One Nation

One of the biggest news stories tonight is of course the Anand Ramlogan issue. A former Attorney General - the only other member of the PPG Cabinet [ all other members are invited], Senior Council, Senator and well known Constitutional lawyer. I am not going to pronounce on Attorney Ramlogan's issue with the police and the DPP. What I am concerned about is the third world handling of the entire affair to date. A barrage of police, reportedly ten vehicles of armed officers, six o'clock in the morning, off to TTPS Headquarters, 36 hrs of questioning. What absolute BS is this? Until the TTPS start using their brains and not there obvious brawn then maybe we can start becoming a civilized people and not the law of the jungle. So what, you want to embarrass the former AG? Embarrass his wife and family, for what? To show that you are that brilliant that it takes 36 hrs of questioning to determine 2 charges? What exactly did you say that convinced someone to issue a warrant th...

Well he did it, in a real Trini way. I guess 'by all means necessary' meant just that. Swim, paddle, tow and inside of a pirogue and finally landing like a great conqueror at Toco. He even brought along a banana tree to plant as a symbol or proof that he had been here. He did however make his point and he sure achieved his goal of being relevant for part of a day. Personally I thought it was brilliant, well maybe not the part about him asking how many views/likes on FB, but the fact that he showed how ridiculous the entire ferry service had become. Next week there will be a sitting of a Joint Select Committee of the Parliament to deal with the issue. I can only assume that a lot of information will be put out into the public domain and all appearing before the committee will have a chance to give their side of the story. I certainly will have my own side. A new person is sworn in as a Minister of Government and at the same time appointed as a Government Senator. PMOTT...

Tonight we missed the boat, we committed to a stay home affair not checking our pan calendar. Of course tonight is 'Pan on de Avenue'. How could that be possible? Well, stuff happens and that's that! There is always next year. My brain is drained these days. It is a challenge to have to deal with all that is happening and not happening on the rock every day. A guy swimming from Scarborough port to Trinidad, a guy who religiously used the Health and Safety reasons for shutting down offices, a guy who still has the Licensing Office at Wrightson Rd. closing at 1.00 pm, trying to make a point about good governance! There is a fierce current between the island's, that's all I will say. TTT, imagine? What could the GOTT be thinking? A buss business is a buss business by any name! The ferry fiasco, the continuing saga. All will be exposed very soon. DJ Rowley- I have no problem with the PMOTT touching base with the people. The hours that you spent today co...

  Ran away to the beautiful island of St Lucia for a couple days. One can never tire looking at the Pitons. The days spent in St Lucia and how the people view tourism tells you how far away we are from even starting to create a real sustainable tourism industry here in T&T. But of course as usual it's not rocket science it's the simple will to understand the economic benefits and put the industry high on the agenda. A couple things that I noticed on my trip. First, the immediate past PM of St. Lucia was on the out bound flight, he travelled by himself, toted his own bags, sat in the very back of the aircraft and on arrival he stood in line with everyone else. On a field trip yesterday my taxi had to pull to the side of the road as an official motorcade of SLG registered vehicles flew past us, with two ambulances as part of the entourage. This happened coming and going. The contrast was epic. The official entourage did nothing to impress any international visitor and ...

We survived, that's the main thing. Love the line today 'how come the Aztecs looked at the multitude of eclipses without special glasses'. I think it is brilliant how we can predict down to the second what is going to happen. I truly marvel at science and technology not understanding 99% of it but still am amazed at what is happening. I read where the head of Tesla is hoping that companies do not develop 'killer robots' . Imagine growing up reading Popular Mechanics and thinking that these people were crazy and now it is all coming together. There is a private island in the Caribbean that is converting all things power to solar. Every single item that requires electrical power will be supplied with energy from solar power. We still fighting up with what to do with an old, inefficient, broken oil refinery. Imagine ' killer robots ' are being talked about and we cannot get a ferry service to operate between two islands. The emergency meeting that t...

Sunday night and it's a beautiful tropical evening. Cool, night sounds, quiet and we look forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is in fact a memorable day in history. The eclipse of the sun will happen at about 2.30pm and those of us on the rock will witness a partial eclipse. I am cool with that, half is better than none. The total eclipse will be seen through a narrow strip, seventy miles wide, in the USA. It is the only continent that will witness the show. The last time the entire world experienced a total eclipse of the sun was in the 13th century. Can you imagine the horror and fear when that happened? I am sure many were burned at the stake and thrown off of cliffs and Aztec structures and pyramids, god forbid if one was a virgin! Apparently for some reason virgins have had a real hard time in this world! Speaking of a hard time I would really hate to be in the current Minister of Ferries shoes. His boss, the PMOTT, will be in Tobago tomorrow to say something. Just that, sa...

Seeing what else is happening in the world maybe the rock is not that bad a place to park up on. I really feel for those people living in Spain and Finland. Closer to home and a country with many connections the situation in the US is not good. Having the leader making the statements that he is making, is putting that country on a dangerous path and sending it back decades. And why one may ask? simple answer is power. Appealing to the base, appeasing a small part of your voting block at the expense of a large percentage of the population is how fascism began in Germany over 80 years ago. It has happened in recent history with Rwanda and it continues today in many societies, albeit under the radar. Can it happen here on the rock? Does it already exist but kept at a certain level? Listen to the talk on the streets of this country, talk radio, it does and it has to be rooted out and destroyed. Any and all forms of racism and discrimination, and this is not about white and black, mu...

My mention of the 'zaboca boat' the other night had some people perplexed. The 'cocoa men' would slice the zaboca length ways, cutting the zaboca into two or three slices, depending on the size, and after removing the outside skin would insert onto the inside of the slice all kinds of magical fillings, shrimp, homemade salad dressing and whatever else you wanted. Truly the fruit of the God's! A great reminder of where we live is the loud refrain of ' sooooooooiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllll manure! ' Every now and then we would be visited by the white pickup loaded with garden soil and manure. I am not sure how many vendors there are but it seems that there more than one or else that guy really moves around. With four probes being launched into the ferry fiasco it seems things could get a bit 'probeslematic'. Things on the rock are rocking! The fun part is that the Minister of Ferries is now saying that 'the whole process has to start over even ...

This conversation was overheard at a meeting held somewhere close to the Hyatt on Monday night. The voices were muffled so all was not heard. Voice [1], female V[1]: Yuh see alyuh, I was home relaxing watching mi Netflix when de man call me an arks if I could give him pull out. I say well, one meeting a month, free lunch and some change, das not a bad deal so I say ah go take de wuk. I eh come out for dis setta dotishness all yuh want to put me in. I relaxing on my GoAway, not me an no Stayting, nah I gone up in de cold and like is mas in August. All yuh wurst dan PanTrinbago! Voice [2] male V [2].: Listen, it have a situation dat if we ent deal wit it all ah we goin down. Dis internet ting have de country crazy. Not like long time, everybody does know everyting one shot. Long time yuh cud buy a boat an is only when everybody ded an gorn is den you finding out what it is really happen. Steups V[1] All de years I wuking I never know dis is how all yuh uses to do de ting, ho...

On the front pages its Gold, Gold and more Gold! What a time for our athletics and then coming on the heels of the track and field wins the TKR going into the finals at the CPL. All great news for a nation so hurt by the everyday headlines. Imagine the UK travel advisory on T&T warning their citizens about the possibility of a terrorist attack. Which part of the world is immune? London, New York, Paris, Australia, Burkina Faso? Maybe the advisory might not be the actual attack but how the local authorities deal with the intel and then the aftermath. We all live in very different times and its now the norm. The home invasions, random holdups, fighting and knife attacks on main street T&T to me is very worrying. Instead of having road blocks on both sides of the Western Main Rd last Friday where tens of thousands of innocent citizens were severely inconvenienced says they do not get it. How about the random stop and search routine, surely that is more effective. Does ...

Oh. Sunday just happens to be a great day! I guess if one lived in another country Sunday would not be Sunday as other days might be the day of rest, if there in fact was one. It's weird that after growing up in a Colonial society that we accept certain traditions and customs, but that's life. What were the indigenous peoples traditions and customs? What was their day of rest, if any? Well, we have, finally, coming up in October, a day to recognize the first peoples. I hope that full use of the one off holiday is utilized to educate the population and not for just a parade or a fun day at Maracas. The Independence parade is coming up, I hope that the President does not make a decision to stop the march past and the showing of the country's military might. I will be very disappointed if I waste my time going down to Roxy roundabout and not see the parade of the back hoes, tractors and refrigerated trucks. We need at all times to show those who have evil thoughts, don...

Voices were picked up at a meeting held somewhere in the capital city last Thursday. The voices were mumbled at times so the actual identity was difficult to ascertain. VOICE 1 [V1]: aye I forget to tell all yuh ah going Bim this weekend. Rihanna in tong so "partay". VOICE 2 [V2]: but dat was last week when it was Crop Over, she mus be done gorn already. [V1]: yeh but if she come for Crop Over she mita Stay Over, ah go check wid Shams. [V2]: but you really think dis is a good idea, wit all what going orn? Yuh eh see what happen wit de ferry?  [V1]: so what, you want me to go in de airport an go Tobago for dem setta people to cuss meh up? Yuh mad! Allyuh go be dealing wit dat bacchanal on allyuh own. [V2]: an is not you who start all dis stupidness when you tell dem run de last boat? [V1]: careful, I is de one who accustom dealing wid Tobago boats, like you forget how ah deal wit de 'Calcutta Ship'. Just doh say nutten an nutten will happen. [V2]...

This could have been a conversation today, just maybe. Trini accent [TA]. " aye deh fail d boat" Canadian accent [CA]. " speak english, what are you saying" TA " deh check d boat an d engine spoil" CA " the engine 'spoil', and what exactly does that mean? TA " .... like yuh not lisning, d engine stop so and spoil, it brek down" Silence then CA " who knows about this?" TA " only we" CA " OK, let me think, hmmm, tell them the boat does not really need engines to operate, tell them like the MV Su once it floats its OK" TA " bossman it all over fb, yuh think Trini's stupid. Not because it have cricket in d Oval nobody eh studying nutting" CA " so what about the theory that once a white man walks off a plane at Piarco carrying a briefcase its OK." TA " since d man bring up d 1% talk is like dat t-ree gorn tru. CA " how about we offer one month's ...

My life partner and I sit every evening and have a meal together. Choice music in the background and a lively discussion as to many things other than impending nuclear war. I remember growing up in Arima in the 60s, with the arrival of TTT, and my father sitting in front of the Phillips TV having dinner on a TV table. No conversation, but that was the era. Tonight I was the happiest man alive as part of the evening meal was the best ever, zaboca boat. It was a perfect texture and taste. I think my life partner has the skill of the 'cocoa men'. What joy!  'I am a Government Minister, I am not classed as a civilian'. The words of the gun range Minister. I just want to say that during my five [5] years as an MP and a Cabinet Minister I never once received any security briefing, training or other involvement by a security agency. I never got a phone call, memo or pamphlet outlining how to deal with a security situation, handling a weapon, 'boo too' or pepper sp...

It's been one of those starts to a very busy week. A person I got to know while I was MP for Chaguanas East, died last week at the age of 103. The first time I spoke with her I thought it was a middle aged person only to know on meeting with her that she was a centenarian. RIP Mary Alice! A quote from another centenarian ' Don't look at the calendar. Just keep celebrating every day'. Good advice! The rock is once again giving me a headache. Why do we constantly have to live in this high drama? Everything is a story! I notice that the CL Financial story is now on a back page somewhere but that the ferry service still will not die. How strange that no matter what is said or done by the authorities there is something that is just not sitting right. I guess anytime you have to pay twice the price for twice the age of anything then it becomes a story. Unless of course it's a valuable antique. The Cabo Star nor the Ocean Flower 2 are antiques, they are just plai...

This weekend we experienced the best in Trini's. Putting out for no gain just being able to help others. No promotion, no fame, zero fortune and I guess that is one of the more positive traits we have. By no means am I saying that others do not do the same but without a doubt we do it and we do it in a way that after we ask 'when is the next event?' This was a fund raiser for a home for persons who can no longer fend for themselves. I hate to say it but we will all be arriving at that stage whenever and I will be for ever grateful for a place that I could call home when in that position. In this country one of our biggest failures is caring for young children and old people. We treat the elderly as a chore. They are a nuisance, costly and we simply do not have time for them. At least that is the position in many cases. What about the elderly who do not have immediate family to look after them, they are now left on their own. It's extremely distressing that our e...

One of the dailies has on their front page a picture of a 12 yr old boy with a macajuel snake wrapped around his head as a choice of headgear. It looked like a 'camo' hat. Years ago I heard the story of a cinema in Curepe where a guy goes up to balcony and throws a bicycle inner tube filled with water down into 'pit' yelling 'snake' as it landed on some hapless patrons. Needless to say not many people demanded a refund while exiting the 'tearter'.  The trade union movement held their march today in protest of a number of issues which, after hearing some of the main speakers, I am still not sure exactly what was the point of the protest. Approximately 3,000 persons attended the march. Maybe it was to many, a march against the current administration hence the not so large showing. It was two years ago when I believe the same union leaders, bar a couple, who met with the then political leader of the now ruling party and signed a pact with both sides ...

And it just keeps raining! What a story with this rain? Even the Maraval river has started to actually flow as a river again. Over the years WASA has pumped every drop of water out of the ground creating problems with the natural balance in the water table, not being a hydraulic engineer, I can only assume that this has something to do with the river turning into a drain.  Seeing the river flowing is a good sign. Its like the Savannah, during very heavy rain you see tonnes of water flowing through man made channels going down the drain, literally. Is this right or should this water be harnessed in some way maybe with large ponds or just left to percolate into the aquifer. The Bicentennial of the QPS is happening this August month, in fact on the weekend of the 18/19th. One of the activities is a tree planting exercise which our family plans to attend. The last tree planting exercise, my life partner and I headed down fo day morning with little children with vex faces only ...

I spent Emancipation Day as I would normally. I head down to Independence Sq in the morning and just chill. It's basically the exact same thing every year. The same stage, the same speakers, the same speech but the expectation is always different from the people who are there. Today's crowd was I guess a bit smaller than previous years but the same enthusiasm as always. It started late, in fact I don't think there is an actual start time, people were on the stage for a long while milling around, sitting then getting up as though something was about to happen only to sit again. It's not a criticism but an observation. If you are having a formal program then stick with it, if not then just mingle. After all the speechifying was done the PMOTT then arrived, I guess on cue, and the march to the QPS started. A couple things I observed. The speeches are the same that I have heard for the last decade. Surely there is something different we can offer when it comes to Ema...