Wins, warnings and watchdogs Heart to Heart Betty Ann Blaine

[Sir X]

Wins, warnings and watchdogs
Heart to Heart
Betty Ann Blaine

Tuesday, January 03, 2012



Dear Reader,
While there are those of us who disagreed with the quality and climate of the election, even conscientious objectors like myself are obliged to respect the will of the people. After all, it is the very essence of the democratic process, like it or not.
People’s National Party supporters celebrate the party’s general election victory last Thursday.
1/1
The Jamaican people have spoken and congratulations are in order for the victor, the People's National Party (PNP). Baggage aside, the party must be given credit for winning the hurriedly called 'hand-to-hand' combat with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
What I find particularly interesting is the way in which the results completely discredited the veracity of the opinion polls. It goes to show that people can tell you whatever they want beforehand, but the proof of the pudding is what happens in the voting booth on "D-Day".
As the PNP takes its victory lap, just like an athlete, the party will have to hit the track in a short space of time for the next race — one that is even more formidable than the JLP — a mortally wounded economy and a population hungry for hope, help and happiness.
The mettle of the new Government is going to be severely tested and there is no time for orientation. The sluggishness of the four-year opposition vehicle will have to be traded in for a sturdier and more reliable automobile, and for the petrol needed to power-up the "JEEP" or any other type of transportation required to pull the country out of the deep ditch it is in at the present time.
This is an appropriate time to remind those who are contaminated with the disease of "entitlement" that the gravy-train politics of the past has basically come to an end. There is definitely no more room for the 'politics of plenty'. The PNP Government is going to have to put its shoulder to the wheel, and those elected who think that they can substitute hard work and honesty for profiling and public relations must know that they are going to be governing under an intense microscope.
The days of "politics for profit" are over, and that message must be transmitted loud and clear to those in leadership. The PNP Government must be made to declare that the end of corruption begins with this newly installed regime, and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller must make it clear to her Cabinet that becoming wealthy, or for some, wealthier, is a product of the private sector and not the public administration.
I would hope that Mrs Simpson Miller understands from her previous stint as prime minister that her Government is as good as her Cabinet and the advisors who are a part of her inner circle. Her inability the last time around to frontally and decisively tackle the allegations and concerns of corruption cost her the 2007 election.
Interestingly, some of those "checkered characters" remained stalwarts and contenders for PNP leadership and will be sitting in Parliament once again. It's going to be instructive to see how Prime Minister-elect Simpson Miller will deal with the Turks in her new administration.
Mrs Simpson Miller's ability to lead will be critical for a country described by one of her predecessors as "ungovernable", and "irredeemable" by one of her colleagues. If the newly elected prime minister doesn't know or understand how singularly decisive, on the one hand, and how embracing on the other, her leadership will be, I predict that we will be in for a rough ride.
Some very tough decisions are going to have to be made by the new administration and the new commander-in-chief is going to have to balance the demands of the poor and working classes with the desires of the middle and upper echelons of the society. In a tough, domestic and international environment, there is no room for mismanagement, mistakes or mediocrity. It is said that nations rise and fall due to the quality of political leadership. That test is now set for the incoming PNP Government.
But the administration is not only as good as its Cabinet, the greater truism is that the Government — any government -- is only as good as its citizens, which means that each of us has an important role to play. Admittedly, we are a people who refrain from advocacy, and even rarer, from organised protest.
That type of apathy must end. In an economic environment where there is very little wiggle room, the power of the people is critical in pressuring the Government to put the interest of the people first. An unchallenged administration leads to apathy and arrogance. Human history has proven that reforms have almost always been the result of public pressure.
More importantly, we the people must be the anti-corruption watchdogs. Jamaica is in a crisis not because of a lack of human and physical resources. We are at the bottom of the economic and social ladder because of corruption and incompetence.
At this the start of a new year and with a newly elected Government, our country has the opportunity to set right what has been wrong. Let us resolve to work together to play our part in governing ourselves righteously, and insist that those who lead us do the same.
Happy New Year!
With love,
bab2609@yahoo.com


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1iPUTEQnD

[Sir X]

Portia Simpson Miller: Person of the Year
Ken Chaplin

Tuesday, January 03, 2012



EVERY year a Jamaican is selected by this column as the most outstanding person for his or her achievements during the year. Two persons are usually named in case one drops out.
This year, Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington was named first as Person of the Year while Andrew Holness, prime minister, minister of education and leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and Portia Simpson Miller, opposition leader and president of the People’s National Party (PNP) shared the second place, depending on who won the general election.
SIMPSON MILLER… has fought like a tigress for the PNP since she was a teenager
1/1
One of the disadvantages media face in the selection of Person of the Year is that if the choice is made too early before the end of the year another person may create a greater impact as the year ends.
Ellington was written to and told of his selection. He was asked to have certain information furnished, including details of his climb up the promotional ladder. I have known Ellington from he was a sergeant, and enjoyed a good relationship with him when I was director of media relations for the police force, and always thought highly of him.
Strangely enough, Ellington did not respond to my communication. So he flatly fell out of the loop.
I suspect he was displeased with me because I came down heavily in a few columns on the excessive use of force by the police and soldiers against the people of Tivoli Gardens that resulted in at least 70 people of various ages being killed during the incursion of the community to capture Christopher Coke.
I repeatedly wrote that, in the initial assault on the community, the police and soldiers were justified in using necessary force against gunmen who fired at them as they entered, but were brutal after they had the situation well under control, reportedly shooting innocent people. Two teenagers allegedly taken away by the police are still missing.
Ellington should know that I am still of the view that part of the assault was excessive. A commission of enquiry into the bloody incursion, which the public defender, Earl Witter, promised that he would recommend to the Government, seems to be off the radar.
It is estimated that some 800 hard-core Labourites in Tivoli Gardens did not vote in the election. The PNP created a shockwave by winning the general election by a landslide 42 to 21 seats, proving all the recognised forecasters wrong. Given the fickleness of Jamaica’s electors, I do not make forecasts on elections.
The JLP had too many discreditable matters stacked against it. There were the Christopher Coke/Manatt debacle, for which the Government paid a high price, and the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme scandal, for which it paid a higher price. The Government was outclassed by the PNP in the propaganda dynamics on these two issues.
In the Trafigura Beheer issue in which the Dutch Government wants to question the PNP leader and other officials of the party over the US$3l million which was given to the party by the Dutch company; the party’s lawyers scored a major victory by having the case postponed until after the election.
The company had a contract with the past PNP Government to trade oil for Jamaica on the international market. In the dispensation of justice the holding of elections are not considered by the courts. Justice has a clear, definable course that cannot be changed. Simpson Miller has said that the money was returned to Trafigura Beheer.
It seems to me that the main reason for the massive JLP loss was the condition of parochial roads. Everywhere I went people were complaining. The airwaves were jammed with complaints. I have written a number of columns about the deplorable condition of the roads islandwide which have caused inconveniences to motorists, particularly taxi drivers and pedestrians.
In my own community in Stony Hill, every area has been neglected. Some roads have been abandoned. In Sherbourne Heights, the citizens have been repairing the roads for the past 15 years. Complaining to the then member of parliament, Andrew Gallimore, was an exercise in futility. I am not surprised that he lost his seat. Generally, when the PNP was voted out of office in 2007, about 30 per cent of communities in the island had bad roads. When the JLP leaves office in the next few days the percentage would have increased to 80 per cent.
The PNP has on its agenda the establishment of a single road authority. This should be treated as a priority. All roads now under the authority of local government should be vested in the single road authority.
In the column on October 11 last year I wrote that two bright young comrades, Raymond Pryce and Damion Crawford, should be given more space in the party’s affairs. The two were elected. I interviewed Pryce a few years ago when he was an officer of the Consumer Affairs Commission and was impressed with his approach. I have never met Crawford, but he appears fearless and willing to fight for what he believes. I am sure there are bigger things ahead for both.
Simpson Miller is a born fighter and determined political leader. Her dropping of Dr Omar Davies as finance spokesman and appointing him as transport and works spokesman was a good move and demonstrated her strength of character. Dr Peter Phillips is expected to be appointed minister of finance.
For Simpson Miller, who has fought like a tigress for the PNP since she was a teenager, becoming prime minister off her own batting is a dream come true. She has worked hard on her speaking ability and the only thing new in the debate with Holness on the eve of the election was her remarkable improvement as a debater.
Simpson Miller has one enduring quality — listening keenly to advice and suggestion before making her own decisions. It’s a quality which she will need more than ever as prime minister.


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1iPVn8Rzz

[Sir X]

A PNP MOLE in the JLP oganization...BEN aka Muadib aka Orange Skirt!
The 2011 People's Revolt
Published: Tuesday | January 3, 201219 Comments

Daniel Thwaites
by Daniel Thwaites

The evidence suggests that there's a PNP mole in the JLP's G2K organisation. I suspect it's the person who crafted the expensive ad campaign against Portia Simpson Miller. G2K has become the PNP's secret but reliable weapon, utterly failing to realise that the contempt and scorn it so naturally spewed towards Portia is perfectly understood by the average extraordinary Jamaican, who concludes, "That's what they think about me!"

Seriously, though, the election campaign reminded me how much class divisions continue to define Jamaican life. How else to explain the bitter anger and incomprehension of so many of our supposedly 'educated' people that Mrs Simpson Miller is popular and beloved. Once upon a time there were Marxists who decried this sort of thing.

One curious feature of our class system is the asymmetry in respect and support between those at the bottom and those at the top. The majority of Jamaicans will vote for and support a person from a privileged background if they believe she's genuine and means the country well. The privileged, however, are generally loath to return the favour.

In my view, the emphatic JLP rejection is a direct result of the Dudus cataclysm, the persistent economic blundering, and the record number of scandals in such a short time. With Dudus, the JLP leadership ransomed the entire nation on the altar of a friendly drug kingpin and then threw in a state-sponsored massacre and tonloads of lying and deception to round out the affair. On the economy, the feeling was that Audley Shaw took a job he couldn't manage.

Ignored warnings

Interestingly, as the PNP hurricane was rolling onshore, almost all the meteorologists ignored the warnings and got it dead wrong. It is regrettable that The Gleaner became caught in this embarrassment.

The Observer was unabashedly in full-throated campaign mode, while various other news organs spread misinformation and rumour as fact. We were told that Western Westmoreland and Central Westmoreland were 'in play', only to see Wykeham McNeill and Roger Clarke decisively crush their opponents. South East St Andrew wasn't even close, as Julian Robinson perfunctorily dismissed Dwight Nelson.

Richie Parchment in South East St Elizabeth was told that he was seriously trailing the incumbent Witter, but then delivered a smackdown. D.K. Duncan was a celebrated hopeless cause in Eastern Hanover, but he is returning to Parliament.

This wasn't always a matter of getting incorrect information from pollsters. In Central Kingston, Nationwide predicted an upset, and then The Gleaner (on the basis of an unnamed source) printed something similar. An available poll, to put it mildly, did not support this speculation. Perhaps the more than 20 per cent spread in the electoral result settles the matter?

It is scandalous that, in general, the media could have been so seriously and persistently misinformed and wrong. I wonder how much introspection may come after this. Not much, I bet. This is why I've taken to advising young people to go into the media if they desire to exercise power without responsibility.

Anderson prevails

The appalling treatment dished out to data-driven Don Anderson cannot have escaped anyone's attention. The man was instantly pilloried and ridiculed for saying the PNP would win. Today, he stands head and shoulders above all others. It turns out that the JLP had created an echo chamber of PR. Having paid for an image, it then fell in love with it, and is still in shock and awe that the rest of Jamaica didn't do the same.

Some giant-slayers have emerged. Nobody in the commentariat was predicting that Joylan Silvera would turf out Bobby Montague, who seemed set to assume the chairmanship of the JLP. Hugh Buchanan has his father smiling and the pundits confused and disoriented. Paul Buchanan and Keith Walford came in completely below the radar of the newsmen whose jobs are to report these things to us.

Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams has properly buggered up Clive Mullings' plans, and freed him to pursue Bible-thumping, which is evidently his true calling. He can join Herro Blair on the mission to elevate bullying cruelty as appropriate Jamaican Government health and social policy.

The Jamaican people have revolted against the media's narrative about who it is appropriate and acceptable to support. The JLP has been sent packing in less than one term, with massive deficits, debt and poverty as its legacy. Oh, yes! Let's not forget the arrogant contempt of G2K's clever little advertisements, the catchy 'vote-fa-Laayba' tune, and a few half-built, overpriced roads.

Daniel Thwaites is a partner of Thwaites, Lundgren & D'Arcy in New York, and currently qualifying for the Jamaican Bar. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

[Muadib]

Him need to write bout di Post Office money..

[Sir X]

Thats the G2k mole wearing an orange skirt response,can we get a mature response?

Lessons need to be learned before we can take you seriously again.

[Muadib]

it is irrelevant whether you take me seriously or not.. this is a rumbar.. the entities I advise take me very seriously..

[Sir X]

Thats the dangerous thing...lol....keep it up ,18 years in the wilderness is just around the corner when it comes to a child growing up.

[Muadib]

yuh bettah just hope seh dem nuh form di fool and go full speed ahead wid di recommendations...

[Sir X]

You are so right on that one,we really need a mature opposition.

[Muadib]

gwaan chat bout opposition.. wi deh pon di brink.. one wrong move and wi back innah di black hole.. if di well placed Silicon Valley Economists usurp di Intellectual Ghetto fabulous den wi have a chance.. oddawise.. back in di black hole !

[Sir X]

In other words you are waiting/hoping for the pnp to implode like you guys did in its 1st term? no platform to run on like anti corruption, which to me is the economy and echoes along all classes.

If we allow corruption to continue along its rampant path our economy get sheg.

[Muadib]

no.. yuh evah watch di Matrix.. how di Agents dem operate..

[Sir X]

wow....yuh still a tek shatta pill dem ?.....18 years mi say,dat explain it all.lata boss,it was all a joke to g2k/you

[Muadib]

yuh ah talk innah riggle..

hope and pray mi seh !

[Don1]

A PNP MOLE in the JLP oganization...BEN aka Muadib aka Orange Skirt!
The 2011 People's Revolt
Published: Tuesday | January 3, 201219 Comments

Daniel Thwaites
by Daniel Thwaites

The evidence suggests that there's a PNP mole in the JLP's G2K organisation. I suspect it's the person who crafted the expensive ad campaign against Portia Simpson Miller. G2K has become the PNP's secret but reliable weapon, utterly failing to realise that the contempt and scorn it so naturally spewed towards Portia is perfectly understood by the average extraordinary Jamaican, who concludes, "That's what they think about me!"

Seriously, though, the election campaign reminded me how much class divisions continue to define Jamaican life. How else to explain the bitter anger and incomprehension of so many of our supposedly 'educated' people that Mrs Simpson Miller is popular and beloved. Once upon a time there were Marxists who decried this sort of thing.

One curious feature of our class system is the asymmetry in respect and support between those at the bottom and those at the top. The majority of Jamaicans will vote for and support a person from a privileged background if they believe she's genuine and means the country well. The privileged, however, are generally loath to return the favour.

In my view, the emphatic JLP rejection is a direct result of the Dudus cataclysm, the persistent economic blundering, and the record number of scandals in such a short time. With Dudus, the JLP leadership ransomed the entire nation on the altar of a friendly drug kingpin and then threw in a state-sponsored massacre and tonloads of lying and deception to round out the affair. On the economy, the feeling was that Audley Shaw took a job he couldn't manage.

Ignored warnings

Interestingly, as the PNP hurricane was rolling onshore, almost all the meteorologists ignored the warnings and got it dead wrong. It is regrettable that The Gleaner became caught in this embarrassment.

The Observer was unabashedly in full-throated campaign mode, while various other news organs spread misinformation and rumour as fact. We were told that Western Westmoreland and Central Westmoreland were 'in play', only to see Wykeham McNeill and Roger Clarke decisively crush their opponents. South East St Andrew wasn't even close, as Julian Robinson perfunctorily dismissed Dwight Nelson.

Richie Parchment in South East St Elizabeth was told that he was seriously trailing the incumbent Witter, but then delivered a smackdown. D.K. Duncan was a celebrated hopeless cause in Eastern Hanover, but he is returning to Parliament.

This wasn't always a matter of getting incorrect information from pollsters. In Central Kingston, Nationwide predicted an upset, and then The Gleaner (on the basis of an unnamed source) printed something similar. An available poll, to put it mildly, did not support this speculation. Perhaps the more than 20 per cent spread in the electoral result settles the matter?

It is scandalous that, in general, the media could have been so seriously and persistently misinformed and wrong. I wonder how much introspection may come after this. Not much, I bet. This is why I've taken to advising young people to go into the media if they desire to exercise power without responsibility.

Anderson prevails

The appalling treatment dished out to data-driven Don Anderson cannot have escaped anyone's attention. The man was instantly pilloried and ridiculed for saying the PNP would win. Today, he stands head and shoulders above all others. It turns out that the JLP had created an echo chamber of PR. Having paid for an image, it then fell in love with it, and is still in shock and awe that the rest of Jamaica didn't do the same.

Some giant-slayers have emerged. Nobody in the commentariat was predicting that Joylan Silvera would turf out Bobby Montague, who seemed set to assume the chairmanship of the JLP. Hugh Buchanan has his father smiling and the pundits confused and disoriented. Paul Buchanan and Keith Walford came in completely below the radar of the newsmen whose jobs are to report these things to us.

Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams has properly buggered up Clive Mullings' plans, and freed him to pursue Bible-thumping, which is evidently his true calling. He can join Herro Blair on the mission to elevate bullying cruelty as appropriate Jamaican Government health and social policy.

The Jamaican people have revolted against the media's narrative about who it is appropriate and acceptable to support. The JLP has been sent packing in less than one term, with massive deficits, debt and poverty as its legacy. Oh, yes! Let's not forget the arrogant contempt of G2K's clever little advertisements, the catchy 'vote-fa-Laayba' tune, and a few half-built, overpriced roads.

Daniel Thwaites is a partner of Thwaites, Lundgren & D'Arcy in New York, and currently qualifying for the Jamaican Bar. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

Ouch!!
Not nice