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Terrorism in the womb
Coming
after the draft national gender policy and action plan, we
have just finished Health Promotion Month and once more Aspire
is using this and the millennium development goals (MDGs)
to stir up the debate on abortion and women’s rights.
I was amazed to read in the action plan that there are now
supposed to be five sexes and we have been asked to seriously
consider drafting this into law in T&T.
The latest editions of the Bible still say in Genesis that
God made male and female and dictionaries and medical textbooks
still speak of only two sexes, and I know of no medical school
that teaches otherwise. The medical texts speak of genetic
abnormalities affecting normal sexuality but there are still
only two sexes.
In the midst of all this, a woman went into an abortion clinic
in Orlando, Florida, last month and asked for an abortion
at 22 weeks into her pregnancy. She was given a chemical abortion
which came on quicker than expected so that she aborted a
live foetus into a bedpan.
When she saw her live foetus moving about in the bedpan, she
asked the staff in the abortion clinic to resuscitate her
foetus but they did not do so and the child died, and she
has started litigation against them for not resuscitating
the foetus.
This case raises some very relevant issues about abortion
and human rights. For those who say that the foetus is not
a human being, it seems that to them it is not a human being
as long as it is born dead or aborted successfully.
If the abortion is unsuccessful and the child is born alive,
then it suddenly becomes a human being, so that to them the
nature of the foetus changes just by either being alive or
dead at birth. What an abominable hypocrisy this is.
Here again the action plan, the MDGs and Aspire are seemingly
very interested in social justice and are not concerned about
individual justice. They are asking us to love our neighbour
but want to make it harder and harder for us to love God and
to love the living foetus in the womb.
Abortion is terrorism in the womb.
Dr
Peter Gentle
San Fernando
Via e-mail
Who in kidnap chain will hang?
If
we are going to hang kidnappers, exactly who in the chain
will be hanged? Will it be:
The employee who leaked private financial information about
a client?
The person(s) who captured and/or guarded the kidnapped person?
The person(s) who negotiated with the family for the ransom
over the phone?
The driver in the heavily tinted vehicle who dropped of the
kidnapped victim?
The individual who collected the unmarked ransom?
The invisible initiator of the kidnapping who later distributes
the ransom money to his helpers?
The individual/institution who knowingly accepts questionable
sums of money for safe keeping?
During the time that we are deciding who of the bunch should
face death, let’s tighten, enforce or enact the necessary
legislation to make the steps in the kidnapping chain difficult
to accomplish.
Albertha
Joseph
Via e-mail
Emergency needed, Mr PM
OPEN
letter to Prime Minister Patrick Manning:
Please put pride aside and seek the country’s interest
by instituting a limited state of emergency in Laventille
and Chaguanas. You have nothing to lose and everything to
gain.
Michael
Charles
Glencoe
Stop
demotivating spinners, coach
AN
old Chinese proverb says that “Those who know much speak
little; those who speak much know little.”
Employed because of his so-called esteemed “paper”
qualifications, Bennett King evidently did not add courses
on psychology to his resume nor did he seem to enrol in any
motivational seminars in his native Australia.
How else can you rationalise the diatribe emanating from him
about Caribbean spinners lacking quality?
It amazes me that someone employed as a coach of an international
sport team can dismiss all spinners in the Caribbean as lacking
quality. Does he know that by saying this he has broken the
spirit, willpower and enthusiasm of every young man across
the Caribbean who practises the art of spin bowling?
Spare a thought for Nikita Miller and Amit Jaggernauth and
say many prayers that ultra-talented chinaman and googly left-arm
spinner Dave Mohammed will not be devastated by such sentiments
that he quits the game.
Perhaps King does not know that when he passes over all these
youngsters as lacking quality and not even mentioning the
evident talent that some possess, then the efforts of these
sportsmen who are capable of excellence are entirely lost.
Mohammed has to be extremely frustrated after seeing his endeavours
fail to bear fruit. Having made his Test debut on January
2, 2004, with figures of 33-5-112-3, he was not selected until
August 2004 against England.
Shane Warne made an innocuous start to his career against
India in 1992 at home with figures of 45-7-150-1! By the end
of 1993, he had already played 21 Tests.
Muttiah Muralitharan debuted in August 1992 at home against
Australia. His figures were also mediocre (17-2-32-1 and 34-7-109-2)
but by the end of 1993 he had played ten Tests.
Nicky Boje likewise made his debut in February 2000 and despite
having moderate success, by the end of 2001 he had played
17 Tests.
Mohammed’s returns on debut are comparable to any of
these players in their respective debuts. The difference is
that they were persevered with and allowed to mature and develop
into quality Test bowlers. Mohammed had to wait six months
before being selected again.
King and the West Indies selectors should have been proud
to observe Mohammed’s outstanding performance against
the South Africans in the Vice Chancellor’s game. Did
they make an effort to enquire from the South Africans their
opinion of Mohammed’s ability? Do they know that Boeta
Dippenaar and Herschelle Gibbs were extremely impressed with
his talent and observed that his variety and control were
very good and superior to their own Paul Adams?
Johnson once wrote: “The chains of habit are generally
small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
Our habitual routine of selecting four “fast” bowlers
has been allowed to develop into a mindset that seems unbreakable.
But King somehow missed the fact that we have less quality
“fast” bowlers.
His inane comment that selecting these “fast” bowlers
is less of a negative than selecting a spinner is ridiculous.
Do we prefer to see wicket-taking no-balls from a mediocre
pace bowler than a talented spinner using his variety?
King, although you are new to the Caribbean it is not your
memory that is at fault but your judgment. Recognise the true
talent of the Caribbean and refrain from demotivational diatribe.
Let’s hope our young Caribbean spinners reap the rewards
of their endeavours. Let’s hope that Dave Mohammed will
have that opportunity against South Africa, Pakistan and for
many more Tests.
Anand
R Maraj
San Fernando
Hang ’em high! Hang ’em high!
Abductees
die a thousand times
So why are we afraid
To hang kidnappas for their crimes
The ransom mus’ be paid.
You kidnappas ha to understand
We puh ah price on yuh head
We raisin’ the ante over the land
We hangin’ yuh jack instead.
Walkin’ dead in dis land of the livin’
Kidnappas are on the loose
Their reward mus’ be death, no forgivin’
Let’s retie the hangman noose.
Death is the wages for their ugly sin
Buh we lawmakers ‘fraid
Let’s hang ‘em for murder an kidnappin’
Even sinners mus’ be paid.
Kidnappin’ must be a capital offence
The gallows must be nigh
Let’s reclaim our land, get off the fence
Hang ‘em high! Hang ‘em high!
Vic
Dolan Clarke
Diego Martin
Pedestrians no longer in danger
I
would like to say thanks to those who sent workmen to patch
the holes on Pasea Street, St Augustine.
Now cars can stay on the road and not be forced to manoeuvre
in a manner that may endanger pedestrians.
It seems that one pothole was left and I trust they will return
quickly to handle that one.
Albertha
Joseph
Via e-mail
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