The UNC’s star at the 2020 General Election turned out to be Michelle Benjamin, a fresh-faced councillor from Moruga/Tableland who put the sort of licking on Winston ‘Gypsy’ Peters that might see the latter politician in need of a restraining order for once. And the PNM’s not-so-secret weapon? That would …
Read More »Live Wire chronicles: UNC backtracks from ‘blunderdrome’ as ho-hum campaign continues
Trinidadians, Lord Maestro once sang, ent really know what they want. It is a truism that never fails to repeat itself. For instance, Trinbagonians complained for years about the slow response time of lawmen to serious crime. And yuh know when police showed up in Morvant before three men were …
Read More »Party time! Live Wire talks to the god of politics—spoiler: it’s not Colm Imbert
(Scene: A sports bar in Tacarigua. It is nearing closing time. Mr Live Wire sips on his rum and coke and considers the current crisis facing the planet and the havoc it has wreaked on the lives of so many innocent people. He shakes his head sadly as he wonders …
Read More »You stumble across angry ‘black’ people: what do you do?! Live Wire tackles ‘all lives matter’ riddle
Question: You’re jogging through an area that is unfamiliar to you and notice a very animated show of anger and despair by people you do not know. Do you: A) Mind your blasted business and keep jogging; B) Politely ask what is going on; C) Very respectfully enquire if there …
Read More »Who re-opened Coconuts?! Live Wire tries to keep up as Sheppard, Ali, Hunt and another Aboud join party
It was a wild night in Manama on 16 November 2005 and a bunch of Trinbagonians celebrated the success of the Soca Warriors at a night club. Girls are in short supply at recreation places in Bahrain while local females are non-existent. But one young pannist got lucky as he …
Read More »Live Wire: Say wot?! MP Aboud raises eyebrows with dig at ‘nature’ of US protesters
So let me get this straight: Guardian boss Nicholas Sabga claims to be the voice for the man on the street—and not Wall Street either—Movie Towne owner Derek Chin is screening for the role of Florence Nightingale, journalists are supposedly less honest than politicians and about as transparent as the ingredients …
Read More »Snitches get Yankee riches? Live Wire weighs in as Opposition goes ‘Full Moonie’
Some things can be difficult to comprehend. Take the scene at a shopping mall in Atlanta—just a week after stay at home orders were lifted in the Georgia capital and businesses encouraged to reopen—as hundreds of *cough cough* ‘urban youth’ cued up to purchase the new Air Jordan 5 sneakers. …
Read More »‘Old battery buying… and Covid-19 spreading!’ Live Wire looks at latest gov’t initiatives
‘Buying scrap iron, old battery buying… and Covid-19 spreading!’ Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh introduced the government’s latest measure to thwart to spread of the deadly novel coronavirus today, which he coined the ‘loudspeaker programme’. And, no, it is not more complicated than it sounds. Basically, a fellah with a vehicle …
Read More »Live Wire chronicles: School prefect Deyalsingh, cheery Colm and storytelling PM hold court
“We are trying to walk a tightrope between fighting off a virus that can kill us,” said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, “and trying to protect an economy that could collapse and a country that could go into bankruptcy if things go pear-shaped.” In retrospect, maybe this is not the …
Read More »Live Wire chronicles: Closed borders, price gouging and Bunji’s risk-ué adventure
By the time of writing, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Health Minister Dr Deyalsingh, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, Communications Minister Donna Cox, National Security Minister Stuart Young and a small army of doctors have all faced the public, represented by their emissary, the media. And yet …
Read More »It. Just. Got. Real! Live Wire explains coronavirus ‘dos’ and ‘donts’—read if you want to see Carnival 2021
So it turns out Kenneth Petty-man was not Trinidad and Tobago’s most unwelcome overseas visitor this Lent after all. The government confirmed its first official case of coronavirus or Covid-19 yesterday—and it’s a 52 year old Swiss who just returned from Switzerland and has a child attending a high-end prep …
Read More »Live Wire for the Road: Iwer horns Machel with Kees, plus Nicki’s ‘Petty-man’ causes a stir
There was only ever going to be one winner in this Carnival’s much talked-about love triangle, which came to a head on top of Tribe’s music truck on Carnival Tuesday. And, no, we are not referring to Neil ‘Iwer’ George, Nicki Minaj and the elbow of Nicki’s aptly named husband, …
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