Express Editorial
April 03, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com
For reasons best known to itself, the ruling People’s Partnership has continued to defend its disgraced MP Vernella Alleyne-Toppin.
Not only have Government spokespersons tried to spin Ms Alleyne-Toppin’s crassness into a social concern message about rape, but UNC hacks on social media continue her denigrating diatribe against Opposition Leader Keith Rowley. But what could the UNC-led coalition hope to achieve by this? The widespread public condemnation has clearly harmed the Partnership’s image, including its trump card, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who will no doubt suffer a drop in approval ratings by her refusal to remove the Tobago East MP from her entirely inappropriate post in the Ministry of the Peolpe and Social Development.
There are four possible explanations for the UNC’s obduracy on this issue: (1) the party has opinion polls showing that media editors and commentators have got it wrong and there is silent public approval of Alleyne-Toppin’s rape statement; (2) having committed to a campaign strategy based on demonising Dr Rowley, the UNC cannot now change course without losses more significant than diminishing public approval; (3) the party’s strategists have been so blinded by group-think (wherein everybody has the same opinion and are impervious to dissenting views) that they genuinely believe the rape allegations are winning support for the UNC; (4) the UNC has already decided that the party will lose the election and demonising Dr Rowley is intended only to shore up their core support so they will retain their traditional seats.
Full Article : trinidadexpress.com
Listen, it is naive to think that citizens have risen above politicians. The outrage at the embarrassment of Rowley by Toppin is derived from the fact that the citizens are identifying with Rowley, because so many of them are in similar positions and would hate to be exposed.The society is adrift with children of rape, incest,pre-marital and extra marital affairs, from Port of Spain to Moruga, from Toco to Point Fortin.
Oh, also from Charlotville to Crown Point.
Strange that the Express continue to pursue this matter assiduously. Let us look at the facts:-(1) Keith Rowley have a son name Garth Alleyne, he has not publicly acknowleged him, no mention of him in Keith bio. (2) When Toppin move surgically and questioned his lack of acknowledgement proving a reason, Al Rawi said yes he had a son, silence still from Rowley. (3) Rowley is a known pathological liar, he used the cover of Parliamentary privilege to bring 31 emails with wrong email addresses, the Express has so far not demanded his resignation. Orville London said there will be a political price to pay if Rowley fabricated those emails. Oddly the illiterate police can’t seem to conclude this investigation. Could it be they swear an oath to the PNM and not to the nation?(4)Rowley accused the former AG of going to the TnT consulate in New York and doing a head count singling out people of his race for firing. A very serious accusation, proven to be a lie. (5)Rowley made rude and lewd comments regarding the PM n*pples and her cyat insulting the PM in the process women on a whole. Refused to appologise then made a glib apology perhaps under internal urging. No call for him to step down. (6) just recently in Parliament Rowley accused Moonilal of owning a chocolate factory in Holland.
Vernella apologise for parts of what she said in that speech. Vernella used Parliamentary privilege to make her speech and is therefore protected under the Constitution. In a few months there will be an election and the electorate will decide on Vernella and Keith. I predict depending on candidate that Rowley will lose his seat. So why the obsession for Vernella to resign? Keith a Rowley does not need anyone to denigrate him. He does a good job all by himself…the Express PNM apologist need to get a grip. Women don’t particularly like this man!
“Women don’t particularly like this man!” ……..Mamoo
Is that the reason you are so furious that the pretty, young Indian girl was wining on him for the carnival? Is it that they don’t like him or you don’t want them to like him? Just thinking out loud Mamoo. You have your thoughts and I have mine too. I hearken to feel that Kamla has a liking for him too but as we all know via the media, Rowley’s dog is very particular so there is no way he would allow it to play with Kamla’s cat.
How could you say women don’t like the PM in waiting, Dr Keith Rowley,Cuz Mamboo, when one-in the face of public tribal outcries, defiantly defended him,by praising de ‘stiffness of unmentionable segments ,of his lower loins,’while another ,defended her democratic rights ,to publicly gyrate on him,when both jumped up in a ‘Sando Indian band,’last Carnival.
Not to be outdone, his baby mama, unhesitatingly sang his praise,while parading their illegitimate kid, on social media.
She claimed-and I paraphrase -I loved him very much 45 years ago,when he captured my innocence,and I do so ,even up to today.
What do you know ,40 years of silence,while enjoying good old Canada,where she nurtured her son,by her lonesome,and all the bribes offered by dem PP ,Rowley hating-operatives,could not make her throw her former lover-boy teacher ,under de symbolic bus.
There are certain things about women,and if I dare say love,dat most of us males,won’t ever understand Cuz Mamboo,so let’s leave such alone, si?
Local Blond hair-Afro Trini journalist -Marcia -Oprah Winfrey -Hensville, had an early exit, to see her maker–leaving two traumatized kids behind -all because she could not extricate herself from the amorous arms,of her much younger/boy toy -hombre,who in a jealous fit of rage,hacked her to death,then faked a suicide,which almost cost de life of his two sleeping kids.
https://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/01/27/trinidad-tobago-journalist-marcia-henvilles-murder-shocks-the-nation/
It’s five years now,since your adorable, “complex leader,”Kamla is on the exalted PM throne-thanks to Jack FIFA Warner, and his looted billions-and yet, sadly,not one single photo was ever taken,showing her, and loving esposo ,Senor Bissasar,in public- even as she tours de globe solo,to allegedly attend every conference(some of limited importance).
Again Mamboo, we should not speculate on such matters, and none of her 20 handpicked, then conveniently fired ,Ex cabinet Ministers,won’t come forward ,to do a hatchet job on their dear, former boss -as was done by the ugly,self loathing ,Tobago East -Gonian ,called Vanilla -Eat ah food-Judas.
Yet, there are those who claimed globalization is a myth.
Hillary Rodman Clinton, swore she ain’t no Tammy Wynnet,who would stupidly, ‘ stand by your man,’but then that’s exactly, what she did,even as her sex starved husband ,was repeatedly caught with his pinkey finger ,in his zipper,and a fat Jewish,ambitious teenage intern,on her knees,daily confessing to him ,in one of 20 Lincoln bedroom chambers ,at the White house.
Fake feminist ,Carpetbagger in Chief -Hillary Clinton, wants America to vote her in, as it’s next President, and your Siparia Auntie K, want a second crack ,at the T&T PM post,even though, she ‘mucked up de job,’the first time around.
Go figure!
By the way Mamboo, how many bedrooms are in our Prime ministerial ,billion dollar mansion again?
Elders, old people and politicians
By Dara Healy
April 04, 2015 – newsday.co.tt
MAMA VERNELLA had me confused this week. In the land of the politician, where does picong end and disrespect begin?
In our indigenous traditions, the ones that existed before the dehumanisation of enslavement, colonialism and indentureship, elders represented an important component of the continuum of life. Age signified not just the passing of years, but the ability to impart wisdom based on experience. Age was not to be viewed lightly, but revered and respected.
Mourning the passage of time, Walcott’s Saddhu of Couva declared “… time roars in my ears like a river, old age is a conflagration as fierce as the cane fires of crop time … I am best suited to stalk like a white cattle bird on legs like sticks, with sticking to the path between the canes on a district road at dusk. Playing the Elder. There are no more elders. Is only old people …”
I watched Mama Vernella’s performance with the voice of the aging Saddhu playing in my head, drowning her out with all of the dismay and disbelief that I was feeling, superimposed by his own disenchantment and confusion. Not really caring about Dr Keith Rowley’s imagined or real dalliances, the surreal play of vitriol and desk thumping suggested to me a scene out of George Orwell’s Animal Farm rather than from my own Parliament.
In the land of the politician, where are the elders?
Incongruous in African wear, her revelations elicited a flurry of calculating sexual timelines, reviewing relevant legislation and promises of bombshells from the other side. None of this is relevant to the governance of this nation. We the people don’t have time for this.
I had joined their ranks once you know, the politicians I mean. They made me chairwoman, we held meetings with other parties, we appeared on talk shows. Still, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t fit in. I thought we were about the work of the people, but eventually I had to accept that this was not the case.
I observed, too, that the malaise of the “old” politician, old ideas and lack of true nationhood afflicted the other parties as well. “You have to fix it from the inside,” people told me. Sounds reasonable, but how am I to fix a system so inherently flawed, that the most corrupt amongst us are facilitated in ascending to political office, with agendas that have little to do with nation-building. I was in the minority and it dawned on me that this kind of “party” was not for me.
Back when I was trying to be a politician, I had felt encouraged because so many of us were not “old”; we were of a different generation. We were the ones with the vision and the ability to straddle a time gone by and a future to come. We were young enough to be able to vibes with one group, but reason with another.
I am fortunate that I was able to consult my own community of elders about my foray into politics, and they saw that I really wanted it to work. They played along for a while, and then quietly they counselled, maybe not this time. Maybe not this time.
You may not always like what your elders have to say, but because they’ve earned your trust and respect, you are willing to listen, see things from their perspective. How do you feel when your politicians stand up in our Parliament to speak? Is it in anticipation of stimulating research and debate? When they walk in your communities, do you see them as political stars, or challenge what they had done to serve you?
The Saddhu remarked, “My friends spit on the government. I do not think it is just the government.” I don’t think so either. Government is of the people, by the people and for the people. But people must be led. Not by creatures like Napoleon in Animal Farm.
Singaporeans were transformed through leadership. I did not agree with Lee Kuan Yew’s approach, but he took much less than what we have in TT with our oil, natural gas, pitch, cocoa, coconut, perfect climate, pan, talented people … and transformed it into at least a fair chance for all.
Old people sap their knees and wait for life to run its course. Elders acknowledge their responsibility and guide you as they age. And elder statesmen are that rare breed, epitomising staunch adherence to values and the choice of the more difficult path. Mama Vernella had me really confused, because I wondered if she had given any thought at all to her place in the continuum, her legacy.
I wondered if she had another opportunity, what she would choose. Elder, old person, or just plain, old politician?
Dara Healy is the founder of the cultural organisation, The Idakeda Group
http://www.newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,209241.html
Satire at its and worst. Saddhu needed to get a life. There is life beyond politics.
Excellent piece Senora Dara Healy .Quite poignant indeed. When we middle class ,more informed /socially conscious blokes, decide to embark on these pro empowerment forays ,a bit of patience, and if I dare say,prudence,is necessary.
The reasons,as we can glean from history ,are clear:- 1.No authentic change can ever occur, without the occasional hiccups/backbiting/treacherous interplay,by one’s own,and obvious sabotaging -beat downs, by ‘de other.’
This disgusting lose/lose mentality ,that we are presently lamenting about, oftentimes, is perpetuated, due to unwarranted fear,and cowardice ,by a misguided, sometimes influential, non -visionary few,unable to appreciate, long-term, big picture, win/win scenarios.
Progress can only be made,when folks locked in struggles, recognize ,that our various interests ,are inextricably linked, and so the progressive voices ,must be found,and common goals pursued .
Without T&T’s own ,Stokley Carmichael, and Malcolm X,Afro Americans, would still be under subjugation,and yet(for obvious reasons,) all the credit, was given to Dr King.
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
White dehumanizing bastards, choose to demonize Winnie Mandela, but elevated her husband ,into phony cult status,and we know why.
Are Black South Africans better off today,than they were,when White ,evil ,thieving,neo Apartheid miscreants ruled?
Who won,when Nelson can only forgive those who jailed him,stole his people lands ,and murdered them,but could not offer an olive branch, to the woman who bore his kids,and carried on the struggle during his absence?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/10614880/Nelson-Mandela-leaves-nothing-for-Winnie-in-will.html
We justifiably tout the virtues of Fidel Castro, and lambaste numerous other Latin American leaders -from Dominican Republic, to Brazil- for their blatant/subtle ,discriminatory treatments on Africans citizens, within their country,even as we ignore the fact that Black Cubans ,are still awaiting their revolution. Por que?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/opinion/sunday/for-blacks-in-cuba-the-revolution-hasnt-begun.html?referrer=
Where would Israel ,and the Palistinian people be today,if murdered PM, Yitzhak Rabin, and maligned, (one time terrorist) Chief Arafat ,had their way? Did the sexual shinanigans of American President Bill Clinton, particularly his obsession over a fat, ugly,Jewish intern chick,with a insatiable appetite, for….ummmmmm…sucking on ….pinkey fingers ..of grown men , old enough ,to be her Papa, help derail the entire Peace process? No se!
Turn on the news , and all you hear about is Harmas,ISIS,Iran,evil Arabs,Al Quaida, terrible Muslims.
Who benefited ,when Statesman Rabin died? Was it his Arch nemesis ,PM Netanyahu, The State of Israel,America, or still troubled Middle East?
‘Where you at T&T?’
No,this ain’t no Singapore. Neither is it Sri Lanka, Columbia,Canada,Nigeria, Burma,Norway, Russia ,Sudan,Pakistan,Guyana,or Fiji.
We have our own unique challenges,so let’s simply learn from other leaders,and countries,and quit making direct comparisons.
With a little foresight, and tolerance ‘of the other,’anything is possible. I am referring to class, gender, age,race/ethnicity.
We all created the mess,and must together clean it up.
Say yes, to elusive good governance,equal playing field justice, and socio- economic /political empowerment of the weak , as we strive to mold our Twin island Republic, into that coveted ,regional gem,that became so attractive to 110,000 plus,illegal immigrants, from all across the globe.
I luv dis land, Y tu?
May peace continue to reign!
Happy holidays folks!
In my view, Cuban society must be seen as a whole – with black, white, brown and Chinese members. Those who stand out in politics can become top political leaders. Those who excel in the economy can occupy high positions in that field. Those who excel in sports or culture will be great athletes or intellectuals. None require that anyone belongs to a particular race. We have thousands examples, too many to even mention.
Taking a look at the Cuban educational system, those who study and sacrifice the most are those who go the farthest, regardless of the color of their skin. The only thing that separates us from each other is personal effort and our moral and ethical qualities.
So where’s the “problem” of racism in Cuba? Only in the minds of some people.
CUBA HAS NO RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.
That propaganda is spread by such anti-Cuban agents as Carlos Moore (born Charles Moore Wedderburn in Cuba, 4 November 1942) a writer, researcher, and social scientist (with two doctorates from the University of Paris 7, France), who claims to be dedicated to combating racism.
When Cubans were fighting in Angola to stop apartheid South Africa, Carlos Moore was also in Angola on the apartheid side acting as a translator for Angola’s Holden Roberto whose FNLA was funded by CIA.
Carlos Moore’s relationship to US officialdom has long been the subject of speculation. “Castro, the Blacks, and Africa” is alleged to have been published with CIA funds. A document circulating in the 80’s showed his fellowship funding for his period in Southern California in the early 80’s — it was from questionable sources, including USAID, a frequent cover for CIA. NED was founded in 1983 precisely because of these types of situations, where the funding for a propaganda activity was all too easily traced back to CIA.
According to a Southern Africa research group out of LA, Carlos was in fact a translator for Angola’s Holden Roberto whose FNLA was funded by CIA. And during Roberto’s exile in the US, Moore spent a lot of time with Roberto as he traveled back and forth between Washington and Miami, an indication of the circles he was moving in. He vehemently denies alll these charges, but perhaps the reason they persist is that he has so firmly aligned himself with the Miami anti-Castro machine and their dissidents, long nurtured by CIA and NED.
Another example of Carlos’ exaggerations is his assertion that AfroCubaWeb is funded and supported by the Cuban Government. Funny, but the folks there are still wondering where those funds are! Carlos might want to Google AfroCubaWeb using the Advanced Search to the right of the main box. There he could put .cu in the box for “Search within a site or domain” and search for AfroCubaWeb. As of 4/21/09, we have precisely 8 references to this site in all of Cuba’s more than 975,000 pages. And if we search for afrocubaweb.com, suggestive of a real link, we find 2 real links. Compare this to the 11,760 pages that link to Afrocubaweb.com around the world. You’d think if the comrades were funding them, they would give them better visibility. The reality is sadder than Carlos imagines, but his paranoia prevents him from seeing that. [Note from AfroCubaWeb: in June 2014, these figures are 6,610 for “AfroCubaWeb” in Cuba and 30,000 world wide]
Carlos has moved to Brazil after an extensive stay at two University of the West Indies — at Mona in Jamaica and at St Augustine, IN TRINIDAD WHERE HE LEFT A TRAIL OF DISINFORMATION.
It is interesting to compare the reactions of the media to two of the most contentious issues raised in the House recently. First, Rowley’s email accusations, which included accusations of murder and conspiracy, were thoroughly investigated by media personalities and presented as if these serious accusations were actual fact.The Media attempted to show links with the alleged contents of the emails and actual incidents which occurred in T&T.Reasonable people realized that they failed in their efforts.
Next, Vernalla’s accusations against Rowley were treated as fabrications from the very beginning.The media and the PNM paraded a woman from Canada and her son and presented and interpreted their information as factual Certain investigative reporters made it their mission to prove Vernella wrong.They quoted persons from Tobago who discounted Vernella’s story. The nation became preoccupied with the ethics of revealing or making those charges.
The million dollar question is why were the reactions to each revelation in the House so different? Is it that stereotyping ethnicity made Rowley’s story more credible? If that is the case stereotyping ethnicity should also make Vernella’s story believable.
@Neal
¿Por qué está difundiendo la propaganda de Carlos Moore?
While Cubans were fighting in Angola to smash the apartheid South African regime, Carlos Moore was also there acting on the apartheid side, as a translator for Angola’s Holden Roberto whose FNLA was funded by CIA.
Carlos Moore’s relationship to US officialdom has long been the subject of speculation. Moore’s book “Castro, the Blacks, and Africa” is alleged to have been published with CIA funds. A document circulating in the 80’s showed his fellowship funding for his period in Southern California in the early 80’s — it was from questionable sources, including USAID, a frequent cover for CIA. NED was founded in 1983 precisely because of these types of situations, where the funding for a propaganda activity was all too easily traced back to CIA.
According to a Southern Africa research group out of LA, Carlos was in fact a translator for Angola’s Holden Roberto whose FNLA was funded by CIA. And during Roberto’s exile in the US, Moore spent a lot of time with Roberto as he traveled back and forth between Washington and Miami, an indication of the circles he was moving in. He vehemently denies alll these charges, but perhaps the reason they persist is that he has so firmly aligned himself with the Miami anti-Castro machine and their dissidents, long nurtured by CIA and NED.
Another example of Carlos’ exaggerations is his assertion that AfroCubaWeb is funded and supported by the Cuban Government. Funny, but the folks there are still wondering where those funds are! Carlos might want to Google AfroCubaWeb using the Advanced Search to the right of the main box. There he could put .cu in the box for “Search within a site or domain” and search for AfroCubaWeb. As of 4/21/09, we have precisely 8 references to this site in all of Cuba’s more than 975,000 pages. And if we search for afrocubaweb.com, suggestive of a real link, we find 2 real links. Compare this to the 11,760 pages that link to Afrocubaweb.com around the world. You’d think if the comrades were funding them, they would give them better visibility. The reality is sadder than Carlos imagines, but his paranoia prevents him from seeing that. [Note from AfroCubaWeb: in June 2014, these figures are 6,610 for “AfroCubaWeb” in Cuba and 30,000 world wide]
Carlos has moved to Brazil after an extensive stay at two University of the West Indies — at Mona in Jamaica and at St Augustine in Trinidad, where he left a trail of disinformation.
Carlos Moore is enjoyed a good success in 2009 over his promotion of Miami backed dissident Dr. Darsi Ferrer, which culminated in the Acting on Our Conscience petition signed by important AfroCaribbean, AfroLatin and African American personalities. He will continue to impress some, disgust others, and stir up the pot. However, our research indicates that those who side with him may be buying into more than they bargained for. The petition he sent around contains a Briefing calling for the support of a number of dissidents and civil rights organizations in Cuba. The ones he picked have many ties to hard right elements of Miami’s machine who have long been engaged in terrorist acts, not to support AfroCubans, but to promote the interests of the exiled Cuban plantocracy, the families who made their fortunes in slavery — the Bacardis, the Diaz Balarts, the Fanjuls of Domino Sugar. See Acting on Our Conscience Briefing Sheet: roadmap for Diaspora support of Miami-backed dissidents, Claude Betancourt, 1/2/2010.
Reference:
http://www.afrocubaweb.com/carlosmoore.htm, Claude Betancourt, 1/4/2010
Yeah ,yeah,blah,blah ,blah ,blah,yakiti yack,yackity yack,..and who cares,you selectively outraged bozos? Enough with this foolish, escapist Water Biffalo-bull crap TMan?
It ain’t prospective voters,who dem morally repugnant, political cretins, that constitute your ,Kamla led,UNC dominant PP ,are attempting to woo,a 2nd time around.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PNM-AHEAD-298689111.html
Shame on you TMan ,your good Father Pantin,or is it Dom Basil of Trini elite college ,Fatima, must be turning over in their respective graves, to see,how you,their little Christian-anti tribal project,from South of de Caroni, turned out ,after all their more wholesome indoctrination.
Didn’t they teach you TMan, to “never speak with forked tongue?”One minute, you appear disgusted with your party,Kamla idiot handlers,as well as dat old,ugly,Tobago East,self serving, African-Negrita-Mamba ,Vanella,for bringing dis dead issue to de Parliamentary table.
The next moment, you are getting your soiled jockstrap in a twist, as to why the thrown mud ,ain’t sticking.
No TMan,Sharon, the adorable wife ,of our PM in waiting, in The Right Honorable Dr.Keith Rowley, ain’t about to divorce him,for she knew of his Baby mama-,ans bastard kid, and so did half of T&T.
Women aren’t about to run to your UNC dominant PP, en mass,since many are looking with derision at de dismal track record ,of Kamla -Indera -Bissasar Gandhi,when it comes to abused women ,and children.
Hey TMan, speaking of which, do you know when exactly ,Auntie ,K, is about to table , that female Sterilization ,and Prison Castration Bill?
Not satisfied with performing faulty selective abortions, and expensive cesareans,on ‘certain segments ,’of the female population ,rumors has it that this sexually charged,and very targeted debate,is a precursor of things to come, hmmmm? You Re indeed a winner Dr Goopiesing!
Is this why Father Harvey, and Archbishop Harris, are both ‘mad as hell,’ and so is advising members of the flock, to switch allegiance to the pro family leader Dr Rowley?
http://support.guardian.co.tt/news/2015-04-04/tt-politics-new-low
Speaking of image,handlers ,and dissipating family values TMan, if I was advising your confused PM,I’ll tell her to fire the 2 following people , from her camp,and here is the reason why:-
1.Former journalist, turned de PP high end PROamla image makeover Chief Strategist,Andy Johnson .
It’s almost 5 years,into Queen Kamla’s reign,and not one photo of her ,and that elusive, loving husband ,together in public? Citizens are tired of seeing that 10 year old,obviously bored,runny nose son…..ooops,..grand son ,Bickram,next to her,be it at the UN General Assembly snoozers ,or Rio world cup,football games. Not only incomprehensible,but highly unacceptable! Ummmm,’something stinks to de high heavens,’as we like to say on de streets.
2. This clueless, old battle ax,Brigadier Alfonso, turned National Security Minister,big wig . 100 murders for the year,and what looks like 52,since he took charge,and no policy initiative? Law enforcement blokes, giving frustrated citizens, de middle finger, while disrupting our economy, with not disgusting ,traffic oriented industrial actions?
My former Commissioner Randy Fox Borroughs,must be getting a heart attack in hell,for he -unlike Bollywood /Nollywood actor Williams- knew how to conduct roadblocks.
Police instead of solving crimes,are doing Firemen,and Health service, ambulance chasing jobs,rushing shot victims to emergency rooms? A travesty,of de highest order!
http://www.tv6tnt.com/home/rotator/-Two-Cousins-Murdered-in-Beetham–2926—298689861.html
Hey Tman, any word on this election, or is your PM awaiting the rise in oil prices, and a more favorable poll,when conducted by by tribal party hack, Hamid Ghanny, or that toothless, eat ah fooder,and now compromised political expert, Selwyn Ryan? If question ,as to reason for escalating crimes ,Dr Ryan will still stupidly point to,decadent Soca music,that spoiled dem fatherless ,low class,Afro Trini youths,with a penchant for Blue color crimes .
One can only speculate, what Dr Ghanny,or lifetime Senator, Dr Deosaran,would say to explain away Indo Trinis preferences for White color crimes,and tribal Suicides,ehhhhh TMan?
I’ve said it once, twice, and three times my lady, but it’s worth repeating.’The person who can make me hate dis land of mine, ain’t born yet!’
Long live the Republic of T&T!
Hang in there Bro TMan. Secret admiration for de Savvy PM in waiting, Dr KW,subtle disgust for political neophyte Queen Kamla,but must publicly play de tribal game .
Somewhere out there ,now vindicated ,Chagurnas AfroTrini-Queen Maker,Jack FIFA Warner, is having a good laugh,si?
Excerpts from an article in the Trinidad Express Monday 6, April 2015:
“On December 21, 2014, Choon during a conversation with Allan Karim wrote: “Are we going to discuss date and time of the sacred event? My view is that we gather our protesters and then we compromise date and time. Give these niggers a box of vital supply and run a hose we’ll have them there all week.”
“Allan could you kindly get word to our Honourable AG that these niggers that support the PNM need cussing, and the Indian that surround the PNM need killing. Let us get rid of these stink, black monkeys once and for all. Let us dig deep and trash de wajang Rowley so bad that the country will call for him to step down.”
I think that there is a lot of information in those texts to consume and ponder upon. One must remember that these are the ‘supporters’ of the current government in power (or so they say).
Taken only by it’s contents, one can dismiss that as idle talk. But when observe the collective actions and comments by those who make up the government, it does not take a social scientist to predict what the future of Trinidad and Tobago would look like.
As we head into the general election, for the sake of informing the public, it is essential to keep repeating these sinister beliefs and actions of those who insist on holding onto power at any means necessary and of course the ‘combative’ (according to Moonilal) course of action that we MUST deal with. As it now stands, those of us who stand for good governance MUST continue
to emblazoned these invectives as often as we can so that people knows the evil of Kamla Persad Bissessar.
Did you know, Kian, that PNM bloggers have been posting comments like the one you quoted?
I am amazed at what passes as reliable information in our media and in our country. Not only is a debate taking place in our parliament insinuating that the Opposition Leader of the country is a rapist, his father was a rapist, his son and maybe his grandson will be rapist, now we are being fed information that a poll was recently taken by a pollster, who wants to be taken seriously, telling us a few contradictory things:
1. PNM is leading in the race for election at 31%.
2. UNC is behind with 26%.
3. The leader of the PNM is behind in popularity at 40%.
4. The Leader of the PP is in front in popularity at 50%.
5. Those who are undecided about the election is at 33%.
At first glance I dismissed these numbers as just politics as usual, but when one considers that the poll is telling us that 33% of those contacted say that they have no preference, it becomes a pill so large that it is very difficult to swallow.
Why?, you may ask! (curtsy) – To seriously believe that in a country where the issues confronting the population are so revealing, startling and vexing, is to believe that 33% of the people polled don’t have a brain of their own. I can believe that 33% of the people polled wishes to say that they have no preference based on how the questions were put to them and answers needed to be answered. I can believe that 33% of the people don’t want to voice their opinions due to the volatile nature of electioneering. But 33% don’t know whop they will be voting for? Give me a break!. If nothing else, every Trinidadian has an opinion. Every Trinidadian believes he knows better than the other person. Every Trinidadian believes that he/she has the answer to every problem. Opinions in Trinidad is neither short, subtle or in short supply!. Then, why do I have a problem with that? There is no way a country like Trinidad or for that matter any country, going into an election will honestly have such a high percentage of undecideds. I repeat, there is no way in hell can this stat be true as presented. Most respected polls will come up with a 3 to 6 % undecided. That is about the norm (in reality). If that number represents the tru findings of the pollster, then there is something definitely wrong with the pollster. The art of polling is how the questions are posed. Not how the answer is given. If I don’t want to answer a question put directly to me, I can easily evade with my answer. But, if put in different forms to questimate my leanings, then there is little doubt that what would come to the fore is what I am really thinking in terms of my preference. Since we do not know what were the questions put to the respondents, nor do we know if the questions were straight or serial in order to arrive and some degree of certainty then we have to give Nigel Henry the benefit of the doubt. But that doubt is only given to the how the questions were asked, not the 33% not knowing where they are leaning to.
The other question is how can a leader occupy a 50% popularity rating and the party which she heads, only a 26% favorability?
A popular leader leading an unpopular bunch of losers? Give me a break Nigel Henry, you can do better than that. It is these kinds of r national that people in the streets have on their minds when foolish numbers are cast for us to believe or have confidence in. So, treat the population with a more respectful presentation of your findings. Something that people can rationalize and treat with some degree of authenticity. By the way, most people do not know this but Hitler was a ‘popular’ man whilst he was exterminating six millions Jews in Germany. How many people know that? This leads us to the term ‘popular’ and how the information was presented to those polled in order to arrive at the popular polling. In my opinion those numbers MUST be taken with A GRAIN OF SALT.
EXPRESS EDTTORIAL:
Opinion polls, now inseparable from the T&T experience of politics and elections, nevertheless deliver findings that some people love to hate. Hardly surprising, then, that MP and high People’s National Movement official Colm Imbert would dismiss the tracking poll published last weekend as “unscientific”.
Mr Imbert, whose own credentials in “science” of any relevance are at best dated, went further to reject the Solution by Simulation poll results as “absurd” and also “nonsensical”. The T&T public, familiar with his track record, will have correctly supposed that the findings claiming his condemnations were ones that failed to meet his expectations.
Thus, for Mr Imbert, and no doubt for the less forthright among his party, it’s difficult to accept that Prime Minister and People’s Partnership leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar continues to enjoy higher favour than Opposition and PNM leader Keith Rowley. Poll respondents have continued to prefer Ms Persad-Bissessar by ten percentage points, over Dr Rowley, the latest SBS poll reports.
That the Prime Minister holds the lead in this respect, despite the decline in her party’s electoral desirability, counts as a disappointing outturn for the PNM. The Opposition party has been visibly on the march. Such has been the electoral readiness it displays that all but two of the 2015 slate of candidates have been selected and publicly advertised.
It must accordingly be disheartening to hear suggestions that the PNM political leader is still trailing his opposite number in the People’s Partnership. But that hardly justifies targeting the professionalism of the messenger bearing such tidings.
Respectability of the SBS poll, once again commissioned by the Express, derives from a track record, going back to the THA January 2013 elections, of accurate projections of results. Nor should the March 2015 finding surprise any T&T political observer that the factor of race could still be at least potentially decisive.
Still, no simple reading, satisfactory to any single political interest, is available from what is today the single contemporary effort to seek out and measure popular political attitudes. “The biggest drivers of political preference,” the SBS report counsels, “are ethnicity and the popularity of the party leaders”, noting the disparity in standings between Dr Rowley and Ms Persad-Bissessar, that so alarms Mr Imbert.
The age factor, as interrogated in the SBS analysis, also yields a striking predictor about preference for the PNM disproportionately shown by younger, would-be voters. By this finding, Mr Imbert, and others looking anxiously out from Balisier House, may well feel consoled.
No vested interest, from any part of the political spectrum, should feel complacent about the proportion of undecided voters, reaching as high as 33 per cent. More than any other, it is this believable reality that should challenge and focus the political wit and will of Mr Imbert—much more than his blowhard efforts to discredit the SBS’, the only empirical show in town.
Also, UNC bloggers have been playing the same game.
The lady’s not for exonerating
By Martin Daly
Apr 11, 2015 at 7:43 PM – trinidadexpress.com
The Government’s no-confidence motion against the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Keith Rowley, continued last Wednesday.
The stench of junior Minister Ms Vernella Alleyne-Toppin’s attempt to stigmatise Rowley by reference to what she insinuated were his origins as an alleged child of rape and her amateur speculation about its effect on his personality still lingers in the air.
It is not a stench that will blow away easily, even though Alleyne-Toppin, forced by public opinion, two weeks later has finally said, or been made to say, that she did not intend to stigmatise rape victims, but her so-called apology was nothing of the sort. She simply blamed those who “mis-characterised” what she said.
At all material times the Government has been unable or unwilling to understand the intensity of the stench arising from the group slander, which was not limited to the group slander of children of rape. It was also widely taken as a retrograde and painful piece of profiling with an extensive reach.
Members of the Government including the Prime Minister, but with the notable exception of the Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Dr Moonilal, proffered some apologies but despite the avalanche of revulsion at Alleyne-Toppin’s performance the apologies were heavily qualified and limited mostly to the birth circumstances stigma.
Beyond his alleged birth circumstances Alleyne-Toppin had also insinuated that Rowley himself had questions to answer about rape in relation to the birth of his son and the Government clearly wanted to keep the rape speculation attached to Rowley himself at all costs.
This strategy failed because Rowley’s son and his son’s mother appeared on video and made it clear that her teenage pregnancy was just that and nothing more. In fact, it appears that Rowley’s son has an ongoing relationship with his father’s family. Those preparing the attack could easily have found this out. In fact there were never any “questions to answer”.
When the rape speculation strategy failed Ms Christine Newallo-Hosein, Alleyne-Toppin’s boss at the Ministry of the People and Social Development, and from whom I would have expected better, attempted a doomed attempt at dilution.
Newallo-Hosein’s spin was that Alleyne-Toppin was intending to raise our need “to confront the crime of rape”. This claim was not sustainable in the context of a no-confidence motion specifically directed at Rowley, in which one of the pre-approved rape insinuations was calculated to attach to Rowley as an alleged perpetrator and the other pre-approved insinuation was also a gross disrespect to his deceased parents.
Apparently these Ministers do not listen to each other because Moonilal, anxious to exonerate the Prime Minister from the disgrace, had already disclosed that the rape speculation strategy was pre-approved. Accordingly it is obvious that the speech was not crafted as a general discourse on the crime of rape.
Of course it was claimed that the rape speculation strategy was pre-arranged without the Prime Minister’s knowledge. I still ask how on earth has the Prime Minster left Alleyne-Toppin in ministerial office? Even if she was not aware of the attack being prepared she nevertheless cannot, consistently with her carefully preserved image of humanity to all, continue to condone such a nasty display. The offender’s latest statement is an insult to our intelligence.
The Prime Minister, universally referred to as Kamla, was a breath of fresh air when she came into office in 2010 following the indifference of the unfeeling king who preceded her. Sadly, her four years in office have been plagued by so called missteps. However, she has avoided personal responsibility for those very negative events by having others exonerate her or take the fall.
What is different this time is that Kamla has personally displayed a Manningesque indifference to the outrage against Alleyne-Toppin. Merely accepting Alleyne-Toppin’s so-called apology, given the breadth and nastiness of the slanders that she uttered and her refusal to accept responsibility for all aspects of them, leave the Prime Minister’s prior kind and compassionate stances damaged.
For the record the voluntary code entitled the Code of Ethical Political Conduct, to which the UNC is a signatory has a Section 2 headed Prohibited Conduct. Article 17 of that section decrees: “Not to criticise aspects of the private lives of candidates, their families, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or candidates of other parties”.
Minister Vasant Bharath’s optimistic comment was “We can survive this. I don’t think it is a scandal. The remarks are regrettable and many people are appalled. But I am sure we will be judged on our track record of performance”.
Perhaps, but at this moment, to quote Bishop Claude Berkeley, “the cry of a new low in political conduct is deafening”. I add that the Prime Minister’s acceptance of a mockery of penitence is greatly surprising. Having kept Alleyne-Toppin as part of her team, this time the lady is not for exonerating.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/-The-ladys-not-for-exonerating-299466101.html
Mark: No action to be taken against Vernella
Tobago East MP Vernella Alleyne-Toppin will not face disciplinary action by the Parliament, House Speaker Wade Mark has ruled.
This should not come as a surprise to anybody, should it? This is not a parliamentary democracy, it is a party democracy. By all professional, cultural, parliamentary protocol, ethical, moral and yes objective political standards Vanilla should face authoritative discipline. But with Kamla, Wade Mark and Moonilal? The only thing that matters is making sure the UNC look good – nothing else matters. They have the vote and of course the majority to block any form of democratorial defeat by the opposition. In a REAL democracy, there is no way Vanilla will get off scot free. But we all know the kind of people we are dealing with. Wasn’t this speaker the one who got his MBA from UWI with much sweat? Just know the right people in academia. Is it not the same Wade Mark whose wife purchased a $26,000.00 chair in her capacity as a big-wig at T&TEC? Should we care how the people’s money is being spent? nah! who cares anyway, it is only oil money. Kayla does not care how it is spent, unless, if the person spending is a PNM, then they will care (wink, wink) – care!