Crime in T&T, General T&T, Schools, Violence

Allyuh Still Blaming Ghetto and Music?

46 Comments

By Corey Gilkes
February 29, 2016

School ChildrenSoooo

There was a major tragedy averted in a school

And another one on St John Road, St Augustine

And the talk came round once again about violence in schools

And there are the usual people doing the usual hand-wringing about how things got to this point.

As if Lloyd Best wasn’t warning them all the time

Or Morgan Job

Or…….(place name of person here)

And of course we have the usual callers into i95.5fm or Power 102 or 104.7 attributing the rise in student violence to the music and guns and lack of prayers and the need for “boot camps” and so on.

Hear nah, allyuh on real shit inno. This has to be the capital of Living-in-denial-land, a recurring decimal of major proportions. I mean I glad that the ‘Junior’ Minister of Education has identified that the colonial education system we have been struggling to hold onto was never geared to developing a critical-thinking, innovative society. I glad that the head of TTUTA echoing what he’s saying and is talking about scrapping certain tests like SEA (to the horror of the former Minister of Education *steups*…..the less said about him, the better)

But what is being said now that has not been said for yeeeaaaaarrrs by Best and Job and Sprang and Lovelace? If I had the power to do so, every single person pursuing a degree in any of the social sciences, economics, law or journalism would have as required reading David V Trotman’s book “Crime in Trinidad: Conflict and Control in a Plantation Society 1838-1900” and their only assignment would be to establish the connections from that period to this period and make recommendations.

Because in 2016 you cyar STILL have dotish Trinidadians calling into i95.5, Power 102, 104.7 and insisting to bring back licks in school, more prayer, put police and army, send dem chirren off to boot camps….

Did you examine in detail the culture of violence that is woven into the fabric since the Euros first settled here? Did you examine the instilled valuation of competitive aggression and ‘masculine’ expressions of respect, power and control? What about the existing youth programs including the youth camps in Chatham, Tucker Valley and other places? Have you channeled that aggression into activities like sports programs, cadet force, scouts/guides that are PROPERLY funded and supported AND linked to other institutions? What about the music programs? Or the use of Carnival arts as part of the process?

Lemme guess, dais just wasting money. Just over a month ago, I is to hear on de people radio that the current Prime Minister find out that the last one hold one setta party….sorry, social gatherings, at the Diplomatic Centre and that as you read this there is over $400,000 worth of UNUSED alcohol AFTER all that feting…..social events….took place.

Let that sink in for a minute. Four. Hundred. Thousand. Dollars.

Now I eh know how true that is – yuh know them politicians does say all kinda things to score points. But it did make me reflect on a very visible culture of lavish living we have in this society. We don’t make the connections from that to the ‘bling’ lifestyle of the young, barely literate (or often very much literate and articulate) person living in Trou Macaque, John-John, Moruga, Cedros, La Fillette, Sea Lots. I’m sure most of you would have remembered the infamous photo of the little boy decked off in gold jewellery making gestures normally associated with gang culture. Yes, that little boy, six year old Jodal Ramnath from the Beetham, who was tragically taken from us. Remember the chorus of condemnatory calls and online messages directed towards Jodel’s mother?

And then there’s the tragic killing of the two boys who were dragged out of the taxi they were in and slaughtered and now the two murdered in St Augustine and lord knows how many others. Almost every time the callers and worse, many talk show hosts start talking their usual effluence spills out: is the music they listening to, is the pants they wearing down by dey ass, is the lack of prayer and fear of the Lord or some other simplistic bullshit along those lines.

And as we on that, at some stage someone needs to have a serious talk to the media houses, particularly those voyeurs at Newsday, and the fascination they seem to have with displaying black dead bodies.

Anyway, when one hears of that find at the Diplomatic Centre and the many splurges that happen every week at upscale homes and social clubs in Westmooring, Maraval, Glencoe, down the islands and in Scotland Bay, it’s not hard to see the roots of what goes on in the depressed communities.

Just after Jodel’s tragic killing an important article on Live Wire began to put things into perspective. In that article the writer started off by listing several things he could have grown up to be. The first was what many of us have been conditioned to reflexively think. Even I had to consciously check myself when I saw the photo. So deep runs the prejudice ingrained in us. He was, after all, from the Beetham and yuh know what does go on dey. It eh no different from dem so in Laventille, John-John, Morvant, La Horquetta, the “Trainline”, Tivoli Gardens, South-Central Los Angeles……yuh unnerstan wha ah sayin. Indeed, so deep runs the discomfort “about young black men – and especially from depressed areas – showing a taste for something as ostentatious as gold jewellery” as Live Wire so succintly puts it. De “bling” culture nah.

But the observations of a very good activist friend of mine who is also making a name for herself in the field of totally local chocolate making rang in my head and brought me back to earth. A few days prior to the tragedy, at her home bussing a lime, we were conversing on Trinbago’s social structure and she pointed out to us that most people in this country who are upwardly mobile are nonetheless one step removed from sliding back to where their parents or grandparents were – poverty (or a real humble state of existence). She may have very well hit the nail squarely on the head with her description of those of us who self-righteously wash our mouths on people like Jodel and his mother. Indeed, many times when I think about it, perhaps that is why some people are so quick to talk down to those of the depressed communities….they may be trying to forget a past that is terrifying and deeply shameful to them: Sunity Maharaj did speak several times about the collective shame this society has for what many think is our history.

I mean on the one hand yuh could make a valid point about skewed priorities – flashy displaying of nice ting to show yuh big in de dance…but no savings put away; the culture of instant gratification and materialism to flash while yuh house falling down. Yuh could talk about the blaring “brain dead” music with lyrics glorifying violence and sex and gun culture. Arguments can be made about owning expensive cell phones and flat screen TVs and with more DVDs next to it than books. You can even speak about personal responsibility and how some people are quick to shirk it and instead blame everyone and everything else except themselves and their poor choices. Add to that the messiah mindset that looks for a deliverer or at least a handout from the government instead of being productive and entrepreneurial. Yuh could argue all that and frankly all your points will be valid ones.

But

There are some things we keep coming back to over and over and over…that are almost always promptly dismissed, trivialised or deflected. Not surprising; as a society we have a real aversion towards deep examinations of the “why” factor – to borrow the title of a BBC programme. And it’s not just the self-righteous, ignorant talk show hosts – some of whom don’t even know the depth of their ignorance and have no intention of finding out anyway. It’s not just their mentally lazy callers either. All that is bad enough. But it’s there in our intellectual class too. Someone who I know is a UWI lecturer confirmed it for me when I overheard him complaining to another lecturer about the resistance he was getting from certain faculty members to explore the root causes of youth gang culture in depressed areas and the way that has evolved into the seductive allure of radical groups like ISIL/Da’esh. They just don’t seem to want to go any further than the superficial level. Because apparently everytime some tragedy like this happens, it’s much easier to wring hands and wash we mouth on dem so in the ghetto. It’s much easier to adopt the old colonial approach of simply blaming, condemning and dismissing the underclass for their laziness, their wanton violence, their lack of morals, their materialism. I imagine Raymond Ramcharitar is having an orgasm right about now.

The same Dr Job I mentioned just now – who prides himself on being an intellectual – does go a little deeper on his radio programme and point out the culture of violence that typifies the daily existence in these depressed areas. But even he ultimately fails because he skirts around certain truths that do not seem to fit into his narratives. So he just acknowledges them by mentioning them…..and then flippantly brushes them off as if they’re irrelevant to the issue.

So since nobody eh want to turn to the elephants in the room, let me do it since I have no reputation to protect.

Don’t cry down the mindless ‘bling’ culture that Jodel apparently represented unless you are honest enough to admit that that came out of people in depressed communities accepting a lifestyle the elites and the aspiring elites projected as the symbol of success. Since the colonising of Trinbago open displays of wealth defined success and high status, not the acquisition of knowledge, not entrepreneurship but bling culture (known by many names). Since my grandfather’s time back in the 1930s it had “saga boys” decked off in all their finery although many of them were “ketching dey arse”….BUT, you had to keep up appearances. Calypsos like “I Want to Buy a Bungalow” by the Roaring Lion give us an insight into the values instilled by the colonial elites. That was taken to new levels with the arrival of US servicemen flashing money all over the place as some other calypsos indicated. So this goes way before MTV and BET existed to become everyone’s whipping posts (not that their content is necessarily worth a fart anyway).

Don’t pontificate over the filthy, run-down, unhygenic conditions of the depressed communities unless you are also prepared to acknowledge the process by which these places came to be that way. You don’t have to tell me that if you living in an area, it’s your area and you should preserve it and take pride in keeping it clean. Nice, dais de ideal world….REAL WORLD; let’s look at communities that started off when the then authorities passed vagrancy laws in order to force free Africans back onto plantation estates and even then it was a fight for them to get basic amenities and another fight to hold onto what little you did get. Talk about the herding of men into all-male barracks and children into schools – which still goes on as we speak. Think about the effects that that will have on people, already resentful of being deprived of their women, their abilities to engage in entrepreneurship and legal actions against exploitative elites (yes, that is correct, many of the gang members today are familial descendants of people who came out of enslavement or migrated to Trinidad and started off in small businesses that were eventually quashed by the colonial authorities since it rivalled the plantation economy).

After the 1937 riots the Moyne Commission spoke about these conditions and the need to alleviate them. What did the authorities do? Suppress the report (sounds familiar eh? Check back to Commissions of Inquiry over the last 20 years alone). And what did those who took over in 1962 do? Superficial plasters for sores and force-ripe measures geared more towards creating vote banks and maintaining in modified forms the culture and cycle of dependency.

And stemming from that of course is the violence. Trotman’s examination of crime in Trinidad during the 19th century pointed out factors and the violent results that could have been written yesterday by a researcher who was examining Laventille, Beetham and Bagatelle Road, Diego Martin last week. With little opportunities to confront the real creators of their conditions, many engaged in what is often called re-directed aggression and vented their rage against each other (again, sounds familiar? Think it’s unique to us? Examine Jewish, Polish, Irish and African-American ghettoes in New York in the early 1900s). Any study of the stickfighter/kalenda bands, “badjohnism” and steelpan must reveal a beginnings in the violent, filthy, sequestered barrack-yards.

But before you then moan about the senseless killings, the “us against them” by gang members against the police (and the rest of the population), keep in mind we have never clinically examined the effects of internalising by both sides racist ideas of the “natural,” incurable laziness, violent tendencies and sexual preoccupation of African people. It is that perception that leads to an reflexive prejudice the BBC looked at closely in their documentary “Why do US cops keep killing unarmed black men?” Prof Trotman in a podcast called on us to review the ways we and all other former colonial countries approach policing and to re-examine the antagonistic culture that has defined police and military forces in relation to the populations they are supposed to protect. He shows in his book how a certain culture was developed in the police force influenced by the fact that those who headed it were military persons who fought in colonial wars in India and Africa. Anybody listening to him? Anybody taking him on? Look at how many police officers are dressed today, they’re essentially blue combat fatigues.

Fuh dat matter, all them war movies (where good white men killed the buck-teeth Japanese) and gangster movies and westerns that glorified the extermination of the Native peoples of North America. What was that? Not a celebration of masculinity in the finest traditions of Eurocentric values – that of aggressive competitive violence? One aspect of the Midnight Robber mas came out of the setta gangster movies of the 1930s and 40s where flat out murderers like Al Capone, Bugs Moran, “Lucky” Luciano, Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and Machine Gun Kelly were glorified. So, ol timers whe all this moral high ground come out from?

The next time you have a problem with the way gang members and people from depressed communities carry on with no respect for the law, reflect on the fact that since dem bandit dem was chile, they saw or knew about “respectable” members of society disregarding, circumventing or flat out breaking the same laws OTHER people are told to respect (as far back as the 19th century, Trotman points out that ‘rehl’ big people in society get ketch with “false papers;” the famous “Captain” Baker who cracked down on Canboulay celebrations lied about his rank and was actually a lieutenant). So black hen-chicken eh stupid yuh know, they MUST ask (and answer) questions as to why the laws didn’t seem to apply across the board; why people with enough money were (are) hardly arrested, even less were (are) convicted, while others making jail for minor infractions. They may not be well read or articulate enough to point to the historical fact that the legal system was not about even-handed justice but was developed to maintain social order and conformity. They may not have read a line by Selwyn Ryan, Bridget Brereton, David Trotman or Sunity Maharaj to learn that the elite culture placed itself above the punitive measures of the legal system they themselves devised….but they are most certainly SEEING it and responding to it the best way they know how.

You can complain that a large percentage of the population – in and out of the Beetham – have a very unproductive work ethic, are satisfied with mediocrity and have only very narrow self interests instead of putting the country first. All that good, no argument. But then you need to go deeper and understand that to be patriotic, to sacrifice and give of yourself to build the country, you need to feel like you actually BELONG to the country. You need to BELIEVE that the wealth, assets and rewards are for YOU. Have we done that? Have the overseers of our education system done a proper job of conveying that? It’s not enough to just tell people to put country first and chain them up with patriotic slogans, not in this society. It’s just never going to work. Look through the book “Race, War and Nationalism: A Social History of West Indians in the First World War” by Glenford Howe; all that chain up talk we hearing now was the same thing being said back then when the British had our great grandparents sacrifice “for King and Country” to defend the democracy they were themselves denied back home. The same thing again in World War II and in both cases there were people smart enough and vocal enough to see through the farce. That’s why the Growling Tiger could sing he going to “plant provision to fix my affairs and let the white people fight for 10,000 years.” The people saw then as they see now in the form of a hollow, first-past-the-post electoral process that that was more to facilitate whoever was the elite group to entrench their privileged position on the backs of the underclass.

Even the “boot camps” we want to look at, while on the surface seems like a good idea, comes mostly from those who bleat about the bible saying spare the rod. And it also seems to be coming from an old approach of just discarding them and palming them off to someone else and just leave law-abiding people alone. It’s not even a new idea, Trotman tells us it was a proposed solution in the late 19th century and the tone of the language used then and what is used now bears little difference.

And I eh wah hear nothing bout no single-parent households and the lack of male presence unless you are prepared to talk about and indict the Eurocentric economic systems that eroded and then broke apart the extended family institutions that typified African and Afri-Caribbean domestic life. Talk about the effects of the industrial ethic in a plantation society that brought about a rapid rural-urban shift with no support structures to buffer the effects. Trotman tells us that the use of ganja and alcohol abuse arose (and still arise) as escapist mechanisms due to the inability to cope with the harsh, impersonal nature of industrial, capitalist societies and the increasingly fast-paced living that go with them. Deal with the ‘effeminising’ of African men in a Eurocentric society such as ours that possessed (and still possess) a morbid fascination with the black body and non-white sexuality yet speak of it in a pathological fashion. Speak about the very narrow, chauvinist often misogynist definition of femininity found in not only the Abrahamic religions but the Vedic one as well and the equally narrow, skewed definition of masculinity and non-white male sexuality that is encouraged and then pathologised.

Now hear me eh, I fully appreciate those who say we must stop blaming history, slavery, colonialism and “de white man.” I agree with them; in fact, there are far too many people who are content to use the injustices of the past as an excuse to do nothing today but rock back and hope for a help from the government. But any leader or influential person in this society really wanting to bring about a more productive, less violent culture must go much further than in other countries to first show that the legacy of those injustices are being addressed. Whether you like it or not whether you want to admit it or not, there are deep scars that are retained in a community or society’s collective memory. And that memory of exploitation and marginalisation is a very long one given that after 1962 the new elites basically maintained the trappings of power the British gave up.

An examination of the works of Trotman or Selwyn Ryan will show that there were two main interests in this society: on the one hand there were the elites who saw here as a place to extract as much wealth as they could for themselves and whose ideas of society was rigidly informed by very racist ideas of the natural inferiority of certain groups. These are ideas they read in the works of such celebrated thinkers as Hume, Kant, Hobbes, Locke, Kipling, von Mises and Rosseau.

On the other end we had that large labour force that comprised the underclass (and from whom a select group of schooled and churched elite was created by the plantocracy) who may not necessarily have read any of these people but understood very well that the wealth was NOT for them. THEIR job was to extract it for the betterment of someone else. So naturally, they did whatever they could to “try a screw to get through” as a popular 1930s calypso by the Growling Tiger went. A reading of “Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance,” James C Scott’s examination of a village in Malaysia, shows some very informative parallels with the go-slow, indisciplined, mediocre culture many are complaining about right here in Trinbago and shows that while ordinary people may not necessarily be “cultured” but they are definitely perceptive enough to understand how they are viewed and how to move within an environment that does not include them apart from marginally. So if we want to cut the cycle we see that resulted in the killing of Jodel and those two boys in St Augustine and so many other black and brown people, we need to start looking at ourselves, especially the warts, so as to truly transform our space, starting with ourselves.

Or we could just continue to cuss way them ghetto rat and dem. Just keep in mind the words of Ella Andall’s “Missing Generation,” especially the part where she warned we better find them or else they will eventually find US one day.

46 thoughts on “Allyuh Still Blaming Ghetto and Music?”

  1. What garbage. I could blame everyone but myself for doing what I do. I wonder if that would stand up in court??

    1. “I mean on the one hand yuh could make a valid point about skewed priorities – flashy displaying of nice ting to show yuh big in de dance…but no savings put away; the culture of instant gratification and materialism to flash while yuh house falling down. Yuh could talk about the blaring “brain dead” music with lyrics glorifying violence and sex and gun culture. Arguments can be made about owning expensive cell phones and flat screen TVs and with more DVDs next to it than books. You can even speak about personal responsibility and how some people are quick to shirk it and instead blame everyone and everything else except themselves and their poor choices. Add to that the messiah mindset that looks for a deliverer or at least a handout from the government instead of being productive and entrepreneurial. Yuh could argue all that and frankly all your points will be valid ones.”

      Perhaps I used too much big words; I’ll try to draw cute little pictures for you next time because you clearly have a problem reading. This WHOLE paragraph you didn’t bother to read beause you wanted to come and talk that blasted stupidness like any normal self-defeatist Trini who is forever living in denial.

      1. Al should look for the movie THE GOOD,BAD and THE UGLY ands watch that over and over until his unused brain gets the real message. Yuh sins will follow you until yuh dead. The youths of today are from fathers and mothers that never gave a damn but PROBABLY worked their arses off for all the money in the world ONLY to find out the employers and their government were and still are making sure their earnings are way below par of the G8s but the products and services are way above par. For past governments always tightened our belts by inflation, taxes, restrictions etc. While THEY enjoyed the best and over exploited us for more than 70 years we were left behind. Our children are highly educated and forced to live abroad or become prostitutes in T&T as they suck up to the rich for post that do not pay. In our company structures they employ preservers through the pull string methods or as they say elsewhere ” networking ” or scamming to place suckups in jobs where there were once “strategists”. Now the only strategist is the man at the top. So we are in for a deep fall in T&T where nothing works, females will become Jean and Dinah once again but oh not by street corners but behind very closed gated communities like SANDERS etc. Your daughters and sons will tell you just as in Laventile we are going on a retreat or a business trip. Zika and the like will come into our homes. Natural disasters will come to haunt us. God will lower his hand of protection as we turn away from Him. THE DIVIDE AND RULE WILL CONTINUE UNTIL WE TURN BACK TO GOD.

        1. The braying donkeys on this blog ALL TELLS US WHAT WE KNOW FOR YEARS. THEY HAVE NO SOLUTIONS. EVEN THE SLEEPER CELLS ARE HERE TO STAY AND ARE NOW IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM. THEY ( the braying bloggers here) ARE SIMPLY DOING THEIR PARTY BIDDING>>>>KEEPING WE DIVIDED FOR THEM TO GET VOTES. IT IS ALL ABOUT WORMING IN THE 300,000 NON INDIAN AND NON AFRICAN VOTES THAT ARE FLOATING SINCE THE TURN OF THIS CENTURY OR SINCE 18-18. THE JOB IS TO KEEP WE POOR (the failing middle income PAST earners), …KEEP WE DISSATISFIED, THREATEN WE WITH ZIKA, DENGUE, FLOODING WOOS, FIRE, EXCHANGE RATES, LAND AND BUILDING TAX REFORMS, OUT OF OUR PRICE RANGE VEHICLES, POOR FOOD CHOICES, POOR HEATH WELLNESS CENTRES ETC., WHILE THEY CONTINUE TO OVER TAX US AND RAID OUR TREASURY. T&T NEEDS A REAL STUNNING REVOLT MECHANISM TO RUN THEM OUT OF T&T AND WE ARE CRAVING FOR IT.

          1. Yesssss Jerry….if it wasn’t for PNM & UNC Indians & Africans would be loving up…ent?? RUBBISH! Same dotish old song and dance…”both” pnm and unc ‘dividing’ ‘us’….this is a lie…and it is no longer ‘sweet’…PNM never promoted or encouraged racism or ethnic disunity…pick at any one of their nu erous flaws as an organization and FINE!…but do not LIE and claim racism….you see…unlike many africans i am not playing that game…accusing the PNM as a political party of causing, encouraging and instigating disunity has a hidden agenda from i dian racists….it is an indirect accusation, defamation and slandering of and against African people! So while many africans will willingly, sacrifice an organization (PNM) on the fake illusion of an alter of Ethnic Comraderie, they are actually sacrificing their ethnic group…many racist, fake indian intellectualsnhave been merging their political UNCOPP propaganda with their Lectures and BOOKS about T&T history! The objective is to villify Africans or Blame them for the eth ic disunity in T&T…thus is desitned to obfuscate.d..to hide the reality that the Indian community, lead by its religious and political leaders(same damn thing) are extremely scornful and hateful of Black Skinned Africans!…and this nasty, stink ‘little’ truth is MANIFESTING itself in all facts of Life in T&T….Africans are NOT the cause and neither is their political movement(whatever its faults)….Africans continue to bare the BRUNT of workm sacrifice and responsibility in the name of “ethnic unity” in T&T.

  2. BRAVO
    BRAVO
    BRAVO
    Soon to be “Dr.” David Muhammad recently released a book on Black History (before the elections last year).The new PNM government just gathered an “Education Committee” to re-evaluate T&T’s education system,BUTTTTTTTTTTTT they excluded David Muhammad (telling) BUTTTTTTTTTTTT guess who they IN-cluded Ravi Ji (Hindu leader with alleged connections to the RSS party in India ) and Jerome Teelucksingh(son of Rev. Daniel Teelucksingh, the one who officiated over Dr. Rowley et al swearing in ceremony)….BOTH of these individuals propagate that calypso is racist or racially abyses indians andd that Africans are the initiators and instigators in ethnic disharmony between Africans & Indians….yesss..Ravi Ji, “created” (ripped off) Calypso as an art form in form,structure & substance and promotes this ‘art form’ to rival calypso called Pichakaree….essentially Calypso, with a Hindu/Indian/UNC twist….i.e. Manning/Rowley and PNM bad and africans are lazy rawans!…They merely did what they are doing with chutney and soca….injecting Indian (bhojpouri) language lyrics and calling it something else…These songs are performed during phagwa and were “created” according to Ravi Ji, becuase calypso “shot barbs” at the indian community…but notice the mindset eh…how come indians (of any significant number)never entered (genuine, non political intentions) calypso competitions (essentially spoken word and poetry in ENGLISH Language)….nooo…and risk the ‘humiliation’ of losing to dem Rawan an dem(‘inferior’ africans)??….Both of these Gentlemen propagate wzrped, political dishonest views of T&T history with regRds to African Indian relztions….and YOU (PNM) put GHEM on a board to ‘overhaul’ T&T’s education system?? Lord have mercy…..but do you know what is sad?? Whoever picked them, have the same ignorant understanding of Indian Racism i.e. That ONLY Say Maharaj has the type of mindset and views that he publicly exposes and the majority or ‘the rest’ are “well meaning”…..how could they exclude David Muhammad, but put those two there???….Unfortunately many africans believe that colonialism was only encased within Colonoal whites…..it is a MINDSET that is well represented in many T&T african ‘intellectuals’ and educatorz….these negroes will gleefully give Indians full power to write up whatefer warped, twkisted view of history they want under the ruse of “consultation” and “Balance”…i was shocked to Learn that…did you know that Dr. Williams, almost as soon as coming into power signed off oand GUARANTEED INDIA as a country TWO or THREE CHAIRS in U.W?I.’s Faculty….yup…since wayy back then……but NONE for any african state……typical…so U.W.I? Has had for some time much stronger Indian ‘interests’ within U.W.I? As opposed to Africans (ethnic group) so the origin or beginning of H.U.W.I….was rooted in PNM politics……not their intended outcome BUTTTTTTTTTTTT their political bending over paved the way…like those Mastana bahar programmes….the indian community leaders & politicians used that to cement sectarianism and divisive politics….yes, that was the PNM bought vehicle for indian hedgemony in the media that came back to bounce them…and “US”….

    1. Another series of racist rants by FAB leader Alyssa. First of all Indians owe our Africana brothers and sisters nothing. When I studied West Indian History, I could not recall reading anything about the Indian experience in the Caribbean. Indentureship was a sanitized form of slavery, just merely a changing of the labels. Yet the authors did not do justice to the body of knowledge from those who cross the “kalapani”. I had to do my own research to understand my roots.

      I was please when Dr.Rowley stated that there was a lack of local content in our history carriculum. The role that Dr. Capildeo played in the formation of the nation cannot be ignored, his concern about group domination in a pluralistic society and the need for a more inclusive political system. Adrian Cola Reinzi was the true leader of the Labour movement I never knew about his involvement in the formation of several unions, more so in the formation of the OWTU. A history conveniently ignored and the passenger put in the back of the bus. History must be a true reflection of the time and the factors that motivated these great men to look after workers interest and the national good.

      Then there was the SDMS led by Bhadase Sagan Maharaj a man who did a lot of work in building schools for the Hindu/Indian community. Those schools were called “cow sheds” an arrogant Dr. Williams. Yet many of our citizens today including myself had the good pleasure of an education in one of those schools. Of course one cannot forget the contribution of missionary Dr.Morton who came to Trinidad and started an education revolution, producing some of the best minds in our nation. Yes the history books must remind the next generation of those who sacrifice themselves for upward mobility of our citizenry. Many citizens today owe their livelihood to a generation that worked hard to make TNT the jewel of the Americas.

      We must pay tribute to those who shape the nation in way that is simply amazing. I have noted some names which I think deserve inclusion but of course there are others. The best way forward is to ” time catalog” the contributions of these pioneers. We must not forget their contributions. It will make for a better citizenry.

  3. “Colonial Minded negroes” isn’t a reference to PNM but AFRICAN People’s Mindset!

    1. Carson just endorsed the white man who clobbered him with insults a few short weeks ago. Isn’t the black man a universal puzzle?

      1. Jerry, the issue isn’t (in progressive politics) if he (Dr. Carson) endorsed a former political opponent, regardless of if he is white (unless it was racist comments). The issue is, why is a seemingly progressive African American endorsing a White American who is widely perceived to be Racist??(The Donald). Carson,is endorsing Trump AFTER Trump tried to wiggle out repudiating a KNOWN white supremacist who had endorsed him prior.Also, besides this damning development, Trump has and continues to say racially insensitive and divisive statements….THAT is the issue that puzzles ME about African slave descendents’ behaviour! (Carson)

        1. IDIOT IT IS ALL OF CLASS UPPER AND LOWER NOT BLACK OR WHITE. YOU ARE TRAPPED IN THE PAST BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT LEARNT FROM THE PAST ….YOU ARE STUCK IN IT JUST LIKE MAMOO AND OTHERS ON THIS BLOG. YOU CANNOT GO FORWARD ON HATE FROM RACISM FEELINGS OR RANTINGS. YOU ARE FOOLING NOBODY BUT SELF AND TRYING TO BRAINWASH AND BRAMBLE OTHERS WITH WHAT YOU SUPPOSEDLY KNOW USING YOUR PROPAGANDA TO BIG UP YOURSELF JUST LIKE THE PNM DOES TODAY WHILE THE WHITE MAN MAKES AN ARSE OUT OF YOU. JIM GUINEA PIG JONES TURNED OUT TO BE ONE BIG ONE. THEY LAUGH AT HIM ALL THE TIME …HE WAS PLAYED OVER AND OVER AGAIN. HE ONCE SAID IT ….ALL I WANT IS TO HAVE A PRESIDENT NAMEPLATE ON MY OFFICE DOOR. THIS IS THE PLIGHT OF THE BLACK MAN…A LOST CREATURE! LOOK AT CROSBY!

          1. Whoa whoa whoa whoa JERRY! Keep Talking man…i knew after your scathing shaming and ascibing blame to a dead tourist that you were an ass BUTTTTTTTTTTTT “…the black man…a lost creature”…Anybody who claims that class “trumps” race/ethnicity is a fool…Do you think thag Donal Trump would NOT care if his Daughter Married Herman Mccain or Oprah winfrey’s Son (had she made one)??? Huh??
            Dotish!

  4. The “why” factor is indeed critical. Keep asking “why?” until you get to the last why beyond which there is none other. That is where the real answers will lie. Everything else, notwithstanding greater or lesser eloquence, greater or lesser erudition, greater or lesser radicalism, greater or lesser apparent understanding, is vaniity.

    The real answer lies with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We the “Negro” are His Chosen People. He has done to us what He said He would do. We as a people have been punished for our disobedience. EVERYTHING that has happened to us as a people has been written beforehand. But stiff-necked and rebellious as we are as a people, we will ascribe blame to everyone else and anything else, and least of all to our disobedience to our God that chose us above all other people.

    Here is what our God said He would do to us if we disobeyed His word:

    “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Yahweh thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.” (Deuteronomy 28:16-17)

    That sums up the “Negro” problem. He knew that we would be doubters and scoffers in the last day, followers of every, ultimately vain, “ism” on offer:

    “And Yahweh shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.” (Deuteronomy 28:64)

    So written, so it is today. We seem to be the loudest condemning the “Abrahamic” God, not realizing that the God of Abraham, is the same God of all creation that made us, Abraham’s seed through Isaac and Jacob, His Chosen people, bound to the provisions of the Holy Covenant, whether we like it or not, or know it or not:

    “For thou art an holy people unto Yahweh thy God: Yahweh thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)

    Raise now the “why” factor: WHY did God choose us as His Chosen People? That is the point at which the real mystery begins. To know that is to peer into God’s mind, a privilege granted, if at all, not even to His highest servants. As to the problem of the “Negro”, keep asking “why?”, every time an explanation is proffered, as in this article, and ultimtely the last “why?” will stop at this precise point. The answer is God chose us, and we have been disobedient. Point period. End of discussion. Or actually the beginning of a fruitful one. All the rest is vanity.

    Now, He knew we would be in this position, where we would be questioning, why?, and not understanding that our special suffering is because we are His Chosen. So He set it up that everything would be written beforehand, that we might come to *know* who we are as His Chosen:

    “Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of Yahweh thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.” (Deuteronomy 28:45-46)

    These are the curses that force us to ask, in reference to the “Negro” problem, the very question that we are now asking, i.e., precisely, “WHY?!!!”… He set up the curses as a “wonder”.

    But He also set them up as a “sign”. It is through the curses that we would come to *know* that we, precisely, are His Chosen. For among the curses are two that we, the “Negro” scattered to the West, UNIQUELY satisfy. There simply is no other candidate.

    The first is:

    “Yahweh shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: … and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 28:25)

    Of all the peoples that came over here to the West, seeking fortune, freedom and whatever else, we are the only ones who had no say in the matter. Others came voluntarily. We were quite literally *removed* from where we were, and brought here. How we got into west, central and south Africa is another story, for we sons of Jacob went there fleeing Rome’s sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD; see Josephus’ Histories, and Rudolf Windsor’s From Babylon to Timbuktu. Not incidentally, this also means that the so-called Jews are not sons of Jacob, and this too was prophesied; Revelation 2:9, 3:9. And is now acknowledged; see Arthur Koestler, The 13th Tribe, among other writings establishing that the so-called Khazar Jews are NOT at all of the seed of Jacob or Abraham.

    The second is the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which was prophesied:

    “And Yahweh shall bring thee into Egypt (=bondage) again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold (therefore bought) unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen (=slaves), and no man shall buy (=redeem) you.” (Deuteronomy 28:68)

    All of the particulars of the trans-Atlantic slave trade are mentioned in that small passage. We came in ships. And we were sold unto our “enemies”, elsewhere listed at Psalm 83:3-6: the Edomite Jews and the Ishmaelite Arabs notably, who between themselves controlled the slave trade inland and across-sea. It even turns out that the Edomite Jews and Edomite WASPs were the principal plantation owners.

    Now, clearly, the slave trade happened to us, the “Negro”, as a people. What other candidate is there for fulfillment of that prophecy? Search the histories of peoples everywhere. There is simply no other candidate, except perhaps some certain Irish who also were brought as slaves or near-slaves to the West. And they too have an Israelite connection which I won’t elaborate here.

    So it was all written. As Bob Marley sang: “we’ve got to fulfill the Book!”. And indeed we have, and continue to do:

    “But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.” (Isaiah 42:22)

    So written, so it is. God put us in the condition we are in. He is drawing our attention to it, and calling upon us to wake up!

    “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of Yahweh, the rebuke of thy God.” (Isaiah 51:17-20)

    If that sounds like a description of the ghetto, it’s because that is exactly what it is. So written, so it is.

    What then is the solution? The answer is obvious, and it too was written: Return unto and obey our God; Deuteronomy 30:1-3. Some of us will do so, and be redeemed. In any case, God promised our redemption, after presumably we would have learned our lesson, and moderated our stiff-necked and rebellious ways, leaning to the vain imagination of our own hearts rather than to the clear word of God:

    “For Yahweh will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel (Jacob’s new name which means literally “prince with God”), and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Yahweh for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.” (Isaiah 14:1-2)

    So, my brother, do not speak disparagingly of the “Abrahamic” religions. God spoke to and through Abraham, and Moses, and our other “Negro” forefathers the prophets.

    “He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation” (Psalm 147:19-20)

    Believe it! WHY? Because, as it is written, so indeed has it been, continues to be, and WILL BE.

    But as to why we are the Chosen, God alone knows. That is perhaps the last “why?” for which there will be no better answer.

    The main thing is that if you would know and understand the condition of our people, the answer is not to be found in any ism or ideology. Rather, we must open up the Book — OUR Book — and read.

    May the Most High remove the scales from our eyes as a people, the blinders put there by false Gentile religion and ideology, that we may as a people wake up, and hasten the day of our redemption.

    Shalom.

    “O Yahweh, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?” (Jeremiah 16:19-20)

  5. Why all the folks who post things, Talk so much, and say NOTHING. That is our problem. So many EXPERTS. NOT taking action. only confusing Most talking around the Subject matter. Sad.

    1. These same folks for years do not see how Julien and Jim Jones played them for years. julien outside Enid tells us it is difficult to measure LNG (refrigerated liquid) when we measured liquid anhydrous ammonia a refigerated liquid since 1959 when Fedchem produced this product. A PNM government under these three stooges who could not tell us what they sold our natural gas for as they cut all kinds of giveaway dears selling off our natural gas for less than one dollar USD per million BTU when the price was 8-12 USD per million BTU on the world markets. ALL BECAUSE OUR NATURAL GAS WAS NOT 100% METHANE BUT WAS LOADED WITH HEAVY HYDROCARBON LIQUIDS THAT CHOKED LETDOWN VALVES, COKED UP USD MILLION DOLLAR CATALYST ( HUGE BREACHES ) AND COSTED WE , THE TAXPAYER , TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE JIM GUINEA PIG JONES COULD NOT DESIGN NGC PROPERLY.

  6. “And I eh wah hear nothing bout no single-parent households and the lack of male presence unless you are prepared to talk about and indict the Eurocentric economic systems that eroded and then broke apart the extended family institutions that typified African and Afri-Caribbean domestic life.”

    The break down of the family is the number one cause of society slow demise. I would say in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, that there was a strong sense of family in TNT. It was a shame for all ethnicities to have children out of wedlock. Yes Africana communities had strong families. But something happened along the way that caused a collapse of the family in many communities. That need to be examined with a clear unbiased mind, because the impact of slavery was felt more in places like Jamaica, Haiti but not so much in TNT. I would like to know. There is still some older folks from those generation who could shed light, instead of blaming the British. After all slavery died a very long time ago.

    What Indian culture did was to celebrate marriage. Weddings were held over 3 days and families sat and talk long into the night while cooking a whole lot of food. India holds the record for some of the most expensive and long marriages. One marriage lasted 3 weeks with all kinds of music dance etc. But this is not unique to Indian culture, I have attended many African weddings not from Trinidad but from Africa. I was ridiculously surprised about the closeness in culture to Indian weddings. Both families meet and plan the wedding, if there is a problem the matriarchal and patriarchal sides of the family are aware of it first. They have extensive preparations for the wedding day, lots of food late into the night even going into the next day. The African male unlike some of the Westernize African male have his wife and children with him as a proud symbol of his manhood. He loves and cherishes them. Maybe that was lost in the transatlantic journey but I still hold the view that it is a poor excuse for the Trini families of the 50s, 60s 70s…

    1. Thanks; I had already come across this podcast some months ago and cited it in several online discussions.

    2. This is what we need the history of our past mistakes that is still controlling our moves in the future. PUT PLAINLY WE ARE STUCK IN THE MUD OF THINGS. So much so some of our bloggers ONLY WANT TO PULL SWORD FOR EACH OTHER…afro vs indo trinis. THEY ARE SO BLINDED IT AINT FUNNY ANYMORE. THE FIGHT HERE IS WHAT THE UPPER CLASS WANTS AND GETS AS OPPOSED TO WHAT THE LOWER CLASS DO NOT GET AND HAVE TO FIGHT EACH OTHER FOR. AND THE CORPORATIONS WHO OBAMA KNOWS ONLY TOO WELL THAT CONTROLS AMERICA AND CANADA AND T&T. THEY ARE THE WORLD BULLIES THAT ARE BEING FRIGHTENED BY MR DONALD TRUMP. AT HOME THEY CONTROL ALL OUR GOVERNMENTS FROM ERIC TO NOW. ROWLEY IS THE LATEST PAWN WITH NO BALLS.

  8. FROM THE DICTIONARY:
    “monster |ˈmänstər|
    noun
    an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening.
    • an inhumanly cruel or wicked person: he was an unfeeling, treacherous monster.
    • often humorous a person, typically a child, who is rude or badly behaved: Christopher is only a year old, but already he is a little monster.
    • a thing or animal that is excessively or dauntingly large: this is a monster of a book, almost 2,000 pages | [ as modifier ] : a monster 120-mm gun.
    • a congenitally malformed or mutant animal or plant.
    verb [ with obj. ] informal, chiefly Brit.
    criticize or reprimand severely: my mother used to monster me for coming home so late.”

    The media is on record, as making an issue, out of the statement made by the Prime Minister, in which he referred to the unruly school children as “monsters”. I am concerned about the criticisms emanating from sources that is usually referred to as ‘learned’ individuals. If the use of the word is all they are concerned about, then they need to look no further than the dictionary. The above is a direct quote from the dictionary.
    What it shows, is that Dr. Rowley was on sound grammatical grounds with the use of the word. If the fallout about the use, was pure political chicanery then I will say no more. But grammatically Dr. Rowley was positively correct and in keeping with good English prose. When so-called intelligent people like Dr. Gopeesingh, makes an issue of something so cogent, then I think we have to be concerned about the legitimacy of the news extracted from them. It is good to exercise public ethics and etiquette, but when it is done only to embarrass a high official on the false notion that words were used improperly, then we must censor such individuals. By reason of the offices that they hold, they are naturally due some expectations of a hearing when they speak. But when they try to bastardize the official language by connotating a meaning that is different from its intent, this is misleading and dishonest towards those who believe that such officials know better. SO, FOR THE RECORD THE USE OF THE WORD ‘MONSTER’ TO DESCRIBE THOSE UNRULY STUDENTS, WAS CORRECT AND FITS CORRECTLY INTO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Shame on Gopeesingh and others who are saying otherwise.

    1. KIAN THE REAL MONSTERS ARE JIM JONES, JULIEN, MARLENE, CAMILLE etc who are robbing we the LOWER CLASS, will not make any jail and using up our tax dollars we now need badly JUST LIKE KISS A FOOT KAMLA did. We need to stop shooting one another in the foot. In St James and many other places in T&T AFRO and INDO trins grew living in one another homes, liming inter marrying etc. I NOTICE THE PEOPLE ON THIS BLOG ONLY WANT YOU TO POINT YOUR GUNS AT THE INDOs. THIS HAS BEEN PNM MASTER TACTIC FOR YEARS. DIVERSIONARY TACTICS. ROWLEY IS BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO. HE IS NO LEADER. ANYTIME YOU SEE SOMEONE RESPONDING BY CONTINUALLY PUTTING HIS FOOT IN HIS MOUTH YOU KNOW IT IS OTHERS TELLING HIM WHAT TO SAY AND DO.

      1. Ahhhhhh Jerry..thanks for exposing your angle in all of this…you claim thus blog to be a pnm diversionary tactic, with guns trained at Indos….wel now I can lump YOU in with Mamoo and ‘the rest’…have you examined the UNC3 blog?? Or the express?? Are thise UNCOPP diversionary tactics as the auditor general’s report is forthcoming?? I speak on this blog, about issues that have been negatively affecting african Trinidadians and have and continue to be SUPPRESSED by their enemies…you included!…Indian racism is not the same as Indian…do you even care to know the difference?? Criticizing bad behaviour is not necessarily (could be) about whether or not one likes the person or persons perpetrating the bad behaviour (racism etc) or the ethnicity per se…BUTTTTTTTTTT beleive as you wish!

  9. I guess, subconsciously, Gopeesingh doesn’t want his son being called a monster…

    3. It is a complete waste of my time blogging with the likes of you. You are a PNM till yah dead and Rowley and the boys love this and will use the likes of you OR just perhaps they are paying you to put forward your crap. Anyway as I read your shit I remember KEN VALLEY and how they used him and spit him out ONLY because poor KEN who could not control his gambling habit. He pulled in the PM son into the gamble and then they castrated him. Gambling is what I saw with my own eyes is a really bad vice…it brought down many of my black brothers from Toronto to Trinidad all because the white man squeezed every effort out of them to succeed. Gambling is the worst bad habit on the planet….it leads to every sick evil you can think about. However, you are so lost just like them. Perhaps God meant me for better. I give myself no credit for my survival.

  10. I am going to do something I decided a while now to stop doing and respond to some of the comments expressed here because I have come to the view that there is no point in responding to or trying to educate or even intellectually engage with most people over a certain age group (mid-20s).

    I’d greatly appreciate it if my posts were not used for trite race-baiting and narrow tribalism. If it is that Ravi Ji or Jerome Teelucksingh did what he has been accused of doing here, then the very least one could do is post links or quotes showing us exactly what they said/did. For his shortcomings, in my few personal interactions with Dr Teelucksingh, since he was pursuing his Masters, I have never gotten that from him although he has said, as did Gordon Roehler and Dr Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool, that many calypsoes are indeed narrowly tribal and stoke racist insecurities.

    And as for Indians owing “our Africana brothers and sisters nothing,” the less said about that disgraceful (and historically inaccurate) statement the better. Perhaps, “Mamoo,” you may want to convey that to the late Indira Gandhi who said the exact opposite…or those who marched into Caroni in 1970 to link with them, or the fact that Indian cane-cutters approached George Weekes for representation so as to unseat the same Bhadase Maharaj you mentioned who was basically screwing them over. Do not use the arrogance of Dr Williams and a few Afro-Saxons who had as little knowledge of or respect for as did the deeply racist Rev Morton and especially his wife Sarah, to apply to all those of Afri-Trini origin.

    It would also be appreciated if the name of Cola Rienzi was not dragged through the mud and muck of cheap tribalism as he had a lot more integrity than many people even today. And I can’t help but wonder if it is that Trinidad was NOT a “jewel of the Americas” before? Didn’t they too sacrifice for the upward mobility of the citizenry? Or is it that you too subscribe to the view that Africans were lazy and were nnot productive in building this country (an accusation that was later directed at Indian indentures)

    And I am always amused by such simplistic, stupid and self-contradicting statements like “ It was a shame for all ethnicities to have children out of wedlock. Yes Africana communities had strong families. But something happened along the way that caused a collapse of the family in many communities. That need to be examined with a clear unbiased mind, because the impact of slavery was felt more in places like Jamaica, Haiti but not so much in TNT. I would like to know. There is still some older folks from those generation who could shed light, instead of blaming the British. After all slavery died a very long time ago.”

    Sooo YOU don’t know what caused the demise but whatever the cause may be, there should be NO “blaming” of the British? The Brits are never at fault in anything in this society….and establishing historical points of departure or frames of references is just blaming people? Right.

    Well, since the book I am working on over the last 15 years examines the extent to which Eurocentric values impacted on traditional African and Asian concepts of women, femininity and family, I kinda think I have an idea having gone through numerous books, papers and archival info plus spoken with “older folks from that generation” who lived through that time.

    Further, I though that Prof Emerita Bridget Brereton had already addressed the view that “” slavery died a long time ago” and that it was not observed in Trinidad as long as it was in Haiti and Jamaica. I thought that it was made clear that the real assault on the consciousness of African people came *after* enslavement, when the education system and middle-class Victorian ideas of ‘respectability’ and ‘responsibility’ was introduced – as they were in India and all over Africa – and not *during* the period? That also includes the patently stupid view that it was considered a disgrace to have a child out of wedlock, a Eurocentric middle-class idea that was resisted to a great extent by the people, men and women, in rural Trinidad for a very long time.

    Indian cultures celebrated marriages – as did African (and the closeness would be because of that cultural debt of gratitude Ms Gandhi who I spoke about, acknowledged. Africans have been living in India for thousands of years, check it out) – but like indigenous Africana, Indian weddings and religions were not considered legitimate by the colonial authorities and by Western churched religious leaders even after 1962 or is that blaming the British again? You seem to have an interesting love affair with the white British and French creoles who held you and your ancestry in the utmost contempt and did not even hide it judging by the historical records.

  11. Corey Gilkes,
    Chalkdust & Gorgon Roehler are exactly the problem with colonial minds…calypso was born in rebellon against oppression & racism…how could speaking out AGAINST those same issues be considered ‘narrow’ and ‘stoking insecurities’? Corey, do chalkdust and Gordon Roehler know ANYTHING about Brahminism a.k.a ‘Hinduism’…how in the HELL could they and YOU find the time to criticize Africans singing ABOUT indian racism and tribalism? Do they and You DARE criticize ‘Hindus’ and Indian racism & Tribalism?? This is what irks me…all of these African dashiki wearers are only vigilant and observant for european racism but not INDIAN racism…Indira Gandhi was a RACIST….why are you throwing her name up as though it carries weight?? How could you talk about Dr. Eric Williams & PNM not caring about African peopke, but the calypsonians who voice the pain and suffering of Africans (cro cro) you denigrate them! in your face.Indian Racism that all the negro intellectuals avoid of full their miuth with water before talking,,,i am sick of it…so politically correct?…that is why “Trite Race Baiting” could be hurled…you live in a fantasy realm…a bubble…
    Please check out these two links i have provided for now…one is an article with respect to Jerome Teelucksingh & his claim that AFRICANS scorn(ed) indians when they first arrived and THAT along with Calypso…those two factors ALONE is where “tensions” between the two groups stem from…LIE!!
    NO indian in T&T let alone a professor who researches & studies these issues will be Unaware of the deep scorn and hatred that emanates from Indians which is rooted in RELIGION…ALSO Disingenuously, he postures as the son of a Presbyterian Minister the same crap that sat preaches,that indians were ‘forced’ to give up their religon & culture (‘Hinduism’) LIE!
    ALSO i have provided a link to but ALSO read the lyrics sung at the pichakaree efents during Holi (phagwa) as well as the fact that it is all a creation & officiated by Ravi Ji. Ravi Ji and Jerome Teelucksingh propagate a version of reality that is unfair and disrespectful to African Trinidadians…David Muhammad also mentioned being surprised at Jerome’s “angle” last year…he was surprised…I’m not…African intellectuals have never truly spoken on the BEAST that is indian racism in T&T…always sugar coating or making excuses.for it…is de PNM. ..is Dr. Williams….LIE!….
    Mr Gilkes, here are the two links

    http://www.triniview.com/njac/120607.html

    http://rathod-indiandiaspora.blogspot.com/2007/04/indo-trinidadians-and-carnival.html

    1. It is unpleasant for some when truth is spoken without the buffers of correctness, especially on the subject of race and politics. Indians have no problems speaking what they consider as ‘truth’, when such situations offend what they deem sacred or sacrosanct. The mere idea of discussing hindu racism offends not only the Indians but black intellectuals as well. But I am not concerned about the feelings of the Indians in this respect because, to discuss it in the sphere of Trinidad society means to delve into their religious norms and deities, which they want to keep only to themselves. I am however, perturbed when black intellectuals, black middle-class or black professionals expose their ignorance of the matter. They deem it out-of-place to speak of Indian racism because it is easier for them to believe that it does not exist. Traditionally black elitism is molded from their views of European regality. They view appropriateness, not from the experience of the slaves, but from the vantage of the slave master. That is the bubble in which black intellectualism resides in Trinidad and Tobago and have always been so, for the past 400 years of physical, mental and psychological programming. The lines are blurred when Indians claim affinity to discrimination, by connecting indentures with slavery. While on the surface, theres are some similarities with the approach of the slave masters and the Planters. That similarity ends when self sustainable development is required. In this regard, the Indian is buttressed with the foundational support of culture, history and religion. In the case of the African, his foundation rests with the strength he gained by slavery and the fortitude inherited by the women, who acted as a fortress of strength to his undeniable physical attributes. We had to burrow religion, arts and culture of the slave master to form what we eventually developed as culture. The Indian never lost that culture by the process of indenturism.
      So he remained untouched by the evils of brutality by the European civilization in the new world. So, when Corey states “I’d greatly appreciate it if my posts were not used for trite race-baiting and narrow tribalism.”, he is in fact
      trying to evade responsibility of having to account for the development of the black man. And this is exactly where the black intellectual has failed us. Think of all the black intellectuals in our past and tell me which one of them contributed to the development of the African mind? Not one of them really. Those that made those attempts were really uneducated strong and determined. Men like Uriah Buzz Butler, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X. These were men that black elitism shunned for fear of being identified with their militant objection to white racism. At least they made efforts to educated the uneducated black man. But tell me, when did men like Sir Hugh Wooding, Ellis Clarke and Karl Hudson Phillips EVER made an attempt to personally develop the masses of uneducated blacks in places like Laventille, Morvant or Gonzales? In fact they were too busy knocking glasses with white elitists to ever giving a hoot about black poverty or the black under class. The Indian, on the other hand have always had men like Cola Renzi, F.E.M Hosein, Bhadase Sagan Maharaj, Sat Maharaj, Basdeo Panday and now Kamla Persad Bissessar to look out for the welfare and well-being the hindu. Alyssa has eloquently stated that “calypso was born in rebellon against oppression & racism”. It stands as the only medium in which the black man has consistently rebelled and spoken against the evils of discrimination. No such form of protest or enlightenment ever came from black oligarchy. As a matter of fact, Dr. Rowley is there first black Prime Minister ever to mention the word “Indian” of “African” for that matter, in the process of normal speech. Much can be said of Mamoo, but one thing is undeniable is that he makes no excuses for being hindu or Indian. Hinduism is the vehicle through which much of the views and practices are formed in relation to their views on race. That is an undeniable truth. So, in order to deal with what the Africans view as Indian racism, we must deal with the root of their identification and the place from which they gather their virtues and mores. And that place is the laws and rules that govern their hindu religion. Out of that is their natural dislike or hatred if you will of the African. This is what Alyssa has been writing about and so eloquently putting together to make common sense to the African readers. Naturally, the Indian will call anything that does not put him in a pleasant light as racism. But it is not racist to print something to which they adhere to. Nor is it racist to comment about it either. There is an old calypso, singing about the Indian dislike for the African and the fear of the young Indian woman marrying an African man, which goes like this, “Moonia, batieyah, bap no like am kilwolnie Moonia; …… she say she like am dat kissin and that kilwol huggin and squeezing, the courtship stoll, when the the mother jumped up and bawl….. Moonia, batieyah bap no like am that kilwolnie (creole or black man) Moonia ….”
      This clearly states a relationship, in which the hindu parent is in fear of and as such expresses hate or dislike
      for this kind of integration. It is a reality that to deny or even suggest, does not exist is foolish. And it is also the black intellectual who would wish not to address, because to do so is encouraging a kind of taboo that should not be addressed in open conversation.

      1. WHEW,
        Thank YOU Kian, that was an excellent response! Corey Gilkes is sadly NOT a disappointment…it is what i expect…just as he probably expects after that post i would be ‘in my place’ or at least let ravi ji & jerome teelucksingg know that he ‘has their back’…African people have been socialized and politically bullied and manipulated over decades into the mindset displayed by chalkdust and others…they have a mental block like the wizard of Oz…not to delve behind ‘the curtain’…this is how T&T is the way it is today…this is why kamla-baba, jaishima et al so boldly, so confidently behaved the way they did and will continue to do…Africans are force fed a false reality in which Indians and africans have some mystical unity against european racism…many africans buy into that lie…Kian let me ask you….if a Nazi or Neo Nazi/white supremacist was friendly and smiling with you at work or wherever you meet regularly….would you trust them? Here’s what….many africans like corey think indian racism is random….it pops out from nowhere….only the ones who DON’T smile and socialize are racist towards africans…David Duke is one of the sweetest smiling faces that you can ever come across….why are americans so unforgiving towards him?? I-D-E-O-L-O-G-Y !….so To his own admisson he meets and greets Ravi Ji & Jerome Teelucksingh and they ‘seem nice’ and therefore it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to be capable of promoting mis-information that is dis-respectful to Arican people…Ravi Ji admitted that Indians saw/see Africans as Rawan!…supposedly because africans oppressed Indians and of course he spun it by saying they also saw Europeans as
        such (metaphorical spin)…Jerome Teelucksingh, whose father is Rev. Teelucksingh who officiated over Dr. Rowley’s swearing in ceremony and afffiliated with ILP (avocado party-UNCOPP power struggle)…Jerome Teelucksingh as i provided the link, is propagating that Africans scorned indians and THAT along with Calypso is why they don’t ‘get along’…this is malicious propaganda…NOWHERE does he mention the racit belief system of Indians….LOOK…you see this crap? I have no quarter for it….ANYBODY who propagates these things and skilffully omit the detrimental information are NOT FRIENDS of african people!! I do not care how much the individual smiles!…
        ANY discussion on why Indian & Africans across the globe cannot ‘Unite’ without spending at least 90% of the discussion on Brahmanism and Indian racist, scornful culture is DECEITFUL & Inaccurate…e.g. Kumar Mahabir, another UNCOPP operative, who is the originator of the Pan came from tassa propaganda, is the same individual who fell out with Makandaal Daaga because he (mahabir) is propagating that in 1970, Africans were trying to take over T&T and that only 100 or less indians too part because….get this…indians respect personal property (africans do not), Indians were Afraid of Africans (maybe they are innocent and africans are savage beasts) and that Indians did not feel ‘welcomed’ to participate, because…get this…Indians are not black….if The Black power movement had been genuine about indians coming aboard they would REnamed it “Black & Indian Power”….you see?? Only the uninitiated in racist Indian culture and Brahmanism (‘hinduism’) would be so dotish as to know that the true reason Indians would not associate with The Bkack Power movement is because they are PRO-WHITE SUPREMACY!!
        Do you expect a Crocodile to lobby for Vegetarianism?? No!
        It would be absurd!…Indian society because of their OBSESSION with white supremacy were and are in love with the very structure that africans fought against….it is their religion!! My god…there are schools in T&T called VEDIC Schools…as in The Brahmanist ‘Holi’ scriptures..
        V-E-D-A-S!…these sciptures are what informs Sat’s utterances and behaviours that people claim to loathe!! So, while africans as a grouo challenged White Supremacy & Elites, Indians as a group politically,Economically & socially sought to JOIN them and the structure…BUTTTTTTTTTTTT Mr. Gilkes and others have this fantasy that we ‘all’ fought against these things….by the way….Kamla put that same Kumar Mahabir in charge Of UTT, to do ‘good work’ lime in H.U.W.I. so it is now H.U.T.T…..imagine a coupke years ago 2012 thereabout an Arab…an Egyptian National and professor at U.T.T. resigned and said it was turning into a circus with Racism against africans, low class nepotism and Corruption!…

      2. My dear BLOGERS prejudice, discrimination, racism, biasness etc EXIST IN EVERY SPHERE OF LIFE ON THE PLANET, EVEN WITHIN FAMILIES WHERE THE FAIRER ONES ARE FAVORED OR THE BRIGHTER CHILDREN ARE THE NUMBER ONE OR EVEN WITH SEX WHETHER HOMO OR HETER TENDENCIES EXIST ETC. HOW DO WE DEAL WITH IT…. IS QUITE ANOTHER MATTER. YOU CAN BLOG FROM NOW TILL DOOMSDAY IT WILL NOT CHANGE THE PRICE OF PEAS….OR THE PROPAGANDA OR THE BRAINWASHING. WHAT WE CAN DO IS EXPOSE THE BLASTED CULPRITS GUILTY OF THEIR EVIL ACTS OR OF USING THESE CONDITIONS TO GET AHEAD. I ALWAYS TELL MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILD THAT YOU DO NOT GET TO CHOOSE THE GENES YOU COME INTO THIS LIFE WITH….THAT WAS CHOSEN FOR YOU. BUT YOU DO GET TO CURB, STAMP OUT, DESTROY CERTAIN LEANINGS IN YOU FROM BAD GENES AND OF COURSE YOU GET TO PUSH AS FAR AS POSSIBLE YOUR GOOD GENES AS GOD WANTS YOU TO DO IN HIS NAME ONLY. THE BIBLE IS THERE TO COACH YOU ALL THE TIME.

        1. WHAT WE CAN DO IS EXPOSE THE BLASTED CULPRITS GUILTY OF THEIR EVIL ACTS OR OF USING THESE CONDITIONS TO GET AHEAD.

          But the whistle-blower must stand on TRUTH.

          In your rantings re Malcolm Jones that is clearly not the case.

          You have committed an actionable libel against Malcolm Jones in suggesting he has passed off false academic papers. I know that to be a lie, because I know him personally.

          You have defamed him by suggesting that his engineering design effort in bringing NGC into existence was incompetent. Never mind that NGC has brought untold billions of dollars into the country and the Exchequer.

          And you continue to mount a calumny against him in particular, and PNM technocrats in general, by insinuating that their dealings have been corrupt and for personal enrichment.

          I am no defender of the corrupt and venal. They will get no support from me. But neither will I support any one claiming to be a “whistle blower”, who evidently, for whatever reason, thinks it okay to stray from the solid base of TRUTH.

          My advice: Get a hold of yourself, stop vooping and stay within crease. That might, over time, increase the credibility to your claims.

          Shalom.

          “These six things doth Yahweh hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)

    2. ALYSSA Where were you when PNM had us by our balls from 1956 to 1986 allowing foreigners like Amoco/BP to rape our country’s natural and human resources for over $1 trillion USD. Not to mention the many others who came here during that same period and filled their bellies and banks with what was rightfully ours. The boursge Afro trinis, the electrical crew headed by Julien, Percy, Harewoods, their family and friends and outside children getting top jobs with false papers for years. This was when the white man was spinning them while he aced them with trillions of USD taken away from our country. Prevatt carried a house and land PRICE TAG in Westmoorings North from $15000 to $115,000 in one year alone in the 70s making a killing for himself and his friends and laundering the monies in Costa Rica ….he never made a jail like Panday. Duprey did the same in 2006. These are your PNM friends who ruled us and said over and over discipline,production and tolerance. They scammed us for years keeping our salaries capped down while the foreign exchange moved from $1.25 to $6.33. For 30 years they kept singing the same song that inflation must be kept down when the price tag on a townhouse moved from $100,000 to $2.2 million today. Manning created a man called Jones (….he has OWTU blasted vex today). Here is Jones resume… Tringen 1 (only Fluor designed ammonia plant ever) was designed to use freshwater 5000gpm in OK, USA bought the plant cheaply to Trinidad without a redesign and had the plant use seawater as cooling for massive equipment like surface condensing to huge turbines and ammonia condensing. This is a massive plant annual turnaround for years since 1977 commissioning. This plant never produced its design intent until 1997 when I redesigned it. When asked why he did what he could not reply. His friends said it was work for his boys. He took taxpayers monies to bring this failed design here to Trinidad to obtain work for his boys with huge losses for the country. Then came Tringen 11 plant in 1984 to 19888 with huge losses again …70 million USD disappeared from Capital monies re IFC- New York in 1989. Then came ATLAS a newly designed Mentanol deal (we were the guinea pigs for this design)that nearly went bust …natural gas was given away free to commission this plant …the Percy/Riley plant. The huge one is NGC which was ill conceived and even up today heavy hydrocarbons takes out our electricity producing huge losses for all of us. Pheonix Park (CONOCO) the jones and boys plant was supposed to save NGC from an operating disaster but the plant was only partially a saviour and is aging now with many shutdowns per year. And last but not least the Gas to Liquids plant at Petrotrin. WHY DID THE PNM CELEBRATED THIS FAILURE OF A MAN FOR SO MANY YEARS WITH SPECIAL AWARDS FOR YEARS WHEN HE WAS A GROSS FAILURE? Can Rowley give us some kind of an answer and now he is now letting him off the hook. He was Eric’s boy, then Manning’s boy and now Rowley’s boy. WHAT DOES HE HAVE ON THEM?

      1. Lol…jerry…more of your same irrelevant ramblings of propaganda…i trust that you realize i know you haven’t addressed what i said in my previous post…i do not give two %÷#* about accusations of corruption in 56-86…i spoke of racism!….i want you to make credible accusations of RACISM against the PNM….but there are NONE!…keep rambling about accusations of corruption 40 odd years ago….but ignore what happened 6months ago..

        1. Yes you do not care because you are part of the corruption BUT YOU KNOW WHAT …YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH YOUR CONTINUED RACIAL CHANTS. I TRUST YOU WILL GET THE MESSAGE EVENTUALLY AS YOUR BRAIN SEEMS TO HAVE DAMAGE IN IT.

          1. THE BLACK MAN IS KEPT FROM GOING ANYWHERE FORWARD BY HIS VERY OWN WHO WOULD ALWAYS SELL HIM OUT…..THE WHITE MAN KNOWS ONLY TOO WELL THAT HIS BLACK FRIENDS ,,,THE UNCLE TOMS will snitch on the MALCOM Xs even in the dead of MARTIN LUTHER ….go watch the movie THE BUTLER and fix your brain. SOME BLACK MEN HATE THEIR OWN BLACKNESS….since their slave days. HIS enemy is his race not anyone else.

      2. Here is Jones resume… Tringen 1 (only Fluor designed ammonia plant ever) was designed to use freshwater 5000gpm in OK,… This plant never produced its design intent until 1997 when I redesigned it. When asked why he did what he could not reply. …Then came Tringen 11 plant in 1984 ….Then came ATLAS a newly designed Mentanol deal …The huge one is NGC which was ill conceived and …Pheonix Park (CONOCO) the jones and boys plant was supposed to save NGC from an operating disaster but … last but not least the Gas to Liquids plant at Petrotrin. WHY DID THE PNM CELEBRATED THIS FAILURE OF A MAN FOR SO MANY YEARS WITH SPECIAL AWARDS FOR YEARS WHEN HE WAS A GROSS FAILURE?

        The GTL plant was undoubtedly a failure. But the rest? NGC was not just a success, but a multi billions of dollars money-spinner for the country and the Exchequer. Subtract the $2 billion GTL mistake and Jones still deserves a Trinity Cross (or whatever Sat prefers to call it) for his services to the nation.

        Same with Ken Julien, btw.

        I really don’t get it, why the targeted persecution of these two men by the UNC. The Julien case collapsed in court. The Jones case had not the chance of a snowball in hell of succeeding. Failure of fiduciary duty? A project failure ought not to attract personal liability on the part of a Board member. Either the whole Board must be indicted in that case (cf. the E-Tec suit), or none. The same principle applies btw to the doctrine of collective Cabinet responsibility. A member of Cabinet escapes collective responsibility only by disassociating himself from the Cabinet position, and resigning. In any case, I find it curious that there are insinuations of wrong-doing in the Jones case, but the charges do NOT include corruption per se — fraud or misappropriation of corporate funds. Of course the charge of “failure of fiduciary duty” was never going to succeed and was a bogus lawsuit from the start. Even if the case succeeded, there was essentially zero chance of recovery.

        So what was the point, really? I think it was primarily to tarnish the image and reputation of this GIANT that has contributed so much (just count the NGC billions alone) to this country’s fortunes. Same with Julien, who deserves most of the credit for Pt. Lisas and its success. He too deserves the Trinity Cross. By tarnishing these two, the UNC hoped by extension to tarnish the PNM and its economic successes. Rowley has calculated right in calling the bluff and reinstating these two men in capacities where they may continue to serve the country.

        That you could improve upon a plant design however many years later, can provide no basis to criticize the first effort. I’m sure he could have “improved” it also. Was it possible to improve upon Orville and Wilbur Wright’s airplane? Of course. But that cannot take away their accomplishment. I put “improved” within quotation marks because engineering, — like management, and politics, — is an art of the possible. Perfection does not exist except in the abstract. In the real world, at a given point in time, an engineer must meet constraints of time, cost, quality among others, hence trade-offs must be made. Hindsight is 20-20. I’m sure you know that. It strikes me as unprofessional to use hindsight to criticize another engineer’s work for being less than perfect, when in fact that work accomplished much.

        Whatever else you may say about him, — and none of us is perfect, — Malcolm Jones is a brilliant engineer. The country owes him its gratitude, not this travesty of a court action.

        It has served only the purpose of making Anand Ramlogan and his friends $45 million richer in attorneys’ fees. THe UNC has fattened its war-chest thereby. And it has succeeded in tarnishing the names of some of this country’s genuine heroes, while scoring points against their… perceived… racial and political enemies.

        That same racial and political animus suffuses your rant. This is evident, in spite of all the engineering chatter. The latter is in any case quite incoherent, and as a basis for attacking another engineer, quite unprofessional.

        Be that as it may, I nevertheless say

        Shalom.

        “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.” (Matthew 27:18)

        1. Yoruba,
          I warned all of you….The Indian community as a whole,their religious bodies, their social bodies & organizations are driven by the same motivations as their ancestos 1000’s of years ago from their racist belief system that informs the mindset in everything else….the UNCOPP is a Hindu party…their political thrust is always hidden beneath the surface..everything
          is about
          Skin colour/race,land,money,power,
          power,land,skin colour/race,money
          money,skin colour/race,land,power

          My Dear, if you fall for the trap of running down each governmental,political issue they rally behind you will be psychologically drained and fooled…although the ‘surface’ constantly changes, what lies beneath is CONSTANT….they do not like Knee-Gah in powah….and this simple but vicious, nast, stink,classless singleminded attitude has worked for them since ‘integration’ in the 1920’s thereabout…i have provided more than enouth references to these truths for the truth to become part of the African trinidadian’s everyday reasoning…look at the link below…these are the type of Knee-Gah’s that they LOVE
          http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160309/news/former-partnership-ministers-join-marchers
          Notice these racists come out to March with the same deceiitfulness again to rocm the boat “Discrimination” on their brand new t-shirts printed with Taxpayers’ money “donated” between 2010-2015…these Varna (caste) minded people have no concept of what racism is…all they know is that it has worked in the past to attack the PNM…yessss…these are the same people crying “discrimination” that panday taught them and with the same mouth will shout Knee-gah in their neighbourhoods and homes…trainung their children fro todlers to scorn(especially black skinned) african people….hudden behind FAKE smiles and humility….NOTE…when Kamla-Baba and her 40,000 were in office Africans NEVER marched against “discrimination” or “racism”…out of some dotish,warped,colonial,”puritanical” concept of “clean” “issue” drifen politics…BUTTTTTTTTTTTT the “other side” has no such restraint of qualms…No shame…Africans should continue the UNPRECEDENTED Indian, UNCOPP Tradition started under Kamla of
          Protesting AGAINST protesters of “Their” government!!
          “HEARTLESS” is the claim from these racist caroni workers….don’t be fooled by their age….PNM gave them Money, Land to plant & land to build a home…2 plots…they sold them to wealthy indian businessmen and middleclass indians now occupying these lands….ka la passed a law allowing them to SELL the land…just like Bamboo opposite the REAL Valsayn, they appropriated land designated for agriculture, for business and Living (UNC VOTEBANKS) ANDDDD the fun hasn’t stopped yet….Now that these individuals have legal access to lands in these remote areas their cultural pasttime can take effect with impunity….LAND THEFT….soooo 2 plots over time become 20, 40, 60…and it will go in and on over generations as it HAS happened already!! WHAT A DAMN DISGRACE!! As long as African Trinidadians DO NOT digest the stark reality that the vast majority of Indians(young & old) see Politics as an ETHNIC WAR,they condemn future generations to Untouchable/Dalit status!…much to the delight Of Indians.

          1. My Dear, if you fall for the trap of running down each governmental,political issue they rally behind you will be psychologically drained and fooled…although the ‘surface’ constantly changes, what lies beneath is CONSTANT…

            Quite so. You are preaching in this instance to the choir.

            As I have said, every other day we see in the papers proof of the Indian Policy in action. Today in the Caroni matter, it is Item #1 – “make the country ungovernable”.

            But strange enough, we also see Ancel Roget and the OWTU demonstrating outside of the Jones residence, agitating against a man who has served the country brilliantly. How readily we rise up to slay a brother…

            May the Most High put a hand, and give our leaders the wisdom and the strength to overcome the miscreants seeking for devilish purposes, to make the country ungovernable.

            Shalom.

        2. You should get your facts straight before you run your mouth. BUT THEN AGAIN YOU ALWAYS DO THAT FOR IT IS YOUR BRAINWASHING TONE AND YOUR FASHION OF PROPAGANDA….PERHAPS YOU BELONG TO A SLEEPER CELL! But even your propaganda has holes in it. Hon Eric Williams back in the late 70s instructed the then Minister of energy Minister Ronny Williams – the chinee chopper to stop flaring gas and put it in a pipeline and use it as a source of energy …IT WAS NEVER JONES’S CALL. He came up with a concept that did not include the absolute removal of heavy hydrocarbon liquids and we paid dearly for that over the years. Whenever the 1800 psig natural gas was let down to our electricity system or the ammonia or methanol or other consumers liquid hydrocarbons would polute and shutdown those plants over the years and this is still so today. The foreigners would have the tax payers pay for their losses so we all lost trillions USD (Natural gas is sold in USD AND SUPPOSED TO BE 100% METHANE). To try to curb those losses he bought in Conoco vis Pheonix Park but the problem continued…this plant could only handle about 10% of the natural gas feed. JUST FOR YOUR SKEWED BRAIN CELLS PHEONIX PARK IS A GAS TO LIQUIDS PLANT. HIs arsininess is so great BG built two GAS TO LIQUIDS PLANTS IN CARAPAL IN SOUTH (I worked on one of them). Jones was never an engineer …his papers are all falsified like the old leader of the house ….gotten by connections. Tringen 1 was never carded for sea water cooling….if you know ANY engineering at all the metals used in sea water service are far different to that of fresh water cooling. The plant in a lot of other areas was a complete failure as it was a guinea pig plant much like TITAN and ATLAS as well. He was never meant to be an engineer …during any plant shutdown forced or unforced this Tringen plant was a nightmare to fix. Of course SIS, Johnson, and many others through cut deals made a mint along with his boys. Then came Tringen 11 which took an entire year plus to commission again with his poor design through another cheap deal outside which all of us paid for handsomely. Peter Grace (FEDCHEM’S OWNER…was dragged before the US courts for tax evasion) at this time did not want any part of the deal. BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT A GAS TO LIQUIDS PLANT IS A SIMPLE DESIGN SUITED OF COURSE TO YOUR FEEDSTOCK REQUIREMENTS JUST LIKE A DESAL PLANT. SO FOR ONE TO GO BANKRUPT ON THAT IT IS ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT HIS INABILITY IS SUCH THAT HE SHOULD NEVER RECEIVE ANY AWARD AS HE HAD RECEIVED OVER THE YEARS. AND I HAVE NOT EVEN TOUCHED ON THE LOSSES INCURRED BY PETROTRIN UNDER HIS WATCH. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD BE TALKING TO OWTU….they are your pace.

          1. Ahalom you should learn at least to connect the dots. Both UNC and PNM were totally corrupt. We all know why Eric died …HE JUST COULD NO LONGER STOMACH THE CORRUPTION AROUND HIM IN HIS PARTY. THIS CORRUPTION IS THE DESIGN OF THE VERY PEOPLE WHO CAME HERE TO BUILD THEIR OIL AND GAS MARKETS. WE ARE STAKEHOLDERS WHO TOOK THE HITS FOR ALL THEIR CHEAP DESIGNS THAT FAILED HERE. JIM GUINEA PIG JONES AS HE IS KNOWN AS WAS BEING MADE A SCAPEGOAT BY THE UNC WITH THE 70 USD MILLION TRANSFERRED TO OTHER ACCOUNTS. THIS WOULD HAVE COME OUT IN COURT. SO WE WERE PLAYED…AS ALWAYS. YOU and YOUR WOMAN ALYSAA JUST PLAIN ON THE WRONG HORSE IN THIS RACE. IT IS NOT ABOUT RACE IN T&T BUT CLASS!

          2. …Jones was never an engineer …his papers are all falsified like the old leader of the house ….gotten by connections…

            Jerry:

            *You* need to get your facts straight. (Opinions are of course another matter; at the very least these are skewed by envy, as we all know.)

            Malcolm Jones is a very well qualified engineer. He has a M.Sc (Chem Engg) from McMaster’s, as I recall … we were next-door neighbours at one time. My expertise is not chem engg, but I do recall once having discussions with him about optimization issues in unit operations (distillation columns). He knows his stuff. You are entitled to a different opinion as to his capability. But his papers are genuine. And you have advanced no basis on which to suggest otherwise. You have engaged in pure, actionable libel.

            In any case, what trumps paper qualification is performance. The *fact* remains that Jones was the one tasked to design, to build, and to operate the first NGC set-up. In that he succeeded brilliantly, whatever the shortcomings, because NGC has earned for the country untold billions of dollars. That, Jerry, is a FACT!!! The UNC know it well, because they have literally looted the company.

            Of course there were shortcomings. There always are. And guess what? After any other engineer would have done the necessary re-engineering, there still would have been shortcomings. That’s just the nature of reality. You do what is necessary, within constraints of time, cost, quality, and intangibles. Jones did what was necessary at the time he was tasked to do it, and he succeeded… BRILLIANTLY!

            Give Jack his jacket, I believe is the expression. If you do so, you might gather credibility for the *opinions*, however biased, you may then want to express.

            As to the tendentiousness of your ranting, the Turks have an expression: the eye sees all but itself. You pretend to be non-racial, or dual racial, but in fact you exhibit the same racial and political animus as the UNC sectarian tribalists at their worst. You are fooling no one.

            Nevertheless, I say

            Shalom.

            “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.” (Matthew 27:18)

          3. What does a $%%&&&& neighbour in T&T really know about another naighbour? What does a person who never studied engineer really know about “a distillation process”. The facts and track record for JIM JONES talk for iself. HE WAS A HUGE $&@#%$ waste that costed our treasury trillions of dollars when he was ruling the industry in T&T. PNM bloggers believe in only them alone is good for T&T and the oppose is the very truth. They have always run down the quality of all our lives and it is time they ALL ride out into the sunset.

  12. This Newsblog promotes hatred and bigotry, serving no useful purpose in a multicultural society.

    1. “This Newsblog promotes hatred and bigotry, serving no purpose in a multicultural society.” Tman

      …That is of course UNLESS the Newsblog is sanctioned by a TEMPLE…right Tman…???…unless the blog is run and controlled by the UNCOPP and Indians…then it’s okay…right?? Kamla Persad Bissessar…former (6 months ago) PM of ‘multicultural’ T&T according to Tman…PUBLICLY ENDORSED Sat Maharaj…as Prime Minister Of T&T…and encouraged him to “keep talking….You speak for ‘US’ “…Sat Maharaj has a consistent reputation for decades and is perceived in T&T as David Duke is perceived in the U.S…David Duke and Nazis/Neo-Nazis’ ideology take wholesale inspiration and guidance from Sat & Kamla’s religion i.e. Brahmanism/’Hinduism’.
      AFTER Kamla PUBLICLY endorsed this man as a representative of of her and other indians/Brahmanists, 340,000 people voted FOR her!…in the U.S. Donald Trump is merely PERCEIVED to be supportive of David Duke because he dodged repudiating him…and look at how WHITE americans denounce him…in large numbers…I made this point in september…there is NO GOING BACK after september 7th…The Indian community gave a resounding Applause to THAT…soooo, 4he notion that African people should tip-toe around certain issues that affect them perpetrated by indians as a group, for fear of ‘disuniting’ the ‘multicultural’ society is LUDICROUS! Those 340,000 acts were public acts of Disunity…we aree already as a society Disunited!

  13. What does a $%%&&&& neighbour in T&T really know about another naighbour?

    That depends, obviously. In this case, I’m sure of what I say. Not only was he a next door neighbour at one point, I’ve known him my whole life.

    Now, if you have evidence that his McMaster’s degree (MSc Chem Engg.) is a fake, that is one thing and we can pursue that. In that case I would remain unpersuaded, but then check to see how and why you are mistaken. But you offer no basis whatsoever to support your defamation. That makes it in law an actionable libel. You have LIED before man and God. That may be forgiven, but not if you persist in it. And not if your INTENT is malicious, as it clearly is.

    This is a very easy matter to fact-check, btw. Write or call the University Registrar and ask. Until and unless you do so, please do not continue with this libel. Calling him “Jim Jones” is a futile obfuscation that will not help you before the court. And certainly not before a just God.

    As to distillation columns… As I said, my engineering specialty is not chem engg, but I have an engineering Ph.D. My concerns pertained to aspects in which I have some expertise, namely optimization and computer simulation modeling of dynamic processes.

    How little they know, who know only what their narrow discipline has taught them.

    Do you think a mass balance equation applies only to chem engg? There are analogues in other disciplines. As another example, I am not an elec engr, but I have studied electrical circuits, and can recognize the abstract ideas of resistance, capacitance and inductance in other application areas, including chem engg, micro-economics, even the acoustics of the steel pan. Can you?

    You show a smallness of mind, and everything else but a largeness of spirit.

    Nevertheless, I say

    Shalom.

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