My Unsolicited Drivel as an Unpaid Pretender in the Sacred World of Media Professionals and Subscribed Scribes....

"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"

"No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."- George Orwell, Animal Farm

In an almost rehearsed testimony to life imitating art, I have found myself embroiled in an ongoing argument/discussion so Animal Farm-esque in nature, were George Orwell himself to overhear it he might be convinced that he was watching a play based on his book.

For some reason I cannot fathom, I have become entangled in a call and respond battle in multiple media with a certain columnist over my calling for a Journalistic Code of Ethics to prevent active journalists using the media profession as a stepping stone to Government employment.

It is patently obvious (and agreed to by those who defend the other side of the argument) that the plum positions would only be offered to those perceived to be 'friendly' to the Administration, and how else would one demonstrate such friendliness other than advocating on their behalf through the only means at one's disposal?

It is my position that to demonstrate friendliness with either side is to practice biased journalism, which undermines the purpose of the profession in the first place.

What amazes me the most is not so much the journalists and media workers themselves who see this as a promotion, but the lay people who, because of Party support or affiliation, fail to understand the purpose the media serves in society and why there MUST be a clear separation between the two.  In keeping with the analogical reference to Orwell, like pigs herded for slaughter, these 'apologists' are acting in support of the farmer against their own kind.

"They had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes." - George Orwell, Animal Farm

As an aside and to inform, please move away from the illusion that Government is somehow in the business of serving the people. Government serves its investors, its members, and established big business in furthering the profit enterprise. This is of course repackaged and sold to the lay people as providing jobs and services, when what is in fact obtaining is the use of law and brute force to keep the masses in semi bondage and economic servitude. In other words, people are seen as workers and consumers to business, and Government's role is to assist business to achieve profit.

Fortunately freedom of the press, the platform from which the people are (supposed to be) protected from abuse of Government and informed as to where the two interests collide, has found itself guaranteed by supreme law and remains the last hope for free men to remain free.

This is the ONLY reason for lay people to care about what happens to media, and the reason we must all work to halt the Governmental encroachment into its independence through the use of State force and public money as punishment and reward; Wherever abuse is to be practiced, free media is the first to die.

Reporting versus Editorializing

Generally, publishers and consumers of journalism draw a distinction between reporting — "just the facts" — and opinion writing, often by restricting opinion columns to the editorial page and its facing or "op-ed" (opposite the editorials) page. Unsigned editorials are traditionally the official opinions of the paper's editorial board, while op-ed pages may be a mixture of syndicated columns and other contributions, frequently with some attempt to balance the voices across some political or social spectrum.

Objectivity

 Objectivity is a significant principle of journalistic professionalism.

It may mean fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship. The term has not only a single meaning, because journalists and the public use it in these different ways. In many countries, advocacy journalism is considered as a legitimate sort of professional journalism.

Few journalists would make a claim to total neutrality or impartiality. However, most try to keep distance from their own personal biases in their news work. In Discovering the News (1978), sociologist Michael Schudson argues that "the belief in objectivity is a faith in 'facts,' a distrust in 'values,' and a commitment to their segregation." In the United States, an objective story is typically considered to be one that steers a middle path between two poles of political rhetoric.

Journalism without any bias, as if one just came to Earth from another planet and had no opinions about our behavior or ways is rarely practiced, although some argue it would lead to radical changes in reporting and, in a microcosm of a society like ours where everyone is connected to everyone else, should be par for the course.

Biased journalism hijacks the media for personal gain and enslaves the people in rhetoric spewed by self serving politicians, repackaged  by self serving journalists and served to an unsuspecting public as news & opinion.

In the society we should want to create all men should be free, and institutions like the media should be strengthened and untethered from any State dependent moorings to guarantee and enforce that freedom.

According to The Elements of Journalism, a book by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, there are nine elements of journalism. In order for a journalist to fulfill their duty of providing the people with the information, they need to be free and self-governing.

They must follow these guidelines:

1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
3. Its essence is discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting, and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
10. Its the rights and responsibilities of citizens.

I am not against anyone 'eatin' ah food' as it has been described to me, but the sacred professions should not be a means to that end. Put another way, self enrichment as a goal should not use journalism as a vehicle to get there.

Journalistic excellence must be of such a caliber as to live on and provide a clear beacon to a better place for all and not just be confined to bringing news. If that is not the case, then the question will be asked what is the point of journalism in this new world of instant communication, with personal information retrieval devices in everyone's pocket delivering news as it occurs, and where the news printed in a newspaper is already hours old, stale dated and old news by the time the paper hits the street.

"Frightened though they were, some of the animals might possibly have protested, but at this moment the sheep set up their usual bleating of "Four legs good, two legs bad," which went on for several minutes and put an end to the discussion." - George Orwell, Animal Farm

The challenge to the Media Association of Trinidad & Tobago is to not only advocate for and create much better working conditions for its members, it must also work to keep the profession in step with and ahead of existing trends if it is to survive the overload of data referred to as the information age. 

It must also demand higher standards of excellence in the profession through the enforcement of a Journalistic Code of Ethics if the members are to reap the true rewards of their career choice, and for the public to give the media the respect it deserves.

Warner Responds....

My fellow citizens of Trinidad & Tobago, 

We told Dookeran to handle this, but he busy so I came to you myself to tell you some things that your Government is doing for you.

We need you to know that your Government has heard you, and in Response to the calls to honor the misprint and lower the retirement age, the People's Partnership Government has decided to implement a scheme to put workers 50 years of age and older on early retirement. 

This plan will be known as RAPE (Retire Aged People Early). 

Persons selected to be RAPED can apply to the government and may also be eligible for the SHAFT program (Special Help After Forced Termination). 

Persons who have been RAPED and SHAFTED will be reviewed under the SCREW program (Scheme Covering Retired Early Workers) to see if they need any further assistance.

You should take note that a person may be RAPED once, SHAFTED twice and SCREWED as many times as the government deems appropriate, and we can do this because, unlike the other side who cannot erect one of their own, we have a plan. 

Also, only persons who have been RAPED can get AIDS (Additional Income for Dependents & Spouse) or HERPES (Half Earnings for Retired Personnel Early Severance). 

Obviously, and I need to be clear about this, all persons who have AIDS or HERPES will not be SHAFTED or SCREWED any further by the government.

Alternately, persons who choose to not be RAPED and would rather stay on, we have a plan for you too. 

Under my Ministry, you will be able to receive as much SHIT (Special High Intensity Training) as you can handle, and we have different types of SHIT available. 

The government takes pride in the amount of SHIT it is currently giving out. 

If for any reason you feel that you did not receive enough SHIT, please bring this to the attention of your local MP or call my office, because at the end of the day, I am responsible for all the SHIT around here. 

Sincerely, 

Austin Jack Warner, 

Minister of Everything

Watching TV... (an excerpt from O'Connor Street)

For those who have asked if I write about things other than politics and humor, here is a chapter from my unfinished book - "O'Connor Street."

It is written from the perspective of a ten year old boy growing up in  multicultural, multiracial, residential Woodbrook in the 70's.

Watching TV

After school, we all had homework to do, which was followed by chores and then we could either go outside to play or we could watch television.

I would usually choose to go outside and play, find some friends and have some fun unless it was raining, in which case I ‘plumped’ myself down in front the TV and watched whatever was showing at the time.

Our viewing choices were limited as there was only one 'channel', so you basically watched what was showing on that channel or nothing at all.

Watching TV in my house (like everything else we did) was a power struggle and a fight. In the car everyone wanted an end seat because you had control of the window, so we would all refuse to get into the car, arguing and fighting, and pushing and shoving until my father got mad and started cursing and shouting and then we’d all pile in, still fighting, but quiet now, hoping for the best but grudgingly or happily settling for what you got depending on the outcome.

In the TV room there was a couch, my father’s chair, and the floor.

On the couch (where we sat to watch TV), everyone fought for the middle seat (it was a three seater) because if anyone got up on the right or left of you, you would then have two seats and you could lie down. This was such a source of tension in my house that people have been known to sit on that middle seat staring at a blank TV set for hours waiting for the time when the good shows start. If you needed to use the bathroom you couldn’t, because as soon as you got up someone else would take your seat.

The usual programming was Sesame Street from three o’clock (which we all wanted to see so there was much seat fighting and jostling), Rikki Tikki at four (which none of us wanted to see, so the TV room was empty with the TV on for nobody, which would cause the occasional outburst from my father for us leaving the TV on and wasting electricity), and at five o’clock The Electric Company came on and the battle was rejoined in earnest. Usually the middle seat sitter would announce the Electric Company was starting, and we would come barreling in from all sides to begin fighting for seats.

After six there was Best Village, which we didn’t really care for, and seven o’clock was ‘News”.

We weren’t allowed back in the TV room before eight o’clock because my father watched ‘The News’ between seven and eight, and one of the worst ‘buffs’ you could get was to disturb my father during the news.

A shout of ‘I’M listening’ without him looking away from the TV explained to us all that the king was being disturbed and he would have none of it. The way he behaved you would swear that he was important to what was going on in the news, but I never understood this man.

We would come back into the room after news and settle in for what was showing that night.

Funny thing about the eight o’clock return to the TV room is that there was no fighting for any seats because my father was there and he didn’t tolerate that at all.

Anyway, this one night, after we all had dinner and returned to our respective seats and were happily watching the TV, there was a soft ‘poof’ and the screen went blank.

Completely.

Well, except for a little bright white dot in the center.

The sudden silence and darkness made us all aware of our surroundings and the close proximity of our father, in a situation that we all knew had the potential to end very badly. This man did not handle unplanned change well at all.

I held my breath.

I didn’t know if to leave or to stay, or better yet I wanted to leave but I didn’t know how and I just didn’t want to be in that room when his mood deteriorated; I had seen him get angry with the TV before, because my father and the TV seemed to have a sort of love hate relationship.

It wasn’t the newest appliance in the house, and it was modified with age. Standing on four legs, it looked green when it was off with knobs on the right of the screen. Once when the repairman came I saw the back of the TV, and there were a couple knobs in the back that you ‘interfered’ with if there was a problem, and this one red knob that you were never to touch at all, which made me want to touch it, but I knew better, but I always thought of that red knob at the back of the TV.

The knobs on the front didn’t really work anymore, so we had a pair of pliers permanently on top of the TV that we used to turn it on and off and to 'fiddle' with the channel selector as it seemed to ‘slip’ between channels from time to time. I remember this one time when the pliers he (my father) used to change the channels didn’t seem to be accomplishing much and he was moving from one screen of snow and noise to another screen of snow and noise and he started to get angry so we started to get worried and he ran so completely out of patience that he hit that TV one hard slap on the side and wouldn’t you know it the picture and sound came back perfect as ever.

I was so relieved I wanted to clap, I was sure we were supposed to do something to celebrate this but nobody seemed to know what and we were all so happy to be breathing again that we continued being silent and allowed this man to bask in the success of his violence, the swagger as he returned to his seat said it all, there was nothing that a good slap couldn’t fix.

From that day forward, that TV get some good slap anytime it didn’t do what it was supposed to do and that usually got it showing again.

Not tonight though, he was slapping and slapping to no avail, he slapped the side but nothing happened. He slapped the top but still no change, that white dot just stared silently out at him, mocking him, taunting him, and I knew that he knew that we were all behind him, watching him, and his failure to get what he wanted made him slap that TV so hard and I thought at some point he was going to start punching and kicking the crap out of it and I just wanted to be out of that room because somehow this was gonna work its way back to me, because it almost always did.

The situation was going from bad to worse and I don’t know to this day what made me open my mouth but I had the audacity to suggest a solution to my father and I said “What about the red knob in the back” and everyone looked at my father and then at me like I had gone mad for daring to suggest anything to this man who hated to ask for directions even if he was totally and completely lost, but I didn’t know what else to do and seconds after they came out of my mouth I wished I could inhale the words right back in.

With his back to us my father stood up, slowly, and half turned to do or say what I don’t know, when the idea of the red knob must have been still circulating in his mind, digesting, and he turned back towards the TV and bent over the back and I thought yes he was going to press the red knob and I was hoping and praying it worked because then I’d be a hero, and even though I had never been a hero, I thought there might be a parade, maybe a cake, and we all held our collective breath as my father pressed the red knob in the back and the screen flashed bright for a second like it was coming back on (yaay) and then.... nothing.

It went completely dark.

Completely.

Even the little white dot was gone, and from her place on the middle seat I heard my eldest sister say -"uh oh"

Rising Time Again....

Both the United National Congress and the Congress of the People have scheduled internal Party elections for this year and many people are asking why?

Why stay separate yet politically joined?

With the minority Opposition in disarray and incapable of mounting anything like a challenge for Governance, what could be the purpose of remaining a coalition?

To fight whom, The ghost of Christmas past?

And if (as some within the organization say) the ideal situation is a coalition as it represents unity, why not invite the PNM to join then and do away with the Parliament altogether? 

What keeps them out?

What purpose does this 'Partnership' serve?

The truth of the matter is we do not need a coalition Government anymore and those continuously promoting it are guilty of at least misleading the people. Further, because of the 'one sided' nature of the seat allocations in the House of Representatives, the Parliament is weaker for it. The country would be much better served by a once again 'independent' Congress of the People, free of being tethered to the UNC and able to vote conscience and Party line for and against the Government in the best interest of the people on national issues.

Supporters and Members alike MUST know that this term is the only term in Government the COP will ever see if business as usual continues. Regardless of the symbolic 'internal' elections about to take place, the COP is percieved to be slowly deflating and losing any grip on the politics and its members. That is not to say that Prakash, and Winston and Anil and others are not in Government, it just says that the COP and PP uniforms they are wearing are playing to a crowd that has already seen through the ruse.

Why not end the charade; disrobe the pretense and join as one Party, or leave and go it alone. For the UNC the loss of the 'special majority' the COP brings will be staggering to their agenda, but to the Congress of the People, this literally presents their moment to rise.

Think about it; harnessing the ability to make and break policy from a true Congress of the People position will deliver much to their suport base and could essentially harness the disenchanted PNM and UNC as well as non-aligned voters who, willing to do and say anything to get Manning out of Government, are disgusted with the goings on and the potential abuse to come with the UNC.

Take the issues of Steve Ferguson and Ishwar Galbaransingh; can the COP rank and file members stomach the Government not  extraditing them to answer charges in the United States for crimes committed there?

Of course not, because they and the rest of their bandit crew who raided the Treasury last time around in their Airport and other schemes are one of the main reasons the COP exists.

Do the executive members have a UNC position on this or a COP one?

And how will they reconcile themselves and their record if and when Anand eventually frees Ish & Steve completely as the tea leaves portend?

Will they remain COP, hypocrisy of publicly stated position notwithstanding?

Brian Kuie Tung, Renee Pierre and others were rumored to be actively fundraising for the UNC prior to May 24th despite having pending cases before the Courts, what is the COP position on that? 

Or Carlos John's alleged involvement in at least one current MP leaving his previous career to get on board, is this okay from a Congress of the People stand point?

Does 'politics' really have a morality of its own?

If the COP is no longer the Party of the moral center they need to cease the pretense, because the people who still support them based on this 'ideology' need to know. Lying now will seal many a political fate permanently, as this would be seen to be calculated, cold blooded deceit and a manipulation of the people for personal gain, again.

With all of the above in mind, I am calling on the executive of the Congress of the People to enunciate a position on the following before any internal elections:

• The not yet executed extradition of Ish & Steve
• The continuation of Emmanuelle George in his Ministerial post despite substantive allegations of impropriety
• The prosecution of the Airports 6, 10 and fifteen
• The prosecution of Calder Hart
• The investigation into the 2 million dollar flag at the National Stadium with a view to bringing charges against the corrupt
• The investigation into and prosecution of the developers behind the sliding townhouse project
• The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the CL/CLICO debacle and the HCU collapse with a view to prosecuting those found guilty of malfeasance and any other corrupt enrichment and impropriety

The supporters of the Party are intelligent enough to keep this discussion alive despite moves to deflect and distract being orchestrated from within this 'alliance', and this more than any other conversation is what is being talked about by the people of this country who are still disgruntled by what currently obtains as politics and Government in T&T.

The supporters of the Congress of the People are a centrist and diverse bunch, not driven by racial leanings or religious persuasions in our politics.

We demand integrity in Public Life, we insist on morality in Government and are driven by the desire to unite all of Trinidad & Tobago equally and equitably.

Based on the Party's response or lack of one to these and other festering issues, we ourselves may have decisions to make.

It may yet be time to rise....

What is Joke for Schoolboy is Death for Crapaud... (Racism should get no quarter in Trinidad & Tobago)

In trying to get better at this writing thing, I practice by taking other peoples writing apart to get a better feel for the flow. It has become a signature move, this 'deconstruction' and commenting, one that others are more than willing to assist with after the fact. Some writers, given more space, could have said so much more.

Here is a good example; Clarence Rambharat, University lecturer and lawyer took Government Ministers Jack Warner and Anil Roberts to task for the most degrading and disgusting behaviors aimed at an ethnic group to which they are a part. Couched in a self deprecating style, the two of them, seemingly high on their achievements and sure of their lofty positions have literally 'put God out of their thoughts' and reduced the lot of my African brothers and sisters (in the Parliament no less), showing clearly why fools should be left out of serious discussion if we ever hope to rise as one people.

Of ALL the gaffes made in this young session (and there have been many, some of them legendary), these are the worst because it is attempting to poke fun at others 'who look like we, but dem is not we. WE is suit and tie.)

Seriously?

The deconstruction:

"Anil Roberts's unsettling and unfunny "Tobago lips" comments seemed out of sync with his Government's multicultural agenda. Days after, occasional Prime Minister Jack Warner topped Roberts with an incredible self-description as the HNIC, an acronym whose "N" stands for the reviled "N word". These are weeds, innocuous weeds being sown, in what over time could get out of control in Kamla Persad-Bissessar's multicultural garden".

This opening paragraph grabbed me and kept me reading for the one two punch of clarity it delivered to a very touchy subject. His reference to 'innocuous weeds' is brilliant in its simplicity of description, and like tiny cracks that break stone over time, if the Prime Minister is not forced to stand up against these two and their utterings now, she may well come to be viewed as having said them herself.

"Fifteen years after Sumayyah Mohammed's hijab case shone the light on the word "tolerance" among the country's watchwords, Parliament's new breed of jesters seem prepared to use the self-deprecating style of comedy to get their kicks."

Abuse of privilege springs to mind.

"It's ironic that Roberts and Warner should select this time for their ethnic gigs. Roberts's Tobago lips piece and Warner's 'N' bomb were dropped in Parliament days after the French Senate voted overwhelmingly to impose penalties for burka-wearing, emphasising that intolerance can have unremarkable beginnings but unmistakable end results.

Trinis say "what is joke for schoolboy is death for crapaud". The fact is that even funny jokes can be hurtful, and these, left unpunished, can lead to stereotyping of a demeaning and discriminatory type. It is that stereotyping France is accused of engaging in today, in what is characterised, in some quarters, as growing "Islamophobia" and anti-immigrant sentiments.

Of course, France will take the punches for this one, but the rest of Europe and perhaps every major port of call for migrants is attentive. The Mighty Sparrow says 60 million Frenchmen can't be wrong and though it is not as much as 60 million, an IPSOS poll suggests that 57 per cent of France's 62 million population supports the burka ban and expulsion of Roma people".

His comparison to the French situation, while apt, may tend to lose the Trini reader in the turn. The fact is the numbers game that is racial politics in Trinidad & Tobago is what is in play here, and this subtle weakening of all things 'black' should not go unanswered.

Nothing undermines a man like an attack on his very identity, a trick the British crafted millennia ago to divide and rule and to establish the faulty notion that 'only white was all right'.

This is why I say it is time for Selwyn Cudjoe and others of his era to get out of the way, and let a more enlightened class of 'Black Leader' rise up and take the mantle. We as a nation absolutely need to celebrate our Africaness, our Indianess, our 'mixedupness' and every other race that makes us who we are.

Put another way, I am not black, but my Trini brother is black so I am black too. I am not Indian, but my Trini sister is Indian, so I am Indian too. We ARE each other like it or not, and moving to Florida and Canada does not change that for us.

The day Trinidadians and Tobagonians realize we are in fact one people with one multi racial, multi ethnic, mult religious identity, all bets will be off for the mind benders and mocking pretenders.

It is my dream that this happens in my lifetime.

Just like the French do not feel the need to explain their perceived intolerance, no one in Trinidad and Tobago took offence at Roberts's comments or saw it as a discussion which did not belong to the country's Parliament.

Similarly, Jack Warner's placement of the N word in the Hansard records may likely pass as a non-event, since it is Jack Warner after all and, as in the FIFA/Cabinet issue of duality, the view is that Warner and his so-called millions deserve more than the usual ethical legroom.

Total absolute and complete madness! It is BECAUSE they should know better they should hold themselves to a higher standard and lead people to a better place, not pull them down and degrade them. Warner by his statement weakened the hand of every one of my African brothers and this should not go unchallenged. Maybe insipidness and money are an unhealthy combination if given access to power.

Warner and Roberts are on the country's payroll and there must be a higher duty of care for the nation's top employees.

The events in France suggest that the religious and ethnic stakes are now moving higher and that even self-deprecation is not all that funny. Comments of the Anil Roberts and Jack Warner type are offensive and intolerable and can hurt, especially when they are made viral by television and other media coverage from the nation's Parliament.

Roberts's characterisation of his lips as big "because his father was Tobagonian", left the discerning to wonder about the appropriateness of those comments to any debate in the country's Parliament. Warner's language would have turned that wonder into anguish.

This is precisely why I have been agitating to have these two fools fired before they make things worse for my country. I have no say in Kamla Persad Bissessar's Administration, but if I did i would take her by the hand, look lovingly into her eyes and ask her if she is a racist. As I assume her answer to be no, I would then, still lovingly, suggest that she removes from her Cabinet and dismisses from her Government all who demonstrate racist and intolerance of any people. Market and rumshop behavior works well on Television everywhere as Jerry Springer and Spalk were both good examples of pandering to the lowest in society, but rumshop behavior has no place in Government.

Parliament is something else, and the lower House of Representatives is something else entirely. Their behavior is not representative of rank and file Trinidadians, and needs to be made an example of.

Roberts's and Warner's inappropriateness may of course be well timed. The Government has engaged a clip of spin doctors who may huddle around the Hansard records and fashion a response. Andy Johnson is an experienced hand.

He might find out, though, that it will take more than the wire-bending skills of Senor Gomez, the legendary city costume maker, to reshape the Anil Roberts salvo and the Warner N word into something of value for his boss's multicultural garden. The preferred course may be to forget this ever happened and hope that no weekly columnist makes a point of it.

That type of trash talk can be innocuous and maybe it is. Still, it leaves you feeling that Roberts and Warner may have slept through parts of the Prime Minister's Cabinet retreat, especially those dealing with conduct, respect and the nation's watchwords, especially tolerance. Or it may be that Roberts was just busy measuring lips in Tobago while Jack Warner practised dropping his N bombs.

Beautifully and succinctly put. 

I call on the Prime Minister to take firm and decisive action in these matters before they gain traction on the ground.

Race wars are easy to start and murder to end, doubles and pelau notwithstanding.  Too many people have too wide a swing on their racist pendulum; from wanting the Ganges to meet the Nile to making racially themed jokes that they would not make if the race being poked at were present. Why do this? Are we so weak that we cannot recognize ourselves for who we are racially and in turn, recognize our brothers and sisters?

A steel pan is not a tassa drum and a tassa drum is not a steel pan and thank God for the difference and the celebration they both bring. Our differences and our diversity define this nation, because as a whole the music we make is greater than the sum of our parts could ever be. Let us move away from hurting people for cheap political points, in the end nobody wins.

Something to think about...