Free Driving Lessons Now Part of School’s Curriculum

It is a dream come true for students fortunate to be accepted at the Bolton St Catherines Academy in Bolton, Greater Manchester, for the new academic year. Qualifying students will gain an education beyond just the realm of academia.

The institution is putting its students in the driver’s seat as it provides driving lessons at no cost whatsoever. It is hoped that by offering this service, students will have fewer financial overheads while gaining a useful life skill in the process.

Among the top priorities of young people is often the goal of getting a driver’s license. That goal is being brought to fruition in this case. Undoubtedly, the students will be motivated to be at school and to push their work. Given the rising costs of learning to drive, the opportunity offered by St Catherines is really a diamond in a hay stack. Such a move may also be a turning point in the marketing and provision of tertiary and post tertiary education in developing countries.

 

Prime Minister Boldly Cursing F Word!

The buck stops here. that is the traditional line of personal responsibility that many political leaders adopt to show that they represent the embodiment of their country’s universally accepted values. Part of the public example is usually that of sound,positively directed speech. It is not expected that citizens of a country will hear their prime minister cursing like one of the common thugs or one of the uncivilized barbarians.

That is not the case it now appears for the citizens of Italy. Their prime minister is one of their wealthiest citizens and one of their most controversial. Silvio Berlusconi has been mostly making headlines for his fetish of very young girls and his sexual gratifications. Read the following excerpt that captures the essence of the situation at hand right now.

It was in a phone conversation with Lavitola late on 13 July that Berlusconi was said by the judge to have erupted in anger. “They can say about me that I screw. It’s the only thing they can say about me. Is that clear?” he said to the man allegedly blackmailing him. “They can put listening devices where they like. They can tap my telephone calls. I don’t give a f&*k. I … In a few months, I’m getting out to mind my own f%&king business, from somewhere else, and so I’m leaving this shitty country of which I’m sickened.”

I think the electorate in any democracy has to ponder on what their political leaders really think of them. Are campaign images just a facade? Albeit Italy’s PM might be an extreme case, the public should have some randomly honest way of hearing or finding out how they are being ranked by the persons they elected into high office.

via Berlusconi vows to leave shitty Italy in conversation recorded by police | World news | The Guardian.

St Vincent and the Grenadines–My Island Home

Outline map of St Vincent and the Grenadines

Of all the islands in the Caribbean, St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) ranks in the top for its marine and landscape beauty, the friendliness and peaceful stability of its villages and towns and its non polluted environment. But my country is also one of the least known islands on the international scene.

And maybe that has its advantages in that being less popular means that a pristine and naturally happy environment may be longer lasting; nonetheless, we all like to know that we can travel abroad and be comforted that others have heard about the country of our birth. That is why when a friend of mine notified me of a news story in the international media which was promoting St. Vincent and the Grenadines I quickly investigated for myself.

Chris Hall is the author of the travel article  and I commend him for his simplicity  and apt descriptors that makes it easy for the audience to have a striking image in their mind’s eye of SVG.

I end by quoting a part of Mr Hall’s article. I highly recommend that you follow the link at the bottom of this post to read the article in its entirety.

“…when I arrive on St Vincent, I realise I have tumbled into exactly the Caribbean I was expecting.This is the Caribbean of the imagination, an archipelago of 32 islands – St Vincent and the Grenadines, to give it its full, grand name – scattered luxuriously across the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea. From St Vincent, the largest, in the north, they trail south, towards Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, and eventually, South America – a ribbon of land in the blue of the ocean.”

via Caribbean holidays: St Vincent and the Grenadines are a slice of paradise | Mail Online.