Biased TV 6 Programme on the 1990 Coup

Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the 1990 coup. This is an event in our history that I have always felt distant from for a number of reasons. The first is that I was out of the country at the time, and by the time I returned things had gone back to normal. The second reason was that I was very young so for me that was big people thing. As a result of this I have always enjoy coup stories from people simply because I have no story to tell. Minding my own business I realised that TV6 advertised a special feature to be broadcasted on the evening of the twentieth anniversary. The programmed was entitled News Special: 1990 Untold Stories – Cocaine, Conspiracy, Coup. This programme aired against the back drop of the Attorney General, Senator Anand Ramlogan saying that he was going to place the notice in the print media for the auction of the properties owned by the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen. As well as the announcement by the Prime Minister in the post Cabinet press conference that there would be an enquiry into the coup.

At the beginning of the programme I instantly got vex because I realised the presenter was Sasha Mohammed, so they start bad already. Then it is stated that the PNM and the UNC governments made no attempts to enquire into the events of the 1990 coup and flashed to a video clip of Mr. Manning and Mr. Panday shaking hands. You would swear they were shaking hands agreeing not to enquire into the coup. Of course mention was made of the Prime Minister’s plan to have a Commission of Enquiry. Ms. Mohammed then interviewed a number of people including Imam Yasin Abu Bakr and the Attorney General in 1990, Mr. Anthony Isidore Smart. Generally I got from the programme that the presenter who is obviously a strong supporter of the People’s Partnership was attempting to place the blame for the coup on members of the NAR, while implicating Mr. Manning and Mr. Panday. I am no fool I have no doubt that there were persons other than the Muslimeens backing the coup. However, I was expecting the programme to be unbiased, and a true record of the events of the coup. Something for me to look at to gain a true sense of the events that occurred. Rather that it being propaganda and a political advertisement for the upcoming Commission of Enquiry. I guess from the title of the programme I should have known. Even the inclusion of an interview of Dr. Tim Gopeesingh who is a gynecologist claiming that he assisted the Prime Minister ANR Robinson. Unless the Prime Minister got shot in some part of his female anatomy how Dr. Gopeesingh got involved. Like I said earlier, I was not around so perhaps the man was the Chief Medical Officer or something.

I am looking forward to this Commission of Enquiry to see what information it uncovers. I am also interested to see what this Commission of Enquiry is going to cost the tax payer. The programme also alleged that the current levels of crime and violence in the country are a direct result of the events of the coup. This tells me that the Partnership Government is already looking for something or somebody to blame for why they cannot stop the escalating rate of crime. Imam Yasin Abu Bakr made an interesting point, he said that there are a lot of guns on the street and nobody in Laventille have any boat to get any gun so they have to be getting help from somewhere. He also expressed his intention to call names in the enquiry implicating a number of top government officials, politicians, and senior law enforcement officers.

So we shall see how the story goes. How do you think things are going to unfold?

My Favourites for Tribe 2011

It is that time of year again, Tribe has launched and the arguments have started. I am not too sure how Tribe registration is going to be this year but this is what I think about Tribe. I did not really give much consideration to Bliss because I got the impression that is the sawatie band so hopefully Max plays there or doesnt play at all. Let me say right off the bat that I got the pictures from Tribe’s Facebook page. I am not sure what the protocol is for reusing these pictures but I don’t want to get in trouble for plagiarism or copyright infringement. I also got one picture from Island People Mas. That being said I narrowed my picks to three options as follows:

I like the concept of the frontline of Mayan Eagle but the colour combination is a bit off. Mind you I could have been brain washed by Monique Nobrega because she designed Xi Ling Chi, which I played in and loved for 2010. While we are on this costume I wonder if the person modeling the costume has any effect on whether we like the costume or not?


After careful consideration I think I like Persian Gold the most, both the backline and the frontline. I like the relatively small headpiece and collar of the backline and the bra and belt are also quite nice.



As for the frontline I love the fact that the headpiece is like a tiara and I love the bra, belt, leg, arm and neck pieces. This is the same designer of Mystery of Loulan which I didn’t really like however, I must say I am really loving her contribution this year.
Xi'an, I must say it is different and it could only have been designed by Sandra Hordatt. The backline is nice however I do not like the headpiece and leg pieces. The frontline is way too skimpy for my liking even if I lose thirty pounds. Plus the frontline is a caged bra and I am not sure how that is going to work with big boobs. Finally my concept of a frontline costume is that it should be big and pretty. It must look outstanding and when comparing the backline to the frontline of this section you might as well save your money and go backline cause there is very slight difference and on the road non masqueraders will not notice. I have a serious problem paying more money for less costume.

This reminds me of Rays of Light of Island People 2009, where a sequined panty and a slightly fuller headpiece was considered frontline. After lunch when people ditch the headpiece they would just looked like a backline betty who lost her belt and is parading in a panty.

So there you have it. Like it. Love it. Leave it. What are your picks for Tribe 2011?

Strange Happenings

I am awake at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. This is normal for me because I usually go to bed early and then get up at these hours like a jumbie. In moving around my house I noticed that there was some abnormal vehicular activity on my street. Some people may say that I am a maco, others may say I am damn fas, however I consider myself to be hyper observant. Just as I was about to call the police I saw blue flashing lights, but I was still a bit uneasy. So I continued to pace around the house. Next thing my gate bell rings, I look out and see police. It was the kind of police I like too, the ones that breastfed on dasheen and look like they could buss somebody ass. The officers told me they would like to come in to check the premises and I quickly obliged. The officer who stood with me while his colleagues checked the premises explained that there was an incident on the highway involving a stolen vehicle and the suspects shot at the police. He asked me if I saw anything unusual, so I explained that I was going to call the police earlier. The officers completed the search then instructed me to lock up and proceeded down the street to continue the search.

This incident led me to a broadcast I received from some fool earlier that same night. “Big exercise in curepe on the main road side at least 40 cops searching cars .” As civilians we are not privy to the rationale behind the operations of law enforcement agencies. Why would we want to assist criminals by sending these types of messages? Some of us have persons on our Facebook and BBM accounts that we barely know and it is difficult to control where this information ends up. When we circulate these stupid messages we make the work of the officers futile. This is something that i have written about before in a post entitled “Aiding and Abetting the Criminal Element” so I will not babble on because my feelings are still the same.

I must say that I found the officers to be quite polite considering the circumstances and I was really impressed with the way they operated overall. I just hope that the officers were either able to apprehend the suspects or to at least survive the night without injury.

To My Grandfather

This thing called life is so strange. We often spend hours maybe even a lifetime trying to make sense of things that have happened to us. My life similar to anyone else’s has had some interesting turns which I appreciate because they all add up to make me the unique individual that I am today. My paternal grandfather has lived in Trinidad for as long as I have known yet still I have never seen the man. He and my grandmother divorced before I was born. I grew up not knowing either of my grandfathers and this was normal, I saw nothing wrong with it because it was what I knew. A few years ago I came to the realization that my mother also did not know who her father was. For some reason unknown to us my grandmother never divulged this information. It is not my place to question why my grandmother chose nondisclosure, that is her business. She was a strong, wise woman and I know that she would never act with malice or ill will. Therefore she would have done what she thought was best in the situation. My mother did some digging and discovered her father. So into our lives came this wonderful man who did not even know we existed. He accepted us with open arms and an open heart. Now I have a very cool Grandad (who reads my blog by the way). This has opened up a whole branch of my family tree. It is a new and exciting journey for us and we will cherish every moment of it because we definitely don’t have time for coulda shoulda woulda.

So Grandad today is your day. I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday!!! I wish you God’s richest blessings today and everyday and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Independent Women and the Role of Men

Recently a friend of mine suggested Independent Women and the Role of Men as a topic for me to write about. I jumped at it because I am really trying to stay out of the politics. Independent women, feminist and a host of other terms have been used over the years to describe the new breed of women. It doesn’t take much to realize that women are coming to the fore as the leaders of the world. Two recent examples are the first female President of Costa Rica and right here at home for the first time we have a woman in the running for Prime Minister. With these changing roles for women, it raises the question of how men fit in. Traditionally as women we have been taught that a man has to be the provider and protector, while we as women are supposed to nurture and support. However if we are providing for ourselves and paying for our own security systems in the homes that we bought for ourselves, what is the new and revised role of men? Are women still supposed to rely on men to provide and protect?

I think the answer is yes, after all that is what they have been trained to do. However, I do not think that a woman is supposed to sit around doing nothing while waiting on a man to do things especially if there is no man around. But if there is a man in your life, sit back and relax. Women have to find the unique balance and know when to let go and allow a man to be a man. It doesn’t matter how much money you make if a man feels that you do not need him in your life he will just cease to be a part of it. Essentially while it is good to be independent and strong and all that good stuff, it is just as important to allow your companion to be a man. Let him do what he was socialized to do. Even if you make more money than him don’t belittle him and definitely don’t remind him of that fact constantly. He already knows this. Steve Harvey dedicated an entire chapter in his book Act like a Lady Think like a Man to Strong Independent Lonely Women. Essentially he believes that if a woman persists in being the Strong Independent Woman giving off the illusion that she has no need for a man then she is going to be lonely.

What do you think about the role of men in the lives of Independent Women? Do you agree that a woman should allow a man to maintain his traditional role as provider and protector even if she can handle things on her own?

Too Much Election Drama

These days I just feel saturated. I feel like there is too much of everything going on. There is too much bacchanal. Politicians are fighting and obviously they are forgetting that they are supposed to be role models for the youth of our country. This is the worst set of name calling in an election that I can remember. I really don’t know what is going on with these people. The funny thing is that at the end of all this nonsense all of these politicians will be laughing having a time in their little rum shop to which the rest of us cannot afford to gain entry. This election is becoming a big joke and I would really like to know at what stage the running of a nation became a laughing matter. While I strongly support one party, I will admit that is both sides indulge in the stupidness. Issues are being pushed aside to discuss things such as Marlene Mc Donald’s weight and Nicole Dyer winning Mastana Bahar. I am well aware that picong is part of our Trini culture, I think things are getting a bit out of hand. I wish elections were this coming Monday so we could get this Election over and done with. I anxiously await election results so that the country can continue with its regular day to day activities with the winning party at the helm leading the way.

How do you feel about the way the Election Campaign is going? Do you think the Politicians are taking the insults too far?

Happy Mothers' Day

Today is mothers' day, and I would like to take the opportunity to wish all mothers a Happy, Joyous and Blessed day today. In particular I want to give thanks to my mother for being the best Mummy in the world. I want to thank her for spoiling me rotten while somehow ensuring that I did not turn out to be a brat. I guess she could have done that because everything that she gave me was either a reward for an achievement or for general good behaviour. It was always clear in my mind that I was never entitled to any of the privileges she afforded me. I want to thank my mother for not allowing me to go to Water Colours when I fourteen (yeah obviously I was delusional to think I could have gone in the first place) but allowing me to part hard from sixteen (after CXC exams) onwards. Let me tell you that the parties were just as sweet I did not miss a damn thing. To think I was actually vex with her for not letting me go.

I want to thank my mother for getting me a job during the August holidays while I was awaiting CXC results because more than ten years later many of the things I learned on that job are still with me today. To think I was vex when she got me the job because I wanted to spend time with my boyfriend at the time who by the way is not around and I barely remember. I also want to thank my mother for supporting me through all of my academic attempts failed or otherwise. Lord knows that I have tried to study almost everything under the sun and continuously she has always stuck by me with words of encouragement.

In retrospect I think that my mother honestly did the best that she could have done for me at any given time. As a child I may not have recognized what she was doing and therefore may not have always been appreciative of her efforts. However as an adult I can safely say that I am where and who I am today because of the strong role my mother played. For this I thank my mother and although I may not always show it I am truly grateful for my Mummy in my life. So Mummy today is your day, have a great one and I love you dearly.

Mr. Right or Mr. Right Now?

As a woman there have been several times in my life when I have felt that I was wronged by a man. However, is it really the man’s fault? Many times we as women meet a man who we know is no good for us, yet we continue in the hopes of some magic transformation. I am not saying that the sneaky lying men are not out there or that they don’t exist, because trust me they do exist. I am saying and admitting to the world that we as women create some of the heart ache and troubles that we encounter. For example, if you meet a man who openly tells you that he is not interested in a relationship at this time, then he isn’t. Nothing is going to change that man, unless you have a good script writer, director, producer and a hell of a theme song. So why stick around? Even if he does change his mind there is no guarantee that you are going to be the one he picks, because Lord knows you are not the only one that he is “not being in a relationship with”. It is ok to be alone, just move on. Use the time to do some abdominals and cardio because carnival is always just months away.

Then there are the men who we know are no good for us, we don’t even need them to tell us, we just know for ourselves. These are usually the really cute popular ones who like themselves more than God. The ones who live in their parents’ house, don’t have a dime saved, always by their favourite bar or liming spot, and always in the latest most expensive brand name clothing. This type of man is no good, simply because he is not interested in anyone but himself. He is never going to put any woman ahead of his lifestyle. Even if he commits to one woman he is not going to be involved financially, emotionally or even spiritually. However don’t get vex with the man, just see him for what he is. And that is the wrong man for you right now. He is not bad generally, he is just bad for you. Unless of course you are looking for penis escapades and want to have a good time then this type of man is just for you.


So ladies the next time you meet a guy and before you fall deeply in love and then go crazy on the man when it doesn’t work out. Ask yourself, is this really the right man for me right now?

Carnival Tabanca

In the midst of all this election drama I found myself with a Carnival tabanca. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and like the happy, childless, single person that I am, I decided to take a nap. I dreamt that it was costume collection time and for some strange reason I could not collect my costume for myself so I asked my Mother to collect it for me. When I received the costume from my mom the bra was too small. Not at all a problem because I am playing in Tribe so changing it should be a breeze. Somehow though I forgot to have the bra exchanged so Carnival Saturday comes and I rush to Cascadia to see a line going down the hill. This is where you know it is a dream because everyone is calmly standing in the line and I was allowed to cut in midway. While standing in line it occurs to me that my friend registered me for backline and I had no boots. I began a mad plot of how I was going to obtain boots carnival Saturday evening and make a back pack all before carnival Tuesday. Then the phone rang and woke me up. It was such a strange dream but thank the good Lord that it was just a dream. At least this means that regardless of the election results there is hope because no matter what we will have Carnival 2011 to look forward to, to unite all of us one wine at a time.

The Prime Minister is no Fool

Sadly my prediction of the dissolution of Parliament has become a reality. I was wrong about the date for elections to be held. The Representation of the People Act mandates that a number of things take place prior to the election which would require thirty-five days. However the Constitution states that the election must be called within three months. Therefore the election can be anywhere between thirty-five days and three months from Friday April 9, 2010.

Our Prime Minister is not a crazy man and I think that this election is no fluke. It may seem like something out of the blue but it is not. The Prime Minister is going to use this election to get rid of some of the bad eggs that are in his party. I use the term bad eggs because usually looking at an egg you cannot always tell that it is bad. It is only when you attempt to use the egg you would realise that it is bad. For the last general election the PNM had a lot of new comers to the political arena, while many of the stalwarts were pushed aside. Many of the newbies won their seats because the PNM had a strong hold in the constituency and any PNM candidate would have won. The population vote according to the overall party they support, whether or not they think the actual candidate they are voting for will do well as a Minister.

The Prime Minister was left in somewhat of an embarrassing situation where if he admitted to having bad eggs in his administration it would bring his ability to screen candidates into question. The fact that there was no major Cabinet Reshuffle is testimony to the fact that little could have been done with many of the persons within the Cabinet. The Prime Minister was then left with no other option but to advise the President to dissolve Parliament for a general election to be held which could then be used as an opportunity to get rid of some of the persons within the party who were bringing the PNM into disrepute. Some of the trouble makers include the Flag Man, Gary Hunt, Nunez-Tesheira, who did not ensure that there was proper public consultation prior to the introduction of the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority Bill. While Indra Sinanan Ojah-Maharaj and Roger Joseph were allegedly not representing their constituents well. With the trouble makers gone the Prime Minister could now make another attempt to win the hearts of the population while saving face. This is also why the Prime Minister has been walking around the country visiting various constituencies over the last few months because he has been preparing for an election.

What do you think about the upcoming General Election? Do you think a change in some of the PNM candidates would improve the running of the country? or Do you think another party is the answer?