According to news reports some "alleged" gay men clashed with revelers at a Bacchanal Jamaica road march yesterday. The Star reported that about six people (men and women) headed up Constant Spring road to join the parade near West Kings House Road in some very provocative attire.
"Yuh shoulda hear dem. One say anybody tackle wi today get mash up," George an alleged witness stated.
The altercations reportedly increased as the group moved along the route and turned into physical altercations. My question to these people who joined the parade route is, "Unno mad?" Why would you knowingly come out (as a man) in fishnet stockings and a g-string understanding that the crowd would not be sympathetic towards you? I believe it is okay to be who you are, but not okay to force your own sexual orientation on other people.
Shanique Myrie, a Jamaican national is seeking $500.00 from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for what she alleges is discriminatory actions from the Barbados Immigration department. Myrie claims on March 2011, that she was unlawfully detained and stripped searched after her arrival at Grantley Adams International Airport.
The 25-year-old states she was also deported the next day back to Jamaica.
I have to say I didn't know or believe that Bajans did not care for Jamaicans. I mean I have been following this case and I can't see why they detained her. You would think they would have some valid reason for sending her back to Jamaica. Will keep updated on this story.
So what you want to know about Yam?? Well yams originated in Africa. According to Wikipedia almost 95% of the world's yam crop is harvested. Well all I know is that I grew up eating yam with a lot of meals. American style potato is called, "Irish". I guess short for Irish potato. Below are some yams that can be found in Jamaica and many other tropical islands. It was stated that the secret behind Usain Bolt's fast running is Jamaican yam.
Barbados Yam: The Barbados Yam (aka bajan or renta yam) is delicate in
nature and considered a specialty by most farmers.
Imba Yam: The
Imba Yam grows wild in most Jamaican forests and is eaten roasted.
Moonshine Yam: The Moonshine Yam is a variety of the St. Vincent Yam that
farmers say will change to the color purple if planted during a certain phase
of the moon. It is also said that a female in a certain condition should walk
through a newly planted field to improve the condition.
Taw Yam: The
Taw Yam (aka white affu yam) is the white version of the round leaf yellow yam.
Yellow Yam: The
"Black Whisp" is the most common of the two yellow yam varieties and
has a softer texture. The "Round Leaf" is very hard and powdery when
roasted or cooked and is preferred by most consumers. Yellow yam is the most
commonly cultivated yam in Jamaica.
Bitter Gashie Yam: The Bitter Gashie Yam grows wild in most Jamaican forests
and is eaten roasted. It is said to be medicinal and was used by community
midwives to purge a new mother's system and soothe after-birth pain.
Hack Yam: The
Hack Yam is named after the hack bone in a cow's foot, which it resembles in
shape. It was brought to Jamaica by Africans who used it for spiritual powers.
It is said it was used to protect crops owned by Africans. The yam would be
planted at the entrance to fields to prevent intruders from stealing crops.
Legend has it that if a person pierces their ears during hack season a large
growth will appear on the ear that resembles the hack yam. Most people today
are still afraid to touch the hack yam.
Lucy Yam: The
Lucy Yam (aka macka yam) is whitish in color but softer than the negro yam. It
has sharp thorns on the tuber and vine, hence the name macka.
Mozzella Yam: The Mozzella Yam is yellow in color and has a soft, gummy
texture.
St. Vincent Yam: The Hard Yam is delicate in nature and considered a
specialty by most farmers.
White Yam: The
White Yam is delicate in nature and considered a specialty by most farmers.
Chinese Yam: The
Chinese Yam was brought to Jamaica by the Chinese. It grows in bundles like
potatoes and are considered a delicacy.
Hard Yam: The
Hard Yam is delicate in nature and considered a specialty by most farmers.
Negro Yam: The
Negro Yam is whitish in color with a hard texture. It is a cross between the
yellow yam and the taw yam.
Sweet Yam: The
Sweet Yam is delicate in nature and considered a specialty by most farmers.
Yampie Yam: The
Yampie Yam (aka African Tuber) has become very scarce but as the name suggests
it came to Jamaica directly from Africa.
You cannot come to the island of Jamaica, without noticing the people do speak differently. Actually, it is forbidden in many Jamaican homes to speak, "patois." Growing up I could only speak it at school with my schoolmates.
The debate going on in Jamaica for many years has been the whether or not Patois is a language or just a slang for Jamaica. The technical definition of the term Creole means-, a language which comes into being through contact between two or more languages. The most important part about this definition is that a new language comes about which was not there before, yet it has some characteristics of the original language(s) and also has some characteristics of its own. The Creole of Jamaica and the Caribbean is referred to as an 'English-lexicon' and this language came about when African slaves were forced into a situation where English, or at least a very reduced form of English, was the only common means of communication.
The slave traders and owners spoke English while the slaves spoke a variety of African languages and the slaves had to assimilate by learning English which explains why much of the vocabulary is English in origin. Although there is much English vocabulary, many words were also adopted from African languages when no equivalent English word could be found such as, words for people, things, plants, animals, activities, and especially religious words (Sebba 1, 1996, 50-1.) The name Jamaica itself was derived from the Arawak word Xaymaca meaning "Island of springs," but no other known trace(s) of the Arawak, the indigenous inhabitants of Jamaica, exist today.
The debate surrounding the use of Patois as opposed to Standard English includes a number of issues and dates back to the times of slavery when Jamaicans had Standard English presented as a superior language and the indigenous language was denigrated to an inferior status. Today, more than 90% of the 2.5 million people in Jamaica are descendants of slaves brought from western Africa by the British. English is the official language but, Patois is the local language and still holds its' Africa. Below is an example of Jamaican Patois.
USA: It's been a long time since I have seen you, girl. JA: Gal yuh noh dead yet?
USA: Lord, we have lost electricity again! JA: Lawd Gad, current lack aff again!
USA: Where did you buy that awful bracelet, Cindy? JA: A weh yuh buy dat deh big ole ugly bangle deh, missus?
USA: Hors d'oeuvres. JA: Ah wah dis likkle sinting yuh a gi me?
USA: I think something is wrong with Susan, she might have the flu. JA: Lawd Gad, breeze tek up Suzie!
USA: Girl, those shoes are the bomb. JA: Gyal, yuh roach killa dem a seh one out deh.
USA: Oh my gosh, I just broke Mom's expensive plate. JA: Lawd mi Gad, mi bruk up Mama stoosh crackry.
USA: Aren't those pants a bit short? JA: Yuh did a expect flood ar yuh tek yuh measurement inna wata?
USA: Why are you squeezing the mangoes like that? JA: Lissen mi nuh, mi a beg yuh stap fingle-fingle up di mango dem.
USA: Sir, please don't throw my luggage like that. JA: Aye buff teet bwoy, tap fling up-fling up mi bag dem suh man.
USA: I wish you would quit lying. JA: Tap di blinkin lyin, yuh ole liyad.
USA: Lift the hood off the car for me, John. JA: Hey my yute, fly di bonnet!
Two women came to blows over seats in a going from Portmore to downtown Kingston. Come on now is that necessary. People can fight over some stupid things though.
This was reported by
the "Jamaica Star." apparently the people on the bus and surrounding area love deh drama. "The women were arrested after they traded fists over the scarce and precious commodity called a bus seat.
The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m., during the peak hour traffic, after a bus plying the Portmore to downtown Kingston route stopped in Parade, downtown Kingston, to pick up and let off passengers. It is reported that persons rushed into the bus to secure the limited number of seats causing them to become scarce quickly. One of the women sat on a seat and placed her belongings beside her. Many persons attempted to sit on the seat but were prevented by the diminutive female."
I really like the way this person does her cooking videos. She is right even though you use red kidney beans Jamaicans call it "rice and peas"- not rice and beans.
The music of Prince Bustamante has a unique unmistakable style. Cecil Bustamante Campbell, was born 28 May 1938. We know him better as Prince Buster. He is also known as Muhammad Yusef Ali. Prince Buster originally from Kingston, Jamaica is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music. The records he made on the Blue Beat label in the 1960s inspired many reggae and ska artists.
Prince of Peace: Prince Buster with Determinations Live in Japan (2003)
Prince Buster now lives in Miami, Florida. He has performed at a few shows over the past several years, including the 2002 Legends Of Ska festival in Toronto, in Dedham, Massachusetts in 2002, in the 2006 Boss Sounds Reggae Festival in Newcastle upon Tyne and 2007's Rhythm Festival. During the last day of the 2008 Notting Hill Carnival, Prince Buster made an appearance on the Gaz's Rockin' Blues stage, alongside The Trojans.
The Jamaica Observer reported that Coalition to Preserve Reggae Music (CPR) are saddened to learn of the passing of Sonia Pottinger and have offered their condolences to her family and friends.
Scores of curious onlookers gather near a house in the community of Long Wall in Stony Hill, St Andrew, yesterday where 43-year-old George 'Lloyd' Smielie and his son Winston, 17, were shot and killed by gunmen who firebombed their house yesterday morning. (Photo: Michael Gordon)
I was born near this area in Saint Andrew. On Tuesday gunmen yesterday morning torched a house in the community of Long Wall in Stony Hill, St Andrew then shot dead a father and his son as they tried to escape the inferno.
George Smielie, 43, and his son Winston, 17, were gunned down in a possible reprisal for the stabbing death of a youth in the community two months ago.
What makes this story so sad, is that a resident who witnessed the incident made this comment,""The man them, about five of them, surround the house and set it ablaze and then opened fire on the family members who tried to escape," said the spokesman, who described the attack as the worst to have taken place in the quiet community in recent times.
The boldness of these gunmen is a sad reflection of the fact that police patrol in certain areas of Jamaica is non-existent. I realize the fact that many of the law enforcement in Jamaica feel that they have to protect the tourist parts of the island, but what about the regular areas in the community?
Well if you read yesterday's editon of the English paper, "THE SUN," one would assume s. The Sun reported, "Honorary Consul in Jamaica John Terry - thought to have been known by the Queen - died of asphyxiation after being beaten. The 65-year-old was found naked with a cord wrapped tightly round his neck." A note was beside the body. Police sources reveal Mr Terry, made an MBE in 1992, is thought to have escorted the Queen around Jamaica on several state trips The Sun claims a note found yesterday read: "This is what will happen to ALL gays." It was signed "Gay-Man".
Yesterday, British High Commissioner to Jamaica Jeremy Cresswell expressed sorrow at Terry's death.
"We are deeply saddened that he has died in such a terrible way and it really was a wave of shock and revulsion that went through the High Commission when we heard about this," Cresswell told the Observer.
I found it interesting that the Jamaican Observer made mention of this note, however they did not reveal the contents. Today a sketch was provided of the suspect. It is widely know that indeed Jamaica does have a very low tolerance (an that is being nice using that word), to homosexuality. The fact that Jamaica does have a significant homosexual population doesn't escape me. I would not be surprised if the British tabloid was indeed true. Regardless, a man should not have had to die that way. Killing is wrong period. He left behind a wife and children.
It seems in the height of America talking about a "Stimulus Package," to get the economy back on track, the Jamaican Government is speaking in similar tones. Well, not quite the same tones. Apparently (according to the Jamaican Observer), the PNP, the Government apparently misunderstood the objective of a stimulus package, which it said is supposed to stimulate consumption of domestic production, not imports.
The PNP argued that motor vehicle imports is a substantial user of foreign exchange and added that a duty-driven spike in motor vehicles will also mean additional demand for expensive foreign oil, the largest draw on Jamaica's balance of payments.
I feel that is their take on it. If you ask the average Jamaican consumer, they will tell you about the poor air quality, congestion and of course the outrageous petrol prices.
This past Tuesday Usain Bolt and two passengers survived Tuesday's car crash on Highway 2000. I think this is a wakeup call to so many who speed on the road like they are U.S. Nascar drivers.
Bolt's car had been travelling into Kingston from Clarendon when the accident occurred. The road was slippery from afternoon showers.
Bolt and a female passenger were taken to a hospital in Spanish Town, near Kingston, where the Jamaican sprinter was treated before being sent home.
It has long been a tradition or a cultural experience for drivers to use the highways with reckless abandon. I remember growing up Jamaica and everyone drove like they owned the road. You either kept up or got ran off the road.
According to the Jamaican Observer, Dr Lucien Jones , head of the National of the National Road Safety Council," Jamaicans need to take much more seriously the issue of road safety."
As at 30 April, the number of fatal crashes for 2009 stood at 110, with 123 fatalities, similar to the statistics for 2008 for the same four-month period - 114 fatal crashes and 123 fatalities.
According to the Jamaican Observer, more then 90 per cent of Jamaicans consume bun and cheese, while Dairy Industries general manager Andrew Ho tells Thursday Food, "65 per cent of our cheese produced for the year is used up during Easter." Jamaicans love dem Bun and Cheese mon!
Fitzroy Johnson of Sovereign Supermarket outlines that his store orders around 250 cases of cheese and that stocks are usually exhausted well before Easter. "Clearly we stock all types, but at Easter Tastee is the boss.that's the cheese Jamaicans prefer."
But while the rubbery, salty appeal of Tastee might win out come Easter time, John R Wong exec Gloria Henderson says her company is never out of cheese, it's something Jamaicans eat year round.
I love Tastee cheese. Yes, it is true it is a bit salty, but there is no other cheese that goes so perfect with bun. ...and yes we can eat that all year long.
I remember walking to school and tearing the sugar cane with my teeth. It is a wonder I have any teeth left..lol Sugar cane sadly is one of those things I can't indulge in like I use to.
Brief History below...
Sugar Cane is a type of grass originally from southeast Asia. The thick stalk stores energy as sucrose in the sap. From this juice sugar is extracted by evaporating the water. Crystallized sugar was reported 2500 years ago in China and India. Around the eighth century A.D. the Arabs introduced sugar to the Mediterranean and it was cultivated in Spain. It was among the early crops brought to the Americas by Spaniards.
Sugar cane was grown extensively in the Caribbean and still is on some islands. In colonial times sugar was a major product of the triangular trade of New World raw materials, European manufactures and African slaves. France found its sugar cane islands so valuable it effectively traded Canada to Britain for their return of Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Lucia at the end of the Seven Years' War. The Dutch similarly kept Suriname, a sugar colony in South America, instead of seeking the return of the New Netherlands (New Amsterdam). Cuban sugar cane produced sugar which received price supports from and a guaranteed market in the USSR; the dissolution of that country forced the closure of most of Cuba's sugar industry. Sugar cane is still an important part of the economy in Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Grenada, and other islands. The sugar cane industry is a major export for the Caribbean, but it is expected to collapse with the removal of European preferences this year.
This is indeed her year. Serena holds claim to 10 grand slam titles. She also won this prestigious award of WTA Plaer in 2002.
"Winning the Player of the Year award for the second time in my career is a great personal achievement," Williams said in a statement released by the WTA.
She and her sister have inspired many young women to pursue their dreams in this sport
With Jamaica (like many other countries) facing such hardtimes, cutbacks are hard. Now, they are going to be using more free labor.
"With what is happening the Government is looking to cut cost in every way it can and this is one way we will have to use the resources of the inmates to reduce the cost to the public sector," Junior Security Minister Senator Arthur Williams told the Observer yesterday.
Acting Commissioner of Corrections June Spence-Jarrett told the Observer that for last year 18 projects were carried out across the island using inmates at a cost of $2 million to the Government. She said it would cost more than $40 million if the work was given to outside contractors.
I think though the outside contractors would be more reliable. If you "pay" a man for a good days work, I mean pay him well, then he will come back and work harder for you the next day. If you "beat" a man and tell him he "has to work," you will get work, but without the quality behind it. That is just my opinion. There are so many laborers in Jamaica who can do the job, but if the government is cutting cost by using inmates, then won't these laborers soon end up as inmates as well? Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures. I feel that these folks will be soon feel tempted to join criminal elements just to make ends me for themselves and family.
