bad man forward

Bad man pull up! screech!!!!

Police Officer Feris D. Jones, 50, the hero off-duty cop who on Saturday went gun-to-gun with an accused Brooklyn beauty shop robber. Called a "battlefield promotion," her elevation and presentation of a gold shield is a rare distinction.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg honored Jones for her poise and marksmanship in a ceremony at City Hall's Blue Room.

Jones is a humble heroine. "Call me 'Jonesy'," the 20-year NYPD veteran told PIX 11 News. During the could-of-been deadly duel, "Jonesy" shot the gun out of the teenage suspect's hand and shot the handle off the beauty shop door, slowing his escape.


Big up to officer Jones! Oh and she is a bajan too so double big up!

To the would be robber, one teenager Winston Cox you know why this happen right? You try to rob a beauty salon. Are you crazy son?

Looka let me break it down for you this way. Now I aint no expert nor nuttin on beauty salons and them things but from what I gather from the women in my life I hear dat usually black women duz gotta wait long long long at beauty salons. I mean appointment one time an 5 hours later you still deyso. So now I can juss imagine a whole heap a black women in this place Saturday waiting cause the appointment was 930 but is 130 now and the hair still aint get wash or something so and dem deyso fuming, really to throw a lash in the next body that aggravate them.....

An in walks you, Coxy boy wid you gun talking bout you gine rob people. Oh hells no! Ya lucky is only one gunshot ya get an um wasnt serious cause if dem women did ketch ya at all, god couldnt help ya boy.

An ya know officer Jones was probably especially cruel too like girl I hayso wasting my whole mornin in this chair trying to get my hair did an now this pieca poppit trying to rob me. Chupse! Looka I aint got nuh time fa this foolishness. pow! You feel you is a man come to rob big women! pow pow ! hold this gunshot in ya so n so den!

I hope that fella learn he lesson.

Subliminally

Ok, is only two days gone and all we bajans still in mourning but I got a certain beef with the whole Bajan Prime Minister David Thompson illness dying thing. Sorry if its not in keeping with the mourning motif but just need to say it anyways.

Look, I keep hearing from the time it was said that he was sick, comments made by various people (and no it wasnt silly online comments) some who I thought were rather smart folk that seem to suggest that his focus on being prime minister led to his demise. Stuff like oh he was so keen on being PM and he work so hard to get there and then bram he dead. Now I aint saying a majority a people saying so, quite far from it, but I'm just saying I've heard those silly comments maybe one time to often and they seem to me to be ridiculously suggesting that there is a correlation, some sort of cause and effect between the two things, his aim to be PM and his death.

Its not blatant but its subliminally one of those lowered expectation things. Like see he strived for a goal and then because he reached that goal it kill he or he dead cause he was too focused on being PM. I think this is the most nonsense I have ever heard and its a bad precedent and example to be sending to the youth cause the flip side they gine read is just guhlong, play the tail or at least not strive hard for goals cause in the long run it going kill ya. Which is total absolute b.s

Is it possible that he might have missed symptoms of his illness because of work commitments? Yes. But its not like saying well if he had said I just want to be a regular dude he wouldnt have died of cancer at age 48 which is basically what these comments suggest to me.

Instead of saying look see how the man strive for a goal and was determined to reach it and to somehow put his best foot forward for his country and assist in its development and such we subliminally pushing this alternative thinking that working hard and being single minded in a goal is extremely extremely bad and will kill you so is best to just chill, drink some drinks or smoke some weed and aimlessly wander though life.

This is not the type of thing we should be trying to tell the yout dem.

I mean not to say that being single minded to the exclusion of all else is great either but I'm pretty sure thats not what Thompson was like. When its your time its your time, it doan matter if you a bum or a PM so why not strive to be the best that you can be?

At the end of the day, David Thompson could say I wrote my name on history's page. He may not have achieved all that he would have liked but he tried hard, he fought to achieve a goal and to assist his country and he has left his name and a legacy. When you look at it that way how can it be a negative to strive to be all you can be?

I hope the youth take note of his work and strive to make their mark like he did.

There I done. Back to mourning.

R.I.P

Just got the news that Barbados PM David Thompson has died this morning following a lenthly battle with cancer. My condolences to his family and the nation. Every one has their appointed hour but some go earlier than we would like.

My prayers also go out to the new PM Mr Fruendel Stuart and his cabinet as he embarks on steering Barbados' course. Is not an easy road bredren by any means especially in the present economic climate but stay the course.

Boundaries

Sorry to come off like the old curmudgeon that I am surely becoming but I was discussing two stories with some friends this week and came to the conclusion that kids nowadays don't know the meaning of the word boundaries or don't have a good idea where they should be set.

The stories were the suicide of the Rutgers student whose sexcapades had been put online by his roommate and the sexual assault of a teenager at a party in Vancouver where photos ended up on Facebook. In both cases stuff ie videos, photos etc that shouldn't have been put online somehow found their way there.

Now these are two separate stories and in both cases the persons who placed the offending articles are before the court system and rightly so as their actions have led to a lot of pain and in the case of the Rutgers student death. My argument though is that even if the acts were committed deliberately in an effort to embarrass or ridicule the victims I think that they may be cases where the culprits just didn't know the law or where moral boundaries should lie. Some will argue that the perpetrators were just callous, heartless criminals but I think there is a possibility that naivety and cluelessness played at least a small part in the acts.

Take the Vancouver case. Kids nowadays share so much information on Facebook/twitter/Youtube/text messages etc etc (too much most of the time) that I believe that the accused probably thought that he was being cute by putting up the photos that he did on Facebook. I'm assuming he didn't realize a crime (the assault) was being committed and that it was also a crime to post photos of stuff like that online.

Same thing with the roommate who posted video of his roommate's intimate moments. I don't believe he thought he was doing anything wrong. I mean he probably knew it was wrong to tape his roommates exploits but then to share them online he probably just thought whatever. Morally wrong but funny yes not criminally wrong he probably didn't know until he got charged after the murder.

I know growing up we were taught (sometimes at the end of a belt) that ignorance of the law is no excuse which I interpret to mean that even if it wasn't explicitly spelled out in the rules or you didn't know the rules, you still should have had some moral understanding that your actions were wrong or that you were crossing boundaries. I think that's lacking in many of today's youth.

I think some of these kids are not only completely ignorant of the law but in a society that seems to push sharing everything regardless of how personal, they really don't see anything wrong with certain morally questionable actions that previous generations would have balked at.

Interestingly enough it appears as if in the Rutgers case even the now dead roommate didn't realize that a crime was being perpetrated against him. He knew something was a bit wrong with his roommate trying to tape him doing his thing but as evidenced from some online questions that he asked he didn't realize he was at that point actually the victim of a crime.

The kids these days are ignorant of the law and lack the ability to make a moral judgment in this society.

Technology has made the ability to take and share a photo or video extremely easy. No statement is truer these days than this one from Rockwell's 1984 hit: "I always feel like somebody's watching me, and I have no privacy." Remember we used to be scared of big brother watching us? Well now there is no need to worry about big brother because little brother and sister have you in dead their sights as well and you really cant get away from the intrusions that they propagate against you in public and sometimes as in this case in private.

Whats the reason? Well first off the technology is readily available to do it.

Also probably starting from childhood we're rushing our kids to adulthood. More responsibility, involving them in big people situations from young and not setting boundaries there and not teaching them the proper morals. This carries over to the teenage years and adulthood where anything goes.

And sadly this is the norm now rather than the exception. Reality TV/blogs/live streaming show every detail of our lives and combined with our shaky moral ground stuff like these stories may happen more and more.

Monkey business

Organizers of this year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi have had their share of problems, not the least of which are wild animals said to be infesting the stadiums and housing areas.

Athletes and other visitors may take comfort in the fact that organizers have hired a well-trained team to keep the area safe ... although they may be slightly alarmed to learn that they are being protected by a team of monkeys.

According to the UK's Daily Telegraph, a team of trained langur monkeys has been brought in to scare off wild animals, including wild dogs, snakes and other monkeys. Langur monkeys are said to be very intelligent but also aggressive and territorial, making them very effective in keeping other animals away from a given area.

Taken from The LA Times here.

Uh huh! Wunnah see dat right? Well I sure to the organizers um sound like a good idea, something cheap and inexpensive to get rid a de vermin that coming in the housing areas but to me that sound like bare truble in de making.

See how dem say the monkeys aggressive and territorial? Well wha is to stop dem said same monkeys from being territorial against humans? Didnt think of that did they?

I betcha before these games dun ya gine hear some athlete get attack by the same security monkeys. Especially if ya get on a dem igrant jock type athletes that aint kno nuttin bout monkeys or feel dem cud mek mock sport wid de monkeys. Wait deyso an see. Mark my words ya, um aint gine be pretty.

I juss hope sumbody ketch um pun video.

The Banton

Ah here waiting to see what verdict the jury will bring back in the Buju Banton case. Been waiting since all Friday when they were rumors he was found not guilty and released but that was false and now it look like they all deadlock over the fate of the dreadlock seen.

Actually breaking news is new trial set for December hmm.

Anyways Karel have a nice little article about buju and what to learn from his trials over at Outlish which worth a read but I have a lil something to say.

Now before I say what I have to say though let me start by saying mi love Buju to the max. Ask anybody he is by far and aways my favorite dancehall/reggae singer. Now I came of age in the Lovingdeer/Shabba Rankin doan bend down, peeny peeny pun you era but when Buju hit with tunes like love black woman and the like that sealed it for me. Then later on tunes like Deportees, Murderer, Easy Road, Untold Stories, Til I'm laid to rest, Tribal War etc just blew me away. Actually I will argue that Til Shiloh is undoubtedly the definite dancehall/reggae album of the last two decades but then considering that many albums of the dancehall genre arent that good that dont say that much so let me say that stacked against any album of any genre in the last two decades Til Shiloh will be in my top 5. The Banton is a lyrical champion my yout!

And so seeing as I have so much respect and admiration for the man's work and find so much of it inspirational (one day things must get better) it is hard for me to say this and nuff people wont agree but say it I shall.

Buju ya deserve jail!

Wunnah hear me good? Buju ya deserve pieca jail fa true.

An no I aint arguing bout whether ya guilty or not or whether its fair for you to be in jail I just saying ya deserve jail. Why? Well ya show a real lack of common sense by getting yaself into this situation. This is the ultimate in igrance and I would have thought a big man like you would know better.

Is not only that ya cavorting with the wrong crowd which is a no no but ya act like eddiat and see the man come round ya wid cocaine so an stand up and let the man set ya up easy so (if that is the true story). Ya was complacent and ya should know better. I mean first off ya well know that nuff people dey in America naa like you. Nuff a dem still vex bout Boom Bye Bye and complain ya homophobic and would like nothing better than to be rid of ya so ya shoulda walk easy and know ya place star. If I was you once I land in America I would be acting like a veritable choir boy. I din looking fa anytime crime related at all at all, man I din even jaywalking then. Straight and narrow my yout. Like an arrow!

It aint like ya was back a yard where the man dem might gi ya some respect. The man dem in the US naa like ya. Ya shoulda well know at some point somebody woulda try to mess ya up but yet ya went an fall fa this setup. Ya shoulda never put yaself in this situation.

Eediat you a eeediat my yout!

Look from the time the man come roun you wid cocaine talk, you shoulda shift he, driva move off doan stop atall, leff him there one time. Or tell him you not into that business. Tell him you a studio gangsta, tell him story an lie that ya used to do dat but no more, tell he whatever but dont get involve in that at all. Dont be trying no show off business, dont let them get ya in trouble so. Even if ya shady remember is you self say tief never love fi see tief wid long bag. Doan get tie up in foolishness man. Stupid stupid stupid!

An this is why I feel ya deserve jail. Cause ya really aint had no right in this situation at all. Big man like you shoulda know better by far.

But even though I say ya deserve it cuhdear I still hope ya get off though. I mean nuff odda people do worse hat you an walk so dem could gi you a ease too. Free the Banton! I hope this will show ya to be more careful in the future but ya is still an eediat.

Running Scared

Looks like barring some significant occurrence in the next few weeks Rob Ford is set to be the new mayor of Toronto. Yea I talked about him here in case anyone read it. And man are some Torontonians, including the newspapers running scared over Ford as mayor.

You see basically Ford has nothing going for himself except he has always been an anti City Hall maverick, complaining about wanton spending and using his own money to run his council office etc. Turns out that in a recession, and after the horrid last term we had from our outgoing mayor these traits are enough to give him thirty something percent of the expected vote and in a fractured mayoral race basically the win.

Oh it also doesn't hurt that Ford is running somewhere on the political right while the other 10 or so dudes fighting it out are running on the left and centre and splitting those votes. Also doesn't hurt that Fords campaign is based on cutting things that cost money and holding down property tax. Also doesn't hurt that his chief rival Smitherman is well Smitherman. Also doesn't hurt that he's pandered to the old white anti-immigrant vote in some of his speeches either. Low taxes, keep out pesky foreigners, hey its not just the U.S where that rhetoric will win you some votes.

But what does Ford stand for besides cutting things? Doesn't seem like there is much to his campaign besides that, but then again his opponents don't really stand for anything either. It has been if anything a race of the mediocre with no one candidate really capturing the excitement of the populace. Ford like some of the better more successful politicians seems to be in the right place at the right time with the right backlash against city hall to win by default here. Sad it is, but so it a go!

Unless we see some alliances and coalitions start happening just to keep Ford out of the winners circle well I guess it will be 4 years of Ford. Can only image the backroom meetings that are currently happening as the other candidates try to keep him away from the prize.

Ah doan kno

Well de news outta Barbados aint suh good these days. Prime Minister David Thompson battling pancreatic cancer. Wuhloss!

Now allwe did know he was sick and going to New York for treatment but is only last week that his physican came out and told us what was wrong with him. Poor fella, I wish he well and I saying muh prayers that he will be healed even though the medical people and the internet say that this cancer is a cruel wun that hard to shake off. But like I duz say doan count out the man yet cause he still living and where there is life there is hope.

Two things got me bout this situation though. One was that when we hear the man was sick and going for treatment leaving his deputy in charge that was all bajans knew aside from we lil speculations yet fa some reason or the other people from odda islands did know fa sure fa sure what wrong wid de man. I aint even joking bout that ya! I see people from odda islands online months ago saying with most certainty what the man had (an dem was right too) and even a trini woman dat de wife know come one day early this summer an straight off tell she hey I hear ya PM got such and such.

So I wanta know how dem dpeople from odda islands did know wid such certainty bout the man illness and we bajans din know? IS them gi he um, well I doan think that possible but still. So I eliminate the outta de question options and come up wid the certain reasoning that um cud only be espionage. Dem odda island spying pun we man! God knows what other a we secrets dem know, all like now they might even know who kill Pele (for the uninitiated that was an infamous murder unsolved murder case in Barbados when I was growing up). So bajan authorities looka wunnah better check Ilaro court fa bugs and listening devices ya. I telling wunnah dese people spying pun we business.

The second thing I got to talk bout is how people act when the PM wouldnt say conclusively what was wrong wid he. Man some a everybody was vex and arguing we got a right to know the man personal business. Well see me I din agree wid dat and to be honest wid all the talk I see now that the man tell we he affliction, I glad he din say nuttin nuh earlier. Cause now they know looka people already got the man mark off fa de grave and talking bout he successor and ting so. Dat is disrespectful man! Ya shun treat nuhbody that sick so. Suppose you did sick you wanta hear you spouse talking bout who she next man/woman gine be? No man, dat wud hurt ya cruel cruel and wun help ya recovery process at all. Same way here so ease off the successor talk while the man alive.

Man allya should be shame a yaselves doah. I mean I understand having contingencies but cheese on bread the man still alive and got he full mental capacities wha wunnah trying to rush he to the grave and replace he before he dead already.

Like I say I hope he recover and when he do I hope all wunnah feel real bad fa all this successor talk business. I dun.

Smartphones

So Premier Mcguinty wants the school boards to allow cellphones in class arguing that teachers can show students how to use smart phones to access information on the internet.

To this I simply ask is which cellphone company you promoting Mr Premier? Rogers, Bell, Telus and the rest duz already mek tummuch money off all we. Smartphones don't grow on trees ya kno! And besides phone duz need contract, and de stupid smartphone specially duz need smarter and more expensive data plan pun top a contract to do anything smart-ish which duz leff ya pockets smarting and ya duz cann even afford two Smarties when the day dun.

Ya want we now to have to buy cellphones for the children now on top a books, on top a computers, on top of every lil fund raising thing every two minutes at the school? cuhdear man. Dem cell companies aint mekkin enuff profit off we. Play you smart deyso den.

Recession

So they, the powers that be, keep saying that the recession is getting better, that things are looking up. But me, I beg to differ cause even though I don't have no figures and no all compassing idea of what is happening all around the nation common sense tell me that this recession still going full bore.

Every time I walk by certain streets I see more and more businesses closed. A few weeks back three days in a row I close different lunch spots in different areas only to get there and see the store fronts closed. Yes blame me I is a blight on restaurants (and tv shows too but that is another story.)

Then there are the amount of people I know who telling me they cant find jobs, specially recent grads in certain fields. People who say we been looking for almost a year and things brown like grass when the heat wave hit we this past summer. I mean how um duz feel when you go an wuk ya behind off at university, borrowing dollars and spending money to further education so that you could have a better life an then you finish school and skkkrrrrzzz jobs scarce scarce like seeing black people in de winter.

So what really going on. The official story is the worse dun pass but at ground level um aint really looking so ya kno.

An ya know I juss had to laff although um aint funny cause I now realize I post something similar so just last year too. So things like dem aint getting nuh better. hmmmm

Tragic

SIX PEOPLE perished last night in a blaze that could go down as one of Barbados’ worst human tragedies.

A fire believed to have started by two men who robbed the Campus Trendz store in Tudor Street, The City, engulfed the two-storey building along the busy shopping street, trapping the hapless victims within the inferno...........

According to police, the two robbers, in view of shocked customers, threw an incendiary device into Campus Trendz just before 7 p.m., after taking an undisclosed amount of cash.

I spent parts of the last two days thinking about what I could say in response to this tragic event and to be honest I was coming up totally blank.

The shock of six young lives cut short, the absolute devastation that the families of the deceased must feel and the grief shared by bajans at home and abroad means to me that nothing that I really have to say, to me seemed significant enough to actually share. I'm not sure the feelings I have can be put into words truthfully.

Six young females all between the ages of 18 and 24 snuffed out suddenly in such a senseless manner. May they rest in peace.

What can be said though, what thoughts do I have. Its all a jumble in my head.

For one I wonder what is going through the black hearts of the criminals who did this? It was not enough to rob the business but they had to firebomb it as well. It wasn't as if the workers refused to hand over the money either, they had what they came for why attempt to burn down the business and take lives as well?

I truly hope the correct culprits are found and made to pay for this crime.

For another, I think if only we followed a fire code back home and businesses had to have alternate exits the 6 who died would have been rattled somewhat over the incident but still alive at this moment. Its time that the Barbados government do something about this. There are potentially tens if not hundreds of businesses who are in this same predicament and I hope that this tragedy, while we cant bring back the lives lost, will serve as a catalyst to spur our authorities into action to make sure that businesses are brought up to some fire code or standard where this can never ever happen again.

Third, I've seen comments online and in the local bajan press alluding to the possibility that the murderers were not bajan or that even if they were it is foreign influences that have caused us to become like this. When something like this happens the shock of the situation usually leads us to believe that outside forces are the reason for such an event happening in our community. We'd like to believe that everyone in our community is an upstanding citizen with pure intentions. Alas this is never so. I dont know if the perpetrators are local or foreign or what influenced this act but all I do know is that we have recently seen some senseless violence perpetrated in various Caribbean countries; beheadings in St Vincent, murders and outrageous violent crimes against small children in Trinidad etc. The time has come to realize and accept that our small islands aren't what they were 20-30 years ago. Like Biggie says "Things dun changed". Accept that and then maybe we can move in the right direction to fixing what is wrong. Its not likely that things will return to what they were but there are things we can do to fix these things.

One of my friends says we only have ourselves to blame because we have sat back and allowed our morals and our rules and regulations to be infringed upon while we sit back and just watch and did nothing. I agree with this to some extent but at the same time I believe that most of us realize that things aren't the same as they were and there is some fear in confronting the crime and criminals, hell there is even some fear in confronting small children who you could have once corrected for wrongdoing further less big adults committing wrongdoings.

I don't have a simple solution, I'm not sure anyone does. Maybe it starts with the children, maybe it involves education, maybe it involves finding useful outlets and employment for idle hands, maybe it involves full enforcement of the law and respect for our lawmakers, maybe it involves instilling a renewed sense of community in our youth, maybe it involves the church, maybe it involves communication across age and gender divides and political and social status affiliations.......... maybe it involves all of those things or none and maybe that's all too grandiose and Utopian and its really much simpler. Like I said I don't know.

The fact is though, lives were lost in a senseless incident, lives that didn't need to be lost. One of the most tragic events in the history of Barbados has taken place and I would be remiss, actually we all would be if we didn't stop and take stock of where our nation is, the direction its heading in and what we can do to make things better.

Terror

Two people were arrested Wednesday afternoon and a third terrorism suspect– one who moonwalked across a Montreal stage during an audition for Canadian Idol – was detained early Thursday, the Star has learned.

There's a video of his horrid or should I say rather terr(or)-ible audition. lol

Poor guy, did the rejection of Canadian Idol send him off the deep end? If I cant be the bomb I'm going to have to plant a bomb? Cuhdear! poor fella

Or maybe the Canadian idol was part of his cover. How ingenious! Like who's going to suspect a moonwalker of conspiracy to commit terror acts? Conspiracy to pop and lock or drop it like its hot perhaps but building bombs naaa.

If only he had gone one step further with his cover and gone on reality tv. Now that would be the ideal cover. Yes Jersey Shore people I got my eyes on wunnah so especially dat short wun Snooki. I feel she an all wunnah up to sumting cause nuhbody atall can be really really that stupid.

Oh well but back to the moonwalking singing terrorist (which by the way might make a great musical somewhere) who duz pick the names of these operations for the RCMP? Project Samosa? I mean seriously, thats the name of this operation to find the terrorists. Really! Wha dat soun like a plan to guh an buy some food cross by ya local Indian restaurant.

Damn, not only is it a dumb name but isnt it also somewhat racist? yuck! Anyways looka I better keep mi mout shut doah fa all I know Operation "fish cakes n bakes" got me in dem sights. I gone!

Local Politricks

Can I just say I love Canadian poli-tricks! Well the poli-trick-sions anyways. I dont know why the general public so apathetic towards politricks here I mean at the very least its always good for some comedy and lil drama like how Harper and the Tories almost get catspraddle by a census of all things. In de States politricksions duz get tek out by sex scandals hay men duz get tek out by statistics lol. If dat doan prove that Canada different to America nuttin does (and I doan mean different like Chris Bosh say we smell different eitha cause I aint know wha he mean by dat, he betta watch he frowsy self ya. lol)

Anyways just when I thought that all the poppits was out of the Toronto mayoral race and some of you might remember early this year I post bout how the fella Giambrone get clean bowl wid a sex scandal in comes Rob Ford who apparently is leading the race to be the new Mayor of Toronto. Wuhloss!

Now Ford apparently got a whole history of putting he foot in he mout and every few days some comment or the odda he mek duz rile up everyone and got the other candidates attacking he cruel, cruel, cruel. The last thing was he mek some stupid comment at a debate bout refugees and he aint want nuh more in Toronto or someting so.

Now the malicious media gone yesterday an dig up some old news that de same Ford fella apparently had been arrested in 1999 in Florida for drug possession cause dey find a lil joint in he back pocket. Hear Mr Ford now as to why he din disclose this to the public: apparently he had forgotten that he had been arrested for de weed cause that same time the police did also arrest he for refusing to take a breathalizer test.

So in essence the man whole argument is looka people stop confusing me wunna aint realize I did too drunk that night to remember that I get arrest for weed. This has got to be in the top 10 of best excuses ever!

And these is the sorts a people I supposed to vote for to lead my city nuh? Lawd come fa ya wirl nuh!

CC

Ya know one thing I doan like bout work email is the dreaded cc:

Now I mean I know there are certain things where you want someone to know that you on the case and checking in on matters or they ask you to cc them on the item so they can read the response etc but in alot of cases cc's are just used by some arrogant s.o.b in an attempt to try to show up somebody else cause they will attempt to cc like 10 people on a matter and most of them have no clue what the conversation is about anyways and could care less. Whats with that?

Yea I guess is good to document or start a paper trail but most a de time all the people you cc'ing aint necessary an plus the email dese days duz got time stamp and dat stamp an ting so you can always back up ya claims if somebody say ya aint do something. All the cc'ing is just somewhat childish.

And this is different from the personal email issue which is if you having a personal conversation wid someone they aint have no right forwarding your email to somebody else. Allya too lazy to cut n paste if ya wanta involve somebody else in part a de conversation or wha? Chupse.

Anyway that is why ya duz gotta watch what ya saying anytime ya online be um work or personal cause you feel you talking to one body an next ting the whole office or 6 or 7 people you aint kno involved.

6 years

Yea been 6 years since I started this blog. Thats like 150 in human years I'm certain. Think I peaked somewhere in year 3 and after that its been all downhill with a few retirements along the way.

I wont say how long it'll last and I'll try to be more regular but somewhere along the way you lose the zest for the frequent writing of the blog (especially when you get the feeling that no one's reading) or things that you would have expounded more on just seem a bit blase. Still its been a good run and very informative in terms of what seems to attract interest especially considering that most of the other bloggers ran for twitter a while ago.

So big up to all you who still read have read, have commented have linked and those who follow and have never commented ever ever ever and especially to those one of two who have been following from like day one like Abeni, Poeza, 4panist and my boy P. big up!

Oh and big up to all my fellow Caribbean bloggers both at home and in the diaspora especially, Abeni, Mad Bull, Will, Stunner, Luke Cage, Empath, Gods Child, Guyana Gyal and the rest too numerous to name. Respect and I'm a try to keep up with you guys cause you set the bar high. Bless!

Fake Cancer

They all thought she was dying of cancer — and they all handed her cash.

Ashley Anne Kirilow, a 23-year-old Burlington native, admits she faked cancer, ran a bogus charity and collected thousands of dollars from hundreds of people.

She shaved her head and eyebrows, plucked her eyelashes and starved herself to look like a chemotherapy patient. She told anyone she met she had been disowned by drug-addicted parents, or that they were dead.

You have to read this story for yourself here and here. Young girl fakes terminal cancer collects a few thousand dollars fraudulently and then afterwards blames it on her miserable childhood.

What a bunch of baloney! The woman is a tief and a criminal!

I must say one of my recent pet peeves is this whole blame your childhood for your mistakes as an adult motif that permeates western society. Must have something to do with the psycho babble that gets passed around as counseling and therapy.

Look some people just wicked aint a damn thing to do with childhood misery or blaming parents. Now if you and all ya siblings turn out wicked and bad well then maybe I can buy the parent angle but if you one, you alone out of many, turn out to be a bad seed uh uh dont be blaming nobody but yourself.

And what type of mind state do you have to be in to fake cancer and even pluck out all ya eyebrows and stop eating to look emaciated to go through with this type of fraud. Ya got to be a sick sick individual to do something so.

And this will only make society even more wary about donating to people with legitimate illnesses and causes so shame shame shame on this girl.

Who Gabby tink he is

Barbados’ newly crowned calypso monarch has been charged less than 24 hours after allegedly beating a media personality.

Anthony ‘Gabby’ Carter is expected to appear in court sometime this week, accused of assaulting television and radio host, Anthony ‘Admiral’ Nelson last night, backstage the Cohobblopot show.

Well imagine mi surprise when I see this in mi email this marnin. Gabby one a we bajan top calypso exponents and 9 time calypso monarch as well as former cultural ambassador (we like we duz choose a very lotta igrant people fa cultural ambassador ya) charged fa beating up de Admiral. Well well well!

Poor Gabby. Most winners dese days duz pompasset talking bout dem gine Disney world after them win titles and championships but um looking like you gine jail afta you win this monarchy. lawd ave is mercy!

I was hoping that Boyce Voice wudda had a lil write up pun this doah cause he is a true kaiso an crop over man an ting an ting so wid nuff pedigree while I aint even reach pot-starver status yet when um come to calypso but he aint got nuttin write up yet so I gotta get in mi lil say.

Cuhdear Gabby say um aint so, tell muh is a fella that look like you or ya get set up by a West Indian politician. How you a big 62 year old, old man almost ready fa pension gine let a foolish poppit like Admiral get you in truble so? Man ya mek mi shame. Looka I gine gotta teach you my rule ya. If ya reach 25 an nuhbody aint lock ya up or ya aint get in nuh trouble wid police and de law, mek sure ya aint doing nuttin afta dat age to get in truble wid de possiblility a lock up ya kno. Leff de bad boy-ism ting fa de young boys.

An Admiral how you let a old man like Gabby that musse weight bout 80 pounds beat you? Wha ya mek mi shame! Wha happen you scheming pun trying to get the man new car that he win at the competition or wha? Cause really an truly Gabby aint nuh big muguffy fella dat cud beat up nuhbody so. In fact only body in bajan kaiso smaller than Gabby is that Khiomal fella from Krosfyah that look like he weigh less dan a crocus bag a flour and Ras Iley who weigh bout 70lbs but 50 a dem is from the dread locks pun he head. A lie?

Anyways yea Admiral how you let Gabby ruff you up so man. Big mout man like you couldnt defend yaself against a small man like Gabby or this is juss a mek up something cause I see a video deyso wid you talking afta the incident an you din look like nuh man dat hol nuh liks in truth. Ya claim the man rip up ya shirt but if you did wearing a flimsy material shirt from swan street an um mash up when the man touch ya doan run now an hollaring fa assault ya.

An Gabby man, big cultural icon like you. Model kaisoman wid lyrics fa days, man wha he do to mek you had to resort ta this an mek the man run to Dr Cassandra. Looka looka wha ya do to the Admiral? Wha happen he tief you chicken an ram or he say you name pun the list? Wha happen man. He did want u faget bout Emmerton nuh. Alright bosie.

But Admiral in he 40s and Gabby is in he 60s. Two a dem aint nuh spring chickens so I doan kno wha wrong wid dese older people. This kaiso music like um duz go to dem heads and lead dem to crime, indoctrinating dem into what may be the beginning of a cycle of violence. From de time Gabby was singing bout (army) Boots and Hit it and Gryner bout "I gine rip ya pants an you gine feel I is a nest a ants" an even David Rudder was askin where the Man wid de Hammer gone I say to myself looka how dese fellas got summuch violent lyrics doah. I did kno tings did getting outta hand wid de negative images in my sweet calypso music but I thought that the recent new jump an wave music did get we outta dat rut. :-)

Last year Boyce did feuding wid de odda Madd men, this year Site get cruel an leff de competition now this. Next ting ya soon wud be hearing that Plastic Bag an Mac put a righteous ragga ragga lashing pun Blood or John King or somebody so.

Looka I did always warnin wunnah that this calypso ting din nuh good fa de old people wid all this feuding (beef) and people complaining bout who the dj playing come crop over an who is a shareholder come competition time an ting so. It set a bad precedent man. Nuff wuhlessness too. Sexism and misogyny and violence. We muss do better as a society to keep our old people away from de influence of that sorta ruck tuck cause looka wha um mek Gabby do now. Dat calypso music aint nuh good at all at all at all, all um like um want banning from the airwaves before we lose our elders and role models. I dun.

Communing with Animals

Lawd ave mercy looka wha dis world coming to!

St. Peter’s Anglican Church has long been known as an open and inclusive place.

So open, it seems, they won’t turn anyone away. Not even a dog.

That’s how a blessed canine ended up receiving communion from interim priest Rev. Marguerite Rea during a morning service the last Sunday in June.

According to those in attendance at the historical church at 188 Carlton St. in downtown Toronto, it was a spontaneous gesture, one intended to make both the dog and its owner – a first timer at the church — feel welcomed. But at least one parishioner saw the act as an affront to the rules and regulations of the Anglican Church. He filed a complaint with the reverend and with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto about the incident – and has since left the church.

Wunnah cud believe dat doah? De priest-ess gi de dog communion in de people church! Imagine that!

And fa all the non-church people dat gine say wha dis a trivial issue compared to priests sexual assaulting an de pope an rah rah rah. Is a different issue an wunnah cud put um in whatever perspective wunna want but um is an issue anyways an um is the one I decide to tackle. So like um or lump um. Dun. And yes I in an antagonistic mood so doan mess wid me this blessed day.

Man wunnah animal people gone too far now. Too too far this time, a line has been crossed. But imagine that though. The holy sacrament given to a dog by a priest? Wha dem wafers is doggie treats now? chupse!

To me this makes a incredible mockery of the whole communion act. How you going to give a animal communion? Wha this flies against anything that ya read in the bible or that Jesus ever teach. Absolute ridiculousness. And wid de sorta animal people we got these days ya know ya duz only gotta gi dem a inch an dem duz tek a mile. Wha next ting dem wud be telling ya that little Ruff Ruff wanta be ordained an he halfway to priesthood cause he already used to wearing a round collar.

Looka muh crosses though.

But step back though, just step back a minute. Y'all dat know anything bout church (de resta wunnah heathens keep quiet) notice anything else wrong here? Maybe its just me but I figure if a fella just step into you church for the first time as was suggested by the article then he shouldn't be in line to tek no communion.

Yes I know the priest dont ask for no id or baptismal papers when he handing out communion (and maybe he should hmmm) and is between you and ya maker to know if you eligible or not but still. The whole point of communion is that its a commemoration of a covenant between you and the lord so you gotta be straight or ya should be straight wid ya life and ya commitment to the savior. I lie?

And priests and Christians gotta realize a lot lotta a people nowadays doan know nuttin bout church and communion an duz juss be following fashion. Dem see everybody else get up and get a sip a wine an a pieca wafer an figure dem gine join de buffet line too cause duh mout dry.

Naa man I feel that priests and priestesses need to state plainly look if ya not right wid ya maker doan be coming up here to get nuh free wine. This aint dat sorta gathering atall atall. See it an doan see it an doan let um tempt ya eidda. Leff it off one time! Well not in dem words exactly but something elegant and more friendly and wid some tact an dem sorta skills dat I apparently lack but wid de said same exact point.

Cause the thing is they devaluing the act of communion and the people that know better ie the christians and the christian leaders letting um slide an saying a fella aint kno nuh better. Well who fault um is that he aint kno nuh better is wunnah wun cause wunnah need to explain to the fella wha he doing before he do um.

Let he know membership has its privileges, free wine, free wafer, free afterlife etc etc but doan let he get up an guh having the communion an aint paying he dues so to speak.

Lebronalypse Now

Well its been about two weeks now since the "self proclaimed" King Lebron James made his move to Cleveland. I had wanted to write something about it earlier and truth be told I've got another post about Chris Bosh and kids and heroes that I wrote just before the Lebron announcement but I couldn't bring myself to or find the time to write about Lebron's big decision before now.

What can I say that hasn't already been said. Not much really.

Lebron may win championship(s) in Miami but dude has done some serious damage to his image and his brand. Not that he had no right leaving for Miami but dude could have shown some class and done it a bit better. The Decision TV show was just silly and really showed up his immaturity but then again he's a pro athlete who's been pampered all his life how's he supposed to know the right way to act in public lol.

However I did think his people would or should have spoken to him beforehand and said hey guy consider your image. By going to Wade's Miami the team isn't even yours anymore. You're not even clearly the alpha dog. Kobe fought to rid himself of Shaq who shared the spotlight but Lebron willingly steps into a situation where he's sharing the spotlight. Go figure! Maybe its just symbolic of the new generation and the way we raise our kids. The phrase used to be "without struggle there is no progress" but these guys are now likely to give up the struggle or try to find help in shouldering the burden instead of trying themselves first.

Not sure I'm down with that. Yea sharing the burden is cool but sometimes you gotta be the man and try to overcome the hump yourself. Jordan did, Barkley, Ewing, Malone etc tried but failed but at the same time we respect them for rising to the challenge and taking teams on their back and trying to win. You can always jump teams later on and try to win as a second fiddle and ride a younger cats coattails but in your peak naa man you want the glory all for yourself.

But who knows! I am sure this move does take Lebron out of the G.O.A.T equation though. Jordan, Kobe, Dr J stay ahead cause they were/are the man and willingly accepted it.

but maybe Lebron is onto something. A new kinder more top dog. No longer alpha dog, a beta dog perhaps? Maybe this teaches kids valuable lessons about sharing and combining forces to reach a goal instead of being obstinate and hardheaded and not making it over the hump. Perhaps.

Oh well, all I know is that for now Lebron gutted Cleveland which from what I've read was already a sports town with somewhat lowered self esteem and I cant back him for that. Yea owners do players dirty sometimes so you can say he owed the team nothing but what about the fans. The guys who loved you as their hometown saviour? Got to be hard on them. And its not like the team didn't try to accommodate you. You think they didn't made that Shaq deal to please you or that deal for Antoine Jameson? They built around you, it just didn't work and hence this oh so messy messy divorce necessitates counseling on the part of some of the Clevelanders.

C'est la vie though. As they all say its a business. Do your thing. Just hope you win some championships in South Beach and don't tire of being the Beta dog. Oh and can you even go home again after what you did to the guys there? I don't know man I just don't know.

Punked!

Seriously the whole of Toronto got punked during the G20 conference. It'd be funny if it wasnt also sad lol.

Prior to the event it was made known that the Premier and the Ontario government had passed in secret a law allowing police to search and arrest anyone within 5 metres of the G20 fence over the weekend.

Well now it has come to light that there was no such law. They all lied to us! The Premier, the police chief, they all lied.

While we were busy saying shame on the Ontario government for secretly passing such a law in secret and the police were actually enforcing this supposed law and stopping folks at random within 5 metres of the fence and just in general on the streets of downtown Toronto over the weekend for searches, this law never existed.

Whoa! How ya like dem apples?

So now everyone is upset cause we got lied to and in essence punked (without Ashton Kushner). What can ya say?

All I know is I can understand why folks are upset. Public officials of the stature of your police chief and premier aren't supposed to willfully lie to you like that. I mean politicians lie like crazy so we sort of expect that but the Police chief too. Damn! I'm sure they have their reasons but if they were telling lies about that then you get the sneaking suspicion that they are telling lies about other stuff too. Can we ever trust them again? That supposed trust between public and public officials is evaporating so what next? Does this mean the anarchists are winning? God forbid!

Well boy these days is funny nights.