Achievement

What is achievement?

It is a state of mental satisfaction, where an individual(s) has set a personal goal for his/herself (themselves) and has accomplished that goal.

Why is achievement important?

1) It is important because it creates an identity for the individual.
2) It commands respect from the individual's surrounding community.
3) It builds confidence and self appreciation.
4) It creates a solid platform for others to follow or to emulate.

Types of Achievement:

1) Educational
2) Financial
3) Health
4) Spiritual
5) Emotional
6) Professional
7) Social
8) Misc - other categories not mentioned

Note: i am emphasizing on personal achievement and not group or collective achievement.

The individual can make multiple achievements at random or in sequential order. Some goals are achieved while others are not, but what is most important is the overall output. At the end of the day, the individual will ask "Am i happy with who i am and whom i have become?" if the answer is yes then the individual has made achievements that they are satisfied with.

Note: This is not the same as receiving a public award or winning prizes or scholarships, or setting a trend, or changing the world and its functions, those are public achievements seen in the eyes of the populace. However public achievements also connect to personal achievements, they are both shared by the individual(s).

The point of this article is to make you aware that its OK to set goals, its OK to fight for what you want, its OK to feel self satisfaction for who you are and whom you have become. Regardless of how long it takes, or the sacrifices that you have made, in the end all that matters is the OUTPUT. You will say: "I am happy with who i am, and i am happy with who i have become".

The Comfort Zone

There are many Wikis that define the Comfort Zone. But i have to give you my perception on it. I would define it as a place or mental state where one is comfortable with a particular environment but not really fully satisfied with it, its a cousin of the lackadaisic or lazy, its stubborn and also forgetful.

Its a Zone that should be avoided but at the same time embraced, let me explain:

There is a saying in my culture "Too much of one thing is good for nothing". Too much comfort can spur laziness or lack of production, reversing a productive mind set as well as lifestyle, it can also spur a lack of appreciation therefore explaining the terms "forgetful".

Examples of these are:

1) An Overpaid Salary
2) Someone handling all your bills
3) Being Dependent on others for your responsibilities
4) Having someone to always take you out of trouble when it finds you
5) Having someone to speak out for you
6) Having Someone to shop for you
7) Having Someone to do laundry for you all the time

You get it? A lifestyle such as this can be destructive to the one in this Zone. But there is a twist to all of this. A little comfort mentioned in the above can also be healthy as most people would prefer to have Too much comfort than too little.

Its good to be well paid, its good to have people in your corner to show you love and support especially in times of need. But when you are not in the C-Zone, you are on the edge, more self reliant, more productive; because you will face the consequences of not being productive, you are fearless because you have to fight your own battles. You are less forgetful and more GRATEFUL!

more will be added to this article, as it is an open topic for discussion.

The Banning of Daggering Music and Gun Lyrics

I have been reading the news and listening to the radio, and have realized that they have banned Daggering Music and Gun Lyrics. First of all What are they:

Daggering Music


An Up tempo Dance hall Genre that is a spin off from Soca, its messages are usually sexual in nature with 90% hardcore Lyrics.

Gun Lyrics
This is considered to be a Sub-Genre of Dance hall that glorifies violence and the killing of another person that is considered a nemesis. It praises the Gangster's paradise and glorifies the use of the Gun to gain money, power and respect.

The Jamaican Society has been suffering from an alarming rate of crime, from Murder, Extortion, Rape, Robberies etc. There are private organizations that believe it is the exploitation of these types of music that has spawned this upsurge in crime, therefore the Broadcast Commission of Jamaica has chosen to ban this type of music as well as others that have to be edited for their lyrical content.


In my opinion i would like to share the pros and the cons of such an action:

Pros:

1) It reduces the exposure of the music and video content to the general public, especially children under the age of 18.

2) Diverting the masses into listening to alternative lyrics and watching alternate videos that are more peaceful, spiritual and less sexual.

3) It restores order to an out control society that is considered Godly and ruled by the church and law abiding citizens.

4) It sends a message to the musicians(Djs, Sing Jays, Singers and Producers) to be more creative and diverse and not stick to one track way of expression.

5) It sends a message to the individuals that exploit these music and live its lifestyle to try to finds alternate ways of making money and living.


Cons:

1) It Does not stop crime in Jamaica.

2) It Does not make the economy better, it only hurts the economy because there is a market practically being destroyed.

3) Less Ad revenue for Radio and Television Stations.

4) Less Listeners and Viewers, people will more seek the Internet, such as Internet Radio and Internet TV for viewing of such content.

5) A cultural breakdown can occur, too much foreign content can override local content.

6) People become more frustrated and bitter towards the Government amids harsh economic times.


These are just my views as to the result of these action, i believe a commission should of been formed to oversea this issue, also communicate with the entertainers, promoters and producers on the issue before making such a bold move. Have a national opinion poll etc.

We need to Buy Jamaican and Build Jamaica as much as possible, bauxite is failing, sugar has failed, tourism is decreased due to US recession and Global economic meltdown. There needs to be a force of Marketing, Buying and Selling that can help to boost our economic situation. With the people being unhappy then that will only lead to less economic activity.

On the overall result, in the long run it cleans up society and puts back fear and respect for the law into the minds of the populace, it restores order amids the chaos.

Its just a battle Won by the broadcast commission, but they just started a never ending war.

The Science of Getting Rich

Everyone deserves to become rich, anyone can become rich, its all about doing things in a certain way, these words came from the inspirational words of Wallace D. Wattles. He goes on to say there is a thoughtless substance within the Universe, that once tapped into by the mind can create real life things or situations. So by mentally projecting what you want you can manifest this to reality.

But there is a catch, you can't be a dreamer, basically getting up everyday and wanting, you have to move towards what you want, armed with the ammunition of FAITH and GRATITUDE.

He says God will help you if you move towards the help that you want, God will open doors for you, never be afraid of disappointment, when one window is closed, two doors are opened. Patience is virtue.

To get to the core of the information you must read the eBook, but not only read, follow it, it will make you rich.

http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net/

Israel vs Hammas

Israel is a big bully with American support, Hammas is a pain in the ass that keeps pissing them off, Israel invades Gaza, all the world sits back and watch them kill Innocent lives. Both parties know that the world is watching, they have issues in that side of the world and somehow the west just takes on the karma. Our economy slows down to the core, when USA sneezes we in Jamaica catch the flu.

So in effect this war is global, we may not be staring down the barrel of a war tanker but we are staring at massive economic meltdown.

A New Year

"Hello World" i am back to the blogging again, i will be just free style blogging this year 2009. I will just express myself raw, no spelling, punctuation etc, but i will review each article sometimes after the post.

I just want to wish everyone in Cyberspace a Happy New Year. Make it productive.

Crime in Jamaica

There has recently been alot of talks reguarding crime in Jamaica. Countless lives has been taken on both sides (The public and private sector). But this is all but a scratch record constantly playing itself out.

So i am going to give you the solution to solving crime in Jamaica:

1) Most crimes are Gang related; the solution is the demoralize the gangs that rule communities, their strengths come from high factions within society, granting them access to weapons, drugs and cash to sponsor their malicious activities.

2) Create a more intelligent police force, in other words eliminate the whole brute force tough cop attitude, that will not solve the problem it will only make enemies . Recruit and filter better service men/women to serve the communities.

3) Improve the communication of police officers, using an Information System, centralize this data and make it accessible to authorized officers.

4) Increase video surveillance at certain crime hot spots. Technology: Hidden Public Cameras. This will assist law enforcement in understanding the crime pattern of their suspects and also identify them.

5) Provide a nationwide security campaign for all small businesses (very expensive operation).

6) Provide better witness protection.

7) Treat each criminal as a person not as a statistic; meaning gather as much personal information as possible, study and analyze that/those persons and their activities.

8) Provide counselling centres for young boys between the ages of 13-24, seeing that most crimes are committed by individuals within these demographics.

9) Provide more security in schools, conduct regular searches and background activity checks. Seeing that school boys are a target for gang recruitment.

10) Provide more employment for the youth, incentives that can create a better standard of living than having to embrace crime as their way out.

11) Create less media hype, as this popularizes their (the criminals) actions and further amplify their activities for fame.

12) Reduce extortion schemes, this helps to fund these criminal factions.

13) Provide a better prison system, and more human rights within that system. In Jamaica its deplorable and its makes a man worst when he comes out of prison than when he goes into prison.

14) Provide harsher penalties.

These are only a few suggestions in tackling crime, but you must understand, crime has deeply embedded itself into the minds of Jamaicans, its in our music, its in our culture. Its going to take more than the steps above to eliminate crime in Jamaica.

The Government needs to plan a better long term strategy that will steer the nation in a new direction, away from poverty and crime.

You can also see my related article on crime by clicking the link below:

These are some serious times

A Nation in Crisis

I am back, yes i have resurfaced with new opinions and also information for my readers on the world wide web.

This Nation that i refer to is Jamaica. Areas of Crisis:

- Economy
- Safety and Security
- Health
- Education
- Social
- Political
- Mass Media Propaganda
- Other (data not categorized)

N.b There has not been any data or research gathered on my part, most of this information is opinionated.

Economy

N.b I am not an economist, but am studying economics to a certain level.

Our Economy is in Crisis, we import more than we export, why? Because it is too expensive to produce locally, therefore our output (GDP) has lessoned resulting in a weaker dollar and a high level of inflation. Because of this our people have less spending power and their wants are greater than what is readily available.

Our consumers are suffering at the wrath of high taxes (i am included), basic food items prices are spiraling, goods and other services prices are also spiraling.


Safety and Security

Due to a weak economy there is less production on the local market resulting in lack of job opportunity or weakened salaries, also due to a weak National Security infrastructure, there has been an increase in crime and violence. Human rights is very abusive on the part of our law enforcement, which is the result of lack of training, screening (of persons entering law enforcement) or Central intelligence and Communication. Our Youth have other ambitions and have sought refuge in gangs. These gangs are like a brother/sister hood that provide them with faster access to money and other resources, but at a price.

They partake in illegal activities such as; killings, robberies, extortion, drugs and other forms of deviant activities, resulting in a "Gangster Paradise".

Our citizens often fall pray to this type of organized crime, our communities are at ransom, our women are in danger and often fall pray to vicious rapists and abusers (n.b. carnal abuse is another issue). Our Children are becoming fatherless (young men not taking enough responsibility) etc.

I am not only blaming the "Gangster Paradise" effect for our safety, i also blame our politicians for not living up to their civic duty for protecting its citizens. Not only do i blame politicians but i also blame our citizens for not being united on this issue, but this could also be the result of fear for their lives and lack of trust of the law enforcement entities, or merely negligence (read my article on the consequences of negligence).

Health

Not much data has been gathered on my part, but i have to address the health issue. There are not enough medical facilities, treatment and insurance for our citizens. Hospitals are often run down and overcrowded, resulting in long waits and usually inaccurate diagnosis. There is also lack of medical professionals (doctors, nurses etc) that meet to the high demand of patients.
There are not enough drugs (or they are too expensive) that meet the demand of our citizens. There is not enough insurance or health coverage for the working class (one has to find large sums of money on their own to deal with sickness).

I must however commend our government for improving the health sector by providing free services to our citizens, but once again every benefit has an opportunity cost.

Education

Our citizens have limited education, most drop out at high school and do not continue on from that point, this results in an unskilled populace. Their lack of education is the result of our teaching style and the social breakdown within those institutions especially the high schools. This Social breakdown has resulted in lack of discipline, increase in violence among students, more teenage pregnancies, neglectful educators etc. There are also limited opportunity for the poor or working class to enter tertiary education (due to its high cost and limited availability of jobs), resulting in a lack of interest to upgrade themselves (citizens).

I must however commend our government for improving the education sector by providing free education to our children.

Social

Jamaicans have lost courtesy and even plain "good manners". How we socialize have greatly affected communication with ourselves and the rest of the modern world. We (Jamaicans) are seen as trouble / noise makers and also aggressive. This breakdown in social behaviour is stemming from the home and surrounding communities, and is adapted at an early age. We are impatient, intolerant and most of all illiterate (not everyone). We have created communication barriers which lead to misinterpretation and a massive growth in stereotyping.

Political

There is lack of unity within our Political sector, They (the politicians) are constantly playing the blame game (pointing fingers at each other) and not thinking as one unit to address the needs of its citizens, there is also a high level of corruption resulting in our Nation's resources being squandered or displaced. With this type of situation happening at the top, one can just imagine the stigma that takes root when its trickles to the bottom.

Mass Media Propaganda

Mass Media (Radio, Television, Press) seems to be riding the negative wave affecting our Nation, they pray on this information to boost profits and ratings, they are quick to broadcast who get murdered, which company in in debt etc. Resulting in changing our Nation's perception of our Country. They help to shape the negativity of our nation by dwindling hopes and also shattering dreams. This is not a media bash, because we (internet broadcasters) are not helping the situation. Some internet broadcasters paint a negative picture on our Nation resulting in lack of visitors and even investors to our country.

There are many other issues to be addressed resulting in our Nation being in crisis. There have been thousands of articles written on this topic, thousands of discussions and also opinions.

The Solution: More unity in all sectors public and private, i call for better communication, less crime and violence, less media propaganda, more international support ( foreign investors and Jamaicans living abroad), less violent music (we know it sells, but perform a civic duty), more respect for ourselves and last but not least MORE GOD and GODLINESS.

I thank you for reading my article if you have read it to the end, if you are a Jamaican or love Jamaica and feel that this article has been inspiring, please send me your views at hugoj@hotmail.com

I am back

Its amazing how life happens to you, while making other plans. These things can cause people to shift their focus and turn into a totally new personality. I have been away from this long for well over a year and have now decided to post something new.

Stay tuned, i will try to post some interesting articles and opinions as soon as i get more time.