CARICOM BLOCKED FROM LANDING IN HAITI....AND RIGHTFULLY SO!!!

Within hours of the 7.0 magnitude eathquake hitting the capital of Haiti, the United States Government had already started to mobilise a national co-ordinated effort to assist the people of Haiti. US forces were dispatched; aid supplies were already being collected for dispatch. US generals had already worked out the logistics as to what machinery, military boats and air craft were to be dispatched as well as how many personnel they would need on the ground, by Monday there will be 10,000 US military personnel in Haiti.

By day two of this tragedy US forces had already landed in Haiti along with rescue units from other countries (none from Caricom). US forces had already landed in Haiti before President Obama made his first speech about the tragedy in Haiti with a Chinese relief team being first to arrive. It was only on Saturday four days after tragedy struck Haiti that the first senior western official arrived in Haiti in the form of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The USA means business in its efforts to assist the Haitian people. With the consent of the Haitian government they have received permission to take over Haitian land and air space as well as permission for US doctors to operate on Haitian citizens before receiving licenses to do so from the Haitian government. The US’ response to Haiti has been aggressive if nothing else and the Obama Administration must be soundly commended for a rescue mission well executed.

Compare that with the weak, feeble and most embarrassing response of Haiti’s brothers and sisters in the form of CARICOM, an organisation that has most certainly demonstrated its irrelevance and gross impotence if nothing else through its embarrassing response to the crisis facing its Haitian brothers and sisters. Instead of quickly organising aid and military relief what does Caricom do? They send a team of technocrats to ‘assess’ what the Haitian people need (read they went to Haiti for photo ops!), as if the fucking pictures circulating on BBC and CNN weren’t enough! Imagine American military planes and boats are busy arriving with resuce teams, military personnel, food and medical aid, and Caricom sends a delegation with their hands swinging and they expect to get clearance to land? Manning promises the Haitian people US $1 million, but with the Haitian banks in literal ruin I wonder if it occurs to Patrick Manning that US $1 million is about as worthless as toilet paper to the average Haitian? Are the Haitian’s going to make fish broth with the money?

The Haitian government has been virtually crippled so they themselves do not have the infrastructure and expertise to properly utilise US $1 million even if they did get it in cash which would mean that the Manning Administration would have to wait months to give that money to the Haitian government for them to get all the administrative expertise in place, and while waiting for this to happen how many Haitians would have died if it wasn’t for the US government? Then Mr. Manning says the T&T government is ‘considering’ using one of the fast ferry boats to deliver supplies to Haiti. Again, considering? People are buried dying or waiting to die. Those that aren’t are starving or running out of basics like water but yet still the Patrick Manning Administration is ‘considering’ whether to use one of the fast ferries to send supplies to Haiti!

I have not heard a single CARICOM country issue military aid to Haiti. Why did Manning not send a battalion of our Defence Force instead? After all these guys do nothing year after year but perform their function as ‘NATIONAL SECURITY GUARDS’. A batch of T&T soldiers despatched with medical aid, doctors, food and building material would have been a better gift to the Haitian people than US $1 million dollars.

CARICOM has passed up on a golden moment to stake their claim in the region and earn their respect from the Western powers. Instead of effecting an aggressive co-ordinated relief effort to assist Haitians Caricom has only succeeded in booking a date to have "consultations" in Dominica. Once again Caricom has demonstrated to the world that they are nothing but an old boys club whose only capability is that of holding talks and summits. Caricom’s weak response to Haiti demonstrates that the region's tax payers are not getting value for money because should there be a tragedy of catastrophic proportions within the region Caricom is not prepared, equipped or capable to deal with it and the situation in Haiti is blatant proof of this fact.

Is it any wonder then that the US authorities refused to allow the Caricom delegation to land? What purpose would the Caricom delegation have served other than to slow down the aid operations, depress Mr. Preval with a bunch of meaningless bureaucratic bullshit talk while offering no immediate assistance to his people while they starve and rot in the streets of Port au Prince? Get real CARICOM! I doubt very much it was a coincidence you were blocked from landing in Haiti and rightfully so, you would have proved to be nothing but an annoying fly buzzing in the face of the US administration.

Our Prime Minister the 'Optimist'

Our Prime Minister's signature was the only signature standing at the conclusion of the Summit of the Americas yet he hailed that Summit as a huge success.

Long before his return, news media the world over reported that the meeting in Copenhagen was a colossal failure without the arrival of a consensus, with several nations accusing the USA of using dirty back door deals and acting like a bully. The Cuban Foreign Minister went as far as calling President Obama an 'imperial and arrogant liar'.

Yet still our Prime Minister returns to us with the confidence of a man who has the world in his hands and declares Copenhagen a 'success'. If nothing else, Trinbagonians can boast of having the most optimistic Prime Minister the world has ever seen. Whether that optimism improves our Prime Minister's leadership qualities and decision making remains a mystery. ©

White Folks

"There are white folks, and then there are ignorant motherfuckers like you" - Barack Obama (Dreams from my father)

The Truth About Black People

If you are genetically of African descent in any minute way, if you are ‘dark skinned’ or not of pure Caucasian bloodlines, I would strongly suggest that you ensure that you are seated comfortably, have a glass of water and some pain killers before you proceed to read this blog. What I am about to tell you will rock the very foundation of your ‘reality’ (or should I say the reality that was GIVEN TO YOU?). What I am about to tell you will unearth, crumble, crack, crease and shatter millenniums of ‘falsehoods’ imparted to peoples of colour, particularly to peoples of African descent. Falsehoods that have been securely passed on to generations after generations as a poisonous societal inheritance which is designed to ensure you ‘know your place’ in this crafty system of subconscious racism and bigotry.

My dear brothers and sisters and other enlightened individuals, the truth about black people is the fact that you are in fact not black! And I question you, if you are not black then why should you feign ‘black pride’ and accept a label that has been stuck onto your head decades before you were even born? Today we live in a world where a man whose mother was Caucasian and whose father was African is described as the ‘first black president of the United States of America’. Today I challenged some of my co-workers, I pulled out my literally black wallet and asked them what colour was my wallet to which they replied black. I then asked does Obama look like this colour? A resounding no was the answer. I then asked do I look this colour? A resounding No. I asked do you guys look this colour? A resounding No.

I then ask so why do you call Obama the ‘first black president of the United States’ and why do you call yourselves black? But they couldn’t grasp the simple commonsense analogy, so entrenched is the system of inferiority flowing through the veins of the children of slaves. I pointed at my wallet and said this colour is what you have been taught to be black from the day you were in Primary School when you were now learning about primary colours was it not? So why then after learning the fundamentals of colours, society then teaches you to believe with outmost conviction that people who are not Caucasian are in fact black?

And if in primary school when you mixed the colour white with black the resulting colour was not black but ‘gray’, why then are we taught that a man whose mother was white (i.e. Caucasian) and whose father was as they say ‘black’, he is in fact not considered white, not brown, not grey but is instead.....BLACK? Even Obama looks at his face in the mirror every single day, has been looking at that brown caramel face for 40 plus years every single morning, and so strong is the concentrated potion of racial inferiority flowing through his mental consciousness that he declares himself a ‘black’ man. One of my ‘fair skinned’ co-workers of East Indian descent felt she had a point to prove so she jumps into the fray and declares “But I would be black too if I go to the US.” So I look at her, I show her my wallet and I ask her if this is the colour of her skin. She does not answer my question but merely repeats that she is ‘black’. I ask who told you that? She replied “‘they say so, and that is how I was born.” I asked who ‘they’....she replies ‘they’.

She then declares that if she goes to the United States she wouldn’t say she’s black or Indian anyway (footnote....noticed she didn’t say she wouldn’t say she is African or Indian....she said ‘black or Indian’) she would say she’s a Trinidadian. At this point I recognise the thick coat of ignorance that has all but embalmed her consciousness, poor soul she doesn’t even know the difference between nationality and ethnicity. So I then asked her, if you say that when you go to the US if your ethnicity is questioned you would say you are a Trinidadian why do you and others refer to Obama as a ‘black’ American President? Why isn’t he just an American President full stop? Silence....no answer. (Footnote ... historically George Washington is listed as the first American President, it is of great importance to note that according to history there never was a first ‘white’ American President there has only been a first American President .....hmmmmm)

When the truth I spoke started to unravel the centuries of falsehoods in their subconscious I was then asked the typical question of denial, “So what does it matter anyway”. After millions of our ancestors and generations have been lost due to them being considered racially inferior it is of no consequence to their descendants as to why they are called ‘black’, when every single minute of every single day of their lives there has always been a brown face staring back at them in the mirror. The question alone suggests that we as a people do not know where we came from nor do we know and understand the pain suffered by our forefathers. We do not fully comprehend and appreciate the sacrifices of people such as Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther and Malcom X.

I was then asked the question ‘Wha happen you not proud to be black?’ And my response to that is a) I am not the colour ‘black’ and b) I am not proud to be black because the description of my people as being ‘black’ is in fact derogatory and has always been a derogatory term used by the Caucasian slave master. The word ‘black’, used to describe people of African descent was never used in a positive manner so why should I now adopt the derogatory labels which was used to psychologically maim my ancestors? When Nelson Mandela was fighting apartheid in South Africa he and the other indigenous South Africans who at that time and even today make up 90% plus of the population were dubbed as ‘blacks’. Before the abolition of slavery in the United States and throughout Europe, people of African descent were labelled ‘blacks’. When Rosa Parks demanded to sit at the front of the bus she was taken to court because as a ‘black’ she was to be in the back of the bus. Both Martin Luther and Malcom X were murdered because they challenged the system of oppression and discrimination levelled against the ‘blacks’.

That is the history of ‘black’ people, that is where the definition originated and the definition never lost its meaning. To willingly call yourself a ‘black’ person is to defend a system that is designed to keep you enslaved mentally, to make you believe that you are inferior by fooling you into thinking you should have pride in being labelled in a derogatory manner. To willingly call yourself a ‘black’ person is to act like a woman who despite being beaten mercilessly by her husband, defends her abuser and accepts the abuse as her entitlement in life. Why are we so proud to push our chests out and accept and maintain this crafty psychological abuse?

When people can look at a man with the skin complexion like Obama and say that he is ‘black’ is one of the reasons why I’m always amused when people claim to be fans of Bob Marley. Good ole uncle Bob had the opportunity to leave us a profound message before he passed.....”Free yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”. Currently it is still okay to refer to British citizens of African descent as blacks but it is highly offensive to refer to a growing population of Indian immigrants as ‘Paki’......food for thought my friends......food for thought................... ©

Word of The Week September '09 - Jackass

Word of the Week JACKASS!........

Listen to Obama call Kanye West a Jackass.

Tales of procrastinating assassins and a slow moving target

Not to be out done by Dr. Tim Goopeesingh and his claim of ‘ethnic cleansing’ against doctors of East Indian descent who make up 80% of the doctors in our fragile health sector, Mr. Manning in true classical envious style noticeable in most ten year old boys unceremoniously grabs the lime light from the Dr. with his dubious claims of attempts against his life. The first thing that is highly suspicious about the Prime Minister’s revelation is the fact that he made this disclosure on the exact same day four years prior.

Now it is a clear cut case that who so ever hired these would be assassins made a fatal error in judgement by not outsourcing the job! How else can one explain the procrastination of these would be assassins to not even ‘make an attempt’ on the Prime Minister’s life after four years of their last threat? If these were foreign assassins I’m sure the job would have been done already but it seems that in an attempt to cut cost due to the turbulent global financial crisis, Mr. Manning’s enemies hired local assassins ‘CEPEP style’, that could be the only logical explanation one could deduce from their procrastination with regard to not even making an attempt at the job. These local would be assassins seem quite content with issuing threats that is so typical of a Trini, all mouth and no action.

The mere fact that Mr. Manning’s would be assassins have not even made an attempt to kill him is not the most startling of this scenario, what is startling and alarming is the manner in which Mr. Manning disclosed these threats and his subsequent explanations of why he didn’t report it when they were actually made. First of all one must understand that Mr. Manning’s security detail is nothing like Obama’s. For instance when Obama is in town (in the US that is) areas are cordoned off with the possibility of several blocks being closed. When Obama’s detail passes by they use electronic devices to jam electronic signals, so for instance mobile phones, walkie-talkies, wireless routers etc would be quite useless. Scouts are sent out before Mr. Obama’s security detail arrives at the destination and he has a decoy limo.

I am not aware of Mr. Manning having a decoy Mercedes Benz. I’m not aware of scouts being sent ahead for Mr. Manning and his detail and I’m not aware of Mr. Manning’s detail using electronic jamming devices. For instance while on Frederick Street, if Mr. Manning’s detail passes I can still text my girlfriend and tell her what a bamcee I think our Prime Minister is and she will receive it and have a humungous smile on her face before his shiny ride makes the corner. Mr. Manning is currently attending open village educational meetings with none of the hi-tech security detail Mr. Obama has, he walks through crowds that have not been scouted prior to his arrival and he speaks at podiums without any bullet proof glass. Mr. Manning is basically a slow moving target, yet still after four years these would be assassins are unable to get the job done. I’m certain by now there is a cost over run on this hit placed on Mr. Manning’s big, yuh can’t miss it head!

The other issue I have with Mr. Manning’s assassination revelation is the fact that he did not report it to the Police at the time, because the Police Commissioner from all reports was unaware of this threat that was made against Mr. Manning’s life hence he only appointed a senior officer a couple days ago to begin an investigation into the matter. Now I’m not sure if citizens understand the seriousness in this issue you see, this is a man who is the head of the Caricom Security Council, yet he seems totally void of any knowledge with regards to the procedures to be followed when a head of government receives a death threat. How can Mr. Manning make any valid contribution to the Caricom Security Council when he does not report a threat against his own life to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service? How much more is he going to make us the laughing stock of the Caribbean community with this type of folly? Imagine this is a Prime Minister who along with his Minister of National Insecurity boasts about illegal institutions created by themselves namely SAUTT, they boast about the BLIMP and defend the millions spent on acquiring it, they pride themselves in talking about Crime Stoppers yet the Prime Minister of this country does not use these resources to establish who is making threats against his life? Why then should we be surprised that crime continues unabated in this country?

In the United States a sitting President receives hundreds of hate mail letters on a daily basis and every single one every single threat is investigated by the CIA. You can create a blog and be racist about Obama, you can talk about how big you think his head is you can say what you like, but dare say you are going to kill him and the CIA will be knocking at your door within the time it takes you to shut down your computer. Your computer will be confiscated, your house raided, you will be detained for how long they see it fit to investigate you along with your family. Someone walks into the Minister of Local Government’s office as if they are a girl scout selling brownies to tell Hazel Manning that someone is plotting to kill the Prime Minister her husband and they both do not report it to our protective services. The person who delivered the news is not questioned or detained and attempts made to trace the source of the threat. And now I’m wondering if Mr. Manning’s handling of threats made against his life is not a reflection of his attitude toward citizen’s cries for a solution to the rampant crime.

What peeved me most is Mr. Manning’s claim that if he reported the threat at the time certain people would have been killed and there would have been bloodshed. Now granted Mr. Manning’s comments were outside the walls of Parliament they reek of the same putrid smell of insincerity and untruth as Dr. Goopeesingh’s claims of ethnic cleansing. Trinidad and Tobago is probably the world’s most noted country for having politicians who bring the name of their own country into disrepute on the international scene by the irresponsible claims they make. Mr. Manning is the Prime Minister of this country therefore whatever comes out of his mouth is reported beyond our shores. By Mr. Manning claiming there would have been bloodshed had he reported the threat against his life he in effect told the international community that Trinibagonians are a violent irrational people. Thanks a mil Patrick! At least we will not have to pay anything over your death similar to how we will ‘pay in blood’ if we do not involve ourselves in your dubious economic union with Caribbean countries that have some of the weakest economies in the region, at least if your death occurs the blood will be free!

Such is the magnitude of Mr. Manning’s self importance that he is deluded into thinking someone would not only ‘waste’ their time to kill a third world non entity politician like himself, he actually believes that the citizens of this country would give a hoot to the point that we will go on a violent rampage over his death. I have heard of self professed Christians but self professed martyrs are a bit too much for me to digest. Mr. Manning has followed in the footsteps of Dr. Goopeesingh by degrading and embarrassing our country. I raised this issue of Dr. Goopeesingh’s claims of ethnic cleansing and I will raise it again with Mr. Manning’s dubious claims of assassination threats, as a people it is time we reel in our politicians because by their actions and words they are clearly out of control.

As of now I don’t know which is doing this country more harm, the rampant crime or the insensitive stupid remarks by our politicians. These are the people who when they speak the international community forms an opinion, an opinion not about them as individuals but an opinion of us as a nation. It is blatantly clear that Mr. Manning’s claim of death threats is nothing but a red herring to detract from those calling for an investigation into the 1990 coup. Being accustomed to putting his foot in his mouth what Mr. Manning does not realise is if after 19 years since the attempted coup he is still receiving death threats as our head of government it means the issues of 1990 have not been resolved and there are many unanswered questions. If Mr. Manning is really concerned about his legacy he should be concerned about not leaving a legacy of unanswered questions for the future generations to come and concerned about not leaving a tarnished image of our country by making irresponsible claims. Such behaviour simply does not convert to political currency! ©