Commentary

Even though we are uneasy with the route that was used to get there, this newspaper – as it declared previously – has no fundamental disagreement with the dollar value of the new salaries for parliamentarians and Cabinet ministers. However, prime...

Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ latest effort at refreshing his administration was, for the most part, underwhelming. That, however, does not mean that the people who have been slotted into new portfolios cannot do transformative things. We refer...

DESPITE MY long-established and well-known dislike for social media, I will admit that sometimes I get sucked down one or two Tik Tok rabbit holes, mindlessly strolling and scrolling until I catch myself and manage to swipe out. On one of my most...

Coffee has a tumultuous history. A history that speaks to colonialism, capitalism, and interestingly, intellectualism. But let’s start with Jamaica’s unique love affair with the global coffee industry. Introduced to Jamaica in 1728, coffee got...

“Me say de Babylon system is the vampire, falling empire, Suckin’ the blood of the sufferers, yeah!” – Babylon System , Bob Marley and The Wailers There was no pussyfooting by the Government this time. Last week, Minister of Finance and...

It is perplexing that decades after Parliament gave the approval for the appointment of agricultural wardens, Jamaica has not yet established this contingent of quasi farm police. Pearnel Charles Jr, the agriculture minister, said recently that he...

More than 14 months ago, Russia invaded Ukraine launching an unprovoked, undeclared and illegal war in breach of all international rules and of the UN Charter. Such an act of aggression had not happened on the European continent for a long time. It...

Last week’s flurry of diplomatic discussions in Kingston didn’t produce a breakthrough on how to help Haiti out of its worsening security crisis. Which only means that Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have to hunker down...

CHAKA-CHAKA SPELLING Nigel Clarke must lik im head. Mi no know how im coulda git up eena parliament Tuesday gone an announce seh govament a go raise fi dem pay more dan 200 percent! Fifty percent woulda wicked. Hundred percent woulda wickeder....

We do not operate on facts or reality. Rather we act upon our perception of what is. Elected officials in a democracy are particularly vulnerable, because whatever their spin doctors and public relations agents may or may not do, or whatever data...

On Mother’s Day, while the children got up very early and worked hard on a fancy breakfast for their mom, I used to either watch cricket, which always takes place at this time of the year, or tell corny jokes. One year I went with, “What did big...

The declining fortunes of the Holness administration are likely to decline further and more swiftly because of the massive pay increases the politicians have just given themselves, as announced this week by Finance Minister Nigel Clarke. I think we...