They say sport mirrors society. And few events have so sharply reflected Jamaican reality as the Peta-Gaye Dowdie / Merlene Ottey Olympics controversy.
The JAAA management’s immorality, arrogance and incompetence were sadly typical of our authorities. First they broke their own rules and deprived a National Champion of her legal right to represent her country. It was depressing to see an innocent young girl psychologically crushed by her supposed guardians intent on carrying out an obviously predetermined agenda.

Christmas is at once the most hedonistic, commercialized, and holiest time of the year. Technically it is Easter Sunday – the day of resurrection - and not Christmas which is supposed to be the most important Christian day. Yet even devout churchgoers generally pay more attention to Christmas than Easter. And resent as they may the calendar expectation of happiness, even humbug scrooges find it hard to completely resist its spirit brightening festivities and gift exchanging pleasures. It says much about man’s paradoxical nature that this mix of deity, merry making, and mammon is the focal point of our calendar.

According to famed anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski, the principle of legitimacy is not a European or Christian prejudice but amounts to a universal sociological law. The general societal rule is that no child should be brought into the world without an acknowledging father  to act as the custodial male link between the child and the community. The crucial determinant of legitimacy is not legality, a widely varying concept, but the male’s public commitment to his child’s mother. Virtually every known culture favours children born of such unions.

'I want to know and you tell me true, What the hell the police can do'
So charged a big dancehall hit of yesteryear. And a lot of people agree. They argue that our soaring crime rate is the direct result of a deeply flawed society - endemic poverty, poor education, massive income disparity, a vicious cycle of ghetto violence from parent to child, an 85% illegitimate birth rate and consequent lack of male role models. Until these are remedied, they say, nothing we do can improve matters.

Politicians in other English-speaking liberal democracies understand that once they toss their hats into the ring, all aspects of their past and present lives will be put under a microscope.

‘Declining voter turnout’ is now a regular refrain at every election, as analysts lament the fact that fewer Jamaicans are voting. Yet it is simply not so. The percentage of Jamaicans voting – as a proportion of the total population - has gone up from 27% in 1993, to 32% in both 2011 and 2016.

The 'Brogadization' of Andrew Holness, seemingly spearheaded by Robert Nesta Morgan, was one of the most successful brand building exercises in Jamaican history. Incorporating street lingo and slick social media suggestiveness, it transformed a likeable, hardworking Prime Minister into an almost folk legend leader.