MSJ: “Regrettably, the composition of the ‘Recovery Team’ does not suggest that the opportunity to bring about solutions to these problems will be seized. The MSJ does not have any problem with the bona fides of any member of the Recovery Team. The issue is that of balance. “It is …
Read More »MSJ: Education Ministry’s proposed online schooling will exacerbate inequalities
“[…] We are deeply concerned that the decision by the Ministry of Education to implement a programme of home-based learning conducted by teachers using an ‘online platform’ will seriously discriminate against the children whose parents are either unemployed or whose incomes are barely able to put food on the table. …
Read More »Are Covid-19 party-goers crazy? Or just motivated by a different logic?
I learned a beautiful question from TedX speaker Brené Brown: What is the story you are telling yourself? Many people believe they are successful because of their hard work and intelligence. They discount the impact of external factors. A story they tell themselves is that success is the result of …
Read More »Dear editor: I don’t for one second believe they listened to ‘WE’! Give us truth on security contracts
“This is the same government who, when in opposition, criticised the then UNC-led People’s Partnership Government in 2014 for introducing a similar initiative called Community Comfort Patrol—saying that untrained, unknown people were driving through neighbourhoods in strange vehicles pretending to be police. “[…] The initiative has now been cancelled but …
Read More »Post-Covid-19: Why our next Carnival is likely to be in 2022, and how to plan for it
As the global community grapples with an insidious pandemic, creative and tourism sectors worldwide have already incurred substantial losses due to significant economic contraction, triggered by the suspension of events and the closure of borders. Undoubtedly, stakeholders within the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival industry have already begun to wrestle with …
Read More »Anonymous teacher: Don’t ask about virtual teaching during vacation; and blame the ministry!
“Why are parents so upset and concerned about school work during that period?! They do not want to admit it, but they have had enough of their own angels! “And you know if there was school and no Covid-19, I bet you almost all of these same parents would not have …
Read More »Dear Editor: The message of Good Friday is love
“The passing of Jesus Christ—his crucifixion, his resurrection and his ascension—is crucial for Christianity, and the current clergy and laity are charged with continuing his mission. “… The message is one of Love, that is, love of God and love of our neighbours and doing unto others as you would …
Read More »Noble: Building bridges this Easter; remember Christ’s lessons in these dark times
Easter 2020 meets the world ‘on its knees’, humbled by a virus that has catspraddled us. One day we were invincible; or so we thought and behaved. The next day, racked with physical and emotional pain, our voices curdle in our throats. Our hearts fail us for fear. We are …
Read More »Demming: T&T must emerge from pandemic as healthier, more tech savvy nation
April 7th marked the 55th month of Trinidad and Tobago being under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Keith Christopher Rowley and no one could have predicted the current scenario. Not in our wildest dreams did we contemplate that we’d be engaged in a daily tally of deaths versus confirmed …
Read More »Dear editor: Basil Davis’ 1970 funeral is historic, although we’ve lost hard-won gains
“[During the 1970 uprising] Basil Davis pleaded that [an] arrested man had mental problems but was well known and harmed no one. The police officer shot the unarmed, pleading Basil Davis at point blank range killing him on the spot. “The shooting death of Basil Davis outside of Woodford Square, …
Read More »Dear Editor: Time to be ‘less critical and adhere to the medical experts’ advice’
“I’m aware that part of our culture is to criticise and sometimes to trivialise. But this is not the time. The time now is to rise above that way of life and to fight against this unseen enemy that is causing overwhelming death. We must be less critical and adhere …
Read More »Daly Bread: Siq transit gloria; is govt’s limited Covid-19 testing a ‘calculated risk’?
My headline today is not a typographical error. As suggested below, it is still uncertain whether the government’s policy of Siq, that is separate, isolate and quarantine is a sound enough response to our Covid-19 crisis. We just don’t know yet. Sic transit gloria mundi is the full classic incantation …
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