Roti and Doubles 052212

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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 7 • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22ND 2013

CARIBBEAN NEWS, EVENTS, HEALTH, LIFESTYLE & MORE

ROTI AND DOUBLES

Bringing Authentic Trini flavor to Toronto Local Scarborough shop brings Trinidad style.

EMILY SINGH/TORONTO CARIBBEAN

TORONTO -- Since its doors opened on March 16th, Sammy’s Roti and Doubles has definately been the talk of the town. Located on 3340 Lawrence Avenue East, Sammy’s is the go to place for hot doubles, complete with the authentic Trinidadian experience. It doesn’t stop at just doubles; their menu includes everything from stew fish, oxtail and saheena to cool Solo beverages imported from Trinidad.

Newly opened and ready to go, Sammy Sookdeo along with his mother Sita have been busy serving up hot roti

and doubles to a diverse crowd. Always packed, Sammy’s is a new favorite for everyone in the community coming from near and far for a taste of Trinidad. What sets Sammy’s apart from the typical roti and doubles shop is the authentic Trinidadian experience. They serve up hot and fresh doubles straight from a cooler, where in front of your eyes you see Sammy himself put together the fresh bara and channa complete with chutney.

“I’ve been to many places and have always been a doubles lover, but the freshness and spiciness of the chut-

ney here is unlike any other doubles shop in Scarborough, I love it.” Commented first time customer Shanta.

The inviting family friendly atmosphere combined with delicious home cooked West Indian favorites will no doubt satisfy your taste buds as well as have you reminiscing about the islands.

What sets Sammy’s Roti and Doubles apart from the rest? Well from the mouth of Sammy himself, it’s the taste! As summer approaches make sure to pay Sammy’s a visit you won’t be disappointed!

2 Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Plot to cover up section 34

Emily,

19, is an aspiring Journalist, currently pursuing her bachelor of journalism degree. This Guyanese beauty is outgoing and adventurous.

Emily enjoys writing, fashion, beauty, art, being outdoors and spending time with friends and family. You can catch Emily and her work in every edition of the Toronto Caribbean.

TRINIDAD -- Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley wants the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Integrity Commission to probe e-mails purportedly bearing the names of frontline government officials who allegedly wanted to tap the DPP’s phone after the Section 34 furore. Rowley also claimed the e-mails revealed moves to shift the DPP to the judiciary and further discussed intended intimidation of a T&T Guardian reporter who broke the Section 34 story last September.

The PNM leader alleged the contents of the e-mails were all part of a conspiracy which was afoot among Government’s frontline members last September to deal with the heated situation the administration had to face when the Section 34 issue broke. Rowley dropped the bombshells when he launched yesterday’s Parliament debate on his motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Government. In an immediate response, Persad-Bissessar announced that she had written acting Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams, to start a probe into the claims.

Rowley said he had received the package of 31 e-mails on the Section 34 issue from a whistleblower six months ago and had sent it to the President. He gave the email addresses as “kamlapb1@gmail.com”, “anan@gmail.com”, “captaingarygriffith@ hotmail” and “surujrambachan@hotmail”.

Rowley said the body of e-mails covered 17 days in September 2012 when Government was called upon to answer on the Section 34 issue. He said the unnamed whistleblower was a source who wanted the public to know about the situation and the information in the e-mails “points to grievous wrongdoing on the part of officials who had failed to answer questions on the issue.”

He cited the exchange of e-mails in that regard, particularly between the “kamlapb1” address and the “anan” address. He also noted that a particular target of the email discussion was the DPP. Rowley noted one September 10 e-mail at the height of the Section 34 furore, in which “taps” were being sought for the DPP’s phones and a September 11 e-mail which alluded to offering the DPP a post in the judiciary and finding a replacement for him. He said: “They had problems with the DPP and it could only be solved by him being removed and bringing in a replacement.”

Rowley also cited how the owners of the e-mail addresses spoke about T&T Guardian reporter Denyse Renne, who had

written the September 9, 2012, story which broke the Section 34 fiasco, how upset they were about that and what they wanted to do as a result. After those particular e-mails a vicious slanderous attack was launched against Renne on the Internet. “I leave you to come to the conclusions where there was any connection between the intent and the instructions in those e-mails,” he said. Rowley added: “This package of e-mails points to high crimes in the office of T&T. This matter, because of the nature of it, requires the urgent attention on the part of T&T because the one thing we cannot do is take the Government’s word.”

He said it may be that the proper examination of the e-mails would show that the mandate the Government received in May 2010 was sold for financial gains and the Government “was in the employ of people who used the Government’s mandate to protect themselves from courts locally and abroad.”

Rowley also called on the DPP to examine what was said in Parliament yesterday and called on the Integrity Commission to discharge its responsibility to oversee the conduct of public officers. In the absence of an Integrity Commission, Rowley called on the President to ensure that body was appointed swiftly. Noting the comments made in the emails about Renne, for instance, Rowley said that was a harbinger of “terrible things “ and was how the mafiosi spoke when they met to discuss “people who were in their way.”

Noting one September 8 e-mail which spoke of calling a meeting, Rowley said the Prime Minister did indeed hold a special Cabinet meeting on September 10 on Section 34. “That September 8 e-mail seems to have been a harbinger of things to come.

I leave you to draw your own conclusions,” he added. He also noted a September 19 email on advice to fire former justice minister Herbert Volney, who was fired in connection with Section 34 on September 21. Rowley several times referred to former US president Richard Nixon and the Watergate issue, saying the same thing had happened there.

There was largely dead silence on the PP side as Rowley spoke. AG Ramlogan took notes as the PNM leader talked. Before Rowley concluded, House Leader Roodal Moonilal asked to see copies of the e-mails. Moonilal later went over to the AG’s desk to confer with him. When Ramlogan was replying, PP backbencher Herbert Volney got up and left.

Moonilal yesterday said debate would last four days, possibly ending Thursday. (Trinidad Gardian)

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Accused cop killer remanded - prosecution has total of 17 witnesses, defence has lots of alibi evidence

GUYANA -- Twenty six year old Shaka Chase of 169 East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, yesterday appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry charged with the murder of Police Corporal, Romain Cleto.

Chase was remanded to prison until Thursday.

Particulars of the offence said that on April 27 near Avenue of the Republic and Regent Street, Georgetown, around 6:45 PM, Chase murdered Romain Cleto, a police officer acting in the execution of his duty.

The accused was represented by three attorneys - Mr. Nigel Hughes, Mr. James Bond and Mr. Mark Waldron.

According to Mr. Hughes, on the night of the incident, the accused was told that the police were using his name on the radio in relation to the murder of officer Cleto.

His client was at a Bar-B-Que the entire day, and later visited the police station, where he was held in custody for three days.

He was released and rearrested on Thursday last.

The defence lawyer said that his client was tortured and forced to sign a statement, when he was not aware of the content.

He added that there are several persons who can testify to the whereabouts of the accused at the time of the incident.

Those persons were instructed to give alibi statements and it is understood that more than eight of them went to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters at Eve Leary to do so. However, the police declined to take the statements.

Hughes said that he had also emailed the statements to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and it was confirmed that these had been received.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Natasha Blackman was forced to give statements by the police and to admit that she had seen Shaka Chase in a white car. Two other witnesses for the defence are a traffic officer and a shopkeeper.

According to police prosecutor

Ramsahoye Rambajue, there are a total of 17 witnesses but he would not be able to say how many of them are actually eyewitnesses.

Attorney Mr. James Bond told the court that the police conduct in relation to Chase was indeed terrible as he had been shocked while being tortured for hours.

He then named three officers who were responsible for torturing the accused as Reid, Narine and Melville, adding that they caused him to defecate on himself no less than five times. He then had no other alternative but to sign the statements. Bond said that he visited the police station and took new trousers for the accused since he had to dispose of the one which he had messed up earlier. Bond added that the police have no respect for Chase.

Packed courtroom Following the hearing in a packed-to-capacity courtroom yesterday morning, family members, friends and supporters of the murder accused cried aloud as the man was brought out of the courthouse and taken into the court lockups.

Some persons breached police barricades and jostled police officers, both armed and unarmed, as they tried to give kisses and hugs to the accused who was being sent to the Camp Street prison until Thursday.

His sister who spoke with the media outside the courthouse said that they are not buying the story that their relative had killed a member of the Guyana Police Force while on duty.

On the fatal night when Corporal Cleto was shot dead, two other police ranks were injured and had to seek medical attention for injuries sustained from gunshots and shattered glass. That same night the police vowed that no stone would be left unturned in their efforts to bring the cop killer to justice. (Guyana Chronicle)

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

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TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Alternative to landfills needed says PoS mayor TRINIDAD -- Port- of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing and environmentalists agree that this country needs to shut down landfills and find an alternative to garbage disposal.

This comes after a blanket of “toxic smoke” hovered over Port-of-Spain for the fourth consecutive day yesterday. Lee Sing said the corporation was not responsible for the landfill but added that it did dispose of the city’s garbage at the site.

He said the fumes and smoke coming from the area were of tremendous concern but not a new issue. “We need a modern approach and we need to move from landfills to, maybe, incinerators.” Lee Sing said he had raised the issue with former local government minister Chandresh Sharma and the present Local Government Minister, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan. “The system I proposed is efficient and eco-friendly. If remnants come out of the incinerator, they can be used to make floor tiles,” Lee Sing said.

He said the country was not showing enough concern for environmental issues. “We seem almost not to care, and I can only conclude that it is out of ignorance. “We live in a country where our land resource is limited.

We should be concerned with the impact the landfill is having on our coastline and fisheries.”

Stephen Harris, director of SAVE (Secure A Vibrant Environment), an NGO with a mandate of fostering better recycling practices, told the T&T Guardian the smoke in the city was a huge opportunity for Government to look at implementing recycling as an alternative to landfills. He said it is also time for Government to look at how the Green Fund was being utilised. The Green

Fund is an environment fund that facilitates grants to organisations and community groups engaged in conservation. The fund currently holds nearly $3 billion and has disbursed just over $1.5 billion. “The disbursement of funds from the Green Fund does not match the need for environmental conservation measures,” Harris said.

Environmentalist and director of the Papa Bois Conservation group Stephen Broadbridge suggested the way to deal with solid waste could be found externally. He said plastics, metal tins and a host of other materials could be exported and sold. “The waste material should not be smoking out our cities. They should be packaged and sent abroad to the countries willing to buy them.”

Broadbridge said the Beetham dump had been neglected for a long time. “People that scavenge at the dump are at risk but they also create problems. Besides lighting fires, they burn plastics at the side of the road in plain sight.”

Broadbridge said the country should not have material to burn in the first place, adding that Beetham was not the only dump creating health risks. “We should not have any dump.”

The smoke coming from the Beetham landfill is not a singular occurrence. In February, smoke billowed toward the city from the area for several days.Then the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) said the responsibility for the site lay with the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL). Yesterday, EMA CEO Joth Singh did not answer eight phone calls to his mobile phone. (Trinidad Guardian)

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

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6 Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Lost Hope... The mystery of two sugar workers who disappeared eight years ago GUYANA -- Monday marked eight years since two sugar workers, Maikhram Sawh also known as Bharat, 46, of Section ‘B’ Non Pareil and Sampersaud Taranauth called “Shammie”, 37, of Fernandes Street, Enterprise, East Coast Demerara, went missing while on duty.

The men were employed by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and left their respective homes to go to work but never returned.

The two sugar workers, who were the sole breadwinners for their families, mysteriously disappeared on May 21, 2005 while cleaning a GuySuCo drainage canal aback the then violence-prone East Coast Demerara village of Vigilance.

It has been exactly eight distressing years since the two men’s puzzling disappearance in the hazardous East Coast backlands.

Wife of Maikhram Sawh, Jaswanttie, yesterday during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle said that all hopes of her husband ever returning home has faded and she has come to the realisation that he is no more.

However difficult to accept, she knows that he will never return home and has learnt to cope with the loss.

Awaiting compensation The woman said that she is still awaiting word from GuySuCo about compensation since she had a meeting with officials early this year and they promised to telephone, noting that after seven years she would receive some sort of monetary payout.

Jaswanttie Sawh was, however, thankful to Bibi Shadick (former Minister of Human Services and Social Security) who assisted her in securing some documents, including her husband’s Death Certificate, his National Insurance Scheme (NIS) benefits and some papers for her property.

She explained that Shadick was very instrumental and she appreciates the gesture because, since her loved one disappeared not many persons had come forward to offer any assistance.

The grieving woman added that she supports herself by tending to a kitchen

garden in her yard and she sells the produce but within recent times she became ill and is unable to do much gardening.

J a s wanttie Sawh told the Guyana Chronicle that to date they haven’t had closure since his body was never found nor did hey receive any ransom call.

She stated that over the years no telephone calls came as to his whereabouts and hope of ever seeing him alive again dimmed significantly because they are unsure of what happened to him.

Meanwhile, Taranauth’s wife, Kamini was not at home yesterday when the Guyana Chronicle visited her home.

She is left to tend to three schoolaged daughters and supports them by doing ‘domestic’ work three days per week.

Kamini too is yet to receive her husband’s benefits.

At 06:00hrs on May 21, 2005, in

Enterprise Village, on the East Coast of Demerara, young housewife Kamini Taranauth said goodbye to her husband, GuySuCo employee Sampersaud Taranauth, as he left for work in the backlands of the neighbouring village, Buxton, during a very turbulent period in Guyana’s history. He never returned home, neither did another associate with whom he worked, Maikhram Sawh.

Kamini became worried when her husband did not return home for lunch at midday, which he never failed to do, and she called her brother-in-law, Mr. Kamo Persaud, who, together with other GuySuCo personnel, mounted a search for the missing man, with no success. Only his bicycle and breakfast bag were retrieved from the scene of his disappearance; but highly visible were drag marks leading into the bushes of the Buxton backdam.

Kamini recalled that she stood on the street outside of her home that very afternoon and witnessed a huge fire aback of Buxton. Until today, because no body was found, there is no legal resolution to her plight and she is left alone to fend for her three daughters who were just aged five years, three years, and six months, when their very loving and hard-working father, who always tended to their needs, disappeared from their lives. (Guyana Chronicle)

8 Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

How Senate President Floyd Morris overcame the horrible sentence of blindness JAMAICA -- Senator Floyd Emerson Morris continued his climb up the ladder of history on May 17, 2013 when he was sworn in as the first blind president of the Jamaican Senate. The extraordinary story of the life of Floyd Morris and his dizzying rise from quiet Bailey’s Vale, St Mary, to heights of power in the Jamaican parliament, was told in the award-winning Desmond Allen Interviews written in November 2004. Read on and be amazed: In a world of constant darkness, where hope is a rare commodity and cynicism always just inches below the surface, how deep must one reach into life’s entrails to extract the courage to become a leader among sighted men? Or, what manner of man is this Floyd Morris that he can so overwhelmingly overcome the horrible sentence of blindness and turn his life into the ultimate inspiration to a generation of people made disabled by unkind accidents of fate?

These are questions, it seems, that are best directed at the Creator of life Himself. And Floyd Morris lives by the genius of that creation, his existence incontrovertible evidence of the goodness of man and an indisputable fact that in the hearts of many Jamaicans flow copiously the fabled milk of human kindness.

Blind at 17 on the brink of emerging manhood, Morris would have to overcome dreadful anger, depression, postponed ambitions, the ignorance of people who knew not how to deal with blindness and the threat of yielding to the doubting voice that whispered ‘it’s over for you, give up!’ But once he had found the courage in his heart to go on, he blazed a trail that is one for the annals of Jamaican and disabled community history.

He’ll speak forever about the Mico College years, transforming the naysayers into believers; the challenges of being a student leader and later lecturer at the University of the West Indies where his intellect was nurtured, and where he grilled Prime Minister PJ Patterson at a student meeting, not knowing that that fiery encounter would set him on a path to national leadership. In time, Patterson himself would name him as senator and junior minister for social security.

Not long after going blind from unyielding glaucoma, it was to the land that Morris turned to regain his sense of worth, becoming a poultry farmer of no mean order and recalling how he learnt to walk among the young chicks without crushing them underfoot. He’d learn to adopt in many other areas too, as the twists and turns of his life moved relentlessly towards greatness.

Born to exceptional destiny In Bailey’s Vale, two miles out of Port Maria, St Mary, Jemita Pryce, a lowly dressmaker, gave birth to Floyd Emerson Morris, born to exceptional destiny, on July 23, 1969. He was one of eight children - five boys and three girls. His father was Lloyd Morris, a fireman. His siblings are: Ralston McNish; Conrad McNish; Clive McNish; Clive Nanco; KC Whyte; Glasmine McNish; Diane Campbell and Claudia Edwards.

There was a quiet vibrancy to Bailey’s Vale, lying on the outskirts of the St

Mary capital. Morris came to know that his family was very popular in the community.

He, in particular, stood out for the size of his large navel with which he played while sucking his finger, and ‘bow legs’ that suggested he would never walk properly. His mother pampered him, using ‘nipple bottles’ to feed him with, even at basic school -- the one run by Joyce Eccleston. The bow legs eventually straightened out, without surgery, he remarks.

Morris went to the Port Maria Primary School where as a bright student, he enjoyed the love and affection of his teachers. Among them, Janet Rose-Bryan -- now with the Social Development Commission in St Mary -- stood out for the attention she gave him. She later taught him in Grade Five and at the St Mary High where she became the guidance counsellor.

In Grade six, he was placed in the class taught by Miss Morgan, renowned at the time for her successes in the Common Entrance Examination which has since been replaced by the Grade Six Achievement Test, or GSAT. All the brightest students were in Miss Morgan’s class, he recalls. They included Richard Creary, now deputy mayor of Port Maria and his siblings; the children of the Chungs, a business family; Colin Davis who is currently doing his PhD at Indiana State University; his cousin, Lt Col Daniel Pryce and Leslie-Ann Thompson who is a director at the SuperClubs and daughter of the principal, L S Thompson.

Those were days of innocence in Bailey’s Vale which seemed oblivious to the viciously tribalised world of city politics of the 1970s to 1980s. Morris remembers that he and his childhood friends argued about politics but never fought. For example, “I was shouting for ‘Joshua’ (People’s National Party’s Michael Manley), and Richard Creary was shouting for ‘Papa Eddie’ (Jamaica Labour Party’s Edward Seaga). But we walked home together afterwards,” he says, contrasting then and now.

Bobby Montague took set on me After Common Entrance, he went to St Mary High in 1981 where he discovered a love for Spanish under Mrs Pickersgill. At school, he used to have “serious run-ins” with Bobby Montague, now mayor, admitting that “I was very argumentative and willing to defend my beliefs”. On one occasion, Montague who was deputy head boy, tackled Morris about wearing white bobby socks against the school rules. Morris insisted the prefect had no jurisdiction over him off the school compound and “he took set on me after that, even giving me toilet paper to write lines saying ‘I must learn to behave myself’”. It had nothing to do with politics, since at the time neither knew the other’s preferences.

Morris got into a lot of trouble being so argumentative and sometimes mischievous. He took on a teacher for punishing the boys as well when it was the girls who were behaving badly and was dispatched to the grade supervisor for discipline. He remembers the solidarity among classmates when one day, a boy in his class used a rubber band as a missile launcher to shoot a prefect. Nobody talked and so they were all

sent to the principal, EU Cargill who turned them over to Captain Johnson, the chemistry teacher and disciplinarian. Johnson caned them “in front of the most beautiful girls in the school, among them some I was fooling around with”.

Going blind After Pickersgill left the school, Morris transferred his love from Spanish to history and other arts subjects. Up to now, he had been enjoying school at St Mary High, playing football and cricket and generally being a sports enthusiast. His grades were good and he was always among the best students.

Based on his performance he was promoted to Grade Nine. Here now Morris would begin to go blind, a gradual process that brought emotional pain and depression as he underwent a life-changing event for which no one or nothing could have prepared him.

This was 1983. He had just turned 14. Returning to school after the long summer break, he took his seat, as usual, at the back of the class. For the first time, he realised that he was not seeing the blackboard well from there. His sight was blurred. He spoke to the guidance counsellor who referred him to an optometrist. He recommended glasses, noting that something was wrong with his right eye. But the problem persisted. He was then referred to the University Hospital of the West Indies where he was hit with the cruel news. They had discovered he had glaucoma, the ravaging eye disease which is among the most responsible for blindness in the world. It was hard to take.

“It slowed me down considerably. I could no longer play cricket, football or the other games I loved,” Morris relates. “When I started to have sight problems, the teachers did not know how to deal with it. However, they put me to sit in the front of the class so that I could see the blackboard better.” He remembers his form teacher at Grade Ten, Lorraine Gillis, now a chartered accountant with the Jamaica Deposit Insurance Corporation, and with whom he has remained great friends. She worked patiently with him and she was wonderful, he recalls.

He chose business subjects, having long cherished an ambition to become a chartered accountant himself. But as his sight worsened, he was forced to give up typing and writing shorthand. By the time he reached Grade Eleven, his performance was being seriously affected. This was CXC year.

In his most dismal performance to date, he failed to pass even one subject. “I could not even complete paper two of the exams,” he recounts. With no subjects, he left St Mary High to a future that seemed completely blank and desperate. Depression swept over him like an angry tide. Where goest thou now, Floyd Morris? was the obvious question. And the tragedy was that he had no answer. Not immediately anyway.

Morris remembers 1986 to 1990 as “the most traumatic period of my life”. His father by then had migrated to Canada, leaving his mother to fend for herself and the children.

Continued On Page 9

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

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Overcoming the sentence of blindness Continued From Page 8 -- Morris remembers 1986 to 1990 as “the most traumatic period of my life”. His father by then had migrated to Canada, leaving his mother to fend for herself and the children. It was to his brother, Ralston, a public health inspector that the family had to look for sustenance. His mother was getting very little work now. She had been a big supporter of the PNP and was used to getting work from the parish council and the Member of Parliament Horace Clarke.

In the 1980s, a new party was in power and the work dried up.

A bad time to be going blind At 17, the powerful years of early manhood were emerging but Morris’ life was in recession. His teenage joys had turned to sorrow, as he watched his friends and classmates move on to college and other endeavours. It was a bad time to be going blind. Knowing his own potential that would now be unrealised, he brooded, then became aggressive, getting into fights all the time, particularly with his nieces and nephews who were staying with his mother.

One of the last things of note that he would see was Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988. Then one day, finally, in 1989, everything went black and he was fully blind at 20. “I noticed that I could not see anything before me. There was a glimmer of light but I could not see anybody’s face,” Morris recalls of that tragic moment.

All the treatment he had been getting at the University Hospital and from several other doctors, including all the reputed eye specialists, was to no avail. The glaucoma refused to respond to heavy medication or laser operations, and nothing they did could control the pressure in the eyes.

Morris’ anger and depression knew no bounds. But he reached inside for something he did not know was there.

“I recalled my pastor telling me

that ‘when God put a full stop, you don’t dare put a comma’. You don’t always know what he wants for you,” says Morris. Looking forward, he decided that he would like to raise some chickens. Even family members laughed at him. However, a devoted paternal aunt, Fay Gaynor, gave him money for 50 chickens. The man he asked to buy the chicks gave him only 33 but he worked with that and made money which he saved with the credit union.

“One of the good things about the human body is that it is designed with many coping mechanisms. For example, if you lose your hearing, your sight is activated and vice versa. My sense of touch heightened and I was able to design the coop so that I would not crush the young chicks. I learnt how to work with them and expanded the business.”

Horace Clarke returns to power In 1989, the PNP returned to government, with Horace Clarke again becoming the MP for Central St Mary. Clarke had known young Floyd for many years. His mother was one of his strongest supporters. His admiration for the young man had grown.

Despite his blindness, he had gone into poultry farming and just needed a little more help to expand his operation. Clarke remembered how he himself had gone into politics as a young man many years before... just for this very thing. He decided he would support this story of courage and hope that was the life of Floyd Emerson Morris.

With the support he received from the MP, Morris was up to 200 chickens now. As his pride swelled with the chirping of the birds, he made a pledge to himself. Never would he support the kind of tribalism that had thrown his mother out of work in the 1980s. “My family was the victim of that politics and I vowed never would I engage in it.” To bear out this pledge, Morris has known JLP support-

ers among his farmhands. “I am sure there are JLP people who could say the same of PNP.” His mother now operates the chicken farm, while he has 27 acres under pepper, pumpkin and sweet potato, mainly for export, employing up to 10 people at peak.

Dorraine Samuels and the JSB During the time Morris was fighting his depression, he found solace and comfort in an unlikely source -- the radio. He listened all the time to the reassuring voice of Dorraine Samuels on RJR. “I fell in love with radio and through Dorraine Samuels I saw the power and majesty of radio. You can become a friend of someone you don’t even know. I listened to her every morning,” he confesses. On a particularly hard morning, Samuels featured the Jamaica Society for the Blind (JSB).

Morris was so influenced by the broadcast that he decided he no longer wanted to become a chartered accountant.

Now he would be a radio announcer. He called up Samuels on the phone and she told him that there were other blind people who worked in radio, like the top-rated Patrick Lafayette currently with KOOlFM, so he could do it. From the broadcast on the JSB, he learnt of the possibilities for gaining skills he could use to better manage as a blind person. And after overcoming the initial fear of coming to Kingston - with encouragement from his mother and brother, Ralston who was now living in the capital city -- he turned up at the Society for the Blind in September 1991 to begin the first tentative steps towards a new life.

At the JSB, he made arrangements to study to qualify himself to go to university. He learnt to read and write Braille, becoming the fastest learner when he completed the training in five weeks. It marked a new lease on life. The Braille instrument and language were developed by the French military in World War 11 when they needed to be able to communicate in

the dark. It is based on a system of (six) raised dots configured to form symbols for letters and numbers. The fingers are used to feel the dots. When the dark clouds of war dissipated, Braille was adapted as a revolutionary tool for the blind, representing the dawn of a new quality of life for those who could no longer see. Morris was now a new man. “I was so excited by my new skills,” he discloses.

Campion says sorry, we can’t take you At the JSB, he was struck by the enormous kindness of a great many people he was now meeting. He remembers blind people like Conrad Harris, Wendy Williams, Barbara McKoy, Ann-Marie McDonald and Inkswel Douglas, among others who used to attend the JSB to study or have volunteers read for them. Harris was attending the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (Carimac) at UWI and Morris reasoned that if he could do it, so could he.

Suddenly, life seemed to make sense all over again. Morris could now envision a future based on a productive life in which he could pursue a profession and career and make himself a man. He needed not rely for his every need to be fulfilled by someone else. On the horizon, new hope shone bright.

With this attitude, he approached the evening school at the Campion College to do some CXCs. The co-ordinator at the time looked him over and thought to himself: “is this guy really serious?” Wasting no time, he bluntly told Morris that the children there were very bright and he would be unable to keep up with them because of his blindness. Sorry, he could not accept him. It was a crushing blow to Morris. He had all these plans to do so much and was brimming with enthusiasm.

And now this. He could not understand why this cruel obstacle was being put in his way. Was this the end of his dreams?

(Jamaica Observer)

10 Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Crime now at uptown doorsteps Some traditional hot spots cooled by cops

JAMAICA -- A study undertaken by the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) has shown that murders are no longer confined to the usual hot spots but have spread to more diverse communities across the island.

Traditionally, murders and violent crimes were committed in a clustered pattern around urban areas, namely the Kingston Metropolitan Region, sections of St Catherine and Montego Bay, St James, but the study has shown that more murders are being committed in non-traditional areas and are slowly creeping up to the doorsteps of persons who live in communities once thought sterile.

“The implications of this are that murders are becoming less concentrated in typical areas of violence and becoming more dispersed spatially,” the report stated.

The study, which was undertaken between 2007and 2012, praised some policing initiatives which it stated had resulted in gang members, who used to be holed up in the safe haven of their garrison communities, fleeing to other areas because of sustained police presence in their domain.

The once murder-prone communities of Gravel Heights and

Tredegar Park in Spanish Town, St Catherine, where beheadings were commonplace, have now become the domain of the police after sustained pressure by the cops who set up police posts and chased out the troublemakers.

There have been no murders in both communities in over a year and life, for law-abiding citizens who reside there, has returned to normal.

“While still very much clustered in distribution, the reduction in clustering and overall murder count means that some policing strategies are working, but these have to continue to adapt and evolve as patterns shift and change,” the report also stated.

In 2007, some 1,578 murders were logged on police blotters but that figure dropped to 1,002 last year.

The VPA also revealed that violence in communities and homes was having a devastating effect on the nation’s children and had been impacting the education system, as more children had been arming themselves and resorting to violence to resolve conflicts.

“Violence impacts on the education system both psychologically and economically. Some children do

not attend school because their parents cannot afford it, while others have difficulty because the violent environment feeds feelings of anxiety and powerlessness. In turn, the resulting educational deficiencies feed further violence,” another study undertaken by the VPA stated.

Children who failed to meet the required academic standard or who passed through the school system and left functionally illiterate were also more likely to be attracted by the lure of gangsterism and the gun culture, the VPA argued.

Ministry of Education statistics reveal that nine per cent of students taking the Grade Four Literacy Test achieve non-mastery status while another 20 per cent achieve almost mastery status.

“A relationship has been shown between illiteracy and violence; those who are illiterate are twice as likely to have been in fights, belonged to a gang or carried a weapon to school. Children who leave school without sufficient education are more likely to be drawn into illicit activities such as prostitution, extortion, narcotics and robbery,” the study said.

(Jamaica Observer)

Study what you teach!

Gov’t forking out $2.5-b for vacation, study leave for teachers, says Thwaites JAMAICA -- Education Minister Rev Ronald Thwaites has been on a collision course with the powerful Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) on teachers seeking to acquire higher education to take courses related to their jobs.

Thwaites made the call last week at a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kingston, folllowing his disclosure, in his contribution to the sectoral debate in Parliament, that taxpayers were footing a huge bill of $2.5 billion for study and vacation leave for teachers.

He pointed to the case of an educator who had obtained four degrees in guidance counselling but was actually teaching mathematics and science.

“We now know that there are hundreds, more than a thousand, in that situation. We insist that the course of study that is being undertaken should be relevant to one’s teaching obligations,” he said.

Teachers are currently entitled to one year fully paid study leave af-

ter two years’ service and teachers employed before 2003 can apply for 54 days’ leave with pay and another 40 days vacation with half pay. Those who are employed after 2003 can apply for 40 days vacation with full pay and another 28 days more with half pay.

He also sought to rubbish claims that the Government was moving to abolish study leave for teachers who are employed for two years.

“There is going to be no termination, that is a misunderstanding that I am anxious to correct. What we are asking the co-operation of the teachers for is a modification. As far as study

leave is concerned we encourage the teachers to improve their qualifications as much as possible,” he said.

Thwaites lamented that most teachers do not opt to take distance learning courses and said as a result the state was saddled with the bill to pay substitute teachers who were employed to fill the breach as well as pay the teachers who are granted study leave.

“We are encouraging them to go and pursue tertiary studies but we can’t let them out of the classroom,” he said.

More than 30 per cent of tertiary students in Jamaica do not take residential courses but study by distance learning, and Thwaites promised teachers who took up distance learning and maintained above-average performance in the classroom, that the ministry would bear half of their yearly tuition fees.

Since Thwaites’ revelation, both the minister and JTA have been involved in heated debate on the talkshow circuit. (Jamaica Observer)

12 Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Forensic laboratory scheduled for June completion - equipment to begin arriving next week GUYANA -- The Forensic Laboratory currently under construction is scheduled to be completed by June 17 this year. This was disclosed by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee at a press conference last Friday at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA).

The minister added that the equipment for the Forensic Laboratory will arrive in the country next week and 38 applicants will be interviewed for 21 positions which will be done by a panel.

Rohee said competition for the positions available is stiff but it is up to the panel to determine, based on the qualifications of those who applied.

The state-of-the-art Forensic Laboratory is located at Dennis Street, Sophia, Greater Georgetown and it is situated within the precincts of the University of Guyana (UG).

This facility will bring Guyana’s forensic capability on par with those in the developed world, and will allow for a high level of confidentiality, credibility and integrity between law enforcement agencies and the public.

In December, a US$1.688M contract was signed by the MoHA and Western Scientific Company for the supply of scientific equipment for the facility, which, when completed, will be the best forensic lab in the Caribbean

and one that could withstand scrutiny from any other facility in the world.

In September 2010 the sod was turned for the construction of the Forensic Laboratory.

The cost of the project is $700M ($500M for construction and $200M for equipment).

The construction of the laboratory was facilitated through an agreement signed between the Government of Guyana and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as part of the institutional strengthening component of the Citizens Security Programme (CSP).

Over the years, the Guyana Police Force has been at a disadvantage in carrying out effective investigations as it relates to criminal matters, resulting in many unsolved cases. However, the completion of this laboratory will significantly improve local forensic capabilities, thereby enhancing the security sector.

Government being cognisant of the need for more advanced technology to enhance the crime-fighting capacity of the Guyana Police Force has embarked on several ground-breaking initiatives to ensure that the security sector is fully geared to deal with emerging challenges. (Guyana Chronicle)

PM orders CoP to probe allegations TRINIDAD -- Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday described as a con job the presentation of “fabricated” e-mails by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley on the Section 34 fiasco.

Persad-Bissessar said the matter was “a total, total fabrication,” as she did not send those e-mails in the month of September last year, after the T&T Guardian published an exclusive story about the early proclamation of Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceeding) Bill 2011.

The legislation was subsequently hurriedly repealed in emergency sittings of the House of Representatives and the Senate in early September. Rowley yesterday presented copies of 31 emails during his presentation of a motion of lack of confidence in the PM and the PP Government. Persad-Bissessar called a news conference at Parliament at the Waterfront, Port-of-Spain, hours after Rowley’s allegations to the House. She said she had written to Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams to do an immediate investigation into the emails to determine if they were authentic.

Persad-Bissessar admitted that one e-mail address which Rowley gave, kamlapb1@gmail.com, was hers, but said she did not send any of the e-mails.

Earlier in the no-confidence motion debate, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan also said the e-mails were fabricated.

Persad-Bissessar described the development as “bad news.”. She said she went to her computer after hearing Rowley’s claims. “These e-mails, I want to say, are

a total fabrication,” she said. Persad-Bissessar said she was also very surprised that Rowley had had the information for some six months and did not refer it to the police for investigation.

She said, however, that the matters raised were serious and consequently she wrote to Williams asking for an investigation to be commenced.

In the letter, dated May 20 (yesterday), Persad-Bissessar said the matter alleged serious criminal conduct and asked Williams to investigate “these very serious allegations and ascertain the authenticity of those e-mails and to take such action as is required according to the law.” She said she hoped the probe would be completed in the shortest possible time, and said the Government would be considering drafting legislation to address the matter in due course.

The PM said the matter of the e-mails was never raised in her meeting with the President. Rowley reportedly said he referred the e-mails to the President several months ago. She said she hoped Rowley would co-operate with the police in the forthcoming probe. She said she was confident that justice will be served and anyone found guilty of an offence in this investigation would be made to feel the brunt of the law. She indicated that if Rowley was also found to be providing inaccurate information, he could face sanction in the Parliament via a motion of privilege. “If these allegations are false then the member may be in contempt of the House with respect to misleading the House,” she said. (Trinidad Guardian)

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 13

Composed Sammy catapults Sunrisers into playoffs HYDERABAD - West Indies captain Darren Sammy blasted two sixes in the penultimate over to fire Sunrisers Hyderabad into the playoffs of the Indian Premier League in India, yesterday.

Chasing a moderate 131 for victory, Sunrisers completed victory by five wickets over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders with seven balls to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, to claim the final playoff spot at the expense of Chris Gayle’s Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Entering the contest with Sunrisers needing just 23 from 24 balls, Sammy watched as West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine sent down a maiden off the 17th over of the innings and seamer Shami Ahmed restricted scoring in the 18th over to eight runs.

With pressure building and tension rising in the Sunrisers camp, Sammy held his nerve to twice clear the ropes with left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla off the fourth and fifth deliveries of the 19th over, and finish the match in style.

He finished on 17 not out from 12 deliveries.

Sunrisers will now face Trinidadian Kevon Cooper’s Rajasthan Royals in the first playoff game on Wednesday.

Needing to win after RCB beat Chennai Super Kings by 24 runs on Saturday, Sunrisers started well, restricting to Knight Riders to 130 for seven, with Yusuf Pathan top scoring with an unbeaten 49.

South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn captured two for 24 while Sammy’s solitary over cost nine runs.

In reply, Parthiv Patel (47) and Shikhar Dhawan (42) put on 89 off 66 balls for the first wicket, to lay the foundation for Sunrisers’ successful run chase.

In the earlier match, Pune Warriors India beat the Delhi Daredevils by 38 runs at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.

Batting first Pune, riding on their skipper Aaron Finch’s half-century, posted 172 before their bowlers restricted Delhi to 134.

Scores Sunrisers Hyderabad 132 for 5 (Parthiv 47, Dhawan 42, Abdulla 3-29) vs Kolkata Knight Riders 130 for 7 (Yusuf 49 , Steyn 2-24). Sunrisers won by five wickets.

Pune Warriors 172 for 5 (Finch 52, Wright 44, Kaul 2-27) vs Delhi Daredevils 134 for 9 (Gautam 30, Mathews 3-14, Murtaza 3-15).

Warriors won by 38 runs.

IPL Standings Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Pts Net RR Chennai Super Kings 16 11 5 22 +0.530 Mumbai Indians 16 11 5 0 +0.441 Rajasthan Royals 16 10 6 0 +0.322 Sunrisers Hyderabad 16 10 6 20 +0.003 R. Challengers Bangalore 16 9 0 18 +0.457 Kings XI Punjab 16 8 8 0 +0.226 Kolkata Knight Riders 16 6 10 12 -0.095 Pune Warriors 16 4 12 0 -1.006 Delhi Daredevils 16 3 13 0 -0.848 (Trinidad Guardian)

N/R 0

0

0

22

0

20

0

0

7

0

0

16 0

0

0

8

0

6

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TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Caribbean Pot: Vegetarian curry okra

A vegetarian dish you’ll love to share with your family and friends.

Chris De La Rosa Caribbean Cooking As a kid I hated the taste and texture of okra (ochro) but I can safely say that it’s now one of my favorite vegetables to use in cooking.

Soups and stews is not complete without a few okras in there, but pan frying them is still my choice. Our mom probably gets a good laugh these days when I request fried

okra when we visit her and my dad.. back in the day we (my brother and sisters) all refused to partake in anything okra related.

Poor woman always had to cook something different for us.

When most people hear the word ‘vegetarian’ attached to a dish they automatically think it’s something bland and just plain ole flavorless. Nothing could be further from the truth with this vegetarian curry okra.

Ingredients 1 lb okra 1/4 teaspoon salt pinch fresh ground black pepper 1 medium onion diced

3 cloves garlic 2 bird pepper aka birds eye (or 1/4 scotch bonnet) 1 pimento pepper (aka seasoning pepper) 2 tablespoon veg oil 1 tablespoon madras curry powder

F Fried ried okra iiss no noi ffor needing di a llot off oil il ((absorbs b b iit)) torious so I recommend using a non stick pan if you can, to eliminate the use for more oil.

Tip: To make sure the cooked okra is not slimy (as it can be) wash, pat dry then remove the stems and cut into desired thickness. Place the cut okra on a cookie sheet in a single layer and allow to air dry for a couple hours. Place in direct sun for even better results.

Dice the onion, garlic, hot pepper and pimento pepper (optional) . Then heat the vegetable oil on medium heat and toss in the diced onion and garlic. Turn the heat down to low and let that cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Now it’s time to add the curry powder and some fresh ground black pepper.

The heat should still be on low as we want to toast the curry powder to release it’s flavors and not burn the curry. Let that go for 3 minutes.. be sure to stir. You should start getting that lovely curry aroma.

Add the diced peppers and stir.

Turn up the heat to medium and start adding the cut okra to the pot. The idea is to stir-fry the okra in the curry base and here is where you’ll need to personalize this dish a bit. Depending on how ‘cooked’ you like okra, you will have to adjust your cooking time. Do NOT cover the pan as we don’t want steam/ moisture to develop as this is another factor for making okra slimy.

I let it cook for about 15 minutes before it was to my liking. At this point I salted the dish (always try to salt okra near the end of cooking so it does not develop moisture.. a tip I got from Cynthia @ http:// www.tasteslikehome.org/) and gave it a final stir. You’ll notice how the okra maintained most of it’s brilliant green color, with tasty caramelized edges and the curry base with just delightful.

You’ll love sharing this vegetarian curry okra with your family and friends and there’s enough here for 4-5 people as a side dish. I love having this curry okra with sada roti (sada roti recipe), but it’s also works well as an accompaniment to rice or as any typical vegetable side dish.

“Kick Start For Weight Loss” 3 Massive Mistakes Professional Women Make That Keep Them Overweight, Exhausted And Stuck On The Diet Treadmill!

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Thursday May 30 In Brampton Workshop Runs From 7 — 9pm

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 17

Yoga for sciatic pain Geeta Maraj Yoga Sciatica is a term used to describe a type of lower back pain. Sciatic pain results when there is pinching of the sciatic nerve which extends from the lower back, down through the legs to the toes. When this nerve is pinched it can be painful and uncomfortable to sit or stand. While there are various medical ways of treating sciatica, yoga stretches are one of the main recommendations in alleviating this discomfort.

Symptoms of sciatica include - lower back pain, shooting pains from buttocks area down through the legs, pins-and-needles or burning sensations in the legs, hip area and thighs.

Sciatic pain can be brought on by a series of ways in which we strain our back.

This pain can be avoided, in the first place, by taking preventative steps in the way in which

we lift objects, sit, stand or sleep. In addition a regular exercise program and avoiding smoking are also key to preventing this ache.

Proper lifting technique ensures that your back stays straight and your knees are bent, as you hold the object close to your body when coming to the upright position. Sitting in an upright position with your feet flat on the ground helps to reduce back strain. In yoga, it is recommended that you keep your chest out and your shoulders back to achieve an upright posture. Sciatic pain can be greatly alleviated by keeping your spine as straight as possible.

For this reason, long periods of sitting should be avoided as this habit weakens the spine and increases the risk for sciatic pain.

Standing with your weight equally distributed in both legs help to keep your posture straight and create less strain in your back.

Equally sleeping on a mattress which is firm helps to prevent sciatica, as it prevents the spine from curving too much. The muscles of the back and abdomen are strengthened through a regular exercise routine and help to prevent sciatic pain from occurring. Smoking promotes disc degeneration and increases the likelihood of sciatica and should be avoided.

While the aforementioned steps can greatly change one’s risk for suffering from this type of lower back pain, there are a series

of yoga stretches which help with alleviating sciatic symptoms.

When seated - always remember to practice an upright position in a chair that is not soft or too comfortable – like a recliner. Recliners are master at bringing on sciatic pain as it encourages poor spinal posture.

In a firm, upright chair, like chairs at the dining table, you can stretch out your lower back as often as you wish by doing ‘spinal twists’. This means you sit with your legs together, and place your feet flat on the ground, so that your knees are at a 90 degree bend.

Keep your back as close to the backrest of the chair as possible so as to keep your spine as upright as you can. Then turn your body to the right by reaching with your left hand to hold the right side of the seat of the chair. Your right arm at the same time reaches behind the chair – like you are trying to look behind you to the right. Turn your head to look over the right shoulder. Then repeat the same stretch, on the left side, by turning to the left and looking over the left shoulder as your right hand reaches to hold the left side of the seat.

When lying on your bed - Ensure that you are lying on a firm mattress, pull your knees up toward your belly, keeping your legs close together. Spread your arms outstretched, at shoulder level, with your palms facing up-

wards. Then turn your knees to the left side while turning your head to look to the right side of the bed. Hold this position for a few seconds, as is comfortable, before bringing your knees back toward your belly. Repeat in the opposite direction by swinging both knees together to the right side while turning your head to look to the left.

When standing - Always ensure that you do not fetch weight predominantly on one side of your shoulders only. Try to have even weight bearing at all times on both legs. If you have good balance you can practice pulling one knee toward your chest, while standing on the opposite leg. Otherwise you may brace against a wall for support and practice hugging one knee to the chest ensuring your spine stays straight. Then repeat for the opposite leg.

It is always important to remember to breathe deep and even breaths when doing any stretch, as this allows the muscles to relax.

Holding your breath during any asana (stretch) will cause your muscles to cramp from a lack of oxygen.

If you suffer from sciatic or lower back pain, seeking the help of a certified yoga therapist is usually very beneficial in alleviating and preventing this issue from continuously causing you discomfort.

separate reasons

18 Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Winning at the weight loss game

Monique Bartlett Fitness Everyone always wants to know how to win at the weight loss game. I hate to disappoint you but there is no magic. The secret is: IT STARTS WITH YOU! Most people are unaware or deny the need to change. If you aren’t willing to change your habits, you won’t change. It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons. You need to decide if you want to win at losing weight.

The key is preparation. How do you want to begin your journey? Some people read books on different workout techniques, others watch videos and others hire a personal trainer to help them through the process.

Whichever way you decide to begin your weight loss journey, the point is to just begin!

There are so many diet and exercise programs.

Don’t worry about how you’re going to reach your goal, just take action.

Become conscious and aware. Start with the 21 day rule. It takes 21 days to form a new habit. Do not get off course before your 21 days are over. A great trick is to list all of the food and beverages you consume and all the exercise you do in one day. If you put it in your mouth, write it down! You’ll be amazed

at exactly how much you eat and drink once you write it down.

Set a goal for yourself. Make sure you have a plan. The best way to start is with a short term 90 day plan. What are your immediate needs? Do you need to increase your cardio, start lifting weights, and watch your calories? Stay focused on the immediate end goal. Set your long term goal. Where do you want to be after three months? Once you get there, what will you do next? Don’t wish or hope. Set a SMART Goal.

Specific, Measurable, Action Oriented, Realistic, Timed.

S.M.A.R.T. GOALS SPECIFIC: Typically most people say “I want to lose weight”. This goal is too general.

It needs to be defined into specific behavioural changes.

Example 1) I will eliminate 150 calories a day from my diet for one month.

2) I will work out for 45 minutes 3-4 days a week for the next month.

3) I will pack a healthier lunch instead of eating fast food one day a week for the next month.

MEASURABLE: Keep records of your eating habits. This allows you to assess your progress, document your journey and increase motivation.

ACTION ORIENTED: The goals mentioned

state the action needed to reach your goal.

REALISTIC: If the goal is not realistic, it sets you up for failure! Long term goals are achieved by successfully reaching numerous short term goals.

TIMED: Set up specific time frames and goals. Short term goals are stepping stones to long term goals. Start small, focus on changes that can be sustained. Don’t feel you must make all changes at once; ease into them slowly. Be accountable to yourself and write a list of what you will do. The key is consistency! Four to six hours per week – find the time.

If you know nothing about nutrition, start with the Canada’s Food Guide. Learn what correct portion sizes are. It will teach you what types of foods and how much of each you should be eating every day. Have a small amount of carbs prior to working out to give you energy.

Have proteins within 30 minutes and a meal within 2 hours after working out to help increase your lean muscle mass and aid in muscle repair.

It’s important to DEVELOP GOOD EATING HABITS. Eat a variety of foods. Watch trans/saturated fats. Include anti oxidants. Watch sugar and salt. Avoid excessive alcohol. Drinks equal lots of calories. Eat when you’re hungry, not when the clock says “it’s time.” Eat more frequent smaller meals; 5-6 times a day is ideal.

Eat slowly – don’t shovel food down your throat. Don’t read or watch TV while eating.

If you do, it will cause you to eat more. Drink water! Just say “no” to the big bread basket.

An appetizer soup before your meal, takes the edge off. Always have some salad. PERIOD. Think fibre. Split the entrée – it’s big enough!

Don’t forget, if you bite it – you write it! Focus on portion sizes and menu choices. Develop new habits.

Do not maintain a caloric intake of less than 1,200 calories per day. This will put you into starvation mode and cause your body to hold on to fat and lead to deprivation.

Create a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day through diet and exercise. Have a realistic weight loss goal of 1-2 pounds per week.

Rapid weight loss comes from water loss and always has.

Start your program by weighing in.

Weigh in’s establish a baseline. Do not weight yourself every day. This will only defeat you in the end. Always remember that muscle weighs more than fat. By weight training you will lose fat and inches but “can” gain weight.

Extreme exercise will lead to fatigue, injury and being overwhelmed.

Do not punish yourself if you aren’t achieving your goals as quickly as you would like. You are doing this for long term gain.

You might ask yourself, can I do this? The answer is, if you enjoy your workout program, if you make it fit into your schedule and your lifestyle, then yes, you can!

Just remember to track your progress and be accountable to yourself. If you can maintain the habit of eating right and exercising for 21 days you will have won the weight loss game.

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

Dental implants

Dr. Matthew Weekes BSC DDS MTh DMin

Dental

A dental implant is a post made of titanium metal.

It is surgically embedded in the bone at the site of a missing tooth. After healing is complete the metal attaches closely to the bone like a screw in a drywall stud. The implants are the foundation for artificial teeth that function like natural teeth.

Dental implants are excellent restorations for missing teeth. If a single tooth is missing

in the aesthetic zone, (the area of the mouth that is visible when you smile) and adequate bone exists then the restoration of choice is a dental implant.

Multiple adjacent implants can be used in an area where several teeth are missing to support multiple single crown restorations or bridges. Also in the case of full dentures with little ridge support, a multiple implant base may provide stability that prevents easy dislodgement of the dentures. It removes the fear and embarrassment that the dentures will move about during eating or fall out of the mouth while speaking.

Implants however are not for everyone.

There are certain conditions that must be met. The health of the patient must be considered. If there are diseases that are not favourable to bone and tissue healing or the maintenance of oral tissue then an alternative restoration may be necessary.

The patient should have ideal or adequate bone at

the site of treatment. In some cases this condition may be met by bone augmentation. The presence of severe malformations of the jaw, inadequate spacing of teeth, and bruxism ie: the grinding of teeth at night, are all negative factors to be considered.

Children, young adults and older adults with excellent health and good bone support are ideal candidates for implant restorations.

Implants have stood the test of time with excellent predictable success in the majority of cases. The main drawback to treatment is the cost. The cost of replacing a single tooth with an implant is about the same as a bridge. However, insurance companies would rather pay for a bridge than an implant. Hopefully that will soon change. Payment plans may be negotiated in some cases. Discuss all aspects of treatment with your dentist.

Protect your body from burn-out with these easy tips

Dr. Lydia ND

Health Tips After seeing patient after patient suffering from burn out it has become glaringly obvious that something has to be done about this. After all, your well-being is so important and you deserve to feel well and energetic. Time is our most scarce resource and many of us do not have the luxury of caring for ourselves exclusively. Let’s look at 5 easy ways you can be kinder to yourself.

Take a bath instead of a shower. For some busy parents, the only time they are alone is in the bathroom. You can lock the door and shut out the world. Keep your cell phone out of the room, throw in 1/2 cup of Epsom salts and take 15

minutes to soak in the tub. You shower every day anyways so this is an easy switch.

Start recognizing that doing nothing, is doing something. Many busy people have a kneejerk guilty feeling when they are vegetating on the couch or indulging in mindless entertainment.

This is your time and you deserve it. In doing nothing physically or mentally demanding, your body has a chance to recuperate internally. Cellular processes never sleep, but relaxing allows your body to devote more energy to regeneration.

Check in with your self-talk. I find that people often say things to themselves, inside their heads, that they would NEVER, and I mean NEVER say to a friend or loved one. Be mindful of this bad habit. Is there a constant barrage of insults coming from you, to you? Ask yourself, would I ever say this to my best friend? Psychotherapy can help if you find your thoughts are overwhelmingly negative. The worst part about this is that when patients finally bring these thoughts out into the open, we find that everything they are saying to themselves is totally untrue!

Bed rest is not just for the frail and

infirm. Every once in a while it’s nice to simply have a weekend day in bed. Rest, read, watch TV, spend time with your significant other. Get up to use the washroom and make food. You do not owe it to anyone to be constantly out and about. Lying in a restful position for 24 hours is a great way to recognize all the hard work you do 99% of the time.

Finally, I always ask patients what they do for fun. Some people can answer right away; others have to think about it. Some know what fun is to them, but are not doing it currently and others have no idea at all. Think about it seriously.

What do you do for fun? Anything from needlepoint to dirt biking is acceptable, as long as you make time to do it. The first step is recognizing what you like to do. If you have a partner, finding mutual fun can bring you closer together.

Incorporating any one of these tips into your life on a regular basis promotes physical and mental well-being. Being kind to yourself and recognizing all of your hard work is a great step in the direction of healthier living.

Mango, the new diabetes and cancer buster The most popular fresh fruit in the world, mangoes are a whole lot more than just a delicious, refreshing treat produced by nature. As evidenced by copious scientific research, mangoes are also a powerful medicinal food, as they contain nutrients that can help clear up skin, promote eye health, stave off diabetes, and even prevent the formation and spread of cancer.

Research recently presented at a meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), for instance, revealed that eating mangoes every day can help moderate and even lower blood sugar levels, despite their natural sugar content. This is good news for people with type 2 diabetes who may benefit from consuming mangoes regularly as part of a low-sugar diet.

For their study, researchers tested the effects of mangoes on a group of obese animals, some of whom were given 10 grams of freezedried mango every day for 12 weeks. At the end of three months, the blood sugar levels of those animals that consumed mango were compared to those that did not consume mango. Based on the data, mango consumption was found to result in a significant decline in blood sugar levels.

“Although the mechanism by which mango exerts its effects warrants further investigation, we do know that mangoes contain a complex mixture of polyphenolic compounds,” says

Dr. Edralin Lucas, Ph.D., author of the study.

Similar research out of Australia found back in 2006 that eating mango can also help decrease inflammation and resulting high cholesterol, as well as block the formation of various health conditions included under the banner of metabolic syndrome. In essence, mangoes actually work better than cholesterol drugs at naturally balancing and optimizing cellular function throughout the body.

“We don’t know yet how the whole thing’s going to play out but we know some of the individual components (of mango) activate these receptors and even inhibit them,” said a doctor from University of Queensland about the effects of mango consumption on cellular processes.

“That could end up with positive nutritional health benefits for diabetes and high cholesterol.”

And again in 2011, researchers from Oklahoma State University found that mango consumption helps lower insulin resistance and improve glucose tolerance in test mice. The same study also found that mangoes help normalize lipid levels throughout the blood, which in turn can help prevent the development of cardiovascular disease.

Eating mangoes can also help you avoid cancer But the health benefits of mango do not stop here.

Science has identified more than 4,000 different antioxidant polyphenols in the plant kingdom,

and many of these polyphenols are present in mangoes. The primary benefit of these polyphenols is that they scavenge damaging free radicals and protect cells against damage, which is believed to facilitate and even promote cancer.

“If you look at [mango] from the physiological and nutritional standpoint, taking everything together, it would be a high-ranking superfood,” says Dr. Susanne Talcott, who together with her husband discovered back in 2010 that mango compounds target both colon and breast cancer cells.

“What we found is that not all cell lines are sensitive to the same extent to an anticancer agent. But the breast and colon cancer lines underwent apoptosis, or programmed cell death.

Additionally, we found that when we tested normal colon cells side by side with the colon cancer cells, that the mango polyphenolics did not harm the normal cells.”

In other words, mango compounds effectively target and eliminate harmful cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone, a phenomenon that is unique to nature and nowhere to be found in pharmaceutical-based medicine. Chemotherapy and radiation, for instance, which are the two most popular conventional treatments for cancer, damage healthy cells along with malignant cells, which is why the treatments are a failure as far as long-term survival is concerned. (NaturalNews)

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House hunting, choosing a mortgage & life insurance Stephen Mohammed Finance Real Estate - You’ve decided that now is the time to make the move to home ownership. You should first consult a mortgage agent/broker to assess how much of a mortgage loan you may qualify for. The next step is to obtain services and seek the advice of a Real Estate sales representative. A sales representative will help you assess if properties of interest are at market value, overpriced or below market value.

Viewing properties can be exciting and sometimes overwhelming, but it is important to make sure the homes you’re looking at meet your needs and do not just look good on the surface. Stay within budget and do not overextend yourself financially. As stunning as the home may look, protect yourself from the unknown.

A good tip is to always include a condition of financing and a condition of home inspection in your offer. Your sales representative will guide you every step of the way from viewing comparable properties to making an offer.

Mortgages - Media reports suggested that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is considering taking steps to restrict mortgage term lengths for uninsured mortgages for borrowers who put down at least 20 per cent on their homes. In the recent past, changes to mortgage regulations have made it challenging for individuals looking to purchase a home. Your mortgage agent/ broker will inform you of the qualifying

criteria and make recommendations to assist you in choosing such things as: the amortization period, mortgage term, type of mortgage(open or closed, fixed or variable rate) and prepayment options to name a few.

Most believe that the financial institution they are currently with will automatically give them a better or preferred rate, however this is not usually the case.

Financial institutions offer new clients cheaper rates because they can offer or sell other products to them. A mortgage agent will shop around on your behalf to get you the best rate possible.

Finance - Life insurance is an often overlooked, but is an integral part of one’s financial life, especially if your family depends on your income. Life insurance in most cases is designed to replace the income of a spouse or parent so that the dependants may continue living a certain quality of life without experiencing financial hardship. The loss of a loved one is enough to deal with. It is important to give this financial decision the time and attention that it deserves, before an unfortunate happenstance might occur. Ask your agent to discuss the different types of life insurance products and select the one that is most appropriate to properly protect you and your family.

There is such a thing as being underinsured. Be cautious of agents attempting to sell you a product that’s not right for you and your family. Also, agents are paid a percentage of the annual premium when they first sell you a policy. If an agent is soliciting you to change your product after a couple of years of selling you an insurance product and nothing has changed in your life, they may be trying to generate another commission cheque. When using an insurance agent, make sure they’re licensed to sell insurance in Ontario: http:// www5.fsco.gov.on.ca/alias2a/agents.aspx

Increasing number of families reunited in 2012 OTTAWA -- In 2012, there was a 15 percent increase in immigration under the family class, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today. ““The actions taken by the government are helping more families reunite,”” said Minister Kenney. ““We have created additional avenues and flexibility, so that an increasing number of families can spend more time with each other.””

In 2012, Canada admitted 65,000 permanent residents in the family class, an increase of 15 percent since 2011. This includes a 60 percent increase in the number of parents and grandparents admitted to Canada, the highest level in 20 years.

These numbers do not include family members that immigrate to Canada under other immigration streams, including the Federal Skilled Worker and Provincial Nominee programs. ““The Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification has been a suc-

cess,”” said Minister Kenney. ““By reducing the backlog through increased admissions, we have dramatically reduced wait times so that parents and grandparents no longer have to wait close to a decade to be reunited with their loved ones.””

By the end of 2013, the parents and grandparents backlog will have been reduced by about 50 percent with wait times cut in half. Without the Action Plan, the backlog was projected to surpass 250,000 with a 15-year wait time by 2015.

The very popular Super Visa has provided flexibility for parents and grandparents who do not want to immigrate permanently but want to be reunited with their families quickly and spend an extended amount of time with them. An average of over 1,000 Super Visas have been issued each month and the approval rate is very high at nearly 90 percent.

Since 2006, Canada has welcomed the highest sustained levels of immigration in Canadian history. (CIC)

TORONTO CARIBBEAN

HOT lanes not so hot in LA Tammy Flores 407ETR Matters The Premier has been calling for revenue tools to fund transit and who has the privilege and honor of paying this extra tax? Yes you guessed it, people that drive.

The 407ETR’s model to raise tolls to lower traffic volumes on their highway has been controversial. I have been pointing

out for years that there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest it causes traffic elsewhere on other vital arteries.

Now cue “HOT Lanes”. The Premier of Ontario has proposed changing HOV lanes to HOT lanes to raise revenue. HOV lanes were to encourage car pooling and take cars off the road and help congestion. Now they are going to clog up the HOV lanes with single driver vehicles to raise revenue for transit.

This has been done in other place such as Washington and LA. Washington has lost money on the project so far and LA planners were surprised because they found HOT lanes actually caused more congestion.

Officials in LA hope the toll lanes will ul-

timately relieve congestion, but admits the 110 is something of an experiment at the moment. Are the people in Ontario OK with being a science experiment? How do we feel about the 407ETR science experiment? It’s still as controversial as ever and now they are going ahead with even more of the same.

HOT lanes are just the tip of the iceberg if those who promote congestion pricing have their way. Is the goal to relieve congestion, raise revenue, create an investment niche, or all of the above?

We would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Please write 407etrabuseofpower@hotmail. ca - Also, don’t forget to sign and share the petition http://tinyurl.com/ 407petition

Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification on track to cut backlog in half MISSISSAUGA -- Citizenship and Immigration Canada will re-open the Parent and Grandparent (PGP) program for new applications on January 2, 2014, by which time the backlog and wait times in the program are expected to have been cut in half.

“The Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification is on track to meet the goals of cutting in half the backlog and wait times in the Parent and Grandparent program,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. “It is very important that we continue to make progress and not return to the old broken system with wait times as long as a decade—that would be unfair to families.”

Phase II of the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification will provide even faster processing times, reduce the backlog further, prevent future backlogs, ensure that families have the financial means to support those they sponsor, and protect the interests of taxpayers.

First – In 2012 and 2013, Canada will admit 50,000 parents and grandparents as per-

manent residents. This represents the highest level of parents and grandparents admitted in 20 years. In 2014, Canada will maintain high levels of admissions for parents and grandparents.

Second – The Super Visa will become permanent and will continue to provide flexibility for families who access the 10-year multiple-entry visa, allowing visa holders to remain in Canada up to two years at a time.

Over 15,000 Super Visas have been issued since the program’s launch in December 2011 with approval rates averaging 86 percent.

Third – New qualifying criteria for permanent residency sponsorship of parents and grandparents will increase the financial responsibility of sponsors to ensure they have the means to support those they sponsor, while limiting the program’s cost to taxpayers and Canada’s strained health and social programs.

Fourth – 5,000 new sponsorship applications will be accepted in the program in 2014. By accepting 5,000 applications in 2014 while maintaining high levels, the government

will be able to further reduce the remaining backlog so that families can be reunited more quickly.

“These new criteria ensure sponsored family members are well supported by their sponsors throughout their time in Canada,” said Minister Kenney. “The redesigned Parent and Grandparent program reunites families faster while respecting Canadian taxpayers and the limited resources for health and social programs.”

Canada has one of the most generous family reunification programs in the world.

The United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand do not allow grandparents to be sponsored at all or only in very limited circumstances, and they have very restrictive criteria for the sponsorship of parents.

The amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations that are being proposed will be pre-published in the Canada Gazette (Part I) and the public will be able to comment for a 30-day period. (CIC)

Improving passport services for Canadians OTTAWA -- Plans to expand passport services and make them more convenient and efficient were announced today by Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney and Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley.

Effective July 2, primary responsibility for Passport Canada will move from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). This sensible move is in line with the duties CIC already performs, such as determining Canadian citizenship.

Canadians will not experience an interruption of services. They will be able to continue accessing passport services through all of the same service locations currently available in Canada through the exist-

ing network of 144 Service Canada Centres, 56 Canada Post intake locations, and 34 passport offices across the country. Service Canada will assume responsibility for passport operations, and, over time, services will expand to more Service Canada Centres and Canadians will ultimately even be able to apply for a passport online. ““The government is committed to making passport services more convenient and accessible for Canadians,”” said Minister Kenney. ““As Citizenship and Immigration Canada is already responsible for determining Canadian citizenship, integrating the passport program into the department makes good sense.”” ““Through Service Canada, we offer single-window access to a wide range of Government of Canada programs and servic-

es for citizens,”” said Minister Finley. ““Leveraging Service Canada’s resources and service delivery network across the country will make passport services more accessible and convenient.””

Passport Canada’s IT system is nearing the end of its lifespan and significant investment will be required to bring it up to date whereas CIC’s current operating IT system has the capacity and security features for a move to online applications, and also offers Canadian taxpayers a sensible, costeffective alternative.

It is important to note that Canadians who need consular services while traveling overseas, to replace a lost passport for example, will continue to be supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. (CIC)

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Spring Gardening Tips: Understanding Phenology Phenology is the science of appearances, or knowing which plants can tell you when to start weeding, planting, fighting insects or tackling any other gardening priority.

Once the forsythia begins to bloom, for instance, it’s time to renew your war against crabgrass.

When to fertilize the lawn?

Think apple blossoms falling. Time to set out tomatoes? Yes, if dogwood trees are in flower.

“Phenology makes us more aware of our environment,” said Robert Polomski, a horticulturist and arborist at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. “Associating gardening tasks with flowering times is a neat way to look at how nature really functions.”

Forsythia grows most everywhere in Zones 5-8. Its yellow blossoms are among the most recognizable signs of early spring, making this member of the olive family one of the best seasonal indicators for gardeners. Turf grass spe-

cialists often use the bloom time of forsythia as a bellwether for scattering preemergent herbicides on crabgrass-prone lawns.

“A garden weed preventer or pre-emergent kills the seeds before they can grow into seedlings,” Polomski said.

Phenology blends science with legend. It charts plant and animal development, and how those are influenced by climate change over long periods of time. It also includes the observations of people who have worked the ground for generations.

Scientists know, for instance, that soil temperatures must reach at least 35 degrees before onion and lettuce seeds will germinate. But Felder Rushing, a former extension horticulturist, 10th generation American gardener and folklorist from Jackson, Miss., puts it in a more homespun and equally correct way: “When fishermen are sitting on the riverbank instead of on their bait buckets, the soil is warm enough to plant.”

Some other reliable natural markers compiled by University of WisconsinExtension: — Plant potatoes as the first dandelions bloom, and peas when the daffodils flower.

— Transplant eggplant, melons and peppers when the irises bloom.

— Start looking for trouble from squash vine borers when chicory flowers open.

— Put seed corn in the ground when oak leaves are about the size of a squirrel’s ear.

— The time is right for planting tomatoes when lily-of-the-valley is in full bloom.

— Seed morning glories as soon as the maple trees leaf out.

— Grasshopper eggs hatch roughly at the same time that lilacs bloom.

— Prune roses when crocuses begin to flower.

signs of the seasons for practical reasons. Bird watchers use them for timing migrations, fly fishermen for signalling the insect hatch and farmers as clues in weather forecasting.

Phenologists monitor one species as a reliable way to track changes in another. Birds head north, for instance, just as the insects begin to appear in their summer breeding grounds. Insect populations build when their host plants produce leaves.

Native tribes in British Columbia used the arrival of buds and blooms from certain berry-producing shrubs to signal when it was time to fish for halibut or spawning salmon. That gave them a competitive leg up over other animals consuming the same, often limited resource.

“People good at observing things can often predict when the purple martins start arriving,” Rushing said. “It becomes part of the local lore.”

Gardeners aren’t the only ones who read

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KI: Imagine next?

Vashtie Doorga Entertainment One of the most common places you will run into a Chutney Soca King… is the airport. I was lucky enough to run into Reigning Chutney Soca King 2012, KI Persad, several times over the course of his young career, before he even started singing, flying to meet his band, JMC 3Veni, for performances around the world. As always, he has remained the same, humble and sweet. You could tell from a young age that his perseverance would lead him to achieve what many in the music industry strive to achieve in a lifetime, he has accomplished in such a short span of time.

He has always sang the praises of his family, his parents having a strong influence in his life and brother, who he is very proud of and wants to make life easier for in the future by continuing the legacy his father, Veerendra Persad, one

of the most respected, accomplished and versatile musicians out of Trinidad and Tobago.

His Mother, who was a very talented photographer for one of the leading newspapers in Trinidad, has been the pillar that holds the 3Veni family together. I saw a mother’s true passion for her family, and the love of a mother for her son as her eyes glistened when she spoke of her son. She is so proud of her family and all of their achievements and especially admires her sons’ ability to stay humble and become a role model for not only his younger brother, but the children of Canada where he grew up and the children of the world who dream to follow in the footsteps of KI. He sings from experience, having his heart broken and swearing to be “Single Forever”, his winning song, to this year still not committing to a relationship, is looking for a “Friend for the Night”.

Ki has taken Chutney Soca and his music to another level having his Hit “Single Forever” translated for Bollywood and for the first time incorporating all his works in to a theatrical production.

Look out for his latest track “4 AH We” as he throws in the towel and continues with his storytelling melodies His performance this year was mindblowing as every year, each performance has been creatively different, from riding in on a white horse the first time he entered Chutney Soca Monarch, to starting with an emotional montage of his achievements since he was a young boy performing for the first time then flying through the crowd as an angel from heaven this year…as his sponsors slogan says “imagine next”?

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Your Horoscope - May 22nd 2013 Aries Horoscope (March 21-April 20): Face it, take the plunge, and get on with it.

Once you do, you should find that it was well timed, easier, and more productive than you imagined.

As of Monday/Tuesday, you’ll switch onto a fresh page. Four planets now tenanting social Gemini offer greater opportunities to connect and communicate through the month’s end. Next Friday’s lunar eclipse delivers you to your destination.

Taurus Horoscope (April 21-May 21): Whether the vehicle is play or work, aim to make the best use of this weekend. Your activities and ambitions should hit their targets well.

Symbolically, Monday’s Uranus/Pluto peak marks yet another “that was me then, this is me now” checkpoint. Your future is coming into much sharper view. Don’t dwell on loss—your options are increasing.

Gemini Horoscope (May 23-June 20): Pleasure, indulgence, and attention-seeking are the right aims for this weekend. You should already feel a strong boost from Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter in Gemini. By Monday, the sun shines on you too. People come, people go.

Along with a prod from Uranus/Pluto and Chiron, it’s an optimal time to leap with head, heart, and both feet.

Cancer Horoscope (June 21July 20): A get-away-from-itall weekend to reflect and replenish is just what the doctor ordered. Come Tuesday, aim to hit the ground running. That shouldn’t be too hard, thanks to Uranus/Pluto taking care of business for you. A new career and relationship chapter is already under way.

It requires that you rip the bandage off and face the risk head on.

Leo Horoscope (July 21Aug. 22): Thursday/Friday, the Leo moon advocates a spontaneous approach. Spend to make yourself happy; say yes to the extra. You’ll be in weekend mode before it begins. Saturday and Sunday, your stars switch to a productive track.

Monday can spark a sudden flash or an unexpected opportunity. Grab it/say it while you can. Uranus/Pluto keeps your ambitions sparked. Yes, you can—and you will.

Virgo Horoscope (Aug. 23Sept. 22): The end of the workweek can see you quietly plugging away, but come the weekend you’ll be ready for a change. Saturday/Sunday, call the shots and follow your instincts. The Virgo moon keeps you energized, stimulated, and hitting it just right. Monday and Tuesday bring feedback, a response, gain, or acknowledgment. Uranus/Pluto continues to speed you along a personal, relationship, or financial breakthrough track.

Libra Horoscope (Sept. 23Oct. 22): A social and upbeat end to the workweek hits it just right. Saturday/Sunday, you are likely to relish out of sight and/or out of mind. Have it your way, and don’t let obligations get the better of you. Monday could dish up something unexpected, advantageous, or opportune.

Take spontaneity out for a spin. If it excites or delights you, go for it.

Scorpio Horoscope (Oct. 23Nov. 21): Aim to get yourself noticed on Thursday/Friday.

Put on a show, and play it to your best advantage. Saturday/Sunday brings ample opportunity to catch up with others or yourself. A garage sale or look-see could produce a good score. Uranus/Pluto now thrusts you onto the next stage of your personal, professional, and financial rework-it program. Next week, test-drive a new agenda or angle.

Sagittarius Horoscope (Nov. 22-Dec. 20): The workweek is likely to end on a high note. Even if you have to meet obligations, Saturday/ Sunday works well for you. Monday/Tuesday, a brainstorm or sudden impulse can get something unexpected off the ground.

The potential could be lucrative, romantic, or liberating. The rest of the month keeps your social life, partnerships, and public involvement strong and moving faster.

Capricorn Horoscope (Dec. 21-Jan. 20): You have been working it for some time now, and as of Monday’s Uranus/ Pluto peak, you can consider yourself officially launched. This acceleration transit will continue to support your personal reinvention and significantly redirect the course of your life for the next couple of years. Saturday/Sunday, it’s as good as it gets. On Monday/Tuesday, opportunity strikes.

Aquarius Horoscope (Jan. 21-Feb. 18): The weekend starts on an upbeat and social note. Use Saturday/Sunday to catch up on personal priorities and to give your lover more of the good stuff. Monday/ Tuesday pieces it together for you surprisingly well. Take a risk or extend an invitation. Reach out, speak your mind, take it to the next level, sign it, or buy it.

Pisces Horoscope (Feb. 18-March 20): The weekend keeps you packing it in and loving it that way. As of Victoria Day, a new private/home life chapter officially launches.

You’ll entertain or putter more. Forge new bonds or refresh existing ones. A key individual, new address, business direction, or significant investment soon defines the shape of things to come.

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Money game!

Understanding money is a tool and not idolizing it is where the lesson begins

Jim Pagiamtzis Business Development There have been many great books written on making and spending money. Understanding money is a tool and not idolizing it is where the lesson begins. Below are some exercises to do to test your comfort zone on money and how you may view it. You may be surprised at the end by the power of money!

Mental mindset: We carry money with us on a daily basis from bills in your pocket to change in your car. We put it in all sorts of places, from money jars in the closet to contributing to charities at our local coffee shop.

How much money could you carry with you and walk around with for a full week? $100 or $1000? This is a powerful test that I have done this for the past few years and created some personal stress thinking that I would spend it or lose it.

This was my sub-conscious mind playing mental games with my understanding of money. (It’s just a piece of paper with a face and numbers on it). After a few days this fear was gone and I was totally comfortable carrying money. I had

not spent the money and actually had engaged in interesting conversation regarding the exercise.

All you need is a Money Clip and Money. Begin by carrying $100 then as you gain confidence add more money to the clip. You will have different feelings as you begin to add money on a weekly basis.

When you reach $500 get out a piece of paper and write down how you feel or tell a friend about your test. (Who knows you may inspires them to do the same) Prosperity game with cheques: This game is even more challenging. Imagination is a powerful component for this to have a huge effect. Photocopy some cheques (about 30). Then take what you

make a month (net) not gross and spend it in a day. Remember this exercise is to be done for seven consecutive days. This will challenge your mental mindset. You may come up with some inventive ways by the third day!

This will give you the understanding how money can be used as powerful tool to do many things.

This is what happens to lottery winners when they win a huge sum of money. They can’t get rid of it fast enough.

Lately many have hired financial advisors to assist and keep them focused on what they should do with the money. Even though this is a game, you can be creative with the money and what to do with it.

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