ST. JAMES, JAMAICA: 14-year-old boy arrested & Teenage female becomes 2nd suspect in connection with the brutal killing of 9 y-o Romaine Robinson

ST JAMES, Jamaica -- A 14-year-old boy was Friday morning arrested in connection with the brutal killing of nine-year-old Romaine Robinson, whose body was found bound and gagged in bushes in Plantation Heights, St James, on Thursday.
Information reaching OBSERVER ONLINE is that the boy is likely to be charged for Romaine's murder.
Reports are that both boys had an altercation sometime shortly before the murder.
The police have denied earlier reports that the 14-year-old has confessed to murdering nine-year-old Romaine.
Gwendolyn Todd-Foster, grandmother of
nine-year-old Romaine Robinson, and
 Robert Anderson, a community member, reflect
 on the death of the little boy, Thursday.
(PHOTO: ALAN LEWIN)
A female has become the second suspect linked to yesterday’s murder of nine-year-old Romaine Robinson who was found stabbed to death in Plantation Heights in Cambridge, St James yesterday. 
 
Earlier today, the police reported that a 14-year-old Cambridge High School male student confessed to the killing. The teenage boy, who reportedly committed the murder, was arrested by the St James police this morning. It is reported that the teen who also resides in Plantation Heights fought with the nine-year-old boy before killing him. 

READ:Nine-year-old MoBay boy murdered ... body found in bushes with throat slashed 

The police say arrangements are being made for the teen to be questioned in the presence of his parents and attorneys. Romaine Robinson, a grade-three student at the Bickersteth Primary School, was found by a citizen who stumbled upon his bloodied body about 4:30 yesterday morning. Excerpted from the Observer and The Gleaner.

115 y-o, Jeralean Talley Is The Oldest Living American..... Has Some Perfectly Simple Advice Worth Following 1) Follow the Golden Rule 2) Always have a sense of humor 3) Keep active 4) But don't be afraid to occasionally indulge & more..... (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post  | by  Kate Abbey-Lambertz
Happy Birthday, Mother Talley!
Jeralean Talley is America's oldest living woman on record. And as she turns 115, we'd all do well to follow her example.
"Mother Talley," as she's sometimes called, celebrates her birthday Friday. Born in 1899, the supercentenarian has seen three centuries, and still seems to be going strong. According to the Associated Press, she's visiting the doctor Friday, but still feels healthy.
The Gerontology Research Group keeps a record of the validated longest-living people in the world. According to the GRG, Misao Okawa, who is 116 and lives in Japan, is the oldest living person. Talley is a close second.
Talley lives in Inkster, Mich. but was born Jeralean Kurtz in Montrose, Ga. She lived on a farm where she picked cotton and peanuts, according to Time. She moved to Michigan in 1935 and married her husband, Alfred Talley, in 1936. The two were together 52 years before he died. more

STERLINGS TO SELL THE BASKETBALL TEAM Los Angeles Clippers: Donald Sterling Agrees To Let Wife Negotiate Sale Of Clippers: REPORTS STORY DEVELOPING.

The NBA may be able to find new owners for the Los Angeles Clippers without a protracted legal battle with the current ones. Banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling has agreed to allow his wife, Shelly Sterling, to negotiate the sale of the team, according to TMZ and ESPN.
Donald Sterling & wife, Shelly Sterling,
The longtime owner of the Clippers, Sterling was banned from the NBA and hit with a $2.5 million fine over racist remarks heard in audio recordings that were made public in April. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear when announcing the sanctions on April 29 that he would urge the league's other owners to force a sale of the Clippers.
Shelly Sterling is currently negotiating with the NBA to sell the team, reported TMZ on Friday.
Citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN subsequently reported that Shelly and her legal team have been negotiatingwith the NBA since the ban was issued.
STORY DEVELOPING... more 
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What Should I Do If My Pastor Attempts to Sleep With Me?

BY MARIA IN CHRISTIAN NEWS · MAY 22, 2014 
The spirit of sëxual immorality has tormented so many that they do not even realize they are in bondage. It is such a sorry state to know that some men of God allow themselves to be the workshop of the devil and let the temple of the Lord get soiled with sins of sëxual lust. It is God’s will that He dwells in us and for us to be vessels of honor to Him alone. God, through Paul, in the book of 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 says that it is his will that we stay holy and away from sëxual sin. Each and every person should control himself and live in holiness and honor and not in lustful passions like pagans who do not know God and His ways.
Brian Skyz teaches Christians what to do in the event that their pastor attempts to have sex with them. www.allchristiannews.comShould anyone get caught in a situation where his or her pastor wants him to indulge in sëxual sin, he or she should not condemn him as he is also human and thus subject to temptation. The victim should not give in but firmly stand to his or her Christian values. The victim should without any fear whatsoever let the pastor know that he or she fears the wrath of God as his/her body is the Lord’s temple and defiling it with sëxual sin is too great a sin to commit.
Should the advances continue even after several attempts of warnings, the victim should not go straight ahead to air the pastor’s misconducts since he is neither without blemish. Instead, the victim should try and keep the matter very discreet and try to get the pastor help from the proper source by reporting the matter to the highest authority in church.
We should not let the desires of the flesh overwhelm us as Galatians 5: 19 warn us that when you follow the desires of your sinful nature the results are sëxual immorality, uncleanliness, and impurity which draw us away from God.......by Brian Skyz

CHIKUNGUNYA VIRUS: 'It is terrible'.... Painful and rapid spread of new virus in Caribbean....They suffer searing headaches, a burning fever and so much pain in their joints they can barely walk or use their hands. It's like having a terrible flu combined with an abrupt case of arthritis.

By EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ  Friday, May 23, 2014    
SAN CRISTOBAL, Dominican Republic (AP) — They suffer searing headaches, a burning fever and so much pain in their joints they can barely walk or use their hands. It's like having a terrible flu combined with an abrupt case of arthritis.
In this May 15, 2014 photo, five-year-old Karla Sepulveda,
who suffers chikungunya fever symptoms, waits with her
 grandmother for treatment in the paediatric area of a public
 hospital in the coastal town of Boca Chica, Dominican Republic.
The mosquito-borne virus, common in Africa and Asia, arrived
in the Caribbean in late 2013 and has affected more than
 10,000 people in the Dominican Republic. (PHOTO: AP)
Hospitals and clinics throughout the Caribbean are seeing thousands of people with the same symptoms, victims of a virus with a long and unfamiliar name that has been spread rapidly by mosquitoes across the islands after the first locally transmitted case was confirmed in December.
"You feel it in your bones, your fingers and your hands. It's like everything is coming apart," said 34-year-old Sahira Francisco as she and her daughter waited for treatment at a hospital in San Cristobal, a town in the southern Dominican Republic that has seen a surge of the cases in recent days.
The virus is chikungunya, derived from an African word that loosely translates as "contorted with pain". People encountering it in the Caribbean for the first time say the description is fitting. While the virus is rarely fatal it is extremely debilitating.
"It is terrible, I have never in my life gotten such an illness," said Maria Norde, a 66-year-old woman confined to bed at her home on the lush eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. "All my joints are in pain."
Outbreaks of the virus have long made people miserable in Africa and Asia. But it is new to the Caribbean, with the first locally transmitted case documented in December in French St Martin, likely brought in by an infected air traveller. Health officials are now working feverishly to educate the public about the illness, knock down the mosquito population, and deal with an onslaught of cases. more

TESSANNE CHIN and The Dancing Junkanoo at Atlantis in CANADA (VIDEO).


After supper Tessanne was treated to some local form of entertainment as some 
of her fans, who also worked at the hotel got her involved in a little Junkanoo

Sweet 58th Celebration...This year's Sugar Minott's Day Tribute will be a day earlier than Minott's actual 58th birthday, which is on May 25.

Curtis Campbell, Gleaner Writer Published: Friday | May 23, 2014 
Sugar Minott
Sugar Minott
Minott Movements and Black Roots have collaborated to host the fourth staging of Sugar Minott's Day Tribute, in honour of the late dancehall godfather Lincoln 'Sugar' Minott, tomorrow. It will be held at Youth Man Promotions HQ, 1 Robert Crescent, Kingston 5.
This year's Sugar Minott's Day Tribute will be a day earlier than Minott's actual 58th birthday, which is on May 25.
The event, which started in the US, promises to deliver strong musical displays and performances from some of Jamaica's best entertainers. Minott, who died in 2010, was well known for songs such as Herbman Hustling, Good Thing GoingMr DCBuy Out The Bar and Never Gonna Give Jah Up, among many others.
The concert's theme this year is 'Unity is Strength' and Minott's daughter Pashon said it is relevant as Minott's offspring are now combining their efforts.
SPECIAL DAY
Capleton
CAPLETON
"We are all working together to make the day special. Our father was a very peaceful man, so this is what he would have wanted. Patrons turning out will get a chance to see the Minott children performing. Blaw Minott, Blay Minott and myself will be giving performances, as well as his grandchildren, Destiny M and Swag J," she said.
The Minott family will also host a family and fans get-together on Sunday, May 25, where they will be showing videos of Sugar Minott's performances as well as playing music from his lengthy catalogue. That will also be held at Youth Man Promotions HQ. more

IN JAMAICA: Change The Law - Gov't Implored To Allow Squatters To Get On The Electricity Grid.....Kelly Tomblin, president and chief executive officer of JPS, is stressing that the path must be cleared for legitimate electricity supply to be made readily accessible to informal settlers

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer Published: Friday | May 23, 2014
Shocked by the spate of electricity theft across the island, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is urging the Government to amend local laws to empower informal settlers or squatters to apply for electricity service.
Squatters land
Kelly Tomblin, president and chief executive officer of JPS, is stressing that the path must be cleared for legitimate electricity supply to be made readily accessible to informal settlers who are without proof of home-ownership documents.
Persons who, for years, have squatted on lands are often without documents that grant them access to electricity under existing laws, leaving them with no option but to access electricity illegally.
It's not only squatters who stand to benefit from her proposal to remove the strictures requiring documentary proof of ownership to access legitimate electricity from JPS.
Scores of other Jamaicans who live in houses without the requisite documentary proof of ownership and are not able to legally access power supply would benefit as well.
Kelly Tomblin
KELLY TOMBLIN
Tomblin stressed yesterday in a Gleaner Editors' Forum that sought to shed light on the proliferation of electricity theft throughout the country that the "no document" obstacle must be removed forthwith.
In the ongoing fight against the scourge involving approximately 200,000 Jamaicans, Tomblin stressed that an administrative solution to the problem is needed. more

JAMAICANS to put work in Labour Day today.....DAHLIA Harris, principal director of culture and chair of the National Labour Day Committee, said she also added that so far she has seen projects from all 14 parishes across the island.

Friday, May 23, 2014    
DAHLIA Harris, principal director of culture and chair of the National Labour Day Committee, said she is satisfied with the level of participation and engagement of the Jamaican people, given the large number of projects registered for Labour Day today.
Corporal Melvin Smith (right) of the Manchester Police
 Division and others are busy painting Mandeville Regional
 Hospital on Labour Day. (PHOTOS: GREGORY BENNETT)
"The Labour Day Secretariat is quite pleased with the number of projects that have been registered so far. We are, however, still encouraging individuals, service clubs, schools, and other organisations that have not yet registered their projects to still do so," Harris said.
The types of projects, she said, include planting of trees, construction, erecting of fences, renovations, painting of pedestrian crossings, and raking and bushing. She also added that so far she has seen projects from all 14 parishes across the island. This, she said, speaks volumes to the emphasis Jamaicans place on improving lives and creating a better environment for their fellow citizens to live in.
The Ministry of Youth and Culture said several private sector companies have given financial support for the several Labour Day projects, the latest of which was VMBS, which on Monday donated $350,000 towards work to be carried out at the Portmore Climate Change Park.
In handing over the cheque to the Labour Day Secretariat, Janice McKenley, senior vice-president and group chief financial officer, said VMBS was excited to lend support to the national project, as it had a long relationship with the Portmore municipality. more

IN JAMAICA: Boy, 9, ROMAINE ROBINSON stabbed to death, hands and feet bound..... Police vow to find killer of 9-year-old boy who is a grade three student at Bickersteth Primary School here in St James....."Mi caan come to it," a female member of the community said, while another called for divine mercy. "Lord Jesus, have mercy, have mercy, God. Lord God, have mercy,"

BY HORACE HINES Observer staff reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, May 23, 2014    
PLANTATION HEIGHTS, St James — Screams disturbed this normally quiet farming community early yesterday morning after the blood-soaked body of a nine-year-old boy was discovered in bushes with his hands and feet bound.
The murdered boy has been identified as Romaine Robinson, a grade three student at Bickersteth Primary School here in St James.
Family members of Romaine Robinson, who was found dead
 yesterday morning with a stab wound and his hands and feet
bound, mourn after receiving the sad news. (PHOTO: ALAN LEWIN)
There were expressions of anger from the deeply hurt residents who had gathered in various sections of the community to discuss the cruel murder of the little boy.
"Mi caan come to it," a female member of the community said, while another called for divine mercy. "Lord Jesus, have mercy, have mercy, God. Lord God, have mercy," the woman said.
"Mi have mi grandpickney and it could be my grandpickney, [killed]," said another female member of the community.
Residents described Romaine as "a very helpful and willing youth who does not give trouble".
Gwendolyn Todd-Foster, Romaine's grandmother, said that occasionally her grandson, who is left in her care, would sleep at the home of an elderly man who lives close by.
She told the Jamaica Observer that when her grandson did not come home by 10:00 Wednesday night, she assumed he was staying at the elderly man's house.
"Last night... me get up around after 10:00 and go look for him and never see him, so mi figure say a over the old man him deh, [so] me go back to bed. Mi never go over the old man because over deh dark," said the grieving Todd-Foster.
"...So mi say this morning (yesterday) him would come over because when him normally sleep a di old man him come over early a morning time," she said.
But Todd-Foster got the shock of her life when she was summoned early yesterday morning to nearby bushes where the gruesome discovery was made about 4:50 by a man who had gone to relieve himself.
"Mi nephew come knock me up and ask me weh Romaine deh. So mi say him over Nyah (the elderly man). He said Romaine dead. Romaine dead inna one bush over dere so," the grandmother said in a faint voice. She said she went in the bushes where she saw the body of her grandson. more

Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban apologizes to Trayvon Martin family....."If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it's late at night, I'm walking to the other side of the street."

 Thursday, May 22, 2014 | 5:31 PM  
DALLAS (AP) -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apologized Thursday to Trayvon Martin's family over his choice of words in a videotaped interview in which he addressed bigotry and prejudice.
Mark Cuban arrives at the Billboard Music Awards
 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday,
May 18 in Las Vegas. (Photo:AP)
Cuban even revealed some of his own prejudices in the interview with Inc magazine, and said he believes everyone has "prejudices and bigotries" on some level. But after his words -- which came with the NBA still dealing with the fallout over racist remarks made by now-banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling -- created a stir in social media and other circles, Cuban took to Twitter to offer his apology.
"In hindsight I should have used different examples," Cuban wrote. "I didn't consider the Trayvon Martin family, and I apologize to them for that."
Cuban also said he stands by the substance of the interview.
Martin was the black Florida teen who was shot and killed by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in February 2012. Martin was wearing a hooded sweatshirt -- commonly called a ‘hoodie’ -- that night, and that particular piece of clothing became a rallying cry for those who demanded justice.
Zimmerman was eventually acquitted.
"We're all prejudiced in one way or the other," Cuban said in the Inc. interview. "If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it's late at night, I'm walking to the other side of the street. And if on that side of the street, there's a guy that has tattoos all over his face -- white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere -- I'm walking back to the other side of the street. And the list goes on of stereotypes that we all live up to and are fearful of."
When shown that excerpt of the interview Thursday, Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat cringed.
"It's just a sensitive time," Bosh said. more 

LIVERPOOL, LONDON : Man shot in chest by armed police at Liverpool house....Neighbour Craig Chadwick said he saw armed police "move in with all the shooting" after seeing "the fella with a knife to his wife's throat".

A man has been shot in the chest by armed police at a house in Liverpool.The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said investigators were at Shellingford Road, Dovecot, after a "non fatal police shooting".
Police in Dovecot
Police have cordoned off the road while an
 investigation into what happened takes place
Neighbour Craig Chadwick said he saw armed police "move in with all the shooting" after seeing "the fella with a knife to his wife's throat". North West Ambulance Service said the "conscious and breathing" man had been taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital.Merseyside Police said no officers had been injured. The IPCC said that following the shooting, it had "declared an independent investigation".'Horrible'Mr Chadwick said he had heard a police negotiator "trying to calm him down, but he was shaking his head at them". He said the moment armed officers entered the house was "horrible". "They had to throw [smoke] bombs into the house and then an ambulance came about half an hour later." more

This Day in History - May 22 : 1868: The Great Train Robbery takes place near Marshfield, Indiana, as seven members of the Reno gang make off with US$96,000 in cash, gold and bonds.....British model Naomi Campbell of Jamaican descendants was born in Streatham district of South London.

Thursday, May 22, 2014    
Today is the 142nd day of 2014 There are 223 days left in the year.
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT
1868: The Great Train Robbery takes place near Marshfield, Indiana, as seven members of the Reno gang make off with US$96,000 in cash, gold and bonds.
OTHER EVENTS
1761: The first life insurance policy in the United States is issued, in Philadelphia.
1819: The American steamboat Savannah makes its first trans-Atlantic crossing.
1833: A new constitution in Chile gives greater power to the president and establishes Roman Catholicism as state religion.
1822: United States and Korea sign treaty of peace and friendship.
1840: Transportation of British convicts to New South Wales, Australia, officially ends.
1867: Canada becomes the first dominion of the British Empire, gaining a Parliament, cabinet and large measure of independence.
1939: Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini sign "Pact of Steel," a 10-year political and military alliance.
1969: The lunar module of Apollo 10 separates from the command module and flies to within 14 kilometres (nine miles) of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.

On May 22nd 1970, British model Naomi Campbell of Jamaican descendants was born in Streatham district of South London. Naomi established herself among the top three most recognizable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and the 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared “supermodels” by the fashion world. 

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS
Richard Wagner, German composer (1813-1883); Mary Cassatt, US impressionist painter (1844-1926); Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, English author (1859-1930); Daniel F Malan, South African statesman, instituted apartheid (1874-1959); Sir Laurence Olivier, English actor (1907-1989); Bernard Shaw, US journalist (1940- ); Naomi Campbell, British model (1970- ); Bernie Taupin, songwriter (1950- )

JAMAICAN ganja — the race against time..... Three-day conference at UWI will tell law-makers opportunities slipping away...."We are 40 years late," said Dr Albert Lockhart, a leading opthalmologist who helped pioneer marijuana derived medicines such as Canasol for treating glaucoma, the eye disease and Asmasol for asthma sufferers.

BY DESMOND ALLEN executive editor - special assignment allend@jamaicaobserver  Thursday, May 22, 2014   
JAMAICA is already over 40 years behind in decriminalisation of ganja and a three-day conference which kicks off today at the University of the West Indies (UWI) will signal to legislators here that time is not on Jamaica's side.
"We are 40 years late," said Dr Albert Lockhart, a leading opthalmologist who helped pioneer marijuana derived medicines such as Canasol for treating glaucoma, the eye disease and Asmasol for asthma sufferers.
Lockhart, and the late Dr Manley West of the UWI intensified medical research on ganja in 1972 after then Health Minister Dr Kenneth McNeill invited them to address parliamentarians on their work and gave them permission to collect, transport and do research on the weed within the bounds of Jamaica.
The duo produced five drugs, starting with Canasol in 1976. When they saw the potential for greater success, they partnered with the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) which was being run by the visionary William Saunders to form a commercial enterprise called AMPEC, a combination of the names Albert, Manley and Petroleum Corporation. In 1987, they produced Asmasol.
"We have other drugs that are not yet registered because registration is very expensive," Lockhart said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, adding that the selling agents in Jamaica for AMPEC is Health Brands Limited.
Lockhart argued that Jamaica should have been much farther ahead in production of ganja for medicinal purposes but that the ball was dropped after the 1972 parliamentary committee breakthrough.
Science Minister Phillip Paulwell assured ganja advocates that decriminalisation of the weed would come this year but while the legal fine-tuning is being done, the rest of the world, led by a fast growing number of American states, is racing to decriminalise cannabis. Colorado, first out of the block with legalisation, is reporting millions of dollars in taxes raised from rapid sales of the weed, boosted by apparently successful treatment of children with epilepsy. more

IN JAMAICA: Two Mobile Reserve cops arrested, denied bail as part of a 'Police Death Squad'.....The lawmen, Constable Shannon Allen and Sergeant Mario Taylor were taken into custody yesterday and charged with the February 28 murder of Adolphus Reader in May Pen, Clarendon.

BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, May 22, 2014    
TWO Kingston-based policemen, alleged to be part of a 'police death squad', were yesterday denied bail when they appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on charges of murder.
The lawmen, Constable Shannon Allen and Sergeant Mario Taylor, who were stationed at Mobile Reserve, were taken into custody yesterday and charged with the February 28 murder of Adolphus Reader in May Pen, Clarendon.
The case was initially reported as a fatal shooting, but investigations carried out by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) reportedly found that the incident was part of a series of unlawful killings that were being undertaken by the police.
INDECOM's head, Terrence Williams, in outlining the allegations yesterday in court, said the constabulary had reported that police officers went to accost Reader when he allegedly pointed a firearm at them and was shot and killed.
Williams told the court that an eyewitness reported that the policemen went into a room and were engaged in a conversation with Reader before killing him. A Browning pistol was allegedly recovered from Reader, but INDECOM is contending that the firearm was planted on the victim as spent shells that were recovered from another shooting incident in May Pen involving the police matched the pistol that was recovered. In that shooting incident Adif Washington was allegedly shot and killed while he was at the May Pen Hospital by two masked men. Two policemen were later charged with his death following forensic evidence, INDECOM said.
Williams, after outlining the allegations, submitted an affidavit to Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey, which noted that bail was being opposed on the grounds that the officers might interfere with the witnesses if they are granted bail, and that the witnesses were unwilling to cooperate while the policemen were free, and also that the policemen may abscond bail.
In court yesterday, attorney Carolyn Reid-Cameron, who represents both men, said her clients had a constitutional right to be granted bail on the presumption of innocence, and that the primary consideration of the court should be whether or not they would return to court if bail was granted. more

THE Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) now advocating for decriminalisation of same-sex acts...... Gays change position..... “So, for instance, if a little boy or little girl should be raped in the anus, in the absence of the buggery law, there is no protection.

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, May 22, 2014    
THE Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) said it is no longer calling for a wholesale repeal of the buggery law, but for the decriminalisation of sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex.
In light of this, the community said it is not in agreement with the recent call by Opposition Leader Andrew Holness for the buggery law to be put to a referendum. Holness, who was speaking recently in Parliament, called on the Portia Simpson Miller-led Government to allow Jamaicans to decide whether the buggery law should be repealed through a referendum.
However, J-FLAG said a wholesale repeal of the buggery law would not be helpful to anyone because it would create a lacuna in the law.
“So, for instance, if a little boy or little girl should be raped in the anus, in the absence of the buggery law, there is no protection. So, as it is right now, the buggery law does serve some useful purpose, but it is problematic for consenting adults in private,” said Brian Paul, sub-regional co-ordinator of the Caribbean Forum of the Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS) and advocate for J-FLAG.
According to Paul, a repeal would not necessarily be helpful because of the narrow definition of sex under the Sexual Offences Act of Jamaica. Under the Act, sex is defined as the penetration of a vagina by a penis, and by extension rape is defined as non-consensual sex between a man and a woman.
“Because rape is so narrowly defined, if it is a non-vaginal sexual assault, anal for instance, then the buggery law does serve some useful purpose, as the buggery law is the only way you can treat with ‘anal rape’,” Paul said.
He argued that a repeal of that law without requisite amendments to the Sexual Offences Act to make rape gender-and orifice-neutral would not benefit anyone.
“So what we have been calling for is for the buggery law to be reviewed, or limited, so as not to criminalise the consenting sexual habits of adults in private,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
This, he said, would be an amendment to the law to allow for consent as a defence, and for adults to engage in intercourse as they see fit, while allowing others to have the protection of the law if there is non-consensual buggery. more

BEAUTIFUL NEWS: Dr. Erika Hayes James Named Emory University Business School’s First Black Dean..... She has also distinguished herself as a consultant to several Fortune 500 companies

May 21, 2014 By NewsOne Staff
Emory University has announced that a black woman will become the next dean of its Goizueta Business School, making history among top business school programs. Erika Hayes James, a former senior associate dean for executive education at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, will assume her new role in mid July. James holds a Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan and has also distinguished herself as a consultant to several Fortune 500 companies. From Emory:
erikabannerhomepage-e1400679724294
Dr. Erika Hayes James
Emory’s business school, founded 95 years ago, was honored to take its current name in 1994 from Roberto C. Goizueta, the innovative and influential business leader who served as chair and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company from 1981 until his death in 1997. Central to his vision and the school’s mission are excellence and principled leadership, which set Goizueta apart from others and greatly impact the experience of students and the curriculum.
“Erika James has all of the qualities that we want for a leader at Goizueta,” says Provost Sterk, who led the international search. “She brings a background of impressive scholarship and strong skills in academic administration, and she will work collaboratively with faculty, students, staff, alumni and supporters to take the school to the next level—all the while honoring the principled leadership of Mr. Goizueta’s legacy.” more

Controversial Photo of Willow Smith With Older Man Makes Moms Panic

13 y-o WILLOW SMITH
Admit it: you would have killed to have parents like Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith when you were 13. I know I would have saved myself a lot of humiliation and the trouble of telling lies my parents never believed anyway just so I could go do something stupid that I shouldn't have been doing in the first place. Well,Willow Smith has no such concerns.
The ridiculously hip -- as in waaaay too hip for someone barely out of her tweens -- daughter of the coolest parents ever was recently photographed hanging out on her bed with actor Moises Arias. Oh yeah,Moises is 20 and isn't wearing a shirt. Sounds a lot like what you were doing at 13, right?!

Excerpted from hellobeautiful.com

MAMA BEAR RESCUES Baby BEAR: Heroic Rescue Shows The True Meaning Of 'Mama Bear' (VIDEO) #RulaBrownNetwork

4 Million On The Edge Of Starvation In South Sudan.....Third Of South Sudan's Population Faces Starvation says Reuters

South SudanOSLO, May 20 (Reuters) - More than a third of South Sudan's population, 4 million people, will be on the edge of starvation by the end of the year as fighting rages on in the world's newest country, U.N. officials said on Tuesday.

Clashes between rebels and government forces have wrecked food markets and forced people to abandon their livestock and land, the aid experts added.

"We are losing time. Farmers should be planting their crops right now," Valerie Amos, the United Nations' aid chief, told a donors' conference in Oslo.

"If they don't, and if livestock herders are not able to migrate to grazing areas, people will run out of food." Violence erupted in the oil-producing country in December following a long power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar.

Kiir told the BBC that "the civilian population is going to face one of the worst famines that has ever been witnessed in South Sudan" and appealed to Machar for an end to the conflict.

"We have to stop this fighting so that we save the people's lives," Kiir said in the interview, first broadcast on Monday, adding aid must be allowed to reach civilians. Both sides have blamed the other for violating two ceasefire deals agreed since the conflict first erupted in mid-December. more

Entertainment : David Madden gives ‘good measure’....A JAMAICAN with over 50 years in the music industry to his credit, trumpeter David Madden still keeps in tune with modern trends.

 BY CECELIA CAMPBELL-LIVINGSTON Observer staff reporter livingstonc@jamaicaobserver.com  Wednesday, May 21, 2014    
WITH over 50 years in the music industry to his credit, trumpeter David Madden still
keeps in tune with modern trends.
His latest project is a self-produced four-song EP titled 4 Good Measure, released on April 25.
DAVID MADDEN
Cherrio, The Big Bang, Roots Man Love Song and the title song are on the mini set which is the follow-up to last
year's Pon De Internet, Madden's first EP.
Said the veteran musician: the latter "went well enough to have me looking forward and doing this new one".
Like the songs on Pon De Internet, 4 Good Measure blends contemporary beats with the sounds Madden was weaned on at Alpha Boys' School in Kingston.
Madden joined the Jamaica Military Band in his late teens, then went on to a successful career as a session musician at Studio One, as a composer/arranger with saxophonist Cedric Brooks and founding member of the Zap Pow band.
He enjoyed success with Zap Pow, playing on outstanding songs like Mystic Mood and This is Reggae Music.
Madden has always embraced reggae's evolution. In the 1990s, he played on roots classics like Everton Blender's Lift up Your Head and Raid The Barn by Anthony B. more