Reform urgently needed

I have been most uncomfortable for years, living in a so-called independent country with the head of state being a foreigner.

Worse, the head of state is from the same institution that kept our ancestors as slaves for three hundred years then followed up with the vicious, racist colonial experience.

The fact that the modern-day British Monarchy, no longer has any real power in the island and hasn’t interfered in out day to day lives has not eased the discomfort and is irrelevant in my book.

It’s the symbolism that’s painful!

Oh no, I have not personally had a problem with Queen Elizabeth who has been very circumspect and whose tenure I could not find a fault with.

But believe it or not, she too is human and one thing all us humans all have in common, is that we die. 

So, I have been nervously watching the steady deterioration of her health with some trepidation, especially as now that at age 95 she has come down with covid.

As she too faces her mortality, she has been diligently putting the succession process in place, so on the 5^th February 2022, she made the most unpalatable statement (in my book).

“When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me,” she wrote. “[It] is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”

OMG.

Charles King of Jamaica and Camellia the Queen!

Tell me I got it wrong.

Charles who drove princess Diana to an early death and Camelia who destroyed that young lady’s life  to become the King and Queen of Jamaica?

The fact is, that royal House is not an institution that can be admired in any way shape or form and when Elizabeth leaves, not only will that unsavory couple be our highest-ranking officials, but also carrying along a sibling who is, for all intent and purposes, an (almost) self-confessed pedophile!

No sir, Jamaica has to work urgently and quickly to move as far away as possible from that royal house.

Earlier this year, the prime minister established a new ministry, the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs. One stated function was to prepare the country for Republican status, something successive PNP and JLP leaders have been promising for decades but doing nothing further,

Since the announcement of the new ministry, we have heard nothing further not even if a new expensive, fancy office has yet been acquired and furnished and how much it will cost us for this new (unnecessary) bureaucracy, much less what time-table has been set to get us out of this monarchy business and on the path to republicanism.

We, as an independent country, desperately need a head of state that we the people select and not another lazy, underutilized, unresponsive representative of the British royal family, who politicians  select on the grounds of religion or whatever.

 Has the new ministry been in consultation with the opposition to decide what the functions of our own president will be or are we going to just swop one ribbon cutter for another?

These matters need to be urgently put on the table and discussed publicly, not just presented to the public as a fait accompli.

We are a mature nation of almost 60 years and it's about time we at least get our governmental structure right.

The churches

When are we going start to investigate people establishing churches and holding up themselves as religious leaders?

Jamaica is a very ‘churchified’ society where parents drum into their children that ‘parson spreading the word of God’ etc. As a result of this blind stupidity, hundreds of children have been abused by pedophiles with a bible.

The church problem has become even more dangerous, as recently it was exposed that one church which was operated by a criminal who had been incarcerated in Canada.

He was also demanding human sacrifices.

Just as shocking, now that secret tapes are being played in the Clansman trial, it is being revealed that one parson was not only an alleged member of that bloodthirsty gang, but also actively engaged in endorsing murders, while gospel music blared in the background!

How much scarier must the Jamaican church community become before the authorities realize that they must regulate how churches are established and put in place, ‘fit and proper’ criteria?

I am not at all proposing a ban on freedom of religion, but if the churches are to remain tax-free influential organizations, they must be regulated so that the vulnerable, especially our children, are no longer being influenced by scammers and other criminals who walk around with a bible.

Charles own subjects dot want him! https://youtu.be/xPeCv9MxzJs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hontoon island and more

 I must admit up front that I would know very little about the state of Florida, had it not been for the "Meet Up" clubs. Especially the hikes led by Jennifer Weise, the ultimate outdoors person.

I had not camped for many decades, the last time being in Ohio. I recall it vividly. It was a warm September and we set up shop is a nice campground. 

With "guide" Jennifer

Our cottage 

Then to our horror, at around midnight, it suddenly started to snow, forcing us to have to quickly pack our tent, sleeping bags and other gear and hightail it to a warm shelter. 

I put my camping days behind me after that and had been ignoring "Meet Up" camping notices, though to interesting-looking places.

Then in February 2022, I saw a notice that they would be heading to Hontoon island and cottages would be available. 

Despite the cold spell in Florida, the thought of a warm cottage was certainly the encouragement I needed to discover what appeared to be an interesting island. So, I jumped at the opportunity. 

Hontoon Island State Park is located in Northern Florida, just offshore from the town of Deland. It boasts an interesting history, wide open spaces and a large variety wildlife.

 

The entire island is made up of shady groves of cypress, ash, oak, hickory and tupelo, which shroud ancient memories of a long line of native inhabitants.

It is surrounded by the St. John's River, so to get there you have to take the ferry operated by the park employees.

 

The ferry travels regularly

The ferry is equipped with a number of wheelbarrows which campers use to take gear on and off the boat.

I was quite surprised at the amount of gear my fellow travelers, Jennifer and Sylvia were carrying, as I had always been under the illusion that campers travelled light.

But thank God these seasoned campers didn't!

For when we got to the island, I discovered to my dismay that the board on the sides of the cottages did not go all the way to the roof so all the cold air could come in get me!

Hadn't Jennifer packed EVERYTHING, I would surely have died from hypothermia! 

For, it was the electric blanket and sleeping bag that she loaned me that saved the day.

During the nights we gathered around fire pits for supper and to keep warm and feed death-defying mosquitoes which had no respect for insect repellant!

It was a wonderful two days of camaraderie exercise and fun.

 On Monday after we settled in, we hiked about 5km and the second day it was 10 km along well marked trails and scenic routes. 

We saw lots of wild turkeys and a few shy armadillos but alas, although we saw the tracks and poop, there was no sign of the momma bear and her two cubs that lived on the island.

Next day, while some went kayaking our group traveled over to Deland. 

Here they have an excellent assortment of restaurants, and we did some sightseeing in what is a quiet, laid-back town.

Deland courthouse

On the Wednesday, we drove a few miles to Orange City where you find Blue Water Springs, another state park on the St. Johns River.

These cold-water springs are brimming with all types of fish, gators and manatees. (Sea cows).

When we arrived there around 10am, a park attendant told us they had counted 516 manatees that morning. Although we were fairly late, we still saw quite a large number of those huge, beautiful, graceful mammals swimming lazily towards St. Johns River while alligators sunned themselves on the banks.

Where the Springs and the St. Johns River meet

At one point, I thought a stupid gator had the nerve to attack a manatee (considering he has so many smaller fish to eat if he was hungry), but our guide Jennifer, insisted that he had accidentally bumped into it.        

A further inspection of the video below seems to confirm this.

It would be delinquent of me to do record this trip without mentioning a few of my fellow travelers. 

One lady, a French/American named Ilse is such an avid outdoors person that she had just finished backpacking and camping near Tampa, but she still drove over to Hontoon to join us. 

Ilse

What is amazing about her is that she appears to be very frail, weighing probably less than 100 lbs, but rides a 900-cc motorcycle on which she has circled the USA several times.

My roommate, Sylvia, an Ecuadorian/American, was a successful electrical engineer but according to her, she obeyed God's call to become a missionary. 

I have to admit that I thought she had an extraordinary imagination when she described some of her experiences in exotic and dangerous places like the Amazon Jungle, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Tibet, until she showed me a some of her photos! 

Missionary Silvia

Her experiences also included even being detained and deported From India!

Both Jennifer and I felt uninteresting in the presence of those two.

Stolen, but very relevant😅

It was really a great camping experience and to make sure I never forget this outing, the bumps and itches from the mosquito bites are ever-present four days later.

 But if you love the great outdoors, a few mosquito bites are to be expected.

     

                                                                 Memories

We three traveled together from Delray Beach

The three musketeers

The swamp at the back of the island

Theatre at Deland

At Chess Lane, Deland

A section of Blue Water Springs

A mural at Deland

Thursby House museum

Censored!

 You Tube is really taking this censorship thing too far you know. Can you believe they deleted the latest video in the Talk Jamaican series!

According to them, it contains 'medical misinformation!'

When did they become the authority on science anyway? In this video, I was merely explaining that what I suffered from recently, was a mere attack of the flu, not covid.

I also said when people have the flu in Jamaica, the natural remedies are ganja tea or the white rum concoction with honey and lime.

Then I mentioned that recently, some universities found that that hemp tea (ganja)/minimized the effects of the virus. So, when they took down the original with the title "It's the flu," I edited it to emphasize the ganja aspect and resubmitted it, but they censored me again!

You tube is becoming a real pain in the ass.