By Raffique Shah
September 23, 2007
Last week, looking at a television clip of two jokers from Laventille hugging and dancing with UNC officials, celebrating the “strengthening” of Basdeo Panday’s new alliance to fight the PNM, I was almost reduced to tears. A few nights before that sorry sight, Bas was on a platform begging Winston Dookeran to join forces with the fast-fading UNC in order to defeat the ruling PNM at elections which should be called sometime before mid-December. Matters not how he couched this umpteenth attempt to woo back Winston, it was undisguised political vagrancy.
Continue reading The lion in winter- A pitiful sight
The Jena 6 are six African-American high school students from Jena, Louisiana who were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder after their alleged involvement in an assault on a white student. That the students were charged for what amounts to a schoolyard fight is news in itself, but what is more troubling is that the District Attorney, Reed Walters, chose to charge the students as adults.
Suspended Chief Justice Sat Sharma insisted yesterday that he did nothing wrong when he spoke about the Basdeo Panday integrity trial to Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls last year.
CHIEF MAGISTRATE Sherman Mc Nicolls stated quite emphatically yesterday that he never took a bribe from anyone in Trinidad and Tobago.
It is a sad state of affairs when mediocrity is the highest standard to which a nation aspires. For as long as I could remember, the people of T&T have bemoaned the poor quality of service they receive from public health, police, education, transportation and virtually all government ministries. So I thought that people would be happy to learn about the poll which shed light on the dismal performance of many government ministers. Yes! A poll was needed to identify these slackers as much as a light is required to see the sun. Nonetheless, the pole confirmed what the public had always known – government ministers are incompetent, lack vision and are incapable of fulfilling the mandates of their ministries. Despite all appearances, they are trapped in a Third World mentality. How else can one explain the sorry state of social services in T&T?
In denouncing some of his Ministers’ current stewardship, it is clear that PM Manning has unwittingly telegraphed that he alone has the exclusive right over the pursuit of fame, power and fortune in politics. The criteria of having a “level head and common sense” for ministerial appointment was never met by the author himself having regard to his weekly blunders and recent display of $200m of regal splendour and opulence. Now a performance audit resulting from a secretive poll is in the PM’s back pocket as the sword of Patos. The results of this suspect poll will take precedence over the democratic will of the respective PNM constituencies in new candidate selection.
Creator of such Calypso gems as “Progress”, “In Time to Come”, “Somebody”, “Steelband Woman”, “Saltfish”, “This World Don’t Like Nothing Black”, “Phillip My Dear”, “Take Me Back Africa”, “Too Young to Soca” “In Time to Come”, “Save our Domestics”, Winsford ‘Joker’ Devine is undoubtedly one of the greatest songwriters of our time. His compositions range from the bacchanal and sexual topics of the Soca genre to the serious social commentaries that analyse and enrich our social space. Over the past 40 years, his compositions have been sung by many singers including ‘Crazy’, ‘Sparrow’, Machel Montano, ‘Singing Francine’, ‘Mighty Trini’, Charlene Boodram, ‘Sugar Aloes’, Marcia Miranda, Karen Asche, ‘Poser’, ‘Baron’, ‘Explainer’, ‘Blakie’ and ‘King Austin’. Many of these songs have become classics of the Calypso artform, but in an arena where most of the public recognition goes to the singer, many persons are unaware of Joker’s involvement. In this extensive interview with TriniSoca.com, this prolific Soca/Calypso composer talks frankly and vividly about his compositions, the state of the Calypso artform and his general life experiences.