On the ground, ordinary Jamaicans became reporters detailing events as they occur. We bring them to you as we receive them…
Donald Trump Sinks Ever Deeper: Comey’s Explosive Memo Caps Another Day Of Deepening White House Scandal
Scandal whirlwind: If Trump tried to shut down the FBI’s Michael Flynn investigation, did Jeff Sessions play along?
Sally Yates; James Comey (Credit: CNN/AP/Charles Rex Arbogast/Photo montage by Salon)
Tuesday began with the White House in total chaos over reports that President Donald Trump had spilled sensitive intelligence to the Russians on the morning after he fired FBI Director James Comey over what he later admitted was the investigation into Russian ties to the Trump campaign. This was not what administration officials wanted to be talking about in the days before the president’s first big overseas trip. In the middle of the crisis, they had to hold a previously scheduled meeting and press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Here’s the dispatch from the pool report:
Shortly after that, Israel’s media reported that it had been that nation’s intelligence that Trump had shared with Russia without permission, justifying Israeli officials’ earlier fears that he would do exactly that.
Every Democratic official’s hair was on fire, and even the Republicans on the Hill were starting to smoke a little bit around the ears. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who goes along with every Trump outrage, even roused himself to declare that he wished there was less drama coming from the White House.
And then came the really shocking news. James Comey wrote memos — detailed memos. And he gave copies to friends. And one of them described a meeting with the president, vice president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the day after Flynn was fired. That meeting had been previously reported. What we hadn’t heard was that, according to Comey, after the meeting, Trump told Pence and Sessions to leave the room and then asked Comey to drop the case against Flynn.
Here’s the account from The New York Times:
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey that Mr. Flynn had done nothing wrong, according to the memo.
The White House is saying there’s nothing untoward about this: Everyone knows Trump likes Flynn, he never said those exact words, and anyway Comey should have brought this up earlier. In other words, Comey must be lying, because otherwise he would have shouted it to the world. Most experts on TV observed that isn’t the way investigations are done.
CNN’s Jake Tapper spoke with a source who is familiar with the memos and is close to Comey. That source said the FBI director assumed that one meeting would be the end of it. Tapper quoted this person explaining why Comey didn’t say anything:
… because it wasn’t a very successful effort and he thought he had pushed back on it. Living with this president is about standing up and pushing back.He thought he had pushed back and was working to regularize communications between the bureau and the White House and he knew more work was needed, thought he was starting to succeed, and he was very sensitive to how difficult it was going to be to work with this president. He also thought he could do it.
Tapper then added:
It should be noted that [Comey] is somebody, and I don’t mean this in a pejorative sense, he is somebody who has rather high regard for his own sense of integrity and what he can accomplish.
Later on Tuesday, in CNN’s Anderson Cooper’s interview with former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, she responded to the question of whether Comey was a “showboat” and a “grandstander,” as Trump had claimed, by smiling slightly and simply saying, “Jim is candid.”
Coincidentally, on the morning of Trump’s interview with John Dickerson of CBS in which he used those words to describe Comey, I had published a piece for Salon in which I also called him a “showboat.” It’s true. He is. And Comey’s high regard for his own integrity and rectitude has led him to make terrible political judgments, such as the one that led him to announce last Oct. 28 that there was new information in the Clinton email case, throwing a live grenade into the presidential campaign.
But for all that, James Comey isn’t known to be a liar. In fact, he’s known as a scrupulous if somewhat supercilious prig. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is a constant, unrepentant liar of colossal magnitude. In a battle between the two grandstanders there is no contest as to which one has more credibility.
The White House also attempted to use the words of Acting FBI Director Andy McCabe as cover, saying he testified before Congress that the administration had not interfered. That’s not what he said. Here is the exchange between McCabe and Sen. Marco Rubio:
Rubio: Mr. McCabe, can you — without going into the specific of any individual investigation, I think the American people want to know, has the dismissal of Mr. Comey in any way impeded, interrupted, stopped or negatively impacted any of the work, any investigation, or any ongoing projects at the Federal Bureau of Investigation?
McCabe: As you know, Senator, the work of the men and women of the FBI continues despite any changes in circumstance, any decisions. So there has been no effort to impede our investigation today. Quite simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.
McCabe was replying to a question about whether the investigation had been impeded by Comey’s firing. He clarified further by saying “there has has been no effort … today.”
For the moment, all eyes will be upon the new Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the investigation, and his boss, Jeff Sessions, who is vetting Comey’s replacement. Sessions is obviously a Trump loyalist and it appears that Rosenstein has no complaints. According to the Baltimore Sun, when the news broke that Trump was using his memo as the excuse for firing Comey, a friend told Rosenstein he should quit and he replied, “There is no place I would rather be.”
The Washington Post reported late on Tuesday that their sources had told them that “details of Comey’s notes have been shared with a very small circle of people at the FBI and Justice Department.” If the people with whom those notes were shared include Sessions and Rosenstein, their involvement in Comey’s firing takes this scandal to a whole new level. It would mean they knew that Trump had tried to shut down an active investigation by asking Comey to lay off Flynn — and still recommended that Trump fire Comey. Stay tuned.
John McCain: Trump Scandals ‘Reaching Watergate Size And Scale’
Sen. John McCain (R‑Ariz.) just used the “W” word when talking about the growing scandals surrounding President Donald Trump.
“We’ve seen this movie before. It’s reaching Watergate size and scale,” he said at a Republican event on Tuesday night, according to GOP strategist Ana Navarro. “This is not good for the country.”
However, despite the Watergate comparison, McCain also said he was against appointing a special prosecutor, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
McCain was speaking to Bob Schieffer of CBS News at the International Republican Institute dinner hours after news broke that Trump reportedly asked James Comey, who was FBI director at the time, to drop his investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
According to The Daily Beast, Schieffer asked McCain what advice he would give to Trump.
The senator told the former “Face the Nation” host that he would tell the president “the same thing that you advised Richard Nixon, which he didn’t do… get it all out… it’s not going to be over until every aspect of it is thoroughly examined, and the American people make a judgment. And the longer you delay, the longer it’s going to last.”
McCain also called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “an old KGB apparatchik stooge.”
Lavrov was in the Oval Office last week with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak when Trump reportedly shared “highly classified information,” according to a Washington Post article Monday. Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-mccain-trump-watergate_us_591ba69be4b041db89654e34?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
High Crime Rate A Shadow Over Caribbean Tourism — Study
AMI, United States (AFP) — The Caribbean and its pristine beaches may be a tourist magnet, but life in paradise comes at a price: the soaring violent crime rate is higher than in Latin America or Africa.The study, made public Tuesday by the Interamerican Development Bank, is based on a survey of 3,000 crime victims in each of five countries: the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and Suriname.
While the non-violent crime rate is low, violent crime rates “are among the highest in the world”, the report says.
“Nearly one in three said they had lost someone to violence. Guns are used about twice as often in robbery and three times as often in assault in the Caribbean as compared with the global average,” the report said.
The average rate “of victimization by assault and threat (6.8 per cent) is higher than in any other region, including Latin America (4.7 per cent)” or Africa (5.2 per cent). The report states that almost half of all crimes go unreported to the police. The victims are mainly 18 to 25 year-old’s who live in poor neighborhoods far from the tourist resorts.
The Caribbean region “is rightfully known for its beauty, warmth, culture, music and, yes, beckoning environment”, said Therese Turner-Jones, who heads the bank’s Caribbean Department.
“But the darker side of having some of the world’s highest violent crime rates remains a cause for concern.”
One area of special concern is violence against women and children.
“We found that tolerance of violence against women and children is higher than comparable regions,” said Heather Sutton, the report’s lead researcher.
According to the study, one out of three adults approve beating a woman if she is unfaithful, a rate higher than in the United States or Latin America.
“The literature shows that high tolerance is predictive of high levels of actual violence. This is one important risk factor that perpetuates the cycle of violence and delinquency,” the report said.
THE LEAK: VERY VERY BAD
Conservative commentator Erick Erickson says Trump’s secret spilling is “far worse” than reported
CHARLIE MAY
Following the shocking report that President Trump had revealed highly classified information last week during his Oval Office meeting with Russian officials, some pundits were quick to question the original reporting by The Washington Post, but one right-wing blogger explains why the reporting should be taken seriously.
Erick Erickson, who typically takes stories regarding Trump “with a grain of salt,” claimed to know one of the sources who leaked information about the president’s meeting.
“What sets this story apart for me, at least, is that I know one of the sources. And the source is solidly supportive of President Trump, or at least has been and was during Campaign 2016. But the President will not take any internal criticism, no matter how politely it is given. He does not want advice, cannot be corrected, and is too insecure to see any constructive feedback as anything other than an attack,” Erickson wrote.
Chuck Schumer Says Next FBI Director Should ‘Not Be A Partisan Politician’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑N.Y.) on Sunday laid out his criteria for the nation’s next FBI director, after President Donald Trump fired James Comey this week.
“The nominee should be not a partisan politician, not part of either party,” Schumer said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “This demands a serious, down-the-middle investigation. Second, it ought to be somebody who is experienced. You need a really good prosecutor here, somebody who knows how to do it. And third, it should be someone with courage. If there is interference or attempted interference to shut down the investigation, to misdirect it, you need somebody who is going to stand up.”
The minority leader also said Senate Democrats may refuse to vote on a new FBI director until a special prosecutor is named to investigate President Trump’s possible ties to Russia.
“I think there are a lot of Democrats who feel that way,” Schumer said. “We’ll have to discuss it as a caucus, but I would support that move.”
Trump dismissed Comey earlier this week amid the agency’s investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign in the 2016 election. The president is said to be interviewing several candidates for the job, including Sen. John Cornyn (R‑Texas), Schumer’s colleague and Senate majority whip.
In a separate appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R‑S.C.) said the next FBI director ought to be someone “outside the political lane.”
“Under normal circumstances, [Cornyn] would be a superb choice to be FBI director,” he said. “But these are not normal circumstances.”
Graham, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said last week he wants to explore whether Trump’s businesses have any ties to Russia. On Sunday, the senator again called on Trump to release his tax returns.
Trump is also reportedly considering tapping Judge Michael J. Garcia of the New York Court of Appeals, who previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney and then U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, and Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher, who used to work in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Adam Goldman, a reporter for The New York Times, tweeted Sunday Garcia was seen favorably by some active FBI agents. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chuck-schumer-fbi-director_us_59186674e4b00f308cf5d7fe?dibv&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Holness Statement A Red Flag For Police…
At a private/public sector partnership forum on crime in New Kingston, on Thursday, attended by Minister of National Security Robert Montague, Opposition spokesman on Tourism Dr. Wykeham McNeill, POJ rep Peter John Thwaites, Guardsman Group Chairman Kenneth Benjamin and others Andrew Holness the Jamaican Prime Minister had this to say.
“The need for partnership between all levels of the security system, including private security guards, Government, civil society and the private sector, must work together to contribute to economic growth and the creation of a secure society through collaboration and coöperation.”
“In addition to their role in job creation for over 23,000 Jamaicans, the private security industry is an essential component of the national security framework providing value; including protection of access control points, employees, clients, communities, homes, and corporate assets; and indeed as protectors of national industries.”
Look for major changes to the National Security landscape, and again it may not be beneficial to the JCF or the Country in the long run.
We will come back to this point.
Attending the conference on behalf of the Police Department was Deputy Commissioner of Police Clifford Blake. Addressing the conference, Blake said.
“Jamaica is awash with guns.”
Stronger sentences are needed to fight the demand for and use of the weapon in committing various crimes, former Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, who proposed that there should be a mandatory minimum sentence for gun offenses, I support that idea.” “I remember him saying that there should be a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.
For the record, this writer has been calling for mandatory minimum sentences for particular categories of violent crimes before Ellington had his come to Jesus Moment.
Blake went on to cite the high attrition rate, lack of technology, and corruption as issues affecting the Police’s ability to do an effective job.
An issue I have been harping on for years.
The country spends much money on training a police officer, but as soon as they are trained, they are looking for a way out.
This is not happening in a vacuum, almost 600 people do not walk away from their jobs in one agency each year without something being radically wrong.
When we throw teachers, nurses and other professionals into the mix, our country is experiencing a serious brain drain, but in a weird way, it is actually paying its citizens to leave by virtue of the lack of returns on its investments.
Blake spoke to the fact that other countries are luring away Jamaican cops using better pay and working conditions, an issue I have written about for years. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/senior-cop-says-ja-awash-with-guns_98641?profile=1606
RED FLAG..
While the Deputy Commissioner of Police was listing the ills plaguing the Police Department, the Prime Minister was in total disregard mode, listing what he believes are better strategies for dealing with crime.
Shouldn’t the Prime Minister be attentively listening to the DCP?
Does the Prime Minister understand that for this crime monster to be corralled he needs to pay attention to what the experts say?
Or as a little birdie told me recently there are moves afoot to remove some policing functions to private security companies.
How this will enhance the respect and respectability of the duly constituted Police Department is yet to be discussed.
As Bruce Golding and his cronies cobbled together the INDECOM Act with the PNP’s blessings and gave it to Jamaica with debilitating consequences, so too will giving private security companies policing powers and duties create conflicts and confusion and further deplete and erode the rule of law on the Island.
Before the Bruce Golding Government cobbled together the INDECOM law at the behest of special interest, I warned it would have dangerous consequences, not just for ordinary civilians but for the police safety and security as well.
Holness’ statement quote” “The need for partnership between all levels of the security system, including private security guard companies,” is an ominous statement of intent which seems to indicate that Andrew Holness intends to go down the same Rabbit-hole Golding took the nation with INDECOM.
Again failing to give due respect and regard to the opinion of the people who actually know what they are talking about.
Enough mistakes have been made following after ideas from people who have no business having a say in national security matters.
Any emphasis or resources available must be spent on upgrading the JCF with a view to making it a professional twenty-first century Police force.
Any resource diverted to private entities under the guise of helping the fight against crime must be seen as yet another attempt to render the Jamaica Constabulary further an even more impotent paper tiger than it already is.
Reports On The Caribbean Not Good
Even as tourism continue to show marked improvements in the Caribbean and particularly in Jamaica , it is still a challenge for small nations like CARICOM member states to truly pull themselves from the shackles of poverty and propel themselves to first world status.
Two recent reports which had to do with the region has been less than complimentary , and could have far reaching consequences not just for CARICOM but for individual member states like Jamaica.
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According to a new study published by property insurance group FM Global.FM Global Resilience Index, which equally weighs composite measure of three core resilience factors: economic, risk quality and the supply chain — including cyber attacks, natural hazards and supply chain failure — ranked Jamaica at 117 of 130 countries.
The index is based on data provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Economic Forum and the World Bank.
The country, which scored 19 marks by FM Global standards, had an overall economic rank of 124 of the list of countries; consisting of scores of six for productivity, 65.4 for political risk, 19.3 for oil intensity, and 65.6 for urbanization rate.
The scores resulted in Jamaica being ranked the second most risky country to invest in the Caribbean, after Haiti which was at the lowest position overall on the list of 130 countries.
Jamaica was ranked just below the African republics of Guinea at 116 and Cameroon at 115, and one position ahead of Iran — ranked at 118 of the 130 countries. (Jamaicaobserver.com).
Additionally , in another report ..
The 15-nation Caribbean community is angry at the United States for labeling virtually all members of the regional trade bloc as money laundering jurisdictions and plans to mount a stiff lobbying effort in Washington, its leader said Friday.CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque said the United States’s listing 14 member states in its 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report could have devastating effects on the region.
Most of the countries have economies heavily dependent on tourism and financial services such as offshore banking and economic citizenships. “I think these unilateral black-listings are not helping anything,” he said, adding that “there ought to be some discussion and transparency on how these lists are arrived at.”
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The United States is quite aware of the consequences it’s characterizations have on small dependent states .
As such it behoove the United States to exercise caution and due care in it’s characterizations.
Even as this writer endorses some of the initiates embarked on by the United States, (eg) seriously taking on Lotto scammers in Jamaica, and requesting the extradition of Transnational criminals who seemingly are too big to be prosecuted in Jamaica, we must insist on fairness .
Small states like Jamaica are totally dependent on the International Monetary Fund for their survival. They hardly have the capacity to be International money laundering states to any degree that they would not be readily exposed.
Negatively labeling them money laundering states does have serious and debilitating consequences on their abilities to extricate themselves from the shackles of lender agencies like the IMF and become solvent states.
Though it is incumbent on each state to ensure that the rule of law is adhered to , many states do not have the resources to combat the scourge of drug dealing and other crimes which produces big bucks, and the ensuing money laundering schemes which result.
The United States with all it resources still struggle to deal with the emerging challenges posed by Drugs , cyber crimes and other transnational threats.
Consequently the United States should stand ready to partner with Caribbean states to counter the scourge of crime .
A crime free Caribbean Community is in America’s National Security Interest.
In this case slapping a label of this sort on CARICOM does no one any good.
Heavily Armed Mercenaries Threaten Law Enforcement On Maxfield Ave:
One of the tools used to erode the rule of law in Jamaica is demagoguery.
The Media, Criminal Rights activists, and others have used this tool rather effectively to completely turn the population against law enforcement over the last 30 years.
The nation’s teeth is now on edge from sucking that sour fruit.
Part of the demagogic approach has been to ridicule the sequence of events given by Police in shooting incidents. They do so by casting doubt and creating the impression the events as outlined were concocted by officers, solely to escape accountability.
From time to time police confront armed criminals resulting in someone being shot, and no weapons are recovered.
That scenario has been a gift to the enemies of the rule of law who exploit these incidents to the fullest.
As a result, I wrote the following article below outlining some of the scenarios in which these events can and do occur.
As a consequence of this second guessing an entirely new career genre has emerged against law enforcement, all supposedly in support of human rights, but which are instead cesspools of support and comfort to the Island’s killers and rapists.
As a former police officer in that ingrate incubator, I have tried to shed some light on these issues with a view to bringing some truth and perspective to counter the lies and deceptions.
My attempts should not be construed to mean that there aren’t exceptions to the rule.
They are certainly not intended to suggest that there are no crooked cops who step outside the boundaries of the law and shame their chosen profession.
Truth be told when I served I barely tolerated many of the cops with whom I worked, (that sentiment may have been mutual) and many years after I left, I am shocked at what I hear from some past and serving members.
But that is true of any chosen profession, it has nothing to do with the profession, it is totally about the people who are in those disciplines.
I want to showcase two incidents which happened on Tuesday which should add some perspective to my contention.
Constable Akeem McLean was shot and injured in the vicinity of Regent Street and Golden Heights, Denham Town.
Incident #1
The Police said McLean was a part of a team responding to reports of explosions in the Race Course area about 2:10 am. Upon reaching the Metcalf Remand Centre, the officers noticed men carrying out suspicious activities but when they alighted from their vehicles to investigate, they were shot at. The gunfire was returned, and the men fled.
Anderson said McLean who was wearing a ballistic vest, was shot during the exchange. “The vest actually cushioned the impact of the bullet, but the fragments from the bullet actually inflicted the wound to his neck.”
So much for the lying demagogic village lawyers who have an opinion on everything.
This police constable was almost killed, no weapon was recovered and as far as we know none of the assailants may have been injured.
Now if we flip the script a little and these officers had come out of their vehicle guns blazing, chances are Constable McLean would not have been shot and almost killed, a mere week after Constable Hanson was slaughtered on Constant Spring Road.
So let us imagine things a little bit further, what if one of the scum were hit and the others had fled leaving no weapons behind?
We all know what would have transpired!
Terrence Williams, the chief lying demagogue, would have called a press conference to shed crocodile tears about his concern for the shooting of these malignant tumors.
There would have been much hoopla in the media and on social media about how the police are deranged lunatics.
But once it was the police who found themselves on the business end of the gun it is crickets.…..Total silence.…
Incident#2
In another incident on Tuesday, two men were fatally shot by the police in a section of Arnett Gardens called Zimbabwe. Two guns — a rifle and a handgun — were seized following that shooting, police said.
The two men remained unidentified up to yesterday.
According to the police, a team was on patrol in the vicinity of Paradise Grove when the officers were greeted with gunfire. The lawmen returned fire, and the men were shot.
The Police said it was the third attack on members of the police force in that area of the city in the past two weeks.
These two dirtbags met their just due but just imagine if the police were shot at, returned fire, and their cronies had managed to scoop up those two weapons?
Yes, Terrence Williams and the bunch of leeches who cannot cut it in the real world on their own without taxpayers largess would have had a field day with this.
In summation let me say this, there is much that has been done over the decades to lead us to this point in Jamaica.
These actions have had a fertilizing effect on crime, yet none has empowered criminals more than the work of Jamaicans for Justice, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Families against State Terrorism and others leading to the creation of INDECOM.
These attacks on our police officers were even subtly called for by the former head of the Government’s own public defender’s office.
Former head Earl Witter said that for police accounts of dead gunmen to be credible there would have to be more dead cops.
That shocking statement came from a tax payer funded bureaucrat.
In the meantime, heavily armed gunmen are threatening to kill members of the JDF and JCF if they are seen in the lower sections of Maxfield Avenue.
In any other nation in which these kinds of threats are made the Government would have sent in the best troops they have and bulldozed the entire thing if necessary to root out this threat to the Nation.
In Jamaica, it is business as usual.
We also hear that key duties are on track to be removed from the Police and placed into the hands of private security companies.
These events will invariably erode further what little effectiveness the police has, creating, even more, lawlessness in the country.
I warn this Administration not to use any public resource to pay any security company to do any duties which should fall under the nation’s police department.
Much damage has been done to our country as a result of INDECOM it behoove the Government to garner whatever resources it can toward the modernizing the legitimate Police Agency of the country/
Unless of course, the end game is to destroy the JCF as part of a larger plan totally.
Killings Now Like A Circular Firing Squad: No One Is Safe…
The violence in Jamaica should give pause to every well-meaning person with any connection to our country.
However one of the tragedies coming out of this wanton bloodshed is the fact that it can no longer be characterized as just a high crime rate.
IT IS A WAR…
At the risk of being labeled alarmist, I respectfully point to the fact that at present rate we can no longer argue this is just crime.
Based on the raw number of dead bodies our country is in an undeclared state of civil war.
Even more significant to the future of the country is the killing of children, in what some would argue is collateral damage.
Now we all know that as a matter, of course, wars do produce innocent dead, (collateral damage).
What we should be concerned about however is the killing of the nation’s children and the trauma which is being unleashed on countless others as a consequence.
As a result of the killings and the failings within the criminal justice system the violence has now taken on a circular direction,( i.e.,) even when a killer is held accountable by the system, the penalty is so inadequate that families and friends of the victims feel they must take matters into their own hands.
Not to mention that in most cases surviving members of a family knows who their loved one’s killers are.
For the most part the vast majority of the nation’s murderers never even get arrested much less tried and convicted for their crimes.
Of the seven (7%) who do get convicted many are overturned on appeal, and as you will see from the following story, even when they are not overturned on appeal, they are turned loose back onto the streets in a few years even when convicted of capital murder.
According to local Media:
The shooting death of a 16-year-old Muschett High School student and her uncle in Cheesefield, St Catherine, early Sunday morning has left her family and school community severely devastated.The deceased have been identified as 35-year-old Lerude Bartley of Fourth Street, Linstead, St Catherine, and his niece, Octavia Leslie of Deeside, Trelawny.
Bartley is said to have been released from prison last year after serving a 15-year sentence for murder.
According to family members, Octavia, who was fondly called Tavia, her four siblings, and their parents, went to Linstead early Saturday morning to attend her aunt’s funeral which was scheduled for the following day.
After attending the wake throughout Saturday night, during the wee hours of Sunday morning, Octavia accompanied her uncle, who she was meeting for the second time, to the bordering Cheesefield community where he walked home an elderly woman.
But tragedy struck while they were using a shortcut on their way back. They were both shot in the head by unknown assailants. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/observer-west-front-page/double-grief-family-school-community-mourn-killing-of-16-y-o-student_98408?profile=1606
On the face of it, every Jamaican should be completely alarmed at the prospect that simply walking in a rural community can get one murdered execution style.
That fact is particularly chilling for someone like me who hails from another rural St Catherine community and knows the community of Cheesfield quite well.
It is unnerving to imagine that even in the most remote communities guns are a staple for anyone who wants them.
I am not naïve to think that there is not some deeper back story here, what is concerning to me is the idea that death can come so easily even in the most remote community.
Could this double murder be a hit because the deceased Bartley himself had killed and had spent time in prison for his crimes?
If I was investigating these homicides, you bet I would be looking at that angle for sure.
Yet if the criminal justice system had applied the appropriate penalty to Bartley for the crime of murder for which he was convicted he would be alive today.
And so would his niece…
Make no mistake about it, I shed no tear for anyone who has killed another human being except in self-defense or in defense of another.
So there are no tears here for Mister Lerude Bartley.
I know I should forgive, yea, yea, it is up to the Lord God to forgive him for killing another person.
The Criminal justice system failed everyone, including Lerude Bartley but more so it failed Octavia Leslie and by extension all the students of Muschett High School.
This case is a classic example of what I have been talking about for years, these are vivid examples of the not so obvious consequences of not keeping criminals in prison.
We are looking at the metastasizing of the violence, something I have been speaking to for some time now.
It’s like a circular firing squad.
In a circular firing squad, no one is safe.
Had the courts administered the appropriate sentence to Lerude Bartley he would still be in jail and Tavia as she was affectionately called, would still be alive.
She would have sung at her relative’s funeral.
Now someone will be singing at her’s even before she had a chance to live.
This is way too sad.….
The White House May Have Permitted A Security Breach When It Let The Russian Government Take Photographs
Former American intelligence officials are criticizing TASS’s ability to enter the White House as a potentially major security breach, according to a report by The Washington Post. Surveillance equipment like listening devices can be concealed in electronic equipment like cameras, according to these experts, and it was irresponsible at best for the White House to allow a foreign government with a history of spying like Russia to enter a sensitive government building with them.
While a senior administration official has defended the decision to allow the photographer in, claiming that he “had to go through the same screening as a member of the U.S. press going through the main gate to the [White House] briefing room,” intelligence experts say that sophisticated surveillance equipment could have passed through such a screening undetected. Read more here: http://www.salon.com/2017/05/11/the-white-house-may-have-permitted-a-security-breach-when-it-let-the-russian-government-take-photographs/
Thank You Minister Montague, Your Statement Re Budhoo Reflects Personal Growth..
On the sudden passing of Assistant Commissioner of Police Winchroy Budhoo ‚National Security Minister Robert Montague expressed condolence on behalf of the Government and his ministry to Assistant Commissioner Budhoo’s family, colleagues, and friends.
Said Minister Montague…
“My thoughts and prayers are with them during this very difficult time,” the minister said.
“The Ministry of National Security wants to once again underscore the important role that our police play in our country.” “As Jamaicans we must not forget that the freedom and the sense of security we enjoy are sometimes achieved through our law enforcement officers making enormous sacrifices – often without much regard for self.
“We wish to assure ACP Budhoo’s immediate family of our support as they go through this difficult period of grief and mourning. We also ask that you take heart in knowing that he lived well in service to this nation.”
“On behalf of the entire law enforcement community the ministry thanks him for his service to the nation. We will work closely with the family in the days ahead to honor his memory and maintain his legacy.”
This medium has been critical at times of this Minister when we feel it is warranted.
At the same time we also want to be fair in how we critique the Minister as we always try to be when we critique everyone else.
The Minister’s statement is one of the best I have personally seen anywhere issued by a politician at the passing of a police officer .
Though ACP Budhoo did not die violently thankfully , the Minister’s response has been thoughtful, reasoned yet inclusive of the contribution police officers make to society.
Thank you Minister Montague,
Comey Fired Because He ‘Could Bring Down A President’
The paper of record publishes a scathing editorial over the FBI director’s dismissal.
The New York Times’ editorial board blasted President Donald Trump for firing James Comey on Tuesday, accusing the president of dismissing the FBI director for having information with “potentially ruinous consequences.”
In an editorial published Tuesday evening, the board said the need for a special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference with the 2016 election and the Trump administration’s ties to the Kremlin “is plainer than ever.”
The board wrote:
Mr. Comey was fired because he was leading an active investigation that could bring down a president. Though compromised by his own poor judgment, Mr. Comey’s agency has been pursuing ties between the Russian government and Mr. Trump and his associates, with potentially ruinous consequences for the administration.
The Times added that this is “a tense and uncertain time in the nation’s history,” and it drew comparisons between Trump and President Richard Nixon’s infamous 1973 Saturday Night Massacre. Though Nixon’s presidential library would like to remind everyone that not even the 36th president fired his FBI director.
In addition to the editorial that will run in the paper Wednesday, the Times will publish the dismissal letter Trump sent Comey on its front page.
PM TO MAKE A STATEMENT ON HIGHWAY LAND ROW
Amid growing public outrage over the non-valuation of 1200 acres of land given to the Chinese developers of the North-South link of Highway 2000, Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, is to make a statement ‘as early as tomorrow’.
This, after Contractor General, Dirk Harrison, says he’ll be intensifying his probe into the multi-billion dollar North-South Highway contract between the government and China Harbour Engineering Company, (CHEC).
Public concerns have been mounting following a revelation by the National Road Operating and Constructing Company, NROCC, in Parliament last week that the 1200 acres of state lands, including prime real estate at Mammee Bay and Caymanas, were not valuated.
In 2012, then Transport and Works Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, signed a 50-year concession agreement with CHEC for the construction of the highway.
At the time, he talked up the project to Parliament and proceeded, despite concerns raised by then Contractor General, Greg Christie.
The 1200 acres of land represents the government’s investment in lieu of cash. But without a valuation, it’s uncertain if the government got value for money on the deal.
Speaking with Nationwide News today, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth, Dr. Horace Chang, says the Urban Development Corporation, UDC, has the valuations for the land given to the Chinese developers.
He says Prime Minister Holness will make a statement on the matter.
In the meantime, Dr. Chang is seeking to allay concerns about the viability of the East-West section of the Highway.
NROCC’s Managing Director, Ivan Anderson, revealed at last week’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee, (PAAC) that it would take at least another 20 years before the North-South Highway would make a profit.
Mr. Anderson told the PAAC that CHEC is currently spending approximately USD$30-million in debt servicing per annum on the highway.
But he says it’s generating revenues of only USD$18-million per year, meaning it’s spending almost twice as much as it’s earning on it.
Dr. Chang, while admitting some sections of the highway will not immediately turn a profit, says he expects the development to be profitable over time.
The North-South Highway runs from Caymanas in St Catherine to Mammee Bay in St Ann. It’s significantly cut travel time.
Meanwhile, former Contractor General, Greg Christie, says the admission that the US-multi-million dollar North-South Highway deal is not commercially viable is an example of what happens when an anti-corruption agency is blocked from ensuring transparency.
The admission that the project is not commercially viable was reportedly made in 2012 to the Office of the Contractor General, OCG, by Managing Director of NROCC, Ivan Anderson.
Mr. Christie made his comment on Twitter today.
Former Transport and Works Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, is quoted in the online edition of the Gleaner today as saying that prior to the deal being inked in 2012 it was the job of the Ministry of Finance to do the valuation of lands being provided to Chinese developers.
In 2012, Dr. Peter Phillips was Finance Minister. He’s now President of the Opposition People’s National Party.
Dr. Davies is further quoted as saying there was some valuation but he does not know if all the different parcels of the land were valued.
In 2012, Davies signed off on the deal in his capacity as Transport and Works Minister.
Mr. Christie and Dr. Davies clashed in 2012 when Davies and the former Simpson Miller administration took the OCG to court.
The court action had the effect of blocking the OCG from monitoring the pre-contractual phase of the project.
However, in February 2013, the Supreme Court threw out the motion that was filed by Dr. Davies and the then government.
They were seeking leave to challenge the powers of the Contractor General before the Judicial Review Court.
The clash between Mr. Christie and Dr. Davies stemmed from the Minister’s decision to establish an Oversight Panel to oversee three major government projects.
The Contractor General had accused the government of trying to bypass his office and threatened to take legal action against members of the three-man panel if they refused to supply him with reports on its activities.
http://nationwideradiojm.com/pm-to-make-a-statement-on-highway-land-row/
A King Never Gets Due Honor In His Own Country..
In an online poll conducted by the Jamaica Observer which included 1,175 respondents 50.2 per cent said that they were not confident in new Commissioner of Police, George Quallo, 49.8 per cent said that they were confident in his ability to successfully fight crime.
I don’t think this poll result require a PhD in psychology to figure out the thought processes which led to the outcome of this poll.
According to some of the comments in the Observer, several people expressed some of the same sentiments which I believe are represented in the poll results.
Said One person.:
“What did you expect.specially as its the same method of selecting a commish from the ranks of the JCF which has not worked as the island suffers under the strain of criminal/terrorists with no answers.and as the famous once said“keep doing the same thing over and over and over again.and expect a different result.thats the definition of madness”..
What Country in the world bring in foreigners to head their security apparatus?
None, Zero, Nada !!!!
But the poster’s comment was a synopsis of a larger mindset which brought Mark Shields and others from Britain to Jamaica to tell Jamaican Police how to Police Jamaica.
Oh sure ‚there is nothing wrong with using foreign expertise, but placing them in critical positions of power over career natives is ridiculous and laughable .
Shields got a business and a bride from the deal, he didn’t even bother going back, why should he he is a god there.
Journalists run to him for his opinion on everything related to crime, to hell with the Jamaicans who came up through the ranks.
Never mind that when given a chance to sit in a classroom with local cops these guys are left choking on our dust.
Secondly Jamaican cops who leave the JCF and continue in law enforcement careers in other countries rapidly become standouts.
If the people are still shackled with the residual chains of slavery and mass indoctrination how can they be expected to support even the best our country has to offer?
Is it any wonder that over 600 people simply walk away from the JCF each year?
Is there any wonder that countries like Canada and the US are able to lure our nurses and other professionals away?”
No it’s not just about better pay, many Jamaicans do not want to live in any other country but our own .
If they are treated right and appreciated, they are quite willing to stay and build Jamaica , they simply need leaders who know how to motivate and lead.
Why would we expect a different result from this poll however?
Jamaicans are reluctant to do anything to remove the murderers from their communities, choosing instead to point to the sins of the police.
Of course they also have faith in the low life politicians who give the youths guns to kill their neighbors from across the way.
They bow to the idiots who spend their time banging on desks and hurling insults at each other in Gordon House,instead of updating the laws so that they can have the requisite deterrent effect.
Instead of getting behind law enforcement to create the environment in which prosperity can really begin to become a real possibility and not a jingle, they protect the criminals within their constituencies, making law enforcement and the rule of law an alien to be feared and hated.
No, why would a people who worship these mental midgets respect the life of accomplishment and dedication to service that a commissioner George Quallo bring to the table.
He is not a foreigner , we all know how they worship the foreign goods at the expense of safe Jamaican foods .
We know how they love all things foreign, why would they not want a foreigner to solve their problems?
Pull Up The Draw-bridge:not.…
ISOLATIONISM :XENOPHOBIA: PULL UP THE DRAW-BRIDGE: BUILD A WALL:KEEP OUT THOSE PEOPLE…naah
England voted to remove itself from the European Union it’s leaders now struggle to figure out how to extricate themselves fully from the EU with minimal damage.
At the same time Scotland doesn’t even know whether it wants to stay wedded to Great Britain.
France wants England to the leave the EU immediately, a process France knows will take upward of two years and beyond to complete according to qualified estimates.
France which flirted with electing a far right Xenophobe to it’s presidency, has come to it’s senses and elected Emmanuel Macron a 39 year old.
Macron’s elevation elicited sighs of relief across western Europe.
What was seen as a sharp rise in right wing nationalism in Europe is now blunted as a result of the French vote.
The election of Macron meant that the Donald Trump endorsed “Marine” Le Pen’s strident xenophobia has been roundly rejected in France.
Also high on the agenda was alleged Russian interference in European elections as have been reported to have occurred in the last US Presidential elections.
Concerned about their safety as they should, French voters were able to find a path forward from the real concerns they have about Terrorists entering their country to do them harm and the need to have an open society .
Instead of choosing fear , demagoguery and derision they chose hope , open interaction and progress.
For the people of the World’s sixth largest economy it was a decisive vote to shun vile Racism and Xenophobia under the thinly veiled veneer of safety and security.
Every country reserve the right to secure it’s border, in fact it is their absolute duty, but security does not mean demonizing others who are in need of a refuge.
To make it seem like an entire nation of people are potential terrorists and murderers is to demonstrate a callousness which transcend empathy and caring.
It is demagogic, ignorant and self-serving.
French voters stood up with this vote and said “no”.
Instead of bowing to hatred fear and isolationism they voted for inclusion , empathy and progress.
They understand that there is no demonstrable path where Isolationism , fear, and mean-spirited rhetoric will win the day over inclusion.
Viva la France.…
Fired Texas Officer Who Killed Jordan Edwards Is Charged With Murder
The former Balch Springs officer fired into a car full of teenagers.
The former police officer who fatally shot Jordan Edwards, an unarmed 15-year-old African-American, in Balch Springs, Texas, is now facing murder charges, according to local news reports.
A judge issued an arrest warrant for Roy Oliver, 37, on Friday afternoon, Dallas station WFAA-TV reported. Oliver turned himself in hours later.
The Balch Springs Police Department fired Oliver days after he used his rifle to shoot into a car full of teenagers as it left a party Saturday night. Edwards, a freshman at Mesquite High School who was in the car, was killed by a single gunshot to the head.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/balch-springs-officer-murder-charge_us_590cfa77e4b0104c734f2722?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
What You Are Doing Wrong In Pictures JCF !!!
These could have been two dead cops.
Technically this officer may not have done anything wrong, but he should have ordered the driver off the motorcycle , once he refuses then the protocols which govern arrests apply.
Will be updated as is appropriate.
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