By Faine Richards
www.guardian.co.tt
July 18, 2007
Succumbing to criticisms from corporate sponsors and the general public, an emotional Choc’late Allen broke down during yesterday’s Youth Motivational Awards.
A small stream of tears rolled down the 13-year-old activist’s face as she reflected on the controversy surrounding the 100 per cent Crime Free Youth Motivational Awards.
Continue reading Danah accepts award: Choc’late laments double standard
By Raffique Shah
July 15, 2007
We have the land space and know-how to grow most, if not all, the vegetables we consume. This is one component of food production where we can consider exporting the surplus. Since tourism is the backbone of the economies of many Caribbean countries, and given that most of the islands are capable of producing quality vegetables at competitive prices, regional governments should insist that hotels and restaurants that benefit from generous tax concessions must link a local vegetables-and-fruits component to any such benefits. Hoteliers may point to certain negative farming practices, the unreliability of supply and quality as reasons for importing these items.
Continue reading Food security solutions
By Leiselle Maraj
newsday.co.tt
Friday, July 13 2007
The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has listed Trinidad and Tobago among ten countries in the world which abuse Hindus’ human rights in its third annual Hindu human rights report for 2006 published on Wednesday.
The HAF is a non-profit, non-partisan human rights group, “promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism,” according to the foundation’s website.
Continue reading Hindus under attack in TT
By Ria Taitt
newsday.co.tt
July 12 2007
The grand alliance of Opposition parties has hit a snag. Basdeo Panday, the acknowledged leader of the majority group within the alliance, the UNC, has been found to be unacceptable as leader by at least one party, YesTT, which is led by Stephen Cadiz.
On Monday night Panday announced that the UNC would fight the General Election as part of a coalition with NAR, Ytt, DPTT and NDP. The coalition is to be known as the UNC Alliance.
Continue reading Cadiz says no to Panday
Bucharest, Romania
www.mg.co.za
11 July 2007 04:09
A Romanian man who sued God for “fraud” and “betrayal of trust” for failing to answer his prayers has had his case dismissed in court, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Mircea Pavel (40), who is serving 20 years in prison for murder, brought charges against “the defendant God, who lives in the heavens and is represented in Romania by the Orthodox Church”, the daily Evenimentul Zilei reported.
Continue reading Case against God dismissed in Romanian court
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 11, 2007
The University of the West Indies (UWI) at St. Augustine has awarded Miss Camini Maharj a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree for a position she does not hold and in a field that does not exist. UWI’s website describes Miss Marajh as an “investigations editor” and tells us that she is worthy of one of the most coveted awards any recognized university can confer because she “has reported in depth,” not necessarily with distinction, “on a wide range of issues, including crime, the legislature, and the environment in Trinidad and Tobago” over the years.
Continue reading Dr. Camini Marajh, D.Litt?
By Rosemary Ekosso
www.ekosso.com
July 11, 2007
Ingredients
Warmongering
An innate sense of racial superiority
Landgrabbing
A god complex.
Method
Start in 17th and 18th century
First, uproot people from their homeland
Enslave them or otherwise press them into demeaning service
Then ignore them until a rich and powerful country wants their land
Next, turn your beady eye on this land, viewing the human inhabitants as an inconvenient weed on potentially lucrative real estate
Weed the natives out, referring to them as “Tarzan and Man Friday“, thus playing up racist stereotypes of savages who should be divested of their land because you are better at exploiting it.
Then lease the island to the rich and powerful nation in exchange for an 11 million pound discount on Polaris missiles.
Then lie about it all.
These are the bare bones. Now, let’s flesh it out.
Continue reading The Chagos islands: the British government’s recipe for dehumanisation
The burly Laventille-born entertainer, real name Rohan Richards, is sitting atop the European Club Music Charts this week following the release of a reworked version of his 2007 Carnival hit single “What I Want” in France last month.
The song is signed to legendary House music DJ Bob Sinclar’s Yellow Productions music label and is being marketed across Europe as Bob Sinclar presents Fireball.
Continue reading Fireball’s ‘What I Want’ heats up European dance chart
By Raffique Shah
July 08, 2007
Everyone expects the Government to do something to mitigate food prices. It’s true that governments are elected to office to attend to the basic needs of the people-food, water, shelter, health services and so on. But who says that governments have the answers to all our problems? In the case of food security, no government, from the PNM back in 1956 to the PNM of today, seems to have grasped the fundamentals of the post-colonial dilemma.
Continue reading Revamp food production, resuscitate local fruit