Well it’s supposed to be a New Year – everybody wishin’ everybody ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’, wid big grin on dey face – except me of course. I eh wish nobody Happy ‘nuthin’. I eh even send out a single pos’cyard, self. Why? To increase my carbon footprint and score brongney points (aka brownie points) wid people, and keep up appearance? Nah – I eh in dat. Who vex, vex.
Most people t’ink I need a dose o’ antidepressants or shock treatment or supm. Nahee! I happen to live in dee real world. Yes i’s a new year.. but i’s dee same ol’ khaki pants. So – whuhappen?
Well on dis supposedly Haaahpy New Year I’m suppose’ to be enjoyin’ - wid meh hypocritical Cheshire cat grin - I happen to glance dee TT Express. And there I am assaulted by reality. Eh heh? Yes – eh heh!!
- Squandermania – Mary King - “During the property tax debate the Opposition charged that the Government squandered almost TT$300 billion over the last eight years or so… Our manufacturers, who have found it impossible to break into the global market, have cheap, subsidised energy as their competitive advantage. When the RIC recommended rate increases for T&TEC our Government stalled these increases for years and then allowed only certain sectors to have increases, all the while subsidising T&TEC. The subsidisation of energy, the use of cheap natural resources to foster industrialisation, including the proposed aluminium smelter, is economically inefficient - squander-mania.”
- A breakdown in trust – Express Editorial - “James Philbert provided his own insight into the central theme of this latest report. He had disclosed that some 42,000 citizens had submitted applications for firearms licences. …Such a disclosure would have presented perhaps the most graphic clue to what this new report has revealed, that public trust in the ability of the state and its related agencies in crime fighting has plummeted.”
- The challenge of hope in 2010 – Michael Harris - “And let me make it abundantly clear that when I speak of a problem of governmental incompetence I do not refer only to the current Manning administration. While this administration may very well be the worst we have ever had the truth is that all our governments have been fundamentally and essentially incompetent.”
- Fire storm is a-coming – Rafique Shah - “People look and listen, and they do not like what they are seeing and hearing. It’s going to get worse in 2010. While the country’s economy is resilient to a great extent, we are sure to experience the fallout from wanton wastage during the years of plenty. More people will be on the breadline even as the ranks of the underemployed swell…. That, my friends, is where the seeds of revolt find fertile ground. I write with authority on this because I’ve been there, done that. A firestorm is a-coming. Fat-cat Taylor, beware.”
- Bobol and the Chinese connection – Selwyn Ryan – giving an insight into how China is flooding the globe with cheap labour and how Dongkey Rock is falling victim to this.
- Sorry we can’t join you Minister Joseph – Express Editorial - “Trinidad and Tobago still registers as one of the most murderous places on the planet, a distinction in which no citizen, least of all a Cabinet minister, should take pride.”
And eef dat eh bad enuff check “Crime numbers that eluded Martin Joseph”
Oh boy – dat sure as hell sets the stage for a lovely 2010 – don’t it? So all dem people who wish you Haaahpy Xmas and New Year and t’ing – what all dat count for? A temporary grin on dee face? Come nah man. I’s dee same tchune (aka tune) from laaas’ year! Nuthin’ to grin about.
Yuh know people often use the word ‘hope’ without thinking too much about it. But check the meaning of hope at TFD: it is about wishing for something with expectation of its fulfilment. I might hope that a million bucks falls from space in my backyard on a cold day in winter, here in dee UK. It eh go happen doh. And likewise, allyuh dong on dat godforsaken rock hopin’ dat Kamla or somebody else go ‘take dee nation forward’. Well it boils dong to matter of opeenion. The reality is, that it is practically impossible to grow wholesome fruit from barren soil. [Ahm, ah talking figuratively eh – and not t’inkin about exceptions in concrete interpretations]. Ah had to mention dis because jes las night I was in skype convo wid annoda top lawyer dong on dee rock going, “Boy Kamla might tu’n t’ings arong eh” – or WTTE.
So – ah t’ink allyuh know what my outlook on 2010 is for Dongkey Rock. Well as a say – whilst I might moan ‘bout all dat, it’s gonna be pina coladas fuh me on dis side, dis year. Take care .. keep duckin’ and divin’! And don’t get caught by bullet or stray penis – right?
