U.S.: From the front page of Al Muhajiroun

How the Islamists envision the White House. Explore the page and discover this little treat in store for you.

"AQD UL AMAAN: THE COVENANT OF SECURITY
The Muslims living in the west are living under a covenant of security, it is not allowed for them to fight anyone with whom they have a covenant of security, abiding by the covenant of security is an important obligation upon all Muslims. However for those Muslims living abroad, they are not under any covenant with the kuffar in the west, so it is acceptable for them to attack the non-muslims in the west whether in retaliation for constant bombing and murder taking place all over the Muslim world at the hands of the non-muslims, or if it an offensive attack in order to release the Muslims from the captivity of the kuffar. For them, attacks such as the September 11th Hijackings is a viable option in Jihad, even though for the Muslims living in America who are under covenant, it is not allowed to do operations similar to those done by the magnificent 19 on the 9/11. This article speaks about the covenant and what the scholars have said regarding Al Aqd Al Amaan - the covenant of security."

Go check out both sites to discover the glories that await the conquered.

Thanks be to Allah for the link.

U.S.: Bush to terror masters, "Dismantle the nukes or else."

Dag, I love this cowboy!

NewsMax has learned from a senior State Dept. official that President Bush has, Alamo-style, drawn a line in the sand with Iran and its nuclear weapons programs.

Bush warning: either they dismantle their nuclear weapons program or else.

Read the rest of the story yourself.

U.S.: Al Qaeda's lays out the terms for Spain's surrender

Fox News has just reported on an Al Qaeda tape which claims that the bombing was retaliation for Spain's support of the U.S. in the war on terror.

If the report of the Al Qaeda tape affects the outcome of Spain's election tomorrow, the voters will be signalling to Islamofascists that Spaniards are pacifistic cowards who can be manipulated with a few well placed bombs. Such a blatant act of submission will not cause the terrorists to leave Spain alone. Instead, it will pave the way for the second step, the further bombing of Spain to bring it under Islam.

A declaration of war cannot be met with pleas for peace. Peace can only be declared when victory is won and the enemy knows, accepts, and declares that he has been defeated. When those who are attacked cry "peace," they signal their unwillingness to fight and, thus, their weakness.

Today, millions of Spaniards sent a loud and clear signal to the Islamofascists that Spain is unwilling to fight. In response, Al Qaeda, which is the tip of the Islamic sword against the West, demanded a further sign of submission — the elections must not go to Jose Maria Aznar's party.

Tomorrow will teach us if Spain will turn its grief into strongest armor against which the Islamic sword will break, or whether Spain will surrender and so let loose the Islamofascist dogs to wreak havoc on the rest of Europe.

In this war there is no neutral ground. That is something the Europeans seem unwilling to learn. The Islamofascists recognize no boundaries, no rights of national sovereignty, no rights of the attacked to defend themselves. All they recognize is their own sense of the rightness of their cause; their own ideology-driven right to impose Islam on the rest of the world and so return it to 7th century barbarism.

For those of us who do not wish to live under a barbarous and alien ideology, there can be no surrender, no other path but war. They started it; we will end it.

U.S.: Surrender cannot be an option

Let's hope that all those peace and Aznar's to blame signs, that I've just seen on Fox News, belong only to a minority. If it is not, then Spain has surrendered and will certify that surrender at the polls tomorrow.

The Dutch have already folded without a bomb being exploded on their soil. It seems that the Dutch desire dhimmitude more than freedom.

The war against Islamic terrorism is not for the faint of heart. The Islamists are seeking to impose their vile ideology on the entire world, and they will do so via the modern version of the Islamic sword, which is bombs and terror. Whether or not a nation joins the war against terror will not insulate it against attack by Islamists. These nations who will not fight are only buying for themselves a brief delay in their murders. For, surely, the day will come when citizens of Europe, whose people include the Netherlands and Spain, if its people fold now, will be forced to make a choice under the threat of a bomb in the hand of some Islamist nut. That choice will be the same as Islamists historically have confronted nations with: convert, accept dhimmitude and pay jizyah, or die.

What Spain does at the polls tomorrow determines whether its citizens will ever be presented with that choice.

Breaking news. Via Instapundit, Spain announces five arrests which includes three Moroccans and two Indians.

Hti: Marines taking care of business

U.S. Marines said on Saturday they killed two more gunmen after coming under fire in Haiti, bringing to six the number of people killed by U.S. forces struggling to restore order in the Caribbean nation after a revolt ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Marine Staff Sgt. Tim Edwards said Marines patrolling on foot and in armored vehicles near the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince were fired upon by several gunmen Friday night.

"The Marines returned fire and two gunmen were killed. There were no Marine casualties," Edwards said.

Read the rest for yourself.

Hti: Duped, not kidnapped

PM Patterson, Caricom, are you guys listening?

As Jean-Bertrand Aristide prepared to depart this destitute African capital for exile in Jamaica on Sunday, he charged in an interview that the United States had effectively duped him into leaving Haiti and his presidency on his final night in office last month.

The accusation of deception added a new layer to his longstanding complaint, lodged on his arrival here 13 days ago, that he had been the victim of an American-led "political kidnapping."

But it did little to clear up the question of whether Mr. Aristide willingly fled Haiti that morning, as the United States insists, or whether he was forced into exile against his will, as he implied.

Michael Wines, the author of the piece, is wrong that this statement of Aristide does not clear up whether he left willinglly or was kidnapped. If someone tells you something — truth or lie — and you act on it, you cannot blame your action on the party who told you the thing. After all, you have choice. Aristide could have chosen to stay when the U.S. spoke with him; he did not. The issue now is whether the U.S. lied to Aristide when they told him that they'd not protect him and his paid bodyguards. If Aristide left because he would be without protection, then he wasn't even duped. He was told the truth and made the best choice based on the truth he was given. If Aristide was lied to (duped) and decided to leave based on the lie, then he is still responsible for the choice he made because lying to or duping a person is not synonymous with kidnapping him. Either way, Caricom should withdraw its absurd U.N. request for an inquiry.

Aristide, Randall Robinson, the CBC have suckered you guys in the Caribbean who are dazzled by the blackness of these politicians. When a man's own friends leave him because they can't trust him, that should send a clear signal that he's radioactive. Aristide himself has begun to unravel his own kidnap lie. What's the next stage? Only Aristide knows.

I'm holding to my theory that Bangui asked Aristide to find someplace else to go because they were tired of his anti-U.S. lies. Jamaica, it's your turn. Here's hoping you can live with it.

Spain: Never surrender, never give up!

Spain is angry, too. That's a good thing.

More than 8,000,000 people marched in protest against terrorism in Spain.

Pictures compliments of Power Line and Tim Blair.

Go check out either blog for more images.

Ja: Aristide's security chief arrested in Canada

Canadian authorities have arrested Oriel Jean, the security chief to ousted Haitian leader Jean Bertrand Aristide, after he flew in from the Dominican Republic, an immigration official said yesterday.
...
The Sun said that Jean was in a holding cell after being detained while travelling with his wife, carrying 17,000 dollars in cash and a cheque for about 300,000 dollars.

Since when did Canada begin interdicting war criminals? Amazing how a security chief of a seriously poor country has all this money, eh? I wonder if it was in a condition comparable to the stash found in Aristide's house?

Ja: Patterson's seeing the thing in broad daylight

So why does he want to wait to light candle in the night? Yet, that is precisely what PM Patterson is about. He knows that Aristide will cause problems, yet that will not cause Patterson to withdraw his invite to Aristide. Patterson seems to be depending on the goodwill that Aristide lacks. I suspect that the government of Bangui must have politely asked Aristide to leave because he would not shut up. Thus, because of his wild accusations of being kidnapped by the U.S. and his indifference to the political concerns of his host, he proved to be an embarrassment to Bangui.

Jamaica has warned ousted Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, that he won't be allowed to use Jamaica as a "launching pad" to regain power in his country.

But the government's decision to host Aristide for up to 10 weeks has raised concerns in Port-au-Prince and appeared yesterday to place in the balance a visit to Kingston by Haiti's interim prime minister, Gerard Latortue, to lobby for his government's recognition by the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
...
Aristide would be able to communicate freely, Knight said, "so long as this is not an attempt to use Jamaica as a launching pad for his desired reinstatement".
...
At the same time, Patterson signalled Jamaica's and Caricom's acceptance of the changed situation on the ground in Haiti, referring to Aristide as the former president, acknowledging that a new president had been sworn-in and that Latortue was a man who commanded respect.

Caricom's insistence on taking Aristide's absurd claims to the UN will prove to be their undoing because Aristide will milk them for all they're worth. However, there are signs that Caricom will jettison the unstable Aristide for Latortue, the new Haitian prime minister.

Bhms: The loss of the vision thing

"I believe that in the beginning, [Aristide] did have the interest of the Haitian people and he was certainly sincere, but he lost his vision, he became corrupted by the system and then he lost contact with the base," he said.

It's a good article. Read the rest of it.

Dca: Productive squatters

Marpin TV reported that farmers who are squatting on land in Woodford Hill and who have been issued with eviction notices, have produced 180 tons of bananas, bringing in around EC$600,000. It was reported that the land is a possible tourism development. Source: Marpin TV News

Does this mean that the farmers will now have squatters' rights?

PR: Brrrrrrrr!! The island's freezing!

Nine days short of the end of the winter season the National Weather Service’s San Juan Director, Israel Matos, said they have recorded temperatures as low as 44 degrees fahrenheit.

Who knew Puerto Rico got this cold?!

St. Kts: Shooting spree sparks call for PM's resignation

The Prime Minister must understand that he has an obligation to the nation to ensure that its citizens live in an environment that is safe and void of fear.  The Prime Minister is supposed to provide the strong leadership that is required in times of crisis situations.  Instead we have a Prime Minister who is totally unconcerned about the increasing crime and its effects on our society.  It is no surprise that the Prime Minister cannot remove the monster that he created in 1993.  Therefore, with no solution in sight from the labour government, the Prime Minister must resign.

Douglas and the labour party sowed the seeds of violence in 1993.  The murder of Billy Herbert and his friends, the assassination of Jude Mathew, the murder of Seiko Morris and his girlfriend, the burning of canfields and the mashing up of businesses in downtown Basseterre were all orchestrated by the labour party.  It is this same labour party that recognized the criminals at one of their party functions when they called them ‘freedom fighters’ and gave them a standing ovation for their criminal acts against a lawfully elected government. 

Gya: Had to be

A report into a remigrant concession scam has concluded that a ring of officials at the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs clearly colluded to defraud the government of revenue.

The report is said to recommend that criminal charges should be considered against one individual at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and three officials at Finance. All the applicants should also be charged for falsely declaring they were remigrants and importing about fifty vehicles without paying duty. They will also be required to pay all outstanding duties.

T&T: Must've been a Pepsi lover

Cocaine valued at $9 million yesterday washed ashore in Tobago, one day after 30 kilos estimated at $13 million of the illegal narcotic was seized on the island.

The Express understands that it was shortly after midday that 22.5 kilos of cocaine washed ashore on a beach located off Belmont Road, near Charlotteville.

One man is said to have made the find and immediately contacted the Charlotteville police.

Coke might be it, but this is ridiculous. 52.5 kilos in two days?! The upside is that some punk drug runner is diggin' the blues somewhere.

What do cops do with coke seizures of this volume?

T&T: Not the way to go

WHILE urinating in some bushes off the Solomon Hochoy Highway, a 61-year-old man was killed by a car which spun out of control after blowing a tyre.

The driver of the blue Chevy Monza, Gerard Pegus, also died on the spot after his car overturned several times.

Vzla: The journey to serfdom

The Constitutional Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court ordered the Electoral Chamber this afternoon NOT to make any ruling on matters related to the National Electoral Council, (CNE) and the recall referendum. The decision was made by three justices, which violated the court’s norms requiring at least four justices to make valid rulings.

It is the first time in Venezuela's judiciary history that a chamber prohibits another chamber from ruling on the matters that it oversees.

USVI: Some things just don't make sense at all

Things like this:

Opponents of the delegate's proposal to create a chief financial officer and financial management system for the territory have said that it would represent a return to colonialism. Such fears have generated a resolution of condemnation from the V.I. Legislature and a resolution of non-support from the Territorial Committee of the Democratic Party.

The writer of this piece takes the time to present and explore

... three reasons why creating a CFO and instituting a transparent financial management system does not represent a return to colonialism:

Go here for the reasons.

U.S.: In The Gayelle

Today, I was doing some of the job hunt dance. Job hunting is the vicious price you pay for withdrawing, even temporarily, from a grad program. Anyway, whilst I was making myself some soup, some of that Ramen noodle stuff, it popped into my head that I should set myself up in business via the web, of course, doing what I'm really good at.

So, my new working blog In The Gayelle was born. Please God let it succeed! I hope it does succeed, cuz it means I can enjoy work. Anyway, I've got some info on there about In The Gayelle, a very brief bio. Go take a look. If you need the service, gimme a hail. If not, well, pass the word on to someone who does.

Gya: Caricom's deadly games with Haitian lives

There were conflicting reports as to whether Aristide wanted to be temporarily in Trinidad and Tobago or in Jamaica, the latter country which, like The Bahamas, is often the choice of Haitian refugees fleeing their homeland with the US as their preferred ultimate destination.

But yesterday, as lawyers for Aristide in France and the USA were moving to mount legal challenges to the circumstances of his removal from office amid widespread violence and chaos, Prime Minister Patterson was ready for a public statement.
...
"Mr. Aristide has expressed a wish to return to the Caribbean with his wife and to be reunited with their two young children who are currently in the United States.

"At his (Aristide's) request", the statement added, "arrangements are being made for his travel and accommodation in Jamaica. He is expected to arrive here early next week.

"We have communicated our decision to our CARICOM colleagues and to the Governments who were originally involved in working together to seek a solution to the Haitian crisis".
...
Prime Minister Patterson, having communicated to CARICOM, and other involved governments, his administration's decision to "host" Aristide and his family for the requested period, said:

"I wish to emphasize that Mr. Aristide is not seeking asylum in Jamaica. His stay in Jamaica is not expected to be in excess of eight to ten weeks. He is engaged in finalizing arrangements for permanent residence outside of the region."
...
Aristide himself has, however, stated from Banqui, capital of the Central African Republic, that should he eventually move to South Africa, it would be "a stop on my way back to Haiti, where I rightly belong...I am still the lawful President of Haiti".

Prime Minister Patterson said that CARICOM remained "committed to the goal of restoring and nurturing democracy in its newest member state as well as to social and economic development of the people of Haiti".

There are four significant points. The first is that the possibility of Aristide's return to Haiti will stir more violence as his supporters agitate and kill. Naturally enough, the rebels and their supporters will retaliate. The result is that Haiti will once more descend into chaos, and Haitians will head out to sea in rickety boats. The U.S. will not take the refugees; so one can only hope that the Bahamas and Jamaica will have the resources so to do, especially in light of PM Patterson's irresponsible meddling.

The second point is Aristide's claim that he is not seeking asylum in Jamaica. If not Jamaica, then Haiti is Aristide's goal, and his intent to return is a contradiction of his soi-disant concern to halt bloodshed in Haiti. The rebels will not accept Aristide's return with equanimity, and the U.S. will not allow its Marines to be a buffer between Aristide and the rebels. Then, one must ask, from where will Aristide's support come? Are his supporters in Port-au-Prince so well armed as to stave off a rebel attack? Does the sale of 300K rounds of ammunition to some unknown party in the DR have anything to Aristide's determination to return to Haiti? Is Aristide's alleged Colombian drug and, by extension, terrorist connections in the Muslim Triangle (the nextus of Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina) the reason for his confidence that he will be able to return to Haiti without getting a rebel bullet in the head? It is possible that Aristide is just interested in martyrdom, which will have a drastically negative public relations impact for the U.S. which refuses to support him. This is an election year, and many factors, apart from campaigning by the candidates, may be in play. Will Aristide be willing to give up his life after running from Haiti like a girl? It is possible, pride and ego are wonderful things, and he may be seeking to cover his shame over having fled. Hence his claim that he was kidnapped at gunpoint; his declaration that his resignation was unofficial; his lawsuit filed against the U.S.; and his assertion that he will return to Haiti because he is "still the lawful President of Haiti."

The third point is the contradictory claims of PM Patterson's and of Aristide. Either Aristide is seeking permanent residence outside of the Caribbean or he is not. The issue of where Aristide will be is not a matter of both-and, unless Patterson's choice of "permanent" is significant. Which is to say, PM Patterson might be signaling that Aristide will be frequently enough in the Caribbean. If this is so, then Aristide's ongoing presence is enough to maintain turbulence and instability in Haiti, which is not good for Caricom. Instability in one island can spread to another only too quickly. The slave masters of an earlier age knew that, so the governments of this age had better learn it quick, fast, and in a hurry.

Finally, Patterson assertion that "CARICOM remained 'committed to the goal of restoring and nurturing democracy in its newest member state as well as to social and economic development of the people of Haiti'" is highly questionable and open to interpretation. Does Caricom mean that it will act to restore Aristide to power in Haiti? If Caricom does, then each country had better lay in a healthy supply of body bags because their soldiers will be going up against the Marines, the most feared and seasoned fighting force in the world. Caricom's principal objection to Aristide's demittal was that because the U.S. had pulled a coup in Haiti, the constitutional process and rule of law had been set aside and democracy harmed. Therefore, it must follow that Caricom's "goal of restoring and nurturing democracy" has to do with the re-installation of Aristide as president of Haiti.

Words mean things, and the heads of Caricom, clever men all, know this for Caribbean people are logophiles. They are very attuned to the subtleties and nuances of language because, historically, attentiveness to such was the difference between life and death. Therefore, it is particularly distressing not only to learn PM Patterson's welcome to Jamaica, but also of his commitment to the "goal of restoring ... democracy" especially when that goal may be interpreted to mean civil war in Haiti for the sake of Aristide. Blind adherence to constitutional process and to rule of law will only serve to create greater harm for Haiti. Aristide, quite frankly, is not worth the loss of one more Haitian life.

DR: Requiem for CAFTA

Federico Cuello, a professor at the PUCMM School of Economics of the PUCMM and the DR's former trade negotiator and ambassador before the World Trade Organization, writes today in El Caribe newspaper that a majority of legislators of two Central American countries will reject the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Likewise, he speculates that the US Congress has said it would be difficult to authorize in an electoral year. Furthermore, he points out that US negotiators said in Central America the deal would not go into effect before 2006. Cuello states that from now until then, the US should move ahead with the passage of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). "Thus, no advantage will have been obtained, and lots given up for having reached FTAA and having given it all in CAFTA," he concludes.

In his opinion, the deal would only serve to open regional markets to US exports. "The barriers that impede us from exporting are still there. The apparel manufacturers will still have to solely purchase US materials, losing out to China. The pharmaceutical companies will not be able to compete and will disappear. Farmers will be flooded by subsidized US products. Dominican suppliers will have to compete with Canada, Central America, US and Mexicans for any contract of more than US$58,500. Builders will have to compete for contracts more than US$6.7 million."

The rush to sign the agreement this week is strange, he reports, especially when he says it would have made more sense to wait for the negotiations surrounding the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, which is due to be ratified on approximately same timeline. Cuello explains that the DR had nothing to lose because the Caribbean Basin Initiative preferences continue to be in effect until 2008.

Cuba: Freedom is contagious

The parents of imprisoned dissident Librado Linares García, who traveled from Havana to see their son for the first time in six months, were denied permission to do so on the grounds he was rejecting re-education efforts.

The Movimiento Cuba Reflexión, of which Linares is the general secretary, said he was refusing to attend all prison activities, salute the guards, stand up during the daily head count or wear prison garb.

How dare he!

Cay: Cayman signs on to EU tax directive

Britain said on Tuesday it had tidied up loose ends with its overseas dependencies to leave the focus squarely on Switzerland to agree a new regime with the EU to clamp down on offshore tax fraud.

The Cayman Islands has now agreed to fall into line with the European Union's demands, a British diplomat said at a meeting of EU finance ministers.
...
"The focus is now entirely on Switzerland," the diplomat said. "The EU's pretty determined about this. It's up to the Swiss."
...
The new EU rules, aimed at closing down hideaways for savings out of reach of the taxman, were agreed last June. But they can only be implemented if an accord on similar rules is reached with third countries including Switzerland.

Bmda: Kerry-electioneering-watch

Presidential hopeful, Senator John Kerry, has resumed his Bermuda bashing in a speech from Chicago on Wednesday night.

The anti-Bermuda rhetoric has served the Democratic candidate well, gaining applause when he attacks companies that leave the US to avoid taxes and has said that Government money will not be allowed to go to these companies.
...
“We will create new incentives to help companies create and keep new jobs here at home,” said Kerry on Wednesday night. “If I’m President our government won’t provide a single reward for sending our jobs overseas, or exploiting the tax code to go to Bermuda to avoid paying taxes while sticking the American people with the bill.”

Kerry has been loudly denouncing US companies moving offshore to save on their taxes calling them “Benedict Arnold” firms – after the notorious American traitor.

But he appeared to have softened his Bermuda-bashing stance after his overwhelming victory on “Super Tuesday”, according to Bermuda International Business Association last week.

Whatever Deborah Middleton of BIBA was smoking, it must have been high-grade stuff because here's another excerpt from the report.

He dropped any mention of Bermuda from his victory speech on Tuesday night – the first time he had not had a go at Bermuda in weeks.

But he was back again on Wednesday night after taking a short holiday from Bermuda-bashing.

The most recent speech containing anti-Bermuda rhetoric was two weeks ago in Toledo, Ohio. He said: “Right after September 11th, a major accounting firm put on a seminar to show how companies could move their official address to Bermuda and avoid paying taxes here at home.
...
“But if I’m President our government won’t provide a single reward for shipping our jobs overseas, or exploiting the

I guess since Bermuda is not France, Kerry doesn't care if he alienates this particular ally.

Bmda: The friend of my enemy is my enemy

United States Consul General Denis Coleman yesterday accused Government of fostering economic relations with Cuba and warned it could lead to a deterioration of relations between Bermuda and his country.

Mr. Coleman accused Government in a television interview of breaking a promise last year that its relations with Cuba would only cultural when it agreed to allow a regular charter flight to the Communist Caribbean island.

But Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler maintained last night that Government's dealings with Cuba were strictly cultural and there was nothing Government could do - short of an outright ban - that would stop individual citizens engaging in business with the Caribbean nation.

Bdos: Is a cricket war, yes, m' bredders

Devon Smith scored his maiden Test century and Ryan Hinds hit 84 but England edged it on the opening day of the first Test against West Indies.

Smith hit 108 as England reduced West Indies to 311-9 as bad light ended play early at Sabina Park in Jamaica.

Simon Jones picked up two wickets, his first since November 2002, dismissing Brian Lara and Ridley Jacobs. Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard, spinner Ashley Giles and Steve Harmison also took two wickets each.

The West Indies were seriously on the ropes after they slumped to 101-4 shortly after lunch but they recovered well. Smith and Hinds put on 122 for the fifth wicket before Giles finally got rid of Smith for 108 off 188 balls when the left-hander attempted a sweep shot and was stumped by wicket-keeper Chris Read.

Atg: The 'net as an election tool

Thousands of people overseas and in Antigua & Barbuda are making full use of Cable & Wireless' new and informative elections website.

Cable & Wireless officials report that interest is also coming from the candidates, the political parties and the electoral commission, who are readily providing updated information to keep the site current.

The site Antigua Elections was launched recently to act as a source of information for Antiguans & Barbudans and others who have an interest in the 2004 poll.

Atg: Adding insult to injury

A 16-year-old youth, DeShawn Carr of All Saints, was reportedly flogged by a corporal of police this week.

The alleged incident occurred on Wednesday at All Saints when the officer reportedly returned to his home and discovered a piggybank with an undetermined sum of money in coins missing.

According to sources close to the boy's family, the corporal took matters into his own hands and rounded up the youth and rained blows on him that caused bruises to his left hand and a suspected fracture.

Added to that, the officer fingerprinted the youngster.

Hti: Aristide's supporters attack Marines

U.S. Marines fought new gunbattles in Haiti as consternation spread on Friday in the poor, strife-torn nation over plans by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to the Caribbean.
...
The Marines, leading a 2,550-strong force of French, Canadian and Chilean troops, have fought at least a half dozen battles since they landed just under two weeks ago.

The gunmen are suspected of being Aristide supporters, enraged at the loss of Haiti's first democratically elected leader in what many of them fervently believe was a U.S. coup.

Also, this:

Hundreds of protesters marched Thursday through the downtown Belair neighborhood yelling, "Aristide has to come back! We don't want Bush as president!"

Shots were fired, some protesters pulled out pistols, police fired tear gas and a shootout between protesters and police ensued, witnesses said.

Two young men were killed and seven others were being treated for shotgun wounds, according to hospital officials.

In Port-au-Prince, opposition politician Paul Denis said Jamaica was making matters worse in Haiti. "If Aristide intends to come back to Haiti, we'll be glad to receive him so we can arrest him," he said.

The opposition wants Aristide to stand trial, accusing him of corruption and the killings of opponents by armed gangs.

Two points. One, the Marines are not the Army, and they don't make war or keep the peace the way the Army does. To give an idea about what Aristide's supporters are foolishly setting themselves up against, here's an excerpt from Return of the Marines by W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Despite less armor than other American ground forces, the Marines were among the first to fight their way into Baghdad. And when intelligence indicated that foreign troops were coming to the aid of Iraqi diehards, Marine Brig. Gen. John Kelly stated, "we want all Jihad fighters to come here. That way we can kill them all before they get bus tickets to New York City."
...
The reputation of Marines stems from a variety of factors: The Marine Corps is the smallest, most unique branch of the U.S. armed forces. Though it is organized as a separate armed service, it is officially a Naval infantry/combined-arms force overseen by the secretary of the Navy. The Corps' philosophical approach to training and combat differs from other branches. Marine boot camp — more of a rite-of-passage than a training program — is the longest and toughest recruit indoctrination program of any of the military services. Men and women train separately. All Marines from private to Commandant are considered to be first-and-foremost riflemen. And special-operations units in the Marines are not accorded the same respect as they are in other branches. The Marines view special operations as simply another realm of warfighting. Marines are Marines, and no individual Marine or Marine unit is considered more elite than the other.

Consequently, newly minted Marines believe themselves to be superior to other soldiers, spawning understandable resentment from other branches.
...
As late as 1997, Assistant Secretary of the Army Sara Lister took aim at the Marines. "I think the Army is much more connected to society than the Marines are." Lister said before an audience at Harvard University. "Marines are extremists. Wherever you have extremists, you've got some risks of total disconnection with society. And that's a little dangerous."

Of course, the Commandant of the Marine Corps demanded an apology. Lister was fired. And Marines secretly said among themselves, "Yes we are extremists. We are dangerous. That's why we win wars and are feared throughout the world."

Thus, it is significant that the fighting force sent to Haiti is the Marines.

The second point is that the Marines' presence may well signal the Bush Administration's utter determination to get Haiti quieted, disarmed, and on the road to stability. Therefore, any civil strife fomented by Aristide and his supporters will be put down for the sake of a changed Haiti. That's why it is folly for Caricom to even entertain Aristide or to give him a forum. If Caricom is interested in Haiti as a viable and contributing entity in regional partnership, then they ought to do what is best for Haiti and not help Aristide foment violence that they will not send their own troops to quell.

Let us help bind up the broken hearted and give comfort to Spain as she mourns

Send flowers and condolences to the Spanish Consulate in your region.

Thanks to Baldilocks, A Small Victory and Instapundit.

U.S.: The war to get GWB out of the White House

By restricting OPEC output since the end of hostilities in Iraq, the Saudis have forced oil prices up over the past several months. The American economic recovery is being slowly, almost imperceptibly, throttled. From a low of $23.61 per barrel in May, 2003, average crude oil prices have risen rather steadily, to $31.03 last month, up nearly one-third in eight months. If this rate of increase continues over the next eight months, the economic consequences for America will be grim.

Jobs are not being created at the expected rate, and increasing voter dissatisfaction with the President is shown in public opinion polling, with jobs and the economy heading the list of concerns. Additionally, the Saudis may have been reducing their holdings of petrodollars and converting them into non-dollar denominated assets. This has hurt the value of the dollar. Money flows are difficult to follow, and currency manipulation may have unintended consequences, but a proxy for the Saudi desire to hurt America may be seen in the increasing number of oil field contracts going to non-US companies.

The other factor which may hurt Bush's chances for reelection is the situation in Iraq. Terrorists have been streaming in from Saudi Arabia, to wreak havoc and fund terror groups, despite protestations to the contrary by Saudi spinmeisters. Although attacks have been trending downward, an increase over the next several months would trigger renewed cries of "quagmire!"

As I've said before, terrorists will come from the Muslim Triangle via Mexico below, Canada above, and Venezuela and Cuba (Haiti is no longer an option) via an exodus of boat people. They'll be well funded by the Saudis, of course. That's the human resource angle.

The economic angle we're seeing that in play already via OPEC, the Saudis, in particular, and Venezuela. Russia cannot be trusted to provide oil. Britain, yes. Trinidad will, but T&T has to keep an eye out for another attempted coup before November 6, 2004. Remember Enyahooma-El and the extradition charges to the U.S.? They include Mac-10s with silencers. For what? Anyway, Chavez is going to ramp up the rhetoric as a pretext for cutting off oil supplies to the U.S. So look for OPEC to freeze imports to the U.S. in order to bring the U.S. economy to a grinding halt. Add to the mix Al Qaeda ramping up terrorist attacks, not threats. Attacks. Look also for attacks on the Iraqi oil fields, disruption of the lines heading to Turkey. The confluence of all these events is supposed to be catastrophic. The Democrats? They're not even on the radar.

The short term goal is to bury the U.S. economy and George W. Bush's presidency. The long term goal is to ruin the world economy so the Islamists can move in, flush with oil.

What we in the Caribbean have to figure out is this: do we want to live under the Islamic star and crescent? If the U.S. — which is in the frontlines of the war on terror — falls, then have your ladies buy their burqas. Whose side will the Caribbean be on? Current rhetoric suggests not on the U.S.'s.

Newsflash: The Islamo- and other fascists will fail!

Hti: France steps aside to let the real warriors take charge

The United States will take charge next week of an interim multinational force in Haiti that is charged with restoring order to the Caribbean nation, an official at French military headquarters said Thursday.

U.S., French and Chilean troops are already coordinating operations in Haiti, but as of next week they will be officially organized under U.S. command, with different contingents taking charge of different sectors of the country, press officer Catherine Bellis said.

Hti: Patterson heeds Randall Robinson's plea for Aristide

Next week, Aristide and his wife will head to Jamaica. It's astonishing that PM Patterson is going to allow Aristide into Jamaica to stay for at least 10 weeks. Does PM Patterson wish to help Aristide foster civil war in Haiti? One suspects that Aristide seeks to return to the Caribbean because his hosts in Bangui will no longer abide by his lies. His Caricom brethren are much more reckless and anti-American than the government of Bangui, and, in their much expressed reverence for constitutional process and the rule of law, are willing to entertain a failed dictator. If Aristide says he left Haiti to avoid bloodshed, what does he intend to achieve by returning? How is Haiti's best interests to be served by Aristide's return?

Since Caricom members are such pro-Aristide advocates, will they send their troops into Haiti with Aristide in order to protect him from his own countrymen? This is highly unlikely, especially since Caricom was so loath to put troops on the ground until after the civil strife had ended. Aristide's return to Haiti is guaranteed to bring about a renewal of the open warfar. This means that many Haitians will die so that Aristide's vanity might be assuaged. The sad thing is that Caricom, in a fit of pique over the U.S.'s failure to contact Caricom to talk when the crisis became worse, will attempt to stick mud in the U.S.'s eye just to get its own back. It's an absurd and dangerous game that Caricom is playing. The only one who will pay the price is the unfortunate Haitians themselves.

Spain: Who did the bombing?

At first it was thought that it was the Basque separatist group, the ETA. Now Al Qaeda is taking credit. They say they are 90% ready for an attack on the U.S.:

"We bring the good news to Muslims of the world that the expected 'Winds of Black Death' strike against America is now in its final stage...90 percent (ready) and God willing near."

Spain's 9/11: 200+ dead and 1200+ injured.

The first response is prayer. Having laid our troubles before the mercy-seat, we arise in full faith and confidence that Jesus lives, the victory's won. If it is Al Qaeda and Islamic terrorism, we already know how the fight will end, and the Islamofascists are not the victors. Thus, we consider events unfolding from a position of certainty, from the stance of the victor. For, we know that we are looking at the last gasp of a desperate and futile ideology.

The Cross before, my second response is to unearth the fighting words of poets and warriors. For, we may not stand above the fray, but are in the midst and thick of it. This, therefore, demands a human response for we must screw our courage to the sticking point to do that which must be done. Thus, I look to the words of Claude McKay, written in an earlier time, under different circumstance, but still applicable to today.

If We Must Die
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Source: Claude McKay, "If We Must Die,” in Harlem Shadows: The Poems of Claude McKay (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922).

Furthermore, I look to the words of the warrior Winston Churchill whose June 4, 1940, "We Never Surrender" speech was a powerful rallying cry to a nation at war and close to defeat. Churchill said:

I have myself full confidence that if all do their duty,
If nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made,
As they are being made,
We shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home,
To ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny,
If necessary for years - if necessary alone.

At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do.
That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government - every man of them.
That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
The British Empire and the French Republic,
Linked together in their cause and in their need,
Will defend to the death their native soil,
Aiding each other like good comrades
To the utmost of their strength.

Even though large tracts of Europe
And many old and famous States
Have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo
And all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule,
We shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end.
We shall fight in France,
We shall fight on the seas and oceans,
We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be,
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets,
We shall fight in the hills;
We shall never surrender,

And even if, which I do not for a moment believe,
This island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving,
Then our Empire beyond the seas,
Armed and guarded by the British Fleet,
Would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time,
The new world, with all its power and might,
Steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Also, Winston Churchill, before the House of Commons, reiterated, "Never Give In"

"We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!" (House of Commons, June 4, 1940)

At Harrow School, Churchill declared emphatically,

"Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." (Harrow School, October 29, 1941)

Finally, from the warrior-king Henry V to the Bishop of Canterbury:

Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,
How you awake our sleeping sword of war:
We charge you, in the name of God, take heed;

Whoever did it, may God have mercy on your soul, for, God before, we will come after you.

Vzla: Busted!

A man President Hugo Chavez claimed was dead begs to differ with the Venezuelan leader. "I'm not dead. I'm alive and kicking," 61-year-old Emiliano Chavez Rosales said in comments published Monday by El Universal newspaper.

Chavez Rosales said he signed a petition for a vote to recall the president, who alleged the signature was bogus during a speech to foreign ambassadors on Friday.

"I'm sure Emiliano Chavez doesn't exist," the president said, holding up a copy of the petition form. He pointed to an identification number accompanying the signature, No. 2,550,083, and claimed it belonged to a dead woman.

In local interviews, Chavez Rosales insisted the number was his. A search of the country's voter database turned up Chavez Rosales' name and the same number.

There was no immediate comment from the government. The form was one of several Chavez offered as evidence of fraud. Others, he said, bore the names of foreigners and minors.

Spain: Pray for Spain

Inside Europe: Iberian Notes is blogging on today's terrorist strikes in Spain. The death toll is 173 and rising with at least 600 injured. Spaniards are angry, and justifiably so.

Lord, I pray for those who have been killed and ask your mercy on their souls; may you grant eternal rest unto them and let your perpetual light shine upon them. For their families, that you may comfort them in their hour of need and bind up their broken hearts. For those who have been injured, Lord, have mercy on them and grant them healing; be with them that they may have the faith and strength to endure the horror that has come upon them. Remember families and friends, far and near; remember Spain in mercy. Concerning the ones who did this terrible deed, Lord, in your wrath remember mercy even as you bring them swiftly to justice. In no other name but in Jesus Christ Almighty Name. Amen.

Atg: Taiwan buying allies?

Leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP) Baldwin Spencer has denied allegations by Prime Minister Lester Bird that the UPP received money from the Taiwanese government during the 1999 elections.

During the launch of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) manifesto on Monday, Mr. Bird said, "During the last election, Baldwin Spencer and the UPP took $1 million from Taiwan to run the election and I call upon him to deny it.

"Therefore if they are elected what are they going to do? Are they going to turn around and move from the People's Republic of China and go to Taiwan and get us involved in international problems between the two countries? I say from a foreign affairs standpoint that will be a disaster," he said.

This sounds like what China did with Johnny Chung and Charlie Trie during the Clinton Administration, no?

Atg: Dominicans hide out in Antigua

The police and immigration officials are searching for four nationals of the Dominican Republic, who reportedly eluded immigration and failed to return to the cruise liner Aida.

Nine other nationals of the Dominican Republic, who left the vessel after it docked at Heritage Quay, were picked up yesterday morning at a house in George Street, Villa and have since been detained by the police.

When Aida docked at Heritage Quay on Monday, 13 of its passengers left the cruise liner and never returned.
...
A check of their rooms on board the cruise ship revealed that they left behind all their possessions including their passports.

This is sheer desperation that is driving Dominicanos from their homeland. All thanks to the IMF. Where's the CBC or the Hispanic Caucus on this?

Atg: Soothing Caricom's hurt feelings

Prime Minister PJ Patterson and the US Ambassador Sue Cobb met for more than one hour on Monday for talks on the ongoing political crisis in Haiti, according to a statement from Jamaica House.

"The Prime Minister outlined the process which Caricom (Caribbean Community) had followed in order to resolve the crisis which Haiti was facing and the steps taken by Caricom to promote their plan to the International community - the US, Canada, the OAS," the statement said.

According to the statement, Patterson, who is the current Caricom chairman had informed the US Ambassador that the Caricom plan had been accepted as a hemispheric response to the Haitian problem and was designed to preserve the island's fragile democracy.

The prime minister also expressed his "disappointment" that the plan had been discarded without reference to Caricom, the statement said, noting that he had also re-stated the position adopted by Caribbean leaders to the sudden departure of Aristide and the implications for constitutional government in the region.

Okay, enough already. How many Haitian lives were saved because Aristide's lousy neck was saved when he ran like a girl? So, Caricom, kill the talk and act ... for once!

Atg: Election violence

Police Commissioner Elton Martin is concerned about the frequent incidents of violence perpetrated by supporters of the two main political parties in the country, during the run-up to the general elections.

Martin yesterday, called into his office representatives from the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and the United Progressive Party (UPP), in an effort to stem the violence.

Commissioner Martin cautioned both sides, informing them that there should not be any furtherclashes.

All the commissioner has to do is jail the politicians; bet they'd then ask their supporters to stand down.

Bdos: Trinidad-Venezuela agreement no secret to Barbados

Speaking on the Barbados/Trinidad situation and its implications for both countries and the Caribbean, former High Commissioner for Barbados to Trinidad and Tobago Frank da Silva told a media conference that the Trinidad/Venezuela agreement would have been known by a wide cross-section of the society.

He added that the High Commission’s monthly report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Barbados some fourteen years ago, which was the responsibility of the Senior Foreign Service Officer on Post, would have contained reference to that agreement.

Da Silva, who was High Commissioner at that time, said that there was no record of any instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for any follow up action on the issue.

Da Silva charged that because the matter was done in a transparent manner by Barbados’ closest Caribbean neighbour, “it would be inconceivable for anyone in Barbados to suggest that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago would have been involved in any underhand behaviour”.

Cay: Parmalat accounting is a fine fairy tale

Parmalat's operating units made a pre-tax loss of at least $435 million during the first nine months of last year, in contrast to the pre-tax profit of $375 million previously reported by management, the Financial Times reports. 

The difference between the pre-tax profit-and-loss figures appear to be fictitious financial transactions claimed by Bonlat, a Cayman Islands-based financial subsidiary.

The loss, detailed in a preliminary review by accounting firm PwC, could rise if investigators discover that Parmalat executives further padded sales and failed to account for numerous expenses and losses.

Read the rest.

Cay: C'mon, guys, they were just commissions

The Leader of Government Business, the Hon McKeeva Bush, said on Radio Cayman on Monday that payments received by him from The Ritz-Carlton project, as recently reported in the KYC News newsletter Offshore Alert, were commissions for his real estate company.

The 29 February 2004 issue of Offshore Alert claimed that according to recent court filings, Mr Bush had received over $345,000 in payments from the Ritz between 9 June, 1999 and 17 July, 2000.

A copy of the Ritz's 73-page handwritten accounts journal that covers the period when the payments were allegedly received was filed as an exhibit in litigation proceedings between the Ritz developer Michael Ryan, the Ryan Group and Richard Friend, who says he was the project development company's Senior Vice President from 1998 to 2000.

All together, Mr Bush, whose statement on Monday indicated acknowledgement that he had in fact received at least some of the alleged payments, supposedly received eleven payments ranging from $5,000 to $192,000.
...
Speaking specifically about the reason for payments from the Ritz, Mr Bush said: "Any inference that payments to those companies were related to anything other than real estate sales is false and is only a tactic in this election year to smear me as Leader of Government? Anyone who has any documentation that I was paid for anything other than commission and expenses relating to Cambridge Realty and Windsor Development, I beg them to bring them forward and make it public."

Somebody ought to take him at his word and start digging. I want to see an itemization of those real estate sales accompanied by all legal documentation and time-sheets.

Cuba: Another foreign exchange stunt?

Reports are increasing of hair being cut from women's heads to supply a clandestine market in human hair.

One of the latest victims didn't realize her hair had been cut while traveling on a crowded bus until she got home where her mother asked what she had done to her hair.

Women with long hair are being advised to wear it in styles not readily accessible to scissors or to cover it.

Rumors circulating in Havana tell of a student whose throat was cut before her hair was removed.

The hair is said to be sold for used to make wigs and hair pieces.

Caught up in the throes of a dying regime, anything is possible. I mean, Chavez can only prop up his mentor Castro for so long.

Cuba: State security tattlers

Ooooh! Tell-tell! They're going to tell his gwamma on him!

State security agents last week picked up for questioning Lizan Viñas Estrada, president of Young People for Liberty, a dissident organization formed in December.

Viñas Estrada said an agent named Frank told him during questioning at the Calabazar police station in Havana that he could be sentenced to 20 years in prison for "manipulating young people and encouraging them to be counterrevolutionaries." He also said that during 2 ½ hours of questioning the agent threatened to tell his ailing grandmother about what he was doing.

Chavez, hopefully, is taking note. Nothing like fear and trembling backed up with good old fashioned emotional blackmail to stifle the desire for freedom.

Cuba: The finest health care system in the world

Cuba is said to be planning to send doctors to Paraguay as a means of earning foreign currency.

Reportedly 25 doctors from the municipality of Plaza of the Revolution have been assigned to work in Paraguay. Their absence will be covered by sixth year medical students.

In actual fact, Cuba's doctors are foreign exchange wage slaves farmed out to other countries, as this story also indicates.

Over the last 41 years, the Cuban government has sent tens of thousands of doctors to dozens of nations as part of its vaunted doctor diplomacy program. Some say it's evidence of the Castro government's unselfish commitment to health care. But others charge that doctor diplomacy is simply a way for Cuba to bring in desperately needed hard currency. The bulk of the money paid by the nations goes to the government, not the doctors, they say.

"These doctors are in essence slave labor. They're sold on the international market to fill a need in the Third World. But the net beneficiary is the Cuban regime," said Joe García, head of the Cuban American National Foundation, an influential anti-Castro group in Miami.
...
Cuban officials estimate that their doctors have saved nearly 86,000 lives and forced a drop in Haiti's infant mortality rate.

Critics contend that Cuba exaggerates the success of doctor diplomacy.

They add that the program is unfair because the physicians earn only a small share of the millions of dollars that foreign governments pay Cuba for the medical services. Even so, many doctors are eager to take part.
...
"Cuban life in general is so miserable that only Cuban professionals would think that it is a step up to practice medicine in Haiti, Zaire, Mozambique and other impoverished Third World nations," Mr. García said.

Sometimes doctors sent abroad seize the opportunity to defect. In one case in 2000, two Cuban doctors in Zimbabwe headed to a U.N. office in that country only to disappear and wind up in jail.

The doctors said local authorities had tried to force them onto a Havana-bound plane. They slipped a note to an Air France crew member, and the airline refused to board them. They spent a month in jail before the United Nations pressed for their release, allowing them to travel to the United States.

In the meantime, back in the communist paradise so beloved of Hollywood and media types, Cubans make do with medical students.

Dca: A politician who hates tax collection!

UWP leader commented that the PM is dispicable, using his position to gain cheap pol advantage and in the process undermining the institutions which he heads. This after statments by the PM to retrieve taxes from a particular Dr in the amt. of $700 000.

Is this doctor the pol's brother, or something? Yes, indeed, he is. The doctor is a fellow UWP-er, as this next snippet reveals.

Legal action is being considered after PM Skerrit suggested he was calling in overdue taxes from a UWP candidate. Dr Kervin Fereira said he was in consultation with his lawyers esp. after a group of people massed outside his house and demanded he come out Source: Marpin TV News

Well, if Fereira's going to run for office and be in a position to dip his hands in other people's pockets, shouldn't he cough up his own money first? It seems only reasonable.

Gya: Wrestling with globalization

Read the editorial.

Addressing members of the American Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago in April 1997, West Indian scholar Wendell Motley described globalisation as having the potential of becoming the most seriously destabilising force in the Caribbean as well as the world. He predicted the emergence of a new global elite, who, through knowledge, skills and the access to information, “will stand as toll-keepers at several access points to the fantastic new wealth machine that is the global economy”. The Yale economics graduate then painted the obverse picture. “In contrast, there is the other aspect, the masses of humanity numbering in the billions and including millions in the so-called developed world, who, because of their lack of education, training and socialisation, have been rendered not just unemployed, but irrelevant by those technological processes that are super-productive, increasingly knowledge-driven and capital-intensive.”

Wendell Mottley's views on globalization should have provided the impetus for change in the attitudes towards graduates of foreign universities in T&T. Regrettably, that has not been the case. Globalization can be other than a destabilizing force to Caribbean economies, but only if the countries refuse to remain static and defensive, and adapt, prepare, and educate. The countries have to be forward looking and elect rulers with the vision thing and who can look beyond narrow political interests to scan the changes occurring around the globe and help his country ride their waves. The trend to globalization means that the wasteful actions of Labour in St. Kitts are a luxury the country can ill afford. Caribbean countries have to position themselves to take advantage of globalization rather than, like King Canute, try vainly to stem the tide. The Chronicle's editorialist is partly right when he states:

In order to enjoy the benefits of this doctrine, countries like Guyana will have to develop quality goods and services at the highest levels of competencies and then employ aggressive strategies in offering these goods and services at the international marketplace.

What he needs to realize is that the country's greatest resource, its educated populace, must be flexible enough to adjust to rapid changes in technologies so that they can meet the demands of the global market.

Hti: That vision thing

A former Haitian foreign minister and popular South Florida television talk-show host was selected Tuesday to become Haiti's next prime minister.

Gerard Latortue, a critic of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was chosen after two days of painstaking deliberations by a U.S.-backed ''council of sages'' to fill the power vacuum created Feb. 29 when Aristide resigned. Latortue will lead a transitional government that will pave the way for presidential elections early next year.
...
Latortue, 69, was one of three finalists for prime minister nominated by a council charged with replacing the government of the exiled Aristide. The council grilled Latortue by telephone for 2 ½ hours Monday afternoon as he sat in his Boca Raton home.

''I can facilitate the national reconciliation,'' Latortue said. "It is the most important thing today in Haiti after all the divisions we had in Aristide.''

Council members announced their decision at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. No one notified Latortue directly that the job was his.

''The interview is really what brought most [of the council members] to his side,'' said Claude Mancuso, a close friend, "because he was able to give them a vision of what was to be done.''
...
The decision-making confounded the seven members on the council, who had to decide whether Haiti needed someone with a business or military background, or someone who represented a new beginning.

He can talk, but can he govern? Govern as opposed to rule, that is. One would imagine that, given Haiti's pathologies, the choice of prime minister would have been a no-brainer. Let's see what Latoture does.

Hti: Clinging to illusions

Pierre Esperance, director of the National Coalition for Human Rights, says aid groups should focus less on political reforms and more on building local institutions that can help tackle poverty. "We need structures to be put in place," he says. "We don't need any more saviors like Aristide."

Foreign aid groups have to be careful not to instill a "culture of dependence" as has happened in the past, Smith says.

Many Haitians say their society's deep divisions can be repaired only by their own hands. But the international community can help, they say, by sticking to the reform projects it starts - such as training and staffing a national police force, one of the goals after Aristide's return to power in 1994.

If Haitians had been able to repair their divisions, they would have done it. Instead, they've demonstrated an inability to develop a thriving society which functions according to imperfect democracy.

Contrary to Pierre Esperance's contention, Haiti does not only need institutions to tackle poverty, it needs political reforms and instruction in the praxis of democracy. These are the changes that may well ensure that Haitians do not elect another Aristide. With infrastructural and political issues held in equilibrium, Haiti might be able to look past the idea of the head of state as godlike-ruler who is the best and only hope. Then, perhaps, the disillusionment that comes, when the god is revealed to have feet of clay, may not lead to change via machete, gun, and blood.

Ja: Moko disease threatens the livelihood of many

THE BANANA industry is much more than a lifeline for thousands of Jamaicans and scores of mainly rural communities. More than 85,000 farmers grow bananas on almost 10,000 hectares of land in several parishes. The industry earned for the country last year more than £15 million and is a constant cash flow for thousands in barely marginal existence.

It is for these reasons that the discovery of the deadly Moko disease in St. James is sending shivers through banana country. Moko is a devastating disease of banana and plantain. It also affects red ginger, heliconia, tomato, dasheen and coco.

Ja: Magic man

THE finance minister, Omar Davies, says that Jamaica would maintain its record of meeting its debt payments, despite struggling with a large public sector deficit and a debt-servicing bill that eats up over 60 per cent of the government's annual budget.

"No government of Jamaica has ever reneged on debt payments and we intend to maintain this proud record," Davies said Tuesday evening during a meeting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee.

Davies was at the time defending his economic management in the face of a $17.4 billion addition to the $261.4 billion budget for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, as well as a fiscal deficit that will be near seven per cent of gross domestic product, a full percentage point higher than initially projected.

Increased government spending has come from higher-than-projected interest rates on the country's near $700 billion debt, which is about 150 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Ja: Soooeeeeeee!!!

Let politicians loose around the people's resources and they become the proverbial hogs before the trough.

Should you think otherwise, you need only consider the behaviour of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) members of parliament on Tuesday. They squealed loudly over the administration's decision to cut, by $143 million or about 32 per cent, the Social and Economic Support Programme - the notorious SESP.

That the outcry came from the Opposition side of the aisle does not mean that ruling People's National Party MPs are on the moral high ground on this issue. They too would have had a good old angry roll in the mud for being deprived of another go at the trough, were it not for the political embarrassment it would cause the government.

I would like politicians everywhere to pass a law that no tax increases may be effected without the consent of three-fifths of the governed. I fear that figure might be too low, though because, based on what I've seen on tv news, there's always some idiot who doesn't mind paying higher fees and taxes for a thing. Moreover, many politicians have a wonderful way with words, and they can make the worser seem the better; thus, by sweet and guileful words, they lead unsuspecting taxpayers down the garden path to the paradox of obtaining something free for more money. Confronted with these modern-day Socrates, it is not outside the realm of possibility, therefore, that enough idiots would vote to take their own hard-earned money out of their own pockets so that politicians may play Monopoly with it.

Since it's 2:22AM and I'm awake and fantasizing, I'd also like politicians to pass another law requiring the merging of all social programs which have a common function, and this must be followed by a fifty percent reduction in funding for the new entity. The 50% is a totally arbitrary number; however, inasmuch as there is usually much duplication of services in government agencies, I estimate that it is likely that five agencies may be found all having the same function. For each such agency, a 10% reduction in funding. That 10% is supposed to be the amount that is just right (I've forgotten the reason why); so, when five become one, 50% of the funding can be subtracted from the whole or the gross of the new entity. Nevertheless, that may not necessarily prevent the hogs from feeding at the trough because, as I've said, politicians are wonderful at making the worser seem the better (the accusation leveled against Socrates, I believe). In the view of many of the elected elites, our money is theirs, and theirs is theirs, too. So, you silly taxpayer you, bend over and take it like a man.

Bhms: Who got his cut?

An allegation that officers of HMBS Inagua were offered a $200,000 bribe by the captain of the drug vessel Lorequin in exchange for his release came as a surprise to Lt. Commander Franklyn Clarke, who continued his testimony Tuesday morning.

Mr Clarke, who was the commander of HMBS Inagua at the time of the 1992 arrest of the Lorequin, told the Commission of Inquiry yesterday that was the first time he was hearing about the money offer made by captain Victor Alberto Hart.

"You have never heard it said that Victor Alberto Hart offered a bribe of $200,00 to members of your crew in exchange for their releasing him at some point during the journey from Nassau Harbour to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Base, Coral Harbour"? Commission lead counsel Dennis Moore asked.

"No, sir, this is the first time I am hearing this," Lt. Commander Clarke said.

Interesting case. Worth reading about.

Pnma: Freedom of the press under attack

...Attorney General José Antonio Sossa has accused Fundacion Libertad president and former La Prensa publisher I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr. of orchestrating a “systematic and incisive” smear campaign against himself and the Public Ministry. Calling himself a “firm supporter of freedom of expression,” Sossa — who is currently pressing criminal defamation charges against Eisenmann because the latter noted that the attorney general has “protected delinquents” while prosecuting journalists — alleged a long campaign of harassment against himself by La Prensa.

In fact Sossa, both as a complainant in his own right and by putting the resources of the Public Ministry behind others, has seen to it that more than one-third of all Panamanian journalists are facing or have faced criminal defamation charges, many of them brought by public officials or former public officials. In fact Sossa has made a public declaration accusing a substantial portion of the Panamanian press of being a “criminal element.” In fact Sossa has blocked virtually all investigations of major cases of political corruption during his tenure. In fact Sossa has steadfastly refused to act on complaints by victims of foreign operations such as The Harris Organization and the Millennium Fund using Panama as a base for international swindling operations. In fact Sossa deputized foreign bounty hunters hired by one Marc Harris — now awaiting sentencing on money laundering and other charges in a Miami federal lockup — to make arrests in Panama. Although there will doubtless be legal wrangling about what gets into any court file, Sossa’s actions are unambiguous and a part of the public record.

It seems that corruption in government and suppression of the press go hand in hand.

PR: Hail the returning heroes

Fifty-eight Puerto Rican soldiers will arrive on the island after spending 10 months in Iraq, said Puerto Rico National Guard Adjutant General Francisco Marquez.

The 58 soldiers of the 296 Infantry’s First Battalion Alpha Company are expected to arrive at Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport at around 4 p.m.

PR: 183 illegal Dominicanos detained and repatriated

The Dominican Republic's Navy detained 125 Dominicans packed aboard a rickety boat trying to reach Puerto Rico on Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 4,500 migrants detained since October, officials said.

In the past two days, authorities have detained 183 Dominican boat migrants, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

A Coast Guard helicopter spotted a 40-foot (12-meter) boat carrying the 125 migrants about 55 miles (90 kilometers) from the northwest town of Aguadilla, spokesman Ensign Eric Willis said.
...
There has been a record rise in the number of migrants caught trying to reach the island illegally, as the Dominican Republic faces a worsening economic crisis marked by a severe drop in the peso's value and 42 percent inflation.

In only four months, authorities surpassed the previous record of 3,477 migrants detained in fiscal year 2003. Authorities have detained 4,535 migrants since fiscal year 2004 began Oct. 1, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Victor Colon said.

Most are Dominicans caught on dangerous sea voyages aboard overcrowded and rickety boats in attempts to reach better economic opportunities on U.S. soil.

The Dominicanos are treated just like the Haitians — interdicted at sea and returned home. They are being treated just like the Cubans who are being subjected to the wet-foot-dry-foot policy. Does nobody care or notice? The economic measures the IMF has insisted Santo Domingo implement are most surely worsening the country's economic situation. Economic distress and poverty seem to be a standard feature of life in any country that's crazy enough to go to the IMF. Go to the IMF with a slight headache, and they'll give you a concussion.

Back in 1989, I had cause to pass through Santo Domingo in transit from the Turks & Caicos to T&T. Santo Domingo back then was a place of astonishing poverty; I'd never seen the like of it in T&T and Barbados.

PR: A candidate for that special place reserved in hell

A physical education teacher at the Jesus de Nazaret children’s home in Mayagüez was charged with 93 counts of sexual abuse against minors, police officials said.

Jose Torres Roberti, 38, was charged with 93 counts which include lascivious acts, rape, abuse, sodomy, and the use of an illegal weapon.

Torres Roberti was admitted to Las Cucharas Prison in Ponce after he was unable to pay bail.

The astonishing thing is that the courts even levied a bail amount for this bastard. 93 little ones he abuses and the court can still see fit to set a finite bail figure for him! Even worse is that the little ones were residents at a children's home. This pervert preyed on those who were particularly defenceless. Please don't let the law in Puerto Rico be as lax as the law on the mainland can be.

St. Kts: Quacks and invalids ruin the sugar industry

Listening to the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Mr. Cedric Liburd on WINN FM news on the 2nd March 2004, explaining the late start of the 2004 harvesting of the sugar crop, we can deduce from his obvious incompetence why this industry is on the verge of collapse. This man apparently is indifferent to the continuing adverse effect the industry has on the Federation’s finances as it continues to lose millions each year. What is striking and vexing is that inspite of the warning flags, the mismanagement continues at the SSMC.

Over the years under Labour, the SSMC was a resting place for rejects and shady characters who allegedly did the dirty bidding for the Labour party. Many questioned the appointment of Mr. Oriel Hector as Human Resource manager at a reported salary of $6000.00 per month. We must not forget the history of this man and that he is the Supervisor of Elections. His recruitment apparently did not add any value to the SSMC. One can speculate that his costly appointment might have been compensation for another mission he completed for labour. Other characters forced on the SSMC, can afford to buy high end luxury jeeps while earning an income of approximately $2,500.00 per month. How a man working at SSMC at that salary could purchase a vehicle cash, for $300,000.00 and this job is his only source of income. We submit that commodities purchased by SSMC were not procured at the best possible prices. Kick backs might have been the order of the day, passed under the table and might have been going on for years supposedly with  the blessing of the labour party government.

How can we forget that an old locomotive was sent to England to be refurbished and on its return there was a ceremony to re-commission this old engine which was renamed after Halva Hendrickson’s wife. The champagne drank at that event, plus the refurbishing saddled tax payers with a bill well over $1 miilion dollars.

Today the Industry is serious trouble.
...
The government has announced very sheepishly that the SSMC will produce approximately 13.8 thousand tons of sugar and this will yield approximately $16 million dollars in revenue, but expenses to produce this crop are a whopping $51 million dollars. Taxpayers will be called upon to pick up the tab for labour’s incompetence once more. This situation is ample testimony that the present bunch of labour ministers who cannot  run a simple bar shop or supermarket, cannot be expected to run a country effectively and efficiently.  The purchasing of state of the art air conditioned Land Rovers for top personnel to joy ride in was not in the best interest of the industry. Some labour activists can still be seen joy riding night and day in the Corporation’s vehicles, chalking up expenses unnecessarily. They shout all8 so they have become untouchables.

Some of these elected officials treat the taxpayers' money as though the taxpayers don't work hard for it, as though the Treasury were the officials' own little piggy-bank. The purpose of government, for some, is to enrich the elected and to make life difficult for the poor schmucks who put the elected swine in power. Thank God for the voting booth. Vote them to hell out, investigate their affairs, and jail their arses.

Gya: Endless skulls working in Guyana's government

This seems to be the latest example of corruption in the Guyanese government. First the allegations about the Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj and death squads, now forgery involving Treasury and the ministry of Foreign Affairs. Quacks and invalids, oui, quacks and invalids.

Secretary to the Treasury, Neermal Rekha, yesterday distanced himself from a widening scandal over a remigrants scam saying he couldn't be expected to verify whether the Foreign Minister's signature had been forged on documents sent to the Finance Ministry.

In a statement issued less than a minute before one from the government announcing a further probe of the scam, Rekha said it was customary that documents signed by government ministers be checked and verified by the issuing ministry - in this case the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said he merely upheld the status granted when he signed documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which might have been forged. A key part of the scam appears to be the forging of the signature of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on documents sent to the Ministry of Finance for approval.
...
He said also that the issue of authenticity of signature on the documents is "indeed alarming" but that his office is not technically or otherwise equipped to pronounce on the validity of the signature.

The point is not just whether the signature is forged, but whether the government of Guyana has a mechanism in place for assuring the validity of official documents. Apparently, it does not. So, government officials are going to pass the buck like crazy.

Hti: When will the order come to disarm warring factions?

One problem is none of the armed groups plan to disarm until the others disarm. Another problem: Police and the foreign troops have not received orders to disarm illegally armed groups.

Ja: Mi jus love nursing

A 31-YEAR-old woman who tried to pass herself off as a practical nurse at the Spanish Town Hospital yesterday was held by hospital authorities and police.

Janet Bennett, a mother of three, went to the Spanish Town Hospital at about 3:45 p.m. dressed in the pink and white uniform that is worn by practical nurses who work at the hospital.

She reportedly attempted to go into the Casualty Department area when a practical nurse at the hospital spotted her and called security. She was held and the police were summoned.

T&T: Utilitarianism is alive and well

John Spence advocates scrapping Cambridge A' Levels for the Scottish Hgher Examination in order to prepare students for both higher study and work. What is an essentially very thoughtful essay veers off, briefly, into educational utilitarianism when Spence writes:

In addition some of the top scholarship winners are allowed to study at Universities abroad. Trinidad and Tobago must be the only country in the world that ensures that the best brains in the country do not go to our own University (UWI) but study abroad and that at tax-payers expense! Since some of these do not return this must also be the only country in the world that supports a brain-drain financially!

All scholarship winners should be required to study at UWI (or at University of Trinidad and Tobago) and only be allowed to go elsewhere if the course of study s not available at UWI and then only if the programme of study is in the national interest.

What T&T needs to do is provide incentives for graduates to return home and facilitate their entry into the workplace. Instead, graduates who can contribute to the growth and development of T&T are treated with disdain, shunted aside, and have so many obstacles put in the way of finding work in their field that many of T&T's best and brightest return to enrich foreign lands, intellectually and financially. The answer is not educational utilitarianism but development of an infrastructure to facilitate the entry of the graduate into the workplace, or to assist those whose degrees may be in areas in which T&T does not yet envision having an interest. T&T can be on the cutting edge of change if only it would be more welcoming to those educated outside.

T&T: Victorious pannist needs liver transplant

Sixteen-year-old Shiron Cooper achieved a tremendous feat on Tuesday night by winning the pan solo category at the 26th Biennial Music Festival at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s.

Cooper who suffers from primary sclerosing cholangitis, a disease that can cause liver failure, needs a liver transplant.
...
Cooper, a student of Woodbrook Government Secondary who has been playing for eight years, won with a composition by Leon Foster Thomas entitled “Call of the Amerindians.”
...
“I was a little frightened while playing onstage so I pretended to be practising at home, and I had practised all day yesterday,” she said.
...
Cooper, who is raising funds for her surgery, which will cost over $1 million, said the drive was almost at a standstill because people hardly put money into the account.

But she’s hoping she would get help so she can have the liver transplant as soon as possible.

You can help Shiron Cooper obtain a liver transplant by donating online to

Shiron Cooper Fund, Account # 400053
Scotiabank
56-58 Richmond Street
Port-of-Spain
Trinidad, West Indies
Telephone: 868-625-3566
Fax: 868-627-5278
Scotiabank email

If you enjoy reading this blog, please do hit the tip jar for Shiron. The exchange rate is $1 USD = $6.60 TT. One dollar goes a long way. Thanks.

T&T: Petrotrin protests escalates

SCORES of contractors were prevented from entering Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre refinery compound yesterday after hundreds of temporary and casual workers blocked the main gate as protests over wages and working conditions continued. Accompanied by members of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU), the workers vowed to intensify protest action until the company agrees to meet with union officials to discuss regularisation of their employment status. OWTU Pointe-a-Pierre branch president Hollis Alexander, said company officials refused to discuss workers’ status and instead opted to bring in contractors to perform maintenance work at the refinery.

The issue is one of fair wages that are compatible with what equally skilled workers in the United States earn. In looking at the wage comparison of T&T and the U.S., I can't help thinking that a part of the problem is the $6 TT = $1 USD exchange rate. However, if the exchange rates become more equitable, T&T stands to lose a lot of money from exports to other countries, especially those in the Caribbean whose exchange rate is closer to the USD than T&T's. Apart from this, workers do have legitimate safety and work related issues that need to be addressed.

Hti: Too many Djangos

No one knows just how many weapons there are in Haiti. It's just one of many statistics that has fallen victim to the lawlessness, chaos and political mayhem here.

Most of the guns now being carried by armed militias here came from the Haitian army.
...
In the 1990s, Colombian drug lords brought their own unique brand of corruption and violence to Haiti.

At one point, nearly a fifth of the cocaine consumed in the United States was coming through Haiti.

Many say the culture of narcotics smuggling helped violence spread outward from the elite in Port-au-Prince to ordinary people.

I'm a strong advocate of the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms; however, Haitians need to be temporarily disarmed until the country stabilizes and develops. Haiti needs to be temporarily disarmed so that Haitians can stop killing each other. Eventually, when Haitians have made some progress towards a more civil society, the citizenry may learn how to use arms properly to defend themselves and their property. Right now, the senseless killing must stop.

Vzla: JEffinK = JFK

Chavez thinks John Effin Kerry's discourse is akin to that of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Somebody, tell John Effin Kerry that really quick. The pompous windsucker has achieved the dream of a lifetime — somebody thinks he's like JFK!

I don't know what Chavez is smoking or sniffing, but it must be something really pure.

Vzla: When will the media stop killing people?

State news agency VENPRES reports Communication & Information (MINCI) Minister Jesse Chacon as saying that an anti-government campaign conducted incessantly by Venezuela's private media is encouraging violence and hatred ... and it has violated the human rights of those people who were injured, killed or kidnapped at their homes during the riots that took place last week.

Chacon accuses the private print & broadcast media of launching two different kinds of campaigns. One that encourages hatred and one that defends human rights by accusing the government of violating them.

However, he says that no matter how much the media distorts information, the facts remain that 9 people died, 30 were arrested and all of the cases are currently in the hands of the Venezuelan courts.

“The government is doing everything possible to ensure the safety of those people who were arrested ... everyone who was arrested is charged with committing a crime under the penal code (COPP) ... anyone who says that Carlos Melo is a political prisoner is wrong, he was arrested and charged with the illegal possession of two automatic rifles.”

If Chavez doesn't suppress the free media who knows how many will be injured, killed, or kidnapped in Venezuela! Who knows what they might reveal about government human rights abuses! Who knows what kind of reporting they might do about the numbers taken political prisoners! Before the people of Venezuela can realize they're being injured, killed, kidnapped, and oppressed, Chavez ought to erode the freedom of the press. Ooops! That's happening already. My bad.