Archive for May, 2010
Gate-crasher wields machete at Karaoke party
(CNS): Police have confirmed that one man was arrested last weekend following a disturbance at a house where at least one person suffered injuries from a machete. Sources told CNS that a private Karaoke party in George Town was disturbed when a drunken man gatecrashed the event and began brandishing a machete at the guests. One woman was cut during the incident. The party was hosted and attended mostly by members of the Filipino community and a spokesperson from the RCIPS said investigations into the suspected assault are on-going.
US issues travel alert for Jamaica
(CNN): The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Jamaica on Friday, citing unconfirmed reports of criminal gang members amassing in Kingston and the mobilization of Jamaican defense forces. "The possibility exists for violence and/or civil unrest in the greater Kingston metropolitan area," the alert said. "If the situation ignites, there is a possibility of severe disruptions of movement within Kingston, including blocking of access roads to the Norman Manley International Airport," according to the alert. "The possibility exists that unrest could spread beyond the general Kingston area," the alert said.
(Jamaica Observer): The police yesterday appealed to the lawyers retained by Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke to take him to the nearest police station in order for the extradition warrant against him to be executed. The Government, after several months of inaction, on Tuesday finally signed the order for extradition proceedings against Coke — wanted in the US to answer drug- and guntrafficking charges — to begin. Go to Jamaica Observer article
Outstanding community member honoured
(CNS): Vernecia Watler was recognised for her kindness to children when she became the 2010 Child Month Award recipient. The Carol Ann Patricia Williams-Campbell Award named for an exemplary foster parent who passed away, is presented to a member of the community who has contributed to the welfare and development of children. Wattler’s award was received in her absence by her son, Olivaire Watler, at the recent Child Month church service at Savannah United Church. In a later interview with government Information Services, she said, “I have always loved children; I started out babysitting neighbourhood children and later began helping the smaller children with their homework."
She said, "I firmly believe that as members of the community, we must continue to take seriously the role of shaping young hearts and minds into the well-rounded adults of tomorrow. I feel very blessed to serve the young people of the Cayman Islands, and I am humbled by this honour.”
Minister of Community Affairs and Housing Mike Adam congratulated “Miss Vernecia”, noting her community spirit and selfless service over the years. He said the country owed her a debt of gratitude for her contribution.
Department of Children and Family Services Director Deanna Look Loy also congratulated her, calling the honour “well deserved.” “Miss Vernecia has the community and children at heart. She is always actively working to better their lives,” Look Loy said.
Known as one of the signatories who petitioned the government for the right to vote, Watler has served the community in various capacities for more than five decades. In Scouting, for example, she has served the East End Cub Scout Pack for many years. She was a member of the Scout Association Executive Committee, and also led the Cayman Islands contingent in the first Caribbean Cuboree, held in St. Lucia in 1995. Among her many Scouting awards is the Silver Crocodile, the association’s highest.
Watler is a Justice of the Peace, and a life member of the National Trust. She also holds a Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honour, is the recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award from the Lions Club of Grand Cayman, and an award from Rotary Sunrise. A member of the Gun Bay United Church, she has served in several capacities in the Women’s Fellowship, including President for Gun Bay, Island Council President for all the local United Churches, and President General for Jamaica and Grand Cayman. She has also taught elementary and Sunday schools and has received many church awards. Her name is also etched in the Wall of Honour in Heroes Square.
Child Month Committee Chairperson Cassandra Parchment said Watler was named from among an exemplary group of nominees. The selection was done based on several criteria, including volunteerism for more than three years in support of children and their issues.
Museum passes on Cayman traditions
(CNS): Whether custard-top cornbread, cassava cake or “Nigga Bible”, the National Museum’s traditional arts programme, dubbed “The Exchange,” is a hands-down success, attracting so many participants that thereis a waiting list despite added class sections. Organized by Museum Education Officer Nasaria Chollette, the traditional arts programme has been developed as a means of passing down traditional arts skills and thus preserving important aspects of Cayman’s cultural heritage. The programme commenced in April with a series of cooking classes, but will eventually branch out into other areas such as embroidery and wood carving, says Chollette.
Instructors for classes are local masters of the art, with the custard-top cornbread taught by Mrs. Virginia Suckoo, and cassava heavy cake taught by local singer/song writer KK Alese. Next will be the traditional Nigga Bible cake, on 1 June. The series of classes is being hosted by Rhonda and Isaac Edie of Edie’s Décor at their Savannah Meadows home.
"In my youth the furthest thing from my mind was learning how to bake Caymanian traditional cakes or ‘heavy cakes’ as we know them,” said participant Alta Bodden-Solomon, NCVO youth & community worker, personal assistant to the NCVO’s CEO, and wife of artist Gordon Solomon. “Now a wife and mother of two, I have a desperate need to connect to all things Caymanian and past, including my own.
“I felt that this class was a must for me and, along with my husband Gordon, who hadn’t baked anything (except fish before), I feel a sense of fulfillment. I guess you could say that, as our first custard-top corn bread ‘baked up’, so did my pride in myself, my family and my Caymanian people.”
Commenting on the attention that the series has attracted, Chollette said: “The classes have been full to overflowing, so much so that I have a waiting list for classes, despite having added two sections to each class to accommodate all interests.” Chollette added that she was considering requests for children’s classes.
Speaking about the recent cassava cake class, Chollette said that instructor KK Alese, the well-known local singer/songwriter, expertly passed on the traditional art taught to her by mother Rhonda Edie — and even added a couple of secret ingredients herself.
Secret ingredients or not, participant Summer LaRue commented enthusiastically on the cassava-cake class experience: “I feel that the class was imperative for me (to attend) as I learnt how to gauge the right consistency of the batter for making the cake,” adding: “I don’t think I could have pulled it off on my own the first time! Since the class I have made three cakes! My mother-in-law (who is Caymanian) says mine is better than hers (not so sure about that!). Needless to say, I’m quite popular at work now, too! Ilook forward to many more classes to come!”
With regard to future classes, Education Officer Chollette says that further cooking and baking classes will shortly be advertised. “We encourage all to check our Facebook page so they can keep up with the class offerings. We anticipate next featuring Biscuit Cake, Duff and Johnny Cake.”
Anyone interested in being listed for classes and receiving information may email Chollette at nasariachollette@museum.ky.
In addition, Chollette is inviting persons to serve as hosts of the home-based events. Anyone wishing to host a series of three classes, one per month for three months, should contact Mrs. Chollette as soon as possible.
Hosting the sessions in homes is an important ingredient, said participant Sushella Annon, as it creates that extra warmth: “The whole experience was a great one! The ‘classroom’ environment was very welcoming and I totally enjoyed myself. The final product was way better than I thought, and everyone who sampled it was asking for more!”
Voicing similar sentiments, Bodden-Solomon summed it up: “I’d encourage anyone that has a few hours to join, learn, enjoy and pass it on!"
The June 1 Nigga Bible class is being held at the Edie’s residence. Further details are available on registration.
Brackers pull together to find missing teen
(CNS): Around 50-60 local people volunteered to join the hunt for a missing teenage boy this weekend resulting in the youngster speedy recovery. Following a report that the 14-year-old boy was missing from his home on Cayman Brac on Sunday morning 16 May 2010, police launched a search and contacted friends and family in an effort to locate him. The police co-ordinated an island-wide search. The search included beaches, parks, bushes and buildings. As a result, the boy was found safe and well, at 6.00pm in the Southside Road West area. A short time later he was reunited with his family.
Dog me, flog me, but please don’t blog me!
It’s great that Cayman’s news media is evolving into something resembling modern journalism—thanks mostly to Cayman News Service. But it’s all happening so fast that many people are not yet up to speed on the terminology. Is there anything sadder than someone screaming about a topic they don’t understand? Read on and learn how to make sure you never sound like an idiot.
I humbly offer this review of terms in order to help prevent more embarrassing vocabulary stumbles like the one Premier McKeeva Bush suffered through last week when he launched his now infamous attack on free speech, freedom of the press, and Freedom of Information. While the focus rightly has been on his backward ideas about free speech and journalism, it is also important to point out that he does not seem to understand the differences between basic forms of published writing. And he is not alone.
This viewpoint is not a reaction to the substance of Premier Bush’s outrageous temper tantrum. I’ll leave that to others because it’s also important to pay attention to the widespread misuse and misunderstanding of terms when talking about journalism. It’s crucial that everybody speaks the same language before they begin arguing. If we are debating the proper writing styles of journalists, but you are referring to editorials and I am referring to hard news stories, we will never get anywhere. This is a common problem in Cayman. Hardly a day goes by without one or more callers—and often the hosts—of local radio talk shows incorrectly applying the terms “blog”, “editorial”, “commentary”, “news article”, etc.
This matters because it confuses things and it’s also laughable to informed people when someone rants on and on about a newspaper’s editorial being biased in favor of one view. Uh… that’s the point of the editorial. It’s supposed to be a reasoned persuasive argument in favor of a specific position.
Another mistake repeated constantly in Cayman is mistaking comments posted on a news web site for “blogs”. A blog is a Web page or pages set up by an individual for the purpose of writing about whatever it is he or she want to write about. Cayman News Service is not a blog. It is a news Web site. The user comments posted at the end of news articles and viewpoints are not blogs. They are simply “comments”. When Premier Bush’s head was on the verge of exploding as he railed against the “the bloggers” and threatened economic terror against them, Ms Nicky Watson and Cayman News Service should have said, “Okay, whatever, we’re not a blog. He ain’t talking to us.”
People in Cayman are forever confusing “commentaries”, “editorials” and “viewpoints” with news articles. Unlike news articles, “commentaries”, “editorials” and “viewpoints” are never meant to be objective and unbiased. They are by definition slanted and biased. The authors of those forms of writing are taking a stand on one side of an issue. They are not supposed to be objective. (Unless, of course, the writer is a spineless worm and spends a few hundred words never making a point or arguing for anything. These space-wasters have traditionally been common here, sadly.)
News articles are supposed to be objective and unbiased. Few are, however. It is difficult to keep bias out of news because biased people are the ones who write them. But any good reporter will at least try very hard to produce work that comes close to being objective. Simply showing up or not showing up at a press conference is a form of bias, for example (you are important enough to listen to—or not). Attacking obvious slants in a hard news story is reasonable and an important duty for all of us. Getting all worked up over the presence of opinion in a CNS viewpoint is not just wrong, it’s embarrassing. Don’t do it.
It may surprise some readers, but I believe Premier Bush ought to be forgiven for not knowing what a blog is. He has more important things to worry about, such as running our country and figuring out which in-flight movie he is going to watch next. Besides, it’s common for politicians to be utterly clueless when it comes to the Internet. For example, US Senator John McCain reportedly has never sent an email in his life. And former president George W. Bush famously said while in office that he likes to “use the Google on the Internets”. Oy vey…
But the rest of us have no excuse. We live in the real world and can’t afford to sound like idiots if we hope to be taken seriously. If you want to defend—or attack—free speech, freedom of the press, and the wonderful wilderness that is the Internet, go for it, but at least know some of the basic terms before you open your mouth.
HSA partners with local charity in child abuse fight
(CNS): The Heath Service Authority will be employing a part time child psychologist to help in the battle against child abuse as a result of a grant from Hedge Fund Care. Medical Director Dr Greg Hoeksema explained the HSA has been in need of a second psychologist for more than three years and applied to the well-known charity for help. The authority was rewarded with the funds to bring in a part time specialist who will be focusing on the front line of Cayman’s growing child abuse problem. From supporting child and family services to identify children at risk and assisting law enforcement in the prosecution of cases, Dr Hoeksema said the new practitioner should be joining the hospital in the next few weeks.
Local lawyers talk information exchange
(CNS): In contrast to persistent beliefs around the world Cayman reveals a considerable amount of information and has done for a long time, a local senior litigation lawyer explained at a recent conference. Explaining how information is released under its Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), Hector Robinson, Partner at Mourant de Feu & Jeune in Cayman, set out the legal framework to a seminar audience of finance professionals recently. Advising delegates what to do if served with a request from the regulatory body relating to Cayman’s 17 TIEA he pointed out that Cayman had been exchanging information with the US since 2005.
Info boss orders key release
(CNS): Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert has ordered the Cabinet Office to release transcripts of the Constitutional negotiations. In her fourth decision made under the Freedom of Information Law, 2007, Dilbert considered that access to an issue as important as the country’s Constitution was in the public interest and found no evidence that it would cause harm. The FOI application asked for the transcripts of the three rounds of talks that took place over the course of 5 months, from September 2008 and February 2009, between Cayman Islands representatives and the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office over what should be included in the new Constitution. The Cabinet Office withheld the release on four separate grounds, including prejudice of public affairs.
Cayman shoppers wave goodbye to the plastic bag
(CNS): All three of Cayman’s leading supermarkets have reported a great response from their customers in the goal to eliminate the plastic bag. Following the announcement that Fosters, Kirks and Hurleys had all got behind the Cayman BECOME campaign, launched at the beginning of April, and would be charging 5 cents for plastic bags from in June, shoppers are turning to reusable bags. All three grocery stores say that sales of their shopping bags have soared and even before the free ride on plastic bags is over shoppers are turning their backs on plastic.