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Bolt to Race 100, Drop 200 at Swiss Meet
Posted by ShopinJA in Featured Post on July 6th, 2010
Usain Bolt will run in the 100 metres instead of the 200 at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, this week.
Organisers say the Olympic and world champion switched to the shorter race in Thursday’s event to avoid aggravating a sore Achilles’ tendon.
Athletissima spokesman Pierre-Andre Pasche says Bolt is recovering well from the injury but made the change after consulting his doctor in Munich.
Pasche says the IAAF has accepted the change.
Source: Jamaica Observer
Why Al went for ‘Dudus’
Posted by ShopinJA in Featured Post on June 28th, 2010
Pastor says Coke wanted to end stain of violence on his family.
FORMER Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, who is now before the courts in the United States on drug and gun-running charges, wanted to end the violent history that has stained him and his family, according to the Rev Al Miller.
Rev Al Miller speaking to his congregants at Fellowship Tabernacle in Kingston yesterday morning. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
Miller, who heads Fellowship Tabernacle, was one of the last persons to have contact with Coke before he was captured by police, whisked through the Jamaican courts and flown to the United States.
Miller said an utterance by the reputed don encouraged him that fateful Tuesday when he attempted to escort Coke to the US Embassy but was stopped by the police.
According to Miller, who was last Thursday charged by the authorities with harbouring a fugitive and perverting the course of justice, Coke’s decision to surrender signalled the former fugitive’s desire “to help bring this to an end”.
“[He said] ‘since it started with me (my family) let it end with me’,” Miller told his congregation at the church on Washington Boulevard in St Andrew yesterday morning.
Coke, who the US Department of State branded one of the world’s most dangerous narco criminals, is the latest member of the Coke family to have made headlines for the wrong reasons. The US Drug Enforcement Agency said Coke inherited the reins of the notorious Shower Posse and has accused him of trafficking in cocaine, marijuana and arms.
Coke, also known as ‘The President’ and ‘Shortman’, lost his father, two brothers and a sister violently and now faces life imprisonment in a US penal facility.
His father, Lester Lloyd ‘Jim Brown’ Coke, a leading member of the Shower Posse, died in a mysterious fire in his jail cell while awaiting extradition on federal charges. His brother, Mark ‘Jah T’ Coke, was shot off his motorbike near the intersection of Maxfield Avenue and Spanish Town Road and another brother, ‘Chris Royal’ or ‘Royal Blend’ was killed by police.
Last Hurrah of the Mighty Dudus?
Posted by ShopinJA in Featured Post on June 25th, 2010
AT THE BEGINNING, it seemed comical… the Great Don himself, the man who, it is said, was the benefactor to hundreds, referred to as the strongman, sneaking down the highway wearing a clown’s wig and a hat suitable only for a comedy show. Surely this couldn’t be the Mighty Dudus, the Presi himself? It was, and the drama which has held up our progress for months now, was entering another act.
The production has been marked by shows and sideshows, front-of-curtain monologues and full-stage song and dance. There has been a fair share of tragedy and comedy, unfortunately more of the former. The cemeteries still wait for their share of the grisly evidence of over 70 lives lost. So, where to now?
Yesterday at Norman Manley Airport, workers huddled together to watch as the JDF helicopter landed after the brief flight from Up Park Camp, carrying their now-famous passenger. Someone relayed to me, in running commentary, the mood of the moment as he was transferred to the Gulf Stream jet which awaited on the tarmac. My contact reported on the response of the groups of onlookers who rushed to get a glimpse of the man whose fate had received more attention, here and abroad, than any superstar.
As he walked to the jet, on what could be his last contact with Jamaican soil for who knows how long, expressions of sympathy were heard. People waved, shouted out wishes for safe travel. Christopher “Dudus” Coke was leaving, a hero. Even as the excitement was going on here, listeners to the BBC and Radio France, among others, were following the event with the concentration accorded a royal occasion.
Coke has gone but the questions and comments linger. Most often repeated was the conviction that it is time “bigger heads roll”. Hopes were expressed that there would be a speedy revelation of “who and who mix-up inna it”. The prevailing sentiment was that Dudus has not acted alone, hence it was not fair that he alone should pay the price. It was said repeatedly that when the Americans start questioning him, he should tell what he knows. Tell everything. People declared that they want to see important persons – politicians especially – brought before the courts. Nobody is to be trusted anymore.
Inna De Yard: Scheed Cole
Posted by ShopinJA in Featured Post on June 23rd, 2010
Inna De Yard is a series produced by The Gleaner that examines the roles of city dwellers in the capital of Jamaica: Kingston. Scheed Cole developed his skills as an artist while growing up in an inner city community, and is using them to survive, thrive, and train others in his community with a plethora of creative media.
Interviews: Mark Beckford Media and production: Kyle Macpherson
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