The past few weeks have left me stunned by the antics of our leadership. Penny, Marlene, Burkee, Simonette, Espinet, Quamina … I can go on and on, but there is one common theme: they were headlined in the media because of some act of incompetence by the leadership of our …
Read More »Noble: The way out of our mess; what Espinet firing says of our political leadership
Shoshana Zuboff (2019) points to ‘the oldest political questions: Home or exile? Lord or subject? Master or slave? … eternal themes of knowledge, authority and power’. This week, with the firing of Wil Espinet, we are confronted with the same issues. Saddened by the crime situation and having had to …
Read More »Noble: Taxing international tech companies won’t protect digital consumers
When Christopher Columbus arrived on our shores, the Caribs and Arawaks did not know what was about to befall them. Nothing in their past prepared them to understand and deal with the invasion and they were decimated by guns and germs. Reading two recent local contributions about the phenomenon of …
Read More »Nakhid: Jay-Z joins long list of black sell outs; T&T has its fair share too
How do you transform from slinging crack cocaine to slinging billionaire lyrics to slinging ‘house nigger’ semantics within two decades—while simultaneously kicking to the curb the most prominent black face in the fight for social justice for the last generation in one fell swoop? Easy, you’re US hip hop star …
Read More »Salaah: Time to regulate school transport
While the nation is wrapped up with the debacle of discredited former PNM Minister Marlene McDonald and her co-accused, allow me to turn our attention, if only briefly, to a topic that has been dwarfed by the incessant dilemmas that take place daily in Trinbago: school bus transportation. The July/August …
Read More »Noble: The Women of Laventille are made scapegoats for society’s ills
The ‘Marlene Affair’ raises important issues about the fate of our women. Progress, as measured by the number of women in leadership, does not tell the whole story. Last week, three women—Marlene McDonald, Christine ‘Twiggy’ Livia and Joan Yuille-Williams—were in the courthouse precincts, a place where many mothers frequent because …
Read More »Noble: The blackest thing in Laventille; how decades of neglect shaped a ‘hot spot’
Dr Eric Williams’ last tome, The Blackest Thing in Slavery (1973), tells us that there were many more shady dealings in slavery than the African slave. This is analogous to the Laventille situation; there are more criminal dealings than those who live there. While there is an undeniable need for …
Read More »TTPS confirms McDonald detained in corruption investigation, Gov’t tightlipped on PNM deputy political leader
Minister of Communications Donna Cox confirmed this afternoon that her Cabinet colleague and Member of Parliament Marlene McDonald is now under police investigation but did not divulge whether internal action might be underway. A Loop T&T report this morning, which quoted an unnamed ‘senior police officer’, stated that McDonald and …
Read More »Invasion of Privacy; Why release of alleged Justice Lucky recording should concern us all
A feeling of fear covered me as I read a recent report of a recording of a private conversation allegedly between Justice Gillian Lucky and another person. I was further panicked because the Trinidad Express newspaper got hold of the tape, transcribed it and used it as a news story. …
Read More »Noble: Kickstarting Laventille; why Hinds’ ‘poverty of imagination’ stymies their development
“In a diverse society, aiming to do well, African people are not doing as well as we expected or as well as we might,” intoned Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on the same day that Fitzgerald Hinds, member of parliament for Laventille West, gave an expansive interview in the Sunday …
Read More »Crowne: Archie’s Kobayashi Maru; why Chief Justice should resign
Should the Chief Justice Resign? Yes, but not for the reasons you think. To date I have opposed the referral of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago’s (LATT’s) report to the Prime Minister and I have also supported the Prime Minister’s decision to not refer that report to President. …
Read More »Demming: People before bricks and mortar; why more police stations aren’t the solution
Another Police Station has been commissioned, but crime and criminality continue to dig in. In a year or so, the people of Carenage will have an improved structure and a few policemen will benefit from promotions or transfers, but what will be the impact on crime and lawlessness in the …
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