Africa 101 from a Jamaican in South Africa

My sister is someone who doesn't write all that often, but when she does... well, here is one of her most recent pieces.

http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/africa101jamaican.shtml

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Jamaicans Viewing Jamaica

In today's Gleaner, Christopher Burns has an interesting take on the way Jamaicans abroad who view Jamaica in negative terms.

Click here:
Link to Christopher Bunrs article

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Writing All Over the Place (Except here)

I can't believe I have not posted in my blog for almost two weeks, but the challenge of writing in so many places has taken my time and attention from this particular avenue.

Instead, I have been writing for my 2 ezines (FirstCuts and the One Page Digest0 and for the Gleaner online and offline.

I shared the most recent version of the One Page Digest in the prior post.

Here is a link to the back issues of FirstCuts (where I delve into detail on one management idea per month for Caribbean managers.)

I also wrote some pieces for the online Gleaner entitled Managing Your Own Time, Building an Online Presence and Networking - Moving Beyond the Cocktail Circuit.

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My One Page Digest

FYI,

I have been putting out a Digest of important links for Caribbean executives and managers. Here is the most recent version.

To subscribe, just follow the directions at the end.

Issue 14.0

We sent you this digest because we believe you have an interest in these topics. Please PASS IT ON to others of like mind. To discontinue receipt, see instructions at the end.
Links Blogger (hosting site): If the word "blog" means nothing to you, then you are missing out on an interconnected world of ideas and information on the topics you care most about. See our company blog as an example, and check out our links to others and if you get inspired, create your own blog at Blogger. The cost? 5 minutes and $0. PBwiki.com (wiki service): If you also don't know what a wiki is, don't panic! Take a breath, and browse over to this site that offers a powerful tool for jointly sharing and creating information with your project colleagues sitting in Montego Bay, Port of Spain and Georgetown. The shared space you create with them will replace all the hassle of going back and forth using email. The Service Inventory (customer experience paper): The places at which your customers experience your company and make their judgements are known as touchpoints. This Framework paper describes a method for gathering and analyzing them, in order to produce a consistent and differentiated customer experience. GoogleEarth (a real time-waster!): I can think of no practical use for GoogleEarth, except to have fun. And it delivers! Find satellite pictures of the exact spots on the planet where you live, were born, went to school, got baptised, ... everything you can think of. It is all somewhat unnerving, however, in these terror-ridden times.
Did you miss the Framework blog discussion? Internet Networking: Are you proactively creating your personal brand on the internet, or waiting for other people to create it for you -- without your knowledge? Click on this link to see why you should be taking steps now to correct false information and give regional users a rounded view insight into who you really are. Click here.

About This E-mail The Framework One-Page Digest is produced monthly by Francis Wade of Framework Consulting, Inc. and is intended to provide E-level managers with a reliable source of new ideas for managing Caribbean companies. To join the mail list, visit http://urlcut.com/digest and follow the instructions to subscribe to FrameworkDigest, source of the One Page Digest. Past issues can also be found at http://urlcut.com/digesthome.

You are receiving this mailing because you are listed as a friend of Framework Consulting. To remove yourself from this mailing, send email to newsletter@fwconsulting.com with the words REMOVE in the subject line, or visit http://urlcut.com/digest. To ensure delivery, add fwconsulting.com to your address book as an approved sender. Framework Consulting Inc, 3389 Sheridan Street #434, Hollywood FL 33021

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Should We Keep Air Jamaica?

I am no expert in the airline industry, but it seems to me that the losses that Air Jamaica has been racking up in recent years are reason enough to close it down.

The arguments that I have heard for keeping it open strike me as spurious, as argued in the Observer and Gleaner newspapers.

They sound to me as if the authorities are unwilling to believe that the free market works, and that as long as there is a profit to be made, airlines will continue to fly into Jamaica. The evidence strongly suggests that they are increasingly willing to fly here for smaller and smaller margins -- the evidence being the recent cut in the cost of a seat from say, Kingston to Miami from US$400 + to less than US$200, where it has been for some time.

Given the US$120 millions loss it made in 2005, and a similar amount expected last year, I have to think that we could that same money (much less in fact) to attract other countries to use the country as a destination. Heck, if we even subsidized them in might be cheaper than continuing this losing game.

However, at the moment it seems that pride is trumping economics, and that we as a people are unwilling to admit the defeat of the airline, and the loss of face that we think would follow.

Also, a recent study showed that the benefit to the country of having Air Jamaica was in the millions of dollars, but this is beside the point. There is no argument that we need airlift for the success of our economy. However, does it need to be provided by Air Jamaica?

It's just that there must be a point at which the losses overcome the loss of face -- it's not US$120m, obviously.

What is it?

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Gays in Recent Jamaican News

For better or for worse, the issue of gays, their lifestyle and rights in Jamaica has become a regular part of the weekly news cycle.

Just about every week, it seem, brings another report of either the results of an investigation, or an attack from a pastor, a family member or a mob.

Today's Jamaica Observer brought a headline article entitled Inside a Gay Church.

Last week there was an article, again in the Observer, that showed an alleged cross-dresser being beaten by a mob -- with the above picture being included.

I remember an earlier post I wrote on the issue of homosexual hatred in Jamaica, to which reader responded by saying that I was exaggerating the existence of this sentiment. While the extent of this hatred might be open to question, the fact that it is real is tough to argue with.

While mob violence is still an ongoing problem in Jamaica -- for alleged thieves and other criminals -- there have been very few prosecuted for the crime.

I understand that the people pictured above, however (who happen to be women) are in fact being charged with a crime -- which is a first... that I can remember.

It is said that an idea whose time has come is first ignored, then violently opposed, and then quietly accepted as a norm. Maybe we are in the second stage of a major change?

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