Is it any surprise that National Security Minister Edmund Dillon has been removed? The Prime Minister has chosen to sacrifice one of the persons who brought home his political victory in preference for an opposition player. PM Dr Keith Rowley is either a masterful collaborator or the rocks he studied …
Read More »Daly Bread: Our true treasure trove; T&T must let culture relieve the gloom
Being uncertain whether the appointment of glory Gary as Commissioner of Police, will make a difference, I am referring to some of our steadily growing international successes in arts and culture in an attempt to relieve the murderous gloom. This sector holds the key to diversification of the economy, despite …
Read More »Dear Editor: Jamieson Omega’s curry advertisement is an offensive attack on all curry consumers
“The public should be warned that the claim about the unhealthy effects of curry in this [Omega 3-6-9 Complex] advertisement is false, unscientific and misleading. The advertisement should be immediately removed with an apology made to all curry consumers and educated people.” The following Letter to the Editor on a …
Read More »A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; Port of Spain ushers in “gay pride”
A couple made their way from South. It was already dark. The historic Pride Parade in Woodbrook had ended but, “I had to be here for some part of this day,” said the elder partner as she entered the after-party. As a young gay woman, living with her partner in …
Read More »Vidale: From powerless slave to impotent employee; why emancipation hinges on labour struggle
“There is a closer nexus between the process of Emancipation Day and Labour Day than many of us seek to understand… According to Brereton, ‘the planters after 1838 wanted to make freedom merely a nominal change in status, while the [formerly enslaved] wanted to win a real economic independence of …
Read More »Dear Editor: Crime, corruption and cockroaches; Griffith was appointed to protect elites, not regular Trinbagonians
“The national conversation on crime—as advanced by the same elite—has been about a few devious miscreants holding the country to ransom; and once they are brought to heel, the country’s crime problem will be solved. “Unfortunately the wider public has for lack of any other voices openly countering the rhetoric, …
Read More »Gilkes: Message to the Barbergreen; the continuing struggle for emancipation
Despite my shameless semi-appropriation of Malcolm X’s “Message to the Grassroots,” this in no way suggests that I place myself close to the same league of this giant ancestor. This is just my paltry message to those in my country, particularly those who live where there isn’t much grass, far …
Read More »Griffith vows to implement “Intelligence led policing”; MPs vote ex-minister as Police Commissioner
“To those law abiding citizens who have been skeptical of this decision made, it is my intention to win over your trust and support in the very near future. “To those within the Service who may also share concerns, I assure you, I am well aware that I can never …
Read More »Dear Editor: Baldeosingh knocks Amar’s “#MeToo sales pitch” on workplace sexual harassment
“Clearly, Mr Amar believes there is a significant customer base for the [MeToo] hashtag, since at the launch on Tuesday he stated that sexual violence and harassment are prevalent in T&T. “In fact, the available data says otherwise, since a 2017 IADB-funded National Women’s Health Survey found that ‘Sexual harassment …
Read More »Daly Bread: Beware of submission to misconduct; and the budding relationship between the CJ and AG
It appears that Chief Justice Ivor Archie has lost his appeal to the Privy Council in his attempt to restrain the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) from investigating allegations of misconduct made against him in the media. The Privy Council did not call upon LATT’s lawyers to respond …
Read More »27 July 1990 revisited: Waiting for Godfrey
“It was a Friday, she recalled, a day just like any other Friday. Like every other Friday she could remember, they had gone to the mosque for Jumu’ah. There had not seemed to be anything special about the midday religious sermon then but, looking back at it now, she saw …
Read More »Demming: Death of a “Baby Bandit”; Ector’s sobriquet says much about our failed war on crime
How could it be a “Baby Bandit?” My attention was attracted to the sobriquet “Baby Bandit” in reference to a slain youth-man—David Ector—who turned out to be known to the Police and the community. Both groups knew this person to be euphemistically “walking on thin ice”—allegedly involved in criminal activity. …
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