MAN LEAVES COURT UNDER HEAVY SECURITYMore than 15 armed police officers from the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) and Special Services Unit (SSU) guarded and escorted a resident of Villa from the Serious Offences Court yesterday. As Martin ‘Jahson’ James emerged from the court and walked to the waiting police vehicle, police officers blocked the road outside of the court to ensure his safe passage. According to a source, when James was brought to court yesterday morning to answer charges related to marijuana cultivation, police officers observed a number of men behind a wall at the back of the court yard. MCMH LOCKED DOWN BY POLICEThis is where we raise our eye brows. The Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) according to a local radio station was on locked down on Tuesday evening with reports stating that an individual or individuals reportedly went to the hospital to 'finish off' Mozart Lee, who was shot last Friday at his home by unknown gunman. In the process, Lee's 10-month-old son, was shot twice in the chest and later died. It is uncertain if any arrests were made or if anyone was seen with weapons at the hospital, but the police were called in and persons were prevented from entering the MCMH. GUNMEN DID NOT CARECaslon “Al” Bruce, uncle of the 10 month old child who was shot and killed on Friday says that the gunmen did not care who was around when he fired multiple gunshots into a crowded yard, hitting the baby and its parents. At around 6.45 p.m. on Friday, October 7 at Glen, technician Mozart Lee, 37, was installing a speaker in a vehicle belonging to Monty Hillocks of Belmont, when a gunman opened fire, striking Mozart in the upper chest just below his neck. TWO CHARGED WITH MURDER OF BABYMartin James and Ricardo McFee have been jointly charged with the murder of 10-month-old Mozari Lee and the attempted murder of the baby's parents Mozart Lee and Shelly-Ann Durham at Glen last Friday. Police released the information this morning at 10am. On Saturday, the police Preliminary reports state the group was at the elder Lee’s shop when they were attacked by unknown assailant(s). As the sound of bullets rang out they took cover, but not before Mozart Lee was shot in the upper chest and his girlfriend, Durham, in both arms. Their baby, Ozari, received gunshot wounds to both the left and right side of his chest. He succumbed to his injuries at 7:50p.m the same night at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Humphrey escaped with a bruise to the palm of his left hand. On May 9th 2016, Ricardo McFee appeared in court on gun and ammunition charges where he was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison for his own protection after he reported to the police that his life is in endangered and he has been on the run since 2007. Ricardo McFee, pleaded not guilty to the two charges which Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias read to him in the Serious Offenses Court. He was accused of the unlawful possession of a firearm and fifty rounds of ammunition - The offenses were allegedly committed on May 4. Police allegedly seized a .380 Glock Pistol and 50 rounds of .380 ammunition from him in Kingstown MINISTER GONSALVES CALLS FOR WITNESSES TO COME FORWARDParliamentary Representative for East St. George, Camillio Gonsalves is calling on persons with information regarding the shooting death of the 10-months-old baby, Ozari Lee, to come forward. Minister Gonsalves said on his Facebook page that he is refusing to believe that nobody said anything with the shooting that took place in the early evening hours, a time when people are out and about. Gonsalves stressed that a child is dead, and while he understands that no one wants to be an informer, he is calling for anyone with information to come forward. He noted that those who shoot mothers and kill their children cannot be protected by any code of silence. Who would think that I would start a post by saying, the struggle is real. Well, for LIAT, the struggle is very real. Here is the update on what's what. 1. PM Gonsalves says the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines will not be injecting any more funds into the airline. 2. Antigua & Barbuda has said that it stands ready to fill any monetary void left by St Vincent & the Grenadines 3. Barbados largest public sector trade union "Fed Up" of LIAT 4. Caribbean folks are tired of the lateness, the treatment and the list goes on and on. Just yesterday, the head of Barbados largest public sector trade union in reference to the operations of regional airline LIAT, said that It’s the worst service one can find anywhere in the world, adding that it was airline is operating in “pure bedlam” The Barbados Today reported that General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers Dennis Clarke made the scathing comments after he was stuck in Antigua for an entire day last week, following a Caribbean Public Service Association meeting in St Maarten. While acknowledging some delays could be expected when travelling, Clarke said he felt many of those experienced by LIAT passengers were unacceptable. the NUPW boss lamented that “Somehow, somewhere along the line, you always go to Antigua and sit down for a long time,” He has therefore urged LIAT shareholder governments to urgently review the management operations at the Antigua-based carrier. Saying that travel on LIAT was a horror story, he referred to the service of the company as a free-for-all, with no care for passengers generally, their health, or their business commitments. “LIAT is a blight on travel within the region and as it stands, will continue to be an economic failure,” he declared. Clarke likened the airline, in which Barbados is the major shareholder, to “a dead man getting to his funeral late”. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines will not be injecting any more funds into regional airline, LIAT, until the service to this island is significantly improved. LIAT had recently requested that Kingstown release a further EC$810,000 to help with its operations. On Wednesday September 14th, Prime Minister Gonsalves led a delegation for discussions with the management of LIAT headed by the Acting CEO, Ms. Julie Reifer-Jones, in an effort to resolve LIAT’s deteriorating service experienced by the Vincentians. In a letter on September 4, 2016, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Mr. Godfred Pompey, had written to LIAT’s Legal Counsel, Ms. Diane Shurland requesting an urgent meeting with the airline’s management in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This includes a 6:15 a.m. flight out of E.T. Joshua to Barbados and the 8:55 p.m. flight from Trinidad and Tobago, notifying the Airport authorities by 9:00 p.m. about the need for any extension beyond the operating hours of the airport, review the turnaround time of Aircrafts with a view to reducing the delays in operation of flights, and improve Customer Service by providing more information to the travelling public in relation to flight delays and cancellations. The management of regional airline, LIAT, has agreed to review the schedule of flights in and out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines within one week to better serve the travelling public. This is one of the outcomes of a meeting held here on Wednesday September 14, between a delegation led by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and the management of LIAT headed by the Acting CEO, Ms. Julie Reifer-Jones to resolve LIAT’s deteriorating service experienced by Vincentians. A statement issued on Thursday noted that the review will include a 6:15am flight out of E.T. Joshua to Barbados and the 8:55pm flight from Trinidad and Tobago. LIAT’s management also agreed to notify Airport authorities here by 9pm about the need for any extension beyond the operating hours of the airport, review the turnaround time of Aircrafts with a view to reducing delays in operation of flights, and to improve Customer Service by providing more information to the travelling public in relation to flight delays and cancellations. In addition, they will consider favorably a return of the direct Puerto Rico-SVG flight. The meeting was also informed that a tenth ATR aircraft (72-seater) will be added to LIAT’s Fleet by the end of October, early November, this year in an effort to ease the demand for additional seats throughout LIAT’s network. The government of Antigua & Barbuda has said that it stands ready to fill any monetary void left by St Vincent & the Grenadines (SVG), after its Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves blasted the regional carrier for poor service to SVG and promised that his government will cease injecting funds into the airline. While Dr Gonsalves has dismissed Liat's reason given for the poor service — bad weather — as "an excuse", Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Lennox Weston has shot back at the SVG Prime Minister, for, as he sees it, making much ado about nothing. According to iWitness News online, the SVG position on its funding to Liat followed a meeting in Kingstown SVG on Wednesday, where Dr Gonsalves, who has been a major supporter of Liat, came down hard on its management for persistent delays and cancellations in SVG. The news outlet said Liat was expecting EC$810,000 from the government of St Vincent to aid its operations – funds which are now being withheld. In addition to the support from Antigua, Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell said Wednesday that Grenada is prepared to provide the cash-strapped regional airline, LIAT, with a financial subsidy for it to service the island, but was not prepared to provide funds for the airline’s operations. Earlier in the week, LIAT announced that it would be reducing the number of flights to Grenada as of Friday but Mitchell told reporters that following talks between St George’s and the airline management, the cut has been reduced to just one flight. Mitchell said that Grenada has an open sky policy and that like St Lucia, his government is holding talks with the Trinidad-based State-owned airline, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) and other airlines to service the island. Grenada offers marketing subsidy to a number of international airlines to guarantee they service the island. Earlier this week, St Lucia’s Prime Minister Allen Chastanet told a news conference having CAL as the national carrier may be the best option for the island given the many issues facing air transport in the region. The former tourism minister, a harsh critic of LIAT, reiterated earlier statements that the airline whose major shareholders are the governments of Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados, and St Vincent and the Grenadines cannot solve all of the transportation needs of the region. On September 15th, Grenada’s Tourism Minister Clarice Modeste who said she was forced to endure a three hours delay while travelling on official government business recently said that “About a week ago I went to St Lucia, I had a meeting in the afternoon. LIAT had a two-hour delay. On the way back it was a one-hour delay." When contacted about the latest in Barbados, LIAT’s head of corporate communications Desmond Brown said the company expected to issue a statement. JSR Communications will bring you the latest on that statement. LIAT certainly believe itself. I'm not too sure that anyone else does... Well maybe Grenada's Prime Minister and Antigua & Barbuda's. I can't say. What I can say, is that I enjoy the Vincentian Chocolate, and if you haven't tasted it as yet. You need to!! "It is said our culture defines who we are; this being the case, all aspects of our culture are important and required the participation of all nationals, including the Christian community." Just recently, it was announced that Vincy Mas will mark its 40th anniversary next year, 2017. The Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture Cecil McKie says the Carnival Development Committee (CDC) is not maximizing all the opportunities and benefits that could be gained from Vincy Mas annually. Speaking at a Carnival Symposium at the Peace Memorial Hall, McKie urged persons to make an input into the discussions, in order to improve the festival, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. The Minister said even though the festival has developed into one of the best festivals in the region, there is more work to be done. But how much has carnival really developed. Even the “Cuban Cutlas” Stephen Joachim said that all carnival has become is a “Jump up” and “a bunch of songs about how girls must Bend over and bend down.” My first question to professing Christians is this. Is the gospel counter cultural? Is there a subversive, revolutionary, unruly aspect to the gospel of Jesus Christ? There was in the first century. The acids of the gospel message went to work on slavery, power structures, violence, gender inequities, prejudice, religion, marital roles and relationships, and popular morality. The gospel contained explosive ideas back then. The early Christians hurled volatile notions of brotherhood, humility, love, forgiveness, and sacrifice across the battlements of a hardened and fortified culture. And Christianity won. The culture changed. Values evolved. Attitudes altered. Habits transformed. Social structures realigned. In ways large and small, the world shifted. Then, Christianity lost. Stephen, If you are reading this and I’m pretty sure you are, hold that “ahh” Culture is defined based on disciplinary perspectives; Geography, History, biology and anthropology. As cited by Macmillan CXC CAPE Caribbean Studies, culture forms our language, political systems, religion and heritage in society and different communities. In addition, Culture is learnt, shared, reproduced and diffused. It involves the actual behaviours performed or carried out. Culture is also defined as the different ethnic traditions, race, language, religion customs, families and practices found in one place. Clifford Gertz, a cultural anthropologist views culture as the interpretation of the meaning systems. Therefore, he emphasizes signs and symbols, that we share and adopt, which includes Christian norms and values. Culture therefore is something that an individual is born into.
I’m not talking about riots in the streets or heady confrontations between the agents of the church and the agents of the state. I’m talking about smaller boundaries, the ones that define Christian attitudes and worldly ones, Christian lifestyles and those of the world, what we want and what they do, how we think life works and their views on the “good life.” Instead of absorbing the culture of the world, it would be best if we as Christians engage in the art of sharing our culture through simple; living by example, training a child in the way of God, and practicing what we preach. It is our duty to impact on our communities and individual societies. God has given us all the power and authority, in the great commission in Mathew 28:19-20. To accomplish this, I suggest that we turn to the Beatitudes as a template (Matthew 5:1-10) to explore the impact; Christians could have on our culture, if we took the Beatitudes and the word of God seriously. Would one Christian living like that make any dent in the world? What might happen at the boundaries of our lives, as we interacted with waitresses and rude drivers and crying secretaries and wounded neighbours; if you and I took the heritage of heaven seriously? Would there be any bubbling? Would there be any disruptive and intrusive yeast at work? Would such behaviour start a revolution in the small things that, cumulatively, might have the power to change a world? I think it’s time for us to recover a sense of the Christianity that calls us to conquer the culture rather than be absorbed by it. I know; it’s easier to sign petitions and boycott products. But the real down-to-earth fighting in this spiritual war goes on at a personal level. The battle line boundaries are not in Kingstown or the board rooms. They are not with beating, wetting and or beating of persons physically; but they are defined by those points where each of us contacts our culture, where our attitudes and habits, ideas and relationships intersect theirs. The acculturation of the world, in direct, St. Vincent, to being “kingdom citizens” of heaven; the land of the blessed. The culture wars are fought one person at a time, one heart at a time. Therefore, our culture does not define who we are; rather, we define our culture. Reverend Dr. Cecil Richards said on IKtv on his program “Prescription Window” in July that it is not his culture. We are to love everyone and be all things to all men, but not to of the world while we are in it. This being the case, all aspects of “OUR” Christian culture are important and required the participation of all Christians. The world will always have its culture and it’s not for us to fight the world… It’s not our battle. There is a song that I love. “The Great I Am” by La Rue. Check it out. She says something that I love. I wanna be near, near to your heart Missed it? We need to be Loving the world and hating the dark. Our fight is with the forces of darkness. Ephesians 6:12 tells us where the fight is.
Which Culture do I belong to? I’ll let my life be the testimony. But here’s a hint – Joshua 24:15. “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served” fleshly desires with drinking and revelry, “or the gods of the” Africans, where most of us originate with pride. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." by Jeronnie Xylon J. Richardson |
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