All posts by News

General T&T, International, PNM, Politics, USA

Will Lobbyists Now Replace TT Diplomats in the USA?

6 Comments

By Stephen Kangal
March 02, 2017

Stephen KangalThe Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley in his usual unrehearsed statement made in the House on Friday 23 February during the debate of the final FATCA sitting raises a number of policy decisions the chief amongst which is whether his Government proposes to liquidate and close our foreign missions accredited to Washington and replace them with highly paid lobbyists to tell the real truths as he put it.
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General T&T, Law, Opposition Party, PNM, Politics, UNC

Guarding Our Laws

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 26, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn 2011, shortly after the People’s Partnership was installed as a government, the GOPIO asked me to give a lecture on multiculturalism. I emphasized that Trinidad and Tobago will never reach its full potential unless all of us—black, white, Indian and African, protestant and Hindu—accepted our past as our national patrimony. Therefore, I was pleased when, Kamla Persad Bissessar, in her response to Faris Al-Rawi’s attempt to do away with the three-fifths requirement for the passage of certain legislation, recognized that our Independence constitution “was evolutionary and was the result of hard fought negotiations at Marlborough House by our forefathers.”
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Crime in T&T, International, USA

Americans’ right to revolt

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By Raffique Shah
February 24, 2017

Raffique Shah(WARNING: The contents of this column are meant to inform readers, more so citizens of the USA, of their constitutional rights vis-à-vis those who govern them. They are not intended to incite anyone, anywhere, to take drastic action to remove any leader, even if he (or she) has become a despot. I further warn my Trinbagonian brethren who live in the USA, and who may be visiting T&T for the Carnival, to resist the temptation to take a printed copy of this column when you return States-side. Mere possession of it could be grounds for denying you entry, or worse, for declaring you a terrorist!)
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Carnival, Entertainment, General T&T, Music

Hail the Queen

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By Raffique Shah
February 24, 2017

Raffique ShahI had planned to write on the resurgence of Calypso Rose since last year, when, having read about her successes in France, I decided to check YouTube to get proof of the pudding, in a manner of speaking. I have grown wary of boasts by many bards, more so those of the fast-foods Soca-ilk who make similar claims when all they have done is appear at carnivals or concerts up the islands or before diaspora-audiences in North America.
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Crime in T&T, Domestic Violence, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Violence

Beware of our Talents

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 12, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Monday, Dr. Keith Rowley embarked upon a tour to converse with his constituents. Symbolically, he began his conversation in the constituency of his most tone-deaf, most unavailable minister.

Any astute observer of the political scene could have told him that crime, public safety and citizens’ distrust of their government are prime concerns. They would have told him that men’s cruelty to women has little to do with the choices they make in picking their spouses or the clothes they wear.
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General T&T, Passed on, Politics

Leo Seebaran—Quintessential Caroni Man

By Stephen Kangal
February 14, 2017

Stephen KangalThe late former Permanent Secretary of The Ministries of Legal Affairs/ National Security, Mr Leo Bertrand Seebaran passed away on my 77th birthday- Saturday 4 February 2017. He was fondly and respectfully conferred by residents the aristocratic accolade of The Baron of Jumbie Peace in grateful recognition and appreciation for his devotion, humanitarian assistance and loyalty to the people of Caroni with whom he lovingly interfaced for 91 productive years.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Murder, Parliament, PNM, UNC, Violence

Speaker: Astronomical Murders are a Routine Matter of State

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By Stephen Kangal
February 04, 2017

Stephen KangalAfter two presiding officers of the The Parliament had twice previously turned down Opposition -introduced adjournment motions classifying the current crime pandemic holding all T&T to ransom and under siege as a definite and urgent matter (DMUPI) that has evoked widespread and enormous public concern and exponentially increasing outcry, it was devastating and politically incorrect to hear The Honourable Speaker of the House, Mrs Brigid Annisette-George once again, on Friday , without convincing but artificial rhyme or reason, deny an urgent motion on the current murder rate moved by the MP for Pointe-a-Pierre, Dr. David Lee.
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Finance, General T&T, International, PNM, Politics, UNC, USA

Can FATCA Pass the International Jurisprudence Test?

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By Stephen Kangal
January 29, 2017

Stephen KangalThere was a quite visible and audible dearth in the House possessive of the requisite international relations expertise to analyze and dissect the internationally illegal imposition of US- domestic FATCA on T&T from a foreign policy/international law perspective.

That important dimension after T&T has been an active international relations participant for 55 years of statehood/UN multilateral diplomacy/foreign policy-making is a blemish on our international image, national pride and reputation.
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Gender, General T&T, PNM, Politics, UNC

Kamla’s Equivocation

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 29, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn Wednesday 18th January the Senate passed the Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) or the Child Marriage Bill (2016) that prohibits twelve-year-old girls from getting married. It did so with the notable abstention of the UNC-led Opposition. Put simply, as Jennifer Baptiste Primus suggests, this bill prevents “hard-back men” from clambering over young girls to satisfy their lust.

Enter Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Q.C. She is one of the country’s more distinguished lawyers. I don’t know how she conducts herself in court but one presumes it is befitting of her status. Language and the manipulation of language are at the heart of her profession which allows her to say things without regard of their consequences or truth content. It is almost as though she (or any lawyer) can use words to serve any purpose they deem necessary.
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