In 1912, the Titanic began its maiden voyage across the Atlantic from England to New York. The ship was thought to be unsinkable—as though God was not only a Trini but was also the Titanic’s owner. Four days into its voyage, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank with loss …
Read More »Daly Bread: Understanding reputational damage; watering the brandy of the JLSC
Referring to the unattractive salary and conditions of service of judges at that time, then Chief Justice Sir Isaac Hyatali, in October, 1978 made his famous statement that “We were heading for a situation in which the brandy will have to be watered considerably to fill future vacancies on the …
Read More »Destroying the judicial guardrails; why we will all pay for Archie’s alleged HDC forage
It is not surprising that the issue of the allocation of public housing is front page news once again. What is astonishing is that it is allegations concerning the conduct of the Chief Justice that have put the issue back on the front page—but first, a little recap. In April 2016, …
Read More »Daly Bread: Playing with the priests; the cost of looking the other way
Following last week’s column on the self-esteem crisis, which looked at the circumstances which contribute to the breeding of heartless persons, I was reading an interview with a rape victim who has written a debut novel entitled Dark Chapter. The book explores the traumatic experience of the author, Winnie Li, …
Read More »SPORTT sack CEO Montserin, Blake and three more staffers; ex-employees vow to sue Gov’t
Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) CEO Adam Montserin and facility manager Anthony Blake were among five executive level employees who were sacked today, after the completion of a forensic audit of the company. The audit was done by PWC, who was supposedly hired by the Ministry of the …
Read More »Daly Bread: The self-esteem crisis; why our “passes factory” schools are not helping
For many years I have described the low self-esteem plaguing many of our youngsters and its relationship to violent crime and anti-social behaviour. The now widespread fighting in schools is a related phenomenon. Much of my personal knowledge of the self-esteem crisis comes directly from dialogue with some youngsters to …
Read More »Daly Bread: More predictions of storm; will National Security finally include culture in crime plan?
I have to return to the prevailing conditions of instability which are obvious to me but now as a post-script to my tribute to Roland Quesnel, my revered teacher, a contemporary of mine, Randolph Peters, wrote that, like me, the person who most impacted his intellectual development was Quesnel. He …
Read More »My revered teacher: Daly’s tribute to the late Father Roland Quesnel
There are co-incidences in life that it is sometimes difficult to treat merely as co-incidences. My revered teacher died on Wednesday last, aged 90. Some years ago, he sent me a document entitled My Last Will with a request that I keep it for him “as an official document.” This …
Read More »Daly Bread: We chupidee, ent? The sterility of Budget statements and debates
The annual reading of the Budget is a ritual. It is real only in that it determines what will be the cost of living in the short and medium term. This year it imposed additional taxes intended to replace evaporated energy sector revenue in order to prop up a lifestyle, …
Read More »Daly Bread: Dominica, mwen regret ca; why we must help traumatised regional brothers
Dominica, I am sorry. I choose to say that in the patois of the headline of this column, consistent with the linguistic expression of Dominica’s national motto: Après Bondi, C’est la Ter—After God, it’s the Earth. Now, after Hurricane Maria, Dominica’s beloved Earth is a debris dump—its fertility disrespected by …
Read More »Getting in touch with mortality; on Deborah John, Hurricane Maria and self-delusion
One thing that is more fake than fake news is VVIP status in Trinidad and Tobago—but sadly we pay out of the Treasury for the political and social botox that supports the fake status. Within the past fortnight, five Caribbean islands have been devastated and half a dozen others have …
Read More »Daly Bread: Fake oil, true analysis; inside the belly of the State enterprise system
Fifteen years ago, shortly before becoming a columnist—as a guest speaker at an event organised by the late Lloyd Best—I characterised our political contests as a fight for the national cash register. I also asserted that in politics you can lawfully t’ief, based on the way the State enterprise system …
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