, a burgeoning crime rate, and girls getting pregnant from straight men. So, what is the social urgency involved in a crusade against queer people? What is the social dividend?<br /><br />Let's ask ourselves that before we rush to the next episode of "Boom Bye Bye - Making the video".JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-46452904731528451092007-02-25T14:24:00.000-05:002007-02-25T14:46:06.896-05:00Stone dem...bun dem outLet's see....fellows stoned in Tropical Plaza on Valentine's Day by an angry mob....gay life exposed on Impact...gay man murdered in Montego Bay...three little boys caught doing something compromising in a building, one caught and beaten (apparently 9 years old). So what on earth is going on? Are we being overrun with gayness? Is something in the water? Scientists should check it out. But more perplexing is the 'beat dem, bun dem out' mentality that afflicts some people. Since when did the moral majority get the right to pass judgment on people? John Maxwell's article in the Sunday Observer today is a gem, and may explain a lot!JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-30302605915859272352007-02-25T14:10:00.000-05:002007-02-25T14:24:30.254-05:00ICC Cricket World CupAs I drive through the city, and see the frantic rush of preparation for Cricket World Cup, the emotion I feel most of all is annoyance....sheer annoyance at the fact that (a) the authorities waited until the absolute last minute to decide to fix some things, including some things that probably didnt need fixing, which means that its probably not going to be done properly, and money will be wasted, and (b) it takes this bloody tournament for the authorities to determine that the place don't look so good and need sprucing up. <br /><br />Now, you and I will fix up our house when visitors come because we want to leave a good impression, right? So far so good...BUT...big difference....we are the ones living in our house, and we have a right to determine what is a priority and what is not. We decide what we are comfortable living with. The Government can't claim that privilege. That argument doesnt belong to them. Is not dem alone live here!!! We are the ones who live here, and the Government is in charge of fixing up the place. So basically, the Government is acting like a slum landlord who only fixes the building and the plumbing because the inspectors are coming. To hell with the people who have to live here all the time. We don't care if you have to trip and fall over unever sidewalks...potholed roads ruin your vehicle....whatever. But...visitors are coming...lets look good for them. Forget that less than a few hundred yards west of Sabina Park are some horrendous slums. One wrong turn off South Camp Road, and you will be in the place that time forgot, a modern day Island of Dr. Moreau, where humans live in conditions that could be mistaken for the habitat of wild animals. <br /><br />Then don't get me started on Greenfield!!! What a collossal waste of money....and to do what? Why didnt the architects of this idea put their country first, and not their own egos? The Chinese built it, funded with cheap money, but couldn't we have asked the Chinese to maybe...oh...I dunno.....improve the many shitty hospitals we have....lend us money to buy medical equipment.....fix all the primary schools in the country...surely it would have been cheaper to do that than build a massive new stadium that will be hardly used but expensive to maintain. We can build magnificent edifices, but we cannot maintain. Emancipation Park is a standout exception to the rule. We need to see why that works and why the National Stadium doesn't. Why wasn't the National Stadium used for the Opening Ceremony? Who in their right mind really wants to drive to freakin' Trelawny (!) to spend three hours looking at bloody moko jumbies and corny stilt walkers? The crowd aint coming from Montego Bay, nor, I wager, are people gonna drive from Kingston, certainly not enough to fill the stadium.<br /><br />Lord help us.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5049666278929006100.post-83503385611287562172007-02-23T02:36:00.000-05:002007-02-23T02:50:46.592-05:00In the beginning.....In the beginning....shit...it's more like in the wee hours.....thoughts wicked this way come. Why blog? Because I have something to say, and I prefer to say it in the privacy of my own blog. Is that a completely weird thing to say? Not in the 21st century I suppose. So who gets this blog when I am gone? My incorporeal hereditaments.....I like that phrase...not sure what it means, but I think a blog would be one. I'll leave this blog in my will. Yup. You all can have it. So maybe this blog will give some structure, some outlet to these very random thoughts I find I have wandering out of my mouth from time to time, amazing even cynical me with their coherence and..dammit...sheer brilliance!!<br /><br />So, folks.....this is very much a Seinfeldian blog, which means for those of you who don't pick up on these pop culture cues, that it is about nothing in particular and everything.<br /><br />So..some specifics....I'm in Jamaica...in my 30's.....male.......single, goodlooking (no, I'm not writing a personal ad...its a blog, dammit!!!)...bright enough, and reasonably well educated. The challenge will be whether this blog lasts beyond tonight....! I hope so, as I do have a lot of stuff swirling around in my head and a feverish desire to type as fast as both fingers will allow. Its approaching 3 am nonetheless, and one hopes I can tear myself away from this thing and go to my damn bed. I have reservations about putting all this stuff OUT THERE for the world to see, which means I will have to face the slings and arrows of outrageous people who will have a lot to say, critical or otherwise, about whatever I write about or views I take. So here goes.....the beginning of a journey that I might or might not enjoy. But it comes at a point in my life when I am restless about a lot of things, and maybe it might actually anchor me to allow me to vent, release, relax and otherwise be happy. I have one very important anchor right now, about which I will not speak. Not ya bizness, zeen? So lef it alone....But yeah, come one come all.....read my shit, hear my crazy thoughts. Now. Where was that witty thought I had earlier? Dammit, where did I put it? It was just here a moment ago.....nope..it's flown the coop. But wait there's more......nope....that's it. Can it be true? can a blog end before it begins? nah..I will write...still I write.....so you can hear this caged bird sing. Stay tuned. The revolution will not be televised...it will be blogged.JamaicanFunkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803893756699030286noreply@blogger.com1