Moontown

Written By: Antoine Craigwell

Frantica Boujoules, St Lucia.

Members of the Caribbean gay community are scheduled to hold the first ever gay fashion show on September 19, 2009, at Unity Fellowship of Christ Church on Atlantic Avenue, between Georgia and Alabama avenues, in Brooklyn.

Rehanna B, Barbados.

In a press release announcing the “2009 Gay Caribbean/USA Pageant-An Effort to Foster Tolerance,” the organizers, Fabulous Lucians, ask: How do we work to foster gay tolerance within our community? One way is to create an environment of openness, the release says. As a grassroots group with origins and close ties to the Caribbean island of St Lucia, the Caribbean Pageant follows a 2004 fashion show, the St Lucian’s Gay Diva show.Hemish Gervis, pageant coordinator, says that following the favorable responses from the Gay Diva show, the inspiration for this event came from the desire of the many gay men in the New York area, who have origins in the Caribbean, and who wanted to participate in a fashion show to encourage more tolerance and acceptance from their countrymen and women, many who are homophobic, often acting out in violence against the gay community.

Vanessa Flowers, Guyana.

“Only five men from St Lucia participated in the 2004 event, but the response from the community was so overwhelming with men from other Caribbean islands wanting to be involved, that it was transformed to become Fabulous Lucians,” says Gervis. Pageant contestants representing Caribbean countries are Mimi Mancini, from Jamaica; Frantica Boujoules, St Lucia; Rehanna B, Barbados; Madame Fleur de Fleur, Martinique and Vanessa Flowers from Guyana.Gervis says that the program intends to feature many side attractions, including a steel pan rendition, possibly performed by current Ms St Lucia/USA; solo vocals from Jamaican Andrew Joseph, and Travis Mims, who was an American Idol contestant eliminated in auditions in Los Angeles; and dance performances from members of Something Positive, Inc.

Mimi Mancini, Jamaica.

The pageant itself would feature talent, couture swimwear, evening wear and interview segments. During the couture swimwear segment, the five contestants are expected to portray or pay tribute to someone or something from their respective countries, and in the interview segment, would be judged on their knowledge of current affairs and gay issues.
The pageant’s three judge panel, Gervis says, are experienced in the performing arts, such as from Howard University College of Arts and Sciences; City College, City University of New York; and the director of Something Positive, Inc, an Afro-Caribbean-based dance theater company.Fabulous Lucians is not working with any financial budget, adds Gervis, but are operating on a pay-as-you-go-method, and as a grassroots event, without sponsorships, has accomplished hosting it through the hard work and contributions of the members of the group.

Madame Fleur de Fleur, Martinique.

“This is the first time we’re doing it on a Caribbean level so as to be manageable. But more importantly, we have not gone out looking for sponsorship; we’re doing it on our own,” he says.Gervis explained that while efforts to produce the pageant on a professional level constrained the organizers to limiting the number of contestants to five, putting the pageant together had largely been without any major challenges. The organizers had no trouble finding contestants or acquiring the venue, which came about through one of the group’s members who works with Unity Hall and was instrumental in obtaining it for the show.

But the show will take place against the backdrop of recent violence against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, especially the two transgender women who were attacked and beaten up last month in Queens, and the story of the two straight Ecuadorian brothers who were attacked, where one was killed, while on the way home from a bar in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

Gervis says that while all those who are coming to the event are adults and not teenagers, and ultimately responsible for their own safety, a cautionary statement would nonetheless be made during the pageant advising everyone to be careful and mindful of their surroundings when they leave the Hall after the show.

“We’re advising people to take whatever precautions for their safety when they leave the pageant,” he says.

Unity Fellowship Church, headed by Bishop Zachary Jones, is located in the Bed Sty section of Brooklyn, and Gervis says, is a regular place where many gay events are held and as such people in the neighborhood are accustomed to seeing gay men and women around.

While the contestants are hard at work in rehearsals, tickets are already selling out.

Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted from GBNnews.com with the permission of the author.

BLACK EYE PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

MASHED POTATOES; FRIED PLANTAIN

BAKED CHICKEN; BAKED PORK

FRIED SNAPPER; GRILLED BARRACUDA

TURKEY STEW; PLAIN GRAVY

POTATO SALAD; STEAMED VEGETABLES

GARDEN SALAD

-   King to start last on grid despite qualifying second

By Rawle Toney
in Barbados

It was a day filled with high end drama for Andrew King and Gavin Gayadin at yesterday’s time trial for the second round of this year’s Caribbean Motor Racing championships at Bushy Park circuit in Barbados.

Guyanese pair Stephen Vieira and Maurice Menezes during time trials yesterday

King competes in the Group ‘4’ category which is considered as the marquee event of the championship series since it features all of the Caribbean’s top class drivers and fastest cars.

In actuality, King driving his Tube frame Mazda RX7, finished second  for today’s event after clocking 41.864 seconds; the fastest time ever by a two wheel drive car on the island but negligence caused him and top pole finisher Roger Mayers and his ford Focus, (41.064s) to be relegated to the back of the grid.

The two drivers after finishing their respective laps for the time trials, returned to the pits instead of heading straight to the officials weight station for the re-weighting of their cars.

Their laxity made way for Barbados’ Barry Mayers (42.135), defending champion Stuart Maloney (42.400s) and Jamaica’s David Summerbell (42.620s) who were promoted to the top of the grid.

Speaking with Stabroek Sport, King said that he was very angry  but blamed himself for what he deemed as slackness on his behalf.

“I think it’s complete brain failure, I have no one but myself to blame so now I would have to start from the back tomorrow (today) and hope that I finish at a good position after the first race. But I think the car is running perfectly but we have a major disadvantage now but I would have to live with that,” King said.

He added that this put a spoke in his wheel as it relates to claiming his first Caribbean championship: “Well, obviously this is going to set me back, but like I said, I will wait and see after my first race (today) because I wouldn’t count myself out, my car is running perfectly.”

Due to the mix up in the group, Guyanese, Kevin Jeffrey, who finished ninth on the grid

Andrew King powering his way at Bushy Park

(43.894 seconds), has been elevated to sixth position in the 10-car race.

Meanwhile,  Gavin Gayadin had the intake manifold of his vehicle blown out during his second lap of his run and will start sixth on grid in the group ‘3B’ since he clocked 50.503 seconds.

“Honestly I’m not very disappointed because when I was running earlier in the day, I actually did faster times than the guys who finished on pole. So I think I’ll be fine today, we already got the problem sorted out, so (today) it would be a good; my car is working perfectly  so I’ll be fine, still not that disappointed about the incident,” Gayadin added.

Gavin Gouvia clocked 50.690 seconds in the group 2B class to start today’s race in the group at 7th on the grid.

Over in the super bikes local riders Stephen ‘Valentino Rossi’ Vieira and Maurice Menezes will start today’s race fourth and eight respectively.

Hundreds of spectators turned at yesterday’s time trial which reflected that certainly today would see thousands at the track for what the Barbados Auto racing league (BARL) is dubbing the largest international meet ever on the island.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding. - File

A NUMBER of legislative commitments inked in the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) manifesto and verbalised on political platforms in the run-up to the 2007 general election are yet to materialise.

At the same time, some key proposals, which formed the central plank of the JLP’s framework for good governance, have been introduced in Parliament, but the process to review and implement them is moving at a snail’s pace.

In one of his first national broadcasts as prime minister, November 11, 2007, Bruce Golding said work was being fast-tracked on a number of the manifesto promises and appropriate legislation would be taken to Parliament “shortly”.

However, two of the JLP’s manifesto pledges that were heralded by Golding during the election campaign seem to have vanished from the radar.

In the election campaign, he gave assurances that if his party were elected, it would craft legislation to impose a two-term limit on anyone holding the office of prime minister, and establish a fixed-election period.

It is now nearly two years later, and the administration has failed to take legislation had to Parliament regarding term limits for prime ministers, or a fixed-election period.

For calendar year 2008, only two new pieces of legislation were passed by Parliament, with 16 existing laws amended.

The two new bills passed into law were the Pensions (Prime Minister) Act, 2008, and the Anti-Doping in Sport Act, 2008.

seven pieces of legislation

Up to July 2009, Parliament had passed seven pieces of legislation comprising two new measures, while the other bills amended existing laws.

The two new statutes passed so far this year were the Carriage by Air (Montreal Convention) Act, 2009, and the Jamaica Dairy Development Board Act, 2009.

Just before the summer break, the Senate approved the Child Pornography Bill, which is to be tabled in the House of Representatives for debate and passage.

A commitment to establish the Office of the Special Coroner was kept by the Golding administration, with Parliament giving the nod to an amendment to the Coroner’s Act last year.

The JLP, in its manifesto, undertook to appoint a special coroner to conduct inquests in cases where persons had died under questionable circumstances at the hands of representatives of the State.

Towards the end of last year, the backlog of cases before the Coroner’s Court numbered a little less than 700.

Of that number, 182 involved killings by members of the security forces.

Another pledge from the JLP was the setting up of an independent commission to investigate complaints of abuses by members of the security forces.

The Senate, in May, adopted the report of a joint select committee of Parliament, which deliberated for months on proposed legislation to establish the commission.

The Independent Commission of Investigation Act, 2009, when enacted, will repeal the Police Public Complaints Act.

That bill is listed on the Order Paper of the House of Representatives for debate and passage.

Special Corruption Prosecutor

A joint select committee of Parliament examining a bill to create the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Corruption to investigate acts of corruption in the public and private sectors is in its final stages of completing deliberations and should be submitting a report to Parliament shortly.

The establishment of a special prosecutor was one of the key legislative initiatives the JLP trumpeted in the run-up to the 2007 general elections.

Strengthening of the role of Parliament was a critical component of the JLP manifesto, which was fulfilled with the appointment of Opposition parliamentarians to chair special select committees.

increase the membership

Another proposal set out in the JLP policy document to increase the membership of the Senate to include representatives of civil society has, to date, received little or no attention from the administration.

In terms of appointments to sensitive posts, the JLP had proposed in its manifesto that it would push for a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament to approve appointments to pivotal positions, such as the director of public prosecutions, the public defender, the contractor general and the chief justice.

However, the legislative process to fulfil this pledge is yet to be set in motion.

The Golding administration has taken action in its quest to reform the libel laws, with the appointment of the Justice Hugh Small Committee in November 2007, which reviewed the existing legislation and made recommendations.

Meanwhile, one year after the Government introduced six anti-crime bills, they are yet to be debated.

After the bills were tabled in Parliament in September 2008, they were referred to a joint select committee of both Houses for consideration.

Nation News (Barbados)

CARIBBEAN JOURNALISTS gatheredat the United States Embassy in Wildey,St Michael, recentlyto share ideas andfurther their knowledgeof the profession.

The Eastern Caribbean Media Development workshop ran from August 24 to 28 and featureda range of topics, from basic news gatheringto career planning.

The main presenter over the five days was broadcast journalist Cynne Simpson, an award-winning journalist who currently works for ABC News in Washington, DC.

“It is very interestingto see the different challenges journalists face here, but a lot of themare the same [ones I face in the United States].

“It’s been great, very impressive, particularlyto see how much knowledge and insight everyone has,” she said.

John Roberts, public affairs officer with the embassy, said the workshop was a way to meet the regional media as well as share information.

“This is an excellent opportunity to reach out and develop relations with regional journalists and show them they are a valuable part of our initiatives as well as give them new ideas and techniques. For the newer journalists, it is also an opportunity to interact with an ABC trainer and for the older ones, an opportunity to impart knowledge,” he said.

The workshop also featured several guest presenters, among them veteran journalist Peter Adonijah Alleyne, who spoke on story writing and interviewing techniques; experienced photographer Ronnie Carrington, who spoke on photo-journalism; former broadcaster Marvo Manning, who spokeon etiquette; and director of New Media at One Caribbean Media Saleha Williams, who focusedon new media.

It also featured sessions with embassy officials, including chargé d’affairs James Goggin, consul general Nicole Theriot), military liaisonMajor Saint Lethinen,and section chiefIan Campbell.

The workshop was not all about work, however. The journalists representing St Lucia,St Vincent, St Kitts, Grenada, Dominica and Barbados were also treated to dinner at the Carib Beach Bar, a reception in their honour at the embassy, anda catamaran cruise aboard Jammin. (CA)

OPPOSITION LEADER MIA MOTTLEY yesterday said the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) strongly supported tomorrow’s planned demonstration by the National Union of Public Workers in defence of workers at the Urban Development Commission identified for retrenchment.

In a Press release, the BLP leader said the proposed restructuring was nothing but a veiled attempt to get rid of workers whose only sin was to have been appointed prior to January 2008.

“That 17 people could have been hired by the UDC since January 2009 to perform the same functions as many of those who are being removed is the strongest evidence of this victimisation. This arbitrary cleansing is against everything we Barbadians stand for as a people,” she said.

Mottley added: “What is even more appalling is the action taken in the last two days to include in the hit list a shop steward of the NUPW who was promoted only in January of this year from a clerical officer to a research officer. Her only unusual action was to have attended the meeting convened between the NUPW and the workers facing dismissal.”

Mottley said it was a criminal offence under Section 40A of the Trade Unions Act to dismiss or adversely affect any worker on account of trade union activity.

“We are amazed that in spite of the Prime Minister’s statement that the affected workers would be placed elsewhere in the Public Service, it is still proposed to terminate their services with one month’s notice and one month’s pay,” Mottley said.

She described the action as a breach of the workers’ rights. Most of them, she said, were appointed to pensionable posts and were fully qualified to hold their posts. (PR)

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

Golding

In what is likely to be his most frank admission yet, Prime Minister Golding has conceded that his administration could have made better use of the early period in office.

“I think perhaps we should have taken the fiscal challenges by the scruff of the neck more vigorously,” the prime minister said.

Golding attributed some of the hesitation to the inexperience of his Cabinet. “One of the things that you need to bear in mind (is) there were only four of us, - Pearnel Charles, Ed Bartlett, Ken Baugh (and myself) - with previous Cabinet experience,” he said.

He admitted that too much time and focus were spent just trying to get the new Government into rhythm. “Perhaps I can offer no excuse, because I have been there before, and I knew that we had wasted time as well in 1981,” Golding said.

The prime minister added: “Sometimes you get so caught up in the immediacy of the challenges that the sort of long-term perspective that ought to drive every decision gets overtaken by other things.”

In a word, the prime minister characterised as challenging his first two years in office. “Challenging in the sense that the recession is certainly not something that we had ever counted on, never anticipated, and you can’t blame everything on that, because there are things that I think we, perhaps, could have done more, notwithstanding that,” was Golding’s frank admission.

Making good use of athletics vernacular, Golding conceded that having missed a good start out of the blocks, his administration has to be playing catch-up. “If you are running a race and you slip behind where you had planned to be at a certain point, it only means that you have to run faster in order to make up the ground,” he said.

Political analyst Shalman Scott echoes Golding’s sentiment that the past two years have been challenging, but very exciting.

“In the sense that this serves as an opportunity for the Government and the country to rethink our attitudes towards ourselves as a people and in relation to governance … we have to move from the historical reactive mode into more proactive and transformative action to accomplish our vision,” Scott said.

Scott is of the view that the opportunity now presents itself for an increase in consciousness for a partnership for prosperity. He contends that the challenges should forge a new level of awareness. “Whether we see a connection between crime and violence, the impact on the health sector … these are the issues we have to look at as we ponder our future.”

Notwithstanding the poor start, Golding expressed confidence that his team would rebound. “I don’t feel that any damage was done, I just feel that perhaps some advantages could have been gained,” the prime minister asserted.

learning curve

Asked to grade the performance of his Cabinet members, Golding refused to be specific, but said there had been some very good performers and some who had managed the learning curve well.

“I think that there are others who can do better. It’s my job to make sure that they do better,” he said.

Political analyst Dickie Crawford believes the Golding administration wasted much of its early political capital.

“He (Prime Minister Golding) came in on a wave of expectation and euphoria … expecting to do a much better job than the previous Government without taking a careful assessment of the objectives, conditions and realities that existed at the time,” Crawford said.

Crawford cited the big negatives for the Government as its reluctance to end the tribal nature of politics and what he claims is the Golding administration’s overconcentration on retaining political power at all costs.

“I speak specifically of the dual-citizenship cases which ought to have been handled much more easily and quickly and should not have diverted the Government from the management of the country’s economy and the major problem of crime and violence,” Crawford argued.

“I, therefore, think that the prime minister’s two-year tenure was characterised by a number of critical issues - the approach to electoral politics and political power, and an overabundance of this feature over the importance of managing the country,” added Crawford.