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Stories by Contributor

Melda and the obeah man

Published:Friday | November 20, 2015 | 12:00 AMTony Deyal, Contributor

When Calypso King of the World, The Mighty Sparrow, introduced Caribbean people to the female character, Melda, in his 1966 song, 'Obeah Wedding', she was no stranger at all. In fact, wherever in the region we lived, we knew many 'Meldas' and, some...

The muscular system

Published:Monday | November 16, 2015 | 12:00 AMJennifer Ellison-Brown, Contributor

Successful sporting action depends on our muscles working together to produce skillful movement. The muscles used depend on the activity or the phases of activity. Muscles work by shortening or contracting.The muscles that move your bones when an...

It’s the Constitution, stupid!

Published:Sunday | November 15, 2015 | 12:00 AMGordon Robinson, Contributor

What's to be done with Booklist Boyne?Every time I convince myself to stop trying the impossible, namely, to educate him, he writes something so hostile to logic, so religiously dogmatic that I'm obliged to correct the record for those who might've...

That football feeling

Published:Monday | November 16, 2015 | 12:00 AMPatria-Kaye Aarons, Contributor

I love football because it causes an otherwise apathetic young male generation to display emotion. It's one of the few times I see them get passionate and make an effort to express the way they feel both in actions and words.Football is heart...

A disaster in the real sense

Published:Monday | November 16, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaniel Thwaites, Contributor

In the midst of our supposedly 'modern' mindset, certain ancient prejudices and behaviours stubbornly persist. One such is the desire and demand every so often for a scapegoat, a sacrificial lamb, and for the ritualistic shedding of blood.Fenton...

Oral Tracey: Gold Cup performance was a fluke

Published:Monday | November 16, 2015 | 12:00 AMOral Tracey, Contributor

After watching the Reggae Boyz slump to their second consecutive home defeat just three games into the Russia 2018 World Cup campaign in the most pathetic and gutless manner, I am now fully convinced that the much-celebrated performance in the 2015...

Paul Wright: Jamaicans deserve better

Published:Monday | November 16, 2015 | 12:00 AMDr Paul Wright, Contributor

There were two very contrasting football results over the past weekend. Two matches were played at the National Stadium, one on Friday November 13 and the other the following Saturday. Both matches drew impressive crowd numbers and the results were...

PMI pushes ... peace counterculture - Group identifies best practices to reduce violence

Published:Thursday | November 12, 2015 | 12:00 AMRoss Sheil, Contributor

As the world marks Youth Month, The Sunday Gleaner, in association with the World Bank, presents a series looking at the challenges and triumphs of the next generation of Jamaicans.The Peace Management Initiative (PMI) has, since its inception in...

Bunting surge vs the crime surge

Published:Friday | November 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMIan Boyne, Contributor

National Security Minister Peter Bunting announced his security surge last week in response to the crime surge sweeping Jamaica, with the country experiencing a 22 per cent increase in murders since the start of the year.The military will join the...

Awaiting the 17th general election

Published:Friday | November 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMContributor

There won't be a People's National Party (PNP) meeting in Half-Way Tree tonight when it was widely expected that the trumpet would have been sounded for election roll call.Half-Way Tree has become our Times Square (New York), Trafalgar Square (...

I did try — in the real sense!

Published:Friday | November 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaryl Vaz, Contributor

On Tuesday, October 27, 2015, in the House of Representatives, I tabled questions to then Minister of Health Fenton Ferguson surrounding the death of 18 babies at the University Hospital of the West Indies and the Cornwall Regional Hospital due to...

Fenton for Labour - The bar was not set too high

Published:Friday | November 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMOrville Taylor, Contributor

So my friend Fenton Ferguson did nothing wrong in regard to his stewardship of the health ministry. True, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said that he must make sure that 'it' doesn't happen again, but his supporters and those who are more...

A closer look at court cases

Published:Friday | November 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMA. C. Countz, Contributor

Less than 50 per cent of cases in the Home Circuit Court are convictions. During the past five terms of the Home Circuit Court some 373 cases were disposed of. Of these, only 178 (48 per cent) were convictions. Surprisingly, 107 were acquittals and...

Murder, she croaked

Published:Friday | November 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMTony Deyal, Contributor

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door." 'Tis some...

On the future of US-Jamaica relations

Published:Friday | November 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMChristopher Tufton, Contributor

As close as Jamaica and the United States (US) are, historically and geographically there are paradoxes in our relationship with each other. We are not always in agreement on issues, even while Jamaicans fully appreciate the importance of this...

Whither the redevelopment of downtown Kingston?

Published:Tuesday | November 10, 2015 | 12:00 AMJaevion Nelson, Contributor

The preservation and restoration of national heritage sites such as the Ward Theatre should be a major focus of the efforts to redevelop downtown Kingston. Sadly, this will and can only happen when we begin to display greater appreciation for our...

The fall of Russia

Published:Wednesday | November 11, 2015 | 12:00 AMHubert Lawrence, Contributor

Ever since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia has consistently been a major power in world athletics. Its combined strength on the track and in the field crystallised in 2013, when the World Championships were held in Moscow.Powered by...

SRC enables sweet dreams

Published:Monday | November 9, 2015 | 12:00 AMPatria-Kaye Aarons, Contributor

I'm not usually one to sing high praises for government agencies, but there is one that I think is good at what it does. This agency can provide real solutions to entrepreneurial issues, and yet they are grossly underutilised.I didn't know anything...

As good as it gets

Published:Sunday | November 8, 2015 | 12:00 AMGordon Robinson, Contributor

The secret to a happy marriage is for both parties to understand, accept, and commit to the philosophy, 'This is as good as it gets.'Everybody accepts nobody (else) is perfect. We all know we're perfect, but, otherwise, perfection is impossible. So...

Why we should embrace CCJ

Published:Sunday | November 8, 2015 | 12:00 AMMark Golding, Contributor

A final court is a most critical national institution because of the unique role it plays in our democracy.The interpretation that a final court of appeal gives to a Constitution often has far-reaching effects on the people of a country. It can...

Leaders must be held accountable

Published:Monday | November 9, 2015 | 12:00 AMDr Paul Wright, Contributor

As the world reels from disclosure after disclosure that the men who 'volunteer' for service as sport administrators have personal aggrandisement as the real reason for their service, the call for term limits to their reign becomes even more moot....

Captain’s still the man

Published:Monday | November 9, 2015 | 12:00 AMOral Tracey, Contributor

With the challenge by Orville Powell for the unseating of Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President Captain Horace Burrell fizzing into an anti-climactic no-contest - with Powell embarrassingly getting just one of the required four affiliates to...

Graham for Coach of the Year?

Published:Monday | November 9, 2015 | 12:00 AMLaurie Foster, Contributor

Coming from a respected practitioner in the discipline, Tuesday, November 10 is Coaches Day. Foster's Fairplay will not contest the revelation, given that it fits squarely in a plan, conceptualised post-Beijing World Championships.No less a person...

Murder’s moment of truth

Published:Friday | November 6, 2015 | 12:00 AMGarnett Roper, Contributor

The Gleaner Online reported two dastardly sets of murder committed on either side of a single 24-hour period. The murders were of a father and his one-year-old son, both of whom were shot multiple times in a deep rural district, Flamstead in St...

The numbers don’t lie

Published:Friday | November 6, 2015 | 12:00 AMMarlon Morgan, Contributor

Those who got away with propaganda and falsehood in elections of yesteryear may very well regard social media and the plethora of information available to the public as a result of advances in technology as the bane of their existence.Claims...

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