CRYING 'KORBAN'

 The Judith Jones report on the continuing abuse of children was laid in Parliament a month ago and NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE.  A few days ago I took a bet with myself that nothing would be done ... and unfortunately it looks as though I will have won (or lost) my bet.  The Guardian is reporting  the Acting Commissioner of Police  today (Thursday 26th May) as saying that  "the investigative team is in the early stage of doing the investigation and yes some persons have come forward and given statements, but have not identified persons within these homes that they can recommend to be removed immediately from the homes, that is ongoing".

Really? So what exactly are the police doing? Because it sounds like they are sitting in their airconditioned offices waiting for people to come to them. It doesn't sound as if they have visited any of the homes in question nor conducted any confidential interviews with any of the victims, nor  does it sound as if the ACP is overly concerned about this. Certainly, there are many who have very, very strong suspicions that children are still being abused. Now, assuming that this is true, what does it say about those whose responsibility it is to put an IMMEDIATE STOP to the abuse? I would use words like monsters, hypocrites, criminals, crooks, selfish and self-centered, dishonest, along with a host of others that are unprintable. But a whole week has passed and nothing has been done! Why? Do you want to bet if some big wig's child was involved that somebody would be in custody by now? Is it that 'little people' don't count? Or is it that children don't vote? Or is somebody high up protecting somebody? What is it? Don't we deserve an answer? My bet with myself is that absolutely nothing will happen.

It is absolutely incredible and most unforgivable that almost two weeks have passed (not to mention twenty-five years) since this scandal exploded into the public consciousness and NOTHING has been done as yet!! What are the names of those who have the responsibility? What are the names (all the names) of the people who work in these homes? What are their positions? Why don't we publicize all the names and then let's see what happens next? 

And it is very wrong that the politicians on both sides continue to throw stones at each other and ignore the festering sores created by the abuse instead of dealing with what is happening now! I am of the view that after we have fixed the problem then we can throw blame at this politician, or that politician, or the other politician. But we need to fix the problem first. This is what is urgent!  And , unbelievably, what seems to be more on the minds of the politicians on BOTH sides is that it is YOUR fault (whoever 'your' might be). Oh crikey, just fix it! You don't argue about who started a fire when it is raging out of control. Your first move is to put it out. After the fire is out then you can argue about whose fault it was. And if the Acting Commissioner of Police can't fix it then get somebody else who can and who will start protecting the children immediately. But let's not be like the pharisee who gets rid of his sins by standing at the gates of the temple and crying 'korban',  because that is exactly what we are doing! And the abuse is not stopping.

TOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

In the Sunday Guardian of today (22nd May, 2022) the Acting Commissioner of Police is reported as saying that he only got a copy of the Sabga report on Thursday last (19th May, 2022) and that his "investigation" has begun and he has ordered it to take place within a very short time - three months or less!! To which I can only say a loud 'WHAT'? Three months to "investigate" this report is a reasonable and short time? Before I start to curse, tell me, does anybody reading this believe that children are STILL being abused? Or do you think that the abuse has stopped? 

If (like me) you still believe that children are being abused, do you believe that we should have to wait for another three months for Mr. Jacob to complete his "investigation"? Do you believe that anything will come out of this "investigation"? Do you think that anybody of any significance is going to go to jail for his/her part in this scandal? Or do you believe that Mr. Jacob is simply kicking the can down the road in the hope that it will simply go away as so many scandals have done before? Do you, for example, think that it was reasonable for the Acting CoP to receive the Sabga report only on Thursday 19th May when the scandal erupted with an Express newspaper report some four days earlier on Sunday 15th May? Who was supposed to send it to him? And why did it take FOUR days to be sent? Is this what we call in this country "acting with dispatch"? 

Why does everybody that I talk to believe that nothing will happen? Why does everybody that I talk to believe that the abuse of children is still going on in these homes? Why is the Acting CoP dragging his heels over this one? In any case, why is this 25 year old report now being "investigated", seemingly for the first time, by the police? Why?

There are too many questions and too many obvious 'cover-ups'. But nobody is asking the hard questions. I guess they just don't want the hard answers. So Trinidad & Tobago will continue with no accountability for or by the well-connected. And nobody will be blamed for anything. And as for the children? Well, they simply will never get justice in this life. You can be sure of that!

THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: TO BOYCOTT OR NOT TO BOYCOTT

 

I would have a lot more sympathy with those who are calling (rather loudly) for a boycott of the Summit of the America's  if Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are not allowed to attend or are not invited. You see, these three countries are ruled by bloody and ruthless dictatorships, and if the Summit of the America's is to mean anything, those loudly calling for a boycott should also be calling for these three countries to become proper democracies and to free their peoples from the nasty boots of the dictators. But the critics of the Americans are keeping very silent on this point ... which, at the end of the day, is the only point.

You can't have it both ways: either you are about freedom and justice for everybody or you are not. It is very easy to sit in your comfortable, airconditioned office and drink coffee and criticize the evil United States and then jump on a plane for Miami to enjoy the so-called evils of the world's strongest democracy and go shopping or whatever else you might want to do. 

It is very easy to criticize the Americans. They are far from perfect, make a lot of mistakes, and at the end of the day they are really about their own interests. But the fact is that however bad you might think that they are and whatever sins you might wish to ascribe to them (of which they are probably and more than likely guilty) the fact is that if given a choice of whether to live in the States or, say, Cuba, you will ten times out of ten opt for America. Nobody wants to live in a dictatorship (unless you are the dictator.

But those who are so loudly critical of the USA keep amazingly silent on the ills of the brutal regimes that are inflicting so much misery on their citizenry and they certainly don't want to live in any of those places where their citizens have been fleeing in the millions. 

 And it is clear that what is sauce for the goose simply isn't sauce for the gander. I would be in favour of admitting the Cubans et al to the Summit, BUT I would in the next breath demand that all those who are threatening a boycott in the name of freedom apply that sentiment to Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and criticize them as fiercely as they are now criticizing the United States. Any bets that the critics will say absolutely nothing about the lack of freedom in these countries?

And although it is not a "big thing" for most people who live in this part of the world, it is a big thing for those unfortunate enough to have to live in those countries because they have absolutely no choice. But you don't see that in the headlines, do you? Talk about dishonesty and hypocrisy!!

RE-OPENING THE SCHOOLS NOW

 It is not often that I think that the Rowley Government has done something right, but when evidence seems to point to them doing so, it is only right and proper that we acknowledge that they have done so. What I am talking about is the decision to reopen schools for the last two months of the school year. I have seen arguments, which quite frankly tended to sway me in their favour, that it would have been better to reopen the schools in September. The argument in essence was that re-opening them now was placing an unnecessary hardship on the parents as far as finance was concerned and that the kids could simply continue to learn online as they have been doing for what feels like an eternity. The children, so the argument goes, would not be suffering any great loss if they continued with the online learning for two more months.

But (and here it comes) a recent study in the United States conducted over a two year period showed that approximately twenty percent of those students who attended in person classes for most of the last (2020 - 2021) school year lost about twenty percent of their maths skills. BUT students who stayed home fared much worse:  they lost about fifty percent of their maths skills over the same period.

Now, I'm fairly certain that despite what anyone says now, that no such study has been done in T&T and that those in charge did not know about this study.. But it is not unreasonable to assume that the results of the American study will and can apply to other countries. This means that whether by design (which is most unlikely based on this Government's past performance) or happy circumstance they were right to reopen the schools now. And if that is the case, we should all applaud that particular decision whether we were lucky or not. It stands to reason that the sooner we can get the kids back in class the better if you accept the results of the study. 

And at the end of the day, what we all should be concerned about is what is best for the children. And whether or not the Rowley Government knew about this or they didn't know is irrelevant. It certainly appears from the American study that re-opening as quickly as possible is/was best for the kids. We can indulge in pendanticism when the election comes around. Until then let's 'give Jack his jacket'. Re-opening as soon as possible was the right decision for the children. Next point! Because we should be primarily concerned with what is best for the children. everything else is just fluff. Stick to the point and you will understand the problem.