Mystics & Critics

Listen nah!

https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=1SiylvmFI_8

Eh? 1-(C)critics=(M)mystics. I may have discovered a formula or reconfigured a setting for life. Ta da!
Let me explain. The soul of many a man left the body when the body consumed much pressure. Go back in time and you will begin to realize. The critics are real. They do not leave a void for pressure production is their target. If you dare to ask me, I will say try to revisit history, those moments in time,
*when unions and power revolutions rallied for a common cause,
*when the nickname 'dunce' was the dancing tune,
*when structures given to the environment underwent corruption surgery.
The result of critics was mystics. The soul left the body. Surgery resulted in death because we mis-diagnosed, so we mis-treated. True dat talk. Has history been kind to our country leaders? While diverse tails wag, we are all part of our country's history as difficult as it is for tongues to confess. To be a judge is a big deal for me for I do not like engaging in the creation of mystics. I think that is a job for the universal creator. The mystical perhaps merge to unfold future mysteries, that which we ponder upon, the good-luck, that which the land has been blessed with thus far.
And so I continue to write, encouraged once upon a time by your words of hope and by your acts of dignity, honesty and perseverance. History has judged you harshly and yet you came clean without any marks of blemish. Wherever you go, may the angels watch over you as you bless this land, in life as in death, for you were truly a 'remarkable' man, and many in the generations to come, will be proud to know that you were once, twice, three times a beloved Prime Minister. It's in your legacy! To the members of the immediate family, my condolences, if you should ever read this blog.
In memory of an honorable man (1946-2016)

Happy Father's Day 2016

Precious memories, how they linger, how they ever cross my soul. That is song #1 on my top chart. And the other is from my favorite singer Celine, who sings 'wherever you are, you open the door, and I believe my heart will go on'
Music and food on the number-line, how many times it's played or not played and how many times we had it or passed it off, connect the dots for a box-plot. It either rolls me forwards, backwards or sideways. Sunday is fathers day, just like it was in the years gone by. I said my good-byes & I bid my farewell many a times til that last farewell in 2013. It wasn't like those creamy pumpkin soup events I knew I ought to have skipped. To celebrate father's day, I'd been invited out to surprising menus like creamy pumpkin soup. Please! I knew the classic pumpkin soup at home was a more healthy choice if only I made it then. To make that classic pumpkin soup, I had to learn first to unlearn. Adding cream always looks good, smells good, tastes good, but what is good on the outside, is it always good on the inside?! My choices were subject to the external stimuli. I could make my own decisions but choices sometimes seem to be an obligated duty. Mind you, I was never fed creamy pumpkin soup on father's day at work. I guess mercy pleaded for me & I was very fortunate then in those latter years, not to have been called to work on father's day. As though we were blessed with this time granted in our favor by a supreme force, it seemed like time was not ours. Such were the effects of the external stimuli when sensitivity wasn't always ready. So we shall not ponder on it as he who dwells on negativism breeds negativism, whereas he who dwells in the house of God lives forever, so Hi-5 to all the fathers who work on father's day! Classic pumpkin soup is definitely a healthier preference to the creamy pumpkin soup since the heart must go on. From the transcendental dialectic to the analytic therefore, there's no real roots that's rational enough for a transcendental equation?
(In loving memory of my father, November 2013)

Acts Of Love vs The Economics Of Love 

(The Resurrection of an extra-ordinary brother)



So tell me, when last did you do an act of love?

Everyday, I try to do it for the living and the dead. Yes, by writing this blog, it is an act of love for my dearly beloved extra-ordinary brother who has passed on.

I tell you truly, this blog begins with a prayer

~ O My God, I love you above all things, in my heart and in my soul. I love my neighbor as myself. I forgive those who have injured me and ask pardon for those whom I have injured~

Heaven must have called his name in 2014! He was the eldest of three siblings, born with physical and mental challenges to an extended family environment not without 'resource-trap' challenges. Yet, I remember his distinctive capability and capacity to love. 

Each morning, he would obediently walk to school. Autism, attention deficit disorder, down syndrome with distinguished physical outlook, characterized him and led to his lack of interest and early drop-out.

This early drop-out enabled him to freely work voluntarily for all other members of his family. It's also 'the struggle' according to his earthly mother. Within this struggle or 'straddling years' as I coin it, he'd become everyone's playmate. To those integrated within his networks, #cucumberlady #porkman #beefman #watchman #tallboy #shoemaker #blueboy #lassytruck #tailorman & so many others whom I cannot recall, there was an unforgettable bond. Not a day passes by without a shout-out from his comrades, his associates in the business of commerce.  To me his younger sister, he tried to be protective (in his early life) even though ironically, he needed protection (more in his later life). I say this, in memory of our childhood days within our garden, when an insect would suddenly appear out of nowhere and while my sibling ran, I stood and screamed. This extra-ordinary brother stayed with me, held my hand and led me out of the garden into safety indoors. An act of love!

There were days when he was my babysitter, when life demanded more time from our parents. Like silly kids, we saw him as the ugly duckling, from public comments like long-chin. We sometimes mischievously hid his toy ie a bunch of keys. While he did frantic searches and screams, he would be scolded by our parents for screaming and we would foolishly giggle & grin. This extraordinary human brother baptised with innocence was born without malice, evil or ill-will for he never knew how to get even, the way the ordinary human was gifted! Counting on, in the early days of business, life was difficult and even moreso for an eldest child of immigrant parents, having been born mentally and physically disabled, creating ever increasing parental challenges. Working for Maslow's low level needs of food and shelter, everyone was able to benefit from his spirit of co-operation for hard work. Daily, he fed the chickens & the ducks so families can have a meal. Daily living meant filling bags of salt, sugar, rice and flour for mum and dad to weigh and package aside for when shop re-opens the next day. Nightly living meant re-packing the refridgerators with bottles of beers, sodas and packets of milk and juices. Sundays meant cleaning from inside to the outside of even the public urinal. All the while, everyone else attended school with lessons, home-work and minor chores after school hours. No one was given the luxury of extra-curricular activities due to limitations of resource availability, prioritizing and the notion of equal opportunity for all family members.
My line of focus now shifts from the 'acts of love' to the 'economics of love'.
These simple sacrificial acts of love given and received by him was all-inclusive. Most people who crossed his path accepted him for who he was. Moreso, opportunity cost and savings resulted from his innate desire to serve. He was happy to give and to serve and he was indeed an architect of this contagion of happiness, visible through his network. His challenges opened opportunities for family members. Through wage savings, cost benefits realized profits, thus breaking grounds to enable a crossover into the halls of professional lives.
There were no changes to the price of his love! The quantity demanded of his love varied with different folks and if a small percentage unfamiliar may have looked with indifference, the price of his love created win-win for family and community. Most folks within the community knew him then, and the price elasticity of his love was perfectly elastic. This price level was not measured monetarily since it remained the basic needs of food and shelter, by whomsoever would take him as his own. Whatever you gave him to eat or wear, he never complained. He grew up under a huge hot galvanized shed once owned and used by the Portuguese as a shop and an abode, as best as I can describe those initial living conditions. The condition was humbly Christ-like, in that whatsoever you did for my brothers, you did for me!
Changes came naturally with time. The transformation came through cultural changes in adopting and fusing eastern and western values. The gradual disintegration from extended family to nuclear family settings created scenes of division and brought on even greater mental health challenges for him as an individual as he grew in self-awareness of his own limitations and dependency syndrome.
I do not beg to differ with the theory of the indifference curve and it's practicality with the budget constraint. Each family member would have different levels of satisfaction according to utilitarianism. And, the welfare of the society is dependent on the strength of each family's output, as they too, seek to spread their wings, for generations to come!

Upon his death, we do not to seek to judge, but the song "I will serve you" from 'Missionaries Of The Poor', a collection of songs by Fr Richard Ho Lung, was played most appropriately at his funeral to his memory and in his honor.

The manager qualities

MY DADDY

Imagine a little boy leaving the comforts of his hometown in the heights of World War II during communism to join his parents to help raise his siblings within a community so disparately different and then by God's grace his own family. I remember ...his smiling face, his love for birds and fishes, his deep love for everyone. I remember ...his loud voice on the phone with friends family & neighbours. I remember ...him working very hard and making sacrifices I remember ...him taking us to church I remember ...him as a faithful and obedient son. Now to bring a long story to a quick end, he lived a simple life from humble beginnings to a happy ending! I can go on to describe the best of my father but time doesn't permit, nor does the fit of superior teachings with that of his inferior life. For how can I describe him as visionary when he wasn't perhaps quite as in my most honest opinion, he otherwise might have been filthy rich and I would have been a 'spoilt brat' So the simplest explanation of his visionary life was that his family should be educated because the government in those days instilled education as a way out of poverty. He was no astute businessman, he worked for the extended rather than a nuclear family as dictated by the cultural norms of his times. He had no worldly ambitions, for as bold as I am to daresay he never had the Caribbean spirit to be a Caribbean man for he never had eyes for common women other than my mother, the uncommon woman. So in this sense, he was pragmatic. An exemplar of hard-work and I cant think of anyone he'd have coached to be as hard-working other than my special extra-ordinary brother who also passed on from this life. This will be my next blog. Hope you enjoy reading about my past as much I did enjoy writing!

The Euphoria Of The Media

What is this? Whaaaat? Not I says the media!! Right or wrong? You the readers, tonight you form a jury. This blog occurs so co-incidentally with the changing of "PNM Abroad" on Facebook to "Speak Out Trinidad & Tobago" that it must have been some divine revelation, yes?   Let your voices be heard ! WHY? WHY? WHY? Well, the recent outbursts from Minister Anil about Anika Gumbs-Sandiford's article about the need to investigate if she drives a Honda car, lives in the East, travels to Miami to buy shoes, did take many by surprise. This was backed by the Prime Minister's revelations that there are rogue elements in the media.   Ask if there are any truths to the statements and the voices of MATT seemingly blend in a silent chorus. One editor opted to remain silent and speak only through the company's lawyers and this may be due process.  Still, should we not speak out Trinidad & Tobago?  Is it that the theory of games in the prisoner's dilemma, has superseded MATT's position of an attack on press freedom? Is it that journalists now view attack as a norm? Silence means consent, an act of co-operation, so that in so doing, journalists are perhaps subscribing to the the gains from cheating today that must outweigh the credible promises minus the credible threats of tomorrow. While I am not fully aware of the current wages of journalists by industry standards, the threat of defamation is so surreal. The T&T constitution is in a state of reform or amendment as they say, whereas in the US constitution through a Bill Of Rights, Shield Law exists, to protect journalists from revealing sources of information or disclosing personal information.  Our sovereignty is volatile, isn't it? 

Cupid strikes!

It is the day after Valentine's Day! Happy Belated Valentine to all. Better late than never when Cupid strikes, because love is patient and kind. Because I crave humor & happiness, I must share a heartful of this creation to all my readers wherever you are in this global Internet space.  I begin with the end in mind, my hopeless youthful creative space of: When I was a child, the sight of police or strangers instilled in me a feeling of fear because I didn't know what to say to them or what they would say to me. When I was a child, the smell of cane was as sweet as a chocolate or rose. When I was a child, I knew that the word 'cock-set' meant smoky fumes to prevent a mosquito from biting me.  When I was a child, I knew cricket was 'bat and ball'. When I was a child, I  met with many friends everywhere and played many games and sang many songs, but I didn't know the words Internet and computer. When I was a child, I knew the word Christmas and what it meant. When I was a child, I never knew the word 'Valentine' much less it's meaning. Now that I am not a child, I know differently.  I know as an adult, that the police is meant to be everywhere and stranger is derived from the word 'strange'  I know as an adult, I no longer smell the sweet scent of cane. I know as an adult, the double meaning of 'cock-set', haha! I know as an adult, cricket is an escape to stardom for many so destined. I know as an adult, I play games only on a computer and the Internet can sing songs for me. But what a bonus! As an adult, I know two words 'Christmas and Valentine', and that they both convey the messages of peace and love. Bravo!  And wait, Valentine is not just for lovers. It is a time of giving, as symbolic as Christmas is to giving gifts to loved ones or to charity. Cupid strikes at the heart of every deal. The relationship deal between parent and child, the sibling deal amongst siblings, the networks of peer-to-peer deal, and of course, also in the corporate world, where the employee can engage the boss in a futures contract to cement that employer-employee bond. As visionary as I dare to be, time is my deciding factor as trust bonds may have been broken in unsettled disputes. The day will come when barriers to formal structures will be removed and bosses can freely treat a more favored employee to a Valentine lunch or Valentine gift, thus engaging beyond the veil of ignorance to uplift and produce more freely.  To the owners this blog, my intent is never to plagiarise, but to uplift in every sphere, whether the intent is to help market a university by generating interest on a said topic or simply to pursue my self-inspired personal ambition to become an author. It is a simple cause for the common good on common grounds that I presume we all share. Knowledge is of no use if it cannot be shared. It is often said that 'trouble shared is trouble halved and joy shared is joy doubled'. This is the beginning of greater expectations in the years that lie ahead. O what a joy it is to have a Valentine! 

Towards Independence

As Trinidad & Tobago approaches the 50th anniversary of her independence, it's a time when senses revocate &/or reunite.
This nation's independence was seen through the kaleidoscope of Dr Eric Eustace Williams whose colorful light rays diffused and refracted amongst a mixed population of young and old.
Our Independence dared the sense of hearing and seeing on 31st August 1962 with a ceremony that marked the lowering of the Union Jack and the hoisting up of a national flag, red white and black. Red represents the vitality of the land and it's people. White symbolizes water and the purity of our aspirations. Black is the earth surrounded by water. 
History had begun the right to write through colours of every creed and race with a newly idolized sense of feel when a new preacher roared to the delight of its mass populis, 'massa day done'
Yet from Grande Anse Declaration, the Treaty Of  Chaguaramas was born in 1973. Years later in 2010, came the Maritime Treaty with Grenada! 
Today, the audacity of hope still resides in me as I rejuvenate those moments 'the significant meaning of my country's flag'.
What did it mean then for those who were there? What does it mean now for the youth in the land of my birth? What will it mean for the significant others, the unborn, the future generations?
http://id-id.facebook.com/notes/team-unc-cop/opposition-leader-ca...ada/112441685456082 comment_id=296570&offset=0&total_comments=13
I cannot speak for those without a voice. I speak that you may heed the voice of the one greater than you, the one who sent you, the one that guides your thoughts so that you will be remembered now, forever and always. 
With boundless faith in our destiny, the future rests upon our common understanding for greater tolerance. We do not stand in isolation, as a nation that is truly independent in thought and deed. We have one aspiration which is equality and fairplay for every creed and race. Our voices blend in a unique chorus with our Caribbean counterparts as we stand side by side our islands in times of perseverance or persecution. We remain true to the ideals of Caribbean unity blessed by the Caribbean spirit of collaboration, to beckon a regional force in a global village where solid barriers to protection of Caribbean beliefs will form the nurturing grounds for the unborn.
It is with hope that the legacy of Independence will taste sweeter tomorrow than yesterday or today for the unborn. 

Ab initio, "The Passion", Ad infinitum !

This title translates as follows:
From the beginning, The Passion, to continue forever!

Ad valorem translates to - add value- to "Harry Potter" and "Fifty Shades"

We begin with some rhetorical questions. Can it be a natural evolution of the emotive sense? Can it be revolutionary authors initiating new motives for a newly re-defined generation? Then we can expect transformation to excellence, nothing but the best for you and perhaps for me too, lol.
JK Rowlings and EL James appeal to different target markets. 
JK Rowlings, the author of Harry Potter distinguished her ambition through the eyes & the ears of children with her unique flavor of characters. It is quite a significant and advanced pace of fiction writing from 'The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe'. The movies followed. 
EL James, the author of Fifty Shades, she too has also distinguished herself for women with a flavor for the erotic, romantic side. The movie I understand, is in the makings and is yet to be released.
Social media has moved me to blog on these two remarkably talented women.
From nothing to everything, from nobody to somebody, won't you say?!
Interestingly, why did children cling to these thrillers & why did women also?
What has changed or what will change? To some of us who prefer to be passively neutral in commentaries, I daresay that The Passion, brings life worthy of lessons, in an equation that will bring moral value upliftment which equals the benefit to society, moreso in a global village hemisphere. The emotive plot through 'The Passion' is ever present with a traditional flavor, yet religion has been written in the Bible, however named, be it Bhagavad Gita or The Quran, as 'The Law that man must follow'. 
Perhaps, a revocation through transformation has begun. 
I end this blog with a quote from psalm 46:10
Be still and know that I am God,
I will be exalted among nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.

Outta de senses?

Friday 22nd June 2012 
http://www.guardian.co.tt
BC Pires page A25 .... Father's feminism.... For God so loved the world that he gave his son to suffer & die, in a democracy?
Patricia McIntosh  page A27 .... There are local experts to do the job... Talent exist not just in construction sector, but also in education?
Richard Lord page A5.... Free HPV vaccines.... The vaccine costing the government $6m, so what is free?

Sensing The Photo Blogger In Me

Photography... Is not about amateur photographers, oh no!
It is about to tap all the senses. Yup! Even the sense of touch & sound ;-) 
Amazing by Grace eh? 
Well, I'm about to shoot the photo! If you see it, you feel it, you taste it, you hear it, you can talk about it by leaving a comment.
Ok, food my favorite topic, you can 'taste' it. I have eaten food but rarely  tasted good-looking food, you know a chef's speciality like the ones that the cameras have acted upon. Tell me when you have tasted photo foods and whether it looks like the taste, ok? With the exception of gyros, doubles, roti with curry duck & pelau, my opinion doesn't matter, because the photos sure taste delicious, yummo! With all sense of humility, I must confess now if you have not guessed already, that I am just an amateur photographer trying to write a photo blog.
Wedding photos, details, especially the rings matter, so can you 'see' it? The  decor, the cake, the bridal dress the groom & his bess man ;) Touch the camera, apply various shutter speeds, do u 'hear' songs of photography ie click flash? Noise commanded by motion sensors in the camera to shoot moving subjects, and yes, shadow means 'noise' to the professionals! 
Portrait photos are by no means simple! Masculine portraits differ significantly from feminine portraits pose although there are minor similarities. Both use a common backdrop colour of white, black or green. 
In masculine pose, the head is tilted slightly to the lower shoulder while in feminine pose, the head is tilted forward slightly to the side of the upper shoulder. The straight face towards to the camera is used for business. There is seven-eights & three-quarters head tilt and profile angle for your information. I happen to be around photographers, what a co-incidence for my personal knowledge sensing expansion! 
Hair light is common for both to give some shine & texture. 
In studio portraits, if the colour of the shirt or top is white, the more preferred option is a  contrasting backdrop colour such as black otherwise the subject's clothes will blend in & the face being highlighted will look fatter. Contrasting backdrop colours make the subject look slimmer. For more slender facial portraits, the subject's nose is pointed towards the main light, casting a shadow from short lighting, so that broad lighting is not the preferential choice for most women. Keeping the arms away from the body also gives a more slender pose.  A photographer can easily choose to capture or not capture a woman's double chin. You get the 'feeling'? Shrieking with laughter, a boyfriend will either want to touch or not touch this woman's face whether in dream photo by virtual reality, or physical realm! And, a man is bound to talk about a 'metro' woman in any rumshop after a few drinks, lol.

Judge and jury sensing

The CCJ as the appellate court of the Caribbean, a time for Caribbean jurisprudence! It comes at a time for T&T not without reservations. --"Be it resolved that the CCJ be the final court of appeal only in criminal matters."-- Civil matters may still go to the Privy Council. Huh? 
1) The International Criminal Court Of Justice exists. 
2) Death penalty must go through the Privy Council.
3) Privy council will query matters relative to the constitution.
How good does the statement look on paper? How good does it sound? 
Romney A Smoller, Dean of appellate advocacy from 'Washington and Lee School Of Law' teaches us that it is a difficult course to steer especially when experienced lawyers and judges may lead you through to their argument.
In preparing the brief for appellate advocacy, one must create a winning strategy. What is the likely defense position & how can I win the defense argument? It must be solid with concrete confidence portrayed through voice & posture. 'Never use the word like, always agree with the judge to disagree in any ambiguous circumstances ', Dean Romney quips. 
A lawyer is after all a persuasive profession :)

Lacking the common sense

Here I go again! The future is in some sense patterned by our past. How?
Well from our own experiences, here's how my story evolves.
One Christmas morning about 7am, Lystra was knocking on our galvanise gate. Mum was just about to cut that black cake for us kids. Oh! The smell of black cake reminds me of this incident. I was about 6years of age and my brother was about 2yrs of age. Just WHY did Lystra have to knock on our gate? We were upset as kids. 'Just one moment, let me see what Lystra wants,' mum instructs us. Well, fight break out between two kids on Christmas morning. I cannot remember the reasons why silly kids fight, but I got my share of buff soon after when mum returned to cut us the cake. 
The reasons were:
1) I was elder so I should set an example for my younger brother
2) Lystra wanted to buy half dozen of eggs to bake her cake 
3) We already had our cake out the oven, her last 6 eggs she kept to bake another cake for the New Year was sold 
4) Lystra didnt have time to purchase her eggs before Christmas and when we can help others in a situation, we must. 
We sulked as kids even though we got to enjoy mum's freshly baked black cake. We blamed Lystra for our fight & that she spoilt our Christmas Day & how she should have bought her eggs the day before or in a grocery somewhere else. Only in a chinese shop, one could have gone knocking & buying groceries 24 x 7. Yes, even on Christmas Day. 
Silly kids we were, we didn't speak to Lystra for a week. As we mature now, I for one remember the smell of black cake & this "sense of smell" lures me back vividly to a fight on Christmas morning with my sibling and mum's love and values. Mind you, no one else was up from bed yet as they closed shop late on Christmas Eve night. All the men were still asleep but mum was up baking for us & answering Lystra & teaching us the true meaning of Christmas ie sharing, loving, giving. 
And so we have grown up to be who we are now, servants to others, even though it's the invisible inner trait.
The "sense of sight" teaches me yet another priceless treasure. From the movies, Asian and Catholic values differ significantly from  Western culture. In US schools, teenage pregnancy by girls ain't no "taboo". This trend is being emulated in T&T perhaps? The Minister Of Education Dr Tim Gopeesingh stated 'teenage girl pregnancy rate was rising'  in the news. The more liberalized American girl would work and study to pay for her tertiary education in a restaurant, or the parents will take a loan. Upon graduation, the kid will repay the loan. Aren't kids in the Caribbean happier because sterling leadership paved that road for us? The leadership from Caribbean governments to parental sacrifices throughout the generations is perhaps a lesson for American family culture to yearn to learn. Gradually though, the creeping dictatorial influences of American culture idolizes & implants it's values on our Afro-Trinidadian girls who see Nicki Minaj, Beyonce & Lady Gaga as personal mantras. Still, it's difficult to penetrate an ethnic population whose cultural roots are deeply entrenched by the presence of religion through the extended family. Thank God then for the sense of sight or foresight?! 

Sense Of Order vs Sense Of Chaos

Without prejudice, I know the pen is a mightier than the sword so I will refrain from statements of unqualifying opinions. Haha! Since I do not have any benchmarks to measure this opinion against, it remains a debatable paper for research. 
As I started writing this blog, a friend called me....my thought process got in chaos mode, lol. I needed to recollect my senses from whence do I begin & from whence do I end? 
I begin with the topic at my disposal & I draw reference to the use of photoshop. As in all things, there's good sensing vs evil sensing. I have always viewed this piece of software as a thing without integrity likened to whoever created it. In recent times, in coming to my senses, I realized that I was just so wrong. What struck me was  a particular picture taken out by a reputable photographer who works for a reputable agency! This photo was a pool with three kids who are minors in the Beetham area in Trinidad circulating in a social media website for the world to view. I wondered to myself as so many folks complimented and praised the photographer & the photo.
1) Did the photographer obtain written consent from the kids' parents to circulate in social media this photo, with the absence of adults?
2) According to the UN convention on the rights of a child, section 16, every child has a right to privacy.
http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
The sense of chaos seems so unqualified since it could not seemingly decipher right from wrong as all either complimented the photo for a front page magazine, or criticized the priorities of the parents & whether the child had a right to that level of happiness deemed a luxury by some given their poverty conditions.
The sense of order had not yet recognized that photoshop was useful here to blur the faces of the minors as each kid had not received parental consent, was not in public space as the pool was outside their one bedroom home & not a single adult was present in the picture. The picture had been circulating in a social media site, so where is the privacy rights of the child or the consent form?
Out of a sense of chaos came a sense of order! Photoshop software can provide justice & integrity to help rule the world as in this case for child privacy rights :)
Another case with esteemed interest of order sensing vs chaos sensing lie in the case of the Vatican's Pope Benedict XVI money laundering accusation by the Obamacare administration. The order lies in the US administration of justice laying down the rules for justice in American soil to allow abortion, contraception, gay marriages & revamping of American values according to Glen Beck's report, 'we are all Catholics now'. Herein lies a sense of chaos, we must hang together as Catholics otherwise we will all hang separately. The Pope recently elevated 22 cardinals all of whom are conservatives consistent with the ideologies of the church on family life & moral spiritual values. In so doing, he is preparing for spiritual & physical battle according to Glen Beck. Hilary Clinton stated that the US was there to help fight narcotics in a strategy report where the Vatican is included in a money laundering report. Money moving out of US into the Vatican was of concern to the federal bureau. Glen Beck stated that Catholics must now take sides to fight evil. Will the Pope go into exile from the Vatican? 
Time reveals the unknown ;)

Chinese Sense Of Smell

http://wildgirlwildworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/belmont-shop.html
Being Chinese is indeed a sense of smell. The smell of incense to worship the Gods, the smell of oils to cure a cold or to heal a wound, the smell of herbal soups to cure an ailment, the smell of ginseng roots for longevity and vitality, is this a 'spell word' for healthy business?
Compare and contrast, the smell of being in a room for a week surrounded by dead bodies. This pungent aroma of 'sense of smell' is sure to make the difference between life and death!
Well, let's go for the more pleasant smell sense! Here's to Paris, where perfumes behold the land of romantic pleasantries! Here's to Canada where the abundant smell of ice-wine from the Niagara vineyards is sure to drunken all the other senses. Forget not Trinidad & Tobago, where food smells of callaloo, smoke herring choka, salt-fish buljol accras, pelau, curry dhal and hotroti accentuates the call for "food tourism island" from the Ministry Of Food Tourism or is it the Ministry of Agricultural Tourism?
So we have the life or death of smells from various cultures across the globe!
Cheers to those blessed with a living sense of smell. :-)

The Laws Of the Universe vs Religious sense

I listened to two speeches over the weekend. I completed one blog & just couldnt wait to finish work today, to come home to start this blog. My mind was in a dark empty space, as I routinely carry out my duties at work.
Religion already knows everything according to the bible, sterile or boring? The universe is a sense of discovery, a journey into the unknown, an interesting mystery? How did the universe begin? How will it end, with big bang or crumble?
Professor Lawrence Krauss originally from Cleveland Ohio, currently residing in Phoenix, is one my much admired physicist professor from Arizona State University who engages in ongoing research for new theories so much so, that my mind enters into the empty dark space, much of which exists within the universe, 70% according to him. One of his research projects is based on cosmology and how it changes our universe.
You just must listen to this man, a universe out of nothing!  He's charismatic & even if you are not interested in the least bit about the age of the universe or dark matter, dark energy, his audio, video & kinesthetic dramatic ability to draw you to concur with his conclusions through his ample sense of humor is simply breathtaking. 
He started off with Einstein theory of relativity 1916, conventional wisdom, gravity pulls and changes matter, how objects moves in space, galaxies move away from each other, so that the universe is expanding & how space expands & contracts, how things like light can curve around a mass, motion of planets around the sun, then rumbled onto Hubble. Hubble started as a lawyer and ended studying astronomy, lol.  Mind you, my knowledge of physics is zero-rated. So for me to go into the actual formulae of protons and measuring the speed of light, I don't have a clue. 
Nothing is nothing anymore from the law of  quantum mechanics & the theory of relativity.  The universe is a boiling brew of particles. Nothing is something. However, I did manage to grapple with the thought that each of us is the result of a star. The atom in left hand may be different from atom in right hand, particles & gases explode, Standard Candle after Hubble, says that the age of universe is 13.27 billion years! Stars exploded so that we could be here. Imagine, I am a Roman Catholic & I have begun to believe that Christ didn't die that we might have life! It's the stars that died that we might have life, :-) The galaxies are always expanding, stopping & continuing in a flat universe. Professor Lawrence Krauss is continually proving that the universe is either open, closed or flat. If the universe is open or closed, the probability of gas explosions and the big bang theory, the world will end but HOW. This is the reason for his continous 'research in motion' ("RIM"). Professor Lawrence recognises cosmic humility for we cannot know everything, we cannot see into 'the future that remains a mystery'. His humor is added by his piece, that we are lonely & ignorant but dominant if we are Americans, lol.  We all know that the earth is round, but outside the earth, there is space which is 30% dark matter & 70% of universe resides in empty space ie dark energy.  The earth is insignificantly less than 1%. I find it so intriguing because, if the universe is flat, then the world has no end which according to the prayer, 'Glory be to the Father & to the son & to the holy spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, AMEN! 

The Law Of The Senses

Listening to Kent Streseman an associate professor in appellate advocacy & Carolyn Shapiro also an  associate professor from Kent College Of Law & director of the Institute within the US Supreme Court simply blow my senses away. 
Re: case Affordable Care Act vs Tax Anti-Injunction Act
Prof Kent mentioned that the Obama administration was careful to use the term 'tax vs penalty'. Carolyn agreed that tax suggested political encryption.
To me penalties are too  'harsh words' for any kind of reform.
One critical issue that brings me home is whether statutes can be acclaimed constitutionally right or wrong. I now appreciate the resounding statement by Dr Kris Rampersad --  'it's in the constitution, stupid!'. --
Ok, the real reason for me writing this blog is the statement made by Kent when he stressed that one can see, feel and smell that this Anti-Injunction Act is a tax. Under the US healthcare system, it is mandatory that working people pay health insurance just like in all other countries. The only difference  & I am entitled to correction if I have erred in my statement here, is that because the healthcare system is 'first-world' in the US, everybody wants access. Indeed in the Caribbean & other developing nations, the wealthy will pay their insurances or taxes & the penalty is the majority of paying individuals almost always never utilize the public health care service! 
The sense of feel and hearing for the poor resonates unequivocally throughout poorer or developing nations where an abundance of pleasure is not the order of call. Sharing therefore becomes automatic, because the sense of sight & smell dictate to the affordable mass that 'public hospitals' are by no means the standard of care that is to their entitlement. The double taxation laws are in effect because one pays the automatic surcharge deductions & proceeds to pay a private institution again. 
Blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the earth! So why not? 

Educating blindness

Once again, the senses! Becoming an image consultant or photographer or heart healthy consultant, engages a competency framework for human development. First of all, I had to read three books. One on becoming fabulous by Jobity was 10 chapters & completed. The other is .... 26 chapters and I have only read 10 chapters. Yet another that coincides with my job is about 8000 pages and I have only read about 1000 pages. This is in addition to my weekend chores of being a mother, wife, daughter, sister to a disabled brother and an aunt. A very busy schedule I might add.
Let's talk about becoming fabulous! Here's a list of things to do:
1) determine if u are warm or cool tone
2) determine if u are pear shape, inverted triangle, hour-glass or rectangular.
3) determine your colours to match your tone
4) determine your sense of style, are you traditional sophisticated with a touch of romance like Mrs Obama and Kate Middleton, well blended, I must add. Or are you eclectic with a touch of outdoors like moi? Nobody could be the perfect seductress that was Marilyn Munroe or the perfect diva like Lady Gaga.
Now with your sense of sight or foresight, you are well on your way to becoming an image consultant :-) Good-luck!
Photography I always thought was easy. Just press a button, especially with all the gadgets around. But no! The sense of touch, feel, sight and speech is ever present minus the sound of hearing to my limited knowledge thus far since I have not completed my readings.
There is a rule of thirds and a rule of space within the composition of a photo that makes it an art. Yet, as I discover lighting & there are so many different types of lighting from hard top to soft top to dimensional to side lighting, not to mention bounce flash & all these determine texture shadow depth effects. Of course you must decide on an expensive lens, one that will not diffract light. This brings me to conclude that photography is really the science of lighting!
My time is running out, I must attend to my daytime job so I'm heading off to rest my senses already so distracted by the many chores of life. I guess my 'golden hours' do not co-incide with the photographer's hours. It is almost mid-night in my country, so till next time, adios amigos ;-)

FOOD intelligence

Craving inward hunger..... Without food intelligence, it's like toxins to the soul, a health hazard ;-) What the eye cannot see, the nose cannot smell, the mouth cannot taste, the sense of crave is no longer wild. Rum & Roti politics may just not be good for me, lol
This is not akin to what the catholic church preaches, the words of Fr Joseph Harris, newly appointed archbishop of POS, 'there is one heaven for all' We have to live together, we have to eat other's foods, we must not starve each other, we have to get along and share. Side by side we stand. True dat? When the the blood mix is different, is there reason to believe that the food mix must be different too?! Uh?
http://drumhillbooks.com/blog/

Chi (Part 2)

So Dr Glenville Ashby had a talk with Willi Chen in provoking 'what's inside the Chinese mind'
Trinidad Guardian Thursday March 1st 2012, page A30
Chi was interpreted as 'Gensim, sak... ju chon'
This 'chi' inspired aphorism translates rightly, - 'if you make up your mind, you can shatter a stone'
So I consulted the elders, LOL
Ha....my traditionals have told me 'Gensim, gong ted, mow... sinjim'
Another 'chi' inspired aphorism that translates, if you makeup your mind, then you can make a pin out of the biggest piece of iron through perseverance, commitment, persistent dedication and continuous improvement.
Now there are many lessons here.
An old rusty piece of iron, do you know the difficulty that lies in making a small shiny pin out of that?
Out of big ugly seemingly unimportant can come something anew, useful, and innovatively so.
So said, so done. The rest is solely chinese history!
This brings me back to my other yellow buddy's teachings that I learnt in Western schools of management thought. It's the words 'kaizen' & 'mudda'. In Japanese language, this translates to simply, continuous learning & continuous improvement.
The reason I stress 'yellow buddy teachings' is not to be expressive of race, but rather back to my focus on the colour of multiple intelligences.
And this leads me to the artists & me.... liking the artistic creative capabilities of the unimaginative mind. Not that I am an artist, but then, so what?

Chi

I'm stressed so I'm phased, can't do anything! When my sense of seeing hearing and feeling is stressed to the max, my sense of voice comes into play. I find humor & I laugh hahahehehoho. I don't care if I laugh the loudest first or last. Some say don't be greedy with happiness & humor, y not? Especially when 'multiple intelligences' is at work so that the senses even out and the body mind and soul tones down, tune up and become at peace, restored to it's normal state. Is it that yin & yang must balance to give chi?