I'd ask, "But, where would Santa now live?", if the issue wasn't so serious.

"It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer..."

Read the story by Steve Connor, Science Editor of

Peeping through my curtains, YIMBY!

Really, it's simple! Were I to be awakened by some noises in the street outside my house at 2:30 fo' day morning, I breathe a sigh of relief and head back to bed if, on peeping through my curtains from a darkened room, I saw that it was a quartet of soldiers on foot patrol. Can't say the same if, instead, the foursome were criminal elements scoping out my neighbourhood.

Embedded in my community? Soldiers? YIMBY! Criminals? NIMBY!

Maybe the Caroni River is too much for this Delta to handle?

Caveat: Within what is quoted, the underlined highlights and reduced-font-size comments are mine.

1. Well! When it was announced, we thought to ourselves, "Yes!! An end to the traffic woes in the area! (Source:T&T Government's Ministry of Works & Transport official website "A New Bridge for Caroni"):

On Thursday 18^th October 2007, the Honourable Minister of Works and Transport gave the New Caroni Bridge a push that brought it one step closer to its permanent position.

The first ever to be installed here in Trinidad and Tobago the new, 'Mabey Delta Bridge' is a modular bridge system developed in England. The New Caroni Bridge, officially known as the Southern Main Road B 1/3, will span 265feet across the Caroni River in Central Trinidad and is being cantilevered over the North abutment progressively towards the South abutment.

The new bridge is designed to accommodate the heavy traffic flow in two full lanes without any central support. The accompanying road works, entirely designed by the Programme for Upgrading Roads Efficiency (PURE) division of the Ministry, will see a new roundabout border the Caroni Bridge.

The Honourable Minister of Works & Transport, Colm Imbert, (foreground, left, yellow helmet)
showing-off how he felt the power in his hands when he operated the bulldower to push forward
a cantilever section of the Caroni River Mabey Delta bridge on Thursday 18^th October 2007.


Minister of Works & Transport, Colm Imbert, at the bulldozer controls as he pushes forward
a cantilever section of the Caroni River Mabey Delta bridge on Thursday 18^th October 2007.

2. However, even though in choosing to install a clearspan bridge of some 265 feet length, some thought it would be pushing the envelope to the limit -after all, the maximum permissable clearspan of such a bridge is 265 feet- none expected the issues which arose to arise so quickly. None of us mere mortals, at least.
Thus, bridge users were very taken aback when they noticed that the bridge was not as stable as it was made out to be and, sensing that we might have been taken for a ride -over its construction that is- alerted their parliamentary representative, the Honourable Jack Warner MP, Chaguanas West, who, politely, demanded answers from the relevant Minister -the Honourable Colm Imbert- who, promptly, in turn, -shielding behind the Government's built-in parliamentary majority- balked at providing the truth about bridge cost, design and so on. (Source: T&T Parliament Hansard record of House of representatives debate on March 14th 2008):

Caroni Bridge
(Details of Construction)

66. With respect to the Caroni Bridge, could the hon. Minister of Works and Transport:
(a) furnish details of the cost of construction;
(b) who were the designers of the local bridge works, specifically, river alignment, bridge supports and associated road works; and
(c) was the Ministry of Works Highways Division given any responsibility for the bridge? [Mr. J. Warner]
Questions, by leave, deferred.

The Honourable Jack Warner

3. Now, mind you! MP Jack Warner had, simultaneously, also politely, demanded to know of the goodly Minister whether he was aware that there were structural problems with the bridge. But, again, Minister Imbert -again shielding behind the Government's built-in parliamentary majority- balked; even though -as shall be later seen- he damn well knew that, yes! there were major problems! (Source: T&T Parliament Hansard record of House of representatives debate on March 14th 2008):

The following question stood on the Order Paper in the name of Mr. Jack Warner

(Chaguanas West):
Caroni Bridge
(Extent of Damage)

65. Is the Minister of Works and Transport:
(a) aware that the landslip on the southern end of the new Caroni bridge has caused the steel truss bridge to move resulting in damage to some of the steel members; and
(b) if the answer to (a) is yes, could the Minister briefly state the extent of the damage and the measures that are being taken to ensure public safety?
Question, by leave, was again deferred, but, eventually, answered on March 28, 2008.

4. But! Surprise! Surprise! The new -or, should I say, 'the newly-installed'?- Mabey bridge was closed over the just-concluded Labour Day weekend. Why? To fix it! We'd be surprised only if we ignore, for a bit, the fact that the bridge straddles the biggest river in trinidad and Tobago, a country noted for its torrential downpours -it being located in the Tropics, duh!- and, more particularly, in that part of the country which, at the slighest rainfall, is inundated by as much as, or more than, two metres of raging waters, sometimes for days on end. Meaning? The Minister and his technical team knew what they had to consider when designing and building this bridge. (Source: Adrian Boodhan's article in The Trinidad Guardian, June 24th 2008, headlined: "Caroni bridge reopens. $2m more spent on repairs."):

All problems with the new 265-foot Mabey Delta Bridge crossing the Caroni River have been solved, says Minister of Works Colm Imbert.
Imbert said $2million more had to be spent on repairs on the bridge bringing its total cost to $26million. (This is wrong: in his answer of March 28, 2008, the Minister is recorded by Hansard as stating the cost of construction -before the repairs- to be $25million. So, the total cost is really $27million.)
The bridge had been closed over the weekend to complete repairs and reopened yesterday.
Imbert said engineers have told him that the bridge needed no further repairs and could last the next 100 years. (Okay! I thought it was a temporary bridge.)
He said problems started in January when heavy rains caused a landslip in the area of the bridge's concrete abutment and affected the plate on which the metal bridge was bolted to. (Ouch, Adrian! Never end a sentence with a preposition!)
Imbert said since the landslip, his ministry had undertaken works which involved draining of the river and driving piles in the area of the bridge to stabilise the river embankment. (Er! I know a drain can become a river, but, how does one "drain a river"?)
He said works done over the weekend involved jacking up the bridge to change fasteners and make the necessary adjustments.

5. By now, you know me. I did some research and discovered that these Mabey bridges were designed to replace Bailey Bridge units which are no longer adequate to the increased load requirements of today's heavier vehicles.
It's also worth mentioning that the Mabey Delta is designed and built to handle, with ease, vehicular traffic loads of AASHTO HS25 rating. (Source: Mabey & Johnson's Delta bridge design website.) The number 25 signifies the individual total tonnage weight of the vehicles these bridges can safely accomodate.
And that these bridges, when properly installed, have a positive camber, meaning that, the mid-point of the bridge is higher than the abutment ends. Not sure whether that's the case with "our' Mabey Delta Bridge on the River Caroni.

Road user's view of Caroni River Mabey Delta Bridge.

So! If the Caroni Mabey bridge was designed and manufactured to handle such, how come the problems -as described by Minister Imbert- developed? Especially when,

6. Mabey & Johnson, themselves -in their Mabey Suppoort Systems website- loudly boast that, when a client engages its services, that client is assured that:

(it) is backed by teams of experienced engineers and site teams to provide an unrivalled service from design to completion.

And that:

All of (its) operations are managed under (its) ISO 9000:2000 quality system.

And, that:

(its) excellence is not restricted to products; (its) engineering and site teams design, plan and execute schemes from conception through to completion on site offering contractors and clients cost certainty and peace of mind.

All of which begs the following questions:

1. Who did the designs for the initial bridge foundation and related earthworks?
2. Who actually built the the initial bridge foundation and related earthworks?
3. Was the "additional" $2m "repair" bill covered by warranty from Mabey & Johnson and,
4. does it include the cost of lost productivity generated from the bridge being closed for two days? And, most important, to me,
   
5. How so does one justify an outlay of $26m (according to "them") for a bridge of this sort, as compared to one of the sort as straddles the same river on the north-bound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway?

The Honourable Mr. Warner has already asked some of these questions. What he asked has been answered with the customary insipid grin:

Mabey, oops!, maybe it's time we wipe that grin off his face?

Those Central Bank figures look cooked, to me!

Upon reading where, according to The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT), the rate of inflation is now (May, 2008) at the double-digit level -10%, to be precise- up from 9.3% in the previous month and, that CBTT explains away the increase as one solely fuelled by another jump in food prices -it insists that prices of everything else unchanged remained- one must ask whether the guys and gals at CBTT who, from their offices the Eric Williams Plaza, monitor those things and produce such reports, ever come down from atop those ivory twin towers and mingle amongst the sufferers who have no other option but to live in the real world?
Time, now, to revert to the caption.

So, then, he wasn't a sharpshooter? Nor on the alert?

According to the unnamed Trinidad Express source who "witnessed" the "build-up" to the murders by shooting of Army Corporal Ancil Wallace and his buddy Noel Charles:

"...one of the occupants of the maxi came out and demanded that the soldier move his car, to which the soldier reportedly replied, "Allyuh figure allyuh bad?" The man then drew a pistol and shouted, "All ah we bad!" The soldier then drew a pistol of his own and shot the gun-wielding young man. The gunman then ran higher up Farm Road to the home of his friend.
...The wounded man and a friend then walked back down Farm Road, confronted the soldiers and shot both Wallace and Noel, then ran off."

Apart from my calling upon the Express being to furnish the investigators and or the Director of Public Prosecution with the details of this woman, who is a material witness, I find it strange that that newspaper would rush to print what the woman who, by the Express's own acknowledgment, says she lives in the area and says she witnessed the event. That is, unless the person who interviewed her (Gyasi Gonzales?) could vouch for her credentials.

In any event, the "facts" that the armed maxi-occupant could run up the hill, after being shot (at point blank range, evidently) and, mere minutes later, simply walk back down the hill, with a partner in tow, walk up to Wallace and Charles, shoot both of them and run back up the hill, simply boggle the reasonable and or objective mind. And also, if true, it also shows that the unnamed soldier who shot the eventual murderer was not a sharpshooter. Nor, having just shot a man who ran off, was he on the alert.

Is the Godineau Bridge accursed?

My sympathies to those who lost loved ones in yesterday's tragic accident at the Godineau Bridge, Mosquito Creek, South Oropouche.

While, from "official" reports, some/all occupants of the car were drinking/had not slept for some time, factors which, if true, certainly would have severely crippled the ability of the driver properly to control his vehicle, yet, one must ask the question whether the Godineau Bridge is an accursed place, like unto the Forres Park underpass along the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway? For, ever since my youthful days, many, many horrific crashes have there occurred; and there been shattered, inevitably, as well, many, many lives and limbs.

I think this one's been misread.

Re: the Regiment camps at Rich Plain, Diego Martin, the responses of certain of the hierarchy of The United National Congress Alliance and, officially, of the Congress of The People, are in inharmonious syncopation with the mood of law-abiding citizens, not only of the area, but, also, of the rest of Trinidad and Tobago.

PHOTO: Anisto Alves, Trinidad & Tobago Express

The responses also are in discord with those two political groups' previously-oft-declared demands for zero-tolerance towards criminals, which they wanted exemplified by, among other things, limited States of Emergency, if necessary.
Such, sadly, is the ethos of our politics after forty-six (almost) years of fending for ourselves.

Odd bedfellows.

Or, would it be better said: "Bedfellows, now at odds!"?

Thanks, Raber!

How does one interrogte seasoned, cold-blooded, serial-killers and those who, tacitly, endorse them?

Some of these guys and gals openly boast of the number of "bodies they've caused to fall". Many members of the communities in which these guys live and operate know, in intimate detail, of the criminal activities of these guys and gals, yet, say nothing, in public, though, 'neath their breath, they confide the truth; why, so, do they act? Out of fear for their own lives? Or is it out of lack of love for their neighbour's? And, so, we read of the "complaints" by "certain residents" of Richplain, Diego Martin, re: the strong-armed tactics employed by the Regiment in seeking to bring in the cold-blooded killers who planned and executed a young father and his friend, in open public view, even as the joyous christening celebrations were ongoing for the young father's baby.

(PHOTO: Michael Bruce-Trinidad Express)

We all know the dictum: "The upholder is worse than the thief!" Which brings me back to the question posed at caption and at which juncture is where I shall end.

Letter to a filthy rich dad, from a neglected child.

Dear Daddy Patrick,
Why have you turned your back on me?
Today is the day when children touch base with their daddies, to bring them gifts of ties or socks, to give them a hug, to express appreciation for all that their daddies did to set them on their feet as men an women.
As Daddy of The Nation you were suppossed to do that for me, but you did not, Daddy Patrick. Why? What wrong have I so done to reap such scornful treatment from you?

You see, Daddy Dearest, I cannot, anymore, go for my early morning walks through the hills for fear of being murdered, kidnapped or mugged. Plus, my little savings have all but dried up, thanks to the exorbitant cost of food and other stuff.
As if that wasn't bad enough, you made the value of the house I built to fall by more than half, because you decided to chop down a whole mountain to get room to squeeze in those multi-storeyed buildings next door to me, to house your supporters and nobody else, just as you did in Maloney.
Don't talk about the hospital! When I go there for treatment for my aches and pains, I have to wait for five, ten, hours, only to be told to come back tomorrow as "it ent have no doctor righ now".
What's really going on Daddy Patrick? Why are you treating me with so much scorn? What wrong have I done?
I know that it's not because you are broken, because you keep boasting all over the place how much money you have. Maybe it's because I am not a Chinese? I don't know, but I have to ask, ever since you started giving them, free sheet, nearly every penny that Granpa left for us.
And, what about the house you promised my sister, your daughter? You told her to go to the place on South Quay and she would get one, that "you done talk to them already". But. Guess what? It's nearly four years now and, no house yet! In fact, the people at South Quay haven't even gotten back in touch with her. But Brian getting one, from what the people tell me. How come, Daddy Patrick? Why so are you treating some of your own flesh and blood?
Before I forget, I passed by to see you about a month ago, but, you weren't home; in truth, I don't know if you were home, because your new set of security and watchmen refused to acknowledge my presence, they kept me waiting in the hot sun for more than half an hour, during which time I saw the big-belly fellow, I would remember his name if you, er, called it hard, drive up and they just waved him inside.
By the way, Daddy Patrick, I see you're extending the house? Just imagine that, eh? You extending your mansion while mine getting demolished. And, to make it worse, I haven't even been invited, yet, to come see the one that you just built, again, using the money that Granpa left for all of us.
Anyways, I got to run now, I'm going to the Sea Lots Market to buy some dasheen bush. I hope the price went down, for yesterday it was nine dollars a bundle. Yes!! I, now, have to buy dasheen bush! Like you forget that somebody came with tractor and bulldozed my garden?
So, Daddy Patrick, Happy Father's Day to you! I don't have any bad mind towards you, okay? Because I know that one day you will remember that I, too, am your son and that blood thicker than water.
Love you, Daddy Patrick, God bless!

Martin Joseph stays put!

The newspaper headlined screamed, "Joseph to stay put"! Well, duh! That's NOT news: he's been doing exactly that, for years, while the criminals have not.

Mariano, mih boy!

Mariano, mih boy,

Reflecting back on our shared days under the enlightened and enlightening tutelage of Drs. Charles V. Gocking, Henry Gill and Caroll Keller, I never, for once, imagined that you would turn out the way you did: sacrificing sound reasoning, diplomacy and forthrightness when treating with the public on the altar of political expediency. Sigh!

Dr. Rowley? Bah! Humbug!

To me, all this fuss over Dr. The Honourable Keith Rowley is misplaced, as it tends to suggest that he has copiuos credibility. The vulcanologist-turned-politician, again, now, vulacanologist started shooting from the hip and the lip only after he was fired by his boss, le capo di tutti capi, Dr. The Honourable Patrick Manning. Moral? Had he walked instead of allowing himself to be eliminated, my assessment of his motives and reliability would have been different.

Basdeo Panday is a prophet! Who vex, vex!

I remember election night, November 2007, when, at Rienzi Complex (I wasn't there -duties in St. Augustine constituency called- but, I tuned in to watch and to listen), when Basdeo Panday spoke after midnight. He introduced his daughter, Mikela, who had won her seat, then told the gathered crowd the depressing news that the People's National Movement (PNM) had won the election.

But, he did not stop there, for he went on to make some pronouncements which, at first, those who oppose him for whatever reason (mostly contrived and petty ones) considered to be tasteless and vindictive.

What did he say? In essence, that it was the people who had lost and not the United National Congress Alliance (UNCA).

But, he did not there stop. He went on to place the blame squarely where it belonged and prophesied that, directly as a consequence, doom would thenceforth befall Trinidad and Tobago. I'll quote:

"...When you look at the results tonight, you will see that if the Congress of The People (COP) had not divided the votes, that the PNM would not be in the government today; the UNCA would be in government today!"

"...Those who voted for the PNM, those who voted for the COP and those who did not vote at all, they are the ones responsible for the fear and the crime, corruption and incompetence, malice and discrimination which this country will have to endure for another five years."

"I want to say, every time one of your family or friend is murdered, kidnapped, robbed, raped, I want you to go and stand up in front the mirror and look at yourself. Look at your face. That is what I want you to do. Then I want you to hold your hands together and prayer. You are responsible because you have voted for the PNM and COP, or not at all."

The deterioration of the quality of life in Trinidad and Tobago, especially over the past seven months since the PNM was returned to office, vouch for the prophethood of the Honourable Basdeo Panday.

Richard Wm. Thomas,
Five Rivers,
Arouca,
Trinidad and Tobago.

Footnote: In the Novemebr 5, 2007 General Election, 194,425 endorsed the UNCA, 148,041 people voted for the COP and 299,813 for the PNM. Thirty-three percent of the eligible did not vote at all.

Who vex, vex!

The words I below type are the pollitically-correct version of what I think.

Who vex, vex! The state of affairs in our homeland today, in particular of Afro-Trinbagonians, is proof that the much-vaunted, so-called Afro-Trinbagonian political party that, almost without interruption, has been running things here from 1956, has not a clue of how properly to run things!
Like I said, twice already, "Who vex, vex!"

Let Hillary and her supporters chill a bit!

Why?

Because, in their mad rush to break surface before Obama did, they all ignored the most basic rule of diving:

• Avoid decompression sickness (the bends) at ALL costs!

Some of the symptoms of the bends are:

• Confusion or memory loss
• Headache
• Spots in visual field, tunnel vision, double vision, or blurry vision
• Unexplained extreme fatigue or behaviour changes
• Seizures, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, vomiting and unconsciousness may occur, mainly due to labyrinthitis (labyrinthitis is also called "balance disorder" -Hillary always got confused as to the balance of delegates she had/we had to get-)

There is no doubt that all the above was/is the case with Hillary and her peeps

And, just how do divers take precautions against the dreaded bends?

Well! Since, in essence, one gets the bends by too quickly leaving a high-pressure area to enter a low-pressure area, they must:

1. avoid long and deep dives and
2. must ascend slowly with decompression stops at regular intervals.

From the day she tread bottom in the waters at Iowa, Hillary ignored all the rules and made a mad thrust, upwards, even though we warned her that she was suffering from the additional risk factors, such as age, fatigue alcohol consumption!

Another major pitfall for Hillary and her peeps, she having lost the candidacy (in the process, exhibiting very coarse conduct), is that because of the way she conducted her campaign, she has put at serious risk her entire political future, to the extent that her fellow Senators might cold shoulder her upon her return to the Senate floor.

Thankfully, if divers do get the bends, there is a cure, but it must be administered right away: they gotta be put into a decompression chamber!

That's why I must insist that must be no rush to pull in Hillary and her peeps, for the Obama camp might very well be putting her health of mind and body at risk by so rushing.

So have I written! So let it be done!

Stop pussyfooting with criminals!

The pusillanimous behaviour of the Patrick Manning administration towards criminals is at complete divergence with its attitude towards and behaviour with other matters of national import.

For, unlike where with its mega-contruction projects, it bypasses, shortcircuits and throws all caution to the winds -the same applies where its padding of remuneration packages for its chosen few is concerned- it pussyfoots with criminals, sometimes even foxtrots with them!

Good equipment: worthless tools in the hands of those disinclined to put them to use.

Some time aback, in a downtown department store, I overhead a group of "high society" ladies excitedly chattering of how well-equipped a particular man was. Yet, his disposition barred them from relying on him to satisfy their evidently lustful needs, since, poor fellow, he was a vagrant -scum of society- living and sleeping on the pavements of Port of Spain.

What joggled my memory of the above? Why, nothing but what the Honourable Martin Joseph, Minister of National Security of Trinidad and Tobago said, yesterday, in the Senate chamber, as reported today (June 4, 2008), in the Newsday article headlined "Opposition wins in Senate":

"...Joseph rejected Opposition claims that private security firms were better equipped (sic) than the police and other law enforcement agencies to fight crime."

When Hope is lost.

Someone whipered to me that there were others involved in this sordid affair, just as there were with Akiel Chambers.

Guess, now, that all hope of us knowing who they be is forever lost.