Editor’s Note: Women – Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. There’s something irresistibly-ish about them. Sometimes you just can understand what is it they really want. Well, here’s the latest thing I learned about some women that just has me nodding my head at the monitor as I read this article, so will you.

Ask for what you want ladies – By Javier

A while back a friend of mine was having issues with his girlfriend, and because I know the both of them so well I was able to size up the situation and figure out what the problem was. My friend’s girlfriend is one of those independent types, very goal-oriented and has her life planned out years in advance. My friend, however, is one of those day-by-day types, who just lets life unfold (see people opposites do attract).

Anyway, in my estimation, what happened was that she was becoming increasingly annoyed at his approach to life, she seemed to want him to start showing some of those signs of maturity, like talking about owning a house or career advancement etc. Fresh out of college and in his job for less than a year, those things are the last thing on my friend’s mind. Obviously they were both on a collision course.

My gripe has nothing to do with the collision course or even her not-wanting to understand my friend’s take on life, but really with how his girlfriend acted in the run up to it.

Being the independent type, my friend’s girlfriend has made it clear on many occasions that she can’t really see herself not being in control of her life or even being in the position where she has to depend too much on my friend. Yet for some reason she would on occasions go into this kind of blonde routine where she seems to want to be told what to do and led around like a little kid.

To me it came across as her wanting him to acknowledge her independence while at the same time wanting the security of knowing that she can depend on him if she needs to. She wanted, I think, the security of knowing that he could be “the man“.

The frequency with which she would do this suggested that she wasn’t testing him (as women are known to do) but doing it subconsciously. So to us she would come off like a crazy person during times like these.

I know emotions can make us do weird things, but I thought the whole thing was just awkward. It showed the crazy ways women respond when they are afraid to ask for what they want. Rather than just talk to my friend to get the kind of assurance she needed she let her personality change completely into this thing that none of us could stand.

I guess the moral of the story, ladies, is ask for what you want. That way you can avoid bringing out your crazy alter ego, and making your boyfriend consider dumping you because he thinks you’re crazy. Did I mention he will think you’re crazy, cause I just want to stress that.

Share this Dominica article with your friends:

Related Post

• Women Beaters – Stop It!
• How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking
• Here’s To The “Other” Mothers: Step-Moms, Ex-Wives, And Everyone Else
• Recognising Our Caribbean Women
• Investing in our women…We Cannot Go Wrong

1 Comment →

Last week, Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago accompanied by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas of Grenada, visited Dominica to brief local political leaders on a new initiative for deeper integration among four Caribbean countries.

At a meeting on August 14 in Port of Spain, the leaders of Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and St. Lucia launched an initiative aimed at collaboration towards the Achievement of a Single Market and Economy and Political Integration and Regional Air Transportation.

It is not yet clear if the new Single Market and Economy proposed by these four states would fit into or run at the side of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), to which all four islands have binding commitments. However, the four pioneers say they intend to establish a single economy by 2011 and political integration by 2013.

Indeed, while the proponents of the new initiative invite membership of all CARICOM states, they assert that no initiative associated with the implementation of their joint declaration would undermine the CSME or economic cohesion established by the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

This break-off faction has clear implications for the wider regional integration process. In the first place, it implies a move towards a more uneven process in which a cadre moves in concert while the rest move at different paces. A union within a union could change the dynamic of the CSME dramatically and plunge it into a fog of uncertainty.

In addition, the new initiative seeks appropriate political integration, but the advocates have not yet defined this precisely. Does this amalgamation intend to move towards a single political process with unified political leadership within the union’s political space? This would seriously impact the self-determination of individual members.

Proponents of the new initiative claim that it would not affect the CSME negatively, but it is hard to see how they can maintain this line of reasoning if the movement mushrooms. The initiative invites membership of all CARICOM nations and if they all join, it is hard to see how the initiative could co-exist with CARICOM and the CSME.

This possibility has already brought a sharp response. The Jamaican government has adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach saying, “The decision of some CARICOM countries to establish a political union has implications for the structure and, indeed, the future of CARICOM.” Clearly, leaders of the region must resolve the issue quickly and decisively.

There is another troubling concern. Prime Minister Manning has a long history of initiating various political unions in the Caribbean. Many of his critics say this reflects his ambition to lead the region by virtue of being leader of the most economically privileged nation in the region.

Some also claim that Manning’s initiatives are based on a lifelong goal to dilute the political power of the East Indian community in his native land. According to this allegation, Manning wants economic and political unions with predominantly African states to thin out the economic and political power of the Indians outside the main support base of his political party.

The advocates of the new initiative would have to work hard and talk fast to dispel suspicions that it is a mere tool of Manning’s vaulting personal ambitions, or a facade for a future Trinidad and Tobago hegemony. They will also have to specify what this initiative will accomplish that cannot be achieved within established regional agreements.

This Article was published in the Editorial section of the Chronicle Newspaper – August 29, 2008

Share this Dominica article with your friends:

Related Post

• CSME Stumbling Blocks Keep Popping Up
• Rosalie Sea Turtle Initiative Project
• Thoughts on the OECS Economic Union
• Caribbean Artists And TikTok Influencers Join Forces To Communicate Hurricane Season
• Opportunities For Skilled Independant Migrants

Add Comments →

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

Share this Dominica article with your friends:

Related Post

• We Need to Make Some Serious Sacrifices
• Is The Financial Crisis Reshaping Our Values?
• Difficult Period of Uncertainty Ahead
• How are you coping with the credit crunch?
• Unemployment Crisis?

6 Comments →