The biblical Moses was hidden in the bulrushes by his mother, fearful of an edict that all male Hebrew babies were to be drowned. The bulrushes were the reeds along the banks of the river Nile. Despite his origin, Moses was saved and eventually became the person trusted to receive …
Read More »Daly Bread: The windmills of the mind; a month of spin
Why do persons in circumstances requiring full disclosure and accountability to the public invariably send us ‘in a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel, as the images unwind like the circles that you find in the windmills …
Read More »Daly Bread: Re-opening a bonito economy; continue cautiously but don’t forget the ‘small man’
As is now plainly apparent, the working poor consists of those in low paid jobs and many of the self-employed, whose work is a hustle. They are being crushed. In addition to those in the food business, we must therefore identify the vulnerable groups among the self- employed. Putting them …
Read More »Daly Bread: Honest to God; don’t abuse state support for Covid-19
We reach, oui. One holy man has to tell other holy men—in a nice way of course—to be honest with the money that the Government is giving to religious organisations to provide food support to its poor following the economic impact of Covid-19. “Do the right thing”, Dr Knolly Clarke, …
Read More »Daly Bread: Gov’t must do more for ‘working poor’ who suffer most from pandemic
If anyone had cared to pay attention before Covid-19, they would know that life is a daily hustle for a significant number of citizens. These citizens have no employer and they are usually poor. There are also a significant number of citizens who have an employer but, in the absence …
Read More »Daly Bread: Road map to where? Why PM’s committee will struggle to change status quo
One thing is certain in this time of greatest uncertainty: It will not be possible to return the Trinidad and Tobago economy to the model by which it was previously operated. The country does not have the money to do so. Dr Terrence Farrell recently comprehensively explained the economic facts …
Read More »Daly Bread: Contemplating the road to recovery; gov’t must prioritise the arts
In August 1959, at the peak of his fame, Miles Davis was taking a break from a recording which he was making downstairs an equally famous club called Birdland Jazz Club. He was on the pavement when a white policeman told him to move on. “Move on for what? I …
Read More »Daly: Don’t cry for us, Mayaro; a very different Easter
This is a very different Easter Sunday. There are no gatherings to celebrate the resurrection and no congregation to hear sermons of hope. Pope Francis in Rome will be a solitary figure silhouetted against a vast, empty St Peter’s square. We may be unfamiliar with the Jewish Passover, a celebration …
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 …
Read More »Daly Bread: Lingering credibility questions; gov’t ‘trying to control media narrative’
When is an exemption to closed borders not an exemption after the borders are closed? I will return to this riddle, but let me first note that the limited testing for Covid-19 has been expanded in obvious response to queries about its previous deficiencies. There was room to acknowledge that the …
Read More »Daly: Credibility in a crisis; why are health-related questions ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘mischievous’?
In our post-colonial society, we have never solved the problem of what checks and balances ought to be placed on the exercise of the constitutional power of the political bosses, namely the Executive, which we elect to govern us at periodic intervals, usually every five years. It is a long …
Read More »Daly bread: A more fearful future; soaring crime, falling oil prices and coronavirus
We washed and put away our sailor costumes last weekend. That induced a stronger nostalgia than usual for the carefree days of Carnival generally and, in particular, for Carnival Tuesday as All Stars sailors. The nostalgia was a brief antidote to the keen awareness that murders—albeit unrelated to Carnival—remained an …
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