A Canadian tourist, charged with attempted murder, after he reportedly slashed his wife's throat on a dirt road in Falmouth, Trelawny, was yesterday remanded after the preliminary enquiry into the case got under way in the Falmouth Resident Magistrate's Court.

A senior officer from the Falmouth Police Station told THE STAR that during the enquiry yesterday, the complainant, who is to leave the island soon, gave her evidence.

According to a story published by the Associated Press, Paul Martin, 43, from Ajax, Ontario, is accused of slashing his wife's throat and then fabricating a false story about being car-jacked and attacked by robbers.

It is alleged that the couple was having marital problems and came to Jamaica on vacation in a last ditch effort to save the marriage. It is alleged, however, that the woman was attacked after she announced that she wanted to separate. It is alleged that Martin drove their rental car to an isolated area and told his wife that he wanted to take pictures of the Jamaican countryside. She was reportedly attacked as they drove.

The story further said Cathy Lee Martin fought back and was eventually rescued by a passing taxi operator who spun around after noticing a struggle in the car. She was found at the side of the road, bleeding, after she managed to jump from the car.

The police were contacted by the taxi operator, but Martin allegedly told the officers that they had been car-jacked by a Jamaican, who had attacked his wife. The matter returns on January 21.

NY Daily News.

It wasn't easy getting on the train. It was even harder getting off. After a flight from Boston and a day working at JFK airport, I got on the Airtrain around 7 p.m. Sunday only to find the tracks were iced over and it couldn't move.
Taxis weren't an option either, and car services laughed at people who called to request pickups.
So after a long wait, hundreds of stranded travelers shoved their way through the snow with their luggage onto packed airport shuttle buses - which got stuck again and again, finally letting passengers out to trudge the last stretch of road to the Howard Beach A train station.

Then, we waited well over an hour in the driving snow for a train, watching two A trains pass through without stopping. "The hard part's over," a fellow traveler said as we got on an A train that finally did pick us up. He was dead wrong.
The train ground to a halt just before 1 a.m. on the tracks between the Aqueduct and Rockaway Blvd. stations. It sat there for seven hours as cold, hungry, tired passengers watched the blizzard rage outside and, eventually, the sun rise over Queens.

Officials said snow on the third rail caused the train to lose electrical power. Translation? "This train is completely dead," a conductor said. So we waited - without food, water, bathrooms, and most of the time without heat. Skipping meals all day and drinking three cups of coffee quickly came back to haunt me, but fortunately I had an extra jacket in my backpack to pile on top of my winter coat. "I've been cold for seven hours," said Courtney Thorpe, 29, of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who was supposed to spend Sunday night celebrating the holidays in Warsaw with her fiancee and his family.
She opted to head home instead of bunking at the airport, but quickly regretted it.
"I figured staying at the airport for 24 hours is ridiculous, and now I would kill to be in the most uncomfortable metal airport chair," she said.
MTA workers scrambled to restore power, but came up short. Spirits rose when they announced a rescue train was coming to fetch us - but sunk again at the news: "The rescue train is stuck."
As the hours ticked by, conductors admitted they were as clueless as we were. They pleaded over the radio for help, but no help came.
"You've got a whole bunch of managers sitting around trying to figure out what the hell to do," a conductor said.
Calm prevailed for the most part throughout the ordeal, with passengers cracking jokes and sharing cell phones and the rare snack.
Tempers flared occasionally:

One passenger banged on the windows and screamed "I want to go home!" Others lashed out at the MTA. "They know how to raise the f---ing fare every two months but they don't know how to move a train off the track or people off the train," said Keith Roberts, 51, of East New York. While many of the 500 passengers on the train were coming off long travel odysseys, for some New Yorkers it was just a regular Sunday commute - one that took over 12 hours.
"I have to go to the bathroom. I'm tired. I'm cold. I just want to get off this train," said April Owens, 27, of Far Rockaway.
Finally, a rescue train arrived and dragged us to the next station, where we got another train that slowly but surely completed its route. I got to my Brooklyn apartment just after 10 a.m., 15 hours after I first left the airport terminal.
"You got breakfast on that train?" Roberts asked as the rescuers pulled up.
One shook his head.
"What," Roberts said. "No free MetroCard, nothing?"

Although he was present at the venue, Bounty Killer did not perform at Sting because it is alleged that the organiser, Supreme Promotions, did not honour its end of an arrangement between both parties.

Bounty Killer was named as one of the '13 Warriors' of Sting and he was scheduled to do a performance with Beenie Man. However, he did not take the stage at the event which was held at Jam World in Portmore on Sunday.

According to a representative of Solid Agency, the company that books Bounty Killer, the decision was made after Supreme Promotions breached their agreement.

"Prior to Sting, both Bounty and Supreme Promotions had a contractual arrangement. On Monday morning, Bounty was present in the venue. Prior to his performance, Supreme Promotions did not live up to their contractual obligations and this in return caused Bounty Killer not to perform," the representative told THE STAR, noting that a statement will be ready by today.

"They breached the terms of the contract. Despite being at the venue, there is no way he could perform based on what had happened."

Efforts were made to get in contact with Isaiah Laing from Supreme Promotions but calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. A Rochester Hills man who says he learned of his wife's affair by reading her e-mail on their computer faces trial Feb. 7 on felony computer misuse charges.

Thirty-three-year-old Leon Walker used his wife's password to get into her Gmail account. Clara Walker filed for a divorce, which was granted this month.

Leon Walker tells The Oakland Press of Pontiac he was trying to protect the couple's children from neglect and calls the case a "miscarriage of justice."

Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Sydney Turner says the charge is justified.

Privacy law writer Frederick Lane tells the Detroit Free Press the law typically is used to prosecute identity theft and stealing trade secrets. He says he questions if a wife can expect privacy on a computer she shares with her husband.

Warlord Bounty Killer did not show up to collaborate with former rival Beenie Man for Sting 2010 at the Jamworld Entertainment Centre this morning.

By and large the performances were disappointing with the exception of Sizzla and Etana who gave solid performances for the less than impressive crowd.

Sizzla bounded on the Jamworld stage at approximately 6:15 and brought life to an otherwise dreary concert.

There were brief cameos from Beenie Man, Agent Sasco and Kip Rich.

The much hyped 13 bad gal segment also fizzed out and left little to write home about.

The show may have suffered from the absence of the two hottest dancehall acts of the moment, Mavado and Vybz Kartel, who failed to secure suitable contracts with the promoters.

Check tomorrow for a complete review of the event.

New York Governor David Paterson has granted pardons to 24 immigrants, including Caribbean nationals, who were due to be deported because of prior criminal convictions.

Though he did not identify the nationalities of all the immigrants who had faced deportation, Paterson singled out Haitian, Edouard Colas.

The Governor, the grandson of Jamaican and Grenadian immigrants, said Colas was brought to the United States from Haiti as a lawful permanent resident at age 10.

He said Colas was convicted in 1997 of attempted burglary in the third degree and sentenced to five years on probation.

"He has maintained gainful employment and is married to a United States citizen with whom he has two young sons," Paterson said.

Paterson said that over the course of his administration's review of more than 1,100 pardon applications, it had became "abundantly clear that the federal government's immigration laws are often excessively harsh and in need of modernisation".

"The individuals pardoned committed past offenses but paid their debt to society. They now make positive contributions to our state and nation, and I believe they should be protected from inflexible and misguided immigration statutes," Paterson added.

Paterson's latest pardons come on the heels of six he had granted earlier this month, including four Caribbean nationals, who had faced a similar fate.

Those Caribbean immigrants were nationals of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and the Dominican Republic.

Over the years, Caribbean leaders have blamed increased deportations of criminals, particularly from the United States, for the spiraling crime wave in the region.

The Playboy mogul announced his engagement to Crystal via Twitter, writing 'Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring.

Hugh Hefner has a more special thing to celebrate this holiday. He is engaged to Crystal Harris after proposing to her on Christmas night, December 25, tweeting "When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears. This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory...I got what I was hoping for for Christmas...Crystal's love."

R&B singer Teena Marie, best known for her 1980s hits "Lovergirl," "Ooo La La La" and "Lead Me On," died in her sleep last night of unknown causes in her Los Angeles home. She was 54.

Marie's debut LP, 1979's Wild and Peaceful, was written with her mentor Rick James, who dueted with Marie on her breakthrough single "I'm A Sucker For Your Love." Motown, who rarely signed white artists, didn't put her photo on the cover leading to a longstanding belief that Marie was actually black.

Mary Christine Brockert was born in Santa Monica and began performing at a very young age, appearing as a tap dancer an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies when she was only eight years old. Marie was signed to Motown by Berry Gordy when she was 19, though no music was released for nearly three years while they figured out what kind of material to give her. "One day [Rick James] was walking down the hall and I was sitting in Stevie Wonder's office," Marie recalled in a 2009 interview. "I would always be in there playing his piano and singing. Rick popped his head in there and we started having a conversation and after that we just became really close friends."

James contributed much to Marie's disco-infused debut album, though they rarely worked together in the ensuing years. Marie released three more albums for Motown, but in 1982 she got into a legal battle with the label. In the end she won a landmark lawsuit that declared it illegal for labels to keep artists under contract while refusing to release their work. It became known as the "Brockert Initiative," after Marie's real name. "It wasn't something I set out to do," she told the Los Angeles Times in 2004. "I just wanted to get away from Motown and have a good life. But it helped a lot of people, like Luther Vandross and the Mary Jane Girls and a lot of different artists, to be able to get out of their contracts."

After the lawsuit Marie signed to Epic, and released a series of R&B hits including "Ooo La La La," "Work It," "Here's Looking At You" and "Lovergirl" (watch Marie's 1985 performance above), which hit Number Nine on the Billboard Hot 100. She took a long break in the 1990s to raise her children daughter, but in 2004 she re-emerged with the album La Dona, which was released on Cash Money and featured contributions by Common, Birdman, Gerard Levert and Rick James. It was James' final recording before his death.

Teena Marie's most recent release was 2009's Congo Square. She continued to tour until shortly before her sudden death.

UPDATE: Martin reports that Marie's manager told him that Marie's daughter found her dead in her home today, and that she suffered a seizure last month.

According to Roland Martin, R&B singer Teena Marie has passed away at the age of 54. Martin cites Marie's manager, Mike Gardner.

NYC radio station WBLS, was one of the first to report the news; Chicago radio station V103 is also reporting the death.

Born Marie Christine Brockert, Teena Marie rose to prominence in the late 70s and 80s, striking a musical and personal partnership with funk legend Rick James. She released 13 studio albums, Two of them went platinum, and six altogether were gold.

Marie's biggest hit came in 1984 with her single 'Lovergirl,' which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Fear & Devastation In Haiti: At Least 45 Voodoo Priests Accused Of Starting Deadly Cholera Outbreak Have Been Lynched & Hacked To Death By Angry Mobs

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) The head of Haiti's voodoo religion appealed to authorities Thursday to halt *la*hdy lynchings of voodoo priests by people who blame them for causing the Caribbean country's deadly cholera epidemic.

Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed. Many of the victims were hacked to death and mutilated by machetes, Max Beauvoir, the "Ati" or supreme leader of Haitian voodoo, told Reuters.

"They are being blamed for using voodoo to contaminate people with cholera," Beauvoir said.

He said the killers accused voodoo priests of spreading cholera by scattering powder or casting "spells" and complained that local police and government officials were not doing enough to halt the lynchings and punish the killers. Voodoo is recognized and protected by the constitution as one of Haiti's main religions.

"My call is to the authorities so they can assume their responsibilities," said Beauvoir, who fears more attacks against voodoo devotees. Most of the lynchings occurred in the southwest of Haiti but also in the center and the north.

As the epidemic death toll has risen, so too has popular fear and anger. Some Haitians have blamed Nepalese United Nations peacekeepers for bringing cholera to a Caribbean nation where the disease had been absent for decades.

The U.N. mission in Haiti maintains there is no conclusive evidence to back this accusation, despite a report by an expert contracted by the French government that linked the infection to latrines at the Nepalese camp located beside a river.

In November, there were anti-U.N. riots over the cholera, which continued to claim victims as the Western Hemisphere's poorest state held elections marred by confusion and fraud charges. Final vote results have still not been announced.

Beauvoir said he had discussed the anti-voodoo attacks with Haiti's Communications and Culture Ministry, which confirmed the killings this week. Minister Marie-Laurence Lassegue made a public appeal for the lynchings to end.

FEAR AND IGNORANCE

More than half of Haiti's nearly 10 million people are believed to practice voodoo, a religion brought from West Africa several centuries ago by slaves forced to work on the plantations of white masters in what was then the rich French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue.

Cholera, which causes virulent debilitating diarrhea, can kill in hours if left untreated. But it also can be easily cured through fast rehydration of the patient. Aid experts say the ignorance of many Haitians about the disease is one of the causes of the fears and suspicions surrounding the epidemic.

In at least one case in central Haiti, an angry mob worried about possible contagion destroyed a cholera treatment center being set up by foreign medical workers.

For this reason, public education about the disease and how it is spread and can be treated is essential, aid groups say.

"It is hardly surprising that people would be anxious about cholera when it appears in their communities for the first time," said Delphine Chedorge, head of mission in Haiti for Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontieres, one of the foreign medical groups most active in fighting the epidemic.

"We also need to make people understand that opening new (cholera treatment centers) in or near their towns and villages can help stop the spread of the disease, protecting their communities, rather than endangering them," she said in an MSF statement.

Beauvoir said he suspected that representatives of some other religions might be stirring up popular fears against voodoo practitioners using the cholera as a pretext

"I saw this coming. Since the earthquake some people have been blaming us, saying that we cast spells and did evil things which brought the earthquake as a punishment," he said.

After the January 12 earthquake, which wrecked much of the capital Port-au-Prince and killed more than 250,000 people, voodoo leaders had to defend themselves publicly against accusations by some Evangelical preachers that the voodoo religion somehow caused the natural disaster.

I must admit I would only be a hypocrite if I didn't understand where she was coming from with her latest statement. Sometimes womenwe just want to be "f*cked.

As the epidemic death toll has risen, so too has popular fear and anger. Some Haitians have blamed Nepalese United Nations peacekeepers for bringing cholera to a Caribbean nation where the disease had been absent for decades.

The U.N. mission in Haiti maintains there is no conclusive evidence to back this accusation, despite a report by an expert contracted by the French government that linked the infection to latrines at the Nepalese camp located beside a river.

In November, there were anti-U.N. riots over the cholera, which continued to claim victims as the Western Hemisphere's poorest state held elections marred by confusion and fraud charges. Final vote results have still not been announced.

Beauvoir said he had discussed the anti-voodoo attacks with Haiti's Communications and Culture Ministry, which confirmed the killings this week. Minister Marie-Laurence Lassegue made a public appeal for the lynchings to end.

FEAR AND IGNORANCE

More than half of Haiti's nearly 10 million people are believed to practice voodoo, a religion brought from West Africa several centuries ago by slaves forced to work on the plantations of white masters in what was then the rich French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue.

Cholera, which causes virulent debilitating diarrhea, can kill in hours if left untreated. But it also can be easily cured through fast rehydration of the patient. Aid experts say the ignorance of many Haitians about the disease is one of the causes of the fears and suspicions surrounding the epidemic.

In at least one case in central Haiti, an angry mob worried about possible contagion destroyed a cholera treatment center being set up by foreign medical workers.
For this reason, public education about the disease and how it is spread and can be treated is essential, aid groups say.

"It is hardly surprising that people would be anxious about cholera when it appears in their communities for the first time," said Delphine Chedorge, head of mission in Haiti for Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontieres, one of the foreign medical groups most active in fighting the epidemic.

"We also need to make people understand that opening new (cholera treatment centers) in or near their towns and villages can help stop the spread of the disease, protecting their communities, rather than endangering them," she said in an MSF statement.

Beauvoir said he suspected that representatives of some other religions might be stirring up popular fears against voodoo practitioners using the cholera as a pretext.
"I saw this coming. Since the earthquake some people have been blaming us, saying that we cast spells and did evil things which brought the earthquake as a punishment," he said.

After the January 12 earthquake, which wrecked much of the capital Port-au-Prince and killed more than 250,000 people, voodoo leaders had to defend themselves publicly against accusations by some Evangelical preachers that the voodoo religion somehow caused the natural disaster.

People Camping Out Overnight, Long Lines, Scuffles, Hiding In Trash Cans!?

You would have thought they were giving away free money judging by the long lines outside of Houston stores Thursday (December 23).

Instead people had camped out overnight to try and cop a pair of the new Air Jordan Cool Greys.

Police had to be called out to several locations as crowds started to get unruly. Scuffles broke out and arguments ensued as stores quickly sold out.

One man was so desperate for a pair he hid in a trash can inside a Houston mall, hoping to be the first in line.

I was in a trash can for about an hour in the mall, trying to be the first one, said Jumarcus Bingham. This is the first time theyre coming back out in ten years.

By the time Bingham got inside the store they had already sold out of his size.

Not to be deterred, Bingham made a mad dash over to another mall and finally scored a pair. But only after paying a stranger $400 for shoes that retail for $180.

It was a nice come up for the stranger, but Jumarcus was happy and didnt care if people thought he was crazy.

They probably do [think Im crazy], I mean I had to get em, I support Jordans, he said.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/weird/101223-shopping-crowd-chaos CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

(Watch apology VIDEO and what do you think should happen to him?)

Apology not accepted. That was the message delivered by a coalition of activists and local leaders who gathered outside the Manhattan offices of radio station Hot 97.

"We are here together to ensure that Mr. Diaz be removed from this station," New York City Councilman Matthieu Eugene said.

"Ciphus Sounds - whatever his mom named him. I don't know what his real name is - is inappropriate. It's unacceptable. It's disgraceful," Carien Jocelyn of Diaspora Community & Service said.

D-J Cipha Sounds' on-air comment last week has angered Haitians Americans and others across the city.

"The reason I'm H-I-V negative is because I don't mess with Haitian girls," he said.

He almost immediately issued an on-air apology and Hot 97 posted the apology onYouTube, but activists are adamant that's not enough.

They point to previous questionable broadcasts by Hot 97, such as a song making fun of tsunami victims back in 2005, as examples of the station's failure to be respectful and responsible.

Hot 97 is certainly no stranger to controversy, but has still maintained its popularity. Those gathered here today are hoping this incident might change that.

"If we feel that they are not addressing it, I suggest we take our business and air to another station," New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams said.

Coalition leaders have vowed to keep the pressure on until Sounds is properly disciplined.

Hot 97 management has, so far, not responded to requests for comment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Origin of "Xmas"

Dennis Bratcher

Some people seem to get worked up easily about things that are either largely irrelevant or incidental, or that they do not really understand. This seems to be the case with some religious folk when the topic is an aspect of Christianity that is personally important to them.

For example, around Christmas each year there are always those who loudly decry the use of the abbreviation "Xmas" as some kind of blasphemy against Christ and Christianity. This concern has been elevated recently with the public debates about manger scenes and the substitution of "holiday" for Christmas in stores and government venues.  Among religious folks, the objection to Xmas is usually along the line that people have taken Christ out of Christmas and replaced him with an unknown (since the Greek letter chi, [C,c] which looks like the English letter x, is the symbol for an unknown quantity in mathematics).

For example, on the "Voice of Prophecy" web site is an article entitled "You Cant "X" out Christ."

Youve heard the classic story about the little boy who noticed the huge red-and-green sign spray-painted on a department story: "Happy Xmas." And he wondered aloud about the X. Why was it X-mas? And finally, in a forlorn voice, he asked his dad: "Did they cross Christ out of Christmas, Daddy?" And the father had never thought of it that way before, but finally nodded. "Yes, Son, I guess they did." And it makes you think.

Well it certainly does make one think. It makes one think how uninformed or misinformed, and unnecessarily militant with that misinformation, so many Christians are concerning their own Faith. The story illustrates what could have been a marvelous opportunity to teach a child about some of the important symbolism of the Christian Faith. But it was an opportunity lost, in this story at least, because many Christians do not understand their own iconography and symbolism. The results are often battles waged against windmills while far more consequential issues for the Faith are neglected (a modern example of Matt. 23:23).

Now, in all honesty, the article on that web site focuses on the secular commercialization of Christmas, something to which most Christians I know would object or at least with which they are uncomfortable (note similar comments by Ken Collins in Christmas Facts [external link]). But the fact that the use of "Xmas" can be associated so easily with c**** commercialization rather than locating it within the Christian tradition itself reveals a lack of understanding of heritage and history.

The same perspective is obvious in this response to a BBC broadcast on the meaning of Christmas:

The time has come to separate the religious festival of Christmas from the trading season of "xmas."

It is as if the term "Xmas" used anywhere in public is part of some diabolical grinchly plot to subvert Christmas. This is implied in other places as well. A 2005 poll on the website bible.com, a popular biblical resource site, has this question: "What concerns you the most about how the world is attacking Christmas, a Christian holiday?" The four choices given in order are:

1) Using an "X" to replace Christs name in Christmas - i.e. Xmas;
2) Banning manger scenes from public places;
3) Substituting "Happy Holidays" for "Merry Christmas";
4) Emphasizing Santa Claus over Baby Jesus.

Certainly, the question does not imply what the web site itself thinks of the answers. But the fact that this issue can still be included with the other fears that people have about Christmas illustrates a continuing and significant level of misinformation mixed with peoples concerns. And the less than neutral language of the question ("world," "attacking," "Christian") certainly leaves the impression that using "Xmas" is part of some worldly plot to overthrow Christendom.

This misunderstanding and fear mongering about the use of "Xmas" is not a new phenomenon. I heard the same kinds of comments in sermons many years ago. It was especially prevalent among those Christians and church leaders who wanted or needed to see the world in negative and threatening terms (see The Jonah Syndrome), or who tended to see everything in society as part of some grand conspiracy of Satan or the inexorable working out of Gods own predetermined plan, without really knowing all the facts or complexities of the situation (see Christians and Urban Legends).

I have no doubt that some people write "Xmas" because they are too busy or too lazy to write out the whole word. And no doubt some secular people, who are just as uninformed as Christians, see "Xmas" as a way to avoid writing "Christ." And certainly there are secular and commercial motives in the fact that "XMAS" appears in ads and signs because it can be larger and more attention getting in the same amount of space (more bang for the buck). But those factors do not take away the thoroughly Christian origin of the word "Xmas."  In this instance, all of the hype and hysteria over supposedly taking Christ out of Christmas by writing "Xmas" instead of spelling out "Christmas" is both uninformed and misdirected.

Abbreviations used as Christian symbols have a long history in the church. The letters of the word "Christ" in Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written, or various titles for Jesus early became symbols of Christ and Christianity. For example, the first two letters of the word Christ (cristoV, or as it would be written in older manuscripts, CRISTOS) are the Greek letters chi (c or C) and rho (r or R). These letters were used in the early church to create the chi-rho monogram (see Chrismons), a symbol that by the fourth century became part of the official battle standard of the emperor Constantine.

Another example is the symbol of the fish, one of the earliest symbols of Christians that has been found scratched on the walls of the catacombs of Rome. It likely originated from using the first letter of several titles of Jesus (Jesus Christ Son of God Savior). When combined these initial letters together spelled the Greek word for fish (icquV, ichthus).

The exact origin of the single letter X for Christ cannot be pinpointed with certainty. Some claim that it began in the first century AD along with the other symbols, but evidence is lacking. Others think that it came into widespread use by the thirteenth century along with many other abbreviations and symbols for Christianity and various Christian ideas that were popular in the Middle Ages. However, again, the evidence is sparse.

In any case, by the fifteenth century Xmas emerged as a widely used symbol for Christmas. In 1436 Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with moveable type. In the early days of printing typesetting was done by hand and was very tedious and expensive. As a result, abbreviations were common. In religious publications, the church began to use the abbreviation C for the word "Christ" to cut down on the cost of the books and pamphlets. From there, the abbreviation moved into general use in newspapers and other publications, and "Xmas" became an accepted way of printing "Christmas" (along with the abbreviations Xian and Xianity). Even Websters dictionary acknowledges that the abbreviation Xmas was in common use by the middle of the sixteenth century.

So there is no grand scheme to dilute Christianity by promoting the use of Xmas instead of Christmas. It is not a modern invention to try to convert Christmas into a secular day, nor is it a device to promote the commercialism of the holiday season.  Its origin is thoroughly rooted in the heritage of the Church.  It is simply another way to say Christmas, drawing on a long history of symbolic abbreviations used in the church. In fact, as with other abbreviations used in common speech or writing (such as Mr. or etc.), the abbreviation "Xmas" should be pronounced "Christmas" just as if the word were written out in full, rather than saying "exmas." Understanding this use of Christian symbolism might help us modern day Xians focus on more important issues of the Faith during Advent, and bring a little more Peace to the Xmas Season.

Kim Kardashian was the alleged winner of an alleged online poll for Worlds Best Bum 2010 that The Sun claims took place recently. The Sun says they spoke to the publishers of the cryptically unnamed contest that they probably made up for a slow news week.

In the second part of this exclusive interview with Vybz Kartel for The Wrap Up (part one), he speaks to Marvin Sparks about the controversy surrounding Ramping Shop, reinventing himself to become the self-proclaimed 'Dancehall Hero', working with UK rapper/MC Kano and whether we'll get to see a much-anticipated collaboration with friend-turned-foe-turned-friend-again, Mavado...

Online editing: Joseph JP Patterson

He was reggae's most famous son and the man credited with doing more to promote the culture of Rastafari than anyone else. Jamaica-born Bob Marley remains an iconic figure, and his record sales to date are believed to top £190 million. He died in May 1981 from cancer, age 36.

But despite his official cause of death being widely accepted as acral lentiginous melanoma, nearly three decades later, his granddaughter, Donisha Prendergast, a documentary film-maker, is controversially claiming that the real cause of Marley's death was deliberate poisoning.

The 25-year-old, who lives in Kingston Jamaica, was in the United Kingdom filming a documentary on Rastafari. She told The Voice: "Somebody killed him. Look at history, it shows us what they do to our leaders. He was a healthy man who exercised regularly. I would love to believe that he died of natural causes, but history won't allow me to. I believe he was poisoned."

Prendergast is the daughter of Sharon Marley Prendergast, who Bob adopted when he married her mother Rita. The young film-maker refuses to accept reports that her grandfather's death was a naturalone, and makes the astonishing claim that he was poisoned by "political interests who feared his outspokenness to educate the masses about the Babylon system."

Prendergast said: "Every time I look at a Rasta man I can't help but remember my grandfather. Bob Marley was reggae music in a lot of ways. He wasn't just speaking to entertain people or to make a dollar, instead what he was saying cost him his life.

"His life has inspired me to explore Rasta around the world. I wanted to know what Rasta was like around the world. I thought I was just going to see the roots and evolution, but Rasta is a cultural expression.

"Not everybody who wears dreadlocks or smokes weed will claim to be Rasta, but they're expressing Rasta in a certain essence, so it's just about understanding that."

Her documentary, Rasta: A Soul's Journey, will examine how Rastafarian communities have evolved in the UK, United States, Israel, India, Jamaica, South Africa, Ethiopia and Canada.

Prendergast will meet people who have chosen a Rastafarian lifestyle and she hopes viewers will be enlightened about who Rastas are and how they live. Her main goal is to remind black people that they are African and that Africa is accessible today.

She said: "Rastas are very secretive and mystical people. We don't believe in giving a lot of our energies to this world, instead we keep it in our community, as we are building a nation of African-minded people.

"There is a lot to do in Africa. That's where my grandmother currently lives. The media has told us a lot of lies; it's up to us to really seek truth and remember that we only know what they tell us," she told The Voice.

Prendergast also wants to educate those of African heritage about the importance of embracing their natural identity instead of adapting to the white aesthetic of straight hair and fair skin.

"It's important to embrace African identity. Rasta is the only movement that is keeping Africa alive. Look at my hair. The fact that I've allowed my hair to grow naturally is an African expression. One must come to know oneself outside of what the westerners teach.

"My family are Rasta. We are all African and the Western society deceives us and forces us to conform, and it doesn't suit us. I stopped wearing jeans because I don't like how men respond to me. So now I wear skirts. My gran lives in Africa and has lived there for the past three years.

"I'm not looking for awards from the film, but instead I want to expose people to themselves. This film will go international and will be shown theatrically in schools. We want to take it all over the world."

Despite plans for the film to be broadcast internationally, she said what satisfies her most is knowing that Bob would be happy to see her doing what he would have wanted her to.

She said: "The system of Babylon that my grandfather talks about, is it real? The fact that I have to spend money to eat, I can't pick a fruit off a tree because somebody may sue me. There are hungry people in this world when others' bellies are too full. Let's not ignore these things. Where is the justice and the love in this world?"

Deejay Vybz Kartel says he will not be responding lyrically to recent comments and a song from veteran deejay Beenie Man.

Beenie Man appeared on Nationwide 90 FM's 'Ragashanti Live!' last week and previously recorded a song but what seemed like a brewing feud between him and Kartel appears to have sizzled out. According to Kartel, he will not be addressing the 'The Doctor' lyrically as he has no time for a feud with him.

It was being said that Kartel alongside Portmore Empire member, Popcaan, had performed a song directed at Beenie Man last week at his Street Vybz Thursday at the Building, New Kingston.

However, when asked about the song, Kartel responded, "No, me nuh have no energy to waste on negativity. Me nuh have nuh time fi folly nor frivolous activity. Right now, I'm working on my new album which will be released in April. Me nuh have time fi idlers."

Beenie and Kartel's friction became public recently when Kartel released a song on ZJ Chrome's 'Dancehall EFX' rhythm called Dancehall Hero, to which Beenie responded on the same rhythm with his 'correction' called Father God Help Him. Speaking on Ragashanti's show Beenie said that he felt disrespected by Kartel through the song and other things. In yesterday's STAR, however, he commented that despite everything he still supports the 'Gaza'.

Beenie said, "even though mi have a problem with Kartel, I still say Gaza because I rate talent. I don't know him as a person, mi nah stop sey Gaza because mi and him inna one little ting. What him waan do wid fi him life, ah just fi him ting dat, every man have a right to decide fi him own destiny. From mi rate yuh, mi rate yuh."

In the meantime, Kartel says he is busy working on his latest album slated for release in April. He said, "its a album produced by myself and Dreskull of Mixpak Records. It features Kartel and the Gaza government."

More is also in the works for Kartel as he said, "we just released the 'S-Class' rhythm... I just completed the Cakesoap video and the Yeah Though I video, the latter will premiere tonight on ER. And the Cakesoap video will be released next week, both directed by Kirk Lee."

The deejay went on to further say that he will be appearing on a number of upcoming shows in cluding ..." Browns Town on Christmas Eve, Mobay on New Year's Eve and Anguilla and St Martin on the 27th and 28th respectively."

Groom Rogerio Damascena fatally shot his new wife, his best man and then himself after announcing to horrified guests that he had a "surprise" for them, authorities in Brazil said Monday.

Witnesses reported that the 29-year-old Damascena, a sales manager in Camaragibe, outside the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife, did not give any previous indication that anything was wrong at his wedding reception, police investigator Joao Brito said.

Brito would not speculate on a possible motive, saying family members were in shock and he had not interviewed them yet.

Brito did say the killings are believed to be premeditated because of the groom's announcement and because he had hidden a gun in his father's pickup truck.

Twenty-five-year-old bride Renata Alexandre Costa Coelho and best man Marcelo Guimaraes were both killed in Saturday's murder-suicide. A brother of the bride was treated at a hospital and released.

The website Globo.com quoted a sister of the bride who left before the shootings as saying she didn't believe it was a crime of passion.

"My sister was a wonderful person who loved and wanted to be loved," Lucia Helena Coelho was quoted as saying.

"He was happy, she was happy, the party was beautiful. His family adored her and doesn't understand this," Coelho told Globo.com. "He revealed himself as a sociopath who fooled the entire family and killed his best friend, who was...the best man."