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CONTENTS
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Huge oil fields discovered in Guyana

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Phillips new PNP leader in Jamaica

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St Lucian-born Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Walcott dies

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Former Haitian President Aristede survives possible assassination attempt

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Puerto Rico to be hit with painful austerity measures 

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112 specialist Cuban nurses to ease crisis in Jamaica  

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Grenada to introduce National Health Insurance

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Venezuela seals gas pipeline deal with Trinidad & Tobago

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Cruise line to pay largest-ever criminal penalty for  pollution

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Jamaica cops highest ranking in int’l aviation standards in the Caribbean

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Cuba reduces infant mortality births in 2016

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Grenada to ban styrofoam imports

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Harvard names Rihanna its humanitarian of the year

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Jamaica names Shaggy for Hall of Fame

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Jamaica’s 'Aunt V', the world's oldest human

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UNDILUTED pays tribute to John Maxwell by featuring two previous columns by him from the Hot Calaloo UNDILUTED archives:

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Hot Calaloo's Undiluted Vol. 15, "The Audacity of Hopelessness"

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Hot Calaloo's Undiluted Vol. 14, "Cuba's Benevolence versus US Belligerence"

 
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by Michael I Phillips

List Price $11.95 (paperback)
Special Clearance
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Not just a book but an invitation to join the Goodwill Revolution against an unfair, unjust and deceptive system that keeps the world poor and without hope. Find out how you can join, quit the rat race, and achieve a happier more meaningful life for yourself and others through goodwill to all.  
For more book info see
     goodwillie.org

Buy through Paypal or  send check for $5 + $3 (shipping) to 
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cover River Woman by Donna Hemans ... $16.10
  The Rio Minho in Jamaica provides much more than a setting for this potent, accomplished debut by Jamaican-born Donna Hemans.

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cover  For the Life of Laetitia by Trinidad -born Merle Hodge  Price: $10.54
a wonderful book about a young girl in the Carribean, the first of her family to go to secondary school.

 

 

April 2017 Special

  Huge oil fields discovered in Guyana

Guyana is poised to become the next big oil producer in the Western Hemisphere, attracting the attention and investment dollars of some of the biggest oil companies in the world.

Exxon Mobil and Hess announced the successful drilling of a deepwater exploration well that may soon confirm that the seafloor beneath Guyana’s coastal waters contains one of the richest oil and natural gas discoveries in decades. Experts now estimate that one of its offshore fields alone, known as Liza, could contain 1.4 billion barrels of oil mixed with natural gas, comparable to some of the larger fields drilled in South America.

With a population of fewer than one million people, Guyana  would be able to export nearly all of the oil that it will begin producing, probably starting around 2020.

The company announcements came only days after the Guyanese government announced its intention to build a $500 million petroleum processing and service center on Crab Island, an enormous investment for one of the poorest countries in the region.

Early rough estimates by experts of how much recoverable oil Guyana could have range to more than four billion barrels, which at today’s prices would be worth more than $200 billion. But the country, which currently produces precious little energy, sorely needs pipelines and other support infrastructure to begin a major production and export effort. 

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Phillips new PNP leader in Jamaica

Dr. Peter Phillips became the fifth president of the People’s National Party by acclamation today as he replaced veteran parliamentarian Portia Simpson Miller, following her recent decision to step down.

The new leader of the Opposition served as Minister of Finance and Planning of Jamaica from 2012 to 2016. He is Member of Parliament for East Central St Andrew. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics, a Master's in Government, and a Doctorate in International Political Economy and Development Studies

He follows Norman Manley, the organisation’s first president, his son Michael Manley, PJ Patterson, and Simpson Miller as the persons who have held that distinguished office. All before him, except for Norman Manley, have become prime minister of Jamaica.

 

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St Lucian-born Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Walcott dies

 St Lucian poet, playwright, and Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Alton Walcott has died. Sir Derek passed away at his home in Cap Estate this morning at the age of 87, after a prolonged illness. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. On February 28, 2016, was invested with the Knight Commander of Saint Lucia (KCSL).

 

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Former Haitian President Aristede survives possible assassination attempt

At least two people were injured after shots were fired at a motorcade carrying former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Port-au-Prince recently in an apparent assassination attempt.

Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, was leaving a courthouse when "shots were fired ... directly at the vehicle in which President Aristide was a passenger," Ira Kurzban, a Miami attorney who represents Aristide, told NBC News. Kurzban said the gunmen appeared to be wearing police uniforms.

Aristide was providing testimony in a money laundering case against Jean Anthony Nazaire, former commissary of the Haitian national police, when the bullets flew towards his car. Social media captured protests by Aristide supporters in the streets of Port-Au- Prince after news of the shooting spread.

 

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Puerto Rico to be hit with painful austerity measures

The newly appointed head of a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances has warned that the US territory will be hit with painful austerity measures in upcoming months.

Interim Director Ramon Ruiz said there are no other options given the island’s dire economic situation and recommended that the government act quickly.

Some government officials have balked at measures suggested by the board, which include slashing US$300 million from the public university’s budget and cutting 10 per cent from a public retirement system that is expected to run out of money within a year. Last week, nearly a dozen top university officials resigned in protest against the looming cuts, and tens of thousands of retired government workers fear for their financial future.

Ruiz said the local government is cooperating with the board, but warned that if it doesn’t submit a fiscal plan with cuts needed to address an anticipated US$7-billion deficit, the board will implement its own plan.

In addition to submitting a fiscal plan, the governor has approved several measures aimed at cutting costs, promoting economic development and stabilising the economy. Rossello announced on Tuesday he would submit a measure calling for a special referendum that would allow police officers to vote on whether they want to be part of the Social Security system. Currently, Puerto Rico police officers do not receive Social Security and depend solely on the island’s troubled public retirement system for their pensions.

Rossello also signed a bill aimed at retaining doctors in Puerto Rico. The territory’s number of doctors has dropped from 14,000 to 9,000 in the past decade, the majority leaving for higher salaries and lower living costs on the US mainland.

Overall, more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have left the island in recent years, and many fear the exodus will worsen as new austerity measures are implemented.

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112 specialist Cuban nurses to ease crisis in Jamaica

One hundred and twelve nurses from Cuba, including 47 who specialise in critical care, are to arrive in Jamaica in February to ease the shortage of specialist nurses there.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Winston De La Haye disclosed that the nurses are coming as part of an agreement between Kingston and Havana. De La Haye’s revelation came a day after University Hospital of West Indies (UHWI) Chairman James Moss-Solomon disclosed that the hospital was forced to cancel major surgeries due to a shortage of specialist nurses and Intensive Care Unit beds.

The shortage, he said, was being fuelled by the poaching of specialist nurses by foreign companies, despite the hospital doubling the numbers of nurses being trained in specialised disciplines.

 

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Grenada to introduce National Health Insurance

The Grenada government says it will introduce a National Health Insurance by the end of June. Implementation Minister Emmalin Pierre, addressing the convention of the ruling New National Party (NNP) recently, said that the program will be rolled out within the next three months and will be available for all nationals.

“We believe that healthcare is a fundamental right that every citizen must have access to. Just as we believe that education is a right, so we believe that healthcare and the services must be a right to our people.”

The scheme will be the first for Grenada and while the details of the type of health care services were not given, the minister did not state whether a cost ceiling would be applied to the scheme that would be managed by the National Insurance Scheme.

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Venezuela seals gas pipeline deal with Trinidad & Tobago

 Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago have signed an agreement  for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a new gas pipeline connecting the two nations. The deal is valued at over US$100 million and will involve the participation of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, its Trinidadian counterpart National Group Gas, as well as transnational Royal Dutch Shell.

The pipeline will reportedly link Venezuela’s Dragon and Mariscal de Sucre fields, located on the northern coast of eastern Sucre state, with the Hibiscus gas field in Trinidad. Venezuelan Oil Minister Nelson Martinez indicated the project will dramatically increase Trinidad & Tobago’s access to natural gas, describing the deal as a “win-win”.

Venezuela is home to some of the largest natural gas reserves on the planet, with the Dragon field alone estimated to contain approximately 12 to 13 trillion cubic feet.

 

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Cruise line to pay largest-ever criminal penalty for deliberate vessel pollution

 The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says a Caribbean cruise line has agreed to plead guilty to seven felony charges stemming from its deliberate pollution of the seas and intentional acts to cover it up.

The DOJ said Princess Cruise Lines Ltd will pay a US$40 million penalty– the largest-ever criminal penalty involving deliberate vessel pollution – and plead guilty to charges related to illegal dumping of oil contaminated waste from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship.

Princess, headquartered in Santa Clarita, California, is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation (Carnival), which owns and operates multiple cruise lines and collectively comprises the world’s largest cruise company. Carnival is headquartered in Miami.

As part of the plea agreement with Princess, cruise ships from eight Carnival cruise line companies (Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line NV, Seabourn Cruise Line Ltd. and AIDA Cruises) will be under a court supervised Environmental Compliance Program (ECP) for five years, the DOJ said.

 

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Jamaica cops highest ranking in int’l aviation standards in the Caribbean

Jamaica has achieved the highest ranking for implementing international civil aviation standards, in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The result from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Validation Mission in June 2016 indicated an effective implementation of international standards at 82.38 per cent.

This was disclosed by Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Nari Williams-Singh, at the official opening of the new air traffic control tower at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) earlier this week.

“The significance of this achievement is even more evident, considering that the global average is currently at 63 per cent and that of the North American, Central American and Caribbean region is 69 per cent,” he explained.

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 Cuba reduces infant mortality births in 2016

Cuba’s Health Minister Roberto Morales says the island reduced its infant mortality rate to 4.3 per thousand live births last year and the results will be replicated in 2017. According to Morales, the Spanish speaking Caribbean island closed the year with improvements in the main sanitary indicators and the child-mother program, while life expectancy continued to grow. Cuba’s infant mortality rate is lower than the US.

Concerning infrastructure, he said nine thousand institutions, including hospitals and clinics received some rehabilitation work as well as new equipment. The health minister said the Cuban government is determined to continue with a well-designed maintenance policy to avoid spending millions of dollars each year unnecessarily.

 

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Grenada to ban Styrofoam imports

The Grenada government said it is to table legislation banning the importation of Styrofoam and plastic as part of a proper waste management strategy.

Tourism Minister Clarice Modeste  disclosed that the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association have already adopted a policy of not using Styrofoam. As she also pointed out that Grenada was “way, way behind time for that, there can be no argument about that, they are not biodegradable so they stay in the earth, they stay wherever they are thrown for years and years,”  She added,  “Hoteliers have been pushing for this, banning Styrofoam is one of the measures we are taking to protect the environment.  “This has become an environmental problem, especially when we look at our landfill which has so many problems, we just cannot afford to continue to compound it,” she said.

   

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Harvard names Rihanna its humanitarian of the year

Rihanna may be best known as an R&B superstar, but she has been named the 2017 Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year for her charity work. The 29-year-old singer from Barbados  has

·         charitably built a state-of-the-art centre for oncology and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat breast cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados

·         set up a scholarship program, named after her grandparents, for Caribbean students studying in the United States, and

·         support efforts to give girls better access to education in the developing world.

The singer joins an illustrious roster of past recipients that includes former UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, and singer Lionel Richie.

Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, has sold more than 200 million records, won eight Grammy Awards and scored 14 number-one hits. She is also celebrated for her style and collaborates with Puma on a clothing line.

 

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Jamaica names Shaggy for Hall of Fame

Jamaican singer Shaggy has been inducted into the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) Hall of Fame for 10 years of outstanding support to the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston, Jamaica.

Last year, Shaggy presented a checke for $55 million to the Bustamante Children’s Hospital, representing proceeds from the 2016 fund-raiser Shaggy and Friends Concert. Since its inception in 2009, the concert has raised more than $255 million to acquire 450 pieces of medical equipment used to treat over 77,000 children each year.

“The CVSS’s Volunteer Awards and Hall of Fame is a reflection of the extraordinary contribution of the volunteers who work so tirelessly in support of their respective charities and organisations. We are especially happy to be honouring Shaggy who, by his philanthropic work, have made a difference in the lives of our nation’s children,” said Saffrey Brown, chair of the CVSS’s Volunteer Awards and Hall of Fame.

 

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Jamaica’s 'Aunt V', the world's oldest human

Jamaican supercentenarian Violet Mosse Brown became the world's oldest human today, Saturday April 15, after the passing of Italian woman Emma Morano, who was born on November 29, 1899.

Mosse Brown is 117 years old, having been born on March 10, 1900. Affectionately called Aunt V, she lives in Duanvale, Trelawny. Her birth place, Duanvale, is a neighbouring district to Sherwood Content, where Jamaican track legend Usain Bolt was born.

Her eldest child, Harold Fairweather, at age 96, is said to be the world's oldest living person with a parent also alive. Aunt V's parents, Elizabeth Riley (who lived to 96 years) and John Mosse brought her into the world on the same premises which she now lives

Aunt V and her husband worked as cane farmers, selling their crop to the Long Pond Sugar Estate. Later, her husband became the caretaker at the neighbouring cemetery, calling on his wife’s skills to assist him in record keeping.

 
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