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THIS WEEK”S SUMMARY
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SPENCER WELCOMES HIV/AIDS FOUNDATION—07/09/11
Rudyard Spencer, Jamaica’s Minister of Health, welcomes the new foundation established by the Jamaica Business Council on HIV/AIDS. Spencer believes the foundation is critical to the efforts of the government to fight the disease effectively. The foundation’s main goal will be to raise money to ensure that any with HIV/AIDS who needs treatment will receive it.
SENATE OBJECTS TO LARGE JPS BILL—07/10/11
Jamaica’s Senate is outraged at Jamaica Public Service (JPS) due to the very high bills for electricity imposed on customers. These customers included a government senator, Hyacinth Bennett, whose home charges for May and June of 2011 totaled more than $163,000. Senator Bennett and several other senators have decided to take on JPS, saying that the “call for justice” should be heard at JPSCo.
JAMAICA HAPPY WITH NEW LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM—07/11/11
Jamaica’s Minister in the Office of the Cabinet, Arthur Williams, spoke at an event introducing the Jamaican Chapter of the Global Leadership Interlink (GLI). The organization is a nonprofit that encourages values-based leadership and ethical development. Jamaica is the newest member of the GLI network, which includes thousands of university students and professionals worldwide. GLI plans to create a new standard of professionalism in the public sector with the support of Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
JAMAICAN EFFORTS TO REDUCE LIONFISH POPULATION ON SCHEDULE—07/12/11
Jamaica is one of the countries in the Caribbean region that is most impacted by the effects of lionfish. The fish has established itself in the local waters, and while conditions in Jamaica are not yet as bad as they are in the Bahamas, the island is fast approaching that status, says Dr. Dayne Buddo, head of the National Lionfish Project. Without intervention, the lionfish invasion, the most rapid finfish invasion ever recorded, will have a seriously negative impact on Jamaica’s fisheries.
COKE BEGINS HIS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM—07/12/11
Christopher “Dudus” Coke, alleged drug lord, is ready for his first New York court appearance. He hopes to convince the court to exclude wiretap evidence that will be used against him by United States prosecutors. The case against Coke depends heavily on wiretap information that allegedly shows him planning drug and gun deals.
ISRAEL OFFERS AID TO JAMAICA ON ENERGY—07/13/11
Israel’s ambassador to Jamaica, Moshe Sermoneta, announced that Israel has an interest in aiding Jamaica with its energy crisis. He also noted that agriculture and tourism in Jamaica could benefit from a closer relationship with Israel. Because Israel has few natural resources, according to Sermoneta, it has been forced to develop alternative energy sources. He says Jamaica could reap the benefits of these innovations.
COKE MUST WAIT FOR COURT RULING ON EVIDENCE—07/14/11
Christopher “Dudus” Coke, alleged Jamaican drug lord, must wait before finding out if wiretap evidence brought against him by United States prosecutors will be allowed at his trial or excluded by the judge. Judge Robert R. Patterson has reserved judgment on the application brought by Coke’s defense to exclude the wiretap information. Judge Patterson declined to set a date for the ruling, but it should be made before the September 12, 2011 trial date.
JAMAICANS FOR JUSTICE CLAIMS ELLINGTON FAILS TO UNDERSTAND PROTESTS—07/15/11
According to Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), Owen Ellington, commissioner of police in Jamaica, does not understand the protests claiming application of a double standard in the investigation of the murder of Khajeel Mais. The JFJ is not calling for the suspect in the case to be names, but for the same standard to apply to all cases involving “persons of interest.” The JFJ has suggested that Jamaican police were granting more legal protections to foreign nations than to Jamaican citizens in similar circumstances.
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JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
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JAMAICAN-BORN MARINE BURIED WITH HONORS—07/10/11
Sgt. Marlon Earl Myrie, 25, a Jamaican-born United States Marine, was killed in Afghanistan in June 2011 and has been buried with military honors at the South Florida National Cemetery, a U.S. veteran’s cemetery. He was honored with a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps. Myrie died in an incident involving a hand grenade and died at a field hospital in Helmand Province.
GRANGE TOUTS JAMAICA’S SPORTS AND CULTURE AT UK FUNDRAISER—07/11/11
Olivia Grange, Jamaican Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, stated that the island is prepared to become the top training center for sprint athletes from around the world. She is encouraging investors in sports to create initiatives that will develop improved facilities in Jamaica. Grange made her remarks at a fundraising dinner for the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) in Birmingham, England.
JAMAICAN INFORMATION SERVICE IN MIAMI ACCEPTING ESSAY CONTEST ENTRIES—07/12/11
Entries for the 11th Annual Independence Essay Competition, which is organized by the Miami office of the Jamaica Information Service, are being accepted. The yearly contest is one of the activities scheduled to commemorate Emancipation and Independence celebrations among Jamaican communities in Florida. It is open to first and second generation Jamaican children between the ages of five and 18 who live in Florida. The winner in each of the several categories will receive a plaque from the Jamaica Consulate General and a monetary prize from Partners for Youth Foundation.
49TH INDEPENCE CELEBRATION SCHEDULED IN SOUTH FLORIDA—07/13/11
Jamaica’s 49th Independence and Cultural Celebration (JICC) has been scheduled for August 7, 20011, in South Florida. The celebration will include entertainment, interactive exhibits, and various Jamaican foods. It will also showcase Jamaica’s history and cultural heritage in order to link Jamaica’s culture to the greater Diaspora community in South Florida.
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CARIBBEAN NEWS SUMMARY provided by Caribbeantopnews.com
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RICARDO ALEGRIA DIES—07/09/11
PEOPLE’S SUPREME COURT IN CUBA SETS HEARING FOR GROSS—07/10/11
COLOMBIA OFFERS AID TO CARICOM—07/12/11
GUYANA RECEIVES HELP TO ADDRESS POVERTY FROM CDB—07/13/11
HAITI’S HOUSING SITUATION STILL DESPERATE—07/14/11
DRUG SUBMARINE INTERCEPTED IN HONDURAS—07/15/11
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BUSINESS NEWS SUMMARY
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KOREAN POWER COMPANY TO PARTNER WITH JPS—07/09/11
The Korea East-West Power company (KEP) is a new partner of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS). The Korean firm plans to generate new capacity, according to Damian Obigito, president and chief executive officer of JPS. KEP sees an opportunity in Jamaica to expand power generation. The firm wants to get into the Jamaican market, already operating a power plant in Haiti. The Korean company is also expanding to North America.
WAGE INCREASE FOR PUBLIC WORKERS IN JAMAICA—07/10/11
The thousands of workers in Jamaica’s public sector will receive a salary increase of seven percent, following two years of wage freezers dictated by the global economic crisis. About 126,000 workers will see the pay increase beginning in September 2011. About $248 million in retroactive pay will be provided between May 2012, and May 2014 as well.
BUILDING PERMITS TO BE ENFORCED IN CAPITAL—07/11/11
Jamaican authorities plan to crack down on individuals who launch construction projects. The mayor of Kingston, Desmond McKenzie, has offered a six-week amnesty to postpone who are building or have built something without getting approval from the city of Kingston. About 80 percent of new construction currently has no official approval, and the city loses some $7 million each year in building fees as a result.
NATIONAL HOUSING TRUST WANTS NEW RULES FOR BUSINESS OWNERS—07/12/11
The National Housing Trust (NHT) will begin lobbying efforts to ask government authorities to introduce new rules forcing business owners to apply and display certificates that indicate the NHT contributions deducted from employee wages were being remitted. The NHT is also asking that the National Housing Trust Act be amended to permit issue of employer compliance certificates. The request is part of a program to increase NHT compliance rates and give workers the chance to see that their NHT contribution forms were being delivered.
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TECHNOLOGY NEWS SUMMARY
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AMAZON TO MAKE TABLET COMPUTER BY FALL OF 2011—07/13/11
Amazon.com Inc. has announced its intention to make a tablet computer available by October 2011. The tablet is designed to compete with Apple’s iPad. Amazon also plans to release two updated Kindle versions in the third quarter of 2011. One version will offer a touch screen, while the other will be a less expensive version of the current Kindle.
NEW PHOTO SHARING SOCIAL NETWORK ANNOUNCED BY GOOGLE—07/14/11
Google is introducing a new social networking photo service called Photovine. It will allow consumers to take photos from the phones and upload them as a stream of pictures in a way similar to tweets on Twitter. Users may subscribe to another user’s Photovine to see their latest pictures almost as soon as they take them. The service has yet to go live: consumers can only ask for an invitation on Photovine’s website at present, and there is no start date established for the service.
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CARIBBEAN TECHNOLOGY NEWS SUMMARY provided by Caribbeantopnews.com
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CALIX E7 PLATFORM CHOSEN BY LIME—07/09/11
The top communications firm in the Caribbean region, LIME, has chosen the EXA Powered Calix E702 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP) to improve its mobile backhaul in 12 Caribbean markets. The new equipment will allow the company to provide enhanced communications services to individuals, business interests, and governments in the 14 Caribbean nations that have been using the Calix Unified Access portfolio since 2005. LIME will now be able to expand its broadband and network services to neighboring homes and businesses as well.
FIRST SOLAR WATER PUMP SYSTEM BRINGS WATER TO ST. MARY—07/12/11
The residents of Carron Hall in St. Mary, who have been living without potable water for some time, will now receive their water from the first solar water pumping system to be installed in the Caribbean region. Robert Montague, Agriculture Minister and Member of Parliament for West St. Mary, handed the system over to the community at a cost of $3 million. It comprises an underwater solar pumping station designed, installed, tested and commissioned by the University of Technology.
MAN IN CHINA MAKES IPAD-CLONE—07/13/11
A Chinese man has made his own iPad-like tablet computer and posted a 20-minute video on a Chinese YouTube equivalent website to show others how to do it. His version sues computer parts, a touch screen, a case with a keypad, and the Windows operating system. Liu Xinying, 21, calls his creation DIY IPAD 3.” Liu built the computer “for fun” and says it cost him about $309 to build.
MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BROADBAND INTERNET PROJECT IN PROGRESS—07/14/11
Work has started to implement a major Jamaica-wide broadband network. The project will cost more than J$500 million over five years. According to Hugh Cross, managing director of the Universal Access Fund Company Ltd. (UAF), the time to build the infrastructure required for the network will total 18 months. The project has been approved by the government and includes a central server facility hosting a variety of education materials. It will be accessible to users via local area networks established in high schools throughout Jamaica.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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SEAN KINGSTON PERFORMS AFTER ACCIDENT—07/09/11
Sean Kingston, Jamaican-born singer, suffered injuries in an accident five weeks ago, but he has recovered sufficiently to be on the set of Iyaz’s new video, Pretty Girls. Kingston released the song “Beautiful Girls in 2007, which has been given as the reason he is appearing on Iyaz’s album.
YOUTH IN SWITZERLAND FAVOR VINTAGE REGGAE—07/10/11
Young adults in Switzerland are eager to attend concerts that feature vintage Jamaican artistes, according to Marc Ismail, independent music producer and music historian. This same group of people enjoys both dancehall and roots music. The Swiss preferences indicate that “old school” acts are what young people want to see. Favorites include Max Romeo, the Gladiators, the Abyssinians, and Israel Vibration.
MYSTIC DAVIS EARNS STARDOM AS DANCER—07/11/11
Mystic Davis, Jamaican dancer and dancehall artiste, is beginning to enjoy some recognition for her musical talents. Davis, who was born in Portland, studied ballet during her time at Wolmer’s Girls School. She has appeared in videos with Nicki Minaj and Sean Kingston. Mystic shares her talents with the community by choreographing dances for several events and groups.
RAINE SEVILLE RETURNS TO JAMAICA’S MUSIC WORLD—07/12/11
Loraine “Raine” Seville took some time off from her singing career to focus on her role as a mother, but she has returned to make more dancehall music and reclaim her title of DASECA first lady. Seville says she is planning to “reinvent” herself as an artiste.
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SPORTS
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ODAIL TODD SEEKS GOLD MEDAL FOR SECOND TIME—07/10/11
Odail Todd, Jamaica’s World Youth Championship winner of the 100 meters plans to become the second man to be victorious in the sprint double running the 200 meters in the fastest time on the last day of the IAAF meet in Lille, France. Todd, a student from Green Island High School, won his semi-final race with a personal best time of 21.02 seconds. Todd won the sprint double at the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Junior Trials in June 2011.
POWELL WINS IN BIRMINGHAM—07/11/11
Jamaica’s Asafa Powell won an easy victory in the 100 meters at the Diamond League event held in Birmingham, England. The wet conditions at the race caused Powell to turn in a time of 9.91 seconds. He had reached a world-record time for 2011 with 9.78 in Switzerland ten days before. Powell said he only ran hard enough in Birmingham to win that particular event because of the damp, cold weather.
JAMAICA CONTINUES TO SEEK MEDALS—07/12/11
The Jamaican team participating in the 2011 World Masters Championships in Sacramento, California, still hoped to win medals after reaching two finals. Benson Ford was in fourth place in the Men’s 80-84 100 meters with a time of 17.66 seconds. Karl Smith withdrew from the men’s 50-54 100 meters when he suffered a possible hamstring injury.
WINDIES UNDER-19S DEFEAT U.S.—07/13/11
Jamaican John Campbell scored a century in a match in which the West Indies Under-19 team was victorious over the United States team. The Windies defeated the U.S. by 268 runs in the second of four matches in Broward County Stadium in Florida. Campbell received the support of captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who stroked 53 from 75 balls and Ramon Senior, who hit 42 out of 44 balls.
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DEVOTIONAL
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Loving the Unlovable
Have you ever met someone who was difficult to love? Not necessarily romantically, but just to love as another human being. The phileo kind of love that we are exhorted to show to another. I have known a few people like that; really obnoxious personalities with a healthy dose of bad attitudes and manners. Looking at some of them one could never tell. They are what I call “lime people” – deceptively smooth on the outside, sour on the inside. It is quite possible that even as you are reading this, at least one person you know comes readily to mind!
The challenge for some of us is that we share the pews with some of these people. Yes, they are sitting among us in our Churches on Sunday mornings. The unlovable unbeliever we can probably understand, but an unlovable Christian seems like an oxymoron. More times than not we avoid them like the plague. Yet in a way that only Jesus can, He challenges us to break through our apprehensions and judgments when He says rather emphatically to those following Him, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34, KJV). Notice this was a “new commandment” because the law did not make such a demand. In this new era, we are to love others the way He loved us and that means, among other things, without conditions. In other words, we cannot say we will love someone if he or she changes their attitudes and behaviors to meet our predetermined standard(s) because God, through Christ, did not impose any such conditions on us.
Paul exhorted the Roman believers, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love” (Romans 12:10a), and again, “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (13:8). He realized this was not our natural disposition when he exhorted the Thessalonians, “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you” (1 Thess. 3:12).
God doesn’t expect us to avoid the unlovable among us but to love them. But there is a purpose, as there always is, to what He asks us to do and Jesus pulls the veil apart so we can get a glimpse: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). Our greatest challenge can be the open door to our greatest opportunity. So the next time you see or come across someone you deem unlovable, you are in the right place to show him or her the love of Christ. Consider it a test, and purpose it on your heart that you will ace it. Moreover, by doing so, you will put the devil to shame and Christ will be exalted. Now, that is what I call exciting!
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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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