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Archives 2016
- Workers welcomed Caroni's closure December 30, 2016
- If there is one universal truth about Christmas, it is that the festival is about children, most of all their innocence that runs so deep, for two thousand years adults have convinced them that there is a Santa Claus who dwells somewhere near the North Pole, and whose life-mission is to magically materialise toys and gifts that he distributes to little boys and girls across the world during that one night of the year.
- Clueless on crime December 16, 2016
- A tragedy of our time is when we are outraged by the gore of one of the daily dosages of murder, we erupt into a cacophony of protest, condemnation and cries for the return of the hangman, such expressions lasting no longer than the proverbial sno-cone in the midday sun.
- Castro: colossus of the Caribbean November 28, 2016
- IN response to a request from one young reporter for me to comment on Fidel Castro after the legendary Cuban leader died last Friday, I blurted out: he was a colossus of the Caribbean who walked the world stage tall like a giant.
- Castro: colossus of the Caribbean November 28, 2016
- IN response to a request from one young reporter for me to comment on Fidel Castro after the legendary Cuban leader died last Friday, I blurted out: he was a colossus of the Caribbean who walked the world stage tall like a giant.
- The corbeaux are circling November 23, 2016
- The campaign for next Monday's local government elections has degenerated into a dogfight that is dominated by fluff, innuendoes, outright lies and a teaspoon of violence which the main combatants, PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley and UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, hope will generate a large voter turnout and salvage their respective political careers.
- Every crook can govern November 16, 2016
- The campaign for next Monday's local government elections has degenerated into a dogfight that is dominated by fluff, innuendoes, outright lies and a teaspoon of violence which the main combatants, PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley and UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, hope will generate a large voter turnout and salvage their respective political careers.
- No interest in US elections November 08, 2016
- Today is a big day in American politics. In fact, the battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for the presidency of the most powerful nation on earth has excited probably half the world's population, who will have monitored the bruising election campaign and who will follow the count tonight until a winner is declared.
- Making the ordinary look extraordinary October 26, 2016
- When an act of kindness that should be an everyday occurrence is cause for national celebration you know the society is in moral decay. Further, when academic achievements by pupils who come from ordinary homes in so-called depressed communities are hailed as extraordinary, Trinidad and Tobago, we have a serious problem.
- Baying for Al-Rawi's blood October 19, 2016
- Trinidadians, as they would themselves say, "like too much confusion".
The latest bacchanal began when Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal displayed and tendered in Parliament two photographs that purportedly show the teenage children of Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi "gallerying" (Moonilal's word) with what appears to be a short-barrel rifle or a sub-machine gun.
- Baying for Al-Rawi's blood October 19, 2016
- Trinidadians, as they would themselves say, "like too much confusion".
The latest bacchanal began when Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal displayed and tendered in Parliament two photographs that purportedly show the teenage children of Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi "gallerying" (Moonilal's word) with what appears to be a short-barrel rifle or a sub-machine gun.
- Water at $2 a day October 11, 2016
- The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) came perilously close to prompting me to gather a truckload of raw sewage and dump it on the doorsteps of the executive suites of the utility's offices.
- Powers he does not have October 11, 2016
- The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) came perilously close to prompting me to gather a truckload of raw sewage and dump it on the doorsteps of the executive suites of the utility's offices.
- Never lose human compassion September 28, 2016
- You think we have problems in this country?
With days to go before Finance Minister Colm Imbert delivers the Government's 2017 budget, Trinis by the thousand sit in bars across the country sipping beers or whisky, and amidst the din that is common to such establishments, shout to be heard...
- Never lose human compassion September 17, 2016
- Anyone who believes that this Government can continue to spend money to fix the country's many problems the way successive governments have done, seemingly forever, is either a fool or someone who regards us as a nation of fools.
- Man must eat—but so much junk? September 05, 2016
- Even as most people cry out loudly about the state of the national economy, relating sad stories about the hard times they face, the high prices of almost everything and the unavailability of some things, especially critical medications, a Starbucks coffee house opened its doors for business last week.
- Half truths and manifestos August 23, 2016
- I don't know that the majority of people in the country are influenced in any way by the manifestos presented by various parties—in our case two, one from the UNC/PP and the other from the PNM.
- Saluting speed, strength and stamina August 16, 2016
- By the time I was ready to turn in on Sunday night, my pulse rate was back to normal, and like the Buddha you encounter at the entrances to many Thai restaurants, I wore a silly grin, like a man whose appetite was sated.
- Living with Parkinson's August 11, 2016
- I had no idea that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was seriously ill when I slammed into him last week for failing to take full charge of his responsibilities to the country.
- Lead, or shut up August 07, 2016
- I don't know what plans he has for his vacation, but I strongly recommend to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley that he spend all of it in solitary self-confinement seeking guidance from whatever deity or deities he believes in regarding his leadership capabilities.
- Workers welcomed Caroni's closure July 25, 2016
- The only thing necessary for myths and mischief to be recorded as historical facts is for informed persons to say nothing.
- Mixing God with Mammon July 17, 2016
- The bickering among Islamic organisations over the allocation and distribution of Government funding for the recent Eid celenrations underscores a point I've made ever since this nonsense started a few years ago: Government ought never to dispense public funds for religious festivals.
- An accidental leader July 7, 2016
- The end, when it came, brought relief from some five years of suffering, and pre-empted additional torture from treatment for cancer, which many have described as being worse than the disease itself.
- Butler and Rienzi June 26, 2016
- Within recent years, annual Labour Day celebrations trigger accusations that the trade unions that mark the occasion with marches and speeches at Fyzabad pay homage only to Tubal Uriah Butler, never Adrian Cola Rienzi.
- No civility, much hypocrisy June 16, 2016
- 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.
- Peerless and fearless: simply The Greatest June 11, 2016
- In death, as in life, he straddled the world like a colossus. All the major international news networks suspended regular programming to pay homage to Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer ever, the supreme sporting figure of the 20th Century, the defiant one who sacrificed a successful career on the altar of principle.
- Integrity Commission a waste June 6, 2016
- When constitutionally-independent institutions in the country seem to be collapsing, when holders of the highest offices seem confused about their roles and perplexed about their powers, and when the law publicly proves to be the proverbial ass, then, Trinidad & Tobago, we have a problem...a very serious problem.
- Sex and the geriatric preachers June 1, 2016
- It is amazing, though not surprising, how easily our people can be distracted from the important issues that we face as a nation, currently galloping crime and an economy in crisis.
- Gap between intelligence and action May 22, 2016
- Really, it does not bother me that the Strategic Service Agency (SSA), or any other State intelligence agency, from the AIA to the ZIA, might want to peep through my back door, monitor what I am writing now, check my email before I do, or listen in on my telephone...
- Maybe America deserves Trump May 18, 2016
- So what if Donald Trump wins the race for presidency of the United States next November? He won't be the first fool to occupy the highest office in the most powerful country on earth. Nor will he be the stupidest president ever.
- Call for reformation May 10, 2016
- Archbishop Joseph Harris's initiative to petition Government to free from prison petty offenders who have remained on remand for an inordinately long time is laudable and deserving of support.
- All ah we dead April 29, 2016
- I had planned not to address crime in my columns, to waste valuable newspaper space on an issue that, while it grows grimmer by the day, is seemingly intractable.
- Battle against be-suited bandits April 21, 2016
- I find it almost amusing that some grocers who are caught dipping their greedy hands deep inside the inside consumers' pockets, cry foul when their names and outrageously high prices are exposed through advertisements posted by the Consumer Affairs Division of the Ministry of Trade.
- Descent into imports-dependence April 10, 2016
- What I established last week was that Trinidad and Tobago, like most small island states that were once colonised by imperial powers, relies heavily on imported foods for its sustenance.
- Waste worse than corruption March 25, 2016
- A recent World Bank report ranked Trinidad and Tobago as the country that generates the most "municipal solid waste", on a per capita basis, in the world.
- Don't take Mittal's mill even for free March 16, 2016
- Trinidadians are hell, I tell you. Take their almost instantaneous sympathy with the 600-odd steel workers who found themselves jobless last week when ArcelorMittal shut down its plant in this country.
- Rating Rowley's Government March 11, 2016
- 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.
- Bankers and Bandits March 4, 2016
- I don't know if we should be more afraid of banks and bankers or bandits and murderers. Seriously.
Both strike when we are most vulnerable. They relieve us of our life's savings, of what we have worked tirelessly to provide for our families, with a callousness that is chilling.
- Rodney's ghost haunts Guyana Februry 24, 2016
- The findings of a Commission of Inquiry into the murder of Guyanese intellectual and political activist Dr Walter Rodney, 36 years ago, are an indictment not only against the Forbes Burnham dictatorship that ruled Guyana for 21 horrible years, but also other Caricom governments and countries that never condemned Burnham's atrocities.
- Of sensuality and vulgarity Februry 16, 2016
- I wonder if the wide spectrum of persons who have used the words "misogyny" and "misogynic" to describe ex-Port of Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee following his asinine statements on the murder of pannist Asami Nagakiya either believe what they are saying, or understand the definitions of the words?
- Carnival in transition Februry 9, 2016
- I don't think Trinidad's Carnival is dying, as many people say it is.
For the traditionalists, it's a case of wishful thinking. They want to see the jarring noise that passes for music, songs that have no melody, only hook lines and tempo, consigned to the dustbin of Carnival history.
- Man, mosquito and money Februry 2, 2016
- In this space yesterday, Dr Sherene Kalloo launched a broadside against Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and his almost jokey war against the Zika virus, pre-empting a column I had already half-written, titled "Man vs Mosquito".
- Deliver us from evil January 27, 2016
- It occurred to me some hours after I heard the news that gunmen had murdered two Laventille schoolboys that I felt no emotions over the dastardly act.
- Destiny in our hands January 27, 2016
- As a nation, we can do nothing about the plunging price of oil except watch with alarm as crude slides below US $30 a barrel.
- Humility was Jit's hallmark January 11, 2016
- 'I don't know who Jit Samaroo was, but listening to others speak, he must have been a great man...my condolences to his family.'
- Aging in this cussed country January 4, 2016
- In a few months, I shall cross another threshold of aging, scoring seventy years of life and officially transitioning into the status of "old geezer".
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