Close Topic Options

Geenie's Blog

[b]Blog for Member Geenie

Please read the thread called, 'Read Me First' before beginning.

Please report abuse to Architect via Contact Page.

Blog Geenies

I DREAM OF GEENIE

Well I am very excited today since I will be starting my very first blog! From what I understand, a blog is an online diary or journal. However, the only difference between a physical diary and a blog is, your blog may be read by thousands of strangers everyday! So I must be careful not to add too many juicy tidbits to my blog because you never know who maybe reading it!

I have been here for about two months now and I feel more confident that I am understanding how this forum works and what is expected of me! I am enjoying myself thoroughly and the people here are very nice too! This forum is extremely informative and I am learning so much from it everyday!

Many thanks JB, for giving me my very own blog!

Geenie's Blog Blogs Member Public

GEENIE SAYS.....

I am happy to see that the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman case is slowly coming to an end. My heart goes out to the family of Mrs Coolman since they have been waiting patiently for five months, hoping to receive word about Mrs Coolman. Well unfortunately, she is indeed dead but at least justice is finally being served! I honestly hope that all those who were involved in Mrs Coolman's kidnapping and death, all receive the death penalty! First of all, they kidnapped Mrs Coolman and demanded a ransom even though they knew she was dead! They received a ransom and still refused to communicate to the family about her whereabouts. How heartless of them! And to add insult to injury, they have the audacity to request a speedy trial, since they have their own families to look after? These days, people are becoming more and more avaricious and have no conscience for their actions!

It is disappointing to see that most people are moving further and further away from God. People only seem to be interested in getting rich the easy way regardless of who they are exploiting or hurting! No one is interesting in working hard anymore and carving a good name for themselves. Maybe morality is on the verge of extinction!

Blog Geenies

THOUGHTS FROM A GEENIE

Well today is Monday 21 May 2007 and thank god, the Sahara Dust seems to be gone! I hate it whenever Sahara Dust is present. I feel so dazed and quite ill!

These days are so hot and dry! I can't wait for the rainy season, my favourite time of the year! Whenever it becomes so hot, I feel listless and I don't feel motivated to do anything around the house! Dry season is only good for the beach and travelling!

I perused the newspaper on Sunday, the Express to be exact and I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful picture of a turtle, shown on the front page. It is so nice for a change to see something enjoyable rather than read depressing headlines stating that someone was murdered or found dead etc. I reminded my spouse that we must take time to go turtle watching this year. From what I have read in the Sunday Express, the turtles are in abundance this year! So I am really looking forward to seeing the turtles at Grande Riviere sometime soon! I don't think I could ever be tired of looking at turtles. They are such magnificent creatures!

Well I smiled when I saw this headline in yesterday's Newsday:

"POLICE KEEPING EYE ON AKON"

I am pleased to see that some good came out of the incident involving Akon and Danah Alleyne! I hope everywhere he goes, the police should be alerted and his shows should be closely monitored! I am sure one of these days, when the temptation becomes unbearable, he will be caught by the police and this time, I hope he is charged for his lewd conduct.

On a sad note, I was very disappointed to read about a woman from Sangre Grande who was kidnapped, taken to St Madeleine and raped there by two men. It was shocking to learn that they even tried to burn the lady alive! Fortunately, two security officers were patrolling the area and rescued this poor lady. They contacted the police and requested an ambulance since the victim was suffering from first degree burns on her face, arms and legs. Shortly after the telephoning the police, the security officers stopped an ambulance that was passing by. The security officers thought that the ambulance was sent by the police and they explained to the paramedics, what happened to the victim. I am truly amazed and disgusted to read that, the paramedics responded by saying that "they don't do road side pick ups!" What?! I cannot believe how callous people are becoming these days! I hope that these paramedics are either disciplined or fired from their jobs! I always thought that the purpose of an ambulance was to stop and assist people who are injured! But apparently, these paramedics were too busy to assist this poor lady! I felt so upset and very angry after reading that article.

I have been reading on the internet that fans of Rosie O'Donnell were pleading with her to stop bullying Elisabeth, her co-star from "The View." It is interesting that Rosie responds to these requests by writing on her blog that she is trying hard to stop. Now that Elisabeth is three months pregnant, Rosie has decided to stop bullying her. I cannot believe that she actually admitted on television that this was the only reason (Elisabeth's pregnancy) why she chose to stop bullying Elisabeth. Rosie O'Donnell has two adopted children and this is the example she is setting for them? It is hard to believe that a grown woman could act so puerile and be so self absorbed! When Rosie's kids start to bully other children, I would give anything to be a fly on the wall to hear what she will say to them! I think Rosie O'Donnell thrives on controversy!

I was watching the news last night and I caught a glimpse of the concert which took place on Saturday 19 May 2007, at the Oval. The crowd responded very well to Air Supply and Richard Marx. They even reported that Richard Marx seemed to be very overwhelmed by the response from the audience; at one point, he stopped singing and looked at the crowd in sheer amazement and smiled! I think he enjoys coming to perform here in Trinidad. We do seem to respond quite favourably towards him!

Edited: Geenie on 21st May, 2007 - 4:25pm

Blog Geenies

HERE COMES GEENIE!

I saw the results of last night's Dancing With the Stars and I am so thrilled that my favourite couple, Apolo and Julianne won! I always consider these two to be so cute, charming and they have the perfect chemistry on the dance floor. I remember laughing when I saw them dancing to Salt n Pepa's song "PUSH IT." One of the judges, Len described the dance as very "raunchy" whilst Carrie Ann admitted that "she felt a little dirty watching them." My spouse argues that Joey Fatone should have won but I thought that there were times that Joey looked a little clumsy on the dance floor. I felt sorry for Muhammed Ali's daughter, Laila Ali who was eliminated from the competition. She looked visibly upset but took it in stride! I believe that Laila Ali and her partner were eliminated because they had the lowest score. I must confess that I do not normally watch this show but since the competition looked interesting, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to look. I am glad that I did! The competition was very fierce and the contestants danced very well.

The more I hear about Britney, the more I believe that she should hang up her dancing shoes and leave the entertainment industry for good. Her focus should be on raising her two sons.

First of all, she fired her manager since he didn't approve of Kevin Federline; then she re-hired him since he was the one who encouraged her to divorce Kevin and finally, she fired him again, since the manager was instrumental in compelling Britney to seek professional help, by entering the Drug Rehabilitation centre. Now she is struggling to make a comeback. How? By lip synching! I don't think this girl is serious. I was embarrassed to hear a producer from American Idol, who indicated that he would love to invite Britney Spears to perform however, they do not encourage "Lip Synching." What an embarrassing thing to say!

She seems to enjoy placing herself in the headlines too. If she is not jumping up and down in a nightclub wearing nothing but panties, she is behaving like a spoilt brat by demanding to be allowed off a plane because there were no leather seats! I was surprised that the pilot actually stopped the airplane to allow Britney out. At first, I thought that this was a bad move but I suppose the pilot was thinking of the passengers. It would give everyone peace of mind not to hear a spoilt brat whining about leather seats!

I am appalled by Mac Donald's poor standards. I cannot believe that they are in the news so regularly. Last month, a condom was found in a Happy Meal and this month, a lighter, a pipe and a bag of marijuana! I am relieved that the child had the sense to speak out and show her father her "new toys" that she discovered with her Happy meal! It is good that the teenager was fired, charged and arrested. However, this is not enough. Many people would argue that Mac Donald's is not at fault here. But who hired the boy in the first place? Someone must be held accountable! Firing the boy is not enough. Measures need to be put in place to ensure that these serious and embarrassing incidents do not re-occur. This is a public relations nightmare! Mac Donald's do not need this negative publicity unless they are trying to shut down the business very quickly. Soon, health inspectors would be invited to inspect each outlet; hmm, I wonder what would be the results of these inspections, if this were to happen?

If Mac Donald's were serious about reviving their reputation, then they should consider implementing the following measures:

1) Conduct body searches when employees arrive for work.
2) Have random drug testing.
3) Job Training should be mandatory for all new employees.
4) Background checks should be conducted on all employees.

These are just a few ideas that Mac Donald's should consider. The job training programme should entail how employees are expected to behaviour while on the job, dress code, the importance of maintaining high quality service and zero tolerance for those who do not abide by the rules. By having strict regulations, this may act as a deterrent for all those who may engage in deviant behaviour.

If Mac Donald's were serious about their reputation, management needs to act now by implementing a new system and also, by doing some damage control. I am not sure how they intend to prevent this lawsuit though (if the Irelan family decides to sue). I suppose they should try to make this problem go away by settling out of court..........

Geenie's Blog

MORE THOUGHTS FROM A GEENIE

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths people would go through just to get what they want. Couples who yearn to have a child of their own but are unable to do so because of medical reasons, may turn to: purchasing human eggs or even purchasing children without knowing the kids' family history (that is, who are his/her real parents, what were the parents occupation and where do they currently reside, the child's medical history etc). In some instances, these kids may even be the victims of kidnapping and were sold to desperate and unsuspecting families. Just when I thought I have seen or read it all, along comes this college student who was very determined to get a good grade in her school work........

According to the CNN News last night, a college student chose an interesting topic for her thesis: Stripping! One would think that to collect data for this unusual choice, the college student would interview strippers right? Wrong! The young lady thought it would be best to become a stripper and be paid for her "new job." Well to cut a long story short, her college professor was so proud of her that he gave her a "B" on her thesis! I cannot believe how foolhardy people can be! I wonder if her parents knew about this? It would be interesting to hear what her parents would have to say about their daughter's "research" for her thesis. What I cannot understand is, how could her professor praise her for this? If I were that college professor, I would be appalled at what she had done and order her to select another topic!

It leads me to wonder, if this college student is aware of the consequences of her actions? Strippers perform in front of all types: those who are "missing" something in their marriage, others who have nothing better to do with their money and individuals who may be mentally unstable. What happens if she attracted an obsessive fan? Suppose that person chose to "stalk her" then what? It is sad and very disappointing that there was no one mature and sensible enough, to inform this young lady about the hazards of her choice. Not to mention, she has created a stigma that would follow her where ever she goes. What happens if she starts a job and someone recognizes her face and confronts her "past?" This may become a very ticklish situation since men are very visual and they do have a tendency of retaining "stimulating images." Her stint as a stripper could ruin her reputation by superseding her career.

A few months ago, Lifetime Movie Channel had a very interesting show that I will never forget. The movie was called "Odd Girl Out." This was a story about a girl who was forced to deal with peer pressure and cyberbullying! It started off as innocent. She was a new student and got involved with a popular clique. Everything seemed fine until jealousy got in the way of the girl's friendship with the "leader" of the clique. The leader had ended a relationship with her boyfriend and the new girl was attracted to him. The other girls in the clique were jealous of this new girl because she was cute smart and funny. The other girls used this opportunity to their advantage and turned the leader of the clique against the new student. The end result, she was ostracized in school; other students were always gossiping about her and just when she thought that she could seek refuge at her own home, she became a victim of cyberbullying! I thought it was an excellent show since the plot was well developed and the acting was superb! The child's mother even tried to bring the problem to the attention of the principal who declared that no one could be expelled for sending emails to her daughter. In addition to this, the principal pointed out to the mother that she had no proof that the cyberbullies were from the girl's own school. It is horrible to see the problems that kids have to endure these days. It is also very sad to see technology being abused in this way.

While I was looking at the show, I remember an episode on Dr Phil which focused on Cyberbullying. One mother appeared on the show and shared her tearful story with Dr Phil and the audience. Apparently, her daughter was a victim of cyberbullying and she never even knew about it until she committed suicide. Her daughter confessed in a suicide note that she couldn't withstand the pressure anymore and mentioned the cyberbullying that she had to endure on a daily basis.

I remember growing up and the only form of peer pressure I had to endure was having new sneakers, pencil cases and going to parties with boys. My heart goes out to children who have to live with this problem on a daily basis. I hope all parents saw the Dr Phil show (on Cyberbullying) and the Lifetime Movie, "Odd Girl Out" since it may force people to acknowledge and deal with the seriousness of this problem. I have never heard any schools taking action against students who are guilty of cyberbullying though. Parents need to be more aware of what is going on in their kids' lives: they should ask questions about how their kids feel about school; look out for any warning signs like high absenteeism or notice if their kids look depressed or preoccupied. They should be more supportive and take action if they know that their children are victims of cyberbullying. Parents need to visit their schools or if they know who the culprits are, confront them! Children should never have to endure this mental torture while attending school.

And speaking of cyberbullying, I mentioned earlier on this week about Rosie O'Donnell's promise to stop bullying Elisabeth. Well she broke that promise! According to a news report yesterday on the Fox News, there was a fiery exchange of words between Elisabeth and Rosie yesterday on "The View." As usual, all of this transpired during the absence of the creator of "The View," Barbara Walters. I felt so disappointed in Rosie O'Donnell. Elisabeth is pregnant and should not allow herself to be under so much unnecessary "stress." It is interesting to note that for the first time, Elisabeth fought back fiercely and also got very personal with Rosie. A journalist that was interviewed by FoxNews indicated that Elisabeth does not have the "resources" to take on an opponent like Rosie. The female journalist also pointed out that Elisabeth is regarded as the weakest link on the show and is often "picked on" by the other co-stars! Poor Elisabeth! I have watched "The View" a few times and quite frankly, Elisabeth is the only one who has the least to contribute to the forum! I suppose this makes her an ideal target for the others!

So human beings are subjected to this disease, "bullying" at all stages in their lives from childhood right up to adulthood! Very interesting. It is sad to see your own child be a victim of bullying but for adults to indulge in this kind of behaviour, it is appalling!

Geenie's Blog

GO GEENIE!

Well I am shocked along with the rest of the world to learn that Rosie O'Donnell has decided to leave "The View" officially, on Friday 25 May 2007. I understand that her contract was supposed to end on 20 June 2007. Many viewers are cheering on the petite and "intellectual lightweight" Elisabeth Hassellbeck as being the one who chased Rosie off the show. I find this very difficult to believe.

Rosie O'Donnell seems to have a talent for starting feuds with anyone. I think she even successfully managed to irritate the creator of "The View," Barbara Walters. The problem with Rosie is she talks a bit too much. She has to learn to slow down and pick and choose her battles very carefully. Going after rich and successful individuals like Donald Trump, is suicidal. Barbara Walters knows many people in the entertainment industry and it is only natural for her to keep a good relationship with powerful figures like Donald Trump. I believe it was widely reported that Rosie O'Donnell was extremely hurt when Barbara Walters failed to "stand up for her," while she was feuding with Donald Trump. Rosie O'Donnell, I suspect, does not think before she speaks. When Rosie has something to say, she does not stop to think about who she may offend and this ultimately, this will lead to the demise of her career. Donald Trump describes Rosie O'Donnell as "self destructive" which I believe is a little harsh. Rosie O'Donnell is very self absorbed. She has a lot of deep rooted insecurities that she needs to deal with. For instance, while feuding with Elisabeth, one time, Rosie O'Donnell chose to say this:

"Everyone will say there goes big, old, fat, lesbian Rosie picking on poor, sweet, Christian Elisabeth."

This statement alone, insinuates that Rosie O'Donnell seems very jealous and harbours a great deal of resentment towards her co-star, Elisabeth Hassellbeck. I am not sure why she feels this way though. I have seen the "famous feud" that took place on Wednesday 23 May 2007 and I must say that, Elisabeth Hassellbeck lacks the resources to fight Rosie O'Donnell. This is why I refuse to acknowledge that this feud was instrumental in Rosie O'Donnell's hasty departure.

I believe that Rosie O'Donnell was fed up and made one too many enemies on "The View." I believe she was surprised that Elisabeth fought back and got very personal with her live on television, for the whole world to see. I think it was very sad that ABC chose to take full advantage of this "big fight" between these two ladies. Instead of censoring it, they chose to use a split screen so everyone can hear and see the expression on the faces of the two ladies. I believe that this is an all time low for television. It would have been more professional to censor the feud, but instead, ABC chose to capitalize on it, for the sake of boosting ratings for the show.

Just when we all thought that nothing else could possibly happen, I have learnt from watching the news last night that Rosie O'Donnell's friend and writer, Janette Barber, wilfully defaced one picture of Elisabeth Hassellbeck by drawing a mustache on it. I always believed that it was not possible for a human being to stoop so low and behave in such a puerile manner, all in the name of friendship.

All Trinidadians know that TSTT is synonymous with poor service. It is very difficult to communicate with any staff member from TSTT without losing your temper. If you don't believe me, just ask that guy who threw the famous punch at a CSR from TSTT's BMobile, San Fernando branch. This event I believe took place last year.

Apparently, the customer was experiencing problems with his cellular phone, so he brought it to the attention of the CSR at TSTT BMobile branch, in San Fernando. As usual, the CSR was not very helpful and informed the customer that there was nothing he could do about the problem. Well the customer became agitated and vented his frustration on the CSR by delivering some serious "blows." The CSR had to flee from his desk and sought refuge by running into an office, locking the door behind him. Eventually, a security guard was called in to pacify the customer. But I understand that the customer was not satisfied and began to bang on the door with both of his fists, demanding for the CSR to come out and face him like a man. Naturally, the CSR failed to comply to his wishes. Eventually, the customer was escorted off the premises. I am not sure if he was ever charged or arrested for his violent act.

Well it was a great relief for everyone in this country, when TSTT decided to invite competition. DIGICEL and LACQTEL came and decided to offer their services to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. But unfortunately, Digicel has faced many problems with TSTT.

First of all, TSTT decided to prolong the waiting period before giving Digicel their interconnection. Many feeble excuses were offered such as, the shipment did not arrive and they could not order the items until a certain time and it was a very sad day for everyone in Trinidad. Just when you thought that things would indeed get better, it didn't. Many Digicel customers began to complain about not being able to contact anyone with a BMobile cellular phone or even a land line telephone. Investigations were conducted and it was discovered that TSTT employees were deliberately blocking Digicel's transmission to BMobile cellular phones as well as the land line telephones. Digicel pleaded with TSTT to co-operate but to no avail. So as a last resort, Digicel took TSTT to court and successfully won their case. Of course, this victory was publicly announced in the newspapers by Digicel and this created a lot of negative publicity for TSTT.

And now, TSTT has publicly declared a loss of $122 million dollars. I understand that they attributed this loss to bad debts, $100 million in fraud and vandalism. Apparently twenty one TSTT employees were dismissed for fraud this week. As the old saying goes, Whatever happens in the darkness, always comes to light!

Well TSTT, just when people thought you were not capable of embarrassing this country any further, Digicel has stated that they would be taking legal action against TSTT, for continuing to block transmission, inspite of the fact that they recently won this case, earlier on this year. Maybe TSTT should carefully study the law of Karma: What you give out, you get back!

Ever since Digicel has been receiving non-stop grief from TSTT, one of Lacqtel's partners, decided to withdraw their investment.

Geenie's Blog Public Member Blogs

A GEENIE ON THE PROWL

Recently, there seems to be a very disturbing trend in certain countries about encouraging children to speak their minds, very freely. I am referring to Will Ferrell's home made video of his three year old daughter, cursing him. Will Ferrell is pretending to be a tenant who is late, in paying his rent. His daughter plays the role of an aggressive landlord, who is tired of his excuses for not paying the rent on time. What I find appalling is, the child actually says, "Give me my money (the word that rhymes with rich)!" The rest of the video entails the child screaming at Will Ferrell.

There is another home made video of a child (would you believe another three year old girl?) who is questioned by her mother, what would she do if monsters came after her. Much to my amazement, the little girl's response is, "I would kick his (the word that rhymes with grass)" Judging from the mother's voice, she laughs but seems shocked by her daughter's response. She gently tries to convince her daughter that what she said was not nice. And her tot's response to this was: "If I don't get the monsters, they will kick my (the word that rhymes with grass)"

Both videos were played several times on various networks. I cannot comprehend why adults find this behaviour acceptable! Children are innocent and the onus is on the parent to teach their child good values including, showing respect for adults. Young children are very impressionable, if networks choose to play these videos continuously, you will be amazed at how quickly other children will learn this obscene language. I was very happy to see that Bill O'Reilley, chose to focus on Will Ferrell's home made video (of his tot cursing) on one of his shows entitled, "Funny or Foul?" Good for you Bill O'Reilley, for raising a serious topic that others regard as hilarious.

This weekend, I heard on the news that an ice cream vendor was selling a little more than the usual treats that kids would enjoy. The Ice cream vendor had a van which he chose to sell lollies, ice cream and would you believe, bags of marijuana? This vendor, a Mexican, chose to sell his illegal goods outside an elementary school. So how did the authorities find out? The school kids contacted them! I cannot believe the audacity of this man! Long ago, people sold drugs very discreetly and only to buyers who were willing to pay and remain silent. But this minor drug lord chose an elementary school to sell marijuana? The world is becoming a scary place to raise children!

Millions of viewers including myself, chose to watch "The View," to see who would be replacing the infamous, Rosie O'Donnell. At the beginning of the show, Whoopi Goldberg was introduced as "a new co-host" in the show. While walking on stage, I noticed that Barbara Walters strategically sat in Rosie O'Donnell's seat. Good move since this shows that the creator is back in control of her own show! "The View" began on a sombre note, with Barbara Walters reminiscing over what events took place last week. She gently touched on the famous feud between Rosie and Elisabeth and spoke about it in a low, subdued and respectful tone of voice. Barbara Walters skilfully incorporated a little bit of humour by adding that the following day, apparently the President heard about the feud and the show was pre-empted. The main focus of Barbara Walter's speech was to dispel any myths about Rosie O'Donnell being fired from the show. There was emphasis on Rosie O'Donnell electing not: to renew her contract with ABC and staying away, instead of finishing her final three weeks on the show. Barbara Walters did a fantastic job at damage control. She is a true business woman and a professional. She claimed that many emails were exchanged between Rosie O'Donnell and herself over the weekend. (Ahhh! The beauty of technology. If you wish to avoid speaking about an upsetting matter with an irate individual, that's what electronic mail is for!)

Elisabeth claimed that she and Rosie O'Donnell were beginning a journey heading towards forgiveness. Joy also added how sad she feels when many hosts join and leave "The View."

The ladies were confident and respectful towards each other but this did not last very long. Barbara Walters chose to attack Joy for never receiving a gift from her. Joy of course, got on the defensive and both ladies began squabbling. Whoopi Goldberg tactfully stopped the argument by saying in a tired and yet humorous tone of voice, "Oh don't start that again!" And this was following by a loud cheer of approval from the audience. Both Barbara and Joy immediately fell silent and looked embarrassed as they were "caught feuding" on the show. Elisabeth laughed and quietly commented, "I am not in this one!"

The mood of the show was filled with apprehension and the theme of the day was "damage control" There were many instances were guests could not resist at prodding fun at the panel of "The View." It started with Jimmy Fallon. He jokingly said that watching this show was a lot of fun since like all reality shows, you never know who is going home. Another awkward moment in the show came from the other guest, Jeffrey Ross, the judge of the new show, "The Next Best Thing." He was relentless on the ladies. After he was introduced as the next guest on the show, he sat down and solemnly stated that he had an announcement to make; he would be the new host replacing Rosie O'Donnell. He also jeered that the show needed a new male perspective to provide balance. Joy laughed very nervously but cleverly turned the focus back to promoting "The Next Best Thing." A few clips were shown by Jeffrey Ross indicating what viewers could expect to see next week on this new show. He also invited his best look alike of Howard Stern. Jeffrey Ross sarcastically added that he also invited a Rosie O'Donnell look alike but she never showed up! Joy, Whoopi (and the audience) laughed helplessly at this joke and had no response.

What I admired the most about "The View" today was, the way in which the panel overcame the embarrassment from last week's famous feud between Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hassellbeck. Hats off to all the ladies at "The View" for handling an awkward situation with a lot of class, style and a high level of professionalism!

Edited: Geenie on 29th May, 2007 - 10:56pm