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"Racism Within: Wake up".....A Brad Allen Johnson short film,,,.


With the recent non-indictment of Ferguson, Missouri former Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18 year old Michael Brown, nationwide protesting, uproar and rioting, a series of serious questions were asked. Is black on black crime a fallacy? Can the seemingly "self hatred" (particularly among African American males) be considered racism within? Is the concept of community an oxymoron in African American culture? Lastly, with such deep rooted prejudice, bigotry, racism and overall discrimination past and present history towards African Americans (and people of color in general), why violate one another within? African Americans can anticipate some form of continued racism from the usual ignorant suspects on the outside. However, why treat each other with the same level of hatred & prejudice within?

Watch J. Cole Perform His Moving Tribute to Michael Brown on Letterman

Killer Mike might’ve been the most vocal figure in hip-hop this year following the outrage over the shooting death of Michael Brown, but J. Cole has arguably been the most active. He visited Ferguson the week after Brown’s death and, last week, he quietly marched in a protest following the Eric Garner grand jury decision. During an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman Wednesday night, rather than perform a song from his new album, he instead delivered a passionate rendition of the song he released for Brown over the summer, “Be Free.”
He even added a striking new verse to the song that envisions how he’d like to see Obama’s presidency end. Given Letterman’s stunned reaction, it’s a wonder why Cole chose not to include “Be Free” on his new album.

Congressional staffers walked out from their jobs to show their support for the families of #MichaelBrown and #EricGarner after two grand juries decided not to indict the police officers responsible for their deaths.

Post by CNN.

Chronixx now 'Down Under' : The Dread and Terrible tour of roots reggae act Chronixx and his Zincfence Redemption band is currently in Australia and New Zealand.

Friday, December 12, 2014    
The Dread and Terrible tour of roots reggae act Chronixx and his Zincfence Redemption band is currently in Australia and New Zealand.
Chronixx
This is the first time the Smile Jamaica artiste is taking to the stage in those two countries which have a growing reggae pull.
Chronixx says he is excited about being invited to perform and will be performing in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. He took to the stage in Sydney yesterday, and is performing in Melbourne tonight. He then jets to the annual Raggamuffin Festival in New Zealand tomorrow.
This year has been an exciting one for Chronixx and his team, with many high points. His first official released project, Dread and Terrible, immediately topped the iTunes and Billboard charts after its release in April.
Following his stops 'down under' Chronixx says he is looking forward to crossing the Pacific Ocean to perform in places that he describes as being, "on the other side of the world and most youths only see and hear about on TV, like in documentaries on National Geographic and Animal Planet".
Having performed on the continents of Africa, North America and Europe, at 22 years old, Chronixx says he feels privileged that music is giving him the opportunity to discover the whole Earth and its people.

JAMAICAN Active Dancers & Co at Irie Fashion Rave....the butterfly,the boggle,ska so many dance Jamaicans have created and transformed

IN JAMAICA: Students upset at failure after exam passing grade changed without notice.... Nursing exam problem appears to be regional

BY ANIKA RICHARDS Observer staff reporter richardsai@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, December 12, 2014    
RECENT graduates of nursing programmes across the island are crying foul and demanding answers from the Nursing Council of Jamaica (NCJ) after more than 50 of them received failing grades in the recent Regional Examination for Nurse Registration (RENR).
01The group of graduate nurses, which reportedly stretches across the University of the West Indies, Northern Caribbean University, the University of Technology, Jamaica, and International University of the Caribbean, is asserting that the pass mark was changed from 60 per cent to 66 per cent without any consultation or even an attempt at informing them.
The council is the regulatory body designed to control the training and practice of nurses, midwives, and assistant nurses. It also registers nurses, midwives and enrolled assistant nurses.
The Jamaica Observer was told yesterday that the affected graduates are also considering legal action.
One graduate nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Observer that they were informed of the pass mark change after they received their results for the regional examination, which they sat in October this year. The graduate said even on the day of the exam, the students were informed that the pass mark was 60 per cent and that they had to pass both papers in order to be successful.
"Why did I pay my $12,000?" she asked. "We need answers and we need to have the matter rectified." more

Bill Cosby Drugged Me. This Is My Story By Beverly Johnson

Beverly Johnson
 Like most Americans, I spent the 60s, 70s, and part of the 80s in awe of Bill Cosby and his total domination of popular culture. He was the first African American to star in a dramatic television series, I Spy, a show my family in Buffalo, New York, always watched. Cosby cut a striking figure on-screen then. He was funny, smart, and even elegant—all those wonderful things many white Americans didn’t associate with people of color. In fact, as I thought of going public with what follows, a voice in my head kept whispering, “Black men have enough enemies out there already, they certainly don’t need someone like you, an African American with a familiar face and a famous name, fanning the flames.”
Imagine my joy in the mid-80s when an agent called to say Bill Cosby wanted me to audition for a role on the The Cosby Show. Cosby played an obstetrician, and he sometimes used models to portray pregnant women sitting in his office waiting room. It was a small part with one or two speaking lines at most, but I wanted in.
Beverly Johnson on Vogue
I was in the midst of an ugly custody battle for my only child. I needed a big break badly and appearing on The Cosby Show seemed like an excellent way of getting Hollywood’s attention. I’d appeared in one or two movies already, but my phone wasn’t exactly ringing off the hook with acting jobs.
Cosby’s handlers invited me to a taping of the show so I could get the lay of the land and an idea of what my role required. After the taping I met all the cast and then met with Cosby in his office to talk a bit about the hell I’d been through in my marriage. He appeared concerned and then asked what I wanted from my career going forward. He seemed genuinely interested in guiding me to the next level. I was on cloud nine. more

THE ARCHITECTS DIG IN Cheney: Torture Report 'Full Of Crap'... Bush Not Kept In The Dark... Hayden On Rectal Rehydration: 'Medical Procedure'... Yoo: Report Cannot Deny 'Record Of Success'... Psychologist Defends Program... UDALL GOES OFF: Accuses CIA, White House Of Engaging In 'Cover-Up'... 'The CIA Is Lying'... 'Not A Problem Of The Past'... CIA's Claims Of Torture Legitimacy Destroyed... Led To Fabricated Info... Didn't Help Find Bin Laden... The Most Egregious Lies... Obama Won't Take Sides...

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Key figures in the George W. Bush administration and an architect of the CIA's post-9/11 torture program are defending the so-called enhanced interrogation tactics in the wake of the Senate Intelligence Committee's bombshell report.
The 500-page report summary released Tuesday sheds light on gruesome tactics used by CIA interrogators on terror suspects who were captured and brought to secret locations outside U.S. jurisdiction. Some detainees were subject to a practice known as "rectal feeding," in which food is pumped into an individual through the anus. Others were waterboarded until they were close to drowning. Interrogators deprived detainees sleep, forced them to maintain "stress positions" and in one instance reportedly played Russian roulette with a detainee, according to the summary.
The report also deflates the argument that torture helped find Osama bin Laden andled to the capture of other terror suspects. At times, the report found, interrogation prompted detainees to give fabricated or inaccurate information....

Woman's body found in grave in the New Haven community of Duhaney Park, St Andrew, late yesterday....."Lawd Jesus! Look what the community come to!" said one woman

Thursday, December 11, 2014   
THE body of a woman was found in a shallow grave in the New Haven community of Duhaney Park, St Andrew, late yesterday.
Police at the scene where the girl's body was found.
(Photo: Joseph Wellington)
Police on the scene told the Jamaica Observer that they received reports that a woman was stabbed to death and her body buried close to a house located off Gordon Terrace in the area.
Police say people in the area stumbled upon the burial site after seeing a "toe" protruding from beneath the ground.
"The female has not been identified but based on the information she would have visited the area before," said one detective on the scene.
The discovery of the body triggered shock and anger in the community.
"Lawd Jesus! Look what the community come to!" said one woman from the area as a team of police searched the hillside for clues.
Police disclosed that one man was being questioned in connection to the gruesome find.
— Kimmo Matthews

Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize Speech | Oslo : TV5 News


Nobel Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi 
of India hold their Nobel Peace Prize diplomas and medals during the Nobel Peace 
Prize award ceremony in Oslo.

#WhiteCoats4BlackLives: Medical Students Stage Nationwide Protests Against Police Brutality..."I Can't Breathe" & "Hands Up Don't Shoot" protests

The Huffington Post | By Lilly Workneh Email Posted: 12/10/2014 7:29 pm EST 
Medical students from more than 70 schools on Wednesday protested racial profiling and police brutality through the social media initiative #WhiteCoats4BlackLives.
Hundreds of medical students wore white coats at “die-ins” and other protests on campuses to spotlight racial bias as a public health issue.
USC Medical students
The medical students joined others who have demonstrated since grand juries in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York City declined to indict white police officers in the killings of unarmed black men. Some of the protests have involved students, including those in high schoolscolleges and Ivy league schools.
Pictures that circulated Wednesday showed medical students holding signs that read, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” and, “We Can’t Breathe” -- rallying cries for those protesting the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York.
University of California,
San Francisco students
The effort was endorsed by Students for a National Health Program, an affiliate of Physicians for a National Health Program, an organization of more than 19,000 medical students and professionals that advocates for improved universal Medicare.
“We as medical students feel that this is an important time for medical institutions to respond to violence and race-related trauma that affect our communities and the patients we serve,” says a statement on the organization’s website.
“We feel it is essential to begin a conversation about our role in addressing the explicit and implicit discrimination and racism in our communities and reflect on the systemic biases embedded in our medical education curricula, clinical learning environments, and administrative decision-making.” more

Can't Hijack Air Jamaica

TIVOLI GARDENS INQUIRY: Painful - 67-year-old Joan McCarth, Elderly witness breaks down in tears recounting the killing of her grandnephew and son-in-law by policemen whom she said wrapped their bodies in bed linen to take them out of her house......The only weapon found was a kitchen knife, says witness

AN elderly woman yesterday gave emotional evidence in the Tivoli inquiry, recounting the killing of her grandnephew and son-in-law by policemen whom she said wrapped their bodies in bed linen to take them out of her house.
Witness on the stand in Tivoli inquiry
"They slaughter them like a lamb to the slaughter. No one could believe that they would kill them because they didn't react. They were just so scared. They were just so nervous. Oh God," 67-year-old Joan McCarthy, her eyes red and filled with tears when questioned by attorney Michael Lorne (representing the Office of the Public Defender).
"I didn't have a gunman in my house. I can swear for Andre Smith that he was not a gunman. They don't go anywhere. No matter how close the community centre is, they don't go over there," she added.
Earlier in McCarthy's evidence-in-chief, commission chairman Sir David Simmons had to adjourn the sitting for approximately 20 minutes to allow her to compose herself as she broke down crying.
The reaction in the room at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston suggested that onlookers, too, welcomed the break, after hearing McCarthy's grief-filled account of the killings that occurred on May 24, 2010, the day police and soldiers entered Tivoli Gardens amid gunfire to capture then Tivoli Gardens don Christopher 'Dudus' Coke and restore law and order to the barricaded West Kingston community.
McCarthy's grandnephew Andre Smith and son-in-law Dwayne Edwards -- both in their 20s -- were among the 75 people, including a policeman and a soldier, who died on that fateful day that captured international attention. more

VP in legal battle : CLIVE Chin - son of late VP Records owner Vincent Chin -- has filed a US$3 million lawsuit against his step-mother, Patricia, over the ownership of songs he wrote...Chin is contenting that his late father's Queens-based VP Music Group has been licensing more than 1,100 songs, written by him and recorded by artistes, without permission..

Wednesday, December 10, 2014
CLIVE Chin - son of late VP Records owner Vincent Chin -- has filed a lawsuit against his step-mother, Patricia, over the ownership of songs he wrote.
01
Clive Chin & Paricia Chin-VP Records
According to an article posted on the New York Post website, Chin, 60, filed the federal lawsuit in Brooklyn, New York.
Chin is contenting that his late father's Queens-based VP Music Group has been licensing more than 1,100 songs, written by him and recorded by artistes, without permission.
He is seeking US$3 million from his stepmother and three music companies he claims knowingly tried to scam him.
Patricia claims the copyrights to the music were part of the "marital estate" left by her husband.
Clive Chin has worked with major players in the reggae/dancehall industry including the Wailers, Dennis Brown, Black Uhuru and Lee 'Scratch' Perry.
His first major commercial success was Java, an international hit by Augustus Pablo. He also produced Pablo's debut album, This is Augustos Pablo.
He had further local hits with Dennis Brown's Cheater, and Junior Byles' King of Babylon. Other hits include Carl Malcolm's Miss Wire Waist and Fattie Bum Bum, which, with the help of Jonathan King, became a UK chart hit in 1975, reaching number 8. more

Federal autopsy released in Ferguson shooting....The Justice Department autopsy found that Brown died from multiple gunshot wounds and had severe head and chest injuries, though it noted that the chest injury might have been an exit wound from a shot that entered Brown's arm.

ST LOUIS (AP) — A federal autopsy in the Ferguson police shooting reached similar conclusions to those performed by local officials and a private examiner hired by 18-year-old Michael Brown's family, documents show.
Tuesday, December 09, 2014 | 7:45 AM   
The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System's autopsy on Brown, conducted at the request of the Department of Justice, was among grand jury documents that St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch released Monday with little explanation. Other documents include transcripts of eight federal interviews of possible witnesses to Brown's shooting in early August; police radio traffic; and an alleged audio recording of the shots fired by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
The image of Michael Brown is seen on this placard
being carried by a protestor in Ferguson.
Many of the documents contained information that was similar or identical to the materials that McCulloch released on November 24 after a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson in Brown's death. A transcript of testimony from an Air Force pathologist who performed the Justice Department autopsy was included in the November documents, but the autopsy report itself was not released until Monday.
The transcripts of the witness interviews that were released Monday were already included in previously released testimony heard by the grand jury.
The Justice Department autopsy found that Brown died from multiple gunshot wounds and had severe head and chest injuries, though it noted that the chest injury might have been an exit wound from a shot that entered Brown's arm. The autopsy also found a minor gunshot wound to Brown's right hand was evidence of close range discharge of a firearm.
Wilson told the local grand jury that his gun went off during a tussle with Brown through the open window of his police car moments before Brown was fatally shot.
The Justice Department is conducting a separate civil rights investigation into Brown's death. more

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: Nelson Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie takes swipe at widow, Graca Machel over his will....She said she was not going to evict the anti-apartheid icon "simply because he was married to a third wife"

Tuesday, December 09, 2014 | 4:20 AM  
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) - Nelson Mandela's former wife has taken a swipe at his widow Graca Machel, as she continues her fight to acquire the late statesman's rural house in Qunu.
Winnie Mandela, Nelson's ex-wife
In an interview published Tuesday, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela questioned why the property was left to Mozambican-born Machel, whom she said already owns "the world in Mozambique".
Winnie in October launched a legal challenge against Mandela's will claiming that the house, built on an expansive estate where the revered South African leader is buried, was acquired by her in 1989.
Mandela was still in prison at the time.
"I let him live on my property," the 78-year-old Madikizela-Mandela told the Daily Dispatch newspaper.
Nelson Mandela
She said she was not going to evict the anti-apartheid icon "simply because he was married to a third wife". 
"It is such a pity he is no longer there for me to ask just what on earth would have brought him to elect that he would take my land and give it away to someone who actually has a whole world in Mozambique, because she's got her four houses in Mozambique."
Madikizela-Mandela went a court to nullify the registration of the property in Mandela's name. The case is yet to be heard.
The couple divorced in 1996 and she was not named in his $4.4 million (3.4 million euro) estate in Mandela's will which was released in February after his death in December 2013. more

Unarmed People of Color Killed by Police, 1999-2014 : Seventy-six (76) men and women who were killed in police custody since the 1999 death of Amadou Diallo in New York

Unarmed People of Color Killed by Police, 1999-2014by Rich Juzwiak and Aleksander Chan 12/9/14
On Wednesday, after the announcement that NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo would not be indicted for killing Eric Garner, the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund Twitter posted a series of tweets naming 76 men and women who were killed in police custody since the 1999 death of Amadou Diallo in New York. Starting with the most recent death, what follows are more detailed accounts of many of those included in the Legal Defense Fund's tweets. 

Miriam Carey, 34, Washington, D.C.—October 3, 2013

Unarmed People of Color Killed by Police, 1999-2014While attempting to make a U-turn at a White House checkpoint, Carey allegedly hit a barricade and a Secret Service officer in front of the White House. After a high-speed chase, police surrounded her, weapons drawn. She was shot five times in the chase and died at the scene. She was unarmed. Her daughter was in the car with her and was unharmed.Aftermath: The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to press charges.

Tamon Robinson, 27, New York, N.Y.—April 18, 2012


Unarmed People of Color Killed by Police, 1999-2014Police responded to a call from Canarsie, Brooklyn that Robinson was stealing paving stones. When confronted by police, Robinson, unarmed, ran toward the building where his mother lived; officers chased him by car, hitting himAftermath: Robinson's family reached a $2 million settlement in a wrongful death suit against the city this year.

Kimani Gray, 16, New York, N.Y.—March 9, 2013

Unarmed People of Color Killed by Police, 1999-2014Police said Gray pointed a revolver at them as they attempted to question him. Friends and family say Gray had never had a gun, and a witness says he never pointed one at police. The cops shot a total of 11 rounds, striking Gray several timesAftermathNo indictments for the cops responsible for shooting Gray.
more

IN JAMAICA: St Thomas man, Winston Lindsay accused of killing his brother, 36-year-old Leroy Lindsay gets $250,000 bail....while laying on the ground, Leroy blurted, "Look how Winston kill me fi something that me nuh know bout."

Tuesday, December 09, 2014 Tanesha Mundle  
A St Thomas man accused of stabbing his brother to death over a headphone was yesterday offered $250,000 bail when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.
Winston Lindsay was arrested on August 9 -- a day after he allegedly killed his brother, 36-year-old Leroy Lindsay, who was a Seventh-Day Adventist elder of Sommerset in St Thomas.
Bail
The incident reportedly occurred at their father's home in St Thomas where the now deceased and his church brethren had gone to do cleaning.
The Crown is alleging that Winston confronted his brother over the headphone, which he accused him of taking. However, the brother denied taking the device and was allegedly attacked and stabbed in his side with a machete.
According to the prosecutor, there are two alleged eyewitnesses -- one who overheard Winston threatening to kill his brother and another who saw both brothers wrestling on the ground and Leroy later bleeding profusely from his side.
"So did anyone see the actual stabbing?" Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey enquired.
The prosecutor, in reply, said 'no' but indicated that one witness allegedly saw Winston with a knife and machete and even intervened to prevent him from stabbing his brother after he lay bleeding on the ground.
According to the prosecutor, one of the witnesses alleged that while laying on the ground, Leroy blurted, "Look how Winston kill me fi something that me nuh know bout." more

ST ANN, JAMAICA: Brutal! Shaw Park Gardens manager, 45-year-old Wycliff Scott killed in office; firearm stolen...."How yuh fi have this big place and no cameras?" one angry man asked.

BY RENAE DIXON Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, December 09, 2014    
THE manager of Shaw Park Gardens in St Ann was yesterday shot dead inside his office in a mid-morning attack that raised concerns about security at the property.
01
Wycliff Scott
A large pool of blood behind 45-year-old Wycliff Scott's chair in his small office told the tale of the tragedy that has left his family and co-workers devastated.
According to the police, Scott's firearm was taken by the two men who, at approximately 10:00 am, stopped by his office for about 10 minutes and talked to him before shooting him.
According to people at the scene yesterday, residents of the neighbouring communities of Pimento Walk and Parry Town normally walk through the property. Therefore, when the two men entered the property, yesterday, no one became suspicious.
After the murder, both men were seen running from the manager's office. The men reportedly escaped in the thick vegetation that surrounds the property.
While many lamented the murder of a man they described as loving and caring, others expressed concern about the level of security on the property.
"How yuh fi have this big place and no cameras?" one angry man asked.
"If they have camera, the police could just look and see ah who," he added.
Scott, who lived in Charles Town, St Mary, had been working at the property for the past four years. He is the father of two children, ages 11 and 15.
"He was a humble, quiet person," one man at the scene told the Jamaica Observer. "He was a very nice understanding person, a caring loving guy." more

Sierra Leone seeing 80-100 new Ebola cases daily


UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sierra Leone said Friday that between 80 and 100 new cases of Ebola are being reported every day and the country now hardest-hit by the deadly virus desperately needs over 1,000 beds to treat victims.
one more ebola death in SL
Sierra Leone's Finance Minister Kaifalah Marah painted a grim picture to the UN Economic and Social Council Friday of the challenges facing his West African nation which failed to meet a World Health Organization interim goal of isolating 70 per cent of Ebola patients and safely burying 70 per cent of victims by December 1.
The two other hard-hit countries, Liberia and Guinea, did meet the deadline, and the UN's Ebola chief Dr David Nabarro said the number of new cases in Liberia has dropped from 60 per day in September to 10 per day now.
But Nabarro and WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan stressed that a much greater effort is needed to reach the elusive goal of zero new cases.
"The Ebola outbreak is the largest, longest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic in the nearly 40-year history of this disease," Chan said. "What began as a health crisis has become a crisis with humanitarian, social, economic and security implications."
She said by videoconference from Geneva that "the fear for Ebola is moving faster than the virus". more

Eric Garner Protests On West Coast Turn Unruly...A second night of protest against police killings in Missouri and New York turned violent again in Berkeley as some demonstrators threw rocks and bottles at officers, assaulted each other

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A second night of protest against police killings in Missouri and New York turned violent again in Berkeley as some demonstrators threw rocks and bottles at officers, assaulted each other and shut down a freeway, police said.
Sunday's protest began peacefully on the University of California, Berkeley campus. But as protesters marched through downtown Berkeley toward the neighboring city of Oakland, the unrest resumed as someone smashed the window of a Radio Shack. When a protester tried to stop the growing vandalism, he was hit with a hammer, Officer Jennifer Coats said.
Some of the protesters made their way to a freeway in Oakland and blocked traffic. The California Highway Patrol said some tried to light a patrol vehicle on fire and threw rocks and bottles. Police also said explosives were thrown at officers, but there was no information immediately available on how potent they were. Highway patrol officers responded with tear gas. more

TODAY (12/9/14) is 20 Years Since Garnett Silk Passed: Garnett Silk In Studio Interview With David Rodigan on Kiss 100 FM 1993 & by Peggy Quattro


The Jamaica Observer continues its 20-part series, 20 Days of Silk, which looks at the life of roots singer Garnet Silk. This month marks 20 years since his death.
Garnet Silk at home with his children
 (from left) Derron, Arrayma and Fabian
 on the day of the interview in
February 1994. At right: Garnet Silk
holding a baby while posing for
 picture with Reggae Report
magazine’s M Peggy Quattro.
 (PHOTO COURTESY REGGAE
 REPORT MAGAZINE)
PEGGY Quattro did not know what to expect when she arrived in Kingston to interview reggae star Garnet Silk for her Reggae Report magazine in February 1994.
The last time she saw the singer was five months earlier. He was being helped off the stage at a New York City nightclub, unable to complete a show due to what doctors later diagnosed as exhaustion.
Garnett with family
He had not performed in concert since.
When Quattro showed up at Silk's home in the St Andrew hills, his mood was completely different.
"He was gracious, he was funny. He was just being himself," Quattro told the Sunday Observer.
The Ohio-born Quattro spent most of the day with the Rastafarian artiste, who she said was prepared to discuss everything. Even rumours that his absence from the music scene was his addiction to hard drugs.
"He told me why he was not on a lot of shows and spoke about the drug stories. He said every man has faults but his wasn't drugs," she recalled. more

(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