Gun Violence Running Amok

The Bahama Journal Editorial
Nassau, Bahamas


In yet another instance of America’s morbid fascination with the gun and with the violence implicit in this ruthlessly efficient weapon, people around the world now look in on some of what can and does happen when an armed man in Tucson, Arizona enters a scene where he has the part of maiming and killing a number of innocent men, women and a girl-child.

We deplore this violence and today we pray not only for those who have been wounded; but also for the sweet repose of the dead.

We also pray that those who mourn might yet find comfort as they remember their dead neighbor, family member or friend.

While this is clearly all we can do in the circumstances, we also note the extent to which gun-violence now pervades the consciousness of so very many of our people.

We deplore this debauch of so very many of our criminalized men, women and increasingly our youth.

And so, even as we look inwards, we look north and see how hard men with guns can and do manage to twist human history in their own twisted direction.

And so we note how [this time around]; the man with the Glock in Tucson, Arizona is 22 year-old 22 year old Jared Loughner.

This man is thought to be the gun-man responsible for the carnage that has left behind a trail of blood, horror and the nauseatingly nasty stench of violence perpetrated upon the innocent.

His victims include men, women and a nine-year old child.

In this grisly list we find included, U.S. Congress Representative, Gabrielle Giffords [wounded]; U.S. District Court Judge John Roll and five others, including a 9 year old girl, Christina Taylor Green, murdered and 12 others injured in the mayhem.

For better or worse – and most often for worse – anger and violence finds themselves woven into the very fabric of life in the United States of America.

On occasion, this brew is expressed rhetorically; but on other fateful moments, the violence expressed is to the point as gun-shot finds its mark and people are left either maimed or dead.

Today we note that bloody instance that occurred this Saturday past in Tucson, Arizona when a U.S. State Representative was shot at point-blank range and where and when some others also bit the dust.

As Carl Hulse and Kate Zernike note, “... The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others at a neighborhood meeting in Arizona on Saturday set off what is likely to be a wrenching debate over anger and violence in American politics.”

They also argue that, “… Not since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 has an event generated as much attention as to whether extremism, antigovernment sentiment and even simple political passion at both ends of the ideological spectrum have created a climate promoting violence…”

Indubitably, today this is precisely the case.

For our part, we are absolutely convinced that it is America’s morbid fascination with violence and the gun that today under girds that great nation’s epidemic of gun violence.

So, the prognosis is bleak for America and for the recurrence of nightmares such as this one that involves Gifford and her fellow victims.

This is why today we commiserate with those who mourn the death of loved ones brought down by murderous gun fire, whether they reside here in the Bahamas, our region or whether they live in places like Tucson, Arizona, or Fort Hood, Texas where thirteen people – most of them soldiers- were laid low by bloody gunfire.

In this regard, it is today as clear as a blue-sunny day that gun violence in our country is but yet again a contorted expression of the extent to which some Bahamians ape, mimic and model behavior imported from the United States of America.

These idiots do what they have to do with weapons smuggled into the Bahamas from the United States and other countries.

This is all so very sad.

Indeed, it is also so very tragic.

Put simply – and to the point- the great United States is being ravaged and devastated by gun-violence run amok.

Some of these are of course used for hunting.

But true too is the fact that, most of the guns that are purchased will be used to intimidate, maim or kill human beings.

But truth is that most other guns that Americans say that they have a right to bear are obviously intended for their very best uses, namely to maim and kill any and all, inclusive of man, woman or child.

Indeed, when all is said and all is done – the question remains as to how much longer it will take the American people to come to their senses and realize that it is their own morbid fascination with Death that now fuels the kind of rage, violence and mayhem that found expression this Saturday past in Tucson, Arizona.

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

The cholera epidemic in Haiti

By Jean Herve Charles



I was travelling at the beginning of the month of October, from Port au Prince to Cape Haitian by public transportation when one of the travelers exchanged a phone call giving the information in the bus that eleven persons had died from food poisoning from a restaurant in Mirebalais, a bustling town not too far from the Dominican border. I would learn later it was not a case of food poisoning but the beginning of a cholera epidemic with the epicenter located near the Nepalese UN contingent stationed in that city.

Mirebalais is close to the Artibonite River, the largest and the longest Haitian river. Investigative research initiated by the French Health Ministry and conducted by a French specialist, Professor Renaux Piarroux, along with the Dean of the School of Public Health at Harvard University, has concluded that massive dumping of human waste from the UN base had compromised the quality of the water for regular use.

Notable institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, have hidden the origin of the disease with the lingo that ‘the source of the virus could not be determined with certainty”. The Swedish Ambassador Claes Hammar broke ranks with the wall of silence against Haiti that its own government has contributed to erect.

I have the information from reliable sources from the United States that the strain of cholera in Haiti is from the Nepal UN contingent in Haiti. It is up to the United Nations to reveal the whole truth about the genesis of the cholera.

The cholera germ could not find a hotter bed than Haiti to germinate with celerity and intensity. Public health as an institution and in practice does not exist in the entire country.

To facilitate the vein of corruption, the government has emasculated the power and the means of each local entity to clean its streets and the management of its waste, by creating an institution, the CNE, which is outside the purview of the legislative branch and of public scrutiny.

The CNE with massive equipment bought with the Caribe fund is using this material and its human resource with the prism of political priority not with the goal of providing the citizens of Haiti with a clean environment.

To add insult to injury the man in charge of that institution, Jude Celestin, is the dauphin groomed by the president of Haiti to become the next head of state of the Republic.

According to John Snow (1813- 1858), the father of the etymology of the disease, the cholera epidemic is, above all, a disease of contaminated water. You will find no city in Haiti, including the capital, equipped with a system for distributing potable drinking water. (The town of Petit Goave has just received a grant from Red Cross France to provide the city with drinking water.)

Close associates of the government are in the business of selling drinking water; as such the government should stay out of that business. DINEPA the new institution funded by the Spanish government to manage the water system in the country, does not have a policy of universal distribution of potable clean water.

The cholera disease has already caused the death of some 3,481 people with 80,000 in hospitalization. It is expected, according to the Pan American Health Organization to reach an effective 1 million people. The Cuban doctors, as well as Doctors Without Borders, have been in the frontline of the epidemic containment.

The term cholera, derived from the Greek word khole, is caused by a bacillus named vibrio cholera. It has its origin in the Indian continent near the squalor of the Ganges Delta. It spread from there through the silk trade to Russia in 1817, killing one million people. It went next to Germany, 1831, London and Paris in 1849 and returned to Russia in 1852. It is a dangerous infection that starts with a profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting of “a rice water with a fishy odor”. It can kill a person within hours, with circulatory collapse leading to a renal failure and certain death.

While the cholera disease is extremely dangerous, it can be treated easily with vaccine (85% effective), oral serum and, in the larger context, universal water purification, clean sewage and proper waste management system.

Haiti is postponing this radical operation to engage in the propaganda of cleaning hands and bottled water, while refuse and uncollected garbage is all over.

The earthquake of January 12, 2010, was an occasion for Haiti to rebuild itself. The cholera epidemic is another opportunity for Haiti to correct its deficient public health system. I have seen no clear signals that the Haitian government, along with the international community, is seizing the opportunity to create a new nation where cholera or any other disease or epidemic will have no quarter.

The Dominican Republic has registered already 139 cases of cholera. The epidemic respects no borders. A functioning and responsible leadership in Haiti is the best handicap against this modern scourge that enjoys squalor to spread its wings!

January 8, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

The National Congress of Trade Unions to commemorate the historic 1958 general strike which brought Nassau to its knees...

Trade Unions Congress to mark 1958 general strike
tribune242
Nassau, The Bahamas


AT A TIME of high tension between the government and labour unions over the sale of BTC, the National Congress of Trade Unions has decided to commemorate the historic general strike which brought Nassau to its knees for several weeks in 1958.

NCTU general secretary Robert Farquharson announced that a rally and voter registration march will be held on Monday beginning at 7pm at RM Bailey Park.

The march will begin at the BCPOU headquarters on Farrington Road at noon.

Mr Farquharson asked all members and affiliates to take their lunch hour at that time, make the five-minute walk to the Parliamentary Registration Department and register to vote. He noted that persons will need to have their passport and national insurance card with them in order to register.

The general strike of 1958, in which thousands of workers took part, resulted in the Trade Union and Industrial Conciliation Act and the creation of the Labour Department.

It is also credited with influencing Allan Lennox Boyd, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to order the first constitutional steps toward Majority Rule for the Bahamas.

While the NCTU's statement made no mention of the government's current plan to sell BTC to Cable and Wireless, several union leaders have threatened to protest the deal by orchestrating a strike rivaling the 1958 upheaval.

This week, State Finance Minister Zhivargo Laing hit back at these union bosses, saying their threats display their "arrogance."

Mr Laing said: "They hold fast to this position to the extent of a threat of national strike, to the extent of going down to Bay Street. They say, 'I know better than the whole country, I know better than the prime minister and the government, we know what is good and right'."

He also noted that the unions are decrying the deal but declined to meet with David Shaw, CEO of the purchaser Cable and Wireless, for discussions late last year.

As for BTC's privatisation, Mr Laing reasoned that the sale is crucial in order for BTC to compete in a completely open telecommunications sector.

"In terms of BTC, privatisation of telecommunications is fundamental to pushing us toward, realising our potential. This is what we have to get, the big gain to the Bahamian people is in a liberal telecommunications sector. Liberal meaning no law of the Bahamas bars a Bahamian from providing a telecommunications service to the Bahamian population," said Mr Laing.

"When we liberalise it, you and others get to compete to serve the Bahamian public. That competition makes you better off, that liberalising also provides the economy with more products and services at levels that allows the enterprises in it to compete better and make the economy of the Bahamas more competitive."

BTC's markets will become fully liberalised after the expiration of its cellular monopoly three years from the date of privatisation.

According to Mr Laing, if the industry were to be completely liberalised today, BTC's assets would plummet.

"We have an asset called BTC, if I liberalise the sector today that asset will be decimated in BTC's current situation. There is no question about that, even BTC's own internal research tells them - forget privatisation, in a liberalised environment you will have to instantly reduce your staffing by the order of 25 to 30 per cent in order to be able to compete. So that is why privatisation has to be pursued before (liberalisation)," he said.

January 08, 2011

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Caricom or Cari-gone?

By Sir Ronald Sanders


The New Year started with a great deal of frustration being publicly expressed over the Caribbean regional integration project which, this year, will have been in construction for forty-three years. Other integration efforts, such as the European Union (EU), which began after the Caribbean Community and Common market (CARICOM), have moved ahead much faster and much more effectively for the benefit of the people of their member countries.

It is understandable, therefore, that, in an editorial, one of the Caribbean oldest newspapers observed that a majority of people believe that “any official attempt to unite the region as envisaged in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is nothing but reverie and doomed to failure”. To be fair the editorial did not trumpet this observation with glee or satisfaction. It said that “as we enter the second decade of this century, we hold fast, nevertheless, to the idea of one region”.

So, on the one hand, this editorial, reflecting the views of many, still believes in the notion of a deeply integrated Caribbean – “one region”, but it expresses no faith that, after forty-three years, we will see a CSME anytime soon. The editorial identified four contemporary reasons for its lack of faith in any “official” attempt to unite the region.

These reasons were: an unfortunate statement last year by the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister that her government would no longer be “an ATM” machine for other countries of CARICOM; an injudicious remark by the same Prime Minister that, in the provision by her government of assistance to the islands of St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines she would expect some benefit for the construction industry of Trinidad and Tobago; the more recent suggestion by Prime Minister Bruce Golding of Jamaica that his government favoured setting up its own national final Court of Appeal rather than acceding to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ); and that CARICOM heads of government are yet to establish “any executive machinery to enforce” their own policy decisions.

All of these points are valid. There are many more besides. Among them are that instead of getting on with fashioning CARICOM into an effective vehicle to help with the improvement of their people’s lives and progressing development in their countries, some governments are busily trying to cultivate relations with other larger countries far beyond the region to try to get what they can while they can. The latter strategy is, of course, unsustainable. And, as has happened in the past, the governments now flirting, on their own, with bigger countries not on their doorstep will return to the regional fold which is not only their natural home, but also their best hope.

Fortunately, the statements by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, while indicative of an attitude to CARICOM held by many in that country, were made in the early flush of government. In the past, other heads of government have made equally hurtful (and not fully informed) comments in other contexts. The truth is that Trinidad and Tobago is the principal beneficiary of trade in goods and services to CARICOM – benefits are not a one-way street. This is the message that the government in Port-of-Spain should be delivering to its people. Also, to those who say that Trinidad and Tobago does not need the CARICOM market, they should be challenged to identify the alternative markets, how quickly could they be developed if they could be developed at all, and at what cost.

With regard to the statement that Mr Golding has made about establishing Jamaica’s own national, final court of appeal instead of joining the CCJ for this purpose, it really is time that someone bells the cat on this as well. As I pointed out in my last commentary (“Time to make up your mind”), by April this year Jamaicans will head five extremely important CARICOM-wide institutions. These are positions for which the Jamaica government fought and other CARICOM countries agreed. What is the message that is being sent to the people of CARICOM by Jamaica? Is it that all is well when Jamaica holds the reins, but it isn’t well when other CARICOM nationals are involved? This cannot be so, and Mr Golding is far too intelligent a man and too well informed to hold such a position. The time has come for Jamaica’s leadership to cease pandering to the false notion of some special Jamaican capacity, and, instead, spread the true message that this region is one – and one to which Jamaica’s contribution has been highly regarded by its Caribbean brothers and sisters.

The quicker that the CARICOM Secretariat, as part of an overall reform of all its activities, is given the resources and empowered to mount a sustained, multi-media campaign throughout the region on how membership of the Caribbean Community has benefitted, and can continue to benefit, the people of each CARICOM country the better. And, every government should regard it as its responsibility and obligation to carry out its own domestic programme of education and information.

Of the four points made in the Editorial to which this commentary refers, the most crucial is its observation that “the decade closed without the establishment of any executive machinery to enforce the implementation of policy decisions by heads of government”. This is – and has been for decades – the fundamental problem with the lack of progress of CARICOM in establishing the CSME and even in carrying out a range of activities that are routine in organisations similar to CARICOM.

In his New Year’s address as Chairman of CARICOM until July 2011, the Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas, said that “the cry for the ‘quickening of the pace’ was heard” and “active consideration of new governance structures” was given by CARICOM leaders. He offered that “one of the main ideas in taking the necessary steps will be tested in this coming year with the establishment of the Permanent Committee of CARICOM Ambassadors” which, he said, “heralds a new dawn for our Community”.

Mr Thomas is right to hold out hope, but it is difficult to see how another layer of national representatives will implement policy decisions of Heads, when ministers and the Secretariat were not able to do so.

The CARICOM vehicle needs an urgent overhaul, or it really will be a case of ‘CARICOM and gone’.

January 7, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Perspectives on the CARICOM Ideal Person

By Oliver Mills



Many classical and current educators have speculated on what kind of education is necessary to produce the ideal citizen, or human being. This is necessary if we are to have persons with the desirable values, knowledge and dispositions that will make a positive contribution to our societies, and be able to solve many of the problems and challenges that beset us, and which continuously present themselves as our societies respond to the requirements of modernity.

Dr Didacus Jules, the Registrar of the Caribbean Examinations Council, has recently given a commentary in Caribbean News Now, on “Rethinking Education in the Caribbean,” in which he argues for an articulation of a philosophy of education for the Caribbean. One of the precepts he mentions that would inform this philosophy is a statement outlining the idea of the CARICOM Ideal Person, or type of person the system ought to produce. He mentions eight areas which incorporate this concept, and I would now like to comment on four of these. These are: that this person should have emotional intelligence, be democratically engaged, be culturally grounded and historically conscious, and be entrepreneurially capable. I am sure that there is an elaboration on these, although Dr Jules states the concept has not been aggressively pursued.

Emotional intelligence is important in enabling the individual to confront challenging issues in a rational, calm, and non-aggressive manner. It ensures that the person, through self-analysis knows himself or herself, knows what triggers certain behaviours, but is able, through training to govern these behaviours appropriately, so that their reaction does not harm others, or complicate the situation further. Emotional intelligence implies being capable of rational thinking, of not allowing personal prejudices to cloud our thoughts, and therefore responding in an objective, fair, and balanced way to issues and contexts, which contribute to those issues being dealt with in a mature and thoughtful way. There are no irrational outbursts, no frenzied reactions, and no getting hyper about an event. It means responding with maturity, and philosophical tranquility.

Emotional intelligence therefore results in an improved situation, clarity on the issues, and the formulation of a measured position which makes the situation qualitatively better than it previously was. It also keeps the individual centered, and in control of his or her self. Controlling the emotions intelligently therefore is a positive attribute. It prevents an issue from developing negatively, restores camaraderie, and there is always a win-win result, with no losers.

But emotional intelligence does not mean passivity. One could still express points of view passionately, in order to influence others. This is however done on an intellectual level, and in a cultured way. It also does not mean putting arguments forward, but deferring to authority. It challenges authority, and presents alternatives for consideration. Emotional intelligence also does not mean giving into the group because it is wise to do so, because of overwhelming pressure. Rather, it implies demanding to be heard, and the right to have our views aired. But in many Caribbean societies with the old boys relationships and ties, there is the risk of losing friendships because of holding views that are controversial or different from the status quo. It may compromise our professional connections, resulting in us being ostracised from important social groups. The point is to have self-assurance, and maintain our dignity in the face of unpleasant reactions to our views. Later, after careful personal reflection, our associates might well end up accepting, even adopting our viewpoints, precisely because they make sense.

The precept, therefore, that emotional intelligence should be an aspect of the CARICOM Ideal Person is important, It means a society that respects contrary views, practices open-mindedness, is assertive with respect to the issues, and possesses citizens who defend their positions, who are self-assured, and who are committed to fundamentally transforming their societies in a positive way, through the use of the power of reason, and not in any physically harming way.

The above fits into the next characteristic of the CARICOM Ideal Person, which is, being democratically engaged. The democratically engaged person seeks to be involved in the process of political, economic and social change. He or she, challenges the status quo, provides alternatives strategies for societal development, and aims to make qualitatively better, the processes that result in new, different and effective policy options and outputs.

The democratically engaged CARICOM Ideal Person is an advocate of strong democracy, maximised to the fullest. This implies the total involvement of all facets of society in matters that affect their welfare, and remaking society and the individual in new and profound ways. This means facilitating contexts in which society becomes more socially conscious, more gentle, more entrepreneurial, and sensitive.

Being democratically engaged is also about promoting responsive structures, ridding organisations of bureaucratic and cumbersome practices, and opening up new avenues for greater opportunities for the not so privileged.

At another dimension, democratic engagement means being responsible for the actions one takes, and owning up to them. It is making prudent choices after careful deliberation, respecting the views of others, and incorporating them into the frames of decision making. It treats each individually equally, does away with privilege as a standard for assessing others, and sees society as not an entity to be manipulated, but to improve the welfare and well being of all its components. Democratic engagement is therefore a strategy to transform and enhance the individual and society, so that we wish for all others what we wish for ourselves.

Being culturally grounded and historically conscious, are related to being democratically engaged. It is the culture of society and its historical heritage that are the assets that facilitate democratic engagement. This culture and history explain the reason why of things, why they exist as they are, and inform the strategies that promote greater democracy. They are also the soil in which emotional intelligence is grounded, takes root, and is operationalised, since they inform our identity, sense of purpose, and awareness of a future context.

Culture and history further are the bedrock for our authenticity, for indigenous policies and programmes, as well as guarantors of their success. Our self-assurance and sense of autonomy are integral to our history and culture, and contribute to lives lived purposely. These three elements of emotional intelligence, being democratically engaged, and being culturally grounded and historically conscious, are therefore interconnected. They positively contribute to, and can be regarded as important ingredients in the psychological formation of the CARICOM Ideal Person.

Being entrepreneurially capable is the final aspect of the CARICOM Ideal Person I will now deal with. Entrepreneurship is usually associated with innovations and risk-taking in business. The entrepreneur seeks out new and better ways of accomplishing maximum results cost effectively, and bringing new products and services on line. He or she adds new dimensions to the way business is done, exercises creativity, and induces novelty in the practice of business.

In this context, being entrepreneurially capable, as an ingredient of the CARICOM Ideal Person, suggests an individual who constantly questions the way things are done, and seeks new and different strategies for achieving enhanced results. This individual must therefore have the type of intellectual and critical skills with which to interrogate, analyse, and present transformative views and ways of operating to whatever activity he or she is engaged in.

Critical analysis and constant self-reflection therefore become the new normal in organisations, and in social practice as well. The practice is entrepreneurial because it moves away from passive acceptance to actively seeking new knowledge, and transformational ways of being and doing. A new type of individual therefore emerges with a new outlook, new tools, and different dispositions towards what is required to be done efficiently.

This results in changing structures, methods, motivations, and mind-sets, which are at the core of social entrepreneurship. With this orientation, change is a constant factor, different and proficient become the standard for doing things, and this results in greater productivity and efficiency, which are definitely needed in a greater, grander scale in the Caribbean. The CARICOM Ideal Person facilitates this.

But to what extent is this concept of the CARICOM Ideal Person valid and possible? And to what extent could it be said that the principles on which it is based actually are representative of the preferred ideal person? Does CARICOM have the credentials and moral authority to depict its ideal person? A further question is, “ideal” as opposed to what? The point is, how did this concept emerge? How were the depictions selected, and what other descriptions were they chosen against?

You cannot define an ideal into existence, and further, ideal suggests the probability of not being realised. The term therefore could be used as an excuse, when its characteristics are either not realised, or realised only partially.

Also, the fact that CARICOM sees these characteristics as representing the ideal person testifies to the fact that such an individual does not now exist in the Caribbean, and has yet to become what is desirable in a person. Further, what we have in the term is a conception based on preferences, connected to a particular set of values held by a segment of Caribbean society.

In a wider sense though, there is nothing really irrational in having preferences, or stipulating desirable qualities concerning the kind of person a society should have to function ethically and productively. There has to be some standard of judgment though, to determine how the stipulations are arrived at, and when they have been achieved.

The Caribbean in my view really needs individuals having the qualities mentioned by CARICOM, and I am sure the best Caribbean minds have given serious thought to this, as is reflected in the eight areas given. Such qualities are essential if Caribbean society is to have a sense of purpose, mission, identity, and uniqueness. Dr Jules deserves credit for again bringing these to the forefront for discussion in the region at large.

January 5, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

“…resurrection…”

Rough Cut
By Felix F. Bethel
The Bahama Journal


"Whatever your truth is, you have to stick with it." Cornelius Dupree Jr.

God is good. God is great. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Happy new year to all of you; and as I am supposed to say, I wish you and yours all of God’s blessings on you and yours.

As for me and my house, we shall continue to serve Him.

And so, and yet again, as I put myself in harness for the journey ahead, I am reminded that, I am of the dust and to the dust I must return.

But yet – and even as I tarry – I am reminded that the battle is not mine, but His – and that, in the fullness of time, I shall come face to face with Him on that great gettin’ up morning when the dead in Christ shall rise.

Here I am also convinced that, my testimony would also resonate with that of my brother – that brother of mine, I remind you - whose story was carried by the Associated Press – that story as written by Jeff Carlton.

DALLAS – A Texas man declared innocent Tuesday after 30 years in prison had at least two chances to make parole and be set free — if only he would admit he was a sex offender. But Cornelius Dupree Jr. refused to do so, doggedly maintaining his innocence in a 1979 rape and robbery, in the process serving more time for a crime he didn't commit than any other Texas inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.

Texas is surely one hell of a place.

Today it is surely something else – a place where so very many Lazarus men now walk free, thanks to people like Barry Scheck who have been able to help call them forth.

Evidently, there is really no story that can ever be told that excites me as much as a real story about a real resurrection; that is to say, real flesh and blood men who were buried deep, left to rot and stink and who have returned to the land of the free, the live and the brave.

As reported by Jeff Carlton: 1. Cornelius Dupree Jr. was 20 when he was arrested in December 1979 while walking to a party with Massingill. Authorities said they matched the description of a different rape and robbery that had occurred the previous day.

2. Police presented their pictures in a photo array to the victim. She picked out Massingill and Dupree. Her male companion, who also was robbed, did not pick out either man when showed the same photo lineup.

3. Dupree was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. According to court documents, the woman and her male companion stopped at a Dallas liquor store in November 1979 to buy cigarettes and use a payphone.

4. As they returned to their car, two men, at least one of whom was armed, forced their way into the vehicle and ordered them to drive. They also demanded money from the two victims.

5. The men eventually ordered the car to the side of the road and forced the male driver out of the car. The woman attempted to flee but was pulled back inside.

6. The perpetrators drove the woman to a nearby park, where they raped her at gunpoint. They debated killing her but eventually let her live, keeping her rabbit-fur coat and her driver's license and warning her they would kill her if she reported the assault to police.

7. The victim ran to the nearest highway and collapsed unconscious by the side of the road, where she was discovered.

Thereafter, Cornelius Dupree, Jr. was arrested; and thereafter, this brother of mine was charged with rape; and thereafter, this good brother of mine was convicted; and thereafter for all of thirty one years, this brother of mine insisted that he was innocent.

Now please believe me when I tell you that, when I woke this morning to the realization that, something had to be said and written that would fill this page of white, I thought to myself for a long while; and after nothing would come from wherever it comes, I decided to say a little prayer.

And as I said that little prayer, I began with the words –Lord help me! And as I prayed a little more, I cried out Lord help me! And as I did this for a third time, I was reminded that this is perhaps what Saint Peter said as he began to sink into the water upon which he had – just like Jesus – walked.

Lord help me!

And as I thought about it a bit more, it occurred to me that, these must have been the words of one of my brothers in Texas - Cornelius Dupree Jr. – when he was arrested some thirty one years ago; arrested and then charged with rape; charged with the rape of a young woman.

As the world now knows, this brother of mine was innocent of this heinous crime.

Notwithstanding his protestations, Dupree was sentenced to 75 years in prison in 1980 for the rape and robbery of a 26-year-old Dallas woman a year earlier.

He was released in July on mandatory supervision, and lived under house arrest until October. About a week after his release, DNA test results came back proving his innocence in the sexual assault.

And knowing that he was innocent; this brother of mine protested the same from the moment he was convicted to that recent moment when he was told that he was free to go.

As reported by the Associated Press and as written by Jeff Carlton – the word today is to the effect that: “…Looking fit and trim in a dark suit, Dupree stood through most of the short hearing, until state district Judge Don Adams told him, "You're free to go."

“One of Dupree's lawyers, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck, called it "a glorious day."

"It's a joy to be free again," Dupree said.

“This latest wait was nothing for Dupree, who was up for parole as recently as 2004. He was set to be released and thought he was going home, until he learned he first would have to attend a sex offender treatment program.

“Under Texas compensation laws for the wrongly imprisoned, Dupree is eligible for $80,000 for each year he was behind bars, plus a lifetime annuity. He could receive $2.4 million in a lump sum that is not subject to federal income tax.

“The compensation law, the nation's most generous, was passed in 2009 by the Texas Legislature after dozens of wrongly convicted men were released from prison. Texas has freed 41 wrongly convicted inmates through DNA since 2001 — more than any other state.

“Dallas County's record of DNA exonerations — Dupree is No. 21 — is unmatched nationally because the county crime lab maintains biological evidence even decades after a conviction, leaving samples available to test. In addition, Watkins, the DA, has cooperated with innocence groups in reviewing hundreds of requests by inmates for DNA testing.

“Watkins, the first black district attorney in Texas history, has also pointed to what he calls "a convict-at-all-costs mentality" that he says permeated his office before he arrived in 2007…”

And yet, God is good and God is great. Blessed be the name of the Lord; and yet, I wait for the soon-coming of that day when Innocence is no longer nailed to on either Calvary or in today’s Texas.

Texas is surely one hell of a place in the land of the free and of the brave.

January 06, 2011

The Bahama Journal

Bahamas Blog International

One year after: Taking stock of the Haitian recovery

By Jean Herve Charles


Every year at the beginning of the New Year I take time to stop, to take stock of the Haitian situation. Haiti has been going from bad to worse every year during those last ten years! It is true 2004 was also an annum miserabilis but the wave of misery fallen on the nation and the people of Haiti in 2010 was so frequent and so wide and deep that the year can be characterized as an annum miserabilissum.

At the dawn of the year, and the end of a magnificent tropical winter day filled with golden colors of the sun going to sleep on the hills surrounding Port au Prince, the land shook so violently under the capital and the adjoining cities that 300,000 people were found dead and 1.5 million have remained without a home. There was also inundation in the spring causing more damage to the land, followed by the seasonal hurricane during the summer.

As if it was not enough an imported germ of cholera from South Asia brought by one of the UN contingent into the country, has decimated some 3,000 people and sending 50,000 to hospital during the fall. The tropical winter has brought its lot of misery in the form of a political crisis when the Haitian government, supported by a sector of the international community, in particular the OAS-CARICOM team, has stolen the vote of the Haitian people thirsty of a life of peace and prosperity in one of the most beautiful place on earth.

The international media will descend en masse to Haiti on January 12, 2011 to make an assessment of the progress realized since the earthquake. They will be disappointed to find there was no progress according to the lowest standard of evaluation. Only 15 percent of the debris has been removed. The majority of the people are still living under tents, in fetid and dependent condition.

There was a massive outpouring of goodwill and financial support from the world community to Haiti. The Haitian government has exhibited a level of leadership so frail, mixed with a culture of corruption so deep, draped with complete indifference to the fate of its people that the enthusiasm of the donors and the NGOs has been reduced to naught.

The president of Haiti, Rene Preval, as well as his government led by Mr Bellerive, after two non consecutive mandates has no idea where he wants to lead his people. He is only concerned about remaining in power through a subaltern in order to dole out to associates and to partisans the spoils and the funds of the reconstruction without concern for the welfare of his citizens.

One would expect that the leadership vacuum in service delivery could have been filled by the myriad of non-governmental organizations that received the bulk of the funding raised for and on behalf of the Haitian people. Haiti is the perfect example that a nation cannot be developed harmoniously when the government as the main vehicle for service delivery has outsourced to NGOs the steering wheel to lead the growth process.

Case at point is the policy of building Corail (the biggest and the largest ghetto in the Caribbean) under the supervision and the expertise of the largest international NGOs such as Food for the Poor, International Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders, etc.

Haiti’s recovery stands in the policy choice of building Corail or rebuilding the nation. So far the choice has been to rebuild Corail and ignore the rebuilding of the nation. The republic of Haiti with its 365 rural counties, its 142 towns, its 10 cities and the capital is either in complete ruin or has never been constructed. After January 12, 2010 Haiti had a chance to start de novo and rebuild itself. I am witnessing with the building of Corail, the compromising of the rebuilding of the rural villages, the towns and the cities of Haiti.

I have visited Corail on several occasions. On a rugged deserted hill facing Port au Prince, where you will not find one single tree, a sprawling new fevella or ghetto is being constructed, with homes designed by the international community no larger than a slave cell, while ignoring or feigning to ignore the fact that this agglomeration is ferment for future social explosion. The funding for this monstrosity should go instead to rebuild the town of Corail (a real agglomeration in the south of Haiti) as well as the other similarly situated 150 other towns of the nation.

The concept of nation building includes the concept of rooting the citizens in their own localities with their culture, the infrastructure, the institutions and the creative incubation to insure that they not become nomads in their own land. If the Haitian government has been delinquent in formulating and enforcing the policy of rooting their citizens at home in their towns or their villages, I would expect the international community, with funding from the good people of this earth, would know better!

I am observing a culture of map roule or faking diligence or disguised empathy practiced by both the Haitian government and the international community. The true beneficiaries of the avalanche of international NGOs in Haiti are the well wheeled Haitians who own a splendid villa for rent at the rate of $4,000 per month and/or a brand new 4/4 diesel jeep with a driver for rental at the rate of $4,500 per month.

Haiti has a window of opportunity this month and in the coming weeks to escape from its turbulent life of misery and squalor. The OAS as a corrupt incubator is multiplying its intervention in Haiti to keep alive a culture of death that is now sixty years old. It will become clearer for each and everyone to assess whether the international community is a foe or a friend of the Haitian people. It has in the past hijacked its political transition at each significant corner to maintain the economic strangulation.

The test will be whether the ghetto of Corail, right across the magnificent bay of Port au Prince shall continue to be a permanent fixture in the Haitian panorama or whether significant funding will trickle down into the rural villages, the towns and the cities of Haiti so the nation can rebuild itself on a permanent and sustainable basis!

The test will be also, whether the OAS/CARICOM tandem will succeed in reviving against the will of the people of Haiti, the Preval regime through a Siamese brother to maintain the misery of the majority of the population.

Stay tuned next week for an essay on: The epidemic of cholera and Haiti.

January 1, 2011

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