View Point

“Nothing from Ms De Verteuil about her forbears being given parcels of land by the Cedula; no mention of the vagrancy laws passed by the colonial administrators influenced by the merchant elites—including De Verteuils—to force Africans back to the plantations and other laws aimed at preventing Africans from pooling resources …

Last week, I wrote of the ill wind of deep-seated race and class divisions. Let me acknowledge that the use of the ill wind description was one put to me in conversation with someone for whose intellect and creativity I have high admiration. I asserted that this ill wind drives …

“Not a woman ever complain yet with me. Ah eh boastin’ but ah know ah got true ability/durability. And if a woman ever say that I ever leave her dissatisfy, she lie, she lie, she lie, she blasted lie.” And there is a fairly long list of women who may …

“It is clear that R De Verteuil was referring to Afro Trinbagonians when she criticised Laventillians. Not once did she mention the contributions of Africans to the development of Trinidad and Tobago. “She praised the Indians, the Chinese, the Syrian/Lebanese community and, of course, her people the Europeans. The contempt …

I am satisfied that the restrictions on the use of firearms and prohibited weapons contained in the Firearms Act do not readily accommodate “threat assessment training” of politically exposed persons or their families involving the possession and use of firearms. However we live in extraordinarily violent times in an unstable …

Many games are played most intensely by disturbed people. Generally speaking, the more disturbed they are, the harder they play. That’s not coming from me. It comes from Dr Eric Berne, in a late chapter of Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships, which he titles “The Players.” Here’s some …

“In T&T, our social protection policies are open to manipulation and are informally enforced as most of them are not enshrined in law. Fuel subsidies also do provide important relief for lower income brackets to achieve social mobility by accessing education and transportation, or pay lower prices for food items …

I was unable to attend the funeral of my colleague Allan Alexander SC, whom I held in the highest regard, owing to my commitment on that day to attend a meeting of a regional organisation—one on which he had also served. However, I was privileged to attend the gathering at …

“What [Ralph] Maraj failed to indicate in his column [“Kamla’s Return”] is the fact that the UNC administration either changed the names of already-existing units, or simply completed projects started by the previous People’s National Movement (PNM), in the area of fighting crime?” The following Letter to the Editor on …

Politics, they say, is the art of the possible; politicians, however, are frequently impossible, particularly when, like the plus-size and minus-size costumed men and women who play themselves on the Big Stage at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Carnival Monday and Tuesday, they are acutely aware that the camera is …

“If we’re serious about reducing the foreign exchange drain, why not temporarily ban the use of alcohol at all government functions and on all government premises including the Diplomatic Centre and President’s House?” The following Letter to the Editor was submitted to Wired868 by Dennise Demming, the former TIDCO chairperson: There …

“Devalue, the book sense people insist, he must devalue! He has to let the $TT find its true value! “They know book but they don’t know chapter…” Local economist Warren Thompson takes a different view on the Minister of Finance’s 2017 Budget and tells Wired868 why he thinks Colm Imbert …