Dominica Island Blog: Sharing Every Dominican Moment with the World

The Government of Dominica is apparent faced with the very difficult task of routing Dominica from the present economic crisis it suffers under. To compound the situation, this has to be done against the backdrop of soaring global food and fuel prices and there is also the unpredictable criminal element.

So how then will the leaders of our nature isle manage to stabilize the economy, soften the public impact from raising food cost and protect the citizens while doing so?

Government ministers have tried to quiet down those who have expressed concerns over these troubling issues by airing ways in which they intend to remedy the situation - to this date none of these remedies have proven fruitful.

One of the ideas being propelled by the government is that of the country should move in the direction of a self-sustaining agriculture programme; which I support a 110%. Recently, my friend and fellow blogger Danielle Edwards expressed the same opinion in her post entitled: Cooking up Local Remedies to stomach Rising Food prices.

People are being encouraged to return to the land by way of subsistence farming to secure food for themselves and their family. This, however, appears to be all that is being done even though a very worthy attempt was by the government to let people know that the task of sustenance does not solely belong to the government.

From the looks of it, the people of Dominica seem to be waiting for the problem to reach to point where it’s out of control before they can implement the suggestions of the government. We seem to have become so dependent on the government for solving our every problem that we refuse to be self-sufficient.

Agriculture is being branded as a by-product of slavery and is often described as a dirty job that has too much hard work associated with it. There are many people, however, who have proven agriculture provides hard but honest work and an investment that could provide very worthwhile returns. There is also the idea of creating backyard gardens is also being explored and the country’s minister of agriculture has been advocating of this type of land use.

In the industrialised world or what we refer to as the First World will be the first to benefit from any turn in events or when world economies stabilise once more, which is not predicted to occur for the next two years. This means we will still be victims to high food prices. Recently it was reported that gas prices had lowered, but did we feel this change? Meanwhile statistics are showing that the amount of money spent on imports ridiculously exceeds that of our exports.

I strongly believe that if Dominica gets busy developing its agricultural product this could well have other spin-off positive effects. We could well see a drastic change in the rate at which criminal activity is growing. Agriculture has the ingredients to develop discipline, patience, contentment and values which are the things which seem to be most lacking in our present society.

Agriculture could then present the Dominica Government with a win-win situation. Don’t you think? Let hear ‘em comments

Related Post

• Caribbean Summit on HIV And AIDS
• OECS leaders sign declaration of intent to form economic union
• Sooth Your Spirits at Shangri-La Resort
• Sustainable Development Ideas for Dominica
• EPA-Failure Not An Option

6 Comments →

Photo by: Getty Images

In the recently concluded Olympic Games in Beijing, the United States Sprint relay teams appeared to be struck by a lightning storm or perhaps it was a single Bolt that made them so nervous that they found it difficult to come out of the paralysis. Could it been Usain Bolt and his two world record which nobody will be breaking anything soon?

It’s funny how some of the sports editors got all creative when headlining Bolt total domination.

“Bolt flashes to double gold”

“Lightning Bolt Strikes Twice!”

If I had the opportunity to headline one I would maybe suggested something like “Bolt Screwed US hopes for a Gold” but they probably would not have used that one anyway.

The reality was so shocking to those who consider themselves the best in the world that I wouldn’t be surprised if many American heads were to roll and the face of athletics change forever in the US. I hope the dope testers will be on guard because some athletes might take it seriously when they would have recalled the words of Malcolm X “by any means necessary.” Who knows, maybe what they have jailed the likes of Marion Jones for, will seem like Childs play in times to come as some try to recapture top position.

I too was amazed by the 21-year-old Bolt, even though I can’t say that I found anything impressive about his dancing following his record breaking victories, but when you have done such great work as a minority – the critics will have their say.

Meanwhile, the Jamaican women did their bit to keep the heads of the already breathless US sprinters under the water by dominating their rivals to the maximum. I believe it’s only a matter of time before some of the other countries in the Caribbean get to show their talent in various other disciplines and get the confidence to believe they can really come up against those who say they are the biggest and the best and still come out ahead. We have to do something quickly to make the people of this country believe that they indeed can be among the best in the world.

If it happens tomorrow, it would not have come soon enough as there are some people in the Caribbean that still find they are being treated as second-class citizens in their own little part of the world.

If you do not think this statement holds anything serious then just ask the media practitioners in Antigua, where they rank when it comes to police offering information to them as opposed to their British counterparts in relation to the recent killings of a British couple.The Antiguan Police Commissioner has got to show he has got more nuts than he has fruit and tell these English guys to cool down because they’re in his jurisdiction - but that’s a entire different story.

Anyway, I would like to take this opportunity to Congratulate Usain Bolt, the 2008 Olympic Games 100m and 200m Champion.

Related Post

• Letter From Dominica Minister For Tourism
• It’s That Time of The Year Again; Hurricane Season
• Caribbean Countries Operating as a Single Nation
• Hurricane Dean: The View from a Distance and in Hindsight
• Has the CSM achieved its goal?

No Comments →

Editor’s note: Found this interesting Post on the Msn.com, which speaks about Cell phones and the potential health risks they can have on humans. Over the last 8–10 years there has been an explosion of Cell phones in the Caribbean market, and Dominica is no exception. Nowadays nearly everyone owns one or more cell phones; but very few people know the potential health risks cell phones can have people. So I thought it would be interesting to share this article with *DW* readers.

It took years for the hazards of smoking to come to light. Now there’s debate over the safety of mobile phones, but studies on their possible health effects are far from definitive.

Why can’t we get a definitive answer about cell phones and health?

Mobile phones have been around for more than 20 years, and they’re now used by more than 3 billion people. Yet questions linger over whether mobile phones can contribute to health problems, including cancer.

The most recent alarm came from the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, who warned school employees to limit their cell phone use based on early unpublished data from scientific studies.

“Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell-phone use,” Ronald Herberman wrote in a memo to 3,000 faculty and staff members in late July.

To be clear, many studies have presented evidence that cell phones are safe. Major players in the wireless industry, including Nokia, Motorola, Verizon and AT&T, say there is no cause for concern.

“The overwhelming majority of studies that have been published in scientific journals around the globe show that wireless phones do not pose a health risk,” according to a press release from the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association issued in response to Herberman’s memo.

But definitive scientific proof is tough to come by.

One key reason is that people use their cell phones, by definition, in ways that make them hard to study. We make phone calls on the go, from the grocery store or in our cars. That makes it difficult to reap the precise details important to scientific study, such as how long we use the phone or which side of the head it is pressed against.

The topic also falls between areas of scientific study, with doctors expert in the human body on one side and engineers well-versed in radio technology on the other.

Finally, time is an issue. While cell phones have been around a while, they’ve been mainstream products for only 10 years or so, and it may take much longer than that for adverse effects to show up.

(more…)

Related Post

• Should Schools Make Cell Phones a No-Nos
• Things To Consider When Purchasing New Cell Phone Batteries
• Cell Phones Affects Your Brain Waves
• Free-Up Your Cell Phone
• Incorporating the Art of Doing Nothing in Your Daily Life

No Comments →