The debate concerning the building of more elite boys' schools seems to have garnered the attention of noted individuals within the Jamaican education system. On one hand, there are those who seem to be suggesting the building of more elite boys'...
Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has put his fingers squarely on the overarching economic challenge which faces Jamaica this year."The challenge for any Jamaican government this year is to maintain the fiscal programme and stimulate growth at the...
After celebrating this festive holiday through our customary traditions of revelling in the season's indulgences and gorging on delectable feasts, many organisations will be happy to wave the challenging 2015 goodbye and usher in 2016 with fresh...
One national icon reminds us not to forget our past. We do anyway. The year that closes today contained many important sporting anniversaries, and all of them have passed quietly. It's a real pity.The schoolboy football season has passed with hardly...
There has been much debate of late about the number of teachers who are leaving the classroom for supposedly more lucrative teaching opportunities in England, where a qualified teacher earns at least £22,244 or £27,819 if you are in inner London.
Recently, Mary and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary at Moon Palace hotel, formerly Sunset Jamaica Grande. It was good that this Mexican-owned and operated hotel incorporated the Jamaican phrase 'Yeah Mon' into its promotional literature and...
I'm having random end-of-year reflections.It's 'official'. No surprises. My sources say Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) will be named preferred bidder for CTL. Apparently, the other bidder failed the funding test, or, better put, Goliath was always...
There is a difference between being paid attention and getting 'Noticed'. Last Monday, former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) politician Dr Raymoth Notice was attacked at his home and robbed of his firearm in an attempt on his life. Thankfully, he...
Given the realisation that the whole world is now a target for ISIS terrorism, the Government of Jamaica is taking steps to prepare for its consequences. At an alleged press conference, de facto Minister of Information Sandrea Falconer recently...
Put aside discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of corporal punishment for a moment. I'm positing, instead, that by continuing to allow corporal punishment, Jamaica is in breach of its obligations under the international treaties we...
We are just a day away from the 184th anniversary of the start of the Sam Sharpe slave protest and uprising in western Jamaica on December 28, 1831, which accelerated freedom for slaves in the British Empire. That freedom came just two and a half...
EVEN COMBATANTS at war have traditionally called a ceasefire during Christmas. So powerful and passionate has been the hold of Christmas on people. But militant secularists and atheists inAmerica have no such scruples and have announced no ease-up...
THE RECENT sacking of arguably the world’s best and most successful football coach, José Mourinho, as the boss of English Premier Champions Chelsea, is still dominating discussions across the football world. Public opinion is still...
Since we're determined to embrace British rule forever, I purchased a box of three Christmas crackers.The Christmas cracker is a tube-shaped box wrapped in pretty paper. It contains a gift to be 'won' by the one (of two persons pulling it apart...
It is Christmas in just a few days, and I hope Santa Claus hides the rod and other instruments of corporal punishment. What is strange about the debate is that most of the people who claim guidance from the Bible seem to have gone through...
Gleaner Online columnist Michael Abrahams has quickly learned what will stir up mass public response and deliver a big bang for a little buck. And he's working the formula to the max. Religion is one of those things, especially broadsides against...
The Lady saw the LightThe crisis in decadent dancehall deepened last week. The annual showcase of vulgarity and the glorification of criminality, Sting, is providing no cover this year for today's poster boys and girls of decadence. Vybz Kartel is...
Corporal punishment violates the rights of children in relation to their physical (bodily) integrity and human dignity (sense of self-respect/self-worth). It can impact children's rights to education, development, and health by causing serious...
I first met Monsignor Richard Albert in 1989 when he was pastor of St Patrick's Church in Waterhouse. I toured the operations of a number of centres that Richard had established, including St Monica's Home, a soup kitchen, and several vocational...
Below is a heartful reminiscence by a Winsome Dobson, in a letter to The Gleaner published on January 22, 2005."It is my conviction that when a person makes a difference in another's life, no matter how minuscule, credit must be given to that person...
If you use the terms 'reverse back', 'overexaggerate', 'dilapidated ruins', 'new innovation' and even 'foolish virgins', you need to know these are tautologies, essentially expressing something by repeating or saying it in a different way. This is...
Some of us older folk in Trinidad still refer to bananas as 'figs', even though we know the two fruits are different. My cousin Savi took the easy way out and used the term 'banana figs'. Banana is a fruit all of us in the Caribbean have grown up...
Something is happening in the hills of East Rural St Andrew! It could be big! I hope it gets really big! And it's not Juliet Holness' late candidacy for the JLP for the constituency.I'm glad that Mrs Holness' candidacy didn't crowd out the front...
The cloud of anxiety that enveloped Paris in the aftermath of the terror attacks two weeks ago has lifted slightly, creating room for cautious hope as the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change got...
One of the largest meetings of world leaders opened last week in Paris as nearly 200 countries began a two-week conference looking at the issue of climate change. It is an issue that cannot be overemphasised. Jamaica is among those small island developing states that are gravely affected by climate change, both in terms of our vulnerability to natural hazards and our water woes and environmental degradation....
