It's Valentine's Day again, and the commercialisation that surrounds the event, which was set in motion as soon as Christmas Day passed, is now in high gear...
One hundred years is a long time, the survival of which, whether by a person or body corporate, is, of itself, a significant achievement.But in a young, transitional society, in a state of ferment and flux, the absence of institutional longevity...
On Tuesday last, I sent the following message to a number of people: "Since neither Dudus nor Manatt is present at the commission of enquiry, do you think the name of the commission should be changed to the Lies of our Government?" The overwhelming response was yes. Several suggested that the commission be called 'The Days of Our Lies'.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn's recent advice to national policymakers that in order to cope with the challenges of the new global economy they should make job creation the priority of their economic strategy accords with the pre-election mantra of the present Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration that "jobs, jobs, jobs" must be Jamaica's central economic priority.
So we're celebrating Black History Month again. Like Valentine's Day and Hallow-een, Black History Month is yet another commodity we've imported from the United States. As Saundrie-Kay, a graduate student in history at the University of the West Indies, Mona, puts it so passionately, "From Black History Month start, a pure Martin Luther King mi a si pan my TV, enuh. Mi nah si nuh Marcus Garvey. Mi wanda a wah a gwaan enuh."
Folly is never more grotesque than when there is an attempt to emboss it with high-minded virtue. That is why there is this sense of the macabre over recent actions by the eminent lawyer, Mr Frank Phipps, QC, at the hearings of the commission of enquiry into the Jamaican Government's handling of the extradition request by the United States...
After several twists and turns and apparent last-minute resistance to let go of his iron rule, Hosni Mubarak's resignation was announced in Cairo last Friday evening to jubilant crowds in Tahrir Square. Over an 18-day period, protesters stood firm against the repressive machinery, refusing to bow to intimidation and thuggery...
THE EDITOR, Sir:I do appreciate the stance taken by letter writer Mr Glenn Tucker, in The Gleaner on Wednesday, February 8, 2011, encouraging pastors to take up arms in order to protect themselves and their property.
It's the kind of news that many will overlook in the current excitement being generated by the ongoing Manatt/Dudus enquiry, or continuing jitters over a lousy economy, job losses and vanishing grass from a...
Mark Twain gives credit to 19th-century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli (later Lord Beaconsfield), for the classic, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Commentators Ian Boyne and Martin Henry recently took jabs at journalists for practising 'self-censorship'.To what extent is this true among journalism professionals, and are they to be blamed for internal censorship in media organisations?
The people of Egypt have decided that they have had enough of corruption, bogus elections and cronyism.They have taken to the streets in the major cities of the country demanding that the president and his government step down immediately.
Not many people, we expect, would have been surprised by Audley Shaw's disclosure last week that the adjusted income-tax rate on earnings above $5 million has not collected the expected amounts since it came into effect in January 2010.For, as Mr Shaw...
PERHAPS COMING from Catalina Botero, the idea will be easier to apprehend by Jamaica legislators than if, and when, it is articulated by this newspaper and others.If that is the case, and they embrace and act on the positions she has articulated...
JAMAICA'S HUGE cricket victory at Alpart last weekend generated a feel-good spirit among the neighbouring communities that have been waiting for any bit of good news to emanate from that company.The sound of bat and ball was not...
RECENTLY, LABOUR and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles, a former trade unionist, announced that as at February 28, the national minimum wage will be increased from $4,070 per week to $4,500 per work week.
I always knew Jamaicans had a thing for Michael Jackson.We sang along to Thriller and some of us (cough, cough) even owned the red leather jacket with the zippers. But this bleaching thing has moonwalked across the line..
Re: February 8 'Letter of the Day' titled 'Jamaica ganja-reform law possible'Dangerous ganja proposalThe grounds for making ganja legal can only be on the premise that rum and cigarettes are legal.
It was fascinating to watch a young man scrolling through his notes on his cellphone as he delivered a tribute at the recent funeral for well-known media personality Basil 'Bagga' Brown.
Who among us remembers either Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson, if we ever knew about them?Well, they happen to be husband and wife, she an ex-spy, he a business consultant and former diplomat, whose names became popular in the United States for a period ...
There was, in Gary 'Butch' Hendrickson's recent remarks, both exasperation and resignation.He was resigned to the seeming atrophy of our Government and desperate for something to happen to lift Jamaica out of its socio-economic crisis....
Back in Wonderland, the circus finally came to town.'Twas a curious circus. Curious about many things. Curiouser and curiouser. All the players were ready. There was an ageing, bumbling, rambling Ringmaster...
