#ganaja

1) sitting through an entire hour and fifteen minute lecture, and instead of absorbing any information, I am able to sing a single song on repeat in my head for the entire duration.

2) reading a page out of a textbook and having to re-read it because I didn't actually read it the first time.

3) Taking dabs during breaks in my schedule only to fall asleep from being too high and end up missing my next class.

4) Setting my alarm for pm instead of AM

5) Procrastonating.

6) forgetting deadlines and pulling all nighters.

7) not sleeping.

8) Forgetting to eat.

9) Stuffing my face because I forget to eat

And

10) Watching so much Netflix that even the app thinks I need to take breaks.

Jamaican Black marijuana farmers are fed up with the incompetent government and corrupted system.

Thousands of pounds of marijuana are legally leaving Jamaica on a weekly basis for Canada, Amsterdam and other countries where marijuana is legal. Sadly, however, the beneficiaries are not the Jamaican Black marijuana farmers. In fact, the average Black Jamaican marijuana farmer who had to endure police brutality, arrests and in some case even death continue to face these same fate even after the…

Good Morning ‪#‎realdreamchaser‬! Happy Heroes Day. Here is your daily newscap.

FLASHBACK - TEN HEROES leapt from the pages of history into the hearts of Barbadians on the night of April 28, 1998. It took Barbados 210 minutes and a cast of 230 people to give nine men and one woman – Sir Grantley Adams, Errol Barrow, Bussa, Sarah-Ann Gill, Charles Duncan O’Neal, Clement Payne, Samuel Jackman Prescod, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Hugh Springer and Sir Frank Walcott – tributes they had earned centuries and decades ago. After a fortnight of anticipation, the skies were illuminated with dazzling fireworks and laser lights in a watershed event that touched the country across social, racial and political lines. Thousands of citizens joined state officials, clergy and artistes outside Government Headquarters – on barricaded Bay Street – to witness the inaugural National Heroes Day which unfolded in speech, song and dance.

SHOW ALL OR NONE - Unviel portraits of all seven prime ministers, or none at all! That’s what Stella Lady St John, widow of Barbados’ third prime minister, Sir Harold Bernard St John, has suggested to organisers of today’s Tribute To The Prime Ministers presentation. Lady St John revealed last night that she and her family would be attending the gala event in Heroes Square to honour the memory of her late husband, but she was not at all happy with the arrangements to unveil only a portrait of first Prime Minister Errol Barrow, while portraits of the other leaders would be done over the next three years. “I am not angry. I just feel this [unveiling all the portraits] is the correct thing to do. I am not speaking as a BLP (Barbados Labour Party) member. I just think this is the correct procedure,” she stressed.

MIA'S BOY - In the calypso arena, he was once known as ‘Johnny Ma Boy’.But following tonight’s nomination exercise in St Philip West, popular entertainer John King is now wholly and solely Mia Mottley’s boy. A beaming Mottley welcomed King into the Opposition Barbados Labour Party fold tonight after he was nominated unopposed, as Don Callendar withdrew just before the internal process began. In his inaugural speech as candidate, King promised constituents in the seat currently held by Government incumbent Dr David Estwick that they were about to “see movements like they never saw before. “We are not only just going to win this seat, we are going to keep it for a long time,” he added.

JONES SHOCKED BY BUT - MINISTER OF EDUCATION Ronald Jones yesterday said he was “really shocked” by the Barbados Union of Teachers’ (BUT) call for a meeting last Friday with an ultimatum. Furthermore, he told the media during a Press conference at the ministry’s Elsie Payne Complex that neither he, Parliamentary Secretary Senator Harry Husbands, or other top officials in the ministry had any idea what prompted the call, given the fact that they had met with all the unions except the Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools in the past two months on some of the same matters being raised. He added he had not received another letter from the BUT asking for another meeting yesterday. Expressing dismay over the fact that the correspondence between himself and the BUT had been shared, Jones, a former BUT president, stressed it was not the “done thing”.

NO STRIKE - THE BARBADOS UNION OF TEACHERS (BUT) is insisting it will do nothing to jeopardise Tuesday’s crucial Common Entrance Exam, administered by the Ministry of Education. More than 3 500 primary school pupils are set to take the test that will determine where they will receive their secondary education, but industrial tension between teachers and the ministry has prompted fears that exams, particularly the more immediate Common Entrance, could be at risk. “I have given the assurance already and I will give it again, that the Barbados Union of Teachers will do nothing, will do absolutely nothing, to jeopardise the Common Entrance Exam on Tuesday. “All of our members who have a part to play in the Common Entrance Exam will be on the job,” president Pedro Shepherd assured yesterday evening at a Press conference at the headquarters of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) in Beckles Road, St Michael.“I have no difficulty in meeting with teachers in Barbados. I have no difficulty in sharing general broad policy ideas that we are pursuing and that makes up part and parcel of teachers’ functions [and responsibilities] and those things that would impact upon them. “What is critical, though, is that unions and this ministry have established over time an unwritten protocol for the treatment of all kinds of matters, and we don’t first go to the media but we first communicate to those parties that we want to meet and to have these things discussed.”

VIOLENCE COMMITTEE - THE INCREASING LEVEL of violence in this country’s schools has prompted Minister of Education Ronald Jones and his senior officials to set up a “broad-based committee” to investigate the vexing issue and its root causes. This was announced by the minister yesterday at a Press conference at the Ministry of Education’s headquarters at the Elsie Payne Complex. While noting they were receiving reports of more students using weapons such as screwdrivers, knives and scissors against each other, he urged society not to condemn “all of our young people” and emphasised that “we’re not going to abandon anyone”. The committee’s task will be to probe student-on-student violence, student-on-teacher “or the reverse if that exists”, and to provide recommendations. It will also look at “securing the school better”.

TOO MUCH LEAVE - A leading academic today called for the introduction of policies to address the troublesome issues of absenteeism and declining productivity. Senior Lecturer in Management Studies at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Dr Dion Greenidge told office professionals this morning that the level of voluntary absenteeism was taking a toll of local businesses and workers would be more productive if there were national frameworks in place to address the root causes of the problem. Dr. Greenidge said the authorities had taken some steps toward this goal but they were far from enough. In his speech the UWI lecturer suggested that workers wished to be productive but often lacked the motivation. He explained that contributing factors ranged from the weather to a feeling of injustice, with work-related stress, workplace culture, poor management and leadership styles, inadequate communication structures and dissatisfaction with the performance of other workers, all informing the employees’ decision to skip work. Dr Greenidge warned that unless policies were implemented there would be no progress. He encouraged businesses to help employees manage work-related stress and he called on human resource departments to ensure that the work environment was conducive to productivity

PRIVATIZE PORT - Chairman of Barbados Port Inc David Harding has made a strong plea to Government not to privatize the facility. Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler recently announced that the sale of the Barbados National Terminal Company Limited (BNTCL) was all but complete, with Government simply “waiting on the cheque” to consummate the deal. He said at the time that the divestment of BNTCL was part of the Freundel Stuart administration’s statutory reform programme that involves the amalgamation or sale of the over 50 Government-owned entities in order to cut costs. Government has not indicated that it was considering privatizing Bridgetown Port Inc, although, over the years, persons of various degrees of influence have called for its sale.

CIBC MASSY PARTNERSHIP - The regional financial institution CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank has entered the local general insurance business through a partnership with the Trinidad conglomerate Massy Group. The bank officially launched its CIBC FirstCaribbean International Insurance Agency last evening, offering auto and home insurance coverage to be underwritten and administered by Massy United Insurance Limited. Coverage will only be available to CIBC FirstCaribbean customers, with least eight of the 17 countries in which the bank operates involved in the first phase.

NEW UAE DEAL - His recent proposal for Government to secure US$5 billion in debt financing from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) simply did not fly. However, after paying an official visit to the Gulf state last week, Minister of Agriculture Dr David Estwick appears to have finally ditched that controversial plan for an equally ambitious Arab cure. Speaking upon his return home, Dr Estwick did not say what his new proposal would amount to in financial terms but he appeared very upbeat about discussions held with the Arabs about having the Caribbean become the new “bread basket” for the entire Gulf region, with Barbados serving as a transshipment hub, a trade hub and a tourism hub and capitalizing on its easterly location.

AIR TRAVEL -. THE BARBADOS TRAVEL MARKET is expected to have ease of access to the Greater Fort Lauderdale area, thanks to Jet Blue. Elizabeth Ninomiya, manager of corporate communications for Latin America and the Caribbean, described Barbados as a very important and major market to Jet Blue, noting that the start of direct flights would enhance the relationship and create an opportunity to get to know the area. She said it could also work as a hub for greater travel to and from the United States. Daily direct flights between Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Barbados start today.

WHITE HILL ROAD CLOSED - The early Christmas present given to residents of land-slippage prone White Hill, St Andrew, has now been taken away. And that is because workmen from the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) turned up yesterday and erected three signal poles with cement and a sign which read, “Road closed. No through traffic”. Yesterday evening, residents were congregated at the village shop venting their frustrations in the wake of the road closure, and wondering what would be their next step as those who drove had parked their cars in the yard of the Rose of Sharon Tabernacle Assembly church. Elvis Carrington said they were not notified before hand and only made the discovery on the way home.

POSTMAN ON BAIL FOR KIDNAPPING - He entered the District “A” Magistrates’ Court today in chains and handcuffs and under the escort of prison officers. However, to Wayne Sylvester Harewood’s relief, the only escorts he had on the way out of the courthouse were his relatives, after he was granted bail on four charges of kidnapping, wounding and robbery. Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant granted bail to the accused postman in the sum of $10,000, with one surety. When Harewood appeared in court yesterday, the police prosecutor Sergeant Neville Reid had objected to bail on the grounds that the offences were not only very serious, but that others were being sought in connection with the case. Reid also pointed out that investigators were still trying to recover property and that the accused could interfere with the investigations. The prosecutor had also highlighted the fact that the injuries to the complainants were inflicted with a weapon, adding that there was a need to protect society from Harwood, who in his estimation was not fit for bail. However, in appealing for leniency, Harewood said yesterday he wanted to protect his “small” job. He also called on the magistrate to take cognizance of the fact that he had turned himself in to the police, and was in the process of constructing his home. He had also suggested to the magistrate that there could be a two-week adjournment to his case to allow his lawyer to make an application for bail on his behalf. When the case resumed today, Harewood’s attorney Arthur Holder appealed for bail on behalf of his client, telling the court Harewood did not have any previous convictions and was willing to comply with any conditions imposed. He also pointed out that there were people who could vouch for him and he posed no danger to society. Holder also noted that Harewood, who has been working as a postman for the past 12 years, was currently awaiting word on his appointment. Therefore, a prison record would jeopardize present and future employment for Harewood, who he also said has a fixed place of abode. The postman is accused of robbing Anthony Persaud of one ring valued at $1,500 and Raymond Gonsalves of one chain valued at $800, a cellphone valued at $1,500 and $400 in cash on April 3, 2016. Harewood is also charged with unlawfully removing Persaud and Gonsalves from Bay Street, St Michael on April 3 without their consent and with wounding them with intent to maim, disfigure or disable them, or to do some serious bodily harm to them. Following Holder’s submission, the prosecution advised it had no objection to his bail. The Carrington Village, St Michael resident was therefore released, with no conditions attached to his bail. However, he was ordered to return to court on August 12.

SURINAMESE NATIONAL HELD ON DRUG CHARGES - Surinamese national Nadhira Gautamie Echteld has been remanded to prison until May 5, after appearing in court yesterday on eight drugs charges. Echteld was arrested after arriving at the Grantley Adams International Airport on Sunday. A search of her luggage by Customs personnel revealed two taped packages each containing cannabis. She was referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where a package of cocaine was retrieved from her vagina, and later passed out 22 packages containing cocaine weighing 1kg which she had ingested. Members of the Drug Squad charged Echteld with possession of cannabis, possession with intent to supply cannabis, trafficking cannabis, importation of cannabis, possession of cocaine, possession with intent to supply cocaine, trafficking cocaine and importation of cocaine.

THIEVES STEAL CHURCH MONITORS - THIEVES BROKE INTO St Augustine’s Anglican Church last week and carried away three 50-inch monitors used in weekly services. Reverend Suzanne Ellis, priest in charge of the Market Hill, St George church, said the robbery took place between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The monitors, one of which was a gift, were valued at about $3 000. They were used to help the congregation, the priest and her assistants during services. Ellis told the DAILY NATION yesterday the culprits entered the church near the organ “and would have used a ladder to remove the three monitors, which were strategically placed”.

GUILTY OF ASSAULTING OFFICERS - A man accused of assaulting two police officers and who thought his long-time friend whom he called as an eyewitness would help his case, was badly mistaken when he appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court this afternoon. Twenty-seven-year-old Corey Jamar Coppin of Skeetes Road, Garden Land, St Michael is charged with unlawful possession of cannabis, assaulting and resisting Police Constable Jason Chambers in the execution of his duties and assaulting and resisting Police Constable Kenroy Ashton in the execution of his duties on May 30, 2014. During his time in the dock, the unemployed man experienced two major problems with his case. Under intense cross examination by the police prosecution, he appeared to have trapped himself by admitting to one of the charges – resisting arrest. In the words of Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant, Coppin’s witness, Dwayne Simmons, put the icing on the cake by testifying that the accused had to be forced into a police vehicle after officers told him to get into the jeep. On being told by the accused that he wanted to call other witnesses, the magistrate repeatedly asked him if he was sure that was what he really wanted to do, considering his admission of guilt and hearing the damaging evidence from his main witness. At first, Coppin said he wanted to call other witnesses, but took the magistrate’s advice not to waste her time by doing so. She warned him if he did, his sentencing could end up being harsher. Cuffy-Sargeant therefore told Coppin she found him guilty on all counts and would sentence him on Friday. He was again released on bail in the sum of $3,000. Coppin was not represented by counsel.

PEACE BOND - Barbadians Deserve “unbroken quiet rest”, not music blasting in the dead of night. This was the stern message left ringing in the ears of Thomas Ernest Moona after he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch yesterday. In the midst of ongoing complaints and concerns relating to loud music being played in certain areas across Barbados, Moona, of No.16 Hillside Road, Gall Hill, Christ Church, was brought before the District “C” Magistrates’ Court on two charges that he caused a nuisance to the public by allowing loud music to be emitted from his residence. And for the next 18 months, Moona’s unhappy neighbours should be at ease from his stereo as he will have to literally keep the peace after being placed on an 18-month bond. If he breaches it, he will have to pay the court $500 or spend six weeks in prison.

Today's Events: St. Paul's Fiesta, BLP Annual Picnic, Tribute to Prime Ministers.