Columns

During the holiday period many individuals suffer from the effects of excessive alcohol use and one of the most common is a hangover. Several remedies have been suggested for the treatment of hangovers but often there is little scientific evidence that they are effective. The best way to prevent a hangover is to avoid getting one in the first place.

A letter arrives to the girl’s parents declaring the young man’s honorable intentions to come courting the young lady and to take her hand in marriage. All is agreed and the courting begins. Acceptance means that the young man can now visit the young lady in the presence of a parent and they can start to walk out together (Going to Church most times).

We are now in December, the last month of the year. The thought came to me that I should write something about December. After further consideration I decided to write about Decembers I remember.

The following excerpts were taken from an article entitled WTO Quick Facts posted on December 8th, 2005 in the Pambazuka News Weekly Forum for Social Justice in Africa. Check out the site at http://www.pambazuka.org/ You may even wish to subscribe and keep yourselves informed. All definitions, unless otherwise noted, come from Wikipedia.

Oral contraceptives also called birth control pills have been used by women for over four decades to prevent pregnancy. Today’s low dose oral contraceptives are safer and more effective compared to pills when they were first introduced in the 1960’s.

The following short story brought to the fore some issues of gender and violence that I had not considered in the same way while writing it. I have no doubt that the heightened consciousness behind this reflection is a result of the encounter with Professor Eudine Barriteau who helped to demystify the world of gender analysis and to emphasise the need for a transformative approach to dealing with domestic violence.

Sexually transmitted infections are some of the most contagious infections that continue to affect many individuals despite many advances in medicine. While HIV/AIDS might be the most well known and most lethal sexually transmitted infection there are many others that can have severe consequences, including death.

The crime of counterfeiting of currency has always proved extremely attractive to criminals. To many of them, the challenge of trying to create forged money is irresistible.

One of the better items of news in Anguilla during the past week was the announcement of a fall in the price of gasoline from $13.89 to $10.69 per gallon. The fall was contrary to the laws of economics in Anguilla, one of which says that when the price of any commodity goes up it does not come down irrespective of conditions of demand and supply. And so people everywhere are most pleased with the relief brought about by the fall. They were catching hell.

The month of November has been a remarkable one for those of us who love knowledge, information, learning and truth. My head is still full and running over with the buzz that began with the NBA National Development Conference, the mind expanding experience of the Choosing Life lecture by Wayne Chandler and the sizzle of Professor Dr. Eudine Barriteau’s lecture on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women.

World AIDS Day is commemorated around the world on 1st December. It celebrates progress made in the battle against this pandemic and brings into focus the remaining challenges. HIV/AIDS is still a major issue in Anguilla that continues to impact on the national development of Anguilla.

Today Heartically Yours (HY) takes the form of an interview with Brother Afreekan Southwell (AS), one of the founders of the Strength to Strength movement responsible for bringing Brother Wayne Chandler to St. Thomas and thereby enabling the Athlyi Rogers Study Centre to bring him to Anguilla for the recently held public lecture.

Constipation in children is a common cause for parents to take them to see a doctor. Constipation in children is a source of much anxiety for parents. Fortunately, constipation is often correctable once the cause is determined. Indeed, many cases of constipation in children go away on their own.

Over the past few years workers in the tourism industry have complained to me, and continue to complain, that management at some of the hotels and restaurants “is ripping them off” the service charge to which they are entitled. They begged me to write something about it in order to bring it to the attention of the Anguillian public and of the government in the hope that the Labour Department would do something about it. Frankly, the distribution of service charge has long been a vexing issue. For example, it was an election issue back in 1994 when Cuthwin Webster raised it on his platform. He charged: “There are hotels that, for months on end, do not pay their people the service charge.”

Choosing Life is the subject of his lecture and slide presentation in Anguilla at the Teachers Resource Centre Auditorium on Wednesday 23rd November 2005 at 8.00 p.m. On that night, African American scholar Wayne B. Chandler will share with Anguillians a rare journey through fields of study encompassing areas that some of us will be hearing about for the first time.

The vast majority of pregnancies have a healthy, happy outcome. Pregnancy itself is not a high risk condition, but some women develop conditions that put them at an increased risk for developing problems that lead to poor outcome. 6-8% of all pregnancies are termed high risk in any defined population.

One of the things I promised to stop doing after age 40 was to stop taking myself so seriously but in recent months I seem to have broken that promise more so than before and even on re-reading a few recent articles in this column, I could hear something like a funeral dirge in the background.

Diabetes mellitus is a major problem in Anguilla with many individuals experiencing complications from poor treatment or late diagnosis. One of the major complications of diabetes mellitus involves the feet.

I join in applauding Government for the cleanup campaign around our roadsides. There is a vibrant freshness of which people all across the island are very grateful. But many are not very happy with the cutting down of the two beautiful mahogany trees which once adorned the compounds of the Chief Minister’s Office.

Wednesday 2nd November 2005 was Coronation Day, a Holy Day in the Rastafari calendar and wherever I and I abide, there is I-lebratory Ises to the Most High JAH in thanks for the ascension on that date in 1930, of Ras Tafari Makonnen to the ancient rainbow circle throne of Ethiopia.