{"id":10086,"date":"2017-06-03T05:52:11","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T09:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=10086"},"modified":"2017-06-03T05:53:23","modified_gmt":"2017-06-03T09:53:23","slug":"distorting-facts-to-suit-biases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=10086","title":{"rendered":"Distorting facts to suit one’s biases"},"content":{"rendered":"

From: Glassie
\nMay 23, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

letters<\/a>It is human nature to feel more comfortable \u2018with your own\u2019. So, an Indian voting UNC or conversely an African voting PNM is not necessarily a sign of racialism but merely a level of comfort with your choice. But when facts are distorted to suit one\u2019s BIASES or to satisfy existing prejudices for purely political expediency, is when the devious nature of racism takes effect.
\n
\nTake for example the issue of \u2018the children\u2019s hospital\u2019 in Couva. The Opposition is making the distinct point that the PNM is deliberately holding back on the \u2018opening of the hospital\u2019 to punish Indian people. One can make subtle arguments that this is true but when facts are put together in an objective way, the Opposition\u2019s charge can be seen as factually subjective and meant to cause harm, rather than the PNM\u2019s delay in accordance with the UNCs wishes. <\/p>\n

It is fact to say that what is being touted as a hospital is really just a building. If a building is constructed for the purpose of housing a hospital, but the necessary infrastructure to effectively run a hospital in not in place, it CANNOT BE CALLED A HOSPITAL. This is exactly what Kamla and the Opposition is doing. The effect of this strategy is called camouflage. You make things appear in a way it is not intended to actually be. It is a building that the former government and former Prime Minister \u2018opened\u2019 as a hospital but all the components to effectively run a hospital were NEVER put in place. <\/p>\n

A Hospital has as its foundation a blue print, a purpose, a logistical plan, a service plan, financing, staffing, equipment, maintenance, education facilities, co-operation with more renowned institutions, sourcing of health professionals and a host of other facilities to truly be called a health care facility. <\/p>\n

It can be said without argument that the facility is just a building intended to be a hospital with no institutional components to complement its purpose. So when people are encouraged to go to the streets to protest against the government, it is merely political propaganda to enhance the standing of the protesting organizations. <\/p>\n

The truth is, the building touted as a hospital is just that — a building. Where is the plan to fund the operations of the hospital? Where is the plan to staff the hospital? Where is the plan to source specialty for children\u2019s health care? Where is the budget to run the hospital?<\/p>\n

Look, I am no health care expert nor health professional but any amateur can see that this issue is more about politics than it is about true health care. It is also an issue that drives the wedge further between the two competing races for political domination in this country. <\/p>\n

Sensible minds can get together and determine what is best for \u2018the children\u2019s hospital\u2019 but in a charged political climate with racial overtones, it is hardly likely that the issue of \u2018the children\u2019s hospital\u2019 can truly be solved without blemish. The same can be said of the opening of the Toruba stadium. It was christened in the name of the most famous cricketer in Trinidad and Tobago \u2013 Brian Lara. As a act of friendship, Mr Lara requested the presence of another famous international cricketer known as Sachin Tendulkar to be memorialized and emblazoned in the newly opened Toruba stadium. But before the issue had an opportunity to be an invitation of one famous cricketer to another, the political hatchet was drawn to make it an issue between the African and the Indian. On the surface, the protest appears to be issue oriented but factually it is a phony issue that is meant to maintain the already suspicious division that exist between both races. <\/p>\n

This is what exists in this country\u2019s race relations. While social activists might want to lessen the conflicts, it is not in the Indian politicians\u2019 best interest to allow a better understanding of the issue, because it is too essential a divisive tool to curry his favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From: Glassie May 23, 2017 It is human nature to feel more comfortable \u2018with your own\u2019. So, an Indian voting UNC or conversely an African voting PNM is not necessarily a sign of racialism but merely a level of comfort with your choice. But when facts are distorted to suit one\u2019s BIASES or to satisfy … Continue reading Distorting facts to suit one’s biases<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,30,7,632,142],"tags":[451,1272,144,60,1015,1273],"class_list":["post-10086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","category-pnm","category-politics","category-racism-watch","category-unc","tag-brian-lara-stadium","tag-childrens-hospital","tag-kamla-persad-bissessar","tag-keith-rowley","tag-politics","tag-toruba-stadium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10086"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10088,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10086\/revisions\/10088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}