“If you don’t have unity, we can’t fight. There are fresh people who call themselves leaders. You can’t be leading, and when it’s time to stand up for people, you don’t know how to stand up. “The authorities have to take crime-fighting seriously; otherwise, there would be more chaos and …
Read More »Daly Bread: Mettle and metal; an All Stars celebration
Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra (All Stars) unconditionally qualifies for recognition as an institution because it has consistently served broader societal functions beyond the performance of musical works on pan. These broader societal functions include cultural innovation and preservation, education and community development. Many other steel orchestras (commonly referred to …
Read More »Dear Editor: EBC should show more respect to D’Abadie and Arima South
“[…] We never got an explanation from the EBC as to why they insisted on re-naming Arima South [as, now, Malabar/ Mausica] and feel comfortable with this outrageous decision. “[…] Why not apply the same principle in other districts like: Diego Martin Central, Northeast and West, Laventille East and West, …
Read More »Noble: The Rich, The Poor and Crime—do our chambers see corruption as criminal?
“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” Late US president John F Kennedy. This quote comes from Kennedy’s inaugural 1961 address. He had been gripped by the poverty he saw while campaigning. In his first official act, he …
Read More »Daly Bread: The whole door gone—T&T failing on crime and still ignoring pan potential
For obvious reasons, this is an appropriate time to point out that the vision for the panyard model did not just reach; and also to remind readers of how long I have been advocating for the panyard model, which I met already established on the ground. A little over 17 …
Read More »Noble: Should state own shares in media company? The problem with govt’s OCM move
“When politics is involved in business, they don’t thrive. In most of these companies… there is a significant inflow of politics.” Gokool Seemungal, National Enterprises Limited (NEL) shareholder. “We adhere to the philosophy that cash in the shareholders’ hands has greater value than ours.” Ingrid Lashley, chair of National Enterprises …
Read More »Judge: ‘Commissioner cannot be thin-skinned’; how Newsauce double-checked Griffith, with memorable critique
On 3 February 2021, as Trinidad and Tobago was gripped by a search for 23-year-old clerk Andrea Bharatt, blogger Rhoda Bharath—a UWI lecturer—sounded an alarm over the behaviour of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), then headed by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, in the discharging of its duties. “Oh …
Read More »Daly Bread: Death of a salesman—lessons from Che Mendez murder
As readers are aware, I take an empathetic side with those who are dealt blows in a society, which—although mitigated somewhat by the prodigious work of volunteers and the voluntary organisations—has a cruelly indifferent socio-economic structure compounded by unenlightened governance. As recently as April this year, in connection with the …
Read More »Noble: Out damn spot!—Hinds and Griffith must account for SSA scandal
“In the way of the world, things happen. As one writer previously wrote, ‘there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face…” Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds, Express, 5 July 2024. The preening, self-important Minister Hinds evidently did not recognise that he was quoting Macbeth and …
Read More »Liz Williams: “Some friends become enemies, [there’s] a lot of social media bullying”
“[…] It takes a lot of hard work, late nights, missing out on family time, some friends become enemies, a lot of social media bullying. “Holidays for the public are work for us; [there are] threats made on your life, just to name a few…” Wired868 sheds light on the …
Read More »Noble: Voices from the Ghetto—calypso warnings about T&T’s uneven society
“[…] We don’t see here as part of Trinidad. We see here [as] a diseased part that we wish would go away. I tell people if your left kidney is cancerous and you ignore it, it will kill you. “If you focus on the parts of your body that are …
Read More »Daly Bread: A basis for general election choices
At the end of last week’s column, I described the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) after the results of its recent internal election as “the Kamla Persad-Bissesar re-embedded UNC”. In the week since that column was written, factionalism has broken out in the UNC. The governing People’s National Movement (PNM), …
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