View Point

Christmas is over and the New Year, 2026, is just ahead. Writing a column for publication today was stressful. This is different from times past when, despite the governance failures of the months preceding Christmas and misgivings about the coming New Year, “the time for putting smoke in the kitchen” …

“[…] Dale’s death forces a hard truth… I’m grieving. “But I also feel sorrow for Ishmael’s family. Because the system failed him long before he failed himself…” The following post on the sentencing of Ishmael Clarke for the murder of police constable Dale Mayers was submitted to Wired868 by Mayers’ …

Looking for a document amongst my stack of old papers, I came across a column I had written in April 1998 for The Independent, a paper whose closure I still mourn. It began playfully enough, with me saying that my four-year-old daughter proudly proclaims herself to be West Indian: “Ambitious …

“[…] It is clear that this Administration, having outsourced its decision-making with respect to relations with Venezuela, has not learnt from or are not aware of Henry Kissinger’s warning—though uttered in a different context—that: ‘it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.’ “[…] …

A little over a week ago, on 29 November 2025, the Washington Post identified “the Caribbean allies helping the US against Venezuela” and stated that “the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago are hosting US forces and facilities”. This report formed a stark contrast to our Government’s limited disclosure of …

It has been a while since Ye Olde Ranking has stepped up for Media Monitor duty, but don’t feel I haven’t been looking on with a judging eye at what our local media practitioners put out for public consumption. I usually like to look at howlers not just for their …

“[…] Critics may dismiss the [Home Invasion] Bill as mere ‘political comfort food’.  Its purpose is practical: to bridge gaps between legal theory and public understanding. “This places justice not as an abstract theory but a lived reality focused on offenders causing death during violent crimes like home invasion [and …

With three federations and fractured choices, the Trade Union Movement remains divided and workers continue to pay the price. Instead of presenting a united front, unions act in isolation—leaving governments free to exploit division and weakening the credibility of collective bargaining. From its inception, the Movement in Trinidad and Tobago …

“[…] The Home Invasion Bill does not expand rights for householders. It does not reshape murder elements… What it does do is reassure the public that the law stands with terrified defenders. Again: courts already did that. “So why does the Bill exist at all? The honest answer is the same in every …

October and Calypso History Month are behind us now. February and Season 2026 beckon. What lies ahead? What is in store for us in the tents—if tents there are! No official Independence celebration, remember?—in Skinner Park and eventually in the Savannah? What we know is that, barring the unforeseen, Helon …

However the intended and laudable “revitalisation” of Trinidad and Tobago may proceed, the long standing need for socio-economic reform, accountable governance, and massive bureaucracy busting cannot be evaded. It is an essential part of any revitalisation. I therefore fully support the statement in a recent Trinidad Express editorial that “in …

On 31 October 2025, Attorney General Senator John Jeremie SC gave the House of Representatives the Government’s rationale for an additional extension of the existing state of emergency, first declared on 18 July and extended for three months by resolution of the House on 28 July. He referred again, citing …