Like businesses, countries have their competitive advantages, things for which they have a particular propensity. And what Jamaica excels at, or at least seems to expend most of its energy on, are music, sex and murder.

The last is a matter of record. To quote the January 31 Economist - "Jamaica is the world's most murderous country, followed by El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela." And we seem hell-bent on surpassing last year's rate of 59 per 100,000.

It's incredible really. Prime Minister Bruce Golding gets grilled for half an hour on the BBC on a range of critical issues facing Jamaica. And all people here can talk about is one sentence - "Sure they [gays] can be in the Cabinet; not mine."

The Tower Street Correctional Centre, downtown Kingston. More prisons are needed.

"United we stand, divided we fall" goes the old song. And past efforts to reduce our frightening murder rate have, too often, been undermined by public squabbling between entities that, in theory, have the common goal of making Jamaica safer for all.

Hard-core tribalists feel their party can do no wrong, and the other side no right. Criticism of their team or praise of the opponents - no matter how justified by the facts - is unmitigated bias.

But to non-diehards, it's usually no better herring, no better barrel. Wearing orange or green does not make a politician better or worse. The important thing is to swap them every 10 years or so. And honest commendation or blame must be based on actual performance, not party allegiance.

LAWS ARE MADE to serve people, not people to serve laws. So when a piece of legislation that once made sense ceases to do so, the reasonable response is not to keep forcing it on the populace, but to alter it to suit the times.

From 1944 to 1989, Jamaica was a two term land. Each administration was voted back in once, and no more. But the PNP governed for four straight terms from 1989 to 2007. And like many political parties left in charge too long, the Comrades started acting - as a lady once exclaimed angrily to me - "like dem daddy dead and lef dem the country!"

I don't know Bruce Golding very well. But those who do, say his political mantra is 'substance not style'. Or at least it has been since his National Democratic Movement (NDM) reincarnation. Some who have dealt with him over the years say there is a marked difference between today's Golding and the 1980s version. Then, they found him your typical politician reeking of arrogance. Now, he comes across as pretty much BS free with his feet full on the ground.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines garrison as 'a body of troops stationed in a fortified place'. However, Jamaican garrisons like Tivoli and Jungle are inhabited not only by 'armed fighters', but also by ordinary citizens trying to live normal lives. Trying is the operative word. For collectively, our garrisons have a higher violent death rate than most places officially at war.

Yes, Dr. Davies, maybe I was unfair to you in some respects in my January 6 piece. As you wrote on January 15, it's perhaps not unreasonable for a finance minister to leave himself wiggle room in case of unforeseen.

If we learned to shut up and get on with the job and not commentate on everything, our productivity would no doubt soar. Yet, the constant chattering may be one reason we are so good at peacefully changing our leaders.