This is the tale of two ninnies who refused to take COVID-19 seriously. They were young and felt that that made them immune to the effects of the virus. They were fit, had no underlying health conditions, and spent a lot of time in the sunlight....
The COVID-19 vaccine is finally here and, after making an appointment online, I presented myself at St Joseph’s Hospital for the jab, the first of two doses, on day two of our vaccination programme. After presenting my identification and being...
With tourism and mining limping, at least for the medium term, and Jamaican consumerism for foreign products going unchecked, any plausible recovery and reset of the Jamaican economy will require fresh initiatives about how we educate and train our...
There has largely been public silence from the Holness administration over last month’s complaint by Lloyd Distant of the Government’s missed targets for recruiting new police officers, as part of a broader package of crime-reform measures. A new...
This is one of Jamaica’s most burdensome and prevalent non-communicable diseases and which affects heart health – diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus, or ‘sugar’, as Jamaicans call it, is a condition that causes high glucose (sugar) levels in the...
Oprah Winfrey’s classic interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, seems to have definitively confirmed the pathological nature of the British monarchy. Racism appears to be genetic. It does look as if the royals have inherited...
Unless ginger and turmeric, the proven immune boosters, are literally what colour the prince’s hair, then the royal pain and drama are inconsequential in our fight against COVID-19 right now. The United Kingdom is having major problems and despite...
Okay, so I had this title for a while but had to be sure squaddie was OK before I used it. From the looks of his latest video that had him dancing up a storm in a bar, it seems he has got over the many licks he received on social media. For all who...
A dozen days after Britain’s Prince Harry wed the Black American actress, Meghan Markle, this newspaper argued that while her entry into Royal Family “may not have moved the dial on the injustices against the Windrush Generation”, the marriage...
Members of Bedward Gardens and surrounding communities in East Rural St Andrew may feel relieved now that some of the gunmen, who have been terrorising them for nearly 10 years, have been killed by the security forces. Five alleged members of the...
Several editorials in respected newspapers as well as blogs by influential persons in the region are, once again, expressing deep concern about CARICOM, particularly over its lack of unity in international affairs and the failure of its leaders to...
In 1834, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in which, having shot the Albatross, the bird which was thought to cause the breeze to blow, the mariner and all the others on board the ship were doomed. As he...
It is time for Jamaica to focus on enabling innovation that significantly increases its economic output, permitting deeper cross-sector collaboration and increased high-value job creation. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) broadly defines...
I was born just before the serious polio epidemic of 1954; my mother, who was a nurse, made sure we all were vaccinated, and all her children survived that scare unscathed. Poliomyelitis, caused by the poliovirus, was not eliminated by the...
This newspaper’s recent report of the case of Michael Francis, whose conviction for fraud and forgery a dozen years ago was ruled a nullity by the appeal court, noted, perforce, the court’s highlighting of “egregious errors” in how then Resident...
The farmers of South Eastern St Elizabeth are frustrated with the conditions they have been forced to encounter daily. Their best interest is not being served by the government agencies put in place to assist them, and life is becoming more...
AS HE, on Monday, bemoaned the widespread disregard for COVID-19 protocols and explained his Government’s forbearance for the indifference, Prime Minister (PM) Andrew Holness argued that an overly heavy hand sometimes unleashes a backlash that is...
Dear Editor: Your article dated February 21, 2021, and titled ‘Committees in hibernation – Inertia grips gov’t-chaired parliamentary panels despite shift promised by Holness’ did not reveal any surprises to anyone who have not been living under a...
Annie Ivey’s story, published by this newspaper on Monday, is a call to action. Ms Ivey is 78. She is a market vendor. She works every day. She’ll continue until she cannot go anymore. Ms Ivey won’t stop because she cannot afford to. She has no...
At the 32nd Intersessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government chaired by Prime Minister Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago, emphasis was on containing COVID-19 and on access to vaccines in order to begin the process of economic recovery....
Last year, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) reported several high-profile arrests in the fight against the proliferation of criminal networks and hardened gangs within our communities. However, even as we claim some victories, we find...
As much as we share Seymour Panton’s esteem for Jamaican judges and back his campaign for the island’s extrication from the Privy Council as its court of last resort, we find it offensive that the former president of the appeal court would ridicule...
Obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are very serious problems in Jamaica. More than a half (54 per cent) of all adults and one in three adolescents are overweight or obese. There are accompanying risks of Type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart...
When COVID-19 broke loose and spread rapidly across the globe, Jamaica was doing extremely well and even garnered international praise for how well we controlled the curve. Our Government carried out targeted restrictions and curtailed the influx...
It would probably command the full-time attention of a team of skilled archivists to wade through mountains of documents to determine the number of times Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders either agreed, or promised to review how decisions they...
