1
General Discussion / You know Elections round the bend when :
« on: April 01, 2014, 06:54:34 AM »
1. Divali Nagar getting their own walk over. i.e. Keeping the Hindu Base happy.
April 23, 2024, 12:32:17 PM
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2
General Discussion / Brazil's Miss Bumbum competition rocked by allegations of bribery Brazil's Miss
« on: October 30, 2013, 02:17:34 PM »
Brazil's Miss Bumbum competition rocked by allegations of bribery after rivals accuse contestants of paying judges
By Matt Roper
PUBLISHED: 09:47 GMT, 27 October 2013 | UPDATED: 12:00 GMT, 27 October 2013
An annual contest to find the sexiest bottom in Brazil has been rocked by scandal after two of the candidates were accused of bribing judges to rig the votes, it was reported today.
Blonde beauties Mari Sousa, 25, and Eliana Amaral, 24, are among 15 finalists in the running to be crowned Miss Bumbum 2013.
The competition, which is in its third year, has a huge following in the country and around the world, and titleholders often go on to become national celebrities.
The owner of this year's most beautiful backside was due to be crowned at a grand finale next month.
But the contest has been plunged into chaos after rivals accused Ms Sousa and Ms Amaral of paying thousands of pounds to the event's judging panel for the right to come first and second.
Brazil's O Dia newspaper reported that Ms Amaral, a law student representing the northeastern state of Pernambuco, had allegedly paid organisers around Ł18,000 for second place.
Contestant Poliana Lopes, 23, claimed Ms Sousa, a former funk music dancer representing Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, had paid an even larger amount to the judges to be the competition's overall winner.
Ms Lopes said: 'It's no longer a secret to anyone that Miss Bumbum has been bought and already has a winner, Mari Sousa.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477778/Brazils-Miss-Bumbum-competition-rocked-allegations-bribery-rivals-accuse-contestants-paying-judges.html#ixzz2jEqHRo1Z
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
By Matt Roper
PUBLISHED: 09:47 GMT, 27 October 2013 | UPDATED: 12:00 GMT, 27 October 2013
An annual contest to find the sexiest bottom in Brazil has been rocked by scandal after two of the candidates were accused of bribing judges to rig the votes, it was reported today.
Blonde beauties Mari Sousa, 25, and Eliana Amaral, 24, are among 15 finalists in the running to be crowned Miss Bumbum 2013.
The competition, which is in its third year, has a huge following in the country and around the world, and titleholders often go on to become national celebrities.
The owner of this year's most beautiful backside was due to be crowned at a grand finale next month.
But the contest has been plunged into chaos after rivals accused Ms Sousa and Ms Amaral of paying thousands of pounds to the event's judging panel for the right to come first and second.
Brazil's O Dia newspaper reported that Ms Amaral, a law student representing the northeastern state of Pernambuco, had allegedly paid organisers around Ł18,000 for second place.
Contestant Poliana Lopes, 23, claimed Ms Sousa, a former funk music dancer representing Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, had paid an even larger amount to the judges to be the competition's overall winner.
Ms Lopes said: 'It's no longer a secret to anyone that Miss Bumbum has been bought and already has a winner, Mari Sousa.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477778/Brazils-Miss-Bumbum-competition-rocked-allegations-bribery-rivals-accuse-contestants-paying-judges.html#ixzz2jEqHRo1Z
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
3
General Discussion / Tobago family time
« on: October 17, 2012, 09:07:25 AM »
Guys,
Anyone know of any reasonable house/ apartments for rent in tobago for a family of about 8ppl? If not a house, it could be 2 apartments.
Anyone know of any reasonable house/ apartments for rent in tobago for a family of about 8ppl? If not a house, it could be 2 apartments.
4
General Discussion / Hang him high!
« on: March 02, 2012, 10:09:54 AM »
The State proved that on May 15, 2006, King tied Amy’s hair to a piece of cloth and strung her to a door frame at his Ste Madeleine Road, Marabella home. He then gagged the child with a knotted plastic bag, and punched her about her body with his clenched fists 20 to 30 times.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/CHILD-KILLER-141127583.html
5
General Discussion / Naked rape victim claims station turns her away
« on: November 18, 2011, 04:11:30 AM »
What really going on in this blasted place boy??
Trinidad Express Newspaper National News of Trinidad and Tobago
Print this article
Naked rape victim claims station turns her away
Originally printed at http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Naked_rape_victim_claims_station_turns_her_away-134094699.html
By by Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com
November 17, 2011
A 23-year-old woman who was allegedly raped on Monday morning claimed she was further "emotionally raped" by police when she went to report the matter and was initially turned away because she was naked.
The distressed woman spoke to the Express yesterday and recounted the horrific experience.
"They (police) didn't care for my safety. They might think it's my fault I got rape, but I took a taxi like any normal person. I just got rape; I was naked, and they turned me away from the police station and didn't help me because I was naked," said the woman.
She said on Monday evening after work, she went to a casino on Tragarete Road, Port of Spain, where she stayed until 2 a.m.
"I was on Tragarete Road waiting for a taxi, and a black car came beeping its horn, and because it was so late, I got in and didn't think anything of the two men sitting in front. The car started heading to Port of Spain (downtown), but when it took a bend into Edward Street, I got scared; I told the driver I will drop off right here," said the woman.
"The man who was sitting on the passenger side in front then jumped in the back seat and grabbed my neck and tell me to keep my head down. He held me down and asked me a set of questions; where I living; how much money I have in the bank. He said if do anything, he will stab me up. He kept telling me over and over to hush," said the woman.
The woman said the driver and his accomplice took her to Lady Young Road, Morvant, in a dark trace which used to lead to a radio station.
She said both men were of African descent; the driver was dark-skinned, thick in body size and had a heavy voice, and the other man was red-skinned and had his hair in cornrows.
"They forced me out of the car, stripped me naked and the driver took me to the back of the car and raped me against the bumper. He also raped me on the ground; I was thrown on the dirt and stones and he raped me again," she said, adding the rain was falling at the time.
"They kept telling me that they will stab me up because I saw their faces, and they have to kill me," she said.
She said after the driver raped her, the second man was also about to rape her when they saw a car approaching.
The woman said she ran towards the car, and the occupants of that vehicle—a man and his girlfriend—took her to the Morvant Police Station.
"They went in and told the police that I was raped and naked in their car, and if they could come out and help me. A policeman came outside, wearing a raincoat over his uniform, and he looked at me in the back seat. He said I could not come in the police station naked; the woman asked him to give me his raincoat, and he said no, he can't do that. They end up taking me to my mother's house in Laventille; my mother brought clothes for me which I put on in their car, and they took me back to the Morvant Police Station," said the woman.
She said her mother spoke to the officers at the Morvant Police Station, one of whom then drove the alleged rape victim to the Belmont Police Station where she gave a report and was taken to the District Medical Officer for examination.
The woman urged women to be more vigilant.
She said the female companion of the good Samaritan who helped her also disclosed she, too, was a rape victim as she was raped months ago.
Contacted for a comment yesterday, Senior Superintendent in charge of the North-Eastern Division John Daniel promised to investigate the case.
Snr Supt Daniel said if such an incident had indeed occurred, "it was totally unacceptable".
The victim and her mother said they will also be filing a complaint against the officer today at the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).
The mother of the alleged rape victim said she would request Gillian Lucky, chairman of the PCA, to conduct an investigation.
"I am so upset; if it was his mother or sister, would he treat her like that? Would he turn her away and not help her? Do you know how I felt when a stranger called me and tell me that my daughter now get rape, and the police can't do nothing because she naked?" said the mother.
"My daughter is traumatised, and I cannot believe that after being raped, after suffering through something like that, the police who is supposed to protect turn her away," said the mother.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/internal?st=print&id=134094699&path=/news
Trinidad Express Newspaper National News of Trinidad and Tobago
Print this article
Naked rape victim claims station turns her away
Originally printed at http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Naked_rape_victim_claims_station_turns_her_away-134094699.html
By by Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com
November 17, 2011
A 23-year-old woman who was allegedly raped on Monday morning claimed she was further "emotionally raped" by police when she went to report the matter and was initially turned away because she was naked.
The distressed woman spoke to the Express yesterday and recounted the horrific experience.
"They (police) didn't care for my safety. They might think it's my fault I got rape, but I took a taxi like any normal person. I just got rape; I was naked, and they turned me away from the police station and didn't help me because I was naked," said the woman.
She said on Monday evening after work, she went to a casino on Tragarete Road, Port of Spain, where she stayed until 2 a.m.
"I was on Tragarete Road waiting for a taxi, and a black car came beeping its horn, and because it was so late, I got in and didn't think anything of the two men sitting in front. The car started heading to Port of Spain (downtown), but when it took a bend into Edward Street, I got scared; I told the driver I will drop off right here," said the woman.
"The man who was sitting on the passenger side in front then jumped in the back seat and grabbed my neck and tell me to keep my head down. He held me down and asked me a set of questions; where I living; how much money I have in the bank. He said if do anything, he will stab me up. He kept telling me over and over to hush," said the woman.
The woman said the driver and his accomplice took her to Lady Young Road, Morvant, in a dark trace which used to lead to a radio station.
She said both men were of African descent; the driver was dark-skinned, thick in body size and had a heavy voice, and the other man was red-skinned and had his hair in cornrows.
"They forced me out of the car, stripped me naked and the driver took me to the back of the car and raped me against the bumper. He also raped me on the ground; I was thrown on the dirt and stones and he raped me again," she said, adding the rain was falling at the time.
"They kept telling me that they will stab me up because I saw their faces, and they have to kill me," she said.
She said after the driver raped her, the second man was also about to rape her when they saw a car approaching.
The woman said she ran towards the car, and the occupants of that vehicle—a man and his girlfriend—took her to the Morvant Police Station.
"They went in and told the police that I was raped and naked in their car, and if they could come out and help me. A policeman came outside, wearing a raincoat over his uniform, and he looked at me in the back seat. He said I could not come in the police station naked; the woman asked him to give me his raincoat, and he said no, he can't do that. They end up taking me to my mother's house in Laventille; my mother brought clothes for me which I put on in their car, and they took me back to the Morvant Police Station," said the woman.
She said her mother spoke to the officers at the Morvant Police Station, one of whom then drove the alleged rape victim to the Belmont Police Station where she gave a report and was taken to the District Medical Officer for examination.
The woman urged women to be more vigilant.
She said the female companion of the good Samaritan who helped her also disclosed she, too, was a rape victim as she was raped months ago.
Contacted for a comment yesterday, Senior Superintendent in charge of the North-Eastern Division John Daniel promised to investigate the case.
Snr Supt Daniel said if such an incident had indeed occurred, "it was totally unacceptable".
The victim and her mother said they will also be filing a complaint against the officer today at the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).
The mother of the alleged rape victim said she would request Gillian Lucky, chairman of the PCA, to conduct an investigation.
"I am so upset; if it was his mother or sister, would he treat her like that? Would he turn her away and not help her? Do you know how I felt when a stranger called me and tell me that my daughter now get rape, and the police can't do nothing because she naked?" said the mother.
"My daughter is traumatised, and I cannot believe that after being raped, after suffering through something like that, the police who is supposed to protect turn her away," said the mother.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/internal?st=print&id=134094699&path=/news
6
General Discussion / Fuad bans Paediatric Hospital from accepting McDonald’s US$10,000
« on: October 19, 2011, 04:28:49 AM »Good work Colm!!!
__________________________
Health Minister Fuad Khan has banned the Wendy Fitzwilliam Paediatric Hospital from accepting a $64,000 donation from McDonald’s because of the link between the fast food industry and childhood obesity and a number of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes.
Speaking in the House of Representatives, at Tower D, Waterfront Complex, Port of Spain yesterday, Khan said that while Government was “very glad for foreign direct investment”, it was not happy to see a McDonald’s clown inside the paediatric ward, marketing the company and engaging in “subliminal advertising”.
Khan said he was shocked to see a picture in the Business Express(of October 12) of McDonald’s “Chief Happiness Officer Ronald McDonald”, a clown, announcing that McDonald’s had donated US$10,000 to the hospital.
“I would be writing to the Foundation (to instruct) that no money from these fast food enterprises should reach Mount Hope Children’s Hospital,” he said to desk thumping.
“That’s right,” Education Minister, Dr Tim Gopeesingh said.
“We have to protect our children and we have to decide, if we want to make sure that our children grow healthy and they don’t have the expense in the future, of kidney problems, et cetera,” Khan said.
He noted that this country had refused to accept $10,000 from softdrink manufacturers Pepsi and Coca Cola to replace some exercise equipment, while other Caribbean countries did.
He said there was a direct correlation between increasing obesity in the population, including alarming rates among children and adolescent, and the consumption of fast foods.
He said the correct mixture of salts, sugars and fats (especially when combined with flavour enhancers such as MSG,) created a “serious food addiction”, similar to addictive drugs, alcohol or nicotine.
Noting that Trinidad and Tobago had the highest rate of diabetes in the Caribbean, Khan said the combined economic burden of diabetes and hypertension in Trinidad was over $500 million a year.
In response, Diego Martin North East MP Colm Imbert stated that the Minister of Health meant well but he tended to say the oddest of things.
Imbert said, “This is a member (Khan) who held a fete at which there was consumption of alcohol and he attempted to make a donation to the Children’s Life Fund from the proceeds and it was refused because the proceeds came from the sale and consumption of alcohol.
“I believe he means well but he says the strangest of things. The first entity in Trinidad and Tobago whose contribution was refused to the Children’s Life Fund was none other than the Minister of Health. And he get vex you know, get on and get vex and so on when they refused to accept the money,” Imbert said.
Imbert said it was the same Khan who spoke about the fast food industry, about Mc Donald’s employing a clown named Ronald and who declared that Government would not be accepting any funds from fast foods for children’s facilities.
The Health Minister also listed a number of initiatives to deal with the backlog of surgeries.
Khan said the Ministry planned to ask doctors and nurses in the public sector to work on weekends and at times when they are not rostered to work using overtime, so that surgeries can be done outside of the existing hours of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. He said the theatres in the public health sector are currently under-utilised and were vacant for 18 hours a day, except for emergency surgeries.
Noting that the waiting list of cataract surgeries in the public sector is estimated at 5,000, higher than any of the other surgeries, he said, the surgical optimisation programme would significantly reduce this backlog.
He said there would also be some outsourcing of surgeries to the private sector where they are not provided in the public sector and private sector staff may be contracted by the Regional Health Authorities (RHA) to undertake surgeries in the public sector theatres. —RT
http://www.lifeistrinidad.com/2011/10/18/fuad-bans-paediatric-hospital-from-accepting-mcdonalds-us10000/
7
General Discussion / Tropical Wave
« on: October 16, 2011, 09:00:01 PM »
allyuh watch out tonight
TROPICAL WAVE AND FURTHER RAINFALL ACTIVITY TONIGHT
The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services is heightening its alert of flooding scenarios in Trinidad as another rainfall event is expected to occur tonight with the arrival of a Tropical Wave. The occurrence of landslides in both Trinidad and Tobago are also likely.
This tropical wave is anticipated to add anywhere between 30 – 50 millimeters of rainfall to an already burgeoning water course system.
Widespread flooding can be anticipated as the rainfall is materialized overnight.
River courses of moderate carrying capacities will become quickly inundated. The major Caroni River is expected to be severely challenged with this new rainfall event. Reports reaching the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services are that the water levels in the Caroni River are just below threshold levels.
Street/flash flood waters will be slow to retreat as river courses are swollen. Riverine flooding will be widespread and prolonged.
Citizens generally and those who live in the Caroni River Basin in particular are urgently asked to take immediate action! All necessary measures MUST be taken to preserve life and property.
WE WISH TO UNDERSCORE THAT TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO IS NOT UNDER ANY TROPICAL STORM THREAT, WATCH OR WARNING AT THIS TIME.
The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service is closely monitoring weather conditions and will issue another bulletin at 6:00am tomorrow morning or sooner if warranted.
http://www.power102fm.com/press/
TROPICAL WAVE AND FURTHER RAINFALL ACTIVITY TONIGHT
The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services is heightening its alert of flooding scenarios in Trinidad as another rainfall event is expected to occur tonight with the arrival of a Tropical Wave. The occurrence of landslides in both Trinidad and Tobago are also likely.
This tropical wave is anticipated to add anywhere between 30 – 50 millimeters of rainfall to an already burgeoning water course system.
Widespread flooding can be anticipated as the rainfall is materialized overnight.
River courses of moderate carrying capacities will become quickly inundated. The major Caroni River is expected to be severely challenged with this new rainfall event. Reports reaching the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services are that the water levels in the Caroni River are just below threshold levels.
Street/flash flood waters will be slow to retreat as river courses are swollen. Riverine flooding will be widespread and prolonged.
Citizens generally and those who live in the Caroni River Basin in particular are urgently asked to take immediate action! All necessary measures MUST be taken to preserve life and property.
WE WISH TO UNDERSCORE THAT TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO IS NOT UNDER ANY TROPICAL STORM THREAT, WATCH OR WARNING AT THIS TIME.
The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service is closely monitoring weather conditions and will issue another bulletin at 6:00am tomorrow morning or sooner if warranted.
http://www.power102fm.com/press/
8
General Discussion / Kamla has dengue
« on: August 17, 2011, 02:19:42 AM »
Allyuh think is real, or just a PR stunt?
-------------------------------------------------
Trinidad Express Newspaper National News of Trinidad and Tobago
Print this article
DENGUE STRIKES KAMLA
Originally printed at http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/DENGUE_STRIKES_KAMLA-127916578.html
By Abby Brathwaite
August 16, 2011
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has contracted the dreaded dengue disease.
A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday said Persad-Bissessar was diagnosed with dengue fever (classic type, which is the less severe strain).
"While I was consulting with the Minister of Health on how to enhance and intensify the education drive Government has embarked on to sensitise the population on the dengue fever, I became a victim of it myself," Persad-Bissessar said.
"This indicates that no one is immune from the dangerous disease, and it reinforces that the entire population must be extremely vigilant and take the necessary precautions to prevent contracting dengue, especially with children.
"Let me also emphasise the need to immediately seek professional medical attention if you have any symptoms of dengue (which include fever, body pains and headaches) since treating the disease as an ordinary flu can cause more medical problems," she added.
The Prime Minister has been advised that she can work from her home office while she continues to receive medical supervision.
She said, " I will continue to run the affairs of State unless otherwise advised by my doctors that it is not practical to do so. I wish to advise the population that despite my illness, I am following all medical instructions so as to ensure that I will soon be back on my feet and fully functioning."
Meanwhile, Health Minister Fuad Khan is suggesting that Persad-Bissessar may have contracted dengue on Friday during her walkabout in Port of Spain.
"She was walking in Port of Spain on Friday. Now anything could have bitten her in Port of Spain. I know that it takes a couple days to show itself. We are going to scan the areas wherever it is she may have been, but most likely it might have been the walk in Port of Spain," Khan told the Express in a telephone interview.
He confirmed the area surrounding the Prime Minister's residence at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's and her Phillipine home in South Trinidad will be inspected by personnel from the Insect Vector Control Division of the Ministry of Health.
The area will also be sprayed if that is deemed necessary, he added.
The Prime Minister's illness comes weeks after Khan warned of a sudden increase in the number of people reporting to health institutions with dengue.
Official data from the Ministry of Health shows there were 204 cases of suspected dengue fever cases at health institutions in July, up from 155 cases in June. In August, there is every likelihood the numbers will continue to rise, Khan said.
He added, "More people are coming for tests; more people are having fever, and more people are coming to the institutions; so most likely the incidences will be higher, but I can't say what the exact numbers for August are so far.
"I doubt there has been a decline. It might be equal to June or July, or it might tip over a little because more people are coming in for tests, so there may be a little more push over the numbers."
The Ministry of Health, Communications, Local Government and Education have embarked on a multimedia education and sensitisation programme to combat the dengue outbreak on several fronts.
Minister of Local Government Chandresh Sharma is pleading with citizens to cooperate with the Government as it continues its campaign against dengue.
Sharma said, "You need the cooperation of people because if you live in Street A and the mosquito is travelling 400 metres, it means that even if your house is clean and your neighbour's house is clean, what happens if one house on the street is not clean?"
-------------------------------------------------
Trinidad Express Newspaper National News of Trinidad and Tobago
Print this article
DENGUE STRIKES KAMLA
Originally printed at http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/DENGUE_STRIKES_KAMLA-127916578.html
By Abby Brathwaite
August 16, 2011
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has contracted the dreaded dengue disease.
A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday said Persad-Bissessar was diagnosed with dengue fever (classic type, which is the less severe strain).
"While I was consulting with the Minister of Health on how to enhance and intensify the education drive Government has embarked on to sensitise the population on the dengue fever, I became a victim of it myself," Persad-Bissessar said.
"This indicates that no one is immune from the dangerous disease, and it reinforces that the entire population must be extremely vigilant and take the necessary precautions to prevent contracting dengue, especially with children.
"Let me also emphasise the need to immediately seek professional medical attention if you have any symptoms of dengue (which include fever, body pains and headaches) since treating the disease as an ordinary flu can cause more medical problems," she added.
The Prime Minister has been advised that she can work from her home office while she continues to receive medical supervision.
She said, " I will continue to run the affairs of State unless otherwise advised by my doctors that it is not practical to do so. I wish to advise the population that despite my illness, I am following all medical instructions so as to ensure that I will soon be back on my feet and fully functioning."
Meanwhile, Health Minister Fuad Khan is suggesting that Persad-Bissessar may have contracted dengue on Friday during her walkabout in Port of Spain.
"She was walking in Port of Spain on Friday. Now anything could have bitten her in Port of Spain. I know that it takes a couple days to show itself. We are going to scan the areas wherever it is she may have been, but most likely it might have been the walk in Port of Spain," Khan told the Express in a telephone interview.
He confirmed the area surrounding the Prime Minister's residence at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's and her Phillipine home in South Trinidad will be inspected by personnel from the Insect Vector Control Division of the Ministry of Health.
The area will also be sprayed if that is deemed necessary, he added.
The Prime Minister's illness comes weeks after Khan warned of a sudden increase in the number of people reporting to health institutions with dengue.
Official data from the Ministry of Health shows there were 204 cases of suspected dengue fever cases at health institutions in July, up from 155 cases in June. In August, there is every likelihood the numbers will continue to rise, Khan said.
He added, "More people are coming for tests; more people are having fever, and more people are coming to the institutions; so most likely the incidences will be higher, but I can't say what the exact numbers for August are so far.
"I doubt there has been a decline. It might be equal to June or July, or it might tip over a little because more people are coming in for tests, so there may be a little more push over the numbers."
The Ministry of Health, Communications, Local Government and Education have embarked on a multimedia education and sensitisation programme to combat the dengue outbreak on several fronts.
Minister of Local Government Chandresh Sharma is pleading with citizens to cooperate with the Government as it continues its campaign against dengue.
Sharma said, "You need the cooperation of people because if you live in Street A and the mosquito is travelling 400 metres, it means that even if your house is clean and your neighbour's house is clean, what happens if one house on the street is not clean?"
9
General Discussion / Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps
« on: April 27, 2011, 08:17:54 AM »
Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.
Her beautiful, long blond hair was braided back a la Bo Derek in the movie "10" (or for the younger set, Christina Aguilera during her "Xtina" phase). Her lips were pink and shiny from the gloss, and her earrings dangled playfully from her lobes.
You can tell she had been vacationing somewhere warm, because you could see her deep tan around her midriff thanks to the halter top and the tight sweatpants that rested just a little low on her waist. The icing on the cake? The word "Juicy" was written on her backside.
Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see all right. ... I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she's not even in middle school yet.
Abercrombie & Fitch came under fire this spring for introducing the "Ashley," a push-up bra for girls who normally are too young to have anything to push up. Originally it was marketed for girls as young as 7, but after public outcry, it raised its intended audience to the wise old age of 12. I wonder how do people initiate a conversation in the office about the undeveloped chest of elementary school girls without someone nearby thinking they're pedophiles?
Push-up bikini controversyVideo
What kind of PowerPoint presentation was shown to the Abercrombie executives that persuaded them to green light such a product?
That there was a demand to make little girls hot?
I mean, that is the purpose of a push-up bra, right? To enhance sex appeal by lifting up, pushing together and basically showcasing the wearer's breasts. Now, thanks to AF Kids, girls don't have to wait until high school to feel self-conscious about their, uhm, girls. They can start almost as soon as they're potty trained. Maybe this fall the retailer should consider keeping a plastic surgeon on site for free consultations.
We've been here with Abercrombie before -- if you recall, about 10 years ago they sold thongs for 10-year-olds -- but they're hardly alone in pitching inappropriate clothing to young girls. Four years ago the popular "Bratz" franchise introduced padded bras called "bralettes" for girls as young as six. That was also around the time the good folks at Wal-Mart rolled out a pair of pink panties in its junior department with the phrase "Who Needs Credit Cards" printed on the front.
I guess I've been out-of-the-loop and didn't realize there's been an ongoing stampede of 10-year-old girls driving to the mall with their tiny fists full of cash demanding sexier apparel.
What's that you say? Ten-year-olds can't drive? They don't have money, either? Well, how else are they getting ahold of these push-up bras and whore-friendly panties?
Their parents?
Noooo, couldn't be.
What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, "She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top."
And then I remember the little girl at the airport. And the girls we've all seen at the mall. And the kiddie beauty pageants.
And then I realize as creepy as it is to think a store like Abercrombie is offering something like the "Ashley", the fact remains that sex only sells because people are buying it. No successful retailer would consider introducing an item like a padded bikini top for kindergartners if they didn't think people would buy it.
If they didn't think parents would buy it, which raises the question: What in the hell is wrong with us?
It's easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what's appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.
I get it, Rihanna's really popular. But that's a pretty weak reason for someone to dress their little girl like her.
I don't care how popular Lil' Wayne is, my son knows I would break both of his legs long before I would allow him to walk out of the house with his pants falling off his butt. Such a stance doesn't always makes me popular -- and the house does get tense from time to time -- but I'm his father, not his friend.
Friends bow to peer pressure. Parents say, "No, and that's the end of it."
The way I see it, my son can go to therapy later if my strict rules have scarred him. But I have peace knowing he'll be able to afford therapy as an adult because I didn't allow him to wear or do whatever he wanted as a kid.
Maybe I'm a Tiger Dad.
Maybe I should mind my own business.
Or maybe I'm just a concerned parent worried about little girls like the one I saw at the airport.
In 2007, the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls issued a report linking early sexualization with three of the most common mental-health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. There's nothing inherently wrong with parents wanting to appease their daughters by buying them the latest fashions. But is getting cool points today worth the harm dressing little girls like prostitutes could cause tomorrow?
A line needs to be drawn, but not by Abercrombie. Not by Britney Spears. And not by these little girls who don't know better and desperately need their parents to be parents and not 40-year-old BFFs.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/19/granderson.children.dress/
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.
Her beautiful, long blond hair was braided back a la Bo Derek in the movie "10" (or for the younger set, Christina Aguilera during her "Xtina" phase). Her lips were pink and shiny from the gloss, and her earrings dangled playfully from her lobes.
You can tell she had been vacationing somewhere warm, because you could see her deep tan around her midriff thanks to the halter top and the tight sweatpants that rested just a little low on her waist. The icing on the cake? The word "Juicy" was written on her backside.
Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see all right. ... I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she's not even in middle school yet.
Abercrombie & Fitch came under fire this spring for introducing the "Ashley," a push-up bra for girls who normally are too young to have anything to push up. Originally it was marketed for girls as young as 7, but after public outcry, it raised its intended audience to the wise old age of 12. I wonder how do people initiate a conversation in the office about the undeveloped chest of elementary school girls without someone nearby thinking they're pedophiles?
Push-up bikini controversyVideo
What kind of PowerPoint presentation was shown to the Abercrombie executives that persuaded them to green light such a product?
That there was a demand to make little girls hot?
I mean, that is the purpose of a push-up bra, right? To enhance sex appeal by lifting up, pushing together and basically showcasing the wearer's breasts. Now, thanks to AF Kids, girls don't have to wait until high school to feel self-conscious about their, uhm, girls. They can start almost as soon as they're potty trained. Maybe this fall the retailer should consider keeping a plastic surgeon on site for free consultations.
We've been here with Abercrombie before -- if you recall, about 10 years ago they sold thongs for 10-year-olds -- but they're hardly alone in pitching inappropriate clothing to young girls. Four years ago the popular "Bratz" franchise introduced padded bras called "bralettes" for girls as young as six. That was also around the time the good folks at Wal-Mart rolled out a pair of pink panties in its junior department with the phrase "Who Needs Credit Cards" printed on the front.
I guess I've been out-of-the-loop and didn't realize there's been an ongoing stampede of 10-year-old girls driving to the mall with their tiny fists full of cash demanding sexier apparel.
What's that you say? Ten-year-olds can't drive? They don't have money, either? Well, how else are they getting ahold of these push-up bras and whore-friendly panties?
Their parents?
Noooo, couldn't be.
What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, "She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top."
And then I remember the little girl at the airport. And the girls we've all seen at the mall. And the kiddie beauty pageants.
And then I realize as creepy as it is to think a store like Abercrombie is offering something like the "Ashley", the fact remains that sex only sells because people are buying it. No successful retailer would consider introducing an item like a padded bikini top for kindergartners if they didn't think people would buy it.
If they didn't think parents would buy it, which raises the question: What in the hell is wrong with us?
It's easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what's appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.
I get it, Rihanna's really popular. But that's a pretty weak reason for someone to dress their little girl like her.
I don't care how popular Lil' Wayne is, my son knows I would break both of his legs long before I would allow him to walk out of the house with his pants falling off his butt. Such a stance doesn't always makes me popular -- and the house does get tense from time to time -- but I'm his father, not his friend.
Friends bow to peer pressure. Parents say, "No, and that's the end of it."
The way I see it, my son can go to therapy later if my strict rules have scarred him. But I have peace knowing he'll be able to afford therapy as an adult because I didn't allow him to wear or do whatever he wanted as a kid.
Maybe I'm a Tiger Dad.
Maybe I should mind my own business.
Or maybe I'm just a concerned parent worried about little girls like the one I saw at the airport.
In 2007, the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls issued a report linking early sexualization with three of the most common mental-health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. There's nothing inherently wrong with parents wanting to appease their daughters by buying them the latest fashions. But is getting cool points today worth the harm dressing little girls like prostitutes could cause tomorrow?
A line needs to be drawn, but not by Abercrombie. Not by Britney Spears. And not by these little girls who don't know better and desperately need their parents to be parents and not 40-year-old BFFs.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/19/granderson.children.dress/
11
General Discussion / Some Justice
« on: February 12, 2011, 10:05:02 PM »
BANDIT KILLED
Barrackpore residents retaliate after bloody attack
By Carolyn Kissoon South Bureau
Story Created: Feb 11, 2011 at 11:57 PM ECT
Story Updated: Feb 11, 2011 at 11:57 PM ECT
A man who chased after two suspected criminals, who moments earlier chopped and robbed his relatives on Thursday, running them over with his car, was in police custody last night.
The 53-year-old man was detained by police, after one of the suspects, Keston Contrere, died at hospital.
The second man was beaten by vigilantes who tied him to a van and stood guard until the police arrived.
The suspects, armed with cutlasses, entered a house at Old Clarke Road, Barrackpore, around 5.20 p.m. on Thursday.
Nesha Alexander, 28, and her two children—Kevin, eleven, and Kaitlyn, four—were in the kitchen.
Her husband, Roger Narine Hosein, was asleep in a bedroom.
Alexander's mother, Angela Ali, said "She was by me, two houses away, and then left to come home around 4.30 p.m. Nesha said she and the children were in the kitchen when she heard a click on the door.
"Then two men ran in and began demanding money and jewelry.
"One of the men ran into the bedroom and started chopping 'Lils', that's how we call Roger. He couldn't retaliate because he was sleeping," she said.
Ali, 48, said her daughter and grandchildren were locked into a bathroom while the men ransacked the house and stole jewelry, cellphones and clothing.
"My daughter was beaten on the head with the cutlass. And one of the men began choking her son and asking him for the jewelry. They even tried to hit the little child, but Nesha blocked them. I cannot understand why they took her clothes, even her underwear," she said.
Hosein, a 24-year-old fish vendor, was chopped multiple times in the face and head. He remains in critical condition at the San Fernando General Hospital.
"After the men left the house, my daughter ran out screaming that someone just killed Lils. We thought he was dead," she said.
A male relative, who heard the woman's screams, ran to his car and chased after the men.
According to Ali, "He (the driver) found the men a short distance down the road. And when they saw his car they began waving the cutlass in the air and demanding that he stop. I think they were trying to get a car to escape. But he drove the car into them. The bandits got up and ran into the lagoon. (The relative) jumped out of the car and ran after the men. He was beaten with the cutlass. But some other villagers came and helped him drag out one of the bandits," Ali said.
By the time police arrived one of the suspect was captured and tied to a van. The officers went into the lagoon and fished out the second man, who was unconscious. He was pronounced dead at the Princes Town Health Facility.
The dead man was identified as 26-year-old Contrere, of King Street, Princes Town. His 23-year-old accomplice was under police guard at hospital last evening.
Ali said, "I cannot understand why the police held (the relative) who went after the bandits. If the police don't want to do their job, then they should allow other people to do it. He was trying to protect Nesha and I don't think he was wrong. He was taken into custody last night and we don't know what is happening. They said a man died and they need to do their investigations."
Alexander's home was ransacked. The bedroom's floor, mattress and towel were stained with Hosein's blood. Ali said Hosein moved in with her daughter several months ago.
Alexander's marriage, with the children's father, ended three years ago.
"But we still had a good relationship with her husband. He would come and look for us and the children went by him every other weekend. I cannot understand why these people targeted my daughter's house," she said.
Ali said her grandchildren were traumatised.
"They are not talking. My grandson is in pain because they choke him," she said.
Barrackpore residents retaliate after bloody attack
By Carolyn Kissoon South Bureau
Story Created: Feb 11, 2011 at 11:57 PM ECT
Story Updated: Feb 11, 2011 at 11:57 PM ECT
A man who chased after two suspected criminals, who moments earlier chopped and robbed his relatives on Thursday, running them over with his car, was in police custody last night.
The 53-year-old man was detained by police, after one of the suspects, Keston Contrere, died at hospital.
The second man was beaten by vigilantes who tied him to a van and stood guard until the police arrived.
The suspects, armed with cutlasses, entered a house at Old Clarke Road, Barrackpore, around 5.20 p.m. on Thursday.
Nesha Alexander, 28, and her two children—Kevin, eleven, and Kaitlyn, four—were in the kitchen.
Her husband, Roger Narine Hosein, was asleep in a bedroom.
Alexander's mother, Angela Ali, said "She was by me, two houses away, and then left to come home around 4.30 p.m. Nesha said she and the children were in the kitchen when she heard a click on the door.
"Then two men ran in and began demanding money and jewelry.
"One of the men ran into the bedroom and started chopping 'Lils', that's how we call Roger. He couldn't retaliate because he was sleeping," she said.
Ali, 48, said her daughter and grandchildren were locked into a bathroom while the men ransacked the house and stole jewelry, cellphones and clothing.
"My daughter was beaten on the head with the cutlass. And one of the men began choking her son and asking him for the jewelry. They even tried to hit the little child, but Nesha blocked them. I cannot understand why they took her clothes, even her underwear," she said.
Hosein, a 24-year-old fish vendor, was chopped multiple times in the face and head. He remains in critical condition at the San Fernando General Hospital.
"After the men left the house, my daughter ran out screaming that someone just killed Lils. We thought he was dead," she said.
A male relative, who heard the woman's screams, ran to his car and chased after the men.
According to Ali, "He (the driver) found the men a short distance down the road. And when they saw his car they began waving the cutlass in the air and demanding that he stop. I think they were trying to get a car to escape. But he drove the car into them. The bandits got up and ran into the lagoon. (The relative) jumped out of the car and ran after the men. He was beaten with the cutlass. But some other villagers came and helped him drag out one of the bandits," Ali said.
By the time police arrived one of the suspect was captured and tied to a van. The officers went into the lagoon and fished out the second man, who was unconscious. He was pronounced dead at the Princes Town Health Facility.
The dead man was identified as 26-year-old Contrere, of King Street, Princes Town. His 23-year-old accomplice was under police guard at hospital last evening.
Ali said, "I cannot understand why the police held (the relative) who went after the bandits. If the police don't want to do their job, then they should allow other people to do it. He was trying to protect Nesha and I don't think he was wrong. He was taken into custody last night and we don't know what is happening. They said a man died and they need to do their investigations."
Alexander's home was ransacked. The bedroom's floor, mattress and towel were stained with Hosein's blood. Ali said Hosein moved in with her daughter several months ago.
Alexander's marriage, with the children's father, ended three years ago.
"But we still had a good relationship with her husband. He would come and look for us and the children went by him every other weekend. I cannot understand why these people targeted my daughter's house," she said.
Ali said her grandchildren were traumatised.
"They are not talking. My grandson is in pain because they choke him," she said.
12
Cricket Anyone / LA cricket: Club helps tame Compton's mean streets
« on: February 10, 2011, 11:14:54 AM »10 February 2011 Last updated at 09:54 GMT
LA cricket: Club helps tame Compton's mean streets
By Peter Bowes
BBC News, Los Angeles
A group of former gangsters, homeless men and street kids from Compton, a Los Angeles city notorious for gang violence, is possibly the world's most unlikely cricket team - but it's now making history as the first all-American side to tour Australia.
When Ted Hayes was first asked to play cricket, he shrugged his shoulders.
"What's cricket?" the homeless charity worker responded to his friend, Hollywood producer Katy Haber, who was looking for an 11th man to play with a mostly British expat team from Beverly Hills.
"It's the same as baseball but instead of running around in circles, you run up and down," replied Ms Haber.
He decided to give it a go.
"Ted didn't have a clue," says Alexander Rufus-Isaacs, the former Captain of the Beverly Hills and Hollywood Cricket Club.
"His style of playing was eccentric - he's certainly not a classical up and down player but what he doesn't have in style he makes up for in enthusiasm."
Mr Hayes became so hooked on the game that he decided to form his own team.
At the time he and Ms Haber were running an encampment for the homeless, known as The Dome Village, in downtown Los Angeles.
"We started training the homeless guys in alleyways, with rubbish bins as stumps, in the art of cricket," explains Ms Haber.
Within months they had established a team.
"We were so successful at teaching the homeless guys civility through the game that we lost a lot players," says Ms Haber.
"They grew up and got out of the Dome Village."
It was the start of what was to become a collaboration of former gangsters, homeless men and street kids, who now see cricket as a metaphor for living a purposeful and law-abiding life.
"The dance is great and the physical action is beautiful," says Mr Hayes. "Most important is the etiquette of cricket - what it means to compete and win but be a gentleman about it."
Inspired by their success with the homeless, they turned to the impoverished and violent neighbourhood of Compton. They took their recruitment drive to the local schools and set up cricket workshops in a city that has one of the worst reputations in California as a gang heartland.
"Kids were killing themselves everyday over the colours of shoe laces," says Ms Haber.
She recalled that the sport was so alien to some youngsters that "one of the kids' brothers told their friends that their brothers were playing 'grasshopper'."
"Ted and Katy came out to our school in 1996 and spoke at our assembly about cricket," says Daniel Castaneda.
Initially he said he did not pay much attention because he was simply glad to get out of class, but he was persuaded by his friend to get involved and discovered he had a talent for the game.
A year earlier he had considered trying to join a local gang.
Against the odds, the team flourished. Known as formally as the Compton Cricket Club - or informally as the Homies and the Popz - it has toured England three times and has partnered with a number of Australian charities for their exhibition tour Down Under.
"They're very good fielders - that's the best part of their play," says Mr Rufus-Isaacs, whose Beverly Hills team meets them regularly in the local league, the Los Angeles Social Cricket Alliance.
"Probably because of their baseball upbringing they're very fast about the field - they've got very good arms and get a lot of run outs."
Reviving the city
Many of the original members, including Mr Castaneda, are still on board. He never joined a gang.
"Local kids now look upon us as role models," he says.
One player, Ricardo Salgado, a gang member since the age of 12, was not allowed to travel to Australia, because he is on parole after spending four years in prison.
Now 28, he is no longer involved in gang activity and is married with two children. He says cricket has helped turn his life around, although a large tattoo across his chest and stomach acts as a permanent reminder of his former lifestyle.
"It's like a scar," he says.
"It's my past - it's what I used to live with and what I used to live by."
The team's success has impressed the law enforcement authorities in Los Angeles. It has been praised by the Los Angeles police Department and has won the respect of a senior prosecutor, who has made a career out of taking gang members to court.
"There is a ton of unmitigated violence, gang warfare, with innocent victims being slain every day, but that's not necessarily what defines the city of Compton," says Alan Jackson, a deputy district attorney.
He said cricket - as opposed to traditional American sports - was an "excellent starting point' in trying to revive the city.
Cutting edge
"Don't be mistaken, there are plenty of gangsters in Compton who play basketball, there are plenty of gangsters who played high-school football and were in gangs at the time that they played high-school football - I prosecuted a few of them," says Mr Jackson.
"I don't think there are any cricket-playing gangsters."
The team is still battling to raise funds to build a cricket ground on its home turf. There is a football ground but no cricket pitch in Compton, which means the players have to travel around Los Angeles to practice.
But Ted Hayes prefers to focus on the bigger picture.
"We'd like to go to places of conflict and teach the idea through cricket that we can learn civility," he says.
"We can disagree and compete to win, but let's not kill each other. The world is big enough for us all to live in peace and have fun competing while making ourselves better human beings."
Mr Rufus-Isaacs thinks the US potentially a huge growth area for cricket.
"There's not a lot of home-grown talent and the Homies and the Popz are really at the cutting edge of that. One hopes that they are going to be the standard bearers and that other teams are going to follow."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12382224?print=true
13
General Discussion / JAPs and QRC boy.....quality all around
« on: February 04, 2011, 04:47:01 PM »
Success through great commitment
Arriving at the two-storey head office at Providence Street, Sangre Grande, a number of young women in the ground floor are busy preparing chicken for the various outlets. The office upstairs is busy as well with phones constantly ringing
"Every day I get ten, 15 calls...we want Japs in Debe, we want Japs in Chaguanas, we want Japs in Port of Spain," Mahabir tells the Business Express.
He sits in his office dressed in a green Japs shirt with the smiling mascot, which he later informs me is a caricature of him by an artist. The 37-year-old businessman, originally from Grande, is very still throughout the interview. His voice is steady and controlled.
At age ten, just after leaving primary school, his mother was introduced to having a business, a restaurant and bar, and he recalls she was "doing pretty good" for herself. He liked the idea of consistent cash flow on a day to day basis.
"I think my vision from small was to be a self-employed person, to be a businessman," he said.
While attending Queen's Royal College he would take orders and sales from his mother's chicken and chips business.
Fresh out of school and at the "tender" age of 17, his mother gave him the privilege to run his own restaurant and bar, N&C. Despite his early excitement, however, the venture failed.
Mahabir explained that though the business was doing very well he was not able to properly manage the cash. He continued to assist his mother with her business occasionally until 2000 "when she actually came to me and offered to hand the business over to me."
Mahabir initially refused because he did not want to face "family pressure" and also wanted his own venture. He was eventually convinced and intended to invest his capital in the troubled business, build it and then return it to her, but she had vowed that she was finished.
"Parents don't normally hand over a business fully to their children. They will give them part of it but usually want to maintain that hold," he said.
He said currently his mother is a director in Japs but she does not have that input and final say parents usually want to have. He noted that having partners established at an early stage of a business tend to bring a lot of problems, especially in the area of decision making. But his having complete control over the business "was a big big part that helped us to transform the restaurant and bar into Japs Fried Chicken".
The restaurant and bar business was originally called Bagoo's Kitchen, nickname of his mother Bhagwatee Maraj, at the original location at the corner of Foster Road and Brierley Street, Sangre Grande. She would later receive the moniker "Madam Japs" being the creator of the Japs taste.
When Mahabir took over he enhanced the recipe and stabilised the amounts so they were more exact, improved the equipment and the look of the workers, and provided a "professional outlook".
In 2007 the Sangre Grande police shut down their restaurant and bar for a weekend, informing them that they did not have the proper licence to sell both alcohol and chicken and chips but would have to choose one. The business had been selling chicken and chips as a "cutter" with alcohol for about 22 years. Mahabir felt that the food aspect had more potential and went with that.
On the name of the business, he explained that a relative previously involved with the restaurant business had the nickname "Jap" and people would say they were going to "Japs". Though he could not recall the origin when he took over the business, he inherited the name. The name had been established by the people, he explained, and he thought sticking with it was the right way to go.
They had initially wanted the name "JFC" but were unsuccessful, probably too close to KFC, and then registered the full name - Japs Fried Chicken. Five more outlets have since been added - a second in Sangre Grande on Andre Street, Tabaquite Road in Valencia, and also in Rio Claro, St Helena and San Juan.
For Mahabir, KFC "is the most prestigious fast food brand" and though he believes he cannot reach to that level he does emulate them and is motivated by their success.
Speaking on the success of Japs, Mahabir said people "just like the taste" and it was the public that created their slogan "The Best Taste Around".
He explained that what makes Japs different is the customers who appreciate a local business, outside Royal Castle, and "a different taste at a more economical value".
He noted that youths especially were fond of the brand and interested in building it, even creating a "Japs" theme song that has aired on radio and at parties. Mahabir said citizens have expressed tremendous encouragement and offered views and opinions, which he was always open to.
He loves the idea of creating sustainable employment for others and wants to employ as many as possible. He currently has 230 employees. As he progresses, he wants to "bring people up with him".
He holds daily meetings with his employees and stressed that they have to able to elevate themselves in the business. He ascribed to the "happy worker, productive worker" philosophy adding that his employees see "fairness across the board" and there is little interference from any family or friends.
He extended his great appreciation to his employees and also thanked his customers, stressing that it was important to pay attention to what they needed.
On his personal success, Mahabir noted that to be successful in business requires great commitment, seven days a week and 364 days a year, and he has shown that dedication in building Japs. He said that many people have tried in this particular industry but have not been able to expand like his.
"I think is really not about difference, you know. It's about committing yourself to achieve a goal."
The advice he would give to the younger generation is that not everything in life comes easy but you have to always pursue your dreams.
"Only your dream that you will live and enjoy."
He noted that the business has gotten involved in community work and also created Sangre Grande-based football club North East Stars, part sponsored by DirectTV.
He said Japs' progress has been "all up there" (pointing to the roof) and "every decision that we made just seemed to flow into place."
"We were guided really by the hands of God so far," he said.
On his desk is Leadership Gold by US leadership expert and pastor, John Maxwell. He is quite a fan of Maxwell's work, as he is always interested in developing his own leadership qualities, and described him a great tutor.
He noted that he grew up in the Christian faith and both his mother and wife are very "spiritually involved".
"I understand the key fact that nothing is possible without him (God)."
Last year in the general election he contested the Cumuto/Manzanilla seat for the PNM but was beaten by the UNC's Collin Partap. He described politics as an "interesting challenge" and he may possibly return to that field. He believes in the political realm he can reach out and help more people.
On the future of Japs he eventually wants to have between 15 and 20 restaurants. He announced that a mobile caravan is being planned that would occasionally visit different areas as a means of ascertaining new potential venues. He said Curepe and Arima were possible target areas and there will be a Japs in Port of Spain "soon".
"The success of Japs is really about commitment to people and to business," he said.
Arriving at the two-storey head office at Providence Street, Sangre Grande, a number of young women in the ground floor are busy preparing chicken for the various outlets. The office upstairs is busy as well with phones constantly ringing
"Every day I get ten, 15 calls...we want Japs in Debe, we want Japs in Chaguanas, we want Japs in Port of Spain," Mahabir tells the Business Express.
He sits in his office dressed in a green Japs shirt with the smiling mascot, which he later informs me is a caricature of him by an artist. The 37-year-old businessman, originally from Grande, is very still throughout the interview. His voice is steady and controlled.
At age ten, just after leaving primary school, his mother was introduced to having a business, a restaurant and bar, and he recalls she was "doing pretty good" for herself. He liked the idea of consistent cash flow on a day to day basis.
"I think my vision from small was to be a self-employed person, to be a businessman," he said.
While attending Queen's Royal College he would take orders and sales from his mother's chicken and chips business.
Fresh out of school and at the "tender" age of 17, his mother gave him the privilege to run his own restaurant and bar, N&C. Despite his early excitement, however, the venture failed.
Mahabir explained that though the business was doing very well he was not able to properly manage the cash. He continued to assist his mother with her business occasionally until 2000 "when she actually came to me and offered to hand the business over to me."
Mahabir initially refused because he did not want to face "family pressure" and also wanted his own venture. He was eventually convinced and intended to invest his capital in the troubled business, build it and then return it to her, but she had vowed that she was finished.
"Parents don't normally hand over a business fully to their children. They will give them part of it but usually want to maintain that hold," he said.
He said currently his mother is a director in Japs but she does not have that input and final say parents usually want to have. He noted that having partners established at an early stage of a business tend to bring a lot of problems, especially in the area of decision making. But his having complete control over the business "was a big big part that helped us to transform the restaurant and bar into Japs Fried Chicken".
The restaurant and bar business was originally called Bagoo's Kitchen, nickname of his mother Bhagwatee Maraj, at the original location at the corner of Foster Road and Brierley Street, Sangre Grande. She would later receive the moniker "Madam Japs" being the creator of the Japs taste.
When Mahabir took over he enhanced the recipe and stabilised the amounts so they were more exact, improved the equipment and the look of the workers, and provided a "professional outlook".
In 2007 the Sangre Grande police shut down their restaurant and bar for a weekend, informing them that they did not have the proper licence to sell both alcohol and chicken and chips but would have to choose one. The business had been selling chicken and chips as a "cutter" with alcohol for about 22 years. Mahabir felt that the food aspect had more potential and went with that.
On the name of the business, he explained that a relative previously involved with the restaurant business had the nickname "Jap" and people would say they were going to "Japs". Though he could not recall the origin when he took over the business, he inherited the name. The name had been established by the people, he explained, and he thought sticking with it was the right way to go.
They had initially wanted the name "JFC" but were unsuccessful, probably too close to KFC, and then registered the full name - Japs Fried Chicken. Five more outlets have since been added - a second in Sangre Grande on Andre Street, Tabaquite Road in Valencia, and also in Rio Claro, St Helena and San Juan.
For Mahabir, KFC "is the most prestigious fast food brand" and though he believes he cannot reach to that level he does emulate them and is motivated by their success.
Speaking on the success of Japs, Mahabir said people "just like the taste" and it was the public that created their slogan "The Best Taste Around".
He explained that what makes Japs different is the customers who appreciate a local business, outside Royal Castle, and "a different taste at a more economical value".
He noted that youths especially were fond of the brand and interested in building it, even creating a "Japs" theme song that has aired on radio and at parties. Mahabir said citizens have expressed tremendous encouragement and offered views and opinions, which he was always open to.
He loves the idea of creating sustainable employment for others and wants to employ as many as possible. He currently has 230 employees. As he progresses, he wants to "bring people up with him".
He holds daily meetings with his employees and stressed that they have to able to elevate themselves in the business. He ascribed to the "happy worker, productive worker" philosophy adding that his employees see "fairness across the board" and there is little interference from any family or friends.
He extended his great appreciation to his employees and also thanked his customers, stressing that it was important to pay attention to what they needed.
On his personal success, Mahabir noted that to be successful in business requires great commitment, seven days a week and 364 days a year, and he has shown that dedication in building Japs. He said that many people have tried in this particular industry but have not been able to expand like his.
"I think is really not about difference, you know. It's about committing yourself to achieve a goal."
The advice he would give to the younger generation is that not everything in life comes easy but you have to always pursue your dreams.
"Only your dream that you will live and enjoy."
He noted that the business has gotten involved in community work and also created Sangre Grande-based football club North East Stars, part sponsored by DirectTV.
He said Japs' progress has been "all up there" (pointing to the roof) and "every decision that we made just seemed to flow into place."
"We were guided really by the hands of God so far," he said.
On his desk is Leadership Gold by US leadership expert and pastor, John Maxwell. He is quite a fan of Maxwell's work, as he is always interested in developing his own leadership qualities, and described him a great tutor.
He noted that he grew up in the Christian faith and both his mother and wife are very "spiritually involved".
"I understand the key fact that nothing is possible without him (God)."
Last year in the general election he contested the Cumuto/Manzanilla seat for the PNM but was beaten by the UNC's Collin Partap. He described politics as an "interesting challenge" and he may possibly return to that field. He believes in the political realm he can reach out and help more people.
On the future of Japs he eventually wants to have between 15 and 20 restaurants. He announced that a mobile caravan is being planned that would occasionally visit different areas as a means of ascertaining new potential venues. He said Curepe and Arima were possible target areas and there will be a Japs in Port of Spain "soon".
"The success of Japs is really about commitment to people and to business," he said.
14
General Discussion / Papa Bois shows up in belarus
« on: January 14, 2011, 06:12:11 AM »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle, media said Thursday.
The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region.
"The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw," one prosecutor was quoted as saying.
Fox-hunting is popular in the picturesque farming region of northwestern Belarus which borders Poland.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Matthew Jones)
The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region.
"The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw," one prosecutor was quoted as saying.
Fox-hunting is popular in the picturesque farming region of northwestern Belarus which borders Poland.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Matthew Jones)
15
General Discussion / Furore over 'censored' edition of Huckleberry Finn
« on: January 06, 2011, 09:11:58 AM »
Furore over 'censored' edition of Huckleberry Finn
A new edition of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is causing controversy because of the removal of a racially offensive word.
Twain scholar Alan Gribben says the use of the word "nigger" had prompted many US schools to stop teaching the classic.
In his edition, Professor Gribben replaces the word with "slave" and also changes "injun" to "Indian".
But the publisher says hundreds of people have complained about the edits.
First published in 1884, Huckleberry Finn is considered one of the great American novels.
While telling the story of a boy's journey down the Mississippi River some time between 1835 and 1845, the novel satirises Southern attitudes on race and slavery.
History of controversy
"The book is an anti-racist book and to change the language changes the power of the book," said Cindy Lovell, executive director of The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri.
"He wrote to make us squirm and to poke us with a sharp stick. That was the purpose," she told Reuters news agency.
The novel has often been criticised for its language and characterisations and it is reported to be the fourth most banned book in US schools.
The "N-word" appears 219 times in the story.
Professor Gribben, who teaches English at Auburn University Montgomery in Alabama, said he had given many public readings of Twain's books - and that when he replaced the word with "slave", audiences were more comfortable.
He said he wanted more people, especially younger people, to be encouraged to read the novel.
"It's such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvellous reading experience and a lot of readers," he said.
But the idea has been condemned by other scholars, teachers, writers and rights activists.
"Trying to erase the word from our culture is profoundly, profoundly wrong," said Randall Kennedy, a Harvard Law School professor.
Dr Sarah Churchwell, a lecturer on American literature, told the BBC that it made a mockery of the story.
"It's about a boy growing up a racist in a racist society who learns to reject that racism, and it makes no sense if the book isn't racist," she told BBC World Service's Newshour programme. "You can't make the history of racism in America go away."
Power of words
Twain himself was very particular about his words.
He is quoted as saying that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter".
And when a printer made punctuation changes to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain wrote later that he had "given orders for the typesetter to be shot without giving him time to pray".
The publisher of this new edition of Huckleberry Finn, New South Books, says dozens of people have telephoned to complain and hundreds have sent e-mails.
The press have also weighed in to the debate, generally in defence of the original version.
"What makes Huckleberry Finn so important in American literature isn't just the story, it's the richness, the detail, the unprecedented accuracy of its spoken language," the New York Times said in an editorial. "There is no way to 'clean up' Twain without doing irreparable harm to the truth of his work."
In the UK, an editorial in The Times called the new edition "a well-intentioned act of cultural vandalism and obscurantism that constricts rather than expands the life of the mind".
The sanitised version will be published on 15 February, in a joint reissue with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which also has the offensive epithets replaced.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12126700?print=true
A new edition of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is causing controversy because of the removal of a racially offensive word.
Twain scholar Alan Gribben says the use of the word "nigger" had prompted many US schools to stop teaching the classic.
In his edition, Professor Gribben replaces the word with "slave" and also changes "injun" to "Indian".
But the publisher says hundreds of people have complained about the edits.
First published in 1884, Huckleberry Finn is considered one of the great American novels.
While telling the story of a boy's journey down the Mississippi River some time between 1835 and 1845, the novel satirises Southern attitudes on race and slavery.
History of controversy
"The book is an anti-racist book and to change the language changes the power of the book," said Cindy Lovell, executive director of The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri.
"He wrote to make us squirm and to poke us with a sharp stick. That was the purpose," she told Reuters news agency.
The novel has often been criticised for its language and characterisations and it is reported to be the fourth most banned book in US schools.
The "N-word" appears 219 times in the story.
Professor Gribben, who teaches English at Auburn University Montgomery in Alabama, said he had given many public readings of Twain's books - and that when he replaced the word with "slave", audiences were more comfortable.
He said he wanted more people, especially younger people, to be encouraged to read the novel.
"It's such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvellous reading experience and a lot of readers," he said.
But the idea has been condemned by other scholars, teachers, writers and rights activists.
"Trying to erase the word from our culture is profoundly, profoundly wrong," said Randall Kennedy, a Harvard Law School professor.
Dr Sarah Churchwell, a lecturer on American literature, told the BBC that it made a mockery of the story.
"It's about a boy growing up a racist in a racist society who learns to reject that racism, and it makes no sense if the book isn't racist," she told BBC World Service's Newshour programme. "You can't make the history of racism in America go away."
Power of words
Twain himself was very particular about his words.
He is quoted as saying that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter".
And when a printer made punctuation changes to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain wrote later that he had "given orders for the typesetter to be shot without giving him time to pray".
The publisher of this new edition of Huckleberry Finn, New South Books, says dozens of people have telephoned to complain and hundreds have sent e-mails.
The press have also weighed in to the debate, generally in defence of the original version.
"What makes Huckleberry Finn so important in American literature isn't just the story, it's the richness, the detail, the unprecedented accuracy of its spoken language," the New York Times said in an editorial. "There is no way to 'clean up' Twain without doing irreparable harm to the truth of his work."
In the UK, an editorial in The Times called the new edition "a well-intentioned act of cultural vandalism and obscurantism that constricts rather than expands the life of the mind".
The sanitised version will be published on 15 February, in a joint reissue with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which also has the offensive epithets replaced.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12126700?print=true
16
General Discussion / Transport bridge breaks down.
« on: December 13, 2010, 04:19:27 AM »
The transport bridge linking Trinidad and Tobago broke down last Saturday due to a power failure which halted the arrival of the inter-island ferry and aircraft, Tobago Development Minister Vernella Alleyne-Toppin confirmed yesterday. “The bridge between the two islands was well and truly severed because the T&T Express ferry which arrived on Saturday night could not dock and discharge its passenger and cargo loads, and the planes could not land at Crown Point International airport,” Alleyne-Toppin said. Alleyne-Toppin (also Tobago East MP) explained that the power outage which occurred in Tobago affected the electricity supply to the Scarborough port.
As a result of lack of electricity on the port, she said the landing ramp for the inter-island ferry—which arrived around 6.30 pm— could not be lowered. The ramp operates via ship-to-shore electricity supply from the port. Alleyne-Toppin said electricity to the port was down when the vessel began to dock. Port officials said they tried getting passengers off through a “porthole arrangement” to the pier beneath. But this was cancelled in favour of using a pedestrian ramp which the vessel carries. However, passengers with vehicles had to remain on the boat until around 8.15 pm when electricity supply kicked in, she added. Alleyne-Toppin said the port’s generator was not installed. She continued to monitor the situation yesterday since she said there was a cruise ship in port.
Where the Crown Point Airport was concerned, Alleyne-Toppin said the electricity outage halted the landing of aircraft since the runway lights could not come on. She said the airport was closed from 6.05 pm and reopened around 6.45 pm operating on emergency light. But although the airport’s emergency solar-powered system came into action, it could not facilitate getting all the runway lights to come on, she added. Noting that the runway’s circular field lights need to be repaired, Alleyne-Toppin said: “On Saturday, the lights went down on the southern side and only edge lights from the beginning of the runway were able to work, up to 4,500 feet and then, every other light was working.” When the outage occurred, a CA Dash-8 which was on the ground ready for take-off, departed for Trinidad.
However, CA’s flight 1554 which was due to leave Trinidad for Tobago, remained in Trinidad, she added. No international flights were scheduled to arrive in Tobago on Saturday. Alleyne-Toppin said work was being done on the runway lights up to yesterday to ensure they worked since CA’s inaugural flight from Tobago to New York was due to arrive at Crown Point last night. Alleyne-Toppin said fellow Tobago MP Dr Delmond Baker was among those affected on Saturday since he was waiting at Piarco on a flight to Tobago. “We’ve been having many more power outages since the construction of the Cove industrial project,” she said.
Alleyne-Toppin said last Saturday’s situation had grave implications for Tobago. “It is critical that we have an efficient lighting system at the airport since this has implications for conventions such as meeting FAA regulations. “Tobago is a tourism economy so when planes have to turn back it affects our market where bookings, ground transport arrangements and other affiliated matters are concerned in a domino effect. “We need to ensure free flowing systems are in place since we have patients coming to Trinidad by air. “Our port generators must also have an automatic switch-over power system when emergencies arise.”
Warner responds
Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner said yesterday that he had tried to prevent emergency situations like last Saturday’s episode at Crowne Point Airport when he had awarded the contract for runway lights. Warner had come under flack a few months ago for awarding the contract to fix the Crowne Point Airport lighting system in the absence of an Airport Authority Board. He was later instructed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to pull back the award and did so. Commenting on last Saturday’s situation with the airport lights, Warner said yesterday: “I tried my best to avert such a situation like what happened on Saturday, but I was not given the support I had expected. “But I will continue to try to make the efforts to perform to the best of my ability until such time as otherwise obtains,” he added. Warner said he was monitoring the Tobago issues where his ministry was concerned.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/general/2010/12/13/transport-bridge-breaks-down
As a result of lack of electricity on the port, she said the landing ramp for the inter-island ferry—which arrived around 6.30 pm— could not be lowered. The ramp operates via ship-to-shore electricity supply from the port. Alleyne-Toppin said electricity to the port was down when the vessel began to dock. Port officials said they tried getting passengers off through a “porthole arrangement” to the pier beneath. But this was cancelled in favour of using a pedestrian ramp which the vessel carries. However, passengers with vehicles had to remain on the boat until around 8.15 pm when electricity supply kicked in, she added. Alleyne-Toppin said the port’s generator was not installed. She continued to monitor the situation yesterday since she said there was a cruise ship in port.
Where the Crown Point Airport was concerned, Alleyne-Toppin said the electricity outage halted the landing of aircraft since the runway lights could not come on. She said the airport was closed from 6.05 pm and reopened around 6.45 pm operating on emergency light. But although the airport’s emergency solar-powered system came into action, it could not facilitate getting all the runway lights to come on, she added. Noting that the runway’s circular field lights need to be repaired, Alleyne-Toppin said: “On Saturday, the lights went down on the southern side and only edge lights from the beginning of the runway were able to work, up to 4,500 feet and then, every other light was working.” When the outage occurred, a CA Dash-8 which was on the ground ready for take-off, departed for Trinidad.
However, CA’s flight 1554 which was due to leave Trinidad for Tobago, remained in Trinidad, she added. No international flights were scheduled to arrive in Tobago on Saturday. Alleyne-Toppin said work was being done on the runway lights up to yesterday to ensure they worked since CA’s inaugural flight from Tobago to New York was due to arrive at Crown Point last night. Alleyne-Toppin said fellow Tobago MP Dr Delmond Baker was among those affected on Saturday since he was waiting at Piarco on a flight to Tobago. “We’ve been having many more power outages since the construction of the Cove industrial project,” she said.
Alleyne-Toppin said last Saturday’s situation had grave implications for Tobago. “It is critical that we have an efficient lighting system at the airport since this has implications for conventions such as meeting FAA regulations. “Tobago is a tourism economy so when planes have to turn back it affects our market where bookings, ground transport arrangements and other affiliated matters are concerned in a domino effect. “We need to ensure free flowing systems are in place since we have patients coming to Trinidad by air. “Our port generators must also have an automatic switch-over power system when emergencies arise.”
Warner responds
Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner said yesterday that he had tried to prevent emergency situations like last Saturday’s episode at Crowne Point Airport when he had awarded the contract for runway lights. Warner had come under flack a few months ago for awarding the contract to fix the Crowne Point Airport lighting system in the absence of an Airport Authority Board. He was later instructed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to pull back the award and did so. Commenting on last Saturday’s situation with the airport lights, Warner said yesterday: “I tried my best to avert such a situation like what happened on Saturday, but I was not given the support I had expected. “But I will continue to try to make the efforts to perform to the best of my ability until such time as otherwise obtains,” he added. Warner said he was monitoring the Tobago issues where his ministry was concerned.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/general/2010/12/13/transport-bridge-breaks-down
17
General Discussion / Informer Stoppers!!! call 700-tips.
« on: November 28, 2010, 02:58:52 AM »
- serious thing yes.US$10,000 for info on 'snitch'
Beetham gang offers reward:
By by Akile Simon
Story Created: Nov 27, 2010 at 11:50 PM ECT
Story Updated: Nov 27, 2010 at 11:50 PM ECT
COMMISSIONER of Police Dwayne Gibbs yesterday described allegations that a Beetham gang has offered a $US10,000 reward for information regarding a recent police raid which yielded a deadly rifle used by the United States army, as a very frightening scenario.
On November 5, officers of the North Eastern Division Task Force, acting on information, went to an open yard at Hell Yard Beetham, where they dug up a deadly M4 Colt rifle; 400 rounds of 5.56 and 7.62 calibre ammunition, which are used in Galil, SLR and AK-47 rifles; three bulletproof vests, one of them belonging to an officer employed with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service; a camouflage kit, a telescope for the M4 Colt rifle and 500 grammes of Jamaican compressed marijuana.
The rifle is specifically made for the United States Army and was the number one weapon used by the US in its wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia, police said.
Officers expressed shock at the discovery of such a deadly weapon, saying it was the first of its kind they had ever seen in the country.
Police told the Sunday Express that before the discovery of the items, they had arrested a well-known gangster from Beetham Gardens, who was later released and placed under constant surveillance, which eventually led them to the deadly stash.
During a brief telephone interview yesterday, Commissioner Gibbs said if the allegations are true, he remains very concerned on such a stance taken by criminals in order to further their nefarious activities.
"If they are offering rewards like that, well it's something that I would want to investigate very quickly. Certainly rewards are offered for various reasons and it's for their (criminals) purpose to commit other illegal acts and certainly I would want to look into it very quickly.
"What disturbs me is the fact that, if they are offering that type of reward, they got it to publish that or put that out there, that should give us a starting point to look into it more," Gibbs said.
Last week, the Sunday Express received reliable information from a source at Beetham that the reward was offered in exchange for information leading to the person(s) who would have directed police to the illegal stash. Police sources have also confirmed that they too heard of the reward, which was very alarming in their fight against crime. Officers said such actions could have serious consequences since the leader of the gang is indicating that he will kill the person(s) who may have given the information to police.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/US_10_000_for_info_on__snitch_-110920254.html
18
Football / Anil vs Fearless one today
« on: October 30, 2010, 06:28:46 PM »
Aye! what play off in this big clash? no one tuned in?
19
General Discussion / Row over PNM speakers
« on: October 29, 2010, 10:09:56 AM »
Manning vs Marlene in House today..
Row over PNM speakers
GAIL ALEXANDER
Published: 29 Oct 2010
Who’ll get to speak first—former PNM leader Patrick Manning or PNM chief whip Marlene McDonald? That’s the question hovering over today’s House of Representatives session where the PNM’s contribution to debate on proposed bail amendment legislation will be in the spotlight. Both Manning and McDonald have signalled that they would lead off PNM’s reply on the bill after it is piloted by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan today. And House Speaker Wade Mark would have to decide who beats who to the punch and gets the nod to speak. A statement from Manning’s San Fernando East constituency followed yesterday’s exclusive Guardian story, further confirming that the former PM would be breaking his five-month long silence in the House today.
The statement described the move as Manning being “scheduled to make his contribution” to Parliament today. Manning has not spoken since the new Government was installed. He is the longest serving Member of Parliament, having served since 1971 and being Prime Minister on four separate occasions since 1991. The San Fernando East statement indicated that in today’s bail bill debate, Manning proposes “to take the Government to task for its handling of the crime situation.” The constituency statement also said Manning “will lead off the Opposition’s response to a presentation by the Attorney General on the Bail (Amendment) Bill 2010.” However yesterday, a PNM spokesman said that PNM chief whip McDonald had notified the House Speaker’s office yesterday morning that she would lead off the PNM’s reply on the bill.
The spokesman said Manning had been allocated third place in the speaking order of debate. The PNM official said McDonald, an attorney, indicated to the Speaker she would be followed by PNM MP Donna Cox, also an attorney. The spokesman said speakers on the issue were identified by PNM’s caucus on Monday. Other MPs who would speak apart from McDonald and Cox would be communicated to the Speaker today, the spokesman added. Those speakers are in order: Manning, along with PNM MPs Patricia McIntosh, Colm Imbert, Nileung Hypolite and Alicia Hospedales. The PNM official said Manning had not attended Monday’s PNM caucus and had not done so since the party’s election defeat.
“The rules of the caucus since the last caucus leader’s (Imbert) time was that if you are not present at caucus, you are not assigned to speak,” the official said.
“Recently, a couple MPs who missed caucus asked to speak on matters they had interest in. They made the request and were assigned to speak...we have procedures.” The official said Manning indicated to the chief whip three weeks ago that he wanted to speak on the upcoming anti-gang legislation (expected on November 12) and this has been officially scheduled. However, they said Manning only indicated on Tuesday—after Monday’s PNM caucus—that he wanted to speak in today’s bail bill debate. Parliament officials said yesterday that they were hoping the situation with the two PNM MPs vying to lead off, did not cause any procedural entanglement. They pointed out—a fact confirmed by the PNM also—that despite any official notification of speakers, the rule is whoever catches the Speaker’s eye will be allowed to speak in debate. The bail bill debate will take place after debate on a land acquisition Act. PNM’s speakers for the latter debate are Opposition Leader Keith Rowley and MP Imbert.
PNM sources said McDonald—who was unavailable yesterday—firmly intends speaking on the bail bill. PNM leader Keith Rowley did not reply to cellphone calls. Contacted yesterday on the possible clash of PNM speakers, a spokesman from Manning’s San Fernando East office was unable to say if Manning’s lead-off position for the debate was approved by PNM’s caucus on Monday. She said all the information in hand was that Manning would lead off. Some PNM members said yesterday that Manning should lead off the bail bill debate since he is the former chairman of the National Security Council and had much information on the crime situation. Other PNMites say McDonald and Cox are best suited to lead off and deal with the bill’s possible impact on the public’s rights, the judiciary and the Constitution.
Supporters from Manning’s San Fernando East constituency are expected to attend today’s House sitting to support their MP’s expected address, a San Fernando East official said. PNM senators who were appointed by PNM leader Rowley are also expected to attend in support of McDonald. The bail bill which curtails bail in an expanded number of situations requires a three fifth majority vote for passage—about 25 or 26 votes, People’s Partnership officials said. Government has a 29-seat majority in the House.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/politics/2010/10/29/row-over-pnm-speakers
Row over PNM speakers
GAIL ALEXANDER
Published: 29 Oct 2010
Who’ll get to speak first—former PNM leader Patrick Manning or PNM chief whip Marlene McDonald? That’s the question hovering over today’s House of Representatives session where the PNM’s contribution to debate on proposed bail amendment legislation will be in the spotlight. Both Manning and McDonald have signalled that they would lead off PNM’s reply on the bill after it is piloted by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan today. And House Speaker Wade Mark would have to decide who beats who to the punch and gets the nod to speak. A statement from Manning’s San Fernando East constituency followed yesterday’s exclusive Guardian story, further confirming that the former PM would be breaking his five-month long silence in the House today.
The statement described the move as Manning being “scheduled to make his contribution” to Parliament today. Manning has not spoken since the new Government was installed. He is the longest serving Member of Parliament, having served since 1971 and being Prime Minister on four separate occasions since 1991. The San Fernando East statement indicated that in today’s bail bill debate, Manning proposes “to take the Government to task for its handling of the crime situation.” The constituency statement also said Manning “will lead off the Opposition’s response to a presentation by the Attorney General on the Bail (Amendment) Bill 2010.” However yesterday, a PNM spokesman said that PNM chief whip McDonald had notified the House Speaker’s office yesterday morning that she would lead off the PNM’s reply on the bill.
The spokesman said Manning had been allocated third place in the speaking order of debate. The PNM official said McDonald, an attorney, indicated to the Speaker she would be followed by PNM MP Donna Cox, also an attorney. The spokesman said speakers on the issue were identified by PNM’s caucus on Monday. Other MPs who would speak apart from McDonald and Cox would be communicated to the Speaker today, the spokesman added. Those speakers are in order: Manning, along with PNM MPs Patricia McIntosh, Colm Imbert, Nileung Hypolite and Alicia Hospedales. The PNM official said Manning had not attended Monday’s PNM caucus and had not done so since the party’s election defeat.
“The rules of the caucus since the last caucus leader’s (Imbert) time was that if you are not present at caucus, you are not assigned to speak,” the official said.
“Recently, a couple MPs who missed caucus asked to speak on matters they had interest in. They made the request and were assigned to speak...we have procedures.” The official said Manning indicated to the chief whip three weeks ago that he wanted to speak on the upcoming anti-gang legislation (expected on November 12) and this has been officially scheduled. However, they said Manning only indicated on Tuesday—after Monday’s PNM caucus—that he wanted to speak in today’s bail bill debate. Parliament officials said yesterday that they were hoping the situation with the two PNM MPs vying to lead off, did not cause any procedural entanglement. They pointed out—a fact confirmed by the PNM also—that despite any official notification of speakers, the rule is whoever catches the Speaker’s eye will be allowed to speak in debate. The bail bill debate will take place after debate on a land acquisition Act. PNM’s speakers for the latter debate are Opposition Leader Keith Rowley and MP Imbert.
PNM sources said McDonald—who was unavailable yesterday—firmly intends speaking on the bail bill. PNM leader Keith Rowley did not reply to cellphone calls. Contacted yesterday on the possible clash of PNM speakers, a spokesman from Manning’s San Fernando East office was unable to say if Manning’s lead-off position for the debate was approved by PNM’s caucus on Monday. She said all the information in hand was that Manning would lead off. Some PNM members said yesterday that Manning should lead off the bail bill debate since he is the former chairman of the National Security Council and had much information on the crime situation. Other PNMites say McDonald and Cox are best suited to lead off and deal with the bill’s possible impact on the public’s rights, the judiciary and the Constitution.
Supporters from Manning’s San Fernando East constituency are expected to attend today’s House sitting to support their MP’s expected address, a San Fernando East official said. PNM senators who were appointed by PNM leader Rowley are also expected to attend in support of McDonald. The bail bill which curtails bail in an expanded number of situations requires a three fifth majority vote for passage—about 25 or 26 votes, People’s Partnership officials said. Government has a 29-seat majority in the House.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/politics/2010/10/29/row-over-pnm-speakers
20
General Discussion / UK aid worker may have been killed by rescuers' grenade
« on: October 11, 2010, 07:37:30 AM »
UK aid worker may have been killed by rescuers' grenade
British aid worker Linda Norgrove may have been accidentally killed by US forces during a rescue mission in Afghanistan, David Cameron has said.
International forces there originally said the 36-year-old died on Friday when one of her captors detonated a suicide vest.
But the prime minister said new details had come to light suggesting her death may have resulted from a US grenade.
He said he had spoken to her family about the "deeply distressing" news.
Mr Cameron said he was told of the new developments in a phone call from Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Afghanistan, on Monday morning.
He said the general told him US forces were deeply dismayed at the outcome and said it was "deeply regrettable" that information published on Saturday about Ms Norgrove was highly likely to have been incorrect.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall said the latest developments would raise questions over UK and US relations and the possibility there was an attempt to cover up the circumstances of Ms Norgrove's death.
At the Downing Street press conference, Mr Cameron defended the rescue mission, saying it had his full support as Ms Norgrove had been in "grave danger".
He said: "The decision to launch this rescue operation was not an easy one. But I am clear that Linda's life was in grave danger from the moment she was taken.
"Those on the ground and in London feared that she was going to be passed up the terrorist chain which would increase further the already high risk that she would be killed."
Mr Cameron said 12 meetings of the government emergencies committee, Cobra, had taken place before Foreign Secretary William Hague and the US agreed the rescue attempt should go ahead. His decision was then approved by the prime minister.
It had been thought that Ms Norgrove had been killed by her abductors just as US forces reached the compound in which she was being held in Afghanistan.
But at the start of the press conference, Mr Cameron said it had since emerged that she may have died as a result of a US grenade being detonated during the rescue.
Mr Cameron said it had not yet been confirmed that was the case but a full US/UK investigation was being launched.
"We must get to the bottom of what happened, first of all so the family gets this information and knows exactly how their wonderful daughter died," he said.
Mr Cameron told the press conference: "My thoughts and the thoughts of the whole country are with them, as they come to terms with the death of their daughter and this deeply distressing development.
"Linda's death is a tragedy for her family and those who worked alongside her in Afghanistan. She was a dedicated professional doing a job she loved in a country she loved."
Speaking from the Isle of Lewis, Mr Norgrove said: "We are not saying anything to the press at the moment. We might issue a statement in another day or two, we're not certain, but now we are not saying anything."
Mr Cameron added that Ms Norgrove, who was seized in the province of Kunar on 26 September, was being held in remote and high mountains, making the rescue operation very difficult.
Three local staff were also kidnapped alongside Ms Norgrove when the two cars they were travelling in were ambushed. The staff were released unharmed last week.
The Briton, who was employed by US aid group DAI, is believed to have been taken by her captors from village to village as British, Afghan and other intelligence agencies searched the remote area.
It was reported that tribal elders negotiating her release asked Nato not to intervene so they had more time.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11514210?print=true
British aid worker Linda Norgrove may have been accidentally killed by US forces during a rescue mission in Afghanistan, David Cameron has said.
International forces there originally said the 36-year-old died on Friday when one of her captors detonated a suicide vest.
But the prime minister said new details had come to light suggesting her death may have resulted from a US grenade.
He said he had spoken to her family about the "deeply distressing" news.
Mr Cameron said he was told of the new developments in a phone call from Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Afghanistan, on Monday morning.
He said the general told him US forces were deeply dismayed at the outcome and said it was "deeply regrettable" that information published on Saturday about Ms Norgrove was highly likely to have been incorrect.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall said the latest developments would raise questions over UK and US relations and the possibility there was an attempt to cover up the circumstances of Ms Norgrove's death.
At the Downing Street press conference, Mr Cameron defended the rescue mission, saying it had his full support as Ms Norgrove had been in "grave danger".
He said: "The decision to launch this rescue operation was not an easy one. But I am clear that Linda's life was in grave danger from the moment she was taken.
"Those on the ground and in London feared that she was going to be passed up the terrorist chain which would increase further the already high risk that she would be killed."
Mr Cameron said 12 meetings of the government emergencies committee, Cobra, had taken place before Foreign Secretary William Hague and the US agreed the rescue attempt should go ahead. His decision was then approved by the prime minister.
It had been thought that Ms Norgrove had been killed by her abductors just as US forces reached the compound in which she was being held in Afghanistan.
But at the start of the press conference, Mr Cameron said it had since emerged that she may have died as a result of a US grenade being detonated during the rescue.
Mr Cameron said it had not yet been confirmed that was the case but a full US/UK investigation was being launched.
"We must get to the bottom of what happened, first of all so the family gets this information and knows exactly how their wonderful daughter died," he said.
Mr Cameron told the press conference: "My thoughts and the thoughts of the whole country are with them, as they come to terms with the death of their daughter and this deeply distressing development.
"Linda's death is a tragedy for her family and those who worked alongside her in Afghanistan. She was a dedicated professional doing a job she loved in a country she loved."
Speaking from the Isle of Lewis, Mr Norgrove said: "We are not saying anything to the press at the moment. We might issue a statement in another day or two, we're not certain, but now we are not saying anything."
Mr Cameron added that Ms Norgrove, who was seized in the province of Kunar on 26 September, was being held in remote and high mountains, making the rescue operation very difficult.
Three local staff were also kidnapped alongside Ms Norgrove when the two cars they were travelling in were ambushed. The staff were released unharmed last week.
The Briton, who was employed by US aid group DAI, is believed to have been taken by her captors from village to village as British, Afghan and other intelligence agencies searched the remote area.
It was reported that tribal elders negotiating her release asked Nato not to intervene so they had more time.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11514210?print=true
21
General Discussion / Hungarian chemical sludge spill reaches Danube
« on: October 07, 2010, 12:04:19 PM »
Hungarian chemical sludge spill reaches Danube
Toxic red sludge from a spill at an industrial plant in Hungary has reached the River Danube, officials say.
They said alkaline levels that killed all fish in one river were now greatly reduced, but were being monitored.
PM Viktor Orban called the spill an "ecological tragedy". There are fears the mud, which burst out of a reservoir on Monday, could poison the Danube.
Countries downstream from Hungary, including Croatia, Serbia and Romania, are drawing up emergency plans.
A million cubic metres (35m cu ft) of the sludge spilled from a reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka in western Hungary. Four people were killed and about 100 injured.
The mud also caused massive damage in nearby villages and towns, as well as a wide swath of farmland.
No victory declaration
Disaster official Tibor Dobson said all life in the Marcal river, which feeds the Danube, had been "extinguished".
The BBC's Nick Thorpe in western Hungary says news that the spill has now reached the Danube is worrying.
Tests are being carried out for two potential hazards - a powerful alkaline solution and heavy metals.
Officials say both are below toxic levels for humans in the Danube and its tributary, the Raba.
But Mr Dobson said this was "by no means a victory declaration".
Dead fish have been spotted in both rivers, Mr Dobson notes.
To save their eco-system, he adds, pH levels must be reduced to 8 from about 9 recently recorded at the confluence of the Raba with the Danube.
The authorities have been pouring a mixture of clay and acid to reduce alkalinity.
"The main effort is now being concentrated on the Raba and the Danube," Mr Dobson said. "That's what has to be saved."
Abandoning villages
Environmental expert Paul Younger of Newcastle University says high alkaline concentrations are an irritant, but not life-threatening for people.
"It's not like a big cyanide spill," he told the BBC.
The sludge itself is a hazardous mixture of water and mining waste containing heavy metals.
The victims are believed to have drowned, with the depth of the fast-moving flood reaching 2m (6.5ft) in places, but many of those injured suffered chemical burns.
On Thursday Mr Orban visited the village of Kolontar, the worst-affected settlement, and said some areas would have to be abandoned.
"Hungary is strong enough to be able to combat the effects of such a catastrophe. But we're still open to any expertise which will help us combat the pollution effects," he added.
Angry villagers confronted a company official in Kolontar on Wednesday evening. They say they plan to sue the firm for damages.
Herwit Schuster, a spokesman for Greenpeace International, described the spill as "one of the top three environmental disasters in Europe in the last 20 or 30 years".
Land had been "polluted and destroyed for a long time", he told AP.
"If there are substances like arsenic and mercury, that would affect river systems and ground water on long-term basis," he added.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11491412?print=true
Toxic red sludge from a spill at an industrial plant in Hungary has reached the River Danube, officials say.
They said alkaline levels that killed all fish in one river were now greatly reduced, but were being monitored.
PM Viktor Orban called the spill an "ecological tragedy". There are fears the mud, which burst out of a reservoir on Monday, could poison the Danube.
Countries downstream from Hungary, including Croatia, Serbia and Romania, are drawing up emergency plans.
A million cubic metres (35m cu ft) of the sludge spilled from a reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka in western Hungary. Four people were killed and about 100 injured.
The mud also caused massive damage in nearby villages and towns, as well as a wide swath of farmland.
No victory declaration
Disaster official Tibor Dobson said all life in the Marcal river, which feeds the Danube, had been "extinguished".
The BBC's Nick Thorpe in western Hungary says news that the spill has now reached the Danube is worrying.
Tests are being carried out for two potential hazards - a powerful alkaline solution and heavy metals.
Officials say both are below toxic levels for humans in the Danube and its tributary, the Raba.
But Mr Dobson said this was "by no means a victory declaration".
Dead fish have been spotted in both rivers, Mr Dobson notes.
To save their eco-system, he adds, pH levels must be reduced to 8 from about 9 recently recorded at the confluence of the Raba with the Danube.
The authorities have been pouring a mixture of clay and acid to reduce alkalinity.
"The main effort is now being concentrated on the Raba and the Danube," Mr Dobson said. "That's what has to be saved."
Abandoning villages
Environmental expert Paul Younger of Newcastle University says high alkaline concentrations are an irritant, but not life-threatening for people.
"It's not like a big cyanide spill," he told the BBC.
The sludge itself is a hazardous mixture of water and mining waste containing heavy metals.
The victims are believed to have drowned, with the depth of the fast-moving flood reaching 2m (6.5ft) in places, but many of those injured suffered chemical burns.
On Thursday Mr Orban visited the village of Kolontar, the worst-affected settlement, and said some areas would have to be abandoned.
"Hungary is strong enough to be able to combat the effects of such a catastrophe. But we're still open to any expertise which will help us combat the pollution effects," he added.
Angry villagers confronted a company official in Kolontar on Wednesday evening. They say they plan to sue the firm for damages.
Herwit Schuster, a spokesman for Greenpeace International, described the spill as "one of the top three environmental disasters in Europe in the last 20 or 30 years".
Land had been "polluted and destroyed for a long time", he told AP.
"If there are substances like arsenic and mercury, that would affect river systems and ground water on long-term basis," he added.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11491412?print=true
24
General Discussion / US hospital to treat local children for free
« on: September 30, 2010, 08:41:33 AM »
US hospital to treat local children for free
Story Created: Sep 30, 2010 at 12:45 AM ECT
Story Updated: Sep 30, 2010 at 12:45 AM ECT
CHILDREN in Trinidad and Tobago in dire need of medical treatment for various illnesses, will be treated at the Shriners Hospital for Children in the United States free of charge.
Officials at the Shriners hospital, a network of 22 pediatric non-profit hospitals, have agreed to treat children from this country for various types of illnesses, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday during a press conference at the VIP Lounge of the Piarco International Airport, after returning from her trip to the United States.
Persad-Bissessar made the comment as she outlined some of the achievements attained during her trip.
She said her meeting with officials from the hospital, which provides specialty care particularly to children, was very exciting and the Government will only have to cover the travel expenses for any child who has to be treated at any of the hospitals under Shriners. She said the only stipulation of the hospital was that patients must be under the age of 18 and treatable.
The Prime Minister said she also met with Trinidadians living in Brooklyn who have pledged annual financial support for the Children's Life Fund. She said she also sought the assistance of crime-fighting leaders in the United States with respect to strategies and tactics to combat gang violence and narcotics trafficking, which has fuelled a the high homicide in the country.
The Prime Minister said she also held fruitful discussions on the Millennium Development Goal Summit; United Nations General Assembly; and bilateral meetings were also held with Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon to further the country's development.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/US_hospital_to_treat_local_children_for_free-104056298.html
Story Created: Sep 30, 2010 at 12:45 AM ECT
Story Updated: Sep 30, 2010 at 12:45 AM ECT
CHILDREN in Trinidad and Tobago in dire need of medical treatment for various illnesses, will be treated at the Shriners Hospital for Children in the United States free of charge.
Officials at the Shriners hospital, a network of 22 pediatric non-profit hospitals, have agreed to treat children from this country for various types of illnesses, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday during a press conference at the VIP Lounge of the Piarco International Airport, after returning from her trip to the United States.
Persad-Bissessar made the comment as she outlined some of the achievements attained during her trip.
She said her meeting with officials from the hospital, which provides specialty care particularly to children, was very exciting and the Government will only have to cover the travel expenses for any child who has to be treated at any of the hospitals under Shriners. She said the only stipulation of the hospital was that patients must be under the age of 18 and treatable.
The Prime Minister said she also met with Trinidadians living in Brooklyn who have pledged annual financial support for the Children's Life Fund. She said she also sought the assistance of crime-fighting leaders in the United States with respect to strategies and tactics to combat gang violence and narcotics trafficking, which has fuelled a the high homicide in the country.
The Prime Minister said she also held fruitful discussions on the Millennium Development Goal Summit; United Nations General Assembly; and bilateral meetings were also held with Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon to further the country's development.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/US_hospital_to_treat_local_children_for_free-104056298.html
25
General Discussion / ISRAELIS GUILTY OF EXECUTION
« on: September 30, 2010, 08:34:24 AM »KARL Hudson-Phillips QC urged that Israel and the Palestinian people both find “their place under the heavens” in the report of the United Nations’ (UN) Fact-Finding Mission into last May’s Gaza Flotilla Raid in which Israeli soldiers killed nine protesters.
The report was scathing of the conduct of Israeli soldiers.
“The circumstances of the killing of at least six of the passengers were in a manner consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution.”
The Mission, chaired by Hudson-Phillips, paints a picture of an Israeli military that was out of control during the boarding of the flotilla, and during the later deportation of protesters, some of whom were badly beaten by groups of soldiers while detained at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv.
The report, which Hudson-Phillips delivered on Monday at the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland, listed an exchange of letters between Hudson-Phillips and Israel’s UN representative, Aaron Leshno Yaar. Hudson-Phillips asked for permission to travel to Israel and Gaza to meet witnesses, but Yaar said the Mission’s probe was “unnecessary and unproductive”, given the Yaakov Turkel probe by the Israeli government, and the other by UN head Ban Ki- moon.
Hudson-Phillips’ report lamented a “deplorable situation” in Gaza that is “totally intolerable and unacceptable”.
“Abject poverty among refugees has tripled since the (2007) imposition of the blockade from 100,000 to 300,000 and 61 percent of households are food insecure,” said the report. “On a daily basis, 80 million litres of untreated and partially treated sewage is discharged into the environment. ...As a result of sewage infiltrating into the aquifer only between five and ten percent of the extracted water is safe.”
Advocating “justice and fair play” over “old antagonisms”, the report said, “One has to find the strength to pluck rooted sorrows from the memory and to move on.”
Regarding the flotilla raid, the report also warned, “Similar disasters are likely to reoccur unless there is a dramatic shift in the existing paradigm. Peace and respect have to be earned, not bludgeoned out of an opponent.”
The report was damning of the raid, saying that on one ship boarded, “lethal force was employed by the Israeli soldiers in a widespread and arbitrary manner which caused an unnecessarily large number of persons to be killed or seriously injured.”
Live bullets, plastic bullets, stun grenades, tear gas, paint-balls, and electro-shocks were used.
The leader of the protesters had waved a white shirt to surrender but to no avail.
Even passengers who were not resisting the soldiers were wounded and killed.
“Israeli soldiers continued shooting at passengers who had already been wounded, with live ammunition, soft baton charges (beanbags) and plastic bullets.”
Protesters were restricted with plastic-handcuffs so tightly that some still suffer damaged nerves three months later. Some were made to kneel on deck for hours, being kicked and bunched by Israeli soldiers and hit with rifle butts. Rude sexual remarks were made about female protesters. Detainees were denied access to the toilet and some females were strip searched in sight of male soldiers.
A doctor awaiting deportation at the airport was badly abused by soldiers.
“He was subject to verbal insults as he passed through a checkpoint. An officer slapped him on the back of the head and when he protested he was set upon by a group of uniformed officers, knocked to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked. He was then dragged out of sight...Attempts were made to break his fingers. He was restrained by metal handcuffs behind his back so tightly that he lost feeling to one hand. He was then hoisted up by the handcuffs...”.
Although not offered as a justification , the report notes some factors mitigating the Israeli action. It alluded that Israel had clear and known restrictions on access to Gaza, which has no deep sea- port to receive the aid of the flotilla whose primary objective was political (rather than humanitarian).
The report said the soldiers had met significant and unexpected resistance in the raid. Two Israeli soldiers were caught by the protesters and then disarmed. “A number of the passengers on the top deck fought with the soldiers using their fists, sticks, metal rods and knives. At least one of the soldiers was stabbed...”. Elsewhere three soldiers were caught and taken inside the ship, where some passengers wished to harm them while others protected them.
The report alleged a cover-up of sorts by the Israelis whom allegedly denied the Mission access to film-footage of the raid. The report spoke of “inconsistent and contradictory” Israeli accounts. “Four passengers have alleged that their credit cards and cellphones, after confiscation by the military, had been used in Israel. One alleged that $1,000 had been spent from his credit card.
“It was reported by the Israeli media that at least four Israeli soldiers have been detained on suspicion of stealing and selling laptops belonging to passengers.”
© newsday.co.tt - www.newsday.co.tt
26
General Discussion / Real-Life 'Iron Man' Mechanical Suit Unveiled
« on: September 30, 2010, 08:18:36 AM »
Real-Life 'Iron Man' Mechanical Suit Unveiled
by Matt McDaniel · September 29, 2010
In 1963, Stan Lee imagined that a mechanized suit that could boost the wearer's strength and mobility might turn an average person into a superhero. That idea became the comic book "Iron Man." Today, a tech company is trying to turn that same notion into a reality.
This week, Raytheon Sarcos unveiled the XOS 2, a real-life mechanical exoskeleton suit that dramatically increases the strength of the person wearing it. Since "Iron Man 2" is hitting DVD shelves this week as well, they invited actor Clark Gregg, who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson in the movie, to come to the company's Utah research facility and try it on for himself.
Watch a demonstration of the suit >>
Like Tony Stark, the inventor inside the Iron Man armor, Raytheon Sarcos produces defense technology for the military. The XOS 2 suit is intended to allow military personnel to lift heavy objects and perform repeated tasks without risking fatigue or injury. The company says the suit can allow one soldier to do the work of three and in less time. Someone in the XOS 2 can lift a 200 pound weight several hundred times without getting tired.
The XOS 2 is still a prototype, and it needs to be attached to a hydraulic engine in order to operate. But the company is working to increase its efficiency to the point where it will independently on a small onboard engine. While the suit looks bulky, it's maneuverable enough for the operator to do push-ups, climb stairs, and kick around a soccer ball.
Watch an exclusive DVD feature from 'Iron Man 2' >>
Raytheon's Dr. Frasier Smith told Engadget that right now the company is focused on creating suits for "logistics" -- lifting and carrying heavy equipment -- but that armored combat models are still in the planning stage. The company hopes to have their suits in operation within the next five years. There is no word on whether or not they plan to equip the suits with rocket boots or repulsor rays.
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-real-life-iron-man-suit-unveiled.html
by Matt McDaniel · September 29, 2010
In 1963, Stan Lee imagined that a mechanized suit that could boost the wearer's strength and mobility might turn an average person into a superhero. That idea became the comic book "Iron Man." Today, a tech company is trying to turn that same notion into a reality.
This week, Raytheon Sarcos unveiled the XOS 2, a real-life mechanical exoskeleton suit that dramatically increases the strength of the person wearing it. Since "Iron Man 2" is hitting DVD shelves this week as well, they invited actor Clark Gregg, who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson in the movie, to come to the company's Utah research facility and try it on for himself.
Watch a demonstration of the suit >>
Like Tony Stark, the inventor inside the Iron Man armor, Raytheon Sarcos produces defense technology for the military. The XOS 2 suit is intended to allow military personnel to lift heavy objects and perform repeated tasks without risking fatigue or injury. The company says the suit can allow one soldier to do the work of three and in less time. Someone in the XOS 2 can lift a 200 pound weight several hundred times without getting tired.
The XOS 2 is still a prototype, and it needs to be attached to a hydraulic engine in order to operate. But the company is working to increase its efficiency to the point where it will independently on a small onboard engine. While the suit looks bulky, it's maneuverable enough for the operator to do push-ups, climb stairs, and kick around a soccer ball.
Watch an exclusive DVD feature from 'Iron Man 2' >>
Raytheon's Dr. Frasier Smith told Engadget that right now the company is focused on creating suits for "logistics" -- lifting and carrying heavy equipment -- but that armored combat models are still in the planning stage. The company hopes to have their suits in operation within the next five years. There is no word on whether or not they plan to equip the suits with rocket boots or repulsor rays.
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-real-life-iron-man-suit-unveiled.html
27
General Discussion / Mt Hope patients for Caura beds
« on: July 08, 2010, 08:27:27 AM »Mt Hope patients for Caura beds
By Newsday Reporter Thursday, July 8 2010
click on pic to zoom in
Therese Baptiste-Cornelis...
Health Minister Therese Baptiste-Cornelis yesterday said unused beds at the Caura Hospital will be used to accommodate the “overflow” of patients at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Hope.
Baptiste-Cornelis got a first hand look at conditions at the Caura Hospital yesterday during a surprise visit and saw unused beds, unacceptable conditions at the kitchen and the need for refurbishment of certain areas. Her visit came following a request from Tunapuna MP and Finance Minister Winston Dookeran who accompanied her during the tour. She told the media Dookeran asked her to visit after he was alerted of conditions by retirees who worked at the facility.
Last year, additional beds were purchased and housed at Caura for patients who had to isolated in response to last year’s H1N1 scare. Baptiste-Cornelis said the beds were “on hold” but will now be used. There were 48 beds ready and 40 others which required mattresses. Baptiste-Cornelis said the available space will be utilised since there was “some problems” with bed capacity at the EWMSC. There have been reports in the past of persons having to wait between 24 to 36 hours for a bed to become available. Baptiste-Cornelis said the staff was available for patients.
Responding to concerns about persons who may not want to be housed at the facility because it is used for the treatment of patients with tuberculosis, Baptiste-Cornelis said the area where patients will be housed will be on the south side, while the north side was used for patients with infectious diseases.
North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) CEO Ronald Tsoi-a-Fatt said the patients sent to Caura will be those who are convalescing. “Apart from that we are looking at other services such as palliative oncology care and so on so that some patients currently housed at Eric Williams can be effectively seen,” he said.
Public Services Association president Watson Duke spoke of the unacceptable conditions for staff during a meeting with the minister more than a week ago.
“We saw some of those things. Yes there is need for refurbishment and such will be expedited to ensure the staff have adequate facilities and refurbishment plans are going to be started like tomorrow for those areas,” Baptiste-Cornelis said.
She described the kitchen as unacceptable and said Tsoi-a-Fatt agreed with her.
“We saw problems with the chiller. Foods were being stored in not what I would consider the proper hygienic method. They are doing their best in the circumstances they have inside there. They showed me certain machinery not functioning. They do not have a sink. The guys actually have to stand up and wash pots on the ground.”
Tsoi-a-Fatt said the NCRHA was trying to develop its floor managers and the dietician was the person in charge of the kitchen and responsible for ensuring the standards are maintained and will be held accountable. The hospital manager has been instructed to continuously walk the floors to ensure the standards are upheld.
Hospital manager Sandra Fernandez said renovations were taking place in the kitchen and items have been procured and delivered. More supplies had to be delivered and work will begin. She said refurbishment of changing rooms for kitchen staff should be completed within two weeks time. Renovations have been completed for the changing rooms for wardsmaids while quotes were received for the hospital attendants quarters.
Most of the work was done in-house by engineering staff. Wards six, ten and the stores department were completed. Fernandez estimated that more than $100,000 had been spent on “minor refurbishment”.
Baptiste-Cornelis said a problem identified was the status of the facility in relation to the North West and North Central RHAs. Caura was under the jurisdiction of the NCRHA but patients were being sent from NWRHA. She said questions about who should stand the cost of refurbishment and other matters arose. A meeting will take place next week to “iron out those problems and allow a seamless transfer of patients”.
© newsday.co.tt - www.newsday.co.tt
28
2010 World Cup - South Africa / Best Talisman?
« on: July 03, 2010, 09:55:19 AM »
Who allyuh think has been the best superstar talisman to 'carry' his side for the WC so far?
I think Forlan has to be number 1.
Nuff ppl making excuse about the ball, even the commentator making excuses for Messi, but other players seem to have mastered it, non so better than forlan.
I think Forlan has to be number 1.
Nuff ppl making excuse about the ball, even the commentator making excuses for Messi, but other players seem to have mastered it, non so better than forlan.
30
General Discussion / ‘He’s still the best man to lead T&T’
« on: June 09, 2010, 07:09:28 AM »
‘He’s still the best man to lead T&T’
Guanapo church members show faith in Manning
MICHELLE LOUBON
Published: 9 Jun 2010
Patrick Manning
Members of the Jesus the Light of This World Ministries at the Heights of Guanapo, Arima, are inviting former prime minister Patrick Manning to visit their church. Manning’s spiritual adviser Rev Juliana Pena, referred to as the prophetess, is linked to the contentious construction of the Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ church located near to the Jesus of the Light of This World Ministries.
They also maintain Manning was ordained by God to lead T&T. They also feel there is a chance that Pena may have misguided Manning into calling a premature election. A source said: “Now is a great time for him to visit the church...To be encouraged.” They feel he is suffering from shock after losing the government to T&T’s first female Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bisssessar. On the night of the May 24 general election, flanked by former Energy Minister Conrad Enill and former Health Minister Jerry Narace, Manning appeared ashen-faced when he said he accepted full responsibility for the party’s defeat. The source added: “I looked at his face. He is suffering from shock. He needs to know there are still people praying for him. “He is still the best person to lead T&T. I wish to God he comes right back. The Lord is angry because people put their ink against him.”
LEFT: Juliana Pena
Before and after the election, rumours circulated that Pena had prompted Manning to call an election. Some members of the congregation felt there was some truth to the rumours. “Perchance, Juliana may have led him astray...Now is a good time to come and visit us, just in case she led him astray,” the source said. “Maybe he got the information from the prophetess.” The source said Pena often visits Africa. “Pena had a time when she came back from Africa and she said she wasn’t sure she was hearing God’s voice...She might have said things to him and led him astray,” the source said. On the flip side, she said Manning’s faith in the prophetess was not unfounded. “There was a time when he went to get an operation. He was getting high fever. He called her while she was in the service. She went into a room and she prayed for him. The fever broke. She came back and told us about it,” the source added.
But the source said the “ultimate shocker” would be if Manning thought she was speaking on behalf of the Lord and it wasn’t so. “That is a big shock. He might think she was speaking on behalf of the Lord and if she was not speaking from God, then he made the wrong decision,” the source said. Before the May 24 election, insiders said Manning was advised by some political observers not to call the election, but he dismissed them as harbingers of bad news. In 2007, members said, there was a rift with the Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ Ministries and Pena took some members of the congregation and left. The state-of-the-art church was originally being built for the congregation of the Jesus the Light of This World Ministries.
The source said: “The last time Pena was spotted was around Christmas 2009. She came to see how things were progressing. She does not like all the talk about her. Right now, we don’t know where she is. She likes to go to Africa.” Initially, the source said, they claimed the building for the Lord’s work. “We marched around it seven times.” But since the election, “No work is taking place on the church.” Before, Chinese labourers were pushing ahead its construction, which was initially due for around August. The church had a word of advice for Manning: “God is in your side. He will never leave you or forsake you. God’s people are by your side, praying for you. God knows best and he can turn things around. Go among people who will encourage you. “Manning has to go easy. He can’t take too much pressure. He could come and visit the church,” added the source. Another source said Pena is believed to be in Africa.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/politics/2010/06/09/he-s-still-best-man-lead-tt
Guanapo church members show faith in Manning
MICHELLE LOUBON
Published: 9 Jun 2010
Patrick Manning
Members of the Jesus the Light of This World Ministries at the Heights of Guanapo, Arima, are inviting former prime minister Patrick Manning to visit their church. Manning’s spiritual adviser Rev Juliana Pena, referred to as the prophetess, is linked to the contentious construction of the Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ church located near to the Jesus of the Light of This World Ministries.
They also maintain Manning was ordained by God to lead T&T. They also feel there is a chance that Pena may have misguided Manning into calling a premature election. A source said: “Now is a great time for him to visit the church...To be encouraged.” They feel he is suffering from shock after losing the government to T&T’s first female Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bisssessar. On the night of the May 24 general election, flanked by former Energy Minister Conrad Enill and former Health Minister Jerry Narace, Manning appeared ashen-faced when he said he accepted full responsibility for the party’s defeat. The source added: “I looked at his face. He is suffering from shock. He needs to know there are still people praying for him. “He is still the best person to lead T&T. I wish to God he comes right back. The Lord is angry because people put their ink against him.”
LEFT: Juliana Pena
Before and after the election, rumours circulated that Pena had prompted Manning to call an election. Some members of the congregation felt there was some truth to the rumours. “Perchance, Juliana may have led him astray...Now is a good time to come and visit us, just in case she led him astray,” the source said. “Maybe he got the information from the prophetess.” The source said Pena often visits Africa. “Pena had a time when she came back from Africa and she said she wasn’t sure she was hearing God’s voice...She might have said things to him and led him astray,” the source said. On the flip side, she said Manning’s faith in the prophetess was not unfounded. “There was a time when he went to get an operation. He was getting high fever. He called her while she was in the service. She went into a room and she prayed for him. The fever broke. She came back and told us about it,” the source added.
But the source said the “ultimate shocker” would be if Manning thought she was speaking on behalf of the Lord and it wasn’t so. “That is a big shock. He might think she was speaking on behalf of the Lord and if she was not speaking from God, then he made the wrong decision,” the source said. Before the May 24 election, insiders said Manning was advised by some political observers not to call the election, but he dismissed them as harbingers of bad news. In 2007, members said, there was a rift with the Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ Ministries and Pena took some members of the congregation and left. The state-of-the-art church was originally being built for the congregation of the Jesus the Light of This World Ministries.
The source said: “The last time Pena was spotted was around Christmas 2009. She came to see how things were progressing. She does not like all the talk about her. Right now, we don’t know where she is. She likes to go to Africa.” Initially, the source said, they claimed the building for the Lord’s work. “We marched around it seven times.” But since the election, “No work is taking place on the church.” Before, Chinese labourers were pushing ahead its construction, which was initially due for around August. The church had a word of advice for Manning: “God is in your side. He will never leave you or forsake you. God’s people are by your side, praying for you. God knows best and he can turn things around. Go among people who will encourage you. “Manning has to go easy. He can’t take too much pressure. He could come and visit the church,” added the source. Another source said Pena is believed to be in Africa.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/politics/2010/06/09/he-s-still-best-man-lead-tt