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Aug2008.qxd 12/31/69 7:37 PM Page 1 PRESORTED AUGUST 2008 STANDARD ® U.S. POSTAGE PAID MIAMI, FL PERMIT NO. 7315 Tel: (305) 238-2868 1-800-605-7516 [email protected] [email protected] W e cover your world Vol. 19 No. 9 Jamaica: 654-7282 THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING NEWS MAGAZINE Caribana and Crop Over are over and thousands of revelers are wish- ing they were back in the fete. The carnival “wining” season is here, but if we do not vote how we party, there will instead be a lot of whining, page 4. Rising fuel prices, which affect travel to the Caribbean, ~ Vivian Blake, one of the Caribbean’s most plus attracting notorious criminal masterminds, who United more African States law enforcement claimed orchestrated a Americans to vicious gang linked to murders, racketeering, the region as drugs and weapons trafficking, is in line for visitors and investors, were among the early release from a U.S. prison, page 7. issues discussed by Barbados’s Prime Minister David Thompson during a recent visit to the U.S., page 9. RUN FOR GLORY Sports Illustrated, a top magazine in the United States, is predicting that Caribbean athletes including, from left, Veronica Campbell- Actor and classical singer, 23- year-old Jamaican-born Brown, Usain Bolt and Andrew Clark, was pro- Kerron Stewart, will claimed grand champion per- win medals at the former last month at the 12th Olympic Games this staging of the World Champion of Performing Arts (WCOPA) at month in China, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel page 22. in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Campbell-Brown Bolt Stewart page 18. CALL CARIBBEAN TODAY DIRECT FROM JAMAICA 654-7282 INSIDE Election Feature ........................................2 Tourism/Travel ........................................11 Arts/Entertainment..................................20 News ..........................................................5 Back To School ......................................13 Sport .........................................................22 Viewpoint ..................................................9 Local..........................................................18 Summer Olympica ..................................26 Aug2008.qxd 12/31/69 7:37 PM Page 2 2 CARIBBEAN TODAY August 2008 www.caribbeantoday.com ELECTION FEATURE Obama: An African American’s historic quest for the White House LLOYD ROHLEHR 2000, he announced Elected to the Illinois cation, mathematics and sci- his campaign for the Senate in 1996, he gained ence education, as well as an nited States Senator U.S. Senate in Jan. bipartisan support for legisla- expanded summer learning Barrack Obama’s epic 2003. After winning tion reforming ethics and opportunities effort. Uprimary campaign a landslide victory in healthcare laws. Increasing tax Where the Iraq war is against Democratic rival Mar. 2004, Obama credits for low-income resi- concerned, Obama was an Hillary Clinton ended in his delivered the dents was one of his other early opponent of the Bush victory in June. keynote address at efforts. He negotiated welfare administration’s policies. As one observer estimat- the Democratic reform and promoted Obama met his wife, ed, as long as George W. Bush National Convention increased subsidies for child- Michelle Robinson in June is in power the Democrats in July that year. He care. Again and again he was 1989 when he was employed have the election locked up. was elected to the re-elected to the Senate. as a summer associate of the Optimism is as high as that. Senate in Nov. 2004 According to the Senate Chicago law firm of Siddey Contender Obama is with 70 percent of historian, Obama is the fifth Austin. They began dating summed up as possibly anoth- the vote. African American Senator in and were married in 1992. er John F. Kennedy, say, the As part of the U.S. history and the third to With his Kenyan father way he looks at the world. Democratic minority have been popularly elected. and American mother, his Obama’s quest for the U.S. in the 109th upbringing in Honolulu and presidency is even history Congress he co- PLAN Jakarta and his Ivy League itself. sponsored legislation Obama plans a spending education, Obama’s early life Obama is an African to control conven- boost and a possible cut in experiences differ markedly American and this may be a tional weapons and business. It is said that he from those African American moment in our time when the to promote greater would rely on a heavy dose of politicians who launched their forces of destiny are saying to accountability in the government spending to spur careers in the 1960s through him, “come up higher.” He use of federal funds. growth. participation in the Civil may well rise up. He also made offi- He would use tax code to Rights movement. Growth This could be history cial trips to the narrow the widening gap will do a lot for black politics, Obama takes the stage in Miami, Florida prior to Middle East, eastern between the winners and the just as Obama’s inter-racial repeating itself. After World announcing his plans to run for U.S. president. War II, public attitudes turned Europe and Africa. losers in the U.S. economy. background will contribute against segregation, not for- House. Obama has Additionally, he would use the refreshingly to the multiracial getting the landmark case of But who is Obama? emphasized ending the war in tax code to narrow the wealth American republic. Brown vs. Board of Education He is a graduate of Columbia Iraq, increasing energy inde- gap, and possibly bring back a of Topeka. The U.S. Supreme University and of Harvard pendence, decreasing the corporate tax. Lloyd Rohlehr is a freelance Court found that legally man- Law School. He worked as a influence of lobbyists, and Campaigning in New writer for Caribbean Today. dated school segregation was community organizer and promoting universal health Hampshire, Obama announced unconstitutional. practiced as a civil rights care as top national priorities. an $18 billion plan for invest- ® It was 1954 and it was a attorney before serving in the At the University of ments in early childhood edu- landmark decision. Illinois Senate for seven years Chicago Law School he was a – from 1997 to 2004. From lecturer for four years (1992 DESTINY 1992 to 2004 he also taught to 1996) and a senior lecturer Destiny is at work. It is constitutional law at the for eight years (1996 to 2004). Getting to know your possible that in the current University of Chicago Law At a 12-attorney law firm spe- U.S. Senate Obama will do School. cializing in civil rights legisla- something no other U.S. sena- Following an unsuccessful tion and economic develop- voting rights tor has done since 1961: move bid for a seat in the U.S. ment, he also deployed his on, straight to the White legal skills. House of Representatives in very United States citi- ness/notary requirements (if zen (including dual citi- required). Ezens) residing overseas 7) Ensure that your ballot (in the Caribbean or else- or FPCA is postmarked. where) temporarily or indefi- 8) Register to vote and nitely has the right to vote in request your ballot in a timely every U.S. federal election. manner - not later than Visit http://www.fvap.gov September. to download your state specif- 9) Vote - mail your ballot ic application and for more specific information to loca- tion to mail application (based on your last known address). Here are the top 10 rules in ensuring that your overseas vote is counted: 1) Start by contacting your unit/embassy/organiza- tion voting assistance officer for help in absentee registra- tion and voting. 2) Visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s website at www.fvap.gov for information on the absentee registration and voting process. not later than Oct.15th of the 3) Ensure that you have election year. applied for your absentee bal- 10) Use the Federal Write lot using the hard copy or In Absentee Ballot if you are online versions of the FPCA. overseas and your state absen- 4) Make sure your local tee ballot does not arrive in election official has your cur- time to be mailed back by the rent mailing address. state’s deadline. 5) Sign and date all elec- tion materials. ® 6) Fulfill your state’s wit- Aug2008.qxd 12/31/69 7:37 PM Page 3 August 2008 CARIBBEAN TODAY 3 ELECTION FEATURE www.caribbeantoday.com Calls for Caribbean plank in U.S. Democratic Party platform NEW YORK – A Guyanese throughout the U.S. assistance to the Caribbean Act (NAFTA). On social issues, Moore lawyer and prominent com- Moore, who is also editor- community (CARICOM) so it He further urged the U.S. called on the U.S. to provide munity activist in New York in-chief of the Caribbean can establish a regional stock to reconsider what he deemed financial and technical has called on the United American Weekly, a commu- market, a regional central its policy of seeking to termi- resources to the region to States Democratic Party to nity-based newspaper in bank that would “create a sin- nate Caribbean Trade prefer- address narco-trafficking incorporate a Caribbean Brooklyn, said even though gle Caribbean currency” and ence in the European Union crimes, the AIDS pandemic, plank in its 2008 election the Caribbean American com- provide necessary resources to (EU). and the reintegration of crimi- platform. munity shares many of the the Caribbean Development “In the event the U.S. nal deportees. Testifying late last month social, economic and political Bank (CDB). cannot reconsider its trade He also urged the before the Barack Obama cam- problems of the African Moore also wants an policies, it should provide the Democratic Party to grant paign and the U.S. Democratic American community, it con- Obama administration to per- Caribbean governments with legal status to all Caribbean National Committee (DNC) stitutes a “distinct demograph- suade the U.S.