Topics

31

General Discussion / Is Rome Burning?

« on: January 20, 2011, 09:23:37 PM »

Is Rome Burning?

by Phillip Edward Alexander on Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 5:24pm

The Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago seems to have abdicated her chief responsibility as Leader of the entire nation and seems stuck playing the role of leader of a Political Party; her choices and decisions, while charming and endearing to those within her Party, are having a seriously negative follow on effect to the rest of the citizenry which (by the way) includes a significant many on all levels who 'took a chance' and voted her and her Party into Office.

Someone needs to remind her that this is not fancy hat day at kindergarden but a serious responsibility and one that cannot be taken lightly if one does not want to be the cause of much distress.


An example of a storm in a tea cup on her watch becoming a raging hurricane is the adamant refusal of the Attorney General to do the right thing and apologize for his massive faux pas regarding the formerly missing and now found Grand Piano from the Prime Minister's residence; to confound the issue and to make partisan politics out of simple, bungling, incompetence on his part (and possibly the Head of her household security), the AG has now deferred the decision whether or not to apologize to the Prime Minister.
 

Really?


Now this is blatant showboating, and while it may score political points with the UNC supporters, the rest of the population are getting highly annoyed and agitated at being made to feel like second class citizens in their own country.


I am no rocket scientist but I HAVE seen many an argument become a fight, and when it starts it is usually over the slight and not the specific event;  to my view Mr. Ramlogan is playing fast and loose with his conferred authority where he ought to be demonstrating statesman like calm and control.


Is this the tone we want of our Leaders?


Another issue to note and one of serious concern, Tunisia and all of its current woes seem to have erupted out of a situation eerily similar to the CLICO debacle with similar causes and effects; those most affected by this mess do not seem to see this Administration as their friend or ally and are harboring much discontent; if we add to that the slowing economy, the frustrated labor and the entrenched union situation, one does not have to do advanced math to arrive at a gloomy forecast.


It is because of this brewing discontent that I again advise the Prime Minister that she needs to take her job a lot more seriously; there is too much dry tinder laying about for my liking and we should really not be flinging idle sparks around at this time.


The citizens of this country need to see a Government and not a political Party, and it needs to see a Government that understands all that is required to steer the ship of State through the currently turbulent waters.


The pressing issues and those over which this Administration campaigned itself into Office cannot be deflected away no matter how hard the spin doctors try, and at some point we are going to have to confront the issue of competence and deal with it rationally if we are going to avoid some unpleasant business.


Something to think about...

32

General Discussion / Political Abuse & Redemption...

« on: January 18, 2011, 05:32:04 PM »

Political Abuse & Redemption...
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 8:28am.

This weekend a new life was breathed into the limping UNC as it got a wonderful opportunity to do once again what it was created to do (and what some say it does best) - campaign.
 

With internal elections for a Youth and Women's team in full swing, the Party machinery galvanized supporters, whipped them into a frenzied celebration and gave them focus and purpose, if only for an afternoon and an evening.
 

Not to be wasted, this heady feeling was captured and focused by the announcement of the coming January 24th celebration of one year since Kamla 'stormed the Bastille' of Panday's kingdom and liberated the Party from the tight clenches of its despotic ruler, and will be the springboard for the grandaddy (or grandmummy) of all celebrations, the one year anniversary of her election as first female Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago.
 

Seriously?
 

Now don't get me wrong, I am all for pageantry, pomp and revelry, and I fully support and endorse climatic euphoria for its sheer power to unite a people, but shouldn't there be something more though?


I mean, at some point, shouldn't we expect a little more substance for our celebrating?
 

Speaking to fanatic UNC supporters one cannot help but be reminded of victims of domestic abuse; people who make deflecting excuses for the most glaring of abuses and point out and amplify the tiniest of accomplishments as if to justify the dying relationship and if not convince you, then at least reassure themselves.


And before you think that I believe that this is isolated to the UNC, stay tuned for the upcoming PNM convention and see this same trick played out the Balisier way; the same approach will be used (why fix what works), the same cleaving into 'for and against' camps, the same ignore the failings, excuse the abuses, the same lack of substance or policy used to determine the victor, demonizing, deifying and us against them ad nauseum.

 And the same inevitable nothing celebration at the end.

 So what's my rant about?

 

That the people are being deliberately kept politically insipid in both camps because an educated and informed population might reject them all.

 

That the people are both the victims here and are victimizing themselves; that this is nothing but a mind-game and a not so clever one at that; a mind-game that is based on fear, and where there is no obvious division clever mind benders create them out of pure air.

 

Take the whole 'knife and fork' indian statement used not so subtly by Basdeo Panday to describe the east indian element of the Congress of the People; coined to cleave Mr. Dookeran's 'educated' class from the plain folk (to whose fears of a world in which they had no relevance or power he appealed), Bas successfully divided the east indian voter into a class system and anointed himself champion of the larger, poorer working class for votes. 

 

As a strategy it was so successful it stopped Winston Dookeran dead in his tracks and quite possibly robbed him of his place in history by yielding his inheritance to Kamla.

 

Or take Manning's destruction of Rowley; post May 24th elections there remains the continued belief by many in the PNM that it was not Manning's excesses that eventually brought the Party down, but Rowley's inability to toe the Party line or at least shut up.

 

That idea has gained serious traction within the PNM, and despite their attempts to keep it out of the public eye it has split the Party into two competing factions with some in the know saying that if Rowley's slate is unsuccessful in the upcoming convention the Party may very well split into two and cause Dr. Rowley's eventual political demise.

 

Us against them, Balisier style.

 

Look, at some point all of this foolishness has to end, and one would hope that it be sooner rather than later and preferably before we run out of oil and gas; we as a people have to start thinking 'Country First' if we are ever going to save ourselves from this quagmire of exchange and the slow but sure demise of our country.

 

It is ironic that we are united in our common belief that we are better than each other, and it is supremely ironic that it is this and only this that continues to divide us; rising as a nation and a people requires that we set aside racist notions and class ideas and instead join hands and make national decisions on national issues in the best interest of all.

 

There will never be a better time to drop the pretense that we are defined by what we think we are not, and while it may seem during the euphoria of the campaign that we are contributing to the greater good, all we are really doing by maintaining the charade is ceding valuable real estate in our mind.

 

Something to think about...



.

33

General Discussion / An Opportunity to Rise... (Farewell to Anand)

« on: January 16, 2011, 02:51:20 AM »

An Opportunity to Rise... (Farewell to Anand)
On a rather serious note, it seems to have become a trend that Members of Parliament are free to create all manner of mischief under the cloak of Parliamentary Privilege, clearing the way for verbatim reporting of what was said in the House and furthering any intended damage via said reporting and destroying people's reputations for sport.


A glaring example of this arrangement gone awry is the now infamous 'Piano Story' carried on the front page of one of the dailies that continued what turned out to be either deliberate mischief making or complete incompetence on the part of none other than the Attorney General in a statement that can only be considered injurious to the reputation of a Member of Parliament and a former Prime Minister no less.


Now, regardless of your opinion on Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning, he, like every other citizen of this country (unless and until he is charged with any wrongdoing) should enjoy all of the protections of civil society and one of these must surely be to not have his name slandered for cheap political points.


Mr. Ramlogan ought to have known better than to go off half cocked with innuendo in place of fact, and I dare say his intemperate outburst and slanderous allegations have brought the Office he now occupies into serious disrepute; it is not a stretch to suggest that according to the system we follow, convention requires that he demit Office or be removed before he does further damage to that esteemed place.


The newspaper in question also bears some culpability in spreading what turned out to be false rumors, and they in turn should do the decent thing and apologize by way of printing a full retraction complete with equal if not more front page and headline space.


We as a people cannot ever hope to be considered civilized or First World if we do not find a way to respect ourselves, each other and the rule of law, and all pretenses to the contrary only serves to undermine any such elevation; it is hoped that this fiasco would bring an end to the sensationalist mud slinging taking place in our nation's Parliament and would be replaced by sober law making and proper policies of Governance to the betterment of every citizen.


This is in no way meant to hinder or prevent the investigation and prosecution of any public official found to be guilty of misbehavior in Public Office, but rather asks that said investigation when warranted, be conducted at the highest level of decency and professionalism, so that those who feel the full brunt of the law would know by the example shown and afforded them what their behavior ought to have been in the first place.


Only then can we say with any conviction that true change has finally come.


Something to think about..

34

General Discussion / Stars shifted over 2,000 years so horoscope signs are nearly a month off

« on: January 14, 2011, 01:15:54 AM »

Wobbly Earth means your horoscope is wrong
Below:


updated 1/13/2011 4:36:35 PM ET 2011-01-13T21:36:35
Share Print Font: +-If you look to your horoscope for a preview of your day, look again: You're probably following somebody else's supposed fate.

Thanks to Earth's wobble, astrological signs are, well, bunk. (Or even more bunk than you might expect.) Astrological signs are determined by the position of the sun relative to certain constellations on a person's day of birth. The problem is, the positions were determined more than 2,000 years ago. Nowadays, the stars have shifted in the night sky so much that horoscope signs are nearly a month off. [Read: Why Your Horoscope for 2011 Is All Wrong ]

"Astrology tells us that the sun is in one position, whereas astronomy tells us it's in another position," said Joe Rao, SPACE.com's skywatching columnist and a lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium.

..The shift is caused by precession, the wobble in the Earth's axis caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon to the Earth's equator. Precession popped into the spotlight this week after Minnesota Planetarium Society board member Parke Kunkle told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the gap between the astrological and the astronomical view. The story spread around the Internet quickly, but it's actually old news, Rao said.

Very old news.

"The earliest known astronomer to recognize and assess the movement of precession was Aristarchus of Samos, who lived around 280 B.C.," Rao told LiveScience.

The attention triggered by his interview with the newspaper has been "astounding." Kunkle, who teaches astronomy at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, told Livescience, He gave the interview at the request of the paper to discuss precession, and the science he described is centuries old, he said.

."Bombshell dropped?" Kunkle said. "Well, no, not really."

Here's what astronomers know: The Earth is like a wobbly top. As it rotates, its axis swings in a circle, pointing in different directions. As the Earth's position shifts, so does our perspective of the night sky.

For example, Rao said, we take the North Star, Polaris, for granted. It's the star most closely aligned with Earth's North Pole. But back when the pyramids were constructed, the star that aligned with the North Pole wasn't Polaris at all: It was a star in the constellation Draco called Thuban. In 12,000 years, Earth's North Star will be Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra.

The complete rotation takes 26,000 years, Rao said.

"Everything in the sky is in flux," he said.

Even if the astrological signs were stable, there's no evidence the stars have anything to do with people's day-to-day existence. One 2006 study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences used data from more than 15,000 people and found no relationship between date of birth and personality.

Despite the complete lack of scientific and observational evidence for astrology, 25 percent of Americans still believe in it, a recent Pew survey found. So here are the "real" dates of astrological signs, according to astronomers:

..•Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
•Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
•Pisces: March 11-April 18.
•Aries: April 18-May 13.
•Taurus: May 13-June 21.
•Gemini: June 21-July 20.
•Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
•Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
•Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
•Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
•Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
•Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
•Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

The list includes Ophiuchus, a formation the ancient Babylonians discarded because they wanted 12 star signs, not 13. That's yet another example of how astrologers cherry-pick and ignore astronomical observations, Rao said.

"It's crazy," Rao said. "Really, they have their own set of rules."

Nevertheless, maybe some good will come of the astrology-astronomy media blitz, Kunkle said.

"At the very least, I hope it makes people go out and actually look at the sky," Kunkle said. "That's the fun part."

35

Jokes / Family Problems

« on: January 13, 2011, 10:24:56 PM »

Family Problems

Two men, one American and an Indian were sitting in a bar drinking shot after shot.

The Indian man said to the American, "You know my parents are forcing me to get married to this so called homely girl from a village whom I haven't even met once." We call this arranged marriage.

I don't want to marry a woman whom I don't love... I told them that openly and now have a hell lot of family problems."

The American said, Talking about love marriages... I'll tell you my story.

I married a widow whom I deeply loved and dated for 3 years.

After a couple of years, my father fell in love with my step-daughter and so my father became my son-in-law and I became my father's father-in-law.

Legally now my daughter is my mother and my wife my grandmother.

More problems occurred when I had a son.

My son is my father's brother and so he is my uncle.

Situations turned worse when my father had a son.

Now my father's son i.e. my brother is my grandson.

Ultimately, I have become my own grand father and I am my own grandson..

And you say you have family problems..

Gimme a break !!

36

Jokes / MArriage in heaven

« on: January 13, 2011, 10:02:11 PM »

On their way to get married, a young Catholic couple are involved in a fatal car accident. The couple find themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to process them into Heaven. While waiting, they begin to wonder: Coul...d they possibly get married in Heaven?

When St. Peter showed up, they asked him.
St. Peter says, "I don't know. This is the first time anyone has asked.
Let me go find out", and he leaves.

The couple sat and waited, and waited. Two months passed and the couple is still waiting. As they waited, they discussed that IF they are allowed to get married in Heaven, what was the eternal aspect of it all. "What if it doesn't work?" they wondered, "Are we stuck together FOREVER?

After yet another month, St. Peter finally returns, looking somewhat bedraggled.
"Yes," he informs the couple, "you CAN get married in Heaven."

Great!" said the couple, "But we were just wondering, what if things don't work out? Could we also get a divorce in Heaven?"

St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slams his clipboard onto the ground.

"What's wrong?" asked the frightened couple.

"OH, COME ON!" St. Peter shouts, "It took me three months to find a priest up here! Do you have ANY idea how long it'll take me to find a lawyer!

37

General Discussion / Statement by Gary Hunt. In response to statements in the press by Hon. Anil Robe

« on: January 11, 2011, 09:09:31 PM »

Statement by Gary Hunt. In response to statements in the press by Hon. Anil Roberts, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs and the Chairman of the Sport Company of Trinidd and Tobago, Mr. Rhette Chee Ping.

 

There are several comments attributed to the Hon. Minister of Sport and the Chairman of the Sport Company in the Daily Express dated January 8th 2011, to which a response is necessary. Reference is made in particular to the following:

 

■“...discovered a $90 million discrepancy...”
■“...a further $700 million ‘squandered’ between the years 2004 and 2010...”
■“...Sportt has not been audited since 2004...”
■“...a bastion of wastage...”
 

It appears that the UNC has established a standard operating procedure and a modus operandi with respect to its approach to the State Enterprises in particular and governance in general. The approached has been evident at WASA, Nidco, Airport’s Authority, now at the Sport Company and at many other agencies. The public is bombarded with fantastic, wild, spurious, unsubstantiated and frenetic accusations and allegations of corruption which then form a basis for this UNC Government to proceed with draconian and brutal political manoeuvres. It was so called corruption at WASA that led to the drastic action of hiring Ganga Singh as CEO without advertisement or process. Similarly, Carlson Charles was hired at Nidco. A legal team of ‘Friends’ was hired to bust corruption out of the AG’s office. The UNC continues to employ the strategy of screaming corruption and broad brushing organisations and their staff while they proceed to take high handed decisions to advance their political cause. They also use these allegations as cover for their inaction, incompetence, lack of a plan and the absence of positive results.

 

More particularly, in this case, by his own admission, the Minister has conceded that the audit is not yet complete. On what basis therefore does he declare a missing $90M? His comments however serve to prejudice the outcome of the report and suggest that there may be an effort to compromise the independence of the Auditors. One should really wait for the Report of the Auditors before making dramatic, irresponsible and baseless political statements.

 

With respect to the ‘squandering’ of $700m, which amounts to approximately the entire budget of the Sport Company during the period 2004 to 2010, there are numerous reports that are available within the Ministry of Sport outlining in detail the programmes and expenditure undertaken over the period. Perhaps if the Minister would take some time to read the documents that are relevant to his Ministry he might have an appreciation of the role played by the sport Company in the development of Sport in Trinidad and Tobago. One merely has to look at the international achievements in the last three years by our sportmen and women whose National Sporting Organisations are under the perview of Sportt.

 

Further, it is entirely untrue to say that Sportt has not been audited since 2004. The records of the Parliament will show that the Audited records of the Company for the years 2005 and 2006 were laid in the House of Representatives on the 18th August 2008 and the Senate on the 22nd July 2008. This notwithstanding, while not acceptable, many Permanent Secretaries will be aware that there are challenges associated with getting audited reports on time and that delay is quite commonplace. If fact, for the period during which the UNC was in office, only once did they lay an audited report of TTEC. With respect to Sportt, the audits were ongoing and the delay does not represent any subterfuge but a systemic problem as the Minister will soon discover.

 

Finally, if the UNC, Minister Anil Roberts and Mr. Rhett Chee Ping wish to brutally dismiss 104 employees and downsize the Sport Company because they do not appreciate the value of the Organisation, they should be sufficiently confident to present this policy position to the Country. The PNM established the organisation to serve the needs of the Nation in Sport and the sporting community. If the UNC has a different mechanism they ought to have the courage to declare same to the country. One must feel extremely sorry for the employees affected by the callous and cowardly behaviour of this Government. Maybe Nikki Minaj can help?

38

General Discussion / Immediately:-

« on: January 11, 2011, 09:06:11 PM »

A suggestion to the PP from Philip Franco!

Immediately:-
 

■Adopt and implement modern mechanisms and systems of law enforcement that are used successfully in other countries, together with adequately trained and experienced foreign personnel to assist in hands on training at all levels throughout the system..
■Increase response capabilities and backup capabilities – radio and computerized communications.
■Introduce real-time information systems within police stations and on mobile units and vehicles where information on vehicles and persons can be readly accessed.
■Increase Police ground surveillance
■Allocate patrol cars and motorbikes to communities with 24 hr. patrolling.
■Allocate Police Posts to major cross roads throughout the country.
■Increase apprehension of perpetrators of criminal activities, reward Police officers when their arrests lead to convictions.
■Partner with security companies who can participate as ‘bounty hunters’ to arrest persons with outstanding warrants.
■Partner with communities who can inform and apprehend (citizen’s arrest). 
■Publicize all outstanding ‘wanted persons’ in the newspapers and on TV on a daily basis.
■When crimes are committed, besides having an ‘all points bulletin’ for the armed forces, include it on all radio stations and TV stations so the public is instantly notified, allowing their additional eyes and ears to work for the protective services.
■Additionally - maintain a separate TV channel that shows the faces of these criminals 24/7 until they are apprehended. 
■Increase firearm accessibility for the general law abiding public who have a clean police record and pass a Psychological evaluation (in particular – property owners and legitimate business owners who have registered business).
■Increase convictions by training officers with clear guidelines on arresting procedures.
■Introduce – “3 strikes and you are out”, where repeat offenders receive serious additional prison time.
■Provide proper and sufficient prisoner and offender rehabilitation.
■Increase prisons capacity by creating prison yards/farms, properly fenced and managed and with tents with cheap bedding like hammocks. We need not have concrete structures as prisons, as our weather would permit otherwise. Here prisoners can engage in farming and outdoor activities which are more beneficial to the mind that being locked indoors.
■Create similar yards/ farms for vagrants.
■Implement a proper parole system, with microchip implantation into parolees so their whereabouts can be tracked, and where they must report to police stations on a weekly basis.
■Create safety for witnesses by:- immediately introducing one-way glass for ID parades, and change courtroom arrangements where testifying witnesses can testify without the presence or knowledge of the accused.
■Hold parents of youth offenders accountable if they have not previously sort assistance (from Police or Social services) with dealing with delinquent children.
■Introduce a law where people must keep their TT ID on them. Therefore when the police stop someone they will also have the benefit of viewing their ID.
 

 

Drastic times need drastic measures, but more importantly the situation deserves and demands the immediate and full attention of the Government and all our law abiding citizens. What we need is public pressure and political will. We must take our responsibility very seriously now and take appropriate ACTION, before we lose this nation or before this nation loses us.

 

 

Police Posts

Partially uniting the police service with the army is one way to increase the much-needed manpower for this exercise. I would suggest that we set up Police Posts at all of our major intersections Island wide.  Actually building ‘guard huts’ large enough to be comfortable and with facilities of bathroom for the officers convenience and fitted with a communication system connected to police headquarters and to all mobile units.  These are to be manned around the clock.  Here, these officers can easily pull aside, on a regular basis, vehicles that seem unfit for the road and issue tickets, they can look for suspect looking persons and either stop them or forward the information on, so that appropriate manpower can be mobilized to pursue them. They will be there for when robberies or other crimes are committed and the criminals are trying to flee areas.  Officers in the Posts will then be informed through the communication system that a robbery or crime is taking place or has taken place. They will then be on the look out for the suspects. Upon sighting of the suspects they may either try to stop and apprehend or may just radio in that the suspects were sighted and give descriptions and direction of where the suspects were heading.

 

The implementation and proper management of this exercise (Police Posts) will probably be the most effective short term measure that we can implement to curb the crime situation at this time. This will be invaluable in the fight against crime.  It really is a short-term measure, which will probable be in place for a long time, until we can make the changes necessary in society to eliminate the causes that create these criminals and crime.

 

Some of these Police Posts can have mobile units assigned to them.

 

Motor cycles

The police should make use of motor cycles in and around city area as these can maneuver through and around traffic more easily. The police use motorcycles in Caracas and are very effective. They can respond quickly to robberies within the city, and can easily follow and catch criminals. They cost less than cars to purchase and maintain.

 

Community designated mobiles

There should be mobile units (Police vehicles) specifically designated to individual communities, where they can patrol these, either around the clock if necessary, or at certain times only, like at nighttime. We should not have to pay private guards and have our own guarded compounds for our safety. The government should provide us with a safe environment to live in. It is one of their most important jobs. 

 

Highway Patrol

We need to reestablish a proper Highway Patrol System, where offenders of traffic offences are pulled over and appropriately fined. We need to keep vehicles in their lanes, obey the speed limits, take off the roads – un-roadworthy vehicles, and make sure everyone on the roads are licensed and insured. We need to increase the fines imposed on offenders.

 

Parking Wardens

Develop a Parking Wardens division where Parking Wardens can walk the major city streets to issue parking tickets, rather than have Police to do this job. Also, increase the parking fines to $500.

 

Public involvement

We also need to engage the public to be part of the fight against crime. The public needs to be encouraged to report on suspect activity, whether or not it directly concerns or affects them. We need to report on our neighbors and on our children and family if they are involved in criminal activity. We can even offer incentives (monetary) for persons that make reports that lead to the apprehension and conviction of criminals.

 

We need to make T&T safe – first for ourselves and then to encourage more trade and tourism here.

 

Media involvement

Once a 999 report is made, let’s say for a stolen vehicle, this should then be immediately transmitted as an APB to all stations and police vehicles, including the Army and Coast Guard and simultaneously transmitted to all radio stations. What this would do is to increase the number of people (driving moistly) who are on the roads that can observe the movements of the stolen vehicle. They then can call in (with their cell phone) to the 999 and give the particulars (location and direction) of the vehicle. If this were to be introduced then there is absolutely no way that persons can get away with the stealing of vehicles in this small country. This will also be beneficial for kidnapping, hit and runs, robberies (where the bandits are fleeing).

 

We should also set up TV media channel which is totally dedicated to crime, where pictures of person with warrants are posted on a regular basis. With programs similar to “America’s Most Wanted” program, and it can be called “Trinidad’s Most Wanted”.

.

39

General Discussion / As suggested..My Rants

« on: January 07, 2011, 05:49:35 PM »

Minutes to Midnight... (Is Jack about to Seize Power?)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 9:43pm.

This is an email I received today, and the SIA can verify not only did I receive it, but the veracity of its contents.

 
I have not adjusted, or edited it in any way, it is in 'as received' condition, or as the old people used to say "How ah buy it, ah sell it."

 
[Begin]

 

"Those with eyes to see, ears to hear and a mind to ponder cannot come to no other conclusion that the Jack Warner for Prime Minister train has left the station and is heading to the final destination: Office of the Prime Minister.


The FIFA jefe is far more clever and ruthless than glamour-girl Kamla who still does not understand and accept that a leader must lead with firmness and decisiveness and must put down attempts to undermine and negate her authority.


Citizens will prefer a leader like Jack who can command and require respect and obedience instead of a soft uninspiring leader like Kamla who is well-liked but is rapidly losing respect and her aura of authority as every jep or scorpion is challenging and even defying her.

 
Jack has his faults but his experience in FIFA will help in leading T&T at this time. Kamla is more suited for a Foreign Minister role with Chandresh Sharma as deputy Foreign Minister since they both seem to be bitten by the travel bug. Kamla's sister could also be hired as the adviser to the Foreign Minister, paid or unpaid.


 Kamla can still save the day but Jack is now almost in an impregnable position with his support growing daily and his efforts to buy/threaten/coerce others bearing much success. He already has several MPs from the E/W corridor in his side and has adroitly increased his following in the Central and South region. Word on the ground is that he can also muster a PNM MP or two if necessary in his quest to garner the required majority of elected Members of Parliament to convince the President he should be Prime Minister.


I have reservations about Jack but will support him as Prime Minister because the country needs a leader who is fearless and will take hard decisions. We will hold our noses and support Jack for the rest of this term and hope that a more solid and disciplined coalition can be presented by the next election.
 

COP is in a similiar position as Kamla except they may prolong the death throes for a year or two. COP has to decide whether it will dissolve and merge into the UNC - some say this has already happened, or COP can become more bold and assertive, presenting itself as a genuine party with aims and objectives that may be different from the UNC and it will work aggressively and fearlessly to pursue those objectives and thus become a realistic alternative that will contest the next election as a separate party or be a more powerful component in any coalition.


Most likely Jack will lead the next coalition and lead the country for the next 3 to 8 years. Kamla can still avoid the premature demise of her reign but on the evidence so far one cannot envisage a sudden turnaround from her and her bunch of advisers who are hopelessly outmatched. These are the same people who allowed Kamla to buy lottery tickets for the New York hotel guests and take pictures of her being greeted by the London Hotel manager rather than by government or business officials, and who cannot plan a proper work schedule and agenda for the Prime Minister."

[End]

 

It is my belief that the author of the piece is in a position to speak on matters of which he speaks, operating on a higher pay scale than mine.

 

The document was meant for certain eyes only, and my releasing it for public consumption may upset a few people.

 

I will not divulge names, and if the author wants to publicly claim his authorship I will support that if and when it happens.

 

This is serious business.

 

While the author claims no problem with Jack as (God forbid) Prime Minister, many people do.

 

My first concern is that the Congress of the People and all its MP's need to make a lie of this rumored consorting by pledging their unwavering loyalty to the Party.

 

While this in no way signifies a binding contract, what it does is expose them as frauds to the electorate should they turn around and do otherwise.

 

Secondly, it is again way past time for the COP to divorce itself from this ruse of a Partnership and establish itself as an independent Party so that the electorate (especially those from Central and South) can have somewhere to go if they choose to leave the UNC.

 

They should also have some say in what happens to their vote in my opinion and I believe Messrs Dookeran, Ramadhar, Toney and De Lima have the necessary aplomb to this without causing too much damage.

 

Thirdly, Mr. Dookeran has to remove his support from Kamla and the UNC. While this is not enough to bring down the Government, it removes the overwhelming majority it enjoys in the House and stymies (if for now) any delusions Jack may have of further grandeur.

 

The UNC itself has work to do, and in the final analysis if Kamla wants to prevent this from happening she can.

 

She needs to fire Jack now.

 

There is no escaping this reality as no amount of dealing with the devil ever ends in your favor, and she needs  to take steps to shore up her waning popularity by reshuffling her Cabinet to bring in new, capable and experienced people to run the important Ministries and inspire the people to rally around her.

 

She should also read the Parliamentary Code of ethics into law.

 

It has been my position from the start that she was badly stage managed and poorly advised and this has to change; regardless of how she finds herself where she is, SHE is the Prime Minister and she needs to begin the process of serving the people, and for real this time.



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40

General Discussion / Long Rope for Magga Goat... (Crime & Punishment)

« on: January 05, 2011, 11:53:15 PM »

Long Rope for Magga Goat... (Crime & Punishment)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 5:23pm.Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs has made himself very visible and very vocal these days, as if trying to distance himself from all the bacchanal and 'lackaray' coming out of the Government as they stumble and collide into each other like, well like drunks at a party that has gone on too long.

 

While his presence in the Diego Martin operation seemed to have caught most off guard and appeared a little comical, by the time they got to Laventille he was starting to look the part of the Commissioner of Police. The men seem energized and focused, and the feeling was almost one of able bodies capable of doing the job.

 

His only problem now seems to be the politicians above him who appear to be doing everything in their power to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory regardless of how accidental that victory occurred or how little they had to do with it in the first place.

 

Quick to distance himself from the gaffes and comedy routine, the professional sounding Gibbs may not be a 'Trini,' but he seems to have learnt to 'take in front before in front take him.'

 

Current Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissesar would do well to learn from him. and is badly in need of a personal advisor to help her distinguish fact from fiction.

 

You would think with all the many well versed, well paid and well heeled windbag advisors around her, someone would have looked up from the communal back scratch long enough to notice that not only have they lost the support of the crowd, they've actually left them behind.

 

Relying instead on their PR machine and talking heads to 'spin' everything, why don't they just listen to the people?

 

It seems so much simpler if you ask me.

 

When people say the honeymoon is over, what they are really saying is the 'fed-up-ness' that booted Patrick Manning from Office is now being aimed squarely at Kamla and crew, and no amount of dodging, name calling and propaganda is distracting the people.

 

The Government, for all its self praise and accolades, continues to fail at it's much touted and promised solution to the scourge of violent crime and the people are fed up in the day and scared for their lives at night.

 

My (unpaid yet surprisingly very effective) advice on the issue of the Management of Crime & Punishment, Law & Order (again, still unpaid) is worth a try, and I am available for meetings on short notice:

 

There are three Ministries that are critical to the success or failure of any war on crime; Social Services, Education and National Security.

 

At present all three of these Ministries have the wrong skill set at their helms and the wrong person appointed as Minister.

 

Education

 

Party hack Tim Gopeesingh could be put back into the Ministry of Health (or anywhere else for that matter) and a long serving and successful school Principal be brought in and appointed as Minister of Education.

 

The successful candidate ideally would have been a Principal of a fairly large and successful school (read here does well at exam time, enforces proper discipline) and must be able to work well as part of a team.

 

Job one would/should be the convening of a 'Board' of the Ministry of Education, made up of other serving and/or retired 'successful' Principals, representatives of the national PTA and at least one social activist to bring the 'street' to the conversation.

 

Job two would be the drafting and implementing of policy based on identifying the failing schools within the system and making their elevation to an established 'minimum performance level' mandatory.

 

This MPL would be based on scholastic achievement, attendance, teacher participation and discipline among other criteria.

 

Social Services

 

Glen Ramadhar Singh is indispensable to the Party from the blind loyalty perspective, and could and should be better utilized in developing the Party at constituency level and broadening its appeal with its target audience (read expanding core support).

 

He is hopeless in his current position and I realize now that his constant grandstanding is nothing short of a cry for help from someone tragically miscast trying to at least look the part.

 

Verna St. Rose Greaves, Verna St. Rose Greaves, Verna St. Rose Greaves.

 

Got it?

 

She needs to be made the Minister of Social Development (discard that foolish Ministry of the People silliness, it has failed) and she also needs to set up a 'Board' for her Ministry.

 

Her board needs to be peopled with long serving NGO's, the Hazel Browns, Rhonda Maingots and others who, if willing to serve, will pollinate the Ministry with hope and people policies designed to rein in the problems on a humanist and community level and put policies in place to redirect currently misspent energies.

 

Give them the tools, the funding and the support and get out of their way.

 

National Security

 

This Ministry urgently needs to be broken up into its relative parts (Police, Army, Coast Guard, Intelligence etc) with the heads of each section being a 'seat' on a governing Board answering to a trained technocrat. In this instance I would have no problem hiring a foreigner from the CIA, MOSSAD or even the KGB (or whatever they call themselves now) to Chair the Board and to draft and implement policies and I strongly recommend this route. I would also recommend a 'Gibbs' for the Police Service to work WITH the Philberts of this world, not replace them; another successful foreign 'advisor' for the Army, Coast Guard etc,  to work alongside the heads not replace them, to bring fresh ideas, new perspectives and morale to an otherwise stale and neutered offensive that HAS to be tired of the political bungling that has been going on above them for years.

 

These three Ministries, properly set up, will have an immediate impact on the reduction of crime and the redevelopment of failing communities with almost nary a need for new legislation.

 

Successful Mangers know that hiring the right people for the job is more than half the battle, knowing how to get out of your own way is quite possibly the other half.

 

Hire them, appoint them, give them the tools and the funding they need to do the job and get out of their way.

 

Kamla, for the umpteenth time, treat this like a job; hire and appoint people who are capable of enunciating policy based on the reality of each specific situation; who are able to draft policy from which plans and legislation can seamlessly flow; and who can get the job done with no need of showboating or self glorifying antics.

 

We are tired of voting Governments into Office, only to have to give them rope and wait for them to hang themselves.

 

(And in answer to the obvious question, yes I AM available for the post of 'Highly Paid Advisor to the Cabinet.')



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41

General Discussion / Traveling On... (Day One of the Maxi Taxi Strike)

« on: January 05, 2011, 11:44:53 PM »

Traveling On... (Day One of the Maxi Taxi Strike)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 1:49pm.The rank and file members of the Maxi Taxi association stayed off the roads today as promised, in keeping with their promise to strike in demonstration against MOWT Jack Warner's scheme to 'regularize' PH taxi's.

In  response to the threat and promised action, Warner instructed his and Sat Maharaj's lovechild PTSC Chairman Devant Maharaj to provide adequate buses to dilute the impact of the action to commuters.

Maharaj (junior), sounding a triumphant horn at lunch time today said in his opinion the strike fell flat, that the buses were more than capable of handling the traveling public, to which the members of the traveling public replied "What you takin' 'bout Willis?"

Checks at major transport hubs revealed some delays, but none that can be described as crippling thus far; the extent of the back up plan and its ability to counteract the strike in any meaningful way would be known if they successfully handle the return leg and get commuters safely home in a timely manner at the end of the day.

The bigger questions that remain here are these:

Should the Maxi Taxi Associations decide to retaliate to the Government's retaliation to their strike, how long will Devant be able to hold out and deliver?


Secondly, if the buses can handle the movement of the travelling public, why do we have all these maxi taxi causing needless traffic?

Thirdly, if Warner succeeds in legitimizing the illegal off shoot of public transport at the demise of law abiding members, how long before we are a completely lawless State?

The argument that the PH taxis sprung up because there is a need for them in no way bars any Authority from putting rules and regulations in place to govern their operation and safeguard the traveling public.


You simply cannot do wrong regardless of how right your reason is and expect right to prevail in the end, as the type of society we live in is determined for the most part by the things we allow and the things we deny.


There must be a sensible middle ground here and I reject this all or nothing approach to negotiation on any level.

Sensationalism, badjohnism and thuggery have replaced diplomacy, sensibility and respect in how we conduct our internal affairs, and at some point the proceeds of this decided course of action will make themselves known.

When that day arrives we will surely understand what the old people meant when they cautioned not to let the candle cost more than the funeral.

42

General Discussion / All the Popularity Money can Buy... (King Winston, Queen Kamla, Joker Jack)

« on: January 05, 2011, 11:41:01 PM »

All the Popularity Money can Buy... (King Winston, Queen Kamla, Joker Jack)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 8:27pm.I think Austin Jack Warner is the brightest politician in Trinidad and Tobago, quite possibly the world.

 

Seriously, whoever came up with the idea to use State funds and State largesse to reinvent Jack and rewrite him as the hero of the piece deserves their weight in gold.

 

Twice.

 

So brilliant was this plan and so cleverly disguised I am embarrassed to admit that i almost missed it.

 

His plan to remake himself is a sure hit and I cant believe how it took me so long to see it, but now that I do see it, not only am I impressed by it, I am going to recommend it to everyone else, so that they can become uber successful PR inventions too.

 

The plan is simple, so simple it's brainy; find populous issues to champion, doesn't matter what, and whichever side most of the people are on, you be on that side too.

 

Forget right and wrong, those things don't matter now; throw good governance and long term planning aside; the name of the game is popularity, and the fastest way there is to give the people what they want, regardless of how foolish or retrograde to the country and its development it is.

 

Masterful, sheer genius!

 

He also seemed to have taken the plan one step further, by isolating Kamla and setting Dooks up to fail, while  allowing his protege Gypsy the same opportunity to remake himself as a man of the people.

 

Offering them three carnivals a year if they wanted it was so obscene the people rejected it because it was obviously too much. Rewind and come again, how about free mas band then, hell, free grog if that is what it would take, just get the people to love you.

 

You want North Stand, sure, how about a South Stand, an East Stand and a West Stand too while we're at it?

 

Pan Players want two million plus one thousand dollars playing fee? Sure, why the hell not, its not our money, it's your children's.

 

Jack I must admit I am impressed.

 

And was Louis Lee Sing your invention too?

 

Or did you just luck out and he came up with a plan to make himself the villain in the story all on his own?

 

What a blessing Louis turned out to be.

 

For every person he said no to you said yes, just to win their love, and you looked so magnanimous, so caring.

 

Well done, because you fooled them all, they're actually calling you the hardest working man in Government, isn't that a laugh out loud moment?

 

Let's see, legalize PH cars?

 

Be my guest.

 

Everybody wants to get into maxi business?

 

Why the hell not?

 

Rules need not apply when we're politricking.

 

Poor Dooks, as Minister of Finance he was trapped in having to find ways to pay for these shiny things, and is forced into taking strict and austere measures ruining his own popularity in the process and removing him as a threat to you.

 

Masterfully and incandescently beautiful, literally killing two birds with one stone.

 

How I wish I was his advisor; if I were I would tell him to practice popularity Governance the Jack Warner way, I would make him the most loved politician and Minister this country has ever seen, bar none.

 

How you ask?

 

Simple, pay everybody what they ask for and more and let the devil take tomorrow; hell, it's not your money you're spending, so spend it all, and do it with a smile.

 

Practice statements like 'giving the people what they want.'

 

CLICO Investors want full refund?

 

Sure, throw in the interest too, it's not like common sense has to prevail anymore, we're talking PR here man, getting the people to love you.

 

Contractors owed 2 Billion, 4 billion, 6?

 

How about we round it off to ten, and throw in a bonus, make everybody like themselves, how about two Christmases a year?

 

PSA workers want 5%, come on Watson, where's that smile?

 

You know we can do better than that...

 

How does nine per cent grab ya?

 

Plus Cost of Living indexed to prime, just to keep everyone peachy.

 

In one week of headlines the public at large would declare Winston Dookeran their King.

 

And Kamla?

 

Who was fooled into thinking she's the Barbie Doll in this story while her popularity stocks plummeted?

 

Let's remake Kams into the People's Princess.

 

Besides PM, we will declare her the Queen of hearts.

 

Yes you read right, I did say Queen of hearts.

 

We would throw lavish parties at La Fantasie, free food, free drinks, and presents, because everybody loves presents.

 

For their entertainment let's make NAPA a wonderland, open all night, every night, free to the public, all that their heart desires courtesy of their Queen Kamla.

 

The people would be delirious and the Government's approval rating will be 99.9% (the point one per cent will be  Rowley and the PNM people who don't cross the floor, but you can't please everyone now, can you?)

 

My rough estimate for this plan is around twenty five billion and would DEFINITELY require an IMF and World Bank intervention, but don't worry, they wont mind lending us because we still have oil and gas, and as we'll be paying bribes and kickbacks, they'll be at the party too.

 

Everyone would be a winner, everyone but Jack, because when everybody's back on the same level playing field, Jack would be back to just being Jack, and nobody really wants to be that, not even jack.

 

Reminiscent of when Lady Astor told Winston Churchill "You Sir, are a drunk!"

 

To which he replied "That I am m'lady, that I am. But you're ugly, and I'll be sober in the morning."



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43

General Discussion / Choosing Sides... (Bring it on Jack)

« on: January 04, 2011, 01:47:57 PM »

Choosing Sides... (Bring it on Jack)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Monday, January 3, 2011 at 8:15pm.After having been publicly humiliated by George Nicholas over the whole ATR and Caribbean Airlines affair, Jack Warner appears thirsty for something like a fight of redemption and seems to have chosen none other than the Leader of the Congress of the People and Minister of Finance Winston Dookeran and the COP as his foe.

 

Now, while I understand his pressing need to repair his image after the embarrassing and humiliating blow to his reputation due to the public 'ass whupping' he received from George, someone in his group of highly paid advisors and yes men must have the testicular fortitude and good sense to guide him away from this fool's endeavor.

 

If in his estimation he and Winston are in the same class he is not only misguided, he is quite probably delirious and someone needs to lead him to the truth; that as despised as he (Jack) is throughout the length and breadth of this country, Dooks is loved, admired and respected.

 

Mr. Warner is about to find out the hard way that bullying footballers and buying votes is one thing, building a career of respect, accomplishment, personal ethics and integrity is something else entirely and no amount of trickery and deceit on his part is going to alter that reality.

 

I warned him during the election that after Manning was indeed gone, the country would have to come to terms with having him (Jack Warner) in High Public Office, and as the feel of self disgust one feels after a questionable drunken one night stand is multiplied tenfold if the other party is still in your bed when the sun rises, so too the national loathing and public backlash that is sure to come when it finally dawns on people what they really got in exchange.

 

Mr. Warner also needs to be reminded that without the COP the UNC would be in free fall, but I gather from his moves that he already understands this. He is not so much threatening the COP with expulsion or any such notion, but rather is trying to 'whip' them into place, something that is becoming more impossible with each lie and broken promise.

 

For me it is my fervent hope that he continues on with his bull in a china shop approach so that the Congress of the People can finally dislodge itself from this unholy union and present itself to the people as the Party of Hope for a better Trinidad & Tobago.

 

The writing seems already on the wall and intuitive students of politics are aware that the Congress of the People have a unique opportunity (whenever the next General Elections are called) to be the first Political Party in the history of this country to receive a 'for' vote as opposed to benefitting from an 'against' vote.

 

While some may think my position harsh, this People's Partnership construct has hijacked the people's desire for change, is doing nothing positive for the nation and is busy using up all the nice sounding words and phrases to cover its total lack of substance.

 

How long would it have taken to pass the legislation for a fixed election date, seven months?

 

How about the right to recall non performing Members of parliament, how long for that ammendment considering the considerable size of the present Government's majority, seven months?

 

The right to referendum, seven months?

 

Or to implement the recommendations of the UFF report, the Bible from which all things were to flow, or at least so promised prior to May 24th 2010?

 

For all her pleasant sounding platitudes, the Prime Minister is leading the nation down a dead end path and for the life of me I do not understand why, having been presented by fate and destiny a wonderful opportunity to remake the country into a better version of itself, she would squander it to drink with julia and Fergie?

 

The promised leadership of a dynamic Prime minister leaving her own swearing in to wade through flood waters has evaporated like the nothing on which it was built, and in its stead we are treated to a diet of clever sounding nonsense.

 

To this writer it would be better for the country if this thing came to a head sooner than later, and I would like to invite Mr. Warner to carry on sowing the winds of discord by continuing to disrespect one of the nation's few remaining men of respect.

 

The whirlwind he will surely reap will consign him to the political dustbin, and some would say not soon enough.



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44

General Discussion / JAIL AND FINE

« on: January 03, 2011, 10:58:45 PM »

I am wondering what Abdullah, Mc Cleoud and Nunez have to say about these threats?  When these same workers were threatening to embarrass Patrick Manning he asked them not to strike during the Summit.  Now?  hahahaha  this is too funny.


JAIL AND FINE
Dookeran: I'm not warning public servants but if you strike today, note the penalties
By Ria Taitt Political Editor

Story Created: Jan 3, 2011 at 11:53 PM ECT

(Story Updated: Jan 3, 2011 at 11:53 PM ECT )

Public servants who take part in today's protest action are breaking the law and could face a $500 fine and three months jail if they join the Public Services Association "No Work Day" campaign and stay away from work today.

Also trade unionists who call for, induce or persuade workers to take industrial action could be fined $10,000 and imprisoned for 18 months.

On the eve of today's "No Work Day" protest of the Public Services Association, Finance Minister Winston Dookeran, flanked by Public Administration Minister Rudrawatee Nan Ramgoolam and Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal, at the Ministry of Finance, in Port of Spain yesterday warned public servants that they were prohibited under the Industrial Relations Act 69 (1) from taking industrial action.

He pointed out that the Act imposed penalties on public servants and trade unionists who contravened its provisions.

Dookeran said he was not threatening public servants, "but was simply outlining the state of affairs", in the light of the PSA advertisements appearing in the press which call for no work today, which was tantamount to strike action.

The planned action by the PSA comes on the same day Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar summoned a special parliamentary caucus, at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's starting at 10 a.m.

"Obviously as a Government we must uphold the law. But we hope at this stage good sense would prevail," Dookeran said. He added that Government anticipated that the PSA would demonstrate a sense of responsibility by adhering to the existing laws of Trinidad and Tobago.

He said Government "in the interest of transparency" was bringing the law to the attention of public servants. Ramgoolam said Government was not about using harsh measures. She expressed confidence that as a former public servant of 36 years experience, that public servants were "very intelligent", that they knew their rights, rules and regulations and would let good sense prevail.

"Tomorrow (today) we will be guided by the rules and regulations," she said.

Dookeran said what Government was offering, with the consolidated Cost of Living Allowance ranged from a 9 per cent increase for the lower income groups in the public service to 6 per cent at the higher level of the service. Yesterday, Dookeran released a document to substantiate this point.

"In the context of what is happening globally, this must indeed be considered to be an ambitious proposal as we intend to ensure that the national balance sheet of this country is sustainable and can provide the basis for economic recovery," he said. Moonilal added that Government was also offering increased death benefit payments and an enhanced group health plan. However, PSA president Watson Duke said the union and public servants would not be "bullied".

Asked what happens if Government takes legal action against striking public servants? Duke said: "It would be blow for blow, punch for punch, force for force. We are not going to allow anybody to dispossess us of our finances and walk away smiling".

"We are not afraid of the law. Let them use the law. We would use whatever tool we have, to fight against oppression," he said. He added that Government must be made to know that "29 seats cannot bully 1.3 million seats".

Duke said Dookeran was "running scared". He said if Dookeran had "any legal intelligence" he would not assume that "no work is tantamount to a strike".

"If I get sick and the doctors says that I am suffering from stress and I need to walk and you see me walking (in a demonstration) that that is protest?" he said.

Duke said Dookeran should read Section 20 (b) and (d) he would see that Government had to ensure that workers got a fair share of increases in productivity in enterprises and there was a necessity to maintain and improve the standard of living. These provisions, however, appear to apply when the matter is before the Industrial Court.

The negotiations between the PSA are still before the Chief Personnel Officer Stephanie Lewis.

"Clearly we are not protesting. We are highlighting an issue that has escaped the eyes of the Government," he said.

Dookeran rejected Oilfields Workers Trade Union head Ancel Roget's suggestion that Government should borrow money to pay public servants their just due, saying that he did not want to put the country in a position where its debt burden is increased to the extent that it affects the sustainability of its balance sheet.

45

General Discussion / Six of One, Half a dozen of the Other... (For Political Supporters Only)

« on: December 30, 2010, 10:42:37 PM »

Six of One, Half a dozen of the Other... (For Political Supporters Only)
Listening to the PNM activists and supporters tell it, the country is now frightfully exposed to abuse under the People's Partnership and the country needs to pay close attention or we stand to lose a lot.


Sounding altruistic and patriotic in their motives, they are standing guard and calling out the UNC on every perceived slight of hand and looking on one would be hard pressed to recognize these same supporters, so mute and silent were they when their side was in power looting the treasury under UDECOTT, CHOGM, the Sport Company, and all the other bandit constructs with nary a dissenter, save and except for Rowley and the rest of Emile's boys.


Now the UNC is in power and their supporters get to play the role of silent bystander, their 'people' get to loot and the cycle of abuse and pillaging resumes in ernest, same play, different players.


Barely seven months in Office all the signs are there that this version of the UNC is no different to its last incarnation under Basdeo Panday, and certain key individuals in the Government are rumoured to be renegotiating the kick back deals with all who would be national suppliers and who originally had deals with the former Administration.


Certain State Board and other appointments would have embarrassed people who had shame, but local politicians have no such handicap and the people are either too divided or too lazy to stand against the obvious.


For all the sophisticated sounding drivel about serving the people and delivering, their intentions appear to be no different to those they replaced and all the supporters and activists who attacked Manning and crew have settled in for their own piece of the pie.


To quote my Syrian 'pardner', it was never about change, just exchange.


This is the real history of Trinidad & Tobago and it needs to be part of any political discussion if that discussion is not to be a lie; Party activists and supporters make it possible for corrupt public officials to cheat and steal because they conspire, deflect, conceal and partake in the abuse.


They are conspirators either before or after the fact, are complicit in crimes against this country and ought to be charged for their involvement.


This is in no way new, started by the PNM under Eric Williams and were world famous for their ability to cheat, steal and plunder banana republic style, matched only in recent history by Panday's UNC, starring Ish, Brian, Steve, Carlos and the boys.


So crafty was this bunch,  it was said they could literally steal milk and sugar out of coffee and make you believe you ordered it black in the first place.


Were it not for Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and a political horn the PNM may never had seen power again, but thanks to Panday's hubris his Government collapsed, paving the way for our Lord, Saviour and Father of the Nation, Pastor Patrick Manning.


NAPA, private jets, million dollar scholarships, the Summit of the Americas, Waterfront fiascos, PM"s Palace, the soucouyant church, two million dollar flags later all beg the question of those supporters who are so vociferous now, where were you then?


Were you complaining about yellow laptops when the laptop supplier to CHOGM and the Summit made himself millions in four days?


Were you riding State Boards and running CEPEP Gangs, supplying thirty thousand dollar screws to T&TEC?


Where were you when the Project Manager Prime Minister was syphoning State funds for his church in the bush?


Both sides are equally disgusting when in power and someone needs to tell ALL their supporters to shut the hell up; They are part of if not the root of the problem and their piety and newly re-discovered love of country sounds hollow now.


Where the rubber meets the road is this; until the electorate, the people of this country develop something like self respect and love of country and stand against this base tribal voting we will never end this cycle of corruption and abuse.


This mad Party fervor is breaking our democracy a little more with each successive election, and I fear this continuous exchange of bandit politics will not only be our legacy, it will also be our death sentence and our final epitaph.


Something to think about...


Posted by Phillip Edward Alexander at 8:16 PM

46

Jokes / If Harry potter was Jamaican

« on: December 28, 2010, 11:58:49 AM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHTJE6yZA8w&feature=player_embedded

47

General Discussion / Mewey Cwismas, Trinis

« on: December 28, 2010, 12:39:29 AM »

This man has to be a die hard PNM 

Mewey Cwismas, Trinis
By Raffique Shah

Story Created: Dec 26, 2010 at 12:33 AM ECT

(Story Updated: Dec 26, 2010 at 12:33 AM ECT )

I WAS reluctant writing this column on the eve of Christmas, knowing it will appear in print on Boxing Day, that it would probably upset some people. Then it occurred to me that a significant number of adults would crawl out of their beds or wherever they may have slept last night, feeling like faecal matter of one kind or other. So, if anything, my thoughts would blend nicely with whatever brand of antacid they pour down their hatches in preparation for another day of overindulgence. Mewey Cwismas, people!

First, the bad news: I am alive, not quite kicking butts, but enjoying the spirit, if not the substances, of the holiday season. Let me rephrase that: I hope I am alive when you read this. Given the state of crime in the country, and the deadly swath the hurricane of lifestyle diseases is cutting through the world, I may not live to read my own column! If I have fallen victim to any of these Grim Reapers, make merry on my corpse.

Over the past few weeks, several people I know well, some of them much younger than me, have exited the departure lounge of life and gone to realms unknown. Since I don't believe in heaven and hell (I swear these fantasy islands must be Tobago and Trinidad!), I can only hope that my friends who have passed on during the course of the year are frolicking on some secluded beach on the North Coast, far from the madding mob. Except for the "21 virgins" that are pledged only to suicide bombers, if we believe the CIA handbook on Islamic terrorists, what more can any mortal hope for in the afterlife?

But I stray from the focus of today's main course—maybe it's the sorrel I indulged in, damn potent stuff. Seriously, though, I got around to reflecting on the year that's about to come to an end, on what good things we have enjoyed and the bad things we have endured. I wondered who or what had the biggest influence on our lives, on the state of the nation, negative or positive.


Politicians always come to mind first. Because their actions, or inaction, impact most on the population, we tend to turn in their direction as we seek to evaluate what kind of year we have been through. In this regard, ex-prime minister Patrick Manning is the runaway winner... or loser. Any incumbent PM who calls early elections, knowing he would lose, must be a special person.

If losing the elections by a landslide was good enough to earn him the title "Dumbo of the Year", his insistence on remaining stubbornly seated in the political departure lounge underscores that dubious title. Flight after flight is called, some of his colleagues have boarded and left for destinations unknown, but not Manning. He sits there in silence, as if waiting for a special flight. With him, you never know. Given his flights of fancy, maybe he awaits the Jesus Jet that will take him straight to heaven... or wherever. Did I hear someone say purgatory?

Nipping at Manning's heels, but not quite taking that title, is one Basdeo Panday. "Basdeo who?" many may ask. I'm actually doing Bas a favour by mentioning him in this column. Except for when my journalist colleagues are starved for stories or guests on their talk-shows, the man who sees himself as the reincarnation of Lord Rama is all but forgotten. Many of those who once prostrated themselves at his feet now brand him Rawan.

What a thing! Gone yesterday, forgotten today. And beaten like a "bobolee" by a woman! Still, much like Manning, he clings to whatever is on offer, hoping that someday the masses he once claimed as his serfs would relent and restore him to the limelight. To further this elusive goal, Bas has set up some foundation that purports to pursue justice for former sugar workers. When he was in power, he failed to act decisively on behalf of these wretched-of-the-fields. He chose instead to rub shoulders with the parasitic oligarchy.

Oh, how the mighty have crash-landed! Take win, Bas, in the "Mamapoule of the Year" stakes.

In the main contest, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar easily takes the title "Politician of the Year". Sitting at the feet of Guru Bas for years, she has mastered the art of politicking. Her People's Partnership rode to power on a plethora of promises to right all the wrongs the Manning government had inflicted on the population—and the electorate believed her.


She knew all along that politics and governance are different games. She played the former well. But the latter? Well, you judge. Her platform signalled it would curtail crime in short order. Has she delivered? She and Winston Dookeran vowed they would bring the economy back on track, instil investor and consumer confidence. Have they? They claimed there would be equitable distribution of jobs: the few make-work programmes are now People's Partnership-laden, just as they were PNM-laden before the elections. They have reneged on the $3,000-a-month pensions for everyone over age 65, an unrealistic goal I had warned the People's Partnership to avoid.

Kamla's governance thus far can be best described as "hampers-driven, compensation-ridden". Add a touch of glamour, lots of talk, hampers everywhere and continuing nepotism, and you have the People's Partnership's recipe for "looking good".

For taking us all on a merry-go-round, Kamla wins "Politician of the Year" by a canter.

48

General Discussion / Louis Lee Sing's To Do List...

« on: December 27, 2010, 10:52:59 PM »

Louis Lee Sing's To Do List...
December 2010




Jail the homeless
Ban spitting
Rough up downtown vendors
Steal candy from a baby
Cancel Christmas
Trip guy on crutches
Close down St. James Market
Bring back polio
Close down Mas Camps
Make daily showers illegal
Close bars and pubs at midnight
Bicycle riders must get 'Rider's permit'
Pick up Mrs. Aboud's dry cleaning
Remember to exit room backward bowing as I go
Let down Rowley's tyres
Poor people in town have to walk with a bell and a sign
Wash Gregory Aboud's car







January 2011


Make all 'Up' streets down
Make all 'Down' streets up
Men must wear hats in public, women must carry 'brollies
All wheel chairs with four wheels MUST have license plates
Cursing in public punishable by death
Wash Gregory Aboud's car


February 2011


Ban music on the road for Carnival
No costumes above the knees and below the neck allowed
All calypsos must include the word Louis, Lee and Sing in them
Make the savannah one way, the other way for a change
Wash Gregory Aboud's car




March 2011


Pending...
Wash Gregory Aboud's car

49

General Discussion / Meet the small-town doc who’s charged $5 a visit for 55 years

« on: December 27, 2010, 12:37:04 PM »

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40661756

By Bob Dotson
TODAYshow.com contributor TODAYshow.com contributor
updated 12/27/2010 7:04:54 AM ET 2010-12-27T12:04:54
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Rushville, Ill., is the kind of place where backyards have gardens instead of grass, and sunflowers wave in the wind. A tiny town, just 4,300 people, named for a doctor and settled by the men who marched back from the War of 1812. Rushville was built on government land, halfway between St. Louis and Chicago, as a gift to veterans. Those who did not come back got a statue on the courthouse square and were called heroes.

But there is another sort of hero in Rushville today — one the town treasures, and can also touch. Dr. Russell Dohner has been looking after his neighbors for 55 years, charging them about what we pay for a fancy cup of coffee: five bucks a visit. 

“In a mercenary world,” a waiting patient told me, “this place is an oasis.” 


More American Stories with Bob Dotson Wal-Mart greeter is last of eight World War II-vet brothers
Carl Grossman, 90, is the last of eight brothers who fought in World War II simultaneously. Bob Dotson’s profile of him won an Emmy.
..
Making a difference
Doc Dohner doesn’t believe in tossing things away, and that keeps costs down. The only thing modern in his office is medicine.

Most of his nurses have been with him nearly as long as his furniture. They’re paid well because Doc works around the clock. He will go anywhere, at any time, to help those in need, often arriving before emergency crews. He once saved a small boy from smothering to death in a corncrib, once climbed down into a coal mine to help rescue four men. 

Dohner broke his own back a few years ago and has had a heart attack — the only times he’s ever closed his clinic. He took time off until patients started coming to his house seeking medical care.

He does have help. Doc brought half the Rushville hospital staff into the world, including the woman who runs the place, Lynn Stambaugh. She used to wash dishes at the hospital. Dohner inspired her to go to nursing school.

I asked her why Doc never burned out.

"Well, I think because every day he makes a difference to at least one person, and if you can do that, you can go on.”

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The morning we first met, back in 1983, Dohner had been to surgery twice, prepped a broken arm, handled two emergency cases, checked on 50 patients and delivered three babies. It was not yet 10:30.

No days off
He has only one hobby: trees. He’s donated 10,000 of them to this prairie town. Now and then he does slip away to go fishing on a Thursday afternoon, but he’s usually in his tie, and always near a phone.

He has not, in 55 years, had a vacation, not even a full day off. What would he do, if he did take a day off?

“I would like to go to Missouri,” Doc says. 

Missouri is only 58 miles west of Rushville.

“Yes, but I have to take care of my patients first.”

The last time Doc left Illinois was during World War II. He was a military policeman in the Army, guarding President Harry Truman. “I was close enough to touch him,” Doc smiles, “but he wouldn’t have liked that.”

Dr. Dohner was born 85 years ago on a nearby farm, one of seven children. He worked to pay his own way through Northwestern University medical school. 

He had his heart set on being a big-city cardiologist, but decided, “Rushville needed a doctor, so I stayed. It’s the way it’s got to be, if I take care of what comes.” 

Russell Dohner has won dozens of awards for the quality of his practice and was runner-up for Country Doctor of the Year. Every morning before the sun peeks over the water tower, dozens of people are crammed into his waiting room.

More from TODAYshow.com  Monster blizzard pounds the East Coast
From the Carolinas to Maine, a massive winter snowstorm has grounded flights, closed highways and forced five major cities to declare states of emergency. TODAY covers the blizzard of 2010.

.Owing $450K, octuplet mom faces eviction
Mysterious road threatens ‘Great Migration’
Updated 100 minutes ago 12/27/2010 4:50:00 PM +00:00 Natalie Portman engaged — and expecting
Celebrity weddings of 2010
..He takes no appointments. Those who are seriously ill use the back door to get immediate attention; others sit for an hour or more to visit a doctor who knows more about them than some of their families do.

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The first baby he delivered now drives her granddaughter 30 miles for an office visit. “When your little girl gets carried to surgery by the doctor instead of one of the nurses, she will learn to trust him, too,” she said.

Doc has no children of his own — unless you count the 3,500 babies he’s delivered. That’s more than the population of Rushville. 

If you would like to contact the subjects of this American Story with Bob Dotson, contact:

Dr. Russell Rowland Dohner
103 West Washington Street
Rushville, Illinois 62681
(217) 322-4363

Doctor Dohner does not have e-mail. The best way to contact him is through:

Luan Phillips
Director of Community Relations
Culbertson Memorial Hospital
238 South Congress Street
Rushville, IL  62681
217-322-4321, ext. 269
lphillips@sdcmh.org
cmhospital.com

50

General Discussion / On the Way to Eden....

« on: December 27, 2010, 10:39:01 AM »

On the Way to Eden....
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Monday, December 27, 2010 at 12:49am.Our people are dying violently everyday, being thrown against each other in gladiator styled sport with our mothers left wringing their hands and crying inconsolably.

 

The failure of the people to see and act and the failure of the Government to know and to act is contributing nothing to stem the flow of blood and tears, and grief has become the undercurrent of our society.

 

One does not have to go too far out of one's way to touch it.

 

Our frail, elderly, and very young are being torn apart by the most depraved and barbaric acts our collective imagination can throw up as lawlessness abounds; driving has become a means of displaying anger, people are literally colliding with each other in demonstration of frustrated personal power in a land where the expression of self requires the triumph over another in even the most mundane of things.

 

Why?

 

Has our self loathing and frustrated personal power been turned in on itself?

 

The ghetto youth system has become a gang culture almost overnight in retaliation to/against the cruel joke of 'protect and serve,' and we, the custodians of tomorrow are clamoring for success in a misdirected effort long on PR devoid of substance, busy treating symptoms and ignoring root cause while turf war becomes entrenched and more violent daily.

 

Why?

 

Is it that we simply could not be bothered to care anymore?

 

The failure of successive administrations does not frree us from the guilt or make us any less complicit in the carnage and the useless loss of life, yet we fail to see that the final act is always our own, that only what we collectively allow can occur.

 

The drug trade has moved up the ladder from the dark corners it once inhabited to the Boardrooms and the Parliament through both of our major political Parties who, in their struggle to the death for power, rationalizes sleeping with the devil foolishly ignoring that once consummated, the devil is a lover that will not be spurned.

 

It is clear that both the PNM and the UNC are compromised from within, and I dare say neither holds the key to this country's best interest or, at least not as currently compromised as they have become 'too' political in nature and seem to have no clue as to people management and governance; somehow they seem to have overlooked the notion that plans require substance, timelines and the means to track deliverables; instead, we are treated to inane proposals that should never have left the Cabinet propped up by spin and more spin

 

Democracy places a huge responsibility on the citizen to get involved, to be part of the collective voice and even to sacrifice self comfort for the greater good; instead and in exchange we put personal needs first, viewing the world through a prism of self wants and self needs, leaving the 'pesky politics' to the politicians and crying to the heavens when the wolf reaches our door.

 

Again, WE are the system; the system can only fail us if we first fail it, how are we missing this?

 

Us being a nation of whiners and complainers waiting for the next 'daddy' to come along and save us needs to change.

 

We need to realize that we are 'it.'

 

We need to, for the most part where practical, ignore the Government and organize ourselves into proactive people bent on solving problems, making things better, changing lives.

 

The funding will be there long after we vote this or whichever Government out of Office, and building in lean times is good for long term success in any case.

 

People involvement is the most critical thing in every equation and no amount of money is going to make us better to each other and we need to learn that fact and learn it fast if we are really going to succeed as a nation.

 

We need to become a people of excellence in everything we do.

 

Start now, start today, make every decision, every action based on personal best.

 

Practice asking yourself always - is this really the best that I can be?

 

The future of our nation is in the answer to that question.



.

51

General Discussion / Cancer Cells May Be Able to Urge Their Own Death

« on: December 25, 2010, 04:45:43 PM »

Cancer Cells May Be Able to Urge Their Own Death
            Buzz up!2 votes Share
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EmailPrint.. Play Video Cancer Video:Former Marine Receives Christmas Like No Other CBS 2 New York .
 Play Video Cancer Video:Former Marine Gets The Gift Of A Lifetime CBS 3 Philadelphia .
 Play Video Cancer Video:Father Brands Daughter's Legacy By Playing Santa CBS4 Miami .
– Wed Dec 22, 11:47 pm ET
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that many cancer cells are equipped with a kind of suicide pill: a protein on their surfaces that gives them the ability to send an "eat me" signal to immune cells.

The challenge now, the researchers say, is to figure out how to coax cancer cells into emitting the signal rather than a dangerous "don't eat me" signal.

A study published online Dec. 22 in Science Translational Medicine reports that the cells send out the enticing "eat me" signal by displaying the protein calreticulin. But another molecule, called CD47, allows most cancer cells to avoid destruction by sending the opposite signal: "Don't eat me."

In earlier research, Stanford University School of Medicine scientists found that an antibody that blocks CD47 -- turning off the signal -- could help fight cancer, but mysteries remained.

"Many normal cells in the body have CD47, and yet those cells are not affected by the anti-CD47 antibody," Mark Chao, a Stanford graduate student and the study's lead author, said in a university news release. "At that time, we knew that anti-CD47 antibody treatment selectively killed only cancer cells without being toxic to most normal cells, although we didn't know why."

Now, the new research has shown that calreticulin exists in a variety of cancers, including some types of leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and bladder, brain and ovarian cancers. "This research demonstrates that the reason that blocking the CD47 'don't eat me' signal works to kill cancer is that leukemias, lymphomas and many solid tumors also display a calreticulin 'eat me' signal," Dr. Irving Weissman, director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and a co-principal investigator of the study, said in the release. "The research also shows that most normal cell populations don't display calreticulin and are, therefore, not depleted when we expose them to a blocking anti-CD47 antibody."

The next step is to understand how calreticulin works. "We want to know how it contributes to the disease process and what is happening in the cell that causes the protein to move to the cell surface," Dr. Ravindra Majeti, an assistant professor of hematology and study co-principal investigator, said in the release.

"Any of these mechanisms offer potential new ways to treat the disease by interfering with those processes," Majeti said.

52

General Discussion / Discipline, Tolerance, Production & Excellence....

« on: December 24, 2010, 05:35:28 PM »

Discipline, Tolerance, Production & Excellence....
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Friday, December 24, 2010 at 6:23pm.As 2010 draws to a close and 2011 dawns, we approach our fiftieth year as a nation; let us use this opportunity to reflect on the milestones we have passed along the way, learning from both the good and the bad and taking forward only the fruit of those lessons that can make us succeed as a nation.

 

Fifty years of uninterrupted, independent nationhood is something worth celebrating and we ought to do it in true 'trini' style, but let us temper our celebration with the knowledge that there is till much work to do if we are to live up to the dream that is Trinidad & Tobago.

 

It is said that when Christopher Columbus touched our shores he was convinced he had found Biblical Eden, so lush and hospitable our land appeared; since Columbus it has been an adventurous journey, difficult at times but protected and safe, creating and reinforcing the idea that even if it were not Eden, this is still a very blessed land.

 

Let us not take that blessing for granted, rather let us use it to guide us through whatever storms may come to safe harbors, as we together endeavor to create one nation, one people under one flag.

 

Let us resolve that our nation be the undisputed home of a patriotic people set aglow with a vision of one family of citizens, secure in our love of Country First, where the words of our anthem rings true and resonates in all our peoples as every creed and race find their equal place right here.

 

As we approach our fiftieth year I would like to offer the adoption of an old word anew in the national lexicon - the word excellence.

 

Let us adopt it as one of our nations watchwords - Discipline, Tolerance, Production and Excellence, so that we will all know what to give and what to expect in an from everything we are a part of.

 

When we are one 'Country First' patriotic people driven to excellence, the promise of our collective tomorrows will set all our tomorrows alight, and we together with our children's children will live to see the realization of the dream, the promise of Eden, our home, Trinidad & Tobago.

 

That is something to celebrate....



Happy Holidays to all.

53

General Discussion / Reality

« on: December 20, 2010, 11:02:22 PM »

Reality
There is a Twilight Zone episode called “To Serve Man.”

Aliens come to Earth and bestow upon humankind a swift, easy and free path to plenty. Hunger ends. Peace reigns. No one questions the aliens’ motives, except for one man who is trying to decipher a book entitled “To Serve Man,” which the aliens have given to the world’s leaders.
He too soon gives up and joins the throngs of tourists flying off to visit the aliens’ planet. He’s boarding the spacecraft when his secretary tries to stop him, hollering what it is they’ve decoded: “To Serve Man — it’s a cookbook!” - So, as you see, there is no free lunch, literally or figuratively. But there is lunch — and you may be it.

I almost got all teary eyed at the swearing in yesterday and, having abandoned my concerns and reservations about the coalescence of the mismatched and the perverse, jumped on the bandwagon myself...

Almost.

There are problems with the picture.

My major concern is that the science does not bear out the outpouring of emotion and people have a sort of political amnesia. They literally see what they want to see.

We've been here before.

The reason coalitions are doomed to fail is not because we're a cynical lot, but because the ideologies of the protagonists are so different as to run afoul of each other during the planning stage of any adventure. It's easy for everyone to get along when it's 'us' against 'them'. When it becomes 'us' against 'us' is when the plot really thickens. What will hold it together then, the flag? Patriotism? National Pride?
Trinidad's cup does not really run over with these things, it's not like we're Jamaica or Barbados, Islands where the people retain their identity even when in exile in foreign lands; but I digress.

Those who would justify this experiment (adventure) have compared Trinidad's coalition with what is obtaining now in Great Britain, and even that is at some point bound to fail because if it does not, it will expose the lie that politics has an 'either or' option. Were it not so, why have a Parliament? What would be the point of Opposition if we could all just get along? Add to that the fact that Trinidad is made up of fundamentals that cannot be changed by wishing, and which cannot be erased by the best of intentions and you will not be surprised when the thing collapses.

I wrote a note entitled 'Where Do We As A People Go From Here', which attempted to outline a brief history of the differing elements (tribes) that make up our nation, and the goals and objectives of each and why they differ, and must differ fundamentally (http://plainlytalking.blogspot.com/2010/05/where-do-we-go-from-here_06.html).

In that note I asked three basic questions:

1. Is national unity a hoax?

2. What divides us?

3. Can what divides us be rewoven into something more of a national identity?

As an example of the divide - For all his best intentions, Daaga cannot undo the damage done to the Africans by slavery, nor the mad distribution of wealth of this country called the Cedula of Population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedula_of_Population).

A truly afro-centric Government would be more interested in the redistribution of the national treasure and rightly so, because the wrongs done to a people that have kept them socially dependent can only be undone by collective responsibility, collective atonement, and a national attempt to put the wrongs right.
To any Afro-Trini worth his history reading the above, the point is at least valid and worthy of discussion.
To the heirs of the white planters who were given the divided acreage based on the total amount of African slaves they owned, well, let's just say their view would be different. To the people who think history is just that, history; who want to pretend that we aren't where we are because of historical wrongs want to see black people as white people with a groovy tan.

Am I picking a side. No, not yet. I am simply saying that there are very deep divisions that need to be addressed and joining of hands to walk up the magic mountain is not going to solve them.

The above was used as a basic example, and divisions obtain for all the races.

The point I am making is, can you make Beetham Gardens into Goodwood Gardens by a joining of hands?

Is crime the result of wayward black youth who need to be aggressively policed, tried and jailed? Or is crime the result of a failed social system that ignored the plight of the weak and downtrodden even as the wealthy raped the treasury and made off with the national treasure? Can black people be put in their place? Should they? Where exactly is that, the bottom of the social ladder? Perpetual servitude?

I am going to judge this new Government not on pollyanna feelings of butterflies and rainbows, but on the yardstick of its promises as laid out in its manifesto. I will also judge it on what it failed to say.
The concept RISE, that was hijacked and used as a gimmicky party slogan was much, much more than that. It was intended to be a part of a national program of understanding, atonement and restoration. The people of this country are rubbing abrasively against each other because gimmicks are not working. We need time honored truths like respect and 'right of place' to be established for ALL people regardless of race, tribe or religion. We need to forget the 'Douglarisation' and 'Chutneying' of the nation and focus instead on the core issues that affect the differing groups and, in respecting and repairing wrongs on a historical and national level, pass on responsibility for things like law and order and national pride and respect to the true leaders of these communities. The concept of rise was to empower the different communities, respect their individual cultures and get them to work, because when the people feel a sense of belonging, their natural response is to defend and build.
The fist lesson in psychology is the absence of hope brings madness.
Have we learned that from our national experience as yet? Or are we going to distract the natives with gimmicks and hoodwink them so we can enrich ourselves. Are we again going to give the natives platitudes as trinkets instead of real leadership aimed at a cohesive plan of National reconstruction?

Time alone will tell.

The first 120 days were enunciated by this new Government as the timeframe for major programs to be enacted that would form the bedrock of social change that would free our people from the low expectations we REALLY have of those who lead us.

I am going to try to reserve judgement for 120 days (I said try).

I remain a political activist. Political Activists don't get to dress up and clink glasses to herald the changing of the guard. nor do we jockey for position and patronage in any new administration.

We man the wall. We ring the bells and set off the alarm when danger arises.

Nothing has happened thus far to make me believe true change has come.

54

General Discussion / The Legacy of Eric, Robbie & Ish...

« on: December 20, 2010, 03:59:07 PM »

The Legacy of Eric, Robbie & Ish...
.by Phillip Edward Alexander.

For many who do not know, the Eric Williams PNM was a corrupt and dictatorial regime that used brute force and State largesse to keep the people in line. When Basdeo Panday talks about the days of 'the struggle' he is not making grand talk of trivialities, he is alluding to a time when political dissent could have cost you your life.

Many a historian is loathe to touch that era in the Country's development, because most of the things one has to give Williams credit for one also has to despise him.

His death led to a national exhale of such proportions as to guarantee his successor was bound to fail, if only as some measure of after the fact 'payback.'

It is my belief that even if George Chambers had found the cure for cancer he was still going to lose because of old PNM scores that people wanted settled, and the formation of the NAR emboldened many to come out and kick the now bobolee PNM while it was down.

RIght or wrong, the people wanted their say and their day and would not have been denied.

It came in the form of the National Alliance for Reconstruction, a Party with all the right ideas but little understanding of the level of collective dysfunction the Eric years left on the national psyche.

Freedom and austerity were a heady mix, and the people, newly unchained, were ready to protest any and everything that drew their ire. The failed 1990 attempted coup was a 'misread' by the ppowers behind Bakr, because in their acceptance of the above fact, gave Trini's more credit than they deserved.


People were going to march around the Red House and beat the collective drum, but participation in popular uprising was something else entirely; this was a generation figuratively accustomed to getting home before nightfall.

Picking up arms against the State was seen as akin to fighting with your father, and regardless of how deserving he was for a 'come-uppance', we just weren't brought up that way.

Fast forward to the Robinson term in Office and, say what you want about the measures employed to right size the economy, this Administration was a break with the corruption years of O'Hallaron and the boys and the country should have been grateful for that at least.

 Likewise Manning's first term, post Robbie, while credited with some questionable dealings by men like Saith and the Chinese Mafia, nothing perpared the country for the wholesale assault on the treasury (and every system put in place to protect it) by Brian Kuie Tung, Steve Ferguson and their leader, Ishwar Galbaransingh.


If Ohallaron was a medicine man, Ish was a surgeon, and his focus and drive to pilfer in broad daylight attracted other pretenders like Karamath, Gillette and Duprey to the feast, but none were as able as Ish.


Being East Indian, he was allowed into the inner circles of the UNC that sadly none of the others could join. This was no world for pretend hindus, not when the real thing was rampant.

That the country owes a forever debt of gratitude to Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj for pulling down this band of thieves (regardless of his personal reasons) need to be said over and over.

Not only was Ish removed from the feeding trough, the public were treated to the spectacle of this same cigar-chomping symbol of all that is negative in the world of politics wearing State sponsored bracelets and apparently about to be housed at the State's expense.

Manning made sure to disembowel the UNC by attacking (high) all of its finaciers and bringing them before the Courts, (low) shut down Caroni Limited and removed the Indians' URP (hang jack) had Basdeo Panday himself brought up on charges and jailed and (game) took Basdeo out of jail and kept him in power in the UNC 'at his pleasure' to keep the UNC perpetually hobbled.

Were it not for a cruel twist of fate, a woman from Siparia, the aspirations of men of great self image and little self respect and a church in Guanapo, men like Hunt and Hart would still be feeding at the trough Ish built, but the PNM, in outdoing the UNC in the corrupt enrichment of some of it's own members, drank the poison the Party poured for the UNC.

Damnation & destruction in the public eye.


Led by a new leader whose job was to be the anti-Bas, anti-Patos, antidote to all those who went before, the country embraced its new bride and consigned the PNM to the dustbin of history.

Can that Party rise again?

If history is anything to judge these things on then yes, but at what cost?


The UNC has been ably aided by the PNM into painting the Manning PNM into a corner and in keeping the Rowley PNM confined there.

 The question must be asked of Dr. Rowley: "Are you able to lead the Party back to glory?"


It seems that for change to come we as a nation are condemned to sink lower every time.

 

The UNC's only claim to fame now is that it is 'not' the PNM, and it is playing that card every chance it gets, much to Dr. Rowley's consternation.

 

His failure to see that Kamla's success was based on 'a severing of ALL ties 'Panday' and a distancing from his legacy' remains costly, as he Rowley is beset on all sides by Manning himself and those still considered loyal to him in the Party; he still can make no such claim.

 

His hands are completely tied and the UNC, realizing that they have little opposition, are romping home with the spoils.

 

Such is the legacy of those who went before.

 

Eric is long dead and Robbie is packed and ready to go.

 

Ishwar Galbaransingh is currently awaiting trial on many matters, is currently awaiting extradition to the United States to face even more matters, but is also rumored awaiting being set free by his Party, the Judiciary being used to make his final play, and some say fools of us all.



.

55

General Discussion / Die Hard

« on: December 20, 2010, 03:43:41 PM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhQTR02PEH4

Well lets see what I can comment on about the PNM Government?  Hmmmm?  Wait there is no PNM government again.

Just a party in shambles with no leadership and no direction, reminds me of the present government.

Lacking leadership, no direction, and no plan!

Oh what a tangled web we weave to electorate to deceive.

Meanwhile a team of eco conscious citizens are terrorized by Petrotrin employees and the Government..YES, the government does nothing to tell the truth about what is going on.

There is an oil spill, yes, another one and while the environment is being damaged, the fisheries being decimated, the ecology destroyed, we have Ministers wining to tassa and wearing garlands.

Who cares though?  it is easier to all someone a hater and a die hard PNM when they bring you the truth.

See the video and judge for yourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jNYTd0xcBw

By the way, poor T&T under this government in no way absolves the poor leadership we experienced under the PNM.

But it does not give the PP a free pass to do rubbish as stewards of our economy and for those with opposing views to mine to call me die hard and suggest that I have axe to grind!


Not to mention the wholesale slaughter of turtles in our waters.  Horrific.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlWdryEyMtg&feature=related

56

General Discussion / Poor T&T under this government.

« on: December 20, 2010, 09:16:48 AM »

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/High-tech_move_to_stamp_out_food_card_fraud-112164909.html

This government is as bad as the last, maybe even worse.  Sad to say we are in deep trouble as they party, people are dying and they have no plan to curb the criminal elements apart from loud bravado and stupid, maybe unconstitutional laws.

So they come up with an ok plan to stop food card fraud, but why was the Minister greeted with garlands and a tassa group?  Who footed the bill for this bit of theatrics?  yeah I wish to know who paid for this nonsense!

Anything for a photo opportunity?

High-tech move to stamp out food card fraud
By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Story Created: Dec 19, 2010 at 10:47 PM ECT

(Story Updated: Dec 19, 2010 at 10:47 PM ECT )

In an effort to stamp out fraud and corruption in the delivery of social services grants, Government will be moving next year to implement biometric technology starting with the food card programme and disability grants.

So said Minister of the People and Social Development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh on his return from a trip to Washington and North Carolina, where he met with companies and US government officials to discuss the initiative.

Speaking to the media at the Piarco International Airport, Ramadharsingh admitted that the system is being abused by people who are not needy but were beneficiaries of the food card service.

He said a government to government arrangement will be put in place with the North Carolina State Department and some $20 to $30 million will be used to implement the cutting edge technology.

He said officials from North Carolina will be in Trinidad as early as February to hold further discussions.

"We heard about the four by four mag wheels and the SUVs and people swiping cards—the Supermarket Association was very helpful in that regard," Ramadharsingh said.

He added that there were persons who work the system and go from board to board to access grants and programmes. He also praised citizens who called in the ministry and reported persons who were abusing the system.

Ramadharsingh said the aim is to have all Government services and programmes, including CEPEP and URP, utilise advanced technology to stamp out corruption and waste of the nation's money.

"We have known for some time that this is the way to go in terms of the wise use of resources. When you are dealing with some 77,000 persons monthly for pension ... in many instances there are persons receiving pensions who are not entitled, so the computerisation of the social services delivery will eliminate waste, it will eliminate fraud, it will create better utlisation of our limited resources in the face of the global financial crisis," he said.

Ramadharsingh said through advanced technology, a biometric system will be put in place whereby a person's thumbprint will be scanned on the card electronically or their iris will be scanned.

"The Ministry will take the lead in the whole delivery of services. This will be a fundamental first step for electronic government services," he said.

Ramadharsingh said by modernising the social delivery service, this country can take the lead role as a provider to the rest of the region. He said already, some small islands have asked for this country's help with respect to their food card system.

The Minister received a hero's welcome from members of his constituency, who garlanded him with flowers as he came out of customs just after 1 a.m. However, a tassa side on hand to welcome the Minister was debarred from playing by airport security due to the time.

57

General Discussion / Electronic Pickpoketing..Amazing...

« on: December 19, 2010, 09:14:11 PM »

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-electronic-pickpocketing-story,0,5636726,full.story

58

General Discussion / Panday: UNC is dead

« on: December 15, 2010, 10:12:22 AM »

Panday: UNC is dead
...slams divisiveness in Partnership
By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Story Created: Dec 14, 2010 at 11:53 PM ECT

(Story Updated: Dec 14, 2010 at 11:53 PM ECT )

The United National Congress (UNC) is dead.

"I have spent 21 years struggling to build the UNC, my blood, sweat and tears went into this struggle and it hurts me to see it disintegrate like this," said founding father of the party, Basdeo Panday, during a telephone interview on Monday.

Prior to the UNC internal elections and general election which saw the rise of Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar to the posts of political leader, Opposition Leader and eventually Prime Minister, Panday predicted that the UNC would be destroyed.

He said the divisiveness in the coalition and the governance of the People's Partnership signal that the UNC is no more. His comments came mere days after Congress of the People public relations officer Mahendranath Dhaniram raised concerns that the Fyzabad Declaration, which was signed by the five political parties in the People's Partnership, was not honouring the commitment made to the people and in the wake of a division in the key marginal constituency of Tunapuna, where both the United National Congress and the Congress of the People have opened separate offices.

Political Leader of the Congress of the People Winston Dookeran is the current Member of Parliament for Tunapuna.

"I think that the UNC is dead for all intents and purposes. Those who inherited the UNC only use its symbol and name, other than that I think they have abandoned all that we stood for," said Panday.

He said the party's executive was not implementing the policies of the UNC.

Asked to elaborate, he said, "The UNC no longer have that fight and commitment to ease the suffering of the poor. No ordinary person from the party can access their MPs, they are not going to their offices."

Panday, who heads the Basdeo Panday Foundation, said he goes to the Rienzi Complex, Couva, every day where he has an office and meets with people from all walks of life who complain to him that they are not getting help.

Panday criticised the governance of the Partnership, adding, "I think people voted for change but they did not get change. They (Government) are behaving just like the People's National Movement (PNM), they are hiring all the media personnel. The PNM used the same method and spent $300 million on advertisements. I don't see that they are doing anything different, that is what is bothering people a lot."

59

General Discussion / Lost Civilization May Have Existed Beneath the Persian Gulf

« on: December 10, 2010, 02:45:59 PM »

Lost Civilization May Have Existed Beneath the Persian Gulf
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EmailPrint..Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience Managing Editor
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livescience.com – Fri Dec 10, 7:25 am ET
Veiled beneath the Persian Gulf, a once-fertile landmass may have supported some of the earliest humans outside Africa some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago, a new review of research suggests.

At its peak, the floodplain now below the Gulf would have been about the size of Great Britain, and then shrank as water began to flood the area. Then, about 8,000 years ago, the land would have been swallowed up by the Indian Ocean, the review scientist said.

The study, which is detailed in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology, has broad implications for aspects of human history. For instance, scientists have debated over when early modern humans exited Africa, with dates as early as 125,000 years ago and as recent as 60,000 years ago (the more recent date is the currently accepted paradigm), according to study researcher Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist at the University of Birmingham in the U.K.

"I think Jeff's theory is bold and imaginative, and hopefully will shake things up," Robert Carter of Oxford Brookes University in the U.K. told LiveScience. "It would completely rewrite our understanding of the out-of-Africa migration. It is far from proven, but Jeff and others will be developing research programs to test the theory."

Viktor Cerny of the Archaeogenetics Laboratory, the Institute of Archaeology, in Prague, called Rose's finding an "excellent theory," in an e-mail to LiveScience, though he also points out the need for more research to confirm it.

The findings have sparked discussion among researchers, including Carter and Cerny, who were allowed to provide comments within the research paper, about who exactly the humans were who occupied the Gulf basin.

"Given the presence of Neanderthal communities in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates River, as well as in the eastern Mediterranean region, this may very well have been the contact zone between moderns and Neanderthals," Rose told LiveScience. In fact, recent evidence from the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome suggests interbreeding, meaning we are part caveman.

[Rewind: Ancient Egyptian artifacts recovered from bank vault]

Watery refuge

The Gulf Oasis would have been a shallow inland basin exposed from about 75,000 years ago until 8,000 years ago, forming the southern tip of the Fertile Crescent, according to historical sea-level records.

And it would have been an ideal refuge from the harsh deserts surrounding it, with fresh water supplied by the Tigris, Euphrates, Karun and Wadi Baton Rivers, as well as by upwelling springs, Rose said. And during the last ice age when conditions were at their driest, this basin would've been at its largest.

In fact, in recent years, archaeologists have turned up evidence of a wave of human settlements along the shores of the Gulf dating to about 7,500 years ago.

[Discovery: 100-million-year-old ancient crocodile]

"Where before there had been but a handful of scattered hunting camps, suddenly, over 60 new archaeological sites appear virtually overnight," Rose said. "These settlements boast well-built, permanent stone houses, long-distance trade networks, elaborately decorated pottery, domesticated animals, and even evidence for one of the oldest boats in the world."

[Video: Hieroglyphic funeral spells discovered in Egypt]

Rather than quickly evolving settlements, Rose thinks precursor populations did exist but have remained hidden beneath the Gulf. [History's Most Overlooked Mysteries]

"Perhaps it is no coincidence that the founding of such remarkably well developed communities along the shoreline corresponds with the flooding of the Persian Gulf basin around 8,000 years ago," Rose said. "These new colonists may have come from the heart of the Gulf, displaced by rising water levels that plunged the once fertile landscape beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean."

Ironclad case?

The most definitive evidence of these human camps in the Gulf comes from a new archaeological site called Jebel Faya 1 within the Gulf basin that was discovered four years ago. There, Hans-Peter Uerpmann of the University of Tubingen in Germany found three different Paleolithic settlements occurring from about 125,000 to 25,000 years ago. That and other archaeological sites, Rose said, indicate "that early human groups were living around the Gulf basin throughout the Late Pleistocene."

To make an ironclad case for such human occupation during the Paleolithic, or early Stone Age, of the now-submerged landmass, Rose said scientists would need to find any evidence of stone tools scattered under the Gulf. "As for the Neolithic, it would be wonderful to find some evidence for human-built structures," dated to that time period in the Gulf, Rose said.

Carter said in order to make for a solid case, "we would need to find a submerged site, and excavate it underwater. This would likely only happen as the culmination of years of survey in carefully selected areas."

Cerny said a sealed-tight case could be made with "some fossils of the anatomically modern humans some 100,000 years old found in South Arabia."

And there's a hint of mythology here, too, Rose pointed out. "Nearly every civilization living in southern Mesopotamia has told some form of the flood myth. While the names might change, the content and structure are consistent from 2,500 B.C. to the Genesis account to the Qur'anic version," Rose said.

Perhaps evidence beneath the Gulf? "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands," said Rose, quoting Douglas Adams.


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Original Story: Lost Civilization May Have Existed Beneath the Persian Gulf
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