Driver in accident may walk as Sea Lots probe botched

By Dr Sheila Rampersad
April 11, 2013 – www.guardian.co.tt

PoliceWhat might have been an open-and-shut case against a police officer, who ploughed into six residents of Sea Lots along the Beetham Highway, Port-of-Spain, on February 24, has turned into a lengthy and muddled investigation. Three people died and three others were injured in the crash, which occurred along the westbound lane of the highway.

The T&T Guardian was reliably informed that a breathalyser test, which measures blood alcohol level, was administered at 2.47 pm on the day of the fatal collision, almost six hours after the incident. It was administered at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital by WPC Marcia Lopez, a trained breath analysis technician assigned to Besson Street Police Station.
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Lecturer wants children in East PoS tested for lead poisoning

By Shereen Ali Sunday,
April 7 2013 – newsday.co.tt

LaventilleA part-time lecturer in the Department of Behavioural Sciences at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine is calling for the authorities to test children living in East Port-of-Spain for lead poisoning.

Lecturer Valentine Smith’s call is based on his contention that there may be environmental and biological factors among the causes for violence and youth delinquency in this area.
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Ish, Steve Lose on Section 34

By Jada Loutoo
April 6 2013 – newsday.co.tt

Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve FergusonBUSINESSMEN Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson, and 40 other persons, will face prosecution in their respective criminal trials having failed to get the courts to deem as unconstitutional the amendment to the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act, which prevented the automatic dismissal of their cases under the controversial Section 34.
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Ignorant Negroes/Tyrannical Masters: William Burnley and the Caribbean Slave Experience

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
Published: April 05, 2013 – trinicenter.com

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn the 1950s when I was growing up in Tacarigua, Trinidad, West Indies, there existed a large, faded mansion in the Orange Grove Savannah that had seen the last of its glories. It stood there as a colossus on this magnificent expanse of land which, at that time, was one of the largest savannah in the country second only to the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad. It reminded one of the glorious days of a time long past. I was a young boy then and could not have known that in this residence there once lived one of the most important men in the West Indies during the first half of the nineteenth century.
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Negative Reporting: Afri-centric Analysis

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
March 31, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuWithin recent times, the public domain has been over-flooded with a plethora of accusatory statements by some among the leadership of the People’s Partnership (PP) government.

Indeed, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has gone so far to adamantly/emphatically inform the nation that “rouge elements” exist in the media. And not to be outdone, National Security Minister Jack Warner has also publicly scoffed at “negative things” been revered in news reporting.
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PM following predecessors

By Raffique Shah
March 30, 2013

Raffique ShahIF THERE was anything surprising about the Prime Minister’s frontal assault on the media and journalists, it was the expression of hurt and outrage emanating from the nation’s newsrooms. Really, people, I cannot believe you were shocked when the PM labelled us “rogues”.

If anything, Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s declaration of war took a long time in coming—almost three years. Fellow scribes, be thankful for the lengthy grace period, be grateful that the lady wined and dined you lavishly before she turned on you.
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PM Seeks Confirmation on Warner

PM SEEKS CONFIRMATION
International news agency Reuters has identified Daryan Warner, son of Minister of National Security and former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, as a “cooperating witness” in a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe into alleged corruption in international football.
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Contesting Dr. Bratt’s “Fear in US society”

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
March 27, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuOne of the most incredulous, simplistic and parochial articles this writer has ever read was “Fear Factor in US Society” written by David E, Bratt, MD and published in the Guardian dated 12 March, 2013 (p.A.23).

At the outset, it must be stated emphatically that the contents of the article revealed the writer’s ignorance of the political-societal complexity of American society.
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Only 3 per cent of cops corrupt

By Susan Mohammed – March 26, 2013
www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Only-3-per–cent-of-cops–corrupt-200151191.html

PoliceActing Police Commissioner Stephen Williams said yesterday that no more than three per cent of the officers in the Police Service were crooked.

Speaking following a tour of the San Fernando Police Station where officers had protested poor working conditions, Williams responded to the Selwyn Ryan report which indicated that as much as 50 per cent of the Police Service was corrupt.

On Monday, Williams told reporters the figure used by Ryan was “crazy”.
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Ryan crime report: Soca music breeding criminals

Selwyn Ryan – March 26, 2013
www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-25/ryan-crime-report-soca-music-breeding-criminals

Selwyn RyanSoca, dancehall and hip-hop music are said to be influencing youths into criminal behaviour. This is according to a report by the Ryan Committee on Youth at Risk. The report was laid in Parliament by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Friday. The committee’s report said while it was impossible to draw a definitive correlation between violence or explicitness of lyrics and the level of criminality among youth, the lyrics of 2012 soca hits “tend to support the idea of a contemporary youth culture that is very consistent with the rebellious behaviour of previous generations of youth.”
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