As we think on Jamaica 50, Ian Boyne, one of my favourite columnists, went on a stomach-churning Michael Manley hero worship escapade last Sunday. It was perhaps an attempt to rescue the image of a prime minister who presided over the most devastating economic and social decline in Jamaica's post-independence history.
Recently, the new French president did what would many would describe as bold and unusual when he named a Cabinet which included an equal number of male and female ministers - a first in the country's history. The situation in France is not an isolated case.
In a recent article for 'Reason', Ira Stoll praised the 2012 Olympics - not only in the body but the title itself - as a 'Triumph of capitalism' (July 23, 2012). He's entirely correct - but not for the reason he thinks.
None has matched that record, let alone surpassed it, since Carl Stone wrote those words in The Sunday Gleaner of May 2, 1992. There is no living Jamaican anywhere in the world today, as Jamaica celebrates its 50th anniversary, who has contributed as much to Jamaica as Edward Phillip George Seaga. None...
The arrest of two of its parish council representatives, Michael Troupe and Sylvan Reid, on criminal charges is a crisis for the People's National Party (PNP) government. Most public-relations texts describe a crisis as an extraordinary event that adversely affects the integrity of a product, the reputation or financial stability of an organisation, or the health and well-being of employees, the community or the public at large.
Why is it that we suffer from adult-onset amnesia when it comes to the things we did in our childhood? Pardon my lack of alarm at the recent pronouncements by Superintendent of Police (SP) Gladys Brown-Campbell, but there is nothing new under the sun about children having sex or other type of intimate contact with their peers.
From colony to Independence - Part 2File PhotosPrincess Margaret talks with Norman Manley, opposition leader, shortly after her arrival at Palisadoes Airport on August 5, 1962.
Below are excerpts from junior foreign minister Arnaldo Brown's Sectoral Debate presentation to Parliament on July 10.Jamaica is indeed intricately linked to the global economy and tremendously...
News is such a fickle thing, because I was getting ready to write about the racist Trinidadian regime and the idea that the dropping of the Air Jamaica brand is nothing more than another attempt to 'denigrate' the region by an overly Hinducentric...
There we sat in a University of the West Indies (UWI) office back in 2006, brainstorming appropriate questions for the first national leadership and governance survey.
Every so often, a newspaper prints a story to remind us of a situation that has existed for a very long time. The story is usually presented in such a manner that gets us agitated, shocked and upset. The result is that we flood the airwaves with our usual condemnation, vowing this must stop and should never happen again.
The vesting of the Government of Jamaica with Independence is perhaps known to very few people of the country given the 50-year passage of time since the great event.
I would have loved to continue the analysis of the shame in Parliament last week, but the despicable, recalcitrant and unexemplary behaviour of one particular parliamentarian doesn't deserve more of my intellectual attention.
Only prejudice, intolerance, bigotry and small-mindedness could make anyone question whether iconic cultural artiste and media practitioner Mutabaruka should be given national honours during this our 50th year of Independence. There is no voice in media today which has been more passionately engaged in cultural liberation and which has been more forceful for genuine political and economic Independence.
The number of Jamaicans who live below the poverty line is unacceptable for a country of this size and with people as proud as we are. From all indications, more than one million of our people struggle daily to provide the basic amenities of food, shelter, clothing and educational opportunities to satisfy immediate family and household needs.
"It is written" does not mean "so shall it be", and yet we repeatedly mistake intention for achievement. Socio-economic policy has been informed by the best of intentions, and yet we are still struggling with the same problems that confronted us in 1962.
Today, I do a double take, working on education and government consultants. The two news-making matters may not be as unrelated as it appears at first blush. The Ministry of Education, we have been advised, has the second-largest payout for advisers and consultants, after Finance and Planning.
In many countries around the globe, these industries are seen as important contributors to economic growth, accounting for more than seven per cent of the world's GDP, according to Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, former undersecretary general and high representative at the United Nations. This is expected to grow to at least 10 per cent annually.
Culture Minister Lisa Hanna's Budget presentation addressed many issues under her portfolio of responsibilities, but perhaps her maiden speech will be most remembered for her attempts at salvaging what many feel (real or perceived) have been missteps at planning the activities to mark Jamaica 50.
