Tag Archives: Herbert Volney

“Look for three things in a person: intelligence, energy and integrity. If they don’t have the last one, don’t even bother with the first two.” Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. As a young child, I used to hear scary stories. La Diablesse, Socouyant and Douen were staples. Telling scary …

What a week! The events that tumbled over each other added to the exhaustion and frustration of the long road from 2020. Do we, as a country, have a clear path to success? Let us consider a few of the incidents. Firstly, the THA’s Chief Secretary announced that he and …

The killing of the four Fyzabad youths narrated on the soundtrack of the sad stories of their parents is depressing. These young criminals were in their early 20s. But while we scratch our collective heads, we should recall that these are not the first children involved in murders. In 1993, Prisons …

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. …

Unlike Aesop whose fables came with a moral, our leaders peddle fables with deadly consequences. We are gambling in a ‘three-card’ game which we will never win while they collude. The way we treated the conclusion of the ‘Emailgate’ issue suggests that there is no connecting line between Section 34, …

I had been considering several topics to write on and then inspiration (if I can call it that) came by the way of an ill-conceived attempt to stir my sense of humour. The message on my phone read as follows: I phoned the vet the other day and said, “I …

Minister of the People Glenn Ramadharsingh arguably made history yesterday for the most ridiculous dismissal in local politics after the sack race also-ran lost his job for effectively mistaking a CAL plane for his living room and incorrectly reading the future of a flight attendant that he took for his …

Ian Alleyne completed the St Joseph by-election line-up today as he filed his nomination papers. Allegedly. Well, he actually did; but Alleyne would surely be using the word ‘alleged’ more than ever if he becomes a full-fledged politician. The celebrated “Crime Watch” television host now goes head to head with …

MP Herbert Volney tried a classic “Jack Warner defence” yesterday in regards to the on-going Section 34 controversy that has already done for his Cabinet career and threatens the credibility of the People’s Partnership government. The Jack Warner defence, named after the colourful National Security Minister, is famous for its …

I really don’t care who runs the country. Be it UNC, COP, PNM or any other trilogy of capital letters, all I want is a government whose first concern is improving the lives of its citizens rather than their own. Is it too much to ask, I sometimes ponder. I …

Carlos John, the former UNC Minister of Works, is a firm believer in the spirit of Christmas. In December 2010, John, who faces fraud charges for his role in the Piarco Airport scandal, applied to the Transport Commissioner to reserve number 34 for his next vehicle, which was a two-door …

Clevon Raphael (in a Trinidad Guardian interview): (…) Do you think the PP administration could survive Section 34? Herbert Volney: Of course… It is a ten-day wonder, if as long. That’s the thing about 10-days; there is no guarantee of employment in the immediate aftermath. Mr Live Wire wishes the …