Confused minds

Three news items caught my attention this morning that confirmed my suspicion that Trinbagonians have confused minds.
The first news item I saw had to do with a contract worker being searched while entering the Prime Minister's compound and found with marijuana and apparatus for smoking drugs. He is to be charged. Confused mind or just plain stupid! You judge.
The second item was on social media where  non-supporters of the ruling PNM Administration used that news item to accuse this current Prime Minister of being in the same situation as the previous one where plant like substances were found on her Compound? Same situation or confused mind? Or just plain mischievous and dumb?
The third but by no means the last was with respect to the walkout of Parliament by the opposition just before the Finance Minister gave an explanation in the House why this Administration had to resort to the drawdown on the HSF. Was it because they were peeved at being prevented from debating two issues or was it because they were avoiding the revelations to come during the Minister's address to Parliament?  Confused or trying to confuse! You judge.
I am now convinced that we are being taken for a ride by Tom, Dick and Harrilal.

Community Council Presentation

Calling a thorn a rose

Children learn from what they see and what they see first is the way their parents handle situations.

Does a parent act one way but demand a child should act differently? It won't work. 
Is a parent's vocabulary so limited that he or she resorts to obscenity to get a point across? The child will do likewise. 
Is the child allowed to keep something that is not his with perhaps no reprimand? He is being taught to be dishonest.
And, do you threaten to beat him if he allows another child to beat him in school? You my friend are creating a Monster!

Call a spade a spade.

Call a rose by any other name it will smell just as sweet, a thorn will prick you just the same.
Have a blessed day.

Are Respect and Decency lost forever?

In my youthful days I was taught that respect for authority, manners, decency, hard work, thrift, fear of God, and obedience to my parents would take me a long way.Believe you me, I tried! Not always successfully but I tried, and I like to think so did many of my peers.

But in today's free for all and with the advent of social media, everyone with an ax to grind who has access to a smart phone or computer  can literally spew their garbage over the Internet thereby contributing to the loss of those values that made us decent human beings.

Our leaders are fair game for anyone who subscribes to another point of view and as decency flew out the door so too did commonsense and truth. The trend today seems to be to say what you want and to hell with the consequences. What a legacy we are leaving for our grandchildren!

I pray for Trinidad and Tobago!

Islamic Suicide Bomber Trainer Accidentally Blows Up His Entire Class

Islamic Suicide Bomber Trainer Accidentally Blows Up His Entire Class

NO DUI FOR ME THIS CHRISTMAS

Parties,Boat rides, Parang, black cake, pastelles, ham and ponche D creme, and hey don't forget the wild meat, sorrel and ginger beer. Plenty advertisements designed to make you shop till you drop. Hmm? I'm in the mood for Christmas!

Yet this Christmas while I intend to have a good time and have already put up my Christmas tree, I'm not leaving out the Christ in Christmas.  So I'm holding off on anything that will distract.

So partner if you want the ham lamb and jam for Christmas check out the neighbors next door. I have no intention of crashing the family car, of driving under the influence, of getting a hangover for Christmas and having regrets afterwards.This Christmas will be low keyed, prayerful and sober.

Hope to see you after Christmas.

Not everything's bad at Mt. Hope Hospital

Going against the popularly expressed opinion here but say what!

Last Thursday i.e. November 12, 2015 I went into surgery at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (also called Mt. Hope Hospital) for a Laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery, the surgery done to remove a gallbladder through four small incisions in the abdomen.

Although with laparoscopic cholecystectomy you probably will only have to stay in the hospital for a few hours or overnight, because of the condition of my gallbladder I was forced to overnight for three days at the Hospital. (I had had two very painful episodes prior to my hospital stay with accompanying fever and vomiting). 

My prior experiences with Mt. Hope Hospital when my wife and children had had cause to visit there had not been too favorable and I was obviously highly skeptical of the treatment I would receive as I waited for the inevitable snobbish and caustic treatment I had seen meted out to them and other patients by Security and in at least one case, a medical staff.

Imagine my surprise and pleasure to find that their experience was not mine as both the month prior to my operation and the subsequent stay at Surgical Ward I, Doctors Seenath, Richards and Fung as well as the nurses and ancillary staff treated me with a courtesy and deference befitting a well-paying customer of an Institution, which obviously I was not, in that they were decent, professional and caring.

I’m not saying bad things do not happen at hospitals but what I do know now for a fact is that not everything's bad at EWMSC. My thanks go out to these saintly people.

It is now eight days since my operation and save for a slight tingling at the site of one of the incisions I seem to be doing okay. Of course my wife Jean is continuously mothering me.

P.S. Today December 1st I was given a clean bill of health by Dr. Seenath based on the results of a number of tests done at Mt. Hope and at the St. Augustine Diagnostic Laboratory to test for cancerous cells in the extracted Gall Bladder. I am no spring chicken so I Thank God for mercies granted and sincerest thanks to those at Mt. Hope whom God used to ensure my return to fitness. 

How to tie a tie

On Politics : Egg on one's face

The more things change the more they remain the same.

My expressed concern during the term of the past regime was the arrogant attitude of members of the ruling party as well as  the frequent abuse of the court process by the Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.

Forward to 2015 and the debate on the Appropriation Bill and revelations of misdeeds by that regime as revealed by our first timers in Parliament.

I will not be at all surprised if some of these revelations turn out to be little more than a storm in a teacup when investigated as explanations are put forward leaving the accusers with rotten eggs on their faces.

There are quite obviously serious cause for concern as we all agree but seeing danger behind every door can be futile .  It takes time to understand the public service!

Killing the goose

With every new change in the political landscape there are those who believe their time has come to wield the big stick notwithstanding the fact that their actions are not in the best interest of the ruling party.

It is what caused the demise of the UNC with its "We time now", and the turning away from the Patrick Manning administration,  or the short lived NAR government.

There are always genuine reasons for taking hard decisions if those decisions are within the Party's manifesto, but how many of the politically non- aligned individuals who might make unpopular decisions really care about manifestos .

Ministers of Government must be aware of decisions taken on their behalf that are in keeping with the goals of the ruling party and not assume that every head of department is in their corner. It may very well be another case of "we time now".

Let's not kill the goose for its golden egg.

BEWARE THE SEEDS WE SOW

I haven't written on my blog for quite some time, but today I feel moved to air a long standing grievance of mine. And for the record it's non partisan. So here goes.

It may not be as widespread as it appears but quite frankly I'm fed-up of the number of racist and/or disrespectful posts that appear on Facebook and other social media.

Trinidad and Tobago for many years  enjoyed Tourism status as the Rainbow Country, Calypso Land, The Land of Calypso and Limbo, the Happiest place on Earth(Debatable). We have been noted for Scientists, Mathematicians, Literature and scholars par excellence. 

With the advent of social media and smart phones however it seems we have descended into crassness, discourtesy, insults to our Elders and Leaders in society.

Bloggers with a minimal knowledge of the use of internet and with
just a basic educational background, without truly understanding the inherent dangers in their postings  I presume, feel compelled to post whatever drivel comes to mind not knowing that these posts
will become an indelible part of their resume.

Then too we have the critics, the ones who profess to have the answer to every ill in society and who believe themselves to be society's watchmen. Their real role is to condemn  those whom they envy as they look longingly towards the day when they would be able to replace them in an office for which they themselves are ill prepared.

Of even greater concern is the ease with which while on the hustings we publicly revile our leaders in society while not sparing a thought for their family members and other gentler souls who look on in dismay as we go from one extreme to the next. But then again, it is said that a society gets the leaders it deserves. I cry for my beloved Trinidad and Tobago.

But all is not lost, as we do have among us those who do not blindly follow the pied piper and whose integrity cannot be bought. Come quickly Lord.

WERE HIS SUPPORTERS GENUINELY UNAWARE OR SIMPLY NAIVE?

EX-MINISTER OF SPORTS ANIL ROBERTS

I painfully followed the many expressions of support by his many supporters during Anil Roberts political mishaps and couldn't help but get the feeling that these Bloggers were setting him up for a fall, knowing fully well that the attitude he was portraying of a buffoon would not go down well with both colleagues and the wider public.

His many run-ins with Anthony Harford and the various sporting bodies have been well documented and quite frankly many of us looked on with amazement at his arrogant and often offensive and downright disrespectful attitude when he made public his opinion on these well respected icons of the sporting world.

It is therefore no surprise to me that he met his comeuppance at the feet of the Lifesports programme, a supposedly fantastic model of social assistance for the underprivileged and at-risk youth in society, notwithstanding that his choice of  those meant to co-ordinate and teach this target group morals and values was drawn from the alleged criminal underworld with a track record known to all.

The less said about Room 201 , the better, as delving into that sordid affair will draw several of his colleagues into this discussion, and that is not my goal at this time, although for the life of me I cannot understand why the esteemed Prime Minister allowed herself to be caught up in the smokes and mirrors, and not act immediately to remove this cancer from her Cabinet.

Lest it be assumed that I have an axe to grind with the goodly gentleman, I wish to make it clear that my objection to his overstayed presence in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is not a personal one, but simply an objective perspective seeing that Ministers of Government, Religious Leaders, Educators et al are supposed to be held to a higher standard of accountability than the rest of us.

The story of the Lifesport debacle is far from being over but I doubt it will be completed during this current Parliamentary term. A pity though that Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar S.C. has had to deal with this comedy of errors in her first term of Office as a woman Prime Minister.  I fear that History may not be very kind!

ATTACKS ON CHILDREN IS NOTHING NEW

If one were to read the comments coming on the heels of the rape and murder of Keyana Cumberbatch one could be forgiven for believing that Satan is roaming the earth in 2013 and causing havoc within families. But are the violent attacks on children inclusive of rapes and murder something new? I beg to differ.

How many of you remember with anger the killing of the four year old boy many years ago by his stepfather in Valencia because he had wet his bed during the night, and how many of you recall  the five year old child about thirty years ago who had climbed over a neighbor's fence in Belmont as little children are wont to do to steal a fruit. When the neighbor caught him at the "crime" scene he attempted to climb back over and was dealt a severe chop on his foot by the owner, herself a mother of children.

As a former community activist and social worker  I was privy for many years to reports of physical violence , sexual molestation and incest being perpetuated on children time and again, so much so that it seemed that this problem was occurring in almost every home. Reports at the time suggested that one out of every five homes was experiencing this problem with many parents afraid to report the matter for fear of being left without a bread winner in the home, with  one stepfather raping his four step-daughters in Wallerfield. I see this has taken place in Central very recently.

I've read of several children committing suicide as the only means of escaping the horrendous attacks on their person and after one such report I felt ashamed to be a man as the child happened to be a friend of one of my daughters who  reported the suicide to us. Fearing for my children's peace of mind I called them together to re-assure them that they will never have to fear that from me.

Perhaps what is different now is that victims are more willing to report the attacks as more women are employed and less dependent on an abusive spouse, discussions on sex is no longer taboo, and victims  are more likely to make use of the social support systems in place. 

Let us however not ignore that many of these incidents are triggered by not just anger management problems or as we say "ignorance", but in many cases by  alcohol and other drug abuse. It would help if more parents teach their children the moral and spiritual values once recommended by our former Prime Minister and President the Honorable Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson. But how can the blind be expected to lead the blind?

Do have a blessed day.