By Raffique Shah Sunday, June 14th 2009 www.trinidadandtobagonews.com CARIBBEAN unity is an imperative for the survival of small island states like ours. But it seems to be coming apart at the seams, thanks to our tactless and egotistic leaders. Our disintegration comes at a time when much of the world is moving towards some form … Continue reading Caricom: backward ever, forward never
By Derren Joseph June 06, 2009 Trinidad and Tobago News Blog www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog In difficult economic times, the sensitive issue of immigration tends to get even more sensitive. It is hard not to notice this. In England for example, there is much debate about an apparent increase in popularity of a far-right political party called the … Continue reading ‘We are the land of opportunity’
By Raffique Shah Sunday, May 17th 2009 FRANKLY, I don’t give a flying fig whether President Max Richards opts to stay in a ski-lodge in the Alps for the entire summer, or he and Mrs Richards rent a castle in Austria, or they drop in on Denis Solomon at his “remote cottage” in north Italy, … Continue reading Integrity Act must be fair to all
By Dr. Kwame Nantambu May 16, 2009 The recent domino-like collapse of the membership of the Integrity Commission brings to the fore the stark reality of the co-existence of dictatorship politics in the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the President of T&T. The fact of the matter is that the decision … Continue reading Presidential dictatorship/pappyshow in T&T
By Sean Douglas Thursday, April 30 2009 PRIME Minister Patrick Manning said the Fifth Summit of the Americas is earning TT and Caricom more respect and foreign investment. Addressing the 20th anniversary celebration ceremony of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) on Tuesday, at the Diplomatic Centre, he boasted: “There can be no doubt about the … Continue reading PM again boasts of Summit
THE EDITOR: Well, the summit has come and gone. The naked emperor has worshipped at the altar of his own egoism. But at what cost? The next circus is going to be the reckoning of what costs are to be attributed to the summit and what costs are not. It’s all downhill from here. The … Continue reading Life After the Summit
By Raffique Shah Sunday, April 26th 2009 PRIME Minister Patrick Manning seems surprised that so many people are angry over this country hosting the Fifth Summit of the Americas. I wrote a few weeks ago that having committed the country to the summit when he did, he no doubt thought that we could afford that … Continue reading Caring too much about image
– 04/17/09 Text Good evening. I am honored to join you here today, and I want to thank Prime Minister Manning, the people of Trinidad and Tobago for their generosity in hosting the Fifth Summit of the Americas. And I want to extend my greetings to all the heads of state, many of who I … Continue reading President Obama’s Opening Statement at Americas Summit
By Raffique Shah Sunday, April 12th 2009 ONE agenda item that no doubt crops up at every Summit of the Americas is the illegal drug trade. The two main mind-altering drugs produced, traded and used in the Western Hemisphere are marijuana and cocaine. Note-I have not mentioned alcohol, which is also mind-altering but which has … Continue reading Sober suggestions for summit war on drugs
By Raffique Shah Sunday, March 29th 2009 Let us forget for a moment the “spring cleaning” exercise the Government has undertaken in preparation for the Fifth Summit of the Americas. True, we all tend to put our best faces forward when we invite visitors to our homes. But one cannot live in an unholy dump … Continue reading Summit for neglected majority