I do not write for everyone. As a matter of fact, I am well aware that I cannot. I am committed to confronting every aspect of who we are, even the ugliness which we pretend we can ignore. Our general acceptance of the notion of subordinate cultural groups and communities—even …
Read More »Daly Bread: Challenges to the use of power; and semi-legal State greed
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 …
Read More »The UWI agrees to change Milner Hall name; CRFP celebrates historic decision
“The spirit of Independence and the Treaty of Chaguaramas which created the Caribbean Community are not dead. It sends a clear message to the world that the people of this region have the capacity to understand their past, the courage to confront it and the will and moral character to …
Read More »Daly Bread: Playing with the priests; the cost of looking the other way
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, …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is it too much to ask for more inspirational front page photos from the media?
“Just look at the back pages of most of papers—or any of their sport pages for that matter—over the last few months. They have been packed with tons of fine T&T accomplishments. “Why, I ask, are such beautiful and proud moments such as those wasted on our back pages versus …
Read More »Daly Bread: The self-esteem crisis; why our “passes factory” schools are not helping
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 …
Read More »Fryea’s Advice: Martin Luther’s fire put out by peace and safety? No protests from Protestants?
I can’t hear you, brothers and sisters; your silence is deafening. It is a source of great concern to me that, in our very active pro-march and protesting society, I am hearing nothing about any plans for any churches to commemorate the great event that took place on 31 October …
Read More »STREET VIBES: Hahaha, hee-haw, hee-haw but PNM’s donkey logic is no laughing matter
Prank or otherwise, there is nothing funny about rape. We are a nation which has seen its fair share of rapes over the years, many of the victims in their early teens. Despite the large number, however, I can remember not one single occasion when a rape was thought to …
Read More »Despite popular belief, there’s no ‘F’ in democracy; why T&T has only known maximum leadership
I must give credit to Kyle Skeeto Amos for the headline of this piece. His contemplation on the nature of our democracy is nothing short of brilliant. That said, I want to use another story, the one about the hikers and the lion, to perhaps identify why there is no …
Read More »Master’s Voice: The end game? Gambling with facts is playing Russian roulette with T&T
The more I hear about the issues surrounding the casinos and gaming industry, the more confused I get. My confusion is probably going to come through clearly here. I mean, who exactly is the villain in this piece? Who is the victim? It have any at all? Kinda fitting, I …
Read More »Daly Bread: More predictions of storm; will National Security finally include culture in crime plan?
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 …
Read More »Criticism vs Critique Pt 2: Hassanali takes a stab at the fuel subsidy debate
I am no hypocrite. So before someone, having read what I have so far written, attempts to stick that label on me for not practising what I preach, let me have a stab at elevating the fuel subsidy debate. I totally agree with the sentiment that the subsidy in its …
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