(POWERFUL) What I Wasn't Taught In School....Word On The Curb presents a Spoken word short film for those frustrated at Black History teaching in schools (6:55 mins VIDEO)


Word On The Curb presents a Spoken word short film for those frustrated at Black History teaching in schools.

Disillusioned student Samuel King relays his grievances to his teacher that Black History Month isn't taught with as much depth and with as much pride in schools. 

Samuel engages in a short rebuttal with his teacher, before arguing that education in school does little to satisfy his thirst for knowledge of influential people in Black history who seem to be elusive in the curriculum. 

Samuel names the likes of Patricia E. Bath, King Musa I of Mali, Mary Prince, Sir Trevor McDonald, Ella Baker, Septimius Severus, Fuse ODG, Jamal Edwards, Garrett Morgan and Kwame Nkrumah as individuals he could be taught about. "There seems to be a lot you haven't told us, and you shut down and hold back on the bold ones who stand against the way you're trying to mold us"

Learning turned upside down in JAMAICA....Stella Maris embraces flipped classroom model. What Do You Think About This Idea?

Sunday, December 07, 2014    
VIRTUAL learning now makes the grade at Stella Maris Preparatory School with the introduction of the EduFocal's Flipped Classroom Project sponsored by First Global Bank. This pilot will alter classroom engagement among 67 grade six students and teachers. The experiment is a push towards student-centred learning and is currently focused on teaching mathematics.
Sixty-seven grade six students from Stella Maris Preparatory
 are now engaged in a new student-centred approach
 to learning mathematics.
The flipped classroom is an inverted educational structure in which the lecture portion of the class becomes homework. Students will watch videos produced by EduFocal, a social learning website, and read textbooks. After students watch the videos or read the text, they will take notes. When they go to class the next day they will briefly discuss what they heard in the videos and ask questions. The rest of the class time will be used to practise the concepts from the video and do activities intended to enrich the curriculum.
"By moving the direct teaching portion of the lesson to homework, it frees up more time in the classroom so teachers can act as facilitators and interact more with their students and provide more individual help, especially for struggling students," said Gordon Swaby, chief executive officer, EduFocal.
Peter Lindo, head of marketing, First Global, said they are excited about supporting innovation in the classroom through the Flipped Classroom Project and the Music: Perfect Pitch for a Sound Education programme. "Both are geared at transforming the classroom to be a more vibrant learning environment," he said. more

Rotary Club launches dictionary drive for Trench Town kids...to provide 140 children from Trench Town with dictionaries to benefit GSAT Learning Centre in the south-east St Andrew inner-city community.

Sunday, December 07, 2014   
AN initiative has been launched by the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights to provide 140 children from Trench Town with dictionaries.
The drive is intended to benefit the Trench Town GSAT Learning Centre in the south-east St Andrew inner-city community.
Students engaged in a class at the
 Trench Town GSAT Learning Centre.
"One of the major challenges is the performance in language arts because there is a literacy issue in the community, and what we have found is that once the children leave the centre they don't have the tools they need to learn on their own, even something as simple as a dictionary," acknowledged Marcus Blackstock, the founder and director of the learning centre.
The centre was launched by concerned residents in the summer to address a burning concern about the low level of academic performance of the children and their subsequent social outcomes.
"Literacy continues to be a major challenge across the educational system, even as we acknowledge that our development will be dependent on the educational levels of our population. So as a club we were moved and excited to assist with this pressing need that will, in the final analysis, help to improve literacy and learning," said membership chair at the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights, Michele Salmon.
"Our children should not have to be prevented from accessing education because they don't have something as simple as a dictionary," she continued. more

IN JAMAICA: Ex-cop's body found with stab wounds..... stabbed to death, allegedly by a group of homosexual men in New Kingston yesterday morning

Sunday, December 07, 2014
THE body of a former policeman was found with stab wounds in New Kingston yesterday morning, police confirmed.
A worker washes blood from the spot
 outside the Courtleigh Auditorium in
New Kingston where a man was
stabbed to death, allegedly by a group
 of homosexual men, police said yesterday.
 The man, in a bid to escape, crashed
 his vehicle in the building.
 (PHOTO: GARFIELD ROBINSON)
The police told the Jamaica Observer that around 6:00 am the body was found in a vehicle close to the Courtleigh Auditorium on St Lucia Avenue.
Reports are that the man was attacked at a nearby location and drove away in a bid to escape, but later crashed into a building in New Kingston.
One police source said that detectives were investigating reports that a group of homosexual men attacked the man and stabbed him.
Some sections of New Kingston are known by police to be violent late at night, and numerous attempts have been made to reduce criminal activities, some of which, the police maintain, are caused by homosexual men who are usually present in the area.
There has been, in recent months, a drive by police, as well as councillor for the Trafalgar Division of the Kingston & St Andrew Corporation in which New Kingston falls, Kari Douglas, to rid the area of the homosexual men, some of whom use a nearby gully as their home. more

BIG CONGRATULATIONS : JAMAICA's 25 y-o Alia Atkinson stuns with world record gold medal... First black woman to win world swimming title, equals 100m breastroke mark world record of 1:02.36

Sunday, December 07, 2014 Jamaica Observer    
DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Alia Atkinson became the first black woman to win a world swimming title when she triumphed in the 100m breaststroke at the world short-course championships yesterday as more records tumbled.
Jamaican Atkinson, 25, claimed the title and equalled Ruta Meilutyte's world record of 1:02.36 in the process -- although under governing body FINA rules this still equates to a new record.
That took the total of world records set at the Hamad Aquatic Centre to 17.
The tone was set in the first event as Russia set a new mark of 1:22.60 in the men's 4x50m freestyle relay with Atkinson's effort in the very next race.
That was immediately followed by another stunning display from Florent Manaudou in the 50m backstroke.
Katinka Hosszu claimed her fourth world record in the 200m individual medley before the session ended with a new mark for the United States in the mixed 4x50m freestyle (1:28.57).
However, it was Atkinson who lit up the pool.
Meilutyte appeared on course for a successful defence of her title only for her rival to move on to the Lithuanian's shoulder at the final turn.
Atkinson then clawed her way down the final length before out-touching the 17-year-old by 0.10 second.
She was completely unaware of what she had done, staring up at the scoreboard with an air of resignation before it gradually dawned. more

No felony charges for SPD cop’s, Officer Adley Shepherd, bone-breaking punch of handcuffed woman, 23 y-o Miyekko Durden-Bosley....

Federal prosecutors say they will review an incident in which a Seattle police officer punched and seriously injured a handcuffed, intoxicated woman, after King County prosecutors said Friday they won’t charge the officer.
A punch from a Seattle police officer  fractured an eye bone in Miyekko Durden-Bosley’s face.
Durden-Bosley, 23,
Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes, said her office will look at the June 22 incident involving Officer Adley Shepherd for a possible federal criminal civil-rights violation.
The decision comes after King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced that his office would not seek a state felony charge against Shepherd, 38, a nine-year department veteran, for punching Miyekko Durden-Bosley in the back of his police cruiser.
Durden-Bosley, 23, was intoxicated and was verbally abusive after her arrest outside the home of a Seattle man whose mother had called the police. Durden-Bosley swore at Shepherd and kicked at him while being shoved into the back of a police cruiser, according to the investigation.
Shepherd reacted by punching her once in the face, fracturing the orbit of her right eye. Shepherd suffered no visible injuries, according to court documents.
Shepherd has been on paid administrative leave since the incident.
Satterberg’s decision reflects a deep difference of opinion between his office and City Attorney Pete Holmes, whose criminal chief reviewed the case earlier and thought it “undoubtedly met the felony standard,” according to a news release issued by Holmes on Friday. more

Why Do I Always Wake Up at 3am? – A Simple Solution....…you are too stressed. Fortunately for most – there is a solution, but first we need to understand why you wake up.

If you always wake up at 3am, there may be a simple answer…you are too stressed. Fortunately for most – there is a solution, but first we need to understand why you wake up.

Why Stress Causes You to Wake Up at 3am

Why do I always wake up at 3am?
3 am wake up
Stress causes the adrenal glands to fire off adrenaline. This gives you a burst of energy to deal with stressful situations. Adrenaline also raises the heart rate, increases respiration, dilates the pupils, slows down digestion and causes muscles to contract. It’s like caffeine on steroids!
So if you are stressed or upset it can be impossible to fall asleep, but why does it always wake you up at 3am?
3am is when your liver regenerates. To do so, it needs glycogen. The problem is that adrenaline causes your cells to use up glycogen. So if you are often stressed, your body may not have enough glycogen for the liver to regenerate at 3am. If your liver cannot get the glycogen it needs, your adrenal glands will compensate by releasing adrenalin, which is why you are wide awake and ready for action, not exactly a state you want to be in at 3am.

I Don’t Want to Wake Up at 3am – An Easy, “Do It Yourself” Remedy

If you always wake up at 3am or have trouble sleeping, then we have great news. 95% of our clients who suffer from this issue have reported that they found relief by using the simple recipe below. We always hear about how it has changed peoples’ lives so why don’t you give it a try?
Adrenal Cocktail Recipe
½ cup orange juice
½ teaspoon cream of tarter
½ teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic salt
Just mix all the ingredients and drink before bed. (order pre-mixed packets)
*You may also do this in the morning to deal with stress throughout the day, but always be sure to drink it before bed as well. more

Super 6 get Grammy nod : SHAGGY, Sean Paul, Sly and Robbie, Ziggy Marley, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, and American band SOJA are nominees for the Best Reggae Album category of the 57th annual Grammy Awards.

Saturday, December 06, 2014 BY KEVIN JACKSON Observer Writer   
SHAGGY, Sean Paul, Sly and Robbie, Ziggy Marley, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, and American band SOJA are nominees for the Best Reggae Album category of the 57th annual Grammy Awards.
Ziggy Marley & Lee Scratch Perry
The nominations were revealed yesterday.
Out of Many, One Music gives recording act Shaggy his fifth nomination. Released in October, the set is produced by 'riddim twins' Sly and Robbie. Shaggy won the award in 1996 for Boombastic.
Sean Paul, who has a 2004 lein on the award for Dutty Rock, is also getting his fifth nod.
His effort Full Frequency (VP/Atlantic Records) is his sixth album. It was released in February.
Sly and Robbie are picking up their 11th Grammy nomination nod for The Reggae Power, featuring Spicy Chocolate. Released in September by VP Records, The Reggae Power contains 14 tracks. Among the artistes featured on the set are Gramps Morgan, Sizzla, Bitty McLean, Beenie Man, TOK, Romain Virgo, Alaine and Ce'Cile.
Sly & Robbie
The 'riddim twins' picked up their first Grammy win for their 1999 Elektra Records opus Friends.
Released in April by Tuff Gong, Ziggy Marley's Fly Rasta is the most commercially successful album in the United States by a Jamaican reggae artiste this year, with sales of over 16,000 copies to date.
Shaggy & Sean Paul
Marley, the eldest son of reggae legend Bob Marley, has won three Grammys as lead singer of the Melody Makers. Solo, he has been nominated in the Best Reggae Album category four times, winning in 2007 for Love is My Religion and for Ziggy Marley In Concert this year. more
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TOUCHING & EMOTIONAL (Spoken Words) : Lost Count, A Love Story (Cuts To The Core)

IN JAMAICA: Nicola Bryce-Wilson, the eighth witness to testify in the televised Tivoli Gardens enquiry, says soldier apologised for shooting her....identified the soldier as 'Baby Shrek'

BY PAUL HENRY Co-ordinator — Crime/Court Desk henryp@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, December 05, 2014    
A witness testified in the Tivoli Gardens Enquiry yesterday that a soldier who participated in the May 2010 operation to apprehend Christopher 'Dudus' Coke confessed to her that he was the one who shot her, and that he apologised for doing so.
Nicola Bryce-Wilsonm shot by soldiers
Nicola Bryce-Wilson, the eighth witness to testify in the televised enquiry, identified the soldier as 'Baby Shrek' and said that he made the confession two weeks after she was shot at her mother's home on Monday, May 24, 2010.
Bryce-Wilson testified that she approached the soldier at Darling Street in downtown Kingston and told him that her son said he was the one who shot her.
She said the soldier apologised and said that he was glad she didn't die.
But Bryce-Wilson was tackled by attorney Peter Champagnie -- one of the attorneys representing the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) -- about the fact that she didn't add the name of the person she said confessed to her in three previous statements until October this year.
But she said she didn't remember if she had put it in those statements.
At one point attorney Michael Lorne, who is representing the Office of the Public Defender, intervened in the cross-examination, saying that the Bryce-Wilson had testified that she had seen the soldier at various times in the community and that she got to know the names of the soldiers over time.
Resuming his cross-examination, Champagnie suggested to the witness that no soldier admitted to shooting her.
"You never was there, sir," she responded.
She, however, told Champagnie that she was unable to see who had shot her.
Following Champagnie's cross-examination, commission chairman Sir David Simmons questioned Bryce-Wilson on the issue of the name and she admitted that her son had told her the name Baby Shrek from as far back as late 2010. more

Bronx 6th Grader, 12 y-o Kioni "Popcorn" Marshall Wows NYC Poetry Scene

RULA BROWN & FELICIA - "Love Has No Colour" & Speech from Barack Obama's Inauguration & Dr. Martin Luther King.

ENOUGH is ENOUGH (Another police shooting of a black unarmed man in the US- Phoenix, Az ignites outcry): Protests Erupt Around The Nation As Killer Cops Walk... Thousands Storm Streets Of NYC... Cause Gridlock In D.C.... Size Of Rallies Grows... Anger Builds In Phoenix After White Officer Kills Unarmed Black Man... Feds Find Damning Brutality In Cleveland PD... DOJ Vows Full Probe Into Eric Garner Killing...

Thousands gathered in New York Thursday for a second day of protests after a grand jury announced its decision not to indict the police officer involved in the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner.
Demonstrators take part in a protest
following Wednesday's decision by a
 Staten Island grand jury
Massive crowds of protesters demonstrated in Foley Square, in Lower Manhattan, as well as in major cities, including Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston and Washington.
The Garner decision came nine days after a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, chose not to indict police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Both of the officers were white, while those who were killed were black, heightening tensions between the black community and police.
A demonstrator screams as others
 protest the deaths of two unarmed black men
Garner, who died on July 17, was placed in what appeared to be a prohibited chokehold by NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo before he was heard,on camera, repeatedly telling officers, "I can't breathe."
Protesters chanted Garner's last words as they took to New York's streets Thursday night in an attempt to address policing issues that have plagued the city for years.
"Our voices have to be heard, because there's been injustice twice in one week," Jasmine Taylor, an African-American woman from Harlem, told The Huffington Post. ""Enough is enough."   

Meanwhile in Phoenix, Arizona the deadly shooting of a black, unarmed drug suspect by a white Phoenix police officer who mistook a pill bottle for a gun demonstrates the challenges law enforcement agencies face at a time of unrest over police tactics.
Phoenix police say the officer feared 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon was armed, but some critics say the officer went too far.
Demonstrators march
across the Brooklyn Bridge
 
Community members plan to gather Thursday night to protest the shooting, while others say they'll reserve judgement. Police say the officer was investigating a drug sale Tuesday when Brisbon fled and got into a struggle with the officer. The officer thought he felt the handle of a gun while grabbing Brisbon's hand that was in his pocket.
Police say the officer repeatedly told Brisbon to keep his hand in his pocket and shot him twice when he didn't. more

RUEL E.LOWE's EDITORIAL: Has Pan-Africanism gone the way of the Dinosaurs? Under segregation and Jim Crow there was infinitely more black owned businesses, black institutions of higher learning....

Ruel E. Lowe
That’s a question we need to ask ourselves, and try to come up with a logical answer. Before we venture down the path of self-awareness and self-enlightenment, let’s pause to take a good look at ourselves today, and perform a comparison/contrast survey.

Under segregation and Jim Crow there was infinitely more black owned businesses, black institutions of higher learning were at their zenith, producing professionals in industry, the health field and commerce. Around that time the major sports team were becoming integrated, and the entertainment field was flooded with black entertainers! However there was one constant thread running through black society. 

You got it: Social responsibility! Today that animal (social responsibility), seem to have passed away and have been buried in a casket of indifference. In that bygone era personalities such as Joe Lewis, Louis Armstrong, Jackie Robinson and many other high profile black entertainer and others contributed to black social causes! In that era Pan-Africanism was on the upsurge led by stalwarts such as Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhamad, Malcolm X and many others, at that time black consciousness was the order of the day, brothers and sister expressed their African identity in their form of attire and appearance e.g. natural hair styles and dashikis and other forms of dress. Something we can never forget the fight for civil and human rights. more

A Reminder Of How Heart-Wrenching Eric Garner's Last Words Were (AUDIO): I'M MINDING MY BUSINESS, OFFICER, I'M MINDING MY BUSINESS. PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE. I TOLD YOU THE LAST TIME, PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE. PLEASE PLEASE, DON'T TOUCH ME. DO NOT TOUCH ME. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE.

They were heard in a video that went viral, plastered across the front page of newspapers and echoed through the chants of hundreds of protesters who mourned his death.
They were Eric Garner's last words -- the words the 43-year-old Staten Island man muttered while he was placed in a chokehold by NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, which eventually led to Garner's untimely death: "I can't breathe."
In a video captured by bystander Ramsey Orta, Garner is shown repeatedly telling officers he can't breathe as he's held in a prohibited chokehold, after police approached, questioned and attempted to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes.
The incident was ruled a homicide, but a grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo in Garner's death. Among the evidence the jury reviewed was the video, where Garner is seen pleading for officers not to touch him, to leave him alone and finally -- to give him air to breathe....
As the nation responded to the jury's decision in Garner's case, they took to the streets chanting Garner's last words in remembrance of the late father of six. To reflect on the events that happened on that fateful day on July 17 -- and as the country continues to discuss the events that have unfolded since his death -- here is a reminder of the indisputable, not to mention heart-wrenching, final words of Eric Garner:
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Voice Of Reason: 11-Year-Old Boy, MARQUIS GOVAN Perfectly Sums Up The Issues In Ferguson!

UPDATE (GOOD NEWS) : Abducted baby back with mother...."Mi have him," an excited Karram said. The mother said the baby was taken to the doctor and was in good health. "Him alright," she stated. "Mi feeling alright... mi happy," she added.

Thursday, December 04, 2014    
AKEEM Karram, the seven-month-old child who was allegedly abducted in St Ann last week was Tuesday handed over to the police in Linstead, St Catherine.
KARRAM… happy to have child back. At right: A file
 photo of seven-month-old Akeem Karram, who was
abducted last week
Head of the St Ann Police Senior Superintendent Yvonne Martin-Daley said officers from her parish collected the child from the Linstead Police and took him to the office of the Child Development Agency (CDA) in the parish. The child was subsequently returned to his mother after CDA officers did the necessary checks.
The recovery of the child ended days of desperate search by family members and the police.
According to the police, the child's mother, Annmarie Karram, was lured from her home in Retreat, St Mary, to Mammee Bay in St Ann where she was attacked and overpowered by two women who took the child from her and escaped from the area.
Karram said one of the women used a needle to stick her in the neck before taking the infant.
Police said yesterday that one suspect has since been apprehended and a search launched for other persons believed to be involved in the incident. Karram could not hide her joy when she got back her baby. more

New York: A Grand Jury In Staten Island Did Indict One Person Involved In Eric Garner's Killing -- The Man Who Filmed It

On Wednesday, a Staten Island grand jury decided not to return an indictment for the police officer who put Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, in a choke hold shortly before his death. A different Staten Island grand jury was less sympathetic to Ramsey Orta, however, the man who filmed the entire incident.
A demonstrator cries while gathering in
Philadelphia to protest the Eric Garner grand
 jury decision during a Christmas Tree lighting
 ceremony at City Hall December 3, 2014
 in Philadelphia
In August, less than a month after filming the fatal July 17 encounter in which Daniel Pantaleo and other NYPD police officers confronted Garner for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, a grand jury indicted Orta on weapons charges stemming from an arrest by undercover officers earlier that month.
Police alleged that Orta had slipped a .25 caliber handgun into a teenage accomplice's waistband outside a New York hotel. Orta testified that the charges were falsely mounted by police in retaliation for his role in documenting Garner's death, but the grand jury rejected his contention, charging him with single felony counts of third-degree criminal weapon possession and criminal firearm possession.
In Garner's case, on the other hand, jurors determined there was not probable cause that Pantaleo had committed any crime. A medical examiner ruled Garner's death homicide in part resulting from the chokehold, a restraining move banned by the NYPD in 1993.
Massive Protest
The use of grand juries in high-profile police killings has attracted increasing scrutiny after such juries declined to indict both Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri this summer, and now Pantaleo. While the famous saying goes that a grand jury could "indict a ham sandwich," it's become clear that they also give much more leeway to police officers. more

Republican, Peter King Says Eric Garner Would Not Have Died From Chokehold Were He Not Obese

The Huffington Post | By Sam Levine Email Posted: 12/03/2014 9:23 pm EST 
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said on Wednesday that if Eric Garner had been healthier, he would not have died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold.
"If he had not had asthma, and a heart condition and was so obese, almost definitely he would not have died from this," King told CNN's Wolf Blitzer during an interview.
Even though video captured Garner saying that he couldn't breathe as officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold and wrestled him to the ground, King said that "police had no reason to know that he was in serious condition."..."The fact is if you can't breathe, you can't talk," King said. "If you've ever seen anyone resisting arrest, I've seen it, and it's been white guys, and they're always saying, 'You're breaking my arm, you're choking me, you're doing this,' police hear this all the time." more

STRANGLER COPS WALKS FREE: Grand Jury Declines To Indict NYPD Officer In Chokehold Death Of Eric Garner

A grand jury voted Wednesday not to indict New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, multiple sources confirm.
Pantaleo put 47-year-old Garner into a chokehold during an arrest for selling untaxed cigarettes on July 17. In a viral video of the arrest, Garner can be seen screaming “I can’t breathe!” multiple times until his body goes limp. A medical examiner later ruled his death a homicide.
Chokeholds are banned by NYPD guidelines, and Garner’s death prompted large protests across the city.
The grand jury’s decision Wednedsay comes just over a week after a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.
This is a developing story…

Who will make the cut? NOMINATIONS for the 57th Grammy Awards will be announced tomorrow. In the runnings are Lee Scratch Perry, Maxi Priest, Ziggy Marley, Sean Paul, Shaggy & SOJA, Shaggy

BY KEVIN JACKSON Observer writer  Wednesday, December 03, 2014    
NOMINATIONS for the 57th Grammy Awards will be announced tomorrow. The Best Reggae Album category (formerly Best Reggae Recording) was instituted in 1985 and saw reggae group Black Uhuru winning the first with Anthem, produced by Sly and Robbie.
Lee Scratch Perry
Maxi Priest & Ziggy Marley
Over the years, the category has been dominated by the Marley family, Bunny Wailer and to a lesser extent Jimmy Cliff and Burning Spear. Here are my predictions as to who will be nominees for the 2015 Best Reggae Album Grammy.
Shaggy -- Out of Many, One Music (Ranch Entertainment)
SOJA
Released on October 1, 2013, this is Shaggy's 11th studio effort. Produced by Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, it features collaborations with Tarrus Riley, Tessanne Chin, Beres Hammond, Chronixx, Cocoa Tea, Damian Marley, Konshens and Peetah Morgan.
The set opened at number three on the Billboard Reggae Album chart with first-week sales of over 741 copies. Shaggy has been nominated for Best Reggae Album four times. He won in 1996 for Boombastic.
Sean Paul & Shaggy
Sean Paul - Full Frequency (VP/Atlantic)
Full Frequency, Sean Paul's sixth album, was released in February. Although he has been the most prolific dancehall act in mainstream America for the past 12 years, he has won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album once, in 2004 for Dutty Rock. He has four nominations under his belt. more

55 y-o Woman, Judy Huth files lawsuit Claims Bill Cosby Sexually Assaulted Her When She Was 15 in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974

AP | By ANTHONY McCARTNEY Posted: 12/02/2014 9:13 pm EST 
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bill Cosby was sued Tuesday by a Southern California woman who claims the comedian molested her in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974 when she was 15 years old.
COSBY
Bill Cosby
Judy Huth's sexual battery lawsuit does not specify how much she is seeking from Cosby, who has in recent weeks faced renewed accusations that he drugged and sexually assaulted more than a dozen women for many years.
Huth's lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, however, is the first time a woman has gone public claiming Cosby abused her when she was underage. A second woman told Pittsburgh television station KDKA last month that Cosby drugged her to the point of unconsciousness in the 1980s when she was 15. Huth's lawsuit states that she and a 16-year-old friend first met Cosby at a Los Angeles-area film shoot and the comedian gave the girls drinks a week later at a tennis club.
The lawsuit states that Cosby took them to the Playboy Mansion after several drinks, and told the teenagers to lie and say they were 19 years old if asked. Her lawsuit states Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him with her hand. An email message sent to Cosby's attorney Martin Singer was not immediately returned. Singer has denied previous accusations or said the women raising the claims in interviews had been discredited.
Singer's statement does not apply to a lawsuit brought in 2005 by Andrea Constand, who claimed Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. Constand, who worked for the women's basketball team at Temple University, and Cosby settled the case before trial. more

Digicel fibre network to help create 'smart cities' in Jamaica...."We're looking to redevelop downtown Kingston, and having this fibre network will definitely play a key role in making this work."

Wednesday, December 03, 2014    
DIGICEL yesterday said that its underground fibre network will help create 'smart cities' in Jamaica.
According to the telecommunications company, its recently installed advanced fibre-optic technology boosts Jamaica's ability to handle large quantities of data at high speeds.
General manager of Digicel Business Jason Corrigan points
out key areas of the Digicel fibre network route in Kingston to
 (from second left) Town Clerk Robert Hill; chairman of the
ARC Group of Companies Norman Horne; Mayor of Kingston
Senator Angela Brown-Burke; and CEO of Digicel Jamaica
Barry O’Brien, during a briefing at the Kingston and St Andrew
Corporation earlier this year.
"Smart cities generate insights from big data to improve efficiency of physical infrastructure use and enhances decision-making as it engages e-participation with its citizens," Digicel said, adding that these cities are regarded as major growth drivers, as close to 50 per cent of the global GDP comes from urban centres.
Earlier this year, Senator Angela Brown-Burke, who is also the mayor of Kingston, noted the importance of the fibre network.
"This investment in fibre by Digicel Business will certainly help us to achieve some of the broader objectives of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, as well as some of our ICT development plans," she said. "We're looking to redevelop downtown Kingston, and having this fibre network will definitely play a key role in making this work."
The Government has already started implementing smart city projects, such as the Tablets in Schools initiative. "Kids are going to go home with their tablets," said Brown-Burke. "So once they're in a Wi-Fi area, they can pick up and continue their work." more

Voice Of Reason: 11-Year-Old Boy, MARQUIS GOVAN Perfectly Sums Up The Issues In Ferguson!

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SHOCKING & APALLING: Exam results from the Paterson School District in New Jersey revealed that only 19 out of 600 students scored enough to get into college...Just over 3 per cent of students from Paterson deemed 'college-ready'...Education officials have alleged the administration of 'hiding something' after they gave optimistic projections of test results

Shocking exams results from a New Jersey school district have revealed that only 19 out of 600 students could get into college.
Just over 3 per cent of pupils from Paterson were deemed 'college ready' based on their SAT scores, meaning they achieved at least 1,500 out of 2,400 points.
Just over 3 per cent of pupils from Paterson were deemed 'college ready' based on their SAT scores, meaning they achieved at least 1,500 out of 2,400 points
The average score obtained by a student in the area was just 1,200. It is a decrease on the 26 (4.2 per cent) who reached the benchmark last year. Despite the worrying results, some education officials have insisted they are not concerned and have criticized exam boards for fielding questions that hurt minorities and female students. 
However others agreed that there was a problem and that the administration may have been 'hiding something'.  
Corey Teague, a school board member, told the Paterson Press suggest optimistic estimates of improved student scores may be inaccurate.
'That's a sign that they're hiding something,' he said. 'They like to brag that the scores are up when they're not.'
Terry Corall, a spokeswoman for the district, said the numbers are 'flat not down', in reference to last year's scores.
She said the difference in the total number of students who reached college-ready score was 'not much different from past years.'
'More importantly, this chart was referring to SAT's being used as a college-readiness benchmark,' Corallo added. 'But as we have discussed, there are many factors that play a part in college readiness.'  more

 


 

THE VERY BEST: 8-year-old Madison Reid of Cleveland is quickly becoming an Internet star after being interviewed by WKYC Channel 3 at a November grand opening for a new Little Free Library.


Eight-year-old Madison Reid might just be the new unofficial spokesperson for child literacy.
The third-grader took the Internet by storm last week with her impassioned speech about the value of books, as part of a WKYC Channel 3 broadcast covering one of Cleveland's new Little Free Libraries.
The Little Free Library movement encourages reading and literacy by providing small “libraries,” or wooden boxes in communities so that people can exchange books. Undoubtedly, Madison got her enthusiasm for the campaign from her mom Tracy, who is a steward for one of the five Little Free Libraries in the Cleveland area, according to WKYC.
During her interview with WKYC, Madison shares her excitement about the new Little Free Library, before launching into her fervent monologue. "The world needs books!" she declares. "What would the world be like without books? They fuel our mind like cars and gas. The cars can't go without gas, our brains can't go without books. The world needs books! We need books."
The world needs more book enthusiasts like Madison!