A Jamaican In Exile

  https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/its-the-system-stupid/ I am disappointed that an erudite scholar as Mr. Golding is would write such simplistic stuff. Mexico and Jamaica have some of the most strict gun control laws in the world. If gun control laws are so effective, why are those countries awash with crime? Fifty years ago, America was awash with guns and there were very few mass shootings. California has the most strict gun laws in the US and yet they have one of the highest rates (17%) of mass shootings! Although Mr. Golding, the anti NRA and anti-gun lobby would like you to believe the problem is the easy availability of guns in the US, the causes of crime and mass shootings are much more complex than that. As illustrated in strict gun control states such as Mexico and Jamaica, gun control alone will not reduce people killing people with guns. The availability of guns are just one of many factors. Mr. Golding knows that politics is the art of the possible. Since seriou...

 https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/focus/20220424/patrick-robinson-irrelevance-readiness-independence#slideshow-2 I believe that truly becoming 'independent' is not dependent on words on a piece of constitutional paper. I guess that makes me a gradualist? This is one of the few occasions where I agree with Prime Minister Holness that it does not matter what you say or what is written, it's what you do, how you act that defines you. Despite the political rhetoric to the contrary, the way 'independent' Jamaica has acted so far, the level of political and constitutional discourse at the grassroots level, the corruption, the violence and the general lack of any discipline in the country defines most Jamaicans as uneducated simpletons who should not be responsible for themselves. One consequence of the 'independence' we have been granted so far is that Jamaica has become such a terrible place that most Jamaicans who can, choose to leave. Our 'independence...

 https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/gov-t-accused-of-making-criminals-out-of-cops-police-federation-chair-blames-poor-wages-for-dilemma_247436?profile=1606 He has a point. Pay and conditions are soo poor that with very few exceptions, only the poor and desperate from a corrupt society join or stay the force. Anyone with character or talent does not stay in the JCF for very long. That is the root of the problem. We end up with a JCF full of undesirables who get promoted over and over again. Anyone who has to deal with a JCF officer comes away with that impression. As one who has made the mistake and briefly worked for the JCF, I know. I corrected that mistake in a hurry! If the pay and conditions were better, the job would be more attractive and we could be more selective and recruit a higher caliber of person into the JCF. The thing is, despite the rhetoric to the contrary, Jamaica has not decided to make fighting crime a priority. We want to have our cake and eat it. We want to ...

 F  That is the grade Jamaica gets from me. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/letters/20211110/jamaica-not-failed-state If you are rich, a politician, academically bright, gifted, creative, a singer or a great athlete, you can live well pretty much anywhere - including Jamaica. For those kinds of fortunate people, Jamaica is a great country. This fortunate elite lives well in Jamaica, have maids, gardeners, new cars, live in gated communities, partying and drinking Hennessey. These are the people that propagate the myth that if you just work hard, you can make it in Jamaica. That is not true for most of us in Jamaica. First of all, many cannot even get a wuk! Unfortunately, most of us, myself included, are just average people with average or as in my case, below average education, can't sing, not athletic and I am certainly not rich. In Jamaica, ordinary people from the shrinking middle class and the struggling poor suck salt facing the threat of robbery, rape and murder fro...

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20211112/peter-espeut-compulsory-sixth-form-declaration-war-or-profound Upvoted. Jamaicans need to stop being so naïve and stop blindly believing that everything a government does is in their interest. Learn from history. 'Government' is a necessary device but it is prone to abuse. You need to watch them keenly. Despite the rhetoric to the contrary, in the history of the world, there has NEVER been a political elite that has the interest of the poor, regular people at heart. We need to start from that position. It may sound cynical but that is reality. We need to start from the position that 'government' in our context actually means a political party - a corrupt political elite. A political party's purpose is to stay in power. In Jamaica, that means maintaining the financial support of the corporate elite and the dwindling voter support of the electorate mostly made up of poor, struggling people at the mercy of and exp...

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20211104/cb-peter-morgan-church-and-vaccination My response: Most of the leaders of mainstream religion have come out in favor of mandating vaccination. Religious people often struggle to differentiate between what their God wants them to do and what 'man' (authorities, family, friends, associates) want them to do. Bishop Dr. Peter Morgan is my former JC Head Boy and a biblical scholar so I hesitate to contradict him but what he has written here is so egregious that I must answer. For centuries, religion has been used by elites to control the rest of us and to maintain the status quo. That is why Jesus was so against the religious authorities like Peter Morgan who writes, 'The Scriptures are clear that everyone “be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God” (Roman 13:1-5). You either believe the Word of God, or otherwise treat it with the same mistrust as you do other earthly sources.   If ...

 https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/gov-t-must-be-decisive-for-the-common-good_232917?profile=1234 I live in Alberta, Canada where the vaccine passport is required for travel, employment, to eat in a restaurant, enter an entertainment venue, go to a gym or any other so-called ‘non-essential’ activity. So, for all intents and purposes, vaccination is mandatory here in Canada so I am fully vaccinated with three shots. Now that is out of the way, I would like to address the letter to the editor dated 7 th  October by Kenneth D Richards, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston which basically says, ‘the Government must be decisive in acting for the common good’. This is code for mandating vaccination. I wish the archbishop would just come out and say so.  Would I have been fully vaccinated if it was not mandated? I am not sure. The first shot I took in a panic. While I am leaning towards the position that older people and those with comorbidities should be vaccinated, ...