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Friday, March 29, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

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From the Publisher

PublisherFrom the Publisher

The Jesuit order of priests, founded by Ignatius Loyola in the 1540s, has been a formidable success over the centuries where their defence of Roman Catholicism is concerned.

The Jesuits take three vows — vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Their contributions to Catholic education have been outstanding.

I think when I was a young boy at St. John’s College and a member of the Sodality in the early 1960s, the late Fr. Thomas Donovan, S. J., thought he saw potential for a priesthood vocation in me. Unknown to him, such a thought, of becoming a priest, had absolutely never entered my mind. I could not see myself living by a vow of chastity. When I was about 15, Fr. Donovan decided to push me towards the priesthood. That was a mistake.

My column today is mainly about the incredible beauty of women, and it is by way of mourning the recent death of Mrs. Rose Usher Rhaburn, one of Belize’s greatest beauties in my lifetime. Rosie had been a chain smoker for some time in her life, and she had to have open heart surgery in Miami as a result. There were complications.

When I was a boy of 8 or 9 years of age, a Jamaican named Eric Dean brought his band to Belize. In those days of the 1950s, there were regular flights back and forth between Jamaica and British Honduras. The airline was British West Indies Airways — BWIA.

I don’t know any of the details, and have never heard anyone discuss what happened. All I know is Eric Dean got ahold of one of Belize’s most exciting beauties, married her and took her back to Jamaica. As I remember it, this was a tall lady, a redhead of brown complexion by the name of Griffith, or Griffiths. I think her family lived on North Front Street across from the riverside hutments.

I would probably have been a young teenager when a fabulous beauty named Francine Hamilton used to dance at the Continental Club on Freetown Road. It is said that a high-ranking officer in the British Army stationed here married Francine Hamilton and took her back to England with him. Like the lady who married Eric Dean, Francine disappeared from Belize’s history.

The lady Eva Elizabeth Fairweather was in line to become Belize’s first First Lady when she married the attorney/politician Dean Lindo in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The pair ended up divorcing, but there is no doubt that Eva Elizabeth was one of the greatest ever. She is still alive.

Female beauty, beloved. Female beauty makes things happen. You will remember from the Old Testament that King David practically murdered Uriah, sent him to the front lines of battle to die, so that he could capture Uriah’s wife — Bathsheba.

At the present time in Belize, you may consider this column frivolous. It is a matter of my being curious as to how things turned out for Mr. and Mrs. Eric Dean, and for Francine Hamilton.

Yes, there are very, very serious issues in Belize today. One of them is the issue of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), its recent history under the command of Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, his younger son, and the late Nestor Vasquez, Sr. I don’t know the lady in question, but a lady blew Net’s mind to the point where he abused BTL monies, and that story just seems to have petered out.

Now it is said that some BTL business has been transferred to SMART, in which the present Prime Minister is accused of having a personal interest. This is controversial. So is the transfer of Belize City stevedore business to the Big Creek port oligarchs. The Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) got its act together enough to address the BTL, SMART, stevedore (plus some Central Bank Governor) issues this week. This is their responsibility. They are organized and paid to keep the government on its toes.

I mention the political issues because we, the masses of the Belizean people, are experiencing a feeling of futility. Remember now, talk is cheap. You have to march. But marching is not possible, because of the virus. At the base of the pyramid, the people of Belize feel powerless. It’s all about the big boys, and their big girls. This is what they call neoliberalism.

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