Bahamas on Flickr.

the bahamas waters by chennette)

My girls and I at the DC Carnival!

(The following is a response to these comments)

     I don’t think the Old or New Testaments make any mention whatsoever of the “continuation of the species”. Although it’s fantastic to be so enthusiastic about Charles Darwin, one really oughtn’t confuse the two. Believe me, if Jesus had taken a break from telling everyone to be less concerned with following ancient laws, rites, and rituals and more concerned with treating everyone in the world with love and respect as fellow children of God, and just given us a quick run-down on how Earthly species diverge and evolve over time, America wouldn’t have nearly as much of a mess going on in our public schools right now.

     And since I’m sure that no one would want to be so hypocritical as to make a buffet lunch of the Bible, picking and choosing only the elements that one supports one’s narrow viewpoint and ignoring all the rest, I’ll go on and throw out some other things that it makes pretty clear, such as: No Tattoos (Leviticus 19:28)… that probably includes having the rays of the sun inked around one’s belly button. And logically, tattoo parlors are also illegal, correct?; No Shellfish (Lev. 11:10)…shellfish? like conch?; this one is actually from the New Testament, but I’ll throw that one in there, anyway: No Divorce (Mark 10:8-12)…so I’m sure that divorce is illegal in your Bible-loving paradise, too, right?; going back to the Old Testament, there’s also No Hair or Beard Trimming (Lev. 19:27)…so shaving your whole head and face is right out.

     Now let’s not forget that this is the same book that people used in a similar fashion of selective rationalizing to feel completely justified in enslaving countless numbers of Africans and their descendants for two centuries.

     Let’s put it this way: If you’re an Orthodox Jew who daily puts forth every effort to abide as literally by the laws in the Old Testament as you humanly can, then I respect that you may hold that particular stance on male homosexuality (noting that *only* men are mentioned in Lev. 18:22). Otherwise, you’re a willfully ignorant hypocrite in the company of all those who so fervently opposed the abolition of slavery, clung to anti-miscegenation laws, and fought for segregation to stay in place.

     Regardless, this is not an issue of religion or personal morals. Churches have the right to administer sacrament to whomever they choose, and deny whomever they choose. And that is something that should always remain. However, the government does not have the right to deny civil liberties to its own citizens. This is an issue of legally-protected contracts between eligible and consenting people. There is actually no pre-requisite established by the American government that I know of that requires a sexual relationship as part of the legal marriage contract.

     Very slowly, state legislature by state legislature, the people in power in our government are coming to realize that there is no legitimate, legal argument against marriage equality. Because there isn’t—the only arguments against marriage equality or any human equality are based in fear, hatred, and ignorance.

Frida on the beach.


Sunset.


Glittering water and horses.

I recently returned from a vacation in the Bahamas. It was such a beautiful and relaxing trip, which makes it difficult to get back into the swing of things. 

Next up, Peru!

Bahamas on Flickr.

Jamaica: Televangelist Paul Lewis walks free despite compelling...

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Nobody Can Cross It,

TVJ News Jamaican Twanging (Refix Video)

Dj Powa

credits : van Riggen

Jamaica: Televangelist Paul Lewis walks free despite compelling DNA evidence against him in a case of child sexual abuse. Paul Lewis thanked God for his acquittal but CODE RED has a different take on why DNA evidence was not enough to secure a conviction: 

No matter what DNA evidence the defense brought it did not stand a chance against the belief, held by many, that a 14/15 year old is not a child and can either consent to sex or is considered “fair game”. Pun intended. I don’t think for a minute there was any doubt that he did in fact have sex with the girl in the presence of the other teen. But convincing people that that is wrong, an abusive of power and that it is rape, that is the hurdle the defense team faced. God had nothing to do with Paul Lewis’ acquittal. The UNICEF report on attitudes to child sexual abuse and incest in the Caribbean explains why Paul Lewis walked free.

CODE RED is a feminist collective of Caribbean women and men.  Join us on facebook.

This hammock in the Bahamas looks to be the perfect spot for a...

Nik Wallenda walking between the royal towers at Atlantis!

See all the behind the scenes drama tonight at 10pm on the Discovery channel!!

This hammock in the Bahamas looks to be the perfect spot for a lazy afternoon nap

Les Parapluies de Jamaica 2 by Rick Elkins on Flickr.

ARTISTS : Keida, Munga, Supa Hype, Kurrup, Blak Diamond & Keely B
TITLE : Jinx Riddim Medley
ORIGIN :

Q&A with Malcolm Gladwell.

Informative, but the interviewer seemed like he didn’t know much about his subject and/or any of his books. Just my opinion. 

Jamaica 258 by MZcameraeye on Flickr.

CARIBBEAN COUNTRY STORE IN JAMAICA by Butch Osborne on Flickr.

New Major Lazer project in the works!!!! 

im on the left! (:

Baby Cham - Don’t Test Me

Nicky Minaj for Reggae Sumfest 2011

A varnished pine cone I stole from a giant Christmas tree in Florida

Jamaica Trip 2011. June 7th-11th. Montego Bay, Jamaica.  

Week 2 Update

“Thanking God is easy when things go as planned” 

In America we have the benefit of planning ahead. Our whole lives we plan for the most desired outcome. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Many times we have the resources to accomplish the goal that we have set out ahead of us and so we become sure of ourselves. Yet most of our lives are spent dealing with circumstances that are beyond our control. The Bible says, “Give thanks in everything” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). This was one of my Great-Grandmother’s favorite verses and I was privileged to be the one who read it at her memorial service. 

Give thanks in everything? “Of course!” we say, “That’s not really hard to do, after all, I thank God in church, before meals, in songs, and plenty of other times. Right?” Not really. 

The night before we flew out we did not sleep much. In fact, i didn’t sleep at all and our team arose at 3am to get ready for the flight. Because we were bringing gear enough for an entire summer camp and for future Next Step trips we found that we had more gear than the cars we had been given to drive to the airport could hold. This was unfortunate and we had to take another driver on our early morning venture and we were forced us to leave late. When we arrived at the Milwaukee airport we had to check a lot of baggage on the airline and I ended up debating with the site director whether she or I should be the last one on the airplane since the two of us were still stuck checking bags while the remainder of the team had traveled through security. I made the flight by 5 minutes over they ran my guitar through the scanner three times. 

Upon arrival in Jamaica we had another set of disappointing circumstances; about $2500 of music equipment was taken from us at Customs.  Unfortunately in the hustle of things we had left a good portion of the music gear in the original boxes for ease of transportation. We had nothing to declare but when the airport officials saw seven white americans dragging twenty-five boxes and pieces of luggage through their airport the forced us into the “Something to Declare” line. We spent 2 hours trying to get them to let us bring our bags into the country, but they took all of our boxed gear hostage. Essentially, they did not want us to merchandise into the country to sell. 

Leaving the airport was relieving, but when we arrived at the our summer home the humidity combined with a lack of sleep really hit. We had gone to the market earlier  to get a group sized portion of Jamaica’s national dish, “Jerk Chicken”. The majority of the team was feeling crumby. In addition to the spiced chicken we were given a side of hot sauce that burned like nothing I have ever tasted before. Our Jamaican friend David told me the name of the sauce, it was called, “Welcome to Hell” which seemed to be emblematic of my own experience at this point.

When I went to bed that night, I questioned whether I really wanted to be here. whether I had made a good decision coming. If I had tricked people into supporting something that I wasn’t committed to. At this point I felt no reason to thank God other than for our safety. Which was a good thing considering the roads in Jamaica. 

I was feeling a little more positive the next morning, still tired but some of the weight had left my shoulders. We had my guitar and a few cables and could not claim our gear until we went to a Customs Broker. To add insult to injury our team traveled to the main job site that morning to find out that none of the work that had been promised to be done was completed. The local construction company was supposed to have excavated  three shelfs on the hillside and laid the foundation for the the first level so that we could began construction as soon as we got there. Instead we found that only one shelf had been excavated and there to be additional broken parts on the excavator (construction tool) than we had been informed of over the phone. The man working the site had not finished nearly what he was supposed to. While some of sat in the bus our driver passed the comment, “S- -t mahn, If I were his supervisor I would —————— ————”. We were all feeling the same way. 

Things were not looking good. Our morale was not helped by the twelve hours spent waiting in lines to get the correct forms all across town to reclaim our music gear. In this way we were overwhelmed with bad circumstances. On top of that, I was helpless. I wasn’t really contributing anything to the team. I felt useless, watching my team suffer and struggling myself. I could do nothing those few days. I filled my time with wireless routers and video editing. As the music director for our site, my role is really just useless until the students arrive.

In his letters, Paul thanked God all the time. This is shocking considering his circumstances of imprisonment and beatings that he could begin and finish all of his letters with thanks! 

Something that we have found comfort in over the last few days is an old Bob Marley song that goes, “Don’t worry about a ting, cause every little ting is gonna be alright”. We keep singing it over and over. Everybody needs something to hold onto. Everyone needs hope. We as Christians have that hope and can give it to the world. We do this through everyday practices like thanking God. Think about how a simple “thank you” can mean so much to another individual. Now think of how our Heavenly Father hears our every word, thought and how he sees our motives. When we say ‘thank you” to God, we are praising God.

When things seem to be going bad I am beginning to find peace when I simply say, “Thank You God”. It’s a way to say, “Your will be done”. I want to live this out more this summer. It is easy to thank the Lord when things go as we plan them, but that wouldn’t really be asking the Lord’s will to be done. I know I need to have this attitude regardless of the day, circumstance or weather. I am going to feel useless and unhelpful at other times this summer. But still, we serve God and others around us by having an attitude of Thankfulness.

Until then, Lord show me the way.

—Julian

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes 5:16-18, NKJV)

(June 11th, 2011…Montego Bay, Jamaica)

Tropical Release

Sunny and windy day in JA, need to go the beach..

daily lovers rock

June 10

Jones Beach again! Damn Long Island, you pretty. Also, Jamaica Avenue because of dat fine Filipino food. Mama Meena’s!

94-20 Jamaica Ave
Woodhaven, NY11421
Neighborhood: Richmond Hill

Living…

Don’t have to be a tourist to support the local craft market ;)

This is nothing new though…

I like the female zodiac charms lol

International rap diva Nicki Minaj has been added to the roster for this year’s Reggae Sumfest on July 21-23.

Minaj will perform on the SumFest stage along with Tanya Stephens, Jah Cure, Ce’Cile, Beenie Man and more!