- Discussions underway for movement of nurses throughout the region -- Ferguson 12:16 AM
- PM hails NJASCO's support for Jamaica 10:15 PM
- Government unsure about impact of devaluation 9:58 PM
- Outcry after British MP tweets he would fire rockets at Israel 7:49 PM
- MH17 shootdown may have been a 'mistake' 7:23 PM
- International Seabed Authority: 20 years of significant achievements --PM 6:17 PM
- UDC developing new fishing village at Forum in Portmore 6:14 PM
- Tropical Depression 2 east of Lesser Antilles 5:59 PM
- Six fined $8,000 each for stealing water 5:42 PM
- Tyler Mason, Marvin Williams through to World Youth 110m hurdles semi 5:30 PM
- Opposition says Paulwell ‘hustling’ Spectrum licences 5:06 PM
- FOREX: $112.63 to one US dollar 4:59 PM
- Downsound not derailed, music studio to relocate 4:47 PM
- US: No evidence of direct Russian link to plane 4:41 PM
- 11 parents of Nigeria’s abducted girls die 4:08 PM
- Minzie, O’Hara through to World Junior 100m semi-finals 3:49 PM
- Jamaican charged in Canadian passport fraud 3:20 PM
- Security Ministry trains ‘Violence Interrupters’ 2:56 PM
- Racehorse owned by Britain’s Queen fails dope test 2:35 PM
- UK popstars One Direction to release film 2:08 PM
- It’s Trinidad Red Steel again 1:52 PM
- Chronixx to perform on NBC's Tonight Show 1:39 PM
- UK gang nabbed after smuggling cocaine worth £1m in Jamaican callalloo 12:55 PM
- Early morning escape foiled at Portmore Police Station 12:35 PM
- After 3-year probe, feds to monitor Newark police 11:54 AM
Editorial
The worsening drought — let's conserve, conserve, conserve!
WATER and Climate Change Minister Robert Pickersgill's announcement Sunday night that the drought currently affecting the island will not ease soon, is a worrying thought. According to Minister Pickersgill in his national broadcast, "the El Nino weather phenomenon that is currently affecting our we ... Read More
Fake Clarks
shoemakers,
what a waste!
A mere glance at the photos would not alert you to the fact that the shoes confiscated by the police ... Read More
NAJASO, Jamaicans in the US look to the future
The activities of the umbrella National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organisations (NAJASO ... Read More
Let's learn from Treasure Beach
THIS newspaper has found good reason previously to laud BREDS, the admirably proactive community org ... Read More
BRICS version of IMF, World Bank an intriguing development
The agreement of the BRICS nations to create their own development bank is undoubtedly a move to strengthen their political influence in developing countries. In fact, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) came close to admitting that in their statement on the decision issued on Tuesday at their summit in Brazil. According to the group, their New Development Bank (NDB), which will start off with US$50 billion in capital and eventually increase to US$100 billion, will use so ... Read More
Caricom finally makes some decisions, but deeds, not words please
USUALLY the Caricom Heads of Government (HOGS) conference is a feast of semantics, reciting the mantra of regional integration and making solemn commitments to implement decisions long overdue. At the end, most items have been merely noted or postponed. This time round, the recent summit in Antigua made some potentially important decisions. For example, the heads approved the Draft Strategic Plan for the Community, which identifies several key strategic priorities for the Community over the fiv ... Read More
Homosexuality: the long, painful search for workable rules of engagement
THE search for viable rules of engagement between homosexual and heterosexual Jamaicans will, regrettably, be a long, arduous and painful one, we think. In common with nearly every country across the globe, Jamaicans are agonising over whether homosexuality is to be accepted as normal or aberrational, and we don't, in this space, expect any considerable narrowing of the gap any time soon. But what we can reasonably expect is tolerance of the different lifestyles, while the search continues to ... Read More
Stop fulminating and promote investment
Whenever a country is doing badly economically there is always an immaturity in its political culture. This immaturity is evident when politicians in Opposition believe that their role is simply to oppose anything the Government proposes, even though they would be pursuing the exact policy if they were in government. In addition, some politicians do not know or adhere to the policies of the political party and government to which they belong. Jamaica is a case in point. Part of the damage cau ... Read More
Germany’s success a lesson for Jamaica
ABOUT a month before the start of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, FIFA.com asked Germany captain Mr Phillip Lahm what would he be doing on July 13. “Hopefully, playing football,” he replied with a smile. Yesterday, Mr Lahm got his wish… and more, as he proudly hoisted the World Cup trophy after a nail-biting final against Argentina in the historic Maracana Stadium. The single goal — scored by substitute Mr Mario Goetze — that separated both teams did more than giv ... Read More
Sir Howard Cooke: Selfless patriot
A defining quality of the men and women who gave birth to Jamaica’s modern political movement is their selflessness and unwavering commitment to the country’s development. Indeed, these individuals were true patriots, who never gave a thought to personal reward for their sacrifice. For them, the ultimate prize was a sovereign nation in which individual were respected as equals and its people could live in peace and enjoy the fruits of their labour. Sir Howard Felix Hanlan Cooke, In ... Read More
Mr Zacca's appeal
MR Chris Zacca, the PSOJ president, made an interesting call at this week's Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange. It was time, he said, to stop talking down the Jamaican dollar which, for many months, has been falling against the US dollar. As is natural, this movement had acquired a certain momentum, verging on fear in some quarters due to its unpleasant consequences on the standard of living of almost every Jamaican. A key reason for the fall was that for much of that period there was a fundamen ... Read More
A foreign police commissioner? Not so fast!
The private sector-led lobby for a replacement for Police Commissioner Owen Ellington from overseas is ironic, coming at the height of a private sector-led campaign encouraging Jamaicans to "Buy Jamaican". If nothing else, Mr Ellington, a locally bred career policeman, proved convincingly that something good can come out of Nazareth. Those now reviving the old 'everything foreign is better' syndrome, a throwback to a time of grave national insecurity, are showing that they still have no faith ... Read More
Commissioner Ellington’s departure: don’t ‘tek the nation fi fool’
OUR natural instinct in this space is to take people at face value and to want to believe the best in others, until we have credible reasons to believe otherwise. The scepticism which has greeted the announcement of the departure of Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington is neither a happy nor unexpected one. And despite our best self, and our well-established support for Mr Ellington, we are finding it difficult to take the announcement at face value. We have waited for just over a week to hea ... Read More
Time to act on Hopewell, Minister Thwaites
IT is high time, we believe, that Education Minister Ronald Thwaites gets personally involved in the situation that has dogged the relatively new institution of secondary learning in Eastern Hanover, Hopewell High. Since last year, this newspaper has been carrying reports of irregular conduct at the school, and it appears that little has been, or is being done to get to the bottom of various allegations that do not augur well for an institution established to mould the minds of young people. T ... Read More
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