A few days ago, I noticed two motorcycle riders stopped almost shoulder to shoulder and waiting at the traffic light. They were looking directly at one another while speaking and laughing loudly in order to hear themselves over the din of their...
Last Wednesday, the minister of health and wellness announced that a record 403 persons tested positive for COVID-19 on February 8. The record number topped a surge in COVID-19 cases over the past few days. The record number of positive COVID-19...
I must confess that my reason for staying far from the topic of COVID-19 vaccination is that my leanings have fluctuated as I have researched and observed happenings the world over. While not an antivaxxer by any stretch of the imagination, I had...
It took me a good five years after its release for me to watch the film The Tuskegee Airmen. The poster half-filled with the face of Laurence Fishburne conjured images of the syphilis experiments of the 1930s when black men were used as lab rats,...
Right on time for Valentine’s Day, a new Jamaican dating site has been launched. It’s Fiyahstick, founded by veteran journalist and prominent businesswoman Janet Silvera. The clever name is based on a seductive Jamaican proverb, “Old firestick easy...
Given his past troubles over his ministry’s award of a previous public information contract, Christopher Tufton’s bid to get ahead of the curve on this one to encourage Jamaicans to take the COVID-19 vaccine is understandable. There is nothing, he...
A government agency cowering under the threat of extortion was strong evidence of how entrenched this menace has become, with the result that the St Thomas leg of the Southern Coastal Highway project had to be closed for five days. Reports say the...
Haiti – a country to which all other countries that suffered slavery are deeply indebted – is once again in turmoil. Therefore, no Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country should stand aside, silently, while Haiti is sliding into further catastrophe...
My son Zubin was in his room with the door closed. So, as usual, I called out his name loudly and asked, “What you doing?” Normally he would say, “I’m changing” and I respond, “Into what? You tend to change more than a traffic light!” This time,...
THERE ARE some jobs that we looked back on and rejoice with good riddance. And there are jobs that we sometimes reminisce with fond memories. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade was one such memorable employment that taught me life’s...
Last week, the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) published a report titled, ‘The Cost of Unequal Access to Safe Abortions in Jamaica’. In my view, this study has not made a meaningful contribution to the abortion debate, and its...
People, as a rule, do not choose to be poor. Those who are generally take no pleasure in having to use safety nets provided by governments to help them with a leg-up. They do so because they must. But beyond any altruism or ideological...
CORPORAL ROHAN James’ call for the police to have non-lethal weapons for dealing with confrontations with mentally ill people is a clearly sensible request. It, however, does not adequately address two large but separate issues which he has put...
We are facing a crime epidemic that requires an all-of-Jamaica approach. Jamaica has been at crisis levels with murder rates of over 1,000 per year for the past two decades. Both political parties have been in power for almost equal time over this...
Jamaica has been severely challenged with the problem of crime and violence for over 45 years. This problem has affected the country negatively by inhibiting social, political and economic growth. The country is blessed with its strategic location...
On this week’s episode of ‘Inconsistent Abortion Arguments’, we’ll discuss the matter of life and the selectivity with which it chooses to be sacred. Please be reminded that we are not here to talk about the widely debated immorality (or morality)...
The United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is infrequently in the news in the Caribbean, but should be this year, COVID-19 permitting. First, in October, Barbados is scheduled to host the 15th session of the conference,...
It is good news that Jamaica will begin to receive shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 this month, earlier than the original timetable. But this announcement by the health minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, does not mean that...
True gender equality cannot be achieved unless and until we relinquish our pervasive desire to enslave, control, and police the body and dignity of women. A woman must have the very basic human right and freedom to make autonomous decisions...
About a week ago, Jamaica was rocked by a most heinous act. A woman was shot to death while attending a church service. The killer allegedly entered the church, sat behind his intended victim, and then released a barrage of bullets into her at...
Suppose we changed the seating in Gordon House and placed members in a semicircle rather than two opposing sides, with places in alphabetical order instead of party affiliation. That would probably mean that Andrew Holness and Mark Golding would...
In Jamaica’s febrile environment on the subject, the proposal by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) that a parliamentary vote on the legalisation of abortion be by secret ballot is eminently sensible. At this time, it would be the only...
Testing is an invaluable tool in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Ideally, if widespread testing were done, we could pursue the virus and not just pursue the disease. It is said that more testing would...
“One of the greatest failures of my generation is that we never effectively passed on the truth about where we are coming from, how things used to be back then, so we can truly appreciate how far we have come.” The old man lowered his head...
Jamaica is set to receive between 146,400 and 249,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines under the COVAX facility. This means that some 125,000 Jamaicans could receive vaccines very soon. Among the priority groups to receive the vaccines are our...
