First, it was Contractor General Greg Christie persistently pointing out the lack of accountability at Sandals Whitehouse. Then it was Dr. Lloyd Goldson and colleagues exposing the horrific conditions at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital. And now, it is whichever person provided Bruce Golding with the documented Trafigura money trail from Amsterdam to Team Jamaica. Yes, Mr. Golding did a fine job of presenting it to the public, but as Opposition Leader that's his job. It's the unsung hero who provided the smoking gun cheques that really deserves the praise in this instance.

Portia Simpson Miller proved again last weekend that she is our most inspirational Prime Minister since Michael Manley. 'Sista P' not only brought out the largest PNP conference crowd since Joshua's halcyon days.

Crime as a career - repeat offenders are 80 per cent of arrests, cops say - The STAR, September 4, 2006.

"Repeat offenders contribute to over 80 per cent of crime locally, according to police. And despite rehabilitation programmes in prisons and extensive periods of incarceration, they choose to stick to their illegal ways" ... "some men are simply unable to be rehabilitated," said a courts office worker.

"Most of the persons we are now arresting are repeat offenders," explained Inspector Clayton Ritchie. "We (police) get the impression that these criminals are just getting fat and waiting to come out to commit more crime," charges Sup. (Derrick 'Cowboy') Knight."

"You are what you eat," proclaimed Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in 1825, and he was probably right. But, a week in Beijing cheering on Jamaican athletes at the World Junior Games convinced me again that you are also what you speak.

Since both my grandfathers were born there, visiting China should be a bit of an ancestral pilgrimage. But, not knowing a word of Mandarin made it difficult to feel any spiritual bond with the place.

What is it like to live in a country where the government decides what you can hear or say? It's a state of mind those who consider free speech a birthright really can't comprehend. And it's something Jamaicans could and would never tolerate.

"Is like mi grandmother dead!" That was the reaction of a friend to the passing of Louise Bennett-Coverley. And it's probably how most Jamaicans feel. Rex Nettleford and Barbara Gloudon are no doubt right that Miss Lou would not wish us to mourn and we should be celebrating her life and legacy. But, when someone who has brought so much joy to so many leaves us, well it's hard not to shed a tear.

Whatever planet earth’s other problems, democracy is thriving. Never before have so many voted so freely and fairly. But the law of averages means that the more elections held, the more close ones you get. So it’s no surprise that razor thin vote counts are becoming increasingly common. In the past year Germany, Costa Rica, Italy, the Czech Republic and Mexico have all seen elections won by less than 1% of ballots cast. Might it be Jamaica’s turn soon to have a ‘too close to call’ election night?

IT'S HARD not to admire those who spend a lot of time and energy for little pay defending the rights of the less fortunate.

So, I greatly respect bodies like Amnesty International and Jamaicans for Justice. But, rubbish is rubbish even when it emanates from organisations founded on noble ideals. And ­ of late ­ human rights groups have been making some rather dubious comments about the Jamaican situation.

For all that, and all that,
It is coming yet for all that,
That man to man the world over
Shall brothers be for all that.

LAST MONTH, my friend Nadine McKenzie and I fell into a conversation, not for the first time, about the mystifying behaviour of Jamaican women. Or at least they're mystifying to us, as we both lived abroad in early adulthood and so perceive monogamous relationships as the norm.