Vaulting ambition & PNM’s reincarnation
May 24, 2025
The cracks in the PNM’s hegemony became more prominent after its defeat in the last general election. Power and cowardice hid these fissures for a long time. All one sees within the PNM now is “vaulting ambition, which o’er-leaps itself/ And falls on th’ other”. (Macbeth) This reckless ambition will lead the party into an abyss. Full Article

Defending black excellence against Trump’s academic assault
May 17, 2025
Last Thursday morning, I left Boston to attend the graduation of my second grandson from Morehouse College, “the storied Atlanta school” (The New York Times, May 13). This was a change in the institutions of higher education my immediate family attended. Full Article

No longer blinded by their lyin’ eyes
May 10, 2025
Some years ago I wrote of a conversation I had with Aaron St John from East Port of Spain. He spoke about the dilapidated condition of the South East Port Spain Secondary School and its surroundings: “I have been reading your articles for a while and I want to invite you to come and take a look at East Port of Spain where we live. I am 41 years old and was born in this city. It has not changed for all of my life. It remains the same dirty, nasty, undeveloped, unprotected place and it’s only getting worse and more dangerous. Full Article

Magnanimity in victory
May 03, 2025
The United National Congress’ (UNC) overwhelming victory last Monday was nothing short of spectacular. One of my colleagues called it an Eric Williams moment, meaning that Trinibagonians had inaugurated an important turning point in our social and political history: the decimation of an old stultifying order as they ushered in a new social and political era. Full Article

The Mother of Our Nation
April 26, 2025
When we achieved national independence on August 31, 1962, Dr Eric Williams became the FATHER OF OUR NATION. When Kamla Persad-Bissessar is elected tomorrow she will become the MOTHER OF OUR NATION. It will be a necessary corrective act: after all, we cannot have a father of a nation without having a MOTHER OF OUR NATION. Full Article

Five dogs and a shovel
April 19, 2025
Once John Jeremie, Kennedy Swaratsingh and yours truly supported UNC publicly, darkness would seek to prevail over light, stupidity would try to dwarf intelligence, and moral degeneracy would erupt with diabolic fierceness.
Full Article

Why I will vote UNC
April 12, 2025
By 1959, party politics had taken hold on the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Michael Kangalee (he now calls himself Krishna, his middle name), my schoolmate at Tacarigua EC, supported the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that was led by Bhadase Sagan Maraj. I supported PNM, which was led by Eric Williams. Neither of us could vote but we followed our parents and villagers’ preference in expressing our party allegiances. Undoubtedly, our political position was shaped in part by our racial (not racist) affiliation. Years later, I went to the United States, and Krishna went on to live in Canada via England. Full Article

Young’s leadership, trauma, and the politics of bullying
April 05, 2025
When serving as prime minister, Patrick Manning rendered two insightful judgments on the former Leader of Our Grief and Sorrow. He said: “When he cannot have his way, Mr Speaker, his method is to bully you...We do not tolerate bullying in the secondary school system...The minute you oppose my good friend, he gets very, very angry. And if you oppose him strongly, he becomes a raging bull.” Full Article

Discarded human beings
March 29, 2025
On Tuesday about 1.20 p.m. I went to First Citizens bank in Tunapuna to transact some business. I wanted to find out my balance and the last deposits and withdrawals that I made. I am aware that if I had Internet banking I could have conducted that exercise from the comfort of my home. Full Article

Stuart’s abracadabra moment
March 22, 2025
Last week was an unfortunate one for our democracy. Words were thrown around as though they possessed little meaning. A profound change is taking place in our democracy, but the political elite could not summon the necessary language to capture that moment. Full Article

Cooked coo coo and Obeah obsessions
March 15, 2025
In the end, it comes down to the total miscalculation of a man who talks about responsibility but is averse to planning for the future. He never examines any issue facing the country deeply enough. Now, he insists “our coo coo will be cooked if the Dragon gas deal with Venezuela goes sour”. He even asked his fellow citizens “to send your telepathic power to overcome the negative nonsense about the failure of the Dragon deal”. Full Article

PNM's obtuse rationalisations
March 08, 2025
Blissfully, the Leader of Our Grief and Sorrow will soon relieve us of our miseries. Unfortunately, he leaves his clones behind who know not what they say or do. Chief among them are Faris Al-Rawi, a former attorney general, and Stuart Young, our first unelected prime minister. Full Article

Absolute foolishness
March 01, 2025
"Absolute foolishness." Those were the words the Leader of Our Grief and Sorrow used when he described "the heavy foreign exchange spending on Carnival costumes...He insists that costumes are not investments" (Guardian, February 26). Such statements are "absolute nonsense" and "absolute foolishness" combined in one. Full Article