Wired868 editor-in-chief and CEO Lasana Liburd is a conman and, if he’s not careful, he may end up in jail. Or, if Dame Fortune smiles on him, in the UNC. I say that because I have been reading the stories that appear here about the Secondary Schools’ Football League (SSFL). …
Read More »Bard women; fickle goddesses: Best considers dynamics of Calypso and her women
It is 2016. Do you know where Jean and Dinah are? And why? It says a lot for the Mighty Sparrow that sexagenarians and teenagers alike—and all the age-groups in between—often answer that question in the affirmative. Round de corner posing; bet yuh life is something dey selling… In Calypso …
Read More »Big Talk from the Birdie: Best looks at Sparrow’s bravado, conquests and fragile masculinity
“Not a woman ever complain yet with me. Ah eh boastin’ but ah know ah got true ability/durability. And if a woman ever say that I ever leave her dissatisfy, she lie, she lie, she lie, she blasted lie.” And there is a fairly long list of women who may …
Read More »Forged from the love of language: Best has another go at literary sloppiness in the media
Above a headline proclaiming “Forged from the love of liberty” on page 25 of the edition of Tuesday August 6, we are told by the Trinidad Express that language matters. But on Page One of the edition of Sunday September 4, the caption says that “Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley address the …
Read More »Learning from Rio: Earl Best takes some literary lessons from the 31st Olympiad
Javelin thrower Keshorn Walcott, writes Kwame Lawrence in the Trinidad Express of Monday August 22, “is threatening to become an all-time great in the event.” So whether or not you think it is a celebration of “mediocrity,” no one can reasonably find fault with the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs’ …
Read More »Strait is the GATE: Is T&T suffering from false sense of entitlement?
Are we having the wrong discussion about GATE? Should the conversation be whether the government should sponsor tertiary-level education at all? “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:14, King James Version. My 14-year-old grandson …
Read More »… And the media keep right on media-ing: How to bring the WICB to heel
Columnist Earl Best calls on the regional media to sign a hands-off, ‘non-corporation’ pact to bring WICB president Dave Cameron and company to heel: What know they of cricket, CLR James asked almost five and a half decades ago, who only cricket know? What know they of West Indies cricket, …
Read More »The Great Training Robbery: TTOC sent wrong message to young athletes
Columnist Earl Best says Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) boss Brian Lewis made a ‘white-collar’ decision in selecting Marisa Dick for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Dear Brian, I don’t know what your experience has been but I know from my own experience that there are times when you have to cut off …
Read More »The Colm after the storm; and Imbert’s about-turn on the gas subsidy
Minister of Finance Colm Imbert was interviewed by Khamal Georges on CNC3 last week and it was difficult not to be genuinely impressed by his calm demeanour. It contrasted sharply with the agitation and irritation he displayed during his mid-year review in Parliament a week prior, when he announced to the …
Read More »An Open Letter to Earl Best: Vidale’s view on T&T’s political stage
Although I am not the architect of this design and did not create our plantation, I have none the less been waiting for you. You have posed many questions. Although the last six months has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably Trinbagonian. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, …
Read More »Is just a PNM movie: Best look at what politicians are saying but NOT doing
“Life is a stage and we are the actors,” calypsonian Lord Valentino sang in the 1970’s. Three or four decades later, endorsement came from the novelist Earl Lovelace, who declared that (Politics in T&T) “…is just a movie.” “Everybody have a part to play,” Valentino also sings. Including Faris Al-Rawi. …
Read More »The ghosts of November past: Best and Walcott review the T&T/USA WCQ
Wired868 columnist Earl Best and journalist Roneil Walcott evoke the ghosts of November past in five tableaux: (Tableau One) “Dem eh really understand, yuh know,” he said to me, his voice thick with emotion, “deh eh understand hommuch dat hurt.” I expected him to wipe away a tear but he …
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