First thing is that I want to take this opportunity to apologize to Zenaida Moya. I felt that she shouldn’t have run for Mayor. Why? It was and still is my opinion that the temptations available to elected officials are attractive enough so that sooner or later, they forget the people that they pledged to serve and start looking out for number one. The confrontation between the Belize City Council and GOB has demonstrated that up to now, January 20th, Ms. Moya is demonstrating the “cojones” and resolve that defines her as a people’s Mayor, so far.

I became aware of The Belize Development Trust quite recently. This organization maintains a website at: [email protected]/Bz.Lib/html. The website has 648 articles, position papers and excerpts from debates etc. pertaining to all kinds of Belizean issues. It is a treasure trove of information for those who want to research or for those who just want to read up on what people think about our problems and about possible solutions to those problems. Many thanks to Ray Auxillou, Sylvia Pinzon and Marty Casado for doing the work necessary to maintain and update a site like this.

On Friday, January 12, the Awards Committee of ACC coordinated a wonderfully uplifting ceremony to recognize and award students for outstanding academic work and for good conduct. It was an honor to present these awards along with Mrs. Dotsie Arnold from the Ministry of Education; Ms. Susan Ferguson from Grace Kennedy; Mr. Joseph Stamp from The Reporter; Ms. Mapye Smith, parent, alumna and member of the ACC Board of Governors; Mrs. Carol Babb, General Manager of Anglican Schools; Reverend Wayne Kirton; and Mr. Ismael Requeña, Principal ACC.

Reggae artist to reggae artist, Allison Hemsley, a.k.a. Dan Man, is sending a loud message to Louie Ganzie, birth name Louie Gentle, telling him exactly how he feels about the brutal murder of his Rastafarian sister, Ganzie’s ex-common-law wife, Keisha Sutherland.

Wayne “Red Boy” Uter, who became popular as a disc jockey at Radio Belize in the 1980’s, arrived in Belize from New York City last Thursday for a two- week vacation.

It’s January 1st, 2007. So what? I don’t mean to bust anybody’s balloon; people have few enough reasons to party. I have none. My wife and I were asleep before 10 p.m. Oh, I’m grateful that I’m still alive, but thanks is due to our Creator for that, not to people.

Kolbe Foundation, the Belize Central Prison, held its 5th Annual Family Day on December 26, 2006. Over 3,240 people including, families of inmates, church leaders and affiliated persons, showed up to spend the day with their loved ones.

So, here we go again, another “private” company has had its loan guaranteed by GOB. The Universal Health Services saga is another sorry story in a whole long list of sorry stories - the DFC, the SSB, the BTL mess, BWSL, the “sweetheart” arrangement between BEL and BECOL, the BELIPO deal, the “sale” of the Government Print Shop etc. GOB can’t seem to make up its mind about “privatization”.

There are few, if any stories anywhere, to rival the Old Testament story of Jacob and Esau. In a nutshell, the boys are twins, Esau the firstborn coming just minutes before Jacob. The boys grow up, the elder, Esau, loved by the father, Isaac, and the younger, Jacob, loved by the mother, Rebekah. One day after the boys have grown to young manhood, Esau, because of hunger pangs, trades his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Fantastic!

Former Clerk of the National Assembly, Jesus Ken, is the subject of this week's Personality of the Week column. This story will have to be told in at least two parts, as we will trace Mr. Ken's life from his origins in Xaibe, Corozal, to his party political career in the early to mid 1960's, the period during which he rose to prominence as a revolutionary among the ca'eros of the North.

Peer pressure is often used in a negative way to lower young people’s self esteem and lead them to their own demise, but two young ladies of Cayo, both in their twenties, are using peer pressure positively, to improve the situation of young people in their communities and to help them make better choices in life. Doris Dougal, 27, and Gloria Avila, 21, are doing an exceptional job of focusing their time and efforts to inspire positive change. Both young women are international business students at the Sacred Heart Junior College in San Ignacio, Cayo.

Garifuna Settlement Day celebrations are gearing up to a climax on November 19th, and so in the spirit of the celebrations we pay tribute to a man who has helped to keep the Garifuna tradition alive across Belize.

The National Garifuna Council (NGC) selected Old Belize as their platform to showcase the best of the Garifuna culture on Saturday, November 11. This fundraiser was the first annual Garifuna Cultural Explosion 2006. Patrons were honored with exposure to the Garifuna way of life, which was inclusive of their music, dance, food, clothing, and implements. The Garifuna Trust Fund would benefit from the proceeds.

Three issues ago, this column featured Belizean entrepreneur, Lascelle Arnold. All the happenings in one?s life can never be told in this column, but we feel a part II is necessary here to convey some of the fascinating details not covered in our October 11 article. In this edition we tell you of Lascelle's stint in a Mexican prison, his experience with a major earthquake, his visit to Honduras after Mitch, and the real estate business, which has bolstered his success in the world of business.