Courtesy  Robert Curley

Safety and security are always a concern when you travel, and a Caribbean vacation is no exception. It’s a fine line between relaxing and letting your guard down, so while it’s fine to chill out and have a good time on your island adventure, there are a few sensible precautions you should take before leaving home and once you arrive at your destination.

Check the Travel Warnings Before You Go

The U.S. State Department publishes three types of information useful to travelers: Consular Information Sheets, which provide a broad overview on foreign countries, including crime and safety facts; Public Announcements, which include generalized cautions about ongoing security issues; and Travel Warnings, which are the most serious and serve as a red flag about imminent dangers.

Learn About Your Destination

Read the article, Which Caribbean Islands are the Safest, Most Dangerous? Also, Googling “crime” and the name of your destination can yield useful tidbits on crime and safety that you won’t always get from tourism-oriented websites. Sites like TripAdvisor offer insights from fellow travelers on a wide variety of travel topics; some entries can be taken with a grain of salt, but others detail first-hand experiences with petty theft and other crime that can help you avoid trouble.

Ask Your Concierge

Never set out on an independent tour of a strange country without consulting a local expert first. Some locals may take a “no problem” attitude, but you usually can get a straight story on island safety conditions from your hotel concierge. On almost any Caribbean island there are good areas and bad ones — just like back home — and trusted locals can tell you which places to avoid.

Hire a Good Local Guide

A reputable guide not only can steer you clear of troubled neighborhoods, but also can act as a buffer when encountering panhandlers, pushy street vendors, potential con artists, and other sketchy characters during your travels.

Never Leave Valuables in Your Car

Car break-ins are among the most common crimes in the Caribbean. If you must leave items like cameras or other valuables behind, lock them in the trunk or put them out of sight, such as in the glovebox. In some Caribbean countries, rental cars are easily identified by their license plates, making them convenient targets, so an abundance of caution is warranted.

Lock Those Sliding Doors

Keyless electronic door locks may make the front door of your hotel room less accessible, but many travelers forget to lock up the sliding doors leading out to balconies or lanais. To keep your room safe from intruders or thieves, make sure that all the doors are locked before you leave or go to bed at night.

Use the In-Room Safe

Most hotels have an in-room safe that can be used to store valuables when you’re out on the beach or touring. It only takes a second to program the lock, and using the safe to store your jewelry, passports, etc. could save you lots of money and hassles.

Never Take Valuables to the Beach

You don’t want to leave purses, wallets, or jewelry unattended while you go for a swim. Just take whatever cash you need or a single credit card; leave the rest in the room safe.

Yacht Vacations

Yacht thefts have become a problem in some Caribbean destinations. If you arrive by boat, choose a marina with adequate security and be sure to lock up your cabins before heading out to explore.

Be Careful at Parties

Be careful at “jump-ups” or street parties, dance clubs, big party bars, or anywhere else where alcohol, tourists, and locals mix. Suffice to say that your safety risks in such settings rise in proportion to your alcohol consumption. Risks include everything from pickpockets to sexual violence and physical assault. Mixing with the locals is a great part of the island experience, but don’t go alone, drink in moderation, and don’t get too caught up in the party.

Don’t Buy Drugs

Not only is it illegal — even in Jamaica — the last people you want to be associating within the Caribbean are drug dealers. The vast majority of crime and murder in the Caribbean is associated with the drug trade. Tourists aren’t usually targeted, but you would hate to be the exception to the rule.

Being Alone

Don’t wander the beach — or anywhere else — alone at night. Enough said.

Arctic Cruise Tourism and Polar Bear Encounters

A recent and very unfortunate incident in Svalbard where a polar bear was killed in self-defense after attacking a man from a cruise vessel has engaged a lot of people around the world. The international media has given the incident considerable attention, and people in general are very engaged through social media.

Most of the attention has been focused on the bear, and many have criticized the operator for bringing tourists to this part of the world. An online petition asking people to boycott the tour operator involved in the incident has already collected tens of thousands of signatures. Surprisingly few have shown any interest in or concern for the injured man or others involved in the incident.

Polar bear conservation is a topic worth getting passionate about. The Arctic expedition cruise industry cares deeply about the protection of Arctic wildlife and operates under a strict principle of non-disturbance. However, some essential facts seem to be missing from the debate. Some of the criticism has been directed at Norway’s management of polar bears. It is important to keep in mind that Norway has signed the Polar Bear Agreement and, unlike some other Arctic countries, have banned polar bear hunting in Svalbard. According to numbers compiled by Ole J. Liodden in WildPhoto, 7500 polar bears have been killed in Canada, Alaska and Greenland in the ten-year period between 2007 and 2016. In the 45 years that have passed since the polar bear became protected in 1973, 131 polar bears have been killed in Svalbard, almost all of them in self-defense. Out of the 131 shootings, 50 bears, or almost 40%, were killed by scientists or field stations residents. Since in 1973, 15 polar bears have been killed in incidents connected with tourism. The great majority of cases involved people on private skiing expeditions and campers. In 45 years, two bears have been killed in connection with landings from cruise vessels and one in connected with a landing from a yacht.

Two dead bears in 45 years may not be a high number, but it is still two bears too many. It should not have happened, and the expedition cruise industry as a whole very strongly regrets that it did. Still, it was an emergency situation where human fatalities would have been the alternative. In this case, the person suffered moderate injuries before the bear was fended off, but this has not always been the case in Svalbard. There have been tragic deaths following polar bear attacks. Even if the injuries were moderate, the people involved will be marked by this incident for the rest of their lives. Not only have they experienced a trauma, they have also had to execute actions they truly wanted to avoid.

Some has raised criticism toward expedition cruise staff and implied that polar guides lack competence. In the case of responsible Arctic expedition cruise operators, this could not be further from the truth. One of the hallmarks of AECO’s members is their staff is highly educated, specially trained and have extensive polar experience. Staff are tested, certified and regularly trained, including on polar bear safety. Polar guides and expedition leaders are often people who have been drawn to this industry through their strong interest in nature and the environment, and many of them are actively involved in nature conservation efforts.

Some have claimed that expedition cruise passengers are world-weary millionaires who only care about ticking items of their bucket lists. This description completely misses the target. Expedition cruising attracts all kinds people, and you will find people of all ages and nationalities and from different walks of life. These people have travelled to the Arctic to experience its unique natural environment, wildlife and history and are generally eager to learn more about the areas they visit. Through their own experience and the efforts of skilled and engaging expedition leaders, guides and lecturers, they learn about the Arctic today and how it is developing. They see with their own eyes the effects of climate change and marine plastic pollution on the Arctic environment.  They are invited to pick up litter that have been brought to Arctic beaches from other sources, mainly fishing industry in other areas. They see how the glaciers withdraw from global warming, how environmental toxins affect birds and animals, and how a warmer climate allows non-native species to strike root in the Arctic.

Most expedition cruise tourists in the Arctic have a burning desire to protect the environment. While traveling in the Arctic, they engage in beach cleanups, citizen science and submit wildlife observations that are used in science. Both passengers and operators make significant donations to environmental and conservation organizations.

Experiencing the changing Arctic affects people. It makes them want to engage and act. This is how we create ambassadors and people who are willing to take actions to preserve the Arctic, and the environment in general. Restricting the public’s opportunity to experience the Arctic is to rob ourselves of the best tool we have to preserve the environment: people’s interest, knowledge and engagement.

The unfortunate polar bear incident gives reason to evaluate the current state of affairs. Examining which requirements should apply to the tourism industry should be part of these discussions. However, denying people the chance to experience the Arctic should not be up for discussion. Polar bears are present all over Svalbard and can be encountered anywhere and at any time. Several well-known migratory paths cross central parts of Spitsbergen and polar bears are observed in and close to settlements numerous times every year. As long as the Arctic is the home of people and human activity, people and polar bears have to coexist. However, the tourism industry and authorities will continue the work to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to avoid conflicts between the two.

UNESCO Designates Japan’s 18th World Cultural Heritage Set

“The Hidden Christian Sites of Nagasaki”

UNESCO has designated a series of sites associated with the checkered history of Christians in 16th- to 19th-century Japan as the country’s 18th World Cultural Heritage Site. The “site” is comprised of 10 villages in northwest Kyushu, as well as the ruins of Hara Castle — originally built by the Portuguese — and St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the city of Nagasaki.

Because the practice of Christianity was banned in Japan until 1873, Christians (known as Kakure Kirishitan) worshiped — and missionaries spread the gospel — in secret. It is the sites’ “secret” churches in remote seacoast “Christian” villages and isolated islands that are the main component of UNESCO’s recognition. The ruins of Hara Castle are another element, as it was used by Portuguese and Dutch missionaries.

One of the most visible examples of UNESCO’s designation is Nagasaki’s Roman Catholic St. Mary’s Cathedral – also known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception — built in 1914 after the ban on Christianity was lifted. The original cathedral was destroyed by the atomic bomb that fell on Nagasaki in August 1945 and a replica of the original was consecrated in 1959. Statues and artifacts damaged in the bombing, including a French Angelus bell, are now displayed on the grounds (and at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception). The nearby Peace Park contains remnants of the original cathedral’s walls. Oura Church is another Catholic church in Nagasaki. Built towards the end of the Edo Period in 1864 by a French missionary for the growing community of foreign merchants in the city, it is considered the oldest standing Christian church in Japan and one of the country’s greatest national treasures.

Historically, Nagasaki was long the initial entryway for foreigners to Japan. It was in Nagasaki in 1859, after the United States’ Commodore Perry used gunboat diplomacy to demand an end to Japan’s more than 200-year-old policy of isolation, that diplomats from countries around the world came to demand that the port be opened to trade. Thereafter, Emperor Meiji declared Nagasaki a free port in 1859. And it was Nagasaki that was the setting for John Luther Long’s 1898 novel, Madame Butterfly, which, in 1904, was transformed into an opera by Giacomo Puccini, and remains one of the world’s most beloved operas.

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The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many people rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight. In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia — a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture — was celebrated.

What Is Saturnalia?

Saturnalia, the most popular holiday on the ancient Roman calendar, derived from older farming-related rituals of midwinter and the winter solstice, especially the practice of offering gifts or sacrifices to the gods during the winter sowing season.

The pagan celebration of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and time, began as a single day, but by the late Republic (133-31 B.C.) it had expanded to a weeklong festival beginning December 17. (On the Julian calendar, which the Romans used at the time, the winter solstice fell on December 25.)

During Saturnalia, work and business came to a halt. Schools and courts of law closed, and the normal social patterns were suspended. People decorated their homes with wreaths and other greenery, and shed their traditional togas in favor of colorful clothes known as synthesis. Gifts were exchanged. Even slaves did not have to work during Saturnalia, but were allowed to participate in the festivities; in some cases, they sat at the head of the table while their masters served them.

Instead of working, Romans spent Saturnalia gambling, singing, playing music, feasting, socializing and giving each other gifts. Wax taper candles called cerei were common gifts during Saturnalia, to signify light returning after the solstice.

On the last day of Saturnalia celebrations, known as the Sigillaria, many Romans gave their friends and loved ones small terracotta figurines known as signillaria, which may have referred back to older celebrations involving human sacrifice.

Would Christianity Have Spread Without the Romans?

With Christians hiding in catacombs and the Apostle Paul (Saul) quietly spreading the word of Christ in homes and secret locations, Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius in February 313 A.D. issued the Edict of Milan, a proclamation that permanently established religious toleration for Christianity within the Roman Empire. Curiously, Constantine I died in 337, and apparently converted to Christianity on his deathbed without completely understanding the meaning of this new religion. It was his mother who introduced him to her ‘understanding’ of Christianity, and changed the day of worship to Sunday.

How Saturnalia Led to Christmas

The Christian holiday of Christmas, especially, owes many of its traditions to the ancient Roman festival, including the time of year Christmas is celebrated. The Bible does not give a date for Jesus’ birth; in fact, some theologians have concluded he was probably born in spring, as suggested by references to shepherds and sheep in the Nativity Story.

By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, Roman Catholic church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, the Roman Catholic Church decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention a date for his birth, a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration. Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring, why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter? Pope Julius I chose December 25, 336 AD as the date when Christmas was first celebrated in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had traveled all the way to Scandinavia.

On Christmas, most believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the “lord of misrule” and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined “debt” to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

Saint Francis of Assisi & the Nativity Scene

Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first live Nativity Scene in 1223 in order to cultivate the worship of Christ. He himself had recently been inspired by his visit to the Holy Land, where he’d been shown Jesus’s traditional birthplace. The scene’s popularity inspired countries to stage similar pantomimes.

In the Christian tradition, a Nativity Scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche or in Italian presepio or presepe) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects representing the birth of Jesus.  While the term Nativity Scene may be used of any representation of the very common subject of the Nativity of Jesus in art, it has a more specialized sense referring to seasonal displays, either using model figures in a setting or reenactments called “living Nativity Scenes” (tableau vivant) in which real humans and animals participate. Nativity Scenes exhibit figures representing the infant Jesus, his mother, Mary, and her husband, Joseph.

Other characters from the Nativity Story, such as shepherds, sheep, and angels may be displayed near the manger in a barn (or cave) intended to accommodate farm animals, as described in the Gospel of Luke. A donkey and an ox are typically depicted in the scene, and the Magi and their camels, described in the Gospel of Matthew, are also included. Several cultures add other characters and objects that may or may not be Biblical.

Oliver Cromwell & the Outlaw Christmas Movement

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way the Roman Catholic Mass of Christ was celebrated in Protestant Reformation Europe. When tyrant Oliver Cromwell, an English soldier and statesman, who led parliamentary forces in the English Civil Wars, became lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1653–58), he vowed to rid the commonwealth of all decadence and banned Christmas. And, of course, it was a Roman Catholic holiday, too. Cromwell’s Puritan soldiers were sent among the streets to remove food cooking for Christmas dinners and all decorations. In Catholic Ireland it was much worse, primarily because of his brutal ethnic cleansing, euphemistically called Cromwellian Genocide.

Upon Cromwell’s death, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The Pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Christmas wasn’t declared a U.S. federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

A Christmas Carol

Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story’s message – the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind – struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.

The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention and gifts on their children without appearing to “spoil” them.

As some Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.

Irving Reinvents Christmas

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to completely realize Christmas, where they re-invented the celebration, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But why did the 1800s peak American interest in the holiday?

Well, it was a period of class conflict and turmoil in the U.S. Unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York City council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

In 1819, American author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended – in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.

Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings – Another Kind of War on Christmas?

“Season’s greetings” is a greeting more commonly used as a motto on winter season greeting cards, and in commercial advertisements, than as a spoken phrase. In addition to “Merry Christmas,” Victorian Christmas cards bore a variety of salutations, including “compliments of the season” and “Christmas greetings.” In the late 19th century, “with the season’s greetings” or simply “the season’s greetings,” began appearing on cards. By the 1920s it had been shortened to “season’s greetings,” and has been a greeting card fixture ever since. Several White House Christmas cards, including U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower‘s 1955 card, have featured the phrase.

Facing a confrontation for the good natured greeting to a stranger of “Happy Holidays,” is the antithesis  of the Christmas spirit. As one victim pointed out, it’s closer to Ebenezer Scrooge’s “Bah, Humbug” than a defense of the phrase “Merry Christmas.” In the past several years, there has been an open movement against the presumed secular phrase of “Happy Holidays.”

Perhaps, we have forgotten that “Happy Holidays” is a deviation of the Roman Catholic greeting of  “Happy Holy Days.” So what’s so unholy about that? “Merry Christmas also stems from the Roman Catholic “Mass of Christ.”

Saying “Happy Holidays” can also be used as a term of respect when one doesn’t know the religious convictions of a a stranger. We want the season to be all-inclusive period where everyone has fun.

Although many U.S. contemporary families falsely believe they are celebrating Christmas as how it had been done for centuries, Americans had actually re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.

And, with that said: Happy Holidays to all!

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I have to apologize for my email last week it was crude and insensitive. I don’t know what came over me. I thank a dear brother who was bold enough to point out how offensive the article and the joke were. If I could retract my email, I would. Now I know how all the celebrities and politicians feel when they utter something so stupid.

Another brother said that it was “bad” but there were a lot worse jokes going around. I told him that Christians should be accountable to a higher standard. Christians may try their best but they are far from perfect.

The apostle Paul said that Christians should run the race with the intent to win. In our race called life, we are encouraged to be like Christ in all we do. I am part of that race and (unfortunately) last week, this runner stumbled — big time. Please accept my apology. There is no excuse.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize'”

— 1 Corinthians 9:24

TGIF people!

Immutable Laws

Contributed by Tom of Pasadena, CA

1. Law of Mechanical Repair 
Once your hands become coated with grease, your nose will immediately begin to itch and you’ll have to pee.

2. Law of Gravity
Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible place in the universe.

3. Law of Probability
The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

4. Law of Random Numbers
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal; someone always answers.

5. Variation Law
If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.

6. Law of the Bath
When your body is fully immersed in water, the telephone will ring. If you don’t get out to answer it, it will have been important. If you do get out and answer it, it will be someone you didn’t want to talk with anyway.

7. Law of Close Encounters
The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don’t want to be seen with.

8. Law of the Result
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won’t work, it will.

9. Law of Biomechanics
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

10. Law of the Theaters & Sports Arenas
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle, always arrive last. They also are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet; and the ones who leave before the end of the performance, or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies; and they stay to the end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.

11. The Coffee Law
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

12. Murphy’s Law of Lockers
If there are only 2 people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

13. Law of Physical Surfaces
The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.

14. Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible IF you don’t know what you are talking about.

15. Law of Physical Appearance
If the clothes fit, they’re ugly.

16. Law of Public Speaking
A closed mouth gathers no feet!

17. Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy
As soon as you find a product that you really like, the manufacturer will stop making it. OR the store you shop at will stop selling it.

18. Doctors’ Law
If you don’t feel well and make an appointment with your doctor, by the time you get there you’ll feel better. But if you don’t make an appointment, you’ll stay sick.

TGIF Videos

Parting Shot

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who provided this photo

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