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age is just a number



It was a good week for me. I am now officially 'an elder' by UN standards. I thought that this term would only be used when I actually felt like an 'elder' but who am I to buck the determinator of all things international. So I began this week at age 66 feeling great, not an ailment, no aching bones, a good head of hair, lighter by 33 lbs since April and feeling no different than when I was 36. Mighty Sparrow was right, age is just a number!

The Rock seems to be coming of age by hook or by crook. The LBGT community won a landmark case this week where a judge declared that consensual sex between two male adults was not against the law. The AG is going to appeal and that apparently is a good thing because it is highly likely that the AG will lose the appeal and that then sets the stage for the sodomy laws to be once and for all struck from the law books. Whew! I did not think for one moment that this would happen. But the Rock is changing, imagine that. Next is the great weed debate, bring it on and at the same time all the ridiculous laws about camouflage pants, 'towing' on a bike, dress code, obscene language, Room No 1 in a bar,  and the hundreds of other nonsensical old colonial B/S laws.

Petrotrin, how many of the people of the Rock understand what is going on at the company. I must admit that I have stopped reading about it. I know that I should be appraising myself of the issues but I am sorry. The die has been cast and that is it. The PMOTT will do what he set out to do and nothing can change that. It is very confusing and something is telling me that the Chinese involvement in a billion dollar ship repair facility at La Brea may very well be connected to the Sinopec involvement with Petrotrin. I find it very coincidental that the Chinese are cropping up in certain things all at the same time. The PMOTT did boast that he was our best salesman. I always thought a good salesman could sell anything but not necessarily be duped into buying anything. Maybe I am all wrong about what a good salesman is supposed to be. Sinopec is no stranger to the Rock having made certain investments with other companies operating locally and supposedly carried out 3-D seismic surveys on the East Brighton Bloc. The confusion caused by the misinformation deliberately placed in the public domain I think is a pure distraction. The Chairman saying one thing, getting his retrenchment figures all wrong, the PMOTT then saying completely different that it is all about the people but the Chairman countering with it's all about the figures, no one knowing how the Rock will be fuelled after the imminent closure of the refinery,  the thousands of acres of lands vested in Petrotrin, the hiring of a CFO for a company that does not exist and most important the economic fallout of the decisions made with reference to the closure of the refinery. It is most confusing and in this wonderful game of politics, the best way to deal with something like this, the shutting down of a major State enterprise and the divvying up of the spoils is to create confusion.
 Our people are masters at this game. Throw everybody off the trail by planting false info about the '1%' ( I hate this stupid term), makes a good story, confuse the population about how many people are going to be retrenched, forget key information about the true cost of decommissioning the existing plant and support services, have zero plan for the E&P soon to be established company, the business of now running a terminal operation, what happens to National Petroleum? does that still exist and if so, why? So many questions and so few answers!

Conspiracy theory: Chinese port = Chinese refinery = Chinese naval vessels.

Once again, at least in my lifetime, remember I am now an elder, I have witnessed the closure of an entire economic system with the first one not being a pretty picture.  The closure of Caroni was a stupid decision. Yes, I agree with the State ownership issues being dealt with but why the closure and not a properly structured reform using private capital? Did we not have privately owned cane farms who could have carried on, did we not see that there were certain areas of the operation which were huge loss-making entities but other areas that could have been salvaged? Anyway, that is history and too late is the cry. I hope that in 20 yrs we don't say the same thing about Petrotrin.

I am in a good place and I have this weird feeling that 'something good is going to happen to me!' I truly love this Rock, I am very concerned about the politics and the lasting effect it will have on everything. I am very concerned about the new, openly racist statements being made by all and sundry politicians and just plain dumb people. The problem is that they, the dumbos including the politicians, have a following and that my good people of the Rock is where it gets scary.

Good night and good luck, open your eyes and read the play!

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