Trinidad and Tobago national chess champion and St Joseph’s Convent (Port of Spain) Della-Marie Walcott, 15, remains comatose after an operation to remove a brain tumour in January 2016. However, she has been discharged and taken home by her parents where she will continue to receive private nursing and home …
Read More »Speedy sentence against evil work: Gov’t using ineffective plasters while crime soars
In last Sunday’s column, I sought to inject some reality into the discussions about what to do about violent crime. In the course of that column I referred yet again to the impunity with which murder and other crimes are committed and had a bit of a sardonic smile that …
Read More »Garvin Heerah talks Turkey: Aren’t foreign fighters a real threat to T&T?
Former National Operations Centre (NOC) executive director Garvin Heerah shares his concerns on the fate of the Trinidad and Tobago citizens detained in Turkey on suspicion of terrorist connections: “We’re becoming more effective at limiting travel,” warns an analyst with the Washington DC-based The Study of War on Terrorism, “but …
Read More »Fixin T&T: Gov’t must stop Chaguaramas projects immediately pending forensic investigation
The following is a press release from civic watch group, Fixin’ T&T: FIXIN’ T&T calls on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to order an immediate halt to all work on the numerous contentious projects in Chaguaramas pending the outcome of a forensic investigation. The determinations of the May 2016 Ernst …
Read More »Straight facts, no additives: The truth about the media’s brown-haired school girl story
Contributor Damian Scott has something to say on the scandal supposedly caused by the sending home of a Trinidad schoolgirl for the colour of her hair in his Letter to the Editor: There is a local saying that there is always more in the mortar than what we see on …
Read More »The real issues with our crime “plan”: Daly says politicians too busy supping with the devil
The respective teams led by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition met two Fridays ago on violent crime. The main promise afterward was that there would be co-operation on anti crime legislation, including the Government giving the Opposition early notice of the Bills it intended to introduce …
Read More »Forged from the love of language: Best has another go at literary sloppiness in the media
Above a headline proclaiming “Forged from the love of liberty” on page 25 of the edition of Tuesday August 6, we are told by the Trinidad Express that language matters. But on Page One of the edition of Sunday September 4, the caption says that “Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley address the …
Read More »The truth about our debt; birdsong fires back at Guardian editorial
Gerry Kangalee and the birdsong Steel Academy attempt to clear the air on the debt that led to their controversial eviction, in response to a Trinidad Guardian editorial on Saturday 3 September 2016: birdsong acknowledges with the deepest gratitude the widespread outpourings of support for our cause that have been …
Read More »How does steelpan fit in violent, troubled T&T?
Preparing a column for publication today was a difficult task because of the paradox of the visible joy when citizens congregate for a street lime but under which lies the deep grief of a murderous, contact driven and unjust society. Why are we having such a good time in celebration …
Read More »Pan in danger: Why birdsong and steelpan deserve same protection as Chaguaramas water park
“The Chaguaramas development where the Five Islands Water and Fun Park and the Chaguaramas Safari Adventure were in the process of some infrastructural development in an area, where according to law, it should not be. “But, based on the amount of money spent, there was no way, they claimed that …
Read More »Media Association hopes Crime Watch survives; denies Francesca is compromised
The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) has expressed its desire that Crime Watch survives, after being axed by CNC3 yesterday, and urged the show, which is hosted and produced by Ian Alleyne, to address its “frequent breaches of journalistic conventions.” Crime Watch was pulled off air after Alleyne …
Read More »A swansong for Birdsong? Best laments for evicted pan side and national instrument
“Oh gorm,” David Rudder bawl out like Sprangalang. “Shot call!” The feckless, gutless, witless lot who are not “in charge” waited, it seemed, for an edict from the top. It never came. True to form, Culture Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly passed the buck. She had heard, said one report, that …
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