TODAY IN JAMAICA HISTORY: 1962-08-06 - Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British rule 1962-09-18 - Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica & Trinidad admitted (105th-108th) to UN 1966-04-21 - Emperor Haile Selassie (Ethiopia) visits Kingston Jamaica 1982-12-29 - Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica 1996-12-23 - 4 women ordained priests in Jamaica, 1st in 330-year Anglican history

TODAY IN JAMAICA HISTORY:
1962-08-06 - Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British rule
1962-09-18 - Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica & Trinidad admitted (105th-108th) to UN
1966-04-21 - Emperor Haile Selassie (Ethiopia) visits Kingston Jamaica
1982-12-29 - Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica
1996-12-23 - 4 women ordained priests in Jamaica, 1st in 330-year Anglican history

Famous Jamaicans Birthdays

1930-05-28 - Edward Seaga, PM (Jamaica)
1932-01-26 - Coxsone Dodd, Jamaican record producer
1934-11-12 - Ann Flood, Jamaica, New York, American actress (Edge of Night)
1936-03-20 - Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jamaican Reggae artist
1938-04-28 - Madge Sinclair, Kingston Jamaica, actress (Bell-Roots, Trapper John)
1938-05-28 - Prince Buster, Jamaican reggae musician/producer (Madness)
1942-07-16 - Desmond Dekker, [Dacris], Jamaica, reggae pioneer (Aces-Israelites)
1942-10-06 - Millie Small, Jamaican singer
1944-01-29 - Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican judge
1944-10-19 - Peter Tosh [Winston Hubert McIntosh], Jamaica, reggae musician (Mystic Man, Mama Africa)

1976-09-11 - Elephant Man, Jamaican musician
1977-04-17 - Sizzla, Jamaican dancehall artist
1978-07-21 - Damian Marley, Jamaican musician
1978-09-25 - Ricardo Gardner, Jamaican footballer
1979-09-21 - Chris Gayle, Jamaican West Indies cricketer
1979-10-31 - Ricardo Fuller, Jamaican Footballer

more

63 Black Harvard Students Share Their Experiences In A Powerful Photo Project.....The “I, Too, Am Harvard” photo campaign explores the diverse experience that black students at Harvard have to face. Here are 21 of the images.....The play premieres Friday, March 7, but today a VIDEO teaser was released.

posted on March 6, 2014 at 12:06pm EST

A group of black students at Harvard are fed up with the institutional racism they say they have experienced, and are speaking out against it through a commanding photography project on Tumblr.

“Our voices often go unheard on this campus, our experiences are devalued, our presence is questioned,” the website says. “This project is our way of speaking back, of claiming this campus, of standing up to say: We are here.”

The Tumblr is part of a larger campus campaign that all started with a play written by sophomore Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence, pictured above.

Matsuda-Lawrence and other members of the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, Harvard’s oldest existing black organization, came up with the idea last year around spring break. She conducted 40 interviews with black students on campus for an independent study last semester; those interviews are the basis of the play, called I, Too, Am Harvard, which will premiere March 7.

She emphasized to BuzzFeed that “I, Too, Am Harvard” is a collective black community project that doesn’t yet reflect that experience of all students of color.

“We want to build a larger movement for students of color in general, but this play is for Harvard’s Black Arts Festival,” Matsuda-Lawrence said. “The project is coming out of the black community on campus.” more

SCANDAL to get a lot crazier.....'Scandal' To Get 'Darker And More Outrageous'.....Kerry Washington/Tony Goldwyn

Posted: 03/04/2014 12:18 pm EST Updated: 03/04/2014 12:59 pm EST

How could "Scandal" possibly get any more scandalous? Well, when Shonda Rhimes is in charge, the sky's the limit.

"Access Hollywood" caught up with Tony Goldwyn, who plays President Fitzgerald Grant III on the hit show, to ask what viewers can expect in upcoming episodes.

Without spilling any major secrets, Goldwyn did say that things are about to get even more dramatic. "It just gets crazier and darker and more outrageous," he said, noting that Shonda Rhimes was "bringing it, every week." No one's arguing there.

Darker and more outrageous? There's only one reaction to this news: more

BLACK IS ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL.....Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar Winning Actress in 12 Years A Slave. rulabrownnetwork (RBN)

JAMAICA Latest News : 42,000 students to sit GSAT in two weeks......The Grade Six Achievement Test is the country’s national high school entrance examination.

Tuesday, March 04, 2014 | 7:01 PM  
KINGSTON, Jamaica — 42,000 students will be sitting the examination Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in two weeks and according to the Ministry of Education preparations are at an advanced stage of readiness for this year’s sitting.

The examination will be held on Thursday, March 20 and Friday, March 21 in all primary schools and most preparatory schools across the island.

The Grade Six Achievement Test is the country’s national high school entrance examination. Students undertake five subjects including English, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics and Communication Task for entry into High Schools of their choice at Grade 7. more

US says Jamaica is largest Caribbean supplier of marijuana.....It said success stories included the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Anti-Corruption Branch, which continued to make progress in eliminating corrupt and unethical police officers.

Wednesday, March 05, 2014    
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) — The United States says Jamaica remains the largest Caribbean supplier of marijuana to the United States, and that even though cocaine and synthetic drugs are not produced locally, Jamaica is a transit point for drugs trafficked from South America to North America and other international markets.

However, the US State Department, in its just released “2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report”, said Jamaica continued to make “slow but steady progress” in combating narcotics trafficking, corruption and organised crime in 2013.

It said success stories included the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Anti-Corruption Branch, which continued to make progress in eliminating corrupt and unethical police officers; the National Forensic Sciences Laboratory, which showed dramatic improvement in its ability to process crime scene ballistic evidence; the JCF Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force, which significantly reduced Jamaica lottery scam operations that targeted retirees and the elderly in the United States.

Washington said the Financial Investigation Division of the Ministry of Finance that, with new organisation and leadership, ramped up its efforts to curb money laundering and seize criminally-acquired assets and also praised the Independent Commission on Investigations, which was successful in establishing its legal authority to prosecute police officers who illegally injure or kill citizens in the course of their duties... more

IN JAMAICA: Be wary of 'visa fixers' ......Even if you obtain the visa initially by misrepresenting the facts, the Embassy actively reviews visa issuance for past years, and you may have your visa revoked later.

Wednesday, March 05, 2014    

Q: I've heard of people who say they can increase my odds of getting a visa, for example, by providing me with additional employment documents, or making small changes to my application to make my employment history seem more impressive. Is it okay to use these services?

Even if you obtain the visa initially by
 misrepresenting the facts, the Embassy
 actively reviews visa issuances for past
 years, and you may have your visa
revoked later.

A: Most people who apply for US visas do obtain them. Unfortunately, some individuals believe that by using the services of a "visa fixer" they may improve their chances. In fact, this is almost never the case, and your association with a visa fixer may permanently bar you from entering the United States.

What is a visa fixer? A visa fixer is someone who claims to help you obtain the visa through a variety of means. Sometimes the fixer will provide fake documents such as job letters and bank statements. The fixer may also coach you on how to lie to the consular officer during your visa interview, for example, by claiming an employment and salary that are not true. These services are provided to you for a fee, which you must pay regardless of whether you ultimately receive the visa. The cost to you is higher than for applicants who apply through the normal procedure... and your visa is NEVER guaranteed. more

Tessanne Chin to perform at the White House....will be broadcast Monday, April 7 at 9:00 PM ET on PBS stations across the US.... programme will include performances by Tessanne Chin, Melissa Etheridge, Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande, Patti LaBelle, Janelle Monáe, and Jill Scott, with Greg Phillinganes

Tuesday, March 04, 2014 | 4:50 PM  ONLINE OBSERVER

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s Season 5 winner of NBC’s The Voice is among a list of accomplished women to perform at the White House, ONLINE OBSERVER has learnt.

As part of their “In Performance at the White House” series, the President and First Lady will invite music legends and contemporary major female artists to the White House for a celebration of the great “foremothers” of American music, with songs expressing the struggles and achievements of women, according to a report.

The programme will include performances by Tessanne Chin, Melissa Etheridge, Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande, Patti LaBelle, Janelle Monáe, and Jill Scott, with Greg Phillinganes as music director.

“Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House will be broadcast Monday, April 7 at 9:00 PM ET on PBS stations across the US. more

See original at White House website.

ONE POLICE FORCE FOR JAMAICA - Red seam and blue seam to merge .....The merger will be effected during the 2014/2015 financial year, the Ministry said.

Tuesday, March 04, 2014 | 12:23 PM

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Minister of National Security Peter Bunting says that Cabinet has approved a merger of the Jamaica Constabulary force (JCF) and the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) through the incorporation of the members of the ISCF into the JCF.

The incorporation of the ISCF into the JCF means Jamaica will have a single police force which will, among other things; result in an increase in the number of police personnel engaged in frontline crime prevention and control activities, the Security Ministry said in statement Tuesday.

The merger will be effected during the 2014/2015 financial year, the Ministry said.

Bunting noted that the merging of the two forces has been recommended by the Wolfe Report of 1991 as well as five separate reports and studies since.

In commenting on the benefits of the merging of the two entities, Police Commissioner Owen Ellington said that the two entities have been operating together as a virtual single force in recent times, but the realisation of all benefits required policy and legislative support.

He noted that the existence of two separate legal entities, operating within the same space and performing similar, and in some cases identical, functions presented a number of operational challenges. more

ST CATHERINE, Jamaica: Woman gunned down in Waterford...... "The woman was chased and shot more than 10 times by criminals,"

Tuesday, March 04, 2014 | 10:43 AM    

ST CATHERINE, Jamaica -- The St Catherine South police are keeping a watch on a section of Waterford in Portmore, where a woman was gunned down by armed thugs on Monday.

"The woman was chased and shot more than 10 times by criminals," said one source from the area.

Police reports are that at about 11am they were called to a section called Boston after residents reported hearing gunfire and raised an alarm.

Police later arrived and carried out a  search of the area and the bullet riddled body of the female found.

The name of the woman was not released.

Head of the St Catherine South Police Division, Noel Christie has confirmed the incident.

"We have received reports about the attack but at this time are unable to give any details about the incident or provide a motive for the attack," said Christie. more 

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Area Three Police list 10 as 'Persons-of-Interest' ......Ricardo Grey, otherwise called ‘Tristan Grey’ or ‘Baugh’ Shane Hannah, otherwise called ‘Most High’ Ras Mackonnen Copeland, otherwise called ‘Tuffy’ Stephan Gordon, otherwise called ‘Tickle’

Tuesday, March 04, 2014 | 7:48 AM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- The Area Three Police, covering the parishes of Clarendon, St Elizabeth and Manchester, have listed several individuals they say are persons-of-interest.

From Clarendon addresses:

Ricardo Grey, otherwise called ‘Tristan Grey’ or ‘Baugh’ 

Shane Hannah, otherwise called ‘Most High’

Ras Mackonnen Copeland, otherwise called ‘Tuffy’

Stephan Gordon, otherwise called ‘Tickle’

From St. Elizabeth addresses:

Jawick Alvado Whyte, otherwise called ‘Passe’

Mark Alwayne Spence, otherwise called ‘Barber’ and ‘Alex’

Kashwayne Gullivan, otherwise called ‘Waynie’

more

Today in Jamaica History....1504-02-29 - Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians.....1865-10-11 - Paul Bogle led hundreds of black men and women in a march in Jamaica, starting the Morant Bay rebellion.....1907-01-14 - An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than 1,000 & much more.....

Today in Jamaica History

Historical Events

Events 1 - 44 of 44

1494-05-03 - Jamaica discovered by Columbus; he names it "St Iago"
1494-05-04 - Christopher Columbus lands in Jamaica
1494-05-05 - On 2nd voyage to New World, Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica
1504-02-29 - Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians
1655-05-10 - Jamaica captured by English
1692-06-07 - Earthquake in Port Royale, Jamaica, kills 3,000
1692-06-24 - Kingston Jamaica founded
1865-10-11 - Paul Bogle led hundreds of black men and women in a march in Jamaica, starting the Morant Bay rebellion.
1903-04-27 - Long Island's Jamaica Race Track opens
1907-01-14 - An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than 1,000.
1911-04-05 - MCC tour match v Jamaica finishes in a tie
  Explorer of the New WorldChristopher Columbus1911-08-02 - Haiti's dictator Simon flees on US warship near Jamaica

more

This Day in History - March 4....Today is the 63rd day of 2014. There are 302 days left in the year.

Today is the 63rd day of 2014. There are 302 days left in the year.

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT

2005: Flags fly at half-staff as Canadians grapple with the deadliest attack on police officers in 120 years, after four Mounties were slain during a raid on a marijuana farm in a rural western hamlet.

OTHER EVENTS

1681: England's King Charles II grants a charter to William Penn for land that later becomes Pennsylvania.

1789: The Constitution of the United States goes into effect as the first Federal Congress meets in New York City.

1829: An unruly crowd mobs the White House during the inaugural reception for US President Andrew Jackson.

1917: German army begins major withdrawal on Western Front in World War I.

1933: The start of US President Franklin Roosevelt's first administration has the first woman to serve in Cabinet: Labour Secretary Frances Perkins.

1965: Syria orders nationalisation of nine oil companies, including affiliates of two US concerns. more

Inner Circle reaches out....INNER Circle and singer Chronixx have teamed up for an update of Tenement Yard, the classic song the band recorded with singer Jacob Miller in 1976.

From left) Bernard ‘Touter’ Harvey,
 Roger Lewis, Ian Lewis, and
Lancelot Hall (seated at front).

BY HOWARD CAMPBELL Observer writer. Tuesday, March 04, 2014    

INNER Circle and singer Chronixx have teamed up for an update of Tenement Yard, the classic song the band recorded with singer Jacob Miller in 1976.

It is the latest collaboration by the band and a new-wave reggae artiste. Inner Circle, formed in 1968, recently did songs with deejay I-Octane and singjay Khago.

Roger Lewis, Inner Circle's co-founder and bass player, says working with contemporary reggae acts is their way of reaching out to a new generation.

"In a way (it is) to reach a new 'demo' but we collaborate with the artistes we feel have the right vibe and who touch us musically," he told the Jamaica Observer. "We have done stuff with Junior Gong, Buju (Banton), David Hines of Steel Pulse and my dear brother Bunny Rugs." Chronixx is the latest to work with the Miami-based veterans. He sang the lyrics to Tenement Yard with Miller's distinctive vocals from the original track in the background.

According to Lewis, "Jacob would be very happy...It's a perfect bridge of past and present." Miller joined Inner Circle in 1975 after stints with producers Clement 'Coxson' Dodd and Augustus Pablo.

Recorded at the Channel One studio, the original Tenement Yard featured Roger Lewis on bass, his brother Ian and Earl 'Chinna' Smith on guitars and drummer Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace. more

Dr Simone Badal-McCreath is focused on becoming a pioneer in cancer treatment......She is also working with a group of experts to create a novel JAMAICAN cancer cell line, since the Caucasian cell line is what is being mostly used for testing.

BY NADINE WILSON All Woman writer  Monday, March 03, 2014 

SHE was recently recognised as the leading young female chemist in Latin America and the Caribbean; holds two masters degrees and a doctorate; was named the Young Scientist of the Year in Jamaica in 2011; and has several other awards to boast about, but though noteworthy, Dr Simone Badal-McCreath believes her greatest achievement to date is having a good character.

Dr Simone Badal-McCreath

The 32-year-old believes she has her father and her Christian upbringing to thank for this and feels her tenacity to be her best self has spilled over into her professional and academic life. Now in the middle of her research aimed at developing drugs to treat cancer, managing a lab and lecturing, she is penning her first book A woman's journey to success.

"It redefines success as we know it, not meaning success in terms of achievement, but being at a place that is divinely designed," she said. "It's achieving what God has ordained for you to achieve, even if you were supposed to sweep the floor, you do it to the best of your ability and realise that in sweeping the floor, you are making an environment clean."

Dr Badal-McCreath has no doubt that her journey to becoming a top-ranked scientist was divinely ordained. Her intention throughout high school was to become a doctor, but then she was unable to do physics in CXC and decided to apply to do pure and applied sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI) first in order to matriculate into medicine. However, she had a change of heart once she realised how much she loved bio-chemistry. more

RECORDED: SULTRY SUNDAY SLOW JAMZ w/ RULA BROWN & NANS 3/2/14. Reggae singer, Ann Payne wins contest. Museikjunkie leads with 5 wins. SWA is second with 3 wins.

Video streaming by Ustream

Nearly six thousand suspected cases of Chikungunya virus reported in the Caribbean.....Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease causing symptoms such as fever, joint pain, muscle pain, headache and nose and gum bleeding.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sunday March 2, 2014, CMC – The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) says there are reports of new cases of the chikungunya virus in the Caribbean.

The ECDPC said in the past week, 293 new cases of chikungunya have been reported in the region, with confirmed ones in St. Martin (French), Martinique, St. Barthélemy and Guadeloupe.

New cases also surfaced in Dominica and French Guyana as well as St. Kitts and Nevis.

The European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control said as
 of February 21, 2014, more than 5,900
 suspected cases have been
 reported in the Caribbean.

 

The ECDPC said as of February 21, 2014, more than 5,900 suspected cases have been reported in the region.

An outbreak of chikungunya in the Caribbean was reported from the French part of the island of St. Martin on December 6. The chikungunya transmission was detected during a concomitant dengue outbreak in the Caribbean. Both diseases are transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease causing symptoms such as fever, joint pain, muscle pain, headache and nose and gum bleeding.Chikungunya is present in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and on the Indian subcontinent. more 

IN JAMAICA: Careers & Education... St George’s Primary in downtown Kingston is where girls do well....over 100 years preparing young girls to become ladies so that they can make a positive contribution to nation building.

These girls enjoy their lunch break by
playing Jacks.

The school currently has over 700 students enrolled. Unfortunately, the historic Anglican building out of which the school operates is unable to accommodate any more than this. In fact, instead of walls, chalkboards are used to partition the classrooms in the church hall. "Right now one of the challenges we have is space. We really want a building, we really want a school," said Ridley.

AS the only all girls' primary and infant school in Jamaica, St George's Girls' Primary and Infant School in downtown Kingston has spent over 100 years preparing young girls to become ladies so that they can make a positive contribution to nation building.

The school, which operates from a church hall, has more than its historical legacy to boast about. It is currently one of the schools most sought after by parents because of its academic achievements.

"The standard is very high. Academically the girls do very well. We usually perform above the national average in all areas for external examinations," said principal Collett Ridley.

Janet Davids has the full
 participation of the students
 in her grade six class.

"When it's registration time it is really overwhelming. It is the preffered school for parents to send their daughters," she said. "We have so many girls who want to come, so I don't think we'll ever go co-ed."

There have been efforts to spruce up the old building, but this does not solve the general space issue the school struggles with. "At the end of each academic year a project is done so we have renovation, we have the painting, fixing of windows and doors and so forth to maintain the building, so we have tried," Ridley said. more

IN JAMAICA: HORROR/DISAPPOINTING STORIES for people meeting online: All Woman...He flew in to MoBay and paid my fare to fly there from Kingston too. I was to spend the night,.My prince was wearing a doo-rag with his pants below his butt, and his Ebonics was peppered with Ni@#@ ...... ‘Three of his top teeth were gold...’ My worst online date

Liquid Gold models Monae and Trivis

BY DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE All Woman Writer  Monday, March 03, 2014 

WITH finding friends on sites like Facebook and Twitter becoming the norm nowadays, it's also becoming the most natural thing for couples to hook up online.

And while many love stories have come from the Internet, so too have more and more horror stories of hook-ups gone wrong.

Persons have confessed to being lied to about the physical appearance of the other party, turned off by hygiene and turned off by the person's true character. Here some readers share their stories of their worst online dates.

Shellie M, 40:

I met this very nice guy on Facebook. We would message each other a lot and we eventually exchanged numbers and started calling each other regularly. He lives in the US and so we talked about either me visiting or him coming to Jamaica. It ended up that he came here. This was about nine months after we first started talking. I picked him up at the airport and believe me, he looked nothing like what he looked like on Facebook. Apparently he only posted pictures of himself when he was much younger and he never smiled in any of those photos. When I met him he was short, and three of his top teeth were gold. Gold teeth? That was the biggest turn off for me. So all the plans we had about what we would do when he came just went right down the drain for me. I refused to be seen in public with a man whose mouth was full of gold teeth. The thought of kissing him was so repulsive I felt like vomiting. I texted my cousin and we made up a story about a family emergency and I apologised profusely for leaving him the same day he came but I wasn't going to stick around. The worst part though is that I am the reason he came to Jamaica, so I still called him to ask if he was OK and sounded concerned and distressed that I could not be with him. Of course it was just a show.

Paula, 33:

This American guy found my blog online and contacted me, telling me I was cute. We chatted for a few months and he even said he had told his mom about me, he was that serious. He said he was an engineer, so of course I had the clean-cut image in my head. I had seen photos, but nothing that I could really use to judge. He flew in to MoBay and paid my fare to fly there from Kingston too. I was to spend the night, though I hadn't thought about the dynamics. He met me at the airport and I was immediately disappointed. My prince was wearing a doo-rag with his pants below his butt, and his Ebonics was peppered with Ni@#@ and Rap foolishness. I'm not one to judge but bwoy, what a let down. It was late so we went to the hotel, where, of course, he had weed and smoked. I spent the whole night on the couch hoping I wouldn't be attacked. He emailed me for a long time after that, but I was never into guys like that. more

100,000 JAMAICAN women, girls suffer pelvic disease......"Depending on how severe the disease is, if you don't get treatment, it can result in loss of productivity so you can't attend work or school," .....Shauna Fuller-Clarke, is urging employees and school administrators to become more sensitive

BY TANESHA MUNDLE Obsrever staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, March 03, 2014  

AS the country observes March as Endometriosis Month, co-founder of the Better Awareness and Support for Endometriosis (BASE) Foundation, Shauna Fuller-Clarke, is urging employees and school administrators to become more sensitive to and supportive of the approximately 100,000 women and students grappling with the disease locally.

According to Fuller-Clarke, who has been diagnosed with stage four endometriosis — a condition that occurs when cells from the lining of the uterus grow in other parts of the body causing a string of symptoms including intermittent and/or chronic pelvic pain, bowel or urinary disorders, irregular bleeding, painful menstruation, rectal pain, painful intercourse and infertility — loss of productivity is perhaps the biggest challenge those affected face.

"Depending on how severe the disease is, if you don't get treatment, it can result in loss of productivity so you can't attend work or school," she said. "I know of a university student who had missed her final exams because of the pain she was feeling and when she told the school they thought she was faking the pain and she had to resit the course."

"I also know of another girl who has gone through five jobs because of the number of sick days that she has taken," Fuller-Clarke added. In addition to the loss of productivity, the endometriosis advocate said the disease also affects relationships, in some case resulting in divorce. more

'12 Years A Slave' Wins Best Picture Oscar At 86th Annual Academy Awards.....Best Actor: Matthew... Best Actress: Cate...GOLDEN GIRL: Lupita Nyong'o Gets Standing Ovation... SWEEP: Gravity Grabs Golds... Victories For 'Frozen'... (VIDEO)

Lupita Nyong'o, Best supporting actress

A little more than six months after "12 Years a Slave" debuted at the Telluride Film Festival, Steve McQueen's slavery drama has been named Best Picture at the 2014 Oscars.

Based on the memoir by Solomon Northup, a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841, "12 Years a Slave" topped "American Hustle," "Captain Phillips," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Gravity," "Her," "Nebraska," "Philomena" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" for 2014 Best Picture honors. The film received eight other Oscar nominations this year, also winning awards for Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o) and Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley).

Mr. & Mrs. Will Smith

Will Smith presented McQueen's film, which was also produced by Brad Pitt, with the Best Picture Oscar. Pitt accepted the award before giving way to McQueen, a fellow producer. The 44-year-old made Oscars history by becoming the first black man to win an Oscar in the Best Picture category. (He lost Best Director, however, to Alfonso Cuaron for "Gravity.") McQueen thanked his mother, his children and Pitt. "Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live. This is the legacy of Solomon Northup," McQueen said. He dedicated the Oscar to the people who spent their lives suffering in slavery..... more

IN JAMAICA: Spellbound - Murder, Music, Mystery Grip The Nation....the trial of dancehall star Vybz Kartel and four co-accused has captured full national and international attention....For sociologist and radio talk-show host, Dr Orville Taylor, Kartel, even without his legal worries, is a newsworthy personality who has significant influence,

Spellbound - Murder, Music, Mystery Grip The Nation

Erica Virtue, Senior Gleaner Writer

It is not the most important case to have passed through the island's courtrooms in the last 20 years. It offers no groundbreaking precedent like the Shanique Myrie case before the Caribbean Court of Justice, nor will it change the status quo like the 1993 Pratt and Morgan ruling of the Privy Council.

Vybz Kartel

However, the trial of dancehall star Vybz Kartel and four co-accused has captured full national and international attention.

The self-proclaimed 'World Boss' and leader of the Gaza Empire in Portmore, St Catherine, has been imprisoned for the last 30 months, charged with the murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams.

Courtroom drama

The public is being treated to a daily diet of courtroom drama, including real-time reports about late and sick jurors; temporary adjournments and dramatic legal arguments presented in Patois and English.

But what has made this 'made-for-media' trial so captivating to the public, and why has it attracted this wide a global audience?

Supporters of Vybz Kartel gather outside
 the Supreme Court, downtown Kingston, to
 catch a glimpse of the 'World Boss'.-
Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

For sociologist and radio talk-show host, Dr Orville Taylor, Kartel, even without his legal worries, is a newsworthy personality who has significant influence and following from uptown and downtown.

According to Taylor, one of the factors keeping so many glued to the media is that the main accused is not from uptown.

"The way everything is woven and the tales being told, the issue comes across as something to be watched on (television shows) Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) or Law and Order.

"The personalities involved, from prosecution to accused, to defence, are major factors keeping the nation spellbound," said Taylor... more

IN JAMAICA: PAAC split by Goat Islands issue.....THE row over the proposed Chinese investment in the Goat Islands has become the major issue in Parliament, and has now seeped into at least one committee of the House of Representatives

Sunday, March 02, 2014    

THE row over the proposed Chinese investment in the Goat Islands has become the major issue in Parliament, and has now seeped into at least one committee of the House of Representatives -- the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC).

PHILLIPS (right) and DALEY ...
both believe that
 there is a political agenda

For the past two weeks the question of whether or not the PAAC should invite the Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET), and other stakeholders in the proposed project, to its meeting has dominated issues before the committee.

The members spent more than an hour deliberating on the matter last Thursday, before dealing with the First Supplementary Estimates 2013/14, while public servants invited to the meeting waited in the lobby.

Two weeks ago, members of committee agreed that there was no problem in accepting a request from JET to make a presentation on the environmental issues surrounding the proposed Goat Islands project. In addition, former Minister of Transport and Works, Opposition MP Mike Henry wants the committee to invite other stakeholders, as well, including the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), to answer questions similar to those being sought by JET from the Government.

Government members had no problem with JET being invited to make a presentation, but felt that the issue was not important enough to be included in the current agenda.

Chairman of the committee Edmund Bartlett, on the other hand, thinks that it is important enough to warrant urgent attention from the committee.

On Thursday, as the committee went over the minutes of the previous meeting, the issue arose again, after Henry sought clarification on whether the PAJ would be asked to provide the answers to his questions. The Opposition MP is insisting that there is information which the Port Authority has, based on its discussions with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) on the project, which should be disclosed to the committee. more

Sir Alexander Bustamante, 'Busta set Jamaica back' : New book blames National Hero for political violence, dividing the national unity movement

BY DESMOND ALLEN Executive editor - special assignment allend@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, March 02, 2014 

WHILE the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was celebrating its revered founder Sir Alexander Bustamante last week, a Canadian-based Jamaican journalist was launching a scathing attack on the National Hero for Jamaica’s lack of progress.

Michael Manley (PNP

Against the backdrop of the 130th anniversary of Sir Alexander’s birth, commemorated by the Opposition party on February 24, Ewart ‘Fats’ Walters said Jamaica would have been much farther ahead if Bustamante had not split from the People’s National Party (PNP) and damaged the national movement.

“Jamaica could have been much farther ahead now, had William Alexander Bustamante remained as a supporter of the national movement in which Norman Manley’s People’s National Party played a major role, and not the adversary he became,” Walters wrote in the prologue to his latest book, We Come From Jamaica - The National Movement 1937-1962, 2014.

Norman Manley (L) and Bustamante (R)

Walters said that many Jamaicans had recognised that the two-party system divided the country and fractured the national unity that attended the discussions and activities that began in the late 1930s. The Westminster system of government, derived from the British, created an artificial fractiousness that left the losing party to “oppose, oppose, oppose” regardless, he argued.

“The exciting spirit of creativity, volunteerism and togetherness that was fomented by the movement towards nationhood was blunted the moment in 1943 that Bustamante was persuaded by the British to keep Manley in check by forming his Jamaica Labour Party,” Walters said.

Walters, who is remembered for the time when he was deputy editor of the now defunct Jamaica Daily News, also quoted another author, Obika Gray, who wrote Demeaned but Empowered, blaming Bustamante for the introduction of political violence in Jamaica. more

5 POLICEMEN KILLED THIS MAN, LUIS RODRIGUEZ IN FRONT OF HIS WIFE. THEIR VIDEOTAPED REACTIONS ARE HORRIFYING.....be warned it is extremely distressing,

Even the police say that the worst Luis Rodriguez did was "fail to cooperate" when asked for his identification. But five officers still felt it was necessary to pepper spray the man and tackle him to the ground, crushing him and causing his death in front of his family.

Rodriguez's wife, Nair, videotaped the incident with her phone and can be heard crying and begging police for an explanation. Around 0:53, the officers seem to realize something is wrong and all stand up, giving each other anxious looks as the man's body lays perfectly still.

Nearly as disturbing as Nair's emotional distress is the nonchalance of the officers. At 1:15 in the video, one officer even appears to make a callous shrugging gesture towards Nair's camera, as if to say, "what do you want from me?"

The family has made the raw video available to the public, but be warned it is extremely distressing, particularly Nair's heartbreaking screams when she realizes her husband has been killed. more

WESTMORELAND, JAMAICA: Norwell Prep Has One Shot To Repeat Success....SHARA-KAY ALLEN, the lone entrant in the upcoming March 2014 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) for Norwell Preparatory

Norwell Prep Has One Shot To Repeat Success

WESTERN BUREAU: Karrie Williams, Gleaner Writer

Norwell Preparatory's GSAT student 
Shara-Kay Allen and principal Noreen
 Rodney are all smiles as they go
 through a textbook. -
 PHOTOS BY KARRIE WILLIAMS

SHARA-KAY ALLEN, the lone entrant in the upcoming March 2014 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) for Norwell Preparatory School, Westmoreland, has her school standing firmly behind her, offering maximum support.

She will have the task of defending the school's record of achievement in GSAT, which saw the institution placing among the three schools from the parish which managed to surpass the national GSAT average last year.

While having just one student sitting the GSAT from a student population of 17, principal Noreen Rodney said careful preparations are being done to ensure that the school's high average is maintained.

"We cultivate an intimate learning atmosphere where we target students based on their individual learning needs," said Rodney. "Whatever it takes to have our students excel, we are willing to do it."

Extra sessions

She said 'sleepover classes', which take place two nights per week, along with weekend classes, are used to prepare the students sitting the GSAT. Also, students are constantly assessed on their level of learning, and any problems identified are handled in the extra classes....more

EDITORIAL by Nadine Queen: SOLUTIONS TO HELP ERADICATE THE VICIOUS MURDERS/CRIME RATE & POVERTY IN JAMAICA.

by Nadine Queen
March 1, 2014

It's a little too late but at least they are realizing they have a problem...
However, to quell or eradicate crime and criminals in Jamaica they have to start with the manipulators & Instigators, the bigger heads of command who are the bosses who gives the orders.

Stop the flow of the Guns in the Country and then start with the young kids, by educating them and letting them see that the country do care about their well-being i.e; their need to be successful at whatever ambitious/career path they so choose...A child without direction/education is a child lost...He/she then becomes an adult who is ignorant/dyslexic/illiterate/angry & arrogant and knowing nothing means you have no reason to live or be remorseful about anyone or anything/they feel they have no self-worth. 

Their solution is to turn to VIOLENCE & GUNS because that is where their strength lies. A country that has no job to offer its children upon graduating/leaving School is a society headed for doom/demolition. You cannot build a country on un-educated youths and POVERTY, that is a Recipe for Crime & Criminals...

Poverty leads to no education (vice versa) no education leads to poverty...Kids need some form of assurance and direction and if they aren't getting it from their parents or their government then they will find their own solutions. A great Country & a Crime-less country starts with EDUCATION & JOBS a lot of these professors and Politicians need to be mentors to some of these Children and must NOT keep Success and education to themselves but to share what they have learned and accomplish over the years with the younger Generations. 

When people are frustrated and fed up they resort to VIOLENCE so if the politicians and bigger heads reach and teach, that is how you prevent Crime & Poverty. Each one teaches one...Give a man a fish you only feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for life. 

Jamaica is a beautiful Country and it's People, but we need to be EDUCATED and spread more LOVE & EMPATHY. Just my views though. N.Q.