Towards a New Global Constitutional Arrangement: By Donovan Reynolds

 Tackling the twin challenges of global terrorism and climate change is currently a threat to our way of life and common humanity .Never before have so many nations and their leaders so frequently and so openly admitted their growing vulnerability and the need for collaboration and increase interdependence; never before have they created so many cooperative frameworks and elaborate mechanisms for managing these complex phenomenon and its consequences. Simultaneously however, national leaders and their supporters continue to insist on the sovereign independence of their states with the expectation that the intricate web of regional or global cooperative links will serve their separate interests. It is the belief of this author that the best way of managing our current global crisis is by a global constitutional arrangement along side the current state arrangement that expresses our common humanity. 

The history of humanity has been a battle of failed political and religious Ideologies.In 1961, the French theologian Gabriel Vahanian argued that modern secular culture in most of Western Civilization had lost all sense of the sacred, lacked any sacramental meaning, and disdained any transcendental purpose or sense of providence, bringing him to the conclusion that for the modern mind, "God is dead". This might be an extreme position by Vahanian but there is no disputing the fact that extreme religion is a part of the problem and will never be a part of a global constitutional settlement.

Francis Fukuyama  is an American Political Scientist of Japanese descent.  He is best known for his book, The End of History and the Last Man (1992), which argued that the worldwide spread of liberal democracies and free market capitalism of the West and its lifestyle may signal the end point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and become the final form of human government. One of the problem with liberal democracy is its ability to create a handful of billionaires and abject poverty of the masses in one go. Many believe that Adam Smith’s promised trickle-down effect is similar to the transcendental promise of the return of Allah and Christ in sync.

Those who argue in favour of Socialist utopian concept as a driver for a new world constitution takes the position that liberal capitalism is a regressive, backwards system given modern civilizations' current level of technological and economic development, and regardless of how progressive capitalism becomes, it cannot meet the needs of the majority of the population and solve its inherent structural issues. The problem with socialism is that it has not delivered on its promise of liberating the masses and espouses the rights of the state apparatus at the expense of individual liberty. Furthermore, China and Russia two former Socialist giants have been so busy resource grabbing on the global stage and creating a hybrid form of capitalism, their socialist credentials are highly problematic.

In the near future it is going to be vital to reach a international consensus if we are to address problems which affect humanity as a whole such as climate change, world poverty and global terrorism. One possible way of achieving solidarity is through a codified global constitution that is binding on all the world’s states and their citizens. Human Rights as expressed in a trans-legal arrangements is the best means for  safeguarding the well being of all on the planet. Human Rights committed to diversity, and respect for those of differing yet humane views. Human Rights Treaties and Legislation after the Second World War have shaped a decent world view and normative humanitarian values that is necessary to maintain peace and global stability.  Human Rights through its progressive Regional constitutional frame work and the United Nations holds hope as a template for shaping the future world governance in an even handed and sustainable way. 

Wrestling the balance of power away from the meddling hands of war warmongering politicians. Is our only hope of shaping a world that upholds the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, global constitutional arrangement. Human Rights encourage the maintenance of world peace and a credible civic duty to participate in a global democratic process. Human Rights Laws that are 'jus cojens' and emphasise a planetary duty to protect nature's integrity, diversity, world peace and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.

In order for Human Rights to triumph on the global stage nationalism has to go under the guillotine. As the content and subjective reach of nationalism depends upon primordial sentiments that are for the most part crude and rather divisive. Equally regressive, is the burgeoning of political tribes that operate alongside extreme religiously entrenched polarisations that constantly threaten world peace. The proposition of global constitutional arrangement underpinned by human rights in my opinion, suggest the advantages of constructing, new "state" global federations. 

This therefore would enable an atmosphere in which sovereign states would cooperate in far reaching ways to tackle common problems of terrorism, fair trade and other pressing environmental problems in a comprehensive and uniformed way. I envisage such an order occurring in collaboration with ‘a low concentration’ –yet potentially a trail blazing new arrangement of global governance. If properly shaped by a reformed United Nations and an effective oversight mechanism on board, this new arrangement could produce a new global order. One that is better able to preserve transnational legality, protect rights and allow for a far reaching but respectful political autonomy that will lead to a much safer world.

Donovan Reynolds is a Secular Humanist, Human Rights Campaigner and a Independent Writer. Please feel free to use the space designated on this blog site to give a feedback on this article. You can also provide feedback at Dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk, Dannygerm @twitter or on my face book page.

The Proposal of Coal Power Usage in Jamaica: A serious Health and Environment Threat

In recent years, the recognition of the links between human rights and the environment has greatly increased. Many States now incorporate a right to a healthy environment in their constitutions. Countries such as Jamaica- regardless of its economic vulnerability - still have substantive obligations to adopt legal and institutional frameworks that protect against environmental harm that interferes with the enjoyment of human rights. This including harm that could be caused by private sector actors and their lobbyists seeking to exploit the country's economic vulnerability.

The publication of a headline in the daily Gleaner   entitled “Coal power to the rescue” on Sunday the 11^th of May is cause for a great consternation. The article quoted the ex- director general of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), Winston Hay, as lobbying the Jamaican Government to use its public service agencies to educate the public on the usefulness of coal generated power. Winston Hay wants a public service agencies lead initiative to spearhead a public-education campaign aimed at “demystifying the arguments around the use of coal as an environmentally acceptable source of energy”. What an audacious and gravity defying attempt at bamboozling an unsuspecting Jamaican public. 

Such a dishonest suggestion by the former head of the National Planning Agency if remains unchallenged- will cause the the late John Maxwell journalist and environment activist to have a violent epileptic fit of anger from his grave. So if only for the dignity of the late John Maxwell let us examine the facts from reputable experts on the subject.

Access to electricity has a positive effect on the health and well-being of people world-wide. However, the use of coal to generate energy has negative health consequences. There is growing body evidence collated by well respected scientist of coal's negative impact on human health during every stage of its use for electricity generation -- from mining to post-combustion disposal. In particular, the burning of coal has been well-studied, with compelling evidence of the pervasive health effects on the population. Air pollution produced by coal combustion in power plants can affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems as well as cause abnormal neurological development in children, reduced growth of the foetus before birth, and can cause cancer. Coal used for generating electricity, creates pollutants in outdoor air that are known to cause respiratory ailments and cancer. Additionally, coal combustion contributes to climate change, which in turn can harm human health on a global scale.

According to the Health Care Research Collaborative: people, who live In the vicinity of coal fired power plants, have a massive exposure to emissions. This depends on factors such as weather (temperature, precipitation, wind-direction and speed) and topographical features of the local area.  Coal emissions by their account can also be transported long distances, even globally, causing health effects to those living far from power plants. Individual susceptibility to the health effects of coal emissions depends on age, underlying medical conditions, and use of medications. Populations that are especially vulnerable to health effects from air pollution include children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with lung conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

A 2007 article published in the medical journal, The Lancet, summarizes the burden of the health effects of generating electricity from coal and lignite (a type of coal). The authors estimate that for every TWH(Terawatt-hour) of electricity produced from coal in Europe, there are 24.5 deaths, 225 serious illnesses including hospital admission, congestive heart failure and chronic bronchitis, and 13,288 minor illnesses.(7) When lignite, the softest and most polluting form of coal, is used, each TWH of electricity produced results in 32.6 deaths, 298 serious illnesses, and 17,676 minor illnesses.In addition Coal combustion in China’s power plants causes an estimated 250,000 deaths per year.

 A study by Gohlke J, Thoma R, Woodward A, Campbell-Lendrum D, Pruss-Ustun A, Hales S, etal. Estimating the global public health implications of electricity and coal modelling the effect of coal use for power generation on life expectancy found that the use of coal predicted a decrease in life expectancy in countries with moderate life expectancy at the baseline year (1965) including Poland, China, Mexico, and Thailand. In India and China, years of life lost were estimated up to 2.5 years and 3.5 years, respectively.

A case study of air pollution effects on the health of 480 primary school children in Cubatao, Brazil, where large quantities of mixed pollutants were emitted from 23 industries (steel mill, chemical industries, cement factory, fertilizer plants, etc.), showed that 55.3% of the children had decreases in pulmonary function. Another example of health effects of air pollution appeared in the Ulsan/Onsan special industrial zone, Republic of Korea, where many large-scale plants (mainly petrochemical plants and metal refineries) are concentrated. Local residents complained of a variety of health problems, particularly of the nervous system disorder called “Onsan Disease”.

The Right to Economic development in Jamaica should not come at the expense of our physical health nor as a burden to the environment. I can understand the urgency to meet the IMF and World Bank growth forecast but it should not come with increased hospital bed spaces, increased graves spaces in cemeteries and large bulge at the pockets of inept “lickey lickey “lobbyists. Let’s find other ways of growing the economy without increasing the mortality rate.

Donovan Reynolds is a Blogger and Independent Writer. He is a British based Social Worker and Human Rights Activist. He has an interest in Politics, Culture, Human Rights and International Development issues. Readers of this blog may add their comments or critique at the space provided on this blog .Or alternatively they may e-mail him at dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk/ or dannygerm@twitter

Viewing Jamaica’s Economic and Social Development Needs from the Current International Development Framework.

The recent discussions around the proposed portal hub development in Jamaica have ignited a flicker of economic hope for the future. The right to development in emerging economies is often saddled with environmental and human rights concerns inter ilea.

The poor track record of successive governments in Jamaica over the past fifty years in areas such as: shaping a progressive economic policy, advancing human rights and strengthening accountability has been an uphill struggle. A culture of change in the right direction for the future is hardly guaranteed. As we anticipate one of the largest post independence Foreign Direct Investment already there are musings of an unavoidable environmental trade off. This concerns the proposed usage of a coal generated power plant.

It is fair to posit that economic and social justice has to be concurrent with civil and political rights- if Jamaica is gain recognition parity with other emerging economies that compete for recognition and foreign direct investment in the global marketplace.

One of the main reasons why we are stuck in an economic black hole for fifty years: Is as a result of short sightedness on the part of the two major duopolies parading as political parties failure to unite around core developmental goals .The other is the failure of citizens to demand political reforms that will hold themselves, public officials and government to a greater levels of accountability.

Every time I visit Jamaica it pains me that most of the people are stuck with a historic notion of politics as a function of their destinies rooted vision of either Norman Manley or Sir Alexander Bustamante development model.  It is not the intention this discourse to devalue the contributions of both stalwart historical figures of the pass. Neither is my attention to ferment a discontent over historically held romantic feelings towards out national heroes.  The sober understanding is that much has changed on a global scale in terms of Economics, Law, international trade and transnational communication. So to hang on to these past political icons is a great disservice to their memory.

Over the past 50 years our long term development goals as a country has been strangulated by a five year preoccupation of keeping the two political classes in power at or absolute peril. This discussion would be tantamount to a pretentious tirade if I omit to flag up a social constructivist approach by locating our development bug bearers that we need to overcome.

The first is to identify that currently our Economic future is tied up with the ability to measure our development against meeting the policy standard of economic organisations such as the WTO the ILO the World Bank, the IMF benchmarks and other international credit rating agencies.

The second consideration is to recognise that there is an increasing push towards world constitutionalism with a growing and relevant transnational and regional legal frame work of treaties and soft laws that we need to keep abreast with. These laws and treaties most of which we are signature to has changed our autonomy as sovereign states and will force changes in the way that we think culturally. The essence of our democracy is no longer rooted in a Hegelian framework that is organic or frozen metaphor of our political heroes of the past. It is based on international legal norms and external treaties that we are a party to.

The third consternation is that we live in an era where Human Rights have trumped cultural relativity. As the world push towards a global culture backed by Human Rights laws- that are part of the push towards a new global constitutional arrangement it has affected our way of life has impacted our domestic law and cultural norms.

So the next vacation that I spend in Jamaica spare me from the sabre rattling tosh about following Bustmate long after he is dead. Neither do I want to hear about the vision and intellect of Norman Washington Manley. Let’s talk about our current political and economic reality and how we can get the current set of desk thumping parliamentarian’s to buy into it.

Donovan Reynolds is a Blogger and Independent Writer. He is a British based Social Worker and Human Rights Activist. He has an interest in Politics, Culture, Human Rights and International Development issues. Readers of this blog may add their comments or critique at the space provided on this blog .Or alternatively they may e-mail him at dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk/ or dannygerm@twitter

Dancing on Margret Thatcher’s Grave: by Donovan Reynolds Blogger and Independent Writer

 

Dancing on Margret Thatcher’s Grave: by Donovan Reynolds Blogger and Independent Writer

The name Margret Thatcher is like a sorcerer’s curse to the ears of most left leaning working class British Citizen. She is like the rain- loved by some and loathe by others. The announcement of her death on Monday of this week sparked some of the biggest street party from her birthplace in Grantham to Brixton who lined up maliciously to dance on her grave. It’s not my style to dance on people’s grave so when the invite came for me to attend a central London Party this Saturday I politely declined.

The last time I did something vengeful to a dead person was at the age of 27 out of share unadulterated anger -let’s say for politeness sake -I became overwhelmed with alcohol and unresolved childhood anger when I foolishly emptied my bladder on my physically abusive dad’s grave. So as a rule ,feisty as I am I don’t to the murky business of dancing on my enemies grave-at least not anymore. The revelation of it in a burdensome confession to my family I have regretted to this day. As most of my first divorce I had to endure the emotional pain by sulking to myself in private without the emotional support of my avenging family members as pay-back. But let us offer a sober assessment of the late Baroness life and legacy before the lingering hatred for her boil over in the days leading up to her funeral.

Twenty three years after demitting office as Britain’s first woman Prime Minister demitted office at Number 10 Downing Street she died earlier on this week at the Ritz Hotel in London at the age of 87 yrs. from a stroke after a long period of illness. Born in Grantham England the daughter of a local grocer became the first woman leader in British politics. She took over the helm of the conservative led Government in Briton in 1979 when the United Kingdom was considered as the sick economic man in Europe and carried out a number of social and political reforms that were both decisive and divisive. By 1999 when she left office because of the introduction of a deeply unpopular implemented poll tax although she had left the economy in a much healthier position she had by then become the most conflict-ridden leader of post war British Politics. Thatcher’s claims to promote low inflation, the small state, and free markets through tight control of the money supply, privatisation and constraints on the labour movement has been both her success as a leader and her demise. She was loved by US President Ronald Regan at that time for her conviction capitalism and was his key ally with the US in the Cold War and earned her name as the Iron Lady by the Russian press following one of her speeches criticising the USSR.

The Iron Lady earned her hatred because of her determination to reduce the power of the trade unions over plans to close 20 state owned mines and cut 20,000 jobs .She won the dispute at a price tag of 1.5 billion pounds and the loss of thousand s of job in rural Britain leaving to untold hardship on a scale that was unimaginable and closed the door to future female British Prime Ministers. News of her death sparked a feeding frenzy of coal miners across Britain dancing unsympathetically in the streets to the music of Morrissey’s hate fuelled song about the Baroness. While all of this was happening Republicans on the other side of the Atlantic in the US led by Nancy Regan showered praise on her and worshiped at the altar of her macro-economic legacy.

At home in Britain she was accused by comedian Alexi Sayle of making a conscious decision to run down manufacturing and concentrating on selling arms and growing the financial services. Former Labour Prime minister called Lady Thatcher a towering figure while others cynically commented that he was the main success of her Legacy as she bequeathed her crony capitalism him to so much that it seem at times during his premiership he was reading joint right wing hawkish foreign policy document give to him by Gorge Bush.

Margret Thatcher was by far the most masculine Woman among men in British politics: with the exception of Baroness Young, no women were promoted to the Cabinet or to junior Minister. Novelist Lionel Shiver hailed her as a feminist not for what she said but what she did. That compliment coming from a man is hardly comforting when she did so much to undermine women such as freezing child benefits and accused women during her premiership of raising a “crèche Generation”.The only bold feminist statement that she made was by way of a gaffe in 1989 when she declared “we are a grandmother “shortly after the birth of her grandson Michael in 1989.She once disclosed to a personal adviser in private that she reviled the feminist movement yet she was admired by women for her steely determination and her astute and firmness as a leader and she had the beauty and aura of a Hollywood film star. She held a squeaky clean image in her public life yet her son Mark was charged in 2004 with an alleged plot to overthrow the Government of Equatorial Guinea in Africa and he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of f helping to finance the plot and was given a tap on the wrist in order to preserve his ailing mothers dignity. In 2009 her daughter attracted controversy when she was sacked from the BBC by describing a black tennis player as a ‘golliwog’.

In all of this she was extremely successful in government. A historical sweep of Margret thatcher life in politics reads like the story of an extremely successful but reckless male formula one driver who has won the grand prix. However in doing so- have wreaked a lot of havoc along the way and made a few friends and many enemies on his way to pole position. In all of this the honourable Baroness deserves a measured and dignified state funeral with her family, friends and foes sobbing over her casket. Not the ugly spectre a few right wing zealots ready to snort her ashes or vengeful left-wingers waiting to dance on her grave to the wizard of Oz song “Ding Dong! The witch is dead”.

Donovan Reynolds is a Blogger and Independent Writer. He is a British based Social Worker and Human rights Activist. He has an interest in Politics, Culture, and Human Rights. Readers may comment on this blog or email feedback at dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk

Debunking the Myth of Creationism-Does god really exist?

Debunking the Myth of Creationism-Does god really exist?

An explanation for the origin of the world man and other creatures is found in all human cultures. Traditionally all three Abrahamic religions such as Christianity, Muslims and Judaism- all explain the origin of man and the universe as the handiwork of an omniscient god. When the Secular Rastafarian and Poet Mutabaruka did a Poem” Is God schizophrenic” it plunged religion in an existential crisis. Central to the poem was a scathing request for god in the sky to come down and die. Mutabaruka a clever outspoken humanist trough his poem appealed to religious addicts high on the god delusion to think outside of the box of religious myths.

The promise of a god in the sky is misleading and fancy fairy tale dreamt up and believed by religious theorist. The religious hatemongers were infuriated by this cleverly crafted dialectic that is indeed radical and thought provoking. But on the positive side of the equation it created a quiet revolution unnoticed by the Oxford and Princeton brigade who claimed responsibility for the second wave of Secularism and the contemporary post -religious philosophy. History is replete with records of many secularists who have been persecuted by religious fanatics for not believing in creationism. Their Punishment often range from being burnt at the stake, torture or long periods of imprisonment.

But let us examine the historical trajectory that led to the discovery of evolutionary biology. Even Ancient Greece who staked it claim in Western Civilization was bogged down with the myth of an intelligent designer. Anaximander a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus btween610 – 546 BC proposed that animals could be transformed from one kind to another. It seem wholly unusual that the roots of evolution had its early groundings in religious thought as Christian theologians such as Gregory of Naizahus and Augustine maintained that not all species of such was created by god and that some species must have come into existence after the flood as it would have been imposable for Noah ark a single vessel could hold all the species of the world in that time.

Charles Darwin the founder of modern evolution theory: owes a debt of gratitude to his forerunners French naturalist Jean Baptise- Lamark who published a seminal writing’ Philosophical zoology’. The work of the Reverent Thomas Malthus became widely known for his theories about population and its increase or decrease in response to various factors. The six editions of his An Essay on the Principle of Population, published from 1798 to 1826, observed that sooner or later population gets checked by famine and disease. Charles Darwin attributed his seminal theory of the original species to Malthus influence. I hate to admit this but atheist like myself owe a debt of gratitude to early Christian theologian’s for handing us evolutionary biology on a platter.

So let’s get to the meat of the matter -that is -to lay bare the ludicrous idea of creationism. We know from palaeontologists and molecular biologist that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. The oldest know rocks, dated at 3.96 billion years are found in north western Canada. Most professionals in the scientific community that is worth their grain of salt all widely believe that the universe started about 15 billion years ago in the ‘Big Bang’. It was a monumental explosion that sent matter and energy exploding in all directions. As the universe expanded, matter collected into clouds that condensed into galaxies such as our own milky way. Gravitational attracted materials that in many ways condensed into stars where nuclear reaction took place forming small planets like the earth and the sun. This is more comforting than the Adam and Eve and “Yaccubs theory “of Creationism as most of it is scientifically validated and the gaps in understand are emerging continuously.

We owe an infinite amount of gratitude to the work of several evolutionary biologist, palaeontologist archaeologist and genealogist to our understanding of the origin of species most importantly Charles Darwin. We know know that women have their pace in the evolutionary process than the subservient belief that they share a rib from man given to them by god. Evolution is the process of decent with modification. The virtual infinite variation of life are the fruit of evolution and not a designer of a god in a back room call heaven knocking and fitting bones and flesh together with an hammer and an anvil.

There is such too much to say about the evolutionary process that cannot be done in a single blog. Except to end by saying god and creationism is as real as the cow jump over the moon. People accuse me of being self-centred but that accusation is wide of the mark. I owe no apology for being knowledge centred if gods exist- show me the evidence.

Donovan Reynolds is a Blogger and Independent Writer. He is a British based Social Worker and Human rights Activist. He has an interest in Politics, Culture, and Human Rights. Readers may comment on this blog or email feedback at dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk

Demar Robinson, ISSA , Calabar High School and the Jamaica Athletic Contradiction By :Donovan Reynolds Independent Writer.

Demar Robinson, ISSA , Calabar High School and the Jamaica Athletic Contradiction By :Donovan Reynolds Independent Writer.

There are countless myths and realities associated with the daily lives of Jamaican high school student-athletes with which most persons may be unaware. For example, many individuals perceive that student-athletes in Jamaica have all their needs met in their academic and personal environments, such as having preferential treatment in class scheduling, access to funding streams that is unavailable to typical students and a broad base of support from athletic supporters in the Business in community in Jamaica.

Demar Robinson of Calabar high -a former tripel jump champion and Odean Skeen of Wolmers Boys School must be a broken young men today- failed by ISSA and the schools and country that they once represented. Skeen was disqualified for a false start in the Class One 100m final at last year's ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships at the National Stadium was to be his final individual appearance at the over a century old event. According to ISSA rules, student athletes must maintain a 45 per cent average in at least four subjects and an attendance record of 80 per cent in the school year to be eligible to represent the school in any sports under the ISSA umbrella. Skeen, who was a surprise third in the boys' 100m at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain, last year, was expected to feature in what is expected to be a mouth-watering Class One boys' 100m final against defending champion Delano Williams of Munro College, and Odail Todd of Green Island High. The Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships (better known as the Champs) is an annual Jamaican multi-sport high school athletics meet held by Jamaica’s Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association. The four day event, held during the last week before Easter every year in Kingston, is considered a proving ground for many successful Jamaican athletes most of them from poor backgrounds who see the championships as a way to becoming professional athletes.

 The last athletic championship held in 2012 was won by Calabar the boys from Red Hills Road who have a proud record of winning those championships and the Jamaican School challenge Quiz in one scoop. The road to Champs is now even more of a proving ground in preparation for world-class competition, but there is no guarantee that talented teens will shine through immediately. Triple Olympic/World gold medallist and world record holder Usain Bolt, for example, first came to the fore in 2002, after failing to win any events in the Class 3 age group. Olympic champions Veronica Campbell-Brown, and Shelly-Ann Fraser suffered crushing defeats in the lower age groups at the meet before finally winning for their school teams. Three-time 100m world record-holder and World/Olympic gold medallist (4x100m) Asafa Powell competed, but never became a household name at the high school level because he was disqualified in the Class 1 100m final. So Maybe and I say “maybe”- Odean Skeen has a flicker of hope- if the dust settles in his favour. Other top performers at Champs who have gone on to excel on the world stage include Michael Frater, Bert Cameron, Melaine Walker, Winthrop Graham, Beverly McDonald, Maurice Wignall, Juliet Cuthbert, Sandie Richards and Raymond Stewart. All of these successful athletes have paid the price for mixing academic life with the rigours of academic work is a difficult balancing act. Let’s face it  making the transition from High school athletic prodigy to a successful professional athlete is a a cat herding exercise.

Behind the glitter of an envious championship belies the usage and disappointments of a number of athletes who suffer from undiagnosed learning difficulties are overworked by pushy coaches and discarded when they don’t meet the eligibility criteria set by ISSA which is a 45 % academic average in at least four subjects and a 85% school attendance rate. These athletes come from a society where two third of the general population is living below the poverty line as stipulated by the United nation and a colonial standard  education system that is woefully underfunded due to the country high debt to GDP ratio which currently is estimated at a whopping 140%.In addition the countries children Services is lacking the investment needed to target and provide support young persons who are vulnerable to the difficulties associated with learning difficulties. There is an archaic understanding about young persons with learning difficulties in Jamaica they are seen as disruptive and lacking in ambition and are cruelly labelled as “a dunce”. This stigma is morally objectionable students likeDemar and Odean is expected on top of their hectic training schedule to achieve academically alongside students that are way above their average who shame them because they are unable to keep pace with their normal student peers without Learning support and psychology input. No wonder children with undiagnosed learning difficulties experience low self-esteem and are more vulnerable to truancy and the allure of maladaptive behaviours.

Learning disabilities, or learning disorders, are an umbrella term for a wide variety of learning problems. A learning disability is not a problem with intelligence or motivation. Young persons with learning disabilities aren’t lazy or dumb. In fact, most are just as smart as everyone else. Their brains are simply wired differently. This difference affects how they receive and process information. Simply put, children and adults with learning disabilities see, hear, and understand things differently. This can lead to trouble with learning new information and skills, and putting them to use. The most common types of learning disabilities involve problems with reading, writing, math, reasoning, listening, and speaking. Learning disabilities look very different from one child to another. One child may struggle with reading and spelling, while another loves books but can’t understand math. Still another child may have difficulty understanding what others are saying or communicating out loud. The problems are very different, but they are all learning disorders.

It can be tough to face the possibility that your child has a learning disorder. No parents want to see their children suffer. You may wonder what it could mean for your child’s future, or worry about how your child will make it through school. Perhaps you’re concerned that by calling attention to your child's learning problems he or she might be labelled "slow" or assigned to a less challenging class. I have two sons with learning difficulties so I understand the challenges faced by parents. I was maths dyslexic when I attended Calabar where Demar is attending and it was a frustrating and dehumanising experience for me. The important thing to remember is that most young persons like Demar with learning challenges are just as smart as everyone else. They just need to be taught in ways that are tailored to their unique learning styles. By learning more about learning disabilities in general, and your child’s learning difficulties in particular, you can help pave the way for success at school and beyond.

On my last visit to Calabar in February this raised the issue with the Guidance Counsellor and John Messam the hard working President of Calabar old boy association about the need to support young persons at risk of social exclusion as a result of attention deficit disorder, learning difficulties poverty and social exclusion .I was very lucky to have a supportive mother who had the patience to nurture me through the disappointments of struggling with learning difficulty. Today I have a successful career and mentor a number of University and college students in the UK that I shepherded trough the difficult but necessary terrain of learning difficulties. I have raised this issue to shed the spotlight on ISSA to positively discriminate in favour of athletes with learning difficulties. So that they may receive support with diagnosis, extra support and practical assistance that will enable them to meet a reasonable set an academic criterion which is a well-accepted welfare principle that needs to be applied.

  To conclude ,we have to collectively advise ourselves as parents and professionals in the Health and Education sector -that a joined up approach is necessary to save young persons at risk of scuppering their hope and dreams due to a lack of proper assessment, intervention and planning for the future of young people with learning difficulties. Let’s put an end to the “worthless dunce myth”. This writer in principle is in favour of a good support system for student-athletes in Jamaican Highschools .While also, endorsing an educational experience that is integrated across a range of activities, and such experiences should ideally facilitate effective transitions into academic and community life for the student.

Donovan Reynolds is a Blogger and Independent Writer. He is a British based Social Worker and Human rights Activist. He has an interest in Politics, Culture, Human Rights and International Development issues. Readers of this blog may add their comments or critique at the space provided on this blog .Or alternatively they may e-mail him at dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk/ or dannygerm@twitter

Towards a Philosophical Understanding of Black Human Secularism drawn from a West Indian Perspective: by Donavan Reynolds

Towards a Philosophical Understanding of Black Human Secularism drawn from a West Indian Perspective: by Donavan Reynolds

It’s quite embarrassing to wish my readers a happy New Year since we have almost completed two months into the New Year. I do apologise to all my valuable readers. I was unavoidably detained by organising a High School reunion and a much needed respite from work. My libido has dipping fast as I approach the 50th anniversary of my birth giving my brain an extra capacity for radical reflection. As I mulled over the blogs that I posted it occurred to me that a rich vein of secularism ran through most of them. Secondly, I embarrassingly discovered that the religious right was at the” fag end “of a lot of my deserved criticism-and rightly so. The evident self critique is that although I had provided an exciting form of writing that was at times informative it was done in an unstructured way and could have been more historically focused. I am always looking for ways to improve my work and to broaden my audience in a progressive and engaging way.

This year I am going to be more organized in my presentation as I intend to lay out my stall as a

black secular humanist in my blogs for this year. My writings in 2013 will include the embrace of

human reason, ethic, social justice and philosophical naturalism, whist specifically rejecting

religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience or superstition as the basis of morality,

decision making and public political discourse. Why is it that I emphasise my blackness in this dialectic space? It’s simply because identity culture and ethnicity is inextricable bound. Even if you are an avid deconstructionist you will always be associated with your biology more specifically the colour of your skin. My social consciousness and resentment towards religion arose out of awareness that I am a descendant of slaves brought from Africa to the Caribbean slavery and religion was the axis of evil that sustained the oppression that kept us chained to a capitalist system of forced unpaid labour for 300 years without reparation. While slavery in itself was a wicked and unjust physical act - a mental hoax called religion historically is used to dupe people of African descent mentally into submission and altered the notion within some of us that we were different but equal to our oppressors. ((CARICOM) The African Diaspora at its 2007 Global Conference held in Bridgetown, Barbados issued a call for CARICOM governments to collaborate with the African Union in developing appropriate mechanisms to ensure that Third States such as several European states, Canada and the United States expedite the implementation of reparations for their role in slavery.

Throughout my reading of Caribbean History I located a rich vein of black secularism

running the gamut of George Pad more, CLR James, Walter Rodney straight trough to the

late John Maxwell, Journalist Mark Wagnall and Dub poet and cultural icon Mutbaruka.

They have all embraced the post colonial era without getting into ideological bed with the

religious right. It is this rich vein of progressive thinking that I want promote. I believe that as

a people who have endured slavery and colonialism we can only find peace and true

liberation by rearranging our circumstances. Neither can we medicate away our poverty and

ignorance with religion. True confidence as a people must come from understanding our

history which can help us to heal, seek reparation and progress. The course of West Indian history is marked by appalling crimes. We need to take a fresh look at the black Christian evangelical movement and examined how they have betrayed our aspiration for a departure from mental slavery by chaining us to a social representation of the past.

Estimates vary, but somewhere between 20 million and 60 million people were captured, enslaved and brought to the Americas. Millions more died in the slave raids, in the dungeons and in the Middle Passage. The ship in which Hawkins commenced the trade was named The Jesus. Other ships of this pious Christian slave trader John Hawkins bore the names Solomon and John the Baptist. I have evidence to the slave-ship Thomas. Here is a copy of one of the bills of lading:--“Shipped by the grace of God in good order, and well conditioned by James Dodd, in and upon the good ship "Thomas," master under God for this present voyage, Captain Peter Roberts, and now at anchor at Calabar, and by God's grace bound for Jamaica, with 630 slaves, men and women, branded D.D., and numbered in the margin 31 D.D., and are to be delivered in good state, and well conditioned, at the port of Kingston (the dangers of the seas and mortality alone excepted) unto Messrs. Broughton & Smith. In witness whereof the master and purser of the ship "Thomas" hath affirmed to this bill of lading, and God send the good ship to her destined port in safety, Amen. October 31st, 1767.”

In what is now Burkina Faso, Ghana's neighbour to the north, the population was nearly decimated by the slave trade. Most who survived the raids came to either Cape Coast or Elmina (Portuguese for "the mine"). The Dutch and Portuguese bought slaves from Elmina and shipped them via seagoing communal coffins to Brazil, Surinam and other colonies. Slaves from Cape Coast went to the Caribbean and the United States.In 1951, Israeli authorities made a claim to the four powers occupying post-war Germany regarding compensation and reimbursement, based on the fact that Israel had absorbed and resettled 500,000 Holocaust survivors. They calculated that since absorption had cost 3,000 dollars per person ($26,862 in today dollars), they were owed 1.5 billion dollars ($13,400,000,000 in today dollars) by Germany. They also figured that six billion dollars worth of Jewish property had been pillaged by the Nazis, but stressed that the Germans could never make up for what they did with any type of material recompense. Negotiations leading to the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany began in March 1952, and were conducted between representatives of the government of the Federal Republic, the government of the State of Israel, and representatives of the World Jewish Congress, headed by Dr. Goldm. The agreement was signed by Adenauer and Moshe Sharett on September 10, 1952 in the town hall of Luxembourg.

Every time African descendants of slavery living in the Caribbean and the Americas make the argument that if the Jews were compensated for the Holocaust then our clam for compensation for the damages caused by slavery we are accused of being anti Semitic. Maulana Karenga an African-American professor of Africana Studies states that the effects of the African slave trade were "the morally monstrous destruction of human possibility involved redefining African humanity to the world, poisoning past, present and future relations with others who only know us through this stereotyping and thus damaging the truly human relations among people of today". He cites that it constituted the destruction of culture, language, religion and human possibility.  Perhaps the reason why reparation is a difficult is its historical links to the two major religions. Like most holy books, the Bible and the Quran can be used to support particular viewpoints, and slavery is no exception.

There are numerous references to slavery in the Bible and the Quran which can be interpreted to condemn or condone this practice, and even those verses which appear unambiguous, are far from clear when scrutinised. As we continue to assert our identity as Caribbean people it is important for us to begin to reshape our thinking about spirituality. One of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding. I am happy to be alive at time when humanity is pushing against the limits of understanding and thinking outside of the box. Voltaire got it right long ago when he opined: 'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' So did Bertrand Russell who said: 'Many people would sooner die than think. In fact they do.”

Donovan Reynolds is a Blogger and Independent Writer. He is a British based Social Worker and Human rights Activist. He has an interest in Politics, Culture, Human Rights.Rreaders may comment on this blog or email feedback at dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk.