January 6, 2012

Jamaica will become a republic, new prime minister vows

Portia Simpson Miller has been sworn in for the second time as Jamaica's prime minister with a pledge to ease poverty, boost the economy, heal political divisions and drop the Queen as head of state.

Simpson Miller, who was prime minister for a year and half until 2007, took the oath of office before roughly 10,000 guests on the grounds of the governor-general's official residence.

The 66-year-old politician scored a dramatic victory in last week's national elections, leading her centre-left People's National party to a 2-1 margin in parliament over the centre-right Jamaica Labour party. Her opposition faction won a dominating 42 seats in the 63-seat legislature, leaving the incumbent party with 21.

Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/06/prime-minister-jamaica-republic-portia


K&R

January 2, 2012

If you could choose a national anthem.

I'd pick 'Freedom Come-all-Ye
Written by Hamish Henderson

"It describes a wind of change blowing through Scotland and the world at large, sweeping away exploitation and imperialism. It renounces the tradition of the Scottish soldier both as imperial cannon-fodder and colonial oppressor, and ends with a vision of a future global society which is multiracial and just."

Lyrics: In lallans

Roch the wind in the clear day's dawin
Blaws the cloods heilster-gowdie owre the bay
But there's mair nor a roch wind blawin
Thro the Great Glen o the warld the day
It's a thocht that wad gar oor rottans
Aa thae rogues that gang gallus fresh an gay
Tak the road an seek ither loanins
Wi thair ill-ploys tae sport an play

Nae mair will our bonnie callants
Merch tae war when oor braggarts crousely craw
Nor wee weans frae pitheid an clachan
Mourn the ships sailin doun the Broomielaw
Broken faimlies in lands we've hairriet
Will curse 'Scotlan the Brave' nae mair, nae mair
Black an white ane-til-ither mairriet
Mak the vile barracks o thair maisters bare

Sae come aa ye at hame wi freedom
Never heed whit the houdies croak for Doom
In yer hoos aa the bairns o Adam
Will find breid, barley-bree an paintit rooms
When Maclean meets wi's friens in Springburn
Aa thae roses an geans will turn tae blume
An yon black boy frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doun.

2nd Choice

Caledonia


I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
And these past few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I come from
And that's the reason why I seem
So far away today

Let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia you; re calling me
Now I'm going home
And if I shall become a stranger
No it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Well I have moved
And I've kept on moving
Proved the points
That I needed proving
I've lost the friends
That I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas
And left them sighing
Stolen dreams yes there's no denying
I have travelled hard
Sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind

Let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia you; re calling me
Now I'm going home
And if I shall become a stranger
No it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Now I'm sitting here
Before the fire
The empty room
A forest choir
The flames have cooled
Don't get any higher
They've withered now
They're gone
And I'm steady thinking
My way is clear
And I know what
I will do tomorrow
The hands have shaken
The kisses flowed
And I will dissappear

Let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia you; re calling me
Now I'm going home
And if I shall become a stranger
No it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

January 1, 2012

20bn barrel oil discovery puts Cuba in the big league

Self-reliance beckons for communist state
• Estimate means reserves are on a par with US

Snip}If confirmed, it puts Cuba's reserves on par with those of the US and into the world's top 20. Drilling is expected to start next year by Cuba's state oil company Cubapetroleo, or Cupet.

"It would change their whole equation. The government would have more money and no longer be dependent on foreign oil," said Kirby Jones, founder of the Washington-based US-Cuba Trade Association. "It could join the club of oil exporting nations."

"We have more data. I'm almost certain that if they ask for all the data we have, (their estimate) is going to grow considerably," said Cupet's exploration manager, Rafael Tenreyro Perez.

Havana based its dramatically higher estimate mainly on comparisons with oil output from similar geological structures off the coasts of Mexico and the US. Cuba's undersea geology was "very similar" to Mexico's giant Cantarell oil field in the Bay of Campeche, said Tenreyro.

A consortium of companies led by Spain's Repsol had tested wells and were expected to begin drilling the first production well in mid-2009, and possibly several more later in the year, he said.

Cuba currently produces about 60,000 barrels of oil daily, covering almost half of its needs, and imports the rest from Venezuela in return for Cuban doctors and sports instructors. Even that barter system puts a strain on an impoverished economy in which Cubans earn an average monthly salary of $20.{Snip

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/18/cuban-oil