Yesterday was the inaugural flight of Spirit Airlines into Jamaica. There were two flights from Fort Lauderdale one to Kingston and one to Montego Bay. The flight to the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston was named the ‘Spirit of Jamaica’ and carried 198 passengers. It was scheduled to arrive at 12:30pm but was delayed until 1:20pm. The other flight landed at the Sangster’s International Airport in Montego Bay.

Spirit Airlines is a ‘low cost carrier’ and will operate two daily scheduled flights into Jamaica. Two weeks ago they introduced a roundtrip fare of USD18.00 plus taxes, which created quite a stir. How can they survive on such low fares is not clear. It cost me more to operate my vehicle from home to work and back each day.

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Over the past couple of weeks there have been several confirmed cases of Leptospirosis reported in Clarendon. So far four of the victims have died and seven others have been hospitalized. This week 15 cases have been confirmed with the disease in Manchester most of which are farmers. What is leptospires?
Leptospirosis is a disease that can be passed from animals to humans – such diseases are called zoonoses. It is a bacterial infection resulting from exposure to the Leptospira interrogans bacterium. Leptospirosis infects a variety of wild and domestic animals. Often the infected animal does not become ill. The bacteria are carried in the animal’s kidneys. They can excrete leptospires in their urine for some time, and spread infection to other animals or humans coming into direct or indirect contact with the urine. Leptospirosis is generally not transmitted from person to person. Animal hosts include rats and cattle.

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I do believe I’m missing something important in the Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association (JGRA) protest action against Esso. My understanding was that with all the Esso Service Stations closed for two days Esso would lose enough money to force them to change their pricing mechanism. The public would still be able to access gasoline from the other dealers and the only ones really feeling the squeeze would be Esso.
So why is the JGRA now planning to close all service stations island wide for two days? It makes no sense to me at all. This action would only serve to create Island wide panic and every one would lose, all the distributors, all the dealers and the public.

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In Jamaica when prices escalate on goods and services we ‘cuss and gwan bad’ amongst ourselves but in the end do nothing constructive about it. We underestimate the power we possess as consumers if we unite and take a stand together. So I say hats off to the Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association (JGRA) for their initiative to suspend sales at Esso Service Stations Island wide to protest Esso’s high pricing mechanism.
In recent times the cost of gasoline has sky rocked. The increase was inevitable considering the global situation however the difference in prices from local petrol station to station is unacceptable.

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I think the West Indies cricket team must be listening to ‘how low can you go’ and trying to match that. How can you boast over 600 runs in a warm up match and turn around and all out for 129 when you need 510. ‘Man what a let down’ but then why am I so surprised? This kind of behaviour has become their ‘modus operandi’.
And you want to hear the sad part come November 17 when the second Test gets under way at Bellerive Oval, who do you think will be watching hopefully. 'That’s right plenty a you out there and me'.
Nuff love.

Since the start of the year there have been over 1400 people murdered in Jamaica, an average of 4 to 5 persons per day. The increasing crime wave has had adverse effects on our businesses, transportation and schools. Although most of the crimes are concentrated in certain communities it has the entire nation in a state of panic. More and more pressure is being placed on the Government by ‘John Public’ to put an end to the surge in violence.
Recently the Government has been introducing several measures which will help the security forces in the fight against crime. These include the acquisition of an Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS), a ballistics machine that can link bullets and spent shells recovered from crime scenes with crimes committed in other places. The Larceny Amendment Bill against extortionist and the plea bargaining legislation aimed at catching the real criminal masterminds should also aid in ridding the nation of criminal elements.

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Sunday October 30,
 Donovan ‘Bulbie’ Bennett, Jamaican’s most wanted and leader of the ‘Clansman’ gang in Spanish Town was shot and killed by security forces in a raid carried out in Rock River, Clarendon 5:00a.m. Sunday morning. Also killed was his driver known only as Nathan.

 Marlon Samuels makes record of 257 runs on the third day of the warm up match at Allan Border field in Australia. The highest score to be made on the grounds, this total was made from 304 balls with 8 sixes and 34 fours. This performance by Samuels goes a far way in reviving hope in the hearts of the Caribbean cricket fans on the eve on the upcoming three match test series scheduled to begin on Wednesday November 2, 2005.

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During the Rising Star 2005 competition I was very impressed with the top two winners, Christopher Martin and Noddy Virtue. Appealing to different audiences both gentlemen have been blessed with fabulous, powerful voices. Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing both stars in life performance. They were awesome.
I swear, they are even better live and direct. These gentlemen radiate humility, a quality we don’t see too often these days in our entertainers. It’s very endearing. Not to mention when they sing, it gives a girl goose bumps.

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Today this man was stabbed at the corner of East Street and North Street for stealing ackee.

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Its test cricket time again for the West Indies Team and once more the Caribbean cricket fans are hopeful. The three match test series between the West Indies and Australia begins tonight at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia. Based on the performance of the ‘Windies’ in the warm up matches, expectations are high.
But can we pull if off, up against the world champions and on their turf. In recent times the ‘Windies’ has not proven very hard to beat. February 1997 was the last time that they won a test match in Australia. The last test series won in Australia was in 1992-1993 when the ‘Windies’ won 2-1.
The ‘Windies’ batting line up tonight is Christopher Gayle, Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin. Our bowlers are Jermaine Lawson, Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell, Corey Collymore and Dwayne Bravo.
For Australia the line up is Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, as bats men. Bowlers are Shane Watson, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken and Shane Warne.
Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. It’s not over till the fat lady sings. Let’s hope that when it’s over she will be singing calypso or reggae.
Nuff Love