Monthly Archives: February 2015

General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM, UNC

Which party will right these wrongs?

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By Raffique Shah
February 22, 2015

Raffique ShahNow that the Carnival is over, we can expect electioneering to intensify, with a maximum of seven months to go before the general election is held. In fact, the ruling People’s Partnership coalition has grabbed a Carnival spillover, photographs of PNM leader Keith Rowley “wining” with a young Indian woman, as ammunition for use in campaigning.

Since the video and photos surfaced late Carnival Tuesday, the pro-UNC blogs have been hammering away at Rowley, dubbing him a “dirty old man” and worse in the hope that some mud will stick. I don’t think it will. The girl has publicly said she had a great Carnival, wine included, and to those who lambaste her and Rowley, she proclaimed boldly, “I hate racial people.”
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Crime in T&T, Culture, General T&T, Law, USA

Decriminalise it

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By Julien Neaves
February 22, 2015 – newsday.co.tt

MarijuanaWITH Caribbean neighbour Jamaica making moves to decriminalise marijuana University of the West Indies (UWI) Professor Emeritus Kenneth Ramchand is renewing his calls for marijuana to be decriminalised in Trinidad and Tobago for medicinal purposes.

In January this year the Jamaican Government tabled the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, 2015 in that country’s Senate to decriminalise marijuana for medicinal, religious and personal use.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Police

Footballer charged with breaching peace

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February 19, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com

Kennya CordnerKennya Cordner, star striker for the national women’s football team, appeared in the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with using annoying language to provoke a police officer to commit a breach of the peace.

The charge alleges that on Carnival Monday night, Cordner was outside Ma Pau on Ariapita Avenue when the music was shut off abruptly and she allegedly called out to some police officers nearby, asking why the music was stopped and complaining that they could not even wine on the police.
Continue reading Footballer charged with breaching peace →

Culture, General T&T

Kaiso, boy!

7 Comments

By Raffique Shah
February 15, 2015

Raffique ShahI waited patiently for Calypso Fiesta, the Mother of all Calypso shows, which featured 41 of the top calypsonians for this year. I did not trust the 20-plus radio stations in the country since those that feature local music kill us with pumping, jarring noises accompanied by voices that all sound hoarse as if the artistes are stricken with sore throats, that they tell me is soca.
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Gender, General T&T, International

Article on Feminism Owing Capitalism: My Ramblings on It

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By Corey Gilkes
February 13, 2015

venus symbolIn the article “Things I Don’t Understand About Feminism” by Shastri Sookdeo, one of the articles he referenced was an interesting one written by one Bill Flax in the prestigious Forbes Magazine. “Interesting” because if these are the kinds of views held by many often considered elite academics – and let’s face it, that IS often the case – then it is important that those who advance counter-narratives be more openly direct in showing these kinds of writings and journals for what they really are: racist, chauvinist, pseudo-intellectual, hubris. This is especially important in my opinion because to a huge extent, many in the Caribbean still see the North Atlantic as the fountainhead for all wisdom and understanding. Reading through some of the newspaper columns and listening to certain talk-shows such as the Power Breakfast Show on Power 102fm or those on i95.5fm, Forbes is clearly one of those highly regarded sources of information.
Continue reading Article on Feminism Owing Capitalism: My Ramblings on It →

General T&T, Media, Opposition Party, PNM, Politics

The Politics of Spite

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 10, 2015

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe Trinidad Guardian, it seems, is worried about the PNM’s future, our democracy and the quality of postcolonial democracy in societies such as ours all because the PNM rejected the candidacy of Penny Beckles, a good friend, and the possibility that Patrick Manning will suffer a similar fate.
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General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

The political executioner strikes…again

31 Comments

By Raffique Shah
February 08, 2015

Raffique ShahI sense that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has cast her political fate to the wind, doing what she thinks she needs to with mere months to go before a general election. I suspect, too, that she no longer heeds her advisers, that she acts of her own accord, and will continue to do so for as long as she remains captain of the badly listing pirogue, the SS UNC-2.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, People's Partnership, Politics, Security, UNC

Griffith threatens to walk – AG to resign

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Anand Ramlogan, Gary Griffith, David West

Griffith threatens to walk

By Renuka Singh
February 02, 2015 – guardian.co.tt

National Security Minister Gary Griffith is threatening to quit in the face of scathing press release issued by Communication Minister Vasant Bharath yesterday accused him of making false claims and compromising the integrity of Cabinet. Bharath was referring to reports that Griffith claimed he was pressured by his Cabinet colleagues not support a criminal complaint by Police Complaints Authority Director David West.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, People's Partnership, UNC

A wild ride to elections

9 Comments

By Raffique Shah
February 01, 2015

Raffique ShahFor all its bountiful blessings—natural resources that allow us to live reasonably well, a mixture of races that dwell in relative harmony, a people that laugh more easily than they cry—this is a cussed country that moves with consummate ease from one political scandal to another, a society that has grown to accept a level of lawlessness and boorish behaviour that permeate it from top to bottom, from captain to crook.
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