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151

General Discussion / As 1st anniversary of election victory approaches

« on: April 24, 2011, 08:19:58 AM »

News.
 


As 1st anniversary of election victory approaches


Analysts give Partnership thumbs down





PP struggles to manage structure of governance

Published: Sun, 2011-04-24 20:36

Anika Gumbs-Sandiford

 




Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, centre, celebrate election victory last year.

Inexperience and rash decisions are to be blamed for challenges facing the coalition People’s Partnership (PP). This is the view of political analysts who firmly believes the first anniversary of the “Fyzabad Declaration” that saw five national leaders coming together to form a political party, should be used as a learning experience rather than a reason to celebrate. In fact, as the PP gears up to celebrate its first anniversary of its crushing electoral victory over the People’s National Movement on May 24, the analysts are warning that decisive action must be taken and a change in governance must be adopted immediately if the political party intends to contest another election. The PP is also being urged to address the issue of crime that is said to be negatively impacting the Government and affecting citizens.
 
Sagewan-Alli: Stop pointing fingers
 
Not mixing words, political scientist Dr Indera Sagewan-Alli, told Sunday Guardian that the PP has failed to address critical issues affecting the nation. In addition, she said the time had come to stop pointing fingers at the former administration and accept blame for failures.
 
“Clearly the only objective at that time was winning an election and other critical matters were left to be worked out in office. Unfortunately, campaign rhetoric required platform presentations that reflected an understanding of the challenges facing the country and moreover that the presenters had the solutions and capacity to implement them once voted into office. “They talked a good talk that raised popular expectations of the people who believed that in no time the problems of crime, raising unemployment and high prices would be at an end.
 
“One year down the road and the reality is much of these ills have worsened. All the blame certainly cannot be laid at the feet of this government, however, they are running out of opportunities to blame the People’s National Movement (PNM) for everything.” Sagewan-Alli said. Noting that the expectation for quick results was not unrealistic, Sagewan-Alli said many of the government ministers previously formed an administration, so certain demands were expected. Acknowledging that Finance Minister Winston Dookeran’s handling of the public sector wage negotiations and investment plans must be commended, Sagewan-Alli said the economic performance of the economy remains gloomy.
 
“The Minister of Finance’s commitment to fiscal discipline and reduction of the country’s deficit is good. This has brought us “A” ratings. However, it has come at a price. The economic performance of the economy has continued to worsen in the last year. Both investor and consumer confidence are at an all- time low. Consumers are not spending as we need and investors are not engaging in new investment.”Stressing the need for the PP to get its house in order, Sagewan-Alli said some faux pas should not have been made.
 
“The Security Intelligence Agency fiasco; there is no excuse that could justify such an appointment. Crime remains the number one problem even as it is the government’s stated number one priority. Claims of political interference at a television station and the response that no one complained when it was the PNM is not acceptable. This is supposed to be new politics.” Sagewan-Alli also knocked the Government for the period of time being taken to appoint state boards and foreign ambassadors. “After one year is unacceptable. And even so, one is hardpressed to understand the appropriateness of some of the appointments. For instance, the fiasco with the initial appointment of a Jamaican High Commissioner, who was rejected by the Jamaican Government.  The continued strife among board members of Caribbean Airlines which is affecting the performance of the state-subsidised entity yet the Government seems unable to act decisively in bringing a resolution.”
 
Suggesting that better planning is definitely needed, to chart the way forward, Sagewan-Alli said better vision is needed. “The country is still after one year largely directionless. We are yet to understand what this government’s vision is for transforming and indeed diversifying the economic base of the country in the context of a post 2008 global crisis. The government was not put in place to tell us what the problems are. We know them. We voted them into office to implement solutions and to date we are seeing too little of that.”
 
Ragoonath:  Inexperience to blame
 
Expressing similar views, Dr Bishnu Ragoonath said the intervention by the Prime Minister to quell unrest is a move that should not have taken place. He said inexperience is to blame for this move. “We have seen in a lot of cases where several issues have had to fall back on the Prime Minister. This should not be but it is because some of her ministers lack experience. There have been many; but the most recent is the crisis with the doctors. The Prime Minister should not have been involved in this issue.” Ragoonath who also cited governance as a challenge affecting the PP, said more accountability and transparency should be forthcoming:
 
“The greatest challenge for the PP to date is how they have managed the structure of governance. They campaigned and promised to be accountable and this is what people are looking forward to people. Clearly, experience is lacking. In having come together, there was a concern if the PP would have remained together given what has happened with other coalition governments. There is always a challenge that coalitions would break up but there is still a long way to go.”
 
Ryan: PP survived, but…
 
Also echoing similar sentiments was Dr Selwyn Ryan who said the PP was yet to make a significant mark since assuming office. Ryan said: “The PP defied the odds. The political party survived while many thought the political party would have not. However, we are still waiting on their main performance to date. The PP has been faced with rough circumstances leaving many to be concerned but they have been able to hold it together. Inexperience is definitely affecting the party and they are performing how many thought they would.  Those that believed that crime would have been addressed were not thinking realistically because all political parties who assume office always use the issue as a political gimmick ”was rejected by the Jamaican Government.  The continued strife among board members of Caribbean Airlines which is affecting the performance of the state-subsidised entity yet the Government seems unable to act decisively in bringing a resolution.”
 
Suggesting that better planning is definitely needed, to chart the way forward, Sagewan-Alli said better vision is needed. “The country is still after one year largely directionless. We are yet to understand what this government’s vision is for transforming and indeed diversifying the economic base of the country in the context of a post 2008 global crisis. The government was not put in place to tell us what the problems are. We know them. We voted them into office to implement solutions and to date we are seeing too little of that.”

152

Jokes / A Darmed Good Excuse

« on: April 24, 2011, 08:15:49 AM »

The wife came home early and found her husband in their bedroom making love to a very attractive young
 woman.

And she was somewhat upset. 'You are a disrespectful pig!' she cried. 'How dare you do this to me -- a faithful wife, the mother of your children! I'm leaving you. I want a divorce right away!'

And the husband replied, 'Hang on just a minute love so at least I can tell you what happened.' 'Fine, go ahead,' she sobbed,' but they'll be the last words you'll say to me!'

And the husband began -- 'Well, I was getting into the car to drive home, and this young lady here asked me for a lift. She looked so down and out and defenseless that I took pity on her and let her into the car.

I noticed that she was very thin, not well dressed and very dirty. She told me that she hadn't eaten for three days.

So, in my compassion, I brought her home and warmed up the enchiladas I made for you last night, the ones you wouldn't eat because you're afraid you'll put on weight. The poor thing devoured them in moments.

Since she needed a good clean-up, I suggested a shower, and while she was doing that, I noticed her clothes were dirty and full of holes, so I threw them away.

Then, as she needed clothes, I gave her the designer jeans that you have had for a few years, but don't wear because you say they are too tight.
I also gave her the underwear that was your anniversary present, which you don't wear because I don't have good taste.
I found the sexy blouse my sister gave you for Christmas that you don't wear just to annoy her, and I also donated those boots you bought at the expensive boutique and don't wear because someone at work has a pair the same.'
The husband took a quick breath and continued - 'She was so grateful for my understanding and help that as I walked her to the door, she turned to me with tears in her eyes and said, 'Please ... Do you have anything else that your wife doesn't use?'’
 

153

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / WORDS OF STEEL

« on: April 20, 2011, 08:28:37 PM »

Pete Seeger and the U.S. Navy SteelBand .
 By  Anderw Martin

It seems probable that the steel drum is destined to spread through still other parts of the world than the
 West Indies, perhaps in each country adapting itself to local popular-folk traditions.
—Pete Seeger, 1958

As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of Pete Seeger’s research trip to the island of Trinidad, the legendary folklorist’s proclamation is almost reality. The steel band sound has firmly asserted itself as the signifying voice of the Caribbean on a global scale, and steel band ensembles have become increasingly popular additions to school curriculums throughout the United States. Seeger’s contributions to the development of the Trinidadian steel drum movement in the United States from 1957 to 1964 are significant: they include an article in the Journal of American Folklore, films titled 18 on Steel and The Steel Drums of Kim Loy Wong, several recordings, and arranging for native Trinidadian Kim Loy Wong to establish a steel drum band and manufacturing facility in University Settlement, New York.

But perhaps Seeger’s most important—and unlikely—contribution to the steel band movement in the United States was as consultant to Admiral Daniel Gallery, founder of the United States Navy Steel Band. From 1957 to 1961 Gallery and Seeger exchanged a series of letters that describe in great detail methods for steel drum construction, opinions on proper repertoire for the U.S. Navy Steel Band, and the contemporary state of folk and popular music in the United States. In the letters, Seeger and his political ideology are locked in a fascinating tension with Gallery and the military connotations of this partnership. The correspondence took place while Seeger was living in Beacon, New York, and Gallery was stationed in Puerto Rico but making regular visits to Boston and New York. This article aims to explore and frame these previously unpublished correspondences, which offer a unique insight into Seeger’s life as a folklorist during the late 1950s. Gallery and Seeger both recognized the inherent potential of steel drums, the national folk instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, as a musical cultural ambassador for the United States. These correspondences uniquely illustrate how both men pursued their goals.

The Rhythm of the Islands

The 1950s witnessed many significant cultural developments, including the birth of rock and roll, several dances crazes (the Twist, for example), and the calypso and exotica crazes, to name only a few. American tourists became increasingly interested in the Caribbean Islands as an exotic vacation paradise. American entertainment and travel industries capitalized on this interest by creating music, films, and advertisements saturated with postwar American visions of island bliss and happiness, while turning a blind eye to the harsh realities of unemployment and political disenfranchisement yielded by centuries of colonialism. The music of Harry Belafonte and other calypso artists emerged as an American popular style that was appropriated for U.S. consumption by major record labels.

The idea of consumer abundance was more than simply a postwar cultural myth. By the late 1950s and early 1960s Americans were spending close to three hundred billion dollars annually on nonessential consumer products (Hurley 2001). Calypso was en vogue, and the entertainment industry scrambled to capitalize on the deep pockets of American consumers with a penchant for escape. This moment spawned the calypso club, which calypso scholars Ray Funk and Stephen Stuempfle describe:
Calypso clubs created an imaginary Caribbean atmosphere with fishnets, palm fronds and other trappings. Performers often wore straw hats and striped and floral outfits, unlike the dress suits worn by calypsonians in Trinidad. Particularly appealing for Americans were performance routines involving extemporaneous singing about audience members, risqué lyrics, limbo dancing and steel pans. (2007)
Belafonte and other calypsonians often hired steel drum players to accompany concerts; it is there that many Americans first experienced the exotic and infectious instrument. New York traditionally served as a haven for Caribbean immigrants, and many Trinidadian musicians immigrated to the city to play steel drums and sing calypso during the 1950s, performing at private parties and clubs in Brooklyn and other Caribbean neighborhoods.


U.S. Navy Steel Band at World Fair in Brussels, 1957. Courtesy of the Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. 


Pete Seeger and Steel Drums

Seeger’s role as a steel drum advocate did not begin as steel drum consultant to the U.S. Navy Steel Band. Although the exact point at which Seeger first encountered steel drums is not known, we do know that his interest predated his work with Gallery and probably began in earnest during the winter of 1955, when Seeger started regularly performing on a steel drum as part of his folk instrumental repertoire. In January 1956, Seeger and his wife Toshi traveled to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and made the sixteen-minute film Music from Oil Drums, featuring Kim Loy Wong and the Highlanders Steel Orchestra. The film, released by Folkways Records in 1956, captures the entire process of making a steel drum over the course of one week. In the film, Seeger exposed the economic and cultural reality of steel drum makers by shooting the living conditions of lower-class Trinidadians. A contemporary review of the film by Caribbean music scholar Daniel Crowley praised Seeger’s efforts:
At a time when such commercial movies as “Fire Down Below” and “Island in the Sun” are seriously misrepresenting West Indian music and dance forms, Seeger promises the steel bandsmen that he will use their instrument to “tell the true story of Trinidad, as true as I can tell it, wherever I go.” Those who have seen his engaging stage presentation of the steel drum and its music know how well he has kept his word. (1959)
Seeger—as in his work with American folk and protest music—raised public awareness of this new musical genre. He advocated for the music and culture of Trinidad in his lectures while on tour in the United States during 1957 and helped start short-lived steel bands at UCLA and with his family and neighbors in New York.

Setting aside the U.S. Navy Steel Band, Seeger’s most notable legacy to the American steel band movement was his collaboration with Kim Loy Wong. Seeger arranged for the steel bandsman to immigrate to the United States in 1959 to establish a steel drum band and tuning facility in University Settlement, New York. Through this partnership Seeger recorded and produced a record for Folkways Records called The Steel Drums of Kim Loy Wong with the University Settlement Steel Band: An Instructional Record Supervised by Peter Seeger. This was a supplemental recording that accompanied an instructional manual of the same name, written in 1961 and published in 1964 by Oak Press.

The manual was an expanded and edited version of the original, which Seeger first wrote in 1956 and mailed to Gallery the next year. In it, Seeger comprehensively documented the entire process for making steel drums and included instructions and examples of traditional folk tunes appropriate to arrange and play with steel drum ensembles. As we turn to Seeger’s work with the U.S. Navy Steel Band, one can see that his interest in steel drums was not passive: his zealous proselytizing and genuine concern for the music and people of Trinidad colors the inherently problematic nature of his collaboration with Gallery.

An Improbable Partnership

Admiral Daniel V. Gallery, commandant of the Tenth Naval District, was a highly decorated naval officer, yet he is perhaps best known today as the founder of the first continuously running, non-Trinidadian American-based steel band. Gallery often lamented this legacy:
I never heard of the steel drum until I was in Trinidad at carnival time in 1957, when I heard hundreds of them in the fabulous carnival parade. The music just got inside me and shook me up. I bought a whole set of steel drums. . . . During my forty-three years of active duty in the Navy, I had a hand in a lot of things for which one might think I would be remembered, such as inventing new ordnance devices, flying jet airplanes, and capturing a German submarine. . . . But if you ask any Captain or Admiral on active duty now, “do you know Dan Gallery?” the chances are he will say, “Sure. He’s the guy who started that steel band in San Juan.” (1965, 273–5)
Gallery stationed his steel band at the naval base in Puerto Rico. The Pandamoniacs, as they were known, immediately took the island by storm, instilling enough confidence for Gallery to embark on a tour of the United States. The steel band’s early success was propelled by enthusiasts of the calypso craze championed by Harry Belafonte and the exotica craze promoted by Martin Denny. The first musicians of the U.S. Navy Steel Band were navy musicians stationed in San Juan who Gallery ordered to learn how to play the steel drums (Gallery, 1965). Gallery regularly flew in famed Trinidadian steel bandsmen Ellie Mannette from 1957 to the early 1960s for instruction, steel band tuning, and maintenance. Following Gallery’s departure, the U.S. Navy Steel Band remained stationed in San Juan until 1970, when the band was moved to the Algiers Naval Base in New Orleans, Louisiana. The U.S. Navy Steel Band cut several records and performed more than twenty thousand concerts worldwide, until it was disbanded in 1999.

The historical timing of Seeger and Gallery’s clandestine partnership could not have been more peculiar. Seeger is well known for his radical political views; from roughly 1942 to 1950, he was a member of the American Communist Party. Although never fully accepted by Communist Party brass, Seeger was nonetheless motivated by elements of the party’s mission and spoke out constantly as a labor activist and peace advocate. Increasingly disenchanted with the organizational instability of the Communist Party, Seeger campaigned for Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace in 1948. Seeger—following in the footsteps of other activist-artists, such as Langston Hughes in 1953—was subpoenaed in 1955 by the House Un-American Activities Committee. In the spring of 1957, Seeger won on appeal an overturn of his conviction for “contempt of Congress” and accompanying one-year prison sentence. Despite his legal troubles, Seeger had many successes in the 1950s, including commercially popular folk recordings as a solo artist and with the Weavers. From the beginning of the decade, however, Seeger saw the consequences of his political affiliations strangle his career, as he was increasingly blacklisted by major performance venues. Largely responsible for the folk revival of the 1950s, Seeger found himself less and less able to participate as an artist, and consequently shifted his energy to civil rights issues and several folkloric preservation and dissemination projects, such as “how to build and play” manuals for the banjo, steel drum, and many other instruments.

Gallery’s political affiliations—diametrically opposed to Seeger’s—need little introduction. Besides his post as a senior flag-rank officer in the U.S. Navy, Gallery was friends with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his letters to friends suggest that he supported Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade. In 1957 Gallery, inspired by a recent visit to Trinidad, was nonetheless eager to start a steel drum ensemble and sought out help in doing so. In an effort to broaden his call for aid, Gallery wrote an article for the Chicago Tribune that spring telling the story of steel drums and announcing the organization of a U.S. Navy–sponsored ensemble. Seeger, who was on tour in Xenia, Ohio, responded to the article, sending Gallery the following letter:
Dear Admiral Gallery:
I have read with interest the article in the Chicago Tribune telling of your organizing a steel band. How I wish I could have been in Chicago August 24th to hear it! I am writing because I thought you might be interested in seeing a copy of the enclosed. During the last year I’ve given away several hundred copies to people who have heard me demonstrate the Ping Pong [lead steel drum]. In several colleges steel bands have now started . . . . I quite agree with you that this music will “sweep across the United States like a brush fire.”

Yours Very Sincerely,
Peter Seeger


President Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) and Daniel Gallery (right), 1957. Admiral Gallery and Seeger: Correspondences. Courtesy of the Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.


From this initial contact in 1957, the correspondence between Seeger and Gallery spanned four years; of particular interest, however, are the earliest letters. The men’s opposing political positions in 1957 complicate the seemingly mundance exchanges: Gallery was a U.S Navy admiral and commandant, while Seeger was a blacklisted supposed Communist. Their collaboration was, without a doubt, an improbable one.

Seeger was perhaps a bit weary of Gallery and his exploits, commenting that distribution of the initial two hundred copies of the steel drum manual had yielded little. One could only imagine his delight when he received the following letter of June 20 from Gallery, which began:
Dear Seeger:
I was very interested in your letter which arrived this morning. I was already quite familiar with the enclosure as one of the several hundred copies you mentioned had fallen into my hands, and I had made quite a study of it.

I am having a whale of a time with this band. My sailors have taken to it like natives. They want to raffle off their regular instruments and play nothing but steel drums now. I swear, I think they’re better than any band in Trinidad right now—after only two months experience.

The letter continued with a long story of how Gallery had tried to build a steel drum. The story culminates with Gallery creating a primitive two-note steel drum that cost him several blisters in his right hand (from swinging a hammer) and a bloody smashed thumb (from being pounded). But more importantly, Gallery’s sincerity and willingness to experiment with the unfamiliar drums greatly impressed Seeger and instilled an instant respect for the admiral. This is evidenced by Seeger’s reply, dated July 8:
Dear Admiral:
All I can say is that my admiration for the U.S. Navy could not be higher after reading your letter. I feel I owe you deep apologies for your mashed thumb and weekend effort. If I had only had the sense to put into those mimeographed directions the information that there were different types of oil barrels and to steer clear of ones that are too thick or made out of too highly tempered steel!
Seeger ended this letter with the salute, “With my hat off to you and the Navy, Sir. Respectfully, Peter Seeger,” and it is clear that for a moment Gallery’s mashed thumb has softened Seeger’s ongoing disappointment with the U.S. government. In this case, Seeger’s love and enthusiasm for folk music—specifically steel drums and the folk music of Trinidad—transcended the political, aligning with a history of generosity and sharing that aptly characterize the folklorist. Gallery was equally impressed with Seeger’s enthusiasm, pragmatism, and candor, replying in a letter dated July 13:
Dear Pete:
You owe me no apologies for the mashed thumb. I think it’s on the first page of your screed that you say “you’ll wind up with a mashed thumb” if you try to make a steel drum. It turned out so precisely like you said it would, that I have complete confidence in all the rest of your directions from here on.
Gallery addressed the letter to the less formal “Pete,” rather than “Seeger,” and also closed with “Regards,” rather than his usual “Sincerely.” From this point, the baggage of each man’s position in life was cast aside, and the conversations took on the relaxed quality of two friends chatting about music.

Although Gallery and Seeger had different motives—Gallery was interested in a new recruiting tool for the U.S. Navy, whereas Seeger hoped to aid in the proliferation of a folk instrument accessible to and playable by all, regardless of socioeconomic situation— both men recognized the benefit of working together to launch the navy’s steel band. Interestingly, Gallery’s initial expectations for steel bands in the United States tower over the more modest and grassroots inklings of Seeger. Gallery’s high military rank brought him considerable clout. The admiral had recently hosted a party at his base in Puerto Rico, for example, and engaged Harry Belafonte for the event. Based on this calypso performance, Gallery was convinced that steel drum bands could attain the widespread popularity of the contemporary calypso craze. Gallery’s infectious enthusiasm pervaded his June 20 letter to Seeger, which closed with the following:
I am very much interested in this steel band idea. I really believe this band of mine might start something big. We may be on [Arthur] Godfrey’s show next month. I would appreciate very much anything you can tell me about the present state of arts both making and playing steel drums in the United States.




 

Poster for New York City calypso club, 1950s. Ray and Stuempfle, “Calypso: A World Music” exhibition, 2007. Courtesy of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida (online).   


The possible appearance of the U.S. Navy Steel Band on Arthur Godfrey’s television variety show was a major opportunity for steel drums in the United States. The press and visibility for such an appearance would be significant, and Seeger eagerly acknowledged this, immediately responding to Gallery:
If your steel band can get on Arthur Godfrey’s show that is exactly what is needed to give the whole thing a great kick off. There will be thousands of people in America begging to know where they can buy them and begging to know how to make them. I agree with you 100% that the instrument is liable to spread around the world. It is unbeatable on parade.
The appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts never came to fruition, but Gallery arranged for the U.S. Navy Steel Band to make many other arguably more prestigious appearances, including the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958 and 1959 and CBS’s Adventure Tomorrow series in 1960. The band also made a short feature film, Admiral Dan’s Pandamonics, and had a brief background appearance in the 1961 film Seventy Times Seven, starring Eartha Kitt. Through these and many other national appearances, the U.S. Navy Steel Band did enjoy an eclectic, though brief, moment of popularity in mainstream American pop culture of the late 1950s, but the band’s success never fulfilled the expectations of either man.

Gallery admittedly hated rock and roll music, suggesting in a 1957 letter to a fellow admiral that steel drum bands “might knock Rock n’ Roll and Elvis Presley into the ash can (where they belong).” Gallery’s desire to expand steel drums’ popularity in American certainly struck a chord with Seeger, who had considered the subject in depth. He wrote in his 1956 steel drum manual, annotated for Gallery’s own use:
Once you are familiar with how steel bands are used in the West Indies, you should start considering how you want to adapt them to other music familiar to your own friends and neighbors in your home town. It seems to me there is no reason why many popular or folk melodies of the U.S.A. could not be played by a good steel band. Try any square dance tune such as “Old Joe Clark” or “Arkansas Traveler,” and try also rhythms such as an Irish Jig. The only problem I have found here is that rhythmically they sound rather over simple, after you are used to the complex counter rhythmic effects of Caribbean music.

To solve this problem will be the problem of young people who start playing steel pans in every country. . . . What I am sure of is that right now the steel band can fill a niche unoccupied in American life since the decline of the fife and drum corps. Here is something for a gang of young people to latch on to, and let the whole world know that they are around. Steel pans are cheap, hard to break, and can be played in the rain or snow. Everyone can participate on his or her own level.
Although Gallery did not specifically address the subject of repertoire in later letters, the admiral must have concurred with Seeger’s conclusion that any popular folk melody could be adapted for steel drums, for the U.S. Navy Steel Band archives include arrangements of “Yankee Doodle,” “Old Joe Clark,” “Marianne,” and “Guantanamara.” Yet it is notable that Seeger addressed the subject of repertoire within the context of the public good: that is, reaching young people, inclusion and participation by all, and the elevation of the poor and working class. Seeger was keenly aware of the political nature of steel drums in Trinidad and their function as a vehicle for protest and cultural awareness for the oppressed classes, and he never missed an opportunity to draw attention to such issues—even in correspondence with a navy admiral.

In July 1960, the U.S. Navy issued new orders to the admiral, and Gallery vacated his post as commandant of the Tenth Naval District, turning over control of his beloved steel band to chief musician Franz Grissom. Gallery’s enthusiasm for steel drums waned slightly in the following years, and ill health and other circumstances limited his contact with the band, yet it should be noted that each successive leader of the U.S. Navy Steel Band kept Gallery informed with letters about the performance schedule and activities of the group. For Seeger, the passing years yielded a similar fate: following the publication of his steel drum manual in 1964, he too moved on to other projects. Yet the activities of both men laid the groundwork for the steel band movement in America today. With literally hundreds of college, primary school, and community-based steel drum ensembles spread throughout the country, the legacy of Gallery and Seeger’s labors are witnessed in American steel bands on a daily basis. Considering the political climate of the 1950s, the remarkable unlikelihood of this relationship is a testament to the genuine character of each man. The diplomatic grace and humility embraced by Gallery and Seeger during the correspondences of 1957 illuminate a fascinating example of a shared admiration for folk music and culture. For Seeger, this interesting episode only adds to the already vast legend of a true American folklorist.


“Words of Steel: Pete Seeger and the U.S. Navy Steel Band” by Andrew Martin was published in Voices Vol. 34, Spring-Summer 2008. Voices is the membership magazine of the New York Folklore Society. To become a subscriber, join the New York Folklore Society now.
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154

General Discussion / THE CNMG LETTER

« on: April 19, 2011, 08:26:50 PM »

Carlisle HinksonHead of News and Current Affairs Caribbean New Media Group11A Maraval RoadNewtown,

 PoS 31st March 2011RE: OUTLINE OF INTERVENTIONS IN CNMG NEWSCAST From:
 CNMG Newsroom Journalists and Staff

 Dear Mr.
 Hinkson,Pursuant to the newsroom journalists meeting with the Interim CEO lastThursday 24th March, 2011, please find attached an itemised list of instances the newsroom staff deems to be in contravention of the CNMG Editorial Guidelines and Policies, and indeed internationally-accepted practices of journalism.

We acknowledge receipt of the memorandum from the Interim CEO datedMarch 31, 2011, in which he conveys assurances from the Board of Directors “that there will be no political interference in the development of our news products.”However, we think it vital that we submit what we perceive to be instances of clear political interference.

We have compiled this list after carefully observing the practice of intervention inthe gathering of news, the re-shaping of packages and the censorship andcurtailing of news items. We note for your information as a recently-installedHead of News, these are practices which have been unknown to us in thenewsroom.Please note that this letter and its contents have been copied to the CNMGBoard Chairman, Brian Stone, Interim CEO, Deputy Head of News, andExecutive Producer.

155

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / .Lord Laro to perform at Voices of Love

« on: April 15, 2011, 08:30:15 PM »

.Lord Laro to perform at Voices of Love
Published: Fri, 2011-04-15 20:00

 Alyuh remember this brothe
r
Popular calypso artiste Lord Laro.  Kenneth Lara, stage name Lord Laro, was born in Claxton Bay, Trinidad on February 29, 1940 and  now lives in Jamaica. He had a short stint in calypso, but has created an indelible name for himself in the industry. The last time he performed in Trinidad was at the original Young Brigade back in 1975. Without a day’s formal training, he became the star on the local talent programme for children at the age of 12. He then entered the calypso tent arena, and by 1961 he had joined the regiment and became known as “Singing Soldier.”

His battalion was sent to Jamaica that year for further training at Harman Barracks where the wheel of fortune stopped in his direction. He met a lovely Jamaican girl, Norma, and fell in love. In that same year his record, Referendum, became the number four song on the Jamaican hit parade, and remained on the chart for 18 weeks. He married Norma and returned to his homeland in 1961, following the dissolution of Federation and, continued his army life until 1968. He eventually became one of the top calypsonians and a full time professional entertainer. Lord Laro was nearer his dream, but the memories of Jamaica lingered and he longed to return. So, when he got an offer to perform at the Yellow Bird club, in Montego Bay, he didn’t hesitate.

Lord Laro became the talk of the town, and soon his diary was full of appointments to sing at such prestigious night spots on Jamaica’s north coast. The going was good …Jamaicans and tourists loved his shows … so he and Norma decided to set up their home in Montego Bay. But there was something missing … Lord Laro had “so many ideas in his head, the lyrics and music were flowing,” but he didn’t know how to put them together. So in 1969 he registered at the Federal City College (now the University of Washington DC) to study composing and arranging for two years.  At the end of the course he returned to Banana Boat club in Montego Bay, and The Little Pub in Ccho Rios sounding better than before. In 1975 while performing at the Ferry Inn, in Kingston, Lord Laro wrote and recorded Foreign Press, which was an instant hit and stayed on the Jamaican charts for several months.  Lord Laro has a long list of compositions, some of which he will perform at the Voices of Love on April 30 at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

.

156

General Discussion / STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S. T. R..

« on: April 15, 2011, 04:23:31 PM »

STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S. T. R..
 
Got this in my email today and i thought about you guys so i am sharing it with alyuh that somebody might save a life.

STROKE  IDENTIFICATION:


During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .....she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.


They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.


Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.


It only takes a minute to read this.


A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.


RECOGNIZING A STROKE


Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Read and Learn!


Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.


Now doctors say a  bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:


S  *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T  *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE  (Coherently)

(i.e. It is sunny out today.)

R  *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.


If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency numberimmediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.


New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue


NOTE:  Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.


 

157

General Discussion / What Does Your Body Language Say About You? How To Read Signs and Recognize Gest

« on: April 15, 2011, 04:06:41 PM »

ill »
Tuesday
Dec152009
What Does Your Body Language Say About You? How To Read Signs and Recognize Gestures

Art by LaetitziaAs we all know, communication is essential in society. Advancements in technology have transformed the way that we correspond with others in the modern world, yet when conversing face-to-face, it's not only speech we verbalize that matters. Body language is truly a language of its own. We all have quirks and habits that are uniquely our own. What does your body language say about you? And what can you learn about others by becoming aware of what some of the signs mean?
 
I thought it would be fun to list some of the well-known signs that body language experts study and recognize. It is said that when talking to a person the information that we receive can be broken down as:

■10% from what the person actually says
■40% from the tone and speed of voice
■50% is from their body language.


■Lowering one's head can signal a lack of confidence. If someone lowers their head when complimented, they may be shy or timid
■ Touching or tugging at one's ear can indicate indecisiveness
■Sincere smiles encompass the whole face (noticeable in the eyes)
■A false smile usually only engages the lips
■Tilting one's head can symbolize interest in something or someone
■Overly tilted heads can be a sign of sympathy
■Closing of eyes or pinching at the bridge of one's nose is often done when making a negative evaluation
■When a listener nods, this is usually a positive message and relays that they are interested and paying attention
■However, excessive nodding can imply that the listener has lost interest but doesn't want to be rude
■Touching/rubbing one's nose may indicate doubtfulness or rejection of an idea
■Sticking out one's chin toward another may show defiance
■Resting a hand on one's cheek is often done if they are thinking or pondering; and stroking the chin can mean the person is trying to make a decision


■Pushing back one's shoulders can demonstrate power and courage
■Open arms means one is comfortable with being approached and willing to talk/communicate
■Folded arms show that there is a sort of barricade between them and other people (or their surroundings) and indicate dissatisfaction
■Resting one's arms behind their neck shows that they are open to what is being discussed and interested in listening more
■Pointing one's finger can be construed as aggression or assertiveness
■Touching the front of the neck can show that someone is interested and concerned about what another is saying
■Hand movements that are upward & outward signify positive and open messages
■Palms that are faced outwards towards another indicate one's wish to stop and not approach
■If one's fingers are interlaced or if the finger tips are pressed together, it usually shows that a person is thinking and evaluating
■If offering ideas to other people, many times the sides of one's palms are close together, with fingers extended


■Putting your hands on your hips can show eagerness and readiness (also, at times, aggression)
■Hips pushed forward, while leaning back can show that one feels powerful (also can be a suggestive gesture)
■A wide stance - where one's feet are positioned far apart - signifies more power and dominance
■When one sits with legs open and part, they might feel secure in their surroundings
■Crossed legs can mean several things: relaxed/comfortable, or defensive - depending on how tense the leg muscles are
■When you cross your legs towards another person, you are showing more interest in them than when they are crossed away in the other direction
■A confident and powerful position is the "Figure of Four Cross" when one's ankle is atop the other leg's knee and the top leg is pointed sideways
■Bouncing your foot if your legs are crossed can show that you are bored or losing patience


■The lowering of the eyes can convey fear, guilt or submission
■Lowered eyebrows and squinted eyes illustrate an attempt at understanding what is being said or going on
■A lack of confidence or apprehensiveness can be displayed when you don't look another person in the eyes
■One tends to blink more often if nervous or trying to evaluate someone else
■If you look directly into another person's eyes you are displaying self-assurance
■Wide eyes show more of an interest in a subject or person
■If you are irritated with a comment made by another during a conversation, a common movement is to take a quick glance sideways
■Staring at someone can be an aggressive gesture or suggest that the one staring feels dominant
■Recalling a memory is usually done by looking up and to the right
■Looking directly upwards can indicate that one is thinking
■Eye contact is normally broken if someone feels insulted by another

158

General Discussion / World's oldest man dies in Montana at 114

« on: April 14, 2011, 09:41:16 PM »

World's oldest man dies in Montana at 114
GREAT FALLS, Mont., Thu Apr 14, 09:23 PM
Click To Enlarge 
 
114 year old Walter Breuning sits for an interview with a reporter for the Associated Press in the lobby of his senior residence...More
Walter Breuning's earliest memories stretched back 111 years, before home entertainment came with a twist of the radio dial. They were of his grandfather's tales of killing Southerners in the Civil War.

Breuning was 3 and horrified: "I thought that was a hell of a thing to say."

But the stories stuck, becoming the first building blocks into what would develop into a deceptively simple philosophy that Breuning, the world's oldest man at 114 before he died Thursday, credited to his longevity.

Here's the world's oldest man's secret to a long life:

- Embrace change, even when the change slaps you in the face. ("Every change is good.")

- Eat two meals a day ("That's all you need.")

- Work as long as you can ("That money's going to come in handy.")

- Help others ("The more you do for others, the better shape you're in.")

Then there's the hardest part. It's a lesson Breuning said he learned from his grandfather: Accept death.

"We're going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you're born to die," he said.

Breuning died of natural causes in a Great Falls hospital where he had been a patient for much of April with an undisclosed illness, said Stacia Kirby, spokeswoman for the Rainbow Senior Living retirement home where Breuning lived.


 
He was the oldest man in the world and the second-oldest person, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. Besse Cooper of Monroe, Ga. - born 26 days earlier - is the world's oldest person.

In an interview with The Associated Press at his home in the Rainbow Retirement Community in Great Falls last October, Breuning recounted the past century - and what its revelations and advances meant to him - with the wit and plain-spokenness that defined him. His life story is, in a way, a slice of the story of the country itself over more than a century.

___

At the beginning of the new century - that's the 20th century - Breuning moved with his family from Melrose, Minn., to De Smet, S.D., where his father had taken a job as an engineer.

That first decade of the 1900s was literally a dark age for his family. They had no electricity or running water. A bath for young Walter would require his mother to fetch water from the well outside and heat it on the coal-burning stove. When they wanted to get around, they had three options: train, horse and foot.

His parents split up and Breuning moved back to Minnesota in 1912. The following year, as Henry Ford was creating his first assembly line, the teenager got a low-level job with the Great Northern Railway in Melrose.

"I'm 16 years old, had to go to work on account of breakup of the family," he said.

That was the beginning of a 50-year career on the railroad. He was a clerk for most of that time, working seven days a week.

In 1918, his boss was promoted to a position in Great Falls and he asked Breuning to come along.

There wasn't a lot keeping Breuning in Minnesota. His mother had died the year before at age 46 and his father died in 1915 at age 50. The Montana job came with a nice raise - $90 a month for working seven days a week, "a lot of money at that time," he said.

Breuning, young and alone, was overwhelmed at first. Great Falls was a bustling town of 25,000 with hundreds of people coming and going every day on trains that arrived at all hours.

"You go down to the depot and there'd be 500 people out there all climbing into four trains going in four directions," he said.

World War I was still raging in Europe, and Breuning, who had just turned 20, signed up for military service but wasn't called up. He wanted to join an Army unit formed by Ralph Budd, who was the railroad's vice president at the time and who later would become its president.

He sent Budd an application, and the reply was disappointing. Budd said Breuning couldn't join the unit because he wanted the young man to get a college education. The war ended later that year.

"So I never got into the war. The war ended too quick for me," Breuning said.

___

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1919 and the nation was riding a postwar wave into the Roaring `20s.

Walter Breuning bought his first car that year.

It was a secondhand Ford and cost just $150. Breuning remembered driving around town and spooking the horses that still crowded the dirt streets.

"We had more damn runaways back in those days," Breuning said. "Horses are just scared of cars."

The year may have started well, but it went downhill fast. Drought struck. The price of hay skyrocketed and farmers had to sell their cattle. It was the first wave of agricultural depressions that would hit Montana over the next two decades.

The railroad started laying off people. Breuning had some seniority, so rather than losing his job, he was transferred to Butte. It was there he met his future wife, Agnes.

Agnes Twokey worked for the railroad as a telegrapher. She and Breuning worked the same shift in the office, and they got along well. Their friendship turned into a two-year courtship, and then they got married and returned to Great Falls.

Things were looking up for Breuning, Montana and the nation. Great Falls gave Montana its first licensed radio station in 1922. The following year, Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons fought for the world heavyweight championship east of Great Falls in Shelby.

Breuning was optimistic. He and his wife bought property for $15 and planned to build a house.

Then it all went off the tracks. The Great Depression struck.

"Everybody got laid off in the `30s," Breuning said. "Nobody had any money at all. In 1933, they built the civic center over here. Sixty-five cents an hour, you know. That was the wage - big wage."

People began to arrive in Great Falls searching for work. He recalled transplants from North Dakota telling tales of desperate families pulling weeds from the ground and cooking them up for food.

Breuning's seniority paid off again - he held onto his job. But he and his wife never built their house. They sold the lot for $25, making a tidy $10 profit. It turned out to be the only time Breuning ever owned property - he was renter for the rest of his life.

Despite the hard times of the decade, he said what he considered the nation's greatest achievement came in 1935, when President Franklin Roosevelt signed Social Security into law as part of his New Deal.

"I think when Roosevelt created Social Security, he probably did the best thing for people," Breuning said. "You hear so much about throwing Social Security out. Don't look for it. Hang on to your hat. It'll never go away."

___

World War II lifted the nation out of its economic slump. Industry went into overdrive to support the war. With the men headed overseas to fight, the women took their places in factories.

Montana's Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress, was the sole vote against the U.S. entry into the war.

By that time, Breuning was in his 40s and too old to be drafted. So he kept working on the railroad.

The man who otherwise preached kindness and service to others acknowledged that he had mixed feelings about the war and the Nazis. He expressed some sympathy toward Hitler.

The war ended in 1945 when President Harry Truman dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The debate over whether Truman did the right thing was argued in the streets and cafes of Great Falls.

Breuning stuck up for Truman, saying there probably would have been a lot more people killed had Truman not made the decision to bomb the Japanese.

"I think he did pretty dang good," Breuning said. "But you know, all presidents done something good. Well, most of them. Except that last one."

Breuning, a self-described Republican, meant President George W. Bush.

"He got us into war. We can't get out of war now," he said. "I voted for him. But that's about all. His father was a pretty good president, not too bad. The kid had too much power. He got himself wrapped up and that's it."

___

The 1950s brought rock-and-roll, put the U.S. in the middle of the Korean War and kicked off the space race with the USSR's launch of Sputnik. The world was introduced to Elvis Presley, Fidel Castro and Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

For Walter Breuning, the 1950s was marked by the death of his wife. Agnes died in 1957 after 35 years of marriage. The couple didn't have any children.

More than 50 years later, Breuning kept his feelings on his marriage and Agnes' death guarded.

"We got along very good," was about all he'd say. "She wouldn't like to spend money, I'll tell you that."

Breuning never remarried. "Thought about it. That's about it."

He did what he always did. He kept working.

Work was a constant in Breuning's life, what he did to get through the hard times and what he used to keep his mind active. One of the worst things a person can do is retire young, Breuning said.

"I remember we had a worker in the First National Bank one time retired early. He wanted to go fishing and hunting so bad. Two months (later) and he went back to the bank. He got his fishing and hunting all done and he wanted to go back to work," Breuning said.

"Don't retire until you're darn sure that you can't work anymore. Keep on working as long as you can work and you'll find that it's good for you," he added.

The same year the Beatles released their first album, Breuning decided it was time for him to retire from the railroad at age 67. It was 1963 and he had put in 50 years as a railroad worker.

But he stuck by his philosophy and kept working. He became the manager and secretary for the local chapter of the Shriners, a position he held until he was 99.

But he remained a fiercely loyal railroad man, so loyal that he only took an airplane once in his life, and that was to attend the funeral of a relative in Minneapolis.

His beloved railroad underwent many changes soon after he left. In 1970 it merged with other railroad companies to become the Burlington Northern Railroad.

His fellow clerks began to feel the effects of technology. In the 1970s, computers started changing industries and the need for manpower. At the railroad, men and women were laid off at depots and freight offices. Superintendents and clerks like Breuning were given their walking papers.

But even with so many of his former co-workers out of jobs, Breuning was adamant that the rise of the computer was good for the railroad industry and the world.

"I think every change that we've ever made, ever since I was a child - 100 years - every change has been good for the people," Breuning said. "My God, we used to have to write with pen and ink, you know, (for) everything. When the machines came, it just made life so much easier."

___

Breuning had lived in a sparse studio apartment in the Rainbow Senior Living retirement center since 1980.

When he was recognized as the world's oldest man and brought the retirement home some notoriety, he was offered a larger room. Breuning said no, Rainbow executive director Tina Bundtrock said in October.

Breuning would spent his days in an armchair outside the Bundtrock's office in a dark suit and tie, sitting near a framed Guinness certificate proclaiming him the world's oldest man.

He would eat breakfast and lunch and then retire to his room in the early afternoon. He'd visit the doctor just twice a year for checkups and the only medication he would take was aspirin, Bundtrock said.

His good health was due to his strict diet of two meals a day, Breuning said.

"How many people in this country say that they can't take the weight off?" he said. "I tell these people, I says, 'Get on a diet and stay on it. You'll find that you're in much better shape, feel good.'"

He had no family left but a niece and a nephew. They visited a couple of times at the retirement home, but they were strangers to him, he said.

Breuning's real family, his support group, was there in the Rainbow.

"Yeah, we're all one big family, I tell you that. We all talk to each other all the time. That's what keeps life going. You talk," he said.

Breuning talked current affairs with the other residents. One of his main causes was to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"War never cured anything. Look at the North and South right today. They're still fighting over the damn war. They'll never get over that," he said.

Along with debating others about the fate of the nation, Breuning also spent time a lot of time reflecting. Sitting in his armchair, he would reach back across the century and lose himself in a flood of memories that began with his grandfather's Civil War stories.

He also thought about what might have been. After 97 years in Montana, Breuning said he thought back to his transfer to Great Falls back in 1913.

What course would he have gone on, how different would that century have been for him if he had stayed in Minnesota?

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had I not moved to Great Falls. I think about that once in a while. What would have happened?" Breuning said. "I had a good job back (in Minnesota). But life is good here too."

But he didn't regret anything, and he implored others to follow his philosophy.

"Everybody says your mind is the most important thing about your body. Your mind and your body. You keep both busy, and by God you'll be here a long time," he said.



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Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.

159

Jokes / Best Blond Joke

« on: April 11, 2011, 09:08:22 PM »

A blonde went into a world wide message centre to send a message to her mother overseas.

When the man told her it would cost £30, she exclaimed: "I don't have any money." But I'd do ANYTHING to get a message to my mother."

The man arched an eyebrow (as we would expect).

"Anything?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, anything" the blonde promised.

Well, then, "Just follow me" said the man as he walked towards the next room.

The blonde did as she was told and followed the man.
" Come in and close the door" the man said.



She did.



He then said "Now get on your knees."

She did.


"Now take down my zipper."



She did.



"Now go ahead ... Take it out..." He said...

She reached in and grabbed it with both hands.

Then paused.



The man closed his eyes and whispered ...



"Well ... Go ahead."



The blonde slowly brought her mouth closer to it and while holding it close to her lips ... tentatively said ...

"Hello. Mum, can you hear  me?"




 

160

General Discussion / Prince Charles gay?

« on: April 10, 2011, 04:23:54 PM »

Prince Charles gay?
Filed under: *Celebrity Gossip*, News., Queer Bits


Well Prince Charles has found himself the blunt of a new gay controversy taking the net by storm. Rumour is, he’s been in the closet for 30 years. According to UK trash paper The Globe, he’s been hiding his sexuality from the world via two marriages and having kids. Well when you think about it, no wonder why Princess Diana didn’t stick around and well look at his current wife Camilla! Talking from my own personal experience of playing around with closet cases, the dead give away is when they’re dating an overly large chick, or one with the face of a pigs ass. Hello Camilla! Poor Prince Charles is no stranger to gay rumours, back in 2003 it was reported he had been playing on the other side of the fence. But alas this could just be another case of John Travolta speculation, a mid life crisis or the rumours could actually be true. God only knows.

So who has been blowing the horn (no pun intended, yeah right) on Prince Charles sexuality? Well according to The Globe, it was Camilla. Yes that’s very believeable! *sarcasm* The prospect of a gay king heading the monarchy someday is a pretty rad thought, where would the marriage laws stand then?

The fact is this is probably just another scandal to rock the royal family, and only time will tell if there is any truth to it. God the Queen will be going into damage control pretty soon I reckon, or a stroke. One of the two.

So do you think Prince Charles is gay?

I can’t help but wonder if he is a top or bottom.

I reckon bottom, what about you?

161

General Discussion / Social Security stopping mailed earning statements

« on: April 07, 2011, 08:14:10 PM »

Social Security stopping mailed earning statements
WASHINGTON, Thu Apr 07, 07:07 PM
Click To Enlarge 
 
FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2005 file photo, trays of printed social security checks wait to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury\'s...More
Those yearly statements that Social Security mails out - here's what you'd get if you retired at 62, at 66, at 70 - will soon stop arriving in workers' mailboxes. It's an effort to save money and steer more people to the agency's website.

The government is working to provide the statements online by the end of the year, if it can resolve security issues, Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said. If that fails, the agency will resume the paper statements, which cost $70 million a year to mail, he said.

"We'll provide it, we expect, one way or another, before the end of the calendar year," Astrue told The Associated Press. "We're just right now trying to figure out the most cost-effective and convenient way to provide that to the American public."

The statements, mailed to 150 million people each year, project future benefit payments, helping workers plan for retirement.

The decision to suspend the mailings was unrelated to the talk of a possible partial government shutdown. It was, however, related to the agency's operating budget, which has essentially been frozen at 2010 levels - minus about $350 million in economic stimulus money the agency had been using to handle claims.

Advocates for older Americans say they are sympathetic about the agency's budget problems, but several said an online option is insufficient, especially for people who may not have computer skills or access to computers.

 
"As far as the information being available online, that's not going to help a lot of people we work with," said Max Richtman, executive vice president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

"This was a concrete piece of paper, a document that workers would receive that would give them confidence in the program," Richtman said. "Otherwise, they hear a lot of the debate in Washington. It's going to be there; it's not going to be there."

Claims for retirement and disability benefits are up significantly since the nation's economy soured in 2008. About 2.7 million people applied for retirement benefits last year, a 17 percent increase from 2008, according to agency statistics. About 3.2 million people applied for disability benefits last year, a 23 percent increase.

Since the 1980s, Social Security statements have been mailed each year to workers older than 25. They include a history of taxable earnings for each year - so people can check for mistakes - as well as the total amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes paid over the lifetime of the worker.

The statements provide estimates of monthly benefits, based on current earnings and when a worker plans to retire. Workers can claim early retirement benefits starting at age 62. Full benefits are available at age 66, a threshold that is gradually increasing to 67 for people born in 1960 or later.

The statements are mailed throughout the year, so many people have already received them this year. Tens of millions have not.

The agency does offer a benefits estimator on its website that Astrue said can be even more helpful than the annual Social Security statements. Workers can enter their Social Security numbers on the website and get estimates of future benefits, depending on when they plan to retire.

"You can go online and you can get a very accurate estimate of your likely retirement benefits," Astrue said. Press. "You can run scenarios."

The website, however, does not provide the detailed earnings and payroll tax history that workers had been receiving in the mail each year.

Mary Johnson, a policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League, said the detailed paper statements help workers ensure they are getting credit for their proper earnings each year.

"When we get these we realize just how modest our benefit will be, and the need for savings, and to work as long as we are able to," Johnson said in an email.

Ending the statements is part of a trend in government to conduct more of its business electronically. Social Security already mails out few paper checks. About 88 percent of beneficiaries have their payments deposited directly into bank accounts.

Social Security has been beefing up its website in recent years, offering more services and information online as millions of computer-savvy baby boomers reach retirement age. The agency launched a new public campaign this week featuring two celebrities that baby boomers will find familiar: actors Patty Duke and George Takei.

Takei starred in the original "Star Trek" TV show, and the campaign features ads playing on a "Star Trek" theme, with Duke and Takei emphasizing how easy it is to apply for benefits online.

About 41 percent of applications for retirement benefits come in online, Astrue said. About 44 percent of Medicare applications are done online. In all, the agency's website attracts about 11 million visitors each month.

___

Online:

Social Security: www.ssa.gov

Benefits estimator: http://www.ssa.gov/estimator/

162

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / New York - By Dr. Hollis Liverpol (Chalkdust)

« on: April 07, 2011, 06:57:13 AM »

 New York - By Dr. Hollis Liverpol o(Chalkdust) Young Destroyer destroys Trinidad! So ran the headlines of an Antiguan newspaper last week while the newspapers of Trinidad wrote the same news in tiny corners of their newsprint, cowering as it were, from defeat and shame, following the Carifesta Calypso finals held at the Jean Pierre Complex on September 29th. It was a night when the Mighty Duke yelled out: “Shame! Shame! Shame!
 
Antigua beating we in Trinidad!” It was truly a night of shame for the Trinidadians and the Trinidad Calypso in particular, for never in the history of the art form had an “outsider” beaten Trinidad in calypso in the land of calypso, and to make matters worse, the “outsider, “ with his mother’s milk still flowing in his arteries, demolished eight Trinidad senior singers in the month that TUCO calls “calypso month.” I happened to be present and, with calypsonians Duke, Funny, Rio and Hamidullah as well as calypso lovers like Dr. Stanley Plowden, Mackandaal Daaga and Michael Swann, couldn’t help agreeing with the judges’ decision as, to use the words of the Mighty Duke, “the Trinidadians offered little by way of good calypso composition.” Duke went on to say, that if more points were given for the Carifesta tune than for the “Tune of Choice,” the Trinis would have scraped the bottom of the barrel since the guys from St. Maarten and Grenada were far better than us in that genre.” I happened to also see the Mighty Protector silent and in awe, judging from the painful expression on his face, for as president of TUCO, he too was ashamed and whispered loudly to a friend about the depths to which our country had sunk. Should I congratulate Young Destroyer for his masterful victory over Trinidad?
 
Why was the defeat such a historical one? It is historical because back in the 1980s when Barbados was claiming that their calypso didn’t come from Trinidad, the Roaring Lion in anger informed them that when he toured Barbados in the 1930s, it was the first time that Barbadians had ever heard the calypso. Lion was adamant; “It is we who gave Bajans Kaiso,” he reiterated. When too during the Whitsuntide weekend of 1937, Lion, Growler and others went to Grenada for the first time to sing, the Grenadians objected so vehemently to the singing of “Netty Netty” that a subsequent Trinidadian excursion to that island was cancelled by the Grenadian authorities. When in Antigua in the 1960s, Young killer was asked to participate in a calypso contest against the likes of King Short Shirt and Obstinate, he bluntly refused claiming that Short Shirt and others in Antigua were not up to the standard of a third class calypsonian in Trinidad. In a similar vein, it was the Trinidadians Joey Lewis, Ed Watson and master-musician Art DeCoteau—who this government has refused to recognize—who used their musicianship to make decent calypsonians of Swallow in Antigua, Arrow in Montserrat and Becket in St. Vincent. It was Art DeCoteau who gave them performance-pointers changing at times their melodies and their musical introductions and band choruses to give their calypsos “respectability.”
 In like manner, Trinidad singers like Power, Sparrow, Melody, Christo, Duke and Zebra so dominated the calypso scene in the British and American Virgin Islands that it wasn’t until the 1980s that a local calypso made the Road March circle in those islands. In the British Virgin Islands in particular, it was Trinidadian musician Roderick Borde who introduced the writing of music to the lads up there and trained them by means of seminars in the art of calypso performance. So adept were Trinidadians at the art of composing, that to most Northerners of the Caribbean, every Trinidadian was a calypsonian and Trinidad, according to Lord Dictator in 1955, was synonymous with good calypso. Lion even sang in the 1940s: “Jump high! Jump low! Trinidad is the land of Calypso.”

 How then a non-Trinidadian could today defeat a Trini at his own game?
Not even in the USA, Miami and London where singers from all the West Indian Islands meet, do Caribbean singers match the Trinidadian migrants in composition and performance. Calypso lovers all over the world know that Trinis like Lord Cloak, Alberto, Crusoe Kid and Tiger can’t be beaten in London; none can dethrone Count Robin in New York. Ellsworth James and Jason in Canada have defied all comers and Exposer in Los Angeles and San Francisco remains the king. Leon Coldero and Rootsman are the bosses in Miami and Lord Laro reigns supreme in Jamaica.
 
I recall the Lord Kitchener refusing to participate in a show in St. Lucia. When I asked him for his reason, he calmly told me in his stuttering style: “Man you yuhself Chalkie, you… you expect me to go on stage in St. Lucia with Lord Jook …Jooking Board?” Of course, in calypso circles worldwide, Jooking Board is a title for a quack. How then in 2006, Lord Jooking Board could destroy the Calypso King of Trinidad? Surely it is something for all calypso lovers to ponder and TUCO and the Ministry of Culture to discuss at length.
 
To rub salt in the wound, calypso lovers would of course remember how Trinidad singers used to deride the compositions of the islanders. In one such calypso of the 1960s, Lord Blakie in a calypso composed by calypsonian Spitfire spoke of the calypso competition in St. Vincent and the fact that the winner received as his prize “a basin of Shataigne and breadfruit” for his composition “Marning cack a crow Kokeeoko Kokeeoko,” Blakie laughing in that trademark-distinctive style, at the Creole tongue of the Vincentian. Similarly, Spoiler in the 1950s laughed at “Barbadian Carnival” with their “Emerlin pemmerlin yuh body trembelin.” Sir Galba did the same in 1953; Tiny Terror in 1956 and Conqueror in the early 1970s laughed at the Grenadian twang in a calypso entitled “Ah waant two sheet.” Space hinders me from providing readers with the number of Trinidadian calypsonians such as Mudada, Lord Invader, Unknown, Radio, Wonder and Viking who have all laughed at and denigrated in song the quasi-art forms of our northern brothers and sisters. How then the standard of the art form has dropped so low in Trinidad and risen so high in the other islands that they are laughing at us now?

I took pains to inform Makaandal Daaga on the “Night of Shame” that the majority of Trinidad calypsonians depend solely on a few composers who themselves compose for a number of artists in other islands, instead of being prepared to come to a training session and learn the art so as to improve themselves. It has been over five years now that Duke and I have offered our services to TUCO, the NCC and the Ministry of Culture, imploring them to allow us to conduct calypso classes, but to no avail, the Trinidad singers believing that because they have won a competition or have reached the finals of the calypso contest, they have no need for training. Worse yet, as the Carifesta contest has shown, the so-called non-calypsonian composers in Trinidad who supply the singers with calypsos are adept at cursing PNM and UNC; they are outstanding at heralding the body parts of women or of extolling the oppressions that they suffer, but when they are given a theme like Carifesta or any such abstract, vague topics, history shows that they are not up to standard, as their school boy compositions have testified. On the other hand, Duke and I this year conducted calypso classes at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to a sell-out audience, while I was the facilitator for classes in St. Kitts, Anguilla, Dominica, St. Thomas and Antigua in 2005-2006. No need for me to state that calypsonian Destroyer and his son Young Destroyer were participants of my training programme in Antigua. I therefore wish to heartily congratulate Young Destroyer on his great achievement and for the standard he has demonstrated. He has certainly shown that, in terms of the art form, his island has come of age.
 
Makaandal Daaga on that “Night of Shame” too, inquired why Duke, Bomber, Stalin and I, as calypso composers, were not on stage defending Trinidad, even as guest artistes. It was difficult for me to explain that not only was I not invited to any Carifesta event including the traditional calypso in the rumshop, but I could not blame the Ministry when my own TUCO had not seen it fit to even invite us to participate in the competition.
 
But invitation aside, Trinidad via TUCO, needs to pull itself up by its bootstraps so as to redeem our good name in an art where we, like the West Indian Cricket team, once dominated. And surely, that “Night of Shame” did not come on us suddenly! Calypsonian Power in the 1970s reminded us that we were neglecting our culture of steelband and calypso for other areas like sugar when “Cuba have more sugar than Trinidad.” There was my own “Kaiso in Hospital” in 1993 and the Blackman Stalin who before the contest last month prophesied to Kenny de Silva that “Antigua will win,” had since in the 1970s prophesied the debacle of the calypso in Trinidad when he sang: “One of these days we go wake up and hear what we go find/ Jamaica is the land of the Kaiso/ Antigua is the land of the steelband/ Grenada is the land of the Limbo/ And there’ll be nothing for Trinidadians/ Then we go hold we head and baul out: Lord, if ah did know/ If ah did know, Ah woulda hold on to mi steelband and calypso.”


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163

General Discussion / Manning causes stir at PNM caucus

« on: April 06, 2011, 10:10:40 PM »

.Home » News.Called to explain ‘Privileges’ motion...
Manning causes stir at PNM caucus
Published: Wed, 2011-04-06 21:25
Gail Alexander
 
 
Patrick Manning Former PNM leader Patrick Manning who attended Monday’s PNM caucus for the first time since last general election, raised concern about certain perception of the party, it was confirmed. Manning was at the Opposition’s Port-of-Spain office—where PNM caucus meetings are now held—on Monday when the media went to interview PNM leader Keith Rowley about the Nizam Mohammed issue. Manning was called upon by PNM chief whip Marlene McDonald to attend Monday’s caucus to explain about a upcoming parliamentary motion he has filed concerning Parliament’s Privileges Committee.

Manning has not attended caucus meetings or PNM events since the May 2010 general election defeat. He recently explained this to his constituency, saying it was to allow PNM’s new leadership space to take over. Yesterday, McDonald said: “It was a cordial, very productive meeting and talks are ongoing...Mr Manning was not aggressive in any way.” The upcoming motion is a spin-off development, after the Government’s referral of Manning to the Privileges Committee last year.

Manning had sought court assistance in obtaining legal representation for his committee matter, but this was withdrawn. Subsequently, a motion was filed for the House to debate by PNM MP Paula Gopee-Scoon, seeking legal representation for MPs in Privileges matters. This was also withdrawn. Recently, Manning filed a similar motion seeking full legal representation in Privileges issues. The motion is described as seeking to guarantee Manning’s human rights in his Privileges issue. The motion which has been accepted by Parliament was expected to have been debated last week, but was postponed. Parliament officials said it qualifies for House debate on April 15.

At Monday’s caucus also, other PNM sources said Rowley broached the issue of Manning’s initial “bypassing” of the caucus on the motion. They said Rowley felt it was “discourteous.” They said Manning who had been in touch with the chief whip on the first motion, had further cited the time factors in the Privileges issue, for his movement. They said during the meeting Manning also spoke “frankly” and expressed concern about public perceptions about the PNM and the PP administration and certain “distrust.” Sources said Manning gave as an example a front page picture on Monday’s Guardian of PNM MP lady vice-chairman Donna Cox hugging acting Prime Minister Jack Warner and his wife Maureen.

They said Manning indicated concern had been expressed to him that such pictures conveyed the impression that the Government and Opposition might be too “tight” and the public interest might be compromised in any such situation.

Sources said Rowley defended the picture, questioning why parliamentary colleagues could not communicate with each other. PNM sources said various MPs present at the caucus supported Manning’s argument on the upcoming motion. They said Manning left after giving his input on the motion, but before the caucus ended its meeting. A PNM party spokesman said yesterday that the motion would be seconded by the PNM when it came up for House debate.

The spokesman said:

“He (Manning) is one of our colleagues and if he feels his rights are being infringed, then we have to support him.” Manning did not respond to repeated phone calls yesterday.

164

General Discussion / Malcolm X's daughters unhappy with new book

« on: April 06, 2011, 09:39:30 PM »

Malcolm X's daughters unhappy with new book
NEW YORK, Wed Apr 06, 07:59 PM
Click To Enlarge 
 
Ilyasah Shabazz, right, and Malaak Shabazz, daughters of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X, are shown on Wednesday, April...More
Two of Malcolm X's daughters are unhappy that a new biography alleges their parents' marriage was strained and that their mother - and possibly their father - was unfaithful.

"It (the marriage) was definitely faithful and devoted because my father was a man of impeccable integrity, and I think that most people, if they're not clear on anything, they're clear that he was moral and ethical and had impeccable character," Ilyasah Shabazz said Wednesday.

Ilyasah and Malaak Shabazz spoke to The Associated Press about "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention." Author Manning Marable, a highly respected scholar who worked for more than 20 years on the book, died last week of complications of pneumonia just before the book's publication. The book has been in the top 10 on Amazon.com's best-seller list, and the print run has been increased from 46,000 to 70,000, according to Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).

While both sisters acknowledged they have yet to read the book, they questioned reports about the contents. Manning had intended "Malcolm X" as a tribute to the slain activist's life and influence, but he also wanted to avoid portraying him as "a saint, without the normal contradictions and blemishes that all human beings have," as the historian wrote in the introduction. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. His wife, Betty Shabazz, died in 1997 after one of her grandchildren set fire to her apartment.

 
The book alleges that parts of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," a million-selling classic released after Malcolm X's death, were inaccurate. For instance, Manning questions details of Malcolm X's early life as a criminal, writing that Malcolm likely exaggerated his wrongdoings.

He also looks into Malcolm X's more controversial words and actions, including a meeting Malcolm X had with members of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1960s. At the time, he was a high-ranking member of the Nation of Islam and had discussed with the Klan the possibility of the nation purchasing land for blacks to live on. Malcolm X would later express regret, although Manning still called the meeting "despicable."

Malcolm X married Betty Shabazz in 1958. They had six children, two of them, Malikah and Malaak, born after his death. According to the book, the marriage was often tense, in part because of Malcolm's wish to have a traditional, subservient Muslim wife and because he was away so often and his life was often threatened.

According to "Malcolm X," Betty became involved in 1964 with Charles Kenyatta, a close associate of Malcolm's. Manning writes that Malcolm, too, may have had affairs, although the evidence is uncertain.

Malaak Shabazz said there "may have been a little bit of stress, like any marriage," but that "there was really no times for shenanigans. She raised the children at home, he worked on a global level."

____

AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report

165

General Discussion / Fatherdaughter expect child together

« on: March 27, 2011, 06:21:08 PM »

 
Fatherdaughter expect child together
 and Claim to be victims of Genetic Sexual Attraction
PrintShare SendThu 24 Mar, 2011 08:00 am GMT
 
© nsphotography - Fotolia.com A woman who tracked down her long-lost father in the US is now pregnant with his child.

Garry Ryan, 46, was tracked down by his daughter Penny Lawrence, 28, last year. He had left Ms Lawrence's mother when she was pregnant, so father and daughter had never met.

Following the death of her mother and the grandparents who raised her, Ms Lawrence, from Los Angeles, became obsessed with finding her father, and tracked him down to Houston, Texas.

Upon meeting, they felt an instant physical attraction, which resulted in a sexual relationship. Ms Lawrence is now pregnant with her father's child.

The couple claim that their attraction is the result of something called Genetic Sexual Attraction, a term coined in the 1980s to describe overwhelming feelings between blood relatives who first meet as adults.

Speaking with The Irish Sun newspaper, Ms Lancaster said: "We are not committing incest, but are victims of GSA. We’ve never experienced a father-daughter relationship, so we’re just like any other strangers who meet in adulthood."

The couple said that if the three month scan of their baby shows it does not have birth defects, they plan to keep the child and raise it together.

The couple are aware that their relationship is illegal, and are afraid the law will be used to separate them.

In the US, a sexual relationship between close blood relatives is illegal, although the specifics of incest laws vary between states. A close blood relative usually includes father, mother, brother and sister, aunt, uncle, niece and nephew but may also extend to first cousins, step parents and step brothers and sisters.

Several theories surround the phenomenon of GSA, including the notion that humans are frequently attracted to faces similar to their own.

It also embraces the theory that if two people who are genetically related do not meet until adulthood, the normal sexual aversion that develops between siblings during childhood is somehow switched off.

Indeed, GSA can affect parents separated from their own children at birth, as well as siblings. It does not refer to a genetic sexual attraction, but to the fact that people are genetically connected.

The emotions that GSA engenders are reportedly intense and all consuming, leading those affected by it to act against their interest to pursue a relationship with their relative.

There have been cases of mothers and sons, and long lost brothers becoming intimate under the compulsion of GSA.

The situation is reported to be quite common in reunions between adoptees.

The term GSA was coined in the 1980s by Barbara Gonyo after reuniting with the son she had given up for adoption.

Upon reuniting with him 26 years later, she was horrified to discover that she had feelings for him akin to those of a lover, rather than a mother. She investigated her own feelings about her son and wrote a book in which she coined the phrase Genetic Sexual Attraction.

166

General Discussion / Blame PNM for crime

« on: March 25, 2011, 03:33:07 PM »

Blame PNM for crime
By JADA LOUTOO Friday, March 25 2011

FORMER parliamentarian, John Humphrey, yesterday placed all blame for the spiralling crime situation on the shoulders of former prime minister, Patrick Manning and his People’s National Movement regime, accusing him of doling out massive sums of money which went towards fuelling gangs.

He said after Manning was appointed prime minister by former President Arthur NR Robinson — following the 18/18 parliamentary deadlock in 2000 he spent massive amounts of money to young people who formed themselves into gangs under the guise of social programmes.

“This is the source of the crime wave we face now,” he said as he returned yesterday for cross- examination at the commission of enquiry into the July 27, 1990, attempted coup.

Humphrey said there was one group which received the “largesse” of the State under Manning’s watch, and that he (Manning) was able to “buy out” young people by establishing the Unemployment Relief Programme and the Cepep, leading to some of them investing the money they received, and for which they did not have to account, into the drug trade.

Humphrey said after the insurrection, when former prime minister Basdeo Panday was in office, the crime situation was reasonably managed.

During close to three hours of testimony, Humphrey repeated what he had previously stated, again giving an explanation behind his concept for a Caribbean dollar, and again insisted that he would have honoured the agreement which was hammered out in the Parliament between the insurgents and the Government hostages.

“Mr Robinson was prepared to accept it as well,” he insisted. Humphrey said as a tiny, minuscule country, a formula was found to end the insurgency, but it appeared that the Government at the time, was not prepared to use it.

“I should have walked out of there on the Saturday,” he said. “In the Constitution there is a provision for Amnesty and conditional pardon, and that part of the Constitution used, would end the crisis,” he said.

Humphrey agreed that as a member of Parliament, he swore to uphold the Constitution, but said he also particularly honoured the spirit of the Constitution.

When asked by lead counsel to the commission, Avory Sinanan, SC, if he would still honour an agreement which breached the Constitution, and which arose out of an action which also went against the Constitution (in reference to the attempted coup), Humphrey said he was not aware that it was the Jamaat al Muslimeen’s intention to overthrow the (NAR) Government.

“All they asked for was, Mr Robinson’s resignation, and for elections to be held in 90 days,” he said.

He said the insurgents expressed “great hate” for Robinson.

Humphrey again defended himself against the claims that it was he who insisted that the agreement made with the Muslimeen to bring an end to the attempted coup. He admitted he raised the issue of the Constitution and the Amnesty, even after it was pointed out by commission vice-chairman Sir Richard Cheltenhams that all Bilaal Abdulah — the leader of the insurrectionists in the Parliament — asked for was Robinson’s resignation and for elections to be called in 90 days.

“I said let’s get the Constitution, and what the Constitution provides for, in such a situation,” he said.

Humphrey also said he was disgusted that members of the Government were still “negotiating” with the insurgents for the precepting of JAM members, when a settlement had already been arrived at.

“The crisis was already over. Why aren’t we freed?”

He also credited Anglican cleric, Dean Knolly Clarke for saving the lives of the hostages when he came running into the Parliament with the Amnesty which had been signed by acting president Emmanuel Carter.

Humphrey said even then it did not appear to him that the Amnesty was not going to be honoured, adding that if the JAM had been aware of that at the time, “history would have been written differently.”

He again accused Robinson of firing Panday and the other ULF ministers from his Cabinet and Government, because he wanted control of the PNM constituencies in Trinidad.

He also accused the Trinidad Express of being sympathetic towards Robinson, in his move to get rid of the ULF elements in the Cabinet.

Humphrey spoke extensively about his views on how the then NAR government could have handled the economic stranglehold gripping the country at the time.

But, he said, Robinson was too rigid a prime minister, and would not consult with his ministers.

He also said Robinson “offended all of us” when he implemented the stringent economic measures, which were not contained in the NAR’s manifesto.

Humphrey also testified that the NAR Cabinet had agreed to lease lands at Mucurapo to the Jamaat al Muslimeen, but that decision was never carried out.

“I am not sure if even today they have a lease to the lands,” he said. He again discounted that the land issue was a major factor in the JAM’s actions on July 27, 1990.

Humphrey also said during his conversation with Bakr in 1985, while picking citrus fruits at Cunaripo, the JAM leader raised the issue of constructing an Islamic Centre at Mucurapo and he believed it to be an “honourable vision,” and as an architect by profession, he would have liked to have seen Persian architecture in Trinidad.

Perhaps if he had the lease, I don’t think he would have gone to arms (guns).

He also gave a reason for Panday’s absence from the Parliament Chamber when the Jamaat al Muslimeen stormed the Red House. He said Panday was recuperating from open-heart surgery and had left before the tea-break intending to go to the Law Association’s wine and cheese function at the Hall of Justice. Panday instead, he said, asked to be taken home because he was not feeling well.

When asked by lead counsel for the commission, Avory Sinanan, SC, if he could say what Panday meant by “Wake me up when it was over” since it had been found to be strange and upsetting to other parliamentarians who were held hostage in the Parliament, Humphrey again explained that Mrs (Oma) Panday indicated that her husband was sound asleep at the time and they believed what was taking place to be a scene from a Best Village production.

Humphrey said when it became apparent that it was a violent attack on the Parliament, Panday, in his drowsiness, made the now infamous comment.

 

167

Jokes / Car Accident

« on: March 24, 2011, 08:31:33 AM »

Now this is a true thing . A woman driving her car on the highway in trinbago stop because of red traffic light , a car came from behind and hit her, when the police came on the scene  the  police ask the woman driver to tell him what happen to cause the accident the woman driver said i got a red light so i stoped the  police officer ask the her how fast were you going .   

168

General Discussion / Sando East PNMites to sit out internal election

« on: March 19, 2011, 03:02:53 PM »

Sando East PNMites to sit out internal election
By Ria Taitt Political Editor

Story Created: Mar 18, 2011 at 10:43 PM ECT

(Story Updated: Mar 18, 2011 at 10:43 PM ECT )

Candidate for the chairmanship in the PNM's internal election, Franklin Khan, says it is unfortunate that the San Fernando East delegates will not be voting in tomorrow's election.

Khan's comment came even as chairman of the San Fernando East constituency, Tina Gronlund-Nunez, confirmed that former PM Patrick Manning had advised San Fernando East delegates that they should sacrifice their votes and abstain in the election, because he did not want to be accused of interfering with the future of the party and of helping to choose the new political leader's executive.

Gronlund-Nunez said Manning told delegates to let the other 40 constituencies decide on the executive.

Asked to comment yesterday, Khan said all delegates should be allowed to participate in the democracy of the party, particularly since three of the positions being voted for — the chairman, vice chairman and general secretary — are five-year positions.

"These would be the officers who are taking us into the next general election," he said.

He said if the elections only involved posts which the persons were holding for one year, one could understand people saying 'take some time to let issues clear'.

"But this (election) is so important because it is five-year positions and I think it is an abdication of their responsibility to influence the election in whatever fashion they want to," Khan said.

Repeated attempts to contact Pennelope Beckles-Robinson, the candidate going up against Khan, were unsuccessful.

169

General Discussion / SWRHA Boss Fired

« on: March 18, 2011, 07:23:50 AM »

.Home » News.After botched C-section at Sando hospital...
RHA boss gets marching orders
Published: Fri, 2011-03-18 00:32
Yvonne Webb
 
 
Flashback: Paula Chester Cumberbatch, fired CEO of the South West Regional Health Authority being welcomed by Mayor of San Fernando Marlene Coudray to the formal service launch of the Eye Theatre and Eye/Ent Ward at the San Fernando General Hospital last Friday.

The woman at the centre of a controversy surrounding the delay in suspension letters being issued to medical staff who were on duty on March 4, when a botched Caesarean section resulted in the death of a woman, has been fired. Paula Chester-Cumberbatch, the Chief Executive Officer of the South West Regional Health Authority, was fired yesterday with immediate effect. She was escorted out of the compound where she held the top notch job for the past year, by security personnel. No reasons were given for her sudden termination. SWRHA chairman Dr Lackram Bodoe issued Chester-Cumberbatch with her marching papers during their regular board meeting, shortly before noon, yesterday.  At a news conference held one hour later, Bodoe confirmed her dismissal but denied that it was linked to the five doctors and four nurses not receiving their suspension letters. He also confirmed that a fifth nurse, a senior practitioner with 34 years service at the San Fernando General Hospital, was added to the list of those suspended, bringing the number to ten.

On March 14, Health Minister Therese Baptiste-Cornelis announced at a news conference that the nine were suspended, with basic pay, to facilitate a three-man independent investigation into the death of Crystal Boodoo-Ramsoomair who died in the maternity ward during child birth. Her child survived. On March 15, with doctors and nurses contesting the action, having not received letters confirming their suspension, the minister by news release noted that for reasons unknown to the chairman, the CEO did not implement the directive for the suspension of the staff.  Bodoe also issued a similar release in which he advised that at a special meeting of its board on March 11, members took a unanimous decision to suspend those directly involved in the management and care of Boodoo-Ramsoomair. In that said release on March 16, he indicated that the board was in the process of determining whether or not its instructions to the CEO were not implemented and if they were not, the reason for such non-implementation. The board held a lengthy meeting on Wednesday afternoon, after which rumours of Chester-Cumberbatch’s termination spread.

At the news conference held at the SWRHA’s Lewis Street, operation, Bodoe confirmed the rumour.
“In respect of the issue surrounding the SWRHA’s CEO, a board meeting was held, yesterday, to determine whether or not the board’s instructions were implemented and if they were not, the reasons for such,” he said. “I must say, at that meeting, the CEO was asked to give reasons for the late implementation of the suspension of the staff. “This morning at our regular statutory meeting of the board discussion was ensued and at this point in time the board has made a decision to terminate the services of the CEO Paula Chester-Cumberbatch with immediate effect.” Bodoe thanked her for her vision and dedication she brought to the organisation and wished her all the best in her future endeavours. Questioned as to the reason for the suspension, Bodoe responded this way. “I would like to thank the CEO for the services she has rendered to the SWRHA,” he said. “This is a new board which has been in office for the past three to four months. “As a board we have looked at our vision and we have looked at the strategic direction in which we want to proceed and we found that certain adjustments needed to be made in that manner. “This is in keeping with the new strategic direction of the board.” Questioned further about the possible link between the delayed suspension and the firing, Bodoe said: “The two matters are not directly related. “One was a matter which was looked at separately and it would not be true to say that the two matters are related,” he added.

Bodoe, a senior gynaecologist, also clarified that he was not part of the independent committee appointed by the ministry to lead the Boodoo-Ramsoomair investigation over the next two weeks. He continued to plead that the suspension in this matter were not punitive, but a measure to protect the public and staff as well as the reputation of the authority. Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Dr Sunil Persad, who sat in on the news conference with Bodoe, admitted that the severe staff shortage was further affected by the loss of five doctors on suspension. Bodoe assured measures were put in place to ensure services at the hospital were not adversely affected by the suspension. On the issue of surgeries being cancelled, Bodoe said he was surprised by the report and also gave the assurance that the arrangements would be made to accommodate the 20 patients, whose surgeries have been postponed, at the hospital or private institutions. He said the SWRHA felt strongly that patients were not inconvenienced in any way.

170

General Discussion / REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month

« on: March 17, 2011, 08:21:31 PM »

 REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.
REMINDER.....  all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.

.... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:    888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list It will only take a minute of your time.. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON.. It takes about 20 seconds.   

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx 

 

171

General Discussion / First lady to write book about White House garden

« on: March 16, 2011, 05:34:00 PM »

First lady to write book about White House garden
NEW YORK, Wed Mar 16, 04:37 PM
There's a new author in the White House: Michelle Obama.

The first lady has signed with the Crown Publishing Group for a book about the garden she started on the South Lawn of the White House and the benefits of healthy eating. The book, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in April 2012. Obama received no advance and will donate all proceeds to a charity or charities to be determined.

The White House said the garden has yielded more than 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables.

"We've gotten food out of the garden, and we can eat it and it's good," Obama said Wednesday during a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press. "So we wanted to share the story with the rest of the nation and perhaps with the rest of the world, because we get so many questions about the garden: How did we do it? Why did we do it? How do I do this in my own home or community?"

The first lady, 47, has been an advocate for locally grown food and last year started an anti-obesity campaign, "Let's Move!" According to Crown, the book will be "inspirational and instructive, and will provide ideas and resources for readers to get involved in the movement to create community, school and urban gardens, support local farmers' markets, and make small lifestyle changes to achieve big health results.


 
"Mrs. Obama will also share some of her family's favorite healthy recipes."

Editions will include an illustrated hardcover, an e-book and an "enhanced" multimedia e-book.

"I hope it will be a beautiful book, as well, something that everyone can take something away from," Obama said. "Maybe if you're a local gardener yourself, you'll be drawn by the pictures of the ... garden in its various stages throughout the seasons. If you're a kid, maybe you'll pick up the book and read along with your teachers, and look at how we've incorporated young people in our garden."

Obama is continuing a tradition of first ladies using books to address a favorite cause. Hillary Clinton had a best-seller with "It Takes a Village," about the importance of community in raising children; and Laura Bush collaborated with daughter Jenna on a picture book about a reluctant reader, the popular "Read All About It!" This is Michelle Obama's first book and she said she had begun working on it. "I don't know why I'm not really nervous about it. Maybe I don't know enough to be nervous yet," she said.

Because of her crowded schedule, Obama plans to have help, with details still to be worked out. Assistance might be very close by. President Obama has written two best-sellers, "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope," and is widely regarded as among the most literary presidents. Both books sold in the millions.

"I will definitely have him be involved and look at it," the first lady said. "Barack is a wonderful writer and he's a wonderful writer on so many different fronts."

Crown, a division of Random House Inc., also publishes President Obama and the deal was negotiated by his literary representative, Washington attorney Robert Barnett.

The first lady, who spoke before a Wednesday afternoon event at the South Lawn to lay down crops for the spring planting, eventually will face another first lady tradition: memoirs after leaving the White House. Asked about possible other books, Obama said her priority for the moment was on tending her garden.

"We'll see. I'm not really thinking that far ahead," she said. "Today we're going to plant our third season, and we're going to be out on the White House lawn with kids this afternoon. So the focus is really on right now, in telling this story well right now. And we'll sort of see what happens from there."



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172

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / Reaching for the stars…once again

« on: March 11, 2011, 11:00:54 PM »

Reaching for the stars…once again
Published: Sat, 2011-03-12 16:01
Mr Muzik  who come with it roll it .
 
 
Starchild (Marinus Ayres) is back stronger and wiser. The love has been flowing in from around the world for deejay Starchild (Marinus Ayres) who’s back on track. Deejays in New York City, Toronto and the Caribbean have been welcoming back the man who fans call “The Star.” Locally, deejays have pledged their support for this widely-respected master of the turntables. Starchild had a setback recently and served prison time, but he’s not bitter. He thanks Yahweh for the experience that has made him “stronger and wiser.”Apart from deejays welcoming him back, his Febeau/Laventille community laid out the red carpet for their favourite son’s homecoming.

“I’m overwhelmed,” he told Mr Muzik. “Even on the streets,they are welcoming me back.” Already things are beginning to happen for Starchild. His climb to the top has begun once more at Radio 104.7 FM. “Star” specialises in music mixes, and he does it in a style no one can copy. He credits his fantastic welcome back to the deejay world on how he has lived with the people. Promoters are lining up for his tremendous skills. “Things are happening,” he said. “all positive things.” Bursting with vitality, Starchild is preparing for a takeoff with the stars in view. “I’m at the computer 24/7, putting down music,” he told Mr Muzik. He’s determined to continue a revolution he started with “old school calypso mixes, and hopes other local deejays come on board.

“We can’t leave out calypso,” he said. “calypso must be played year-round.” He called on local deejays on radio to review their attitude towards calypso. He wasn’t speaking to Wax Live and Allan Diaz. Starchild is perturbed that there are 35 FM radio stations and calypso is not being given pride of place. He said deejays must sustain the soca and calypso momentum long after Ash Wednesday. “It can be done. They need to mix the old school with the new music,” he advised. Starchild shot to fame in the 70s and had been riding a wave of success until his downfall.  With Rennie B, Billy Reece (The Bad Lad) and then Chinese Laundry, the “Star” was on the same level with them. Along with Third Bass and Chinese Laundry, Starchild made a foray into soca singing with a hit, Who Come Wid It Roll It.”

He credits Papa Rocky for opening the floodgates in this regard. Starchild took the time to praise Leston Paul, Machel Montano, teacher Maureen Clement, Emmanuel George, Michael “Uncle Sam” Pierre and all his other friends for their love. Even his “brothers in prison” and the deejay brothers. “Their names are so numerous” he said. Now hear this. The “Star” has added a new dimension to his life. He is now writing music after having achieved a distinction in music in prison.

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173

General Discussion / Cops moving to stop use of glass bottles for Carnival

« on: March 11, 2011, 08:28:03 AM »

Cops moving to stop use of glass bottles for Carnival
By Akile Simon

Story Created: Mar 10, 2011 at 11:50 PM ECT

(Story Updated: Mar 10, 2011 at 11:50 PM ECT )

DEPUTY Commissioners of Police Jack Ewatski and Raymond Craig yesterday stated that the police intend to meet with various stakeholders in an attempt to eliminate the use of having beverages sold in glass bottles during the Carnival season.

The senior cops said there were too many incidents, during Carnival festivities, in which glass bottles were used as weapons.

"That is something that we are certainly reviewing, and we believe that the ability for people to have in their possession, bottles, beer bottles or any type of bottles and to use them as weapons by throwing them, needs to be addressed in a serious manner. We take the position that we need to look at a different way in allowing people to consume their alcohol. We would strongly support the move towards either plastic bottles or the alcohol being sold in plastic cups to take away the ability of people to use those bottles as weapons."

Questioned that such a move was touted in the past by the Executive of the Police Service after similar incidents at Carnival activities, Craig stated that the plastic container idea was met with a level of resistance.

"I am aware that there was some meeting with certain stakeholders but there was some resistance because they said there would be additional cost in terms of regularising it to the extent that all the alcoholic drinks are provided in plastic bottles. So I know that there was a meeting and I think that we are going to, in the not too distant future, go after this situation in a more diligent way because we see that people could be stabbed and there were several offences where bottles were used as weapons," Craig said.

Jamaican national, Jameel Benton, 33, was robbed and stabbed about the body with broken bottles by a group on men along Tragarete Road, Woodbrook on Carnival Monday.

There were two particular bottle-throwing incidents, one in Woodbrook which resulted in President of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association Sgt Anand Ramesar being injured when he intervened in a "bottle war" between two rival gangs.

In the second, which took place near the Arima Dial, St Augustine Secondary school pupil Commie Torres, 18, was shot and killed. Mystery surrounds Commie's death, and fingers have been pointed at police officers. Eyewitnesses have accused police officers of firing shots into a crowd in an attempt to quell a bottle-throwing incident.

Ewatski said that incident was under investigation since the allegations were very serious in nature.

"The allegations that have been presented very recently, especially in Arima, are very serious allegations that are made by members of the public. I can assure you that we are investigating all aspects of that incident very thoroughly."

174

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / Jouvert live

« on: March 07, 2011, 06:21:25 AM »

www.livestream.com/boomchampionstt

175

General Discussion / Reality Check

« on: March 06, 2011, 09:20:30 AM »

http://www.livestream.com/power102fm

Check out Morgan Jobb program

176

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / NJ congressman tops 'Jeopardy' computer Watson

« on: March 01, 2011, 08:06:18 PM »

NJ congressman tops 'Jeopardy' computer Watson
TRENTON, N.J., Tue Mar 01, 05:00 PM
Click To Enlarge 
 
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, Democratic Rep. Rush Holt answers a question during a debate with Republican challenger...More
Turns out all it took to top Watson, the "Jeopardy"-winning computer, was a rocket scientist.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey is just such a scientist.

The success of Holt - a five-time champion during the trivia show's original run 35 years ago - topped the IBM computer Monday night in a "Jeopardy" exhibition match of congressmen vs. machine held at a Washington hotel.

Holt, a Democrat from the Princeton area, built a lead in categories including "Presidential Rhyme Time," in which the correct response to "Herbert's military strategy" was "Hoover's maneuvers." The congressman also correctly identified hippophobia as the fear of horses.

Watson beat him to the buzzer with the answer "love" when prompted on what Ambrose Bierce described as "a temporary insanity curable by marriage."

Holt played the first round along with Rep. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican. At the end of the round, Holt had earned $8,600 to Watson's $6,200.

But the computer ultimately triumphed in later rounds against other representatives, amassing a combined $40,300 to the humans' $30,000.

Holt received a round of applause Tuesday at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee for besting the computer.

He thanked crowd and gave a shout-out to "neuron based thinking, instead of semi-conductor thinking."

Holt said it was fun to beat the heralded computer. But he also said it's important that Americans realize how crucial math and science education is to the nation's future.

 
"I was proud to hold my own with Watson," Holt said. "More importantly, I was proud to join IBM and other members of Congress to highlight the importance of science and math education and research and development.

"While it was fun to outdo Watson for one night in trivia, it is vital that, as a nation, we out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world for generations to come," he said.

Christopher Padilla, IBM's vice president of governmental programs, said the untelevised exhibition was "more than a trivia contest."

"The technology behind Watson represents a major advancement in computing," he said. "In the data-intensive environment of government, this type of technology can help organizations make better decisions and improve how government helps its citizens."

177

Jokes / Rectum Stretcher

« on: February 24, 2011, 09:36:00 PM »

While she was "flying" down the road yesterday, a woman passed over a bridge only to find a cop with a radar gun on the other side lying in wait.  The cop pulled her over, walked up to the car, with that classic patronizing smirk we all know and love, asked, "What's your hurry?"

To which she replied, "I'm late for work."


Oh yeah," said the cop, "what do you do?"
 
I'm a rectum stretcher," she responded.

The cop stammered, "A A A what? A rectum stretcher? And just what does a rectum stretcher do?"

"Well," she said, "I start by inserting one finger, then work my way up to two fingers, then three, then four, then with my whole hand in.  I work from side to side until I can get both hands in, and then I slowly but surely stretch it, until it's about 6 feet wide."

"And just what the hell do you do with a 6 foot asshole ? "  he asked.

"You give him a radar gun and park him behind a bridge..."

Traffic Ticket - $95.00
Court Costs -  $45.00
Look on the Cop's Face?  PRICELESS !!!

 

 

178

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / Road March 2011

« on: February 24, 2011, 09:17:43 PM »

OK guys i think by now we hear all the tunes for carnival this year , can we guess who will take the road march this year ? and if you loose don't tell the people to pelt nuttin on stage right please have some behavior

I will go first Trini for road march .

179

Entertainment & Culture Discussion / Where is rapso

« on: February 23, 2011, 04:18:44 AM »

.Home » Bobie-lee Dixon

.Where is rapso?

Published: Tue, 2011-02-22 18:38
Bobie-lee Dixon
 
 
Rapso founder and icon Brother Resistance (Lutalo Masimba). The term rapso first appeared in 1980 on Busting Out, an album by Brother Resistance (Lutalo Masimba) and his Network Riddum Band. But the genre was said to have been developed by the late Lancelot Layne with Blow Away in 1971. Rapso music, as explained by Resistance, is the poetry of calypso and the consciousness of soca. “Rapso music was formed out of the spoken word. From the days of the Midnight Robber, the Chantwell and the Griot,” he said. Since the creation of this genre, it has been infused with soul and reggae music. The art form during the 70s, 80s and early 90s was one of the most prevalent expressions of music, and attracted young artistes like Homefront, Kindred, Ozzy Magic, and 3Canal, to name a few. The extraordinary sound was also recognised and appreciated in London and the UK. However, the music that once was very popular, is now struggling to maintain it’s position in the country’s greatest cultural festival—Carnival.

Each year the rapso community celebrates Rapso Explosion one week before Carnival at the Nalis Amphitheatre in Port-of-Spain. The event has been running for the past 14 years, and is the Carnival showcase of the oral tradition. Some of the activities include new releases within the vein of rapso, story telling, and guest performances by the established rapso artistes. “We are doing our thing still. Brother Resistance is at Kaiso House, sister Ava is there, Karega Mandela is at the Kaiso Karavan at La Joya, and 3Canal has a rapso show for more than five years in running at Queen’s Hall each year around Carnival time,” said Resistance.

He added that over the years the radio had not been kind to rapso artiste, but said they didn’t gripe about it because they were not alone, as steelpan and social commentary had also been neglected. “It is a sad time for the ‘rootical’ sounds of T&T. For whatever reason these radio stations believe the only music relevant to Carnival are the jump and wave and jam and wine tunes—soca. This is not so, Carnival is a story,” he said. “NCC (National Carnival Committee) needs to take a more proactive approach in preserving and strengthening the origins of Carnival. There is need for support structures to be put in place for our Midnight Robbers, Chantwells, Pierrot Grenades and the Griot. “These characters are part of the foundation of Carnival. If their profiles remained lifted in the public, our young ones would understand and appreciate the origins of Carnival, and have a better knowledge of their roots,” he said.

Resistance said while the rapso community have not yet secured the radio license for which it had applied three years ago, it had not given up and would not give up until it had achieved its goal. The frequency, he said, was to be solely dedicated to the art form. “We are also in the process of creating a Web site to market rapso music to the wider world. We have roads shows, where we go into communities to keep the art form alive. We also make sure young rapso artistes songs are recorded, even if these songs are not played on radio. “We are doing the best we can to preserve rapso music and we are thankful for the assistance the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs (Now the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism) have given us over the years, but there is a lot more to be done,” he lamented.

Ed note: The annual 3Canal show is currently running at The Little Carib Theatre, located at the corner of White and Roberts Streets, Woodbrook.

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180

General Discussion / The mysteries of strong and weak Govt

« on: February 20, 2011, 09:32:56 AM »

The mysteries of strong and weak Govt
By Selwyn Ryan

Story Created: Feb 19, 2011 at 11:56 PM ECT

(Story Updated: Feb 19, 2011 at 11:56 PM ECT )

In a previous column (Sunday Express, February 6,) I asked questions as to why our governments "fail" so continuously? Obviously, several factors work together to make the country ungovernable. Since writing that column, former prime minister Mr Patrick Manning offered another factor, viz, that "Trinidad and Tobago requires strong leadership to govern the country". Mr Manning had previously indicated that strength was not enough, and that "righteousness" was also needed to secure good governance and prosperity. The remark about the need for strong government was made in the context of the widely held view that the People's Partnership Government is "weak" and irresolute, and patently unable to deliver the good governance which it promised nine months ago.

There is indeed a view abroad that over the years following Independence, PNM led governments have been "stronge" and more transformative than the alternatives which have emerged in the form of the NAR, the UNC and now the People's Partnership. Several factors have been responsible for these outcomes. The first is that while all major parties are in fact coalitions, the PNM has been less so.

PNM governments, whether under Eric Williams, George Chambers or Patrick Manning, have been more cohesive and unitarist than the others which have had to bargain and make deals in order to stay united and to survive. The state of the economy also helps to determine how governments represent themselves. With some notable exceptions, especially in the late 60s and the early 90s, the PNM has been in power during boom years and cash was used to buy compliance and bribe potential dissidents. When the economy is strong and surpluses are available, governing elites talk louder about plans and visions, and carry a bigger stick. The reverse is the case when money is not readily available.

One sympathises, up to a point, with the People's Partnership Government and the AG's office in particular, when they complain that they're "constantly having to sidestep mines in the ground, and anyone of them could spring on us at anytime.


The Government is moving with a vaccum [cleaner] and push broom having to clean-up PNM mess everywhere we turn. I want this country to understand that before the People's Partnership can even take action, we first have to spend time to unravel the mysteries of governance that was the PNM. The Prime Minister has made similar observations and complaints. Mr Subhas Panday has also pleaded that the coffers are empty. As he moaned,' when we assumed government,the national debt was in the vicinity of $62 billion. Had we had those funds, had there been no wastage, had there been no corruption, we would have been advanced on this [tunnel to Maracas project]."

Are these complaints excuses for an absence of competence and capacity, or are they genuine? Both are true. Some critics and detractors say that what is lacking is experience and competence, while yet others say that the People's Partnership Government's weakness derives from its ideological orientation. Interestingly, there is no agreement among scholars about what constitutes "strong" or "weak" government. There is in fact wide disagreement as to whether strong governments perform better or worse in terms of economic growth and development, or happiness and public well being.

Up until the 90s, there was a bias in favour of strong governments. The orthodox view was that if one wished to accelerate the rate of economic development or dramatically change the material quality of life for the better, one needed to have a strong interventionist government. Strong states such as those in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan were invariably more interventionist and redistributive in their orientation than states that were "weak". In Latin America, the strong states were invariably populist.

Weak or minimalist states either lacked the bureaucratic and regulative capacity to act meaningfully or were led or influenced by elites who believed that strong states more often than not misallocated and wasted resources constructing mega-complexes. Their ideological preference was to allow the market a greater role in allocating material resources and social goods. The maximalist state, by comparison, sought to mobilise and push the society into achieving "developed country" status or some other overarching goal.

These polarised generalisations however often masked realities that were quite different.

In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr Manning believed that the governments which he led were strong, that he had a "vision" (2020), he was prepared to cut corners to achieve the articulated goals. He also sought to impose a time frame within which the goals were to be achieved.

I however have serious doubts as to whether the Manning-led state was indeed strong. Mr Manning's voice was strong as was his conviction and belief in his mission; the executive was unitary and those with whom he disagreed were fired. The other institutions of the state, including the regulatory and legal apparatus were quite weak and hollowed out. And, instead of seeking to reform the main structures, the attempt was made to by-pass them by creating a rash of special purpose bodies like UDECOTT which also lacked capacity and credibility. The problems were merely transferred from the central state apparatus to the shadow state where arbitrariness went largely unchecked. Some big infrastructural projects were constructed; the urban skyline was transformed, but these developments came with much waste, deferred costs, and yes, minefields.


The problem with the People's Partnership is that the executive is weak. The administrative apparatus is also weak, made so in part by the personnel shuffling that is taking place in the staterooms of the nation. There also exists an ethnic struggle raging within the interstices of the state as office holders seek to preserve what they have, and office seekers try to consolidate and lock in their new gains.

Reacting to poll data and other qualitative assessments, the PM and several ministers have promised that the public will see much more activity in the months to come. The problem however is not that this or that is not being done 'for the people'. The problem is that the regime has not yet been able to project a sense of competence, coherence, and confidence, and is living from accusatory headline to accusatory headline. There is very little coalition management, and the political noise level is also much too high.

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