Old guard Caribbean integrationists will be pleased at the news that Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Patrick Manning has pledged to put his country’s petroleum dollars into a regional development fund, a promise that likely signals his intention to challenge Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez’s Petro Caribe initiative that has put a wedge in Caribbean Community (CARICOM) [...]
Raw, real, melodic. These are all words that describe the sound that comes out of Ruth Osman’s mouth. Osman, a Guyanese jazz singer and flautist, has been performing since she was a child. She started to take music lessons at age eight, beginning with the recorder and eventually moving on to voice and flute. Her [...]
It’s shaping up to be a summer of Caribbean hot hits from VP Records with releases from top reggae, dance hall and soca artists from the region. Queen Ifrica and Sean Paul lead the list of artists with new releases while Tanto Metro and Devonte, Vybz Kartel and Bushman feature on compilations of evergreen hits. [...]
A National Commission on Reparations for slavery has been launched (May 14) by Jamaica’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Olivia “Babsy” Grange. Minister Grange announced that the job of the Commission will be to: receive submissions, hear testimonies, evaluate research and studies; engage in dialogue with relevant interest groups and legal academic experts; and [...]
The new gas tax added in the latest Jamaican national budget is bad but when you tax reading material including text books this has to come from a government that has gone mad and is intent on helping the poor to get poorer. Christopher Kennedy, president of the Customs Brokers Association calls it “a retrograde [...]
The application of Jamaica’s General Consumption tax (GCT) to previously exempt books is causing ire among some who see the move as an attack on literacy in a country struggling to eliminate illiteracy with a less than lustrous education system. “Hard to believe we have to take time to oppose a literary tax in this [...]
With the global downturn, many organisations worldwide are taking one, or a combination of the following five actions – reducing the size of their staff, reducing the income of staff, mandating that staff work a four day-week instead of the regular five-day week, work a five-day week for a four-day pay or simply close business [...]
Tishanna * – diagnosed as HIV positive at age 21 – never knew her father. What she does know is that her great need for love and the abuse meted out by relatives while she was still a small child, has derailed her dreams and changed her life forever. Tishanna, now 25, was sexually, physically [...]
The international V-DAY 2009 campaign is on in Jamaica. Between March 18 and April 3, V-DAY KINGSTON 2009 a team of talented and committed women and men will be donating their time and talent to the V-DAY Kingston offering spearheaded by organizer/director fabian thomas. V-DAY KINGSTON 2009 will include four events: A soft Launch that [...]
Contrary to popular sentiments, Abe Dabdoub is to be commended for vigorously pursuing justice, for perceived wrongs, through legitimate means. If more Jamaicans followed his example, ours would be a better and more peaceful country. Mr. Dabdoub is a victim – “a prophet hath honour, save in his own country”. History will be kind to [...]