Paolo's Blog

Get in Yuh Section

2009-05-21T13:39:00Z

First off, I must apologize for the waning attention to my blog.

I must admit I have become a bit swamped getting my “bidness” off the ground which is proving to be a soul-crushing experience. It was always anticipated that any exercise requiring that I go on bended knee with tremulous lips pursed to kiss that corporate ring would suck the life out of the creativity required to do what I propose to do.

A lot of my start-up activities involve driving around quite a bit.

Therefore I have noticed some rather dicey, hasty adjustments to our roadways courtesy the flurry of summit preparations. Let’s look at the approach to the light house in Port-of-Spain, specifically the west bound lane. A two lane road suddenly, as if by mitosis, becomes three …..on a bend no less!

I could see in my rear view mirror other motorists scrambling to get into their lane. When you get to the lights in front of the port, if you are fixin’ to go straight you better make sure you are in the CENTRE lane. If you are in the right lane and the light turns green, you will find yourself corralled into the lane leading into Port-of-Spain via Edward street.

You see the lines just don’t line up and the upshot of that is that the folks who have chosen the right lane who ought to have chosen the left , realize that at the very last minute as the come up on the concrete dividers and what do you think they do? That’s right! They simply swerve in front of you.

Next example. As you pass in front of the fire station on Wrightson Road driving on the centre lane is quite deadly, because as you may be aware by now the left lane just disappears in front of the SWWTU hall. There is no way that trini driving in the left lane is going to slow down to filter into the right lane. In fact, what most often happens is he floors it! Scraping in front of you as you then react swerving into the lane to your right. I have already witnessed 2 accidents caused by this very maneuver.

Everyone is giving the government high marks for the effectiveness of the new bran flyover at the nestle junction. That coupled with the adjustment of the timing on the lights en route to the overpass seems to have had the desired effect of reducing the frustrating congestion that many of us have grown accustomed to.

If, however, you are heading beyond the lights and further east, as you get beneath the overpass the confusion is incredible. The lanes have been blacked out and repainted and blacked out and repainted so many times, you have no idea where the hell to point your car. And can some one tell me why the shoulder of the overpass is two lanes wide?

These are only a few of the anomalies which I am sure are widespread on this country’s road network. Don’t get me started on the vortex of death that is the south interchange. It is enough that people drive like morons in this country ….we also have to deal with fatal engineering flaws?

Chippin’ towards a socialist state.

2009-04-08T23:28:00Z

“From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs.”

I was reminded of the immortal and chilling words of Karl Marx, the father of socialism as we know it over the weekend. It was a conversation about something that has always troubled me about politics and society in Trinidad but I have never quite been able to put my finger on it. I did get some help in the right direction though. This week as I drove up and down the country attending to “bidness” I was a captive audience for the endless repetition of the pro-summit pocket watch being waved back and forth in front of my face courtesy radio saturation. “Trinidad and Tobago will play host to leaders from around the world, Port of Spain will become a stage for the discussion of critical issues facing our time………”

Oh my god! The turgid copy conjures images of some ad man sitting in his downtown offices rallying his charges, “come on! how can we sell this summit” the heavily varnished boardroom table has one million “addys” which are given away seemingly every month for God knows what (Cyclops is mini-me in the ground breaking ‘val-hue b mobile spots) that one had the theatergoers properly choking on their overpriced popcorn in movietowne.

Never mind the full spreads with personalities saddled up to peddle the summit like Shurwayne Winchester. Because when I think about complex trade agreements, the prevailing slump in the global economy and navigating the ever shifting economic blocs I automatically think…..Oh! nah nah , , , no! Shurwayne Winchester!

I am going to get to the significance of the opening sentence in a short short. Tell me though, notwithstanding vigorous opposition to the hosting of the summits given the impending economic slowdown, I am certain that the nation was told, “forget that guff, the invitations have already been sent.” So why then am I still being given the hard sell on the summits? The government is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for television and print spots to sweet talk me into what has already been forced down my throat! That is like a rapist assaulting a woman and then wanting to cuddle afterwards. Propaganda is a big part of governance in this country.

The words ‘Minister of Information’ carry with them the imagery of the iced-in Kremlin, as Neil Parsanlal stands before the media reporters who are actually just information conduits to deliver the latest pronouncements upon the masses by the politburo.

If you look more closely each day at how our so called democratic rights are eroded it will become much more obvious. Massive amounts of money are funneled into non-productive sectors to keep the masses forever beholden to the power structure. Think of how farmers controlled the water buffalo, an animal far more powerful than a simple man. The humble nose ring! CEPEP, URP and, for all intents and purposes, the wider public service are tethered by this nose ring.

The ‘Father” of the nation has taken it upon himself to determine what is moral and right for the entire population and, from his pulpit, has outlawed casinos and increased taxes on alcohol hoping to create a dry state through punitive pricing! The government boasts incessantly about the strength of the economy, but the job losses already experienced shows how dependent the economy is on the central power structure. The early attrition has manifested in construction, construction which was led primarily by the government.

The influence of the government’s patrimony is extensive. It is widely acknowledged that government wields the lion’s share of the advertising budget in this country. Do you see how that impacts on the independence of media in this country? Do not think for one minute that the government would hesitate to withdraw every cent in advertising from a television station. They did it to Gayelle during the elections.

Look at our failing health care, each of us has money extracted from our salaries without consent so that when we get sick we can sit in the emergency ward on a hard-as-nails bench , overwhelmed by the stench of bandages long overdue for a change.

In subsequent posting I will give you other examples of how this government has the entire nation goose-stepping towards a socialist state. Just remember, not too long ago, the prime minister almost got away with this statement. “Some of the most prosperous nations in the world are dictatorships.”

Socialism is just a knock on a door down the street from communist dictatorship. Just ask our brothers and sisters in Venezuela with Chavez’ boot on their throats.

Emergency KFC

2009-02-06T15:04:00Z

It is a constant fear in my mind that this blog will accumulate accusations of being a repository of negativity. However, I feel a strong responsibility to bring to light the injustices and idiosyncrasies of living in sweet T ant T.

It was one of those evenings….tuckered out I was; too knackered to fight up in front of a stove. At any rate, me in the kitchen is a gamble with dismal odds, so I put my faith in KFC to deliver me from the grip of hunger, even if it means in the long run, delivering me into the embrace of death.

You can rest assured that one business, seemingly immune to the effects of economic contraction is the ‘box ah dead’ business. Invariably there is a line of cars wrapped around any drive through KFC, like a massive, hungry mechanized constrictor. I picked the outlet near to West Mall because, well it does not really matter where you go, the line will be just as long anywhere else and I am pretty certain that there are few variations in the service and recipe.

I patiently wait in the line, trading the usual inanities with the semp that a wait for food usually inspires. After about 20 minutes, we get around to the speaker which is always embarrassing because you are never sure if you are being heard and I know that depending on where you are standing inside the KFC, you can hear the donkeys braying in their cars, ‘I could get ah tree piece spicy and ah cokes!’ while the flour dusted workers ignore the order, too busy to respond quickly enough. Anyhoo, after having repeated my order 20 times I inch forward and turn up the radio to dilute the boredom.

When I made the bend, I witnessed something which I never ever thought I would see, but as it unfolded before my eyes, I knew that I was witnessing something perfectly within the realm of the trini experience. A police vehicle reversed INTO the drive through, reversed! to the top of the drive through line! Waiiiiiit! It gets better! 3 female officers got out of the vehicle, in uniform and walked to the drive through window, completely ignoring the person who was patiently waiting for his order to be processed, and placed their order directly at the window.

Well I am ashamed to admit that I allowed this transgression to roll on for 20 minutes before it dawned on me to pull out my cellphone and take some pictures. After figuring out how to use my blueberry, which is about as user-friendly as a space shuttle, I commenced to snappin’ This elicited an excited squeal from one of the portly officers. “oh gorm look is Pallo!” She took off with a sprint that I did not think her dimensions would allow and soon she was safely in the police van. Her colleague stood there and hrrumphed…”What you runnin fuh!”

This entire episode delayed everyone in the line for almost 30 minutes. Remarkably not one person even tooted a horn. I went to great lengths to illustrate a point and, it is this; everyday we are presented with examples that reinforce a simple fact. There is no hope for this country under this generation. People have to die and leave this place to make way for a more educated, tolerant, respectful and caring people.

Acting Commissioner James Philbert I do not envy your position given the muppets that you have to work with. Bandits killing people everywhere, gang members rubbing each other out faster than they can reproduce to replenish the ranks and you have three police officers commandeering a KFC drive thru window. I do not expect that you knew about this, but now I hope you do. So what the hell are you going to do about it?

.....Check out the pics I took with my blueberry in the photo section....

Money Jumpin’ Up in Steelband

2009-01-28T15:17:00Z

It is tough to reconcile those mirthful images of beautiful women (they almost never publish pictures of men because the photographers themselves are men) in all-inclusive parties and on the very same newspaper page, dire predictions for the local business sector.

It is human nature and certainly for the Trinidadian, almost definitive of the national identity; when the times get hard, PARTY HARDER.

You may recall the wildly irresponsible ‘coup’ parties during the 1990 insurrection. The savannah was transformed into the autobahn as the witching hour of six o’clock approached, throwing its long, ominous shadows across Port-of-Spain. After copious amounts of booze and ole talk are consumed at the ‘round the way bars, pubs and hawk and spits, everyone buckled in for what was clearly a dangerous drive home. First you had to be sure to avoid any overzealous officers with orders to shoot any errant morons on sight, then you had to survive the driver who is demanding all that the engine can give, and asking more than the aging suspension can bear as the car lurches around corners and the ice clinks in your glass of straight rum (hey, last call is always the hardest call).

Of course, the driver is performing a feat that, at the very least, requires a modicum of track training. He is not simply doing it without the benefit of stunt driver classes, but he is also tight like a high tension wire. All of this is being done in the name of partying to forget.

It is a primal vestige of self preservation, if I do not have to think about the impending doom then I am all the better for it. Quite understandable.

I am not saying this is true for everyone, but I suspect that the descent from those giddy highs of Carnival Monday and Tuesday will be a little turbulent. We are already aware of some of the companies that have announced job cuts, what is not common knowledge is how many others are in contemplative mode.

We have still to feel the worst of the global recession, but it cannot be denied that the barometer for trouble in the economy is advertising. In some countries it logically goes up to meet the challenge of waning consumer interest. Curiously, in this country, it comes down. It already has.

The obvious extrapolation from a decline in advertising is slowing consumer spending .

In the last 3 years, restaurants have popped up all over the country contradicting the well established fact that the restaurant business is one of the riskiest enterprises there is.

You will see the gradual disappearance of many of these new outfits. Who could have imagined that Bat and Ball and the Admiral Pub would shutter their operations?

It is important to note that businessmen will begin to lay off workers, not because business is bad now, but to create a leaner, meaner company to face the inevitable slowdown. Fewer workers on the payroll translates into instant profit, which if you’re a publicly traded company, is very enticing indeed.

The company you work for now may not appear to be in trouble, but in order for things to stay that way, you might be. Gayelle The Channel, in anticipation of the impending slowdown as far back as the beginning of last year, sent home 30 odd workers in preparation. Unfortunately it is unlikely that this will alter the company’s ultimate fate.

So, while you are jumpin’ up in de fete, I strongly recommend that you get every drink that you paid for and eat all the food you can. Wine until you waist sprockets seize, and skin your flick for as many media photogs. At least you will have those memories to cling to while you are rifling through the dumpster behind your last place of employment.