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The strangeness of a pastor's deathThe understatement of the century would be to suggest that there is something fishy about the circumstances which led to the demise of unorthodox church leader Kevin Smith, and Police Constable Orlando Irons, last Monday.Not one to believe or embrace witchcraft, I wondered what one quite prominent Obeahman in a certain St Mary community would have said if all this had transpired in his time. Afterall, he was the man who had given me three days to live after I, then a teenager, had done something totally lawful, but, to him, great disrespect to a close relative of his, and accordingly I ought to pay for it.Well, I have never seen three days last so long, so everything went wrong for Mr Obeahman. It was not something that caused me to lose any sleep, whatsoever, for I brushed off the threat as instantaneously as it occurred, knowing that Obeah exists for those who are foolish enough to believe and indulge in it.I reflected on that part of my history because right after the crash that claimed the lives in St Catherine, so many people were echoing 'science again', and all manner of phrases - obviously suggesting that something was amiss.  Many questions immediately arose, like why were there no vehicles behind the car transporting the suspect? Why did the travelling party not use the highway? Information later surfaced that a small matter of paying the toll was the contention - a shame indeed.Added to that, the security was lax, as you can't have a man who was supposed to be charged with two counts of murder, and other offences, and not have elaborate security in place. The move of not charging him in St James, but clandestinely taking him from that parish to the Corporate Area too, without going through the normal process of putting him before the parish court and seek a change of venue for the trial, is highly suspect. Now, he has been charged with the offences after his death. I suppose we could well see pastor Smith turn up in white garbs in the Home Circuit Court in a few days to answer those charges. I would love to be there to see court staff, police and others scurrying for cover. And what if he pleads not guilty? Will there be anyone willing to attend court for a mention date? The moronic behaviour by the police to charge Smith in death amounts to stupidity and ignorance beyond words, and has made Jamaica the laughing stock of the civilised world. In my layman's league, if a person is charged, he must be told what is he being charged with, cautioned, and told that whatever he says thereafter may be recorded and used against him. He is also expected to enter a plea in court, after the charge is read to him.Yet, maybe, just maybe, the police know something that ordinary souls do not, and maybe Smith is in fact alive and waiting to pounce again. Let's see.  Christopher's 'tuffness' with alcoholSometimes I wonder if Prime Minister Holness means this country any good. It becomes an issue when he insists (or perhaps is pressured) on keeping Dr Christopher Tufton as policy head of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Apart from the messing up of Jamaica's vaccination programme - the lack of vaccines at times, the move to dump them because of the improper management of the process, the general run down of the health sector, infrastructure and otherwise (please visit Cornwall Regional Hospital, for example), Dr Tufton continues to put his foot into his mouth. The latest one is about alcohol - a product that, by his admission, he consumes, but which he does not believe that the proceeds from sales by some of Jamaica's finest companies should be used to help hospitals in their time of need.Now, look at this scenario: When the novel coronavirus pandemic sent people running around in March last year, the first company that stepped forward with a tangible gift of assisting the Government was J Wray & Nephew, with the provision of 100,000 litres (worth $250 million) of pure alcohol for the health sector. It was accepted by Dr Tufton's Government.Later, Red Stripe also donated to the overall cause.But what got Dr Tufton tipsy was the latest donation of $45 million to 12 hospitals across the island from J Wray & Nephew. He, by internal memo, instructed all to give back the donation. What a foolish man bearing impeccable academic credentials. How can you refuse legitimate donations at a time like this, especially when there is no State policy on gifts from alcohol-based companies, unlike tobacco?How can you tell hospital administrators, too, that they should not accept money that they so desperately need...that the Government does not have to give them? And even if the Government has it to give, it will likely go into some project, scheme, or individual's birthday party that has no bearing on improving lives.I would love to see data that points to the number of people who have met their demise as a result of reckless use of alcohol. I wonder if Dr Tufton knows that the country that has the best health-care system per capita, globally, is funded largely by proceeds from its tobacco industry, and its sugar/rum industry? That country is Cuba. Jamaica has virtually no home-grown tobacco industry, but it still has a sugar industry, though it needs some amount of treatment, and from that industry, a by-product of sugar, molasses, is used in the manufacturing of rum.Over the years, J Wray & Nephew and Red Stripe, the latter which formerly traded as Desnoes & Geddes, have supported broad areas of the Jamaica economy than most, if not all others. For them to be given such an almighty slap by the Minister of Health and Wellness is the kind of disrespect you equate to a boy who learned all he could from a veteran teacher and return to school one day to 'dis' that teacher.It is not right. The prime minister must do what is necessary to save what's left of Jamaica's health sector.   Mia Mottley and Barbados' countdownTomorrow I will wish that I were a Barbadian.That's when the most progressive leader in the Caribbean Community, Mia Mottley, leads the month-long countdown to guiding Barbados along the path of becoming the fourth country in the English-speaking Caribbean, behind Guyana in 1970, Trinidad & Tobago in 1976, and Dominica in 1978, to say 'bye bye, ta ta' to Queen Elizabeth and her subjects.By November 30, Barbados will become a republic. Mottley remains as prime minister, but she will not have Queen Elizabeth II as her Head of State. She will have another outstanding Bajan, Sandra Mason, as the island's first president, who will subsequently give up her role as governor general.Mottley has proven over and over that she is not mere talk, like some of the amateurish politicians that we have in Jamaica. It was last year that she announced that Barbados would move to a republic status. Leaving Barbados' colonial past behind, was one of the sermons preached by Mottley, who insisted that the time had come.Now, let's look at Jamaica? What is happening?Well, we still insist on having a governor general, who represents Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State. The budget that goes into the running of the governor general's office and residence is unbelievably high. Oh, how would charities like Maxfield Park Children's Home, Missionaries of the Poor, the Golden Age Home, or Icons of Annotto Bay welcome even 10 per cent of that to administer to those in need.Jamaica continues to play its idiotic game with the continuation of the United Kingdom Privy Council as its final appellate court, when the Caribbean Court of Justice is far more capable of handling last stop appeals. I shall seek out my scores of friends in Barbados, a lovely place for fun and serious stuff, beseech them to shout PM Mottley and ask her to make herself available to the Jamaica Government to act as a silent, unpaid consultant, for her to convince them that Madame Queen has overstayed her welcome as Head of State.In a month's time, I wish I could be there to celebrate with the 285,000 or so Bajans when they turn the door on The Queen. Whether they meet at Boat Yard, Ship In, TNT, other places in Oistins, St Lawrence Gap, Mullings Beach area, St Lucy, or St Phillip, the feeling must be sweet. Meanwhile, Jamaica will continue to search for its future in the dark.Bajans like my friends Keith Holder, Ezra Stuart, Joel "Big Bird" Garner, Philo Wallace, Mike King, Donna Simmonds, Adriel "Woody" Richard, Barry Wilkinson, and others should have fun.Come ya quick Mia; Set Jamaica free!  West Indies' hard lessonSo, finally, a win for the West Indies in the T20 cricket World Cup. And it has come only after the team's management made the right decision of bringing in Jason Holder, who should have been chosen after the captain was named; and Roston Chase, both Barbadians. The duo impacted the match against Bangladesh immediately, which has left some of us wondering what might have been, had the best 11 been assembled from the start.The West Indies will not make it to the semi-finals though, for even if they win their remaining matches against Sri Lanka, and Australia, the mathematics will be against them, following the dismal show against England, and later South Africa. Wonder how dinosaur head of selectors Roger Harper and his other irrelevant few will feel when that happens?