General T&T, Media, Religion

VULGAR MAS

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By Richardson Dhalai
Thursday, March 06 2014 – newsday.co.tt

VULGAR MASARCHBISHOP of Port-of-Spain Joseph Harris yesterday attacked the lascivious behaviour of some masqueraders in the just concluded Carnival Season, conduct which the leader of the Roman Catholic faithful in this country described as symptomatic of the pervasive lawlessness in society.

In a forthright, sobering Ash Wednesday homily at Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Harris Promenade in San Fernando yesterday, Fr Harris also observed that all aspects of national life, including that of giving to the poor and indigent, must change if the Carnival-type mentality is to be transformed.
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Elections, General T&T, Opposition Party, PNM, Politics

PNM’s Last Chance

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 05, 2014

Part 1

A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones—and South Africa treated its imprisoned African citizens like animals.

—Nelson Mandela

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am pretty certain that Keith Rowley will emerge victorious during the PNM’s party election and go on to become the next prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Fortunately, that is the easy part of the political equation. The more difficult part is to govern in such a way that the society emerges in a better place than it is in 2014. That’s the challenge PNM faces when it takes the helm of government. However, if Rowley and the PNM fail to leave Trinidad (and especially our brothers and sisters in our depressed areas) in a better way than they found them in 2014, one can confidently predict that 2020 would mark the beginning of the end of the PNM as a political force in our country.
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Africa, Culture, Gender, General T&T, Media

Homosexuality threatens the arts, fuels crime—Clarke

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By Yvonne Baboolal
February 25, 2014 – guardian.co.tt

Leroy ClarkeHomosexuality is not only threatening the arts but is used to indoctrinate gang members, says artist LeRoy Clarke. The T&T Guardian asked Clarke to elaborate on the comment he made last week at his book launch which shocked and outraged some of his fellow artists, members of the gay community and others. In a phone interview yesterday, Clarke related homosexuality to the increase in crime, saying young men are usually indoctrinated into gangs with homosexuality and because of the violation of their manhood use the gun as a symbol of their masculinity.
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Culture, Entertainment, General T&T, Music, People's Partnership

Sparrow alive, calypso dead

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By Raffique Shah
February 23, 2014

Raffique ShahThe Mighty Sparrow’s resurrection from a coma seems to have awakened many a dead, although the miracle I hoped for most, breathing new life into calypso, appears to be beyond the Birdie’s prowess.

Ever since calypso’s most iconic practitioner fell gravely ill, no pun intended, I assumed that the Government had quietly funded his medical expenses. After all, here’s the world’s greatest calypsonian in his winter years encountering not-unexpected health challenges, and his country, the land of calypso that he helped brand, enjoying a healthy economy, so much so that the authorities award millions of dollars every year to artistes of relative Lilliputian stature, you would think….
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General T&T, Law, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics

Constitutional Commission (CRC) Re-Invented the Wheel

By Stephen Kangal
February 14, 2014

Stephen KangalHaving submitted what is no more than disappointing glorified minutes or executive summary of the deliberations of the CRC on the road map to reforming the existing 1967 Republican Commission without appending the requisite draft Working Paper it appears that the remit of the CRC in its own admission has ended. But why is the CRC still bent on holding further consultations on previous consultations when it admits it has completed its job? According to the CRC the next step to be taken falls within the ambit of parliamentarians and the population.
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corruption, General T&T, Media, People's Partnership

Minister: So what?

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By Julien Neaves
February 10, 2014 – newsday.co.tt

Dr. Lincoln Douglas, MPARTS and Multiculturalism Minister Dr Lincoln Douglas has denied claims by Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organi-sation (TUCO) president Lutalo ‘Brother Resistance’ Masimba that Government officials and their friends have been abusing free entry to Carnival events.

“I think it has been reasonable. If you give seven, eight, nine, 10, 20 million dollars to an event, or to support, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that members of Government should expect to go to these events and not be able to take a friend or two,” Douglas said.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, ILP, People's Partnership, Police, Politics

Decoding Crime in T&T

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
February 12, 2014

Dr. Kwame NantambuOne of the apparently unknown realities of crime in T&T is the fact that neither the current People’s Partnership (PP) government, a People’s National Movement (PNM) government nor an Independent Liberal Party (ILP) government can solve/prevent certain crimes in this
country.

For example, if as occurred quite recently, an aggrieved ex-husband decides to kill his ex-wife, then, there is absolutely nothing any of the afore-mentioned or the Commissioner of Police can do to prevent/stop this familial crime.
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Africa, General T&T, Opposition Party, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Judge not by colour

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By Raffique Shah
February 08, 2014

Raffique ShahI know there are many people in the country who think that Keith Rowley is too black to be Prime Minister. I didn’t need Fitzgerald Hinds to tell me that, although his charge that such sentiment emanates from the bowels of the PNM, from important persons in the party, did surprise me somewhat.

I don’t know why we bury our heads in the sand when the issue of colour prejudice, which is often linked to race prejudice, rears its ugly head in the society. It has always been there, and, I imagine, it always will be. Most people of lighter or whiter complexion, whatever their ethnicity, believe they are superior to others who are dark-skinned, or worse, black.
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