If there ever was a time when Jamaica needed a truth-telling democracy, it is now. Democracy is usually thought to be about regular, competitive elections held freely and fairly.
The revocation of the visa of James Robertson, the former minister of energy and mining, by the United States government and his subsequent resignation have dealt a substantial blow to the body politic of Jamaica.
This is the third in a series of articles by the writer on the Charter of Rights.As Jamaica prepared to take its place among sovereign states in 1962, Norman Washington Manley, the chief architect of the development of our Independence Constitution, set...
Fortunately, 'false prophet' Harold Camping is living in the 21st century. If he had been alive when Old Testament law prevailed, he would have been executed for pretentiously declaring he spoke God's truth when, in reality, he was speaking in the name of God falsely.
The man who has generated more talk across Jamaica in the last two weeks than any deejay, athlete or politician, doomsday preacher Michael Lewis, has been fired from his job after appearing on television to express his obnoxious religious views.This...
As I read the article 'Finsac: the truth' (Sunday Gleaner, May 15, 2011) by Dr Omar Davies, architect of the failed financial and economic policies during the period that led to the collapse of the domestic financial sector, closures of numerous businesses...
Omar Davies' contribution to the FINSAC debate in the May 15 edition of The Sunday Gleaner was, despite its unavoidably self-serving nature, interesting, informative and, as usual, well argued.
The Government's Budget is designed to give capital a friendly tax, inflation and interest-rate environment to induce it to invest. There was nothing in it for labour.
Barack Obama's Arab Spring dissertation was highly anticipated, but not what the United States (US) media have called his "shocking" acceptance as US policy of that controversial United Nations Resolution 242 which calls for Israel to return to its...
The desirable characteristics of a system of taxation are generally cited as simplicity (easy to pay and collect), transparency (clarity as to who actually pays a tax that is levied), efficiency...
From ever since I can remember, there were five names frequently mentioned in my household: Alexander Bustamante, 'The Chief' or 'Busta', was the dominant one. Norman Washington Manley was another.
This is the third instalment of Edward Seaga's contribution to the recent Prime Ministerial Reflections series.The gap in the interdigitated structure of the two Jamaicas is closing on all fronts, but too slowly.
The Gleaner has, over the last few weeks, been publishing a series of editorials in which it consistently refers to our parliamentary representatives as belonging to two gangs, the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). If our parliamentary representatives are members of gangs, it means, by extension, that they are gangsters.
The persistence of The Gleaner in calling the two major political parties 'gangs' has grieved some people deeply. Many others are cheering The Gleaner on. Former Minister of Health John Junor is one of those aggrieved. He has made his irritation public and, no doubt, speaks for many party people. I am among those who strongly support the point The Gleaner has made in its editorial series.
I have decided to submit the following statement to the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) commission of enquiry, mainly because of the spate of false allegations which have been, and are being, allowed to go unchallenged during the hearings.
As I understand it, Education Minister Andrew Holness is proposing that instead of funding tertiary institutions as a means of providing supplemental assistance to students, that the funding go directly to the students by way of a loan facility. This would mean that the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) would be adequately capitalised so that it can provide loans to all students who require it.
In case you missed it, Prime Minister Bruce Golding's Budget presentation last week drew the sharpest and clearest line yet between his economic philosophy and that of the People's National Party (PNP). While the PNP has been calling on the Government to spend more and do more, the prime minister believes that "Government was the problem".
In 1962, 66 Jamaicans were murdered, and the Jamaican homicide rate was lower than the United States of America's (USA). In 2009, 1,680 Jamaicans were murdered, and the Jamaican homicide rate was 12 times higher than the USA's.
Recent reports of the 'evaporation' of about 42lb of gold from the Half-Way Tree Police Station gives us a déjà vu feeling when one recalls a similar vanishing of funds from the custody of the Ministry of Finance's Financial Investigations Division (FID) in 2007.
Portia Simpson Miller had clearly anticipated the prime minister's Budget presentation the week before he gave it and attacked the thesis that the Jamaican economy had stabilised and that policies were right for growth.
"It is time to tell the people the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," the leader of the Opposition declared in her Budget Debate presentation. Politicians have a strong predilection to be economical with the truth. Economy with the truth is not simply because politicians are more prone to be 'pathologically mendacious' than the general population.
