My concern about preserving democracy is fundamental to the freedoms and the rights to which all of humanity is entitled. The freedoms and rights I wish for all are only possible in democratic systems of government. Please do not confuse...
UNICEF is deeply concerned about the proposed amendments to the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA) which allow for a child who is 14, and is convicted of capital murder, to be sentenced to imprisonment for life or for such other term not less...
Keen observers of CARICOM and Jamaica’s foreign economic and trade policy are stunned not only by the singular lack of leadership demonstrated by Jamaica on matters of both regional and foreign economic and trade policy for the past eight years of...
It seems as if the gamble was worth it. It was in the month of May in 2023. The Holness-led Government had announced massive salary increases for those in the top tier of the political class. “Is wickedness, Mark,” said Donna, a shop operator and a...
The Gleaner news story ‘UWI Mona outlines mission to advocate for social change, good’ on January 16 which featured speeches by Professor Densil Williams and Ronald Thwaites made me think of The Grace Thrillers quote, “Is Like Fire Shut Up Inna Mi...
The majority of enslaved and free people who participated in the 1831-32 Emancipation War in Jamaica, which broke out on December 27, 1831, and ended by January 1832, and was led by now National Hero, Rt. Excellent Samuel “Daddy” Sharpe, were men...
I’ve been penning these weekly columns for 16 years in an unconventional, often satirical, mostly arcane style. I felt safe being weird because I convinced myself nobody cared. After all, everybody knows that, if you want to hide something in...
In my article ‘Mirror, mirror on Dubai …’ published in The Sunday Gleaner of December 31, 2023, I lamented the colossal failure of COP28 to even create a mirage of addressing the Greenhouse gas emissions issue with the certainty that the mean...
On Instagram, Carrington Morgan, founding director of City Life Ministries headquartered in Central Kingston, declared on its 20th anniversary that 2024 is “… the year of the builder…”. Morgan elaborated that our aim should exceed mere experiences...
Water pollution is a big problem in Jamaica. It threatens the health of aquatic ecosystems, jeopardises the availability of clean drinking water, and undermines the well-being of communities dependent on these water resources. Over the past 18...
The current review of the laws governing the Integrity Commission (IC) now under review by Jamaica’s Parliament appears to be for the wrong reasons. So far, the perception is that the legislators, some of whom are hell-bent on weakening the IC,...
My lawyer friend and I had a conversation mid last week. Unsurprisingly, it was about the Integrity Commission (IC). “I read in The Gleaner (January 11) that Malahoo Forte and Chuck are at it again regarding the IC. There is concern that the IC...
The Government of Jamaica (GoJ), the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) and its youth arm, the Global Jamaica Diaspora Youth Council (GJDYC) continue to work as strategic partners. While there are many voices across the diaspora, the GJDC and...
On December 27, Minister Marlene told Nationwide News Network (NNN) she’s hoping a Bill to create a Jamaican Republic would be tabled, at the latest, early next legislative year. She said: “We’ve completed the suite of recommendations to be made...
The ageing of the Jamaican population has not happened overnight. It started in the late ‘60s with the improvement of basic public health and the introduction of population control policies. We are now at the goal of 2.7 million identified then....
“If you are getting uptight and you want to fight, fight them, not me!” These are famous lasting words from a wordsmith of no mean order whose voice has receded into deathly silence. On December 7, 2023, Benjamin Zephaniah became an ancestor. From...
With 57 per cent of Jamaicans indicating in the latest Don Anderson poll that they feel less safe than they did 10 years ago, the bigger, more pointed indicator that can be drawn from these findings is that the Holness administration, first elected...
If there is one thing that Jamaica is exceptionally good at it is a delayed response to confronting long-standing issues. Despite that, the year 2024 will be pivotal as the country will have to face a multiplicity of challenges to achieve...
The IPCC Climate Report of 2023 stated starkly: “National climate action plans remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.” Further, the May 2023 WMO Report projected that...
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and the fourth oldest college in the university. Founded in 1314 by Devon-born Walter de Stapeldon, the college has a rich history that spans more than seven centuries....
If life spare, as they say, tomorrow will mark my seeing the earth orbit the sun, as God promised, three score and ten times. I owe the successful enforcement of that promise to The Old Ball and Chain. When I separated her from her mother 42 years...
The power game of politics reaches its peak when both parties campaign intensely for governmental control. We are now in the middle of that campaign. Over the next few weeks, the tempo will increase. Holness wants to etch his name in a slice of the...
We ponder at the close of an annual holy celebration the birth of a child. Not a child born posh in a stush place, but one nestled in an animal’s manger. Do note that a manger is a low, open container from which cows, horses, and other animals feed...
’Twas the day before Christmas, and all over Casa Tout, Grandson KnowAll was stirring while celebrating his third birthday throughout. For months Grandma, a.k.a the Old Ball and Chain, had been preparing frantically for the state visit. This...
Sixty-seven year old Jim Thomas (not his real name) literally didn’t know what hit him. It was early afternoon, and as he was about to cross the road, his first step found him tossed about five feet away on the sidewalk and sprawled on one side. A...
