New York Liberty Star

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

50 CENTS

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GUY ANESE MOR TGA GE FRA UD CA UGHT IN BR OOKL YN GUYANESE MORT GAGE FRAUD CAUGHT BROOKL OOKLYN

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010

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Copyright © 2006, New York Liberty Star

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VOL. 10 ISSUE 191

Local News

TRINIDADIAN NAMED ‘FELLOW’ AT CITY TECH

JOYCELYN DILLON has been named a fellow of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute.

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Sports News

MCFARLANE TAKES 400 IN MELBOURNE

DANNY MCFARLANE dominated a largely Australian field to win the men’s 400metre hurdles at Melbourne, Thursday.

FULL STORY PAGE 8

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FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

CONTENTS

W E AT H E R

STANDING FIRM

DONALD VERNON

TODAY Cloudy High: 41° Low: 28° TOMORROW Sunny

High: 50° Low: 31°

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LAWYER EMPOWERS NY

New York attorney provides free legal consultation on issues relating to immigration and other issues.

BRUCE DEFENDS DUDUS

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Prime Minister Bruce Golding is adamant that his position on the Dudus extradition is based on law.

ASK LISA-ANNE

NAOMI CAMPBELL

EDITORIAL STAFF

NO CHARGES FILED

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TO SPANK OR NOT

LENECIA HINES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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IVROL HINES MANAGING EDITOR

The NYPD said supermodel Naomi Research confirms what many parents Campbell’s chauffeur will not press instinctively feel when they don’t like criminal charges after being punched. to spank their child.

WOMEN’S HISTORY MAKER

Trinidadian Joycelyn Dillon Named ‘Fellow’ BROOKLYN, NY — Joycelyn Dillon, chair of New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech) Department of Dental Hygiene, has been named a fellow of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute.

The fellowship program is designed to develop the nation’s most promising individuals at academic dental institutions to become future leaders in dental and higher education.

According to people who have been through the ADEA program, fellows leave the institute prepared for expanded roles and with greater selfknowledge and personal vision for their careers. Dillon hopes to replicate that pattern.

“After I finish my year at the institute,” she says, “I plan to be a resource for dental educators and practicing hygienists on issues such as professional integrity, handling ethical dilemmas, treating geriatric and special needs patients, public advocacy, access to care, community involvement and lifelong learning.”

A faculty member at City Tech’s Dental Hygiene Department (the oldest dental hygiene program in New York City) since 1990, Dillon has been chair of the department since 2007.

Residing in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn, Dillon was born in Trinidad, West Indies, and immigrated to the United States, with her parents when she was a teenager.

After earning an AAS degree from City Tech and New York State dental hygiene licensure in 1975, she went on to graduate with a BS in dental hygiene and an MA in health education, both from Columbia University. She has been practicing clinical dental hygiene for more than 30 years.

While she was studying for her graduate degree, she worked as an educator in several New York City dental hygiene programs, including Hostos Community College, City Tech and New York University.

Dillon shares her expertise by lecturing at top professional meetings, including the Dental Hygienists Association of the City of New York, the Greater New York Dental Meeting (an international event that draws dentists and hygienists from more than 30 states and several countries), the National Dental Hygienists Association and, quite recently, at an International Week Dental Hygiene Conference in Amsterdam, Holland.

Dillon was recently reappointed to her second five-year term as one of three dental hygienists on the 17member New York State Board for Dentistry — a body that handles discipline, legislation and licensure matters for dentistry, dental hygiene and dental-assisting professions in New York. She also serves as an examiner and member of the steering committee for the Northeast Regional Board of Dental Examiners — a group that administers dental and dental hygiene licensing examinations in 16 northeastern American states.

In addition to being chosen as an ADEA Fellow, Dillon was also awarded the ADEA/ColgatePalmolive Co. Allied Dental Educator Fellowship, which provides a $4,000 honorarium to be used to cover expenses for the ADEA Leadership Institute.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of The City University of New York (CUNY) is the largest public college of technology in New York State. Located at 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, the College enrolls 15,400 students in 60

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Joycelyn Dillon, chair of New York City College of Technology’s Department of Dental Hygiene baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs. An additional 15,000 enroll in continuing education and workforce develop-

ment programs. Located at 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, City Tech is at the MetroTech Center academic and commercial complex.

New York Liberty Star welcomes letters from readers and press releases. We reserve the right to edit all materials, in keeping with publication standards.

To submit an article, send email to: nylibertystar@yahoo.com.

Hours of operation: M-F, 9 a.m. 5 p.m. All material due by 12 p.m., two days prior to publication. The New York Liberty Star is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Copyright New York Liberty Star 2001. All rightsreserved / Ivrol D. Hines.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

NY Attorney Empowers Caribbean Nationals Congressman Charles B. Rangel

Rangel Steps Aside

NEW YORK, NY -- When attorney Donald P. Vernon got the call a few weeks ago to continue his popular radio feature “The Law & You” on Sunday afternoons on WB Radio, 93.5 FM with hosts Clement “Ras Clem” Hume and David “Fat Forward” Warren, there was no hesitation. The 60-minute radio feature provides free legal consultation on issues relating to immigration, matrimonial law, adoption, civil litigation , copyright law, family law, medical malpractice and personal injury to thousands of Caribbean nationals living in the NY Caribbean Diaspora.

“I was inspired to forge this new relationship with WB Radio as we share a common vision to provide the Caribbean community with radio that not only entertains and informs but

NEW YORK, NY – An ardent United States Congressional advocate for the Caribbean on Wednesday said he will temporarily step down from his powerful post as chairman of Ways and Means Committee in the US House of Representatives.

Harlem Democratic Congressman Charles B. Rangel, the dean of the New York Congressional delegation, has been caught in a web of ethics inquiries.

“I have, this morning, sent a letter to Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi asking her to grant me a leave of absence until such time as the Ethics Committee completes its work,” the congressman told a brief press conference in which he fielded no question.

He said to answer questions in any detail would raise issues that “would distract me from what I have to do in terms of completion of the president’s health bill, as well as making sure our committee gets a good jobs bill.”

Republicans had been pressing for a vote to remove him from his chairmanship.

Rangel said he acted to avert forcing his colleagues to defend him during an election year.

The Ethics Committee last Thursday admonished Rangel for violating Congressional gift rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.

The committee said Rangel was among a half dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus who accepted trips to attend business seminars in Antigua and Barbuda in November 2007 and St. Maarten in November 2008.

The Ethics Committee said the trips were organized by the New Yorkbased Carib News Foundation, a charity affiliated with the weekly Carib News newspaper.

But, according to an ethics complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, a Washington-based conservative advocacy group, the conventions were underwritten by corporations like Pfizer, Verizon and AT&T, and that the sponsorship was “widely noted” at the events.

David “Fat Forward” Warren

empowers the community as well” Vernon said. “I remain convinced that the development of our community requires a vehicle that brings us together: That vehicle is radio.”

Warren, one of the principals of WB Radio who helped to broker the deal was ecstatic to have Vernon on the WB radio team.

“It is with pride that we welcome Donald to WB Radio. With his experience in broadcasting and his flair for communicating, it is a resounding plus for us. As we all know, during his previous stint on radio, some of the positive traits that stood out were his vast knowledge of all legal matters, his grace and ability to think on his feet” he said.

Vernon migrated to the United States from Jamaica in 1973 and attended the New York Law School where he graduated in 1993. His community activism manifests itself while he was during undergraduate studies at York College where he served as Student Government President for two and a half years. While at New York Law School he also served as President of the Black Law Student’s Association (BLSA). His desire to serve his community led him to work for Senator Alton Waldon as a constituent representative and subsequently as Director of Economic Development for a Local Development Corp.

In late 1996, he established Vernon & Associates, a full service law firm in Queens, New York. The law firm provides extensive legal services to members of the community.

Caribbean Radio Hits New Wave Attorney Donald P. Vernon The firm’s commitment to each of its clients is to provide high-quality legal services while being sensitive to issues of cost containment, accountability and the unique business and/ or personal concerns of each client.

His commitment to his community continued his active involvement in the politics of South East Queen. Over the past fifteen years, he has managed many campaigns for City Council, New York State Senate and labor unions in New York State. Today he continues to contribute to his community by being the co-founder and chair of Center for Caribbean Progress, a Caribbean base think tank. He is the current President of the Macon B. Allen Black Bar Association and he continues to serve on the boards of many community base organizations.

Vernon is a highly decorated New York attorney who is the recipient of the 2009 “Caribbean Lifestyle TV Person of the Year” for his contribution and tireless work in the Caribbean Diaspora.

5th Avenue Family Festival Of Park Slope, A Real Treat For Neighborhood Kids

Shop. Eat. Play.

BROOKLYN, NY -- Puppetry Arts and the Park Slope 5th Avenue BID are teaming up to bring a new family event to the neighborhood filled with crafts, games and giveaways.

The 5th Avenue Family Festival will be hosted on 4th Street at 5th Ave next to the Old Stone House on Saturday April 24 from 11am-4pm. The first 200 kids will receive a free gift bag filled with prizes and coupons from merchants along Park Slope’s 5th Avenue.

This event is open to everyone is designed to enrich the 5th Avenue community with a unique family event working with local merchants and bringing in creative and educational activities from area organizations.

Admission is free and so are the face painting, cookie decorating and puppet-making activities. There will also be $1 Games sponsored by Kaplan Tutoring, $1 Snacks and a $3 Bounce House from Send In The Clowns Entertainment. The Fire Education Foundation will sponsor a touring Smoke House for families to walk through learning about fire safety at home and special guests of the event will include the Star Wars costume volunteers from the Echo Base Legion and Empire State Garrison.

The event will also have activities in celebration with Earth Day welcoming the New York Hall of Science. Kids can explore puppet-making crafts constructed from recyclable materials found in restaurants and stores located along 5th Avenue such as a Pizza Puppets made out of pizza boxes from 7-11.

“As part of our mission,” says Puppetry Arts Executive Director Tim Young “Community Events are an incredible way to bring families together through the

The family festivals is scheduled for April 24. arts and an exceptional opportunity for residents to get to learn about neighborhood businesses.”

Buy something fancy and taste something new, no matter what it is- its from 5th Avenue! Merchants from Dean Street to 17th Street will be showcasing some of the best boutiques and shops that Park Slope has to offer as local restaurants host their very own little taste of Brooklyn!

Irene LoRe of Aunt Suzie’s and Executive Director of the Park Slope 5th Ave BID says “We wanted to bring something to Park Slope that supports not just our families but our businesses as well. And I think this is just what we needed.”

Park Slope 5th Avenue vendors who are interested in taking part in this event or for more details please call 718 768 3703 or visit Puppetry Arts at www.puppetryarts.org or the 5th Ave BID at www.allaboutFifth.blogspot.com.

NEW YORK, NY – One Caribbean Radio (OCR) 97.9 FM HD2 has taken a giant and courageous leap into the technologically advanced radio spectrum by broadcasting on the latest platform since FM began 50 years ago.

First, HD-TV brought us crystal-clear-images, now HD Radio introduces crystal-cleardigital-sound, said Denton Hutchinson of One Caribbean Radio.

OCR 97.9 FM HD2 is now broadcasting to the number one media market in the world, the New York Tri-state region, in total DIGITAL quality. Never before has Caribbean broadcasting ventured into such a dynamic direction.

One Caribbean Radio (OCR), an entity of One Caribbean Media Inc., is a full service communications company, offering comprehensive and culturally diverse “GLOBAL MIX” programming to Caribbean, American and world audiences. OCR was launched in October 2007 on 620 AM under the “Caribbean Weekend” banner, broadcasting from Friday night to Sunday night, for a total of 36 hours. In October 2008, OCR expanded its broadcast schedule in response to the needs of their listening communities as well as to increase onair presence by transitioning to a seven day, “sun up to sun down”, format on 740 AM. This programming included news, information, features, music, health segments and live, instudio, community-targeted interviews during the morning and afternoon drive times.

In September 2009, OCR launched its seven-day, 24-hour programming on 97.9 FM HD2, and added to its format national and international, live and callerdriven programs featuring Caribbean, international and community leaders and organizations.

They have also expanded and widened the line up of on-air personalities to reflect the “Global Mix” format.

Caribbean Radio broadcasting has been revolutionized and transformed through this incredible new wave of HD Radio technology, said Hutchinson. This move into the cutting edge of technology will allow all people of Caribbean heritage to tell their story to the world.

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

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FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

When The Going Gets Tough

By Sharon Gordon

Byrma Braham is an art collector, curator and co-owner and director of the Atlanta based, Avisca Fine Art Gallery. The Jamaican native is a heroine to New York art lovers and a group of emerging and mid-career African, Caribbean and Latina American artists because of her business savvy, charisma and vision.

Many artists who’ve been creating work to deliver to the galleries like Avisca, depend on them to get their work exhibited at the prestigious National Black Fine Arts Show (NBFAS) which is normally well supported by art lovers and collectors in New York during Black History Month.

For more than 12 years, Avisca Fine Art Gallery has exhibited in the annual National Black Fine Art Show so when the show’s cancellation was announced, Byrma immediately understood the negative impact the cancellation would render to the New York art community.

The main culprit for the cancellation is the shrinking economy. Byrma became inspired and moved quickly to fill the void. It is said that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going and that’s exactly what she and her team did. Drawing on her years of experience, Byrma pulled together a richly textured exhibition to replace the cancelled National Black Fine Arts Show.

“Over those years of exhibiting in New York City, we have built up a loyal following and plenty of goodwill,” said Byrma. “And we have this exceptionally strong body of work that our artists have produced. It seemed like a good idea to come to New York City.”

As it turned out, it certainly was a good idea for Avisca Fine Art Gallery to present, Drawn Together, a group show of paintings, sculpture and works on paper by 15 artists drawn together for a 3-day exhibition at

Mortgage Fraud Caught In E.N.Y. A Guyanese man who went on the run after being fingered in an alleged $7 million mortgage fraud has been caught, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has said.

Patrons enjoy fine art during the exhibition held at the Chelsea Fine Art Building recently.

Rogue Space, in the prestigious Chelsea Fine Art Building. In spite of the down turned economy, art lovers came out and supported the artists making the show a success.

Making her mark at the New York showing was self taught Jamaican born artist, Tamara Madden. Tamara’s pieces are bold, colorful and magnificent depictions of working class people filled with light, color, stories and traditions she remembers from her youth growing up in the Jamaican country side with her grandmother and uncles who were Rastafarians. Tamara credits them with playing an important role in her artistic development as early as age 5. She remembers seeing pencil drawings her uncles created and was completely fascinated, and wanted to understand how she too could create. Her creations caused quite a stir at the Avisca Fine Arts show. Quite a story for someone who only a few years ago overcame her battle with IGA Nephropathy a rare life threatening disease which wrecked havoc on her physically, mentally and artistically. While battling her illness, she developed her gift.

“I paint to survive,” she said.

During a trip to Jamaica, intended as a farewell to family and friends, she met Leroy, a long lost brother on her father’s side, and her life was changed forever. Recognizing that something was seriously wrong with his sister, Leroy inquired, learned of her illness and immediately offered to donate a kidney. She survived the transplant in 2001 and Tamara got her life back.

She has been painting ever since.

Also, exhibiting was another self taught artist Laura James, of Antiguan heritage. Laura is an award winning artist who is best known for her illustrations in the Book of Gospels lectionary published in 2000 by LTP on behalf o the Roman Catholic Church. But, Laura also paints women, families, and scenes of everyday life; blending intricate patterns, text, vibrant colors and sometimes surreal imagery into what she calls “art for the people”.

Byrma’s efforts were realized at the fabulous opening reception, February 19, when it seemed like every art collector was in town for the opening. To top things off, many of the exhibiting artists were also there, among them, Charly Palmer, Tonya Engel, Laura James, Jean Chiang and others.

Spokesman James Margolin said that Ishwardat “Danny” Raghunath, 46, who lived in Queens, was nabbed on Wednesday afternoon in the East New York section of Brooklyn after investigators aacted on a tip-off.

Ishwardat was scheduled to be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court on Thursday. The FBI said Raghunath disappeared on February 22, before he could be arrested.

Authorities charged that Raghunath ripped off lenders and left several homes in foreclosure.

According to an indictment in the Brooklyn Federal Court, he allegedly “recruited straw buyers with good credit ratings to purchase homes in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

“In exchange for a US$5,000 fee for using their names, the buyers were promised that they would not have to make payments on these investment opportunities,” the indictment said.

It said Raghunath “submitted bogus mortgage applications to lenders, inflating the sales price of the properties, then deposited the loan money in a bank account he controlled”.

After several months, the mortgage payments stopped, and the lenders brought foreclosure actions against the buyers, media reports here said.

Prosecutors have also charged two Guyanese nationals - Halal Ahmed, 40, of the Bronx, and Phyllis Seemongal, 49, of Queens - in the scheme.

They were arraigned on bank and wire fraud charges.

Brooklyn Residents Benefit From Health Awareness Day At Mt. Zion Brooklyn, NY – More than 300 East Flatbush residents participated in a Community Health Awareness Day, Thursday, at Mt. Zion Church of God (7th Day) in Brooklyn.

A volunteer from SUNY Downstate Medical Center conducts blood pressure screening during the Community Health Awareness Day event at Mount Zion Church (SDA) in Brooklyn, Thursday. (Photo

by Ivrol Hines)

SPIRITUAL READING Man from Jamaica Woman from Haiti

Residents received free medical screenings and testing, including Diabetes, Blood Pressure, HIV, and other important screenings. New York City Fire Department officials spoke about fire safety and distributed free smoke detectors and batteries.

“With President Obama advocating for Health Insurance for everyone, today’s event proved that health care is on the minds of residents of East Flatbush,”said Pastor Gilford Monrose, Senior Pastor of Mt. Zion

“Saint Philomena “Saint Joseph keep us Keep us grounded.” steady in our doings.”

Psalm 35

“Saint Peter open all doors for us all.”

Saint Barbara

For reading call for appointment:

917-216-1507 or 614-805-6530 Email: ssreading@yahoo.com

www.shawnspiritualreading.webs.com

This psalm is good for protection against enemies; also good for court cases.

This is a good pocket piece as well.

Read this prayer before going to bed.

One Remedy To Remove Jinx And Bad Luck & Bring You Good Luck

1 Elegua candle, 7 green lime, 1 cananga water, 1 ball blue, 7 stalks scallion, 1 chinese wash, 1 hay sup wash, 1 go away evil wash, 1 btl. verbena wash, 1 btl. white lavener wash, 1 dragon blood wash, 1 hand full rock salt, 1 btl. protection oil, 1 btl. cinamon oil, 1 btl. dragon blood oil.

Church. Betty Jung, Registered Nurse of SUNY Downstate Medical Center for Community Health Promotion and Wellness, said she was very “glad to be part of this Health Fair because of the hospital’s commitment to health care.”

The event, organized by Health Plus and Mt. Zion Church, was sponsored by SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center, New York City Fire Department and Safeguard Self Storage.

Crystal Smith, Health Plus Brooklyn Director of Marketing, saidHealth Plus organized the event out of concerns for residents not having full access to better medical care.

“I would like to thank all the sponsors, Harry Schiffman and Anne Strahle for assisting with this very important event for the residents of East Flatbush,” said Pastor Monrose .

In the name of Shango, Lightning and thunder for all our enemies.

Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me; fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and block the way against them that persecute me. Say unto my soul, “I am thy salvation ...”

To be continued.

Read three times daily.

917-216-1507

www.shawnspiritualreading.webs.com

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN NY LIBERTY STAR 718-785-9722

More Talk, Less Walk The Guyana government has dismissed the latest International Narcotics Report released this week by the US State Department as “more talk” and “less walk”, while stating that the Barack Obama administration needs to do more to combat drug trafficking.

“Cabinet insists that Guyana cannot continue to bear the brunt of fighting the drug trafficking that as US Secretary of State (Hillary) Clinton reminded the world in Mexico had lots to do with rampant demand and consumption in the north,” said spokesman Dr. Roger Luncheon, in downplaying the report, which has identified Guyana as a transit point for cocaine destined for North America, Europe, West Africa and the Caribbean.

The report has also found Guyana’s fight against drug trafficking to be lacking, mainly because of limited resources.

But Luncheon said the US government was partially to blame, while stating that it had fallen short both in terms of its response to criticisms of its existing anti narcotics regime and in terms of providing support in tackling the drug menace, even though the US is listed among the largest consumers of illicit drugs.

“Cabinet’s contention is that to ratchet up the anti-narcotic fight, recognition must be given to the interventions made and sustained by the government of Guyana, legislative, integrity testing. But Guyana needs more assistance, specifically to information flow which would have to be less one sided technology transfers and tools,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary also called for greater collaboration at the bilateral and international levels.

Several other Caribbean countries have also been listed in the report.

The United States has called them to beef up their legislation regarding the illegal drugs trade as well as track down major narcotics traffickers and to dismantle their organisations.

STANDING FIRM Bruce Defends Dudus, Law

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CARIBBEAN REPORT

By Kathy Barrett KINGSTON, Jamaica - Prime Minister Bruce Golding is adamant that his position is based on law and not on the fact, as the United States and even politicians here contend, that he is harbouring a suspected drug kingpin because he resides in Tivoli Gardens, a key constituency for the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

“I am not defending the wrong doing of any person, but I will say this, if I have to pay a political price for this I will uphold a position that constitutional rights do not begin at Liguanea” (where the United States Embassy is based in Jamaica), a defiant Golding told parliament on this week.

At the center of the controversy is Christopher “Dudus” Coke, 40, wanted on drug and firearms trafficking charges in the United States. If convicted he faces a term of life imprisonment.

Last August, Washington asked Jamaica to arrest Coke and extradite him to the Southern District of New York to answer to the alleged charges.

But it has refused and State Department’s in its annual narcotics report released on Monday did not hide the fact that the Obama administration was upset at Kingston’s position.

“The high-profile suspect resides in and essentially controls the Kingston neighbourhood known as Tivoli Gardens, a key constituency for the (ruling) Jamaica Labour Party,” the report said, questioning Jamaica’s commitment to law enforcement cooperation.

“Jamaica’s processing of the extradition request has been subjected to unprecedented delays, unexplained disclosure of law enforcement information to the press, and unfounded allegations questioning the US’ compliance with the MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty) and Jamaican law.

“The Government of Jamaica’s unusual handling of the August request for the extradition of a high-profile Jamaican crime lord…marked a dramatic change in Kingston’s previous co-operation on extradition, including a temporary suspension in the processing of all other pending re-

Antigua & Barbuda’s Finance Minister Harold Lovell

Antigua Wants Off Blacklist Prime Minister Bruce Golding quests and raises serious questions about the government’s commitment to combating trans-national crime,” the State Department said.

Tivoli Gardens has become a virtual fortress for the ruling party after former prime minister Edward Seaga during the period 1961-72 erected the first government housing scheme on what was then the Kingston dumps.

Tivoli Gardens is controlled by Coke, who is referred to as there as a “Don”, a term used in Jamaica to identify so-called community leaders who use their wealth to control impoverished ghettos.

Coke is son of the late Lester Lloyd Coke, otherwise known as Jim Brown, leader of the feared Shower Posse gang that terrorised persons not only in Jamaica, but the United States in the late 1990s.

The elder Coke died in prison here while awaiting extradition to the US for murder and drug trafficking.

His son inherited the empire.

Golding told legislators, and by extension the entire country, that he was defending the decision taken by his administration on the grounds that the charges against Coke were based on evidence that was illegally ob-

tained under the Interception of Communications Act. He said his Attorney General and Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne decided against signing the request because the evidence outlined in the extradition request was illegally obtained.

He said that Lightbourne, who has borne the brunt of the criticism for the administration’s failure to extradite Coke, had a duty to satisfy herself that extradition proceedings conform to the provisions of Jamaican law.

“As minister, and, especially as attorney general, she cannot authorise processes which she knows to be in violation of Jamaican law,” said Golding.

He said that when the Jamaican parliament approved of the legislation to allow for the extradition of suspected criminals “it was not intended ... that the minister was to be some lubricated conduit through which extradition requests were to automatically pass.

“A minister has to satisfy herself or himself that the processes that were used in submitting the requests are in conformity with Jamaican law.”

Mother Pleased With Murder Sentence HAMILTON, Bermuda - A Jamaican national and his Bermudian brother-in-law have had their appeals against life sentences for murder dismissed by the Court of Appeal, news that has been welcomed by the victim’s mother.

Antoine Anderson and Philip Bradshaw were found guilty a year ago of carrying out the execution-style shooting of father-of-three Aquil Richardson on Boxing Day 2007.

Bradshaw, a Jamaican, pumped two bullets into the 30-year-old victim’s head at point-blank range as he stood in a yard in Southampton parish.

Bradshaw was on the back of a motorcycle ridden

by Anderson, who was convicted because he aided the crime by being the getaway rider.

Chief Justice Richard Ground sentenced them to a minimum of 15 years behind bars for what he described as a “callous killing”.

News that the Court of Appeal had dismissed their attempt to get their convictions overturned was greeted with relief from Richardson’s mother, Shahidah AbdurRahim, who is currently being treated for a brain tumour and returned to Bermuda from Lahey Clinic in Boston

on Monday the day the appeal began.

“I’m pleased because I really didn’t feel like going through this (trial) again,” she said.

Abdur-Rahim said the appeal added to the stress she is already enduring.

Doctors told her she has had the brain tumour for about eight years, but she only started experiencing symptoms after her son was killed.

Among the arguments raised by Bradshaw and Anderson’s lawyers during their appeal was that junior prosecutor Takiyah Burgess posted comments on the global social networking website Facebook during Anderson’s testimony, labelling him a liar.

Burgess was later fined US$1,000 and admonished by the island’s Bar Council for her comments on Facebook.

Shade Subair, for Anderson, 31, and Marc Daniels, for Bradshaw, 27, argued the case should have been thrown out as there was a risk a juror could have seen the comments and been negatively influenced.

The judges said there was not enough of a risk.

President of the court, Edward Zacca, said the appeal was dismissed, and the convictions and sentences affirmed.

The reasons for the decision will be given in writing later.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua - A toughtalking Finance Minister Harold Lovell said that the United States was standing in the way of Antigua and Barbuda being removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of countries considered to be among the world’s major money laundering centres.

On February 18, the Paris-based FATF identified Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago as the only two Caribbean countries with serious deficiencies in systems to curb money laundering and counter terrorism financing.

“The reason why we were not removed from that list, which incidentally is not a blacklist as some persons have been pedalling around, the United States of America insisted that Antigua and Barbuda should remain on the list based on the criminal indictment of (Sir) Allen Stanford and the alleged role of Mr Leroy King, the former head of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission,” Lovell said in Parliament Wednesday.

“The key point here is that no matter how much progress that we were making, they were not happy because of the fallout from Stanford Group; they felt that the alleged complicity between Allen Stanford and the regulator, that that cast a shadow that they were not prepared to agree for Antigua to be removed at that time from the list.”

On Monday, the United States released its own list of money laundering countries which also included Antigua and Barbuda along with four other Caribbean countries.

A report from the US State Department said that money laundering problems here tied to schemes involving investment fraud and advance fee fraud have not been corrected.

The report did not mention Sir Allen, the disgraced Texan financier, accused of promising inflated returns on certificates of deposit from his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.

Sir Allen, who was arrested last year, is in the United States awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him in the alleged US$7 billion Ponzi scheme.

Also included on the State Department’s list are the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR

Guyanaese Man Gets 15 Yrs For Killing Wife In New York NEW YORK, NY -- A New York judge has sentenced a Guyanese national to 15 years in jail for killing his wife almost 18 months ago.

Judge Richard Sise of Schenectady County Court in upstate New York im-

The JALPA said that it was also concerned about the statement made earlier this week that the services of employees of Air Jamaica would be terminated as of April 12.

Lovebird’s Final Landing Air Jamaica Preps To Shut Down In April

Jamaicans in New York and around the world were saddened when news broke, Thursday, that the national airline is scheduled to shut down next month.

sues if we were to develop them ourselves,” Imbert said. “In addition, the government of Jamaica also has a vision about what they want to achieve and where the emphasis will be placed with the new arrangement.”

The Works Minister said that acquiring these routes, infrastructure and codes would be beneficial to Trinidad and Tobago and would also ensure that many jobs at Air Jamaica would be saved since because CAL will need the support on the ground.

“It will be a blow to close Air Jamaica down and not replace the airlift and ensure continuity and air transport for their tourism industry. We are also aware that Air Jamaica has industrial relations issues pertaining to the closing of the airline and the Jamaican government is working on those issues and, hopefully, they will be resolved by the closure date as well,” Imbert said.

The Jamaican government and Caribbean Airlines have been negotiating for some time now.

The Jamaica Pilots Association (JALPA) and unions representing workers have been strongly opposed to the move by the Golding government.

JALPA had made a bid to buy the airline but the government rejected the proposal saying it came too late.

New Yorkers can contact Air Jamaica at: (800) 523-5585 or visit the company’s website at www.airjamaica.com.

A senior Trinidad and Tobago government minister has said there will be no merger or acquisition of Air Jamaica by the Port of Spain-based Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL).

Speaking to reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Works Minister Colm Imbert said when the financially-strapped Air Jamaica is shut down CAL will take over its profitable routes to ensure Jamaica maintains its tourism lifeline with its major markets in North America and Europe.

The news has drawn concerns from passengers who had pre-purchased Air Jamaica tickets for travel on or after April 12.

Imbert said the Patrick Manning government will not take over any of Air Jamaica’s debts and that CAL will not acquire or merge with Air Jamaica.

Quoting from a memo written by Bruce Nobles, president and chief exThe Jamaica Airline Pilots Association ecutive officer of Air Jamaica, which (JALPA) Thursday said it still had plans stated that Air Jamaica will be closing down on April 12, Imbert said all of its to start a new airline even as it warned employees will be made redundant on that plans to cut staff and down size the that day. He said CAL has been conoperations at the national airline could tracted to take up the slack to service lead to instability.

Air Jamaica’s routes.

“JALPA still fully intends to provide an airline “The tourism industry is the lifeowned by Jamaicans, one way or the other, it is ideal blood of the Jamaican economy, so that we would like to own what we have but if we can’t even though they may be having probthere are other options,” Captain Russell Capleton said. lems with their airline, they still need JALPA had presented a business proposal to the to have access to these markets.

Bruce Golding government to take control of Air Ja“We have been involved in the promaica but the government dismissed the plan, indicatcess as they are unwilling to relinquish ing that it had been submitted to late for consideration. this control to airlines outside of the The JALPA said that it was also concerned about region as they may not have the kind the statement made earlier this week that the services of of commitment to regional developemployees of Air Jamaica would be terminated as of ment and the growth of the tourism secApril 12. tor that Caribbean Airlines will have.

The memo was issued to staffers by the airline’s Imbert said that CAL would be Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Nobles, but JALPA said focusing on the profitable routes bethat the announcement was premature and sends a wrong cause “our stipulation is that there signal even to the travelling public. should be a business emphasis on the Capleton said the authorities ought to have given deal, so the unprofitable routes will be thought to the implications of the announcement and dropped as neither the Jamaican nor that persons would be less inclined to fly with the airTrinidad and Tobago government is line as a result of the uncertainty ahead of its divestable to put more money into airlift. ment.

“We are now negotiating the ac“…they have a difficulty with the quisition of the route rights from Air process….because people are now in a different mode Jamaica. These routes have value and and they are looking towards the door, it sends the wrong it would cost a lot in marketing, busisignal at the wrong time” Capleton said. ness development, time and other is-

Pilots Still Planning For Jamaican-Owned Airline

posed the sentenced on Yetraj “James” Mangar, 61, after he pleaded to a lesser charge of first degree manslaughter in January.

He had faced 25 year to life in prison if he was convicted of the second-degree murder of his wife Jaiwanti Mangar, 56.

The court was told that Mrs. Mangar died of a “fractured skull and brain injuries from blunt force trauma” on October 25, 2008.

Prosecutors said that the Mangars had a history of domestic problems

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Ky-Mani Marley

Ky-Mani Now Regrets Book WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ky-Mani Marley, a son of the legendary Jamaican music artist Bob Marley, regrets ever putting his life on paper.

His recently released memoir has become a brewing source of an increasingly ugly controversy between himself, his famous family and the book’s publisher, Dr. Farrah Gray.

Gray contends that the estate of the late Bob Marley is not happy about the ‘’family secrets’’ that Ky-Mani revealed in his very telling book Dear Dad: ‘’Where’s The Family In Our Family, Today?’’. It was released on Feb. 6 to coincide with the elder Marley’s 65th birthday. KyMani alleges that the publisher misrepresented and sensationalized his life story in order to push more units. ‘’There are secrets in the book that they didn’t want out that Ky-Mani didn’t have a problem putting out. But now that the book is published he’s now stating that he’s distancing himself and denouncing the book,’’ Gray said in an exclusive interview with the NNPA News Service. ‘’Those are his words. I didn’t write it. I published it. He wrote it with the assistance of another writer and had the final edit on it. And [he] was very happy with the book.”

NNPA was not able to get comments from the Marley family nor Ky-mani Marley but in an online statement posted to his Facebook page Ky-Mani shared his side of the story.

“I did not expect that Dr. Gray would have been unprofessional and malicious in twisting my words or using things that were discussed in confidence to create controversy in an attempt to sell a book,” Ky-Mani wrote in his statement.

Of course, the Marleys have every right to protect the public brand of the family’s very lucrative estate, which, according to Fortune Magazine, is expected to generate worldwide annual sales in excess of $1 billion by 2012.

But, Gray contends that they have no legal right to interfere with this book as the memoir is KyMani’s alone.

And so is the signed contract that exists between him and Gray’s company Farrah Gray Publishing. Dear Dad is Gray’s first project un-

der his new publishing firm. The accomplished 24-year-old Gray is an author, columnist, entrepreneur, speaker and philanthropist. At 14, he became the world’s youngest self-made Black millionaire and, recently, became the youngest recipient to ever receive a prestigious Trumpet Award for his entrepreneurial success.

Gray said that after the book went out to media outlets and was getting ready for the final print stages he got emails and calls from KyMani and executives of the Marley estate demanding that changes be made to the book immediately. According to Gray, the family was threatening to cut Ky-Mani off if the book made it to press.

“Ky-mani approved the book,” Gray said.

“Every step of the way I worked with him so, I’m not really sure what he’s not approving of.”

Gray said that the book was transcribed entirely from Ky-mani’s taped interviews. He charges the sudden change of heart to “family politics”.

“During the final edit of the book, I spoke with my sister, Cedella [Marley], and I advised Dr. Farrah Gray that some changes had to be made and until the changes were made, I was not willing to do any promotion for the book,” Ky-Mani stated. “I could not support and promote something that is not 100 percent mine and that I believe in. Dr. Gray apparently thought that by turning something that was written from the heart into something seemingly malicious was going to benefit him in some way.”

Ky-Mani also alleges that Gray made changes to the book’s cover without his consent.

The book’s original title was changed from “Dear Dad: The Marley Son Who Persevered From the Streets To Prominence”. The title was changed to its current name: “Dear Dad: Where’s The Family In Our Family, Today?’’.

A caption, “The Story The Marley Family Apparently Doesn’t Want You To Know” was also added at the bottom of the cover to double as both a marketing draw and as a direct jab at his adversaries in the matter.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell

Campbell’s Driver Will Not Press Charges The New York Police Department said supermodel Naomi Campbell’s chauffeur will not press criminal charges after he accused her of punching him.

Campbell is alleged to have hit the driver from behind, causing his head to hit the steering wheel, as they drove through New York.

Police said they did not expect to make any arrests after the incident.

The 39-year-old model has been sentenced to community service over previous incidents of assault.

A spokesman for Campbell, Jeff Raymond, had said she would co-operate voluntarily with the police, adding: “There is more to the story than meets the eye”.

Although Campbell did not speak to the police directly, her assistant went to the police station where the driver gave his account, AP reports.

Police issued a harassment report, which carries no penalty.

Campbell’s driver, who had been hired for the day, told police that he pulled his black Cadillac Escalade over to the side of the road in central Manhattan after she struck hit him from behind, propelling his head forward on to the steering wheel.

The 27-year-old driver told police that he had picked up the model from a Manhattan hotel and was taking her to the Astoria Studios in the borough of Queens.

In 2000, Campbell pleaded guilty in Toronto to assaulting an assistant who said that the model hit her on the head with her mobile phone.

She served a five-day community service order in New York in 2007 after admitting reckless assault, having thrown a mobile phone at her housekeeper.

In 2008, she was sentenced to 200 hours’ community service in the UK after she pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers on board a plane at London’s Heathrow airport.

Several of her former aides and maids have also sued her, accusing her of violent outbursts.

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Made In Jamaica A review by Sharon Gordon

Bunny Wailer up close performing I Shot the Sheriff in Made in Jamaica

F

or eight consecutive years, BAM Cinematek has focused on the diversity of filmmaking in Africa, the Caribbean and throughout the African Diaspora in their annual Black History Month presentation of the Best of the African Diaspora Film Festival.

The six day series is a showcase of eighteen films that enjoyed popular acclaim during the seventeenth annual African Diaspora Film Festival.

This year the Best of the African Diaspora Film Festival brought together films from countries including Jamaica, South Africa, Nigeria, Bolivia, Cuba, Senegal, Martinique, Egypt and of course the U.S. Two Jamaican themed films were included at this year’s presentation, the Journey of the Lion (Fritz Baumann, 1992) and Made In Jamaica (Jerome Laperrousaz, 2006).

Of the two films, Made in Jamaica was a huge disappointment.

The film was not narrated and the overload of subtitles became down right distracting.

The film opens at a dance on a marina with hundreds of half naked girls and dancehall fans hanging off a yacht while the dancehall artists Lady Saw, Bounti Killer and slain dancehall dancer, Bogle comes into view. There is lots of whining and bumping and but there is no rhyme or reason to the

movement or the story telling. Viewers are left to fend for themselves moving from scene to scene. From an animated Elephant Man on stage in Amsterdam displaying his high energy stage execution in teaching folks how to do “daggering” to inviting the women in the audience to “grab his anaconda” to his close up interviews which come off like drunken banter.

The noise level in Made in Jamaica resulted in a headache for this viewer. The film which runs for 110 minutes is 90 percent noise without any direction.

Bounti Killer’s songs are laced with gun references and violence that are not placed in any context to assist the unfamiliar viewer in understanding why he is so angry at the government or why he proclaims that he is the poor people governor.

There is no tour guide to explain

A Film By Jerome Laperrousaz

the bizarre happenings at Bogle’s funeral which comes across as anything but normal. Jah Bunny Wailer offers some lucid moments of reasoning but his performances were a disappointment.

It is quickly recognized that Bunny Wailer should have used some old footage of himself performing instead of revealing the off key vocals heard in the film. Yes, there are frames with Third World, Lady Saw, Gregory Issacs and even Capleton among so many others, but the Made in Jamaica is not a documentary and falls short of connecting the dots.

It raises the question as to whether the folks at the Bamcinematek and the African Diaspora Film Festival understand how offensive, distasteful and completely disgusting this film is to Jamaicans. Made in Jamaica does more to damage the image of Jamaica than anything else and should be pulled from the screens.

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To Spank Or Not To Spank?

Q. My son has behavior problems. At home we spank him and it usually works. I am tired of his school calling me everyday to tell me about his behavior. His teacher said that she can not spank my son. I feel that this is what is wrong with our schools and society today. Why are schools opposed to spanking children? Is it against the law to spank my own son?

A. Wow! You have sparked a debate that has been going on for years. To spank or not to spank; that is the question. First let’s talk about your son. All children misbehave from time to time. Children who are in constant trouble need intervention. Children misbehave because they are scared, angry, depressed, or have a behavior disorder. You need to have him evaluated by the school psychologist and a neurologist to rule out a behavior disorder that your son may not be able to control like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-ADHD. What is Corporal Punishment?

The Wikipedia.com website defines it as the deliberate infliction of pain intended to punish a person or change his/her behavior.

School Law States: Each state in America has its own Education Laws! Your next issue is corporal punishment in schools. Believe it or not, there are states that permit corporal punishment in their school systems however, New York is not one of them.

According to the New York State School Law, 30th edition, p. 453, no teacher, administrator, officer, employee, or agent of a school district may use corporal punishment against a student.

Corporal punishment is described as any physical force upon a student for the purpose of punishing that student. Your son’s teacher was cor-

rect. She is not allowed to spank your son and you should not want her to.

According to researchers at the www.stophitting.com website, every industrialized country in the world now prohibits school corporal punishment except the USA and Australia. In the USA the following states allow corporal punishment in the schools: Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and South Carolina.

All other states have banned it or have restrictions.

Why has corporal punishment been banned in most school systems?

Here are a few reasons: · Corporal punishment was disproportionately used on African-Americans, poor children, immigrant children, children with disabilities, and boys. · It perpetuates a cycle of abuse. It teaches children to hit someone smaller and weaker when angry. · It can easily be abused. Children’s deaths have occurred as a result of corporal punishment. · Educators and school boards are sometimes sued due to corporal punishment in their schools. · Corporal punishment is often not used as a last resort. It is often the first approach for

minor misbehaviors. · Schools that use corporal punishment often have poorer academic achievement, more vandalism, truancy, pupil violence, and higher drop out rates. · Many alternatives to corporal punishment have proven their worth.

Of course many people believe strongly in corporal punishment and nothing will change their minds. However, parents must remember that when they use corporal punishment as their only method of discipline, there is a probability that a spanking will escalate into a beating when they are angry at a stubborn child. This may result in cuts or bruises on a child. If a child goes to school with cuts or bruises, educators must and will call CPS (Child Protective Services).

CPS will come to the school to interview the child and visit the home. Your children could be removed from your home and placed in foster homes and you could be arrested.

Is It Against the Law to Spank Your Child?

No. Many new immigrant families find themselves in trouble with the law because they didn’t know the laws that govern corporal punishment as acceptable practices vary from state to state and country to country. There are two bodies in New York State that deal with child abuse and maltreatment of children. They are Social Services Law and the Family Court Act. Some offenses are criminal and are dealt with by the police and the district attorney. Child Protective Service specialists look for two things: marks and how often the child is spanked. It is not against the law to spank your children, however, you should not be doing it everyday and you can NOT leave a mark of any kind. This indicates that you have hit the child too hard or excessively.

What’s a Parent To Do? What is really wrong with society is that we have told parents that they should not spank or limit spanking their children. However, we have not taught them about other effective discipline methods nor how to use them. I think that while a woman is pregnant, she and her partner should be required to attend a certain number of parent training workshops just like women attend Lamaze classes.

Research confirms what many parents instinctively feel when they don’t like to spank their child, but they don’t know what else to do. The latest research from Dr. Murray Strauss at the Family Research Laboratory affirms that spanking teaches children to use acts of aggression and violence to solve their problems.

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Obesity Hits NY Poor Hardest

By Amy Norton

New York City’s obesity rate has climbed in recent years, but there are large variations across the city’s neighborhoods, with lower income areas hit hardest, a new study finds.

Between 2003 and 2007, the prevalence of obesity citywide increased from 20 percent to 22 percent, according to the study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

That was still lower than national and statewide rates, which stood at roughly 27 percent and 25 percent around the same time period. And some city neighborhoods remained steadfastly slim.

In more affluent areas like the Upper East Side, Chelsea and the West Village, obesity rates hovered around 8 percent across the study period.

In contrast, obesity was a more common and growing problem in other city neighborhoods, many of which are lower-income. In 2003, only one neighborhood — East Harlem — had an obesity rate higher than 30 percent. By 2007, six neighborhoods had joined it: three in the Bronx, the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Rockaway in Queens and northern Staten Island.

It’s no secret that the collective U.S. waistline has been expanding in recent decades. But the problem does not affect all areas of the country — or even all areas of a single city — equally.

Understanding neighborhood-by-neighborhood variations could help in efforts to combat obesity, according to Dr. Jennifer L. Black of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, the lead researcher on the new study.

“If we can figure out what types of neighborhood characteristics make it easier for people to make healthy choices, and what kinds of factors are barriers to good health,” Black told Reuters Health by email, “we will be able to come up with more effective interventions to help people maintain a healthy body weight and reduce their risks of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.”

Black and colleague James Macinko, of New York University, found that certain neighborhood features — a wider variety of food stores and more fitness centers — were associated with lower obesity rates.

The finding does not prove that better food selections and gyms prevent obesity. “But what this study does tell us,” Black said, “is that substantial differences (in obesity) exist between neighborhoods with different levels of access to food and fitness amenities.”

And such neighborhood features, she added, remained linked to obesity even when the researchers accounted for factors like residents’ age, race and education levels — which were gathered from an annual health survey that covered more than 48,000 New Yorkers in 34 city neighborhoods.

The findings, according to Black, suggest that “it’s worth taking these kinds of (neighborhood) factors into account when looking for solutions to rising rates of obesity.”

The researchers note that New York City recently launched a “Green Cart” program designed to offer lower income residents a better selection of fresh produce. The city made available 1,000 new permits for mobile carts selling raw fruits and vegetables to be set up in specified “underserved” neighborhoods in the city’s five boroughs.

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Could Germs Be Making You Fat? WASHINGTON, D.C. – Germs that make their home in the gut may help cause obesity and a range of health-threatening symptoms that go along with it, researchers reported on Thursday.

It could be that certain bacteria cause inflammation that can affect appetite as well as inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn’s disease and colitis, the researchers reported in the journal Science.

In other words, the germs make you overeat, Andrew Gewirtz of Emory University in Atlanta and colleagues reported.

“Previous research has suggested that bacteria can influence how well energy is absorbed from food, but these findings demonstrate that intestinal bacteria can actually influence appetite,” Gewirtz said.

“The obesity epidemic is driven by people eating too much, but why are people eating more?”

Gewirtz said the research suggests that bacteria may play a role — perhaps a population of bacteria that thrive because other, competing organisms have been wiped out by antibiotics, access to clean water and other factors of modern life.

His team stumbled on the findings by accident.

“We were studying mice that had colitis,” Gewirtz said in a telephone interview.

The team suspected some kind of germ was responsible, so they transferred mouse embryos into surrogate mothers to prevent them from being infected by their own mothers. Babies are colonized by bacteria and other micro-organisms soon after birth and the makeup of these colonies — which persist for life in the skin and bowels — are very similar to those of the mother.

The colitis was better but the baby mice became obese and developed metabolic syndrome — a cluster of symptoms that include unhealthy cholesterol levels, too much fat around the midsection, high blood pressure and insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance means the body does not use insulin effectively to break down food and Gewirtz believes this may be the key. The researchers remembered a recent study in which normal, slender mice became obese when fed gut bacteria from fat mice.

They worked with that team, including Ruth Ley of Cornell University in New York, to see what role the gut bacteria may be playing.

An obese child steps on a scale. US First Lady Michelle Obama has launched a major push against childhood obesity, which affects around one in three US children and threatens to make the current generation of Americans the first to live shorter lives than their parents.

“What we think is that the mice are prone to intestinal inflammation,” Gewirtz said. “If you have a lot of inflammatory signals about, insulin won’t work properly.”

Weeks of antibiotic therapy helped, and so did diets.

“If we limit their food intake they are mostly OK; they certainly are no longer obese,” he said. “They are, however, insulin-resistant.”

Gewirtz’s team is now working to see if they can identify the micro-organisms involved. They are also working to see if obese people have unique patterns of gut bacteria. Scientists know that hundreds of species of bacteria live in the gut and an average person carries about 5 pounds (2 kg) worth. On Wednesday, Chinese scientists reported in the journal Nature that they found 1,000 different species in human intestines.

So could you treat obesity by taking an antibiotic to wipe out the offending germs that are making people overeat?

“It is very hard to replace the bacteria that you have,” Gewirtz said. Studies already show it is difficult to treat conditions like Crohn’s disease, even with months of antibiotics.

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ASK LISAANN It only teaches and perpetuates more violence, the very thing our society is so concerned about. This research reports that children who have been spanked are more prone to low selfesteem, depression and accept lower paying jobs as adults. So, what do you do instead? Here are tips from the Positiveparenting.com website: 1 - Get Calm First, if you feel angry and out of control and you want to spank or slap your child, leave the situation if you can. Calm down and get quiet. In that quiet time you will often find an alternative or solution to the problem.

2 - Take Time for Yourself Parents are more prone to use spanking when they haven’t had any time to themselves and they feel depleted and hurried. So, it is important for parents to take some time for themselves to exercise, read, take a walk or pray.

3 - Be Kind But Firm Another frustrating situation where parents tend to spank is when your child hasn’t listened to your repeated requests to behave. Finally, you spank to get your child to act appropriately. Another solution in these situations is to get down on your child’s level, make eye contact, touch him gently and tell him, in a short, kind but firm phrase, what it is you want him to do. For example, “I want you to play quietly.

4 - Give Choices Giving your child a choice is an effective alternative to spanking. If she is playing with her food at the table ask “Would you like to stop playing with your food or would you like to leave the table?” If the child continues to play with her food, you use kind but firm action by helping her down from the table. Then tell her that she can return to the table when she is ready to eat her food without playing in it.

5 - Use Logical Consequences Consequences that are logically related to the behavior help teach children responsibility.

6 - Do Make Ups When children break agreements, parents tend to want to punish them.

An alternative is to have your child do a makeup. A make-up is something that people do to put themselves back into integrity with the person they broke the agreement with.

Continued from Page 17 7 - Withdraw from Conflict Children who sass back at parents may provoke a parent to slap. In this situation, it is best if you withdraw from the situation immediately. Do not leave the room in anger or defeat. Calmly say, “I’ll be in the next room when you want to talk more respectfully.

8 - Use kind but firm action Instead of smacking an infant’s hand or bottom when she touches something she isn’t supposed to, kindly but firmly pick her up and take her to the next room. Offer her a toy or another item to distract her.

9 - Inform Children Ahead of Time A child’s temper tantrum can easily set a parent off. Children frequently throw tantrums when they feel uninformed or powerless in a situation. Instead of telling your child he has to leave his friend’s house at a moment’s notice, tell him that you will be leaving in five minutes. This allows the child to complete what he was in the process of doing. Please visit your son’s class unannounced and secretly view his behavior in the classroom. If all interventions fail have him evaluated by the psychologist at his school.

You can also begin to use other methods like verbal praise for when he is behaving, set clear rules and clear consequences appropriate to his age, time out, take away privileges, games or toys, and use spanking as a last resort. You can get more information on discipline techniques from your school psychologist. You can also visit www.stophitting.com, and www.childprotectiveservices.com for more information.

Lisa-Anne Ray-Byers is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist who has worked in education for over two decades. She holds graduate degrees in speech-language pathology and multicultural education. She also holds certification in educational administration.

She is the author of the book, They Say I Have ADHD, I Say Life Sucks! Thoughts From Nicholas.

You may contact her at speechlrb@yahoo.com or by visiting her website at www.AskLisaAnne.com.

The Trouble With Our Public Schools One of America’s biggest challenges is providing an adequate educate for our children. A solid education was a given when I was growing up and why isn’t it a simple thing now? It appears that we complicated a simple process to the point of making public education more of a “cash cow” than a vehicle to ensure our freedom and economic standing in this competitive world. Our corporate leaders consider it a very serious crisis and rightly so. Let’s look at some of the obvious reasons.

The grades Kindergarten through Sixth Grade are the most important years. This is where the mold is set. You drill, drill and drill into the heads of our little angels the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic.

In the early years, this was known as the “3 R’s”. If a child can master these three areas they will be ready to journey into other areas such as science, history, health, etc. The 3 R’s allow you to comprehend the more sophisticated subjects and gives you the rational to reason and perform logic on other tasks.

That’s all we need to do during K – 6 grades.

Bad behavior will not be tolerated. These children must learn immediately to respect authority. Fighting for whatever reason is automatic suspension requiring a parental visit and a pledge to never do it again. Do it again; you will never return to that particular school.

Talking back to a teacher is also a very bad thing and should be treated accordingly.

Manners and respect for your elders should be paramount in order to maintain a learning environment.

Dress codes must be in place.

Why are we providing free breakfasts at schools? This is a family matter and the government, if it wants to get involved, should deal directly with the family not a public school. Stop feeding these students free breakfast. School is for education only. Students should pay for their lunch or bag it. There should be no federal program dipping into the time for education. The same goes for daycare.

Schools are for education not babysitting.

There should be no daycare activities on the grounds of a public school. Let’s concentrate on education only!

Perhaps the worst thing to happen to inner city schools was the “Busing” programs.

This was an attack on our communities. Why would we wake up our children in the wee hours to put them on a bus and take them to a school where they weren’t wanted? It disrupted local community pride and alienated

potentially great students.

It gave them a feeling of inferiority. To answer my question, it was the bus manufacturers and unions, who wanted the driver jobs.

They saw big bucks in this and therefore ordered the NAACP to push for it. This was perhaps the most damaging thing done to our communities from an educational standpoint.

Central High, Crispus Attucks High, Booker T. Washington High, etc. soon disappeared and community pride and spirit went away.

The procurement process of many school districts involves serious money. With that comes much corruption. The books, learning tools and equipment are many times decided via kick backs, etc. instead of what is best for the student. There should be major cleansing at all inner city school systems – they are all corrupt. Also, there should be intern and training programs demanded of corporations who do business with a particular school.

They should recruit new applicants or train the very students they are making money from. This creates a visible future for the students and inspires them to study hard and perform well.

Teenage pregnancy is a big distracter. If a student becomes pregnant she and the soon to be father must be removed from school and home schooled during the pregnancy. No student should be walking through the halls of a school pregnant. Many of the public schools actually have on campus daycare centers for the children of the students. This is not school business and should not exist at all. Teen pregnancy should be discouraged not encouraged.

When my family moved to Washington, DC we decided not to go the route of public schools. We were lucky to get our twins into one of the best private schools in the nation.

Funny, the teachers there were not certified like public school teachers are required and most did not have degrees beyond the bachelor level in addition they received about one half of the pay.

However, they loved the kids; discipline was a must; the classrooms were small (12 students or less) and the students were always taught that the sky was the limit for each and every one of them.

Bureaucracy, busing, corruption, federal intervention, lack of discipline, unions, low standards during K – 6 and poor social morals have destroyed our public school systems.

Let’s rebuild them now.

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McFarlane Wins 400 Hurdles MELBOURNE, Australia – Jamaican veteran Danny McFarlane dominated a largely Australian field to win the men’s 400-metre hurdles at the Melbourne Track Classic on Thursday night.

The 37-year-old McFarlane outran Australian Brendan Cole and Britain’s Danny Brandwood down the homestretch to post a winning time of 49.92 seconds, his second victory in a week in Australia.

The meet was the opening event of the IAAF World Challenge 2010 series.

McFarlane, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist in Athens, smashed into the last hurdle but was strong enough to hold on for the victory.

He had looked on course for a sub-49 clocking before his stumble at the final flight.

Cole clocked 50.42 seconds for the runnerup spot and Brandwood posted 50.83 for third behind McFarlane, who set an early season 2010 world best 49.19 while winning at a meet in Sydney last week. In other events, Nigerian Bola Gee Lawal won the men’s 100 metres in 10.33 seconds over Australian Patrick Johnson (10.42) and Australian Melissa Breen (11.41) took the women’s 100 metres.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle

Skipper Rips Batting Trio After Stinging Defeat GEORGETOWN, Guyana – West Indies captain Chris Gayle has expressed disappointment with three of his batsmen after the Caribbean side crashed to an embarrassing two-run defeat against Zimbabwe on Thursday.

The home team, chasing 255 to win from 50 overs, handed the tourists victory after losing two wickets in the final over and were restricted to 252 for nine in the first One-Day International at the Guyana National Stadium.

One of the dismissals in the last over came from a poor stroke by Dwayne Smith (4), while Kieron Pollard (5) and Denesh Ramdin (8) also gave their hands away through soft dismissals at vital stages earlier.

“In the Australia series, I saw improvements in the likes of Pollard and Smith. To come here – and the way they went about it, I must say I am very disappointed in those two guys and Ramdin,” Gayle said.

“Those guys were key for us and the way they went about it was a terrible display. It is very disappointing and sad to see how they went about it.”

Smith was bowled with four runs required off the last three balls after Nikita Miller had given West Indies hope by striking a six and a four in successive balls of fast medium Hamilton Masakadza at the beginning of the 50th over.

Zimbabwe are ranked lower than the West Indies in the One-Day International ratings, but Gayle said they were in no way taking their opponents for granted.

“Zimbabwe are here to win. There is no way we can under estimate them. We saw what they have to offer in the T20.

“Zimbabwe have beaten Australia. It is not a team that we are taking for granted. They are here to win just like us and credit must go to them.

“The way they pushed and ran hard between the wickets showed how hungry and determined they are.”

Despite the defeat, which was the West Indies’ second in succession to Zimbabwe following a loss by 26 runs in a Twenty20 International on Sunday, Gayle called on regional fans to rally around the team.

The second match of the series is on Saturday at the same ground.

“We are still going to need that support regardless of the result. When you do crap, it’s definitely crap and there is no excuse,” he said.

“Guys have to take responsibility out there in the middle. It is just sad and disappointing.”

Jamaica’s Danny McFarlane won the men’s 400-metre hurdles at the Melbourne Track Classic on Thursday night.

Grenada’s James, SEC Freshman Of The Year University of Alabama standout teenager Kirani James has been named Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman Runner of the Year.

James, 17, began his scholarship in Alabama in January and has already posted a 400-metre world junior and school (indoor) record 45.24 seconds, which is the second fastest time in the world so far this year.

He was voted for the SEC honour by the league’s head coaches.

The Gouyave native is the sec-

ond Alabama athlete to win the award after the Kenya-born distance runner Emmanuel Bor won in 2007.

At the SEC Championships last month, James earned All-SEC honours when he used his superb 45.24 clocking to place second in the 400.

Georgia’s SEC champion Torrin Lawrence, a 21-year-old American, won that SEC event in a worldleading 45.03.

James, one of the brightest prospects ever to emerge from the Caribbean, led the Alabama 4x400 relay to their highest finish at the

SEC Championships since 1999, when they were third.

At last year’s CARIFTA Games in St Lucia, James broke Usain Bolt’s 400-metre record with a 45.45 clocking.

James has already won gold medals at several major international meets, including 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in India; the 2009 Pan American Juniors in Trinidad; and the IAAF World Youth Championship in Italy last year when he won the 200 and 400 metres in a meet record 45.24 seconds.

Grenada’s Kirani James is one of the brightest prospects ever to emerge from the Caribbean.

Johnson Ticked Over Quashed Title-Fight Top flight Jamaican light heavyweight boxer Glen Johnson is distressed over the abandonment of next month’s world title fight against American champion Tavoris Cloud.

Cloud, the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) 175-pound king, pulled out of the scheduled April 10 bout with issues of a hamstring injury and a sudden switch in his promotional set-up triggering his withdrawal from the HBO television event.

“I am very disappointed. Obviously this was a very big opportunity to be back on HBO,” Johnson said in an interview with Boxing Scene website.

“It was a great set up to an even bigger fight right around the corner. To run into this situation is disappointing to say the least,” said exworld champion Johnson.

The IBF has given a 90-day title defence extension to the undefeated Cloud, who announced Wednesday that he has left his previous promotion company DiBella Entertainment and signed with Don King Productions (DKP).

Cloud’s manager Jerry Attardi hinted this week that promotional differences played a significant role in the postponement when he declared that he did not approve arrangements for the bout next month and suggested that the fight would still have been scrapped even if Cloud was fit.

Johnson also reacted in the Boxing Scene interview to suspicions that Cloud was not injured.

“I may suspect something else being the reason but without any proof what can I do,” said the 41year-old Johnson.

Johnson had qualified for the title fight by scoring an impressive sixth-round knockout victory over American Yusaf Mack in a title eliminator last month.

He took a week off after his February 5 win over Mack and was already back in the gym preparing

to tackle the 28-year-old Cloud.

The postponement is an undesirable development for Johnson.

“I am at the age I need to fight and I can’t lose any time waiting around,” Johnson said.

The title defence for Cloud against Johnson could happen as early as June but there is no confirmation yet from the authorities on a date.

Cloud, boasting a 20-0 record with 18 knockouts, won the IBF belt last August with a unanimous 12round decision over Britain’s Clinton Woods.

Johnson is a former IBF champion and 2004 World Fighter of the Year. He has a ring record of 50 wins, with 34 knockouts, against 13 losses.

The rest of the April 10 card at BankAtlantic Centre is scheduled to go on as planned with the headliner being the 12-round World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight title fight between Haiti’s Andre Berto and Carlos Quintana, of Puerto Rico. Part of the proceeds of the promotion will go to the Haitian earthquake relief.

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Keith Alexander Dies In England England-based former St Lucia football international Keith Alexander died Wednesday at the age of 53.

Alexander was manager of Macclesfield Town and had returned home Tuesday night from Notts County where they lost the English League Two match 2-0.

Macclesfield confirmed his passing and paid tribute on its website Wednesday to the England-born Alexander.

“Keith was a splendid man.

He will be sorely missed at the Moss Rose and by everyone involved in football. Our thoughts and sympathies are with his family at this very difficult time,” the club said in a statement.

Alexander needed life-saving surgery seven years ago after being diagnosed with a double cerebral aneurysm.

He made three international appearances for St Lucia and his playing log in league football includes more than a dozen clubs in England, among them Notts County, Boston United, Barnet, Grimsby Town, Stockport County, Lincoln City, and Mansfield Town.

He had management stints at Lincoln and Peterborough before Macclesfield Town.

Alexander has also given back to his Caribbean island, recently establishing the Sacred Sports Foundation to help increase sporting opportunities for St Lucian children.

SOLUTION to Sudoku, P18

League officials pose with the Caribbean Cup Finals trophy.

Digicel Caribbean Cup Kicks Off A New Era

By Sharon Gordon The Caribbean Cup Inc. marked the start of the 2010 Digicel Caribbean Cup season with a press launch, recently, highlighted by the unveiling of their brand new “Soccer Dread” logo, and the official drawing of teams for the two zone competition. The event took place inside the Legends Ballroom at the Brooklyn Marriott, and was witnessed by board members and officials of Caribbean Cup Inc., executive members of the various teams as well as community leaders and a few media outlets.

The Official Caribbean Cup logo was designed by Trinidadian born, Alison C. Ayres, Jr., President of Soccer Marketing. He is the newly appointed Director of Marketing and Sponsorship for Caribbean Cup Inc. He described the logo as a “colorful eye-catching translation of a soccer player about to shoot the ball. The player is wearing the dreadlock hair style, synonymous with Caribbean and in particular Jamaican Culture.”

Mr. Ayres also informed that “his coming aboard heralds a new era for the Caribbean Cup Inc.,” and further stated that if after this 2010 season there hasn’t been significant improvement at the Caribbean Cup, “then I would not have done my job.”

As Director of Marketing and Sponsorship for Caribbean Cup Inc., Mr. Ayres told the gathering that, “this unique symbol is integrated with the Digicel Caribbean Cup identification phraseology, to complete the design.”

He pointed out that Digicel is still the title sponsor for the Caribbean Cup Soccer Tournament although no representative of Digicel was present at the media launch. This absence he says was due in part to a changing of the guards at Digicel. Also absent was City Council member, Charles Barron who was scheduled to speak as well as Team Grenada and defending Champions, Team Jamaica.

Mr. Ayres also informed that “his coming aboard heralds a new era for the Caribbean Cup Inc.,” and further stated that if after this 2010 season there hasn’t been significant improvement at the Caribbean Cup, “then I would not have done my job.” He pointed out that Digicel is still the title sponsor for the Caribbean Cup Soccer Tournament although no representative of Digicel was present at the media launch. This absence he says was due in part to a changing of the guards at Digicel. Also absent was City Council member, Charles Barron who was scheduled to speak as well as Team Grenada and defending Champions, Team Jamaica.

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Recipes

Coconut Snapper

INGREDIENTS: 5 oz snapper fillets cut in thirds Salt and pepper to taste 2 large eggs 1 3/4 cups white flour 6 fluid ounces Red Stripe beer 1 tsp baking powder 3 cups grated coconut 2 fluid ounces vegetable oil

METHOD: 1.Season the snapper with the salt and pepper. In a bowl, mix eggs, 1 1/4 cups of flour, baking powder and beer.

On one plate put the remainder of the flour and on another place the coconut.

2.Lightly coat snapper in flour, then dip the snapper into the beer batter, lastly heavily coat the fish in the coconut and set aside.

3.Once every piece of snapper is coated in coconut, heat a frying pan with the oil and fry the fish until the coconut becomes golden brown. Drain the snapper on paper towels and enjoy.

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DINING Whole Grains Take A Bite Out Of Type 2 Diabetes Risk Brown rice is better than white rice at reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, but whole grains are the most effective at lowering the risk, study findings show.

U.S. researchers analyzed data from 39,765 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and 157,463 women in the Nurses’ Health Study I and II. None of the participants had diabetes, heart disease or cancer at the start of the studies. Their consumption of brown and white rice, as well as other foods, was assessed every two to four years.

During 3.3 million person-years of follow-up, there were 10,507 incidents of type 2 diabetes. After adjusting for a number of dietary and lifestyle risk factors, the researchers found that people who ate five or more servings per week of white rice were 17 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate less than one serving of white rice per month.

In contrast, people who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week were 11 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate less than one serving of brown rice per month, the study authors reported.

“We estimated that replacing 50 grams/day intake of white rice with the same amount of brown rice was associated with a 16 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas the same replacement with whole grains as a group was associated with a 36 percent lower diabetes risk,” wrote Dr. Qi Sun, of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues.

The study was to be presented Wednesday at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Conference in San Francisco.

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EATING HEALTHY Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods. You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods. How much you should eat depends on your calorie needs. Use the Food Guide Pyramid and the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels as handy references.

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GRENADIAN NAMED SEC FRESHMAN OF P. 23 THE YEAR