by Colin Hyde

Be proud of me that I didn’t topple off my stool when I read this Yahoo story by Angela Mae, with the title, “I’m on a $6,500 monthly retirement budget: 5 grocery items I can no longer afford.” Some people say heaven is right here on earth. Well, if we’re talking money, that blesséd place must be America.

You know you could get really sick watching how people in the rich world live. No, sir, I didn’t need to give that story the fine-toothed comb; a passing glance was more than enough to cause my stool to wobble. Boy, if Belizeans didn’t pack up in America and go on like dehn baan deh, and America didn’t do a few good things sometimes to earn a tidy share of good points, I’d, I’d, lose it on reading that obscenity. I’ll warn them, though, to please stop bragging to us about all they have.

No one could blame you if you didn’t have the stomach to read the story yourself, but because we all need to be abreast of things in this world, here’s this little snippet from the details of the austerity of Mr. George Yang struggling on his $6,500 monthly deposit in the bank. Mae says that for this Yang, “certain everyday grocery items are still a bit out of his price range. This doesn’t mean he never splurges on these goods, but it does mean some strategic shopping and cutbacks are necessary. Here are the top grocery items—and foods in general—that Yang said he generally skips or looks for cheaper alternatives.”

You know, I’m thinking we all need to go there. I like to be in America … everything free in America …

I think Maduro lost the election

You remember that report about US Senator Robert Kennedy saying that after traveling through the Americas south of Mexico, that if he had lived in the countries he visited, he would be left wing? Well, I think that anyone in our region who professes to love people, yet believes in the capitalist system, is either insincere or suffers from myopia. It is only in the European world that trickle-down can be a good thing, and that’s simply because they have so much wealth that the crumbs there are bigger than the meals in countries like ours. Knowing the real deal of trickle-down, I could never support it south of the Rio Grande. So, if I was Venezuelan, my vote would have been for the Chavez government.

Because Venezuela has been under tremendous pressure from the capitalist world, things haven’t worked as they could have, should have. No man is an island, no country is an island. Because of the pressure from the wealthy capitalist world, things have been miserable for the Venezuelan people on the economic front. The world of Chavista was at its peak in 2000, and it has been in decline since. And so, after two decades, the people there decided to go back to trickle-down that leaves the masses in poverty, but with a little crumbs.

I think Maduro lost the election. The 2022 census says Venezuela has a population of 28 million. Some reports say that over 7 million Venezuelans have fled the country, the majority of them because of hard economic times. That number seems high to me, but maybe that’s because I live in a country with 400,000 people. According to the Wikipedia, UNHCR puts the figure at 7.7 million since “Nicolás Maduro’s rise to power and the consolidation of Chavismo.” The “why” doesn’t change the fact that many Venezuelans noh hapi wid dehn government.

I think the Chavistas could have been more tactical when engaging the rich capitalist world. But that’s another story. Another story is that we in the Caribbean are wounded by that recent expansionist move by Maduro. A very disappointing story is the UDP, how vicious that party has become under its present leadership. Calling on our government to declare the Venezuelan election fraudulent is incredible, bordering on treasonous.

Another roadblock to my few dollars

Some things need repeating. I’m still owed $3 by a business place in the US, and while I might not have been persistent enough in my pursuit of what is legally mine, I haven’t given up. A friend who is a professional set out to set up a separate account in the US, which she’d allow me to use, but that wonderful plan fell through because of tax paperwork and other complications.

I am thinking to link with Brother Roy Davis. He lives in Belize City, he’s a very serious writer, and I wager he faces the same difficulty to reach our people in foreign places to sell a few pieces. There’s a local organization headquartered in Belize City which I believe can assist. I have to talk to Roy. He is perfectly placed to follow this case.

He didn’t kill or rape anybody; he’s sick

I could cry for this brother, a British zoologist who is in jail for sexual and other abuses of dogs. The story I have from NBC, by Mithil Aggarwal, says he was also convicted of “possessing child abuse material.” Ahem, in that disturbing case he is within our species. Ouch, Mithil says in the story that the brother was sentenced to “more than 10 years in prison in Australia after admitting to sexually abusing, torturing and killing dozens of dogs.” Certain animal rights agents aren’t happy that he “only” got 10 years. While animal cruelty is a very despicable thing, they should back off with this clamor for more punishment. There are people who get off murder charges with insanity pleas. The man is sick.

The Australians have to be crazy to call the guy’s name. They did. Maybe NBC needs some scolding too. I expect the NBC editor trampled principle and compassion because they thought that Australia being so way down there, nobody in our parts would know who the guy is. While I absolutely don’t buy that a teenager should be exempted from having his name called if he commits a violent crime, I will defend, insulate, a guy who sleeps with dogs. That brother needs serious counseling, not exposure and incarceration. The zoologist accepted that he had a psychological problem and said he regretted that he hadn’t sought counseling.

Some human beings carry heavy crosses. If you listen to people, it will seem that everyone does. Really, some crosses are too small to mention, and some are just between the ears. Of course, in the human world what’s going on between the ears takes a back seat only to the state of the soul. But we can’t escape that ear space, like the soul, isn’t tangible. Whoa there, our brother has some heavy cross there, and only if you are sick with hate you won’t see it.

The Wikipedia says there is insufficient research into human sexual attraction to animals, but one study in 2021 estimated that 2% of the human population might be that way. If I had to make a comment, I’d say that researcher had an agenda. However, if there is any truth there, then of a population of 400,000, 4,000 adults among us are not seeing the bovine species as just beef.

I’ve been excoriated far too often for logical comments. There was the guy who scolded me because I said people in the LGBTQ-plus shouldn’t dare sneer at those into bestiality. Well, I think that’s damned hypocrisy.

These sexual attractions that contribute nothing to the preservation of our species, I think they must be rooted in the time when all of us were one, created from the same dust. Some things seem impossible, but I accept that if a single human being can do it, all can. Every act involving our sexual organs that can’t produce children for our species, is in the rudeness category. I believe rude should be allowed to satisfy itself in its space, within reason. I’m not looking down on anyone. Every human being is my brother or sister. It’s all gud if you keep your rudeness in the closet where it belongs. I say to any Belizean who thinks their pig is another kind of pork, pray, try to curb that appetite, your beastly lust.

Returning to our zoologist, I’m not entirely accurate in my usage of his story. He put his deeds on social media, under a pseudonym; and yes, there’s this report of a collection of child porn. But he didn’t kill or rape or violate in any way any of his species.