“[…] It is my view therefore that a decision to alter the Coat of Arms should not have been made by the political directorate at its party convention taking into account the implications for such a change, which is not the responsibility of any political party, but a responsibility of …
Read More »Noble: Out damn spot!—Hinds and Griffith must account for SSA scandal
“In the way of the world, things happen. As one writer previously wrote, ‘there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face…” Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds, Express, 5 July 2024. The preening, self-important Minister Hinds evidently did not recognise that he was quoting Macbeth and …
Read More »Noble: What auditor general impasse says about the quality of our leaders
The ongoing saga of the auditor general and the understatement of the country’s revenue reveal the quality of our leaders. Did Dr Keith Rowley exhibit due diligence in approving the nomination? We have long harped on the notion of seniority in promoting leaders. But is that the best approach? In …
Read More »Daly Bread: Government extends blame game while crime rampages on
For some weeks this column had been focused on the good, the bad and the ugly of Carnival and its component parts. Last week, I returned to commentary on the government charades that are passed off as effective governance—on that occasion, dealing with the haphazard situation in respect of the …
Read More »Noble: How educational inequity is incompatible with a just society
“[…] This feeling of always being uneducated influenced me when I became prime minister. There were always about 6,000 children thrown on the social dump heap because they failed their Common Entrance exam. “I realised the Common Entrance was not to determine who went to school but who wouldn’t… If …
Read More »Daly Bread: Criminals ducking the lack of political will
A New Year traditionally renews feelings of hope. Realism may dash hope so commentators feel pressured not to write gloomily during the Christmas/New Year season. My first column of last year invited a re-imagining of the possibilities of sustainable co-operation within communities. I had been departing from the subject of …
Read More »MSJ: Venezuela-Guyana must not go to war for sake of “foreign interests”!
“[…] The Caribbean has, since the 15th Century, been a region of imperial contest and a theatre for wars between European colonial and imperial powers, and then later for US colonial and imperial military intervention. We cannot and must not allow this to be continued. “The God-given resources of the …
Read More »Daly Bread: Government gaps in call out on crime
My close friends are worried for the safety of commentators on violent crime. In my case, they firmly believe that I have done enough in analysing the untouched core of criminal activity. At that core, regardless of which political party is in government, is the troubling intersection of party politics, …
Read More »Noble: Are we all living pipe dreams, like Mahal, while T&T suffers?
Mahal was the walking legend in Trinidad from the 1930s to the early 60s. He pretended to drive a car while he, in fact, walked or trotted. He made hand signals and blew his horn as though he had a car. An anecdote reflects us in Al Ramsawack’s story on …
Read More »Challenging Dr Rowley—after Colm doesn’t cough up cash for cricket clubs
Budget Day. As usual, many citizens are waiting to hear what goodies are coming their way this year. Most are focused on Finance Minister Colm Imbert. What, they are asking, will the Finance Minister deliver today? But some others, not so much. What ball, we untypical Trini cricket fans are …
Read More »Can Dr Rowley resurrect T&T cricket and keep self-help from wrecking the enterprise?
Booty, you have probably heard, is in the eye of the beholder. Ask Jack Warner. Haitian officials complained that the lion’s share of US$750m—sent to Warner-controlled accounts by Fifa and a presidential candidate for the world governing body—never made it to the impoverished island, who were desperate for relief after …
Read More »Vaneisa: Intelligent cricketers good; re-educated Caribbean societies better
Two aspects of the situation in West Indies cricket have to be addressed in tandem with each other. The first is for the future: rebuilding capacity all round, and the second is figuring out how to get current performances back to a respectable level. The former is the gargantuan task …
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