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THIS WEEK’S SUMMARY
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POLITICAL ACTIVIST SUFFERS SHOOTING DEATH—07/28/07
Howell Archer, 34, was shot to death by gunmen riding a motorbike. Archer was an activities for the Jamaica Labor Party and a member of the executive leadership of the Party’s East Rural St. Andrew seat. Archer was shot several times in Gordon Town, north of Kingston, and his death brings fears about growing election campaign violence. Archer was the fifth individual to die by an act of political violence before the August 27 general election. The gunmen were not apprehended.
CANADIAN AGENTS MAKE LARGE DRUG INTERCEPTION IN HALIFAZ—07/29/07
Officers of the Canada Border Services Agency at the Port of Halifax found a large shipment of marijuana and hash oil secreted in cases of yams destined for Toronto. There was a total of 182 kilograms of illegal drugs with an estimated street value of over $5 million. There were discovered in a marine container from Jamaican that held 1,345 cases of yams. The container was put through an X-ray machine, which identified an “anomaly” in the cargo.
CHILDREN IN RURAL JAMAICA HAVE HIGH LEVELS OF LEAD IN BLOOD—07/30/07
Children in rural areas of Jamaica continue to show very high levels of lead in their bodies. This is the case in spite of the fact that no obvious sources of the lead existing in some of the rural parishes. The findings were revealed by the “First National Report on Chemicals in the Jamaican Environment (Lead),” as prepared by Gerald Lalo and Mitko Vutchkob of the International Center for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) at the University of the West Indies in Mona.
Lead levels still high in rural kids
JLP ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR OFFSHORE BANKING CENTER—07/31/07
Bruce Golding, leader of the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), introduced several proposals from the party manifesto. The plans are designed to make the country friendlier to businesses. The will focus on creating investments, and one of the major projects in this area involves an offshore business center to be located in downtown Kingston.
SAN JOSE ACCORD TO HELP JAMAICA—08/01/07
The government of Mexico wants to loosen the requirements under the San Jose Accord to allow Jamaica access to a $24.7 million loan program that has resulted from the Accord. The San Jose Accord is a program promoting energy cooperation among countries of Central America and the Caribbean.
CONGRESSWOMAN YVETTE CLARKE ON MEDICAL LEAVE—08/02/07
Yvette Clarke, first-term lawmaker from Brooklyn, New York, represents a district that is chiefly composed of residents of Caribbean ancestry. Clarke, 42, is herself a Caribbean-American. She has taken a medical leave of absence following surgery related to benign uterine fibroids. Her leave extends until early in September. Women of African descent have a higher risk of developing this condition than other women.
CLERGYMAN SAYS POLITICAL PARTIES ARE “CULTS”—08/03/07
Bishop C.B. Peter Morgan has labeled Jamaica’s political parties as “cults” because of the “slavish” way their supporters follow their parties’ practices. Morgan says the country must get away from this scenario. Morgan made his remarks at a forum designed to focus on issues related to politics and religion. The parties have brought their followers to a point of commitment that will even sacrifice people’s lives, Morgan said. Police are investigating several recent deaths of individuals allegedly killed in the name of politics.
POLICE INVESTIGATE “POLITICAL” SHOOTINGS—08/03/07
The police continue to investigate five fatal shootings in the Corporate Area that occurred in July. They are attempting to determine whether any or all of the shootings were politically motivated. Les Green, Assistant Commissioner of Police and head of the Major Investigations Task Force (MIT), says the five cases are being looked at to determine if there were any links to politics or the general elections, which are scheduled for the end of August.
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JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
FAUX JAMAICAN, “MISS CLEO,” RETURNS TO TELEVISION—07/28/07
Miss Cleo, a Jamaican fortuneteller character in an infomercial in the United States, was portrayed by Youree Harris, an American from Los Angeles. Harris has never even been to Jamaica. Miss Cleo was arguably the most famous television psychic, and now the “Jamaican” psychic character can be seen in the coming season of “The Surreal Life” of VH1. Harris’ television acting career ended when investigations of the psychic phone operation shut down the company and the FTC charged her promoters with deceptive advertising, billing, and collection practices.
WINDRUSH MEMBERS RETURN TO THEIR CARIBBEAN HOME—07/29/07
Ancestors of the West Indian community in the United Kingdom left home some 60 years ago on the to find a better life in the UK. Now, they are becoming frustrated with the over-taxed, “gloomy,” and costly UK. Many are returning to the Caribbean. Chief among their reasons for returning is the desire to raise their children away from British society. The Association for the Resettlement of Returning Residents, a group that helps Britons of Jamaican ancestry to return to the island, says between 20,000 and 30,000 Jamaicans and Britons of Jamaican ancestry will return in the next five years.
PRINCE OF WALES ASKED TO HELP IN A CASE OF ALLEGED RACIST ABUSE—07/29/07
Britain’s Prince Charles has been encouraged to give up his position as Colonel of the Welsh Guards unless he can do something to end the alleged racist abuse of a Jamaican soldier in that regiment. Kerry Hylton, a private in the army, is taking the military force before an employment tribunal, citing several incidents that occurred in the barracks in Birdcage Walk near Buckingham Palace. The solicitor for Hylton told Prince Charles that complaints to the commanding officers of the Welsh Guards about the alleged abuse have not been answered.
JAMAICAN WOMAN, SLATED FOR DEPORTATION, HELD IN GUYANA—08/01/07
A Jamaican woman has been held for more than one month at the East La Penitence Police States after pleading guilty to overstaying her time. She was fined $30,000 and sentenced to immediate deportation. Winsome May Russell has her passport and other documents, but police say she must pay for her own ticket home. Since she has no relatives in Guyana, she has no one to turn to for help. The man with whom she had been living says he has no money to buy her ticker.
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SPORTS
STORM PINK PUTS JAMAICA IN RUGBY SPOTLIGHT—07/28/07
Storm Pink is likely to become as famous as Dexter Lee in track and field or Keammar Daley in football. Pink, a Jamaican who lives in Canada, has become an effective ambassador for Jamaica, despite the fact that rugby is not as popular a sport a cricket or football. Pink was instrumental in the historic qualification of his team to the Youth Rugby World Cup following a win over Guyana 4-1 in the Caribbean Championship. The win gave the team the NAWIRA title for the second year in a row.
JAMAICA WINS GOLD IN BRAZIL—07/29/07
Jamaica won gold in the women’s 4×100 meter relay, beating the United States at the 15th Pan American Games. Sheri-Ann Brooks, Tracy-Ann Rowe, Aleen Bailey, and Peta-Gaye Dowdie achieved a time of 43.48 seconds, defeating the United States, which had a time of 43.62 seconds, and Cuba, which had a time of 43.80 seconds.
DWIGHT THOMAS WINS THIRD VICTORY—07/30/07
The Jamaican sprinter, Dwight Thomas, won his third victory in a week, being victorious in the men’s 100-meter race at the KBC Night of Athletics international track and field meet. Thomas ran the race in 10 minutes 15 seconds, defeating Leroy Dixon, an American, in the top event at the meet.
NEW CRICKET HEAD TO REDEFINE IMAGE OF WICB—07/31/07
Julian Hunte, the new regional cricket head, promises a redefinition of the image of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). He also promises to employ methods that will make relevant change. According to Hunte, the board’s stakeholders and fans are not happy with the WICM performance. The board needs “redefinition and revitalization.”
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DEVOTIONAL
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Knowing The Opponent (Part 2)
As we noted last time, the Christian is engaged in a spiritual battle. Despite the action being in our earthly experiences, Paul reminds us that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Having encouraged the church at Corinth to not be ignorant of how the enemy worked (2 Cor. 2:11), he now exhorted the church at Ephesus to not only be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might, but to “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (trickery/subtlety) of the devil” (vv. 10, 11).
A quick look at the components of “the whole armour of God” – truth, to gird our loins, the breastplate of righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace for our feet, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and prayer. The admonition to put on God’s armour suggests two things: 1) we cannot confront the enemy in our own strength, and 2) we need to protect the areas where we are most vulnerable. We should note that all the pieces, except one, are for protection (defensive); we have only one offensive weapon in our arsenal – the Word of God. Secondly, there are no optional pieces! The instructions were explicit – “Put on the whole armour of God!”
Paul also gives us an idea of what the enemy will throw at us – “fiery darts”. Space limitations do not allow me to expand on this, but suffice it to say that in a figurative sense, the Greek word translated ‘fiery’ suggests “to be inflamed (with anger, grief, lust)”. The enemy’s sole mission is to steal, kill, and destroy, and he will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal. Thank God, however, the child of God do have an insight into the enemy’s playbook, and we have the insight into how he can be defeated. In His temptations in the mountains, our Lord not only recognize the enemy’s subtleties, but countered them and defeated him using the Word (Matt. 4:1-11).
Do you know the enemy? Has he entered your home, your life, your experiences, where due to a lack of recognition you have entertained him as you would a welcomed visitor? He is everywhere and especially in the daily choices we are confronted with. I pray God will grant the wisdom to recognize him, and grant us the grace to face him, fully clothed, and with much prayer, in the armour of God. It is only then can we be assured of victory.
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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.
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