"What a joy to stare into the eye of happiness."

"There is no such thing as luck, only the grace of God."

There is a new game in town, and its not fun. There is a hacker out there who is accessing persons email accounts and sending out messages to everyone on their contacts. If you try to open the message, a virus is unleashed. The subject matter is always: fotos or party. Please if you receive an email with these subject matters, send to spam immediately. And please update your virus program. These days hackers are finding all sorts of ways to mess up your computer and to access sensitive informations, such as credit card numbers, etc.. Be very careful....

"Thank God that the stars still shine, even when the days are gloomy."

In recent weeks I have been following the crime situation is Jamaica and I must say it seems to be getting worse daily. The gunmen seem to have been very brazen in their actions. During the week we saw the killing of a police woman at her gate, and then the shooting of two policemen on Red Hills Road. It seems as though these gunmen have lost any respect for persons in uniform. The sad thing is that after those shootings, I never really heard much from the Government or the Opposition. Is it that it is just business as usual? What is really going on?

"Why do we complain so much about hard times, do we forget that our neighbour may be worse off than us."

Oil has now soared to a 10-month high of $73.84, as US home sales moved to the highest level in 2 years. The DOW has finally broken the 9300 point, resting currently well above 9470 as of 12:04 MST. This is another signal that the economy may be turning the corner..the coming weeks will be the real acid-test....

"Take time to check the rear view mirror, even though the past has been left behind, there are still dangers in view."

Jamaica has now moved into number 1 position at the World Championships in terms of golds, silver and bronze. Here's the breakdown so far: Gold - 5, Silver - 2, Bronze - 2. The United States are currently in second position. We are totally an amazing people... If our leaders can't learn from this, then something is wrong..Our people need to unite and stop the non-sense now..

"If you focus on loving you, then the things that others say will never matter."

"People who are quick to tear down, have never built anything."

"If we have faith, then we walk with God in our sight."

"Man in his boldness, pretends that he can rule the world, but then death appears, snatching his hard labours."

AIC Ltd., the company owned by Michael Lee-Chin has been sold to Manulife for an estimated value of $150 million dollars. The asset value of the company was approximately $3.8 billion dollars at the time of the sale. Mr. Lee-Chin had built this company from the ground up, starting with $1 million in assets, turning this company and himself into a billion dollar business. However in recent times the value of the company shares had fallen dramatically, due mainly to the recession. Mr. Lee-Chin has indicated that he wants to pursue other goals, such as the development of NCB and the building of resorts in the Portland area of Jamaica. He also intends to sell Columbus Communications, which operates FLOW, a cable/Internet/telephone giant in the Caribbean. One is not sure why the 'fire sale', even though he has said it is to further his overall plans. However it should be noted that Mr. Lee-Chin had to seek a court injunction to stall in paying out dividends to NCB shareholders a couple months ago. It seems to me that the recession is taking its toll. Time will tell what happens next.....

The five athletes who were involved in the positive testing for banned substances at the Jamaica Trial will not be allowed to run at the WC. This after technical director of the Jamaica Team in Berlin, Donald Quarrie, excluded them from the list of competitors submitted to the IAAF. It was evident from during the week that it would not have been possible for them to compete. Even though the JADCO disciplinary committee had cleared them, JADCO had filed an appeal against the decision. The IAAF had also indicated that they would not be able to review the case until after the WC. In any case, based on the testing done, the elements found were seen at stimulants by WADA, which would result in an automatic sanction by that body. It did not make any sense to build up these athletes hopes..It is very sad that JADCO has failed to show professionalism in terms of the hearing and the procedures that WADA has laid down....

"In hard times the true meaning of life comes into perspective."

"If common-sense does not guide man, then he exhibits no sense at all."

So we all thought the athletes were cleared...not. It turns out that the even though the committee set up by JADCO, which is the disciplinary committee, does not have the final say. JADCO as a body can appeal the decision, and so they have. They have not disclosed the reason for the appeal, and so we are left in limbo again. What is clear though, is that the athletes will not be participating in the WC. The JAAA have not come out and said that in so many words, but it would seem only logical for them to bar them from entering. The IAAF will not make a decision on the matter until after the WC anyways. If for instance, we were to send our athletes to the WC, and JADCO or the IAAF reject the decision, then any medals won with these guys on the team would be voided. So the question would be, why risk it?

"What if life was a dream, would you still want to fall asleep?"

The memories that burn inside,

JADCO just announced that they have cleared the four athletes who tested positive for banned substances at the Jamaica Trails. However, as has been the case with JADCO for the last two weeks, they have failed to release all the details as to why these athletes have been cleared. Only to say that they could not find enough evidence to bring a case against them. We hope that in the coming days they will elaborate, as this does not look good for Jamaica or the sport. Where is the IAAF in all of this?.....hmmmmmmm

"Though the pain of live rages, the stain of Jesus blood cleanses."

With the fall season approaching, there is the danger of an onslaught of the swine flu [H1N1] virus. The choice now is whether to take the vaccine or anti-viral drugs. Now I am no expert in the field, but it seems logical that we should be taking the vaccine rather than anti-viral drugs. Its been said that these anti-viral drugs will cause viral resistance, meaning that it may spawn a drug resistant H1N1 flu. I have never been one to take vaccines, but this year I may have to, in order to protect myself. The fact is that there are so many strains of flu's out there, that it boggles the mind. But they say 'prevention is better than cure'.....

It seems that we may just be turning the corner in realtion to the recession. With the jobless claim falling to 9.4% yesterday, all the pundits have been saying that the recession is easing. Oil prices which started the week on high, ended at 70.93, not dramatic but some clawback. The DOW continues its upwards rise ending at 9370 pts on Friday, signalling renewed confidence in US stocks. We are not out of the woods as yet, but there are signs that things may be improving......

Onlookers observing from a far might just believe that the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission is just a joke. Over the last two weeks this has been clearly demonstrated by their ineptitude to deal with the current doping issue of five Jamaican athletes so tested for banned substances at the Jamaican Trials. Earlier in the week, Sheri-Ann Brooks, one of the five, was cleared of taking banned substances, or so it seems. It turns out that there was a mishap in terms of the procedures, in that, when her 'B' sample was tested there was no observer present from her camp, as they were not informed of a time or date of the testing. The committee set up to hear the case of Ms. Brooks decided to clear her due to this fact, but now an appeal has been made by JADCO. Seems very strange at the least.

"How can I thank him, by lifting my hands on high and falling on my knees in praise."

Forty-seven years now we independent,

"Consider the flowers that bloom, their life is short but their beauty glows in the sun."

News just in......

"When you plan without God, when death arrives salvation is gone."
DCA

It was 6:30 pm and his father had just arrived home from work. His mother was waiting patiently for him to come home, as she was still fuming over the CXC results. When she told his father that he had failed 3 of his 6 subjects, he could hear the roof lift off as if taken by a hurricane wind. His father yelled, "boy come here now". He timidly entered the kitchen area, his father's face was as red as he had ever seen it before. He was mad beyond words, he couldn't even talk, his mother had to give him a glass of water to cool the vapours rising from his face. He was tempted to beat his skin off his body, but ended up saying that "you wasted your time at school boy, and now this is the result". His other siblings were now home as well, and they helped to calm the situation. They all ate dinner, laughing and talking. His Dad said he would think about the situation and decide what would be next.

In the news last night I heard that the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) has stated that the five athletes who tested positive for banned substances would still retain their places in the World Championship squad. In their defence they stated that if they are found to be innocent after the JADCO hearing, then it would look bad to have taken them out of the squad. That argument for me carries no water. These athletes are aware of all the illegal substances that should not be taken, whether it is a mild drug or not. What if all of them are proven to be guilty of an offence, then what does the JAAA do, bearing in mind that the deadline for entries to the World Championship ended yesterday.

"If you choose to do what's wrong, then why follow God's word."

Is the recession over? No one knows. Even though the pundits are claiming that we have have turned the corner, they are still undecided. What is clear though, is that the DOW and oil prices have been on the move. The DOW cleared 9200 points last week, and it set to continue its upward rise. Oil is now trading above $71..meaning that, wait for it....your gas bill is about to go up again. With the high unemployment rates worldwide, OPEC has not had any mercy in raising oil prices by increasing their supplies, this under the alleged illusion that the world economy is on the turnaround. The average man knows that this is not so, he has lost his job, been unable to pay his debts, is hungry and is wondering what next....

"The sadness of this life, the pain the heartache that mankind brings."

Many remember the IMF regimes in the 70's, a time when I was a mere baby. This time around, it seems that Jamaica does not have a choice. With bauxite and remittances dried up, the JLP seems to find its hands tied. All the economists and skeptics seem to have ran out of ideas. Unfortunately, it is never enough to criticize without solutions. With the recession at hand, tax collection seem to have suffered a huge blow. Bearing it mind that tax collection helps to pay teachers, civil servants, police, etc. With the short fall in collection, mainly due to persons being unemployed, and the continuous problem of tax evasion, the Government finds itself n a bind. The Prime Minister has stated that the term of the loans will be about 24 months, but that is an estimate, as no-one really knows when this recession will be over. It was heartening to see that the IRS will be reviewing the Tax System in Jamaica, as tax evasion has resulted in heavy short falls over the years. In my mind though, the major issue with the tax system is that the law has no teeth, it is time that people who evade taxes are sent to prison, along with a fine. There is no point allowing a person to pay a fine, and then be able to continue in business, that is just crazy. For people to take the system serious, there must be severe punishment for evasion. It is great what Mr. Danville Walker is doing at Customs, and it is a pity there are more of his calibre in leadership. His no non-sense approach needs to be adopted by the Tax Departments across the board for any real change to take place. It is time that the Government review all the systems and make drastic changes. After the recession, it cannot be business as usual. My hope is that the IMF will insist on several changes to our tax system and the monitoring of corruption. The issue of crime is for another time, that is a monster that seems untameable at this time....IMF here we come....

If I could rewrite my life,

The summer holidays were almost done, and CXC results were ready. In those days you had to go to the school and collect your results, and watch some students celebrate,while others cried. He arrived at JC around 10:00 am, and true to form, guys were celebrating, while some were looking as if their favourite video game had been taken away. The lines were long, so he had to wait a bit. Of course he saw some of his classmates, and those that had passed all their subjects stopped by and started to brag. He was very scared, knowing that he may have failed a few of his subjects, due to his lack of preparation, helping others instead of focusing on his own studies. He was now at the top of the line and gave the teacher who was issuing the results his name. His jaw dropped when she told him that he had only passed 3 of his six subjects. He was devastated. He kept replaying in his mind what his father had said, "if you fail your exams then you will have to work with my mechanic". He didn't speak to anyone, he just looked around as if in a daze. The only good result for him was in history, as his history teacher had said he would fail miserably, but he had used her words to challenge him to pass. That would be the way he would motivate himself in the future, by using the negatives of people to inspire him. His day was off to a bad start, and he tried to figure out how he would make his parents understand his failures in the other three subjects. It wasn't that he had failed badly, he had missed the pass mark by getting C's. In those days, when you sat the CXC you had to get at least two B's to be guaranteed a passing grade, now all that has changed. In those days, passing the CXC meant you had to get a grade 1 or 2, now they have made grade 3 a passing grade. Apart from him failing three of his six subjects, he was now in a terrible position, he would have to resit his fifth form year, and would not be able to go to sixth form. He wondered which option was the worse. In looking back at his exams, he couldn't understand how he had failed English or Mathematics, in the mock exams he had gotten grade 1's for those subjects, they were like his best subjects in school. All those times spent helping others instead of studying for himself, came back to haunt him. He would learn a valuable lesson that day. He took the long journey home, instead of his usual short-cut, he walked an extra 15 minutes to get home. It was mid-day and his parents were still at work, so he had some time to prepare himself. He knew his father would likely put the belt to his rear end. He wasn't worried anymore though,he thought to himself, "there is nothing I can do now to change the situation, I have already failed the three, I just have to move on."

"What is man but dust waiting to be trampled."