Perception is reality

 I like Joe Biden for I think he is a really decent man who cares a lot about his country. And no one can deny that he has done a remarkable job in building back the economy of the USA after the devastation of covid.

In fact, I can say without any fear of contradiction, that based on his performance over the past four years, Joe Biden can go out in an unprecedented shower of glory.

The fact is though, like every human being who ever visited the planet, he is getting old and it shows clearly every day.

When he appeared at the press conference to address the special council's report into him having classified documents, despite being clearly energised by the anger he felt because the report described him as 'an elderly man with poor memory" he definitely looked and sounded shaky.

So the democrats can scream and shout as much as they like about this characterization being false, unfair whatever, and give personal testimonials of how sharp he is, he just looks shaky!

 His staff knows that too and that's why he is shielded from press conferences etc. 

No, Trump cannot be compared to Biden for he is a criminal, a cad, a man who cares only about himself. 

Also, he too is an elderly man with poor memory, and apart from the MAGA crowd, no one anywhere in the world, would want to see back as the President of the most powerful country in the world.

But that does not change the fact that Biden clearly does not appear to be able to lead the country for another four years and Kamla Harris gives no one any comfort as the hier apparent!

Its not too late to honor Joe and send him off into the sunset with a gold medal for what he has done for his country, for he deserves every honor for public service and personal sacrifice.

However, the Democratic Party urgently needs to wake up and face the fact that as far as voters are concerned, not only is perception is reality, but also, its now worse than only perception, as even the most dedicated Democrats can see him fading before their eyes.

The thought of a return by Trump is just too dangerous to even contemplate, so they need to stop procrastinating!

 

The thieving British!

A few of the less expensive and exotic items left in Ghana after the British finished plundering.

I did an immediate double take on hearing this news headline on BBC; “ UK to loan back Ghana's looted 'crown jewels'”.

Thinking I had misheard, I made sure not to be distracted when the story itself was being read.

No, the headline was not incorrect.

The entire story was shocking.

Ghana was the 'gold coast'.

 The gist is that although it is well documented and   recognized that Britain was once one of the most thieving empires of old and it acknowledges that most of the treasures in its museums were purloined, “….some national museums in the UK - including the V&A and the British Museum - are banned by law from permanently giving back contested items in their collections, and loan deals such as this are seen as a way to allow objects to return to their countries of origin!”  

The story continued; In receiving the stolen objects which are now being loaned back to the owners, Nana Oforiatta Ayim, special adviser to Ghana's culture minister, told the BBC: "They're not just objects, they have spiritual importance as well. They are part of the soul of the nation. It's pieces of ourselves returning."

These particular items now being ‘loaned to Ghana’ were stolen in 1874 when British troops launched a punitive expedition against the Ashante kingdom, ransacking Kumasi and taking many of the palace treasures.

Spears versus muskets

You know, over the years, one has heard rumours about various British institutions refusing to return sacred stolen property to Africa, but this BBC story aired on January 24, 2024, was still shocking, as these items had been among the crown jewels of the Ashante Kingdom.

The BBC's story also pointed out that the plundering of the crown jewels of Ashante Kingdom by Britain, was by no means an isolated affair, for the habit of stealing crown jewels from Africa was well established. Another example is the Benin Bronzes. 

These are the thousands of sculptures and plaques looted by Britain from the palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in modern-day southern Nigeria.

 Nigeria has been demanding their return for decades but up to now, they haven’t been able to get them back.

I guess Britain may loan them to that nation one day!

The victims of the massive theft that Britain carried out in Africa over the centuries should stop accepting this arrogance as a fait accompli.  This contemptible attitude by the descendants of the exploiters is totally unacceptable. 

All stolen artifacts, especially those of spiritual and cultural importance should be returned forthwith.

Surely the descendants of the nations whose cultural items were looted by the invaders should not be accepting loans (of their own things) from Britain in order that their people can learn the great history of the tribes that were once were supreme in Africa!

What amazes me, is how little feedback there has been to this story both in Britain and among their many victims, for I have been searching the internet extensively and the silence is deafening.

I wonder if the generations to come will be as docile in accepting these indignities?

It is not only in Africa that this happened but also in Australia and New Zealand. Could this maiden speech delivered in parliament in New Zealand in her native Maori language by that country’s youngest parliamentarian, 21-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, be a sign that the descendants of the victims will be a new less accepting and compliant in the future?

Or is it just entertainment for the over 7 million people who have seen it so far?

Watch it at; https://youtu.be/xPiJftYyovw?feature=shared and tell me what you think.

Maybe I am just grabbing at straws!

YOUTUBE LINK; https://youtu.be/P36aeUDbqXE

Pluto's send off

 I don't think any country in the world has given more good music to the world than little Jamaica.

Unfortunately, most of our greatest artists are either dead or on the way out.

The latest departure (2024) was Pluto Shervington. His send off was wonderful.

This celebration of his life was held at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, a place where Pluto performed often, bringing great entertainment to thousands.

 

Incidentally, there was a musical tribute for the late great Bob Marley on the 6th February 2024, to mark his 79th birthday.

 The link is below.

https://www.youtube.com/live/eWtPgab1i4o?si=Iag-u7Jvb4D-Xg8p

And don't forget, the latest movie in his honor, "One Love", hits theatres worldwide Feb 14, 2024.

Reflections.

This Gleaner story of January 18, 2024, under the headline; “Football dream fading, Second denial of US visa puts Munro graduate’s scholarship goal in jeopardy,"  only caught my attention because it involved my ‘brother’ school.  ”

I am surprised how little comment this story has elicited though, since it depicts so vividly, the popular experience with bureaucracies can cause, summed up thus;  He /she who plays by the rules get, shafted.”

According to the report; The dream of 20-year-old Munro College graduate Oral Thompson to pursue football internationally appears to be fading after his efforts to pick up a university scholarship in the United States were halted with his second denial of a student visa four months apart. Thompson, who has been offered a partial scholarship to attend the University of Northwestern Ohio, has until the second week in March to settle and begin classes at the private institution in Lima, Ohio. Football dream fading."

Most of us appreciate that America is a country of immigrants, (the only non-immigrants being the Native Americans) so most residents there are not intolerant of others trying to gain better opportunities by traveling to that country.

However, the Republican Party tends to be outrightly anti-immigrant and their current leader never fails to denigrate us, to the point of saying immigrants contaminate their blood.

On the other hand, the current policy being pursued by the Democratic Party is one that encourages chaos and illegality.

Over the years, I have heard tragic stories about families being torn apart for years and sometimes even decades, because of the difficulty, the exasperating legal process and the long time it takes to obtain legal visas, whether to migrate or even just visit.

I am sure this tiresome experience has not just frustrated Jamaicans over the decades, but indeed people from all over the world, who are trying to get to the USA.

Now, under the present Biden administration however, all you have to be able to do is learn to climb a wall or squeeze through barbed wire, to enter the USA.

Don’t waste your time trying to enter through the legal process, as young Thompson is now learning!

To make it even better for those who favor illegality over going through legal processes, they can get numerous benefits that not even those who were born there are able to!

For example, California is giving the law-breakers free health care, while thousands of those persons born in the USA or who migrated there legally but don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, get left without health coverage, if they cannot afford a policy through Obama Care.

Recently too, children in New York were deprived of in-person education, because their classrooms were given to illegal immigrants. In cities like NY, LA, San Francisco, Chicago etc, while citizens live on the streets because they cannot afford the rent, illegals can get free accommodation!

Because it’s now a free for all too, terrorists, criminals and smugglers can enter, no problem while aspirants who play by the rules, can't.

No wonder Biden is seeing a massive fall-off in support from most categories of his voters in poll after poll, for most people are law-abiding and prefer due-process to a policy that victimizes the law-abiding people while rewarding law-breakers!

Biden’s immigration policy will go a far way in encouraging voters to turn away from the Democrats in the upcoming elections.  

His policies can only benefit Trump and his Maga supporters.

For no reasonable person supports policies that victimize honest people while rewarding law breakers.

 

We are unwanted 😡

 We Jamaicans tend to hold ourselves in high esteem and based the performance of many of our nationals at home and abroad, we have some reason to feel so.

For on an individual basis, so many Jamaicans tend to be world beaters!

This is s especially so in sports, music, the arts, etc although when it comes to, operating collectively, especially in sports, we tend to bomb out.

I am not at this time thinking about sports though but our reputation as a country.

A paradox is that despite our terrible reputation at home and abroad because of crime, we remain among the most desirable vacation destinations in the Caribbean

 But that’s for another debate.

The latest statistic which gave me a jolt recently, was when at I heard on Radio  Jamaica (RJR) that in the Caribbean, our passport is one of the least desirable. It’s something, I have never really mulled on, although I travel a lot.

This is demonstrated by the extent to which countries are prepared to refuse to take a chance on us, by allowing us into their countries without visas!

According the report, Barbadians, can travel to over 160 countries without needing a visa and Bahamians are next on the high list with over 150 countries not asking them to get visas.  However, Jamaicans can only travel to 90 countries without a visa. (The entire list and ranking are online).

Even other Caribbean countries don’t particularly like those of us trying to travel to their countries with a Jamaican passport, despite us holding something marked a Caricom passport.

I remember the last time I went to Trinidad, how they scrutinized my documents from top to bottom.  I was just attempting to get home next day after leaving Guyana!  This while other Caricom nationals just ‘zoopsed’ through. 

At that time, I had to catch a connection through Trinidad .

 I was just overnighting there to catch my connection!

As I have been mainly been travelling to Africa recently, my esteem was lifted a bit by the fact that quite a few countries on the Continent, welcome us without visas.

These include Botswana, Zambia, Ghana , Kenya, South Africa.

 I must admit though, I was shocked when no such privilege was extended to us by Ethiopia!

 Shocked, because so many Jamaicans hold Ethiopia in such high regard, with some of our nationals even considering their former King a high prophet.

Besides, quite a few Jamaicans have made that country their home.

Could it be because of the actions of the Jamaicans there why they put in the visa restriction?

On the other hand, more Jamaicans have made Ghana their home and they haven’t slapped any visa restrictions on us!

(According to my research, 1000 Jamaicans live in Ethiopia and around 4000 in Ghana).

Our government needs to tell us why we are the personae non gratae in the Caribbean and why they are not negotiating bilateral agreements for us to travel more easily?

Visas are quite expensive documents and considering how we open up our country to the rest of the world, isn’t it time we get a break?

I forgot, politicians travel on diplomatic passports so don’t have the hassle of getting visas.

Anyway, our passports are probably blacklisted because the world knows our governments are so notoriously corrupt with no one ever being held accountable for anything, so they don’t want people who consider corruption the norm, to visit them!

So, I guess we will continue to be the pariah of the Caribbean.

 

 

 

 

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 [jw1]

Supporting the Krew

That's the Miami Krew Soccer Club. 

It was established in 2007 in Florida. The founder of the club is Mr. Pierre Hosang who has been playing and coaching soccer at various levels for 33 years.

Pierre, a graduate of FIU, is a member of a famous Marshall Jamaican footballing  family, whose members have represented Jamaica in the international  arena for decades. 

Pierre

    This club has built strong connections over the years, with Elementary, Middle,  High Schools, Clubs, and Colleges in Florida, so professional teams visit them regularly to recruit young, talented players in training.

 Some of their players have gone on to sign scholarships and contracts with colleges and professional teams, nationally and internationally.

We went to celebrate with the Krew at Palmetto Bay School grounds in Miami, where they hosted their annual family day.

Despite the inclement weather, it was fairly well attended. Both participants and well wishers were enthusiastic.

Jamaican food including festival, jerk chicken jerk pork etc, was

available for all.

The big feature of the day was the match between students and parents, but unfortunately, not that many fathers turned up.

It was enjoyable fun and games anyway.

''

Lion country safari revisited

                        

If you can't get to Africa to experience a real safari, (this in the link below is the best I have been to; Joan, my views: Heaven on earth (joan-myviews.blogspot.com) at least you get a tiny taste of one by visiting this in Loxahatchee, Florida. 

This is the second time I am visiting this attraction, and I have not changed my opinion in any way! (See that review at; Joan, my views: The best value for money in Florida (joan-myviews.blogspot.com).

There they have quite a variety of animals coming from six continents. They roam freely, so you will see lions, wildebeest, giraffe, zebras ostrich, chimpanzees and rhinos among others.

I saw many more lions this time and they were closer.

Naturally, you have to stay in your vehicle as they are really wild and roaming freely.

                                                        An energetic baby chimp

This ostrich pecked at the windscreen of every car.

showing off😅

When you are finished with the drive through, you can do the walk-through where you feed giraffes, see lots of birds and smaller animals.

Here also there are kid’s rides and lots of places selling food, snacks and souvenirs. So be prepared to walk a lot, especially if you have kids.

The skeleton of a very large python

The ever-present Florida gator

It's a lovely family attraction.