By Marlene Augustine
July 31, 2017 – newsday.co.tt
THOSE in leadership positions need to do more to wean citizens off of an acute dependence on State assistance, former Minister in the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Lincoln Douglas said yesterday.
Continue reading Dependency syndrome must end
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 31, 2017
Last Sunday, Jonathan Fenby, author of The General: Charles de Gaulle, suggested that Emmanuel Macron, President of France, was following closely in the footsteps of Charles de Gaulle, founder of the Fifth Republic, by using his office with the same majesty, grandeur, and decorum that de Gaulle did. He clarified: “Both are (or were) very well read, formally courteous and with an attention to detail. Though not as rousing an orator as the general, Mr. Macron uses speeches, as his predecessor of a half a century ago did, as instruments of pedagogy, notably with his address last weekend on the 75th anniversary of the round-up of Jews in Paris, when he did not hesitate to criticize de Gaulle by name for the pretense that the French authorities were not responsible” (Financial Times, July 22).
Continue reading Keith Rowley’s Glorious Moment
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 24, 2017
For the past seven years the two Ks (Kamla and Keith) have ruled the land. On Tuesday they introduced two other “Ks” to the unsavory mix: Kamauflage, another kamikaze-like maneuver designed to hoodwink our people. Basdeo Panday, characterizes their approach as “playing smart with chupidness.” One could also use the French aphorism to describe their carryings-on: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Continue reading The Four Ks of Our Destruction
By Stephen Kangal
July 20, 2017
The last minute submission/alibi by SC Deborah Peake to the San Fernando High Court presided over by Mr Justice Frank Seepersad on May 19 that the valuation exercise was voluntary was indeed rejected as unconvincing and inadmissible by the Judge who proceeded to grant the injunction requested.
Continue reading Was the Valuation of Property Scheme Really Voluntary?
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 16, 2017
PART 2
The Anti-Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, offers an excellent exhibition on the life of Nelson Mandela, the most recognizable person of the twenty-first century. On one of the walls there is a quotation that is attributed to Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. It reads: “Good moral character is not something that we can achieve on our own. We need a culture that supports the condition under which self-love and friendship can flourish.”
Continue reading Long Walk to Freedom – Part 2
By Raffique Shah
July 12, 2017
And we wonder why, in this land of plenty, we are seeing increasing numbers of young delinquents who invariably, in their middle to latter years, become dependent on the State for all their needs and much of their wants, some of them turning to crime as a rewarding enterprise that is the safest route to garnering, maybe amassing, wealth, faring better than their contemporaries who burnt the proverbial midnight oil, who sacrificed and struggled to earn an education they believed would equip them for life.
Continue reading Lost generations amidst free education
By Stephen Kangal
July 12, 2017
Taking into account the startling but incredible disclosures made by the Acting Commissioner of Valuation, Mr Baldeo Ramoutar in his 21st June affidavit filed in the San Fernando High Court, it appears to be pellucidly clear that the Minister of Finance, Mr Colm Imbert deliberately and knowingly misled and misinformed Parliament on the measures being undertaken for the first phase implementation of the Property Tax regime.
Continue reading Imbert Misled Parliament on First Phase of The Property Tax
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 10, 2017
PART 1
I spent four weeks in South Africa and Swaziland at the end of June and the beginning of July. These were some of the most educative and inspiring days of my life. I had followed the South African liberation struggle since the late 1950s when Miriam Makeba sang her freedom songs. In the 1960s I read Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country and cried. Later I read Peter Abrahams Tell Freedom. It did not produce the same emotional impact on me.
Continue reading Long Walk to Freedom
Govt’s hands may be tied
By Shaliza Hassanali
July 08, 2017 – guardian.co.tt
MP Marlene McDonald, Cedric Burke (centre) and President Anthony Carmona
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has admitted that the Housing Development Corporation may have no choice but to allow Sea Lots community leader Cedric Burke to complete the contract he has on a development in Bon Air, Arouca.
He also admitted his Government did not undertake due diligence in appointing the board of directors of the East Side Plaza and New City Mall, Port-of-Spain.
Continue reading PM admits Burke has edge with HDC contract
By Raffique Shah
July 05, 2017
I am convinced that God, in whatever manifestation the people of this multi-religious society pray to him, has given up on Trinidad & Tobago. How else can we explain the near-total breakdown of systems that define a functioning nation? The economy is in a mess. Criminals are in control, striking at will. Lawlessness reigns supreme. And rather than work together to rescue the country from collapse, the politicians resort to jammette-like behaviour in Parliament, cackling like yard-fowls, literally saying to us, well, didn’t you elect Jean and Dinah to represent you?
Continue reading Has God abandoned this cussed country?