NEW YORK TIMES (HISTORY AT IVY LEAGUE YALE UNIVERSITY for AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS) : Crouch Quadruplets Accepted Into Yale....Meet the Crouch Quads; Kenny, Martina, Ray and Carol

By JACQUES STEINBERG

Published: December 18, 2009

DANBURY, Conn. — Ray Crouch, a senior at Danbury High School, logged onto the computer in his family’s living room just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday and entered the Web site of the Yale admissions office.

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Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Kenny, Martina, Ray and Carol Crouch have until May 1 to decide whether to attend the same college or to branch out.

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Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Kenny, Martina, Ray and Carol Crouch have collectively made more than 30 applications to college, and not to all the same places.

Suddenly the screen turned blue — Yale blue — and an image of a bulldog, the university mascot, appeared, followed by “Welcome to the Class of 2014.” Ray, 18, had been offered a spot in the next freshman class, under its early-admission program. Standing behind him, his mother, Caroline, screamed.

But that was only the beginning. Moments later, Ray’s brother, Kenny, also 18, went to the Yale site and got an identical message. He was followed by their sister Carol. Same news. Then the room fell silent. Ray, Kenny and Carol are quadruplets, and their sister Martina had applied to Yale, too.

“I was thinking, it’s going to be really awkward when I don’t get in,” Martina recalled Friday.

But the computer turned blue for her as well, which prompted such an outpouring of joy from their mother that she wrestled their father, Steven, to the floor in a hug.

The Crouches’ perfect batting average represents a first for Yale — the first time in anyone’s memory that it has offered admission to quadruplets. It is also, of course, no small milestone for the siblings, who were born more than two months premature. (Ray was the last to be released from the neonatal unit, more than four months later.)

They made up for that rough start. Their class rankings range from 13 out of a class of 632 (Kenny) to 46 (Martina) — and they have sky-high SAT scores (including Carol’s perfect 800 on the verbal part of that exam).

But whether any one of them, let alone all four, winds up at Yale remains an open question. Under Yale’s early-admission program, accepted applicants can apply to other colleges and need not make up their minds until May 1.

For one thing, money is still an issue. With a father who works for the State of Connecticut as a case manager in the Department of Mental Health, and a stay-at-home mother who is studying for her master’s degree in social work, the quadruplets say their decision will be heavily influenced by financial aid.

“We have to be practical,” Kenny said.

While the family has some savings, the four say they do not want their parents to have to pay much of anything for their education.

As a so-called need-blind institution, Yale commits in advance to meet any admitted applicant’s financial need. But it is the university — and not the student — that defines what that need is. For the Crouches, such calculations will be made further down the road. They have yet to complete their financial aid paperwork. more

KINGSTON, JAMAICA (SICKENING!) : ‘A six months now mi nuh cook’... Overflowing sewage, lack of running water making life miserable for Rema residents

BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, May 30, 2016    

IT’S been years since some residents of the inner-city community of Rema in St Andrew Southern have been waking up to the unpleasant sight and smell of raw sewage settling in their backyards and seeping into their houses.

Daphne says she wants something done about the
mosquito-infested drains in Rema.

Now they are tired of it and are calling for the intervention of Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie, since efforts to get help from the local representatives in the People’s National Party (PNP) stronghold have so far failed.

“A long time wi a face dis, but dem seh dem ago fix it and all now. It look like a politics... a politics mek wi a suffer,” declared one resident, who gave her name only as Shaneka. She said that most of the people who live in the problem area are supporters of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.

“Check the smell and look at the sewage. When adults can’t can manage it, the children can’t deal with it also as fi dem immune system weak,” Shaneka told theJamaica Observer on Friday, noting that she has been forced to take her two young children to the doctor on several occasions because of infections caused by the unhealthy environment. “We need help, but dem nuh business wid we, ‘cause a nuh dem a face it and dem inna fi dem uptown house weh nice and luxurious. Only time dem business wid we is when dem want wi hand fi dip inna ink,” Shaneka said.

An underground spring in Rema from
 which residents catch water for
domestic use.

She said residents have been living with the problem for over 20 years, and the sewer pipes have badly deteriorated and need fixing.

She said the drains get clogged easily, and when they do the sewage flows over and settles in residents’ backyards. She said residents, most times, have to pay to clean the area.

The sewage also backs up into people’s toilets, especially those of residents like herself who live on the ground floor of the high-rise buildings.

“When dem flush, everything come down on me, everytime me haffi a clean,” she explained.

“A bout six months now mi nuh cook, because if mi cook it come in like a [filth] mi a cook even though mi close mi window,” she said. “Mi have a AC and a one year now mi cyaan use it because of the smell.”

The large garbage heap near the spring.Photos:
Lionel Rookwood

Added to that, the area has been without running water for approximately seven years, and the residents said that they are perplexed as to why the National Water Commission disconnected their supply.

“When people want water some haffi go across the road or go up a Seventh Street and some go down a May Pen Cemetery,” Shaneka told the Observer, pointing out that residents are forced to fetch water from a ‘spring’, which is next to a huge garbage heap on the main road. more

CONGRATS : Jamaican-born New York professor, Dr Ahmed Reid sits on on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)....“We are tasked to study the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent."

Sunday, May 29, 2016    

Associate professor of history at Bronx Community College (BCC) Dr Ahmed Reid is the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean on the United Nations Human Rights Council. Reid, a Jamaican who hails from St James, is one of five members of the council’s Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, serving from December 1, 2015 until June 2022.

Dr Ahmed Reid, a son of St James in Jamaica, is the
 representative for Latin America and the Caribbean on
 the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Workign
Group of Experts on People of African Descent.Photo: BCC

“We are tasked to study the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent. We gather all relevant information from governments, non-governmental organisations and other sources. We also visit countries where we think problems exist. Then we submit our report to the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly,” Dr Reid said, explaining the working group’s functions.

Reid, the only historian on the working group, is no stranger to activism.

“Since my time as a graduate student living in the Caribbean, and as a historian with the experience of colonialism and what colonialism has done to the Caribbean — disfigured it, I always use that phrase — I have believed that history and social justice go hand in hand. My task is not just to teach history in the classroom, but also to do a lot of advocacy work. I do public lectures and history education because, in the Caribbean, particularly in Jamaica, about three per cent of the population gets the chance to go to university. The wider public needs to know the history and the legacy of slavery and colonialism,” he said. In 2007, the bicentenary of the British abolition of slavery, Dr Reid worked as a researcher for the Jamaica National Bicentenary Committee. Thus began his interest in what is now the focus of his career.

“I started then and I’ve never stopped. The legacy of slavery and colonialism is still there and people of African descent continue to face discrimination and intolerance. My motivation is to help eliminate all of this. The working group tries to find measures to sensitise not only people of African descent about these issues, but everyone,” he says. more

IN JAMAICA (SUICIDE): Wolmerian ,13-year-old J’Quan Forbes remembered as loving boy, over-achiever....

BY ALDANE WALTERS Sunday Observer writer  Sunday, May 29, 2016    

WHEN news broke on April 26 of the heart-breaking suspected suicide of 13-year-old J’Quan Forbes the night before, it shocked people who knew him and many others across the island.

Bernard Forbes is being comforted by his aunt, Jasmine,
as he mourns the loss of his son J’Quan, during the funeral
 service for the 13-year-old Wolmers’ Boys’ School student
at Swallofield Chapel yesterday.Michael Gordon 

Yesterday, that shock and disbelief permeated the air at Swallowfield Chapel in Kingston where a thanksgiving service was held for J’Quan’s life. The service was characterised by the intermittent stroll of family members up to the front of the church to pay respect to the Wolmer’s Boys’ School student, whose body lay in a glass-topped casket decorated with a collage of his image.

His mother, Kimesha Pottinger, sat and wept to herself and toward the end of the service hugged the casket, loudly weeping for her boy who she will “never see again”.

Other family members held back sobs, while well-wishers and members of J’Quan’s high school family, including principal and Inter-Secondary School Sports Association President Dr Walton Small, other school officials and students, sat and wondered aloud about the tragedy. The tributes from family and friends were mostly used to encourage J’Quan’s parents. Entertainer Trilla U dedicated a heartfelt rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Look To Youto J’Quan’s father, policeman Bernard Forbes, while Felicia Spencer rendered a song to the boy’s mother, in which she imagined all the things she would do if given one more day with J’Quan.

Aunt Heather Allen-Bryan, in remembering J’Quan, described him as an inquisitive child.

“He was mature beyond his years,” she said, as she recalled when he was just six years old, him asking her why she used weights when exercising.

She went on to further describe him as a loving gentleman.

Kimesha Pottinger grieves on the casket bearing the body
 of her son, J’Quan Forbes, while young Tajay Forbes
 tries to come to grips with the loss of the Wolmer’s Boys’
School student during yesterday’s funeral service at Swallofield
Chapel in St Andrew. J’Quan was reported to have
 shot himself on April 25.Photos: Michael Gordon

“He once told my college-aged son that he should be more active around the house,” she remembered fondly.

The Wolmerian was also an over-achiever.

“When I told him how excellent his performance was, he would say, ‘Aunty Heather, is the 100 I was aiming for enuh’,” she said.

Police report that on the night of his death, April 25, J’Quan had an argument with his father about his academic performance, only to be later found with a gunshot wound to the head at their Chetwood Avenue home in Kingston 11. The Independent Commission of Investigations is still probing the boy’s death.

His aunt, who said he had “the mark of greatness all over him”, told the church that he loved the outdoors. He was a member of the cadet corps at school.

“He never accepted the status quo. Always wanted to know why. And you had to make sure your reasoning was solid,” Allen-Bryan said.

His classmates remembered him as an energetic and friendly child. “He was a hugger,” said one of them.

Pastor Cyril Francis used the occasion to encourage the family to give their lives to Jesus. more

MANDEVILLE, Manchester (WOUNDED): Alwayne Smith looks to entrepreneurship. “Mi trying from last year to raise some chicken,” he said.... Wounded man moves to get life back on track

BY ALICIA SUTHERLAND Staff reporter sutherlanda@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, May 29, 2016  

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Ironically, it was his quest to find a job which landed 29-year-old Alwayne Smith in his present predicament, where he barely has an income.

In 2011 he was mysteriously and severely burnt at a house where he was staying, after leaving his home in Oxford, north western Manchester, for a job interview in the hotel industry in Montego Bay.

Alwayne Smith

In December last year, months after returning home following his prolonged stint in hospital for a second time, he was shot by gunmen in what was allegedly a case of mistaken identity, while returning from a river in his community where he went for a bath.

He said the gunmen attacked him and another member of his community, but he received more injuries because he could not move as quickly when the shots were being fired. Multiple surgeries later, he said that he is still recuperating from the burn attack. He said that he has recovered from the gunshot wounds.

With limited opportunities to earn an income these days, he told the Jamaica Observer that he has decided to try his hand at entrepreneurship.

“Mi trying from last year to raise some chicken,” he said.

Currently, he said, an allowance of $2,300 that he receives every other month from the Poor Relief Department is his only guaranteed source of income.

Based on a recent adjustment, he said that he will soon receive it every month, with the stipend being $1,190.

Smith, however, longs for a way to supplement the amount in order to make some long-term plans, especially as it relates to the education of his young son.

Alwayne Smith

He said his desire is to give his child, who was just an infant when he was burnt, a better life than he had growing up.

Smith said that his child does not live with him but when he checks he is told that due to inadequate funding, he is not going to school as often as he should.

He said that for his venture into the chicken-rearing business, he would like to start with about 100 chickens. Fortunately, he said that he has been promised some support through the Poor Relief Department to get the chickens and the necessary feed required. more

ST. THOMAS, JAMAICA (SAD STORY- RIP)13 year-old schoolgirl Brittanie Cohen dies as heavy rains lash St Thomas.... Rains cause death, destruction in St Thomas

BY RACQUEL PORTER Observer staff reporter porterr@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, May 26, 2016   

THE body of 13-year-old Brittanie Cohen, who was swept away by raging floodwaters in St Thomas on Tuesday night, was found wrapped around a tree along the Golden Grove main road yesterday.

Brittanie, a seventh-grade student of Paul Bogle High School, and two of her peers were trapped by floodwaters as they made their way home from school, during heavy rains induced by a trough that has been lashing the eastern section of the island since early Tuesday — badly damaging roads and homes.

The bus that was transporting the students from Golden Grove to Dalvey, where Brittanie lived, had to abort the trip because of rising floodwaters, residents alleged.

Residents told the Jamaica Observer that Brittanie and two of her peers attempted to make the journey home by foot, when she attempted to cross the flooded road at Hampton Court, and was swept away. The other two girls were rescued by residents, but efforts to find Brittanie failed as night had fallen and there was no electricity in the area. Yesterday, one resident said Brittanie appeared to have sought refuge on a tree as the water rose, her head found stuck between its branches less than a quarter of a mile from where she was swept away.

Her mother, Jullian Green, was beside herself with grief yesterday. She said she spoke to Brittanie — the first of her three children — minutes before the tragedy.

“Mi deh yah and a wonder weh she deh, so mi call and she seh she deh a Hampton. Ina di five o’clock bells mi a wonder how she ago reach, so mi get up and say mi a guh look fi mi daughter,” she told the Observer.

“One man come to mi and seh she last (got lost) ennuh. Everbody a tell mi di same ting seh dem cyaan find her. Mi nuh know what happen after,” Green said, noting that Brittanie was a quiet and responsible child and would have normally reached home by 4:00 pm.

As if the tragedy was not enough, Green and her spouse spent most of yesterday sweeping mud from their house.

“The bed wet up, everything wet up,” she said.

“Mi cyaan do nuh talking; mi mind nuh deh yah so now. Mi cyaan believe Brittanie gone,” said Green’s spouse, Courtney Reid, when the Observersolicited a comment from him.

Yesterday, scenes of residents trying to clean mud from flooded homes were replicated across St Thomas. Several roads were dug up by floodwaters and others blocked by landslides, while some areas were still without electricity as a result of uprooted posts and displaced wires caused by fallen trees. more

American girl group Fifth Harmony ‘Flex’ with Cobra

By Kevin Jackson Observer Writer  Thursday, May 26, 2016

OLD-SCHOOL deejay Mad Cobra’s gold-selling single, Flex, has been sampled by American girl group Fifth Harmony on their latest single All in My Head (Flex).

Fifth Harmony

The song, second from the quintet’s sophomore album 7/27 (Syco/ Epic Records), is due for release tomorrow. Clifton ‘Specialist’ Dillon, who co-produced Flex with Sly Dunbar, said he gave the group the nod.

“I gave the clearance for the sample to be used and all the necessary paperwork was done,” Dillon told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Recorded at producer Donovan Germain’s Penthouse studio in Kingston in 1992, Flex was featured on Mad Cobra’s Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry (Columbia Records). It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and reached number one on Billboard’s Rap Singles Chart — a first for any Jamaican artiste.

Mad Cobra

Fifth Harmony — comprising Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane, Camila Cabello, and Lauren Jauregui —- appeared on the second season of X Factor USA in July 2012.

The group signed a joint deal with Syco Music owned by Simon Cowell, and Epic Records, LA Reid’s record label, after finishing in third place on the show.

So far, the group has sold more than eight million records. The group’s current single, Work From Home, included on 7/27, peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart two weeks ago.

DANGEROUS MEN! JAMAICAN Male drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians account for most road deaths....Responsible for 94 percent of road deaths this year.

 Tuesday, May 24, 2016 

NINETY-FOUR per cent of the 19 drivers killed in private motor vehicle accidents since the start of the year are males.

Males also accounted for 92 per cent of the 26 pedestrian deaths for the period, according to the latest weekly traffic crash report from the Road Safety Unit of the transport ministry.

The report said, too, that all of the 48 motorcycle fatalities that have occurred up to May 19 are males.

A motor vehicle accident on the one of the island’s roadways.

The overall death toll from fatal crashes since January 1 and May 19 now stands at 148, including three multiple fatal collisions which took the lives of nine people. The vast majority of those who perished in traffic crashes were men, who accounted for 89 per cent. The Road Safety Unit said fatal crashes have so far declined by two per cent this year, when compared to last year, but noted that fatalities have increased by two times that of 2015.

According to the statistics, a quarter of those who were killed in crashes were passengers, and roughly the same number of private motor vehicles that were involved in crashes from January to May last year have crashed this year.

At the same time, 17 elderly people died in fatal crashes up to May 19, a decrease of 15 per cent over the similar period in 2015. Nearly half of these senior citizens were on foot at the time of their demise. Ten children are also among the fatalities, a 100 per cent increase, the report stated.

Meanwhile, a total of 26 pedestrians were killed in 23 crashes since the start of the year, representing a 30 per cent reduction for the review period. But motorcycle fatalities continue to be a concern on the nation’s roads, going up by 14 per cent since January and making up 32 per cent of road users who were killed up to May 19.

The Road Safety Unit said 44 per cent of these motorcycle fatalities happened in Westmoreland which, along with the parishes of St Elizabeth and St Andrew, accounted for 73 per cent of the motorcyclists who died. more

PRIME Minister Andrew Holness announces several initiatives to get more Jamaicans in own homes

 BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.c om  Wednesday, May 25, 2016    

PRIME Minister Andrew Holness yesterday outlined new initiatives aimed at increasing access to housing funds, tackling crime, and improving cooperation with neighbouring countries, the Jamaican Diaspora and the Opposition as part of his Administration’s prosperity plan.

Major revelation in his approximately 150-minute speech, however, was a new thrust at housing low-income Jamaicans through the National Housing Trust (NHT), which has come in for severe criticism recently for failing to fulfil its commitment to its contributors.

“This is part of the prosperity doctrine. Owning a house is one of the most significant investments you can make for the financial security of you and your family,” he told the House of Representatives as he made his contribution to the 2016/17 Budget Debate.

The prime minister announced that the Government would undertake measures to increase the supply of housing stock, while broadening access to financing for the purchase of housing. There will also be an increase in the income band for low-income earners who can access to NHT loans at a rate of zero per cent interest, from $7,500 per week to $12,000 per week, which means that these workers will all receive interest-free loans up to $4.89 million; reducing from four to two per cent the interest on mortgage loans from the trust to individuals earning between $12,001 and $20,000 per week; and reducing the interest on loans to individuals earning between $20,001 and $30,000 from six per cent to four per cent.

He said that contributors who earn above $30,000 per week would continue to pay the highest interest rate of six per cent. These adjustments will take effect on July 1, 2016.

Andrew Holness

The prime minister said that the change will cost the NHT $1.58 billion over the four-year period, 2016/17 to 2019/20.

In terms of adjustments to subsidies and grants, Holness said that the home grants programme introduced by the trust in 2010 to help lower-income contributors afford a house will be adjusted by capping the combined ceiling for mortgage loans and home grants at $4 million per contributor; and individuals earning up to $12,000 weekly, as well as senior citizens and the disabled, will be eligible for the home grant that is to be capped at $1.5 million.

The change in the eligibility period as well as the home grant will cost the NHT $3.2 billion over the next three years. more

President Donald J. Trump?....Clinton Versus Trump: Predicting The Electoral College

05/24/2016 07:21 am ET 

President Donald J. Trump?

In this feverish year, the most recent symptom of distemper is media blather that — based on polling nearly 6 months out — America is on the cusp of electing Donald Trump. Before this conjures the megalomaniacal horror of Trump’s inaugural address, let me offer a consoling reality — that political fun house mirror known as the Electoral College.

We may not love it but, like shingles and pneumonia, this particular college will forever be with us. And so, a spoiler alert. At the end of this piece, I’m revealing who won the presidency in November, right down to the last electoral vote. Faced with a national nervous collapse, it seems unkind to wait.

I’m not alone in trying to be helpful. One day after the Indiana primary, the New York Times predicted the electoral vote count for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. A day earlier, I went through a similar exercise, and got an identical count.

My conclusion? Either the folks at the Times and I are idiotic to precisely the same degree, or this really isn’t all that hard. Since then, a brace of experts — Larry Sabato , the Cook Political Report, and the Rothenberg & Gonzáles Political Report — have landed on or near this same number. The fun for me, and I hope for you, is in examining why.

The special sauce for this recipe is, of course, the inimitable Donald Trump. Among his other distinctive features he is, as of now, the least popular presidential candidate in modern American history.

Despite this, a spate of recent polls matching him against Clinton have caused the ever-febrile commentariat, ravenous for plot twists, to announce that Trump could become our president. This chorus of lemmings ignores a couple of factors which, unsurprisingly, have closed the polling margin: the Pavlovian tendency of Republican loyalists to come home after the party’s nomination has been settled, and the fact that Hillary Clinton and her party are still being battered by Bernie Sanders. more

Bob Marley’s Family Reunites for Its First Photo Shoot in More Than a Decade....Photo of Edwin STATS Houghton

BY EDWIN STATS HOUGHTON PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERIC RAY DAVIDSON May 23, 2016, 8:01 am ET

In a rare photo shoot, GQ Style caught up with Bob’s living legacy:
the Marley sons, daughters, and grandchildren who are
 keeping Tuff Gong tougher than ever.

Cedella Marley 48 y-o

Damion "Jr. Gong" Marley, 37 y-o

If the world's expectations ever fazed Bob's firstborn son, he's never let it show. “I don't carry any weight,” he says. “This is a family. Whatever we are is the same way we grow up—nothing has changed, really. Each individual role is important.” He sees himself less as a patriarch than as a “voice of reason.” Still, there's a clear “hierarchy of the elders, the adults, which is Cedella, me, and Sharon (the oldest). Stephen is a bridge to the younger ones, who wasn't around Bob a lot.” If anything, his siblings' success—both in their own ventures and in shepherding the Marley brand—has freed him to be more personal in the studio. His 15th record, Ziggy Marley, is out May 20. “It's the album I've been most hands-on with: engineering, mixing, songwriting. I put all of myself into it.” The glue that holds the family together, Cedella is the undisputed queen bee, the driving force behind the many businesses that bear the Marley name.“It's a family discussion,” she says, “but whatever business ventures we get into, I'm the one who has to deal with whoever we partner with on a day-to-day basis.” Although she's authored children's books and collaborated with Puma to design the Jamaican 2012 Olympic uniform, most of her work fits into the bigger family picture. “Anything I do is for Marley. That's what I wake up for, to help build this empire that I promised my parents I would from when I was, like, 10.” That mentality underlines a fierce work ethic to match the Marleys' creative ambition. “When Mummy and Daddy were on the road all the time, they were workin',” Cedella says. “I didn't see them really take a day off. We weren't born with a silver spoon in our mouth. I've grown up fightin'.” more

282 PREVIOUS PALAS RECIPIENTS....PALAS Goal is to award 100 new scholarships in 2016. Please lend your support by donating online at www.PALAS1.org

282 PREVIOUS PALAS RECIPIENTS....PALAS Goal is to award 100 new scholarships in 2016. Please lend your support by donating online at www.PALAS1.org or send a check, Payable to PALAS, P.O. Box 5461, Alpharetta, GA 30023 by June 30th. Thank you very much. PALAS, "Preserving Young Minds for Posterity". 2016-17 Application process ends on June 7th.

JAMAICAN IS THE WORLD'S 2nd OLDEST LIVING PERSON : Violet Mosse Brown of Duanvale, Trelawny— 116 amazing years! Her 96 y-o son Harold Fairweather is widely believed to be the oldest person with a living parent

Jean Lowrie Chin  Monday, May 23, 2016   

In the quiet district of Duanvale, Trelawny, is a lady whose life has crossed three centuries.

She was six months in the making at the turn of the 20th century and her parents, Elizabeth Riley (who lived to 96) and John Mosse, welcomed into the world their daughter, Violet, on March 13, 1900 — born on the same premises where she still lives, 116 years later.

116-year-old Violet Mosse Brown

“I live by the grace of God and I am proud of my age!” declares Mrs Violet Mosse Brown, the world’s second-oldest living person according to the Guinness Book of Records and Wikipedia.

Mrs Mosse Brown exudes peace and contentment as she sits on her cool verandah, enjoying the comings and goings of the district. Beside her is her 96-year-old son, Harold Fairweather, incredibly youthful in appearance and widely believed to be the oldest person with a living parent. He lived in England for many years but says he returned home to be with his beloved mother, noting that she had sacrificed much for him and his other five siblings.

Mrs Mosse Brown receives support from her relatives, a devoted friend, Ms Elaine McGrawder and her caregiver, Delita Grant. They enjoy the company of this positive lady, who shares many gems of faith and poetry with them. Her favourite is The Vision of Belshazzar by Lord Byron, which she recited to us without a hitch.

At 13, a devout Violet was received into the Baptist Church, where she was given to read Psalm 119, verse 133 — words that she has never forgotten. She declared them to us: “Order my steps in Thy word and let no sin have any dominion over me.”

95 y-o Harold Fairweather

Mrs Mosse Brown and her husband worked as cane farmers, selling their crop to the Long Pond Sugar Estate. Later, he became the caretaker for the neighbouring cemetery, calling on his wife’s skills to assist him in record keeping. Her son, Harold, showed me the book in which she diligently entered information on the individuals buried in the cemetery.

It dates back to 1952 and Mrs Mosse Brown’s beautiful handwriting is a testament to the pride she took in her work, recording each name and other details for registration at the parish council.

We were impressed by the cheerful support in the Brown household. ‘Miss V’ was asked several times if she wanted a cup of tea, which she eventually had just before our departure. Her son, Harold, told us that she enjoys small meals.

“She likes fish and mutton and sometimes she will have cow foot,” he says, “but she does not eat pork or chicken”. Her other preferences are sweet potatoes, irish potatoes, breadfruit, and fruit, especially oranges and mangoes. more

ST. MARY, JAMAICA: ‘Man no haffi tief’....St Mary goat farmer started out with one, now has over 40 goats, but praedial larceny has impacted on his Nubian stock

BY RENAE DIXON Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, May 23, 2016

TYRONE Taylor proudly displayed the more than 40 goats, mainly Nubian-bred, that he now owns as he spoke with the Jamaica Observer North and East about the value of hard work and commitment.

The farmer from White Hall in St Mary said he started out with only one goat and has worked at growing his stock significantly over the last three decades.

“One goat mi start wid, but anywhere the goat breed, mi find them,” Taylor said, adding that he did not own only one goat for long.

“Man no haffi tief ennuh... Mi sell about four times this amount already as mi did have up to 60 goats at one time,” he explained. “Farmers from St Ann, Clarendon and Portland buy from me because of the types of goats mi have; mi get buyers from all over,” he told Observer North and East.

Many of the farmers know about Taylor as a result of his participation in the various agricultural shows in St Mary, where he has displayed goats over the years.

The 51-year-old said he has also suffered at the hands of thieves, but he remains committed to goat farming.

“Dem tief a big Boer fi mi one time, one of mi prized goats, thieves tek dem weh. Stealing not necessary at all, people mus wuk,” he said.

“Me is a creative man; mi just want a start. Mi start small but expand,” Taylor said with conviction in his eyes.

“This goat drop three times in 13 months,” he said, confirming that his Nubian goat population grows rapidly because of the rate at which they reproduce.

He likes the Nubian breed of goats, which was introduced to Jamaica in the last 10 years, especially because of its ability to quickly reproduce.

The breed was developed in Great Britain of native milking stock and goats from the Middle East and North Africa. Its distinguishing characteristics include large, pendulous ears and a ‘Roman’ nose. Due to their Middle Eastern heritage, Nubians can live in very hot climates and have a longer breeding season than other dairy goats.

Considered a dairy or dual-purpose breed, Nubians are known for the high butterfat content of their milk, although, on average, the breed produces less milk than other dairy breeds. more

Javon Francis cruises to 400m win in Holland with 45.35 secs

Javon Francis

Sunday, May 22, 2016 | 2:03 PM 

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Javon Francis won his second race on European soil in three days after winning the men’s 400m at the Fanny Blankers-Koen meeting in Hengelo, Holland, today.

Francis, who has lost just once this season – ironically while setting his season’s best – cruised to 45.35 seconds to beat Holland’s Liemarvin Bonevacia (46.21 seconds) with American former World and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner third in 46.33 seconds.

He was the only Jamaican winner on the programme as Fedrick Dacres finished fifth in the discus throw with a best of 62.69m. American Rodney Brown won that event with 65.70m.

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AFP) : USAIN BOLT wins in 9.98secs .....RIO HERE I COME! BOLT vows win in Rio despite slow start in Ostrava Rio

Saturday, May 21, 2016   

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AFP) – Usain Bolt won the 100 metres at the Czech Golden Spike event in 9.98 seconds yesterday, in his second race this season in the run-up to August’s Rio Olympics.

Bolt

Bolt said he was not “fully happy,” blaming a poor first part of the race on failing to meet his plan of 9.8 seconds in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava.

“My first 40m was kind of sluggish,” he said after beating Ramon Gittens of Barbados by 0.23 seconds and third-placed Hassan Taftian by 0.27.

“My reaction was good, I think the only problem I had was support behind the start was not there, I didn’t execute, I didn’t get the power through the first 40.” “So I had to work a little bit harder at the end to get up the speed. If I can improve that it should be OK,” Bolt said.

Bolt had to see his German doctor earlier this week over a tight hamstring he had picked up at the Cayman Invitational Meet last week when he clocked 10.05 seconds.

But he said the injury had no impact on his performance at Ostrava.

Looking at his prospects for Rio, the 29-year-old Jamaican said he felt like he was “getting there”.

“As long as I stay injury-free and I continue pushing myself, continue executing like that, I’ll be fine,” said Bolt, who owns the 100m world record at 9.58 seconds and the world 200m record of 19.19.

Bolt

“I’m definitely going to win in Rio, as long as I get everything right and everything goes smoothly I should be OK, you know what I mean?” he added with a wink.

Bolt will defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles from 2008 and 2012 in Rio, seeking to become the first athlete ever to grab three consecutive Olympic golds in the three events.

Before the Caymans meet, Bolt took a long break from racing following the Beijing World Championships last August, where he won the 100m and 200m races in addition to helping Jamaica dominate the 4x100m relay.

Bolt was set to take on decathlon world record holder Ashton Eaton on the 100-metre track at Ostrava, but Eaton pulled out of an earlier long-jump competition with an unspecified injury and failed to show up for the sprint.   more

EGYPTIAN MILITARY: DEBRIS FOUND....Egyptian General: 'There Is No Doubt' Debris Near Alexandria Is From Missing Plane... Fuselage Also Found... Navy Sweeps Area For Black Box... Greek Defense Minister: Egyptian Authorities Said Body Part, 2 Seats, Luggage Found... President Sisi Offers Condolences... 1 Child, 2 Infants Among 66 On Board... No Terrorist Groups Have Claimed Responsibility... U.S. Officials: No Signs Of Explosion In Satellite Imagery... What We Know...

05/20/2016 05:19 am ET | Updated 1 hour ago

• EgyptAir Flight MS804 was flying from Paris to Cairo and vanished from radar with 66 people on board.
• The Airbus A320 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea but the cause is unclear.

• 

  Loved ones mourn

  One child and two infants were among the 30 Egyptians, 15 French and 10 other nationalities on board.

The Egyptian military found the personal belongings of passengers and other debris from an EgyptAir jet floating in the Mediterranean, Cairo said on Friday, confirming that the plane had plunged into the sea with 66 people on board.

The navy said it had found the debris about 290 km (180 miles) north of the coastal city of Alexandria and was sweeping the area in search of the plane’s black box recorders.

President Adbel Fattah al-Sisi offered condolences for those on board, amounting to Cairo’s official confirmation of their deaths.

The search in the mediterranean

Although fingers pointed toward Islamist militants who blew up another airliner over Egypt just seven months ago, no group had claimed responsibility more than 24 hours after the disappearance of flight MS804, an Airbus A320 that was flying from Paris to Cairo.

Three French investigators and a technical expert from Airbus arrived in Cairo early on Friday to help investigate the fate of the missing plane, airport sources said. more