I recently participated in Dr Jaki Campbell’s radio programme, ‘Powering Your Health’. It airs on Power 106 FM from 8 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. The topic was men’s health. Like other physicians, Dr Campbell is very concerned that most men do not pay...
While a transition to digital format textbooks for Jamaican students is both sensible and inevitable, the education authorities have to manage the changeover in a way that does not place some categories of schools, or classes of students, at a...
It should never be too late to reverse tack for the sensible course. But it seems that hubris, and fear of embarrassment, will keep the education ministry full speed ahead on its controversial and untimely Sixth Form Pathways Programme (SFPP),...
The residents on the banks of the Rio Cobre have once again become the latest victims of the country’s bauxite operations. The recent incident in which effluence was discharged from Windalco into the Rio Cobre causing a large fish kill must wake...
Last Friday, The Gleaner published an alarming editorial in which Mark Golding, leader of the People’s National Party (PNP), was described as “a white, wealthy Jamaican nationalist, whose life transcends race”. That statement is fundamentally...
Mathematics used to terrify me. My sympathetic teacher once told the class that my frequent errors were alright; because it’s by making mistakes that one learns. A cruel classmate set the room ablaze with laughter when he remarked that, if that’s...
A few weeks ago I wrote of the disruptive effect of plagues on societies and the world order. Of primary importance was the Black Death bringing an end to feudalism in Europe as surviving peasants disrupted the status quo with collective bargaining...
An anonymous tip from customer or employee has been identified as the number one way that companies maintain ethics in their operations. Additionally, it is widely felt that employees can be the best police system for ensuring that businesses abide...
Once again, politicians in the US are entangling the internal politics of their country with US obligations to the international community. This time, Senator Rick Scott, a Republican from the State of Florida, wants the Biden administration to...
“I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta.” This was the winning one-liner by Masai Graham (who in ‘real life’ works with severely autistic young adults), at the recent Edinburgh festival fringe...
Old time people sey, dat when yuh trow stone inna hog sty, the one dat bawl is de one whey get lick! Lothan Cousins LLB, first term member of parliament (MP) from the People’s National Party (PNP), has caused a stir in some circles because of...
Here are a few of the many criticisms I have heard of teachers over time: • They are not giving enough homework and the students are not getting enough practice. • They are giving too much homework and students do not live only to do homework. •...
If Mark Golding, its president, has any authority over the People’s National Party (PNP) and hopes to rebuild it as a potent political force, he must tell the country where he stands on the Lothan Cousins’ harangue about race and political...
It would be premature and certainly too harsh to conclude that Harry Belafonte’s island in the sun is paradise lost, but it is tempting to drift into such a negative declaration because of some unflattering and damaging trends. Jamaica’s endowments...
Fayval Williams, on this matter, is wrong. Teaching is not, as she suggests, like any other profession from which there is periodic attrition. Putting off the construction of buildings because of a shortage of architects or engineers is very...
The headline screamed at me from The Gleaner of July 29, 2022, ‘Golding: Education biggest failure of Independence era’. I couldn’t believe my eyes. A former prime minister admitting a grievous shortcoming of (a) government of which he was a part...
A year ago, this newspaper felt compelled to remind readers of the definition of the phrase ‘in due course’, when it was used by Ed Bartlett to indicate when he would schedule a parliamentary debate on the Opposition bill to allow for the...
Will the American dollar be dropped as the major currency for international trade? Saudi Arabia recently announced that they may soon drop the petrodollar as the money benchmark in which their oil export prices are quoted. They would now be using...
This week, I am looking at the performance of the CARICOM region in international trade for 2021/22. The second Agri-Investment Forum and Expo opened in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday, August 19. The continuing aim is to prioritise agricultural...
The past two and a half years have been, well, educational. Mostly, it’s been a refresher course regarding most persons’ attitudes and priorities. The COVID-19 pandemic during the pre-vaccine; post-vaccine and now endemic phase of the virus has...
I am proud of myself for delaying the message that I was anxious to send to Jamaicans at home and abroad. Although I now reside abroad, I have mixed feelings: I am still unsure whether my contribution to Jamaica is best made abroad or at home. I...
It would be useful if Prime Minister Andrew Holness explained his administration’s definition of consensus, and where and how he believes the political Opposition, and others, are, in this respect, falling short in responding to crime. That...
We have already exceeded 300 road fatalities this year. Traffic crashes and fatalities are particularly horrendous because they are mostly avoidable. People may make mistakes, but the current number of crashes, injuries and deaths on our roads...
I think it was Viktor Frankel who said that when a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning in life, he/she distracts themselves in pleasure. It’s true of a nation as well. Crooked and superficial thinking takes over. Just check out the news last...
It shouldn’t be particularly expensive, or all that difficult, for the National Museum of Jamaica and the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) to raise the capital for the proposed museum of Jamaican railway artefacts at the JRC’s iconic terminal in...
