Columns

Will the US debates change the course of the presidential elections?

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last Thursday.

America’s political future is on a razor’s edge. At the time of writing the two political gladiators — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — will face off for what will be the beginning of a new era in American politics. One candidate’s mantra, “Stronger together&rdq ... Read More

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith (seated) signs the Paris Agreement on Climate Change at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Climate change: myth or reality for Caribbean tourism?
Countries around the world are celebrating World Tourism Day under the theme ‘Tourism for all ... Read More

Etana Etana needs a crash course
I do not want any trouble, and there may be more important things to occupy newspaper pages, but nev ... Read More

Donald Trump Trump supporters are not stupid!
During the course of this weekend, reggae sensation Etana came under heavy criticism for declaring h ... Read More

‘We belong to each other’

Jean Lowrie-Chin | Monday, September 26, 2016    

MOTHER TERESA...If there is no peace in the world, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other

While she served as the pastor for the United Church in Negril, Rev Dr Margaret Fowler was asked to participate in the Theodora Project which fights human trafficking. While being a guest at a top restaurant, she saw a middle-aged man arrive with two young girls, one about 10 years old, the other about 12. She noticed that he ordered alcoholic drinks for them and decided to probe further. She was able to get his name and, sure enough, investigations led to his arrest for human trafficking. If, ... Read More

Don’t ‘dis’ Portia

Floyd Morris | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

SIMPSON MILLER ... debate brought out best in her

The delegates of the People’s National Party (PNP) on September 17, 2016, overwhelmingly re-elected Portia Simpson Miller as president of the organisation. In a stunning show of confidence and respect, the delegates voted 2,471 for Simpson Miller, to a paltry 198 votes for Dr Karl Blythe — six less than he received in 2006. There were a total of 2,669 votes in the presidential contest and Simpson Miller received an impregnable 93 per cent of the total votes. The votes received by S ... Read More

Apologies for the past, looking to the future

Dr Canute Thompson | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

Prime Minister Andrew Holness

The most important asset a leader must acquire and retain is trust. Trust arises from, among other things, the leader’s demonstration of competence in delivering on commitments made, maintaining congruence between word and action, being accurate in assertions proclaimed, and critically, in being willing to be held accountable. In respect of the latter, when assessments establish that the leader failed in any of the foregoing areas, the leader’s capacity to retain or regain trust is d ... Read More

The sad loss of a schoolboy

BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

BURRELL ... has done his job; time for him to pass the baton

There are times when football, like some other sports, falls into a ditch from which it is difficult to get out of. As far as Jamaica’s football is concerned, the drop is so deep that it will take some exceedingly long cranes to take it from the depths of destruction, back onto the road of progress. Two things occurred last week that forced me to suspend my self-imposed watch, wait and see approach to a sport that remains Jamaica’s most popular, but which seems to have suffered irr ... Read More

Hair? Hear here

Stephen Vasciannie | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

Zavier Azzam who was barred from attending Hopefield Preparatpry School because of his hairstyle

Here’s the thing: the question of hair length and hairstyle often arises in the context of institutions. The institution may, for instance, be a school, a prison, a church, a business, a constabulary force, or the army. And, within the institution, the question often arises: What are the rules that should govern the treatment of hair? Sometimes the question presents itself in stronger terms: Should the institution expel persons who do not conform to the rules concerning hair? US SUPREME ... Read More

Human trafficking: a real threat to Ja’s security

Christopher Bryan | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

Stop Human Trafficking

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), human trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person through the use of force, coercion and other means for the purpose of exploiting them. The UNODC also stated that every year thousands of women, men and children fall into the hands of traffickers in their own countries and abroad. Every country in the world, the UNODC reported, is affected ... Read More

IMF-World Bank meetings: a rare opportunity

Sir Ronald Sanders | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

PARIS, France — This file photo taken on Thursday shows International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde during an international finance meeting at the Economy Ministry in Paris.

The October meetings this year of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC, present a rare opportunity for Caribbean government representatives to be heard by crucial decision-makers. Ironically, what provides this opportunity is a matter most Caribbean governments would wish did not exist: It is the withdrawal by US and European banks of correspondent banking relations (CBRs) from Caribbean financial institutions. The withdrawal of CBRs has already badly affe ... Read More

School days...nowadays

Lance Neita | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

Tim McAfee Photography

Heartfelt condolence to the parents, extended family and schoolmates of young Dominic James. The grief is shared by all who watched the tragedy unfold in the media. I don’t wish to dwell on it, as sometimes in spite of the best intentions in the world we still manage to invade family privacy. Schoolboy football has been given so much hype and attention that any little flutter from the norm will catch our attention as it gets blown up on TV and in the headlines. Indeed, school was once th ... Read More

Will this be the PNP’s epitaph?

Richard Blackford | Sunday, September 25, 2016    

People’s National Party President Portia Simpson Miller

Under normal circumstances, September 2016, from a People’s National Party (PNP) perspective, ought to have been a pivotal month in the history of the organisation. This is so because September was the month of its founding 78 years ago, and this September provided the first opportunity since its electoral loss in February of this year to take a long, hard look at the organisation, its current structure, and its preparedness to not only provide strong political opposition as part of the st ... Read More

The lights and the shadows of football

Barbara Gloudon | Friday, September 23, 2016    

Rodico Wellington plants a loving kiss on his love after his success on the field.

   I have chosen to wander into territory for which I am no expert, but I have to go all the same.    I speak of football…not the kind which our ‘Merican friends play, dressed in heavy armour, reminiscent of knights of old and all that storybook stuff. I venture into the arena which the Europeans used to present as soccer, until the football word and world overwhelmed them. The name might have been changed by a new generation, enabling global interest.  &n ... Read More



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