View Point

Many of us remember pivotal periods that form our life’s perspective. For me, it was the late 60’s and early 70’s.  I was a child in the Oval on 30 August 1962 when Dr Eric Williams inspired us, schoolchildren, by telling us that our future was in our schoolbags. I …

“[…] Those who benefit most from the inequalities of racism and supremacy that we continue to live in today are, in Dr Martin Luther King’s words, more efficient and effective with the limited time that they are afforded.  “That leaves us—who are progressive, who dream of a better world—with the …

I woke up one morning a few weeks ago to news that dulled the effulgence of the light that usually comes over a city like Madrid in early June. A message from my brother that Patrick White had died.  “At school when we were all students it seemed normal,” my …

“[…] Anthony Harris was a well-known and universally appreciated sports photographer who covered events with distinction across more than three decades for Guardian Media. “He was mortally injured when a vehicle struck him while riding around the Queen’s Park Savannah. The driver did not stop…” The following is a statement …

Joel Nanton, the chair of the Department of Journalism and Media at COSTAATT, passed away yesterday at the age of 47—after a three-year battle with illness. Wired868 joins the rest of the media community in expressing condolences to his wife, Hollene, and their three children, as well as to his family …

Public trust and confidence in the capacity of our country’s institutions and high offices to make full disclosure and to observe due process of law has again been shaken. Compromising due process is a potential catalyst for wider social unrest because of the way in which the authorities manipulate the …

Our national anthem urges us to have “boundless faith in our destiny”. It affirms that “here every creed and race find an equal place” and “may God bless our Nation”.  Do these lofty words meet reality? Do these words apply to the people of Laventille, or are they to be …

The earthy language of Phillip Alexander may make his commentaries unattractive to some people. It is useful however that he repeatedly sticks it to the establishment, revealing a far better understanding of socio-economic reality than many of our rulers—even though he might not get many votes at the ballot box. …

Mark Twain is credited with the saying: “We have the best government that money can buy.”  Locally, we have not been shy about accepting money from unaccountable sources. Our non-existent rules about political campaign rules enable greedy political investors to corrupt our nation and destroy trust.  As Chinua Achebe observed …

All of last week there was intense focus on whether, in the words of one editorial writer, the Attorney General “told an untruth in a sworn affidavit in the Miami court”. All three daily newspapers in the course of the week contained editorials severely critical of the Attorney General (the …

The ultimate sin today is criticising a group, especially on moral grounds. We live in a nihilistic post-shame era. There are no permanent standards, just the shifting judgment of the crowd.  We have a culture of oversensitivity, overreaction and frequent moral panics, during which everybody feels compelled to go along. …

We love to major in minors and yet, in so doing, shine lights on the majors that, the higher up the social ladder you are, the more you choose not to see. I’m talking about what everybody’s talking about. No, not the illegal US-created proxy war in Ukraine; no, not …