Tomorrow marks 59 years since the democratically elected government on this ‘big country’ on a small island signed an agreement with her majesty’s government, to achieve legal independence from Britain. However, our black Jamaican story is much...
Ini Kamoze’s 1983 big tune, World a Music, is a classic expression of the creative use of the image of murder to represent the devastating power of reggae: “World a reggae music on yah – eh Keep me rockin with mi daughter – eh-a World a...
Her suggestion of a hatchet job notwithstanding, the rigour with which Government members of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee questioned Permanent Secretary Colette Roberts Risden about her stewardship at the labour and social security...
The story of a teenage boy severing the penis of a six-year-old ranks as one of the most repugnant acts imaginable. Though it happened in 2019, this week’s prison sentence of the St Thomas teenager, who pleaded guilty to the crime, has refreshed...
Developing countries, including the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), are being left behind in the rollout of vaccinations against COVID-19 that is now under way in rich countries. The most recent information from the Pan...
Like most West Indians, I’ve had many nicknames throughout my life, but there’s one in particular that I always remember after we welcome the New Year. The year 2021 is completely different from those early days when on Old Year’s Night my father...
Actions produce reactions. What we observe around us are the resultants of causes producing effects. If you want something to stop, you have to work hard to stop its cause. Treating symptoms may bring temporary relief, but will not cure the...
This newspaper, as are most Jamaicans, is scandalised over the recent spate of horrific murders, including the hacking to death of four homeless men on a single night and the shooting of a woman while she was at prayer, literally, in a church. We...
Last Sunday I received a video along with a statement. The information related to a shooting which took place in a church during worship. Almost immediately, a flood of stories making different claims about the motivation for the shooting were...
It is a fact that repeat offenders are responsible for the occurrence of many crimes in Jamaica. Despite this observation, very little discussion is facilitated on how to reduce recidivism among our prison population. In most discussions, the...
DR NIGEL Clarke, the finance and public service minister, may have missed our suggestion a month ago that he should start a national discussion on the review he ordered of public-sector wage levels, through which he intends to bring rationality...
The researched benefits of parish status to the community of Portmore are enormous and varied. Some are obvious to even the most superficial of observers, others are not so discernible. The transformation of Portmore into a parish will have impact...
Four years of Donald Trump’s obstinacy notwithstanding, we should not need anyone to tell us that clean energy is the economic future into which Jamaica should aggressively be preparing to enter. But Joe Biden’s executive order on the first day of...
Rebuilding trust means that equitable access to vaccines and building back better has to be universal and not only self-serving goals, hence the importance of multilateralism. Last week, in my article on January 27, I looked at the issues which...
History will record January 6, 2021 as ‘America’s White day of shame!’ On that shameful day, an angry mob of White nationalists stormed America’s Washington Capitol with clearly murderous intent. The chants rang out: “Hang Mike Pence! Hang...
The logic of Chris Zacca’s argument that there should be a “whole-country approach” to vaccinating Jamaicans when the island eventually has access to a COVID-19 jab is as obvious as it is unimpeachable. This newspaper is, therefore, on board....
Will your organisation be impacted by the Data Protection Act (DPA)? If so, are you aware that you could face criminal prosecution and be fined up to four per cent of your annual revenue if found in breach of this act? Let us explore these...
So, I have come to realise that I am an empath. I have been one for most of my life, but did not quite know the term until relatively recently. But what is an empath? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as one who experiences the emotions of...
HIS BEAT was on East Street, where it intersects with East Queen Street in downtown Kingston. Any weekday, slight, intense, clean, he could spot you far away in any line of traffic and through the darkest window tint. There was something naive,...
SINCE MY article, ‘Consider Ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment’ was published on Monday, January 4, 2021, I have been receiving a lot of supportive and informative emails from people all across the globe who have either benefited directly, or known...
ALTHOUGH THE draft bill for the establishment of a national identification system (NIDS) cures the obvious mischiefs that rendered the previous law unconstitutional, the new effort can only benefit, as we observed previously, from robust debate of...
DR NIGEL Clarke’s confidence that an economic recovery built on robust growth will begin this year is encouraging. However, two reports published last week provide reasons for reflection, and perhaps tweaks, by the finance minister, to the...
An ‘agreement’ between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of the United States of America concerning cooperation in suppressing illicit maritime drug trafficking’ is the full title of what we have come to commonly refer to as the...
In May 2007, at the launch of Changemakers: 101 Portraits Of Men In Jamaica, Peter Ferguson signed my book with these words: ‘A Little History’. In his introductory essay, he elaborated: “There is a need for documenting and celebrating, before...
The excitement generated by the recent scuttling of a deregistered small plane in Rocky Point was quickly replaced by residents’ outrage towards the authorities who were seen to be targeting one household in the community. The placards and...
