Dec
03
Cartoon of the day
Dec
03
It’s sorrel time again!
It might seem a bit early, but now might very well be the best time to stock up on Christmas sorrel.
“By next week, the price gone up. It going to keep going up until Christmas,” said Tazmin Herron, a vendor who sells at Coronation Market in Kingston .
She was doing brisk business in the crowded market yesterday, as those in the know decided to get the sorrel while the price was still low.
“Right now, we selling it for around $80 per pound. By next week again, it raise to about $100,” she said, while packaging a two-pound order from an elderly woman.
Herron said she has been selling sorrel for the past month, since her supplier, who is from Clarendon, started providing it.
“Is the Christmas time drink, but people will still buy it anytime dem can get it. Dem just love it,” said Herron.
“We nuh have hand fi sell it, and it only going to get worse the closer it come to Christmas.”That increase in demand for the festive-time staple will send the price of sorrel much higher than it is now.
“By the next two weeks, sorrel price reach about $200 or $250. We will have to pay more for it, so we have to sell it for more too,” Herron said.
Shoppers in the market yesterday seemed to have been aware of the impending price increase as they rushed to get their orders in before Herron’s supply was completely gone.
A Fearon PhD.
“This is the second bag mi pull from day. It look like mi going to have to pull a next one before di day done,” she said.
“You can know when Christmas soon come, you know. Sorrel start sell better than everything else.”
UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon says that the World Health Organisation and the Pan-American Health Organisation now estimate that the cholera epidemic in Haiti could affect as many as 650,000 people over the next six months.
Reporting to the General Assembly today, Ban also said that UN teams believe that the official numbers of 1,800 deaths and nearly 81,000 infected could be double that because of difficulties in reporting.
He says there’s an urgent need in Haiti for more cholera treatment centres, and another 350 doctors, 2,000 nurses and 2,200 support staff to run them. He’s also calling on the world’s nations to contribute more to the organisation’s appeal for $164 million to contain the outbreak, saying it’s still only 20 percent funded.
KAYON Campbell, otherwise called ‘Treasure’, who was wanted by police for breaching his bail conditions, is now back in police custody.
Police said that Campbell had been offered bail in a case of conspiracy to murder and other offences, but breached his bail conditions. Accompanied by his attorneys, Campbell turned himself in to the officer in charge of his case at the Supreme Court about 11:00 am today,
He is set to appear in the Yallahs Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday, December 6, 2010.
Government minister James Robertson had used Campbell as a character witness at the recent Jamaica Labour Party conference.
Robertson, who is also Member of Parliament for West St Thomas, called Campbell onstage following allegations that he (Robertson) had a contract out on Campbell’s life and on others in the constituency.
Dec
03
Buju for Sting?
COULD Supreme Promotions, organisers of Sting — the world’s largest one-night reggae festival — be making moves to bring in embattled deejay Buju Banton for the December 26 event?
News of this development has been swirling in entertainment circles all week and was given an even further push following Wednesday’s decision by US judge James Moody to grant the artiste the opportunity to perform at a concert in Miami on January 16.
Buju Banton
Supreme Promotions director, DiMario McDowell speaking at the launch of this year’s festival on November 23.
  |
When contacted, director of Supreme Promotions, DiMario McDowell told Splash: “My lips are sealed on that matter. I have absolutely no comment.”
The word on the street is that high-level channels are being pursued by Supreme Promotions in order to get Buju, who is currently facing criminal charges in Florida, to perform at the event.
McDowell, however, added that the full line-up of the 27th annual staging of show, scheduled for the Jamworld Complex in Portmore, St Catherine, would be known tonight (Friday) at the launch of the Sting promotional poster at Blaze Nightclub in Portmore.
And following Wednesday’s decision by the judge comes more good news for the artiste born Mark Myrie.
His most recent album, Before The Dawn, has been nominated for a Grammy award in the category Best Reggae Album. This is Buju Banton’s fifth Grammy nomination.
Before The Dawn was recorded mostly at his Gargamel Music Studio in Kingston. Released in September to critical acclaim, Before The Dawn debuted at No 2 on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart and No 26 on the mag’s Heatseekers chart. Currently the album is perched at No 1 on both the South Florida and the New York Top 20 Reggae Albums charts, No 1 on Richie B’s Jamaica Music Countdown and No 4 on CMJ’s World Music chart.
The album’s unofficial anthem, Innocent, is said to strike a highly personal chord considering the artiste’s legal battles.
Banton previously received Grammy nominations for his albums Rasta Got Soul (2009), Too Bad (2007), Friends For Life (2004) and Inna Heights (1999).
The veteran-reggae artiste, who had been incarcerated at Pinellas County Jail for 11 months, has not performed live in over a year.
GLOBAL athletics brand Puma listed Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt as its key brand-asset amidst a 16 per cent rise in sales to 784 million euros over the third-quarter.
The German-based brand described the new three-year contract with Bolt as the most important event in its quarter behind its financials. It even ranked it above a multi-million full take-over of a joint-venture in China and Hong Kong and also irregularities discovered at a second joint-venture in Greece, according to its latest financials.
Usain Bolt
  GLOBAL athletics brand Puma listed Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt as its key brand-asset amidst a 16 per cent rise in sales to 784 million euros over the third-quarter. The German-based brand described the new three-year contract with Bolt as the most important event in its quarter behind its financials. It even ranked it above a multi-million full take-over of a joint-venture in China and Hong Kong and also irregularities discovered at a second joint-venture in Greece, according to its latest financials.
Usain Bolt
|
“Usain Bolt remains a long-term brand asset for Puma,” stated the first page of the financials which incidentally had a life-sized photo of Bolt on its cover.
Puma’s intangible fixed-assets (with a non-defined useful life) had an opening balance of €70 million on January 2009 and closing balance of €26 million at December 2009.
The contract signed for an undisclosed sum in August represents, according to Puma, the largest sponsorship contract by a track and field athlete to date. It follows the estimated eight-figure Nike contract received by US sprinter Carl Lewis. Bolt, the two-time world record holder and triple World and Olympic champion entered the Puma contract in 2003 which runs until 2013.
Over the third-quarter, Puma’s net profit jumped 14 per cent to €77 million; its gross profit margin remained at 50 per cent; operating result before special items improved 5.3 per cent to €113 million; whilst earning per share rose from €4.50 to €5.16.
It isn’t the first time that Puma has lauded the value of Bolt to its investors. In its 2009 annual report Puma indicated that the performance of “Bolt at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, where he broke the 100m and 200m world records, proved to be a particular highlight for the Puma brand”.
Puma views its brand image as key to its marketing of apparel, clothing and footwear.
“The brand image is essential since it can influence consumer behaviour not only to the advantage, but also to the disadvantage, of the brand,” it stated in its financials.
JAMAICAN scientist Dr Henry Lowe last night threw a lifeline to men worldwide when he announced that he had developed a formula that can reduce and eliminate prostate cancer, the number one cause of cancer deaths among males.
“I am pleased to announce that we have reached the final stages in the development of the Alpha Prostate Formula, which will be on the market in the next three months under the Eden Gardens brand,” Dr Lowe told guests at the launch of Bio-Tech R&D Institute at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr Kenneth Baugh (left) hands over a Biotech R&D Institute shareholder certificate to executive chairman of the Environmental Health Foundation Dr Henry Lowe during the launch of the institute at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston yesterday evening. (Photo: Karl McLarty)
 |
Lowe, executive chairman of Environmental Health Foundation which is based at his Eden Gardens complex in Kingston, explained that the formula will be locally produced, first as a nutraceutical.
“The drug takes time and millions of US dollars to develop, so that is why we’re making it available in its semi-purified form,” Dr Lowe told the “Vibez” in an interview outside of the launch.
Dr Joseph Bryant from the University of Maryland Medical School and a shareholder in Bio-Tech R&D Institute, agreed. “We have to go by the rules and the regulations as to how fast we can get it out there, but the nutraceutical thing now allows us to get it out much faster,” he told the “Vibez’.
“We cannot overemphasise the point of what this means for the country, and I hope that the younger generation will carry it on,” Dr Bryant added.
Lowe’s cancer research work attracted world attention when he announced that he had found properties in the Jamaican ball moss that had the potential to fight cancer.
Yesterday, he said that the formula is derived from the main ingredient in the ball moss and has been shown to have major prostate anti-cancer activity.
Jamaica has one of the highest prostate cancer rates in the world with approximately 150 men diagnosed each year. Medical experts believe that a large percentage of affected men are undiagnosed.
Yesterday, Lowe, who won the Observer Business Leader Award for 2006, noted that in addition to Jamaica, numerous cases of prostate cancer have been reported among black Americans and Africans.
“The market for that is tremendous and there are only two other products as nutraceuticals for this,” he said. “This is going in there, brand Jamaica, and if we get the right thrust and the right support we have hundreds of millions of US dollars which can come to Jamaica.”
Yesterday, in his prepared remarks, Lowe said that as a first step in the development of the nutraceutical industry, Bio-Tech R&D Institute has already secured capital of $25 million, which will contribute to the overall development of the institute in the next 24 months. Further capitalization of $25 million is expected within the next 48 months.
“As a result, the only thing that could impede success is our will to succeed,” said Dr Lowe.
“We will be working toward seizing a five per cent share of the global nutraceutical industry within the next two years, which translates to a multi-billion-dollar local industry — approximately $726 billion,” he said.
The Bio-Tech R&D Institute brings together Jamaica’s four leading research institutions — the University of the West Indies, University of Technology, Northern Caribbean University and the Scientific Research Council — all of which will receive 2.5 per cent of the total shares of the institute free of cost.
In addition to his other shareholders — Federated Pharmaceutical/Lascelles Limited and the Environmental Health Foundation — Dr Lowe said he has forged a partnership with the largest nutraceutical company in China, which will distribute the formula in that Asian country.
“We expect that gaining even one per cent of the Chinese market will amount to tremendous US dollar value export earnings — perhaps the most rewarding endeavors and investments in our country in recent times,” said Dr Lowe.
A Fearon PhD.
Dec
03
Office of the Prime Minister
 |
| Kamala Harris, daughter of Jamaican Professor and economist, Donald Harris. |
Prime Minister Bruce Golding has sent congratulations to Kamala Harris, daughter of Jamaican Professor and economist, Donald Harris, on her appointment as the first woman to be elected Attorney General of California.
‘This is indeed a proud moment for Jamaica as we celebrate with another powerful daughter whose roots originate from our soil. She has brought honour to her family here in winning a tight race against Los Angeles District Attorney and achieving this top position in the world’s most powerful nation. Attorney General Harris has made us all proud as Jamaicans but even more so, she has provided another glorious moment for the women of our nation and the rest of the world’, Mr. Golding said.
Kamala Harris is the daughter of Jamaican Professor Donald Harris of Stanford University who is highly regarded internationally as a specialist on economic growth issues. He was recently commissioned by the Government of Jamaica to provide consultancy services to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) in developing policy recommendations for further growth in the economy.
Kamala Harris has served as the head of the San Francisco City Attorney’s Division on Families and Children. She also served as San Francisco District Attorney from 2004 during which she focused intensively on fighting violent crime. She has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show and in Newsweek as one of “America’s 20 Most Powerful women’.
A Fearon PhD.
 |
| Their Excellencies, the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen (left), and Lady Allen (second right), at the official handing over of the refurbished Caretaker’s residence and groundsmen changing room at King’s House, Wednesday (December 1). Opening the door to the Caretaker’s residence are Custos Rotulorum of Kingston, Steadman Fuller (second left), and his wife, Sonia Fuller (third right), who financed the repair of the buildings at a cost of approximately $3 million. Pictured at right is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the LASCO Group of Companies, Lascelles Chin. |
As part of ongoing restoration works, the refurbished Caretaker’s residence and groundsmen change room at King’s House, were officially handed over at a brief ceremony, Wednesday (December 1).
The buildings, which were in a state of disrepair, were refurbished at a cost of approximately $3 million by Custos Rotulorum of Kingston, Steadman Fuller, and his wife, Sonia Fuller, who volunteered to assist.
Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, thanked the Custos and Mrs. Fuller for their input, as well as the individuals who worked on the project. He said a number of restoration projects were being undertaken around the property to just maintain, at limited cost, “so that we don’t have to spend the huge bill on repairs, at a later date.”
 |
| The newly refurbished Caretaker’s residence at King’s House, which was officially handed over, along with the restored groundsmen changing room, during a brief ceremony, Wednesday (December 1). Both buildings were repaired at a cost of approximately $3 million by the Custos Rotulorum of Kingston, Steadman Fuller and his wife, Sonia Fuller. |
“King’s House does not belong to me, it is the people’s house we are just custodians right now, and when you come to King’s House you must find here a pleasant environment that befits the people of Jamaica,” the Governor-General asserted.
He said the intention is to keep the country’s institutions and monuments at a level that Jamaicans can be seen as individuals who appreciate beauty, who appreciate good culture and who are well bred.
“We have a great heritage, and we want to maintain that heritage,” the Governor-General added.
Custos Fuller, in response, noted that King’s House is a national treasure and needs to remains that way. He commended the Governor General and Lady Allen for the “tremendous work” they have been doing since occupying the premises.
He also noted that the transformation of King’s House was obvious in the gardens, and other parts of the premises which Their Excellencies have undertaken to refresh.
A Fearon PhD.
When the history books document the many accomplishments of Reggae Singer, Songwriter and Performer Gregory Isaacs the titled of “King of Lover’s Rock” will be one on his enduring accomplishments
Not many reggae artist of note can lay claim to have created or earned a piece of reggae music. Names such as Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, and Toots Hibbert of the Maytals fame come to mind. The late Gregory ‘Cool Ruler’ Isaacs is also a member of that elite group. He owned the ‘title ‘Mr Lover’s Rock’ in reggae. With his awesome display of love songs and his ability to connect with the soul of his audience via theses songs Gregory Isaacs with his signature ‘Lovers Rock’ was a game-changer for Reggae music. He owned lovers’ rock in Jamaican music. Many reggae singers wrote and sang love songs none where as dominant and successful with audiences worldwide as Gregory Isaacs was. Gregory may have as music critic Charles Campbell note, “rebranded, rebounded and rebuilt his career… so many times” but he always to the end remained the Cool ruler of Lovers Rock
Below are 25 of his most outstanding compositions: (Not necessarily in this order)
25. Tune In
24. Mr. Brown
23. The Border
22. Oh What a Feeling
21. Private Beach Party
20. Slave master
19. Rumors
18. Night Nurse
17. Private Secretary
16. Red Rose for Gregory
15. Heart Rose
14. One Man Against the World
13. Raggamuffin ft. Dennis Brown
12. Oh…Mr. Cop
11. Out Deh
10. Leaving Outta Babylon
09. Top Ten
08. My Only Lover
07. All I Have is Love
06. Loving Pauper
05. Love is Overdue
04. Number One
03. Soon Forward
02. Lonely Lover
01. Mind Yuh Dis