Messages

61

General Discussion / Re: Kamla wants sweeping constitutional changes.

« on: August 22, 2014, 03:22:24 AM »

 I see nothing wrong with the proposed changes and the so called "run off" is also a good measure.
 The people that did not vote for either leading candidate have an opportunity to hear both of them again and make a choice of which one they want to represent them.

 All the political parties have the same chance. The fact that some may have more finances available to them is irrelevant.

 Fear of change is worse than change itself.

No not all political parties have the same chance.. the run-off is an american concept that is germane to a two-party system.

All over South America this is normal fo Presidential elections

Fishs, if nutten eh wrong with it why is being rail roaded through Parliament?
Why was there no consultation?
Why of all the things contained in the report coming out of consultations these particular parts of the bill were plucked out, (and mind you, run off was NEVER a part of those consultations eh) and brought to Parliament?  Could it be that these parts of the "reform" only need a simple majority to pass?

Let Kamla and she croonies rock so with they shyte!!! They too firetrucking stink and always on firetrucking games!!!!!!

 Another view
Who Vex Lorse – Separating news from noise
ANIL GOORAHOO Monday, August 18 2014

The late Dale Kolasingh, one of the finest journalists this country has ever produced, made a point of constantly reminding his newsroom staff that one of their first priorities in reporting was to “separate the news from the noise”. He understood clearly that in any important debate, particularly those involving politicians and moreso during election silly season, “legitimate news is almost always obfuscated and sometimes lost” in the noise of political rhetoric inspired by partisanship and self-self-interests.

With a general election mere months away and with political parties jostling for the minds and votes of the electorate, the on-going debate on Constitutional Reform has featured a lot of noise which has been readily lapped-up by our media and fed as news to an unsuspecting national audience, without the kind of analytical separation which Kolasingh insisted upon. Beginning today and continuing next week, I will make an attempt in my own humble way to provide the lacking but critically needed separation so that citizens understand the issues – each in their individual and collective contexts.

Having attended ALL of the National Consultations on Constitutional Reform and having been witness to the process, it is necessary for me to point out that almost none of the most vocal commentators against the package of reforms proposed by government in its Constitution Amendment Bill (2014) attended any of the consultations. I say this not to deny their entitlement to comment on the reforms, but merely to establish that much of the “noise” that has been published and given prominence in the public domain, may be uninformed and in ignorance of how the process evolved, what issues are involved and of how the final proposals were arrived at.

Under its Terms of Reference, the Constitution Reform Commission was mandated by Cabinet to host a series of 17 public consultations across Trinidad and Tobago (14 in Trinidad and three in Tobago) as well as a number of private stakeholder consultations. Based on those consultations the Commission was required to produce a report, inclusive of recommendations for Constitutional Reform, and present same to the Cabinet. By virtue of having produced its report dated 27 December, 2013, the Commission fulfilled its mandate and ought to have gone out of existence. However, during the course of the 17 national consultations, participants requested a second round of consultations so they could have the opportunity to consider and comment upon the findings and recommendations of the Commission. Accordingly, the Commission recommended and Cabinet agreed to a second round of public consultations which was held in February, although written comments on the report were accepted until 31 March.

It is important to note that the December 2013 report recommended, among other things, that a fairer system of electing representatives to the parliament should be pursued with proportional representation being the preferred option; that there should be a two-term limit for the Prime Minister; that there should be a right of recall of MPs; that MPs ought not to hold Ministerial portfolios; and that there should be provision for national referendum on important issues. Interestingly, there was no objection to any of these recommendations during the second round of public consultations which citizens themselves requested. In fact, all of these received widespread support

Having received feedback from the population with respect to recommendations contained in its December 2013 report, the Constitution Commission prepared a post-script which included further recommendations on a methodology for achieving some of the governing principles identified in the initial report. Among the further recommendations – which were circulated among and approved by all members including Dr.Merle Hodge – was a runoff system of elections. Dr Hodge has herself admitted to the media that the justification for a system of runoff elections was well articulated in the post-script and it was upon such justification that she agreed to its inclusion.

As there was no mandate under its Terms of Reference for the Constitution Commission to produce a second or a supplementary report, the post-script to which all Commissioners agreed, was forwarded to the government for its consideration. It was the government which, rightly or wrongly, referred to the Post-script as an “Addendum” to the Report. That Merle Hodge first heard of an Addendum to the Commission’s Report when it was announced in Parliament, is really a play on words as the word “Addendum” simply substitutes for the term “Post-script”.

The Commission’s report and post-script having been forwarded to the Government, as was required, it was for the government to accept in its entirety; reject-in-its-entirety; or accept in part the recommendations contained therein. Having that discretion, the government opted – some argue hastily – to bring immediately to the parliament those recommendations which did not require a special majority to be passed.

In these circumstances, it is difficult to accept the arguments being advanced by some that there wasn’t consultation on the amendments that were brought to the parliament.

62

General Discussion / Re: Kamla wants sweeping constitutional changes.

« on: August 21, 2014, 10:52:11 AM »

 I see nothing wrong with the proposed changes and the so called "run off" is also a good measure.
 The people that did not vote for either leading candidate have an opportunity to hear both of them again and make a choice of which one they want to represent them.

 All the political parties have the same chance. The fact that some may have more finances available to them is irrelevant.

 Fear of change is worse than change itself.

No not all political parties have the same chance.. the run-off is an american concept that is germane to a two-party system.

All over South America this is normal fo Presidential elections

63

General Discussion / Re: Kamla wants sweeping constitutional changes.

« on: August 20, 2014, 12:04:36 PM »

 I see nothing wrong with the proposed changes and the so called "run off" is also a good measure.
 The people that did not vote for either leading candidate have an opportunity to hear both of them again and make a choice of which one they want to represent them.

 All the political parties have the same chance. The fact that some may have more finances available to them is irrelevant.

 Fear of change is worse than change itself.

More brainless rhetoric.
What about democratic change for the better is better than undemocratic change for the worse?

Here are the points that anyone considering what is good and democratic for T&T and would minimize more opportunities for elections corruption would have considered:-

1. These run-off proposals were not in the original bill placed before Ministers to debate nor was the proposal discussed with or sanctioned by the general T&T public before being placed in the Bill, so these changes being pushed thru are totally undemocratic.

2. You don’t seem to have considered the corruption and instability issues that these proposed elections run-offs will cause in marginal seats as the run-offs can in theory lead to a party that placed 2nd in the original election eventually winning with even less votes than they got in the original elections.

3. These run-offs in theory can result in a prolonged number of run-offs in marginal seats if the run-offs elections don’t result in any party winning by 50% or more of the votes. This is thus a recipe for the party with the most money to contest a number of run-off elections eventually winning the seat.
This is undemocratic as it will lead to the party with most amount of financial clout and also with access to taxpayers funds to eventually win the run-off elections in the marginal seats. It will encourage corruption.

4. While prolonged run-offs elections take place in marginal seats, a rejected government which would otherwise have lost the elections will still be in power and will still have access to the country's treasury/ T&T taxpayers’ money.

Anyone who backs these run-offs elections after considering the points above has no care for democracy and the future stability of T&T and is more interested in which party is in power than in T&T remaining a democracy.

And btw the other issues that this Constitutional Amendment Bill deals with are red -herring issues:

1. Limiting the PM to serving two terms in office.
This proposal deprives the Party in power and the T&T public of their democratic choice for who they view as the best leader for their party and the country respectively from the widest choice of qualified candidates.
This is especially undemocratic when a particular leader (PM) of the ruling party has done a great job as leader of the ruling party and country and is clearly the best choice to continue as leader when compared to their party colleagues.
So why deprive the electorate of the best choice for leader and PM in cases where they are happy with the performance of that leader and the ruling party?
In cases where the electorate is not impressed with the performance of the ruling party and leader they have the democratic choice to simply vote that party out of power so in the end this two-term limited is totally unnecessary in a healthy democracy.

2. Power of recall of MPs.
As presented in the bill this power of recall is fluff as it apparently needs a higher percentage of votes than is used to elect an MP to recall him/her plus recall is only effective after the MP has served 3 years.
What use is it if you have to wait 3 years to recall an MP who is not performing when the constituents want to recall them after 6 months to a year of non-performance? This recall as proposed is Red-herring fluff.
Unless an MP can be recalled after 6 months to a year for non-performance this recall amendment as proposed by the government is a red-herring item that is of little use in reality.

 You obviously have your head so far stuck up your ass that you probably type this with yuh toes.

64

Quizz Time & Facts / Re: Wicketkeeper - two centuries - dropped.

« on: August 20, 2014, 06:03:03 AM »

 I think the keeper yuh uncle was referring to was David Murray. He end up going SA and now piping in Bdos

65

General Discussion / Re: Kamla wants sweeping constitutional changes.

« on: August 20, 2014, 02:48:52 AM »

 I see nothing wrong with the proposed changes and the so called "run off" is also a good measure.
 The people that did not vote for either leading candidate have an opportunity to hear both of them again and make a choice of which one they want to represent them.

 All the political parties have the same chance. The fact that some may have more finances available to them is irrelevant.

 Fear of change is worse than change itself.

66

Football / Re: Heard coops pass away today.

« on: August 17, 2014, 05:33:41 AM »

 I remember watching Coops play when I was a boy and in those days to me men like Coops were larger than life.
This forum actually gave me a means to talk to the man and incidently he was the first man to ever agree with one of my posts.

 Even with him gone he still remains larger than life.

 Rest In Peace my brother

67

General Discussion / Re: What does success look like to you?

« on: August 13, 2014, 07:49:54 AM »

A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it be, without wishing for what he has not.

Such a man is not wise, nor are they successful. No person has been successful by maintaining what they have, but by effecting a better reality for themselves and those around them. Success is a self-defined concept mostly, although I'd argue that it is commonly defined in relation to how others perceive them.

Don't agree.
I continuosly ask myself if success is tied to happiness. If it is, then, I have observed the simple people in the region where I work at present. They are largely potato farmers with some live stock (mostly cows and sheep) and they are a product of the Soviet era, nothing in their lives has changed over the years apart from maybe the introduction of uncensored electronic media and our pipeline. These people are content and you can see it in the way they interact with each other and the strong family units that they have, of course not everybody will be happy all the time but it seems that the aquisition of material wealth is much less of an issue with them than with us. These people actually share the resposibility of taking the livestock out to graze and are very connected to thier animals, the cows actually know themselves which fence or gate to stop at when they return home on evenings. As the article implies they don't have to worry about the potential loss of substantial property and maintaining that. (Which to me is a constant threat) So I guess its different strokes for different folks on this.

68

Cricket Anyone / Re: Kallicharan, Cooper in T&T U-15 squad

« on: June 10, 2014, 07:10:10 AM »

 Lol Express ent easy. This is supposed to be headline.

Both the youths captain their zones and both were the standouts, the headline make it sound like it was a surprise pick

69

General Discussion / Re: Grieving mom wants answers

« on: June 03, 2014, 10:48:32 PM »

The child aunt goes to my church. The MOE policy that Tim kill for ECCE has banned all swim classes. In fact the MOE hasa no water policy. When I went to school every year we would have a beach lime. So to my great surprise when I worked there there was a NO WATER POLICY.

i think you need special permission from the ministry to carry them to water. a school i worked at used to go to the same YMCA for swim classes. i always opted out of supervision for them troublesome pickney. its really on field trips that they cant go in water. what i think this is here is that someone was to go with her to use the toilet considering the inherent risks associated with a swim facility magnified by the age group of children ur dealing with..

Pre schools have a different mgmt structure they are a private.  My church hasa Pre School and they go to the pool.The National ECCE Policy neva went any where with these people.  Govt Primary and Secondary schools cannot cdren anywhere near water. So u know no way their Pre School can.

 Lol an island by definition small surrounded by water and we keep kids away from that water.

 There must be a policy to teach children to swim. Years ago it was estimated that 80% of our population could not swim seems we are intent in keeping it that way and counting the bodies every Easter weekend

70

General Discussion / Re: Grieving mom wants answers

« on: June 03, 2014, 07:07:08 AM »

 My daughters went to Sharon's, in those days the swimming was done by Linky's and it was a safe program always had Linky and lifeguards and parents looking on.
As the teacher said the child asked to go to the toilet, hard to see negligence there.

 Sharon died some years ago, surprised the school still carries her name.

71

Cricket Anyone / Re: Sunil Narine kicked out 1st test for leading team to Ipl Final

« on: June 01, 2014, 04:25:04 AM »

 It is almost as if the WICB plan it this way.

 They allow the man to play in the IPL , they know the final date and they must have figured at least 1 player would make that final.

 I wonder if it would have been different for Gayle. Would tell Gayle and the Jamaican public that Gayle would not play his 100 test in Sabina

72

General Discussion / Re: Homeless man: I was paid to carry racist placard

« on: May 31, 2014, 01:48:15 AM »

 Trinidad rell sweet

73

General Discussion / Re: Minister caught on Tape!!!

« on: May 29, 2014, 03:57:32 AM »

  Cant believe this thing dead now without any repercussions.

  Trinidad and Tobago deserves what it gets.

  I smoke weed already too, but I ent no Govermint minister and i ent make no oath to uphold the constitution and laws of our not so great nation.

Let me point out some things for you gullible folks in Anil's defence. 

1. Have you'll any proof it was actually the real Anil Roberts in that video?
What if it is someone else who looks and sounds like Anil?

2. Alternatively what if some mischievous supporter of the PNM with the right video imaging software and know how placed Anil's image in that video in their desperate plight to bring down this government that is doing so much work for the people?

3. Even if it is Anil in the video for argument sake, you have no proof that it was ganja or any other illegal substance that he was rolling nor does the video show him smoking whatever it is he was rolling.
What if he was simply rolling a normal legal cigarette?

4. The person in the video who looks like Anil did say that he can drink rum (which is currently legal in T&T) all day and whole night but two pull of whatever the substance he was helping to roll would knock him out. That comment suggests that he simply helped roll the substance but may not have engaged in smoking it to save knocking himself out after just two pull.

5. We have no proof that those women in the video are prostitutes and in addition we don't have clear shots of their faces to identify exactly who they are.

6. We also have no proof that this incident happened and the video of it was filmed while Anil has been a government minister. This incident could easily have happened 5 plus years ago before Anil was a government minister.
His shirt with the Sports Company of T&T logo which only came out in 2012 proves nothing as that logo on the shirt could have been inserting into the video by a mischievous PNM supporter using the right video editing technology.

7. And to those who want Anil to admit is was him in the video and that it was an illegal substance that he was rolling and he was seeing prostitutes and it happened while he has been the Sports Minister, why do you expect Anil to incriminate himself and be forced to resign from a good paying government job that comes with plenty free travel, perks and other privileges?

8. Any further questions? Ask Anil!! Say WHHHAAATTTT?!!!

 You know what?
After reading this I agree and also change my mind about man landing on the moon

74

General Discussion / Re: Minister caught on Tape!!!

« on: May 26, 2014, 10:21:47 PM »

  Cant believe this thing dead now without any repercussions.

  Trinidad and Tobago deserves what it gets.

  I smoke weed already too, but I ent no Govermint minister and i ent make no oath to uphold the constitution and laws of our not so great nation.

75

General Discussion / Re: Minister caught on Tape!!!

« on: May 24, 2014, 10:34:33 AM »

Trini Rob Ford boi.lol

ENT!!
The similarities between those two are laughable

Scions of privileged families, trying their respective best to pretend they are the common man. 
Yet their backgrounds create some character flaw aura of untouchable arrogance

dem ting does happen when yuh hire lil boys to do big man wukk

 Al Roberts was his father. Big mouth just like him but the real terror was his mom.

Got a mouthful from her in a Fatima QRC game he was playing in,,,,

76

Cricket Anyone / Re: QRC takes North Zone title

« on: May 24, 2014, 03:39:27 AM »

 I think this is senior division which if I'm not wrong is below Championship .
 Socafighter help me here.

77

General Discussion / Re: Minister caught on Tape!!!

« on: May 23, 2014, 03:02:54 AM »

  The goverment's response is insulting to the nation.

 Their defence and explanation is to attack Rowley 

 When that sink in, it will be an angry mob matching on Parlaiment tomorrow.
 
  Ripe for another July 27th.

 Stupid thieves and scoundrels

78

General Discussion / Re: Eight Pregnant schoolgirls could be suspended!

« on: May 21, 2014, 09:59:42 PM »

And why should the school be burdened with providing child care? If they made the choice they should deal with the consequences best they can. And if the girls getting suspended the boys should be too...why should they suspend the girls but not the boys?

It's this mindset that has our country going to the dogs now. The older generation with the whole deal with the consequences speech..Blah blah blah...Imagine our country still doesn't recognise and teach Sex education in school. A basic human function such as reproductive health is still hushed about and treated like taboo. Just remember you only make a bad decision when you are uneducated or ill informed. When the teenage mother fails to properly guide and provide for her children, the state is going to have to fit the costs of incarcerating and rehabilitating this person in years to come.

Not saying no to Sex Education - (are students ignorant of what sex is and what it can result in?) - I'm disagreeing that schools should take on the burden for providing child-care.

And I am agreeing that if the girls are to be suspended then so should the boys who were involved.
That does not mean I agree that the girls should be suspended though but how do they continue attending school with big belly when they have to be preparing to have and look after baby? Obviously discipline in that school is lacking and maybe removing corporal punishment in schools has assisted in the breakdown of discipline.

Regarding sex education in schools I am sure most schools in T&T teach basic sex education so I believe lack of discipline is more of a factor here than lack of sex education.

Allyuh realise what we talking about here?

This is like mass suicide turn around,  8 girls from the same school from the same football team get pregnant at the same time.
And allyuh want to provide daycare ?

Fooking laughable 

79

Cricket Anyone / Re: Kallicharan , teen phenom aspires to cricketing greatness....another Lara ?

« on: May 21, 2014, 06:47:49 AM »

Fish ..your comments

I don't think its fair to compare this kid to Lara , we will never see a player like Lara again .

He was just one off . With good coaching , mentorship , diet and exercise who knows how
good he can be . I think its too early to refer to him as  Lara etc...

I like his ability to focus and score runs, I hope he has the proper technique to play the
glorious shots that make West Indian batsmen  unique .

Lets hope he is not a cow lasher ...

Good luck young man I wish you the best .

 He seems to be big for his age 5' 5" which could explain to some extent his big scores if he has some natural talent and correct technique.
Most 13 - 14 yr old in my days were smaller than that and it does make a difference.

He got picked for the U17's so we will see what he is like facing up to bigger stronger bowlers.

All that being said his scores still stand so there must be something in the kid.

There were many boys that we saw in the recent past that we hoped could be the next Lara. (Simmons, Tishan, Bravo) But his scores seems to suggest that he is better than them at that age.

Reality is like every other young athlete that people put their hands on for exploit, he will fall away.

Keshorn Walcott was almost unknown until he started beating everybody in the world juniors then he won the gold medal same year. The politicians grab him and now he cant pelt a mango seed 10'ft.

Lara had Joey as his mentor and that made a big difference in his development let's see who looks after this kid.

80

General Discussion / Re: Eight Pregnant schoolgirls could be suspended!

« on: May 21, 2014, 06:29:20 AM »

Many high school have nurseries for babies of students, and special classes for pregnant students. We should look to update our school as such to provide support for the pregnant teens enabling them to finish High School.

add : there's also a lot of social services available to such parent/s (in the schools I've seen in Canada where there are daycare for kids of students).

 That is encouraging the BS

81

General Discussion / Re: Eight Pregnant schoolgirls could be suspended!

« on: May 21, 2014, 05:26:00 AM »

 Allegedly eight of them from the football team get impregnated from boys from the football team.

Sound like a big set of vice and peer pressure to me.

82

Cricket Anyone / Re: Kallicharan stars again in BGTT U-15 tournament

« on: May 17, 2014, 05:30:25 AM »

Yo Fish

Last year Kallicharan led the T&T Under-15 team to victory in the regional Under-15 championships in Jamaica, finishing fourth on the list of top batsmen after scoring 192 runs and placing ninth on the overall bowling list, getting 17 wickets with his leg-spin.

Any comments now ....

Since last year I was following the youth.
Following up with these performances this year he is the real deal but as Quag say consistency will have to be the next bit of proof especially as they want him to punch above his weight now.

The advantage Lara had was Joey Carew and that environment but maybe the central village thing is just as good

83

Cricket Anyone / Re: WIPA thanks Sammy for his contribution ....huh ?????

« on: May 17, 2014, 05:24:32 AM »

 I was just joking about the nasty part.

 Fighter, I hope you keep the spirit because it long gone out from me but in all honesty if a man take on the job to captain the windies, regardless of the results i would tell him thanks when he done.

 The only thing good about windies cricket now is the chance to see the carib girls in action.

84

Cricket Anyone / Re: WIPA thanks Sammy for his contribution ....huh ?????

« on: May 15, 2014, 11:05:59 PM »

 He is probably correct about their education.

And regardless of whether we felt Sammy was the right man for captain or not he still did the job to the best of his ability and should be thanked for his services.

Stop being soo nasty

85

Cricket Anyone / Re: Kallicharan stars again in BGTT U-15 tournament

« on: May 15, 2014, 11:01:51 PM »

 Phenom ?

86

General Discussion / Re: World Turns a Blind Eye to Crisis in Venezuela

« on: April 07, 2014, 07:17:42 AM »

  These protesters are the sons and daughters of rich people who has nothing better to do . A bit of bashing of the skulls by the security services will bring them to their senses .
i [size=78%] do admire the patience of Maduro in dealing with these parasites. [/size]
 I find it rather telling that in a tweet one  of these protesters  tweeted that Maduro  was a lowly bus driver but Radonski Capriles is a Harvard grad.
 I recommend that one should view the documentary " The revolution will not  be televised" and I am sure that it is still on You Tube... to see the kind of scum   elitist people that are fomenting   these disturbances
 

You are a real clown. People dying and you call it " a bit of bashing of the skulls".
Money starting to run out so even the chavista slaves in the barrios starting to take to the streets. People going hungry right now, even elites have to eat because they are people too. BTW if you are a university student that makes you elite?

87

Cricket Anyone / Re: CPL players draft to feature 228 cricketers 2014

« on: April 07, 2014, 02:54:37 AM »

I am disappointed in the red steel player pool again this year.  Our bowling attack is weak. 

 Same attack as last year.
Benn
Badree
Bravo
Edwards
Cooper
Johnson
Maybe some stuff from O'Brien, I like this team.

88

Cricket Anyone / Re: World T20: Bangladesh v West Indies - March 25, 2014

« on: March 25, 2014, 11:20:17 AM »

 Shocking display by Bang

If they had held on the catchs and not misfield , I count 20 runs from misfielding not including the 8 or 12 from the drop catchs. WI would have been say 130- 140. Totally different game.

Something wrong with this  WI team.

89

General Discussion / Re: Communications director of World Congress of Families on the Gay Agenda!

« on: March 21, 2014, 07:07:03 AM »

  I doh like gayness, unless is 2 ladies giving me an exhibition

90

General Discussion / Re: A premature history of the second Cold War and Putin

« on: March 14, 2014, 11:50:41 PM »

What sort of substantiation are you seeking regarding Western involvement in destabilising Yanukovych?

Exactly Assylumseeker   , I guess he expects the West to come out openly and say that they orchestrated  the overthrow of a democratically elected govt. He probably believes the the hands of  America was not involved in  the removal of Mossagedh in Iran ,    Allende of Chile or Chavez in  Venezuela the first  time around.

 Wow as far as you guys are concerned people need to be pushed by the US and its allies to seek change. These people are nothing but puppets ent.