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Stories by Contributor

No reparations, just repatriation of prisoners

Published:Thursday | October 1, 2015 | 12:00 AMOrville Taylor, Contributor

When British Prime Minister David Cameron came bringing gifts last week, I was lining up to discuss reparations, the Privy Council, the ridiculousness of having a foreigner as our head of state, and the vexed issue of my right to British citizenship...

Portia’s twist on ‘sacrifice’

Published:Thursday | October 1, 2015 | 12:00 AMGordon Robinson, Contributor

I suppose you live and learn.Until September 20, I thought I knew a thing or five about Jamaica's dysfunctional political system and the grief and destruction it was currently wreaking on the economy and on the society. On September 20, I found out...

Tivoli: thinking back, thinking forward

Published:Thursday | October 1, 2015 | 12:00 AMGarnett Roper, Contributor

The only thing more alarming than some of the revelations made at the Tivoli commission of enquiry is how little comment they have elicited among the Jamaican chatocracy. I am firmly of the view that at whatever cost, the enquiry is important in...

Reparation – a legal perspective

Published:Thursday | October 1, 2015 | 12:00 AMFrank Phipps, Contributor

When Britain captured Jamaica from Spain in 1655, the enslavement of black people brought from Africa that was practised under Spanish rule continued under British rule. Although slavery was not legal in 17th-century Britain, in Jamaica, a colony of...

One hell of a problem

Published:Thursday | October 1, 2015 | 12:00 AMIan Boyne, Contributor

Michael Abrahams, Patrick White, Ethon Lowe, and other Jamaican non-theists are not touching some of the biggest philosophical and theological problems for Christians.Abrahams has exercised himself a lot about the alleged atrocities attributed to...

Cameron's prison gift

Published:Friday | October 2, 2015 | 12:00 AMGlenn Tucker, Contributor

So we're getting a prison. GREAT! Last Tuesday, I turned on my TV and saw Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller standing by a plane. She was waiting on British PM David Cameron to descend.Our prime minister is the descendant of slaves and speaks...

Nationalist W. Adolphe Roberts resurrected

Published:Friday | October 2, 2015 | 12:00 AMMartin Henry, Contributor

Last Wednesday, the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) launched the just-published autobiography of Walter Adolphe Roberts, These Many Years.There was a major traffic jam going down East Street where the NLJ, attached to the history-laden Institute...

We haven't emerged from slavery, Mr Cameron

Published:Friday | October 2, 2015 | 12:00 AMBert Samuels, Contributor

The demands against the British government by the Jamaican people have achieved one great result: its visiting prime minister was forced to respond - albeit unsatisfactorily - to the claim for restorative justice.Cameron's position of "wha' gone bad...

Culled to the Bar

Published:Friday | October 2, 2015 | 12:00 AMTony Deyal, Contributor

When I was a little boy growing up in Trinidad, the big-time lawyers were known as 'barristers' and were household names. Their legal exploits were legendary. They were the superstars of the daily newspapers, The Guardian and The Evening News, which...

What the hell's going on in Church?

Published:Wednesday | September 30, 2015 | 12:00 AMDevon Dick, Contributor

Recently, Elaine Cunningham, deaconess of the Anglican Church and principal of St. Hugh’s High School, was the guest preacher at the 30th anniversary appreciation service for Rev Beverly Noble McDonald of the St. Philip’s Church,...

Reparation talks too important to be scoffed at

Published:Wednesday | September 30, 2015 | 12:00 AMJaevion Nelson, Contributor

Great Britain is benefiting tremendously from the lack of consensus and interest among our people - parliamentarians included - in the fact that we ought to receive reparations for the atrocities and injustices committed against our ancestors.If it...

Respect Your Vote - Your Right, Your Responsibility

Published:Wednesday | September 30, 2015 | 12:00 AMDorothy Pine-McLarty, Contributor

The following are excerpts of a speech by chairman of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), Dorothy Pine-McLarty, at last Wednesday's town hall meeting at the Manchester High School.Given the apparent season we are in, it is appropriate to...

Athletes on the move

Published:Wednesday | September 30, 2015 | 12:00 AMHubert Lawrence, Contributor

If anything, the weeks after the Beijing World Championships have been just as interesting as the 2015 season itself. The movements of bright prospects from high school to local colleges kept hard-core fans of Jamaican athletics on their toes, with...

The Lawyer and the Entrepreneur

Published:Wednesday | September 30, 2015 | 12:00 AMDonna Joevion Fuller, Contributor

For many entrepreneurs, hiring and subsequently working with a lawyer can be a daunting process.First, it can be a costly endeavour; and a common misconception among many entrepreneurs is that the costs of working with a lawyer outweigh the benefits...

An Ounce of Prevention: The Honey Bee - a sweet healer

Published:Friday | September 18, 2015 | 12:00 AMDr Tony Vendryes, Contributor

Honey, the main product of the honey bee, is composed primarily of sugars and water, along with small amounts of vitamins and minerals, including niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus,potassium...

Reparation movement haunted by anti-abolition mentality

Published:Monday | September 28, 2015 | 12:00 AMBert Samuels, Contributor

The informed historian has no difficulty seeing the link between the struggle to end chattel slavery in Jamaica and the current reparation demands. There is an uncanny similarity between the forces which have come to resist the claim for reparation...

Captian, is the ship sinking?

Published:Monday | September 28, 2015 | 12:00 AMJohn P. Azar, Contributor

I was fortunate enough to have witnessed first-hand the splendid performance of the Reggae Boyz in their return leg World Cup qualifier held in Nicaragua some weeks ago. The absolute jubilation among the handful of Jamaicans present after the second...

The master of suspense

Published:Monday | September 28, 2015 | 12:00 AMLaurie Foster, Contributor

Foster's Fairplay is frequently verbally attacked for what some deem to be a serious defect in telling its stories. The allegation is that this columnist, with disturbing regularity, leaves the audience high and dry.While accepting the criticism and...

Stop 'dissing' the local players

Published:Monday | September 28, 2015 | 12:00 AMOral Tracey, Contributor

As the momentum begins to gather ahead of the semi-final round of the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying, the perennial and ever-revolving debate about the disdain for local-based players and the converse obsession with foreign-born players for the...

History and development of physical education and sport

Published:Monday | September 28, 2015 | 12:00 AMJennifer Ellison-Brown, Contributor

Throughout history, sports have played a variety of important functions in society as a form of recreation; preparation for war or the hunt; or later, as a substitute for war. Sports have undergone many changes; some have stayed much the same (e.g....

Are we serious with our cricket?

Published:Monday | September 28, 2015 | 12:00 AMDr Paul Wright, Contributor

The talent of Jamaicans when it comes to sports is undisputed. Our fellow citizens, men, and women excel when their raw talent and innate ability are harnessed, and coached, then compared with athletes from anywhere else on the planet in competition...

Papal pull in the US

Published:Friday | September 25, 2015 | 12:00 AMIan Boyne, Contributor

America is increasingly secularist, with the rise of the 'nones' - those who profess no religion - being a notable phenomenon, and its standard religious fare solidly Protestant. But you would never know that from how mesmerised that country has...

A home for one, a home for all

Published:Friday | September 25, 2015 | 12:00 AMDelroy Chuck, Contributor

In a modern, civilised society, a home is definitely the most basic comfort. When we retire at nights, we want to be secure, feel our family is safe and know our children live in a caring and relaxing environment. Our home is our castle, our own...

Dear Linda...

Published:Friday | September 25, 2015 | 12:00 AMAnthony Gambrill, Contributor

Remember when we got married in January, 1971, and Louise Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou) danced at our wedding in a garden ceremony near New Castle? And Eddie Thomas, my best man, taught the Gordon Town mento band to play Here Comes The Bride as you...

On sustainable development and Caribbean states

Published:Friday | September 25, 2015 | 12:00 AMChristopher Tufton, Contributor

The following is Part One of a two-part article. See Part Two next Sunday.Last Tuesday, at the University of the West Indies, the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) launched its latest research piece critiquing the performance of Caribbean...

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