Category: corruption

That Which Must Not Be Named

May 1, 2010 by Edmund Gall

According to members of the new political coalition in T&T, Mr Calder Hart is expected to return to the country on Monday 3rd May 2010 to be formally charged with perjury.  The COP's Vernon de Lima is reported to have said:

"We understand that an application will thereafter be made to gag discussion on issues relating to Calder Hart. That means to say that a judge of the High Court will be approached by application that an order be made that nobody in Trinidad and Tobago, including any politician, any newspaper, media, can say anything about Mr Hart, having regard to the fact that he is under criminal charge ...That application will be made ex parte - that is without the judge hearing the input of anybody else but Mr Hart’s attorney."

So there is fear that, if the ex parte gag order is granted, from 03 May 2010, no-one will be able to write or mention Mr Calder Hart in the media without risking legal sanctions.  If this were true, perhaps the realms of eastern royalty and magic can provide a suitable workaround.

The country of Thailand has implemented lèse majesté laws since 1908. Lèse majesté is the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.  There is current turmoil amongst the business class of Thailand relating to their fear of a destabilising royal succession - the current, widely beloved King of Thailand is 82 years old and his prospective successors aren't all popular - but the lèse majesté laws discourage frank talk about it.  According to the Economist's leader on 20 Mar 2010, "As father fades, his children fight": {Read more}

Waxing Poetic About Innovation: Where De Man Wit De Hammer Gone?

December 12, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

I apologize in advance for what is a very long post, but I found it necessary in writing it and could  not find a reasonable way to break it into smaller pieces. Hopefully it isn't too burdensome to read.

When I read that Trinidad and Tobago ranked low in global innovation, I wasn't too surprised. And since, in some circles, I am considered an innovator because of one thing I was involved in some years ago... I have to write something about it. Innovation is closer to my heart than just about anything - or anyone.

When you speak of innovation (as I have been asked to here and there), it's easy to get caught up in abstract concepts framed by our own experiences. So let us start with the etymology of the word innovate - which was derived from the Latin innovatus, whose root is innovare. Literally translated,  it means 'into new'.

Renew. Change. That's what 'innovate' means. But when most people speak of innovation, they immediately start thinking of silicon-based life enhancements. That's wrong.

Innovation is greater than technology. Innovation is a mindset. Innovation is what keeps innovators up at night. It makes us disgruntled. It makes us unhappy. It can make us euphoric. It can make us extremely happy. As Nikola Tesla put it: {Read more}

Saying Nothing With Mouths Moving

October 21, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

When I blogged yesterday about Keith Rowley's offensive, I expected someone else from the PNM would go on the defensive - and I knew it wouldn't be the person presently occupying the institution of Prime Minister. Not to be disappointed, Colm Imbert rose to the level of the gauntlet thrown... and no further. The Trinidad and Tobago Newsday's article, This is not the Calder Hart Inquiry, has some quotes that are ambiguous at best.

For example:

...the Government could have taken advantage of a legal loophole which could have derailed the inquiry when it was discovered that notice of the proceedings was never published in the Gazette even though hearings had gone on for months...

True. The Government could also have screwed up on that count - it isn't as if the Government has a stunning track record. Thus, this is ambiguous and simply demonstrates that either the Government is incompetent or stupid. Consider this other quote:  {Read more}

Politics, Corruption, Cookies and Trinidad and Tobago

October 20, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

Normally I avoid the topic of politics. People who know me know why; I consider politics to be an abstraction of the actual issues - and in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as everywhere else in the world, the level of abstraction related to issues is too high. We need to get back to the issues.

Everyone has been abuzz with Calder Hart, UDECOTT, corruption Chinese workers and... well, the Beetham Gardens incident is largely forgotten. It's all rather amusing when viewed from a distance, but some interesting things have happened.

Keith Rowley's gone on the offensive in a large way. UDECOTT Worse than Piarco tells that story well, and Mr. Rowley's been pressing the point home on Facebook - where he's got 366 people presently following him; a small figure yet respectable in its own way. That few people seems more real than the many renditions of Patrick Manning on Facebook. And Rowley's allegations, spoken from a soapbox of his own personal vindication, is damning in its own way.

For better or worse, that splits the PNM base between the blind followers and those who are paying attention. And this is good for a number of reasons: {Read more}

• The moral basis against corruption should trump law. Trinidad and Tobago has a poor track record when it comes to that, and while it might be nice to say that it's as bad in other nations one should wonder whether mediocrity is a worthwhile goal. Of course, celebrating a football team that scores one goal - against itself - in the World Cup speaks volumes...
• That people are being encouraged to think critically by Rowley.
• COP and UNC supporters feel as though they've won something (though they, too, have lost ).