Gustav

Tropical Storm Gustav

Prayers and thoughts are with Stunner and MadBull as T.S. Gustav is currently over JA and heading slowly to the Caymans.  Keep safe and let us know you are OK. It’s amazing to realise that Gustav is the thunderstorm that passed over Grenada last Saturday.

What’s left to say?

Jamaica 4x100m relay champions!

Jamaica mens 4×100m relay final victory. New world and Olympic record. Trinidad sweeps in to grab the silver. Simply, simply amazing. There isn’t very much else I can say.

Britain and Jamaica

My heart burns for the JA women as their baton mess-up destroyed their otherwise assured gold medal. I haven’t seen the race itself yet but I understand that after the mess-up they didn’t continue around the track – I kinda wish they did. Selfishly, I wanted to see Veronica Campbell power down the last 100 meters, even if they already knew they were out of it. Much good wishes and positive vibes going out to the ladies; I hope they know they are golden anyway in the eyes of Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Joke of the Week!

For Immediate Release:
August 21, 2008
Beijing, China

OFFICIAL STATEMENT:

In a joint statement issued by the presidents of the World Anti-Doping Agency, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the following foods have been placed on the list of banned substances issued by WADA:

yam, green bananas, cocoa, dasheen, breadfruit, ackee and saltfish, mackeral run down, turned cornmeal, Jerked pork and chicken, escovietched fish Malta, Supligen, Milo (said to be the food drink of Champions), Horlicks and coconut oil. Jamaicans seem to become extremely athletic on diets with these foods.

Coming out of WADA labs, one of the major banned substances from Jamaica is the Cassava root, a high fibre, high starch tuber root eaten in Jamaica. It has properties which are said to enhance endurance and cause muscle fibres to twitch faster. This comes after extensive study of the diets of the Jamaican athletes which took part in the Beijing 2008 Olympic games.

Though natural foods it is felt by WADA that these foods because of their unique properties give Jamaican athletes an unfair advantage. High concentrations of carbohydrates and other naturally occurring substances are said to be mimicking the effects of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Some foods have been noted to in particular cause an unusual increase in the male hormone testosterone. As such WADA has seen it fit to add these foods to the list of banned substances.

Given the sensitivity of this issue, Jamaican athletes participating in the current Olympic games underway in Beijing have not been banned but must submit to these new restrictions within the next two years. Two substances which have been discovered in testing of the Jamaican foods are “yamstenine”, a yam derivative and “cocoasterone”, a derivative of the cocoa plant. These substances have been found to mimic nandrolone and the blood booster EPO, hence the preliminary banning of the substances themselves and the banning of the foods they derive from.

This ruling will also affect other Caribbean and some African countries which share similar diets as Jamaicans.
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ROTFLMAO!!

Blog Action Day prelude 1

First in a BlahBlohBlog series for Blog Action Day ‘08.

This is a video released by One.org, an organisation involved in global anti-poverty eradication.

ONE is an advocacy and campaigning organization supported by more than 2 million people and growing, from all walks of life all around the world, uniting as one against extreme poverty.

The video features actor Matt Damon mouthing the words of Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg; the original speakers’ voices are heard.

I’ve begun my research on poverty and let me tell you that after a day I’m already depressed and emotionally worn. I’ve said before and I’ll say again that we in the (English-speaking) Caribbean are blessed and incredibly lucky that we do not, after all is said and done, suffer from the kind of crippling socio-economic issues that so many tens of millions, hundreds of millions of people face the world over.

One.org’s mission is simple:

In 2000, leaders from 189 nations signed on to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight ambitious targets designed to significantly reduce global poverty and disease by 2015.
.. snip..
Along with leaders, campaigns and citizens across the world, ONE is working to mobilize broad-based support for achieving the MDGs and holding world leaders to account for the targets and commitments they set to reach them.

I have signed up as a ONE member and now I’m encouraging you all to do the same. When I signed up I was directed to a page which would be emailed to my contacts so I have copied and pasted the email’s content below:

Join me in fighting poverty!

Hi,

This may look like any other email, but it is actually a crucial piece in the fight against extreme poverty.

I’m taking action with ONE, to help spread the word about the difference we can all make when we join together as one in the fight against extreme poverty. While there are many great organizations delivering direct assistance in Africa, ONE is an advocacy organization focused on making sure policymakers and politicians do their part in this important fight. Tens of millions of lives are at stake if they don’t.

So far more than 2 million people around the globe have joined ONE, and more people (like you?) are joining every day.

You can get involved by visiting:
http://www.one.org/

ONE members are making a difference by convincing world leaders to take the simple steps necessary to help the poorest people in the world work their way out of extreme poverty.

I hope that you’ll join me.

Thanks!

___________________

Yes, I hope you will join me.

Fire ‘pon dem!

Usain Bolt wins Olympic 200m Finals

19.3 seconds is all it took for Usain Bolt to shatter Michael Johnson’s 200m record.

Hooray!!!!!!!

Looking forward to the 200m womens finals tomorrow, and then the 4×100m mens and womens!