There goes the neighbourhood...

well, it looks as if all the pleading in the world can't stop "progress". isle a quatre just off of bequia, st vincent (seen smack dab in the middle of the photo) is going to be developed into a luxury resort by the St Vincent government and the family of former PM Sir James "Son" Mitchell. the cost will be about 100 million big ones. i remember (and actually have a pic of myself) being on isle a quatre for a boxing day picnic back in 1991. we got there via my cousin's husband's speedboat and we ate fresh roasted fish and had a ton of other food. it was blazing hot and as I and my cousins darted off to discover more of the beach and surrounding area, i gingerly crept in my soft bare feet over huge black rocks only to get an eyeful of a couple of folks (europeans probably) taking a walk buck naked on a different piece of beach. guess they thought they'd be all alone on boxing day. oh well, 15 years makes a difference and soon no one will be alone here. according to an article on www.cananews.net,

"the [St Vincent] government signed the agreement with Louise Mitchell of the Isle de Quartre Development Company, based in Port Elizabeth Bequia, and the agreement will see a joint group of investors constructing the international resort over a 20-year period.
The project will be done in three phases, with the first phase seeing the development of infrastructure on the island; the second the construction of a hotel, spa, marina and sporting facility; and the final stage will be the sale of lots."

Isle a Quatre (pronounced as "ilycot" by most Bequians) is the biggest isle in the middle of the photo

some of my family members thought all along that since the mitchells are selling it off that the whole bequia crown lands protest was just concocted to stymy tourist competition. however, i don't believe that. one doesn't really have anything to do with the other. isle a quatre is private land as opposed to my support of the bequia crown lands cause because i did and still do believe that selling off a huge chunk of bequia's heritage in a bid to raise money to build an airport on st vincent really isn't the right thing to do. a new airport on the mainland won't create access for the isle a quatre resort anyway since as you can see, you're going to need a speedboat or a water taxi to get out there. build all the resorts you want, and i support development, but giving away your heritage to accomplish this just doesn't sit well with a lot of people including me. Louise Mitchell, daughter of Sir James feels that,

"The project is expected to bring a financial injection into the island of Bequia and Mitchell said that she expects the resort, when it is completed to be one of the main stays of the Vincentian tourism economy."

(Let's hope that Vincentians and Bequians will get jobs from this.)

"The Isle A Quatre project will be executed by the investment firm Dexior of Canada. The island is located south East of Paget Farm and has been in the Mitchell family for over 100 years."

Check out this link to see some photos of the mundane but fun happenings on this piece of Grenadine rock which may eventually become a thing of the past if the public (meaning locals)are kept out as is the case with most private resorts. I like mundane at times. http://www.becouya.com/Bequia/TheSea/iaq.htm

Power Vitamin!!!

My brother is involved with a business venture in which he truly believes. Check out this all powerful vitamin(s) in one little pill on his website:
http://www.dontforgettotakeyourvitamins.com/hazell3532

I should post a pic of him so you can see he's as healthy as a horse and means to stay that way, but I don't have one on hand. Maybe he'll supply a photo soon.

Ciao for now!

The African Slave Trade wasn't all that bad...

Not my words, but those of one of Vat City's top dogs. Yeah, you know, the seat of the papal papa. Just recently I read an article entitled "Human trafficking worse than African slave trade:Vatican official", written by an Associated Press reporter. Who knew? I mean, after reading up all those history books, perusing websites dedicated to the African holocaust, who the hell knew that modern day slavery would even begin to touch, no, be on par with the horrors that went on for four centuries? And who gave Mr.-Cardinal-Renato-Martino-former-longtime-Vatican-envoy-to-the-United-Nations-and-current head-of-the-Holy-See's-office the right to have the official say-so? Isn't it the Vatican peeps who constantly keep making apologies for their sins against humanity whether for aboriginal annihilations, homophobic attitudes, crimes against children, or for their racist ways? After reading the article, if the whole purpose was to highlight the atrocities that are being committed in the present with so little regard for the multitude of lessons we SHOULD HAVE LEARNED from the past, then why even mention or compare this "modern-day slavery" to 400 years of horrific free labour upon which Western society was built? Actually, what's happening could be a work in our favour all over again but then again maybe not. We're already industrialized and capitalist to the bone. You'll never be able to compare a so-called “third world” modern-day girl forced into prostitution (which also happens on the streets of North America) to thousands of black souls chained together and tossed off slaveships in the middle of the Atlantic ocean; or modern-day children forced into labour/militia to generations of grown men and women who were treated like beasts, and humiliated at every waking moment of their lives while well-meaning “civilized” folk turned their heads the other way. Please! Keep these times in history separate!!! Yes, we should learn to not make the same mistakes, but for God's and Goddess' sake, don't call up the name of the dreaded African slavery legacy and compare it to anything that is going on in the world today. As a matter of fact, this dark legacy (no pun intended) could probably, maybe, possibly, be equal to ALL of the atrocities put together that are going on in the world today. I'm taking a chance on saying that but this just goes to show how little mankind really cares about the atrocities that happened to Blacks. It's almost as if he's saying that the slave trade wasn't all that bad and that there could actually be something else with which to compare it. There will never be anything with which to compare it. None of what went on in the past or what’s happening in the present is right or conscious. The African slave trade was incomparable and has left an indelible mark on mankind that has yet to heal.

And by the way, all those years ago, I’m sure those poor victims also regarded their plight as “modern slavery”.

I'm usually pretty tolerant when it comes to different religions but that holier-than-thou Catholic head-of-the-class nutcase needs to check himself (actually, they all need to do this and quit putting their feet in their mouths) and get educated about what's really going on before starting to even compare!
Here's a link to the article. I'm done. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/15/news/nation/15_04_0711_14_06.txt

South Asian Eats

I'm off to the library to pick up Patak's Indian cooking book. Love it Love it!!! I renewed it thrice and was actually under the impression that it belonged to me. Believe me, it was almost a tug of war between me and the librarian over that book when I returned it. Then my blogbuddy JA Firebrand tells me that she saw it at Winners in Dufferin Mall!! Got to pick it up. Just have to. I have a pork tenderloin sitting on my counter just begging to be seasoned with cumin and coriander and cloves. Boy I can just taste it now with my basmati rice and a side salad. And I was lucky enough to come across a really cheap Thai cookbook the other night. I scooped that baby up. I'll be experimenting with banana fritters, curried pork with pickled garlic, fried fish with turmeric, and broiled chicken with sweet chili sauce just to name a few! Man, I've gonna have to balance off all of this with some light weights and a yogalates video.
Later on this evening, it's off to the Drake to listen to our friend Jude spin some neo-soul tunes. One bevvy is all I'm having. Can't seem to drink as much as I could in the past. Ordering cranberry juice at the bar seems to be in my destiny. Oh well, so be it. Patak's, here I come!!!