The labels ‘domestic abuse’ or even ‘intimate partner abuse’ do not capture the terror experienced by our women. The media has, this week, creditably stepped up in their responses. The Guardian led with a front-page editorial and, commendably, the Express put male leaders on the spot to state their position. …
Read More »TTPS urged to investigate makers of claim that UNC funding crime to destabilise country
“In this video, Samuel Stafford stated: ‘The UNC has a bunch of businessmen…. there are certain high profile businessmen in UNC [trying] to keep the crime rate up and destabilise the country…’ “[…] Given that this is an election year such an offensive statements appear designed to inflame political and racial …
Read More »Daly Bread: 25 years of making excuses: the state repeatedly fails to punish and prevent murder
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley made a chilling, although realistic, admission about murder in our country and its clear and present danger at all times and in every place. The prime minister was commenting on the murder and robbery at a Tobago supermarket in which a security …
Read More »Daly Bread: So much of nothing; a week of ‘Blame Game’ from Hinds/Ramdial to Rowley/Archie
“With so much of everything how do we leave with nothing?” This question is asked in a multi layered (adults only) song called the ‘Blame Game’, a collaboration between John Legend and Kanye West, released in 2010. I came across this last Sunday on one of those Sunday mornings when …
Read More »Fixin’ T&T slams ‘dangerous, hypocritical, irresponsible’ response to murders by business community
“What exactly is the T&T Chamber of Commerce advocating? Does the T&T Chamber of Commerce condone breaking the law to enforce the law? “Will the T&T Chamber of Commerce support extrajudicial killings as a tool that should be used to address our untenable crime situation?” The following retort to the …
Read More »Daly Bread: Murder 24/7; cold comfort as Govt finally acknowledges dire situation
We are all acquainted with the expression 24/7 meaning continuous shifts or round-the-clock service. Sadly, our country is now a country of murder 24/7. Underlining that fact, we actually managed to have 24 murders within a seven day period, causing Guardian media to assert in a page one editorial on …
Read More »Brutal breaching—Pt 2: X marks the 1990 spot but the enduring political question is why
Yasin Abu Bakr loves the soap-box. The witness box or the dock? Not quite so much. So at the post-27-July-1990-coup trial, there was no grand “History will absolve me” peroration. None was needed. Not in Clebert Brooks’ court. With no legal training, you would say that an amnesty signed because …
Read More »Dear Editor: Inaction from Lyons and HDC is allowing crime to spiral at Oropune Gardens!
“The blame for the spiralling crime in the community rests with the HDC. They are fully aware that they are not enforcing the rules that will allow the community to remain safe. “[…] Illegal occupancy, use of unoccupied / vandalised units, poor street lighting, poor lighting in car parks and …
Read More »Daly Bread: Blinkered view of crime; why Young’s ‘big fish’ talk fails to convince
Last week, in the course of the latest Parliamentary debate on crime, talk of ‘big fish’ came up again in the speech of the Minister of National Security, Stuart Young. First, let’s set out the context. The terms of the Opposition motion for debate asked the Senate: “to take note …
Read More »Dear Editor: Don’t tell us how many ‘shottas’ are out there, Mr CoP; just arrest them!
Like many—dare I say most—citizens of this rock, I, too, am fed up. Fed up of the illiteracy which poses and passes for governance; fed up of the sorry excuses with which citizens are provided; fed up of excuses parroted as reasons for their massive and collective incompetence. I am …
Read More »Daly Bread: Mirror on the West Indies wall; stop mamaguying the people on our failings
The Evil Queen in the story of Snow White repeatedly asks the magic mirror: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all.” The mirror would invariably give the mamaguy answer ‘you are, my Queen’. In Shrek when the magic mirror is brought to Lord Farquaad, he …
Read More »Murder she wrote: Mills and Crime; why blame for media coverage should be spread around
The insightful story by Suzanne Mills about her mother’s struggles is useful to highlight how the media wrestles with framing the large issues of life. It raises the issue of how we define who is a good editor. Is the metric the profitability of the media house, or is it …
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