Messages

91

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

« on: January 16, 2011, 11:00:41 AM »

Well the piano is not the first case of Anand embarassing the PM and his government.

He has threatened and threatened charges and nothing yet.  He is in fact THE Minister of Misinformation!

As for Quags....The PP's motto is We will rise....it is high time that they do something to signify a rise above what was common in the past...Anand continues to bring the AG's office into disrepute.

Bakes, I am sorry, but we have to agee to disagree here.  This man continues to make a damn mockery of his office and Parliament.

The Express' own commentators seem to agree that they rushed to publish a story as national headlines when there are more pressing issues.  Yes, I agree, there is nothing wrong in publishing the story, but FRONT PAGE Prominence?

Seems like mischief making and given the constant faux pas of the government, they should exercise due care.

92

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

« on: January 16, 2011, 10:07:46 AM »

wow ,they did not even say, what they was talking about .

excuse me?

93

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..

94

General Discussion / Re: Attorney General Anand Ramlogan Thread

« on: January 15, 2011, 11:24:11 AM »

Sammy, it appears that the Government you so blindly support needs to hire some of Patos' Israeli operatives to help find lost items?  What a comedy this PP is.

Diversion after diversion while no one is attending to matters of state.

Reminds me of an old Sparrow tune   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZomalcH7nQ

95

General Discussion / Comedy of Errors... (Order! Order! Order Dammit!)

« on: January 15, 2011, 11:19:00 AM »

Saturday, January 15, 2011A Comedy of Errors... (Order! Order! Order Dammit!)
Now that the missing piano has been found where it was all along I would like to give the members of this Administration some very sage advice - try to resist making policies, accusations or arriving at conclusions while under the influence; in fact if I could I would like to suggest that they all be outfitted with personal breathalyzers so as to prevent further public gaffes because it is having the effect of undermining public confidence in the Government.


Seriously, was Anand Ramlogan drunk?


And if I was the AG I would come out and tell the nation that I was, because losing a piano in the Prime Minister's residence (ostensibly the most secure and secured residence in the country) and then finding it again where it was all along twenty four hours later means that you are either completely incompetent and ought to resign from your post immediately or your best friends name are Johnny, Jim and Jose.


What other explanation could there be I ask you, and have you seen better comedy anywhere in your life?


Monty Python could not write this.


As a political observer and writer I would like to take legal action against this Administration for attempting to make Political Satire and Political Fiction Writing obsolete, and my heart goes out to my brothers and sisters in the calypso fraternity during this time of comic abuse; God alone knows how many good, good calypsos had to be thrown away because of how much stranger than fiction reality has gotten.


Seriously, and I throw this at the feet of the Prime Minister herself, because the moment she appointed the Cabinet  and I saw some of the characters I said "strap yourselves in boys, we're in for a bumpy ride."


Kamla, what were you thinking?


Is this part of some master plan to keep the people laughing so they forget their problems?


Might not be a bad idea after all, and if this trend of 'comedy in Parliament' is going to continue then I would like to make a few suggestions:


At the next Cabinet Reshuffle, appoint Tommy Joseph as Minister of National Security and Sprangalang as Minister of Information;


Bring in Paul Keens Douglas to replace Ernie Ross as spin doctor in chief, as Paul has been dealing with imaginary characters for years, while Ernie has only been playing with himself.


Give Wade Mark a taller chair and replace the gavel with one of those mosquito tennis rackets so he could hit errant MP's when they get out of line.


Sit Tim Gopeesingh next to Rowley and make Roodal wear short pants in the House.


I also strongly suggest that you leave Anil, Volney and Cornelis where they are as they have been a successful comedy sketch from the vey beginning; as my granny used to tell me when I was small, "If something working already, doh try and fix it."


For my part and out of a sense of duty I will do whatever I can to help, and am already working on an autobiography of sorts for this Government, it's a work in progress called 'Thanks for the Laughs

96

General Discussion / Those Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Cocoa...

« on: January 14, 2011, 11:00:10 PM »

Those Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Cocoa...
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 11:34pm.It is indeed a sad indictment on our country that the top story emanating from the Parliament and making its way to the front page of a national daily newspaper was the apparent disappearance of a grand piano, one of ten bought by the Government at what most believe had to be a piano sale.

 

There is obviously more in this particular mortar than first surmised, as the issue seems to have taken on a life of its own resulting in allegations and counter allegations at the highest level of missing furniture and witches for some reason, leaving the average person wondering if Julia Pena did in fact take the piano.

 

Now, I have seen a grand piano in my life, and because of the sheer size of the thing there really is no getting around the name, other than say, the 'really, really big piano', but as most pianos are themselves big, it could have led to some confusion; the word grand leaves little margin for error and is usually followed by a little pause after saying, as if to underscore the majesty of the thing.

 

Anyway I digress.

 

In the aftermath of the revelation by the current Attorney General that former Prime Minister Patrick Manning might know of the whereabouts of the piano, Mr. Manning called a hasty press conference to tell the country that he didn't really care for the dress that Kamla wore for the funeral of Sir Ellis Clarke, and instead of reshuffling her Cabinet she might in fact consider reshuffling her wardrobe.

 

He also mentioned that he does not have the piano and suggested that if they sent a sober person into the house they might discover the piano right where it was all along; a call was put out to have a sober person visit the house in question to see if the piano is in fact still there.

 

In furtherance of his case Mr. Manning invoked the spirit of Kamla's former boss Basdeo Panday, calling on him to tell the nation why Anand Ramlogan was fired from a State Board many years ago, leaving some to speculate that this may not be the first piano misplaced by a UNC Administration.

 

Mr. Manning went on to say that the Attorney General's view of culture is a very restricted view, which seems to be a polite way of saying Mr. Ramlogan couldn't tell a piano from a pot.

 

With all of the new information still being debated, everyone seems to be confused as to who took what and why, and what exactly did the witches have to do with anything in the first place.

 

At the conclusion of the press conference everyone climbed into a Prado being driven by current Sports Minister Anil Roberts, who was on his way to piano lessons at COP Headquarters.



.

97

General Discussion / Re: Kamla Persad-Bissessar first 100-days.

« on: January 14, 2011, 01:42:30 PM »

as much as ah didn' an' still doh like d man and even wit all d pettiness and corrupt dealings Panday's UNC atleast had ah clear direction....... dey had for most part picked up on where d PNM and NAR had left off in terms of puttin d country back together but like Manning he defended, covered for and may have engaged in shit dat brought his downfall.................dese fellas here have no such thing you can see no clear direction or policy nutten

It is an insult to compare this PM to Panday. Chalk and Cheese. Kamla couldn't shine his boots.

That is a bit over the top.

What is over the top?  The fact that the Silver Fox is head and shoulders above the Current PM?  And the fact that she could not shine his shoes?

Quite accurate actually, while a nice person, she is NOT PM material.

98

Football / Re: TTFF targets Queiroz for Latapy’s job.

« on: January 14, 2011, 11:42:17 AM »

Whats in it for Quieroz/Gullit/Tigana? I can see a coach his calibre coaching the USA or Mexico (virtually guaranteed a world cup spot come 2014), but Trinidad and Tobago?

another thing the TTFF being real unprofessional about how they do this: If you are trageting a coach, you might want to keep that fact under wraps until you have made contact and started negotiations. I suppose Tigana and gullit, the early targets, are no longer being tragetted?

On another note re Carlos Quieroz: he has worked with the US Soccer Federation in the past when he did the "QReport" to kick off the then "Project 2010".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-Report

Shut up.

99

General Discussion / Re: Attorney General Anand Ramlogan Thread

« on: January 14, 2011, 11:05:36 AM »

dats right manning.......dat dotish coolie dunno what a piano looks like.

so wait,,, when anand was trowin ah setta sarcasm for patrick over the piano  you didnt bodder read beetween de lines....he get back de same level of biting sarcasm and  yuh readin hard into it?

as much as I enjoy the back and forth verbal jousting..these folks gettin on like school gyirls
The crime & unemployment still at staggering levels and dem arguing bout who teef piano and who crash prado

this is a classic LOL monemt.  Yet ytou see racism in it, just shows a little about you.  Sad.

100

Football / Re: De Minister of Sport doing everything but Sports !!!!

« on: January 14, 2011, 11:02:16 AM »

“I have seen some inefficiencies in the TTFF and we are in consultation with them to strengthen those administrative gaps.” Works and Transport Minister Jack Austin Warner, a senior FIFA vice- president, is also special adviser to the TTFF.

If this statement isn't laughable I don't know what is.

Given Mr. Warner's ineptitude at keeping "good" books at TTFF is it reasonable to assume that the same may happen at the Ministry of Works?

101

Football / Re: Haitian robbery" T&T cheated W/Cup spot.

« on: January 14, 2011, 10:59:38 AM »

A good source told me that the T&T players each received a gold watch and $500 dollars to not protest this match, FIFA gave them 24 hours, de Haitian President also gave T&T the key to the city.

at least the players got more back then than the 2006 world cup players got(still fighting court battle). count your blessings 

You are a troll, and I am starting to dislike you very much fool.

102

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."

103

General Discussion / Re: Scores missing in tsunami-like flood in Australia

« on: January 13, 2011, 11:14:59 PM »

No part of Australia could be on the same equatorial line as Trinidad, not meaning to nit pic, but.........

104

General Discussion / Re: Attorney General Anand Ramlogan Thread

« on: January 13, 2011, 11:09:16 PM »

I wonder if someone had been seriously injured, would they have hushed it up. The coalition say they coming straight with the people, no mamaguy. The only thing they have going for them is that they new at governing. And they making lots of faux pas. I can understand that. I think the bill to prevent or severely limit corruption, white collar crime is a good first step. But then the parliament end up in rum-shop talk. How can I really think they seriously.

These same people did not want the PNM to pass this same bill., it is not like they have come up with anything new.

105

General Discussion / Kamla Persad Bissessar

« on: January 13, 2011, 10:37:15 PM »

Kamla Persad Bissessar
Tomorrow afternoon, when your Representatives in the Lower House meet for the second time of this week, I shall be making a significant statement to Parliament. I invite you to tune in on Cable channel 11, or on radio station 105.5 FM from 1:30 pm

106

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 !!

107

General Discussion / Re: Attorney General Anand Ramlogan Thread

« on: January 13, 2011, 10:10:08 PM »

All this talk about a missing grand piano that may well not be missing afterall, what about the Prado that was crashed by ANil Roberts?  And who gave him permission to be driving that?

Word is that he had no permission, that makes it?

108

General Discussion / Re: Attorney General Anand Ramlogan Thread

« on: January 13, 2011, 10:08:47 PM »

This is a phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, which is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?" It is also sometimes rendered as "Who watches the watchmen

109

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!

110

Jokes / Re: X'mas season joke

« on: January 13, 2011, 10:01:47 PM »

nice...lol

111

General Discussion / Re: Attorney General Anand Ramlogan Thread

« on: January 13, 2011, 09:59:20 PM »

When I think about my government a prase comes to mind:  quis custodiet ipsos custodes

112

General Discussion / Re: Will you return home to live ?

« on: January 13, 2011, 09:51:36 PM »

I was wonderin if ppl might have thought it was just a fight, not a robbery.
Anyway, ppl does be scared to intervene. I can't blame them, if I see a man gettin distressed I doubt I would do much.
The bandits know they have ample time to get away so they could do ting in broad daylight.
It sad.

Yeh , i feel yuh on not getting involved, but the point i think fish iz making, is how brazen these battyh@les have become! yes is yrs man getting rob up chancellor, but they didn't do it do bold and brazen.

ah bet if we had ah good lawman on the island like marshall dillon and the flying squad, who used tuh take night and make day tuh katch and bring the lawless tuh justice, them boy woulda been a lot more vigilant in their doings!

the shyte is getting out of hand now, some body have tuh start setting ah serious example!! it's almost like we have no police force!

what i have been hearing is a portion of the force in tt don't like the current govt and neglecting their duties bc of it. hence the crime is getting worse, to me they just spiting the nation and themselves.

The crime is not getting worse, it has maintained its steady flow.  To infer that some portion of the police force is shirking responsibilities becasue they dislike the government is just plain iresponsible.

Were those same police not working becasue they disliked the PNM?    Becasue everyday I awoke to headlines about the crime situation, and how poor the past government were at getting a grip on it.

Now we have exchange, the police suddenly saboteurs?

113

General Discussion / This one is REALLY funny...

« on: January 12, 2011, 10:20:27 PM »

This one is REALLY funny...
.by Phillip Edward Alexander

In the old days before running water, the best place to live was up river; that way the percentage of piss in your drinking water was less. Over time we learnt to justify fighting each other for the higher ground instead of encouraging the collective to stop pissing in the water.

Surely all of the intelligence that has come and gone before would have seen the connection between piss and land value, don't you think?

How about that little black boy screaming into the void as his daddy lay dead, bleeding like a stuck pig into a drain, on that drizzly Sunday morning? Do we see the connection between his pain and society's ills?

At this point you MUST be feeling gypped because of the title, but TRUST me it gets better, this one ends funny.

Our society is circling the drain because the people (you and me), who are supposed to give a shit about that little black boy standing in the early morning drizzle screaming for someone, anyone, to make his world make sense now that his daddy is dead are so self absorbed that we do not see the connection between him and our own children.

How did we get to be so pious and sanctimonious that 'we' have no problem diagnosing the cause without knowing the facts or seeing our own hand in the matter?

We answer the question our compassion asks that his lifestyle, his activities somehow led him to that end, and our compassionate voice, realizing that it is talking to an asshole, get's quieter over time. Yet that little boy, if statistics bear out, will grow up to be an angry man, and along the way his pain will metastasize to anger and then rage, and at some point someone else will be left crying in the rain, and we still don't get it.

Before you switch off know this, you can fuel your denial in whichever way fits your fancy and you can mute the uncomfortable stories all you want, but the circle of separation between your world and his is getting tighter, and it is only a matter of time before your worlds collide.

We need to get over ourselves before it is too late and do what it takes to fix this, and as uncomfortable as this discussion is, we HAVE to have it.

The system is broken, the people are hurting and our best years are being spent pursuing conspicuous consumption. If you live a life of opulence and you think you deserve it because of some effort you made you're deluded, and worse, because you do not see that your need to deprive others to cover your own sense of inadequacy while pithy and sad is not the whole problem here, but actually fuels the demise of the quality of life you are chasing is saddest of all.

Would that we could get over ourselves for a minute and realize that the equity trapped in our delusions of grandeur could solve ALL the problems that plague our society, we would need no religion, no life coach, no gurus to provide us with answers.

We need them now because we need someone, anyone to tell us w'ere not really assholes, that it IS okay to be this self absorbed.

It's not.

Our diseases are common, our pain is shared, and if we do not get it and get it quick we will make the world harder for our children and for theirs.

Our education system fails them and we blame them for their lack of education. Our banks work to prevent them from owning homes yet we curse them for squatting and for needing Government subsidized housing.

We are both the problem and solution here, and we need to face it.

We need to take action beyond lip service, to join hands, show compassion, find solutions that lift our brothers up; We need to care about others and care deeply, way beyond the dollar we give the grocery bag boy and the ghetto youth wiping our window at the traffic light.

We need to provide decent wages for decent jobs, hope and opportunity and access to equity and ownership so that all can be contributing members of society.

Rounding up the homeless and killing the little blacks boys is not going to solve the problem, and if we do not find a way to share this world a little better it is only going to get worse.

Much worse.

We need to learn to stop pissing in our own water, because we are almost out of time.

 How funny is that?



.

114

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

« on: January 12, 2011, 08:41:32 AM »

The picture with this response was part of the release by Mr. Hunt and was NOT provided by me.

Thanks.

Hunt release dem pics in trute??

If so he have the PR skillz of a Jedi.....ah likin the lil nikki minaj twist as ah last dig

Yes he did, and you can always keep abreast of these characters by accessing their Facebook pages.  Manning, Kamla. Texeria, Parsanlal, Warner, Gypsy, Moonilal all of them...

115

General Discussion / Re: Ols fashion parenting- whos your..daddy?

« on: January 12, 2011, 07:53:44 AM »

Seriously though. ah know allyuh stuck on the fact that ah fella look almost grown still getting licks from his uncle, but missed the most important part, which might be the real reason for the cutskin on the WWW.

could it be that this uncle was protecting his nephew from death or jail by putting this thing on camera?  first the man was talkin bout killin and that is what really got him goin, who to say the yute didn't brag about killin someone just tuh look good , and maybe this someone was ah renown gang member who's ppl may want to seek revenge, or maybe he was protecting this kid from the police who in those mid-western and southern towns (cause that's where they sound like they were from) are quite racial excessive and brutal not to mention punishment for some of these crime may even be draconian.

yeh it was kinda weird, and the uncle may have been verbally excessive, but maybe this guy saw enough killin heartache and sadness due to gang violence to last a life time (close childhood friends family members) and never wants this thing to hit home.

i know one things for sure, the only thing that separate my cousins from me and my siblings was the discipline my parents handed down. had they given us the same freedom and lack of care, who knows how we would've turned out!

That could be the case for real. Who feels it knows. Good post 

Not to cause more argument, but how is acknowledgement that just cool's post is good yet you dismiss the same points made by Bake and shark?  A history there?

116

Football / Roberts: Concerts will help fund stadia upkeep

« on: January 12, 2011, 01:28:13 AM »

I remember sometime ago Minister Jack Warner did not want to pay to use the stadium..now upkeep is an issue?
Roberts: Concerts will help fund stadia upkeep
Published: Wed, 2011-01-12 20:53
Clayton Clarke
 
Sports Minister Anil Roberts is standing firm on the staging of carnival events and concerts at the nation’s stadiums. Speaking at the National Association of Athletic Administration (NAAA) 2010 Awards Ceremony at the Crown Plaza on Saturday night Roberts said the revenues from those events are necessary to offset maintenance costs of the facilities. Roberts revealed that the price tag of upkeep of the sporting arenas is just under two million dollars monthly. “The cultural aspect will bring the revenue to offset the deficit. Every month tax-payers spend 1.8 million dollars to maintain our stadia. We can’t and do not want to charge our athletic clubs, athletic  associations, TTPro League, Super League and the school league to use the stadia which were meant for them.”

Roberts said the cultural and sporting activities are related and could support each other. “Culture and sports are intrinsically linked. Culture will help our athletes generate revenue and maintain the stadiums as promoters want to earn money. By their usage we benefit and that is how we could enable our athletes, footballers and citizens to use the facilities free of charge.” Roberts assured the local track and field fraternity that support will be given to have the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva set up as a base for track and field. The MP for D’Abadie/Omeara added that the Hasely Crawford stadium will continue to host cultural events. Roberts’ comments came after NAAA president Ephraim Serrette said in his address that athletes are been denied use of stadia for the staging of carnival fetes.

Serrette said: “The access to the sporting facilities for athletes to train and prepare for competition is becoming difficult.” He said sports should be given priority. “Competition for facilities is not from other sporting activities but from cultural events.” Serrette said his organisation will meet with Roberts next week to discuss the issue.
“Indeed the recent announcement that the Hasely Crawford Stadium will be the venue for the Soca Monarch Finals is a major source of concern for us, as we all know what has happened with the venue when similar activities were held in the past. He (Roberts) will be meeting with us on Tuesday, so we are hopeful that they will be addressed.

117

General Discussion / Re: COP scoffs at Anil's leadership challenge to Dookeran

« on: January 12, 2011, 12:11:27 AM »

Gary Hunt come back in de mix

ENTTTTTTTTTTT

I thought he would have go out forever in the sunset with the little shame he have..

Are you asserting that mr. Hunt should just ride out and allow Mr. Roberts to make any statement he wants even if it is reckless, and possiblly feckless?

118

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

« on: January 12, 2011, 12:08:16 AM »

The picture with this response was part of the release by Mr. Hunt and was NOT provided by me.

Thanks.

119

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?

120

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”.

.