While writing the Dec. 19 commentary “VI libraries gone ‘back to the future,’” I rediscovered an article I had written on “Information Technology in the Caribbean” in April 1987. It …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Amid pandemic, history recalled”
While writing the Dec. 19 commentary “VI libraries gone ‘back to the future,’” I rediscovered an article I had written on “Information Technology in the Caribbean” in April 1987. It …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Amid pandemic, history recalled”
As the newscasters on the BBC World Service read out their reports on the campaigns against COVID-19 being fought in various countries, it became apparent that the Virgin Islands would …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — VI urged to learn from other responses”
I continue below the timeline I traced verbally in my March 5 commentary “Writer reassured by gov’t responses,” showing the rapidity with which COVID-19 has spread to the Eastern Caribbean …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — VI urged to learn from COVID-19”
Naturally, I welcome the comprehensive statement by Health and Social Development Minister Carvin Malone on the government’s response to the rapidly evolving spread of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Writer reassured by gov’t response”
Since I urged the Virgin Islands government to prepare for Brexit in the Jan. 30 edition of the Beacon, the United Kingdom’s Parliaments Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) has become the …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — VI warned of likely hard Brexit”
The Virgin Islands government would be squandering precious time if it tried to make separate trade deals with the European Union after Brexit, which United Kingdom professor Dr. Peter Clegg …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — VI urged to prepare for Brexit”
Polls show that most Brits would agree with the European Union leader who “reserved a special place in hell” for whoever invented Brexit, but they strongly differ on their attitudes …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Patient recounts health-care journey in VI, UK”
We recall with amusement how our forefathers entered St. Thomas “through the window,” but Alice’s observations of life in the present-day Virgin Islands through the looking glass (as introduced in …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — VI seen through ‘looking glass’”
In Pursuit of Peace in Africa: An Autobiography, by retired Kenyan Army Lieutenant General Daniel Opande, was published a few months ago in Nairobi, Kenya, but sharp-eyed readers will spot …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Kenyan author’s VI ties noted”
During my first visit to the United Kingdom since 2012, my first priority was to claim my senior citizen’s benefits, like entitlement to free travel on public transport. However, I …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Gov’t called out over closed libraries”
Over five years ago, I received a “blast from the past:” an email from an organiser of a UNESCO workshop in Antigua in the mid-1980s on the use of mini/micro …
Continue reading “Commentary — Book on Cornish in Caribbean seen as important to VI history”
A recurring theme throughout more than 100 commentaries I have contributed to the Beacon has been the Virgin Islands’ ties over time with Cornwall, a county in southwest England. Last …
Whatever the reasons for the premier’s attempts to fast-track residency and belongership applications, the genie is out of the bottle: The eruption of heated arguments for and against the proposal …
Virgin Islanders living in the United Kingdom who have registered to vote there would serve the territory’s best interests by supporting a Remain party like the Liberal Democrats or Greens …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Decolonisation committee reconsidered”
The world’s first formal stock exchange was established in Amsterdam in the early 1600s. The two major companies listed on it were the Dutch East India Company (founded in 1602) …
Continue reading “Commentary — ‘A contrarian view of independence’”
Moves towards e-government are welcome but overdue in an economy dependent on telecommunications to make its tourist product and financial services industry more attractive and efficient. We might emulate Estonia’s …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Ideas offered for e-gov’t, telecoms”
I am related to seven different kiwi (New Zealander) families, the first descended from a war bride taken in 1917 to a gold-mining town in South Island, better known for …
Continue reading “Commentary — Concerns about hackers linger”
I am following up my letter of last week, “Cyberattack victim recounts his ordeal,” to alert voters to possible external interference in our election, without compromising police investigations into the …
While we rebuild better, let’s consider the needs of the disabled residents in our midst. It also makes good commercial sense to encourage them to participate more actively in their …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — VI urged to rebuild to be disability friendly”
By Peter Moll Before Hurricane Irma, I narrated a series of chronicles about my time as a librarian in Malawi. The most recent instalment, which appeared in the Beacon the …