By Francis Joseph, newsday.co.tt
Sunday, October 1 2006
AFTER Chief Justice Clinton Bernard retired in 1995, Appeal Court Justice Sat Sharma was next in line for the coveted post of head of TT’s judiciary. But he did not get the job. The position went instead to an eminent attorney, Michael de la Bastide SC. So Sharma waited. His turn eventually came in July 2002 and he was appointed Chief Justice by then President Arthur NR Robinson.
Continue reading Sharma’s road to London
By Raffique Shah
September 24, 2006
Politicians, especially those who are in power, must know they are under intense public scrutiny, whatever they say or do. Once they have offered themselves for office and are elected by the people, they become public property. It’s a reality that many may be uncomfortable with. But if you commit yourself to politics, expect the masses to offer you no quarter. Opposition politicians can get away with murder or slightly lesser crimes when they reduce themselves to comic status, when they provide entertainment, not serious challenge for office.
Continue reading Manning ‘bombed’ by Bombardier
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 24, 2006
Every parent has a right (nay a responsibility) to monitor what his or her child reads and to comment upon its appropriateness or non-appropriateness. It follows that the Ministry of Education has to assume the responsibility for the materials that are taught in our schools rather than pass the blame on to “professional experts” who have been selected to choose the materials. Apart from the desire to expunge “literary material that is unsavory” to our children, the Ministry of Education must offer a better explanation of what literary material is selected and why.
Continue reading Cussing and Critical Interpretation
By Errol F. Hosein
September 18th, 2006
To Catholics, the pope is infallible. To the larger mass of humanity he is just another man who represents a particular religious sect. And as such he can make mistakes and he can be wrong on a variety of issues.
Continue reading Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Gilbert
PM puts Immigration chief under heavy manners
… meanwhile, illegal Nigerian and Caricom aliens running wild in T&T
By AZAD ALI Chief Reporter, tntmirror.com
September 15, 2006
PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning has called on Chief Immigration Officer Herman Browne to stop the harassment of Chinese immigrants in this country.
Continue reading STOP harassing Chinese!
By Raffique Shah
August 17, 2006
Whatever the facts or fantasies or conspiracy theories about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon back in 2001, what is undeniable is that thousands of innocent people died. I emphasise this because there are many people worldwide who are convinced it was not Al Qaeda operatives who pulled off that spectacular on 9/11. There are too many discrepancies in what we saw, and more in what we did not see. That Osama bin Laden and his associates claimed responsibility for the carnage does not necessarily mean they did it. Such organisations are known for laying claim to acts that propel them to the limelight only for the sake of publicity, and to look good in the eyes of their supporters.
Continue reading Selective sympathy for victims of terrorism
By Michael De Gale
Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we live in a society where race, unfortunately, is an increasingly divisive issue. Whether we inherited this from our colonial past or we are just too damn stupid to appreciate its negative impact on the society as a whole, the fact remains that race is a cause for much concern in T&T. It is because of this that the recently created Congress of the People must do everything in its power not to be perceived as an “Indian Party” if it hopes to wrestles the reigns of power from the current administration.
Continue reading A Party For And Of The People
By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
September 13, 2006
Thesis
One of the most revered and nationally accepted, but Eurocentric, ahistorical, divisive and dysfunctional adages is the 31st August 1962 Inaugural Independence Message by then Prime Minister and historian Dr. Eric Williams, in part as follows:
“There can be no Mother India, for those whose ancestors came from India, there can be no Mother Africa, for those of African origin, and there can be no Mother Syria or no Mother Lebanon. A nation, like an individual, can have only one mother. The only mother we recognize is Mother T&T and mother cannot discriminate between her children.” (Guardian, 31 August 2006).
Continue reading Originality vs Nationality in TnT: Facing Historical Reality
By Raffique Shah
If there was any surprise over last Thursday’s transatlantic airline crisis it was that British security forces, working in collaboration with Pakistan’s, managed to pre-empt what could have been a disaster of immense proportions. But sadly for the millions who must travel by air every day, and who have nothing to do with the root causes of a would-be mass mid-air murder, the risks have not diminished. George Bush, who has taken the world to the edge of disaster, is still around-will be for another two years-to peddle his devious non-strategies.
Continue reading Blame Bush, not Bin Laden
By Linda Edwards
This project, now completed at the Russell Latapy Secondary School on July 17 to 28, aimed at providing additional reading support services for children in the under-served areas of Morvant/Laventille, who were identified by their sending schools as being less advanced than their peers. In some cases, they could hardly read.
Continue reading A Small Beginning: The UCIBIDES reading project