On July 23, 2015, Jamaica raised US$2 billion on the international capital markets - the highest amount it has ever raised during a single transaction window - at the lowest rates it has ever been able to access from that market. A third of that...
I have credited the finance minister and his team in the past for what they've done in managing the austerity segment of the economic programme with the IMF. I am very sensitive to criticism that what Dr Peter Phillips has done in marshalling our...
Half a century ago, around two-thirds of Jamaica's population lived in rural communities. Now, more than half (54 per cent) reside in urban areas.Take Old Harbour, on the island's south coast, for instance. Thirty-five years ago, it was a relatively...
That the economic cost of LGBT discrimination can be calculated is, to be honest, a bit suspicious, but nonetheless a novel way to analyse the LGBT issue.It is supposed, after all, that if moral suasion and social pressure won't work, perhaps...
As is the case every year, the looming date of August 6 gets the whole nation thinking about Independence and what it means to them. For those generations before me, the notion of Independence evokes sentiments of freedom from slavery, the liberty...
Why do people 'confess'? People usually confess because they're guilty. Most confessions are 'coerced' (few confess 'voluntarily'). But 'coercion' is a complicated concept, despite the law recognising only confessions obtained under physical duress...
In Jamaica, a police lock-up is a dangerous place. People die in them quite often, while, presumably, under the protection of the constabulary. And these deaths mostly fall between the cracks, becoming, the cynics will insist, mostly passing,...
Reuven Rivlin, the president of Israel, is an outspoken man, but he knows when to hold his fire. He condemned the killing of an 18-month-old Palestinian child in an arson attack in the West Bank by suspected Jewish settlers last Friday as "terrorism...
When I was in prep school, I was a member of the Cub Scouts. As one of the nature activities, I had assembled a butterfly collection. It was really delightful, or so I thought, and included butterflies of various sizes and colours carefully mounted...
Frankly, we would not frown on any member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in the Senate if he broke ranks and voted with the Government on the constitutional amendments to establish the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), whenever that vote is taken...
I recently met a businessman who, unsolicited, introduced himself as a "Comrade for life". I, therefore, became perplexed when he embarked on a severe and protracted criticism of several policies carried out by his fellow Comrades.He animatedly...
An outsider looking at our culture would be amazed at our acceptance of make-believe. The late Singaporean prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, may have noticed this when he characterised Michael Manley's redistributionist world view as "quixotic". Lee may...
There is so much negativity that exists in the world today, that when someone says something kind or positive, we find it difficult to simply receive it.So, for example, if someone says: 'Have a beautiful day' or 'It's going to be a beautiful day',...
Comprehensive Clinic, Slipe Pen Road. Disturbance in the place. Threats of acid and physical violence. A young man waiting to be seen realises that a woman sitting in the waiting area with him has been taking pictures and videos of him without his...
As a born and bred Seventh-Day Adventist, I'm thoroughly ashamed of the church of my youth. To think that in the 21st century Adventists cannot agree that women are eligible for ordination as ministers! It's completely incomprehensible in this day...
Jamaica, the land of wood and water is in the throes of a serious drought for the second consecutive year. The effect of the drought is that it reduces agricultural output, negatively affects lifestyle and increases tensions in households...
If you sense there is a deepening crisis over water and largely flapping responses to the recurring shortage of the commodity during Jamaica's increasingly prolonged annual droughts, you'll probably find the answer on the websites of the government...
In the FY2014-15 budget Debate, the finance minister, in explaining why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme is necessary, said: "This question can be answered in one word: DEBT. Jamaica over the years has built up an unsustainable public...
Published:Friday | July 31, 2015 | 5:29 PMDr Ethon Lowe
Martin Henry in his article 'Atheists need a New Testament', published July 26, made many claims which have no factual bases. Atheism is a lack of belief in a god or gods. It has nothing to do with belief. It needs no testament. It is not a faith (...
As Jamaicans show their patriotic side during these Emancipation/ Independence celebrations, it is a given that appetising delicacies and rich ethnic foods will take centre stage right up there with the entertainment of all genres. The fact that...
A peer without peer could be deemed peerless but a peer without care is not just careless but seemingly couldn't care less. This is the case of Lord John Sewell, 69, a peer beyond compare, deputy speaker and chairman of committees at the House of...
Yesterday's Gleaner contains a report ('Committee divided over definition of corruption') in which Minister of Justice Mark Golding is quoted as saying: "There is no reason to suspect that the definitions of acts of corruption in our law are...
I now must admit that I am officially confused. The ongoing saga involving Reggae Boy defender Alvas Powell has more twists and turns than a deserted country road.When we first heard that he had walked out on the camp at the Gold Cup, coach Winfried...
The rate of homicide in Jamaica peaked in 2009, when it was 63 per 100,000 people. For comparison, the rate in the UK is about one per 100,000 people, so the rate of killing in Jamaica was more than 60 times higher.After Christopher Coke was...
Peter Bunting now needs to clarify his clarification. For no one is any the wiser about his proposal for an oversight body for the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), the agency that probes accusations of excesses against the police...
