We all thumped the desks in satisfaction when the legislation to enjoin public servants to contribute a full five per cent of salary to their pensions was passed last week. At the same time, we amended the Constitution to set up a separate fund for...
Many commentators would have us believe that crime and violence in Jamaica is a social and economic issue fed by poverty and ignorance. And while those factors may contribute to the problem, I would confidently argue that their impact is negligible...
Delano Seiveright has the reputation of being a bit of a motormouth, and he has lived up to his record with his recent salvos against the Ministry of Health, and, in particular, its chief medical officer, Dr Winston De La Haye.The nub of Mr...
The appointment of a commissioner of police might seemingly be a simple process. It, however, has dire consequences not only for the direction of the force, but for the security of the nation. After all, the commissioner has certain responsibilities...
On April 4, 2017, the esteemed Chinese ambassador to Jamaica responded to an earlier column regarding 'Parliament, pride and China'. I do not wish to engage the ambassador in a continued pointless discourse on this topic because, in fact, it is the...
Yes, I saw the letter from that fella 'Media Watcher' on Friday saying he almost fell off his chair because I wrote about funeral bling and didn't criticise the administration. What can I say? I'll try not to make that mistake in the future, but I...
Last week's attack by the United States on planes and related airbase infrastructure in Syria marks a reverse in Donald Trump's isolationist rhetoric and underlines the president's moral and foreign-policy schizophrenia.What triggered Mr Trump's...
Blessed be the name of FLOW? Hell, no! FLOW isn't giving the Jamaican consumer a damn thing. We are paying premium rates for a less-than-premium product. And something has got to be done about it. Last Wednesday, I'd had enough of FLOW's bite-and-...
Yesterday, the WICB's team played the first game of a one-day international (ODI) series against Pakistan. This was after a 3-1 loss in the T20 series and many other previous losses. The board called in the law in the form of a former Australian...
Recent decisions in a number of high-profile court cases are helping to create a crisis of confidence in Jamaica's criminal justice system. Now there is one more to be added to the list - the case of Nerice Samuels, a 33-year-old mother of two....
Holy Week 2017 is here, and many Christians will celebrate the Passion of the Christ. Many will recall the accounts of Christ's life, death, and resurrection.This is a time when movies, plays, sermons, and...
The Budget process continues to expose the stark reality of the poor - they have no non-governmental organisation and barely anyone to defend their rights and welfare.To make matters worse, they are, for the most part, unable to...
An 11-year-old has a quarrel with a 14-year-old and chops him to death with a machete, almost severing his head. Is this the act of an individual with a psychological problem, or the external manifestation of a sick society?If it is the first, its...
The African National Congress (ANC) has ruled South Africa for 23 years, ever since the end of apartheid and the first free election in 1994. Twenty-three years is a very long time in politics, and you would expect it to be losing power some time...
Olivia Grange's attempt to delegitimise Lisa Hanna's allegations of a culture of extravagance at the Ministry of Culture was half-hearted, but she will take refuge in House Speaker Pearnel Charles' insistence that she go no further with her response...
We may have missed it, but we haven't seen or heard of a declaration of embarrassment and regret from Enid Ross-Stewart, head of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA). That action would have been expected in...
On Saturday, while driving from Oxford, England, to Sheffield - one segment of the journey as I started a tour to participate in discussions on justice issues - a conversation started with my friend, Wally, about taxation systems in Jamaica and...
I find it hard to comprehend why all Jamaicans are not, in reality, equal. Are we not supposed to be equal under the law and in the eyes of God? Reality seems to suggest otherwise.Here is my analysis of 'how things really go'. Think on these things:...
The 1970s was the Golden Age of ganja in Jamaica. Many business icons of today got their seed money from the illicit export of the weed during that decade.'Elbow' operated a nightclub in the Cross Roads area and I was a regular there, especially on...
It all started with UWI anthropologist Herbert Gayle saying that in his not-so-humble opinion, there is no such thing as violence against women. The Gleaner followed that up with a 24-page supplement this January titled 'Light on Violence', based on...
With reference to the contributed article 'Cruel realities of American football', written by Ronald Mason and published in The Sunday Gleaner on April 2, 2017, it's good to see the writer taking so much time to research and comment on our planned...
Having now formalised his transition as opposition leader and president of the People's National Party (PNP), Dr Peter Phillips ought not only to train his eyes on the primary target of all political parties - grabbing state power.While we expect...
Prime Minister Andrew Holness perhaps misapprehends the deeper issue behind the resistance to his Government's plan to essentially abandon the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and channel the cash from the US$20 levy on airline tickets to Jamaica into...
Almost half a century after it began, a broadcasting era has ended.Last Friday, radio icon Alan Magnus took off his headphones and stepped away from the microphone for the last time. It's been a blast, right, Alan? Alan wasn't the first, but he's...
Rent-a-dread English translation: Fake Rastafarian male prostitute.Definition:A man with dreadlocks who sells his companionship and body. He normally struts along popular beaches in Jamaica, in places like Negril and Ocho Rios where his services are...
