Mazlow, one of my Facebook friends and occasional adversary, loves to use that phrase by Nietzsche about staring into the abyss with eventually the abyss staring back. Our abyss is in the form of not so much failing institutions but institutions that were never set up to succeed and are …
Read More »“Pure evilness and unjustness!” TTHTI faculty rages as students asked to pay GATE shortfall to graduate
“How do young people not get disenchanted with education and the stupid systems that are put in place in Trinidad and Tobago when over 50 students are told that they cannot graduate because the Institute that they belong to did not receive GATE funding for them? “And, to add insult …
Read More »Day in the Life of a journalist: “I wouldn’t say it’s not for a family life [but they have to] be involved in news”
“I really eat, sleep and breathe news… I wouldn’t say [the media is] not for a family life; it depends on the individual. Your family has to be very understanding; your family has to, in a sense, be involved in news.” In the latest instalment of A Day In The Life, Wired868 …
Read More »Balderdash and intellectual acrobatics; Fergus responds to Baldeosingh on race and Afro-history
“[Kevin] Baldeosingh […] uncritically regurgitates the defunct racist hypothesis that ‘darker-skinned people’ are judged less intelligent and ‘more primitive’ than ‘fairer-skinned people’. “[…] During the first century of this era, Ethiopians were the majority in the town of Barygasa (now Baruch) in western India. By the time of the Mughal …
Read More »Fixin T&T: Show us the Balgobin report, let’s see what Justice Nelson’s made of
“Fixin’ T&T has taken note of reports that retired Justice Rolston Nelson may be the Dr Keith Rowley-led Government’s nominee to become the next president of our Republic. “Fixin’ T&T is deeply troubled by the apparent difficulty judges seem to have with being called upon to account for their actions.” …
Read More »Day in the Life of a farmer: Seasoned greetings from the hills of Paramin
“Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,” sing Simon and Garfunkel in “Scarborough Fair” on the sound track of The Graduate. Paramin is NOT Scarborough. But although for most people in Trinidad and Tobago, Paramin is synonymous with parang, precious few are aware that this bustling, difficult-to-access little village nestling in the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is the pot calling the kettle black? Baldeosingh knocks Fergus over ‘historical distortions’
“In an article published on Wired868 on 15 December, Dr Claudius Fergus responded to Dool Hanomansingh, rightly accusing him of ‘gross historical distortions’ and asserting that ‘He is obviously not a historian. If not for the danger that his fiction might be taken as historical fact, I would not even dignify …
Read More »Day in the Life of a judge: Giving everyone 100 percent
If Madam Justice had had her way, she would have been a primary school teacher. However, as it is wont to do, Life intervened and Madam Justice became instead a puisne judge of the High Court of Judicature of Trinidad and Tobago. Assigned to the Family Court since its inception …
Read More »Dear Editor: Do we want a president above suspicion? Then we have to look elsewhere!
“I was horrified to learn that the People’s National Movement (PNM) is trying to foist on us Rolston Nelson while the United National Congress (UNC) is proposing Gladys Gafoor. “My mind instantly went numb.” The following Letter to the Editor, which deals with the issue of the imminent election of …
Read More »Dear Editor: Small correction, Minister Garcia, school fights are not no big thing
“Minister [Anthony] Garcia, are the ‘shattered bones [in the] right elbow’ of Shareefa Ali and Chris Khan’s 9-year-old son–injuries sustained, as reported in the 3 February, 2017 Trinidad Guardian, as a result of a fight initiated by a bully and which required surgery—a ‘part of growing up’? “Is being ‘hit …
Read More »STREET VIBES: Backward Garcia must go if we are to go forward
The old adage “If yuh cyah beat them, join them” can be heard loud and clear behind the latest statement by that dinosaur OJT who has somehow found himself at the helm of education in Trinidad and Tobago. Instead of seeking to find creative ways of treating with the Ministry …
Read More »NOT CONDEMNING: The PNM and UNC have failed on crime and sexual harassment; but we are also culpable
If ever there was an under-performing country, it is Trinidad and Tobago. We have under-performed in every area of development and the PNM and the UNC are equally responsible. Both parties have demonstrated an astounding reluctance to collaborate. Even on the occasion of the achievement of Independence, so great was …
Read More »