I was always under the misguided impression, and it seems that so was the rest of the country, that Independence Hall and the Belize Times and what they represent which is so much more than the monetary value; that these things belonged to all of us that call ourselves PUP – that Truth, Justice, and Stewardship never belonged to anyone in particular but were the ideals that members of the PUP believed in.  Quite the Party’s historian, it seems I must thank  you as I stand corrected that while I never made the assumption or connection as you did that these things were also part of the Price Estate and were then the sole property of Mr. Price that he could sell, inherit, bequeath or dispose of them as his fancy pleased. Again I must concede that you are privy to better information than I on both the Price family chronicles and the PUP’s history since you speak of them as being one and the same in some instances when so clearly they are not.

Alas you must really have been off your meds when you wrote this rambling text. I say so because it is quite incoherent.

First off if the assets belonged to the Price Estate and they were sold, assuming it was to the very enterprising duo of Musa/Fonseca, then at this point it is just that – a private enterprise and the Party really has no assets. So, what can the new regime take over when clearly nothing was left for them to take over?  So why whine about having to pay outstanding bills accrued if clearly this business was privately owned and the Party had nothing to do with it? Why should we foot the bill? It really is amusing to try and unravel your very confused and twisted psyche.

As to Article 17, you ask where it was all this time…it was and is where it has always been – at the heart of the Party’s Constitution.  It is obvious you never heard of it until I shoved it deep…in your face.  As to why Said and Ralph never enforced it, well I will hazard a guess in saying they probably never heard of it either.  You know how I hate to call names, but for you guys I’ll try to explain s   l  o  w  l  y so you can understand.  The reason why you are not employed here anymore has nothing to do with your ethnicity, gender, socio-economic background, status or family affiliation.  It all is quite simple really; the reason is this – you are STUPID!  I do agree the PUP constitution gives you the right to vote for whom you want, call yourself what you will, tell yourself all the lies you can conjure.  The one thing it cannot give you is credibility, you have lost yours and nothing can ever bring it back.  You see being a PUP is not a right you have it is a privilege that you earn.  Sadly, as little boy blue Gordy chronicled a few weeks back, he has lost sight of that.

Finally, racism is an ugly word and an ugly sentiment and quite frankly it is very disrespectful. If you want to get technical about it, the only real Belizeans are the Maya people who had been living here for centuries before we were colonized. The beauty about Belize is in part its multi-ethnicity, its multi-culture – at least that’s what all the promos say.  Why would you go out of your way to single out Belizeans just because they belong to a certain ethnic group?  It is also discrimination to favour one person over another because of their ethnicity.  In closing, Gordy et all it really would be in your best interest to use a dictionary before you start throwing words around just to check up on meanings so you don’t become confused.  I’d also like to remind you to play nice, because you really don’t know who you are dealing with, but that’s just the way I like it.  This way we don’t get distracted by egos and we can truly deal with your issues.  As for Guatemalan politics… well we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, besides I don’t know why so much malice is directed toward Mrs. Garcia just because she has such an illustrious family – we don’t hold your pedigree against you, do we?

By the way, I have been checking the mail to see if you indeed sent back the $67.50 like you said you were going to do.  I state it yet again – you were overpaid.  I guess you realized this also, ergo your kind offer to send it back. We are still waiting patiently at the Times.  The fact of the matter is that your work is not up to par, I would suggest that you and your colleagues try and at least hit spell-check every once in a while so you all can avoid embarrassing yourselves, because we all know that your editor is only another puppet on a string who himself needs directions to the spell check button.  As another of these so called writers/columnists claimed last week they indeed will never have a job here at the Times, because we believe that the Times is about the issues of Belizeans and the mission of the Party. We do much more than just fill in space with personal grievances.  That’s all you do – no facts just complaints and don’t kid yourselves; it all is personal, very personal, but just remember that it is you that took it there.

True to my suspicions and then by your own admission, you are not by definition a PUP.  You share none of the Party’s beliefs or even cast your vote for them.  Your fate is your own so don’t cry haad times when this in fact is your government.  Dean Barrow really must have been laughing his pants off at the irony, at the absurdity of the situation and quite honestly he must have been laughing at your stupidity.  Truly you do fit in with his bunch, and we are not sad to see you go the UDP – we have always known you were a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

As a true PUP you would believe in the democratic process which elected John Briceno as leader – you would honor and respect if not him then the process and office to which he was elected and the majority that got him elected.  As a true PUP your pledge should have been as stated in the constitution to abide by the constitution” to vote and encourage others to vote for all candidates of the PUP in  all elections and not to be a member or supporter of any other political party or organization whose principles, policies are contrary to those of the PUP.”  I hereby ask by the above definition that article 17 of the PUP constitution be invoked and that the process of official expulsion be initiated for Rhenea Nunez.

This lady is quite delusional to think that she is of sufficient consequence that the PUP needs to patch up anything with her.  My grandmother would recommend an infusion of orange peels to calm her down.  Far from being the poster child for single mothers country wide you flatter yourself unduly by trying to compare yourself with the likes of Mrs. Good.  Lastly my dear if you seem to be losing family and friends so fast it might have to do more with your obvious lack of charm and wit than anything else.

Editor’s Note – Be careful what you wish for. Ms. Nunez has been venting at every occasion about some imagined slight which is solely a fabrication crafted somewhere in the recesses of the uncharted territories of her mind. We have not considered her mediocre writing or tired spiel consequential enough for any official response, and still don’t. But some of our writers feel that the time has come to put close to the UDP voter by her own admission who claims at times to speak on behalf of the PUP. Ms. Nunez does not and will never hold a candle to the many thousands of ‘real’ PUP supporters from across the nation that are even now in the trenches on the Party’s mission. Perhaps the PUP tent is not big enough for everyone, eh Ms. Nunez, and certainly not for somebody who voted UDP and has contributed nothing of significance to the People’s United Party. Be careful that when the final tune is played in your saga, it is not a lonely rendition of ‘All By Myself.’

True it would have been nice if more women were involved in politics, but who can forget Gwendolyn Lizarraga or Jane Usher? Who can forget Dame Minita Gordon?  These great ladies were pioneers for other illustrious women who came after like Dolores Balderamos Garcia. Mrs. Balderamos-Garcia changed the lives of Belizean women forever when as Minister of Human Development, Women and Civil Society she tabled and made sure bills were passed that ensure gender equality. She is also a published author and broadcaster. Perhaps the most important of Ms. Balderamos-Garcia’s legacy is her work as a human rights activist during her stint as Special Ambassador for Children, Gender and HIV/AIDS.  It is through her work that a national policy was created that free life saving anti-retroviral medication is now provided to people infected with HIV/AIDS.

Women under the PUP have always flourished. Who can deny the accomplishments of Lisa Shoman as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade? She is serving her second term as senator and has received accolades from both Mexico and Nicaragua. She has served this country as both our representative to the OAS and as Ambassador to the USA.  Then there is one of my personal favourites, the ever controversial Amalia Mai. Love her or hate her, she continues to influence us not as part of the diplomatic corps anymore but certainly as the executive producer of the most watched television programs in recent times. She has such hits as the Open Your Eyes morning talk show, the Duets and most recently KTV Latino, which has even me texting for my favourite contestant.  Ms. Mai has certainly hit her stride and is the most powerful woman in Belizean television today setting industry standards; she has the pulse on what is relevant to her viewers.  Women in the PUP have always excelled. We have had more women speakers under the PUP – just to name them Clara Zetina, Elizabeth Zabaneh and Sylvia Flores.  These ladies brought respect, order, and maybe that woman’s touch was what added the class and prestige that sadly is currently lacking in the House of Representatives these days.

There are so many women who have done so much for so many; these are only a few outstanding examples. There are many examples of women who have served at the municipal level as councilors and mayors and done extraordinary work for their communities.  So I beg to differ with the government official. There have been women…real women that have made and continue to make a difference in our country.  They are not rubber stamp figures or ornaments, but real people whose commitment to the improvement of our society changes the way we live.  It is a grave slight to these women and others like them to say that women are not and have not been present and active in Belizean politics.  Hopefully this is an insight into the great significance Belizean women have in our society and maybe, just maybe people will be more careful of what they say.

With that said, it is obvious that a person that exhibits no self control; that in effect is out of control cannot be but a menace to our society. Why would a person feel like he is on the verge of a psychotic breakdown, you ask?  Well, let’s see for example if the world were crashing all about your ears, if the health sector was run by a clown whose greatest achievement in health sector reform was to produce a comic book and call that the greatest achievement even when patients in hospitals were dropping like flies, well that would give me stress.  If my cabinet were plagued by nincompoops and salted with problem drinkers who just could not shut up and behave, well that would give me even more stress.  If there was a little runt following me all about trying to imitate me and act like me… no that would not give me stress it would just annoy the heck out of me.  If there were problems in the North and problems in the South and idiots in the West – well that is a recipe for stress.  If on top my assistant was an airhead with an overinflated ego to match but not much else to offer then yes I would definitely be stressed. Enough to be ranting and raving and casting blame on everything and everybody because this all would just be more than I could handle.

Maybe I would just have fun ‘cause what would it matter if I engaged in nepotism and allowed criminals to run the city streets and get free get out of jail passes.  So what if I taxed citizens within an inch of their lives, what if bridges never materialized and the police turned rogue.  And I wouldn’t care if instead of lowering gas rates and electric bills and the cost of living people were dying in the streets and in the hospitals. So what if the teachers were called ignorant by a fool with no respect for authority, and no respect for women.  So what if I scream and shout it’s my party and I’ll whine if I want to. Who cares…2012 is coming. According to my experts we don’t have to worry because we won’t see the next general elections.  I won’t have to answer to the people for what I do.

Jaded is what we have become; we are no longer appalled at the nightly news, we have become accustomed to being held hostage in our homes afraid of going even to the store; boarded up and living virtually in lockdown trying to feel safe in our own homes. Our children are no longer safe at school.  Yet the dangers lurking out there are not easily identified.

The government would have you believe that the dangers at school are the teachers spanking the children. The government would have us believe that the dangers are punishment for misdeeds at school. The government would have us turn a blind eye to the drugs being peddled in school. They would have us turn a blind eye to the distressing levels of delinquency rampant among minors.  Let’s mention also the levels of teenage pregnancy, the literacy rate or the disheartening PSE results or even the BJAT scores for that matter.  What is being done about all this?

Well the answer to all this is actually not to retrain teachers, give them a raise to elevate morale or even to ask their opinion since they are at the front line of this war.  Actually the answer according to some is to ignore it and try to garner Uncle Sam’s favour by adopting their harebrained policies that are in line with that country’s blurred vision. By so doing we earn some cash.  Smells like we are being bought, but the price is too high – the price is the youth of our nation.

You see this whole scheme was cooked up so that we could earn an extra buck, no problem, but at what cost?  Can we really gamble our country’s future for some extra cash to follow the example of an educational system that is so clearly dysfunctional?  From where I am standing this model clearly isn’t the one to follow.   Can someone say Columbine? Are those the results we can look forward to?  PISA in 2006 did a poll to rank countries in relation to their educational system. Which one was on top? Well I can tell you it was the Netherlands; I suggest we ask them for some advice on what they are doing right.  Hey even the Koreans who came in a close second. If we need advice on gun control in schools or maybe where we can find some good metal detectors for school well then I suggest the USA.

Leading the way into this whole mess must be a person who was indeed mistreated as a child.  I mean he must come from an overly strict background perhaps with an authoritarian father figure.  Perhaps he had an overly zealous kindergarten teacher and has forever been marked.  As such he may have problems dealing with persons that are authority figures. He may even for a time have pursued the very same profession that had given rise to such phobias…but now on a power trip may be rebelling and punishing those he feels have wronged him so long ago. Anyone remember a certain newscast where someone was running away from Police and had to be carted off feet first to the police station? That wasn’t too long ago.  Is this who is leading this national education reform?   The point is people, while there are some that don’t mind prostituting this country for the almighty gringo dollar and are bent on careening off to imitate a failing system, we could do better all alone.  Test scores can be improved and sure there are other determining factors which affect those scores but I firmly believe we can do better on our own, without advice from outside.  I mean that’s why we have our own government here to do just that or is this just another hint that maybe someone bit off a little more than he could chew?  If you are not up to the job just let us know, we’ll be glad to offer free advice, no strings attached.

It was once said to me that marriage is just another business deal.  That statement has never been truer than it is in Belizean society today.  Like any business deal the object is to come out on the winning end – that is, are you getting more out of it than you put in?  For different people what they put on the table as their bargaining chips is different.  For example your genetic pool may not include specimens known for physical attributes that are attractive but your leverage might be in that it contains ingredients for superior intellect. On the other hand if it does not include either then a good alternative is to have cash.  Prospective mates seem very forgiving of stupidity and unattractiveness in the presence of lots of cash.

So once you put forth your best cards and hide all the unfavorable ones the trick is to make sure that you get what you want for what you have to offer.  Other things to consider are your prospective mates’ potential or what he/she will be able to offer in the future. Family connections, business partners, long term investments that have not yet come to full fruition but that have the potential to be very lucrative in the future  and so forth.  It is a very daunting task that of picking the perfect mate because of the many variables that the whole scheme has.  As humans we also have to factor in that when emotions become involved it is all too easy to make mistakes. We often fall into the trap of thinking things will get better or that the person will change.  Since this is a business undertaking…well there is a grace period but if things don’t get better in a hurry or they are getting worse the best thing to do is cut your losses and move on to better prospects.

In the past, at least, in Belize it was traditionally thought women were the ones out to make the better matches. Well if that was true it’s not so anymore.  Belizean men seem to have gotten into the trend now.  As I look around now it is easy to see men who have climbed socially, politically and even in the business community through no real effort of their own but through strategically made family ties and marriages.  You may not have noticed but if you take a close look around you will be able to spot these specimens.  How can you spot them …easy, I mean some of these people had never even been heard from before a couple years ago, but they bided their time came back from the States just in time and are now self proclaimed authorities on subjects such as say perhaps tortilla making, or even cane farming?

A few have realized that the matches that they had made, well, really weren’t up to par so the next best thing, you may ask?  Well, trade in a young offspring to a well placed and powerfully connected family and voila here you are one of the most influential CEOs of the North.  I mean talk about family ties; these guys sure are milking it.  I mean never mind education, experience and all that crap this is the way to go. Then there are a few that are just born lucky. Why, you say.  Well imagine for instance that your father had the foresight to marry the sister of who would become one of the most infamous men in the history of our country.  Wow, you may very well have to thank your father for the possibility of going for instance from a simple shopkeeper in your home village to maybe commissioner of lands?  Would it not be such a happy occasion if your cousin, whose father also had that same vision, maybe started as a bank teller but maybe ended up as say registrar of lands?  Indeed this would be a real coup, if in addition the head of this ministry was perhaps uncle to them both?  What are the chances?

Men have really elevated the marriage mart to a science.  Never before have we seen all these machinations come to such obvious fruition.  This is scheming at its finest.  It goes without saying that this is really one of the lowest points in society.  When people can earn a position, a job by family affiliation alone instead of qualifications or experience there is a word for that – it’s called nepotism.  An ugly word I agree but it is one we are all familiar with, it is something that as a country we have often times been plagued by but never in such a blatant manner.  It screams disrespect and frankly, ‘an I don’t care if anyone knows’ attitude.  I wager that the present government doesn’t care because they aren’t betting on staying on another term.  But that’s just my hunch.

Ok down to business this week… here I was trying to educate the minds at the perspective last week but to no avail. First off let me say that I’m sorry that I have neglected some of the other writers at that other publication and really let me say that I wouldn’t use the word acclaim as what that publication has earned for itself especially because of writers like Gordon Smith. Rather I would say that they have earned themselves the reputation for printing just about anything in order to fill in space, another reason Gordon keeps begging Smart to advertise in their rag. In my opinion when a person resorts to the use of foul language it is usually because they posses very limited vocabulary and their command of the language is so minimal that they cannot help but express themselves in the coarsest and most vulgar of manners. It seems then Ms. Nunez that lame is a better word to describe your writing and if any mistakes were made by the esteemed Chair of this Party it was to overpay you. I firmly believe that in this life you get out what you put in. In this case I guess that isn’t true because you do have some change for us at the Times judging from the printed diarrhea you cared to submit last week.
I know many single mothers and I think it is a disservice to them the way you use it as a pretext to not doing your job if writing is your only effort. Many of them in fact have more than one job and use it not as an excuse but as an incentive to try harder. My advice is don’t let being a single mother define who you are, stop whining about it, its very unbecoming, and by the way the 16 days of activism are still on and the theme is stop gender based violence… that means that women aren’t allowed to beat men either.
I wonder, how could a Dino father such a Dodo? Daddy Dino must be wondering the same thing. Gordy dear I truly feel sorry for you. Do you still believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny? Honey those are just fairy tales. I mean, have you ever wondered why the Party is strapped for cash? Do you know what happened to the money, or how much money was left in the Party’s account post elections and how much the former Secretary General, Henry Charles Usher, left in the coffers? Why do you insist that the press is in great condition? Are you a technician of some sort that you know that to be a fact? You know if you all would stop the rambling over at the perspective you would realize that being a PUP means believing in democracy where the majority rules. That’s why we have elections to elect our Party officials. If the switchers, as you called them, switched it is only because as true PUPs they understand that their loyalty lies with the Party and not with any one individual. If and when there are other elections and if there are changes made then we’ll switch again. Until then I would rather be called a switcher than a sore loser. I mean stop living in the past, gone are the days when little men and big egos ruled the party as their own private little fiefdom and well if the Party isn’t being run the way you would like it – well isn’t that a good sign.
“The Truth will set you free.” What the quote doesn’t mention is how uncomfortable it makes you feel. You all aren’t true PUPs – you all are just a bunch of whining little children upset because anyone dared to take away what you considered your personal property. You are upset because for the longest time you have mistaken kindness and pity for weakness. You are upset because before nobody would have dared to stand up to you and speak out. You are used to handing out abuse and insults as if they were candy. You should start living in the here and now, face reality, face the fact that the good ole days are over, deal with it. If you truly want a united PUP then unite with us if not then get out of the way, but if you think that I am going to stand idly by while you insult Party officials disrespecting the people who voted for them, well it’s not going to happen. In the words of our PM Barrow, “BRING IT ON.”