July 2012
193 posts
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thezenplayground asked: This might be a weird question coming from me...lol. Is blackface still an issue that we should respond to? Often times, it is just a misplaced joke, and doesn't actually bring harm or insult to the African diaspora. It's in no way relatable to cultural and sociological statements from European cultures that black people are humorous creatures, is it?
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The Road to Rock Bottom →
Well, it’s official, folks. The Commissioner of Police - and his Deputy - have resigned and the Police Service Commission is preparing to appoint a new CoP, one who will doubtless be more amenable to the as-yet-unrevealed crime plan of National Security Minister Jack Warner.
It’s getting to be that time. The Eternal Pantomime has been warning us for quite some time:
Is not now...
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China swimmer Ye Shiwen 'clean', says BOA boss... →
Following on the suspicions raised by Ye’s incredible win yesterday, Colin Moynihan chairman of the British Olympic Association says she’s clean.
So there.
She beat the boys fair and square.
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How a Woman’s Orgasm Can Save a Man →
I don’t quite know what to make of this, but it was a very entertaining read:
Can teaching guys how to give women orgasms prevent the much-heralded “end of men”? As far-fetched as it sounds, one rapidly growing organization claims that equipping men to make women come is the solution to the much-vaunted masculinity crisis.
“Learn Orgasmic Meditation and everything that...
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20 Worst Celebrity Beach Bodies →
I’d ask why such articles exist, but I already know the answer: BECAUSE WE CLICK THE LINK, LADIES.
Horrible comments about older celebrities (and some with plastic surgery) were paired with the most unflattering photos ever, culminating with a lukewarm attempt to convince readers to feel good about themselves because no one’s perfect.
Many commenters pointed out how horrible the...
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Skateboarder 'Jumped by Blacks' Actually Hit a... →
An avid skateboarder who said “four to five unknown black males” mugged him in a parking lot actually hurt himself while skateboarding, the Miami Herald reports. Rene Betancourt, 22, broke his skull and was hospitalized for two weeks while detectives searched for his assailants. In the end they found a parking lot surveillance video—of Betancourt knocking himself out cold by...
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US coach labels Ye Shiwen's feats "impossible"... →
Sixteen-year-old Ye Shiwen of China is at the center of Olympic controversy after finishing the last 100m of her 400m individual medley faster than American swimming star Ryan Lochte finished his.
John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, says that her lightning-fast freestyle lap was “impossible” and points out that, historically, whenever something...
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Minister outlines changes to POS traffic plans →
Works and Infrastructure Minister says more changes for the West PoS Traffic Plan are being considered, including:
Pedestrian crossings
A traffic light at the Roxy Roundabout
Designated parking lanes
A public transport lane heading eastbound on the westbound-only Western Main Road
Now, to be fair, this is the trial period, so now is the ideal time for the government to tweak the plan. On the...
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“Let the Jackasses bray.”
– Jack Warner, National Security Minister
Quote of the Day
This was Warner’s response to Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley’s claim that he is trying to browbeat Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs.
This is after weeks of publicly decrying the CoP’s crime initiatives and...
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“Our incomes are not changing. We must look and see how we are spending our...”
– Vernon Persad, president of the Supermarkets’ Association
Quote of the Day
It was an article like any other about food inflation, until the president of the supermarkets association decided to tell us all about how to cut back on “bling items” to afford more of his and his...
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Rapists Explain Themselves on Reddit, and We... →
Rapists and would-be rapists are opening up about “the other side of the story” — theirs — on a massive Reddit thread about the motivations behind sexual assault. The conversations range from exasperating to disturbing, and the whole of it may make you want to roll your eyes in disgust. But you shouldn’t dismiss the thread as mere rape apologia. There’s plenty of that,...
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Warner unfit as Security Minister →
This was a nice read and I understand how he feels, but I think there is a fatal flaw in his logic. See if you can spot it:
In the face of greater uncertainty concerning the integrity of our National Security Minister, Mr Jack Warner, our Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, continues to express her confidence in him. I am saddened but not surprised by this.
I did not expect the PM to take...
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Jack ignores PNM’s calls to explain US$ bank... →
Now here’s an article that raises some very interesting questions:
How secret is this account, exactly?
Does the Integrity Commission know about it?
Why are we still pretending that these are “football matters”?
Why does the Opposition insist on undermining their own credibility by saying things like this:
“We consider his disregard as a threat to the democracy, the...
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I worked hard for it - PM: New $.9m Land Rover... →
I’m not sure why I should care that the PM has a brand-new Land Rover, so long as it was purchased with her own money.
I am, however tickled by the text-message interview that informed this article:
The Sunday Express shared a text message exchange with the Prime Minister yesterday.
Sunday Express: Do you think it’s unfair that attention will be drawn because its you (the Prime...
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“I can only hope that the celebrations to be held during the period from now till...”
– Port of Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing
Quote of the Day (The Sequel)
Remember Thursday’s Quote of the Day? This is the racist context of the original absurd excerpt.
This is the mayor of our capital city, on the eve of the Emancipation celebrations, publicly singling out the black race as a...
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“When I taught classes, every now and then I would flash a little picture of the...”
– Therese Baptiste-Cornelis, Ambassador Permanent Representative of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations Offices at Geneva
Quote of the Day
Here, our Honourable Ambassador explains - jokingly, of course - how she sought to indoctrinate her university students and subtly...
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Action Jack? →
For everyone kidding themselves into thinking that Jack Warner is the cure for what ails Trinidad, The Eternal Pantomime would like to remind you of a few things:
We all know the impression given in the media. Jack does make news every night. And the constant firing off his mouth at reporters makes Warner look like a busy can do minister. But how much has he rwally achieved?
Every new road and...
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Lee Sing blames HDC for homeless in city →
Sounds like Louis Lee Sing has just discovered that homeless are people too:
“Officers of the People and Social Development are giving notice to inhabitants in that facility (Centre for Socially Displaced Individuals) that they have to go.
….
“What the HDC is saying now is that the children who grew up in that apartment, who are still residents of the apartment, because they may be...
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Panday: I just spoke the truth →
Newsflash: Basdeo Panday (also known as “The Silver Fox” in some circles) is not sorry about his outburst at Kelvin Ramnath’s funeral.
Shocking, I know.
In fact, he says Ramnath’s wife, who criticized his speech, knew what he was going to do.
Either way, he’s fine because:
“There is one thing they are not criticising. It is that every word I said was true....
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Bail denied: 3 relatives spend night in prison →
The relatives who locked an 11-year-old boy in a dog kennel (with biting dog) to spend the night, got to spend last night in a cage of their own. Only, this one was bigger and there was no dog biting them throughout the night. Still, it’s a start.
(image source)
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T&T to host Nigerian president for Emancipation →
I linked to this article in my last post, but something else sticks out to me here:
Rambachan said the People’s Partnership Government would be bearing all costs associated with the State visit of the Nigerian president and his delegation but the figures have not yet been worked out.
He also said that this is standard protocol when a Head of State is invited to visit another country,...
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$4M is enough →
The People’s Partnership continues to set the precedent by publicly capitulating to the squeakiest wheel.
This time, it’s the Emancipation Support Committee, who called a press conference earlier this week to declare the government’s offer of $1 million to be nothing less than “disrespectful”.
Instead of taking the time reassess the long-standing precedent of...
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“People of color in this country will only be emancipated when they stop relying...”
– Port of Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing
Quote of the Day
Here, Lee Sing subtly reinforces the (incorrect) stereotype which says that only black people are looking for handouts from the government while illuminating the fact that he is a rare intellect. “An orange”, indeed.
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2,000 sign petition to stop traffic plan →
MP for Port of Spain South Marlene McDonald is asking the residents of St. James and Woodbrook not to block the roads in protest of the plan.
As someone who works there, I’d agree for purely selfish reasons, but the truth is, that’s the only tactic that seems to work.
In related news, a taxi fare hike is on the horizon.
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Police 'solve' 30 killings in 2012 →
I suspect that I may have done a post about this before, but bear with me here; I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.
For the purposes of this post, let’s all agree that a homicide is not the same thing as a murder. So that, the police can say that there have been 252 homicides (the unlawful killing of another person) and 236 murders (the intentional killing of a person)....
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Jack stays mum on sport court ruling →
Now that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has released its full ruling on the Mohammed Bin Hammam case, our formerly vindicated and relieved National Security Minister has fallen silent.
Let’s take a quick look back, shall we?
Last week, the CAS reversed the lifetime FIFA ban against Bin Hammam, saying that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that he was involved in...
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'Distasteful' Panday →
So former Prime Miniser Basdeo Panday did this at Kelvin Ramnath’s funeral:
Panday told mourners he was displeased by the glowing tributes paid by members of Government after Ramnath’s death. “The same colleagues who in 2010 did not think he was fit enough to continue as a Member of Parliament in the constituency of Couva South, which he represented continuously for over 34...
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WatchOMG, OMG, OMG, did you hear that K-Stew cheated on R-Patz fer realz?
On the off chance that you’re not as heartbroken as this fan, check out these somewhat less devastated tweets:
“Kristen Stewart admits to cheating on Robert Pattinson. She looks really upset about it, or happy, or maybe sleepy” — @BettyFckinWhite
“As Syria spirals into civil war, CNN asks: Should...
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It's early days yet: Lee Sing insists on 3-month... →
In the wake of an avalanche of complaints and concerns from drivers, travelers, taxis, residents, and businesspeople, Port of Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing says: hang in there for two-and-a-half more months.
Only after the full trial period of three months, will the St. James/Woodbrook traffic plan (which, by many accounts is a dismal failure) be revisited. BUT, he also says that it is being...
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Flagstaff residents: Joseph's robbery not unusual →
Residents of the Flagstaff gated community (where former National Security Minister Martin Joseph was robbed) say that robbery isn’t unusual, even in that rarefied environment:
One resident who did not want to be named told the Express that “our community is much a part of Trinidad and Tobago as everywhere else and yes we do have break-ins as well”.
“In fact we have had...
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Priest: T&T still divided by race and politics →
I’m posting this article for two reasons:
1. It tickles me that a priest in the Catholic religion (that great uniter of peoples) is pointing out that T&T is still divided by race and politics. It’s true, but … it’s not the whole truth is it, Father?
2. Our Prime Minister has finally decided to say something, anything publicly, and it amounts to: “What he...
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$1m Not Enough: Emancipation Committee refuses... →
Every year, the Emancipation Support Committee holds celebrations in honor of the Emancipation holiday on August 1st.
Every year, they ask the government for money.
Every year, whatever amount they are given is not enough.
This year, they are insulted by the measly $1 million dollars offered by the government. They are disappointed and angered. They feel that the Emancipation festival (to be...
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Gunman Ties Up Joseph .... robs stepson of car →
In a stunning turn of events, Mr. Martin “Collateral Damage” Joseph himself has become a victim of armed robbery:
Joseph, who served as national security minister from 2003 to 2007, then from 2007 to 2010, said in a statement to the media that he was at home when the bandit struck.
Joseph said: “Around 11.30 p.m on Sunday, July 22, I was at my home at Flagstaff, Long Circular,...
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