Ah come back!

I have been gone for a pretty long time... I know... I want to be ashamed but I don't know how. I had things to do -- some noble, some not so noble. I went on a journey and I found back exactly what I needed to find. FOCUS. Absolute, complete, pure focus. Now I am ready to do my part.

BRIDGEOFHOPETT.ORG is registered and the good people at http://ecraconsulting.com/ have already done a template for it. I am willing to finish it and host it but I am going to have to see if egos and politics don't get in the way. At the moment EVERY site in my portfolio counts as it helps to attract more customers. I hope ECRAC allows me to use a "site designed by" link to them and a "site powered by" link to me.

If you haven't joined facebook, now is probably a good time to do it. I have started a campaign on Thursdays to feed the poor. In a nutshell, every Thursday I cook some food and go give it to the homeless. Yesterday was the second attempt and it was even more successful than the first. This time all I had to contribute was rice! I will post more on the philosophy and inspiration of this effort soon.

For now all I can say is I am tired of the "Manning, Manning, Manning" sentiment. We created a monster now we have to deal with it... that is karma or perhaps Kali-Yuga. The fact remains -- we have far more power than our politicians so why aren't we using this power to effect change? I know that it is not possible for everyone to take a full day off from work to give to charity but I can do it so I am doing it :) I think everyone is happy to know that they can contribute something small and have somebody take responsibility for it and roll it into something worth giving and sharing :)

So come forward and give...

peace and love
Kwesi.

THE PRISON REALM WE LIVE IN OUTSIDE OF PRISON ITSELF !!!

Well its quite sad really the way my post finally made its way here!

But when it hits close to home, sadly only then is one incensed to take action, but why wait for the unfortunate to befall you.

In a land of " sun, sea and sand " where that is the motto of our tourism industry, we are now the land of " sun, sean and sand - at your own risk" ! Robbery on the beaches - MY MY what state have me as a people reached when it is no longer safe to partake in a common trini friend/family pasttime. Thank God we have the oil industry then - yes please feel free to detect sarcasm here!

I am shocked and incensed now more so than ever that my mother's best friend was widowed this week at 10:10 IN THE MORNING!!!! Her newly wed husband shot to death in a matter of minutes in their newly built house! She traumatised after being locked in the bathroom and hearing her husband murdered in the room next to her. All she now says: " this doesnt make sense"...........

That time again - 10:10 AM

At 10 in the morning we now must act as if it is 11pm in the night and be bolted inside our houses, security systems activated and emergency help on speed dial.

Why bother to send criminals to prison when the world in which we live is already a prison itself.

The difference is they are prisoners due to the choices they made.... you , me, the grieving widow are already prisoners against our will and we know it not!

Maybe we the victims-to-be would be safer behind prison walls while we leave the criminal minds to roam these said streets of freedom - HOW'S THAT FOR AN INITIATIVE AGAINST CRIME ???

Krista-Lee Bissoon.

ps. Krista-Lee Bissoon is not normally this pessimistic/sarcastic, refer to her blog at http://www.kbissoon.blogspot.com/ for an insight into the persona on a better day :)

WTF!?!?!?!

I started a job today at the Pointe-A-Pierre Refinery.

Where cell phones aren't allowed owing to the possibility of sparks coming off the circuitry.

Smoking, however is allowed.

Within the actual refinery.

Comforting....

I attended HSE orientation in the morning and found that labourers employed by the government didn't know that 12P.M. and 'Noon' were the same thing.

I shit you not.

I beheld the monolithic failure that was once the hope of our nation; from the nonchalant lateness of the HSE staff, to the incompetent admistrators, to the condemned and rotting MTBE plant, to the fact that no local companies were in direct contracts with the State concerning the refinery upgrades, and the plight of our nation became clear. I was nearly overwhelmed by the sorriness of it all.

At least, we had the clinical efficiency of Fluor, a US company, and its engineers to fall back on.

And to look up to.

Hopefully, before my job is done, I can learn from them. For it is evident that there are few Trinidadians that have anything to impart.

peace
not like this.

P.S.- Also before my job is done, I'd like to meet Natasha, the hot Petroleum Geoscientist, again. She looks like she has some stuff to impart........ =)

Here is Wisdom 9

Personally,

I dont think Trinidadians

are ready

to participate

in a

Referendum.

Most Trinidadians,

Dont Know

what a Referendum

is.

In my email II

This is another one I thought I would post.


I felt compelled to let everyone know of this horror story that me and
my husband witnessed on the Fore Shore heading into the West of
Trinidad on Friday 2, June, 2006.

Everyone that lives in the West (Diego, Valley, Glenco, Chaguaramas,
Blue Basin) knows about the traffic that piles up as far back as the
stadium. It seemed to be a normal afternoon, traffic galore and no
hope of reaching home anytime soon. As usual, taxis and impatient
Trini's who need to reach their destination faster than you of course
were flying down the shoulder. No police in sight, so they could
easily get away.

About two cars ahead of us, a white Subaru Forrester moved his car
half into the shoulder and half into his lane to prevent anymore taxis
and other impatient people from taking advantage of the shoulder, put
there for emergencies only!!!! I thought this was a brave and- funny
act, in my head I was thinking "Good for them, idiots, I wanna reach
home too!!"

Well who the hell tell that Subaru to do that, the car he was
blocking, a brown B14 Sentra PBD671, driven by an old man of Indian
decent packed with some big strong dark fellas, pulled up to the side
of the Subaru as soon as they reached the look-out and had room to
pass. The young dark fellas jumped out and with a wheel spanner in
hand began to hit up the Subaru and put some serious dent in the man
car. They jumped out looking as though they were boss and had the
right to do what they did.

I was infuriated. I wanted to shout and cuss at them but my husband
held my hand and said "Hun, stay quiet and act like you doh know what
goin on, you want them to come and kill us?" He was right, those
ignorant fellas would have walked up to us and beat me and my husband
for protesting to the wrong that they were doing. And you know what,
there is no justice for something like this, take the car number and
it won't make a difference. I've been in too many hit and run
accidents where taking the car number and giving it to the police is a
waste of time, they could never find the vehicle or driver that
wronged you.

This is what we live in, this is what we face, this is what our kids
have to grow up in. FEAR. And it's getting worse. Please, I urge you,
be careful, in fetes, on the road in traffic, wherever, don't give
anyone bad eye, don't try to stand-up for what is right, cause in
Trinidad, this will get you killed and for what, they will get away
and be able to do it again.

To the young men in the SENTRA PBD671, I think you are all big stupid
cowards!!!! To the man in the Subaru, I understand what you were
doing, but not in this country, think about your life and family first
before you do something like that again, it will only get you killed.

Thanks to the police who could never find the car even though you
have the license plate number, thank you for never being there when we
need you. To the government, thanks for letting the crime reach this
stage and still being able to steal our money and get away with it.
Maybe when it's your son or daughter, maybe then you'll do something
about it. Until then, we live in fear!!!!

Please pass this on to all your trini frens and relatives that you care about!

Concerned and scared citizen!!!

From my email

I got this in my email (in fact I have been getting lots of stuff in my email recently about the smelter stuff -- who signed me up for this stuff?) and I thought it should be shared with you all.

P. O. Box 128,

San Fernando,

10 July, 2006

The Editor-in-chief,

Trinidad Guardian,

22-24 St. Vincent Street,

Port of Spain

Dear Sir,

In the article on the proposed Alcoa smelter in your issue of 8 July, 2006, you report Randall Overby as saying “I know that there has been a lot of noise in the media, but we are proceeding with the smelter” Either subconsciously or more probably, very deliberately, he describes the voice and the legitimate protests of the people of Trinidad and Tobago against the smelter as noise. This shows very clearly what he thinks of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

For the benefit of Overby and those of us who may have forgotten, please let me recall the following facts.

1. In the last General Elections held in Trinidad and Tobago on 7 October, 2002, the total number of votes for P.N.M. candidates represented just over 35 % of the electorate while the total number of votes for other parties represented 34 % of the electorate.

The present P.N.M. Government does NOT represent a majority of the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the voice of the present P.N.M. Government is NOT the voice of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

2. Also, in the last General Election, the P.N.M. candidate for the Electoral District of Point Fortin was elected on the votes of 46 % of that electorate. But in the polling divisions of the South-West Peninsular - Chatham, Coromandel, Granville, Bonasse, Fullerton and Icacos, he received 18.6 % of the votes of the electorate while the other candidate received 61.2% of the votes of the electorate.

The present P.N.M. Member of Parliament for Point Fortin does not represent a majority of the people of the Point Fortin constituency and even though he is supposed to represent the people of the South-West Peninsular, less than 19% of the electorate there voted for him. The voice of the MP for Point Fortin is NOT the voice of the people of Point Fortin and most decidedly it is NOT the voice of the People of the South-West Peninsular.

3. According to a UWI / ANSA McAl nationwide poll, a clear majority of 66 % of the population do not support the setting up of an aluminium smelter in Chatham.

Further, the vast majority of the People of the South-West Peninsular do not want a smelter in the Peninsular. For their own good, they have expressed this in a clear and unequivocal voice.

May I suggest that Overby consider long and carefully the two sayings :

SALUS POPULI SUPREMA EST LEX - THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE IS THE HIGHEST LAW

VOX POPULI VOX DEI - THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE IS THE VOICE OF GOD

Overby is reported as going on to say “We are not going to be using bulldozers for this drilling” Obviously he has bulldozers on his mind and is planning to use them later.

If Overby thinks he can bulldoze his way against the Good and against the Voice of the poor and polite people of the South-West Peninsular, he should stop and think again and listen to their Voice.

There is a local saying to the effect that those who do not listen will learn the hard way or that those who do not hear will feel.

The People of the South-West Peninsular may be poor and polite and Overby may think that he is rich and powerful and can buy his way. Let us hope that he does not have to learn the hard way that the poor and polite People of the South-West Peninsular are not powerless.

Yours truly,

J. Chin Aleong

for The Friends of the People of the South - West Peninsular

..My People, Our People

Peace, Hetep, Salaam, Santi.

For a while now, I've been taking a look at the many factors pertaining to the state of crime in our beautiful country. Beside the fact that our government sucks....The one that really had me pissed, being the Afrocentric person that I am, was Race. Not just 'race' but..My Race; the state of the young Afro-Trinidadian male.

As recent obvious observations have shown, the majority of crime is being committed by young Black males. There's no running from it. As much as we would like to think that crime is everywhere and committed by anyone of any race..this is the harsh reality. Everytime we hear of 'gang warfare' the first image that people get is a group of black boys running around with guns in Laventille and Morvant; the most crime and drug-ridden parts of our country..but hey!..remind me..who are these places vastly populated by?..Afro-Trinidadians.

I am not putting down my fellow brothers and sisters here nor am I being inconsiderate to the other people of other races who may read this, but because of the love I have for my culture, heritage and ancestry, of which I'm positively sure you reading this have for yours. I am concerned.

As many ignorant minds may say.."Leh dem kill out eachother", they are not only killing eachother, but harming anyone who they see as potential threats or victims. I have had two friends who have been shot, one killed, as a result of this persistent suicide of Afro-Trinidadian males. Yes, poverty leads to crime, and we see clearly that our government is least concerned with the state of poverty in our country. Poverty does not discriminate. Many of these youths did not have the opportunity to be granted a proper education and as a result resorted to the quickest way of making money; crime. Even though this is so, education in our country is free. But yet there are many who refuse this opportunity and decide to follow the conniving lyrics of their favourite rappers portrayed as heroes on Black Embarrassment Tel-lie-vision...BET.
But little do they know that a lot of these 'thug' and 'gangster' rappers are controlled by whatever corporation uses the colour of their skin and experiences to fill their pockets.
And seeing that this is what the mainstream is pushing, what we have is a bunch of mental clones. Clones who are ready to march on the first snare drum of the newest 'gangsta' track, disrespecting their fellow African sisters, who to say the least, show little respect for themselves.

But please! Let's not forget that the young drug-dealing, gun-toting Black male is just a feather on the wings of the ibis. How many can recall that last year TT$700 million (US$112 million) worth of cocaine was seized in a house on Monos Island, the largest of the islands located off Trinidad's North West coast . And before that, 542 kilos valued at TT$216.8 million siezed in a cassava packaging factory. It is only obvious that these under-privilaged Black youths lack the connections and funding to carry on such an operation. Therein the question lies, "Who is responsible and who REALLY runs this country?"

What I'll like to clear up though is that the Afro-Trinidadian is not responsible for the level of crime in this country. What he/she is responsible for is the way he/she allows his/her people to be downgraded and belittled. It is time not only Afro-Trinidadians try to uplift their own but ALL TRINIDADIANS.

It is only nescessary that we show a love for our own..in which we can show love for others. Allowing one's ancestry and culture to become humiliated by a few brainwashed mistriants who further allow such a culture to become stereotyped is very much unbecoming of one who is passionate about the well-being of their people and furthermore the people who belong to a cosmopolitan nation such as ours. Matters like this should be the concern of anyone who has a true love for their people.

In closing, I would just like to say that it is time that people of African descent get their act together and stop allowing their people to become modern slaves and destroyers of their communities and themselves. It is very much hurtful to pick up the newspaper evey morning and see that another Black man is dead as a result of ignorance by another Black brother. I hope that what I said can maybe awake the consciousness of Afro-Trinidadians in this country.
Peace.

Update

Man I've been busy... really busy. I haven't been busy rescuing the country or anything but I am tired anyway!

Props to Valarauka for keeping things going. Good work man!!!

Next week I am supposed to come up with a format for this blog. I.E Mondays I will post something in one category, Tuesday I will do another, Wednesday a comic strip perhaps, etc etc.

Stay tuned and apologies for neglecting my duties here.
(I can't apologise on behalf of my fellow bloggers tho)

peace and love
Kwesi

Here is Wisdom 8 - Continuity & Bigotry

I'm all for the Warriors being richly rewarded, as the represent the best things in us. But....

1) How come the PNM decided to jump on the football bandwagon only AFTER Trinbago qualified against Bahrain? Perhaps they really aren't Warriors?

2) Why wasn't the TTFA paid before the World Cup?

3) Where are the initiatives, or at least the encouragement of initiatives, for sustainability in the production of class football players? Like my last entry said, we dont have the means or the know how to produce top talent at this point. In fact, our best players are foreign coached. What we do have is the finance to attract and maintain technical staff who CAN teach us how to be the best. Also, the PFL needs support. I don't support Government spending on things like that, but, the State can negotiate with the corporate bodies already involved to do more. Why not a clause in the oil and gas contracts for foreign companies stating that they must support a local sports team as part of their social development agenda? Only if we have a competitive local league, can we hope to perform well at the international level.

4) How come the State can spend well over TT$75 million on the football, and simultaneously have the Health and Education Systems in the shambles that they are? Face it. People go to General Hospitals to die, and people go to Government schools because they couldn't go to a denominational one.

5) Why weren't there enough Chaconia Medals? How rude.

6) What did Roger Boynes do to be at the World Cup? I didn't see him scoring any goals. Or dishing out money. Like Jack.

7) And finally, why didn't the PNM reward the indomitable Austin 'Jack' Warner? Hmm, such spite. How could you not reward the man who contributed the most to the World Cup effort? Is that how the PNM operates? Are they sending the message that the merits of one's efforts are always trumped by political affiliation? Creeping dictatorship anyone?

Not that I expect anyone to care. The next fete is Friday.

Peace,
in the fete,

Perfection

The Prince Arjuna refused to fight his Uncle, whom he loved dearly. His Charioteer, Krishna Sri Bhagwan, who revealed himself as the Supreme Incarnate, related to him that the perfect act is not one where one is victorious in one's objective. The perfect act, is one in which one's motives are pure, and ones effort reaches the limit of one's ability. Thus while he would grieve for having to kill his uncle, his motive to kill him would be pure; i.e., the protection of the Kingdom. This was what had to be done by the Prince.

The Soca Warriors, realistically, had no chance.

But they didn't play like that.

They fought out of the motive of honour, and for the 270 minutes they played on the world stage, representing the million or so of us who hoped for them and with them, they did not fail themselves. Or us.

We dont have the billion dollar stadiums, we don't have the Beckhams or the Larssons, and we don't have the leagues or the coaches or even the know how to produce them.

But the team had heart. They did the best that they could have. In that there is no failure.

Is Columbus a Pirate?

“HBO LATIN America has formally lodged a legal letter of complaint under section 18 (1) (m) of the Telecommunications Act against the conduct of cable company Columbus Communications.” – Trinidad Express 2006-06-10

This alleged piracy has been made public for many years, and the authorities have paid no more than lip service to this accusation. They have failed to act because to act would mean being unpopular with the public, and big business interest. What is even worse is Columbus Communications admitted they do not have any contract with HBO and are trying to negotiate one. What they are doing is pirating until such time a contract is hopefully signed. Could this be right?

Without any question, this is a crime aided and abetted by both a government who is afraid to do unpopular things, and the public who has no problem with a crime if they benefit from it. That says much about our society, and might even be one reason crime is the fastest growing industry in Trinidad and Tobago. It would appear to me the telecommunications authority is taking a leaf form the environmental authority’s tree by protecting big business rather than fulfilling their mandate. What a bunch of useless losers.

Here is Wisdom 7- The Road Wars

"Local contractors do not have the capacity to build the elevated structure of the multi-million dollar tri-level interchange at the intersection of the Uriah Butler and Churchill-Roosevelt highways, says Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert.
However, Imbert said the job was not large enough to attract the international contractors who are capable of handling the project."

Juhel Browne, T&T Guardian, 5th June 2006


WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS!!! HOW COME WE CAN'T???-

1) Maybe because all we've been building here for the last 10 years is oil rigs and gas pipes.

2) Maybe because investments in mechanical and electrical enginnering training have outstripped civil engineering nearly five fold over the last decade(SUBJECT TO CORRECTION)

3) What about the Government's drive toward local content and capability development?

This all makes sense though, seeing as the Government can't even KEEP A FUCKING ROAD PAVED!!!!

Yet we build stadiums, and give free money to Laventille criminals.

By the way, I'm sure if you pay them enough, the foreigners will deign to build our little interchange. And I know the PNM likes to spend money.

Oh, this really irritates me...............


Peace?
And we can't even build a road?

Here is Wisdom 6

What type of government postpones an election?

What type of people meekly accepts it?

Creeping Dictatorship anyone?



peace,
until World Cup finish,

PS- Can Kahaya or any of the other lawyers tell us about the constitutionality and the political context of that act?

Sanctity of Life?

Gratification followed the news of Amy Annamunthudo's stepfather being beaten by his fellow inmates. Destroy him without mercy or remorse, I silently thought. For the evils he committed, for the evils done to all children, for all the injustices in the world today, and throughout time, kill him without mercy.

We got one, and that doesn't usually happen. Make it count, I thought. Crucify him like some kind of anti-Christ, or beat him like we had Satan himself in chains.

For that is what he was to me, an image, an Idol, representing the evil done to me and to others, against which we were helpless. He was no longer a man, no longer a human being; he became the Monster in our Head.

And we caught him.

And I asked the God in my mind, 'What is justice?'

Is it revenge? Is it anger? Is it hate? Aren't those the things that he probably felt when he raped and killed Amy? Maybe somewhere in me, and in those who beat him, there lies an Amy-killer too.

I dont feel human life, or any other life is intrinsically sacred. We are born, we eat, we sleep, we shit, we mate, we defend, and we die, like everything else. Our sanctity comes from our ability to recognise the things that will uplift us, and the things that will destroy us, and basing our actions upon this knowledge. I can't say that I feel sorry for him because they beat him. I can say that, though he deserved it, he didn't earn it. Regardless of what I feel, he is not the Monster in my Head, and I have no claim of vengeance upon him.

In the nonsense that pervades, it becomes easy to forget the ideals that give our lives meaning. It has never been more imperative for them to be at the forefront of our minds. Lest we all become the Monster in Our Head.

Peace,
now more than ever,

What a Waste

There has never been a government in our history who promoted local technology beyond their lips. Everything we need in this country is imported and many times we import junk, are stuck with junk and pay homage to junk. Are we junkies?

There is a little known fact that engineers are the generators of wealth in this world. I don’t mean to cry down any profession, but great countries produce great engineers and great amounts of them - this is how they become wealthy and “first-world.” I am not suggesting we reinvent the wheel but certainly we, as a country, can encourage technology to be developed locally. Recently, another fool in the government said that we are not producing engineers who are employable. Firstly, this is total crap, but he, being a member of a government, mouthed something a colonial master wanting to exploit this country further said. Great industrial giants are great because they know how to get the fools in government on their side, then feed them BS, which they will pass on to the nation as national policy. Secondly, because all governments are five-year wonders, they have no interest in promoting and encouraging anything that takes longer that five years and which will baffle the average five-year mentality voter. The average citizen wants to see structures and dust, not products of the intellect. They want cheap, useless American soap operas and canned laughter on their TV 99% of the time, and they don’t care if someone steals it and then charges them for it. That is our culture and our mentality. Mr. Bernard Pantin openly accuses Columbus Communications of pirating “the dirty dozen,” but Columbus says they are still negotiating but still pirating. The telecom authority has no comment, but predictably and incompletely so. We rather be pirates than do without, and our authoritities will ensure we have what we want.

I think this country will continue to see a brain drain of its best minds because it has not figured how to create wealth, but only how to drill for it and pollute with it. Remember the saying “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” well that’s not just a saying but also a fact. The one thing that is being wasted in this country more than money is the minds of our young people. The country has not figured out that the intellect of the people are the country’s greatest natural resource and you have to develop and nurture it in order for it to grow. If we want to become first world and independent we must learn how to harness the mind of the people.

What will we be left with when the last fumes of natural gas are exported? Our people? What will our people have in their heads; memories of what could have been and will never be again.

Keeping an eye on PoS

    Just saw this article. Now THIS is an initiative against crime. I hope those guys keep up the good work. Even before my boss went back to England he suggested that someone can make a lot of money installing cameras all over POS -- one for each business, subsidized by the Government and the CCTV monitoring etc could be handled by a company hired by the Ministry of National Security.
    Finally some progress. Mr Big... hold your head and bawl bredda man. LOL. Or watch some cricket man! We still have far to go but I am starting to see the positives. I feel aka_lol going to put on a mask and rob me just to prove a point tho :P

peace and love
Kwesi

555, not 999 you idiot!!

In what appears to be a well thought of marketing blitz, coupled with fake compassion, and blimp failure, the Government has announced that 555 would now be the number of choice for those who have an interest in reducing crime, and even those being beaten, shot, robbed and raped. Apparently, it was discovered that some citizens, and tourist were having great difficulty dialing 999, and instead dialed 666, a number which links the caller directly to the top. It seems The Man at the top has no time for this foolishness since he is busy making deals and buying souls at bargain prices. The report went on to say that marketing research showed that 555 reduces ambiguity, and there is a million percent reduction in the chance of victims and onlookers calling the wrong number.There is even a chance a police vehicle will arrive and that the police will be on that vehicle.

Once again, citizens and tourist alike are more than pleased with this latest stroke of brilliance by those who are paid to be brilliant, even if they if they don't look it. Personally, I feel much safer with the knowledge that I can now walk the streets at night, and even in the day, just knowing that 555 is on my side. Bandits, be warned, I have set my phone to speed-dial 555, and I won't give up my Nokia without a call.

Ato, The UNC and TIAC

    Growing up I always thought of the UNC and the PNM as two different tribes. It was a simple thing actually. People with straight hair voted for the UNC and people with curly hair voted for the PNM. Minorities, such as the Chinese were free to vote for whoever they wanted. Back then, I thought I would grow up and vote for the PNM someday and the battle would continue...
    As I grew up, my simple concept started to get a bit confusing. There were straight haired people voting for the PNM and curly haired people voting for the UNC. Around election time people were switching sides as well. Then the UNC won. There were many sad faces but things didn't change really. Everyone still had their job the next day, I still went to school, the country was still named Trinidad and everything went on as normal. I observed that politicans were mere men, with dreams and ulterior motives. At this point I lost any pre-conditioned bias that I previously had.
    Bias later returned when I heard all the talk of corruption and teefing. I went along with it all -- those guys were up to no good and they had to be voted out AT ALL COSTS!!! Things started to get interesting with slogans like "we come too far to turn back now" (lots of TV airplay with that) and something like "performance counts". I started to wonder -- do I want a government that makes progress AND pockets some money as well? Right is right and I wasn't sold. Even though I had a bias I made a resolve not to vote for one man or his party over another. Its quite ironic that the PNM came into power on the grounds of moral and spiritual values -- both ways. One one hand we have a guy who is being accused of being a dictator and on the other hand we have a guy accused (well now, arrested) for corruption. We have a party where two Ministers have had to resign because of their corruption charges and then we have a man whose good attributes and good decisions will be forgotten. I don't see UNC or PNM, I see dishonest men -- dishonest men who have to answer to the law.
    When Ato Boldon was sworn into the UNC I paused and took a deep breath. I admire Ato a lot. He is a smart guy, an athlete that has represented the country well, a patriot in my eyes and a role model. This guy has been a soca warrior for years. This guy had been wearing the flag for years. I had to ask myself "WHAT THE F*** IS THIS GUY THINKING!?!?" Then I realized this was not a "What would Jesus do?" question. It was a "What would Kwesi do?" question. In the end I thought (and hoped) that he was in there for the opportunity to use the position to effect change. From that perspective it all made sense. After all, no one accused the entire UNC of being corrupt. Perhaps I had fallen victim to the brainwashing after all. I said to myself "HURRAY FOR ATO! I HOPE HE DOES SOMETHING GOOD". I imagined at that point that the PNM would be making calls to Brian Lara to ensure that when he retired he would join their side. I thought I would give ATO a shout so I wrote to him via his ASK ATO module on his website:

At 03:49 PM 4/21/2006, you wrote:
Question: Big question. How do we save trinidad and tobago?

please check out my blog @
http://savetrinidad.blogspot.com

keep up the good work
looking forward to working with you

peace and love
kwesi

    Maybe he is a bit green as a politician and he didn't give me one of these... but I quite enjoyed his answer -- which was quite unexpected:

Wish I knew.  I am at my wit's end with people who feel this is just some platform for prominence.

To Ato: I am sure you will figure it out man. And when you do, I wish you all the luck. I will give all the help I can short of a vote.

When a man admits to not knowing, thats cool. People do that on TIAC (The Inititiative Against Crime) everyday...

peace and love
Kwesi.

The 100$ (USD) Laptop

    I am surprised I beat Taran to this one but at the same time, I see he has been a busy guy this past week and a few days. I am a serious type of guy -- the type that resents the email forwards that tell you that someone loves you, or of some joke or not to break the chain and the like. Don't get me wrong, once every leap year that falls on a blue moon I get a trivial email that makes me smile. All the other times I look for the icon with the red X and give it a click. For the serious type of guy there are emails that make your day nonetheless and when they do, the smile is worth having and the happy dance is worth doing.
    TTLUG sent me an email on behalf of Kerry Panchoo about a 100$ Laptop -- more specifically the OLPC (one laptop per child) project. Kerry's major concern was whether or not the Ministry of Education is aware of or involved in the project. I had heard about the project a long time ago, but not when they had an actual working prototype of a 100$ version. The Transit Police made my day then this came a few minutes after and made it again!

One Laptop Per Child is a non-profit organization set up to oversee the $100 laptop project. Both the project and the organization were announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2005.

One Laptop Per Child is being funded by a number of sponsor organizations. These include Google, Red Hat, AMD, Brightstar Corporation, News Corporation, Nortel Networks and Canonical Ltd. Each company has donated two million dollars. The MIT Media Lab is also involved in the project.

    I am a firm believer that technology will eradicate poverty. The other alternative is to eradicate technology and plant baigan and tomatoes everywhere. I can quote Valarauka:

who should say that I shouldn't have a Blackberry, or Satellite radio & TV, a Mercedes SLK 500, a collection of Stratocasters and Marshall amps or a yacht?

We all know the first option is going to make more sense and actually happen (first). Cheap laptops will give poor people access to more learning opportunities, the wealth of information on the internet, vital skills that are needed in these times and much more. All the skeptics can fast forward to here. When I started making websites professionally in 2002 I had a vision that all small and medium sized businesses would have a web presence that any consumer could access and the country would be more efficient and things would be more accessible. The Government of that time (UNC I believe) had put things in place that computers would be available at lower costs (no import tax on computer parts) and some time before that Public Servants were getting no-interest loans of around $15,000TTD to purchase computers. OLPC + free dial up internet may well give Trinidad's children better opportunites (or at least a good way to spend their spare time) and by extension young adults as well as adults the chance of a better life.
    I will try to help however I can. If anyone has any ideas, get in contact with me, I will work with you.

peace and love
Kwesi.

Kudos to the Transit Police

    Standing on the Bus Route @ 3AM, totally stranded, waiting for public transport, things seemed hopeless. The maxi-taxis kept coming down empty and my mind started to get full -- full of questions. How do I get my girlfriend to Arima at this hour? What's going to happen? Is the sun going to rise on us? When it was 2AM everything was just peachy. We were having pleasant convo, enjoying the cool morning air and the solitude of it all. When it was 3AM... boy oh boy. I resorted to wishful thinking. I really wanted a maxi-taxi to appear and just when I did I saw lights coming up over the incline to the west. Slowly a Police vehicle came upon us.
    I've been noticing the Transit-Police for a while now since they've become busy bodies patrolling the Bus-Route at all hours of the day and night in their silver cars. Once I was coming out of a maxi at 2AM and taking quite a while to get my money and one pulled alongside and shone a light into the maxi to make sure everything was cool. They surely looked twice when they saw that I had a rasta hairstyle, but I wasn't annoyed. The guys were doing their job -- earning their pay... IMPRESSIVE. I think the Transit-Police are the only Police I have seen actually at work in the last few months (it could be that I am only on the Bus Route and in and out of home and office most of my life). I've been meaning to give them a big up for a while now but tonight...
    The car stopped by us and asked us where we were going to. I suspect that initially they were concerned about two rasta people standing on the Bus Route in the wee hours in the morning in a negative way but heck it... this is not paradise we live in. There was a little talk amongst them and then we were offered a ride. I am very grateful for that act of kindness that got me home safe and sound. My girlfriend was given a lift straight to her door. We are grateful for that as well.

    The story isn't all fine and dandy though. At one point in the ride the officer in the front passenger side asked us if we just had a joint of ganja and claimed to smell it on us. I pretended not to hear the first time, not to understand the second time and the third time I just insisted "just cool". It was a little tense but it wore off. My girlfriend wrote me a text message on her phone and showed it to me shortly after which read: "do you think I will be safe with this lot". My gut said yes but my mind said "this is Trinidad man". When I reached my stop I shook hands with all the officers and asked them all their names. They were quite warm and didn't hesitate to identify themselves so that put my mind at ease. If anything happened (God forbid) I could try to use the names (if they were correct) against them. My girlfriend later quoted an officer as saying "Not all police bad eh". I apologise to Mr Harrison, Mr DePradeen and Mr Fiza (if I got those all correctly), no disrespect, just keeping it real. Thanks again.

    To all the Police out there, keep up the good work.

peace and love
Kwesi.

Innocence, Again.

Oh I saw stars,
falling all around her head,
Red, gold, and blue,
Sherry Fraser where are you?

'Cause I saw stars,
falling all around your head,
When we were young,
Sherry Fraser where have you gone?

We're all wondering,
When will you come back,
And play,
some day.

Sherry yeah.

Marcy Playground-Sherry Fraser

I have nothing now to say of nature, or of cause, or of consequence, or even of reckoning. Or of ability or desire or rationale to change. Or of benefits or setbacks or of equilibrium.

The voice I speak with tonight is not one of objectivity or of detachment. Nor is it one of bias or of desire.

I merely ask the question.

What is love?

Is love in the bat of an eye, or in the lovers kiss, or the fleeting touch or in the warm embrace? Is it in the inward gaze as familiar eyes meet and delve into each other, into the naked depths of the soul? Or is love commitment, to a person or cause, where the self evaporates in the face in the understanding of selfless alleigiance. Or is love found in duty, or God, or is love anything at all any more than a complex human attachment?

I saw a picture of her body in the coffin draped in the white dress her father had bought the day before, I saw what looked like a bruise on her lip, and the plastic sheen of her skin caused by the embalming fluid and makeup. I saw her grandmother weeping over her body, and I saw her cousins or friends looking upon her, maybe wondering when she would come back and play.

What of the world, and the people, that killed her, shall I say? That in the four years of her life, would she have known love? Where were her hugs and kisses? Where was her warm bed and tuck in before she slept? Why was she beaten and burned and raped and killed. Imagine what she faced every day; and what sorrow would have been in her heart when she woke up and the pain of her body and spirit when she went to sleep? What hate or ignorance would have to enter the mind of the one she called Mother to murder her own daughter? Where was that love? And what took it away?

And yet, these questions are useless, for she is dead. For those who know no better, our children are our hope. With every child born there is new hope for this world. Our children are supposed to inspire us to become better people, so we can be the exemplars to teach them to become better than themselves. This is how societies progress, and how nations are built. This is our commitment, our desire, our duty, our love, manifested in the selflessness we show.

So I think of her, and the love that she was denied, and the horror to which she succumbed. And the hope she may have given us, had she been loved, and lived.

"Woe to the nation that waits until its neck is under the sword to fight!"- Kahlil Gibran

How can we fight crime?

Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future lives and crimes to society."

~ Daniel Webster ~

We must first focus on the root of the problem. We must ask ourselves, "How does the mind of a murderer, rapist, thief or kidnapper develop?'" Perhaps this mind-set is formed from a young age. We should put measures in place, such as extensive school programmes, to develop self-esteem and national pride. If all our children were raised with values such as honesty, integrity and patriotism, Trinidad and Tobago would be a State built on the basis of law and order.

We are faced with a crime situation which is affecting our opportunities for foreign investment and tourism, therefore, we must put in place some short-term solutions. Our Government should continue its efforts to assist the unemployed and needy, so they do not become so desperate that they turn to crime. Long-term solutions will eventually make the most impact on our society's crime rate. We need to understand why certain sectors of the community have decided to commit crime. We should equip these people with the tools to help themselves, instead of giving them handouts.

AM

this was taken from a rather good website on animal cruelty

Mother's Day -- the aftermath

"Thank U mama for the nine months u carried me through
All the pain an sufferin
No one knows the pressure you bare a just only you
Give you all my love oh yea "

-- Sizzla - Thank you mamma.

    Mother's day has come and gone. "Normal" I say. I didn't really do anything special for mom except tell her Happy Mother's day. What I did give her is the reassurance that we can go down to the Police Station and request a certificate of good character and get one. I usually tell her that one is available upon her request whenever she asks for a gift of some sort. How many mothers have such a precious gift? The other question is: how many mothers deserve such a precious gift? I hate to be cocky and egotistical or such, but I give my mother a great gift by just being alive :D But seriously -- I really don't buy into these commercial things -- Mother's day, Father's day, Valentines day (aka get laid day).

    More or less I think my mother got just the type of son she deserved. She taught me to read before I could speak, she made education the most important part of life, exposed me to extra-curricular activities especially music at a young age... these things made me who I am today. I am particularly disturbed and un-impressed with some of the mothers these days. I know it is hard being a teenage mom but I think a teenage mom has to say to herself constantly "this is reality" and "this is my responsibility". Teenage moms have somewhat of an excuse, what about the mothers who are 20+ and 30+ ? What are they doing? What are they doing when the morning comes and their sons and daughters are not going to school or at least a job? I understand that there are times when the youth are out of school or between jobs, but then are they free to roam? Who is looking after them? Who is responsible for them? I would really like to get to know this culture.

    Can the mothers of criminals really plead innocent today? I feel there is some co-relation between bad parenting and deviant behavior. There are, as with most things, limits -- I for example, am very crazy and that's no fault of my parents. Crazyness aside, I wouldn't cheat, steal or kill because they have taught me that that sort of action is wrong. I guess many youths these days are learning from the TV and the life of crime around them. A lot of people bought their mothers new batteries yesterday, some new remotes even. I guess some people even stole some other people's mothers too...

peace and love
Kwesi.

Effectiveness Of The Prison System

Peace.
This is my first post as a new member of TIAC. So, I decided to speak my mind here on something that has I've been questioning for a while..the effectiveness of our prison system. We see recently the unfair slave treatment of prisoners. I'm not here to "speak out" for criminals..well to an extent, but more so to focus on the initiative against crime since the criminals will one day "live" among us again. The question I ask is "Does the prison system change criminals or boost their courage to continue these acts?" I have spoken to a friend of mine, a prison officer, who described to me the autrocious conditions that they "live" in . Considering the environment of more criminals, rats, cockroaches and rapists..How will this phsycologically affect the criminal? Will the conditions be an incentive to not reutn to their 'past' or will they take revenge on society as a result of these conditions? Also, living among criminals for a period of time may boost confidence, create ideas and form gangs. Where are the counselling programs that will assess and help these criminals for when they are to re-enter into society? Are we absolutely positive that they will not pose any threat to the society? A lot of the gang leaders and members have been people who have spent some period of time in custody which will further boost their experience in these acts. Yes, holding them for a period of time will decrease the possibility of more crimes, but what about when they come back out..Will they change? What programs are there to develop them or prepare them for re-enterance in society?...Something that has to be further discussed..
Peace!
Jahari Gamba

Criminals: people too???

So the question is: are criminals people too? You think about it. I pride myslef in having strong faith and belief in essential human rights, and the following article had me thinking:

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=159741417

It begins:

"Prisoners crammed into the cells if the San Fernando Magistrates' Court
rose up against their police guards last night"

The artcile reports the violence that the imprisoned criminals awaiting trials and hearings at the court inflicted on the officers and the property. No mention was made of any possible reason for the event, except that they were expressing anger at the Deputy Chief Magistrate's refusal to grant bail in some cases or refusal to start their cases, after four year delays in some cases.

Internationally, it is a well reognized priniciple that persons imprisoned should be treated humanely and fairly. Due process of law is a constitutional right, engraved in our constitution. Many international treaties and instruments to which Trinidad and Tobago are parties to expressly state that imprisoned persons have the right not to be subjected to cruel,unusual, inhuman or degrding treatment. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are examples. It may be of interest to note that T&T withdrew it's acceptance of the Inter-American Court's jurisdiction to hear cases concerning breaches of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights (which includes the right not to be subjected to cruel and inhuman punishment amongst others) after a famous case concerning such breaches being violated by the state of T&T, was decided against the state. (The state was found to have breached this right with respect to criminals on death row, being there after long delays: Hilaire Case).

Recently, the common law (a part of the law, known as the law as derived from the cases; judge made law; the law based on precedent from cases), particularly the Pratt and Morgan case established that undue delay on death row constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

So with this little history in mind, my point is, did anyone bother to report why there was a riot? What were the prisoners reacting to? Or, are we to assume that they are all crazy people just behaving like that for no reason? They were clearly compaining of breaches of their fundamental rights. Criminals are people too, and they need to be treated as such by the state if we ever aim to rehabilitate them, and help them, prevent them from committing further crimes. The state is responsible for treatment of those imprisoned. Of course, I as well as all of us know, that the state has limited resources and infrastucture, and the court system is plagued by undue delays amongst other issues; but what I'm saying is that steps need to be taken to remedy the situation. Criminals are people too, treat them so, stop the hate (echoing a fellow blogger).

I'm sure this post will stimulate responses, but don't get me wrong. I am in no way condoning what occured, especially the threats issued by prisoners to the police officers, who were merely doing their jobs. In fact I am outraged at the idea that the threats uttered against our law enforcement officers may prove yet a deterrence to these officers in doing their duty, but that is another topic for another post.

My point is, criminals are people too, and we need to stop the hate in order to move forward, all persons are entitled to basic fundamental human rights.

Zombies for a dangerous cause

Politics in this country has never been about serving the people but about serving the party. The Trinbagonian form of politics has always been based on pitting side against side at the expense of the people of all sides. If you listen to any political speech in this country you would realize it reeks of hate and undeserved self-praise. I am yet to see a political party or hear words from a leader in this country who would put the people, party or non-party people, ahead of party financiers. Basically political parties are hate groups who use the people to better the interest of a few Mr. Bigs. If the people happen to benefit from the few crumbs which may fall, then that is even better but if not, that's ok as well.

Blind and mindless followers are dangerous people because they are zombies for a dangerous cause. I have heard enough of plots and counterplots to write many crappy novels. I do not want someone to tell me who to hate and why. I don't want to hate anyone and I don't. Do them before they do you is what I keep hearing. Forgive me if I don't buy into that philosophy because I am not a fool. This country is falling apart because it was built on hate and fear and not on love and kindness. Weak leaders are always the ones who are the most venemous and the ones who promote the most amount of hate. Unfortunately, in this country, we have no shortage of the weak, the venomous, the insane, the arrogant, the pretentious, the uncaring and the egomaniacal. All these traits are usually wrapped up into the individuals who either lead, once led, or hope to lead this country. That is not the greatest disaster, the greatest disaster is that many people worship these leaders. That is our tragedy.

Is there anything on the political horizon which looks like stopping this hate-train? Unfortunately I don't see it in the form of a party. The best I can suggest is that we as individuals do what we can to not let the controllers of these political parties rub their hands in glee as the hate meters keep on rising. I think firemanboize offers the best solution and it is simple - stop the hate and stop it now.

Rehabilitating criminals?

So with all the complaints and fussing about the situation in our beloved country, what are we doing to curb the rising violence and mayhem? Personally I feel we aren’t very far away form absolute anarchy. To express my feelings on the matter I’ll use a couple of synonyms: pandemonium, absolute chaos, total disorder. Some may feel that I’m exaggerating, but if drastic measures aren’t taken who is to say that we won’t end up like Colombia (no offense against the country or citizens, just stating the facts), with so many murders and kidnappings that those who can afford (what about those who can’t afford) hire private body guards, and have armored cars? T&T ain’t that far away.
But let me not get carried away too much on that, my point is what are we doing to prevent T&T from becoming a lawless nation? My point is, many things need to be done. While I’m definitely not very versed with revolutionary ideas, and proposals, I do have a few, like the rest of us. Since many of my ideas are common, I’ll skip those and proceed to talk about one, which I researched thoroughly for a paper a couple months ago: Restorative Justice. To quote from my research paper:

“The theory of restorative justice is a form of criminal justice that involves reparation to the victim, or affected members of the community by the offender; usually in the form of a community service or monetary payment. Conflict resolution tactics and mediation are at the core of this process. It emerged primarily in response to the strictures of the current, prevailing model of retributive criminal justice and as such provides an entirely different theoretical framework for responding to crime.
It is commonly known that the Criminal Justice System is a highly ritualized one with strict procedures and rules, where a crime is seen as primarily an offence against the state, and where the offender plays a minimal role and the victim has none. It fails to address the needs of those harmed by the offence, and holds the offender accountable through punishment which is seen as paying a debt to society. It is ineffective in reducing recidivism.
Howard Zehr explains how crimes are approached in restorative justice:
“Restorative justice would put the victim and offender at the centre, helping to decide what is to be done about what has happened. Thus the definition of accountability would change. Instead of paying a debt to society by experiencing punishment, accountability would mean understanding and taking responsibility for what has been done and taking action to make things right…the offender would owe a debt to the victim, to be repaid in purely legal terms.”[1]
The theory of restorative justice contradicts the Criminal Justice System by promoting the idea that a crime is primarily a violation of people and interpersonal relationships. Victims and the community have been harmed and need restoration. This is the core principle of restorative justice.”[2]

Basically restorative justice aims at reforming, rehabilitating the offender, so that on being released from prison, back into the society, the offender does not become a repeat offender. Additionally, it has been proven to help the victims of crimes and their families, get over the incident, move on with their lives and even forgive the perpetrator.
Some may not see this as a plan that is likely to have any effect. But restorative justice is a long term plan, aimed at preventing recidivism. As a society, we in Trinidad and Tobago are quite unforgiving, and we do little to help those who are clearly in need of help. To give an example of a “hot topic”: the boys arrested for the Sean Luke incident. Has it been thought that by perhaps, helping the criminals: rehabilitation (who are still people by the way), that we may be helping the situation?
I shall not go further into the wealth of material about Restorative justice, but it suffices to say that restorative justice has been applied to even the most serious crimes. Also, in the course of my research for my paper, I contacted the Victim Offender Mediation Association, “The VOMA”.[3] Via email, I was able to contact some of the founding fathers, so to say, of various restorative justice programmes in the US and Canada. Imagine my surprise when they indicated to ME, (me, a nobody in terms of state affairs, just a regular person) that they would be pleased to assist in developing restorative justice programmes in TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO! This is just an indication of the fact that others are aware of the situation, and are willing to offer their expertise and assistance to us.
Check out the following for more information on RESTORATIVE JUSTICE:

http://voma.org/index.html
http://wcr.sonoma.edu/v1n1/umbreit.html
http://2ssw.che.umn.edu/rjp/Resources/Documents/ZehMik97.PDF
http://www.disputeresolutionfoundation.com/

ENDNOTES

[1] Howard Zehr, 1985, taken from D. Quid and J. Wyne, Victim and Offender Mediation Handbook (England: West Yorkshire Probation Service, 1993).
[2] Kahaya Nanhu, 21 Nov. 2005. Alternative Dispute Resolution: Write a reasoned critique/commentary on the video on restorative justice, in the light of principles and purposes of restorative justice. Consider also whether, in your view restorative justice can be applied to the situation of the Caribbean, stating reasons for your viewpoint.

[3] http://voma.org/index.html.html

Perspective

Just a bio on these 2 clowns.

Shames me that they from Pres Sando too, and makes me wonder if the nation or the system or whatever, can produce anything better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Manning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basdeo_Panday

And for the ass(es) who consider this a UNC website, just know we wouldn't dirty our hands by political affiliation.

YOU ALL SUCK.

Peace, finally........

Introduction

Someone said I should introduce "Team: Save Trinidad". My mind wandered off into a Justice League type photo with all of us decked off in "Soca Warriors" t-shirts. I see that the number of hits are climbing (slowly but they are climbing) so that's positive. So I will introduce the contributors in no particular order... here goes.

* aka_lol

I recruited aka_lol after seeing his comments on Krista-Lee's blog and then seeing his blog. I liked his style of writing and I asked him if he would be interested in writing here. I can't tell you much about him as a person but I can tell you he handles http://www.mayarobeach.com/ which is actually quite nice.

* firemanboyzie

That's me. I started this blog because of the sentiments of a close friend or as one of my friends put it "I sure he doing it for some girl". I treasure my friends -- they know me well. My vision? I want someday for 1.3M Trini citizens to be blogging here strong -- I want to hear them on the radios, the televisions, the telephones and in the streets. I think that may never happen, thanks to cable TV.

* Jahari Gamba

Our youngest member. Jahari is a very black conscious youth man and that is admirable in these times. He hasn't posted yet because of exams but i suspect he will soon so stay tuned.

* Krista-Lee Bissoon

I recruited Krista-Lee via her blog -- which was quite amusing and entertaining. She's a masters student and I thought she would give us an interesting perspective on things. She too hasn't posted because of finals, but I hope that she will find some time soon.

* crazee mudderasss

crazee mudderasss is a fellow member of the band Solaris. I won't disclose any more personal information because I am not sure that with a name like crazee mudderasss he would want all his information given out on the WWW. He's only posted once and since then his network admin has blocked blogger.com as there is pornos and that sort of stuff in the blogosphere.

* Valarauka

Valarauka is also a fellow member of the band Solaris. He brings a very interesting perspective to crime and social issues as an Economist. What scares me the most is that I agree with most of what he says.

* Kahaya

Kahaya is a long time friend. She studies law in Barbados so I am hoping she brings some interesting points to us. I suspect she has done a lot of reading and from our discussion we had on Marxism a long time ago I know she is a good writer. We should be hearing some more from her soon.

Taran (www.knowprose.com) doesn't blog here but I continue to link whatever posts in his blog I see as being relevant. That makes him our invisible contributor.


If you would like to contribute, feel free to add a comment here. If you just want to put a one time article, get in contact with me and I will post it on your behalf. Trinidad is all of ours to save -- so I won't deny anyone a voice here.

peace and love
Kwesi.

Responsibility

When I first got the picture of Sean Luke's alleged killer in my email many things came to mind. I thought about the legal implications of receiving it, the legal implications of forwarding it, of storing it on my hard drive and of blogging it. I thought long and hard (for about ten minutes) how it could help to save Trinidad by posting the picture on the blog. Nothing came to mind.
I read Taran's post today -- Responsibilities of Websites and Weblogs; The Sean Luke Case, Trinidad and Tobago, and Posting Pictures of the Accused and now I see that the picture is being hosted on a local site. I too won't link to the site because I think that its wrong -- but if you're really crafty (like me) you can ask google to give you a hand in finding it. When you find it it will sadden you more to see the comments the users post about the poor kid. Why am I calling him a poor kid? Honestly it is because I don't think he really understands what's going on, what he did (if he did it) and whats going to happen if he did what he did. I think he is disturbed, possibly abused or maybe he is misguided or misled. Everyone is quick to jump to the conclusion that he is a homosexual, use [sic] appropriate racial slurs etc. Not one comment leaned towards the possibility that the youth man needed help. I am disappointed...
Its a consolation though that I had been to that place before and its all about small minds crammed into one place saying who's hot and who's not. Well, "look ting" someone I know actually said something I can be proud of:

what a shame!!!
I feel sorry for him, he had to be deeply troubled to do such a thing, and yes he should be punished for his crime, but alot of you sound so racial in your comments. if he was any other race would you say it like that. thats the mentality that fucking up our country now!!!! we as a people not making any effort to move forward?

STOP THE HATE, CAUSE IT CAN NOT BRING BACK SEAN LUKE, IT JUST CREATES MORE HATE!!!!!

thank you, I don't think I need to say anymore.

peace and love
Kwesi

The Song Remains The Same

In a bold and daring press release, the people have been reassured that paper will continued to be pushed into the face of crime, and an onslaught of P.R. campaigns will soon take over the country once again. The people, hungry for safety, cautiously danced and pranced in the streets in delight but only in the day time since the nights were even more dangerous. The all-mighty blimp, not to be outdone, hovered overhead, floating aimlessly in time to the same old song.

Here's a thought 5

I think the world is the worse for not having known Gary Hector and Jointpop.

Rock on Brothers.

Peace and Paradise,

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