New York Liberty Star

JULY 2, 2009 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR *

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NEW YORKERS' FIRST CHOICE FOR CARIBBEAN NEWS

JULY 16-29, 2009

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 166

CARIBBEAN NEWS

ST VINCENT PM TIRES, LEAVES OFFICE

PM RALPH GONSALVES has been ordered to rest because of his recent hectic travel schedule, the government reports.

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ENTERTAINMENT

KEYSHIA COLE ROCKS BROOKLYN CONCERT

KEYSHIA COLE and platinum-selling Lyfe Jennings kicked off the 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series in Brooklyn.

CORAL REEF

RESTAURANT

SEE FULL STORY, PAGES 2-3

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CONTENTS OPINIONS

JADE MOUNTAIN

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KEYSHIA COLE ROCKS BROOKLYN

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OBAMA’S FIRST TRIP TO AFRICA

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ST. LUCIA’S TOP RESORT

t. Lucia’s Jade Mountain has There’s no denying that the first visit to Sub-Saharan Africa by the first been named Number One in the black president of the U.S. is a big deal. Caribbean and third in the world.

ECONOMIC STORM

ROADKILL

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CARIBBEAN TO RIDE IT OUT

The Caribbean’s small islands ride out hurricanes year after year, but now they are fighting to stay afloat.

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CYCLIST WITHOUT HELMETS

Everyday on our roads; motorcyclists skillfully weave their way through heavy lines of traffic.

Windies Remain Positive Heading To Grenada

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West Indies went down to Bangladesh by 95 runs on the fifth and final day of the 1st Digicel Test match at Arnos Vale, St Vincent on Monday. It was the first Test match win away from home for the Tigers.

Family Break-Ups Due To Deportation Urges

Push For Immediate Immigration Reform The numbers are mindboggling and they are growing at an alarming rate. Draconian immigration laws are breaking up families and forcing millions of children to grow up without one or both parents.

Councilmember Kendall Stewart, Chair of the Immigration Committee at the New York City Council is furious.

“This continued break-up, deportation and dismantling of families is clearly unacceptable. It is a process that is callous and insensitive. How can we as a nation justify the deliberate break-up of the family – the most important social unit of the community?” Councilmember Stewart said.

According to data obtained from the United States Department of Homeland Security between 1998 and 2007 a total of 108,434 parents of U.S citizen children were deported

Councilmember Kendall Stewart

for one reason or another mostly because of overstaying their visas and becoming undocumented.

“In real numbers that works out to about a little over 15,000 parents each year or approximately 1,000 a month. This wholesale round up of people started in 1996 with the Oklahoma City bombing when some people started looking for convenient scapegoats. The most vulnerable community was targeted and is still being subjected to unjust, harsh and insensitive treatment simply for having overstayed their time here,” Councilmember Stewart said.

The Brooklyn lawmaker said that he wholeheartedly embraced President Barack Obama’s immigration reform policy that would allow the undocumented to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the immigration line and wait their turn to have their status regularized.

He said that instead of breakingup families by deportation, lengthy detentions without charge or trial – usually at centers and jails far away

from family and friends – and raising xenophobia to national levels there should be an immigration policy based on positive solutions and outcomes. Councilman Stewart said that immigrants who overstayed their time and have not run afoul of the law should not be treated as criminals.

“Criminalizing immigration and immigrants is a wrong-headed policy. The vast majority of immigrants are hardworking and lawabiding. It is penny wise and pound foolish to keep driving the undocumented further underground. Can you imagine the social and economic impact of legalizing the status of millions of the undocumented? Far from being a drag on the economy such a move will add millions of new taxpayers to the tax roll and rake in billions of dollars to the national coffers. And if we are serious about fighting terrorism then bringing these immigrants into the light is be best safeguard against terrorism we can have,” Councilmember Stewart said.

An estimated 3.1 million U.S.citizen children have at least one parent who is undocumented. Millions more have at least one parent who is a permanent legal resident green Card holder) who can be subject to deportation for minor legal

U.S. DEPORT ATION ST ATS DEPORTA STA 108,434 parents of U.S citizen children deported from U.S. between 1998-2007 3 million U.S.-citizen children have at least one parent who is undocumented Courtesy of The US Department of Homeland Security

infractions upon filing for a change of immigration status.

Every year, thousands of children are separated from a parent who has been deported because of present immigration laws that justify removal from the United States for even minor brushes with the law.

Called crimes of moral turpitude under present immigration law these offenses are not only retroactive but include relatively minor misdemeanors as jumping a subway turnstile 20 years ago.

“What we have here is a broken immigration system that badly needs fixing. Now that same system is breaking-up families. I am calling on our Congressional representatives to take up this issue and press for comprehensive, constructive and meaningful immigration reform,” Councilmember Stewart said.

NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR EDITORIAL STAFF LENECIA HINES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF IVROL HINES MANAGING EDITOR DAVID LESTER ART DIRECTOR PAUL HAUGHTON COMMUNITY RELATIONS LIASON BERNARD BURKE JOAN GOBOURNE MARKETING EXECUTIVES DR. ROY HASTICK, SR. MICHAEL ROBERTS ANTHONY TURNER EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

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U.S. Deportation Flights On The Rise Obama Rallies Support For Comprehensive Immigration Reform

By Tim Gaynor

GUATEMALA CITY -- Erwin Baches, an undocumented mechanic from Guatemala, walked for five days across the desert and broke into the United States in search of the American Dream.

Arrested, jailed and placed on a deportation flight back to Central America on Friday, he is one of a growing number of illegal immigrants being sent home with that dream in tatters.

“I just wanted a better life for my family,” said Baches, 35, swiping away tears on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, charter flight to Guatemala City from a Phoenix-valley airport.

“We’re all human beings, we all deserve a chance,” he added, speaking in Spanish.

Immigration, particularly what to do with millions of illegal immigrants living in the shadows, is a divisive issue in the United States.

As President Barack Obama tries to rally support in the U.S. Congress to revive comprehensive immigration reform this year, his government is removing the United States’ unauthorized population at a gathering pace.

ICE’s Flight Operations Unit, carrying out a policy begun under former President George W. Bush, has moved an average of 4,200 unauthorized migrants a week this year, up from 3,700 last year.

“I wanted to find a better life, to help my nephew,” said Ofelia Alvarado, 33.

One of the 92 Guatemalans flown home from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Alvarado had been nabbed after crossing the border from Mexico last month.

Obama is seeking support among Democratic and Republican lawmakers to overhaul the broken immigration system in the United States, where almost 12 million illegal immigrants live and work in the shadows.

He supports offering those in good standing the chance to pay a fine and become citizens, at the same time cracking down on employers

hiring undocumented workers and hardening security along the porous Mexico border.

Since taking office in January, Obama has shifted focus away from rounding up illegal immigrants in work place raids — the policy under Bush — to identifying criminal immigrants held in U.S. jails and removing them.

That shift in policy was reflected in the variety of deportees on Flight 9849 to Guatemala City on Friday, who were served a turkey and cheese sandwich, crackers and bottled water on the four-hour trip.

“The police were waiting for me President Barack Obama when I got back from the shops,” said Juan Sacaria, 29, a Mayan In- rested in Phoenix for extreme drunk dian who was convicted of spousal driving in April, who was subsebattery in California, and was among quently handed over to ICE for re12 criminals put on the flight in moval.

Baches was arrested for solicithandcuffs and leg shackles.

Many deportees on the flight ing for sex. He was not convicted, had been picked up after crossing and denied the charge. The ICE Ofover the border, like Alvarado, or in fice of Detention and Removal Opa variety of police operations dur- erations deports to more than 190 ing which their immigration status countries.

Each weekday it averages 9 or emerged.

“They got me at a traffic stop 10 charter flights, a service dubbed coming back from work,” said “ICE Air” by news media, most of Hedvin Galicia, 28, a mechanic ar- them bound for Central and South

editorial

Clarke Highlights Caribbean Contribution On Capitol Hill Staff Report

Senator John Sampson

Senator Sampson Looks To Curb Domestic Violence

By John Sampson

Less than a week ago, a young woman in my district was senselessly murdered in a domestic violence dispute.

Having lost a relative to domestic violence, I recognize the enormity of this type of crime. My thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time.

This degrading, disrespectful behavior is unacceptable. I, along with my colleagues in the State Senate, will continue to push legislation to provide solutions for prevention and protection of families affected by domestic violence. My office will receive regular updates from the police on the investigation and I will provide any new information to the community.

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America and the Caribbean.

Critics say deportation is simply a revolving door as migrants frequently make their way back to the United States and resume their lives.

But ICE says deportation acts as a deterrent to many, and shows others that there are consequences for breaking into the United States, particularly if they commit crimes.

“If we encounter them, they have a criminal history and they’ve been previously deported, there’s a very good chance that they are going to be prosecuted,” said Eduardo Preciado, assistant director of ICE detention and removals program in Arizona.

As the aircraft banked over the tin-roofed shanties of Guatemala City to land, the deportees were divided on what they would do once through the airport, where Guatemalan immigration officials help them change dollars, call relatives, and give those that need it a ride to a bus terminal.

“I don’t think I’ll go back again, it’s’ too hard,” said Alvarado, who had spent thousands of dollars trying to reach the United States, and had been twice deported.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, of Brooklyn, recently cosponsored a resolution that recognizes the significance of National Caribbean-American Heritage Month and the contributions that Caribbean American make in America.

The former New York City councilmember cosponsored H.Con Res. 127 with Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California.

According to Clarke, H.Con Res. 127 provides Congress with an opportunity to recognize the many contributions of Caribbean-Americans and highlight the issues facing the Caribbean community.

“Caribbean-Americans have played a significant role in shaping America’s political and social landscape, including: former U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm, the first African American female Member of

Congress; former Secretary of State Collin Powell; novelist Jamaica Kincaid; social activists Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X; and world-renowned dancer, Pearl Primus,” Clarke said.

“I have the distinct honor and privilege of representing New York’s 11th Congressional District, located in central Brooklyn.

And as a child of Jamaican immigrants, I have experienced first- hand the impact Caribbean Americans can have on a community, let alone a nation. That is why I have been a staunch advocate for Caribbean issues my entire public life; fighting to ensure that the agenda of Caribbean Americans are visible on the national stage. It is my honor as a child of the Caribbean and my duty as the Representative of the 11th Congressional District of New York, to support such an important Resolution,” she added.

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opinions

REGIONALBriefs

Obama’s First Visit To Africa, Nothing To Celebrate

Junior Minister Resigns Amid Allegations Of Bribery KINGSTON, Jamaica – Junior Minister of Transport and Works, Joseph Hibbert, has resigned amid allegations that government officials had been bribed by a British firm.

By Anthony L Hall There’s no denying that the first visit to Sub-Saharan Africa by the first black president of the United States is a big deal.

And there’s no denying that every African head of state lobbied heavily to serve as host for this historic occasion.

Therefore, it speaks volumes that President Barack Obama has relegated today’s visit to a one-day stopover. And it speaks even more so that he’s snubbing both South Africa, the most Anthony L Hall powerful country in Africa, and Kenya, the country that claims him as its native son (because that’s where his father was born). Instead, he’s limiting his visit to Ghana, the place most African Americans associate with the slave trade.

Not to mention that this one-day visit to Africa smacks of little more than a politically correct gesture — appended as it is at the end of his one-week visit to Europe.

But I don’t blame Obama for giving Africa such short shrift. After all, despite hundreds of billions in US foreign aid to promote good governance, economic development and public health, that Dark Continent remains blighted by political corruption, chronic poverty and deadly diseases.

More to the point, he’s understandably loath to visit South Africa — given that its president, Jacob Zuma, is an alleged rapist and thief who no less a person than the Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, proclaimed all South Africans should be ashamed of. And he’s understandably loath to visit Kenya — given that its president, Mwai Kibaki, resorted to tribal vote-rigging and Big-Dada thuggery to steal his re-election last year.

This is why I am convinced Obama chose Ghana by default. Though, to be fair, it deserves to be lauded as the most stable democracy in Africa, having had three successful (i.e., transparent and non-violent) transfers of power from one democratically elected leader to another since 1992.

And no doubt this will be the official reason given for Obama’s visit.

Of course Ghana will herald him as a latter-day black Moses. Yet how can any self-respecting black person take pride in the fact that Obama will spend less time on his first state visit to Africa than President George W. Bush?

Frankly, one can be forgiven the impression that he chose Ghana as much for its geography as for its politics. Since, situated as it is on the West coast of Africa, this will allow him to make his fly-by visit without spending too much time in SubSaharan Africa’s politically toxic airspace.

Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has been ordered to rest.

St. Vincent Head Tired, Takes Break From Office Acting PM Browne Says Gonsalves Not Sick KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent -- Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has been ordered to rest because of his recent hectic travel schedule, Acting Prime Minister Mike Browne said Tuesday.

“He should have been going to London over the weekend but he had to postpone it because, essentially, fatigue,” Browne told a news conference.

In recent weeks, Gonsalves has visited Libya, the Far East, various Caribbean islands as well as the United Nations In New York.

“You know the Prime Minister. He goes non-stop and we have been asking him to take a vacation and I think it is at a

point now where his body just simply needs a rest,” Browne said, adding that he does not believe that the head of government is sick.

It is nothing, as far as we are aware, graver than that. And I think he will be on his feet. It is not anything dramatic that we should be overly concerned about. And I think that the nation will be happy to know that he gets a little bit of rest and a little bit of a time off.

“And I am sure that the media and the nation will be happy and we trust the media will not phone the house and will allow him to indeed enjoy a little respite, a little break,” he told reporters.

In May 2005 Dr. Gonsalves spent 10 days of “spiritual reflection” among the monks at the Mt. St. Benedict monastery in Trinidad.

On his return, Gonsalves said he had achieved “a sense of greater peace” with himself.

Hibbert tendered his resignation Tuesday, one day after he held talks with Prime Minister Bruce Golding on the issue.

In his letter of resignation, Hibbert, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Works, said he was stepping down in “in view of the allegations of bribery of Jamaican Government officials made in the UK courts by the British firm Mabey and Johnson Limited in which I am implicated.

“I have today decided to submit my resignation as Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Works to the Honourable Prime Minister," Hibbert said. "This resignation will allow me the time and freedom to clear my name and my integrity as former Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of Transport and Works during the 1990s to which the allegations refer."

His resignation comes less than 24 hours after Golding had appointed former magistrate Marlene Malahoo Forte as a Senator and Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

She was sworn in on Wednesday and replaces former national security minister Colonel Trevor MacMillan, who resigned earlier this year.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding

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‘Separate Church And State’ BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The church has departed from its divine duty and is instead more interested in worldly pursuits.

“One gets the impression that our churches have lost sight of the prophetic ministry and is more interested in self-image, egos, money, cheap popularity, power, status and prestige,” said Reverend Canon Wayne Isaacs.

He was delivering the sermon Sunday during a special church service commemorating the 20th anniversary of Bayview Hospital at the St Paul’s Anglican Church, Bay Street, St Michael.

Isaacs admonished church leaders to remain separated from the state or risk compromising their independence and being unable to offer constructive criticism.

“Leaders of the church cannot endorse any one political system, organisation, ideology or philosophy. Only God alone is absolute . . . church leaders must be free of any [such] loyalties so that at all times they can stand in the ‘marketplace’ and say ‘thus sayeth the Lord’,” he said.

Up Park Camp in St. Andrew, Jamaica

Gov’t Preps To Sell Up Park Camp KINGSTON, Jamaica -- A proposal to sell Up Park Camp, the 90-hectare St. Andrew property that houses the headquarters of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), and utilise the land for a major housing development is now before the Cabinet and is expected to be examined very soon.

According to a senior government official who requested anonymity, the proposal is for the seven major units of the JDF’s regular force - with over 2 500 officers and soldiers as well as its reserve force to be relocated to properties in Vernamfield, Clarendon and Caymanas Estates, St Catherine.

Vernamfield was once used as an airstrip, while the government owns over 5 000 acres of land in Caymanas Estates. A timeline for the relocation has not been determined and the overall cost of the exercise was not immediately known.

“Cabinet is to look at the matter of relocation soon and a decision is to be made,” the senior government official said last week.

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However, Isaacs warned there was a price to pay for this which was something Christians had to acknowledge.

“We must be prepared for criticism, ridicule and rejection. As we the people of God carry out this prophetic ministry, some will say we are anti-government, some will say we are anti-establishment, some will say we are anti-society, some will say we are unpatriotic, disloyal and ungrateful but we as Christians must not allow these criticisms to silence our voices,” he said.

Isaacs also said there was a perception the church had no place in society and lacked courage but added this was due to a lack of conviction among its members.

“The church of itself is not the problem, the problem is its members who talk the talk but are unwilling to walk the walk.

At times it seems that Christians have a fear to address the issues of injustice and oppression we see throughout the world.

“Are we afraid to speak out against unethical business practices because we fear the loss of financial support for our fund-raising activities?

“Are we reluctant to address the issue of injustice for fear that we might be victimised? Are we unwilling to denounce the immorality in our society because of the fear we might

“Are we reluctant to address the issue of injustice for fear that we might be victimised?

Are we unwilling to denounce the immorality in our society because of the fear we might offend some people?”

Reverend Canon Wayne Isaacs. offend some people?” he asked.

Isaacs said there was no need to fear when speaking God’s will for man as it was revealed in the Scriptures as it was too important to speak the truth.

“We must not be afraid. We must speak the truth but speak it in love,” he said.

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TRAVELCARIBBEAN

Air Jamaica's Bajan Stimulus

By Bevan Springer

NEW YORK, NY - With summer airfares to the Eastern Caribbean out of the reach of many travelers in today's recession, Bajans are smiling all the way to Barbados, their island home, thanks in large measure to Jamaica's state-run carrier. Or maybe not all of them.

Air Jamaica, which is currently in the midst of delicate privatization talks which reportedly have Spirit Airlines, Caribbean Airlines and British tour operator Thomas Cook each contending for control of the carrier, has resumed service to the island for the busy Crop Over season through the end of August with two rather affordable weekly night-bird flights on Thursdays and Sundays.

Like anything in life, it takes a few moments to get accustomed to change, and in spite of some complaints about the late hour that the flights depart JFK Airport (about 1 a.m.), even the Doubting Thomases have expressed some delight about being welcomed to Barbados by the morning sun and taking in the cool, fresh morning air after a little more than four hours of sleep.

After experiencing the service to Barbados last week, I couldn't help but record the reactions of one of my fellow passengers who surprisingly admitted his satisfaction with the early morning arrival which presented him with a full day to reconnect with friends and family and enjoy Barbados' beautiful natural environment, including some of the finest beaches in the Caribbean.

But that was the extent of his optimism as his joy turned into sarcasm when he realized that at that same hour (around 6:30 a.m.), he would have to return to the United States, robbing him of a day of fun in the sun.

I attempted to convince him that an early departure would give him half a day in New York to unwind from his travels compared with the typical late night arrival into New York with little time to prepare for the next day's work. After all, my assumption was that he was a traveler of the VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) variety and should not be concerned about missing a few hours of sleep in a hotel room.

Such logic appeared to miss my fellow passenger who facetiously wished me an enjoyable half day on my return to New York as he was whisked away en voiture to begin his Bajan vacation.

I am pleased to report that in spite of the brother's disposition, I had a most enjoyable return trip to the United States. The immigration hall was empty, my baggage arrived in reasonable time, and after collecting my car from the parking lot, I realized I had enough time to attend a 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon Brooklyn church service after a tasty serving of brown stew chicken at a neighboring Golden Krust eatery. Not to mention, having the entire afternoon to relax just as I had anticipated.

"We are of course very happy that Air Jamaica has made these flight commitments," said Richard Sealy, Barbados' Minister of Tourism. "Barbadians who live outside the island look forward to vacationing at home especially during Crop Over, and are significant to our tourism strategy. We are thrilled that Air Jamaica is making it easy for them to travel to our island during this period."

"This is a great opportunity for Air Jamaica to serve the Caribbean and we know these flights will have a huge impact. Our schedule allows passengers to arrive in Barbados early in the morning so they will enjoy the entire day with friends and family," said George deMercado, the airline's Senior Director, Global Sales.

Congratulations are due to the Barbados government and Air Jamaica for collaborating on this summer service, albeit seasonal, offering air and hotel packages starting at US $500 per person through STS Vacations.

It's the kind of stimulus that makes sense to us the peoples of the Diaspora.

Jam ai cans C onn ec tin g TThr hr ough Jamai aicans Co nnec ectin ting hro Br ititain ain R eq uir e TTrransit PPe ermits Brit Req equir uire The luxury of spending 24 hours in a British airport en route to a third country visa-free came to an abrupt end a few months ago, the British High Commission here has confirmed. Locals travelling through Britain to Germany, France or other European countries must now acquire an intransit permit ahead of their trip.

This arrangement is in addition to the existing British visa regime which began in 2003 in Jamaica. This regime had provided a visa-free concession for Jamaicans in transit within 24 hours through Britain.

Having failed Britain’s new Visa Waiver Test earlier this year, Jamaicans are now the only people in the Caribbean who must obtain a direct airside transit visa (DATV) in order to connect to flights through Britain to onward destinations.

St. Lucia’s Jade Mountain

St. Lucia’s Jade Mountain Ranks Caribbean No. 1 And World No. 3 In Travel & Leisure Awards

SOUFRIERE, St. Lucia -- St. Lucia’s Jade Mountain has been named Number One in the Caribbean and Number Three worldwide based on the results of a 2009 Travel + Leisure “World’s Best Awards” readers’ survey, once again hoisting the island nation on the winners’ plinth for quality accommodation.

Travel + Leisure magazine announced the winners of their elaborate survey on the NBC Today Show recently.

To be featured in their upcoming August issue, Travel + Leisure’s prestigious annual World’s Best Awards survey asked readers to select their favorite hotels, cruises, airlines, outfitters, cities, and islands around the world.

They selected Jade Mountain (www.jademountainstlucia.com) as the top resort in the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Bahamas category.

The resort also ranked third out of the Top 100 hotels worldwide.

Jade Mountain’s owners, Nick

and Karolin Troubetzkoy expressed their joy with their rankings. “Our resort team has worked very hard since Jade Mountain opened more than two years ago, to perfect and fine tune every aspect of the resort experience. We cannot thank them enough for their commitment and enthusiasm throughout,” Karolin Troubetzkoy said in a statement prepared for reporters this morning.

The Troubetzkoys were equally delighted to report that Anse Chastanet, Jade Mountain’s sister property, placed fourth in the Caribbean’s Top 25 category. “Our teams at Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet have a healthy competition going among themselves at all times - the guests definitely are the beneficiaries of this drive and ambition. We are very pleased to see both resorts register top marks from the Travel + Leisure survey today,” Karolin Troubetzkoy added.

Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet enjoy one of the most sce-

nic settings in the Caribbean, overlooking St. Lucia’s twin Piton peaks, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Nestling in a 600-acre estate with two soft sand beaches bordering pristine coral reefs, Anse Chastanet is in complete harmony with its natural surroundings and offers excellent diving facilities plus many other activities.

In the fall of 2006, Anse Chastanet’s architect and owner Nick Troubetzkoy completed construction of Jade Mountain. His bold architectural design - individual bridges leading to extravagant infinity pool sanctuaries and rugged stoned-faced columns reaching towards the sky - have established Jade Mountain as one of the Caribbean’s most unique resort experiences.

More sculpture than structure, Jade Mountain has been called by many as the Eighth Wonder of the World and many argue it should be on everyone’s Top Places to see before departing the planet.

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Caribbean States Fight To Ride Out Economic Storm

By Pascal Fletcher

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -- The Caribbean’s small island states ride out hurricanes year after year, but they are fighting to stay afloat in a global economic storm that is battering rich and poor nations alike.

Tiny nations like twin-island St. Kitts and Nevis, a short chain of lush green volcanic cones set in an azure sea, have felt the shocks of the downturn and credit crunch as keenly as the winds and seas that lash them every summer.

Their high dependence on tourism, remittances, investment flows, imports and commodity prices makes than all the more vulnerable to recent worldwide economic tremors that have shaken giants like the United States and China.

Shock has followed shock. First, soaring oil prices last year pushed up energy and food import bills and swelled inflation. Then, recession in the United States and Europe cut tourism and investment flows.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts real 2009 GDP for the eight-member Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), which includes St. Kitts and Nevis, will contract by 2.5 percent “reflecting a sharply-slowing global economy, declining tourist arrivals and foreign direct investment flows, and increased financial sector stresses.”

“It’s been difficult, it’s not without pain, and we have gotten wet,” said Richard Skerritt, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Tourism Minister, citing a 12 percent January-April drop in visitors from the United States.

Since the local sugar industry closed in 2005, tourism has taken over from “King Sugar” as the economic mainstay on the twinisland state of 40,000 people and now contributes an estimated 40 percent of gross domestic product.

Any dip in visitor activity is painful. The January-April visitor fall-off forced the country’s biggest resort, the St. Kitts Marriott, to lay off 100 employees.

“That was a shock, because in a small country, lay-offs hurt every-

body,” Skerritt said.

Nature too has taken its toll on the former British territory.

Hurricane Omar, which pummeled St. Kitts and Nevis last year, forced the closure in October of the Four Seasons, the biggest resort on Nevis, which has still not reopened.

To the east, Antigua and Barbuda’s hotels suffered a 30 percent decrease in occupancy and government revenue fell by 25 percent, Antigua Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said.

St. Kitts’ Skerritt said his government was fighting back. It had removed some duties and taxes to shield consumers from price rises in basic food, introduced stimulus measures for small hotels and negotiated hard with airlines and big resort operators to try to keep visitors coming.

“We are weathering the storm better than most,” said Skerritt.

St. Kitts was banking on the Christophe Harbour project, a big new hotel, marina and golf course development on its southeast peninsula, to attract new visitors.

Skerritt said the new resort was already impacting the local economy and had

created some 100 new jobs.

Citing another encouraging sign, he said St. Kitts’ cruise pass enger arrivals had increased by 150 percent in the last three years, from 200,000 to 500,000, thanks to the Port Zante cruise terminal which now had more than 50 shops.

But spending by cruise visitors was sharply down across the Caribbean, retailers and tour operators said.

“It’s the same story in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, all the big retailers are down,” said Avi Sippy of Diamond Island Jewelers in Port Zante.

In St. Lucia, whose 170,000 population is one of the largest in the eastern islands, the government is putting a brave face on the situation.

“Tourism arrivals remain fairly buoyant although there is a fair degree of discounting (of prices),” Foreign Affairs and Trade minister Rufus Bousquet said.

“I’m not suggesting it’s a rose garden, but we’re paying our bills.”

At a June summit in St. Kitts of the Venezuelan-backed regional energy alliance PetroCaribe, Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding warned that the recession could stoke social tensions and inequalities.

“Poverty that had been reduced, we are in danger of that poverty returning ... We fear a real danger that we will come out of this crisis with the gap between rich and poor countries widening,” Golding said. He demanded “a seat at the table” for small developing

According to Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, the nations hotels suffered a 30 percent decrease in occupancy and government revenue fell by 25 percent.

countries at global groupings like the G20.

Some analysts see the cumulative shocks straining Caribbean unity. “There is a growing sense of every country for itself,” said David Jessop, executive director of the U.K.-based Caribbean Council, that specializes in Caribbean trade issues.

“We’re now a year, a year and a half into the global economic crisis and the Caribbean hasn’t actually been able to agree a strategy,” Jessop added.

Compounding their troubles, recent high-publicity fraud scandals and financial collapses have pummeled the region’s financial sector.

Analysts say the case of Texas billionaire Allen Stanford and his Antigua-based banking operation, charged in the United States with running a “massive Ponzi scheme,” is another black eye for the Caribbean’s offshore finance sector.

The charges have implicated Antigua’s top financial regulator, adding force to critics who say the region’s financial sector lacks adequate control and oversight.

Similarly, the collapse earlier this year of the Trinidad-based Caribbean business conglomerate CL Financial has sent shock waves through the Eastern Caribbean’s financial system, the IMF says.

“High government exposures, credit risk and liquidity risk present major threats to ECCU banking system stability,” the fund said in a report published in May. ECCU members are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Many regional governments view calls from the developed world for the Caribbean to clean up its tax havens as unfair. But some are moving to sign multiple bilateral tax treaties to meet demands for more financial transparency and oversight.

“It’s a good way to show transparency and to generate business,” said St. Lucia Foreign Minister Bousquet.

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Caribbean

updates

Guyana Airport Workers Get Boot An undisclosed number of employees attached to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and agencies that operate within the airport were dismissed shortly after polygraph testing was conducted.

Ramesh Ghir, the airport’s chief executive officer (CEO), on Monday evening admitted that employees both attached directly to CJIA and to agencies that operated within the airport took polygraph tests recently.

Reports indicated that these persons were dismissed after they failed the test. However, Ghir stressed that the results of those polygraph tests had nothing to do with the recent dismissal of employees.

The polygraph testing, according to him, was not conducted at CJIA and employees were dismissed for various other reasons.

Breach of organisational policies, rules and guidelines were among the reasons for dismissals, he said.

Insisting that there was no correlation between negative polygraph results and the dismissal of employees, the CEO said that this was not the first time CJIA and the agencies were dismissing employees.

Those employees recently dismissed, he said, had been “paid all their benefits”.

Stabroek News was unable to ascertain how many employees, directly attached to the airport, were dismissed and which of the agencies that operate within CJIA had fired staff.

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JAMAICA

Lack of Helmets Killing Jamaican Cyclists KINGSTON, Jamaica -- We see them everyday on our roads; pedal and motorcyclists skillfully weaving and winding their way through heavy lines of traffic, with an ease that motorists, sitting in that heavy traffic, often envy.

But, with such advantage comes a certain degree of vulnerability to serious injuries from accidents, as motorcycle and bicycle riders lack the physical protection offered by an enclosed vehicle.

And so, no one would argue against the need for them to wear protective helmets, to reduce head injuries and fatalities from crashes. Yet, ever so often, riders are seen without this essential piece of protective gear, taking some of the most dangerous risks imaginable and leaving fellow road users flabbergasted at their near death misses.

These reckless practices have the Director of the Road Safety Unit (RSU), Kenute Hare extremely concerned. “Already, 12 pedal cyclists and 26 motorcyclists have died since the start of 2009. Of these, none of the pedal cyclists were wearing helmets,” Hare bemoans, noting that pillion passengers are also often unprotected.

He tells JIS News that although pedal cyclist fatalities declined from 59 in 2001 to 37 in 2008, the June 30, 2009 Crash Report of the Road Safety Unit showed several fluctuations amidst the progress made in the seven preceding years. In fact, fatalities among this group increased by 32 per cent from 28 in 2007 to 37 in 2008.

The 12 recorded deaths this year are however, five less than the 17 documented at the end of June last year and the RSU projects a total of 25 pedal cyclist deaths for 2009, 12 or 32.4 per cent less than the 37, who died last year.

For motor cyclist fatalities, the projections are a bit less heartening.

While there were minor improvements between 2001 and 2008, overall, fatalities increased from 32 in 2001 to 42 in 2008. The RSU foresees a 19 per cent increase in fatalities from 42 to 50 deaths for this category of road users in 2009. Up to June 30, 174 persons were killed in 149 crashes.

The concern about the mortality of motor and pedal cyclists is shared by countries across the world. A 2009 World Health Organisation (WHO) Road Safety Report shows that an estimated 1.27 million people die annually as a result of road crashes and road crash injuries. Almost half of this number are said to be pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists.

According to the WHO Road Safety report, road traffic death rates are increasing in most regions of the world, and unabated, will rise to an estimated 2.4 million a year by 2030, almost twice the current figure. Again, the projections for pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists deaths are relatively high.

The resounding solution offered to this most vulnerable group of road users is to protect the head. Despite the life-saving benefits, however, many refuse to do so.

Jermaine Dawes, a motor cyclist of Seaview Gardens, tells JIS News that he acknowledges the need for a helmet but admits that he does not wear one.

“Actually, I know of the purpose that it protects your head and all, but to me it feels like an obstruction. It feels uncomfortable and, added to that, I don’t really ride too hard, so most times I go without it,” he says.

According to Medical Epidemiologist for Chronic Disease and Injuries at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Tamu Davidson-Sadler, motorcyclists, who do not wear helmets, are at a much higher risk of sustaining head injuries and dying from these injuries. She says that while most crash cyclists sustain multiple injuries, one of the main injuries seen in hospitals is head injuries.

Head injury includes damage to the scalp, the skull and the brain, with brain injuries the most serious. Findings from a study conducted in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, indicate that bicycle helmets decrease the risk of brain injury by 69 per cent and the risk of severe brain injury by 79 per cent.

“By wearing a helmet, you reduce the risk of having a head injury and so one of the critical things to do is to wear a helmet. We know that if there’s an accident, at least the helmet will provide some protection,” said Dr. Davidson-Sadler.

Highlighting the varying degrees and severity of injuries that accident victims can suffer, the Ministry of Health official explains this could range from a concussion, to a fatal head wound.

“If they meet in an accident and they are not wearing a helmet they could sustain head injuries, whether they just fell off the bike and hit their heads or whether they went through a screen. Depending on the type of injury, they could have a skull fracture, they can suffer a concussion and lose consciousness,” she explains.

With a helmet however, the skull decelerates and the subsequent brain movement is reduced, as the helmet manages the impact of the head on the object. The soft material incorporated in the helmet absorbs some of the impact and therefore the head comes to a halt more slowly. This means that the brain does not hit the skull with such great force, as the helmet prevents direct contact between the skull and the impacting object by acting as a mechanical barrier.

“The main emphasis therefore is to wear a helmet. You could suffer anything from a mild concussion to severe brain injury, and wearing a helmet decreases the risk,” states Davidson-Sadler, adding her support to the need to wear this all important piece of protective device.

In the meantime, Hare is seeking the support of enforcement bodies to impose the law regarding the wearing of helmets. He believes that only a strategic partnership involving the Road Safety Unit, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the judiciary and other relevant bodies, will force cyclists to protect themselves.

“We are concerned about the constant disrespect and flouting of the law by these cyclists, who continue to put themselves and others in danger. We are calling on the JCF to implement strategic measures to deal with these cyclists, who need to understand that the helmet is there to protect your skull and to protect your brain,” he says. “This is costing the country dearly as we are losing valuable human resources as a lot of productive persons have been killed.”

JULY 2, 2009 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR *

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Killings In Jamaica Linked To Guns From U.S. Lax American laws, local bribes enable smuggling to gangs KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Ships from Miami steam into Jamaica’s main harbor loaded with TV sets and blue jeans. But some of the most popular U.S. imports never appear on the manifests: handguns, rifles and bullets that stoke one of the world’s highest murder rates.

The numbers are much lower than that of U.S. guns that end up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels — Jamaican authorities recover fewer than 1,000 firearms a year. But of those whose origin can be traced, 80 percent come from the United States, Jamaican law enforcement officials said.

And as the Obama administration cracks down on smuggling into Mexico, Jamaicans fear even more firearms will reach the gangs whose turf wars intimidate the island of 2.8 million people.

“It’s going to push a lot of that trade back toward the Caribbean like it was back in the ’80s,” said Vance Callender, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attache at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston.

U.S. authorities are beginning to target the Jamaican gun-smuggling network as part of a broad effort to boost security in the Caribbean. But they have a long way to go.

Jamaican authorities have confiscated only 100 guns coming into ports in the past five years, along with 6,000 rounds of ammunition.

That is just a fraction of the 700 or so weapons confiscated on the streets each year.

Authorities know they are only seeing “the tip of the iceberg,” said Mark Shields, Jamaica’s deputy police commissioner.

With arsenals to rival police firepower, the gangs are blamed for 90 percent of the homicides in Jamaica - 1,611 last year, about 10 times the U.S. rate, relative to population.

Unlike in Mexico, the vast

majority of Jamaican guns seized are submitted for tracing. Jamaica and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) find most of the seized weapons come from three Florida counties - Orange, Dade and Broward - all with large Jamaican populations, according to Shields.

X-ray scanners were installed two years ago at Jamaican ports, but the gangs use bribery and intimidation to get their shipments past inspectors.

In April, a newly hired customs supervisor had his tires slashed and days later was shot at on his way home from work, authorities say.

The man was known for his strict scrutiny of cargo coming into a gang-infiltrated warehouse on the Kingston wharf.

When the gangs apply pressure, “no one says no,” said Danville Walker, Jamaica’s commissioner of customs.

“It’s a massive problem,” said Leslie Green, a Jamaican assistant police commissioner. “There aren’t any checks or any controls on goods leaving the United States. Yet anything leaving here, we have to make sure it’s double-checked and tripled-checked for drugs.”

This complaint — that Americans care only what comes in, not what goes out — echoes that of Mexican authorities, who say cars going from the U.S. into Mexico are not searched for weapons or cash.

Now hundreds of agents are participating in a $95 million outbound inspection program, stopping suspicious-looking cars and trucks

A Jamaican police officer marks a seized handgun inside a weapons depositary in Kingston, Jamaica. The island nation’s authorities confiscate about 700 firearms on the streets each year.

But with rampant smuggling from the United States, that is just “the tip of the iceberg,” according to Mark Shields, Jamaica’s deputy police commissioner.

as they cross the border into Mexico.

Authorities do not know how many firearms get through, but more than 12,000 guns used in crimes in Mexico last year were sent to U.S. authorities for tracing, a number that grows as more agencies in Mexico are trained to submit weapons for traces.

The United States and Jamaica both prohibit the unlicensed transport of guns. But like Mexican smugglers, Jamaican ones depend on lax U.S. gun laws, corrupt customs inspectors and frontmen acting as buyers.

Florida gun laws make it relatively easy to legally buy a firearm, and much of the smuggling is done by family and friends, said Shields.

The guns are concealed in container loads of blue plastic and cardboard barrels, the kind Jamaicans use to send household goods to their families on the island.

Some shipping companies

advertise a no-questions-asked policy in soliciting customers, said Walker. He declined to single out companies.

In one of the few Jamaican gunsmuggling cases prosecuted in the United States, Tawanna Banton, 36, of Florida, was convicted of buying a Glock handgun later used in the gang killings of four island police officers.

She said her Jamaican boyfriend arranged the purchase and she was paid $15,000 to buy the handgun and a .50 caliber “Grizzly” rifle with a tripod mount, according to court documents.

She told ATF agents the guns were then hidden inside kitchen appliances and driven to Miami for shipment to Kingston. Banton pleaded guilty to making false statements to the gun dealer in 2006 and served a month in prison.

Besides coming in on freighters, authorities say, guns are stolen or

purchased from crooked police or in “guns-for-ganja” deals by fishermen, who bring homegrown marijuana to nearby Haiti and return with pistols, revolvers and submachine guns - many of them thought to be from the United States as well.

Callender’s ICE unit began investigations in Jamaica last year with a focus on guns. He said agents in Miami and New York have been working to “interject themselves” into the shipping networks.

Indictments are imminent in two or three cases involving suspected Jamaican traffickers inside the United States, he said, without elaborating.

Then there is the $45 million Caribbean Basin Security Initiative on regional security, announced by President Obama in April, which is designed to help the islands counter any spillover of violence from Mexico.

JULY 2, 2009 * NEW YORK LIBERTY STAR *

111 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 2nd Floor, Suite 2L 718.221.5186 866.840.2566

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Dance Groups Compete For World Reggae Championships MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - Mickhugh Thomas, leader of the Dustville Dance Group, is hoping that his group is one of those selected to participate in the finals of the very lucrative World Reggae Dance Championships put on by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).

More than $1 million in cash and prizes are up for grabs at the national finals, which will be staged on August 1 at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in Kingston.

The Dustville group, which participated in the elimination round for St. Ann held on Friday at the Ocean Village Shopping Centre, performed an entertaining and well choreographed dancehall piece, which went over well with the Ocho Rios audience.

Mickhugh said that he was pleased with the performance, noting that the group was well prepared. He said that the six members have been practising for the competition for almost a year.

“We entered the competition last year and we were just waiting for it this year.

Last year, we took the competition a bit simple and we went there and saw a lot of things, which made us realize that we would have to come better this year, so we worked on it throughout this whole time and we intend to do our best in this one,” he stated.

After an exciting performance, the Caliville group, also from Steer Town, is confident of a callback from the JCDC. Group leader Kaderoy Wilson, said that Caliville was prepared to represent the parish at the national finals.

“Our group has been around for two years now and we have had the opportunity to enter many competitions including the Tastee Talent competition and the JCDC Festival,” he said.

“We know that we are the best and we have come here to show JCDC what we can do and to make our parish proud,” he added confidently. He commended JCDC for staging the event so that many young Jamaicans could get an opportunity to showcase their talent.

The competition, which is being staged for the fourth year, comprises islandwide eliminations and a grand finale, where groups of dancers, in full costume, will perform a distinct choreographed work for a panel of judges drawn from the Jamaican dance fraternity. The dance categories are roots reggae, dancehall, reggae contemporary/classic, reggae dancehall and dance narrative.

Event Specialist for JCDC, Juliet Cowan Morgan, said that the level of competition so far has been “really good”.

“This is our fourth year in staging this event and we are looking forward to bigger and better things,” she said.

Eliminations for Portland were also held last Friday at the Port Antonio Old Marina, and on July 11 at the Jamalco Sports Club in Clarendon.

The St. James leg of the eliminations will be held on July 17 at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay, while the Kingston eliminations will be held on July 20 at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre.

Keyshia Cole, Lyfe Jennings Kick Off Brooklyn Free Concert Series Brooklyn, NY -- R&B and television reality show star Keyshia Cole and platinumselling Lyfe Jennings kicked off the 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series, held at Wingate Field in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Monday night.

The event which is hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, is the largest free concert series in the New York metropolitan area.

“Music brings us together! In fact, the borough that rocks together flocks together, which is why I have looked forward to hosting free concerts every summer in Central Brooklyn for 27 years now, and in Brighton Beach-Coney Island for more than three decades,” said Markowitz.

“From Seaside ’s superstar lineup of Daryl Hall & John Oates Up Close & Personal Tour, Donna Summer, Blondie and Pat Benatar to MLK’s Keyshia Cole, Robin Thicke, Teena Marie, The O’Jays, Anita Baker and Sean Paul, stars that perform the world over are thrilled to take the stage in Brooklyn , USA . And even though I always promise that this year’s lineup is the most exciting ever, this summer will really be the best!” he added.

Martin Luther King Jr. concerts will be held Monday nights at 7:30 pm at Wingate Field on Brooklyn Avenue between Rutland Road and Winthrop Street . Seating is limited so attendees should bring chairs. Performers are subject to change without notice. Call the concert hotline for updates at 718-222-0600, or visit www.brooklynconcerts.com.

Remaining Mar tin LLuther uther King Jr Martin Jr..

Concer hedule Concertt Series Sc Schedule JUL Y 20 JULY ys Love Train The Sound of Philadelphia – The O’Ja O’Jays ys, Russell Thompkins Jr Jr.. & the New Stylistics tylistics, Jerr Jerryy Butler Butler, Har Harold Nottes Ne wS tylistics old Melvin’s Blue No JULY 27 er An Evening with Anita Bak Baker er, Charlie Wilson AUGUST 3 Thick Sullivan Robin Thic ke, Jazmine Sulliv an AUGUST 10 fre tuddard Marie, Jef Jeffre freyy Osborne Osborne, Special Guest Ruben S Studdard Teena Marie AUGUST 17 Gospel Night – Dedicated to the memory of Reverend Timothy Wright dams, Israel Hought on and the Ne w Breed Adams, Houghton New Yolanda A AUGUST 24 aul ow Caribbean Night – Sean P Paul aul, “King of Calypso” The Mighty Sparr Sparro

New York Pays Tribute Three To Trini Calypsonian Musicians BROOKLYN, NY -- ‘Papers No Use’, ‘The Mecca’, ‘North Stand’ and his 2009 award-winning selection ‘Obama-mania’: these outstanding and much loved compositions, represent a small part, of a generally unheralded impressive body of work which seasoned calypsonian Bro. Mudada has blessed our ears and hearts with over many years.

The records will readily attest to the fact that Mudada, born Allan Fortune, has been one of the most consistent calypsonians, Trinidad has ever produced.

Even when the was not “on the charts” with his recordings, he was always producing thought-provoking compositions which were lyrically well-constructed and tuneful as well.

All of this would have contributed positively to this articulate stage practitioner, copping the 2009 Veterans Calypso Monarch in

Bro. Mudada

Trinidad & Tobago during the this year’s festive feasts. From a field of several mature calypso campaigners, Mudada grabbed the judges’ nod and walked away with the veterans’ title.

He sang ‘The Mecca’ and ‘Obama-mania’ to earn his first major victory in his homeland, having triumphed as the St. Thomas Calypso Monarch in 2004. Intriguingly, because of this year’s victory, New York City is getting ready to salute Bro. Mudada at a special ‘Victory Show & Dance’ event.

The event is slated to take place on August 8th at the Afrika House in Brooklyn.

Mudada will be honored for his 2009 success during the event.

Also slated to receive honors are: Twiggy, this year’s National Calypso Queen; and Frosty Brooks who was crowned the Manzanilla Calypso Monarch of 2009.

Jamal Talib, CEO and President of Hometown Studios, sponsores of the event, says, “we at the studio, feel extremely proud that our products have been so successful during carnival 2009 in Trinidad & Tobago, and that’s largely why we want to pay special tribute to these artistes.”

Soca music pioneer Lord Nelson is scheduled as a “special guest artiste” for the Victory celebration event.

Augmenting the cast which includes veteran DJ Mad Man Maddy, are established industry names like Lovey and Ajala. Garth David, a Hometown Studios recording artiste, and Cholet are also on the playbill.

Honored For Work

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- Three of Barbados’ top arrangers, Mike Sealy, Michael “Smokey” Roett and Keith Ellis, are being honoured for their contribution to the development of calypso music in the Crop-Over festival over the years.

The tribute, part of the 25th anniversary of the Festival Band which accompanies the calypsonians during Pic-O-DeCrop competition, comes off at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre next Monday at 8 p.m.

The show, brainchild of fellow musician David Weatherhead, will be supported by musical colleagues Roger Gittens and John Matthews.

Selected singers, whose music would have been scored by the honourees, will perform selected songs and all three arrangers would be asked to chose five or six pieces which represented their best.

The band will also do some big band arrangements.

“We are honouring these guys who pioneered the scoring of music for the guys in the tents. This meant that the calibre of musicians would have risen because we had to read music,” said Gittens.

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YOUR WEEKLY HOROSCOPE ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Try not to lend or borrow money or belongings this week. First find out if they’re married. Help if you can, but more than likely it will be sufficient just to listen.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21) If they want help that’s great, but if they try to take credit for your work, you will have to set them straight.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) Do not blow situations out of proportion. Don’t let peers distract you or push their work your way. You will find that money could slip through your fingers.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) You may want to take a look at courses offered at a local institute. Health problems may prevail if you haven’t been getting enough rest.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Organize your day to avoid any setbacks that might ignite temper flare-ups. Try not to discuss important matters with colleagues.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) You will need a little competition this week. Gel involved in activities that will stretch your stamina. You can expect your mate to get fed up and make the choices for you or back off completely. Hold your temper and refrain from doing anything that might cause injury.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) Take some time to change your house around. Your ability to visualize will help you convince others of the possibilities. Don’t vacillate about asking for assistance if you need it.

Emotional deception will cause friction on the home front.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) There’s lots to be done and if you meet your deadline you’ll be in your boss’s good books.

Competitive games will be your forte.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Romantic opportunities will flourish through travel or communication. Don’t involve yourself in the emotional problems of those you work with.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Disruptions may set you back, but you’re strong, and in the end the choices you make will be favorable. You may have a problem at work with a female coworker.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Be careful not to get involved in other people’s personal affairs.

You will find travel and lectures most stimulating. Money may slip through your fingers.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Stay away from social unpleasantness. Legal matters that have been pending may be alleviated through compromise.

Compromising could be on the agenda this week. Talk to others about your plans.

718-498-0129 FAX 718COPYKING341@YAHOO.COM

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W E E K LY W O R D S E A R C H

ON THE WATER

BARGE, BATTLESHIP, BOAT, CANOE, CARRIER, CATAMARAN, CLIPPER, CORSAIR, CORVETTE, CRUISER, CUTTER, DESTROYER, DINGHY, DORY, FERRY, FRIGATE, GALLEON, GONDOLA, JUNK, KAYAK, LIFEBOAT, LINER, LUGGER, MOTORBOAT, PACKET, PRIVATEER, PUNT, RAFT, RIGGER, ROWBOAT, SAMPAN, SCHOONER, SCOW, SHIP, SKIFF, SLOOP, SMACK, TANKER, TRAWLER, TUGBOAT, YACHT.

SEE SOL 7 UTIONS, PAGE 2 27 SOLUTIONS

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Jim Anderson: Heaven Can Wait

By Matt Vilkas & Shannon Woodland

“I felt like I was fading away ... The next thing I knew, off in the distance, I saw a white light.”

Rev. Timothy Wright

Son Of ‘Godfather Of Gospel’ To Lead Church The son of the late Rev. Timothy Wright was installed as pastor of his father’s church on Sunday, three months after the death of the Grammy-nominated gospel music singer known to some as the “godfather of gospel”.

David Wright, 30, was chosen to become the leader of Grace Tabernacle Christian Center in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, which his late father and mother started nearly two decades ago, according to a family spokesperson.

His father died on April 24 after having been critically injured last July when a drunk driver hit his car head-on as the 61-year-old Wright and his family were returning from a Church of God in Christ conference in Detroit on July 4,2008.

The older Wright, who was paralyzed from the chest down, had been in rehab since the three-vehicle crash, which killed his wife and teenaged grandson.

Aside from being the founder of Grace Tabernacle Christian Center, Wright recorded 12 albums and composed many of the songs on them.

In the 1990s, Wright was twice nominated for a Grammy for best traditional soul gospel album.

Wright’s last album, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, came out in 2007.

David Wright is one of his five sons.

Jim Anderson was dying from a massive heart attack. The only signs of trouble came a year earlier, but his doctor called his symptoms “stress related.” Jim was working 12 hour days as a supervisor at a waste water treatment plant. But this time, Jim knew it was much more than stress.

“I was resting in my bedroom and all of a sudden, I had a crushing pain in my chest; and the pain radiated down my arm and up the side of my neck,” Jim said. “I couldn’t catch my breath. And I called to my daughter and said, ‘You’re going to have to get me to the hospital. I’m not going to make it.’ ” A balloon catheter was inserted into his artery. He was stabilized and placed on a heart transplant list. But two days later, Jim flat lined.

Jim remembers, “I could see everyone rushing into the room, but I couldn’t hear the alarms going off.

It’s like I had gone under water. The hearing had just faded away. That’s when I began to pray. I knew I was dying. It wasn’t a scared praying. It was earnest.”

“As I prayed it got darker ‘til the point it went black,” Jim said. “The next thing I knew, off in the distance, I saw a white light. It was beautiful.

It just wasn’t blinding, but pure and perfect. As I started to go towards the light, I could see the out; the outer edge of it begins to spiral. And I couldn’t figure out what that was.

But as I got closer, I could see it was the words of prayers revolving. The

words broke off, going into the light.

And I followed into the light.”

“The next thing I felt was being embraced ... safe and secure. It felt wonderful. It felt like total love,” Jim said. “Next thing I knew, I was looking down at the room where my body was. I could see everyone working on me. I could hear what they were saying. There were two nurses outside of the room looking in. One said to the other, ‘Why are they working so hard? He’s gone. If they do bring him back, he’ll be a vegetable.’ I later on told her what she said. She about passed out.”

Then Jim thought to himself, “Where’s Debbie?”

Then, instantly he was in the room where she was.

Jim’s wife, Debbie recalled, “I had just gotten finished with that prayer. You know, ‘He’s yours, Lord,’ because I knew that was the only way he was coming back to us...if God wanted him to.”

Jim remembered, “When she did that, I zoomed right in on her face. And when I saw her face, I saw every aspect of our life together; from the first day we met, our marriage, the birth of our children, all the emotions we’ve shared ... I couldn’t leave her. I just couldn’t leave her.”

“I cried out to the Lord and said, ‘Lord, I love you so much, but please let me go back.’ I said, ‘My wife needs me, my children need me so much, so much. Please let me go back.’ ”

The doctors and nurses didn’t give up. They shocked Jim so many times that the flesh on his chest was burned.

Then the doctors heard a heart beat.

“I came back to a world of pain,” Jim said. “They shocked me so many times. It’s like coming back out of the water. My hearing came back. I could hear them telling me, ‘I can’t believe he’s back ... he’s back!’ They said, ‘Can you hear me?’

And I took that first breath on my own. Have you ever tasted honeysuckle? That’s exactly what that first breath tasted like. It was so sweet, so wonderful. And I just thanked the Lord.”

Jim was alive... but his heart still wasn’t functioning properly.

“They put him into a coma, a medical coma, to allow his body to heal. So, I wasn’t able to talk to him for days,” Debbie said.

Jim spent the next 17 days in intensive care. He flat lined several more times. And each time, Jesus asked him a question…

“The subsequent times that I arrested and would go towards the light, He would ask, ‘Are you sure this is what you want?’ And each time I would ask to come back,” Jim said.

Jim woke up from his medicalinduced coma. His heart increased in function — from five percent to 30 percent. He no longer needed a heart transplant.

“It was a long process, but basically it was good to hear his voice again,” Debbie said.

His doctor implanted a pace maker in his chest. Just a couple days later, Jim was able to make it home

“I cried out to the Lord and said, ‘Lord, I love you so much, but please let me go back. My wife needs me, my children need me so much, so much. Please let me go back.’ ” Jim Anderson in time for his daughter’s graduation.

One doctor told Jim he only had a year to live. That was over seven years ago.

“It’s brought us closer together ... so much closer together. We talk about things now, and it’s whatever needs to be done for the day, it’s done. You know, we don’t focus on things that are trivial,” Debbie said.

Jim knows that every day he has with his family is a blessing from Jesus Christ.

“I try to witness to at least one person a day ... to let them know this isn’t about me ... it’s about their life!

And to know that He is there for them, and He loves them,” Jim said.

Holding On: I Learned To Let Go

By Kay W. Camenisch

Two birds battled in our driveway.The beak of one was clamped firmly on the leg of the other and it would not let go. The captured bird wrestled frantically to break loose. They jerked, thrashed, and rolled. I sat spellbound as they continued to lurch and tumble as each fought to gain the advantage.

I spotted the birds as I was leaving home to run an errand. I don’t know how long they had been locked in combat, but it looked like a fight to death. After watching almost ten minutes, I needed to go, but the birds blocked my path. When the front tire of my car was within a foot of them, the attacking bird finally released its grip and the two flew away, free.

The battle reminded me of a time my husband, Robert, and I had struggled. We must have looked just like those fighting birds. Conflict threatened to destroy our marriage and we couldn’t seem to work through it. We kept thrashing and tumbling as we sought to gain advantage. At every turn, one - or both - of us was hurt. I thought the emotional bumps and bruises would never cease.

Our struggles in relationships are often lengthened because, like the birds, neither gives in. We hold on, refusing to let go. We don’t realize that as long as we maintain our grip, we are trapped too. We are jerked, tossed, and tumbled, being wounded along with the other.

Throughout the struggle with Robert, I never guessed that I held the key to stopping it. Freedom came after I finally realized I was holding onto Robert’s leg through judgment. My judgment of him kept us locked in conflict, destroying the peace we once knew.

Initially, I didn’t approve of a decision Robert made and was afraid our family would suffer. My fear led me to be too forceful when we first talked

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about my fears, and nothing changed. Even as I tried to be respectful and supportive, I was thinking, “you shouldn’t be doing that,” and “You ought to . . .” I held him by the leg with my shoulds and oughts and continued to judge his decisions. I was not aware of my judgment, just of the fear of the consequences we could suffer from his choices.

Meanwhile, it felt to Robert like I didn’t respect him and he couldn’t do anything right. Even when I didn’t say anything, he sensed my underlying judgment. It was hard for him to hear God because of fear of my reactions.

As the conflict continued, my greatest concern was Robert’s lack of seeking the Lord. How could we expect God’s blessing if we didn’t seek His direction? What I didn’t realize was that I was standing between my husband and God. He was so afraid of my reaction that he couldn’t find the Lord. I was in the way.

Jesus’ words are so true, “Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you” (Mat 7:1-2 NASB). As long as I remained judgmental against my husband, I felt judged by him. The consequences of my judgment were worse than those from his decisions. For months, we scrambled like two birds in the driveway.

When I released Robert from my shoulds and oughts and trusted God to work out His purposes, Robert and I were both freed. He was free to hear God, and we both found peace with God and could reestablish the fellowship we had once enjoyed with each other.

The same principle holds true with my in-laws, pastor, co-worker, and neighbor. If I dwell on how they should and ought to be doing something, there is conflict. If I trust God to work in their lives, I don’t get caught up in struggles I can’t get out of.

Instead of holding on, I need to release people and circumstances into God’s hands. He is the judge.

“Therefore you are without excuse every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things” (Rom. 2:1 NASB).

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Jamaica Tops Grenada, 3-0

By Ivrol Hines

Jamaican captain Ryan Reid helped the Caribbean Cup Soccer defending champions bounce back to their winning ways, with a 3-0 victory over rival Grenada, at Thomas Jefferson High School Stadium in Brooklyn, Sunday.

Walker, the league’s leader in scoring, gave Jamaica an early 1-0 half-time lead.

“The games was very competitive, but this was a game we had to win,” said Reid after the game.

The Jamaican team was shocked

by Barbados, 3-1, in their previous match played two weeks ago, a defeat the team would like to long forget.

“After that loss ... couple weeks ago, it was good to get back into this winning zone,” said Arthur “Jetty” Mikes, Jamaica’s head coach. “This kind of effort is what the fans can expect from Jamaica right through to the end of the season. We’re gonna’ take the trophey again this year.”

Damien Williams, who recorded his second goal of the season dur-

CARIBBEAN CUP SOCCER STANDINGS EAST JAMAICA BARBADOS ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES GRENADA GUYANA DOMINICA WEST ST. KITTS & NEVIS ST. LUCIA ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TRINIDAD & TOBAGO COLUMBIA HAITI

GP W L D 4 3 1 4 3 1 3 2 1 4 1 3 1 3 1 2 4 - 3 1 3 3 3 3 4 4

2 2 2 2 1 -

1 1 1 2 4

1 1 -

GF 11 7 3 2 2 2

GA PTS 9 4 9 3 6 1 4 5 3 3 1 9

6 1 4 1 4 3 3 2 4 5 1 10

7 6 6 6 4 0

LEADING GOAL SCORERS RYAN REID JEFFERY WILLIAMS DANNY SHAW IMRON PONTEEN RHENSON HAYNES JERMAINE SMART DAMIEN WILLIAMS OREEN CHANINGER ALLISTER WARNER MARIO OLARTE

Jamaican striker Ryan Ried gets by the defender and scored the opening goal of the match. ing the match, said the team was determined to snag Sunday’s victory..

“Grenada is a nice team, but coming off a loss we had to come

out hungry, and take advantage of our quickness. We had to be mentally prepared, knowing that it’s a win that we must get,” said Williams.

Leewards Stun Barbados With Surprise Four-Wicket Win KINGSTON, Jamaica – Leeward Islands staged a gallant run chase to stun defending champions Barbados by four wickets on the final day of their second round TCL Group West Indies three-day Cup match on Wednesday.

Set a target of 272 runs for victory after Barbados declared their second innings at 177 for eight half hour into the day’s play, Leewards easily reached their target to post their second successive win in the tournament.

The Leewards owed their tremendous victory to the opening pair of captain Kejel Tyson who slammed 87 and fellow opener Tashmail Mills, who scored 64.

Mills struck eight fours and two sixes in an innings that lasted 116 minutes and required 79 balls while Tyson’s knock lasted 232 minutes, 171 balls and included 10 fours.

The duo shared a stand of 120 which laid the foundation for the Leewards’ win as they cantered home with time to spare at Elletson Road.

Both batsmen played positively with the left-handed Mills being the more aggressive of the two.

When he was dismissed, caught by Mario Miller at square leg off the bowling of fast bowler Jason Holder,

the Leewards quickly lost two more wickets as Holder hauled his side back into contention.

Holder, who finished with four for 35, quickly accounted for Shane Burton (8) and Akeen Saunders (0) as Leewards slipped to 139 for three.

Tyson, however, found an able partner in wicketkeeper/batsman Jahmar Hamilton who stroked 48, and they added 73 for the fourth wicket to put their side back on course for victory.

Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican accounted for Tyson caught at the wicket at 212 for four and Holder then removed Rakeem Cornwall without scoring, before the dangerous Hamilton was run out as Barbados clawed their way back to leave the Leewards 220 for six.

Hamilton batted 98 minutes, faced 61 balls deliveries and counted six fours.

Nelson Boland then lashed a brave, unbeaten 32 in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 54 with Hayden Walsh, who scored 19, to guide the Leewards home.

Earlier, Barbados resuming on 146 for seven, eventually declared on 177 for eight, with wicketkeeper/batsman Shane Dowrich continuing his rich vein of form with 47 not out, made in 85 minutes off 80 balls and eight fours.

Off-spinner Tevin Osbourne claimed three for 48 while pacer Boland had two for 46.

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Taylor Celebrates Amazing Maiden Ton Jerome Taylor played the innings of a lifetime to record his first Test century and also pull the West Indies out of trouble against New Zealand on the fourth day of the first Test at University Oval, Dunedin.

The fast bowler came to the crease with the Windies on 173-6 –- 192 behind. His superb 106 came off just 107 balls with 17 fours, most of them classy drives, and three towering sixes as the Windies made 340. At the close on Sunday evening the Black Caps were 44-2 – with Daren Powell taking two wickets in two balls.

“Words can’t quite describe how I feel. I always knew I had it in me to make a Test century and today I proved it. The coaches keep

Jerome Taylor

telling me I have the ability to be an allrounder and I’m taking my batting seriously and working very hard. I wanted to take it a step at a time, get a half-century first and try to move to a century. It all came at once today,” the 24-year-old said.

“It was very meaningful innings to the team and to me as an individual. I went out there with purpose and decided I had to make a difference. I decided I had to bat for the team to make sure the West Indies could not lose this match.

It was opportunity to show determination and guts and I got the reward.

“I like to express myself in the middle and show my skills. I didn’t think I had to change my style because we were in trouble.

I felt I should back myself and believe in myself. Making a Test century is everyone’s dream and I have fulfilled that dream. I hope it is the first of many to come,” added Taylor, who was recently named Cricketer of the Year in Jamaica.

It was Taylor’s first century in any form of cricket. His previous best in first-class was 40 and his Test-best before Sunday was 31.

He added a brilliant partnership of 173 in just over two hours for the seventh wicket with ICC International Cricketer of the Year, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who made 76 from 200 balls – his 50th half-century in Tests — before he was last man out.

“Batting with Shiv gave me a lot of confidence. He supported me throughout and put faith in me from the start,” Taylor said.

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Windies Remain Positive Heading To Grenada KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — West Indies went down to Bangladesh by 95 runs on the fifth and final day of the 1st Digicel Test match at Arnos Vale, St Vincent on Monday. It was the first Test match win away from home for the Tigers.

In the first hour of play the West Indies took five quick wickets to knock over the Bangladeshi lower order. Allrounder Darren Sammy again showed great control and discipline to take 5-70 — his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Fast bowler Kemar Roach bowled with pace and accuracy to take 3-67, to end with six wickets in his first Test match.

The West Indies were asked to make 277 for victory, but were all out for 181 with less than an hour left to play. Allrounder Dave Bernard tried to hold the innings together with a resolute 52 not out from 134 balls – his second half century of the match.

Despite finishing on the losing end, West Indies captain Floyd Reifer said the team had several positives in the match. He was full praise for Sammy, Bernard, Roach and rookie opener Omar Phillips, who made 94 in his first innings at Test level.

“I thought we fought really well. We had some very good moments in the match but we did not fully capitalize on them and in the end we lost out. The mood in the camp is still upbeat and we know we can bounce back in the next match,” said Reifer, who was leading the West Indies for the first time.

The second Digicel Test match starts on Friday at the Queen’s Park Stadium in Grenada. First ball is 10 am (9 am Jamaica Time).

“We represent West Indies and we will go to Grenada and fight hard. We have been training and practicing hard. It is really good to be back here again playing Test cricket,” Reifer added.

West Indies’ bowler Darren Sammy jumps into the air in celebration after taking the wicket of Bangladesh’s batsman Raqibul Hasan for 18 runs during the fourth day of the first Test match at Arnos Vale cricket ground, in Kingstown, St. Vincent, Sunday, July 12, 2009.

Bangladesh reached 321-5 in its second innings setting an overall lead of 252 with one day remaining.

Powell, Gay Can’t Get Bolt Off Their Minds Usain Bolt is the main topic of discussion ahead of the Golden Gala, even though the Jamaican sprinter isn’t competing in today’s Golden League meet.

Bolt’s two key rivals - former world record-holder Asafa Powell and world champion Tyson Gay - will go head-to-head in the 100 metres at the Stadio Olimpico before all three line up at the World Championships in Berlin next month.

“We’ve been talking about beating Usain since the Olympics,” Powell said of Bolt’s triple-gold and world record performances in the 100, 200 and sprint relay. “He ran 9.69, so it’s going to take faster than 9.69 to beat him.”

Bolt recorded an impressive 200-metre performance under the rain in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday, clocking 19.59 seconds - only one-hundredth of a second slower than what Gay ran in May with fair weather and a breeze at his back.

“I watched the race. It was pretty good considering the conditions - rain, wind in the face, the cold,” Gay said yesterday. “He looked pretty good.”

Bothered by a hamstring injury, Gay failed to advance out of the 100 semi-finals at last year’s Olympics. Gay attributed the Olympic failure to “a lack of race sharpness” and wants to get in some quality sprints before Berlin.

“I’m really looking forward to getting my season going and setting up the world championships,” the American said. “I’m 100 percent healthy and give myself a 100 per cent chance of winning (in Berlin).”

Powell is still regaining his form from an early season ankle injury and put his condition at “85 per cent.”

Powell is attempting to become only the second man in history to post more than 50 sub-10 second results in the 100. Maurice Greene of the United States tops the all-time list with 53.

“I’m not really focused on that right now,” Powell said. “I just want to get back in shape, and if I’m under 10 seconds, great.”

Besides Bolt, another notable absence in Rome is Damu Cherry, the American who was still in the hunt for the Golden League jackpot after sweeping the 100 hurdles in Berlin and Oslo.

That leaves five athletes still in contention for the US$1 million (euro720,000) jackpot, awarded to competitors who win

their events at all six stops of the Golden League.

Ethiopian standout Kenenisa Bekele won the 5,000 metres in Berlin and Oslo and Tero Pitkamaki took the javelin throw at the first two meets.

Three athletes are still in the running on the women’s side: Kerron Stewart of Jamaica in the 100 metres, Sanya Richards of the United States in the 400, and Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva in the pole vault.

While Isinbayeva shouldn’t have much trouble keeping her jackpot hopes alive, Richards could face competition from fellow American Allyson Felix in the 400 and Stewart has fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser to deal with in the 100.

Besides Fraser and Stewart, who took gold and silver in Beijing, the women’s 100 field also includes Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago and Carmelita Jeter of the United States - the fastest four women this year.

“When I was in my room yesterday looking at the list of girls competing, I said here’s the World Championships finals,” Fraser said.

“I think we’ll definitely go under 11 seconds.

I’ve never run here before and I think it’s going to be magnificent tomorrow.”

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Jamaica 24th On Medals Table Jamaica ended the sixth IAAF World Youth Championships here at the Sports Arena 24th on the medals table.

The country’s tally remained at one silver and a bronze as on yesterday’s final day Jamaica failed to get among the medals in the three finals they contested.

Kenya topped the table with six gold, seven silver and one bronze ahead of USA six gold, five silver and five bronze medals.

Grenada, thanks to Kirani James’ 200m/400m double, ended in eighth position.

This is Jamaica’s worst ever showing at a World Youth event. They won nine medals (2G, 5S, 2B) last time in Ostrava, Czech Republic (2007) . In 2005 in Morocco Jamaica brought home one silver and two bronze medals.

It was also the second time Jamaica ended the competition at this level without a relay medal, 4x100m or medley relays.

Jamaica had high expectation going into the relays yesterday, but both medley relay teams were disappointing.

“Yes, I am very disappointed, because I ran as hard as I could, but life goes on.

We didn’t get a medal, but that will not bring us down,” was how lead-off runner Deandre Whitehorne described the end result.

Danielle Dowie, the only girl to win a medal at the championships and who returned to run the 300-metre leg on the relay, said: “We are disappointed, but we did our best.”

The quartet of Whitehorne, Celia Walters, Dowie and Ristananna Tracey crossed the line in fifth clocking 2:09.79.

Whitehorne gave the team a good start, but Walters’ 200m leg was below par, which gave Dowie and anchor leg runner Tracey, who also did not have the best of runs, too much to do.

United States, as expected, won in a World Youth leading 2:04.32 ahead of Hungary (2:09.22) and Romania (2:09.25).

On the boys’ side, again, Jamaica were always in the medal hunt, but Javere Bell on the anchor leg fell before he crossed the line.

United States again topped the field in a World Youth best of 1:50.33 ahead of Brazil (1:52.66) and Japan (1:52.82).

Jamaica’s lone bright spark on the day was long jumper Rochelle Farquharson who came within two centimetres of a bronze medal. Farquharson leapt 6.03 metres, a personal best effort, for fourth.

“Performing against the best in the world and finishing fourth, I think that’s great for me,” said Farquharson.

Janieve Russell, who was also below her best, recorded 5.86m for ninth in the event won by Chinese Minjia Lu (6.22m).

SUDOKU

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SPORTS

JEROME TAYLOR

JEROME TAYLOR ENJOYS AMAZING MAIDEN TON P. 26

Jamaican striker Irving Williams scores in the final minutes of Sunday’s game against Grenada at Thomas Jefferson High School Stadium in Brooklyn. Jamaica won 3-0. (Photo by Ivrol Hines)

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