Category Archives: USA

Cuba, General T&T, International, USA

Cuba and the USA: the long thaw begins

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By Raffique Shah
December 20, 2014

Raffique ShahI confess I was surprised when, last Wednesday, announcements from Washington and Havana confirmed that the United States and Cuba had agreed to restore diplomatic relations and work towards the normalisation of other relations, especially trade and travel between the two countries.

I did not think that President Barack Obama had the fortitude to dismantle a 50-plus-year anachronism that lingered as the last vestige of the Cold War that all but ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
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International, Racism Watch, USA

Dr. Selwyn Cudjoe’s Remarks to the Wellesley Council

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Remarks to Academic Council,
Wellesley College
Faculty Assembly Room
December 10, 2014

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAs one of the few black men on this faculty, I could not let this opportunity pass without offering a few remarks.

On Wednesday, April 19, 1989, a white middle class woman, a promising young investment banker at Salomon Brothers with a degree from Wellesley College and Yale University was raped as she was jogging through Central Park, New York. The suspects were five black and Latino young men, some with dubious school records from Harlem. The police coined a new term for what they were doing: they called it wilding, to describe the beating up of random victims. On May 29, about five weeks later, the New York Times wrote: “A 28-year investment banker, jogging through Central Park, was attacked by a group of teenagers. They kicked and beat her in the head with a pipe and raped her. The teenagers, who were from East Harlem, were quickly arrested.”
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General T&T, International, Law, Murder, Racism Watch, USA

Decoding racial tensions in United States

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
November 27, 2014
Updated: December 05, 2014

Dr. Kwame NantambuThe 24 November 2014 “no indictment for officer Wilson” verdict arrived at by the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, in regard to the shooting and killing of the unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown and the subsequent 3rd December “no indictment” verdict by a grand jury in Staten Island, New York City, in favor of a white police officer in the New York Police Department (NYPD), Daniel Pantaleo, for the “chokehold death” of another unarmed, forty-six year-old African-American man, Eric Garner, speak massive volumes as to the omnipresence of racial tensions/distrust between the Black community and white police officers across the United States.
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Africa, Caribbean, Cuba, General T&T, International, Media, USA

Ralph Maraj’s Myopia

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By Dr. Selwyn Cudjoe
October 22, 2014

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeRECENTLY, I had a lively debate with Ralph Maraj on Cuba and its successes on i95 FM Showdown programme. Mr Maraj insisted that nothing good could come out of Cuba because Cuba has failed as a socialist society and there is “no freedom in that country”. I tried to convince him that Cuba has emerged as a leader on the world stage in areas of health care and education and there is little crime to speak of in that country. He insisted that Cuba was worthy only of condemnation.
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General T&T, International, Iraq, Security, Syria, USA

10 Myths About Obama’s Latest War in Iraq and Syria

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By Reese Erlich
October 03, 2014 – reeseerlich.com

ISILVeteran foreign correspondent Reese Erlich was in northern Iraq at the start of the U.S. bombing campaign against Islamic State. He interviewed Kurdish leaders, peshmerga fighters and U.S. officials. He says the reality on the ground is far different from the propaganda coming out of Washington.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, International, People's Partnership, Politics, USA

Rowley blasts TT support of UN security resolution

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Sunday, September 28 2014
www.newsday.co.tt

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarOpposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday lambasted Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for Trinidad and Tobago’s co-sponsorship of a United Nations Security Council resolution on the fight against terrorism saying it was best for TT to have passed up on the occasion.

TT cannot afford to declare war on terrorists “at a time when you can stay away, ” Rowley said.
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International, Religion, Security, USA

How the US Helped Create Al Qaeda and ISIS

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By Garikai Chengu
September 20, 2014 – counterpunch.org

ISILMuch like Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is Made in the USA, an instrument of terror designed to divide and conquer the oil-rich Middle East and to counter Iran’s growing influence in the region. The fact that the United States has a long and torrid history of backing terrorist groups will surprise only those who watch the news and ignore history.
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General T&T, International, Murder, USA, Venezuela

All hands stained with blood

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By Raffique Shah
July 20, 2014

Raffique ShahNot surprisingly, they are all pointing “holier than thou” fingers at each other following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that killed close to 300 innocent people.

The Ukrainian government accuses pro-Russian separatists in the area where the tragedy occurred of firing a Russia-supplied missile that brought the passenger plane down. America and much of Europe concur, with blood-curdling calls for the “terrorists” to be brought to justice.
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General T&T, International, Passed on, USA

Trini-born US fallen soldier to be honoured Sunday

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By Marlene Augustine
July 4 2014 – newsday.co.tt

Operation Iraqi FreedomOn Sunday, July 6, Marli Street will be co-named with that of Private First Class (PFC) Le Ron Adrian Wilson, a Trinidad-born, US soldier who died at the age of 18, while serving in “Operation Iraqi Freedom” in Baghdad, in 2007.

In a release from the Port-of-Spain Corporation, it was stated that the name of PFC Le Ron Wilson Way, will be added to Marli Street in dedication of this young soldier who fell in the line of duty.

Mayor of Port-of-Spain, Raymond Tim Kee and members of the council will collaborate with the Ministry of National Security, the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force and the United States Embassy to pay tribute at the historic event. A memorial service will proceed at the All Saints Church at 3.30 pm, immediately followed by an unveiling of the name plaque to be added to Marli Street.
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