Interesting and lesser known Biblical Quotes

King James Version of the Bible

Book of Proverbs
Chapter
31:6
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish,and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
31:7
Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Book of Isiah
Chapter
45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Book of Proverbs
Chapter
16:4
The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Letter to the Thessalonians
Chapter
2:11
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2:12
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Book of Judges
Chapter
16:13
And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

16:17
That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

Book of Revelation
Chapter
1:13
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
1:14
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
1:15
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Book of Isiah (In reference to Christ)
Chapter
53:2
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
53:3
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Book of Revelation
Chapter
19:11
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
19:12
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
19:13
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

Letter to the Corinthians
Chapter
11:3
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
14:34
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
14:35
And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Another Poem

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.


Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

-- W. B. Yeats

Aluta Continua: Cuban Updates... issue #4

AND SO THE STRUGGLE GETS DEEPER IN THIS ISSUE LOVELY PEOPLE READ AND YOU'LL SEE...

First I have me here a poster from Trinidad (yup, thats right an authentic TnT poster) care of Alicia Ganess, showing what???

Next we have UN resolutions on Cuba... In there favour for a change!!!

UN Condemns U.S. Cuba Embargo
HAVANA, Oct. 28, 2004
(CBS) By CBS News Producer Portia Siegelbaum

The U.S. economic embargo of Cuba jumped to the top of the Castro government’s agenda on Thursday. For the 13th year in a row, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution condemning the U.S. embargo. The vote in favor of the Cuba-sponsored resolution was 179-4. The four opposing votes came from the United States, Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands. The vote last year was almost identical, 179 in favor, 3 against with two abstentions. The embargo has been in effect since 1962. The U.N. condemnation has become an annual event in Cuba. Students and countless workers across the island stopped their regular activities at 1l a.m. to watch a special one-hour feature prepared by Cuba's State-run television and then follow the voting at the General Assembly session. In addition, Cuban TV began broadcasting the U.N. debate live at 9 a.m. In Washington, however, approval of the resolution produced little more than yawns at the Bush White House. "It's true, this is an administration that has proven it doesn't care about it [the vote]," said Gustavo Machin, head of the North America Division of the Cuban Foreign Ministry. But despite what he sees as Washington's disregard for the United Nations, Machin told CBS News: "Every day the United States is more and more isolated by its policy ... It's worth the effort ... just to make clear the opposition to this kind of policies."

OAS head supports Cuba's membership
The Washington Times, October 28, 2004.
Mexico City, Mexico, Oct. 27 (UPI)

The head of the Organization of American States' says it is "inconceivable" Cuba is not a member, El Universal reports.

Luigi Einaudi, who became the interim head of the organization after former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez resigned Oct. 8 amid fraud charges, was in Mexico City Tuesday for a government-sponsored forum on children.

"It's inconceivable in today's world to keep isolated or outside of the organization a nation for reasons of incongruent ideologies," Einaudi said at a news conference. "But the charter of the OAS and the slow process of democratic jurisprudence has changed very little."

Anti-Bush sentiment permeates life in Cuba
Associated PressHavana, October 28

A general dislike of US President George W. Bush permeates daily life in communist Cuba, where the American leader is mocked as a fascist at government rallies and called a belligerent bully by the state-run media.

So it's no surprise that Cubans who follow the US presidential campaign clearly prefer Democratic challenger John Kerry in hopes he would ease the current US administration's hardline policies toward the island.

"Kerry would be better than Bush, any day," 65-year-old textile worker Arnaldo Negrin said in his one-room Old Havana apartment, where he listened to the government's nightly political discussion show on a small radio because his television was broken.

"He is defending the lower classes, working for social issues," Negrin said of Kerry. "And he has a better understanding of developing countries."

The general dislike for Bush heightened on the island this summer when his administration implemented new measures aimed at squeezing the Cuban economy in an effort to undermine President Fidel Castro. US authorized visits by Cuban-Americans to the island were slashed from one annually to one every three years. Limits were placed on how much money the Cuban-Americans can send to relatives here, and to which relatives.

The measures, which critics said pandered to right-wing Cuban exiles in Miami, provoked outrage here and among some Cuban-Americans as well. Negrin, a self-described "militant communist," said he thought Kerry would be more likely to eventually ease US restrictions on trade and travel that date to the 1960s and have been steadily strengthened under Bush.


Summary: Cuba Does Away With Dollars
Tue Oct 26, 4:25 PM ET
By The Associated Press

BUCK STOPS HERE: Cuba announces that as of Nov. 8, U.S. dollars will no longer be accepted in stores and businesses, saying it is trying to regain control of its economy as Washington cracks down on the flow of American currency to Cuba.

SEND EUROS: President Fidel Castro asks Cubans to tell relatives abroad to send them euros, British pounds or Swiss francs instead of dollars.

HARD CASH: Castro legalized the U.S. currency in 1993 to cope with the loss of Soviet aid and trade.

Something of note... Grenada commemorates anniversary of US invasion

Grenada commemorates 21st anniversary of US invasion
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) -

Grenada yesterday commemorated the 21st anniversary of a US-led invasion of the island during the Cold War but most residents were invariably focused on rebuilding from the rubble left by Hurricane Ivan.

The commemoration came as residents struggle to recover after Ivan tore through Grenada on September 7, killing 39 people and damaging or destroying 90 per cent of buildings. Many islanders still live in their cars or with relatives or friends.

The former British colony yesterday declared a national day of thanksgiving and prayer.

The Caribbean island became a point of contention in the Cold War after Maurice Bishop led a bloodless coup and installed a Marxist government in 1979. In October 1983, a radical faction of the government staged a coup, and on October 19 a firing squad killed Bishop - who was prime minister - and 10 of his supporters.

Six days after Bishop's killing, US President Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion and US troops led a force that included soldiers from nearby islands.

Reagan said the purpose was to restore order and protect American interests, particularly the lives of hundreds of American medical students.

He also ordered the invasion because his administration suspected Grenada's airport was going to become a joint Cuban-Soviet base. Cuba insisted it was helping build the airport for civilian uses only.

The 1983 invasion remains controversial and some details remain unclear, including the number of Grenadians killed. The US government said 45 Grenadians, 24 Cubans and 19 US troops were killed.

While most residents came together in the face of Ivan's destruction, many remain divided on the issue of the US invasion. Many still consider Bishop a hero while others praise the US intervention.

Sixteen coup plotters remain in prison, sentenced to life, including former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard. Originally, 17 people were sentenced for their role in the 1983 coup, but Coard's wife, Phyllis, was freed in 2000 to undergo cancer treatment and now lives in Kingston, Jamaica.

Coard and the others are awaiting appeals before the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and Britain's Privy Council, saying their life sentences were improperly handed down after the coup. Hearings are scheduled to begin by next month in St Lucia.

A Poem by Fernando Pessoa

I Am Tired

I am tired, that is clear,
Because, at certain stage, people have to be tired.
Of what I am tired, I don't know:
It would not serve me at all to knowSince the tiredness stays just the same.
The wound hurts as it hurts
And not in function of the cause that produced it.
Yes, I am tired,And ever so slightly smiling
At the tiredness being only this -
In the body a wish for sleep,
In the soul a desire for not thinking
And, to crown all, a luminous transparency
Of the retrospective understanding ...
And the one luxury of not now having hopes?
I am intelligent: that's all.
I have seen much and understood much of what
I have seen.
And there is a certain pleasure even in tiredness
this brings us,
That in the end the head does still serve for
something.

(24.06.1935)

My Zodiacs... hmm just because my stars seem aligned these days

CHINESE ZODIAC

Rooster: 1981

Hardworking, resourceful, courageous and talented, Roosters are self-assured people. They possess powerful personalities and are notoriously dominant. In groups they are vivacious, amusing and popular. But Roosters can be conceited creatures, vain and boastful, with a strong egotistical need to constantly be the center of attention. Excellent at small talk, they can be the life of any party. Roosters are talkative types, outspoken, frank, open, honest -- but a little too blunt at times. A polished debater and able to cogently refute any opinion, the Rooster is a talented polemicist, and could be an excellent journalist or writer. With the Rooster's dedication to work well done, he or she would also make a good economist or a gifted administrator.

These people are born organizers, refined and elegant. They are tidy-minded and like to keep everything neat and shipshape. Their affairs will be all in order, accounts up to the minute and documents systematically filed away. They function best in an environment where everything is organized and their schedules programmed. When it comes to making decisions of any kind, Roosters prefer to carefully consider all sides of a situation before coming to a conclusion. In conflicts, Roosters will push to the extreme but flee before open hostilities break out. Their reflective and analytical abilities sometimes get the better of them. They must constantly question their point of view to ascertain its validity.

The management of finances is perhaps their strength, both on a private and professional level. When it comes to money, Roosters are prudent and careful. They are brilliant managers of other people's money; financial advisers, bank managers, and accountants would all do well to be born in the Year of the Rooster. The Rooster has the reputation of finding money in the most unlikely places, like drawing blood from a stone. In Vietnam they say that, thanks to the strength of his beak and claws, the Rooster can find a worm in a desert. This metaphor goes a long way to explain the continual and restless activity that characterizes him.

The Rooster man likes to be in the company of women, among whom he can show off, shine, swagger and generally demonstrate what a clever fellow he is. However, he rarely goes out for a night with the boys; men bore him to extinction. His Hen counterpart also likes the company of other women -- that's not to say that men bore her! -- and she chooses those professions which keep her constantly in touch with them.
The Rooster will touch the heights and depths during the three phases of his life, business-wise as well as romantically. He will go from poverty to riches, from ideal love to the most sordid of emotional entanglements. The Rooster's old age will be happy, however.

Legend has it in the East that two Roosters under the same roof make life intolerable for everyone else.
The Dashing Rooster

Roosters see the world as either black or white; when it comes to individual people, they will immediately either love or hate them on sight. Their love life has all the elements of romantic excitement. They like the idea of dominating their partner, but this notion is more for fun and show than it is from real conviction. Emotionally, Roosters are said to be passionate and, though they may possess a very active sex drive, they tend to lack firm personal commitment when it comes to serious relationships. The salient characteristic attributed to these people is their honesty, and Roosters are never backwards in coming forward to speak their mind. Their lack of tact, coupled with a sanctimonious attitude to life, has been responsible for the breaking up of many a Rooster's marriage. Yet Rooster males are dashing, handsome fellows and will have young women flocking to their sides. Their Hen counterparts, stylish in the classical vein, will attract their suitors through their no-nonsense, down-to-earth approach to life.

In love, the Rooster will often do himself harm to gain or to keep the affection of the loved one. He will disappoint her often too, for the reality will never match up to the dreams he would so much like to share with her. There's one thing in his favor, though -- he really is sincere about those dreams!
Neither male nor female Rooster will wear their hearts on their sleeves; they keep even the minutest detail about their sexual exploits and love affairs strictly to themselves. Because of their scrupulous honesty, when happily settled in a permanent relationship, Roosters are highly unlikely to deceive or cheat on their partners.

The Snake, Ox and Dragon understand Roosters. They would gain much from friendship with the Monkey and Boar. The Rabbit does not trust the Rooster and won't put up with his boasting.
_______________________________________

REGULAR ZODIAC

Gemini
May 21 - June 21

Gemini is the third Sign of the Zodiac, and those born under this Sign will be quick to tell you all about it. That's because they love to talk! It's not just idle chatter with these folks, either. The driving force behind a Gemini's conversation is their mind. The Gemini-born are intellectually inclined, forever probing people and places in search of information. The more information a Gemini collects, the better. Sharing that information later on with those they love is also a lot of fun, for Geminis are supremely interested in developing their relationships. Dalliances with these folks are always enjoyable, since Geminis are bright, quick-witted and the proverbial life of the party. Even though their intellectual minds can rationalize forever and a day, Geminis also have a surplus of imagination waiting to be tapped. Can a Gemini be boring? Never!

Since Geminis are a mix of the yin and the yang, they are represented perfectly by the Twins. The Gemini-born can easily see both sides of an issue, a wonderfully practical quality. Less practical is the fact that you're not sure which Twin will show up half the time. Geminis may not know who's showing up either, which can prompt others to consider them fickle and restless.

They can be wishy-washy, too, changing their mood on a simple whim. It's this characteristic which readily suggests the Mutable Quality assigned to this Sign. Mutable folks are flexible and go with the flow. Further, the Twins are adaptable and dexterous and can tackle many things at once. It's a good thing, too, when you consider their myriad interests. The downside of such a curious mind, however, can be a lack of follow-through. How much can any one person do, anyway?

Yannick's Quotes- Edition: #3

Well only one quote today... and it was said to me quite arbitrarily... and disrupted my night.

Yannick, when death comes for you embrace him, he is your brother.
--by Robert Morgan

Aluta Continua: Cuban Updates... issue #3

World education conference set for Cuba
Observer ReporterWednesday, October 13, 2004

The World Council of Comparative Education Societies will meet in Havana, Cuba from October 25 to 29 for its 12th conference on education.

Held every three years, the current talks will look at the 'vexed' issues of access, equity and cultural justice, the primary focus of the congress, according to Dr Anne Hickling-Hudson, a Jamaican educator and president of the World Council, a non-governmental organisation founded in 1970.

"The discussions will be centred around 14 themes regarding education worldwide," said Hickling-Hudson, among them the emerging area of peace and conflict studies.The theme of the five-day conference is 'Education and Social Justice'.

The educators will enter the talks sensitive to the fact that the links between different education systems worldwide are growing, and require comparative assessment.

Hickling-Hudson, herself a senior lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, said: "As countries' seek to understand the challenges, frameworks and issues that link education systems worldwide, a comparative method will assist them to work out solutions that suit their countries needs and aspirations."

Educators, she adds, can only benefit from a global analysis of the systems in which they work.
The conference speakers will include professors Martin Carnoy and Robert Arnove of the United States; Rosemary Preston, Michael Crossley and Madeleine Arnot from the United Kingdom; Crain Soudien of South Africa; Mark Bray of Hong Kong; and Hyacinth Evans of the University of the West Indies.

More than a thousand educators, policy makers and representatives of development agencies and NGOs have registered to attend the congress.

oringinal link: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20041013T000000-0500_67589_OBS_WORLD_EDUCATION_CONFERENCE_SET_FOR_CUBA.asp

Something to think about

IN VENEZUELA


Venezuelan demonstrators place a rope to topple a Christopher Columbus statue in Caracas, October 12, 2004. Demonstrators protested during Columbus Day, a date which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has christened as the 'Day of Indian Resistance' to commemorate the Indian people who fought the Spanish colonizers after the discovery of the continent by Christopher Columbus. REUTERS/Jorge Silva REUTERS


While some time ago in JAMAICA


CRISTOBAL COLON de Carvajal, Duke of Veragua, who is the 20th direct descendant of Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus, was honoured yesterday by the St. Catherine Parish Council.

This my friends troubles me, Indians in no way shape or form suffered as much and as long as we did in "Slavery" yet they are conscious and cognizant enough to realize that endorsing Columbus is rubbish, but us on the other hand...

Yannick's Quotes- Edition: #2

On speaking about what and who is Azteka designs.

"Well what we is a cultural agenda converging or more like on a crash course collision with multimedia. We are a new Caribbean order, bringing the Caribbean to the fore in media and as a socializing agent, unlearning the Beast's(North American and European Imperialist) values. We are the intellectual vanguard, we are the changing of the guard, and at this the dawning of the 21st century we are the Caribbean Super-Heroes of a sort."
--by Yannick Pessoa

"Yannick, if you are going to talk half truths, at least talk half truth"
--by Robert Morgan
(Really it beats me, so don't ask)

Yannick's Quotes- Edition: #1

This little segment features quotes on Yannick or made by Yannick...

"Professional Pseudo Dread and Browning-Lova. :o) I always thought of Yannick as my big brother- til mi realise he did want to make it an incestuous r/ship. "mi did ah LUST afta yu batty!" - oh, i shall remember that line! Ok, so it's not about me (for once) it's about Yannick. He is a hell of a raconteur (gwan look it up!) In other words- him can chat! So many memories of UWI just liming listening to Yannick chat de must fascinating set of shit. Particular memory- one night Yannick scare me and Leslie SHITLESS wid one set of duppy stories bout Preston Hall. Afterwards, me and Leslie swear we NA sleep on we own that night a so we did fraid. I remember in my first year I thought of him as "Dax's brother" but by de end of de time, he was mi bredren Yannick."
--by Amanda Lynch-Foster
-- I both hate and love this quote about me... Gee and to think I liked Amanda...

"I'm the next best thing since Jesus Christ"
-- by Yannick Pessoa

"You are Belicose and Beligerent"
-- by Juilette Pessoa (my very own mother, I was so hurt)

"Many are called, few are chosen, we are the unchosen"
-- by Yannick Pessoa

A Bob Dylan Song That's Stuck In My Head For Days Now...

TANGLED UP IN BLUE

Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’,
I was layin’ in bed
Wond’rin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough.
And I was standin’ on the side of the road
Rain fallin’ on my shoes
Heading out for the east coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues gettin’ through,
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out west
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin’ away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
We’ll meet again someday on the avenue,
Tangled up in blue.

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell.
So I drifted down to new orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin’ for a while on a fishin’ boat
Right outside of delacroix.
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind,
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.

She was workin’ in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer,
I just kept lookin’ at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I’s just about to do the same,
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, don’t I know your name?
I muttered somethin’ underneath my breath,
She studied the lines on my face.
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.

She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
I thought you’d never say hello, she said
You look like the silent type.
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an italian poet
From the thirteenth century.
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin’ coal
Pourin’ off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
Tangled up in blue.

I lived with them on montague street
In a basement down the stairs,
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air.
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died.
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside.
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn,
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin’ on like a bird that flew,
Tangled up in blue.

So now I’m goin’ back again,
I got to get to her somehow.
All the people we used to know
They’re an illusion to me now.
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter’s wives.
Don’t know how it all got started,
I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives.
But me, I’m still on the road
Headin’ for another joint
We always did feel the same,
We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.

by BOB DYLAN

Another Letter To The Editor... by Me(hahaha) dated 7.10.04

Great work, Clovis
Thursday, October 07, 2004

Dear Editor,

I would like to use this space to commend your cartoonist Clovis on his work. Not only has it been consistent and witty, but I have seen what I believe to be improvement in his work that says to me that he has a level of interest in the art form and is not simply doing another job for the money. His work has got progressively better over the years and has become what I consider "eye candy". In years to come he may just be remembered as the pioneer or front-runner of Caribbean and Jamaican cartoons, should the art form get wider recognition and acclaim.

Yannick Nesta Pessoa
http://www.aztekadesigns.com

The original link can be found at: http://jamaicaobserver.com/letters/html/20041006T210000-0500_67220_OBS_GREAT_WORK__CLOVIS.asp

Aluta Continua: Cuban Updates... issue #2

Manning going to check heart
-Prior Beharry
Wednesday, August 4th 2004

PRIME Minister Patrick Manning leaves the country today for Cuba where he is expected to get a routine medical check-up on his heart -this according to a release from the Prime Minister's Office yesterday.
In April 1998, Manning underwent heart surgery in Cuba. Since then he has regularly gone to Cuba for check-ups.


PACEMAKER FOR MANNING
Manning to get pacemaker
By curtis williams
Friday, August 13th 2004

Patrick Manning...going to Cuba for surgery.
Already under medication for an irregular heart beat, Prime Minister Patrick Manning will now have a pacemaker inserted as doctors try to ensure his heart is not damaged.
Manning will this weekend return to Cuba for the operation, a mere ten days after he last visited the Caribbean island for what was then described as a routine check-up.


PM: I'm in better health
By LOUIS B HOMER South Bureau
Wednesday, September 1st 2004

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning, who returned from Cuba last Sunday morning after undergoing laser surgery to his eyes and implantation of a pacemaker, told party members: "I am now in a better health condition than when I left for Cuba."

Manning Article taken from the Trinidad Express... contributed by Alicia Ganess



Fidel visits Venezuelan ship bringing aid to Cuba
BY REYNOLD RASSI—Granma daily staff writer—

“THIS is a gesture of Bolivarian and Latin American solidarity, a gesture of fraternity, which is what we are,” affirmed President Fidel Castro on describing the aid offered by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Caribbean nations gravely affected by the recent Hurricanes Charley, Ivan and Jeanne.

Fidel was referring to the significance of the new Venezuelan mission Humanitarian Naval Support to the Caribbean Fraternity, which consists of construction materials and equipment, among other resources for repairing housing and other installations in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and Grenada.

The Cuban president visited Los Llanos amphibious T-64 craft anchored in the port of Mariel, Habana province, which transported those materials to Cuba, as well as a group of Venezuelans likewise lending their solidarity in the form of construction work in Sandino municipality in Pinar del Río province.

On his arrival at the port, accompanied by Adán Chávez Frías, the Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, and other Cuban leaders, Fidel was met by Alex Ascanio Palomares, frigate captain and ship commander, head of the task force for aid to our country and Jamaica, and other officers and crew members.

Aboard the boat, he was given a special salute by a company of marines, with various whistles corresponding to the category of president of the Republic in ceremonial naval protocol.

ANIMATED CONVERSATION

In the officer’s chamber, Fidel had an animated two-hour conversation with the officers in charge of the ship and the Caribbean support task force. The Cuban leader asked about the organization of this new Venezuelan mission for aid to Cuba and the other three Caribbean islands.

He expressed gratitude for this noble gesture by the Bolivarian government on behalf of the Cuban people and in particular the population of the westernmost areas of Pinar del Río, most affected by Ivan, where 76 Venezuelans who came on the boat are already working on recovery tasks.

Fidel spoke of the damage wreaked by the recent hurricanes on countries in the region and, in the case of Cuba, explained the measures adopted to avert the loss of human lives and resources, as well as the reconstruction and repair work underway to restore the situation as soon as possible.

A Poem I Was Awarded A Bronze Medal for in July 2001

Monochrome/MonaKhroma

She looks out the window,
She is monochrome true.
Her speech is song,
Her soul glows blue.

Her hair frizzles and it frazzles,
She knows and I don't know.
As the sun burns the morning cold,
I must come and I must go.

Zygote of a pregnant miracle
Was, is, she will always be.

Yannick Nesta Pessoa
Copyright ©2004 Yannick Nesta Pessoa

An Old Letter To The Editor I Wrote [dated 13.8.02]... (stumbled across it on the net)

Are we really independent?

THE EDITOR, Sir:

AFTER 40 years we have not really released our vestiges of the Crown in England. We still have a representative for the Queen as an influential part of the state. We still have British ceremonials in Parliament, we still have appeals to the British courts. We are a part of their Commonwealth, we still have the remnants of their laws. Are we really independent of England?
How are we independent when we are slaves to the foreign media, especially the "mighty" Uncle Sam, when we are dependent on imports from the USA, we depend on their food, their clothes, even their entertainment, we even depend on their dollar.

How are we independent when we subscribe to the neo-liberalist policies of globalisation that insist on lessening the powers and sovereignty of the state, and the continuous breakdown of international barriers. How are we independent when foreigners own our electrical supplies, our airports, our mining plants. What are we independent of?

"Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own winepress.

"Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

"Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block.

"Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

"Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again.

"Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation." -- Kahlil Gibran

I am, etc.,

YANNICK NESTA PESSOA
cyber_yan@yahoo.com
Via Go-Jamaica

Original link: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20020813/letters/letters1.html

A POEM BY---(insert drum roll here)... BOB MARLEY!!!

She's Gone

My woman is gone.
My woman is gone.

She has left me
a note
hanging on my door

said she couldn't
take it
she couldn't take anymore

Pressures around me
just couldn't see

She lived like a prisoner
who needs

to be free.....

Still
I know now
You never see smoke without fire
and everyman you see

has got a heart's desire.

by the hon. Robert Nesta Marley