The May 20 issue of The Economist forecasted a foreboding future of mass hunger and malnutrition from a battered global food system dependent on wheat from Russia and Ukraine. Together, these two countries produce nearly 30 per cent of the world’s...
At 7.30 a.m. on a Saturday in the depressed community of Turpitude (not its real name), Tish enters Paul’s board shop and says to no one in particular, “A gwine chap har up!” Seventy-year-old Paul giggles ever so knowingly. He runs the shop with...
A social tsunami has threatened cultural norms for decades but remains under most weather monitors’ radar. In recent decades, marriage rates have declined. Warning: Those among you who believe “marriage” can only take place in a church may want to...
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to move online. However, parallel to the explosion of online/remote work and conducting business online is an increase in cyber breaches. Increased remote work and remote data sharing via cloud apps have...
Jamaica has been developing tobacco control legislation for almost 20 years in an effort to protect its citizens from the death and sickness produced by tobacco use. The achievement of that objective is now within reach: A bill to improve Jamaica’s...
Three weeks ago, I revealed the contents of a memo written by Michael Manley to David Coore (chairman of a Constitutional Reform Parliamentary Committee) dated May 25, 1994. In that seminal memo, Manley postulated : “Jamaica’s ‘first past the post...
“… If it rains heavily enough and long enough, there will be flooding … ” wrote L.C. Nkemdirim and Eleanor B. Jones in ‘Flood Regions in Jamaica’, having studied, mapped, and published in 1978 the flood pattern on the island. The peak period,...
The Hon Louise Bennett-Coverley always encouraged us not to take ourselves too seriously. Miss Lou said to laugh at yourself! This is a sure antidote for depression. I got a superchance to take this advice recently when I went to the Jamaica Public...
A few days before Tropical Storm Ian entered Jamaican territory, just about every foreign met office reporter was showing the system steering south of us. To add luck to it, it was also heading sufficiently east to remove the mental unease from our...
Recently, Jamaican politics has been indulging its favourite pastime, namely, majoring in the minor. We the people have endured loud and cantankerous political squabbles (hyped up by media) about the square root of nothing. Take, for example, the...
Breastfeeding provides more than just nutrition for your newborn. It supports bonding and facilitates healthy, emotional development from birth. The first milk that is secreted, the colostrum, is your baby’s initial source of immunity as this thick...
Jamaica defines Crown lands as “… government lands owned or held in trust by the Commissioner of Lands by virtue of the Crown Property (Vesting) Act …” (1960) in the 2015 ‘Manual for the Divestment of Government-owned Lands.’ Looking back to 1661...
The objective of the annual recognition of World Lung Day is to promote lung health and empower lung health advocacy and action. Lung health is an essential aspect of overall health because the lung is responsible for removing carbon dioxide and...
Africans and their descendants in Latin America have long fought for recognition of their humanity, justice, and equality in the face of oppression. Key examples throughout the region include the Palenque de Yanga in Mexico, San Basilio de Palenque...
Two years ago, on a September morning, I was driving to the A and E of the University Hospital of the West Indies. In one of the passenger seats behind me was a 75-year-old man who was clutchinghis belly because parts of it were spilling out of...
On June 5, 1995, Bruce Golding was close to the end of his first go-around as a JLP MP. In that capacity, he had been asked by the Secretary to the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional and Electoral Reform to sign that committee’s report...
On the death of the Queen of England, my family recalled with some irony the jingle we learned when we were children: CALL: When the queen died? RESPONSE: She died last night! CALL: She leave any money? RESPONSE: She leave 10 pounds. CALL: Mary...
As the African Union celebrates its 20-year anniversary, the acceleration of the partnership between Africa and the Caribbean has come to the fore. Afro-Caribbean relations date back to the infamous epoch of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which...
On July 28, The Gleaner published a report on statements made by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding under the heading “‘We have messed up”. He, essentially, pointed fingers at “successive administrations” that failed to advance Jamaica’s interests...
Political parties enjoy their best times when they win governmental power. They also can afford to accept the accolades from the media and those in other influential sectors of the country who find it convenient to shower them with praises. At...
An African proverb notes that: “When two elephants fight, it is the grass underneath that suffers.” The fact that 52 governments from the “global South” failed to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, and 82 Southern states refused to...
Y’all knew it was just a matter of time before I returned to the urgent need for constitutional reform. This time I’ll try to be as quiet as possible while presenting views on the subject of two former prime ministers expressed in writing almost 30...
About six months after the election win it is not only safe to throw off the hangover of the victory but reality must give way to political promises foolishly made. A return to power for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in September 2020 would have...
Today we pay tribute to the freedom fighters who ensured the decolonisation of Ayiti, a country whose struggle against colonialism has influenced the declaration of UNESCO’s “International Day” for the remembrance of the transatlantic trafficking...
The announcement of the death of Elizabeth II, Sovereign Queen of several realms, including seven in the Caribbean, plunged the world into deep sadness. She was not Queen in the far-flung countries in which millions of people now mourn her death,...
