Commentary

The recent Arizona assassination of District Court judge John Roll and attempted assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords should prompt us to start taking our judges' security seriously....

We are glad that Mr P.J. Patterson, the former Jamaican prime minister, has boldly brought the fact to the attention of Jamaican entrepreneurs: there are business opportunities in the redevelopment of Haiti...

Persons who ought to know better have been lending their imprimatur to a dangerous mixture of falsity, misrepresentation and misapprehension about the role and function of the press in societies like our own.

By last Friday afternoon, the protesters in central Cairo were chanting: "Where is the army? Come and see what the police are doing to us." And that has been the main question, really: What will be the role of the Egyptian army...

Below are comments from readers of www.jamaica-gleaner.com regarding the lead story, titled 'Idle money', in yesterday's Gleaner.draining the nationRemember Mr Knight's revelation of corruption in The Gleaner last Saturday? ...

We are surprised that Dr Rosalea Hamilton would find it vexatious for the Government to require that small businesses have up-to-date, audited accounts to qualify for some of its contracts.Dr Hamilton, apart from teaching at the University...

I used to enjoy watching boxing, but the idea of two people fighting, trying to harm each other over money, the crowd screaming with glee whenever someone is suffering, in pain, out cold and could be left with irreparable brain damage or worse..

For years, scholars have spoken of the Arab 'street' - the metaphor for the bottled rage of ordinary Arabs, whose vibrant civil societies are repressed by authoritarian and, all too often, United States-aligned regimes.

Even as President Obama was talking up the American economy in his State of the Union address and receiving endorsements from United States (US) business and labour leaders for his bold investment plans, events that could cause geopolitical tremors were unfolding in North Africa and the Persian Gulf.

What is the economic condition of Jamaican youth? When we look at the data, six points stand out: First, the youth population, although still large, is declining. Second, the issue of improving youth literacy and numeracy is a crucial one for all categories of youth.

The minimum wage has been raised a whopping $86 more per day, and already there are cries about this huge increase. Some public-sector workers who have to hold strain under the Memorandum of Understanding are livid that they cannot afford to pay such a large sum, because they have not got an increase.

"This year we will experience four unusual dates: 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11. NOW go figure this out: take the last two digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and it WILL EQUAL ... 111." I got this from one of my many colleagues, friends and family who regale and sometimes swamp me with stuff that they feel will appeal to my insatiable curiosity and unbreakable funny bone.