Edmund Gall's blog

A friend asked on facebook for our thoughts on whether the Opposition has the welfare of the country at heart by defeating the "hanging bill" in Parliament this week.  It triggered the usual discussion about hanging.  Along the way, he said that based on the murder stats from the years around the last set of hangings in T&T, hanging definitely is a deterrent.

According to news reports, the National Carnival Committee (NCC) is due to announce which media house has won the tender for exclusive rights to broadcast Carnival events.  As a result, media houses may be setting themselves up for a repeat of the brouhaha between CNMG and Gayelle that occurred in 2010.

I know we've come to expect bacchanal for Carnival, but it doesn't have to be that way.  I'd like to suggest an alternative for NCC's consideration.

There is a lot of misinformation in the discussions about the Charlotte Street riot involving street vendors on Monday 13th Dec 2010.  In this article, I attempt to debunk some of them.

1) Street vending is illegal

The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago released a press statement on the SIA spying issue on 18 Nov 2010, under the signature of President Martin Daly, which included its initial comments on the Interception of Communications Bill 2010 that will have its first reading in the Lower House of Parliament today.  In it, they've compa

Some folks, including politicians, have been suggesting that the public should focus on why the SIA's alleged covert spying revelations were made last week, that no one should fuss because such electronic spying is an important tool in modern crime-fighting arsenals across the world and that the government has severely harmed our security agencies' ability to protect us.  With respect, that makes no sense.

They say a week is a long time in politics.  A week ago, I thought the main news item that would've occupied the front-burner would've been the Guardian's reporting of a top government official being fingered in an alleged conspiracy to wilfully pervert the course of public justice in relation to charges against two former People’s National Movement ministers.  Or the criticisms of Hon.

On Friday 12th Nov 2010, the Hon.

Open Letter to Fazeer Mohammed,

Fazeer, once again I have to go through withdrawal symptoms, but this time it’s not your fault.  The last time it was the removal of your column in the Express.  Now, you’ve disappeared from First Up.

What the heck is going on?

Until now, I've deliberately stepped clear of the hullabaloo over our Hon. Prime Minister's (PM's) statements regarding T&T's help to neighbours affected by the passing of Tropical Storm-cum-Hurricane Tomas.  Why?  Apart from being busy otherwise, the developing issue had all the symptoms of miscommunication: news reports containing edited statements from the Hon.

According to reports, PNM and Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley criticised the government's handling of the threat posed by Tropical Storm Tomas, describing it as an over-reaction.  Dr Rowley delivered the criticism during his feature address at the PNM's Women in Politics seminar at Balisier House on Sat 30 Oct 2010.  The stories may be found in the Trinidad Express,