Chapter six: Bribes took the World Cup to Germany                A RIO RACEHORSE OWNER was paid $1 million to strangle Brazil’s faint hopes of hosting the World Cup. The dark campaign to give the 2006 tournament to Germany involved the humiliation of Brazil and …

2014 has seen more Ebola infections and deaths than any other year in the past. As a mother and a citizen of a country which allows visa-free entry to some affected African nations, how worried should I really be? That’s the question I asked myself when news broke of the infection and subsequent death of …

The Trinidad and Tobago national women team’s bizarre preparation for the 2014 Caribbean Cup tournament will continue for at least a few days more as the “Soca Princesses” continue training with its squad and staff split between two continents. Fourteen players and team manager Vernetta Flanders are in Houston where …

Earl Best examines current CPL form and looks at the implications for the West Indies’ imminent home series: It’s hard to say today just which team will emerge victorious in the 2014 Limacol Caribbean Premier League. Any one of the top three can still do it. Despite one or two …

Success has many fathers; but corruption, to paraphrase, is a bastard. Fortunately, Mr Live Wire has a paternity kit. So let’s have a look at the now defunct LifeSport programme, which has been held in a headlock by the media for the past two months. LifeSport, of course, is the brainchild …

Earl Best watches the Limacol CPL and draws conclusions about the West Indian captaincy: I am obsessed with the idea of Denesh “Shotta” Ramdin as West Indies captain. No. Go back and read that again. Not West Indies Test captain but West Indies captain. Period. This ailment is so serious …

Anil Roberts resigns as Sport Minister and MP but admits no wrongdoing in Life Sport programme. To: Honourable Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, I write to you today with a heavy heart to inform you of my desire to resign as Minister of Sport and as Member of Parliament for D’Abadie/ …

The Black Butterflies: Chapter four December 10th, 1992  There was a moment or two of confusion, when I floated back to reality. First thing was that sun was streaming in through a window, directly on my face. Even before I opened my eyes I could hear the faint flutter of …

The Trinidad and Tobago national women’s football team represented the country’s best chance to qualify for a FIFA senior tournament since the men’s Germany 2006 World Cup. Today, it arguably represents something else entirely. Over the past 24 hours, the national women left for Houston in a fashion that is …

Chapter five: Ricardo’s favourite shoemaker  IF YOU BELIEVE Ricardo, he discovered the world’s most generous bank. It was located in Vaduz, in Europe, it lent him millions and charged interest, in the words of the Senator Alvaro Dias investigation, ‘absurdly below market rates.’ In fact, he never paid any interest …

Columnist Earl Best refuses to shoulder arms as he revisits one of the most controversial periods in Trinidad and Tobago’s history History is replete—littered is more appropriate since the dung heap of history is where we find them—with characters who make no distinction between fame and notoriety. Adolf Hitler, Jack …

For this generation, it seems permanent employment is a thing of the past. More and more employers in both the private and public sector are hiring on contract for all level of employees including management and executives. Very often, contract employees do not receive Company health and pension benefits and …