All posts by News

COVID-19, General T&T, Health

Fear of the needle

7 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 29, 2021

Raffique ShahOne of the fundamental though unwritten rights citizens in every country in the world enjoy is the inviolable, unfettered right to be an ass. Or a coward. From the uneducated, the ignorant, to brilliant scholars among the intelligentsia, and otherwise sensible people who are law-abiding and look and act normal in every circumstance, aberrations occur that debunk the presumption that every human being is endowed with some degree of intelligence, acting totally irrational, asinine in the extreme, leaving sane and sober people around to ponder if they are looking at and listening to men or animals, no disrespect intended for the latter species.
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General T&T, Politics

Find—Not Seek

27 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 22, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDuring my late teens, I was a passionate consumer and participant of the wisdom that was dispensed, free of charge, at the University of Woodford Square. I remember the atheistic comments that erupted from John Craig’s mouth and I was afraid of and for him. How could someone so blatantly berate a God who controlled our destiny and even knew that we would bounce our feet before it happened? Although these discourses and diatribes were conducted in a sarcastic manner, they were always humorous, non-threatening, and tolerant.
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General T&T, Oil and Gas, PNM, Politics

Afterword on ALNG Train I

7 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 22, 2021

Raffique ShahMaybe the headline of my column today should read instead, ‘Thanks, PM, for standing up for TT against immense odds’, which would surely incur the ire of a large number of citizens of this country who, I am convinced, bow their heads in hypocritical reverence every night when they communicate with their Gods, beseeching Her to cast failure after failure on the incumbent PNM government. Their bitter hatred for Keith Rowley is all that matters. It’s more than enough reason to create chaos, confusion and collapse, blame for which can be heaped on the said Rowley.
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COVID-19, General T&T, Health

Is this really a pandemic of the unvaccinated?

24 Comments

By Kevin Baldeosingh
November 20, 2021 – trinidadexpress.com

Kevin BaldeosinghIn virtually every statement issued by the Ministry of Health (MoH), the public is assured that this is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”.

My question is, how do they know?

If the MoH has been doing contact tracing that proves unjabbed people are the ones infecting others, they haven’t said so.
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Politics

Millions in US$ for unreliable desal water

1 Comment

By Gerry Kangalee
November 16, 2021

lettersWASA recently, and once again, announced the shutdown for maintenance of the desalination plant (DESALCOTT) the supply from which it pays, according to the Draft Estimates of Income and Expenditure for the Financial Year 2021, $US72 million per year.

Yes, you heard me, millions of United States dollars for a water supply that is locked off every Monday morning much to the distress of consumers, particularly in the South Western Region of the country. (This is the third shutdown since September). Sometimes the reason is given as planned maintenance, sometimes as emergency repairs and sometimes as raw water quality issues. Make of it, what you will!
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Crime in T&T, Domestic Violence, General T&T, Violence

The Loss of Innocence

4 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 15, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe recent upsurge of religious voices calling upon God to intervene in the carnival of atrocities that our country is experiencing occurred when the corpse of 26-year-old Kezia Janeka Guerra was found in a shallow grave in Maracas, St. Joseph. Father Knolly Clarke intoned: “I am concerned about this violence against women. There is violence permeating society. I don’t know what’s wrong with the men. It’s a challenging time, especially during Covid-19 time. Then you have to deal with violence against people all the time. It’s a sad moment in our history. I think we need to run programmes that would help people to understand each other. Teach young men and women to respect each other.” (Express, November 6).
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COVID-19, Elections, General T&T, Health, PNM, Politics, Tobago

Odd SoE decision

3 Comments

Express Editorial
November 15, 2021 – trinidadexpress.com

PM Dr Keith RowleyGiven the Prime Minister’s statement that he had no intention of seeking an extension of the state of emergency when it came to a natural end at month-end, we, too, are taken aback by his decision to end the SoE on Wednesday, 12 days ahead if its scheduled end.
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Elections, General T&T, Labour, Politics, THA, Tobago

Fear of Stupidity

2 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 15, 2021

Raffique ShahIf Nazi leader Adolf Hitler were around today, he would be simmering in glory and bursting with pride as he watched the modern world finally come to embrace his lunatic rants that passed for an ideology, namely Nazism, which extolled the supremacy of the Aryan race, namely pure-bred white Germans, first and foremast, then others at their designated stations in life, starting with the Europeans of 100 percent pure Aryan blood at the top—the masters—with others—classless whites, contaminated whites, Asians, Africans and finally Jews, those being the survivors of the calamitous conflicts that culminated in him finally being recognised as the Fuhrer, the Emperor, the Maximum Leader of this all-conquering new world.
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Barbados, Caribbean, Environment, General T&T

Playing Smart…

5 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 08, 2021

“Why boasteth thyself/Oh, evil men/ Playing smart/ And not being clever?/ I said, you’re working iniquity/ To achieve vanity (if a-so a so)/ But the goodness of Jah, Jah/I-dureth for-I-ever.”

—Bob Marley, “Small Axe”

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeBarbados, the tiny Caribbean island with just about 287,371 souls “has been punching well above its weight of late,” says the Black Agenda Report (November 3). In fact, many people within the global community have taken note of Mia Mottley’s (Barbados Prime Minister) speech, “Get Up, Stand Up,” that she delivered to the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York last September, and now the world is buzzing (certainly those people in the Black and Brown world) over her “impassioned address,” to COP26, the UN Climate Conference held in Glasgow, Scotland.
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COVID-19, General T&T, Health

Playing Smart with Foolishness

7 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 08, 2021

Raffique ShahLast Friday, I think it was, I was multi-tasking, as tech-savvy people would say—I was listening to the midday news on a radio frequency, reading an interesting online report on the global economy, and watching the muted television set where a T20 match was underway—when I shook my head vigorously to see if my instant-recall brain cells were still serving me better than Google, and they were. The news presenter did say that 14 persons had died from Covid-related issues, presumably during the previous 24 hours.
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