Walking through the gardens of St Paul’s Cathedral in London recently, I noticed this bench…
…and the plaque on it. I don’t know who Sandra Archer was or who arranged for this act of remembering… family, friends or colleagues…
Our family did this recently, after my husband died. A plaque on a bench, under a tree at Hope Gardens…
An act of remembering…
I like taking photos of sunsets. A bit cliched, you suggest? Yes, probably. But I like taking photos of sunsets anyhow.
By the time I went up onto the roof yesterday, the sun had already set and what I was left with was the after-sunset sky… 
…which was rather beautiful…
I really do love taking photos of sunsets. Did I say that already?
In case you missed this news item, I have posted the article below in full, as I wouldn’t want readers of this blog to be unaware of this important new public service!
Friday, September 13, 2019
The new Department of Dress Code Compliance (D²C²) is now open for business and is ready to assist the Jamaican people with a problem that has plagued the society for decades.
Not allowed at one Government Ministry. Portal will now provide clarity on what qualifies as short shorts & mini skirts. Also exactly how much or how little of “the Bosom” may be exposed.
Having missed the original launch deadline of April 1, 2019, due to unavoidable technical problems, the new agency (located on Constant Spring Road) now stands ready to help people navigate the complex maze of dress code rules – written, unwritten, published, unpublished, public, secret and totally imaginary – that are part of life in Jamaica.
A centralized database has been established containing all dress codes for state institutions and institutions that receive public funding. Members of the public are now able to access the database using the online D²C² portal.
Minister Without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for public decorum, keeping up appearances and protection of civilization as we know it, Hon. Beidi Booke said, “Many people are frustrated when they turn up at government agencies, hospitals and courts and are denied access because of inappropriate attire. Now, using the D²C² portal, people can upload pictures of their clothes, shoes and jewelry and get pre-clearance before they even leave home. Think of the valuable man-hours, woman-hours and child-hours that can be saved with this new system.”
Minister Booke noted that partnerships have been forged with the Jamaica Library Service (JLS) to facilitate persons who do not have access to computers and may want to utilise the dress code portal. The Minister also pointed out the small business opportunities associated with assisting people to access the portal.
The Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) has welcomed the launch of the new agency, having collaborated with D²C² on the design of the special Skoolaz Rules R Rules app. Students and parents will be able to download the app to their mobile phones and use it to upload photos to check uniform lengths, tightness of pants, hairstyles and more against the existing and soon-to-be-disclosed dress codes of any government assisted educational institution in Jamaica.
Use Skoolaz Rules R Rules app & avoid uniform length mishaps!
With the easy pre-clearance process, parents will no longer have to worry about wasted bus fares or their children’s safety as a result of being sent home from school because a uniform isn’t 6 inches above the ankle or 6 inches below the knee or because they have more than 4 bubbles in their hair.
Small but dangerous nose rings pose threats to safety and decorum of our courts.
A member of the public outside the Supreme Court on King Street said she looked forward to using the portal. “Dem tell mi fren shi haffi tek out har nose ring fi guh eena di court. Wid dis system now, yu cyan tek pitcha of yu nose, yu aise, any part ah yu baddi fi dem pass it before yu reach.”
MP Everald Coolingdown has said the new portal will enable the public to easily comply with the dress code for parliament. “The standard has fallen to a very low level, where people walk into this House in anything they want. I have seen some situations here where people are in jeans and T-shirts in the gallery here. The only thing I don’t see them in is body blouse. Some of the things they wear in the gallery is totally unacceptable. People can use the new portal to check their sleeve length, their shoe style, their collar style. Pre-clearance will help to preserve the dignity of parliament and will allow for a smoother flow on busy days.”
Leader of Opposition Business MP Allswell welcomed the launch as a more streamlined method of implementing adherence to dress codes. He also pointed out that the previous administration had tabled a white paper on a dress code portal policy and had actually run pilot projects in three parishes utilising the Social Development Commission.
A public education programme will be rolled out shortly using the slogan for the new portal – Nuh Mek Dem Tun Yu Back! Pre-clearance for Better Adherence!
This blooming Poinciana tree…
…Delonix regia…
…flamboyant fi true!
I read Esther Figueroa’ s column “Cockpit Country Still Under Threat From Bauxite Mining” in today’s Gleaner (Sunday, July 28, 2019) and decided to post it on my blog. So many voices pointing out where we are heading in this era of climate crisis and in so many ways we continue to ignore the warnings. We are rapidly entering a time when water…unpolluted water especially…will be far more valuable than the bauxite and other substances we mine, destroying the environment as we do so.
This is the final paragraph of Figueroa’s column, which you might want to read in full:
“When I was in Ulster Spring on May 27 for the Noranda EIA public meeting for SML 173, I looked out at the most perfect of Cockpit Country mountains, the unique conical shape completely covered in trees, and when I imagined that mountain butchered by bauxite mining my heart fell into the depths of despair. Strip mining is never good for the environment and it is never sustainable development. In a time of climate crisis with record high temperatures, unpredictable weather with long droughts and catastrophic storms, it is stupidly suicidal to be cutting down our trees and polluting and depleting our soil and water. All of Cockpit Country must be protected not just the Designated Cockpit Country Protected Area. We must not allow Special Mining Lease 173 to be granted.”
When bauxite mining began in Jamaica about 70 years ago, we may not have been aware of the full extent of the negative impacts. We have no such excuse now.
“Esther Figueroa, Ph.D. is an activist independent filmmaker who has been an integral part of the movement to protect Cockpit Country. Her films include Cockpit Country – Voices from Jamaica’s Heart and Cockpit Country Is Our Home. Her most recent feature documentary Fly Me To The Moon (to be released later this year) is about aluminum, modernity, the political economy of our material culture and consumption, and is a call for us to stop destroying the natural world that we all depend upon.” – Gleaner, 28/7/2019
Cockpit Country – Voices from Jamaica’s Heart
Sunset…Sunday evening…day’s end. We know that days end, that weekends end, that lives end. Sunset…Sunday evening…day’s end.
I stood in a backyard in St Paul, Minnesota, trying to take a photo of a bright red cardinal as it flitted from tree to tree. Such a beautiful bird, but it just wouldn’t sit still! Every time I moved slowly into position to snap a photo, the bird flew off to a new vantage point! So I got no photo of the bird….
This tree in the backyard, however, stayed still enough for me to take a number of photos, which I now share with you. If anyone can identify the tree for me, I would be grateful.
Here is its crown pictured with two other trees against a clear blue sky…
It had beautiful blossoms in abundance…
Here they are closer up…
The tree had such wonderfully rugged bark…
And if you look very carefully, up towards the right in this photo, you may see the branch on which the cardinal was sitting moments before I captured this image!
