WEEK ENDER
Business, Culture & Leisure
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
WEEK 43
October 24, 2015
Child Focus’ The Lion King on Saba
Director Dahlia Hassell determined to leave her mark
By Marga Hart
Saba’s own Dahlia Hassell
had everybody on the Unspoiled Queen talking about
The Lion King Show she put
on stage at Eugenius Johnson Centre in Windwardside.
The show was performed four
times and was sold out each
time, having a total audience of over 400. I watched
the last performance and was
stunned by the enthusiasm
and skills that were expressed
during the show, so I decided
to have a talk with the director, Dahlia Hassell.
T
her college years, she often visited
the theatre and became involved in
the annual college play. She acted,
danced, sang and was involved in
sound and light production as well
as costume design and stage set
design. She graduated in May 2014
and returned to Saba, planning to
spend at least one year on the island in order to give back to the
community and leave her mark.
She assisted in coordinating the environmental awareness program,
Sea and Learn, after which she was
appointed as the Saba Bank Science Officer at Saba Conservation
Foundation, where her task is to
monitor data about marine life on
the Saba Bank.
Stacey Simmons, project leader of
Child Focus Foundation, an after
school activities centre on Saba.
Stacey was aware of Dahlia’s stage
experience and asked if she would
be willing to coach a theatre group
as an after-school activity. Child
Focus staged A Charlie Brown
Christmas in December 2014, under the guidance of Dahlia Hassell
and assistance of Stacey Simmons
and parent/volunteer Tara Every.
Starting in February, these three
women, better known as “The
Dream Team,” settled on the decision to perform The Lion King,
which has been a hugely popular
Broadway musical.
his young lady went to
primary and secondary
The story, based on the 1994 Disschool on Saba before
leaving to go to the United NOT LONG after returning to the ney movie, tells how Simba, a lion
Continued on page 4
States to study biology. During island, Dahlia was approached by
Dahlia Hassell with two young Lion King
performers.
Photos and text by Mark Yokoyama
SXM
3
Sharing the magic
Almost everyone knows about
migration. We know that some
animals travel to a different part of the world in order
to cope with, and exploit, the
changing seasons. Caribou?
They migrate, probably up in
Alaska. Whales migrate. At
least some of them do. Birds? Of
course, geese fly in a “V” shape,
heading south for winter.
SXM: Check out Andrew!
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
11
12
Commentaries/Cartoon
Weekend Thoughts: Sick
of Seaweed
Banned for the
environment’s sake
Crystal Pineapple
nominees
Community Volunteer Day
at AUC
Passionate Foodie: Curry
Time
SXM Week in Review
Crossword Puzzler/
Business Week
Brenda’s Corner/Church
News Bits
Looking at the Night Sky
Digital Buzz: The latest
stuff you need!
Migration is a concept we understand, at least on some level.
Often, that understanding only
scratches the surface. We may
not know the details that make
migration most impressive. We
may not connect migration with
our own immediate surroundings,
even though we’re located in one
of the busiest migratory flyways in
the hemisphere.
The more we understand migration, the more magical it becomes. Take two quarters out
of your pocket and hold them in
the palm of your hand. Imagine a
bird that weighs the same as those
two quarters. Your imaginary bird
should be slightly bigger than a
Migratory Bird Festival guests learn about birds and
local history.
Whimbrels are even more beautiful when you know their
story.
Sugar Bird. Now imagine that bird
flying thousands of kilometres to
get to St. Martin. What you just
imagined has happened hundreds
of times this fall.
When we connect migration to
our own experience, it is astounding. Think about your body and
imagine adding an extra 30-50% of
your weight in fat. (That’s the easy
part.) Now, imagine losing that
weight in just a few days, flying day
and night without stopping. It’s
enough to make you feel hungry.
Migratory birds put our experience into perspective. The worst
drought in living memory? Be sure,
the birds have survived worse during the past million years. When
did North American tourists start
arriving to St. Martin faster than
the average North American bird?
Probably just in the last 50 or 60
years when air travel started to
overtake sailing.
Migratory birds connect us to our
world, our past and our future.
Migratory birds weave threads
that connect the hemisphere,
from Canada to Argentina.
They depend on their wintering
grounds in St. Martin as much
as their breeding grounds in the
north. Many seek out the same
salt ponds that attracted Arawak
settlers and European colonists.
Their future, like ours, is tied to
our actions – from global carbon
emissions to local pollution and
development.
Spending the last few weeks talking about migration and sharing
many of the details that make it so
fascinating have had a profound
impact on my own appreciation
for it. That appreciation changes
every interaction I have with the
birds that make these journeys. It
truly is one of the greatest stories
ever told.
2
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
Philipsburg Jubilee
Library’s newest titles!
What we should do
By Kenneth Cook
Whatever the new government of St. Maarten
will look at, there are
areas that require their
intervention. There are
small things the government can do to make
the lives of all citizens
easier.
leaving a majority or mi- form or fire the Council
nority in government with of Ministers. Electoral retheir seat.
form should be one of the
first priorities. The lives
Moreover, perhaps the Par- of many of us are very difliament could make sure ficult. Making it easier
that either the Parliament should always be a priority
or the Council of Ministers for any government.
has the ultimate power to
What we should do as
inhabitants is to help the
government realize which
areas they can alleviate for
all of us. One of the things
the government can do to
make life easier for people
is to allow civil servants
and teachers, for example,
to decide between private
and government medical
insurance. In some instances, private medical
insurance may offer better services than a public
medical provider. Being
allowed a choice between
a private pension and APS
is another option people
should have.
The WEEKender
is a publication of
Don’t let pride keep
you out of Heaven
Coordinator
Lisa Davis-Burnett
[email protected]
Journalists
Proof Readers
Sharon van Arneman
7KH
7
KH
:((.
:(
(.H
.HHQG
QGH
GHHU
A message of Hope from
the Angels
By Lorna Byrne
Author of the bestselling Angels in My Hair, Lorna Byrne
sees angels with as much
clarity as the rest of us see
people, and she speaks to
them every day. In A Message
of Hope from the Angels, Lorna gives you the comfort of
knowing that, no matter how
alone you might feel, you always have a guardian angel
by your side to support you.
In this inspiring and uplifting
book, Lorna reveals how you can call on the help of
your angels to carry you through the challenges that
everyone inevitably faces, including loneliness, depression, stress, financial strain, heartbreak, the death
of a loved one, and feeling inadequate as a parent.
Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit
of the Earth’s Last Dinosaur
By Carl Safina
As Carl Safina’s compelling
natural history adventure makes
clear, the fate of the leatherback
turtle is in our hands. The distressing decline of these ancient
sea turtles in Pacific waters and
their surprising recovery in the
Atlantic illuminate the results
both positive and negative of our
interventions and the lessons
that can be applied, globally, to
restore the oceans and their creatures. We accompany
award-winning natural history expert Safina and his colleagues as they track leatherbacks across the world’s
oceans and onto remote beaches of every continent.
There is another area that
can be looked at to make
the lives of St. Maarten’s
inhabitants easier. This
pertains to the enacting
of electoral reform. This is
the vehicle that is needed
to ensure all our lives are
made easier. To do this,
the government will have
to include an amendment
in the constitution that
will prevent persons from
Layout
Evadney “Eve” Henriques
Open: Tues-Wed 9:00am-12:30pm &
2:00-8:00pm//Thurs 2:00-8:00pm//
Fri 9:00am-12:30pm & 2:00-5:00pm//
Sat 10:00am-1:00pm.
Fringe: The Zodiac Paradox
By Christa Faust
In 1971, university students Walter Bishop and William Bell use
an exotic chemical compound
to link their subconscious minds.
Unexpectedly, they open a rip in
space through which comes a
menace unlike any our world has
ever seen – The Zodiac Killer. His
singular goal is death, and it falls
to Bishop, Bell, and Nina Sharp to
stop him.
The government of St.
Maarten should also think
about allowing persons
who own and rent their
home permission to do so
tax-free. In other words,
if an individual wants to
rent his or her own home,
they should not have to
pay taxes.
Lisa Davis-Burnett
Brenda Carty
Terry Nisbett
Sharon van Arneman
Gerard van Veen
Kenneth Cook
Roy Cotton Jr.
Mark Yokoyama
Mark Martelly
Laura Bijnsdorp
Lucinda Frye
Marga Hart
Tom Burnett
THE DAILY HERALD
By: Sharon Van Arneman
For the past two weeks,
we’ve dealt with what is
probably the most important subject ever – that
is, the matter of assurance of salvation. I want
to put a cap on it today
by simply entreating you
to please not let pride
keep you out of Heaven.
R
emember that parable
about
the
Pharisee and the tax
collector that Jesus told?
“Two men went up into
the temple to pray, one
a Pharisee and the other a
tax collector. The Pharisee
stood and was praying this
to himself: ‘God, I thank
You that I am not like other
people: swindlers, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this
tax collector. I fast twice a
week; I pay tithes of all that
I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance
away, was even unwilling to
lift up his eyes to Heaven,
but was beating his breast,
saying, ‘God, be merciful to
me, the sinner!’” At the conclusion of his story, Jesus asserted that the tax collector
was the one who returned
home justified and forgiven
rather than the Pharisee.
again in our world today?
Instead of simply acknowledging our sins, and admitting that there is nothing good within ourselves
to purchase our salvation,
how many of us still arrogantly continue to deceive
ourselves into thinking that
it is the other person only
who needs forgiveness! As
for us, we’re good enough
to make it into Heaven by
our own efforts. After all,
in comparison to the other
person, look at how much
we give to the poor! Look at
how much volunteer work
we do! Look at how much of
our own time and money we
invest into community projects! Look at how hard we
And isn’t this typical human champion for the causes we
behaviour that continues support! Look at how much
to play itself out again and we help others! Surely, even
God can’t help but be im- with His word, they decide
pressed by our good deeds! to live by their own rules,
follow their own counsels
But isn’t it pride that is pre- and do their own thing. But
cisely the root of our prob- just think how foolish it will
lem?! Never mind that God be to let pride keep you out
has said we are ALL sinners. of Heaven. Why not go it
Never mind that He sent God’s way, and secure your
His only begotten Son to salvation today? That’s one
die for our sins. Never mind decision I guarantee you
that He’s shown us that the will never regret!
only thing that can atone for
our sins is the shed blood
To contact Sharon,
of Jesus. Never mind that
write to P.O. Box 484,
His word teaches that only Philipsburg, St. Maarten,
those who receive Jesus as
Dutch Caribbean.
personal Saviour and Lord
Email:
will go to Heaven. Never
roseofsharon1966@
mind any of that. The proud
hotmail.com
simply cannot accept that
Phone: 554-9590
– just like everybody else –
they have to come to God
His way. So rather than submit to God’s authority and
align their thinking to agree
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
October 24, 2015
3
sues and develop interventions that will hopefully improve treatment outcomes.
I never had an interest in
traveling to India, but now
that I am here, I feel it has
been my most important life
experience to date. India is
a country of extremes. It is
heavy on the senses, the
smells, the sounds and the
sights. Overall, this country
is like none I’ve ever been
to before.
Working in South Africa.
Full name: Andrew Roder- dia.
ick Gilmoor.
Occupation: Junior lecturer
St. Maarten nickname: and PhD candidate of VU
Juju-sticks (I don’t remem- University Amsterdam (in
ber exactly how I got it. I the field of International
was 13, tall and lanky, and Public Health).
I guess my neighbourhood
friends thought Andrew-ju- What St. Maarten district
are you from?
ju had a nice ring to it).
Cole Bay (near the Lagoon).
Age: 27
Where did you go to
City and country of resi- school on St. Maarten?
dence today: Chennai, In- St. Dominic High School.
Andrew
What is your favourite St.
Maarten memory growing
up?
The one that pops up is
spending Saturday mornings at my dad’s place. He
would take me to tennis lessons in Maho by Lucho and
then we would get a slushy
at the airport. The rest of
the afternoon I would spend
playing on his balcony, listening to Rick-D’s weekly
top 40. It may sound trivial,
but it is one of the strongest memories I have of my
childhood.
How long have you been
gone?
Ten years. On August 5,
2005, I boarded my first
one-way flight to Amsterdam.
Working in India.
Despite
its
increasing
global interconnectedness,
thousands of years of tradition are still very much alive.
Though we may not agree
with all Indian traditions,
and though I strongly believe that some of these traditions are destroying lives,
you have to admire the
persistence and resistance
to conforming to western
norms. Sometimes, I think
study on the role of informal our little island could take a
caregivers in families where page out of India’s book.
a member has mental illTell us about three experiness.
ences abroad that made a
Tell us about India and lasting impression and for
what reason.
your PhD work.
I recently started my PhD in One of my top three exthe topic mental health in periences in life would
marginalized communities, have to be swimming with
with a focus on posttrau- manta rays in Fiji. On an
matic stress disorder. I am unexpected trip to Botcurrently in Chennai, con- aira Island in 2009, some
ducting study a of home- friends and I were snorless individuals with mental kelling at sunset when we
came across a family of
illness.
five (rather LARGE) manta
I work together with an rays feeding amongst the
NGO, called the Banyan, reef. These were the most
which takes homeless per- majestic creatures I have
sons with mental illness off ever seen, elegantly gliding
the streets, provides shelter through the waters taking in
and treatment and assists one giant gulp of fish after
in their reintegration into the another. To swim amongst
community. From abandon- these giants in their natural
ment to sexual abuse, to habitat was an incredible
extreme violence, many of experience, for which I felt
these individuals have suf- very privileged.
Tell us about studying
abroad.
I’m no stranger to traveling abroad, but what most
of my friends didn’t realize was that most of it was
all for school. I did my first
study abroad in Melbourne,
for a semester, as part of
my Bachelor’s degree. Afterwards, I did an internship
in Tanzania, where I evaluated a number of diagnostic techniques for endemic
diseases, such as malaria,
schistosomiasis, HIV and
other sexually transmitted
infections.
After graduating with my
Bachelor’s, I knew I wanted
to do a Master’s program
that had travel-abroad opportunities. The biomedical
sciences Master’s program
at the VU University Amsterdam was ideal. During
my first year specialization
in infectious diseases, I
travelled to Gambia, where
I conducted a six-month
study on the prevalence of
intestinal parasites in children.
Then the opportunity to go
to South Africa to specialize in international public
health came. I conducted a
fered through experiences
many of us could never Eating street food on Kao
imagine. My role here is to San Road in Bangkok is anŽŶƟŶƵĞĚŽŶƉĂŐĞϱ
explore some of these is-
:HHNHQG7KRXJKWV
What is up with the sargassum? People living near
the east coast of the island are living with piles of
disgusting rotting seaweed right next to their homes.
The smell is inescapable in their bedrooms, kitchens
and throughout their living spaces. This has been
going on for several months now. We’re sick of seaweed!
It’s affecting the environment. Animals such as turtles
and seahorses are getting caught up in the seaweed,
only to perish. This exacerbates the other problems of
smell filth, bugs and germs.
It’s affecting the economy. Businesses that rely on access
to a beach are losing clientele and even employees. No
one wants to eat at a restaurant where piles of seaweed
are stinking and attracting bugs. Sun worshippers want to
lounge on white sand beaches and gaze out at clear blue
water. The surfers and snorkelers cannot be too enthusiastic about getting tangled in floating beds of seaweed.
Let’s face it; our beautiful beaches are our livelihood.
Can we not organize some front end loaders to clean
beaches of the sargassum build-up every two weeks or
so? The seaweed can be used in composting to provide
rich soil for gardens, but it will take a bit of organization.
Is this beyond our abilities? Or is it just a matter of trying,
of caring?
The
Washingtonbased
Sargasso
Sea
Commission
has noted that massive seaweed increases began as
early as 2011, when
ocean temperatures
warmed and changes
in ocean currents occurred because of climate change.
Other researchers claim increased land-based nutrients
and pollutants washing into the water, including nitrogen-heavy fertilizers and sewage wastes, helped fuel the
algae blooms. There are also numbers of scientists that
have linked the sargassum influx to a high flow of nutrients from South America’s Amazon and Orinoco Rivers
mixing with warmer ocean temperatures.
In other words, the problem may be here for a long time,
This is not just a quality of life issue, and it’s not just the so a plan needs to be put into motion to reclaim our
economy or the environment; it can also be a health haz- beaches for our residents, our economy and the enviard. Those exposed to the fumes off the sargassum are ronment.
likely to suffer conditions such as headaches, nerves,
breathing issues or skin reactions. Various forms of bacUntil next weekend,
teria can grow on these beach-cast seaweeds.
~ Lisa
4
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
The Lion King
cub, was tricked away
from his throne by his
devious Uncle Scar, who
wanted to be Lion King
himself, and Simba’s
struggle to get his rightful place in the Circle of
Life. The tale appealed
to Dahlia a lot because,
as she explained, coming
back to the island is part
of her own circle of life.
SHE NOTED that she
could never have done
it without the support of
the many volunteers and
the Saban community.
“It’s easy for me to approach people here because I am a Saban; but
whatever I asked for, I
got, whether it was money, materials or time,
and I think that is Saba’s
strength. It is a community where people still
care about things and are
willing to give their time
and money.” Child Focus Foundation provided
financial support for
the project in cooperation with other donors,
including
Windward
Roads, Saba University
School of Medicine and
Saba Lions Club.
Dahlia was surprised to
find so much talent on
the island. Not only with
the kids, but also with
the adults who stepped
in. “There is so much
creativity here. We did
everything
ourselves,
THE DAILY HERALD
Continued from page 1
made the costumes, created the decor and came up
with wonderful ideas for the
sound and lighting. Many
of them didn’t even know
themselves they had it in
them!”
DAHLIA STARTED with
the original script from The
Lion King play and worked
out the scenes in a way that
would show off the children’s
talents best. “They should
be the centre point, so they
had to feature most in the
scenes with dancing, singing and acting.” She divided
the musical into 14 scenes,
seven performed before and
seven after the intermission. She used the original
sound track from the musical and sometimes the audience would sing along with
the more popular tunes. “It’s
amazing how those kids performed. They didn’t have any
stage fright and just enjoyed
being there and doing their
part. We adults were nervous before the show; but
because of them, we relaxed
and just enjoyed it too.” And
that’s what I noticed when I
watched the performance:
sheer pleasure in producing
this wonderful show.
cey continuously provided
us with creative advice and
ideas. She produced many
of the costumes and masks,
supported by a wonderful
team, consisting of Marvi
Johnson, Tara Every, Gloria
Marin and Jenny Landazury
of the Saba Artisans Foundation. Pauline Every was
responsible for the elaborate
make-up, which was quite
a job with so many actors.
Adam Watkins, a film and
TV editor who has previous experience working in
London, donated his time
to programming the lighting
and sound effects which varied for each scene.”
The backdrop scenes were
digitally projected on a white
cloth screen which was initially painted to portray a
vast savannah, allowing it
to become versatile later on
during scenes of the elephant
graveyard, the stampede, etc.
Sound and lighting equipment was provided by The
Saba Festival Foundation
(supported by Public Entity
Saba) as well as Child Focus
Foundation. Under the guidance of instructor Guyquade
Lavia, the Mankind Drummers performed an opening
act on djembe drums and
“There were so many people kept the crowd entertained
who supported me. There between the scenes.
were many challenging
moments, but Stacey and “RIGHT NOW I’m too tired
Tara were very encourag- to think of a next show,”
ing and, together, we made shared Dahlia. “The Child
our dream come true. As an Focus theatre group has
experienced art teacher, Sta- grown a lot and we will have
two groups now. But I also
feel very happy about what
happened. I think the show
unified the various groups
on the island and everybody
enjoyed it. That will definitely be my inspiration for the
next show.”
Review of the Lion King show
was published in The Daily
Herald on Wednesday, October 14.
The cast and crew of the Lion King in Saba
The Lion King actors on stage.
Costumes and set design added much to the show.
Performing at the Sea and Learn conference.
Dahlia Hassell introducing the
performance for Sea and Learn.
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
October 24, 2015
5
Products attracting bans
for environmental reasons
LJdĞƌƌLJEŝƐďĞƩ
Guyana has announced
that it will ban Styrofoam containers by
January 2016. They join
a growing list of places
banning the use of such
containers. In the United
States areas including
Minneapolis, San Francisco, Washington-DC
and Seattle have banned
the use of the containers,
along with the city of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Food vendors and
restaurants everywhere
use these containers for
take-out. Styrofoam is
also used as coffee cups,
egg cartons and trays
holding fresh produce.
The use of these containers has increasingly become controversial and
food establishments are
being pressured to cease
their use.
What the public refers
to as Styrofoam is more
properly known as expanded polystyrene or
ESP. The existing and
proposed bans arise from
environmental concerns.
The major issue stems from
the fact that polystyrene is
not easily biodegradable
and is also not easily recycled. Cities claim they wish
to see less of the product
clogging their landfills. In
addition, the polystyrene
products reach waterways
and the marine environment with the danger of
injury to marine life. The
discarded cups and plates
and food containers are an
ugly sight on streets.
The composition of polystyrene further includes
the
chemical
styrene
which, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, can
irritate skin and eyes, can
be “slightly toxic to the
nervous system if ingested
or inhaled” and is “suspected of being carcinogenic” or cancer-causing,
but it has not been proven
so in studies. However the
U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services has
named styrene in its list
of substances “reasonably
anticipated to be carcinogenic.” So in addition
to environmental issues,
the concerns encompass
health issues.
Polystyrene
containers
are convenient and inexpensive. However, it is not
the favourite of some food
service outlets. It does not
prevent spills and can keep
food soggy. In conjunction
with its disadvantages and
the environmental concerns, the Styrofoam containers are no longer used
by some businesses even
before bans were instituted.
Chief of these is the McDonalds chain which has
changed to paper products.
Dunkin Donuts also promised to phase out the use
of Styrofoam cups. Jamba
Juice replaced its foam
cups prompted by a petition started by a primary
school student consumer.
More food outlets will be
forced to follow suit as the
bans proliferate.
As far as I am aware, Guyana and Haiti are the two
Caribbean countries that
have decided to ban the
Styrofoam
containers.
Haiti also bans plastic bags.
Guyana has been making
its way towards its decision
to ban since 2013 and Haiti
instituted its ban in 2012.
As usual, we have imported
the container and the habit
of using the container. It is
available at every roadside
food stand, at fundraisers selling food, food fairs
and even barbecue stands.
Probably, we can vaguely
remember taking a container, a plastic one, sometimes a re-used ice cream
where you can experience
some of the most decadent
luxuries the world has to
offer, and on the other side
of the wall, witness some of
the world’s worst poverty.
other experience that had
quite the lasting impression on me. Ten days, and
probably 10 kilos later, I
learnt that my stomach is
in fact not made of steel,
and that charcoal tablets
and re-hydration sachets
are your best friend.
My most recent and probably most profound experience I’ve had so far was
a walk I took down the
beach here in Chennai.
One afternoon, I decided
to walk from the shelter
where I work to Marina
Beach, a popular place for
locals and visitors in the
city. On my walk there, I
passed through a small
fisherman’s village called
Dumming Kuppa, where
I witnessed some of the
worst poverty I have ever
seen.
Shacks lined the beach,
barely held together by
fishnets, garbage bags,
and other materials that
may have washed up on
shore. Women sat by the
roadside trying to sell the
meagre amounts of fish
their husbands had caught
earlier in the day. Children
roamed freely amongst the
stray dogs and garbage
scattered everywhere. I
witnessed several adult
men openly defecating all
over the beach, which is
when I realized there were
hundreds of piles of human faeces that covered
the area.
At the end of the slum,
there was a wall that separated this dreary side of the
beach from the relatively
clean, fun-filled middleand upper-class part of the
beach. This literal divide
between the poor and the
rich sides of the beach was
too ironic for words, where
both communities spend
lifetimes on separate sides
of the beach, never venturing to the other side. This
experience represented a
lot of what this country is
about – extremes. A place
What are two of the most
important lessons you
have learnt while travelling?
Poverty is random: This
may sound strange, but
let me explain. Back in college, we had to read this
book by Jared Diamond,
Guns, Germs and Steel. It’s
not the greatest piece of
literature, but one question
posed by a character stuck
with me while traveling in
east Africa: “Why do white
people have more cargo
than black people?” Moreover, why do some people
have access to a wealth
of resources while others
struggle to survive?
Growing up, we are taught
that the homeless bum on
the street did this to himself. When we were children, our parents told us
not to talk to them, not to
touch them. Diamond’s
book and my traveling
have shown me otherwise.
Some of us were just lucky.
I learnt that we are all born
with the same capabilities,
container with lid, to get
the Saturday purchase of
souse and black pudding or
goat water. It was plastic,
yes, but it wasn’t something
used once and thrown away.
Styrofoam containers cause
more problems in developing countries that have
less money, equipment
and personnel to deal with
trash. Disposal of garbage
is sometimes in the nearest canal or river in areas
where there is no efficient
solid waste disposal system.
Instead of clogging of landfills, the problem may be
the clogging of other sites,
because the trash does not
reach the landfills. Haiti
was having problems enforcing its ban probably
because the importation is
difficult to control. Guyana
can learn from the difficulties of others and monitor
its borders for any smuggling of the product after
the ban goes into effect.
like Freemantle in Australia, states like Hawaii,
countries like Bangladesh
ban the bags. Other locations, such as Canada, use
public awareness to change
habits. Still some retailers
reduce the use of bags by
charging customers a small
bag fee in order to have
their purchases loaded in
a plastic bag. There is still
very strong use of plastic
bags worldwide in spite of
these efforts.
The case against ESP containers and cups is very
similar to the long-standing
arguments against the use
of plastic bags. The same
problems of pollution, clogging of landfills and the inability to organically turn to
dust, plague both products.
There is a persistent movement to reduce the use of
plastic bags. Some cities
Part of the problem with
these plastic and Styrofoam products is that their
initial introduction focuses
on their convenience, but
little thought or emphasis
is placed on their eventual
disposal. Bans need to take
place alongside the education of consumers towards
the availability of substitute
products. Substitute prod-
ucts are always available.
Styrofoam
containers
and plastic bags were not
always the essential containers and carriers they
apparently have become.
It is a little humorous to
recall when paper bags
were the grocery bags
available and environmentalists objected to
their use to save the trees.
Replacing the paper with
plastics has created more
problems; and to avoid
the use of plastics and
Styrofoam, some in the
food service industry are
returning to paper cups
and containers. At least
the anti-paper movement
led to the widespread recycling of paper. Perhaps
some inventive secondary
use of Styrofoam garbage
may float to our attention.
just not the same opportunities. And because of this,
I learnt to be more appreciative and humbled by the
opportunities I have been
given. And if I can provide
the slightest help in providing more of these opportunities through my work,
then I am doing something
right.
There’s no place like home:
At the end of the day, wherever I’ve been in the world,
I mostly look forward to
stepping on that plane
back home. The journey
somehow doesn’t feel fully
complete, until I am back
in my old bedroom, hanging up a souvenir that I’ve
picked up along the way.
I am happiest and most
content sitting in my front
yard at dusk, smelling
my mom’s curry chicken
through the kitchen window, listening to the tree
frogs in the nearby bushes,
and the occasional overpassing LIAT flight, whose
propeller vibrations are always just strong enough to
set off the neighbour’s car
alarm.
How would you describe
yourself in five words?
Friendly, cheerful, goodhumoured, curious and
a Sagittarius (that should
Sky Diving over Australia.
cover the rest of it).
How do you see your
life in 10 years? (Are you
thinking about returning
to St. Maarten?)
I used to struggle with
this question when I was
younger, but my work and
my travels have made it
very simple for me: If you
want to save the world,
start with your own back
yard. St. Maarten is a very
young, very rapidly changing country, and I want to
be part of that change.
So 10 years from now, I
see myself at home. I am
either at a beach cleanup
in Mullet Bay, or a sexual
health workshop in a high
school, or diabetes aware-
ness walk-a-thon, or an
adopt-a-stray rally. I want
to be involved in as many
initiatives as possible and
hopefully working in the
Ministry of Health, where I
know I can make a difference.
What do you do when
you are not studying or
working?
Apart from work, I spend
my time at the gym, fighting the toll India takes
on the body. I am lucky
enough to live near the
coast, so I spend a lot of
time walking on the beach
on the weekends. And of
course, I watch a lot of TVseries, mostly Sci-fi.
6
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
THE DAILY HERALD
Get to know the 2015 nominees for the
Crystal Pineapple Awards
Excellence in job performance and community service - that is what the Crystal Pineapple Awards are all about. The stars of industry,
often unsung heroes, are annually honored by the community with these prestigious designations. The voting is going on right now,
and you surely want to have your opinion counted, so go online to www.facebook.com/crystalpineappleawards and vote.
To help you put faces to the names here are some of the nominees for each category. More nominees next week.
Accommodations: Employee of the Year
AKILAH DORMOY
Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino
ALITA ROMAIN
Simpson Bay Resort & Marina
CLINT VIOLENUS
Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino
KATHLEEN ELLIS
Oyster Bay Beach Resort
RAJESH MAYAN
Divi Little Bay Beach Resort
VERNETTA LEWIS
Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino
Accommodations: Supervisor of the Year
DANE WEEKES
KAYE HENDERSON
The Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa
RUDOLPH MAYNARD
Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino
UNELTA CHERRY
Divi Little Bay Beach Resort
Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino
Accommodations: Department Manager of the Year
COLIN RICHARDSON
MARIJE LODEWIJKS
Divi Little Bay Beach Resort
PAUL CASSEUS
Divi Little Bay Beach Resort
PEDRO SANCHEZ
Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino
Simpson Bay Resort & Marina
Outstanding Community Service Achievement
KARE 2014/2015
PANTOPHLET VILLA
FOUNDATION
TEAM OF REAL TALK
UNIVERSITY OF ST. MAARTEN
St. Maarten Aids Foundation
Board and Staff
Entertainer of the Year
DJ OUTKAST
SHADOWMAN
KING BEAU BEAU
KING VERS
Best Customer Service Representative
DESMOND PATTERSON
Country Club Port de Plaisance
MICHELINE WARNER
SZV Social & Health Insurance
ROSALIE DAVIS – JEFFERS
The Daily Herald
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
7
AUC Community Action Day
At the Little League Ball Park
“Play ball!” It’s a common
call heard on any baseball
field. Yet on St. Maarten at
the Little League Ball Park
on Pond Island, the words
reading, math and science
come first. And thanks to
some very dedicated volunteers from American
University in the Caribbean (AUC) Medical School
in Cupecoy, ball players
are making strides academically while training
for the games.
S
aturday, October 17,
was Community Action day for students
and family at AUC. Cars
and fans of students, spouses and friends were fired all
over the island to help the
community in which they
live. The AUC volunteers
had a choice to work with
the Alzheimer’s Foundation,
Diabetes Screening, Community Garden, Mullet Bay
Clean-up, St. Maarten Zoo,
SXM Paws, Animal Welfare or White Yellow Cross,
along with several other options.
One group of nearly 20
ended up at Little League
Ballpark. There they worked
with children ages five to 13.
Before a ball was thrown or
caught, the children had to
read as part of the Leagues
Player Development Program. The Program runs
six days a week. Monday
through Friday, reading,
math and science are done
from 2:30 to 3:30pm, after
which the children practice
their baseball skills. The
group starts at 9:30am on
Saturdays.
to help was Silveria Jacobs.
The Parliamentarian spends
most Saturday mornings
teaching baseball basics to
children – both boys and
girls – ages four to eight.
“Today they had so many
reading volunteers – many
of our Peewee Leaguers had
a 10-15 minute reading session in the middle of practice,” said Jacobs. “So many
said to me, ‘Coach, can I go
“I love organized service to read now, please?’ The
projects,” said Breana John- teacher in me was so proud
son from the AUC group. to hear that.”
Nearly two dozen projects
were organized for the day. After the reading of a book
“Ben (Goldsmith) and I de- or two and receiving a basecided to go help with the ball card as a reward for
Little League Player Devel- good work, the little ones
opment Program, since I returned to their regular
already volunteer with this practice to hit balls, run
bases and field balls from
organization.”
their peers. “Life is sweet
Each child has his reading when you see it through
level tested; and then work- their eyes. We had a great
ing with his school teacher, turnout today; 30-40 boys
a program is tailored to and girls came out and had
their individual needs. As a blast until the rain came.”
the AUC volunteers arrived at the Ball Park, they After the reading, math and
were paired up with young science was done, the AUC
athletes in need of reading students took a short break,
help. Ten to 12 volunteers forced inside due to rain.
were expected along with The children did not mind.
the regular Saturday morn- They sat with the volunteers
ing crowd. “I think we have – many on the floor – and
more volunteers than chil- played Legos, used the midren,” said Lisa Burnett, one croscope, dug for fossils and
even tried out the remote
of the Program’s leaders.
control robot.
Also on the field and ready
The Player Development
program is designed as a
fun time. Children are rewarded for effort. If they
just try to read or work out a
math problem, they receive
a baseball card. If they are
successful, they get to pick
the card; and if they score
perfect marks on three pieces of work, they receive play
time to try out all the interesting things in the club
house, including a train set.
The AUC volunteers found
space to sit and they pitched
right in. Some helped with
reading. Some supervised
and showed the children
how to use the gym equipment. Some worked with
the microscope and one
even cleaned the track so
the train would run faster
and smoother.
Once the rain stopped, the
recently installed artificial grass outfield drained
quickly and it was time for
sliding practice, pitching
and pop flies. Everyone had
a great time on the field.
Children and adults played
catch. There was running
and laughter. There was sliding and even some pretty
spectacular diving catches.
“Being out there was great,”
said Goldsmith. “There’s
something meditative about
throwing the baseball.”
Finally, it was time for the
children to go home. The
AUC group loaded up into
a van and two cars and
headed back to the Medi-
cal School. “I wish we could
sustain this number of people, but it usually ebbs and
flows with school work,” explained Goldsmith. Several
of the AUC group already
volunteer two or three days
a week. More help is expected.
8
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
A weekly column
By Lucinda Frye (with guest contributor
Nilgun Graham)
THE DAILY HERALD
Our quest is for diverse, indigenous cuisine brought by the many ethnic people
to St. Maarten from all over the world. We have done well and covered many
ethnic groups; not yet all by any means. Wines, high-days, holidays, individual
foods, celebrations and anything to do with keeping the body and soul nourished with what is produced from good old terra firma are what make the world
go round. There are many places in the world that are calling out to be visited,
none-the-least because people from those places visit St. Maarten.
5(&,3(6
Being a Diva when entertaining
Definition of a Diva: A woman regarded as temperamental or haughty, “She’s
such a diva that she won’t
enter a restaurant until they
change the pictures on the
walls to her liking.” ~Dictionary.
A Diva is a woman who is
on top of her game, be it
education, family, work,
the best at what she does.
Being haughty and temperamental just does not
gel with cooking and entertaining, which one supposedly does with love,
but being a Kitchen Diva
is one many people apparently aspire to: “Let’s
face it, we would all like
to be known as a Kitchen
Diva,” my friend said to me
the other day. “I just can’t
summon up the umph or
the pizzazz to be one when
I don’t have a dishwasher.
I hate the fact that after
all that food prep, house
cleaning and entertaining,
I then have to wash up by
hand. It’s much easier just
to meet up at the pub, if I
can find a baby sitter of
course!”
a spoonful here and there
– oh – and a glass or two of
wine to refresh after each
taste?
To me, a Diva is one who
defines her own way in
this world. Never being
ashamed about being herself in whatever she does
– and that means in the
kitchen as well. However,
there are a few tips and
tricks one needs to have
up one’s sleeve to be able
to come off as a true Diva.
Glamorous, delicious food
can be simple to prepare
and present leaving the
hostess plenty of time to
dress the part. Knowing
all this is all well and good
– it is the actual execution
of the plan where one can
fall down terribly. Take the
case of the disappearing rolling pin – the piece
de resistance for a bridal
shower that took two days
to make seemingly just
vanished into thin air. A
beautifully
constructed
sponge-cake made to represent a rolling-pin plated
on a large wooden tray
and hidden under the bed
which stood on 8” legs,
totally and magically disappeared. Turned out, the
dog managed to get his
tongue stretched out into
the small space under
the bed where he licked
up every last crumb. The
unfazed hostess acted
like there was no missing dessert and brought
out a bottle of Kailua and
vanilla ice cream. Noone was the wiser and of
course more booze actually encouraged a very
happy ending to the party.
Kitchen Diva is a description of a beautifully
made-up and dressed
housewife, mother – often
holding down a full time
job – who entertains flawlessly at the drop of a hat.
One who never appears
flustered, whose dishes
always turn out perfectly
and who is as skinny as
the day is long. How does
she do it? I mean, surely,
she should have a much
larger behind! Does she
not taste her way through
all those dishes she conjures up? How can she tell
if she is presenting the ulti- Being a Kitchen Diva these
mate dish if she hasn’t had days is not so different
5(&,3(6
Lemonade Raspberry Cocktail
This can be doubled easily
Ingredients:
¾ cup frozen raspberries
3½ (12 oz. bottles) Leinenkugel’s Raspberry Weiss
1 12-oz container frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate,
thawed
½ cup vodka
1 lemon and 2 limes, sliced
Method:
Mix first 4 ingredients in a large container.
Add lemon and lime slices as a garnish and serve over ice.
Halloumi with lemon caper dressing
Ingredients:
1 Halloumi cheese – (a block of it)
2 tbl flour
Oil for cooking
to being a 1955 Good
Housekeeping
Kitchen
Diva! In those days, hostesses could read a whole
schlew of suggestions
in women’s magazines
(strange that hosts did not
have these suggestions
available back then – perhaps their instincts were
such that they did not
need any).
For instance: Be happy to
see your guests – it goes
without saying you are
happy to see your guests,
it is time to start opening
the good wine!
Serve only the best to your
guests – well, today there
is a lot of the best in every
Diva’s pantry that can be
offered. All Divas love designer gear; bringing out
this oil or that salt is a bit
like having a Gucci fix.
Clear away clutter before
your guests arrive – of
course you will be doing this – tuck your worn
clothes into the laundry
basket (you don’t want
guests to see your most
comfortable holey underwear); pop all empties into
the bin (you don’t want to
give the impression that
you can only produce this
top-notch meal with the
help of expensive wine).
To really be a Kitchen Diva/
hostess (host) with the
Mostest or just one who
enjoys setting the scene,
think ahead/dream/read
up on ideas of what theme
you want. You can hold
a get-together for a few
or many people – all you
need is planning, a little
forethought (a good slug
of the ol’ tipple now and
then won’t go amiss either)!
Dressing:
Juice & zest of 1 lime
1 tbl white wine vinegar
1 heaped tbl capers
1 clove garlic, grated
1 heaped tsp Dijon wholegrain mustard
Coriander leaves, roughly chopped
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Coriander to garnish
Method:
Season flour with salt and pepper.
Mix dressing ingredients together.
Unwrap cheese, dry with kitchen paper, slice into eight slices.
Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat.
Press slices of cheese into seasoned flour, coating both sides.
Fry until golden, about 1 minute on each side.
Serve immediately with dressing poured over, garnish with coriander.
Serve with toasted pita bread.
Shrimp and Asparagus
Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh asparagus
½ cup of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1 lb fettuccine pasta
½ lb shrimp, cleaned, shelled
1 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tbl of Old Bay Seasoning
Method:
Add a little olive oil to a frying pan.
Fry garlic 5 minutes, do not let it brown.
Add asparagus, cook 10 minutes.
Take pan off the heat, place asparagus in a bowl, set aside.
Cook pasta according instructions.
When pasta is almost done, cook the shrimp till just pink in a little hot olive oil.
Drain pasta and stir in asparagus, shrimp, olive oil, Old Bay, salt, pepper, and the oil left in the
pan – toss lightly together.
Serve with the Parmesan.
Baked Beef Ribs
Ingredients:
3 lbs beef ribs
Liquid smoke
3 tbl olive oil
1 tbl garlic powder
1 tbl onion powder
1 tbl cajun seasoning
2 tbl brown sugar
1 tbl chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp oregano
Favourite BBQ Sauce
Method:
Rinse ribs
Dry ribs very well with paper towels.
Sprinkle a little liquid smoke – (if using) over the ribs, rub into meat.
Rub a little olive oil over the ribs.
Mix together seasoning, sprinkle generously over ribs, use as much as you deem is needed.
Massage into the ribs.
Marinate in fridge1-2 hours.
Preheat oven 250° F.
Line baking tray with foil, place ribs in a single layer, cover tightly with a layer of foil – make sure
the seal is tight.
Bake middle of oven 3½-4 hours.
When ribs are done, drain off excess fat.
Brush ribs with BBQ sauce.
Broil on low until sauce is sticky.
Serve hot and enjoy!!
The ribs can also be done in a slow cooker and then crisped up over coals.
Chocolate Pudding
– chilled chocolate pudding (recipe makes 6; you can double recipe).
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa
½ cup corn flour
1/8 tsp salt
4 cups skim milk
½ cup dark chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Combine sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt in a saucepan.
Gradually stir in milk and add chocolate, bring to a gentle boil.
Simmer, stirring until mixture begins to thicken, about 2-5 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla; pour into 6 individual serving dishes or glasses.
Chill until set.
Serve topped with whipped cream and grated chocolate.
WEEKENDER
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
October 24, 2015
WEEK IN REVIEW
October 17 - 23, 2015; Vol. 25 No. 128 - 133
SATURDAY
Searches related to
Tourism investigation
The five searches conducted on Thursday were related to a “criminal” investigation into “irregularities”
at the St. Maarten Tourist
Bureau, which the Prosecutor’s Office has named investigation “Colade.” Under
investigation are former
Tourist Bureau head and
current Princess Juliana International Airport Director Regina LaBega, former
newspaper editor and journalist Fabian A. Badejo, and
a third person identified as
E.F. The Prosecutor’s Office
said the house searches had
been led by the Judge of Investigation at the request of
the Prosecutor.
Home in Belvedere
reaches highest point
St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation celebrated another milestone
in its on-going social housing construction project,
reaching the highest point
of a dwelling-in-construction with a rafter-wetting
ceremony on Friday afternoon. Construction began
in August. During the short
ceremony, it was also announced that the project
is two-and-a-half weeks
ahead of schedule and that
in addition to the eight
planned houses which
will go up for sale, another
building will be added,
which will be made available for rent.
No entry to Marigot from the Grand Case direction. This barricade at the Agrément
roundabout was one of several that brought the French side to a complete standstill
Thursday during the urban zoning plan (PLU) protest.
Simpson Bay was robbed of
approximately US $28,000
around 10:00pm Sunday.
A man apparently walked
into the casino and held the
cashier at gunpoint before
calmly walking out of the
casino with the money while
customers gambled or were
unaware of what had taken
place. There were no injuries
or shooting. Police are investigating.
New coalition to meet on
draft dissolution decree
New Parliament Chairperson Member of Parliament
and Democratic Party leader
Sarah Wescot-Williams says
the “coalition of eight” intends to hold a meeting of
Parliament this week on the
draft national decree submitted to Governor Eugene Holiday by the Marcel Gumbs
Cabinet to dissolve Parliament and call snap elections
early next year. She said at a
coalition press conference
held in Parliament House on
Judges to evaluate
Sunday afternoon, a request
ongoing political impasse had been made to GovernGovernor Eugene Holiday ment to obtain a copy of the
has requested that “a spe- draft decree.
cial panel of three judges”
from the Joint Court of
TUESDAY
Justice of Aruba, Curaçao,
St. Maarten and Bonaire, WIB: ATM money not
St. Eustatius and Saba and from casino robbery
the Constitutional Court Windward Islands Bank
of St. Maarten “evaluate (WIB) does not believe
the constitutionality of that notes from the Rouge
the implementation of the et Noir Casino robbery are
political positions” in the in its automatic teller macurrent impasse between chines (ATMs) as is being
Parliament and the Marcel speculated. However, the
Gumbs Cabinet. Due to the bank is taking the necessary
urgency of the situation, precautions and following
the panel has been request- procedures prescribed by
ed “to provide an advice the police. WIB Managing
within five working days.”
Director Derek Downes said
a red marking on a US note
MONDAY
(as seen in the photo) does
not necessarily mean the bill
Lone gunman steals
is dye-marked from an ex$28K from casino
plosive pack. The bank said
Paradise Plaza Casino in it had received complaints
from customers who re- statius and Saba are involved
ceived notes with red mark- in assisting the Governor
ings on them.
with advice is not yet known.
Frans calls on Dennis
to resign immediately
Justice Minister Dennis
Richardson must “resign
immediately in the wake of
unprecedented crime in St.
Maarten,” says United St.
Maarten Party leader Member of Parliament Frans
Richardson. MP Richardson
said the Minister should
resign “because clearly the
crime situation is very much
a product of the glaring inability of the Minister. This
crime spree is an indictment
of any crime-fighting measure that the Minister has
taken. They have all failed.”
WEDNESDAY
Neighbour dispute
escalates to shooting
A construction worker
known as “Blacks” was shot
in his stomach by his neighbour on Marion Evangelien
de Weever Hering Drive in
Union Farm Estate just after
7:00pm Tuesday. An argument between the victim and
the family of the shooter allegedly occurred just before
the incident happened. The
victim was shot just outside
his driveway.
First Instance judges
not advising Governor
None of the three Court of
First Instance judges stationed in St. Maarten are
advising Governor Eugene
Holiday on the constitutionality of the political positions in the current impasse
between Parliament and the
Marcel Gumbs Cabinet, according to word from the
Court. Whether other judges
from the wider Joint Court of
Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St.
Maarten and Bonaire, St. Eu-
THURSDAY
Blogger gets fine
for public insults
Blogger Judith Roumou (40)
was sentenced to a conditional fine of NAf. 750, on
two years’ probation, for two
cases of public insult. Despite her vehement denial
she had insulted anybody,
the outspoken blogger was
found guilty of offending an
attorney and a police officer
in public on September 17.
Prosecutor Karola van Nie
found the charges proven
and added that with her
“muck racking”, Roumou
had violated the “honour and
good names” and the “moral
integrity” of her victims.
Dennis: Crime not up,
criminals more violent
Justice Minister Dennis
Richardson said that figures thus far for this year
show that crime has not increased in comparison to
previous years. However, he
said criminals were becoming more and more violent.
He said there had been 10
murders in 2014 compared
to seven thus far for this year.
Marigot to be scene of mass
demonstration against PLU
The widespread discontent
over the content of the urban
zoning plan PLU will come
to a head in Marigot today
with a demonstration to be
held outside Hotel de la Collectivité, starting early in the
morning. Protestors want
the PLU to be postponed and
revised, and the current public enquiry to be suspended.
Cabinet says ‘no’
to judges’ advice
Prime Minister
Marcel
Gumbs responded with a
resounding “no” when asked
whether his Cabinet would
adhere to any advice issued
by the “special panel of judges” put in place by Governor
Eugene Holiday to render an
advice on the impasse between the Coalition of Eight
in Parliament and the Cabinet. He said the Governor
had only two options when
it came to the draft decree
submitted by the Cabinet to
dissolve Parliament: to sign it
or send it to the Dutch Kingdom Council of Ministers for
annulment.
FRIDAY
CARPHA concludes
visit to St. Maarten
Representatives from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Environmental Health and Sustainable
Development Department,
completed a one-week working visit to St. Maarten. The
delegation undertook activities related to environmental monitoring and capacity
needs assessments in areas
including surveys of water
quality, food testing, air quality and chemicals management. The intent of the visit
was to evaluate needs with
respect to regulatory requirements, human resource
capacity, information technology capacity, laboratory
facilities and financial allocation available for monitoring
environmental quality.
Six to stand trial for
human smuggling
Six residents of St. Maarten/
St. Martin will go on trial
on January 6, 2016, on human smuggling charges. All
were charged Thursday, with
involvement in several operations aimed at smuggling
groups of Haitian and Brazilian nationals to St. Thomas
between February 1 and July
12, 2015, and of membership
in a criminal organisation.
The lawyer said his client had
only transported eight persons in his bus and had not
been aware of any peoplesmuggling operation as they
had all paid the regular $1.50
fee.
COCI: Be humane with
undocumented residents
The St. Maarten Chamber
of Commerce and Industry
(COCI) believes that authorities should take a humane
approach in the handling of
undocumented persons in
the country. The Chamber
said while it is pleased that
immigration is doing its job
with the recent “successful
raids” executed, the fear
under which undocumented persons live daily should
not be dismissed. The
chamber said St. Maarten
must take into consideration that some people
became
undocumented
because they were “duped”
by employers and agencies
who took their documents
and money and never filed
the permit requests, or
simply because there was
a time when St. Maarten’s
immigration system was
“not functioning all that
well.”
Governor: Marlin to
prepare for elections
Governor Eugene Holiday
has tasked National Alliance leader Member of
Parliament William Marlin
with forming a new government that will prepare
for “planned elections” and
“take steps to introduce
electoral reforms.” Marlin
was named “formateur”
by the Governor and has
been given a deadline of
November 20 to submit his
final report naming Ministers for the new Cabinet.
Marlin has committed to
informing the Governor
regularly during the formation process.
Entire French side
paralysed by blockades
It took sixteen hours for
the Collectivité to give
in to the people with a
signed agreement to halt
the urban planning zone
PLU. During that time,
the French side came to a
complete standstill, with
no possibility of entering
or exiting Marigot. Barricades also were erected
in French Quarter, Grand
Case and Oyster Pond. The
agreement was signed at
9:45pm. Not until the arrival of First Vice-President
Guillaume Arnell around
3:00pm, after stepping off a
flight from Paris, was there
any possibility that a settlement could be reached.
9
10
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Halloween For Dogs
by Merl Reagle
THE DAILY HERALD
Business Week in Review
October 17 - 23, 2015; Vol. 25 No. 128 - 133
SATURDAY
ACROSS
1
‘Out, Tom!’
5
Present for approval
12 Marquand sleuth
16 Fruit center
19 Stable occupant
20 Volunteer civic organization
21 ‘A New Life’ writer-director
23 Lassie is going as ___
25 Makes photostats of photostats
26 ‘60 Minutes’ name
27 “ ‘Scuse me while ___ the
sky”
29 Pants part
30 Jumpy
31 Pluto is going as ___
37 Famed Theater District
eatery
39 Tidy up
40 Reading aid
44 Light, musical quality
45 Dating letters
46 Feared intensely
51 Benji is going as ___
54 Mexican root used in salads
55 Ridicule
56 Above, to poets
57 McCoy crewmate
60 Depraved
61 Rodolfo’s love in ‘La Boheme’
62 Regard as identical
65 Instrument with seven pedals
67 Wrath
68 Rin-Tin-Tin is going as ___
72 Alai opener
74 Husband, to Huppert
75 Enjoyably offensive, as a
novel
76 A relative of mine?
78 Dog studier Pavlov
80 Role for Carrie
82 Exhibit subject
83 ‘... know when ___ ‘em’
85 My friend, to Maurice
87 Marmaduke is going as
___
91 Hook up
93 Civil War nickname
95 ___ good example
96 Does lawn work
98 Wipes out
100 Asta is going as ___
105 Home
110 It has heddles and treadles
111 Da Nang’s region
112 Joan’s ‘Dynasty’ role
113 Teacher
117 What dogs like best about
Halloween?
121 The dying alien planet in
‘This Island Earth’
122 Clarice Starling, e.g.
123 Newcastle’s river
124 Devil’s tail?
125 Greek letters
126 Dutch humanist
127 ‘I can’t ___ you!’
DOWN
1
Shrewd
2
Kayak kin
3
Light-bulb element
4
New drivers, maybe
5
Anthem start
6
Calendar abbr.
7
Monk’s title
$ %&'(
9
Anti-slippage substances
10 Oscar-winning co-star of
‘Sayonara,’ Miyoshi ___
11 Virtuous trait
12 Actress Mason
13 Hooray for Jorge, perhaps
14 Middle of a game?
15 Sean ___ Lennon
16 Worked
17 Perfect
18 Try
22 Lhasa ___
24 Jeans brand
28 Works the wheel
31 Mandamus, e.g.
32 Groundless, as rumors
33 ___ oxide (laughing gas)
34 Airport abbr.
35 ___ oneself (lie)
36 ‘This isn’t the ___ ordered’
38 Health-store juice
40 Minimum multiple, in math.
41 ‘Excuse me ...’
42 Longitude
lines
43 First-rate,
slangily
45 Baby stat
47 Expert
48 ‘The Stripper’ composer
49 Middle Eastern prince
50 Chip’s chum,
in cartoons
52 Characteristic style
53 Sneeze, e.g.
58 ‘Nope’
59 Allergic to
work
62 Yeats’s
homeland
63
64
66
69
70
71
73
77
79
81
83
84
86
88
89
90
92
97
98
Ocean liner, familiarly
Give guns to, old-style
Whisky info
Gravity studier
Dance great
Ear gear of a sort
Cosmetics company
Place in the lineup
Styron’s Turner
Iranian island
Prong
Forensic tool
Crumbly earth
Green, toxic liqueur
Ladies of Sp.
Carnival-game action
The Fighting Tigers: abbr.
Catherine and Maureen
New York city where Mark
Twain is buried
99 Sea-soning?
100 Varnish resin
101 ___ of transportation
102 ‘Yap’ or ‘trap’
103 Village People hit
104 Less frequent
106 Pullman feature
108 Actress Rigg
109 Dimethyl sulfate, e.g.
112 Aggressive Olympian
114 Bar order
"#
116 ___ leash
118 ‘Cliff Huxtable,’ to pals
119 Actress Delaney
120 United Nations, in Sp.
headlines
Solution to:
Vowel Play
lic Housing, Spatial Planning,
Environment and Infrastructure VROMI and Dock
Maarten N.V. concerning a
building permit for the expansion of the marina in
Great Bay. SMHH is against
the construction of a newly
to be developed harbour facility in what it holds for its
concession area of Great Bay.
OWS, One World Sustainable, Walter’s Electrical Services and Divi Resorts contributed to the donation of
a complete solar package for
the I Too Can Learn centre,
enabling the unique local
centre which caters to children with a range of learning
disabilities, to lower its elecWinair will be increasing
tricity bill.
the frequency of flights to
Fireworks Permits - Per- St. Kitts, Nevis and Tortola
sons desirous of importing, and adding new destinations:
transporting or selling fire- San Juan and Antigua to its
works, or having a fireworks route network for its winter
show at the end of this year, 2015/2016 schedule.
have until November 10 to
apply for their permit. Per- St. Maarten Cable TV climit applications should be ents will now be able to
submitted to the Ministry access their account inforof General Affairs at least mation online via the St.
six weeks before the activ- Maarten Cable TV website:
ity. If the fireworks are to be www.sxmcable.com.
transported to a storage location in Dutch St. Maarten,
TUESDAY
a Hindrance Permit from
the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Envi- Inova Solutions will be hostronment and Infrastructure ing a seminar focusing on the
VROMI, will be needed for latest Microsoft innovations
at Sonesta Maho Beach Rethe storage location.
sort and Casino on October
SHTA, St. Maarten Hos- 29. The free seminar targets
pitality and Trade Associa- the Information Technoltion, in light of the “current ogy (IT) sector and is being
political dilemma,” invited hosted in cooperation with
its members to take a poll Microsoft.
which showed that the
largest single group of re- Sargassum compensation
spondents wish both for - French-side Chamber of
new elections and for new Commerce flew to Paris to
legislation to prevent po- seek compensatory mealitical “ship-jumping.” How- sures for beach-side busiever, new legislation was nesses negatively impacted
the strongest sentiment ex- by Sargassum weed. It will
be armed with as much tespressed overall.
timony on economic impact
as it can gather from the
questionnaires. In general,
MONDAY
the businesses reported reGottwald Crane - The op- duction of employees by a
erations of the cargo section quarter, reduction of sales by
of Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise 30 per cent (related to less cliand Cargo Facilities recently entele), and having additional
acquired Terex Gottwald expenditures for beach cleanModel 6 Crane. It arrived ing.
on the island from Germany
at the end of August and
WEDNESDAY
was put into operation at
the harbour on October 15.
The Port now possesses the SOS Radio will be celebrated
largest mobile crane in the a milestone on October 22,
when the radio talk show
North-eastern Caribbean.
“Talking Point” reached its
SMHH, St. Maarten Har- 2,000th programme, host
bour Holding’s appeal has and producer of the show
been declared inadmis- Jacques “Billy D” Hamlet dissible by the Court of First closed.
Instance. The appeal was
against the Minister of Pub- CPI, Consumer Price Index,
for St. Maarten increased by
0.2 per cent in August compared to that of June 2015,
Bridge results
the Department of Statistics
Wednesday, October 21
STAT said, adding that when
comparing average consumer
1. Hanny – Klaas
64%
prices over a twelve-month
2. Jan Peter – Rasheed 54%
period, an increase of 0.9 per3. Michael – Louise 49%
cent was recorded compared
4/5. Marga - Bea
48%
to the same period one year
4/5. Bert – Jack
48%
6. Roel – Lizette
37%
earlier. The more expensive
categories included Food,
St. Maarten Bridge Club holds weekly bridge nights at Holland House on
Housing, and Medical Care,
Wednesdays, starting at 7:45pm. We
whereas prices decreased
are open to visitors to the island and
will gladly receive you. Call Jan Peter
slightly for Beverages, Tobacat 520-0594 or e-mail jpholtland@
wwr.jajo.com for information.
co, Clothing, and Recreation.
C-TEC, Caribbean Technology and Education
Conference, will be held in
St. Maarten at Milton Peters College on November
12 and 13, from 7:00am to
4:00pm. The two-day conference is intended to bring
together
administrators,
education experts, educators from schools on the
island and policy makers
from the region to exchange
experiences on the use of
Information Communication Technology and 21st
century learning.
THURSDAY
All banks in St. Maarten
will be accepting notes with
small red marks on them,
as these are “good” bills, the
Bankers Association, saying there is a distinct difference between bills marked
with a small red marking in
the corner and dye-stained
bills.
2016 budget - There are
“serious challenges” with
the revenues needed to
cover the wish lists of the
seven ministries. These
challenges affect the draft
2016 budget, totalling some
NAf. 485 million, which
was approved by the Marcel
Gumbs Cabinet on Tuesday
and is now on its way to the
Council of Advice and the
Committee for Financial
Supervision CFT for comments and recommendations. The draft budget will
ultimately be tabled in Parliament for approval.
FRIDAY
100 vacancies from the
various participating businesses will be on offer at St.
Maarten Hospitality and
Trade Association (SHTA)
Job Fair, which will be held
at National Institute for
Professional Advancement
(NIPA) on October 24,
from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
The vacancies are from a
cross-section of industries
in St. Maarten. The association and the Department
of Labour Affairs urge job
seekers to attend the fair.
Port St. Maarten took a
number of measures to ensure that the approximately
10,000 cruise passengers
who were on the island
Thursday enjoyed their
stay despite the widespread
demonstration in St. Martin, where tours had been
planned. The vessels in port
were Celebrity Summit, Arcadia, Eurodam and Freedom of the Seas. Cruise passengers spent most of their
time in the Philipsburg area,
which may have led to additional traffic congestion.
WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM
Brenda’s
Corner
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
By Brenda Carty
Household Hints
.
.!*!
/0*$
Quick & Easy Recipe
Sponge Cake
Ingredients:
4 eggs
Pinch of salt
Method:
!"#$
%$&!'&&()*+!,
-!
Looking up at
the night sky
By Gerard van Veen
Synod to focus on ‘real
life’
The forthcoming Synod
on the Family should focus on real life pastoral
situations rather than
start with fixed notions of
Church teaching, the new
Archbishop of Chicago
has said. Archbishop Blase
Cupich, a rising star in the
United States hierarchy, is
believed to be attending
the Family Synod in Rome.
The Archbishop said in
an interview: “What is intriguing to me about what
the Holy Father is doing
with the Synod is that he
is saying, ‘We need to walk
together and we need to
listen to each other; nothing should be kept off the
table; people should not
say you can’t say that.’ If
you start only with ideas
and fixed notions, then you
are not going to get too far
because you are going to
Corona
Australis
use a very deductive rather
than an inductive method.”
The Pope, Archbishop Cupich said, wants to be close
to the “pulse” of real life
which can help “spark creativity and imagination” in
pastoral situations. “If you
look at the earliest councils
of the Church beginning
with Jerusalem, there has
been a healthiness in free
exchange of spirits that the
Holy Father would like us to
become involved in. I think
that’s always healthy,” he
said.
Queen Elisabeth praised
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
of Westminster has praised
the Queen for her steadfast
Christian faith in the week
that she became the longest
reigning monarch in British
history. In a Loyal Address
sent on behalf of Catholics of England and Wales,
the cardinal paid tribute to
her insistence on the importance of Christianity,
which he said was demonstrated by “both word and
example.” “Our hope is that,
enriched by the presence of
many beliefs and cultures,
our country will always
maintain respect for our
Christian heritage and the
11
sure foundations that it provides for a
flourishing of true human
fulfilment,” he said. Meanwhile, a poll by the think
tank Theos has found that
the majority (61%) of the
population wants the Coronation to remain a Christian ceremony.
The Vatican line
Many will remember the
sunset helicopter ride Pope
Emeritus Benedict made
on the evening of his resignation, from the Vatican to
the Pontifical Villas in Castel Gandolfo. Now tourists
can make that same journey by train. The Vatican
Museums have announced
a new tour which includes
in the €40 fee a trip from
the Vatican City train station to Albano Laziale,
about 25 kilometres from
Rome, and on to Castel
Gandolfo. This will be the
first time the Vatican station has offered a regular
passenger train. Also included is priority entrance
to the museums and an
hour in the Vatican Gardens.
The Milky
Way
Antares
WEEKender’s guide for local star-gazers
Here is what you can see
this Saturday night, if the
clouds allow. If you are
out on Sunday night, each
star rises about four minutes earlier than written
here and the moon rises
50 minutes later.
The moon
Great moon viewing this
weekend – so get out your
binocs! High in the sky at
sunset, the moon will be
up most of the night, setting just after 3:00am. Currently in its first quarter
phase, it has a shape called
“gibbous” – it’s waxing its
way towards a full moon
on this Tuesday, Oct 27.
The full moon of October
is known as the Hunter’s
Moon or the Dying Grass
Moon. While gazing at the
gibbous moon, take note
of the terminus, the line
between shadow and light.
This line is an excellent
area to examine with a telescope or binoculars. You
will be able to see the shadows of the mountains on
the moon along the terminus line much better now
than when it’s full and bright can be seen on Mars, and Juas it won’t have shadows (it’s piter’s tiny moons come into
view. The hard to spot planet
like noon on the moon).
of Mercury rises just ahead
of the Sun, at about 5:15am.
Stars & Planets
At sunset, you can still catch
sight of Saturn in the west, Constellations
before it sets around 7:15pm. If you are stargazing in the
Antares, a red orange star is evening hours with a clear
just to the left of Saturn. The view to the south, you will
pair is easy to spot – having have a good opportunity to
approximately the same eye- learn a new constellation.
Corona Australis, or Southcatching brightness.
ern Crown, is quite distincIn the evening hours, you tive due to its easily identifican find Uranus, but not with able pattern of stars, which
both hands, with a telescope! has been described as a
Look high in the sky, to the half-circle or horseshoe. The
west, or following the moon. curved necklace of stars is loVery faint to the naked eye; cated close to the Milky Way,
but with a scope, you can a bright band of stars that
pick out the disc shape of crosses the sky form south to
the planet (no twinkle) and north. The Southern Crown
even the tiny specs of the five will set by 8:00pm.
moons which orbit Uranus.
(By the way, astronomers Rising out the east, our relipronounce it with the em- able winter constellations are
dominating much of the sky
phasis on the first syllable.)
from 11:00pm. The Pleiades,
Around 3:30am, just after the or Seven Sisters, lead the pamoon sets, three planets rise rade, followed by Taurus the
out of the due east, first Ve- Bull, which is chased by Orinus, then Jupiter, and lastly on the Hunter. The Pleiades
Mars. With good binoculars look like a very tiny “Little
or a telescope, many details Dipper” shape. Taurus is rec-
quence from the eastern
horizon and are still high
in the sky by dawn. Their
positions relative to each
other never change. So
once you learn it, you can
Tip
One of the tricks to learn- identify them anywhere,
ing the constellations is to anytime.
remember where they are in
relation to each other. The
Rising behind Orion is a Pleiades – Taurus – Orion
constellation of Gemini, the – Gemini group rise in seognized by his horns – a “Vshape” – with the bright star
Aldebaron at the tip of the
lower horn. Orion has his
three-star-belt, from which
hangs his smaller three-starknife. His shoulders are the
bright stars Betelguese (Beetle-juice) and Bellatrix.
twins. Not so easy to spot,
search for two bright stars
side by side, these mark the
twins’ heads.
12
WEEKENDER
October 24, 2015
THE DAILY HERALD
BY MARK MARTELLY
Email:[email protected]
Buzz
DIGITAL
Technology product review
YOUTUBE RED IS GOOGLE’S AD-FREE
SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO SERVICE
NIKE’S POWER-LACED ‘BACK TO
THE FUTURE’ SHOES ARRIVE IN 2016
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few hours, then
you know today is Back to the Future Day. In the trilogy’s second film,
Michael J. Fox’s character Martin Seamus McFly, better known as
Marty, gave us a glimpse of how things would look on October 21st, 2015.
And even though the future according to the movie may have not been
fully accurate (which is okay), Marty’s power-laced Nike sneakers are
indeed a reality.
While the sportswear juggernaut did release the Mag in 2011, that version didn’t use the selflacing technology we saw in Back to the Future Part II. But don’t worry, theactual Marty McFly
shoes are coming in spring 2016, Nike has confirmed. Tinker Hatfield, Nike’s VP of creative
concepts and the man who designed the Mags, also sent a letter to Fox saying, “Although the
project started as science fiction, we’re now proud to turn that fiction into fact.”
“The first pair of self-lacing Nike Mag shoes is in New York City,” a Nike representative said to
Engadget early Wednesday. As for where exactly the limited edition sneakers are, well, interestingly enough, Fox is scheduled to be a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.
Yes, this means the 2015 Nike Mag is likely going to make its debut on the show -- and it looks
like Fox is already wearing the pair. Naturally, there’s no word on pricing, but in similar fashion
to the originals, they will be sold at auction to benefit the The Michael J. Fox Foundation for
Parkinson’s research.
What’s more, Nike says the “power laces” tech is only in its infancy, calling what these Mags
feature a first iteration of it. The company added that it is currently testing this across a wide
range of sports, as it wants and hopes to bring it to other footwear in the future -- at least in
areas where it makes sense.
“We started creating something for fiction and we turned it into fact, inventing a new technology that will benefit all athletes,” CEO Mark Parker said about the Nike Mag. “By imagining
the future, we create it. Product that comes alive, with on-demand comfort and support
when you need, product that senses you and adapts to you is right around the corner.”
Google is finally taking the wraps off of its long-rumored subscription video
service at an event in Los Angeles today. YouTube Red is a $9.99 monthly
subscription that’ll include everything on YouTube without ads, as well as
variety of other content. But most importantly, YouTube Red gives you adfree playback and the ability to save anything you want to a device for offline viewing. YouTube Red will also encompass what wasformerly called
YouTube Music Key -- it’s now known as YouTube Music, will have it’s own
dedicated app, and includes a full subscription to Google Play Music.
YouTube Music’s dedicated app is built off of all the learnings Google gained from YouTube Music
Key. Its design is centered around playing music fast, easy discovery, the ability to both watch or
just listen and giving viewers as much music as possible -- not just official versions, but also live
music, remixes, content created by the huge variety of YouTube creators out there and more.
There’s a slider that you can adjust to filter exactly how big of a net YouTube Music should cast
when looking for different content. There’s also the now-standard automatic music stations based
on particular songs or things you’ve listened to in the past. If you’re already a Google Play Music
subscribers, you’ll also get a subscription to YouTube Red.
Beyond music, YouTube Red also works with the recently launched YouTube Gaming service
as well as Google’s new YouTube Kids section; all of these different content areas will be part of
YouTube Red. Naturally, your YouTube Red membership will work across whatever platform you
use it on: iOS, Android, the web and “anywhere you sign into YouTube.” Presumably, that means
you’ll get ad-free playback on devices like the Apple TV and Roku as well as consoles like the
Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
There’s also a whole set of YouTube Red original content. All told, Google is announcing 10
new original shows that’ll launch on YouTube Red, including video from the massively popular
PewDiePie and an as-yet untitled project from the team at CollegeHumor. There’s a variety of
content, from full-length films and documentaries to episodic TV-style content.
PewDiePie’s show, called Scare PewDiePie, is described as a “reality adventure series” that’ll be
made with the creators and executive producers of The Walking Dead (seriously). It’s hard to say
if these shows are the kind that’ll drive subscriptions, but original content is table stakes for any
subscription video service. And it’s hard to bet against anything PewDiePie is doing at this point.
As for everyone else making content on YouTube, the rumors of forced participation in the subscription service are true. YouTube executives confirmed that if you publish videos to YouTube
and support them with advertising, you must also take part in the YouTube subscription service.
If you don’t, your videos will be marked private and thus no one will be able to find them. YouTube said this was because they didn’t want someone to subscribe to YouTube Red and suddenly
discover that some videos aren’t available. The question of revenue payouts is certainly a big one,
so time will tell how YouTube’s creators fare financially under this new system.
From a consumer perspective, though, that $9.99 monthly price seems pretty reasonable when
you consider everything it gets you. Google Play Music is a full-fledged subscription music service
comparable to Spotify and its competitors that all cost $9.99 a month, but when you add in all the
other features that come with a YouTube Red subscription, it’s a pretty good value.
For now, at least, YouTube Red and YouTube Music will only be available in the US, and YouTube
Red will be available on October 28th. YouTube Red Originals will start rolling out to the service
early next year, and the YouTube Music app will be out “soon.” If you want to give this all a try
before putting down your hard-earned cash, US viewers will get a free one-month trial. And iOS
users, take note: you’ll get charged $12.99 if
Information was compiled from cnet.com