Tag Archives: Selwyn R. Cudjoe

Gender, General T&T, Media, People's Partnership, Politics

The Corrupting Influence of the People’s Partnership

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 11, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI did not know Fazeer Mohamed well. He interviewed me on First Up once and did a good job although he was rude to me before the programme began. I chalked that up to the incivility that some of our public and private officials/servants indulge in most of the time. It simply goes with the territory. However such incivility cannot take anything away from the frightening implications of Mr. Mohammed’s firing that took place last Saturday in spite of the inelegant excuse that it was a part of a cost-cutting exercise.
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Crime in T&T, Gender, General T&T, Law, Violence

Profiles in Courage & Love

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 03, 2010

ViolenceOne will never know what transpired between Sarbrina Lall-Mitchell and her murderer. Sometimes love relations go awry with devastating consequences. No one has ever explained fully why feelings that seem to so wonderfully new when love first dawns turns so completely into its opposite when loves dies and the deadly serpent of jealousy entangles the human breast.
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Education, General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM

Making UTT a National University

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 27, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am sure that Sat Maharaj’s would say that ah follow fashion. However, the truth is that his recent discussion of UTT, its academic standards and it place in the society reminded me of questions I raised two years ago when Ghana’s former President John Kufoor visited Trinidad and I made an address in his presence. Just for the record, my speech can be found on trinicenter.com on August 6 2008. My interest in this matter goes back a long way. This contribution only adds to Sat’s concerns. At least, there are some things on which we agree.
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COP, General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Leveraging Incompetence

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 14, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am sure that People’s Partnership took a long time to select the three hundred persons they elected to the various state enterprises, statutory bodies, regional health authorities and key ambassadorial positions. In making her selection, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar enunciated two broad principles: a determination to make the correct choices and no one could sit on more than one board.
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General T&T, Health, International

Human Guinea Pigs

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 06, 2010

Scientist injecting patient in Tuskegee Syphilis StudyIt was a stunning announcement. The news reverberated around the world: United States researcher Government guilty of intentionally injecting hundreds of Guatemalans, including institutionalized mental patients, with gonorrhea and syphilis without their knowledge or permission. From 1946 to 1948, Dr. John Cutler and his colleagues conducted their studies with the blessings of the United States Health authorities and the Guatemalan government.
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General T&T, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics, Race and Identity

Jack Warner: H.N.I.C.

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 29, 2010

Jack WarnerIt was one of those incomprehensible statements: “I am the Head N…. In Charge.” That was Jack Warner’s major contribution to the recent Budget Debate. If we use Jack’s logic in a society such as ours, the following corollary suggests itself: if there is a “Head N…In Charge” there must be a “Head C…. In Charge.” It is a philosophical proposition of which this is the logical conclusion.
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Caribbean, Court, General T&T, International, Law, Media, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics

Talking From Both Sides of Her Mouth

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 23, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA few days ago the Honorary Prime Minister, Kamla Persad Bissessar addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Among other things she recognized that “the passport out of poverty is through education, community empowerment and social entrepreneurship.” She also acknoweldged that 16.7 percent of our people still live below the poverty line; 11.7 per cent are considered working poor whereas 9 per cent are deemed vulnerable. The goal, she says, is to reduce poverty by 2 per cent per year.
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General T&T, Media, People's Partnership, Politics

Taking Stock of Our Democracy

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 16, 2010

Andy JohnsonEveryone remembers when Justice Herbert Volney bus’ it and became the victorious representative of the people of St. Joseph. One day he was a justice of the court the next day he was a UNC candidate. Although Sat Maharaj pointed out that other members of the judiciary had ties to politics and politicians the Volney bomb touched a delicate part of the nation. We made a lot of noise about Volney’s defection but everyone in Trinidad and Tobago – the country that God has especially blessed – knows everything is a one-day wonder. Folks made noise about his ethical nature of the defection but soon it was yesterday’s news.
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Complaints, Crime in T&T, Death Penalty, General T&T, International, Law, People's Partnership, Politics, Violence

Corrupting the Minds of the Young

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 08, 2010

Jack WarnerI was in Italy when the scandal about the cheating of the Pakistani cricketers broke. When I got back to England last Monday, it was the only thing one read about in the English newspaper; the major story one heard on television. One would have thought that the Pakistanis had violated English honor and brought the gentleman’s game into absolute disrepute. It was not so much that the Parkistanis had cheated on the outcome of the game. They were accused on cheating of discrete aspects of the game such as bowling one or two deliberate no-balls which we are told resulted in the loss or gain of hundreds to thousand of dollars to criminal elements.
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Culture, General T&T

Ponte Vecchio, Florence

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 01, 2010

DancersEven as a teenager I was attracted to the arts. When I participated in the Arts Festival (I think that was the correct name) that preceded the Better Village Program inaugurated by Dr. Eric Williams in 1964, I acted under Errol Hill, learned public speaking with his sister Jean Herbert and choral-speaking under David King, a true village patriot of Tacarigua. These stalwarts labored in the artistic vineyards to produce a more responsive citizenry and to cultivate a more rounded aesthetic sensibility that was appropriate for a nation that was coming into being.
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