Monthly Archives: July 2018

General T&T, PNM, Politics, UNC

Open Yo’ Eyes & Ears, PNM…

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 30, 2018

“Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not.” — Jeremiah 5:21

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAny party that has any pretensions to be relevant to its people needs to take time out to listen to what they are saying. The recent by-election came and went. The United National Congress won a seat—it increased its margin of victory-and the People’s National Movement (PNM) lost a seat—its margin of victory decreased. One would think the ruling party would examine why it didn’t do as well as it wanted to.
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Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, PNM, Police

Looking for a commissioner or a “Bobolee”?

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By Raffique Shah
July 25, 2018

Raffique ShahI pity the poor bugger who finds favour with both government and opposition parties to be appointed the new Commissioner of Police. If that wretched soul happens to be Captain Gary Grffith as reported in the Sunday Express, then I’ll do something I’ve not done in 50-odd years: I’ll fall on my knees and pray that Jah makes the purgatory of that post easy for him for the few months that he would become the “Chief Bobolee” to blame for the crime epidemic that no mortal can mitigate, far less eradicate.
Continue reading Looking for a commissioner or a “Bobolee”? →

England, General T&T, International

Britain Bracing for A Catastrophic Brexit Ides of March 2019

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By Stephen Kangal
July 24, 2018
Croydon England

Stephen KangalRed flags and red lines in anticipation of a no deal Brexit with the UK crashing out of the EU come 30 March next year are causing dark clouds of a doomsday scenario to gather over the skies of Britain and the 27 remaining EU countries in what could produce a most disruptive and an unprecedented chaos on both banks of the Channel. A mood of pessimism, political disenchantment in discredited Westminster politics and declining business confidence are increasingly generating traction about a no-deal given the EU’s negative reaction to the Chequers Plan that has been described as unworkable by EU chief negotiator, Francophonie Michel Barnier.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, PNM, Politics, UNC

Preparing the Way for Kamla – Pt 8

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 24, 2018

PART 8

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhen a government cannot even buy a boat to convey its citizens from point A to point B; select a commissioner of police as its murder rate soars; or be up front enough to tell its citizens the cost of building a hotel it says is in their best interest, then that government has lost its raison d’etre to lead.

Any party that says it represents the interest of a particular group but which, after sixty-two years in existence, that group is relatively worse off than before, then that party needs to question its performance? That party may even need to reinvent itself to accommodate the wishes of that group.
Continue reading Preparing the Way for Kamla – Pt 8 →

General T&T

Trump Demolition Derby Continued Unabated in Helsinki

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By Stephen Kangal
July 18, 2018

Stephen KangalNo world leader today except perhaps Vladimir Putin can now feel safe and insulated from the egotistical decline, hubris, narcissistic compulsive obsessions and the tantrums of President Trump having now bequeathed a trail of destruction and diplomatic debris in the aftermath of his recently concluded European safari. Perhaps the baby blimp that overshadowed and distracted from his tour of Britain is sadly reflective of his immature modus operandi as the US President.

In fact in the face of his weak and embarrassing prostration and beholden before his friend Putin (former KGB operative) in Helsinki he would appear to be a threat to the peace, good order and indeed the security of the West given his NATO position and anti-EU policy. Putin has an undisclosed file on Trump that constricts his pronouncements on the ‘competitor’.
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General T&T, Oil and Gas, PNM, Politics, UNC

Petrotrin: all of them must go!

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By Raffique Shah
July 18, 2018

Raffique ShahBecause of the interest generated by my column last week on State-owned Petrotrin and the fact that the country has awakened to a possible disaster at our doorstep in the fate of the struggling oil giant, I thought I should return to add a few more salient points to the national discussion that will likely determine its future.

I claim no expertise in the oil industry, and certainly not on Petrotrin. However, I have, over the years, tried to educate myself on the hydrocarbons and petrochemicals industries in order to better understand these engines of our economy. Besides accessing information that is available in print and online, I have interfaced with many workers, technocrats and experts to whom I am grateful for sharing their vast knowledge with me.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, UNC

Preparing the Way for Kamla – Pt 7

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 18, 2018

PART 7

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn July 14, 2003, my mother took her bath, got dressed, went to the polling station located at St. Mary’s Children Home, Tacarigua, and voted for PNM. Two weeks later she was dead. She never voted for any other party in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

When Eric Williams arrived on the political scene in 1954 my mother worked in a white woman’s kitchen. When he defied the colonial powers and proclaimed the dignity of black and brown people (“Massa Day Done,” he proclaimed), my mother saw him as a political messiah and PNM as the vehicle to take her out of a house of bondage and into a land of liberty.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, PNM, Police, Politics

Citizens Deserve the Imbert Treatment Too

By Tyehimba Salandy
July 16, 2018

Colm ImbertThe recent incident of the Minister of Finance Colm Imbert’s son being robbed provided one more example of something that most Trinbagonians know deeply. That is, the law firstly and most responsively serves the elite members of the society. After being robbed on Friday, the phone was recovered on Monday in the Beetham area. Ordinary citizens were understandably outraged because the speedy police action was much different to what they may be accustomed to in similar cases.
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General T&T, Oil and Gas, PNM, UNC

Petrotrin: radical surgery…or die

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Br Raffique Shah
July 12, 2018

Raffique ShahI never thought I’d one day write a column that says what I’m about to. But as someone who has always put country before personal or ideological interests regardless of the fire I faced, I feel compelled to endorse calls for a radical restructuring of State-owned oil company Petrotrin.

If there is resistance to life-saving changes, declare the damn company bankrupt and shut it down.
Continue reading Petrotrin: radical surgery…or die →

England, General T&T, International

Theresa May Not Survive the Impending Brexit Implosion

By Stephen Kangal
July 11, 2018

Stephen KangalWith the resignations of the British Brexit and Foreign Secretaries, Messrs Davis and Johnson, the Brexit seismology has assumed the dimensions, challenges and divisiveness of the metaphorical Pandora’s Box prematurely opened up by a discarded former PM David Cameron who was its first Prime Ministerial victim. Theresa May is likely to become the second very soon.

The several waves and concentric circles of uncertainties spawned by this political economic issue are destabilising every aspect of British economic life with the only respite and antidote against the Brexit contagion being generated by the promising fortunes of the English soccer team at the World Cup in Russia.
Continue reading Theresa May Not Survive the Impending Brexit Implosion →