As suggested..My Rants

[Die_Hard]

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.



.

[Bakes]

Much ado about nothing... I think Jack will make a fine Prime Minister.  Everyone knows that he's had his hand up Sepp bamsee fuh some time now, secretly manipulating his lips every now and then.  So Jack has ample experience in running things, even if from the wings.  This PP partnerfiasco is no exception... why shouldn't he now step from the wings if he done already commanding the spotlight?

Under his expert guidance the FIFA mafiosi have increased their private wealth at public expense the world over.  He has mastered the art of double-speak, making his eventual transition to politics a matter of mere formalit. He's a skilled communicator.  His decades of convincing the footballing public that his underwriting of TTFF costs was due to an abundance of concern for the local game, prepared him for his role as PP financier.  We all know that it was out of concern for us, Godfather of the country that he is and all, that he bankrolled the purchase of Parliament last May. 

He has taken spite, bribery and blackmail to higher levels, and this talent will no doubt suit him well in Whitehall... or maybe in the new digs up in St. Clair.  Under his watch FIFA was accountable to no one and ruled largely by fiat, if people thought Manning's reign was a creeping dictatorship, well to paraphrase another Jack (Nicholson), wait 'til they get a load of, well... Jack (Warner).  I suspect that rather wait for formalities,  he just might do like Napoleon and take de crown from Max and crown heself too.

Trinidad eh reach... not yet, but it slowly going to hell in a handbasket.  Fear not though, I sure Jack done prepare fuh dat contingency and done start stocking up on flame-retardant draws as well.

[Jah Gol]

From the onset I made note of the how flippantly she dealt with her Ministers making silly personal statements. It was clear that the Cabinet was not functioning properly for months.Jack in particular has been a chronic offender and his infractions have not wained.  She has demonstrated evasive tactics at any sign of pressure.  The SIA breaches which were revealed to demonise Manning as a distraction from the criticism of the Fazeer Mohammed lynching turned into a he say she say,2 Israeli teef d files fiasco that mysteriously coincided with a huge spike in homicides.

It is sad to say but Kamla Persad-Bissessar as the first female Prime Minister of this country has been reduced to a glamour girl. Looking at the ceremony for Sir Ellis today ,CNC3 reporters were heaping praise on the Prime Minister's sense of style and made note of how elegantly she wore her hat. Her pronouncements have little substance in terms of policy or direction and contain mostly platitudes- a ceremonial Prime Minister if I ever saw one.

Meantime Jack is center stage claiming victories, announcing projects and receiving accolades from himself, and others.

[Die_Hard]

Apologies to Sir Ellis...
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 4:32pm.To many people, the debacle and fiasco that was the funeral for this country's last Governor General, first President and respected son of the soil is leaving a very sour taste in their mouths.

 

Among the many complaints heard so far are the use of NAPA as a 'venue' for what became a show as opposed to a dignified funeral, a massive break down in protocol and observances from start to finish, and the embarrassing position none that other than the Archbishop himself was placed in by being thrust into the proceedings as celebrant with no prior knowledge, no mention in the program, and nothing in place to celebrate what was struggling to be a Christian burial.

 

Are there hidden reasons for these offensive slights?

 

Or was this catastrophe on top of a tragedy the result of more bungling from a disorganized and amateur Administration having responsibility for things for which they do not qualify?

 

In the big picture, this event was supposed to create a dignified memory for all Trinidadians and Tobagonians as well as those in the region and many in the international community who may have had reason to rely on the good gentleman's time, advice or conversation in the past, and as the first holder of the highest Office in the land, one should have been able to comfortably assume that a feeling of professionalism would overlay an obvious experienced and respectful handling of his final good bye.

 

Sadly, this was not the case, and a muck up of this magnitude combined with the amateurish bungling on every level begs that someone or someones be fired.

 

There are some things that you should not attempt to wing, and protocols in these circumstances ought to be counted chief among these; to this writer this event is a blot on the national reputation, and had Sir Ellis been buried in the wrong plot I would not have been surprised.

 

To the last Governor General and first President of our beloved land, I would like to say thank you for your example Sir, and good bye on behalf of all of us whose lives are better because you served.

 

You were a gentleman, a scholar and a giant among men.

 

May you rest in peace,

 

Amen.



.

[weary1969]

Doh 4get Kamla storming d private burial. D PM being overshadowed by d grandson. D pic sum it all.

[Die_Hard]

May be something to my report eh?

Revolt IN COP
Anil to challenge Dookeran for leadership post
By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Story Created: Jan 8, 2011 at 10:47 PM ECT

(Story Updated: Jan 8, 2011 at 10:47 PM ECT )

Moves are afoot to remove Finance Minister Winston Dookeran as political leader of the Congress of the People. And sources say the man in the challenger's corner is Sport Minister Anil Roberts.

Dookeran says he is not bothered by reports of any such moves. "I will not engage in such frivolities. There are major issues to deal with in the country," he responded when asked to comment on the reports yesterday.

Pressed for a further comment, Dookeran said:

"You remember when Gandhi was spat on in the train in South Africa and the people asked (him) 'aren't you bothered about that?'

"His response was I don't have to be bothered, he (the man who spat on him) has to be bothered because he's the one who has done something wrong."

Sources said that there was strong COP support for Roberts to put himself up for the leadership position come March.

According to the COP constitution, the notice for the post of political leader will be placed in March, following which there would be nominations for the position.

Contacted for comment yesterday, and asked specifically if he was interested in leading the COP, Roberts said he was willing to serve if he was given the mandate by the membership.

He said he agreed with former prime minister Basdeo Panday that leadership was not a cow, that somebody cannot hand it to him.

"If people on the ground would like me to, I would never shirk my responsibility and I am not afraid of anybody nor any responsibility, so if my membership across Trinidad and Tobago would like me to, I will accede to the request. Of course, I will be privileged and honoured," he said.

He said there were divisions within the COP and he was certain there will be a shake-up in the leadership and the structure of the party coming out of internal elections later this year.

"Yes, it definitely will because we cannot continue to go on like that, because members who have worked hard, who believe in the COP, the leader and its policies, are not being given guidance and leadership," he said.

He said some members have lost faith in Dookeran's leadership, predicting that Dookeran will have a fight on his hands at the party's elections.

Roberts levelled blame against four members of the party for causing the divisions within the COP, saying that they were speaking out against the Government without facts.

"The UNC appears to have strong leadership and discipline, the MSJ, the TOP and NJAC. In the COP there are certain members who have been given certain positions of high office who seems to be making irresponsible, unnecessary, selfish and uninformed attacks on the Prime Minister and the People's Partnership Government," he said.

"When I read deputy political leader of the COP, Robert Mayers, on New Year's day, saying the People's Partnership Government has no plan, what is he talking about—because he is a strong member of the Partnership, he's an economic policy member, he's an adviser and a confidant of Mr Winston Dookeran, the leader of COP who is instrumental in the plans and the visions of the Partnership.

"It appears he has his own selfish agenda, he has no information and he's not making statements based on fact," he continued.

Roberts also criticised COP executive member Vernon De Lima for his statements that the People's Partnership had no no crime plan and that the Minister of National Security was not doing his job and that the COP crime plan was not being looked at.

"He's absolutely 100 per cent wrong … he's speaking from a position of no information whatsoever.

"He's not consulted with any of the members of Cabinet, of members of Parliament, especially when he attacked the honourable Prime Minister for divulging to the population (news) about the SIA," said Roberts.

He said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar consulted with the Cabinet before making her decisions.

"I would ask him and others to cease and desist and show the discipline that the other members of the coalition party are assuming," he said.

Roberts also insisted COP members were being treated fairly with respect to board appointments.

"Their numbers (COP members) were absolutely wrong and skewed, they did not ask any members of Cabinet like myself, and I am one of the COP members who's also on the boards' committee, we are very very well represented.

He said Dookeran should take disciplinary action against members who made false statements.

Contacted for comment on Roberts's challenge to Dookeran and his claims of a rift within the COP, party chairman Joseph Toney said he will respond after hearing for himself what Roberts has to say.

[Die_Hard]

Anil's Folly... (No, this is not as serious as it sounds)by Phillip Edward Alexander on Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 12:32am

Overheard in a bar - "For all the bless we bless we ent playin' we have some mooks in this Gova-munt ting nah?"
 
I heard a joke once that goes "Just when you figure out how to make ends meet around here, somebody moves the ends."

In like manner, just when you think you know just how cuckoo this place is, someone says something to make you question your understanding of the definition of cuckoo.

Take the story of Anil's quest for personal glory by, wait for it, wait for it, challenging Winston Dookeran for the post of Leader of the Congress of the People.

No I am not joking, read on.

When I first heard that such a story was written and printed, I swore to myself that either the writer or the Editor was drinking a little; when I finally got a chance to read the story for myself and realized that not only was the writer relaying the truth but that the Parliament's jester DID in fact make those statements, I thought I should drink a little.

Really Anil?

Leader of a Political Party?

Did you mix up your happy pills with your vitamins this morning?

Seriously, the Leader of a Political Party must in essence be qualified to run the country and I would not trust Anil to run an errand; his quick pick MP position based on Manning's (self inflicted) reversal of fortune and the Congress of the People's lack of a better option at the time may have fooled him into believing his own rhetoric, and like many other flashes in the proverbial pan, is going to be the victim of a sudden and complete backlash when he tries to force reality to fit his facts.

Were I to give him (Anil) some advice, it would be to try to mature politically before he attacks those to whom he should consider himself beholding; I would also tell him that he is fooling no one, and that we all knew of his change of allegiance for quite some time; the real question is - is he having trouble getting his UNC shirt on over his head?

I figured him for an early candidate in the Jack Warner cult of personality currently swirling around the political bowl, and while I cannot say with certainty that it/they cannot cause some upheaval for a time, this is still a country of one point three million souls quite capable of telling sugar from, well what we know to not be sugar.

I wanted to deconstruct and pick apart all that was said of some key members of the Party (COP) in the referred to story, but that would be me playing along with this feeble attempt at misdirection; truth be told Anil's role here is a simple one - to continue to destabilize Dooks on his (Anil's) master's bidding, and if possible hobble the COP by extension.

I am sure I am not the only one who has seen through this tired ruse, and I am sure I am not the only one who is ready to say goodbye to the latest joker in the pack to think himself bigger than his britches.

Were I the Chairman of the Congress of the People I would convene a caucus to deal with this rude transgressor with some urgency so as to arrive at consensus and eject him with such speed, the door knob would hit him where the good Lord spit him.

Or as the prophet David Michael Rudder sang (and my most used political quote) "in this pappyshow land, nearly everything is a pappyshow."

[Die_Hard]

Literary Brilliance... (A Look at Successful Trinidadian Authors)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 7:47pm.Talking to a world famous  publisher about my book recently, he was surprised that i was unaware of the many Trinidadians & Tobagonians whose works have already been published and was happy to give me a list.

 

This is a reproduction of that list, and I am sure you would be just as surprised as I am as to some of the writers and their stories in the list:

 

The great Gatsby - Anil Roberts

 

One man's journey from insignificance to fame and back again in quick time.

 

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Machel Montano

 

Machel reminisces about a time when he too thought he was 'too young to soca;' when he was his most artistic and original self.

 

Brave New World - Co-Authored by Gregory Aboud and Louis Lee Sing

 

A collaboration by two national icons outlining their new vision for Port of Spain

 

The Sound and The Fury - Watson Duke

 

Long since retired from the rough housing of union life, Mr. Duke in his later years was known to march around his own house screaming demands at his wife through a mega phone, much to his neighbors' dismay.

 

Catch 22 - Dr. Keith Rowley

 

Written from the perspective of a politician who dared to do the right thing in a land where the right thing was always the wrong time.

 

Darkness at Noon - Sat Maharaj

 

The third in his three part series on his love affair with big boned black women, the author is unafraid to release his raw sexual energy onto the page. Famous for his saying 'once you go black there's no going back,' the literary world awaits with baited breath where this talented writer goes from here.

 

Sons and Lovers - Deosaran Bisnath

 

A tell-all tale of his days in the seedy London Bath house district, this writer expresses man boy love as no one before or since. Also includes the recipe for his favorite asian delicacy - 'cream of sumyungai.'

 

The Grapes of Wrath - (non fiction)

 

A collection of internal memos from the HADCO group, outlining how to get cheap D grade grapes onto the local market at exorbitant prices. See also 'The Apples of Wrath' and 'The Pears of Wrath.'

 

Nineteen Eighty Four -  Surujatattan Rambachan

 

A signature work of a political ideology frozen in time. Includes contributions from Dr. Carson Charles, Bhoe Tewarie and Jenson Fox.

 

Invisible Man - Prakash Ramadhar

 

A legal luminary in his own right, this work describes his fall from grace and disappearance from the public view by being elected to political Office.

 

A Passage to India - Roodal Moonilal

 

Drugged one night, bound and packed as cargo aboard an ocean going vessel, join Roody as he tries to find out who would do this to him and who paid his passage on a Taiwanese trawler.

 

The Ambassadors - Garvin Nicholas

 

Not all good things come to those who wait, sometimes gross miscalculation and failure can actually improve your career. A 'How To' book on making it worth their while for superiors to promote you out of the way.

 

Tender is the Night - Patrick Manning

 

A love story like no other, Patrick tells of his heartbreaking addiction to sada roti, and the journeys spent in search of it in other people's homes.

 

The Naked and the Dead - Marlene McDonald

 

 Describing her fondness for eating raw chicken in the nude, this is a tale that many say should not have been published, others say especially the pictures. Shown the book and asked to comment, famous author and publisher Warch Narmann commented 'Oh God my eyes.'

 

From Here to Eternity - Basdeo Panday

 

Having vowed to die with his boots on, this former Trade Union Leader, Opposition Leader and Prime Minister writes in his memoirs that he will be contesting his much loved Couva North constituency in 2022.

 

The Postman Always Rings Twice - Kamla Persad Bissessar

 

Few have been able to put into words the horrors of a ringing doorbell on a hangover, and in this open and revealing work the writer shares the effect of a ringing phone on a hangover, a neighbor's lawnmower on a hangover, a passing plane on a hangover, singing birds on a hangover, etc.

 

Lord of the Flies - Austin jack Warner

 

Part two to his revealing 'Lord of the Files' and the precursor to 'Lord of the Fools,' the last installment of a trilogy of political intrigue and conquest by a man some say has never met a man of integrity that he spoke to twice.

 

A Bend in the River - Sasha Mohammed

 

The unauthorized biography of a journalist's journey from the outhouse to the big house, this work deals with the issue of duplicity and bias peddling in a frank and meaningful way. The chapter on 'Political Soul Mates' was especially telling, and reveals more about the alleged occurrences of journalistic prostitution rumored to be prevalent in the media community.

 

 

Personally I was very impressed that such abundance of work exists and surprised that I was unaware that so many of my fellow country men were already published.

 

This augers well for the future of writers struggling to find their place in a crowded literary world and paves the way for greater things to come.



.

[Dutty]

That Literary brilliance bit was a a good smile piece

Weary whey is dat  bacchanal in de funeral about kamla stormin and ellis grandson brace she?  wha?

[weary1969]

That Literary brilliance bit was a a good smile piece

Weary whey is dat  bacchanal in de funeral about kamla stormin and ellis grandson brace she?  wha?

It was suppose 2 b a private funeral so how she and d c crew reach heaven alone knows. Dutty u had 2 c it a teenage boy standing at d grave site of his papa and towering over d country's PM. IT JUST DID NOT LOOK RIGHT.

[Die_Hard]

Village Life - Part 1 (Milk with Suresh)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 10:26pm.TAP TAP TAP

 
"Miss Jean!" "Miss Jean!"

She could not believe someone was knocking on her back window now, not when she 'now' get in the bed, and Lord knows getting in the bed and getting out the bed nowadays was a production by itself, old bones and old muscles not being what they used to be, dont like to climb about too much.

TAP TAP TAP (harder now, more urgent)

"Miss Jean!" "Miss Jean, iz me..."

Yes she knew it was him from the first tap because nobody else would be tapping her window at this hour, nobody else didnt feel they had a right to, but children have a way when they know you they does think everybody is part of their family, so she knew he didn't mean anything by it, this waking her up when she just gone and lie down in de bed, she knew he couldn't understand how old bones does creak and groan, the only bones he know was young bones, bones that make for climbing and running and jumping.

With her feet on the rough wood floor she felt around for her 'house' slippers, which was the same kind and color as her 'yard' slippers, but she knew which was which because she came from a time when yard things was for yard and only house thing was for house.

"Ah comin' ah comin..." She said to the direction of the window as she fastened on her old faithful dressing gown, the one her mother gave her when she was getting married all those years ago, before the children, before the grandchildren, before the funeral....

TAP TAP TAP

 "Ah say ah comin boy!" "What wrong with you tonight?"

She reach the wooden window window and pull the chain that opened it from on top and felt it release and swing open, bringing the full moon and a little crying boy into her view, and the cold night air into her kitchen.

"what you doing walking about so late?"

 Most nights he would come and 'visit' with her, drink some of her milk and just sit on the bench by the kitchen table and wait like he just waiting for time to pass, or he would lie down on the rough wood floor underneath the same window and sleep a little and wait some more.

"You ent fraid something eat you outside dey?"

He never asked to come inside, he never said why he was there, and truth is he didn't need to; she knew, the whole village from the stand pipe to the chicken farm knew this boy family story, a common enough story, but still not a nice one.

 His name was Suresh, but everybody from his mother go back used to call him Surie and as that's the only name she knew to call him, so to her that was his name.


She watched him standing in her yard staring up at her, face wet from crying, tears dripping on the white vest that barely covered his small, thin frame; for some reason (and God alone knew what), this little twig of a child used to run away from his mother house down a half mile of dirt road in the darkness to reach her house when the mother man reach home drunk and bacchanal start.

 She opened the back door and told him "well come inside then, you didn't come down here to stand up in the yard did you?"

 He walked up the three twisted wooden back door steps and squeezed between her and the door she was holding half way open in a manner that said they were both accustomed.


"You want milk?"

 He looked at her and didn't say a word and she would have been surprised if he did because he never really spoke. She didn't know if it was shame he felt or if it was scared he was scared to talk, but either way she didn't mind, she didn't really take too much to all that talking herself.

She opened the icebox and took out the jug of milk and poured it full into two metal drinking 'glasses', one for him and one for her. She didn't really like drinking milk this hour because it gave her gas, but she was thirsty and she felt like sometimes all you had to do was sit with a person to let them know everything was going to be all right, and as children were people too in her mind, so she sat with him on that kitchen bench most nights.

 "Here"

She rested the cup in front of him, then eased her tired bones onto the opposite bench and began to drink her milk.

 She was thinking that she was going an put one cuss on the cow farmer who sell her the milk, becaue she feel he watering down the milk now. Either that or the cow sick, because this milk not thick like she know milk to be.

 She was picturing him now, pulling up by her back door on his big old black bicycle with the big weave basket on the front full with all sizes of bottles, each one full of fresh milk; she would normally by a medium sized bottle everyday except Saturday.

Saturday she had to buy two because Sunday was Church and he didn't sell milk on Sunday.

 She was now thinking to herself the size of the cuss she was going to cuss because is donkey years now she buying milk from he, when Surie spoke and she nearly spill her own 'glass' of milk all over the plastic table cloth on her kitchen table.

"They not goin' an' come for me tomorrow."


She looked at him, surprised that he spoke and even more surprised at what he said.

"Why you say that, ent your mother does always come and find you in the morning when you come here?"

"She know is here to find you, where else you go be?"

That was the truth. Of all the houses in the village, it was only her house he used to go to when rum turn talk into action.

"Yeah but she cyah come tomorrow, they cover her dong with a sheet from de bed, head to foot, on de floor."

She felt her knees go weak and she was glad she wasn't standing. She knew Surie was not like other children, if he tell you it so, it so. Is either he doh know how to make up stories or he doh like telling stories, either way, if he say so she knew it had to be so.

 Who cover she down?" She asked him, amazed at how calm she sounded and even more amazed at how calm he looked, sitting there on her bench in her kitchen drinking his milk and telling her this incredible story this late in the night with the moonlight coming through the window.

"Police."

 

She felt her heart move.

"Boy what stupidness you playin' up with here this hour, what you tellin' me?"

Surie looked up from the cup at his lips and said "I think he kill she, he take de big knife from in de drawer and stab she like how yuh does stab pig, only he do it over and over and over, an by de time police reach, she wasn't moving an' he was done gone a'ready."

Sitting on her bench in her kitchen with a little boy from 'dong de track,' Miss Jean drank her milk with her heart pounding in her chest.

 

For some strange reason she realized right there and then that she preferred it when this child didn't use to speak. At least then she could just go back in her bed and sleep till morning come.

 

Now she was going to be awake whole night, trouble come in de village, an' like it go be stayin' for a while.


When is the violencegoing o stop?  When are the polie and th courts going to stat actually implmenting the existing laws?
.

[Die_Hard]

Pick a Card, Any Card... (Political Misfortune 8 Months In)
Eight months into the Electoral Term of Office and not one real or substantial promise made on the campaign trail by the People's Partnership has been advanced either in the Parliament or on the ground.


Worse, not only does there not appear to be a single investigation into any of the allegations of corruption raised against senior members and supporters of the former regime (ostensibly the reason for routing them from Office), members of this one are seen to be cozying up to the very same characters rumored to be the avenues of corruption in the first place.


Were we sold a lie? 


Despite having complained bitterly against examples of nepotism in the last Administration, the present Government's Human Resource policy seems to be the hiring and appointing of friends and family members to State Boards and plumb positions at the expense of anything not resembling 'them,' leaving many people wondering what exactly did we do?


The major Commercial and other Trade Organizations are at panic stations due to the lack of anything being proposed to stimulate the economy past the impending stall, and even the most uninformed or uninterested in matters pertaining to the operation of the State must see and admit that we are still running on the momentum of the Manning Administration and that this, unfortunately as these things go, must inevitably end.


Was this all a cleverly and professionally crafted hoax?


Paraded on stage as exemplars of morality, paragons of virtue and unquestionable in their proficiency, members of the electorate must wonder what happened to all the promises made under the bright lights and dizzying effects of a better tomorrow in a land free of crime and poverty, a world where everything functions according to law, and Public Officials hold themselves and their fellows to the highest of ideals.


In the mad rush to become what we formerly (publicly) held in contempt I have to ask - what was the purpose of the whole multi million dollar exercise?


Did we (the population) assist in someone or someones' cunning plan to wrest control of the State away from Patrick Manning for their own agenda by the use of trickery, misdirection and fear?


Where is the promised change?


We are now at sink or swim whether we choose to admit it or not, and while it may not be politically sexy to go against the grain I have never been one to deceive myself or others when the issue was clear cut right or wrong.


All of the Machiavellian moves that I am witnessing daily in the place of real 'people policies' and the keeping of promises made to get into Office have brought me to a place of utter disillusionment with what passes for the political process in my country, and the rumblings on the ground make me fear for my country's safety.


We find ourselves at a terrible place where the people at the top who have access to power to make a change ought to and soon, before the people at the bottom make a right mess of things.

[Die_Hard]

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?



.

[Die_Hard]

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.



.

[Bakes]

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.

Lol... that's hilarious


I think people might prefer tuh walk than have Anil drive dem yes...

[Die_Hard]

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

[Die_Hard]

Political Courtship... (or Who's on Top?)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Friday, January 21, 2011 at 6:22pm.I have been told that as the only purpose of buying a drill is to make a hole, so too public support for any political Party is only a means to a financial end.

 

Watching the debate in Parliament this evening made me realize that either all members of the House of Representatives are convenient liars or their capacity to forgive and forget is directly proportional to their proximity to a Cabinet position.

 

How else can one explain people who formerly tore each other to shreds as political adversaries now embracing each other in a Parliamentary love fest that threatens to make grown men cry?

 

Quite possibly the greatest turn from venomous hate to tender love would be that displayed by Austin Jack Warner for Kamla Persad Bissessar, and the speed at which she went from 'falling down drunk in Gandhi fountain' to 'my Prime Minister' might have converted the staunchest non Christian to following the teachings of Christ.

 

Or that of my COP colleagues, whose distaste for former vinegar has become an addiction to new wine, with public displays of affection punctuating each contribution and a feeling of one love permeating the Chamber.

 

Based on this budding political romance I have just one question to ask:

 

Why remain two separate Parties?

 

If there is nothing but love growing in former fields of acrimony, why not consumate the love under one banner?

 

Imagine the photo-op as Winston and Kamla say political 'I Do's' with Jack as best man and Glen as ring bearer under the beaming gaze of Speaker Mark; the headlines would scream 'One Love' has returned to the land once again and all would be well in the Kingdom.

 

I offer this abundance of sarcasm in my writing because we all know a farce when we see one, and if the words are farcical, what of the motives?

 

Have the COP Members of the House fully integrated themselves into the UNC, and if so, what of the Leadership of the Party?

 

I ask this on behalf of the membership, those who agreed to support the Party's sojourn into Partnership with that which they formerly held in contempt, and from which there are no signs that signal the dawning of integrity under the rising sun.

 

I further ask for clarity from the powers that be in the Congress of the People to identify that which is fact and that which is fiction, and to guide me and others as to whether the Congress of the People is in fact still a political Party in its own right.

 

The members and supporters have a right to know and deserve to be treated with respect; eight months into the accommodation we would like to know if the principles articulated as 'New Politics' have been demonstrated as yet.

 

We need be careful that in our effort to fool all of the people we do not end up fooling only ourselves; time like twine as the old people say, has a tendency to run out.



.

[Bakes]

Two questions:

1. Is Observance of Parliament open to the public?

2. You 4COP too?

[Die_Hard]

1.  Yes

2.  Yes.