Blogs

The Democratizing Forces of Online Schooling

By Estelle Shumann

Technology has changed almost everything about the way we live in the 21st century, including our ability to pursue education on our own terms through online college classes. Prestigious universities were once off-limits to all but the brightest students and those with either the financial means to pay astronomical tuition or the good luck to get scholarships.

A Historical Moment

by Knolly Moses

The BBC’s insulting interview with a West Indian elder spread virally on the Internet this week. With colonial high-handedness, a rude and inept news presenter suggested Darcus Howe was a rioter. Fiona Armstrong’s vacuous attempt at painting the respected writer and broadcaster as a criminal was as disingenuous as it was disrespectful, and cost the venerable news organization much of its credibility.

The Death Penalty Debate Continues...

by Demari Stevens

The ongoing debate about the death penalty has reached new heights in recent week as the Prime Minister and senior government officials have spoken strong words about the reintroduction of capital punishment.

What were you thinking, Dr. Phillips!

by Gigs

Just when it seemed like PNP comrades were mending fences and making nice, along comes a WikiLeaks exposé to tear down the fragile façade of unity. In a 2008 US diplomatic cable, Peter Philips apparently agreed with a US official that Jamaica risked becoming like Haiti if Portia Simpson-Miller, whom he called a “disaster”, was returned to power.

If that wasn’t bad enough, he went on to tell the US official that it would be too distasteful to serve under another Simpson-Miller run government, and that the 18-year PNP administration had run Jamaica into the ground.

Jamaica Underground
by Russell Meghoo

Under the smog of Dancehall and culture artistes in Jamaica there lies a smaller community that has long remained under the radar. These are artistes less attached to the trends in Jamaican music and more fascinated with the international scene because of their exposure to different influences.

Presenting the Jamaican musical underground, consisting of fusion bands, rock, punk, Hip Hop, electronic and even some not restricted to any particular genre.

Don’t Kill The Messenger

Is it a case of Tek shame mek fight or does Prime Minister Bruce Golding have a valid point? Golding is lashing out at the Gleaner for publishing WikiLeaks’ confidential diplomatic cables that have caste his administration in a bad light. He claims, “There is a sustained effort being made by the power brokers of North Street to harass the government.”

Oh, island in the sun

Does anybody else feel as if they work just to pay utility bills? Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but you get the general idea. We want especially to single out the Jamaica Public Service and their ever-escalating utility rates. In April, yet again JPS applied to Office of Utilities Regulation for rate review due to inflation. In Jamaican parlance, “Dem jus a di out we yeye”.

Of Corruption and Double Standards

Once again corruption is in the headlines. Well, to be exact, Jamaica’s high level of corruption. Contractor General Greg Christie has made yet another call for Jamaicans to demand decisive and urgent action in the fight against corruption; the US government says corruption continues to undermine efforts against drug and other major crimes; and all the while the white noise continues from the verandahs of upper St. Andrew as the occupants bemoan the corrupt state of affairs in Jamaica.

Stop the road carnage!

And the carnage on our roads continues . . . Three promising students from Holmwood Technical High School killed in a tragic crash.

Why so many road fatalities? Is it the bad roads, excessive speeding, overtaking, people who buy their driver’s license instead of learning to drive, or all of the above? And let’s not forget the “Stupid Factor” because ignorance is rife on our roads. Even from those who should know better.

Mother Earth is a mother…

Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money. Native American Proverb

When the BP oil spill happened some months ago it was scary. It was scary until we realized that there were problems capping the leak. Then it was terrifying! What if it had hit Jamaican waters? What if it affected our fish population?

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