Mark Twain is credited with the saying: “We have the best government that money can buy.” Locally, we have not been shy about accepting money from unaccountable sources. Our non-existent rules about political campaign rules enable greedy political investors to corrupt our nation and destroy trust. As Chinua Achebe observed …
Read More »Orin: Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana need ‘reset’ from lingering political animosities
“[…] When the incumbent David Granger administration tried to stop the party of Bharrat Jagdeo and Irfaan Ali from taking office after an election they’d won in March 2020, some in that party felt that Dr Keith Rowley was soft on Granger, in contrast to his Barbadian and Vincentian colleagues …
Read More »Dear Editor: Arima was capital of east Trinidad; now it’s a ‘lost and forgotten borough’
“[…] Today, when we look at this cherished town that can boast of being the country’s only Royal Chartered Borough—a status granted by Queen Victoria in 1888—we see only a battered and bruised community which has lost all the facilities that made it so special and is now reduced to …
Read More »Noble: Not waiting for night to come—why Dr Rowley dismounted the tiger
As a child, I learned a saying, ‘Don’t wait until night comes to light a candle to see what you could see in the day’! By this, my mother meant, ‘Don’t wait for a problem to come upon you when it could have been prevented long beforehand’. As a purveyor …
Read More »Noble: I swear! Historical lessons on when to collaborate, and how to disagree
The swearing of an oath by our presidents is an expression of a specific intention to others. It is not limited to the moment when the person articulates the words. It commits to act in a certain way in the future. This action is a deliberate exercise of one’s free …
Read More »Demming: Going, going, going, gone! Goodbye, Gary Griffith
From 1956 to 1981, Trinidad and Tobago experienced what it is like to be led by an unapologetically patriarchal leader who made decisions on our behalf whether or not we supported them. During that period our two-island nation became the richest country in the Caribbean. For 25 years, the leadership …
Read More »Best: Foolish One Syndrome, feeling you’re right, fearing to find out you’re wrong
The urbane, measured, eloquent George Davis hosts SportsMax’s Tokyo Breakfast segment of CNC3’s Olympic coverage. On Friday, Davis would have blanched when the discussion turned to the Women’s 400m final and invited co-host Pauline Davis remarked that the winner, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, had ‘literally killed them’. (my emphasis). Andre Baptiste, the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Of Emancipation, recognition and George Chambers; time to honour our second PM
“[…] Through his ability to listen to diverse opinions and his recognition of the merit of the arguments for the recognition of emancipation, Prime Minister George Chambers propelled Trinidad and Tobago to the globally significant position of becoming the first country in the world to declare Emancipation Day as a …
Read More »Best: Dr Rowley, UNC, Jackass and Demming; who against the Oxford comma?
‘My prime minister,’ writes Wired868 columnist Dennise Demming, ‘is talking to me about not jackassing the thing.’ I couldn’t disagree more. Now I am not suggesting that Dr Keith Rowley’s choice of language has always been appropriate. In the instant case, however, Demming is barking up the wrong tree. Dr …
Read More »Noble: The riddle of Khan, Young, and Hernandez; and what it says about our desired leaders
‘Dislike of an individual is material in politics. Someone with an unlikeable persona may be unelectable in a diverse national contest… by contrast, good governance requires honest treatment of the business issues…’ (Martin Daly, November 2020). This Daly quote is relevant when considering the recent cabinet reshuffle in the light …
Read More »NJAC Rededication: Tobago stood as ‘one family’ in 1970 movement
The following is the tenth column in a NJAC series on their contribution to Trinidad and Tobago society after the ‘Black Power Revolution’ of 1970: Reflecting on the 1970 mass people’s movement in Tobago brings to mind Lord Nelson’s calypso All Ah We Is One Family. Tobago’s entry into the …
Read More »NJAC Rededication: Economic transformation and the birth of the people’s sector
“[…] Ownership of our economy was still dominated primarily by foreigners, supported by, a local predominantly white elite. Under NJAC’s leadership, however, people were moving for true independence, which could only be achieved through ownership and control of the economy. “The new slogan was: ‘We do not want crumbs, We …
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