Skip to main content

Charles Babbage



Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and a British mathematician named Charles Babbage are all responsible for how we communicate today. Who is that Babbage guy? Unheard of in modern history but as important to the wild world of the digital age as any of the other crazies. Good thing he stayed with the 'B' and did not move onto the 'C'. Without a computer and all the info one can access at a click we would be hard-pressed to communicate with each other. Who remembers 'Air Mail' letters rather than by 'Sea Mail'? I must admit its still quite a thrill to open your mailbox and pull envelopes out, but only to find bills and more bills, bank statements and dumb flyers. My life partner received a number of glossy Financial Reports, posted from Canada, the other day and we looked at each other, why? What a waste, from a Canadian company!
Anyways in case, you were not in tune with what exactly happened in our myopic world in the past, today in history Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by being the first African American to play at a major league professional baseball game. If we have African Americans is it then we have Caucasian Americans? Somehow the network news is never about a 'Caucasian American' but always about an African or Latin or god forbid a Native American but never ever about a 'Caucasian'. Hey, why worry!
Also today in history old Abe Lincoln died as a result of an assassination, (strange how many Presidents have been killed in the line of duty in the free world) and of course the biggest deal in history the sinking of the good ship Titanic.

In the quiet valley of Moka, Maraval we had heavy rain today which was a blessing, delaying the dry season bushfires once again. Yesterday, running across the lawn was a baby iguana, brilliant green, scampering up one of the bushes in the yard. We only hope our new addition, Bonnie from Williamsville, does not find out what is going on in the yard and revert to wolf-like carnivore mode.

Our PMOTT, when in Opposition used the phrase 'Playing smart with foolishness'. I thought what a line, I had wished I had actually coined that phrase. Poor guy, I think this has come back to haunt him. Maybe he never thought for a minute he would have been surrounded by people who have actually made this saying a reality. What has happened? Every single Ministry under this PMOTT is in a shambles. Education, Finance, Energy, Security, Works, AG, Tourism, Sport, Housing and how many Ministries have nothing to show after 2 1/2 yrs in office. There is zero plan, no vision, nothing to look forward to.

My favorite topic is, of course, the ferry service between the islands. The only reason the current Minister of Ferries, who strangely enough is not the Minister of Ferries, makes the statement that Tobago requires three ferries, is because he has no idea how many vessels would be operating at any one time. If he had his way we would have five vessels, in case one or two breaks down.
Officialdom somehow finds its way into everything, including the reestablishment of a ferry service that was decimated by stupid decision making by none other than the PMOTT. The people of the Rock have suffered throughout the debacle of 'Red and Ready' nonsense when it comes to the ferry service being fed a diet of Ministerial and Cabinet gross incompetence. There is no other way to describe it. Having a pastor bless the ferry, a welcoming party, and the usual political shenanigans make no difference to the people who have lost their proverbial shirt to the incompetence of this 'playing smart with foolishness' government.

Its Sunday night and tomorrow we will be dealing with school traffic why I may ask, but this is the reality of the Rock. It's weird that we accept things without question, maybe that is our saving grace and yet our single biggest downfall.

People of the Rock, don't forget that Jackie Robinson changed the professional baseball league forever, a human rights issue. Colin Robinson, no relation, is attempting to do the same on the Rock!

Good Sunday night to you all, imagine a productive week, and good luck!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

R&R

We had two of the four grands spend the weekend with us whilst the parents went off to the North Coast for some rest and relaxation. From all reports, the sojourn was well spent with both singing the praises of our North Coast, no beach, just R&R. We are ten minutes from the coast and I hate to admit it but it is rare that we venture north. One of the selling points of coming to live in the wilds of Maraval in 1983 was the fact that Maracas Bay was a mere 30 mins away. Maracas could have been next door it did not matter, we just do not do it. Having grandchildren I think puts you in a very different place. When our kids were growing up we were struggling with building a business from scratch, living off of a teachers salary, impossible then as it is now, and generally ketching. But as it is with all things in life we survived. Looking back at those years it was difficult, kids, dogs, mortgage and other loans, but you knew why you were putting yourself through all this hard...
Post a Comment
Read more

ADD

A great thing happened today. I washed my car and it did not rain. OK, so other absolutely great things made history today, I am sure something was discovered that will change mankind, decisions by world leaders for world peace. None of that is of interest to me because the simple task of washing my car was what was of great import and I marvelled at the sun and dry weather. It is the little things in ones life that give the greatest joy. Tomorrow should be the same with a prediction of only 20% precipitation. Two days with a clean car is good. I am one of those who curse WASA who has leaks on the main roads with spray flying all around and dirtying up my clean car. WASA should have zero leaks, that should be WASA's goal, I don't think that they are interested in any of this as the leaks continue and the complaints from the citizens continue. I remember in the Manifesto of the ruling party a commitment was made to increase the truck delivery of truck borne water. Go figure! ...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Teacher Lucy'

May Day is significant both as a spring festival in the northern climes and of course as the International Labor Day. The latter was started in the 19th century by the communists and socialists and strangely enough in commemoration of an event in Chicago. May 1st on the Rock is just that May 1st. Within recent times a couple trade unions have recognized the day but our big labor celebration is on another day. On the Rock, you get to celebrate Labor Day twice and get paid for it. The dreaded SEA examine is happening this week and if you somehow forgot one is reminded by the number of photo-ops taken by persons of import. These persons visit schools hand out 'SEA packs' (consisting of pens, pencils and other trinkets), call for all God's best wishes on the poor children and to me scare the hell out of these kids who are about to sit an exam that will mark them forever. The SEA is as bad as it gets and to further stress the kids is simply not something that should ...
Post a Comment
Read more