BB Corner
Stephanie Lyew, Youthlink Writer
Quote of the week
"Remember being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect; it happens when you've decided to look beyond the imperfections." - Anonymous
Joke of the Week
Sugar-free
A Jamaican man went to a corner store and picked up a box of orange juice and a bag of sugar. He paid for the orange juice and walked out with it and the bag of sugar. He was arrested and charged for stealing the sugar. When he went to court the judge asked, "Why did you steal the bag of sugar?"
The Jamaican man replied, "Mi nuh tief nuh sugar?" and continued, "Mi look pon di back a di juice an' it seh 'sugar free', so mi nuh understand wa gwaan."
Fact of the week
A leap year happens once every four years. Your chances of being born on a leap day are approximately 1 in 1,500. There are about 187,000 people in the US and four million people in the world who were born on Leap Day.
Discussion topic of the week
What are your thoughts on the recent tax changes and implementations and how has it affected you?
Top-Three Comments:
Latoya Johnson: The implementations as it has to do with the tax increases are too drastic and don't seem to cater much for the less fortunate. The Government needs to act as though it is for the people and not just for themselves. Take for example, tax on books; parents have enough problems to buy much-needed books for their child or children, will an increase help them in acquiring those books?
Joel Frater: I think it's reasonable, because we all knew that some bitter medicine was in the pipeline as every year prices go up regardless of which political party is in power. And, furthermore, it's the middle and upper-class persons who are affected by this. A larger tax should be on imported products such as fresh fruits and vegetables so that people will buy more local produce and the economy will grow.
Maxine Thomas: My problem is with the public's response. Everyone keeps talking about tax being added to poor people food; what is poor people food? The Government did not implement these taxes to help the poor people but to help pay off a debt and everyone is going to feel it, even them. So we all need to just re-evaluate our spending and budget because it was a well-needed change; we can only pray it helps.
Writer's Comment:
Jovan Legister: The tax package could have been used to dissuade members of the society from adopting potentially harmful habits whilst collecting even more revenues, had the Government taken a different route. Fast-food restaurants, cigarettes (despite already being taxed in recent years) and other such negatives should be increasingly taxed to prevent abuse by members of the society. Also, the tax base could have been increased (tax more items) as the Government seeks to erase the US$1.6-trillion debt that the country now holds. With that said, I believe the tax package was weak, it did not have the promise of imminent change despite having to bear short-term suffering, it merely reflected that the straws the Government was grabbing at were not enough to keep Jamaica afloat.
Pic of the week
The role of a father is just as important as the mother's; that's what we got from everyone's comments last week, (check out this little one and her parents) so have a great week fathers.
