The only thing changing in TT is food prices

In November 2007 (post-elections) I stopped buying and reading newspapers. The daily onslaught of bad news and politics was getting me angry, tense and irritable. If there was a newspaper nearby I would avert my eyes and not even look at the headlines. Driving by the women on the road who sell papers in traffic I would stare straight ahead and ignore the headlines they were holding up for drivers to see. I also stopped looking at news on TV and if it came on the radio while I was listening to it, I would quickly turn the radio off. News on the radio usually begins: "A man was ..." or "A woman was ..." or "Three people were ..." (and something about death). Ignoring the news worked. I became more peaceful within and didn't feel the frustration and anger. Living in TT no longer seemed as hopeless. (Ignorance is bliss). I only had to deal with the road rage and lack of customer service. I found I had more energy to focus on positive things. A lot of energy is wasted being angry about or frustrated with what goes on here.

In the past week, however, I have found myself picking up the papers and glancing at the headlines, quickly scanning what has been written (but not dwelling on it), also scanning a few pages inside (and not dwelling). Nothing has changed. It's all still multiple murders, multiple road deaths, political drama, corruption. The only thing that seems to be changing (daily) is food prices.

Today the front page of the papers announced: chicken prices going up, flour going up (hence all the things that are made of flour), taxi fares for St. Anns and St. James going up. And so on.

Imagine 4 doubles* and a sweet drink now cost $17.

Two pilhourie balls cost $4.

The other day on the way back from the beach, two friends and I stopped off for 3 shark and bakes and two bottles of water. The bill was a whopping $87.

Is there any sign of the Gov't putting things in place for us to grow our own food so we can be self sufficient? Or is it that agricultural land is only good for housing? The other day some friends and I were discussing growing our own food crops and sharing our produce among ourselves.

* While on the topic of doubles ... the other day I took Ilana (French director) to sample doubles by UWI. When I was finished eating mine, I wanted to discard the paper, napkin and bag. I saw no bin anywhere in the vicinity. I asked a man in his late 50's getting into the car next to mine: "Is there a bin around here?"

He looked at me with deadpan seriousness and said: "No, but there's a running drain."

'Invisible' on Youtube

INVISIBLE: Children Living with HIV/AIDS
Length: 10 minutes 55 seconds
A mini documentary created in 2007 by Happy Hippy Productions for the TTCRC (Trinidad and Tobago Coalition for the Convention on the Rights of the Child)

Going with the Flow

The Flow people left a while ago. I have signed up with them for my internet and can once again enjoy wireless in the comfort of my room or wherever else I go in the house. I also like the name/meaning of "Flow" - in terms of life, energy, etc.

I will not be going with TSTT's internet service again. Every time my phone is down (which is too often for my liking), I lose internet service. It is inconvenient, especially as the phone can be down for weeks or months at a time (aka "3 - 5 working days"). At least with Flow (cable) I'm not dependent on the phone line.

My phone is still not working. In the past I would call TSTT at least twice a day to make reports or follow up, holding on to the line, getting angrier and more frustrated as time ticked by. I would also write letters to the TSTT superiors, hoping to get (but not getting) swifter action on the issue. But ... I have changed for 2008. I am (becoming) more patient and I am more open to a different sense of timing in general.

Since being back from St. Lucia (2 January) and finding a dead phone, I have made only two reports in total. And, rather than call, I went in physically to the TSTT office since that seems to take less time than calling 824-TSTT and waiting for someone to answer.

While it would be good to have my land phone back (so I don't have to keep running up cellular bills), I do not feel as ruffled and inconvenienced by its absence as I would have in the past. In fact, a few simple things I have done have contributed to a less frustrating and angering Trinidad for me:

1. I no longer read the papers
2. I do not allow the lack of TT service to ruffle me
3. I spend less time on the roads, only going out when I have to or really want to

Where were you during yesterday's earthquake?

Yesterday I was at my friend Dion's house and we were editing when the earthquake struck. I was just going into my e-mail to check a list of names for the credits and I heard him say: "Is that an earthquake?" I stopped what I was doing and felt the house rocking gently. Very gradually it started to get stronger...

With my eyes growing increasingly larger, I rolled my chair over to his and and gripped onto his shoulder. I remained locked in that position for the duration of the quake, my fingers tightening as the rocking intensified. Good thing for him I don't have long fingernails.

With my free hand I dialed furtively on my cellular phone while Dion did the same on his Blackberry - calling his wife and mother. But by that time the quake was done and circuits were jammed. We were unable to get through to anyone for quite a while. Dion says it's best to call during the earthquake because no-one else will be using their phone.

Even though I sat there frozen, I was not petrified. Had walls started to crack and things fly off of shelves, yes (!) ... but rather, I was frozen into a surreal state of fascination and unknowing ... thinking that if earthquakes weren't potentially dangerous, it would be a wonderful experience to just sit there and feel the earth rocking us, enjoying the motion like babies in a cot, safe in the knowledge that nothing would fall on our heads, the earth wouldn't crack open and swallow us or there would be no tsunmis triggered.

As much as I don't like hurricanes, I prefer them in the sense that at least we can be warned that they are coming. Earthquakes just happen out of the blue ... and you never know when they will come, how long they will last or how strong they will become. This one felt long and intense ... but I guess it depends on where you are at the time. I would hate to be in a tall building with glass walls (like Nicholas Towers) ... or worse yet in crowded Christmas Mall with tons of crazy shoppers scampering for cover!

All the more reason to avoid malls for your Christmas shopping and invest in the I SPY Christmas gift special. Quite a few orders have been made already. Don't miss your chance to get yours before my current stock is sold out!

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NOTE: I will not be updating the blog this weekend because I will be at a yoga workshop from today until Sunday.

So, my weekend:
Friday
Sat(nam)urday
Sun(salutations)day

It still stands

Last night someone contacted me for permission to post this video on their page. Ironic that they should ask, since yesterday morning this very video came to my mind. I thought about how, even though I had created it in early 2005, all that is in it still stands two years later. Same Government, same issues, same national frustration ...

Music, camera, edit - Elspeth Duncan
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
Year: 2005

New levels of horror = new levels of numbness

Every morning I go for a walk, buy papers and read them as I walk back home. I've mastered the art of doing this and not bumping into lamp posts, cars, people and potholes full of water (although I did squelch into a fresh dog deposit the other morning). Sometimes I wonder why I bother to read the papers, though. It's like looking at the worst horror movie (worst because it's 'real')... blocking your eyes yet still peeping through your fingers to see the scariest parts.

The other morning as I read the gory description of the 20-year old woman's head being chopped in two and her mouth practically being hacked off by her 'man'/father of her child (for whom she was trying to get a restraining order), I stopped in my tracks, gasped out loud and my face twisted into a horrible grimace. I could not look any further. He brutally hacked her in front of her 3 year old daughter.

This gruesome murder followed a day or two after another woman's 'estranged' man attempted to chop her to death (she escaped) ... and murdered her 23-year old lover. He chopped the man to death, chopped off his penis, scalped his head, gouged out his eyes and dumped his body in a deserted pond in Santa Cruz. He gave himself in about two days after and there was a photo of him smiling in the papers.

These horror crimes by 'estranged' male lovers give new meaning to the term 'jealousy kills'.

This morning the front page of the papers featured another gruesome killing of two men. One paper gives a glimpse of one decomposed body being removed from the trunk of a car ... while the frozen-in-shock faces of female relatives look on.

There was a time when seeing the photo of a dead body on the street inspired shock and horror. Then, sadly, we 'get used to it' as a nation ... Then the nature of the murders will climb to new, more gruesome levels and we will grimace and cry out in horror once again ... until we get further numbed out as we continue hearing or reading about people being scalped and chopped to death in front of 3 year olds.

I have lost count of the amount of murders (a record amount) that have occurred post-elections. There has not been a word from the Government or the Minister of Security on this upsurge. Ooops! I forgot they were in Salybia on a week-long retreat and busy power-walking every morning before dawn.

Thanksgiving

Child wearing COP cap
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Yesterday some friends and I went to the COP Thanksgiving rally at Helping Hands grounds in the Pasea area. It wasn't a jump and wave rally. It was an interfaith event, with various spiritual leaders (Muslim, Hindu, Christian, etc.) each saying a prayer and a few words. There was a tabla/Indian instrumental group and a few performers singing 'inspirational' songs which most of the crowd seemed to enjoy.

The large gathering had a family feel - everything from very young children to the aged, mingling amicably. At one point I looked behind me and was surprised to see the sea of people who had quietly amassed in the short space of time since our arrival. Everyone stood for the two hours, intently listening, clapping and cheering for everything.

When 'Dooks' eventually came forward to the mike with his arm wrapped around the shoulder of David St. Clair (the candidate who was attacked, beaten and subsequently hospitalised before elections), most of the large crowd surged forward to the stage, chanting "Winston, Winston!" Subsequently, basically each paragraph he uttered was punctuated by supportive cheers and applause.

There were one or two moments where I felt moved. One I can't remember (must have been something someone said) - but it gave me goosebumps. The other was at the end, when a performer came to sing a song called "Broken World" (and about how we can fix it together). The female MC asked us to connect in some way with the people at our sides. People started to hold hands. I held the hands of my friend Charlotte (on my right) and a man I didn't know (on my left). At one point the crowd to the front raised their connected hands and everyone followed, resulting in a wave of upheld, joined hands rippling from front to back of the gathering. It was the first time I've experienced this.

It was one of those "We are the world" moments which are too soppy for some, but deeply moving for others. I noticed people crying. One older woman a short way off from us stood staring ahead, a large tear running down her cheek, glistening like the silver trail of a snail.

I was not moved to feel patriotic about T & T ... but I was touched by the genuine sense of togetherness and respect of the people and by the sense of gratitude and determination emitted by those on stage. It was a peaceful, communal, 'old time feel' of an evening. Everyone left smiling, or at least looking satisfied on some level.

A vicious attack

Jasper is an artful hunter. Normally when he brings in an animal, he brings it either alive or, even if dead, it somehow doesn't even have teeth marks on it. Yesterday morning, the day after elections, he brought in a fledgling Dove. Its feathers were strewn all over the floor, its body was ripped open, heart and innards exposed. I was surprised. Very rarely would Jasper do this. I know he meant it as a gift nonetheless ... but also (as usual) as a message.

It is only this morning as I went for my walk that the image of this shredded Dove returned to me and I saw it as a reflection of Panday's vicious, hateful and irresponsible verbal attack (in his concession speech) on COP and its leader Winston Dookeran. For those who are not aware of what he said, he basically screamed, spat and hissed with bitterness and contempt at those who voted for COP or who did not vote at all:

When one of your family members gets raped, beaten, kidnapped or killed, I want you to look in the mirror and look at your face and say to yourself 'I did this!!!' Then I want you to bow your head in confession and cry ... cry to yourself that you are responsible because you voted for the PNM or CORPSE or you did not vote at all!!!"

These are the words of one of our former Prime Ministers. The leader of a political party who had hopes of being PM again. The possible leader of the opposition. The man who is blaming Dookeran for not joining forces with him to beat the PNM. Between that and our current, elected-back-into-POWER-and-being-sworn-into-office-today-at-Woodford-Square PM screaming at his followers that "TT will progress at an even faster rate in the next 5 years, my dear friends" (i.e. his frightening version of 'progress') ... and bawling out that his being back in power is 'God's victory!!" ... one cannot be sure if this is a script for a sit com or a tragedy.

Anyway, back to the bird. As I walked, I had the image of a bird's nest with three birds eggs in it. Two birds had hatched first. The third egg hatched much later and produced a runt who was not like the others. The other two, being bigger, stronger and more aggressive, fought constantly for food and attention and learned to fly first. The little Dove, although much younger and not as developed, decided that it wanted to fly too. It fell out of the nest and was subsequently attacked and ripped to shreds.

This is just a symbol of the sad truth. It is clear after this election that Trinidad and Tobago is not ready for the Dove (symbol of peace, love, positive transformation, rebirth, etc). And, as a friend of mine said: "... will never be."

This is a place for vultures ... or to make it more 'local' ... cobo.

French midterm results and Election results

At least my French mid term exam results were good: 37.4 out of 40.

The Election results however ...

#1 Vote(r): Elshpesh Blanshay Duncan

Electoral ink on my Jupiter finger

In yoga ... the index/Jupiter finger is the finger which, when its tip is connected with the tip of the thumb (representing the ego) forms Gyan Mudra.

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This morning I was the first voter in my constituency ... (maybe even in the country if our polling station was the first to start!) Having left home bright and early (or rather dark and early), I was standing at the front of the line of people, all of us waiting for the polling station to open at six on the dot. My family members were behind me. When the time came, I felt like the pied piper, walking toward the polling booth with the long line of other voters behind me. The woman at the desk took my ID card, checked off my name, made me sign on my poll card and then said:

"Elsh ... Elshp ..."

"Elspeth," I said, helping her to pronounce it.

"Blanshay?"

"Blanche," I said.

She then called out loudly for the other pollers to hear: "Elshpesh Blanshay Duncan! Voter #1!"

I was given my voting slip and went behind the barricade to stamp my X. Then went to submit my vote and my poll card and dip my index finger in the ink.

I find it interesting that we dip the index finger. Maybe there's a reason why - maybe even that the finger is just easiest to dip (like how we use it to dial on the phone) ... but from a spiritual and yoga perspective: the index finger is known as the Jupiter finger. I find the significance is interesting and relevant:

Jupiter is the planet of expansion. It is the largest planet in the solar system. In the natal chart Jupiter is associated with leadership, principles, philosophy, law, politics, higher education, travel, abundance, problem solving and ritual. Negatively Jupiter can manifest as excess in our lives. It may be physical such as overeating or spiritual such as dogmatism.

"Gyan" means knowledge and this mudra's purpose is that of imparting intelligence and wisdom to the individual who holds this posture.

Other benefits:

Bestows intelligence and wisdom. Purifies the mind of the practitioner. Cures many mental ailments. Gives a feeling of joy. Cures intoxication and addictive habits.

May all who dip their Jupiter fingers today do so in the spirit of Gyan.

What colour is your t-shirt today?

My t-shirt is white because I was doing yoga this morning and I usually wear white to do yoga. On the streets however, once you are wearing a particular colour t-shirt in these pre-election days, it means you're supporting & voting for a particular party. Even if you aren't ... that's what it means psychologically to anyone seeing you pass by. So even though my t-shirt says 'Sedona, Arizona" and has nothing to do with politics, to the onlooker, I must be voting COP, whose colour is white.

Just a while ago I drove to the hardware to buy some wire. Red t-shirts were swarming like irritating ants at the corner. PNM stalwarts preparing for their rally in Tunapuna today. Anyone wearing a red t-shirt today will be considered PNM ... especially as their ads stress: "Wear red and represent!"

Along the way I saw several orange t-shirts. Orange says UNC, whether you are or not. I met a friend at the hardware and she pointed out to me that she had on her 'neutral top'. It was a shrimp-coloured vest. "A little more orange in it and I would be UNC," she said.

In the grocery, a man was walking around shouting/singing: "Get rid of PNM. Get rid of UNC. Move wit' COP!" He was directing his statement to the woman in front of me who was wearing orange. The level of their picong made me assume they knew each other.

She shouted back at him: "Be careful you get shoot before de end of de day!"

Then she laughed and looked around at me and others to see who would laugh at her 'joke'. No-one laughed.

Party politics, literally

Do not litter
*

It seems that voting in T & T 2007 has nothing to do with issues. It has to do with:
* which political party throws the better free fete/concert
* which party gives away the most t-shirts and has the glossiest-looking ads
* which party can worsen our litter problem by sticking up the most election posters
* which party can waste the most money on campaigns designed to bad-talk the other parties
* which party's supporters can best beat up and badly damage or kill other parties' supporters or candidates
* which party's supporters can deface the most buildings with fluorescent election graffiti
* which party's candidates can scream the loudest and get the hoarsest
* which party's members can make up the most creative stories about their rivals
* which party can bring in the biggest Jamaican dance hall artistes to endorse them and pull bigger youth crowds
* which party has the best soca jingle (even if sung by Jamaicans) and the loudest truck driving through the streets blaring it (I think right now 'Patos' has the road march)
* ... and so on.

TT's obsession with 'wine and jam' is considered 'we culture' regardless of the occasion. What is taken seriously in this nation? This 2007 election season is a Carnival: trucks driving through the streets, blaring campaign road marches, waving banners and causing a greater pile-up of traffic than normal. Recently I saw a man wining on the sidewalk, drunkenly waving a rag 'in de air' as election soca blared from a campaign truck at the traffic lights.

Over the weekend I was waiting on the sidewalk up East for the documentary crew. A drunkenly merry maxi tout (maybe in his late 20's, early 30's) came and started chatting me up.

He hopefully asked me: "Yuh going PNM rally" (which was on that day - Sunday - in the Q.P. Savannah).

I told him: "No."

He took a swig from his styrotex cup and said: "Well my head done nice and I goin! Dat is my vote, yuh know!" He then proceeded to tell me how he "working CEPEP", about how Patrick is the only person for PM and how "life in Trinidad sweet."

I asked him what makes life in Trinidad sweet and he said: "How yuh mean?! We free to do what we want! Nowhere else in de world yuh could be free so." (He then admitted that he had never been anywhere else in the world).

The initials of TT political parties are now like brand names on jeans or sneakers. Which one is trendy? People are buying what they feel is in fashion without caring about what material it is made from and how long it will last. PNM and UNC are pushing their brands with free fetes, expensive ads and desperate moves like whistle-stop' visits to Nelson Mandela in South Africa. COP says their youths will not be won over with free fetes, but with their sweat and tears. Being a nation of partying and bachanaal, is this what the average Trinbagonian youth wants to hear? Why must one work or be serious about change when 'free ting' is being handed out? Who wants a seemingly strict parent telling the nation to buckle up and do its homework ... when there are parents who, in their eagerness to win the children over, will spoil them with cheap toys and promises of trips to Wonderland.

I can't wait until 6th November when it is all over! Or who knows ... maybe that's when it will all begin.

Beginning on a beginning (1st Nov)

A piece of the card
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I got a belated Beginning from Pastormac's Ann. Thank you. It looks like a rainbow with a long pathway meandering through it.

The writing on the front says:

A new beginning starts with a single step ... Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin ...

On the back: Hoping your new beginnings, be they big or small, bring you many blessings and much joy!

In other news, we did not get the results of our French midterms yesterday, as expected. Instead, we will get them on Monday (election day). I can't wait until elections are over. They are disgustingly desperate, chronically commercialized and sickeningly symptomatic of a country that has no deeper sense of consciousness and is 'wining dong' to an all time low.

T & T at your service

It's always interesting to hear what stands out most for people who are visiting Trinidad and Tobago for the first time. In my experience, most people say what stands out first/most is the green (the trees, the mountains, etc). However, lately, within the space of a fortnight, two first-timers have mentioned something to me about TT which all of us experience on a daily basis. It is everywhere and it is obviously glaring, even to visitors.

This unfortunate thread in the fabric of our nation is not garbage, it's not crime and it's not traffic.

The other day on the way down south, Katie and I were talking about Toronto and TT. I asked her what stood out as being different to her about TT as opposed to TO. Interestingly, she first mentioned the service. She said that whereas in Toronto you almost have to ask people to stop being nice to you, in TT she has been experiencing the opposite: women in shops staring at her with silent, sour faces as she requests assistance ... women in stores sticking to her and following her closely around the store even when she tells them she is just looking.

Recently one of the members of the French crew said to me: "Spec, is it normal when you go into a store that people are so unfriendly?" He proceeded to tell me that when he has been into stores, the attendants look sour and don't show much interest in his questions. In one case the woman didn't answer him at all when he spoke and after purchasing an item the cashier practically threw the money at him. (He illustrated with a sharp flick of the wrist as he spoke).

Perhaps those who live here are 'used' to this kind of 'service'. Most people brush it off and accept it as 'the norm' or explain it away with that cliché line that excuses anything unacceptable in this country: "Buh dis is Trinidad!"

TT CUSTOMER SERVICE RULES:
1. Stick closely to customers and follow them around the store even when repeatedly asked not to
2. Have long, loud personal conversations, arguments or intimate love trysts on the phone while the customer waits indefinitely for you to attend to him/her
3. Stare at the customer with a sour or, at best, expressionless face when approached
4. Mumble incoherently when answering the customer's questions
5. Move slowly and reluctantly, emitting a long, loud, tired sigh when getting something for the customer
6. Remember that "I eh known nah" is a useful answer that can be applied to any question

These reasons and more are why when I do encounter good customer service I make sure and let the person know it.

Early to rise

Woke up at 2:30 am., could not go back to sleep, so got out of bed and did some yoga/meditation. I have to be in St. Anns for 9 a.m. (all day film workshops) and have not left home yet (7:05 a.m.) The thought of the traffic that is already packed onto the roads is making me feel more tired than I already am. Sitting sandwiched between hundreds of cars for 1.5 - 2 hours feels like half the day gone - even if just energy-wise. Ideally I should have left home around six, reached town by 7:30 and hung around until 9 a.m. ... But no way could I have done that today.

I hope I can keep awake during the all day session!

Just around the corner

Last night when I was coming home from singing lessons (which I started last Thursday), as I approached HiLo, St. Augustine, I noticed there was a lot of traffic on the Main Road for after 8 p.m. Nothing abnormal. There's always traffic now.

A little further ahead I noticed what was causing the traffic: a policeman was standing in the middle of the road diverting cars and making us take the back road detour. I looked beyond him and noticed that the Main Road was eerily empty of cars, but there were crowds of people gathered. "Something must have happened," I thought, envisioning an accident of some kind.

There was a lot of traffic on the normally quiet backroads as all cars were being diverted. As I reached Warren Street, I noticed a lot of cars parked at the road side and people walking to join the crowd on the Main Road. "Hmmm, maybe its a political meeting," I thought.

But the area was dark and quiet. No blaring politicians voices, no loud soca music, no-one wearing political t-shirts. Had I been "Trini to de bone" I would have parked and gotten out to maco. But I was only interested in getting home.

Turns out that ... at 5:55 p.m., right there at the auto place (where you get an under-body and engine wash) 'around the corner', a man and woman were shot. In broad daylight. On the Eastern Main Road. Peak traffic. People returning form work. School children milling around. Busy strip of businesses with customers going in and out.

A black vehicle stops, a man gets out and 'calmly shoots' (seven times) and instantly kills a couple (man and his female co-worker) who were standing, waiting while their company car was being washed.

Calmly shoots. Did anyone get a number plate? What did witnesses do? Any of us could have been passing. The man and his co-worker were connected to the housing development being built 'just around the corner' from home (Santa Margarita).

Earlier yesterday mummy told me that a dead body was found by UWI (also 'around the corner'.) Haven't heard anything more about it.

In Trinidad these days there's an increasing number of very disturbing incidents happening 'just around the corner' ... no matter where you live.

A complete waste of time

This is an extremely miniscule representation of the gridlock madness.

*

Yesterday I canceled all the appointments I had in town because of HORRENDOUS traffic. These smart people were paving the road on a weekday of the first week back to school during the prime time drive period when traffic is the worst! So you can imagine the backup. My sister took over an hour to drive what would normally take 3 minutes on a clear day. She turned around, went back home and decided to head out to work just before midday (and still got stuck in traffic). I also tried to head into POS, turned back immediately when I saw the pile-up and put off everything until today.

Today I left at 6 a.m.

I still got traffic, but more like the normal annoyingly slow crawl than the complete standstill of yesterday and the weekend. Got into POS at about 7:30 a.m. Then had to 'waste time' driving around aimlessly, stopping to eat sada roti (just to have something to do), etc etc etc ... because all the places I had to go didn't open until 9:00 or 9:30. I am back home now at 11:27, more than 5 hours since I left home this morning. And within that 5.5 hour period, my time spent actually being productive (apart from briefly reading my French book in traffic) amounts to one hour ... or less!

What a waste of time being stuck on the roads of T & T!

Apparently they are now going to be paving the road at night because too many people were angry about yesterday and the weekend. That is inexcusable madness. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that after dawn on weekday mornings ... or after dawn on any morning ... is not the time to be paving main roads and highways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This gridlock and this standstill is a daily symbol of where this country will go if it continues on its current path.

i.e. Nowhere.

Fantasie Frolick

Prime Minister Patrick Manning may not have moved into the prime-ministerial $148 million mansion and diplomatic centre at La Fantasie in St Ann’s, as yet, but these two dogs, which were able to gain entry onto the private premises, took time to swim, frolic, relax and lovingly rub noses in a man-made watercourse during yesterday’s media tour of the residence.

(Photo and excerpt from today's Guardian)

Hilarious!

Infrared goggles may be the next hot style on Frederick Street.

I came across this hilarious blog today: The Secret Blog of Patrick Manning. It contains posts (secretly) written by the Prime Minister of TT ... and posts written by his wife Hazel, who quips in one of her entries:

Doo-doo, you really thought you could keep this blog secret from me? Who controls the mouse in this family? I’m surprised you could even turn on the computer by yourself. By the way, I saw you and “Chrissy” perfectly clearly from the TV room window using those special infra-red goggles that came with the last blimp. […]

Tee hee ...

Can't wait to tune in again to Westwood ... I mean Manning Park ...

An Expensive Mistake

I'm not sure how many of you saw (in yesterday's Express) the photo of the $100,000TT-per-plate invitation 'to converse over dinner with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.' (Oh ... I just read that 'negative publicity' has caused him to cancel it ...)

Anyway, for an event that is asking people to pay $100,000 per plate you would think that they would at least get the invitation right! When I first read the invitation in the papers, this jumped out at me:

The first line of the second paragraph blatantly begins: "Meaningful changes takes time" ...

So does proofreading!
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*
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Below is a copy of the article:

$100,000 A PLATE

Dinner with Manning

Anna Ramdass aramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Thursday, August 23rd 2007

Specially invited guests will sit down to a campaign fund-raising dinner with Prime Minister Patrick Manning next week-at a cost of $100,000 each.

The event entitled "Conversations with the Prime Minister" is an initiative of the public relations committee of the ruling People's National Movement (PNM).

The black tie gala dinner is scheduled to take place next Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Pier 1, Chaguaramas, which is owned by the family of Tourism Minister Howard Chin Lee. If the event recruits 200 paying customers it will net $20 million for party coffers.

Sources told the Express that the event was being handled with extreme caution and secrecy and invitations were sent to select persons.

A letter from committee chairman and Ambassador Plenipotentiary Jerry Narace says to contact Michelle Khan, Trinidad and Tobago Miss World representative in 1996 who runs a public relations and events management company, "to obtain your invitation".

Khan confirmed the dinner but was unable to divulge further details. Also Narace, when contacted, was unable to provide information as he was engaged in a meeting.

The notification of the event states that since the PNM was re-elected in 2002, the party has acted swiftly in an effort to develop all citizens as the Vision 2020 was pursued.

The PNM's commitment to improving infrastructure, revitalising communities and towns, developing the economy as well as challenging and supporting all citizens to aspire and achieve their dreams were included in the notification.

"Meaningful changes takes time and our ability to achieve the vision of Trinidad and Tobago as a prosperous, stable nation by 2020 requires that we sustain our present efforts with continuing stable, good and ethical governance," stated the invitation.

"In the circumstances, we have especially targeted you to join us and share ideas as we converse over dinner with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago," the invitation continued.

"We feel confident that a contribution of $100,000 per invitation will assist in funding our campaign which will enable us to continue on a progressive development path towards the achievement of 'First World' status," added the invitation letter.

Sources told the Express that some of the top PNM financiers have already pledged their commitment to attend and support Manning in his campaign for the upcoming general election.

Political analyst and researcher Derek Ramsamooj told the Express that a political party in this country must have the capacity to raise and spend between six and eight million US dollars in this year's election race.

He said this money covers two areas -media advertising and political organisation and management on the national and constituency levels.

"This increase in political expenditure can be attributed to competitiveness in the media advertising and rising expectation of the electorate," he said.

Ramsamooj, who heads the Caribbean Development Research Strategies company, told the Express that statistics on Caribbean political campaigns reveal that it costs approximately US$100 to win the vote of one person.