Gays and Bacch-Anal (Part 2) : Fact and Fiction
I’m starting to think that my inspiration to write comes to me whenever I’m in a JUTC A/C yellow bus. I’m somehow calm and my creative juices flow. Anyhow, I digress; on to the matter at hand. You didn’t click this link to be subject to an advertisement of JUTC’s bus service.
A few weeks ago I was privy to a conversation between three individuals which prompted me to write Gays and Bacch-Anal. The post attracted a considerable amount of interest and commentary and raised several questions, some of which remain unanswered. My readers, I feel so important saying that, appeared split down the middle on what kind of behaviour was appropriate for bacchanal and whether the spotlight should only be on gays, since; as one comment phrased it, “straight people carry on bad too.” Additionally, is Jamaica’s society moving to a place where the open expression of homosexuality is acceptable? And if this is true, what does that mean for the soca culture and the society at large?
Cyber Bullying : A Cause for Concern?
From Facebook to Twitter, from Twitter to an email, from that email to a video, from that video to suicide. This is the unfortunate chain of events that sometimes unfolds as a result of the now very prevalent and very real threat of cyber bullying.
According to the Webster Mirriam Dictionary; supported by Dr. Bill Belsey, cyber bullying is “the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour towards an individual or group, with the intention to cause harm or severe embarrassment.” Therefore, the chain emails teasing an overweight person, the constant jabs at Miss Kitty‘s weight, the sending and sharing of videos which show someone engaged in oral sex, the “grouping up” of various elements on Twitter to tease one person and the blatant invasion of privacy to stream someone having sex; all these things constitute cyber bullying. I’d even go as far as saying the posting of the graphic pictures of the dead is right up there with the afore listed . [A Barbaric Culture : Socializing Tragedy and Posting Graphic Pictures of the Dead]
Gaga, The Illuminati and The Catholic Church : How Far Is Too Far?
For as long as there has been art and religion, there has been controversy about how art portrays the sacred and the divine. From Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper” to Madonna’s song “Like A Prayer”, there has been continued debate about hidden messages in art and allegations of witchcraft and wizardry against the artistes; whether they be sculptors, painters or musicians.
The latest addition to this list of controversial figures is the infamous and much celebrated Lady Gaga. Often eccentric, Gaga has been the subject of much discussion; from her choice of clothes to her lyrics. Her latest single titled “Judas“, released in the holiest period in Christendom, celebrates the figure who is largely held to be the reason why The Christ was crucified. The song flies in the face of all that christians hold to be holy and sacred. Listening to the song, one gets the impression that Gaga is making a mockery of the betrayal, denial and crucifixion of Christ. This of course raises the very important question, does she have a right to do this? This blog says yes, she does.
Gays and Bacch-Anal
Last night while commuting home on my hottaz JUTC A/C yellow bus (you know how I roll), I overheard a conversation that piqued my interest. Two young men and a young lady where discussing what the young lady termed “di invasion of battyman at Mas Camp cuz of Bacchanal”. The guys, one feminine in behaviour (I can’t remember how to spell ‘effiminate’ or ‘effeminate’ and I’m too lazy to check) and the other quite masculine, were adamant that the girl was closed minded and shouldn’t be painting all men who attend Mas Camp for Bacchanal as “battyman”.
As we cruised along in A/C comfort, the girl made an allegation that rang true to me, at least in part. She claimed the only reason gays, (wait, is that word offensive? Should I use the politically correct ‘homosexuals’?), go to Mas Camp is because the cover of soca music gives them the chance to behave “outrageously and disgusting”, I had said I agreed with her in part because I’m not sure the behaviour is ‘disgusting’; as I’ve never personally been to Mas Camp.
The Crush
Silence.
He waits patiently for his timeline to refresh.
Anxiety.
He scans his timeline, anxiously trying to spot that name @_______.
The crush.
Is it healthy for him to casually stroll across your timeline? Is it healthy for him to check what you tweeted while he slept?
He has a crush.
He has finally found the courage to tell you, “I have a huge crush on you…”
Silence.
A Barbaric Culture : Socializing Tragedy and Posting Graphic Pictures of the Dead
“He who does not condemn evil, commands it to be done.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
Maybe violence is apart of us. Maybe death and gore is ingrained in us. Maybe the tragedy of someone else has become entertainment for us. Maybe, just maybe, we’ve forgotten what it means to respect the dead.
I’ve always been baffled as to how someone could even consider posting on a social networking site the mangled or maimed body of another human being. From the incident in HWT involving the pregnant woman, the youngster in Clarendon who was in a motorcycle accident, the bodies of those killed in the Tivoli incursion, to the more recent and horrfic accident involving Holmwood students in Manchester, I am just disgusted at the practice of posting these pictures and videos.
What kind of person does that? What goes through someone’s head when they decide to forward an email with those pictures? What goes through someone’s head when they RT such pictures? Posts them on Facebook? Hi5? MySpace? What kind of person is that? I submit that is a morally depraved, disgusting and evil person. And to borrow from Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Elena Kagan, it is “morally abhorrent”.
Anyone who sees someone posting these things ought to strongly condemn it! Those pictures are of people who once lived. These are people who will be mourned by those they left behind. Consider how you would feel if your loved one had to suffer such a horrific death and then to have the whole internet viewing them in such a mangled state, limbs ripped apart. How would you feel? Posting those pictures is cruel and inhuman. When you post something like that, you are only serving to compound the tragedy and to rub salt into the wounds of those who have to now pick up the pieces of their lives and try to make sense of what must be an enormous tragedy. Sigh. We need to allow people to bury their loved ones with dignity and allow them to mourn without any added stress.
I really don’t have much else I can say. We all have a sense of right and wrong; posting those pictures is wrong. It is evil and it is cruel. Lisa Hanna had proposed criminalizing the act, I’m not sure if that was ever followed up, but I certainly believe it ought to be. My condolences to the families affected. I cannot begin to imagine how awful it must be to see your loved one’s body posted and RT’ed and to have the social networking community gawk and stare. Sigh. My condolences. And finally, RIP to all those who have died in horrific accidents and have been the subjects of this barbaric and evil practice of posting graphic pictures of the dead.
“It is our choices, far more than our desires, that determine who we are.” – JK Rowling
The Golden Age Home : An Insult To Human Dignity!
There has long been a culture in Jamaica that lacks accountability. Our leaders know our people lack the will to hold out long enough, we lack the will to band together and demand that justice be done when atrocities are committed against our people. From the extradition saga to the incursion into West Kingston that killed some 70+ people, we allow our public officials to get away with far too much.
On April 3rd, The Sunday Gleaner published an expose which painted such a terrible picture of the state of affairs at The Golden Age Home in Kingston; that any reasonable understanding of decency and respect for the elderly and disabled among us, must demand that justice be done. There must come a collective and sustained call for the resignations of every single individual who had an obligation to protect and care for those being housed at the facility.
My heart ached as I read the accounts of undercover reporters who allegedly saw patients subjected to mass bathing rituals before 6AM. Bathing rituals which saw men and women being hosed down together and forced to walk along corridors nude. The reports further claimed patients, disabled patients, were tied to their beds on the floor and left to wallow in dirt. One cannot help but wonder what would happen if, God forbid, there is a fire at the institution. Oh my God!
Doing some research, I came across information which stated that in May 1980, there was a massive fire at The Eventide Home (the Golden Age Home was built to replace this one). Some 144 women died in that fire. How then can these workers at the Golden Age Home be bounding patients, disabled patients, to their beds? What kind of society is this? What kind of people have we employed to care for the elderly and less fortunate? It is disgraceful and a display of extreme cruelty.
The most painful part of the story for me was the allegations of verbal abuse being meted out to the elderly patients. It was reported that one worker said to a patient “Gyal, gwaan guh bade!” Seriously?! Gyal? How can you speak to a disabled senior citizen that way?! Don’t these people who work there have parents? Grandparents?? What the hell man!? What kinda of monsters are these? Crippled patients being forced to crawl on the floors to bathe themselves? What is this? It hurts me even more to know that any one of those patients could be related to me. Why do we just cast aside our elderly? Why do we treat them as inconveniences? Some of these people worked tirelessly to build the society we now enjoy and may have simply fallen on hard times. We cannot treat people this way! We have to respect people’s human dignity! It hurts man!
Finally, I hope that all human rights and civic organisations in Jamaica will not let this story die. Jamaicans for Justice in particular must condemn this hell house the Government calls a place of care and comfort. The issue must be thoroughly debated by the parliament and the Administrator of the facility must be made to resign immediately! It is a crying shame! It makes no sense having manicured lawns and peaceful serene grounds, if they are only there to hide a home that is nothing more than an insult to human dignity.
Mr. Editor
