Antigua vs. Uncle Sam
Little Antigua is taking on the might of the USA in a far-reaching battle for trade justice.
The entire world is watching:
Gambling Dispute With a Tiny Country Puts U.S. in a Bind
Click hereRead more!
A blog about my Move Back to Jamaica after 20+ years of living in the US. Most of the articles focus on the period from 2005-2009 when the transition was new, and at it's most challenging.
Little Antigua is taking on the might of the USA in a far-reaching battle for trade justice.
On our political landscape, I imagine that it is going to be difficult to replace Portia Simpson-Miller as President of the PNP if she is reluctant to step down.
These two articles by Keit hCollister had me really thinking.
I don't know much about the migration of Caribbean people to the U.K., but this book seems to be a powerful resources for explaining the experience. It is called "Tracing Jamaica's Migration Process."
I found the following link of resources for someone Moving to Jamaica.
When I lived in the U.S. I accomplished the "American Dream" at a young age.
The following article is simply brilliant, and provides a clean pathway through a mess that I think neither party wants. It could be crafted in a way that neither party comes out the loser, and Jamaica comes out the winner.
In a nearlier post, I mentioned that I had a proposal for a revolutionary way of doing time management posted up on ChangeThis.com.
There is a huge shift underway in Barbados -- two of the most outspoken blogs are being printed and distributed on paper.
Comparing prices is not an easy thing to do here in Jamaica, especially as the prices I remember in Hollywood, Florida have changed as a result of several hurricanes, and huge increase in gas prices, and the effects of a housing collapse.
Labels: economy
When I am not writing about Moving Back to Jamaica, I spend some time writing and thinking about why people have such a difficulty in developing sound time management techniques.
The cool thing is that if you are impressed by the proposal (reproduced below), you can vote on it. If the proposal gets enough votes, then I will be asked to "Write a Manifesto" which they will post on the site. (There is no cost or payment involved.)
So, should I "Write this Manifesto?" -- let the world know and follow these steps, if you'd like:
1. Read the "Proposal" below
2. If you like it, vote for it by clicking here to be taken to the site and then click on "Yes, write this manifesto." Then pass on the link to others so that they can vote on it also
3. If you LOVE it, visit the blog that outlines the 11 Fundamentals of 2Time Management
4. If you go beyond loving it, let me know by sending me an email -- francis@fwconsulting.com
I'll post up the results sometime after October 19th, when the polls close!
Here is "The Proposal"
On Time Management: Toss Away the Tips, Find the Fundamentals
Author(s): Francis Wade
There is a stew of tips floating around on how to improve one's time management skills, confusing the professional who is trying to become more productive.
However, neither a professional basketball player nor a concert pianist becomes great by learning a bunch of tips. Instead, their expertise comes through practice, learning, coaching and reflecting on the fundamental techniques they learned at the very beginning.
To witness Michael Jordan sinking free-throws, or Leonard Bernstein practising scales, is to know that their public triumphs were won long before the bright lights were turned on. Working professionals have never been taught the fundamentals of time management, and are stuck chasing after the latest tips and coolest gadgets.
Imagine MJ chasing after the latest sneakers...
What are the unalterable, fundamental elements of time management? How can they be learned? How can they be practiced? How can they be coached? How can they be perfected?
The Answer Is...
Remember, if you like it, vote for it by clicking here, and then on "Write this Manifesto" and pass on the link to others so that they can vote on it also
Labels: business
Here is a video interview with a Jamaican who returned, sharing about some of the reasons she has come back to live.
This letter was published in the Gleaner ins response to the letter "Stuck in America."
LETTER OF THE DAY - A Jamaica success story about living in America
published: Thursday | September 13, 2007
The Editor, Sir:
You have printed the 'Diary of a Jamaican-born US Citizen' which contends that '1 out of the 7' Jamaican migrants is having it rough succeeding in America. How about hearing from one of the three that has succeeded. Frankly, I think there are more than three out of 10 of us who have succeeded.
In my opinion the ones who have not succeeded are those who when they lived in Jamaica considered themselves the 'haves'. They had the helpers, the big house, the cars and went to the posh schools. Most likely, they left Jamaica out of fear. America has a way of humbling you and those who refuse to, find out the hard way.
In 1988 I migrated at age 34. I had nothing but a few dollars. Less than 10 years later I purchased my own house and completed a master's degree. I did not get further than a junior secondary school in Jamaica. I was not fortunate enough to get a Common Entrance placement. Today, I own my own business (a counselling agency) with government contracts and I am completing a doctoral degree.
Assistance from wonderful people
All of this was done without the assistance of family (blood family that is). God placed some wonderful Americans and transplanted Jamaicans in my path. I was not a snob when I lived in Jamaica and will never become one. I am grateful every day for the many blessings that have come my way with the hard work I have put in.
Having an air of entitlement was never who I am, but that has been the problem for some of those who find it hard to adjust. America is not Jamaica and you cannot bring the same mindset and attitude you had there to this country. I have seen those who have made it and I have seen those who would have been better off staying in Jamaica.
More discrimination in Jamaica
I have heard the horror stories of others who complained about the injustice and discrimination they have faced. I cannot say I have never faced any, but I have always used such occasions as a challenge - when life throws you a lemon, make lemonade. To be honest, I faced more discrimination (not because I was black, but because I was poor) when I lived in Jamaica thanI ever have in the U.S. The Biblical saying "A prophet is not without honour save in his own country" is applicable here.
It is amazing. Now that I have maximised my potential in life, those who did not see me as worth associating with in Jamaica, now want to talk with me. I am sorry to hear that 'Stuck in America' is having a hard time, but I suggest she examines herself to see how she could make things better for herself.
This letter was published in the Gleaner recently:
The diary of a Jamaican-born US citizen
published: Wednesday | September 12, 2007
I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, at the University Hospital, the first of four children. By thetime I was nine, my parents 'got through' to migrate to New York, NY.
I remember them asking us if we wanted to see snow. We were all excited about seeing it for the first time. After we came here and experienced winter, and subsequently snow, we said to our parents "okay we are ready to go back now". That's when we found out that there was no going back. We were told that life would be better here. We wondered 'for who'?
In Jamaica, we had a big back and front yard and trees to climb. Our toes never got so cold that they burned when they were warming back up. Don't forget we also had a nice big apartment filled with relatives to try and run around in.
I decided as a teenager that I would move back to JA once I finished college. Well, by the time I finished college, I was a divorced, single mom making $30,000 a year teaching kindergarten. Time to move back now, right? Wrong! I had no money, student loans to pay back, and only very distant relatives with whom I could not live. Many of them wouldn't even know me if my parents weren't standing next to me.
So I moved to Florida where at least the pace is slower and there is no real winter. I found out the hard way that the cost of living in Fort Lauderdale is almost identical to NYC, but the pay was only half of what you would make in NYC doing the same job. After they outsourced my job to people in India, I decided that I could get a higher paying job in NYC and moved back. Six months after moving back, I got a job paying just $4000 more per year than what I was making in Florida. Now one might think that you can easily live on your own while raising a child on $30,000 (I came back to the same salary two years later) is easy, but I struggle to make ends meet every month.
Bed of roses
After 27 years of living in the U.S. and going through the school system, I have no money saved and own no property. What I do have is bad credit and student loans to repay. You might think that my story happens to 1 out of 10 people, but sadly, the statistics are more like 7 out of 10. All those who might think that life is a bed of roses here and money is easy to come by, please think twice about packing up and moving here especially with children.
If you have a good job in JA and own your home, send your kids here to school or just come here to stay with a family member, work and go back home. Don't take for granted your beautiful beaches where you can de-stress, and the fruit you can pick off the trees so you never have to go hungry. Consider the concrete jungle, fast-paced life, and winter that we have here waiting for you.
I am, etc.,
Stuck in America
I think that I missed something, but Jamaica is now the number one consumer of cranberry per capita.
In a recent post, I made the point that our politicians had the choice of being statesmen, or scamps.
Labels: politics
I just ran into an interesing site that offers to deliver food from some top Kingston retaurants, and also just added a grocery-buying option.
In prior posts I have written about a Move Back to Jamaica being an inner journey, in addition to a physical one, and that I have been using a variety of helpful tools to make my transition.
This interview with Michael Anthony Cuffe took place last week on Power 106.
This very nice letter came in from a reader of the blog:
Labels: migrating
Here is a link to some of the recent radio advertisements for both PNP and JLP.
In the aftermath of the Eelction, I read the following article by Peter Espeut that I think is brilliant.
From my small sample of three, it seems that Gmail is not accessible here in Kingston.
There is a great site with pictures from Election Day 2007 at the Gleaner website. Trinidad has Carnival, and we in Jamaica have Elections... not the same thing, of course, but we take it just as seriously. Here is a sample:
Yesterday, election day (Monday,) I spent the day from 4 am until 7 pm
Labels: elections
This interesting letter to the editor is from the online Jamaica Gleaner.
'Dis also happen a foreign'
published: Saturday | September 1, 2007
The Editor, Sir:
Now that my travels have taught me better, I'll be ready, with a well-oiled tongue and a bank of experience, to take on the next ignoramus who, in a criticism of happenings in Jamaica, utters the wretched words: 'dis would never happen a foreign!' Whether it be the occasional tendency to bundle rather than queue, the instances of violence on public transport, or barely literate youngsters graduating from some schools, our 'humble homeland' is certainly not unique!
Having taught outside of the Jamaican school system for the past three years, I have certainly had a rude awakening. I have seen many a pupil place an apostrophe in every word that ends with an 's' and numerous others who think there is actually a word spelt 'somefink'. Yet, we are all ready to apply the label 'dialect interference' willy-nilly to every relatively minor error that our pupils make, thinking this is a phenomenon that affects only our own.
Similarly, we seem to think moments of inefficiency lie only with our public service officials and local employees who interface with the public. Having faced so many instances of even worse treatment abroad, I realise now how far this concept is from the truth. The experiences of having blatant errors made on official documents, waiting lengthy time spans on the phone to have business matters sorted, or occasions of downright rudeness, while inexcusable in any country, do not only exist in Jamaica.
The first time I witnessed a fight take place on a bus, so much so that the police had to intervene, was while in lovely Paris. Likewise, the most undignified instances of drunken disorderliness that have blessed these eyes have been at 3:00 a.m. in the streets of London and this could be any weeknight!
Again, I emphasise that none of the issues I have raised are ever acceptable in any country. While we should seek to stamp out mediocrity and indiscipline wherever it exists on our shores, we must avoid the self-denigrating view: 'only in Jamaica!' The idea 'dis would never happen a foreign' is a total fallacy. It can and it does!
I am, etc.,
DENNZ St. CLAIR
Via Go-JamaicaThere is a controversy brewing that overseas Jamaicans should be paying close attention to.
Section 41 (2) of the Constitution: No person shall be qualified to be appointed as a senator or elected as a member of the House of Representatives who "is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign Power or State."
If election officials fail to ensure that the nominated candidate is "qualified to be a member of the House of Representatives," the issue may be taken to Court as a Constitutional motion or as an election petition.
The effect of challenging the nomination in the Supreme Court or Constitutional Court before the election, if successful, would be to render the nomination unconstitutional and void and thereafter, the next candidate would by default win the election.
If challenged in the Election Court successfully after the election, "the poll shall be retaken on such day within a period of twenty-eight days from the date of the declaration".
If dual citizenship were to be renounced after nomination, it would still mean that the candidate would, at the time of nomination, not have been qualified to be a member of the House and therefore that person's nomination would not have been legal.
LETTER OF THE DAY - Dual citizenship an international trend
published: Friday | August 31, 2007
The Editor, Sir:
LIKE SO many other countries in the global village, Jamaica recognises and accepts the concept of dual nationality for its citizens. In our case, the benefits are significant, not least of which are the huge remittances coming from those living abroad; and when it comes to the dual citizen taking part in parliamentary elections, the trend today is for greater liberalism and flexibility in this arrangement. In fact, any country seeking to deliberately deprive its dual citizens of electoral rights would appear to be stepping in the wrong direction.
Canada's John Turner, who in 1984 succeeded Pierre Trudeau as Prime Minister, retained his United Kingdom citizenship while in office, and still does. Likewise, Stephane Dion, the present head of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition, has retained his French citizenship without being put under pressure. He has said that he will renounce the French connection if it tends to hamper his party's prospects in future elections; but so far there is no big outcry.
The United States (U.S.), often accused of being ultra-nationalistic, appears to be taking a much more liberal view than the People's National Party in Jamaica. While Americans seldom seek dual citizenship in other countries, there is no law in the U.S. that prevents an American citizen from having a passport from another country. Nor was there any uproar when Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor of California without renouncing his Austrian citizenship. The U.S. made no fuss when one of its citizens became President of Lithuania in 1997, and it seemed routine when Madeline Albright, the former foreign secretary, was invited to run for the presidency of her native Czechoslovakia. She declined, but not because of any conflict of nationality.
When Michaƫlle Jean was appointed Governor-General of Canada she had already given up her Haitian nationality. However, she remained French by being married to a Frenchman an French civil code forbids citizens holding government positions in a foreign country, France announced that it would not enforce the law against her. Nevertheless, to avoid possible controversy, she voluntarily renounced French citizenship two days before taking office as head of state and commander-in-chief of the Canadian forces.
The British who supervised the writing of the Jamaican Constitution are equally accommodating. The Leader of their House of Lords is Baroness Amos, a Guyanese. Jamaican Lord Morris also sits in the British Upper House. I haven't heard of anyone demanding that they relinquish citizenship in the land of their birth. This I regard as enlightened governance, more to be accepted than covered-up corruption.
Several other countries are following this path and moving away from the old emphasis on insularity. They are, of course, mindful of the threat of terrorism, but fully aware of the advantages to be gained in identifying with progressive globalisation and international cooperation. It would be a pity if Jamaica as a country should announce to the world that its head is firmly planted in the self-centred sands of times past.
I am, etc.,
KEN JONES
In the July-August issue of Harvard Business Review, I found an interesting article on "Forward Thinking Cultures."