Jamaica newly appointed Ambassador to Brazil Alison Stone Roofe

She is career diplomat Alison Stone Roofe, the current director of the Caribbean and Americans Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ambassador designate is also the former deputy director of the Foreign Trade Department and Private Sector Liaison for the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery.

Ms Roofe is a part-time lecturer of International Relations at the University of the West Indies, and brings with her 20 years working experience in the ministry. She serves as a member of the CARICOM Inter-Governmental Task Force on the review of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and a member of the Caricom-appointed Evaluation Committee overseeing the reconstruction of the Caricom Secretariat.

Word of the appointment was made yesterday by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, AJ Nicholson, and signals a deepening of relations within the hemisphere.

“The opening up of a mission in the capital Brasilia is part of the strategic vision of the ministry in a bid to encourage trade and investment opportunities and strengthen Jamaica’s advocacy in the global arena,” the ministry said yesterday.

Hersheys' Illustration

The “Raise the Bar, Hershey Coalition” (http://www.raisethebarhershey.org), a group of responsible cocoa advocates led by Global Exchange, Green America, and International Labor Rights Forum, started the campaign after identifying Hershey as behind its competitors on addressing child labor, forced labor, and other abuses in the cocoa industry.

“We are heartened to see Hershey’s taking this first step towards accountability in their supply chain and we will continue to dialogue with them about how to ensure they no longer depend on forced child labor,” said Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum. “The threat of a Super Bowl ad forced the announcement, but Hershey’s new moves are really the result of thousands of consumers, students, church congregations and community groups writing to them over the past two years.”

The Raise the Bar, Hershey Coalition has been increasing pressure on Hershey, including launching a petition on Change.org (http://www.change.org/petitions/hershey-raise-the-bar), creating “brand-jamming” photos and videos of Hershey products, blanketing the company’s Facebook wall in messages, organizing rallies at Hershey flagship stores, and delivering more than 100,000 letters from concerned consumers to Hershey’s corporate headquarters on Halloween.

“The Raise the Bar, Hershey! Coalition is excited to see Hershey listening to consumer demand for ethically sourced cocoa,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, fair trade campaigns director for Green America, “but we also recognize there is much more work to be done to fight child labor and other abuses in the cocoa industry, and we will continue to encourage Hershey to develop ethical sourcing practices.”

“The growth and ultimate success of Raise the Bar, Hershey’s petition on Change.org is incredible,” said Change.org Director of Organizing Amanda Kloer. “Hershey responded to consumer pressure with a significant improvement in cocoa sourcing transparency. It has been empowering to watch this group of concerned organizations and individuals use Change.org’s tools to fight for changes at the Hershey Company.”

In response to Hershey’s announcement, eighth grader Jasper Perry-Anderson has created a follow-up campaign on Change.org (http://www.change.org/petitions/hersheys-trust-stop-exploiting-children-to-grow-cocoa-beans) asking the Hershey Trust to ensure the Hershey Company expands its commitment to certified cocoa to all its products in the future.

Live signature totals from Raise the Bar, Hershey’s campaign:

http://www.change.org/petitions/hershey-raise-the-bar

New Prison Cook Book Illustration

Decades, in fact. And that, combined with a few (admittedly peculiar) ingredients and a desire to cook despite the odds has resulted in a rather unusual cookbook _ “From The Big House to Your House,” a collection of 200 recipes by six Texas prison inmates.

The women all are serving at least 50 years at the Mountain View Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, all but one of them for murder. And a hankering for foods they enjoyed on the outside prompted them to get creative on the inside.

For example, they’ve found that an empty potato chip bag works for cooking in an electric warming pot, their only source of heat for cooking. A plastic ID card _ similar to a credit card _ makes an acceptable cutting or chopping implement. And tuna and mackerel can be made into great-tasting nachos.

“I know it sounds disgusting,” said Celeste Johnson, 49, one of the authors. “But I love tuna nachos. And I’ve got so many people here converted to it.”

The book was produced with the help of Johnson’s mother, who typed the recipes and submitted the manuscript on the women’s behalf to The Justice Institute, a Seattle group that works with convicts who maintain their innocence. The group published the book and now sells it online.

The book puts into print a long tradition of the joy of cooking behind bars, where generations of Martha Stewart wannabes have concocted legal and illegal brews and stews with a variety of success and failure.

And inmate cooking is not confined to women’s prisons. Former Texas corrections officer Jim Willett remembers his days working in a men’s unit, walking through a cell block and getting whiffs of simmering foods.

“You knew when there were certain foods cooking, just like being in your house,” says Willett, now director of the Texas Prison Museum. “It would make you want to stop and join them, but that’s not legal.

“Something like a Frito pie they’re certainly not going to get in the chow hall.”

The reality of prison cooking is a bit different from “GoodFellas,” the 1990 movie that shows mobsters delicately slicing garlic with a razor blade as they prepare a gourmet Italian dinner for themselves while serving time. And it isn’t always pretty.

Inmates tend to be creative in the “kitchen.” In the past, some have been known to fashion metal plates into skillets that get heated in toilets filled with burning toilet paper. Or to transform tooth paste tubes into spoons and turn fruit into prison “wine.”

In 2009, a Washington state prison inmate’s attempt to warm sausages in his cell’s stainless steel commode didn’t work as hoped. Smoke from the prisoner’s makeshift oven went through a sewer pipe vent and officials evacuated the lockup for what they feared was a fire. The inmate became known as the “toilet chef.”

More typical was the experience of Martha Stewart, the homemaking pro who was said to have dabbled in microwave cooking while locked up a few years ago in a federal prison in West Virginia while serving time for obstruction of justice and lying to the government.

At least she had a microwave, which Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said is available to many federal inmates, though they are prohibited from cooking in their cells.

The Texas women _ who, in compliance with regulations prohibiting them from profiting from a business while behind bars, are donating proceeds from the book to their publisher _ only have their “hot pot,” a coffee pot-like instrument that warms water, but can’t boil it (boiled liquid could become a weapon).

Ingredients also are limited mostly to what can be purchased from the prison commissary. They can forget about real milk _ they get powder _ or real butter, as well as most individual seasonings. Garlic? They squeeze that from garlic vitamin tablets.

“It looks kind of gross,” Johnson says. “But it works. You’d be surprised.”

Looking for alternatives to meals served in the chow hall, the Texas women began pooling their commissary food purchases and wrote down their discoveries, such as rehydrating potato chips in their warming pot. The resulting mush became a “baked potato.”

“I don’t know if we’ve been away too long, but it does taste like a real baked potato,” says Johnson, who’s been in prison for nine years and won’t become eligible for parole from her life sentence until 2042.

Prison historian Mitch Roth said cooking is a way for inmates to “access their former lives to a certain extent,” and to humanize the often dehumanizing prison experience.

Not every recipe the Texas women tried was a winner. Ceyma Bina, one of the co-authors who has served six years of a 50-year sentence for a slaying in Houston, winced as she described making ravioli from ramen noodles and salsa. And Johnson said rehydrated onion-flavored potato chips “turned like rubber.”

Bina and the others who worked on “From The Big House to Your House,” say in the book’s preface they were confident readers on the other side of the bars would “enjoy the liberty found in creating a home-felt comfort during unfortunate times.”

“It shows people how we survive in here,” said Bina.

Honda Hybrid Illustration

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan awarded Heather Peters $9,867 _ much more than the couple hundred dollars cash that a proposed class-action settlement is offering.

“At a bare minimum Honda was aware … that by the time Peters bought her car there were problems with its living up to its advertised mileage,” Carnahan wrote in the judgment.

Honda disagrees with the judgment rendered in the case and plans to appeal the decision, company spokesman Chris Martin said in a statement.

Peters, a former lawyer, said she is renewing her legal license after a 10-year lapse so she can represent other Honda owners who have the same problems she did.

“Wow! Fantastic. I am absolutely thrilled,” she said when The Associated Press informed her of the judge’s decision. “Sometimes big justice comes in small packages. This is a victory for Honda Civic owners everywhere.”

Carnahan included in his 26-page decision a long list of misleading representations by Honda that he said Peters had correctly identified. Among them were that the car would use “amazingly little fuel,” `’provides plenty of horsepower while still sipping fuel,” and that it would “save plenty of money on fuel with up to 50 mpg during city driving.”

“Actual performance of plaintiff’s vehicle did not live up to these standards,” he said. He noted that when she began receiving much less than the advertised mileage, “she knew she had a problem.”

Peters opted out of the class-action lawsuit so she could try to claim a larger damage award for her 2006 Honda Civic’s failure to deliver the 50 mpg (21.26 kpl) that was promised.

The proposed class-action settlement would give aggrieved owners $100 to $200 each and a $1,000 credit toward the purchase of a new car. Legal fees in the class action would give trial lawyers $8.5 million, Peters said.

In small claims court, there are no attorneys’ fees, cases are decided quickly, and individual payments are far greater.

Peters had hoped to inspire a flood of small-claims lawsuits by the other 200,000 people whose Honda Civic hybrids are covered by the proposed settlement. If all 200,000 owners sued and won in small claims court, she said, it could Honda Motor Co. $2 billion.

Peters launched a website, DontSettleWithHonda.org, and said she was contacted by hundreds of other car owners seeking guidance on filing small claims lawsuits if they opted out of the class-action case. But legal experts say it’s unlikely that many owners would take the small-claims route because of the time and energy involved in pursuing such lawsuits.

Carnahan held two hearings on Peters’ claim in January.

The commissioner noted that Honda had argued the way a car is driven might affect its gas mileage. He said that should have been explained in advertising and elsewhere.

A Honda technical expert testified that the company was required to post a sticker with the Environmental Protection Agency’s estimate of the highest mileage the car could get. But Carnahan said in his ruling that “this does not seem to be the case.”

“Honda’s own testing should be the guideline for how it advertises its vehicles’ mileages, not the generalized work … done by the EPA,” he said. “Can a Honda hybrid driven in careful and tested ways achieve 50 mpg? No doubt. Did it happen with Peters’ car? No.”

The ruling harshly criticized Honda on several points, including misrepresentations about a software update that was represented as a cure for the mileage problems. Peters said it just made the situation worse and she could no longer get more than 30 mpg in the car, which she still owns.

Carnahan found that Honda did commit fraud, but he could not find intentional fraud and thus did not award punitive damages. Most of the damages Peters was awarded were for extra money spent on fuel, both in the past and future, the cost of the car battery, and the decrease in the car’s value because of its problems.

A judge in San Diego County is due to rule in March on whether to approve Honda’s class-action settlement. Members of the class have until Feb. 11 to accept or decline the deal.

Small claims courts generally handle private disputes that do not involve large amounts of money. In many states, that means small debts, quarrels between tenants and landlords and contract disagreements.

The limit for small claims damages in California is $10,000. In other states it ranges from $2,500 to $15,000.

Pinkberry co-founder Young Lee Arrested

Young Lee, 47, was arrested Monday afternoon by a joint police and FBI fugitive task force as he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from South Korea. He was arrested on a warrant issued after Lee was charged with a felony on Dec. 28, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Lee was released from jail on $60,000 bail Tuesday morning pending a Feb. 6 arraignment. He could face up to seven years in state prison if convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with a special allegation of causing great bodily injury.

A call to the Los Angeles-based company seeking comment was not immediately returned. The firm’s website no longer shows Lee on the Pinkberry board of directors.

Lee and a second man were in a rented Range Rover parked on Vermont Avenue near a U.S. 101 off-ramp on June 15 when Lee apparently took offense at a homeless man who was panhandling on the side of the road, district attorney’s spokeswoman Jane Robison said.

Lee thought the man had shown him disrespect by exposing a sexually explicit tattoo, prosecutors contended. Details of the tattoo were not revealed.

Lee and another man got out of the car and Lee beat the man with a tire iron, breaking his left forearm and cutting his head, authorities said.

The homeless man was treated at a hospital. Witnesses gave police the car’s license plate number, and investigators eventually identified Lee as the attacker, according to prosecutors.

Lee has 2001 convictions for carrying a loaded firearm and felony possession of cocaine, Robison said. He was sentenced to two days in jail and three years probation.

Lee, an architect, co-founded Pinkberry with Shelly Hwang and they opened the first Pinkberry store in West Hollywood in 2005. The franchise chain became wildly popular, drawing celebrities and long lines.

It now has more than 150 stores worldwide.

Clinton Announces Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Cultural Ambassador

During the meeting, Secretary Clinton reiterated the United States’ strong commitment to engaging young people worldwide and to using people-to-people diplomacy as a means to create opportunities for greater understanding.

Secretary Clinton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar discussed his upcoming trip to Brazil as a Cultural Ambassador and the strong relationship between the people of the United States and Brazil.

“I am excited and honored to serve my country as a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who has focused his efforts after his NBA career on engaging youth through socially-minded projects and education. “I look forward to meeting with young people all over the world and discussing ways in which we can strengthen our understanding of one another through education, through sports, and through greater cultural tolerance.”

From January 22-28, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will travel to Brazil to meet with underserved youth in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. As a Cultural Ambassador, Abdul-Jabbar will lead conversations with young people on the importance of education, social and racial tolerance, cultural understanding, and using sports as a means of empowerment. In addition, he will participate in basketball clinics with young people in both cities.

Since his retirement in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar has devoted himself to projects focused on African American history and socio-economic justice. His 2011 documentary “On the Shoulders of Giants” sought to highlight these issues. He has also launched the Skyhook Foundation, which works to improve children’s lives through education and sports. In June 2011, Abdul-Jabbar was honored at the White House by President Barack Obama and received the Lincoln Medal from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The medal honors Abdul-Jabbar’s commitment to education and equality which reflects the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln.

More information regarding Abdul-Jabbar’s travel to Brazil will be forthcoming. He will continue his public service as a Cultural Ambassador throughout 2012. Information on upcoming trips will be released at a later date. Stay tuned for updates via Twitter at @ConnectStateGov.

Media contact: Talley Sergent, SergentRT@state.gov.

Barbados economy stabilized in 2011

That plan is designed to achieve a balanced budget by 2016/2017.

The bank, in its economic performance review for 2011 and prospects for 2012, stated that the fiscal deficit was down more than two per cent of GDP from the previous 7.4 per cent for the latter nine months of last year, in line with the revised strategy targets.

The economy grew by an estimated at 0.5 per cent last year aided by increases in construction (4.4 per cent), tourism outputs (0.3 per cent), and transport and communications sectors (0.6 per cent).

The United States and United Kingdom markets rose, while the Barbados-based low-cost airline REDjet boosted arrivals from the CARICOM region led by a 35 per cent increase the Trinidad and Tobago market.

“Tourist numbers have increased, but length of stay and average spending have fallen, leading to an increase in tourism output that was marginal, at 0.3 percent,” the bank stated.

It noted that Barbados’ tourism remains competitive because the country is known as a high quality destination, adding, “In order to maintain a competitive edge in tourism, the industry must attain and maintain international standards at all times.”

The Central Bank called for further investment in refurbishment and upgrades of hotels and tourism facilities, including the cultural and historical legacy of the country.

Foreign exchange spending of BDS$5.5 billion (US$2.75 billion) was financed almost entirely from tourist inflows, earnings from the International Business and Financial Services sector, exports and capital inflows.

“As a result there was a minimal need to draw on the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves, which fell by only 1 percent between the end of 2010 and December 2011,” the bank explained.

“The Barbados currency remains well protected, with foreign reserve cover of 18 weeks of imports at December 2011, comfortably above the international norm of 12 weeks.”

Growth prospects for 2012 are tempered by the unsettled international climate, while the medium term growth prospects are encouraging, once the international economy settles down, the bank said further.

“The growth rate in 2012 may be one per cent or less, unless the international economic and financial climate improves. Construction of tourism facilities and Government’s housing initiatives are expected to be the main drivers,” it explained.

“In the medium term, growth rates of 2 to 3 percent are possible, provided the strategies mentioned earlier are successfully implemented,” the central bank said.

Van Ark CEO of California HIgh Speed Rail step down

Roelof van Ark announced his departure during a board meeting in Los Angeles, saying he would leave the position in two months, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/xQmThe ).

The management shake-up includes attorney and former state legislator Thomas Umberg, who will step down in February as chairman of the High-Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors.

Umberg will recommend that Dan Richard, who was recently appointed to the board by Gov. Jerry Brown, assume his leadership role, the Times reported.

Van Ark’s announced departure comes a week after a state-appointed panel issued a highly critical report that California’s plan to build the high-speed rail system in the state is not financially feasible and should be placed on hold.

The report by the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group said the state should not authorize $2.7 billion in bonds to build the initial section of the system.

In November, the California High-Speed Rail Authority approved a plan that requests $2.7 billion in state bonds to match $3.5 billion in federal money. It would be used to build 130 miles of track between Chowchilla and Bakersfield.

The stretch of tracks would form an integral part of the line’s first segment proposed to eventually span 290 miles from Bakersfield to San Jose or 300 miles from Merced to a point in the San Fernando Valley.

Also on Thursday, the board announced that the high-speed train would run north to Bakersfield through the Antelope Valley cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, and not along an alternate proposed route near the Grapevine. The decision is a victory for Antelope Valley cities, whose leaders have argued that a route along Interstate 5 would devastate the Antelope Valley economy and businesses.

Van Ark, a senior business manager with extensive experience in high-speed rail systems, replaced Mehdi Morshed in June as head of the authority. He had been president of the North American division of Alstrom SA, a French conglomerate that makes high-speed trains and built the TGV bullet train system in France, according to the Times.

Van Ark also headed other major divisions of Alstrom as well as units of Siemens AG, a German company that also develops high speed rail systems.

Haitians have been flocking to Brazil since February 2010, about a month following the deadly 7.0-magnitude quake.

The influx has been fuelled by demand for manual labour as the country prepares for the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“The government will not be indifferent to the Haitians’ vulnerable economic situation. But those who don’t have a visa will not be allowed into Brazil,” said Justice Minister Jose Cardozo.

Brazil is also said to be considering granting temporary visas to as many as 100 visiting Haitians per month.

The government said it would step up the policing of the borders with Colombia, Peru and Bolivia that are used to smuggle Haitians into the country.

An unnamed UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official told AFP news agency the influx of Haitian economic migrants into Brazil does not amount to a humanitarian crisis.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff plans to visit Port-au-Prince on February 1 to boost cooperation with Haiti, where the Latin American country leads the UN peacekeeping contingent.

Haitian President Michel Martelly has said that the country is facing a brain drain as many of those who are educated have sought employment elsewhere.

A senior UN official announced Monday that considerable humanitarian needs remain in the impoverished nation where the allocation of resources for earthquake recovery has shifted to reconstruction.

“It has been a major challenge since that we know that Haiti still needs a combination of humanitarian support… but slowly the emphasis and allocation of resources is shifting towards recovery and reconstruction,” said Rebeca Grynspan, the Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

She further stated: “The local Haitian community has played a crucial role in the reconstruction effort and UNDP continues to push for a very participatory approach in its planning to allow Haitians to take control of their country and choose their own future.”

The World Food Programme said yesterday that food prices in the country have risen by 50 per cent since 2010, which means that one out of every two Haitians are experiencing some kind of food shortages

Retiring LA County workers collect $48 million

According to the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/yUYBQE ) about a third of the county’s 3,900 employees who collected compensation for unused time went to workers leaving the Sheriff’s Department. They collected $16 million.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore tells the paper deputies have taken less vacation and sick days recently to help drive down costs.

State and local governments across the country also offer workers large future payoffs in lieu of immediate benefits.

Most private employers, however, place much more restrictive caps on the amount of unused vacation workers can accrue.

Experts say a similar policy if used by state and local governments, would alleviate the strain that such huge payments place on public budgets.

Trinidad and Tobago business people accompany Kamla to India

However, Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan is adamant that tax payers will not be footing that bill. Rambachan said the over 100 people from various business groups paid their own way.

Persad-Bissessar and her husband Dr Gregory Bissessar arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday afternoon and were greeted by Sachin Pilot, India’s Minister of State for Information and Technology.

The Indian Government has rolled out the red carpet royal treatment for Persad-Bissessar.

At two main roundabouts in New Delhi, Trinidad and Tobago flags stood alongside Indian flags.

Persad-Bissessar is the chief guest at India’s Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) where she will be honoured and celebrated for her accomplishments of being the first woman from the Caribbean diaspora to become Prime Minister.

She is expected to have a number of bilateral talks where memorandum of agreements (MOUs) have already been drafted.

Cricket star Brian Lara and Darren Ganga are also expected to join the delegation.

Rambachan also noted that Persad-Bissessar is the guest of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and special arrangements were put in place for her and her delegation.

That includes a private aircraft which will be transporting the Prime Minister and members of her delegation from state to state.

Persad-Bissessar will spend today and tomorrow in New Delhi where she will have a number of official meetings including courtesy calls on India’s President Pratihba Singh and vice president and bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

This evening a cultural reception hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission will be held for Persad-Bissessar at the Lalit hotel, New Delhi.

Cadiz told the Express this trip can already be hailed a success by the number of positive meetings lined up and feedback from the Indian side.

All Ministers over the next few days will be engaged in meetings which has the potential to attract billions in investment, particularly under the Energy Ministry.

Minister Maharaj said he was present in India to formalise discussions on establishing an air link partnership between India and this country.

He said Trinidad and Tobago can become a transit hub between Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa and India.

He said discussions will also focus on whether Indian airlines are open to flying to Trinidad and Tobago and vice versa.

New Laws for California in 2012

New 2012 laws in brief:

Police at sobriety checkpoints, before impounding cars of unlicensed drivers, will have to make an effort to allow the registered owner to pick it up.

Local authorities will now regulate the location of medical marijuana cooperatives.

Beer with added caffeine will be prohibited.

With a few exceptions, the use of consumer credit reports by employers when hiring will now be prohibited.

Self-service checkout line purchases for alcoholic beverages will now be prohibited.

A minor who is 12-years-of-age will be able to consent to medical care related to a sexually transmitted disease.

New California Laws 2012 with more details:
Child Booster Seat Law
The new California Booster Seat Law outlaws parents, guardians, or drivers from transporting on a highway in a motor vehicle any child under 8 years old without securing that child in an appropriate child restraint meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards.

The new California law does contain a provision, however, that a child under 8 years of age who is 4’9″ inches in height or taller may use a safety belt rather than a child safety seat or booster seat.

Employment Credit Check Law
Employers can no longer request credit reports for Californians unless they are working or seeking work in a financial institution, law enforcement or the state Justice Department.

The law also exempts anyone who
(1) has access to people’s bank or credit card account information, SSN number and date of birth,
(2) has access to an employer’s proprietary information or trade secrets, (3) signs a check, credit card, financial contract, or transfers money for an employer,
(4) has access to more than $10,000 cash, or (5) is a manager in ‘certain industries’.

California Handgun Open Carry Law
Open-carry citizen handgun ban.  Supported by cops who cannot tell whether openly carried weapons are loaded or not.  Violators pay $1,000 plus 6 months in jail (misdemeanor). Gun rights advocates vow to carry rifles and shotguns instead.  Californians can still get permits for concealed weapons, though it is increasingly difficult.

California Human Trafficking Law
Enforces mandatory disclosure of efforts that companies take to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their entire supply chains.  Being watched as a prototype of future legislation in other states and nations.

California Gay Bullying Law (Seth’s Law)
Combats bullying of gay and lesbian students in public schools by requiring school districts to have a uniform process for dealing with gay bullying complaints.  Mandates that school personnel intervene if they witness gay bullying (Law effective July 1, 2012).

LGBT Equality and Equal Access in Higher Education Law
State universities and colleges must create and enforce campus policies protecting LGBTs from harassment and appoint employee contact persons to address on-campus LGBT matters. The law includes community colleges statewide (Law effective 2012).

Domestic Partnership Equality Law
Corrects inequalities between domestic partnerships and heterosexual marriages, including domestic partner health benefits sharing (Law effective 2012).

Protection of Parent-Child Relationships Law
Allows courts to consider the relationship between a child and a non-biological parent when considering child rights cases involving birth parents, adoptive parents, and gay or lesbian guardians (Law effective 2012).

Transgender Non-Discrimination Law
Provides public accommodation and protection in education, housing and employment for gender identity and expression (Law effective 2012).

Transgender Vital Statistics Law
Makes it easier for transgender Californians to get a court petition to change their gender on official documents (Law effective 2012).

LGBT Equal Benefits Law
Requires employers with a state contract worth more than $100,000 to have non-discrimination policies in place for LGBT workers and their partners (Law effective 2012).

Judicial Applicant and Appointment Demographics Inclusion Law
Includes gender identity and sexual orientation of potential judges into the state’s Judicial Applicant Data Report to ensure that state courts are diverse (Law effective 2012).

Gay Divorce Law
Provides that if a gay couple got married in California but lives in a state that won’t grant them a divorce, the California court will have jurisdiction to grant them a legal divorce. The case will be filed in the county where the gay couple got married (Law effective January 1, 2012).

California Gay History Law
Governor Jerry Brown signed the Gay History Law, which mandates that school textbooks and social studies include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender accomplishments (Law effective 2012).

Internet Sales Tax
Governor Brown signed into law that out-of-state Internet retailers must collect California sales tax on transactions if the retailer has a presence in the state (Law effective Summer 2012).

California Renters Right to Recycling Law
Apartment building landlords will have to start providing recycling services for 7 million California tenants (Law effective 2012).

California Reader Privacy Law
Government and third-party snoops can no longer gather information on Internet users’ reading, book shopping or ebook using habits without a legal court order.

US Virgin Islands To Lay-Off 500

Governor John de Jongh announced yesterday, December 28, that 143 temporary and part-time workers will be dismissed on December 30, and that another 350 workers will receive dismissal letters on January 5. And, he warned that additional layoffs might be needed.

The territory faces a US$17.4 million deficit this year and an estimated US$90 million deficit next year.

The governor blamed legislators for the dismissals, saying they have rejected other proposals including wage cuts to offset a budget crisis.

Approximately 13,000 employees and retirees are on the government’s pay roll. The private sector provides approximately 30,000 jobs, with the majority in the retail trade and service industries, where low wages are common. The driver of these two industries is tourism, which has been in a prolonged slump. There were 108 612 residents in the US Virgin Islands according to the last Census.

Caribbean Islands

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) apart from Guyana, Suriname and St Lucia – each of whose economies grew by 4.4% in 2010 – the other 12 CARICOM countries experienced no meaningful growth and the economies of most of them contracted, including oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago (-0.6%).

Although official figures are not yet available for 2011, it is clear that economic and financial conditions continued to deteriorate with rising debt and weak fiscal performance in the majority of countries. In the seven Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) there is increasing concern about the quality of assets in the banking system, particularly of indigenous banks with urgent action required to improve the situation.

The debt burden of many CARICOM countries – and the region as a whole – is quite alarming. Apart from Suriname, no CARICOM country has a debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio below 50%. The ratio is over 100% in St Kitts-Nevis, Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada. It is pretty close to that figure in Antigua and Barbuda and Belize.

It is significant that while Caribbean countries watch, with increasing unease, the unproductive debates in the European Union (EU) over its crisis in sovereign debt, and in the US on its rising debt and fiscal weaknesses, regional authorities have not even started a discussion about their own encircling predicament.

Of paramount importance is how can CARICOM countries achieve a higher sustainable rate of growth to help reduce their serious debt burden and improve their peoples’ living standards? IMF programs are in place in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Jamaica and St. Kitts-Nevis, but these are aimed at preserving economic stability, they cannot produce the required economic growth.

The solution to the problem lies in both national and regional approaches. The government of each country has to devise programmes of recovery and growth linked to creative utilization of its resource endowment. They also have to stop the pretence that, acting alone, they have the capacity to overcome their overwhelming difficulties.

The seven small member-states of the OECS, in particular, have to turn words into action by intensifying their proclaimed integration arrangements at every level. Not one of them will recover or prosper by clinging to barren sovereignty. For them, it should be more not less integration including joint Regulatory authorities for onshore and offshore banks, and for insurance companies. They should also establish joint missions for overseas representation and, where this cannot be achieved at institutions such as the UN agencies and the World Trade Organisation, joint support offices should be put in place manned by the best available persons.

Donor countries and regions, such as the EU, Canada and the United States have grown tired of waiting for the region to propose sustainable projects and programmes for which they could provide financial support. They are unwilling to continue to prop-up the region’s traditional uncompetitive production in circumstances where they too must be watchful of the cost of living in their own countries, and the use of tax dollars.

The region has to forget the idea that Europe, America or anywhere else owes it help because of past relationships. The decision of the British government to maintain the oppressive Air Passenger Duty on travel to the Caribbean despite regional protestations should have made that reality crystal clear. Even if it is true that some European countries do owe the region, they feel that debt has been paid and, while they remain willing to be helpful as part of their assistance to developing countries, they want Caribbean countries to demonstrate that they are overhauling their arrangements to make themselves more competitive and less reliant on aid. They would also like to see the Caribbean put up regional projects to utilise 200 million Euros (US$258 million), set aside for the area over the period 2006 to 2011, that has been languishing in the European Development Fund.

CARICOM as a whole requires new external diplomatic/economic planning strategies and initiatives in order to be effective. Old ways of doing business are no longer viable.

These strategies and initiatives, including re-thinking the priorities of the Caribbean Single Market, should be part of a new policy direction that takes full account of the changed global dynamics. But, where is the leadership to produce them coming from? Where is the new thinking responsive to the new realities? In 2011, both the technical and political leadership of CARICOM failed to inspire the people of the Caribbean with a sense of hope in fulfillment of their desire for improved standards of living, for more employment, for greater food security, for personal safety and for the assurance that their countries could compete in the world and be respected.

Regional authorities, such as the CARICOM Secretariat, the OECS Secretariat, and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) should have already provided new policy directions for the consideration of the political leadership. At least by now, they should have posed the relevant questions about what new direction, and how its elements can be financed. But, this has not happened. The regional private sector has also not produced proposals for new arrangements that could diversify and expand the region’s production and make it competitive. Too many companies continue to rely on governments to protect them from competition and to subsidize their operations either directly or through donors.

The regional ship needs extensive overhaul and the regional journey needs a revamped chart to guide it through the turbulence which lashes it on every side. It also urgently requires dedicated captaincy at the highest political level not only to pilot it, but also to inspire all its crew and all its passengers to work together for its safe passage.

In 2012, it cannot be business as usual. The passengers on the regional ship – the Caribbean people – expect better.

Haitian Migrants Sent Back to Haiti

Director of Immigration Jack Thompson said the 187 men, 54 women and three children did not test positive for cholera.

“They were in good condition from our standpoint. There were one or two persons who were dehydrated but they were overall in good health,” he told the Nassau Guardian newspaper.

Sub-Lieutenant of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Origin Deleveaux, said the number of Haitians seeking to enter the country illegally spikes during December because some believe surveillance is lax during the festive season.

“We step up patrols around this time because this is when a lot of them make that trip and attempt to land in The Bahamas,” he said.

According to statistics, 1,093 Haitian migrants have already been apprehended here for the year.

This compares to 718 caught in 2009, and 1,258 apprehended in 2010.

Haitian President Michel Martelly has asked citizens to “stay off the high seas in boats at risk, thus endangering their lives in the desperate purpose to go illegally to a new home in search of opportunities.”

His appeal came after the bodies of 38 Haitian migrants were found dead just off the eastern tip of Cuba.

Cuban authorities said the boat carrying the migrants began taking in water and got stranded at sea. Another 87 people were rescued.