The fictional Winnie the Pooh greeted her best friend, Eeyore, the donkey: “A lovely day, isn’t it?” He replied: “I wish I could say yes, but I cannot.” The Eternal Pessimist could never countenance a good day. For him, it is all for nought! The heavy rains that wrapped our …
Read More »Keita: How T&T can benefit from tapping into our flood crisis behaviour
Building our future is not something we can delegate. Julius Caesar is quoted as saying, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” As a post-colonial country, it is not difficult to make the case that somewhere in the depths of our psyche, …
Read More »Gilkes: Today Beetham, tomorrow…; residents were wrong but there’s a lesson worth learning here
It was bound to happen. What happened to Minister Fitzgerald Hinds in the Beetham was unfortunate, illegal and disrespectful. But it was all but inevitable, given a whole range of things including our society’s religious refusal to examine ourselves and our past and connect that to our present realities. So, …
Read More »Dear Editor: Floodwaters, People Power and the Legacy of Mis-development
“Some persons will criticise the actions of the residents, and they may be quite right in finding the water-dousing problematic. But there are bigger issues to be addressed. “If people find that the actions of a few residents were not the best, then they should also consider that the emotions …
Read More »Salaam: Forget Brazil and France, T&T should be emulating Japan’s tidy fans after more flash fooding
Even after they were eliminated by Belgium in the World Cup Round of 16 on Monday, the Japan National Football Team and their supporters gave us a lesson in class and a taste of their culture. I read that their fans cleaned up the section of the stadium where they …
Read More »Weather for leather! Live Wire examines ODPM disaster, a UNC land grab and Fatima’s, eh, “drama classes”
There is nothing like a downpour to offer fresh perspective in life. As flood waters rose in central and south Trinidad, a woman discovered that a four foot reptile, in a cheeky bid for power, had swapped the swamp for her abode and surreptitiously laid claim to her premises. But …
Read More »STREET VIBES: God is not Trini and doesn’t condone recklessness; stop building in flood-prone areas!
Now that Bret has blown over, many of us breathe a sigh of relief. We can take a deep breath as we crawl from the confines of our dry, safety zones to engage in the post mortem analysis of what to some was a storm in a teacup. Others are …
Read More »D/Martin grateful for small mercies
The People’s Partnership yesterday distributed cheques ranging in value from $7,000 to $30,000 to over 100 Diego Martin families affected by last month’s flood. The pay-out totaled $1.8 million or roughly $200,000 less than the State paid Machel Montano to sing “Advantage” last year. “I know there is no way …
Read More »PP disaster preparation 101
Scene: Prime Minister’s unofficial residence. Phone rings. “Good Morning, Kamla Persad-Bissessor SC, Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago speaking.” “Good morning your highness, Jack speaking.” “Ah, hello Minister Warner, you’re calling bright and early, what can I do for you today?” “Have you heard the news?” “Certainly. That Prince Harry …
Read More »More flood woes; cameraman on standby
Wired868 has been unreliably advised that, although the rainfall might seem bad, it is actually six percent less than showers last week and 15 percent less than what was experienced the week before that. So citizens are actually benefitting from what is now known as an increase in the decrease. …
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