Rasta Government

The world has given career politicians a bad reputation, accusing them of only serving their own interests at taxpayers expense. The preference is therefore to attract people who have had success outside of public life and to bring that approach to serve the people. Given our fiscal situation, many public officials are given 'basket to carry water'. How do you convince someone to leave their successful private endeavor and dabble in public service, only to be left in the cold when the political climate moves on? The more disparity there is between power and compensation (including retirement benefits) is the more temptation for corruption when in office. -RG In response to: Ferguson willing to lead MPs fight for more pay, better insurance

Those children that parents or regular teachers can't handle are not to be abandoned, many of them suffer from high energy and ADHD. That energy can be very valuable later in life with the right attention now. Those students with persistent learning and behaviour problems need to be separated from the rest of the class (or school) and given the proper focus in an environment with more teachers per student. For even a large school or school district this would only require relatively few extra teachers with special training. Teachers that get the most improvement out of the most challenging students need to be compensated. -RG In response to: Classroom dream crushed - Unruly students cause new teacher to consider switching to housekeeping and Parenting education project to be expanded, says Green

JFK was a born leader. Both he and Bobby became socially conscious in office. But Bobby hated Johnson (JFKs VP, an ambitious, ruthless political animal) and they ridiculed him as a Texas country bumpkin. In their haste to get rid of him with an exposé article, it leaked, and Johnson took a chance before they could strike. JFK wanted to end Vietnam abruptly, and leave the middle east (with all that oil) to itself. You're talking trillions of USD profit in today's dollars. That was a different time. Johnson's defense allies and texas oil friends would have killed 10 Kennedy's for that kind of money. Throw in Cuba, the mafia, the bay of pigs, the Ngô brothers, Hoover's tenure, Pinchot-Meyer etc. etc. It was just too many powerful enemies to have at the same time. Johnson (and many others) feared their father, but Joe mysteriously got a stroke in 1961. Johnson knew every Kennedy enemy personally, and he simply gathered them all at the same table and said: 'Here...

When will it become acceptable to talk about the effects on a small country like Jamaica of losing it's 'best and brightest' for 70+ years. Can remittances replace the loss of examples and mentors in our communities? How do we convince Jamaicans abroad that nobody there will care about them as much as their fellow Jamaicans? We here also have to accept that when we start to grow, those that fly in from other places will not care about us as much as Jamaicans that might return. -RG In response to: One in two high skilled C'bean citizens migrating, says UNESCO report

Nothing wrong with NIDS, but why does it have to be compulsory? Once it is established and we have grown dependent on it, that opens the door for future compulsory information that can be used by corrupt individuals for all sorts of bad things. Make NIDS voluntary and run education campaigns if they want more participation. -RG Nothing to fear about NIDS, PM insists

Compulsory ID's have a reputation for being used to target minority groups. In Rwanda it was used to target Tutsis. It was after the massacre that they realized their mistake and quickly abolished the card. Hitler, Pinochet, Taliban. etc Jamaica has a violent and corrupt political history that we have only recently managed to tame. What happens if one party gets a large majority in Jamaica? Can they resist the temptation to misuse that database? US, UK, France, Trinidad, Barbados, all voluntary. I say scan the criminals. Maybe even convicted non-violent criminals. Otherwise, be careful. That one is a slippery slope. In response to: Free birth certificates

The land tax is important. Taxpaying landowners secure their property and keep it in marketable condition. Because there is a cost they must pay, they don't leave it for squatters or leave it idle waiting for exorbitant prices. People with too much land can also sell it and invest the proceeds or get smaller parcels. The land turns over and development progresses. Including development of true affordable housing. -RG In response to: The Church has failed in its stewardship of church lands

Just eat right and train. Football biomechanics is very different from track. A lot of pressure on the body from torsion (twisting) and sudden stops. Simple stuff. Keep the weight down, stay nimble, and give your body less work to do. People only have to watch somebody like Mbappe to see how speed and agility magnifies skill and creates space. Push the ball and two steps. Game over. Bolt can eat breakfast and finish a 100m before any footballer on earth. I once saw a video where Ronaldo raced a no-name B sprinter. It was a joke. Want to guess who won?  Many top league players don't have 'one in a million' ball control, but they have one in a million speed and agility. Soup mi general. Soup. -RG In response to: Bolt still chasing professional football dream