I'm baffled.  Some North American media pundits of the politcally correct persuasion have taken on what appears to be a loss cause as far as the US$8M ad, or should I say free publicity for Jamaica campaign, by Volkswagen featuring a white fellow speaking Jamaican patios. The ad was made to greet millions of fun-loving people during Superbowl Sunday, but got controversial.

It has been quite a while since I've contributed to this blog, but it's good to sit around the computer for this purpose, once more.

Which country has the best designed uniform for the 2012 Summer Olympics, according to TIME Magazine?

I read a British newspaper and it was in there; a Canadian one, and it was in there, too. I found two American papers and the popular one-line Huffington Post and it was in there as well. Subsequently, I found it in quite a number of other international papers. What am I talking about?

Many of us in the diaspora continue to dream of returning permanently to our homeland some day. There are others, who've vowed never to return, and still there are others who're undecided.

Dear Readers,

I'm taking a slight departure from my usual blog to bring you some very good news about Lover's Leap: Based on the Jamaican Legend, the first of my eight novels. It's not only good news for me but for our little country Jamaica, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This is my small gift to Jamaica.  Read on...

As an author,  February is always my busiest month of the year. Why? It's Black History Month, and my eight novels cover a period dating from 1795 to the 21st century. It's the time of the year people of all races come to my readings, mostly at libraries, to hear my narratives about black history and how they come alive through the pages of these books.

At long last, we're beginning to see some movement to tap into the legacy of the pirates of Jamaica, who roamed the high seas in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Disney must've raised our consciousness to higher heights with its blockbuster series Pirates of the Caribbean.

I've written about the subject of Port Royal on this blog before, but you know what, too much cannot be written about this "dying" historical giant because it's still crying out for help.  If Jamaica's Port Royal was situated in North America with all its accompanying colourful and intriguing history, it would have been at the forefront of the local tourist industry, earning valuable tourist dollars.

A few years ago, a curious African-American friend of mine came to visit me in Canada, and was adamant that she needed the best Jamaican jerk seasoning I could find. She was here for a week at a church convention and had planned to do some cooking of her own and "experiment" with the famous Jamaican jerk.