Venezuela, Chavez and Petro Caribe

A few weeks ago Venezuela’s duly elected dictator El Caudillo Hugo Chavez was reported by be in grave condition and had once again gone over to Cuba to receive medical treatment including chemotherapy , during this time there was great speculation on whether or not he would actually make it out and  even if  he does would he still be able to carry out his duties as president, it was even reported in the news that he had designated a successor should he be unable to carry on,  the last  news item regarding Chavez stated that he was back in Venezuela and recovering, much to the relief of his allies and the annoyance of his enemies. Throughout this whole scenario there were tensions and uncertainty not only in Venezuela but also in other places including Jamaica and the Caribbean, this of course is due to one thing in particular: Petro Caribe

                                                              

The Petro Caribe deal is a driving pillar of Venezuela’s foreign policy in the Caribbean region since Chavez first took office, the agreements sets out conditions for the provision of Venezuelan oil to signatories of the agreement under which Caribbean countries would be able to purchase oil at 5% -50% of market price up front while the remainder would be payable over 25 year period with a 1% per annum interest rate. Sounds good right, of course being  realists many Caribbean leaders decided to sign the agreement,  so now we are getting oil at a reduced rate, which we don’t have to be worry about paying for at the moment, everything should be OK right? So why then do I still feel uneasy about this deal?

Maybe it’s because I think that Chavez  is not just being benevolent or giving out of the goodness of his heart but rather  he has an ulterior motive, like all of his other policies, the Petro Caribe is filled with overtones of Bolivarianism, ever since he first came to office Chavez  has justified everything he has done by claiming that it’s all a part of the Bolivarian revolution, it’s the reason why he is so critical of the United States and other western countries which he sees as neo-colonizers, it’s why he had the Venezuelan constitution  altered to remove term limits on his presidency, it’s the reason he has close relations with Iran and other fundamentalist Islamic states  and that’s why he urged the creation of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (also called ALBA) to rival other efforts at continental integration such as MERCUSUR or to halt the FTAA agreement from being signed.

                                         

The Petro Caribe is simply an attempt by Chavez to gain a foothold in the Caribbean and so far he seems to succeeding, three Commonwealth Caribbean countries are already ALBA members and he’s still trying to get the rest of us to sign up. When talking Caribbean –Venezuela relations Chavez has no better friend that Vincentian Prime Minister Comrade Ralph Gonsalves, a very shady character who tries to imitate the likes of Chavez and Fidel Castro, he even tried to have the constitution amended to turn St Vincent and the Grenadines into a socialist republic with himself President and Dictator  fortunately he was defeated in a referendum (Her Majesty should have revoked his Prime Ministerial appointment and imprisoned him for this gross act of attempted treason), most Caribbean leaders while not idolizing Chavez still cannot see him for what he really is.

                                             

The Petro Caribe deal is not a generous arrangement as some persons think but rather a devious

attempt by the Chavez regime to make us economically dependent on him for energy and in the long term to place us in a state of high indebtedness to his country , Petro Caribe is not stable but is dependent a Chavez himself, something that was clearly demonstrated last week and prior to that during the Venezuelan Presidential elections earlier this year  when the opposition rival Henrique Capriles promised to repeal the agreement if elected which would have left the Caribbean in  deep trouble of high debt to Venezuela while having to find a new energy partner, sure we can breathe a sigh of relief for  now because  the deal deems safe at present but Comrade Hugo won’t be around forever, what will they do when he’s gone.

                                

Hugo Chavez is nothing if not a master of lies and propaganda, his so called new-found Bolivarian philosophy is nothing more than another name for his own version of communism to impose his own ideas not only on the people of Venezuela but also on the rest of Latin America and even the Caribbean, other Latin Caudillos such as Evil (ahem I mean Evo) Morales in Bolivia, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Christine Kitchener from Argentina and who could forget Hugo’s best friend Raul Castro in Cuba are all part of it , of course not everyone in the region has bought into Chavez’s ridiculous ideas, thank God for sensible leadership in Chile and Brazil

Prime Ministers in the Commonwealth Caribbean would do well to take heed, the writing is on the wall, Venezuela is NOT our friend one only has to wait to see what will happen after El Caudillo Chavez exits the scene as he will eventually have to like all other leftist dictators whether he wants to or not and his so called Bolivarian revolution is consigned to the dustbin of history 

Royal Baby and Succession Rules-Part II

In last week’s post I touched on the matter of succession to the Throne of the Commonwealth Realms and I wish to continue on that trajectory, I still maintain that changing the rules of succession is a bad initiative because it would open up an entire can up of worms that would be best left untouched, this post intends to point out some of the potential problems that might arise. 
                                                                                                                                                                      

In 1917 King George V drafted a set of letters patent that outlined the composition of the royal family, according to the letters patent the style and title of Royal Highness was limited to the Children of the Sovereign, the Agnatic Grandchildren of the Sovereign and  the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, hence the reason why there is no Prince Peter or Princess Zara as children cannot inherit royal titles from the feminine line unless their mother is the Queen even if their grandmother is.   

                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                              

In relation to that same issue, we must also take into consideration what will happen a generation from now, something I’m sure today’s political leaders in the Commonwealth have not stopped to consider while making this judgment call since they will all  be either retired or dead by then. We all know perfectly well that whenever a Prince gets married outside the royal family then his wife automatically becomes a British Princess by marriage unless of course such a union contravenes the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, the reverse is not true there is no way a man can ever become a prince automatically by marriage to a princess. Some will no doubt raise the point that three Queens regnant had husbands that were made Princes this is only partially true,  first of all, the 3 Queens in question had married foreign princes not commoners so their husbands had the title of prince from birth anyway and the secondly none of them was made a British Prince automatically by marriage, Prince Albert and Prince Philip were created as British Princes by special letters patent which did not even come on the day the marriage but years after the wedding and only after they became the Queen’s official consort while Prince George of Denmark while given a peerage was never recognized as a Prince of the Realm. Given the trajectory of royal weddings for several decades it’s likely that the Duke of Edinburgh will be the last born foreign royal to marry into our royal family and so what if this hypothetical firstborn daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is named heiress presumptive and then marries a non-royal will he then be named a Prince by marriage similar to what they did to Daniel Westling in Sweden? 

And let us not forget that according to tradition the heir apparent and only him has the right to the titles Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay both of which are automatic, he also has the sole right to use the style Prince of Wales this however is not automatic but rather is a gift of the sovereign bestowed to his (or her) heir apparent, note that an heir presumptive has no right to use either title hence there has never been a Princess of Wales or Duchess of Cornwall in her own right as she could have easily been displaced by the birth of a male heir apparent, I wonder if the Commonwealth leaders have taken time to iron out all these and many more grievances before they make a final decision.

         

                                        

Another thing that is of real concern is the origin of this mode of succession, equal primogeniture was first originated in Sweden in 1980 and as such I must take issue with that for two main reasons, the first one has to do with the fact that equal primogeniture was in fact an amendment to the 1974 instrument of government, the very same one is which the Riksdag stripped the King of all his power and consigned him to be a mere figurehead, of course there are many who also consider the Queen a figurehead mainly because elected politicians are the ones who conduct the daily business of government, while this is true the monarch is by no means a figurehead and still have a great many constitutional duties to perform most of which are done via letters patent, orders in council and the like, but it’s quite clear that the Queen is  still sovereign, the parliament, cabinet,  civil service, foreign service,  court system and  armed forces in every single Commonwealth realm are all merely acting in her name hence she is the State personified, this is not so in Sweden where the King is not even Commander-in-Chief anymore but is consigned to be a mere bystander in the entire governance process while all his powers are transferred to various officials like the Speaker of the House who appoints the Prime Minister who is in turn Commander in Chief of the armed forces, is that really the kind of system we want to adopt where the influence of the monarchy in government is so weak which could only strengthen republican movements especially in realms like Jamaica and Australia which both have openly republican Prime Ministers?, following Sweden’s trajectory will cause all the Commonwealth realms to become republics in all but name we must be careful not to go down that slippery slope.

And speaking of following Sweden’s tradition, whatever happened to “Rule Britannia”? (Britannia here meaning not only Britain but all nations with a strong British heritage), what happened to the good old days when we used to be the trendsetters, when we lead and others followed?  What happened to the pride we used to have as the greatest alliance of nations to ever exist of the face of the earth?  Why should we be following what countries like Sweden or Denmark or the Netherlands is doing when their political culture and realities is so very different from ours? , they should be following us not the other way around .Why do we need to import models used by other countries and then claim to make it our own, this is oddly similar to the pro-republican argument is some realms that the monarchy is colonial and antiquated and wail about the need to establish their “own form of government”when all they are really doing is copying republican models used by other countries and trying to pass it off as an original nationalistic invention.

As a conservative, a traditionalist and a true Jamaican monarchist I still think that tinkering with the rules of succession is a terrible idea (especially since while all other realm governments are debating succession changes, the Jamaican government is capitalizing on the opportunity to debate abolishing the monarchy instead), the Act of Settlement was put in place for a reason and contrary to the propaganda we are hearing, these reasons are still relevant today as they were centuries ago.

These are just a few thoughts for the Commonwealth Heads of Government to ponder under before making that drastic step which could only lead to a host of other unsolved problems.

 GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. 

Royal Baby and Succession Rules-Part I

Yesterday morning I woke up to the most delightful news, Prince William Duke of Cambridge, (son of Charles, Prince of Wales and grandson of Her Majesty the Queen) and his beautiful wife Catherine Duchess of Cambridge are finally having a baby, this is the news that the world has been waiting for ever since their epic almost movie like wedding on April 29, 2011, monarchist all over the world and especially in the Commonwealth are celebrating with them in their happiness, for many of us the timing could not be more perfect, it seems like the perfect end to this Diamond Jubilee (or Diamond and Golden in Jamaica’s case see: http://jamaicatory.blogspot.com/2012/10/jamaicas-double-jubilee-2012.html) year in which London became  the Capital of the world hosting everything from the main Diamond Jubilee celebrations (other celebrations were held across the Commonwealth) to the summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Speculations of a royal pregnancy have been floating around ever since they first got married and even before the day of the wedding, these suppositions reached their highest point earlier this year while the Duke and Duchess were on a tour of the Pacific, but as many of these rumours were being spread by royal watchers I did not make much of it then, but now it has been confirmed by official sources from the Courts of Buckingham Palace, St James Palace and Clarence House, it is further stated that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are indeed very pleased but in my opinion I don’t think anybody is more delighted (a part from the couple themselves) than the Prince of Wales who is finally going to be a grandfather, heartiest congratulations goes out to him as well as to the parents

With the announcement of this news, issues with serious implications have been brought back on the agenda namely the rules of royal succession, ever since the royal wedding last year the British Government has been proposing the idea of changing the rules of succession from male preference to one of equal primogeniture a practice started by Sweden and has since spread throughout the rest of Europe (Sweden must be proud to be the trendsetters in something for once). Things got more intense  when their Prime Minister David Cameron made the same pitch at the Commonwealth Heads of Government in November 2011,  Since the monarchy is a multinational entity the United Kingdom  could never change the rules  on its own unless it wants to split the Crown but rather it head to wait to get unanimous agreement from all 16 nations under the Crown (together known as the Commonwealth Realms) from all indications it seem as though the Prime Ministers all approved the new changes. Since then no Realm Government has taken any further steps to make these changes an official part of their legislation by putting it before their parliaments they all claim to be waiting on Great Britain to make the first move.

The basic tenets of the Rule of Succession are spelled out in the 1701 Act of Settlement which basically states that the Succession of the Throne was that male primogeniture meaning that sons of the monarch have the right to succeed before daughters, it also guaranteed the Sovereign’s position as Head of the Church of England (Anglican Church) forbidding anybody who is Roman Catholic or even married to a Roman Catholic from ever wearing the Crown, this last bit was put in directly as safeguard from ever allowing the descendants of  James Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales from ever being ruler (or else instead of Queen Elizabeth II, we would have ended up with Francis Duke of Bavaria as our King Francis I), these are the laws that the Commonwealth Prime Ministers want to have repealed .

I can still vividly remember the  rigorous debates that took place last year across several monarchist groups and networks with many different royalist from all over the Commonwealth  giving their views,  to be frank if I remember correctly the issue almost split the monarchist world in half dividing it  into two main factions one side being liberal and modernist approve the changes to the succession rules while the other side was more conservative and traditionalist who opposed the changes and want the rules to remain as they are in the Act of Settlement ,we still have yet to come to a mutual agreement no doubt conservative  monarchists were fuming over the alterations of the rules (I know this because I was among them ). The modernist will tell you that it’s time to change the rules because it’s the 21^st century and it’s time to  eliminate that kind of bias based on gender and religion, in my opinion that in itself is a ridiculous argument because bias is  the whole point of monarchy anyway, that argument sounds dangerously close to the one put forward by republicans who claim that in the 21^st century  why do we still have a monarch according the to the manager of Republic ( a group of retards calling for the Commonwealth to abandon the monarchy) “the new changes still discriminate against everyone who was not born in the House of Windsor “ seems to me like the liberals are bordering on that kind of reasoning. Quite frankly the removing bias argument is a bogus one because all they are really doing is replacing gender based bias with an age based one so what kind of bias free system are they really talking about?, it’s better to leave well enough alone. The conservative  position is that  monarchy is something that should be based on tradition coming down through the centuries, or else what kind of monarchy do we have, moves like these only serve to weaken the power and influence of the Crown, next thing we’ll hear coming from them is a proposal that the Queen should no longer be considered sovereign, like they do in Sweden where the King is Head of State but the people are still sovereign effectively making it a republic in all but name, we in the Commonwealth Realms should not follow these trends but instead take steps to strengthen the position of our joint monarchy not weaken it.

On the matter of religion, some persons claim that the ban on having a Catholic monarch or even a Catholic consort does not seem to cause as much controversy as it used to, however the Queen’s position in the Church of England always comes up for debate, In this case the Queen has no official religious position outside the UK itself and as such the other realms are not as concerned with this issue. In my opinion I have no objections to the anti-Catholic rules although some say it’s not as relevant as it used to be in the 17^th or 18^th centuries, that may be true but growing up in a  staunchly anti-Catholic  church I was never a fan of the Catholics anyway and so am quite happy and content to never have to swear my allegiance to a Catholic ruler.

In concluding I congratulate Prince and Princess William once on their joyous news, I hope everything goes well with them and that the Duchess gives birth to a bouncing baby boy (yes I’m making a prediction from now) a worthy male heir to the throne, that will give the liberals something to go fume about, don’t get me wrong I’m by no means sexist I know women can also make great monarchs, the last 60 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign is proof of that  but I still think that politicians tinkering with the rules is a bad idea and that succession to crown should remain exactly as it is now.

Andrew Holness: A Potential Monarchist?

In last week’s post I wrote about what it was like being at the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Conference and the speeches given by some of the party executives, this time I would like to zero in on something that was said by party leader Andrew Holness which really caught my attention , he made his position on the proposed constitutional reforms currently on the table by the government with this following quote

“ Republic and CCJ will not make us more independent, the only way Jamaica can truly achieve true political independence and stand with the other nations of the world is when we achieve economic independence” , it was second time this year  that I heard him utter such sentiments having done so during the budget debate in May, at the time  Holness chastised the government for the burdensome tax package they had released the week earlier and urged them to do something to fix our economic problems and not waste time trying to distract the population with talk of a republic or a new final court.

I must say I admire the bold stance taken by the Leader of the Opposition, for a number of years now  various Prime Ministers from Manley to Patterson and Now Simpson Miller have tried  to use anti-monarchism as a political football to  gain popular support when in truth and in fact majority of Jamaicans do not go to bed wondering whether we have a Governor-General in King’s House or some guy who calls himself President. There are many who  seem not to care either way  whether we are a Constitutional Monarchy or a Presidential Republic however I do and as a staunch royalist I make no apologies for openly declaring my loyalty to Her Majesty the Queen of Jamaica and any counter revolutionary move to halt creeping republicanism and to preserve that part of our heritage and our constitution will certainly have my support therefore I must applaud Holness as it is quite clear that he has no intention of cooperating with the government on any discussion regarding the future of the monarchy.

I really don’t want to jump the gun here but I cannot help but wonder if his stance of a true monarchist or does he have an ulterior motive only time will tell where his loyalty lies, while I will not be naive and simply assume that he is a royalist because of what he said I would not want to rule out the possibility either, he did not seem to have a  problem supporting the plans of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) to alter the rules of succession which they claim promotes gender bias and religious discrimination (personally I prefer the Act of Settlement remaining exactly as it is now) nor was he heard criticizing the government on the 3 million dollars spent for Prince Harry’s visit even when others were doing so.

Historically speaking the JLP has always been less enthused by the idea of a republic than the People’s National Party, Sir Alexander Bustamante the father of independent Jamaica and our first Prime Minister was quite happy to be knighted and be the first Jamaican ever to serve as Privy Councilor to Her Majesty , in the late 1970s while then Prime Minister Michael Manley started a propaganda campaign to turn Jamaica into a socialist republic  based on the Cuban model it was Edward Seaga who led the charge to preserve our constitution from being subverted or altered, early in the 2000’s when P.J. Patterson wanted to have the Queen’s name removed from the oath of allegiance it was Seaga again along with other members of the JLP who bitterly opposed him. While former Prime Minister Bruce Golding did in fact flirt with the idea of a republic he dropped those plans soon after seeing a Bill Johnson poll published in the Gleaner  on June 28 last year in which the result stated that many Jamaicans prefer the constitution the way it is, some even went as far as to call to for us to return to being ruled from London (I’m not so sure I can support that ), I even once heard  several rumors that he had considered becoming Governor-General after Sir Kenneth Hall had retired in 2009

The standpoint taken by Mr. Holness seems to be following in that great tradition of the Jamaica Labour Party which promotes patriotism, loyalty to the Crown and service to the people of this country, establishing real independence for Jamaica not by idle talk of a republic (which would probably make us worse off anyway), but by forging a future for our people, fostering industry and providingng the means for our people to create their own wealth and prosperity , this is the reason why I am proud to call myself a monarchist, a labourite and real Jamaican patriot

Labour Party Conference 2012

I had originally planned to write on a completely different topic today, a recent event has captured my attention which I feel I must share today, yesterday the Jamaica Labour Party celebrated its 69^th anniversary with the hosting of its annual National Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre. This 69^th anniversary was seen more as being more reflective than celebratory, this is quite understandable given their two recent defeats at the general elections last December and again at the local government polls last March, The JLP wanted a chance to reexamine itself and see what went wrong, how could it have lost two elections in a row?, they needed a chance to be revived and come back fresh and be ready to take on the ruling People’s National Party the next time that elections roll around, it was more or less a delegates conference so therefore I felt rather privileged that I was still invited and was glad I got a chance to attend.

The conference took on a much different format this year than before, this is of course it was mainly hosted for the delegates of the Jamaica Labour Party (although a small number of visitors showed up as well), this reduction in crowds meant several things, first of all less crowds meant a smaller and less impressive venue, conferences for both major parties are normally held at the National Arena which is a grand and electrifying venue filled with Jamaicans from all over coming to hear their leaders address them over a massive sound system, this year that was scaled down, also different this year was reduced level of excitement, everyone in Jamaica knows perfectly well that political rallies (Conference being the largest and most popular rally of all) are filled not only with orange clad comrades or green clad labourites  but with all sorts of tradesmen and vendors on the outskirts plying their wares, different persons  particular those from inner city garrison communities wearing the weirdest and funniest styles, amateur comedians and  drunkards making  fools of themselves giving the crowd a good laugh and of course who could forget the music that is designed to get the masses railed up and work them into a frenzy, none of that was seen at the JLP Conference this year instead it was more of a sombre mood where the delegates were gathered into caucus groups to discuss major issues affecting both the party and the country ranging from agriculture, the economy, youth affairs, local government and internal housekeeping matters to name a few.

If there was one thing that did not change however it was the speeches given by the senior officers of the Party inclusive of the Chairman, the Treasurer, the General Secretary and the Deputy Leaders for the four island area councils. As is traditional in both political parties, the highlight of the conference was the main address by the Party Leader and in this case The Right Honourable Andrew Holness did not disappoint in fact he surpassed even my expectation, he certainly caught my attention with his exhilarating speech and showed that Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is alive and well in this country. His speech touched on some of the most important issues affecting Jamaica today, and showed everyone the government’s true colours and how they mismanaged the country and particularly the economy and why his party would have done a better job had they been given the chance, his speech was one that reached out and touched persons of all classes while connecting the working class and the most vulnerable in society, he was careful not to ostracize the middle class or the professional groups, this balancing act was in my view a stroke of genius.

The speech by the Opposition Leader sounded more like a statesman than a politician and I must say I admire his patriotism, appealing to the concept of “Jamaica First” and full independence for Jamaica not like the ridiculous anti-monarchist propaganda put out by the Prime Minister and her cronies but rather something that was more concrete and spoke to the spirit of the Jamaican people and the values we hold so dear in this country. Although he did not say so explicitly he implied his abhorrence for the idea of a Jamaican republic similar to his budget debate speech  last May, this is what really grabbed me however (I paraphrase) “ Republic and CCJ will not make us more independent, the only way Jamaica can truly achieve true political independence and stand with the other nations of the world is when we achieve economic independence” , a brilliant speech from a brilliant man, I think it was his best one yet.

 All in all the conference was had its ups and downs with a few hiccups at the start which caused some of the JLP delegates to become angry (and I mean very angry) probably that was the Gen-Sec’s fault, but it ended on a very high note with exhilarating speeches  from the likes of Desmond Mackenzie, Audley “Man-a-Yard” Shaw and of course Party leader Andrew Holness among others, I’m glad I went and look forward to going back in 2013. 

I Vow To Thee My Country: Remembrance Day 2012

Yesterday, The World observed one of the most solemn days of the year, November 11 is a day known by many different names across many different countries, some call it Armistice Day, others say Poppy Day, some like the Americans know it at Veterans Day while here in Jamaica and in other parts of the British Commonwealth it is known as Remembrance Day. Regardless of the name given to it, they all basically mean the same thing, celebrating our brave servicemen and servicewomen who serve (or have served) in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force especially those who died to protect the liberties that we all prize today.  The Tradition of having this special day dedicated to our war heroes was  started early in the 20^th century and was originally meant for those who died during World Wars One and Two, November 11 was chosen because it was exactly on 11:00 that day that the Armistice was signed bringing an end to World War 1 in 1918.

                                                      

Preparations for Remembrance Day in Jamaica begin as early as mid September, with the launching of Annual Wings Appeal by the Royal Air Forces Association Jamaica Branch 580 following which is the Launch of the Annual Poppy Appeal by the Royal Jamaica Legion about two to three week later, both of which are done at Kings House under the Patronage of our Governor-General, the Legion and the RAFAJ are actually Jamaican Branches of Commonwealth-wide organisations, the Legion being part of the  British Commonwealth Ex-Servicemen’s League (of which His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh is President and Grand Patron) while the RAFAJ is part of the Royal Air Forces Associations so basically you could say both traditions are not unique to Jamaica but rather are part of a shared traditions practiced my many of our sister nations in other parts of the Commonwealth. The Appeals themselves are actually a means of raising money as a means to support our brave and dear veterans many of whom are now very old, some of which have very little for themselves regardless of that fact that they have given of themselves so selflessly in the service of their Queen and Country.

                                            

Remembrance Day itself is usually celebrated on the Second Sunday in November rather than on the actually November 11 (though thankfully this year the 11^th was a Sunday), the day begins with parades in parish capitals and the laying of wreaths at central locations, the main service itself is normally held at National Heroes Park where the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are Located (most countries has thier own cenotaph and a tomb of the unknown soldier), this ceremony is normally attended by many dignitaries including the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, Ministers of Government, Diplomats and members of the Royal Family when present, this is where the grandest parades are held and the biggest wreaths are laid. The highlight of the service however is the two minute silence which happens at exactly 11:00AM without fail, this is most solemn moment of the entire day where everyone pauses to reflect on those servicemen and servicewomen who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Following the end of the service the honoured veterans usually get to meet and greet the dignitaries at the service and to catch up with each other most times to reminisce on the glory days of serving in the armed forces

                                   

To be frank, Remembrance Day in Jamaica is no longer as popular as it used to be, gone are the days when the Legion would enlist the help of Primary Schools and High Schools in Poppy Appeals, when every schoolchild would get involved in helping the cause and get as much poppies sold as possible, gone are the days when remembrance services and parades used to broadcasted live on National Television so those who could not attend could still get to see the proceedings, there are persons in our society who don’t even know what a poppy represents and mock those  of us who still wear them some people don’t even bother to pause for 2 minutes at 11:00 anymore and it all be blamed on one thing: creeping republicanism, even the very concept of honouring our heroes is now being trivialised, it’s heart-breaking.

Hope is not lost, there are many who still remember the sacrifice of those who served in all the branches of our armed forces whether in peacetime or wartime, the Royal Jamaica Legion and the RAFAJ are still very much committed to ensuring that no matter what, their sacrifices will never be forgotten. These men and women gave all in service to Queen and Country and this is why they can proudly sing:

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above, Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;                                                                                                                                                                                    The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;                                                                                                                                                                                The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

                                      

“And We Will Remember them: Lest we forget”

The Big Race 2012: who will it be?

It has now come down to the wire, with only one day to go there’s only one Question on everybody’s lips, who will occupy the big seat for 2013-2017?, who will win the election up north, will incumbent Barack Obama be given a second chance? Or will he be upstaged by Mitt Romney?, having caught bits and pieces of the Campaign from  the Republican primaries all the way up the debates, I must say this is still anyone’s game according to the latest polls. Of course a recent experience here in Jamaica has taught me that the polls cannot always be trusted. Some may not know this but the people of the U.S. do not elect their president directly but rather indirectly and it may very well be possible however unlikely for a candidate to win the popular vote but still lose the election since votes are counted according to state not the individual and no state is more crucial than the swing states, since they are the ones that almost always determine the results.                       

Two things I must make special note of are the nature of campaigning and the cost, preparations for an election campaign begin as soon is the previous one is over, in other words it is a never ending cycle that in itself seems quite ridiculous candidates launch propaganda campaigns trying to make their opponents look bad oftentimes spinning the truth  in order to accomplish this goal, this leaves the nation heavily divided and may cause persons to become bitter if the candidate of their choice loses. Unlike a constitutional monarchy or even but to a lesser extent a parliamentary republic, in the United States and presidential systems, there is no separation between Head of State and Head of Government what this means that there is no living symbol of loyalty for the entire nation to rally around. “What about the post campaign healing process?”  “What about having the elected president trying to galvanize the whole nation to support him after he has been elected?”, some might ask, here’s my answer, this is unlikely seeing that is I said before Campaigning gets off the ground as soon as the last one ends that is precisely why Americans pledge allegiance to their flag, unlike us in the Commonwealth Realms who pledge our loyalty to a living being, our monarch, former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John MacDonald best sums it up this way “By adhering to the monarchical principle we avoid one defect inherent in the  American Constitution. By the election of the president by a majority and for a short period, he never is the sovereign and chief of the nation. He is never looked up to by the whole people as the head and front of the nation. He is at best but the successful leader of a party. This defect is all the greater on account of the practice of reelection.”

As everyone knows campaigning cost are massive, and many of the times donation to a candidate or a party are funded by private enterprises with billions of dollars being spent every election for endorsements and campaign ads which often times end with the words “I’m (name of candidate) and I approve this message", an election which should have been about the people is taken over by corporate mongols, U.S. based multinational corporations and  the wealthy business upper-class who have the most to gain from their candidate being declared as victor. 

In terms of who has the better policies I had originally been in full support of Mitt Romney obviously because he was more conservative , but after listening to the three debates I have come to different conclusion, Romney in fact has only excellent domestic policies but as far as foreign affairs is concerned the President still has the edge. Romney is a total disaster when it comes to foreign policy I mean seriously, "Russia is America’s number one geopolitical foe"? Where the hell did he get that from?, the last straw for me was insulting the British at the Olympics, in my book that is almost unforgivable as I consider myself a true anglophile. On the other hand I like the stance that he takes on domestic issues such as civil rights, health care, education taxation and how to get the American economy growing at a faster rate. The President is completely the opposite his domestic policies have been the downfall for the U.S. over the 4 years of his presidency leading to the reduction their once proud AAA credit rating, and the fact that the U.S. is now the largest debtor in the world, especially to China, one could not talk about Obama’s domestic policy without mentioning Obama-Care, the highlight of the President’s policy bitterly opposed by republicans, the very first thing that Romney plans on repealing if elected. His foreign policy however includes more inclusion and more idealism rather than typical Romney Style realism, whose only aim is for the U.S. domination of all other nations, that kind of politics is impractical in this day and age given the nature of the international system which Romney has continuously demonstrated that he doesn’t fully  understand.

Like I said before this election is still anybody’s game, the United States and the world watches with bated breath to see what the outcome will be on Tuesday night and who will get the chance to lead America for the next four years until 2016 when the process is done all over again

Jamaica's Double Jubilee 2012

Double Jubilee

2012 is indeed a special year marked with many different festivities all around the world.  This year some countries such as Trinidad/Tobago and Uganda are celebrating their Golden Jubilees as independent nations having gained full sovereignty in 1962 while at the same time Commonwealth Realms are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II who ascended the throne 60 years ago in 1952. Jamaica however has the unique distinction of being the only country in the world to be celebrating both occasions at the same time, so in other words you could say that this is a year of double jubilee for us. This year has been marked by many different events and festive occasions all throughout the year some of them included, the Jubilee year kick-off on the water front of Kingston Harbour on New Year’s Day,  The visit By His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales in March, a host of activities taking place island wide  both during  Central weekend (which is the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation) in June and  “Emancipendence “week (celebrating both Emancipation and Independence)  from August 1 to August 6,  The Jamaica Defence Force Military Tattoo, held roughly around the same time as the Jubilee weekend armed forces parade in London, National Heroes Day ceremonies in mid-October as well as special presentations of Jubilee medals held throughout the year.

                                              

 The Fact that we are celebrating both occasions at the same time only goes to underscore the special relationship that we as Jamaicans have with our monarchy and with our Queen, highlighting the cultural values heritage and achievements of this great nation coupled with a celebration of the Queen’s unbroken 60 years of service to her people is about as patriotic as one can get  as this truly highlights the best of both worlds of all that is truly Jamaican in us. I  find it disheartening that republicans particularly those in government who swore to uphold the constitution are taking issue with the double celebration, their excuse is that 50 years is too long to remain a monarchy and so “time come” for a republic, what kind of logic is that? I did not know that our constitution had a 50 year warranty on it, I would very much like for someone to show me that clause. I cannot for the life of me see why these people so keen to push the issue and their only justification for it is “time come” time for what? I must ask .

50 years of independence means 50 years of constitutional monarchy as was enshrined in our 1962 constitution, 50 years of democratic stability which remains uninterrupted by a major coup or revolution all of which happened during the reign of our present Queen who as reigned well for the last 60 years over the people of Jamaica and other countries within the British Commonwealth of Nations. Why in the world would anyone want to throw that down the toilet now? It’s not broke, so why “fix” it? 

                                    

This year of jubilee should be about celebrating the past and looking to the future, it should be about reconnecting ourselves with our heritage and everything that makes us Jamaican and while I’m on that point let me state categorically that there is nothing authentically Jamaican or patriotic about a republic there is no historical or cultural basis for establishing that system here for ‘We Jamaicans are not natural republicans’ as Sir Howard Cooke rightly puts it. Monarchy on the other hand according to former Tourism minister Anthony Abrahams “has been etched in the Jamaican Psyche”.  And such it is quite fitting the Golden Jubilee of our independence should be celebrated in the same year as Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen calls it the irony of history.

  The connection between the Jubilees is too hard not to notice, this coincidence is not to seen as  one of conflict but to be taken as a sign of how much the monarchy means to us on this our 50^th year of independence and why we should do everything we can to preserve it. God Bless Jamaica Land we Love and God Save the Queen.