The Manicou Report

Manicou Abuse

No I haven’t abandoned my blog. Yes, I’ve been neglectful. Guilty as charged, sentenced to time served. Let’s concentrate on the way forward (to quote Dubya again. There is something wrong with me when I begin quoting Dubya). By the way Tech Tuesday returns next week.

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Ex-Senator Harry Mungalsingh

‘Tis so sad to make familiar mistakes.

Harry Mungalsingh (Express Photo)

He was wrong. He said he was caught up in the heat of the moment (although he was reading from a script at the time) He’s sorry, however. But he was fired (as he should have been). Kudos to the UNC for acting quickly and decisively.

But what got me, is how could a man be so emboldened (to use Dubya’s word) to say what he did? Do people really think and talk like this? Was this a bad joke that Mungalsigh mistook for a good idea.

Although I’m not entirely sure about the topic, this reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine a while back. I think he was talking to me about Hinduism and was trying to illustrate to me some Hindu philosophy or something like that. Anyway, he was telling me about a question he had asked his pundit about crime and the answer his pundit gave. The question was, “Since people who commit crime seem to come from certain areas, would it be ethical to seal of their communities and prevent them from mixing with the rest of us?”

“No,” the pundit says, “you can’t do that because blah, blah, blah.”

After he related the pundit’s answer, he smiled gleefully as though he had laid a golden egg right there in front of me.

The reason I use the “blah, blah, blah there is not to disrespect the pundit or his answer, I think I remember it being right and fitting, but to be honest I can’t really remember it because I was still stuck on the question. I sat there thinking, “you’ve had thoughts about walling-off communities? Who are you? Have I really known you for 20 years?”

And so when it comes to Mungalsing, it’s the thought that counts. While the question is disturbing in itself, it’s Mungalsingh’s thoughts I’m troubled by. Who else thinks like this?

Read Atillah Springer’s thoughts on the matter.

Posted in Crime, Personal Story, Race, Social Issues, UNC | 6 Comments »

Trinidad at a glance 5

Trinidad at a glance - numero cinco.

In season:

Oranges and Sapodillas (this one’s for you Karabana). Mangoes are begining to appear.

Hot Songs:

A callaloo of dying soca tunes. It’s hard to pinpoint what’s really hot.

Weather:

Cool night. Days are getting hotter. It is, after all, the dry season.

CJ Sat Sharma

Hot topic:

Luckily for Chief Justices, finding court clothes is not an issue. Ours is back in court. Also Papa Patos resumes impeachment proceedings against him.

In the Air:

The Cricket World Cup. Is the Caribbean ready? Are the West Indies ready? Should the minnows (i.e. the non-test-playing teams like Canada and Bermuda) be allowed to play in the CWC with the big boys?

Name of New Virus going around:

Jumbie - of course. Please don’t jumbie me.

(Photo from the Newsday)

New Drug Bust:

Someone tried to smuggle $5M worth of cocaine into Trinidad by hiding it inside caraili pods. There’s no word on the value or fate of the nasty caraili - two birds with one stone in my opinion.

Sports:

The Trinidad & Tobago cricket team, led by captain Darren Ganga won back-to-back Carib Beer Series trophies. On the heals of winning West Indies Player of the Year, you think the boy would be a shoo-in for the World Cup squad. Not so.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 6 Comments »