All posts by News

COVID-19, General T&T, Health, Politics

Departing on arrival day

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By Raffique Shah
May 31, 2021

Raffique ShahIn the event that you may have just awakened from a Rip shocking it might seem to you, it’s not just T&T; the world is at war…has been for almost one and a half years.

Just so you get right, we have already lost more than 400 lives in the war against Covid-19, with many more wounded, tens of thousands dislocated. Globally, some 3.5 million souls have returned to God, or wherever such poor buggers go, and mankind’s forces have suffered an estimated 170 million light-to-moderate casualties.
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Africa, France, General T&T, International, Rwanda

Rwanda: Macron admits French responsibility in genocide

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France had for “too long” valued “silence over the examination of the truth” when it came to its complicity in the 1994 massacre that killed around 800,000 people, President Emmanuel Macron says.

By Deutsche Welle – May 27, 2021

Human skulls at the Nyamata Genocide Memorial CentreFrench President Emmanuel Macron admitted French responsibility in the Rwandan genocide, during a visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali on Thursday.

“Standing here today, with humility and respect, by your side, I have come to recognize our responsibilities,” Macron said in a speech at the Kigali Genocide Memorial where more than 250,000 Tutsi are buried.
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General T&T, International, Racism Watch, USA

U.S. Marks 100th Anniversary of Tulsa Race Massacre

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U.S. Marks 100th Anniversary of Tulsa Race Massacre, When White Mob Destroyed “Black Wall Street”

May 28, 2021 – democracynow.org

U.S. Marks 100th Anniversary of Tulsa Race Massacre, When White Mob Destroyed Black Wall Street

Memorial Day marks the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in U.S. history, when the thriving African American neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma — known as “Black Wall Street” — was burned to the ground by a white mob. An estimated 300 African Americans were killed and over 1,000 injured.
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Africa, General T&T, Germany, International, Namibia, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Germany recognises colonial ‘genocide’ in Namibia

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Germany calls atrocities ‘genocide’ but omits the words ‘reparations’ or ‘compensation’ from a joint statement

By Philip Oltermann, in Berlin
May 28, 2021 – theguardian.com

The Forgotten Genocide: Herero and Nama, 1904Germany has to agreed to pay Namibia €1.1bn (£940m) as it officially recognised the Herero-Nama genocide at the start of the 20th century, in what Angela Merkel’s government says amounts to a gesture of reconciliation but not legally binding reparations.

Tens of thousands of men, women and children were shot, tortured or driven into the Kalahari desert to starve by German troops between 1904 and 1908 after the Herero and Nama tribes rebelled against colonial rule in what was then named German South West Africa and is now Namibia.
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COVID-19, General T&T, Health, Politics

NCRHA meets to discuss transferred doctors today apology

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By Gail Alexander
May 27, 2021 – guardian.co.tt

DoctorsThe board of the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) will meet today to discuss a call by 11 doctors for the reinstatement of and an apology to four senior doctors who were recently transferred from the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility.

The board’s meeting this morning will examine a call made by the 11 senior medical practitioners, who’ve insisted the board immediately do a probe into why the four senior specialist doctors were removed from the Couva Hospital recently.
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Education, General T&T, Jamaica

National heroes and history

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 24, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA few weeks ago I listened to young Jamaican student Deane Weatherly talk about the importance of Queen Nanny of the Jamaican Maroons to her and Jamaican national life.

Queen Nanny, the leader of one of the country’s maroon groups, defeated the British in the 18th century, thereby establishing Nanny Town, a maroon town in the Blue Mountain region.
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General T&T, Health, International, Israel, Palestine, USA

Respect conventions of war

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By Raffique Shah
May 24, 2021

Raffique ShahAn amazing contradiction that is embedded in the dissemination of information via technology that seems to evolve at a dizzying pace is how easy it is to fool massive numbers of people into believing glaring lies. Disinformation, a craft that is as old as civilisation itself, which has been used in warfare and in politics from ancient times to today, remains a weapon of mass confusion in the armories of sovereign states as much as parties that could, and have, catapulted many of them into power against immense odds.
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General T&T, International, Israel, Palestine

Palestinian Lives Matter

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 17, 2021

“We need to solve our problems without causing a civil war that can be a danger to our existence.”

—President Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn 1963, Martin Luther King was imprisoned in a Birmingham jail for leading a nonviolent demonstration against American segregation. As he sat in that jail, he responded to the concerns of eight white religious leaders who condemned his participation in that struggle for justice. He noted: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
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COVID-19, General T&T, Health, PNM, UNC

Politicians lying, people dying

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By Raffique Shah
May 17, 2021

Raffique ShahAs the spike in Covid-related infections and deaths rocketed almost exponentially over the past three weeks or so leaving many citizens stunned, people who sought guidance and leadership from politicians were assaulted with a cacophony of discordant notes that sounded like the braying of a pack of ancient jackasses.

What else could we expect from what passes for politics in this country? Imagine if you will a nation in Covid-induced-crisis that descended upon us after some powerfully stupid people believed their mystically motivated leaders who told them first that Covid was a hoax, then said it could be cured by sunshine, and later switched to acquiring vaccines for immunizing the population against what, less than one year ago was a hoax. Only in Trinidad.
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General T&T, Passed on, Sports, USA

The legacy of Terrence Clarke

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 10, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTerrence Clarke was on the cusp of achieving the goal to which he had aspired for the 19 years of his life: a career in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

In 2021, he was regarded as one of the best shooting guards in US colleges and universities (Kentucky Wildcats Basketball). All the major professional basketball teams wanted him to be a part of their programmes, but he wanted to play for the Boston Celtics. Terrence idolised Rajon Rondo, a member of the Boston Celtics from 2006 to 2014, and an elite member of the NBA.
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