Belizean Politics

Daily Dingleberry 06-05-12 No Jubilee Fuh Me

/ Twocanview LLC / 6 Comments

We cut off the hand the could have fed us.

England is celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years of rule with a grand show of pageantry and seemingly genuine sentiments of gratitude and pride. I’m going to say something that is NOT going to be popular but I have long held this opinion, even as a child. One could accuse me of being influenced by my father who opposed independence in 1981. While his son, Henry Jr.,  was meeting the Duke, my dad was at the cayes building his house, refusing to be a part of what he saw as a premature move on George Price’s part.

However, I am unwilling to say that it is his influence which makes me have this very strong conclusion still to this day: we should not have asked for independence when we did. I really believe that we were unprepared as a people to take over the role of leadership. I believe that it was a very self serving agenda upon which George Price embarked. He cared more about his legacy than the shambles in which his decision would leave us.

See, what we refuse to admit is that we did not have the tools for rule. Not yet. We are a small nation with a small population with little and poor infrastructure. Old George asked us to enter the game very late and compete globally with economic giants. We didn’t have roads; functioning medical clinics; developed industries; an educated and experienced pool of people from which  to chose our new government; an army; a proper airport….and the list goes on. You can say to me now: “Well we have all of that now.”

Really? At what cost? Our crime rate is ASTRONOMICAL! We owe sooooooo much money and our people are suffering with a truly disgraceful number of 50% BELOW the poverty level. Our justice system is a JOKE. Yeah. I said it. There is NO justice when lawyers run our country into the ground, using their knowledge to intimidate and STEAL from our people.

We should have prepared ourselves BEFORE jumping up and down like impatient children waiting for the ice cream truck. We did not need to get independence in order to develop as a nation. We should have made the British Empire develop allllll that stuff for us first. After all they owed us. They took all of our resources and left us with nothing. And we let them because we had stupid, blind, false pride. We were gonna show them we didn’t need ’em. So we kicked them out and left ourselves stranded and struggling. Nowhere is safe in Belize anymore. Is this what we imagined? Was our precious independence worth all this killing and strife?

Our best minds keep leaving, never to return, afraid, because the risk hardly seems worth it. Our children are raped and murdered with no recourse. Our people are dying in record numbers from all kinds of diseases and cancer is ravaging our population. Guatemala is still claiming us and forcing us to have a referendum over something that should be moot by now. Our citizens are having to fight ignorance and archaic laws to just establish basic rights. Children are going to school hungry or none at all. Our land is soon to be ours no longer since the only way to make money is to sell the one asset we do have to the Americans or the Chinese.

Don’t get it twisted people. I have no love for colonialism nor any allegiance to royalty but I sure as shit would have preferred making them give us what we deserved as their subjects before kicking their asses out because now we sure are in the crapper and I don’t know how we are going to get out of shit hole we dug ourselves into.

Kim Simplis Barrow Says Thank You

/ Twocanview LLC

Yesterday, we finally got to hear from the First Lady herself, expressing gratitude to all those who sent her messages of encouragement:

My fright and panic after being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and learning of the severe heart damage that the chemotherapy drugs have caused me, were greatly relieved by the knowledge that so many of you were praying for me, and willing me to survive this. I am truly grateful and it is impossible to properly describe the comfort that your outpouring of support has brought me. I thank each of you and want you to know that you motivate me to keep on fighting. It has been a draining, wrenching past few days. But while my heart will continue to be literally weak, it and my spirit are strengthened by your emails, texts and FB messages. The journey continues and I and my family will always be grateful. With God, your support and my determination, I look forward to the future. I ask all of you to continue to pray for all those on the battlefield of diseases. Thank you ALL!!

-Kim Simplis Barrow on her Facebook page 06-01-12

Shut up by: Aria Lightfoot

/ Twocanview LLC / 3 Comments

When someone utters the words “everybody knows anyway” before spilling confidential information about some un-suspecting soul, they are telling you they have a poor level of respect for an individual’s privacy. It is also an indicator to beware of the things you share with such a person.  Humans by nature love to share information. Mark Zuckerberg was a genius to identify our nature to connect with each other.  Facebook has almost a billion members sharing information.  In other words, gossiping and sharing is not a Belizean or “kruffy” thing. It is a human thing. Some say it is human’s narcissistic craving for constant attention. I honestly believe that Facebook makes people feel like they are part of a bigger picture, their opinions count and they have an audience like never before seen in the history of mankind.

Facebook is a great networking tool. A great place to exchange ideas, friendships and life experiences, but it also reflects a dark side of humanity.  People are sharing misleading, blatantly false or even confidential information. We forget our responsibilities as people and spread dangerous gossip and disperse information without verification of the facts or thought of consequences. Just a decade ago,  people had to meet face to face or call each other on the phone to share gossip, now a person boasting thousands of friends can destroy or slander an individual’s name and reputation as quick as it takes to update a  Facebook status.  I noticed even credible media personalities are on Facebook, engaging and encouraging this level of unfiltered gossiping in their forums.

There are certain professions that dictate the utmost confidentiality. Attorneys, accountants, anyone in the medical profession, counselors, bankers, civil servants, priests and pastors all require a high level of integrity and adherence to confidentiality.  When people seek out advice or services of the aforementioned professionals, they expect that their information ought to be held in the strictest of confidence. I believe these professionals also have a legal obligation to respect people’s privacy.  With that said, I am amazed at some of the information people are promulgating on Facebook; information that could only come out of the mouths of some of these very professionals.  Belize needs a Facebook policy for professionals.  We need to start establishing ethical guidance and rules for our society.  We cannot allow destructive behaviors to be excused as part of our culture.

An attorney friend told me he made a comment once in a forum and was advised by the administrator that postings in forums are being monitored by certain elements in Belize and they are taking account of what is being said.   She advised him that his post could be construed as libel (poor girl did not know she was talking to an attorney). However, that information resonated with me, since I posted in these forums before and received no such warning.  It is a warning that people should definitely think about though.  Be careful of the things that could land you in a court of law. You can be held accountable for defaming a person’s character.  Now if we could only get  people in court to share what they see, hear and know our crime rate would probably drop precipitously.

/ Twocanview LLC

I thought that given the events of the day, we need to remind ourselves who this lady is and how strong she is. I’m sorry Kim that people can be insensitive; I have found that people sometimes just don’t know how else to be. We stand beside you.

Twocanview LLC's avatarTwocanview LLC

When someone is fighting the fight of her life, everything else falls away. Or at least, it should. For her, it is minute to minute. It becomes about nausea and holding down just the least bit of food. It’s constant needles searching for veins to draw blood. It’s about white blood cells and anemia. It’s about dry eyes and mouth sores from the chemo. It is about atrophy and fatigue. It becomes about carrying on with your everyday duties without fretting about an uncertain future. It is about facing death in the mirror everyday and vowing to overcome. Sometimes, one can’t help but dissolve into tears as the frustration and fear overwhelms even the strongest determination. It is hard enough in private, looking at the anxious faces of loved ones who are trying to hide their worry as they smile encouragingly. She ends up comforting them, desperately trying to allay…

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Update On Kim Simplis Barrow’s Condition

/ Twocanview LLC / 4 Comments

First Lady, Kim Simplis Barrow

Belmopan. Thursday, 31st May, 2012.

UPDATE ON MRS. KIM SIMPLIS-BARROW

Mrs. Barrow remains in the Intensive Care Unit at a Miami hospital receiving treatment for complications with her heart and fluid in her lungs. She is showing signs of improvement and is strengthening. It is expected that Mrs. Barrow will be transferred from the Intensive Care Unit to a regular hospital room in the next couple days. Prime Minister Dean Barrow remains by her side in Miami and is scheduled to return to Belize over the weekend.

The Prime Minister and his wife thank everyone for the continued prayers and support.

 

From: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Office-of-the-Prime-Minister-Belize/317057388365804

Daily Dingleberry 05-31-12 Blame the Victim PLEASE

/ Twocanview LLC / 1 Comment

She is someone’s child

This picture is going around ..not sure who she is or even if she is Belizean, American or what. Most people are sympathetic but many myths and simply wrong information is being perpetuated as well. One person said that the reason it keeps happening is because the women tolerate it and don’t press charges….

I have serious beef with this one.

There is a psychological process going on here that is being willingly ignored. A woman doesn’t grow up thinking “I’m going to marry an abuser when I grow up.” Even if she is in a home where she witnesses violence, she is hoping for someone who loves her and will care for her. So when this person, in whom she has placed her trust, to whom she has made a commitment, pledged her love, starts to hurt her, she is confused, betrayed and embarrassed.  She is ashamed because she believed that she was a smart person who “knows better” and makes good decisions. So at first she may hide it and not tell anyone because she hopes it is just a  one time thing….a phase, it will go away.

And then she has children with him and they can have a decent life with Christenings and Easter vacations, Christmas gifts and Valentine dinners. All the while, she is being beaten and told she is worthless. He isolates her from her friends, calls her a whore if she wants to go out with them. He tells her she can’t talk to so and so because she is a bad influence. Before you know it, she doesn’t even go to visit her mother because he accuses her of neglecting her duties as a wife. Soon, she doesn’t have time anyway because he expects a clean house, three meals a day and the kids must be clean and in bed on time.

He monitors everything…her cell phone…who is she talking to? who is she texting? why shi di waste time pan facebook? Even if she works, he might confiscate her paycheck or make it impossible for her to save anything because he spends it on liquor, electronics, gambling, friends.

Everything about her is attacked: her independence, her intelligence, her capabilities, her security, her mental and emotional well being, her identity. This is the woman you want to go to the police station and tell her story to a bunch of untrained bullies? When they arrest the abuser, he threatens her in front of them but they do nothing? She is frightened that he will come after her and her children. He promises to kill her when he is released on bail. Where is she supposed to go? How is she supposed to feed her children? Pay the mortgage?

Everyone has a lot to say. I will help you. You need to leave him. Have some pride. How can you let someone do this to you?

The problem is who will be there in the wee hours of the night when every creak and whisper makes her jump? afraid he has come to make good on his promise?

My aunt-in-law went to live with my uncle and  aunt in the hopes that they could protect her. She left her son with the man who married her at 14, raped her everyday and punished her by making her sit on a hot comal, bare assed. He came for her in the middle of the day when my aunt and uncle had gone to run some errands. He slit her throat and sliced her belly open in front of his 4 year old son and his two nieces. They watched as my mother scooped up my aunt’s guts and press them back into her abdomen until they could get her to the hospital. She lived but only because my uncle could afford to send her to Jamaica to recover and also make sure that my other uncle was prosecuted and sent to jail….

Most people don’t have that and still…she almost died anyway.

We just don’t have the proper supports set up to protect those who need it most. The most we can do is help each other on a one on one level. Don’t hang with people you know are abusive…shun them…make them know you disapprove. You men who like to say that the women deserve it because they stay…go yell at the guy beating her…tell him you are watching him and that YOU won’t tolerate HIM. You women who sleep with them knowing what they do to their wives, just don’t…tell them you deserve better. Raise sons to respect people. Raise daughters to fight for themselves. Be part of a community movement to address and confront this issue because in the end…it will affect all of us in some way. And stop blaming the victim. Please.