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adopted daughter



Many people came down with the horrible 'Christmas' flu. Our daughter was no exception but sought medical help early in the game. The problem however was that many practitioners were off duty over the holiday period and she asked around for any doctor who was available. One name surfaced and she called and got an appointment.
Thirteen years ago we were at the daughter's graduation in Manchester and CAL/BWIA had major equipment problems with aircraft being damaged on the ground. We were stranded for three days, at the mercy of the airline. During all the back and forth we befriended a young medical student who was heading back home on our now cancelled flight and was on her own. We became the adopted parents for the days in Manchester. You guessed it, the doctor our daughter had been referred to, now some 13 years after, was the adopted daughter. Hail fellow well met! That is why you must always be nice to each other. One never knows in this short life on the Rock who or where you will meet people, be nice, it's easy to do!

The Rock gets a new President. The other great news is that the appointment was agreed to by all parties without the usual grandstanding. Good going PMOTT and the LOTO! Finally some decorum in the Parliament. Of course once the two leaders agree then the rest is just a formality. I hope the guest list for the official appointment is properly managed so that those who may never have seen the hallowed halls of the Presidents House do not now grace it's space. Congratulations to our new Head of State. From all reports the Madame Justice is very well liked.

I do not support the position of a Head of State in our Constitution. After becoming Independent in 1962 and then a Republic in 1976 I think that it is time to move on and stop the Colonial style governance. Our Constitution needs to be turned on it's head and become truly representative of the aspirations and vision of the people of the rock. We have a half baked Constitution that does not serve the needs of the people.
All persons who have a say in the development and future of the Rock must be representative of the people. They must be elected and not selected. This is not asking for much. We have persons who are authorised to spend billions of taxpayers dollars who are not elected. We have persons who have to decide on how we live, how we associate, gender issues, capital punishment basically every aspect of our lives and our future who are not elected. This cannot be right. The time is long overdue where we need to control our own destiny.
The position of Head of State serves no useful purpose. If our elected Representatives cannot make decisions for us then what is the use of these people. Some say a safeguard, why do we need a safeguard from the people we elect? If the Constitution really served its purpose then this Office would not be required.

The PMOTT  addresses the nation on Sunday night. I am not sure that I need to listen to the broadcast. The reason being that the opportunity has been there for the last 28  months to steer this country in the right direction and really it seems as though the country has been on auto pilot. He could have used the Parliament on Friday last to say what he wanted to say. This Administration has been a major disappointment even for its own supporters. I don't think the PMOTT could now reveal that he has the solution to the major crime issue, solutions for an economy that is on hold waiting on the price of oil to recover, to deal with a renegade public service that is doing what it wants to do, to the failure of every single Cabinet Minister in carrying out their responsibilities. If he intends to apologise for his Government's failure then I will read about it on Monday, that would not be earth shattering news.

We head into the weekend knowing that the non support for certain Carnival shows has now miraculously turned into 'no problem' support. Monkey know what tree to climb.

Good night people, have a great weekend, and good luck! Don't forget, treat people like people!

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