ON EASTER Monday, the world awoke to the news of Pope Francis’ death. He was the first leader of the global Roman Catholic Church of 1.4 billion people who was from the Global South. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Argentina in 1936 and had been...
I remember the excitement of my school sports day activities but I also remember the junk food that was served there. The sweet drinks, the salty snacks, the candy bars were everywhere. Whether it was the concession stands selling chips and sodas...
In our favourite Fantasyland, Apocrypha, Minister of Centrally Controlled Local Government, Messman Mackanzeese, was impaled on the horns of a political dilemma. As a political organizer for his party, governing Just Lazy People (JLP), his...
It would be a stretch to characterise the situation as a crisis. However, The Gleaner shares the concern of the public defender, Carolyn Reid-Cameron, about the general ignorance of Jamaicans of their fundamental rights and freedoms, and their...
One Love movie depicts an era in the life of Bob Marley, larger-than-life character who continues to impact the world decades after his death. Bob’s story is strikingly similar to another, a Jewish man from Bethlehem named Jesus Christ, also larger...
We tell mothers to breastfeed. We write it into national guidelines, post it in hospitals, and promote it in public health campaigns. But when breastfeeding doesn’t come easily – when the baby won’t latch, the pain is unbearable, or every feed ends...
More countries are treating housing not just as a need, but as a right. This move is aimed at preventing homelessness, land insecurity, and inequality. In Jamaica, housing shortages, high rents, and expanding informal settlements have left...
Amid many of the Scripture readings during last week was the story of declining Roman imperial power ruling over Palestine during Jesus’ time. The Jewish people were cowed down by Pilate’s military force and impoverished by the taxes exacted by...
Although voting may not take place for months, officially Jamaica is in an election campaign period. That, under the law, is the period beginning “the day following the last of the period 54 months from the commencement of the term of office of the...
As we anticipate the next general election in Jamaica this year, the question of whether international observers will be invited arises. In this local observer groups such as Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) play a crucial role...
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) approaches its 52nd anniversary facing a mix of inter-related challenges never experienced before. These include: • Climate change of existential dimensions. • A fifth industrial revolution demanding a...
“Take your ass out of the hole on the Sabbath!” Well, he did not quite say it like that, but around 2,000 years ago, a ‘son’ of a woodworker, a tekt õ n himself, faced the wrath of the half -souled men of cloth, who were more interested in...
Many years ago, my father (of blessed memory) came up with a word during one of our usual chats about religion and spirituality. He referred to unchristian [Christian] churchgoers as mere ‘Churchians’, not Christians. Because of the circumstances...
On April 16, the Trump administration ramped up tariffs to 245 per cent on all imports from China in response to China’s responding to previous United States (US) action, moving the trade war between the two countries beyond anything that could be...
The declared intention of the People’s National Party (PNP) to formally recognise Jamaican Creole/Patois as a national language is a natural follow-on of its promise to name Louise Bennett-Coverley, Miss Lou, a national hero. For it would seem...
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signalled a genuine willingness to hear the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) speak for itself. At a moment when his diplomatic files stretch across numerous crisis zones, that attention is neither trivial nor...
“Let us endeavour so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” Mark Twain I once eschewed buses and taxis and travelled to school by rail. In this context, and this alone, you can say that I was well trained. During...
This week’s swearing-in of the Nigerian-Canadian, Chile Eboe-Osuji, as a judge of the Caribbean Court of Appeal (CCJ) flags another issue of constitutional reform, which must be on Jamaica’s agenda when the process restarts after the next elections...
LET’S HAVE an honest conversation. For the last few years, when it came to discussions about boys in education, the headlines weren’t exactly flattering. We’ve watched our boys struggle to keep pace in literacy, falter in numeracy, and steadily...
THE POLICE are increasingly doing their part in the fight against crime. The trend in serious and major crimes over the past three or so years has been one of reductions and the rekindling of hope for a better future, a better Jamaica. Perusal of...
In this period of global uncertainty, as institutions of liberal governance fall under stress for the world’s most powerful leaders, Jamaicans should applaud the resistance by the new chairman of the island’s Integrity Commission, retired judge...
Teachers flee, nurses too, fed up Civil servants tiad, waan give up Di system wring dem dry, no lie – Not even wata leff inna dem yeye! JAMAICA IS facing a quiet emergency. A humanitarian crisis wrapped up in glowing IMF reports and “...
The 9th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC) was held last week (April 9) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, hosted by its President Xiomara Castro, the president pro tempore for 2024-2025. This summit was referenced in...
Lisa Vasciannie’s recent exploration, in this newspaper, of whether Jamaicans living abroad should have the right to vote in the island’s elections has revived an issue once championed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, but on which the...
Fasten your seatbelts because The Old Ball and Chain is banging on about Jamaica’s children to which demographic she contributed three. Old BC: No matter how hard I try with him Old Grey Balls insists on writing about political philosophy instead...
