By Raffique Shah
December 18, 2011
YOU would think that two years after he suffered the most severe political flogging in local history, Basdeo Panday would have long ridden off into the sunset, hoisted his grandchildren on his lap and sat back in luxury, enjoying an ex-prime minister’s generous pension and perks. But that’s not Panday’s style. He’s back into active politics…or so he says.
Continue reading Degeneration now
By Derren Joseph
December 13, 2011
Transparency International’s 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks Trinidad and Tobago in position 91 out of 183 countries–falling from a 2010 rank of 73. Remember this is a temperature check of how corrupt we perceive our own public sector to be. So if you are a statistician; walk away–it is not a rigorous quantitative research methodology. If you are a politician, listen-up, as perception drives voting patterns. On one hand, it can be argued that this cannot be completely blamed on the present administration because it reflects a consistent slide from 2001 when we were ranked at 31.
Continue reading Bridging the credibility gap
13 DETAINED
By Nalinee Seelal
November 26, 2011 – newsday.co.tt
Police and soldiers have discovered a secret training camp in East Trinidad believed to have been used by ex-soldiers, rogue police officers and members of an organised group in preparation to carry out a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal.
As of yesterday, 13 persons, the latest a police sergeant, have been arrested in connection with the threat to the Prime Minister and national security.
Continue reading Plot to Assassinate the Prime Minister
The retaining wall that collapsed was erected by the Government when they acquired land from the Country Club to widen the Maraval Road. The original wall was torn down to facilitate the new construction which was completed in May this year.
Continue reading Wall at Maraval Roundabout Collapses after Showers
Newsday Editorial
Friday, November 4 2011
We are really forced to wonder on the new roles Patrick Manning has been undertaking. As he distances himself from his own party and its leadership, gathering previously discarded acolytes like Gary Hunt and Ralph Maraj, he seeks to reinsert himself on a political scene which is rapidly moving beyond him.
Continue reading Manning’s Machinations
Newsday Editorial
November 01, 2011 – newsday.co.tt
We deliberately did not rush to venture an opinion — or opinions — on Patrick Manning’s media conference and “apology” delivered last Thursday. Indeed, we are still wondering whether the former prime minister was apologising to the PNM or to the nation?
It is difficult to accept, on face value, that this might have been a sincere attempt on his part to clear his conscience. We say this because he explicitly avoided any mention of the wrong developmental decisions, the corruption which dogged his administration (and which he tried to defend stoutly), or the violent crime which flourished, and which he tended to excuse rather than condemn.
Continue reading Bizarre apology
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 25, 2011
It’s either I am crazy or the Prime Minister is going mad. She stands up in Parliament and maligns her citizens. When she is confronted she refuses to accept responsibilities for her actions. Defenseless citizens are left at her mercy. Then, the press either defends them or maligns them further. In a good season, the press may then point out that a mistake has been made and call upon the authorities to rectify it.
Continue reading Bacchanalian Budget Debate
Following is Joan Yuille-Williams’ full statement:
As the former minister of community development, culture and gender affairs with the responsibility for the Financial Assistance Fund which is now the subject of salacious, misguided and uninformed comment, I wish to state the following fundamental facts for the general public’s information, even as I pursue my option for robust legal action to assert the truth unequivocally:
Continue reading Joan Yuille-Williams on Scholarship Fund
By Clint Chan Tack
October 18 2011 – newsday.co.tt
PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday dropped several bombshells in the House of Representatives, exposing what she described as major corruption scandals which took place under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government.
Continue reading PNM SCANDALS
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 06, 2011
If I turn into earth, water, grass,
Flower or fruit-if it comes to pass
I return to Earth in the animal class,
Why in the world should I care?
In the limitless bond wherever I pass,
A kinship is ever there.Rabindranath Tagore, Of Myself
A few things before I start. First, although my original paper is 27 pages long in conformity with the instructions given, I have had to cut my paper down to fifteen pages so that you will forgive me if there are gaps in my presentation. Second, the title of my paper is taken from an essay that Dr. Williams offered at the Second Congress of Negro Writers and Artists that was held in Rome from March 26 to April 1, 1959, entitled “The Political Leader Considered as a Man of Culture.” Third. Although my original paper examines the former article and “Four Poets of the Greater Antilles,” I will look at Dr. William’s relationship to literature and his essays on Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranth Tagore, with an emphasis upon the latter. In the process, I would like to expand upon the Professor Rampersad’s observation that Dr. Williams, a man of letters, was “comfortable with literature, capable of invoking the words of Shakespeare and Dante and showing a greater familiarity with their works and the work of other eminent writers than one finds using the index to Bartlett’s Quotations.” In the process I also hope to put a dent into the silly allegation that Dr. Williams was a racist who did not like people of Indian descent.
Continue reading Dr. Williams as a Man of Culture
