General T&T, International, Race and Identity

Is nationhood an illusion?

6 Comments

By Raffique Shah
July 24, 2011

Raffique ShahAS the nation prepares for a year of activities to mark our 50th anniversary of independence from Britain in August 2012, people of my generation must be wrestling with a mixture of emotions. There is a sense of pride, of having been there when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time, and the red-white-and-black colours of the new state hoisted atop flagpoles across the country. One had to be there to experience the birth of a nation to understand the pride, the joy, the celebrations. We were part of history, however insignificant we may have been in the hierarchical scheme of things.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Violence

Mom, 2 sons throats slit in La Horquetta

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LEFT: Melik, eight, Makasi, four, and Vonetta Haynes-Reyes

Husband finds wife and sons murdered
Residents of La Horquetta were in shock last night following the discovery of a 31-year-old mother and her two children, found dead with their throats slit open. The discovery was made by the woman’s husband and father of the children. There were no arrests up to late last night.
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General T&T, International, Race and Identity

All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal, Genetics Confirm

55 Comments

Analysis by Jennifer Viegas
Monday July 18, 2011 – discovery.com

NeanderthalIf your heritage is non-African, you are part Neanderthal, according to a new study in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution. Discovery News has been reporting on human/Neanderthal interbreeding for some time now, so this latest research confirms earlier findings.
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corruption, Education, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

The Mis-Education of Tim Gopeesingh

24 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 20, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDr. Tim Gopeesingh, Minister of Education, is a gynecologist by training. He is not an educator. At the very least, his response to my inquiry proves his mis-understanding about how a Minister of Education functions. Anyone who has been following this controversy (See “Probe SEA Results” in the July 13 issue of and my subsequent letter to the Minister of Education, July 17 Trinidad Mirror) knows that I only sought to bring to the Minister’s attention the statistical improbability of 14 students from one class placing within the first one hundred students in the recent SEA examinations.
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Caribbean, General T&T, International, Tourism

Call for strong policy on open skies

1 Comment

By Derren Joseph
July 19, 2011

Derren JosephIn my opinion, we in T&T have a special relationship with Guyana and Grenada partly because of the regular movement of people among these territories. When I visited St Lucia for Jazz, I was surprised by the number of Martiniquans I met there, but I subsequently discovered that there is regular movement of people between St Lucia and Martinique, thanks to a fairly reliable ferry service.
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Africa, General T&T, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Trinbagonian versus African Descent

20 Comments

Emancipation Day Special: Part 1

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
July 19, 2011

As T&T celebrates the United Nations-sponsored “International Year for People of African Descent,” it is a sine qua non to analyze/investigate the crucial reality of being Trinbagonian versus, albeit compared to, being of African descent in this Euro-centric environment.

The stark reality is that the ordinary Trinbagonian of African descent does not regard himself or herself as African. He/she is Trinbagonian, period.
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General T&T, International, Politics

Government Approves REDjet to Fly

3 Comments

PRESS RELEASE

REDjetThe Government is pleased to announce that the court action brought by the operators of Airone Limited, trading as REDjet, commercial air services, against the Civil Aviation Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and Mr. Amral Mohammed, in his capacity as Chairman of the Air Transport Licensing Authority of Trinidad and Tobago has been settled on terms which are mutually acceptable to all parties.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Politics, Security, Violence

Wage war to win peace

3 Comments

By Raffique Shah
July 17, 2011

Raffique Shah“‘Tis strange—but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
How differently the world would men behold!”
(Lord Byron, Don Juan, 1823)

IN Frederick Forsyth’s 2010 novel, Cobra, the central character, Paul Devereaux, a former CIA agent, is tasked by his President (mucho resemblance to Barack Obama) to put an end to the cocaine menace that is strangling America. Devereaux demands, and is given, $2 billion plus a carte blanche instrument of authority to launch his war on the Colombian Cartel and its global tentacles. He hires as his operations officer a former foe, Calvin Dexter, and within one year they put together a powerful machine of personnel and equipment that attacks Don Diego and his overlords with extreme prejudice, as such exercises are described.
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General T&T, Passed on, PNM

NAEAP’s Condolences for Rose Janneire

2 Comments

July 16, 2011

IN TRIBUTE

Rose Janneire
Rose Janneire

The National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP) joins the nation in recognizing the many services Ms. Janneire rendered to the nation. Ms. Janneire joined NAEAP in 2000, two years after it was founded, and worked arduously with the organization to transform the landscape of African people in this country. She served as a trustee in the organization and for many years controlled the finances of the organization.
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corruption, Education, General T&T, Politics

Letter to Minister of Education on SEA Results

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July 14, 2011

Dr. Tim Gopesingh, Minister
Ministry of Education,
Port of Spain
Trinidad

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDear Dr. Gopeesingh:

I am sure that you were pleased as I was to learn that 14 students from one class in the Chaguanas Government School placed among the top one hundred students in the recent SEA Examination. Initially, my instinct was to accept the result and to applaud the exemplary teaching that takes place in that school; that is, until allegations of cheating were brought to my attention. Although I wanted to disregard this unfortunate conclusion, my desire for fairness led me to contact a statistician from William Patterson University in New Jersey, USA, and a mathematician from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, to determine the statistical possibility of such a result occurring.
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