Trouble On Vacation Isle A Jamaican wife tells of her trip to the US where her husband gets sick. Something that most Jamaicans fear traveling to the US because of healthcare costs.

Essence of Jamaican Sports As we watch the 2007 IAAF World Championship in Osaka, Japan, we see the best athletes in track and field in the world on show. Jamaica, a major force to reckon, has set Japan on fire with its bold energy and spark which is commonplace wherever Jamaicans go.

Emancipate Yourselves From Mental Slavery; None But Ourselves Can Free Our Minds The revolution is here and it won't be televised. These words are familiar to us all, but in some ways it is an abstract thought. Why, you might ask? Well, for one thing, with the recent events of September 11th, war as we know it has been revolutionized, from newspaper articles to radio announcements, and now it is televised. The war on terror, ladies and gentlemen, (some might say revolution) is up front and in our faces, televised!

Jamaicans.com Owner/Webmaster Blog Xavier,the Jamaicans.com owner/webmaster, has started a blog to share his thoughts about Jamaicans.com, Jamaica related items, the Jamaican community worldwide and other topics. Check it out and feel free to leave your comments.

Reflections In 1962 the Union Jack of England was lowered replaced with the gold, green and black emblem of Jamaica’s Sovereignty and a proclamation that, “Out of many one people,” as our National Motto. What a fallacy...I now realize their clever disguise, for rightly so, out of the many people only one set have continually bear the brunt and bruises, burden and ill-treatment of the British so-called Settlers and their hand picked Overseers... even to this day.

Commentary: How We All "Destroyed" Jamaica And Made Ourselves Poor!! In spite of all the mammoth residential buildings and tourist hotel complexes going up in the country sides, and in spite of the shiny new vehicles and new highways, Jamaica is a finaicially bankrupt country! No politician dare tells the nation the truth because to tell the truth would be asking the nation to stop living a lifestyle that it cannot afford and everyone wants to live good while someone else foots the bill.

Fathers without Children Fathers must play their role and be allowed to do so without hinderance. Single parenting and particularly the lack of involved fathers represents a more pressing threat to our progress as a people than is currently being recognized.

CARIBBEAN UNITY: Part III: Unity is Strength People are always quoting Garvey at me...most of the time out of context. But that is the problem with dead heroes - we hang on their last words of instructions...even if they were given more than 70 years ago, and would in any other circumstance by now require updating.

CARIBBEAN UNITY: Part II: Our People As a people our ancestor’s trial through slavery shaped our metal to make us who we are. Therefore why be deemed a second rate African when you can be a first rate Afro-Caribbean? In our ancestral Africa there is age old history of fractional division through tribal feuding, different languages, religions and superstitions, and the effect of European colonialism across the continent only added to divisive tribalism - perhaps be design. However, by contrast, in the Caribbean, the consequence of British colonialism was that as a region Afro-Caribbeans emerged as one tribe, overwhelmingly of one faith in Christianity as a non-violent and tolerant religion.

CARIBBEAN UNITY: Part 1: Slavery had a silver lining As a child I was taught that it was human to make mistake; it is wise to learn from a mistake; and it demonstrates good judgment to go through life avoiding ever making the same mistake twice. But best of all I learnt that whilst even the wisest man will learn by mistakes, he aims to avoid making mistakes himself by learning from the mistakes of others. Now as a Lawyer, to my mentees, I preach the mantra: Be a quick thinker, and a slow talker - It works better that way round!

Micro-Credit Programs Are Not The Answer To Jamaica's Poverty! Can The Cart Lead The Horse? Recently Ronnie Thwaites quipped on his radio show. "I do not know why someone does not invite Mohammed Yunus (Nobel Peace Prize winner last year), to Jamaica. We certainly can learn from his micro-credit program." The perception has been spread like a butter on bread that micro finance programs will lift Jamaicans out of poverty as Chris Burns wrote in the Observer last year "The Grameen Bank That's The Solution To Poverty! But is it really?

CARIBBEAN DAY…Open Letter to CARICOM On 17 March 2007 the Irish celebrated St.Patrick's Day in the Caribbean, London, Ireland, US and Canada... in fact, wherever the Irish were found they were celebrating that day – as the Caribbean hosted Cricket World Cup (CWC), the Irish served as a timely example of a people demonstrating their pride and joy of ethnic unity based on an annual event.

Sticks and stones wi brok yuh bones but bad word wi get yuh shot. Our regular contributor Ray Damdar comments on a police shooting and the job that the Jamaican Police are doing in their attempt to 'Protect and Serve'.

Let’s Talk about this… CARIBBEAN DAY As a Region there are more things which commonly unite us as a people than could possibly distinguish us as being different and apart, but yet strangely enough in this regional community we have not yet recognised a common community day.

How The Government of Jamaica Left Hundreds Of Millions On The Table! Alcoa has been mining Jamaican bauxite for 40 years and we own not even a single share! Why is this so? Learn how many similar companies merge with local joint venture companies to the detriment of many third world countries.

Are Large Sections Of Jamaica Criminal Entities? What Does The Evidence Show? These questions are important because if the country is largely criminal, it would scientifically explain why the police and the politicians are said to be criminals too! Let us look at the facts and not at hyperbole and spin!

A Valentine Tribute to Love In honor of Valentine's Day, contributer Toni Callum offers her views on the meaning of love.

International CARIBBEAN DAY! Cricket has an important lesson for People of the Caribbean. For two decades, throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, the West Indies cricket team was widely regarded as the world champions, they were the team which every other cricketing team in the world aspired to beat.

Black History Month...Its Significance. Black History Month (BHM) is like the relationship a mother has with her children. It teaches who we are, where we must go and what we must be. It concepts are based upon traditional, cultural and moral values, centered on the family and society while reaffirming the conventions of dignity, pride, honor and race.

Resolution 2K7…Jamaica This month contributing writer, Delano Seiveright, reflects on 2006 and the prospects for Jamaica in 2007.

Investment Property/Retirement/Holiday Home Part 2 It is a simple fact that the price of realty depends mainly on where the property is situated – so a property of the exact same size and dimension, situated on the exact same lot size, produced from the exact same architectural plan can be valued at millions of dollars apart simply because of the difference in locations.

Remittances, Charity And Aid Are Not Economic Development; Are We Building An Economy ? The recent attention on remittances should
now cause us to take a serious look at their long term
effects on our economies. Hence here again is my
dissertation on the matter.

Trans-national Community of Jamaicans need Home-town Associations Real benefits from creating a trans-national community of Jamaicans in view of effectively incorporating the Diaspora into prospects for Jamaica’s development demands an altered approach to networking.

Bauxite vs the Cockpit Country Jamaica’s last remaining wilderness, Cockpit Country is a rugged, natural paradise located in the heart of the island. Hundreds of species found nowhere else in the world make their homes in Cockpit Country and its unique geology has created countless caves, waterfalls and towering cliffs throughout the area. There is no other place in the world that is even remotely like it. Yet within this internationally recognized wilderness a national debate rages.

Investment Property/Retirement/Holiday Home In Jamaica - Part 1 Why buy property in Jamaica once you have successfully settled into a foreign land? Well, it depends on whether Jamaica is considered your home away from home; or it may depend on whether you wish to invest in Jamaica, or it may simply be the case that you are now at a stage where you can manage to treat yourself and the immediate family to some private accommodation independent of the usual stop over at the relatives.

To Walk A Mile Begins With One Step The process of human development is that we learn to crawl before we learn to walk. A country is a place comprised of humans, and the process of a country’s development is much the same – over time a country learns how to be an independent nation. For Jamaica the 6th August 1962 represents the date of the cutting of the political umbilical cord from our colonial mother Great Britain. But it is too much to think that as a nation we were instantly matured on a certain date – we are still on that road.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee How come I rarely see Jamaican blue mountain coffee here in the states? It is kind of like red stripe, it is around but not everywhere. So when are the marketing genius’s going to see that blue mountain reggae coffee shops are the next money maker. Yes that is right another idea because I don’t have the money to start it up but hey with great coffee and a completely new atmosphere, REGGAE BLUE MOUNTAIN COFFEE SHOPS. It has to sell.

Portia’s Vitriolic Style This month contributing writer, Delano Seiveright, discusses Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller addres at her party’s 68th annual conference last month.

"The Winding Road." “The winding road”... “Y’u a hear mi Fardah...is not an easy road... no star!” Its distance is measured by time, calculated in each man’s own pace and fortune. Despite everyman’s formula being the same all does not have a similar result. Massive of people trod “the winding road” in search of a better life for a better tomorrow, but in reality, for many, it amounts to nothing than a daily struggle, a “tug and war” to make ends meet.

Proud to be Jamaican?...Why?! Being entitled to Jamaican citizenship on account of it being your place of birth is not in itself any kind of notable achievement deserving to inspire pride.

Land: Keep It On The Down-low If you do not presently own or one day might acquire property in Jamaica, or if you do not have interest in ‘family land’ or stand to inherit or know someone who might inherit land in Jamaica, then you will have absolutely no interest in reading this article.

Solutions To Criminal Activities Within Jamaicans Schools This month, contributing writer, Viviene Kerr-Williams, writes in response to the many persons attempting to present a solution to the rise in criminal activities within Jamaican schools.

No Problem Mon Everyone worries a little now and then, but is there stress in Jamaica? Every time you talk to someone in Jamaica they tell you “no problem mon”. This is how it should be.

Jamaica: A Sad Happy Place There are beautiful things about Jamaica that have remained consistent since its “discovery” in the 15th Century. It was the explorer Christopher Columbus who recorded in his historical journals, the endearing description that this country we Jamaicans now call ‘home’ was “the fairest of all places he had ever seen”.

On Casinos in Jamaica This month, Charlie Marks comments on Casinos in Jamaica. Will it provide create jobs or cause more crime?

Jamaica’s demise: Not On My Watch!!! For Jamaica these are exciting times; we are a country posed between a balance of slipping into a social and economic black hole or in the alternative rising from perhaps its lowest ebb to restore its reputation as a glorious jewel of the Caribbean.

Why is the Church so silent? Guest columnist, N. Gallimore, writes an open letter to the religious leaders of Jamaica asking "Why is the Church so silent?" on crime.

Sandals Whitehouse - Yet Another Crisis This month contributing writer, Delano Seiveright, discusses the "Sandals Whitehouse" project and issues of good governance & accountability in Jamaican government.

Labour Day Clean-up For World Cup Cricket In Jamaica Guest columnist, A. Guy Morris, proposes that the launch of Labour Day 2006 be positioned as the curtain raiser for communities across the island to start preparing themselves to welcome visitors for World Cup Cricket 2007.

The Mess Master - Minister of Technology, Science and Commerce, the Hon. Phillip Paulwell This month contributing writer, Delano Seiveright, discusses his views on Minister of Technology, Science and Commerce, the Hon. Phillip Paulwell. Should he resign? Is he the Mess Master?