"No country can sustain in idleness more than a small percentage of its numbers."- President Abraham LincolnCrime and violence stalks the land and has driven fear into most Jamaicans. The response is to draw on facts that at times, are...
The Jamaican authorities offered no assistance, still following the instructions from King William to deny the Scots any support despite their worsening condition. Jamaican merchants denied them credit. Many seamen and colonists died over the few...
At the heart of democracy, which we worship so much as the best form of government, is the notion of one person, one vote.But what happens when the votes go wrong? Wrong at least in the minds of the power elites who are always lurking behind the...
There have been repeated utterances in the public space regarding the public-sector wage bill. In those discussions, the public sector is spoken about as if the workers represent a yoke around the neck of Government that is almost single-handedly...
It is as vivid as if it were yesterday. Years later, the footage of the flames, thick smoke, security forces armed to the braces and dentures in full battle gear and ready for World War IV. As scary as it looked, law enforcement was not in a joking...
"Fret about the size of the storm but look carefully at what it will hit." On several occasions after reading about the violence crisis in St James, I would make some phone calls to some of my contacts in the western city to check if the news I hear...
The support for the revolutionary changes to the Dangerous Drugs Act regarding marijuana/cannabis in 2015 has been mainly from the legal, business, and social perspective more than the medical perspective. After all, the harsh laws in place since...
On the eve of National Heroes Day, I attempted to grab a little black cat that was on my veranda, but somehow, I was not as much a star as I thought, and the little puss escaped and scratched me. The sex of the feline is uncertain, but hopefully, it...
The Opposition's local government guru, Noel Arscott, predicted a PNP "clean sweep" of the parish councils in the upcoming elections.Alrighty then! His party, coming off a devastating defeat seven months ago, commissioned a fulsome internal...
It seems that while he had efficiently consigned the campaigns of his GOP rivals to the dogs, Trump has specially reserved his to go to the cats.Though it was true that following Trump's poor performance in the first presidential debate, the polls...
All of us in Jamaica, more than any other people, owe the greatest political and civic debt to Haiti. For this reason, I join with the president of our Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson, QC, in urging citizens here and within the region to support the...
Published:Tuesday | October 4, 2016 | 12:00 AMGordon Robinson
For some reason, women won’t accept that men are different and seem intent, in the name of gender equality, on emasculating Jamaican men until they resemble their average American counterpart. Today’s rant is prompted by that female...
The US Commission on Civil Rights' recent report continues to disturb Christians and other religious believers who fear it will unleash a torrent of religious repression.The chairman of the US Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee on Religious liberty,...
'We want justice' is one of the most popular protest cries in Jamaica. And rightfully so. But while we value the system of justice, there are some shortfalls that limit that admiration. One of the main shortcomings is the productivity of judges in...
Stupidity is a worse disease than the cholera spread by the UN peacekeepers in Haiti because at least with the latter, if you observe simple rules, you won't get it. Moreover, if one contracts cholera, one might not immediately know it, but...
There is no doubt that Jamaica needs a change in mindset, strategic planning, and disciplined economic management in order to turn around its dismal growth performance of the last 40 years. The anaemic average growth performance of 0.2% for the last...
Jamaica joined a number of other countries worldwide to mark Right to Know (RTK) Week just over a week ago. By happy coincidence - or good timing - the Press Association of Jamaica also held its annual general meeting and election of officers at the...
Published:Thursday | September 29, 2016 | 12:00 AMPeter Champagnie
Your editorial of Sunday, September 25, 2016 titled ‘Time for real justice reform’ is, to a large extent, typical of those critics who pontificate in blissful ignorance of what the real problems are with our justice system. Precious...
Published:Thursday | September 29, 2016 | 12:00 AMAnthony Gambrill
The Rev Patrick Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, served his congregation at Kilmichael Glassaray in Argyllshire, western Scotland, and it was here, on March 13, 1673, he baptised his son, John. The couple had four daughters and three more sons....
I refer to your editorial in The Gleaner of Thursday, September 22, 2016, titled 'Why a UK high commissioner is urgent'.In that context, reference is made to the pace in appointing a new high commissioner for Jamaica to the United Kingdom. At the...
Published:Thursday | September 29, 2016 | 12:00 AM
I have never advocated that people who routinely feed low doses of antibiotics to livestock should be executed without trial. That would be too harsh, too irrevocable. There should be fair trials, and fines for a first offence, and prison for a...
Close to 200 murders in the parish since the year began. Despite an overall drop in violent crimes in the country during the period, the St James Police Division is keeping the nation on its toes.A number of very disturbing videos have been...
I felt a smidgen of trepidation as I entered the dilapidated two-storey building that was condemned by the health authorities since 1980. Termite-infested, dank, and dingy walls led us from rooms with paint stripped off by Father Time to others...
His name means 'gift from God', and there must be a reason that God, in all Their glory and wisdom, decided to take him back at age 18, just after becoming a man. Dominic James, an extremely skilled footballer, only son, captain of the St George's...
There is nothing at all "unfortunate" about William Mahfood's comment that the country needs a system, not a "go-to" guy, however good, to get investment hurdles removed and to get something done.Mahfood, in an exit interview as a very vocal...
