In Focus

The following is the first of two excerpts from the speech delivered by new president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, Nadine Molloy, at the association's conference at the Jamaica Grande hotel, Ocho Rios, August 16.

Historians, sociologists, cultural anthropologists and some soft-headed Christians, are to be blamed for the now popular but suspect or meaningless notion that Rastafarianism is the most indigenous religious expression...

Edwin Carrington's retirement as secretary general of CARICOM, effective December 31, marks the end of an era in the colourful, if sometimes frustrating, efforts at building a CARICOM community, including a CARICOM Single Market...

As we reflect on our system of government at this Independence anniversary, it is worthwhile to consider the curious evolution of the Jamaican Senate.

There seems no end to the increasing demand for energy. Global electricity consumption is expected to grow by over 50 per cent over the next 25 years with most of the energy still coming from fossil fuels despite the consequent build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The recent state of emergency (SOE) inevitably targeted youth. It was a particular threat to the human rights of our youth. Young people between 14 and 24 are those most involved as victims and perpetrators of street crime. Persons 35 and older are probably the greatest perpetrators of business and public-sector fraud and corruption. There is no state of emergency for them.

The following is an extract from a presentation made by Wayne Chen, president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation, to the Rotary Club of St Andrew on July 27.

The following is the second part of an excerpt from a speech delivered by Claude Clarke at the National Commercial Bank's 2010 Strategic Retreat, put on by its Group Human Resources Division on July 17.

People repeatedly ask me why won't I participate in public-affairs talk shows.First, none of them wants me.

Today, August 1, is Emancipation Day, marking 176 years of freedom from slavery. In the same calendar week this year, Friday is Independence Day, marking 48 years of freedom from colonial oversight.

When both this column and I were considerably younger, a certain minister of health tracked me on the telephone to my desk at work. I had written a piece, 'A long night at the hospital', bitterly complaining about the long wait and shabby treatment experienced at a public hospital to which I had taken a relative for 'emergency' treatment.

Presidential systems, say of the United States, employ separation of powers between the executive and legislature. Neither the executive nor the legislature can dissolve the other. In contrast, parliamentary systems, like ours, are based on a fusion of powers. The executive is a committee of the legislature. Each can dissolve the other.