by Colin Hyde

The only time God should be mentioned in a matter related to the court is when the judge pronounces the ultimate penalty on a man who has been convicted of murder, far and away the world’s worst crime. It is perfectly understandable, appropriate, that after the judge concludes the death sentence, he or she says to the guilty party, May God have mercy on your soul, because it is going to the great beyond. Really, we don’t know what God will do with it.

I think Brother Arthur Saldivar was sailing along nicely when he spoke to Krem about the case of the pastor who has been charged with behaving inappropriately with young girls. Hmm, he did step on the line when he gave an example of what could prompt someone to bring an inaccurate charge. I expect his intent was to make people who have “convicted” the pastor, come face to face with their “sin.”

Belizeans really must stop convicting people who are yet to go before the court. This past week I’ve been reading the Acts, where Paul is making his defense against these Jews who are out to kill him. Wi can’t condemn the man before he has made his defense! In our private space, we are within our right to question the judgment from the court. But we must give the accused the space to make their case.

Let the man’s accusers come forward and testify. I pray that the case is held behind closed doors, so the parties can “air out” everything they have to say without the gawking from the “judges” in the gallery.

Fair enough for Arthur on that. But it was a big overreach for him to accompany his explanations with mentions of God, some Bible heroes, and forgiveness. Whoever is teaching these lawyers in Jamaica and Barbados and Guyana really must stop it. We don’t need any lawyer to tell us about God and Bible heroes. The judgment of the body and the judgment of the soul da two difrent ting. Forgiveness from the Almighty is the business of the clergy.

PM — called “racist” and misogynist — races home from Rome

I bet the PM and his wife, the Special Envoy, had planned that trip to meet the illustrious Pope for months, maybe even years, but all thanks to Mr. Chavarria and Mr. McLachlan, the trip had to be aborted. It’s the biggest news in our country these last couple weeks, the trouble between the refuse-to-budge owners of the sugar factory and more than 50% of the farmers who plant the cane.

I am close to having the hayr een a mi hand on that part about the PM racing home from Rome—why? Because it was in the news. On the first and second part, you have to ask Ms. Sheran. Maybe she has grounds for her charges, and maybe she was just firing from the hip to vent after she felt her party had not handled her beef with some of her councilors correctly.

Hmm, not all of us have the power to be labeled racist in the strict sense, but in the realm of “not like”, on a few occasions humble me has been daubed with that ugly brush, by various tribes, and one time I got a dose of the terrible misogynist accusation too. Speaking for myself, you know what the bailiff says when the judge enters the court: All lies! Oh wait, no, no, that must be, all rise. You can excuse me for the gaffe. My only experience with courts I got from the Perry Mason Show.

Welcome to Belize, where women can tell men what they want. Don’t dare take offense when they tell us that we doant got no __! I bet they’ll never say that to Richard Bradley or Yasser Musa, because those two unabashedly pander to women’s causes. Ouch, I can’t believe that Yasser celebrated bembeh women! Of course, it was just a terminology mix up. This new generation really should check with the 60s and 70s generation before they use such a huge, ehm, nomenclature. In old school not one of his subjects would qualify for the bembeh certificate. Imagine, Audrey, his big star, she is now a glamour girl doing all the famous tourist stops! Colegas, glamour and bembeh, oh no, no, no, no, they are not the same people.

Let me give you the proper definition of bembeh. As told by the Kriol-Inglish dikshineri, a true bembeh uhman is a bully, a tough person, generally a woman who won’t be pushed around. Naa, word fighting doesn’t make the category. If you want to meet bembeh, my ma seh it was a spectacle in old time Sittee, fu sih the bembeh di peppa fu she man up and down the road. Pardon the bias, but I will give the points to the bembeh who beat dehn man, behind closed doors.

These race charges, my friends, for true examples I want us to go north, beyond Shuga City, beyond Santa Elena, beyond the Rio Grande, yes, to Trump and Biden country. Wow, if a white man or a white woman in that country cohabits with someone who isn’t believed to be 100% white, the tribe doesn’t want the baby. There are so many layers to life. I think the appropriate saying for that one is dish klaat turn taybl klaat. Those uppity white people were chased out of Africa! Okay, we don’t know why.

Ay, the absolute virtue in discussion! Here I am talking to you and what pops into my head is that these Europeans are so like the Jews with their racial purity thing. But the same way God toppled that tower those Babylonians were building to heaven, He will topple their disgraceful scheme. That’s why He made the Kriol. Our mission is to absolutely obliterate racial purity, ban that scourge from every corner of the earth.

Hey, I have to move on to the next beef. Oh wait, I do have serious things to say about the heroic return of the native to save the day. So the UDP complains that the PM used the people’s money to fix things. Pray, what is the people’s money for, if not to fix things for the people? Okay now, I really must vent about the anti-rum crowd and their terrible aggression..

Waiting for an explanation

So, Mr. Waldir Cuello withdrew his application for a loan from the SSB to help with the funding of a project he and the SSB said would have employed a hundred Belizeans. The SSB said the sureties for the project were well above the requirements.

Fair enough the warning from Travelers that Mr. Cuello’s project, to produce special rums and export to Mexico, was far from a sure thing, because they, having a toe in that kind of business, were speaking from a knowledge base. Fair enough to Mr. Cuello’s family for not being supportive because Brother Waldir, being a family member and shareholder in Cuellos, has inside information on their formulas, and they were terrified that he wouldn’t respect their secrets.

The thumbs down is for the anti-rum lobby that, without a care for the employment potential, the possible foreign exchange earnings, and the necessary investment of SSB excess dollars, threw their weight against the project. This anti-rum crowd, they really had no right to beef, because the rum wasn’t going to be sold here. But they just heard “rum” and they started hollering NO.

It’s for our business education that we need a thorough explanation. Was the withdrawal because one or both parties couldn’t handle the heat from the anti-rum lobby? Did Mr. Cuello get a better deal elsewhere? In this instance, it’s not intafayring to want to know.

I close on this appalling note. Did you see the latest Cabinet report, the part where they are joining the anti-rum lobby? My, my, they who were going to legalize the dirty weed! There is a one-word saying for this: Judas!