Alicia Powell (a.k.a. Miss Basia to her many fans) is one of the leading media personalities in the Caribbean, in her roles as the executive producer and host of The Basia Show, as well as being the executive editor of the Basia and Basia Sports magazines. She is also a breast cancer survivor, and has unwaveringly used her public profile to raise awareness throughout the region about the illness.
On April 17, Powell was among the participants at a seminar sponsored by Baptist Health International Center of Miami and the Caribbean Association of Oncology and Hematology on breast and prostate cancer, which was held at the Hilton Trinidad & Conference Centre.
The afternoon patient forum featured a presentation from Powell on her personal experiences as a Baptist Health patient. She also proffered details to the audience about the Basia Survivor Network (BSN), a regional support group that she founded to educate women about cancer and how to live a healthy lifestyle after contracting the disease.
“I think that the event was well received,” said Powell to The Observer. “It was a good initiative on the part of Baptist Health to improve awareness.
“I always instill in women that there is a cure, and that lifestyle is important and so is educating yourself, as both help you to deal with the diagnosis in a more proactive way. So, that is what I shared with the persons who attended.”
Since dealing with the disease herself, Powell has become a tireless advocate for women diagnosed with, and surviving breast cancer in the Caribbean.
“My objective is to improve the message, that there is a cure, and to improve the type of information being disseminated,” she explained.
Within BSN, both cancer patients and survivors receive much-needed emotional support and are helped to achieve the right attitude and mindset to deal with the challenges, and sometimes perceived stigmas, presented by the disease.
Powell’s impetus to spread her message across the region came from her association with the organization where she received treatment.
“I knew nothing about Baptist Health, prior to my going there,” she said. “I really fell in love with the staff. They helped to change my mindset, and that is what I wanted to do for others in the Caribbean.”
The television show that she hosts is extremely popular in Trinidad, and according to Powell has a large following in the English-speaking Caribbean. Shows are due to begin soon in Jamaica, and have already been running in Barbados.
“I would love to bring the show to St. Kitts if a television station would carry it,” she said.
Clips from The Basia Show can be seen by clicking into the appropriate link at www.basiamagazine.com.
It was on August 10, 2009, that Powell’s life changed forever when she was diagnosed with invasive ductual carcinoma. A long-time volunteer with the Jamaica Cancer Society, she never contemplated being a patient herself.
A narrative on the Basia Magazine Web site provides insight into her feelings at that time.
“The best way to describe my state of mind was numb. One minute you are living a normal life and the next you are a cancer patient. That transition can be difficult for many. My predominant recollection of the people around my life who were diagnosed with cancer was prolonged illness or death.”
Once treatment at Baptist Health had commenced, her life’s path had been made clear.
” I had two choices — I could fight the good fight, receive the best medical care and talk to my survivor friends weekly and visit their support groups and keep it all to myself, or I could form a dynamic survivor network that would be equal to theirs and pamper women in my country and in other parts of the Caribbean, while making a difference in the way they handle a cancer diagnosis and the way they fought it,” she related on her site.
BSN participants meet weekly to explore issues affecting their lives. The sessions include complimentary activities such as yoga, reflexology, dance, and lectures from world-class doctors and surgeons from sponsor Baptist Health. The hospital also agreed to fund surgeries for a specific number of women who were not able to afford them, through their association with the Network.
Dr. Deirdre Marshall, a board certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon at South Miami Hospital, part of the Baptist Health South Florida Network, performed Powell’s reconstructive surgery.
“She is a celebrity and a public figure, and used that in a positive way to bring attention to the whole issue,” said Marshell of Powell.. “She had a very positive attitude about it, even when she was receiving treatment.”
Generally, Marshall sees women whose cases are not advanced, and where a good prognosis and outcome from treatment is expected. Given the high detection rates in the United States, it is now rare for her to see advanced cases of breast cancer.
“Most women can get some kind of medical insurance that would cover their getting a mammogram, and getting to a doctor to get examined,” said Marshall. “Also, most people know now that if you do have breast cancer, and it is detected, the disease can be cured, so that they’re not so afraid to keep on top of it.”
According to Marshall, since she began practicing the reconstruction aspect of breast cancer surgery has changed significantly for the better.
“When I first started, we used to just make a mound on the chest, and they never really looked very good,” she said. “Now we try to get results so that the reconstructed breast looks even better than what you started with. We have new types of implants and new ways of moving the tissue around, in addition to other materials that we use to construct a realistic looking breast. We look at it not only as reconstruction, but also as cosmetic surgery.”
Marshall informed that the trend right now is for women, even if they only have cancer in one breast, to opt for removal of both breasts because once cancer is found in one breast the chances getting it in the other increase.
“In general, the chances of getting breast cancer is about 1 in 8, and if you already have cancer in one breast, it is even higher than that,” she said.
“So, most women just remove the second one as a preventative measure. When we reconstruct, they come out looking better because they match. It is better to have the mastectomy on both sides, but some women choose to keep the healthy breast and have surgery done on that, although the result doesn’t produce as good a match.”
Many younger women feel more peace of mind if they just remove all of their breast tissue to minimize the chances of acquiring cancer again, according to Marshall.
“I have never seen a patient regret having surgery done on the second breast,” she said.
A fairly recent innovation in breast cancer surgery involves immediate reconstruction, which begins virtually at the same time as the mastectomy and is advantageous to affected women because they never have to go around without anything in the breast area.
“The additional surgery only adds a few hours to the overall operation time and cuts out the need for one whole operation. For mental and self-esteem reasons, it is better to have both done at the same time,” explained Marshall.
Genetic testing is the latest technology to come along in the field. Medical researchers can now determine if women are carrying a gene that indicates it will be likely, given a possible mutation in their DNA, that they will get breast cancer through heredity factors.
It is only necessary for a woman to spit in a cup, rather than take a blood test, to find out if they are at risk for ovarian or Fallopian tube cancer.
“Some women follow up on a positive test by having reconstruction surgery without even having the disease, as a preventative measure” said Marshall.
“The next step in genetic testing involves looking at the daughters of women who do carry the gene, and figuring out when the best time is to get the tests done for them.”
Dr. Marshall is a graduate of Yale University, Columbia University Academic Institute in Paris, France, as well as the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Katherine M. McCormick Foundation Award for Women in Medicine and the Stanford University School of Medicine Research Honors Award.
The Department of State said “possibility exists for violence and or civil unrest in the greater Kingston metropolitan area. There are unconfirmed reports of criminal gang members amassing in the Kingston area, as well as mobilization of Jamaican defense forces.â€
“If the situation ignites, there is a possibility of severe disruptions of movement within Kingston, including blocking of access roads to the Norman Manley International Airport. The possibility exists that unrest could spread beyond the general Kingston area. U.S. Embassy Kingston is taking extra security precautions,†the Department of State added.
U.S. citizens in Jamaica were advised to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when venturing outside their residences or hotels.
AccuWeather.com reports a large mass of clouds, showers and thunderstorms stretching from the western Caribbean Sea to the Bahama waters of the Atlantic Ocean may generate the season’s first system of interest during the 2010 tropical season.
While this system is not likely to be a true tropical system, it may take a track more typical to a tropical storm or hurricane.
Look for a weak area of low pressure to form somewhere near the Bahamas this weekend.
As this happens, it may begin to wrap drenching showers and gusty thunderstorms in a semi-circular pattern in the vicinity.
During early next week, the system may become a “hybrid” storm with part tropical characteristics and part non-tropical characteristics.
High pressure building east of New England next week may then create enough easterly flow to push this struggling system westward toward the southern Atlantic Seaboard.
While there will likely be enough dry air wrapping around into part of the storm to prevent it from being a closed, warm core system like a true tropical storm or hurricane, people in areas from the northern Florida coast to the Virginia will experience significant effects.
Along the southern Atlantic Seaboard through the first half of next week, people can expect building surf, increasing winds and rounds of showers and thunderstorms. Conditions may worsen to the point where beach erosion and coastal flooding occurs for a time.
Rip currents may become strong and frequent for early-season bathers.
The exact track of this system, after it forms, will determine which part of the southern Atlantic coast gets the worst conditions. Details will unfold over the next couple of days.
Away from the Southeast U.S. coast next week, the same weather pattern allowing the system to form in the western Atlantic will also build a sea of warmth over the eastern two-thirds of the nation.
Following this storm into June, the area of the western Caribbean to the Bahama waters of the Atlantic will remain as a general weak spot in the atmosphere, where additional perhaps more potent storms systems may form.
WHILE DEMONSTRATORS paraded before Gordon House yesterday sending a clear message of support for Tivoli Gardens alleged crime lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, the parliamentary staff at Gordon House was in panic mode.
Some parliamentary employees told The Gleaner that they felt intimidated when the crowd converged on the Parliament.
“It was a scary experience,” one member of staff shared with The Gleaner on condition of anonymity.
Another worker said her colleagues were in a “frenzy” when the demonstrators chanted: “No Presi, no Parliament.”
“Soldiers should be on top of Parliament,” one member of staff suggested, as security concerns heighten at Gordon House.
Clerk to the Houses of Parliament, Heather Cooke, told The Gleaner yesterday that a meeting was held with the police and a decision was made to increase security at Gordon House.
Meanwhile, senior opposition parliamentarian Dr Peter Phillips has raised serious concerns about the demonstration which occurred in the precincts of Parliament.
In a release yesterday, Phillips said the demonstration raised the gravest implications for the democratic process in Jamaica, the rule of law and the stability of the country.
“While the Constitution of Jamaica allows for peaceful protest, in the context where this protest is threatening the Parliament on behalf of someone for whom the courts of Jamaica have issued a warrant of arrest and in the context of the continuing parading of heavily armed men in sections of west Kingston defying the security forces, such a demonstration raises the gravest implications for the country,” Phillips said.
The East Central St Andrew member of parliament argued that the situation was made “remarkably worse” by the fact that in the face of this challenge to the authority of the state, the prime ninister who is also the member of parliament is silent.
Phillips said the whole episode suggested that the prospect of the capture of the state by criminal elements was not distant, but represented a clear and present danger to which the Government and the security forces should respond with the support of all well-thinking Jamaicans.
‘Dudus’ support strong in Tivoli
Supporters of embattled West Kingston strongman, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, yesterday marched out of Tivoli and made it all the way to the House of Parliament in downtown Kingston before they were turned away by police.
The supporters were angry that their benefactor was in trouble with the law and made the world know, in no uncertain terms, that they were not hostages in their own communities and had not had their phones confiscated as reported by the police
Sun worshipers looking for something new during next season’s cruising season are in luck. Royal Caribbean announced earlier this week that a new port of call, Historic Falmouth Jamaica, located on the island’s North coast, will soon be ready to open
Harrison Liu, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean International, said the idea for the new port grew out of the need to accommodate the line’s two largest ships, Oasis of the Seas and sister ship, Allure of the Seas, scheduled to launch in November.
Both ships have the capacity for 5,400 passengers, based on double occupancy, and are approximately 40% larger in interior volume than the line’s previously largest ships, he said.
In addition to size requirements, Liu said, the line was also looking for a port that could offer “hospitality service, security service and a sophisticated welcome center.” The port was originally scheduled to open when Oasis of the Seas launched in November 2009, but was delayed, Liu said. Both ships are planning to call on the port in March 2011.
William Tatham, vice president of cruise shipping for the Port Authority of Jamaica, said the new port, expected to open in November, is a joint venture between Royal Caribbean and the Port Authority, which is financing the lion’s share of the $180 million dollar development project.
Port Falmouth, founded in the 18th century, was once one of the world’s leading export ports for sugar and rum, Liu said, but “it has fallen into disrepair.” The new port was designed to reflect the historic character of the town.
Craig Milan, senior vice president, land operations and president of Royal Celebrity Tours, in a post on a Royal Caribbean blog earlier this week, wrote “Guests arriving into Falmouth will feel like they are in the old world of the Caribbean and find themselves availed of numerous shopping and authentic dining opportunities.”
Visitors will be able to easily visit both Ocho Rios and Montego Bay since the new port is midway between them.
Lanie Fagan, director of communications for Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group, said “it will further the economic development of the area and offer another wonderful Caribbean port” for passengers. In addition, she said, it will benefit all the association’s member cruise lines that use the port.
Tatham said the newly designed port will offer guests an opportunity to learn about the area in an educational and entertaining way. “There is a historic theme to it.” Travelers will be able to visit a plantation and a museum, explore the area’s slave trade roots, and the town, he said ” has the largest collection of Georgian architecture found in the Caribbean. It’s a stunning place.”
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FEDERAL Opposition Leader Hon. Mark Brantley said the announcement of a likely Value-Added Tax (VAT) rate of 19 percent has made “a mockery of democracyâ€.
Brantley was responding to a statement by Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas in which the Kittitian leader said he was advised that a VAT of “19 percent may be the way to goâ€.
Douglas told the Caribbean Media Corporation that while the final rate was yet to be determined, a rate of 15 percent would probably be insufficient to fill government financing gaps.
Regionally, Jamaica has the highest VAT rate with 17.5 percent, while Dominica follows closely with 17 percent. Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and Barbados all have rates of 15 percent.
“Nineteen percent is demonstrably higher than everywhere else in the region. It tells me our fiscal mismanagement has been so acute over the last 15 years that the government is now seeking to implement desperate measures.
“The PM should roll back this potential decision and initiate a serious consultation process, not the show that they’ve putting on. The public and the community have not gotten serious consultation; everything has happened after the fact,†Brantley noted.
The Nevisian politician claimed that VAT implementation had not been adequately conceptualised, and stressed that it would bring “serious hardship†to a country that is already facing considerable troubles.
He said the government was trying to mislead people by claiming that VAT would be a “panacea†to their struggles.
“This entire process has been rushed and shoved onto the public. The government must face up to the realities of our situation and stop trying to fool people with misinformation. If VAT is supposedly such a good thing, then why was it not mentioned before the general election?â€
Added Brantley: “The government needs to have a greater level of openness with us. Two years ago, they said the national debt was nothing to worry about. And even now, they don’t want to admit the predicament we’re in.â€
PM Douglas’ announcement is sure to draw the ire of the business community, which had said during a recent VAT stakeholders’ consultation that they would prefer a rate of no more than 15 percent.
THE CARIBBEAN region, including the Bahamas, received an $850 million pledge of support from a group of lenders who signed a Joint Action Plan yesterday designed to support economic growth.
Five international financial institutions said they would collectively help to provide support to governments and private sectors through loan facilities that would encourage support when finding capital was difficult for small islands states in the Caribbean.
The institutions, the Caribbean Development Bank, European Investment Bank, Proparco (the private sector arm of the Agence Francaise de Development Group), the International Finance Corporation (Part of the World Bank) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), have already pledged to support the reconstruction efforts in Haiti, with the agreement of the Caribbean Joint Action Plan.
Desmond Brunton, vice-president of operations for the Caribbean Development Bank, said the synergy of four financial institutions working together will assist countries in accessing funding for a wide range of projects, as each one has its own ideas and agendas.
“Today, five leading international financial institutions active in the Caribbean reinforced their commitment to ensuring long-term economic growth across the region, resilience to the global financial crisis and effective deployment of assistance for reconstruction efforts in Haiti with agreement of the Caribbean Joint Action Plan,” a joint press release said.
“The Caribbean Joint Action Plan will enable more effective use of financial and technical assistance by encouraging a stronger focus on each participating institution’s experience and capabilities.”
Mr Brunton said the idea of the joint facilities was to give each country the best chance of receiving support from one or several of the four banks.
“It is expected that this approach will further support economic growth in the region by mobilizing IFI (International Financial Institutions) investment to act as a catalyst for private sector engagement, and facilitating national and sub-regional support and policy dialogue amongst both private and public stakeholders,” the joint statement said.
Royal Caribbean International’s Mariner of the Seas’ will offer a short Brazil season beginning on 15 February 2011 featuring four roundtrip sailings from Sao Paulo (Santos) on a six-night itinerary. Excitingly, the 5 March 2011 voyage will coincide with Brazil’s Carnival celebrations – featuring a call at Rio De Janeiro and an overnight at Salvador De Bahia.
Travellers also can choose a two-night roundtrip getaway, departing on 11 March, which also calls at Rio De Janeiro. Mariner of the Seas will then depart for Rome on 13 March for a 14-night trans-Atlantic itinerary via the Canary Islands to be counted among 11 Royal Caribbean International ships to sail in Europe for 2011.
Royal Caribbean International is a global cruise brand, deploys some of the world’s largest and most innovative ships to exciting destinations around the globe. Aboard select ships sailing in certain regions, such as Mariner of the Seas’ short Brazil season, Royal Caribbean International offers culturally enriching cruises, where the primary language onboard will be Portuguese and guests will be immersed in the region’s customs, food and entertainment onboard. English, however, is still offered and supported throughout the ship and guests will continue to receive the first-class service and treatment delivered by every member of Royal Caribbean International’s friendly and engaging staff and crew.
A move into acting seems to be part of the cliched career plan of any successful rapper (other elements of this tried-and-tested scheme include buying an SUV the size of a Devonshire bungalow, dating a young R&B chanteuse who is considerably more attractive than you, and launching a clothing range that looks like it was designed for giant toddlers). But the transition from rapping to acting is not just a one-way movement.
This week, a new music video by Idris Elba (who, as you will no doubt be aware, played Stringer Bell in the Guardian’s favourite ever TV series, The Wire) was unleashed. Rapping under the alias King Driis, the Londoner stumbles his way through a 9th Wonder-produced track, sounding like an unwanted guest on his own song. What’s worse, he raps in a cod-Jamaican accent. This may be justifiable if Elba was of African-Caribbean heritage, but considering his parents are from Africa, it sounds peculiar. Elba has been releasing mixtapes for a few years (not all performed in a silly accent, thankfully), and has had some, er, moderate success, making an appearance on the American Gangster soundtrack and working with Angie Stone. But he isn’t, of course, the first actor who has attempted a foray into the world of rap, though.
Who can forget the 1984 educational kiddy-rap EP Mr T’s Commandments, the title track of which features a video where the bejeweled hulk pummels random passers by while rapping about family values?
A couple of years later, the role of actor-turned-rapper clearly reached a nadir when, at the peak of his fame, TV tyke Gary Coleman released a cutesy rap single, The Outlaw and the Indian, with Dion Mial, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who he had become close to.
But things haven’t always been quite so excruciating. After playing the lead role in the Hughes brothers’ 1993 directorial debut, Menace II Society, Tyrin Turner (an urban flick journeyman who has appeared in everything from Deep Cover to Panther) adopted the character’s name, Caine, for his move into rap. Although it was rumoured he would release an album on Rap-A-Lot Records, nothing ever materialised. He has, however, made pretty decent guest appearances on songs by Scarface.
Sadly, Turner’s moderate achievements in the field did not mark a significant shift in the quality of the average rapping actor’s output. In the mid 90s, Beverly Hills 90210 sweetheart Brian Austin Green released a woeful album called One Stop Carnival, produced by a member of the Pharcyde. The fact that it includes a track entitled Beauty and da Beats tells you all you need to know about it.
Before Tom Green was Canada’s favourite goofball, he was in a nerdy rap group called Organized Rhyme. Their debut video, Check the OR, won best rap video at the 1992 MuchMusic Video awards in Canada (which, admittedly, holds about as much kudos as a gong at the Irish Bashment awards) but the group promptly disbanded. Green has since released a number of solo albums (a new one is apparently due this year), and in 2005 he formed a group, the Keepin’ It Real Crew, with DJ EZ Mike from the Dust Brothers.
You’d think with a largely lamentable history like this, today’s young actors would have learned from their predecessors, but unfortunately not. Four Lions star Rizwan Ahmed currently has a sideline in uninspiring politically minded rap, which he releases under the alias Riz MC. His forthcoming single, Hundreds and Thousands, has been described by him as a “credit-crunch fantasy”, and as you’d expect, it’s about as entertaining as watching an episode of Dubplate Drama while sat in a room full of suicide bombers.
Still, none of these are half as bad as Joaquin Phoenix, whose apparent attempt at a rap career appeared to coincide with a nervous breakdown.
Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian
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