TNN 52

Hello folks… (deep voice)….Dis is TNN… wit up to de minute news an’ views on TnT… School days was happy, happy days… (background music)

Well, is like de government really interested in we marine environment.   Dey sign some agreement wit’ Canada tuh provide support services in IT, an’ some ship come in de harbour wit’ de Canadians on it an’ guess what….?   Yes, de government, no less ah person dan de Prime Minister, leave he office, an’ gone on de ship tuh sign document.. 

Yuh eh see we does carry we pride under we foot!   Ah mean, ah country sen’ dong ah ship tuh sign ah agreement, an’ dey couldn’t even have de courtesy tuh come ashore…?!   Wha happen..?!   Was ah fisheries agreement yuh was signin’..?   Yuh hear we does eat people on dis side? 

You t’ink any prime minister (or even governor) in de US or Canada go leave he office an’ come on ah ship we sen’ up dey tuh sign any document…yuh makin’ joke!  Look, if yuh come tuh deal wit’ de country yuh have to at least come ashore to one of de centres of administration.. 

An’ if yuh see Manday how he loll off in ah pilot chair, skinnin’ he teeth like ah dead dog…!   Yuh could expeck any respect from any country after yuh do somet’ing so….?   Yuh see, is little t’ings so de Cobra does be on de lookout for….  You could trust people like dat wit’ big industrial contract….?  How much resistance yuh t’ink dey go put up tuh dem foreign companies?   Man, ah sorry when he went aboard, dey didn’t hoist sail an’ take him in international waters… ah know he wouldn’t have he papers on him, so no way Immigration was lettin’ he back in…

Yuh know, wit' all de Carnival excitement, ah forget tuh tell alyuh dat we buy ah whole new fleet of buses for ole TnT…

Now if meh memory serve meh right, we did by ah whole fleet of air-conditioned bus about 10 years ago to “upgrade” we fleet.   No problem, people grumble l’il bit ‘bout de need for “air condition” but buses come on de road…. I meh self take some nice ride in dem.   Den all of ah sudden bus start tuh shut dong, bus start tuh ketch fire, bus start tuh park up in de terminus, an’ people usin’ parts form one bus tuh fix anodder bus… so after ah while yuh start seein’ bus “shell” sittin’ around…   Now ah hear we have tuh get ah new fleet…!   

Now tell meh somet’ing…. if ah car give yuh 10 years service, you go buy dat model…?  Plus tuh dat, bus suppose tuh be able tuh take punishment, an’ we eh drive dem on no bad road (well, relatively….) ..so ah doh believe is ole bus we buy…   Ah t’ink de reason is what ah call de double M’s…Major Mismanagement!. 

For heaven’s sake man, if yuh buyin’ ah fleet of buses, de next t’ing should be ah warehouse of spare parts..!  Wha yuh tink?!  Eh?!  How de hell yuh could be using parts form one bus tuh fix anodder bus all de time?   

An’ what about “technical support” from de bus company?  Yuh doh t’ink every 6 months or so , yuh could get a setta mechanics here tuh check up on de buses or betta yet, sen’ some man tuh train in repairing dem?  No genius I.Q. for dat….. 

So now we have ah whole heap ah scrap iron lyin’ around, ah doh know if dey decide it eh wort' de work tuh fix dem, but to me, if yuh fix dem an’ buy ah whole new fleet, den is real buses on de road, so each bus have less load tuh carry, an’ more people could travel too…. yuh fin’ ah makin’ sense? 

So now we have new bus again, leh meh see how dese go make out wit’ de bright fellas in de P.T.S.C. (Poor Transport Service Corporation)!

Well de AG Mr. “Twist Mout” Maharaj heself on ah next joy ride….. tryin’ tuh lick dong de judges dis time. 

After he fight wit’ the CJ, he decide it go be better de secon’ time aroun’….. Soooooooo he decide dat he want tuh introduce legislation tuh make sure dat judges han’ dong dey judgement within six months or de hounourable man go get fired!   

So he ask de CJ for all judges who have judgements pendin’ for longer dan 6 months.   De CJ tell him “haul yuh tail, ah doh have tuh sen’ dat for you.”    Ramesh get bad one time, so he decide is time tuh go to Cabinet (or de ole cupboard in dis case…..). 

Now ah quite agree dat cases need tuh be speeded up, ah mean “justice delayed is justice denied” an’ all dat…. but brodder it done hard tuh fin’ judges already, because dem lawyers does make more dan most judges, yuh go threaten tuh fire dem…?  An’ put who?  

Now, why yuh didn’y stupidly ask de fellas tuh have ah meetin’ wit’ dem an’ discuss de issue, see why some judgements take so long, an’ how WE could solve it …..TOGETHER?   Nah, dat is de human way tuh go, everyt’ing must have threats an’ big fight, an’ bus’ up, an’ baccahnal……

An’ who feel you is tuh want tuh fire judges…..? It doh have disciplinary committees for dem t’ings?   An’ what grind meh like chilibibi is dat de complaint come up because cases involving “foreigners” dey fin’ was takin’ too long, so we lookin’ bad…Yes, man, “foreigners”, not locals…foreigners mus’ get justice quick…..  

Not a word about lawyers who does jus’ show up in court, unprepared an’ jus’ pospone case for kicks, handling ‘bout 10 cases one time, an’ delayin’ yours while dey work on ah more lucrative one….  It have cases pending 9 or more years an’ all kinda t’ing… 

I would t’ink yuh would want tuh encourage an’ get more judges tuh help wit' de backlog, and discipline some lawyers…but no, Rammy say de bes’ way is tuh threaten de judges….. but ah suppose he should know ..ah mean he name is LAWrence Maharaj…

Oh Lorrrrrrdddd! Look at my crosses! Ah fraid tuh go in hospital now…… nurses in de POS General hold de head of de PSA an’ some top hospital officials hostage for about 7 hours…dey lock dem in ah room, an’ say dey have tuh talk to dem, because de situation outta han’…nurses migratin’, short staff, wages overdue, poor workin’ conditions etc….   

Dey say sometimes is only one nurse on ah ward , an’ when somet’ing happen, is de poor nurse people blamin’… actually ah fin’ it kinda funny, but dis is serious t’ing man. 

When nurses, dem nice caregivers have tuh lock people up an’ go on go slow, it mean somet’ing hit de ceiling eh?    Mt. Hope (dey callin’ it Mt. Hopeless now…) eh payin’ de doctors an’ dentists who workin’ on contract wit’ dem… all kinda 2 months passin’ an’ no pay for de people.   Doctors an’ odder technical people goin’ in groups…. apparently dey cyah fin’ money tuh pay dem… 

Oho, really? Well, what sweet in goat mout’ does sour in he bam-bam!   When ah did tell dem las’ year dey wastin’ money on Miss(ed) Universe ($72M), an’ on World Beat Concert (10M), an’ on Ring Bang Millenium Concert (30M), an’ de Queen’s Park Pavin’ (10 M), ent I was ah spoil sport…?   Ent ah didn’t like de government? 

Wey de money now?  Give de nurses ah piece ah Queen’s Park now…. gi’ dem free ticket tuh de nex’ concert...   Um hmm.. water more dan flour now…de shoe squeezin’ yuh foot?  

Now yuh go start wit “if ah did know….” an’ ask de nurses an’ doctors to be “patient” (no , dat wasn’t meant tuh be ah pun!)….right, right…!   An’ who sufferin’?  Yeah, you an’ me…de President, Prime Minister an’ Opposition Leader flyin’ abroad tuh get dey treatmet (England and Cuba).. but we have tuh stay here an’ suffer….. 

Leh meh see dem wiggle outta dis one now….. if is one setta people dat deserve ah good pay is nurses…  Yuh ever bathe sick people, clean out bedpans, pace up an’ dong wards whole day, give medication, deal wit’ miserable people, an’ still have tuh go home an’ take care of family? 

Dem people is heroes in my sight, boy….. an’ if dey wasn’t good, why England and Saudi Arabia want dem (givin’ dem room, board etc,. for dem an’ dey family)….. see if WASA could deal wit’ dis one…because like de water gone, an’ yuh lookin’ dong ah dry well….!  

De journalists dem had ah easy time dis week boy…every single day dey had ah headline on de late Archbishop Anthony Pantin….dey didn’t have tuh leave POS tuh get dey story.   Parliament, Cabinet, Hindu, Muslim, agnostics, Newspapers columnists (each newspaper give him about 3 days editorials), everybody talkin’ ‘bout de man. 

When people give stories so, is den yuh realise how much de fella do for poor people regardless of religion, creed, area etc….  De president of Guyana even fly in for de funeral. Over de las’ year we lose plenty BIG men in dis society boy…Roaring Lion, Kitchener, Lowhar (trade unionist), an’ now de Archbishop…… an’ de sad t’ing, wherever ah go, people askin’ .. ‘Who we go put?” “When we go get ah nex’ one like dat?” Which is ah worryin’ t’ing…. 

Ah doh mean tuh leave out de women or anyt’ing (ah mean yuh know de Archbishop mother at age 30 had 8 chilren tuh raise “without ah man”, when she husban’ dead?   De women always supportin’ we man, from early o’ clock…), but wey de men in de society? Wey de fellas we use tuh look up to an’ say… “when ah grow up, ah want tuh be like he?”.. 

Now people tellin’ dey chilren. …. “look, doh turn out like so-an’-so when yuh grow up, yuh know”….  Wey de men gone….. ah does feel shame when ah hear women sayin’ dey husband is dey biggest chile…..  Instead of behavin’ manly dem young boy behavin ‘mannish’…

We have tuh do somet’ing, an’ now, brudder…an’ like de Cobra say, it always have tuh start in de school an’ de home…let dem read and know about fellas like dese, who come from nowhere an’ make somet'ing outta dey lives….

Leh we produce more men who when dey dead, people go hol’ de head an’ bawl (literally, if yuh see people crying at de funeral an’ durin’ de week), because we lose ah good son, rather dan dance about on dey grave sayin’ “at last he gone!”

As yuh see dis is de 52^nd TNN… so is we First anniversary…actually TNN out for about 14 months ah t’ink, but de Cobra miss out ah few weeks…ah l’il cold here, ah l’il travel dey, ah overwork on de odderside…, but is ah milestone ….

If alyuh want tuh know how de t’ing start, is because ah fella up in de col’ ask meh tuh sen’ some news of home for he, since he kinda missin’ Trini, so for ah coupla weeks, ah decide tuh give him de news…. wit’ ah local flavour! 

Nex’ t’ing yuh know de man put meh up on ah website, wit’ ah webpage, spread it around tuh ah couple people an’ it take off…. dat is alyuh web editor who does put up TNN (late sometimes….! But he is de one responsible for TNN…. de Cobra never mean for de t’ing tuh reach so big…).  So t’ank he for de news.   Ah also want tuh t’ank all dem people who does read an’ take de time tuh sen’ de Cobra ah email…ah even meet some ah alyuh when alyuh visit… alyuh is nice people man, ah have good family…eh? T'anks for de appreciation…

An’ finally De Cobra want tuh make it clear, he eh against nobody, he eh wit’ no political party, he eh takin’ no side, he jus’ like he TnT an’ we culture, believe in we people want tuh see we progress in de right way…. 

He want tuh see de society produce good people. People who we go be proud of. So anytime ah fin’ some people movin’ in ah different direction, ah does have tuh correct dem.. is not dat ah doh like dem, but because ah care, ah does have tuh say meh piece… yuh unnerstan…. .. ? 

Ah doh know how much longer ah could keep goin’ but ah go try..  So to all TNNers out dey….. from de web editor an’ de Cobra …” WE LIKE YUH…!   IS AH FAMILY T’ING!   ONE LOVE!” …..

WEB EDITOR'S NOTE:  The Web Editor would also like to say a special thanks to KP Resorts, Ltd. for allowing us a space on their server (allyuh check dem out de nex' time yuh in Tobago!), as well as Trinigyal from Trinidad Online Webring (thanks for doin' a l'il sometin' wit' de search engines).  We would also like tuh thank d' advertisers who does give we a shillin' tuh pay some bills (If you would like tuh advertise on TNN, send an email to me at greymatter@mindless.com - de rates well reasonable).  The Web Editor would also like to say a gracious and whole-hearted THANKS to de Cobra for sticking with it for over a year.  It have nothin' like somebody who trying to make Trini a better place to live and Cobra, you is one of dem people.  God bless!

Dat’s all for dis week folks…see you on Friday…. any queries, comments, ole talk, questions etc…sen’ it to we anchorman Cobra at ttcobbra1@hotmail.com take care of alyuh self..ah gone, peace, …..All ah we is one famillllllyyyyy…! (background music..)