The ULP/NDP ad

If you deign to look at SVG TV during the news period (7-8 pm), like me, you would have likely seen that black and white ad from the ULP that took most of its content from an NDP ad - I was confused - I was not sure why there was an NDP ad with a voice over (sounding suspiciously like Kaleel Cato) dissing the same ad, until I realised that it was a ULP ad. And another oddity was the red lipstick on V. Frederick's lips - poor video editing because the red smudge smears its way up to her nose and across to her cheek.

But enough about that, this is all I have to say - if an ad is claiming to promote the capability of the ULP to continue running the country by flattering us, calling us intelligent people, at least learn how the hell to spell, so we could see none Vincentians rather than non-Vincentians.

Peace out.

Shock me to reality

Over the years I have been exposed to and possibly been a part of the the "blame game theory" - where we find ourselves in precarious, troubling situations and we summon from within ourselves the ability to point fingers and identify the systems, government officials, and entities that are responsible for our untimely demise - yet unable to determine our own role in the saga.

But I was rather disappointed when I read a letter to the editor by Ms. Vynette Frederick, my fellow GHS colleague and the energetic youthful face of the NDP about the plight of the residents of 'Poleyard' - a community that has found itself on the upsurge within recent years. She called it a 'bustling community' of over 200 residents. But what bewildered me was the cry that she made for them to be provided with water because such amenities had not been yet provided to the area. Isn't this an area that houses VINLEC poles and therefore electricity in larger numbers than usual? Should they not be relocated - especially since the government always seems to have lands to give away within recent times?

But I am guessing that numerous politicians have threaded their way through the area and made possibly genuine promises that faltered in the shadows of the reality of the location. I am not an electrical expert (I scream at the slightest spark from a outlet and I am tempted to shut down the fuse box of my house at the hint of lightning) nor am I a community housing expert but I consider myself to be reasonably minded female with a growing notion of what is commonsensical in this day and age. Why would CWSA run pipes in the area to provide them with water - since the chances of it becoming an established community are low to nil? Their continued occupation of that location, while probably founded on the basic need to find somewhere to live cannot be reasonably seen as having any sustainable future.

And giving water to the residents of Poleyard is not even logical in the imagination of the most revolutionary of political directorates - electric poles and water don't mix favourably the last time I wikied that topic. So despite the noble garb of the passion expressed by Vynnie V., it still reeks of unreasonable political hype

What also struck me was her reference to water as an amenity, rather than the basic need that it is. Have our politicians become so sullied by the thrust for power that WATER has become a "pleasant feature of a place" {the definition of amenity in the Oxford}? Usually, I hear the term being used on HGTV, when describing the golf course and the swimming pool access that comes along with a condo being shown to a young couple looking for their first home. I would not readily apply it to anyone in the world that does not have the ability to use clean water for cooking, cleaning, washing, drinking not to mention the automatic absence of sanitary toilet facilities.

And not to mention the fact that Poleyard is located in the vicinity of the airport. I know all the talk about the development of Arnos Vale into a new city and the transformation of the airport into a commercial wonderland - all dependent on the completion of the Argyle International Airport (and we all know what thin strings that balances upon). Why would anyone be interested in improving the well-being of the residents of a community that is so unfortunately positioned?

Would it not be more feasible, both on a political strategy point and national interest point to move them completely? When is someone going to hand these people reality rather than impassioned newspaper coverage? When are we going to be shocked for once and for all and hear someone in authority make an executive decision, disregarding the social upset it may cause and focus on the long-term solutions?

But this is one of many situations that our politicians have allowed to fester, while promising outcomes of grandeur, dismissing the poverty that has driven people to that point and somehow justifying their claim to destitute lives.
Like the Long Wall and Quarry situation, or the houses on the beach in the Georgetown community, or the squatters perched on the hillsides in my own community whose constant clearing of the forest has caused at least two landslides within the last two weeks and damage to the property of a family who would have worked hard to build their home and hearth.

Stride on

Finally, I am back on the blogging train.

The death of my four year lap top and the quest for a new electronic investment took a while; but at long last the keyboard is all mine to putter away at in an attempt to express myself at my own pace or maybe not at all.

So as a re-introduction to the cyber world of social commentary, I take this opportunity to capture my brief time of using this forum as a means critiquing our world and in essence, analyzing ourselves. A couple of my fave blogs have taken hiatus from individual blogs with their own personal reasons - justified I hope and not based on intrusive apathy at the issues that we face every day. I admit to having experienced the apathy-the niggling acceptance of the status quo and the shrugging away of the feeling that I should be comfortable speaking my mind.

As an avid reader and an appreciator of the perspectives of others, I can honestly say that blogging has been a refreshing means of indulging myself after a day of hard labour at a varnished desk in Kingstown.

The beauty of publication at any hour - the only deadline being the satisfaction of your inspired moment. The ability to flaunt the art of the English language is its full scope n nt in shrtend abbreviations and shortcut phrases.

The truth is - is that I think we are capable of so much more than the typical - the expected. Like Herbert Samuel, the Vincentian engineer that has entered the GE Ecoimagination Challenge -using the addictive phenomena of social networking for something holistically positive - monitor your electricity usage by entering simple info from your bills and then networking with other persons around the world. I will blog about my actual use of the programme, especially since I have a dislike of social networking.

This is an excellent example of just going beyond usual expectations of engineering or anything for that matter. Widening the scope of our understanding of what we can accomplish if we just open our minds and our hearts to support each other in the journey to create a better global existence.