Jesus Was Not White. Here Is Why Recognizing That Matters.

I grew up in a Christian home, where a photo of Jesus hung on my bedroom wall. I still have it. It is schmaltzy and rather tacky in that 1970s kind of way, but as a little girl I loved it. In this picture, Jesus looks kind and gentle, he gazes down at me lovingly. He is also light-haired, blue-eyed, and very white.
The problem is, Jesus was not white. You’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise if you’ve ever entered a Western church or visited an art gallery. But while there is no physical description of him in the Bible, there is also no doubt that the historical Jesus, the man who was executed by the Roman State in the first century CE, was a brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew.
This is not controversial from a scholarly point of view, but somehow it is a forgotten detail for many of the millions of Christians who will gather to celebrate Easter this week.
On Good Friday, Christians attend churches to worship Jesus and, in particular, remember his death on a cross. In most of these churches, Jesus will be depicted as a white man, a guy that looks like Anglo-Australians, a guy easy for other Anglo-Australians to identify with.
Think for a moment of the rather dashing Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ. He is an Irish-American actor. Or call to mind some of the most famous artworks of Jesus’ crucifixion—Ruben, Grunewald, Giotto—and again we see the European bias in depicting a white-skinned Jesus.
Does any of this matter? Yes, it really does. As a society, we are well aware of the power of representation and the importance of diverse role models.
After winning the 2013 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 12 Years a Slave, Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o shot to fame. In interviews since then, Nyong’o has repeatedly articulated her feelings of inferiority as a young woman because all the images of beauty she saw around her were of lighter-skinned women. It was only when she saw the fashion world embracing Sudanese model Alek Wek that she realised black could be beautiful too.
If we can recognise the importance of ethnically and physically diverse role models in our media, why can’t we do the same for faith? Why do we continue to allow images of a whitened Jesus to dominate?
Many churches and cultures do depict Jesus as a brown or black man. Orthodox Christians usually have a very different iconography to that of European art – if you enter a church in Africa, you’ll likely see an African Jesus on display.
But these are rarely the images we see in Australian Protestant and Catholic churches, and it is our loss. It allows the mainstream Christian community to separate their devotion to Jesus from compassionate regard for those who look different.
I would even go so far as to say it creates a cognitive disconnect, where one can feel deep affection for Jesus but little empathy for a Middle Eastern person. It likewise has implications for the theological claim that humans are made in God’s image. If God is always imaged as white, then the default human becomes white and such thinking undergirds racism.
Historically, the whitewashing of Jesus contributed to Christians being some of the worst perpetrators of anti-Semitism and it continues to manifest in the “othering” of non-Anglo Saxon Australians.
This Easter, I can’t help but wonder, what would our church and society look like if we just remembered that Jesus was brown? If we were confronted with the reality that the body hung on the cross was a brown body: one broken, tortured, and publicly executed by an oppressive regime.
How might it change our attitudes if we could see that the unjust imprisonment, abuse, and execution of the historical Jesus has more in common with the experience of Indigenous Australians or asylum seekers than it does with those who hold power in the church and usually represent Christ?
Perhaps most radical of all, I can’t help but wonder what might change if we were more mindful that the person Christians celebrate as God in the flesh and saviour of the entire world was not a white man, but a Middle Eastern Jew

When Christian Suffers.

When Christian suffers, he or she says, God has touched me. The words are pre-eminently true, though their simplicity summarizes a very complex series of spiritual operations; and it is only when we have gone right through that whole series of operations that we have the right to speak those words.
For if, in the course of our encounters with evil, we try to distingush what the schoolmen term the instants of nature, we shall have on the contrary, to begin by saying, God wants to free me from this diminish-ment God wants me to help him to take this cup from me.
To struggle against evil, and to reduce to a minimum even the ordinary physical evil which threatens us,is unquestionably the first act of our Father who is in heaven; it would be impossible to conceive him in any other way, and still more impossible to love him.
It is a perfectly correct view of things and strictly consonant with the Gospel to regard providence across the ages as brooding over the world in ceaseless effort to spare that world its bitter wounds and bind up its hurts.
Most certainly it is God himself who,in the course of the centuries, awakens the great benefactors of humankind, and the great physicians, in ways that agree with the general rhythm of progress. He it is who inspires, even among those furthest from acknowledging his existence, the quest for every means of comfort and every means of healing.
Do not men acknowledge by instinct this divine presence when hatreds are quenched and their protesting un-certainty resolved as they kneel to thank each one of those who have helped their body or their mind to freedom? Can there be any doubt of it?
At the first approach of the diminish – ments we cannot hope to find God except by loathing what is coming upon us and doing our best to avoid it.
The more we repel suffering at that moment with our whole heart and our whole strength, the more closely we cleave to the heart and action of God.

Death Through Passivity.

Here we must be most careful to distinguish the two phases in the implementing, in the world around us, of the will of God: in other words, in the animation of secondary causes by the influx of the universal Christ.
In itself, and directly, our bondage to the world particularly those forms of it that irk us, that diminish us, that kill us is not divine, nor is it in any way willed by God.
It represents that portion of incompleteness and disorder which mars a creation that is still imperfectly unified.
In so far as they are such, these forms of bondage are displeasing to God: and in a first stage, God fights with us and in us against them.
One day he will triumph; but, because the duration of our individual lives is out of all proportion to the slow evolution of the total Christ, it is inevitable that we shall never during our time on earth, see the final victory.
Almost every moment brings another check to our effort to grow, undermines it and sooner or later we shall all experience decline and death.
Christ, never the less can never be overcome. If then we ask how the almighty power, which is his in virtue of his cosmic function, of saving and beatifying the elements of his Body in growth, will in some way re-establish itself, the answer is that it will do so by a remarkable transformation.
The Incarnate Word masters the limitations and diminishments that the general progress of the cosmos does not allow him to remove in the same way as a skilful sculptor masters the short comings of his marble, by integrating them though without changing them in a higher spiritualization of our beings.
That is why when we have fought to the bitter end to develop ourselves and win through, and find ourselves halted, beaten, by forces of the world, then if we believe, the power with which we clash so agonizingly suddenly ceases to be a blind or evil energy.
Hostile matter vanishes. And in its place, we find the divine Master of the world who under the species and appearance of each and every event, moulds us, empties us of our self-love, and penetrates into us.

The Teilhard de Chardin Experience.

Recently I came across some very interesting books which were inspired by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Mystic,Philosophy,Theological and Geologist.
What I have learnt about Teilhard is that he was seeking the perfect solution to nonperishable which took him through many experiment but his experiment was lead him to the Spirit of the Higher Force.
Anyhow the deeper I get into his studies, I have come to conclude that my belief in another world do exist which is the Spiritual world.
He also conclude that there are three types of Religion which is the Christianity, Human and Universal of which he also call the Triad.
For Teilhard a complete religion would involve elements from all three and he believed this new religion was soon to appear.
It would develop out of the ongoing confluence of all three religious currents.
Thus the three religions are necessary in order that the final religion, that of the universal Christ, might be complete.
Quote
In the great river of mankind, the three currents ( Eastern, Human and Christian ) are still at cross-purposes. Never-theless, there are sure indications which make it clear that they are coming to run together.

A single dad walked 11 miles to work every day — until his co-workers found out.

Trenton Lewis’ legs ached from the 11-mile walk he made every morning to get to his 4 a.m. shift. And yet the 21-year-old dutifully did it for seven long months.

He didn’t tell anyone. He’s never been one for excuses — especially when it comes to providing for his 14-month-old daughter, Karmen.

“My pride is strong,” he told CNN. “Whatever she needs, I’m the person who is supposed to provide it for her.”
But his co-workers at a UPS facility in Little Rock, Arkansas, found out. And last week, they decided to make things right.

They asked Lewis to come to a brief union meeting.

When he showed up, his stoic face gave way to disbelief and then a grateful smile as his coworkers handed him keys to a new car.

“I was emotionally moved. My heart just fell,” the young worker recalled.
When Lewis began working at the UPS facility, he had no means of getting to and from work.

“I was banking on my feet,” he said.
So every morning, he walked, and kept most of his colleagues in the dark about his pre-dawn journey.

But every large workforce has that one “queen bee” who knows all and sees all.

For Trenton Lewis, that was Patricia “Mama Pat” Bryant.

“She was like a second mom,” Lewis said. “She actually got upset with me when she found out I was walking to work.”

Bryant and her husband, Kenneth, have both put in almost 40 years at UPS.

“For a young person to decide in their mind ‘if I don’t have a ride, if I can’t get a ride then I’ll walk,'” Kenneth Bryant said. “If a guy can do that, we can pitch in to help.”

The Bryants quietly shared Lewis’ story with their fellow workers and took up a collection to buy their determined colleague a car.

Most of the employees didn’t even know Lewis but were impressed with his grit.

Soon enough, the group raised almost $2,000.
“Everybody that I talked to said yes! The hardest part was reminding them to bring cash,” Kenneth Bryant said. “I told the seller what I was doing and who it was for and he said he was willing to work with me on a price.”

Bryant wanted everything to be perfect for the big reveal. He even went as far as fixing a small nick on the bumper.

The group lured Lewis to the parking lot for that brief “union meeting.” Kenneth Bryant reached into his pocket, pulled out the keys to the 2006 Saturn Ion and stunned Lewis.

“God always has something for you,” said Lewis. “I’m never going to forget this ever.”

Lewis thanked his co-workers profusely.

His first ride in the car was to pick up his daughter for a bite to eat.

THE ENERGY OF LOVE AT WORK IN THE UNIVERSE.

If you imagine that what you are about to read is just the outline of some complicated philosophical system, laboriously brought forth after a long gestation, you are mistaken.
My purpose is to share with you as objectively as possible a personal experience, something that happened to me, in which I seem to see intimations of the beginning of a new phase in the evolution of mankind.
Gradually, in the course of my life, I have been awakened to perception which is now habitual of two aspects of experience of the human spirit, common to us all, but to which we are not normally sufficiently alert.
Firstly, it was not possible for me to be an isolated thinking I was enmeshed in a global network of human thought, and therefore inextricably involved in the kaleidoscopic organisation and reorganisation that is going on all the time, in our vast Universe of Time and Space.
Secondly, at the very point where I was most secure in my own self-hood, a larger Centre for thinking and doing was persistently defining itself; i could not gainsay the emergence deep within me of, as it were someone else who was challenging me to transcend the limitations of my self- cent-redness.
On the one hand, a surging tide, spiritual as well as material, rolling up all the Stuff of the Universe in folds of increasing complexity, into an all inclusive state of sensitively inter-dependence; on the other, mediated to me through the reality of incarnate Deity, a presence so inseparably part of me that, if the requirements of its nature and of mine were to be met, it must be fundamental to all being.
Intellect and intuition were combining to acknowledge a converging cosmos and an emerging Christ, each of which in its own way commanded from me an unconditional response.
Though the impact upon me of the individual components of my double vision was indeed profound, it is conceivable that, because they belonged to different orders of experience, I might not have connected them.
But I did, and the discovery that when the one ingredient is added to the other, the mixture erupts in a flame of fire into a chain reaction, has been the most joyful and exhilarating experience of my life. It is this experience that I am now trying to record. For me , the explosive interaction produced a flash of illumination of such blazing intensity that the whole world, lit up to its very core, was transfigured became in truth the Divine Body.
Because science and theology have simultaneously reached a certain level of maturity, 20th century man suddenly sees opening before him new and wider vistas on a world where individual action, mutual reaction and corporate interaction simply cease to exist as separate categories, not by neutralising one another, but in a paroxysmal welding together such are the temperatures of the Core and the Scale of the All.
Here in the Universe whose evolution is powered by forces tending to unity yet at the same time to diversity just as between persons, love enhances the individual personality of whom it unites.
It is now a long time since, in the mass on the World and the Divine Milieu, I tried to express the astonishment and wonder I felt before the prospects then just beginning to unfold. Today after many years of continual reflection, it is exactly the same basic vision which I feel I must make this effort to present and share in its mature form, maybe with less freshness and exuberance than at the moment of first impact, but still with the same sense of wonder, and the same deep and powerful response.

Can’t believe I married a ‘wutliss’ man.

I am in my early 20s. I got married eight months ago. We are both Christians. The problem that I am having with my husband is that he is very childish and immature. It is like I am the man and the woman in one. I have to figure out how or what we can do to move forward. He doesn’t even know how the bills are paid. We don’t have jobs at the moment, but we know that there are little things one can do to make money.

I suggested to him that we can try to raise some chickens, but it seems as if he is not interested. He just wants to sit down. I have to be pushing him like a wheelbarrow to do something. This man frustrates me so much. Pastor, I am tired. Sometimes, I regret that I got married to him. Whenever I try to talk to him about his behaviour, he walks out of the house and doesn’t listen to what I have to say to him. He can’t even have a good conversation. I wish I were still single.

When I got married, I was still a virgin. I am a well-kept young woman. I can’t believe that after waiting for so long this is what I got myself into. One day I was talking to him about not being flexible, and he took up a basket to hit me and he put it back down in anger and ended up breaking the handle off. I was so shocked, I started laughing. I told him that if he had hit me, I would have stabbed him up. Sometimes I feel like I hate him so badly.
Please, tell me what to do.

Geomagnetic storm fears: Solar wind streaming from hole in the Sun hits Earth.

SOLAR winds blasting from a hole in the Sun’s atmosphere could cause a geomagnetic storm which has the power to wreak havoc on power and communications grids across the globe, it has been claimed.
The high-speed wind is grazing Earth’s magnetic field today after escaping from a gap in the star’s northern atmosphere.

Solar wind, which is actually a stream of charged particles and heat, typically takes between three and four days to reach Earth after being ejected from the Sun.

 

Solar flare and solar winds hitting the EarthGETTY

Geomagnetic storms are caused by solar winds affecting the Earth’s magnetic field
The high-speed wind is grazing Earth’s magnetic field today after escaping from a gap in the star’s northern atmosphere.

Solar wind, which is actually a stream of charged particles and heat, typically takes between three and four days to reach Earth after being ejected from the Sun.

 
And according to SpaceWeather.com, the latest high-speed particle stream has the potential to cause “geomagnetic unrest” as well as auroras around the Arctic Circle.

The latest activity comes just a day after NASA announced it had discovered a new sunspo and marks the first activity on the star’s surface for more than six months.
The sunspot, dubbed AR2699, caused a series of solar flares – changes in the sun’s brightness – which were observed from Earth.

Geomagnetic storms are feared for their ability to cause massive damage to satellites, power grids and communications networks.

A severe storm has the potential to wreak unprecedented havoc by knocking out phone, radio and internet systems for weeks, months or potentially even years.

The largest geomagnetic storm recorded to hit earth occurred in 1859 and disrupted telegraph systems across Europe and North America.
Also known as the Carrington Event, the storm produced auroras which were visible in many parts of the world as the charged particles from the sun smashed into Earth’s atmosphere.

Experts in the United States have warned if a geomagnetic storm on the same scale hit the planet again, it could cause damage costing trillions of dollars to repair.

A storm of similar power occurred in July 2012, though the area of the sun which produced the coronal mass ejection was not pointed directly at the Earth at the time.

In 2015, the Government published a report into the risks to the UK of severe space weather such as a solar storm.

 

 

 

Two Space Rocks Will Fly Safely Past Earth This Week.

Two space rocks will make close flybys past Earth this week, but they pose no threat to our planet’s safety.
The two asteroids are called 2018 CB and 2018 CC, and they were both discovered Sunday (Feb. 4) through an automated telescope search called the Catalina Sky Survey, according to NASA’s Minor Planet Center. The Catalina telescopes belong to just one of many observatories worldwide that regularly scan the sky to track and search for space rocks, also known as asteroids.

While the majority of asteroids in Earth’s solar system orbit in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, asteroid flybys of Earth happen several times a year. The last known close asteroid flyby was on Sunday (Feb. 4). The flybys are useful to astronomers because the researchers can examine the asteroids relatively close-up, gaining more information about the space rocks’ size, shape and composition.
You can watch livestreams of this week’s flybys courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project, which uses remote-controlled telescopes to track near-Earth objects. (More details on the broadcast times are below.)

Both 2018 CB and 2018 CC are roughly the same size as a 17-meter (56-foot) space rock that exploded over Cheylabinsk, Russia, in 2013, causing property damage and thousands of injuries. 2018 CB is about 12 to 38 meters in diameter (39 to 124 feet), while 2018 CC’s diameter is estimated to be 9 to 28 meters (30 to 91 feet), according to the Minor Planet Center.

Unlike Chelyabinsk, however, both asteroids will fly past Earth instead of hitting it.

2018 CC will fly by today (Feb. 6), at 12:58 p.m. EST (1958 GMT), with a closest approach of about half the distance between Earth and the moon. The Virtual Telescope Project will start livestreaming views from a telescope in Arizona at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT), and from a telescope in Italy at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT).

2018 CB will zoom past Earth on Feb. 10 (Saturday) at 5:06 a.m. EST (1006 GMT), at 20 percent of the distance from the Earth to the moon. The Virtual Telescope Project will livestream this event from Italy only, starting Feb. 9 (Friday) at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT).

NASA and its Planetary Defense Coordination Office are among several agencies that regularly examine the sky to look for near-Earth objects such as 2018 CB and 2018 CC. Telescopes around the world and in orbit provide information about asteroids to NASA; details about those small bodies are typically uploaded to the agency’s Small-Body Database Browserwebsite that is available worldwide for scientists and the public to see.

There are currently no known asteroids that pose an imminent threat to life on Earth, but NASA and its partners are figuring out strategies to divert or destroy a potentially threatening object. Future mission concepts include ideas such as nets, lasers, gravitational diversion — or simply blowing up the asteroid.

NASA has a dedicated near-Earth object hunter in orbit called NEOWISE, which is expected to end its mission this year when the spacecraft’s orbit brings the machine into an area with too much sunlight to look for asteroids. A newer proposal by the same team, called NEOCam, failed to make the cut for NASA’s Discovery program in January.NEOCam did, however, receive more funding for another year.

Several asteroid missions are also in progress for the coming years. Japan’s Hayabusa2and NASA’s OSIRIS-RExare both in-flight to their target asteroids, where they will each collect samples to return to Earth. This year, NASA selected two new Discovery-class missions called Lucy and Psyche; between them, they will fly past eight asteroids in the 2020s and 2030s.

In 2005, Congress tasked NASA with identifying at least 90 percent of “potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids” or those that are at least 140 meters (460 feet) wide and will come to within about 4.65 million miles (7.48 million kilometers) of Earth, or about 20 times the distance from Earth to the moon, according to the agency. NASA was given a deadline of 2020, but just four years later, a National Academy of Sciences reportsaid NASA likely wouldn’t meet the goal unless more funding arrived, and multiple reports since have stated that the agency is behind in meeting the goal. In 2010, the agency met another goal previously set by Congress of finding 90 percent of NEOs 1 km (0.6 mile) wide in 2010, according to NASA.

Venus was as habitable as earth for TWO BILLION years.

VENUS was once likely “abundant” in life, according to a startling report from Nasa
The planet second closest to the sun was probably once a perfect habitat for life with oceans of water and suitable temperatures, it has been revealed.

The barren planet we see today is highly volcanic and too hot to support any life, but this probably wasn’t always the case.

Temperatures now exceed 460 degrees celsius and has an atmosphere that too heavy and full of carbon dioxide.

However, computer algorithms ran by Nasa shows that for the first two billion years of its life when the sun was 30 per cent dimmer and much cooler and there would have been a shallow liquid ocean – factors that are essential for life as we know it.
Venus spins much more slowly on its axis than Earth, with a typical day on Venus lasting 117 Earth days.

This has allowed the atmosphere to become 90 times as thick as Earth’s.

Additionally, the more intense sunlight caused its oceans to evaporate which exacerbated the extreme carbon dioxide build up, according to the study published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Michael Way, a researcher at Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), said: “Many of the same tools we use to model climate change on Earth can be adapted to study climates on other planets, both past and present.

“These results show ancient Venus may have been a very different place than it is today.”
Colleague Anthony Del Genio added: “In the GISS model’s simulation, Venus’ slow spin exposes its dayside to the sun for almost two months at a time.

“This warms the surface and produces rain that creates a thick layer of clouds, which acts like an umbrella to shield the surface from much of the solar heating.
“The result is mean climate temperatures that are actually a few degrees cooler than Earth’s today.”

Additionally, Nasa said that Venus likely had more landmass than Earth.

A statement read: “This type of surface appears ideal for making a planet habitable. There seems to have been enough water to support abundant life, with sufficient land to reduce the planet’s sensitivity to changes from incoming sunlight”.

Venus is NOT dead: Experts startled to see geological activity on planet.

VENUS, the planet which was thought to be ‘dead’, is actually showing signs of geological activity, astronomers have claimed.
Earth’s nearest neighbour and the planet which was once thought to be extremely similar to our own is showing signs of a changing landscape, long after it had been written off as dead, according to new research.

And experts say they have spotted signs of mountain ridge movement on Venus which is an extremely similar process to what happens on Earth.
Researchers analysed radar images taken by the Magellan mission which scanned Venus’ surface between 1990 and 1994.

The images revealed mountain ridges and valleys converged to produce flat plains of cooled lava.
The experts say they look like structures which are found on Earth and are similar to a process which took place in the Tarim Basin in northwestern China.

Paul Byrne, who presented his findings at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans and was leader of the study, said: “When you zoom out, you see that these features form a connected pattern.

“That’s when you realise that they seem to be working together.

“It’s not plate tectonics, but it does suggest that the outer, rigid, brittle surface layer of Venus, in some places at least, has broken into these small blocks,” some of which stretch up to 1,200 kilometres.
“These are little chunks of land that just rotate and move around.

“But if we were to put seismometers on Venus, maybe you’d hear some of these chunks go off today.”

Venus was once thought to be similar in condition to Earth and is in fact a similar size.
But over the course of its 4.6 billion year history, greenhouse gasses have taken its toll on the boiling hot planet – which is now even hotter than Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun.

Temperatures on the planet exceed 460 degrees celsius as it is high in volcanic activity and has a thick, heavy atmosphere that is full of carbon dioxide.

Venus spins much more slowly on its axis than Earth, with a typical day on Venus lasting 117 Earth days.

Mars was ‘destroyed by interplanetary NUCLEAR WAR’ in battle described in BIBLE.

THE ‘War in Heaven’ as described by the Bible was actually a nuclear war on Mars which rid the Red Planet of any life existing there, according to a group of Christians.
Huge devastation in Heaven was included in the Old Testament but now many believe there could be greater meaning.

Revelation 12:7 reads: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought.”

This leads on to Revelation 12:8-9, which says: “But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.”

Christians and conspiracy theorists now believe that this was a “literal war” in the skies which took place on Mars and wiped out a civilisation on the Red Planet.
Dr John Brandenburg, a plasma physicist working as a consultant at Morningstar Applied Physics LLC, says in his book,’Death on Mars’, that nuclear isotopes found on the Red Planet “resemble those from hydrogen bombs on Earth” and a “Martian civilisation apparently perished due to a planet-wide catastrophe of unknown origin”.

According to conspiracy website Planet X News, this supposed war happened 75,000 years ago and was an interplanetary battle that happened between Mars and Maldek – a theorised planet once existing between Mars and Jupiter.

The war was between humanoids, which lived on Mars and reptilian creatures which occupied Maldek, the website claims.
While Maldek was completely destroyed, Mars was left uninhabitable and forced the residents of the Red Planet to move to Earth.

Planet X News claims: “The war was nuclear. Mars was seemingly losing, and the destruction of Maldek may have been an option of last resort.

“The Reptilians were fighting to control Mars and to utilise some of its resources, including mineral resources.
“Extraterrestrials systematically seeded information about the war into human culture by ‘force feeding’ information into minds of religious prophets.

“The prophets would then describe these ‘visions’ in ancient text.”
According to Dr Brandenburg, Earth could suffer a similar fate if we do not learn from the supposed signs of Mars’ end.

He writes in his book: “The discovery of dead civilisation on Mars, whose end was apparently catastrophic and due to unknown causes, reinforces our understanding that the cosmos can be a dangerous place and requires a vigorous response from the human race, to reduce the probability that we will perish the same way.”

The Rosa Palmer/Annie Palmer connection and major lies in Jamaican history.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/JO/20180204/ARTICLE/302049909/AR/0/AR-302049909.jpg&maxh=332&maxw=504

The story of the legendary Rose Hall property, with its Great House as its epicentre of intrigue, witchcraft, jealousy and murder … is intriguing, to say the least.

In Herbert Delisser’s book White Witch of Rose Hall, the author, in the pursuance of the protection of his own integrity, was cautious to point out explicitly that the story is fictitious, which meant in Jamaican parlance that the story was made up. Yet, it continues to be the “official” version of the story of Rose Hall.

A tour of the Rose Hall Great House centres on one of its mistresses — Annie Palmer. The tour guides employed there have been trained to glibly narrate the story of Annie’s prowess and how she was killed in a bedroom, with the bloodstain from her murder still leaving an impression on the mahogany floor of that room, the pattern of which persists until today. This was approximately 187 years ago. Stories abound among the slave population that Annie Palmer, a Haitian miracle worker, was able to come out of her skin, according to some reports. None of this was either true or scientifically possible. Annie Palmer was killed not at Rose Hall but at Palmyra Great House south of the hills of Rose Hall.

Haiti, a former French colony and known to be steeped in the advanced culture of the mother country, France, reflects also one area of significance in French influence back then, which was in the area of beauty culture. So a false hairpiece common to a Haitian upper or middle class white woman but not to an African slave woman, having not seen such a thing before, the impact of the culture shock and fright led the Negro to conclude that, on opening Annie Palmer’s bedroom door, what she saw lying on the mistress’ bed was evidence that the witch had left her skin behind.
Palmyra, part of the Rose Hall Estates, was connected to the Rose Hall mansion by way of a bridle track. The record shows that it was along this track, in the dead of the night, that Annie Palmer would ride with her riding whip in hand and, for no apparent reason except to give vent to her nature, flogged her slaves unmercifully. She also, on one occasion, had the head of her maid (whom she suspected of trying to poison her) hung above the corn house in Palmyra until it festered in the sun.

She met her tragic end also at Palmyra: her strangled body found flung across her bed. And not one of her slaves cared to find the culprit, or came forward to help bury the woman whom they feared and hated… Annie Mary Paterson, aka Annie Palmer, in the month of January 1820, came from Haiti to Jamaica and subsequently married John Rose Palmer, grandnephew of John Palmer. It is claimed that it is at that juncture that Rose Hall became notorious. However, Rose Hall’s prominence dated back to a period long before Annie Palmer’s arrival.

Rosa Kelly, after whom Rose Hall is named, was the first mistress of the famous great house in Montego Bay. She was the daughter of the Rev John Kelly, Anglican rector for the parish of St James. Rosa, the first mistress of Rose Hall, was of a different temperament from her successor Annie Palmer the “White Witch”, who took up residence 43 years after Rosa Palmer’s death at Rose Hall in 1777.
Rosa, the owner of a large number of Kelly slaves, had three husbands. She was first married to Henry Fanning of St Catherine in 1746. Fanning began to build the Great house which cost 30,000 pounds back then. Rosa’s second husband, George Ash, finished it. Her third marriage was to the Honourable John Palmer, custos of St James, a marriage which lasted for 10 years.

Rosa Palmer died leaving a will which stated: “I give and bequeath all my residue of my estate real and personal unto my dearly beloved husband John Palmer, who is most deserving.” By now readers would discern that it was Rosa Palmer who had three husbands and not Annie Marie Palmer “the White Witch of Rose Hall”. Annie did not live long enough. Clearly we should not live in the past, by any means, but it is a wonderful place to visit. For in so doing, those who sought to befuddle and hoodwink us, particularly the descendants of the slaves, will awaken to the ploy and be alert to the integrity … or lack thereof, in respect to the quality of information that long ago, at the time of emancipation, was to be fed to the descendants of ex-slaves.

How was this substantial amount of foolishness passed down to us? It was conspiratorially arranged to feed us the information principally through the school system. The then Colonial Department of Education-whose only aim was to promote British glorification and mystification and the membership of which was controlled by the planters and pen keepers, all descendants of the former slave owners — decided on the curriculum for the children of the former slaves …. meaning us!
This explains why the two history books: History of Jamaica written by Clinton Vane de Brosse Black (Italian lineage with ‘Black’ added for diversion, believability and marketing) and the Making of the West Indies, written by a group including Professor F Augier, did not include the Sam Sharpe Rebellion in their work. There has been some feeble attempt to explain why the Sam Sharpe Rebellion story was not narrated in the two prominent history books used in our education system for well over 30 years, but the truth is that if the authors of those books wanted them to be “accepted” and approved by the Colonial Board of Education,which means making money, then the omission of the Sam Sharpe 1831/32 Rebellion was the way to go. That is what the market — the Colonial Board Of Education — wanted and so the grand and palpable historical omission was nothing more than a strategic business decision by the authors of those two principal Jamaican history books, in the opinion of numerous business-informed and perceptive compatriots.

Additionally, Clinton Vane de Brosse Black was further compromised (or is it compensated?) as he was appointed chief archivist of Jamaica and the rest of the anglophone Caribbean by the British Government in 1955. Given his background, he was more than fully aware of the Sam Sharpe Rebellion which he left out of his History of Jamaica book.

The first time that the Sam Sharpe Rebellion story fully came to light was around 1975 at the time that “Daddy” Sharpe was made a national hero under the leadership of prime minister, the late Michael Manley. Clearly, this was the consequence of a progressive policy change towards the enlightenment of the masses, with the Honourable Arnold Bertram, minister of information and then minister of education, the Honourable Howard Cooke Sr, being the political point men in the whole affair.
Academicians extraordinaire solicitor Richard Hart, professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford, and Kamu Braithwaite, in their inimitable proactive styles, added profoundly substantive texture to the explosion of the Sam Sharpe conversation. This rebellion played a most catalytic role in bringing down the edifices of the system of black enslavement and opened up the mind of our people to not only envisioning that day of freedom from chattel slavery, but to realise it.

Over 137 years passed before the school system began to teach, albeit extremely squalidly, about the Sam Sharpe Rebellion of 1831/32. But other British-approved texts and literature were allowed to “educate” us about English “heroes”: kings, queens and even pirates, buccaneers, privateers, military generals in the battles fought for Great Britain … and to condition us through these “Kakanabu” stories how happy we should be to know that the “mother country” is winning in the world. But we were never taught that each British victory was a further consolidation of our poverty through a deeper entrenchment of the ignorance of the Negro. And how the economic system particularly has been rigged to perpetuate lack of strategic and sustainable ownership for the children of the economic underclass while structurally, through fertile land possession with economy of scale, on the alluvium plains, enriching the heirs and successors of the traditional ruling class and their assorted cabal at the expense of all else.

What the secular education system failed to achieve, the religious system of education, hopefully, would finish. My abhorrence as I write this piece is with the web of deception and disrespect in the reportage of our history, and is absolutely not about resentment towards anyone based on ethnicity or race. I have no time for such wasteful, shortsighted and unchristian preoccupations which, were that the case, would undermine my own moral authority to rebuke what has gone wrong with the recording and propogation of Jamaica’s history.
The two “father-mentors” in my life as a maturing youngster were Hugh Lawson Shearer and Tony Hart, both in whom was no hint of racial hatred of blacks or whites. I have copied their wise examples. The lies, omissions, half-truths and twisting of our history are made manifest, again, by the two tales of Rosa Palmer and Annie Palmer of Rose Hall, St James. This example of officialisation of foolishness in Jamaica’s history is both deep and widespread. And Jamaica’s political independence in 1962 has not changed some things much either.

It is still being taught in our schools, for example, that the Maroons are our heroes!! What a dilemma? For that also is a blatant lie! Much shocking and jaw-dropping information on this particular matter is forthcoming in short order, paving the way, hopefully, for the binary imperatives of confession from and forgiveness of the Maroons. And clearing the way for us all to move on without the albatross of the barefaced, manipulative misinformation and ginnalship masquerading as Jamaican history.

Such a shame, really.

Now, that’s what we’re talking about!

We in this space can hardly contain our excitement over two news items that we believe augur well for the fight against crime and signal that the Jamaican populace seems ready, at last, to rise from its long and costly slumber.

First, it was reported that on Tuesday a prison escapee was found with his hands and feet bound under a bridge in Tivoli Gardens in Western Kingston, and is now back in police custody. He had fled the Denham Town lock-up in September 2016 after being charged with breaches of the Firearms Act.

The police, who were clearly ecstatic upon being alerted by citizens, commended the members of the public who assisted with the recapturing of this fugitive. Interestingly, even though there were signs that corporal punishment might have been administered, the man was taken alive to hospital.

If one is allowed to extrapolate the issues surrounding the single incident, the capture of the fugitive is significant in the context of what is currently happening with the runaway murder rate and efforts to tame the crime monster. What an example for other communities to follow.

Second, and possibly more important, the umbrella organisation of merchants, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), reports that the business sector is in the process of forging a national consensus to develop a credible strategic plan to tackle crime in Jamaica.

Chamber President Larry Watson says the consensus being forged with the Government, Opposition, civil society, and security experts seeks to make Jamaica a safe and secure society by reducing the present 58 murders per 100,000 in thepopulation to no more than 18 per 100,000 by 2025.
“Key performance indicators (KPIs) will be agreed and it is expected that an EPOC-type (Economic Programme Oversight Committee) model of public-private oversight will be employed,” Mr Watson says, noting that the country could be benefiting from an additional four per cent growth each year, if crime is contained.
We also found it encouraging that the JCC has pledged to support measures to ensure that laws are enforced and to deter corruption, which is a monstrous factor behind crime in Jamaica and which has a cancerous hold on the police force.

This initiative involving the business sector should be strongly encouraged and supported by Jamaicans on a whole; doing things like what took place in Tivoli Gardens, finding ways to funnel information to the police about criminal activities, and flushing them out of their hideouts.

We have far more confidence in the actions of citizens against crime than a thousand hypocritical speeches by politicians who are too compromised to undertake any serious, sustained assault on the gunmen.

All Jamaica knows that if the two major political parties were to unite the people to fight crime we would win the battle. But we are hopeful that with the business sector engaged it will force the parties to cut their links with criminals, even if it doesn’t happen overnight.

Moreover, the additional resources that the business sector could mobilise would represent a game changer. Such resources, however, must not fall into the coffers of Government. The recent motor vehicle fiasco, which no security minister should survive, is warning enough.

Mother charges five-year-old daughter rent to teach her about the real world.

A mother has sparked a debate among parents by revealing that she charges her five-year-old daughter rent out of her weekly allowance.

Essence Evans, a mother from Georgia, has received widespread attention after writing a post on Facebook about how she parents her daughter.

“Every week she gets $7 [£5} in allowance. But I explained to her that in the real world most people spend most of their paycheck on bills with little to spend on themselves.

“So I make her give me $5 [£3.60] back,” she wrote.

However, Evans has a hidden agenda, secretly keeping the money to give to her daughter when she grows up.

“Now, what she doesn’t know is the $5 [£3.60] is actually going away in her savings account which I will give back to her when she turns 18,” she explains.

“So if she decides to move out on her own she will have $3,380 [£2,431] to start off.
“This strategy not only prepares your child for the real world. But when they see how much real bills are they will appreciate you for giving them a huge discount.”

Evan’s post has gone viral online, garnering 228,000 reactions and over 300,000 shares.

Many people have praised her innovative idea, with one person commenting on Facebook: “I think this is an awesome way to prepare them!”

However, there are some who disagree with Evans’ point of view.

Someone else expressed the opinion that children shouldn’t have to worry about adult responsibilities, writing: “Let your kid be a kid and enjoy their youth before they have to spend the rest of their life worrying about bills [sic].”

The debate was discussed during a segment on Loose Women, with the panel divided over the topic.

Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha believes charging your child rent is a great lesson to teach at such a young age.

Women find a man more attractive when others fancy him, says science.

It looks we find men more attractive when we discover that other women fancy him – at least according to the results of a new study.

Researchers from the Universities of St Andrews, Durham and Exeter now believe that being desired gives men an ‘attractiveness boost’,
The team were testing out the ‘mate copying’ theory – also known as ‘The Wedding Ring Effect’ – a phenomenon that is seen in the animal kingdom, whereby someone is considered more appealing as a prospective mate when they are desired by others or already coupled up.

In the study, which was published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, the team gave 49 women photos of men’s faces and hands.

The volunteers were then asked to rate the attractiveness of each picture, before being given ‘social information’ about how the other women in the study had rated the men.

Interestingly, when the participants then rated the photos for a second time after finding out what the other women had said, the men were considered to be 13% more attractive on average.

‘Women appear to copy the mate preferences of other women but this might simply be because humans have a general tendency to be influenced by the opinions of others,’ concluded research leader Dr Kate Cross.

If a man has these 9 qualities never let him go, scientists say.

There are certain traits that the majority of heterosexual women look for in a man: kindness, GSOH, an understanding that the fight for gender equality is very much still ongoing.
But other aspects of your personality could be a deal-breaker for one woman and simultaneously the reason another falls in love with you.
Beauty of all kinds really is in the eye of the beholder, and human uniqueness is what makes the search for ‘the one’ all the more interesting (and difficult).
That said, with scientists having spent decades trying to work out the key to why we fall in love, there are certain things you should look for in a potential suitor which suggest you may have found a keeper.
With the advent of dating apps meaning another love interest is never more than a right swipe away, it can be hard to commit.
So if you’re wondering whether to settle down with your current partner, it might be worth taking a step back and asking yourself whether he ticks the boxes below.
If he doesn’t, that doesn’t mean he isn’t the one for you. But if he does, you’ve likely got a pretty good egg on your hands.
1. He’s smart.
While some of us are naturally brainier than others, a new study from the Hanken School of Economics in Finland suggests that the smarter the man, the less likely he is to be unfaithful. According to the research, more intelligent men are more likely to get married and stay married.
So if you’re worried your boyfriend might be too brainy for you, a) don’t be intimidated because intelligence isn’t everything, and b) know that you may have a guy who’s more likely to be faithful on your hands.
2. He makes you laugh
Finding someone you can have a laugh with is crucial – even if everyone else rolls their eyes at his dad jokes, if they crack you up, that’s all that matters.
And a study has shown that men are more likely to have “mating success” if they have a GSOH.
3. He actively supports your career
A study found that husbands were a deciding factor in two-thirds of women’s decisions to quit their jobs, often because they thought it was their duty to bring up their children.
Even when the women in the study described their husbands as supportive, they also revealed that the men refused to change their own work schedules or offer to help more with looking after children.
4. He makes as much effort with your friends and family as you do with his
It’s not uncommon for a woman to end up giving up her own social life to slot into her new man’s. But it’s rare that a man does the same once entering a relationship.
In fact, a recent study found that young men get more satisfaction out of their bromances than their romantic relationships with women. While this is clearly ludicrous, maintaining your friendships is important. So make sure you’re with a man who not only wants you to make time to see your friends but also makes an effort to get to know them too.
5. He’s emotionally intelligent
If stereotypes are to be believed, it is women who are always desperate to talk about feelings and never men who fall hard. Whilst this definitely isn’t true, it’s important each person in a relationship has a certain level of emotional intelligence.
Studies suggest that women are better at taking the opinions and views of their partner into consideration than men, which is essential for a healthy relationship.
6. He respects your opinions and listens to what you have to say
Being closed-minded isn’t a trait that’s exclusive to a particular gender, but if a man is convinced he’s always right and will never consider your argument, it’s not a good sign.
If a man rejects his female partner’s influence, it may be a sign that he has power issues, according to Dr John Gottman, author of The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.
7. He’s willing to put the work in
A study from the University of Texas found that the most successful relationships weren’t down to compatibility, but rather making the relationship work. “My research shows that there is no difference in the objective compatibility between those couples who are unhappy and those who are happy,” study author Dr. Ted Hudson said.
So if you or your partner is always looking for the next best thing rather than committing to make your relationship last, it may not bode well.
8. He celebrates your achievements.
Whether it’s deadlifting your bodyweight or learning enough German for a trip to Oktoberfest, it’s important to have a partner who celebrates your achievements.
But this isn’t just to make you feel great – a study published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that couples who did so were more satisfied with their relationships than those who reacted negatively or were indifferent.
9. He shares your values
Having a similar outlook in life could be crucial to a successful relationship, according to a study. The more alike your personalities are, the more likely you are to approach problems in the same way.
You and your partner will share similar approaches to everything from socialising to working if your priorities are the same, and this is likely to lead to a greater level of respect for one another.
Of course, if your partner doesn’t have all the above qualities that doesn’t mean you should necessarily dump him immediately – we all look for different things in a partner and a relationship, after all.
But if he does tick all these boxes, he could be one to hold on to.

Why it could actually be better to sleep than go to the gym.

1. Get up and work out, or stay in bed a bit longer? Work out, or sleep? Work out, or sleep? It’s the eternal dilemma. You want more than anything to stay curled up under your duvet for an extra hour, but you know it’ll be tainted later by the guilt of forgoing a gym session.
Except, it turns out you shouldn’t feel guilty about staying in bed at all. Because according to the experts, getting enough sleep can be just as beneficial for your health and your weight as going to the gym can be.
All in the hormones
I’ll let the people-in-the-know explain. Dr Guy Meadows, who’s been working with Philips on their new Somneo Sleep and Wake-up Light, points out that not getting enough sleep each night actually has a link to having a higher body fat percentage.
‘Sleeping less than 7-8 hours per night is linked to higher percent body fat. Research suggests that people who average 6 hours per night are 27% more likely to be overweight,’ he says. ‘Those who average 5 hours per night are 73% more likely to be overweight,’ the doctor adds.
And it’s all to do with hormones – two in particular. ‘Ghrelin regulates our appetite and so how hungry we feel, whereas Leptin regulates the feeling of fullness, the cue to stop eating,’ explains Dr Meadows. ‘Research demonstrates that after a poor night of sleep Ghrelin levels increase and Leptin levels decrease, meaning we feeling more hungry and yet less full, hence why we tend to eat more.’
Poor decisions.
According to research, after a poor night of sleep we experience a heightened desire to eat – by up to 45% more than normal levels – and the food choices we make the next day are scientifically proven to be much worse.
‘Research suggests that poor sleep causes us to choose higher calorific food. Scientists from Uppsala University in Sweden demonstrated that sleep deprived individuals select foods that are on average 9% higher in calories than when in a rested state,’ says Dr Meadows. It’s thought this is down to either a reduction in willpower or an increase in impulsive decision making.
And nutritionist Lily Soutter agrees with Dr Meadows that sleep can actually be just as valuable to your health and fitness than a session at the gym. She references a recent study that discovered lack of sleep can increase belly fat – which is notoriously hard to shift.
‘Scientists have analysed levels of the stress hormone cortisol in sleep-deprived subjects. They found elevated levels of cortisol after a sleepless night, which was especially high between the hours of 4-9pm. High cortisol can signal for fat to be store around the middle,’ she says.
Ineffective workouts
Lily also points out that if you don’t get enough sleep, your workouts will be significantly less effective anyway – so perhaps you’re better off getting some extra shut-eye. ‘During sleep, muscle tissue repairs and new cells are regenerated, therefore sleep deprivation is the enemy of building that all-important fat burning muscle mass,’ the nutritionist says.
Dr Meadows thinks the same. He explains that continuously low levels of sleep can have the same negative impact on cognitive performance as two whole nights without sleep. ‘This means that being focused and attentive, reaction time and your ability to assess risk are seriously impaired. Exercising [when] tired therefore increases your risk of having an accident and potentially injuring yourself,’ he explains.
‘If you are serious about staying healthy and keeping fit, you are much better off making sleep a priority in your life.

How Can I Get Help for Depression?

Depression is a mental illness that causes feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and emptiness. It’s one of the most common mental illnesses. In fact, over 15 million adults experienced depression in 2014.

It’s also estimated that two out of 100 children and eight out of 100 teens have depression.

Depression can be debilitating for those that experience it. But there are many effective treatments available that can help you manage your depression symptoms.

Keep reading to learn how to find mental health doctors in your area and start getting treatment.

How to find treatment near you

The first step in getting treatment for depression is making an appointment with your general practitioner. They can recommend doctors in your area.

If you’re religious, ask your religious leader if they have counselors to recommend. Some people prefer faith-based counseling, which incorporates their religion into a treatment plan.

You can also check healthcare databases for therapists, psychiatrists, and counselors. These databases can provide you with information such as certifications, accepted insurance providers, and reviews left by other people. Start with these databases:
Anxiety and Depression Association.
Psychology Today
GoodTherapy.org

First lines of treatment

Talk therapy and medication are often used as the first line of treatment for depression.

Talk therapy
Talk therapy involves discussing your problems and how you feel with a trained therapist. Your therapist can help you detect patterns of thought or behavior that contribute to your depression. You may be given homework, such as tracking your moods or writing in journals. This will help you to continue your treatment outside of appointments. Your therapist can also teach you exercises to reduce stress and anxiety, and help you understand your illness.

A therapist can also help you create strategies to identify and avoid any triggers that exacerbate your depression. They can also help you develop coping mechanisms for when you experience these triggers.

Talk therapy may resolve temporary or mild depression. It can often treat severe depression, but not without other treatments such as medication.

Medication

Depression medications are a common part of treatment. Some people use these medications for a short time, while others use them long term. Your doctor will take multiple factors into consideration before prescribing any medication, including:

possible side effects
current health concerns
possible drug interactions
cost
your specific symptoms
Medications that are commonly used to treat depression include:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. These typically have less side effects than other types of antidepressants. Fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and escitalopram (Lexapro) all fit into this category.
Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs. These include duloxetine (Cymbalta) and desvenlafaxine (Pristiq).
Tricyclic antidepressants. These antidepressants can be very effective, but cause more severe side effects. They’re often used if you haven’t responded to other medications. These include imipramine (Tofranil) and nortriptyline (Pamelor).
Mood stabilizers or anxiety medications are sometimes combined with antidepressant medication. If you’re seeing a counselor or a therapist who can’t prescribe medications, they can contact your primary care doctor and request the prescription for you.

Alternative treatments for depression.

There are a variety of alternative and natural treatments that are often used to treat depression. These treatments shouldn’t be used without consulting your doctor first, especially if you’re taking prescription antidepressants or other medications.

Some alternative remedies for depression include:

1. St. John’s Wort
2. omega 3 fatty acids
3. acupuncture
4. massage therapy
5. relaxation techniques
6. meditation

Lifestyle changes that treat depression.

Certain lifestyle changes can help you manage your depression. These can be used along with treatment from your therapist to get your best results.

Avoiding alcohol and recreational drugs can make a big impact on your depression. Some people may feel temporary relief from their depression when consuming alcohol or taking drugs. But, once these substances wear off your symptoms can feel more severe. They can even make your depression more difficult to treat.

Eating well and being physically active can help you feel better all around. Exercising regularly can increase your endorphins and relieve depression. Getting enough sleep is also essential to both your physical and mental health.

What happens if I don’t respond to treatment?

If other treatment methods haven’t worked for you, more intensive treatments may be used.

In cases of extremely severe depression, people may be hospitalized. This is especially true if they are considered at a high-risk of harming themselves or others. This often includes counseling and the use of medications to help you get your symptoms under control.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is sometimes used for people who don’t respond to other treatment. ECT is performed under anesthesia, and electrical currents are sent through the brain. It’s thought to impact the function of neurotransmitters in your brain and can offer immediate relief from depression.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is another option. In this procedure, you sit in a reclining chair with a treatment coil against your scalp. This coil then sends short magnetic pulses. These pulses stimulate nerve cells in the brain responsible for mood regulation and depression.

Finding the right treatment.

Sticking to your treatment plan is one of the most important things you can do. It’s easy to get discouraged in the first few weeks of treatment. You may not want to continue. All types of treatment can take a few months before you notice a difference. It’s also easy to feel like you’re doing much better and stop treatment all together. Never stop treatment without consulting your doctor first.

You should feel comfortable talking to your therapist. If you don’t, try switching to a new one. You may have to meet with several therapists before you find the one that’s right for you.

You should also talk to your therapist about your feelings toward your therapy sessions and your overall treatment plan. This allows them to work with you and make changes if your treatment plan isn’t working.

Finding the right treatment is often a trial-and-error process. If one doesn’t work, it’s good to move on. If two or more months have gone by and you’ve stuck to a treatment but don’t feel any relief from the depression, it’s likely not working for you. You should experience relief from depression within three months of starting a medication.

Talk to your doctor immediately if you’re:
depression doesn’t improve after several month of treatment
symptoms have improved, but you still don’t feel like yourself
symptoms get worse
These are signs that your treatment plan isn’t working for you.

Phone numbers and support groups.

If you’re experiencing depression, help is available. A number of counselors and therapists even offer scholarships or sliding scale pricing for those who can’t afford treatment.

Organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness offer support groups, education, and other resources to help fight depression and other mental illnesses.

If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

If you’re experiencing depression, you can call the following anonymous and confidential numbers:

National Suicide Prevention Hotline (open 24/7): 1-800-273-8255.
Samaritans 24 Hour Crisis Hotline (open 24/7): 212-673-3000

Don’t be alone help is at hand.

Talking with Boys About Sexual Assault

We should not be surprised by the recent maelstrom of accusations of sexual harassment and assault. It’s a common occurrence, unfortunately, and until recently, one that has been hidden, silenced or even bought off. But times seem to be a-changing – and that’s certainly for the better. We see that there’s strength in numbers as literally hundreds of women and men are speaking out about their experiences of assault. This bravery not only shows adults, some who’ve been living with painful memories for years, that it’s important to stand up to sexual bullies and predators, it’s also teaching our youth that such behavior must not be tolerated.

At this point in time, while the topic of sexual abuse is front and center, unlike any other time in recent history, it’s the perfect opportunity to talk to our daughters. These conversations may not be easy, but they are necessary. What we must not forget, though, is to open up the conversations, not only with our daughters, but with our sons. Our job as parents is to raise healthy, independent adults who are participating citizens in the world. And we owe it to our sons to show them how to be sensitive, strong and respectful when it counts.
Men have a unique responsibility – for it is almost as offensive to know that sexual abuse has happened – and not say anything about it, as it is to be responsible for the actual assault. The silence seems a tacit approval. And if we want to live in a world where we respect one another, women cannot shoulder the burden alone. It’s a matter of changing the culture – what is deemed acceptable behavior. There is no easy way to change this.
There is, unfortunately, often a disconnect between sex and relationships. There is often an unspoken assumption that boys want sex, no matter what. That belief has been accepted and tolerated, not to mention exaggerated in media. Let your son know that it’s good to have a healthy relationship before he engages in truly intimate acts. Set high expectations and let him know it’s ok to want more than just sex. And while it’s crucial he learn to ask for consent, it’s important for him to know he also has the right to offer or refuse consent himself. Here are some tips to help your son understand and talk about sexual assault and truly understand the difference between the two. Help him to:
Define sexual assault. Call it out for what it is. Be clear on what respect means, and how to honor other people’s space, whether you’re in an intimate relationship or just hanging out at school, a coffee shop, or somewhere else. Talk about the role of power and what it means to use and abuse power in a relationship.
Understand consent. Find big and small ways to practice consent. Don’t take food off each other’s plates without asking, and make a direct connection to consent from one circumstance to consent in an intimate circumstance. When you want to enter your son’s room, ask for permission first and say something like, “I’m asking for consent and I am going to listen for your response and respect it.”
Listen to others. Pay close attention to accounts from girls and women you know. Listen – don’t jump to comment but ask questions in a respectful manner. Get comfortable with the language and commit to changing the culture.
Talk to boys and men. Check in and see how your son feels about this topic. Is he uncomfortable? If so, find out why and talk about it. The more you talk, the more comfortable with the topic you will become. And more importantly, the more informed he will be. Help him understand what it is to be of strong moral character as opposed to what can often be painted as a strong man in our pop culture. Help him know that boys and men can be victims of sexual assault as well, and his consent is important.
Be brave. Call out mistreatment of others. It’s easier to look away or laugh along – Especially if it’s a friend or a “cool” or “popular” kid. Role play to help him understand how to be brave, and ask him where he can try to effect change in small ways to practice. Advocate for others. Teach your son to treat others kindly and change the culture literally person by person.
Accept responsibility. You need to take responsibility and show your son that you will stand by him should he falter. It’s far better to learn from a mistake while you’re young and pay the price. If you sweep it under the rug it only reinforces bad behavior.
Identify people he can go to. Your son needs to know whom he can turn to should he need help and can’t or won’t go to you. Who can he call on for help to be strong? Make sure he knows who those people are – ask him frequently in casual conversation.
We cannot change the culture with one conversation, one school assembly, or one article. We need true community intervention. Start the conversation with your friends and neighbors. Avoid casting judgment and ask each other questions. Help kids who are making mistakes and hurting others rather than labeling them and trying to avoid them. All kids make mistakes and when we hold them accountable and help them through it they can learn from the experience. Ask your school to host an assembly and a parent education event, and know this is just the beginning of the ongoing conversation that is so crucially needed. Participate, and model the behavior you expect of your son.

Depression in Teens: The Warning Signs and How to Help Them Through

One of the things that can make depression so difficult to recognise is that the symptoms can be things we all struggle with from time to time – sadness, hopelessness, lethargy, lack of engagement. When these very normal human experiences happen in a combination, duration or intensity that start to interfere with day-to-day life (school, relationships), it’s possible that depression might be waving a heavy hand over your teen.

During adolescence, the rates of depression skyrocket. According to the World Health Organisation, depression is the number one cause of illness and disability in adolescents. But there’s something else. Research shows that in half of all adults who have problems with their mental health, their symptoms showed up before age 14. Three-quarters had symptoms by age 24. This puts flashing lights around the importance of noticing when our teens are struggling and making sure they get the support they need. The earlier symptoms are caught, the easier it will be to stop those symptoms expanding into something bigger and more difficult to shift
What are the symptoms of depression in teens to watch out for?
For a diagnosis of depression, a particular cluster of symptoms needs to have been there for at least for two weeks. These symptoms must include at least one of either a depressed mood, or a loss of interest or pleasure in things that were once enjoyable. Many times these will just be a normal part of adolescence and nothing at all to worry about, but if depression is happening, there will be other telltale signs. Here are some to watch out for:
Happiness, anger, indifference – the many faces of depression.
Depression doesn’t always look like sadness or withdrawal. Some of depression’s classic disguises are:
• Anger or irritability.
Depression often comes with lethargy, pain and/or hopelessness. Understandably, this can make people angrier, more irritable or more impatient than usual.
• Happy, but reluctant to spend time with friends or family.
It’s takes a huge amount of strength to move through the day with depression hanging on. If your teen has depression they might use this strength to put on a happy face, but where there is depression, there is also likely to be increasing withdrawal. It’s very normal for teens to withdraw from family activities – it’s part of them experimenting with their growing independence. The thing to watch out for is if they withdraw more from friends and spend more time on their own than usual.
• Indifference.
Depression doesn’t just steal happy feelings. Sometimes it can steal all feelings, which can make people seem flat or indifferent. In teens, it can be difficult to tell whether their indifference is just a normal part of adolescence or whether it’s something more. It’s not at all unusual for teens to seem more indifferent and there’s a good reason for this. Dopamine is the chemical that creates the feel-good when we get something we want, and in teens the baseline levels in the brain are lower than they are in adults or children, creating a sense of flatness. There is a way though, to tell the difference between normal adolescence and depression. Watch out for what happens when your teen does something that feels good or when they get something they want. When adolescents do something that feels good, the dopamine levels are higher than they are in adults, so the feel-good feels better. In depression, this doesn’t happen. There is a constant sense that nothing makes a difference, and the flatness or indifference doesn’t shift even when they are doing something that they would normally have enjoyed
Pulling back from people and activities that were once enjoyable.
Depression takes away the sense of enjoyment from things that were once enjoyable. Watch out for your teen cancelling plans or making excuses to avoid the things they once wouldn’t have missed.
Tiredness, lethargy, exhaustion.
Depression is exhausting and can make people more tired than usual, even if they seem to spend more time sleeping.
Depression hurts, literally.
Depression is a physical illness, so sometimes the symptoms will show up physically. Watch out for unexplained headaches and migraine, stomach aches, back pain, joint aches and pains. Mood and pain share the same pathways in the brain and they are regulated by the same brain chemicals (serotonin and norepinephrine). When the balance of these neurochemicals is out, pain and mood might both be affected.
Giving up on things that are important
The hopelessness, helplessness and lowered self-esteem that come with depression might see depressed teens giving up on school, friendships, or other things that are important to them.
Change in physical movements and speech.
Depression can speed up movement (restlessness, agitation, fidgeting, pacing, leg shaking or hand-wringing), or it can slow down movement and speech.
Fuzzy thinking, difficulty concentrating and remembering.
As well as draining physical and emotional energy, depression can also take a swipe at mental energy. Teens with depression might have difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions. Slowed thinking might mean they take longer to collect their thoughts, which can show itself as slowed speech.
Isolating from others.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting some alone time, but when there’s a noticeable withdrawal, it might be a problem. This might be because being with people no longer brings joy (because nothing brings joy), or because fatigue, or having to put on a happy face when there is no ‘happy’ to hold it up feels too hard. Depression also has a way ofconvincing even the strongest of minds that they are a burden to those around them and that they are best keeping themselves to themselves.
Change in sleeping habits.
About 40% of young adults with depression have hypersomnia, which is excessive sleeping. Depression can make people oversleep, or wake earlier than usual and have trouble going back to sleep.
Change in eating habits.
Depression can create an emptiness that feels unbearable, and people might turn to food to try to fill the void. Eating habits can also change in the other direction, with people eating less.
Change in grades.
Depression brings fuzzy thinking, low energy and difficulty concentrating. All of this can make studying, listening and learning more difficult. The clue that this is happening will be a change in grades.
Taking more, using more, doing more
Depression is more than sadness. It’s an inability to feel joy. This is confusing and frightening for anyone to feel, and as a way to find relief from that, or to distract themselves from their pain, teens might turn to all sorts of risky or addictive behaviour. They might be driven to do more of what has felt good before, or anything that helps them to feel – something. This might look like drinking, drugs, skipping school, gaming excessively, eating excessively or self-harm.
Self-injury.
All of us can only push down big feelings for a certain amount of time before they start to push for attention. Physical pain and emotional pain share the same pathways in the brain. When emotional pain feels too big or when it stops making sense, self-harming can be a way to find short but needed relief from the heaviness that comes with depression. Teens don’t do this to manipulate or to control the people around them – they wish they could stop too. They do it to make the pain go away.
If you suspect your teen is depressed …
Depression is such a persuasive beast, and it can convince anyone it’s holding onto that nothing will make a difference. This hopelessness is a classic symptom of depression, and the very thing that gets in the way of healing from it. If you suspect your teen might have depression, the first step is getting a diagnosis so everyone knows what they’re dealing with. Depression doesn’t always need medication, but it might. Having the support of a loving adult will be important for any teen who is trying to find their way through depression. If that supportive and loving adult is you, here are some things you can do to help your teen strengthen and heal:
Help them find ways to connect with other teens.
Healthy friendships can be comfort and protection against the messy times that can come with adolescence. The problem can be finding these friends. School isn’t the only source of friendship. In fact, sometimes school friendships can be a huge source of sadness, fear and hurt. If your teen is struggling with friendships at school, it’s easy for them to be drawn into believing that it will be like this everywhere, but it won’t. Explain that school comes with different pressures and different problems that won’t be found in other environments. There will be people out there who would love to know your teen. Their tribe is out there, but sometimes they might have to look beyond the school ground to find them. Encourage your teen to try activities or join groups to expose themselves to people who share a more similar view of the world than the people at school. Some ways to do this are through sport, drama, music, part-time jobs, art classes, cooking classes. This might not be easy – depression drains energy for everything. Point out to your teen that it’s not necessarily about the activity, but about expanding their opportunity to find the people who will love being with them – and for certain those people are out there.
Meditation and exercise.
Recent research has found that depression can be reduced by up to 40% in two weeks through a combination of thirty minutes of mindful meditation and thirty minutes of exercise (treadmill or static bike), twice a week. Encourage your teen to try anything that will get his or her heart pumping. If they’re depressed, they might not be jumping at the opportunity to exercise. It’s part of what depression does, so you might need to be a bit creative – let one of their chores be to take the dog for a walk, take a sibling to the park to kick a ball, or to walk with you at night-time to keep you company. For the meditation part, the Smiling Mind app is a free app that has guided meditations for teens. It’s an easy and no-hassle way to get started with mindfulness, which has been proven by a mountain of research to be helpful with depression.
And while we’re on apps …
A collection of 13 apps developed by researchers from Northwestern University has been found to reduce depression and anxiety by up to 50%.
Keep it real.
Push against the ridiculous ideas of how they ‘should’ look by helping them to develop a healthy idea of what ‘beautiful’ means. The concept of beauty isn’t the problem, the definition is. Our teens are barraged with unrealistic and very narrow versions of what ‘body beautiful’ means. Help them to expand this, and to nurture a healthy body image by pointing out the many different versions of body beautiful that you see. This important for teen boys too.
When they feel heard they feel cared for.
Teens, particularly girls, will connect listening with caring. They might not always listen to you, and that’s okay, but if they feel as though you aren’t listening to them, they might feel as though you don’t care. It’s easy to dismiss their worries or mood swings as part of the normal ups and downs of adolescence – and it absolutely might be – but it’s still important to let them know that you hear them, that you notice them, and that you’re there for them.
Reduce gaming time – let them game with friends.
True, it might feel easier to catch a falling star in a glass jar, but anything you do can make a difference. Research has found that teens who spend more than four hours a day gaming can be vulnerable to depression, but there is a way to turn that risk around – let them game with friends. Boys who spend time gaming with friends, or those who are connected to friends either online or in real life appear to be protected from the depressive effects of heavy gaming. Girls who spend a lot of time gaming and who are socially active online are less lonely and less socially anxious, but they also show lower self-esteem. The reason behind your teen’s gaming is important. Researchers suggest that if it seems to be an attempt to ward of loneliness or to cope with the world, it might be time to step in to reduce the time spent at the console. Otherwise, if it’s a way to socialise or to connect with others, either in person or online in interactive games, there’s less likely to be a need for concern.
Every day say something positive, and find something positive in everything.
Even when teens mess up there’s gold in there somewhere, but they (you) might have to work hard to find it. Whether it’s about the way they come to you for advice or to download, whether it’s the way they learn from their experience, or that they didn’t pick a worse choice – there will be something. Try to say something positive every day, even if they don’t seem to take it in. Depression gives teens plenty of reasons to feel ‘less than’, so it’s important to protect them by pushing back against it whenever you can.
Be available, but not intrusive.
As little people, children turn to their parents for comfort and protection when they scrape against the hard edges of the world. As teens though, they are driven by the very important developmental goal of separating from parents and family. There can often be pressure (from inside of themselves or outside), to deal with things on their own, or at the very least without their parents. This can be tough for everyone. Finding the balance between holding them close and respecting their need for autonomy and independence isn’t easy, but it’s so important. Let your teen know they can talk to you about anything at all. When they do, listen and absorb whatever they tell you, even if it’s shocking. The more they can feel you as a strong, steady presence through their turmoil, the more they’ll trust that you can be there for them, even when things are messy
All of their feelings are okay.
Feelings that don’t get felt or expressed cause breakage. All feelings are valid and they are all okay to be there. It’s never feelings that cause trouble, it’s the way they are dealt with – or not dealt with. When feelings are pushed down or ignored, they’ll sprout little roots and they’ll grow. If teens don’t feel safe enough to feel anything they’re feeling – angry, confused, scared, guilty, jealous – the risk is they’ll cut themselves off from one feeling, then another and another. When they cut themselves off from bad feelings, it becomes easier to also cut themselves off from the good ones.
Be available on their terms.
Depression can be relentless, convincing people that they aren’t worthy of love or worthy of the fight. Your teen might crave company and someone to talk to, but at the same time push everyone away. Anything you can to do let them know that you’re there for them on their terms will be important. Some ways to gently do this are by sitting with them and watching whatever they’re watching on tv, or popping into their room just before they fall asleep – it’s often a time when they’re feeling safe and bundled away from the world, and when they might give you a little window into theirs.
Know their ‘normal’.
There are so many different versions of normal. Your teen’s version of ‘normal’ will change during adolescence, but the more you can get a handle on whatever their ‘normal’ is – feelings, behaviour, habits – the quicker you’ll get a feel for when something is off. This can be particularly difficult during adolescence because they’re changing so much, but trust your instincts. If you’re in doubt, ask. ‘I notice you’re sleeping a lot lately. Do you feel as though you are?’ If they say it’s fine, trust it for a while. If it feels like things aren’t fine, be open to the possibility that you’re absolutely right. Trust your intuition and continue to be gently curious.
You don’t have to fix them.
See them and notice them but remember that you don’t have to fix them. None of us like feeling as though we’re a problem that needs fixing, which is how it can feel when people jump into problem-solving mode, even when it’s done with the most loving intent. Instead, listen with an open heart and an open mind and without judgement. Create opportunities for your teen, but express them incidentally and without expectation. Rather than, ‘You know if you exercised you’d probably feel better,’try, ‘I’m taking the dogs for a walk a little bit later if you want to come.
And finally …
Adolescence is a time of massive change, which can be confusing for teens and the people who love them. Adding to the confusion, ‘normal’ teenage behaviour and signs of a mental health struggle can look the same. Changes in sleep and eating patterns, moodiness, pulling away from family, irritability – these can all be a very normal part of adolescence, or they can be symptoms of depression. It’s important to let your teen pull away when they need to. The push for independence from family and parents is a really important part of adolescence, but it’s also important to stay gently curious, vigilant and available. The more we notice when those we love are struggling, or the more we listen to the heart whispers when something isn’t right, the more empowered we are to respond in a way that can heal and strengthen.

Former Swedish PM asks ‘what has he been smoking?’ after Trump refers to non-existent terror attack

US President Donald Trump was speaking to supporters on Saturday when he apparently referred to the Scandinavian country as the site of a terror incident — the latest example of his administration naming a non-existent attack.

He was addressing a campaign-style rally in Florida when he launched into a list of places that have been targeted by terrorists.

“You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible,” he said, provoking mockery on social media.
His speech was aimed at defending his order last month that blocked refugees and travellers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States.

The order has been suspended by a federal appeals court, and Trump vowed to introduce a new order this week as a means of protecting Americans at home.

He went on to name Brussels, Nice and Paris — European cities that have been struck by deadly terror attacks.

Sweden’s embassy in Washington has asked for an explanation, the foreign ministry in Stockholm said Sunday.

“We have now contacted the American (State Department) to understand and receive clarity,” ministry press officer Catarina Axelsson told AFP.

Users on Twitter, Trump’s favourite communication platform, cracked jokes about the apparent miscue using the hashtags #lastnightinSweden and #SwedenIncident.

Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt asked: “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.”

Gunnar Hokmark, a Swedish member of the European Parliament, retweeted a post that said “#lastnightinSweden my son dropped his hotdog in the campfire. So sad!”

Hokmark added his own comment: “How could he know?”

Numerous internet wags responded with Ikea-themed tweets. Some posted photos of the impossible-to-understand instructions for assembling Ikea furniture, calling it “Secret Plans for the #SwedenIncident.”

Posts flooded into @sweden, the country’s official Twitter account which is run by a different Swede each week.

This week’s curator, Emma, who describes herself as a school librarian and mother, said the account had received 800 mentions in four hours.

“No. Nothing has happened here in Sweden. There has not (been) any terrorist attacks here. At all. The main news right now is about Melfest,” she said, referring to the competition to pick the performer who will represent Sweden at the Eurovision singing contest.

Top Trump aides in his month-old administration have faced criticism and ridicule after speaking publicly about massacres that never took place.

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway — who famously coined the term “alternative facts” — referred to a “Bowling Green massacre” during an interview.

She later tweeted that she meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists” — referring to two Iraqi men who were indicted in 2011 for trying to send money and weapons to Al-Qaeda, and using improvised explosive devices against US soldiers in Iraq.

And White House spokesman Sean Spicer made three separate references in one week to an attack in Atlanta.

He later said he meant to say Orlando, the Florida city where an American of Afghan origin gunned down 49 people at a gay nightclub last year.

Jamaican women raping young boys

ALTHOUGH a number of Jamaican men still smirk at the idea of a woman raping a man, the increasing number of calls to the Marge Roper Counselling Service and the National Family Planning Board hotline are showing that more and more males are reporting rape and are pointing towards older women as the perpetrators.

“A number of men are now reporting rape,” National Family Planning Board Chair Dr Sandra Knight said. “Men who are in the 16 to 20 age groups are reporting rape, men in the 30 to 35 age group are reporting now that older women are raping them.

This is nothing new. Older women have always been having sex with our boys. But I think now, with the sensitisation that is out there, boys are now realising that if I did not consent to it, it is rape,” she said.

But some men still say that this cannot be true.
“You cannot rape the willing,” said Curtis Benjamin, 42, and father of three. “I don’t think it is physically possible for a woman to overpower a man and rape him. What she can do is seduce him and he will get aroused. Then he is not going to walk away he will give in to her. So that is why he now becomes willing. Once you are willing it is not rape.”

Ricardo Thomas, 40, shared the view.

“I feel it cannot happen, because if a man really doesn’t want to have sex a man will just not have sex,” Thomas said. “If another man comes to you as a man to rape you, you are going to fight him off tooth and nail, so if you don’t want to have sex with a woman it should be the same thing, you going to fight her off tooth and nail too. What I would call him is a reluctant participant in some respect, but I wouldn’t consider it rape,” he added. “I would only consider it rape if a bunch of women hold you down and use dildo, etc. But as a man, if I don’t want sex, I just don’t want it, and if as the woman you decide to force me even further then she would leave with a bloody nose and a black eye, even though I don’t believe in hitting women,” he went on.

However, Dr Knight said that male rape should be taken seriously.

“I know a lot of people find the issue of male rape funny; because they think that men want to have sex all the time, and all men will have sex with anything and anybody, but that is not true,” she said. “Men can be very discerning, men can be conservative with their sexuality and we should not generalise and feel that you getting some and you don’t want it. But we shouldn’t generalise because not all men are like that. Actually men can be very serious with their sexual preferences and their sexual interactions.”

While there is the issue of older women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s having sex with younger men, Dr Knight said that there is also a problem with teenage girls forcing teenage boys into sexual activities, while adolescent males are also being raped or sexually abused by adult females.

“We always do follow-ups when we get these calls and have these men come in to us,” Dr Knight explained. “We have come to the conclusion that we now have to expand our focus not only on the little boys — who are very, very important that CISOCA (Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse) sees — but also on the various age groups that we see turning up reporting that they have been raped, because it’s a big deal for an adult male to say listen this has happened.”

At present, statistics do not show the amount of male rapes by females as the agencies dealing with rape and abuse only does compilation of male children who are raped and not adults.

“We will have to tweak our database collection system, because we realise that the issue of adult male rape is also a problem,” Dr Knight said.

“I was at the hospital the other day and a father came in with his child and he said ‘doc I want to talk to you’ and he said ‘a lady had her way with me last week and I don’t feel good about it’. I asked him what he meant and he said he felt ashamed because he had an erection but he thought the lady raped him because he never wanted to have sex with her. This is a serious problem. Male rape is not funny,” she said. “A man might wonder why he had an erection and he did not consent to it. Erections are physical, they are also physiological. There are men in jail who have never had sex with men before who are raped and who have ejaculations and that is why there is so much shame attached to it, because they had an ejaculation and they would say ‘oh my, am I gay? Was I always gay?’ Now that does not necessarily mean you are gay but an erection is physical. The body will react to certain things,” Dr Knight went on.

Dr Knight said that the psychological trauma is just as much for a man as with women who are raped, as the men involved are traumatised, especially if the rape was by a female who is a family member or a one that they would not naturally be attracted to.

“Then the whole shame part is enormous because as an adult [it is felt that] you should be able to control your ‘tings’ and losing control of your sexuality for a man is a big deal,” she added. “I believe that men in our society have an enormous amount of social pressure that is placed upon them. We women are also pressured in a lot of ways, but men in particular are pressured enormously. They are pressured to perform sexually, they are pressured to perform economically, they are pressured to perform parentally. They are under so much duress that as soon as they turn 16 they are overwhelmed, and by the time they reach 20 – 21 they are pressured to do what society says they should do. For example, if you are 21 and you don’t have a youth you are a half mule.”

Shauna-Kaye Rowe, monitoring and evaluation Officer at the Jamaica Red Cross, which operates a psychosocial department that includes counselling services for men who have been sexually abused, agreed that rape of men by women is in fact a reality, but that the men are too ashamed to report it.

“That then cascades into poor behaviour — just like when a woman is raped and she might turn to drugs or drinking. These men are having problems establishing relationships, they are having problems working; they turn to alcohol and so forth. “Therefore, this is something that definitely needs to be addressed,” Rowe said.

Fast-Track Visas For Commonwealth Citizens, Say British MPs

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The British Caribbean Chamber of Commerce in St Lucia has welcomed a move by 45 British members of parliament to persuade Home Secretary Amber Rudd that Commonwealth citizens should have UK visas fast-tracked after Brexit.

The Chamber also wants the registered traveller scheme to be expanded to include additional Commonwealth countries.

It has also called for a change in the rules so that it is easier for students to study in the UK, all part of the rebuilding of relationships with the Commonwealth post-Brexit, according to a release from the Chamber.

John Kennedy, President of the Chamber in St Lucia, said “travellers from most of the Caribbean already benefit from clearance on entry without a full visa application process in advance of travel, but the process involving students travelling to the UK can benefit from a more streamlined system.

“These new proposals by British MPs also call for border entry points at airports to be dedicated to UK and Commonwealth citizens, making processing faster still,” Kennedy said.

In a letter to Rudd, the MPs urged the government to “extend the hand of friendship to our Commonwealth partners” and make the UK more welcoming for Commonwealth citizens.

The recommendations are due to be debated in Parliament on February 26.

The MPs, including Sir Henry Bellingham, a former foreign office minister who last month met with St Lucia’s education Minister Gale Rigobert, wants the changes to be considered ahead of next month’s Commonwealth trade ministers meeting in London.

“Home Secretary, you are in a position to effect real, positive change in our relations with our Commonwealth partners. It would be a shame to let this opportunity pass us by,” said the letter.

Lord Marland, the former energy minister and current chairman of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, added that “if the government is going to turbo charge its relationship with the Commonwealth … it will have to take into consideration visas”.

In the letter, published in the UK Daily Telegraph, the MPs say: “In the previous century, Commonwealth countries stood with Britain as we faced existential threats from abroad but as we pivoted to Europe, increasingly, our Commonwealth allies were left in the cold.”

The MPs added that “we must be clear about the importance we place on our relationship with the Commonwealth and start the process of strengthening ties for crucial future trade negotiations.”

What’s wrong with marching to save even one life… and a woman’s life at that?

No Silence, No Violence – New Group To March, Renew Stand Against Abuse Of Women

 

Enough is enough! The women of our country can take the abuse and the murder no more.

For weeks and months now, from last year into this, we have been disturbed by the way some women were treated like animals brought to slaughter — beheaded, throat cut or brains scattered by the force of a machete (in the past), or the bullet from a gun today.

We talk a lot about the siege we are under. We wonder when it will come to a halt. Sometimes it seems that we can survive no more. Some men, acknowledging their guilt, commit suicide and got screaming media coverage. When it was too late to hear the reaction of people of conscience, the cry went up “Wah di Govament a do?”

Since the old year passed and the new came in for its year-long stay the trend for suicide has not been heard of as much as before — or occasionally, not at all. Deluded for a brief while, we thank heavens for the hope for peace and justice, assuming that all should be well now.
It isn’t.

The trend has shifted from male suicide to stomach-wrenching murder of females, reserved not only for “big women”, but including even young adults, especially and (heaven help us), school-age girls, some of whom were living in concubinage with men who could be their fathers.

As to the other killers who are still at large, what are they plotting again? Will they ever pay for their crimes? The questions have to be be asked: Must so many of our women face slaughter? And, why are young women being so cruelly attacked? Is there enough room in hell to accommodate the men of evil who have lost mind and soul?

In some areas of our island, compared to others, more women seem to be targeted than others. The reputation of St Thomas has been tarnished far too many times, according to reports, which broke into the news. Manchester, for instance, has had more than enough pain and sadness over domestic homicide. Luckily, there seems to be a break. In western Jamaica, other women disappear only to be found no longer in the “land of the living”, but leaving behind puzzled and grieving relatives to ask the “Why” question.

So many of our women have been paying a high price for mistakes made, but very few, if any, have come forward — as far as we know — to place on record the danger of which they are well aware, but seem to doubt if anything can be done.

With all the bawling out for a change to come, I haven’t heard of any proven strategy to help women, the target of evil, to understand who and how they can help themselves in times like these. Now that there is promise being offered to go after the evil ones, we have begun to hear cries: What is going to be done?

Earlier this week a protest march against abuse of women was carried out with the objective to bring the nation to recognise the evil which has closed in on us. Analysis of the march, or protest action, as some call it, should have focused on strategies based on determination to heal the brokenness which is destroying so many women of whatever class, colour or creed. Woman abuse knows no partiality. When did love dissolve into darkness, pain and loss of life?

When the gossip and the chatter run out we may all have to get involved in turning back what has been there all the while, but which we failed to recognise. When a pressure cooker threatens to blow up, take note that the valve has to be released before disaster comes. So the women’s march was organised.

It was not the first that women in Jamaica have marched for the rights of their gender, but we haven’t seen such response for quite a while. Why shouldn’t we march? In the US of A, very recently, there was a vast women’s march to respond to the Trump who tried to put them down. The women of America have made it clear many times that they will not put up with manipulation. As for us, planning and staging a women’s march of our own here seemed to have irked some people. The women’s action ended up criticised, and even ridiculed as copycats.

Some of the anti-march response also said, “Instead of marching, women should go find something better to do.” What form should that action take, please?

Question: Why has it become so difficult to find common ground on which men and women, alike, can meet to create and enact strategies?

A march may not seem like much in the eyes of some, but as our ancestors used to say: “Walk fi sumpn, better dan siddung fi nuttin.” (Walk for something better than sit down for nothing.) Small comfort though it may seem to so many, the truth is: Somebody must do it. It is all of us who must!

Whether we are “toppa line, middle line, or poor smaddy on the road” it would suit us to face reality. What we need now is to respect life and to accept the message that we have to work together.

Small march or big march, we cannot continue the way we are now. Note well: “One hand alone cyaan clap.”

MAN UNU FI STOP KILLING OFF THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN JAMAICA.

LITTLE LONDON, Westmoreland — A Negril hotelier is offering a reward of $100,000 to anyone who can assist the police with information leading to the capture of the men who murdered one of his employees.

Dane “Blushie” Foote, operator of Foote Prints on the Sands Hotel, offered the bounty after gunmen shot dead 36-year-old Tracy Humes and injured two men in an attack Sunday night in Little London, leaving a pall of grief hanging over the community.

Humes, whom Foote described as a good worker, was at home with two other people when they were peppered with bullets by two gunslingers about 10:30 pm.

The three ran in different directions for cover upon the approach of the trigger-happy gunmen.
When the police arrived, their blood-soaked bodies were found riddled with gunshot wounds.

They were rushed to hospital where Humes was pronounced dead and the two men admitted in serious condition.

The Little London police, who are investigating, say they are yet to determine what triggered the deadly attack.

Humes’s killing has pushed Westmoreland’s murder tally to 11 since the start of the year, four more than the seven recorded over the corresponding period last year.

THE PRESENT AMERICA

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxeSNYdYgXZ_S3RacUF1MmNBVG8/view?usp=sharing
It is such a disappointment in a country that were build on a multi cultural basic, knowing that we have come this far trying to breakdown Racism, only to find that in the Political world the existence is so rife especially in the present Administration.
My question is?, Is this the American people really wanted when they say that that they wanted a change, instead they find themselves with a Dictator and a Racist as their President.
Is this the Devil himself been manifest in the form of a man unto the rest of the world.
I now know that the pigment of your skin will always be an issue to all the Haters, but all I can say is to be of courage and by the Power of the Almighty we will defeat these Demons.
God Bless You All.

The Caribbean Anti-Colonialists

Young Prince Harry is on duty in the Caribbean on behalf of his grandmother, but the story that’s been coming out to the world is that there is an anti-colonial party that has risen up against his appearance in the Caribbean.
One of my question is what is this young Prince go to do with the Caribbean been Colonized for more than a century now, was this young man involved in Selling or Buying of their forefathers.
Why can’t these people move on from the past, more so if they are so bitter about the pass, why not seek the rightful answer from the Tribe that rounded up their fore- parent and sold them as Slaves.
Less we forget you as a buyer only can owned something that you paid for, and if there is a problem with your goods then you are going to see the stores or person’s that sold you that goods.
Therefore whether you support my argue or not, but I believe that as African-Caribbean you have been barking up the wrong tree all along, you all should be trying to find out why did those other Tribes has to round up their brothers and sister and sold them on, instead all we seems to do is pass hate rage on to our children’s and their children’s to come.
For the future lets forget the hate and think Love and Peace amongst all as we do not know what tomorrow brings, we are living in a very corrupt world, one that we need to unite in love and harmony to prepare for our children’s future.
God Bless you all.

Government Disappointed at High Court Ruling.

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International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said the Government is “disappointed” at the High Court ruling that Theresa May cannot trigger the formal process of leaving the European Union without the prior approval of Parliament.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Fox said “the Government is determined to respect the result of the referendum”.
“The Government is disappointed by the court’s judgement,” he said.
“The country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum approved by Acts of Parliament. The Government is determined to respect the result of the referendum.
“This judgment raises important and complex matters of law and it’s right that we consider it carefully before deciding how to proceed.”
He added: “I have nothing to add other than to reiterate that it’s right that the Government will consider carefully before deciding how to proceed following the judgment.”
In one of the most important constitutional cases in generations, three senior judges ruled that the Prime Minister cannot use the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the UK’s exit from the EU without the prior authority of Parliament.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is lobbying to keep Britain in the European single market and against a so-called “hard Brexit”, described the result as “significant indeed”.
Interim Ukip leader Nigel Farage said he was worried that politicians were attempting to block or delay Brexit and warned that such a move would provoke huge public anger.
“I worry that a betrayal may be near at hand,” he said. “Last night at the Spectator Parliamentary Awards I had a distinct feeling that our political class, who were out in force, do not accept the 23rd of June referendum result.”
“I now fear that every attempt will be made to block or delay the triggering of Article 50. If this is so, they have no idea of the level of public anger they will provoke.”
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron urged the Government to now set out its negotiating strategy to Parliament before triggering Article 50, which Mrs May has promised to do before the end of March.
The PM has insisted that she cannot reveal her hand before beginning negotiations.
But Mr Farron said: “It is disappointing that this Government was so intent on undermining parliamentary sovereignty and democratic process that they forced this decision to be made in the court, but I welcome the news today that MPs will get to vote on the triggering of Article 50.
“Given the strict two-year timetable of exiting the EU once Article 50 is triggered, it is critical that the Government now lay out their negotiating strategy to Parliament, before such a vote is held.
“So far May’s team have been all over the place when it comes to prioritising what is best for Britain, and it’s time they pull their socks up and start taking this seriously.
“Ultimately, the British people voted for a departure but not for a destination, which is why what really matters is allowing them to vote again on the final deal, giving them the chance to say no to an irresponsible hard Brexit that risks our economy and our jobs.”
Leave campaigner Dominic Raab described the decision as “disappointing”.
The Tory former minister said: “This case is a plain attempt to block Brexit by people who are out of touch with the country and refuse to accept the result.
“However, the vote to leave the EU was clear and they should not seek to obstruct it.
“Leaving the EU provides us with the opportunity to create a society which works for all. Instead of trying to row back on the referendum result, the country should be moving forward and working together to make a success of Brexit.”
A flurry of excitement swept through the House of Commons chamber as news of the court’s judgment spread.
Former health minister Ben Bradshaw briefly put his hands up in the air with glee as he heard the result, while Labour MP Kevin Brennan demanded to know if the Government will “respect the ruling of the court”.
But pro-Brexit MPs were quick to denounce the decision, with Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) urging ministers to “deplore” it, as he does.
Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas said the ruling meant Mrs May and her Cabinet would not have “total control” over Britain’s future.
“We welcome this ruling, which shows that ministers do not have the power to trigger Article 50 without consulting Parliament,” she said.
“Parliament must have the opportunity to debate and vote on triggering Article 50, rather than a group of ministers at the top table having total control over this country’s future place in the world.
“The Green Party will continue to fight to protect free movement, workers’ rights and the vital environmental protections we currently have as part of the EU.”
Labour MP and constitutional expert Graham Allen said the Supreme Court now faces “its first historic test” in hearing the Government’s appeal against the ruling.
He said: “It is the beginning of defining more clearly and honestly a separation of powers in the UK, which has hitherto been shrouded in mystery.
“Parliament can no longer be the poodle of Government of any political complexion.
“On fundamental matters of our democracy, Parliament must not only be consulted but, as on Article 50, legislate.
“This is not to overturn the decision in principle by the British people but to give it full life.
“I welcome the decision of the High Court and now hope the Supreme Court upholds the sovereignty of Parliament which was such a core part of the reason to leave the EU.”
Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord (Menzies) Campbell of Pittenweem said the ruling was a “slap in the face” for Mrs May.
“This is a clear illustration of the well-known legal principle that no matter how high you are, the law is above you,” he said.
“It is a slap in the face for the Government. It shows the dangers of playing ducks and drakes with the constitution and particularly the sovereignty of Parliament.”
Former education secretary Nicky Morgan said she hoped the chances of the Government hitting Mrs May’s Article 50 deadline were “quite strong”.
She told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme: “The triggering of Article 50 is a big first step but I think people will want progress made on that.
“I think it’s important the Government shows there is progress and I see no reason why, actually, unless we end up with some lengthy legal proceedings tying things up, the Government doesn’t take charge of this and say we are going to have a piece of very simple legislation.
“Members of Parliament will be mindful of how their constituents voted on 23 June.”
Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner asked Dr Fox in the Commons: “Will you acknowledge that the vast majority of members in this House are now committed to honouring the decision to leave the EU but that democracy demands that the terms of our leaving must be subject to the proper advanced scrutiny and consent of this democratically elected House and not negotiated in secret and smuggled through without the support of this sovereign Parliament?”
Mr Bradshaw urged the Government to delay the planned triggering of Article 50 in the wake of the ruling.
He said: “Eighty percent of the fish caught around our coastline in the South West goes straight for export to the rest of the European Union and there is huge concern in the industry about the impact of tariffs if we leave the single market.
“Given the excellent news from the High Court and those concerns, wouldn’t the Government be wise not to invoke Article 50 as early as March?”
Meanwhile, Tory former minister Anna Soubry urged Dr Fox to examine the details of the ruling.
She said: “I think you said the Government will be appealing. Could I ask you on behalf of the Government please to look at their learned judges’ ruling and understand that it’s not about a re-run of the arguments about the EU referendum, it’s all about Parliament’s sovereignty.
“In that event will the Government look at it carefully to decide whether or not in fact the learned judges are right and it’s this place that should and indeed will trigger Article 50?”
Dr Fox replied to Mrs Soubry: “As this is now an ongoing court case I’ve nothing further to add to the comments I made earlier.”
Ukip leadership hopeful Suzanne Evans condemned the “activist judges” and suggested they should be sacked.
“How dare these activist judges attempt to overturn our will? It’s a power grab & undermines democracy,” she wrote on Twitter. “Time we had the right to sack them.”
She added: “Predictably, the same people now quoting ‘parliamentary sovereignty’ are the very same people who were happy to give it away for last 40yrs.”
Commons leader David Lidington told MPs: “I can confirm to the House that it is the Government’s intention to appeal against today’s judgment from the High Court.
“We are, as the House is aware, in a situation where we have this judgment today and a very little while ago a judgment from the High Court of Northern Ireland which came to a completely different decision on the same subject.
“So we now have the High Courts in two different parts of the United Kingdom coming to opposite conclusions on the same constitutional and legal question. So this will need to go to a higher court.”
He said the Government will give a statement to the Commons on Monday about the ruling and the appeal.
Ukip donor Arron Banks, co-chairman of the Leave.EU campaign, said unelected judges had declared war on British democracy.
He said: “Parliament voted six-to-one in favour of letting the people decide. They didn’t get the answer they wanted, and now they’re going to use every dirty trick in the book to try to sabotage, delay or water down Brexit.
“It’s no surprise that the legal establishment has joined the political class in declaring war on British democracy. Why wouldn’t unelected judges want to preserve an EU system where unelected elites like themselves are all-powerful?
“Tony Blair let the cat out of the bag last week: the Remain campaign hasn’t gone away; they don’t have any respect for the 17.4 million and they will do everything in their power to reverse the public’s historic victory over the Establishment.
“Well, I don’t think the people are going to take this lying down. Leave.EU will now be going back into full campaigning mode, and I would urge anyone who believes in democracy to sign up and join the fight.”
Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones said it was a mistake for the Government to appeal against the ruling – and repeated his view that the devolved administrations should also get a vote on Mrs May’s Brexit negotiating position.
“The High Court ruling is extremely clear – the UK Government cannot trigger Article 50 using the Crown prerogative,” he said.
“Indeed, this is consistent with many of the arguments made by the Leave campaign themselves about Parliamentary sovereignty. It is a mistake, in my view, to challenge such a clear ruling and we should now try and move ahead to develop a fuller understanding of the UK Government’s position.
“The position of the Welsh Government has been consistent throughout – we accept the decision made by the people and will not work against the referendum result. We are working hard to get the best possible exit terms for Wales.
“However, it is important that votes take place in all four nations to endorse the UK negotiating position.”

Member of Parliament for St Thomas comment.

I am on a visit to the Island of Jamaica, where I actually heard the member of Parliament for Eastern St Thomas made a comment that the people of his constituency don’t need anything.
I must say to Ferguson you are so right as you are the representative of these people for over a decay now but it’s more like representing yourself or your pocket.
Take for example the main road leading from Kingston through to Portland which is in a very Deplorable condition, the potholes are about Ten feet wide and about Eight inches in depth, the sides of the roads are en-caved with woodland and yet these people don’t need anything, your treatment to these people are worst than how you would treat your dog.
It is time you get up off your old ass and at least give them a decent road to travel on, and stop been a Disgrace to Politics as most of you are.
For once do the decent thing for the people of St Thomas or step aside and give someone else the chance to become a good Representative for these Community.
I lost all respect for someone that I personally know, that was a very good and caring Doctor, letting these people down so badly only show how fake a person you are.

Cocaine in ‘cheese’ tin leads to bigger drug bust, 4 arrests.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The seizure of approximately 2.5 pounds of cocaine at the Sangster International Airport in St James on Wednesday, led lawmen to uncover more than J$2 million worth of cocaine, seize an illegal gun and arrest four people, including three Britons.

The operations, which a news release from the police’s Corporate Communications Unit said spanned three parishes, was conducted between Wednesday, September 14 and Thursday, September 15 by the Narcotics Police Division.

The police say one of the persons now in police custody is wanted in Britain.

Reports from the CCU are that about 7:00 pm on Wednesday, a British woman checked in to board a flight to London at the Sangster International Airport when she was searched and a tin marked “cheese” was found with cocaine weighing approximately 2.5 pounds.
Narcotics operatives then reportedly extended the probe and two men, one of whom is a British national suspected to be involved in the illicit drug trade and wanted by the British Justice System, were taken into custody. The two were also found with tins of cheese containing 2.5 pounds of cocaine in a motor car.

The police say the motor vehicle was also seized.

Investigators did not stop there, they continued their follow-up operations throughout Wednesday night and about 4:00 am on Thursday, they were reportedly led to a house in Annotto Bay, St Mary.

The police say during a search of the house a 9mm pistol loaded with 14 cartridges and an ammunition box containing an additional 19 cartridges were found.

A British woman was arrested in connection with the gun seizure.

As the probe intensified, CCU said the narcotics operatives carried out yet another operation, this time in the Waltham Park Road area of St Andrew and a small quantity of ganja seized.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds, in commenting on the seizures, said, “The Police High Command commends the excellent job being done by the narcotics team. We made a deliberate move to ramp up our counter-narcotics operations this year and based on what we’ve seen so far, this year will see a significant increase in seizures when compared to last year.

“What is significant too, is that a number of these operations have led to the seizures of not only drugs, but also firearms. We congratulate the team, and look forward to this momentum continuing throughout the rest of the year and beyond,” he said.

The four will be interviewed in the presence of their attorneys and thereafter, formal charges will be laid, the police say.

Vicar Seek Alcohol Licence For His Church

As it goes a Vicar in London has applied for an Alcohol licence for his church, but his congregation is furious that gig-goers will wreck the church.
His argument is that Jesus turn water into wine for a reason and he want US rocker Nine Inch Nails to rock his church.
I bet his congregation will be full every weekend, but on the other side many Christians will be after his blood.

Woman castrated rapist and forced him to eat genitals at gunpoint

A woman who was kidnapped and assaulted turned the tables on her attacker when she castrated the sick fuck and forced him to eat his own genitals. Kimberly Walt, 19, was walking home from a friend’…

Source: Woman castrated rapist and forced him to eat genitals at gunpoint

Woman castrated rapist and forced him to eat genitals at gunpoint

A woman who was kidnapped and assaulted turned the tables on her attacker when she castrated the sick fuck and forced him to eat his own genitals.

Kimberly Walt, 19, was walking home from a friend’s house when she was approached by a man offering her a ride to where she was heading. Kimberly replied, “no thank you” and the man drove off. Kimberly continued walking home but upon turning a corner, that same man jumped out of the bushes and kidnapped her.
The attacker, Robert Williams, is a three time convicted child molester. He took Kimberly back to his house where he tied her up and assaulted her for hours. Williams eventually passed out drunk and Kimberly was able to untie herself.

In a fit of rage Kimberly then tied up Williams and castrated him. Williams woke up screaming and yelling and Kimberly proceeded to toss his “parts” in the microwave.

“I threw that bastards junk in the microwave, grab the plate, fork and a steak knife and cut it up like hot dogs,” said Kimberly in a recorded statement. “I grabbed a gun that he had left on the kitchen counter, walked over to him, and forced him to eat it. I have no remorse and I am not sorry. That bastard deserved it and he’s going to hell.”

Williams stated that he feared for his life so he complied with Kimberly’s request for him to eat his own dick and balls.

Williams was arrested at the scene and transported to the hospital where he received medical treatment and was then transported to Fayetteville County Jail.

Kimberly is not being charged with anything.

A neighbor named Donna gave this statement, “Now we don’t have to worry about that pervert doing this to anyone else,” she said. “If we castrated every child molester, we would never have this problem.”

Britain would be ‘back of queue’ for US under Brexit

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BRITAIN would not be able to strike a free trade deal with the US “any time soon” if it leaves the EU, as Washington’s focus would be on reaching agreement with the European Union, Barack Obama has said.

The president was speaking after Downing Street talks with Prime Minister David Cameron during a two-day visit which he has used to speak out in favour of continued UK membership of the 28-nation bloc after the June 23 referendum.

At a joint press conference in the Foreign Office, Mr Cameron insisted that the special relationship between the UK and US was not “constrained” by Britain’s EU membership.

EU membership gave Britain “a powerful tool” to stand up for the values it shares with the US, said Mr Cameron, adding: “Now, I think, is a time to stay true to those values, and to stick together with our friends and allies in Europe and around the world.”

Mr Obama said the UK would be “in the back of the queue” for a trade deal if it left the EU, because the US would focus on the bigger bloc.

The US president stressed that the referendum was a “decision for the people of the United Kingdom” and he was “not coming here to fix any votes”.

But he defended his right to offer an opinion, saying: “In democracies everybody should want more information, not less, and you shouldn’t be afraid to hear an argument being made – that’s not a threat, that should enhance the debate.
“Particularly because my understanding is that some of the folks on the other side have been ascribing to the United States certain actions we will take if the UK does leave the EU – they say for example that ‘we will just cut our own trade deals with the United States’.

“So they are voicing an opinion about what the United States is going to do, I figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what I think the United States is going to do.

“And on that matter, for example, I think it’s fair to say that maybe some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade agreement, but it’s not going to happen any time soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done.

“The UK is going to be in the back of the queue.”

Trying to do “piecemeal trade agreements” was “hugely inefficient”, he said.

Setting out the choice facing the UK, the president said: “If, right now, I have got access to a massive market where I sell 44 per cent of my exports and now I’m thinking about leaving the organisation that gives me access to that market and that is responsible for millions of jobs in my country and responsible for an enormous amount of commerce and upon which a lot of businesses depend – that’s not something I would probably do.”

He added that the UK’s membership of the EU “enhances the special relationship” because it meant Washington had a trusted partner in Europe on issues including the fight against terrorism.
“Precisely because I have a confidence in the UK, and I know that if we are not working effectively with Paris or Brussels then those attacks are going to migrate to the United States and to London, I want one of my strongest partners in that conversation.

“So it enhances the special relationship, it does not diminish it.”

Mr Obama said that while the vote was a matter for the British people, the US had a “deep interest” in the outcome.

“The United States wants a strong United Kingdom as a partner and the United Kingdom is at its best when it is helping to lead a strong Europe,” he said.

“It leverages UK power to be part of the European Union. I don’t believe the EU moderates British influence in the world, it magnifies it.”

He acknowledged that all countries were concerned about their sovereignty, but said that the UK’s membership of the EU added to collective prosperity and security.

“All of us cherish our sovereignty – our country is pretty vocal about that – but the US also recognises that we strengthen our security through our membership of Nato, we strengthen our prosperity through organisations like the G7 and the G20.

“I believe the UK strengthens both our collective security and prosperity through the EU.”

Mr Cameron said the referendum was the “sovereign choice of the British people” but added: “As we make that choice, it surely makes sense to listen to what our friends think, to listen to their opinion, to listen to their views and that’s what Barack has been talking about today.
“Precisely because I have a confidence in the UK, and I know that if we are not working effectively with Paris or Brussels then those attacks are going to migrate to the United States and to London, I want one of my strongest partners in that conversation.

“So it enhances the special relationship, it does not diminish it.”

Mr Obama said that while the vote was a matter for the British people, the US had a “deep interest” in the outcome.

“The United States wants a strong United Kingdom as a partner and the United Kingdom is at its best when it is helping to lead a strong Europe,” he said.

“It leverages UK power to be part of the European Union. I don’t believe the EU moderates British influence in the world, it magnifies it.”

He acknowledged that all countries were concerned about their sovereignty, but said that the UK’s membership of the EU added to collective prosperity and security.

“All of us cherish our sovereignty – our country is pretty vocal about that – but the US also recognises that we strengthen our security through our membership of Nato, we strengthen our prosperity through organisations like the G7 and the G20.

“I believe the UK strengthens both our collective security and prosperity through the EU.”

Mr Cameron said the referendum was the “sovereign choice of the British people” but added: “As we make that choice, it surely makes sense to listen to what our friends think, to listen to their opinion, to listen to their views and that’s what Barack has been talking about today.

“On this vital issue of trade, where Barack has made such a clear statement, we should remember why we are currently negotiating this biggest trade deal in the whole world, and in the whole world’s history, between the European Union and the United States.
“It is because Britain played an absolutely leading part in pushing for those talks to get going.”

The UK had “set the agenda for what could be an absolutely game-changing trade deal for jobs, for investment” because it was part of the EU.

Mr Obama rejected a description of the EU as being “in crisis” but said it was “under strain” as a result of the difficulties of the single currency and the numbers of migrants entering the continent.

“I am confident that the ties that bind Europe together are ultimately much stronger than the forces that are trying to pull it apart.”

Europe had enjoyed “an extraordinary stretch of prosperity” that might be unmatched in world history, said the president.

“When you think about the 20th century and the 21st century, 21st-century Europe looks an awful lot better, and I think a majority of Europeans recognise that,” said Mr Obama.

“They see that unity and peace have delivered sustained economic growth, reduced conflict, reduced violence, enhanced the quality of life of people, and I’m confident that can continue.

“But I do believe it is important to watch out for some of these fault lines that are developing.”

While Mr Obama accepted it was “right” for UK voters to make their judgment on June 23 on the basis of what will be good for them and for Britain’s economic prospects and jobs, he added: “I do also think this vote will sent a signal that is relevant about whether the kind of prosperity we have built together is going to continue or whether the forces of division end up being more prominent.”

In a clear reference to the president’s warnings against Brexit, Mr Cameron said Mr Obama was “a very good friend” of the UK who could be relied upon for “sage advice”.
The prime minister said the “strong and essential partnership” between Britain and the US has “never been more important” on issues such as the fight against terrorism, action against nuclear proliferation and resistance to Russian aggression.

He added: “In all the areas we’ve discussed today, our collective power and reach is amplified by Britain’s membership of the European Union.

“When it comes to the special relationship between our two countries, there’s no greater enthusiast than me… But I’ve never felt constrained in any way in strengthening this relationship by the fact that we are in the European Union.

“In fact, quite the reverse. We deliver for our people through all the international groups that we are part of. We enhance our security through membership of Nato. We further our prosperity through the G7 and G20.

“And like those organisations, Britain’s membership of the EU gives us a powerful tool to deliver on the prosperity and security that our people need and to stand up for the values that our countries share.

“Now I think is a time to stay true to those values, and to stick together with our friends and allies in Europe and around the world.”

Mr Cameron added: “I’ve always found Barack someone who gives sage advice. He’s a man with a very good heart and he has been a very good friend – and always will be a good friend, I know – to the United Kingdom.”

Responding to Mr Obama’s comments, the co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign, Richard Tice, said: “We don’t have a trade deal with the United States now because we’re members of the European Union.

“The proposed EU-US trade deal, TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), would be disastrous for British workers.
“Obama doesn’t have the authority to deny us a deal, as he will be long gone before any such proposals are on the table.”

In a statement issued by main Brexit campaign Vote Leave, Britain’s justice minister Dominic Raab focused on Mr Obama’s comments on the migration crisis rather than his warning about a trade deal.

Mr Raab said: “The president made clear that uncontrolled immigration into the EU is a threat to national security. I agree – that is why it is safer to take back control so that we can stop terror suspects from Europe coming into the UK.

“He argued that he thinks it is in America’s interests for the UK to stay in the EU but what is good for US politicians is not necessarily good for the British people. We want more international cooperation after we Vote Leave, but the EU is not fit for purpose, and cannot cope with the multiple crises we face like terrorism, Syria and mass migration.

“The US would not dream of opening its border with Mexico, so it is hypocritical for President Obama to insist that we do the same with Europe.”

Labour’s shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said: “President Obama’s comments confirm what we have been saying for months – that Britain’s ability to negotiate trade deals would be hugely diminished after Brexit. It is simply not credible for the Leave campaign to suggest we could swiftly negotiate a favourable trade deal with the United States and other countries.”

Britten and it’s Racist Bullying Politicians

For the past years I have come to notice how the British Politicians have become Racist and a big Bully on towards their lesser opponent of none white who would like to represent Britten in whichever capacity that they may wish.
What I have notice is that if you are not of a white complexion then you should never enter in British political arena as your past will be dragged through the political mud, even if these stories was fabricated to smear your character.
Take for instance the present Mayoral campaign and the EU referendum where Sadiq Khan has been set upon and even called Extremist, then you have Boris Johnson telling Mr Obama that he is an hypocrite and not to intervene in British affairs.
The dirty Media does not help these situation either because if they wanted to help and make any form of difference then they would not have published these articles.
I must say without these Politicians bucking their nasty,dirty,racial bulling trend then things will never change.
Stop been personal in political affairs and do the job you all were chosen to do by the public.

The Power Of Men

For hundred of thousand of years we have been made to believe that only God and God alone got power to control and command us of our everyday lives,but recently I begin to follow the Documentary of the people beyond the conspiracy theory where I found to believe that there are actually people out there who have control over both our Government and ourselves.
These are the people who holds the power of stability and un-stability of any part of this world,these are the said people controls our financial sector.
The people who make us believe that hardship was a part of God’s plan, these are the said people who enslaves the poorer nation for what little they may achieves in their lives.

We hear about the Luminardy clan who are some of the biggest controller of mankind who has created so many underground cities where they will be  well protected once they create WW3,while the rest of us will be wiped out with their super power of army that they are creating within their secret location all over the world.

Don’t be dismay people but the fact is out there and we won’t be able to hide, remember these people determined how we eat,drink and sleep and there can be no uprising against them as they have the means and power to get rid of you before you know it.

So lets get knowledge of the fact that they are amongst us and ready to destroy what God has created.

More research to follow, take care and be safe if only you can.

 

Jamaican’s Called It Showa

Firstly I would like to congratulate the Jamaican people and their new Prime Minister.
I must say that as one nation there was more unity and love amongst both side of supporters which kind of give the feelings that these people have come of age to show the rest of the world that there can be an election in that country without violence.
I now get to the point that I would like to stress on, over the years many promises have being made to these people during these Elections that are broken.
Now what is needed in Jamaica now is Investment and this should be one of the new Government priority, they should be going out and seeking others to Invest there so that Jobs can be created for the unemployed.
Working together is another project, without working together then all these promises will never be delivered.
All eyes will be watching.

How To Delay Your Sp’erm To Last Longer In Bed

Premature Release can get you down and ruin your s’ex and marital relationship. In our usual way, we will guide you on how to delay Release and last longer in bed.
These simple tips will help you to know how to delay and prolong Release. This will enable you and your partner to enjoy a healthy s’ex life.
The following are 14 ways on How To Delay Your Sp’erm To Last Longer In Bed
Kegel exercises – Kegel exercises can help you prolong Release. Kegels are those muscles that you use for controlling urination. So, flex these muscles about 30 times a day to delay Release.

Squeeze technique – Prolong Release and delay it by holding the tip of the head of the man-hood. Squeezing the tip of the man-hood can help control premature Release.
Testes – The scrotum rises as a man reaches cl’imax and is on the verge of Release. So, delay Release by pulling the scrotum away from the body.
Change focus – Rather than concentrating on Release, concentrate on your partner’s pleasure.
Combination of thrusts – Delay Release or male cl’imax by combining shallow thrusts with deep thrusts. This technique helps prolong Release and will make you last longer in bed.
Massage the prostate gland – When you practice delaying Release, the prostate gland turns sore. Hence it is important to massage the gland to prevent any kind of pain.

Perineum pressure – Delay Release by applying pressure to the perineum, which is the spot between the anus and scrotum. The prostate gland expands and contracts while reaching cl’imax or Release. So, by applying pressure on this spot, one can prolong Release.
Pelvic muscles – Squeeze the pubococcygeous muscle to stop ejaculating. Contract these muscles, which are used for controlling urine; doing so regularly helps you delay Release.

Blueberries – This berry is known to delay Release, as it relaxes the nerves in the man-hood.
Woman-on-top – This s’ex position reduces your chances of premature Release, thereby helping you last longer in bed. Switch to the woman-on-top s’ex position to delay Release.
Start and stop – When you have the urge to release, stop, pull out and then thrust again. Also, the start and stop method helps a couple to last longer in bed and enjoy the full s’exual experience.

Self service – self service can help you prolong s’ex, so delay Release by self servicing at least an hour before intercourse.

Control your climax – Without any lubrication self service to the point of cli’max and stop. Do it a couple of times and then release; over a period of time you can control Release.
Before engaging in intercourse, engage in foreplay – ask your partner to gently massage the man-hood along with lubrication. In time this method can help you prolong Release.

Boy, 11, convicted of murdering eight-year-old girl after she refused to show him puppies

An 11-year-old boy has been found guilty of shooting dead an eight-year-old girl after she and her sister refused to show him their puppies.
A court in Tennessee this week sentenced the boy, who has been identified by American media, to remain in custody until he turned 19.
In his sentencing order, Judge Dennis Roach, said the boy needed rehabilitation and treatment.
“A child who commits first-degree murder cannot be willy-nilly turned loose into society,” he wrote.
The court heard how the boy was in his mobile home in October last year, speaking through the window to McKayla Dyer, her sister and a friend, who lived in the same trailed park in White Pine.

When he asked them to bring their puppies and they refused, he disappeared from the window for a few minutes.
“[He] returned with a 12-gauge shotgun and BB gun,” said the judge’s sentencing statement,
[He] then announced to the girls that he had guns.
“The victim then laughed at [the boy] and stated that she believed they were not real.
“[He] then made certain the gun was loaded, cocked the hammer of the gun, and shot the victim just above the heart at a downward trajectory from a distance of three to five feet from inside the window.”
The girl fell backwards and quickly lost consciousness. She died shortly afterwards in her mother’s arms.
The judge noted that boy had been trained in firearm safety and had hunted with his father and grandfather, but offered no first aid in the aftermath of the shooting.

Rob Johnson, a spokesman for Tennessee’s department of children’s services, said officials were still trying to determine where he should be held.
“Like any other child who comes into custody, he would need a thorough assessment and evaluation to determine the best placement,” he said.
“At this time, it would likely be at an intensive treatment program at one of our private providers.”
The shotgun was legally owned by the boy’s father.

Dad Arrested in Killing of Pregnant Woman Found in Bronx Crawl Space: Police

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The father of the missing 39-year-old pregnant woman found in the basement crawl space of the Bronx home where she was last seen has been arrested in her death, police say.
The body found around 3 a.m. Wednesday is thought to be Andrea Caruth, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Law enforcement sources say Caruth died from strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head, though a medical examiner has yet to officially declare a cause of death.
After being questioned by investigators, Caruth’s father, 61-year-old William Caruth, was arrested on murder and manslaughter charges, police said.
“I can’t believe it,” friend Marjorie Johnson Fitzwilliam said at a vigil for Andrea Wednesday night. “How could a father kill his own child? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Sources say it appears William Caruth had been stealing money from his daughter and took out a second mortgage on the home he shared with her and her boyfriend without her knowledge. When Andrea Caruth discovered what happened, she confronted her father, which apparently led to the deadly confrontation, the sources said.
Caruth said nothing to reporters as he was led from a police station Wednesday night to appear before a judge. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.
A family friend who asked to remain anonymous said father and daughter had a stormy relationship and there were “issues sometimes about money,” adding that Andrea was “strong-headed girl.”
The friend said William tried to rule his adult daughter’s life and that he was a “very controlling, very stern, very firm man.”
The five-months pregnant woman was reported missing by her boyfriend after last being seen at the home she shared with her boyfriend and her father on Corsa Avenue around 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
Friends said William Caruth may not have know he was going to be a grandfather when he allegedly killed his daughter.
“I don’t think he was aware of that because the boyfriend mentioned that he told him that night that she was pregnant,” said Nigel Fitzwilliam, suggesting the father found out while his daughter was reported missing.
At the vigil for Andrea near her home, friends and family released red and white balloons into the sky.
“She was a loving person who holds no grudge against nobody,” friend Julia McCall, who became concerned after failing to hear from Caruth during a planned brunch Sunday, said earlier. “She was a wonderful, wonderful person, the best friend I ever had.”
McCall said Caruth, who ran a day care out of the Bronx home, was supposed to find out the gender of her baby Wednesday, the same day her body was discovered.
Caruth’s live-in boyfriend called McCall Monday and said she never came home Sunday night, even though her car still sat in the parking lot. He reported her missing to police.
“It’s mind-boggling,” McCall told NBC 4 New York Tuesday, when Caruth was still missing. “Her car is here, wallet, keys, phone, credit cards, pocketbook. Even heavy jacket.”
Friends and family said Caruth was looking forward to giving birth to her first child
“She was very excited,” said McCall. “It’s her first child, she even had a name picked out.”
Before news of the arrest, Caruth’s cousin, Javid Caruth, said he was trying to understand why anyone would take the life of his relative
“It’s devastating. The family want to know who would do it,” Caruth said. “She was a nice girl, sweet. We grew up together so it’s like, the memory is going to always be there.”

Don’t just trust God and leave yourselves careless!

IN the wake of the surging murder rate and the recent killings of two policemen and a clergyman, local pastors are calling on Christians to help find solutions to the crime problem, instead of separating themselves from the world and thinking they’re exempt from crime.

“Don’t just trust God and leave yourselves careless,” said Bishop Everton Thomas of Emmanuel Apostolic Church, while his colleague called for Christians to support the security forces.

“Christians need to become more involved in supporting the work of the security forces. In dealing with crime, we must encourage our members to participate by providing information. We know the risks involved, but there are opportunities or avenues through which information can be shared with the security forces, through which we are not putting ourselves at any undue risk,” said Reverend Gary Harriot, secretary of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches (JUGC).

“Much of what is happening happens because people feel that they can get away with it, and they have made us so afraid that we will not speak. But it is not helping us, and therefore we have to find a way of mobilising people and encouraging people to become more active in terms of passing on critical information to the security forces,” he added.
Thomas explained that being a Christian does not exempt anyone from the cold, harsh reality of being murdered, but it remains important for people of faith to “lift up their heads and represent Christ”.
“We need to let our lights so shine before men that they may see our good works and be led to glorify our father in heaven. My message to Christians anywhere is to live, love, and demonstrate a character of Jesus Christ that people around us can see and know that there are still people who believe in justice, who believe in integrity, who believe in honesty, and who believe that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”

However, he added: “Lock your car and lock your house. Be careful. You don’t have to walk around in a constant state of fear, but the reality is this is the situation we face all around us. It has happened to neighbours, it has happened to other family members, and it is getting closer and closer to us. We can’t live our lives in total fear. Go about your business and be careful. Teach your youngsters to be vigilant and guard their surroundings.”

Meanwhile, outspoken head of Fellowship Tabernacle, Reverend Merrick ‘Al’ Miller, said there is a breakdown of morals and values in society, and the church must ask itself how it has contributed and what it will do about it.

“The whole issue of crime and violence is telling us that the society has a serious problem that must be addressed, and the church has a critical role to play because the root of violence, the root of crime is a moral problem,” Miller said.

“All of this is a call to the church, and I think that we must now engage the process in dealing with the root problem because it is affecting us across the board. The whole society is vulnerable to what is happening, and so it is an issue we all have to tackle.

“I want to say to Christians that if you sit and do nothing, then change will never come. We are called to engagement because it is our responsibility and our duty to care. We must care about what happens in our society, what happens to others. If we care enough, we must do something about it, and that means involvement and engagement to find solutions to the problems.”

The JUGC, which represents an estimated 99 per cent of the island’s Christian community, added in a statement that some of our people have become so depraved that taking the life of someone for money or some other material benefit is a non-issue for them.

“Too many of the families of our nation have seen grief on account of the murder of their loved ones. The JUGC calls upon all well-intentioned citizens to make 2016 a more peaceful year; reaching out as peacemakers and by making a decision to support the efforts of the police in bringing criminals to justice. The JUGC calls upon the police to act professionally while relentlessly pursuing those criminals who are making life difficult for our people.”

The police high command has been seeking information relating to the murder of two policemen who were brutally slaughtered as they played a game of dominoes at a shop in Poor Man’s Corner, St Thomas, last Tuesday night. Fifty-two-year-old Corporal Kenneth Davis, who was once employed as a bodyguard to former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, and Craig Palmer, a 35-year-old constable assigned to the Denham Town Police Station, were at the establishment when they were attacked by criminals carrying high-powered weapons.

Also, last Wednesday, Glenmuir High School teacher and pastor, Audley Coleman, was killed at his home in Toby Heights, Clarendon. Police said Coleman, who was in his late 50s, was getting assistance to repair a door which was damaged during a break-in on Tuesday night when he was shot by someone on the outside.

“Is there a message in it? Is God trying to get our attention?” Miller asked. “It (attacks) is certainly speaking to the fact of the problem of crime and violence in the society. The same level of conviction [as in former years] is not present because of the moral and spiritual decline in the society.”

He said it is the sad reality that crime and violence, the monster created by our political system, remains out of control and all citizens are vulnerable.

“I call upon the church and citizens of goodwill to pray and work for love and peace to reign again in our nation. Let us demand a united approach to governance with fresh hearts and minds; persons with proven integrity, whose allegiance to God and country is greater than their alliance to a party. One of the warnings I have been giving for years is that the monster, if not conquered, will in time turn on its creators. It is beginning to happen. The evidence is before us. It is time for radical change. It is our only hope.”

Harriot added that Christians must keep faith and recognise that much of what is being seen is the result of issues that we have not dealt with sufficiently as a society.

“How we shape the mind and the development of our people; how we inculcate values and respect for each other are things that, as Christians and a church, we have to pay keen attention to. Many of our people have become wayward. It’s not the case of the majority, but we know that youngsters who grow up in a home where they were not shown love and care are more likely to become misfits in society, and as Christians we must pay particular attention to what happens in family life in Jamaica.”

To counter the problem, he said the church must also look at how it provides opportunities for people’s development.

“If people are not constructively engaged — and we often say the devil finds work for idle hands — they are more likely to become involved in antisocial behaviour. So, as Christians, we have to pay attention to what’s going on in society and see how we may respond to help make the society a more tolerable environment and provide opportunities for people; education and employment opportunities,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fellowship Tabernacle has already found a way to help tackle the problem, having launched a ‘Live Love’ campaign in November aimed at going into volatile ‘hot spot’ communities to meet face to face and ‘reason’ with the citizens.

E-Cigarette Chemicals May Damage Cells and Lead to Cancer

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not regulate e-cigarettes like it does conventional tobacco products. However, it has warned of possible health risks. So far, though, evidence is limited on what exactly e-cigarettes contain and whether those chemicals are safe, particularly in terms of cancer.
“There haven’t been many good lab studies on the effects of these products on actual human cells,” said Jessica Wang-Rodriguez, one of the researchers, in a news release.
In this latest study, the researchers created an extract from the vapor of two popular brands of e-cigarettes. They then used the extract to treat human cells in Petri dishes. Compared with untreated cells, the treated cells were more likely to show DNA damage and die.
The exposed cells showed several forms of damage, including DNA strand breaks. The familiar double helix that makes up DNA has two long strands of molecules that intertwine; when one or both of these strands break apart and the cellular repair process doesn’t work right, the stage is set for cancer.
In fact, the affected cells were more likely to launch into apoptosis and necrosis, which lead to cell death.
“There have been many studies showing that nicotine can damage cells,” said Wang-Rodriguez. “But we found that other variables can do damage as well. It’s not that the nicotine is completely innocent in the mix, but it looks like the amount of nicotine that the cells are exposed to by e-cigarettes is not sufficient by itself to cause these changes. There must be other components in the e-cigarettes that are doing this damage. So we may be identifying other carcinogenic components that are previously undescribed.”
The findings reveal the importance of regulation for these e-cigarettes. More specifically, it shows the compounds in these electronic cigarettes may be just as harmful as regular cigarettes.

Killed and Buried?

ESTHER Cunningham says she has been complaining to the police for over eight years about what she strongly believes is a murder that took place on her sister’s property in Spanish Town, St Catherine, but her reports have fallen on deaf ears.

The 70 year-old told the JamaicaObserver in lucid detail about the activities she observed one Thursday on the property which is owned by her sister and which she shares with other people. Cunningham says she did not see an actual killing, but all day she watched the movements of the men she thinks are involved, and afterwards witnessed a man she knows well, covered in blood and cement, at a communal standpipe trying to wash himself clean.

“I was there all morning and I saw some happenings that were kind of strange. I saw young men running and dodging… I closed the front window and opened the side one to the door. I saw two young men run down to the shop and another two young men in the yard. I felt as if something was going to happen because of the suspicious behaviour,” the senior citizen remembered.

She said that despite her apprehension, she ventured out of the house and went to collect her pension payment at the post office.
“When I was coming back in, at the side of the church, I saw two barebacked young men going into the yard – one tall, one short. When I reached the gate, I saw one of the men coming from up the road with an empty wheelbarrow and he went through the gate,” Cunningham said.
She said the men negotiated with each other whether they would carry on with their activities in her presence, but she pretended to be oblivious to their movements.

“In that environment you see and you don’t see,” she remarked.

Cunningham said suspicious activities continued throughout the afternoon with the men going back and forth with bags of cement. At one point she said she heard knocking and what sounded like digging and concrete being broken. She explained that because of how close together the buildings are, she could clearly hear anything taking place inside a neighbour’s house.

“You can stretch through your window and taken something from a neighbour through their window. It is very near,” she said.

She said after the sounds had quieted down and she was certain the men had left the premises, she went outside, but did not go to the apartment where she had heard digging sounds coming from, but observed that the door to a tenant’s apartment was partially open, although the man was not expected to be home.

Cunningham claims that later in the evening she heard some of her neighbours discussing what she already suspected was a murder, and by later that night those suspicions were confirmed when she saw the tenant, whose door she had seen open, washing at a tub in the yard.

“I went out and I look into the washtub and see that it was bloody water. I saw cement pebble on his face; his clothes and hands and hair were covered with cement,” Cunningham said.

But her fears go even deeper because she suspects that the alleged victim was a relative who had been visiting from overseas. She has surmised from those conversations and others that she said she overheard in the ensuing months that the killing had been done elsewhere, and the body brought to the property and buried.

According to Cunningham, who told her story in a steady, sequential manner, she has been going to the police from 2007, including to the Police Commissioner’s Office and the National Intelligence Bureau, but a statement is yet to be taken from her. She alleged that at one point she was told by a female officer that she would not be taking a statement because she “don’t want to get any gunshot”.

“I’m not mad, I’m not foolish, [and] I’m not afraid because I trust my God,” she said. “I want to find out the truth about the person who was brought there. I can’t have any peace of mind until I find out if it’s my brother.”

In the meantime, officers from the Spanish Town Police Station say they are familiar with the case, but that Cunningham may be in need of psychiatric evaluation. They stated that a team has gone as far as to excavate a site at the premises, but no evidence of a murder was found. The police say they are still willing to visit the area with a special team to carry out further checks.

School Walkout Organizer, 17, Slams Congress’ Inaction on Gun Reform — ‘They Fail to Stop Atrocities’ — Hollywood Life

The National School Walkout’s student organizer Kaleab Jegol, 17, EXCLUSIVELY told HL about what the movement hopes to achieve!

via School Walkout Organizer, 17, Slams Congress’ Inaction on Gun Reform — ‘They Fail to Stop Atrocities’ — Hollywood Life

Ex-wife of former White House aide says Hatch has apologized — National Post

WASHINGTON — An ex-wife of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter says she has received a letter of apology from Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who defended his former aide from “a vile attack” after two ex-wives accused Porter of domestic abuse. Porter resigned Feb. 7 after the accusations from Colbie Holderness and…

via Ex-wife of former White House aide says Hatch has apologized — National Post

Cops took $22 million cash stuffed in buckets from his home. But he won’t lose it all.

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The Miami Lakes man found with $22 million in suspected marijuana cash stuffed in orange buckets inside his house pleaded guilty Wednesday — but he won’t be losing all his money to the feds.

Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez agreed to let the U.S. government take $18 million of the cash. He’ll get to keep about $4 million, plus his house, his business and five Rolex watches.

The 46-year-old pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to money laundering and structuring bank deposits to avoid reporting the true amounts to the government.

U.S. Judge Robert Scola will sentence Hernandez-Gonzalez on April 20 — coincidentally, the annual day marijuana fans celebrate the plant. He faces up to 30 years in prison, but his defense lawyers are hoping to get him a sentence below the bottom of the sentencing guidelines, which is five years behind bars.

Hernandez-Gonzalez made national news when detectives raided his Miami Lakes home in June 2016, discovering most of the cash in 24 orange Homer’s All-Purpose buckets from Home Depot. They were hidden in a secret compartment above a closet. An additional $600,000-plus was found at his business.

The story was first reported by the Miami Herald.

Miami-Dade narcotics detectives hauled away the money in a pickup truck, then spent more than a day exhaustively counting the huge stacks of bills. Investigators raided his businesses and home after he was caught on a phone wiretap giving growing advice to Miami marijuana growers arrested by federal agents in Tennessee.

Hernandez-Gonzalez is well-known in the marijuana trade. He ran Blossom Experience, a North Miami-Dade store that sells fans, lights, fertilizers and other equipment for indoor gardening. Cops believe that the business, while legal, caters to marijuana traffickers growing weed in clandestine labs inside homes.

But his defense lawyers long insisted the money was legitimately earned from selling equipment. However, because he sells to legal marijuana growers in other states, no banks would take his cash, they claimed.

Hernandez-Gonzalez was first charged in state criminal court for marijuana trafficking and money laundering. A few months after his arrest, a federal grand jury indicted him on federal charges stemming from the same cash seizure.

Antitrust Chief Makan Delrahim Praises John Oliver for ‘Last Week Tonight’ Segment — Variety

WASHINGTON — When John Oliver skewered lax enforcement of antitrust laws in a segment last year on “Last Week Tonight,” he had a fan in the Trump administration: Makan Delrahim, the chief of the Justice Department’s antitrust division. “He did a great piece, about 17 minutes on antitrust law, and he goes through all this,…

via Antitrust Chief Makan Delrahim Praises John Oliver for ‘Last Week Tonight’ Segment — Variety