Covid-19 brought an exhausting string of events. First, we had to wash our hands, and then we had to wear masks, social distance from all, then lockdown. To be vaccinated or not. Fear populated our every moment as we realised how little control we had over our lives. The feeling …
Read More »Noble: The smartest guys in the room; will Angostura, Industrial Court and Integrity Commission pay price for hubris?
In 2001, Enron—named the ‘most innovative company ’ by Fortune magazine for six consecutive years—collapsed. Enron’s chairman and chief executive officer, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, were two arrogant and belligerent men who believed they were the ‘smartest guys in the room’. They believed that, through their sheer cleverness and …
Read More »Noble: Divided we fall; splintered T&T is stumbling carelessly into bankruptcy
The last 21 months have drained our nation’s emotional resources and injected paranoid feelings. Uncertainty and risk are now our constant companions. We no longer have a clear vision of the future. We are exhausted. The constant quarrelling on every front has bewildered us, and we no longer appear to …
Read More »Noble: As the rich stock up on guns and chariots, who’s looking out for our ‘Avahs’?
Emerging from the cocoon of self-isolation into the streets of West Trinidad has been a thing of wonder. Last week a Lamborghini, a million-dollar vehicle, was sighted in the WestMall carpark. Luxury vehicles of every brand, all less than two years old and costing more than three-quarter million dollars, have …
Read More »Noble: The guys with the umbrellas; are T&T banks doing their part for the economy?
In 1930, The International Digest offered this quote: ‘A banker, it has been said jestingly, is a man who lends you an umbrella when the weather is good and takes it back when it rains. ‘It would be more correct to say that the banker, at the beginning of a …
Read More »Noble: The most unkindest cut of all; the UNC’s ‘well-choreographed’ Senate attack on democracy
Mark Antony’s speech from Julius Caesar is worth recalling at this juncture in our country’s history. It speaks to how honourable men, seduced by the drama of the moment, can wreak great evil upon a nation. This is the sum of the events of 21 October in our Parliament; …
Read More »Noble: Not waiting for night to come—why Dr Rowley dismounted the tiger
As a child, I learned a saying, ‘Don’t wait until night comes to light a candle to see what you could see in the day’! By this, my mother meant, ‘Don’t wait for a problem to come upon you when it could have been prevented long beforehand’. As a purveyor …
Read More »Noble: I swear! Historical lessons on when to collaborate, and how to disagree
The swearing of an oath by our presidents is an expression of a specific intention to others. It is not limited to the moment when the person articulates the words. It commits to act in a certain way in the future. This action is a deliberate exercise of one’s free …
Read More »Noble: Fixing our ‘superfluous’ mess; how the Judiciary, President, and Prime Minister stood up
Within the last two years, the world has had two pivotal moments: the arrival of Covid-19 and the development of the vaccine. The virus started small but has taken lives and wrecked economies, changing the way we live forever. Even though ‘Operation Warp Speed’ delivered vaccines way ahead of schedule …
Read More »Noble: The PolSC’s Game of Thrones—as fingers point at Bliss, what of Kawalsingh’s conduct?
The Bible has remarkable insights into power politics: indeed, the popular series Games of Thrones may have drawn inspiration from it. We are witnessing the intrigues and drama of local politics as two powerful tribes—kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and honest men—play a deadly, internecine game for control. …
Read More »Noble: Faced with ‘a right-wing coup’ involving the PolSC, the CoP and the AG, someone had to act
The drama surrounding the contract of the Commissioner of Police reveals our nation’s values, tests the strength of the commitment we make to our institutions, and shapes the character of our country. We take our democracy for granted and point to the 1990 attempted coup as a sure sign of …
Read More »Noble: Looking after the poor is a good investment; T&T’s Budget should reflect that
‘Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.’ These words of Nelson Mandela should resonate as we approach our upcoming budget debate. A national budget is more than an economic forecast; it is a declaration about …
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