Jamaica Is………

Jamaica is 'Rum and Red Stripe.'

Jamaica is 'Kola Champagne , Manish Water.'

Jamaica is 'Jerk Pork, Scotch Bonnet, Hardough Bread.

Jamaica is 'FryFish & Bammy, Coco Bread & Patty.

Jamaica is 'Irie, Nyabingi, Boogooyaga, Legobeast.

Jamaica is 'Cornmeal Dumplin, Dasheen, Yam, Coco .'

Jamaica is 'Pimento, Ackee & SaltFish, Black Mango, Star Apple.'

Jamaica is 'Miss Lou'

Jamaica is 'Anancy and Big Boy stories.'

Jamaica is 'Jackfruit, Juneplum, Naseberry, Ginep and hogplum.'

Jamaica is 'Busta, Icy Mint, and Paradise plum.'

Jamaica is 'Tinking toe, Drops, Gizzada, and Grater cake.'

Jamaica is 'Bun and cheese , and Sorrel and Rum cake.'

Jamaica is 'GRANDMARKET NIGHT!'

Jamaica is 'Doouckun u, Dip and Fall Back, Run-down.'

Jamaica is 'Bulla, Totoe , Festival and SaltFish Fritters.

Jamaica is 'Peppa shrimps, blue draws, Roast breadfruit and corned pork.'

Jamaica is 'Chalice, splif, sensi and lambs bread.'

Jamaica is 'Cool runnings, cease and settle, haul and pull up and nuff respect'

Jamaica is 'Reggae Boyz. '

Jamaica is 'Ital stew, Strong Back, Irish Moss, Circey Tea.'

Jamaica is 'Kin-Puppa-Lick!, Blouse and skirt!, Gouzum!'

Jamaica is 'Rhattid!, Blough-wow!, Geeze-u-wiz !!

Jamaica is 'Boonoonoonous'

Jamaica is 'Suck-suck and sky-juice.'

Jamaica is 'Wi likkle but wi tal-a-wa!'

Jamaica is 'Wey yu a sey?, What a gwan? & How it a go dung?'

Jamaica is 'bull-buck & duppy conqueror'

Jamaica is 'Zinc fence and gully water.'

Jamaica is 'Escoviche fish, Julie mango, Oxtail, Tripe and beans.'

Jamaica is 'Icy mint an bus-mi-jaw.'

Jamaica is 'Stop de cow bawlng eena de place.'

Jamaica is 'Anyting wha sweet yu gwine sour yu.'

Jamaica is Weh yu 'kibba yu mout'

Jamaica is 'Dandy Shandy'

Jamaica is 'A hell an powdah house dung ya tiday.'

Jamaica is 'Nu mek mi spit, an it dry up before yu cum back'

Jamaica is 'Blouse an' skirt', and 'Kiss mi neck back'.

JAMAICA IS EVERYTHING WE ARE AND MUCH MORE...

JAMAICA LAND WE LOVE! IF YOU LOOK AT THIS LIST AND YOUR HEART SMILES, YOU'RE DEFINITELY JAMAICAN.

Tirade of a social liability of a footprint

By Carol Lawton

I sometimes think randomly and write on impulse as the intangible of my brain needs the tangible of the pen. While both are real it means nothing unless it is created in hard form. For months they sometimes stay still not even a vowel to create by this marriage. But in time, the partnership of brain and pen bears fruit with gushes of words, sentences and nonsensical logic. So too it is with the relationship of all of us who are true capitalist as ideas become market commodities. Hence the capitalist cannot ignore and must understand the environment as this is a real waste and not a imagine waste. Environmental protection is not in the mind of the capitalist anymore it is real in terms of dollars and sense for those who doubt it is the partner that will sustain the very market that pushes return on investment (ROI).A simple profit analysis yield s that revenue minus expense equal profit should settle that. NO ONE CAN DEBATE THAT even the socialist. It is hard wired into all activity of the market. Why then should the capitalist break this wedlock which binds us forever with the environment?

The carbon footprint of our actions seems to missing from the bottom line of our accounting statements. There are few businesses much less one official or government willing to see how critical it is to make these adjustments as it will increase economic growth and efficiencies. It will create work via new career paths for all strata which will drive services. Capital investment will be created with the sales of hard purchases over a long term as these as not quick fixes or one time fixes. It ties in the lifecycle management and merges scientific management with the liberal arts. An El Greco is just a painting but its value is priceless so too is the environment as it’s just a beach but its value is priceless. So pity the fool who destroys our beaches in Jamaica under the guise of development, GDP and political brownie points because they are thieves of our present and future. This value is nothing to them because they place no value on it and will wreck it just for a back door cut of the projects slated. Lets us just be real about how it really works. So short term gains are traded off for exponential ROI gains. Is that a fair tradeoff Are you willing to trade these off?

A move to make adjustment could see new technologies and concepts of debt financing between Jamaica and its donor agencies who belong to the countries producing the most waste ,if we should think outside the box while inside the reality of Jamaica. Jamaica is a box open out flat. THIS IS ALSO A FACT AS SO FAR NORTH, SOUTH EAST OR WEST THEN WATER. Investment could be use to convert energy into numerous by products of which Red Stripe is doing with its cogen plant. One of the more forward think companies I must add. But it would also affect the social including crime, education, health and even the direct and indirect customers of those who leave a carbon foot print. But then again I have yet to hear anyone speak of the matter in Parliament so it is not on their radar. How can an economy exist with being in an environment? The intangible and the tangible must blend in this age as we exist with the technology to convert ideas into reality. Hence what did not exist now becomes tangible and what exist become an intangible making it obsolete and irrelevant. So too is social responsibility to the act of business and government.

We complain about JPS and the cost associated but have we ever seen the real accounts for the carbon waste that JPS produces to gain profits? Yet they speak of some people wanting something for nothing. Is it actively planting tree and upgrading its system fast enough to ensure that the cost are mitigated? How many tons of emission does it produce and what is the real value of the cost of the pollutants? JPS is not the only one I might add all business produce a carbon footprint . It just that JPS is the beating stick which is the easiest to pick on as an example. Our air quality is invisible but it has a value to me. Do you value the air you breathe? Is this a negative ROI for those who are trying to say clean but still forced to breathe because life s everything?

In some forward thinking countries debt can be written off for their pollution waste. Countries trade this at time for debt as well in their trade negotiations for well over two decades. What a concept air is a tangle commodity even across border that can attract a monetary ROI! Companies are given tax breaks for buying new equipment and reducing Carbon output. How novel! Yet the world has been doing this for years. This is not only about climate change but how do we put value to the intangibles of environmental protection to be socially responsible to both internal and external stake holders hence increasing equity.

I am a capitalist and the environment does have a price on it. It carries revenue and expenses with ties into the primary law that runs our head which is profits. Without profits no taxes and increase in social liabilities on the human side. Losses normally just give us headaches. Since the laws of economic bonds the environment, it is rightful that we look at it as capital and protect it and try to expand its worth and value. Two projects will harm it that are slated as mega projects which I believe in which makes it hard to resolve. But I will choose the environment at all times especially since these project involve the sea, beaches and water. The logistics hub and Port Royal development are these two projects. They will affect me directly on all fronts hence they are an interest to me as well. It is at this point I look more at government as the largest business and ignorer of its social responsibility and the footprint it makes in our lives past present and future. The government feels it holds no responsibility to us for the environment yet we are required as active investors in taxes and fees to support its action blindly. Our waters are polluted and watershed damaged. Do you like clean drinking water?

Legislation is hinder under the pretense of the process but the government makes up the majority in Parliament and is sure of a win when it wants it. So is it they lack the will to look out for our interest? The use of the state’s power forces us to hold a negative business with disregard to our environmental laws. Why create laws if they do not apply to the maker? An environmental impact study must determine the cost in real dollars and cents to the society and economy. Yet they are mostly words. Show me the money is all I have to say to the cost. What are the financials behind the environmental cost? I hear the emotions but I want to see the numbers and what the resource are valued at by the government. This is what is expect to be responsible to us in our generation, Government of Jamaica. Do you think the government is being responsible here by holding back information? More questions than answers as it concerns my interest and what I value.

1.    What will happen to the annual turtle migration nesting sites along the Palisadoes Strip?

2.    What will happen to the crocodiles in the mangroves when your mega projects go up?

3.    How to you project to maintain the estuaries and mangroves which are breeding ground for the fish?

4.    Will we have access to beaches?

5.    Will we be able to afford to go to Port Royal to relax?

6.    How is it right that my friends in Port Royal cant build a home because of historic landmarks and environmental limitation but this project will go ahead? Is the government beyond the law as the stake holders are the government agencies in the project?

7.    The government sells energy to JPS and runs the only refinery. How many tons of CO2 is pumped into our air and how much more will be added with this new build out for the logistics hub and the traffic it creates?

You cheat us Government of Jamaica with withholding key information and holding phony accounting books on the environment and its cost. If future cost can be access and liabilities, state your case for the short term gains and long term gains. How we can mitigate the liabilities of your forced decisions on the environment. The government and the true capitalist must review the balance sheet and ensure that the cost of doing business includes the environment. Plant a Tree and don’t step on your social responsibility to us with a footprint and a news headline saying it was a missed step.

Save The Goat Islands in Jamaica

www.savegoatislands.org

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP SAVE GOAT ISLANDS

Share the Petition with your friends using this link: 

http://chn.ge/1ecZdCO

Little Goat Island along with Great Goat Island are the cays that make up the Goat Islands, located less than a mile off the coast of Jamaica, southwest of the Hellshire Hills. It is part of Saint Catherine Parish. Little Goat Island is adjacent to the northwest portion of Great Goat Island, and both are within the Portland Bight Protected Area. Until the 1940s, these cays were home to a population of Jamaican Iguana. However, as with most mainland populations, the Little Goat Island population was thought to have become extinct, mainly due to predation by introduced small Indian mongooses and habitat alteration by feral goats. These areas are of high conservation value due to the numbers of vulnerable and endemic species that live there.

The Government of Jamaica is engaged in negotiations with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to establish a large transshipment port in the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA) in the vicinity of the Goat Islands. The Portland Bight Protected Area contains significant environmental assets. The coastline includes the largest mangrove system in Jamaica (about 2/3 of all Jamaica’s mangroves, according to land use 1998) which together with extensive sea‐grass beds and coral reefs, likely contains the largest nursery area for fish and shellfish on the island.

Coral reefs are found mainly in the shallow waters surrounding the nine small islands or cays within the PBPA. The PBPA includes some of the most extensive areas of coral reef in Jamaican waters, and although, like reefs island wide, they are under stress, in 2003, hard coral cover at six reef sites surveyed ranged from 5.8 to 33.4 percent and “fish counts were generally higher than at other Jamaican sites surveyed using Reef Check method”. The Galleon Harbour area, in particular, is a major nursery and critical habitat area for fishable species of all types, including snapper, grunt, lobster, shrimp, and oysters. Beaches in the PBPA and on its cays are considered the most important nesting areas for sea turtles in Jamaica, with at least four species of globally endangered sea turtles nesting there. The beaches of the PBPA are valuable to local communities as fishing beaches and for recreation.

March is Women History in the USA

I Matter © 2007

Written by Janice K. Maxwell

www.JamaicanDiaspora.com

You might not want me here but I am and plan to stay.

No, I won’t shut up and accept what has been

ascribed,

prescribed

and described about me to make you feel comfortable, less threated or superior.

For many reasons, I matter.

I breathe air and life is still in me.

My soul has traveled far, so I matter.

I have survived the middle passage,

endured the cane fields

media stereotypes,

sneers

and slights.

I am not going away

head down

or defeated.

I am here to stay.

The voiceless has spoken

And

will continue to speak

against  injustice

ignorance

and insensitivity.

Yes,

oh yes,

I matter.

February is Black History Month in the USA

February is Black History Month in the USA

IN THE BLACKNESS

In the Blackness

As we reclined together

I heard your whisper

Take the breath from my lips

And let us breathe as one

If only for a night

Let time Stand still

Let it wait to be summoned

By the future

But for us, now

Only the present matter

In the Blackness

You’ll find my light

It shines

Just for you

By Anthony Jules

PORTLAND: THE OTHER JAMAICA

 

By Ken Roueche

www.PortlandtheotherJamaica.com

 

PORTLAND: THE OTHER JAMAICA offers a glimpse into the history of this most beautiful parish, stretching from Buff Bay to Hector's River and up the many river valleys to the Blue Mountains. Portland has been home to some remarkable people, including more than a few dreamers, schemers and crusaders. Shaped by the heavy hand of Mother Nature Portland is blessed with outstanding beauty and challenged by remarkable geography, which provided a perfect homeland for the Windward Maroons as they fled the terror of colonial oppression under the spiritual leadership Nanny. The 1739 Maroon Treaty was followed by the invasion of British planters with their toxic mix of slavery, violence and sugar.

The end of slavery opened up abandoned plantations and mountain villages to modest opportunities for liberated slaves. Within a generation their sons and daughters were enterprising banana farmers responding to the call from Captain Baker to grow banana for the world. Portland soon became the "Banana Capital of the World". This was followed by the arrival of the railway which spurred even more banana production and helped launch the tourist industry and the building of the Titchfield Hotel.

Many of the world's major events have shaped Portland's history, including Port Antonio's strategic location during the Spanish American War and the loss of so many young men during the Great War. The Parish has also been blessed with great leaders including Captain Quao, Ken Jones, Sir Harold Allan and many others. In recent years Portland has also attracted the attention of Hollywood stars, starting with Errol Flynn and followed by Queens, Princes, Princesses, Barons, Captains of Industry and more movie stars. And today the dreamers and schemers are still coming to Portland.

TOP TOURIST SPOTS IN JAMAICA

Written by Alice Jerusha


Since time immemorial Jamaica has been the best travel destination for many tourists all around the world. This country is blessed with numerous great physical features as well as great entertainment and culture ever witnessed anywhere before. Apart from that, the natives here are also very kind and polite to all visitors from every corners of the earth.

Apart from her great physical features, the country of Jamaica is also blessed with just the perfect climate that is favourable for every human being. The daily weather conditions are also awesome as this country lies within the tropical region. It is true to say that the perfect climate has made Jamaica to be among the best tourist destination places worldwide.

Therefore the following are just but a few top places you should never fail to visit as a tourist in Jamaica;

Dunn's River Falls

If you visit Dunn's River Falls, you will be amazed to see the spectacular 600ft water fall which is very popular.

This magnificent water fall is characterized by cold and clear white froth that splashes over a series of stone steps while trickling towards the sea at the same time. Therefore if you want to greatly enjoy your visit to the Dunn's Water Falls, ensure that you hire a tour guide.

Montego Bay

Another great tourist attraction spot that you can visit if you are a tourist in Jamaica is the popular Montego Bay. Montego Bay is characterized by nice beaches that offer great opportunities for each and every tourist to enjoy all types of water sports. This place is among the best spots in Jamaica where tourists who love seeing attractive beaches as well as swimming can have the best times of their lives. Apart from other spots here, there is the spectacular Doctor's Cave Beach where any tourist can enjoy having a nice warm bath.

Ocho Rios

If you love reggae music then Ocho Rios may be the best place for you to visit especially if you have been a great fan of legend reggae artists like Bob Marley and etc. Ocho Rios hosts the popular Bob Marley mausoleum for the sake of the late Bob Marley's fans where one may even luckily bump into the late Bob Marley's family members. Apart from that, there is also the great Chukka Cove's Zion Bus tour for tourists who love road trips.

Negril Beach

It is true to say that Negril Beach is among the finest lengthy white sand beaches and top spots in Jamaica. This place is characterized by beautiful open air cafes as well as beach bars for tourists who love drinking wine and dinning. Any tourist who loves the above activities as well as enjoying the evening sun set can have the best time of his/her life at Negril Beach.

Kingston

Since Kingston City is the capital of Jamaica as well as the cultural hub of the entire Caribbean region, any tourist who visits this city is guaranteed to have the best for his/her money and time. If you want to experience great entertainment and culture, Kingston is among the best places for you to visit. Any tourist here can visit the 120 year old Devon House Heritage Site that hosts numerous events each and every single day.

If you are planning for any tour it’s better to have a self-drive with a car. It is always important to make an inquiry about using your personal car in a different country before you travel with it. This is the reason why the DVLA helpline is public in case of such issues. Through their help you will be able to know if that self-drive trip is worth it or if you have to change your destination.

Author Bio:

Alice, a travel blogger and a writer from London who loves to travel and share my experiences with people around the world. Travelling is my ultimate passion. As of now she is focusing on DVLA helpline which provides information regarding driver and vehicle licences...