Then-Security Minister Dudley Thompson (PNP) famously opined that "no angels died at Green Bay." He further claimed that the absence of recovered firearms from the deceased was due to the "superior firepower" of the military’s "electric guns," which supposedly shot the gangsters' weapons from their grasp, propelling them into deep waters over 50 metres away. I found this narrative mathematically and mechanically absurd. My consultations with ballistics experts & colleagues a

what becomes of civic engagement when truth itself is strained in the nation’s highest forum? Espeut speaks to a troubling contempt for the Jamaican people. Gyles urges deeper, more meaningful civic participation beyond performative gestures and political patronage. Both are right. But there is a prior condition—one that must underpin both respect and engagement. It is accuracy. It is truth. For only the second time in my longish life, I feel compelled to state that a m

Energy insecurity is quietly driving opportunistic bilateralism, while leaders avoid binding regional commitments. That is the real danger. Until CARICOM resolves its internal economic architecture—especially energy—every engagement with Caracas will be reactive, fragmented, and vulnerable to influence. The question is no longer whether unity can be preserved, but whether coherence can be built before relevance is l-o-s-t....Read More

Orwell’s genius lay in depicting authoritarianism not as a thunderclap, but as a gradual erosion—commandments on the barn wall altered nightly, Squealer the pig gaslighting the animals with sophistries. NaRRA’s architecture bears uncanny parallels. Its procurement shortcuts, while necessary for speed, could prioritise velocity over rigour. Ministerial timelines for oversight might compress scrutiny into tokenism...

There is a quiet war being waged in Jamaica. It is not fought with guns. It is not debated in Parliament. It does not announce itself in headlines. Yet it is steadily eroding the integrity of our democracy, distorting our markets, and undermining legitimate professionalism. It is the war of the sockpuppet. The term may sound trivial—almost comical. It is not. In the digital age, “sockpuppetting” refers to the deliberate creation of multiple false online identities to manip

How Manufactured Consensus Masks Jamaica’s Energy Future In the lexicon of digital forensics, sockpuppetting is the act of creating multiple online identities to deceive. Unlike a pseudonym used for privacy, a sockpuppet is a tool of coordination. These artificial personas are designed to create the illusion of grassroots support, harass dissenters, and skew the perception of public consensus. When deployed as an "alias army,"....Read More

In the lexicon of digital forensics, sockpuppetting is the act of creating multiple online identities to deceive. Unlike a simple pseudonym used for privacy, a sockpuppet is a tool of manipulation. It is an artificial persona designed to create the illusion of grassroots support, to harass dissenters, or to skew the perception of public consensus. When these digital ghosts are deployed in tandem—an "alias army"...Read More

The Jamaican landscape is often described in the binary of “hardware” and “software”. We excel at the hardware, the construction of highways, the expansion of hotel room counts, hospital building, and the drafting of complex legislative frameworks. Yet, as we survey the current state of Jamaica’s Cabinet, it is increasingly evident that our national progress is being throttled by a glitch in the “software”: the moral and corrective reflexes that should govern public life....R

There are moments in the life of a small state when the earth itself seems to whisper temptation. Jamaica may now be approaching one. Somewhere beneath our marine estate, beyond the reach of casual sight but not of determined exploration, there may lie oil—commercially meaningful oil. Enough, perhaps, to alter our balance sheets, to excite investors, to animate Cabinet briefings, and to awaken that most dangerous of national instincts: the belief that salvation has finally

by Dennis A. Minott, PhD.

The plate looks full in the brochure. But the nourishment on the ground is tragically uneven. This is not accidental. It is structural. It is what I have called, without apology, the age of Jamaican billioneering. Billioneering is not merely about the extraction of wealth. It is about the theatrical display of wealth—its amplification, its projection, and its eventual conversion into political currency. It is the high art of appearing abundantly resourced and "investable"

And a nation that teaches that lesson too well will, in time, discover that it has educated its best people to leave—and its remaining citizens to care less.

There are moments in the life of a people—and of a world—when language itself begins to falter. Words we once trusted feel lighter than they should. Titles we once respected begin to echo without substance. April 2026 is such a moment. As the “War of Whimsy, Lust, and Criminal Impulse” involving Israel and the United States against Iran unfolds, we are compelled—whether we welcome it or not—to examine not only the conduct of great powers, but the moral posture of smaller s

A salvaged control board from his late grandfather’s discarded prosthetic device. Basic sensors repurposed. A casing assembled from available materials. Hours of trial, error, and recalibration. The result, still rough but functional, is a portable defibrillator powered through a hybrid system—bioelectric input supplemented by stored charge. It responds to voice prompts. More importantly, it contains a simple but critical safeguard: it analyses cardiac rhythm and will only d

Cuba asks you for justice. Nothing more. Nothing less. I ask you to stop normalizing the suffering of my people. I ask you to call the blockade by its name: A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. I ask you not to be fooled by the tale of "dialogue" and "democracy" while they tighten the noose around our necks. We don't want charity. We want them to LET US LIVE. To the complicit governments that remain silent: History will hold you accountable...Read More

Jamaica still has a choice. It can treat this moment as a closed chapter, an unfortunate but necessary adjustment in a complex world. Or it can pause, reflect, and ask whether, in seeking to secure its place among the powerful, it has diminished something essential within itself. The shame-tree may yet be revived. But only if we are willing to acknowledge that it has been wounded—and to consider, with honesty and courage, exactly what—and whom—we have sacrificed.

The betrayal is made more poignant by its timing. As global health security becomes increasingly precarious, burning bridges with a regional medical superpower is an act of spectacular short-sightedness. Cuba’s "white coat diplomacy" was never a threat to Jamaican democracy; it was a lifeline for the Jamaican heart. By severing this artery, the Cabinet has prioritised the "theatre of the photo-op" over the reality of the operating theatre....Read more

In the altered theatre of 2026 geopolitics, where Donald Trump’s second act is no longer conjecture but wars of impulse, an ancient question presses itself upon us with renewed urgency: can a leader, swollen with self-attributed glory, descend into a form of madness akin to that of King Nebuchadnezzar—until reason is restored not by counsel, but by consequence? The book of Daniel offers no ambiguity...

By the time a fish reaches the immense size typical of a Goliath Grouper, the toxin load can be dangerously high. Ciguatera poisoning often begins within hours of eating contaminated reef fish. Early symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, and profound weakness. In severe cases patients experience muscle pain, irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, or difficulty walking. Public health authorities & consumers should therefore exercise caution if me

When viewed together, these institutions form the foundation of what might be described as a Caribbean training corridor. Haiti could provide the first stage of preparation, including language instruction and foundational studies. The Dominican Republic and Cuba could serve as large-scale centres for professional training in medicine, engineering, and agriculture. Jamaica and Guyana could provide specialised programmes in education, maritime logistics, technical trades, and e