R.E.S.P.E.C.T, Find Out What It Means To Me

Living in the Caribbean, I was taught as a kid to respect not only my elders but also those in authority.   Respect became a part of my life and I respected everyone until they they wore it out.

Arriving in North America, I was surprised to see that respect was not as forced fed as I was used to it being.  Everyone seemed on the same plain. Old, young, teachers and students, there were no differentiating.  At first I was aghast.  If he said that in my country, he would get such an ass whupping…How could she talk to her grandmother/teacher like that?  Then I got used to it.

Getting used to it didn’t mean I forgot what I was taught and followed the disrespectful crowd.  No, I got used to seeing the lack of respect.  No one seemed to make the obvious connection that lack of respect goes hand in hand with criminal behavior.   Rape, theft, molestation, all direct manifestations of the lack of respect by the perpetrators.  I am not saying that having no respect means one is going to commit a crime but committing a crime is a result of not respecting the victim.  You can’t dispute that.

In my work place, I give due respect to those in authority.  I do not get confrontational unless I feel I have to be, and then I still maintain a respectful attitude.  Unfortunately, many of those who are in supervisory or managerial positions tend to abuse their power.   They expect to be respected by their employees but do not believe that it should be mutual.  Respecting their minions seems weak and unprofessional.  In fact, this is quite the opposite.  Humbling yourself to be able to respect someone who is ‘beneath’ you is a show of strength.  Some consider it sexy.

Respect is dying.  It’s not quite dead yet but it’s terminal.  Unless it is resuscitated, we would continue to be selfish savages.  But again, that’s just MY TAKE.

 

Related articles

• R.E.S.P.E.C.T – Find Out What it Means (zigzagleadership.wordpress.com)
• R.e.s.p.e.c.t. (gonzosoccer.wordpress.com)
• R.e.s.p.e.c.t (sleeplessandthecity.wordpress.com)

US Men arrested on gay cruise in the Caribbean

Welcome to the islands, Mon

In most, if not all, the Caribbean Islands, homosexuality is outlawed.  Making it a destination on a gay cruise is like a mouse attending feline party.   So what was this gay cruise doing docking on the island of Dominica, a Caribbean Island?  And what were these two men thinking? Obviously their top heads were not being used in this process.  

Anyways, I just found it an interested read this morning that I had to share with you.  Here is the original story.

2 US men arrested on gay cruise in Caribbean

By CARLISLE JNO BAPTISTE | Associated Press – 8 hrs ago

 

 

ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) — Two California men on a gay cruise of the Caribbean were arrested Wednesday in Dominica, where sex between two men is illegal.

Police Constable John George said police boarded the cruise ship and arrested the two men on suspicion of indecent exposure and “buggery,” a term equivalent to sodomy on the island. He identified the men as John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, but did not provide their hometowns.

George said the men were seen having sex on the Celebrity Summit cruise ship by someone on the dock.

The two were later charged with indecent exposure and are scheduled to appear before a magistrate Thursday morning. If found guilty, they could be fined $370 each and face up to six months in jail.

The ship carrying about 2,000 passengers departed Puerto Rico on Saturday and arrived in Dominica on Wednesday. It departed for St. Barts without the men, who are being held in a cell at police headquarters in the capital of Roseau.

The cruise was organized by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specializes in gay travel.

President Rich Campbell, who is aboard the cruise, said in a phone interview earlier that he thought the two men would be released. He later said in an email that the company has organized many trips to Dominica and would “happily return.”

“Many countries and municipalities that gay men visit and live in have antiquated laws on their books,” he said. “These statutes don’t pose a concern to us in planning a tourist visit.”

Campbell said he expects the two men to be released on Thursday and that they only face misdemeanor charges.

“The guests actions were unfortunate but minor in this case and have no bearing on our overall guest experience,” he said via email.

The pastor of Dominica’s Trinity Baptist Church, Randy Rodney, praised the police for their intervention.

“I am very pleased that the police were called in and have arrested the people in question. I have warned about gay tourism and its implications for Dominica,” said Rodney, who is a vocal critic of homosexuality and lesbianism.

The presence of gay cruises in the Caribbean has riled several conservative islands including Jamaica and Grenada, where anti-sodomy laws are enforced with strong backing from religious groups.

According to Cruisemates.com, no gay cruise lines sail to Jamaica or Barbados for fear of homophobia and possible violence. It said other places like the U.S. Virgin Islands welcome gay cruises.

In 2010, the Cayman Islands rejected the arrival of an Atlantis gay cruise amid protests from religious groups even though homosexuality is legal on the archipelago.

Don Weiner, a spokesman for Atlantic Events, referred all questions to Campbell, including why the company organized a trip to Dominica and whether it knew about the island’s anti-sodomy laws.

Elizabeth Jakeway, a spokeswoman for Celebrity Cruises, referred all questions to Atlantis.

The last time authorities in the Caribbean intervened on a gay cruise was in February 2011, when agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested a California man aboard the Allure of the Seas, which had docked in St. Thomas. The man, Steven Barry Krumholz of West Hollywood, pleaded guilty to selling ecstasy, methamphetamine and ketamine to fellow passengers.

___

Associated Press writers Danica Coto and Ben Fox in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

My take, check it out before you whip it out

Related articles

• On Gay Cruise Gay Men Arrested For Having Gay Sex (inquisitr.com)
• 2 California men arrested on gay cruise in Caribbean (mercurynews.com)
• 2 US men arrested on gay cruise in Caribbean (sfgate.com)
• Atlantis Cruise Passengers Arrested for Gay Sex in Dominica (towleroad.com)

Whispers in the wind

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My most recent poem, written for St. Vincent and The Grenadines’ Independence Banquet, 2010.  (I was to read it but couldn’t attend due to illness).

WHISPERS FROM HOME

Psst…I hear whispers in the wind

echoing through the trees.

I can hear it in the distance,

approaching on a breeze.

As I get even closer,

I could then understand,

they were not just idle chatter,

but whispers from my homeland.

I hear the drums of Chatoyer,

our national hero.

Sending out a cryptic message

to the beat of a calypso.

Ocean sounds assail my ears,

waves lapping at the shore.

The whispers are calling me,

getting louder more and more.

I hear a faint melody,

distant but still clear.

It is the sound of steel pan,

sweet music in the air.

I close my eyes to take it in

but it does not last.

Another whisper in my ear

and I am back in my past.

The early morning rooster,

crowing, cock-a-doodle-doo!

I can hear so plainly,

as if I am there too.

Laughter rides in the wind,

a happy child at play.

It is like music to my ears

until the wind whisks it away.

“Hush”! The wind whispers to me,

in a soft and breezy tone.

“Listen with your heart and mind

to the sounds of home”

The whispers then grow fainter

and I could barely hear.

and with a gust, they were gone,

inaudible to my ear.