What's Up Jamaica

A sad tale it is, when a young person thinks that things are so bad that they have to end their own life. This Jamaica Observer news item is a sad one, really shows that no matter how yuh tink some people have it all, really dem nuh have it at all.

It's undoubtedly the end of an era - No telegrams after January - "JAMAICA'S TELEGRAPH service will cease operations as of January 31 next year, says Cable & Wireless Jamaica's director of corporate communications, Errol Miller. A telegraphic service was established between Kingston and Havana from 1869, thus linking the island with the USA and Europe even before a domestic postal service had been established. But the postal service, telephone, fax machine and e-mail have superseded the telegraph, Mr. Miller said."

My grandparents and my parents all sent telegrams at some point or the other over the normal course of their lives. I never did send one, and never ever received one but I grew up knowing what they were and where I could go to get or send one. It's almost a changing of the guarding, the handing of the baton from one form of communication to the other. No matter what anyone says about the Internet being dead, THE INTERNET IS HERE TO STAY!

Police to launch 'jet ski squad'
FOLLOWING GROWING complaints from hoteliers and visitors about increased crimes and harassment on the Ocho Rios waterfront, the St. Ann police is stepping up plans to put in place a 'jet ski squad' to tackle the offenders head on.

What more could a police officer want ... what but a jetski could make some gun-toting policeman feeling like he's on a bucking horse just as it was in the wild wild west days of shoot first and ask questions after.

only in Jamaica, can a Government contract be signed with an overseas company (much to the ire of local companies that had bidded on the very same contract and lost), then months later the company announces that it is seeking an additional $11 million from the Government for the job (because of the devaluation of the J$), and the Government actually brings it before Parliament for consideration! A contract is a contract, and whoever is bidding on a contract should be considering a whole range of factors including the possiblity of depreciation BEFORE they submit a bid. Once the bid is agreed on, that should be the end of that. This Government continues to make a mockery of this thing called Governance!

Full story - Overseas textbook printer wants $11 million more

Heard that these bullet hole stickers have started to appear on cars all over the place. Gunmen and police are busy shooting up cars here there and everywhere so I am sure it must be hard to figure out which bullet holes are real and which are fake.

The Christmas curry-goat feeding has started - Cabinet allocates $140m for Christmas Work programme. They have to make sure they keep some of the poorer unemployed people that voted them in happy, hence the annual Christmas curry goat feeding which usually involves people getting paid to stand around and pretend that they're cleaning sidewalks and drains for a beautiful Jamaica at Christmas.

The JLP is in the news and continues to do the things and act the ways which will guarantee that they will not be seen as a viable alternative to the PNP, and hence be in the opposition for the forseeable future. Sigh, what to do??? I guess we'll have to continue logging on to PJ's "progress". Man have more "gyal" and more cellular phone that ever before so I guess that means the country is experiencing growth. HAH