U.S.: We've moved house

Find us at http://carib.us.

USVI: CaribPundit scores a Wizbang Bronze.

"Can you believe they actually bought that?"

Kevin Aylward's Wizbang weekly caption contest is a regular favorite here and getting mentioned on his site is akin to winning a Blog lottery - or something to that effect - so whilst we may not be quite as ecstatic as Lurch & Eddie were in this photo, we are pretty grinning happy for the Bronze.

The Gold medal caption goes to: sugarmama for -

"Irrational exuberance is more than a pipe dream - it can be yours with a simple visit to your psychiatrist.

Brought to you by the National Lithium Council."

The Silver to : boifromtroy for -

"They say that love don't pay the rent;
Before it's earned the money's all been spent"

Well I guess that we don't got alot;
But at least I'm sure of all the things we've got, babe...

"I've got you babe."

Henceforth the Award shall take an honorable spot right next to my cherished Teen Disco Trophy and the Frankie Valli record I won in 8th grade.
;^)

Thanks Kevin.
As Rtfm wipes brown stuff off nose...

Cross posted at our new digs

US: Closer, but keep fighting the good fight

At this point the Donk leadership is depending on party loyalty and various media and celebrity help almost exclusively. They are depending on people's blind faith in their widely broadcast party line, and are banking on what they say not being verified in the liberal press.

Kerry is even now openly recycling themes from Michael Moore's discredited propaganda movie...

They depend on the press throwing softballs at their candidates and lending credence to all their specious claims whilst obfuscating things like Sandy Berger stuffing secret documents down his shorts, and the utter collapse of their Joe Wilson, and Clarke, and Moore, conspiracy pillars.

Lately the Donks in their desperation have taken to intimidation and Lawyerese to try to stifle both opponents and fact.

To whit:
DNC Lawyers Work To Muzzle Swift Boat Vets' Ad

Human Events has a scan of the letter the DNC's lawyers fax out to intimidate stations into not playing the Swift Boat Vereran's ad.

I wonder if they use the same cadre of DNC litigators they mobilized against Nader's ballot fights?

...Or are they the donk's Soros funded Moveon PAC lawyers who are trying to sue FOX into liberal line?

Their celebrity constituents blast on at every opportunity about Conservatives somehow stifling dissent in public forums, yet they are the foremost players in that field. And like petulant children they throw tantrums when [American] people call them on it or walk out of a concert they paid for, or otherwise express their distase.

I think it comes down to the fact that the liberal pollyanna's don't understand that by not being proactive and preemptive in taking the fight to Islam's fascists, they invite a hunkered down reduction of domestic civil liberties that will be incrementally eroded in response to continued domestic terrorist attack.

Apparently this is not a problem for the Dem's as it's one step closer to their nanny state ideal I guess.

Striking at Islam's fascist element is the only logical means to forstall the domestic effects of islamist terrorism.

...And it's working despite all the media's "quagmire" salesmanship.

Tens of millions of Iraqis and Afghanis are actively opposing/fighting al Qaeda right now...Even as they prepare for their own elections - and terrorists who once had safe haven are scurrying between safe-house and spider-hole to survive. That doesn't leave terrorists much "time-space" in which to flesh out new attacks against a hardened and free American homeland which is why they car bomb their [supposed] own in an attempt to derail the democracy train that's chugging right along.

Meanwhile, 55,000,000 people are free of totalitarian nooses and the nuclear mullahs of Iran are being boxed-in whilst other proliferation scams are being exposed and eliminated.

The DNC and all their lemmings of course call President Bush evil for this but the American people given the opportunity to think, aren't buying it...Hence the palpable desperation crackling through the ranks of the left.

Every liberal tantrum illustrates this rising desperation - which is why I absolutely love when they 'express' themselves.

We should start a 'How many states is George Bush going to win by' pool.

Cross posted at our new digs

Gya: You have mother, and then you have mother-***

The police and probation services are investigating the circumstances which resulted in an eight-year-old boy suffering second-degree burns to his chest.

Akeem James of 263 Samatta Point, Grove, East Bank Demerara was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital on July 23 after being scalded on his chest apparently as punishment for losing $500 which he had been given to purchase chicken. Akeem's mother, who was held by the police and subsequently released, has denied this. She claimed that he accidentally came into contact with a stove.

According to reports, the child had been flogged twice prior to being dowsed with a hot liquid and was made to suffer other forms of punishment including kneeling as well as being barred from leaving his Grove home.

...Akeem's father Anthony James who is estranged from the boy's mother said he learned of the situation on July 23, when his mother (Akeem's grandmother), who also lives at Grove, called to inform him of the child's condition.

Gya: Oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, what a few yen can do to you

IT’S a non-issue.

That’s the line the main Opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) maintained yesterday on the recent controversial visit to Taiwan by its Leader, Mr Robert Corbin.

But the Guyana Government yesterday registered disapproval of the visit by circulating a motion in Parliament calling on the National Assembly to disassociate itself from the action taken by Mr Corbin, a PNCR Member of Parliament.

The Taiwan trip has chilled the once warm ties between the PNCR and China which has registered strong protest at the visit.

Chinese Ambassador, Mr Song Tao, whose tenure here ends on August 15, cancelled a scheduled Wednesday courtesy call on Corbin at PNCR headquarters because of “health reasons”, according to a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy here.

Yeah, don't piss off China.

Bdos: Independece in the Caribbean celebrated with silence on Darfur

In a more civilised world the sheer savagery of what is occurring in Sudan, especially in its Darfur region, would attract the sternest, most sustained rebuke – if nothing else – by the international community.
...
The most visible of Barbados’ spokespersons on Emancipation, black empowerment and reparations apparently consider as guilty of crimes against humanity only those despots and political bandits who have their origin in predominantly non-black societies. The hypocrisy is all too transparent.

Emancipation Day in Barbados two days ago, following on Sunday’s call for social fracture [boycotting this country’s Whites], came and went without so much as a word of sympathy for Sudan’s millions of suffering Blacks or respect for approximately three million slaughtered, six million displaced, and the countless casualties of enforced exodus from their homeland.

But why should would-be separatists in Barbados show genuine interest in the fate of people thousands of miles away when they are busy attempting the kind of reverse racism that belies their sanctimonious utterances about Barbadian nationhood and, quite frankly, makes a mockery of their type of Emancipation celebration?

...Equally, do ordinary Barbadians recognise that Sudan has become the latest of mankind’s worst killing fields, where horrific butchery exceeds war deaths in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan?

Yesterday’s mass demonstration by Arab militia, including large numbers of government troops, illustrates the degree of Khartoum’s bloody- mindedness.

, they vowed to die in a jihad [Islamic holy war] if there is international intervention, specifically by the UN, to stop what is happening in Darfur.

Unspeakably bad things are happening mainly to non-Arab, non-Muslim Africans not least to women and young girls upon whom government soldiers and what is to all intents and purposes the state’s ruthless enforcement arm, the Janjaweed, routinely satiate their sadistic lust.

Through its all, Khartoum is defiant, telling the United States to mind its own business and warning the UN not to meddle in Sudan’s internal affairs.

Not even the slowly awakening African Union [AU] is fully welcome to play the role of peacemaker. Sudan, says President Omar al-Beshir, is quite capable of managing its own affairs. Indeed, setting aside the welfare of its sick, starving and dying millions, and an economy that gallops deeper and deeper into chaos, the president regime is managing in a way that is matched only by the misery that despotic ex-President Slobodan Milosevic and the authoritarian President Robert Mugabe have inflicted on their respective countries.

They should both be on trial for war crimes, which is Milosevic’s fate. But in this civilised, politically correct world, who would dare to touch the rampaging Arab militias in Africa?

Bdos: Oil for Food coming soon to a theater near you!

IF they felt the award-winning film had no particular value for their party’s prospects in November’s presidential election, strategists for the opposition Democrats in the United States would not make “Fahrenheit 9/11” a major feature at their convention in Boston, Massachusetts, political stronghold of the Kennedy clan.
...
It would be interesting to see what sort of film the very creative entertainment industry, complete with its comedians who constantly bash Messrs. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, would produce on such massive wheeling and dealing when the ongoing UN investigation brings more facts to light.

TT: Down but not out?

Despite US efforts to strangle the flow of dollars to Cuba and fresh exchanges of acrimony between Presidents George Bush and Fidel Castro, the cash-strapped Cuban government intends to make record US food purchases this year, according to its chief international shopper.

"By the end of August, Cuba will have purchased in eight months as much as it did in the whole previous year,'' said Pedro Alvarez, head of Alimport, the government's food procurement enterprise.

Cash purchases of US food have grown exponentially since November 2001, when hurricane-ravaged Cuba began taking advantage of the first breach of a trade embargo imposed in 1960 and maintained through ten successive US presidencies. Cuban purchases from what is now its biggest food supplier, already nearing the US$300 million mark by the end of July, are set to exceed US$440 million this year, Alvarez said in an interview.

TT: Impartial investigation of Grenada's Mitchell

IN an effort to get to the bottom of the bribery allegations levelled against Grenadian Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, that country’s Governor General has appointed a Commission of Inquiry comprising lawyers from the Caribbean. No lawyers from Grenada will be involved in the Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate allegations of financial impropriety against the Grenadian prime minister. Grenada’s Governor General Sir Daniel Williams, in an address to the nation on Wednesday night, formally announced the Commission of Inquiry. There will be a one-man Commission. That job goes to Barbadian Queen’s Counsel Dr Richard Cheltenham, a prominent and highly respected Caribbean jurist. Many will remember Dr Cheltenham when he teamed up with then Opposition Leader, now St Vincent Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves in 1997, to successfully defend Americans James and Penny Fletcher who were charged with murder on the island of Bequia.

Ja: Finally!

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - The government introduced legislation yesterday that would impose sentences of up to life in prison against people convicted of human trafficking, an attempt to deflect US criticism that Guyana is not tough enough on the crime.

Human Services Minister Bibi Shadick introduced the bill during a brief parliamentary session. The bill would impose a maximum sentence of life in prison on those convicted of kidnapping people for prostitution or other commercial purposes.

The bill would also create a witness protection programme for people who provide evidence against suspected traffickers and require the government to keep a registry of people convicted of the offence. It will be debated after parliament returns from recess in October.

U.S.: Back up and running

Well, we're back up and running on http://carib.us.

After waiting in vain for the web hosts to do something besides send me silly little messages, I experimented with the config.php file one line at a time. Happily, on the first line, it all checked out.

Anyway, this site will remain up.

U.S.: Roman more bishops finally opt for fidelity to Church doctrine

Roman Catholic bishops in three Southeastern dioceses said Wednesday they will deny Communion to lawmakers who consistently support abortion rights unless the dissenting politicians publicly recant.

The bishops said in a statement that Catholics who violate church teaching in policy-making were 'cooperating in evil in a public manner.'

The banned Catholic lawmakers could resume taking the sacrament 'only after reconciliation with the church has occurred, with the knowledge and consent of the local bishop, and public disavowal of former support for procured abortion,' the clerics said.

'There can be no contradiction between the values bestowed by baptism and the Catholic faith and the public expression of those values,' the bishops said."

The Lord's Supper or Holy Communion is not a right. Rather, it is a privilege the Lord conferred upon His Church for her salvation. Though all are to be baptized, not all are to be communed until they can understand the meaning and significance of the eating and drinking. Therefore, the Western Church does not commune children until after they have been instructed into the articles of the Christian faith. For, where baptism wipes away all sin, communion will condemn to damnation if partaken of unworthily.

Martin Chemnitz, in the Examination of the Council of Trent, discusses the importance of eating the Body and Blood of Christ worthily. This eating, Chemnitz notes, is not to be undertaken recklessly, for our very soul is at risk should we eat unworthily. He argues, like Paul, that the partaking of the Lord's Supper should be preceded by prayerful reflection. The man who is to commune must prepare himself for in the eating and drinking he is one with Christ through faith. No man ought to just go to Church and eat of the Body and Blood without considering that should he eat unrepentant, he damns his own soul to hell. No pastor should allow a man to eat of the Body and Blood while he is at odds with Scripture, that rule and norm for life and faith. For a pastor to allow such a one to commune is to be remiss in his responsibiity as a shepherd.

For, the priests of the Roman Church, like Christian pastors and ministers wherever they may be found, are shepherds and bishops of the souls of men. They are charged by Christ with responsibility for our souls' salvation, and He require an accounting of their stewardship of His flock. If the pastor is aware that a man consents to abortion, which is murder and is as the passing of children through fire, and he communes that man, then he receives on himself that man's blood because as pastor, he has failed to see to the safety of the sheep's soul.

Therefore, given the significane of the Lord's Supper to the Church, and the life-endangering penalty attached to eating unworthily of it, it is good that Roman bishops have decided to withhold communion from those who will not recant and repent concerning abortion. One of these days, the flock will realize that the Church is the Body of Christ, and that the smiling Savior born in a cradle in Bethlehem will be replaced by a fierce and frowning judge.

U.S.: Kerry to blacks, 'stay on the plantation!'

"John F. Kerry today said entertainer Bill Cosby's recent admonition that black Americans need to take greater personal responsibility for poor education and high crime was 'excessively exclusive' and ignored the government's role in helping minorities.

I understand exactly where Bill is coming from in his comment,' Kerry said, measuring his words carefully as he spoke to a convention for minority journalists in Washington. 'It may be excessively exclusive in the breadth of it, in the sense that it sort of targets just the responsibility side, but that's an important side.'

Sen. John F. Kerry, speaking at a conference of minority journalists, said he was aware of 'the special challenges facing people of color.'

Cosby, a black actor and comedian, has recently harshly criticized the behavior of younger black males and scolded them in interviews for blaming their problems on everyone but themselves. Many blacks were highly critical of Cosby's remarks.

Kerry said government and society are to blame, too, for not providing adequate assistance and protections to minorities. 'We also need to do the things we need to do as a society to empower those people, have plans for those kids, to make the world safer,' Kerry said. 'It's all of us together.'"

What should the descendants do?

Easy. Flush the Johns.

U.S.: Jus' like dat!

Jus' like dat! Jus' like dat! I en sleep for de night yet, but de blog on http://carib.us gone down. Jus' like dat. I don' even have to channel Paul Keens.

So, sleep, bustin' me arse, I decide to hold on till 'bout 9 or so to solve de problem. All I was doin' was settin' up another blog for this website mankind payin' I and I to build. It not official yet, y' know, but all you could check it out if all you want. Me ain' go stop yer. See yah, as me bredren from Ja would say, ayah.

So, I ups an' write de web host, y' know, cuz I and I want de blog up an' runnin'. So wha' yer t'ink dey say? Dey want to know if I, rahted wannabe geek I, got de file configgered right. I wanted to tell dem 'bout dey mooma, y' know, but I answer nice an' polite, like me ol' queen raise me.

Up to now, de dam t'ing still not up yet! An' I talkin' bout from since early o'clock dis mornin' when Rtfm write me and say how dis t'ing ain' wuckin'. Wha' me nephew does say? Good t'ing ain' cheap, an' cheap t'ing ain' good. I think if de good Lord bless me wit' a few pennies before I head off to furrin' that I go move de damn blog to a web host wha' know wha' they doin'.

In de meantime, we is CaribPundit, an' we here. Yah, mon!

US: Fakenshite 9/11 - Analysed

Here's a great page that analyzes the various propaganda methods employed by Michael Moore in his Fahrenheit Fakenshite movie.

Of course there are those willfully blind volk who will "vote for Daffy Duck"...Imagine that?

Leftists ignoring fact...

Who would have thunk?

Wictory Wednesday: The Case for John Kerry

Shoshanna at Dreams Into Lightning has posted the best arguments this vast internet thing can dig up to defend John Kerry’s bid for the Presidency.

Well stated.

I’m entirely convinced…
;^)

UPDATE Kat at The Middle Ground has more.

USVI: Would-be Tropical Storm 'Bonnie' Passing South

Ahhhh…It’s a nice rainy day in the V.I.

Aug. 3, 2004 – V. I. weather should start going downhill Wednesday evening as Tropical Depression 2 approaches, said Rafael Mojica, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Juan.

The territory remains on a tropical storm watch.

Forecasters think the storm, Tropical Storm Bonnie, will pass 170 miles south of St. Croix around 8 p.m. Wednesday. St. Croix will get more rain and wind than St. Thomas and St. John.

"And tomorrow will be raining," Mojica said.

He said the picture is looking a bit brighter than it did on Tuesday, the day Tropical Depression 2 formed. Meteorologists then thought it would pass closer to St. Croix.

Reconnaissance aircraft are scheduled to fly into the storm later Wednesday.

«read the rest»

UPDATE: Poof! Bonny TD2 dissipating...

Cross posted to our new digs

US: Italians kick the crap out of the US basketball team.

As a fellow Cruzan Virgin Islander, Tim Duncan (who I've had the honor to surf with *smirk*) is a super-hero down here and a great guy to boot - but damn! Show some shame Tim...

Associated Press
COLOGNE, Germany -- The U.S. Olympic basketball team quickly shrugged off its stunning exhibition loss to Italy.

"It doesn't hurt at all. It's great preparation," center Tim Duncan said. "If it happened to us in the Olympics, that's different. This doesn't hurt at all."

"This doesn't hurt at all."
- Tim Duncan

The United States was beaten 95-78 Tuesday, just 10 days before its first contest in the Athens Games. It was the most one-sided and embarrassing loss ever by an American team comprised of NBA players. The Americans will try to win its fifth straight Olympics gold medal and improve on its 24-0 record since allowing pro players to participate in 1992.

«read the Whole shameful thing»

Really...?

I would hope that getting slapped around and pelted with meatballs should hurt...Alot.

VIA Protein Wisdom who aptly summed it up with:

"Whipped by men who drive Vespas. How humiliating is that...?"

The entire US team has some serious making up to do to earn their gold stars...After they're done in the corner and take off the dunce caps.

UPDATE: Ok. That's a little better...

Cross posted to our new evolving digs at CaribPundit 2

U.S.: The change from the dollar...

Is still making noise.

So, here's the deal. Check us out on here at http://carib.us.

The change over's gotta be fine tuned and stuff like that, but we're finally on our own domain, and we've shortened it so there'll be less typing to do.

Talking 'bout Carib ... that's us at CaribPundit.

Later!

USVI: Hurricane season heats up

Well Alex is now category two and 30 or so hours to the east of Barbados we have TS 2:

WTNT42 KNHC 031510
TCDAT2
TROPICAL DEPRESSION TWO DISCUSSION NUMBER 1
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
11 AM EDT TUE AUG 03 2004

SATELLITE IMAGES SUGGEST THAT THE TROPICAL WAVE IN THE TROPICAL
ATLANTIC APPROACHING THE LESSER ANTILLES HAS BECOME A LITTLE BETTER
ORGANIZED AND IT IS BEING CLASSIFIED AS A TROPICAL DEPRESSION. IT
IS DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN IF THE SYSTEM...AN ESPECIALLY FAST MOVING
ONE...HAS A CLOSED CIRCULATION WITHOUT DATA FROM A RECONNAISSANCE
PLANE. YOU COULD MAKE THE CASE THAT A SMALL CIRCULATION EXISTS
USING QUICKSAT AMBIGUITY ANALYSIS. THE DEPRESSION HAS ENOUGH DEEP
CONVECTION...BANDING FEATURES AND GOOD OUTFLOW AND THE SHEAR IS
EXPECTED TO REMAIN ON THE WEAK SIDE. THEREFORE...A GRADUAL
STRENGTHENING IS INDICATED. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH BOTH SHIPS AND
GFDL MODELS.

THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING WESTWARD OR 280 DEGREES AT 18 KNOTS...
STEERED BY THE WINDS SOUTH OF THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE. HOWEVER...
LARGE SCALE MODELS FORECAST A LARGE TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN COAST
OF THE UNITED STATES. THIS TROUGH WILL ERODE THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE
FORCING THE CYCLONE TO TURN MORE TO NORTHWEST AND NORTH DURING THE
LAST PORTION OF THE FORECAST.

PRELIMINARY COORDINATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE WITH THE METEOROLOGISTS
FROM THE LESSER ANTILLES TO ISSUE WATCHES AND WARNINGS LATER TODAY IF NECESSARY
.

I guess it's nearly time for a Hurricane related link dump.

Gda: Carnival in Gouyave coming up

See and be there!

Gya: U.S. funding regional anti-terror fight

GUYANA and other members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are in line for support from the United States for the regional anti-terrorism fight, the Organisation of American States (OAS) announced yesterday.

A press release from the organisation in Washington said the U.S. Government will contribute US$945,000 to the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE) to help fund training of customs and border officials, an aviation security training programme, and assessments to enhance border management capacity.

CICTE coordinates anti-terrorism efforts and strategies among OAS member countries.

The U.S. donation will provide support for three programmes, according to the organisation.

Gya: The government is to blame

So says George Bacchus's sister.

George Bacchus's family still blames the government for his death, which they think was orchestrated to stop an investigation of his claims of the existence of a death squad formed to kill fugitives.

Now, as an official investigation into alleged links between a government official and a death squad is set to begin, a relative has spoken out about the self-confessed informant, whose death she says was avoidable. Bacchus had credited the death squad with close to 40 murders over the last two years many of them well planned and still unsolved.

He also implicated Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj claiming that the official sanctioned a number of killings carried out by the group. The minister has maintained his innocence and has proceeded on leave to facilitate the investigation by a Presidential Commission of Inquiry.

Gya: Lara in the dog house again

Read it here.

St. Lca: Call it conchs and make conchs roti

Residents of Trouya and Bois Orange have joined forces with the Ministry of Agriculture to address the issue of the growing population of Giant African Snails in the community.

According to scientists the Giant African Snail is one of the most damaging land snails in the world. It is known to eat at least 500 different types of plants and each snail contains both female and male reproductive organs.

After a single mating session, each snail can produce 100 to 400 eggs. According to Emma Hippolyte a resident of Trouya the community will come together to design a plan of action against the snails.

The Ministry of Agriculture according to Hippolyte has provided hand outs and other material which will be used to educate residents on the effects the snail can have on the community. According to the Hippolyte residents will devise a way of collecting and disposing of the snails

Giant African Snails are also known to carry organisms, which can cause serious diseases in humans. These organisms can be transferred by ingesting improperly cooked snail meat or by handling live snails and allowing their mucous to contact human mucous membranes such a those in the eyes, nose and mouth.

It's got both female and male reproductive organs? Can somebody repeat Cheney's commet to Leahy?

Okay, so you need a hooked stick and a pot of boiling water nearby to dump the snail into it. I mean, it's food on the slow glide. If sushi can be a big deal thought it can be potentially deadly, so can a meal of this GAS.

Ja: John Maxwell choking on his own anti-US bile

I thought age brought reason. Guess not.

Ja: Wayne Brown talking thing he don' know 'bout

Read it here. It's the timing of things, doncherknow?

Brown is a good parrot for the liberal media. I'd expected better of him.

Ja: No to affirmative action, er, preferential trading

BARBADOS' agriculture and rural development minister Erskine Griffith has criticised preferential trading arrangements, saying they hamper the development of regional agriculture by creating a false sense of comfort among our producers and discouraging the development of value-added or niche products.

Speaking on Sunday at the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show in Clarendon, Griffith said that the preferential trading agreements which were now being phased out had left the region's agriculture ill-equipped and unprepared to compete within the competitive trading environment of an emerging globalisation.

Citing the example of sugar, Griffith noted that the United Kingdom, for example, bought raw sugar from the Caribbean, processed it into refined sugar and then re-exported it to the region.

"Although regional producers would have benefited from stable prices under these preferential arrangements, such arrangements generally did not facilitate the development of value-added products or the use of newer technologies and methods, but shielded the agricultural sectors from regional and international competition.

Ja: Sweet protest

Trade unions which represent sugar industry employees plan to stage peaceful demonstrations outside the European Union delegation offices this week to help press Jamaica's case for more time to adjust to Europe's planned sharp reduction in the price it pays Caribbean countries for sugar.

The unions - the National Workers Union (NWU), the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) - also intend to take their protests to the embassies of EU members in Jamaica - France, Germany and Britain, officials said.

"We believe we should lend our support to government," said Vincent Morrison, the island supervisor of the NWU, one of the unions coordinating the protest. "We want to translate that support in some practical way."

Jamaica's sugar industry employs an estimated 40,000 people directly and tens of thousands more people in rural communities depend on the industry. Officials fear that a precipitate reduction in sugar prices could cause turmoil in these communities.

Bhms: Hear them roar

As female police officers make plans to celebrate a milestone in the organisation a 38-year veteran envisions a limitless future for women.

"There is no stopping us now because if I am at this rank we can go to even Commissioner of Police," said Chief Superintendent Juanita Colebrooke in an interview on Friday.

She said the 40th anniversary of female officers on Nov. 23 will be marked with preceding events such as a church service, exhibition and a one day seminar to name a few of the events.

Chief Supt Colebrooke who is presently the highest-ranking female on the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the main problem faced in the early years was the lack of respect given to women police.

She said, as the organisation is male dominated, male counterparts as well as members of the public did not readily receive female officers in the early years.

"The difficulties were that female officers had to go on the street and never received respect," she said, "but we have grown in leaps and bounds."

However, she said many positive changes occurred in the organisation to engender a favourable atmosphere for women.

Pnma: Mano dura only for the unprivileged

Mireya Moscoso has sounded the alarm about crime as her political swan song.

For the last three weeks or so, large groups of police officers, many of them wearing ski masks, have been swarming over the lowest-income urban neighborhoods, places where foreigners congregate and bars and brothels where prostitutes ply their trade, arresting dozens of people every night. There have also been frequent road stops on the Pan-American Highway, both to check drivers' licenses and to look for fugitives.

A few of the hundreds of people detained in the dragnet were the subjects of outstanding arrest warrants for serious crimes. Mostly, however, those caught in the net have been foreign prostitutes who have overstayed their visas, other undocumented immigrants found working here illegally, members of teenage street gangs, small-time drug dealers, homeless people who were living on the streets, individuals found inebriated in public, those caught holding illegal weapons or drugs and people who talked back disrespectfully to the police.

Meanwhile, the president says she'll call yet another special legislative session to take up tough anti-crime measures, the centerpiece of which is a proposal to increase the maximum penalty for juvenile offenders who commit murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping or drug offenses to 20 years in prison.

(Kids with the proper family connections who run over little boys in daddy's BMW, dragging them 200 feet to their deaths and then fleeing the scene will, however, apparently retain their full immunity during what remains of the Mireyista regime.)

Mireya also proposes to increase the maximum penalty for adults who commit murder from 20 years in prison to life imprisonment, but it is unclear whether that, too, will be on a special session agenda.

St. Maart: Labor woes at airport project

PHILIPSBURG--United Front, a consolidation of several heavy equipment operators, and union UFA have written a letter to Prime Minister Etienne Ys concerning the violation of labour laws and the airport expansion project.

Vzla: Win by any means necessary

Only two weeks away from the recall referendum Venezuelan officials surprised everyone again. In clear violation to constitutional precepts Foreign Secretary Jesus Perez stressed upon the necessity of demanding proof of residence to those electors voting abroad. CNE’s Carrasquero, Rodriguez and Battaglini were of course customarily accommodative despite the illegal character of the measure. Article 7 of the new norms establishes that Venezuelans abroad will need to present proof of residence according to the regulations of the country in which they are residing. Not content with that they also declared recently that all of those citizens who register to vote abroad recently and that for some reason do not appear in the final database approved and announced yesterday will not be included and therefore their right to vote has, effectively, being forfeited.

However Venezuelan diplomats, who for one reason or the other did not have the time to register or whose registration did not reach the CNE on time to be included in the roll, were sent a memo assuring them that indeed they will be able to vote regardless of their appearance in the roll or not.

USVI: Will trade food for vote

August 1, 2004 - St. Croix native Edward Browne will begin a protest he hopes will bring renewed attention to Virgin Islanders and other U.S. citizens living in unincorporated territories who don't have the right to vote for president of the United States. In a letter to the Source on Sunday, Browne, 29, said he would go on a hunger strike beginning Monday in hopes of making a difference.

"People may find this extreme," said Browne, "but sometimes you have to believe in something greater than yourself."

Browne contends, if we are citizens of the United States and are able to serve in the armed forces, we should have all the rights and privileges entitled to all citizens. "The constitution gives us these rights," said Browne, citing the 14th, 15th and 19th amendments. "These amendments govern the rights of citizens and state, "'no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,'" Browne quoted.

Sounds as though the USVI need to become the 51st state.

TT: Fish in a bowl

[Victor] Alexander, of La Lune Village, Moruga, was 56 years old and the father of seven. He was the second fisherman to be killed by pirates this year in the sea off Venezuela's Orinoco Delta region.

In March, Cedros fisherman Rupert Bissoon, 55, drowned after pirates ordered him to jump off his boat.

President of the La Ruffin/Moruga Fishing Cooperative, Peter Glodan, wants fishermen to arm themselves in the absence of protection by "non existent" Coast Guard patrols.

"Bandits know Trinidad fishermen are like sitting ducks without a good piece of stick to defend themselves," said Glodan.

One of the things fisherfolk in TT can do is learn to swim. It's amazing how many of them can't. The next time a pirate orders a fisherman to walk the plank (which Alexander resisted doing because he couldn't swim), at least he might have a chance of surviving if he can swim or has a life-vest.

TT: Work to rule quacks doing patients a favor

THE situation at San Fernando General Hospital is a sad illustration of two recurrent problems facing the public health sector.

In the face of long lines at the Accident and Emergency Department, doctors are denying that they are working to rule. The fact is, however, that they have been threatening to “forego,” as they euphemistically put it, working overtime or being on call.

This is because no negotiations with the joint negotiating team have taken place in the past month over the salaries of senior doctors, registrars and consultants. Junior doctors’ negotiations, however, have been concluded, and the result is that junior doctors are being paid more than registrars and only a fraction less than consultants.

Apparently, this is an unbearable affront to the senior doctors’ dignity. Head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit Dr Jehan Ali was reported yesterday as saying, “Foregoing our duties will cause chaos in the health system. We know that, but the Minister of Health should try to resolve the situation, because nowhere in the world are subordinates paid more than their seniors.”

Maybe so, but the senior doctors must be perfectly well aware that this is merely a temporary anomaly and not a permanent situation, and that when negotiations are concluded they will once again be paid more than their juniors, and will also no doubt receive backpay.

I don't see what the big deal is. Doctors in TT forgo their duty all the time. In fact, sometimes the best thing some of them can do for patients is forego their duty; that way, at least, they don't do any harm.

This is not to say that all doctors in TT are quacks. Oh no. Rather, it is to acknowledge that good doctors are like gold in the hospitals, and people are taking their lives in their hands seeing the quacks. All of this makes me wonder how many lives were actually saved by this work to rule. Bet it's a lot.

TT: Whe' we go' go if they send we back?

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO is not an African State, said Erica Williams-Connell, daughter of this country’s first Prime Minister, the late Dr Eric Williams. “The Trinidad and Tobago society is living a lie and heading for trouble if it seeks to create the impression, or to allow others to act under the delusion, that the country is an African society.” Speaking at the fourth annual Emancipation dinner hosted by National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP) at the Ballroom of the Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre in St Ann’s, on Saturday night, Williams-Connell declared this country as a multi-racial society.

Borrowing those famous words spoken by her father on the eve of our nation’s Independence in 1962, Williams-Connell said: “there can be no mother Africa, there can be no mother India.”

This is the beauty of TT; it's racial diversity which can, if only people would let it, produce a beautiful society.

Playing the race and ethnic superiority card will yield for us the ethnic strife that plagues both Africa and India. TT is too small for that kind of tension and disharmony. For TT folk, there really ought be no Mother Africa or Mother India because, we were either sold or left in the bondage of indenture. The mother whose child we were was inhospitable and regarded us as ugly step children.

Though we ought not forget India and Africa, we must not let those countries affect how we live with each other in our new home. The problems that plague Africa and India must not be allowed to repeat in TT. Let us be no hyphenated anything, Just Trinis.

U.S.: Fed Ex must hire lackwits

I swear!

I've been waiting patiently for my airline ticket to arrive, and it should have since last Friday. The day came and went, no ticket. Nothing on the weekend either. No attempted delivery notice, zippo, zilch, nada. Nothing yesterday either.

So, I get online today and write Orbitz. What's the deal? Where's the ticket? According to the retards at Fed Ex, somebody requested a future delivery. Somebody tried to deliver Friday at 2:30 and today before 4:30.

I live in a private house which contains four apartments. The entire ground floor is taken up by a magazine that regularly uses Fed Ex, UPS, USPS and all that. Yet, the lackwit Fed Exer didn't deliver the ticket there. If he had, my name is well known to them cuz I do some editing for them.

So, either the Fed Exer lied like a rug when he said he made two delivery attempts -- I mean, I'm always home. It's not as if I'm employed some place -- or he is plain and simply lack-witted and incapable of doing the most basic aspect of his job ... deliver a package or leave a notice for the client.

Nope, I'm not mad. Ignore the steam coming out of my ears.

US: Safeguarding Secure Information - the Sandy Berger method.

Chapomatic has a great Military training Quicktime video highlighting the Sandy Burglar method of securing sensitive code word level information.

Check it out, it's well worth the 8 meg download.
;^)

US: The Election as market projection.

Samizdatista Robert Clayton Dean has forwarded a prediction based on an analysis that makes a great deal of sense to me.

To whit:

The Dems and their allies in the press have thrown everything they have at W, beginning in the 2000 election, through the Florida recount, and right up to the present day. They have nothing new left to attack him with, I am quite confident. The persistently partisan and anti-Bush media has managed to inure the public to bad

"Kerry is notable for not exciting the Democratic base"

news from Iraq or elsewhere. The Bush campaign has not really activated yet, on the theory that nothing they do before Labor Day will really matter. In short, Bush has tested the bottom of his market for approval and votes, and it is somewhere in the mid to high 40 percent range.

By contrast, Kerry and Edwards are still pretty unknown to non-political-junkie Americans, and the Republican attack machine has (wisely, from a tactical point of view) held its fire on these two. They have enjoyed months of positive coverage and a showcase convention. However, their support even among Democrats is not particularly strong - Edwards never won a primary, and Kerry is notable for not exciting the Democratic base. The Democrats, in short, have tested the top of their market for votes, and it is somewhere in the high 40 percent range.

With the race statistically tied, Bush has nowhere to go but up, and Kerry has nowhere to go but down.

Yup...It appears that the Democrat machine has shot a great deal of their collective political wad in attacking Bush to little effect whilst calling for a unity that doesn't exist. Meanwhile the RNC has yet to even begin to sweet talk the electorate or to inform the American people on the 20 year record of obstructionist liberal mediocrity that Kerry 'forgot' to mention in his rather conventional choir-preaching acceptance speech.

Additional proof in the 'no-bounce' Convention pudding can be seen in how naturally the Fleet Center formality culminated in a single routine Kerry campaign photo-op at Wendy's degenerating into the triple embarrassment of a US Marine rebuffing Kerry, Tey-rey-suh wondering what a cup of Chili was, and the revelation that the cute Breck girl anniversary legend was not so special that they'd pass up campaign funded "five-star lunches" from the local yacht club.

Kerry seems to be a Weapon of Massachutan campaign Destruction...

Link ho' h/t's to Wizbang - Baldilocks - Samizdata

Vzla: Union Threatens Strike Over Recall

Hugo has some allies.

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's Sutiss union, which represents workers at the country's largest steel company, said it will call for a nationwide strike if President Hugo Chavez loses an Aug. 15 recall vote, Globovision television reported.

``Not one drop of oil, gasoline or lubricants will go to the U.S.,'

Sutiss President Ramon Machuca, who is also running for the governorship of the southeastern state of Bolivar, said the strike would be in support of democracy, and be industrywide. ``Not one drop of oil, gasoline or lubricants will go to the U.S.,'' Machuca said, Globovision reported.

The only way that Chavez can lose the recall is by fraud, he said. Machuca has repeatedly led strikes that have led to frequent shutdowns of Siderurgica del Orinoco, the country's largest steelmaker.

Polls show a close race as Chavez, 50, attempts to stay in power two years after being removed in an unsuccessful military coup.

Food for though or idle threat?

Vzla: Do not pass go, do not collect $200!

Henrique Capriles Radonski, mayor of the wealthy Caracas municipality of Baruta, Venezuela, stands accused of instigating a riot at the Cuban Embassy there during a coup attempt against President Hugo Chávez in 2002.

Chavez opponents say the continued confinement of the well known politician proves that the leftist-populist president abuses the legal system for political ends, and that he plans to impose a Cuba-style authoritarian regime,...

Read the rest.

U.S.; Blog matters

The big issue with setting up the blog at its own domain and publishing it from a server other than Blogger is simply this: will I be able to post to CaribPundit from China, in light of China's embargo on blogspot, even as RTFM and Eleanor have unfettered access, too?

That's the big problem that's giving the greatest headache right now.

So far, here's what's up. CaribPundit has a new domain name; however, neither Blogger, RTFM, nor Eleanor can access the server at which the domain name points because of the way it's set up. So, either a work around, or a new server.

Once that issue is addressed, then there is this that yet remains: I use Brad Rhine's program, Frequency, to post to the blog. Whether CaribPundit is published from blogspot or from another server, it will still be powered by Blogger. That most likely means that, even using Frequency, I won't be able to connect to Blogger to post.

Brad Rhine has a new piece of blogging software called Tangelo; however, that is for a one person blog.

If anybody has any suggestions, I'd be really happy to hear them.

Anyway, that's what I'm busting my chops on in between bouts of packing and reading so I don't get stressed out.

So, bear with us while we're in this transitionary period.

U.S.: Our own domain

Okay, you can now find CaribPundit at its own domain: http://www.carib.us or http://carib.us.

We're still available at the Blogger address; however, that will change in the near future. So, please change your bookmarks to reflect our new address.

Now, to get the really difficult part done ... fixing things so I can post to and see the blog over the coming year.

U.S.: The Commander-in-Chief Test

Take the quiz and see how you do.

Rush Limbaugh delivered the test during a segment of his Open Line Friday show. In taking the test, consider that we are in a post-9/11 world; think, therefore, of the character of the two men who are running for president.

"The Commander-in-Chief Test lets you be the history maker," Limbaugh began.

"First question: You're George Washington in 1776. You've lost every battle. The Revolution seems a bust. Your spies tell you that the British officers are wintering in Trenton. You think that means that the Germans are going to get falling-down drunk on Christmas Eve and sleep it off the next morning. However, they are the world's best soldiers and they'll beat you if they're awake, sober or not. Also, the Delaware River is full of ice and your guys have no food or shoes. Many New Jerseyites are Tories who might rat you out. Do you roll the dice to change the course of the war, figuring the Germans don't like fighting on Christmas, or do you wait for springtime rather than risk what little is left of the Continental Army?

"I just want to stress," the top talker interjected, "the answer to none of these [questions] is 'Call the United Nations.'

"Second Question: If you're Abe Lincoln in 1863, General Lee has crossed into the North, but no one knows where he's going. The Union Army has been beaten in most every battle so far, and if you lose on your own ground, the Union is likely lost to the South. Do you keep the Army away from Lee until he gets tired and heads back South, or do you send General Meade out looking for Lee even if they find that rascal in some crossroads town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg?

"What do you do? What would Senator Kerry have done? "Third Question: You are the duty officer in Honolulu, December 7, 1941. Two soldiers manning the newly invented radar call to report a lot of blips on the screen. Headquarters had already advised you to expect a flight of American bombers from California that morning. So, do you sound the alarm to the fleet? Do you scramble the fighter planes and hope Rear Admiral Kimmel and General Short don't yell at you if you're wrong, or [do you] tell the radar guys their shift is ending anyway and not to worry about it?

"If you're John Kerry manning the radar, what do you do?

"Fourth Question: You are Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939. You've received a letter from the famous quirky physicist Albert Einstein recommending building an atomic bomb in order to beat the Nazis to the punch. Not really knowing what an atomic bomb is and not yet at war, do you ask Congress to study the matter and ask your intelligence operation to confirm if the Nazis are building one of these weapons themselves, or do you order secret development with money skimmed from other projects and hidden through phony congressional appropriations? Do you do the Manhattan Project?

"What do you do if you are John Kerry? Remember now, you can't call the U.N. At this point, it's the defunct League of Nations anyway.

"Fifth Question: You are Admiral Nimitz in 1942. Navy intelligence intercepted coded messages they reveal shows Japanese plans to steal the American island of Midway, but they also tell you Japanese could be planning attacks elsewhere. You know that banking on Midway would leave the door open elsewhere. Do you risk your aircraft carriers that escaped the Pearl Harbor attack, perhaps leaving no U.S. Fleet in the Pacific, or do you try catching the Imperial Fleet with the kimono open and reverse the course of the war at Midway?

"What do you do if you're John Kerry? Remember now, you can't call the United Nations. You can't call the French.

"Sixth Question: You are Dwight Eisenhower in June of 1944. Your weatherman tells you he sees a break in the bad weather and a narrow window for your landing forces to get on the beaches of Normandy. You hope, but you can't confirm, that allied disinformation has convinced Hitler the real invasion will be north. Do you risk a quarter million troops and the possibility of a stalemate in Europe, or do you say, 'Let's go,' rather than wait another month or two for D Day? (Remember, you can't call the United Nations.)

"What do you do if you're John Kerry? Remember, there's no turning back.

"Seventh Question: You're also Eisenhower in December 1944. Intelligence says the Germans are on the run. They're low on gasoline and ammo. The men deserve a break, and many officers want to leave for Christmas in Paris. How can the Germans possibly break through that dense forest? and knowing what we know from test question one, the Germans don't like to fight on Christmas. Do you ignore the intelligence and figure that Hitler will try to catch you with your pants down and inflict on the American Army its worst-ever disaster?

"What do you do faced with the Battle of the Bulge if you are John Kerry? "Eighth Question: You are Harry Truman in August of 1945. FDR's atomic bomb recommended by Einstein is tested successfully, and you have two more of bombs ready to use. The scientists who build the bomb are opposing its use. Intelligence reports suggest the Japanese are starving and on their last legs ready to talk turkey. American bombers are already turning many Japanese cities into cinders. Do you secretly advise the Japanese they can surrender now before you drop the bomb, or do you drop the bomb and ask questions later?

"What do you do if you're John Kerry?"

Limbaugh cited several other examples where presidents took critical risks that saved both America and the world, before delivering the coup de grace:

"You are President Bush in early 2003, just months after September 11 and anthrax. The Clinton administration had indicted Osama bin Laden, citing ties to Saddam Hussein, and had bombed a suspected bioweapons plant in Sudan with ties to Iraq. ...

"Intelligence suggests that terrorists met with others in Prague. U.N. weapons inspectors are being frustrated in Iraq. British intelligence says Saddam was trying to buy uranium in Africa. Saddam invaded Kuwait a decade before. He had used chemical weapons on his own people. One of the perpetrators of the first World Trade Center bombing had taken refuge in Baghdad. Families of Palestinian suicide bombers were paid by Iraq. The CIA director – originally appointed by Clinton – tells you it's a "slam dunk" that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction.

"The French are opposed to war with Iraq, saying their intelligence service believes Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction. Russian President Putin, [also] opposed to war with Iraq, tells you Russian intelligence believes Iraq has plans for terror assaults in the U.S. Most of the CIA contacts in Iraq are murdered.

"Do you wait to get more spies in the country to confirm the other intelligence, or do you go to Congress for a resolution supporting the use of force and then use the force?

"What would you do if you are John Kerry?" [End of Excerpt]

U.S.: A whole FOUR points!!!

MSNBC is calling it a 'baby bounce.'

H'tip to Drudgereport.

To make his day a really great one, he received a resounding rallying Bronx cheer from a group of Marines in upstate New York. Do I love NY? Yes, I do!

John Kerry's heavily hyped cross-country bus tour stumbled out of the blocks yesterday, as a group of Marines publicly dissed the Vietnam War hero in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

Kerry was treating running mate Sen. John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, to a Wendy's lunch in Newburgh, N.Y., for their 27th wedding anniversary — an Edwards family tradition — when the candidate approached four Marines and asked them questions.

The Marines — two in uniform and two off-duty — were polite but curt while chatting with Kerry, answering most of his questions with a "yes, sir" or "no, sir."

But they turned downright nasty after the Massachusetts senator thanked them "for their service" and left.

"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one Marine said, adding, "I'm 100 percent against [him]."

A sergeant with 10 years of service under his belt said, "I speak for all of us. We think that we are doing the right thing in Iraq," before saying he is to be deployed there in a few weeks and is "eager" to go and serve.

The Marines — all of whom serve at nearby Stewart Air Force Base — wouldn't give their names.

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but....