fiddy

there are some in the government (SnakeMan) who feel that pardoning 50 prisoners is fitting tribute to celebrating Trinidad & Tobago’s 50th year of independence from Great Britain.

initially I thought that the Minister was off his rocker but I have since seen the light.

You see every Minister/Ministry has to come up with a way of celebrating this momentous occasion. The Ministry of Finance just reintroduced the $50 dollar bill. Food Production gave away 50 plants for Corpus Christi. Education is spending 50 x 40 thousand on etiquette for our nation’s primary school attending youth. Works and Infrastructure displacing at least 50 people/families for a highway that we don’t need.

I’m sure other Ministries are doing their part and spending at least 50 thousand on some kind of project that less than 50 people would benefit from.

I say bring 50-Cent to come perform Get Rich or Die Trying and charge 50 cent cover charge. Just note that it has to be an actual 50 cent. This will ensure that you keep certain elements of society out and I could scalp tickets outside for a brand spanking new $50.

I didn’t count but there are about 50 ‘flags’ fluttering on the waterfront and prob about .50% of those are actual national flags.

I gave this blog post 50% of the effort I should have. so until next time… aces.

that’s half of a deuce :/

in-de-pen-dense

Trinidad & Tobago Coat of Arms - Image via Wikipedia

so today is like Trinidad & Tobago‘s 48th Independence Day from British Colonial rule… or is it… we still use the Privy Council… and it may seem that the current administration is intent on keeping it as well… good luck trying to carry out the death penalty on all dem incarcerated…. and all who you would like to deter… not that the Police catching those perp-e-traitors anyway… and yippie the new Canadian CoP go save we all… ent there was something about a foreigner not being able to hold top cop post… oh well…

i really here to talk about the one who leffin the post… well all d papers claim he was told to leave yesterday… and it brought into  question the independence of the Police Service Commission… as far as i have been reading all reports say that Deputy Commish Williams was told to report to the CoP office where Philbert would then hand over… now i eh see any problem with that… one month left on the contract and well as CoP you should hand over to someone who would be there after you… not so… even when important folk in the corporate world go on vacation there is some sort of hand over… the other folk need to know what on the table… geez…

thing is like all things in this Republic POLITICS does be in everything… so until i see that the PSC FIRED Phil-ing-in-bert everyone just STFU! and have a Happy Independence… handing over… its a normal and necessary process…

weakening review

just a lil synopsis of the week so far…

Monday
Independence Day… what ever that means to you… it may mean that you are independent and living on your own… FREE from the shackles of your parents even if now bounded by those of a (in)significant other… or (future?) wards of the state…

Tuesday
School Reopens and only the Form Teacher and Spanish Teacher are present… what a way to start the term in a new school… Lack of Discipline being demonstrated from the outset… and well Production is in the crapper… totally screws with the student’s mental outlook…

Wednesday
You go to court for the umpteenth time… the summons hasnt been served and the Magistrate chastises you for creating the problem and not having enough Tolerance… oh gosh everybody does be late sometimes… and so what if yuh get threaten, no biggy allyuh is big ppl and could work it out… case adjourned…

Thursday
Arrive at 0815 for your scheduled 0900 appointment for the new Machine Readable Passport… that yuh really eh need cause yuh barely have money to buy groceries and pay rent so where the hell yuh flying off too… yuh get a number that show 40 people ahead of you… good thing yuh bring that crying baby else they wudda leave you there for three hours… nah yuh mudder name eh spell that way… yuh forge this *new* computer generated birthcertificate… no yuh cyar change the S tuh a Z… buh wait nah you mean the reccommender put d Driver’s Permit instead of Identification Card Number… steups… go and get a affidavit and come back the day before the next holiday when most of the staff looking to take a long weekend holidays… doh forget to make an appointment when yuh get d certificate fuh d baby eh… it FREE if dey under 2 years… so call now cause I hear the backlog that long…

Friday
they raid the same police station that they raided and subsequently transferred all d Officers tuh find even more Guns and Marijuana… you think they would ever get around to invetigate the assault report you made more than six months ago…

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if the state educates its citzens poorly, they will fail to function properly in the state, and so will be unable to be virtuous, fulfilled and therefore unable to lead a good life. In other words, the state will have failed them.

I reach d Summit

this post was written over some weeks so no structure may exist… just my ramblings…

summit |ˈsəmit|
noun
1 the highest point of a hill or mountain.
• figurative the highest attainable level of achievement : the dramas are considered to form one of the summits of world literature.
2 a meeting between heads of government : [as adj. ] a summit conference.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the general sense [top part] ): from Old French somete, from som ‘top,’ from Latin summum, neuter of summus ‘highest.’

now if you can’t understand is how this Twin Island Republic hosting the Fifth Summit of the Americas… I will attempt to show you…

we have hopefully reached the summit when it comes to crime in a nation of 1.2/1.3 million people…
A nation that is no bigger than 5,128 sq km.
A nation that for the past 7 years has seen GDP levels of over 15/20 Billion derived mainly from Oil & Gas.
A nation that saw more people vote against one political party and that party still won!
A nation that has continuous assessment of Primary school students but still places all the emphasis on the final one… (Secondary Entrance Assessment aka S.E.A)
A nation where Government Ministers laud the Health Care System while the Prime Minister heads to Cuba for every medical procedure… the Ministers go to Private Hospitals…
A nation that stole an Africa/UN model for progress… VISION2020…

the list would be too long to complete in one post and I am not going to bash the summit…

CCTV Security Camera

The Summit has brought much needed employment for many people in Trinidad as CEPEP and other Private Contractors have been contracted to cut grass and paint lines on the roadways that may not have been accomplished this year. Crews have been pressure washing and painting overpasses that were never cleaned since their construction… 20+ years in some instances… CCTV/Security Cameras along some of the nation’s busiest roadways that are in dire need of proper traffic management… I didn’t realise that T&TEC is now in the Security Camera business cause is one of their trucks I saw putting up a camera in Macoya… sorry I didn’t have my cam that day…

with a bill of over TT$500 Million for the Summit alone what is the additional cost of employing all of these people? (the cost is really in the Billions)

I am not against giving people jobs but it should be gainful employment… long term not short term… and jobs that truly are necessary… I aint against a man cutting grass with a whacker… but when the job done by twenty privately contracted people it doh mek sense when the job was previously done by a government employed worker with a tractor… and ten times the amount of grass was cut in one day…

and what about closing a whole lane of a FlyOver so 10 fellas could paint a line along the road… mind you they only painting about 50 meters at any one point in time and it looked as if they each came with their own car. when other Govt contracted workers had to paint the Eastern Main Road to make it 3 Lanes they had a machine that was pushed by one fella and it painted the roadway!

The Summit go come and go but I living in T&T and will be here after… the US embassy closed so I cyar get no VISA… not that I applying… but I also cyar get vex wit dem fellas who taking the work either… dem need the money to survive too… just like me they hustling… I cyar buy no new car fuh meh family to be lil more comfortable pon d road cause I cyar afford no monthly installment rite now.. and I fraid to buy the diesel engine cause I hear that going up after the summit too… nah I not rumour mongering cause I hear dat talk since d last budget…

I does eat one real meal fuh d day now… no lie… sometimes is lunch or dinner… I eh starving but I preparing fuh when I hadda ensure that others eat before me… I go try to eat when/if I go out an do a wukk in HYATT or Hilton… we does sometimes get fed… other than that I does smarf some bottles of water… I looking to head into the hills to plant and live off the land…

Notice of Closure

as I say hills… and think about Paramin… why all dem Government offices that based in Diego Martin and Maraval go be closed for the Summit… dem not in no bloodcleet security zone…. this effin unproductive nature of this Government real bothering me unno… I grew up with the National Watch words of Discipline… Production… and Tolerance…

well discipline gone long time… just look at Crime/Corruption/Basdeo Panday/dem fellas who I kectch on d shoulder…

Welcome to the Fifth Summit of the Americas

Notice of Closure

CCTV Security Camera

I lack Discipline

who cares

no police today

oh shucks d bridge

Production going tru cause yuh telling your people is OK not to work while you tell others they could still open fuh business… and dem in d security zone…

the last thing that I see eroding everyday is Tolerance… I sorry tuh say… ppl does call me an Indian an I does get vex cause I is a TrinBagonian and probably have the whole of Europe in meh blood along with Asia and West Africa too… but is an African lookin fella who cuff meh… and NO the POLICE still eh start any investigation! and I base that act of violence on road rage and the underlying race issues that we as a nation have… anyone who denies it doesnt want to see it… I not saying that we racist… I am only saying that there is a problem… damn… we have two political parties that pander to race for votes at election time… I live with a cosmopolitan family and friends… but have experienced racial biases in life from many people some of whom are ‘considered’ familial…

Welcome to the Fifth Summit of the Americas

this summit is a chance for us to show what we are as a people in Trinidad… i purposely leave out Tobago just like the Govt… no Ferry… no Kiss Bread… for the Summit weekend… is as if Tobago independent… from Trinidad… so come out and make your voice heard if you like to protest the wrongs… or stay home and chill cause the recession eh reach yuh door as yet… or go to the beach and eat a Bake and Shark (which may really be CatFish) and soak in the sun cause yuh just wanna chillax… at the end of the day dont do anything you wouldnt normally do… doh just be a bandwagonist and jump on issues for the summit… be your usual Trini self… eat yuh doubles and shut your mouth… cause Patos Philbert say no damn protesting allowed… allyuh could go to the Summit Village on d odder side of town…