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The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) remembers the late Dame Mary Eugenia Charles

admin-inc@cakafete.com (Clayton) — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:27:20 +0000

The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) remembers the late Dame Mary Eugenia Charles today May 15, 2012 on what would have been

her ninety-third birthday

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The late Dame Mary Eugenia Charles was born on May 15, 1919 and would have been 93 years old today if she was alive.

The Dominica Freedom Party remembers her for her tremendous contribution towards Dominica ’s development as well as that of the OECS and CARICOM.

REMEMBERING MIKE DOUGLAS

seansworth@yahoo.com (Sean R Douglas) — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:16:54 +0000

A man known for his scintillating oratory, rescuing Ross University, rebuilding the Labour Party and championing the struggles of the poor and downtrodden

By Sean R Douglas

The milestone of the 20^th anniversary of his death (April, 30^th 2012), is an opportunity to reflect on the life of Mike Douglas, a man who will long be remembered for his scintillating oratory; his role in rescuing Ross University; his struggles for the poor and downtrodden and his mission to revitalize the forces of Labour following the Freedom party landslide of 1980.

Recalling moments shane

mountain4747@yahoo.com (Steinberg Henry) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:58:03 +0000

(The following is an extract from An Unassuming Love (BlackMemory, A Traveloguer And Cricket) by Steinberg Henry, June 2011)

April 24, 2012

... first test at Galle in Sri Lanka (is) drawn with my island’s Shane Shillingford taking 4/123 in the first innings and attracting cricket drama spotlights when suddenly the ICC noticed a strange action in his bowling.

In our cocoyea-swept yards we would accuse a bowler of stoning when he did not swing the hand right through. Stoning. Hmmm. Shane was not stoning. The ICC spoke of an illegal bowling action … Ossie Lewis in his usual Friday night conversation on sports with Dominica Broadcasting’s Ted Dailey, thought that from then forward, given an ICC call for rehabilitation, Shane’s only problem would be the psychological – the fact that all eyes would be on him for about three weeks; the stresses involved in lab tests, bowling tests and, the ever-present radio, television and Internet reporting on the slightest comment regarding his delivery angled and hoaned in an unknown yard-time, space and place.

EXCLUSIVE: “Very, Very Obvious” That Atlantis Cruise Duo in Dominica Was Having Sex, Says Witnessl

admin-inc@cakafete.com (www.queerty.com) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:31:24 +0000

Queerty has obtained an exclusive firsthand account of the incident that rocked the gay world last week, when two men, Dennis Mayer and John Hart of Palm Springs (right), were arrested on board an Atlantis cruise ship in Dominica under threat of “buggery” charges, which could have carried up to a ten year prison sentence in the Caribbean island nation.

The men were eventually charged only with indecent exposure, to which they pled guilty, and were released after being taunted, scolded, and fined. But the episode has divided the gay community between those outraged at the cruise line for docking in such a gay-unfriendly port, and those outraged at the couple for their foolish behavior, which definitely included public nudity, and may or may not have also included public sex. Beyond the two men themselves, no detailed direct reports of the incident have surfaced. Until now.

Our witness, fellow cruise passenger Juan Claudio, tells it like this:

My boyfriend and I, and a busload of other guys, did see what was happening on the balcony of the Celebrity Summit as we waited for our excursion to depart.

At first, I wasn’t paying attention, until I noticed a few Dominican females near the security gate of the pier where the ship docked, waving their arms and hands towards the ship, and talking loudly about something on the ship. The others on board the bus also looked, and we noticed one, then two guys on the balcony walking around naked. My first thought was, ‘If we can see them, can they see us?’

The ruckus at the dock became more excited when it appeared, at first to me, that they were engaging in oral sex. The two guys in front of me then said, ‘No, they are f**king!’ As I leaned forward in my seat, I noticed that they were f**king, and in a standing position. It was very, very obvious that they were engaged in f**king. We were not that far away from the ship, maybe one half to three quarters the length of a football field. Again, did they know we could see them?

Claudio says some of the girls on the pier then grabbed a port police officer, who hadn’t been looking at the ship up until that point.

When the girls pointed to the balcony for the police officer to see, he then, himself, noticed the guys f**king. The police officer started to walk towards the ship, as other police officers also started to observe the action on the balcony. The balcony was just above Deck 5, where the lifeboats are stored, and only two or three staterooms from the elevator banks, on the port side of the Celebrity Summit facing the town.

As the police officer walked, then stopped, then walked again toward the ship, the two guys on the balcony were still f**king. By this time, we could see many people on the pier and onshore taking photos of the action taking place on the balcony.

As the police officer was walking towards the ship, many of us were thinking that these two guys would soon be going home. It’s the notion of f**king in plain view of those on the ground that was the shocking thing. It doesn’t have to be a gay thing since straight couples shouldn’t be doing that as well.

Claudio says that at this point, the excursion tour guide, who hadn’t noticed the live show on the ship, boarded the bus and began the excursion into Dominica. By the time they returned, he says the two men were being driven to prison. And the mood on the dock had changed.

After we returned to the pier after the excursion, some of the locals were not as friendly to us as they were before the balcony scene. I got the sense that they didn’t want us there anymore.

On the bright side, Claudio says that the incident “added some flavor to the whole experience” of his holiday with his partner Eugene. “This was our second Atlantis cruise,” he says, ”and we intend to do more.”

Another passenger, Hugh Hysell, agreed that the episode didn’t put a damper on things for the 2,000 or so cruisers who moved on from Dominica.

“The mood was gossipy and very light,” says Hysell. “Most everyone found out about it throughout the course of the day, and Rich Campbell addressed the incident in detail at each of shows later that evening. He said that he was working with the guys and an attorney — and, as was later reported by the cruise director, a congresswoman — and that the guys did something really stupid, and would likely be out of jail the next day.”

http://www.queerty.com/exclusive-very-very-obvious-that-atlantis-cruise-duo-in-dominica-were-having-sex-says-witness-20120327/

Atlantis President: Arrested Men in Dominica Had Balcony Sex “In Full Public View of the Port and Town”

fred@upsda.com (Fred White) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 06:18:58 +0000

Rich Campbell, President of Atlantis Events, has issued a statement about the arrests of two men yesterday aboard an Atlantis-chartered cruise ship docked in the Caribbean island nation of Dominica. The men pleaded guilty today to charges of indecent exposure.

Dominica's Former AG Accused in Passport Scam

admin-inc@cakafete.com (Ap Associated Press) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:18:15 +0000

Dominica's former attorney general has been arrested on suspicion of conspiring with others to fraudulently obtain and sell passports.

Bernard Wiltshire was being held Tuesday on $18,000 bail.

Police accuse Wiltshire and three other people of selling passports to illegal immigrants, mostly from Arab countries.

It is unclear if Wiltshire has an attorney. He earlier filed a civil lawsuit against police and the government accusing them of false imprisonment and arrest after he was detained last year without any charges as police investigated the case.

Wiltshire served as attorney general from 2000 to 2002.

From NACLA (On the blog page links referred to work)

admin-inc@cakafete.com (Delmance Moses (Ras Mo)) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:48:57 +0000

Two thousand and twelve holds both a great deal of uncertainty and cautious optimism for the Caribbean. The election of new governments over the past year in Jamaica and St. Lucia, the controversial re-election of an incumbent in Guyana, and the selection of Michel Martelly out of a flawed election in Haiti has sent mixed signals about the overall direction the region is taking. With the global economy still in an extremely volatile state, the predominately service-oriented economies of the Caribbean remain extremely vulnerable to the action or inaction of Europe and the United States.

DISQUALIFICATION SIMPLICITA AT THE WATERSHED

admin-inc@cakafete.com (Lennox Linton) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:36:22 +0000

Before the long, tortured journey of trying to determine the lawful constitution of the Parliament of Dominica following the 2009 general election, Roosevelt Skerrit hailed as a “witness of truth” following his appearance in a BVI court in 2009, was required to answer truthfully one simple question:

Do you, or do you not, have a French passport?

A ONENESS TONE

mountain4747@yahoo.com (Steinberg Henry) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:59:55 +0000

(A Reading Giftt & Insight)

… I have known crude beginnings. I have known vague. I

have come into, upon this place learning, learning to be

brave, learning that I had set my hand to the plough

apparently along where Walcott hailed as the straits of

heaven.

“Fellas, Babylon coming.”

mountain4747@yahoo.com (Steinberg Henry) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:24:39 +0000

That would be what we would hear in 1975 when one young man observed the approach of police or military men. They might’ve been pulling on a joint as members or a member of the paramilitary unit appeared.