Rob, I have a great deal of respect for your opinions / conclusions especially regarding this particular topic. You live in Jamaica, run Negril.com and are directly in the mainstream of the current comings and goings on the island.

I am the first to admit that the lotto scam that has been causing so much International turmoil is not completely understood by me and that its impact on violence in JA has a direct correlation to what has happened to the Jamaicans over the past several years. Yet deep down inside me knowing as I do so many great Jamaicans that have absolutely nothing to do with the scam I continue to look further and dig deeper.

Accompong, kudos to your comments. We the USA and Western World bring with us wherever we go it seems this negative effect that can have dire consequences to those in our path. I was deeply troubled by a TV program I watched recently on a new US cable channel called VICE. The episode covered the goings on of the current Dancehall / Hip Hop scene in JA. Although Vybes Kartel is in prison he is still somehow able to continue pushing out music and a message. The show talked about the onstage antics / war between Vybes and Mavado and the violence it encouraged. It showed several top female performers with the raunchiest lyrics I have ever heard and believe me there isn't a word I haven't used at some point in my life.

So despite the effects of the Lotto Scam there seems to me that there are many active ingredients at work in Jamaica especially the crack epidemic in the cities. Back in the 70's Ganja was the scourge (or so the government in JA and elsewhere said) so in comparison to the addictive drugs in the South / Central America to Jamaica pipeline of today it was minor in scope.

I love Jamaica and would love to return as soon as tomorrow but I take pause to do so. Me who has criss crossed the island alone several times including hitch hiking is concerned about finding himself on the wrong end of a bad situation where being at the wrong place at the wrong time could prove deadly. This is the only Carib Island I have ever visited counting more than 30 trips so JA is a second home for me. I usually do not allow negative journalism to sway my decisions but I must say that for the first time in my life I question whether I will go back.

Thanks for hearing me out!!
John