#guadeloupe

Une exposition et des projections retrospectives des travaux de Sarah Maldoror en ce moment au Palais de Tokyo et ce en continu jusqu'au printemps 2022.

Narratrice afro-descendante et francophone des guerres d'independance notamment en Angola, les documentaires de Sarah Maldoror sont plus que des temoignages visuels de l'histoire decoloniale d'une partie de l'Afrique australe. Il s'agit de cris d'alarme!

En plus de partager avec elle ma passion pour le Mozambique et l'Angola, la vie commune avec un Afro-lusophone fut longtemps une de mes inclinations personnelles…

Merci au Palais de Tokyo pour ce parcours ideal afin de se familiariser avec la realisatrice.

Deshaies

@astralsometimes

Pêcheur, Le Gosier

@astralsometimes

LES SAINTES

@astralsometimes

Audio News from Archaeologica (2/4): Fossil data demonstrate the devastating impact of European colonization on Guadeloupe’s reptile population. Learn more on our website, or on your favorite podcast service, like Google Play: http://bit.ly/38w5P0A

YESTERDAY’S COVID-19 PRESS CONFERENCE was textbook dog-n-pony. The fact, that so many island residents, went away from Lou’s latest debacle in deception, “feeling better” is a testament to the successful manure application sown by Carlo Branch, Lou’s  new, “chief communications and policy director”.

Despite presenting a Covid-19 Relief Budget that made no attempt to hide their shady dealings and Christmas wish list shopping zeal that cheats Guam out of so much resources, island media did not dig down while they had the chance.

The takeaway from Lou’s Covid-19 Relief Budget press conference were staggering…. with unequivocal  examples of corruption, malfeasane and misfeasance slipped right under the nose of journalists  still churning a single plot.

More mindful of not conveying any bitchiness or the hallmark arrogance that has come to define this administration, almost as much as their singular corruption, the difference in approach seemed to work for some, as reflected by rather simplistic observations on social media.

Although the opaque phuckery of the Lou & Josh administration was no more transparent than when they were being bitchy and shady, the new tone managed to sooth and placate some vocal critics, who turned out to be far less observant than their loud bark otherwise suggested heretofore.

Carlo’s placebo offensive worked. Media ate up the mea culpa like a free buffet and couldn’t see past the apologies long enough to dig into the numbers in their faces…even for a 2 hour presser.

What Lou reaffirms with her pandemic budget is that it is all about her and her friends first. The people are an afterthought, as is evidenced in their no-bid, no-RFP spending spree.

No-bid contracts are generally bad for taxpayers and should be reserved for infrequent time-sensitive emergencies that require fast action of a highly specialized nature….but even then, the public deserves and expects real value for the dollars spent.

Lou boasted about setting aside $20 million to be used as grants for small business reimbursements for losses due to government forced closures. But on top, of the $20,000,000, unregarded by reporters during the press conference, was a $5,000 to payment to Michelle Crisostomo - the girlfriend of  Lou’s former chief of staff, Tony Babauta.

Lou’s already approved budget expenditures includes a $900 computer bag, price tags for top of the line computers that far exceed the needs they are intended for….and everything, everywhere you look, at a cost two to four times higher than they should be

Very little questioning was spent on a $900 computer bag. Zero questions were asked why Lester Carlson’s office suddenly needed tens of thousands of dollars in top of the line computers.

Or why wireless mouses for the computers were cited at a price point 200% - 300% higher than they should be.

I don’t recall anyone asking why 10 emergency response vehicles were needed at a price tag of $300,000.

These Dell rugged notebooks are configured with specs that far exceed what Emergency Responders would need in their vehicles….and can be purchased, full price, at less than $2,900 per unit. Volume discounts not applied, and buying 10 of these come in at under $30,000 or about 45% of what Lou has approved in her budget.

Or why the rugged notebooks were quoted at more than 3 times the going rate, mounts for installing the computers wre priced at more than three times the cost of what is actually needed, or whay radios for the vehicles cost 3 times more than they should?

The most expensive configuration would be ideally used on a large construction sites to run 3D imaging programs and high-processor functions. Not something Emergency Responders tend to need, as their primary usage involves low resource demand data input and coallation. At a figure below $6,000 each, with no volume discount or sales pricing, ten of these still come in at less that 90% of what Lou’s money-funneling pandemic budget allocates. BBMR director, Lester Carlson, scrambled to cover their asses yesterday when a reporter noticed the approved expenditure - from his own office - for a computer bag that costs as much as a computer. Carlson tried to deny the nearly $900 computer bag was greenlighted…he lied.  Lou’s cover letter was clear: she approved of the budget presented.

When governments are awarding expensive contracts, competitive bidding is the safeguard that protects taxpayers from shoddy inside deals. 

It’s a “best practice” mandated by Guam law, with limited exceptions, to facilitate good service at a reasonable price because, without it, public officials can steer lavish deals to political insiders more concerned with padding their own pockets than delivering quality and value.

Take, for instance, the recent rigged deal to funnel all sales of personal protection equipment to friends of Adelup, or the $300,000 for test kits sold to GovGuam by Lou & Josh friends at a 300% mark up.

Or the still unraveling hotel quarantine scandal.

A “Dog and pony show” is a highly promoted, often over-staged performance, presentation, or event designed to sway, spin, distract, and/or convince public opinion for political ends.

Certain senators tried to sneak by a bill to eliminate any need for competitive bidding requirements or procurement regulations, even as the administration has been cutting secret deals with and for friends behind closed doors.

Thankfully, due in large part to public resistance organized by 93.3FM The Point’s talk radio hosts, Ray Gibson and Bob Klitzkie, that effort was defeated. And, despite the governor vetoing an effort by senator Therese Terlaje to ensure accountability, she forged ahead and led an override vote of Lou’s effort to do what she will with millions of dollars intended to help the most needy and stricken in our community.

The fact is, the administration should care about whether their own rules are violated and broken, regardless of media inquiries and outside investigation. That’s called accountability. With no accountability, there can be no trust - and trust is the linchpin u[on which is hinged any successful public compliance during critical situations like a pandemic crisis.

Adelup has created numerous funnels for pandemic profiteering by her friends and cronies….sales of medical supplies are forced into channels that profit INsiders and Bank of Guam customers, while Lou tells the public to not believe anything they see with their own eyes or hear with their own ears.

Lou’s friends who are public officials have to start making sure this administration begins to comply with competitive bidding requirements designed to protect taxpayers, not their friends and cronies.

They need to demand this budget is undone and re-done, as a collaborative effort with the Legislature – and with wide open public engagement, since this money is intended for us! EIther thatn, or risk federal investigation, possible convictions, shame on their families and the derision of the public.

Let’s “bid adios” to no-bids and secret contracts. Let’s start by bidding adios to that dog-n-pony relief budget show!

Why does BBMR and GEDA suddenly need computers?What’s wrong with the ones they have already?