VENEZUELA AND THE LOCAL MEDIA - WHY?

 On Thursday last (9th January) there was a massive Opposition demonstration in Caracas. The people were protesting against the coming inauguration on Friday January 10th of Nicholas Maburro  (and yes, the misspelling is deliberate - the man is a donkey). I was able to watch a lot of the demonstration on You Tube. At the demonstration the leader of the Venezuelan opposition spoke and was detained shortly after she had finished. She was released after about two hours. The protests were about the blatant theft of the election by Maburro.

Now, my wife is Venezuelan and I obviously have a very personal interest in what goes on in our neighbour to the West. So I switched over to CNN and then to BBC. On both channels there was endless reporting and commentary about the devastating wild fires in Los Angeles but not a word on Venezuela. Well, I understood that; the fires are big news in the United States, which makes it big news around the world. And the terrible devastation in California needed to be reported on - indeed, it still needs to be reported on.

But that is not my point. The point which I wish to draw your attention to is that not a word on the Venezuelan unrest was reported in our local media and I have to ask, why? Approximately 10 million people out of a population of approximately 30 million have fled the country. If one third of the population of a country leaves a brutal dictatorship is not news then what is? Especially when we in little T&T are being affected by the donkey's repressive policies? 

But not a 'boo' was heard, not a single report! Why not? It can't be that the local media didn't know about the huge demonstration in Caracas. But  the local media chose not only to down play it but to ignore it altogether! Why?  Was it because of ignorance or incompetence? Was it because they are too lazy to get the news as to what is happening in the world other than in Ukraine and the United States? Was it because they didn't want to show people how many genuinely oppose Maburro despite the support for him from Prime Minister designate Stuart Young? Why?  Why do ugly and (what should be) unnecessary suspicions arise over the media's continued ignoring of the plight that ordinary Venezuelans face from Maburro's dictatorship and outright theft? Why?

Dictatorship can creep up in many forms. If we continue to ignore the donkey's machinations next door what will happen, do you think, if we follow the same road?

THE TROUBLED APPOINTMENT OF STUART YOUNG

 I received an opinion in What's App from a friend of mine. In essence, he argued that there was nothing in the Constitution that prevents a sitting Prime Minister to resign as Prime Minister and move to the back benches while remaining as Prime Minister. I agree with this interpretation, but (and there's always a "BUT" isn't there?) The President chooses as Prime Minister the person who IN HER OPINION is best able to command a majority in the House of Representatives. Now, having regard to all that has been reported if the dissident PNM M.P.'s who voted against Stuart Young by a very narrow margin were to combine with the Opposition in a vote of no confidence then the only way out will be a General Election.

Of course, they (the dissidents) will be hoisted on a petard of Rowley's making in that if they vote against the Motion of no Confidence they will be condemned by their Party for allowing this confusion to happen in the first place and if they vote for the Motion then they'll have to contend with the fact that they forced an early election which the Party might well lose. Either way, they have a real problem especially as an election is due by September. In the meantime, The President could have a problem in that she can't be certain that Mr. Young will have majority support.

Perhaps the best way out for the PNM is not to call an election until they think they are ready by not having any sessions of Parliament for the next 6 months.

No matter what the old curse "May you live in interesting times" is clearly alive and well.

YOUNG FOR PRIME MINISTER? Part 2

 Well, so far it seems that I am losing my bet with myself that the PNM will never choose Stuart Young as their leader. It seems that the whispers that I picked up on Monday were true in that the  support for Mr. Young to be leader of the PNM were true. The latest whispers are that there was a certain amount of 'bribery' (for  want of a better word) in that certain people were promised certain things if they supported Mr. Young. Is this true? I haven't the foggiest idea. My sources are the same as on Monday when I got the word that this was Dr. Rowley's plan before it was announced.

Now, having got the support of the Parliamentary caucus behind him (the reports are 11 in favour with 9 against) the next step will be the General Council. If Mr. Young wins there then he will be the next Prime Minister whenever Dr. Rowley chooses to step down. So what could happen next?

First of all, understand that a Prime Minister is chosen by the President from the person who in the opinion of the President is likely to be able to command a majority IN THE HOUSE Of REPRESENTATIVES. And that is where the General Council can come in. The General Council can threaten, for example, the present M.P.'s that they  will lose the backing of the Party if they vote for Mr. Young. 

The Opposition can, in the meantime, file a motion of no confidence in the Lower House which will give them an opportunity to highlight the problems in the ruling PNM. Dr. Rowley can avoid this for the time being by proroguing the Parliament - but this will only be a temporary fix of about 3 months. Remember also that according to the Constitution, Parliament has to meet only once every 6 months according to the Constitution, so he can simply avoid calling the Parliament after the debate that has to be held on the State of Emergency

No matter which way it turns, we are looking at a General Election, probably sooner rather than later. In the meantime,  Dr. Rowley can continue to control the country - even after he demits office as Mr. Young has absolutely zero support either in the Party or in the country and will be completely dependent on Dr. Rowley for support. 

Actually, that may have been Dr. Rowley's plan to hold on to power all along! He is, after all, a superb politician.

PRIME MINISTER STUART YOUNG?

 There are unconfirmed reports that at a secret meeting of the Cabinet Dr. Rowley tried to get the Cabinet to agree that Minister of Energy Stuart Young would be his successor. According to these unconfirmed reports there was tremendous 'push back' from the Cabinet.

While both of these reports are highly believable  it has to be noticed that they are unconfirmed. Assuming (though certainly not accepting) that there is truth in these two rumours, they certainly warrant a closer look. On the one hand, Mr. Young has been a very close confidant of Dr. Rowley from the very beginning. He has shown great loyalty to Dr. Rowley and has not hesitated to paint his leader in the most favourable light. On the other hand , he is not black. Question: will the rank and file of the PNM accept this? Other question: will the rank and file feel that Mr. Young is responsible for a lot of the 'screw-ups' and that swinging behind a non-black man will be the same thing as allowing an Indian (Mrs. Persad Bissessar) into power? In other words, they would have nothing to lose by 'sitting on their hands'.

 Dr. Rowley, for example, can resign as leader of the PNM but stay on as Prime Minister until a new leader is chosen. Put another way, there are several options open to him. One thing is certain though: the longer he stays the more difficult his successor (whoever it may be) will find it hard to get established.

The problem is that the economy has not done well under Dr. Rowley; house prices and rents are soaring as well as food prices; everything costs more. Two people can eat in a restaurant in Miami for one sixth of thecost for the same meal in Port of Spain.

I can understand Dr. Rowley's preference for Mr. Young (assuming but not accepting that there is any truth in these rumours). It would come at a time when the Opposition is very weak and would belie the belief that the PNM is racist. On the other hand, Mr. Young would be the weakest leader to date having no racial or other base to rely on.

Prime Ministers get extremely accurate security reports that  say explicitly which party is currently in the lead in the polls. It is not therefore beyond the realm of possibility that the Prime Minister's announcement of his intention to resign was influenced by the fear that he was going to lose the coming elections based on his security reports and he wants to be perceived as being undefeated.. He has already taken care of his pension (which will be in excess of $84,000)  and will have more than enough time to indulge in his favourite pastime - golf!

Well, we'll see soon enough. I have a bet with myself (and ONLY with myself) that this won't happen, i.e., that the PNM will NOT choose Mr. Young as its leader. But then, we'll soon see, won't we?

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?