Why would I write that? There's a problem with the data. Both articles referencing the investigation (linked above) say that the Prime Minister was aware of the investigation that started in September of 2009. Yet in Patrick Manning's 45 documented defenses of Calder Hart, he defended Calder Hart after the investigation was underway:
Then, in Parliament on October 21, 2009, Manning defended Hart, casting him as a public official caught up in a battle between the Prime Minister and his detractors during debate on a bill to validate the proceedings of the Uff Commission of Inquiry.
Hitting out at what he called the “tyranny of the lynch mob” he said, “They want to get Calder Hart but let me tell you it is not Calder Hart. It is not Udecott. It is the Prime Minister and the Government that is what they are after!” While the ex-husband of Hart’s wife Sherrine, Carl Khan, had come forward five months earlier to corroborate Maharaj’s allegations, Manning said of those who took Khan’s allegations seriously, “They are not interested in the truth, they prefer to rely on the evidence of a jilted lover.” {Read more}
The happenings here in Trinidad and Tobago, now with (or without) Hart and with (or without) Property Tax Reform and with (or without) a true change in Opposition, amongst the happenings in my personal life, have me in the frame of mind where I am compelled to write about the elephant - or in T&T, the Manicou - in the middle of the room.
Inertia.
If there is a tone of displeasure here, it is warranted from this writer's perspective. How is it that the face of the country has changed so little for me over the decades? In speaking with one journalist a few weeks ago, my observations were echoed by someone who had more insight into what has been happening over the decades here than I. The faces rarely change, the problems remain the same, and the sliding scale of what is celebrated has slid below mediocrity.
I may sound negative, but isn't it somewhat odd that the country takes the day off when the national football team comes back from the World Cup after being eliminated, having scored only one goal - against themselves? I used to say that was celebrating mediocrity, but it isn't. It's celebrating less than mediocrity. It's a celebration of stagnation; a simple wave of enthusiasm was what was celebrated - a simple hope that something would change. Maybe I am become old and jaded. I am unimpressed with the idiocies tossed around like a dead shuttlecock in Parliament and in the rumshops. I have shaken my head over the years as I have seen more and more money poured into bad ideas - ideas that were so patently bad that even John Q. Mediocrity shook his head with the next nip of puncheon. {Read more}
...Nunez-Tesheira also explained in the same interview that Government decided to extend the deadline for the non-payment of property tax from September 15 to December 31, for this first year.
’March 31 is the date by which the bills must go out and then from September 15, penalties would accrue. We expect that we would be able to send out all the property tax bills during the month of April...and since we are extending the period for payment through the month of April, we are extending the deadline for the penalty to December 31.’
She added that Government was collecting a lot of data coming from two systems that were running parallel to each other- the Land and Building system and the Municipal and Regional Corporation system...
'Running parallel', to an external observer, might hint at 'redundant system' - but in a country where a fair amount of houses aren't in the Land and Building system and the Municipal and Regional Corporation system can be decades behind (I know, personally) - there's a lot of work that needs to be done. And, from what I understand, the systems are incompatible since Town and Country approvals don't deal in assessment numbers or deed numbers. Seriously. {Read more}
Yes, yes, it's old news. Calder Hart left. And every headline is as punny as possible (including this one) because there was a twisted sense of humour that created and defended the Hart a total of 45 times. When I heard the news on Saturday, I had better things to do than write about something that I predicted: I told many people that it was O'Halloran all over again. Perhaps the problem is that Trinidad and Tobago doesn't have sufficient history for Trinbagonians to study, thus they don't, thus they repeat it.
And, of course, the PNM isn't held in great esteem now - and neither is the man occupying the Honourable Office of Prime Minister, Patrick Manning (note the placement of Honourable). So what now? Calder Hart resigned, left and... umm... everyone has something to say.
Yesterday, I took some people down to the Siparia District Revenue Office to get part of their form required for water connection filled out. And the office was closed. A sign on the door said that the Siparia District Revenue Office we were at would be closed as of December 31st, 2009 and told people to go visit the Siparia District Revenue Office - without any form of direction. It ends up that the office wasn't closed, but the sign is there to confuse people.
We met others who wanted to get things done at the District Revenue Office. Tired of no answers, I walked to the building behind and talked to the security who - in their infinite wisdom - told people that they should listen to the news since the people employed by the District Revenue Office were 'on strike'. If you want any information in Trinidad and Tobago, talk to the security guards. It seems that they know everything, and for a little power to demean others they will willingly disburse information.
The day was lost. But I did recall hearing something about the strike - thankfully abbreviated from the 'industrial action' used way too often. I came across this video this morning (hat tip to Margaret Rose), and it gives an interesting - and in my opinion, correct - perspective of what Trinidad and Tobago government has been doing as a whole. That it's on the Internet is inspiring, that Om Lalla and P.S.A President Watson Duke hit the issue so well should become viral.
Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with Ms. Marsha, an Attorney here in San Fernando that deals with conveyances. She's originally from Barbados; at 75 years young I imagine that she has many stories to share (we discussed that as well). Once the business aspects were completed, we spoke for a while about dates as references for numbers.
We spoke of the 1812 Overture, of 1942 (the Battle of Midway), and assorted other things. And because we were discussing World War II, which she lived through attached to her father's radio playing the BBC's London Calling, we ended up talking about the ship that was sank. The HMS Cornwallis.
She spoke of people diving for the supplies on the ship that were destined for Trinidad and Tobago - and how it's quite possible that everyone on Barbados at the time had something from the Cornwallis. An insult, she said, was to be accused of wearing 'Cornwallis shoes' or 'Cornwallis clothing'. An interesting piece of Bajan culture that would otherwise be lost in the sands of time. {Read more}
I sat across from an attractive female academic not too long ago as she asked me about helping her find a USB mass storage device for her Apple laptop. Trinidad and Tobago, of course, is a small market - and the people who bring down hardware bring what is most likely to sell. And Apple compatibility is really not as big of a draw as the typical Apple user may think. The majority of the market in Trinidad and Tobago uses the PC platform - so when people bring in computing paraphernalia, it's basically for the PC platform.
It wasn't too long ago that a Bajan friend had problems with Apple- you can read about it here and here - but to save you the trouble of clicking the links, I can simply tell you that reading it will make you think different of Apple. But really, it is just life in a small market.
It doesn't just mean Apples and oranges. Automotive parts for vehicles pre-abused foreign ('foreign used', aka 'foreign abused') vehicles are known for unavailability of parts, black licorice is an oddity instead of a commodity and the author has pondered selling his soul for a pack of Nutter Butter cookies at some times. It isn't to say that there isn't some demand for these items - it's that, relatively speaking - there isn't enough demand for such items. One day they will be on a shelf somewhere, and when they are found they aren't reordered because the businesspeople involved don't necessarily want their money tied up on dusty shelves.
Magazines arrive 2 weeks late. Bookstores and music stores are subject to the ordering taste and whims of the owners of the stores. {Read more}
Is it the right tack? Some may not think so. Lets consider a parallel. Let us consider broadcast rights in sports.
In sports, media companies are granted rights to broadcast and rebroadcast a sporting event - be it the Olympics, the Super Bowl, cricket, tennis, etc. A key difference between carnival and sport is that sports broadcasts are typically of people getting paid to move a ball from one place to another. This is not to diminish their ability with balls - it is in fact because they are so good with moving balls around that they get paid. Carnival, on the other hand, has people who have paid to play mas (for foreigners, that means dancing and prancing in costumes some deem artistic).
Thus, the very basis of the parallel is skewed: Sports broadcasts are of people who are typically paid to play with balls. Carnival broadcasts are typically of people who paid to play themselves. The balls joke was too easy. {Read more}
I would just like to point out that I'm supporting Gayelle here in Trinidad, that someone suing for coverage of what is labeled a cultural event is reprehensible.
I'd like to see everyone who was pictured or videoed under CNMG's copyright say that they signed a document stating that CNMG could exclusively display their images and videos for profit. Let me get this straight: people pay to play in bands, then the state owned enterprise CNMG takes the images of the people who spent money and profits from them?
Copyright. The government has taken a state owned corporation and made it in charge of commercial interests of Carnival - that's basically excising private enterprise and putting it in the hands of government. So the content that is owned by the State Owned Enterprise would belong to the government of Trinidad and Tobago which is supposed to be holding it in trust of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. What a brilliant way for the government to make money and assure more control of media in Trinidad and Tobago. A stupid tax with the capacity for censorship through a state run enterprise.
Hitler would be so proud! Not only getting the propaganda machine up but having the people subsidize it with their own spending on costumes, etc. {Read more}
Out of the blue, a message on the Trinidad and Tobago Drupal Group caused an impromptu meeting at Haagen Daz, Gulf City, here in Trinidad and Tobago. Being used to just Shivan Jaikaran and myself as being the Drupal-folk in Trinidad and Tobago, I was pleasantly surprised that there are many more of us.
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