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CONTENTS UNDILUTED pays tribute to John Maxwell by featuring two previous columns by him from the Hot Calaloo UNDILUTED archives:
Not just a book but an invitation to join the Goodwill
Revolution against an unfair, unjust and deceptive system that
keeps the world poor and without hope. Find out how you can join,
quit the rat race, and achieve a happier more meaningful life for
yourself and others through goodwill to all
--------------- 
For
the Life of Laetitia
by Trinidad -born Merle Hodge
Price: $10.54a wonderful book about a young girl in the Carribean, the first of her family to go to secondary school.
|
September 2016
|
 | Sandra Bland settlement -
$1.9 million |
| Freddie Gray settlement - $6.4 million |
| Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice settlement - $6
million |
But…
Gretchen Carlson (former Fox News host) settlement for sexual harassment
by Fox News - $20 million, and
she lives to enjoy it.
Do the math.
Attempts to smear carnivals
here in the US and abroad
England
- Notting Hill Carnival 2016
These excerpts from the London Campaign Against Police and State Violence
exposes the vicious
propaganda:
“The day following this year’s Notting Hill Carnival
celebrations, Ken Marsh, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Police
Federation made a calculated move to smear carnival-goers. Not only is
this part of a concerted attempt to remove Carnival from the cultural
landscape of London, it represents the latest attack on black social life
in a summer where the Met have already declared a war on young people,
using extreme force to stop young people on school holiday from having
water fights, and encouraging the public to report entirely legal and
peaceful behaviour.
………We would suggest that it is in fact the very presence of
Police at Carnival which is the problem here. Section 60 was imposed over
Carnival weekend. This allowed police officers to stop and search members
of the public without grounds. It has been consistently demonstrated that
when Stop and Search is deployed in this way it unfairly targets black and
brown people, while failing to do anything to effectively detect crime. In
addition when carnival draws to a close on each night, Police in riot gear
move aggressively through crowds forcing people from the streets. In such
a context it would have been understandable if the police had experienced
hostility from the public. Ken Marsh’s story is pure fantasy. Carnival
has, since its inception, been about a celebration of Caribbean culture in
the face of state and everyday racism. It is open to all and is a
celebration of collective spirit which is sadly lacking in London at
the present moment. If we allow statements like that put out by the
Metropolitan Police Federation to go unchallenged there is a real
possibility we will soon lose over 50 years of Caribbean history in this
country encapsulated by Carnival. If that happens we will truly know a
crime has been committed.
USA – The 49th
annual Brooklyn West Indian in Brooklyn, New York
The West Indian American Day Carnival has been now renamed the New
York Caribbean Carnival and takes place in Brooklyn, New York. But despite
the fact that there were no reported shootings, killings or injuries at
the five-day event, ABC News and the New York Times last night ran with a
headline that stated: “Despite More Police, West Indian Day Events
Marred by Deaths.” NBC NY went with: “2 Dead, 5 Injured in
Shootings, Stabbings During J’Ouvert Festivities Along West Indian Day
Parade Route.” Fox News and CBS News, picking up the Associated Press
story, went with the headline: “2 Shot To Death At Carnival Before NY
West Indian Day Parade.” All of these headlines are dead wrong.
The early Monday morning shooting that occurred on Sept. 5th was not part
of this event – it happened hours before the West Indian Labor Day
carnival parade
A man and a woman were killed and five other people were injured in two shootings and two stabbings during the J’Ouvert celebrations early that Monday morning, NY police said. The man and woman were shot at Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue shortly before 4 a.m. Two more people were injured when a motorcycle they were on was hit by a car. But, the J’Ouvert celebrations had nothing to do with the carnival. All this occurred before the West Indian carnival even started. The carnival was peaceful and incident free. The media needs to get their facts right.
SPLC
reaches $2.3 million settlement for Jamaican workers in US
The Southern
Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
is an American nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil
rights and public interest litigation. It is noted for its legal victories
against white supremacist groups, its legal representation for victims of
hate groups, its classification of militia movement and other extremist
organizations, and its educational programs that promote tolerance.
This time it has come to the rescue of exploited Jamaican guest workers
in the US. A luxury golf resort in South Carolina will pay $2.3 million to
resolve an SPLC lawsuit filed on behalf of Jamaican guest workers who
claimed they were systematically cheated out of their wages.
The agreement, which will benefit more than 240 workers, was reached
with the Kiawah Island Inn Golf Resort, a luxury resort near Charleston
that has earned accolades from travel publications and hosted the 2012 PGA
Championship. A federal judge granted preliminary approval to the
agreement in June.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that will compensate
these workers for their losses,” said Jim Knoepp, SPLC senior attorney.
“When workers use our nation’s guest worker program, they expect that
a very basic promise will be upheld: They will be paid the wages they
earn.”
The SPLC filed the class action lawsuit in March 2015 on behalf of
workers brought to the resort from Jamaica on H-2B guest worker visas to
work as housekeepers, servers, bell persons and in similar positions from
2012 through 2014. The suit alleged that they were improperly charged
hundreds of dollars in recruitment fees and forced to pay excessive
housing and transportation costs that pushed their wages below the minimum
required under the H-2B guest worker program.
The settlement is the latest in a string of successful SPLC lawsuits
seeking to reform the program and protect the rights of vulnerable guest
workers, who are not permitted to change jobs if they are abused and who
often are forced to pay exorbitant fees to labor recruiters and for
housing once they arrive. The Department of Labor supervises the program
but provides extremely limited oversight of H-2B employers and recruiters.
American
company donates ganja extract to UWI’S ganja-based
epilepsy research
The
University of the West Indies, (UWI) Mona made history in July 2015
establishing itself as an institution for the research and development of
ganja (marijuana/cannabis) and its use in the field of medicine. This
was made possible through a partnership with New York-based CITIVA, a
medical research company specialising in safe and effective cannabinoid
products.
Fourteen months later, CITIVA has announced that it will be donating
the first cannabis-based medicine extracted from its high-CBD cannabis
strain, to be used in a groundbreaking study in Jamaica that will examine
its effect on children with epilepsy.
The specialised, therapeutic, high-CBD strain, bred and cultivated by
CITIVA at its horticulture center on the Mona campus, was safely and
successfully extracted and made into oil by Epican, an industry leader in
the development of advanced super and sub-critical CO2 extraction
technologies for phytocannabinoids, terpenes and cannabis-based
phytonutrients, at its 5,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility in
Kingston. Both CITIVA and the Jamaican Epican company have been engaged in
local collaborative research agreements and are working toward the
advancement of science, research, development and marketing of effective
cannabis-based products for a wide variety of health conditions.
CITIVA specialises in advanced research of cannabis, and in creating
medications with individualised cannabinoid ratios designed to treat
specific diseases and conditions. Since last year, when CITIVA launched
the world’s first university-based facility dedicated to medical
marijuana research at Mona, its focus has been on advancing the study of
marijuana and its efficacy in the field of medicine.
Puerto Rico fire triggers power outage that affects 1.5 million
Almost
a third of Puerto Rico’s population was electricity recently after a
fire at a power station the day before
caused a blackout. Nearly 1.5 million customers of the state-run electric
company were affected, and by th following morning, power had only been
restored to about 131,000 customers.
The government-run electric company AEE
said the blackout began after a fire at its Aguirre power plant.
Fire
Chief Angel Crespo said a power switch got overheated, causing a
2,000-gallon mineral oil tank to explode. Fire spread over a 3-acre area
before firefighters managed to put it out.
The
power outage also shut off water service for about 340,000 people. Public
schools canceled classes and government employees were asked to work
limited hours. Many private institutions followed suit.
Jamaica
Police get first set of body cameras
THE
Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has been presented with 120 body cameras
from the United States Government as part of a pilot that is expected to
improve accountability, human rights record and public trust in the
nation’s police.
Six JCF divisions — St Andrew Central, St Andrew South, Kingston
East, Kingston Central, Motorised Patrol, and Traffic headquarters —
will receive 20 cameras each and the data submitted to the Information
Communications Technology Division for processing at the end of each duty.
The data will be logged in a finger-print protected room, where only
officers equipped with the devices and other relevant authorities can
enter. Data will be stored for a maximum of three months. Each device can
operate for five hours, and eight to 10 on stand-by.
Jamaica
Gov’t signs fringe benefit agreement for public sector workers
The
Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) and the Government have signed
off on certain fringe benefits peculiar to central government workers,
under a Heads of Agreement for the contract period 2015/2017.
Among the benefits are grants from the Ministry of Finance and Public
Service to assist public sector workers with tertiary education; the
establishment of a government workplace policy; and transportation for
public sector workers utilising the government employees transport
service, among others.
Cayman
state-of-the art health unit caters to poor
Health
City Cayman Islands, the vision of renowned heart surgeon and humanitarian
Dr. Devi Shetty, is supported by two major healthcare organizations,
Narayana Health and the U.S.-based Ascension, which is that nation's
largest faith-based and nonprofit health system, providing the highest
quality care to all with special attention to those who are poor and
vulnerable. Health City Cayman Islands provides compassionate,
high-quality, affordable healthcare services in a world-class,
comfortable, patient-centered environment. Offering healthcare to local,
regional and international patients, Health City Cayman Islands delivers
excellence in adult and pediatric cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiac
electrophysiology, medical oncology, orthopedics, sports medicine,
pediatric endocrinology, gastrointestinal and bariatric surgery,
neurosurgery, minimally invasive spine surgery and pulmonology services.
Cuba
says US embargo has cost it $4.7 bn since thaw
Cuban-American relations may have improved but the US embargo continues
to take a heavy financial blow. “The embargo is the main cause of our
economy's problems, the main obstacle to our development," Foreign
Minister Bruno Rodriguez said at a press conference to release the latest
figure, which runs from April 2015 through March 2016.
"There's no sector in Cuba that doesn't suffer the consequences of
the blockade."
It has become an annual rite for Cuba to present a non-binding
resolution calling for the end of the embargo before the United Nations
General Assembly, which has passed with overwhelming support every year
since 1992. This year's resolution will be presented on October 26. Last
year, only the United States and Israel voted against.
Xerox
announces 2,500 new jobs for Jamaicans
Xerox is expanding operations in Jamaica. It is recruiting the new
employees via a series of open houses and recruitment fairs throughout
September and October. The company intends to hire 1,000 people in
Kingston and 1,500 in Montego Bay.
Xerox is the largest diversified business process services company
worldwide. The company provides business services, technology and
expertise that enables workplaces, ranging from small businesses to large
global enterprises to simplify the way work gets done.
From its 11 locations in Jamaica, the Xerox team provides support for
corporations operating in industries such as health care, pharmaceuticals,
telecommunications, retail, transportation, and high-tech. Xerox employs
6,500 people in Jamaica, the company say, making the Jamaica team the
fourth-largest concentration among the company’s 130,000 workforce,
following the US, India and the Philippines, the release said.
Rio
Olympics wrap-up
Jamaica
finished with 11 medals, consisting of six gold, three silver and two
bronze, and third on the athletics table behind the United States of
America. The Americans won 32 medals inclusive of 13 gold, 10 silver and
nine bronze, while African long distance powerhouses Kenya were second
with 13 medals made of six gold, six silver and one bronze.
At
the 2012 London Olympic Games, Jamaica garnered 12 medals with four gold
and was again third behind the USA and Russia. In 2008, the medal tally
was exactly as it is in Rio, but back then they were fourth overall.
|
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
Jamaica |
6 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
|
Cuba |
5 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
|
Bahamas |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
Puerto Rico |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Grenada |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Dominican Republic |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Trinidad and Tobago |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Simone
Biles Belize connection
The star of the US gymnasts, Simone Biles, who won four gold medals in
gymnastics was born in 1997 in
Columbus, Ohio, but has a Belize connection. When she was
6, she and her younger sister Adria, then 4, were adopted in 2003
by their maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie
Cayetano Biles, who is from a prominent Belizean family of teachers and
nurses and government officials.
Laurie
Hernandez, the 16-year-old gymnast who has stolen the hearts of many with
her gold-medal performance in Rio. But few bother to tell the story that
her parents are Puerto Rican immigrants.
Kerron Clement – who won the 400-m hurdles for the USA on August 18,
2016, was born in Trinidad & Tobago.
Let us know what you think. Email us at hotcalaloo@yahoo.com