MERRY CHRISTMAS & A BRIGHT AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

 There is so much bad or unpleasant news around (everywhere) that I thought that it might be better to close on a positive note. My wife started me on this by asking me 'what do you have to be grateful about?' When I started to think about it, I realized that the answer was 'a lot!' I am grateful, for example for my life; I am grateful for my wife and kids; I am grateful that, despite all the problems here at home, I am a Trini. I love living in this country. I am grateful that I have a roof over my head and that I (finally) paid off my mortgage; I am grateful for the rain that keeps my garden green and I am grateful for the warm sunshine; I am grateful for my friends. I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. 

So, I thought that with this - my last post for this  year - I would try to end on a positive note and ask you the same question that my wife did - what are you grateful for? You don't have to answer this to anybody but yourself, but hopefully it (the question) could serve to help you to appreciate what you have  just a little more. 

And so, I will close by wishing each and everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

;

TRAGEDIES

 On Monday last a PNM Minister of Government and her family were tragically killed in an early morning fire. But then it was reported, when criticisms were levied against the Trinidad & Tobago Fire Service (TTFS) for their poor and inadequate response, that the TTFS were  defending themselves by saying that there was an inadequate water supply at the time. And then the argument started. 

The (PNM) Minister of Public Utilities,  defending the Water & Sewage Authority (WASA), said that it was not true and that there had indeed been an adequate water supply. then a  "senior official of the TTFS told the Express ..." newspaper that there was in fact an inadequate water supply and that the water pressure was too low and that was why water trucks had to be brought in.

Now clearly somebody is lying. The Minister cannot weasel out of what he is reported to have said by saying that there was a supply of water (as opposed to an 'Adequate' supply). And then it is clear that the "senior TTFS official" cannot say anything else as he could, at worst lose his job, or be disciplined for challenging the Minister.

But a citizen, And her Husband, And her Children all lost their lives in this fire. Left unanswered is the question that (assuming always, but not accepting, that the lie is with the Minister) would the family have survived if the water problem had not existed? Frankly, it sounds to me that both sides are to blame for this tragedy - and that is itself a tragedy. But we'll probably never know! And that is another tragedy!

TROUBLE AHEAD

The coming year is going to be a tough one for us in T&T. Take a look at what is happening around the world - at least with our biggest trading partners:

First of all , there is the incoming President of the United States. Trump has promised to levy import tariffs of 25 percent on all goods coming into the States. This will affect not only the Canadians and the Mexicans, but the Europeans as well. Every thing is going to cost more as a result - especially down here. Then there is the problem of the war in Ukraine: Trump has promised to end it immediately. But he has little or no leverage with Russia which has to mean that he will put pressure on Ukraine by cutting off American aid - which amounts to billions! 

But who will that hurt the mist besides Ukraine? Answer - the American arms manufacturers. Most of the money that America gives to Ukraine is spent in the States on military equipment, while a small portion of it is spent in Europe. Ending the war abruptly as Trump has promised will cause the many arms manufacturers to shrink their spending as well as their staffs. In other words, costs as well as unemployment will rise. 

The United Kingdom also is in some turmoil, which is set to get worse as the new Labour Government finds that it can't keep their election promises. And France too has its problems. They have just fired their Prime Minister because of his budget and the confusion in that country is enormous.

And back home in T&T the PNM Government is facing all of these problems together with some of their own making. For example the Prime Minister has just given himself an 85 percent pay rise while telling public service workers that they can only get a 4 percent rise in pay! Dr. Rowley seeks to justify this enormous pay rise by saying that he didn't do it - it was the Salary Review Commission1 Unfortunately for him, nobody believes that line. It is more likely that the Prime Minister believes that he stands a good chance of losing the elections due next year and therefore is probably 'padding' his pension - a Prime Minister gets his salary for life!!

Unfortunately for the country the UNC has so far been unable to convince 'floating' voters that it has the answers or the necessary leadership to fix the problems. Clearly, the PNM message in the next elections due next year (2025) and that the UNC under its present leadership will only make things worse. The UNC will counter that by saying that they do have both the answers as well as the leadership to fix things. We'll soon find out who is able to sell its product more.

In the meantime prepare yourselves for hard times regardless as to who wins next year. Unfortunately, both sides seem to have forgotten the injunction: there is only one reason for politics -  there is only one reason for Government: To make life better for the people. There is NO other reason.

THAT FOREX ISSUE

 The question of access to forex (foreign exchange) is now dominating the local headlines. Whatever the reason, it is clear to all that there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Perhaps the biggest reason for this shortfall is probably the closure of Petrotrin and the failure of the Government to find a buyer for the plant. (Of course, the related issue of some 10,000 workers as a result of that closure is not a factor in this consideration.) But after this comes a whole host of other issues, e.g., the behaviour of the banks who seem to be making almost obscene profits and favouring their big clients for forex while "starving" the small ones. By the way, speaking of banks, has anybody noticed how difficult it has become to open an account? Or how long? In Canada, for example, it takes about an hour to open an account; here it can take weeks! Why? Whose fault is that?

There are other reasons such as, for example,  the amount of money going out every year for motor vehicles. I read somewhere I think it was in the Guardian) that the amount of foreign exchange for motor vehicles is somewhere in the billions (I can't remember the exact amount)! Now you can argue that the tax on cars is so high that the same car here in T&T costs approximately twice as much as it does in the United States. So, without a proper and reliable public transport system and therefore (the argument goes) the tax is already too high (if not high enough). But if there is a serious shortage of foreign exchange should we still be able to import new vehicles? 

I confess that I don't have all the figures in order to make an informed decision. I have, for example, heard arguments in favour of devaluation on the one hand and 'floating' our dollar on the other. Many of the arguments make sense; but what doesn't make sense is that we seem to be doing nothing about this crisis, choosing instead to ignore it. Is this a good way to handle it?

MAKING SENSE OF THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS

 

According to the National Literacy Institute(NLI) in the United States - a Federal Agency - approximately 54 percent of that country's adult population is functionally illiterate. And according to another US Government agency, the adult population of the USA is approximately262 million. In other words, a little more than 141 million people in the USA can barely read or write and have the educational capacity of a 10 year old. Of that number (141 million) approximately 24 percent is completely illiterate (or 34 million). 

It is hardly surprising therefore to see someone like Donald Trump win the election. For most people the big question was the economy. A functionally illiterate person could hardly understand all the other issues and nuances that the Democrats raised (eg., how a person convicted 34 times  of various crimes could still run for President). People were more concerned with their pockets and the amount of money they might or might not have at the end of the month. People weren't concerned about whether or not inflation had stopped causing prices to rise. All they knew or cared about was that life was less expensive in 2020. Put another way, it was no good trying to explain to them that Trump's policies had caused the problems in the first place.

Also the various pollsters got it wrong reporting a tight race when it became clear on polling day that it was anything but close! Here in T&T we could only listen to the news reports about the polls and draw conclusions from those reports. Except for the illiterate persons in our midst, we all would have been surprised by the Republican victory. Most of us would know and understand that politicians on all sides lie and don't always tell the truth; but most of us expect that the media will tell us fairly accurately what exactly is going on (with one or two exceptions). That didn't happen this time.  Clearly, the American electorate isn't ready - at least, not yet - for a woman to lead them, much less a woman of colour. 

So? What happens next? Its difficult to say. But Trump (or Drumpf, which was his grandfather's name) will shake up things - probably by going after undocumented immigrants first. This will cause adverse ripple effects that could destroy the American economy. Next, he'll probably give huge tax breaks to the wealthy. Thirdly, he'll probably cause the devaluation of the dollar as well as cause Government borrowing to increase.

There is an old saying: 'when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold'. Stock up now on your "cold medicines", because sure as night follows day our economy is going to cash when America's does.

'

"HERE"

 I read a most interesting article today that basically opined that it is extremely difficult to get someone to change his/her mind on a particular fact or issue. The article went on to argue that this 'attitude' (for want of a better word) is not confined to ill educated people. Indeed, the article argued that the more educated you are, the more difficult it becomes to get you to change your mind on anything.

So, I decided that for today only I will not write anything that could remotely be construed as trying to change your mind about anything and will talk instead about the latest Tom Hanks movie "Here" which my 22 year old son took me to see yesterday. I must confess that I was not keen to go and see it. Although I like Tom Hanks a lot as an actor and generally  have appreciated his various movies, I thought that this one might not be very entertaining. I couldn't have been more wrong!

The movie deals with the site of a particular property/house and the various changes that have taken place around it over the millennia, especially over the last 200 years or so with an emphasis on the present. While the scene changes from time to time, the view or perspective does not. Everything basically takes place in the movie in one room.

This got me to thinking about my own home in Maraval and the changes that have obviously taken place over the last 400 - 500 years. Now, I have absolutely NO evidence about what I am about to say. And cannot support anything that follows here with any facts or figures to support what I think or believe. 

I remember reading somewhere that there was an Ameridian village called Maraval located on the banks of the stream that we today call the Maraval River. It was located just where  Pizza Boys is in  present day Maraval. I also read somewhere that the shamans (priests) in these villages also lived  just a little outside of these villages that they "serviced".  The movie got me to thinking: I live on a hill just above Pizza Boys, Maraval - about 1 kilometer away. What if the shaman lived where my house is located? Or even in/on my property? What stories could the site of my property tell? (My house, by the way, although it has been renovated many times, is about 80-90 years old). What was the area in which I have lived for as long as I have owned the house (about 44 years) like before it was built? When I first bought my house there was a prep school just opposite. I have no idea when this school was built or what was there before. It was there and in operation when I bought my home/

So, if you find this interesting perhaps you would also be interested in the history of your own home and its surrounds. For example, "Sangre Grande" comes from Spanish and means literally "much blood". So? What exactly happened there for the town in East Trinidad to get that name? I read somewhere years ago that the Ameridians rose up in rebellion against the Spanish conquistadores and were literally wiped out in this spot (Sangre Grande). Is this true? What do you know about the place that you live in, or have lived in? What would you like to know about it?

Go and see the movie. If you find these questions interesting you will find the movie to be much more so than anything I might write here. 

THE RISING COST OF LIVING

 I had looked forward to what was probably the last budget of T&T's present Minister of Finance before the next elections due  by September of next year. I had wanted to know how exactly he was going to try to protect us from the ravages of worldwide inflation and the consequential rise of living worldwide. Frankly, being the Minister of Finance these days is  a very unwelcome task; it appears to me that there is not much that he can do. (Probably, the only task more difficult than his is that of Minister of National Security.) Everything is going up rapidly. We have two dogs and the cost of their food since the beginning of this year has gone up by about 30 percent! Even dog food has gone up!

Having said that, I more than half expected the Minister of Finance to be like the pharisee at the gates of the temple getting rid of his sins by crying "Korban". But he didn't do that! To be fair, he acknowledged that things were going to be difficult, but he believed that we will weather our present difficulties  and that things would improve  if it weren't for the pesky Opposition (who he blamed for all of our problems from flooding to a lack of foreign exchange and everything in between) conveniently forgetting that he has been in charge of our money and finances for the last nine years.

I suppose that his budget speech was 'par for the course' for a politician, but is that what we need right now? Is it really too much to hope that our politicians on BOTH sides remember that we put them in office to make OUR lives better rather than theirs?

Everything is costing more these days. Everything! I thought that the Opposition's collective response was weak - almost timid - and did not address the underlying problem that we as a nation are facing: the cost of living is rising and seems to be out of control. The politicians (on both sides) seem to have forgotten the one cardinal rule: there is only one rule for politics - only one rule for Government: to make life better for the people! Full stop! With the obvious (few) exceptions, none of us are better off. And what do you think that they are going to do about it?

CLIMATE CHANGE

 After seeing the devastation caused by two hurricanes, one after the other, in Florida, it is only a completely unread person or one who willfully buries his head in the sand in the hope of getting some personal gain (like former President Trump) who will not confess that he/she is (or ought to be) concerned about climate change. 

All the experts are saying that a major contributor of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels. And those experts are also saying that while the United States is a big contributor to this, every little contribution to prevent climate change helps.

Which comes to T&T and our contributions to this problem - which I understand to be a big fat zero! I say this because I haven't seen one locally written article about the danger that we are facing in the world about climate change. I say this because I haven't heard one politician of any party raise this issue . I say this because there seems to be a total unawareness of the problem in this country. I say this because all of our electricity is generated by the burning of fossil fuels. The attitude seems to be "we are too small to make any meaningful difference", which, of course, is nonsense. Every little bit helps but most people in this country are blissfully unaware of the problem facing the world as a whole , and T&T in particular.

Leadership is not always about taking popular positions on any particular matter, but also about trying to influence thought. Climate change is going to affect us soon - probably sooner rather than later. It will affect amongst other things, global food production, and temperatures that will be most unpleasant to put up with. It will affect rainfall -either too much or too little - and it will affect our children's ability to have a good life. Heck! It might even affect whether we or our children are able to stay alive!

No. the sooner that we start to make our own little contributions and sacrifices, the better. Climate change is a whole world problem, and the last time that I looked we were part of this world and not only affected by the problem, but have been actively contributing to it. The worst part is that not only do we seem to be doing nothing about it, but we seem to be totally and completely unaware of it.

IS T&T IN THE THROES OF A BRAIN DRAIN?

 My 22 year old son recently returned from Canada and asked me why there were so few young people his age in T&T. He said that he had noticed that there were very few young people his age in the country while there were a lot of kids aged zero to about 18. After he had told me this I decided to conduct my usual very unscientific survey and discovered that he was right; there is a dearth of young people here in T&T from about 18 to about 35.

While it is probably true that a lot of them have gone away to study, it is also probably true that a lot of these young people are simply not returning home preferring to take the cold and living far away from their families because they believe that they will be better off in, say Canada, then here at home in T&T. Put another way, it is likely that they believe that they will have more opportunities with a higher standard of living throughout, than here at home.

Now, if my analysis is correct then the logical conclusion is that we are in the throes of a devastating brain drain that will adversely affect the country because the best and the brightest of our young people are simply not coming back. We can't afford to keep losing our young people like this.

SHOULD WE GIVE MORE POWER TO THE PEOPLE?

 In 1919 a Supreme Court Justice in the United States called Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the well known phrase about shouting  'fire' in a crowded cinema or theatre. He was basically arguing that there has to be a limit to free speech and despite the fact that most democracies (like T&T) have a constitutional provision that guarantees free speech, this provision ought to have (and often does have) limitations. For example the law of defamation ensures that you cannot say something that isn't true (such as 'X killed Y') unless you can prove it even though you might believe it to be true.

But in the American State of Ohio they have a most interesting twist on this. In Ohio any citizen who feels aggrieved  about something (such as the lies that Trump -or Drumpf as his grandfather was called  before he 'Amercanised' his name- and his running mate J.D. Vance, have propagated against the Haitian community) that somebody has said can file a criminal complaint against that person asking a judge to hold them criminally liable. The complaint must show evidence of the untruths.

In case you might have missed it both Drumpf (I refuse to call him 'Trump') and Vance have said that legal Haitian immigrants are stealing people's pets and eating them! As ridiculous as this sounds both of these guys have repeated this outrageous claim. Putting it simply, this rhetoric is racist and ought to be condemned for reasons that (hopefully) are clear and obvious.

So? The question arises: do we have politicians (from both sides of the political divide) who use coded (and sometimes not so coded) rhetoric to fan the flames of racism?  Do we need a law, such as in Ohio, which would allow an aggrieved citizen to bring criminal charges against  a politician when the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions neglects and/or refuses to take action against persons who may be making dangerous comments? There have been quite a few complaints over the years about the DPP letting offensive and racist statements go by the board. Are these complaints with or without foundation?

Maybe it's time that we gave a little more power to the people.  Perhaps we should look at what Ohio has done. A lot of our laws were written by our former colonial masters. That doesn't make them right.

THE GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS FOR A CASHLESS SOCIETY

 The TT Government has proposed through its Minister of Finance that the country should go cashless. At first without thinking I thought that this might be a good idea. But then I started thinking, who exactly will benefit from the country going cashless? Answer: the banks. Let me give you an example: let's say that I go now to get my haircut and I pay the barber with a $100 bill. He puts it in his pocket and then uses it to pay, say, his grocery bill. The grocery store owner then uses it to pay a supplier - and so on, My original $1oo bill is used umpteen times.

So? What happens every time my original debt of $100 is paid via, say, Linx? Somebody (usually the payee - the person receiving the money) is charged 1.5% by his/her bank. If you multiply this out you will see that my original $100 has been consumed by the bank (or banks).

So again I ask: who benefits? Probably the question should be: who benefits besides the banks? And yet the very powerful Minister of Finance thinks that going cashless is the way to go! Why?

Makes you think, doesn't it? Why does he think that this is a good idea? Indeed, all sorts of questions and suspicions arise - some of them invite downright defamatory answers and some of the suspicions are (beside being defamatory) downright unreasonable. Yet the basic question "why'" remains unanswered.

If politics and government is about making life better for the people, in one sentence (because if you can't say it in one sentence you can't say it at all) why do you think that you will be better off by the country going cashless?

THAT PARIA "INVESTIGATION" - A QUESTION OF RACE?

 Tucked in a corner on page 15 of the Express of Tuesday 10yh September, 2024 was a story about the 3 divers who had lost their lives some 4 years ago while doing a job for Paria Fuel Trading Co. Ltd. in Pointe-a-Pierre. What struck me about this story is that the so-called "investigation" into the men's deaths is still going on! I mean, how long does it take to do such an investigation? From all the newspaper reports at the time it seemed that the facts were fairly straight forward:

Four men were on a job working for Paria under the sea. 

There war an accident and the men were trapped. One managed to escape.

No rescue mission was mounted or allowed to be mounted. According to newspaper reports authorities actually intervened to prevent a rescue.

The men died when their oxygen ran out some 4 days after the accident.

Now, all of this is from the newspaper reports at the time. So? It seems a fairly simple  matter. And yet, there has been no conclusion to the alleged "investigation" some 4 years after the accident and absolutely no compensation has been paid to the families of the men who died.

By the way, all the men who were killed as well as the one who escaped were of Indian extraction. All of the people who make  or are supposed to make  or authorize the "investigation" are black (or  of African extraction). Is that a coincidence? If it was the other way around would it still be okay that the "investigation" has taken this long and no compensation whatsoever has even been offered to be paid to the families of the victims? Putting it bluntly, is race behind what is clearly an unacceptable situation? If you think that this is a stretch, then can you offer a different and logical explanation? Is anybody responsible for this accident? Is it unreasonable for persons to conclude that race has played a part in the delay? 

Who exactly is responsible for the delay for concluding the "investigation"? Because, at the end of the day, it will be one person. What is his/her race? We are always hesitant as a society to cry "race", but sometimes if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck then its kind of obvious that it is a duck. 

"DON'T BLAME ME"

 The Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, is reported in today's Trinidad Guardian as saying that he is not to blame for the high (and still rising) crime rate. Instead he says in essence that the ones to blame are the criminals who are committing the crimes. Anybody reading this is bound to say 'duh'. Of course the criminals are the ones committing the crimes and are the ones to blame. and in the end, whoever is doing the crime  (whatever it might be) is responsible for doing it.

BUT (and it is a big "but")  who is responsible for enforcing the laws against murder, rape, robbery etc. Isn't it the person who is ultimately in charge of everything? And under our system of government, isn't that person the head of the Government? Isn't Doctor Rowley the head of the Government? So, if he is not responsible then who is? Nobody?

Who appoints the sergeants, the captains the assistant commissioners of police, the Commissioner of Police, the Minister of National Security? and so on? Do you get the point? and if the chain of authority goes all the way up, where is it supposed to end? Isn't it supposed to end with the guy (or gal) in charge of the whole 'kit and kaboodle? And who is that supposed to be?

Instead of saying 'don't blame me' the Prime minister could and should be reporting on how many criminals are being caught and punished for their crimes. After all, isn't the absolute best deterrent against crime is the fear of getting caught? If not, what is?

HOW WILL AN AMERICAN CIVIL WAR AFFECT US? WILL THERE BE A CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES??

 Believe it or not, the answer to these questions will affect not only citizens of the United States , but Canada, Mexico AND Trinidad and Tobago. As things stand at the moment , my bet is that Kamala Harris will beat Donald Trump in the Presidential election coming on 5th November - and that is where the trouble will start. You see, Trump (or Drumpf which was his family's name before his father changed it to sound more 'American') has indicated quite clearly that the only way he could lose the coming election will be if the authorities in the States all conspire to cheat him out of the Presidency.

And this is despite there being not one iota of evidence produced either by him or his supporters over his identical allegations over his loss in 2020. But the lack of any kind of evidence never stopped Mr. Trump (or Drumpf)  from making the allegations any way. And this time around he has a lot of people who are lining up to say he can't' lose! 

Normally, this type of stupidity wouldn't matter. Most people would dismiss the allegations for the nonsense and lies that they are and go about their daily business. But the polls in the U.S. are showing that a lot of people - too many, in fact - are buying into these totally unfounded allegations and are willing to believe them. 

So? How does this affect us down here in T&T? Well, if Harris wins and Drumpf -sorry, I meant Trump - loses, there could easily be civil war in the United States. This would result in everybody - Democrats as well as Republicans - being caught up in the ensuing confusion. This confusion in our country's largest (by far) trading partner will result in untold damage being done to us. For example, US dollars could lose much of their value overnight. And our dollar is fixed in value to the US dollar. If the US dollar loses value, so will ours. Both our imports as well as our exports will be affected.

War is never a healthy option and an American civil war could affect us adversely in all kinds of ways. The awful thing is that we can't do a damned thing about it.

FIXING CRIME (Part Two)

 In my last post I attempted to show as dramatically as possible the basic unfairness of our society and hoe an accident of birth could affect one's life. How to fix this and make life a little fairer is the major question facing us now. Perhaps one way of fixing our terrible crime problem and making life a little fairer would be to revise our education system completely.

In order to do this I would start by revising teacher's salaries completely. I think that a starting salary for a teacher is around TT$6,000. (I don't know this but believe it to be more or less accurate.) I would start by trebling all teacher's salaries, so that if you are making, say, $25,000 per month, your new salary would be now $75,000 per month.

But (and here is the 'kicker') this new salary would come with conditions. If you wanted the new salary you would have to sign a new contract that eliminated completely any of your old rights and benefits. Also, at the end of every school year you would have to undergo an assessment test which, if you failed, would result in your immediate dismissal with absolutely no benefits whatsoever. No extra monies for dismissal. Nothing. You either perform or you get thrown out - full stop!

Then, all teachers would get the same salary regardless of the schools that they were assigned to. In other words, no more 'prestige schools'. (Have you noticed, by the way, that the same teachers that are complained about now are the same ones who parents employ for private lessons?)

The whole idea is to create  a fairer system - one that gives everybody an equal chance.

I can hear you say that the union would never accept this and would 'kick brass'. My answer to the union would be that if anybody wanted the new pay then he/she would have to accept the new terms, The old terms would still apply and there would be no changes. But if you wanted the new salary, then you would have to guarantee your performance as a teacher. No guarantee, then no new salary. 

Well, that's my idea. What do you think?