CEO of Jamaica Teas, John Mahfood, like successful businessmen of his calibre, does have options, many more than we do. He could, I suppose, concentrate directly on his business, see the bottom line as everything with nothing else mattering, and...
If Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), really did send a hit team to Turkey to murder dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago, what will happen next? Perhaps history...
We confess to sorrow and a sense of loss over the Craig Butler-Leon Bailey affair. For there is the unwisdom of young Mr Bailey and, worse, at the cynical wilfulness of those who, in the end, may coax him to moral perdition, unsaved by his...
There will be several activities at the University of the West Indies (UWI) this week to review and analyse the circumstances under which Walter Rodney, a prominent Guyanese historian, political activist and academic, was declared persona non grata...
On October 15, 1968, Dr Walter Rodney was declared persona non grata by Jamaica and not allowed to leave the plane that had brought him back from a conference in Canada. Opinions on this issue varied then and vary still today.Any analysis, at least...
Damien King, the University of the West Indies (UWI) economist, has, as reported by this newspaper, suggested that an old complaint of Jamaican policymakers, which the Holness administration suggested it was on its way to fixing, remains alive and...
I have a word of advice for the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). Well, four words, really.Leave Leon Bailey alone. Let him pursue his worldwide commercial interests to his heart's content. Don't invite him to join the Reggae Boyz. Ever. Again. I...
Two non-Jamaican writers have made statements that still have an impact on my mind. Concerning the drug epidemic in the USA decades ago, Dr A.E. Wilder-Smith, a Christian academic, said the root cause is not so much the physical availability of...
Since this is the time when we try to remember our national heroes and bestow honours on worthy Jamaicans, I thought I would remember the late Carmen Verity who, for me, epitomised many of the qualities of real Jamaican heroism. Carmen Lawrence...
National Heroes Day is a time to remember and pay homage to our national heroes. It is also the day that we openly acknowledge those among us who have earned national honours and awards. A hero is defined as “a person who is admired for their...
This is an open letter to Prime Minister Andrew Holness. Trench Town is the community from which emerged Jamaica's most influential popular music group, The Wailers, including Bob Marley, who is numbered among Jamaica's greatest sons, and...
Elva Ruddock was my friend. After getting involved in comedy, it was inevitable that our paths would cross. I recall my first time on stage at a comedy show. It was 2005 at the Christmas Comedy Cookup at Backyaad on Constant Spring Road. Owen...
In a television interview last week, Audley Deidrick, CEO of the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), said that while he operates in the public sector, he fully embraced the centrality of private businesses to the economy. Private firms drive...
Walter Rodney came from Guyana to Jamaica in 1960 to study history at The University of the West Indies, Mona. He graduated with first-class honours in 1963. He then went to the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and...
A Jamaican man once admitted that his socialisation had led him to see non-consensual sex as a norm. He learned that 'no' means 'no' only after he attended a gender sensitivity workshop as part of his professional training.Many persons, male and...
The GDP is finally looking up, scamming might be on the wane, and the top two per cent and their children are even reconsidering if they should emigrate to the US, as long as they can afford a new Audi. Thanks to the so-called disruptors, innovation...
The case of Jamal Khashoggi highlights the growing impunity with which the ruling Saudis conduct their business, including, it appears, the brazen murder of their critics. But it should also be further warning that with the moral licence afforded by...
The Gleaner's long-standing and enviable tradition of incisive editorials on matters of national interest, was evidenced on Monday, October 8, 2018, in which it postulated 'Broadening the NHT debate'...
The focus on public-private partnerships (PPPs), as articulated by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, has taken another step in the ongoing efforts to bridge Jamaica's infrastructure gap.Infrastructure deficit, being the difference between what a...
As a naturopathic physician, I consider it an imperative for me to enter the current politico-academic storm between the two academic professors and the minister of health on the question of whether very high sugar content in commercial drinks...
Every family has at least one secret to hide, one black sheep to stay far from, and one skeleton in its capacious cupboard, most likely built with materials from the family tree.Since the days of Old Mother Hubbard, cupboards have developed into...
One day in the early 1990s, a group of teachers from a high school visited the KLAS radio station where Wilmot Perkins was host of the 'Straight Talk' radio programme. Having been welcomed by Perkins, one of them decided to speak on behalf of the...
Last Friday, the editor of The Gleaner exposed some of the policy contradictions of the finance and education ministries. Two years ago, to fulfil an election promise, the minister of education loudly announced the abolition of all auxiliary fees...
Given what they assumed was a clearing of the decks ahead of a new robust system for the management of traffic tickets, Delroy Chuck will no doubt forgive anyone who presumes government incompetence in how it has handled these arrangements.This week...
I must respond to an article published on October 10, 2018, captioned 'MoBay mayor wants 'justice centre' at library location'. In that article, the mayor made a recommendation "to demolish the St James Parish Library" in order for the Government to...
