We may be having a progressive cultural shift. I am referring to the proposed need for “permission slips” to take a wine on a woman in a fete or on the road on Carnival days. The probability of that shift is to be measured by Machel Montano’s quick reverse from …

Almost halfway through its innings and after plenty leave-alone punctuated by some ‘vooping’, the current PNM Government, has finally played a ball with the middle of the bat. The nomination of Madam Justice Paula Mae Weekes to be President of the Republic is an elegant stroke. Happily, the Leader of …

Massive: that is the extent of the opportunity presented by “Massive” Gosine’s “Rowlee Mudda Count.” It is an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion about taste and standards in public and cultural life. It does not matter whose count is referenced. The central issue is whether the unrelenting references to …

Julius Caesar, the maximum leader of Roman times, was assassinated in the year 44 BC. The dates in the Roman calendar were denominated differently from the manner to which we are accustomed. The mid-point of every month was known as the ides. Caesar was assassinated on the ides of March, …

In 1912, the Titanic began its maiden voyage across the Atlantic from England to New York. The ship was thought to be unsinkable—as though God was not only a Trini but was also the Titanic’s owner. Four days into its voyage, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank with loss …

Referring to the unattractive salary and conditions of service of judges at that time, then Chief Justice Sir Isaac Hyatali, in October, 1978 made his famous statement that “We were heading for a situation in which the brandy will have to be watered considerably to fill future vacancies on the …

It is not surprising that the issue of the allocation of public housing is front page news once again. What is astonishing is that it is allegations concerning the conduct of the Chief Justice that have put the issue back on the front page—but first, a little recap. In April 2016, …

When Abraham Lincoln said that you could not fool all of the people all of the time, he could not have known that information technology would come to bear heavily on both the ability (fake news) and inability (investigative reporting) of the powerful to fool the people. Lincoln would be …

Following last week’s column on the self-esteem crisis, which looked at the circumstances which contribute to the breeding of heartless persons, I was reading an interview with a rape victim who has written a debut novel entitled Dark Chapter. The book explores the traumatic experience of the author, Winnie Li, …

For many years I have described the low self-esteem plaguing many of our youngsters and its relationship to violent crime and anti-social behaviour.  The now widespread fighting in schools is a related phenomenon. Much of my personal knowledge of the self-esteem crisis comes directly from dialogue with some youngsters to …

I have to return to the prevailing conditions of instability which are obvious to me but now as a post-script to my tribute to Roland Quesnel, my revered teacher, a contemporary of mine, Randolph Peters, wrote that, like me, the person who most impacted his intellectual development was Quesnel. He …

There are co-incidences in life that it is sometimes difficult to treat merely as co-incidences. My revered teacher died on Wednesday last, aged 90. Some years ago, he sent me a document entitled My Last Will with a request that I keep it for him “as an official document.” This …