Back to Hot Calaloo

September 2008

OBAMA WATCHDOG

"We’ve got your back, Barack."

Hot Calaloo has endorsed Barack Obama for president of the USA. But that is not enough. It is not enough when we know that the Republican dirty tricks machine will use their full arsenal of lies, distortions, all sorts of deceit against him. For example:

We cannot depend on the media to expose these dirty democracy-defeating tricks. Hot Calaloo’s OBAMA WATCHDOG will and invites other Caribbean organizations,  similar media and even our readers to do likewise. We are small but together, let us form an information phalanx to bring their wicked deeds to light and keep things fair. And we will keep shining that purging light so that as our brave warrior Barack Obama leads on against rich, powerful, and devious adversaries, so that we we can say to him, "We’ve got your back, Barack".
Note: (Check out the whole new OBAMA WATCHDOG section  daily for more on Obama and the latest dirty tricks because OBAMA WATCHDOG section  is updated as they happen, not monthly as Hot Calaloo)

Exposing Fox News

Recently I was sitting in a Jamaican restaurant newly opened with much fanfare. I almost choked on my golden-crusted pattie when I realized that the big wide-screen TV on the wall was assailing me with the anti-Obama Fox News.

(From movie producer Robert Greenwald)
The FOX smears are continuing and we need to stop them from spreading to the rest of the media. Watch FOX's laughably inaccurate distortions, as they smear Barack Obama on everything from the economy to race to patriotism to flag pins. In the coming weeks, FOX will escalate its gross misrepresentations of Obama, and we know from painful past experience that some in the corporate media will spread FOX's canards by presenting them as fact. We must stop the spread.

Watch the video and sign the petition.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Jamaica Bolts to Olympic glory

Usain Bolt led the way to glory for Jamaica with 3 gold medals, 3 Olympic records and 3 world records. It was an incredible performance and branded him the star of the Beijing Olympic games as he took the 100m in 9.63, the 200 m in 19.30 and blazed the third leg of the 4x 100m relay to a relay time of 39.3. I am sure his early dominating win of the 100 m inspired his compatriots to greatness too for they sure ran as if inspired evidenced by:

Other Caribbean countries also shone. Cuba gained the most total medals in the region with 24 medals, 2 gold, 11 silver, and 11 bronze. Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic finished with 2 medals each. The Dominican Republic won a gold and a silver, T&T two silvers and the Bahamas one silver and one bronze.

Olympic Sour notes

Bolt (11) and Powell (13) bombarded with drug tests

Usain Bolt was drug-tested at least 11 times in 2008, according to Nick Davies, a spokesman for the world track & field federation (IAAF). Bolt was tested four times out-of-competition by the IAAF and three times in-competition, Davies said. He also has been tested four times by the International Olympic Committee - including three blood tests - while he was in China.
Asafa Powell was  tested 13 times this year - six out-of-competition by the IAAF, three in-competition and four by the IOC.
The IAAF justifies this bombardment claiming that it is to ensure that athletes in nations such as Jamaica and Kenya that do not have national testing programs get tested frequently. I think this is excessive, malicious and biased. Despite this, the  NBC Olympic web page continues to feature a misleading article suggesting performance enhancing drug use among the Jamaica team and despite clear evidence to the contrary. What an outrage!

IOC president attack on Bolt
Jacques Rogge used his international world stage as IOC president to criticize Usain Bolt for showing a lack of respect to other competitors. Rogge  prescribed the appropriate celebration should have been tapping the other competitors’ shoulders after his victory. Is he going to incorporate that in Olympic rules on the acceptable way to show exuberance for future games? What absolute rubbish! On the contrary, it is sportsmanlike for the losers to reach out and congratulate the winner. Vice versa would make the winner seem arrogant and rubbing it in. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but in his position as president, this is nothing but a dirty smear. That Rogue should resign and then be free to give his lousy opinion.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Hurricane Gustav leaves a wake of death and destruction

Hurricane Gustav has left behind a wake of death and destruction in the Caribbean countries of Haiti. Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Even though in Haiti, Dominican Republic and Jamaica it did not even reach the status of hurricane with winds of 70 miles per hour only, it wreaked havoc with heavy torrential rainfall.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic did not even have time to recover from tropical storm Fay, which took over 53 lives in Haiti and at least 3 in the Dominican Republic, mainly with devastating floods and landslides. Gustav followed Fay, washing away buildings, bridges and roads with a death toll of 51 in Haiti and 8 in the Dominican Republic to then proceed to Jamaica to wreak similar havoc.

In Jamaica then tropical Storm Gustav took 10 lives according to early reports with several others reported missing. It left at least $J3 billion in damage to the country's road infrastructure. A full assessment of the damage to the road network has not been made, but the damage done to two main bridges alone is approximately $1.5 billion. The Hope River bridge in Harbour View, St Andrew, as well as the Georgia bridge in Portland were destroyed by gushing rivers, swollen by heavy rains associated with Gustav. The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) had to use four buses trapped on the Bull Bay section of the Hope River Bridge in Harbour View to shuttle residents to the bridge. Passenger will take the bus to one side of the broken bridge, disembark, cross the river by a temporary pedestrian bridge and board a bus on the other side to reach Kingston. A number of other bridges have also been damaged across the island, but no estimates have been made.
The Bog Walk gorge remains closed and could remain so for a whole month due to extensive damage. An almost two-mile trek through the gorge from Bog Walk showed that sections of the road stretching to the Flat Bridge had been eaten away by water from the Rio Cobre river, which runs the length of the gorge, to reveal huge water mains underneath. The river rose over 11 feet. Parts of the bridge itself were also eaten away by the flood waters.
Banana and plantain farms suffered severe damage particularly in Portland and St. Mary. Even the famed Blue Mountain coffee farms in Portland took a huge blow as Gustav moved next to Cuba. (see pictures of Gustav destruction compliments of the Gleaner)

By the time Gustav hit Cuba, it had grown to a full-fledged Category 4 hurricane packing winds as high as 150 mph. The government evacuated some 190,000 people from low-lying parts of westernmost Cuba, Pinar del Rio province, where the tobacco for the island's famed cigars is grown. Officials reported that 50,000 people had been moved to higher ground farther east. There was widespread devastation in the area and over 90,000 people were left homeless.

Gustav then rolled over Cayman and headed for the US Gulf Coast.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Trinidad and Tobago to join OECS

Prime Minister dropped a bombshell when he announced that Trinidad and Tobago is to join the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) within the next three years and also for a political union two years later. Manning and the OECS leaders, Tillman Thomas of Grenada; Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines; and Stevenson King of St Lucia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with regard to the proposed political and economic union.

A report on what form the union would take will be sent to the leaders by year-end and, according to Manning, until the report is received, it would be premature to be talking about the exact date it will take effect.

Manning made it clear that no constitutional changes would be required for his country to join the proposed union, since there is no need for a special majority vote of the Government and Opposition members in the Parliament. He said that it could be passed by a simple majority in Parliament. He added that Cabinet agreed that Trinidad and Tobago should join the OECS efforts to form an economic union.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Grenada treasury empty - not enough funds to meet expenses

The new Grenada Finance Minister Nazim Burke disclosed in an interview with BBC Caribbean Report that the Grenada treasury is empty and there is not enough money to pay its expenses. The then six-week-old government led by Tillman Thomas complained of inheriting an empty treasury and warned that the government may not be able to meet its monthly expenses, including paying salaries to the country's 3,000 public servants.

Burke said, "It’s an absolute mess. I do not wish to scare people, but I can tell you that simply do not have monies." He said that the Government's monthly expenditure is around EC$56 million (US$20.7 million), but revenue has been estimated at EC$39 million (US$14.4)

The Minister told the BBC that the financial situation is challenging and said that the government would have to rely on overdraft facilities in order to meet its obligations.
He told journalists that the administration was hoping for assistance from friendly governments. He also hinted at the introduction of a program to tighten government spending. The new government took over from Keith Mitchell's administration, which was in office for 13 years.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Jamaica to adopt UK crime reduction program

A UNITED Kingdom-based civic organisation has commenced a behaviour- modification program, which is intended to help inner-city youths turn from a life of crime. The Griffin Trust has adopted the 'From Boyhood to Manhood' programme, a successful anti-gun and anti-gang project which was implemented by the UK's Ministry of Education.

The behaviour-change project will be implemented in five correctional institutions, as well as among persons on probation. Jamaica's attempt at the project will fall under the banner 'Hush the Guns'. The project is expected to train 40 behavioural trainers and 650 young offenders in behaviour change over a three-year period.

The Hush the Guns project is aimed at delivering a behavioural change program, based on a 'train the trainers' model for youth, young offenders and the correctional officers. In this program, there will be 20 community facilitators, which include 10 selected Griffin Trust outreach workers (young people who have turned from a life of crime) - and 10 National Youth Service workers, who will also work alongside 20 correctional facility workers - being trained at the same time.

These trainers will be educated from the Calling the Shots curriculum, which is an accredited curriculum in the United Kingdom. They will, in turn, instruct groups of young offenders from five selected correctional institutions, and also youths on probation from the same program.

The Griffin Trust has been working in Tower Hill, one of St Andrew's most volatile communities, at the grass-roots level for more than five years. Through care, education, training, identifying and building skills, knowledge and resources already in the community, the trust has built a skilled team of workers.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Privy Council saves 52 death row inmates from hanging in T&T

The law lords of the Privy Council in England has struck again. This final appellate court for the English speaking Caribbean countries has saved fifty-two death row inmates in Trinidad and Tobago from the hangman's noose. They ruled that persons convicted before June 2005 with the capital sentence should have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

Days after T&T Justice Nolan Bereaux ruled  that the group of 49 men and 3 women be immediately removed from death row and instead spend the rest of their lives behind bars. The Trinidad Express reported on Saturday that the judge's ruling was in response to a constitutional motion filed by the convicted murderers more than three years ago, challenging their death sentences.
Among the persons saved from the gallows were: Kenrick and Chandroutie London who were found guilty in 2003 of the murder of their eight month old daughter who was buried alive in a latrine behind the couple's home, and Naresh Boodrom, the brother of notorious drug lord Dole Chadee.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

JDF rescues plane-crash survivors from Blue Mountain

A private plane crashed in the Blue Mountains, the highest mountain range in Jamaica. A risky search and rescue mission, involving members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) air wing, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Caribbean Aviation Centre, ended successfully. The plane was located some 5,800 feet atop the Blue Mountain by the commanding officer of the JDF's air wing, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Roper, and his team.

Specially trained soldiers were lowered by rope into the area from an aircraft, as the men were precariously positioned on a steep edge of the Blue Mountain. They were then hoisted by rope into the JDF rescue aircraft and transported to hospital.

A JDF helicopter flew the men to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), where they were met by hospital staff who hurriedly transported them on stretchers to the Accident and Emergency Department.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Labor unions prepare economic shutdown of T&T

Labor unions in Trinidad and Tobago are gearing up for a nationwide shut down of the country on September 8. Thousands of members comprising the various bodies are now protesting what they say are issues of rising crime uncontrollable food prices and increasing violence in the country. They are calling on the Patrick Manning administration to implement immediate measures to deal with the nation's social ills.

David Abdullah, President of FITUN, one of the major union bodies told local journalists that they have had enough of the economic situation, a situation which he said continues to deepen the plight of the less fortunate and vulnerable in the society.

Meanwhile, the unions are also calling for the Trinidad and Tobago not to rush into signing the Economic Partnership Agreement, (EPA). Abdullah says that there is need for a negotiating and a review clause to be included in the agreement. He believes that the government should not sign on in its present form.

The EPA is an instrument involving trade partnerships, that builds on the Cotonou Agreement which replaced the Lomé Agreement, the standard trade arrangement for EU-ACP relations since the 1970s. The EPA is also designed to help Cariforum nations to reduce poverty and achieve economic growth through sustainable trade with Europe.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

Massive strike closes Guyana sugar estates

MORE THAN 15,000 sugar-cane cutters were on strike in Guyana, the second massive walkout since mid-August in a dispute over wages. The nationwide strike forced the closure of all eight sugar estates owned by state-run Guyana Sugar Corporation, which produces all sugar in the South American country. The government ordered an arbitrator to review the case and issue a binding ruling before exports to a lucrative European market are threatened. Guyana is the Caribbean's largest sugar-producing nation, with its company, known as Guysuco, producing roughly 281,000 tons (255,000 metric tons) last year.

Workers are demanding a 14.25 per cent salary increase, while the company is offering a 5.25 per cent hike. Average salaries range from US$200 to US$250 a month, a little more than what police officers or government clerks earn.

Another strike over pay shut down four of the sugar plantations earlier in the month. Around that time, Guysuco announced it would temporarily stop shipments to the Caribbean to meet export demand to Europe.

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

World Cup qualifiers underway

T&T and Jamaica are among the CONCACAF countries vying for a place in soccer's 2010 World Cup. There are three groups of four teams with the top 2 in each advancing.

Cassava – not for bammy alone

The government of Jamaica is promoting the growth of cassava. At the recent Denbeigh Industrial and Agricultural Show 2008, cassava was on display. There was cassava ice cream, cassava wine, cassava porridge and cassava bread. In addition to these items, there were also non-edible cassava products - such as mats and hand-held fans.
The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Cassava Village has been established at the showground with more than 15 by-products of the staple on display. There were also at least four varieties of the produce for viewing at the village, as well as the machine used to grate cassava. There, patrons were able to sample the cassava porridge free of cost.
"Cassava is a versatile product with huge potential regarding food security," said Al Powell, executive director of RADA. "People think cassava means bammy, but there is far more to the staple than that."

 Top       Back to Hot Calaloo

The poorest parish in Jamaica

You would never guess. But, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica's (PIOJ) recently launched Jamaica poverty map, about 14 of the island's poorest communities are in the parish of St. Ann. The map is based on the 2001 population census which captures, among other data, people's ability to consume goods and services. So despite cashing in on tourism dollars from Ocho Rios, St Ann appears steeped in poverty and is ranked as the poorest parish based on the consumption trend of its population

Portland, another parish with a significant number of resort enterprises, places second, followed closely by St Thomas, St James and Trelawny. St James is home to the island's Second City, Montego Bay, which is considered the tourism Mecca of Jamaica.

Obviously the touted wealth from tourism is very unevenly distributed and barely trickles down to low level workers. No wonder vendors have engaged in strikes claiming the rash of all-inclusive hotels rob them of potential customers. Many workers have to shore up their low wages with gratuities. Even worse this could contribute to hustling and even begging which is anathema to tourism.