State of Emergency in Trinidad and Tobago...

[Exile]

...starting at midnight. Just announced by PM. Coming in the face of public disquiet and unions over 5% salary cap by Gov to Public Sector workers...including Police who had a sickout day (rest and reflection) with varied success....
Unions say they will "lock down the country"....
Twelve murders in 2 days...
Crime being used as excuse but really attempt to muzzle the unions and clamp down on opposition.....will see.....
Peter-R what's your take?

[Don1]

Be safe

[Mosiah]

Send the police chief to Jamaica to find out how we managed to cut murders by over 40%. Ah tell unnu arready!

Seriously tho, sad to hear. I hope it gets better quickly!

[Gamma]

yes boss, as during your college days ... be safe...be careful.

[MdmeX]

Getting ready to ship Mo out - he can restore Ordah.............

[Exile]

All whe mi live unda curfew 9 pm to 5 am....Peter-R too....but him still deh a road....I am safely esconced at home.

[Mosiah]

Likkle trivia for you - in Spanish, the word for spouse and handcuff is the same.

[Exile]

Esposa? No es posible.

[Peter R]

to be precise the word for "wives"... esposas, appropriate for certain people.

Anyway, this place is like a ghost town, you know when KFC shut down at 6:30 pm is serious bizniz... even de stray dawg dem a stay home. It feel like seh dem gwoin have a shootout or duel at high noon except is night... all we need is some tumbleweed now fi complete de setting; Everyting lock up fi di lock dung...figget bout goin to movie, dinner, a late evening drink, going to the aforementioned KFC fi a two piece an fries, put gas inna cyar... ebryting lock up.... but I have some 12 year El Dorado waiting, in fact , excuse me...... ah yes, much better... now where was I? if you need a smoke and you out yuh in trouble... de place real quiet fi true, even de hooligan dem pon de hill above me nah play nuh music...

They're calling it a "limited" SOE... I'm not sure what that means as I haven't read the papers for an answer to that but basically anywhere in Trinidad where people live is under curfew... the hot spots have melded together to make one big hot spot.

I'm not sure what they expect to achieve...this might be just a big band-aid that won't heal the festering wound; on the other hand they may have gotten information that can only be acted on with dispatch under a SOE.

Anyway, curfew lifts at 5AM... then I can go out and replenish my supplies.

[Exile]

The 12-yo El Dorado comes to mind....could pass by early tomorrow on my way home....lol...
THis SOE is a huge sham...has nothing to do with crime...its to pre-empt the Unions and any possible support and fallout that may have followed....I think it was poorely handled...and in the MIDDLE of Independence????( Aug 31).
So the police beat and brutalize a few ghetoo youth, soldier rough some youth etc. - how does that solve crime??? Yu tink the urban youths and so-called 'bandits' are the source of the problem....yu think dem making the contacts in Colombia to bring in the coke, guns and drugs from Venezuela???
What about the so-called financiers of political parties, chairmen of boards, downtown businessmen, uptown backbenchers....
They closing the gate after the horse gone true....
Tired a di politician dem now....and de AG on TV with the simplistic arguments...
Mek mi whee l a chune fi dem....
Sing it:

It takes a revolution (revolution) to make a solution;
(doo-doo-doo-doo)
Too much confusion (aaa-aaah), so much frustration, eh!
I don't wanna live in the park (live in the park);
Can't trust no shadows after dark (shadows after dark), yeah-eh!
So, my friend, I wish that you could see,
Like a bird in the tree, the prisoners must be free, yeah! (free)

Never make a politician (aaa-aaah) grant you a favour;
(doo-doo-doo-doo)
They will always want (aaa-aaah) to control you forever, eh!
(forever, forever)
So if a fire make it burn (make it burn, make it burn)
And if a blood make ya run (make ya run, run, run),
Rasta de 'pon top (aaa-aaah), can't you see? (doo-doo-doo-doo)
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/aGp ]
So you can't predict the flop. Eh-eh! (doo-doo-doo-doo)

We got lightning (lightning), thunder (thunder),
brimstone (brimstone) and fire - fire (fire, fire);
Lightning (lightning), thunder (thunder),
brr-brimstone (brimstone) and fire - fiyah - fire - fiyah!
(fire, fire)

Kill, cramp and paralyze all weak at conception;
(aaa-aaah, doo-doo-doo-doo)
Wipe them out of creation (creation), yeah-eah! (creation)
Wa-Jah, Jah, Jah! Wa-Jah, Jah, Jah! (creation)
Wa-Jah, Jah, Jah! (creation)

Oh! Let i'es is i'es (i'es), in i'es is black (i'es),
In i'es is red (i'es), in i'es is dread.

Let righteousness cover the earth
Like the water (aaa-aaah) cover the sea, yeah! Yeah!

Lightning (lightning), doo-doo-doo (thunder),
doo-doo-doo (brimstone), doo-doo-doo (fire, fire);
A lightning (lightning), thunder (thunder),
brimstone (brimstone) and fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5YvRlQBPSc

[Mosiah]

to be precise the word for "wives"... esposas, appropriate for certain people.

But Peter R, you can't have one handcuff! Well, you can but it would be like you don't have any.

Tumbleweed...you did paint an OK Corral picture!

[Mosiah]

Yuh nuh need Peter R El Dorado! Look like yuh just boungs off some a yuh own a while ago!

[Peter R]

Just like yuh can't have just one woman... although at my age one is more than enough...

I agree with Exile on the SOE here; the goals are unclear. It isn't enough to say it is to "reduce crime". Just what are the security forces doing that they couldn't do without a SOE is the question. If they answered that clearly I could buy into it more... however, the move tends to be supported as people are generally fed up and want to see something done... and this supposedly is "something".

[Peter R]

Yuh have a guitar? One at my house yu kno... two shot a el dorado an yu could be performing.

Dentist this afternoon but should be home by 4pm.