The following response to a Trinidad Guardian editorial on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s public statement on unpaid salaries during his suspension from Parliament was submitted to Letter to the Editor by David Pierre: Reference is made to an editorial titled ‘Dr Rowley’s missing pay cheque’ which appeared in the …
Read More »No civility, much hypocrisy; Raffique Shah points at both sides of the House
It would be asking too much of our politicians that they show some humility in their public lives. In fact, it will be true to say that, with precious few exceptions, politicians across the world are egotistical and arrogant—character traits that distinguish them from most ordinary human beings. Lest I …
Read More »US intelligence memo suggests Kamla stage-managed Warner’s FIFA exit
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has refused to confirm or deny a leaked United States intelligence report which suggested that the then Prime Minister helped script Jack Warner’s resignation from FIFA and was far more aware of the football executive’s alleged criminal behaviour than previously admitted. According to the memo, Persad-Bissessar …
Read More »Empty promises! Fixin T&T slams PNM’s campaign finance legislation offer
Civic watchdog group, Fixin’ T&T, today slammed Stuart Young, the Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister, for “vacuous” promises regarding campaign financing legislation. Young vowed to present legislation before the next general election. However, Fixin’ T&T, which is …
Read More »Off the Cuff-ie: Maxie talks corruption, PNM ‘arrogance’ and the ‘vomit comet’
“You can look at several laws that have been passed over the years that made absolutely no difference,” said Minister of Communications and Public Administration Maxie Cuffie. “The integrity in public life act has not made us more honest. It has not dealt with corruption. And it is because we …
Read More »Ask Mr Live Wire: Online taxes, gov’t corruption and gas and vehicle price hikes
In keeping with our efforts to engage readers, Mr Live Wire agreed to answer questions from random guests via Skype. The following were the satirical results: Balisier-baby: Mr Live Wire, I understand the reasoning behind all theses taxes eh. It’s because those crooked UNC politicians thief all we money! But …
Read More »Dr Rowley’s baptism of fire; why PM may follow tainted footsteps of successors
The dismissal of Marlene McDonald could be the start of something good, if it helps to shift the system towards more accountable power. If this were to happen, it would mark a real revolution. The more predictable outcome, however, is that her dismissal will stand as a new marker of …
Read More »No Biggie: Why we shouldn’t be too quick to celebrate Marlene’s dismissal
I must give credit to my colleague Earl Best for the title of this piece given that, on this rare occasion, he was faster out of the blocks than I was. The news late last night was that Housing Minister Marlene McDonald had been fired. Don’t pop that champagne just …
Read More »No going back: “(our) political culture serves neither PNM nor UNC”
Dr Keith Rowley’s bigger problem is not the UNC but the culture of the PNM of which he is so deeply a part. Honed and hammered by the 30 unbroken years in government from 1956 to 1986, the culture has shaped not only the PNM but the entire political system …
Read More »Raffique rates Rowley’s Gov’t: the PNM’s inherited traps, pitfalls and own goals
I am relieved to learn that the Cabinet “retreat” in Tobago last weekend did not have, as a main item on its agenda: “Achievements of the not-so-new Government during its first six months in office.” If it did, I would have screamed bloody murder. Not to add rape of the …
Read More »Rebellion in the ranks: Sunity looks at conditions that give rise to political outsiders
The US reality TV show now playing on screens everywhere as The Republican Primaries, brings to a head some very large questions about the nature of the democratic political system and its capacity for delivering the promises of democracy. This American Spring of Republican rebellion has caught the US political …
Read More »Romancing the youth: Why the “monsters” in schools aren’t the problem
Yes, our children, too, are committing monstrous crimes, astonishing us by claiming the adult power to molest, maim and murder. Adulthood has lost its mystique as age—that great marker of maturity separating children from big men and women—is revealed as a hoax. They know now that nothing superior separates us …
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