SHUBH DIVALI

There are by my (very wild) guess at least a billion Hindus in the world. Whether or not this guess is accurate does not take away from the fact that Hinduism is one of the most important religions of the world. Indeed, here in T&T its importance is recognized by a public holiday. In T&T Hindus account for about 45 percent of the population and the fact that its importance was not recognized in the "good" old colonial days, did and does not (and should not) diminish its importance.

My understanding of Divali is that it represents the triumph of light over darkness and that it is traditionally held on one of the darkest nights of the year. Whether or not my understanding is correct, the fact is that it is right and proper for all of us to pay respect to and honour this great religion on one of its  most important days  of the year. Happy Divali to all.

Shubh Divali.

ARE THE BANKS REALLY A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES?

 it doesn't feel like a big thing, but gradually - ever so gradually - the banks in this country are collectively  making life more difficult for all of us. What am I talking about? let me give you a very smn small example:

My balance has gone completely "wonky". It is now extremely difficult, and almost close to impossible, to do ordinary things like get out of a chair. Standing up for even a moment is almost impossible. When my balance first started going "off" I went to my doctor who told me that nothing short of an operation on my brain could stop the problem - and there was no guarantee that it would solve it, Unsurprisingly, I turned i t down  down preferring to live with the problem than having somebody operate on my brain. I  am a lawyer. for crying out loud!  What could I do to make MY life better? I thought that perhaps the answer lay in giving somebody that I trusted implicitly a general power of attorney, so that my attorney could handle everything for ne while I was still alive. So said, so done. I gave my wife my power of attorney and arranged for her to be able to sign all of my accounts - both  business and personal. So you can imagine my great surprise when I was told that I had to go in person to collect my  new debit card, 

Why? 

Apparently, the bank feels that they are protecting me, despite the fact that the power of attorney which I gave to my wife is registered and is valid. According to the bank they don't feel that they have to follow or accept the law, Basically, they are saying that the law is whatever they say that it is..

 So the next time that a lawyer advises you to give someone a power of attorney be aware that there are those who feel that they don't have to accept it. And this applies to everything else as well, the law is whatever the banks say that it is - and they are free to change it at any time..

Perhaps I should add a little post script - the bank in question was RBC Royal Bank and the head of tits legal department was too busy to speak to me. (The manager of the branch (Maraval) was very nice but she could do nothing 

And this advice goes for everything else else as  well.

MABURRO vs. DRUMPF

 My wife asked me this  morning about how I felt about the Americans flying their war planes over Venezuela. The question got me to thinking. You see, it is a truism that countries don't have friends - they have interests. So? What interest could the Americans have under President Drumpf  (the misspelling is deliberate)? I guess that it could be argued that Maburro's  (again, the misspelling is deliberate) policies are creating  a national security problem for the USA because something like 10 million Venezuelans have fled their country and settled in the United States because of the Donkey's terrible policies. That is about one third of the population who have fled their country. Here in T&T we have also been affected by the Donkey's policies  thus creating for us  an economic problem.

But there is a counter argument to that , which says that what Drumpf is doing sets a very bad precedent for both the Region and the world. If, the argument goes, the Americans don't like a particular regime they can and will remove it regardless.

This argument is also valid. Certainly, the argument against Drumpf is that it is, amongst other things, against international law which says that a people should be free to choose their own leaders.

The obvious problem here is that the Venezuelans under Maburro cannot be described as 'free'. Indeed, Maburrro cheated in the last election which was anything but free and which he lost by a huge margin but still hung on to power.

So? Do two wrongs make a right in this case? Its difficult to answer dispassionately. On the one hand it is clear that Maburro should be removed as quickly as possible. On the other hand, it is difficult (if not impossible) to justify Drumpf's actions.

My own feeling is that (a) the Americans are engaging in actions that cannot be justified in law, BUT  = and it is a big |but| (b) the sooner Maburro is dethroned the better, for both Venezuela and the Region, In other words, Maburro should be forced to go - one way or the other.  What do you think?