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What are some police officers quarrelling about?
Michael
A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)
With most public sector workers now up in arms about the pittance that they are getting for pay - and very militant, special notice is being given to one set of public servants who are making a lot of noise. This set is the police. In addition to demanding a respectable salary, many members of our police force are apparently angry at the “uneven” treatment that other officers are getting. These other officers are not Jamaican, but British personnel brought here to help tackle our native monster - crime. According to our local police officers, the British ones are getting far too much money.
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Now, it is well known that the ordinary members of the force, the very “small fry” have been struggling to live off an insult - their salary - for a very long time. Many of them are so poorly paid that they cannot even afford to buy lunch while on the job. No doubt, in any civilized country, this should not be so. Many of these police officers are very hard working people, who deserve more than that insult that they are getting. However, what some of the members of the police force are saying about the pay packages of the British members of the force is nonsense.
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| School Management System Advertisement
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| THE INMATES, THE ASYLUM AND THE GREEN
Mike Ramey (manhoodline@yahoo.com)
In case you haven’t heard about this one: Hampton University drew major attention to a change in its dress code for undergraduate and graduate MBA students. In a nutshell, it has banned the ‘casual’ look when it comes to hairstyles and clothing, and instituted a ‘dress code’, demanding students to look professional and business-like when they come to class. Of course, the purveyors of the ‘gangsta casual’ style (long dreds, unchecked cornrows, tattoos, gold teeth, etc.) are crying ‘FOUL’. “After all,” the critics rant, rave, and rationalize, “Hampton is a BLACK institution; why can’t I dress any way I want?”
It’s about the GREEN, Baby!
Recently, the agency that happens to employ yours truly revised its dress code. It did away with
‘casual Fridays’ (something many corporations have been doing quietly since 2000). In short, the rule change intoned: “If you can’t hack it, get your jacket!” In a tight economy, one learns what is important for economic survival.
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| Venezuela: Holding the Line against Drug Trafficking
Gabriel Garcia (coha@coha.org)
U.S. specialists are currently awaiting the White House’s next drug certification report, which is normally released in September, to see whether the Bush Administration will continue to use the document as a political tool rather than a piece of objective research. In the summer of 2005, Venezuelan officials suspended collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) over Caracas’ allegations that the U.S. agency had engaged in spying. In response, Washington decertified Venezuela as a cooperative anti-narcotics partner, and labeled it as one of two countries worldwide which “failed demonstrably to make substantial efforts” in the anti-drug campaign. However, the decision to blacklist Venezuela in the “war on drugs” was an unalloyed hoax. The Bush Administration’s accusation that Venezuela had failed to implement anti-drug measures drawn up by U.S. policymakers did Caracas an
injustice. It was a judgment inspired more by political differences rather than a genuine critique based on legitimate drug-trafficking issues. In fact, the administration’s finding was little more than Washington sensing an opening to take another jab at Chávez’s Venezuela for its insolent attitude. This is not surprising considering that the decertification process is so self-serving and political that it is held in low esteem worldwide because of its lack of transparency and its indifference to evidence which challenges the White House’s simplistic verdict against the leftist regime.
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| The dialectic of teachers’ perspective of parents: A case study of Denham Town High School Parents
Paul Andrew Bourne (paulbourne1@yahoo.com)
** This is the continuation of last month’s article **
The Denham Town High School Needs Assessment Project is intended to identify the psychosocial conditions of pupils at the institution, with the goal of planning a future intervention. The desired behaviour is one that will foster school personnel in the attainment of educating the pupils, while reducing the number of social deviance that presently exist among students in an effort to make them responsible for their social advancement. Even though the target population is the students of the High school, in an effort to thoroughly comprehend the psychosocial conditions that they are experiencing, this aspect of the programme-targeted parents of the students who were willing to attend a focus group session at the institution (i.e. Denham Town High school).
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Paul Andrew Bourne
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"The ignorance of the parents was evident. They were all unable to amalgamate the social-political and geographical environment and the behavioural disorders of the child"
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Due to the nature of the assessment, and that the meeting was an insight into the “Needs Assessment” of the students of Denham Town High school, the researcher felt the most appropriate technique would be a qualitative one. Hence, the researcher used a focus group approach. The researcher met with three parents whom volunteered to provide information in understanding issues surrounding their children in an attempt to provide assistance for their advancement. The researcher was able to carry out a one shot collection of qualitative data, for the topic researched in a short period (i.e. approximately three-hour). Due to its informal atmosphere, it encourages participants to speak more freely and completely about attitudes, behaviours and opinions.
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| How Jamaicans For Justice Destabilizes Jamaica!
John Anthony (ft3092@yahoo.com)
LEGAL AID UNDERMINES SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THE WAY FINANCIAL CHARITY UNDERMINES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT!
In my definitive piece, How Charity and Aid Destabilized Jamaica, I showed how decades of aid from abroad have not contributed to the economic development of Jamaica, but has instead undermined and stymied hard earned gains in development and frankly turned the country into one large charity-supported entity. One of the things that charity does is to subtly create the perception that success is achievable without paying the requisite price necessary.
So-called humanists have created the perception that crime fighting and crime reduction is possible without mistakes, and without even illegal actions by the security forces. There has never been a war without innocent civilians paying the ultimate price; this is a part of the requisite price in the war on crime. And while lawbreakers must suffer the consequences, fake-humanists have created the perception in Jamaica that the security forces are an alien army who can eradicate merciless gunmen and rapists without killing unfortunate innocent bystanders in the process! There will always be “memberos” of every organization that will behave outside the norm, but that is never reason enough to disparage the whole organization!
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| Jamaica: Political will needed to end violence against women and girls
Josefina Salomon (JSalomon@amnesty.org)
In a new report published today, Amnesty International urges the Jamaican authorities to prioritize the implementation of a 15-point Action Plan developed by women's organizations across the country to fight discrimination and sexual violence against women and adolescent girls.
The Action Plan includes recommendations such as the development of a public education programme aimed at preventing rape and sexual crimes, the introduction of a national campaign against discrimination and sexual violence and the establishment of a series of shelters to provide support and refuge for victims of sexual violence.
"Only decisive action will put an end to discrimination and sexual violence against women in Jamaica. Most of the recommendations of the Action Plan do not require extensive investment, only determination and political will”, said Kerrie Howard, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Americas Programme.
According to Amnesty International's findings, widespread discrimination against women in Jamaica makes them targets of sexual violence and exposes them to serious health risks including sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
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| AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Trinidad and Tobago: police killings go unpunished
Josefina Salomon (JSalomon@amnesty.org)
In a report published today, Amnesty International argues that structural reforms within the police forces -- including the implementation of a human rights- based Code of Conduct, a transparent chain of command and criminal prosecutions in cases of human rights abuses -- are key to
regaining community support, essential for preventing and combating crime.
Amnesty International’s report looks at the issue of police killings and deaths in custody through cases reported since 2003. The report highlights the authorities' failure to conduct investigations and to bring those responsible to justice.
The crime rate in Trinidad and Tobago is one of the highest in the Caribbean. Murders and kidnappings have been on the rise for the past few years. As a response to increasing crime, there have been calls for tougher police measures.
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The State Department’s Mock Indignation Gives a Bad Name to U.S. Diplomacy
COHA Staff (coha@coha.org)
Following the announcement by the State Department that it was imposing an arms sale sanction against Venezuela, a Chávez advisor infuriated Washington when he responded with an apparently retaliatory announcement that Caracas would consider selling its American-made F-16’s to Iran. The proposed sale irritated U.S. policymakers, whose initial imposition of the embargo was rationalized by the vague, if not totally contrived, accusations involving Hugo Chávez’s friendship with the leaders of U.S. classified rogue states of Cuba and Iran. Caracas’ threat of selling off the F-16 is somewhat logical, as the U.S. earlier had denied Venezuela the parts necessary to maintain its fleet of 21 F-16’s, rendering those aircraft - which are in need of upgrading and repair -little better than scrap metal.
In a certain sense, Washington’s new round of bluster can be properly seen as merely part of an ongoing war of words and spleen against Caracas, in which Chávez more than holds his own, much to the joy of the average Latin American. Venezuela and the U.S. have exchanged countless salvos of sharp rhetoric at each other, with Chávez describing the U.S. as a “pig” whose appointment at the slaughterhouse is imminent, and Secretary of State Rice portraying the Chávez administration as unconstructive and as being “a negative force in the region.” Venezuela’s gonzo response to the new U.S. embargo fits into the milieu of bounteous hot air that has become increasingly typical between the two countries, though it has not yet ended up with the CIA ultimately being called in to settle matters.
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“WE WANT ADAMS!”
Michael Duberson (mduberson@yahoo.com)
Now that Reneto Adams is back on the force, we need to get him back on the streets! If all of our cops were like Adams, we could leave our doors unlocked at night. If we wanted to see a criminal, we would have to go to the morgue.
I have always believed that the way to deal with violent crime is to snuff it out! The only reason we have violent crime is because we allow it!
Amnesty International should be forced to walk the streets of Spanish Town for a week and then let's see how much amnesty they would have left in their hearts. Human rights are for humans! Criminals who break into our houses and slash the throats of our children are not "human" in the sense of the definition. They have no rights. They are rabid animals, which must be "put to sleep".
It has been said if we do the same thing, the same way, every time, the result predictably will be the same. What we have done about crime so far is "cops, courts, judges, lawyers, jails, prisons". This has been society's approach for hundreds of years. And what is the result? Ever increasing violent crime. We have to change what we are doing, because what we are doing doesn’t work.
Every, great advancement in civilization has been preceded by a bright idea. A bright idea is necessarily one of great economy.
Arguably, the two most prevalent causes of premature death in our world today are violent crime and world hunger. Why not solve both problems at the same time by taking all the bad people and feeding them to all the hungry people! Juici Patties could go worldwide. “Will that be chicken, beef or ‘gourmet’?” Heck, we eat cows, goats and chickens, don't we?
And first, harvest their organs. Right now thousands of good, upstanding people are dying in hospitals all over the world awaiting organ transplants, which will never come. Isn't time we finally put the criminal element to good use? And it won't cost anything to bury them! One liver goes for about $US300,000. We could set up the world’s largest organ transplant center right here in Jamaica. What a boon to our economy! We could pay off our national debt in no time!
Look at the savings to government and taxpayers. That money could go into our schools, which so desperately need help.
Put our 'Dirty Harry' back on the streets. Give him names and addresses and the biggest gun you can find and tell ‘him say’ "Go ahead make my day!"
Michael Duberson, Founder - THE JAMAICAN POTHOLE PATROL.
THE POTHOLE PATROL…coming soon to a Jamaican radio station.
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