IN JAMAICA (UPDATE on GOOD DEEDS) : No more fowl coop for 81-year-old Rosalvo Patterson...senior citizen, who has been living in an fowl coop in Jericho, St Catherine, for the past five years, is expected to move into a new home, thanks to the kindness of music producer Wayne 'Lonesome' Brown.

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Wednesday, March 25, 2015    

IN a matter of weeks, the living conditions of 81-year-old Rosalvo Patterson is expected to be significantly improved.

Patterson exits his ‘home’ last week Wednesday.

The senior citizen, who has been living in an fowl coop in Jericho, St Catherine, for the past five years, is expected to move into a new home, thanks to the kindness of music producer Wayne 'Lonesome' Brown.

On Monday, living up to a promise made last Friday -- a day after Patterson's dire situation was highlighted by the Jamaica Observer -- Brown spent approximately $100,000 on plyboard, lumber and other building supplies to be used to construct a house for the ailing Patterson.

He drafted skilled friends and family members who have been camping in Jericho since Monday, while they construct the house for the elderly man.

"Even though we have heard some persons making promises to help, I want to lead by example. So, after donating funds towards his medical bill last week, I have decided to purchase some building items to construct a house for the senior citizen ,because despite all the talk, the senior citizen is still suffering in the fowl coop," Brown told the Observer on Monday.

(L) Wayne ‘Lonesome’ Brown (centre) and members of his
immediate family prepare to exit a hardware store in Kingston
on Monday with some of the building supplies he bought
 to construct a house for Rosalvo Patterson. (PHOTO: KARL MCLARTY)
 (R) These men lay the foundation for a new home
 for Patterson, yesterday. (PHOTO: GARFIELD ROBINSON)

Brown also plans to buy furniture for Patterson when the house is completed.

Meanwhile, the kind neighbour who has been helping Patterson throughout his ordeal, said a number of people have promised" to help.

"Since the story came out in the paper a number of persons have pledged to donate towards this project for Mr Patterson," said the woman, who again asked to remain unidentified.

She said representatives from charity organisation Food For the Poor, the Environmental Health Foundation, and other bodies have visited Patterson and expressed the desire to help. She said that other Observer readers, including several from overseas, had also offered assistance.

Meanwhile, an unpleasant situation has developed concerning Patterson's sister, Eileen. more

Richard Turere, Kenya, 15 (ABSOLUTELY OUSTANDING WUNDERKID) : 7 Genius Kids Who Are Creating Change In Their Own Backyards (VIDEO)

Posted: 02/04/2015 12:14 am EST 
Too often we hear the phrase wunderkindapplied to just-out-of-college startup CEOs in Silicon Valley. Here’s a vote for using the term in the intended way: to convey that there’s a certain degree of novelty, and yes, wonder, in the ideas that spring from the minds of our youngest generation.

To restore our sense of wunder, we’ve partnered with Cisco to profile outstanding kids from around the world who are using technology and ingenuity to speed the pace of social change.

Richard Turere grew up along the edge of Nairobi National Park in Kenya. As a young boy tasked with protecting his family’s livestock from roaming lions, he sought a solution that would both protect the livelihoods of citizens in his rural community and prevent others from killing lions in order to do so. Turere, a tinkerer by birth, came up with an ingenious, safe, cost-effective solution: he created “Lion Lights,” a solar-powered circuit, to scare off lions with flickering LED lights. The experiment was so successful that he had installed 75 Lion Light systems in Kenya by the time he was invited to speak at a TED Conference. more

New Vybz Kartel CD is # 3 on Billboard Chart : AS the first anniversary of his sentence for murder approaches, deejay Vybz Kartel earns his best showing to date on Billboard's Reggae Album chart.

By Kevin Jackson Observer Writer  Tuesday, March 24, 2015    

AS the first anniversary of his sentence for murder approaches, deejay Vybz Kartel earns his best showing to date on Billboard's Reggae Album chart.....

Vybz Kartel

Viking (Vybz is King), an 11-track set produced by Linton 'TJ' White, debuts at number three on that table. It is the controversial artiste's fifth title on the Billboard chart.

White, who has produced hits for Kartel including Touch a Button, Business, Conjugal Visit (featuring Spice), Without Money and Ordinary Servant, is not surprised at reception to the album.

"All the songs are brand new and people want new songs. These are exclusive that have never been released," White told the Jamaica Observer, adding: "At one point we had six of the songs on the iTunes charts at the same time."

Tracks from Viking (Vybz is King) include Dancehall, Gon Get Better, Enchanting, Time, Volcano, Facebook People and Unstoppable.

It bears the TJ Records/Adidjahiem Records/Short Boss Muzik imprints and is distributed by 21st Hapilos.

Kartel's previous entries on the Billboard Reggae Album chart are 2011's Kingston Story which peaked at number seven; Vybz Kartel Roots & Culture: The Voice of the Jamaican Ghetto, which reached number six in 2013; Kartel Forever: Trilogy, which stalled at number 11 in 2013; and last year's Reggae Love Songs & Other Things which got to number seven.

The 39-year-old Kartel (Adidja Palmer) was sentenced to life in prison on April 4 2014 for the August 2011 murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams. He will be eligible for parole after 35 years.

However, his popularity among the youth and hardcore dancehall fans remains strong. He won four awards at the recent Youth View Awards.

White has also had success on Billboard charts. His reworking of the Showtime 'riddim', called Unfinished Business, scored hits on the R&B Hop Hip Songs chart with Serani's No Games and Mavado's So Special.

IN JAMAICA: Fierce Champs Battle For Boys' And Girls' Champs Titles....Defending champions Calabar and Edwin Allen High schools are favoured...Hailed as the greatest event of its kind on the planet, the five-day championships, which gets under way today inside the National Stadium.

Published March 24, 2015

"Come and get it if you can!". That's the challenge from defending boys and girls' champions Calabar and Edwin Allen High schools.

Saqukine Cameron, 
Edwin Allen's top sprinter

They won't be short of takers, so brace yourselves for what is expected to be one of the most exciting Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/ GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships title races in recent history.

Hailed as the greatest event of its kind on the planet, the five-day championships, which gets under way today inside the National Stadium, will form the stage as the island's - and in some cases the world's - best young talent scrap it out for the greatest honour in local high school sports, glory at 'Champs'.

Calabar's Class One sprinter/hurdler 
Michael O'Hara

The plot largely remains the same in the boys' section, with defending champions Calabar expected to fight tooth and nail with old foes Kingston College (KC), who are desperate to end a five-year drought and avenge last year's 96.5-point demolition, with Jamaica College (JC) quietly confident of upsetting the applecart. However, as far as Calabar's head coach, Michael Clarke, is concerned, his team is ready and waiting to celebrate their fourth straight hold on the Mortimer Geddes trophy and 25th title overall.

"We have had some outstanding performances over the past year. Our preparations have gone very well and, as a result, I am looking forward to an exciting and highly competitive championships," Clarke said. "What I know is that Calabar, we have been preparing quite well over the past couple of months, and we are looking forward to some amazing results at Champs. more

ISRAEL SPIED ON U.S.-IRAN LOBBIED CONGRESS WITH INTEL : Israel Spied on US Iran Nuclear Talks With U.S. Ally’s snooping upset White House because information was used to lobby Congress to try to sink a deal

By 

ADAM ENTOUS

March 23, 2015 10:30 p.m. ET

S

Soon after the U.S. and other major powers entered negotiations last year to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, senior White House officials learned Israel was spying on the closed-door talks.

Netanyahu and Obama

The spying operation was part of a broader campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to penetrate the negotiations and then help build a case against the emerging terms of the deal, current and former U.S. officials said. In addition to eavesdropping, Israel acquired information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe, the officials said.

The espionage didn’t upset the White House as much as Israel’s sharing of inside information with U.S. lawmakers and others to drain support from a high-stakes deal intended to limit Iran’s nuclear program, current and former officials said.

“It is one thing for the U.S. and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal U.S. secrets and play them back to U.S. legislators to undermine U.S. diplomacy,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on the matter. more

BREAKING NEWS (Flight 4U9525) : 148 Feared Dead according to President of France in Airbus A320 crash reports from MSNBC: German Wings flight 'down in southern France' crashed from Barcelona to Dusseldorf...Crash site is located

An Airbus A320 operated by the German Wings airline has crashed in southern France, according to reports.

The plane was travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf when it came down in the French Alps near Digne, according to the AFP News Agency.

There were conflicting early reports of the number of passengers on the plane, which is believed to have a capacity of 174.

Screengrab from the flight tracking
 website Flightaware, appearing to show
 the path of the Barcelona-Dusseldorf flight

Le Monde and local newspapers cited aviation officials as saying that 142 passengers and six crew were on board at the time. Germanwings has issued a statement via Twitter saying the airline is still working to confirm the incident through its "own information".

It said it had "recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident".

The airline requested the public "monitor our website" and said it would provide information as soon as it was available.

More follows

Seems To Me I'm Winning - Rula Brown & Dobbie Dobson [Bee Cat Records / VPAL Music 2015]

Bobbi Kristina Brown Update: ‘Reality’ Of Condition Reportedly ‘Sinking In’ For Family... She’s currently using a breathing tube with no change in her condition. Almost two months after her hospitalization

By  Amanda Remling @AmandaTVScoop on March 22 2015 8:51 AM EDT

Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston, remains in a medically induced coma after being moved to an Atlanta rehab facility this week. According to sources, the “reality” of the situation is “sinking in” for the family.

Bobbi Kristina, 22,

Bobbi Kristina, 22, was found unresponsive in a bathtub at her home Jan. 31. Hospitalized at Emory University Hospital, the aspiring singer was placed in a medically induced coma because of swelling of the brain. In mid-February, Bobbi Kristina suffered a seizure as doctors unsuccessfully attempted to wean her off the coma-inducing medication. She’s currently using a breathing tube with no change in her condition. Almost two months after her hospitalization, Bobbi Kristina is reportedly at an undisclosed medical rehab facility in Georgia. According to TMZ, the facility is for “long-term care.” And while Bobby Brown is still optimistic about his daughter’s recovery, sources told People magazine the situation “hasn’t gotten any easier for him.”

“It has gotten harder,” one insider dished. “He really thought she’d be better by now, that there would be some change. There hasn’t been any sign of improvement since this happened.” more

DUANVALE, Trelawny : 44-year-old farmer, Lincoln Barrett killed during fight with brother over a bicycle....during which a machete was brought into play.

BY HORACE HINES Observer staff reporter  Monday, March 23, 2015 

Lincoln Barrett

DUANVALE, Trelawny --The Trelawny police have taken a 42-year-old man into custody in connection with the death of his brother who was killed during a domestic dispute at their Duanvale home in the parish yesterday morning.

The deceased has been identified as 44-year-old farmer, Lincoln Barrett, also called 'Big Yellow' or 'Silly'.

Family members discuss the killing
yesterday. (PHOTOS: PHILLIP LEMONTE)

According to family members, about 10:30 am, the two brothers were involved in a heated argument over a bicycle, it escalated into a fight, during which a machete was brought into play.

The elder brother died as a result of multiple chop wounds he received to his neck and face.

The accused brother initially fled the scene, but turned himself in to the police a few hours after the brutal assault.

BIG CONGRATULATIONS : RENOWNED Jamaican scientist Dr Henry Lowe granted new US patent in his anti-cancer research .... Development said to be major scientific stride for biotechnology in Jamaica .... adding that the new patent is one of three anti-cancer patents so far granted to Dr Lowe

Monday, March 23, 2015    

RENOWNED Jamaican scientist Dr Henry Lowe was recently granted a new patent by the United States of America Patent Office in his anti-cancer research.

LOWE… pleased that the patent has finally been granted

The development is being regarded as a major scientific stride for biotechnology in Jamaica as it relates to the making of a new group of chemical compounds called Dicinnamoyl-Glycerol Esters, which have major anti-cancer activities.

A news release from Lowe's Bio-Tech R&D Institute explained that the new patent -- Number 8907117 -- is titled 'Anti-tumour and Anti-Inflammatory Dicinnamoyl-Glycerol Esters and their Analogues'.

"The making of these new anti-cancer drugs was inspired by the isolation of chemical compounds from the Ball Moss plant, which has been actively pursued over the past 10 years by Dr Lowe and his research team," the news release said. "The synthesis of these anti-cancer drug agents is a first of its kind."

The patent information was recently released, but was formally granted on December 9, 2014, the release explained, adding that the new patent is one of three anti-cancer patents so far granted to Dr Lowe, with an additional five patents undergoing different stages of evaluation prior to the patent award.

"The bioactive isolates are currently undergoing the final stages of preclinical studies to pave the way for clinical trials and drug development," the news release added.

"Since filing for this patent over four years ago, we are pleased to know that it has finally been granted," the release quoted Dr Lowe, who also explained that drug research and development is very expensive and time-consuming. more

CONGRATS in JAMAICA: Bio-organic chemist and lecturer at UTech Dr Andrew Lamm and graduate student O'Brien Brown, researchers claim novel discovery : THE University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) is hoping to make its mark on the local pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries as it advances research on two endemic plants

BY INGRID BROWN Associate Editor -- Special Assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, March 23, 2015    

THE University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) is hoping to make its mark on the local pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries as it advances research on two endemic plants from the Cockpit Country with the aim of producing a drug to reduce inflammation and infection.

Bio-organic Chemist and lecturer at UTech Dr Andrew Lamm (right)
 talks about the research that he and graduate student O’Brien Brown
 are conducting on two endemic plants from the Cockpit Country.
They say they are hoping to complete a major stage of the research
 by the end of this month. (PHOTOS: MICHAEL GORDON)

Bio-organic chemist and lecturer at UTech Dr Andrew Lamm and graduate student O'Brien Brown say they are hoping to complete a major stage of the research by the end of this month.

The duo said over the past few years they have been looking at various plant extracts to identify their biological activity as some of them contain anti-bacterial, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.

"We have isolated two compounds... hopefully from one of these plants we will be able to develop maybe some direct pharmacological agent or nutraceutical, cosmeceutical treatment that might help to reduce inflammation and treat infection," Lamm said.

"Right now we have isolated the compound and done the purification and we have the pure substances so we are trying to find out the actual molecular structure of it," Lamm explained.

Meanwhile, Brown said the compound could open new doors as it is a novel discovery.

The process, he said, is 90 per cent complete on one of the active plants and as such he is getting ready to publish the findings in a journal.

And based on the findings, the duo say they are hopeful that the research will yield the expected results. more

Bishop Rod Walton & Sir KeithAnthony- Near Death Experience NDE, Bereavement and Trauma Rescue Outreach on RulaBrownNetwork (RBN)

RULA BROWN & Sir KEITHANTHONY on RulaBrownNetwork : Bereavement and Trauma Rescue Outreach has been created to bring support and help to people suffering or preparing for bereavement. All the members of our team have suffered bereavement and are passionate about helping others experiencing bereavement. Having been through bereavement ourselves, we empathise with the pain and issues that people go through. We offer a new paradigm in bereavement treatment. We don't just offer conventional counselling, but instead base our approach on the evidence available for life after death. 

By presenting this evidence, from sound medical and scientific sources, we help people find confidence in life after death. Most people whom we have helped in this way find that the pain of bereavement is reduced from unbearable dispair to a more handleable level of pain comparable to that experienced when a loved one emigrates. Whilst our core team are priests, our help is available and relevant to Christians of all denominations and non-Christians alike. Rt Revd Rod Walton Rod has been studying Near Death Experience research for over 30 years. It wasn't until he lost his Mother 12 years ago that he fully appreciated the effect that a knowledge of the scientific and medical evidence for life after death can have on a person in bereavement. Whilst there are certain elements of grief that only time and counselling can help, a reasoned confidence that we will be reunited with our loves ones one day makes a massive difference to the grief process and removes the helplessness and dispair so often otherwise experienced. This discovery led Rod to start offering a very special form of bereavement support within the local community and this is a ministry which has expanded and has now help many people.

Jamaican heart patient Karessa Marshall blames health ministry for her plight in Baltimore.... Patient says she doesn't know how to find US$56,000....According to the 34-year-old, the ministry had said that if she could pay for her visa, air fare, and accommodation, the Government would assist her with the surgery

BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS Senior staff reporter saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, March 22, 2015    

Jamaican heart patient Karessa Marshall says she is now stranded in Baltimore, USA and is blaming the Ministry of Health for reneging on an agreement to pay for a surgery, which she needs to stay alive.

MARSHALL ... they said they would have looked after
the medical part of it

Marshall is appealing for help, after she said the ministry told her on Wednesday, just days before her surgery, which was scheduled for Friday, that there were no funds.

"The ministry told me that they don't have any money right now. I'm stranded, and don't know what to do," she told the Jamaica Observer.

According to the 34-year-old, the ministry had said that if she could pay for her visa, air fare, and accommodation, the Government would assist her with the surgery, if the preparatory tests determined that she needed the operation.

Marshall said that she is in limbo, as she does not know how she will pay for the US$56,000 surgery.

Marshall, who had to postpone a previous appointment with the Johns Hopkins Hospital medical team, due to lack of funds, said she could not have missed this second appointment, or her case would have been dismissed. She said it was why she took the risk of going to Baltimore, even without the money for the tests and surgery in hand, banking on the ministry's help.

"I couldn't make this appointment miss me... I wouldn't have spent US$1,500 if they had not said they would help... they said they would look about the medical part of it," she stated.

But the Ministry of Health said that Marshall's account is not accurate, as there was no agreement to pay for the surgery. A ministry representative close to the case, but who did not want to give her name, explained that Marshall, in an interview with the health ministry and the Ministry of Finance, had been told that she would need to provide an invoice for the surgery, after her tests were done.

"We did not know the cost, because she did not even know if she would need surgery; she was asked to send back to us the cost for the test," the representative said, adding that the ministry is still awaiting that information. more

EXAM TIME IN JAMAICA ; 38,000-plus for Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) this Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27, 2015 in 1,112 centres across the island....PALAS will accept GSAT applicants in May's application process.

Sunday, March 22, 2015  

THE Ministry of Education has announced that 38,470 students are confirmed to sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) this Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27, 2015 in 1,112 centres across the island.

38,000 to take GSAT...This is one of the 1,112 exam centres

There are 18,492 female and 16,804 male candidates. A total of 3,174 registered and eligible students have deferred sitting the examination this year.

Chief Education Officer Dr Grace McLean has indicated that the only schools that will be closed during the sitting of the examinations are those that will require additional space to accommodate all students at the same time.

She stated that all schools with adequate capacity will remain open and supervised by class teachers. Schools also have been advised to use the two days for field trips and other educational opportunities for those students not sitting the exams.

GSAT candidates will be tested in the critical areas of the primary school curriculum; namely mathematics, social studies, language arts, science, and communication tasks. Mathematics and social studies are scheduled for Thursday; and language arts, communication tasks, and science are set for Friday.

"Special arrangements have been made to facilitate special needs students sitting the examination," the ministry said in a release.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education encourages students to:

ST. ANN, JAMAICA: Mother needs help with disabled son...RICHARD Christie is 11 years old but does not go to school and has to be carried around in a stroller...."Sometimes mi feel like fi cry because mi have him normal," the mother said.

BY RENAE DIXON Sunday Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, March 22, 2015    

RICHARD Christie is 11 years old but does not go to school and has to be carried around in a stroller.

It is his mother's dream for him to get an education. However, Juelitte Brady is not able to make this a reality because her son has not been accepted into the education system due to his disability.

JUELITTE Brady and son Richard Christie.
 (PHOTO: RENAE DIXON)

"Sometimes mi feel like fi cry because mi have him normal," the mother said.

Brady, from Orange Hill, Brown's Town, said that her son was born at the Alexandria Hospital in 2004.

"Before I took him home, the nurse told me she is going to visit me, but I didn't take it for anything," the mother recalled.

About five days after leaving the hospital, her son's feet, face and abdomen became swollen and he was crying constantly.

The concerned mother took her child to the St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital. That was when she received the disturbing diagnosis.

"They told me he has a heart problem. They had him on treatment but the swelling was not going down", she stated.

Analyses later revealed that young Richard had a hole in the heart.

"Tests showed that apart from the hole in the heart, the valve was twisted," she revealed.

When he was about three weeks old, heart surgery was done on Richard at the Bustamante Hospital for Children. However, it was not 100 per cent successful, Brady said. more

GEORGIA, USA : Bobbi Kristina Brown moved to rehab centre says NBC

Friday, March 20, 2015 | 9:23 PM    

GEORGIA, USA – NBC is reporting that Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of late pop singer Whitney Houston, has been moved to a rehabilitation facility from a Georgia hospital almost two months after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub.

Bobbi Kristina Brown

The network cited unnamed source close to the family, NBC reported that Brown's condition had not changed. The source according to NBC did not say when she had been moved or where she would be, the network reported.

Brown, 21, the only child of singers Bobby Brown and Houston, has been treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. She was discovered on Jan. 31 face down and unresponsive in a bathtub in her suburban home.

Family members have said little about the aspiring singer's treatment or medical prognosis. Bobby Brown has asked for privacy.

Shaggy is one, two on iTunes.... THE growing popularity Shaggy's latest single, I Need Your Love, is having a ripple effect on some of his previous tracks.

BY RICHARD JOHNSON Observer senior reporter johnsonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Saturday, March 21, 2015    

THE growing popularity Shaggy's latest single, I Need Your Love, is having a ripple effect on some of his previous tracks.

Shaggy

According to iTunes Reggae chart, It Wasn't Me and Angel, currently hold the top two positions, respectively. Both are from his 2000 album Hot Shot.

Hot Shot was the highest-charting studio album of 2001 on the Billboard Year-End Album Charts, and dethroned The Beatles on Billboard's 200 album chart in February 2001.

Bob Marley & the Wailers (Three Little Birds), Matisyahu (One Day) and UB40 (Red Red Wine) complete iTunes top five.

Speaking to the Jamaica Observer from New York yesterday, Shaggy said his latest track is bringing 'Brand Shaggy' back to the minds of listeners.

"Some research was done and it was revealed that persons are reconnecting with the Shaggy brand having listened to the new track. This connection is all to the older music. Therefore, it is not surprising that the songs are back on the charts... that's just how it works and the new song has made it easier," he said. He said there was no marketing push on his part.

"It shows that people are still listening to these songs. Both these songs are classics anyway. When we make them, we make them good, so they can be timeless," he said.

I Need Your Love is currently holding the number 39 spot on the Billboard charts. The track features Australian singer/songwriter Faydee, Romanian singer/songwriter/producer Costi Ioni and Swedish-Congolese artiste Mohombi. more

IN JAMAICA (GREAT WORKS) : Busy Signal’s charity to aid St Ann hospital....It is in need of vital X-ray/CAT scan equipment for detecting cancer. It costs roughly $12 million," ...Jamaica's health sector has been hemorrhaging for years from a shortage of vital equipment, beds, gloves, gauzes and manpower.

BY BRIAN BONITTO Associate Editor — Auto and Entertainment bonittob@jamaicaobserver.com  Saturday, March 21, 2015   

NEXT month, dancehall deejay Busy Signal will be embarking on his latest project -- the Busy 20/20 Helping Hands Foundation Limited.

According to the dancehall artiste, the venture is for a much-needed cause.

Busy Signal

"My priority is the St Ann's Bay Hospital. It is in need of vital X-ray/CAT scan equipment for detecting cancer. It costs roughly $12 million," Busy Signal told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

The foundation — which was registered last year — will be officially launched at the Jewel Dunn's River Resort & Spa in Ocho Rios on April 2.

Busy Signal, whose given name is Reanno Gordon, explained his reason for taking on this project.

"This is the hospital I was born in. The majority of people from St Ann are farmers and they don't have the money fi go private hospital. So mi haffi help inna my way and give back. Dem need the help," he said.

The artiste said he is aware that he alone cannot do it, and therefore welcomes assistance from corporate Jamaica. Jamaica's health sector has been hemorrhaging for years from a shortage of vital equipment, beds, gloves, gauzes and manpower.

Several charities including We Care Foundation and Shaggy and Friends Foundation have rallied to the hospital's aid. However, the sector remains in dire straits.

"Government a government. We haffi help inna our way. Nobody is excluded from sickness," he said.

With regard to his career, Busy Signal said he has a double album pending.more

First multi-racial Miss Universe (Miss Nagasaki, Ariana Miyamoto) Japan crowned : Born in Japan to a Japanese mother and African American father, Miyamoto is a Japanese citizen, grew up in Japan, and identifies as Japanese. Described in local media as a "saishoku kenbi," a woman blessed with both intelligence and beauty, she holds a 5th degree mastery of Japanese calligraphy.

Saturday, March 21, 2015 | 12:18 AM 

TOKYO, Japan – NBC is reporting that the stunning Miss Nagasaki, Ariana Miyamoto, is the first multiracial contestant ever to be crowned Miss Universe Japan and will represent Japan in the 2015 Miss Universe pageant.

Miss Nagasaki, Ariana Miyamoto

Born in Japan to a Japanese mother and African American father, Miyamoto is a Japanese citizen, grew up in Japan, and identifies as Japanese. Described in local media as a "saishoku kenbi," a woman blessed with both intelligence and beauty, she holds a 5th degree mastery of Japanese calligraphy.

But reaction to her win has been both positive and negative, with some people questioning whether a multiracial person can truly represent Japan. According to local media, even she was initially a little wary about entering the pageant because she was "hafu," the Japanese word used to refer to multiracial or multi-ethnic half-Japanese people.

"The selection of Ariana Miyamoto as this year's Miss Universe Japan is a huge step forward in expanding the definition of what it means to be Japanese," filmmaker and co-director of the film "Hafu," Megumi Nishikura told NBC News, "The controversy that has erupted over her selection is a great opportunity for us Japanese to examine how far we have come from our self-perpetuated myth of homogeneity while at the same time it shows us how much further we have to go."

According to the film, "Hafu: The Mixed-Race Experience in Japan," 20,000 half-Japanese people are born in Japan each year, including both multi-ethnic and multiracial people.

"In a country where the majority of fashion beauty magazines and TV shows are reigned by 'hafu' models and actors," filmmaker and co-director of the film "Hafu," Lara Perez Takagi told NBC News, "It was actually about time that a mixed-race Japanese girl won the Miss Universe pageant."

Producer aids homeless man : MEMBERS of the entertainment fraternity are being urged to join in helping 81-year-old Rosalvo Patterson, who has been living in a crumbling chicken coop in Jericho, St Catherine, for the past five years....Meanwhile, veteran musician Toots Hibbert, "very concerned about how our seniors are being treated in this society," said Hibberts.

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Saturday, March 21, 2015 

MEMBERS of the entertainment fraternity are being urged to join in helping 81-year-old Rosalvo Patterson, who has been living in a crumbling chicken coop in Jericho, St Catherine, for the past five years.

music producer Wayne 'Lonesome' Brown 

Yesterday's call was made by music producer Wayne 'Lonesome' Brown who donated $10,000 towards the ailing Patterson's medical bills.

Patterson's plight was highlighted by the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

"When I read the story, I was moved and just wanted to use this occasion to donate the first of several planned donations," Brown told the Observer at his Red Hills Road studio in St Andrew yesterday.

"I am using this opportunity to call on other entertainers, Jamaicans, to come together to help in whatever way they can because, as a team, we can do more," he continued.

The $10,000 was remitted to a neighbour, who had been assisting the elderly man with food.

81-year-old Rosalvo Patterson,

"This donation will go towards his medical bill as he is set to visit the doctor to do a blood test on Monday," said the woman, who asked to remain unidentified.

Meanwhile, veteran musician Toots Hibbert, who was also present at the studio, said he was moved by Patterson's situation and was particularly hurt by the treatment being meted out to the country's seniors.

"I think the situation is very sad. Outrageous to see one of our own living that way. I am very concerned about how our seniors are being treated in this society," said Hibberts.

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You may also listen commercial FREE by clicking ON AIR-Listen LIVE AUDIO BOX above or TUNE-IN LINK or call in on Tele at 213-401-0061. Enjoy the sweet music.To chat , please sign in with your Chatango account.Please support the scholarship program by considering to donate at least $10.00 at www.PALAS1.org. Thank you very much.