by Colin Hyde
The hosts of The Whip have taken exception to recently published stories that question the health of our fish stock and reef, and they have responded almost as vociferously as Plus TV’s Wade and company have to marijuana. Eh, Wade, who can be quite bullish, now knows so much about weed that he can contradict top scientists at the UN.
Dear Hilly and Vaughan, it’s nothing new that our fish stock isn’t as healthy as it was 50 years ago. The groupers are gone! Our fish stock isn’t as healthy as it was 20 years ago. The sharks are not as common as they once were. The likely reason that we hit the quota in conchs early is because we have many more fisherfolk than we had before. Is it possible that the researchers’ call to increase the size of passable lobster tails came about because the lobster population is doing great?
Our habitat for fish, the reef system, is getting battered by high temperatures, agricultural and industrial wastes, and human waste. Some researchers say tourists covered in sunblock and insect repellents should be banned from swimming near the reefs. We were warned that the lion fish is a dangerous pest.
There is a healthy discussion that we need to have, and the Fisheries Department, while they continue to do great work, can’t own all of it—a big part of the reason for that being the department’s exposure to political influence. Our political leadership is on its heels because of people pressure. Remember that they agreed with the scientists about the change in the lobster industry, and then backed out.
I hope we aren’t losing an important discussion because you guys are fretting about the smooth-talking marine biologist, George Myvett, who does have an important role to play. Wa, if George has political ambitions he will get scrutinized by the people. I say, generally it is easier to identify problems than it is to solve them. George aside, it is easy to talk. With George in the crosshairs, it could be inferred from his discourses that he thinks there are way too many people who are licensed to fish.
Mexico’s Scheinbaum talks dropping the hammer on gang-glorifying music
A recent Associated Press story said Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum said she isn’t about prohibiting violent music, but she wants to reduce its popularity. The story said that “Sheinbaum vowed to launch a campaign to promote other, less violent musical styles that aren’t as linked to drug traffickers in an effort to stop glorifying them.”
In a 2023 story on Fox News, Salvador Rivera reported that “the popular Mexican tourist destination of Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo outlawed what are known as narcocorridos as it tries to cut down on violence in that part of the Yucatán Peninsula.” Rivera said narcocorridos are songs with “lyrics that romanticize and detail the exploits of drug traffickers”, some of them with “graphic descriptions of violent events.” The story noted that Cancun was not alone in adopting the policy, and that Cancun’s Mayor Ana Patricia Peralta, who “supported the banning of narcocorridos in her city”, said, “We can’t have any type of event where violence is promoted in one way or another.”
Some people who are about justifying lyrics that glorify gangs, unwholesome lyrics in general, said they were just words. Saying words are just words is like saying that food is just food. If food is just food, then we should have no concern about what goes into our pots. Hog up the Ramen, white bread, tinned sachiz, and soft drinks; food da food.
Every sober person knows that words can have far reaching impact. Someone made a link between Country music and suicide. I can see where if you can’t handle feeling sad you should stay away from that forlorn music. Some of us are gluttons for punishment; we actually thrive on it, but one man’s meat is another man’s poison. If yu can’t handle the pain, there’s no gain in playing somber music.
Sober people might be insulated from violent lyrics, but not everyone has that shield. Children and the young are particularly vulnerable, and there are adults who are angry or hate-filled who feed on the incendiary lyrics like a wolf pack on red meat.
PM told Commissioner, what? Police burning, what?
On this immigration story that The Whip said that, ehm, cynical Vasquez of Channel 7 is trying to sensationalize into a scandal, I heard Commissioner Chester say he had informed the PM of all he knew on the transgressions, and the PM told him to go after the culprits full-bore. When you fire off the cuff a lot, you are bound to say things. Commissioner, please tell us that you don’t need or want license or encouragement from the PM to do your job. Properly, yes, you told the PM about your progress on the investigation. Story done.
I think The Whip needs something substantial to lash, and I want to steer them to this revelation about our police burning planes, their doing what is as bad as burning rosewood flitches, because the planes end up back in the hands of the bad men. Burn cocaine, yes, but the plane is no more guilty of a crime than a gun or knife is, or, ehm, arsenic. We shouldn’t burn planes; drug dealers who burn their craft after landing their illicit cargo need to face an extra penalty for destroying such a valuable asset.
Hmm, The Whip might not want to touch this matter because there was something about the sales of drug planes not passing the transparency test. But those of us on the outside looking in should have no hesitation in declaring that we shouldn’t be compounding felonies. If no legit pilots want to buy the crafts, I bet our BDF can find use for them.
“Danimait” (Dynamite) horrors season opens
Ah, December, festive December, the season of good cheer! Yes, but, oh, horrors as well due to our fascination with bursting danimait all day and all night long. Somebody has to put a stop to this. A little danimait here, a little danimait there—sure we must have some tolerance for those whose idea of fun differs from ours. But too much can turn anything into sin.
Sin duda, most of us in the male category have sins here. The big boys in the neighborhood where I grew up, including some of my big brothers, it was a hobby of theirs to catch a little maklala, tie it to a sachiz tin, and blast the tin and maklala into the air with a little stick of dynamite. Bah, it was rite-of-passage back then to slingshot birds, just for fun. We didn’t appreciate our little animal friends back then.
This cowboy gun and pop-shot-loving fiend wouldn’t dare blanket condemn the danimait scene. But really, like the Krismos hat, some of these danimait are too daam big. And, oh woes, it looks like modern Belizean children have money to burn, because when they start lighting their bombs, it’s like dehn kyaahn stop.
Hmm, a story about is that some officers get a share in the spoils. It is for sure that the officers have cork in their ears. If they are moonlighting, well, we know why; they can always do with a little bonus. Maybe from the overflow of the Boledo money Ms. Narda can sweeten the package for our officers for Krismos, so that if they are participating in the unleashing of these madabig bombs, they can afford to desist.
Bully for our neighbors across the border who make a good trade off the cuetes, but we would be happier with them if they put the emphasis on less offensive pyrotechnics. These danimait, they make an offensive sound.