Home-grown acts lead Brit nominations
The News Review:
- Home-grown acts lead Brit nominations
- Senators pressure Bush on joining climate fight
- Overseas-based players a must
- Terrorism Remains Top US Threat
- We need more Jamaicans to till the soil
- Trouble in the stands? It’s just not tennis
- Global terrorism | On the march, not on the run | Economist.com
Home-grown acts lead Brit nominations
People's Daily Online – Jan 18, 2007
But behind the scenes music industry executives are increasingly nervous about the challenges of downloading and online piracy, which have seen retailers’ profits slide, despite critics hailing 2006 a vintage year for British music. The awards, held on Valentines Day, are an annual showcase for the best of British and international pop music, and draw stars from around the world. Muse and Allen will be competing against each other for the coveted British Album award after a year in which home-grown artists accounted for seven of Britain’s top ten best selling albums. Enigmatically named hip hop act Gnarls Barkley is bidding for a clean sweep in the international awards… But behind the scenes music industry executives are increasingly nervous about the challenges of downloading and online piracy, which have seen retailers’ profits slide, despite critics hailing 2006 a vintage year for British music. The awards, held on Valentines Day, are an annual showcase for the best of British and international pop music, and draw stars from around the world. Muse and Allen will be competing against each other for the coveted British Album award after a year in which home-grown artists accounted for seven of Britain’s top ten best selling albums. Enigmatically named hip hop act Gnarls Barkley is bidding for a clean sweep in the international awards. Three of the leading singer-songwriters in Britain Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae and James Morrison secured two nominations each.
Senators pressure Bush on joining climate fight
The Age – Jan 18, 2007
The resolution, whose chances of passing the full Senate after acommittee vote are uncertain, would not be binding on BushAdministration policy. Mr Bush’s State of the Union address is expected to touch on keyenergy policy points after he made the surprise pronouncement inlast year’s address that the US was addicted to Middle East crudeoil supplies. A rising focus on “energy security” by both the Administrationand Congress has added momentum to efforts to employ home-grownfuel sources such as ethanol to reduce dependency on oilimports. Following that theme, Mr Bush is likely to call for a greater USuse of home-grown supplies of ethanol. One source briefed by White House officials said Mr Bush’sspeech could call for more than 220 billion litres of ethanol to bemixed into US petrol supplies each year by 2030. That would be a massive increase from the 28. 4 billion litres ofethanol use by 2012 required by current US law.
Overseas-based players a must
Jamaica Gleaner – Jan 18, 2007
But, let’s face the truth, while the idea of a purely or mostly local squad taking us to the highest levels of sport is a noble one, it never has, and will perhaps never be, a realistic one. Apart from concrete examples of consistent failure, theoretically, any nation that competes internationally should always wish to put its best foot forward, and this will always include players taking part in the game at a higher level. While there is certainly no denying that our home-grown players have the talent, they not only suffer from a lack of quality coaching but also from a lack of quality competition. This fact alone makes it difficult, if not impossible, to compete with opponents who not only have first-class development facilities available, but also are consistently exposed to both. The issue, which speaks to the local players taking the team to the big dance and then locked out of it, is not uniquely a Jamaican scenario and will exist forever in sports, which has winning as its primary objective. Big business
Once better and more experienced players are available we have to use them. Any notion of loyalty to the ones that got you to this point does not count; sports is, after all, a big business… Nonetheless, the existence of a strong local contingent will doubtlessly be crucial in this qualification campaign, and the experience of new technical director, Velibor ‘Bora’ Milutinovic, is already beginning to come to the fore as he has been scouting around for the best local talent available. Bora himself expertly pointed out when asked if he had got a chance to look at any of the overseas players:
“I don’t really need to they already play for big clubs and we know that they are good, I will focus here,” he said. The home-grown talent, just as they were in 1998, will after all need to be the core of any successful Reggae Boyz team. However, there can be nothing wrong with including a few overseas gems. After all, the best way to expose local talent is on the world’s biggest stage, and to get there you will need your best players. html” >More
Sport.
Terrorism Remains Top US Threat
Christian Broadcasting Network – Jan 18, 2007
"Al-Qaeda is the terrorist organization that poses the greatest threat. We have captured or killed numerous al-Qaeda operatives, but al-Qaeda’s core elements are resilient. "
The committee also touched on the threat of a home-grown terror attack on U. The experts told the panel that the likelihood of home-grown terror attacks is much greater in Europe, because immigrants don’t assimilate like they do here. Watch as CBN’s terror analyst Erick Stakelbeck comments on this issue.
We need more Jamaicans to till the soil
Jamaica Gleaner – Jan 18, 2007
Our country and economy could benefit far more if we could produce more of such calibre. I have noticed that there is a great misconception within our society that one can only be successful within certain fields. But if we should consider developed countries such as England, agriculture is a big boost to its economy as most of their produce is home-grown. However, it is a shame to acknowledge that Jamaicans are ignoring their own natural resources and turning to international food processing. Most expensive
commodities
In the United Kingdom, I have observed that anything labelled with the word ‘Jamaica’ is viewed as among the most expensive commodities, whether it is food from the farm or any other household amenities. Jamaicans should continue to produce and export more of their agricultural produce as these are well recognised on the international scene. We are desperate to have the real dasheen, yellow yam, breadfruit, among other locally-grown food, to flood the Bull Ring Market in Birmingham.
Trouble in the stands? It’s just not tennis
NEWS.com.au – Jan 18, 2007
Nearly all would have been born in Australia. Certainly, most would have spent their formative years in Australia. Sociologists will be puzzled for decades at how home-grown Aussie children, who happen to have ethnic parents, can be imbued with such animosity, after being raised in a carefree, nonchalant and opportunity-laden country – especially given the relatively harmonious integration of Serbs and Croats in their respective homelands. I’m tipping the answer rests with the quest for pride and acceptance. People, especially the young, want to feel good about themselves and fit in. They yearn for a sense of connectedness, belonging and camaraderie; a desire to be treated well irrespective of their usefulness to others. But sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for.
Global terrorism | On the march, not on the run | Economist.com
economist.com – Jan 18, 2007
After the West toppled the regime in 2001, and arrested or killed many of al-Qaeda’s leaders, officials believed it was largely broken up. Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, his deputy, sent video and audio messages from their hiding places, but did not appear to control operations, which were “franchised” to local groups. In Europe, the jihadist cause was taken up by home-grown extremists. But their outrages, such as the London bombings on July 7th 2005, could not match al-Qaeda’s spectaculars.