Is Pres Trump's Trade War Hurting or Helping China?

The Truth Here; Depends On Where You Sit. 

As one of the many small Caribbean countries, T&T is a spectators, a non player.Like every other country large or small we look on helplessly.

But we cannot say we are not in the game, like the pawns and rooks we affect the final outcome.

Most developing countries now owe the Chinese government millions and billions that they have invested in local infrastructure..

.
Western countries foundational philosophy , from the perspective of the Chinese, creates  "limited thinking or small mindedness".  Here is why...

The Chinese work on 100 year plans, in the West with 4 or 5 year plans.

In fact, in a democratic system of government requires that  political parties face the polls every for or five years. The result, is that plans change every 4 to 5 years.,

That means that in the space of 20 years a country could concievabley have 2 to 4 National Development plans.  That is the basis of checks and balances.

Compare that to the Chinese 100 year plan.  In their communist system of government the head of the ruling party was guaranteed a 10 year term. Recently that was changed to a life time of leadership.

President Donald Tromp is banging his chest like a wild Orangutan; he is a great deal maker. He is.  saving the America from the Chinese. His weapon of choice are trade tariffs, which in themselves are like trade boomerangs, turning at some point to come back to the sender.

The direct affects of these tariffs is that American suppliers will order less from China because of the higher cost thus directly affecting the Chinese economy.

Tariffs are paid by the importer, not the exporter, Americans; not Chinese.

For the  Chinese it in their favor that the  existing myopic thinking continue.  China is building the next Empire and it includes key countries in the world.

It is said that empires have historically changed every 200 years.

The writing is on the wall for anyone to see, The US, the world super power, now owes the Chinese trillions.

The Chinese have installed themselves in almost every important economy in almost every region of the world. The world owes a lot to China now.

Spectators and Pawns With Questions

For the developing countries already indebted to China is; how will all this affect our country?.

How will this trade war end?

We know when the dollar is affected it hurts the world economy.

What will China do?. Will they capitulate to President Trump's trade tariffs?

This is but a blip in China's progress to build an empire.

Understand China.

The Chinese are purposeful and intentional.

Consider this; for over the last 15 to 20 years China has inserted herself in every country of any significance in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

They did not just stumble on this idea, it is exactly how America and every other super power built their empires.

Trump will get his short term win but China will win in bigger in  the long term.

Want proof, read an article published on June 13, 2019 by China researcher,  Brian Tycangco

                   Here’s how China will emerge stronger from the trade war

After you read that article, ask yourself this question.

What part does countries like Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago play in the 100 year Chinese plan?

The Chinese literally own significant assets in every country, what is the end game?

As a country and region is there any one developing a model of what will actually transpire?

Love to hear some comments, suggestions or recommendations about how we as a people can make it better for the younger emerging generations.

 If we care, we may not be able to stop what is happening, it is way to big for any one of us.

The real question is are we just going to sit and watch the game play out or will we put our head together and figure this thing out?

The Making of Jamaica by Air - A Documentary Video

Jamaica By Air - An Entrepreneur's Story

When I first heard the name of this book, I assumed it was the usual tourist fodder.  It certainly can be used to attract tourist but the story behind the book is what to me is more important.  I just the entrepreneurial spirit of the author/photographer.  With a small investment he was able to fund his idea and actual make his dream come true.  

The Caribbean Blogger would not represent peoples of the Caribbean if it did not, without obligation, promote this book.  This professional done video tells the story behind the making of the book. You get to see some of the captivating shots that makes up Jamaica by Air.  Enjoy it. 

A Lighter Side Of The Caribbean

Dem Jamaicans Dem
  

Someone sent me this joke, it made me laugh out loud.  Let me know if you think it's funny.  

 

A Jamaican farmer named Ralph had an accident with  a lorry and was suing the lorry company.

  In court their hot-shot solicitor was questioning Ralph. 

  Solicitor:    'Now didn't you say to the Police at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine?'

  Ralph:    'Well , I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite cow Bessie into the...'

  Solicitor:    'I didn't ask for any details, just answer the question. Did you not tell the police officer at the scene of the accident, "I'm fine!"?'

  Ralph:   'Well, I had just got Bessie into the sidecar and I was driving down the road.....'

  The solicitor interrupted again and said,
  'Your Honor , I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident this man told the police that he was fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.'

  By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Ralph's answer and said to the solicitor:
  I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite cow Bessie.' 

  Ralph thanked the Judge and proceeded.

  'Well, as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite cow, into the sidecar and was driving her down the road when this  huge lorry and trailer came through a stop sign and hit me right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. 

 

I was hurt very bad and like I didn't want to move. However, I could hear old Bessie moaning and  groaning. I knew she was in terrible pain just by her groans. 

 

Shortly after the accident a policeman on a motorbike turned up.

He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her and saw her condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. 

Then the policeman came charging across the road, gun still in hand, looked me up and down, and said, 'How badly are you hurt?' 

 'Now what the Rass would you have said?'

An Amazing Story Out Of Jamaica, Rasta Yam

 More Unbelievable Than Any "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" Story


Is that a mummified child in the picture?  


This story was so unusual that I had to be shared.  Reported in the Jamaica Gleaner and is posted on the Caribbean Fever Community.com  page.  Here's the story.

It was a cool November afternoon and 81-year-old Gervin Henry had just returned to his home in Struan, Manchester, Jamaica after an early-morning trip to Kingston.  

He decided to walk down to his farm located just behind his house where he grows potatoes, bananas and yam. It's the place the sprightly golden-ager spends most of his time and he was eager to reap some bananas he had deemed ready the night before.

While he was there he decided dig a piece of yam for his niece
"I dig out one piece and then I move to another side to dig another. I tell you, I get the shock of my life!" he said.

Out of the ground, Maas Gervin pulled a roughly four-pound piece of yam like no other piece of yam he had ever seen before.

"Never in my life! Never see anything like that in my life!" Maas Gervin exclaimed.

The yam had a long split halfway up the middle and a bump at the very top. To the seasoned farmer, it looked like a man wearing a tam, on his knees, praying.

"It clear, man. Is a Rastaman kneel down and praying. I couldn't believe it. Still can't believe it," he said.

 Maas Gervin spent only a moment alone on the farm examining the tuber before rushing up to the house to show his niece.

"She frighten so till she nearly fall down. I hang it up on a pole outside the house and she just stand up there staring at it," said Maas Gervin.

"She say she don't want that piece. She say I must dig another piece for her," Maas Gervin laughed.

The Yam has since been on show at a local shop in town and Maas Gervin has plans to show it at the annual agricultural show in Denbigh, Clarendon.


 Could it be obeah, voodoo or whatever it's called in Jamaica?  Whatever it is, it boggles the mind. 


Stay blessed.

Marketing In the Caribbean

We Are Still Babes In The Proverbial Online Woods

Nations, like men, have their infancy.
Henry Bolingbroke

Without a doubt the intellectual level of people in the aggregate living in Trinidad and Tobago is comparable and may surpass that of more developed countries. This intelligence has transferred itself to the Internet even though the growth of internet users in this country is small, (22-30%), we still have a solid presence. But we do have our weaknesses.

Site content is important but ultimately it has to support a business model that generates leads, conversions, some type of free subscription to a newsletter, announcement list or anything that can be perceived by the visitor as valuable.
It makes absolutely no sense to buy, push or beg for traffic and not have a mechanism in place to capture visitor information.

No business site should be online without a request for visitors’ information. This is important so let’s repeat it; every business web site must have a strategy to capture visitors information. If you have a site now that does have one, revisit it and consider the purpose.

Even with the right target market only a few would eventually convert to sales. It is a filtering process that seeks only the people who are interested enough to take an action,

Let us take a look at one of the better known web sites in Trinidad and Tobago, The Trinidad Express Newspaper online. (A friend of mine once told me that I should never mention names because I could be sued.) Is that really possible?
Ok, the Express needs no introduction in T&T.

But it’s not the Express Newspaper site we will look at. It is a subsidiary site; ReachCaribbean.com CCN, their advertising arm.

Take a minute and look at the site and their unique selling proposition “The Premium Media Hub For Advertising In the Caribbean”. And a head line that reads “Reach over 6 million new customers easier than ever before… One place, On Currency, One System.

ReachCaribbean mission is to provide the advertisers with a regional reach connections in every island in the Caribbean and Guyana. Their advertising resources include newspaper, radio, TV, magazines and web advertising.

They cover islands from Jamaica to Trinidad and Guyana with a market of approximately 6.9 million people of which 5.5 million are adults and a GNP per capita of $3500 to $36,000 USD and the age range of 15-64 numbering 4.2 million people.

It did not say how many of these people are online and the Web advertising link only provides links to other Caribbean newspapers.

In all fairness, they did provide an explanation on their “About us” page. The reason they gave is valid because there is a peculiarity of Caribbean culture with respect to sharing business information. In their words:

“The task of obtaining information on the Caribbean is a difficult one. We will be the first to confirm that to you. The region's business culture does not encourage the sharing of sales information, consumer insights and advertising spend.

Why? For one, most of the companies invest great sums of money privately to obtain research to either confirm their hypotheses about their target market or to find out new insights into their lifestyles today.

So to put it in a nutshell information reports like the TOP 100 advertisers of the Caribbean and the biggest earners of the year are just not published and updated annually. ReachCaribbean hopes to influence this practice in years to come.“


Agree with it or not, this is the environment in which we operate.

Tomorrow we will step inside the ReachCaribbean web site and examine their online business assumptions, model and strategy.

Check the post out tomorrow.

We are still seeking responses to the Fan Survey, it only takes two minutes.

Be well.

Web Wisdom Works

Take The Web Wisdom Challenge ----->>>>


Coming Soon the first in a series “Web Wisdom Works” Special Reports.

“How To Establish A Web Presence For $70 TTD Within 90 Days”.

In this exclusive report you get a strategy that any business in Trinidad and Tobago, in fact in any local community in the world, can use to quickly establish a professional business web presence.

Using free available resources the strategy is laid out in detail. Read an excerpt below that attempts to shift a pervasive paradigms embodied in seven myths.

The strategy outlined in the report will get you new targeted business in Trinidad without spending a dime if you already have a site or a blog. Its intrinsic value is not in what it says but what you do with the information in the report.

To set a generous price on the report I would say it would be worth about $50 USD or approximately $300 TTD. The reason is because a lot of the information in the report is available online but it is how the information is used.

This report focuses on businesses in Trinidad and Tobago or local businesses so it is more relevant to a local situation. What would it cost t stop running around like a chicken without a head on the internet. But there is a surprise ending to this story.

The report will be offered on my new site which has been delayed and is another story that would take up too much of your time. That will be resolved soon.

Be one of the first to get notified and read this report.

Leave your name and email address on the web form on the side “Web Wisdom Works” and you will be one of the first to get this report. No charge, absolutely free.

Three Cultural Myths