View Point

It has been a recurrent theme of these columns that there are many cultural factors militating against our country moving toward a better and fairer condition.  Now I have solid company. Terrence Farrell, economist, attorney, author and commentator, has published another book.  It is called: We like it so?—The Cultural …

“It is simply not enough for Army investigators to state, according to an Asha Javeed Express report, that ‘procedures were not properly followed that day however, those procedural lapses have since been identified and rectified.’ “The public must be told of the breaches committed, who will be held accountable and …

“Being an engineer always sounds like such a highly regarded occupation with a supposedly handsome salary. We see the new cars, the lovely homes and the holiday trips that these persons may take. “However we hardly ever wonder about the challenges and setbacks rather than just the positives of having …

Time was when, if yuh neighbour house on fire, yuh used to throw water on your own. Not anymore, not in politics anyway. Nowadays, if yuh political neighbour house on fire, yuh does throw pitchoil. I thought that was the hidden message in an unpublished letter sent to Wired868 by …

“This stance against child marriage must be seen as an absolute. Much like the universal condemnation of child soldiers, so too we must recognise that child marriage can never be justified.” The following Letter to the Editor on child marriage, in response to recent remarks by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, …

I can still remember the accolades coming in from many quarters for the impressive PNM candidate for Tobago West in the 2015 General Election. I refer, of course, to Shamfa Cudjoe. It took one short month in office for the newly appointed Minister of Tourism to declare to the Parliament …

I suppose one can admire the zeal with which the Attorney General, Mr Faris Al Rawi, pursues his causes in the Parliament. Likewise, members of the Opposition have made a number of valid points concerning legislation brought before the Parliament recently. It would of course be more palatable if both …

I couldn’t believe my ears. Had the radio just said that the Minister of Education was planning to start instruction in panmanship in the nation’s schools? Had someone finally seen the light after all these years, just as the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies was launching a week-long …

“How else can one explain our two honourable Houses of Parliament, Upper and Lower, that seem to be ordained never, like East and West, to meet? “Where parliamentarians and some senators too seem to spend more time in the highest courts of the land trying to embarrass one another, to …

“You don’t have to be an expert to realize that Panorama pieces are saturated with arrangers’ attempts to evoke certain emotions in the listening audience, which, in turn, are designed to elicit particular responses… “Successfully executed and then terminated with a flourish, these figures often have the effect of making …

Government last week announced a decision to dissolve the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and replace it with two, maybe three agencies. It is unclear, to me at least, what the government might have in mind with this move. Minister Shamfa Cudjoe’s announcement made me remember a line from the Eagles’ …

“We are still grappling with—and even clueless about—how to curb the high crime situation in the wider society. Any wonder the violent behaviour is mirrored in our schools? “And let us not stick our head in the sand because these pupils live in the communities and maybe even repeatedly interface …