Category Archives: International

Education, Gender, General T&T, International, Religion, Sex

Sex, Guilt, “Sin” and Social Control

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By Corey Gilkes
March 28, 2011

Bride and groom join hands at a Hindu weddingThis is a somewhat expanded version of an article I wrote for a Ghanaian-based website dealing with issues relating to women’s sexuality (WHY Good Christian Girls “Shouldn’t Have Sex”: The Issue of Virginity). It was actually in response to a blog comment dealing with abstinence. Looking at the comments by some of the readers it was really astounding to see just how alike we are — albeit in this case, I would have liked if it were not so.
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General T&T, International

Awesome power of nature

By Raffique Shah
March 20, 2011

Raffique ShahI WAS watching a World Cup cricket match on television when I decided to see what was happening in the world. For me, that means switching to BBC, sometimes CNN, but never Fox News. When I saw “breaking news” on the screen, and images that looked like something out of a movie, I paid immediate attention. Massive earthquake in Japan, reporters were saying, as cameras (or video footage) showed huge walls or swirling water smashing everything in their paths. Tsunami!
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General T&T, International, Politics

Spectre of people’s power

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By Raffique Shah
March 13, 2011

Raffique ShahTHERE’S a spectre stalking the world. It is yet another resurgence of people’s power. Every so often in history, the oppressed, those who face discrimination and subjugation, people whose rights are trampled upon, rise up in a tsunami of discontent. At the cost of some lives, the masses sweep aside monarchies, dictators and even elected governments that have assumed an arrogance that creates a chasm between those who wield power and those who put them in office.
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General T&T, International

Big Quake and Tsunami in Japan

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King of Carnival Wade Madray portrays 'Pacific Tsunami' from Legacy's South Pacific
King of Carnival Wade Madray portrays ‘Pacific Tsunami’ from Legacy’s South Pacific

BIG QUAKE
TOKYO: A ferocious tsunami unleashed by Japan’s biggest recorded 8.9 earthquake slammed into its eastern coast yesterday, killing hundreds of people as it carried away ships, cars and homes, and triggered widespread fires that burned out of control.
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Culture, Entertainment, General T&T, India, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Tourism

Plebian Carnival

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By Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 09, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOh what a difference an election victory makes. For time immemorial we were told by some that the steelband could never be considered as the national instrument—there was always the dholak—and that carnival was not really the national festival. They always sought to convince us that devali was comparable to carnival and emblematic of the national consciousness; hence the need to promote devali in the same way in which carnival is promoted. Somehow carnival was too black.
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Culture, General T&T, India, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity

Ravages of Ethno-Nationalism

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By Stephen Kangal
February 21, 2011

Stephen KangalAfter 49 years of an ethno-nationalism-based and driven Independence and four distinct nationalist-leaning regimes what is the prevailing status quo on cross- cultural relations/diversity management that now impels us in T&T to want to chart a new culturally-sensitive and responsive way forward (multiculturalism) instead of continuing along the unjust and hitherto ethno-nationalism-paved track?
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General T&T, India, People's Partnership, Politics, Race and Identity

Cudjoe and His Careless Thinking

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By Stephen Kangal
February 15, 2011

Stephen KangalProfessor Selwyn Cudjoe in his article wrote:

“In his ‘Mother Trinidad and Tobago Speech’ Dr. Williams intimated that we owe our primary allegiance to T&T rather than the various countries from which our ancestors came. In 2010, angered by the seemingly preferential treatment that Africans enjoyed under the People’s National Movement, the People’s Partnership (PP) decided to emphasize our difference rather than our commonalities thereby tearing away at the common cultural bond that holds us together as a nation”. (Selwyn Cudjoe in “Mother Trinidad and Tobago” Article – trinicenter.com – 16 January 2011).
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General T&T, International, Religion

Re-Examining the “Sex” of God

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And “His” Servants

By Corey Gilkes
February 09, 2011

BibleYes, that’s what I said. As if the articles on monogamy and extramarital relationships weren’t scandalous enough, I gone now and dive cross the line into blasphemy with talk about the sex of god. In our society – which for the most part retains a romantic, anti-intellectual attachment to the bible and things religious – merely asking questions such as why “god” is referred to in gender-specific terms is in many people’s minds as heretical as challenging the authenticity of the bible. Maybe we’ll argue THAT some other time but for now, examining god’s sex is bacchanal enough.
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Africa, International, Race and Identity

Cote d’Ivoire

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 25, 2011

EmancipationProfessor Kwesi Jonah is the chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana at Legon. He is an expert in African politics and specializes in political economy and good governance. In 2005-06 he acted as the coordinator of West African Political Parties Programme (WAPPP), a project of the Institute of Economic Affairs located in Accra.
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General T&T, International, Internet Issues, Politics

Curbing Cyber Terrorism

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By Raffique Shah
January 15, 2011

Raffique ShahNOBEL Laureate Paul Krugman (Economics, 2008) referred to it as the “Climate of Hate”. In his New York Times column last week, he pointed to “incitement” coming from politicians and media commentators on the far right in America that factored in the murderous carnage in Arizona. Democrat Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Judge John Roll were victims of a wild shooting spree by a mentally disturbed 22-year-old man, which claimed five lives.
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