The farce that is National Heroes Day

Government is determined to ensure that the selection of 'National Heroes' remains in complete control of the Government, rather than the community.

Why the devil can't the committee responsible for choosing the candidates, be composed of primarily persons unaffiliated with Government at all? Why not a group of historians and educators?

The MP who made the announcement made this weird quip with regard to having people who weren't politicians:

"We have looked at where they tried that in other jurisdictions, such as in the Caribbean, and it did not work."

Please, please, elaborate.

Anyway, until we get a suitable explanation, the whole process is an even bigger farce and waste of resources than before.

She (the Government Minister) has effectively said that a panel of politicians from the ruling party is a better solution than having respected independent voices decide. A complete and disdainful farce.

Return of traffic

I sure don't miss when schools are out for summer vacation, traffic seems to double when schools are in.

We hear all the usual reasons, of course, but nothing's ever been done to try to encourage a curbing of morning road traffic.

Ho hum, I suppose. Let the road rage continue.
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Respect religion even if it differs from your own

I could be flabbergasted at the selfishness and unawareness of the pastor of that Church that wants to have a "Burn the Koran" day, but it's hard to reason something to a guy and his followers that they're unwilling to listen to.

I get the 'free speech' angle of it, but seriously, *IF* the guy wanted to see Islam stamped out or whatnot, why would he consent if the site for the mosque in Manhattan was moved a few more blocks away from Ground Zero?

Here's the thing. It's totally unnecessary. First off, in the same manner that Christianity is, not all Muslims are out to destroy non-believers. Secondly, if you want to show your desire to honour Septebmer 11th 2001 and bring back Christian values or whatever you're planning, there are TONS of ways that don't involve inflammatory (excuse the pun) gestures like burning books which is considered holy and sacred to members of another faith.

Instead, this pastor went right out and got people's blood boiling all over the world. Way to intensify the tension in dangerous areas like Afghanistan, Mr. Pastor, and potentially inciting violence.

Treasure life

Stop the shooting, the slashing, the knifing.

Stop the robbing.

Stop the lying.

Life and love seem so easily squandered nowadays, and it's really senseless. Don't we know that every day on Earth is a gift and a blessing? Some people, many people, aren't as fortunate. Young and old alike.

Honest work for honest pay. Respecting the other person's property. Valuing life as if it were your own.

Our society needs to collectively start to stem this tide of negativity.

August Heat (should've stayed at the office)

How cruel is it when you get home after a day at the office and the electricity's out at home?

No AC.
No fan.
Not even a cooling drink.

Grr, Belco. Help us out already...

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Bored of politrix

Dog days of summer, indeed. The month's half over and this marks the first post of the month. Mind you, I'm not alone in the blogging community when it comes to posting topics. I think many of my fellow bloggers are going through some combination of R&R, apathy to the situations going on in this country, frustration with the continued state of political affairs.

I had a 'State of the Blogosphere' topic I wanted to go with but I don't even know if it's worth the effort. Then came the outcry of an assasination attempt. And in typical fashion, the established media seized the opportunity to further 'probe' into the goings on of an online forum (not to be confused with a blog, although many locals lump the two together).

Whatever, Government and the mass media.

People are still getting attacked, people are still frustrated and we have this not-so-pretty smokescreen (for who knows what) that could easily be debunked by freaking common sense.

Common sense, people.

Changing the Municipalities Act, et al

One of the more unpopular bills that has come up in recent times (I suppose the Gambling proposal ranks higher) is this Municipalities Reform Act. The public appears to be overwhelmingly against this, namely on the basis that it's seen as Government taking over certain aspects of the Corporation of Hamilton's functions (and thus drowning it in its own bureaucracy), yet the ruling government party is adamant that this must be done, and also be given priority.

Personally, stamping out the gun violence and crime ranks as a much higher issue to me (as well as issues dealing with the economy, tourism, traffic and road use) but ces't la vie, I suppose.

One thing that bugs me about the way that Government has gone about this, is that apparently up to $800,000 - that's eight hundred thousand dollars - went to some overseas consulting firm for the purpose of allegedly determining how to reform the CoH and Corporation of St. George's. However the findings of the report have not come close to sniffing the air. Nobody outside of the PLP inner circle appears to know the findings of this expensive study. Makes one wonder if the purpose of the consultants was instead, how to come up with a bill to successfully put forward a bill which can serve Government's wishes, while yet appearing not to be the prophecy of doom that the CoH may think will happen (and have enough lingo that certain MPs can use to deflect criticism).

I dunno. More astute and critical posts exist at Vexed Bermoothes and Politics.bm, and I'm sure they and other local sites will have posts on the fallout soon enough.