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Are we free or still slaves?
Michael
A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)
In August, we Jamaicans and many others throughout much of the black diaspora will be celebrating emancipation - freedom from slavery. During the 19th century, in the 1830s, our ancestors were “freed” by Great Britain. Since then, we have been celebrating, trying to convince ourselves that we are truly free. However, are we really free or are we still slaves? Why do I ask this?
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A popular black Jamaican Rastafarian musician publicly stated his preference for non-black women some years ago - a clear indication that black people are still slaves! |
Take, for instance, our total technological dependence. For a “free” people, we are one almost totally dependent on others for the technologies necessary for our own survival. We, like slaves, cannot, it seems, come up with the technologies that will even ensure our existence. All of our medical systems, including those that facilitate birth and crucial ones that help to sustain life are all creations of other peoples. If these other peoples did not give us these technologies, there would be far fewer of us black people today. A truly free people would at least be creating at least some of these crucial technologies.
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| School Management System Advertisement
Are you a school administrator looking for a computerized system that will greatly improve how your school is managed? Do you want to be able to automatically generate student assessment reports, efficiently manage student and teacher demographic data, and quickly and accurately manage student fees? Do you want to be able to quickly prepare timetables and be able to quickly tell who should be where doing what? Do you want to be able to electronically manage documents very efficiently? Do you want an efficient means to manage student marks, grades, absence, lateness, commendations and sanctions? Do you want very efficient book assignment management? Do you want to be able to automatically, efficiently and accurate promote students from year to year? Do you want to be able to do limitless electronic queries that are fast, accurate and complete? Do you want graphical data analysis?
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Is your school in need of all this and much, much more? If the answer is YES - then search no more! Welcome to School Manager - the answer to your school’s administrative needs.
[Email for more information... (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)]
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| GoGSAT.com subscribers win five scholarships including top GSAT boy award!
Shalette A. East (shaleast@yahoo.com)
Jamaica's premier GSAT examination preparation website congratulates all GSAT students. We salute our phenomenal subscribers who won scholarships. Kevin Robinson … "GoGSAT gave me the necessary practice to help with my GSAT preparation..."
Kevin Robinson of Mt. Alvernia Preparatory School, St. James, outperformed his peers in this year's Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), copping the Scotia Bank award for the top boy. "GoGSAT gave me the necessary practice to help with my GSAT preparation. I was able to perform very well in the GSAT and won the 2006 Scotia Bank Top Boy award. I will be attending Cornwall College. Thanks to my Parents, my teachers and GoGSAT", Kevin Robinson.
Robert Henriques of Hillel Academy and Preparatory won a Government scholarship to Campion College. "My son Robert Adam Henriques got a Government Scholarship to Campion College! Thanks GoGSAT. Also, special recognition MUST go to his Grade 6 teacher, Ms. Desmarie Hines and Mrs. Sheila Purdom, the Director of Hillel Academy, who both did a SUPERB job preparing the children for the exam." Deborah Lanigan.
Yasheka Mangaroo of Boundbrook Primary, won the Horlicks Region 2 scholarship and will be attending Titchfield High School. "GoGSAT assisted greatly with my GSAT preparation. I passed my examination for Titchfield High and was able to win the Horlicks region 2 scholarship. Thanks GoGSAT" Yasheka Mangaroo.
Joshua Ardito of Mar Jam Preparatory, won a Government Scholarship to Campion College. "My son used GoGSAT often during his preperation, we are sure it helped him, to do better." Ricardo Ardito.
Blair Henry of Santa Cruz Preparatory, won the Blue Cross Commercial scholarship and will be attending Immaculate Conception High. "GoGSAT assisted by being an excellent study tool to assist in the timing for my exams and preparing for the type of questions that would be presented!" Blair Henry.
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| Statement by Henry Charles, Regional Director Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Center
Robert Bazil (rbazil@cypcaribbean.org)
Landmark Commission can help transform regional Youth Development landscape provided it receives the fullest support of all youth development stakeholders.
A progressive and significant decision was taken by CARICOM Heads of Government at the 27th regular meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis to establish a Commission on Youth Development to among other issues investigate the issues and challenges confronting young people in the Caribbean. This decision should be embraced by all regional youth development stakeholders as an ideal opportunity to further advance the regional youth development agenda.
Both in terms of its historical relevance and contextual significance the proposed commission can be equated to the Moyne Commission which was established by the then colonial authorities’ consequent upon a period of unprecedented social, economic and political upheaval within the colonies in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. During that period the challenges emanated from the combined negative impact of the economic and social policies of the plantocracy and allied ruling class on the working people and other less privileged sectors of the society.
Today the challenges facing young people are driven largely by inadequate social and economic opportunities. The situation assumes greater complexity and potential crisis proportions in the face of ill-advised adherence to irrelevant, antiquated and myopic youth development policies.
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| Corn-based Ethanol: Offering Some Relief from Globalization's Merciless Quest to Replace Fossil Fuel
Stephanie Leland (coha@coha.org)
Contrary to the usual outcome of Washington’s subsidies to U.S. farmers, recent grants for ethanol producers could actually improve many lives, both at home and abroad. As the Bush administration aggressively encourages the production of ethanol, a renewable, more environmentally friendly bio-fuel, to replace increasingly pricey gasoline in automobiles, domestic and foreign corn markets will have to undergo some major adjustments. The U.S. hopes to decrease gasoline consumption by augmenting the production of compounds such as E-85 fuel, which is a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that can replace regular gasoline in almost every vehicle sold today in the U.S. This could make a real dent in U.S. reliance on foreign petroleum as a result of a major shift to a domestic, non-hydrocarbon fuel source.
A Growth Industry
In the U.S., ethanol is made by distilling corn kernels, but for this country to make enough ethanol to keep foreign oil off its highways, half of the nation’s farmland would have to be devoted to growing corn for fuel. Realistically, U.S. farmers cannot grow enough corn to feed all U.S. cars, cows, and humans, as well as Washington’s close trading partners; farmers abroad should see this as a welcomed opportunity to reverse their present status and again see themselves as competitive. Currently, farm subsidies awarded by Congress to U.S. farmers to harvest bounteous corn crops allows for low domestic prices while also guaranteeing U.S. dominance in international corn markets. But as the need for growing ethanol production strains domestic corn supplies, U.S. corn producers may have to consider curbing their exports to Latin American countries
in order to meet the increasing demand for domestic U.S. ethanol production. One thing is for certain: the ultimate beneficiaries of heavily subsidized U.S. corn-ethanol will be major agro-industries like Archer Daniels Midland and other agro-industry multinationals which are likely to join in its production at a later date due to its lucrative nature.
According to the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service’s report on 2006 corn exports, Mexico receives about 15 percent of the U.S. commodity while other Latin American countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Guatemala take in another 15 percent. With U.S. producers accounting for smaller amounts of corn shipments for export and asking for higher prices due to the resulting corn scarcity, corn farmers in these countries, especially those in Mexico, at some point will be able to compete on the world market and gain the revenues recently denied them due to their inability to compete. The extent to which these changes in the marketing of corn will affect Latin America depends on how strong the corn-ethanol demand remains. Although there are some potential threats to corn-ethanol’s much touted future, its general prospects look promising.
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