The Editor AMANDALA
Sir,
Bread and butter. I have been following, as best I can, some of the debates on CNN leading up to the selection of presidential candidates in the USA. Almost to a man (Democrat and Republican), they vow to fight big money. Yap, even the Americans have had enough of the 12 family system.
Really, how did wealth that naturally should have accrued to States end up in the pockets of a few? Systems did it, Braa, and insider trading. The end of capitalism is always massive wealth in private hands. To delay the end as long as possible the capitalists have inserted mechanisms, like laws to stomp on insider trading, but they don’t/can’t work. The high profile case against Miss Martha Stewart a while back was a great show to advertise the length and sharpness of teeth they have. But who will stop a brother from meeting another brother on a street corner and selling him for a nice price “where” the government is going to build the next railroad?
Of course, no one in America is talking about socialism. One of the arguments against socialism is that it engenders incompetence and its own brand of corruption. But our beloved brother, Fidel, has shown us how to deal with that in his brand of socialism. Who betrays the people’s trust, fu heng! And who drift into deepwater, fu goh back da shoal. Simple.
Base capitalism makes beggars and hoodlums of a nation while exalting a select few. No, a poor Christian nation cannot worship at the capitalist’s shrine. Please, separate the Judean wolves from Christ’s sheep.
Go Raúl. Fidel is the great hero…but ih noh perfect. Interim Cuban president, Raúl Castro, brother of Fidel, has opined that hihn noh tu like (hates) long speech. Oh how that brother must have suffered whenever Fidel got the microphone in his hands! Now that Raúl is boss, in your face Fidel!
Take care of cyclists. An incident a little while ago reminded me of a friend to whom I am eternally grateful for having my back one time when I was working on a farm. He gave me a caution, and I heeded it. But, even though I am grateful, he doesn’t have license to do wrong by me. In my philosophy you do right because it is the right thing to do.
Hey, there’s a guy who used to insist every time I met him that he owed me his life. We were at the river one day, he got into trouble, and…Well, I told him, there’s quite a few people who owe me their life then, and people that I owe mine. Consider it, I told the guy, that I am proud and well repaid to have had the opportunity to play Johnny on the spot.
Enough on that; let’s go on the highway. It is my wont (like many others) whenever I drive, to slow down, hit the caution gear whenever I see a cyclist on the road. Tell you about a crazy day I had. I was driving past Las Flores (Hummingbird Highway) on my way to Cave’s Branch one day. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a young girl, about 12 or 13, speeding on a dirt road toward the highway. We were on a dead collision course if she failed to brake, so I went into tek no chance mode immediately. You know that little girl couldn’t, or didn’t brake! My, was she terrified. Me, I had to smile. Kids. Naa, she’ll never forget that incident; and I haven’t.
Same day, in the afternoon, I’m headed to Frank’s Eddy, and I spot a cyclist (not a racer) on the side of the road about a mile out of Cotton Tree. Three things jumped out at me that drove me into extra safety mode pronto: 1, he was wearing long, baggy trousers, 2, his bicycle didn’t have a chain case, and 3, the wind was whipping his pants cuff into the chain. Yap, his pants cuff snagged on the sprocket, he jerked to a full stop, and tumbled across the road in front of me. Naa, he’ll never forget that incident either.
Oh, drivers have taken care of me on the road too. Plenty times. If you are on the road a lot you will make mistakes. So the way I see it, you look out for me, and I look out for you. Until there is a separate path for cyclists and pedestrians beside the highway, we got to be extra careful. Until there is more than a yellow line separating vehicles on the highway, we have to drive with true love. That means keep the speed down. Accidents will happen.
Unfortunately there are people out there who don’t mind endangering other people’s lives. Like this guy I hear about who drives an SUV for somebody important. Yap, someone at the last Traffic Safety Committee told me about him. Told us the color and other particulars too, but…
Tikilish. A very tikilish issue in these CNN debates is that of same sex marriage. It seems there is a sizable, close knit population of homosexuals over there, so everyone wants their votes. The consensus I gather is that the Democrats are leaning toward civil unions…but say no to formal marriage. If this game plays as I have scripted, civil unions for gays will become as American as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet. And we all know what breeze blow da America, blow da Belize. So, how will we respond to the suddenly empowered when they come out of closets for their franchise here?
I expect, hope that the Democrats win, and I am riding (with the limited knowledge I have) with Mr. John Edwards. Mrs. Hilary will not do the right thing by women because she won’t want to come over as biased, and Mr. Barak won’t do the right thing for people of color because he will be too defensive. But Mr. Edwards (God bless him and his wife…and make her well), will do what a soulful man’s got to do fearlessly.
BWSL. Properly this piece is titled BWSL 1 – Me 0. In short, I have haggled with BWSL nearly two years about a bill that was bumped up $70 or so after a weekend of air spitting through my meter. Everyone who didn’t shut off their main valve in my neighborhood got a whopping bill that month. I guess all of them paid it off without a fuss. I refused. BMP BWSL has insisted that I take my case to BZE City. I can’t understand that.
Anyway, it seems there is a new man in charge in BMP. He says I di goh off…if I don’t pay I will get cut. Oh, he also asked me if I had written to their head office to explain my case. What they want to do, check my grammar? I think if I make a trip(s) to the local office and state my case they are properly informed.
In fairness to BWSL, there is a gray area here. Sometimes when they cut off the water people leave on their faucets, and there is much waste of water when it is turned back on. If the brain trust at BWSL had fundamental ethics, how would they resolve this matter? They would share the blame…cut the bill in half. And they would swallow the “loss” for loyal customers who can’t meet them halfway.
If you are disappointed that I have yielded, well, I am not a single quash. If I were I would have told the Philistines to come, cut it out, and take their bloody meter.
(Signed) Colin