Media Frenzy-Former Government Minister Arrested

Last week Wednesday and Thursday the Jamaican media fraternity was in a frenzy!

I mean they were like a wake of vultures circling carrion.

Yes, they were at their sensational best, as they reported high profile arrests by the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) and the Financial Investigations Division (FID).

The arrests of a former government minister, his wife and their daughter, the president of a university and a local government representative, had media personnel salivating at the prospect of finding another item of news to sensationalize.

These were no ordinary arrests as current and former government ministers (politicians in general) are virtually untouchable. Even though they are considered some of the most corrupt people in the country.

The arresting agencies descended on the accused’s homes in predawn raids with the media in tow or in waiting.

It just strikes me as a little convenient that media personnel, not only knew the corruption agencies were going on predawn raids, but knew the exact locations to positioned their reporters to capture the arrests for maximum publicity.

Another curious thing about the raids and arrests, is they occurred some 48 hours after the leader of the Opposition demanded action, like arrests, from the six-month old probe or else.

The raids don’t make much sense to me, as although I am no criminal mastermind, I doubt any sane person under investigation for at least six months, would still have incriminating material just waiting to be found by the police.

But what do I know?

The arrests are the latest development in a corruption probe revolving around the former minister’s tenure at the ministry of education.

Charges read out at the bond hearing, alleges that more than $56 million of public funds was diverted to the personal use of the former minister and members of his family.

I hold no brief for those arrested. I don’t know if they are guilty of the charges.

I say let the chips fall where they may!

What I do know is I am easily embarrassed. My name must not even be mentioned in relation to certain activities.

Men and women with political aspirations, must understand the game of politics before entering the field of play.

The first rule to master is do not say or do anything your political opponents can spin into a scandal!

For example, on his first day on the job, the former minister should have declared the only thing he expected from the job is his salary, one or two improvements in students’ performance and some other nice things politicians are wont to say.

Better yet, he should have refused his salary!

But that would have left him open to more accusations of thievery! Damn if you do and damn if you don’t!

He should have declared his dislike for birthday parties held on yachts or anywhere else for that matter, with even a dollar of taxpayers’ money.

He should have discouraged his wife from seeking employment at the university under probe, where his friend is the president.

It was also a less than clever idea for the university to contract the minister’s political rival in a role with more money than responsibilities, shortly after the rival forfeited a coveted position to the minister.

That was a real amateur move!

Even the blind (sorry, I meant visually-impaired) could see that had all the appearances of a payoff!!

If you are planning on being corrupt, it is imperative you watch at least one season of a crime drama!

I recommend How to Get Away with Corruption. But wait, there is no such show.

My bad!

Anyhow it is none of my business as I am not too fond of politicians!

Come to think of it, the only group of people I may dislike more than politicians are Jamaican route taxi drivers!

I am a little sorry for the former minister, his family and the university president as they once enjoyed enviable reputations.

In the eyes of a corruption-drunk public, they are already guilty. The only matter outstanding is the sentencing.

Something tells me it is not that simple!

Five Drivers and Over 2,500 Unpaid Traffic Tickets

Over the past two weeks, the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, awoke from its Rip Van Winkle like slumber and miraculously arrested five drivers, who, cumulatively, accumulated 2589 unpaid traffic tickets.

Two of the drivers had accumulated 1,000 and 1,028 unpaid tickets!

That was welcomed news to the few drivers who bother to trouble themselves with obeying the constraints of the Road Traffic Act.

The news however, was greeted with trepidation by lawless motorists, who have grown accustomed to ignoring traffic tickets and awaiting the next traffic ticket amnesty, allowing them the luxury of paying outstanding tickets, dating as far back as a decade early, without receiving even a slap on the wrist.

Welcome to Jamaica, no problem!

I can only imagine the consternation of the drivers, who, having been deceived into believing laws were made to be broken with no consequences, were suddenly pounced on and dragged before the court to account for their actions.

Any day now, I expect a demonstration by, at least, taxi drivers, demanding “justice” for their colleagues being arrested without being given a chance to pay outstanding tickets received months, if not years, earlier!

How unreasonable of the police!

Although I am mindful that curiosity killed the cat, I cannot help wanting to know over what period the tickets where accumulated.

The police, perhaps out of embarrassment, thought it prudent to keep the public in the dark about that bit of information.

Anyhow, my curiosity led me to calculate that if I were to receive one traffic ticket for each day of the year, it would take me two years and nine months to accumulate 1,000 tickets.

Something tells me the drivers accumulated their tickets over a much shorter period.

I am in a magnanimous mood today, it being Sunday and all, so I shall not beat-up on the police. I am just thankful they have awakened from their slumber.

I recommend the drinking of copious amounts of Blue Mountain coffee to avoid falling asleep on the job.

It might be more cost-effective to import the coffee from China than to source it locally.

I am hoping those five arrests is the beginning of a new approach to addressing the anarchy on our roads and not just the eye of a storm.

I look forward to more arrests, prosecutions, and suspensions of drivers’ licences in a sustained campaign to restore sanity to the roads.

Dare I hold my breath? I think not.

Rape Is Not A Joke

“I’m about to go to this night run and rape smaddy (Jamaican creole for somebody) daughter 😊😊”

That statement is tweet a young man, who I understand is either a lawyer or a law student, posted on Twitter.

The young man, who is employed to a leading financial institution in Jamaica, was referring to a 5K night run to benefit charities, sponsored by one of the country’s telecommunications companies.

He apparently thought it funny, as his initial response to negative feedback from his ‘followers’ and other social media devotees was to question if they had no sense of humour!

Yes! He thought his expressed intention of signing up for the run to rape somebody’s daughter was funny and expected others to find it equally amusing!

A simple definition of rape is to force someone to have sex when they are unwilling, using violence or threatening behaviour.

Rape is a most heinous crime and I am appalled that anyone could think signaling his intention to commit the crime would be considered amusing!

Rape is never funny and I submit that finding it funny is an indication of psychopathic tendencies.

Tweeting his intention to commit rape is also another indication the young man is in need of serious psychological intervention without delay.

Maybe I am guilty of watching too many episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit but it seems to me that the police sex crimes unit needs to take an interest in this young man.

He needs to be called in for a question and answer session and some way found to get his DNA for matching with rape kits for unsolved cases.

This is not the first time a man is facing a backlash for displaying insensitivity to rape and its deleterious effects on victims.

Some years ago, no less a person than the then minister of justice, suggested having some “flexi rape” during a parliamentary committee meeting exploring the benefits of a flexible work week.

He too claimed he was joking.

Some people just don’t get it!

Rape is not a joking matter and must never be trivialized!

The young man’s tweet was retweeted multiple times until it featured on primetime news.

Faced with an avalanche of negative feedback, the young man decided to apologise for his odious tweet.

His apology reads:

“After speaking with a couple of my followers, I accepted that my word choice was inappropriate and my intention was never to be seen as reckless. And so this serves as an official apology to all those twitter users who are aware of the tweet that I made. I am sorry. I apologize.”

That’s it!

His word choice was inappropriate! No denunciation of rape; no statement he has never committed rape and has no intention to do so; no explanation for why he thought raping somebody’s daughter would be considered funny and no statement of respect for women!

He still doesn’t get it!

Jamaicans, Lawlessness and Indiscipline

Jamaica is known all over the world for our music, cuisine, athletic prowess, natural beauty, lots of sunshine and a stable democratic system of government.

What is perhaps not so well known to outsiders, is that many Jamaicans are naturally inclined to be undisciplined, especially in their homeland.

I say in their homeland, as it is widely observed that we can be exemplary citizens or visitors on foreign shores. This difference in behaviour is often attributed to strict enforcement of laws in say, the United States of America, compared to lax enforcement in Jamaica.

Nowhere is our indiscipline more evident than on our roads. Most drivers, especially those of public passenger vehicles, will breach every rule of the road as long as no police officer is in sight.

This tendency is well known, yet the authorities appear impotent to arrest the slide into anarchy.

We were deceived into believing the government finally had enough when our parliament passed a new Road Traffic Act with new offences and punitive fines for breaches. However, nine months after passage of the Act and close to 400 road deaths later, it is yet to come into force.

In the meantime, lawbreakers continue to rule the roost as otherwise law-abiding citizens either join the indiscipline or surrender to the lawlessness.

To be fair to the authorities, a number of traffic cameras (some 500) have been installed at intersections, however, that is of little comfort as the cameras have not been commissioned into service.

I am a strong believer that most people will do what they can get away with and in Jamaica we can get away with a lot.

For example, some motorists have been allowed to accumulate hundreds of traffic tickets, safe in the knowledge they are more likely to be eaten by a dinosaur than to be brought to book for a breach of the law.

How can that be? A visitor to the island may ask. It is very simple, management of traffic tickets is shared between the police, the tax authorities and the courts and they don’t (or hardly) speak to each other.

Another Jamaican trait is our tendency to treat with things the way we wish they were, rather than how they are. Some think it is an admirable optimistic trait. I beg to differ.

I think it is an exercise in self-delusion and futility.

I say acknowledge and address the status quo while educating for a better future.

So, since we only follow rules when someone is standing over us with a big stick, use the big stick approach.

Bring the new Road Traffic Act into force like yesterday. Saturate the roads with police personnel and/or cameras, exercise zero-tolerance to breaches while simultaneously educating the public to the benefits of self-discipline.

In other words, use the method to which we are most responsive! Success is guaranteed!

Wives Submit To Your Husbands

For some women (even those professing to be Christians), the biblical concept of a wife submitting to her husband is the equivalent of a matador waving a red cape before a bull in the sport of bullfighting.

Upon hearing the word submit, some women and men, immediately conjure up images of a servile wife being dominated by her husband and subjected to his every whim and fancy.

But does the Bible support this notion of submission? The answer is NO!

The Greek word translated “submit” is ‘hupotasso’, which is a military term for soldiers lining up according to rank.

Depending on the context in which it is used, to submit can also mean putting others interests above your own as in Ephesians 5:21

The apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 5:21-33, addresses the matter of submission as follows:

²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰for we are members of his body.³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (New International Version)

God in His wisdom and sovereignty, determined that the husband should be the head of the household (especially a Christian household) and the wife must not usurp the role of her husband.

But the instructions do not end at verse 22 as some like to pretend.

The instructions continue to outline how husbands, as head of households, should relate to their wives.

The apostle exhorts husbands “to love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”.

If husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, certainly husbands will not seek to dominate and lord it over their wives.

Husbands will not seek to command or compel their wives’ submission but will to seek to love, respect and protect them.

Indeed, a husband should be prepared to lay down his life for his wife just as Christ did for the church.

There is nothing in the text to support a husband abusing and mistreating his wife.

There is nothing to suggest that a wife should have no say in the decision-making process.

There is nothing to suggest wives must be subservient to husbands.

There is nothing in the text to be despised and ridiculed as outdated and misogynistic.

It is important to note the apostle was writing to Christians, who by virtue of their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour would find it easier to accept and practise the apostle’s teachings.

The text is a recipe for a harmonious, loving relationship between a husband and his wife similar to the relationship existing between Jesus Christ and His bride, the Church.

The Honeymoon Has Ended and The Marriage Has Begun

Managing and maintaining a successful marriage is no walk in the park. It requires hard work, determination and application.

Forget what you see in Hollywood movies and read in romance novels!

In the real world, couples have to grapple with and manage a host of challenges to have successful marriages.

There is no magic wand or potion!

Successful marriages are the result of couples’ commitment to their marriage vows made before God and their steely determination to honour the vows.

There is no perfect marriage as there is no perfect man or woman.

So, you have prayerfully executed your carefully crafted IPOD:

I=initial attraction

P=preferred (i.e. non-negotiable) qualities or traits

O=optional qualities or traits

D=deal-breakers

And found your ideal lifelong partner.

After an appropriate period of dating, a marriage proposal is made and accepted.

A wedding date is decided and you go through the prescribed period and number of counselling sessions.

After what seemed like an eternity, the wedding day arrives and the bride, the groom, members of the wedding party and guests are all looking beautiful and handsome.

Then the big moment arrives. Marriage vows are exchanged, the marriage officer pronounces you man and wife and invites the husband to kiss his wife.

The wedding guests burst into applause as children hide their faces and mothers wipe tears of joy from their eyes.

The honeymoon was great, but like all good things, it came to an end.

It is now time to make the marriage work!

The first step in making the marriage successful is a commitment and determination by both husband and wife that it shall be successful.

The commitment to succeed, acknowledges there are sure to be challenges when two persons from different backgrounds come together in any relationship.

However, with God’s help, the challenges will be tackled head-on with success as the sole objective.

There is no telling the number of challenges that may arise in a marriage, but just like death and taxes, they are sure to arise.

The question, therefore, is how to confront and manage the issues.

The challenges may range from something as simple as wife preferring to squeeze the toothpaste from bottom to top, compared to the husband’s tendency to squeeze the first place his hand touches, to more serious differences.

Compromises and adjustments will have to be made to accommodate personal differences.

There is always the possibility that issues from one’s childhood, adolescence or previous relationships may negatively influence one’s behaviour in the marriage.

These issues, sometimes referred to as ‘baggage’, oftentimes only surface during the marriage as they may have been suppressed during courtship or simply, no opportunity arose for them to be made manifest.

An enduring faith that, with God, all things are possible, will empower husband and wife to successfully navigate the stormy seas of a marriage.

Your belief, that working in partnership with God will allow you to weather the storms and honour your wedding vows, will permit you to do what is required to repair and strengthen your marriage.

You will learn that honest and open communication is key to a successful marriage.

You will learn that there is no shame in seeking professional help to identity and manage challenges.

You will understand that professional help can allow you to understand the things you do and why you do them.

You will come to realise that your spouse is more likely to seek help to deal with challenges if he or she is assured of your loving support and continued commitment to the union.

You will understand how to relate to your spouse and help him or her manage their challenges.

A successful marriage requires the active commitment and participation of both spouses.

To ensure your marriage is a happy, lifelong adventure, make it a threesome with God as the third person in the relationship.

God established the institution of marriage, so He is most qualified to guide your marriage along the path of success.

The question is, are you willing to be guided?

A Guide to Choosing a Spouse

Some relationships in life are just too important to leave to chance.

One such relationship is the choice of a lifelong partner, that is, a husband or a wife.

Choosing a spouse will have such a major impact on our emotional, social, psychological, physical and spiritual health that great care must attend the decision.

Although our choice of spouse will impact the quality of life we enjoy, few of us give thought to the qualities and character traits we desire of a potential lifelong partner.

To increase the chances of having a lasting, happy and successful marriage, a bible teacher on my favourite radio programme, Back to the Bible, proposes a deliberate, prayerful approach to choosing a spouse.

This approach is encapsulated in the acronym IPOD. The components of the acronym are:

I=initial attraction

P=preferred (i.e. non-negotiable) qualities or traits

O=optional qualities or traits

D=deal-breakers

The idea is your IPOD should be clearly established before you begin considering or evaluating a potential spouse.

You must determine the qualities and traits that will initially attract you to a person. For example, in my case, the lady must be physically attractive and intelligent.

What preferred (non-negotiable) qualities and traits are you looking for? If you are a born-again Christian, I would reasonably expect you to establish that a potential spouse must be a born-again Christian. You may even narrow it down to a particular Christian denomination!

Examples of optional qualities could be a potential spouse must love music, be able to sing, love to dance, like going to the beach or any quality that you wish a partner to possess but absence of which is not fatal to the prospects of a relationship.

Deal-breakers are traits or habits that, on discovery, will destroy any possibility of a relationship.

Such a trait could be a tendency to be physically abusive. Another deal-breaker could be if the person smokes or is an alcoholic.

The idea is, you must be clear in your mind, the traits you will not countenance and which will lead to a severing of the relationship, even if discovered on the eve of the wedding day!

IPOD as the starting point in the search for a spouse, resonates with me and I commend it to you.

There is no limit to the number of qualities and traits you may establish for each component of the acronym. Please note, however, that too many qualities and traits may defeat the purpose of the exercise.

Finally, be assured there is no substitute for seeking God’s guidance and wisdom in composing your IPOD.

Marriage, Separation, Divorce and Apportionment of Blame

I once sat in a gathering of divorced or separated men and women in the annex of a church.

As is the norm with most church related activities in Jamaica, the gathering was predominantly female.

At some point in the proceedings, the gathering’s host (the church’s senior pastor) asked each participant to indicate what percentage of culpability, if any, they bore for the break-up or fracture of their marriage.

Much to my surprise, all participants save one (yours truly) indicated they bore no culpability for their divorce or separation.

I indicated, that I quite conservatively, estimated I was responsible for at least 75% of the issues/challenges culminating in the dissolution of my marriage.

The way I see it, the fact you are not the originator or instigator of issues affecting a relationship, does not absolve you of responsibility for taking steps to save it.

Management of issues and challenges in a marriage or any other relationship can be likened to options faced when confronted with a fire.

When faced with a raging fire, I submit one has four possible options. These options are:

Do nothing
Attempt to extinguish the blaze
Pour gasoline or another accelerant onto the fire
Call the fire department

You may choose to do nothing and allow the issue (fire) to burn the marriage to ashes.

Alternatively, you may choose to attempt extinguishing the blaze with a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher which could be as simple as saying I am sorry, please forgive me.

Another option when dealing with a raging fire, is to pour gasoline and cause the blaze to intensify. This can be easily accomplished by giving as good as you get, refusing to forgive and choosing to fight fire with fire.

One could choose to call the fire department who are experts at extinguishing fires and minimizing damage while saving lives and property.

In a marriage, the equivalent of calling the fire department is seeking assistance from counsellors specially trained to assist husbands and wives resolve or manage marital challenges.

Unfortunately, many marriage couples opt for options 1 and 3 as ‘I did not start the fire’.

Some couples will choose option 2 or 4 but timing is important.

Waiting too long to attempt extinguishing the blaze can sometimes lead to the fire getting out of control and devouring everything with its hungry flames.

Godly wisdom is required to recognize when the fire extinguisher or garden hose is insufficient and the expertise of the fire department is needed.

Both parties contribute in varying degrees to the break-up of a marriage.

You contribute through action or inaction.

The Abortion Debate-Rights Without Responsibility

I am going out on a limb and declaring the real motive behind the push in Jamaica (and worldwide) to legalise abortion, is the desire to live a sexually hedonistic lifestyle without having to live with the consequences of one’s actions.

Why do I say this?

It is a fact that, with the exception of cases of rape and incest resulting in pregnancies, all pregnancies (in vitro fertilization excluded) occur as a result of consensual sexual activity between a man and a woman.

Although there is no dispute surrounding this basic fact of life, supporters of abortion on demand, conveniently ignore that abstaining from sex and responsible sexual behaviour will reduce, if not eradicate, unwanted pregnancies.

Let’s face it! Pregnancy is not an infectious disease a woman contracts from coming into contact with an infected person or from breathing in a virus.

It therefore follows that prevention should be a logical part of the discussion about unplanned pregnancies but the silence is deafening!

I hasten to acknowledge that no preventative measure, except for abstaining from sex, provides a 100% guarantee, however, in some cases, a known failure can be counteracted to prevent conception and remove any need to consider an abortion.

Still, there is not a word about prevention or responsible sexual behaviour. What we hear instead are arguments about a woman’s right to exercise control over her body, men policing women’s bodies, poor women’s inability to afford safe abortions, unwanted pregnancies and deaths from botched abortions.

All the above is simply code for saying, we have a right to be sexually irresponsible without facing the consequences of exercising that right!

It appears to me that responsible sexual behaviour would solve most of the concerns raised.

I anticipate pro-choice supporters will dismiss abstaining from sexual intercourse as unrealistic and possibly point to the cost of male and female contraceptives as being out of the reach of those most in need of them.

Such a position will be conveniently ignoring that, here in Jamaica, a variety of contraceptives (for both males and females) are available at health centres across the island at no cost to end users.

So, what about victims of rape and incest? they ask.

I concede that pregnancies resulting from cases of rape and incest are especially difficult to navigate. These cases attract empathy from even those most staunchly opposed to abortion under any circumstance.

I am inclined to support the following recommendations by The Most Rev. Kenneth Richards, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston for dealing with victims of rape and incest:

We must not allow easy cases for administering justice to escape criminal penalty and publicity. Taking steps to administer justice through follow-up on easy cases can be a deterrent. Therefore, make effective application of laws against sexual abuse.
We must advance campaigns that enable and empower victims of sexual abuse to seek immediate assistance and support. Families and community structures must become a space of trust for victims to immediately report abuse.
Seeking immediate help can prevent the possibility of pregnancy resulting from rape and abuse. A campaign to break the silence can create an environment that empowers victims of sexual abuse.
Breaking the silence can also (1) prevent and mitigate health challenges associated with sexually transmitted infections; (2) provide early psycho-social support; and (3) prevent a pregnancy that can lead to further moral complications.

Pro-choice supporters frame the abortion debate as a women’s right issue, but I suggest, that after all is said and done, the issue is really about wanting the ‘right’ to be sexually irresponsible without bearing the consequences of one’s actions

Men, Women and Respect

“Jamaican Men Are Too Damn Disrespectful!” screamed the caption to a column in a daily newspaper.

It caught my attention, so I proceeded to investigate the reasons for the writer’s ire.

The female columnist recounted several encounters experienced, witnessed or reported to her by friends, of Jamaican men being disrespectful to women.

She related witnessing a security guard displaying ‘unprofessional and uncouth’ behaviour while asking a lady to remove her car from a no parking area, a former colleague reporting being disrespected by a bus conductor for daring to ask for her change and her personal experiences of being verbally abuse for being non-responsive to sexual passes.

In her words, “they are quick to detail the depth of the very hole from which they were born. They will also tell you all the holes to which you must apply suction, like we would ever rob them of doing the only thing some of them are capable of!”

Sadly, the experiences outlined are too prevalent in our society.

It cannot escape notice, however, that some women (some from the intelligentsia come readily to mind), have no problem with the behaviour described. Indeed, some find it complimentary and empowering to have men, as the columnist puts it, making “comments alluding to the fatness, tightness or stiffness of their privates.”

Somewhere along our journey, some Jamaica men and women, seemed to have concluded that to be manly means being aggressive, unlearned, uncouth, crude, crass and disrespectful.

A man’s masculinity is apparently enhanced if he exhibits a complete lack of mastery of the English language!

We have far too many men (both old and young) who have no appreciation of the benefits of having even a basic education, of being polite, courteous, sophisticated and charming.

How do we change and reverse this trend? I suggest the solution is not simple and requires the participation of both men and women.

The society in general and parents in particular, need to review our concept of masculinity. We need to start imparting to our men, sons, daughters, boys and girls that demonstrating respect for others, and being polite and courteous does not have a diminishing effect on a man’s level of testosterone.

Our men need to develop the strength of character to resist peer pressure to conform to negative stereotypes of a ‘real man’ and strive to be gentlemen.

Our women also have an important role to play in the development of a higher quality of men.

Women play an important role in influencing men’s behaviour generally and towards women in particular. Women must start signaling to men that the qualities defining a gentleman are welcomed, expected and admired.

I guarantee that men’s behaviour towards women will change for the better, if women collectively, refuse to enter into relationships with men behaving below a minimum standard.

The onus is not solely on women but they do play a significant role in determining how men behave.