J'aime Paramin

The Lion King and Cece

On saturday I will be taking Cece to see Lion king the broadway play at the Bushnell. pray for me people. yes it is our father daughter thing, and I have spent the last three days trying to convince her that she will love it just as much as she loved the dvd.In my world Cece is the parent and I am the child.

No Computer Today

Well boy meh computer was on de blink for two days so ah could ent post anyting. Ah just get it back so look out for meh post later. For now ah go leave allyuh wid two links ah hope allyuh enjoy dem.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7i4WxhQys8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoqLWsX5TeI&feature=related

A Brand new Day

On this brand new day in our national history we are standing in the doorway of hope looking out on a future of boundless possibilities. A change has come.  

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161586382

Sweet Pan

Happy Friday everyone, least we forget Trinidad and Tobago’s  culture has given the world many gifts, and they tend to show up in the most unsuspecting of places. Oftentimes we forget just how much we are a part of that culture, and how strong it can draw us to each other binding us together as one.

My adopted town of Bloomfield has a fairly large West Indian community, so it came as no surprise when our church decided to hold a tropical mass. When I heard the news my thoughts were” that’s cool maybe a priest from one of the islands is visiting”, because to be honest the Trinbago population is just about the smallest segment of that so called large West Indian population.

Imagine my surprise then, when I entered the church on Sunday morning, and saw two brand new chrome steel pans prominently displayed at the front of the choir. Imagine my even greater surprise when the mass began and out stepped a young white American in his early twenties, and played every hymn in a calypso beat. Not only did it have the church swinging, jumping and clapping, but it also had me in tears. Talk about a gift to warm the heart on a cold New England morning. At the end of the service I took my three children to where the choir was gathered, gently raised a finger pointed to the gleaming steel pans, and whispered with as much reverence as I could summon “that is ours”.

 So I just want to say thank you to every panman and woman, past and present, for every sacrifice you have made, the battles you have fought, and the struggles and hardships you had to endure for that piece of steel. Because in doing so you were giving birth to the very best part of me. My indentity.    

Property Taxes and You

Municipal corporations in Trinidad provide many of the same services as do town governments in New England.  Sometimes the best way to convey an idea is not in words but in pictures. So here is the link to the Town of Bloomfield website my adopted town in the United States.

http://www.bloomfieldct.org/

 Here is the link to the Diego Martin Municipal Corporation website my home town municipal in Trinidad. Bear in mind with the exception of educational facilities these two bodies provide identical services to their residents

http://www.localgov.gov.tt/DGM/dgm.htm

You cannot fund a municipal corporation with property taxes if at first you do not create a detailed property ownership map of the area to be managed by the corporation. This means that all legal outstanding property owner issues must be addressed if not resolved. This is why you cannot have property tax reform before Land and other property reform.

The revenue side of the municipal corporation must have an existing data base of all land, building, (both private and commercial) and vehicle ownership to support the accurate collection of all such taxes. This means a fully staffed assessor department, Tax collector department, registrar of births and deaths department, legal department, and a technology department that constantly updates the information data base. For all practical purposes the municipal corporation must function as an independent company.   

The administrative side of the municipal corporation must spell out as transparently as possible to the residents what services they provide, the many ways these can be accessed,  exactly how much each of these services cost and the remedies that are available when such services are not delivered. The development plans for the municipal, and accurate annual budgets to show their progress in attaining these goals.  

The expenditure side of the municipal must be fully staffed and equipped so as to carry out the service functions offered to the residents. They must also have an existing data base of all roads, bridges, and water ways, open spaces, and parks, population density, public buildings, and spaces and the geographic topography of the area under management to support accurate maintenance, repair and beautification of the municipal.          

  

          

Property tax Reform

Believe it or not I am a supporter of property tax reform but it is at how it should be implemented that I part ways with the current government. It is virtually impossible to have real property tax reform if at first you do not have land and other property reform, as well as local government reform. Property taxation is the process by which local government bodies are funded. To help explain how all this works I will use the Diego Martin Municipal as my example.

Local government is exactly that. It provides the social services for the village or town in which you live. It constructs and maintains the so called secondary roads, and the related bridges, drains, sidewalks, water ways, and parks. It also manages garbage removal, recreation centers, and grounds, health clinics, truck borne water. It pays for the street lights, that sort of thing.

The process by which it pays for these expenditures is through the collection of property taxes. The whole philosophy being; the tax on property is a local tax which is used to meet the quality of life needs of that specific community, and thus such needs should be met  by the property owners of that community, hence the reason Land, Buildings, and vehicles should be taxed. This is also the reason why the collection of such a tax must remain local. If ever it were to be pooled into the general fund at central government level then its disbursement can be questioned, for who is to say money collected from diamond vale will not be used to meet a shortfall from Port of Spain.   

To be continued tomorrow.   

Last Word on Haiti

After my long rant yesterday I have one last word about Haiti. Go online and type the name of any country outside the West Indies, and the words, search and rescue Haiti, or medical relief Haiti. Chances are you will be able to read a news release about that country’s team already on the ground there. I tried it and here is a short but diverse list of countries that already have personnel on the ground carrying out search and rescue, and giving medical assistance in Port Au Prince. Turkey, Iceland, South Africa, England, France, Spain, Canada, Israel, Russia, China, South Korea, United States, Brazil,  Mexico, and  Cuba . The United Nations fielded about twenty seven search and rescue teams made up of persons from member states. While this is not the complete list it does represent countries from across the globe. Now type in the name of any Caribbean country with the exception of Cuba, as of January 18th all our search and rescue, and medical teams were still on standby waiting to be deployed.   

There is so much that I want to say to my government and my Caricom leaders about this tragedy, but all that comes out is; Haiti we failed you, and for that I am deeply sorry, and ashamed.  

Are You Fucking Kidding Me

When ah first read we Caricom leaders media release on de Haiti tragedy ah say nah, ah make ah mistake, ah must be open de comic strip section of de link, so ah went back an read it again. When ah tell allyuh de ting make meh feel sick, if ah wasn’t sitting down ah wouldha fall down. De ting leave meh in shock. Well let meh tell allyuh ah does do meh best to keep it clean because you never know who go be reading wat you writing, but not dis time, enough is enough. Dem sons of bitches gone too far dis time, Somebody have to step in an help dem remove de yampee from dey eyes, so dis post coming straight out meh mind, an meh heart, ah writing it de same way it come out of meh. Allyuh ah real vex yuh hear but ah embarrassed to, because dem jackass publish dey response for de whole world to see, an doh expect Caribbean people to be dam mad,  an yes ah know is Sunday but even dat ent go stop meh.

Can anybody tell meh exactly wat de fuck wrong wid we Caricom leaders, an for dat matter we political leaders too because is one an de same. Haiti in crisis yuh hear meh, is everyting mash up bad, bad, bad since Tuesday. International news media from all over de world set up in Haiti since de news break.

From England http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pqdhl/The_World_Tonight_14_01_2010/

From France

http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/France-sends-aid-to-quake_struck-Haiti_59137.html

De Middle East

 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/01/20101134411913614.html

From Asia

 http://www.straitstimes.com/vgn-ext-emplating/sti/SearchPage.jsp?fromBN=true&q=haiti%20earthquake

From Australia

http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/France-sends-aid-to-quake_struck-Haiti_59137.html

From Africa http://www.mg.co.za/

All of dem countries have reporters on de ground; an doh talk about de United States is CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN, and PBS. All of dem reporting 24/7 since Tuesday, It have no part of de world dat don’t  know wat happen in Haiti or just how bad de ting really is. By Wednesday de United Nations release figures saying is more dan forty five thousand people feared dead, an hundreds of thousands more trapped under all de rubble from dem falling buildings. People just plain catching dey ass, tanty, uncle, an nehnen wid no water, food, shelter, place to sleep or medical assistance an dat dat figure is a low estimate. CNN report dat de whole world mobilize to rescue Haiti an aid pouring in de country from everywhere, De American Army has been given control of de air port an will be coordinating de rescue efforts.   An wat is Caricom response to all dat news, dat same Caricom dat like to boast dat Haiti is a member of dey organization. Well dey planning to send a fact finding mission on Friday to assess de situation. Are you fucking kidding me. Ah so shame ah posting it just as ah get it from dem for allyuh to see.

Caricom Chairman Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica held consultations throughout Wednesday with colleague heads of government as well as other leaders in the hemisphere. The chairman is leading a fact finding mission to Haiti on Friday, accompanied by Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson, Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding, and Caricom general secretary Edwin Carrington, who met with the chairman on Wednesday evening.

Yes allyuh read it right, we fucking leaders an dem not sending money, water, food, relief workers, nah boy dey not sending any of dem ting as yet. De first ting dey sending is a fact finding mission on Friday, three days after de earthquake hit. Dat is a full seventy two hours after de whole of Port Au Prince mash up an de whole world done tell we an show we dat it mash up. Dem jackass an dem still going to see if de place really mash up for true. Is wat de fuck allyuh going to see dat allyuh ent done see already. Ah mean my God people dead, an who ent dead either dying, or badly wounded.  Allyuh decide dat de best course of action is going to bother de American soldiers an dem dat trying so hard to help out de situation, an already have dey hands so full dat tings falling out. But my Caricom leaders going an ask dem to stop wat dey doing so dey could show dem around for dem to assess de damage. Allyuh ever hear more fuckery dan dat, since when fact finding more important dan finding people who trapped an suffering. Now is not de time to pretend dey trying to do something, de whole world watching at dem, an dey fucking joking like dat when people dying. Dey cyah be serious wid dat kind of dotishness man. Here I am waiting for my Prime Minister to announce that Caricom will immediately make a joint financial contribution to the international Red Cross Haiti fund of five or ten million US dollars, as well as placing thousands of relief workers at the disposal of the Caribbean Red Cross. Also Caricom will be coordinating with the US army to send a joint Caribbean military force of several thousand to help the American soldiers who are already on the ground at the Haiti air port. We ent hear notting close to dat yet so maybe you could tell meh wat de fuck dey waiting on.

In addition Caricom is moving rapidly to mobilize emergency assistance. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is co-coordinating the regional response for its’ latest member Haiti which joined in September 2009. The regional response mechanism has identified four priority areas in this regard: emergency aid; shelter; search and rescue, and communication.    

Allyuh hear dat, dey moving rapidly to mobilize emergency assistance. Ah want somebody to tell meh how you could call dat kind of response to dat kind of emergency rapid, when it go be coming at least six days after de fucking emergency happen. Boy if a man start cutting your ass wid a bull pistol an it take six days before people pull him off you by dat time yuh go be dead boy. An by de way it take dem three whole days to realize dat after a earthquake wey buildings fall down on people dey go need emergency aid, shelter, and search an rescue. My seven year old daughter tell meh dat on Wednesday morning.

Search and rescue teams are on standby to proceed to Haiti as required and CEDMA has also been liaising with its partners, the Caricom implementation agency for crime and security (IMPACS), the regional security (RSS), the Caricom Secretariat, CAREC / PAHO and the Caribbean media corporation (CMC) with a view to putting in place immediately an assessment team in order to provide appropriate guidance for the immediate needs of the Haitian people. The assessment team will also be travelling to Haiti on Friday 15^th.

Within CEDMA operational structure, Haiti falls into a sub regional grouping for which Jamaica serves as the focal point. Jamaica will therefore serve as the staging point for the regional response. The Bahamas has offered the use of its embassy – which was not damaged during the earthquake for the operations in Port Au Prince.

I would really like to know when Obama dead an leave dem set of jackass in charge. De president of Haiti done sign away control of the relief operations to de United States.

Well yes while ah was writing dis post ah was hopping dat the American army in charge of de air port in Haiti shame dem so dat dey leave Haiti wid dey tail between dey legs an guess wat. Nah ah want allyuh to read de Express link first hand.    http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161583443

Haiti

Haiti, what else is there to say?

If you click on the Huffington post link you will be directed to a list of humanitarian organizations. Please make an online donation to help support our West Indian family in their hour of need. 

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/haiti-earthquake-relief-h_n_421014.html

What Quality of Life ?

In ninety eighty I joined the ONR movement. I was a young man then and still untouched by the true cynicism that comes with real maturity and age. So for the first time I was moved by my own convictions to speak to my mother about her political beliefs. She then confided in me something that would alter my opinion of her for all time. You see, she informed me that she had not voted for the PNM in the last two elections, I was forced to ask her why? Her response was they, the PNM government had more than fifteen years to give us pipe borne water and not once did they ever really address that issue with the people. Instead they willfully used it as a carrot and stick gimmick to steal the will and the vote of the people. Even though the government knew that water is life itself, and therefore were holding the community captive to a promise they knew they had no intention of fulfilling. What she was really saying was any government that could not even identify their constituent’s needs, or bring themselves to truly care enough even after being told, far less to not even try to provide a remedy to fulfill that need did not deserve her support. My mother who did not even finish primary school had discovered all on her own the singular truth that democratically elected governance is a sacred trust. Unfulfilled election promises shredded that trust to pieces in very much the same way the broken promise of fidelity can tear a marriage asunder. She was proud of the educational aspiration of her children, but did not see education, or healthcare, or for that matter any one of the government’s obligations so bestowed upon her or her offspring by some benevolent Prime Minister or government as a gift which should be patiently waited upon, but rather as a right to be demanded, something to which we are all entitled, and the very responsibility they were elected to fulfill. To my mother in the face of absolute power there was no worse a response as blind loyalty.

     

Today we happen to live in one of the most blessed countries in the world, and yet we allow ourselves to be ruled by an incompetent government; which we turn around and support Even though most of us have travelled abroad, and know more than most just how a real government should function. We accept the crimes being committed around us, and more often than not to us, yet we say nothing, and worse do nothing about it. We endure the constant flooding, and the lack of proper health care, the awful road condition, and the even worse traffic jams, and for what why do we put up with it all. We have burned through three hundred billion dollars that’s billion with a capital B and what do we have to show for it, but a city skyline of count them five new buildings, a Prime Minister’s palace and a national performing arts center that together coast less than five billion dollars. Seven years ago we needed new police stations, fire stations and hydrants, better paved roads a more reliable water supply and the list goes on.Today  after the expenditure of billions our needs have not changed, so after seven years of explosive economic growth the basic needs that determine our quality of life have not been met. The way government has spent this vast sum is akin to a person on seeing that their new home is on fire rushes off to buy new furniture rather than attempt to put out the blaze, or call the fire department. After the expenditure of untold millions crime in Sea lots, laventille, and Movant are still the same or worse unemployment is the same or worse, the level of education is the same or worse, housing and infrastructural  development is the same or worse. On every measurable criterion that can be used to judge good governance they have failed horribly. When a community of people are forced to block the main street with old tires and garbage then set it alight to draw attention to their need for proper road maintenance this act of desperation alone becomes a clear signal that all normal political channels which should have been in place to address much needed  road repair has either failed horribly, or is totally nonexistent, and the residents have reached  a level of frustration that drives them collectively to experience a crises of confidence in the government’s ability to even recognize their needs. What makes this kind of protest so tragic is these people are not asking for some ostentatious privilege to which they are not entitled. No what they are asking for is the most basic quality of life stuff like properly maintained infrastructure.  After seven years people are still sleeping in the hallways of our hospitals, or worse they are dying there. Some are still begging the public for money to go abroad to get the medical help for everything from heart surgery to the kidney transplant operations that they need, while the most expensive medical complex and training center ever built in the Caribbean and named after the founding father of our nation turns twenty six years old, a monument to governmental impotence. As that same beloved government remains contented to continue importing doctors from Cuba, India, and Africa.