By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 10, 2007
Trinbagonians have much for which they should be thankful although I am not too sure that we always realize it. Today, our wages are the highest in the Caribbean; our per capita income stands at about $11,000 US; and we enjoy many modern conveniences. Yet, like Oliver Twist, the cry goes out for more. Surprisingly, we never think much about who or what is responsible for our economic success which is why on June 19, 2007, we need to give thanks and praises to those brothers and sisters who fought so gallantly to make us who we are and those who were responsible for bringing us to where we are today.
Continue reading Counting Our Blessings
After overcoming the initial shock of television networks across the world featuring this country in an alleged plot to “blow up the JFK airport” in New York, I could not help but break into peals of laughter. The first giggle came when the US networks featured the sorry picture of the alleged mastermind, Russell De Freitas. This “Sad Sack”, as The New York Times dubbed him, looked incapable of blowing hot air with any force, far less deal the US a “blow more devastating than 9/11”, as a State Department spokeswoman insisted.
We hear about people dying in Africa because of civil wars, or because they didn’t have a few dollars for medicine or malaria nets. We regret that their corrupt governments cause these problems and make our aid ineffective. On the surface this is indeed the reason for their problems. But if we look more deeply at the effects of our need for oil and minerals, we arrive at a different conclusion. We find the existence of ‘rentier’ states such as the Republic of Congo, Chad, and Nigeria, where once-healthy and self-sustaining agricultural countries have effectively rented themselves out to a demanding western world by focusing on the sale of one valuable commodity that doesn’t offer any benefits to the masses.
Jamaat al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr, speaking at a press conference, said his group had nothing to do with the so-called plot to bomb JFK International Airport in New York. Speaking with the Associated Press, Imam Bakr said he knows nothing about the alleged plot which has lead to the arrest of three Caribbean nationals, two from Guyana and one from Trinidad and Tobago.