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Winner On-Point 2009 Matthew Bartholomew

Last year, female patrons attending the first “On Point” show screamed with delight as they were charmed by the male entrants who wowed them with physique, intellect, deportment and talent.

The event was hosted by celebrated female comedian Rachel Pryce, who was fantastic on the night, having the audience rolling in laughter throughout.

Entrants had to display their ability to be “The ultimate charmer and definite ladies pleaser. Matthew Bartholomew, a W-Connection Striker was a big favorite with the ladies and also won the judges nod.  Terrance Johnson, Duran Price and Lyndon “launch-pad” Diaz were 1st – 3rd runners up respectively.    Local Designer Ecliff Elie, provided the outfits for various segments including the formal wear.

Being the first show of its kind in this part of the country, some were skeptical as to the show’s content.  However, on the night of the show, the venue was packed to capacity, mostly ladies, showing their full support for the entrants.  

After the show, patrons indicated that it was the best offering they had for the 2009 Borough Day Celebrations. 

This year, once again, the show will be held during the Borough Day celebrations at a venue to be announced.  The show promoters has indicated that this year will be even more entraining.
Click on image above or below for photos from the show

From left: Terrance Johnson, Matthew Bartholomew, Lyndon Diaz & Duran Pryce.

On 4th January, 2010 Point Fortin East Secondary celebrated fifty years as an institution.  It was on February 04, 1960 that Point Fortin College as the school was originally  named, first opened its doors with an enrolment of seventy-five students in two classrooms. The first Principal was Mr Ralph Guevara and his staff consisted of one teacher, Mr Thomas Sampson.

In 1973, the first batch of Point Fortin Junior Secondary students was accommodated and the school was renamed Point Fortin Senior Secondary School.  A further name change occurred in 2009 and Point  Fortin East Secondary as the school is now named, one year later, has reached the ripe old age of fifty.  It is only fitting then that this milestone be celebrated in a grand way.

The formal launch of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations was held on Thursday 28th January, 2010 with an Ecumenical Ceremony.  This was well attended by past students and teachers from the 1960’s to the present.  The keynote and feature speakers for this event, were Father Martin Sirju (a past student) and the Honourable Minister in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, Mr Fitzgerald Jeffrey (a past teacher at the school) respectively.

Many other activities are being planned to further celebrate this great achievement of attaining fifty years as a school.  These events with their proposed dates are as follows:-

LAUNCH                                       -               28th January, 2010

March through Point Fortin         -               11th March, 2010

Mr and Ms PFC                             -               28th March, 2010

Jubilation Time Concert               -              10th April, 2010

The Reunion – Cookout Fest         -               24th April 2010

Awards Function and Dinner         -             23rd September, 2010

Closing Event                                  -              8th October, 2010

There is also a 50th ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE  being planned.  In addition, we propose to have on sale various items as keepsakes.  These may include:  T-shirts, buttons, mugs, glasses, bookmarks and badges.

It is our hope that former students, teachers and well wishes of our school, will join with us in celebrating this wonderful event.

By D. James
For those of you who may have been struggling to lose that “punch”, “beer” or “pot belly” or whatever name you call it, help is here and it is not with those infomercials shown on TV, nor is it with strict routine exercises as many believe.
My personal experience was this; After noticing a bulge developing, concern stepped in but nothing I did seemed to work.  I even started going for half hour morning walks but I noticed that there were those like my good friend, Harvey, who seemly walked every day but still had bigger belly than mine.  As a matter of fact, ALL of the guys who walked the same route had larger ‘pot-bellies’ than I did, so I came to the conclusion that walking was not the answer for me except if I wanted to follow them.
Then by accident, my eating habits changed and after only one week, I noticed a huge reduction in my mid-region roundness.  This to me was quite amazing so I did some online queries on the subject and came up with the following tips which seems to be more practical than those paid for TV ads.

Instead of eating three medium to large-sized meals per day, you should be eating five smaller meals. You can even treat yourself at the end of the day with a small dessert.

You should also always eat breakfast within one hour of rising. This is because your metabolism has slowed down during the night and breakfast will kick-start it up again.

A lot of people think it’s OK to skip breakfast because that means fewer fat and calories and one less meal for the day. But when you skip breakfast, hunger begins to kick in and that actually slows down your metabolism even more.

The key to trimming down is not to eat less, but to actually eat more sensible meals.

Eating more frequent, smaller meals will prevent you from feeling hungry throughout the day. And if you’re eating fiber and proteins and drinking enough water, you’ll actually feel fuller for longer periods of time and will not have the urge to snack so often.

Here’s an eating schedule you can adopt:

1. 7:00 a.m. – Eat breakfast
2. 10:00 a.m. – Eat a light snack
3. 12:00 p.m. – Eat lunch
4. 4:00 p.m. – Eat a another snack
5. 7:00 p.m. – Eat a small dinner with a treat

Eating More Boosts Your Metabolism

Sounds funny but it’s true. The actual process of breaking down food burns up calories. So if you eat several meals throughout the day, you’ll burn up more calories through the digestion process.

Now of course this doesn’t mean eat more of the “bad stuff” – this would be foods high in fat and calories. When I say “eat more” that means meals that consist of sensible foods high in fiber and protein. It’s okay to treat yourself every now and then, just don’t overdo it.

See the fat burning foods page to learn about foods that will help you burn fat.

Stop Eating 3 Hours Before Bedtime

You’ve probably seen the suggestion of not eating anything after 7 p.m. Well this generally assumes you go to bed around 9 or 10 at night.

If you are a night owl, you may retire a little later so it may seem unrealistic to not eat anything after 7 if you don’t go to bed until 12 a.m.

Generally, the rule of the thumb is to not eat anything within 3 hours of your bedtime. So if you do usually go to sleep at 1 a.m. this would mean no food intake after 10 p.m.

The reason you don’t want to eat late at night is because your food may not properly digest. This can cause morning gas and stomach cramps.

Some people who complain about bloating never realize that it’s from the gas and food particles left over from improper digestion. This can be avoided if you cut down the late night snacking.

Eating late at night also forces your body to use its energy on digestion,. One of the primary functions of sleep is to help you recuperate from the day. You want your body to be as relaxed as possible so you can wake up energized.

Now we all know we have to cheat at some points. It’s just not realistic to believe you can refrain from eating late at night every single night. So if you must cheat, then eat something healthy like a piece of fruit or a very small handful of nuts.

Stop Emotional Eating

This is probably easier said than done for most people. If you are stressed, depressed or lacking emotional support from friends, family or loved ones you may resort to emotional eating.

This is a terrible eating habit because it causes you to eat between meals and when you’re not hungry. Sometimes you may think you are a hungry but in reality you may just be lonely and are using food to comfort you and fill a void.

Stress and depression also causes an increase production of the hormone cortisol and can also add more tummy fat.

If this is a problem for you, it’s important to seek help from either a professional, church members, friends or family.

One thing is for sure…stress and flat stomachs are like oil and water. They just don’t mix.

Cut Down on Sodium

Sodium can cause lots of bloating and can make your tummy actually look flabbier than it really is.

Be careful…a lot of people associate sodium with foods that taste salty. This can get tricky because sodium is in all kinds of foods. Manufacturers use tons of it for preservation.

Almost all canned foods, TV dinners and those soup-to-go lunches are the worst! Have you ever read those labels? Some of them contain over half of your daily intake!

I’ve found that the best TV dinners are the Smart Ones brand. They only contain about 25% of your daily intake. That’s still pretty high for one serving but it’s much better than some of the other brands.

The Little Things Add Up

When trying to lose weight, a lot of people forget to watch what they drink or the kind of salad dressing they put on their salads – in other words, the little things.

All these things add up and can hinder weight loss, so an article was written about it. Check it out.

Analyze Your Habits

Now it’s time to think about your own eating habits. Are you eating breakfast every morning within one hour of rising? Are you snacking between meals? And if so, what kinds of snacks are you eating?

If you do get the urge to snack between your meals, make healthier choices like fruits and vegetables.

Remember, you can jazz up your snacks. Instead of eating a plain apple, try adding a teaspoon of peanut butter to enhance the taste. You’ll be getting additional protein as well.

Spice up your plain carrot sticks by adding a small amount of low-fat vegetable dip for more flavor.

Now it’s time to for you to evaluate your own habits and decide where they need improvement. If you want that flat stomach, one of the keys is maintaining a healthy diet on a regular basis.

Remember…eat healty, eat often.

Source: www.flat-stomach-exercises.com

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THE AUDACITY OF HOPE

As the world celebrates the victory of Barack Obama in the United States of America presidential elections, there is great optimism that this overwhelming success will serve to energize young minorities teaching them that their cause is not lost and that through proper planning, dedication, commitment, education and hard work, no accomplishment in this life is ever impossible.
Obama ran against almost all the odds and still  was victorious.
In a previous article the point was made that “there is no need for the repeated clichés of minority advancement and all the associated “black” rhetoric. He allowed people to see him for who he is; an intelligent young man with a big ambition to lead America through tangible change. (Read previous article complete).

Pointalive.com congratulates Barack H. Obama on becoming the 44th President Elect of the United States of America.  We pray that this occurrence will not just reckon a new beginning for the world’s most powerful nation but will also usher in a new era of peace among world nations.

As we to wake to yet another Monday morning signaling the start of yet another week of financial trading and not being certain of which direction the current ongoing financial crisis will swing, we as a nation need to be mindful of the links between the economy of the United States and by extension the global economic platform and how it relates to us.

It is totally naïve to believe that the impact for us here will be minimal.  It may have shocked our financial authorities when oil prices closed last week at $78 per barrel. Although early indicators for this week show that on the New York Mercantile exchange, Light Sweet crude rose to just above $80. However a downward trend may continue whether or not the Bush Administration finds a way to stabilize the American financial crisis which would unlock the current freeze on lending by commercial US banks.

A more thorough analysis may be needed in order to assess our true position relative to the global economic meltdown.  Since the greater part of our revenue is derived from taxation on exports such as Petroleum products, Natural Gas and other energy based products, we should take steps ahead of time to soften any necessary impact resulting from reduced earnings.  While it can be said that the oil price is set on the “futures exchange”, very soon, existing contracts will be fulfilled and new ones negotiated.

Another point to ponder is the fact that our dollar is pegged to the US dollar and if there is any significant devaluation of the US currency against the Euro and other Asian Currencies then it will have a direct impact on goods we import from associated countries.  We need to be also mindful that some of our Caribbean neighbors who are dependent on tourism as a mainstay of their economy will be experiencing a lull in business and thereby will be importing less from our manufacturers which will also affect revenue from taxation.

While nothing much has been said about it, the Unit Trust’s US Money Market fund may be affected in some way or the other.

It may be argued that no single aspect of what was mentioned above can in anyway significantly affect our stability, however a combination factors will be consequential.

Our government has embarked on projects which cannot be stopped or even be tempered in any manner.  The thought of halting these will result in a zoo of “white elephants” along the Port of Spain Water Front.  But still in the pipeline are high price projects like the Rapid Rail and maybe others which I can’t remember at this time.  Now maybe a good time to review such projects, looking for alternatives which will achieve the same results of get us mostly there.   

The Rapid Rail idea is a brilliant one which can move commuters in mass amounts freeing up vehicular traffic significantly.  However given the present global situation, we need to ask ourselves if it is worth the risk which is expected to be in excess of TT$25 Billion?  How about aggressively expanding our road network instead, building major freeways from Sea Lots to Sangre Grande, San Fernando to Icacos, and removing all traffic lights along any highway? These only impede traffic flow.  The Water Taxi is easy to implement and should not be stopped. My only grouse with it is that I expected each vessel to have a larger seating capacity, much like those used on the Tobago sea bridge.

Should for any reason the Rapid Rail run into financial difficulty, we will not be able to use any aspect of it unless phases are completed and this can easily resemble the Caroni Racetrack.  A massive highway development project will have more value even if the overall project is incomplete since there will be the ability to complete phases in an easier manner.

Another aspect we can look at is to forcefully move away from the centralistic approach to administration.  Why do I have to go to Port of Spain to register a business? The same network which is used to connect the computers at the ministry of Legal Affairs can be expanded throughout the Country and thereby appropriate supervision be placed in satellite offices in each municipalities.  Too many services can only be attained in the Capital City.

Such a move will also help reduce the bottleneck heading in and out of Port of Spain and should be attempted before initiating such a massive project as the Rapid Rail.  Maybe upon completion of a highway Development/Modernization project and decentralization of administrative services, we may realize that there is not a need for a Rapid Rail. Then we can implement a toll system for highway usage so at that time we can cushion the cost impact of the advanced project which will then be the Rapid Rail.

All I am advocating at this time is that we sober up and realize that some steep corners are ahead which we need to navigate carefully.

Government need to understand that local investors may also curtail their spending being more cautious adopting a skeptic wait and see approach.  Regardless how much government ministers try to play down the projected impact, there will be a high level of timidity among locals with high investment portfolios.

Notwithstanding all that was said before, I believe that should appropriate action be taken immediately, we will be able to soften the inevitable impact.  Now is a good time to surface from the dive, take a look around and observe that the shoreline is not exactly where we expected.  There should not be any panic but total awareness of the prevailing condition and steps taken to avert any negative impact.

Now is the time to re-think.

Photos taken from ttparliament.org

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