Conundrum

I don't want to die......but I ain't keen on living either..... - Robbie Williams

What I Believe

''I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe - I believe what I believe is right." - Former US President George W Bush (Rome, 22 July, 2001 )

Facing The Truth

So my girlfriend was being her normal playful self sitting by my side tormenting the hell out of me. She proceeds to put her arm firmly around my neck so she can persecute me by continuing the conversation we had last night. So here we are face to face staring each other directly in the eye and she asks the question to revive the conversation of last night. I try to pull away and the grip is tightened and at this point she says 'You just don't want to face the truth'! At this point I burst out laughing raucously because she was the only thing in my immediate sight! Confused by my laughter I said, well if what I am seeing right now is truth I will continue to dwell in my ignorance because since way back when with Adam and Evil women have been deceiving men! :-) ©

Europe Vs America on Race Relations

This week news leaked that Microsoft edited a photo so it can be used as a commercial in Poland. The original photo contained a man of Asian descent, one of African descent and a woman of Caucasian decent which led to Microsoft issuing an apology for editing the photo and pledging to launch an investigation into the incident. It is rumoured that Microsoft edited the photo because of Poland’s ethnic homogeneity by replacing the photo of the man of African descent with the head of a Caucasian man however his hands remained the same colour in the photo.

One has to keep in mind that Poland is the same country where a black person on the national team had bananas thrown at him. So called liberals and minorities are always eager to use Europe as the epitome and shining example of social tolerance and acceptance and are quick to talk down America on her social and foreign policies.

Racial prejudice is far from being solved in America, but considering the fact that America now has a President who ‘looks black’ and I say looks black because Obama is white in as much as he is black, I would say America has made a great deal more progress where racial relations are concerned. Europe is not the epitome of social tolerance as a matter of fact contrary to popular belief much of Europe is still steeped in racism especially Eastern European countries like Poland and Russia.

I for one do not think that Microsoft has a racist agenda against people of colour but it seems that they are more than willing to bend to the forces of racial prejudice and bigotry if only to secure their market share in a racist economy. The question is how do Microsoft’s customers of colour deal with an organisation that engages in what I would call ‘racist commerce’? I think it’s high time critics of America give that country a break, if anything America is the only shining example of race relations as it exists in a country controlled by Caucasian Politic.

Biting Tongue

By saying less today....I'll gain more......many more...... - Incubus

The Incompatibility of Homosexuality, Religion and Biology

I promised someone to express my views on Reverend Knolly’s claims in the Express article God and the Gays in our ‘rainbow nation’, and truth be told it was my intention to not write it because this is a very controversial topic and my writing style is often blunt. However I was asked again and a promise is a promise. Let me start off by indicating this prose is not a discussion about whether homosexuality is right or wrong, it is a simple examination of the ‘lifestyle’ called homosexuality and my ‘personal’ opinion that it is incompatible with religion and biology. I say this not from a religious point of view because I’m not particularly religious and I couldn’t care for the practice in any form. I say it from a commonsense practical view and what I know for a ‘fact’ is stated about homosexuality in the Bible and God’s supposed views of it. My discussion will exclude other religious books such as the Koran, Shashtras, Vedas etc because I’m not familiar with any of these books although I’m told homosexuality is not something condoned by these religions either.

So for starters what is my position on homosexuality? My personal opinion is homosexuality is a vice plain and simple. I do not believe anyone is born a homosexual and adults who claim to be homosexuals are engaging in a vice albeit a sexual one. For those who say some children have homosexual tendencies at a young age, in my opinion that is no different to children who have extreme tempers at a young age it is a psychological issue that needs to be addressed. Homosexuality defies biology and anything that defies biology does not in my estimation deserve justification. A person’s gender is inseparable from their sexuality, there are no ifs or buts about this fact! Whether you believe in the big bang theory or whether you believe in God, a person being born with a penis but having the sexuality of a woman i.e. the sexual inclination to be with a man defies the very foundation of biological man.

Can you imagine if other species started to divert from their original sexual habits with the male being attracted to the male and the female being attracted to the female? Total chaos would reign and species would probably veer towards extinction due to non reproduction occurring between male and female species. Now granted that some species are asexual the fact of the matter is that’s their biological make up and I think it’s a really stupid argument for pro homosexual groups to use to justify homosexuality. Why? Because in asexual species reproduction actually occurs and it occurs without the copulation of same sexes. What that means is the continuation of the specie is ensured without a sexual encounter between differing or same sexes. To say that homosexuality is natural would mean that our physical and sexual attributes are random occurences. In other words we are born into human bodies and creation, or evolution executes this process without regard for our sexuality.

Human beings are not asexual, both male and female eggs are required for fertilization and only the female can give birth as only the female in the human race has a womb to carry a human child and allow it to develop in its earliest form. A woman cannot impregnate herself nor can she be impregnated by another female and a man cannot become impregnated period. The very existence and survival of the human race is dependent on the crucial sexual intimations between the male and female. As a matter of fact people who claim to be born homosexual were brought into this world via sexual intercourse occurring between a male and a female, not a male and male or female and female. Homosexuality or same sex relationships between two men or two women does nothing to enhance or ensure the continuation of the human race, that in itself tells all that it is a vice and contrary to our biological make up though being sexually stimulating to some.....and nothing is wrong with that.....those that are religious might beg to hugely differ.

So I say call a spade a spade, homosexuality is a vice and people need to stop justifying and trying to disguise it into something that it is not. Do I think it is wrong? I am not in a position to judge. Quite frankly I do not care who is gay or nay. If Peter wants to copulate with John that’s their business. Would I be friends with a homosexual? Honestly I haven’t had much homosexual friends but it’s not due to me avoiding homosexual people. Homosexual people tend to roll in their own circles as we may say and hang out certain places, places I do not go so I wouldn’t say I do not have much homosexual friends because I’m avoiding them rather I believe they are avoiding me and everyone else. There is also the possibility that I may have homosexual friends and I'm not aware of it because they are on the "down low" so to speak.

I had one homosexual friend who died from AIDS. He was a cool guy, a kind of childhood friend. We use to play together and lime and I wasn’t bothered by his vice. As long as no advances are made towards me, especially after I made it clear I’m not interested I have no problem with male homosexuals. I specifically said ‘male homosexuals’ because it is my intention to be as frank and honest in this prose, I’m all male and personally I find two girls being together hot and even better if I am included! (Sorry to disappoint those who thought this was going to be a crusade against homosexuals). What I do have a problem with however is people trying to justify it and tell me they were born that way when I know for a fact that their justifications defies logic, reasoning and science. Another thing that annoys me is people who say homosexuality spreads HIV. What utter garbage! It is a well known fact that the number one victim of HIV is not homosexual men or women. The number one victim is women period, and these women get it from men who are having sexual relations with several women.

But what of religion and homosexuality? They are incompatible and cannot be reconciled. The bible is perfectly clear with regards to God’s position on homosexuality. I only need to quote two scriptures to indicate such:-

Leviticus 20:13 - If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Romans 1:26-27 - For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their woman did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

Notice what Leviticus says, if a man lies with a man as he would with a woman it is an abomination and they shall be put to death. The mere fact that death in the bible is the consequence of homosexuality should indicate how strongly God feels about it. In the dictionary the word abomination means something that disgusts or something that one hates very much. The book of Romans speaks about ‘natural uses’, the men leaving the natural use of the women. So according to the bible sexual relations between a male and female is considered natural where as sexual relations between two men or two women are unnatural and is also referred to as an ‘error’. There is therefore no way the act of homosexuality can be reconciled with religion.

Any homosexual who demands to be accepted by religion and any Priest, Reverend or Father who embraces homosexuals are not being true to themselves. Christianity alone is a centuries old religion so it’s not as if what is written about homosexuality was only recently included. So when Reverend Knolly said to the young woman "The God we know is a God of compassion and love and your lifestyle is not going to interfere with your relationship with God. You are so scared that hell is in the offing for you when you have a relationship you care about. Sister, don't worry about that," he told her. "God is with you.”, he was in fact offering false hope and misleading the soul of another. According to the Bible that Reverend Knolly bases his sermons on homosexuality is an abomination to his God. He is therefore not being true to the faith he swore to impart and uphold and not being true to himself. He is betraying the trust granted to him by the ‘Holy Spirit’ he believes in, to impart and share with others the WORD OF GOD and the WORD OF GOD says homosexuality is something detestable to God.

Homosexuals who demand that religion embraces them are not being true to themselves either. Asking an ideology to embrace you, an ideology who’s Supreme Being has labelled your sexual preference as something detestable is like a child asking and demanding that a woman adopts and be its foster mother when said woman is spurned by the appearances of the child for whatever reasons. The only way homosexuality and religion can truly be reconciled is if the bible is re-written or certain scriptures struck from its pages. Until then homosexuals and priests alike are fooling themselves into thinking that the Christian God is accepting of either of them. As a non-religious person I was totally surprised that Reverend Knolly in his attempts to Christianise homosexuals would go to such lengths as saying God destroyed Sodom not because of homosexuality but because of inhospitality and I ask myself, how could a learned man of the cloth twist and misrepresent his faith in such a ghastly manner? And silly me thinking there was actually a link between the name ‘Sodom’ and the word ‘Sodomy’, the sexual act of inserting one’s penis into another’s anus, clearly I’m mistaken....I think not!!!!

Let us recap this story about Sodom, before the men (the angels whom God sent ahead to warn Lot because God had ALREADY DECIDED TO DESTORY SODOM BECAUSE OF THEIR IDOLATERY AND HOMOSEXUALITY) were even treated inhospitable and we must note that this inhospitality as Reverend Knolly called it was actually a demand by the men of Sodom for Lot to release his visitors (the angels) so they the men of Sodom, can have sexual relations with them so much so that Lot had to hide the men in his home and offer the men his virgin daughters to do as they please if only they spared the angels. This is the inhospitality to which Reverend Knolly so craftily says is the cause of Sodom being destroyed. However in Genesis 19 verse 13 the angels clearly stated that the Lord had SENT THEM FORTH to destroy Sodom that was before the men acted inhospitable and tried to 'jump' the male angels as Reverend Knolly claimed. Don’t believe me? Read the following scriptures: Genesis 19: 1-13.

Reverend Knolly and other priests like him are doing their faith an injustice. They are making a mockery of their beliefs and of their God. Which is probably one of the reasons I don’t subscribe to their ideologies because I’m like that, it’s either you’re for something or against it. You cannot be for something when your core beliefs and teachings are against it that’s called being confused! I see homosexual’s demands for religion to embrace them as an attack on people’s religion. You cannot demand that someone changes their religion to accept you especially when your life style is contrary to the beliefs of their religion. If homosexuals want to be embraced by God then they should form their own church and write their own bibles exclusive of the scriptures that clearly and out rightly condemns them in the eyes of God. People like Reverend Knolly make a mockery of their own God’s mercy because it was the same merciful God who destroyed Sodom for its wicked ways. Mercy does not equate to accepting a wrong doer in the eyes of God, especially when that wrong doer is willingly and purposefully doing that which is contrary to the wishes of the God he wishes to embrace him.

All that said I have another proposition of my own for the ‘cause’ of homosexuality. I know on the onset I specifically stated that I think homosexuality is a Vice, but I do have one scientific assumption of my own (layman’s style) which I have no studies or evidence to support whatsoever. :-) There is the claim that the world is becoming overpopulated with human beings, has anyone ever considered that maybe planet earth is triggering a chemical reaction within the human race that is causing some to be sexually attracted to the same sex and therefore hinder any further promulgation of the human race if only temporarily until population levels return to a sustainable level? Yea I know.....its real sci-fish......it’s just a thought. Someone should do a study on that! ©

Perfectville

Unless you are a resident of Perfectville you have no right to judge me so bugger off..... Author - Oke Zachary ©

Standstill Police

What do some police officers in T&T have in common with mannequins? The ability to stand pretty still while simultaneously executing the difficult task of doing absolutely nothing. Now don’t get me wrong, I have some friends in the Police Service who are quite passionate about their jobs. There is one female officer I went to school with who is connected to the patrol branch downtown, she is well known on Frederick Street. Missy doh make joke with errant motorists and illegal vendors. I remember once I was walking down Frederick street and I saw her in action dealing with the illegal vendors....can you believe my heart actually went out a little to the vendors.

But the law is the law and it must be upheld. Despite there being officers like my friend mentioned above, there are just too many lazy mediocre police men and women in the service. While I believe criminals should be solely held accountable for their nefarious actions, I believe the overall mediocre performance of T&T’s Police Service plays a significant role in actually boosting the confidence of T&T’s criminals. Criminals commit crimes with the confidence that the police will respond nonchalantly to investigating and apprehending them for their miss-deeds. It is this reluctance of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to deal with minor offenders that is fostering a feeling of comfort amongst the criminals in this country and I have photos to prove such.

Decay in society and the disrespect shown for the rule of law does not begin with violent crime it begins with the committing of and the allowing of small crimes. Small crimes such as littering, speeding, parking badly, drinking and driving are all committed in abundance in this country and certain police officers are notorious for turning a blind eye to their practice. As a matter of fact, dealing with petty offenders in New York City was one of the ways that city was able to turn around its rising crime rate. Dealing with petty offenders prevented them from branching off to becoming seasoned offenders. Regular road blocks and dealing with reckless drivers and persons committing other petty transgressions was also one of the ways New York City was able to apprehend some of their seasoned criminals as seasoned criminals are often repeat offenders of petty crimes.

This week I was having lunch with a friend upstairs Excellent City Centre, and we were sitting at the outer balcony were you have an overhead view of Fredrick Street. Low and behold there was this black car parked directly in front of a fire hydrant and two ‘stand still’ police officers standing outside Aboutique Mall in full view of this clear breach of the law. According to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act it is unlawful to park within three (3) metres of a fire hydrant, but here is this motorist parked directly in front of a fire hydrant in full view of T&T’s finest who do absolutely nothing.

My friend and I were upstairs Excellent Stores for approximately forty five minutes and those officers stood there for close to 20 minutes before walking away leaving the vehicle still on spot. So if there was a fire and the Fire Services had to utilize that hydrant what would have been the situation? If I were the Fire Officer I know the answer, the hose was passing straight over that vehicle scratching paint job and windscreen! When our law enforcement officers fail to even address little transgressions like these on a daily basis what they are indirectly doing is espousing the chronic lawlessness currently plaguing our society. I do hope that the senior police officers take note of this mediocrity that persists amongst its rank and file and addresses it in an appropriate manner.

Situations

If you know for sure it's not a tenable situation, pack yuh gorgie bundle and flip them the birdie... Author - Oke Zachary ©

Lord Strange Citizen Award August 2009

The beginning of this week was very fruitful for the law abiding citizens of this country. This week’s Lord Strange Citizen Awards goes to Dianne Baptiste and off-duty police constable PC Hall. There was something that struck me about the stories of both these individuals but before I go on further, for those of you who did not get to read the Express today (Wed 19 August 2009) let me just paraphrase and highlight bits of the stories that got my undivided attention, the links are provided for those who want to read the complete stories.

Dianne Baptiste - Bandit Tackled By Mom

“A mother who found a gunman outside her home intent on robbing and killing, saved herself and her teenage daughters on Monday.

"What was he going to do with this gun? Show it to me? No. He wanted to kill me. So I collared him. I shoved him and he fell backwards and the firearm fell out."

While others faced with a similar situation may have capitulated, Baptiste said, "I could not. Our home has been broken twice before.

"I did not want to be a victim a third time. And this man? Invading your privacy and then want to kill?"
Read the rest of this story here - Bandit Takcled By Mom

PC Hall – It Good For He

“Sympathy for a dead bandit was almost non-existent yesterday afternoon as he lay on the road next to a car that police believe he wanted to steal from a well-armed, well- trained off-duty police constable who was with his ten-year-old son at the time of the incident.

PC Hall at the time was standing outside the car, wearing a thick gold chain.

The bandit walked up to Hall, pointed a .357 Magnum to his head and began grabbing the chain. Hall reportedly began telling his now panicked son to "calm down."

Both police and bandit struggled as the large gold chain proved difficult to rip off. Hall, however, was able to reach for his service pistol. He pointed it at the bandit who was apparently preoccupied with the chain and squeezed the trigger.

The bandit fell back but as he raised his gun to fire back, Hall shot him again, killing him on the spot.

The Express was told by several people at the scene that they knew the bandit's face.
"For the last three days he was riding a bicycle up and down the road...we eh know what he was looking for...well like he find it," said one woman who didn't want to be named.

"Is a good thing he dead," said another woman, "the pitch real hot this evening."

Read the rest of this story here - It Good For He

Well done Ms Baptiste and PC Hall.....you get this weeks’ Lord Strange Citizen Award. May your families continue to be safe and may you continue to prosper through your hard work and determination. Now, let’s get down to the issues, you see the striking thing about both these stories is that the intended victim’s children were present. Yet still the presence of these people’s children in no way softened the heart of these heartless, selfish, lazy criminals. It did not matter that Ms. Baptiste was someone’s wife, mother, sister or aunt. It did not matter to that now thankfully dead criminal that PC Hall was someone’s husband, father, brother or uncle and that his ten year old son was in the car.

These two incidents are directly linked to my prior post ‘Abolishing The Death Penalty While Pissing on the Victims of Crime” . In this post I clearly stated that the death penalty is a consequence of a criminal’s wicked actions against a helpless law abiding society. These criminals are parasites, feeding off of the energy and sweat of the law abiding citizens of this country, home all day smoking weed on the block and then coming out with their guns in tow to shoot, maim, and kill for material things they did not work for nor are they entitled too.

Of course the anti-death penalty crew came at me with their dubious claims of the death penalty not being a deterrent, criminals are psychotic people and it doesn’t mean they should be killed because of that and the death penalty causes crime. What utter rubbish, did the death penalty stated in ink and paper cause that young man to go to the home of Ms Baptiste to rob her? Did the death penalty cause that young man to put a gun to an off duty officer’s head in the presence of his son in an attempt to steal his gold chain? These fools can’t even read so I doubt they are even aware of the contents of the law governing the death penalty.

Why do anti-death penalty activists keep making excuses for these heartless wicked low life criminals? Imagine I was told that criminals are psychotic and are not of sound mind like myself and the rest of the law abiding citizens that is why they kill and it doesn’t mean we should kill them. What????? Hello, to my anti-death penalty fanatics, criminologists have long declared crime the ‘alternate economy’. Criminologist have long declared that ‘criminal masterminds’ operate just like the CEO’s in big companies, they plan and execute their nefarious acts with great ‘cognitive judgement’. These criminals know exactly what they are doing when they put a gun to your mother, father, daughter or spouse’s head!

That guy who went to Ms Baptiste house could have been successful in overpowering her, then what, most likely rape and kill both her and her daughters. Would we have heard an out-cry from Amnesty International and their sycophant anti-death penalty supporters? Would any of them have contributed financially to helping Ms Baptiste’s husband bury his wife and daughters? Would they have held Mr. Baptiste put his life together again if that would have been possible? What about PC Hall’s ten year old son? Would Amnesty have provided a councillor for that young man after watching his father brutally murdered for a gold chain that was not the entitlement of some block rat? Would they have ensured that he was financially taken care of until the legal age and pay his university fees etc?

Can someone tell me when exactly did the tables turn? When did criminals earn the right to rape and kill our family members with impunity and then subsequently use the law to preserve their worthless souls? When? When did this transformation occur? This week in Ohio Jason Getsy was executed for the 1995 murder of 66 year old Ann Serafino. Can you imagine that son of a bitch asked the American Supreme Court to grant him stay to challenge Ohio’s lethal injection system as “cruel and unusual punishment”? Can you believe the audacity of that fool? If the lethal injection is a cruel punishment to him then what the hell was his shooting to Ms Serafino, a bloody act of generosity?? It did not matter to Mr. Getsy that this woman was someone’s mother, grandmother or sister. People need to realise that these criminals are selfish, heartless ego centric persons who only care about themselves and will trample on the rights of everyone in order to satisfy their selfish impulses.

Such is the twisted way of the world where the criminals have all the rights and the ordinary law abiding citizen has none. Thankfully the residents of Ohio had their way and the bastard was executed on Tuesday 18 August 2009. At least the residents of Ohio will not be punished now into providing perpetual shelter, food, entertainment and medical care for that low life. I look forward to the resumptions of hangings in Trinidad and Tobago so we can purge T&T of the parasites that walk amongst us.

Lead Poisoning from Chinese Smelter

Over 600 children get lead poisoning in China after smelter leak but Manning say full spead ahead with Alutrint.....Patrick....we stepping up wid you!!!!!!! Ya Industrial Poof!

Drugs & Ammo the key to your HDC House

Years ago I applied to HDC to get a house and I've never once gotten a phone call even acknowledging the submission of my application, but Alas, I have figured out the key to getting an HDC house.

Yuh see, last week some police officers made a drug bust on some other police officers at the St. Joseph Police Station. Drugs and illegal ammnunition was found in the roof of the St. Joseph Police Station and instead of arresting every officer in that station or even suspending them, they were simply transferred to other stations.

Now some of you might think it harsh for me to expect all these officers at the St. Joseph Police Station to be arrested and maybe it is harsh because I'm sure not every single police officer at this station is corrupt. But the thing is, if a family of let's say 6 people are living together, and one of them is dealing drugs and illegal firearms, if the police raids the house of this family as far as I know everybody in the house going down!

This is clearly a case of different strokes for different folks. I honestly didn't understand Philbert's logic that they had to transfer the officers so that persons visiting the St. Joseph Police Station will feel reassured that the officers to which they are seeking assistance from are not 'bad cops'. I want to know if Philbert thinks the entire citizenry is grateful to him now that he has dispersed these suspected dirty cops to different stations where they can now further pollute the stations of other districts? Doesn't he realise that by dispersing and retaining cops who have clouds hanging over their heads would be a blemish on the entire force? While I understand his arguments of industrial relations, these officers could have at least been placed on paid suspension until the completion of any investigations. I honestly don't know why everyone seemed so surprised by this find anyway because I've always maintained that the biggest illegal gang in T&T is the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

In any event, back to my original grouse with the HDC house, clearly the police has changed their stance with regard to arresting everyone when drugs and ammunition is found in a building. So hear what folks to all of you who tired of paying rent, just get some drugs and a few rounds of ammunition, bore a whole in your apartment's ceiling (don't make too much noise because yuh don't want to alert the landlord), put the drugs and ammo in the ceiling then call the police yuhself. Once they find the drugs and ammmo in your apartment you will be transferred to an HDC house that you applied for 20 yrs ago! ©

Frenemies

Let the negativity of your frenemies be the fuel for your drive to success. - Author Oke Zachary ©

Abolishing the death penalty while pissing on the victims of crime

Let me start off by simply stating my position on the death penalty, I support it! I’m sick and tired of people saying the death penalty does not solve or is not a deterrent to crime so it should be abolished. If that is the case then I say break down all the prisons and turn them into shopping complexes because we could do with some extra ‘WestMalls’ in T&T and do away with the life imprisonment sentence because neither of these are solving crime nor are they proving to be deterrents. Currently no one is being hanged, everyone is being imprisoned and the murder rate keeps sky rocketing. People the reality is the death penalty was never meant to be a deterrent nor was it meant to be a cure to rampant crime or any crime for that matter.

The death penalty is simply the consequence of committing a particular crime just as life imprisonment or any imprisonment is a consequence for someone perpetrating a particular type of crime. The death penalty is based on the old adage an eye for an eye. It is based on the premise that the law seeks to promote equality and fairness, hence the statue of the blind woman with the balancing scale. Abolish the death penalty and the scale becomes skewed in the favour of criminals. On the 21st April 2009 gun men killed a man and his wife and then proceeded to burn their two children inside the house. Granting someone life imprisonment for this heinous, gut-less, premeditated crime does not equate to the lives of these four people, there is no way in hell that scale could balance!

What is even more stupid, is people who say the death penalty causes and promotes violence. What utter bollox! If that is the case then we should do away with all the laws against stealing, money laundering, driving recklessly, rape, child molestation etc, because all these laws are promoting the respective transgression right? Wrong, so the argument that having the death penalty on our law books promotes violence in our society is moot, it is dead, it defies logic. Another argument put forward by anti-death penalty activists is that there stands the chance of an innocent person being put to death. Well gee there is also the chance of an innocent person being found guilty of rape even though they didn’t do it and being sentenced to life imprisonment. Anyone can be mistakenly found guilty of any crime and you could also wrongfully be sentenced to life imprisonment.

I fail to see how imprisoning someone for life at the age of 25 and it is only when they reach 80 you find out that they were innocent all along, I fail to see how that is better or more humane than the death penalty so exactly what is the point with that argument? The fact of the matter is all human processes are subject to error and that includes law. Error is an inextricable part of the human fabric it cannot be eliminated. To say that you are going to abolish the death penalty because human beings are imperfect is rightfully stupid. In that case then all laws should be abolished because all laws and the methods by which people are held accountable to these laws are open to error.

Also people who promote this ridiculous argument shouldn’t fly because they could never tell which man made plane will give out in mid flight and they should never drive either because they could never tell which man made tyre will bust on them causing them to lose control of their car and be killed instantly. They should live a life of doubt, return to the caves of our ancestors and avoid the Sun God! In any event there have been tremendous advancements in technology that has increased the investigative abilities of law enforcement officers triple fold. Word to the wise, we no longer live in the 14th century, we are way past the Petri-dish era!

What amuses me about human rights organisations such as Amnesty International is that they are never around immediately after a crime is committed. When those gun men killed that family in April where was Amnesty International? Did Amnesty International issue a statement about these dead people’s rights and how they were brutally denied of their right to life? Did Amnesty International send any support units to assist the family members who were left behind to moan the loss of their daughter, son, and grandchildren? No, Amnesty International is never around when the victims of brutal crimes are being buried! But the minute a government decides to hang a perpetrator for committing a most gruesome act such as setting a house on fire with two little children in it; Amnesty International throws their hands in the air and pontificates to our government about human rights! Is it that only the criminals have rights?

Amnesty International likes to use statistics to prove that country’s that have abolished the death penalty have a lesser crime rate than those that retain the death penalty. What Amnesty International does not tell Joe Public is that the country’s with the lowest crime rates are also the most wealthiest, with the citizens of those countries living improved lives compared to the citizens of those countries with the death penalty but which also has a significant disparity with the distribution of national wealth. Having the death penalty in your law books does not cause crime, what causes crime is social inequality. However as human beings we all have choices and being poor does not justify taking the life of another human being, especially when you choose to sit on the block all day scratching your arse because you’re too lazy to go find a job. These criminals are like parasites that prey on the work force of a nation. We work, we do all the sweating and toiling and like parasites all they do is kill so they can consume and reap the benefits of our labour, they are like a malignant cancer that steals the life out of a human body. What do you do with a malignant cancer? Do you treat it? No, you gut it, you cut it off even if it means losing a breast or an entire limb. These criminals must be cut off permanently because they are a cancer to our society.

Another curious position Amnesty International has is the cost it takes to affect the death sentence. Amnesty claim it is simply too expensive for governments to affect the death penalty. Out of curiosity has anyone ever done a cost analysis on the effect of losing a productive citizen at the hands of these depraved criminals? Let’s say a business man aged 35 earns 400k per annum, he has three children and a wife who stays at home to take care of the household. Some criminals decide to rob him and in the process they put a bullet through his head to take from him what they are not entitled. Let’s say we give the businessman an economic life span up to the age of 65, has Amnesty International done any analysis of losses to governments through the loss of taxes they would have received from this business man? Losses which would no doubt be incremental because as the businessman aged and time passed by taking inflationary considerations to account he would no doubt be making more money at age 40, 50 and 60.

Have they estimated the losses to his family, his widow who now has to find a job and take care of her three children until they all reach legal age? And please don’t tell me about insurance because the pittance she will get from insurance isn’t going to last forever. Does Amnesty take into account the emotional and psychological cost of losing a husband, wife or children to violent crime? Furthermore does Amnesty International contribute financially to the families of victims of violent premeditated crime? Do they help pay the household bills after the sole or a significant bread winner is taken away? Do they attend all the parent day meetings of the now parent less children? Do they remember the anniversaries of the widows? Do they buy gifts for every birthday and leave a mark on the wall for every extra inch of growth? Does Amnesty International keep a widow warm in bed at night as she recoils into herself and stare at the empty spot where her hard working husband once lay?! I’m sure if all of the above costs are tallied it we would soon come to the conclusion that the price at which we hang the bastards is a bargain price!

Amnesty International and all these other anti-death penalty groups do absolutely nothing for the victims of violent crime. Family members are left on their own to pick up the pieces. With one hand members of anti-death penalty groups fight for the rights of criminals and demand the abolition of the death penalty while simultaneously holding their penises with their other hand and pissing on family members and on the graves of the victims of violent crime. Another silly argument that people like to throw at you is, ‘would you be willing to be the one to do the hanging’. The answer to that is quite simple, if it’s my wife and children that the bastard brutally killed then yes I will gladly pull the lever to pop his neck! But for those who want to be smart by asking that dumb question, are you willing to continue paying the deceased’s bills? Are you willing to continue to provide for his family and sustain their standard of living prior to the death of their loved one? Are you willing to attend all the birthday parties and graduation of the deceased’s children? Are you willing to foot the university bills of the deceased’s children?

The above are just some of the effects the loss of a loved one to brutal crime can have on a family. Families pay a high emotional and financial price when a lazy, depraved criminal premeditatedly and violently kills their loved ones. It is only fair that the punishment for such crime be equal to the rippling effect it has on the victim’s family. Giving this person perpetual accommodation courtesy state resources, along with food, entertainment and medical benefits can in no way be a just punishment for the suffering that person has caused unto others. People like to ask the question, ‘Have we become so depraved as a specie to repay violence with violence’. Well I often wonder, have we become so depraved that the rights of a criminal is now supreme to that of his victims? So much so that we are actually punishing society as a whole by seeking to force society to stand the costs of accommodating these wicked criminals in humane conditions that are acceptable to human rights groups like Amnesty International?

If Amnesty wants us to abolish the death penalty then I say let Amnesty International foot the expense of keeping T&T’s worst criminals alive. If such an agreement is unacceptable to Amnesty and I know it will be, then I say forward march to Woodford Square and let the necks start popping! We can all then visit any of our favourite watering holes on the Avenue and have a beastly cold beer, after which we can all take turns pissing on Amnesty International’s request for the abolition of the death penalty in T&T. ©

'Right'

As I grow older I've come to realise that what is considered 'right' is highly subjective and opinionated. Author - Oke Zachary ©

Would you pay for online news?

Greedy Murdoch being the never satisfied capitalist parasite that he is, says the era of free online news is soon coming to an end. His company lost $3.4bn at the end of June...well boo hooo News Corp made so much money in the past they should now provide news both digital and in print for free! Murdoch talks about 'Digital Revolution'....oh please, for someone who has been in the media for a long time Murdoch is a bit late with this idea.

Several news agencies tried this stunt already and when they started to charge visitors to their site people just simply switched to the sites that were offering free news and so the sites that were charging had to revert to offering free news. Asking people to pay for online news would be the equivalent to facebook asking it's members to use their site and there is no way in hell I will pay to use facebook unless it involves using their advert template to advertise my business.

Some are ready to state that we pay for news when we buy a newspaper, that maybe true but news in the print and news online are not comparable because I'm already paying flow for my broadband subscription so why should I pay to view the websites online?

My online news websites are BBCnews.com and Trinidadexpress.com and I will not be willing to pay for either of them. Most news are bad news anyway, why should I pay a subscription fee to read about two foreign tourists being hacked in Tobago, or pay to read about Goopeesingh's ethnic cleansing and Patrick Manning's assasination claims. And worst still, in any event most news are repetitive and are regurgitations of past articles. So would you pay for online news? The poll is at the top of the page.©

Woe Is Man

God created man and said his creation was good. Then he created the other sex and realised that the other sex was manipulative and spiteful against the man! And so God named the other sex Woe is Man, because the other sex distressed and mislead the man, hence the acronym 'woman'. lol Author - Oke Zachary ©

Dying Celebrities and Lying ID Cards

It’s a strange thing, the way people over the age of 45 say to me “Buh you young”. With the understanding of time and relativity I know what they are saying is true, yet there is something slowly etching away at the comfort of my youth. I was really shocked by the death of Michael Jackson not only because of the realisation that the King of Pop is actually no more but by the revelation that he was 50 years old! It is strange how until his death it never occurred to me that Michael was twice my age, his age was something I seldom thought about. As a matter of fact it is only until his death that I actually acknowledged that many of his songs that I liked were released the year I was born 1982 and some of them shortly thereafter.

I grew up on Michael’s music and it is only in the year 2009 that I realised I had a false perception MJ and I was of the same era, heck we were separated by two decades and a half! Then there was the death of David Carradine famous for his role as Cain in the TV series Kung Fu the legend, one of my favourite all time childhood TV shows. Cain I knew for certain was older than I am I had no illusions of sharing an era with him, however his death still had an impact on me because it reminded me of my childhood with such clarity. It’s amazing how the death of a celebrity can really jolt you back into reality and it is not because they were famous and are celebrities. The world of celebrities is like a timeline for us average mortals. Your celebrity fan affiliation is a signature of the era you belong or belonged to and it can scare the living day lights out of you if pondered upon too seriously.

Watching the 2009 BET awards I had a surreal feeling watching Tevin Campbell sing his 1993 hit ‘Can we talk’. This was still the time where the women in a young male’s music video were still fully clothed. I consider myself to be more in Kevin’s era, him turning 31 years old this year just 4 years older than I am. The feeling was surreal because Kevin was no longer the smooth face pretty young black man in his video ‘Can we talk’ and after not seeing him for such a long time it was so strange to watch this man with grey hair setting in, sing his 1993 hit song on the BET Awards. He is still good looking, but after not seeing him for such a long time the difference in his appearance was markedly different. I wonder if people who know me and who are about 4 years younger than I am who may not have seen me for a while, if they see me now would my changed features stand out to them the way Kevin’s stood out to me? And how much grey hair will I have in the next four years?

In the environment I work, the perusal of people’s ID cards is a necessity. Lately I’ve found myself paying greater attention to the year persons were born and observing their features. You’re able to make a better comparison with those who have IDs that are soon to expire because our ID cards are valid for 10 years so you actually get to observe the marked changes of the person’s features over the period of a decade. My ID card is due to expire next year and I’m of the view that ID cards are one of the most dishonest inanimate things to exist on this planet. You give them your youthful beauty via a photo and in later years they lie to you. They list your date of birth and state your name, they claim that the person in the photo is you but every time you look in the mirror you know your ID card is a liar. After you grant them your youthful beauty they flaunt your youth in your face.

As I write this I acknowledge that there are certain parts of my body that are starting to ache, it’s an aching that I’m not accustomed too but I’m sure I will become familiar. It’s strange but seven years ago I don’t recall having a single ache, not unless I bounce my toe or fell real hard while playing football. As I watch school boys in their prime pass me by in the street I feel a tinge of jealousy creeping into my psyche, a jealousy I never knew existed. I suppose it’s the type of jealousy my girlfriend has often explained to me that she has noticed in the eyes of women older than her while observing her and of late my girlfriend has been wondering if she would have that same distant gaze while observing younger girls.

I noticed that her interest in anti-aging creams has suddenly peaked within the last couple months. Being one year older than I am and a woman at that, my girlfriend makes more observations and comments about her body than I do of mine. Two weeks ago she went into Pennywise and while perusing the various brands of anti-aging creams one of the ‘just out school sales clerks’ asked her how old she was and she said she just stared at the girl, she couldn’t answer off the bat. Determined to make a sale the sales clerk indicated to her that once she reaches the age of 30 she should start using the anti-aging cream.

That comment was a grave injustice to me, the unknown boyfriend! Sales clerks ought to be more sensitive to the unknown and unseen boyfriends. We are usually the ones who are left with the challenging task of assuaging our women’s distress of growing old! Another new trend I noticed lately is being asked ‘Will you still love me when I get old”? How does a man answer a question like that but in the affirmative? And how are we to sound sincere every time the question is asked? I don’t know the answer, all I know is some kind of male survival mechanism usually kicks in and I am able to endure the repeated questions and conversations of growing old and for that I thank the natural laws of evolution.

It’s a funny thing how between the ages of 14 and 20 you usually feel as if your life is at a standstill. You yearn for your ‘independence’ and it seems as if adulthood is taking forever to come knocking at your door. August holidays usually feel as if they are a year and the next birthday seems like two years away. Between the ages of 20-25 you enter into a phase of existing but not truly existing as your life takes on a transformation that is most certainly irreversible. Your allowance is replaced by a salary and your home work is replaced by industrial work. Your snack and mall indulgences are replaced by bills, real hardcore never ending bills and control battles with your parents are replaced by emotional battles with your significant other.

By the time you reach 25 your life goes into high gear. The years cease to appear as long and your clock begins to count down. Pretty soon you begin to notice that in the next couple years you will be 30 and the years keep getting shorter and concluding much more quickly. You start to notice the many changes in the world and it amazes you how so many things change and in so little time. The phrase “We are all here only for a time” becomes much more meaningful as we live out and observe the transformations take place during ‘our time’, transformations both internal and external. We solemnly trot along our time lines and embrace all that come our way and the false belief that we control everything in our lives suffices if only to maintain our sanity while another celebrity of our youthful days passes away and an ID renewal is no longer an indication of independence and a new beginning as when we first acquired it. Instead it is now a sign of imminent conclusion, a conclusion we may not be looking forward to but a conclusion that is certain to come nonetheless. ©