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IN JAMAICA: Nine new child ambassadors appointed....Lisa Hanna hailed the Child Ambassador programme as an excellent one...The 2014-2016 group consists of eight girls and one boy, ranging in age from 11 to 16 years who will serve for a period of two years.

Friday, June 13, 2014    
The Office of the Children's Registry (OCR) has appointed nine new Child Ambassadors who will help to raise awareness of issues surrounding child abuse and other matters affecting children across the island.
The 2014-2016 group consists of eight girls and one boy, ranging in age from 11 to 16 years who will serve for a period of two years.
Newly appointed Child Ambassadors pose with LIME
Corporate Communications Manager Elon Parkinson.
 (Front row left to right) Suzanna Hyde of St James,
Richard Bradshaw of St Mary, Diandra Dixon of
Kingston and St Andrew, Rueyella Blake of Manchester.
Back row (L-R) Nicole Raymond of Trelawny, Daniela
 Woodbine of Westmoreland, Kemoy Perry of St Catherine
 and Zoe Lawrence of St Thomas.
The ambassadors are: Diandra Dixon of Ardenne High School; Zoe Lawrence, Yallahs High; Richard Bradshaw, Carron Hall High; Nicole Raymond, Westwood High; Suzanna Hyde, Mount Alvernia Preparatory; Daniela Woodbine, Belmont Academy; Rueyella Blake, Manchester High; Kemoy Perry, Immaculate Conception High; and Kashielle Clarke of Glenmuir High.
Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna hailed the Child Ambassador programme as an excellent one as children are more likely to talk to their peers when they are being abused.
Hanna who was delivering the keynote address at the recent launch of the OCR's Child Ambassador's Awards Ceremony at Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston said 41 per cent of the cases of child abuse reported to the OCR is about neglect, followed closely at 37 per cent by reports of children in need of care and protection. She also explained that cases of sexual abuse are third on the list of reported abuse cases.
The minister congratulated the new ambassadors on their appointment and urged them to work closely with the OCR, the Child Development Agency (CDA) and the ministry to devise ways to get children to speak out about their experiences.
"You are going to have to say to them 'nothing is going to happen to you, you are protected; don't let anybody tell you that you should not speak out, because you will bring shame on your family, or they will pay you'," Hanna urged.
She advised the ambassadors that the position comes with responsibility and charged them to carry themselves in a manner that will make others want to speak to them.
"It is a position that comes with tremendous integrity and that integrity means that you will have to carry yourself in a particular way that people will trust you, and that you hold what they say to you in a manner that gives them confidence that you are there to protect them," Hanna said.
She reiterated that the ministry and related agencies are not leaving anything to chance, so they are focused and strategic in their activities to improve the lives of the nation's children. more

JAMAICAN track star, Usain Bolt and tennis star, Serena Williams bring star power to NBA Finals in Miami, Florida....Heat vs. Spurs game 4

Photo: Bolt and Serena bring star power to NBA Finals..
MIAMI, Florida - American Tennis player Serena Williams and Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt watch Game Four of the 2014 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs at American Airlines Arena in Florida last night. (PHOTO: AFP/GETTY IMAGES). #BringBackOurJamaica #NBAFinals #RulaBrownNetwork
Serena & Bolt at NBA Finals
Bolt and Serena bring star power to NBA Finals..
MIAMI, Florida - American Tennis player Serena Williams and Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt watch Game Four of the 2014 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs at American Airlines Arena in Florida last night. (PHOTO: AFP/GETTY IMAGES). #BringBackOurJamaica #NBAFinals#RulaBrownNetwork

IN JAMAICA: FREE UP DI WEED....Bill approved to relax ganja possession penalties....JAMAICA'S legislators have approved the amendment of the Dangerous Drugs Act to facilitate the decriminalisation of possession of small amounts of ganja.

Friday, June 13, 2014  
JAMAICA'S legislators have approved the amendment of the Dangerous Drugs Act to facilitate the decriminalisation of possession of small amounts of ganja.
The announcement was made by Justice Minister Mark Golding during a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kingston yesterday.
Bill approved to relax ganja possession penalties
"Cabinet has approved certain changes to the law relating to ganja. These relate to the possession of small quantities of ganja for personal use, the smoking of ganja in private places and the use of ganja for medical/medicinal purposes," Golding said.
He also announced that Cabinet had also approved the decriminalisation of ganja for religious use and said he hoped the law would be amended by early September.
Golding's announcement came on the heels of recent calls by the Opposition for individuals who are held smoking a spliff to not be given a criminal record.
With the proposed changes, people caught in possession of ganja weighing two ounces or less will not be arrested but will be ticketed and required to pay a fine. These offenders will not be brought before a criminal court or attract a criminal record.
Golding said failure to pay the fine after 30 days will result in a minor offence punishable in a Petty Sessions Court.
The law will allow for individuals held in possession of ganja, such as an adolescent or a person deemed to be totally dependent on the herb, to be taken before the court to be evaluated and referred to the National Council for Drug Abuse for counselling.
He, however, warned that ganja smoking will not be permitted in public spaces.
"Smoking of ganja should be absorbed into the general non-smoking regime, with the same penalty structure, except that the smoking of ganja will be permitted in private places," he said.
Rastafarians have long called for the legalisation of the weed as a sacrament. Yesterday, Golding said that special provisions were being made for the smoking of ganja by Rastafarians in places designated for their religious worship.
"We consider that Jamaica's Parliament, as the promulgator of the Charter of Rights, is in a position to express its conviction that religious use of ganja ought not to be criminalised, given Jamaica's history and prevailing socio-cultural environment," he said.
Ganja has a wide range of medicinal uses, including treatment for people suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, asthma and epileptic seizures and Golding said the amendment to decriminalise the weed for medicinal purposes would allow people afflicted with these illnesses to stop doing using it illegally.
In addition, the law would also be amended to allow for ganja to be grown for medical and industrial uses. more 

ST. JAMES, JAMAICA: 'Put a shot in her head.... Man recalls how gunman ordered crony to kill his spouse in Irwin attack....Eulis Jones Hamilton was shot in the head Wednesday evening by one of about four gunmen who invaded her home and robbed her of cash amounting to approximately $200,000.

Friday, June 13, 2014    
IRWIN, St James - Detectives were up to last evening working feverishly to apprehend the gunmen who robbed and killed 54-year-old Eulis Jones Hamilton, mother of Jamaica Observer reporter Simone Morgan.
01
A grieving Lyron Winn is comforted by a family friend,
yesterday. (PHOTOS: ALAN LEWIN)
Hamilton was shot in the head Wednesday evening by one of about four gunmen who invaded her home and robbed her of cash amounting to approximately $200,000.
According to Lyrol Winn, spouse of the deceased, the incident happened shortly after he and his 12-year-old grandson returned from a grocery shop where they had gone to purchase bottled water.
"I walked at the back and she (Hamilton) let me in and I put down the water. Just as I stepped back and held on to the grille to lock it, a man from outside 'jook' mi with a gun and tell mi to step back inside the house and don't look at him," a grieving Winn told reporters.
He related that his grandson walked into the armed intruders, who placed them both to lie down on the floor. The attackers then warned Winn and his grandson not to look at their faces.
"Lying on the ground, one of them took off my hat and put it over my face and seh 'don't even take a glimpse at me'. Mi lying down there, dem go through mi pocket, take out everything, including telephone, money and so forth," he recounted, adding that the men told his grandson that he was too young to die.
HAMILTON... shot in the head
"Only one man first pounced and after him come in, the rest come in. I heard four different voices," Winn said.
The armed invaders then went to where Hamilton was and cleaned a safe that contained money she had earlier collected from tenants who occupy three apartments on the premises.
Still not satisfied, the burglars gun-butted the woman after they ordered her to empty a drawer in which they thought more cash was hidden.
"One took mi from the kitchen and carried mi in to the passage near where the money was kept and mi hear mi wife bawl out and say 'why you lick mi inna mi face with the gun fah and mi give you all of the money?" Winn recalled. "And when they opened the draw and saw that there was no more money, one said 'come we cut'. Then they stepped out."
Winn said as the group of men was about to leave, one of them ordered his spouse's killing.
"When them reach the back door mi hear one of them seh, 'put a shot in her [expletive] head'. Mi hear a foot coming in back in the house and [hear a voice] seh don't move, boy, stay same place; and him step past me and me hear an explosion and him jump back over me and run out," he recounted.
"A deh so now mi get up. And mi see her (Hamilton) lie down and me say 'Mummy! Mummy! and then mi just see the blood a flow out of her head back and mi realise seh she gone lef' wi," he added.
Hamilton's only surviving child, Observer reporter Simone Morgan, was a picture of grief yesterday as she remembered her mother as being very protective.
"She was a lady, she was one of the quietest persons I know; maybe too quiet. She was very, very mild-tempered," a teary-eyed Morgan said. more

WAR IN A BABYLON: 'WE WILL MARCH TOWARD BAGHDAD'....Militants: 'We Have An Account To Settle There'... Obama: Won't Rule Out Anything... Senior Official: 'No Boots On The Ground'... EARLIER: Fighters Seize Saddam Hussein's Hometown... Iraqi Kurds Seize Oil-Rich City Of Kirkuk... Iraq Asked U.S. For Airstrikes... Senior U.S. Official: 'It Makes You Want To Kill Yourself'... MAP: Where ISIS Is Gaining... 'By Invading, Occupying And Looting Iraq, Bush And Cheney Brought Al-Qaeda Into The Country'... LIVE UPDATES...

BAGHDAD (AP) — The al-Qaida-inspired group that led this week's charge in capturing two key Sunni-dominated cities in Iraq vowed Thursday to march on to Baghdad, raising fears about the Shiite-led government's ability to slow the assault following lightning gains.
War in Iraq...When Will It End?
Signs emerged that the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant is backed in its campaign by former military officers and other members of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's regime — including a force led by Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the late leader's former deputy who escaped the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and eluded U.S. and Iraqi forces ever since.
As world leaders expressed alarm over the destabilization of large parts of the country by fighters from the militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the U.N. Security Council met on the crisis, but there is little prospect of any action by the body.
President Barack Obama said Iraq will need more help from the United States, but he did not specify what it would be willing to provide. Senior U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name said Washington is considering whether to conduct drone missions in Iraq.
In the north, Kurdish security forces took over an air base and other posts abandoned by the Iraqi military in ethnically mixed Kirkuk, a senior official with the Kurdish forces said. He denied they had taken over the oil-rich city.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked parliament this week to declare a state of emergency that would give him increased powers to run the country, but the lawmakers Thursday failed to assemble a quorum to do so. more

Ruby Dee Dead: Legendary Actress And Civil Rights Activist Dies At 91

NEW YORK (AP) — Ruby Dee, an acclaimed actress and civil rights activist whose versatile career spanned stage, radio television and film, has died at age 91, according to her daughter.
RUBY DEENora Davis Day told The Associated Press on Thursday that her mother died at home in New Rochelle on Wednesday night of "natural causes."
Dee, who frequently acted alongside her husband of 56 years, Ossie Davis, was with loved ones, she added.
"We have had her for so long and we loved her so much," Day said. "She took her final bow last night at home surrounded by her children and grandchildren."
Day added: "We gave her our permission to set sail. She opened her eyes, closed her eyes and away she went."
Her long career brought her an Oscar nomination at age 83 for best supporting actress for her maternal role in the 2007 film "American Gangster." She also won an Emmy and was nominated for several others. Age didn't slow her down.
"I think you mustn't tell your body, you mustn't tell your soul, 'I'm going to retire,'" Dee told The Associated Press in 2001. "You may be changing your life emphasis, but there's still things that you have in mind to do that now seems the right time to do. I really don't believe in retiring as long as you can breathe."

WORLD CUP SOCCER KICKS OFF TODAY: Jamaicans favour Brazil, Germany to win World Cup. Vox pop... WHAT SAY YOU? WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE TEAM?

By Ruddy Allen & Sha'Keil Grant  Thursday, June 12, 2014    
The Jamaica Observer ventured out onto the streets of Kingston to get the views of the public on who they think will win the Brazil 2014 World Cup, which kicks off today in Sao Paulo where the host face Croatia. Here are their views:
Steven Palmer, 24, unemployed: I think that Brazil will win the 2014 World Cup. Not only because they are playing at home but also they have the best players in the world playing in the team and of late they are playing better football.
Javan Walker, 30, taxi operator: Well, I think that it will come down to either Argentina or Brazil, but I would give Brazil the edge, mainly because of the home advantage and the strength of the their team.
Barbara Williamson, 39, market vendor: To me, Brazil is the biggest football team in the world. The players are very skillful and they have the potential to go all the way, not because they are playing at home, but they can go anywhere and beat you and so I think that they will win the World Cup this year.
Helen Bradley, 60, market vendor: The team that will win the 2014 World Cup is no other than Brazil. From I was little growing up, is just Brazil and I believe that they will go all the way.
Baruka Morris, 17, student at Jamaica College: I believe that Germany will take the World Cup. The team has some young talented footballers and their tactical formation is good and hard to beat.
Steven Palmer, 24. & Javan Walker, 30.
Darrian Rose, 28, bearer: Brazil all the way. Brazil is the best team in the world and with Neymar in the best form of his career, their chances are well rated.
Sadiki Renford, 17, unemployed: When you say football, the only team that comes to mind is Brazil.
Kwame White, 36, Taxi Operator: I grew up come hear about Brazil, they have won the World Cup the most plus they are playing in their backyard and this makes it even harder for them to lose. I think that they will do the job this year. more

10-Year-Old, Tanishq Abraham Gets High School Diploma In California....Tanishq was home-schooled and graduated with a 4.0 GPA....He has his sights set on medical school at the University of California, Davis, and finding a cure for cancer.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A 10-year-old Northern California boy is celebrating a milestone most people don't reach until they are in their late teens.
Tanishq Abraham has become one of the youngest people to graduate from high school. The Sacramento boy received his diploma at a private ceremony in front of family and friends on Sunday, and even got a congratulatory letter from the White House, KXTV in Sacramento reported.
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMATanishq was home-schooled and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. He told KXTV the work wasn't easy, but not that hard either. "The way my brain works is that when you give me something, information about that topic comes into my mind," he said. "I don't know what it is, but that's how it is for me."
His mom, Taji, said she suspected her son was gifted, but didn't know until the results of an IQ test. Tanishq joined Mensa, a group for people whose IQ is in the top 2 percent of the population, at the age of 4. So what's next for him?
Tanishq is taking college courses and says he wants to be a scientist, but also president. He has his sights set on medical school at the University of California, Davis, and finding a cure for cancer.

IN JAMAICA: Motorist In Portmore Crash In Stable Condition - Police (PHOTOS/VIDEO)

                                The police say that a motorist who was rushed to hospital after crashing along the Portmore Leg of Highway 2000 this morning is in hospital in stable condition. 

The crash took place in the vicinity of Marcus Garvey Drive about 10:30 a.m. 
The white Honda Civic that he was driving split into several parts after crashing into a utility pole. Eyewitnesses say he had just overtaken several vehicles before he crashing. 

19 y-o woman catfishes her niece, finds out niece wants to kill her


Williams allegedly met men online and invited them to the family’s home, causing friction between herself and her aunt. Williams has been living with her aunt in Fosters, Alabama since April 2014, according to AL.com.
Marissa Williams
Marissa Williams (AL.com)
Since Williams had blocked her aunt on the social networking site, her aunt decided to create a fake profile under the name Tre ‘Topdog’ Ellis so that Williams would friend her and talk to her — essentially catfishing her own niece. Her attempt to teach the teen a lesson really escalated quickly.
Upon their first interaction, Williams gave the imaginary man her phone number and home address.  She also offered to have sex with him if he paid her $50 cell phone bill. After talking online for a few days, Williams allegedly asked Ellis to kidnap her, so that she could leave her family.
As the conversation continued over time, the teen allegedly told Ellis, a man she had never met, how to get into the family’s home and asked him to shoot her aunt, her aunt’s fiance and her cousin.
When the aunt reported the conversations to authorities, police questioned Williams. The 19-year-old admitted she said those things, but that she never intended for anyone to be hurt. She was arrested and charged with solicitation of murder.

Q: I recently applied for a visa, and was denied. How soon can I reapply? No limit on how many times you can apply for a visa, but...

Q: I recently applied for a visa, and was denied. How soon can I reapply?
A: The answer depends on why the visa was refused. Only around three in 10 applicants are refused a visa when they apply. In most cases, this is because they were unable to demonstrate to the consular officer that they were planning on coming back to Jamaica. In these cases, it is best to wait until your circumstances have changed before you reapply.
There is no limit on how many times an applicant can apply, however, consular officers review the notes from your last application, and if your situation has not changed significantly since then, it is highly unlikely that you will get a different result.
Even if there has been a major change in your life, such as starting a new job, in many cases the consular officer would like to see some time elapse after the change to show that the change is permanent and your situation in Jamaica is stable.
If you were refused under a different section of the law, there might be other things to consider besides how strong your ties are to Jamaica. For example, previous abuse of a visa including overstaying and working in the US can result in a five to 10-year ban on entering the US.
Other visa ineligibilities such as fraud, misrepresentation, or certain criminal acts can result in permanent bans. In certain circumstances a waiver may be available. The consular officer will advise you if this applies to your situation. You can read more about ineligibilities and waivers here: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/ineligibilities.html.
In most cases, however, if you were previously denied a visa for having weak ties to Jamaica, you can reapply and be issued a visa in the future if you are later able to show stronger ties. For example, sometimes students or young people do not always qualify right out of school, but after they are able to show a better employment history, good previous travel to other countries, or stronger social ties, they can qualify in the future. Similarly, if someone just started a small business when they were first interviewed, but can show how the business has grown and developed over a few years, they would be more likely to qualify for a visa the next time they interview. more 

IN JAMAICA (ARE THE GAYS GOING WILD IN JAMAICA?): Male jogger gang-raped....Man assaulted in early-morning attack by armed men at Queen Hill in St. Andrew....A group of joggers reportedly found the victim naked, with his hands and feet bound, sitting on the sidewalk at the foot of the hill close to Perkins Boulevard.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014    
PEOPLE who flock Queen Hill in St Andrew to jog or walk in the mornings are now apprehensive following the brutal gang-rape of a male jogger in that community early Monday.
The man, the Jamaica Observer was told, is now suffering from serious injuries and mental trauma after the harrowing experience.
Male jogger gang-raped
A group of joggers reportedly found the victim naked, with his hands and feet bound, sitting on the sidewalk at the foot of the hill close to Perkins Boulevard.
"He was found by some females who were shocked and even more surprised to see that he was bleeding heavily from his rectum," one man, who said he assisted in untying the victim, told the Observer.
The man reportedly parked his car at a nearby apartment complex and was about to jog when a white car drove up with two armed men who held him at gunpoint. The men, our source said, were also carrying knives.
The hoodlums proceeded to tear off the jogger's clothes and took turns at buggering him.
"The man was so torn up and ashamed. He had to retrieve his torn clothes in order to get his car keys and someone lent him clothes so he could avoid further embarrassment," a jogger said.
The incident has driven fear into the people who exercise on that section of the hill daily.
"Several persons have told me that they were in fear and are apprehensive to go back because of what happened. It was not a pretty sight," the jogger said.
"We used to protect the females and tell them to walk in groups, but it now seems we, the males, are the target. This cannot be allowed to continue," the man said.
The man said the joggers tried to contact the police but were unsuccessful.
"We called the Duhaney Park and Constant Spring police, but we got no response. I am not sure if he reported the incident," the man said. more

TEST CRICKET AT SABINA PARK IN JAMAICA: Day 3: Windies 262 all out, NZ 14-2 at close & NEW ZEALAND 508 for seven decl.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014 | 6:15 PM   
KINGSTON, Jamaica – New Zealand, leading by 246 runs, were 14 for two in their second innings at the close on the third day of the opening Test against West Indies at Sabina Park on Tuesday.
01
Chris Gayle
West Indies, responding to New Zealand’s first innings score of 508 for seven declared were bowled out for 262, with veteran Shivnarine Chnaderpaul top scoring on 84 not out.
Chris Gayle playing in his 100th Test match, made 64, the next highest score for the West Indies.
Scores:
NEW ZEALAND 508 for seven decl. (Kane Williamson 113, James Neesham 107, BJ Watling 89, Tom Latham 83, Ross Taylor 55, Tim Southee 21 not out; Sulieman Benn 3-142, Shane Shillingford 3-145) and 14 for two.
WEST INDIES 262 (Shiv Chanderpaul 84 not out, Chris Gayle 64, Denesh Ramdin 39, Kieran Powell 28; Tim Southee 4-19, Mark Craig 4-91)

Latest News from JAMAICA: Damion Crawford wants Kingston’s Palisadoes to become Entertainment zone

Tuesday, June 10, 2014 | 8:01 PM    
KINGSTON, Jamaica -- The Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment is currently in discussion with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA) to utilize the Palisadoes area as Jamaica’s first Entertainment Zone.
“This will be a pilot project that, if it works well, will be replicated in other parts of the island,” State Minister, Damion Crawford said Tuesday (June 10) in his contribution to the 2014/15 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.
Crawford said that the Palisadoes has been zoned by NEPA for Entertainment, Heritage and Conservation as well as Recreational use, which includes Fort Rocky, an area designated completely for Entertainment.
“We also plan to retrofit the UDC and Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) owned parking lots in downtown Kingston, using temporary fencing, to accommodate a growing number of entertainment events on the Kingston waterfront,” he said.
The junior minister argued that events, especially outside of Kingston and St Andrew, are being moved to areas which are less inhabited to avoid night noise restrictions....

BREAKING NEWS: PRIMARY SHOCK: ERIC CANTOR LOSES RACE!.....Virginia Primary Results: Eric Cantor Stunned By Tea Party Challenger Dave Brat In Massive Upset...'Next Speaker Of The House'... Only Jewish Republican In Congress... SIN: Supported Immigration Reform... FLASHBACK: Dems' Secret Plan...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was defeated Tuesday by a little-known economics professor in Virginia's Republican primary, a stunning upset and major victory for the tea party.
Eric Cantor
Cantor is the second-most powerful member of the U.S. House and was seen by some as a possible successor to the House speaker.
His loss to Dave Brat, a political novice with little money marks a huge victory for the tea party movement, which supported Cantor just a few years ago.
Brat had been a thorn in Cantor's side on the campaign, casting the congressman as a Washington insider who isn't conservative enough. Last month, a feisty crowd of Brat supporters booed Cantor in front of his family at a local party convention.
His message apparently scored well with voters in the 7th District. "There needs to be a change," said Joe Mullins, who voted in Chesterfield County Tuesday. The engineering company employee said he has friends who tried to arrange town hall meetings with Cantor, who declined their invitations.
Tiffs between the GOP's establishment and tea party factions have flared in Virginia since tea party favorite Ken Cuccinelli lost last year's gubernatorial race. Cantor supporters have met with stiff resistance in trying to wrest control of the state party away from tea party enthusiasts, including in the Cantor's home district. more

IN JAMAICA: Damion Crawford suggests Student Education Fund

Tuesday, June 10, 2014 | 5:02 PM    
KINGSTON, Jamaica--State Minister for Tourism and Entertainment Damion Crawford has called for the establishment of a Student Education Fund by government.
DAMION CRAWFORD
The minister argued that the fund, which would be similar in nature to the National Housing Trust, would prove valuable to less fortunate students who made it to the university level, allowing them to fund their education themselves instead of loans.
Crawford was making his presentation Tuesday afternoon in the annual sectoral debate in Gordon House.

'I need my money'..... Finger-rape victim Shanique Myrie growing impatient with Barbados....She is yet to collect a cent.... After the CCJ ruled that Myrie should be paid US$38,620 in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages by the Barbadian Government.

BY KARYL WALKER Editor -- Crime/Court Desk walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, June 10, 2014    
EIGHT months after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that Jamaican Shanique Myrie be awarded damages for an illegal cavity search, detention in a dank room in the Grantley Adams Airport, and subsequent deportation, she is yet to collect a cent.
In October last year, the CCJ ruled that Myrie should be paid US$38,620 in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages by the Barbadian Government.
MYRIE… I can’t understand why after eight months
 I can’t even hear a word about what’s happening
about the money
Myrie expressed frustration yesterday and said the Barbadian Government was deliberately dragging its feet.
"I am getting impatient. I can't understand why after eight months I can't even hear a word about what's happening about the money. It seems they want to wait until I get grandchildren. It's just not fair," Myrie told the Jamaica Observer.
Myrie's plight came to international light after the Observer chronicled how she was violated by a female immigration official and locked away with another woman in a cold, filthy room before being deported to Jamaica, despite not being found with any contraband or deemed to be in violation of any Barbadian law.
"It was not easy for me to come forward and speak about the treatment. I am encouraging others to speak out for their rights, so this is what I am doing now. I need my money," she said.
As a party to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, Barbados has a duty to comply with all the judgements of the court promptly. But based on Myrie's long wait it seems that Bridgetown is snubbing its nose at the court.
Three months ago, Jamaica's Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson said a five-month wait was by no means long. He added that Jamaica was holding Barbadian Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to his word that his country is committed to complying with the CCJ ruling. more

IN JAMAICA: Gov't fights $8m HIV error award ..... 28 y-o Karen Reid said "The $8.5 million can't be too much," ......" I suffered for eight years. My child got damaged and they don't pay attention to it.

BY PAUL HENRY Crime/Court Desk co-ordinator henryp@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, June 10, 2014    
THE Government is now fighting an award of $8 million in general damages to a woman whose world was turned upside down after being misdiagnosed while pregnant, in 2005, with having HIV.
$8 Million error
The Government had accepted liability after Karen Reid sued and the case went to assessment of damages where the $8-million was awarded to the 28-year-old woman who is still in need of psychiatric care to help get her over the trauma associated with the diagnosis which she lived with for two years before it was corrected.
Now, the Government is contending that the award, made in the Supreme Court by Acting Justice Audre Lindo on April 14, is too high.
"The learned judge erred in making the award of general damages as the amount is so extremely high as to be an erroneous estimate of the damages to which the claimant is entitled," the attorney general noted in an appeal filed subsequently.
Added the document: "The learned judge erred in making the award for general damages as the medical evidence did not substantiate injuries of such severity as to attract such a high award of general damages."
But yesterday, when the Jamaica Observer contacted Reid, she said the award could not be enough to compensate for her suffering.
REID... Government ah stress mi out
"The $8.5 million can't be too much," she said." I suffered for eight years. My child got damaged and they don't pay attention to it. So how that fi be too much for my suffering and my pain and my loss?"
Reid said she's trying to get proof that the medication that she was prescribed after her diagnosis caused her son to be blind in an eye, but that it has been a task getting a doctor to make the connection.
"After eight years? After eight years of my damage and my stress? This Government ah stress mi out. "After all the shame I felt... the Government a tell me that's too much?" Reid lamented. more

20 Years Ago Where Were You? June 17, 1994 Southern California Police Chase O.J. Simpson....Listen to OJ speaking with Det.Tom Lange during the chase.

Elderly Man With Walker Pushed Off MARTA Train Captured on Video - Atlanta, Georgia (SAD DAY)

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What can we do, to solve the problems, in Jamaica and The Caribbean? Term limits for politicians, challenge our graduates to use their newly acquired knowledge to help solve problems & more...An EDITORIAL by Ruel E. Lowe

by Ruel. E. Lowe


Let us take some time out to do some very deep thinking and soul searching. As we are well aware dealing with constant negativity is a sure way of destroying one’s health! The problems in Jamaica and the Caribbean are well chronicled; crime, opportunistic, avaricious politicians, inefficient, ineffective governance and greatest of all short coming a lack of vision and the list go on and on………


Ruel EL Now for the billion dollar question: What can/will we do about it? Constant complaining/criticizing/condemning and pointing out the myriad problems, is not the solution! I refuse to spend my time in futile pursuit of the utterances of evil politicians who are in government only to get elected or reelected and increase their wealth. That is certainly an exercise in futility and a complete waste of time!Now let us deal with some positive solutions.Since the present system has proven to an abject failure in excess of fifty years, then it must be radically changed! 


This can be achieved by instituting term limits on elected officials, and anyone presently in government must be barred from participating, in any future government, and must have no affiliation with any political party! Both parties must be dissolved and new parties formed!I would work diligently to achieve this end! Since the present and past governments have lacked the necessary progressive ideas, and have no plans in place, to absorb the high school and university graduates, it will be up to the folks who love the country(s) to come up with these ideas. more

IN JAMAICA: 100-year-old Nerissa Golding recalls the days of telegrams, no electricity and rare acts of crime....She said 40 years ago she was honoured by the then Governor General Sir Florizel Glasspole for her service to the country as an accountant.

BY DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE Observer staff reporter husseyd@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, June 09, 2014    
WHILE cellular phones have become more or less a second skin for this generation, 100-year-old Nerissa Golding recalls that telegrams were the medium utilised for emergency contacts over 50 years ago.
100-year-old Nerissa Golding 
"We never know nothing about cellular phone," Golding told the Jamaica Observer last Thursday. "We used to communicate by telegram. So if you had an emergency and needed to contact someone you would send a telegram from the post office and they would send it by somebody to take it to you," she explained.
She said 40 years ago she was honoured by the then Governor General Sir Florizel Glasspole for her service to the country as an accountant. The message notifying her of the award was, of course, relayed to her via telegram.
"The time when I was getting the meritorious service award I came home one evening and saw a policeman sitting on a motorbike and as I came to the gate the man came up and gave me a telegram which told me they were giving this meritorious service. And they wrote something on it telling me about the event and I was to mark 'yes' or 'no'. I marked yes and gave it back to the man and he jumped on his bike and gone!" she recalled.
No electricity
"There was no electricity when I was growing up," Golding added. "They had kerosene lamp and lantern. And we used to study with that at nights and when you studying or whatever yu doing yu would have it on the table or you 'kotch' up beside it, and that time you wouldn't be thinking that it was going to affect your eyes or anything like that. But that was what you had to use. It could have been on the way to affecting me but I didn't think about that," the centenarian, who now wears a pair of eyeglasses, said.
Because there were no street lights, Golding said people would refrain from travelling at night while those who did would use a bottle torch. more

ST. THOMAS, JAMAICA: Big improvement Morant Bay Primary literacy up 33 per cent following initiative to help slow learners to read... moved from 54 per cent five years ago, to 81 per cent. FIND OUT HOW THEY DID IT.

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor - special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, June 09, 2014    
THE literacy rate at Morant Bay Primary School in the St Thomas capital has moved from 54 per cent five years ago, to 81 per cent.
01
Teacher and students reading session
This, according to Principal Esther McGowan, is a direct result of the decision to hire a literacy specialist to help the hundreds of students who were struggling with reading. It is not mandatory, but given her school's own experience, McGowan swears by the skill of the specialist educator.
"A couple years ago I realised that literacy was not where we would have liked it to be and so we came together as a staff and decided we had to do something," she told the Jamaica Observer North East.
So, despite limited resources, McGowan and her team got creative and transformed a vacant teacher's cottage into a resource centre and engaged the services of a literacy specialist in 2008.
This student gets ready to begin
 reading this book.
The intervention has been so successful that the school is projecting its literacy rate will move up to 90 per cent when this year's Grade Four Literacy Test results are announced.
The literacy specialist Fay Lindsay told the newspaper that the class size of 40-plus students was too large for some of the students.
"So, we decided that a pull-out session would be better so I could work with smaller groups," she said.
Explaining how the programme works, Lindsay said class teachers of grades two to five are asked to identify students who are really struggling and refer them to the resource centre. At least 36 students from each grade are enrolled in the programme.
These boys enjoy reading books at
 the literacy fair.
"We would try to keep each session small with no more than 12 students at a time, as taking them out of a bigger group helps to cater to their different learning styles," Lindsay explained, adding that the students are exposed to 50-minute reading sessions three times weekly.
Diagnostic testing, according to Lindsay, has revealed that some of the students have serious learning disabilities, including autism. But, she said, even those who have been so diagnosed are doing well, even if they are not succeeding in standardised tests. more

Harvard graduate, Charissa Lawrence launches scholarship programme for Jamaicans

By NADINE WILSON Career & Education reporter  Sunday, June 08, 2014  
HAVING a good education is something Harvard graduate Charissa Lawrence doesn't take for granted, as she knows that not everyone has the resources to acquire this. It is this reality and her love for Jamaica that inspired her to start two scholarship programmes recently to assist students who wish to pursue undergraduate studies locally and overseas.
Charissa Lawrence
Lawrence was born in New York City to Jamaican parents, and sees the island as her second home. Her brother, she said, benefited immensely from the Jamaican school system, and this has made her a strong advocate and supporter of Jamaican schools.
"I went back to Jamaica every Christmas and every summer while growing up, and I am very much aware of what goes on in the island. My aunt is actually a retired school teacher," she said.
Lawrence went to Northwestern University where she received a degree in industrial engineering and management studies. She was accepted into Eaton Corporation's leadership development programme, which gave her the opportunity to help organisations develop successful business models in Europe and the USA. She then moved on to the Harvard Business School and became a Wall Street investment banker after being awarded the Goldman Sachs MBA fellowship.
Although her life is quite fulfilling as an international strategic business professional, she finds that she is always in search of ways she can give back to the Jamaican community. more

JAMAICA'S Veronica Campbell Brown runs world-leading 10.86 in 100m in Florida

Sunday, June 08, 2014    
JAMAICA'S Veronica Campbell Brown has shown a return to top form after recording a world-leading 10.86 seconds pushed by the maximum allowable wind of 2.0 metres per seconds to win the women's 100m at the Star Athletics International Sprint Series meeting in Clermont, Central Florida, yesterday.
JAMAICA'S Veronica Campbell Brown
Campbell Brown, who also won the 200m in a wind assisted 22.30 seconds (2.1m/s), replaced compatriot Samantha Henry-Robinson at the top of the IAAF women's 100m list that sees three Jamaicans in the top-three positions.
Henry-Robinson had run 11.00 seconds at the same track in April, while former Herbert Morrison sprinter Remona Burchell slipped to third place with her personal best 11.03 seconds set in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 30.
The multiple Olympic Games and World Championships gold medallist Campbell Brown is on the comeback trail after a 10-month break, virtually all of last season, while battling a drug suspension that was eventually overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), sports' highest legal body.
Campbell Brown had run 11.14 seconds in her previous 100m race in Beijing, China, on May 26.
Meanwhile, 12 Jamaicans will compete at two IAAF World Challenge meetings in Hengelo, Holland, and Marrakech, Morocco, today.
IAAF World Indoors bronze medallist Kimberley Williams will lead the Jamaican charge in Hengelo with Olympic silver medallist Kerron Stewart and Schillonie Calvert running the 100m. more