View Point

I am sure you would remember this truism: “Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder!” I accepted this aphorism as a means of teaching that persons could have divergent views about the same incident. Professor Richard Drayton at King’s College, London, in 2011, wrote: “History is not merely reflection; …

“[…] As the calypsonian Luta said: ‘the system works for the rich, it holds no hope for the poor’. So miss we with talk about ‘bulwark of democracy’, ‘separation of powers’ and ‘sanctity of the process’. “[…] Are we to expect the Customs, Immigration, Police and parliamentarians to follow the …

The Roman Emperor, Nero, is said to have fiddled while Rome burned. His alleged conduct passed into common parlance to mean “not dealing with a difficult or dangerous situation but instead doing useless things or pretending nothing is wrong”. In our current situation, fiddling with runaway violent crime includes the …

In 1958, the author, John Steinbeck, wrote an essay describing San Francisco as a city with “a golden handcuff with the key thrown away”. The article was a rhapsody about life in that city. On the other hand, we watch our nation slide into a putrid abyss—never leaving but badmouthing …

“[…] The T&T constitution is defective in one important respect. Too much power of nomination and appointment resides in the premiership and presidency; and therein lies suspicions of cronyism. “The Constitution effectively leaves the lid of the cookie jar unsecured. It then seems to operate on the expectation that those …

When a public official who has undoubted legal power exercises that power, a question of the legitimacy of the exercise of that power can arise. Legitimacy concerns the exercise of legal power in a manner that is appropriate and justifiable and does not otherwise disturb the public conscience. Our governments …

More than half our population did not experience the ravages of the 1988 International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) intervention. This group likely does not pay attention to the news reports on the Article IV consultations. They do not know that the Public Services Association’s 1988 membership was savaged and subsidies were …

“[…] In musical terms, T&T punches well above its geographic and demographic weight. Many artistes have brought great poetic, musical and lyrical richness to the global table—but none of them brings the feels like David Rudder. “[…] You’ll not find more deftly written words to describe a particular sexy woman …

As long ago as 2007, readers of this column were introduced to the phrase “breakdown of ordered legal control in the face of anarchy or banditry” as I began my predictions about where we were headed. The phrase belongs to Professor HLA Hart, who was a famous professor of Jurisprudence …

We all know the idiom “chickens come home to roost”, which means the consequences of wrongdoing always catches up with the wrongdoer. In the past two weeks, this expression has materialised in our country. The new spate of crime witnessed is the fruit of our actions over several decades. Passions …

In hindsight, it was a rather selfish column, so wrapped up in my woebegone mood that it might actually have been unfair. Not long after David Rudder migrated to Canada, I had written of the enormous loss to our country’s psyche. My distress came from the abiding feeling that for …

“[…] I am firmly of the view that no minister who has been or is involved in any shady financial and business dealings should be serving in the government of my country. “My problem with Mr Mark Bassant’s report is that it is pitched over my head—and, I dare say, the …