A telephone conversation with Margaret, the wife of my former colleague Ian Boyne, and a brief epitaph that my shaking hands barely managed to scribble in the condolence book at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), where Ian worked for a long time...
Every individual unlucky enough to be appointed by his prime minister to the post of minister of national security begins his new political and social life in negative-performance territory.To compound matters, the security minister has no say in...
Violence will resume in the lulled Jacques Road-Goodwich Lane conflict as soon as work is restarted on the National Housing Trust construction site in the area.Control of the construction site was the cause of the upsurge of gang warfare in the area...
In 2014, police officer Wayne Hamil shot and injured a taxicab driver in Hopewell, Hanover, a crime for which he was convicted. He was fined $1 million or three years in prison. He chose to pay the fine.Despite this conviction, Hamil retains his...
If you are in your 20s or 30s, perhaps retirement planning is not one of your priorities. However, if you are 40-something or older, you should already have a retirement plan in place, supported by tax-advantaged savings and a robust investment...
Jamaica is now the darling of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The November 2017 visit of Madame Lagarde, managing director of the fund, the second visit in two years, is a testament to the fund's close and friendly relationship with the...
United States (US) President Donald Trump made a declaration that America regards Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It is ironic that this has been the position of the US government since 1995 and that Trump made his declaration on the same day...
With our different styles, Ian Boyne, like me, has been a strident and consistent advocate of transforming attitudes and values. Without which we can say bye-bye to sustainable economic growth and a peaceful, orderly society, "the place of choice to...
Yet again, faced with threats from Big Bully from the North, Jamaica chickened out, choosing obsequiousness over principle.On Thursday, December 21, the United Nations took a firm stand against USA's aggressive, discriminatory, and unnecessary "...
And they did it again. Popular lore is that lightning does not strike in the same place twice, but that is just a complete falsehood. In any event, on the brink of the celebrations of the de-paganised festival, Officer Dibble and around 1,000 of his...
Published:Friday | December 22, 2017 | 12:00 AMPaul Golding
The National Identification System (NIDS) bill is likely to become the most revolutionary piece of legislation in the history of Jamaica. It is certainly one of the most ambitious in scope, as it will directly impact every single individual...
If you are the majority shareholder of a large or medium-size company and you are also active in its management directions, are the owner of two or three houses, excluding the one in South Florida, and your family is safe and sound, 2017 would have...
Standing alone against the world like Athanasius contra mundum, and standing astride the bewildered world like Colossus, the government of the United States, led by its strange president, Donald Trump, on December 6, a truly historic day, has "...
My departed colleague Ian Boyne would, in his usually unflappable demeanour, perhaps shake his head and wag his finger over my mischievous commentaries, which for some, border on blasphemy. Appearing on Profile was never one of my goals. However,...
In each of the last two months, The Gleaner has carried an editorial on the Jamaica's high murder toll, which is expected to exceed 1,600 in 2017. This is the highest in the last seven years.The editorials have been focused on what it calls anarchy...
Christmas Eve is the best time to get together with God and contemplate His works just before the day man designates as His only begotten son's birthday.I've tried to teach you the purpose of this mundane life, which is, through experience, to Be...
When Bob Marley wrote and sang, for all the world to hear, Trench Town Rock and Concrete Jungle, depicting life, and its evolution, in the inner city, was it his genius that provided him insight that one day, these songs could become a liberating...
When my wife and I got married, we were given a dog who I called Cholmondley (pronounced Chumley). The name was one of those peculiar English surnames like, for instance, Featherstonhaugh, which is pronounced Fanshawe. Slavery and sugar have given...
I am encouraged that discussions of a truth commission for Jamaica have been placed back on the national agenda.The title of this article is also the title of research conducted by this author in collaboration with the Truth and...
Last weekend, I spent a few days in the lovely but awfully congested town of Ocho Rios. Chupski and I were there for rest, relaxation, and everything that fitted in-between.Leaving from a private residence in the town's western end, we headed out on...
Stephen Francis, OJ, who coached the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson with tremendous success, has a famous quote: "In Jamaica, experts grow on trees." This came to mind as I listened to the debate on the National Identification...
The name of Lowell Hawthorne has been indelibly etched in the hearts and minds of Jamaicans of all walks of life in Jamaica, the United States and the diaspora, as the young man who climbed an amazing ladder of success and conquered every business...
A disturbing legacy of the history of slavery and sugar was the publication in Britain in 1774 of a three-volume History of Jamaica by Edward Long, the great-grandson of a man who had once taken on the crown...
November each year is recognised as Drug Awareness Month when the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) highlights its delivery of research-driven public education, prevention and treatment programmes in pursuit of its vision to reduce the use and...
Late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin met the leaders of Iran, Turkey and Syria, allegedly to discuss a final peace settlement in the Syrian civil war. On Monday, he was in Syria to announce a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from...
