Keeping PNM’s Commandments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 17, 2008

PNMA week ago Louis Lee Sing broke two of the most sacred of PNM’s commandments: thou shall not speak evil of the political leader in public; and thou shall not speak evil of the party in public. It’s alright to speak your truth about the political leader and the party behind closed doors; it’s quite another matter to air negative views in public.
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Chambers wasn’t ‘duncy’ after all

Dr. Kwame Nantambu
January 16, 2008

George ChambersAs Calypsonians put the final touches on their compositions for C2K8, it is apropos to relegate to the ash heap of TnT’s political history, the notion that has been bandied about by some Calypsonians that as Prime Minister of TnT, George Chambers was “duncy.” The fact of the matter is that such a notion is not rooted in historical/factual reality but rather in mythology and facetious fiction.
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On Albright’s “Lost” Aura of Democracy

By Corey Gilkes
January 13, 2008

Madeleine AlbrightI really loved the well-written article by former Secretary of State Madeleine (shouldn’t that be Meddlin?) Albright on the Trinidad Express on Friday 11th January. Such hubris, such hypocrisy compressed into twelve paragraphs. It was exactly the sort of historically decontextualised drivel I have come to expect from North Atlantic political figures (although, given what passes for local journalism and radio talk, it has spread here as well).
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Laying Tracks for Bajan Goutis to Run

By Stephen Kangal
January 15, 2008

TT/Barbados Maritime Boundary fixed by the Arbitral TribunalIt must be a source of enormous embarrassment to us in T&T that the Manning Administration should spend our taxpayers money to jointly sponsor in collaboration with the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf a seminar. It will outline the procedures for the delimitation of the maritime boundaries of the extended continental shelf (Newsday 14 Jan., p. 15) between national and international jurisdiction located beyond 200 nautical miles (limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone). This is a clear case of stupid T&T paying for the laying of tracks for smart Bajan agoutis to run on.
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Emergency to protect Govt only, not the people

By Raffique Shah
January 13, 2008

ArmyIf anybody can convince me that a state of emergency would yield benefits in the fight against crime, I’d be willing to listen and act. So said Prime Minister Patrick Manning last week as he and others, the opposition UNC included, insisted that emergency powers were not required to deal with this unholy mess. I respond to the PM this way: show me that you can lower the level of crime using Minister Martin Joseph’s many “plans”, and I’ll concede that we do not need an emergency.
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Cultural send-off for Terry Joseph

TriniView.com Reporters
Event Date: January 11, 2008
Posted: January 18, 2008

Friends and family gathered at the Center of Excellence on Friday 11th January, 2008, to pay tribute to journalist and cultural promoter Terry Joseph. Mr. Joseph passed away on January 2nd 2008, in the United States after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was born in Laventille in 1947, and spent the latter part of his life writing about the culture of Trinidad and Tobago, especially Pan, Calypso and Mas.
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Towards a Fair and Just Society

By Michael De Gale
January 09, 2008

Trini PeopleThough some may beg to differ, there is ample evidence to conclude that human beings are fundamentally evil. For any number of reasons, we almost instinctively oppress each other in the most brutal fashion. History is replete with genocide, slavery, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution, gender discrimination, economic and political oppression and the list goes on. Far from being exhausted, this does not even begin to scratch the surface of human savagery. According to Columbus’ own account, he received an enthusiastic welcome by native people who came bearing gifts. In response, he unleashed a reign of terror including rape, murder, pillage and enslavement.
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House Standing Orders Unconstitutional

By Stephen Kangal
January 09, 2008

ParliamentThe unfortunate decision of the Speaker, the Honourable Barendra Sinanan to debar unconstitutionally members of the COP wearing their attention-grabbing, artistic logo from attending the second sitting of the House as responsible members of the public gallery to listen to the debate on crime is clearly symptomatic of electoral justice gone mad.

This discriminatory and disenfranchising system for determining electoral representation in our Parliament in a plural society denied in 2007,148,000 citizens from being officially heard and represented in parliament. Parliament in the eyes of these 148,000 citizens no longer has any legitimacy. But it has deteriorated further.
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A people problem of epidemic proportions

By Raffique Shah
January 06, 2008

Trini PeopleI am not surprised that the Express has taken the initiative to intervene in the fight against the crime tsunami that threatens to destroy our beloved country. It’s not the first time that a call has been made for a government to declare a limited state of emergency to help deal with the problem. A few years ago, a government-appointed committee headed by Ken Gordon and including some very experienced and knowledgeable persons, made a similar recommendation as part of a “package” of measures it proposed. Other organisations and individuals, your humble scribe among them, also suggested as much.
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The Measure of a Man

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 03, 2008

BooksThe last week of December was tragic and tortuous. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the tearing apart of Kenya because of a rigged election demonstrated the fragility of human existence and how much we live on the edge. I have traveled to both countries, seen their beauty and feel much sympathy for their citizens’ pain. During the last week I have also had to make painful decisions about my treatment for a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
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