We know that there are some of us who believe that when it comes to geopolitics and international relations, Jamaica, cringing quietly in a corner, should neither be seen nor heard, while defining national interest only in terms of how much...
Last month, The Gleaner published an article I wrote titled ‘Why I walked away from Christianity’. I explained some of the issues that I have with organised religion, not just Christianity, and my reasons for leaving the faith.Many Christians...
Consider even a few of the most recent instances of crime. A teenage boy is caught with a powerful gun and a brace of ammunition near Coronation Market. You must have seen his picture - a swollen-faced, blood-spotted, clearly beaten child.ACP Ealan...
Jamaica's athletics establishment is obliged not merely to support, but aggressively champion, an appeal by Nesta Carter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his conviction by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for a doping...
Quite a few years ago, I commissioned a reputable cabinetmaker to build shelving for my office files. He was a practising Christian and a very active churchman who worked out of a building situated on church property. When he gave me his bill, I...
Published:Saturday | January 28, 2017 | 12:00 AMEve Crowley
Obesity and overweight have spread like a wildfire throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, threatening the health, well-being and food and nutritional security of millions of people.According to the new publication of the United Nations Food and...
Jamaica-United States trade surpassed Jamaica-British trade for the first time in 1899. So reports the Handbook of Jamaica, a bit of obscure data I bucked up by chance while searching for something else in the HoJ. That trade switchover was 118...
Michael Lee-Chin believes that Jamaicans - including, presumably, this newspaper - who discuss geopolitical issues without calculating an immediate and direct financial benefit to the island to be stupid.That is a very reasonable conclusion to be...
It takes a lot of spunk to call your play Cock Tales. And then to tack on "Shame on Me!" Exclamation mark! This clearly shows you're not ashamed at all. You're brazening it out. That's Debra Ehrhardt for you. This cocky Jamaican playwright and...
Part of writing a column is extinguishing terrible ideas, although it's an unending task because they sprout like weeds. That said, it looks as if these skilful hackers didn't only break their way into America's Democratic National Committee's email...
You do not choose the family into which you are born, and for extended periods, you are guided and controlled by those members with whom you are in constant contact.I had the distinction of being the first grandchild and I spent my formative years...
One thing about all fishing stories and tall tales is that the one that got away is always bigger than the one you gotta weigh. However, science has come up with an even bigger fishy business.Experts believe that the Cornish codfish, which make...
Let's not be too quick to dismiss the advice from Prime Minister Andrew Holness for Jamaicans to invest instead of stocking up on consumer items. It's advice well worth heeding.While the ultimate goal of the Jamaica Labour Party's economic policy is...
It is beyond controversy that the Rev Dr Burchell Taylor is one of the region's best preacher-teachers. In fact, I have said to clergy colleagues and got their concurrence that whenever you hear Dr Taylor preach...
Now that the responsibility for economic growth has been divested to the Economic Growth Council (ECG), the governance model that this creation of the Holness Government has presented raises questions about the relationship between the business and...
In a way, it was expected. Many of us were hoping against hope that it would not be, but on Wednesday, it turned out that Nesta Carter had indeed tested positive for the prohibited substance methylhexanamine.He was tested prior to the Beijing...
Understandably, there have been mixed views about the Government's rejection of an offer from the British to help Jamaica build a new prison. The original outcry that followed the initial offer made during the visit of former prime minister of the...
A week ago, at its headquarters at Up Park Camp in Kingston, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) formally transferred the army's leadership from Major General Antony Anderson to Major General Rocky Meade. Overhead, the JDF's half a dozen or so small...
The performance of the Jamaican Parliament has been abysmal for far too long and it doesn't seem this will improve anytime soon. Sadly, while there have been changes in government for the last three elections, this has not made much difference. The...
There is something peculiar about the discussion of crime and violence in Jamaica: just how little the leaders of the parishes where the problem is worse seem to contribute to the debate. It may be that they are so overwhelmed by the crisis that...
Published:Wednesday | January 25, 2017 | 12:00 AMDevon Dick
Recently, 63-year-old Barry related for the first time to his grandmother, Veronica Blake Carnegie, that he caught a roving evangelist having sex with an 11-year-old girl some 54 years ago (Gleaner January 21 page A5). This painful experience is...
Published:Wednesday | January 25, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Wignall
When Finance Minister Audley Shaw told attendees at a May-berry Investment Forum held last week that US President Donald Trump and his government could be good for Jamaica it sounded like a wish wrapped in a hope and sent out on the fluttering...
For me, the unfortunate demise of the renowned writer Peter Abrahams trumps all other stories this week. As he was 97 when he died, I can't very well use the term 'untimely', for Peter had had much more than the three score and ten the Bible...
On Sunday, the world got introduced to a new expression: alternative facts. The euphemism was added to our vocabularies in an MSNBC interview with former campaign manager and counsellor to the newly minted US president, Kellyanne Conway. (That's a...
There's nothing wrong with kicking a man when he's down, especially when under normal circumstances, said man is so high and mighty that he's out of the reach of all boots. The Church, not only the Moravian variety, is being kicked mercilessly at...
