Recently I had the opportunity, along with the leader of the Opposition, to meet with the chairman, some directors and executive officers of the Early Childhood Commission.The fact that the meeting was requested by the new board was a refreshing...
Last year, my son returned from the Cultural Exchange Programme under which he was able to work during the summer in the United States. So impressed was his boss that they begged him to return and also asked for five more Jamaicans like him.My son's...
Why is it taking so long for some of us to see that Miss Lou is a national heroine and just needs to be given the official title? In Jamaica, we have five levels of national honours: Order of National Hero; Order of the Nation/Order of Excellence;...
At the age of 70, the biblical 'three score and ten', Benjamin Franklin helped to draft the American Declaration of Independence. The magnate, Cornelius Vanderbilt, began buying railroads. The tempestuous and temperamental French actress Sarah...
Usain Bolt is arguably one of the most famous athletes to walk this earth. Usain Bolt's achievements on the track have brought glory to our island nation, while thrilling sports lovers from everywhere. Now into his third Olympics, with hopes of...
It is probable, and perhaps very likely, that the Belizean government will appeal this week's court ruling that its law against anal sex, or 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature', as it is called in the legislation, is unconstitutional....
I feel the frustration of the mainstream US media during this present election campaign. What is supposed to happen is that when the foibles and foolishness of a candidate are exposed to the public, the popularity of the candidate is supposed to...
The 'real' Olympics will start this weekend. For most Jamaicans, all that has gone on before is mere fluff. We watched the gymnastics and archery and rowing with the same intensity that we watch the commercials before our favourite television show,...
We are heartened that Arlene Harrison Henry, the public defender, doesn't appear to give a damn that there could be a robust encounter, or, as she put termed it, a "messy" fight, in the Appeal Court over the decision by the Attorney General's...
On July 22, flamboyant and charismatic preacher Al Miller was found guilty of perverting the course of justice by transporting Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, a fugitive facing drugs and firearms charges in the United States of America (US), and ignoring...
WE ARE yet to truly grasp the tremendous impact the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender (LGBT) Pride celebrations during the Emancipation and Independence celebrations is having and will continue to have on Jamaica, and the LGBT and ally community in...
Starting August 12, 2016, Jamaican athletes will again be on the Olympic world stage where the outcomes of years of coaching will be on display. Jamaicans will revel in the joy of victory and beam with national pride when the world acknowledges our...
In the post-smoking regulations segment of his tenure as health minister, the MP for St Thomas Eastern, Dr Fenton Ferguson, has said precious few things with which I agree. That's because the gentleman has often been cornered into saying something...
It's high time the law against using 'indecent language' in public is taken off the books. In a society which acknowledges widespread abuse of power by the police, the State must remove any unnecessary pretext lawmen might have for arresting...
The Bahamas is exercised by a constitutional row that is not only likely to go all the way to the Privy Council, but, depending on its outcome, could have profound implications for the privileges legislators enjoy in that country's Parliament, as...
Published:Tuesday | August 9, 2016 | 12:00 AMGerry Gallimore
I have read in The Gleaner that Pastor Dr Merrick 'Al' Miller has been found guilty, with reference to the Christopher 'Dudus' Coke case. This verdict, along with the comments of the judge as recorded in your report, has brought me much distress and...
Like Ronald Thwaites, the MP and former education minister, this newspaper is concerned with the torpid indolence with which Jamaica's Parliament goes about its work. As Mr Thwaites pointed out in a column published yesterday, the House sits, on...
I apprehend that the Olympics' real meaning is lost forever.Most Jamaicans don't believe the Olympics begins before track, and Usain Bolt's name dominates all conversations. There's also talk of drugs, Russia's ban, and convicted drug-cheating...
Your columnist, Ronald Mason (Gleaner, April 7, 2016), is not the only one to think, here we go again. 'The environmentalists' think so, too.On July 28, 2016, two govern-ment ministers called a press conference and announced a large industrial...
There are some really good taxi drivers out there. For the greater part of my school life, my family and I were transported from Point A to B by the most decent, dependable taxi drivers from Apollo Taxi Service. Ricky, 65, and Chicken, 55, in...
The House of Representatives gives itself nearly six weeks of vacation each year during the summer. The schedule during the rest of the year is quite relaxed, too.Usually, there is, on average, one three-and-a-half-hour sitting each week. It gets...
I'm certainly no physical specimen, I used to be very big into the gym thing but, for a multiplicity of reasons, I fell off the metaphorical fitness wagon so hard that I broke something. My will to get back on the wagon was broken so badly that the...
Maintaining law, order, and civility in Jamaica has been a perennial problem. From the moment we became captives in this capitalist plot, the phantom of rebellion has lingered, stirring anti-establishment sentiments among a population frustrated at...
Having had time to reflect and appreciate the merit of his case, Prime Minister Andrew Holness won't bother to appeal last week's lifting, by Justice Chester Stamp, of the injunction that prevented further airing of the '18 Degrees North' programme...
Published:Friday | August 5, 2016 | 12:00 AMRohan Brown
We continue to be burdened with the serious problem of having our environment poisoned by the containers we use and then discard. First, I need to declare that I am an interested party, a recycler (of plastics and paper) and a son of the soil. My...
