I’m making enemies again

Trinis jokey too bad, oui. Lemme explain.

I saw a post my cousin put on FaceBook, about people going to the cricket (Caribbean Premier League or something – I am not a cricket fan – referred to as CPL), and paying touts to park in private property, the fenced yards of people living in the area. Some of the touts were so brazen, they cut the locks off the gates, put people to park there and charged them.

Of course, the owners called the police wreckers, especially when they realised they can’t get sleep because people coming back late hours AFTER the match to get their vehicles. The wreckers tow the vehicles and the owners have to pay TT$500 to get a vehicle back from impound.

From my point of view, I like the idea of them paying twice over for stupidity like that. Maybe it’s the sadist in me, but people learn through pain too, not only reward. So, after being hit in the pocket twice, and inconvenience of losing time having to make their way to the impound lot outside the city… well, I mentioned I have no sympathy for them. If you can’t see you’re parking in private property or in front of private property, you deserve that shit that comes your way.

Now, apparently my cousin’s husband was one of those who was caught in this. I didn’t intend to insult him, but he fell into the bracket of dotish people.

My cousin took offence, yammering on about how I don’t know her husband… blah, blah, blah. So, because he is your husband, he can’t be dotish? I tell you, some people eh.

But further, my cousin has resorted to the cheapest of all tricks, ad hominem attacks on me… calling me a conman who is in hiding in the UK. Not the first time I’ve heard such rumours, though oddly enough, the same cousin met me several times when I went back to Trinidad on holidays. And was nice to me.

Now, if I am a conman, she has my address to give to the police. Let’s see what the future unfolds.

In the meantime, I have even less sympathy for her husband.

ignorance or stupidity?

Every so often, I encounter some article that makes me wonder about whether people are just stupid, or deliberately ignorant. Take this person:

Beware debit card skimming

Card skimming has been around at least 2 decades, if not more. We were warned about this way back in the 1990’s in Trinidad and Tobago. So for this person to profess such ignorance makes me ask myself, under which rock had he been sleeping? The alternative is sheer stupidity. Same with people who, decades after the scam was exposed, still get taken in by 419 scammers.

Some basic precautions :

1. Use a credit, not debit, card for online purchases. Credit cards usually have more protection. And debit card accounts usually have your savings which are at risk. If a scammer gets hold of your credit card details, then the most they can get is up to the limit of the card, not your entire savings.
2. Use a card with a low enough limit to prevent undue liability in case something goes wrong. A card limit of £500 (TT$5000) can usually cover any purchase necessary for everyday expenses.
3. Repay the card when you receive your salary, or as much as possible, to reduce interest payments. Most cards give about 56 days before interest is imposed.

A fool and his money….

I had the source wrong

Okay, yesterday when I wrote on Dr Jehan Ali refusing to testify in the Crystal Ramsumair medical negligence case, I was speculating that he was refusing to testify because he might be afraid that he would be blackballed by his colleagues.

Turns out I was way, way wrong.

You see, the blackmail is actually coming from Ali, and he has openly confessed to it.

Yesterday, in an interview at his medical offices at San Fernando Specialist Centre, Ali explained to Newsday why he withdrew, saying that it was his medical expertise upon which he advised Ramsoomair’s attorneys in assessing the medical evidence, but had advised against suing Ramballack, “an intern who is not medico- legally covered to operate; does not operate on a patient, but yet she was sued” And to add insult to injury, Ali said, Ramballack, as well as Seenath and Mohammed, were charged privately with manslaughter.

“And I told them, if you are going to file criminal charges against the doctors, I will have nothing to do with this case. It is heartless; imagine a criminal charge of manslaughter hanging over the head of, especially an intern, who had absolutely nothing to do with the operation, but perhaps to draw blood etc. Is this blackmail against the doctors for SWRHA to settle the claim?” Ali asked.

Ali is blackmailing Lorne Ramsumair to cease legal action against the doctors (and boldly taking on the role of judge, jury and executioner), in return for his testimony for the claimant. And yes, I see the irony of the medical fraternity closing ranks, in the opposite direction to what I had imagined.

Frankly, once a doctor is part of the team responsible, he/she is rightly brought into the action as I see it, and as the judge says, “Let the chips fall as they may.” The doctors may be found wholly or partly responsible, or innocent, or may indeed be individually found culpable to varying degrees. But that is not Ali’s job to decide!!

So Ali is really confirming what we all knew all along: that the medical brothers stick together… and fuck the public!

9 days distraction

For the past few days, I’ve been thinking that the brouhaha created by the ravings of Vernella Toppin-Alleyne in Parliament has bee a distraction, deliberately orchestrated by the cabal within the UNC, to remove attention from the case of the walking documents and the former AG. Why?

The answer may lie in the failed investigation into the former AG and his cronies who apparently conspired to defraud to state in prisoner litigation matters that involved private practice attorneys colluding with the Office of the AG. I note all matters relating to the ex-AG’s wanton spending and alleged corruption has been put off from the public’s attention.

After all, the death of Dana Seetahal was the first time the investigation was cancelled, and now that the attention is drawn by the rambling of an obviously psychotic MP, there is no follow-through to that investigation.

Open Pipeline from Office of Attorney General

The Office of Attorney General is not without controversy. I think every single Attorney General in my memory, beginning from Selwyn Richardson to John Jeremie, has had fingers pointed at them for abuse of office and ties to corruption. None however seems to be as mired in controversy as ex-Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.

The ex-Attorney General has a list of "transgressions" that is becoming longer and longer with each passing day, as new revelations are exposed. Sadly, many of these are connected with opening the coffers of the State to friends within the legal system, using his office as the conduit or open pipeline to financial gain for his cronies.

One aspect of this was the granting of legal briefs to friends/cronies from the office of the Attorney General, bypassing the Office of the State Solicitor General. Yet another aspect was his involvement in the "prison gate" of fear in which his office was the respondent of multiple suits from prisoners who claimed they received injuries from officials of the state (prisons officers and police officers), and where "copying and pasting" were done in multiple cases by two friends of his, and where private files from the Supreme Court appeared at the private office of one of his friends. And now a third aspect has been revealed.

The Office of the Attorney General retained the services of a company with no legal expertise among its directors to give advice relating to mutual legal assistance by the United States of America.

The company, Tiger Capital Ltd, was paid $1,750,000 on Novembe­r 18, 2014, for advice, despite having no legal expertise.

The company’s directors are a building contractor, proprietor and financial consultant.

According to the article, Tiger Capital Ltd has a fake address, no staff, no legal expertise, has no phones and is apparently unreachable.

Given that one of the policies of the ex-Attorney General was to file civil suits (with the obvious approval of his Prime Minister) and going after those whom he considered to have misused resources of the State, I wonder if any civil suit will be filed against him for what appears to be blatant nepotism? I highly doubt it. After all, it's just normal part of the culture, living life on a small rock.

The Case of the Walking Documents – 4

The case of the walking documents took a strange turn this morning.

It seems Merry Mr Meddle was making mischief when he called (via phone) attorney Mark Seepersad who discovered the documents. The content of the call so far remains unknown.

What raises my curiosity are the following known facts:

• Mark Seepersad shared an office with Gerald Ramdeen.
• The box of documents contained prisoner litigation letters.
• Gerald Ramdeen is the attorney who sued the State in the several matters where prisoners injuries were ‘copied and paste’ in many cases and the evidence wasn’t able to substantiate such injuries.
• Gerald Ramdeen was instructed by Varun Debideen (pictured).
• Varun Debideen is the son of Dev Debideen, who received 2 SUVs from Anand Ramlogan and benefited from the tax exemption that Government employees are entitled to.
• Former Solicitor General Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell was also concerned about the Office of the Attorney General retaining attorneys from the former chambers of the then incumbent AG.

The former Solicitor General in her letter to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar also asked her to investigate circumstances, “that may amount inter alia to breaches of professional ethics by the attorneys involved and may have the effect of perverting the course of justice in litigation against the State”.

She also referred to the retaining of lawyers by the Office of the AG who defended the State in civil law claims while going against the State in prison litigation.

• The Prime Minister actually appointed said AG to investigate himself, which ended in the resignation of the Solicitor General.

Persad-Bissessar last week, instructed Attorney General Anand Ramlogan to investigate concerns raised by Donaldson-Honeywell as it related to matters involving lawyers engaged in prison litigation *.

The start of this investigation was postponed indefinitely following the death of the late Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal on Sunday.

* This implies that the then AG was also involved in ‘matters involving prison litigation’.

• Varun Debideen sits on the Board of the Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Finance Company (TTMFC).

Note that he is a junior attorney (qualified sometime in 2010) and a good pal of a (former) senior member of the government. Interestingly, his relevant experience is not printed in his profile on the TTMFC page, unlike the other Board members whose profiles indicate 15, or 20 years experience etc. Strings help, don’t they?

What is really baffling is what role Mr Meddle has in this affair. Granted, we know he meddled and muddled quite a bit in the course of his course (sorry, I couldn’t resist) to ignominy, but to be involved in this matter can only be interpreted as protecting someone. Who that person is remains to be seen. Ramdeen? Debideen? Harripaul? Himself?

Remember this is directly linked to the cases where prisoners sued the State under false pretences (fake injuries) and the attorneys who prepared the statements of injuries were copying and pasting said injuries from one successful case to another. Mr Meddle was the one being sued (not in personam) and kept accepting liability in those cases.

…Rodney Samaroo, Jamal Fortune, Ker­nell Sealy and Sambury all had similarly word­ed statements, despite their incidents occurring years apart and involving different prison and police officers.

The statements have helped Sealy get awar­­d­ed $120,000, $90,000 to Samaroo, and $165,142 to Fortune.

By consent [re Sambury] (the State accepted liability), judg­ment on liability was entered against the office of the AG, with damages to be assessed.

This investigation is becoming ‘curiouser and curiouser’ and I intend to keep a close eye on it. Not only does it involve (as stated before) disrepute to the judiciary and the rule of law, but it has all the earmarks of a successful soap opera – cronyism, nepotism, theft, police bumbling, political and legal intrigue from ‘high-ups’ in society and even murder. We might even discover some sex.

Addendum: Fees earned by attorneys from June 2010 to October 2013:

According to invoices obtained by the Express, for the periods June 2010 to October 2013, Newman topped the list of high earners, having received $14,474,613.54; Ramdeen—$10,443,423; Ramsahoye—$7,750,096; Sinanan—$6,568,225; Ramkissoon—$5,924,631.80; Jairam—$4,478,847.50; and Singh—$3,728,832.97.

The fees were paid for briefs on being retained by the Office of the Attorney General and include professional legal advice, court appearances, investigations, and judicial review applications.

The results of the investigations, sources say, have not been forwarded to the police for investigation, nor sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

However, the matters are before the courts after civil action was initiated.

Sources say, in the past, the retention of attorneys was done by the Solicitor General. However, such a practice has lapsed and all decisions on who to retain have been taken by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.

Who say life not exciting? Watch this space, more to come.

When Presidents fail to rise

Like a man whose Viagra fails when needed most, so too did President Carmona fail in his first outright challenge (to remove Ken Gordon from the Integrity Commission). I guess the powers he thought he had was only in his head.

Hogs gone wild

For some unfathomable reason, like Jack Warner was, the Board of Caribbean Airlines appear to be untouchable when it comes to accounting to the people for monies spent/received. I don’t know if, as rumours have it, this is because one George Nicholas III, Chairman, is deeply involved and closely connected to the PM and her family. But in another belly-griping twist, another Board member is using the airline as his own private travel agency, ferrying friends and family to foreign climes, as if he was driving them to Maracas beach.

Mohan Jaikaran, is the Vice-Chairman, and like one Pundit Sharma (you may remember him from the $300K jaunt to India), has been unexplainably free with the airline’s purse, which is of course, connected to the Treasury.

Vice-chairman of Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) Mohan Jaikaran is proving the state enterprise is not cash-strapped, as he has requested 19 complimentary airline tickets for a Mother’s Day concert scheduled for New York City and Toronto this weekend, of which he is a co-promoter. The directive caused raised eyebrows among management, as two weeks ago there were reports that the national carrier had once again turned to the Government for funding, to the tune of $100 million.

Jaikaran, however, denied the airline was facing money woes and instead insisted it was “heading in the right direction.” T&T Guardian learned that last week, Jaikaran, who is also the chairman of WIN Communications Ltd (WINTV), gave instructions via e-mail for the tickets to be booked free of charge. The T&T Guardian learned loss of revenue for the tickets was estimated at approximately US$20,000. Only taxes were paid on the tickets.

Checks at the airline yesterday revealed that a ticket from Piarco International Airport to John F Kennedy International Airport during the month of May costs US$725.80, and a flight to Toronto’s Lester B Pearson International costs US$345.20 for the same period. The concert, which is being advertised on the Web site of the television station, takes place on Saturday at Double Tree by Hilton Hotel near the Toronto Airport and on Sunday (Mother’s Day) at Jamaica Avenue, Richmond Hill, New York.

Performers include Raymond & Dil-E-Nadan, Ravi B & Karma, and KI & 3Veni Band. Jaikaran is listed as a co-promoter of the event. Attempts to get a comment from Jaikaran yesterday were unsuccessful, as telephone calls and text messages went unanswered. Up to yesterday, nine of the 19 tickets had been confirmed and the other ten were awaiting flights and times before being confirmed.

CAL officials said yesterday this was not the first time such a directive had been issued by a high-ranking CAL official, adding that the company was being denied thousands of dollars in revenue at the same time it was depending on the Government for help. “Proper procedures are not being followed,” a top management official told the T&T Guardian. “Directives are just being given. The relevant parties are being bypassed and this is not how it is supposed to be.

“What we are having are upgrades free of charge and people receiving free tickets to travel around the world. People are being upgraded from economy to first class by a telephone call.”

The official added that sponsorship deals to WINTV were also being queried by employees. The deals were said to be more than $200,000 for last year alone. As a result of the recent developments, senior CAL staff have expressed frustration over the present management style and may protest today, when the board is scheduled to meet.

Sources said yesterday that acting CAL CEO Robert Corbie, who had butted heads with some executives over recent decisions, had gone on seven days’ leave. Staff are now calling on line minister Chandresh Sharma to investigate the operations of CAL. In response to a text message sent by T&T Guardian to Sharma yesterday, asking if he was aware of the request for the complimentary tickets, the minister said, “No.”

Telephone calls to CAL chairman Rabindra Moonan were also unsuccessful as he did not return calls or messages left. While the airline struggles to stay afloat, T&T Guardian investigations showed a 50 per cent discount was approved on 25 airline tickets to Toronto. The ticket request was for the 2012 WINTV Chutney in the Park at the Caribana festival. The T&T Guardian also obtained copies of invoices showing that for 2012, the airline also contributed to:

• WINTV pageant—$2,500
• WIN Radio spots closing and opening credits—$48,000
• WIN Communications package for NCIC Indian Arrival Day celebrations—$28,750
• WIN Web site banner—$51,117.50
• WINTV T20 Games held in Fort Lauderdale (four confirmed economy tickets)—$50,000
• WINTV Chutney in the Park Caribana (50 per cent of 25 tickets)—$48,000
• WINTV Divali Queen show —$50,000
• Maracas New York City Liberty Avenue Divali 2012 (two tickets to a Caribbean destination as a door prize)—$8,694
• WIN Radio Wet Fete (January 13, 2013 and Green Event February 3, 2013)—$30,000
• WIN Radio live link-up from New York 10.30 am to 11.30 am (January 20-December 31)-$72,000

[http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-05-08/us20000-trip-19-%E2%80%98friends%E2%80%99]

One wonders why these instances of corruption, and make no joke about it, corruption it is, are thrown in the faces of the people. I reckon it may well be because of the arrogance of those involved but also because the people are displaying symptoms of ‘learned helplessness’ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness]. The attitude of “wha’ we go do?”. It becomes someone else’s problem [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_Else%27s_Problem].

As my Russian friend says, he is a nice boy, he has learnt the time honoured tradition of ‘making the budget disappear’. Making the budget disappear is an honorary quest for many people in Third World countries. In Trinidad there is a teeth-grinding phrase called ‘eating ah food’ to describe the same type of chicanery.

Now, I can quote many instances of corruption in this (and previous) governments. What is always, but ought not to be, is the surprise I feel at the two-fisted approach to thievery. It isn’t merely sly divergence of monies such as what happened in the O’Halloran days… no, now it is open feeding frenzy at the trough like hogs gone wild. Nobody even cares how they are viewed for this open glomming. Shame, “the consciousness or awareness in any situation of embarrassment, dishonour, disgrace, inadequacy, humiliation, or chagrin” is completely absent. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shame].

I’ve said many a time that to track a society progress and descent, look to America. America has progressed and regressed rapidly compared to the rest of the world, indeed as it was forced to. In a matter of some 400 years, we can see the development of society from a literal wilderness to a First World status and now is rapidly decaying. What the rest of the world has done in millennia, America has done in centuries.

The reason I mention America is because we can track this loss of shame within a relatively short space of time. Take for example, a man doing business in ‘old’ America. With illiteracy being high, lack of lawyers, long distances and months/weeks to accomplish business, deals were done by the word (promise) of a man and a handshake. Broken deals left a man shameful, and with a reputation as a scoundrel, so no one will do business with him any more, thus effectively leaving him a ‘broken’ man. But with the changing times, men hid behind the faces of corporations and companies, behind contracts and impersonal undertakings so that sense of personal shame was lost…

So too in Trinidad, we have people like Warner and Jaikaran (the next Jack Warner?) who hide behind entities that take away this sense of shame and leave them with the notion that they are untouchable. In Trinidad and Tobago, they are; so ingrained it is now part of the culture of Monkey Island. As I mentioned before, hogs gone wild.

Diesel duttyness

Fat cat

Fat cat Harry Harnarine, disgraced CEO President of the Hindu credit Union (HCU), pictured left, has been revealed in the ‘Colman Inquiry’ as living higher than a saint on weed. And looking at that  belly, I can definitely say “Fat Cat”!

As being revealed in the inquiry, not only did Harry pay himself excessive monies belonging to the gypped clients of HCU, he channelled funds to his relatives and friend. According to the Newsday, a brother and sister benefited to the sum of approximately $1.2 M and $988,310 respectively.

As I sit here writing this, I am cognizant that no matter the outcome and recommendations of this inquiry, Harnarine will never be held accountable to the public, or the HCU clientele. Quote me on that. His days of living high on the hog may be over, but by Jingo!, he had a good time! And he laughed all the way to foreign parts.

Fake assassination plots and dangerous dogs

Once more, it seems that Jumbie has been proven correct. I had previously reported my scepticism that the assassination plot on the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and her gang of 'brown-nosers', was real. Today the Express reports that duncey investigations revealed it was all a hoax.

Commissioner Gibbs, National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and security adviser Gary Griffith were among those who said the threat was real.

But police investigators say they have not found any evidence to suggest that.

"It was based on hearsay information and nothing tangible," another officer said.

Even though Persad-Bissessar gave the reasons behind the alleged plot, the police have not been able to establish its truthfulness or a motive behind it.

The file on the investigation never reached the office of Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard for advice as is the procedure when police are dealing with high-profile investigations.

"It's because there was nothing to present or to ask Gaspard for his advice on," another source said.

I recall that I also said that Calder Hart will get away scot free, that no charges would be placed on him. So far, that statement has been true; instead the State is going after Neelanda Rampaul, the cookie monster.

In other news, there is urgent need to amend the Dangerous Dogs Act. Both the Express and Guardian report that a housewife was mauled by pitbulls belonging to a relative.

According to reports, Sherry Ifill, 48, was at her home around 6 p.m. doing chores when she was attacked by the pitbulls belonging to a relative.

The dogs attacked her and bit her on her abdomen and legs.

They dragged her several feet.

Writing on a previous story, another dog mauling story no less, journalist Andy Johnson commented in 2009:

A law which was passed in the country's parliament nine years ago, to deal with a situation which presented itself to national consciousness at the time, remains without effect because a successor administration deems it too draconian. It would have made provision for proper keeping of such deadly four-legged weapons away from the innocent public. It would have created a progression in which such breeds would have been outlawed in this jurisdiction altogether.

The situation remains unchanged. Death will come, death will go. In the meantime, the cacaholes politicians we have elected as leaders keep playing games.

Padding the bill

The photograph on the left is one of a bill incurred last night at the Frankie and Benny's restaurant in Birmingham. We had gone there to celebrate a friend's birthday. When the bill was presented, we could clearly see that there was a Budweiser added for the cost of £3.75.

I found it a very sly way of padding the bill. I cannot believe that the waitress, who wrote down our order at the table, could so brazenly add a beer! If she wrote down the order at the table, and did not have a beer listed, where did it come from?

I don’t know about the food the others had but the burger I had was overdone and hard. Not to mention covered in unrequested mayo and piri piri sauce. That is the last time I will be going there.

We nah moving

Hart’s out but Sunway’s still riding the gravy train…

Politricks and survival

So Osama it Bin Laden is dead… True or false? For me it is a valid question, for the following reasons:

One, we have not seen the body or any other proof of his demise… We are expected to take the word of the USA (and we know how trustworthy they are), without any photographs, video, body, DNA evidence… Amazingly though, the very same USA was very eager to show video of Saddam Hussein being hung… a particularly gruesome and macabre bit of evidence, if I do say so…

Two, the body is gotten rid of at sea. This in itself is suspicious for a number of reasons. Although allegedly purporting to be so that his grave would not become a shrine, I wonder that the USA (and Barack Obama) would disrespect his religious rights to a burial and cast further insult upon him by discarding the body at sea. To do this would only bring on more wrath upon themselves. News reports also claim that Bin Laden was shot while his wife was standing in front of him protecting him… Seems to me then that he was in a position of helplessness (physically) and could possibly have been taken prisoner. It seems especially callous to murder him in front of his wife and as the story says, children.

Three, the death of Osama Bin Laden will be counted as a political coup for Barack Obama, whose political career was faltering despite his brilliant start. This will raise his political clout and keep him with the support of the masses. Obama himself said it:

"Today we are reminded that as a nation there is nothing we can't do".

Later, at a pre-arranged bipartisan dinner at the White House, he appealed for a return to the sense of national unity which he said had "frayed a little" in the years after the 9/11 attacks.

"It is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront some of the many challenges that we still face," he said.

"National unity"… Two words meaning that Americans were actually awakening to the fact that many in the US government pulled the wool over their eyes and that they were no longer being fooled. Something was needed to pull the Americans together to have one common goal, one common enemy…

It was political survival at its best, and apparently it has worked…

Western propaganda targets guru

I start from the position of how I imagine a devotee might view this. First I believe completely that Sai Baba is God materialised on earth. Well that’s not grammatically correct. I should say ‘was God’ – as the man is now dead. [See: Religious Trickster Dies]. Next I would also believe that all the ‘miracles’ of materialisation and healing are true. My position would be, that unless one had faith, it would not be possible to see the truth.

Keep your eye on the alleged ‘murder’ – if you can. It’s a massive American hoax! America is afraid of anything – including God – that may impact on it’s image of being all powerful – ain’t it?

Explains how the miracles are performed.	The full text of the commentary is derived from the Sri R.K. Karanjia of Blitz News Magazine in September of 1976. To believers the ‘miracles’ of materialisation are true and real. Matter is created from nothingness – in breach of all the known laws of nature. That’s the thing – ‘the known laws of nature’ – and surely God is powerful enough to create other laws that we don’t know about, so as to create something from nothing.
	What’s this? Sex abuse?
Did you hear ‘murder’. As a believer–it’s all a set up.	The people in the movie who suggest a murder that was covered up – are all paid actors! Right?

Religious Trickster dies..

Well yes, as dee Cap always says – is a good t’ing dey have a t’ing called death oui. Yep – for some it’s sad news that Sathya Sai Baba is dead. For the Cap, it’s new day – finally people are free-er from delusion.

Loadsah people all rong dee world mourning for the death of God on earth. Some on Dongkey Rock paying homage an’ all kinda t’ing. As a say before in different ways people doh really want to be cured of their state of self-deception/self-delusion. It is far more comforting to know that SSB was in fact Gord.

Gord so dohtish boy? Look at dis video below. Yeah ah know some will start up how i’s American propaganda and dat daize not really SSB in dee video – watch. Yeah – and all dem ppl on dat stage dey is trained American actors right?

Well – it was and will always be a loadah blasted nonsense. SSB was not God! I say he was a big conman. And I hearby invite God to re-write dis blog and send bolts o’ lightning for my ass if I is wrong!!

I dissing yuh religion? Eh? Come again. I eh say nothing bout yuh religion! I say dee man is a trickster. Eef yuh religion happen to like tricksters daize your business. Dee Cap tells it like it is – even tuh Gord.

Screwing the public

Playing with words is always a trick politicians play. Take for example the case of Gladys Gafoor, retired judge. She collected for years, a chauffeur's allowance paid to her dead husband. She actually collected and cashed cheques made out to her husband, long deceased.

Then, at some sort of enquiry regarding the legality of the issue, she was ‘cleared’.  How she was cleared is a game the politicians played. They asked the question whether she was entitled to a chauffeur’s allowance which was ‘yes’. They totally ignored the part of cashing a dead man’s cheques for years, which would land any mere mortal in the clink so to speak.

The PP has also made the same blunder. In defending the maligned Julie Browne of the SIA, the authorities (at least the man in charge) explained that she

“was innocent of falsifying Ramnarine's resume, a contention that was never in dispute. He went on to say she was cleared of that particular lie by a polygraph test conducted by foreign experts.”

He made clear he has sought to "investigate the matter, with particular focus on the falsification of the qualifications of Ms Reshmi Ramnarine" and "the investigations reveal that Ms Browne did not falsify Ms Ramnarine's qualifications. Ms Browne was led to believe that Ms Ramnarine was qualified as she had stated".

Camini Maharaj does ask some rather pertinent questions though:

He provided no explanation, however, for the Browne recommendation:

• Specifically, who requested it?

• And if a request was made, was she a willing conspirator?

• Why was it sent secretly to Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar and not to her line minister, Brigadier John Sandy?

• Why did she fail to conduct basic background security checks?

• Why did she fail to follow up on the character references listed? Three of the named references said they had no knowledge Ramnarine was under consideration for the directorship nor did they give her permission to use their names.

• Why did she overlook the embellished work experience cited in Ramnarine's CV? As a 14-year veteran in the agency, she knew or ought to have known the low-level IT technician was never involved in field operations or worked with Mossad.

• Why is she named as a character reference in the CV submitted for Cabinet's consideration?

But more than the security failings, the colonel also failed to address the corrupted appointment process which placed Ramnarine in the top spy chief post and the official deception Browne engaged in, namely, in her January 10, 2011 letter to the Prime Minister, she said: "It is felt that the position of an interim director would be best served by the following:

• Someone who has a history in the SIA (Security Intelligence Agency) and who understands the culture and inner workings of this and similar organizations.

—(Ramnarine was never privy to the inner workings of the agency.)

• Someone with a proven track record in the field of criminal intelligence.

—(Ramnarine has no training in criminal intelligence.)

• Someone who is knowledgeable and experienced with respect to the administrative, operational and technological aspects of the agency's functions.

—(Ramnarine was a low-level Technician I until her meteoric rise to the top of the agency and was never engaged in any administrative or supervisory work.)

• Someone who, at this time, has the support of staff (senior and junior).

—(A lie. Apart from Browne, Carlton Dennie and a few others, the staff did not support Ramnarine.)

• As a member of a transformation team comprising senior members of the SSA and SIA, who are spearheading the merger of the SSA and SIA, Ms Ramnarine has met these criteria.

—(A lie. Also, the so-called transformation team was cobbled together late last year and had barely met.)

• Previous performance appraisals recommended her for immediate promotion as she is known to face challenges head on and can effectively manage duties at a higher level.

—(A lie. Her performance appraisals, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, were at best mediocre. Ramnarine, Browne and Dennie were all marginalised by former spy chief Nigel Clement, who was fired last November 10 by Persad-Bissessar.)

Colonel Griffith's exoneration of Browne also failed to take into account the dynamics behind her "Dear Prime Minister" letter which Persad-Bissessar used as a tool to achieve the larger scheme of putting one of her adviser's close friends in a position ripe with the potential for abuse —the very abuse she forcefully condemned when she accused her predecessor, Manning, of spying on civilians, in the House of Representatives on November 12.

From all the evidence at hand, Browne was no innocent bystander in the Reshmi affair. She played a pivotal role in moving the appointment process forward. She made material misrepresentations to the NSC and the Cabinet and would now have the world believe she took Ramnarine at her word that she had completed an IT degree. If nothing else, the senior intelligence officer has proved inept at her job.

Braying in the wind

The Prime Minister is asking the people and media to ‘move on’ from the issue of appointing Reshmi Ramnarine to a position she is not qualified for. Before I get into that, I must divert a little.

In Trinidad and Tobago, when applying for a job and when being interviewed, one must present one’s certification to verify qualifications cited. Now we can see why. On the other hand, having moved to the UK several years ago, I interviewed and successfully obtained several jobs based upon the qualifications I cited in my CV. No request has ever been made of me to provide proof I have the qualifications I claim.

“What is the difference?”, I find myself wondering. I think I may have the answer. In England, the society here is more mature. Sure, we have the tricksters and quacks, but on the whole, a man's (or woman’s) word is accepted until they prove otherwise. I once asked one of my supervisors why I wasn’t asked for my certificates. He replied that if I didn’t, then I won’t be able to do the job and I will be revealed as a fake. Sounds familiar?

Now, people here do embellish at interviews. I can honestly say I have never done so, but I have seen it time and time again. It is even expected by interviewers. It even has a name… ‘blagging’. Like, “I blagged it at the interview.”

In the case of Ms Ramnarine though, some things are different.
     The job was not advertised.
     Whether anyone else was considered is unknown.
     No one, not even Ms Ramnarine, was interviewed.
     Her qualifications were not checked, and precisely what my supervisor said, happened. She was revealed to the world as a fake.
     Embarrassment for her, her family and the appointers came about swiftly.

Since becoming a national - and even international - spectacle, her chances of finding a job now are severely compromised. Her qualifications are known, her abilities are suspect as is her integrity.

But the Prime Minister asking people to move on may be a bit too much too soon.

For one thing, this is another in a long line of gaffes that has made the PP lose a lot of support and moral ground. The country was fed up of P**rick, it is true. His ego, spending habits and other matters (CH, UDeCOTT, Monteil etc) coated minds with bitterness and contempt. But more important than the negative impact of the PNM and P**rick, was the positive image portrayed by Kamla and the PP.

So it wasn’t that the PP won because of contempt of the PNM alone. To now turn back on campaign promises, bend rules after braying about transparency, wheel and come again on nepotism, cronyism, and partisan politicking… well, it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other.

The web forums show a distasteful but rightful withdrawal of support. The people claim not change but exchange. Some months ago, I predicted that the PP may never win another term. That may actually be an upside. The downside?

If the PP does put into place another campaign promise, that of recall of non-performing MPs, then it may not even finish one term. Thus the delay in implementing this particular promise seems self explanatory.

To ask the people then to move on isn’t a strategically sound move. It merely pisses them off. Better to come clean, claim it as the faux pas it is, and apologise. Then call a retreat, get your people to sing with one voice and perhaps only then… ask to move on. Until then, you’re merely another jackass braying in the wind.

Now playing - spit roast

Am rushed for time today. Punks is getting a school award and I want to be there.

One thing to comment on:

Laurence Duprey, who recklessly ran CLICO into the ground, negotiated a deal with the Government (PNM) to bail out the company, is still calling the shots….

Despite an agreement with the Government over the bailout, Duprey sold a subsidiary 3 days after the agreement was signed and for a reported 1/5 of the value of the subsidiary.

CLICO Energy was sold to Proman on February 2, 2009, just three days after the then-PNM government signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Duprey on January 30 to provide an initial $5 billion to rescue CLICO, CLICO Investment Bank and other financially troubled subsidiaries.

Interesting scenario. Duprey orchestrated his own company's troubles, got the Government to bail it out via cash injections, then orchestrates a takeover after the rescue. One wonders what deals went on in the backroom with the PNM crooks, besides Tax-sharer getting out ALL her money before the company collapsed.

In the meantime, the shareholders go after the present Government for even more funds, instead of waiting to collect from the man who shafted them up the nether hole while continuing to live high on the fatted hog.

The poor tax payers: first shafted, now spit roasted.

Scammers on the loose

I received a call yesterday from a ‘client’ who alerted me to a scam operation in the works.

A company called CoMantra (based in India apparently) calls up people and tells them they have viruses or problems in their computers. They ask the person to switch on the computer then have them go through a series of actions to ‘solve’ the problem. At the end, they ask for credit or debit card details and charge for ‘the work they just did’ and also for payments to some organisation in Kolkata, India.

Their website certifies them as a Microsoft Gold Partner, however, they are certainly not on the up and up. In other words, they are scammers. Frankly, I’ve never heard of Microsoft calling up anyone offering PC repairs. Free or otherwise. To me this is the equivalent of someone calling you up and saying you won a lottery you never entered.

Keep a sharp lookout. You could be next on their list.