Archive for September 18th, 2010
Teenagers to be awarded ‘GCSE in sex’
(Telegraph): Teenagers will learn how to use a condom and obtain the morning after pill as part of the first GCSE-style qualification in sex. Pupils will be able to gain the equivalent of a D grade under the new course which has been devised to raise awareness of issues surrounding relationships, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. The Government-funded qualification is being offered in nine schools and colleges for the first time this term with plans to expand it across the country. Last night, the move sparked outrage among families’ groups who claimed it legitimised sexual promiscuity and failed to make any reference to marriage. But Suzanne Cant, research manager at the qualifications provider NCFE, which is running the course, said: “Sexual health education should play a part in the curriculum for all young people.
Talk sex & contraception to teens, minister says
(CNS): The minister for health has warned that Cayman’s seemingly low rates of HIV infection offer a unique challenge because too many people think HIV/AIDS is not a priority issue for the island. Mark Scotland warned that current sexual behaviours had to change otherwise the disease will become an increasingly serious problem. In his opening remarks at the EC/OCT steering committee meeting on HIV/AIDS in Caribbean Overseas Territories, he said parents and the community had to start speaking about the taboos associated with teenage sexual behaviour including contraception.
DoEH chases old debt in wake of fee removal
(CNS): Although the government has abolished individual homeowner garbage fees, the Department of Environmental Health says it is still trying to collect outstanding fees owed as well as from condo complexes and commercial premises that use commercial containers. The government abolished garbage fees in the wake of an increase in duty but the DoEH director said large apartment complexes and businesses required by law to have a commercial container still have to pay for the containers and their servicing. The director confirmed that commercial and larger residential properties will no longer be billed by square footage or by the number of units in the complex.
(New York Post): Selita Ebanks is Kanye West’s new muse. They’ve denied they’re dating, but Ebanks stuck close to West during the weeks he guest-edited XXL magazine’s October issue. She accompanied him to photo shoots and helped make page edits, insiders said. The issue includes a first-person essay from West, where he talks at length about his mother’s death. "When I moved to LA, she moved to LA. And she wound up in a place that would eat her alive. Even if I stayed in New York, it wouldn’t have been like that. If I had lived in New York, she’d still be here."
The missing years
My father, Desmond Seales, made the decision 49 years ago, when he departed Trinidad, to abandon his family by marriage as well as his blood relatives. Subsequently, he falsely claimed to have emigrated at age 18, when in fact he did not leave Trinidad until age 22. The four year discrepancy was to conceal the existence of his first marriage with three children as evidencedby the untruthfulness communicated in his obituary.
For those who question the motive for publishing this statement, suffice it to say it is nothing but a request to correct erroneous data. Every child deserves to be acknowledged by his or her parents. I have lived the past 49 years with the stigma of not being acknowledged by our father, even though many know of our existence. Upon his death, we were not given the opportunity for closure. In reading the tributes and obituaries, insult was only added to the injurious years of pain and feelings of abandonment, with the printed “erasing” of the life he had in Trinidad.
We impart our condolences to the family he did acknowledge. Their loss of a father is also ours.
Desmond Seales: The Missing Years
Desmond Seales was born on November 3, 1938. He was one of 11 children. Some of the family followed their father into the printing business. In his late teens Desmond worked at Yuille’s Printery, where he met his first wife. They were both 19 years old when they married. She became a housewife while Desmond continued to work. They soon had three children: Sandra Karen Seales, born January 10, 1958; Rhonda Hazel Seales, born November 23, 1959; and Sharon Rachel Seales, born April 30, 1961. The family of five resided in Port-of-Spain. Desmond, by all accounts, was a very involved father and supportive, loving husband.(Left: Desmond Seales 1958)
Desmond eventually got a higher paying job at Camps’ Printery. In 1961, Sir Etienne Dupuche visited his good friend, Mr Camps. He met Desmond, was impressed with his work, and offered him a job in the Bahamas with his company. Because there was a new baby, it was decided by the young couple that Desmond should go on ahead and the rest of the family would join him in a few months. Desmond boarded a BOAC airplane at Piarco Airport on September 29, 1961, and went to Nassau, Bahamas. His wife and the three children went to stay temporarily with the Seales family.
For the first three months after he left, Desmond corresponded with his wife; then she stopped hearing from him. It is to be noted that there were letters only (which are long gone). Several months later, she received a last letter (also long lost) stating her husband had died in Miami. Some members of the family didn’t accept this … didn’t believe it … yet had no means to prove otherwise. The wife and three children he left behind later relocated to the United States. (Left: Karen Seales with her parents 1958, this picture and one above from Karen Seales’ baby book – page below)
It would take many, many years, but eventually Desmond was found. In the interim, there had been two reports of sightings of Desmond at Trinidad Carnivals in the 1970s. These turned out to be accurate. Desmond himself later confirmed that he had indeed taken those two trips back to Trinidad, and never bothered to let his family know. His mother, father, and all of his siblings (except for one sister, who had died long ago in childhood) were still alive at that time.
When Desmond was found in late 1978, he was angry about it. He demanded thatno one in the Cayman Islands should know about his past, and that most of his surviving family from Trinidad should not be told that he was even still alive. He refused to explain his reasons for this or his actions.
Desmond Seales died on July 3, 2010. He is survived by his fourth wife, Suzan, and their daughter, Danielle; his daughter Nathania by his second wife; two sons, Jordan and Matthew, by his third wife. He also leaves behind three children from his first marriage in Trinidad, seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and several sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother, who never knew he was still alive.
Truthfulness in journalism: that will be the legacy of Desmond Seales, when this is printed.
Igor forecast to make direct hit on Bermuda
(CNS): According to reports from Hamilton,on Saturday, Bermuda is preparing itself for what the home affairs minster said was “probably the worst storm we have seen” as Igor a category two hurricane headed towards the island. With storm force winds stretching for 345 miles the NHC said Bermuda can expect to start experiencing the effects of Igor this evening. The Royal Gazette said that the country’s capital was quiet this morning as residents appear to have made their preparations and are ready to batten down as they wait for what is expected to be a direct hit. Igor is forecast to reach its closest point to the Island at 3am on Monday when it will be around 11 miles to the north of the Island.
Bush goes back on tour
(CNS): The country’s premier is leaving the Cayman Islands this weekend on another international tour where he will be promoting the islands at a series of meetings and conferences over the next two weeks. The world trip includes talks with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) in Miami, a United Nations conference in New York, the OECD Global Forum in Singapore, the opening of a Cayman office in Hong Kong and a Commonwealth Financial Ministers Conference in Washington. With the deputy premier still at the CPA conference in Kenya until 25 September, Education Minister Rolston Anglin will act as the country’s premier next week.