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Jamaica Gleaner

Commentary

An unusual film festival

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AMGordon Robinson

In that fantasyland called Apocrypha, the nation was all agog at the upcoming film festival.Anticipation surrounding the final day was particularly high, as movies starring prominent Apocryphan politicians were scheduled. The most anticipated movie...

Jamaica’s IMF score good at half-time

Published:Monday | May 18, 2015 | 12:00 AMBert van Selm, Guest Contributor

Last week, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Jan Kees Martijn and Uma Ramakrishnan visited the island to conduct discussions on the eighth review of Jamaica's four-year extended fund facility - just over two years after the programme...

Editorial: More than uniforms, Mr Williams

Published:Monday | May 18, 2015 | 12:00 AM

We note with approval the insistence by the leadership of the police force that its members wear regulation uniforms as part of efforts by the constabulary to rebuild its image and to gain the trust of the communities it serves.Among Commissioner...

Hanging out with Ho Lung

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AM

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about Father Ho Lung's assessment of Lisa Hanna as the disappointment of the year, based on a photograph that she posted on Instagram. My article, titled 'Beauty and the Priest', was sheer satire, as...

Tomorrow is World Family Doctor Day

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AM

General practitioners/family practitioners/primary-care physicians form the hub, the core, the centre, the essential support for all the medical sciences.Like spokes in a wheel, specialist services radiate...

Failure in the Senate

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AM

Although approved by a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the constitution (Amendment) bill to replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica's final court of appeal is...

Holness: flaccid retort, poor judgement

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AM

Bruce Golding must be taken aback to be numbered among "those chasing after a fleeting and elusive dream called integration" - and by the man he contrived to have installed as leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and, briefly, prime minister of...

Supporting regional integration isn't about protecting sovereignty

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AMRichard Blackford

I noted the opposition leader's expressed compulsion to affirm his underpinning nationalism and his unapologetic stance in his declaration of putting Jamaica first and "that our priority as a people should be to consider and pursue that which is in...

Another Bush damaged by Iraq

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AM

He just misheard the question. A basically friendly interviewer on Fox News asked Jeb Bush, now seeking the Republican nomination for the United States (US) presidency: "Knowing what we know now, would you have authorised the invasion (of Iraq)?"...

Deciphering decriminalisation of weed

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AMAlfred McPherson

It appears to be fair comment from a legal, and I dare say, from the social and economic perspectives, that the decriminalisation of ganja in Jamaica has been long in coming...

Old man no fi grudge young boy

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AM

It no right fi old man a grudge young boy. Some a dem old man must be figet seh dem did young one time. A no like seh dem born old. Dem did get fi dem chance fi live young-boy life. An pick an choose dem woman-friend. An mek fi...

JLP's already won CCJ battle

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AM

I can't say I've been following all the ins and outs and various micro-permutations of the CCJ debate over these last few weeks. That's because once the Opposition had reiterated its position, it was a foregone conclusion that the CCJ would go...

Are lawyers worth weeping for?

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AM

The noble, learned profession in Jamaica is in trouble. Senior members are increasingly, from observation, themselves being accused of criminal violations.The process of acquiring a practising certificate to enable a person to offer legal service is...

Editorial: Public-sector unions must be sensible

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AM

It is not irrational of public-sector workers to wish that they earned substantially more and to ask the Government for pay hikes of up to 30 per cent. Every employee would like more. Government employees also have, on the face of it, a credible...

Everything iere

Published:Thursday | May 14, 2015 | 12:00 AMTony Deyal

I read a lot as a youngster - consumed and devoured books by the day - and loved to torment a couple of my teachers with a saying I had picked up somewhere in the library: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." I got away with it, except for...

Editorial: Wretched Spanish Town

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AM

How much longer will marauding criminals hold Spanish Town residents in their clutches and businesses to ransom? For two decades, we have witnessed the decay of Spanish Town under the weight of criminal elements that have extorted, killed and maimed...

Gay man tells of tough trials in Jamaican schools

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AMDervin Osbourne

Tomorrow, May 17, is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, a day dedicated to acknowledging the horrors that many members of the LGBTQ community experience and to acknowledge their...

Is the sugar cane industry ready for 2017?

Published:Friday | May 15, 2015 | 12:00 AMPaolo Amadei

As global sugar prices continue to falter, it is no small wonder that the pages of local newspapers have been awash with speculation on the outlook for Jamaica's own sugar cane industry.Record worldwide...

Every vote is a conscience vote

Published:Thursday | May 14, 2015 | 12:00 AM

I don't believe that genuine people of conscience could ever enter politics the way we practice it in Jamaica and still remain genuine people of conscience.The difficulty, it seems to me, is toeing the party line.When the party whip demands that you...

Editorial: Taxation lessons not learned

Published:Thursday | May 14, 2015 | 12:00 AM

If Dr Peter Phillips recalls, at the time of his 2014-2015 Budget Debate presentation, he felt compelled to withdraw his proposed tax on bank withdrawals. And this wasn't because it would have been an unreasonable imposition, or a bad tax. In our...

The Senate Cannot Remain a Nominated House

Published:Thursday | May 14, 2015 | 12:00 AM

That the Senate may be able to defeat the Lower House's two-thirds vote - 42 in favour; 21 against - on the adoption of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as our final court of appeal, has brought into sharp focus that Chamber's power to defeat...

Take Your Nose Out of Women’s Womb

Published:Wednesday | May 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMJaevion Nelson

The termination of pregnancies should be legal in Jamaica. There is absolutely no sense holding on to such an archaic law that serves our society no purpose whatsoever. Sections 72 and 73 of the Offences Against the Person Act should be repealed in...

The 'Bright Journey' - a Journey of Vision and Friendship

Published:Wednesday | May 13, 2015 | 12:00 AM

In China, people say that the eye is a window that connects the mind with the world. Today, I have good news for Jamaicans who are suffering from cataract problems - the window of brightness will soon be reopened to them! This coming Sunday, a team...

Mahfood ‘Man up’ to Mistake

Published:Wednesday | May 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMDevon Dick

Recently, William Mahfood, president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, apologised to Derrick Kellier, minister of labour, social security, agriculture and fisheries, for stating that Kellier was acted like a "rogue minister" because of...

Editorial: Losing faith in Holness

Published:Wednesday | May 13, 2015 | 12:00 AM

We cling desperately in hope for Andrew Holness' leadership - that it has the capacity and will for big, transformative ideas and accomplishments. Or even middling ones.That dream, though, is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain, evidenced...

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