Friday, May 29, 2009

Hey Barack and Michelle Do Ya have enough Pillows and Quilts for the Rest of Ya Kin Folks ?

Devestation in New Orleans Post Hurricane Katrina

Can You Forget What happened to the folks in Nawlins, and along the Gulf Coast; following Hurricane Katrina ? Neither can we, because some of them are family..


check this out, and Please take a Moment Today and ACT -Click This Link to Tell President Obama to Stop the Evictions scheduled to begin on Saturday May 30, 2009.


a hurricane katrina survivor sorting out her life


I Think since Mr. Obama and Mrs. Obama claim to be interested in helping where there is a genuine emergency, maybe they can take a moment and check out what's happening to these folks who are still suffering from their predecesors promises of restoration.



So Today on F^cked UP Friday we're askin the First Family, Do Ya Have enough Bedding for the Rest of the folks who are about to become homeless, due to your lack of attention, Mr and Mrs Obama ?



Hurricane Katrina Part 3- post Katrina Mississippi


We're Gonna Keep our Attention Focused on This Issue this weekend and report basically on this because we know there is a real mess and somebody's gotta fix this right now,, not later NOW.


Katrina Information Network - www.katrinaaction.org


"I need the trailer. I ain't got nowhere to go if they take the trailer…This storm broke me. I need some help. And I got a long way to go."


Ernest Hammond, 70, on pending FEMA trailer evictions


a fema trailer in front of a house devestated by hurricane katrina


Dear KIN Folk,


FEMA is at it again and we need your help.


The agency has announced that on May 30, 2009, it will act to evict thousands of residents from FEMA trailers in the Gulf States in spite of the fact that these residents have had limited support and lots of barriers in their efforts to find permanent housing.


Please act now to stop this travesty.


Mr. Ernest Hammond is a case in point. Hammond, a 70 year old, former New Orleans homeowner, could not get financial help from Louisiana's Road Home program for his triplex since the housing structure was ineligible for a grant. To help himself, Mr. Hammond has collected almost $10,000 in aluminum cans but that won't even begin to cover the costs to rebuild his home in the 7th Ward. His FEMA trailer is keeping him off the street while he struggles to return home.


Mr. Hammond is one of thousands of families living in FEMA trailers because they are either caught in a web of deeply flawed, bureaucratic home repair grant programs, a victim of all too rampant contractor fraud or simply priced out of a rising rental markets where affordable housing is being demolished or gentrified.


No one chooses to live in a FEMA trailer, but it is better than no home at all. Evicting residents without providing access to safe, permanent housing will only lead to homelessness and further destabilize families.


Thursday, May 28th is a National Day of Action organized by the US Human Rights Network to turn this around. Together, we helped keep survivors off the streets. Please take a minute to click and send an email or make a call to let the Administration know that evictions are a bad idea.


Tell President Obama and Congress to extend the May 30th FEMA trailer program deadline!



Say NO to FEMA's decision to forcibly evict residents from trailers!


Tell President Obama and FEMA that they must stop FEMA's plan to forcefully evict Gulf Region residents from temporary trailers.




The Facts:



  • Nearly 5,000 FEMA trailers continue to provide housing to residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina

    • 2,800 FEMA trailers in Louisiana, with 1, 000 trailers located in Orleans Parish, LA

    • 2,000 FEMA trailers in Mississippi



  • Most FEMA trailer occupants are elderly and/or disabled persons in desperate need of effective support and case management services to stabilize their housing and wellbeing.

  • FEMA trailer occupants are displaced homeowners and renters still struggling to rebuild their homes or secure affordable housing after Katrina and Rita.


an elder who didn't get assistance after hurricane katrina, without a trailer living in an open house


Human Rights Begins at Home!



The United Nations' Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement is a human rights policy that, for several years, has guided our government in providing temporary and permanent homes for people in foreign countries displaced by earthquakes, typhoons, and flooding. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton only recently announced that the U.S. will apply the UN's standards to assist displaced persons in Pakistan.


Please act now to stop this travesty.


Hurricane Katrina displaced over a million people, many of whom have yet to fully recover as a result of governmental actions that are contrary to the UN's standards and human rights treaties ratified in the US. Gulf Region residents, both renters and homeowners, have worked tirelessly to access safe, permanent housing, and should have the support that our government provides to foreign countries under the Guiding Principles.


Abrupt removal of residents from their only source of shelter is unacceptable!


Hold our elected leaders to their promise of Gulf Region recovery, and demand equal protection under the same human rights policy that the U.S. government applies to displaced persons in other countries.



Tell FEMA to provide an extension to all homeowners and renters living in FEMA trailers to allow them sufficient time to repair their homes and/or find alternative housing.


Additional time would allow:



  • Louisiana homeowners to appeal denials of Road Home grants, or go to a Road Home closing.

  • Mississippi homeowners to be matched with available Katrina cottages that sit idle.

  • Renters more time to obtain rental assistance or other permanent affordable housing.


Demand Action Now!


Call the Obama Administration and FEMA to demand action now! Tell our government not to carry forward yesterday's short-sighted policies and to apply the same human rights standards to displaced persons in the Gulf States. Demand a stop to the FEMA trailer deadline and the guarantee of safe, permanent housing in the Gulf Region.


HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan (202) 708-0417


DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano (202) 282-8000; (202) 282-8495


FEMA Administrator Fugate (202) 646-2500


Thank you for making a difference and please forward this note to others. Our voices matter.


In Solidarity,


The KIN Team


REFERENCES








Please act now to stop this travesty.



1Ready or Not, Katrina Victims Lose Temporary Housing, The New York Times, 05-8-09


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/08trailer.html



Residents keep nervous eye on trailers, The Times-Picayune, 05-03-09


http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1241328957289870.xml&coll=1


Visit the KIN website for more information.


Thursday, May 28, 2009

Why Didn't We Hear about the Siberian Dog Girl ?


Why do we have to fill in the gaps left by the news media so frequently ?

"They Think WE Are Stupid"

The past few days we've been reading voraciously and we're going to be doing alot of catch up posting, on international and local issues of interest.

these are stories that are just too good to pass up. what amazes us is that the local and most us media seem to think that we are not interested in the news from around the globe, and how our news reflects when it's played around the globe. today we picked a variety of stories, most are stories you'll recognize as somewhat interesting - but wonder like us, why the media ignored them.
Now I Know Folks are smart, butterah, Toy Planes to infiltrate prison, nawwww.. this is obviously thought out by the guy who used his car to pull that bank heist. Uh Huh..
Police foil prison phone delivery





By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo









Police photo of seized micro-helicopter
Police said the model helicopter was equipped with nine mobile phones

Police in Brazil have foiled a plot to smuggle mobile phones into a high-security prison using a remotely-controlled model helicopter.

Four people were arrested and the high-tech toy was recovered after police stopped a car near to the jail.

Mobile phones are widely used by prisoners inside jails in Brazil to continue directing criminal activities.

Earlier this year prison guards in the same state discovered that pigeons were being used to carry mobile phone parts.

It seems the plot to smuggle the mobile phones into the Presidente Venceslau high security jail in Sao Paulo state was only stymied when police stopped a car as part of a routine check.

In the boot of the vehicle they found the one-metre long model helicopter with a basket-like container attached to its base.

Inside were nine mobile phones wrapped in a disposable nappy, while another five phones were also discovered in the vehicle.

Four suspects were arrested, and the youngest, who was aged just 17, is reported to have confessed they had been given $5,000 to buy and prepare the helicopter.

They were apparently to be paid the same amount if they had successfully landed the model inside the prison walls.

Prisoners in Brazilian jails routinely use mobile phones to carry on with criminal activity, and the police say the ones they recovered were probably intended to go to gang leaders inside the jail.

It is not the first time that the authorities have foiled an innovative attempt to smuggle material into a jail in Brazil.

Earlier this year Sao Paulo state prison guards uncovered a plot using pigeons to carry mobile phone parts over the walls of a jail.


And then we got Gangsta Till The end.. Karadzic, the playa. why does he think he should be immune to prosecution ? does he have a secret deal that we dont' know about yet ?? Hmmm.. we'll keep following this one in case it slimes.






Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic stands in court during his initial appearance at the UN's Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands on 31 July 2008
The main charge against Mr Karadzic concerns the 1995 Srebenica massacre



Lawyers for the former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, have filed papers arguing that all charges against him should be dropped.


They say US diplomat Richard Holbrooke promised him immunity from prosecution on condition he gave up politics - something Mr Holbrooke strongly denies.

Mr Karadzic is on trial at the UN tribunal in The Hague, facing 11 charges including genocide.

The tribunal has said that any immunity deal would not be binding.

The tribunal says even if a deal had been agreed, the trial would proceed anyway.

'Witnesses'

Mr Karadzic's lawyers filed a motion of more than 100 pages, demanding the court hold a special hearing to establish the truth of his claims.









CHARGES AGAINST KARADZIC


Eleven counts of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities

Charged over shelling Sarajevo during the city's siege, in which some 12,000 civilians died

Allegedly organised the massacre of up to 8,000 Bosniak men and youths in Srebrenica

Targeted Bosniak and Croat political leaders, intellectuals and professionals

Unlawfully deported and transferred civilians because of national or religious identity

Destroyed homes, businesses and sacred sites


He says Mr Holbrooke, then the US envoy to Bosnia, agreed to provide him with immunity at a meeting in Belgrade on 18-19 July, 1996.

Mr Karadzic does not claim to have attended the meeting, but says the former Bosnian Serb assembly speaker, Momcilo Krajisnik, and foreign minister, Aleksa Buha, were there and could testify to Mr Holbrooke's alleged promise.

He also says he has testimony from other witnesses, including sources in the US state department, along with written documents and articles, to support his claim.

"The indictment should be dismissed, or the proceedings should be stayed, so that the hands of the tribunal are not stained with Holbrooke's deception," the motion said.

One of Radovan Karadzic's legal team, Peter Robinson, told the BBC: "The first step that we want to take is to ask that the trial not be held and the case be dismissed because of the promise that Richard Holbrooke made. If that's not successful, then we'll have to defend the case at trial, and Dr Karadzic is prepared to do that."

Mr Holbrooke - now the US envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan - strongly denies any such deal, describing the claim as "laughable" and "a lie".









FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE








The BBC correspondent in The Hague, Geraldine Coughlan, says court observers are anxious to see whether judges will allow a special hearing, which Mr Karadzic's lawyers argue in is in the interest of "fundamental fairness".

Mr Karadzic was arrested and brought to the tribunal last year, after more than a decade in hiding.

He is accused of genocide over the massacre of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995, and is also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court filed a not guilty plea on his behalf after he refused to offer a plea, saying the court lacked jurisdiction.
it's astounding. this story in itself got no coverage in the us, that we can find.






Map
Russian officials have taken a five-year-old Siberian girl into care, saying that she had apparently been "brought up" by cats and dogs.

The girl, who is unable to speak, was discovered living in a squalid flat in the Siberian city of Chita.

Police said she had never been allowed outside and had adopted the behaviour of the animals she lived with.

They said she now "barked like a little dog" and jumped at the door when her carers left the room.

Police are questioning the girl's mother, but her father has not yet been found.

'Animal language'

A police statement said the girl was unwashed, dressed in filthy clothes and had the "clear attributes of an animal".

"For five years, the girl was 'brought up' by several dogs and cats and had never been outside," the statement said.

The police said the girl had managed to master "animal language only", but seemed able to understand Russian.

Earlier this year, President Dmitry Medvedev called for more action on child abuse.

He said 750,000 children in Russia were living in "socially hazardous conditions".

And this lil Tid Bit, which we thought would have hit US Papers or TV News
Judge settles James Brown estate battle


James Brown
James Brown was considered one of the world's greatest soul singers



A US judge has ended a bitter two-year battle over the late soul singer James Brown's estate.


Judge Jack Early has ruled half of his assets will go to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to his six adult children.

Brown's family and wife Tomi Rae Hynie Brown have fought over his fortune since he died of heart failure in 2006.

Judge Early wrote in his court report that the undisclosed settlement is "just and reasonable".

'Relieved and happy'

He added: "From the perspective of the charitable beneficiaries, the risks of not approving the settlement agreement are substantial."

The settlement also establishes that Tomi Rae Hynie Brown is the star's surviving spouse and her son is his child.

Last year, a US court ordered a DNA test to be carried out on the boy to prove Brown was his father, but that is no longer required.

In a statement to news agency The Associated Press, Brown's widow said: "I am so relieved and happy that the court has approved this settlement.










It has been a struggle, but God has blessed us and we are thankful



Deanna Brown, James Brown's daughter


"I want to be able to work with the trustees and other Brown family members to promote James Brown's legacy.

"My son James and I are grateful to the judge and hope this nightmare is finally over."

The judge has also ruled that Brown's relatives will create a museum or some other memorial for the late singer.

Brown's daughter, Deanna Brown, said: "It has been a struggle, but God has blessed us and we are thankful.

"We look forward to working towards the goals of our father by providing education scholarships for impoverished students and his own grandchildren, and making his home a museum for the world to come and see."

Lawyers have said the soul singer's accounts have little money in them.

Last July, some of his possessions were auctioned off, partly to pay off debts, however royalties from the musician's music will continue to make future income.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

For our Asian Posse' - The General In Charge - Ras Muhamad, BIG UP !

Ras Muhamad - the Sound of Jakarta
Now if ya love Reggae Music Say F O R W A R D D D D D D D D !!!!



This is Ras Muhammad, the hottest new Reggae Sensation From Indonesia

WE know many folks seem to believe that Reggae can only originate from Jamaica, but that's been proven to be old news. This is the News today children - Check out the Future of Reggae,



Moving's to the East (Ras Muhammad) - Leaving Babylon

Asianrockers with a Full African Flava.

Nuff RASPECT Ras Muhamad - Hold Up HIM Bloodstained Truth, EVER



Indonesian reggae singer Ras Muhamad performs his songs and talks politics


By Claire Bolderson
BBC World Service, Jakarta
Indonesia's democracy is only a decade old and the political parties are mostly indistinguishable on policy - but eleven years after the fall of the Suharto Dictatorship where all dissent was squashed - new voices are emerging, trying to influence debate.

One such voice is Ras Muhamad, a young reggae singer.

He was chosen by Rolling Stone magazine Indonesia as Best New Reggae Artist in 2008.

The same year his song Musik Reggae Ini (This Reggae Music) was nominated for an AMI Award - Indonesia's answer to the Grammys.

His songs are about money, corruption and political leadership.

Ahead of July's presidential election, and following April's parliamentary poll, his subject matter resonates with his young and excitable audience.



Reggae music is always the voice of the people
Ras Muhamad
His new album, The Next Chapter, is - he says - a reference to the potential of the upcoming election, and warns the youth of Indonesia not to place too much hope in political parties.

"A lot of politicians here only reach out to people when it's election time and when election time is over they just disappear and then we don't hear about them any more," he tells me.

Instead he believes people have to help themselves: "You can shape your own destiny by your struggle, by your works and bring about a lot of changes."

Ras has certainly shaped his own destiny.


He was born in Indonesia's capital Jakarta, but moved with his parents to US in the early 1990s before returning home four years ago.


He first began performing reggae as a teenager living in the Queens borough of New York, and while still in high school formed his first band.

He describes his type of reggae as "dancehall" reggae - a style that combines reggae and hip-hop.



Ras Muhamad
He has become a musical ambassador of sorts for reggae in South East Asia - on his latest album he worked with musicians from Senegal, Kenya and Norway.

But his idols are still Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, performers who were unafraid to let politics influence their music.

He says he chose reggae because it suits his voice and style, but also because it can convey a message too.

"Reggae music is always the voice of the people. Whatever is happening, I feel like I have to sing about it," he explains.

"The basis and foundation of reggae is always about unity, and one of the role models in reggae is [former Ethiopian Emperor] Haile Selassie and I always look up to him and also the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno."

Sukarno declared Indonesia's independence from colonial rule and became a leading figure of the Non Aligned Movement.

New generation

So does Ras see himself with a future in politics?

"I never think of myself as a political musician, but the society we are living in in Indonesia, we have a lot of conflicts," he says.

"That's why I want to convey that we have to care for each other and also respect each other, not just slogans and that type of thing."



I hope they can be a stronger generation...the people are the leaders and we can bring about change
Ras Muhamad
Ras believes the music industry still looks down on reggae, but he believes it has the potential to bring about change, at least in attitudes if not politics.

His song Crisis decries the lack of care and love in society, and calls for the gap between the rich and the poor to be narrowed.

More than half Indonesia's work force earn less than $2 a day while a tiny but visible elite at the top are multi-millionaires.

"It seems like the richest of the rich, they just look after themselves and they never reach out to the poor, they never help the underprivileged," he says.

He says however that the onus is on both groups to try to change things.

"The rich can't stay by themselves they have to reach out, and the poor, they can't just say, 'I'm poor, ok and well that's it, can't do anything about it', you know."

He hopes that his music will reach out to a new generation of leaders in both politics and civil society who have the potential to change Indonesia and make it a fairer, more open society.

"I hope they can be a stronger generation and don't depend too much on political leaders," he says.

Monday, May 25, 2009

What do you mean Coming Social Unrest Buddy ?



What I don' t get is doesn't this man realize that this is reading the news ?
we already have economically motivated unrest ? has he not seen these violent episodes where folks are loosing it - Literally ?





Please somebody shake him, cause he's still not awake - damn.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick
Robert Zoellick has warned of the destabilising effects of unemployment

The head of the World Bank has warned that the global economic crisis could lead to serious social upheaval.

"If we do no take measures, there is a risk of a serious human and social crisis with very serious political implications," Robert Zoellick said.

He pointed to Eastern Europe, which faces the "tricky situation" of fast-shrinking economies and protests.

Mr Zoellick suggested governments should start preparing for high levels of unemployment.

"In my opinion, in this context, nobody really knows what is going to happen and the best one can do is be ready for any eventuality," Mr Zoellick said in an interview with Spain's El Pais newspaper.

"There is also what I call the 'X-factor', that one can not foresee," such as the recent outbreak of swine flu, he said.

"Latin America has remained reasonably stable, even if Mexico and Central America are under pressure because they rely a lot on the North American market," Mr Zoellick added.

It was reported last week that Mexico's economy shrank by 8.2% in the first three months of this year compared with a year earlier. Mexico sends 80% of its exports to the US.

Other economies in Eastern Europe have registered double-digit declines in GDP, such as Latvia and Estonia, while the retiring Bank of England rate-setter David Blanchflower has said at least one million more people in the UK will lose their jobs.

The World Bank has previously warned of a "human catastrophe" in the world's poorest countries unless more is done to tackle the global economic crisis.

It said an extra 53 million people are at risk of extreme poverty.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

It's Saturday @ the Circus wtih Dennis in Drag, Kelis' Milkshake and Weezy (if we can wake his ass up)

This is another Saturday round up, and we are not short of clowns this episode.. we give you Gastly to Goddess.. You Make the Call - but remember This Is ALL NEWS, To Some of Us. LOL

dennis rodman bad Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns

DENNIS RODMAN ACCUSED OF STIFFING RESTAURANT BILL:

Den Den was off his meds apparently, and somebody needs to point him in the direction of the nearest Make Over Reality Show, QUICK. He Is The Biggest LOSER. any respectable drag queen would never been seen dead with that purse and dress. And to think he had the nerve to cause a stank on the Beach. He Needs His Ass Whooped Real Momma Style.

Plus, member of his crew allegedly assaulted manager when he asked for the money.

*Within days of his appearance on the season finale of “The Apprentice” and promise to enter rehab, Dennis Rodman got himself in trouble in Miami after sources claim he left a restaurant without paying the bill.
TMZ.com reported Sunday, “Rodman and some friends had dinner last night at the Gansevoort Hotel in Miami, and left without paying the $1,000 bill. When the manager tried stopping Rodman’s party, an altercation erupted and the GM got punched in the face — allegedly by a member of Rodman’s posse.”
According to the Web site, the fight spilled into the street and resulted in a rear view mirror being knocked off a $289,000 Lamborghini parked near the sidewalk.
Police confirm the Miami Beach PD responded to a call from the hotel right around the time the altercation took place. No word yet on whether the victim will press charges.
The restaurant agreed not to press charges if the bill was paid — and it was.

Label Rep Says Lil Wayne Album Pushed Back Again To July

Literally We Have nothing to say, except, did somebody wake his syrup sluprin ass up to tell him ? probably wouldn’t make a bit of difference anyway. he’s asleep in his shoes but he still doesn’t realize it. Damn..
Thursday May 21 12:50 PM CDT posted by xxl staff
lil wayne news1 Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns

One month after it was reported that Lil Wayne’s new album Rebirth was pushed back to June, XXLMag.com has learned that the project has been moved once again.
Reports came out today that the disc was moved, and a label rep has confirmed that the experimental album will now come out sometime in July. It is unclear if the several tracks that have leaked on the net will be included on the CD, like “Politics” with Gudda Gudda or “Spit In Your Face” with Cash Money artist Kevin Rudolf.

Yet according to Rolling Stone, the leaked song “Fix My Hat” will be on Rebirth.
In April it was reported that Universal wants to the release Weezy’s Young Money compilation on the same date as Rebirth, which is complicating the drop date. As of press time it is uncertain if that is still the case. – Elan Mancini

Nas Wants Judge To Deny Kelis Spousal Support In Divorce

Have Mercy Nasser - at least get a damn DNA Test before you get to actin all Babydaddyish. You married the Milkshake and now you Sour,, Awwww.. what’s the matter, did she cut off your supply of excess carpet ? Man Up - and Take Care of Your Damn Baby, cause you know it’s Yours.
Wednesday May 20 2:14 PM CDT posted by xxl staff
nasnewspic Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns
It doesn’t look like Nas and Kelis are on good terms. After filing for divorce last month against her husband of three years, Kelis - who cannot work because she is pregnant with the Queens rapper’s son - is asking for Nas to pay for her lawyer fees in the case.

TMZ reports today (May 20) that not only does Nas not want to pay for his ex’s attorney, but he doesn’t want to fork over any money for spousal support.

Both Esco and the R&B singer are seeking custody of the child that Kelis is just weeks away from birthing. Rumor is that Kelis filed for the split because she believes Nas was cheating on her.
As of press time neither artist has offered any statements about the case. – Elan Mancini

Kelis lets the audience preview Her Milkshake
Kelis Baby Do You Have to let errybody get a taste of Yo Milkshake ? Damnn Girl cover that shit up.
*Documents filed in Los Angeles reveal that Nas, 35, has asked a court to deny his pregnant wife Kelis any spousal support in their divorce.

The 29-year-old “Milkshake” singer, whose first child with Nas is due in July, filed for divorce last month, according to reports. Both sides are seeking joint custody of the unborn child.
Although the couple went public with their marriage with a ceremony in 2005, the pair was secretly married at a courthouse in 2003, a source confirms. 
snoop dogg Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns

SNOOP DOGG CLEARED OF STAGE ASSAULT:

Go Snoop, we knew that you’d win this one. Here’s a lil advice Big Homie - next time keep the fans off the stage while you and yo posse’ workin. it’s been known to get gully up there

Jury finds Snoop is not personally responsible for fan beatdown at 2005 concert.

*A civil jury on Friday cleared Snoop Dogg of civil assault and battery claims in the beating of a fan who stormed the concert stage during a 2005 concert near Seattle.

The jury, however, did find that Richard Monroe Jr. suffered serious injuries during the concert and awarded him $449,400 in damages to be paid by a record label, another performer and others involved in the concert, reports the Associated Press.

The damages awarded were substantially lower than the $22 million Monroe sought when he sued the rapper in 2006.

Jurors found that Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, doesn’t personally owe Monroe anything. The artist was not in court Friday for the verdict, but he attended part of the trial and testified, denying that he struck Monroe.

During two weeks of testimony, jurors were repeatedly shown a video of a melee that Monroe said left him unconscious, badly bruised and nearly naked. Monroe’s attorney, Brian E. Watkins, said jurors did believe his client’s contention that Snoop’s people were involved in a savage beating.

“We’re very pleased that the jury found that this incident was not something to be taken lightly,” Watkins said.
Responsibility for paying the judgment falls on Doggystyle Records, which Broadus founded; rapper Soopafly, whose real name is Priest Brooks; and other unnamed parties.


SWIZZ BEATZ WANTS DIVORCE COURT GAG:

Producer asks judge to seal the case; Mashonda’s lawyer calls move ‘curious.’

Swizz YOU A HOE, and Alicia - Well it’s obvious you have no judgement.. Go Get Yo Ass some Therapy you Homewrecker. Mashonda did nothing to you Alicia, so you will get this back, in the later-on babygirl, mark these words. What Goes Around, Comes Right Back to Yo Ass, in a lil while - always
(May 22, 2009)
*Now that he’s gone public about his romance with songstress Alicia Keys, rapper and producer Swizz Beatz wants the public barred from ongoing divorce proceedings with his wife, singer Mashonda, the New York Post’s Dareh Gregorian reports.

Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, has asked Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Deborah Kaplan to seal the proceedings and issue a gag order.

Mashonda’s lawyer, Bernard Clair, called the move “curious,” and noted that his client’s divorce suit and request for support for their son were “flying under the radar until Mr. Dean and Alicia Keys went public about their long-term affair and he released a song implying that he likes it when Alicia serves him breakfast naked.

“Now that Mr. Dean’s questionable conduct is being scrutinized, he suddenly wants a gag order and the media to be locked out?”

alphamega1 Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns

T.I. RELEASES ALFAMEGA FROM LABEL:

Rapper takes action after reports surface that he was a DEA informant.

Have Mercy, Tip you cleanin house. good move my man, good move. now if you can get that shit cleaned up before you get done with your bid, the rest will be gravy baby.
The rapper, who was sentenced to one year and a day behind bars on federal weapons charges last month, has dropped Alfamega from his Grand Hustle Records following a published report by SmokingGun.com earlier last week that claims he was an informant for the drug enforcement administration during a trial on a heroin trafficker.
“Even though all our artists and employees are asked by us to be honest and open about their past history, at no time did Alfa disclose to me or Grand Hustle what has now appeared in the media,” T.I., born Clifford Harris, said during an interview on Atlanta’s 107.9 radio station.
“He essentially deceived us by failing to fully disclose the truth about his past, and there is no place in our organization for dishonest and misleading behavior,” he continued. “As I have always said, you must take responsibility for your own actions. We at Grand Hustle can not support or condone the blaming of others for our own mistakes. I hope and pray to God, bless his savings plans, but I don’t foresee me or my company playing a role in his personal or professional business.”‘
T.I. pleaded guilty last March after he was arrested in 2007, attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers.
4ku0gae Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns

RAYMONE BAIN SUES MIJAC OVER UNPAID FEES:

How the Hell is she suing anybody with her Shady Ass? she’s just mad she aint’ gettin none of that O2 money.

Singer’s former rep seeks $44 million, only ‘after numerous attempts to resolve matter amicably.’

*Raymone K. Bain, the famous former publicist for Michael Jackson who became widely known during the singer’s child molestation trial, has filed a lawsuit against the King of Pop for failing to pay her fee.
In the lawsuit, Bain is seeking $44 million from the entertainer. She claims to have overseen every aspect of Jackson’s life, including arranging his housing, paying his bills, running his companies and helping to save him from foreclosure, among other things.
But one has to wonder if Jackson’s supposed to be broke, why is she suing for that much money and how does she justify that figure? The Washington D.C.-based lawyer sent EUR the following statement regarding her lawsuit:
“It is with deep regret that I find myself at this place, having to file a lawsuit against my longtime employer, and someone whom I have greatly admired and respected, Michael Jackson.
“Mr. Jackson and I have had a long, productive and mutually beneficial business relationship.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson has elected not to honor the financial obligations of our contractual relationship, despite my numerous attempts to amicably resolve this matter. I am sincerely disappointed in Mr. Jackson’s failure to honor his obligations.
“This lawsuit will result in some discussion about the relationship between Mr. Jackson and me. Hypothetical theories, accusations and rumors, if gauging from the past, will be many. However, all of these will be replaced in court with the truth.
“On a personal note, I would like to thank all of the individuals who have given so much of their time and effort to assist me throughout the Jackson years. I thank you for your support and prayers. To the Jackson fans who have written letters to me, thank you, and I wish you all the best.
“Despite the action I have been compelled to take for professional and business reasons, when looking back, I have no regrets. Michael Jackson, in my opinion, is the ‘King of Pop,’ and I wish him, and his family, only the best.”
For video statement, go to www.raymonebain.com.
serena williams 01 Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns

SERENA WILLIAMS LOSES IN ROME: But her jewelry and accessories line wins big on HGN.

It Matters Not - This is the Queen of Tennis - and Y’all Betta recogize. this girl is a multimillionaire in the prime of her life. she’s gonna buy and sell all y’all tabloids by puttin her face on your cover. Pay Her Damn it. that’s all you can do, cause she can Do What It Do.

YOU Go Serena !

*Less than 24 hours after proclaiming she is the true No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player, world number two Serena Williams was knocked out the second round of Tuesday’s WTA Rome claycourt International by No. 20 Patty Schnyder 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

According to AFP, “the game did not finish until 1 a.m. local time and there was a strange and subdued atmosphere, although Schnyder at least managed to lift herself enough to see off her poor opponent.”
Perhaps Williams was still distracted from the successful launch of her fashion, accessories and jewelry line on HSN and www.hsn.com, with 25,000 pieces selling out after just 3 hours of air time during HSN’s primetime debut (Thursday-Saturday morning) April 30 - May 2.
Serena Williams Signature Statement is a complete accessories collection including handbags, jewelry and apparel that ranges from $16.50 for the Signature Statement Rings of Bling Drop Earrings up to $99.95 for the Signature Statement Flowing Floral Reversible Maxi Dress.
During the launch, Serena modeled her collection, told anecdotes about the inspiration behind each piece and took calls from elated fans from around the country. One of the most popular pieces was the famous Lucky Ring Serena wears during each of her winning matches. Additionally, nearly every handbag and fashion jewelry piece was spoken for by the end of her last show on Saturday morning.
“I love to make a statement both on and off the court. Passion, drive and hard work have taken me down this and many other creative paths throughout my life,” said Williams. “As with tennis, it takes a lot of discipline and precision to make beautiful things come to life. This is a dream come true for me to share truly gorgeous things that I love with the world on HSN.”
Now is that enough for ya ?
re sig Saturday at the Circus with Serena; Kelis Milkshake; Weezy; Big Snoop; and a cast of Clowns

Friday, May 22, 2009

Trini Gangstas - Dial Out of Crime.. Co'mon You Can Do it

What Do You Want To Do on Holiday ?

When we saw this we thought wow it's vacation time, and folks would surely like to know where to go and where not to go. this year we are NOT Suggesting Your Take your Chances in Trinidad because Dem a Ramp Up Bad Bad Baddddd.

Read This Stuff and decide where you want to spend your holiday



Trinidad and Tobago crime rate tops Jamaica's

PORT-OF-SPAIN - As the country awaits the unveiling of the newest crime plan, criminals have gone about their business murdering and robbing citizens, more than they did last year.

First-quarter crime figures have shown an increase in murders and robberies as compared with the same period last year.

Murders have gone up by over a fifth, 21.69 per cent, and 441 more people have been robbed this year, an increase of 44.95 per cent as compared with the first quarter of 2008.

And compared with our Caribbean neighbour to the north, Jamaica, a country that has been the benchmark for regional violence, Trinidad and Tobago is in a worse-off position.

In Jamaica, there was a reduction in murders of almost six per cent for the first quarter of 2009, and a drop in shootings.

There was an increase in robberies, though, of 35.55 per cent on that island. However, this is no comfort as more people have been robbed in Trinidad and Tobago this year, 1 422 as compared to 713 in Jamaica.

On April 21, Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced that a new crime plan would be unveiled in three weeks' time.

The three-week mark has gone and National Security Minister Martin Joseph said recently that it was still being reviewed by the National Security Council.

Urban violence, fuelled by gang rivalry, remains the biggest source of carnage with the Port-of-Spain district, accounting for close to a quarter of all the murders committed for the first quarter of 2009.

The Port-of-Spain Police Division, which is geographically less than one-tenth the size of Trinidad and Tobago, has recorded 32 of the 129 murders for the period, 24.80 per cent.

The high number is the result of gang fights in Laventille, East Dry River and parts of Belmont, police say. The East-West Corridor continues to be the most violent place on the islands, accounting for over three-quarter of the country's murders.

The rest of Trinidad and Tobago, which makes up more than three-quarter of the islands' land mass, has recorded only 32 of the 129 murders up to March 31.

A total of 97 murders were committed between Carenage and Arima, 75.19 per cent, with the Port-of-Spain Division having the most homicides, 32, followed by the Northern Division (Arima to St Joseph) 25, Western Division (Carenage to St James), 20, and North Eastern Division (Morvant to San Juan), 20. (Trinidad Express)

Gangsters ‘dial’ out of crime
By NALINEE SEELAL Friday, October 24 2008
click on pic to zoom in

Are you a gangster? Dial 625-4932 or 623-8440 to get out of your life of crime.
That’s the appeal of Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert who, yesterday, announced that two hotlines have been set up for members of gangs to call if they want to surrender and get help to turn around their lives.

The two numbers are the direct lines to the offices of Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Gilbert Reyes and Assistant Police Commissioner, Crime, Raymond Craig who are based at the Police Administration Building, corner of Sackville and Edward Streets, Port-of-Spain. Philbert said he has been overwhelmed by requests from men and women who have left gangs and want to live law-abiding lives.

Philbert, during a news conference at the Police Administration Building, said the police must give their full support to gang members who want to get out of crime.

Twenty men and women, who with the help of evangelical pastors had left gangs, went with their pastors to a meeting with Philbert at his office on Wednesday. Reyes and Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Maurice Piggott also attended the meeting, which was the second time Philbert had met with the former gang members. Last Sunday, they hired a maxi taxi and met with Philbert at an undisclosed location in south Trinidad.

“They wanted to get out because they got fed up. They wish to live a little longer, and to enjoy life a little longer, and they suddenly realise there is a God,” he said.

The former gang members told the top lawmen they want to help the police to bring an end to gang violence.

“They have said certain things to us and gave us an insight into what we are dealing with.

“We are willing and able to assist any gang member who is willing to change,” said Philbert.

Talking tough, Philbert declared the goal of the police was to stop gang-related crimes.

“We strongly deplore it. We will try to reduce it and eradicate it.”

Asked if the police would help those who may have matters in court, Philbert made it clear the law must take its course.



Sun, sand and savagery: Whatever happened to Jamaica, paradise island?

The holiday-brochure chic of its resorts belies the unremittingly harsh underbelly of the real Jamaica. Here, the eminence of drugs and guns have created a society in which 'respect' has replaced civic values – and where a lack of it results in a trip to the morgue. Ian Thomson ventures into the heart of the country to ask, what went wrong?

By Ian Thomson -  Sunday May 10, 2009
Guns, ganja and games: Peter Dean Rickards' ongoing photography project in Jamaica captures every side of the country, from its crime scenes to its church-goers and its obsession with sports
PETER DEAN RICKARDS
Guns, ganja and games: Peter Dean Rickards' ongoing photography project in Jamaica captures every side of the country, from its crime scenes to its church-goers and its obsession with sports

Whatever happened to Jamaica – for so many years Britain's pride and joy? Since independence in the early 1960s, the drug barons have taken over, hopes of social equality have faded and there's a pall of violence. Tourists rarely see anything of the twisted side of island life, as they hardly ever venture outside the stockaded beach resorts and private beaches advertised as "paradise". Tourism contributes an estimated $1bn a year to Jamaica's economy and has become a part of Jamaican life, with hordes of vendors, hustlers and "guides" ready to hound the unwitting visitor. Yet this "paradise" of holiday brochures is just as often derided as a criminal backwater.

With an annual murder rate of around 1,500, Jamaica is one of the world's most violent countries, on a par with South Africa and Colombia. A recent report by Amnesty International, "Let Them Kill Each Other" (April 2008), depicted a nation in tragic disorder. Stories of child labour, domestic violence and murder clog the national press. Kingston, the capital, remains locked in cycles of political and gangland violence; to live there today calls for special qualities of endurance.

In downtown Kingston, amid the shacks of Trench Town, the inhabitants are sullen and numbed. The neighbourhood was developed in the 1940s by the colonial administration to accommodate West Indian troops returning home. It has decayed into a violent, disaffected ghetto, whose tenement yards gave rise to the term "Yardie", shorthand for Jamaican gangland criminal. In Trench Town, gang members carry ever more lethal weapons to "rank" themselves higher in the narcotics trade. It might have been dangerous for me to visit on my own, so I was accompanied by a local pastor, Bobby Wilmot, whose job is to broker truces between gang factions.

We drove across scrubland, the morning hot and shadowless, while dogs slunk amid a roadside litter of plastic bottles and old KFC boxes. At an abandoned remand centre with collapsed razor-wire fencing, the pastor said: "I've seen quite a few shoot-outs here in my time, and it looks like the cowboy shows are still running." A crowd of women had emerged by a roadblock of burning tyres. One of them, flushed with rage, shouted out: "Pastor B!" I quickly put away my notebook (it gave me a provocatively official air), while Pastor Bobby slowed down and addressed the woman through the car window. "Wha gwaan?" We soon found out.
A youth from an adjacent turf had been executed – summarily – that morning by police; now another had been killed. By the police? No, a rival gang. The roadblock was to prevent retaliatory drive-by shootings. "Lord 'ave mercy," said Pastor Bobby. Violence is now so deeply ingrained in the local culture of "respect" that to be in charge, you have to "batter" people. As in parts of London, youths are caught in "district-code" warfare, where turfs are respected on pain of death.

In some respects, 21st-century Jamaica, with its mass poverty, social resentments and skewed distribution of wealth, is like pre-Revolution France, reckoned Pastor Bobby. Only, in Jamaica, there is no sign of a revolutionary movement, no glimmer even of organised social protest. "So the wealthy will have nothing to fear," he said. "The poor are too disorganised, too ill-educated, for social revolution." There is, however, something far worse: thousands of empty, wasted lives, and endemic violence, in which God is a US-import Glock. '

In the half-century since independence in 1962, hopes for a fairer, better Jamaica have not been met. Instead, a system of "clientism" has evolved, in which patron politicians provide their client supporters with jobs, protection and a flow of money, as well as narcotics and firearms in return for their loyalty. Incredibly, an estimated 55 per cent of Jamaica's goods are imported from the US; these include not only sugar, cars and electrical goods, but guns. America's liberal gun laws have fatally eased the transfer of firearms into Jamaica. (Conversely, many Caribbean drug kingpins in Brooklyn – "Little Jamaica" – were apprenticed in the Kingston ghetto.)

Carolyn Gomes, director of the human-rights group Jamaicans for Justice, believes the violent American culture of "respect" has flourished in Jamaica in the absence of civic values, encouraging teenagers to pursue power and money for their own sake. "When your life's so degraded," she said, "you need people to respect you." She added: "A youth with a gun is a youth to be feared and looked up to – murder is his badge of honour." Increasingly, Jamaica's justice system is undermined by violence and threats of violence. Pathologists are often too frightened to serve as observers at postmortems. They may be seen as witnesses or, worse, informers and suffer violence themselves.

The postmortem room at the Spanish Town Hospital, outside Kingston, typically has no refrigeration. So what might serve as evidence disintegrates fast. Bodies are brought in by the commercial funeral homes in the early morning, and piled up in corners. The pathologists rarely get to them before midday, if at all.
Jamaica is now a quasi-American outpost in the Caribbean, yet its legal system is clogged with British Empire-era red tape. The island's anti-sodomy laws, which carry a jail sentence of up to 10 years, derive from the English Act of 1861, and show to what a dismal extent Jamaica has absorbed values from its imperial masters. Similarly, the death penalty is still on the Jamaican statute books, though most capital punishments are overturned in London by the Privy Council, Jamaica's Court of Final Appeal. Thus an ancient British institution comprised of mostly white Law Lords has become the unlikely defender of human rights in Jamaica. A majority of Jamaicans – not just conservative, pro-monarchy ones – see hanging as the only effective deterrent against criminality: murderers must face death.

Yet the British Law Lords, through the grace of Queen Elizabeth II, use their power to prevent executions. Such paradoxes are part of the Jamaican confusion: Victorian standards that have long disappeared in Britain linger on in Jamaica – to Jamaica's detriment.

As elsewhere in the West Indies, Jamaica is a land with a continuous memory of slavery and slavish abasement. The deeper I ventured into the island, the more it seemed an insidious "shadism" has ensured that a minority of white (or near-white: what Jamaicans call "local white") inhabitants still control the plantations and other industries. Jamaica's oldest sugar estate, Worthy Park, was founded in 1670, and is still in operation. One day I went there for lunch. A sound of cocktail-making – a clinking of crushed ice against glass – greeted my arrival as bow-tied waiters hurried to whisk away flies from our plates. The elite of Jamaica's sugar industry was enjoying fine French wine and chilled soursop juice. They ate well – steak, lobster mayonnaise – and the food was served with a plantation-bred obsequiousness. Many of the guests turned out to be related; all were white.

For more than three centuries, Jamaica had been Britain's most profitable sugar bowl, a prize and inhumane possession. Worthy Park's slave-grown sugar, destined for the docks and refineries of Liverpool and Bristol, used to be king. No longer: sugar is a dying industry throughout the Caribbean, and Worthy Park is waiting on a government promise of money, otherwise it will not survive. The only time Jamaica prospered economically was during the sugar boom of slavery in the 18th century.

Nevertheless, Jamaicans had found a sense of hope in the 1970s when a leftist (and outwardly anti-American) government sought to instil self-respect in the black majority and rid them of the servility ingrained by slavery. Social reforms were implemented but, 30 years on, the island's class and racial divides are still in place. "Motty" Perkins, a controversial Kingston radio journalist, reckons the attitude to power in Jamaica remains that of the plantation system, where every little Trench Town Napoleon wants to be an overseer with a team of servants. "Man, I tell you, the Jamaicans who live in the big houses today – black, brown, yellow, white – they despise those niggers down there, the Trench Town poor." Imperial Britain did some terrible things in Jamaica, Perkins agreed, "but whoever said we have a fair society now?" Politicians exploit the poor for their own purposes, in a pattern stretching back through the 300 years of British slavery.

Jamaica's very social order betrays its slaving past. Near Montego Bay, I met an elderly sugar planter and land-owner known to the locals as "Squire Taylor". His Georgian residence was shuttered and silent in the afternoon heat; the door was opened by a black man in dungarees. "Master Taylor's asleep," he announced, "but he soon come." Taylor emerged from his slumbers, a thin man bent almost double with age, yet still every inch the "buckra", or white sugar boss. He gestured for me to sit down in a room whose scant furniture was eaten, visibly, by termites. Taylor's daughter had come out the other day from England with a removal van, he explained, and, staking a claim to the family heirlooms, "cleared out everything". Taylor added (apparently by way of apology) that she lived in Tunbridge Wells.

The Taylors had occupied this merchant's house since 1773 and, no doubt, like many of Jamaica's long-settled English, they were impervious to, and contemptuous of, African slave culture. Taylor began to rail against the native propensity (as he construed it) for idleness and skylarking. His family slaves had been "awfully lazy"; they rarely did an honest day's work. Honest? Jamaican slavery, with its arsenal of whips and chains, was, by contrast, brute mercantile greed. Upstairs, the rooms had collapsed; a mattress lay along one wall, next to a bucket for collecting rain. The house, like Jamaica's sugar industry, was on shaky foundations.

More so even than tourism, narcotics have transformed Jamaica. Kingston remains vital to the trans-shipment of cocaine from Latin America to the markets in North America and – the most profitable of all markets – Britain. Cocaine fetches three times as much in Britain as in other European countries. More than 300 Jamaican women are currently serving sentences in British prisons for drug smuggling, many of them single mothers. The drugs come in by air as well as by ship. "Mules" board planes at Kingston and Montego Bay, having ingested up to 100 condoms or (more dependably sturdy) surgical glove fingers filled with cocaine.
I spent an afternoon at Kingston's container terminal, Port Bustamante, watching vessels unload. Stockpiles of containers – P&O, Hamburg Süd – were stacked like giant Lego blocks along the wharves, among them "reefers" (refrigerated containers) crammed with frozen fish fingers and TV dinners. Omar Williams, chief of the port's anti-narcotic security, was carrying a pair of binoculars and a licensed firearm. He was on the look-out, he explained, for "high-risk" containers from Colombia, Venezuela and Nicaragua. X-ray equipment installed in 2006 by US security experts works only intermittently because "certain employees keep pulling the plug" on the cargo-scanning equipment; Jamaica's "guns for drugs" trade with Haiti is thought to be facilitated in this way.

"Shouldn't Jamaica tighten its border controls?" I asked Williams. "You could say that. But it's not just Jamaica. American guns are dropping into Kingston like mangoes off a tree." He answered my next question – about where exactly the guns come from – with a slight weariness. "We really don't know. Some say Haiti – as payment for drugs. Others say the Balkans. Maybe Manchester. Maybe Liverpool. Maybe Northern Ireland." Like any other globalised economy, in other words, the guns come from all over the world. They are cheap, and getting cheaper; and to the new breed of Jamaican criminal who uses them, so is human life.
On my last day, I went to Watercourse, a village so insignificant it fails to appear on any map. Even the name is misleading, as there are no watercourses in the area and, as far as anyone knows, there never have been. Thelma Smith, a Jamaican living in Brixton, south London, had urged me to visit. Thelma was born in Watercourse in 1923 and had relatives there; her childhood friend Benita Hailey was among them.
"Thelma sent you?" asked Miss B (Hailey's local name). I said yes, and she pointed me to a chair on the porch. "Sit down and relax yourself." A neighbour pegging out the washing looked at me curiously, while children's voices were raised in playful chatter somewhere. Watercourse was a hillside community of perhaps 800 inhabitants, situated near Kingston in the heart of orange-grove country.

"Yes, up here is country," Miss B said, pouring me a glass of coconut water, "and we country people is a good people who care for each other." The air, cool with a smell of juniper and orange, was a tonic to the fug of traffic-polluted Kingston. The world that Miss B had known as a girl, however, was falling around her; Kingston represented a confusion beyond the reach of reason, a creation of the devil. What used to be considered a crime there was now judged a non-crime – even murder. "But we're living in Jamaica, my dear, and we have to stay here now. Yes, we have to live," and I admired her for the attitude. How could you live in a country in a state of constant preparedness for the worst?

With a sigh, Miss B got up and led me by the arm to a shaded plot of earth where, under an orange tree, the gravestones of Thelma Smith's parents stood alone in the fading light. She reached up to the tree and pulled down one, two, then six oranges for me. "When you get home to Brixton," she said, dropping the fruit into my bag, "tell Thelma that Miss B give you some oranges – and kiss up your children for me."

That moment in Watercourse, with the sun descending over a secluded cemetery, and the green-lighted fireflies which had begun to dance over the graves of Mr and Mrs Smith, defined for me the survival of an older Jamaica. The island is beautiful; yet the Jamaican people, with their gift for humour and generosity, their creativity (and fabled aggression) are stuck in a post-colonial malaise. Independence arrived late – 14 years after India's – and by the time it came in 1962, the enthusiasm for change had been tempered by years of colonial prevarication. "Now of course Jamaica's gone to the American camp," Michael Foot, the Labour politician, told me in 2007. "And it's partly our fault – we've abandoned Jamaica." Having shaped Jamaica's past for ill, Britain had not helped to shape its future for good.

Yet, in the present uncertainty and emptiness, surely there is some possibility of hope, maybe even of a new beginning? Jamaica, a nation built on violence, remains a corrupted Eden haunted by the legacy of imperialism. The many wonderful things about the island – its extraordinary music-making, the physical beauty, its athletic prowess (six gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, including, famously, Usain Bolt's) – are shadowed now by crime and political corruption. Hope has not died, yet I was in no hurry to go back.

'The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica', by Ian Thomson, is published by Faber at £14.99