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THIS WEEK”S SUMMARY
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STOP DEADLY FORCE, SAYS PUBLIC DEFENDER—01/30/10
Earl Witter, public defender, is pleading with Jamaica’s police to pay more attention to how they interact with citizens. Witter says that the number of individuals killed by police would decrease if “there was greater regard for the rules of engagement.” Witter believes the murder rate among Jamaicans has been too high for too long.
PROSPECTIVE PARENTS FRUSTRATED BY SLOW ADOPTION PROCESS—01/31/10
There are more than 130 Jamaicans waiting to adopt children who have yet to be identified and another 270 who are on a waiting list to adopt children who have been identified. The process is moving very slowly and has led to questions from frustrated would-be parents, most of whom have been waiting four to seven months. No information has been provided by authorities about why the wait has been so long.
JAMAICAN PROSTHETIC INVENTION BENEFITS POOR COUNTRIES—02/01/10
Joel Sadler, 25, is a lecturer in mechanical engineering at Stanford University in California. He has created an artificial knee that is helping hundreds of amputees in India to walk again. The device costs just $20 (J$1,790). Sadler demonstrated his device at the University of the West Indies.
PREGNANT WOMAN, OTHERS MURDERED—02/02/10
Natalee “Cathy” Thompson, 25, and two others were shot and killed in St. Catherine. Police stated that Thompson, who was eight months pregnant, ran from her house only to collapse a short distance away from multiple gunshot wounds. Thompson was to appear in court shortly on sexual offense charges.
AIR JAMAICA TO SUSPEND SOME ROUTES—02/03/10
Beginning on March 9, 2010, Air Jamaica will suspend flights to Grenada, Curcacoa, Nassau, and Havana. The reduction in service is likely to have a very negative impact on informal commercial operators doing business in these areas and on students receiving their education in Cuba. As of April 12, 2010, the airline will stop its flights from New York to Grenada and Jamaica and from Orlando and Chicago to those destinations as well.
RISING COSTS STOP GOVERNMENT RELIEF EFFORTS—02/04/10
The rising costs associated with it relief efforts in Haiti has caused the Jamaican government to end parts of these programs. Information Minister Daryl Vaz announced that a pull-back in aid has begun. Troops on duty in Haiti cost about $773,000 per day, and no funding was available to carry on this effort.
BOB MARLEY BIRTHDAY BASH STOPPED BY POLICE—02/04/10
The yearly Bob Marley Birthday Bash, which has been held at the MXIII Lawn in Negril for 17 years, will not occur in 2010 because police have denied permission to the promoter to stage the event. According to promoter Clive “Cubba” Pringle, his application to hold the yearly event was denied due to some personal grudge held against him. Pringle believes the police hold an incident that occurred last year against him. The police say permission was denied on the basis of noise complaints from Negril residents.
AIR TRAN TO ADD CARIBBEAN DESTINATIONS—02/05/10
Air Tran Airways is planning to expand its operations in the Caribbean. The airline is launching flights from Atlanta and Orlando to Aruba and from Atlanta, Baltimore, and Orlando to Nassau, Bahamas, and Montego Bay, Jamaica. Additional flights are planned for the future.
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JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
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STEPHEN MARLEY WINS GRAMMY AWARD—02/01/10
The son of reggae musician Bob Marley won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. Stephen Marley won the award for his album “Mind Control (Acoustic Version.” This is his seventh Grammy away. Ziggy Marley won his fifth Grammy at the same awards ceremony for “Family Time,” an entry in the children’s musical album category.
JAMAICAN PRIME MINISTER WELCOMED BY CHINA’S PREMIER—02/03/10
Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding received a welcome from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. China and Jamaica will sign documents of cooperation in several areas during the visit. These include the economy and the creation of high-level contracts to foster mutual political trust.
JAMAICAN DIASPORA TO INFLUENCE ISLAND TOURISM—02/04/10
Jamaica’s tourist industry continues to experience strong growth, and Earl Jarrett, General Manager of the Jamaica National Building Society, says the Diaspora represents a large untapped market with enormous potential. Jarrett recommended targeting the Diaspora’s great spending power and desire to support their home country.
JAMAICAN LABOR BROKER GETS 45 MONTHS IN PRISON—02/05/10
Clover May Robinson-Gordon, 44, received a sentence of 45 months in prison in a Norfolk, Virginia, federal court for conspiracy and money laundering. The charges were brought in regard to an immigration fraud activity investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The case involved H2B visa fraud and international money laundering, as well as tax evasion.
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CARIBBEAN NEWS SUMMARY
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BANANA SECTOR HIT BY FUNGAL DISEASE—01/31/10
Officials in St. Lucia confirm that black sigatoka, a fungal disease, has been found in the area and represents a serious threat to its struggling banana industry. Ezekiel Joseph, St. Lucia Agricultural Minister, said the disease would found on a plantation in the southeastern part of the island. Authorities are investigating various measures required to control or eradicate the disease.
DOMINICAN OPERA STAR TO SING JAMAICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM—02/01/10
Marie-Claire, a Dominican opera singer, has been tapped to sing Jamaica’s National Anthem at the 6th Annual Excellence in Music and Entertainment Awards. The singer came to Jamaica to record three singles for an album. When not recording, Marie-Claire made several personal appearances, including one at Mustard Seed, a home for pre-teen and teenage girls.
BAPTISTS COULD FACE TRIAL IN UNITED STATES—02/02/10
Haitian officials may send ten American Baptists to the United States to be prosecuted after their arrest for attempting to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without the permission of the government. Officials hoped to resolve the case quickly, but also wanted to communicate a strong message about their intolerance for child trafficking. Prosecution could take place in the U.S. because Haiti’s court system has been devastated by the earthquake.
ST.KITTS TO SEE COMMERICAL BANK ESTABLISHED BY LIBYA—02/03/10
St.Kitts Prime Minister Denzil Douglas reports that Libya plans to build a commercial bank on the island in order to finance future developments in the eastern region of the Caribbean. The Libyan Investment Bank will help to diversify the local economy, says Douglas, and it will strengthen ties between the North African country and the Caribbean. Libya plans to build an oil refinery in the Dominican Republic and will provide aid to agricultural interests in Guyana.
CARICOM OPPOSES TOXIC WASTE SHIP TRAVELING THROUGH AREA—02/03/10
CARICOM has the “gravest concern” about the possibility of a ship passing through Caribbean waters while carrying radioactive waste. A shipment of vitrified high-level waste is expected to leave the United Kingdom for Japan, moving through the Caribbean Sea on its journey. CARICOM believes such cargo must not pass through the Caribbean because of the high risks associated with it and the fact that Caribbean people depend on the sea for their livelihoods.
REX NETTLEFORD DIES—02/04/10
Professor Rex Nettleford, a cultural icon of the Caribbean, died just one day from his 77th birthday after having a heart attack in Washington D.C. He was attending a fundraiser for the University of the West Indies. Professor Nettleford was known to be one of the great Caribbean minds in areas like government, education, labor, and culture, said Cleophas R.E. Adderley, executive director and founder of the Bahamas Youth Choir.
GREATER RUSSIAN PRESENCE IN CARIBBEAN URGED BY JAGDEO—02/05/10
Bharrat Jagdeo, president of Guyana, and Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russia, have discussed creating stronger ties between Russia and Latin American and Caribbean nations during a meeting in Moscow. Russia has long lacked a real presence in the region, says Medvedev, and believes it is important to have such ties in order to maintain a balance of power in the world.
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SPORTS
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JAMAICAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION NEEDS MONEY FOR 2014 CUP—01/30/10
Estimates have placed the financial need of the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) at almost $1 billion over the next four years as the team prepares to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Frederick Sutherland, accountant for the JFF, revealed the amount as the organization launched a campaign that will begin with the match against Canada’s national team.
REGGAE BOYZ BEGIN CAMPAIGN FOR 2014—01/31/10
The Reggae Boyz are ready to defeat Canada and hope a victory will improve their chances of moving ahead toward the World Cup competition in Brazil in 2014. Canada and Jamaica last met in a CONCACAF semi-final round in November 2008.
HARBOR VIEW EDGES BOYS’ TOWN, MAINTAINS LEAD—02/04/10
Harbor View remained at the top of the standings in the Digicel Premier League, winning 1-0 over Boys’ Town. This was the first time Boys’ Town had been defeated at home this season. Harbor View was looking for an early goal and got a 20-yard free kick in the seventh minute by Jermaine Hue.
DUSTIN BROWN REACHES ATP TOUR QUARTER FINAL—02/05/10
Jamaica’s Dustin Brown has advanced to his first ATP quarter-final with a victory over Laurent Recouderc of France at the South African Open. Brown, who was born in Germany, ranked 141st in the world. He caused an early upset in the tournament when he defeated fourth-seed Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland. No Jamaican has every reached the semi-finals in the tour before.
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DEVOTIONAL
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He Knows My (Your) Name
According to the Exodus narrative, Moses was on the backside of the desert, minding the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, when he came to Horeb, to the mountain of God. Suddenly, he saw a flame of fire in the midst of a bush that though burning was not consumed. Marveling at the “great sight” and being perplexed as to why the bush was not burnt, his curiousity got the better of it and he approached the flame. The writer tells us, “And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (3:4-5, KJV).
While the rest of the story is familiar to most of us, and undoubtedly there have been numerous messages preached on this portion of the Scriptures, in reflecting on the text it occured to me that this was the very first recorded encounter between God and Moses. The detail that really caught my attention was the fact that God called Moses by his name. In other words, He knew him on a personal level and knew exactly where to find him when He needed him. Bible Expositor John Gill observes, “The Lord knows his people distinctly, and can call them by name; … the repetition of his name [Moses, Moses] … shows familiarity and a strong vehement affection for him.” We are not told if Moses was surprised at the sound of the voice, especially one calling his name, but we know he answered “Here am I.” Chances are good that most of us would have been out of there as fast as our legs could carry us, but after seeing a bush burning without being burnt, Moses could be excused for not being intimidated by a voice. His experience has given every child of God a reason to rejoice; God knows us by name and no matter where we are, He knows where to find us.
Given that there are over six billion people on planet earth, that is a sobering thought. We can rest assured that despite what we are going through, His eyes are tracking us. This is the same God who said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” (1:5), and if He knew him and us even then, it is nothing to Him that He knows our names. It also means that despite the best efforts of the enemy to tell us otherwise, we are never forgotten by Him.
Be encouraged. As you go through your day, if you listen really closely you too just might hear Him calling your name.
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CREDITS/SOURCES
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The weekly news is compilation of new articles from top Caribbean and Jamaican news sources.
