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THIS WEEK’S SUMMARY
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CANADA ISSUES TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR JAMAICA DURING ELECTIONS—08/11/07
The Canadian government issued a travel advisory for citizens who will travel to Jamaica during the run-up to the general elections on August 27. Travelers are warned to be careful, especially when visiting the areas of Kingston and Montego Bay. Canadians are advised to avoid demonstrations and not try to go through roadblocks if they encounter them.

BODIES OF WOMAN AND LOVER FOUND—08/12/07
Police say they have found the bodies of Claudia Leibl Letts and her lover, Clive Donaldson, were found along the Maryland main road in Askenish, Hanover. Letts, 43, had lived in Jamaica for about ten years. She had lived with Donaldson in the Whitehall housing area in Negril, Westmoreland for about six months. Lett’s ex-lover is being held by police, who say the pair had a history of domestic disputes. The man had a restraining order placed against him by the court against him.

BRAZIL, JAMAICA AGREE ON ACADEMIC COOPERATION—08/12/07
Agreements have been signed by Jamaica and Brazil to allow academic cooperation between the two nations. The agreements would also permit the exemption of visas for diplomats and officials. Under the academic agreement, officials, students, researchers, and diplomats will be allowed to go to Brazil to receive training in international relations and other subjects.

MILLER MADE FARMER OF THE YEAR—08/13/07
The Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) announced that Egbert “Bob” Miller has been awarded the Farmer of the Year designation for 2007. Miller is the brother-in-law of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller. He was chosen from a group of 34 competitors at the Western Hemispheric Board of Agriculture Conference in Guatemala. Miller says agriculture has always been “near and dear” to him.

BRAZIL’S PRESIDENT VIEWS JAMAICAN CASTOR BEANS FOR BIOFUEL—08/14/07
The President of Brazil, Lula de Silva, is one a “biofuel tour” of Central America and stopped to visit Jamaica. Brazil’s Coimex Group has an ethanol plant on the island in partnership with Petrojam, Jamaica’s national oil company. Biofuel experts in Brazil have been working with Jamaica to examine the use of castor beans to make biodiesel. Castor oil represents the most important source from perennial crops for biodiesel fuel made in Brazil.

CALLALOO EXPORTS OK’D FOR UNITED STATES—08/15/07
Callaloo has been reinstated on the pre-clearance list of Jamaican vegetables approved for shipment to the United States. The action results after the voluntary removal of the vegetable from this list in 1995 by Jamaica’s Agriculture Ministry. The vegetable was removed to protect the integrity of the export program.

3 OF 5 INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS WILL NOT PARTICIPATE—08/16/07
Jamaica’s Electoral Office invited the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community, the Carter Center, the International Federation of Election Systems, and the Commonwealth Secretariat to observe the general elections on August 27, 2007. At least three of these invited organizations, including the Carter Center, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Federation of Election Systems, say they will not be participating on that date. They cite the “trusted and mature” electoral process in Jamaica as eliminating the need for their participation.

JAMAICA BRACES FOR HURRICANE DEAN—08/17/07
Hurricane Dean could reach the territorial waters of Jamaica by Sunday, August 19. The Meteorological Service has told fishermen and other marine operators to expect worsening weather over the next two to three days. People are also encouraged to make preparations to evacuate their locations if necessary. Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller met with the National Disaster Committee at Jamaica House to receive reports about the preparedness of various agencies. A review of the response strategy was also performed.

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JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS

NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL OBSERVES JAMAICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY—08/11/07
A ceremony was held at New York’s City Hall as the City Council celebrated the 45th anniversary of independence in Jamaica. Leroy Comrie, son of Jamaican immigrants, and Dr. Kendall Stewart, Jamaican-born chair of the Committee on Immigration, both council members, hosted the event. The contributions of Jamaican immigrants to the cultural, economic, social, and political development of the United States were honored. The event was especially dedicated to U.S. Army Sergeant Kimel L. Watt, Jamaican native and resident of Brooklyn, who was killed while serving in Iraq in June 2006.

JAMAICAN RESTAURANT IN GEORGIA BURNS—08/13/07
The smoke from a restaurant on fire in DeKalb County, Georgia, was seen from far away as an off-duty firefighter was coming in to work. Milton Cotton knew, as a firefighter, that the smoke came from a building fire, and he radioed his station, then waited for crews to come to the Seas Jamaica Food Market. The fire was so intense that firefighters were not able to save the restaurant or the mechanic shop behind it, however. The owner’s wife and three children were asleep on the second floor above the restaurant, which was closed at the time. They all made it out safely. The owner, Errol Malcolm, started the restaurant ten years ago after moving to Atlanta from Montego Bay.

SON OF JAMAICAN PARENTS TOP OF HIS CLASS AT HARVARD, YALE—08/14/07
Andre Damian Williams, the son of Andre Wlliams Sr. and Monica Smith Williams of Jamaica, has achieved high academic honors all his life. Raised in Decatur, Atlanta, Georgia, Williams was always a top student. He attended Harvard University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated in 2002 with a degree in economics. He received the Lionel de Jersey Harvard Scholar award in that year as well. This allowed him to attend Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, where he received a Master’s degree in international relations. He will begin a clerkship at the United States Supreme Court in 2008.

JAMAICANS IN LONDON SKEPTICAL OF UK CRIME REPORT—08/15/07
In London, the Jamaican community views the city’s Metropolitan Police’s recent report on crime figures with skepticism. The report states that foreign nationals are accountable for 20 percent of the crimes committed in London. It also states that Jamaicans are the second-most frequent offenders. The Pole have the top ranking in this area. Community representatives say that by focusing on the 20 percent of crime committed by foreign nationals, the police miss the bigger picture. Eighty percent of crimes are committed by Britons, and they say that the police report could give rise to problems between the UK and foreign nationals, most of whom obey the law of the host nation.

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SPORTS

SCOTT READY TO GET SHOT-PUT MEDAL FOR JAMAICA—08/13/07
Dorian Scott, a silver medalist in the Pan American Games, says he is ready to become the first Jamaica to get a shot-put medal in the history of the IAAF World Championships. Scott says he is ready to drop a 21-meter throw and plans to continue his training. Scott has broken his own national record twice with throws of 20.52 meters and 20.60 meters, but he recognizes he will need to work hard to compete with the “big boys” of Europe and America.

JAMAICAN JUNIOR CRICKET PLAYERS VISIT CONNECTICUT—08/14/07
A number of organizations, including the West Indian Foundation Inc., the Cricket Hall of Fame, and the Connecticut Cricket League are hosting a number of young Jamaican cricket players in Hartford, Connecticut on a cultural exchange program. The players will take part in games against teams from New Jersey and New York, as well as local teams, while they are in Hartford.

WATFORD BOSS IMPOSED LARGE PRICE TAG ON MARLON KING—08/16/07
Adrian Boothroyd, head of Watford, insists that any team in Barclays Premier League that wants to take Marlon King from him will have to pay a significant amount of money. There had been speculation that there was a deal between the top striker and a newly promoted Derby County. Marlon King wants to play high-quality football, but he is content remaining at Watford for the near term.

FOURTH MEDAL FOR JAMAICA AT PARA PAN AMERICAN GAMES—08/17/07
Sylvia Grant won the fourth medal for Jamaica at the Para Pan American Games. Grant had earlier won a silver medal in the javelin throw receive a bronze medal by placing third in the discus event in Class F57. She had a throw of 22.02 meters and 835 points. The gold medal went to Roseanne Santos of Brazil who had a throw of 30.52 meters and 972 points. Jamaica now has a total of one gold medal, two silver medals, and a bronze medal thus far in the competition.

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DEVOTIONAL
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The Surrendered Life (Part 2)

In his book “The Knowledge of the Holy”, A. W. Tozer wrote: “Twentieth-century Christians has put God on charity. So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God. But the truth is that God is not greater for our being, nor would He be less if we did not exist. That we do exist is altogether of God’s free determination, not by our desert nor by divine necessity. … The Christian religion has to do with God and man, but its focal point is God, not man. Man’s only claim to importance is that he was created in the divine image; in himself he is nothing.”

The self-deception that Tozer wrote about is at the heart of self-idolatry. We lose sight of the fact that the very essence of who are is a gift from God. The air that we breathe, the houses we live in, the cars we drive, the children we claim as our own, our jobs, the marvellous inter-working of the various parts that makes up our bodies, we owe everything to Him. As Tozer posited, “Man is a created being, a deprived and contingent self, who of himself possess nothing but is dependent each moment for his existence upon the One who created him after His own likeness. That fact of God is necessary to the fact of man. Think God away and man has no grounds for existence.” In and of himself, man can lay claim to nothing, he can do nothing, yet like that son of the morning Lucifer, we allow self to rise up to believe we can do without God. Isaiah wrote of him, “…thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (14:13,14).

It is this challenge to God’s selfhood in relation to our own of which the unsurrendered life is guilty. We profess acceptance of the sovereignty of God in the earth, but we are just not prepared to acknowledge His sovereignty over our lives. To complicate matters, this attitude is so subtle that we are not necessarily conscious of making that choice. To the unregenerate heart, the asserting of self is natural, a given. In our own eyes, and in our world, is a throne of our making on which we sit as kings and queens. Regardless of our station in life, and the sacrifices we make from day to day, we are never prepared to dethrone self. That is our throne, and we are not prepared to relinquish it for anything, or for anyone. Not even God.

Yet, the echo of Jesus’ words lingers. “If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also]” (Luke 9:23, Amplified).

Who is sitting on your throne?

CEW

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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.