Essay 5; The greatest inventions

Recently, as I once again searched in frustration for my misplaced reading glasses, it occurred to me that this tiny, innocuous object has got to be among the top five inventions of all times for I just have not been able to read anything but the largest prints without it for decades. And most people I know who have passed  age forty, have a similar difficulty.

Ok,  maybe not reading glasses specifically I argued to myself, but at least the magnifying glass has to be one of the greatest inventions for it must have been from that that reading glasses eventually evolved. After all, if older inventors couldn't magnify anything, would there have been such wonderful, useful and earth shattering inventions over the years?

So as soon as I found the illusive object and was able to read again, I decided to immediately research the top ten inventions to confirm my suspicions, using good old google of course.

But the results of my research were a bit disappointing to say the least for the first answer to pop up when I googled top ten inventions, was from an organization called "Thought Company."  They listed ; wheel, nail, compass, printing press, internal combustion engine, phone, light bulb, penicillin, contraceptive, internet.  I wasn't overly impressed with their list, because for example,  is the nail really more important than the magnifying glass? Anyway wouldn't the television a spill off from the camera anyway?

Disappointed I quickly checked the next site,  this time  "Stuff of Genius." They listed what they said were the 10 Inventions  that changed the world as; internet, computer, light bulb, automobile, steam engine, communications, refrigeration, printing press, wheel, plow.

Dissatisfied, I checked a few other pages and was absolutely astounded that despite them all listing necessary and revolutionary products, and a site called  "IB Times out of the UK"  even  listing the paper, none listed the magnifying glass among the top ten. This caused me to wonder how effective printing and paper would  have been if only mainly people under 40 years old would have been able to read what was being printed?.

For I had always heard that one's eyesight generally starts to deteriorate at around age 40 although a baby can be born with poor eyesight. So I decided to check if this was really an old wives tale for maybe that was why everyone was overlooking the importance of magnifying glasses. So turned to the American Academy of  Ophthalmology for guidance. But they confirmed the popular lore for this quote in bold letters jumped right out. "Around age 40 many people start to notice changes in their eyesight that increase as they get older."

OK,  so when was the magnifying glass invented I wondered, or to put it simply, when did people start to enjoy a respite from this over 40 tribulation? For remember it is said the Sumerians invented writing from some 5000 years ago?

The more I thought about the issue, the more fascinated I became and determined to prove that those making lists of top ten greatest inventions, were shortsighted as they were overlooking a critical element in human development. This time turned to good old reliable Wikipedia.

The findings were very interesting as they revealed that the Assyrians, Egyptians and Babylonians used gems, polished crystal to be specific magnify objects from as far back as 700 bc. This practice seemed to have lasted for some time and was adopted elsewhere as Roman Emperor Nero who ruled from  54 - 68 AD, even had an improvement done for it is recorded that he was seen using a monocle made from a polished emerald.

However, it appears people like the Roman author and philosopher, Pliny the Elder, (who lived between AD 23-79) was not as privileged  for Seneca, an attorney, statesman, humorist, teacher wrote of Pliny that he used a globe filled with water, which he said;  "... could be used to read letters no matter how small or dim."


Curious about this, although I didn't have a globe, I tried it with an ordinary drinking glass filled with water and ta da, it did indeed magnify the print I used. But that must have been clumsy to use I surmised so continued to look for information about the development of the magnify glass as we know it today for I was convinced it must  have been the fore runner to eye glasses.

I finally got somewhere for I did eventually read that it was indeed invented in 1250 by Roger Bacon, who was a lecturer an Oxford University in England. After that, things started to move as circa 1290  the Italians were credited with inventing the actual eyeglass. and according to Wikipedia, in a sermon in 1306, a Dominican friar wrote "It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making eyeglasses, which make for good vision. And it is so short a time that this new art, never before extant, was discovered. ... I saw the one who first discovered and practiced it, and I talked to him." 

However Wikipedia did have a caveat to that claim, saying that it has been recorded  elsewhere that in 1021, an unnamed Arab scholar did make some reference to the use of lens in his part of the world.

It seems therefore that there is no certainty on this matter, but in my book I am sure that I speak for the millions or people who like to read, write, invent and manufacture things that eyeglasses  should indeed be listed among the top five greatest inventions of all time. 

What do you think?

Maybe I should start a petition to have this humble object elevated  and given the respect it deserves..

That Vegas experience

As a Jamaican, I am not accustomed to celebrating thanksgiving as we believe in giving thanks every

day.


However, even when I lived  in Jamaica, I enjoyed going to Vegas to celebrate the occasion with my grandson's maternal relatives, and this year they did not disappoint at all.

There is something I noticed at the airport this time which I don't remember experiencing on any other visit and that was their having a separate floor for passengers waiting for private transportation and those taking shuttles and taxis.

I have never seen a similar arrangement at any of the other numerous airports I have traveled to over the years and while I have no problem with this, system,  I just found it unusual.

Of course I only noticed it because I was on the wrong floor when my ride arrived!

This time we were joined by relatives from Canada and really had a great time touring the Strip as usual and consuming great Jamaican food without turkey as we are curry goat, pork, ham, fish, rice and green gungo people!

We started one  tour at the Mandalay Bay where on October 2nd 2017 that vicious white killer who was staying at that hotel, massacred 59 people and injured 520, on October 2nd 2017, when he fired from his hotel room at a crowd of music lovers at a concert across the street.

He had been armed with over 30 weapons and unlimited ammunition and had tried to blow up the fuel storage tanks nearby to kill even more people. Fortunately, while he did hit the tanks, the force of the bullets was not enough to penetrate them, so lives were saved.

The hotel itself is quite luxurious and I was impressed with their huge statue of Michael Jackson, the late king of rock, which graces the lobby.

Pity their security was so terrible that the murderer was able to take so many weapons into his room undetected. I bet if someone was trying to cheat in their casino, their cameras would have picked it up. SMH.

Despite my many previous trips to that city, I really had not explored downtown before.

This time we did and it is really interesting down there and we saw the notorious heart attack grill where people weighting more than 350 lbs can eat free. In other words, they get greedy and foolish people to eat themselves to death with the highest calories available for each meal. Sick.

We also did two excellent treks, one to Red Rock and one to Mountain Edge.

Red Rock is a  huge canyon some twenty miles out of Vegas where families flock to see the wonderful rock formations and climb a few challenging ones.

It can be dangerous to climb though as the rocks can be slippery and there is nothing to hold on to.

We heard that the day before we went there a twenty year old young man slipped and fell to his death.

Mountain Edge is nearer to the city and a wonderful place to picnic. To get to the top it is approximately a 1.7 miles but no one has any difficulty to get there as it is not so steep.

The sun peeks from behind a huge rock at one of the peaks at Red Rock

Once there you have the most comprehensive view of the city and the famous Vegas strip. Unfortunately we went there in the day but the night view must be unforgettable as Vegas is known for its bright lights.

On the way to the top of Mountain Edge

The night before we left we went to the Chris Angel show and although I have been fascinated with him for years based on his many appearances on TV, on his live show, he had so much light effects, that one could not tell what his actual illusions were versus tricks caused by the manipulation of the lighting.

I was very impressed with his "heart" though as after his performance, he made a moving appeal for the public to support cancer research and said he had been on that subject long before his own two year old son was born with leukemia. Bringing his little son on stage to take a bow was a real tear jerker.

One thing I just cannot get accustomed to in Vegas is the weather for whereas in the summer it is unbearable at triple digit temperatures, in the winter it can jump from a low of 40 to 80 in one day. Weather guaranteed to make you sick.

At the Chris Angel theater

I met a very interesting lady on this trip too. I am  convinced she is the only true genius I have ever met in my life. She is in her early 40's with a PhD in engineering and there seems to be nothing she cannot fix.

While she is by profession and environmental engineer, her hobby is fixing cars and everyone in the neighborhood uses her skills but she doesn't mind at all. She also buys cars people sell cheap when they can't figure what's wrong with them, fixes them and resells. Great hobby.

She advised me she is autistic but said she told the doctors she loves it and wants no medication to deal with it. She also seems to have some medial issues with her body, like having only two inches of intestines left but that does not seem to affect what she eats! She should be studied and recorded in the scientific journals but she says the doctors in Vegas are afraid to even treat her as they are scared she will die on their tables as she has so many complications and has been at death's door many times!

She plans to go back east were scientists are serious about medical research unlike in Vegas where everything is show biz, she revealed.

Incidentally she also speaks five languages including Mandarin and Arabic. If I was closer, I would certainly do some serious interviews and research and write her biography!

After an eventful and exciting week, I returned on Spirit airlines and saw something I had  never beheld in my life before, strange looking flight attendants.

One was a man with a beard and shaved head who was about six feet five inches tall with a huge paunch. I wondered if he was an air marshal in disguise as he looked more like a wrestler than  a flight attendant.

The other was a man who looked to be over 70 years old and the only times I saw him, he was leaning against something as if he could not stand on his own. Thankfully, there were a third attendant who fit the bill as the other two looked really out of place and clumsy.

Only in Vegas!

Essay 4; Jamaicans are "world builders"

I do not think there is a place on earth you can travel to and not find a Jamaican! And sometimes we turn up in the most unusual places. In fact, my own brother even took his family on a tour of the pyramids of Egypt only to end up with an Arabic-speaking tour guide from Montego Bay, Jamaica!

For years politicians of all stripes have complained that a problem the country faces is that when taxpayers subsidize the tertiary education of many Jamaican professions, the country ends up losing as those professional immediately migrate and do not give anything back to their country. Yes that is a real problem but could the penchant for Jamaicans to migrate be in our DNA? I am no scientist but ask the question due to the conditions under which the migratory habit of generations of Jamaicans seem to have arisen.

As far as I can discern, the necessity to migrate came with the  abolition of slavery in 1834. For the freed slaves had no money, no jobs, no land, no food and in many instances, not even family in the country to which they had been forcefully transported

. Things were so bad for the freed slaves that in order to avoid starving to death some had to even return to their wicked slave masters and request that they employ them just to get  food to eat.

It was the lucky ones  therefore who could find a little boat or some means of migrating to anywhere where they as free people they could earn a living.

Monument in Cuba

In the late 1800's to the turn of the century, Cuba was recognized as the powerhouse of the region due to the industries that were flourishing based on "king sugar." News  of their need for labour spread rapidly throughout Jamaica and indeed other Caribbean islands which also faced a similar dilemma as we did, and migration to Cuba started in droves. So today when you go to the southern provinces like Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin, the descends of Jamaican and other former West Indian people are everywhere.

Fortunately too, in 1903 the construction of the Panama Canal begun and despite the fact that the project was extremely dangerous and many people lost their lives (including my maternal grandfather), Panama became a major drawing card for Jamaicans in need of employment. When  the project was completed and opened in 1914, there was still a need for workers there as the economy was booming, so instead of returning home, thousands of Jamaicans remained there, most settling in the city of Colon.

However others decided to go north in search of economic opportunities, as the Jamaican economy was still struggling and blacks had very little means of survival. Many went to Honduras, and even more went to Nicaragua, settling on the Caribbean coast and naming their new home Bluefields after a seaside village on south western side of  Jamaica.

Inside Irazu volcano, Costa Rica

Still others moved to the province of Limon on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and today the descendants  of Jamaicans play an important role in that country, even producing  the very first black congresswoman in Costa Rica , a lady who was always proud to boast about her Jamaican roots.

During the 30's and 40's because of the massive toll the two major  European wars took on British men, the then colonial master England, was forced to open its doors to workers from their colonies to do their menial and labour intensive jobs. Jamaicans therefore  migrated to Britain in hordes up to the  late 1960's when the USA and Canada also opened their doors and the trek to those countries there took off in earnest.

Before the 70's, the majority of  Jamaican who left home, were in search of economic opportunities and their remittances to assist their family left back at home became critical to the economy.

The great migration that took place between 1972-1980 harmed the Jamaican economy unlike the net effect of previous migrations. This was because it was widely perceived that the then government was introducing communism and taking Jamaica into the USSR/Cuban sphere of influence. So the  better off Jamaicans and professionals voted with their feet. They went mainly to the USA and Canada and it set the Jamaican economy back for decades, as not only did they take their capital with them but also their skills. The Jamaican economy is still struggling to recover from that outflow!

While there have been periods when Jamaican migrated in droves, individual Jamaicans have always on their own steam, found other places to go, even as far as cold Alaska in search of opportunities. However the overall picture is that by being a migratory people,  we have contributed a great deal to the building of just about every nation in the world including our own and migration remains strong in our DNA.

American/ Russian interefernce in elections

Even if the Americans have themselves had a record of sometimes “interfering” in elections in other countries, they have every right to be upset that Russia interfered in their presidential elections, as all the intelligence agencies have agreed happened. Interestingly, president Trump has time and time again, chosen to believe Putin's word, although he is ex and probably still KGB, while dismissing the evidence provided by 17 of his own intelligence agencies, but that's another issue.

Anyway, the difference between what the Russians did to the USA in their democratic elections and normal "interference,"  is that the US and Russia are currently the two most powerful superpowers in the world and if one can gain unchallenged influence throughout the world because it has its surrogate in power as the head of the other superpower, it would be terrible for the rest of us. 

Especially if the one that ends up with total power is Russia!

For Russia is by no means a liberal democracy and thus their holding sway over what happens in smaller and weaker states would be tragic for people in the free world, who could see the freedoms to which they had become accustomed, being gradually diminished.

I have been there and speak from personal experience on the front lines.

This was during the cold war era in my small island of Jamaica which lies only 90 miles away from Cuba. We were forced to go through four years of turmoil because the democratically elected government of the day decided it preferred the Cuban system of government and the socialist philosophy to the Westminster system of government under which it had gained power. And the Cubans were only too happy to assist them in every way possible to  take away our freedoms. For after all, Jamaica being the largest and most influential island in the English speaking Caribbean, would give them great leverage in their quest to have the then USSR dominate the entire region.

So we saw our island being flooded by thousands of Cubans supposedly coming in to assist in agricultural development and the health service. They however were under the command of a general named Ulysses Estrada who was allegedly the head of their intelligence agency, the DGI. Also assisting the Cubans but covertly, was the Russian KGB and I know that as a fact as I did have an encounter with one.

On the other side was the American CIA which had allegedly heeded the opposition party’s cry for help, but they apparently operated very covertly, for although I was often on the frontlines, I never encountered a CIA agent on the ground.

However, I say without apology THANKS TO THE AMERICAN CIA FOR ASSISTING US, FOR IF THEY HADN’T, JAMAICA TODAY WOULD PROBABLY BE LIKE VENEZUELA where food shortages, hyper-inflation, no press freedom, government sponsored aggression and the silencing of the opposition are the order of the day.

Worse yet, we could be like Cuba itself. I have visited that country four times since 1980, because of its physical beauty and the fact that I have close family there. Their life is one of absolute misery and the younger ones who were born after the revolution, do not even know that there is an alternative world in which people can criticize their government, read and write what they want or even better, get a passport and travel to any place they wish, as long as they have the money. Sad.

I therefore thank the Americans for “interfering” and assisting us in defeating the Cuban DGI and Russian KGB in the elections that followed our four year period of turmoil…1976-1980.

For reducing the world to a position where one of the two super powers dominates totally because it succeeded in putting its surrogate in power, is extremely dangerous for the entire world. For what Lord Acton said in the 1800’s is still relevant today. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Essay; 1 The Venezuelan experience

Every time I see the news coming out of Venezuela, it sends a chill down my spine. For events there today bring back the terrible memories of our own trials and struggles in the island of Jamaica during the cold war period, when the government of the day tried to impose socialism on the country. With that socialist thrust, came the threat of the loss of our sacred freedoms including freedom of the press, religion and association.

Our dangerous period begun with the imposition of a state of emergency under which, like in Venezuela today, opposition politicians and activists were arbitrarily detained without charge and attempts were made to prevent the independent press from functioning without governmental interference.

On another level, the experiment with socialism led to massive foods shortages, loss of tourism revenue, hyper-inflation, government-sponsored violence and general oppression. Eventually these rapidly deteriorating conditions led to an undeclared civil war in Jamaica which lasted some four years, causing the deaths of thousands of people.

In the wake of the decline in the economy and pervasive violence, came the self-exile of many of our most valuable people including professionals, both small and large entrepreneurs and many members of the middle class. Up to today, some 30 years later, the Jamaican economy still struggles because of the departure of such valuable persons.

During that period (from 1976-1980), the Michael Manley government was overtly propped up by the Russian KGB and Cuban DGI. The American CIA was also alleged to have been involved in assisting the opposition. If they did, I have nothing but praise and gratitude for them, especially today when I see how rapidly conditions are deteriorating in Venezuela .

At the time the disruptions were taking place in Jamaica, I had only recently become the mother of two young children but when I saw the threat to our freedoms which begun with the locking up of elected opposition politicians and activists, the threats to press freedom and other freedoms plus  how my family had to suffer because of the shortage of basic foods, I put my own safety on hold to get involved.

While the violent battles were being fought in the streets with weapons allegedly supplied by the covert agencies, I hit the ground taking part in the regular peaceful demonstrations while using both radio and the print media to not only spread the opposition’s position to the wider public but also to keep up the pressure on the government.

I have visited Cuba four times since 1980, (the last time being in 2014 when I went there to meet family that I had subsequently learnt lived there) when we held an election that ousted the socialist government from power, and every time I visited or see the news coming out of Venezuela today, I say a silent prayer of thanks that we were able to avoid their fate.

I continue to pray that the Venezuelan people will keep up the pressure and be as successful as we were in ousting the socialists and restoring democracy. And I hope that those who are in the position to assist them, will do so.

An excellent book review

http://www.caribbeantoday.com/other/facts/books/item/26739-book-launch-an-overwhelming-success.html

The overall coverage of the launch was good but this book review  y Dawn A. Davis was great.


‘Looking Back’, love for Jamaica shines through.

Author:  Dawn A. Davis

Joan Williams’s “Looking Back” is not a memoir. It’s a story of Jamaica coming of age - the way it was, is and has become.

It’s the story of pain, tragedy and rebirth.
Yes, it’s partly Williams’s personal story, but the events of an era that shaped Jamaican politics and its collective psyche gives this book its edge. The turbulent period of the 1970s is highlighted as Williams charts her path from activism to would-be politician to popular radio commentator.
She claims to write the truth for those who were not there; those still in the dark. Her telling of the sometimes “toxic” environment that bred troubled communities in Jamaica post-Independence is palpable.
“The ‘garrisonisation’ of the country had reached the point where even a separate ‘independent state’ was established within one constituency, with a President to boot,” Williams stated.
The quote describes the West Kingston community that was headed by the infamous Christopher Coke, also known as “Presi” and “Dudus” who, according to Williams, was protected by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) although he was a known criminal and wanted by the United States. The author chronicles the happenings in garrison communities like Tivoli Gardens, run by Dudus’s father Lester Lloyd “Jim Brown” Coke for decades. She also addresses the overflow of criminality that reached the U.S. via the notoriously violent “Shower Posse” gang, which adds to the macabre picture Williams paints.
WRONG ROAD
The author’s distrust of the Michael Manley-led People’s National Party (PNP) of the time is evident in her comments about the PNP’s “dance” with socialism that she and others thought would lead Jamaica down the wrong road. So, Williams changing party alliances was no surprise.
It is well known, based on World Bank statistics, that Jamaica is among the top five murder capitals of the world. Williams tells the readers why, based on her own experiences. She names politicians and other “upstanding” Jamaicans involved in what she calls “civil war”, especially during the run-up to Jamaica’s 1980 general elections.
“As the undeclared civil war raged at the local level, almost every constituency in Jamaica saw some form of violence coming from either the JLP, the PNP or the Trevor Munroe led WPJ, which supported the PNP. By the end of 1980, murders had doubled to almost 900 from 440 the previous year for there was no shortage of weapons or ammunition on either side,” Williams wrote.
WORTHY READ
The author records the plight of the poor, especially those who lived in garrisons - “in the line of fire”. She compares their daily lives to those of the political rulers who were amassing wealth and status at their constituents’ expense. It is these types of juxtapositions that makes this work a worthy read.
Williams’s personal journey as a businesswoman, farmer, activist, wife and mother brings Jamaica’s reality closer to the reader. The loss of her son in 1995 to a gunman is not just heart-wrenching, it is a sad metaphor for what Jamaica had become.
In spite of all the violence and personal loss, Williams’s story leaves one with a sense of hope. For no matter what her beloved Jamaica is going through or is labeled her ‘umbilical’ connection and unconditional love for her country shines through.

http://www.caribbeantoday.com/other/facts/books/item/26800-looking-back-love-for-jamaica-shines-through.html

https://youtu.be/LvUJXyiJKKM

My first Haloween

Being a Jamaican, I have never celebrated Halloween, for as far as I am concerned, that is something American children do to be able to get as much sweets as they can, once per year.

Yes over the past decade or so,  I have heard that some rich kids in Jamaica have adopted this festival and some stores have even tried to promote it to boost sales. After all, who can blame them when it is revealed that in the USA only Christmas sales exceed the take from this event? Anyway, it still hasn't taken off in my island.

Sure my granddaughter who is American and grew up in the tradition, is always excited by the event. Her mother always sends me photos of her all dressed up and the costumes are always cute. This year she dressed as a dragon with the face of a cat. And she looked absolutely beautiful.  Her mom also takes her to many Halloween parties but she only attends security, never dressing up.

Toastmaster Wagner proudly models his innovative costume.

I was recently disabused of the impression that Halloween was for kids,  on joining a Toastmaster club in Florida and heard some adults there talking excitedly about what they were going to be doing for Halloween. Even our meeting which falls a day after the event, would be converted from its regular format to one where costumes would be worn and an exciting agenda presented, we were informed.

So I got very interested in  learning something new about the country to which I had recently moved. I was actually very curious to see the types of costumes the adults would come up with, but unfortunately only one member, Toastmaster Wagner, actually dressed up for the event and his costume was very creative.

However the agenda was quite appropriate as members were invited to act out a murder mystery instead of following the regular format.

Yup,  Toastmaster Tamara, (4th from left) did kinda look like a postmistress!

And they all played their parts well with one participant, the librarian, even dressed for the part.

It was a well thought-out murder plot which found even those of us who weren't participating directly, paying rapt attention to the clues throughout and even examining some of the actors to try and ascertain who the murderer was.

So if this is an example of an adult Halloween party, I think its a great idea. If on the other hand adult Halloween parties are people dressing up like witches and ghosts and going around shouting boo, I can't say I will ever consider it a worthwhile experience!

Incidentally,  I live in a very large apartment complex and deliberately walked around on Halloween night to see the kids in action, I did not see one child on the compound in costume. I wonder why?