Ted Meinhover

Well, I certainly could have predicted this… Drench everything in coconut curry and coconut oil and top it off with durian and condensed milk and see what happens!

I have been going to the same gym, on L Street in the West End neighborhood of DC, for about a year and a half now. The gym is in the basement of an office building, majority Spanish speaking, and there is at least one guy living out of the locker room. I come and go, and there are many familiar faces – but no one knows my name.

When I land in Kingston and move into my room, I will have access to one of the best gyms in the entire island nation. Foreign Service Officers, to whom exercise and fitness can become a routine and a comfort that can be brought along even as they have to leave the rest of their lives behind, are nothing if not proactive in equipping a gym. A few floors down from my own apartment, and adjacent to the pool.

However, going to the gym, not knowing anyone, being alone amongst others, will be a thing of the past.

How does one prepare him or her self to move life to a place they have never been before? Lately I find myself walking a line between a complacent acceptance that I don’t really know what Jamaica or life on that Caribbean island will be like for me, and trying to solidify expectations of what my daily activities will be, the people I will meet, the challenges I will face.
Expectations are influenced, of course, by what other people say, and since every single person seems to have a different story, this can be very confusing. But there are some common threads. For example, I am having a very active discussion on an online bike forum about the possibility of riding my bicycle from my apartment to work while in Kingston. Many people instantly and strongly discourage it, describing Kingston as a dangerous place with horrid rodes and deadly traffic. This creates one image in my mind. On the other hand, people have said that to me about biking in DC, and I have done that every day for the past two years.
A few voices, however, are quite encouraging, saying that it is quite possible indeed, though admitting that it is… exhilerating, and one needs to keep their radar up at all times. I can see one author smiling from fond memories when he typed to me “The roads are narrow and rough but I thought the drivers were more aware of bikers and others (scooters, donkey karts, pedestrians) than US drivers… [and it is] exciting when they make sudden stops or turns.” He added, “Just watch it, when they come after you with a machetee, they will use it even for a petty crime.”

Washington, DC, the international city that it is, is a seething petri dish in the World Cup fever laboratory. Locales include Lucky Bar for the sad South Korean loss, and both Oakwood Residences with State Dept friends and the rooftop of Local 16 for the even sadder USA loss to Ghana.

Jason DeParle’s article in the Sunday, June 27th NYT’s struck a note this morning, complementing the chord (or discord) that is gaining in strength like so many vuvuzelas in South Africa. He writes,

“As heirs to an immigrant past, Americans may have an edge in a migrants’ age. As contentious as the issue is here, the Americans’ capacity to absorb immigrants remains the envy of many Europeans (including those not inclined to envy Americans). Still, today’s challenges differ from those of the (mythologized) past. At least five differences set this age apart and amplify migration’s effects.”

I wish I had something to bring to the table that was neither a cliche statement on the modern composition of the United States as an immigrant nation or that has not yet been said, but I can certainly that the effect on our society, economy and every other aspect of our lives from immigration becomes more obvious to me each day.

Xenophobes in every county are becoming more vocal about guarding what they have from “outsiders.” The fallacy of these arguments should go without saying, but it is evident that actions, such as Arizona’s destructive new law, speak more loudly than rational thought. A fear of mine is that America will no longer be a place of final destination, a society that people around the world wish to join. That day will be the last day of a great America.

A key question, as noted by DeParle, is the effects of transnationalism on the sustainability of a nation state that experiences a high degree of transnational movement/immigration. A society has a lot to gain from sharing a common language, a common understanding of law and justice, a standardized education that, theoretically, puts the masses on an equal footing. A transnational world is, indeed, an intriguing and even exciting concept, one driven by technology and the freedom of people and money to move across physical and political boundaries; but what would be the destructive consequences?

Leaders and their administrations’ plans for putting policy into practice happen not when new laws are passed or new proclamations made but when the ranks of the bureaucracy are filled with enough like minded managers and leaders that a critical mass is reached.

Political appointees so far under the Obama administration.

Suspected Drug Lord Taken in Jamaica

Michael Kamber for The New York Times
In May, Jamaican soldiers patrolled the streets of Denham, a neighborhood in Kingston, where fighting took place over several days.

By MARC LACEY and KAREEM FAHIM
Published: June 22, 2010
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CloseLinkedinDiggMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink MEXICO CITY — A reputed gang leader wanted in the United States on gun and drug charges was taken into custody by Jamaican authorities on Tuesday as the furious search for him, which set off violent clashes in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, entered its second month.

Related
Times Topic: Christopher Coke

Jamaica Constabulary Force, via Reuters
Christopher Coke
Owen Ellington, commissioner of the police, the Jamaican Constabulary Force, later told reporters that the reputed gang leader, Christopher Coke, had been peacefully taken into custody while in a vehicle with the Rev. Al Miller, an evangelical preacher who helped arrange the recent surrender of Mr. Coke’s brother and sister.

Mr. Miller told reporters that Mr. Coke had contacted him Tuesday and asked for help in turning himself in at the American Embassy in Kingston. The two men were en route to the embassy when the police stopped the car and arrested Mr. Coke, he said. Mr. Coke is willing to forgo an extradition hearing and face trial in the United States, said Mr. Miller, of the nondenominational Whole Life Ministry.

Although Reverend Miller was released at the scene, Mr. Ellington later called on him to turn himself in to the authorities for questioning.

“I would like to appeal to the family, friends and sympathizers of Christopher Coke to remain calm and to allow the law to take its course,” Mr. Ellington said. “I would also like to reassure the citizens of Jamaica that the situation remains normal, there is no need for alarm and they can get about their business in the usual way.”

Witnesses outside a police station in St. Catherine Parish said Mr. Coke was wearing a bulletproof vest, and was seen being escorted to a helicopter.

Mr. Coke’s legal predicament strained relations between Jamaica and the United States and led to dozens of deaths over several days in late May as Jamaican security forces forced their way into Tivoli Gardens, the poor neighborhood that Mr. Coke controlled, in a futile effort to apprehend him.

Known as Dudus,Short Man and President, Mr. Coke, 42, was indicted last August in New York on charges that he had controlled an international drug ring from his Kingston stronghold. Prosecutors say Mr. Coke’s confederates in New York sent him part of their drug proceeds and shipped guns to him that he used to bolster his authority.

Mr. Coke’s case shed light on the longstanding practice in Jamaica of politicians and gang leaders sharing power, for the benefit of both. The gang leaders help turn out the vote at election time. In exchange, they are afforded government contracts for various jobs and protection from the law.

Mr. Coke’s father was a gang leader with considerable influence in the Jamaican Labour Party. The son followed in his footsteps as leader of the so-called Shower Posse, law enforcement officials said. When Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who represents Tivoli Gardens in Parliament, was elected in 2007, Mr. Coke’s influence seemed to grow and his business interests, including an entertainment company and a construction company, received sizable government backing.

But the indictment from the United States interrupted the arrangement.

At first, Mr. Golding fought the extradition, arguing that it was based on flawed evidence. The United States responded furiously. “Jamaica’s delay in processing the U.S. extradition request for a major suspected drug and firearms trafficker with reported ties to the ruling party highlights the potential depth of corruption in the government,” said a State Department counternarcotics report released in March.

But when criticism grew to the point that Mr. Golding’s government hung in the balance, he backed down and agreed to send Mr. Coke to New York.

That is when Mr. Coke’s backers began barricading streets and wielding weapons to keep the police and soldiers at bay in Tivoli Gardens, leading to one of the most violent episodes in the country’s recent history. Jamaican security officials were accused of using excessive force in their search for Mr. Coke, resulting in dozens of deaths that have not been not fully explained.

Marc Lacey reported from Mexico City, and Kareem Fahim from New York. Ross Sheil contributed reporting from Kingston, Jamaica.

I was always fascinated by the mysterious blending of Islam and traditional Indonesian religions on the island of Java. It played in the politics, the art, and the daily behavior of people I observed and met. Unquestionably a majority Muslim country, Indonesia embraces a spirituality that places a belief in and conversational relationship with nature, writ large, as a focus of daily life.

This is a great video from the Al Jazeera news service, about how this belief in magic has been turned into big business.